The average American begins to notice the signs of aging at the age of 42, but 15% noticed themselves getting older before age 35.
Thats according to a new poll of 2,000 Americans with representative samples for Gen Z, millennials, Gen-X and baby boomer respondents, where respondents believe they were at the peak of their health at the age of 34.
On top of that, 46% of Gen X were unaware they couldnt engage in the same fitness or diet regimens as they could when they were younger until they were over 40.
While respondents start noticing they need to make changes to their health and wellness routines around the age of 39, 21% admit theyre currently in denial about their body aging.
Another 30% of respondents admit they used to be in denial, but theyve since accepted it.
Of those respondents, 61% put off making necessary routine changes for three to six years, while 29% put it off for up to two years.
Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of evidence-based weight care program, Found, the survey found that things like joint pain (39%), the onset of chronic conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes (37%), slower metabolism (35%), or where respondents carry their weight (30%) are some of the top indicators that respondents believe are signs of aging.
Because of these changes, respondents are making adjustments to their health and wellness routines.
Overall, 36% are making adjustments to the types of vitamins and supplements they take, with baby boomers (41%) being the most likely generation to do so.
Two in five (40%) baby boomers are changing the types of food they eat, with 34% of Gen X doing the same.
Even 30% of Gen Z are doing so, despite their relatively young age.
Thirty-one percent of all respondents are fine-tuning what types of exercises they do as they get older.
And millennials might be getting ahead of aging more than others, with that generation being more likely to do so than any others (36%), including Gen X (31%) and baby boomers (30%).
Millennials were also the most likely generation to practice meditation or mindfulness, especially when compared to baby boomers (30% vs 21%).
And while about one-quarter (24%) found making those adjustments difficult, 46% found it to be an easy process.
But that doesnt mean respondents arent looking for guidance, as 35% tend to lean on their primary care physician and specialty doctors (30%).
While aging is inevitable, making healthy changes to your lifestyle are preventative care measures that can help mitigate age-related issues like weight gain and chronic conditions. Over the past 100 years we have nearly doubled our life expectancy, so its crucial to be proactive about extending our health span as well as our lifespan, said Dr. Rekha Kumar, Chief Medical Officer at Found. Programs that incorporate guidance to not only help people manage their weight, but also improve overall lifestyle habits, such as improved sleep, daily movement or taking care of their mental health, can help people maintain their health as they age.
While aging may be inevitable, respondents outlined mixed feelings about it. Almost three in 10 (29%) admit theyre either stressed or anxious about aging, while some are confident (25%) about the inevitability.
In fact, 41% of respondents have experienced shame or embarrassment when discussing their changing health and wellness with their primary care physician, with 47% of millennial respondents experiencing this.
Even so, 31% also say they trust their PCP the most when it comes to advice about maintaining a healthy weight as they age.
Almost two-thirds (64%) agree that they struggle with their body not only not looking like it used to, but also not feeling the same either. .
Although 39% are happy with their current weight, one in five were happiest between the ages of 20 and 30.
Research has found that the stories we tell ourselves about our weight and our motivations to make lifestyle changes dramatically affect how successful and satisfied we are with those changes, said Laura Garcia, Director of Clinical Design at Found. We are so used to focusing on what we want to get rid of, and not what we want to gain. Positive lifestyle changes give us the opportunity to feel better about our bodies now and, most importantly, allow us to continue doing what we care about in the long-term. If we are motivated by extending our health and preventing the negative effects of our lifestyle on our bodies, we will be more likely to maintain these changes over the years--which is key for sustainable weight loss and overall health.
UK & Ireland Online Poker Rankings: Leonard and Wilson Lead December 05 2016 Matthew Pitt Editor Former world number one Patrick Leonard still leads in the PocketFives.com UK online poker rankings and does so by more than 740 points from Conor Beresford and more than 1,000 from Ludovic Geilich. Up one place to fifth this week is UK-based Spaniard Juan Pardo thanks in part to him finishing second in the Partypoker High Roller for a $14,939 score. Also climbing up the standings is Sam Grafton after winning the $5,000 Gtd Creed twice in three days at partypoker for almost $4,000 combined, then taking down the $109 NLHE at PokerStars for an additional $2,051. Two other players in the top 20 ranked UK-based players secured a trio of three-figure scores during the past seven days. Jamie OConnor finished fourth in the Big $109, third in the $109 NLHE 6-Max Progressive KO, and fifth in the $109 Bounty Builder all at PokerStars for more than $7,600, while FouEnculePL had a deep run in the Sunday Million, was the fifth place finish in the $55 Sunday Stack, and finished second in the Big $11 for over $8,900. UK Online Poker Rankings (December 5, 2016) UK Rank Player Points 1 Patrick pleno1 Leonard 7120.37 2 Conor 1_conor_b_1 Beresford 6379.40 3 Ludovic ludovi333 Geilich 6114.61 4 Phil philroyal888 Mighall 5897.82 5 Juan malaka$tyle Pardo 5714.08 6 Chris moorman1 Moorman 5173.70 7 Sam The Squid Grafton 5249.95 8 Jamie EzGame89 OConnor 5099.94 9 luckyfish89 5055.41 10 Oliver 3BunPass Price 5015.91 11 Rick TheClaimer Trigg 5005.04 12 Phill Grindation McAllister 4535.24 13 Owain sngwonder Carey 4504.41 14 Charlie chaz_man_chaz Combes 4395.97 15 Daniel lucky_scrote Carter 4375.69 16 Sergio trujustrus Cabrera 4362.96 17 FouEnculePL 4307.96 18 Jonathan Gil3000 Gill 4232.15 19 Matas bebaimis777 Cimbolas 4228.16 20 Vicent vicenfish Delgado 4216.01 Dan Wilson Soaring Ahead in Ireland Dan Wilson has a sizeable lead in the Irish online poker rankings and shows no signs of letting the chasing pack catch him. Wilson bagged a $6,000 cash haul by finishing fifth in the partypoker High Roller and won the PokerStars Hot $162 for a cool $15,203 in the past week, which helped him extend his lead at the top of the rankings to almost 600 points. Toby Joyce enjoyed a massive $53,585 score on November 27 when he won the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up and looks the most likely player to catch Wilson, although doing so by the end of the current year is unlikely due to the points difference. A shout out also to James Noonan who added $7,214 to his lifetime winnings by finishing as the runner-up in the PokerStars Hot $109, and to Marc sluglife Macdonnell who finished third in a PokerStars Hot $109 for $9,372. Irish Online Poker Rankings Top 20 (December 5, 2016) UK Rank Player Points 1 Dan NukeTheFish! Wilson 5637.71 2 Toby Jobytoyce Joyce 5053.21 3 James Jaymo Noonan 4460.66 4 Noogaii 4288.99 5 Kevin SuitedAcesBaby Killeen 4046.19 6 Tomas luckymo32 Geleziunas 3805.86 7 FoxyLisa 3695.26 8 Daniel danielt999 Tighe 3459.38 9 Daragh daragh999 Davey 3378.22 10 Cathal shinerrr Shine 3219.07 11 myleftfoot 3126.67 12 Dara Doke OKearney 3109.43 13 Kursplunk 3012.61 14 Conor ccoonnoorr O'Driscoll 2933.85 15 Nicholas YerSoLucky Newport 2848.42 16 Frank Denman98 Lillis 2818.70 17 Steve MrTimCaum ODwyer 2735.03 18 Marc sluglife Macdonnell 2733.06 19 Pokerniall 2723.23 20 Dan DatWillDoPig Rankin 2723.06 The headline on this guest column has been updated to reflect its subject is the states consumer protection system. New Mexican families are struggling. And too often, after theyve been victimized by a bad actor, they find themselves re-victimized by special interests and an unresponsive government bureaucracy. The status quo has failed. I was elected to reform this system with culturally and geographically sensitive measures to protect New Mexican families from violent crime, perpetrators who prey on children or businesses or individuals that prey on vulnerable communities. With New Mexicos economy on the brink, it is shocking that the CEO of a community organization one that claims to carry the mission of protecting our communities would spread misinformation to attack efforts at reform. As someone who has investigated and prosecuted crimes against children and public corruption, I want to correct the record and provide some much-needed truth to the communities I care about. When I took office, I swept aside the old approaches that allowed consumer complaints to languish in layers of bureaucracy. The new family-centric model has strengthened our consumer protection programming in three crucial ways. First, we replaced outdated methods with a rapid-response system that engages families within 72 hours and gets them results within 30 days. In a single month October 2016 our dedicated advocates returned $50,083.58 to New Mexican families. Second, we implemented an empowerment-and-education model that gives families the tools to recognize and avoid potentially deceptive business practices. Our advocates offer free, consumer-specific outreach workshops focused on topics ranging from financial literacy to buying used cars and staying safe online. These consumer services are integrated with other divisions to provide multiple services to families in need. Third, because we created a family-centric model, we can pursue more timely and robust investigations and enforcement actions against larger corporations. When New Mexican families have been treated unfairly, our attorneys do not shy away from taking on the most powerful corporations in the world. These fights have resulted in real recovery to New Mexican families, to the tune of millions of dollars in restitution and penalties. These reforms put families first, focusing on empowerment and timely results. The outcome is a safer and more prosperous New Mexico, where families are empowered to protect themselves, have advocates in their corner when they need assistance and are less likely to be victimized by unfair and deceptive business practices. New Mexico communities cannot prosper until they are safe. I am proud of the work we are doing on behalf of New Mexican families, empowering them for success today and in the future. In my most recent column, I ran through a simple scenario of how production is linked between U.S. and Mexican companies, in which a U.S. plastic injection firm sells components to a Mexican components company, which sells its finished product to a GM plant in Kentucky. All three companies account for a stage of the production, and jobs are created/maintained in both Mexico and the U.S. One recurring question I received from several readers was pertaining to the Mexican components and why U.S. companies simply couldnt manufacture all the components in the chain. Another question focused on why slapping tariffs on companies exporting their products to the U.S., namely from China and Mexico, wouldnt automatically result in more U.S. manufacturing being generated and jobs coming back to the U.S. Trade is not a black-and-white issue; it is a more complicated shade of gray. Since 1965, Mexicos maquiladora (twin plant) industry has brought industrialization to Mexican cities, such as Tijuana, Monterrey and Juarez. However, the programs biggest failure has been not developing a major supply base for this manufacturing base. Approximately 95 percent of the production inputs (i.e. plastic, metal, electronic components and wire) that go into making a TV, computer or automobile in Mexico are supplied by foreign companies, mostly from the U.S. This is why there is a tremendous manufacturing/supply base on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico. President-elect Trumps threat to slap 35 percent tariffs on Mexican imports to the U.S. is akin to slapping a 35 percent tariff on U.S. production that goes to Mexico. If this occurs, American jobs and investment will be affected. A major point to consider is that companies in a supply chain are located where it makes the most sense for them from a total cost of business standpoint. A company with a labor-intensive production process will most likely be best situated in a country where labor is economical and plentiful, provided that the logistics costs of exporting their product to buyers in their final markets doesnt significantly add to their costs. The company also must consider the skill level of the employees, local infrastructure, government regulations, the quality of local suppliers/service providers, foreign exchange rates and company image. These and other costs add up to the total cost of business, which can differ greatly among companies and countries. In many cases, a company will make the decision to leave the U.S. to produce in a country such as China or Mexico based on its total cost of business. Years ago, I witnessed many U.S. plastic-injection companies move their operations to Mexico because their production was labor intensive, labor being the major factor in the total costs. However, lately I have seen more of these operations either establish themselves in the U.S. or repatriate from places such as Mexico because technology has automated the production process, and created the necessity for reliable power and highly skilled labor factors on which the U.S. can compete. Other U.S. companies move operations for other reasons. A few years ago, Burger King moved its corporate headquarters from the U.S. to Canada to escape higher U.S. corporate taxes. In this case, changing the U.S. tax law could result in a repatriation of white-collar jobs and investment, if Congress and the president can come to an agreement. Several years ago, one U.S. company I know that produces large components for the energy industry chose to manufacture in Juarez, Mexico. One day, a manager of this company complained to me what a hassle it was for them to move their bulky products across the border on oversize loads to deliver them in the U.S. I asked why they didnt just produce in the U.S. and was told that the components needed to be painted and coated. EPA regulations were so strict in the U.S. for the companys paint booth that it made better sense for the company to set up in Mexico and to deal with the complicated logistics of crossing their products into the U.S. at the border. In this case, policymakers must balance environmental concerns with job creation and investment. Unfortunately, most of the labor-intensive industries for which free trade was made a scapegoat during the presidential campaign are not going to see their jobs come back to the U.S. because of factors such as cheaper labor and lower unionization in other countries, as well as increasing automation in manufacturing which results in less physical labor being required. Slapping a tariff on companies that have moved their production out of the U.S. is not going to result in these jobs magically reappearing in places such as Ohio or Michigan. A sound government trade strategy must consider where policies can be enacted to make the U.S. a more attractive place to manufacture, rather than simply espousing punitive actions. This includes revising corporate tax laws, increasing the skills of American workers and upgrading the infrastructure needed to attract the highest quality manufacturers. Finally, toning down the rhetoric that tends to alarm or alienate important trade partners and companies that are responsible for American jobs is also an important part of this strategy. Jerry Pacheco is the executive director of the International Business Accelerator, a nonprofit trade counseling program of the New Mexico Small Business Development Centers Network. He can be reached at 575-589-2200 or at jerry@nmiba.com. DermaTecs alcohol-detection patch is $1,500 closer to commercial launch, thanks to a new Indiegogo campaign that the Albuquerque startup launched just before Thanksgiving. The company, which created a skin patch that rapidly detects alcohol consumption, is seeking $50,000 to start manufacturing. DermaTecs founders, about half of whom are University of New Mexico students, believe the patch can promote more responsible drinking by allowing friends, family and others to stop people from driving drunk, said co-founder and business development manager Matt Aaron. It offers a quick, visual indication of alcohol consumption that could encourage friends or family to not let someone drive just because they say theyre okay, Aaron said. We want it to promote social responsibility. The patch could potentially be used as well by law enforcement, employers, bars and ride-sharing companies. DermaTec is in initial discussions with Uber to possibly include the company logo on the patch and offer discounted service when drinkers call for a ride, Aaron said. UNM nano science and chemical engineering students Anh-Dung Le and Duncan McClure developed the OnusBlue patch because of their joint interest in using sensing technologies to create easy-to-use, affordable products that help resolve social problems. We wanted to create something with good social impact thats disposable and doesnt cost much, Le said. Its something you use once and throw it away, so people might be willing to buy it multiple times. We chose this product because alcohol is easy to detect compared with other substances, and DWI and drinking are global issues with a potentially big market. The patch uses common substances often employed in saliva tests that create enzymatic reactions, Le said. The substances can detect alcohol in sweat. The formulation turns the patch blue when sensing alcohol, with the blue coloring growing darker and darker the more someone drinks. Le said the substance is benign and has been tested for safety, but would not discuss formula details because the patch is patent-pending. DermaTec completed its first patch prototypes last spring. Its now working to raise money for bulk manufacturing. It received $40,000 from a local angel investor and will use Indiegogo funding to outsource production next year. Once on the market, the company says OnusBlue will cost less than a cup of coffee. In the meantime, Dermatec is getting a lot of local attention. It was one of ten companies invited to present in a startup competition during Steve Cases Rise of the Rest tour in Albuquerque last September. It also won a free trip to next years South by Southwest conference in Austin, plus three months free rent at the FatPipe business incubator Downtown, during last months Scrappy Startup Challenge. FitMix app to hit the gym Want unlimited membership to a network of gyms around town? The new FitMix app, which launched in August, opens the front doors to classes at 17 fitness centers in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, plus unlimited access to work out individually at four member gymnasiums. For a monthly fee of $109, users can take as many classes as they want in a range of exercise techniques, including yoga, crossfit, Russian kettlebells, pilates and more. That eliminates the need for multiple memberships at different gyms or the inconvenience of dropping one fitness center to enlist in another, said FitMix founder and CEO Kevin Mathis. We have 35 users now with more people signing up each month. Mathis said. Our goal is to reach 200 users in six months. User feedback indicates many happy gym-going campers. It prevents people from getting bored by doing some workouts over and over, since they can now change routines through other fitness centers without having to sign up for another membership, Mathis said. They sidestep the fees and that saves them money. Fitness centers seem happy as well, because its generating a wider variety of customers without any loss of revenue. Thats because Mathis negotiated a revenue-sharing model that allows gyms to earn at least as much for each class that a FitMix user attends as would otherwise be charged for a nonmember just showing up for a class Anybody can drop in for one class at a cost of $13.95, but we end up getting more than that with FitMix users, said Payton Prince-Henderson, owner of Elevation Yoga and Wellness Center in the Northeast Heights. FitMix pays us for every class a user comes to. Thats averaging out on a monthly basis to between $16 and $20 per class. Elevation Yoga is seeing new customers, including many repeat ones. Every month, were seeing a new group of people, Prince-Henderson said. Its great advertising, because many wouldnt have even heard about us without FitMix, and they keep coming back. For us as a studio, its been fantastic. Mathis developed the FitMix concept, app and business structure over a year and a half, although he outsourced the coding and graphic design. Hes now working to add personal training, nutrition and discounts at health stores. The company expects to reach profitability as more users sign up and economies of scale kick in. For now, the revenue-sharing model is covering expenses. In some ways, Karma Cafe runs like any number of other eateries around Albuquerque. Staff members take your breakfast and lunch orders. They make your food say French toast or a grilled ham and cheese sandwich on commercial-grade equipment. They bring it out to your table. But the standard restaurant routine ends there. None of them will bring you a check. In fact, no one would know how to create one. Thats because nothing on the menu has a price. Karma Cafe operates on a pay what you feel model, allowing customers to determine the value of the experience. Established as a nonprofit, Karma Cafe uses the tagline Where Everyone Eats, and founder and President Wade McCullough means it. Diners can technically leave without spending a dime, and perhaps some have. But others always seem to make up the difference. Some people are extremely generous and it all evens out, says Shannon Sweet, cafe manager. McCullough was traveling abroad when he encountered a similar establishment in Australia. He volunteered to wash dishes and bus tables there, and eventually worked his way into food preparation. When he returned to Albuquerque, his hometown, he wanted to replicate it. His attempt to crowdfund a restaurant failed to meet its target, but he remained undeterred. With the help of friends Skylar Petty and Gigi McCullar, Food Karma began as a food stand at the Downtown Growers Market. It has since completed three full market seasons. McCullough says the time had come to leave his regular job with local restaurateur Daniel Boardman (Tia Bs La Waffleria, El Cotorro) and funnel all his energy into Karma Cafe. The restaurant opened last month along San Pedro in Albuquerques Mile-Hi District. The menu includes Growers Market staples like the breakfast burrito and artisan breakfast sandwich (scrambled eggs, jack cheese and green chile on grilled sourdough), but will otherwise change regularly. Last weeks options included huevos rancheros, squash soup, a mixed green salad and a cheesy pasta dish. After eating, customers who want to contribute can drop money into a donation box or make some kind of payment via credit card. So far, McCullough says, the cafe has operated above the break even point and the staff McCullough included who worked the first few weeks in a volunteer capacity could start getting paid this month. I think most people do pay what you would consider a fair price, and even the people who are struggling or maybe need some help or might be in a rough place, they still want to contribute what they can, says Sweet, noting that during a Growers Market appearance, a customer who was homeless offered to give the only dollar he had. While the model could clearly benefit those who could not otherwise afford a meal, McCullough says it is meant for customers of all means. Fans who can have already made other key donations buying salt and pepper shakers, for example, or paper towels. One brought a 20-pound bag of potatoes. Another customer, a retired teacher, visiting for lunch last week paid $20 and offered to buy the restaurant a new microwave. He said the cafe was like an outpost of heaven or another planet. Some people hear about what were doing and say Oh, its a soup kitchen and my response is, No, its not a soup kitchen,' says McCullough, noting that the food, venue and concept resonate with people from all walks of life and circumstances. Its really for everyone indiscriminately. It appeals to everyone. Karma Cafe is located at 1617 San Pedro NE, near Constitution. It is open 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. It is closed Monday. Gifts of all kinds Thomas Edenfield III thought he was going to help stock the worlds man caves. Instead, he and cousin/business partner David Edwards are filling kitchen drawers, toy boxes and soap dishes. And, OK, probably still a few man caves. The inventory at the duos new Albuquerque gift shop, 12th Street Emporium, veers from 50-cents-a-pop stickers to Japanese cast-iron cookware and high-end teak cutting boards. It boasts Star Wars mugs and novelty lunch boxes, but also stationery, games and locally made soap. We keep talking about quality, and intrinsic value and fun, Edenfield says of what guides their buying. Basically, if we think its cool, it works, and if we dont, then were not going to do it. Edenfield, a furniture designer and artist, started talking earlier this year about starting a website to sell neat things that you wouldnt normally find elsewhere, primarily targeting men who wanted interesting-but-useful stuff. The idea quickly evolved. Edwards, who owns New Mexico Tea Co. and its building, had a spare suite available to house a brick-and-mortar store. And the duo each of whom attended the Savannah College of Art and Design also realized that what they liked was not specific to men. Women find things cool and men find things cool, and a lot of times theyre the same things, Edwards says. The cousins have stocked the 500-square-foot space with items from about 25-30 different vendors. The eclectic assortment includes miniature toy cars powered by sunlight, key chains made in Kenya, stainless steel cheese knives, and even some of Edenfields furniture and paintings. Edwards likens it to a museum gift shop without the museum attached. 12th Street Emporium is located at 1131 Mountain NW, at the Mountain/12th Street intersection. It is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. It is closed Mondays. Speaking of gifts Want to give a little dose of New Mexico this holiday season? The State Tourism Department has created an online resource for shoppers looking local. The New Mexico True Certified Holiday Gift Guide showcases present-worthy products made entirely in New Mexico. About 50 vendors are represented, including breweries, farmers and jewelry-makers. Items include red and green chile brittle from Brendas Perfect Brittle ($8.99 for 8 ounces), ChipChap natural lip balm ($18 per jar) and a JMohr Studio dish towel featuring a roadrunner and Zia symbol design ($12). Shoppers can access the online gift guide at newmexico.org. We know that people want to shop locally, but perceive that it is easier to do their holiday shopping online, Tourism Secretary Rebecca Latham says in a news release. This is an easy solution that benefits our New Mexico businesses and keeps those precious dollars close to home. If you have retail or restaurant news to share, contact me at jdyer@abqjournal.com or 823-3864. For more on Albuquerque shopping and dining news, visit my blog at abqjournal.com or follow @abqdyer on Twitter. In the wake of a report critical of President Bob Franks management style, the University of New Mexico Board of Regents on Sunday called a special meeting to discuss possibly suspending or firing Frank. The meeting set for Wednesday is the latest development between Frank and the regents, who last week met in closed session for two hours to discuss a report about Frank. The Journal obtained that report, which found some staff members said Frank at times displayed a temper and could be condescending and sarcastic. It described his behavior at times as bullying. Other people interviewed for the report said Frank cared about his staff, was generally affable and the bulk of their interactions are pleasant. Report author, attorney Alice Kilborn, wrote that she saw evidence of shades of a hostile working environment. Frank, who has been in charge of the school since June 2012, said Wednesday night that work in the presidents office at times has been intense and stressful, but it would be inaccurate to describe it as a hostile work environment and he said he had not seen the report. And he had still not seen the report on Sunday, his attorney Jaymeson Pegue said. Therefore, he has no information as to the basis for the extraordinary actions set forth in the notice and the agenda for the meeting on Wednesday of this week, Pegue said. Regents President Rob Doughty said Sunday he could not comment. While I cant comment directly on the matter, I am confident that the actions taken by the Board of Regents are consistent with their policies and in the best interest of moving UNM in a positive direction, he said. The Sunday meeting announcement shows that regents on Wednesday will discuss limited personnel matters involving Frank including an option to place Frank on administrative leave with pay, pending an internal investigation, and an option to provide Frank with notice of proposed termination for just cause. If termination is pursued, Frank would receive a statement explaining the grounds for his termination and be given a chance to respond in writing to the notice within 30 days, according to his contract. Following his response or failure to do so, the board would vote. To terminate Frank, a majority of the seven regents must vote to do so. Grounds for a just-cause firing include dishonesty, willful misconduct, insubordination, and conduct that involves moral turpitude or that would tend to bring public disrespect or contempt or ridicule upon the university. It also includes any deliberate or serious violation of university policy or law. If Frank is let go under just cause, the university is not required to pay Frank anything other than salary and benefits he earned through the time of his termination. Frank, whose salary is $362,136, announced in September that he would not seek to renew his contract as the universitys president, though he didnt give a reason for his decision. His contract ends May 31. As part of his resignation agreement, regents offered him a tenured faculty position at the schools Health Sciences Center with a $350,000 salary. It is not clear how any action from Wednesdays special meeting could affect the offer. An Albuquerque man who said he was high on LSD caused a three-vehicle crash early Saturday that killed another driver, according to police. Robert Bosanko, 20, is charged with vehicular homicide in connection to the death of Michael Nwora. Police said Bosanko was driving north on Coors at a very high rate of speed when he approached a red light at Montano. He drove between two vehicles that were stopped at the light, sending his car spinning out of control, eventually landing on the north side of the intersection, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Nwora was driving one of the stopped vehicles. Bosanko ran from the scene of the wreck at Montano and Coors, but was apprehended nearby wearing only a T-shirt and underwear. He told officers hed taken LSD, and when one asked whether he was having a good trip or bad trip, Bosanko said he felt free like a birdy. Police said Bosanko was making very odd statements and walking around on all fours like an animal. He was taken to a local hospital, where he told an officer that hed taken LSD a while ago, before removing his IVs. Medical staff had to strap him to his bed, which the officer said prevented him from conducting sobriety tests. Robert would be laying on the bed and would laugh for no reason then cry, the officer wrote in the complaint. He added that Bosanko was difficult to understand and at times incoherent. Online New Mexico court records indicate that Bosanko has no criminal history. His bond was set at $35,000 cash or surety. Information about Nwora was not available. Violent and career criminals take note: Judges have a new tool to slow the catch and release system in which defendants have been able to quickly bond out of jail and turn around to commit new crimes while awaiting their day in court. An amendment to the New Mexico Constitution that reforms the bail system and was approved in the general election took effect last week. Basically the amendment unties the hands of judges who previously were bound by a constitutional requirement to set reasonable bail for nearly all defendants without regard to the nature of the crime or the threat posed by the defendant except in capital murder cases. That requirement was reaffirmed by a New Mexico Supreme Court ruling in 2014. But the high courts ruling, that had the unintended consequence of being a boost to the system of money bail bonds, also contributed to the revolving door that many career criminals have taken advantage of, sometimes resulting in heinous crimes being committed by defendants who were out on bail. That put the issue front and center for New Mexicans. Now, judges can use discretion, based on evidence, and deny bail to felony defendants they consider too dangerous to put back on the street. They also can set lower, reasonable bonds for defendants who cant afford high bonds, but pose no risk to the community. Or, release them without bond. With this pretrial detention authority in hand, New Mexico judges join federal judges and judges in some other states in being able to keep the most dangerous defendants under lock and key and to prevent people accused of lesser crimes from languishing in jail for months when they cant raise bail money. This worthwhile reform succeeded largely through the efforts and support of state Supreme Court and Chief Justice Charles Daniels, Gov. Susana Martinez, the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and defense attorneys, prosecutors and advocacy groups. It was put on the ballot through the efforts of legislators, who overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan joint resolution, primarily sponsored by State Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, and state Rep. Antonio Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque. Although the bail bond industry at first opposed the amendment, it got on board after a compromise was reached that narrowed the circumstances under which a defendant could get out of jail by claiming inability to pay. New Mexico leaders and voters are to be applauded for this good decision that should make the justice system work better for communities, victims, witnesses and defendants. 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. ONE MORE TIME ON THE REAL ID: Change is hard. Especially when you are changing a system that people have used every four or eight years for their entire adult lives. So, to make things clearer on what drivers need to take to a Motor Vehicle Division office when they want to renew their license under the new federal Real ID requirements, Im taking another run at it, with readers help. First, though, the document requirements fall into three categories your ID number, your proof of ID and your proof of residency. You need one proof of number, one proof of ID and two proofs of residency. A full list of acceptable documents is posted at ABQJournal.com at the link below and at mvd.newmexico.gov. Under the new system, you can get one of four kinds of ID: a Real ID drivers license or a Real ID identification card, or the non-Real ID-compliant driver authorization card or identification card. The documents for the Real ID license and ID card are the same, ditto for the non-compliant license and ID. What Real ID lets you do is board a commercial airline after October 2020, as well as enter some secure federal buildings. If all you need is a license to drive, then the non-compliant license works. Its up to each individual what kind of ID/license they believe they need. REAL ID: For this license, the most common documents to prove your ID number and you just need one are a Social Security card, W-2 or 1099 tax forms, or a pay stub with your name and Social Security number on it. The Social Security card cannot be laminated, period, per federal regulations. Proof of identity documents again you just need one are a passport or an original or certified copy of a birth certificate. Residency documents you need two of these are current utility bills (but not a cellphone bill), bank or credit card statements, property tax or mortgage bills, or a pay stub with your name and address. If they come to your post office box, thats fine as long as your physical address, as in a service address for utilities, is somewhere on the bill. DRIVER AUTHORIZATION CARD: For non-Real ID licenses and ID cards, you can use your Social Security card (again, not laminated), W-2, 1099 or pay stub with your social on it to prove your ID number. You can use your current drivers license, military ID or Social Security card to prove your identity. And you can use the same two proof of residency documents. MORE ON MILITARY IDS: Don Arenfeld asks in a recent email if he can use his military ID to renew his drivers license and if thats all he needs. Yes and no. Yes, he can use it to get a driver authorization card, but he still needs one proof of his ID number and two proofs of his residency. Jimmy Richardson asks is, or is not, the Military ID card (DD Form 2) acceptable as form of ID for the MVD? For Real ID, no. For a driver authorization card or ID, yes. And Dick Daniels asks if there are any additional forms of ID accepted for military wives to get Real ID. No. Everyone needs one proof of ID number (basically your Social Security card, W-2 or 1099), one proof of identity (passport or birth certificate) and two proofs of residency. Military IDs suffice for the one proof of identity document for a non-compliant driver authorization card/ID. AND IF YOUR NAME HAS CHANGED: Martha Swinney emails she needed to make five trips to the Los Lunas office to renew her license because of confusion over her name, which she changed when she got married. And Donna Wright emails her aunt was sent home to get her marriage certificate because her name on her birth certificate didnt match her other forms of ID. According to MVD, if your proof of identity document does not contain your current full legal name, you must present documentation of any name change(s). This may include a marriage certificate, divorce decree, adoption records or court order. The DMV uses the full legal name as listed on the document. In a case of multiple name changes, you may be asked for marriage certificates or other proof of each change. Divorce decrees must reference the maiden name or former name before marriage. It boils down to supplying the linking document that shows why/how your name changed. And Martha points out that, if you have a passport with your married name that matches the rest of your documents, no marriage license is required. AND IF NOTHING IS IN MY WIFES NAME? Jimmy also says all the current statements and bills for his household are in his name, so what else may be used to prove residency for my wife? Her marriage certificate that links her to those statements/bills. CAN I FLY WITH MY CURRENT LICENSE? C.L. Rockhold emails,If you plan to travel by air, and your current drivers license is not expired, do the airlines accept current New Mexico drivers licenses or do you have to have the Real ID license in order to fly? The TSA accepts current licenses now that New Mexico is in the process of converting to Real ID requirements. There is no way the MVD could handle every New Mexico driver coming in to renew, so the new licenses are being phased in as current ones expire and the current ones are accepted to board commercial flights. Assistant editorial page editor DVal Westphal tackles commuter issues for the Metro area on Mondays. Reach her at 823-3858; road@abqjournal.com; or P.O. Drawer J, Albuquerque, N.M. 87103. Bernalillo County commissioners last week passed an ordinance aimed at keeping themselves out of the daily operations of the government. Generally speaking, the ordinance requires the commission to work with the county manager not individual employees when seeking information or suggesting priorities for county work. And more broadly, the commission is supposed to handle its work by voting, in public meetings, on policies that guide the county, not act as individuals. The county manager is the one who oversees daily operations. Commission Chairman Art De La Cruz, a former director of parks and recreation for the county, sponsored the bill. His term ends next month. The measure won approval on a 3-1 vote. Debbie OMalley voted no and Maggie Hart Stebbins was absent. OMalley had asked the commission to postpone a decision until a meeting at which all five commissioners would be present. Downtown donation The parent company of New Mexico Gas Co. is chipping in $500,000 to help Downtown redevelopment. Mayor Richard Berry made the announcement in his State of the City address last week. Emera Inc. is making the contribution to the Innovation Central project an effort to create an entrepreneurial district that promotes economic growth. Jail leadership Employees at the Bernalillo County jail are asking for new leadership. Lt. Stephen Perkins, president of the union that represents correctional officers, urged county commissioners last week to consider transferring control of jail operations to the sheriff. Its an idea thats come up before and, in fact, the union has opposed it. But Perkins told commissioners that he believes putting the sheriff in charge of the jail would provide consistent leadership for employees who work inside the Metropolitan Detention Center. He estimated that the jail has had eight acting, interim or permanent chiefs over the past half a dozen years or so. The jails interim administrator now reports directly to the county manager. Commissioners didnt respond to Perkins idea. New county home? Alvarado Square the old Public Service Company of New Mexico building has re-emerged as a serious option for purchase by the county. For years, the county has been looking for a new home, a place to consolidate its offices, now spread across Downtown. County Manager Julie Morgas Baca said the price of Alvarado Square has gone down and theres also the possibility of securing enough parking nearby for county employees. But no final decision has been made yet on whether to pursue a purchase. The eight-story building, constructed in 1980, is near Fourth and Silver SW. Dan McKay: dmckay@abqjournal.com Copyright 2016 Albuquerque Journal For the first time in 20 years, the race for mayor is wide open. Richard Berry says he will step down a year from now as part of his pledge to serve only two terms as Albuquerques chief executive. And for the first time since 1997, no incumbent will be on the ballot when voters head to the polls Oct. 3. That sets up an incredibly unpredictable race partly a result of City Halls nonpartisan setup. Theres no primary election to winnow the field so, if no candidate gets 50 percent or more in the first round of voting, a runoff between the two top vote-getters will happen in November. Although the election is nonpartisan, a candidates political affiliation obviously can play a role in the campaign. Among those considering a run are Democrats Tim Keller, the state auditor whose term ends in 2018; James Lewis, a former state treasurer; City Councilor Ken Sanchez; former County Commissioner Deanna Archuleta; and attorney Brian Colon. The Republican field could include City Council President Dan Lewis and County Commissioner Wayne Johnson. Mayor Berry is a Republican. Here we are, a year from the election, and we have no idea whos going to be the next mayor, said Brian Sanderoff, the Journal pollster and president of Research & Polling Inc. People are just now jockeying for position and deciding whether or not they should run. Some candidates are already raising money and building their campaign organizations, though most wont formally announce before January. And the field could be volatile for months after that as candidates evaluate whether they have a shot at finishing in the top two and capturing a spot in the runoff. With a crowded field of people with political experience good candidates its unlikely that somebody is going to win outright, said Timothy Krebs, a University of New Mexico professor who studies urban politics and policy. It complicates the strategy in ways that we often dont see in normal partisan elections. The issues The race will unfold after Albuquerque has been squeezed by a sluggish economy and rising crime. Reforms in the Albuquerque Police Department the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice are likely to get attention, too. Theres also been intense debate over Mayor Berrys push for a new bus rapid transit system down Central Avenue, the old Route 66. Construction is already underway and expected to continue throughout 2017, unless litigation stops the project or federal funding doesnt come through. Crime and the economy, Sanderoff says, always have the attention of voters. Over the past year, Albuquerque has been rocked by high-profile crimes, including the rape and dismemberment of 10-year-old Victoria Martens a case the police chief called the most gruesome act of evil I have ever seen in my career. Three law enforcement officers in the metropolitan area also have been shot during traffic stops since January 2015. Meanwhile, the citys police department has had mixed results as it strives to meet the terms of a settlement agreement with the DOJ. A federal investigation in 2014 found that APD had a pattern of violating peoples rights through the use of force. The police department is also understaffed, according to a report prepared as part of the reform effort. In 2015, violent crime in Albuquerque climbed about 9 percent and property crime went up nearly 12 percent, according to FBI data. The economy is also a concern. Among the nations 100 largest metropolitan areas, Albuquerque ranked 99th in the growth of its advanced industries output and ranked 85th in employment growth, according to the Brookings Institution. The challenges facing the city could make for a rich debate among a large field of candidates, drawing voters to the polls. Albuquerques 2013 mayoral race when Berry crushed the field with 68 percent of the vote drew about a 20 percent turnout. The national average for elections in big cities is about 27 percent, Krebs said. The money The financial landscape isnt settled. Albuquerque has a voluntary system of public financing for campaigns. Mayoral candidates who qualify can get about $1 per voter to spend on their campaigns, or about $379,000. But the council is also seeking voter approval to boost that figure to $1.75 a voter, or about $663,000. Berry did not go the public financing route when he ran for re-election in 2013 and raised about $900,000 that year. Theres been talk of sending the new public financing proposal to voters in February as part of the election already planned by the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education and Central New Mexico Community College. But the city hasnt reached an agreement on how to share the cost of the election and it isnt clear the question will end up going to voters in time to affect the 2017 mayors race. Independent political committees that can raise and spend an unlimited amount of money also may emerge. Unions, business advocacy groups and national political organizations could shape the race if they decide to support or oppose particular candidates. Its possible, Sanderoff said, that tremendous amounts of money could be spent on PACs and super PACs that dwarfs the amount the candidates themselves raise. The strategy The field of candidates will influence strategy. In a winner-take-all system with no runoff between the top two vote-getters its common for the trailing candidates to attack the perceived frontrunner. But in the nonpartisan municipal system, candidates just need to finish in the top two during the first round of voting. And they could be competing in a field of perhaps 10 candidates. Theres no minimum threshold for making the runoff. Whoever finishes first and second moves on to the November election. The outcome would be practically determined by the combination of players, Sanderoff said. Which candidates are cannibalizing the support of other candidates? The city could, for example, see four left-leaning Democrats competing for the same slice of the electorate, making it easier for, say, a conservative Republican to secure a spot in the runoff. Regionalism, ethnicity and other demographics also could play a role. Party affiliation wont appear on the ballot, allowing candidates to decide whether to highlight or downplay their party labels. Martin Chavez, a Democrat, won three mayoral races in 1993, 2001 and 2005 by attracting support across party lines. Some voters might not even have realized he was a Democrat, Sanderoff said. Berry, meanwhile, defeated Chavez in 2009, in part, by appealing directly to Republicans and uniting that share of the electorate behind him in a race against two Democrats, Krebs and Sanderoff said. At that time, the City Charter had only a 40 percent threshold for avoiding a runoff. Berry won 44 percent of the vote in 2009, thus avoiding a runoff. Berry drew support across party lines in his big 2013 re-election win. There are no term limits at City Hall, but Berry has said repeatedly that he wont run for re-election next year. The electorate itself is also a wild card. Voters in municipal elections are more likely to be older, Anglo and homeowners, Krebs said, often with an interest in politics or otherwise with a stake in city government. The national political environment following the election of Republican Donald Trump as president is also a potential factor. Albuquerque area voters overwhelmingly supported Democrat Hillary Clinton, but the mood a year from now isnt easy to predict. It feels like the country is in a more conservative mood, Krebs said. Thats sort of stating the obvious. Its hard to say whether thats going to affect a local race and give a lift to Republican candidates. On the other hand, he said, the party out of office might be energized as part of a backlash against politicians in Washington, D.C. Locally, we might say Democrats have something of an advantage, Krebs said. Whatever the case, Albuquerque is in for an unusual mayors race. Copyright 2016 Albuquerque Journal New Mexicos bioscience research and business leaders are launching a new statewide initiative today to accelerate the states burgeoning biotechnology industry. The GrowBio initiative aims to unite the public and private sectors around policies and incentives that could turn New Mexicos biotechnology activity into a national powerhouse for new entrepreneurial endeavors, said Dr. Richard Larson, executive vice chancellor at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. Larson is a key leader in the effort, which has already produced a comprehensive report on New Mexicos current biotechnology development and recommendations to grow it. Weve already created the foundations for a strong bioscience industry in New Mexico, but were at the stage where the state and private sector must work together on policies and incentives to move a lot more discoveries from lab to market to help biotechnology startups grow and thrive, Larson said. We want to lead the effort because, apart from oil and gas, biotechnology represents one of New Mexicos best growth areas for economic development and jobs. New Mexicos biotechnology businesses have grown rapidly in recent years, generating about $1.2 billion in revenue in 2015, according to the report. That reflects the vibrant research underway at the states national laboratories and universities, plus aggressive efforts in the past decade to commercialize new products and services. Some 700 biotech companies now work in human health, agriculture and environmental issues around the state. That includes new medical devices, diagnostic tools and treatments, as well as improved methods and tools for food production and safety, and innovative use of microbes and enzymes to make manufacturing and chemical processes environmentally friendly. Those businesses directly employ about 9,300 people, and up to 41,000 if related support jobs are included. That represents about 7 percent of all New Mexicos private sector jobs, according to the report. And those are generally high-paying jobs that often dont require advanced degrees, Larson said. With bioscience, people think its all high-tech jobs and graduate degrees, but most of these positions are associates and bachelors degrees, Larson said. That means growing the industry could have a substantial impact on jobs for younger people. Most biotech businesses are concentrated in high-population centers, such as Bernalillo, Santa Fe and Dona Ana counties. A few large companies also dominate the employment landscape, such as Tricore Reference Laboratories in Albuquerque with more than 1,000 employees and Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute with 500. The states vibrant startup environment has led to a crop of new companies seeking to develop and market new technologies. UNM is especially prolific, with 38 biotech startups launched since 2004. Some are particularly successful, such as the Albuquerque-based medical diagnostic firm IntelliCyt Corp., which a German firm acquired in June for $90 million, but which continues to operate here with more than 50 employees. Still, given the wealth of research at New Mexicos labs and universities, a lot more could be done, said Stuart Rose, a pharmaceutical industry veteran, serial entrepreneur and founder of the Bioscience Center in Uptown Albuquerque, which houses about 20 biotech firms. We have huge opportunities to grow the biotech sector, but we need to educate more government officials and legislators about it, Rose said. We need to get the statewide community on board about our potential. In particular, state and local governments need to work closely with businesspeople and research institutes on targeted tax incentives and more funding opportunities for research and commercial ventures, according to GrowBio. The report specifically urges the state to build a specialized, collaborative economic development focus on bioscience, creating a New Mexico Bioscience Authority to help unify and build the industry cluster. This is just the beginning, said Greg Byrnes, executive director of the N.M. Biotechnology and Biomedical Association. We want to market this information to state officials and others to provide incentives to grow the industry. We believe this could lead to a lot more technology transfer from our labs and universities. It will take a firm public-private sector partnership to do that, said Dale Dekker, founding principal at Dekker/Perich/Sabatini, who helped create the GrowBio initiative. We need to look to the future to position our community, and our world-class scientists and researchers to help build our economy, Dekker said. This seems like one of those areas everybody can get behind. It could have a huge impact. WASHINGTON A North Carolina man was arrested Sunday after he walked into a popular pizza restaurant in northwest Washington carrying an assault rifle and fired one or more shots, D.C. police said. The man told police he had come to the restaurant to self-investigate a false election-related conspiracy theory involving Hillary Clinton that spread online during her presidential campaign. The incident caused panic, with several businesses going into lockdown as police swarmed the neighborhood after receiving the call shortly before 3 p.m. Police said 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch, of Salisbury, North Carolina, walked in the front door of Comet Ping Pong and pointed a firearm in the direction of a restaurant employee. The employee was able to flee and notify police. Police said Welch proceeded to discharge the rifle inside the restaurant; they think that all other occupants had fled when Welch began shooting. Welch has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. Police said there were no reported injuries. Interim D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said police arrived on the scene minutes after the first call, set up a perimeter and safely arrested Welch about 45 minutes after he entered the restaurant. Police recovered two firearms inside the restaurant; an additional weapon was recovered in Welchs car. Vivek Jain, of Potomac, Maryland, was eating lunch inside Banana Leaf, a nearby Indian restaurant, when Comet patrons came rushing inside. He said Banana Leaf was locked down for about 90 minutes. A bunch of people ran in from Comet and said a man walked in with a gun, Jain said. About 45 minutes later, he said, he saw a man walking backward out into the street with his hands in the air. He laid down on Connecticut Avenue and he was immediately picked up by the police and taken away, he said. The popular family restaurant, near Connecticut and Nebraska avenues NW in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of D.C., was swept up in the onslaught of fake news and conspiracy theories that were prevalent during the presidential campaign. The restaurant, its owner, staff and nearby businesses have been attacked on social media and received death threats. Although police initially said it did not appear the incident was related to the threats, businesses and residents immediately surmised it might be connected to pizzagate. James Alefantis, the owner of Comet Ping Pong, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Sunday. The restaurants owner and employees were threatened on social media in the days before the election after fake news stories circulated claiming that then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief were running a child sex ring from the restaurants backrooms. Even Michael Flynn, a retired general whom President-elect Donald Trump has tapped to advise him on national security, shared stories about another anti-Clinton conspiracy theory involving pedophilia. None of them were true. But the fake stories and threats persisted, some even aimed at children of Comet Ping Pong employees and patrons. The restaurants owner was forced to contact the FBI, local police, Facebook and other social-media platforms in an effort to remove the articles. Last month, citing its policy against posting the personal information of others, Reddit banned the pizzagate topic. But it didnt stop the harassment, and nearby businesses have received threats as well, according to police. On Sunday, Washington Post reporters involved in this article were the target of online threats shortly after it posted. Matt Carr, the owner of the Little Red Fox market and coffee shop, which is next door to Comet Ping Pong, said his business started getting threats last weekend. They got 30 to 40 calls before they stopped answering calls from blocked numbers, he said. One person said he wanted to line us up in front of a firing squad, said Carr, who spent more than an hour in lockdown with his employees Sunday. The threats were all tied to the Comet Ping Pong accusations online, he said. Theres some old painted-over symbol on the marquee that they claim is an international symbol of pedophilia and that there are underground tunnels. Theres some video on YouTube that has almost 100,000 views and talks about me, the owner of the Little Red Fox, by name. This was our worst fear, he said, that someone would read all this and come to the block with a gun. And today it happened. Politics and Prose, the bookstore that has been a Washington institution and neighborhood fixture for more than 30 years, was in the middle of a book event when attendees and staff saw police converging on the block, said Bradley Graham, a store co-owner. They, too, had received threats recently, Graham said, and were planning to meet with police Monday because we had feared that what, up to now, had been simply despicable menacing verbal attacks online or on the phone might escalate. Graham said he was told that the gunman walked into the kitchen at Comet Ping Pong on Sunday, presumably looking for the alleged tunnels where children were hidden and tortured. Graham believes that account of the gunmans actions came from an employee at the restaurant. He said the businesses are hoping to get more police protection, and we would also hope that law enforcement authorities will be prompted to take additional measures to shut down the sites where this hateful material is being spread, and also measures to try to trace the menacing phone calls. . . . Were all rather shaken, he said. Political figures have the means to deal with conspiratorial allegations and threats, but your neighborhood mom and pop shop does not, Carr said later in an email. I make coffee and breakfast burritos for a living. This is out of our league. D.C. Council member Mary Cheh was getting gas down the street from Comet Ping Pong and saw what she described as intense police activity around the restaurant. Cheh said she spoke with Mayor Muriel Bowser, who had been briefed by police. At the time she spoke to reporters, Cheh didnt know the gunmans actions were connected to the false rumors surrounding Comet Ping Pong, but she was concerned. Its very, very worrisome, Cheh said. Im just very worried that [the rumors] may have unleashed people who are unstable to pursue violent action, as has happened before. She praised the speed of the police response, which she said may have prevented an attack. It all looked so efficient and professional. I was very pleased it was locked down so quickly. Gareth Wade, 47, and Doug Clarke, 50, were sitting down for pizza and beer at Comet when they spotted a commotion. All of a sudden, said Wade, the server said someone just walked in with a shotgun. A man had just walked into the building, passed us into the back of the building, he seemed to have a shotgun or a rifle-type of [gun] and said we ought to vacate the building, Wade recalled the server saying. They rushed out of the restaurant and had planned to head to Politics and Prose, where Clarkes wife and 5-year-old took shelter, but they got separated. Clarke and Wade were met by a heavy police presence when they attempted to join up. Police said you cant go to the bookstore, Wade said. They ended up behind a nearby police barricade. Clarkes wife and son were forced to remain inside the bookstore. Meanwhile, Clarke was trying to reunite his son with a present he had received for his fifth birthday, a stuffed lion that they were forced to leave inside the restaurant. Hes kind of shaken up about the whole thing, Clarke said. Weve been talking a lot about it and trying to help him understand. That he was a man with a weapon, weapons are bad he was not a nice person. Steve Hendrix and Valerie Strauss contributed to this report. VIDEO: D.C. Police on Dec. 4 detained a gunman who had walked into Comet Ping Pong, a popular Northwest Washington restaurant and music venue. Police said no injuries were reported. (Faiz Siddiqui, Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) URL: http://wapo.st/2g0JZGc Embed code: pizzagate-1stld-writethru TUCSON, Ariz. Air Force attack jets will fly over the University of Arizona mall Sunday as part of a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the dedication of the campus new USS Arizona memorial. Two A-10s conducting the flyover belong to the 47th Fight Squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The units forerunner was the 47th Pursuit Squadron based at Hawaiis Wheeler Field. It was credited with shooting down eight Japanese aircraft during the Dec. 7, 1941 attack. The Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremony and memorial dedication will be the first public viewing of the memorial, which includes a full-scale outline of the battleships deck. The memorial includes a display of bronze medallions with names, ranks and home states of service members killed in the attack. FARMINGTON A bill working its way to the Navajo Nation Council asks delegates to support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribes request for a full environmental impact statement on the embattled Dakota Access Pipeline. The tribe has expressed concerns that the pipeline which would go under the Missouri River and a lake on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation will endanger its water supply as well as cultural lands and tribal burial grounds. The $3.8-billion, 1,168-mile pipeline is projected to carry more than 470,000 barrels of oil a day from oil fields in North Dakota to terminals in Illinois. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed a less rigorous environmental assessment, which concluded there would be no significant impact on federal land where the pipeline would be built. The assessment was released on July 25, but the tribe sued the corps, and construction near the lake was put on hold. The bill was introduced as some Navajo Nation veterans prepare to travel to North Dakota to join the protesters, some of whom refer to themselves as water protectors. The veterans hope their presence will help maintain peace as a Monday deadline for evacuation of the Oceti Sakowin campsite approaches. Law enforcement tactics have included the use of tear gas, rubber bullets and water hoses. Shiprock Chapter President Duane Chili Yazzie said last week that the group Veterans Stand for Standing Rock paid for two charter buses to transport veterans from Shiprock to the protest site and back. Organizers hoped to transport 22 veterans from each of the five agencies on the Navajo Nation. For months, tribal members and supporters have camped at the site along the Cannonball River to demonstrate against the pipeline. The Navajo Nation finds it in the best interest of the Navajo people to support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota, states the bill, which is sponsored by Delegate Nathaniel Brown who represents Chilchinbeto, Dennehotso and Kayenta chapters in Arizona. It has been assigned to the Naabikiyati Committee. Brown said in a telephone interview Thursday he proposed the bill after hearing stories from Navajos who are at the site about mistreatment of individuals by law enforcement. Although there are international laws to protect indigenous people from such action, they are not enforced in situations like Standing Rock, he said. This is about giving some support, Brown said. In addition, U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall are asking President Barack Obama to address the increased violence at the protest site. Heinrich wrote a letter to Obama on Wednesday requesting that the president work with the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Justice to reduce the conflict in North Dakota. The senator also questioned the Nov. 25 decision by the Army Corps of Engineers to close the campsite alongside the Cannonball River. The Army Corps of Engineers notified the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe that the portion of land north of the river, which is managed by the corps, would close for all public use on Monday. Heinrich asked Obama to overturn the decision to close the area and to de-escalate the violence at the site. I ask that you seek a peaceful resolution to this conflict that respects the desire of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe to protect their water and historic sacred sites, Heinrich wrote. Udall has also called on Obama to take action to protect protesters and to address the tribes concerns about the pipeline. In a letter sent to Obama on Wednesday, he also condemned private security forces that allegedly used attack dogs. Udall said he appreciates Obamas decision to temporarily halt a portion of the pipeline project. I am asking President Obama and his administration to take action now to resolve the situation in a way that respects the sovereign rights of the Standing Rock Sioux and the civil rights of those gathered at the site, Udall said in the statement. The senators have also urged the Obama administration to develop an alternative route for the pipeline. Noel Lyn Smith covers the Navajo Nation for The Daily Times. She can be reached at 505-564-4636. 2016 The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.) Visit The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.) at www.daily-times.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. _____ The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is continuing work to maintain the integrity of the underground prior to its reopening for waste emplacement sometime this month. WIPP announced workers have been busy bolting in the mine, a process where steel bolts are inserted into the walls and ceilings for infrastructure support. Workers have been playing catch-up at the facility, as they were unable to perform bolting or other maintenance procedures, known as ground control, for nine months after a February 2014 fire and radiological release in the underground. A news release from WIPP said workers installed 360 bolts in a seven day period recently, a new record. The performance of our underground operations crews has been outstanding, said Nuclear Waste Partnership president and project manager Phil Breidenbach in the release. They are improving ground control in some very difficult conditions, including working in personal protective equipment and respirators. The extra equipment must be worn by workers in areas contaminated by the radiological release, including Panel 7, where waste emplacement will resume upon reopening. Ground control operations were so far behind that several rock falls in the southern portion of the mine prompted WIPP officials to make the decision to close that area of the facility in November. The Department of Energy and Nuclear Waste Partnership have requested a Temporary Authorization from the New Mexico Environment Department to continue keeping that area closed. Deteriorating ground conditions, worker safety issues, the difficulties of rock bolting and ground control in contaminated areas, and the long-term integrity of the underground led to the decision to close the far south end, allowing for concentrated bolting in Panel 7 and associated drifts, the news release reads. The Temporary Authorization allows that area of WIPP to be closed before going through the process of changing the facilitys permit, which can take months, a Department of Energy spokesman said. Concurrently, the Department of Energy completed their Operational Readiness Review of the facility last week. Its the final review before WIPP is deemed fit for reopening. The review team presented their findings to WIPP officials at the end of the week. Information on the results was not available. WIPP town hall What: Informational meeting updating the public on WIPPs recovery process with a focus on mining and ground control Who: Open to the public When: 5:30 p.m. Dec. 8 Where: Carlsbad City Council Chambers, 101 N. Halagueno Maddy Hayden may be reached at 575-628-5512, mahayden@currentargus.com and @Maddy_J_Hayden on Twitter. 2016 the Carlsbad Current-Argus (Carlsbad, N.M.) Visit the Carlsbad Current-Argus (Carlsbad, N.M.) at www.currentargus.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Every year, the United Nations issues a global appeal for humanitarian funds. This money is designed to help the work performed by the international body and nongovernmental organizations partnering with it to aid people in dire need worldwide, with estimates drawn up in conjunction with teams in the field. For 2017, the world body is appealing for a record amount: $22.2 billion. That money is needed to help more than 92.8 million of the most vulnerable people in 33 countries, the organization said in a report released Monday. The appeal is the largest request by the organization since the yearly call was established in 1991. The amount of funding requested has surged dramatically over the past quarter century. In 1992, $2.7 billion was requested. Over the past 10 years alone, the amount has risen to about 400 percent. In some ways, this is because of the expanded reach and depth of understanding that the United Nations and its NGO partners have today, not to mention the increasingly complicated humanitarian system itself. But it is also a reflection that much of the world is embroiled in crises and that many of these crises are prolonged and intractable. In particular, there has been a surge in the number of conflicts meaning that while much of the funding was once sought in response to natural disasters, it now is driven mostly by violence and war. Globally, more than 80 percent of the needs stem from man-made conflicts many of which are now protracted and push up demand for relief year after year, Stephen OBrien, the U.N. humanitarian chief and relief coordinator, said in an emailed statement. The United Nations is asking for more than $8 billion for the Syrian crisis alone, split between money needed for Syria and money needed for the spillover refugee issue in the region. The report says that the Syrian conflict has been marked by unparalleled suffering, destruction and disregard for human life, and that humanitarian needs are only likely to grow if fighting continues. These problems arent confined to Syria, either. The Heidelberg Institutes Conflict Barometer measured 43 violent wars around the world in 2015 an increase from 27 in 1997. According to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.N. data, 0.8 percent of the worlds population was forcibly displaced at the end of 2015 the highest percentage since record-keeping began in 1951. The U.N. appeal represents only some of the funds sought by humanitarian agencies over the past year a number of major aid organizations make their appeals outside the U.N. framework. Even so, the world body has struggled to reach anything close to the funding it seeks over recent years: The U.N. report notes that the 2016 funding requirement was only 52 percent covered by November, even though funds received were up substantially. And while some requests, such as one to aid those affected around the Iraqi city of Mosul, can receive relatively large amounts of funding (the Mosul Flash Appeal received 82 percent of required funds by November), others languish. Only 4 percent about $440,200 of the appeal for funds in Gambia was received last year. When appeals are not funded, people in crises suffer, OBrien said. More people do not have their humanitarian needs met and some may risk death as a consequence. Children lose years of schooling and illnesses associated with malnutrition are not treated. The appeal is being made at a time when many Western nations are looking increasingly inward. The United States has long been one of the top contributors to U.N. humanitarian funds data from the organizations Financial Tracking Service found that so far this month, the United States had contributed $3.14 billion of the 2016 U.N. humanitarian response, about 30.9 percent of the total funded. But like other big donors, such as Germany and Britain, the United States may be distracted by internal debates over the next year. President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office in January, has spoken skeptically about the wisdom of sending money abroad or taking in refugees. I watched as we built schools in Iraq and theyd be blown up, Trump told The Washington Post in March. And wed build another one and it would get blown up. And we would rebuild it three times. And yet we cant build a school in Brooklyn. We have no money for education, because we cant build in our own country. And at what point do you say hey, we have to take care of ourselves. Shannon Scribner, Oxfam Americas associate director for humanitarian programs and policy, said that many in the humanitarian community were concerned about potential cuts to foreign aid under the new administration and widespread misconceptions about how much money the United States gives. If we become more insular, that could mean not helping people abroad, Scribner said. nations The United States has a higher tolerance for torture than any other country on the United Nations Security Council, and Americans are more comfortable with torture than citizens of war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Ukraine. Those are two key findings reported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday, in a new report highlighting global perspectives on war. The data comes during a renewed debate over torture in the United States. In November, Americans elected a president who has endorsed the use of waterboarding and, as Donald Trump said in February, a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding to extract information from terrorism suspects. Trump appears to have backed away from his commitment to torture since consulting with his nominee for secretary of defense, retired general James Mattis. But in an interview with the New York Times last month, Trump said obliquely that if waterboarding was important to the American people, I would go for it. I would be guided by that. Heres what the American people think, according to the ICRC report: Researchers found that 33 percent of Americans surveyed said torture was a part of war. And 46 percent of Americans said that enemy combatants could be tortured to obtain important military information. By comparison, 16 percent of Afghans and 14 percent of Ukrainians said torture was part of war. While 18 percent in South Sudan and 15 percent in China said they would tolerate the torture of enemy combatants. The ICRC interviewed more than 17,000 people from 15 countries and the Palestinian Territories. That data raises a number of questions about the support for torture and an apparent decrease in respect for international humanitarian law. One of those questions is why Americans are more supportive of torturing enemy combatants than those living in countries in the midst of deadly wars. The further away you are from armed conflict, the less sensitive you are to what it actually means, said Patrick Youssef, the ICRCs deputy director for Africa and its former head of mission in Iraq. The American willingness to use torture was part of a worrying trend identified by the ICRC a growing belief globally that enemy combatants can be tortured for information. When researchers asked that question in 1999, just 28 percent of respondents said enemy combatants could be tortured. This year, 36 percent said it was justified. That finding has raised concern, ICRC researchers said, about the role of international law in the worlds numerous armed conflicts. The report said the rules of armed conflict, like the Geneva Conventions, are being questioned perhaps more than at any time in recent history. But theres also a shocking lack of awareness that those rules exist 39 percent of the Americans who supported torture told the ICRC they didnt realize my country had agreed to ban torture as a signatory to the Geneva Conventions. The ICRC study isnt the first to establish Americans increasing tolerance for torture in recent years. A Pew Research Center study in February found that the 58 percent of Americans think the torture of suspected terrorists can be justified. Of 38 nations surveyed, only five countries have a higher tolerance for torturing suspected terrorists, the Pew study found: Uganda (78 percent), Lebanon (72 percent), Israel (62 percent), Kenya (62 percent) and Nigeria (61 percent) In 2014, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found that a majority of Americans thought that aggressive interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects after Sept. 11, 2001 were justified. torture The Army Corps of Engineers said Sunday that it will not approve an easement necessary to permit the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota, marking a monumental victory for the Native American tribes and thousands of others who have flocked in recent months to protest the oil pipeline. Im happy as heck, said Everett Iron Eyes, a retired director of natural resources for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and one of the organizers of a camp that protesters set up near the pipeline site. All our prayers have been answered. Officials in November had delayed the key decision, saying more discussion was necessary about the proposed crossing given that it would pass very near the reservation of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, whose leaders have repeatedly expressed fears that a spill could threaten the water supplies of its people. Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, its clear that theres more work to do, Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Armys assistant secretary for civil works, said in a statement Sunday. The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing. The decision averts a possible showdown Monday, the date the Army Corps, which owns land on either side of the lake, had set for cutting off access to the protesters camp. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, worried about violence, had sent mediators to the area over the weekend. The victory for the Standing Rock Sioux and its allies could be short-lived, though. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to support pipelines such as this one. And Kelcy Warren, the chief executive of the pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners, has been a major contributor to the Republican Party and Trumps campaign. Trump, who owned a stake between $500,000 and $1 million in Energy Transfer Partners, has sold the shares, his spokeswoman Hope Hicks said. Iron Eyes said that we shall remain vigilant regardless. We have witnessed the power of being peaceful and prayerful. What started as a small but fierce protest in a remote spot along the Missouri River months agohas evolved into an epic standoff involving hundreds of tribes, various celebrities and activists from around the country. It has involved heated confrontations police have sometimes employed water cannons, pepper spray and rubber bullets and has carried on through the swelter of summer into the snowy cold ofwinter. Hundreds of veterans arrived in recent days. On Sunday, news of the decision triggered a wave of celebration and relief among those who have fought to stop the 1,170-mile-long pipelines progress. A procession of tribal members and activists marched along the main dirt road at the Oceti Sakowin encampment set up by protesters. A crowd numbering in the thousands gathered around the camps sacred fire, the hub of activity here, as tribal elders sang prayer songs and beat drums. Activists acknowledged that it was only one step forward in a larger fight over Native American rights. Denise McKay, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux standing by the sacred fire Sunday afternoon, said she expects Energy Transfer Partners to push back on the decision. It is a temporary victory, said McKay, 54. Weve got to stay put and stay united. McKays daughter, Chelsea Summers, 25, said, Everybody is still here for the long haul. Nearby, Bruce Gali took drags from a cigarette and watched the festivities. He made his second trip to the camp last week and said he would keep returning from his home in northeastern California until authorities left the area and the pipeline was shut down. Until all the razor wire comes down, until the helicopters stop flying overhead, the spotlights turn off, the drill pad is dismantled, this isnt the end, said Gali, a 67-year-old member of the Pitt River Tribe. Its not just about this pipeline. We commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Barack Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II said in a statement. With this decision we look forward to being able to return home and spend the winter with our families. Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the outcome was a reminder of the power of individuals to demand environmental justice. She said, Today, the voices of indigenous people were heard. In the Dakota language, the word oahe signifies a place to stand on. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and its allies in the environmental and activist movements had said they were doing just that: using Lake Oahe in North Dakota as a place to take a stand by setting up camps and obstructing roads to block the $3.8 billion pipeline.Dakota Access Pipeline. The steel pipeline, developed and majority-owned by Energy Transfer Partners, would connect the Bakken and Three Forks oil production areas in North Dakota to a crude oil terminal and pipeline terminus in Illinois. At 30 inches in diameter, it could transport an estimated 470,000 to 570,000 barrels of oil per day. The company says the project, which crosses four states, is 92 percent complete overall and 99 percent complete in North Dakota. Army officials said that the consideration of alternative routes would be best accomplished through an environmental-impact statement with full public input and analysis, a process likely to take many months. Ordinarily the Army Corps, which has jurisdiction over domestic petroleum pipelines, does not require a detailed environmental-impact statement, but it does require environmental assessments of the effect on water crossings. North Dakota elected officials criticized the Army Corps. Its long past time that a decision is made on the easement going under Lake Oahe, said Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D. This administrations delay in taking action after Ive pushed the White House, Army Corps and other federal agencies for months to make a decision means that todays move doesnt actually bring finality to the project. The pipeline still remains in limbo. Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said Sundays decision sends a very chilling signal to others who want to build infrastructure in this country, arguing that Obama had stymied a legal pipeline project. Im encouraged we will restore law and order next month when we get a President who will not thumb his nose at the rule of law, Cramer said in a statement. I feel badly for the Corps of Engineers because of the diligent work it did on this project, only to have their Commander-in-Chief throw them under the bus. North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple, R, called Sundays decision a serious mistake that does nothing to resolve the issue. He said it would prolong a dangerous situation by having protesters camping out on federal land during the winter. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, however, praised the Armys decision. The thoughtful approach established by the Army today ensures that there will be an in-depth evaluation of alternative routes for the pipeline and a closer look at potential impacts, she said Sunday. The Armys announcement underscores that tribal rights reserved in treaties and federal law, as well as Nation-to-Nation consultation with tribal leaders, are essential components of the analysis to be undertaken in the environmental impact statement going forward. Derek Hawkins contributed to this report from a camp near Cannon Ball, N.D. pipeline-1stld-writethru WASHINGTON Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden will headline a star-studded send-off for Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid on Thursday as the Nevada Democrat ends his historic 30-year run in the chamber. With Congress aiming to end the legislative session this week, Reids last big day in office will conclude at a gala in the Kennedy Caucus Room at the Russell Senate Office Building, according to senior advisers. Behind the scenes, Reid is dispensing parting wisdom to his caucus, with his most senior political adviser giving an address to Democrats about how Reid delivered Nevada for Clinton and won every key congressional race. The tribute will include speeches from Clinton and Biden as well as two senators who have figured prominently in Reids 12 years as Democratic leader: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Reids longtime sparring partner in one of the Capitols most legendary up-and-down relationships, and Charles E. Schumer, the Jewish Democrat from Brooklyn with a larger-than-life personality who became best friends with the soft-spoken Mormon from the tiny mining town of Searchlight, Nevada. The event will also include the unveiling of Reids portrait, which will hang in the Capitol corridors near the Senate chamber. Its an unusually quick turnaround for a portrait unveiling, something that usually takes place several years after a leader retires. Earlier Thursday, Reid will deliver his final floor speech, one of the most anticipated farewell addresses in some time. Tied for third-longest-serving Senate leader, Reid has been very successful and very controversial. His work with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who was speaker for four of Reids years as majority leader, delivered and then protected key portions of President Barack Obamas agenda. Pelosi will also speak at Reids party next week. Yet Reids means in achieving some of his goals often infuriated the other side. When Reid prepared to end filibusters on most presidential appointments, McConnell delivered a scathing critique, concluding by saying history might remember Reid as the worst leader here ever. His penchant for delivering insults made his daily speeches must-see TV. In the months leading up to Clintons presidential race against Donald Trump, Reid called Trump a racist who was an overweight spoiled brat with a terrible business track record. In the aftermath of Trumps victory, Reid has ratcheted up his rhetoric toward the president-elect. Those speeches infuriated Republicans, and it will be interesting to see how many Republicans attend his farewell speech and the party later Thursday. In private, Reid is using his last days to try to provide a guidepost for Democrats to turn around their fortunes. In a closed-door huddle Thursday, Senate Democrats heard from Rebecca Lambe, Reids longtime senior political adviser based in Las Vegas. Unlike so many other states on Election Day, Nevada went big for Democrats. Clinton won the key swing state, in part because of a large turnout by Hispanic voters, and Catherine Cortez Masto (D) won the highly contested race to succeed Reid. In addition, House Democrats picked up two seats previously held by Republicans while across the other 49 states Democrats netted just four additional House seats. Democratic aides described the room as rapt when Lambe went through the long history of how she built the Nevada Democratic Party into what is now simply called the Harry Reid machine. Senators, situated at small tables throughout the Lyndon B. Johnson Room just off the chamber floor, turned their chairs around to listen to Lambes story. That courtesy is not always afforded to outside speakers at the regular Thursday luncheon. Look, theres no secret sauce, Lambe told the caucus, according to one attendee. She focused Democrats on building up their respective state party organizations, by raising money for state committees and working with them to continually register voters. When Reid became Democratic leader, after Nevada delivered its votes to George W. Bush in the 2004 elections, Republicans held a slight voter-registration edge over Democrats in the state. By the time the 2008 primary season ended, Nevada Democrats held an edge of roughly 100,000 voters over Republicans and by the end of the 2016 season, Democrats had re-established a similar margin. In 2018, 25 Senate Democrats are up for re-election to just eight Republicans, and 10 of those Democrats come from states that Trump just won including a handful in deep-red states that gave Trump a margin ranging from 19 percent to 42 percent. Those senators paid the closest attention to Lambes presentation and asked the most questions, aides said. She encouraged Democrats to never overlook even small pockets of votes. During the 2016 race, Cortez Masto was languishing, particularly among Nevadas growing Asian and Pacific Islander populations. The campaign oversaw a deep dive into that community, discovered that birth control and womens issues were of particular concern, and then tailored messages specifically on those issues to that community and helped turn out a big margin. His last days in the Senate are likely to mark the end of Reids prominent time in Washington. He has no plans to become a lobbyist, nor will he open a political center attached to a university. Hes attended just one state dinner and one White House picnic (only as favors to children) in 30 years in the Senate and four years in the House. I dont do social stuff, he said in a mid-October interview. That will change, for just one day, this week. reid The white man charged with killing nine black parishioners inside a Charleston, South Carolina, church last year, who had asked to represent himself in court, has reversed course and is now seeking to have his defense attorneys back for part of the trial. This request from Dylann Roof, 22, comes less than a week after a judge approved his request to represent himself in the federal hate-crimes trial stemming from the church massacre and it was filed just three days before jury selection is scheduled to begin. Roof was indicted on 33 counts related to the massacre at the Emanuel AME Church, and he faces a possible death sentence in the case. He also faces a potential death sentence in a separate state trial on charges of murder and attempted murder; that trial is set to begin in January. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel said last month that he would allow Roof to represent himself in the case, though he warned him it was strategically unwise to abandon attorneys including David Bruck, who has extensive experience with death-penalty cases. Bruck and Roofs other attorneys were appointed as standby counsel to assist him during the case. On Sunday, Roof requested that his attorneys be reinstated to represent him in the first portion of the trial, which deals with whether he will be found guilty. This message was relayed in a two-sentence filing from Bruck and Roofs other attorneys that was followed by a handwritten message signed by Roof: Roofs request to restore his attorneys, if granted by Gergel, would focus on the portion of the trial during which the death penalty will take center stage. If Roof is found guilty, the penalty phase of the trial would focus on attorneys making their cases about why he should or should not be sentenced to death. Federal authorities have previously outlined some of their reasons he should be sentenced to death, noting in the indictment for example that three of the victims of the shooting were between 70 and 87 years old. One of the aggravating factors that can warrant a death sentence, according to the federal death-penalty statute, is if a victim is particularly vulnerable due to old age. When the Justice Department announced that prosecutors would seek a death sentence, it argued that Roof demonstrated a lack of remorse, that he had specifically targeted the churchs Bible study group to magnify the societal impact of the rampage and that his animosity towards African Americans played a role in the murders. Roofs decision to still try to represent himself in the penalty phase, meanwhile, could impact what evidence is introduced in an effort to keep him off death row. One of the mitigating factors that can be used to argue for life imprisonment rather than a death sentence is whether a defendant has any sort of impairment. Bruck had indicated in a court filing that he intended to raise the issue of Roofs mental state during the penalty phase, writing in a court document that he planned to introduce expert evidence relating to a mental disease or defect or any other mental condition bearing on the issue of punishment. After the church massacre, authorities found a manifesto online that belonged to Roof. It was filled with racist characterizations of black people and contained images of Roof holding a Confederate battle flag and standing in front of a Confederate museum. Prosecutors say they believe Roof self-radicalized online, taking on violent white supremacist beliefs through the Internet. In addition, authorities say they found two handwritten manifestoes from Roof, one in his jail cell and the other in his car, along with a list of churches. Attorneys for Roof have offered to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence, but federal prosecutors have not accepted that agreement. In a hearing last month, Roof said he wanted to maintain his plea of not guilty in the case. charleton NEW DELHI The dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir has been one of the constants in South Asian affairs for decades. But President-elect Donald Trumps running mate thinks his boss might have the right touch to break the impasse. In an interview on Meet the Press Sunday, Vice President-elect Mike Pence appeared to suggest that Kashmir is among the spots where Trump can deploy his extraordinary dealmaking skills to bear on lessening tensions and solving problems in the world. Hes already made ripples on both sides of the border and not in a way that seemed to forge common ground. Trump surprised many in India last week when he told Pakistanis Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that Pakistan is a fantastic country with fantastic people. But the tensions over Kashmir elevated recently with a serious of cross-border attacks remains one of the regions most intractable problems. And just to make it even more delicate: both India and Pakistan have nuclear arsenals. Brokering any solution is not easy. Heres why. Summer of Discontent This year, Kashmir has been ravaged by violence since July 8, when Indian security forces killed a popular militant commander. His death triggered weeks of violent clashes between the police and angry youth protesters. More than 70 people died in the unrest and about 100 others were blinded by pellet guns fired by Indian soldiers, officials said. The region dotted with lakes and valleys in the shadow of the Himalayas took an even more perilous turn in late September when Pakistani-based militants attacked an army camp, killing 19 Indian soldiers. India said Pakistan sent the militants across the border, a charge that Islamabad denied. The attack prompted Indias prime minister, Narendra Modi, to carry out a strike across the border on Pakistani army posts. Dozens of soldiers have died on both sides in the exchange of heavy fire in recent weeks. A brief history of the conflict Claimed by both Pakistan and India, Kashmir has been the site of nearly three decades of armed insurgency. Rebels have demanded complete independence from India or merger with Pakistan. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the Islamic insurgent groups, a charge Islamabad denies. The arch-foes have fought two of three wars over Kashmir. In 1947, India gained independence from British colonial rule, but the subcontinent was partitioned into Hindu-majority India and mostly Muslim Pakistan. The Hindu king of Jammu and Kashmir at that time signed a treaty acceding the state to India, after Pakistani tribal militias mounted attacks in the region. India complained about Pakistans aggression to the United Nations, which called for a referendum to determine Kashmirs status. The conditions for the referendum requires Pakistan to withdraw its troops from the region and India to maintain minimum military strength in the state. But the referendum has never been held. Where is the border? The two countries have what is called the Line of Control, a de facto border set after battles in 1972. But in reality, both countries are unprepared to accept the heavily militarized line as the permanent border. The parliaments in India and Pakistan have passed resolutions claiming Kashmir in its entirety. Indias foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said in September: My firm advice to Pakistan is: abandon this dream. What do Kashmiris actually want? Not everybody in Indias state of Jammu and Kashmir agrees about what they want. Some people in Indias Kashmir have been advocating complete independence, others want to be part of Pakistan. Another section of people want more autonomy even as they remain with India. The Hindu-majority regions of the state do not support the separatist groups. According to a poll conducted in 2010 by the London-based think tank Chatham House, 44 percent in Pakistani-administered Kashmir favored independence, compared with 43 percent in Indian-administered Kashmir. The conflict is complicated by groups on both sides Kashmir is not just a source of clash between two sovereign nations. Over the years, many other forces have complicated the matter. There are armed Islamist groups in Pakistan that fuel and abet attacks on the Indian forces in Kashmir, experts say. And on the Indian side, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference is a coalition of separatist leaders in Kashmir demand varying degrees of independence for Kashmir. They do not participate in the state elections, but they are not waging an armed insurgency either. At this point, India and Pakistan are locked in a war of words and cant even agree on whether to have talks about having talks. trump-india Work is under way on a new refrigerated warehouse in Santa Teresa that is under construction by a Las Cruces cold storage company. Valley Cold Storage & Transportation provides refrigerated warehousing and distribution for southern New Mexicos agriculture businesses. The company announced last summer that it would build a $13.7 million, 105,000-square-foot cold storage facility at Westpark Logistics Center; the final footprint for the project is closer to 91,000 square feet. Gov. Susana Martinez celebrated the groundbreaking on Monday. The companys new unit will create 14 jobs, ramping up to an estimated 33 jobs over the next three years, said Jerry Pacheco, president of the Santa Teresa-based Border Industrial Association. At Westpark, Valley Cold Storage & Transportation joins MCS Industries Inc., a maker of frames and home decor and FedEx Ground, which is building a $20 million, 215,000-square-foot distribution center in the park. Santa Teresas Westpark is a little over a year old and we will have close to 600,000 square feet, which is really good momentum, Pacheco said. The new industrial park is close to the U.S.-Mexico border and the Santa Teresa port of entry. The region has been a magnet for cross-border logistics companies. Pacheco said he expects Valleys arrival to draw other cold storage facilities to the industrial hub. ALEPPO, Syria Rebel shelling killed two Russian nurses and eight civilians Monday in Aleppo, and a Russian fighter jet crashed as it was returning to an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean after a sortie over Syria, but the pilot ejected safely, Moscow officials said. The shelling that targeted government-controlled western Aleppo was one of the most intense in recent days. It coincided with a crushing air and ground assault that has seen forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad recapture more than half of opposition-held eastern Aleppo. Russia and militias allied with Iran and Lebanons Hezbollah have been staunch supporters of Assad in his countrys bitter civil war, now in its sixth year. The shelling initially killed one female nurse and wounded two Russian medics working in a field hospital, a Russian officer told reporters in the northern city. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Moscow had sent hospital equipment to the government-controlled Furqan neighborhood on Sunday. Another nurse who was wounded in the shelling later died, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The Russian and Syrian doctors tried their best to save her, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said in an emailed statement. Another Russian, a pediatrician, remains in critical condition. He urged international organizations such as the Red Cross to condemn the attack on the health workers who were doing their medical duty to help the civilians of Aleppo. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said talks would be held with the United States this week in Geneva on a rebel withdrawal from eastern Aleppo, Russian news agencies reported. The Russians have tried before to coax rebels into leaving the territory, setting up corridors out of the district, but the fighters have refused because they want to retain their control over parts of the city. Some fear the Russians and their Syrian allies would not ensure their safety. Mondays fighting was the worst in days. Syrian government artillery, tanks and warplanes pounded rebel-held parts of the city for hours. The airstrikes were so intense that buildings on the western side of the city shook. Opposition activists and rescue workers said four people were killed in a barrel bomb attack on a rebel-held district, and three more were trapped in the rubble. Insurgents also struck back in the government-held western parts of the city with dozens of mortar shells. At least eight civilians were killed in different neighborhoods, according to state news agency SANA. Among the dead were two children and four women, said the opposition Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Thick smoke billowed from behind Aleppos famous citadel where Syrian forces were advancing from the west and east to try to cut rebel-held districts in half. On the citys southern edge, heavy machine gun fire could be heard. An Associated Press team in government-controlled Aleppo said the attack on the Russian field hospital left the large tent charred and beds overturned. The shelling struck shortly before the inauguration of makeshift clinic. The AP crew was accompanied by representatives of the Syrian army. Konashenkov said an unspecified number of residents at the field hospital were wounded, and he accused the U.S., Britain and France of telling the rebels the location of the hospital. The blood of our soldiers is on the hands of those who ordered this murder those who created, nurtured and armed these beasts in human form and named them the opposition,' he said. Asked about the accusation, the British Defense Ministry declined to comment. The Russian Defense Ministry also said the Su-33 fighter jet crashed in the Mediterranean as it returned to the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov after a sortie over Syria. Because of the failure of the arrester systems cable, the Su-33 fighter rolled off the deck, the ministry said. The pilot ejected successfully and was unharmed, the ministry said, adding that Russian military operations over Syria would not be affected by the incident. This is the second loss of an aircraft from the Admiral Kuznetsov since it arrived off Syria last month. A MiG-29 crashed into the sea Nov. 15 while trying to land on the carrier. In a ground offensive that began last week, Syrian government forces seized large parts of the Aleppo enclave that have been under rebel control since 2012. Mondays fighting was most intense near the dividing line between eastern and western Aleppo as government and allied troops pushed their way from the eastern flank, reaching less than 1 kilometer (half a mile) from the citadel in the center of the city. Rebel fighters clashed with advancing troops and also lobbed mortars and shells into the government-controlled part of Aleppo to the west. The opposition-run Thiqa News agency and the Syrian Civil Defense said four civilians were killed in the rebel-held Zabadiyeh district when barrel bombs were dropped there. In nearby rebel-controlled Idlib province, Syrian opposition activists said Russian and Syrian aircraft stepped up assaults, a day after air raids killed more than 60 people. The activist-run Local Coordination Committees said airstrikes on Monday hit the towns of Binnish, Maarat Nasaan and Saraqib, as well as the provincial capital, Idlib. The network said three children were killed, blaming the attacks on Russian aircraft. Rebels also sent rockets into the predominantly Shiite towns of Foua and Kfarya, in Idlib province. Online video posted by activists showed clouds of smoke rising and wreckage sustained by the blasts. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 288 civilians have been killed in the province since Oct. 20, when Syrian government and Russian aircraft intensified airstrikes. The Syrian Civil Defense in Idlib said 65 civilians were killed in Sundays airstrikes across the province, including attacks on two rural marketplaces that killed dozens. ___ Associated Press writers Howard Amos and Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed. COXS BAZAR, Bangladesh The Myanmar soldiers came in the morning, the young mother says. They set fire to the concrete-and-thatch homes, forcing the villagers to cluster together. When some of her neighbors tried to escape into the fields, they were shot. After that, she says, most people stopped running away. They drove us out of our houses, men and women in separate lines, ordering us to keep our hands folded on the back of our heads, says 20-year-old Mohsena Begum, her voice choking as she described what happened to the little village of Caira Fara, which had long been home to hundreds of members of Myanmars minority Rohingya community. She said that when about 50 people had been gathered together, the soldiers, along with a group of local men, pulled four village leaders from the crowd and slit their throats. Muslims in an overwhelmingly Buddhist nation, the Rohingya have long faced persecution in Myanmar, where most are denied citizenship. The latest outbreak of violence was triggered by October attacks on guard posts near the Bangladesh border that killed nine police officers. While the attackers identities and motives are unclear, the government launched a massive counter-insurgency sweep through Rohingya areas in western Rakhine state. Most Rohingya live in Rakhine, which borders Bangladesh. The government, which has implied the attacks were carried out by Rohingya sympathizers, has acknowledged using helicopter gunships in support of ground troops in the sweep. While survivors and human rights groups have tracked waves of anti-Rohingya violence in recent weeks, the Myanmar government insists that stories like Begums are exaggerations. Myanmars leader, the Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has accused the international community of stoking unrest. It doesnt help if everybody is just concentrating on the negative side of the situation, in spite of the fact that there were attacks on police outposts, she said in a recent interview on Singapores Channel News Asia. Suu Kyi, whose party took power in March after decades of military-backed rule, has been accused of not acting strongly enough to curb the violence against the more than 1 million Rohingya believed to be in the country. Although many have lived in Rakhine for generations, they are widely seen as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. It helps if people recognize the difficulty and are more focused on resolving these difficulties rather than exaggerating them, so that everything seems worse than it really is, she said in the interview. But Begum says she has no need to exaggerate what happened in Caira Fara. She said that after the four leaders were killed, violence churned through the village in chaotic scenes of horror. Begums husband, a poor, illiterate farm laborer, was beaten and then murdered by having his throat slit, along with an unknown number of other villagers, she said. Their bodies were eventually driven away in a truck. She said attackers knocked her young son knocked from her grasp, then raped her. Finally, when the soldiers werent paying attention, she grabbed her son and ran into the nearby hills. After hiding for two days, her brother gave her enough money about $38 to pay smugglers to get her and her son into Bangladesh. When Bangladeshi border guards stopped them, she began to weep. I told them I have no one to protect me there, she says, and told them: Look at my baby! He will die if I go back there.' After that, they let her pass. Much of Rakhine has been closed to outsiders, including journalists, since the violence began. However, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, leader of a commission formed to investigate the situation in Rakhine state, was allowed to visit in recent days. He is expected to hold a press conference Tuesday in Yangon, Myanmars biggest city. Along the banks of the Naf River, which marks the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar, its not difficult to find people who can talk about what is happening. Some 15,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh over past month, often brought in by smugglers, according to police and intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the government refuses to release numbers publicly. They have joined up to 500,000 undocumented Rohingya who have been living in Bangladesh after arriving from Myanmar in waves since the 1970s. Some 33,000 registered Rohingya refugees live the Coxs Bazar district. Bangladesh does not welcome Rohingya its maritime patrols sometimes turn back refugee boats full of them but it is seen as a haven compared to Myanmar. The U.N. says up 30,000 Rohingya Muslims have abandoned their homes amid the recent violence. Satellite images analyzed by the rights group Human Rights Watch show 1,250 structures destroyed in November in Rohingya villages. Osman Gani, a thin, fast-talking Arabic teacher, fled after his village, Gouzo Bil, was attacked Nov. 11. They came and killed mercilessly. They burned our homes, says Gani, standing near the Naf River over the weekend. No one was there to save us. He hid with his family for about a week near the village. But when searches intensified, and with soldiers targeting men, he was forced to leave Myanmar without his family. I had no other choice but to leave them behind. I came to the bank of the river and started swimming, he says. His family was able to join him in Bangladesh a few days later. As he fled north, he used his mobile phone to film destruction in other Rohingya villages he passed through. In some, the blackened remains of what appear to be children can be seen amid the wreckage of homes. Ganis voice can be heard in some of the videos but The Associated Press could not confirm their authenticity. They (the army) oppressed us and fired at us from aircraft, Gani says. People were killed in front of my house. They chased the girls and gunned them down. And they burned many people. They burned them in front of my house. I have shot videos! he says, holding out his mobile phone to a reporter. Dont you see the charred bodies? While he was initially in hiding after the attack, Osmani said he also managed to slip back into his village and film what remained of his home. As he walks through the village, a child can be heard talking to him. Where are you coming from? the boy asks. Gani doesnt answer, instead asking, Wheres my cow? Then he pans through the ashes and broken concrete. This is my land, my home, he says. This is Puittas. This is Uncle Yunus. ___ AP writer Tim Sullivan contributed to this report from New Delhi. During a live interview on Britains Sky News over the weekend, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was asked to name South Koreas president, who is embroiled in a political scandal. Johnson, a controversial backer of the Brexit vote, demurred. We are not getting into a pub quiz about leaders around the world, Johnson said, before making a personal appeal to the journalist asking him the question, Dermot Murnaghan. I am going to, with great respect, invite you out to the pub, Dermot, so we can take these conversations further, Johnson said.I have a terrible feeling if I keep answering you, you will keep coming back with more. Then he removed the headset he had been using, waved his hand and walked away. Dont you want enlightenment? You might be meeting her, Murnaghan said as Johnson was leaving, sporting a grin that suggested he was pleased by the exchange. The embattled South Korean presidents name is Park Geun-hye. Quizzing politicians about the names of foreign leaders has become something of a sport for the Sky News journalist, who hosts a show that often interviews British politicians. In September, he had quizzed the top opposition politician who deals with foreign affairs, Emily Thornberry, on the name of the French foreign minister. Dont start pub-quizzing me, Dermot, Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary for the Labour Party, had responded. Thornberry admitted she didnt know the name, then suggested that she was being treated unfairly by Sky News and asked whether her government counterpart, Johnson, had ever been asked. Murnaghan did, in fact, ask Johnson about the French foreign minister on Sunday, and the polyglot Brexiteer responded accurately: The French foreign minister is mon ami Jean-Marc Ayrault. Johnsons flustered response to the question about the South Korean leader suggests that he wasnt so sure about his answer in this instance. A number of politicians have been caught out in the past year when asked about foreign affairs. By far the most notorious was when Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Partys candidate in the U.S. presidential election, responded with What is Aleppo? when asked about the northern city that has been at the center of fighting in Syria. While Johnsons response may seem egregious, even the harshest critics would admit that the stresses of live television can make it hard to get the details right at all points. Murnaghan himself may know: Last year, while interviewing Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, the Sky News host introduced him as Toomas Hendrik and then referred to him as President Hendrik. Ilves immediately pulled out his earpiece and walked out of the interview. As he left, Ilves could be heard saying tell him to shut up and get my name right. britain-johnson Donald Trumps selection Monday of retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development sets up what could be a collision between the nominees philosophical aversion to social safety-net programs and an agency that administers some of the governments most expansive programs for helping minorities and low-income people. If Carson remains true to his political commentary about the nations housing programs, he could pursue a conservative agenda sharply at odds with efforts by the Obama administration to promote racial integration in housing and with other anti-segregation policies championed by minority groups such as the NAACP. Carson might also abandon or place new restrictions on government subsidies and other programs that conservatives criticize as fostering a culture of overreliance on government handouts, according to housing advocates alarmed by his nomination. It could prove difficult, however, for Carson to manage, much less change, the fundamental course of an organization as massive as HUD. By his admission, Carson has never run an organization of that size and is far from fluent in housing-policy issues. His leadership of the department will be a test case for Trumps stated governing philosophy that it is better for Washington outsiders, even those with no policy experience, to hold the levers of federal power. Ben Carson has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities, Trump said in a statement announcing his decision to nominate Carson. We have talked at length about my urban renewal agenda and our message of economic revival, very much including our inner cities. Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country and is part of ensuring that this is a Presidency representing all Americans. Carson is receiving counsel from Alphonso Jackson, HUD secretary under President George W. Bush, who has suggested he rely heavily on the departments professional staff to help him set priorities when he takes over the agency. We have discussed that over the last couple of weeks, Jackson said in an interview. The Senior Executive Service people at HUD are extremely intelligent and valuable to any secretary, if he will listen to them. Major changes to the governments role in housing would require Congress to act, but policy experts said Carson will have the power to make many changes on his own using his departments rulemaking authority. He could, for instance, seek to change rules that determine who is eligible for housing assistance and could institute tougher work requirements for people in subsidized housing. Advocates said they are concerned about Carsons comments that safety-net programs foster dependence in low-income people. Coming to lead an agency that serves the poorest people in the country with a philosophy of if people are that poor its because theyre not trying hard enough could have a big impact on the people HUD serves, said Diane Yentel, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. HUD, with its $49 billion budget and about 8,300 employees, has its origins in President Lyndon B. Johnsons Great Society. It exists to enforce anti-discrimination laws, assist low-income applicants in obtaining home mortgages and operate more than 3,000 local public-housing authorities. The department is likely to attract attention in Trumps administration, given the president-elects frequent and often criticized descriptions of hellishly violent urban communities on the campaign trail. You have so many things, so many problems, so many horrible, horrible problems, Trump said at a rally before the election. The violence. The death. The lack of education. No jobs. Were going to work with the African-American community, and were going to solve the problem of the inner city. Carson has spoken about the desperation he sees in urban areas as well but uses a more modest tone than Trump. We have much work to do in strengthening every aspect of our nation and ensuring that both our physical infrastructure and our spiritual infrastructure is solid, Carson wrote in a Facebook post last month. Congress will have a significant budgetary role in determining what pieces of Carsons agenda take effect. Housing experts said they expect to see a decline of HUDs already-shrinking budget, assuming that Trump follows through on his pledge to pay for increased spending on the military with cuts to domestic programs, which could narrow Carsons range of options. Carsons history gives him a pronounced, often controversial view on the roots of urban poverty. Born into a struggling family on the southwest side of Detroit, Carson was educated at Yale University and the University of Michigan before he began a celebrated surgical career at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He credits his achievements to his Christian faith and the high expectations of his mother, an illiterate domestic servant who sought never to take government assistance, though she sometimes did. She worked very hard, leaving very early in the morning, getting back very late at night, he said in interview last year with The Washington Post. Sometimes we didnt see her for a week. She didnt like the idea of dependency. Even if she sometimes took government aid, she always wanted to be independent. She would get in arguments with others who would say, Theres aid for dependent children you dont need to be working. The biggest shifts under Carson could come in the area of fair housing, experts said. The Obama administration is just starting to implement a new rule requiring local communities to study and report on patterns of racial and income disparity in housing, with HUD overseeing the strategy. The federal government is giving these communities detailed data on poverty rates, school demographics, where minority groups live and whether they are segregated from white neighborhoods. Where segregation exists, HUD and local officials are supposed to come up with plans to reduce it. Conservative critics have called the policy government overreach, and Carson wrote last year that requiring cities and towns to publicly report racial disparities in housing would fundamentally change communities by requiring affordable housing to be built in wealthier neighborhoods. In a Washington Times op-ed, he issued a strong warning against the policy, comparing it to mandated social-engineering schemes typical of socialism. These government-engineered attempts to legislate racial equality create consequences that often make matters worse, Carson wrote. There are reasonable ways to use housing policy to enhance the opportunities available to lower-income citizens, but based on the history of failed socialist experiments in this country, entrusting the government to get it right can prove downright dangerous. As housing secretary, Carson could urge Congress to take this authority away from HUD, experts said. But even if that didnt happen, Carson could direct his staff not to enforce the rules, by moving resources out of the fair-housing division and into other areas of the department. Just sort of ignoring it on its own could mean much less oversight, Yentel said. Carson could seek guidance from House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who has proposed overhauling federal housing policy using the changes to welfare in the 1990s as a model. That could mean imposing a work requirement for federal housing aid and limiting the amount of time beneficiaries may use public housing. Housing experts said they also anticipate a shift away from enforcing fair-housing laws and responding to complaints of discrimination and toward creating more of a role for the private market in housing programs. Trumps transition team for HUD has several members from the world of housing finance, which plays a role in housing by allowing the agency to provide government-subsidized mortgages for low-income home buyers. Robert Silverman, an expert on affordable housing at the University of Buffalo, predicted that Carson will reduce the level of scrutiny these lenders face about how loans are distributed to minority groups. Less regulation will allow them to originate loans they might consider higher-risk, Silverman said. He also expects to see a larger role for private developers in revitalizing existing public housing apartments or building new ones, a strategy the Obama administration has used to some degree. Developers benefit from tax credits when they take on federal projects such as these, but experts say they will have less incentive to do so if Trump reduces many of their corporate taxes. Groups representing the governments more than 3,000 local public-housing authorities said Carsons expected push for a weaker government hand in housing could also bring some relief from regulations they say are too time-consuming and expensive to carry out. Thousands of civil servants at HUD are eligible to retire, and from 2005 to 2014, the agency has lost the greatest percentage of full-time employees who have not been replaced of any federal department, according to the Government Accountability Office. In recent years, there have been new requirements to employ public-housing residents in redevelopment projects, the fair-housing rule and now a no-smoking rule. Were concerned that HUD cant fulfill many of its mandates, said Tim Kaiser, executive director of the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. These are complex issues that bedevil policy experts, but Jackson said Carsons leadership abilities will see him through the challenges of running HUD. Ben is a leader, and he engenders energy in people, he said. I dont want to prejudge him. transition-carson-2ndld-writethru Nearly a decade ago, Maria Schneider revealed the unsettling details surrounding an infamous rape scene in the 1972 drama Last Tango in Paris, in which Marlon Brandos character uses butter as a lubricant before forcing himself on her. But over the weekend, a clip of director Bernardo Bertolucci talking about the scene resurfaced, setting off wide media attention and sparking outrage in Hollywood. In the clip from a 2013 press tour, Bertolucci describes how he and Brando had come up with the idea to use the butter in the scripted rape scene, but did not tell Schneider what was going on, because I wanted her reaction as a girl, not as an actress. I wanted her to react humiliated. Similar remarks had been previously reported, but didnt generate this level of outcry until now. Last week, Spanish nonprofit El Mundo de Alycia published the interview clip with Bertolucci, adding Spanish subtitles and posting the video on its website in recognition of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Nov. 25. (A fuller version was uploaded to YouTube in 2013). Schneider, who died in 2011 after a long battle with cancer, told the Daily Mail in 2007 that the scene wasnt in the original script; Brando had come up with the idea and she was only told right before they had to film that part. I was so angry, she said. Marlon said to me: Maria, dont worry, its just a movie, but during the scene, even though what Marlon was doing wasnt real, I was crying real tears, she said. I felt humiliated and to be honest, I felt a little raped, both by Marlon and by Bertolucci. After the scene, Marlon didnt console me or apologize. Thankfully, there was just one take. She added: I should have called my agent or had my lawyer come to the set because you cant force someone to do something that isnt in the script, but at the time, I didnt know that. Bertolucci responded to the renewed controversy on Monday, saying in a statement in Italian that it was based on a ridiculous misunderstanding, Variety reported. I specified, but perhaps I was not clear, that I decided with Marlon Brando not to inform Maria that we would have used butter, Bertolucci said of the 2013 clip. We wanted her spontaneous reaction to that improper use (of the butter). That is where the misunderstanding lies. He said Schneider knew about the violence in the script, and that the only novelty was the idea of the butter. After El Mundo de Alycia posted the clip on YouTube, Spanish-language outlets picked up the story. English-language sites soon followed suit, starting with Elles Bertolucci Admits He Conspired to Shoot a Non-Consensual Rape Scene in Last Tango in Paris.' The renewed attention drew outrage on social media from Hollywood actors and directors. Inexcusable. As a director, I can barely fathom this, tweeted Ava DuVernay. As a woman, I am horrified, disgusted and enraged by it. Wow. I will never look at this film, Bertolucci or Brando the same way again, Chris Evans tweeted. This is beyond disgusting. I feel rage. Anna Kendrick responded to Evans shock by pointing out that Schneider talked about this years ago. I used to get eye-rolls when I brought it up to people (aka dudes), she tweeted, adding shes not surprised that the actresss comments werent widely known. Bertolucci says that Schneider hated him for years, especially given how the sequence of the butter the most well-known scene in the critically acclaimed movie came to be: It was in the script that he had to rape her in a way. And we were having with Marlon breakfast on the floor of the flat where we were shooting. And there was a baguette and there was butter, and we looked at each other and without saying anything, we knew what we wanted. But, Ive been, in a way, horrible to Maria because I didnt tell her what was going on, because I wanted her reaction as a girl, not as an actress. I wanted her to react humiliated, if it goes on, she shouts, No, no! And I think that she hated me, and also Marlon, because we didnt tell her, and there was that detail of the butter used as a lubricant, and I still feel very guilty for that. El Mundo de Alyciasaid in a statement accompanying the video that Bertoluccis comments had practically no repercussions on social media or elsewhere despite being publicly available for years. The organizations statement continues, asking how is it possible a case as serious as this hasnt been broadcast widely, impacted public opinion and been roundly denounced. From gender pay disparities to cases involving sexual harassment and assault, the treatment of women in Hollywood either on set or by famous men has received increased attention in recent years, and led to tangible repercussions. The most widely known case involves Bill Cosby, who faces felony charges for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004. Cosby adamantly denies the allegations from the woman and dozens of other accusers. While allegations of sexual assault werent a secret, it wasnt until 2014 that the news cycle became dominated by them, and more women came forward publicly. It all began after video of comedian Hannibal Buress telling a joke about Cosby being accused of rape went viral. The joke itself underscores how such stories, despite being in the public domain, get so little attention. After describing Cosbys Teflon image, Buress says that hes done this bit on stage and people think Im making it up When you leave here, google Bill Cosby rape. That shas more results than Hannibal Buress.' Cosby, who had been on the verge of a career comeback, has since receded from the limelight, his public image forever altered, and is currently awaiting trial. In its day, Last Tango in Paris was controversial for its graphic depiction of sex, and was rated X in the United States. But critics and Hollywood at-large praised the movie, depicting it as an erotic drama and giving it considerable buzz. Brando and Bertolucci were nominated for Oscars. Schneider was snubbed. Brando has also said he had a particularly humiliating time filming the movie, albeit for totally different reasons. In his 1994 autobiography, Brando wrote it was particularly cold during the filming of a full-frontal nude scene, and his body went into full retreat, referring to the size of his penis. I was humiliated, but not ready to surrender yet, he wrote. After an hour, the crew gave up and the scene was cut. Brando described it as one of the more embarrassing experiences of my professional career. The director also wanted Brando and Schneider to actually have sex, the actor wrote; both have said they simulated the scenes. Decades later, Schneider wasnt quiet about her treatment during the films production. She publicly said she felt used by the director, telling Premiere magazine in 2000, You have to understand what kind of world Bertolucci is in. He was in love with Marlon. The part I play was written for a boy! Thats why the butter, the sodomization, the gag The actress also said she had a friendship with Brando, who died in 2004, and that their interaction was the best part of making the movie. Schneider said she struggled with the unexpected fame and intense public interest in her after the movie, using drugs as an escape and attempting suicide. In her Daily Mail interview, she said Bertolucci was very manipulative, both of Marlon and myself, and would do certain things to get a reaction from me. Some mornings on set he would be very nice and say hello and on other days, he wouldnt say anything at all. I was too young to know better, she added. Marlon later said that he felt manipulated, and he was Marlon Brando, so you can imagine how I felt. Bertolucci admits rape scene was non-consensual: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=021jNOEVytQ last-tango-1stld-writethru Minutes before Holland Americas Nieuw Amsterdam was scheduled to depart for Fort Lauderdale, Berit and Dan Wick received an urgent call at home. Without delay, the couple hailed a taxi to the port terminal in Cartagena, Colombia. Once aboard the vessel, Dan approached an American stretched out on a hospital bed surrounded by the ships doctors and nurses. The woman was pale and struggling to breathe; an oxygen mask covered her face. Her sister-in-law waited by the gangplank, filled with worry and concern. Dan accompanied Sue Wright in the ambulance, a bumpy ride along cobblestone roads. Berit loaded Rosemary Cox and 16 days worth of luggage into a car. By the time they reached the hospital, the cruise ship had sailed off. But the Wicks strangers at first, advocates to the very end stuck by the pair until they were well enough to return home a week later. Its a sudden shock for people to find themselves in a foreign country, not speaking the language, not expecting to be disembarked from an enjoyable cruise and having a serious medical condition, said Dan, a Californian who moved with his wife and daughter to Colombia in 2003. We are here for them, to be a familiar North American face, helping with logistics, language and arranging to get them back home. The Wicks are good Samaritans of a specific breed: The expats act as wardens on behalf of the U.S. State Department. Their voluntary role in the consular services program is specific in mission (help your fellow Americans) and broad in services (do whatever you can to achieve Goal A). I am often called upon to assist U.S. citizen travelers who encounter difficult and often confusing situations that require immediate assistance, from stolen passports and money, incarceration for breaking foreign laws, political unrest, falling ill and even personal conflicts resulting in physical assault, John Mackey, a four-year warden in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, wrote by email. The program originated during the 1930s, when embassies relied on volunteers to disseminate critical information to citizens living abroad. The name derives from World War II air raid wardens who patrolled territories in the United Kingdom and United States. The service resembled a phone tree: Participants would knock on doors and ring up landlines to deliver messages ranging from administrative updates (absentee voting, Social Security benefits) to code-red warnings (evacuation meeting points, natural-disaster shelters). These days, most of the 276 overseas missions can dispatch information electronically. Technological innovations have freed up the wardens to focus more on American tourists whose trips have taken an unpredictable turn down an unimaginable road. These people get themselves into trouble, said Adriana Michele, a New Yorker who has dedicated more than 25 years to volunteering in Cartagena. The wardens can help them get out of it. Community spirit Who are the wardens and, more important, how can you flag one down if youre in a bind? Got a name and number? The wardens are civilians emphasis on non-State-Department employees with strong ties to their community a la Mister Rogers. They are typically fluent in the culture, habits, layout and language of their adopted country. Elizabeth Gracon, a U.S. embassy official in Colombia, described them as a local face on the ground. Many of the volunteers have full-time jobs. Tommy Phillips, a three-year warden in China, is the chef-owner of Bread Rock Bistro, a popular expat restaurant in Yanji, in the northeastern province of Jilin. Jennifer OSullivan teaches yoga and runs a handful of bars and cafes with her husband in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Other wardens are retired or iced their careers to pursue humanitarian projects. The Wicks, for instance, left Silicon Valley to volunteer at a school in Cartagena and start a foundation. Despite the wardens divergent backgrounds, they all share a charitable streak. They are Americans helping Americans, said Christine Fagan, a division chief in the departments Office of Overseas Citizens Services. Also, the warden can give the local perspective. Recruitment into the program is a casual affair. A consular officer might deliver an open invitation to join the warden network during a town-hall-style meeting or an embassy event. Or a member might entice a friend to join the club, as was the case with Tommy, a veteran who explained that he wanted to continue to serve my country however I could. Wardens are found in every country with State Department presence. The size of the cadre depends on the destination and its level of development. Urban centers with strong teleconnectivity need fewer volunteers than remote areas with primitive communication systems. Communities without a consular office nearby also lean more heavily on wardens. They can assist Americans who cant get to the embassy, Fagan said. Because of the programs informal arrangement (for instance, there is no training or manual), officials do not have a global head count of participants. But they can provide a snapshot of the warden census map: Lebanon, 90; Thailand, 73; Honduras, 25; Bangladesh; 23; Togo, 22; Chad, 18. Colombia claims 25 wardens, including four in Cartagena. I met the quartet during my October visit, but in arbitrary life, I would not have known their identities unless I had signaled an S.O.S. So how do you, the American traveler, solicit help from a warden? You dont. The chain of command starts with the embassy. The tourist or concerned family members in the States will contact the office for help. The staff might resolve the situation in-house or an officer might notify the warden for assistance. The issue might be an easy fix, such replacing a stolen passport. Or it might demand a significant amount of time and emotion on the volunteers part. For example, if an American dies abroad. We know a lot more about repatriation than I ever thought we would, Berit said. During last years cruising season, the Wicks handled the arrangements for three deaths. Berit still tears up over the memory of a Chicago woman who had been cruising with her husband three years ago when she became ill. She died while Berit was in the ICU with her. An increasing load Como estas? the MediHelp hospital nurse asked. How are you? Berit translated. Im fine, Richard Adelson answered from his perch on a padded chair. Do you want anything from the minibar . . . like a Scotch on the rocks, Berit joked, veering from the official script. The nurse brought Richard a small cup of vanilla ice cream, a welcome break from the infirmary staple of rice, rice, rice. The Adelsons capped off a very busy week for the Wicks, who also receive calls from the port agents about incoming medical cases. Sue Wright was the first patient to disembark, on a Wednesday in mid-October. The ship also dropped off an Indonesian crew member with a torn esophagus. The next day, the Cartagena hospital received a District woman who had hit her head on a tree branch during a shore excursion and lost consciousness. An interpreter had accompanied the hearing-impaired cruiser. The Wicks had to juggle conversations in English, Spanish and sign language. On Saturday, the couple helped a German woman and her partner, who suffered a stroke aboard their sailboat. On Sunday, a crewman with a broken tooth arrived. So did Richard. It was very frightening. I cant imagine if I had been left in a strange country and couldnt speak the language, said Barbara Adelson, his wife. It was such a relief knowing that there was someone to help us. During Richards hospitalization, the Wicks provided Barbara with an Internet phone, so that she could converse with her children in the States. They compiled a cheat sheet of essential Spanish words and phrases for Richard, including tengo sed (thirsty), dolor (pain) and pato (bed pan). They confabbed with doctors about his condition and translated their diagnoses. And they called the Adelsons travel-insurance company numerous times, updating the agents on his recovery and submitting the information required for reimbursement. They also invited the family (son Brian later flew down from Philadelphia) to bunk at their four-bedroom condominium. Amenities included hot showers, home-cooked meals and fast friends, including Sue and Rosemary, who were also guests. Theyve made me feel so amazing, Barbara said. I feel like Ive known them forever. On Monday night, the hosts and their visitors gathered around the dining table on the balcony. The air was warm, and the harbor shimmered under the city lights. Dan said grace. Everyone uttered, Amen. Then they dug into the spread of salmon, salad and mashed potatoes, and drained a bottle of wine. On average, the Wicks tend to about 60 impaired travelers a year. About two-thirds are American, and nearly half stay with them. They still remember their first case from about eight years ago. A young woman ran out of money. They visited her at her hostel while she waited for a government loan to fund her trip home. Over the years, as more cruise lines have added Cartagena to their itineraries, the number of cases has ballooned. When the couple moved to town, about a dozen ships docked here; now a staggered parade of 225 vessels marches over from October to May. Back then, they didnt know much about medical procedures or the mechanics of travel insurance. Not so now. On the day the hospital released Richard, the Wicks submitted a fit-to-fly form to the insurance company. They explained to the Adelsons that the company would arrange and cover their travel expenses to Philadelphia. However, the process could take several days. A second option: Pay out of pocket and fly back tomorrow. I want him home, Barbara said. Thats wise, Barit replied. The next morning, Rosemary, Sue, Richard, Barbara and Brian all boarded the same flight to Miami. Emotional attachment Finally, a quiet day. Though cruisers surged through town, there were no calamities or crises. I stopped by Adrianas jewelry shop, which was thick with tourists ogling emeralds. She invited me into her office, which was tucked behind the maze of glass cases. Things were easier back then, she said of Cartagena in the mid-1980s. There werent that many tourists. Adriana and Hortensia de la Rosa, her Colombian assistant and an honorary warden, receive three to four calls from the embassy a year. One oft-repeated story involved a mentally unstable mother who threatened to jump off a building. Another involved a bipolar man who succumbed to the darker elements of the city. Some people have drug problems and hook up with prostitutes, she said. Hortensia joined the conversation and shared a tragic tale about a young man and his uncle, who had taken him on a male-bonding trip. The 20-year-old, who had cocaine in his system, toppled off a 14th-floor balcony. His parents and grandparents flew down when he was in a coma. Hortensia helped them at the hospital, and later with repatriating the body of their loved one. You get to know them, Hortensia said of the victims, and you cant avoid getting emotionally involved. The attachments tug in both directions. Earlier in the week, she had told me about a family from New York who were traveling in a van to Barranquilla when it crashed. The husbands rib pierced his lung. Over the Christmas holiday weekend, Hortensia and Adriana tracked down a doctor who could operate on him immediately. During surgery, Hortensia held his wallet and clothes while waiting. Later that evening, she peered through the window of the recovery room. The American gave her a thumbs-up. Hortensia paused the story and reached into her purse. She pulled out a crumpled letter. The typed note was from the American to the U.S. ambassador to Colombia. She pressed a tissue to her eyes as we read the note together. He wrote that Hortensia was there to help my family in any way she could. He proceeded to list those ways. He concluded with: That relationship produced real results for us. We will never forget. A few months later, Hortensia and Adriana received a certificate of appreciation from the U.S. Embassy in Bogota. The accolade sits on a shelf in Adrianas office, framed and under glass. A last look On my last full day in Cartagena, I took a break from the hospital visits to explore Old Town, a walled labyrinth of Spanish colonial buildings and festive plazas. When I left the medical center, the Wicks had been translating pre-op instructions for the German sailor and were trying to locate a Mandarin speaker for a Chinese crewman in the intensive care unit. I felt a twinge of guilt as I wandered in and out of shops and drank cup after cup of Colombian coffee. In the early evening, I received a text from the Wicks that they were finally leaving the hospital. We met for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Getsemani, a spirited neighborhood emerging from a tawdry period. Over pasta and wine, we reviewed the patients of the week. Dan showed me an email from Sue, who thanked the couple for their help and hospitality. He shared a message from Brian, who wrote that he didnt know how his parents would have managed without them. Dan and Berit were touched by the gratitude, but they didnt linger long on the events. They knew that as each case closes, another one opens. The next afternoon, they were planning on visiting a cruiser in a Barranquilla hospital. The man had pneumonia and no money. That was all the information they knew and, for their mission, all they needed to know. travel-columbia-wardens As Donald Trump continues to indicate that he might be willing to change his position on climate change, which he has long called a hoax, the president-elect met Monday with former vice president Al Gore, who has become a prominent activist in the fight against global warming. Gore was originally scheduled to meet just with Trumps oldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, who is not registered with a political party and has already pushed her father to adopt positions usually promoted by Democrats. Gore told reporters that after that meeting, he then had an extremely interesting conversation with the president-elect. I had a lengthy and very productive session with the president-elect. It was a sincere search for areas of common ground, Gore told reporters after spending about 90 minutes at Trump Tower in Manhattan during the lunch hour Monday. I had a meeting beforehand with Ivanka Trump. The bulk of the time was with the president-elect, Donald Trump. I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued, and Im just going to leave it at that. Trump has repeatedly called climate change a hoax and has even accused the Chinese government of creating this fake problem to steal manufacturing jobs from the United States. But Trump seemed to soften that position during a meeting with The New York Times late last month, saying that he would keep an open mind on the issue and acknowledging that human activity might be connected to changes in the climate. Ivanka Trump is one of the most influential people in Trumps life and is a member of his transition team, although she has said she does not plan to take an active role in her fathers administration. Her husband, Jared Kushner, is one of Trumps most trusted aides, and the couple are reportedly house-hunting in Washington. While Gore was not personally close to Hillary Clinton their relationship became strained in the wake of President Bill Clintons impeachment and as they both vied for Democratic donors support during their respective political bids in 2000 the former vice president campaigned on her behalf late in this years presidential campaign. Speaking to an audience at Miami Dade College in October, Gore warned that Trump, based on the ideas that he has presented, would take us toward a climate catastrophe. Appealing directly to millennials, he alluded to his own narrow loss to George W. Bush in 2000 in Florida and said young people could not afford to vote for anyone other than Clinton. The world is on the cusp of either building on the progress and solving the climate crisis, or stepping back, washing our hands of Americas traditional role as the leader of the world and letting the big polluters call the shots, Gore said. The choice is that clear. Its that stark. But while national environmental groups and many scientists have already fired shots across the bow at Donald Trump, suggesting he needs to respect scientific integrity and refrain from appointing advisers who would gut existing environmental and public health safeguards, some prominent activists have been exploring ways to influence the incoming administration. The most obvious target has been Ivanka Trump and her husband, since they are seen as the least conservative members of Trumps family. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, for example, recently gave her a copy of his new National Geographic documentary on climate change, Before the Flood. DiCaprio aired the documentary in October on the White Houses South Lawn, before which he appeared onstage with President Obama and atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe. DiCaprio, who campaigned on Clintons behalf and aired the film on college campuses in Florida and elsewhere, did not mention Trump by name but alluded to him at the event. We must empower leaders who not only believe in climate change but are willing to do something about it, he said. The scientific consensus is in, and the argument is now over. If you do not believe in climate change, you do not believe in facts, or in science, or empirical truths, and therefore, in my humble opinion, should not be allowed to hold public office. Elise Viebeck contributed to this report. ivanka-gore-1stld-writethru WASHINGTON The fake news stuff weve been talking about? That all just got real. An entire D.C. neighborhood was in lockdown Sunday because some dope with a gun believed a fake news story that wildly and wrongly linked a neighborhood pizzeria to a child sex ring. You could conclude that Edgar Maddison Welch, the 28-year-old man from North Carolina who allegedly walked into the Comet Ping Pong restaurant carrying an assault rifle, pointed it at an employee and then fired one or more shots, might be a singular nut job. He told police he had come to the restaurant to self-investigate a false election-related conspiracy theory that linked Hillary Clinton to the child sex ring. But he wasnt the only dope who was roped into this. A week before the presidential election, the son of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn the man Donald Trump has selected as his national security adviser shared the fake Comet Ping Pong conspiracy story. Thousands of others shared it, too. Days later, the retired general himself tweeted a hashtag referring to another fake news story that accused Hillary Clintons campaign chairman, John Podesta, of satanic rituals using body fluids. That there, the Satanic ritual stuff, is straight out of the grocery checkout line. Remember when Americans used to laugh at the crazy-bad supermarket tabloid stories on Bat Boy! or Titanic Survivors Alive! or Alien Bible Found! They worship Oprah!? What was different back then? Why didnt a desperado come storming toward the White House gates with his gun after the story about George Bush meeting with aliens hit the stands? Because most people knew the source of the news the National Enquirer, News of the World, etc. wasnt remotely serious, as lacking in nutrition as the candy bars the tabloids were displayed alongside. But in todays social media universe, theres a flood of stories from fake news sites that look legit. And stories that sound as ludicrous as alien love triangles dont get a laugh, they get shared by our leaders, generating violent threats, dangerous reactions and, in the worst cases, bloodshed. In an era when we have more access to more information than ever before, weve also become more willing to believe the crazy and share it with others. What happened at Comet Ping Pong isnt the first time weve seen real consequences to the doctored news phenomenon. A year ago, a gotcha video created by folks who lied, schemed and plotted to get a doctor to talk about the graphic details of her work while secretly being record was pinging in the head of Robert Lewis Dear Jr. when he stormed a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado. Dear used the phrase no more baby parts after he allegedly killed three people a police officer, an Iraq war veteran and a mother of two and injured nine others in that shooting rampage. Grandstanding congressmen fed him the baby parts line after they watched that heavily edited video of a Planned Parenthood executive talking about the donation of tissue from aborted fetuses. (They mustve forgot that fetal tissue has been used in important medical research since the 1930s and helped produce vaccines for polio, measles and mumps.) The video was created under false pretenses, heavily edited and would have never met the standards of a legitimate news organization. That faux investigation ended in hours of congressional hearings, a budget crisis for Planned Parenthood in many states, and the deaths of those three people in Colorado. Five years ago, it wasnt fake news but an equally careless use of words that helped incite an equally terrible burst of violence. Sarah Palins supporters put out a map with crosshairs targeting the districts of 20 House Democrats and urging folks: Dont Retreat, Instead RELOAD!' Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, was on that map and criticized it as soon as it was posted online and her office was vandalized. Were on Sarah Palins targeted list, but the thing is that the way she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gun sight over our district, Giffords told MSNBC at the time. When people do that, theyve got to realize theres consequences to that action. On Jan. 8, 2011, the consequences were chilling: Jared Loughner showed up with a gun outside a Tucson supermarket where Giffords was greeting constituents and killed six people and injured 20 more, including Giffords. Still, as the funerals were being held and Giffords was in intensive care, Palins supporters insisted crosshairs were never a reference to guns. Words matter. That kind of disregard for common sense and responsibility has kudzu-ed into what we have today, educated leaders willing to believe conspiracy theories about child sex rings and satanic rituals thanks to nothing more than a slick-looking online story. Get a grip, America. The owner of Comet Ping Pong had endured weeks of death threats. Phone calls, messages, stalkers, the employees have been harassed. Theyve all complained about the relentless attacks. Then they faced a real attack, which has left a business and a neighborhood deeply shaken. Let me state unequivocally: these stories are completely and entirely false, and there is no basis in fact to any of them, wrote owner James Alefantis, on his Comet Ping Pong Facebook page Sunday night. There is no FBI investigation, no New York Police Department takedown. None of that. What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences, wrote Alefantis. I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away. Those who run our social media companies and internet search engines need to find a way to help a gullible country differentiate between fake news and real news. Lets make America believe in facts again. Dvorak is a Washington Post columnist. pizzagate-comment MOSCOW The second crash of a Russian warplane off the coast of Syria in less than a month intensified scrutiny Monday of a critical weakness in Moscows show of naval force in the Mediterranean and the 1,000-foot hulk leading it. The Admiral Kuznetsov, Russias sole, aging aircraft carrier, made a very public entry into the Syrian conflict when it steamed through the English Channel in October. But analysts say it is not suited to the task of providing ground support in a protracted conflict. Nor is it suited for the job President Vladimir Putin intended when he ordered the ship into the Mediterranean: to project Russian naval power. The Admiral Kuznetsov was not designed for such tasks, Alexander Golts, a military writer for the independent Moscow-based online news journal New Times, said in an interview. Its a very old ship with very old technologies. It is not prepared for intensive flights. Golts spoke after Russias Defense Ministry announced Monday that an Su-33 Flanker returning from a combat mission plunged into the Mediterranean as it tried toland on the Kuznetsov. The accident occurred when an arresting cable on the aircraft carrier snapped during the landing, the ministry said in a statement. The pilot ejected and was saved by a search-and-rescue team, the statement added. He was not injured. Last month, a Russian MiG-29K fighter jet crashed while attempting an emergency landing on the aircraft carrier shortly after takeoff. The Syrian conflict is the first combat deployment for the Admiral Kuznetsov, which has a history of onboard accidents during training missions since being launched in 1985. Unlike modern aircraft carriers, the Kuznetsov does not have a catapult system, and the jets it carries must launch off a ramp, which makes the job of takeoff and landing extremely challenging. We have a very limited number of pilots who can fulfill this task, Golts said. I doubt there are many in the world. The Kuznetsovs design also limits the load of fuel and weapons that its jets can carry, which is not a serious impediment for its intended purpose: to defend Soviet submarines preparing to launch nuclear weapons. This carrier was never designed for projecting power on shore, said Pavel Baev, who studies Russian military reform at the Peace Research Institute Oslo. The fact of the military matter is that this deployment adds nothing, just absolutely nothing to the capabilities that Russia has on the ground in Syria. When the Kuznetsov set sail, state media said the expedition demonstrated Russias independence as a regional power. But by mid-November, military analysts were questioning the ships suitability for the task. The intermediate results produced by the Admiral Kuznetsovs carrier air wing have been not what the top brass expected, military analyst Sergei Ishchenko wrote in the Svobodnaya Pressa online news agency a week after the carrier launched its first attacks in Syria. For one thing, the Su-33 is an air superiority fighter designed to provide air defense to friendly naval forces far away from home shores, not attack ground targets. The MiG-29K is a multi-role fighter capable of attacking targets in the air and on the ground, and it is a newer, carrier-based variant of the traditional MiG-29, but Ischenko said the jets were grounded after one of them crashed, leaving the Su-33s to shoulder the burden. Asked about the latest crash on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said only that the important thing is that the pilot was not injured. This is a very intense, hard, heroic job, the news agency Interfax quoted Peskov as saying. Translation: Dont look for Moscow to order the Kuznetsov to set sail for home anytime soon. One lost plane was not enough for exposing the absurdity of this demonstration of nonexistent force, Baev said. And two may be not quite enough, either. syria-russia-1stld-writethru In 2014, Aml Elsokary was praised for her heroism, after she reportedly rushed into a burning building to help save an elderly woman and a little girl. This month, Elsokary a Muslim woman and New York City police officer became a victim, targeted by a man who allegedly called her ISIS and threatened to slit her throat, New York media outlets reported. Christopher Nelson, 36, was taken into custody on Sunday in connection with the alleged altercation, which occurred over the weekend, authorities say. Nelson has been arrested on charges of aggravated harassment and menacing as a hate crime. The charges stem from an encounter on Saturday evening, according to police, who said officers responded to a call about an assault in progress. When they arrived at the scene, police were told that a man threatened to slit an off-duty officers throat during a dispute involving her son. Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday addressed the alleged incident at a news conference about crime statistics, saying he was sick to my stomach when he heard that a police officer had faced threats because of her religion. Now, it makes no difference to me whether she was off duty or on duty at the time. She serves this city, de Blasio said. She is an example of everything we would want from our fellow citizens a commitment to others, a commitment to service, a willingness to do something greater than herself. And what does she get for it? Threats to her life and bigotry. Taunts. We cant allow this. Its unacceptable in this city, its unacceptable in this nation. Elsokary appeared at the news conference alongside de Blasio, who said that he wanted to ensure that those who read about the incident or saw it on televised broadcasts could put a real face to the story. Think of what we value in this city and this nation, he said. We value people who put on a uniform and protect us. We value people who have a faith and live it out. And she has done all those things, and its absolutely unacceptable that she or anyone would be treated with hatred or bigotry. De Blasio also noted that the suspected assailant allegedly yelled go back to your country at Elsokary and her son during the attack. Well, this is Officer Elsokarys country, he said. She is an American, she is a New Yorker. Shes already at home. And we cannot allow this kind of hatred and bias to spread. We have to stop it every single time. De Blasio also cited a 2014 incident in which Elsokary assisted during a blaze. That fire and Elsokarys heroics are detailed in a New York Daily News report, which states that she was on patrol with a sergeant when they heard a police call about a fire. While the pair were working at the scene, Elsokary heard a baby cry, so she rushed up. She discovered a woman and a 1-year-old, whom she helped escape the two-story building, the newspaper reported. I became a police officer to show the positive side of a New Yorker, a Muslim woman that can do the job, that is non-biased, that I help everybody no matter whats your religion, whats your faith, what do you in New York, Elsokary said at the news conference. Im born and raised here. And Im here to protect you, and I know that my department and my city is here to protect me. The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Sunday condemned the alleged attack in a Facebook post, in which CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher called on President-elect Donald Trump to forcefully and repeatedly address the ugly hatred growing rampant through-out our nation. Since Trumps victory, a number of charged incidents have been reported across the country, including some that involve Muslims. Last month, a Muslim teacher in Georgia said a note was left in her classroom telling her that her headscarf isnt allowed anymore. The anonymous note instructed her to tie the scarf around her neck and hang yourself with it. And at the University of Michigan, a female student was approached by a man who threatened to set her on fire if she didnt take off her hijab, or head covering. The student complied, police said. In a 60 Minutes interview that aired last month, Trump said he was so saddened to hear that people were harassing others in his name. And I say, Stop it,' the president-elect said. If it if it helps, I will say this, and I will say it right to the cameras: Stop it.' Video: Mayor de Blasio Hosts Press Conference to Discuss Crime Statistics URL: https://youtu.be/u_6R7UD31MA nypd-muslim Amazon on Monday revealed that it will open a brick-and-mortar grocery store called Amazon Go, an ambitious bid by the once online-only retailer to gobble up more of Americans shopping dollars by taking the fight more directly to traditional supermarkets and big-box stores. The store will be powered by a web of technology that allows customers to fill up their shopping bags and walk out without going through a checkout process, a concept that has long been discussed in the retail industry but that has not been implemented at any major U.S. stores. The idea is that it will shave time off the shopping experience. (Jeffrey P. Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, owns The Washington Post.) Heres how Amazon Go will work: Customers download an app and then swipe their smartphones as they walk through the stores entrance. Then they just start picking up groceries. In a process that the company does not describe except to say that it involves such capabilities as computer vision, machine learning and artificial intelligence, every item the shoppers tuck into their bags or carts is tracked on the phone. If an item is put back on the shelf, its deleted. As the shoppers exit, their total bill is calculated, a digital receipt appears on their phones and their Amazon account is charged. This video produced by the company offers some visuals that might help you imagine what that will look like. The store is set to open in Seattle, Amazons hometown, in early 2017. And its arrival could end up posing some critical questions for the wider retail industry. For starters, Amazon Go will probably need fewer workers than traditional stores that rely on cashiers and clerks. If shoppers respond favorably to this low-touch customer service model, it might end up encouraging other chains to give similar set-ups a try and save labor costs. If Amazon Go is successful and is expanded widely, it could put serious competitive pressure on a wide range of retailers. For starters, at just 1,800 square feet, Amazon Go looks to be targeting so-called fill-in trips, the kind of quick errand a shopper does when she just needs a couple of items. In recent years, drug stores and convenience stores have proved to be potent competitors to supermarkets for these kinds of shopping trips. So, a fast-growing Amazon Go could present competition for chains such as CVS and 7-Eleven. And judging from the look of the store as seen in Amazons video, it will have an ambiance and selection that will put it up against Kroger or Whole Foods Market. And then theres the fact that the company is promising that it will sell prepared foods made by on-site chefs, meaning it will be fighting for the same breakfast, lunch and dinner spending that fast-casual and carryout restaurants currently vie for. Amazon Go also plans to sell pre-packaged meal kits that contain ingredients to make a home-cooked dinner for two. That could produce new competition for the wave of meal kit start-ups such as Blue Apron, HelloFresh and Purple Carrot. Amazons decision to sell groceries in physical stores would seem to be an acknowledgment of how hard it has proven to sell these kinds of goods on the Internet. Despite the explosive growth of e-commerce overall, grocery has largely remained an old-school business, with less than 2 percent of sales taking place online. And Amazon Go will face no shortage of challenges as it aims to transform the model. Filling up ones refrigerator has long been a convenience-centric errand, one in which the closest store to your house is often the one that gets your money. It will take a long time and gobs of money for Amazon to build out that kind of store network. And its not a sure thing that what it calls Just Walk Out technology will win customers over. What if it turns out to be buggy? What if some shoppers find it off-putting and impersonal? Major grocers were likely not shocked by Amazons announcement: Rumors have been circulating for months that the company planned to open brick-and-mortar stores that sold food. And the e-commerce company has already shown interest in physical retailing by opening bookstores. So, in theory, legacy chains have been preparing for Amazon to try to encroach on their turf. This video produced by Amazon shows what its brick-and-mortar store will look like. amazon-post SANTA FE The New Mexico Supreme Court, overturning a state Court of Appeals decision, has upheld a trial judges 2014 dismissal of a lawsuit involving a Taos Ski Valley condominium and hotel deal that went sour. At issue was whether state District Judge Sarah Backus properly threw out the case because she believed a prior no-contest plea involving theft of trade secrets by one of the parties could not be introduced in a civil fraud lawsuit. The case involves a dispute between Taos residents and his wife Rebecca Mark-Jusbache, a former Enron executive, who had entered into a 2003 deal with ski valley residents William and Marci Kipnis to develop what was then Edelweiss Lodge and Spa into condominiums. The Kipnis couple sued the Jusbaches in 2011 alleging they improperly took over the Edelweiss and drained it of its assets. The Kipnises maintain that the Jusbaches, when asked by William Kipnis, denied there was anything in their personal histories he should know about before going into a business relationship with them. Kipnis said he would not have entered the deal if he had known about Michael Jusbaches 1984 no contest plea to a charge of trade secrets theft oil field locator maps valued at $40 million from his then-employer, Shell Oil Co. In a deferred adjudication program, Jusbache paid a fine and served probation and ended up without a conviction on his record. Last year, the state Court of Appeals decided that court rules do not prohibit admission of the no contest pleas when they are not offered as proof of guilt. Whether Jusbache was actually guilty of the trade secrets charge is immaterial to whether he should have disclosed the fact that he had been accused, the appeals court said. But the Supreme Court, in its Thursday ruling, said language in New Mexicos Rules of Evidence plainly prohibits admissibility of a nolo contendre or no contest plea in subsequent proceedings. A nolo plea is not an express or implied admission of factual guilt and is intended to encourage plea negotiations, says the Supreme Court opinion. Despite the best efforts of Plaintiffs to maintain they are not attempting to use the nolo plea as a basis for an inference of wrongdoing, they inevitably are doing so, the high court found. A statement provided by the Jusbaches last week says there were pleased by the ruling. A deadly sinkhole in an industrial part of San Antonio swallowed two cars Sunday evening, killing one person and nearly trapping another who had to be rescued by passersby. The chasm opened just after 7:30 p.m. in an area where the city is engaged in an aggressive, vigorous, replacement program for aging sewer pipes, San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor said at a news conference Monday. The 12-foot sinkhole appeared near a connection between a pipe that was replaced a year ago and pipe that is decades old, officials said. The pipe was visible in photos from the scene, which showed two toppled, submerged cars in a massive hole. The Bexar County Sheriffs Office identified the victim as a reserve sheriffs deputy, Dora Linda Nishihara. Nishihara was a part-time deputy at the county courthouse, the sheriffs office said, and officials said she was in uniform at the time of her death. Her car was upside down, almost completely submerged and filled with gravel, dirt and other debris by the time emergency officials arrived at the scene, Fire Chief Charles Hood said at a news conference. Our thoughts and prayers are with her friends and family, the sheriffs office said on Twitter. The fire department brought in a 100-ton crane to help lift the vehicles out of the expanding sinkhole. At least one had been removed by late Monday afternoon. Working against firefighters: rains that caused a flash flood warning for most of San Antonio, sewage oozing into the hole from the broken pipe and trains that threatened to destabilize everything whenever they rumbled by. The sinkhole was a lot bigger than last night, Robert Puente, the chief executive of the San Antonio Water System, said at the Monday morning news conference. Every time the train [went] by, we saw pieces of earth falling in. texas-sinkhole Wells Fargo has granted $300,000 to Albuquerque-based microlender Accion for outreach to Native and African American entrepreneurs, while making another $1 million in capital available for lending to small and micro businesses. Accion now has $2.4 million in lending capital to draw on from Wells Fargo Works for Small Business Diverse Community Capital program. The loans will benefit underserved entrepreneurs, and the grant money will boost Accions outreach in New Mexico, Dallas and Las Vegas, Nev. Wells Fargo Diverse Community Capital program is a three-year, $75 million bank effort to direct funds to community development financial institutions that serve small businesses. Accion is among 12 CDFIs receiving a total of $11.2 million in the latest round of Wells Fargo financing. SEATTLE A former information technology worker at Expedia Inc. pleaded guilty Monday to securities fraud after authorities said he used his access to the computers of top executives to rummage through their email, then made lucrative, illegal stock trades based on the inside information he discovered. Prosecutors said Jonathan Ly, 28, of San Francisco made more than $330,000 from trades done with the information from 2013 to 2015. I deeply regret what happened in the last couple of years, Ly, choking up, told The Associated Press after the hearing. It was a huge mistake on my part. Ly pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud in U.S. District Court in Seattle and is expected to face a potential sentence of about two years. He has agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $376,000 and to reimburse Expedia $81,000 for costs associated with the investigation. Ly worked for the Bellevue, Washington-based online travel giant but was based in the San Francisco office of one of its brands, Hotwire.com. Prosecutors said he was given the passwords and network credentials of company employees so he could remotely access their computers to address technology issues. Among those whose electronic files he read were Expedias chief financial officer and head of investor relations. Many of the illegal trades he made were in anticipation of quarterly earnings reports which had not yet been made public. Others preceded the announcement of a strategic marketing agreement with Travelocity and U.S. Justice Department approval of Expedias purchase of Orbitz. Even after leaving Expedia for another job in April 2015, Ly kept an Expedia laptop and continued using it to remotely access executives accounts. The company said in an email that it discovered the unauthorized access through enhanced monitoring practices. The irony of our increasingly digital world is that the greatest threat to our networks is a human one, U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes said in a written statement. She praised Expedia for quickly contacting the FBI after identifying the computer intrusion: Their willingness to do the right thing made it possible to effectively investigate and prosecute the matter protecting our financial markets from unfair manipulation. As of Monday, Ly was working in an IT job at the software company Adobe. His attorney, John M. Runfola, asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Theiler to delay notifying Adobe about Lys conviction until the end of the month, which he said would allow Ly to receive a $12,000 benefit through an employee stock purchase program money that could be used to help repay his legal obligations, Runfola said. The judge declined, noting that Adobe would likely learn immediately through news reports, and that the company has a right to know of any similar danger Ly might pose. Adobe did not immediately return a call seeking comment. It is one of the courts responsibilities to impose conditions that reasonably protect the public, Theiler said. Runfola said after the hearing that Ly began working for Expedia in Hawaii, where he grew up, and then transferred to San Francisco, where he had trouble keeping up with the more expensive cost of living. Some of the money he made was used to help pay for his wedding in Hong Kong to a woman who teaches preschool in the San Francisco Bay Area, Runfola said. Hes very remorseful for what he did and stunned at the consequences, the lawyer said. ___ Follow Gene Johnson at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle PITTSBURGH A state prosecutors office in Pennsylvania was among hundreds of thousands of victims of a now-shuttered international cybercrime operation, paying nearly $1,400 in a bitcoin ransom to free up its infected computer network, authorities disclosed Monday. Federal prosecutors said in court documents only that an unidentified state government entity had been victimized by the ring known as the Avalanche network. But the Allegheny County district attorney, Stephen Zappala Jr., confirmed to The Associated Press that it was his office. The disabling of the Avalanche network by the European Union and U.S. authorities was announced last week in Europe. Federal documents unsealed in Pittsburgh on Monday provided additional details. The Avalanche group had operated since at least 2010 and infected at least 500,000 computers worldwide, said Soo Song, acting U.S. Attorney in Pittsburgh. The takedown of Avalanche was unprecedented in its scope, scale, reach and level of cooperation among 40 countries, Song said. Avalanche was a platform to distribute malware to people who wanted to buy it and use it to infect the computers of people and businesses. In general, there were two broad types of malware. One was used to steal online banking information from computers so people known as money mules could transfer funds from those victims to overseas banks. The other was ransomware, which locks up a computer network until the victim agrees to pay a ransom. The prosecutors office was hit by ransomware in January 2015 when an employee clicked on a link embedded in phishing email, Zappala said. Phishing is a process computer hackers use to try to get people to unwittingly install malware on their computer by clicking on what appears to be a legitimate internet link. The employee opened the link because it appeared to go back to a legitimate government agency, Zappala said. The link compromised the district attorneys computer system, which has since been upgraded to fend off similar attacks, he said. The payment of a bitcoin ransom to free up the computer network was noted in federal court documents. Zappala said his detectives traced the email to Australia but didnt identify the specific source and didnt alert other authorities. He said hes content to let federal authorities prosecute the case because the penalties the federal government can impose are much more substantial than we can impose. So far, infected computers have been found in 189 countries worldwide, Song said, and five people have been arrested. Theyre in custody on charges lodged by authorities in the countries where theyre being held, though Song said they eventually could face federal charges and be tried in the United States. The identities of suspects have not yet been released. Two unidentified Pennsylvania companies also were targets of the cybercrime operation, documents showed. Money mules unsuccessfully attempted to steal more than $243,000 from a New Castle company using seven fraudulent wire transactions earlier this year, Song said. Unidentified people also transferred $387,500 from a Carnegie firms bank account to one in Bulgaria in April, but the money was recovered. Overseas officials, and specifically the Germans, began investigating Avalanche about four years ago. U.S. authorities were asked to get involved two years ago, Song said. Pittsburgh is home to the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance, a group consisting of the FBI and other law enforcement groups working with private businesses and academics, including computer experts at Carnegie Mellon University. Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Bern, 05.12.2016 - At a meeting in New York today, the UN Security Council will discuss how cooperation between the Geneva-based Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the UN Security Council in New York can be improved in the area of women, peace and security. The initiative for this discussion came from Switzerland, which has made strengthening women's rights a priority and is also committed to forging closer cooperation between the international institutions based in Geneva and those in New York. Strengthening cooperation in the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security is on the agenda at today's informal meeting of the Security Council, known as an Arria-formula meeting. Resolution 1325 is the first Security Council resolution to explicitly address the impact of armed conflict on women and girls and calls for greater participation by women in peacebuilding and conflict management. Today's discussion in the Security Council was initiated by Switzerland, which seeks to foster closer cooperation between the Geneva-based Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Security Council in New York. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has 189 states parties and requires countries to submit periodic reports on their implementation of the convention. CEDAW, the committee responsible for monitoring and implementation of the convention, adopted a recommendation on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations, which also addresses the issue of improving states parties' implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. The recommendations focus on greater involvement of women in mediation processes, in preventing violent extremism and in the control of small arms. Today's meeting between Security Council members and representatives of CEDAW and civil society will discuss the options for improving cooperation on the implementation of Resolution 1325. Switzerland's commitment to peace and security Commitment to peace and security is one of the priorities of Switzerlands Foreign Policy Strategy 201619. In line with the FDFAs Human Rights Strategy, Switzerland shows particular concern for the protection, promotion and realisation of the rights of women. Switzerland is working at both national and international levels to further the implementation of Resolution 1325. Within Switzerland, this is being done with the help of a National Action Plan. Internationally, Switzerland promotes the implementation of this important instrument via the UN Human Rights Council and in development cooperation, for example. Since 2012, Switzerland has already created multiple opportunities to strengthen cooperation in this area between members of the Security Council and CEDAW. For Switzerland, the opportunity to hold an Arria-formula meeting marks a high point in this long-term commitment to women's rights and underscores the importance of Geneva as the headquarters of important UN treaty bodies. Address for enquiries FDFA Communication Federal Palace West Wing CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland Tel. Communication service: +41 58 462 31 53 Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55 E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch Twitter: @SwissMFA Publisher Federal Department of Foreign Affairs https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html The Google app has been updated to version 6.9 this week, and with any new app, it has been torn apart to see what new goodies may be hiding in the code. The update itself isnt all that big. Mostly bringing in bug fixes and such. But it does bring in some features that are going to be launching in the near future, perhaps. The code in this update hints at a few new features coming, but this doesnt mean that they are absolutely coming. So its important to take this with a grain of salt, even though the proof is quite literally there. Offline Maps has become a pretty popular feature for a good number of people that use Google Maps often but perhaps travel in areas where mobile networks arent all that great, or they just want to save some data. It now looks like Google is going to make those offline maps even better. By making them searchable. Those of you that use Offline Maps already, will know that this feature is actually available in Google Maps. So it appears that Google is just bringing the functionality on over to the Google app, where you are more likely to search anyways. Another feature found in the code is a native image viewer. But some of the code in there is a bit interesting. Not only do we see code for the title, website, and such, which youd expect to see anyways. But it appears that there are templates for recipes and even items you may be searching for to buy. As there are labels for ingredients, time and yield as well as brand, price, reviews, in stock and other labels that would be useful when searching for a product like Google Home. Advertisement Finally, Google may be making autocomplete a bit smarter. The search bar in the Google app is already fairly useful, allowing us to search the web and our phone at the exact same time. But the autocomplete could use some work. It appears that autocomplete will be recommending related terms instead of things youve searched for in the past. Which should be a bit more helpful for most people. The latest version of the Google app should be making its way to everyones device already, but if you dont have version 6.9 just yet you can grab it from the link down below. Joe Flatman explores half a century of reports from the past. All CA issues mentioned by Joe Flatman in this months column below can be accessed for free for one month via Exact Editions, starting 1 December. Use the links within the text to jump to the individual issues, or click on the covers below. Print subscribers can add permanent digital access to their account for just 12 a year this includes everything from the last 50 years, right back to Issue 1! Call our dedicated subscriptions team on 020 8819 5580, quoting DIGI322, to add digital access to your account, or click here for more information. One of the hallmarks of CA is the diversity of its geographic coverage. In the present day, with cheap flights available and the internet at hand to provide guidance on even the most remote corners of the world, it is easy for us to forget that getting a good story from a foreign site visit back in the 1960s, 1970s, and even 1980s was not anything like as straightforward. In this instalment of my excavation of the CA archive, I explore some of the stories behind the international travels of the Selkirks before they launched CAs sister magazine, Current World Archaeology, in 2003. So far as determination to get an arresting story is concerned, CAs first international story set the bar high: in the summer of 1967, the Selkirks packed their trusty camper van and drove, overland, from Britain to Greece; the resulting reports were collated in CA 7 (March 1968). Bear in mind that the summer of 1967 saw Greece in the throes of a right-wing coup, which had been launched that April and ushered in a period of military rule that was to last until 1974, and some of the challenges of reporting from the country become more apparent. Undaunted, and with the support of a variety of different organisations and individuals (including the British School at Athens and the American School of Classical Studies), the Selkirks toured widely, visiting the Minoan Palace of Zakros on the east coast of Crete; the Middle-Late Minoan royal burial site of Archanes in central Crete; the central Greek Mycenaean city of Thebes; the Bronze and Iron Age settlement of Lefkandi on the island of Euboea; and the sites and museums at Olympia and Thessaloniki. The traditional back-cover map is correspondingly impressive. They also managed to persuade a young and ferociously busy Colin Renfrew (at that point a humble lecturer at the University of Sheffield, leading excavations at the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age settlement of Sitagroi in north-east Greece) to provide a long and characteristically erudite article on the Greek Neolithic. All in all, CA 7 is an impressive and historically important survey of archaeology in Greece at a momentous point in its cultural history. As such, it is a fascinating read. German edition The next whole issue devoted to foreign travel is CA 13 (March 1969). Following the model established in the 1967 trip to Greece, the Selkirks travelled to Germany in the early summer of 1968 to gather stories for the magazine. Unlike Greece, this was perhaps rather less terra incognita: Andrew Selkirk had been stationed in Germany while undertaking his National Service in the 1950s. And as he relates in his editorial: Before we went to Germany I asked Professor Hawkes where we should go, and he replied Go straight to Bonn, see Irwin Scollar, who is an American working there, and he will give you the low-down in English on just what is happening in archaeology in Germany. This is indeed just what happened. Dr Scollar not only gave us all the gossip about archaeology in Germany (very important), but he also took us to see Professor von Petrikovits (the head of the Museum) with whose help he devised our itinerary: after gathering a whole host of information in Bonn and Cologne, we then went via Trier to visit the RGK [Romisch-Germanische Kommission, a department of the Deutsches Archaologisches Institut, DAI] at Frankfurt and Mainz, then to Munich We then returned to Stuttgart where we met Dr Zurn, who has a reputation for having marvellous good luck (mostly, of course, great astuteness and energy), and then a long, long trip up to Scheswig-Holstein in the north, whence we returned via Wilhemshaven and Munster and then home. This is the journey reported on in the magazine, beautifully illustrated with some wonderful maps and photographs. Charmingly, CA 13 also includes a round-up of the bestselling books on archaeology in Germany in this period, in which the figure of C W Ceram (the pseudonym of German journalist and author Kurt Wilhelm Marek, an incredibly popular archaeological author at this time) looms large with his perennial best-seller Gods, Graves, and Scholars. The German volume is another wonderful snapshot of what was happening in, of course, only West Germany at that time, and of the personalities as well as the sites that were active. Irwin Scollar, for example, is little known outside German archaeology, but went on to have a long career in the discipline that continues to this day, including being an early and innovative exponent of the use of computer image-processing in archaeology. He was awarded the German Archaeology Prize in 1999 in honour of his contributions. Across the Irish Sea In July 1970, the Selkirks ventured abroad again, this time even closer to home, touring Ireland (both the Republic and Northern Ireland), and reporting back on their travels in CA 22 (September 1970). Again, the back-cover map gives a good sense of their travels, and this was the first of many happy contacts with Irish archaeologists from both sides of the border, which continue in the pages of CA to this day. The sites visited are, as ever, a mix of both the famous and the lesser known, including the Neolithic sites of Knowth and Newgrange in the Boyne Valley (both of which became World Heritage Sites in 1993); the prehistoric hilltop enclosure of Navan Fort in County Armagh (Northern Ireland); and Dun Ailinne, a prehistoric ceremonial centre in County Kildare. It was to Ireland that the Selkirks returned in the next volume to include an international site, when, in CA 66 (April 1979), they reported on the famous some might call them infamous Viking Age discoveries at Wood Quay in central Dublin. Wood Quay is presented as a fascinating counterpoint to an article in the same volume on Londons Roman and medieval waterfront. Here are two complex urban riverfronts, explored side by side, both discovered (if that is the right word) by new developments, and both still informing the archaeological dialogues about and approaches to each city to this day. The articles offer a tremendous snapshot of this important work while it was being undertaken during the 1970s. Alongside the examples noted above have been more unusual forays into foreign climes. To give just a flavour of these later travels, CA 85 (December 1982) includes a report on then ongoing British-led work at Pompeii (which was part-sponsored by the Imperial Tobacco Company imagine the furore if that were to occur nowadays), and CA 123 (March 1991) saw Martin Biddle reporting from Jerusalem, where he was at that time carrying out a photogrammetric survey of the Tomb of Christ to see how much of the earlier building survived underneath. CA 136 (December 1993) has a report on aerial archaeology in Israel, and CA 142 (April 1995) and CA 144 (September 1995) reached furthest afield of all, to the medieval trade centre of Gao in West Africa and then all the way to Australia to report on rock art in Northern Queensland. Joe Flatman is Head of Listing Programmes at Historic England and the former County Archaeologist of Surrey. You can follow him on Twitter @joeflatman Discover old issues Read the issues discussed by Joe for free online via Exact Editions you can find the links to the individual issues in the text above, or click here to see all issues of Current Archaeology. The issues mentioned in this column will be available for one month, from 1 December. Print subscribers can add digital access to the entire back catalogue of CA for just 12 a year simply call us on 020 8819 5580 and quote DIGI322. Modified On Dec 05, 2016 05:18 PM By Raunak The luxury segment is one of the fastest growing segments in the country. The competition is getting aggressive year on year and manufacturers, nowadays, dont waste time launching cars post their global debuts. This space is unequivocally dominated by the German trio of Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW. That said, the Swedish automaker Volvo has become more focused towards India this year than it ever was, and has planned a slew of launches, including its performance-oriented brand Polestar, to fight back these Germans in 2017. Also, 2017 will see the launch of the first Japanese luxury brand in the country in the form of Lexus. Heres a comprehensive list of luxury cars coming next year. Audi Audi A3 Facelift Audi Indias entry-level model the A3 is due for its midlife update. The Ingolstadt-based automaker revealed the facelifted A3 earlier this year in April and is expected to launch the car in early 2017. The updated A3 now features the new A4-esque front profile along with optional Matrix LED headlights. Mechanically, it is likely to get the 1.4-litre TFSI petrol, similar to the new A4, while the 2.0-litre diesel will remain unaltered. Audi S5 Sportback Audi revealed the second-gen S5 Sportback in September 2016 globally. In India, it will replace the first-gen car next year. Like the facelifted A3, the all-new S5 also borrows inspiration from the new A4, especially on the inside. Mechanically, the outgoing cars 3.0-litre supercharged motor will be replaced by a more powerful and efficient 3.0-litre turbocharged mill. Audi TT RS Audi is coming up with a hotter and go-fast version of the third-gen TT, the TT RS, next year in India. Besides the wicked aesthetic additions, the TT RS packs a 2.5-litre turbocharged motor that chucks out close to 400PS of power and 480Nm of max twist. Audi's legendary Quattro AWD (all-wheel drive) tech helps it clock 0-100kmph in just 3.7 seconds, while top speed is electronically limited to 250kmph. Audi Q2 The Q2 sits below the highly-popular Q3 in Audis global SUV lineup as the most affordable Q range vehicle, and India will be no different. The Q2 has its own identity and doesn't resemble the rest of the Q range of SUVs. Considering the penchant of Indians toward SUVs and the popularity of the Q3, the Q2 has the potential to become the bestselling model for the brand in the country. And like the Q3, Audi may offer a manual transmission option for the Q2 to keep its prices cut-throat. Audi Q5 The second-gen Audi Q5, which was revealed at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show, looks like a scaled down version of the automakers flagship SUV, the Q7. And it also shares the same platform MLB EVO. Mechanically, the new Q5 is expected to come with a choice of 2.0-litre diesel and petrol motors in the country. It will go on sale next year and will primarily go up against the Mercedes-Benz GLC and the BMW X3. Audi SQ7 Sources suggest that Audi is mulling over the launch of the most brutal Q7 the SO7 in the country. The SQ7 packs a 4.0-litre V8 oil burner that produces a max power of 435PS and a tarmac shattering 900Nm of peak torque. The motor propels this full-sized beast from nought to 100kmph in merely 4.8 seconds, while the top speed is electronically limited to 250kmph. Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz E Class Like the current C Class, the 2017 E Class has also borrowed its styling cues from the flagship saloon the S Class. The E Class even has a similar cabin with the two adjoining, seamless 12.3-inch displays. Mechanically, the E Class will borrow its petrol powertrain from the C Class, while it will additionally get a brand new 2.0-litre diesel. It will be launched next year and will compete with the upcoming brand-new BMW 5 Series and the facelifted Audi A6. Mercedes-AMG CLA45 The performance-oriented AMG version of the recently launched facelifted CLA will also be launched next year. The Mercedes-AMG CLA45 gets updated sportier styling, both on the inside and on the outside. Also, the all-LED headlights are now standard in the CLA45 AMG. Mechanically, it will get a slightly uprated 2.0-litre turbo petrol. Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe Like its bigger sibling, the GLE Coupe, Mercedes is likely to launch the coupe version of the GLC SUV next year. Mechanically, in the GLC Coupe, we expect Mercedes-Benz to plonk in either the 220d or the 250d diesel engine, that generates 170PS and 204PS of power, respectively. The German automaker may also launch the AMG version of the coupe SUV in the country. It is expected to be priced slightly higher than the regular avatar. BMW BMW 5 Series BMW has revealed the brand-new 5 Series, which is expected to launch in the second half of next year. The new 5 Series has borrowed design cues of the 7 series, especially for the front profile. It also shares its platform with the 7 Series, however, it doesnt use the expensive Carbon Core of the later. That said, extensive use of aluminium for the structure, body panels and suspension has resulted in weight savings of up to 100kg compared to the outgoing model. Mechanically, all the engines in the 2017 5 Series Sedan lineup are from the new modular BMW EfficientDynamics family of powerplants. BMW M2 Okay, we might be hoping for too much, but BMW could, and should, introduce the M2 in India. The reason is simple, Mercedes-Benz has the CLA45 AMG in place to cater to performance-minded enthusiasts and is also the cheapest AMG on sale in India. On the other hand, all the M cars present in the country are priced north of Rs 1 crore and the M2 can be offered at a much cheaper rate, at least around the price tag of the CLA45 AMG. The M2 has garnered a lot of appreciation globally, because of its raw appeal coupled to a great chassis and an equally capable 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder motor. The turbocharged unit produces 365PS of power and sends it to the rear wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch unit. The cars 50:50 weight distribution gives it exceptional driving dynamics and a rear wheel drive only setup adds up to the fun factor. Volvo Volvo XC90 R-Design Over time, Volvo India has introduced most of the iterations of the XC90 in the country, including the range-topping T8 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid avatar. And the Swedish automaker is not shying away from launching the R-Design version of the SUV as well, which will be launched next year. In India, Volvo might introduce this sportier looking version with the D5 diesel engine option. The R-Design avatar gets additional features inside and outside along with sportier aesthetics, and will be priced higher than the stock version. Facelifted Volvo V40 and V40 Cross Country In February, Volvo introduced the facelifted versions of the V40 and the V40 Cross Country, which are expected to be launched in the first half of next year. The significant change in the duo is the adoption of Volvos latest design language with the incorporation of Thor's Hammer LED daytime running LEDs. The cars continue to be powered by the same 2.0-litre turbo diesel and 1.6-litre turbo petrol engines, which produce 150PS and 180PS of power output, respectively. Volvo S60 Polestar With the S60 Polestar, Volvo will officially launch the Polestar, its performance-oriented brand in the country. For the uninitiated, Polestar has a racing history with Volvo cars and it later started offering performance upgrades for the Swedish brands cars. Ultimately in 2015, Volvo acquired Polestar and the latter is currently Volvos performance division. The S60 Polestar is powered by a 2.0-litre Drive-E four-cylinder petrol engine that makes 367PS of power and 467Nm of torque. It sprints from 0-100kmph in merely 4.7 seconds! Volvo V90 Cross Country Volvo is playing bold with the launch of the V90 Cross Country, which will happen around mid-2017. The V90 Cross Country (cross-estate) is also based on Volvos Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) as the S90 and the XC90. The Cross Country gets 65mm of added ground clearance as compared to the stock V90 and body cladding to butch things up. Mechanically, it will most likely be offered with the same 'D4' diesel engine as the S90, that makes 190PS/400Nm, paired with an eight-speed automatic gearbox. Land Rover Land Rover Discovery Tata-owned, British off-road automaker, Land Rover, has unveiled the brand-new Discovery at the recently held 2016 Paris Motor Show. The overall design is similar to the 2014 Discovery Vision Concept. Unlike its predecessor, which was on sale in the country, the new Discovery is based on a monocoque chassis with an aluminium intensive construction that makes it nearly 500kg lighter than the former. Mechanically, expected engine options in India are a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder Ingenium diesel engine that makes 240PS and 500Nm along with the 3.0-litre, six-cylinder TD6 diesel engine that makes 258PS and 600Nm. Both the engines will come paired with an eight-speed automatic gearbox. It will be launched somewhere in next year and will be a direct import, which is why prices may fall into the range of Rs 1.20-1.40 crore. Range Rover Evoque Convertible The coupe-like Evoque is one of the most selling Land Rover products in the country. It became so popular that the automaker started local assembly of the SUV after its launch. Now, the company wants to add oomph to the Evoque's line-up with the launch of the Evoque Convertible. Unveiled at the 2015 Los Angeles Motor Show, it went on sale earlier this year in some of the global markets. The Evoque Convertible adds the practicality of an SUV, while giving you wind-in-the-hair experience. Land Rover claims that it is capable of raising and lowering its roof in around 20 seconds at speeds of up to 48kmph. Unlike the regular Evoque, the convertible will be a direct import and will be relatively expensive. Lexus Lexus LX450d The LX450d, which is the flagship SUV of Lexus, is based on the mighty Toyota Land Cruise. This body-on-frame SUV is likely to get a price tag in the vicinity of Rs 2 crore. It will be powered by a 4.5-litre V8 engine that puts out 273PS of max power and a massive 650Nm of peak torque and is coupled to a six-speed automatic gearbox. It is also available in a petrol guise, but initially, it is believed that Lexus will only launch this diesel avatar of the SUV. Lexus Rx450h The Lexus Rx450h is in its fourth-generation and made its world debut at the 2015 New York Motor Show. Toyota will launch the Lexus brand early next year and Rx450h will be one of the very first models. The RX 450h (in which h stands for hybrid) SUV will take on the likes of the Mercedes-Benz GLC, the new Audi Q5 and the BMW X3, but it will be priced higher, courtesy CBU import. It comes with a 3.5-litre Atkinson-cycle V6 petrol motor, which puts out 259PS @ 6,000rpm of max power and 335Nm @ 4,800rpm of peak torque. Speaking of the electric motors, at the front, the RX 450h comes with two electric motors. One of the motors is used as a generator, engine starter, and to carry out the function of transmission ratio control. And the second motor drives the front wheels (along with the engine) and puts out a healthy 165PS of max power. The third motor is placed on the rear axle and drives the rear wheels. The max power rating of this motor is 67PS. Recommended Read: Upcoming SUVs/Crossovers Of 2017 Our weekly round-up of all the latest movers in the charity sector. Chief executive David Robb, the chief executive of OSCR, the charity regulator in Scotland, has taken on a part-time role as deputy director for the Scottish Governments digital directorate. Robbs new role, which started this month, will help support the digital participation agenda for Scotlands charities, and also meet OSCRs aim of 100 per cent online delivery. He will remain in his chief executive role with the regulator, but has delegated some work to other members of OSCRs senior management team. Robbs part-time role with the Scottish Government will last for six months. Finance and strategy Diabetes UK has appointed Graham Galvin to the role of director of corporate services. Galvin starts his new role on 5 December. He will direct the work of five teams within the wider Diabetes UK organisation as part of a corporate services directorate. The directorate will be made up of the IT, finance, governance and compliance, legal and planning and performance and risk management teams. Galvin joins Diabetes UK from Breast Cancer Care, where he was director of finance and resources since 2010. Prior to that Galvin held similar roles at Volunteering England and Groundwork East London. He replaces Mark Woodbridge, who left Diabetes UK to join Global Witness. Non-executive Sophie Andrews, chief executive of The Silver Line, has been appointed chair of the Helplines Partnership. Along with her work with The Silver Line, Andrews has been a volunteer with the Samaritans for 25 years and was national chair of the charity for three years. She replaces Liz Felton who steps down from the role after six years, having reached the maximum term of office. Youth Scotland has appointed Dona Milne as its new chair for the next three years. Milne is an NHS consultant, working in the area of children and young peoples wellbeing in the broader area of reducing inequality. She is a fellow of the Faculty of Public Health, and an honorary fellow of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health. Milne is also currently chair of the Childrens Parliament. A new chair and four trustees have all recently been appointed to the board of Manchesters LGBT Foundation. Smyth Harper, who is currently head of communications and engagement at Tony Lloyd Greater Manchesters Police and Crime Commissioner, will be the new chair of the organisations board of trustees. He is joined by four new trustees including Olivia Butterworth, head of public participation at NHS England; Emily van Blankenstein, a junior doctor; Sharmila Kar, head of human resources and organisational development at Manchester Clinical Commissioning Group and Matt Webber from the Leeds Trinity Students Union. Suncor Energy Inc. operates as an integrated energy company. The company primarily focuses on developing petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; explores, acquires, develops, produces, transports, refines, and markets crude oil in Canada and internationally; markets petroleum and petrochemical products under the Petro-Canada name primarily in Canada. It operates through Oil Sands; Exploration and Production; Refining and Marketing; and Corporate and Eliminations segments. The Oil Sands segment recovers bitumen from mining and in situ operations, and upgrades it into refinery feedstock and diesel fuel, or blends the bitumen with diluent for direct sale to market. The Exploration and Production segment is involved in offshore operations off the east coast of Canada and in the North Sea; and operating onshore assets in Libya and Syria. The Refining and Marketing segment refines crude oil and intermediate feedstock into various petroleum and petrochemical products; and markets refined petroleum products to retail, commercial, and industrial customers through its other retail sellers. The Corporate and Eliminations segment operates four wind farms in Ontario and Western Canada. The company also markets and trades in crude oil, natural gas, byproducts, refined products, and power. The company was formerly known as Suncor Inc. and changed its name to Suncor Energy Inc. in April 1997. Suncor Energy Inc. was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. There's a lot of talk about the high cost of health care, but do you know which conditions contribute most to health care spending? If you said diabetes, you're right -- a new study finds diabetes costs $101 billion annually in diagnosis and treatment and is growing 36 times faster than the cost of heart disease, the leading cause of death and the second most-expensive condition. "While it is well known that the US spends more than any other nation on health care, very little is known about what diseases drive that spending." said Dr. Joseph Dieleman, lead author of a paper published in JAMA and Assistant Professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. "IHME is trying to fill the information gap so that decision-makers in the public and private sectors can understand the spending landscape, and plan and allocate health resources more effectively." In fact, the study found that just 20 conditions make up more than half of all spending on health care in the United States. While diabetes and heart disease primarily affected consumers 65 and over, lower back and neck pain, the third-most-expensive condition, primarily strikes adults of working age. These three top spending categories, along with hypertension and injuries from falls, comprise 18% of all personal health spending and totaled $437 billion in 2013. This study distinguishes between spending on public health programs from personal health spending, including both individual out-of-pocket costs and spending by private and government insurance programs. It covers 155 conditions. $2.4 trillion In addition to the $2.1 trillion spent on the 155 conditions examined in the study, Dr. Dieleman estimates that approximately $300 billion in costs, such as those of over-the-counter medications and privately funded home health care, remain unaccounted for, indicating total personal health care costs in the US reached $2.4 trillion in 2013. Other expensive conditions among the top 20 include musculoskeletal disorders, such as tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis; well-care associated with dental visits; and pregnancy and postpartum care. Other key findings include: Women ages 85 and older spent the most per person in 2013, at more than $31,000 per person. More than half of this spending (58%) occurred in nursing facilities, while 40% was expended on cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and falls. Men ages 85 and older spent $24,000 per person in 2013, with only 37% on nursing facilities, largely because women live longer and men more often have a spouse at home to provide care. Less than 10% of personal health care spending is on nursing care facilities, and less than 5% of spending is on emergency department care. The conditions leading to the most spending in nursing care facilities are Alzheimer's and stroke, while the condition leading to the most spending in emergency departments is falls. Public health education and advocacy initiatives, such as anti-tobacco and cancer awareness campaigns, totaled an estimated $77.9 billion in 2013, less than 3% of total health spending. Top 10 diseases The top 10 most costly health expenses in 2013 were: 1. Diabetes - $101.4 billion 2. Ischemic heart disease - $88.1 billion 3. Low back and neck pain - $87.6 billion 4. Hypertension - $83.9 billion 5. Injuries from falls - $76.3 billion 6. Depressive disorders - $71.1 billion 7. Oral-related problems - $66.4 billion 8. Vision and hearing problems - $59 billion 9. Skin-related problems, such as cellulitis and acne - $55.7 billion 10. Pregnancy and postpartum care - $55.6 billion Israel To Assist Nigeria With Cybersecurity Israel has pledged to assist Nigeria in tackling cyber-crime and internal insecurity through the use of modern technology. This was announced by Guy Feldman, the Israeli ambassador to Nigeria, in Abuja at a conference tagged: Homeland and Cyber Security. Feldman said there was need for all hands to be on deck to address the ugly trend of cyber-crime in Nigeria. He said Israel is a small country but it has a vast experience in cyber security, due to its technology and human capital development. Feldman emphasised the need to deploy hi-tech technology, surveillance cameras and security gadgets to Nigerias strategic sectors such as the financial and oil sectors. The ambassador said that both countries were already discussing how to strengthen ties and enhance business/security relations. According to thecable.ng, Feldman described Nigeria as the Lion of Africa which deserves all the support from the international community to evolve a virile and prosperous nation. He said Israel has the technology and human resources to deal with the cyber security challenge. And Nigerias Minister of Interior Abdulrahman Dambazau emphasised the need to enhance cyber security. His message was that Nigeria would continue to collaborate with Israel and other foreign countries. Aviad Marco, an Israeli security expert, who delivered a lecture on the efforts at tackling cyber-crime, described the phenomenon as a new form of terrorism. Marco said that the activities of hackers, especially on sensitive database, could bring a country down if not checkmated. Meanwhile, Nigeria has been receiving foreign support on other homeland security issues as well: The Office of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement within the United States Embassy, in collaboration with the Atlanta Police Department and the Nigeria Police Force, have concluded a one-week Fingerprint Analysis and Forensics training program for 66 police officers, according to punchng.com. The program was aimed at establishing a US-trained group of Nigerian police investigators skilled in the proper recognition, documentation, and development of latent fingerprint evidence captured from a crime scene. I-HLS: African States Quick To Adopt Network Surveillance: Snowden Loses In Norway Edward Snowden's bid to guarantee that he would not be extradited to the US if he visited Norway has been rejected by the Norwegian supreme court. Even so, 31 writers have signed an open letter that features a request for President Barack Obama to pardon Snowden. Now fifteen former staff members of the Church committee, the 1970s congressional inquiry into illegal activity by the CIA, wrote jointly to the US president Obama calling on him to end Snowdens untenable exile in Russia, which benefits nobody. Norway The former National Security Agency contractor has filed the lawsuit in April, attempting to secure safe passage to Norway to pick up a free speech award. It had already been rejected by Oslo District court and an appeals court. Snowden is a former NSA analyst who leaked secret US surveillance details three years ago. As a result, he is facing charges in the US which could put him in prison for up to 30 years and potential Trump officials have suggested that Snowden should be executed. Mr Snowden's lawyers have previously said if he were extradited to the US, it would be "a foregone conclusion" that he would be convicted and jailed. Mr Snowden has been living in Russia, out of reach of the US authorities, since the leaks in 2013. He had hoped to travel to Oslo to receive the Ossietzky Prize, for "outstanding efforts for freedom of expression". The award was due to be presented in November. But the Norwegian Supreme Court said it could not rule on the legality of any move to extradite Mr Snowden as the US had so far made no such request. Letters Supporting Edward Snowden The campaign to persuade Barack Obama to allow the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to return home to the US without facing prolonged prison time has received powerful new backing from some of the most experienced intelligence experts in the country. Fifteen former staff members of the Church committee, the 1970s congressional investigation into illegal activity by the CIA and other intelligence agencies, have written jointly to Obama calling on him to end Snowdens untenable exile in Russia, which benefits nobody. Over eight pages of tightly worded argument, they remind the president of the positive debate that Snowdens disclosures sparked, prompting one of the few examples of truly bipartisan legislative change in recent years. They also remind Obama of the long record of leniency that has been shown by his own and previous administrations towards those who have broken secrecy laws. They even recall how their own Church committee revealed that six US presidents, from Franklin Roosevelt to Richard Nixon, were guilty of abusing secret powers. There is no question that Snowden broke the law. But previous cases in which others violated the same law suggest leniency. And most importantly, Snowdens actions were not for personal benefit, but were intended to spur reform. And they did so, the signatories write. As the 15 staff members point out, the committee investigation led to the disclosure of jaw-dropping illegal acts including the planting of an FBI informant inside the civil rights group the NAACP, attempts to push Martin Luther King into killing himself, and Cointelpro, the vast program run secretly by the FBI to disrupt progressive organisations in the US. And Thirty-One Writers Now 31 writers have signed an open letter that features a request for President Barack Obama to issue a pardon for the infamous whistleblower, Edward Snowden. Some of the participants include Newbery Medal winner Neil Gaiman, Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, and National Book Award winner Joyce Carol Oates. Heres an excerpt from the letter: Having sworn an oath to support and defend the US Constitution, Snowden proceeded to do just that, by releasing the information hed uncovered to reputable institutions of our free press, in accordance with Jeffersons principle that wherever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government. We the people are now well informed, and yet the man who has risked his freedom in the interests of our better self-governance languishes in Russian exile, faced with the prospect of returning home to a trial deprived of a public interest defense, and so, in all likelihood, a cell. This, in our opinion, is exactly the type of circumstance for which the presidency has been invested with the pardon privilege. However, President Barack Obama said on the 25th November that he 'can't' pardon Edward Snowden, the former NSA analyst who in 2013 revealed details of classified US government surveillance programs. The president told the German publication Der Spiegel over that weekend that he 'can't pardon somebody who hasn't gone before a court and presented themselves'. Civil libertarians, privacy rights advocates and anti-surveillance activists have been vocal in recent weeks, urging the president to issue a pardon and thus protect Snowden from criminal prosecution in the waning days of his administration. Snowden is wanted for allegedly violating the Espionage Act by leaking sensitive information about US government surveillance to journalists. BBC: AdWeek: Mail: Guardian: Can Snowden Testify in Berlin?: Snowden Appeals to Switzerland to Grant Asylum: No. Petition to Pardon Snowden Rejected by Obama: We use a range of cookies to give you the best possible browsing experience. By continuing to use this website, you agree to our use of cookies. You can learn more about our cookie policy here, or by following the link at the bottom of any page on our site. See our updated Privacy Policy here. New Tel Aviv University research suggests that periods of fasting or starvation may significantly shorten the lifespans of both children and their male descendants. The study focused on survivors of a mass famine that took place in the early 1920s in several rural regions of Russia. It was led by Prof. Eugene Kobyliansky of TAU's Sackler School of Medicine and conducted by doctoral student Dmitry Torchinsky of TAU's Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, in collaboration with Dr. Leonid Kalichman of Ben-Gurion University's Department of Physical Therapy and Prof. David Karasik of Bar Ilan University's Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee. Its conclusions were published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. "A variety of experimental and epidemiological studies have tried to propose that intermittent or periodic fasting, like caloric restriction, may slow the aging process and extend lifespans," said Prof. Kobyliansky. "But there is also evidence demonstrating that even moderate caloric restriction may not extend but, on the contrary, can shorten the human lifespan." A lesson from Russia Past research suggests a strong correlation between telomere dynamics and the processes that determine human aging and lifespan. Telomeres, compound structures at the end of each chromosome that protects the end of the chromosome from deterioration, are the genetic key to longevity. They shorten with every chromosome replication cycle. The team evaluated telomere lengths in a population-based sample comprised of survivors of the mass famine of the early 1920s and in the survivors' descendants, who originated from Chuvashia, a rural area in the mid-Volga region of Russia. In Chuvashia, the proportion of starving inhabitants reached 90% in late March 1922, and mortality among starving peasants reached between 30-50%. The situation only began to improve in April 1923. By the end of that year, the mass famine in Chuvashia was considered over. The researchers arrived at three major discoveries: (1) There were shorter leukocyte telomeres in men born after 1923 after the mass famine ended than in men born before 1922; (2) there was a stable inheritance of shorter telomeres by men born in ensuing generations; and (3) there was an absence of any correlation between shorter telomeres and women born before or after the event. "This study, while demonstrating that starvation has the potential to shorten telomere length, raises several questions," said Prof. Kobyliansky. "Does starvation exert a stronger effect on telomere length in the reproductive cells of adults than in the leukocytes of children? Is starvation-induced telomere shortening a sex-dependent phenomenon? And would fasting regimens exerting beneficial effects be accompanied by telomere shortening in descendants?" The team is currently considering experimental in vivo studies to answer these and other questions. ### Tel Aviv University (TAU) is inherently linked to the cultural, scientific and entrepreneurial mecca it represents. It is one of the world's most dynamic research centers and Israel's most distinguished learning environment. Its unique-in-Israel multidisciplinary environment is highly coveted by young researchers and scholars returning to Israel from post-docs and junior faculty positions in the US. American Friends of Tel Aviv University (AFTAU) enthusiastically and industriously pursues the advancement of TAU in the US, raising money, awareness and influence through international alliances that are vital to the future of this already impressive institution. DALLAS, Dec. 5, 2016 -- Around the clock monitoring during daily activity revealed masked, or undetected, high blood pressure among otherwise healthy adults who had normal readings in the clinic, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation. The reverse of "white coat hypertension" (higher blood pressure readings at the doctor's office than outside the clinic setting), "masked hypertension" is normal blood pressure in the doctor's office but high readings outside of the office. Masked hypertension is easy to miss, and can occur during the day or night. Masked hypertension is uncovered with 24-hour ambulatory, or around the clock, monitoring. Patients go about their daily activities while wearing a blood pressure cuff on their arm, attached to a small, portable device. Compared to clinic blood pressure, ambulatory blood pressure is recognized as a better predictor of future cardiovascular disease. The common belief was that ambulatory blood pressure is usually lower than clinic blood pressure, in part because of the so-called "white-coat effect" caused by increased anxiety from clinic testing. In this study, researchers compared clinic blood pressure measurements to ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in 888 healthy, middle-aged participants enrolled in the Masked Hypertension Study at Stony Brook University and Columbia University in New York between 2005 and 2012. They found: 15.7 percent of participants with normal clinic blood pressure had masked hypertension based on ambulatory monitoring, regardless of sex, race, or ethnicity. Younger, normal-weight participants were more likely than older, overweight participants to have ambulatory blood pressure readings higher than their clinic readings. "These findings debunk the widely held belief that ambulatory blood pressure is usually lower than clinic blood pressure," Joseph E. Schwartz, Ph.D., study lead author and professor of psychiatry and sociology, at Stony Brook University, in Stony Brook, New York. "It is important for healthcare providers to know that there is a systematic tendency for ambulatory blood pressure to exceed clinic blood pressure in healthy, untreated individuals evaluated for hypertension during well-patient visits. Our study's results may not apply to those who have previously been diagnosed as having hypertension or are already being treated for hypertension." Study participants had three blood-pressure readings taken during each of three clinic visits and completed one 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure recording (with readings taken approximately every 30 minutes). At the time of the study, all participants were employed and were not taking medication to lower blood pressure. More than half of participants were female, and their average age was 45. Most participants were white, 7 percent were African American, and 12 percent were Hispanic. All participants were employed which excluded retired, older people who are more likely than younger adults to have high blood pressure. Researchers said their research needs to be confirmed in further studies with more diverse populations. There are a substantial number of otherwise healthy individuals who have masked hypertension and should have their blood pressure monitored regularly; it is critical that future research determine if these individuals would benefit from treatment, researchers said. ### Co-authors are Mathew M. Burg, Ph.D.; Daichi Shimbo, M.D.; Joan E. Broderick, Ph.D.; Arthur A. Stone, Ph.D.; Joji Ishikawa, M.D.; Richard Sloan, Ph.D.; Tyla Yurgel, M.A.; Steve Grossman, M.S.; and Thomas G. Pickering, M.D. (posthumously). Author disclosures are on the manuscript. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (formerly the National Center for Research Resources) supported the study. Additional Resources: Blood pressure images are located in the right column of this release link http://newsroom.heart.org/news/clinic-readings-may-underestimate-blood-pressure-during-daily-activities?preview=0ed69b5876a4e412b937771f1ace56ee Around-the-clock monitoring may unmask hypertension in African-Americans Follow AHA/ASA news on Twitter @HeartNews. For updates and new science from the Circulation journal follow @CircAHA. Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the association's policy or position. The association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at http://www.heart.org/corporatefunding. David H. Yang, a senior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is the recipient of the 2017 AMS-MAA-SIAM Frank and Brennie Morgan Prize for Outstanding Research in Mathematics by an Undergraduate Student. Yang is honored for his outstanding research in algebraic geometry and geometric representation theory. Although he is still an undergraduate student, Yang is already an author of five research papers, with two more in preparation. Three of his papers have appeared or will appear in the Memoirs of the AMS, Journal fur die reine und angewandte Mathematik, and Research in the Mathematical Sciences. His joint paper with two senior collaborators --- Professor Lawrence Ein of the University of Illinois at Chicago and Professor Robert Lazarsfeld of Stony Brook University --- builds on Yang's earlier single-author work. The letters supporting Yang's nomination for the Morgan Prize describe his work as truly exceptional. In addition to doing outstanding research, he has excelled in contest math. He was a Putnam Competition Fellow for the last three consecutive years, and he won two gold medals in the International Mathematical Olympiad. David H. Yang was born in California, where he spent most of his early childhood. He moved to New Hampshire to attend Phillips Exeter Academy, where he was first exposed to algebraic geometry. Starting in his freshman year at MIT, Yang's research was guided by Professors Joe Harris at Harvard and Roman Bezrukavnikov at MIT. It was at MIT that Yang started pursuing research in algebraic geometry. He plans to continue his research after graduating from MIT. Presented annually, the Morgan Prize recognizes an undergraduate student who has done outstanding research in mathematics; the student must be in a college or university in Canada, Mexico, or the United States or its possessions. It is sponsored by the AMS, the Mathematical Association of America, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. The prize will be awarded Thursday, January 5, 2017, at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Atlanta. ### Find out more about AMS prizes and awards at http://www.ams.org/profession/prizes-awards/prizes. Founded in 1888 to further mathematical research and scholarship, today the American Mathematical Society fulfills its mission through programs and services that promote mathematical research and its uses, strengthen mathematical education, and foster awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and to everyday life. (Boston)--Over the past decade, researchers have learned that the hippocampus--historically known for its role in forming memories--is involved in much more than just remembering the past; it plays an important role in imagining events in the future. Yet, scientists still do not know precisely how the hippocampus contributes to episodic imagining--until now. Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have determined the role of the hippocampus in future imaging lies in the process of constructing a scene in one's mind. The findings, which appear in the journal Cerebral Cortex, shed important light on how the brain supports the capacity to imagine the future and pinpoints the brain regions that provide the critical ingredients for performing this feat. The hippocampus is affected by many neurological conditions and diseases and it also can be compromised during normal aging. Future thinking is a cognitive ability that is relevant to all humans. It is needed to plan for what lies ahead, whether to navigate daily life or to make decisions for major milestones further in the future. Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, BUSM researchers performed brain scans on healthy adults while they were imagining events. They then compared brain activity in the hippocampus when participants answered questions pertaining to the present or the future. After that, they compared brain activity when participants answered questions about the future that did or did not require imagining a scene. "We observed no differences in hippocampal activity when we compared present versus future imaging, but we did observe stronger activity in the hippocampus when participants imagined a scene compared to when they did not, suggesting a role for the hippocampus in scene construction but not mental time travel," explained corresponding author Daniela Palombo, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in the memory Disorders Research Center at BUSM and at the VA Boston Healthcare System. According to the researchers the importance of studying how the hippocampus contributes to cognitive abilities is bolstered by the ubiquity of hippocampal involvement in many conditions. "These findings help provide better understanding of the role of the hippocampus in future thinking in the normal brain, and may eventually help us better understand the nature of cognitive loss in individuals with compromised hippocampal function," she added. Palombo believes that once knowledge about which aspects of future imagining are and are not dependent on the hippocampus, targeted rehabilitation strategies can be designed that exploit those functions that survive hippocampal dysfunction and may provide alternate routes to engage in future thinking. ### Funding for this study was provided by the National Institutes of Mental Health (grant number H093431) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (Clinical Science Research and Development Service and Rehabilitation Research & Development Service grant number E7822W). Co-author D.J.P. was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). This work was further supported with resources and the use of facilities at the Neuroimaging Research for Veterans Center, VA Boston Healthcare System. A new scientific review of the winter floods of 2015/2016 confirms that the event was one of the most extreme and severe hydrological events of the last century. The new hydrological appraisal - 'The Winter Floods of 2015/2016 in the UK', published on the first anniversary of Storm Desmond (December 5th), brings together both river flow and meteorological data in an analysis of the events that led to extensive river flooding in northern England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of Wales over a three month period. The study, carried out by scientists from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in collaboration with the British Hydrological Society recognises that the Winter 2015/2016 episode ranks alongside the floods of 1947 as one of the two largest flood events of the last 100 years at least. Storm Desmond alone caused an estimated insurance bill of more than 1.3 billion when it struck on the 5th and 6th December last year. The review also highlights that 16,000 properties in England were flooded during the three months of 'remarkably persistent and exceptionally mild cyclonic' activity which, along with Storm Desmond, included the major storms of Abigail, Frank and Gertrude. Lead author Terry Marsh, from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, said, "'At a national scale the winter floods of 2015/16 were the most extreme on record. "The November to January period was the wettest three-month sequence in the UK rainfall series - which begins in 1910. Correspondingly, river flows across much of the country exceeded bankfull for extended periods. "The associated flooding was both extensive and repetitive, and total river outflows from Great Britain following the passage of Storm Desmond in December exceeded the previous maximum by a substantial margin." Cumbrian resident Dr Ed Henderson, a co-author of the review from the British Hydrological Society, said, "The effects of the floods are personal. Thousands of Cumbrians, like people in other flood-affected parts of the country, have seen their lives upturned. Many have experienced life-changing financial losses and incredible stress. "Speaking with flood victims, the words that come out are despair, fear and anxiety - fear of flooding again and the anxiety of an approaching winter. Floods don't just take your home, the place where you should feel safe, they often take your future as well." The review highlights: That December was the wettest and, on average, the warmest on record in the UK, in records going back to 1910. The highest ever recorded rainfall in the UK was measured when 341.4mm of rain fell at Honister Pass in the Lake District in the 24 hours leading up to 6pm on the 5th December 2015. Record peak flows occurred at the rivers Eden, Tyne and Lune in England of around 1,700 cumecs (cubic metres per second). This volume of water is enough to fill London's Royal Albert Hall in under a minute. Other record peak flows also took place at the rivers Nith, Tweed, Clyde, Forth and Tay in Scotland and the Mourne in Northern Ireland. Co-author Jamie Hannaford, from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, said, "Last winter's devastating floods follow the winter 2013/2014 flooding in southern England and other severe events of recent years including the 2005 and 2009 floods in Cumbria. "Understandably, this leads to speculation that flood risk is increasing due to climate change. "There are trends towards higher river flows over the last five decades, especially in western Britain. But records are short and there is much natural year-to-year variability, which makes it hard to attribute observed trends to climate change. Nevertheless, recent modelling studies do point towards human-induced warming having a role to play in these and other recent floods." Dr Nick Reynard, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology's Science Area Lead for Natural Hazards research, said, "Our new review clearly outlines the events of the last winter, as one of the most severe episodes of flooding to hit the UK in the last 100 years. Communities across the country were devastated. "In response we are working hard with central government to improve flood estimation, and examine how potential mitigation measures, such as natural flood management, can help us reduce the impact of flooding in future." ### SAN DIEGO, CA - A combination of two targeted agents - one approved by the Food and Drug Administration and one undergoing testing - has demonstrated safety as well as encouraging signs of effectiveness in a phase 1 clinical trial in patients with relapsed or hard-to-treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers will report the findings at the 58th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). The combination of the approved drug ibrutinib and the novel agent TGR-1202 is being tested in patients to determine if the two agents can be safely given at the same time and whether they lead to more durable remissions in CLL and MCL compared to ibrutinib alone. While ibrutinib, which targets the cell protein BTK, often reduces the amount of cancer in patients with relapsed or drug-resistant CLL or MCL, it rarely eliminates the cancer or generates long-lasting results in MCL or high-risk forms of CLL. By pairing it with TGR-1202, which blocks the P13K-delta protein, researchers hope to disable two key parts of cancer cells' growth circuitry. As of late July, investigators had treated 28 patients - 17 with CLL, 11 with MCL - with the tandem therapy. The regimen was shown to be safe, with an 800 mg dose of TGR-1202 found to be suitable for further study. "The efficacy of the combination looks promising as well," said Dana-Farber's Matthew Davids, MD, principal investigator of the investigator-initiated trial. Davids will present the findings Monday, December 5, at 8 a.m. in Room 5AB of the San Diego Convention Center. "We have already seen a complete response - no evidence of cancer - in one patient with CLL, and several other patients are approaching complete response," Davids added. Another potential benefit of the two-drug combination is that it could offer greater flexibility in treatment, Davids remarked. Patients who need to discontinue one of the drugs because of temporary complications could continue with the other and resume the two-drug regimen when the complications subside. While enrollment of patients with CLL in the trial is complete, openings remain for patients with MCL, and the study is open at several sites across the country through the Blood Cancer Research Partnership, a Dana-Farber-led hematologic malignancies research consortium funded through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. ### The senior author of the study is Jennifer Brown, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber. Co-authors are Haesook Kim, PhD, Alyssa Nicotra, Alexandra Savell, Karen Francoeur, RN, Jeffrey Hellman, PA-C, Caron Jacobson, MD, and David C. Fisher, MD, of Dana-Farber; Hari Miskin, MS, and Peter Sportelli of TG Therapeutics, New York, N.Y.; Asad Bashey, MD, PhD, of Northside Hospital, Atlanta, Ga.; Laura Stampleman, MD, of Pacific Cancer Care, Monterey, Cal.; Jens Rueter, MD, of Eastern Maine Medical Center; Adam Boruchov, MD, of Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, Conn.; and Jon Arnason, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Research funding for the study was provided by TG Therapeutics (New York, NY). About Dana-Farber Cancer Institute From achieving the first remissions in childhood cancer with chemotherapy in 1948, to developing the very latest new therapies, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is one of the world's leading centers of cancer research and treatment. It is the only center ranked in the top 4 of U.S. News and World Report's Best Hospitals for both adult and pediatric cancer care. Dana-Farber sits at the center of a wide range of collaborative efforts to reduce the burden of cancer through scientific inquiry, clinical care, education, community engagement, and advocacy. Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center provides the latest in cancer care for adults; Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center for children. The Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center unites the cancer research efforts of five Harvard academic medical centers and two graduate schools, while Dana-Farber Community Cancer Care provides high quality cancer treatment in communities outside Boston's Longwood Medical Area. Dana-Farber is dedicated to a unique, 50/50 balance between cancer research and care, and much of the Institute's work is dedicated to translating the results of its discovery into new treatments for patients locally and around the world. Future Science Group (FSG) is excited to announce the release of the 10-Year Anniversary Special Focus Issue of Regenerative Medicine entitled "Regenerative medicine: past, present and future", which reflects on how the field has changed in the past 10 years. The special issue takes a look at the past decade in regenerative medicine and provides an overview and perspectives on the progress being made in the field as a whole, as well as in a number of more specific areas including cellular therapy, genome editing, pluripotent stem cell research, ligament regenerative engineering, nanotechnology, immunogenicity and regenerative pharmacology. The issue also provides insight into major institutions involved in the field of regenerative medicine, describing their history, current work and plans for the future. The Special Focus Issue has been guest edited by Robert Lanza (Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine, MA, USA), who serves as one of the journal's Associate Editors. Lanza provided a scene-setting foreword for the issue where he looks back at the last decade in regenerative medicine and describes some of the incredible progress made in the field. He then goes on to provide an overview of the wide variety of work presented in the issue including reviews, perspectives and special reports, amongst others. Lanza concludes: "The field of regenerative medicine has continued to grow and change rapidly in the past 10 years. We believe that these articles help highlight important advances that have occurred, and that are likely to impact the future success of the field. The publication of this special issue celebrates an exciting milestone for Regenerative Medicine - the tenth year anniversary of the journal. I hope you will join me in congratulating the journal for reaching this major milestone." Commissioning Editor for Regenerative Medicine Adam Price-Evans commented: "Bursting on to the scene in 2006 with the ALPSP/Charlesworth Award for Best New Journal, Regenerative Medicine has remained at the forefront of the field for the past decade. The journal continues to showcase the latest research and expert commentary from leaders in the field of regenerative medicine and we look forward to the next ten years." View the special focus issue: http://www.futuremedicine.com/toc/rme/11/8 Lanza's foreword as guest editor is free to read, here: http://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/full/10.2217/rme-2016-0500 ### The journal Regenerative Medicine is part of the internationally recognized Future Medicine portfolio and is supported by a multidisciplinary, international editorial board comprising leading researchers and opinion leaders from academia and industry, including Senior Editor Chris Mason (UCL, UK), and Associate Editors Phillipe Menasche (Hopital Europeen Georges Pompidou, FR), Gail Naughton (Histogen Inc., CA, USA) and the aforementioned Robert Lanza. Regenerative Medicine focusses on the entire spectrum of approaches in regenerative medicine, including small molecule drugs, biologics, biomaterials, tissue engineering, and cell and gene therapies. The peer-reviewed journal uniquely supports this important area of biomedical science and healthcare by publishing the very best regenerative medicine research and opinion, encompassing all aspects of the sector ranging from discovery research, to clinical development and commercialization. Regenerative Medicine is committed to high-quality scholarly publications, operating a double-blind peer review system, and ensures that all original research and review articles are assessed by a minimum of three experts. It is also committed to supporting authors after publication, and partner with the award-winning Kudos to help authors increase the reach of their published articles. The journal is also partnered with RegMedNet, a free eCommunity aiming to promote global collaboration between all members of the regenerative medicine field as well as keep users up to date with the latest news and opinion, by providing exclusive features, webinars and more. Find out more: http://www.futuremedicine.com/loi/rme Call for papers The journal is currently inviting submissions of original research, review and perspective pieces, as well as shorter pieces such as editorials and organizational profiles. Submissions are being accepted via the journal's online submission site. Alternatively, authors are invited to direct any article proposals or general queries to the Commissioning Editor, Adam Price-Evans at a.price-evans@futuremedicine.com. About Future Science Group (FSG) Founded in 2001, London-based FSG is a progressive publisher focused on breakthrough medical, biotechnological and scientific research. FSG's portfolio includes two imprints, Future Science and Future Medicine. In addition to the core journal publishing business, FSG develops specialist eCommunities. Key titles and sites include Bioanalysis Zone, RegMedNet, Nanomedicine and the award-winning Regenerative Medicine. The aim of FSG is to service the advancement of clinical practice and drug research by enhancing the efficiency of communications among clinicians, researchers and decision-makers, and by providing innovative solutions to their information needs. This is achieved through a customer-centric approach, use of new technologies, products that deliver value-for-money and uncompromisingly high standards. Please see http://www.futuresciencegroup.com and http://www.futuremedicine.com for more information. For additional information on Regenerative Medicine, please contact: Adam Price-Evans Commissioning Editor, Future Science Group a.price-evans@futuremedicine.com According to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, twelve million hectares of fertile, arable land is lost each and every year. Soils are suffering from aridization, salination and overuse. This means that the loss of soil fertility is one of the central challenges to society with regard to the management of natural resources. Solutions for more sustainable land use that not only takes into account the environment and existing ecosystems worldwide but also aspects of climate change are presented in the book "Making Sense of Research for Sustainable Land Management". It is published by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Bern. This scientific volume will be presented today at the global Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 13) being held in Cancun (Mexico) in a dedicated session as part of the Landscape Day. The book outlines land management practices that have been tested by researchers in twelve projects around the world within the scope of the "Sustainable Land Management" research programme. The programme was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) over a seven-year period. The investigations involved related to the interaction between land use, climate change, loss of biodiversity, population growth, globalisation and urbanisation. The focus was placed on regions particularly exposed to global and local change such as climate change or fluctuations on the global market. These regions include steppes in Russia, tropical rainforests in Brazil, the landscape along the North and Baltic Sea coasts and forest and river landscapes in China and Vietnam. Some of the most serious effects are the loss of biodiversity, rapid deforestation with the associated soil erosion or flooding, and salination. The examples seen in practice are as diverse as they are specific to each individual place. They include ecological engineering in rice farming in the Philippines, more sustainable cotton production in China, the deployment of non-tillage farming on large-scale farms in Siberia, coastal area management in northern Germany, improved subsistence farming in Madagascar, integrated management of river catchment areas and reservoirs used for hydropower and irrigation in Brazil and Vietnam, and as integrated land and water management concepts in the Okavango catchment area in Africa. The book aspires to provide evidence-based research with a focus on implementation. This approach is intended to make it easier for scientific findings to find their way into practice. "Our objective is to acquire and pass on knowledge on the sustainable use of natural resources such as soil, vegetation and water within a changing climate and shifting political climate," explains Dr. Rima Mekdaschi Studer, one of the authors of the study and researcher at the CDE. As an example, one of the case studies shows how pastoralists in Madagascar are able to secure supplies of fodder for their grazing animals by using cuttings to reproduce a certain type of tree. In Brazil, on the other hand, researchers documented how organic material can be used to enrich the soil with carbon which increases fertility of the soil and helps to bind carbon dioxide. The methods and recommendations contained in the book are based on the expertise of some 600 researchers and other individuals involved in local land management. "These are the result base on an intensive research in the regions but - even more important - a considerable number of meetings, joint events and discussions to identify practical relevant knowledge," explains co-author Dr. Peter Moll of the Moll&Zander consultancy team. The target groups and potential users include local initiatives, land owners and users, regional and national institutions, government representatives, businesspeople and NGOs. "Convincing findings that can be put into practice only come about when researchers see themselves as part of cross-functional teams from the realms of science and practice and when all participants are involved from the very start, whenever possible," Moll explains. This is an ongoing challenge for research, he adds. The global WOCAT network (World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies) has dedicated itself to the task of documenting and disseminating practical knowledge for land users. The network is based at the University of Bern's CDE. "The book uses field measurements and modelling to illustrate the impact of specific forms of land use. In addition, various scenarios demonstrate the consequences of climate change and changes in land use - at a local and regional level," says co-author Dr. Hanspeter Liniger, responsible for WOCAT at the CDE. "This forms the basis for knowledge-based decisions," he continues. All in all, more than 30 implementation-focused examples have been compiled by the some 140 authors of the WOCAT book, which has been vividly illustrated with photos and diagrams. "The findings reflect the diversity of land use patterns, their benefits and disadvantages and the contribution from implementation-focused research," says Ute Zander of the Moll&Zander consultancy team. The research findings from the twelve regional projects under the BMBF programme are brought together in the accompanying project GLUES (Global Assessment of Land Use Dynamics, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Ecosystem Services), which is coordinated at the UFZ. "Most of all, the book serves to ensure that the findings from the research programme can be applied, and resonates with practice" says Prof. Dr. Ralf Seppelt, head of the UFZ Department of Landscape Ecology and GLUES project manager. The book is supplemented by a database and videos that present selected practical examples. "This makes it possible to communicate and implement innovative land management measures throughout many regions all over the world," explains Prof. Dr. Seppelt. ### Publication Liniger, HP., Mekdaschi Studer, R., Moll, P., Zander, U. 2017. Making sense of research for sustainable land management. Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, Switzerland and Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research GmbH - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany ISBN (print): 978-3-944280-99-8 Links: Landscape Day, CBD COP13, 5.12.16: http://www.riopavilion.org/december-5th-opening/ Download or order book: http://www.ufz.de/makingsense or http://www.wocat.net/makingsense More information on the GLUES project: http://modul-a.nachhaltiges-landmanagement.de/en/scientific-coordination-glues/ More information on the Sustainable Land Management funding programme: http://nachhaltiges-landmanagement.de/en/home/ More information on WOCAT: http://www.wocat.net Further information: Prof. Dr. Ralf Seppelt Head of the UFZ Department of Landscape Ecology ralf.seppelt@ufz.de Rima Mekdaschi Studer Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, Switzerland rima.mekdaschi_studer@cde.unibe.ch Ute Zander Learning processes for sustainable development zander@lernprozesse.com World experts convene in Vienna, Austria, at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer Vienna, Austria--December 4, 2016--Global lung cancer researchers and patient advocates today emphasized that new models of delivering care and communicating about cancer care play an important role in the fight against lung cancer. Their remarks come on the first day of the IASLC 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Vienna, Austria. Dr. Laurie Gaspar of the Univeristy of Colorado reported that shared decision making (SDM) between patients and their physicians can improve communications about cancer care. Patients and clinicians agree SDM is recognized as a desirable goal in the treatment of lung cancer. However, both patients and clinicians agree SDM may be improved upon with the use of Patient Decision Aids (PDAs) Gaspar conducted a survey of lung cancer patients who reported that decisions regarding systemic therapy, such as chemotherapy, were the most commonly perceived difficult decision (58 percent) and/or tests that were done or not done (34 percent). Sources of difficulty were identified as insufficient information (44 percent) and conflicting information or recommendations from their physicians (34 percent). Most of the 190 patients who responded said they desired SDM, with only nine percent expressing the desire to make the decision alone. Of 90 respondents who viewed the PCI PDA, 61 percent felt that this type of decision aid would have been helpful. "One of the difficulties patients face is when they have to weigh one doctor's view with another," Gaspar said. "One way to alleviate this is to use a multi-disciplinary process where all doctors can discuss patient care together." Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon from Baptist Cancer Center in Houston reported that using a Center of Excellence (COE) model that focuses on underserved areas allows doctors to diagnose lung cancer patients in those areas early and provide treatment that is on par with lung cancer care offered at academic medical centers. "Four out of five lung cancer patients are treated in a community hospital setting and may not receive the same level of care as those treated at a leading academic center; so, if we are going to move the needle on lung cancer care, we must do it where patients receive their care," he said. Osarogiagbon explained that the COE program is a patient-centric model for lung cancer that establishes a standard of care for community hospitals which often treat minority and underserved patient populations. The COE program has been in operation for three years and currently includes 13 hospitals in underserved areas. The COE program tracks patient data for quality-of-care metrics, including disease stage at diagnosis; molecular testing; tumor board review; time from diagnosis to treatment; treatment type; and clinical trial participation. Site data is also monitored to provide a contextual picture of the program including total patients seen, demographics, insurance mix, rates and outcomes of molecular testing, among other metrics. Data is analyzed across the COE community and against comparable groups to demonstrate impact of the COE program. "Lung cancer patients in a COE model show outcomes equivalent to patients who get care at top-tier research hospitals," he said. The press briefing ended with a summary of the mesothelioma workshop by Dr. Michele Carbone, University of Hawaii, on new mesothelioma research. Dr. Carbone previously identified a gene, BAP1, that when mutated, causes mesothelioma in certain families. At the press briefing, he shared that he has extended his research from Turkey and is now focusing on China. He hopes to publish his new findings in IASLC's Journal of Thoracic Oncology in 2017. ### About the WCLC: The WCLC is the world's largest meeting dedicated to lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies, attracting more than 6,000 researchers, physicians, and specialists from more than 100 countries. The goal is to increase awareness, collaboration, and understanding of lung cancer, and to help participants implement the latest developments across the globe. Organized under the theme of "Together Against Lung Cancer," the conference will cover a wide range of disciplines and unveil several research studies and clinical trial results. For more information, visit http://wclc2016.iaslc.org/. About the IASLC: The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is the only global organization dedicated to the study of lung cancer. Founded in 1974, the association's membership includes more than 5,000 lung cancer specialists in over 100 countries. Visit http://www.iaslc.org for more information. Rice is a staple for more than half of the world's population, yet it is also the most salt-sensitive cereal crop. KAUST researchers have studied the early responses of rice plants to moderately saline conditions and for the first time pinpointed new salt tolerance genetic loci1. The results could support breeding programs to improve global rice productivity. "Thanks to the unique Plant Accelerator facility in Australia, which is run by Bettina Berger from the University of Adelaide, we could analyze numerous aspects of the growth of multiple plants simultaneously," said Mark Tester, KAUST professor of plant science and associate director of the University's Center for Desert Agriculture, who supervised KAUST Ph.D. student Nadia Al-Tamimi on the project. The Plant Accelerator, created by Tester before he joined KAUST, is a facility that can grow thousands of plants at the same growth stage in pots on conveyor belts. Each plant moves automatically to be imaged daily by digital cameras, generating quantitative data on growth on a large scale--a technique called high-throughput non-invasive phenotyping. Al-Tamimi's team grew two types of rice varieties--297 indica and 256 aus--alongside a control group and monitored them for 13 days under high- and low-salt conditions. They photographed the plants to monitor biomass and shoot development and measured transpiration levels (how much water the plants used) by weighing each pot daily. Unlike many previous plant growth studies, the researchers made no prior assumptions about early stage growth in their analysis, using unbiased statistical methods to help analyze the high-throughput phenotypic data. They found that growth rate diminished in salt-treated soils, with a rapid slowing of growth immediately after the addition of salt. The indica lines fared better than aus, however, which led the team to uncover significant genetic differences between the varieties. By combining data on relative growth rate, transpiration rate and transpiration use efficiency (TUE) with a genome-wide association analysis, the researchers could search for genetic loci related to specific plant traits. It was important to carefully standardize the process to be able to isolate influences. "Nadia's systematic approach to ensure pot weight changes were purely due to transpiration--rather than from the soil surface--was key to including the transpiration data," Tester said. "It appears genes involved in TUE maintenance are crucial to the main vegetative stage of rice growth, while other factors are more significant at earlier stages." Some genetic loci (for example, those connected with signaling processes) were important to growth in the first two to six days, while other loci became prominent later. "This is perhaps the most astonishing aspect of this work--we can now provide genetic detailing in real time, pinpointing exactly when each locus comes into play during salt shock," Tester noted. ### San Francisco, Dec. 4, 2016: After the completion of the human genome in 2001, another major milestone was reached with the launch of the Cell Atlas at the 2016 American Society of Cell Biology Meeting in San Francisco. An open-access interactive database with unparalleled high-resolution images, the Cell Atlas visualizes for the first time the location of more than 12,000 proteins in cells -- opening the way for "spatial proteomics", an exciting new discipline which is expected to lead to a fundamental expansion in our understanding of human health and disease. KTH Royal Institute of Technology Professor Mathias Uhlen, who is Director of the Human Protein Atlas, explains: "After the genome project, which has characterized the number of human protein-coding genes, the next step is to elucidate the function of these proteins. Being able to show the location of human proteins in time and space with subcellular resolution is an essential first step towards gaining new insights into protein function." The Cell Atlas, part of the Sweden-based Human Protein Atlas initiative, displays high resolution, multicolour images of immunofluorescent stained cells. With more than 12,000 human proteins mapped to 30 different cellular structures, the Cell Atlas provides spatial information on protein expression patterns at a fine subcellular level. The analysis reveals a surprisingly complex cellular architecture with more than half of all proteins localized to multiple compartments. Furthermore, a significant portion was found to exhibit variation in expression at a single cell level. In a novel twist, the project also enlisted the help of online gamers. CCP Games, Massively Multiplayer Online Science (MMOS), Reykjavik University, and the Cell Atlas team jointly developed a mini-game, "Project Discovery", for EVE Online gamers. KTH Associate Professor Emma Lundberg, Director of the Cell Atlas, says: "At any time and place in EVE Online, players are able to play the mini-game, Project Discovery, and categorize the protein expression patterns from Cell Atlas images into different organelle categories. This was a help for us in classifying organelle substructures and refining the details in the Cell Atlas. "In particular, we expect the Cell Atlas to play a key role in the exciting new area of spatial proteomics. In order to expand our understanding of the workings of human cells from a holistic point of view, in particular in the context of health and disease, detailed knowledge about the underlying molecular system is needed," Lundberg says. ### HAMILTON, Dec. 5, 2016 - An analysis of 2,000-year-old human remains from several regions across the Italian peninsula has confirmed the presence of malaria during the Roman Empire, addressing a longstanding debate about its pervasiveness in this ancient civilization. The answer is in mitochondrial genomic evidence of malaria, coaxed from the teeth of bodies buried in three Italian cemeteries, dating back to the Imperial period of the 1st to 3rd centuries Common Era. The genomic data is important, say researchers, because it serves as a key reference point for when and where the parasite existed in humans, and provides more information about the evolution of human disease. "Malaria was likely a significant historical pathogen that caused widespread death in ancient Rome," says evolutionary geneticist Hendrik Poinar, director of McMaster's Ancient DNA Centre where the work was conducted. A serious and sometimes fatal infectious disease that is spread by infected mosquitoes, malaria and its parasite Plasmodium falciparum, is responsible for nearly 450,000 deaths every year, the majority of them children under the age of five. "There is extensive written evidence describing fevers that sound like malaria in ancient Greece and Rome, but the specific malaria species responsible is unknown," says Stephanie Marciniak, a former post doctoral student in the Ancient DNA Centre and now a postdoctoral scholar at Pennsylvania State University. "Our data confirm that the species was likely Plasmodium falciparum, and that it affected people in different ecological and cultural environments. These results open up new questions to explore, particularly how widespread this parasite was, and what burden it placed upon communities in Imperial Roman Italy," she says. Marciniak sampled teeth taken from 58 adults and 10 children interred at three Imperial period Italian cemeteries: Isola Sacra, Velia and Vagnari. Located on the coast, Velia and Isola Sacra were known as important port cities and trading centres. Vagnari is located further inland and believed to be the burial site of labourers who would have worked on a Roman rural estate. Using techniques developed at McMaster and abroad, researchers mined tiny DNA fragments from dental pulp taken from the teeth. They were able to extract, purify and enrich specifically for the Plasmodium species known to infect humans. It was a difficult and painstaking process, complicated by the very nature of the disease. Usable DNA is challenging to extract because the parasites primarily dwell within the bloodstream and organs, including the spleen and liver, which decompose and break down over time--in this instance, over the course of two millennia. Marciniak, Poinar, and Tracy Prowse from McMaster, alongside Luca Bandioli from the Luigi Pigorini National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography in Rome and Edward Holmes from the University of Sydney recovered more than half of the P. falciparum mitochondrial genome from two individuals from Velia and Vagnari. P. falciparum remains the most prevalent malaria parasite in sub-Saharan Africa and the most-deadly anywhere, responsible for the largest number of malaria-related deaths globally. The findings are published in the journal Current Biology. ### McMaster provides a high definition broadcast studio that can connect with any television broadcaster around the world. To book an interview please contact: Michelle Donovan Manager, Media Relations McMaster University 905-525-9140, ext. 22869 donovam@mcmaster.ca Wade Hemsworth Manager, Media Relations McMaster University 905-525-9140, ext. 27988 hemswor@mcmaster.ca WHAT: Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have identified seven new areas of the genome linked to body fat distribution--a finding that could offer new insights into the biologic mechanisms that influence a person's risk for diabetes, heart disease and stroke. The study, which included more than 18,000 individuals of European, African, Hispanic, and Chinese ancestry, is the largest ever to examine genetic variants across the genome and their association with ectopic fat, which accumulates in the abdominal area. The findings appear in the December 5 online issue of Nature Genetics. Scientists have long studied the significance of body fat distribution and they know that it is reflected in a person's body shape. The fact that particular body shapes run in families suggests a person's genes may influence the amount of fat that accumulates in various parts of the body. These variations in body fat distribution matter: Visceral fat, or belly fat, has been linked to higher rates of heart disease and hypertension, for example, while subcutaneous fat that accumulates in the hips and thighs appears to offer some protection against chronic disease. Less understood, say researchers at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), are the genetic determinants of body fat distribution and they hope their study begins to change that. By identifying genes that are associated with ectopic fat, they say they can learn more about the biological mechanisms that may influence individual differences in the risk for cardiometabolic diseases. The multiethnic nature of the study strengthened the findings, the researchers note, as the study found the association between the genetic regions and the ectopic fat to be the same across all ancestries, no matter the sample size. WHO: Audrey Chu, Ph.D., Division of Intramural Research, NHLBI, NIH, is available to comment on the findings and implications of this research. ### CONTACT: For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact the NHLBI Office of Science Policy, Engagement, Education, and Communications at 301-496-5449 or nhlbi_news@nhlbi.nih.gov (link sends e-mail). About the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI): NHLBI, a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), plans, conducts, and supports research related to the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart, blood vessel, lung, and blood diseases; and sleep disorders. The Institute also administers national health education campaigns on women and heart disease, healthy weight for children, and other topics. NHLBI press releases and other materials are available online at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov. About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov. NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health What if it was possible to prevent your child from getting eczema -- a costly, inflammatory skin disorder -- just by applying something as inexpensive as petroleum jelly every day for the first six months of his or her life? A Northwestern Medicine study published today (Dec. 5) in JAMA Pediatrics found that seven common moisturizers would be cost effective in preventing eczema in high-risk newborns. By using the cheapest moisturizer in the study (petroleum jelly), the cost benefit for prophylactic moisturization was only $353 per quality-adjusted life year - a generic measure of disease burden that assesses the monetary value of medical interventions in one's life. Eczema impacts as many as 20 percent of children and costs the U.S. healthcare system as much as $3.8 billion dollars every year. Previous studies have shown that families caring for a child with the costly skin disorder can spend as much as 35 percent of their discretionary income - an average of $274 per month. "It's not only terrible for the kids, but also for their families," said lead and corresponding study author Dr. Steve Xu, a resident physician in dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "Eczema can be devastating. Beyond the intractable itch, a higher risk of infections and sleep problems, a child with eczema means missed time from school, missed time from work for parents and huge out-of-pocket expenses. So if we can prevent that with a cheap moisturizer, we should be doing it." Early studies from Japan, the U.S. and the U.K. have suggested that full-body application of moisturizers for six to eight months, beginning within the first few weeks of life, can reduce the risk that eczema will develops. Xu's study took that one step further and examined the cost-effectiveness of seven common, over-the-counter moisturizer products, such as petroleum jelly, Aquaphor, Cetaphil and Aveeno. "There's an important economic argument to be made here," Xu said. "Moisturizers are an important intervention dermatologists use to treat eczema. They play a big role in getting our patients better. But insurers do not usually cover the cost of moisturizers. We're arguing for their inclusion in health insurance coverage." Xu acknowledges the evidence is preliminary on prophylactic moisturization but said, "We're not giving them an oral drug or injecting them with a medication; there is minimal risk. We're putting Vaseline on these babies to potentially prevent a very devastating disease." In addition to preventing eczema, Xu cites emerging work that preserving the skin barrier may also reduce the risk of other health problems like food allergies. He notes that larger, long-term clinical studies are underway to see if prophylactic moisturizing leads to sustained benefits. ### Portland State University has secured a five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for transportation research, education and outreach. Portland State's Transportation Research and Education Center, TREC, will administer the grant, expected to be worth up to $15.6 million. The grant names TREC's National Institute for Transportation and Communities program, or NITC, as one of five national university transportation centers. TREC will expand the NITC program and add new partners University of Arizona and University of Texas Arlington. Existing partners University of Oregon, Oregon Institute of Technology and University of Utah remain partners in the Portland State-led program. The NITC program will focus on four research areas: increasing access to opportunities; improving multi-modal planning and shared use of infrastructure; advancing innovation and smart cities; and developing data, models and tools. Among the 11 projects funded in the first year of the grant are: A smart platform for connected vehicle infrastructure and signal control; A multidisciplinary look at how the concept of walkability has left out disadvantaged neighborhoods and how to address those gaps; Two innovative efforts to help transit connect people with jobs and opportunities; An examination of the economic and business effects of converting infrastructure for nonmotorized transportation; A study to inform proactive traffic management during major disruptive events. TREC Director Jennifer Dill said the grant affirms the NITC program's contributions to improving transportation nationwide. "Since our center's founding in 2006, we've provided the research and insight to help transportation agencies serve all users," Dill said. "We're honored to continue leading this charge for the next five years." The latest grant means TREC has brought Portland State $48 million from a single federal program in the last 10 years. The requirement that each federal dollar be matched from a nonfederal partner has multiplied the effect of that investment, creating fruitful partnerships with more than 100 agencies and organizations nationally, including the Portland Bureau of Transportation, Metro, TriMet and the Oregon Department of Transportation. "This grant recognizes that Portland State research has shifted the national conversation around transportation," said Portland State President Wim Wiewel. "It used to center on moving as many cars as quickly as possible. Now we ask how transportation can give people access to opportunities and best serve our communities." U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon said Portland State is a natural choice to host a national transportation center. "With Portland on the front lines of the transportation technology and mobility changes that are redefining livability, there is no better place than Portland State University. "Portland State's international reputation for ground-breaking research on multimodal transportation, strong community partnerships, and urban sustainability will ensure that the national center will continue to be successful in Portland." Under the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act competition, U.S. DOT received 212 applications for 35 grants creating five national centers, 10 regional centers and 20 lower-level centers. National centers must obtain matching funds equal to the $15.6 million grant amount, distributed over federal fiscal years 2016 through 2020. ### About TREC TREC, the Transportation Research and Education Center at Portland State, houses the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (the U.S. Department of Transportation's national center for livable communities), the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation and the transportation data archive Portal. TREC supports transportation decision-making through primary research and educates current and future transportation professionals. http://trec.pdx.edu 11,000 years ago, a Syrian community began a practice which would change man's relationship with his surroundings forever: the initiation of cereal domestication and, with it, the commencement of agriculture, a process which lasted several millennia. The discoveries, made at the Tell Qarassa North archaeological site, situated near the city of Sweida in Syria, are the oldest evidence of the domestication of three species of cereal: one of barley and two of wheat (spelt and farrow). The team from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Universities of Cantabria and the Basque Country (both in northern Spain) was led by CSIC's Juan Jose Ibanez, and excavated in the area between 2009 and 2010. Scientific investigators from the Universities of Copenhagen and London also collaborated in the study which is published in the latest edition of the magazine Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The Neolithic man in question lived at a time of huge changes. They gathered wild wheat and barley and gradually began the process of domesticating them. That is to say, they began to build a local economy based around controlling the reproduction of the foods they ate. The origins of agriculture Although it was already known that cereal breeding took place in the Near East, it was not known whether the first domesticated cereals appeared in one region or in several regions simultaneously, or, if the first case were true, in which region. "The process began when hunter gatherer communities started collecting wild cereals, leading in turn to these wild cereals being sown, then reaped using sickles. This initial crop husbandry led to the selective breeding of cereal grains. Gradually, domestic traits became more and more dominant", explains Ibanez. To be precise, it is this work at Tell Qarrassa which allows samples of cereals from the very first phase in the domestication process to be identified. Of all the cereals which were grown at the site, around 30% show domestic traits whilst the remainder continue to show traits which are characteristic of wild cereals. "We now know that the cereals from Tell Qarassa were sown in autumn and harvested in February and March, before reaching full maturity to prevent the risk- given that they were still partially wild- of heads breaking off and being lost at harvest. The crop was cut close to the ground so as to make full use of the straw and, once collected, it would be thrashed and the grain cleaned in the courtyards outside their homes before being stored inside. Prior to being eaten, the grain was crushed in a mortar and pestle then ground in hand mills", explains the CSIC investigator. The information obtained at Tell Qarassa shows both the advanced level of technical development of these first farming communities and also that the domestication process of cereals unfolded at varying rates in the different regions of the Near East. "It has yet to be discovered whether the later appearance of domesticated cereals in these regions was due to the use of those cereals originating in the south of Syria which we have been studying, or whether other independent domestication processes took place elsewhere", concludes Ibanez. ### The project was funded with subsidies from the Spanish Ministry of the Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, as well as from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. Further support came from the Regional Governments of the Basque Country and Cataluna, and it also received funding from three private foundations: The Shelby White-Leon Levy, The Gerda Henkel, and the Palarq. Stockholm University and NORDITA host this week an international workshop on axions and dark matter. Axions are hypothetical particles proposed by Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek who this year started his appointment as professor at Stockholm University. Dr. Frank Wilczek shared the Nobel Prize in 2004 with David J. Gross and H. David Politzer for discovering the equations that describe the strong force that is responsible for holding atomic nuclei together. With a generous grant from the Swedish Research Council Frank Wilczek has started a joint appointment at Stockholm University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Throughout his career Frank Wilczek has worked on a number of different problems in condensed matter physics, astrophysics, and particle physics, including proposing new particles. Axions are hypothetical particles invented in the late 1970s to solve a major blemish of the standard model of particle physics, namely its failure to explain why the fundamental laws of physics look almost the same if you run time backwards. To address this issue Roberto Peccei and Helen Quinn postulated a new kind of symmetry, now called Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry. Frank Wilczek and Steven Weinberg independently realized a key consequence of PQ symmetry, which its authors had overlooked: it implies the existence of a new particle that Wilczek named the axion, after a laundry detergent (since it removes a stain). If axions exist, they will not only solve a big problem in fundamental physics - they are also likely to supply the mysterious 'dark matter' observed by astronomers. In recent years axions have inspired many new theoretical investigations, recorded in thousands of papers. Importantly, now the stage seems set for breakthroughs on the experimental front. Stockholm University and NORDITA (The Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics) are hosting an international axion dark matter workshop in Stockholm, December 5-9, bringing together leading researchers in the field. Frank Wilczek is among the organizers of the workshop. Frank Wilczek comments: "It's been a joy to see the ideas around axions grow in many directions, from their roots in fundamental physics to cosmology and even, recently, the description of interesting materials. But I'd love to see axions themselves move from virtual reality to augmented reality. I'm optimistic that we'll make that big step soon. The physics world is hungry for it, and we're mobilizing.'' More information on Axion Dark Matter workshop in Stockholm, December 5-9 http://agenda.albanova.se/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=5859 ### Contact information Frank Wilczek, phone ++468164997, email frank.wilczek@fysik.su.se Film from Frank Wilczek's Installation colloquium, November 24 Colloquium with Frank Wilczek November 24 2016 at Fysikum, Albanova, to celebrate his installation as professor at Stockholm University. "Augmenting Reality: Axions, Anyons, and Entangled Histories". See film https://youtu.be/Fq58uv6UxCk Is walking fewer than 900 steps per day associated with functional decline in older hospitalized patients? A new research letter published online by JAMA Internal Medicine suggests it is. Recent research has suggested 900 steps per day were normative for frail older adults and for older adults hospitalized in internal medicine units. Maayan Agmon, Ph.D., and Anna Zisberg, Ph.D., of the University of Haifa, Israel, and coauthors examined whether that amount of steps differentiated those patients who do, or don't, experience hospitalization-associated functional decline. The authors used patients within an ongoing study of a newly designed program that promotes in-hospital mobility. The study included 177 older patients hospitalized in internal medicine units at an academic medical center in Israel during the last three months of 2015. Total steps per day were calculated and the evaluation included cognitive, functional and mobility assessments. Walking fewer than 900 steps per day was associated with hospitalization-associated functional decline, according to the results. Among the 41.8 percent of patients who walked less than 900 steps per day, 55.4 percent (57 patients) reported hospitalization-associated functional decline. Among the 58.2 percent of patients who walked 900 steps per day or more, only 18.4 percent (14 patients) experienced hospitalization-associated functional decline. Limitations of the study include its sample of a relatively high-functioning group of older adults from a single site. "Nonetheless, this study adjusts for a broad range of intervening variables and relies on gold-standard, sensor-based data collection. Thus, it fills the gaps uncovered by previous studies and provides preliminary evidence to support the recommendation of 900 steps per day for HAFD [hospitalization-associated functional decline] prevention. These findings should be confirmed by future studies involving diverse groups of older adults," the study concludes. ### (JAMA Intern Med. Published online December 5, 2016. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.7266; available pre-embargo at the For The Media website.) Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc. MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (December 5, 2016)--Tufts University researchers have discovered a possible explanation for the occurrence of a genetic error that causes over a dozen neuromuscular and neurodegenerative disorders, including Huntington's disease, myotonic dystrophy and forms of spinocerebellar ataxia. The error occurs as copies of three-letter sequences of DNA--known as CAG and CTG triplets--expand and repeat themselves hundreds or even thousands of times, disrupting normal gene sequences. Genetic analyses in baker's yeast now reveal that these large-scale expansions are controlled by genes that have been implicated in a process for repairing DNA breaks, leading the researchers to surmise that the expansions occur while breaks are being healed. Baker's yeast, known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is frequently used in scientific research. The findings are published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. "We think these large-scale repeat expansions could occur in a single step," said Sergei Mirkin, Ph.D., White Family Chair in Biology at Tufts School of Arts and Sciences and corresponding author on the paper. "The DNA replication machinery stalls within those repeats, which ultimately results in the formation of DNA breaks. To heal those breaks, cells seem to involve a special path of repair, called break-induced replication, which sacrifices the fidelity of DNA synthesis for the sake of a quick fix. As a result, large numbers of extra repeats can be added while the break is healed." Previous studies have identified certain mutations in DNA replication machinery that account for small-scale repeat expansions in which only a few extra repeats are added, but the cause of rapid accumulation of hundreds of repeats has remained unclear until now. To detect and analyze large-scale expansions of CAG and CTG repeats, Mirkin and his colleagues developed an experimental system in yeast that observed simultaneous additions of more than 100 triplets, a first for such systems. This observation is similar to what happens in human disease. Jane Kim, Ph.D., who was a research assistant professor in Mirkin's lab when the research was conducted and who is the paper's first author, said the model suggests answers to two questions that have puzzled researchers. "Not only does this model explain how additions of hundreds of repeats can occur in human diseases, but it can also account for a bias towards expansions observed in human pedigrees," said Kim, now an assistant professor at California State University San Marcos. The authors note that the timing of expansion in human cases is still unclear and presents an important area of future investigation. ### The study was performed in Mirkin's lab by Kim with the help of two former undergraduate students, Samantha Harris, currently a student at Harvard Medical School, Teresa Dinter, currently a technical research assistant at Brigham & Women's Hospital and graduate student Kartik Shah, currently a scientist at Amgen. Research in Mirkin's lab is supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (awards R01GM60987 and P01GM105473) and by a generous contribution from the White family. Kim was supported by the NIH Training in Education and Critical Research Skills postdoctoral program (K12GM074869) and by Tufts University. Harris received support from REU award NSF DBI 1263030. Dinter received support from Tufts Summer Scholars. Kim, J. C., Harris, S., Dinter, T., Shah, K., Mirkin, S. "The role of break-induced replication in large-scale expansions of (CAG)n/(CTG)n repeats." Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (2016) DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.3334 About Tufts University Tufts University, located on campuses in Boston, Medford/Somerville, and Grafton, Massachusetts, and in Talloires, France, is recognized among the premier research universities in the United States. Tufts enjoys a global reputation for academic excellence and for the preparation of students as leaders in a wide range of professions. A growing number of innovative teaching and research initiatives span all campuses, and collaboration among the faculty and students in the undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across the university is widely encouraged. http://ase.tufts.edu/biology/labs/mirkin/ https://ase.tufts.edu/biology/faculty/mirkin/ http://as.tufts.edu/ The new Research Hub is 1 of 6 created by funding from Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council THE University of Huddersfield is to lead a new 30 million research centre to help transform UK manufacturing. The Future Metrology Hub will be based in the University's Centre for Precision Technologies, home to a team of world-renowned researchers in precision engineering and metrology. Researchers at the universities of Sheffield, Loughborough and Bath will provide complementary expertise and support, as will the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) from its bases at Teddington and Huddersfield. Building upon these groups' existing track-record and achievements, the Hub will address major, long-term challenges facing UK manufacturing industries. A large team of industrial partners - including famous companies from a wide variety of industrial sectors - will also provide funding and support to the Hub. More than 30 million has so far been pledged across the consortium, and new partners will be sought as the research progresses. As part of the Government's commitment to supporting world-leading manufacturing research in the UK, the Huddersfield research centre will receive a major investment of 10 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and be one of six new Future Manufacturing Research Hubs. The Huddersfield-led Hub will be headed by Professor Jane Jiang, whose distinctions include the award earlier this year of the Renishaw/Royal Academy Chair in Precision Metrology. "Our vision is to develop new technologies and universal methods that will integrate measurement science with design and production processes to improve control, quality and productivity. These will become part of the critical infrastructure for a new generation of digital, high value manufacturing, the so called 4th industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0." said Professor Jiang. The term 'Industry 4.0' has been coined to describe the digitisation and automation of manufacturing, using the power of modern computers and technology such as networks of sensors and the massive amounts of data they can collect. These technologies are acknowledged by government as being critical to the future success and economic prosperity of manufacturing in the UK, in the face of low-cost overseas competition. "We've built a really strong consortium of researchers, technology developers, service providers and manufacturing end-users to deliver our Hub vision." said Simon McKenna, who is the Hub's Director of Operations. "Having this extended team in place will ensure outputs from the research programme are fully exploited to deliver real and lasting impact for the UK economy." The Hub, which will come into existence in early 2017, builds directly upon the existing EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Advanced Metrology, also hosted at Huddersfield. This Centre has developed award-winning new technologies over the past five years for in-process measurement and control. The Future Metrology Hub will enable this existing research to be taken to the next level to support a UK manufacturing transformation. ### NOTES TO EDITOR EPSRC invested in two Future Manufacturing Research Hubs in 2015; Photonics, led by Southampton University, and Liquid Metals Engineering, led by Brunel University. In addition to the Metrology Hub at Huddersfield, five other new Hubs were recently announced, each attracting approximately 10m of EPSRC funding. Through the collaboration of the teams of Professor Elke Deuerling and Professor Christine Peter within the Collaborative Research Centre SFB 969 "Chemical and Biological Principles of Cellular Proteostasis" and the Research School Chemical Biology, the researchers were able to identify two regions within the Ssb chaperone that mediate direct contact to the ribosome and thus support the function of Ssb. "We can demonstrate that Ssb interacts with the ribosome mainly via positively charged amino acids", says Professor Elke Deuerling, speaker of the SFB 969, in whose team the binding sites of Ssb were discovered. The results were published on 5 December 2016 in the renowned scientific journal Nature Communications. The chaperone Ssb is a member of the evolutionarily highly conserved Hsp70 chaperone family which is found in all living organisms. Hsp70 chaperones play a central role for correct protein folding -- a process in which a protein adopts the right structure --, for preventing abnormal folding as well as for the transport of proteins. Ssb is the only family member that is in direct contact with the ribosome. It is active at a very early stage, when new proteins are being synthesised in the ribosome. "This ability is unique and cannot be detected at first glance when comparing Ssb with other Hsp70 chaperones. Only a few amino acids provide Ssb with this additional feature and show how flexible Hsp70 chaperones can be", explains molecular biologist Elke Deuerling, whose team member Dr. Anne Hanebuth significantly contributed to the discovery of the Ssb attachment sites in her doctoral thesis. In several experiments, the biologists found out that the Ssb attachment sites are not essential under normal (lab-) conditions. If they are mutated, primarily nothing changes for the yeast cells. However, this is no longer the case if the co-chaperone RAC, another ribosome-bound complex that supports the function of Ssb, is absent. Without RAC, abnormal protein folding occurs in Ssb mutant cells, resulting in pronounced cellular defects. "We believe that these multivalent interactions with direct attachment sites and the cooperation with RAC allow the chaperone Ssb to position itself at the ribosome in an optimal way", says Elke Deuerling. Finding this exact position at the ribosome is of crucial importance for the effectiveness of the chaperone. The ribosome-bound chaperone Ssb can only be found, in contrast to the co-chaperone RAC, in fungi such as yeast. In higher cells, RAC probably cooperates with other Hsp70 chaperones. This is why the researchers assume that the RAC-Hsp70-chaperone system is generally very important for correct folding of proteins and for keeping the cells fit. "How the RAC-Hsp70 system operates in higher cells and which effects it has on proteins relevant for diseases, will be a huge topic in the SFB", says Elke Deuerling. She further comments on the Ssb-chaperone results: "It was great team work within the University of Konstanz and with renowned teams from Heidelberg and Stanford. Computer simulations of the molecular dynamics of Ssb provided important indications of molecular interactions within the Ssb protein. This led to hypotheses about the ribosome interaction, which we have studied using further genetic, biochemical and kinetic approaches. So, step by step, we were able to achieve our results." ### Original Publication: Marie A. Hanebuth, Roman Kityk, Sandra J. Fries, Alok Jain, Allison Kriel, Veronique Albanese, Tancred Frickey, Christine Peter, Matthias P. Mayer, Judith Frydman, Elke Deuerling: Multivalent contacts of the Hsp70 Ssb contribute to its architecture on ribosomes and nascent chain interaction. In: Nature Communications on 05 December 2016 DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS13695 http://www.nature.com/ncomms Facts: Researchers involved: The Konstanz biologists Professor Elke Deuerling and her colleagues Dr. Marie Anne Hanebuth and Sandra J. Fries; the Konstanz chemists Professor Christine Peter and her colleague Dr. Alok Jain; bioinformatician Professor Tancred Frickey; biologist and visiting professor Judith Frydman, Stanford University, USA and her team; biologist Professor Matthias P. Mayer, University of Heidelberg and his team. he collaborative research centre SFB 969 has been funded since 2012. The funding period has been extended until the end of 2019. Funding sum: around 18 million euros until 2019. Contents: Using the regulatory network of proteostasis to study chemical and biological processes that control cellular protein activities. Departments involved: Biology and Chemistry. Note to editors: You can download a photo here: https://cms.uni-konstanz.de/fileadmin/pi/fileserver/2016/Deuerling-Uni-KN-2016.jpg Caption: From left to right: Prof. Elke Deuerling, Dr. Marie Anne Hanebuth, Sandra Fries, Dr. Alok Jain, Prof. Christine Peter. Photo: University of Konstanz Contact University of Konstanz Communications and Marketing Phone: + 49 7531 88-3603 E-Mail: kum@uni-konstanz.de uni.kn The way in which man-made acids in the atmosphere interact with the dust that nourishes our oceans has been quantified by scientists for the first time The way in which man-made acids in the atmosphere interact with the dust that nourishes our oceans has been quantified by scientists for the first time. In the international study led by the University of Leeds, researchers have pinpointed how much phosphate "fertiliser" is released from dust depending on atmospheric acid levels. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for all life, and when it falls into the ocean, it acts as a fertiliser that stimulates the growth of phytoplankton and marine life. The new study allows scientists to quantify exactly how much phosphate "fertiliser" is released from dust depending on atmospheric acid levels. Dr Anthony Stockdale, from the School of Earth and Environment at Leeds, is lead author of the study. He said: "The ability to quantify these processes will now allow models to predict how pollution on a global scale modulates the amount of fertiliser released in airborne dust before it falls into the oceans. "Many regions of the globe are limited by the amount of phosphorous available, so pollution can have a very important impact on marine ecosystems." Fellow author Michael Krom, an Emeritus Professor from Leeds who is now at the University of Haifa, added: "If more carbon dioxide is taken up by marine plants due to fertilisation from acidified dust, it is possible that air pollution may have been inadvertently reducing the amount of greenhouse gases, while at the same time increasing the amount of plants and even fish in areas such as the Mediterranean Sea." Co-author Professor Athanasios Nenes, of Georgia Institute of Technology, said the implications went beyond the carbon cycle and climate. "The Mediterranean is one of many locations of the globe where pollution and dust mix frequently," he said. "This study points to one more way this interaction can affect marine life and the 135 million inhabitants of its coastline." Professor Krom added: "The next step is to develop models which include this new pathway for increased plant growth in the ocean, in order to fully determine the effect on marine ecosystems and Earth's climate, considering a full suite of chemical, physical and biochemical processes." Apatite: the desert dust nourishing our seas Phosphorus is one of the essential elements for life and is a critical component of building blocks such as DNA. Dusts, from deserts such as the Sahara, are an important source of phosphorus to Earth's oceans. The mineral-containing dust is generated in copious amounts during storms and is found throughout the atmosphere. Most of the phosphorus in this dust is in an insoluble form that the microscopic plants of the oceans - phytoplankton and diatoms - cannot get at. Known as apatite, the phosphorus in the dust is similar to the substance found in our teeth and bones. Acids can be released naturally into the atmosphere from volcanic eruptions and from living organisms. But the burning of fossil fuels is currently the most significant source of atmospheric acids. In the same way that acid produced by the bacteria in our mouths can cause tooth decay, so can acids in the atmosphere dissolve apatite and turn it into a form of phosphorus that can be used by marine organisms, the study authors said. As well as researchers from Leeds, Georgia and Haifa, experts from three institutions in Greece, one in Israel, one in Germany and two others in the UK worked on the findings, published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the USA. ### The University of Leeds team was funded by The Leverhulme Trust. Further information "Understanding the nature of atmospheric acid processing of mineral dusts in supplying bioavailable phosphorus to the oceans" is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS) A high-resolution NASA satellite image by Norman Kuring showing dust from western Africa pushing across the Atlantic Ocean on easterly winds is downloadable here: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=83966 For a copy of the paper, or for interviews, contact University of Leeds Media Relations Manager Gareth Dant via g.j.dant@leeds.ac.uk or 0113 343 3996 The University of Leeds The University of Leeds is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK, with more than 31,000 students from 147 different countries, and a member of the Russell Group research-intensive universities. We are a top 10 university for research and impact power in the UK, according to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, and positioned as one of the top 100 best universities in the world in the 2015 QS World University Rankings. We are The Times and The Sunday Times University of the Year 2017 http://www.leeds.ac.uk A world-first vaccine developed by Melbourne scientists, which could eliminate or at least reduce the need for surgery and antibiotics for severe gum disease, has been validated by research published this weekend in a leading international journal. A team of dental scientists at the Oral Health CRC at the University of Melbourne has been working on a vaccine for chronic periodontitis for the past 15 years with industry partner CSL. Clinical trials on periodontitis patients could potentially begin in 2018. Moderate to severe periodontitis affects one in three adults and more than 50 per cent of Australians over the age of 65. It is associated with diabetes, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, dementia and certain cancers. It is a chronic disease that destroys gum tissue and bone supporting teeth, leading to tooth loss. The findings published in the journal NPJ Vaccines (part of the Nature series) represent analysis of the vaccine's effectiveness by collaborating groups based in Melbourne and at Cambridge, USA. The vaccine targets enzymes produced by the bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis, to trigger an immune response. This response produces antibodies that neutralise the pathogen's destructive toxins. P. gingivalis is known as a keystone pathogen, which means it has the potential to distort the balance of microorganisms in dental plaque, causing disease. CEO of the Oral Health CRC, Melbourne Laureate Professor Eric Reynolds AO, said it was hoped the vaccine would substantially reduce tissue destruction in patients harbouring P. gingivalis. "We currently treat periodontitis with professional cleaning sometimes involving surgery and antibiotic regimes," Professor Reynolds said. "These methods are helpful, but in many cases the bacterium re-establishes in the dental plaque causing a microbiological imbalance so the disease continues." "Periodontitis is widespread and destructive. We hold high hopes for this vaccine to improve quality of life for millions of people." ### ANNAPOLIS, MD (December 5, 2016)--Walter Boynton, a fixture in the world of Chesapeake Bay science for more than 40 years and a longtime professor and estuarine ecologist at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, received the prestigious Mathias Medal Friday night to recognize his distinguished career of outstanding scientific research that has contributed to informed environmental policy in the Chesapeake Bay region. "The medal honors the depth of scientific research and the close relationships between scientists and policymakers that together have proven so beneficial for the Chesapeake Bay," said Fredrika Moser, director of Maryland Sea Grant College, which awarded the honor jointly with Virginia Sea Grant and the Chesapeake Research Consortium. The award is named for the late U.S. Senator Charles "Mac" Mathias of Maryland, who championed efforts to clean up the Bay. "I am extraordinarily grateful to have been selected for this award. I'm honored, and I'm very humbled given the stature of the previous recipients," said Walter Boynton. "I think Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay may just be one of the best places on the planet Earth. The Bay is a huge and changing laboratory and it's right at our doorsteps." Boynton coauthored one of the first scientific papers that implicated excess nitrogen washing into the Chesapeake from farms, parking lots, and other human sources as a key driver of the eutrophication process, which has damaged the Bay and other estuarine ecosystems worldwide. He and a variety of collaborators worked to persuade natural resource managers and policy makers to monitor nutrients in the Bay and to take bold actions to reduce nutrient loads. Eventually leaders responded with a series of management plans now credited with lowering amounts of nutrients in parts of the Chesapeake's vast watershed. Boynton helped to design the Chesapeake Bay Program's monitoring effort, which began in 1984 and is considered one of the best in the world. "Environmental science is a 'we' deal, not a 'me' deal," Boynton added. "Whatever progress I've contributed, it's because I stand on the shoulders of the people who have gone before me and I hold lots of hands. Boynton was hailed by the selection board for his wide-ranging and foundational research, which has offered new insights into how the Bay's ecosystem works. His pioneering research about the Bay's ecosystem dynamics provided new understanding of the causes and ecological consequences of the decline of seagrasses. In addition, his research on the decline of the Bay's striped bass population contributed to the adoption of a fishing moratorium, which helped the population to rebound. More recently, Boynton published findings detailing how long-term management practices to reduce nutrients can lead directly to improvements in Chesapeake Bay ecosystems, as measured by higher abundance of seagrasses, clearer water, and smaller blooms of algae. "Walter is widely appreciated for his scientific genius and dogged pursuit of important questions," said Don Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Boynton's long list of influential public speaking and engagement projects includes advising members of Congress, Maryland's legislature, and local officials. He is known for his lively, friendly public speaking style that puts in simple terms both scientific concepts and the need to continue efforts to preserve the Bay. "Walter has helped us adopt policies that are based on science," said Ann Swanson, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission. "All around the world they wonder how we've done that and we've done that because of people like Walter." Board members also applauded his work as a mentor for students and especially his efforts to educate the public about coastal science. "Walter is a gifted, passionate, and supportive teacher," said Tom Miller, director of UMCES' Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. "Students who have taken courses with him and those of us who are lucky enough to have taught alongside him know what an amazing educator and advisor he is. I would argue Walter's largest and longest impact would be to the generation of young minds he has touched over the years. " Since the Mathias Medal was established in 1990, only six have been awarded, including one to Eugene Cronin, another pioneer in Bay science who hired Boynton for his first job at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory when he was director in the late 1960s. ### UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science leads the way toward better management of Maryland's natural resources and the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay. From a network of laboratories located across the state, UMCES scientists provide sound advice to help state and national leaders manage the environment, and prepare future scientists to meet the global challenges of the 21st century. http://www.umces.edu ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The smartphones that nearly all Americans carry could transform how people manage their health, especially for the tens of millions who have chronic conditions or complex health needs. But a new study suggests that app makers are falling short on many counts when it comes to actually serving those who could get the most benefit from mobile health, or mHealth, apps. The findings come from a team led by a University of Michigan Medical School mobile health researcher, and his colleagues at Brigham and Women's Hospital, who publish their findings in the new issue of Health Affairs. It's based on a comprehensive review of 137 of the most highly rated or often recommended mHealth apps aimed at people with chronic conditions. They selected only the cream of the crop from the Apple and Google app stores that are aimed at people with high health needs. Such people have high health costs and may have care needs that are complicated by lower income or level of health knowledge. But even these "best" apps for these patients fell short, say the researchers, led by first author Karandeep Singh, M.D., MMSc., an assistant professor of learning health sciences at U-M. Their key findings: People with some conditions - such as diabetes and depression - can find a wide range of highly rated apps that offer to help them. But people with other conditions - such as arthritis or pain - find few options when they search for high-quality apps. App store ratings, supplied by other users, aren't always a reliable guide even with highly rated apps. The researchers found that physicians and non-physicians on their evaluation team often rated apps much higher, or lower, than the app store ratings, based on how usable or useful they found the apps to be for actual patients. Nearly all the apps (121) let people enter information into their phone about their health that day, such as a daily blood sugar or blood pressure level or whether they were feeling suicidal. But only 28 of these apps reacted appropriately when the reviewers entered a dangerous value - a blood pressure that was sky-high, a super-low blood sugar level, or a suicidal mood, for instance. The results were somewhat better for apps aimed at certain populations: half of the apps aimed at people with asthma or stroke, and half of the few aimed targeted specifically at elderly people, responded appropriately to dangerous values entered by users. Many apps offered tracking functions, education, reminders and alerts that could be useful to a high need, high cost population. But few provided tailored guidance based on what the user actually entered into the tracking interface, or offered ongoing engagement that rewarded "good" results. Most of the apps allow users to share their health information with others, but the researchers found that often this was through insecure methods. Half the apps allowed sharing by email, and 17 percent allowed text-message sharing. The apps were tested in 2015, after the launch of Apple and Google options for secure sharing of health information, but only a minority allowed this kind of sharing. And only one allowed users to share data directly into the electronic health record that their medical team uses. Only two-thirds of the apps had a written privacy policy spelling out how they protect or use the information supplied by users. This is better than previous studies of all mHealth apps have found, but still troubling to the researchers because the apps in this study were supposed to be the most top-notch. "Clearly there is a large-scale proliferation of apps happening related to health, and people have made the switch over to smartphones," says Singh. "But the question is, to what extent are apps serving the needs of patients with chronic diseases, and their caregivers, as opposed to generally healthy people seeking help with wellness." He adds, "We found that the consumer-generated rating on the app store is a very poor marker of how usable an app is, and whether a physician would recommend it. Clearly, the work is not done once consumers have rated an app. Going forward, we need to evaluate apps on the basis of what would it take for physicians, and organizations that issue clinical guidelines, to start recommending them to patients." Singh led the study with senior author David W. Bates, M.D., M.Sc., the chief innovation officer at BWH, with funding from the Commonwealth Fund. The study grew out of previous work by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Academy of Medicine to look at mHealth and its implications for the population of patients who use the most health care, and account for a huge percentage of the nation's health care costs. The team evaluated apps aimed at people who live with asthma, arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, lung disease, liver disease, kidney disease, heart failure and addiction to drugs, alcohol or tobacco. They also looked at apps for people who have survived a stroke, battled cancer, been diagnosed with memory loss or dementia, or are obese or living with pain. These "high need, high cost" patients, who often face social and economic barriers to health care, and have complex health needs, have been seen as a key group for mHealth options. App makers have created more than 165,000 mHealth applications. Many aim to help people track their condition day-to-day, stay on track with medication or at-home testing, share information electronically with their care teams and get education and encouragement between doctor's appointments. Theoretically, this could help them avoid emergencies and long-term problems - and reduce the high cost of their care. The researchers call for app developers to do better at alerting users about dangerous levels and giving them a course of action - such as calling for help if they're feeling suicidal or alerting their key contacts if their blood sugar is dangerously low and they're at risk of passing out. "Do we really want our mHealth apps to be passive observers, or should we expect that they do more than that, and model themselves after crisis hotlines with specific action plans?" Singh asks. The lack of direct advice to the user may have something to do with how mHealth apps are regulated, Singh and his colleagues note. Apps are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission, which can respond to misleading claims, the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees compliance with health privacy laws, and the Food and Drug Administration, which can require app makers to remove their apps from the app store but does not have to review most mHealth apps before they're made available. Clinicians also need to adapt their thinking to the new age of mHealth apps that their patients are likely using, he notes. "Clinicians still think of apps the way they think of pen and paper - a patient enters information that they need to track, and then communicate it to their health providers on the phone or when they have an appointment," he says. "But if the information logged in an app is important, it should get dealt with right away. We need to think about care models that allow information to be acted on in real time - so that a blood pressure of 250 uploaded at 3 a.m. gets prompt attention." ### Reference: Health Affairs 35, No. 12, DOI:10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0578, http://bit.ly/2gdI6X8 MIAMI -- A University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science research team is studying sea spray to help improve forecasting of hurricanes and tropical cyclones. In a recent study, the scientists found that in high winds conditions the amount of large sea spray droplets (over 0.5 milimeters in diameter) generated is as much as 1000 times more than previously thought. Sea spray droplets are aerosol water particles that are ejected into the atmosphere as waves break at the ocean surface. The evaporation of sea spray is thought to contribute to the transfer of heat from the ocean to the atmosphere, which accelerate winds in a storm, potentially impacting its intensity. To characterize the role these large droplets play at the air-sea surface, the researchers placed a high-resolution camera system outside of the Air-Sea Interaction Saltwater Tank (ASIST), one of the wind-wave basins in the UM SUSTAIN laboratory, to capture the silhouettes of water droplets flying through the air. For each image, an automatic identification algorithm was used to identify an individual droplet's location in space and their two-dimensional surface area. More than 35,000 individual images were acquired and processed for this study as part of the experimental trials. The wind speeds in the laboratory ranged from 80 to 120 miles per hour. In an analysis of how the droplet concentration changed with height above the ocean surface, they found that the vertical distribution of sea spray diverged from the existing theoretical distribution, which means the number of water droplets for a given air volume at a specific height above the ocean surface was significantly different than the predicted concentration. This information is critical to understanding the depth of the spray layer above the ocean surface and the overall impact of spray on storm intensity. "Our work can be directly applied to a hurricane model to help improve hurricane intensity predictions, which will help people make more informed decisions with regard to their safety," said David Ortiz-Suslow, a Ph.D. candidate at the UM Rosenstiel School and lead author of the study. Over the last 10 years, scientists have made significant progress in predicting the track of tropical cyclones up to 72 hours. Three days before Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans, the National Weather Service predicted the hurricane would hit the Florida Panhandle, approximately 250 miles away. This year, Hurricane Matthew's actual verses predicted paths were less than 50 miles apart in the 72-hour window. Intensity forecasting has not improved as sufficiently over the last 10 years. ### The study, titled "Sea Spray Generation in Very High Winds," was published in the Oct. 2016 issue of the American Meteorological Society's Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences. The paper's authors include: Ortiz -Suslow, Brian K. Haus, Sanchit Mehta and Nathan J. M. Laxague from the UM Rosenstiel School. National Science Foundation Grant 0933943 and Office of Naval Research grants N000141410643, N000141310144, and N000141210448 supported the study. About the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School The University of Miami is one of the largest private research institutions in the southeastern United States. The University's mission is to provide quality education, attract and retain outstanding students, support the faculty and their research, and build an endowment for University initiatives. Founded in the 1940's, the Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science has grown into one of the world's premier marine and atmospheric research institutions. Offering dynamic interdisciplinary academics, the Rosenstiel School is dedicated to helping communities to better understand the planet, participating in the establishment of environmental policies, and aiding in the improvement of society and quality of life. For more information, visit: http://www.rsmas.miami.edu. Extermination of dingoes and the consequent loss of small mammals - not just overgrazing by livestock - have led to a rapid spread of woody shrubs across semi-arid Australia, a new study shows. Re-introduction of small mammals to desert areas could help prevent further invasion by the woody weeds, the researchers suggest. The study in outback NSW compared conditions on either side of the dingo fence - a two-metre tall, 5600-kilometre long fence erected more than a century ago to keep dingoes out of eastern Australia. Dingoes are common on the western side of the fence, but rare on the other side, due to intensive control measures including poisoning, trapping and shooting over many decades. "Woody shrubs pose a major problem for farmers and their abundance in semi-arid areas has risen dramatically in recent decades," says study senior author UNSW Associate Professor Mike Letnic. "These weeds reduce the availability of feed for livestock and hinder access for mustering. But removing them is contentious, because they are classified as native vegetation." To measure the encroachment of woody shrubs into grasslands, the researchers, led by PhD candidate Christopher Gordon from Western Sydney University, examined aerial photographs of far western NSW and eastern South Australia spanning a 50 year period. They assessed four sites in the Strzelecki Desert, two on either side of the dingo fence. The results are published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. "The fence provides a rare, large-scale natural experiment to examine the effects that a top predator such as the dingo has on ecosystems," says Dr Gordon. "We found that shrub cover had increased on the dingo-free side in both areas, one that had been used for livestock grazing and one that had not been grazed since the 1970s. This suggests overgrazing by livestock may not be the main cause of shrub spread, as had been thought. "There was also a negligible increase in shrub cover in comparable areas on the other side of the fence, which suggests dingoes help reduce shrub spread," he says. This led the team to investigate the activity of small mammals and they found they were more common in areas where the shrubs were sparse. They also looked in detail at the feeding habits of one small mammal, the dusky hopping mouse, and found it consumed significant amounts of woody shrub seeds. The rate of survival of shrub seedlings was greater in areas where dingoes were rare and the rate of removal of seeds was lower there. "Taken together, our results suggest a cascading effect. A loss of dingoes allows foxes and feral cats to thrive and prey on the small mammals that eat the shrub seeds. Fewer small mammals means the shrubs can spread," says Gordon. "This is the first study to link shrub encroachment to loss of an apex predator like the dingo, and it could explain shrub spread in many other areas around the globe. "Rewilding initiatives that aim to conserve or re-establish small mammal populations could help stop the invasion of these pervasive weeds in Australia," he says. The aerial photographs were collected by government agencies in 1948, 1972, 1983 and 1999. Shrub cover was 26-48 per cent greater in areas where dingoes were rare compared with areas where they were common. ### Media contacts: Dr Christopher Gordon: gordonc@uow.edu.au Associate Professor Mike Letnic: + 61 9385 2079, m.letnic@unsw.edu.au UNSW Science media officer: Deborah Smith: + 61 9385 7307, + 61 478 492 060, deborah.smith@unsw.edu.au Despite their obvious physical differences, elephants, lizards and trout all have something in common. They possess elongated, flexible structures at the rear of their bodies that we call tails. But a new study by a University of Pennsylvania paleobiologist reveals that the tails of fish and the tails of tetrapods, or four-limbed animals, are in fact entirely different structures, with different evolutionary histories. With an analysis of 350-million-year-old fossil fish hatchlings, Lauren Sallan, an assistant professor in the School of Arts & Science's Department of Earth and Environmental Science, showed that these ancient juvenile fish had both a scaly, fleshy tail and a flexible fin, one sitting atop the other. A similar dual tail structure is seen in the embryos of modern teleosts, a group of ray-finned fish that make up more than 95 percent of living fish species. Over evolutionary time, to adapt to their environments, adult teleosts and tetrapods each lost one of these tails. "The tetrapod tail likely started as a limb-like outgrowth in the first vertebrates, while the fish caudal fin started as a co-opted median fin, like the dorsal fin," Sallan said. "All vertebrate tail diversity might be explained by the relative growth and loss of these two tails, with the remaining fleshy tail stunted in humans as in fishes." Sallan reported her findings in the journal Current Biology. For nearly 200 years, scientists from Darwin contemporary Thomas Henry Huxley to Stephen Jay Gould pointed to the larval stage of modern teleost fish, which have an asymmetrial tail that resembles those of ancient adult ray-finned fish, as a prime example of recapitulation theory, the idea that the growth and development of organisms takes them through stages that mirror the evolutionary steps from simple to more complex organisms. This example, however, had a notable weakness: a lack of fossils of juvenile fish ancestors. The linchpin for Sallan's study came in the form of a series of 350-million- year-old fossil specimens of Aetheretmon valentiacum, a fish species related to teleosts. The fossils were recovered from Scotland over decades and stored in museums, but most had never been examined in detail. Unstudied specimens included the smallest known examples of the species -- only 3 centimeters long -- representing the earliest known stage of development for such fishes. These fossils allowed the first direct comparison between the growth stages of ancient fish and their modern teleost descendants. Adult Aetheretmon fish possessed an asymmetrical tail, longer on the top than the bottom, which contains vertebrae. A group of modern fish called chondrosteans, which includes species such as sturgeon and paddlefish, are sometime referred to as "living fossils" and have a similar tail structure. Adult teleost tails, on the other hand, are nearly symmetrical and comprised entirely of fin. According to recapitulation theory, juvenile Aetheretmon would have appeared to be smaller versions of the adults, exhibiting what is called direct development. Sallan's observations found that this was not the case. The juvenile Aetheretmon in fact closely resembled modern teleost juveniles; both have a small fleshy tail containing vertebrae, similar to a lizard's tail, overlaying a fin. As they matured, the upper tail of Aetheretmon continued to extend. In contrast, the upper portion of the tail of modern teleosts' is stunted early and so ends up embedded in the growing body, their caudal fin instead becoming their only "tail." Sallan examined the tail forms of a variety of different species of fish, living and extinct, at different developmental stages, and found the same two-part structure, differently arranged, in each. "What this shows is that ancient fish and modern fish had the same developmental starting point that has been shared over 350 million years," said Sallan. "It's not the ancestral tail showing up in modern teleost larvae; it's that all fish have two different structures to their tail that have been adjusted over time based on function and ecology for all of these species." The analysis allows for new insights to be drawn not only about fish evolution but the evolution of vertebrates in general, as the bony, fish-like ancestors of Aetheretmon, living fishes and land-dwelling tetrapods likely had both types of tail. The vertebrae-containing tail present in Aethretmon likely represents the first limb-like growth that became the true tails in animals like lizards. Sallan said it's likely that the two outgrowths are governed by two different groups of genes and thus could have been subject to natural selection independently, generating large numbers of innovative forms throughout evolution. "It tells us why we have all this diversity in fins and limbs in past and present," Sallan said. "There might have been some lineages that favored one form over another for functional or ecological reasons. If a fish couldn't adapt this trait, which is so vital for swimming, they might have gone extinct." Sallan is excited by the possibility that these findings could be evaluated by a developmental biologist to confirm the molecular pathways that generate limb outgrowth or fin placement. "This would be an easy way of testing evolution in the lab," she said. ### The study was supported by the University of Pennsylvania. TORONTO, ON - A study by researchers at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto shows that four-year-olds with average and lower vocabulary skills learn more effectively with an adult reading an eBook to them versus relying solely on the eBook's voiceover. Adult reader versus e-book voiceover In the study, four-year-olds either interacted with a digital book on their own using the book's voiceover, or an adult read them the same book. The book was teaching children about biological camouflage. Overall, preschoolers learned about camouflage from both books. But, when researchers divided the four-year-olds into two groups - one group with children of higher than average vocabulary level, and one group of children with average and lower English vocabularies - they found that the children with average and lower English vocabularies showed poorer comprehension when the book read itself. Interaction is key Dr. Patricia Ganea, Associate Professor of early cognitive development at the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study at OISE, says the results highlight that young children are best supported in their learning when they are in interaction with others, especially parents or other caregivers. "These findings are important since they show that children at risk for low comprehension benefit from having an adult read with them, rather than being left to learn from the digital device on their own," said Ganea. "Choosing high quality apps is only part of the equation. Reading along with the child can also increase learning." Dr. Gabrielle Strouse, a postdoctoral fellow who worked with Ganea on the study, and who is now at the University of South Dakota, agreed. "Children may learn from digital media on their own, but parents still play an important role in children's learning. Parents can enhance what children take away from digital media by asking questions, directing their attention to relevant information and participating with them in the media interaction," Strouse added. Children's comprehension tested The study was conducted by giving children a pre-test about biological camouflage using pictures of animals. Children were then read an e-book about camouflage by the e-book voiceover or by an adult. Afterward, children were asked questions about camouflage using replica lizard and turtles in tanks. They were asked to identify which animals would be seen by a predator, which tank they would put an animal in so it would not be seen, and to explain their choices. Overall, researchers found the e-book to be an effective tool for teaching children the new biological concept: Overall, 74% of children explained their answers in terms of camouflage at the post-test, compared to 2% at pre-test Children with above-average vocabularies did well on the camouflage post-test regardless of whether the adult or the book read to them. However, children with average and lower vocabularies did particularly poorly when read to by the book's voiceover Increase in e-book usage The findings are particularly important to note given the popularity of e-books. For example, Overdrive, a popular e-book provider for libraries in the United States and Canada, reported that between the first quarters of 2015 and 2016, there has been a 30% increase in children's e-book borrowing at 50 top-circulating libraries. This suggests that many more parents are adopting e-reader technology for their children. Also noteworthy, the findings are consistent with the emphasis on parent co-use of media in the American Academy of Pediatrics' newly updated guidelines on children's media exposure. The study, "Are Prompts Provided by Electronic Books as Effective for Teaching Preschoolers a Biological Concept as Those Provided by Adults?" was published in the November/December edition of Early Education and Development. ### To view the study, please click here. MEDIA CONTACTS: Researchers Patricia Ganea Associate Professor, Dr. Eric Jackman Institute for Child Study OISE/University of Toronto Email: patricia.ganea@utoronto.ca Phone: 416-934-4502 Gabrielle Strouse Assistant Professor, University of South Dakota Email: Gabrielle.Strouse@usd.edu Phone: 605-677-5848 Parents The following parents have children who have participated in similar studies about technology and learning. These parents are available to speak with media about how their children experience computers, e-books and other forms of electronic media: Leigh Lahti leigh.lahti@gmail.com 416-534-8506 or 416-389-2556 (cell) Brook Alviano brookalviano@gmail.com 647-268-3661 Media Relations Coordinator Lindsey Craig Communications & Media Relations Coordinator OISE/University of Toronto lindsey.craig@utoronto.ca 416-978-1127 Experts have presented a new classification system for vegetation in Europe that aims to standardize classifications across the continent and aid the European Union Nature Information System, which brings together data for nature resource management and conservation, land planning, education, and environmental policy implementation. As they worked on the project for more than 15 years, plant ecologists evaluated approximately 10,000 bibliographic sources to revise previously proposed classification units, and to create a unified comprehensive system reflecting the units' floristic and ecological distinctness, clarity of geographic distribution, and underpinning ecological and evolutionary processes. The resulting system provides a classification of European vegetation into 1298 basic-level types that are grouped into broader types at higher hierarchical levels. "This work summarizes more than 120 years of knowledge collected by vegetation science in an effort to understand the complexity of vegetation patterns in Europe. In achieving our goal, Europe becomes the first continent having a complete and unified vegetation classification system," said Dr. Ladislav Mucina, lead author of the Applied Vegetation Science article. "It has been a great privilege to be a part of this quest, pursued by a team of the best minds in European vegetation science." ### Some sea creatures cover themselves with hard shells and spines, while vertebrates build skeletons out of the same minerals. How do these animals get the calcium they need to build these strong mineral structures? Professors Lia Addadi and Steve Weiner of the Weizmann Institute of Science's Structural Biology Department asked this question about sea urchins, which need to extract quite a few calcium ions from sea water to build their spines. The answer surprised them, and it could change the way scientists think about the process of biomineralization. Several years ago, Addadi and Weiner had discovered that sea urchins build their spines with tiny packets of "unorganized" material that hardens into crystal when laid in place. "So the question went back a step: How do they get the calcium ions they need to make this material in the first place?" says Addadi. "Free calcium is not abundant in sea water," adds Weiner, "so they need an efficient way to extract and concentrate the ions." To answer the question the researchers, including Netta Vidavsky, needed methods to observe the animal's cells "as is," that is, as they are in life, water included. For this the group turned to Dr. Andreas Schertel of Carl Zeiss Microscopy in Germany and Dr. Sefi Addadi of the Weizmann Institute of Science's Life Sciences Core Facilities. Very new cutting-edge techniques enabled them to observe thin slices of the cells in sea urchin embryos and then to reconstruct three-dimensional images of these cells and their intake of labeled calcium ions. "Even a few years ago, we could not have done this study," says Addadi. The images showed that sea urchin larval cells actually "drink" seawater, taking in drops of water and manipulating the ions in the water within the confines of the cell. This is in contrast to the theory that these cells take in only ions, one at a time, through special channels in their outer membranes. The cells they observed were filled with networks of bubbles called vacuoles that collect the calcium ions, evidently creating concentrated packages of calcium for building the spines. This method may be more energy efficient than taking in ions through channels (which the cells also did), but it presents another problem: The cells must be able to pick out the calcium as well as expel other ions in the sea water, especially the sodium and chloride. "Researchers may be busy for years to come figuring out how these cells manipulate the ions in the sea water they drink," says Weiner. Addadi and Weiner point out that this is not the first time this type of calcium ion intake has been observed. Prof. Jonathan Erez of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem had described this phenomenon in single-celled, hard-shelled microorganisms called foraminifera a decade ago. At the time, it was thought to be a "curiosity," but finding the same process in two very different creatures suggests that it may be quite widespread. Although we do not live in sea water, even the cells that build our bones may use a similar method to obtain calcium. ### Prof. Lia Addadi's research is supported by the Jeanne and Joseph Nissim Foundation for Life Sciences Research. Prof. Lia Addadi is the incumbent of the Dorothy and Patrick Gorman Professorial Chair. Prof. Stephen Weiner's research is supported by the Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science, which he heads; the Dangoor Accelerator Mass Spectrometer Laboratory; and the estate of George and Beatrice F. Schwartzman. Prof. Weiner is the incumbent of the Dr. Walter and Dr. Trude Borchardt Professorial Chair in Structural Biology. The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment. SPOKANE, Wash. - Washington State University will lead a study to understand the relationship between sleep and chronic pain, part of a nationwide effort to address the rising abuse of opioid pain relievers and expand the arsenal of non-drug treatment options. "Physicians are being pressured to stop prescribing so many opioids," said Marian Wilson, assistant professor in the WSU College of Nursing and lead investigator on the study. New prescription guidelines issued this year by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend providers limit the use of opioids in patients with chronic pain, she said. "It's not fair to start cutting longtime opioid users off of their medications without giving them some effective alternatives," she said. The relationship between sleep and pain has not been adequately studied, she said: "There's a small body of literature that suggests that pain and sleep correlate -- bad sleep goes with bad pain -- but we don't know for sure which comes first. 'Is my pain worse because I've slept poorly, or was my pain so bad that I couldn't sleep?'" Subproject of veterans hypnosis-pain study Wilson has joined with colleagues at WSU Health Sciences Spokane and the University of Washington's Department of Rehabilitation Medicine on a study funded with a new two-year, $305,651 supplemental grant from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant allows Wilson to run the study as a subproject of a larger NIH-funded project led by pain experts Mark Jensen, a UW professor, and Rhonda Williams, a UW associate professor and psychologist with the U.S. Veterans Administration Puget Sound Healthcare System. Sleep expertise will be contributed by Wilson's WSU co-investigator Hans Van Dongen, professor in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine and director of the Sleep and Performance Research Center. The parent UW study evaluates the efficacy of self-hypnosis and mindfulness meditation training interventions to treat chronic pain in 240 military veterans. The WSU subproject will collect additional data on a pool of 135 military veterans recruited from the parent study. Participants will complete sleep surveys and wear sleep monitoring devices for a week at three separate times: just before their intervention, immediately afterward and three months post-intervention. Sleep data will be paired with pain-related data from the parent study to see if any improvements in pain are preceded or followed by improvements in sleep, or whether they happen at the same time. Insights will form a first step toward development of sleep treatments to help alleviate chronic pain. Passionate about pain management Wilson was an oncology (cancer treatment) nurse for 11 years before her passion for chronic pain management guided her to a new calling as nurse scientist. While pursuing a Ph.D. in nursing at WSU, she evaluated a new program that addressed overuse of a hospital emergency department by patients with chronic pain who were seeking opioids. The program, which referred these patients back to their primary care providers, was considered a success in that it reduced the frequency of emergency department visits in this group of patients. Yet, the project left Wilson feeling that more could be done to address the needs of individuals with chronic pain, including new ways to manage symptoms without medications. This led to her dissertation research on the effectiveness of an online self-management program for people with chronic pain, which she found resulted in reduced opioid use and misuse. Opioids too readily prescribed More recently, she conducted a study that offered the same online program to people with chronic pain who receive methadone replacement treatment for opioid addiction. She did in-depth interviews with some participants to better understand why some end up addicted and what could be done to better manage their pain and addiction symptoms. While the results of those studies haven't been fully analyzed, it is clear to Wilson that something has to change. "We're sending people home from tooth extractions and minor surgeries with a month's supply of opioids," she said, adding that as little as two weeks of daily opioid use can cause physical dependence. "As a result, we've got opioids in almost every house in America and people becoming addicts and ending up in the methadone clinic," she said. "Let's do what we can to prevent this from happening." ### COLUMBUS The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation presented only one distinguished service award this year, focusing the spotlight on an individual who guided the organization for 20 years. Retired Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Executive Vice President Jack Fisher received the farm groups Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award Dec. 1. The honor was presented during the farm groups annual meeting, which was held Dec. 1-2 in Columbus. Fisher, who was named to the OFBFs top post in 1996, retired in July. Farm Bureau members who served on the state board during his tenure filed on the stage and stood in the background as Fisher was honored. By his own count, hes worked with eight state presidents, more than 500 county Farm Bureau presidents, and thousands of local volunteers. Presenting the award was Fishers successor, Adam Sharp, who has been around Ohio Farm Bureau members ever since his parents took him as a child to local advisory council meetings. Sharp was one of the individuals Fisher mentioned in his thank-you remarks. Industry leader Before joining the Ohio Farm Bureau, Fisher served as assistant director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, director of the Illinois Corn Growers Association and Marketing Board, and executive director of governmental affairs and commodities for Illinois Farm Bureau. He is a former member of the board of trustees at The Ohio State University. He serves on the board of trustees for the Columbus 2020 Economic Development Board, and is co-chair of Ohio States College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Fundraising Campaign Planning and Fundraising Organization. He has served on the board of trustees for BioOhio and the board of directors for Childrens Hunger Alliance. He has been inducted in the Ohio Agricultural Hall of Fame, OSU Department of Animal Sciences Hall of Fame, the Ohio State Fair Hall of Fame and received the OSU College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Distinguished Service Award and the Colleges Meritorious Service to Students award. Fisher grew up on a farm in Crawford County, Ohio, and holds bachelors and masters degrees in agriculture from The Ohio State University and a masters degree in counseling from Ball State University. He served in the United States Air Force. He and his wife, Judy, are the parents of three children and have seven grandchildren. Donations Also during the convention, the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation announced it has received leadership gifts to The Fisher Fund for Lifelong Learning, honoring Fishers contributions, including $1 million from Nationwide, $300,000 from Ohio Farm Bureau, $25,000 from current Farm Bureau state board members and $250,000 from Farm Credit Mid-America. The Fisher Fund will invest in teaching students about food, agriculture and nutrition, developing agriculture youth by providing constructive and encouraging relationships between them and their peers and adults, strengthening beginning farmers technical and business skills and providing learning opportunities for adults. This Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon! Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page? By Garima Aggarwal As per a report in Dhaka Tribune, eminent researcher & economist of Bangladesh, Dr. Abul Barkat has clearly mentioned there will be no Hindus left in the country (Bangladesh) three decades from now in his new book . Quoting the news report : The rate of exodus over the past 49 years points to that direction, the Dhaka University teacher says in his book Political economy of reforming agriculture-land-water bodies in Bangladesh published yesterday. He was addressing the book launching ceremony at Senate Bhaban of Dhaka University. From 1964 to 2013, around 11.3 million Hindus left Bangladesh due to religious persecution and discrimination, he said. It means on an average 63 Hindus left the country each day and 230,612 annually. From his 30-year-long research, Barkat found that the exodus mostly took place during military governments after independence. Before the Liberation War, the daily rate of migration was 705 while it was 512 during 1971-1981 and 438 during 1981-1991. The number increased to 767 persons each day during 1991-2001 while around 774 persons left the country during 2001-2012, the book says. DU teacher Prof Ajoy Roy said the government grabbed the properties of the Hindus during the Pakistan regime describing them as enemy property and the same properties were taken by the government after independence as vested property. According to the book, these two measures made 60% of the Hindus landless. Most people are aware that Hindus of Pakistan & Bangladesh have been facing injustices & persecution since long, and I started researching for more statistics and qualitative information regarding Hindus in Pak & BD. In the process, I chanced upon this write-up by Anand Ranganathan The Vanishing Hindus of Pakistan a Demographic Study. In this write-up, Anand has provided clear statistics of decreasing Hindu population in Bangladesh : But his article primarily makes a comparative study of persecution of Hindus in Pakistan vs. Hindus in Bangladesh and post-partition scenarios in Pakistan & Bhartiya Punjab. Although many of his points are totally agreeable, he ultimately infers that persecution of Hindus reduced a great deal in 1951 in Pakistan as the persecution of Muslims ended in Bharat in 1951, and that the battle lies elsewhere i.e. in Bangladesh which has been eradicating Hindus post 1951 with much more zeal in terms of numbers. For once I thought about not pointing out my perception of Anand Ranganathans write-up, but then things must be brought out not only from Hindu perspective, but qualitatively too. Basically, Anand has ended up comparing the situation in entire Pakistan with only Bhartiya Punjab post 1951 till 1998 or so. Pakistan is not Punjabs size, it is an entire nation (Bharat is only four times bigger than Pakistan). Though he clearly mentions that Muslims in other states like UP etc did not face persecution, his write-up ultimately legitimizes the ongoing persecution of Hindus in Pakistan. He mentions that Hindu population has faced persecution in Pakistan ever since 1947, but it didnt vanish it came home. Anand forgets to mention that not only Hindus came home but also lakhs of Muslims returned to Bharat post 1951 in the light of Nehru Liaquat Pact, while very few Hindus actually went back to East & West Pakistan, specially West Pakistan post 1951. And home is a term that is best left to the native of a piece of land/ region. Just like Hyderabad and UP is home to many Muslims, Sindh and Punjab in Pak were home to lot many Hindus. Anand not only forgets to mention Nehru Liaquat Pact, he also forgets to consider the deep implications that Objectives Resolution had on Pakistans constitution which was introduced by Liaquat Ali Khan in March, 1949. This resolution turned Pakistan into Islamic state officially, they however called it Islamic democracy. (Not that any sensible human knowing the real history cannot make out that any nation with Muslim majority eventually leads to secondary status for all kinds of minority populations). Anyway, Anand seems confused if at all to blame Pakistan for persecution of Hindus when he writes that piece in the January of 2015. After all, as many Muslims were persecuted immediately post partition in Bhartiya Punjab too. But what Anand has not been able to realize is, Pakistan persecuted all of its Hindus is just 5 years while Bangladesh has taken a little more time. Well, thats also a way of looking at the same figures! And by the January of 2015, when he writes that piece, Muslims have grown many fold in many parts of Bharat, but similar reports have not come from Pakistan, i.e. of happy Hindus. Though he has acknowledged the fact that Muslims were not persecuted in all states of Bharat post partition, he makes sure to call the so called stabilized 1.6% Hindus plus Schedule Castes of Pakistan a tiny population. It is funnily amazing to note that Hindu population in Pakistan has remained the static same from 1951 till 1998 and Pakistan has not released any census figures for almost two decades now. Moving on, in spite of the insensitive tone of Anands article, theres nothing to disagree with it except for one thing the article forgets to mention return of many Muslims post Nehru Liaquat Pact and fails to mention ongoing injustices to Pak Hindus in clear terms vs very high growth of Muslims in Bharat by the time he chose to write that piece. For example, he writes : Take, next, the case of Gurdaspur. According to the 1941 Census, there were 4,40,323 Muslims in Gurdaspur, or 25 per cent of the population of the district. By 1951, Muslim numbers had come down to 10,425. In 1971, the number of Muslims in Gurdaspur was 6,868, or 0.56 per cent of the population. Now if one were to read these decreases as HAF did for the Hindu population of Pakistan, one would phrase it thus: At the time of Partition in 1947, the Muslim community in what is now Gurdaspur was approximately 25 per cent of the population. By 1971 it was only 0.56 per cent. Although factually correct, the above statement is misleading and doesnt tell the real story, which is that the Muslim population was decimated because of an overwhelming outflow around the time of partition itself. A truer picture emerges only when we compare the 1951 population numbers with those that were revealed during subsequent Census counts. This holds as much for the Muslim numbers for Indian Punjab as it does for the Hindu numbers for Pakistan. The biggest flaw of the above comparison drawn by Anand is that, he compares a mere Gurdaspur district of Bharat with entire Pakistan. (Of course, the great Hindu magnanimity invariably plays its part in most of us). Did the Hindu population of Sindh in Pakistan spill over to other states of Pakistan post 1951? No. Did some Hindus of Pakistan gradually return to Pakistan post 1951? No. We shall soon see the figures of Muslim growth in what was called undivided Punjab of Bharat, which is mostly todays Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Moreover, post partition it was a war like situation. In the heat of a war like situation between two countries, it is obvious that there will be casualties on both sides. Why was Punjab in Bharat considered separately? What if Bharat would have retaliated by persecuting millions of Muslims living in other states too? What did we gain as a bigger country? Nothing. We have only been giving post 1951. Honestly, it is futile to differentiate between Pakistan & Bangladesh in terms of persecution of Hindus, because of two main underlying reasons history and Islamic ideology. Muslim Population in Bharat has grown from 9.8% in 1951 to 14.23% (officially) in 2011. While Bharat has seen multiple news reports about Hindu Refugees from Pakistan and Bangladesh in recent times, how many Muslim refugees have gone back to Pakistan crying victimization in Bharat? Anand gives the figure correctly for Muslims in Bhartiya Punjab : Now Indian Punjab that time was todays Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh mostly. While Pakistans Hindu population has stabilized to 1.6 % plus Schedule Castes, let us see how Muslims have grown in these 3 states of today : Whoa! From 0.8% in 1951 to more than 11% Muslims in 2011 in undivided Punjab. Is this growth possible only by breeding? Every state of Bharat has seen growth in Muslim numbers. It may be noted that no religion in Bharat dares to fudge its numbers simply because of reservation laws, that provide advantage to Schedule Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes. As Abrahamic doctrines boast of no casteism in Bharat, these laws do not apply to Muslims and Christians (though the minority religions almost control their organizations freely and even get preferences in certain sectors like education which is driving Hindu enterprises away from those sectors gradually, is spite of being a majority here). Hence it is usually said, especially about Christians, that their numbers are reported far less than they actually are. It is a separate issue and there are references available of Christian leaders themselves claiming far more population than official figures. Indeed, breeding among Muslims is higher because contraception is not accepted by many of them, because it is said that it is mentioned as unacceptable in their religion. But this kind of growth is not possible by breeding alone. It is easy to get references that Muslims returned from east Pakistan, along with Hindus, post Nehru Liaquat Pact. Here are some references from Partha S. Ghoshs book Migrants, Refugees & The Stateless In South Asia : Just in about 4 months, 3 lakh Muslims returned to North-East Bharat post Nehru Liaquat Pact! Everybody knows Muslims are still returning from Bangladesh. Of course, many Hindus returned too. A cached thesis / paper at Shodhgana, which I couldnt access fully, speaks about this too : It is more difficult to find references of Muslims returning to undivided Punjab and North Bharat. It needs more hours of research and right resources. However, I could find few references in the above mentioned book of Partha S. Ghosh, though our elders have always told this and we know it by word of mouth : It is estimated that at least a million Muslims returned to Bharat post Nehru Liaquat Pact, and they have only grown in Bharat post 1951 in overall sense. And it is also totally true that persecution of Hindus has been going on and continues in Pakistan. If numbers are not reflecting it, it is not being reported properly. The injustices to Hindus in Pak & BD are also severe in qualitative sense their quality of life, prosperity, freedom and ease to practice their religion happily. The justice is totally missing in holistic terms. Hindus could not get their marriages registered in Pakistan till now! Many Hindus cannot cremate bodies of their dead, they have to bury those. There was no law against forced religious conversion of Hindus, only now Pakistans Sindh province has outlawed forced conversions which is also facing protest from Muslim extremists. It is estimated that about 1000 Hindu girls are forcibly converted to Islam annually in Pakistan. The plight of Hindu Refugees from Pakistan (and Bangladesh) is not hidden from anybody. They are still coming from there and they dont want to go back. There are many colonies of Hindu Refugees (from Pak & BD) in Bharat. The lowest socio-economic classes of Hindus suffer most injustices there. Clearly, the battle doesnt lie elsewhere, it lies everywhere where Hindus are in minority! Source : Hindu Post Nevada : Hindus are urging a Los Angeles gallery not to display iconic Ken doll as Lord Krishna in their current Plastic Religion exhibition, calling it highly inappropriate. Plastic Religion exhibition, which includes this Ken doll as Lord Krishna, at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles by Argentine artists, Marianela Perelli and Pool Paolini, whose opening reception was scheduled on December two, will be on display till December 31. Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, urged the gallery to withdraw Barbie-ized Lord Krishna from the exhibition as it trivialized the highly revered deity of Hinduism. Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, stressed that reimagining Hindu scriptures and deities for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the feelings of devotees. Lord Krishna and other Hindu deities were meant to be worshipped in temples and home shrines and not meant to be reduced to a Barbie character. As Ken is trademarked by Mattel, Inc.; Rajan Zed also urged the intervention in this issue of Christopher A. Sinclair, Chief Executive Officer of Mattel, which was named one of the Worlds Most Ethical Companies. Zed pointed out that Hindus were for free speech as much as anybody else if not more. But faith was something sacred and attempts at belittling it hurt the devotees. Artists should be more sensitive while handling faith related subjects, Zed added. Rajan Zed further said that Hindus welcomed art world to immerse in Hinduism but taking it seriously and respectfully and not for refashioning Hinduism concepts and symbols for personal agendas. Barbie-fication of Lord Krishna was simply improper and out of place. Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken frivolously. No faith, larger or smaller, should be mishandled, Zed noted. Lord Krishna is the eighth avatar (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu and subject of major Hindu scriptures such as the Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord) and Bhagavad-Purana. There are about three million Hindus in USA and moksh (liberation) is the ultimate goal of Hinduism. La Luz de Jesus Gallery, established in 1986, claims to be One of the most important, ground-breaking galleries in LA. Billy Shire and Matt Kennedy are the Proprietor and Director respectively. Ken (Kenneth Carson), a Mattel toy doll launched in 1961 is said to be the fictional boyfriend of toy doll Barbie. Headquartered in El Segundo, Mattel claims to be worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of toys and family products. Source : From Our Correspondent Our Government has put business, arms and trades deals before human rights. It isnt ethical and it isnt fair It was reported that a Saudi women who posted a picture of herself on social media in public without wearing a hijab faced outrage on social media, including calls for her execution. One man memorably declared: Kill her and throw her corpse to the dogs. To the surprise of the some, Saudi Arabia which has been bombing Yemen for 18 months, including one incident where the countrys fighters bombed a funeral, and which has arguably the worst record on womens rights in the world was recently re-elected to the Human Rights Council, the United Nations premier human rights body. There was, predictably, an outcry. Governing womens clothing, whether on the beaches of Cannes or the streets of Riyadh, is a violation we should all stand against. And clearly people in the Islamic world believe this as ardently as atheists in the West. This year, men in Iran wore headscarves in solidarity with their wives who are forced cover their hair in public places. The campaign against the enforced hijab in Iran has seen women defying morality police in public and even shaving their hair. If men in Saudi Arabia campaigned in similar numbers and joined the fight, perhaps wed see a change in the Middle Easts political landscape. Steps have been made, however small, of late to extend womens rights in Saudi Arabia. In August this year, the kingdoms passport office suspended a programme that notified a womans male guardian (usually her husband) if she wished to travel outside the kingdom. Furthermore, a Saudi prince and business magnate, Alwaleed bin Talal, added his voice to the debate over womens rights in Saudi Arabia, urging it to abandon its driving ban for women. In an unprecedented move, he stated that preventing women from driving is an issue of rights similar to the one that forbade them from receiving an education. In addition, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Mutlaq, a prominent member of the Saudi Committee of Senior Scholars, said this year that there is no legitimate reason to ban women from driving under Islamic law. Across the Arab world, and in Saudi Arabia, female Islamic scholars and activists have been pushing for interpretations of Sharia law that consider women and men as equals before God. Nevertheless, its now time for the International community to put pressure on the Saudi regime. It is scandalous that we are complicit in human rights violations perpetrated by a kingdom that continues to behead people for breaking their laws. Indeed, it was reported in January that Saudis beheadings had reached their highest level in two decades. Our deafening silence in the face of multiple human rights violence in Saudi has gone on for too long. Our Government has put business, arms and trades deals before human rights, casually expecting the country to catch up with it in terms of equality. But when a woman appearing without a hijab on social media provokes calls for her to be killed and eaten by dogs, perhaps its time we took our fingers out of our ears and started listening. Source : Independent A Hindu temple was vandalised and three idols of deities were destroyed by some unknown people in Bangladesh Dhaka : A Hindu temple was vandalised and three idols of deities were destroyed by some unknown people in Bangladeshs northern Netrokona area, triggering panic among the minority community in the Muslim-majority nation. The incident came to light after locals of Mymensinghorohi village in Shingherbangla union under the Netrokona sadar upazila found the temple doors open this morning. Upon entering the temple premises, they found smashed bits and pieces of the temple architecture and three idols. They also saw two of the idols one of deity Kali and another of Shiva about 600 feet away from the temple, Dhaka Tribune reported. Immediately, police was informed after which an investigation was launched. We visited the site and have collected evidence of the vandalism. We have started the investigation and have found that the temple doors were not locked. We are looking for the people who are behind this heinous act, Netrokona sadar police Officer-in-Charge (OC) Shahnur-e-Alam said. Netrokona Additional District Magistrate Abdul Matin visited the site and said the responsible parties will be identified and punished accordingly. Netrokona Superintendent of Police Joydeb Chowdhury said officers have reached the site. We are treating the case with priority. A group with vested interests may have carried out the crime to disrupt communal harmony, the SP added. PTI Source : One India Assistant Secretary Thomas-Greenfield to Travel to France, Mali, and Ghana Washington, DC - Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield will travel to France, Mali, and Ghana from November 30 to December 9. In Paris on November 30, the Assistant Secretary, along with Department of Defense colleagues, will attend a quarterly P3 Africa Meeting with France and the United Kingdom that will focus on the Sahel, the Lake Chad Basin, the Horn of Africa, and Central Africa. In Bamako, Mali from December 1-2, the Assistant Secretary will participate in meetings with the goal of advancing the countrys peace process. On December 3, the Assistant Secretary will travel to Timbuktu, where she will meet with United Nations officials, local officials, and youth and women leaders. We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts! Donate $ 465.00 donated in the past month Get Involved If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us. The Finance Minister Michael Noonan has denied there is a new financial crisis as a result of yesterday's referendum in Italy. Prime minister Matteo Renzi has resigned after his proposals were rejected, leading to fears of a snap general election. Polls show any election would be won by a protest group which wants to hold a referendum on taking Italy out of the Euro. This morning the euro reached its lowest in two years. However, Michael Noonan has said the blip has already ended. "The markets recovered very quickly and they're back to where they were. It seems to ne now that there isnt a financial crisis coming from the referendum in Italy," he said. A "yes" vote would have handed powers back to Italy's regions, making the parliament's lower house - the chamber of deputies - more powerful than the senate. But the crushing defeat for the Italian government forced Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to resign and put the country's battered banking sector firmly in the spotlight. Analysts are fearful that Italian banks, many of which are burdened by bad debt, may now struggle to find refinancing during an ensuing period of political uncertainty. Jane Foley, a senior FX strategist at Rabobank, said: "For Italy's banks the referendum result will mark a huge disappointment. "A decision will be forthcoming as to whether the 5bn recapitalisation of Monte dei Paschi will go ahead. If a private recapitalisation were to fail, it is likely that the government will step in to prevent the spread of contagion." Italian banks were in the doldrums, with UniCredit falling 3%, Intesa Sanpaolo dropping 1%, Banco Popolare down 7%, and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena 4% lower. Exports to the UK plummeted by 23% in September, pulling down the cumulative to-date merchandise exports by 5%. Trade with the North was most heavily impacted with exports down by 40% in the month. As this is happening without a border restriction, trepidation over the introduction of any border, hard or soft, as a consequence of Brexit is justified. Of course, the fall in the value of sterling is the immediate challenge for Irish exporters, but the ultimate long-term implications of Brexit will only be evident once the differing trade relationships between the UK, Europe and the rest of the world have been established. This is likely to take a number of years, creating major challenges for our export sector long term. Exports to the rest of Europe continued to show no growth in the period to September, creating worries that the European Central Banks efforts to stimulate the eurozone was not working, despite ECB president Mario Draghi emptying his tool box. The rise of isolationist anti-free trade, anti-establishment political parties in the run-up to the French, German, Dutch and Austrian elections will not help business or consumer confidence over the coming months and into 2017. In addition, a downgrading of growth forecasts in the euro area has been released by the ECB due to the Brexit vote. As about one third of all Irelands exports go to the eurozone, the implications are very worrying for all those businesses trying to re-position themselves away from the UK into the wider EU market. The US market has been the main reason Irelands exports have remained in positive territory up to September. However, the outlook for export growth has weakened significantly in the weeks since the US presidential election. The World Trade Organisation downgraded its forecasts for trade growth in 2016 from 2.8% to 1.7%. If realised, this would mark a 40% reduction in world trade growth and could create a crisis situation for our exports. At the same time, foreign direct investment flows have not returned to pre-crisis levels according to the World Trade Organisation director general Roberto Azevedo and are unlikely to do so under a Donald Trump-led US government. Trade and investment have been the key ingredients of Irish economic growth and prosperity for many decades. The disruption of both for the foreseeable future will be of particular concern to Irelands policymakers as well as exporters. In addition, all of this is taking place amid a rise in anti-globalisation discourse in many countries and communities. And trade is often singled out as a major cause of instability in labour markets. I would firmly dispute this point. However, the biggest concern is not that such arguments are being made, but that they encourage isolationist policies prevalent in past centuries, which have been proven over time to be detrimental to long-term job growth and prosperity. Many countries are looking afresh at their trade policies and so must Ireland. Brave Tristan Forde, who turns three on St Stephens Day, was hailed a hero as he turned on the Christmas lights in Dunmanway in West Cork just hours after arriving home from Colorado with his mother, Yvonne. Tristan, who has a rare form of epilepsy, was experiencing dozens of prolonged and severe seizures this time last year. After a public appeal and fundraising, Yvonne and Tristan moved to Colorado last Christmas so he could avail of cannabis oil treatment to manage his seizures. Tristans big brother, Oscar, 4, joined them in the US last April while dad, John, stayed in Dunmanway for work reasons. A year on, Tristan is almost 99% seizure free, and Yvonne and the boys flew home on Saturday for an emotional reunion. The family got the VIP treatment at the Christmas lights ceremony in Dunmanway last night, as Tristan flicked the big switch to light up the town. Deirdre Kelly, of Dunmanway Chamber of Commerce, said the community was very aware of the sacrifices the family has made over the last year: We wanted to welcome them home, and pay tribute to them, and decided that this was the best way to do it. An emotional Yvonne said they worked so hard for Tristan. It feels like a dream that this is finally happening and were home. We always knew that cannabis would be an effective treatment for Tristan we never realised how incredible the results would be. We couldnt have done this without the help and support of our community of Dunmanway which spread through Ireland and eventually globally. Tristan was diagnosed in late 2014 with Dravet Syndrome a rare and severe form of epilepsy. He was suffering up to 20 seizures a day, with some of the more severe seizures lasting up to an hour. Yvonne described it as like a time bomb, and said night-time seizures were prolonged and violent. But the medication to keep his seizures under control CBD oil and THCA, both derived from the marijuana plant and which was only available in the US has transformed his life. The family wasnt able to bring the medicinal oil back from the US but have sourced a European supply. The Dail last Thursday passed the medicinal cannabis bill proposed by AAA-PBP TDs Gino Kenny and Richard Boyd Barrett. Talks over the weekend between airport bosses and Norwegian Air International (NAI) explored the possibility of fast-tracking the launch of the New York route following the permit breakthrough on Friday night. Tickets could go on sale by March in the hope that the Boston service at least, and possibly the New York route too, could take off by June. The low-fares services are likely to spark a transatlantic price war, and transform Cork Airports fortunes. NAI has also announced plans to offer flights from Shannon. However, there are some concerns that the US Department of Transportations (DoT) groundbreaking decision on Friday to grant a foreign carrier permit to NAI the Irish subsidiary of low-fares giant Norwegian, clearing it to fly between Ireland and the US could still be blocked by the US president. DoT documents seen by the Irish Examiner state that unless disapproved by the president of the United States, the DoTs order to grant the permit will become effective within 61 days at which point Donal Trump will be president. Political sources in Washington said its hard to predict how the process will unfold over the coming weeks given the transition between the Obama and Trump administrations. Cork Airport managing director, Niall MacCarthy, said they remain confident of a positive outcome. It follows the DoTs surprise decision on Friday just two days after the European Commission triggered arbitration to finally grant a permit to NAI to fly between Ireland and the US almost three years after it applied. The airline faced intense opposition from several US and European airlines and labour unions, who expressed concerns about its labour model, and accused it of operating a flag of convenience to skirt labour laws. However, NAI, the Irish authorities and the European Commission insisted that the application complied with the 2007 EU-US Open Skies deal. The DoT announced tentative approval for the permit last April but then stalled on a final decision. It finally published it on Friday, describing the case as among the most novel and complex it had ever investigated. But having considered all the submissions, it said it found that the clear weight of legal analysis in this case directs us to uphold the tentative findings and conclusions previously made. We have taken the necessary amount of time to review and consider the comments from a wider range of stakeholders, it said. Regardless of our appreciation of the public policy arguments raised by opponents, we have been advised that the law and our bilateral obligations leave us no avenue to reject this application. Therefore, we have decided to finalise our tentative decision to grant NAIs request for a foreign carrier air permit to enable it to conduct scheduled and charter air transportation of persons, property and mail to the full extent permitted under the EU-US agreement. Mr MacCarthy described the momentous decision as a game-changer for transatlantic travel from Ireland, and for Cork Airport in particular, where securing direct routes to the US has been a strategic goal for decades. Not one of the six ministers spoken to by the Irish Examiner in the past few days said they believe Mr Kenny would be still in office come 2018, as he has recently indicated. No way he stays until 2018. He has done his last budget and the summer time seems likely when he steps down, one minister said. It is now widely expected that Finance Minister Michael Noonan will depart at the same time as Mr Kenny, amid growing concerns as to the veteran politicians health. Several Fine Gael ministers believe the chances of a general election in 2017 are high and growing, because of the unstable nature of the minority Government with the Independents. Given Mr Kennys statement that he does not intend leading his party into the next election, the ministers have said he will last until the summer, at which point a race to succeed him will commence in earnest. A number of ministers pointed to comments made by Kerry TD Brendan Griffin during the summer, when he said the party must prepare for an early election, effectively calling on Mr Kenny to announce his intended timeline for departure. While Mr Griffins timing was described as inopportune, his analysis was spot on. Kerry TD Brendan Griffin The middle ground has shifted and there is a growing disenchantment with the so-called new politics, said one minister. I think at this stage he will have to be gone by the summer, and many moderates within the party feel the same, the minister said. Other Cabinet ministers pointed to the presence of Mr Kennys wife Fionnuala on his Vatican visit last week to meet Pope Francis as significant, saying it had the feel of a farewell tour about it. With Mr Kennys leadership under constant scrutiny, some ministers believe it is having a destabilising impact, while others insist a contest to succeed him must occur for the good of the party. While Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar is seen as the front-runner at present, several leading party figures are concerned as to his maverick tendencies which they believe scupper his chances. The aloof Housing Minister Simon Coveney is not popular among many in the parliamentary party and his difficult portfolio which includes water charges, housing and homelessness are a real threat to his candidacy, ministers believe. Just two weeks ago, Mr Kenny said that he hopes to welcome Pope Francis to Ireland as Taoiseach. The Pope will visit Ireland in 2018. Asked by journalists if he would welcome the pontiff here as head of Government, Mr Kenny said that he hoped so. A unanimous vote by Mr Aherns local Dublin branch last week fuelled speculation the former Taoiseach was set to return to the political stage. However, Mr Martin immediately shot down the prospect, saying he did not expect Mr Ahern to rejoin Fianna Fail. Despite the party leaders position, Mr Ahern has ramped up the pressure even more on his former cabinet colleague, in a series of critical newspaper interviews. Mr Ahern maintains that a lot has changed since the original Mahon Tribunal conclusions against him were published four years ago, which resulted in him leaving the party. The tribunal concluded in its final report Mr Ahern had not truthfully accounted for lodgements exceeding 165,000 made in his favour. Mr Martin says nothing had changed since the report, which forced Mr Ahern to quit Fianna Fail. But Mr Ahern disagrees. He references successful court challenges to the planning inquiry over his infamous dig out, taken by his associates in Dublin. Lots of things have happened since, there have been a number of court cases, all of which were won. How is that the same? Mr Ahern also said that the publics opinion of him with regard to the economic crash had changed. The banking inquiry was a big thing, you had a chance of explaining things. In the cold light of day, people now realise because people have travelled they now realise that the effects of 2008 are worldwide . I didnt accept my role in the banking because I wasnt responsible, but I did in the property because we were giving incentives. There is no problem with that, he told the Irish Mail on Sunday. Mr Ahern also claimed in weekend interviews Mr Martin had personally blocked the Dublin Central constituency from writing to him and inviting him to rejoin Fianna Fail after its vote. I never got the letter because he [Mr Martin] stopped it. If I apply for membership apparently, it has to go back to him. I would be the only person in the organisation who joins where my application would have to go back to him, Mr Ahern also told the Sunday Independent. Mr Ahern maintains he just wants to play a local role and help Fianna Fail in his constituency, where he was elected 10 times. This would be a judgement call for the party leader, he said. A spokeswoman for Mr Martin said he had nothing to add last night. The iconic photograph came to symbolise social activity in early 20th century rural Ireland, yet little had been known for many years about the participants. The late Manus OBrien, a retired CIE worker whose mother Abina (Gobnait) is a young girl in the photo, identified several of the dancers to his relatives, retired school teachers Jim OMalley and Richard Pardi, shortly before his passing. He confirmed the photo was taken at his birthplace, Knockmonlea, midway between Youghal and Killeagh in East Cork, despite various other counties laying claim to the location for decades. The information enabled his relatives, along with local resident Bill McCarthy, to align several of the dancers with nationalist organisations and active roles in the Easter Rising. Two of them also played in Irelands first official camogie match. The photograph was taken by the renowned Horgan brothers of Youghal, pioneers of film and photography at the time the photo was taken, circa 1910. Peg Barry (nee Foley), now in her 90s, recalled Knockmonlea as a bustling community with a forge and other small businesses in the early 1900s. Dances were held at the crossroads on Sunday afternoons during summertime, she said. The landscape in the image, it emerged, remains almost unchanged. Mr OMalley, however, believes the scene was deliberately posed, given the absence of a wooden platform as would be prerequisite for a real dance. He noted the hawthorn in bloom depicts summertime, while the lengthening shadows suggest late afternoon. The image is dominated by the Foley family, of whom Mr OBrien had identified eight. They were a family of 13 born to Margaret (Peg, nee Long) and her husband Richard. One son, not in the photo, was Risteard O Foghlu, a journalist, author, and prominent Gaelic League member. He had reported on Parnells final public speech for the Freemans Journal in 1891 and was a translator for the first Dail. O Foghlu had also served as a manager with the Underwood Typewriting Company, co-founded the Dublin Institute of Shorthand Writers, translated Chekov and Tolstoy into Gaelic, and was appointed Place Names Commissioner by Eamon de Valera in 1946. The Foleys deeply resented British occupation, possibly having been evicted from the Ponsonby Estate in 1889 during the Land Wars. Various family members were active in the Republican Brotherhood, the Irish Volunteers, and Cumann na mBan. The well-known photograph of a crossroads dance was taken by the Horgan brothers of Youghal around 1910 in Knockmonlea in East Cork and may have been posed, given the absence of a wooden platform. The family ran the Foley Typewriting Trading Company in Dublin and the offices were used as a pre-Rising meeting place by the rebels. Another brother, Sean, was an inspector in a Birmingham ammunitions factory, of all things, and smuggled arms out to the rebels for the uprising, Mr OMalley discovered. Those identified in the photo include Margaret (Peg) Foley. Her daughter Abina married John OBrien from Gortroe. Their son Sean played hurling with Glen Rovers and won three All-Irelands with Cork (1952-54), captaining the team in 1952. Michael Foley was a founder member of Manchester Conradh na Gaeilge. He was held at gunpoint by a British colonel during the Rising but was saved when Capuchin Fr Aloysius persuaded volunteers to honour a ceasefire. He also introduced British double agent and Castle spy Ned Broy to Michael Collins. Following a period on the run, he was jailed briefly in England. Brid (Brighid) Foley was very involved in Cumann na mBan and spoke of carrying rifles from house to house before and after the Rising. Along with siblings Cait, Nora, and Micheal she dodged bullets to carry messages and help the injured during Easter week. Brid also brought the countermanding order from Sean McDermott to Tomas Mac Curtain. Later arrested at home, she slept on Kilmainham jails concrete floor for 11 nights before serving six weeks in Mountjoy. Brid and her sister Maggie played for Craobh an Cheitinnigh against Cuchulainns in the first official camogie match, in Navan on July 17, 1904. Cait Foley later married Pad Murphy, whose hand she is holding in the photo. Their daughters Ita and Ann still live in the area. Maggie Mountaine was a neighbour who moved in temporarily with the Foleys when the Black and Tans burned down her home, but she lived the rest of her life there. Nevada Sunrise Gold Corporation ("Nevada Sunrise" or the "Company") (TSXV: NEV) and its exploration partner, Advantage Lithium Corp. ("Advantage Lithium") (TSXV: AAL) are pleased to announce lithium-bearing brines have been intersected in the second borehole of the 2016 drilling program at the Clayton Northeast lithium brine project in the Clayton Valley, Nevada ("Clayton NE", or the "Project"). This follows successful results from the first borehole (see Nevada Sunrise news release dated Nov 1, 2016). Clayton NE borders the Silver Peak mine operated by Albemarle Corporation ("Albemarle") (NYSE: ALB), North America's only producing lithium mine. Of particular note, hole CNE-16-02, has intersected multiple aquifer formations, including 188.9 metres of brine-producing strata averaging 164.2 parts per million ("ppm") lithium from a depth of 207.3 to 396.2 metres, including a higher grade interval averaging 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7 metres. Hole CNE-16-03, which is still in progress, has also encountered strong brines ranging up to 138,000 ppm total dissolved solids ("TDS"), with analyses to follow. In addition, an additional 80 acres of contiguous land was staked in November 2016 to the southwest at Clayton NE, bringing the total land package to 1,080 acres (437 hectares) "Our second borehole at Clayton NE has exceeded expectations," said Warren Stanyer, President and CEO of Nevada Sunrise. "The brines have a higher average lithium content and stronger flow rates, which we believe are strong indicators that we are intercepting the known lithium-bearing aquifers in the Clayton Valley." Highlights of the 2016 Drilling Program All three holes have intersected mineralized brine: 1 st and 2 nd holes have encountered lithium-rich brines and 3 rd hole (still in progress) has encountered brines with analyses to follow. 1 and 2 holes have encountered lithium-rich brines and 3 hole (still in progress) has encountered brines with analyses to follow. 3.43 kilometre (2.13 miles) mineralized brine trend: Holes CNE-16-01 and CNE-16-02, both with significant intervals of mineralized lithium brines, are located 3.43 kilometres apart. Holes CNE-16-01 and CNE-16-02, both with significant intervals of mineralized lithium brines, are located 3.43 kilometres apart. Intervals up to 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7 metres: Lithium brines intercepted by 2nd drill hole at Clayton NE, CNE-16-02, have returned intervals up to 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7 metres (286.5 to 396.2 metres), including peak values up to 227 ppm lithium over a 6.1 metre section (304.8 to 310.9 metres). These values are comparable to Albemarle's brine samples from their Silver Peak mining operation immediately adjacent to Clayton NE, and are in line with results from the first hole drilled at Clayton NE, CNE-16-01. Lithium brines intercepted by 2nd drill hole at Clayton NE, CNE-16-02, have returned intervals up to 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7 metres (286.5 to 396.2 metres), including peak values up to 227 ppm lithium over a 6.1 metre section (304.8 to 310.9 metres). These values are comparable to Albemarle's brine samples from their Silver Peak mining operation immediately adjacent to Clayton NE, and are in line with results from the first hole drilled at Clayton NE, CNE-16-01. More results to come: Hole CNE-16-03 has encountered brine measuring up to 138,000 ppm TDS and is still in progress. Analyses from holes CNE-16-01 and CNE-16-02 have shown that a relationship of TDS to lithium grade indicates a direct correlation between higher lithium values and higher strength brine. Hole CNE-16-03 has encountered brine measuring up to 138,000 ppm TDS and is still in progress. Analyses from holes CNE-16-01 and CNE-16-02 have shown that a relationship of TDS to lithium grade indicates a direct correlation between higher lithium values and higher strength brine. Strong brine flows: Brine flows of up to 120 gallons per minute issued from borehole CNE-16-02 between 304.8 to 396.2 metres (1,000 and 1,300 feet). Geochemical analysis shows this zone carries significant lithium concentrations. High brine flows are important for economic production. Brine flows of up to 120 gallons per minute issued from borehole CNE-16-02 between 304.8 to 396.2 metres (1,000 and 1,300 feet). Geochemical analysis shows this zone carries significant lithium concentrations. High brine flows are important for economic production. Clayton NE land package increased: Five new claims totaling 80 acres were staked in November 2016 , increasing the overall land package to 1,080 acres (437 hectares). Drill Hole Technical Details CNE-16-01 CNE16-01 was completed to a depth of 518.2 metres (1,700 feet), intersecting the base of the Clayton Valley salar sedimentary basin at 506 metres. Drilling has intersected typical Clayton Valley strata consisting of alternating layers of gravel, volcanic ash and clay. A total of 27 grab groundwater samples were collected as brine-bearing formations were encountered. Table 1 presents a compiled summary of the depths of the aquifer systems with brine interval thickness and associated average lithium grades and TDS concentrations. Anomalous lithium results were obtained from brine formations intermittently intersected over a 331.3 metre section (from 168.6 to 499.9 metres) within the Main Ash, Lower Aquifer System, and Lower Gravel Aquifer systems. The highest grade results were obtained in the Lower Aquifer System with peaks up to 218 ppm lithium (224.0 to 227.1 metres), while the widest intervals were reported in the deeper Lower Gravel Aquifer System, including a 103.7 metre wide interval (from 396.2 to 499.9 metres) averaging 134.8 ppm lithium. In addition, drill cuttings were collected for each 1.5 metre interval and have been submitted for analysis. Analytical results for the drill cuttings are pending. Table 1: Results of Brine Samples for CNE-16-01 Drill Hole Aquifer System Interval Total Dissolved Solids ("TDS") ppm Lithium Range (ppm) Lithium Average Grade (ppm) From (metres) To (metres) Width (metres) CNE-16-01 Main Ash 168.6 170.1 1.5 68,000 94.3 94.3 Lower Aquifer System A 224.0 243.8 19.8 110,000 195 to 218 209.7 Lower Aquifer System B 326.1 365.8 39.7 130,000 to 140,000 174 to 189 181.5 Lower Gravel Aquifer 396.2 499.9 103.7 35,000 to 190,000 72.4 to 234 134.8 including 457.2 481.6 24.4 58,000 to 190,000 72.4 to 234 187.5 CNE-16-02 CNE-16-02 was collared approximately 3.43 kilometres (2.13 miles) northeast of CNE-16-01. The hole was terminated within a massive clay formation within the Clayton Valley salar sedimentary basin at a depth of 426.7 metres (1,400 feet). As was observed in hole CNE-16-01, drilling intersected typical Clayton Valley strata consisting of alternating layers of gravel, volcanic ash and clay. A total of 32 grab groundwater samples were collected as brine-bearing formations were encountered. Table 2 presents a compiled summary of the depths of the aquifer systems with brine interval thickness and associated average lithium grades and TDS concentrations. Anomalous lithium results were obtained from a 188.9 metre-wide brine-bearing formation intersected from 207.2 to 396.2 metres within the Lower Aquifer System. This 188.9 metre interval averaged 164.2 ppm lithium, including a higher grade interval averaging 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7 metres (286.5 metres to 396.2 metres) and was associated with strong brine flows of up to 120 gallons per minute between 304.8 to 396.2 metres. In addition, drill cuttings were collected for each 6.1 metre interval and have been submitted for analysis. Analytical results for the drill cuttings are pending. Table 2: Results of Brine Samples for CNE-16-02 Drill Hole Aquifer System Interval Total Dissolved Solids ("TDS") ppm Lithium Range (ppm) Lithium Average Grade (ppm) From (metres) To (metres) Width (metres) CNE-16-02 Main Ash 190.5 199.6 9.1 No Water Lower Aquifer System 207.3 396.2 188.9 50,000 to 380,000 72.4 to 228 164.2 including 286.5 396.2 109.7 140,000 to 380,000 51 to 227 202.8 CNE-16-03 Hole CNE-16-03, collared approximately 670.6 metres northeast from hole CNE-16-01, is currently in progress at a depth of approximately 274.3 metres (900 feet). This borehole has also encountered strong brines ranging up to 138,000 ppm TDS, as measured by a field instrument. Regarding Sample Analysis Groundwater samples were sent to Western Environmental Testing Laboratory in Reno, Nevada for analysis. General chemistry testing included analysis for specific gravity, total hardness and alkalinity, bicarbonate, carbonate, hydroxide, TDS and electrical conductivity. Anions (chloride, sulfate) were analyzed by ion chromatography. Trace metals (lithium, magnesium, boron, calcium, potassium and sodium) were analyzed by ICP-OES. TDS values obtained in the field are measured with a handheld YSI Model 556 Multiparameter Meter, which meets Good Laboratory Practice (as proscribed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) for calibration and measurement. All depth measurements reported, including sample and interval widths are down-hole. As holes are oriented vertical and geologic stratigraphy is primarily horizontal to sub-horizontal, downhole measurements are assumed to be close to true thickness. About the Program The 2016 exploration drilling program includes three vertical oriented conventional dual-tube reverse circulation drill holes totaling approximately 1,500 metres (approximately 4,920 feet), focussed on lithium brine targets close to the Silver Peak mine border and several of Albemarle's production wells. Analyses from Clayton NE drill holes have shown a relationship of TDS to lithium grade indicating a correlation between higher lithium values and higher strength brine. The lithium results from the first two boreholes of the 2016 drilling program are generally comparable to Albemarle's brine samples from Silver Peak mine production wells as reported to the State of Nevada for the period 2011-2015, which range from 98 ppm to 340 ppm lithium. Robert M. Allender, Jr., CPG, RG, SME is the Company's designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained herein. About Clayton NE Consists of 55 unpatented claims totaling approximately 1,080 acres (437 hectares); Clayton NE is subject to an option earn-in agreement where Advantage Lithium can earn up to a 70% interest in the Project after fulfilling CDN$3.0 million in exploration expenditures on a package of five lithium properties optioned from Nevada Sunrise (for further details, see Nevada Sunrise news release dated June 20, 2016 ); in exploration expenditures on a package of five lithium properties optioned from Nevada Sunrise (for further details, see Nevada Sunrise news release dated ); Nevada Sunrise is the project manager at Clayton NE on behalf of Advantage Lithium, the operator. Water Rights Update On November 30, 2016, Nevada Sunrise learned that the State Engineer's office of the Nevada Division of Water Resources ("NDWR") has issued a ruling of forfeiture against the Company's water rights in the Clayton Valley citing a lack of beneficial use for a period of five years. Nevada Sunrise has recently received evidence of water use that the NDWR requires, which will be presented during the appeal process. The Company intends to file the appeal before December 29, 2016. For further information about the Company's exploration properties and its Clayton Valley water rights, please access the Nevada Sunrise website at: http://www.nevadasunrise.ca/projects/nevadalithium/ About Nevada Sunrise Nevada Sunrise is a junior mineral exploration company with a strong technical team based in Vancouver, BC, Canada, that holds interests in nine mineral exploration projects in the State of Nevada, USA. Nevada Sunrise began acquisitions of Nevada lithium properties in September 2015, which include options to earn a 75% interest in the Neptune project (Resolve Ventures Inc. (TSXV: RSV) owns a 25% interest), a 100% interest in the Clayton Northeast project, and a 100% interest in the Aquarius Project, all located in the Clayton Valley area. The Company also holds options to earn 100% interests in the Jackson Wash and Atlantis projects, and has a 50% participating interest in the Gemini project, each located in playas proximal to the Clayton Valley. The Company has recently optioned five of the Nevada lithium projects to Advantage Lithium Corp. (TSXV: AAL), and the Atlantis project is currently under option to American Lithium Corp. (TSXV: LI). Source: Nevada Sunrise Advantage Lithium Corp. (TSX.V: AAL) (the "Company" or "Advantage Lithium") and its joint venture partner, Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp. (TSX.V: NEV) ("Nevada Sunrise"), are pleased to announce that lithium-bearing brines have been intersected in the second borehole of the 2016 drilling program at the Clayton NE lithium brine project in the Clayton Valley, Nevada ("Clayton NE", or the "Project"). This follows successful results from the first borehole (see NR dated Nov 1st, 2016). Clayton NE borders the Silver Peak mine, operated by Albemarle Corporation ("Albemarle"), North America's only producing lithium mine. Of particular note, hole CNE-16-02, has intersected multiple aquifer formations, including a 188.9m brine-producing strata averaging 164.2 parts per million ("ppm") lithium from a depth of 207.3m to 396.2 metres, including a higher grade interval averaging 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7m. Hole CNE-16-03, which is still in progress, has also encountered strong brines ranging up to 138,000 ppm total dissolved solids ("TDS"), with assays to follow. In addition, the JV has staked additional land available within and to the edge of the salar to the south-west at Clayton NE, bringing the total land package to 437 ha. Highlights All three holes intersect mineralized brine : 1 st and 2 nd holes have encountered lithium-rich brines and 3 rd hole (still in progress) has hit mineralization with assays to follow. : 1 and 2 holes have encountered lithium-rich brines and 3 hole (still in progress) has hit mineralization with assays to follow. 3.43km mineralized brine trend: Holes CNE-16-01 and CNE-16-02, both with significant intervals of mineralized lithium brines, are located 3.43km apart. Holes CNE-16-01 and CNE-16-02, both with significant intervals of mineralized lithium brines, are located 3.43km apart. Intervals up to 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7m: Lithium brines intercepted by 2nd drill hole at Clayton NE, CNE-16-02, have returned intervals up to 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7m (286.5m to 396.2m), including peak values up to 227 ppm lithium over a 6.1m section (304.8m to 310.9m). These values are comparable to Albemarle's brine samples from their Silver Peak operation, immediately adjacent to Clayton NE and are in line with results from the first hole at Clayton NE. Lithium brines intercepted by 2nd drill hole at Clayton NE, CNE-16-02, have returned intervals up to 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7m (286.5m to 396.2m), including peak values up to 227 ppm lithium over a 6.1m section (304.8m to 310.9m). These values are comparable to Albemarle's brine samples from their Silver Peak operation, immediately adjacent to Clayton NE and are in line with results from the first hole at Clayton NE. More results to come . Hole CNE-16-03, which has encountered 138,000 ppm TDS, is still in progress. Assays from holes CNE-16-01 and CNE-16-02 have shown that a relationship of TDS to lithium grade indicates a correlation between higher lithium values and higher strength brine. . Hole CNE-16-03, which has encountered 138,000 ppm TDS, is still in progress. Assays from holes CNE-16-01 and CNE-16-02 have shown that a relationship of TDS to lithium grade indicates a correlation between higher lithium values and higher strength brine. Strong brine flows. Brine flows of up to 120 gallons per minute issued from borehole CNE-16-02 between 1,000 and 1,300 feet (304.8 to 396.2 meters). Analysis shows this zone carries significant lithium concentrations. High brine flows are important for economic production. Brine flows of up to 120 gallons per minute issued from borehole CNE-16-02 between 1,000 and 1,300 feet (304.8 to 396.2 meters). Analysis shows this zone carries significant lithium concentrations. High brine flows are important for economic production. Clayton NE land package increased. The JV has staked additional land, increasing the overall land package to 437 ha. Ross McElroy, Technical Adviser and Director, of Advantage Lithium, commented: "We now have mineralization in all three holes over a mineralized strike trend traced to 3.43km at Clayton NE, with strong lithium grades and TDS results over wide intervals. These latest results include over 600 feet of brine producing strata and show even stronger flow rates than our first hole. This suggests we may have hit a key area of known aquifers at Clayton NE and we are delighted by the continued success of the drill program." Drill Hole Technical Details CNE16-01 CNE16-01 was completed to a depth of 512.1m (1680ft), intersecting the base of the Clayton Valley salar sedimentary basin at 506m. Drilling intersected typical Clayton Valley strata consisting of alternating layers of gravel, volcanic ash and clay. A total of 27 grab groundwater samples were collected as brine formations were encountered. Table 1 presents a compiled summary of the depths of the Aquifer Systems with brine interval thickness and associated average lithium grades and Total Dissolved Solids concentration. Anomalous lithium results were obtained from brine formations intermittently intersected over a 331.3m section (from 168.6m to 499.9m) within the Main Ash, Lower Aquifer System, and Lower Gravel Aquifer systems. The highest grade results were obtained in the Lower Aquifer System with peaks up to 218 ppm lithium (224.0m to 227.1m) while the widest intervals were reported in the deeper Lower Gravel Aquifer System, including a 103.7m wide interval (from 396.2m to 499.9m) averaging 134.8 ppm lithium. In addition, drill cuttings were collected for each 1.5m interval and have been submitted for analysis. Analytical results for the drill cuttings are pending. Table 1: Results of Brine Samples for CNE16-01 Aquifer System Interval Total Dissolved Solids ("TDS") ppm Lithium Range (ppm) Lithium Average Grade(ppm) Drill Hole From (m) To (m) Width (m) CNE-16-01 Main Ash 168.6 170.1 1.5 68,000 94.3 94.3 Lower Aquifer System A 224.0 243.8 19.8 110,000 195 to 218 209.7 Lower Aquifer System B 326.1 365.8 39.7 130,000 to 140,000 174 to 189 181.5 Lower Gravel Aquifer 396.2 499.9 103.7 35,000 to 190,000 72.4 to 234 134.8 including 457.2 481.6 24.4 58,000 to 190,000 72.4 to 234 187.5 CNE16-02 CNE-16-02 was collared approximately 3.43km northeast of CNE-16-01. The hole was terminated within a Massive Clay formation within the Clayton Valley salar sedimentary basin at a depth of 426.7m (1,400 ft). As was observed in hole CNE16-01, drilling intersected typical Clayton Valley strata consisting of alternating layers of gravel, volcanic ash and clay. A total of 32 grab groundwater samples were collected as brine formations were encountered. Table 2 presents a compiled summary of the depths of the Aquifer Systems with brine interval thickness and associated average lithium grades and Total Dissolved Solids concentration. Anomalous lithium results were obtained from a 188.9m wide brine formation intersected from 207.2m to 396.2m within the Lower Aquifer System. This 188.9m interval averaged 164.2 ppm lithium, including a higher grade interval averaging 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7m (286.5m to 396.2m) and was associated with strong brine flows of up to 120 gallons per minute issued from 304.8m to 396.2m. In addition, drill cuttings were collected for each 6.1m interval and have been submitted for analysis. Analytical results for the drill cuttings are pending. Table 2: Results of Brine Samples for CNE16-022 Drill Hole Aquifer System Interval Total Dissolved Solids ("TDS") ppm Lithium Range (ppm) Lithium Average Grade(ppm) From (m) To (m) Width (m) CNE-16-02 Main Ash 190.5 199.6 9.1 No Water Lower Aquifer System 207.3 396.2 188.9 50,000 to 380,000 72.4 to 228 164.2 Including 286.5 396.2 109.7 140,000 to 380,000 151 to 227 2202.8 CNE-16-03 Hole CNE-16-03, collared approximately 670.6m northeast from hole CNE-16-01, is currently in progress at a depth of approximately 274.3 m. This hole has also encountered strong brines ranging up to 138,000 ppm total dissolved solids, as measured by a field instrument. Regarding Sample Analysis Groundwater samples were sent to Western Environmental Testing Laboratory in Reno, Nevada for analysis. General chemistry testing included analysis for specific gravity, total hardness and alkalinity, bicarbonate, carbonate, hydroxide, TDS and electrical conductivity. Anions (chloride, sulfate) were analyzed by ion chromatography. Trace metals (lithium, magnesium, boron, calcium, potassium and sodium) were analyzed by ICP-OES. TDS values obtained in the field are measured with a handheld YSI Model 556 Multiparameter Meter, which meets Good Laboratory Practice (as proscribed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) for calibration and measurement. All depth measurements reported, including sample and interval widths are down-hole. As holes are oriented vertical and geologic stratigraphy is primarily horizontal to sub-horizontal, downhole measurements are assumed to be close to true thickness. About the Program The 2016 exploration drilling program includes three vertical oriented conventional dual-tube reverse circulation ("RC") drill holes totaling approximately 1,500m (approximately 4,920 feet), focussed on lithium brine targets close to the Silver Peak mine border and several of Albemarle's production wells. Assays from Clayton NE drill holes have shown a relationship of TDS to lithium grade indicates a correlation between higher lithium values and higher strength brine. The lithium results from the first two boreholes of the 2016 drilling program are generally comparable to Albemarle's brine samples from Silver Peak mine production wells as reported to the State of Nevada for the period 2011-2015, which range from 98 ppm to 340 ppm lithium. The technical information in this news release has reviewed and approved on behalf of the company by Ross McElroy, P.Geol., Technical Advisor and Director for Advantage Lithium Corp., and a "Qualified Person" as defined in NI 43-101. About Clayton NE Consists of 55 unpatented claims totaling approximately 1,080 acres (437 hectares); Clayton NE is subject to an option earn-in agreement where Advantage Lithium can earn up to a 70% interest in the Project after fulfilling CDN$3.0 million in exploration expenditures on a package of five lithium properties optioned from Nevada Sunrise (for further details, see Nevada Sunrise news release dated June 20, 2016); Nevada Sunrise is the project manager at Clayton NE on behalf of Advantage Lithium, the operator. Water Rights Update On November 30, 2016, Nevada Sunrise and the Company learned that the State Engineer's office of the Nevada Division of Water Resources ("NDWR") has issued a ruling of forfeiture against the Company's water right in the Clayton Valley of Nevada (the "Ruling") citing lack of beneficial use for a period of five years. Nevada Sunrise has recently received evidence of water use that the NDWR requires, which will be presented during the appeal process. Nevada Sunrise has advised the Company that the appeal will be filed before December 29, 2016. Further information about the company can be found at www.advantagelithium.com. About Advantage Lithium Corp. Advantage Lithium Corp. is a resource company specializing in the strategic acquisition, exploration and development of lithium properties and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Common Shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "AAL". The company has signed an LOI with lithium producer, Orocobre, to acquire 100% interest in five projects in Argentina and up to 75% in a sixth, called Cauchari. Cauchari is host to a near-surface resource, has a large exploration target and is just 20km from Orocobre's Olaroz lithium production facility. The company is also earning an interest from Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp., in a portfolio of five lithium brine projects in the Clayton and Lida Valley regions of Nevada, USA, together with certificated water rights in the Clayton Valley. Additionally, the company has entered into an LOI agreement to earn interest from Radius Gold Inc. in four lithium brine projects in the states of Chihuahua and Coahuila, Northwest Mexico. In addition, the company has acquired 100% of the Stella Marys lithium brine project, immediately adjacent to Orocobre's Salinas Grandes project that hosts an inferred, near-surface resource, in Argentina's Lithium Triangle. Source: Advantage Lithium Algold Resources Ltd. (TSX.V: ALG) (the "Corporation"). Algold is pleased to announce two significant additions to its management team, as well as a grant of stock options. Appointment of Thierry Vergnol - President of Algold Mauritania SARL. and Vice-President Government, Community Relations & Security of Algold Resources Ltd. Thierry Vergnol joins the Corporation as President of Algold Mauritania SARL., the Corporation's operating Mauritanian subsidiary and will also be driving additional activities, as Vice-President Government, Community Relations & Security of Algold Resources Ltd.. Mr. Vergnol is a Franco-Mauritanian with over 15 years' experience in international business, and has an excellent understanding of opportunities and challenges faced by international businesses operating in Africa and Mauritania in particular. After graduating with a business degree in France, Mr. Vergnol settled in Mauritania, with a focus on intercultural business relations. Mr. Vergnol is also the founder and manager of a private foundation for the promotion of Mauritania's cultural and historical heritage. Algold Chairman Benoit La Salle commented, "The Board is very pleased to have Thierry join Algold's management team. Thierry adds tremendous experience in operations and government relations, and we look forward to working with Thierry and the rest of our management team on our ongoing Mauritanian operations." Appointment of Alex Ball - Algold Resources Ltd. - Executive Vice-President Finance & Corporate Development Alex Ball joins Algold as Executive Vice-President Finance & Corporate Development. Mr. Ball's career includes extensive corporate finance experience, including $5 billion in debt and equity financing and M&A transactions in mining with UBS Canada, CIBC, BMO Nesbitt Burns and OMERS. Mr. Ball has an MBA in Finance at Toronto's Rotman School of Management and obtained his BA in Economics from McGill University. Algold CEO Francois Auclair commented, "Alex brings tremendous experience, drive and energy to Algold's corporate finance strategy, and will be a key contributor in expanding our financing operations to support future expansions of our Mauritanian operations." Option Grants In connection with these appointments and as part of its compensation process, the Corporation has granted a total of 1,500,000 stock options to insiders, expiring after 10 years and exercisable at a price of $0.285. These options were issued under Algold's stock option plan, and will vest 1/3 on the date of grant, 1/3 on the first anniversary of the date of grant and 1/3 on the second anniversary of the date of grant. ABOUT ALGOLD Algold Resources Ltd is focused on the exploration and development of gold deposits in West Africa. The board of directors and management team are seasoned resource industry professionals with extensive experience in the exploration and development of world-class gold projects in Africa. Algold is the operator of all of its exploration licenses in Mauritania. Algold owns 100% of Tijirit, which represents an area of more than 1,000 km2, situated approximately 25 kilometers southeast of the Tasiast gold mine as well as the Akjout properties, which were acquired from Gryphon Minerals (Australia) through a transaction completed earlier in 2016. Exploration is being carried out on the Eleonore, Sophie I, Sophie II-III and Lily zones. The Kneivissat property is 90% owned by Algold and the Legouessi property is being managed through a 51% earn-in interest agreement with Caracal Gold LLC. Algold can earn up to a 90% interest in the Legouessi exploration permit (reference Algold's press release dated October 10, 2013 for more details), however, Caracal has the right to participate in the joint venture at either 51% or 75% by funding its share of expenditures. Source: Algold Resources VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Dec. 5, 2016) - Coro Mining Corp. ("Coro" or the "Company") (TSX:COP) is pleased to provide an update on the operations of its 65% owned subsidiary, SCM Berta ("SCMB"); the progress of the Marimaca project; and the acquisition of Minera Rayrock. SCMB SCMB owns the Berta copper deposit, the Nora SXEW processing plant, and has an option to acquire 100% of the nearby Salvadora exploration project. SCMB operates in the III region of northern Chile, near the town of Diego de Almagro. Since early 2016, the Nora plant has been treating material from a variety of dumps from the surrounding district, but as of August, it has been exclusively processing material derived from test mining of high grade material selectively mined from shallow pits at the Berta deposit itself. As such, the operation has not yet reached commercial production, with delays in receiving operating permits for the Berta site contributing to its inability to do so. These are finally expected to be received early in Q1 2017 and SCMB will now proceed to install crushing and leaching facilities at the Berta site. This will enable concentrated pregnant leach solution ("PLS") to be trucked to Nora which will be expanded to 5ktpy cathode capacity. The installation should be completed by March 2017. Marimaca Coro is earning a 75% interest in the Marimaca project located 22km E of the port of Mejillones in the II Region of Chile, for which exciting drill results were released by the Company earlier this year (see our website www.coromining.com for details). The initial Marimaca NI 43-101 resource estimate is being completed by NCL Ingenieria y Construccion SA in Santiago and is expected to be released in January 2017. Minera Rayrock On August 4, 2016, we announced that we had signed a non-binding Letter of Intent ("LOI") to acquire Minera Rayrock Ltda ("Rayrock"), a Chilean subsidiary of Compania Minera Milpo S.A.A. Rayrock is the owner of the Ivan 10ktpy Cu capacity SXEW plant located some 18km south of Marimaca and its purchase will enable us to accelerate the project's development and production. The total purchase price is $6.5m of which $0.25m was paid to ensure exclusivity. The Company has now completed its due diligence on Rayrock and anticipates closing the transaction in due course. Alan Stephens, President and CEO of Coro commented, "We are looking forward to finally getting Berta up to full production of 5ktpy copper in cathode as planned and with luck, see this coincide with continued stronger copper prices. Once this has been done, SCMB will focus on advancing the Salvadora project with a view to potentially further increasing its production. Importantly, the acquisition of Rayrock and the release of our resource estimate for Marimaca will initiate the development of Marimaca as our second copper cathode producing operation." Alan Stephens, FIMMM, President and CEO, of Coro Mining Corp, a geologist with more than 40 years of experience, and a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101, is responsible for the contents of this news release. CORO MINING CORP. Alan Stephens, President and CEO About Coro Mining Corp.: Coro's strategy is to grow a mining business through the discovery, development and operation of "Coro type" deposits. These are defined as projects at whatever stage of development, that are well located with respect to infrastructure and water, which have low permitting risk, and which have the potential to achieve a short and cost effective timeline to production. Our preference is for open pit heap leach copper projects, where we will seek to minimise capital investment rather than maximise NPV, where we will prioritise profitability over production rate, and finally, where the likely capital cost is financeable relative to our market capitalization. The Company's assets include its 65% interest in SCM Berta including the Berta and Salvadora deposits; the Marimaca drill stage project; the Planta Prat project; the Llancahue prospect; and a royalty on the San Jorge copper-gold project located in Argentina. History, Humanities & Social Sciences : Ask a Librarian Have a question? Need assistance? Use our online form to ask a librarian for help. Chat with a librarian, Monday through Friday, 12-4pm Eastern Time (except Federal Holidays). The Ghanaian music industry is one of the toughest industries to break through. I mean, you can sit down, analyze the taste of the people, predict the content that would make an instant hit, make classic music, release and promote it to the limit, but the reception of Ghanaians may never be met. I mean, Asem blew up with a non-commercial song at a moment of saturation of jama songs, Afropop with a tinge of rap, and a few Hiplife songs. I mean, Pappy Kojo blew up with a Hip-Hop song when Afro-Dancehall was making waves. I can waste a sheet with abundant examples; the point is, when an artiste is able to break out with a not widely accepted sound and style, he deserves all the credit. Medikal who is Medikal? Hes just a good rapper with smart moves! The Sowutuom resident had songs buzzing moderately in the online circles. The 16 he delivered on P Kakra made his name known. However, he caught the attention of most with his most creative track till date, Connect. The Unkle Beatz produced Hip-Hop song saw the rapper adapt to different styles of various popular rappers in the country - E.L, Joey B, Sarkodie, Omar Sterling, Criss Waddle, Kofi Kinaata and Yaa Pono. He executed so perfectly that it confused bloggers to the point of publishing it as Medikal featuring the artistes aforementioned. Then the public started to pay more attention. From then, he has proved that he can hold on to the mantle and not drop it any time soon. He followed with videos to his street anthem, and dropped a whole lot of songs to enrich his catalog. Im sure you wouldnt go to a concert to see an artiste mime over just a single track. He gained a significant number of hit songs to keep a crowd active for quite a while. The emcee climbed to the climax (no pun intended) when he featured the most decorated artiste of our generation, Sarkodie on his remix of Confirm. If you follow his Twitter timeline regularly, youd realize that he gets booked almost every weekend to rock a show or concert. From campus tours to award shows and beach parties, Medikal has earned it! I wasnt surprised to witness him throw himself to the crowd at Accra Technical University not just once, as they screamed Poof Poof!, Swag!, AMG Baby!. And oh, talking about Twitter, he recently got officially blue-ticked after his massive social media influence. As an artiste in this new age, one of the most important things is to be relevant and be part of the conversation whatsoever. People have to talk about you; whether positive or negative. As success started coming his way, it wasnt news that people would start gossiping about him, and start spreading rumors. The youth have wondered if the accusations that hes a scammer are true or false. They couldnt envisage how he could easily employ Cupid to shoot at Deborah Vanessa. Moguls and industry players, Joey B, Sarkodie, Bulldog, and the Hiplife Grandpapa, Reggie Rockstone have all commended him. He has received lots of love from fellow artistes, never hesitating to drop a verse, and if possible own a song. He kickstarted a nationwide club tour and a high school tour. The metaphorical rapper is simply ubiquitous! It came as no surprise to me when he bagged 2 nominations in this years 4Syte TV Music Video Awards. Forgive me if there are a few achievements I may have skipped or even dont have information about, Im only being human. The New Artiste of the Year is the Artiste(s) adjudged by the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) Academy, Board and the General Public is the most promising and talented emerging artiste(s). The award goes to a relatively new artiste(s) who released a recording that FIRST shot the artiste(s) into the public limelight during the year under review. Kindly read the definition again. Now please tell me who better deserves it than Medikal! 05.12.2016 LISTEN 2016 has been a fruitful year for celebrated Ghanaian international gospel music dynamo, Minister Ike of Onyame Gya fame who has been in Canada since 1997 After bagging several international awards with his Me Nyame and Onyame Gya hit songs in 2010 and 2015, he has again wrap up the year as the only Ghanaian gospel musician to win 2 international honoring awards. The Onyame Gya hitmaker won his first honoring award as Gospel music personality for 2016 at the 3G Awards on the 5th of November in New York. He again won his second honoring award for 2016 on 28th November as the Best Gospel Artiste of the year at the APan African Awards in Ohio. He won these prestigious awards with his hit single track titled Wonderful Godwhich was released in August 2015 and engineered by Druboy in Canada. However,the multiple award winning Ghanaian international gospel music icon has again grabbed two international nominations; namely Gospel Artiste of the Year category and Gospel Song of the year Category at the Canada Gospel Music Awards slated for January ,17 ,2017.Minister Ike who is hopeful of winning the 18k golden statute got the nominations again with his hit song Wonderful God. Isaac Wilson aka Minister Ike who hails from the Central region of Ghana Started his music career at a younger age.He released his first single in 2007 titled Yesi nkete;then released his hit album titled me nyame a ne wo in 2010 He is currently out with the video of his newest hit album title track Lord I Thank you.The video is considered as one of the most expensive and well directed gospel music videos ever to be produced in the history of Ghanaian music industry. Kindly watch the Lord i Thank You music Video below Isaac Owusu-Ansah, known in the radio industry as OPD, has called on his colleagues in the industry to use their radio programmes to help educate people on environmental sanitation. The enterprising radio and television presenter, known for dishing out great news items that inform Ghanaians on a wide range of issues, said lack of education on sanitation is the reason the capital is engulfed in filth. The presenter who is the host of a newly-introduced programme dubbed Ey Whan Asedie on Adom TV disclosed that the programme was introduced to help address issues in the area of politics, sanitation, teenage pregnancy, among others, which are confronting people in the society. According to him, viewers are given the opportunity to call into the programme to contribute to the discussions and interact with the resource persons. In an interview with BEATWAVES yesterday, OPD advised his colleague radio and television presenters in the country to fuse their programmes with good contents to enable them to meet the demands of their listeners. Radio, he mentioned, Is all about research, creativity and direction. His programme since its introduction has attracted a large following due to its content and the personalities who appear on it. OPD mentioned that one of his objectives is to develop the talents in the youth, adding, I know there are great talents who want platforms to bring out what they have so I have taken it upon myself to help such people too. He is the co-host of Afro Mix Show, Efiada Mbosoo on Adom FM and the host of Vintage Made In Ghana on Hitz FM. By George Clifford Owusu Ian Word and Victoria Michaels were top winners at the 2016 edition of Ghana Models awards held at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC). The second edition of the awards ceremony came alive with renowned models, both international and from Ghana, receiving awards for their work in their various fields. The event was to encourage and recognise hardworking models in Ghana into pushing the profession to the limit. The overall winners of the night in the overall male and female categories of the year were Ian Wordi and Victoria Michaels respectively. At the end of the night, the panel of the Ghana Models Awards and by unanimous vote conferred on Victoria Michaels, the title of supermodel. The celebrated model has been on various international fashion shows and events such as Paris Fashion Week and others, and has rocked the pages of many international magazines across the continent. Her achievements were adjudged enough to elevate her to the status of supermodel. The brand ambassador for retail giant, Melcom, was surprised but pleased with the award and the new title, and thanked the audience and the event organisers for the recognition. Belinda Baidoo also received the 'Mentor Award' for her efforts in transforming the young women of Ghana. Other winners include Priscilla Agboada who took Female Model of the Year Editorial/Commercial. Ian Wordi won Male Model of the Year Editorial/ Commercial and Male Runway Model of the Year, while Female Runway Model of the Year went to Julee Bucoum. The Most Promising Model of the Year also went to Ahmed Abdulai, whilst Clifford Ametefe was adjudged Underwear Model of the Year. The Bikini/ Lingerie Model of the Year was taken by Jessica Larnyor. Other recipients in the special awards categories were Gold Models who took home two awards, namely the Progressive Development & Revolutionary Award and the Innovator Award. As part of its efforts to provide a comprehensive and extensive reportage on the elections on Wednesday, Ghana's leading Akan-speaking radio station, Peace FM, will deploy the largest news crew across the country to cover the elections. The news editor of Peace FM, Emmanuel Bekoe, in an interview with BEATWAVES last Saturday disclosed that the Despite Group has trained 292 reporters, comprising of student journalists from the various journalism institutions, together with its regional correspondents to accurately cover events during and after the elections. He hinted that over the years, Peace FM and its affiliate stations have been known to carry out in-depth coverage of national events ranging from flood situations, elections and the likes. For Wednesday's elections coverage, the radio listeners as well as UTV viewers can expect a whole lot from us. We have spent the past couple weeks doing a lot of strategising on the ground making sure that both our radio and television stations provide both listeners and viewers with a comprehensive and extensive reportage on the election, he highlighted. Emmanuel Bekoe hinted that in addition to the radio and television coverage, there will also be online uploads of photos, videos and updates on peacefmonoline.com. He said the online coverage of the elections features reports of all electioneering activities happening across the country. By George Clifford Owusu Popular Ghanaian actor Prince David Osei has joined the campaign for change ahead of Ghana's general elections scheduled for December 7. The actor has called on Ghanaians to vote against the current government and get it out of power. He told his followers on his social media platforms on Saturday that they should vote for change that they have been waiting for, adding that the time has come for new players to take over. Gm Fam 7th December is few hours from now Get ready to use your THUMB to vote for the Change you so much desire..no more extra time, the duration time 90minutes is over all necessary substitution have been made . 2MINUTES was added on still the ruling party failed to score just a goal to make the people of Ghana Happy.The sad part is even though the Referee and lines men were bribe massively by the ruling team Ghana still succeeded in losing woefully Time to bring on the new players famvote wisely!!vote for Change!!So you don't complain in agony 2017#CHANGEISCOMING#Votepeacefully#1Ghana 1Nation 1people let peace reign no fight use your thumb, he said on Instagram on Saturday. By Francis Addo (Twitter: @fdee50 Email: [email protected] ) The UK High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin, has joined a campaign to win more votes for Miss Ghana 2015, Antoinette Delali Kemavor, at the ongoing Miss World 2016 pageant in the USA. I met Delali: she's a real credit to Ghana. Vote for her! (That's definitely the only time I'm saying vote for x this week I promise) he said on Twitter on Friday when he called for support for Miss Ghana. This year's event will be the 66th edition of the Miss World pageant. It will be held on December 18, 2016 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, United States, just south of Washington, D.C. This is the second time that the United States will host the pageant. One hundred and eighteen contestants from all over the world will compete for the crown. The pageant officially kicked off on November 26 when contestants converged in the USA to begin their final journey to the Miss World Crown. Antoinette left Accra on November 25 and has since been asking Ghanaians to support her by voting for her via a Miss World 2016 online application. Hello my name is Antoinette Delali Kemavor, Miss Ghana 2015 representing Ghana at this year's #MISSWORLD. Kindly download the #Missworldapp and vote Ghana to move me forward in the competition, counting on your support, love you all, she said on her social media platforms. Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - Authorities in northern Nigeria on Monday called for the prosecution of the leader of the pro-Iran Islamic Movement of Nigeria, whose detention after deadly clashes between his supporters and soldiers was recently overturned by a federal court. The government of Kaduna State said Ibrahim Zakzaky, the head of the Shiite IMN, should be tried for the group's alleged "lawlessness" for the past 30 years. It said he should be "held responsible, fully investigated and prosecuted" for all the "acts of lawlessness committed by the organisation". Kaduna's government accuses the IMN of "allegiance to a foreign power", an apparent reference to Iran. The call came just days after a federal high court ordered the government to free Zakzaky, who has been detained without trial since December last year, within 45 days. On Friday, Justice Gabriel Kolawole ordered that Zakzaky and his wife should be released and provided with decent accommodation and awarded the couple $158,000 (146,000 euros) in damages. Zakzaky was arrested after two days of violence last December, when his supporters refused to allow the chief of army staff's convoy to pass through the northern city of Zaria in Kaduna state. In April, rights group Amnesty International accused Nigeria's military of shooting dead more than 300 Shiite Muslims, burying them in mass graves and destroying evidence of the crime. Zakzaky was shot and injured, leaving him partly paralysed and blinded in one eye while his home and several sect religious centres were demolished. The new order against Zakzaky could threaten his release as the Kaduna state government could file charges against him. The military has claimed the IMN was trying to kill Nigerian army chief Lieutenant-General Tukur Yusuf Buratai during the unrest. In October, the Kaduna government banned the IMN as an illegal group and a security threat. The latest move could heighten tensions in a country where the army is fighting Boko Haram Sunni jihadists in the north and militants sabotaging oil installations in the southern Niger delta. Judge Kolawole warned against demonising the IMN, warning that if Zakzaky died in custody it would result "in many needless deaths." Boko Haram founder Muhamed Yusuf was killed by Nigerian police in 2009, unleashing a backlash and sparking the deadly insurgency. Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL. It has been four years already when H.E. John Dramani Mahama won the last election and got promoted from caretaker president to his elective presidency. As is usually the mandate, the Electoral Commission is busy carrying out preparatory steps towards December 7 for another election. With a new Commissioner in charge, the EC has had to make some administrative changes to ensure a successful election. It is no small feat a job, for the EC to organize a poll across 28,992 polling stations with 15,683,435 registered voters over a geographically diverse landmass, but they have been successful in the past, there is therefore no reason to doubt their competence in this. On the one hand is His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, the incumbent President of the Republic of Ghana who is fervently seeking his re-election to serve a second term. His entire campaign is heavily focused on highlighting the achievements of his administration over the past four years and also to promote his plans for the next four years. According to the NDC campaign team, the first term has been used to build critical infrastructural needs, stabilize a pendulous Cedi and to put all the economic indicators in a good shape to start the journey of putting monies in peoples pockets. John Mahama is therefore asking the electorates in the spirit of nationalism to vote for his second term to complete the work he had long started. On the other hand, is a split opposition, NPP, PPP, CPP, PNC, etc. who have incessantly seized the attention of the electorates and bombarded them with counterproposals and accusations. The chief of them is the New Patriotic Party whose leader and flagbearer is the 72-year-old Nana Addo-Danquah Akuffo Addo who is making his third appearance on the ballot to once again attempt to be president. The NPP no doubt is a very resourceful opposition party which came close to winning the last general election, subsequently they dragged the EC to court on account of their suspicion of the latter to have rigged the election for the NDC. After months of serious litigation, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the ruling National Democratic Congress and the EC. Another person who presents an interesting variable in the opposition front is Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive Peoples Party. Though Nduom performed abysmally in the last election, he has re-engineered his campaign this time around and it would be a mistake to discount him. His technology-driven campaign uses Social Media and other Internet tools to target the youth. In as much as he has done all this, Nduom and his PPP, like other smaller opposition parties, do not have the gravitas to win the election. Their participation I believe serves to enrich the democratic mix of the elections. These smaller opposition parties will most definitely make useless some opposition votes which could have propelled the NPP to cross the victory line. Therefore, the more forceful they are the less votes the NPP will garner. The NDC ruled from 1992 and lost power to NPP in 2000 which also lost power back to the NDC in 2008. The nation somehow developed a certain tacit understanding where one party rules for 8 years and the next comes in. So, it is 2016 and the NPP feels it is their turn. I would like to correct this misconception. The octo-annual change-over that has been happening in the past has not been so because of the political party but rather the candidate who is the incumbent. Since our constitution delimits the number of terms a person can run for the presidency to two, when the incumbent has reached his limit, the new candidate presented by the incumbent party often needs time to endear himself to the populace; as opposed to an opposition candidate who had been around begging for power for a long time. Historically, Vice Presidents in this case, do not fare well in their first appearance somehow, they are viewed as birds of the same feathers (with the past president) until they are able to make a name for themselves. So, the octo-annual change-over effect is not placed on the party but rather the candidate and if thats the case, John Mahama will not receive the short end of the stick in this regard. Another dimension of this election is the issue of age and its related health setbacks. Photographs are awash social media platforms wherein Akuffo Addo is seen sleeping in the middle of an active event. Some analysts have also pointed out that NPPs campaign does not cover some interior communities because Nana lacks the physical exuberance required of such trips. The AfricaWatch Magazine did a whole issue on Nanas health status, saying he suffers cancer. His absence from a presidential debate last week organized by the NCCE and state broadcaster GBC has also been linked to his failing health. The narrative on Nanas health has been vigorously oiled by the NDC propaganda machinery, which has also magnified the picture to paint Nana as an invalid, unfit for the presidency. I have always held that, re-election is much easier than being elected for the first time. And this is against the backdrop of the influence of incumbency, especially the resources it provides. Campaigning in Ghana is a matter of physical presence in as much communities as possible; the media is essential but the people require the presence of their leaders which serves as a sign of respect and recognition. A party that is not able to exert physical contact with the people may not be in the business of winning elections and doing this require massive resources which the ruling party, having access to state logistics, may be able to filch a few of them to such partisan use. The NDC was birthed from the idea of redeeming the poor from the clutches of the oligarchs and even though in actuality this may not be the case now, the perception is quite rife. This explains why the NDC is more popular in poor communities and much of the interior parts of the country. Voter-apathy is more common with the well-to-do and busy city dwellers as opposed to the poor and village dwellers who have all the time to queue for hours on end to cast their votes. This is why NDC continues to consolidate their support base in this regard. Lastly, the NPP, with a few days to December 7, is still divided. The internal bad blood suggests that NPP is not campaigning at full strength and therefore may not be able to meet the campaign requirements to win the elections. It also suggests that theres some possible sabotage to undercut Akuffo-Addos efforts to win the election. May Ghana be the Victor, God bless Ghana. Sonny Y. Namouz Editor, ALLGHANANEWS.COM [email protected] 04.12.2016 LISTEN By Kwamina Tandoh/ Caroline Pomeyie, GNA Dec. 4, GNA - Security and media practitioners whose names were not captured in the special voters' list, hence were unable to vote on Sunday, have been urged to exercise restraint and vote on December 7 in their constituencies. Mr Hackman-Kumi Attuah, the Presiding Officer for Cantoments Police Barracks Centre 1A of the La Dadekotopon Constituency, appealed to the voters to be calm as there was still a window of opportunity for them to vote on December 7. He said: 'Officers who could not find their names last Thursday came this morning to check but again could not find their names so some got angry and left but there is still a window of opportunity for them to vote on December 7'. Mr Attuah, speaking to the Ghana News Agency, said the turnout on Sunday was low unlike last Thursday, December 1, because most of the officers were able to cast their ballot that day. He said La Dadekotopon had the biggest special voting number countrywide with a total of 3,330 voters as it houses all the headquarters of the security services including the Military, Police, Fire and Prisons. He said the constituency has four centres for the special voting; two at Cantoments and two at Burma Hall, where the soldiers cast their ballots. At the Osu Police Barracks of the Korley Klottey Constituency the GNA observed that some special voters could not find their names on the list and this was confirmed by Mr Isaac Adu Darko, a Polling Assistant. The exercise will end at 1700 hours and the ballot papers will be secured by the police in the constituency. The ballot papers will be counted in addition to the December 7 ballots and the results declared that day. GNA 04.12.2016 LISTEN By Cecilia Diesob, GNA Wa, Dec. 4, GNA - Scores of angry police officers in Wa have expressed disappointment in the Electoral Commission following their inability to vote on Sunday as they could find their names in the Special Voters list. The officers lodged their complaint with the Presiding Officer of the Wa Circuit Court Polling Station and demanded an explanation from the EC officials which led to a heated argument. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, they said they had submitted their ID cards three times on request by EC officials to add their names to the special voters list and were shocked when they could not find their names. Mr Adams Iddrisu, the Presiding Officer, told the GNA that the centre had 960 registered special voters on their list on December 1 out which 404 voters successfully cast their ballot. 'Some voters are still confused with finding the right ID numbers to correspond with their rightful Polling Stations. Others too do not understand the Electoral process and others too are having problems because of transfers,' he added. Party agents of the National Democratic Congress, the New Patriotic Party and the Progressive Peoples Party were at the centre to supervise the exercise. GNA By Godfred Polkuu, GNA Sandema (U/E), Dec. 4, GNA - President John Dramani Mahama has announced that the government is initiating the construction of 50 Farmers' Service Centres across the savannah regions to train farmers on modern farming practices to enable them to increase their productivity. He said each centre would have 10 tractors, and that interested farmers would register with the centre and have access to farming equipment as well as loans to aid in their production. This, he said, would change the face of agriculture in the savannah region, which had the potential to feed the whole of the country and even leave surplus for export. President Mahama said this at a rally in Sandema in the Upper East Region, during his campaign tour of the Region to solicit for votes. He said the government was making available great opportunities for people to earn an income and put money in their pockets. He said though the government had embarked on a massive transformation, four years was not enough to achieve the vision he had. On education, President Mahama said a committee had been set up to work on the autonomy of the different departments of the University for Development Studies (UDS) to create three autonomous Universities out of the three existing campuses. He said the committee had presented its report and that work was far advanced for the Navrongo campus of UDS to become an autonomous university on its own. 'Once we have done that, we would establish a campus of the University here in Builsa land.' The President, with a ballot paper in his hand, educated the chiefs and people of Sandema on how to vote in favour of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He asked them to look for the umbrella symbol on the ballot paper for both the presidential and parliamentary ballots, press their thumbs on the ink pad that would be provided on Election Day, and thumb print in the box beside the umbrella, making sure it did not cross over into another box to render it invalid. President Mahama told the people to clean their thumbs on a piece of cloth that may be provided so it would not make another print, fold the ballot paper and drop it in the box and move away peacefully. He urged the electorates to come out on December 7 and make a resounding statement that 'JM must toaso', meaning John Mahama must continue, so that the NDC can continue the work it had started. 'This year we want to settle the election the Builsa way; the Builsa way means that if you are defeating your opponent, you must defeat him in a way that he cannot argue, he himself knows you have defeated him, so this year we are going to defeat the opponent in a very convincing manner so that they will understand that yes we have defeated them, and that they should salute us.' President Mahama said. He introduced Mr. James Agalga, the Deputy Minister of Interior as the parliamentary candidate for the area and asked the electorate to vote for him. Naab Azaksuik Azantilow II, the Paramount Chief of the Builsa Traditional Area urged all politicians to conduct their campaigns peacefully. 'I would like to urge all politicians to campaign and sing with one voice so that on December 7, Ghana becomes a great winner', he said. The Paramount Chief said he had fulfilled his promise to the President to resolve the Chuchuliga chieftaincy dispute, and expressed the hope that the peaceful resolution would be an indication that the elections in the Builsa area would be peaceful. He called on President Mahama to fulfill his promise to build a university campus in Sandema if voted back into office. GNA By D. I. Laary, GNA Accra, Dec. 4, GNA - The Ga Traditional Council has asked government to extend the cut-off date for submission of claims of the proposed Marine Drive Tourism project in Osu to June 2017. In a petition to President John Dramani Mahama, the Traditional Council also requested for increased access to the project and greater transparency in releasing relevant information to stakeholders. The Council, at a press conference, expressed displeasure about the proposed project design and exclusion of some allodial owners from discussions of the project. It requested that local content, culture, images and symbols be included as a means to reflect cultural identity of the people as well as ensure indigenous artisans, contractors and community members were hired to execute the project. Mr Kwaku Baprui Asante, ex-President of the Ga Traditional Council, said although they appreciated efforts by government to utilise the coastal land (from the Marine Drive in Osu to Baiden Powell Hall in Ga Mashie) to develop a tourism industry in the capital, they had 'legitimate concerns'. "We are particularly concerned about the plan to acquire 243 acres of the land and use it primarily for the tourism project while the neighbouring communities of Osu, Ga Mashie, and Jamestown have dire needs for real affordable housing, schools, clinics, fish markets and related facilities, and a cultural and heritage centre," he said. Mr Asante said; 'The Council wants government to scale back the extent of the acreage for the Marine Drive project and instead develop the remaining acreage for the indigenous Osu and Ga people to meet their dire communal needs." He said government was only expected to lease public lands and not outright sale to any foreign investor as per the Constitutional provisions. He said government could only "acquire privately owned land from allodial owners for public benefit and not for sale to private and foreign investors". 'The Government's continual selling of public lands, acquired compulsorily from the Ga and Dangme people, to private people without any benefits to the original allodial owners is confrontational and insensitive,' Mr Asante said. The Traditional Council urged government to swiftly look at institutionalising 30 per cent equity in all private developments on public lands acquired in Ga and Dangme Traditional areas to a GaDangme Development Trust Fund. This would take care of development projects, education and promotion of Ga Dangme culture. Several other issues were raised in the petition including a call on government to consult and liaise with a committee comprising representatives of the Ga, Osu and Jamestown Traditional councils as well as Ga Dangme organisations and community leaders. The people suggested public hearings be held in the Ga, Osu and Jamestown communities to sufficiently inform and engage community members on the Marine Drive project. GNA By Iddi Yire, GNA Accra, Dec. 4, GNA - Phase Two of the Special Voting ended on Sunday at 1700 hours throughout the country. This Special Voting is for the Staff of the Electoral Commission (EC), media professionals and members of the security forces, who will be carrying out electoral duties on Wednesday, December 7. Reports from Ghana News Agency correspondents across the country indicated that some special voters still could not trace their names in the Special Voters' List, hence, could not cast their ballots. The Phase Two of the Special Voting became necessary when some 34,644 special voters, who will be performing electoral duties on election day, were unable to cast their votes due to operational hiccup. The EC, at an emergency Inter-Party Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting on Thursday, December 1, therefore, agreed with the political parties that the Special Voting exercise be extended to Sunday, December 4, in all the 275 constituencies. The EC said out of a total 126,875 special voters, about 92,231 representing 72.69 per cent successfully voted on December 1. The Special Voting ballot papers will be counted and declared alongside the main election after the close of polls on December 7. GNA A Tema-based arts and painting management center, Big Apples Art Gallery has commissioned its maiden high capacity collection center on the Akuapem Ridge in the Eastern Region. The Center which will exhibit paintings in both imaginative and figurative images is located on the Aburi road near the Peduase Lodge. Speaking at the ceremony to commission the center, the company's Communications Director, Wondowe Azutigah, said they will be working with art creators to manage their works. "We will work with them and help them with a lot of training ideas, information and everything they need to know about this whole business to help manage their career," he said. Considering some Ghanaians head to the place for their keep-fit activities, Mr Azutigah said they will be targeting displaying their arts on the walk way to attract buyers. "I think people from the Corporate world ply this route a lot to exercise and attracting people is our target because they love paintings," he added. Big Apple is a very big family with close to 30 artists that the company is managing. However, there are some rules governing membership of the company. Mr Azutigah said any artist who signs a contract with the company will be taken through some procedure before being admitted into the family. "We are very determined to go all out, we started with an online exhibition center but due to the response and feedback we received from customers we were compelled to get a center," he said. Big Apple will soon embark on a comprehensive outreach program to raise awareness about the art industry. The programme would be used to demonstrate the essence of arts and their values to individuals. In view of this, management of the company held what it termed 'Live painting exhibition' on the stretch of Peduase Lodge which attracted hundreds of people who were in the area for keep-fit activities. The live paintings and drawings segment was done by the selected artists being managed by the company. The Center will serve as a one-stop art shop for tourists and holidaymakers who are taking advantage of the Akuapem mountain. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com Former Attorney General, Martin Amidu, has alleged that the Ford Expedition car gifted President John Mahama in 2012 by a Burkinabe contractor, was part of a plot to smuggle money into the country to fund the Mahama 2012 campaign for the presidency. Mr. Amidu, who spoke in a video message, said his claim is based on a letter from the Ghana Embassy in Burkina Faso to the border authorities at Paga, dated 29th October, 2012. According to him, after President Mahama had assumed office following former President John Evans Atta Mill's death, he was heading into the elections of 2012 unprepared financially. However, the President's friend and beneficiary of contracts, when the President had assumed office, was ready to provide financial support, the former AG narrated. He indicated that the only way funds could be unconstitutionally imported into Ghana from Burkina Faso was to be ingenious through the Ford Expedition and a wrapper, wrapping the many dollars needed for the Mahama Campaign. No searches, no questions. Mr. Amidu added that the money would have been retrieved from the vehicle in Accra and the Ford Expedition is useless thereafter to the President. CHRAJ investigation a farce Mr. Amidu also slammed the Commission on Human rights and Administrative Justices (CHRAJ) investigation into the Ford gift saga as a sham. CHRAJ has no jurisdiction but the President was too happy to have his own institution purport to clear him a farce to make the public believe the President has the peoples interests at heart and that his institutions will protect the public purse. But all this while, it covered an unconstitutional scheme at election time, Mr Amidu stated. Find here the text of Mr. Amidus message Background Earlier in 2016, President Mahama came under intense public criticism for accepting the Ford gift worth about US$100,000 allegedly to influence him when he was vice President in 2012. The Burkinabe contractor in question, Djibril Kanazoe, admitted giving President Mahama the Ford Expedition vehicle, for which the President called to thank him. The gift, according to reports, was prior to an attempt by the contractor, to win a bid to execute the Dodo Pepeso-Nkwanta road construction project. The same contractor had also been contracted to build a wall, at a cost of over half a million dollars, for the Ghana Embassy in Ouagadougou. CHRAJ, following its investigation of the matter, stated that President Mahama breached the gift policy when he accepted the gift, The Commission, however, stated that the Presidents action did not constitute a conflict of interest, bribery or fraud, as the petitioners to it, the youth wing of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), and the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), had claimed. By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the media. We of the Busia family are very pleased that you have responded positively to our invitation to this press conference. The aim of this invitation is to rebut a statement issued by Professor Kwamena Ahwoi made at Subinso, Wenchi in October this year, 2016, published online, precisely, peacefonline.Com. According to Prof Ahwoi, that if Professor Busia was alive today he would have deserted the NPP because of the divisive leadership of Nana Akufo-Addo. We are all too familiar with the stark fact that during an election year reckless statements are made by certain politicians with the singular aim of scoring political points, knowing all too well that such statements bear no resemblance whatsoever to the truth. What has been attributed toProfessor Kwamena Ahwoi is one such statement. The statement mischievously asserts divisive leadership against Nana Addo, as a result of which Professor Busia would have deserted NPP. This is not merely false but defamatory, since the hard facts suggest otherwise. While portraying Nana Addo falsely as bad leader when Nana Addos leadership has shown respect for party structures and prevented offshoots of NPP. We members of the Busia family have pondered over this outrageous comment by no less a person than a professor of governance at such a significant location and have decided to set the record straight about our great Patriarch, Late Professor Busia. First of all, while the irony may have been lost on Professor Ahwoi, Subinso has a great significance for us as a family. In fact, Subinso happens to be the birthplace of Professor Busia's father. Secondly, despite his self-anointed status as a governance expert in the country, this ahistorical characterization of Busia as somebody who would have confronted the problems arising from wielding disparate groups and individuals into a modern, complex organisation by desertion exposes Professor Ahwoi as somebody who did not know Professor Busia at all. A political party is an epiphennon of modernization, professor. And as such, it requires extraordinary skills of negotiation and leadership to bring people from different ethnic, religious, linguistic and economic backgrounds to adopt a common vision of social organisation. We are sure the eminent professor would agree that this task of forging a common vision with people from such diverse backgrounds is even more challenging in our context as a pre-modern society? If the eminent professor indeed knew anything at all about Professor Busia and his politics, he would be the first to admit that the problems that faced the man in the pre-independence period are the exact replica of what confront Nana Akufo-Addo in contemporary Ghanaian society. With his lieutenants such as J. B. Danquah, Edward Akufo-Addo, S.D. Dombo and countless others in tow, Busia successfully navigated the choppy waters of building a formidable political tradition called the United Party which continues to be the only political party in our country today that governs effectively. So, the pertinent question the professor of governance must strive to answer for his students of contemporary Ghanaian politics is: if Professor Busia did not jump ship at that critical post-independence period of bringing all these groups together to kick against the CPP hegemony, why would he have deserted the NPP now? Like Nana Akufo-Addo now, Professor Busia was a handler of challenges and as a family we know that he would have been tied to the mast to steer the ship to calming waters as Nana Akufo-Addo is slowly but inexorably doing for the UP tradition today! Equally, as a family we knew Busia to be a very tolerant leader who accommodated divergent views and espoused the philosophy of each being the others keeper. Unbeknown to you, Professor, Nana Akufo-Addo shares all these traits that are essential in sustaining our budding democracy. However, like Professor Busia before him, Nana Akufo-Addo is the quintessential disciplinarian who puts party interests above individual idiosyncrasies and as such would not think twice about preserving party unity. That is what rule of law is about; rules, whether within the private or public sphere, are no respector of persons regardless of their social status. In the recent case, when disciplinary action was meted out by the party disciplinary committee, against certain senior party members, Nana Addo was in the end vindicated in a sense by the courts for the collective decision he took responsibility for as a party leader. And this meant that rule of law was adhered to. Just as Busia would have done in his time were similar aberrations by members taking place in the party of similar kind, Nana Addo did not hinder party structures from dealing with the situation. As a family we can testify that Nana Addo takes after Busia in many other ways. Few examples may suffice. There is a clear convergence of political philosophy of Nana Akuffo Addo and the NPP and that of Dr Busia. Nana Addo like Busia believes in constitutionalism as the basis of democratic governance in Ghana as elsewhere. This explains why Nana Akufo Addo like Busia the principles of the rule of law and human rights are respected and promoted. In particular, both Professor Busia and Nana Akufo-Addo are both unapologetic defenders of political pluralism. This is evidenced by the fact that both individuals have sought to champion at different times the restoration of multi party politics to Ghana after years of suppressive authoritarian rule. Lets enter their respective approaches to development in Ghana. In fact any cursory survey of the two leaders and their programmes, make them appear as twins who happened to be littered in different eras. Nana Addo, like Busia holds tenaciously to the view that rural development programme should be the bedrock of any serious overall development agenda in Ghana, hence their confidence in the Ghanaian rural farmer and dwellers. Nana Addos belief in education is like Busia, who as a towering African scholar placed considerable premium on education as the key element in national development. This is evidenced by the NPPs manifesto, which under the able leadership of Nana Akufo-Addo, puts more emphasis on research and development. As a family who knows what Professor Busia really stood for and who he was, we cannot help but state with all the candour at our command that if he was alive today during this elections he would have been very proud to know that a man of the caliber and stature of Nana Addo is leading a political party that derives its tradition and political philosophy from a political party he was a founding father of: UP. The Busia we know will not and could not have joined any party but NPP and voted for no other person but Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo, for the simple reason that he would have seen himself in Nana Addo. Long live NPP, long live Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo, our leader and President in waiting, and long live Ghana. Thank you !!! Done by the Busia Family of Wenchi, in Accra on November 17th, 2016. Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu 05.12.2016 LISTEN Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu is the parliamentary candidate for the National Democratic Congress in Nalerigu-Gambaga Constituency. The constituency is currently occupied by the National Democratic Congress. Dr. Tia Alfred Sugri is the current Member of Parliament and also Deputy Minister for Environment, Science Technology and Innovation. Dr. Tia Alfred Sugri decided not to contest this year's parliamentary elections and that paved way for another politician and businessman to surface and represent the National Democratic Congress in Nalerigu-Gambaga Constituency for 2016 general elections. The NDC primaries in the constituency saw five competent men contest. They were Hon. Sam Danse Salifu, Hon. Adam Imoro and Hon. Issah kaponde. The rest were Hon. Ibrahim Tia and Hon. Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu. Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu emerged the winner amongst the five candidates. He is popularly referred to us the people's man. Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu is now a household name in the constituency. He is out to make history in Mamprugu. The real battle is now between Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu on the ticket of the NDC and the representative of the NPP. I want to advance reasons why Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu is the candidate to win Nalerigu-Gambaga Constituency Seat for the National Democratic Congress. One of the biggest tool that will help Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu in this year's general elections is his commitment to the progress of Nalerigu-Gambaga Constituency. He has taken it upon himself to work first for the people to see before they vote for him. This tool is actually a plus for him and will propel him to the political ladder. His commitment has made all constituents to give him their support. We have never seen this before in the history of the Constituency. Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu is a history maker. He is more committed to the development of Mamprugu especially Nalerigu-Gambaga Constituency than anyone else. I doff my hat for him for his commitment. Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu has drilled a number of boreholes across the length and breadth of the Constituency. This makes it easier for children and women to have access to portable drinking water. I am not saying it but the constituents have confirmed it all. Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu is the largest investor in the constituency besides central government. You think I should not support such a businessman but rather support somebody who has no interest in my constituency? I, Atindow Musah, will never do that. I must be part of the history making team. He has a Fuel Station and Pure Water processing Factory all to his credit. He has built a gargantuan Mason in the constituency. This is the kind of man we are talking about. A man with a few words couple with desirable and favorable actions. A man who is prepared to lay the foundations of hope for everyone in the constituency. This man I am talking about is the torch bearer of Mamprugu politics. The agenda of women empowerment is an area Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu will not play with if given the mandate to represent the constituency. He has plans to lobby with Northern Women and Advancement Program(NWAP) to set up their office in the constituency where women can visit and have access to soft loans. The NGO has already helped 500 women with loan facilities. This will help our mothers and sisters to start up small scale businesses. The long term effect will be that, our women will be empowered to take good care of their children and other family members. Interestingly, another plan by Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu which is gaining grounds is the establishment of Perpetual Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF) to support needy but brilliant students in the constituency if given the political nod. He is not an MP yet, but I can knock my chest and say he has helped pay not less than twenty students' school fees to get to Senior High Schools. Nobody, I mean nobody's achievements in the political history of the Constituency can come closer to the achievements of the people's man as his affectionately called. This makes him the suitable candidate for the constituency. Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu has considered rural electrification a serious issue in the constituency. He has plans to connect all villages in the constituency to the national grid. All the villages in the constituency should be rest assured that if Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu is voted as our Member of Parliament for Nalerigu-Gambaga Constituency, they will be provided with electricity. I therefore call on well meaning people in Nalerigu-Gambaga Constituency to come out massively on 7th December, 2016 and vote Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu as our Member of Parliament. File Photo 05.12.2016 LISTEN The media has been described as the Fourth Realm of the State. Many theories have been propounded about how the media shapes the issues that are discussed and how those issues should be discussed. Recently, history was made when Donald Trump was elected to become the 45th President of the United States of America. It beggars belief, isnt it? Quite. The American media shaped how Donald Trump was viewed in the eyes of the world an abuser of women, an incompetent person, a racist and the beat goes on. Well, in spite of all the negative media reportage about Donald Trump, it didnt wash with the silent majority of Americans; they voted massively for him and then the whole world was stunned. This years election in the United States of America (USA) took a nose dive: therere clashes with the security agencies, attacks on political opponents, suspicions of possible rigging and refusal to accept results, and media reportage of the aftermath of Donalds victory was marred with clashes and riots across certain states; indeed, some experts were calling for a recount of the votes. So, Americans too can lose it, right? What kind of media reportage would we have had, had this happen in Africa? Your guess is as good as mine. The American media was smart. They knew immediately that their nations image was at stake. The USA must not be reported in such bad light. Although thered been and theres still some chaos about Donald Trumps victory, the media has decided to focus on the selection of his cabinet. Yes, the media could have easily plunged America into civil war. The media determines the movement of the world they have the power to fan flames or douse it. In the case of the American media, they swiftly and beautifully touched on the early issues rocking the election; and, as adeptly as possible, shifted the worlds attention taking out the steam and pressure the negative stories were developing. In short the American media kept a tight lid on the negative news and promoted the good news of a successful process of transition from one government to the other the USA has showed the world its democratic credentials once again, so theyll report. Ghana goes to the polls in a matter of days. Media reportage on the events leading to December 7 and its aftermath can make or unmake us. The Ghanaian media must borrow a page or two from the American media the international and national interest of the USA mattered most than the unsatisfied ego of some citizens. Media pluralism in Ghana has thrived over the last decade this is as a result of the media freedoms enshrined in the 1992 Constitution. All are working tirelessly to ensure that we get this one too done adeptly. The media is been encouraged to give a fair, balanced, truthful, and accurate reportage before, during and after December 7. As much as its important to uphold the principles of media reportage, its equally important to take into consideration the national and international interest of Ghana. In media reportage, an issue is given prominence when the media takes it up. It gets worse when various angles of the same issue are widely reported usually to suit the whims and caprices of the philosophy of that particular media house. Ghana has been touted as the beacon of democracy in the sub region. The international community will be watching with keen interest. Bad news sells. Should the Ghanaian media focus on the pockets of violence that may occur at one polling station or the other; the international media can help us give our nation a bad name. This is not a suggestion that violence shouldnt be reported; contrary. Instead, how the media reports those issues and the kind of prominence the media decides to afford such stories. Weve a national interest to protect, not personal interest: the Americans had a challenge, but media reportage about their electoral issues have been managed and reported with all professionalism protecting the image of their nation. The national and international interest of our beloved motherland must come before the parochial interest of any group of persons anywhere else. We can borrow a page or two from the American media; theres nothing wrong with copying, however theres everything wrong with copying blindly. God bless our Homeland, Ghana. [email protected] 0243222058 Was it not President Mahama the first candidate to refuse to face down Nana Akufo Addo at the debates the IEA had planned to organise for the presidential candidates? Was he not supported by the NDC government and party members when he decided not to attend the debates concluding stupidly that the IEA are very supportive of the NPP hence are biased against the NDC? Why is he now desperately clamouring to debate Nana Akufo Addo? What has he heard and what has he seen? Nana Akufo Addo has no time for such a coward but an expert corrupt President never seen in the annals of Ghanas politics since gaining political independence from the British. What has he to debate Nana on or about? Is it on/about his infatuation with perpetration of corruption, lawlessness, practice of selective justice or claim of massively built infrastructures at tenfold the original cost but most of which are non-existent? Discerning Ghanaians and the financially-economically-strapped Ghanaians have made up their minds already and are also aware of the good and bad in President Mahama so they no longer need to be reminded of his stealing capabilities at debates. They know how he has been mismanaging the affairs of Ghana, sharing Ghanas money among a small section of the population that are supportive of his criminalities. What else does he want to inform Ghanaians of through his intended debate, but which Nana Addo, has not honoured? Nana Addo is telling the Ghanaian public about his policies and the things he will do for Ghana through forming a credible NPP government that believes in transparency, accountability and probity, should the people of Ghana vote massively for him and NPP on 7 December 2016. President Mahama should please cease moaning about Nana Addo not debating him for it is not worth debating a shamelessly corrupt President. Anyway, from where has President Mahama got that much money that he is using to bribe voters, polling station agents, purchasing expensive cars for chiefs etc.? Is he counterfeiting Ghanas Cedis, thus, printing the money himself? It is all because every one wonders how and from where he has got that much money to embark on the vote-buying spree, pay so many people who have the intention to involve themselves in dubious acts that go to favour him and the NDC as regards the 7 December 2016 election? Rockson Adofo (Written on Sunday, 4 December 2016) 05.12.2016 LISTEN The real world is a pain in the tooth; no one would like to live there. Unfortunately, reality slaps us in the face from the moment we wake up and throughout our daily endeavors; until we sleep againlost in darkness and hopelessness. This is true for most Zimbabweans, given the economic hardships and the hustles we have to go through each and every day just to make it through the day. I travelled around the cities of Harare and Mutare this weekend, and the trend of activities was remarkably similar. A significant portion of the population was in bars looking to have a good time and forget about the week that preceded them. The majority of the people however flooded churches seeking hope and answers to the age old question; why are we here? This question is a difficult one given the hardships of Zimbabwean life. A lot of people are not content without the answer to that question and for almost a century, Christian dogma has informed that gap in knowledge. Most Zimbabweans uphold the magical worldview derived from religion and most significantly Christianity in their perception of reality. Is this true? No one cares, as long as the bible declares it true, then it is. No amount of reason can challenge the convictions that the Judeo-Christian tradition inspires Everyone is entitled to an opinion and I have no problem with anyone who disregards reality; whatever makes you sleep at night. People have various imaginary friends and most of the time these bring out the good in them the problem comes when they have imaginary enemies. A lot of churches today emphasize on the doctrine of demonology and when love is no longer the basis for ones religious belief but fear, there is mass hysteria and the chaos it brings. When I was a Christian, I used to ask myself that if the golden is to love your neighbor as you love yourself, then why we have hostility among denominations, sects and even individuals. It is because of the idea of divine retribution and the terrors it threatens in peoples imagination. Irrational fear is way more dangerous than any other type of irrationality, and I got to understand this when I got to read King James bible of demonology as a more conscious and geeky Atheist where most of these ideas about demons and the underworld come from. Again, a lot of people have a lot to say about demons and witchcraft but they have no idea about this book. Probably, they saw a schizophrenic person in a TB Joshua deliverance session and because of their lack of scientific literacy assumed it was the demons they heard about. Irrational fear has led a lot of people, even children to be demonized or worse, accused of witchcraft. Zimbabwe in this age of magical thinking is almost the modern day Salem. I came across a banner once written Children of Salem! We are the sons and daughters of the witches you did not burn! I thought about the little boys and girls who are dragged to these radical churches nowadays and made to believe they have demons or are descendants of witches and are evil by default. Think about the emotional trauma these children have to go through. Think about the character defamation grown-ups accused of these imaginary atrocities suffer for the rest of their lives. I did my secondary education at Marist Nyanga Boys High School and I remember a lot of cases where fellow students were accused of Satanism or that they are rich because their parents got voodoo goblins. A friend of mine transferred because of that last particular allegation, and at the time I believed it because like every other religious person, I had a magical worldview. Now that I am a rationalist who wont accept unsubstantiated claims and easily dismissed speculations I have heard before, I wondered how much therapy that boy needed at the time, with newspapers like the Manica Post writing stories about his mother acquiring goblins without any evidence except for hearsay. Well, hearsay is not proof, feelings are not evidence, anecdotes are not data and a hypothesis is not a scientific theory; something everyone with a magical worldview should understand before ruining someone elses life! A realistic worldview is not as bad, it is an opportunity to be honest with yourself about what you know, and what you do not know yet. You get to walk by sight and not by faith and your understanding of the world will be justified. I have a friend by the name Pardon Ndoro; he is more of a brother come to think of it. Growing up as an only child myself, Pardon became the closest person I had to a sibling. When we grew up, Pardon became an elder at his church, which was the Seventh Day Adventist church. He finished his tertiary education in 2014, and well, I was still in the middle of it. Like most Zimbabweans today, Pardon could not get formal employment. He had heard a lot of testimonies at church by different people who had asked for prayers from him about how God had blessed them with various life changing miracles. He wondered why these did not happen to him. He had a conflict in his perception with his experience, if you ask me; Pardon was the most devout Christian friend I ever had. I even hesitated consulting him with my doubts about religion when I started my journey to being a free thinker. I finally did one day, I went to him with a video by Dan Baker entitled You dont have to go down my basement which for me presented the difference between Morality and Religiosity. This YouTube video made me reconsider everything that was keeping me Christian despite all the counter evidence I had come across. As dignified as always, Pardon took the video and said he will go through it, without any judgment or an argument; he was a good listener and very reserved, no wonder why everyone at his church respected him. I went to see him the following day coming from work (I was doing work related learning during my third year of university) to get feedback about what he thought about the points brought out in the video. He gave me more YouTube videos by Matt Dilahunty and Underlings talking about the same issue! About that time, his personal experience with reality was making him ask the same questions I was and yes, he lost his religion too! He still went to church as an elder because of the pressure from his family and societyhe would have had too much to lose if he came out as an Atheist. He felt guilty however every time he came from his sermons at church, lying was never something that went down well for him. He did not change anything about his dignified character as an apostate; he is now the same person he was when he was religious. The difference is, he has a personal relationship with reality. He told me the other day that he never got job opportunities when he was a devout Christian praying every day. He got a good job several months after becoming an Atheist ironically. Prayer makes you feel good about doing nothing, he said with chuckle, You my brother are your own redeemer. Life happens, and we should embrace it in its realness; then we are truly content with reality. It makes us realize what is important, to be happy and enjoy our nature as a social species. Nothing goes beyond love and our fears should not define how we relate to other people or even our children; especially if these fears do not have a rational justification. Religious escapism should have its limits and innocent people should not suffer for the gruesome fantasies of others. Stop demonizing people and accusing people of things you do not have facts on! The Zimbabwe Secular Alliance seeks to address the issue of witchcraft and demonology and save a lot of people accused of imaginary crimes. Share your thoughts and email me at [email protected] and your input will be highly appreciated. Thank you for reading! The party that emerges as the winner of Ghanas general election, to be held on 7 December, should seize the opportunity to drive economic growth by creating policies and a legislative environment where business builders can thrive. Thats according to Magnus Nmonwu ( https://Twitter.com/MNmonwu ), Regional Director for Sage in West Africa ( www.SageAfrica.com ), the market and technology leader for integrated accounting, HR & payroll, and payment systems. He says that improving the ease of doing business as well as setting sound macro-economic policies would help to generate GDP growth for the Ghanaian economy. Small & Medium Businesses are an engine for job and wealth creation in several growing economies around the world. Business-friendly environment Says Nmonwu: Ghana has been an exemplary democracy for the past two decades and made some impressive progress in reducing poverty during the last commodities boom. With its sound legal system and a regulatory environment that gives businesses stability, it is one of the most business-friendly countries in sub Saharan Africa. We believe that the time is now ripe for the government to collaborate more closely with the private sector on ways to create jobs and raise income levels. With an estimated 90% of businesses in Ghana being Small & Medium Businesses ( http://APO.af/xamu4J ), this sector generates and drives much of Ghanas income and employment. Supporting it can rekindle economic growth for the country. Nmonwu says that one of Ghanas most significant economic opportunities lies in diversifying its economic base and boosting exports. Government can support these opportunities through targeted investments in infrastructure, education and vocational training, and small business financing. We have seen some interesting initiatives in recent years, he adds. Financing remains a challenge For example, the launch of the Ghana EXIM (Export Import) Bank ( http://EXIMBankGhana.com ) addresses the need for financing if business builders in the country are to grow the small business sector and exports. Financing remains a challenge for many smaller Ghanaian companies, so providing them with low-interest loans is an intervention that will make a difference. Another area where focus could pay off is skills development, particularly with an emphasis on the science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills needed to boost the economy into the digital age and services economy. Ghana should also look at how investments in roads, power and telecoms in partnership with the private sector might drive growth by lifting productivity; it could also be a way to create opportunities for small businesses through procurement. Modernising government IT Modernising the governments ICT system is another opportunity, Nmonwu says. By implementing the right accounting, payroll and citizen interaction systems, the government can improve efficiencies while showing its commitment to accountability and transparency, he adds. It can also use online technology to make it easier for entrepreneurs and individuals to interact with the government. Entrepreneurship has the potential to power the economies in West African countries. It is entrepreneurs who are the drivers of prosperity, and it is in governments interest to support them, he says. Business builders take risks to follow their dreams and pursue their passions, and they hold the key to West Africas prosperity. Ganyo' Gbaa Ga naa. Recent news reports of a group of GaDangmes castigating leader of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akuffo Addo, and a call to vote against the party, appear not to have gone down well with some other GaDangmes. In deed, I bow my head in shame when offensive language is used on all Gas all because of irresponsible actions of a few. Unfortunately, such acts are, often times, perpetrated by Gas who use their ethnic group as a trump card to advance their parochial political interest. One such person, as I have observed, with no malice intended, is Derrick Adzei, a Ga whose father is a principal traditional leader in La. (I'll be talking more about him later). So the idea that the recent utterances by Ga traditional leaders against Akuffo Addo was initiated by the media is somewhat out of place. The said Press Conference was held at the International Press Centre on Thursday 1st December 2016. I was right there to witness it, after all, our elders say, "Adu k ehimi ji ew". THE ISSUE FOR THE PRESS CONFERENCE Concerns of Leadership of the group were based on two key issues purported to have been made in a leaked email of Nana Akuffo Addo. That... 1. The capital city would be relocated from Accra to Akyem, if Nana Addo wins the elections. 2. He insulted Gas. AFTER THE PRESS CONFERENCE When the press conference was over, I called a key leader of the group, Bernard Korley, aside for an interview. My simple question was, what evidence do you have that the said email was from Nana Akuffo Addo? He could not provide a convincing answer only to say the burden of proof rests on Akuffo Addo, to come out to deny or confirm. THE GA YOUTH AT THE EVENT Over 50 GaDangme youth, and priests and priestesses were bused to the event. At least, I saw three buses. Many of them were using vulgar words. Being quite concerned and how others may think of the Ga ethnic group in a negative sense as a result, I took the trouble to approach some of these young people for an interaction, off camera. I asked if they've sighted the leaked email for which they've left home to come over for the Press Conference. They had no answer. Seconds later, they opened up to tag me as an NPP Person and begun using harsh words on me. One of them even said, 'Mi y a k bi ni mii l, ni bohu?'. Literally, he sought to know if I had personal responsibilities at all, and that he, as young as he was, cares for a child and wife. Errmm, I wondered what that had to do with my question. DERRICK ADZEI IN PERSPECTIVE The event was over but no one was leaving; the Ga Youth, Woryei, Worhii,wulormei, and Journalists were all waiting. Then came Derrick Adzjei. It wasn't long after when the journalists were given their 'soli' (Monies given to Journalists after coverage of an event). The young people I encountered, also then left me to go pursue their 'monies', with one saying in Ga, "Nyhaa w ya hea w shikaa"-"Let's go for our money", literally translated. Errmm, so they were paid to come? Nokofioo peoples? After the initial financial settlements, Derrick Adzei addressed a meeting of the priests and priestesses present under one of the summer hats at the Press Centre. Was Derrick Adzei there as a Ganyoformor-bi or as an NDC man engineering such an ill-motive event? If the former was the case, why was Derrick walking in the shadows and did not openly join the youngsters to send the message across? DERRICK ADZEI IN THE GA TRADITIONAL COUNCIL-MONTIE TRIO BROUHAHA I recall sharing a post on 1st August on a seeming role played by the same Derrick Adzei in a press conference by Ga Chiefs on the Montie three Saga which had many insulting the intelligence of all Gas. Kindly read the write up below if you missed it. "Ga Traditional Council held a press conference today to appeal for President Mahama to either pardon or mitigate the sentence slapped on the Montie Trio. Plausibly, they advised journalists to be decorous with their utterances lest they also fall prey to same circumstance. Lurking around the council offices at the time of the meeting, though, were two Key NDC personnel who seem to have facilitated the event. One of these persons was Derrick Adzei and the other I only know as Peter. In fact, my checks indicate one of them even called some of the media houses to be present. My question is, did Leadership of the Ga Traditional Council came out to speak their candid opinion, or it was somewhat persuaded by some NDC operatives to do so? Was it prudent for the Council to have added its voice, especially when the whole conversation is now assuming NDC and NPP Posture? Why did the Council bring the question and answers session to an abrupt end after a third question asked, when actually they gave room for five questions to be asked? I've been thinking." ***As a Ga, and a royal for that matter, I expected Derrick to act in ways that would project the image of Ga positively and not to play on the emotions of his kinsmen and tarnish the image of the Ga ethnic group in the process. If the Chiefs are failing, the Ga elites like Derrick Adzei ought not to be seen on the same path. If you care to know, right after their event, another group of Gamei of the GaDangme Council, led by Dr. KB Asante occupied the same press room to address how best the Accra Marine Drive Project could be executed to also benefit Ga indigenes. "Beni ekomi mii saa l, ekomi hu mii fite. Ganyo' Gbaa Ga Naa" Gabriel Obodai Torgbor-Ashong [email protected] 05.12.2016 LISTEN It is important for every Ghanaian to reflect first of all on some of the major issues of our country as regards our economy and where of course Ghana is is moving to, think through them and make well-informed decisions regarding who to vote for in the upcoming seventh December elections. It is a well-known fact that most Ghanaians , especially the uneducated, have little or no idea about what the real issues of our country and economy are and as such do not really make a concrete, realistic decisions on who gets their votes during one election or the other. In the run-up to this election, it is really important for us Ghanaians; the young and the old, rich or poor, educated or uneducated to think critically through these issues and allow our good conscience to dictate to us who gets our vote this time. Before I proceed, I wish to congratulate every Ghanaian, especially the peace-loving ones who have held their peace till now. The Electoral Commission also deserves an honourable mention for their superb professionalism exhibited so far, even though I still believe they have a whole lot still to do in the run-up to this election. But I still trust that they surely will conduct a free, fair and transparent election. What then to the Ghanaian is the seventh of December 2016? Without doubt, I believe that we all want economic recovery in Ghana. This should form the basis of our votes and not partisanship, tribalism, bigotry or hatred for one political party or the other. Thus to the Ghanaian, the seventh December 2016(which is just three days away) should be a day where we are all poised to translate this economic recovery into practical reality for us all to see and enjoy the fruits of our long sacrifices and sufferings. This can be done through the ballot only. The ballot should be our only weapon at this crucial moment. There are a few lessons to be learned from the Nigerian election of May 2015 as well as the just ended Gambian elections. In Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buharia who once served as the seventh Head of State of Nigeria from 1983-1985 had again been elected by the silent majority in May 2015 as the 15th President through a peaceful, unprecedented polls. The peace that followed that election is worthy of emulation. Similarly, the just-ended election in Gambia that saw President Yahya Jammeh concede defeat peacefully to his opponent, Adama Barrow, has won him admiration from around the globe. It is important to note that President Jahya Jammeh has been President since 22 July 1994 when he took office in a military coup as a young army officer. This tells us that the President of Gambia has also paid heed to the peace-call that is going round the globe. In fact, his acceptance of defeat has spoken volumes about Gambia. To the presidential candidates, a lot needs to be learnt from the two examples cited above; the peaceful manner in which the elections were conducted as well as the manner in which the defeated candidates accepted the results of the elections. Ghana, freedom is our inheritance. Anything we do that will jeopardize same will not only be the greatest dishonour to our nation, it will also be a disrespect to the men and women who laid down their lives to purchase this part of the globe for us. We must know that close to sixty years after our dear republic fought to achieve political liberation, the struggle for economic independence has become muddled for various reasons. One of the reasons in my view is that Ghana has since fallen into the trap of corruption and dependency syndrome. Thus, it is important that we as citizens vote for who we think has the best vision to transform Ghana and better our standard of our living. There is power in the ballot and not the bullet. We must at this time use the power of the ballot to bring the needed recovery that we think is best for our country. There is no power in the bullet to transform our dear republic. The bullet further destroys lives and property and deteriorates the economic strength on which our very existence really depends. In fact, the idea of resorting to violence to address elections related issues is the most contemptuous act any Ghanaian could indulge in at this time. Those who approve of it should be condemned. In this crucial election, let us assess our leaders and fish out those that have no faith, trust or respect for the sacred values which was achieved with hardship and loss of blood by many. Let us identify those who seem to have no realistic and sustainable political will and initiatives. Let us identify those whose economic programmes will not benefit the majority of Ghanaians. Let us identify those who pledge to fight corruption but are themselves corrupt and dishonest. These kinds do not deserve our votes. A vote for such people constitutes our disrespect and disloyalty for our nation. In 1957 when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and American civil rights icon (now of blessed memory) was asked how he felt about the birth of a new nation(Ghana), he said, 'it renews my conviction to the ultimate triumph of justice'. Today, with confidence and all sincerity, I say to all Ghanaians that that triumph must be won once more. We can allow this justice to triumph through peaceful elections. Seventh December 2016 to the the Ghanaian is therefore a day to make history one more time. Ghana, peaceful polls is one of our legacy. We must once again demonstrate to the rest of the world that our nation cannot be toyed with. That we can act and act wisely. We can improve our poor conditions of living through our votes. We can eliminate poverty, disease and misery and ignorance from our land through our peaceful votes. We can turn our country to a peace haven through our wise votes. To our youth, let us use our youthful exuberance wisely to transform our country. If we allow any politician to use us against our own country, posterity will hit back very hard at us in a way we would never have expected. We have the power to hold our leaders accountable throughout this election period and make change from bottom up. Let us rather be apostles of peace and vigilance in our country. Let each of us put our shoulders to the wheel to root out violence, injustice and conflict wherever they exist. Let us be citizens who promote love among the brothers of this country. Let us be people who end war among the brothers of our country. Let us also try to right our wrongs, do justice and serve our country. Seventh December to the Ghanaian should be a day when we can experience peace and a day when we should allow the triumph of justice once more. Long live multiparty democracy in Ghana! Long live Ghana! President Mahama and his NDC government corrupt practices have resulted in excessive public spending, less efficient tax system , needless high public deficit and destabilization of national budgets, heightened capital flight and the creation of perverse incentives that stimulate income-seeking rather than productive activities. "When public money is stolen for private gain, it means fewer resources to build schools, hospitals, roads and water treatment facilities. When foreign aid is diverted into private bank accounts, major infrastructure projects come to a halt. Corruption enables fake or substandard medicines to be dumped on the market, and hazardous waste to be dumped in landfill sites and in oceans. The vulnerable suffer first and worst (Ban Ki-moon, 2009)." Indeed, corruption impedes economic development by distorting markets and collapsing private sector integrity. Corruption also strikes at the heart of democracy by corroding rule of law, democratic institutions and public trust in leaders. For the poor, women and minorities, corruption means even less access to jobs, justice or any fair and equal opportunity (UNDP 2016). Corruption is indeed a global phenomenon, and it thus requires a collaborative effort to prevent and eradicate. It is against that background that in its resolution 55/61 of 4 December 2000, the UN General Assembly recognized that an effective international legal instrument against corruption, independent of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (resolution 55/25, annex I) was desirable and decided to establish an ad hoc committee for the negotiation of such an instrument in Vienna at the headquarters of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Subsequently, the international community adopted the UN Convention against Corruption in 2003 and came into force in 2005. The UN Convention against Corruption is the first meaningful universal instrument enacted to prevent and combat corruption with a view to networking and building on a broad international consensus. What exactly is corruption? Corruption is the misuse of public power (by elected politician or appointed civil servant) for private gain. Corruption is the misuse of entrusted power (by heritage, education, marriage, election, appointment or whatever else) for private gain. How are offering, promising and giving a bribe treated under the law? In fact, different countries have different responses to these questions, by definition as well as interpretation. In some jurisdictions, for instance, the courts may consider an oral offer of a bribe not as attempted bribery, unless the briber takes further steps. An OECD report, however, suggests that broad definitions of corruption may be one reason why prosecutions are so low. Apparently, the OECD, the Council of Europe and the UN conventions do not explicitly define corruption, but have establish a range of corrupt offences. For example, the OECD Convention establishes the offence of bribery of foreign public officials, while the Council of Europe adds trading in influence and bribing domestic public officials as well. Besides, the UN Convention covers embezzlement, misappropriation of property and obstruction of justice. In fact, one mostly-cited mystery is distinguishing illegal trading in influence from legal lobbying. The Council of Europe Convention criminalises trading of improper influence, i.e., there must be corrupt intent. The UN Convention only covers peddlers who abuse their influence. The OECD glossary notes that international definitions of corruption for policy purposes are common, and cites abuse of public or private office for personal gain as a useful example for policy development (OECD 2007). Favouritism, Cronyism and Nepotism are also immoral practices In terms of meanings, favouritism, nepotism and cronyism all involve abuses of discretion. Even though some countries do not criminalise the conduct, (Article 7 of the UN Convention against Corruption covers merit selection without even mentioning nepotism). Those violations usually involve not a direct personal benefit to an official but promote the interests of those related to the official, whether through family, political party, tribe, or religious group. In fact, a fantastically corrupt official who hires a relative (nepotism) or a friend (cronyism), does so, in exchange, not often of a bribe but of the less tangible benefit of advancing the interests of others connected to the official. Actually, the unlawful favouring of - or discrimination against - individuals can be based on a wide range of group characteristics: tribe, religion, geographical factors, political or as well as personal or organizational relationships, such as friendship or shared membership of clubs or associations. In spite of the fact that corruption is a serious economic, social, political and moral impediment to the nation building, our corrupt officials are bent on siphoning our scarce resources without a second thought. If we take a stroll down memory lane, somewhere in October 2010, the British media brought up sensational reports about how the then Vice President John Dramani Mahama, was lobbied by a British Cabinet Minister to get a reprieve for the ban imposed on Armajaro Holdings, one of the cocoa buying companies who were found guilty for smuggling the commodity out of Ghana. It would be recalled that Armajaro Company was banned together with a few other companies, when the award winning investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas exposed the smuggling of uncountable bags of cocoa into neighbouring Cote dIvoire. Shockingly, however, the British media reported that subsequent to the meeting between the then Vice President John Dramani Mahama and the British Cabinet Minister, Armajaro Company was given a needless reprieve and then started its operations. The fact of the matter is that Ghanas transgressed and incompliant politicians often get away with murder. Take, for instance, the most recent investigative work carried out by the award winning investigative journalist, Joy FMs Manasseh Azuri which exposed President Mahamas furtive gift of a brand new Ford Expedition vehicle, worth over $100,000 by the Burkinabe Contractor, Djibril Kanazoe. According to the report, the Burkinabe Contractor Kanazoe had undertaken a number of contracts which were secured through sole-sourcing and handpicking, amid allegations of president Mahamas influence. Manasseh reported that Djibril Kanazoe had over the years been bidding for contracts in the country; however he was not successful until a middleman led him to meet then Vice President Mahama. Subsequent to meeting the then Vice President Mahama, Kanazoe was handpicked to build the $650,000 Ghana Embassy fence wall in Burkina Faso. In September 2014, when officials of the Bank of Ghana met the Public Accounts Committee of Ghana Parliament (PAC), it came to light that an amount of $656, 246.48 had been spent on the construction of a fence wall over a parcel of land belonging to the Ghana Embassy in Burkina Faso. Apparently, PAC requested the Bank of Ghana to look into what it referred to as: the outrageous cost of the project. However, it came to light that the procurement process was violated to the advantage of President Mahamas Burkinabe friend. Amazingly, during an interview with Manasseh, Djibril Kanazoe admitted that he did not put in a bid for the contract, however, the Ghana Embassy in Ouagadougou wrote to his company to request price quotations for the project. He however forwarded the necessary quotes and was selected. Subsequently, the Burkinabe contractor delivered to President Mahama, the gift of a brand new Ford Expedition vehicle in 2012, the same year his company was selected, again through sole-sourcing, to execute more projects (See: Burkinabe Contractor offers controversial gift to President Mahama ; myjoyonline.com, 15/06/2015). Isnt it also strange that the late President Mills was somehow suspicious about his then Vice President Mahama over his handling of national contracts? If you may recall, in his State of the Nation Address on 19th February 2009, the late President Mills informed the Parliament that his government was looking into the decision to acquire two executive Presidential jets. The late President Mills, however, expressed his incertitude over the acquisition of the aircrafts and thus maintained: "Ghana simply cannot afford the expenditure at this time and we certainly do not need two Presidential Jets" (thestatesmanonline.com, 16/06/2016). Strangely, however, whilst the late Mills was busily delivering his crucial state of the nation address in the parliament, the Vice President John Mahama, who also happened to be the chairman of the Armed Forces Council, was blissfully entertaining delegations from Brazil and busily negotiating the acquisition of five jets, including the most expensive hangar without the knowledge of the late President Mills. Unsurprisingly, however, the late President Mills became suspicious of the whole deal and decided to put a committee together to review the deal, according to Mr Martin Amidu, the former Attorney General in the late President Mills administration. By inference, the late Mills was extremely unhappy about the deal, hence setting up a committee to investigate his then vice president Mahama. Obviously, it is an indictment on President Mahama and therefore the honest thing for him to do now is to come out and refute all the corruption allegations, not just by words, but through actions. Yes, President Mahama must do the honest thing by providing further and better particulars and give the green light to the committee set up by late President Mills to resume its work immediately without any interference. It is also worth emphasising that the manner in which the then Vice President Mahama handled the STX Housing deal which was supposed to provide affordable housing to the security agencies leaves much to be desired. Bizarrely, in spite of the fact that the deal did not materialise, the then Vice President Mahama, gave us a bill of an excess of $250 million. How strange? Moreover, after the failed deal with STX to build 30,000 housing units for the nation's security agencies, the NDC government entered into another deal with the GUMA Group, for the construction of 500 housing units. The deal which was spearheaded by President Mahama was widely criticised by various stakeholders, just as the STX deal following the decision to side-line local construction firms in favour of the foreign company. The unusually high cost of the project was also a source of concern to many. Whats more, President Mahamas handling of dubious judgment debt payments also leaves much to be desired. It is rather unfortunate that the people we have entrusted with the national coffers will somehow deem it as a matter of urgency to give gargantuan sums of money belonging to the nation to people who have no entitlement. Of course, there is nothing wrong to pay genuine judgment debts. However, I strongly believe that if President Mahamas government had handled the payments parsimoniously, the purported GH850 million judgment and settlement payments would have been brought to the barest minimum. The all-important question the discerning Ghanaians should ask President Mahama and his selfish and corrupt appointees then is: If just under eight years, you have paid dubious judgment debts in an excess of GH850 million, how much would you pay in twelve years? As a matter of fact, the traditional exemption of heads of state from prosecution despite the evidence of a case to answer is wrong, so to speak. For if the bribery and corruption; dubious judgment debt payments; stashing of national funds by some greedy opportunists and misappropriation of resources and crude embezzlement by some politicians do not warrant criminal charges, then where are we heading as a nation? All the same, the all-important question discerning Ghanaians should ask is: will the day come when Ghanas political criminals find they have nowhere to hide? For me, Ghanas 1992 Constitution has to be reviewed and the irrational and inexpedient clauses such as the indemnity clause are expunged and tossed into the dust bin accordingly. How on earth can individuals commit unpardonable crimes (gargantuan sleaze and corruptions) against the state and get away with their misdeeds? And how serious are we as a nation when we can only descend heavily on goat, cassava and plantain thieves and let go hard criminals who persistently dip their hands into the national coffers? K. Badu, UK. References: OECD (2007), Defining corruption: Glossary of International Standards for Criminalisation of Corruption, ISBN 9789264027404, OECD Observer. ( www.oecd.org ). UN (2005), The UN Convention against Corruption. www.undp.org www.myjoyonline.com Accra 5th December, 2016. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is assisting the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) to implement the Project for Enhancing Market-Based Agriculture by Smallholders and Private Sector Linkages in Kpong Irrigation Scheme (MASAPS-KIS Project) from 2016 to 2021. The Project aims to increase rice productivity and profitability, to promote a market-oriented approach to the production of rice and to develop the capacity of GIDA and the Water User Association (WUA) in scheme management oversight and water management respectively. This was made known at the Projects first Joint Co-ordinating Committee (JCC) meeting held on 29th November, 2016 at the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI) in Accra. The meeting was attended by representatives from GIDA, the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project (GCAP), the Embassy of Japan, JICA and the MASAPS-KIS Project team. Since the turn of the 21st century, JICA has had a successful cooperation with the Government of Ghana in developing the irrigation sub-sector particularly in the area of improving irrigation farming systems and farmers participation in irrigation management. Emphasizing on their continued commitment to develop the sub-sector, a Senior Representative of JICA, Mr. Norihito Yonebayashi indicated that: JICA is committed to complementing rain-fed based agriculture in the country with irrigated practices to help mitigate the impact that climate change is having on the nations agriculture output in relation to domestic rice production. This he said is to support efforts of the Government in implementing the third pillar of the Nairobi Declaration of the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) held in Kenya in August 2016 in which African Heads of State resolved to promote social stability for shared prosperity by addressing issues such as climate change. On his part, the Chief Executive of GIDA, Dr. Ben Vas Nyamadi, appreciated the continuous support that JICA has been providing to the Authority to enable her to deliver on its mandate. He also informed the JCC that: considering the vast experience JICA has in training farmers to participate in irrigation management, the training modules developed by JICA for enhancing the capacity of the WUA in Kpong Irrigation Scheme (KIS) will be utilized in training other WUAs in the remaining public irrigation schemes to enable them also efficiently utilize water for their activities as well as operate and maintain the irrigation infrastructure. The MASAPS-KIS Project will benefit over 2,500 farmers in KIS in the area of increasing their productivity and profitability of rice farming, water management, operation and maintenance of the irrigation infrastructure and enhance their marketing strategies in selling their rice. These favourable developments in the Scheme will also generate positive rippling effects on the activities of other value chain actors such as aggregators, processors and agriculture machinery service providers. On their part, GIDA will also benefit from a training programme under the project to effectively execute their new mandate of performing both regulatory and oversight roles on the management of irrigation schemes. Accra. 4th December, 2016 Odebrecht Ghana, a leading construction and engineering company has organized Prostate Cancer screening and education programme for its male staff members to mark the Prostate Cancer Awareness month. Odebrecht Ghana is relentless in its commitment to the health, safety and well-being of its staff. Last month, the company marked the Breast Cancer Awareness month by organizing an awareness programme for both male and female employees in the Accra office and the Eastern Corridor Road Project, in Yendi campsite. According to Danilo Trinchao responsible for People and Finance at Odebrecht Ghana: The health of our employees is paramount and central to our existence as a business. In view of this corporate philosophy, Odebrecht Ghana, invests well in helping their staffs prevent chronic diseases or detects them early enough so they can seek medical treatment. Mr. Trinchao reiterated that adequate awareness and education on prostate cancer, is one potent way the disease could be prevented. This realization is responsible for our decision as an organization to combine education and screening every year for our employees, he disclosed. Dr. Joseph Awuku-Asabre. a Urologist said prostate is the most common male cancer affecting one in 7,000 men in Ghana and that men who are 40 years and above are susceptive to prostate cancer and as such must screen yearly to ensure early detection of any anomaly. Odebrecht Ghana won the CSR Engineering Company of the Year at the Ghana Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Excellence Awards 2016 in Accra partly because it has a robust employee-focused health, safety and well-being policies and interventions. Odebrecht has presence in 21 countries, including Ghana. The company has diversified business activities and a decentralized structure and does business in the fields of engineering and construction, industry, and in the development and operation of infrastructure and energy projects, creating integrated and innovative solutions that serve both its clients and communities where it operates. The second round of Special Voting ended with frustration and anger as members of security agencies, journalists and some polling officers could still not cast their ballot. The names of thousands of these eligible voters could not find their names in the voters register despite assurances by the Electoral Commission. About 34,000 individuals were expected to vote in a mop-up exercise following hitches that characterised the December 1 special voting. Hundreds of eligible voters could not find their names in the special voters register compelling the EC to extend the exercise. In the Central region, Joy News correspondent, Richard Kojo Nyarko reports that some security personnel who could still not find their names in the voters register could not hold back their anger. It generated into some heated exchanges between some of the security personnel and the polling agents. The situation was no different at the Adentan Constituency and the Burma Camp where military personnel could also not find their names in the register. In the Ejisu constituency in the Ashanti region, the situation was no different. But the scarier incident occurred in Tamale where a security officer who could not find his name, threw away chairs in anger. The chance to participate in the elections is crucial, because for many of these individuals whose rights to vote is on the brink, casting their ballot is a critical national assignment. If there is another chance for me, I will vote, because if I dont vote it will worry me a lot. I wanted to vote for my country because I love my country and what is going on and what I am seeing, if I dont vote and my party loses, it will pain me a lot, one security officer who spoke to Joy News said. Another who could not vote said, I feel sad because I am a citizen of Ghana and I have the right to vote. If my daughter or son dies, it will not pain me like this. For now, hundreds, if not thousands, of eligible voters, including Peace FMs Kwami Sefa Kayi who were billed to make a second attempt at voting, stand the danger of losing the right to vote this year. My name has vanished, Sefa Kayi told Joy News Francis Abban yesterday. This is the first time in the countrys history that a Special Voting process has been held twice Meanwhile, it is not clear yet whether those who submitted their names for early voting but could not vote would be allowed to vote on election day because the Electoral Commission says special voters who missed the opportunity to cast their ballot in the extended exercise yesterday will have their names deactivated from the commissions voters list. Deputy Head of Communications at the EC Yusif Ayuba says the EC is not to blame. they cannot vote on December 7 because they will be absent voters in their original polling stations in which they are registered. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | NSA 05.12.2016 LISTEN It took me a great deal of dedication, focus, brainpower, creativity, reflection and prayers to shape this seemingly controversial issue into a master piece. It is not by accident that this article has been brought to light at this time of the year. The Bible as a dramatic allusion in 1chronicles 12:38 emphatically says that the sons of Issachar understood the times and season in which they found themselves. It is said that the only time African parents are humble is when you are teaching them how to use a smart phone. They become humble that you can even send them to bring water from the fridge. The time is always right to do what is right so I wish this submission will receive urgent responds within the shortest possible time not subject to procrastination as it was times past because a flaw is a mark of error that makes us beautiful and our mistakes are what makes us learn. Hmmm dawn has suddenly reached day, day has reached night and night cometh when no man can work anymore. Am told perfection is impossible but trying is perfect. Whatever deviates from the norm becomes abnormally and its actors become abnormal. The eyes now smells, the nose now sees and the mouth now smells and the ear now speaks. A cord of common sense has been trenched into an unknown wilderness. Ayitey powers once said ability without mentality is equal to barbarism. At first it made no sense to me but now it does. Some of us may be aspiring for leadership but the question is why do you want to lead. In Africa, the shortest route to ill-gotten wealth is political leadership. ( prof Lumumba) If you want to get wealth without working for it at all, join African politics. Too many people are in search for power, wealth and dominance claiming to have the interest and the welfare of the people at heart but in actual fact, it lies flat in the face of truth. The actions of our leaders call for the statement that, sacrifices for a politician is like white board markings on mirrors. They will be wiped with ease when a clear view of the face is sought. Be careful what you sacrifice for a politician. Therefore I urge the youth and all young men to be objective in their analysis and not to blindly allow the cycle in continuity. I hope you will agree with me that access to water supply is a fundamental need for sustenance because water is life and needed for the dignity and health of all people. Water stress applies to situations where there is not enough water for all uses. In reality, water is not available in all parts of the world and as a result, millions of people die day in day out but in the case of krachi, Water has proven to be the most important free gifted resource because it is almost an island yet water demand in Krachi exceeds supply, and as the population continuous to rise at unsustainable rates we are expected to experience this imbalance. The Global Water supply and the sanitation Assessment Report(2000) defines reasonable access to water as at least 20 litres from a source not more than 1km within the users geographical proximity which clearly suits the case of Krachi. Intermittently, we face this problem of water scarcity. Krachi has suddenly become Accra and I choose to call it the motto king business, where a Jerrica of water is being sold for one Ghana cedies. Former president J.J Rawlings paid a visit to krachi in the 90s and the paramount chief of the Krachi traditional council then Nana Obridjow the third taught it wise to present to the president the water scarcity problem of krachi. The head of state said in reply You are fortunate to have such a big river in your mouth. He was figuratively telling the mouth piece of the land to make the most out of the river we have. Heed was not paid and the cycle keeps repeating over and over. Our political leaders may look at the few structural transformation that is evident in these few days to election and think it is well. But I put it to them that growth is said to be null and void if it does not incorporate the wellbeing of the individuals. Some parts of the town has become the economy of destination which distinguishes a core and the periphery. Those at the core are able to afford the use of bottle water but the greater percentage of the lands population (periphery) cannot afford the use of such water. Perhaps the mind of our leaders have not comprehended nor have their heart conceived that the one structure reservoir cannot pump water for the entire community and should not forget that water is a flow resource and its scarcity cannot be over emphasised due to its close linkage between climate and the hydrological cycle. Until investment is made to harvest water directly from the river . The African Union Commission would like to make some clarifications, following some media reports following Moroccos request for admission to the African Union (AU). The Kingdom of Morocco officially submitted a request to join the AU in September 2016. The application was received and officially acknowledged by the AU Commission Chairperson, H.E. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. Accordingly, all 54 AU Member States have been officially informed. The Commission is still receiving the reactions of Member States. Moroccos application is, therefore, within the AU System. It is going through the internal processes and procedures of the Union, as required by the AU Constitutive Act. The Kingdom of Morocco will be further notified of the outcome. Decisions regarding the admission of a Member into the AU is the preserve of AU Member States, and not the Chairperson of the AU Commission. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo addressing the massive crowd at the NPPs final rally at the Trade Fair Centre Yesterday The New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has promised Ghanaians a corrupt-free government under him and implored the electorate to vote massively for him to win the December 7 presidential poll. I will not come into office and steal from you. I will not put all your money in my pocket. I am coming to serve you and give you honest leadership, he said at the NPP's final rally which was massively attended at the Ghana International Trade Fair Site at La, Accra, yesterday. Nana Akufo-Addo promised, If God grants us our wish, we will go there to serve you. We will bring policies that will move Ghana towards prosperity. The rally, on the theme, The Battle is the Lord's, saw tens of thousands of NPP supporters from every nook and cranny of Accra poised to show the Mahama-led administration the exit this Wednesday. Unlike other political parties which bus party members to rallies, Sunday's event saw party members going for the event on their own volition. Food vendors and persons selling party paraphernalia took advantage of the crowd to make good sales. Massive Resources Speaking passionately about his vision for the country, the NPP flag bearer told enthusiastic party supporters that Ghana has been blessed with massive resources but incompetence and corruption being exhibited by President John Mahama and his National Democratic Congress (NDC) government had stifled economic growth and thrown the nation into extreme hardship. These are hard times for Ghanaians. Parents cannot afford school fees; electricity bills are very high and everybody has been affected, but we will remove this hardship on Wednesday with our thumbs, he said. Flagship Policies He reiterated NPP's plans, including the restoration of nurses and teacher trainee allowances, introduction of free senior high school education, restore and put new life into the National Health Insurance Scheme and reinforce the adult education programme, among other things. Nana Akufo-Addo said the NPP has plans to pump an amount of $1 million into each of the 275 constituencies annually to deal with issues of basic infrastructure, including water and sanitation, introduce the Zongo Development Fund as well as the rural industrialization programme where there is going to be 'one district, one factory' for the three northern regions. Wind Of Change Within a few years, we are going to transform Ghana when we are given the mandate. The wind of change is blowing everywhere and we are taking the elephant to a historic victory, he told the teeming party faithful who incessantly made the 'change' sign. He accused President Mahama of leading his party people to engage in tribal and divisive politics saying, In these last 48 hours, the NDC are going to make libelous and defamatory statements. Don't pay heed to any of these things from the NDC. It is utter rubbish, lies and fabrication. We are going to tell them that that is not the Ghanaian way. Nana Addo said he was hopeful Ghanaians would vote for him and the NPP parliamentary candidates saying, After the election, it is going to come from Madam Charlotte Osei's own mouth that Nana Akufo-Addo is the president-elect. He assured Ghanaians that the NPP would go into the election in a peaceful manner, positing, We will tell President John Mahama that 'thank you and good bye!' Ghana Will Rise Again Former President John Agyekum Kufuor predicted victory for the NPP in Wednesday's crucial general election. He said, Ghana is going to rise again under the leadership of Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. We are at crossroads and we will do the right thing with the right leadership. He said but for the ruling National Democratic Congress truncating the forward march of Ghana, the country would have rubbed shoulders with other successful economies in the world. Using the case of Joshua in the Bible, President Kufuor noted, God has spoken. He says there is victory coming for the NPP and it is starting from Greater Accra, Eastern Region and Ashanti. We will take Brong-Ahafo and in the Central Region, I have a feeling we are taking there too. Mr Agyekum Kufuor said the NPP is the biggest party in Ghana currently and encouraged the supporters to make our numbers count in the elections. He observed that the NPP is the only party that is capable of putting Ghana first adding, It is a party of historic destiny. We used only six years to lift Ghana from extreme poverty to lower middle income status. He also said the NPP has the human resources to make Ghana better and urged Ghanaians to give them the mandate. Woyomenomics When he took his turn, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, running mate of Nana Addo, accused Mahama's NDC government of practising what he called, Wayomenomics and not proper economics (referring to the GH51.2 million paid to NDC financier Alfred Abgesi Woyome for no work done). He underscored, We are facing a defining moment in three days time on December 7, and the people of Ghana face a stark choice; it is a choice between competence and incompetence; it's a choice between corruption and incorruptibility; it is a choice between a man of vision and a man who 'cannot think far.' Dr. Bawumia added, It is a choice about the future of this country and we have to go to the polls on December 7 and leave nothing to chance. We have to go and vote and stay there; count the ballots until Nana Addo is declared the President of Ghana. Juxtaposing the achievements of the erstwhile Kufuor administration to the current government's, Dr Bawumia contended that change is inevitable because over the last four years, the NDC government under President John Mahama had demonstrated without any question that they are the most corrupt government in the history of this country and are very incompetent. Dr Bawumia, former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, said it is worth noting that the NPP in eight years with resources of only GH20 billion under ex-President Kufuor, reduced taxes and moved the country from 3.7 percent to 8 percent in economic growth. According to Dr. Bawumia, Ghanaians saw social interventions such as NHIS, National Youth Employment programme, free maternal care, school feeding programme, capitation grant, teacher training allowance, MASLOC, LEAP, Metro Mass Transit system (MMT) all in eight years with only GH20 billion under Kufuor. He continued, ..and there you have this 'edey bee keke' government after eight years they have more resources than all governments from Nkrumah to Kufuor put together. They have resources of GH248 billion but they cannot pay for NHIS, National Youth Employment, school feeding programme, free maternal care programme, teacher training allowance, nursing training allowance; mass cocoa spraying programme has collapsed and today electricity is costing more than rent. He observed, This is the government of John Mahama. That is the record and this is why we say if the NPP could build this economy with GH20 billion and you come and collapse it with GH248 billion, it shows without question that you are an incompetent government. By William Yaw Owusu & Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson A frustrated policeman collecting his voter ID card because he did not find his name. A FRUSTRATED policeman yesterday disrupted the Special Voting exercise at the Community 2 District Headquarters polling centre in the Tema West Constituency of the Greater Accra Region. The aggrieved police officer, who was not immediately identified, scattered tables being used by officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) to conduct the exercise. His reason was that he could not find his name to exercise his franchise. He was later joined by some colleagues who hurled insults at the EC officials before quickly disappearing from the scene. Officials of the commission said they were helpless when the incident was happening and had to only look on as the angry policeman physically descended on them. Unlike all the polling stations in the country, the Tema West Constituency was without a police officer to provide security at the centre. The reason was that the policeman who was on duty decided to leave the EC officials to their fate because his colleagues who visited the place were disenfranchised as a result of their missing names from the register. A presiding officer refused to comment on the issue, saying that he had written down his statement about the incident after the aggrieved security officer had left. Polling centres visited by the DAILY GUIDE in the Tema Region revealed that personnel from the security agencies were still being turned away from the polling centres. Most of the workers of the EC were seen doing little or no work at all as a result of the low turnout at the various polling stations. Tempers Tempers flared up at most of the polling centres for yesterday's second round of special voting in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, Emmanuel Opoku writes from Takoradi Aggrieved security personnel whose names could still not be found on the voters' list, engaged the electoral officers in heated verbal exchanges. They could not fathom why after the Electoral Commission (EC) had promised to rectify the hiccup that had characterized the first round of the voting, the problem still persisted. The personnel, mostly police and military officers, insisted that they registered in their respective constituencies and submitted their names for the special voting, but could not find their names on the list. A Fire Service personnel lambasting the EC official at Tema West Commander of SAWT in Tema calming tempers down They, therefore, accused the EC of deliberately omitting their names from the list but vowed that nothing could prevent them from exercising their constitutional right in the 2016 general election. Some of them who spoke to DAILY GUIDE in separate interviews, threatened to vote on December 7 before assuming duty at wherever they would be sent to. Low Turnout There was low turnout at the various polling stations across the 33 constituencies in the Eastern Region, Daniel Bampoe reports from Koforidua. The low turnout was experienced when news went round that some officers who didnt vote last Thursday still had their names missing in the voter register yesterday. DAILY GUIDE's visit to most of the polling stations in the region spotted the electoral officers on duty idling about. Some of the presiding officers noted that the security officers failed to come to the centres to cast their votes because there was news all over that their names were missing from the special voting register. At the Koforidua Galloway polling station, the Presiding Officer hinted that most of the police officers didnt have their names in the register. Commander Name Still Missing The Commanding Officer of the Sunyani Liberation Barracks in the Brong-Ahafo Region, Lieutenant Colonel Edward Awaribey, for the second time running, could not exercise his franchise because he could still not find his name in the register, according to Daniel Dayee. He was not the only one who could not cast his vote; most of his men were also not able to do so because their names were missing. Three of them who jokingly made unguarded statements found themselves in trouble as they were immediately locked up in guard room. Policeman Wanted Lance Corporal Kofi Peprah, a police officer stationed at Chereponi is wanted by the Northern Regional Police Command for allegedly disrupting the election process at the Tamale Central polling station, reports Eric Kombat. The timely intervention of other security personnel prevented electoral materials from being destroyed by the policemen whose names were not captured in the register. The Northern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Ebenezer Tetteh, who confirmed the incident to DAILY GUIDE, said a complaint had been lodged at the Northern Regional Criminal Investigations Department (CID). From Vincent Kubi, Tema Misunderstandings rocked the extended Special Voting again at many polling stations across the country yesterday, as many voters, including talk-show host, Kwame Sefa Kayi of Peace FM fame, could not exercise their franchise. There was low turnout, compared to last Thursday's, in an election for security agents, Electoral Commission (EC) staff and media practitioners, who will be on duty on Election Day December 7. The anomalies that characterized last Thursday's poll could still not be rectified by the commission. The incidence of voters being turned away because their names could not be found in the special register and for which reason the EC had to extend the exercise was still prevalent in yesterday's exercise. The EC has continuously given the assurance that it is ready to supervise 'world-class' elections on December 7, but the repeated incidence of possible disenfranchisement of voters as witnessed in the Special Voting is not convincing many that the Charlotte Osei-led election organizing body is really up to the task. It was a baptism of fire for the new EC boss, as the process was a complete mess on Thursday, leading to the holding of an emergency Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting to find a way out of the huge number of voters whose names were missing from the electoral roll. The EC, after meeting all the stakeholders, decided to extend the special exercise after it became obvious that many voters, particularly security agents, were going to be disenfranchised. The exercise was extended to ensure that the affected persons would be able to vote but it turned out to be a mess. Kotobabi, Nima At the Kotobabi Police Station, polling agents complained about many people not finding their names on the register and therefore unable to vote. I met a policeman who told me that he too was unable to vote because his name did not appear on the register, according to an election observer. The earlier voting which saw a long queue was absent when I visited the place yesterday at about 9.30 am. The scene at the Nima Police Station was not different. The officials were idle while many media persons milled around the place. The EC official there said that no new register was given to them and so persons who came with intent to vote could not do so. Out of an expected 141 or so voters, only 10 had turned up at about 9.18 am yesterday. Disappointed police personnel at the location which serves as both divisional and district headquarters of the police could not conceal their frustration. The Nima Divisional Commander, ACP Vance Gariba, was engaged in an exercise with his officers to redirect National Democratic Congress (NDC) party supporters on motor bikes to an alternative route. He did not want them to pass near the house of the standard bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, and create a problem. He certainly dreaded a repeat of the nasty scene which occurred over a fortnight ago. At the Dansoman Divisional Police Command in the Ablekuma West Constituency, there was not much activity, as the number of voters had reduced drastically. The situation at the James Town District and the Korle-Bu Police Stations in the Odododiodioo and the Ablekuma South Constituencies respectively were almost the same. Sefa-Kayi Popular broadcaster, Kwame Sefa Kayi, expressed frustration when he could not cast his ballot because his name had vanished from the list of special voters. Sefa Kayi, a multiple award-winning host of Accra-based Peace FMs morning show Kokrokoo programme, visited his designated polling centre at Community 2 in the Tema West Constituency but was disappointed. My name has vanished, he told Joy News yesterday. Its not just methere are quite a number of us here and maybe I will go and try again on Wednesday, the disappointed broadcaster indicated. Dozens of security officers, media men and even the Electoral Commissions own officials, were unable to find their names on the special voters' list, despite the second opportunity offered them. Similar problems were recorded at Amasaman, Cantonments, La Dadekotopon in the Greater Accra Region and Tamale Central in the Northern Region. EC's List The EC, in setting the rules for the extension of the Special Voting, released a total of 92,231 out of the 126,875 as voters who were able to take part in the first phase of the early voting that took place on Thursday, 1st December. The EC's Director of Communications, Eric Kofi Dzakpasu, issued a statement indicating that the figure represented 72.69 percent of total turnout on December 1, maintaining that about 34,644 voters were eligible to vote in the extended exercise. The EC gave the regional breakdown as Ashanti: 15,474 out of 19,710, representing 78.51%; Greater Accra: 16,474 out of 25,273, representing 65.18%; Volta: 9,672 out of 14,485, representing 66.77% and Central: 7,451 out of 10,358, representing 72.93%. The rest included Western: 4,747 out of 7,016 (67.66 %); Eastern: 9,286 out of 12,995, which is 71.46%, Brong-Ahafo: 10,721 out of 13,716 (78.16%); Northern: 10,245 out of 13,134 (78%); Upper East: 6,327 out of 7,254 (87.20%) and Upper West: 1,828 out of 2,934, representing 62.30%. We wish to emphasise that the above figures are provisional at this stage, the EC stated. By William Yaw Owusu My first experience of presidential election debates was the Jimmy Carter-Gerald Ford debates of that Summer of 1976. Mr Carter, a Nuclear Physicist turned Naval Commander and later, peanut farmer, reeled off statistical figures without notes, for five or more minutes at a time, making the incumbent president sound so pedestrian. Since then, I have watched all American presidential debates as well as other election debates around the world. Although the Hilary Clinton-Donald Trump debates were pretty ordinary in terms of political/economic substance, the worst election debate I have ever watched was the IEA-Ghana Broadcasting Corporation Election 2016 spectacle that was televised on the night of Wednesday, 30th November. My o my, who in the hierarchy of Ghana television selected the moderators and or sanctioned that dreadful show? After the televised presentation of the Election 2013 Election petition, some American friends commented that it was so amateurish, it was worse than a university campus television presentation - from the behaviour of some of the lawyers, through the images to the comments by some of the judges -, they thought it was pretty awful. I defended it at the time, blaming it on the power outages. Little did I know that a more spectacular disaster was in the offing! Who actually chose the moderators? That really did not require a degree in journalism? Questions at our Junior Common Room (JCR) election debates of the 1970s were a lot more searching and competitive than the question posed to the potential Ghanaian president of the last years of the second decade of the Millennium. And at the end of it the main anchor was congratulating himself and the participants for their excellent responses to the questions? Here was John Mahama whose government turned our excellent polytechnics into Mickey Mouse universities shamelessly claiming on national television that a foreign company looking for seven hundred or so welders could only find three hundred? and was allowed to make that damnable claim without a follow-up question. Surely, he and his ministers should know that the kind of welders that the company in question was looking for (at least those who train the ones that perform welding tasks) on rigs, major building sites and factories, are not trained at Makola, as some others are. Then there was the question on rice importation and by implication, agricultural production. His government has shrunk Ghanas agricultural production to one of the lowest levels since independence. Yet the president mumbled something about reducing rice importation when his government has now given the Chinese the licence to import plastic-laced rice into the country without hindrance, and he still got away with that answer. On the question of corruption, John Mahama complained about the hands of the courts being tied by lawyers. What did he really expect after appointing an Attorney-General with all the conflict of interest, in terms of her personal and party connections? How much has she got from Woyome so far? How about the president moving those ministers and other officials tainted with corruption to safety at the presidency? How about Roland Agambire and his own brother being allowed to pay back by instalment without interest, what they fraudulently took form the people of Ghana? How about all those officials who facilitated the corrupt judgement debt payments that have now been installed in cosy offices and positions? How about someone paying $42,000 per months for accommodation in Accra? I guess that is nothing compared with the kinds of fees that people are offered to destroy political opponents! Then Ivor Greenstreet waded in to say that the political parties had agreed on modalities for fighting corruption in the country. Just as well Nana Akufo-Addo was not there. I am old enough to know how political graft started in Ghana and was not in the least surprised that he spoke for the Convention Peoples Party. By far, the worst delivery of the night was when the President of the Republic looked the people of Ghana in the eye, through the cameras and lied that one drop of the blood of any Ghanaian wherever he was born or whatever his estate was not worth a price to pay for the presidency. Really, Mr president? Ghanaians have been murdered in the name of party politics at Akwatia, Agbogbloshie, and several places in the country, including some in your own constituency and others nearby. In most cases, the perpetrators have taken shelter under your shaky umbrella without so much as an invitation by the national police and you have the nerve to make such an outrageous claim? How about the lady who ploughed her tax payer-purchased 4X4 through a crowd and got rewarded with a national position? Did the president make that claim because those who have been killed or maimed so far have not been his supporters? Nana Addo, it was good that you did honour that invitation to taint your person with this mediocrity. Ghanaians know better. And Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (or was it IEA?), if you cannot find impartial, and competent interviewers who can ask sensible, searching and relevant questions, please spare us the blushes and do not expose our dear Motherland to such international ridicule. Do people still pay television licence in Ghana? For that kind of stuff? Then the very next day, it was the turn of the Ghana Police. After the bombshell of an attempted bribery of unimaginable proportions, the police could not even invite one person for questioning? Do I hear that the Ghana Police Service now has PhD lawyers? And we still spend the taxpayers money on police travels outside Ghana? What do they go out to learn, shopping and sightseeing? How can we stand for such low standards of behaviour and practices as a nation? Fellow Ghanaians, we have had enough of this mediocrity. When we go to the polling booths on Wednesday, let us resolve to end this national opprobrium by voting Mahama and his NDC party out of office. We will then serve noticed to the NPP to perform in four years or be thrown out! I am not done yet... Dear Friends, Over the past year, Odekro has written articles highlighting the worrying rate of absenteeism in Ghana's Parliament. In January last year, in a follow up to our research we petitioned the Speaker of Parliament to vacate the seats of 125 MPs and following his failure to respond to us, we asked an Accra High Court to vacate their seats in accordance with Article 97(1)(c) of the Constitution. Our latest work is a comprehensive report on the 6th Parliament of Ghana's 4th Republic to be launched in January, 2017. Part of the report focuses on MP performance hence, the MPs scorecards. We believe Ghanaians should know the performance of their MPs to enhance their ability to hold them accountable. We would appreciate that, these scorecards are shared and discussed on your medium. Our MPs Scorecards extend our analysis of MPs performance to incorporate data on MPs attendance in 2016 into our attendance record. For the first time we also measure the number of statements each MP has made in Parliament between 2013 and 2016. We believe all Ghanaian citizens must incorporate the performance of MPs in Parliament over the last 4 years into their voting decisions on December 7th. Each Scorecard has the following components: 1. Attendance Score. (Comprising 40% of the total score) We calculated each attendance score by counting the number of times each MP was present divided by the total number of sitting days (working days in Parliament). We then multiplied the dividend by 40 to produce the MP's attendance score. We weighted attendance at 40% of the total score because an MP who attends many parliamentary sittings but doesn't contribute to discussions is less effective than one who attends a few sittings but contributes to discussions, makes amendments and asks questions. b. "Red Cards" Each Red Card = 15 sittings (working days) of Parliament Absent without the Permission of the Speaker. According to Article 97(1) (c) of the Constitution if an MP is absent from 15 or more sittings without permission and can't provide a reasonable explanation to the privileges committee his or her seat should be vacated by the Speaker and a by-election held to replace him or her. 2. Contribution Score (Comprising 60% of the total score) The contribution score is calculated by counting the number of times each MP made a statement in Parliament. We then calculate the number of statements every MP made against the highest number of statement made by any single MP. Osei-Kyei Mensah Bonsu, the Minority Leader made the highest number of statements at 4446. Therefore a full 60% is 4446. We also record two subsets of the total contributions made by MPs, Number of Amendments Made and Number of Questions Asked. The Number of Amendments Made is the number of amendments each MP suggested which were accepted by Parliament and incorporated into Bills passed by Parliament. The Number of Questions Asked is the number of questions each MP asked Government Ministers during Ministers Question Time in Parliament. 3. Total Score The Total Score is computed by adding the Attendance Score and the Contribution Score. MPs are then ranked against each other using their total scores, to produce the Ranking of MPs placed by each MP's picture. What is the Source of our Data? We collected Attendance data by extracting MPs names the Votes and Proceedings document (the journal or minutes of Parliament). The document list MPs Present, Absent and Absent without Permission of the Speaker for each sitting (working) day of Parliament. Contributions data was collected by counting the number of times an MP's name appears in the column where a speaker's name is recorded on the Hansards. The Hansard is a document which records verbatim every statement made in Parliament. The questions MPs asked and the amendments they contributed were extracted from the Votes and Proceedings document. We extract all our data form documents created by the Parliamentary Service. Ghanaians can find out exactly what each MP has said by visiting www.odekro.org and searching for their MPs records. The MPs Scorecards are part of a comprehensive report on the 6th Parliament of Ghana's 4th Republic. The report and scorecards are produced with the generous support of STAR-Ghana in Collaboration with DFID, The EU and DANIDA. The full report will be launched in January 2017. Odekro receives our operational fund support from The Indigo Trust. Odekro seeks to empower citizens and to promote transparency, accountability and democratic governance through citizen action and engagement with relevant government agencies with special focus on the Parliament/Legislature of Ghana. Please follow the link to access the scorecard images of the Top 30: SCORECARDS If you have any enquiries, reach out to our Content Lead who led the research and writing of the report - Lolan Sagoe-Mosesvia [email protected] or 020 517 9686 Best regards, Nehemiah Attigah Co-Founder & Principal Lead,Odekro The long awaited list of validated DKM customers who have not received any payment of their locked up cash is to be released tomorrow, 6th December, 2016. This is according to the Registrar General's Department who is the Official Liquidator for DKM Microfinance Company. According to the Official Liquidator, the list will be posted at the various payment stations for customers to identify their names before collecting their monies. The list is expected to lay to rest the numerous concerns that have been raised by customers over the continuous failure by the Registrar General's Department to meet the numerous deadlines it had set to get the outstanding issues addressed. Meanwhile customers of DKM have told Citi Business News they are anticipating that payments are effected as scheduled. Spokesperson for some of the aggrieved customers in the Upper West region, Fred Kuuyine explained that their next line of action will largely be determined after Tuesday. If a list is out why don't you let the people have it so for now we are just waiting patiently ,like they said anytime the list is out,' he remarked. Background Thousands of customers of DKM Microfinance Company lost their investments running into millions of cedis after the owners of the company invested in unapproved venture and lost their funds. Customers of the company thronged to all the branches to withdraw their funds after the news went viral, creating panic. The Bank of Ghana confiscated the assets of the company and appointed the Registrar General's Department to commence liquidation process to refund customers of the company. By: Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana 05.12.2016 LISTEN Be careful when you hear that the lion has become a new convert and hes on his way to the Church or the Mosque. Chances are that he wants to mingle with the saints and receive baptism. Or hes so much loot ---stockpiled in his boot that would sustain him for a while. But what happens when his kitty runs empty? Would he turn on the saints, or starve himself to death for the sake of the gospel? Gordon Offin-Amaniampong looks into whats become a political tradition or custom. Historian Paul Corcoran says: The loser alone can truly congratulate the winner. It may sound easy to do but anybody who makes concession call does so with bruised feelings, crushed ambitions and misgivings. The caller may sound graceful in tone but evidently, s/he trembles in the pajamas and gowns. In January 2008 New Patriotic Partys (NPPs) flagbearer Nana Akufo Addo congratulated then president-elect John Atta Mills. He pledged to work with Professor Mills to heal and unite the divided country. It was the closest election result in Ghanas political history. Elsewhere in the United State, on Wednesday morning November 8, 2008 vice president Al Gore conceded the presidential race in a telephone call to George W. Bush then in an hour later he retracted the concession call. He called an hour ago to concede. He just called us back to retract that concession, said Karen Hughes, communications director for George W. Bush. Its unbelievable, Mr. Hughes added. I didnt do a phone call, I just sent him a telegram, said George McGovern, the 1972 Democratic nominee. The now 88 year-old-man told The New York Times that he couldnt bring himself to make the customary call to congratulate the freshly re-elected President Richard M. Nixon. He recalled: I was somewhat wiped out by the extent of the landslide. And I think from the few examples cited above one can tell that concession phone calls arent that easy. So, whatever descended upon the Gambian president Yahya Jammeh to do what he did last Friday December 2, 2016 mustve been a divine intervention. This was contrary to his previous statements that he ruled for one billion years if Allah willed. His demeanor, his tone and his pledge to work with the president-elect seemed too good to be true or sincere. Nonetheless, Jammeh himself made some allusions that suggested, he meant well and not mischief. Among other things this is what he said during his congratulatory call to his successor Mr. Adama Barrow. Its been transparent, its the will of Allah and as a Moslem I accept it in good faith the Gambian people have chosen you, said a giggling Jammeh at the State House----the seat of government. Im calling you to wish you the best. The Gambia people have spoken and Ive no reason to contest the will of the Almighty Allah. HalloEiish. Are you hearing me? Mr. Jammeh checked his phone to make sure Mr. Barrow was still on the line. I wish you all the best. The country will be in your hands in January and youre assured of my guidance on your transition and I dont mean to .but afterwards work with me Youve been elected president of the Gambia. And I wish you all the best. Ive no err ill-will and I wish you all the best... Thank you Sir, Im here with my team, said Mr. Barrow. Convey my congratulations to the entire team. Thank you very much, said Mr. Barrow. Still giggling Mr. Jammeh continued: Its been transparent, its the will of Allah and as a Moslem I accept it in good faith the Gambian people have chosen you. After 22 years I am gratitude to the Almighty Allah for that... Remember I came on the Friday 22nd of July and I lost on Friday the 2nd of December, Allah is telling me that my time is up and I hand over graciously with gratitude to the Gambian people and gratitude to the Almighty Allah to you. Thank you very much Sir... I was born on Friday the 15th of February 1965,said the president-elect. So youre a few months older than me ...all the best. I think thats why they didnt call you Old Pa, he joked amid laughter. I wish you all the best Mr. Barrow. And youve my full support. Lets make sure we work towards maintaining peace and stability because without peace and stability, let me make it clear you cannot achieve anything anywhere in Africa. Is this a real deal? Perhaps 22 years was good enough for him. Two decades and two years was perhaps more than enough to get his barn filled: He probably filled the pockets of his cronies to the brim and horded as much as possible to sustain himself, his family, friends and loved ones. But youve got to understand, the greed never gets full and never gets satisfied with his loot or bootyuntil hes forced away either by the ballot, by the bullet or by any means necessary. Surprisingly he Mr. Jammeh got stretchered off in a Wheel Barrow. Mr. Adama Barrow an estate developer (was a security guard at an Argos catalogue store in London according to BBC) from a remote village in the eastern market town of Basse defeated Mr. Yahya Jammeh. Weeks before the presidential election hed cut power and internet service to the people an indication that hed no good intensions of relinquishing power or accepting defeat should that happen. There are several if not many African leaders whove perpetuated their stay in office. It was against that backdrop, many feared the former military leader could do the same. But his announcement on Friday December 2, took the world by surprise and disbelief. And I think this is a real deal. He is not coming back. Mr. Jammeh had had enough of the booty. Hes gotten enough to take care of his third generation... I also suspect that his action mustve been influenced or masterminded by the west, particularly the Great Britain. I think the former colonial master mustve had a hand in Jammehs peaceful exit and gracious concession. I can speculate a warning was issued to the authoritarian leader. You exit peacefully or wed come after you and freeze all your booty and loot (assets). In that case hed rather leave and keep his loot than let the Brits or the west pulls his tail. Thus even when his kitty runs empty the wild dogs would keep the gate watched. And trust me hed dare not stage a comeback. Thing is once you take the bait from the imperialists youre done. And probably the whole world received the news with some shred of doubt. They werent sure whether the controversial former military leader who one time claimed hed discovered a herbal cure for HIV AIDS---the deadly disease was sincere in his concession call to the president-elect Mr. Barrow. Atlas Obscura writer Sarah Laskow says: Nobody likes making concession phone call. She wrote that in the 2102 election, President Obama unsmiling...and slightly irritated when it was over, reportedly didnt even enjoy receiving the call from Mitt Romney then Republican presidential candidate. Mr. Jammeh took power on Friday July 22 1994. He was elected president in 1996 and got re-elected in 2001, 2006, and 2011. He ruled the tiny Gambia for 22 years and lost it on Friday December 2, 2016. His successor Adam Barrow is from a small village near the eastern market town--- Basse. He was born on Friday February 15 1965. Was it a sheer coincidence or it was destined to happen? If you perch too long like a bird you get shot unprepared and unaware, says author Gordon Offin-Amaniampong. Ironically the former military leader got shot not with a bow and arrow but by his main contender Mr. Barrow. Obviously, when the time is up it doesnt matter any longer where one have his back thrust: It could be the most formidable walls or perhaps surrounded by the most powerful comrades on earth. Meanwhile, I thought it would be appropriate to meet with the out-going president since Im in Banjul, the Gambias capital city. And I also think I will be able to get a few lingering questions answered. GOA: Good afternoon Your Excellency. How are you coping with the loss? Mr. Jammeh: Thanks GOA. What can I say I think its all well and good. I also believe that things happen for either good or bad reason. But I think my loss is Allahs will. At age 51 what else do I need? Remember I was only 29 when I assumed power. GOA: Mr. President, I think you meant when you seized powerRemember that was a military coup. Mr. Jammeh: Well youre right. GOA: So tell me, were you somewhat pressured by the west to concede defeat and if true what kind? Mr. Jammeh: I dont think I would like to talk about that now maybe sometime in future. I think Gambians have voted for a change. Theyve chosen a new leader and Im gratitude to Allah for everything. GOA: Weve seen the likes of Buhari of Nigeria come back and even my own former president Jerry John Rawlings when he handed over power in 1979 to a democratically-elected government but two and half years later he overthrew then Limann-administration. Whats your take on that? Mr. Jammeh: Hell no. Look at the shape of my mouth my brother Im not coming back. Allah would punish me if I dare. Let me once again use this opportunity to tell my people that Im not coming back. GOA: So what next? What are you going to do when you leave the State House? Youre still a young man. Mr. Jammeh: I like farmingbut Ill consider other things too. Insha Allah life will be ok after office. GOA: Thanks for your time and Goodluck to you! A cheque of Malagasy Ariary 119 million (equivalent to US$37,530) was handed over by Ambassador of India to President of the Senate Government of Madagascar on 28 November 2016 at an event held at Senate of Madagascar for the supply of office equipment to the Senate. The Senate of Madagascar has thanked the Government of India for the assistance. Madagascar and India enjoy cordial bilateral relations. We have recently re-invigorated our bilateral ties with Madagascar with the first high level visit in several years with the visit of Minister of State for Finance Shri Santosh Gangwar in October 2015. A business delegation is scheduled to visit Madagascar in the middle of December 2016 to explore possibilities of expanding economic relations. At the 3rd India Africa Forum Summit in October 2015, India had committed to work with Africa to realize the shared vision of a prosperous Africa, based on inclusive growth, empowered citizens and sustainable development; an integrated and culturally vibrant Africa; and, a peaceful and secure Africa, which has its rightful global place and is a strong partner for the world. We are committed to working with African countries including, Madagascar, as a reliable development partner. The Director of Africa Bilateral and Economic Relations at the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), Mr Lebogang Makoloi says Algeria is a strategic country for South Africa. Makoloi was speaking on the sidelines of the African Investment and Business Forum currently underway in Algiers, Algeria. According to Makoloi, Algeria has been South Africas largest trading partner in the North Africa region accounting for 43% of SAs total trade with North Africa in the past five years from 2011 to 2015. One of the objectives of this forum is to facilitate intra-Africa trade which speaks to the African Unions agenda of 2063. South Africa has been championing a developmental integration agenda which rests on three pillars: market integration by promoting more intra-Africa trade, industrialisation by building more productive capacity, and infrastructure development. We want to see many South African companies investing in Algeria as the country is opening up for opportunities, said Makoloi. The Algeria Ambassador to South Africa, Mr A-EL-N Belaid said there were important opportunities for strengthening bilateral economic relations in all sectors and there was an opportunity to effectively promote bilateral economic relations in Africa. He added that Algerian economic actors were open to their South African counterparts. The South African delegation is the biggest in this business forum and that is an indication of our commitment to doing business with South Africa, said Belaid. He highlighted that the Algerian government wanted the South African businesspeople to participate in the business forum because of the historical relationship that the two countries have. Belaid also urged South African companies to maintain contact with the partners they will meet with during the forum and utilise the services of the embassies to do that. Algeria is historically committed to Africa. We are proud of belonging to this continent. You are out brothers and sisters, let us work together, he added. The political campaigns of the 2016 Ghanaian Presidential and Parliamentary Elections are in its final days. Wednesday, December 7, is that all-important, soon-to-be historic day. December 7, 2016 will go down in history as the day Ghanaians voted to elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as President, and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as Vice President of the Republic of Ghana. For the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia ticket, the December 2016 Elections would be the third attempt at the Presidency following previous attempts in 2008 and 2012. Never in the history of Ghana has a candidate been as well groomed for the Presidency as Ghanaians have it in Nana Akufo-Addo. Son of a former President, a former Member of Parliament, a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, twice-defeated Presidential Candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo is again asking Ghanaians to give him a chance at the presidency. Nana Akufo-Addo has seen the workings of the Presidency up close enough to know that it is not for the timid, not for the indecisive, not for the corrupt, and certainly not for those who cant think far. As a candidate who has experienced two previous narrow defeats, he has a deeper appreciation than most of the worth of the Presidency and the responsibilities that go with it. Perhaps, it is this deep appreciation of the enormity of the responsibilities of the Presidency that for three times in a row, he has chosen as his running-mate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. A highly reputable Economist, Dr. Bawumia is a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana. A presidential ticket does not get any more superbly qualified than this. When all the talking has been done, when all the speeches have been made, when all the handshakes have taken place, what remains is that onerous duty of the Ghanaian voter to cast his or her vote in accordance with his or her aspirations for self, family and country. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo believes in YOU. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo believes in GHANA. Ghana will work againfor ALL Ghanaians. The battle ahead will not be easy. But that battle is not yours to fight. The Battle is still the Lords. Yours is to Vote for your future and that of your children. Fellow Ghanaians, LETs MAKE IT HAPPENto the Glory of God. We believe in Ghana. Gilbert Adu Gyimah Director of Communications, NPP/Canada [email protected] www.nppcanada.org Tel: 587-708-9915 / 289-627-7557 Prince William Ankrah, General Secretary of Ghana Mineworkers Union, has called on government to, as a matter of urgency, revive the Prestea Sankofa Gold Mine. According to him, workers of the only state gold mine have not been paid for the past five months. Mr. Ankrah, who disclosed this while speaking at the Mineworkers Union National Executive Council meeting in Accra recently said, We are calling on the government to intervene expeditiously to save the mine from total collapse. He said the mining sector is now faced with many challenges, stating that the cost of borrowing continues to disadvantage Ghanaian businesses, particularly those in the mining sector, which often requires huge capital outlay. Indeed, while their foreign counterparts are borrowing between zero percent and five percent to do the same businesses, Ghanaian businesses are borrowing over 30 percent, and that certainly is a very challenging pedestal to begin from, he added. Mr. Ankrah said competition in the sector is also lopsided and unhealthy. This, he said, was due to the dominance of foreign multinational companies in the sector. He said, It is imperative to take a closer look at Ghanaian-owned mining businesses and prescribe deliberate affirmative interventions that would not only make Ghanaian mining businesses competitive but also insulate them from the fierce pressure and competition from their foreign counterparts. To this end, Mr. Ankrah said a local content law akin to that currently being used in the oil and gas sector would be very helpful for the mining sector. Additionally, we must also make access to capital readily available, accessible and cheap for these businesses. We must also institute clear-cut growth pipelines for these Ghanaian-owned mining businesses to enable them perform and transition into large-scale mining conglomerates in the long run, he added. Mr. Ankrah called on government to intervene swiftly to save Ghanaian businesses in the sector. By Cephas Larbi [email protected] President John Dramani Mahama has charged the presidential candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, to stop jumping from one radio station to the other and debate him (Mahama) to prove his capabilities to Ghanaians. According to the president, normally it is the opposition party that calls for debate and not the president. Opana is running away from debating me and rather going round radio stations speaking his slang English, the president said. President Mahama has dared Nana Addo to face him one-on-one if he knows his (Nana's) policies are credible, instead of going on radio alone and speaking slangs. Addressing National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters in Tamale, the Northern Regional capital, President Mahama said he was faced with three challenges when he became president namely, the economy, power crisis, social and economic infrastructure, which he claimed had all been fixed by the NDC government. President Mahama disclosed that the power crisis has been fixed and that today Ghana has more power supply than the country consumes. Government has been able to provide several communities in the country with portable water and electricity, roads, educational facilitates and health infrastructure, he asserted. President Mahama, who is the flag bearer of the NDC, said his government had invested heavily in infrastructure, making Ghana better than the United States in terms of infrastructural development. He assured the electorate that his government is committed to fast-tracking the Eastern corridor road project and that the contactors are making headway with the construction. Economy He stated that Ghana's economy is growing and that it is the second largest (economy) in West Africa, even bigger than that of Cote d'Ivoire. According to him, Ghanaian's economy is worth $38 billion while Cote d'Ivoire's is $32 billion. Job Creation He assured the Ghanaian youth of job opportunities in 2017 to enable them to work and put money into their pockets. He explained that the Tamale Airport would have a cargo village to export fresh fruits and other vegetables to Europe and other countries. A farmer service center, he claimed, would be created in Kumbungu to provide jobs in agriculture and agribusiness for the youth. Youth Employment Agency According to the president, the National Youth Employment Agency (YEA) would from 2017 employ 400,000 youth into the scheme throughout the country. Electoral Commission President Mahama claimed that the NPP is creating unnecessary tension to discredit the Electoral Commission (EC), using empty sacks with an EC logo on them and claiming they were found in an NDC chairman's house. He noted that Ghana's electoral process is one of the best in the world, adding that the December 7 elections would be transparent, free and fair and that he is prepared to accept defeat because he has done his best. FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale The Ashanti regional police command has said the purported bags of thumb-printed ballot papers found in a hotel in Kumasi are fake. He described the noise as irresponsible, unnecessary and uncalled for. COP Kofi Boakye said at a press conference Monday that the Electoral Commission has inspected the said papers and they are not genuine. He said the Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Serebour Quarcoo, has also confirmed the outcome. He [Quarcoo] came saying it was not part of the materials which means they are fake, the police capo said. Reports were rife Monday that the law enforcement agency had intercepted three bags loaded with materials reported to be thumb-printed presidential ballot papers at the Madison Hotel at TUC in Kumasi. According to DCOP Boakye, none of the papers had serial numbers. The three bags have since been deposited at the Kumasi Central Police station for further investigations. The Electoral Commission has moved to calm the frustrations of early voters who could not cast their ballot in the special voting exercise, explaining they may get another chance. These voters were unable to vote possibly because their names were not transferred from the general voters register to the special voting list. The Head of the EC's Communications Eric Kofi Dzakpasu explained this on Joy FM's Super Morning Show Monday. For example, a voter like popular broadcaster Kwame Sefa Kayi who feared he was disenfranchised can vote after all, Mr Dzakpasu noted. Kwami Sefa Kayi, host of Peace FM Morning Show Kokrokoo, complained he could not find his name at the Tema Community 2 polling station in Tema West constituency of the Greater Accra region. 'My name has vanished,' he told Joy News on the second day of special voting Sunday after he first encountered the problem on the first day of special voting last Thursday, "It's not just me...there are quite a number of us out here and maybe I will go and try again on Wednesday," the disappointed Broadcaster indicated. Several thousands of security officers, journalists and even the electoral commission's own officials were unable to vote early. The special voters are early voters who by their professional categories cannot vote on the general election day December 7. They are journalists, health professionals and security officers whose services are deemed essential on voting day hence the early opportunity. But explaining the cause of the hitches, EC Communications Director Eric Kofi Dzakpasu chalked it down to the improper transfer of the names of these professionals from the general voters register to the special voting register. In the case of the Peace FM broadcaster, the National Media Commission was responsible for transferring special voting staff of media organisations to the EC. Kofi Dzakpasu suspects, Kwami Sefa Kayi's name never made it to the EC. "One, maybe in the compilation [by the NMC] his name was omitted in the final list that came to the Electoral Commission" "Two, the name came maybe with inadequate information, that is, the ID card number and your polling station code" "Or three, it came with all this information but were not accurate" "Or finally it came but in the keying process [by the EC], there was an error in the input He said one of these four reasons could explain why a qualified voter who has applied to be a special voter could not find his name on the register. He explained that all these affected persons have no cause to worry because their names will be transferred back to the general voters register. It means they can vote in the December general elections Wednesday. He assured the Peace FM presenter that he has no cause to fear disenfranchisement. "With all respect, Kwami's name did not vanish. His name is in the register. His name did not appear on the special voters list so he couldn't have voted". "So on Wednesday, his name will be on his register in his polling station", Eric Kofi Dzakpasu stressed. Listen to audio Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com|[email protected] On December 1, 2016, President Xi Jinping held talks at the Great Hall of the People with President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone. The two heads of state decided to upgrade China-Sierra Leone relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and take the implementation of outcomes of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) as an opportunity to comprehensively expand and deepen bilateral friendly as well as mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, so as to better benefit the two peoples. Xi Jinping pointed out that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries 45 years ago, both sides have shared mutual respect, equality, mutual trust, mutual benefit and win-win results as well as understood and supported each other on issues concerning respective core interests and major concerns. Having withstood the test of times and international vicissitudes, bilateral relationship remains unshakable and becomes even firmer as time goes by. Both sides should consolidate political mutual trust and safeguard common interests. China is willing to enhance personnel exchanges with Sierra Leone in various fields including government, political party, legislative institution, army and local government. Both sides should deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and promote common development. China encourages domestic enterprises and financial institutions to actively engage in infrastructure building and mineral exploitation in Sierra Leone for mutually beneficial cooperation so as to promote Sierra Leone's industrialization and sustainable self-development, as well as stands ready to support the country to develop agriculture and improve its capability of ensuring food safety. The two sides should strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges as well as mutual friendship. China is willing to enhance communication and cooperation with Sierra Leone in such areas as culture, education, health, tourism, media, think tank, youth and women, actively carry out joint study on diseases, and support the country to strengthen the building of its public health system and capacity in the area. Both sides need to strengthen international cooperation and coordination to maintain unity in Africa. China is ready to reinforce communication and coordination with Sierra Leone in UN affairs, climate change, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, African peace and security and other major international and regional issues to jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries. Xi Jinping stressed that China is delighted to see Africa's self-enhancement through unity and the rapid development of its integration process. China will adhere to its Africa policy featuring sincerity, practical results, affinity and good faith and the correct viewpoint of righteousness and benefit, comprehensively implement the outcomes of the FOCAC Johannesburg Summit and closely combine its own development with assisting Africa's sustainable self-development, so as to achieve win-win cooperation and common development. Ernest Bai Koroma expressed that China is a true and trustworthy friend of Sierra Leone. China took the lead in the international community to aid Sierra Leone during the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic in 2014 when it needed help the most. He would like to once again express sincere thanks to President Xi Jinping, the Chinese government and people. The people of Sierra Leone can deeply feel the friendship of the Chinese people. Sierra Leone firmly upholds the one-China policy and admires China's development outcomes. The country stands ready to strengthen cooperation with China in various fields and well implement the 10 major cooperation plans proposed by President Xi Jinping at the FOCAC Johannesburg Summit, so as to push bilateral and Africa-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnerships for continuous and in-depth development. Sierra Leone is willing to intensify communication and cooperation in international affairs and enhance mutual support with China. After the talks, the two heads of state witnessed the signing of bilateral cooperation documents covering diplomacy, economy, infrastructure construction, health and other areas. Before the talks, President Xi Jinping held a welcoming ceremony for Ernest Bai Koroma at North Hall of the Great Hall of the People. Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Arken Imirbaki, State Councilor Yang Jiechi, Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Li Haifeng and others were present. Sudan is a strategic player in regional equilibriums: a stabler Sudan means more peace and stability in Sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa, said Foreign Minister Gentiloni at the end of the meeting with his Sudanese counterpart, Ibrahim A. Ghandour, on the sidelines of the Rome MED 2016 conference. He added: We want to cooperate even more actively in supporting Sudan, as it hosts more than two million refugees, and in combating illegal migrations together. Minister Gentiloni also confirmed Italys willingness to open a constructive dialogue to overcome the Countrys deep internal divide and thus facilitate relaxing tensions with the international community. The two ministers also discussed the crises in Libya, Syria and Yemen, in addition to the perspective of strengthening bilateral relations. Ambassador-Designate to Libya, Giuseppe Perrone, and the Special Envoy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Libya, Giorgio Starace, travelled to Tripoli and Misrata today while a delivery of 3 tonnes of medicines and medical aids carried by an Italian Air Force C-130 was being made to the two Libyan cities. The material is destined for the military hospital in Tripoli and the civilian hospital in Misrata. It will allow basic care to be provided to around 10,000 people for 3 months and specific treatments to be given to 100 war-wounded people. This is the sixth shipment of medicines made to Libya by the Italian Cooperation service since the beginning of the year and it is worth a total of 2.5 million euros. The initiative is part of a multifaceted support plan for the Libyan State which, in addition to supplying healthcare materials and medicines, provides for the transport and treatment of Libyans injured while fighting Daesh in Libya. In the Libyan capital, Ambassador Perrone and Special Envoy Starace met Deputy Prime Minister Maitig and Foreign Minister Siyala. During the meetings Italy reiterated its support for the Presidential Council and the Government of National Accord in the Country's stabilisation process. In Misrata, Ambassador Perrone and Special Envoy Starace were received by the local authorities, who expressed appreciation for Italy's continued support to Libya. Before leaving the city, the Italian delegation met staff working in the "Hippocrates Task Force" field hospital. On this day in 2013, the first President of a free and democratic South Africa, President Nelson Mandela passed on, leaving behind a rich legacy of building a dynamic young nation, from the ashes of apartheid. President Mandela taught us to unite and to love and respect one another as South Africans. He also taught us to build friendly relations with our neighbours and the international community as a whole. A lot of good work has been done towards building a truly united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa. The road ahead remains long and full of challenges given the unending economic slowdown globally and locally and the need to continue building a better life for and with our people. There is indeed a lot more hard work to be done, as we move towards the ideal society he envisaged when he said let there be bread, water and salt for all. Today, on the anniversary of Madibas sad passing, let us recommit ourselves to unity, and to working together to build our country, regardless of whatever political differences we may have. Let us work harder than ever, to make South Africa a success story that generations to come will be proud of. Abuja, Nigeria, December 2, 2016 Researchers, policy-makers and development partners converge in Abuja, Nigeria, for the 11th African Economic Conference (AEC) from December 5-7, 2016, to share ideas on topical African development issues including how to end hunger and ensure food security in Africa. About 300 participants are expected to attend the annual event co-organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) on the theme, Feed Africa: Towards Agro-Allied Industrialization for Inclusive Growth. The meeting will be officially opened by Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina; Acting ECA Executive Secretary, Abdalla Hamdok; UN Assistant Secretary General and Director of UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa, Abdoulaye Mar Dieye. This central theme is in line with the current African and global development agenda. Tackling poverty, hunger and food insecurity are central concerns of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) endorsed in September 2015 by UN member States. The theme also builds on the African Union Agenda 2063 which underscore the right of Africans to be well-nourished and lead healthy and productive lives. Furthermore, the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP), as well as the June 2014 Malabo Declaration emphasise the centrality of a structural transformation of African agriculture to growth and poverty eradication on the continent. In consonance with these goals, agriculture and industrialization are at the heart of the core activities of AfDB, ECA and UNDP and their vision and long-term strategy for a prosperous and inclusive Africa. This theme is timely and in line with the current African and international development agenda. Ending poverty and overcoming hunger and food insecurity permanently are the first and second, respectively, of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Participants at the African Economic Conference will be challenged to investigate the situation in which, despite overall macroeconomic growth and improved broad governance across the continent, Africa still has the highest rates of poverty and hunger in the world. No fewer than 230 million of the 795 million people suffering from chronic undernourishment globally live in Africa, resulting in the highest prevalence of undernourishment worldwide. The African Economic Conference provides a unique platform to assess these challenges and the impact of current growth strategies in Africa; focusing on the agricultural and industrial sector. Participants will discuss successes, lessons learned and identify remaining gaps, challenges and emerging issues on the topic. The conference will encompass in-depth presentations of policy-oriented research by both established academics and emerging researchers from the continent and beyond, who will debate and recommend policy options on how to accelerate Africas agricultural and industrial transformation. After three days of intensive deliberations and brainstorming, the Conference is expected to come up with mechanisms for a sustainable inclusive green and scale agro-industry appropriate for a continent which is home to 600 million hectares of uncultivated arable land, roughly 60 percent of the global total. CD'S COMMENT: In public affairs, whenever an office-holder's integrity is impugned by someone else, the person accused of wrong-doing either resigns, or refutes the allegations made against him and then SUES the originator of the defamation in court for damages. MARTIN AMIDU, former AG of Ghana, has, over the past few weeks, made specific allegations about corruption against our sitting President and NDC candidate for the president, Mr John Dramani Mahama. The statement posted below reiterates some of these allegations and introduce new ones. These are extremely serious allegations which even countries like Brazil or South Korea would NOT ignore if made against imporrtant office-holders. How can they be ignored when made in Ghana? They are ignored because we are among the sm8uggest, snobbiest fools God ever created. People would much rather dismiss Amidu as a jilted NDC motivated by jealousy than spare a minute to examine the allegations he's making. And as for the SMART-ALECS among us who think they know the law, it will never occur to them to ask the simple question: IF THE ALLEGATIONS ARE NOT TRUE, WHY HASN'T MAHAMA SUED AMIDU? This complacency on the part of the elite is what made ordinary people so cynical that they supported students to march in the streets chanting LET THE BLOOD FLOW! It was not a Biblical prophet but an ordinary philosopher, George Santayana, who said that those who refuse to learn from their own history are cursed to relive it. If we do, it will be well-deserved. And please rememeber that when the other ranks of our armed forces indulged in revenge killings and other barbaric practices such as "Eye hannn! Eye kanea!", a lot of innocent citizens were affected. Here is Amidu's latest swipe at Mahama: Mahama diverted $13m E.O. funds meant for Western Region - Amidu The entire Ablekuma South constituency went gay yesterday when the parliamentary candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Jerry Ahmed Shaib decided to embark on a health walk. Dubbed the 'Kalyppo Victory Walk', it saw many constituents in attendance sipping their now favourite Kalyppo fruit juice. At 6am, people had begun converging at Chorkor, the starting point. By 7am, the train of red, white and blue wearing party faithful had started moving; walking through the principal streets of Chorkor, Mamprobi and Korle Gonno amidst singing and dancing alongside blurring music from mounted sound system in a truck. Everywhere they passed, people came out of their homes to cheer the crowd on doing the now famous 'change' sign, with the numbers swelling by the minute. There was free sharing of Kalyppo fruit juice at the beginning of the walk and at the end of it. After a long day's walk throughout the constituency, the walk finally came to an end at which former Mayor of Accra, Stanley Nii Adjiri Blankson and the parliamentary candidate took turns to address the charged crowd. Overwhelmed by the numbers that turned up for the event, Jerry Shaib thanked each and every one of the participants for their time and energy. From what he saw, the candidate said he was optimistic of victory come Wednesday, December 7, 2016 when the country heads to the polls to elect parliamentarians and a president. Jerry, who has suddenly won the hearts of many in the constituency, said he was unfazed by the freebies being shared by his main contender, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Accra. For him, he was more concerned about helping his constituents to improve their living conditions and not to take undue advantage of them. On his part, former Mayor of Accra, Adjiri Blankson urged the rank and file of the party to rally around the flag of the NPP to secure the victory they so desire while asking them not to pay heed to those working against the party. For him, such persons do not have the party and the nation at heart hence their resort to 'pull him down' attitude. He thus urged Ghanaians to help vote against President Mahama and his incompetent National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration. By Charles Takyi-Boadu A sub-chief of the Atebubu Traditional Area, Nana Boakye Yiadom, has asked all his subjects not to vote for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate of the area, Sanja Nanaja. At a press conference yesterday, Nana Boakye Yiadom said the constituents should vote against Sanja Nanja who disrespected the queen mother of Atebubu Traditional Area, Afia Donyinaa II, and for that matter the overlord of Atebubu. The insults hurled at the queen mother sometime ago by Sanja Nanja are still fresh in our minds so an eligible voter on my land who makes an attempt to vote for the MP for the area would be banished, he said. Communities under his jurisdiction include Old and New Boniafo. From Daniel Y Dayee, Atebubu [email protected] The opposition New Patriotic New Patriotic Party (NPP) has expressed grave concern about the way in which the Electoral Commission (EC) handled the Special Voting reserved for security agents, EC staff and media practitioners who will be on duty on December 7. Acting NPP General Secretary John Boadu, who released the statement yesterday, bemoaned the EC's approach in solving the emerging problems. They were avoidable and bizarre errors that had compelled the commission to embark on an unprecedented second day of special voting. He said the NPP had received information from credible sources within the commission that there might be a grand scheme to adjourn the general elections beyond Wednesday, December 7, saying that would be a total disaster. We will demand from the EC to give the greatest assurance to the nation by Monday that there will be no adjournment of polls after 5pm on December 7, he said. He said the second day of voting is a probable plot to create confusion and avenues for manipulating the general elections, saying We have read reports where security personnel, professionals trained in the art of discipline are expressing violent anger over their names been missing, frustrating them from voting. We do not want to imagine how bad things could get if this was repeated on December 7. We need the greatest assurance from the EC that this mess shall not be revisited on us on Wednesday. Mr Boadu, who is also the Director of Operations of the NPP campaign, stated that the EC presented us with the complete register a while back, but it did not come up with the special lists, as well, as required by law. It took them days after our persistent requests before they supplied us with what we thought was the full lists of the Special Voters, Proxies etc. To our surprise, this was not the case as they kept updating the lists even after that, ending with this mess. He said, We will not accept any situation where this mess is carried into the main voting exercise on Wednesday. Everything must be done for every voter who shows up at the polling station before 5pm to vote. Again, nothing must be done to allow those who voted early or were listed to vote early to vote. We will not entertain any situation where the mess is carried forward to December 7. By William Yaw Owusu LAGOS, Nigeria, 5 December, 2016,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/- Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a leading pan-African multilateral development finance institution and project developer, has this week signed a MoU with Moroccan bank Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) to increase collaboration on financing vital infrastructure projects in North and Sub-Saharan Africa. A delegation from BCP, headed by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Mohamed Benchaaboun, visited Nigeria for the signing of the agreement on Thursday at the AFC offices. AFC proactively finances and develops much-needed infrastructure projects across the continent, including in North Africa. In 2012 the corporation financed the purchase of crude oil for refining into petroleum products by SAMIR, at that time the national refinery of Morocco, in an effort to develop the country's downstream industry. To date the Corporation has invested over US$4 billion in projects across 26 African countries and in a wide range of sectors including power, telecommunications, transport and logistics, natural resources, and heavy industries. Andrew Alli, CEO of AFC, said: "Africa's huge infrastructure investment gap is estimated to be approximately US$90 billion every year for the next decade. While the need for financing is acute, strong returns for investors exist in African infrastructure. "Partnerships such as these open up Africa's infrastructure opportunity to more international investors and the sharing of expertise will contribute to devising innovative financing solutions for the infrastructure projects that will drive Africa's economic growth in the future." Mr. Mohamed Benchaaboun of BCP also commented: "We are delighted to be signing this agreement in Lagos today. We hope to work very closely with AFC in the future to identify potential financing targets and to collaborate on opportunities for trade finance risk sharing, particularly important when it comes to infrastructure projects. Our joint aim is for this to be a partnership that benefits not only Morocco but countries across the continent." AFC, along with various development partners, recently launched the Africa Infrastructure Development Association to be the voice of the private sector project developer community. The initiative recognises the importance of mutual collaboration to bring about successful financing and project development solutions for infrastructure projects across the continent. BCP is a Morocco-based bank engaged in the provision of financial products and services. Its portfolio includes accounts, cards, credit facilities, insurance and investment management. Its products are targeted at individuals, professionals and businesses. It has been a year since MTN got its 4G license, and they are already in talks with other 4G players in the country for partnership. The telecoms market leader was the only company which won one of the two 800MHz spectrum slots at US$67.5million on December 2, 2015. Four companies paid a non-refundable fee of GHC250,000 each to participate in an auction for those spectrum pair, but the other three did not even show up so MTN became a default winner of one. MTN deployed the service exactly six months after winning the license, as it promised, and has since spread 4G to all regional capitals across the country and to some key selected towns, with an initial investment of US$18 million for 2016 alone. Partnership Whereas MTN boasts of having "the widest 4G coverage in Ghana, and one of the widest in Africa in less than one year", the company said it is already talking partnership with all the Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) license holders who also offer 4G LTE services on the 2600MHz spectrum band. In response to a questionnaire from Adom News in commemoration of the first anniversary, MTN said "we are open to partnerships with all interested parties and we continue to engage all BWAs in the best interest of the industry." But some telco executives have recently hinted that their pursuit of partnerships with BWAs ran into a roadblock because the industry regulator, National Communications Authority (NCA) is not allowing it. MTN however said "Where there is value in partnering, MTN will seize the opportunity subject to regulatory approval where required." Adom News has independently confirmed from at least the leading BWA licensee, Surfline, that indeed they met with the MTN CEO and talked about how they can leverage on each other's strengths to expand 4G. Surfline and the other BWAs like Blu, Broadband Home (BBH) and Goldkey got their licenses for only US$6million each; but they have been struggling for the past four years to expand coverage and to meet the five-year deadline to provide service in 60 per cent of all district capitals. The biggest among them, Surfline is pretty much in Accra and parts of Takoradi, while Blu and BBH are only in pockets of Accra and Goldkey has not even started commercial service. The BWAs licenses allow them to offload up to 30 per cents shares to external investors. The telcos, like MTN, which are largely foreign-owned and have the infrastructure and the financial muscle, have showed interest in the 30 per cent. Shares Speaking of shares, there is a regulatory requirement on MTN to also offload 35 per cent shares in its company to Ghanaians after acquiring the 4G license. This is expected to the done either via the an open public offer or a private placement on the Ghana Stock Exchange, or any other legal means within the next one month. It has been one year and MTN said they are still going through the regulatory process with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the NCA to make it happen sooner than later. Customer Experience But how has customer experience been like in the first six months of MTN 4G? Everyone MTN 4G customer Adom News spoke with, described the service as simply great, except it is a bit more expensive than the other 4G services. One avowed user of MTN 4G LTE is KofiTV, arguably the biggest Facebook live television channel in the country. KofiTV has used MTN 4G to cover major political and national events, covered big breaking news stories and also done very gripping live interviews across the country over the last few months. Founder and CEO of KofiTV, Kofi Adomah told Adom News "MTN 4G is simply the best." According to him, he started running KofiTV with another 4G services and later tried another one, but both gave him coverage limitations and frequent service interruptions, but since he switched to MTN 4G Mifi, the live streaming has been smooth no matter the location. He said KofiTV is even able to split the screen and show pre-recorded footage and or live feed from other cameras, and also do live Facebook calls simultaneously and yet face no service interruptions. "With MTN 4G I have been able to do live KofiTV from Kumasi, Sunyani, Cape Coast and other parts of the country without any interruption and I think that is really great," he said. Kofi Adomah also said on the other 4G networks he did not have coverage at home, but MTN 4G gives him coverage at home and he is able to work from home as well. "I consume a lot of data on KofiTV and I noticed that MTN 4G is a little more expensive than the two others I tried earlier but I prefer it to the others because it is by far the best in terms of service quality and coverage," he said. Kofi said he was even willing to bring MTN 4G on board as a sponsor of KofiTV because of the great experience, but MTN is yet to respond to his invite. Expansion Speaking of coverage and experience, MTN is assuring existing and potential customers that between 2017 and 2019 it will embark on a steady expansion of 4G across the country to ensure more people have access. "We have plans to expand the coverage to reach more areas in Ghana to enable our customers experience higher-speed mobile internet on the same mobile phone from which they make and receive voice calls," it said. It is also promising to introduce more innovative services that will support the growth of businesses and ultimately boosting national development, and also make video services which requires high speed bandwidth available, and accessible to all. The decision At the time of the 800MHz spectrum auction there was an industry-wide outcry against the US$67.5million minimum auction price, but MTN said its business case for the acquisition of the spectrum took into consideration some key factors that made it worth their while. They said the company's decision was partly driven by the fact that telecoms worldwide, is moving towards greater data speeds and 4G technology is the next step in that journey to making the lives of customers a whole lot brighter. Meanwhile, industry experts have always cautioned that 4G devices are not easily affordable in Ghana, so such heavy investment into a 4G network is not the smartest thing to do. The BWAs' struggle to generate revenue seem to support that assertion. But MTN said "The revenue projections made for the 4G license provision was not for us to attain Return on Investment (ROI) within a year. It is an ongoing process and in line with our long term digital strategy." The company said they are also working with device manufacturers and distributors to source affordable 4G devices to make it easy for many more Ghanaians to access 4G LTE services. "Subscribers replacing their legacy devices (handsets and others) to 4G compatible type is also very key to the expansion of 4G across country," they said. It is important to note that MTN is currently in partnership with handset dealers like Mobile Zone and i2 through which they churning out relatively affordable 4G brands from Tecno and Huawei among others to boost uptake. MTN said they so far they do not see any immediately recognizable bottlenecks on the regulatory front so Ghanaians can rest assured that their 4G expansion will continue until it is available everywhere. The Nkosuohene of Lower Axim Traditional Area in the Western Region of Ghana has facilitated and sponsored the training of 150 women from ten communities in both the Upper and Lower Axim respectively. The two-week programme which was organised under the distinguished direction of Awulea Attibrukusu III, Paramount Chief of Lower Axim Traditional Area and immediate past Vice President of the National House Chiefs was aimed at assisting the women to learn new skills as an alternative to their existing fish-mongering business which has drastically dwindled over the years. The participants were taken through soap and detergent, batik, catering and beeds making which were meant to keep them in business after the bumper fishing season is over by supporting and sustaining their families. In a grand durbar of Chiefs, Diplomats, Politicians, clergy held to end the programme last Friday, the Community Relations and Project Director of the Office of the Lower Axim Nkosuohene in his speech congratulated the women for their commitment and desire to learn and acquire new skills throughout the training. He expressed worry that the youth especially young girls over the years have become vulnerable as a result of nonexistence of sustainable job avenues hence the organisation of training programme to cushion them in their respective endeavours. Mr. Nda Kwofie called on all especially NGOs, Corporate organisations and individuals to come on board to support the good initiative of the Lower Axim Nkosuohene and urged the participants to make good use of the new skills that they have acquired. On his part, Nana Osei Nkwantabisa,the Nkosuohene of Lower Axim Traditional Area expressed joy over the successful organisation of the training programme aimed at equipping women and young girls within his jurisdiction. He assured that his office will continue to put in place measures that will go the long way to train and empower more women and the youth. This he added will enable them to sustain their lives and respective families by putting into use what they will be acquiring. "My office is committed to building the capacities of all especially the young and women by always initiating avenues that will positively impact their lives and the society at large". Nana Nkwantabisa added. He hinted of plans to partner corporate entities and NGOs to organise a training programme that will seek to train the youth in outboard motor and canoe repairing. Nana Nkwantabisa thanked the Office of Ellembelle Member of Parliament, Nhyira Dua Company Limited, based in Kumasi, Networking for Community Development Africa a Community development based NGO and Dr. Sipa Yankey, CEO of Ghana National Gas Company Limited for supporting his initiative aimed at building the capacity and empowering women especially at the fishing and farming communities. The Chairman for the occasion, Nana Awiafum who doubles as the Gyantuahene of Lower Axim traditional area lauded the initiative of the Nkosuohene and urged him to continue with his good works aimed at impacting the lives of people. He called on all to support the Nkosuohene in his endeavours focused on developing both infrastructural and the human capacity of the people both within and outside Axim area. On her part the Ghana's Ambassador to Denmark and former MP for Evalue Gwira Constituency Her Excellency Edith Heizel lauded the Lower Axim Nkosuohene for his efforts targeted at empowering women in the society and promised of her support to assist the Nkosuohene to embark on similar projects in the future. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) says it has intercepted a leaked recording that proves that some leading members of the New Patriotic Party's (NPP), including Mike Oquaye and Lord Commey, attempted to connive with some Election officers to rig the upcoming polls. The party at a media briefing on Monday said it will report the matter to the Electoral Commission (EC) and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to take swift action. With barely 48-hours to Ghana's general elections, both the NPP and the NDC have been engaged in accusations and counter-accusations over plans to rig the general elections. The NPP had earlier on Monday said it had discovered several ballots thumb-printed for President Mahama in a guest house in the Ashanti Regional capital. Not long after the NPPs report, the National Organizer of the NDC, Kofi Adams who addressed the press on Monday said the party has compelling evidence to prove the NPP has plans of rigging the elections. He said the NPP wants to undermine the electoral process with its negative schemes. He said, we should not be surprised that in 2016, a desperate political party like the NPP will be engaging in this acts. As a responsible party, we will this afternoon lodge an official complaint to the Electoral Commission so that a position is taken on their officers who are involved in all these activities. We will also be submitting these recordings to the CID a the police headquarters to have a thorough investigation into these matters and all those involved will be dealt with. We are committed to a few fair and transparent elections. We are very much aware that our candidate, has lived up to expectations. You need not walk far to see a development in the area. By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @jnyabor 05.12.2016 LISTEN The political climate in Ghana has lately been plagued by corruption and uncertainty. The Mo Ibrahim award for Achievement in African Leadership rewards good governance with five million USD paid over ten years to support government programs. The award was not issued in 2009 or 2010 despite that Kufuor was widely considered a forerunner. This snub was seen by Ghanaian news sources as a criticism of corruption in several of Ghanas recent administrations, as well as a reaction to allegations of a flourishing cocaine trade in Ghana (Daniel Runde). WOYOMENOMICS VERSUS COCAINENOMICS Ghanaians have a difficult choice to make this year as they go to the polls. This difficult choice hovers between Woyomenomics, the democratic socialism of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Cocainenomics, the neo-liberalism of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). In Ghanaian political practice Woyomenomics and Cocainenomics fall under the Orwellian rubric of doublespeak, both terms merely descriptive synonyms for the same idea of cyclical shoplifting klopemaniastealing galorewhich has been taking between the two major political parties. That anti-Brodingnagian man with the off-putting Locally Acquired Foreign Accent (LAFA), Akufo-Addo was a member of this Cocainenomic government of reprobate thieves, a government which Daniel Rundes caustic remarks only partially describe for effectif at all. These ideas both of which represent the two sides of the same coin of the Ghanaian political economy, in fact also make for an Orwellian paradox of arrested or negative developmentin other words, the blight of economic and political developmentin the Ghanaian body politic. Every single evidence points to the fact that both parties stand for kleptomaniacal corruption, the politics of the belly, and prebendalismno less. Akufo-Addos memorable defeat at the pugilistic hands of the legal juggernaut, Tsatsu Tsikaka, and his substandard performance as Attorney General compelled the office of the presidency to transfer him to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As a matter of fact Ghanaians largely provided the critical mass and political pressure, both of which compelled Kufuor to bring down the mediocre Akufo-Addo, namely the latters secondment to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Right under the snooping radar of Akufo-Addos Lilliputian ministerial nose, diplomatic and non-diplomatic passports reportedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances only to reappear in the company of international drug dealers who, once again, are either reportedly related to the political sniffer dog himself, Akufo-Addo, or to shady persons closely connected to the uppermost echelons of the ethnocentric NPP. This government also reportedly mysteriously alchemized literally tens of bags of cocaine into konkonte, while at the same time ignoring public clamor for something radical to be done about public corruption under this government. Akufo-Addo did nothing about this public clamor. Rather, he vigorously pursued some alleged political criminals in the erstwhile government of the NDC, prosecuted them in courts packed with Kufuors cronies, and sent to prison consequently. This was probably why Rawlings consistently tried to prevail upon Mills to pursue those rotten political criminals in the Kufuor government, daunting pressure conman T.B. Joshua advised Mills against in the interest of national peace. Now, pending the revocation of the controversial judgment a High Court delivered in his case involving the political crime of willfully causing financial loss to the state by the Supreme Court, Tsatsu Tsikata remains theoretically or tentatively vindicated. The Court of Appeal that sat on the case reversed the earlier decision of the High Court describing it as a miscarriage of justice. Yet Akufo-Addos central role in the Drill Ship Saga, so-called, remains shrouded in the convoluted jargon of partisan politics. The political corrupt Kufuor, Akufo-Addos boss and one of the important enigmatic co-authors of the Panama Papers, blamed the rampant political corruption in his government on biblical Adam and Eve. Kufuor was of the opinioncontrary to that of public opinion at the timethat if he paid attention to every single corruption that came to his desk and dealt with it his government would collapse. Accordingly, because he did not want to see his government collapse he looked the other way as the vampire of public corruption gnawed at the soul of the nation. Thus, to a certain extent the Ibrahim Foundation denied the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership to Kufuor because of these facts. Significantly, Akufo-Addo is partly to blame for this abysmal record chalked under the Kufuor administration because he, namely Akufo-Addo, as an influential cabinet member in the Kufuor government who jointly held the portfolios of Attorney General and Minister of Justice, failed to act in cleaning up corruption in the government. The mediocre Akufo-addo turned the official powers of his ministerial agency into one of political and moral inaction. In fact, he sat there on the political sarcophagus as a ventriloquist dummy as members of the political cartel of which he was a member looted the nation with reckless abandon. BIRDS OF THE SAME FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER Will the corrupt Kufuor even vote for this mediocre, corrupt Akufo-Addo? Possibly yes, though we have every reason to doubt it. Show me your friend, and I will show you your character, so goes a popular saying. What defines the political charactorology of Akufo-Addo? Of Kufuor? Kleptomaniacal neo-liberalism! Akufo-Addos poor political leadership, the main guy at the headship of the ethnocentric NPP, has hurt the contemporary legacy and political personhood of Kufuor in several important aspects. Since Akufo-Addo took over the leadership of the ethnocentric party through scandalous allegations of outright bribing of party delegates and intimidation and lodging of shambolic political lies against some of his rather better qualified opponents, the party and its support base have not known peace. This party is helplessly and hopelessly wobbling under his divisive Orwellian leadership. Regrettably, this once-formidable party has become an anorexic skeleton of its former self. This juvenile, bubbling party which overturned the political entrenchment of Rawlings has now become a nagging Merlin-like old man, a Harry-Porter-like virago. Most of the influential Kufuor surrogates have been purged from the party to make way for Akufo-Addos ever-ballooning mediocrity and ego. Evidently, Akufo-Addo did not learn anything during his days as an Nkrumahist. And this is why some of us are wondering what he is bringing to the political table. His boss, the slimy corrupt Kufuor had all the money in the world, enjoyed incontinent Western patronage, had a relatively small debt burden, sold off some of the viable state assets Nkrumah left behind, yet he did comparatively achieve so little for the country, Ghanaians, and Africa. Public corruption alone consumed a chunk of the variables mentioned in the penultimate paragraph. Kufuor stands behind a frosted glass shouting Vote for Akufo-Addo from the rooftops as though he, himself, believes in that maudlin jeremiad of an obituary. This Machiavellian frosted glass which looks more like political Alzheimers, and is part of the insidious personality of the Flagstaff House, a den of thieves for that matter, was designed in the form of the Golden Stool. Akufo-Addo wants so badly to be part and parcel of this shambolic den of thieves! What technocratic capacity does Akufo-Addo have that can transform the country? What lasting achievements can he boast of as a cabinet member of the Kufuor government and as a Member of Parliament for the Abuakwa South constituency? If there are in fact any, why has his campaign team failed to make these lasting achievements part and parcel of the partys electioneering plank? They doggishly and sheepishly rail against socialism and democratic socialism yet as soon as they assume political office, they quickly resort to socialist intervention programs. The anti-industrialists and political Luddites who made up the ethnocentric forebears of this ethnocentric party of which Akufo-Addo now belongs and to which he claims questionable loyalty, were behind the struggle against independence for the Gold Coast, sustainable industrialization of Ghana under the able and visionary leadership of Kwame Nkrumah, and terrorism across the length and breadth of the maiden nation-state. They called the infrastructural and industrial foundation Nkrumah laid down for the country prestigious. Yet today, they have unabashedly sold these state assets to and among themselves. Will the corrupt Kufuor even vote for this mediocre, corrupt Akufo-Addo? Will Kufuor vote for President Mahama? Ungrateful nation wreckers! Hypocritical inglorious bastards, Ghanaian politiciansall of them! CLOSING REMARKS We all saw the barely visible dry crocodile tears Kufuor and his supporters shed when the Panama Papers exposed his deeply involved underhanded co-authorship of possible public corruption. These kinds of schadenfreude tears are proverbial in the Ghanaian political practice. These chameleonic professional mourners or moirologists sheepishly follow their favorite political candidates everywhere but secretly mourn their political deaths. This is largely because it is not always easy to tell one political plumage from the nebulous characterology of the Ghanaian political landscape. At the end of the day it is our wish that neither major political party gets a nodding largess from popular sovereignty, for Ghanaians deserve a non-establishment political party which has been free from the seismic scandals of public corruption commonly associated with their duopolistic system. Looking at the gargantuan scale of public corruption recorded thus far in the contemporary political inventories of both the NPP and the NDC, Ghanaians will be best advised to look elsewhere for salvation. This is never about the devil you know is better than the angel you dont know. Rather, it is about the Woyomenomics you know is not better than the Cocainenomics you know!" REFERENCES Daniel Runde. (Dec. 3, 2015). Ghanas Prosperity Hinges On Next Years Elections. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielrunde/2015/12/03/ghana-falling-star-2016/#72a03cb421d7 Former Attorney General, Martin Amidu, has alleged that the Ford Expedition car gifted President John Mahama in 2012 by a Burkinabe contractor, was part of a plot to smuggle money into the country to fund the Mahama 2012 campaign for the presidency. Mr. Amidu, in a statement, said his claim is based on a letter from the Ghana Embassy in Burkina Faso to the border authorities at Paga, dated 29th October, 2012. According to him, after President Mahama had assumed office following former President John Evans Atta Mill's death, he was heading into the elections of 2012 unprepared financially. However, the President's friend and beneficiary of contracts, when the President had assumed office, was ready to provide financial support, the former AG narrated. He indicated that the only way funds could be unconstitutionally imported into Ghana from Burkina Faso was to be ingenious through the Ford Expedition and a wrapper, wrapping the many dollars needed for the Mahama Campaign. No searches, no questions. Mr. Amidu added that the money would have been retrieved from the vehicle in Accra and the Ford Expedition is useless thereafter to the President. CHRAJ investigation a farce Mr. Amidu also slammed the Commission on Human rights and Administrative Justice's (CHRAJ) investigation into the Ford gift saga as a sham. CHRAJ has no jurisdiction but the President was too happy to have his own institution purport to clear him a farce to make the public believe the President has the people's interests at heart and that his institutions will protect the public purse. But all this while, it covered an unconstitutional scheme at election time, Mr Amidu stated. Find here Mr. Amidu's statement Background Earlier in 2016, President Mahama came under intense public criticism for accepting the Ford gift worth about US$100,000 allegedly to influence him when he was vice President in 2012. The Burkinabe contractor in question, Djibril Kanazoe, admitted giving President Mahama the Ford Expedition vehicle, for which the President called to thank him. The gift, according to reports, was prior to an attempt by the contractor, to win a bid to execute the Dodo Pepeso-Nkwanta road construction project. The same contractor had also been contracted to build a wall, at a cost of over half a million dollars, for the Ghana Embassy in Ouagadougou. CHRAJ, following its investigation of the matter, stated that President Mahama breached the gift policy when he accepted the gift, The Commission, however, stated that the President's action did not constitute a conflict of interest, bribery or fraud, as the petitioners to it, the youth wing of the Convention People's Party (CPP), and the Progressive People's Party (PPP), had claimed. The Electoral Commission says fake ballots thumb-printed for president John Dramani Mahama would not count as valid votes even if they found their way into the ballot box The New Patriotic Partys Ashanti Regional Chairman Monday morning led the police in Kumasi to a location where thousands of fake ballots thumb-printed for the President were retrieved. The papers were discovered in bags in a room at Madison Lodge in the Nhyiaeso Constituency in Kumasi after the Monday morning search by some policemen, some NPP parliamentary candidates and the partys regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako. Joy News Erastus Asare Donkor reported that the police picked up a receptionist at the facility for questioning after the discovery. Bernard Antwi Boasiako has for sometime now been leading the police on a wild goose chase on allegations that some people had arms and thumb-printed ballot papers in certain locations in Kumasi, Joy News Erastus Asare Donkor reported. He said some of the papers which had no serial numbers had been thumb printed for President John Mahama and had been packed in three mini travelling bags. He said a search of a womans residence at Tanoso on Sunday yielded no results and another lead led to the Monday mornings discovery. Meanwhile, the Ashanti Regional Director of the Electoral Commission said the interception will have no implications for the results of the upcoming elections because they have no serial numbers and Electoral Commissions stamp on the back. This is not the first time we are seeing thisalthough they look similar to ours but if they get into our ballot boxes, we will find out, Mr Serebour Quaicoo told Joy FM. The Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP Nathan Kofi Boakye said the circumstances of the interception raises doubt but added that investigations will be conducted to get to the bottom of the matter, Erastus reported. The police commander warned some NPP supporters who had gathered at the Central Police Station in Kumasi to leave or get arrested. Insulting the President in front of a police station is unruly and they are trying to provoke us to arrest them.this is an extreme provocation to the Ghana Police Service.it is unnecessary, irresponsible and should not happen, DCOP Kofi Boakye noted. -Myjoyonline Controversial politician, Afrifa Yamoah Ponko, seems to have started a serious fight with his own political party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) few days to the polls. The former MCE for Ejisu/Juaben Municipality in the Ashanti region expressed unhappiness with the blunder in the NDC's Ashanti Regional version of the famous 'Green Book.' According to him, the party has erroneously attributed projects that he (Ponko) initiated during his tenure to the current Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Andy Osei Okrah. He threatened to make disclosures over the blatant blunder by the party after Wednesday's general elections, stating that the deputy minister had unjustifiably claimed his glory. Yamoah Ponko, speaking on Nhyira FM, said the deputy minister's picture had been placed alongside some projects that he executed during his tenure as the MCE. He claimed the picture of Hon. Osei Okrah, who is now the acting MCE of Ejisu/Juaben, was intentionally placed alongside the projects so that the deputy minister would gain an undeserved glory. I am attacking the deputy minister for claiming glory over a project which he was not the initiator. I am not happy about his motive to claim glory from projects that I executed as MCE, Yamoah Ponko fumed. As a politician, I am also thinking about my future and so would not keep mute for someone to claim glory from projects that I initiated as MCE of Ejisu/Juaben, he added. Yamoah Ponko said development in the area had stalled ever since he left office, criticizing Bernard Antwi Boasiako aka 'Wontumi,' the Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman, for working to ensure his removal from office. Hon. Andy Osei Okrah has suffered attacks within the NDC in the Ashanti Region ever since he was appointed by President Mahama as the NDC's campaign coordinator. Information reaching DAILY GUIDE indicates that some party gurus in the region seriously lobbied for the position in the region but they were overlooked by the president. Political observers in Kumasi told the paper that they were not surprised about Yamoah's sudden attacks on Mr. Osei Okrah with such feeble excuse. From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi The Denkyira Traditional Council in the Upper Denkyira East District of the Central Region has finally informed the people of the area about the death of their paramount chief, Odeefuo Boa-Amponsem III. Following the information, Denkyiraman has declared three days of intense mourning, though the solemn period would continue until the king settles with the ancestors. The Regent of Denkyira Traditional Council, Nana Agyei Nkyereye II, made the announcement in the area over the weekend. Nana Nkyereye stated that during the period, drumming and noisemaking will be banned in the whole of Denkyira, whilst funerals for the weekend will be on a low profile without drumming and the playing of music. He indicated that the traditional council acknowledges the ongoing intense political activities and campaigns by political parties. Political parties, churches and other relevant entities are banned from noisemaking for three days and this is a very pragmatic move taking into consideration the required traditional and cultural rites, he said. The regent disclosed that the Denkyira Traditional Council will bring to the notice of the Denkyiraman and the country subsequent arrangement for the transition of the chief. Nana Nkyereye stated that the chief who served his people, indeed, contributed his quota to global cultural development, calling on all to wear black clothing during the mourning period. Odeefuo Boa-Amponsem III was enstooled in 1955 as the paramount chief of Denkyira and has led the Denkyira State for a period more than 60 years. He was once the president of the Central Regional House of Chiefs as well National House of Chiefs. He was also a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the fourth Republic Constitution of Ghana. Email:[email protected] From Sarah Afful, Dunkwa-On-Offin The two strange women invoking the curses at the former NPP Ashanti regional office at Bantama The former Ashanti regional office of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at Bantama was a scene of drama on Thursday morning, as two strange women stormed the place to invoke curses on detractors of the NPP in the coming polls. Without provocation, the two women invoked curses on anyone or group that would dare massage the results of the impending polls to enable the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to win the polls. They particularly mentioned moles within the NPP, Electoral Commission officials, machomen and policemen who would dare rob the NPP of an imminent electoral victory to be sternly dealt with by some powerful river deities. The women mentioned the names of dreaded river deities in the country like Antoa Nyamaa, Bobo and Subin to deal ruthlessly with anyone that would rig the polls in favour of the ruling NDC. The two women whose faces were covered with dry leaves used about 20 bottles of schnapps and 60 pieces of local egg to invoke the curses on their targets. Even though the real identities of the women were not known, the weird manner in which they were dressed and the display they exhibited raised the suspicion that they were priestesses. They warned that any NPP executive or polling station official that would receive bribe from the NDC and soften their stance to enable the NDC to rig the elections and retain political power would be killed by the river deities. The two women also stated that they believe in the river deities to strike dead any EC official, policemen or any other security agent that would dare assist the NDC to rig the elections would not be spared by the river goddesses. As if not enough, the strange women said the river deities are combat ready to deal ruthlessly with any machoman or policeman who would play roles to ensure that the NDC snatches ballot boxes during the election day. The two strange women after accomplishing their strange mission left the scene, with curious people craning their necks to get a clearer look at them. It was not known if some people in the party engaged them to invoke the curses. FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi The Ashanti Regional Police Command has expressed its frustration with the attitude of some of the New Patriotic Party supporters who besieged the regional police command on Monday morning. This is after, Police in Kumasi had taken possession of three bags stuffed with materials reported to be thumb-printed presidential ballot papers found at the Madison lodge at TUC in the Ashanti Regional capital. All the retrieved ballot papers had thumb prints for President John Mahama, the Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Addressing the press after the incident the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, COP Nathan Kofi Boakye condemned the actions of the supporters as he recounted that this was the latest in a number of allegations ahead of the December 7 elections. He narrated that, last week, there were allegations of weapons, we followed up and we didn't have any tangible evidence to support it. They followed it up with an allegation against a policewoman that she is hoarding weapons. The police led us to them to show us the place. They showed us the place, together they all went through the rooms and there was nothing. This morning, the same allegations that there are printed ballot papers somewhere, police graciously went with them, we found these ballot papers. But it was subsequently confirmed by the Electoral Commission that the confiscated thump-printed ballot papers were fake. Describing the behaviour of the supporters as unruly, COP Boakye accused their regional leaders of instigating besieging the police command by the supporters. This behavior here now, if we want to act commensurately, it will result in allegations are harassing some party or the other This is unnecessary, irresponsible and shouldn't happen. We are by this warning everybody that the fact that we have elections doesn't mean that the rules, criminal laws and other things have been abdicated, COP Boakye stated. By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana The National Democratic Congress (NDC ) has accused aide of Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, also known as Chairman Wontumi of planting the fake ballot papers that were intercepted by the Police in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi on Monday. According to the party, Wontumi's aide, Andy Owusu made the move in other to accuse the NDC of trying to rig December 7 polls for the President in the region. The Police in Kumasi on Monday intercepted three bags stuffed with thumb-printed presidential ballot papers found at the Madison Lodge at TUC in Kumasi. Chairman Wontumi All the retrieved ballot papers which had thumb prints for President John Mahama, the presidential candidate of the NDC was later said to be fake . But addressing the press on Monday, the National Organizer of the NDC, Kofi Adams said Wontumi's aide spent two nights at the hotel where the material was intercepted. A hotel room that was booked by an aide of the regional chairman of New Patriotic Party for Ashanti Region, Chairman Wontumi to allow his business partners to spend a night or two there, where he [Wontumi] stayed himself as the report indicated, with a white lady, the next morning the chairman now moves with the Police to a very room that his own special assistant has spent the night and say there are thumb printed ballot papers there and that they were thumb printing ballot papers for President Mahama, he claimed. I have no hand in intercepted fake ballot papers Meanwhile, Wontumi's aide, Andy Owusu in a statement rejected the claims. I want to state unequivocally that until today, Monday, the 5th of December, I never knew of a hotel called Madison Lodge let alone make a booking there. Besides that how could I have been so foolish or dumb to have booked hotel rooms for such operation and register with my real name, he added. Below is the full statement from Andy Owusu Press Statement by Andy Owusu, Special Aide to Chairman Wontumi: My attention has been drawn to a statement circulating on social media supposedly issued by one Evans Nuamah, said to be the manager of Madison Hotel, the place where some NDC thumb-printed ballot papers were seized earlier this morning. The content of the statement is not only laughable but can also hardly pass the intelligence test. First of all, the statement indicated that I, Andy Owusu, allegedly booked three rooms in the hotel to entertain my business partners. It further stated that I came in with two bags on the night that I made the booking. The statement further reads Chairman Wontumi, on Sunday, led Police men and media to our hotel premises to the very room his assistant booked, only to be told they were thumb printed Ballot I want to state unequivocally that until today, Monday, the 5th of December, I never knew of a hotel called Madison Lodge let alone make a booking there. Besides that how could I have been so foolish or dumb to have booked hotel rooms for such operation and register with my real name. Perhaps, such thing can only be done by people with such weak intelligentsia like those who issued that statement accusing me of planting those ballot papers. Apart from this the author of the statement, perhaps being motivated by his heinous agenda, even failed to get the day right by stating that the incident happened on yesterday when in actual fact the police invaded the hotel today, Monday. Also, our checks indicate that there is no such name called Evans Nuamah as the manager of the hotel. Our investigations have proven that the name of the hotel is Castro. I will therefore like to place on record that I have never booked any hotel room neither have I stashed any ballot paper in a hotel as being speculated. I want to tell the NDC faces behind this statement that any attempt to draw me into their evil plans will never succeed. Signed Andy Owusu Special Aide to Mr. Bernard Antwi Boasiako NPP Regional Chairman, Ashanti By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @AlloteyGodwin The Ashanti Regional Chapter of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have accused the regional chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of fabricating the story of found thumb-printed ballot at a guest house in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi. Reports from the region on Monday morning indicated the Police had seized bags stuffed with thumb-printed ballot papers from a guest house. The unquantified number of ballot included those thumb-printed for President Mahama and those without thumb-prints. Some Ghanaians especially supporters of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) alleged that the discovery was part of the NDC's grand scheme to rig the upcoming polls in the Ashanti Region. But the regional chapter of the NDC in a statement signed by the Regional secretary, Raymond Tandoh hours after the report said, the NPPs chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Wontumi is making stories against the NDC in attempt to cause public disaffection for the party. Wontumi has misled the media and police in a wild goose chase of large cache of ammunition and thumb printed ballot papers across the region, from an initial false claim of an impounded ammunition by the military in Kumasi, to the search of house numbered AS2015S at Asouyeboa for weapons and ended with another in Tanoso yesterday. According to the NDC, the NPP chairman must be invited by the police for further questioning to aid in investigations on the matter. It also called on the police to immediately arrest the owner of the Lodge to aid investigations. But we have strong conviction that this is just a deliberate creation of the NPP to divert attention from the President's commissioning of the first phase of the Kumasi Kejetia Market and sod cutting for phase 2 expansion of the Kumasi International Airport slated for today, December 5, 2016. Read the full statement below: THE PARTY'S POSITION ON CLAIMS OF DISCOVERY OF THUMB PRINTED BALLOT PAPERS AT THE MADISON LODGE, TUC, KUMASI It has come to our attention this morning about an alleged discovery of thumb printed ballot sheets in a room at the Madison Lodge, TUC, Kumasi. It is worthy to state the following facts; For the past three days, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Wontumi has misled the media and police in a wild goose chase of large cache of ammunitions and thumb printed ballot papers across the region, from an initial false claim of an impounded ammunition by the military in Kumasi, to the search of house numbered AS2015S at Asouyeboa for weapons and ended with another in Tanoso yesterday. At 6:00am this morning, Wontumi called the media to join him and some Police officers for a raid at the Madison Lodge, TUC, Kumasi. Upon arrival at the Lodge, they directed all occupants to come out of their rooms for a search, which they complied. They were led subsequently by Wontumi into a particular room where some bags containing thumb printed ballots were kept. Shockingly, per the Lodge's records, the occupant checked out without any viable personal records to help investigations. This leaves Wontumi as the only credible primary source of information. The receptionist currently is with the Police for further questioning but with an initial denial of any knowledge of the said ballots and the identity of the guest. With the above, we have come to the following conclusions; Wontumi as the primary source of information must be invited to help further investigations. Why did the hotel, as conventionally practiced chose not to record personal details of the guest. We therefore call on the Police to immediately arrest the owner of the Lodge to aid investigations. But we have strong convictions that this is just a deliberate creation of the NPP to divert attention from the President's commissioning of the first phase of the Kumasi Kejetia Market and sod cutting for phase 2 expansion of the Kumasi International Airport slated for today, December 5, 2016. We urge all our members to remain calm even as we work with the Police to unravel this evil mystery. Signed Raymond Tandoh Ashanti Regional Secretary By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @jnyabor The Commonwealth Observer group has urged Ghanaians to repeat another democratic feat in organising free and fair elections that have made it an inspirational example in the Commonwealth. Head of the international observer group and former South Africa President Thabo Mbeki told the media that after six successful elections, there is considerable confidence within the commonwealth that the seventh attempt will be peaceful. Ghanaians go to the polls in 48 hours to elect a president and 275 parliamentarians. The stakes are high between the governing NDC and main opposition NPP. A win for the governing NDC will be a record 12 years in government and a record 12 years in opposition for the NPP. A win for NPPs Nana Akufo-Addo will end a third consecutive defeat and make him Ghanas oldest President at 72. A loss for John Mahama will make him a record one-term president. After the 2012 presidential results ended in court in 2013, the Supreme Court gave a judgment that has sent signals to political parties that elections are won at the polling stations and not in court. The NPP and the NDC are therefore poised to monitor the ballot with a sense of heightened vigilance which has increased the tension. Speaking at a media interaction, the head of the Commonwealth Observer Mission stressed that Ghana is a valued member of the group of former British colonies because of its enviable track record in holding elections. The Commonwealth has experienced great pride and encouragement at all times when Ghana has made progress, Thabo Mbeki said. The observer mission wants Ghanaians to inspire other sister countries by keeping the peace, before, during and after the general elections. With great humility, Thabo Mbeki called on Ghanaians to respect the Accra Declaration signed last Thursday in which seven presidential candidates pledged to keep the peace. He said, if any disputes should arise, it should be settled peacefully through the courts. No other option exists for the resolution of electoral disputes except the courts, he urged. Ghana must once again inspire Commonwealth by holding credible elections, on December 7, he noted. He urged that Ghanaians must work to ensure that the country remains true to maintaining peace and stability. The former South African president applauded the signing of the Accra Peace Declaration by the political parties last week as a bold example that others countries must emulate. Mr Mbeki further admonished that Ghanaians must respect what the parties have signed at the Accra declaration and added that, if there is any dispute after the elections, it must be settled in the court. He cautioned political parties to respect the results that will be declared by the Electoral Commission (EC) after the election, stressing that the voice of the people is the voice of God. -Myjoyonline.com When Chief Obafemi Awolowo (1909-1987), the late former AP/UPN Opposition Party leader, passed away in Nigeria in 1987, the late Ikemba of Nnewi, Lt Gen Odumegwu Ojukwu wrote in the book of condolences that Awolowo was the best President Nigeria never had. It was a loaded statement which was part ironic, laconic, part philosophical, part conundrum, part sarcasm (my own interpretation) and part paradoxical. How could something which was never tasted or experienced be the best that never was? It is also said that you do not miss what you never had, and that all politicians tell the truth about things which never happened. That statement from Ojukwu, who having been a history and classics major at Oxford University, was not to be unexpected. In reality, Ojukwu paid the best tribute ever to his arch enemy and protagonist, because death is said to be the universal leveller. It was alleged that Chief Awolowo had acted as financial advisor to the Federal Government of Nigeria during the Nigerian Civil War from 1967 to 1970, under General Yakubu Gowon. Awolowo had advised the immediate change of the Nigerian currency when the war broke out, and it was believed that dealt a deadly blow to the breakaway Biafra Republic. In the South-Western Yoruba states of the then Oyo, Ogun, Bendel, Lagos and Ondo states, Chief Awolowo implemented one of the most far-sighted and nascent development programmes, which was far ahead of its time. There were many colleges of education and polytechnics set up in record time with many tarmac roads to the bargain. There sprouted in Yorubaland many mushroom institutions in line with the Aps massification of education. To the Egbe Omo Oduduwa grouping of the Yoruba states, Awolowo was their Mandela. Many new basic secondary schools sprung up like mushrooms in every nook and cranny of those Yoruba states. The avant-garde, socialist, free medical and secondary school policies of Awolowo caused ripples and consternation in Federal government circles. Many rural roads were tarred and macadamised. It was the period many Ghanaian teachers, doctors, nurses, accountants and other professionals became like hot cakes in Nigeria, hence the Agege syndrome and mass exodus of millions of Ghanaians to Nigeria. I lived through the Shehu Shagari days in Western Nigeria, and experienced first- hand Baba Awolowos pro-poor development policies. I experienced the Aliens Compliance Order under Ali Baba. Then in 1983, Buhari and Idiagbon took over in a military putsch, one of the worst khakistocracies ever in Africa, with flagrant infringements of human rights. I left Nigeria in 1991 under General Babangida, another military dictator and political schemer. Chief Awolowo had able lieutenants in his governors like Bola Ige, Ajasin, Jakande, among others. Baba had bagged degrees in Law and Commerce from the University of London, and he was an avowed vegetarian. He was a man of principles and philosophy. The main point of departure in this write-up is that, sometimes the stone which is rejected by the builders becomes the cornerstone. Nana Akufo Addo is today being demonised and called names in the press, with many unproven and unsubstantiated allegations against him. Is that the price we have to pay as a nation for freedom of speech? Freedom of speech does not connote committing the legal offences of libel, sedition, character assassination and the like. In civilised nations, people who have evidence against wrong-doers go to court because a person under English law is held to be innocent before the law until he is proven otherwise in a transparent manner, beyond all reasonable doubt and evidence. Today, many Ghanaians are sad because our land has turned into a den of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves with corruption stench everywhere smelt at the roof tops. Who will rescue us from this imbroglio of gargantuan national debt of 28 billion dollars? Many infrastructural projects have sprouted up under the current NDC dispensation, but beneath the glossy sheen and facade of this infrastructure lurk murky issues and scandals, jeopardising the quality of life of many a Ghanaian. There is nothing to write home about with the humongous unemployment hanging on our heads like the sword of Damocles. Patriotism is at its lowest ebb because of bad policies of those at the helm of affairs who peddle petty tribalism and nepotism. There is no rule of law but rather rule of people. Many Ghanaians subsist on hearsay, rumour-mill, grapevine and the gutter press for their sources of information, the popular and notorious, ak33, ak33, y3see, y3see. The media has been turned into a circus and caricature of peddling lies. When shall we as a nation grow up from our puerile and infantile behaviour? People swallow hook, line and sinker, any news churned out from our media houses without critically evaluating what they hear or make the effort to authenticate their information from authentic and credible sources. Many journalists who should know better have sold their consciences for money. So, is Nana Akufo Addo the best president Ghana never had? It is said that the sweetness of the pudding is in the eating. I think that time will tell. Those throwing mud at Nana Akufo Addo must think twice and review their actions, because in politics, everything is possible. It is like a pendulum which can swing either way. Today in Ghana, agriculture has been grossly neglected and our educational and health systems have become so weak and inconsequential. Once the beacon of Africa, Ghana has descended into the doldrums for want of qualitative and visionary leadership. The man Akufo Addo has a track record of having excelled once as Foreign Minister of Ghana, Attorney General, among other key leadership positions he held in the past. He ably chaired a UN General Assembly Committee on Iraq when he was the Foreign Minister. His critics fail to realise his leadership potential and want to judge him by what he did as a Minister, which is untenable and quite flawed because, as Minister, you have constraints due to collective responsibility, and you are at the end of the apron strings of the President, dancing to his music like a puppet or a yoyo in the wind. During the time of military khakistocracy in Ghana, he fearlessly fought for our freedom with the likes of the late Prof Adu Boahene and the late Prof Paul Ansah. We should give credit where credit is due. No man is perfect. Those who call Nana names forget the religious teaching which dares us to be the first to cast the stone against the condemned prostitute, when we ourselves have Nicodemously gone under the cover of darkness to engage in lasciviousness with the very person we accuse in broad daylight. What a height of hypocrisy! With what is happening in the NDC camp as regards the disaffection between the Rawlingses and the ruling NDC camp, it seems the ground is giving way under the shuddering and quaking of the buried elephant. Methinks the unfurled umbrella, like a comet or meteorite, has reached its nadir in its trajectory and soon, Osono Kokroko (mammoth elephant) will triumph once again as it did in the year 2000. I am no prophet but it seems the writing is on the wall. Take the case of the late President of Zambia, His Excellency Michael Chilufya Sata (MHSRIP) Sata was in opposition for a decade or so years and stood for general elections three times before the tide turned in his favour, against all odds, because the mandate of the people had spoken. Before ascending to power, he was called all sorts of names in the press. Perhaps, that is the baptism of fire for all those who are being prepared to don on the leadership mantle. To me, whichever way the tide turns tomorrow in the elections, my paramount concern is the utmost good for the largest majority of Ghanaians. Whether NDC or NPP comes to power, the public interest of Ghana should be first and foremost on the agenda. The motto of Legon Hall, University of Ghana, goes, To whom much is given, much is desired. All Ghanaians have a bounden duty to maintain the peace and act with decorum and dignified- mien, come 7th December 2016 at the polls. God bless Ghana. Long live the wonderful, cheerful, hardworking and creative people of Ghana. Long live Africa, the land of the Khem (black) people. Vote wisely. Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Rob Davies will tomorrow announce the winners of the 4th Annual South African Premier Business Awards at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. The annual South African Premier Business Awards are a key feature on the Department of Trade and Industrys calendar and celebrate national corporate excellence and success. Minister Davies, reflecting on the significance of these Awards, said that Strong South African corporates contribute to the profile of the country as a competitive business destination. South Africa is also able to provide goods and services to the global marketplace in efficiently and competitively. We must acknowledge and celebrate the role of business in contributing to national socio-economic objectives and this is what the annual South African Premier Business Awards achieve. The Awards will be jointly hosted by the Department of Trade and Industry, Brand South Africa and Proudly South African. Tsogo Sun, Old Mutual and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange are sponsors to the Awards. One hundred and eighty (180) entries were received in the following categories: Black Industrialists Award, Enterprise Development Support Award, Exporter Award, Investor of the Year Award, Manufacturer Award, Play Your Part Award, Proudly South African Member Award, SMME Award, Women-Owned Business Award and Young Entrepreneur Award. Media are invited to RSVP to attend the Awards which will be taking place as follows: Date: Tuesday 6 December 2016 Time: 18h00 Venue: Sandton Convention Centre, Sandton, Johannesburg To RSVP call Mamosa Dikeledi on (012) 394 1680/076 023 4170 or email [email protected] OR call Tsabeng Nthite on 011 712 5000/076 371 6810 or email [email protected] . 05.12.2016 LISTEN All things being equal and smooth sailing, I would have loved to mount a campaign platform to deliver a very powerful and persuasive message full of truths to the Ghanaian people. However, my intuition dictates that I continue to remain in seclusion writing and publishing my views which method has the same effect on people as mounting a political platform. It is not for any safety and security reasons that I have not come out publicly but for the reason just stated above. Mounting a political platform allows people to see you in person and to hear the words of wisdom oozing out of the horses mouth. However, if that does not become possible due to some constraints, then we have to do with any alternative solution which in this case is to write and publish my views, amid offering suggestions, prescribing solutions and giving advice and encouragements. As repeatedly stated in my previous publications, the Ghanaian electorates should please not allow themselves to be induced to vote President Mahama and NDC by the gifts of one-off electric iron, gas cooker, tins of Geisha, sardines, bar of soap, cooking oil, fowls, piece of cloth and a few wads of Ghana Cedis. I always say, and strongly believe that, such one-off offers to influence one to vote for President Mahama and the NDC will not do the recipients any good. They are not the perfect solution to the economic hardships President Mahama through his incompetence and overflowing corruption has brought to bear on Ghanaians. Such gifts are a one day wonder, a few days relief, so to speak. I shall call on all Ghanaian electorates to note that Wednesday, 7 December 2016, is a sort of judgment day to determine whether or not their economic hardships could be solved. The solution lies in their hands as I write. It is them who can either solve the problems or decide to continue to stagnate and be tormented by the economic hardships they are currently going through. If we want to chase out the economic problems from our lives, then let us vote for Nana Akufo Addo and NPP but if we desire to continue to be mired and tormented needlessly by the financial problems, then vote for President Mahama and the NDC. I had wished to be on the platform with A-Plus, Agya Koo, Lucky Mensah, Nana Addo, Dr. Bawumia etc. at the mammoth round off campaign rally in Accra on Sunday 4 December 2016 but I could not, being in London. However, I was there with them in spirit contributing by way of writing and publishing my support messages. God has given each one their gift, and mine is to publish to advise and suggest solutions to peoples problems. If each one honestly practices their gift, the Ghanaian society we live in today will be a much better, if not a perfect, society. I call on all readers to pass on my message of hope to the people. All should please vote Nana Akufo Addo and NPP, the gateway to the paradise on earth that God has promised Ghanaians. Vote Nana Akufo Addo. Vote NPP! The battle is still the Lords despite the plots by Charlotte Osei and the NDC to rig the election. God shall defeat them to bring total relief to the suffering Ghanaian masses. Amen! Rockson Adofo Special Attention Project (SAP), a Ghanaian NGO committed to improving the lives of children with learning difficulties will launch a crowdfunding campaign on Tuesday, 13th December, 2016. Dubbed Road to Education, the campaign aims at raising funds to help SAP reach out to a number of out-of-school-children with learning difficulties for inclusion into mainstream education. Annually, SAP through its Childrens Support Programme, provides practical support to about 120 out-of-school-children with learning difficulties in the streets of Accra. The target for the fundraising campaign is GH50,000.00 within a three-month period from December 2016 to March, 2017. To support the initiative, donors can contribute through SAPs MTN Mobile Money on 054-4700505 or bank account number: 0130084468290801, Ecobank, Darkuman Branch, Accra in the name of Special Attention Project. Speaking on the campaign, Mr. Richard Opoku, Programmes Manager of SAP estimated that thousands of children in Ghana risked failing to reach an appropriate level of educational and professional attainment due to learning difficulties. Children with learning difficulties have normal or even higher level of intelligence, and might perform well in one academic field, example, mathematics, but might have a difficulty in reading or spelling. He said the abuse and discrimination faced by children with learning difficulties often forced many to drop out of school and migrate to the streets, becoming vulnerable to trafficking, violence, prostitution, drug abuse, gambling and stealing. Mr. Opoku said despite their conditions, children with learning difficulties could learn and achieve their educational potentials if given the right assistance and direction. The Programmes Manager outlined various programmes being undertaken by SAP for children with learning difficulties. In addition to the Childrens Support Programme, SAP also undertakes activities such as information sharing, research and training, advocacy for inclusion in mainstream education and development of learning solutions, he summarised. Mr. Opoku called on individuals, corporate bodies, social groups and the general public to support to the campaign to help children with learning difficulties and create a safe, better Ghana. Accra, 5th December, 2016 African researchers have identified new frontiers in natural resources management, to help position the continent to effectively address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2016-2030. This was one of the outcomes of a conference organised by the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA). The conference, which was organised under the theme New Frontiers in Natural Resources Management in Africa aimed to reflect on emerging frontiers for sustainable management of natural resources in Africa. Domestication and Localisation of the SDGs The discussions at the conference emphasized the need for African countries to focus on addressing the economic, environmental and social challenges facing the continent, especially in the area of natural resources management, so as to be able to achieve the transformative change required by the 2030 Development Agenda. This transformative change, according to Professor Godwell Nhamo of the University of South Africa (the Keynote Speaker at the conference), must involve changes in economic structures to promote employment and inclusive growth. He added that in order to make this economic change environmentally sustainable, profound changes are required in production, consumption patterns and energy use through legislation, regulation and public policies. Prof. Nhamo indicated that the SDGs also require changes in social structures and relations, and this must include addressing the growing economic and political power of the elites. Highlighting the approaches for domesticating and localizing the SDGs, Prof. Nhamo called for increased awareness on the SDGs, stakeholder engagements, green economy promotion and policy coherence to ensure growth. He emphasized the need to develop appropriate indicators to establish baselines for measuring, reporting and verifying the SDGs implementation and progress at household, local, corporate, national and regional levels. New Frontiers Participants at the conference resolved that new frontiers for research on the sustainable and efficient management of the continents natural resources need to be identified. Five areas for cutting edge research that were discussed include Sustainable Land and Soil Management; Sustainable Mining Practices; Blue Economy including Oceans, Lakes and Wetlands; Energy, Climate Change and Environment; and Natural Resources and the Global Value Chains. The conference participants also agreed on the need for Land Degradation Risk Map for Africa, Policy on Traditional Medicine and Herbal Trade, Development of National Biofuel Policies, Periodic Monitoring of Certified Mining Areas for Compliance and Rehabilitation of Polluted Sites, and improvement in Research Funding in Africa. In his closing remarks, the Director of UNU-INRA, Dr. Elias T. Ayuk, reiterated the need for building capacity for research in natural resources management in Africa as the continent strives to achieve the SDGs. He said the knowledge and experiences shared in this conference and the proposed actions will be useful in attaining the global goals and in achieving the success that we want. The participants of the conference came from Benin, Cameroon, Cote dIvoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Zimbabwe. The conference was dubbed the College of Research Associates (CRA) Conference and it marked the 30th anniversary celebration of UNU-INRA. It was held under three key areas: Natural Resources Accounting, Trade and Green Economy; Governance, Policies and Institutions for Natural Resources Management; and Science, Technology and Innovation. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ashanti Region has accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of sending police on a wild goose chase to divert attention from President John Mahamas commissioning of the first phase of the Kumasi Kejetia Market. This follows the confiscation of purported thump-printed ballot papers which have since been confirmed as fake by the Electoral Commission (EC). The NDC believes the NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has been misleading the police and called for him to be invited for questioning by police. Earlier on Monday, reports emerged that Police in Kumasi had taken possession of three bags stuffed with materials reported to be thumb-printed presidential ballot papers found at the Madison Hotel at TUC in the Ashanti Regional capital. Some of the retrieved ballot papers had thumb prints for the NDC Flagbearer, President John Mahama with the rest unmarked. The NDC in a statement signed by Raymond Tandoh, its Ashanti Regional Secretary, recounted that at 6:00am on Monday morning, Chairman Wontumi called the media to join him and some Police officers for a raid at the Madison Lodge. Upon arrival at the Lodge, they directed all occupants to come out of their rooms for a search, which they complied. They were led subsequently by Wontumi into a particular room where some bags containing thumb printed ballots were kept. Shockingly, per the Lodge's records, the occupant checked out without any viable personal records to help investigations, the NDC noted in the statement. According to the party, this leaves Wontumi as the only credible primary source of information and thus, he must be invited to help further investigations. The NDC also questioned why did the hotel, as conventionally practised, chose not to record personal details of the guest and thus called for the arrest of the owner of the hotel. But, the party maintained that the whole situation was a deliberate creation of the NPP to divert attention from the President's commissioning of the first phase of the Kumasi Kejetia Market and sod cutting for phase 2 expansion of the Kumasi International Airport slated for today, December 5, 2016. Find below the full statement NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS, ASHANTI REGIONAL CHAPTER PRESS RELEASE DECEMBER 5, 2016 THE PARTY'S POSITION ON CLAIMS OF DISCOVERY OF THUMB PRINTED BALLOT PAPERS AT THE MADISON LODGE, TUC, KUMASI It has come to our attention this morning about an alleged discovery of thumb printed ballot sheets in a room at the Madison Lodge, TUC, Kumasi. It is worthy to state the following facts; For the past three days, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Wontumi has misled the media and police in a wild goose chase of large cache of ammunitions and thumb printed ballot papers across the region, from an initial false claim of an impounded ammunition by the military in Kumasi, to the search of house numbered AS2015S at Asouyeboa for weapons and ended with another in Tanoso yesterday. At 6:00am this morning, Wontumi called the media to join him and some Police officers for a raid at the Madison Lodge, TUC, Kumasi. Upon arrival at the Lodge, they directed all occupants to come out of their rooms for a search, which they complied. They were led subsequently by Wontumi into a particular room where some bags containing thumb printed ballots were kept. Shockingly, per the Lodge's records, the occupant checked out without any viable personal records to help investigations. This leaves Wontumi as the only credible primary source of information. The receptionist currently is with the Police for further questioning but with an initial denial of any knowledge of the said ballots and the identity of the guest. With the above, we have come to the following conclusions; Wontumi as the primary source of information must be invited to help further investigations. Why did the hotel, as conventionally practiced chose not to record personal details of the guest. We therefore call on the Police to immediately arrest the owner of the Lodge to aid investigations. But we have strong convictions that this is just a deliberate creation of the NPP to divert attention from the President's commissioning of the first phase of the Kumasi Kejetia Market and sod cutting for phase 2 expansion of the Kumasi International Airport slated for today, December 5, 2016. We urge all our members to remain calm even as we work with the Police to unravel this evil mystery. Signed Raymond Tandoh Ashanti Regional Secretary By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has revealed what it claims are details of businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyomes cheque book and list of beneficiaries of the GH51.2 million wrongfully paid him as judgement debt. The Director of Communications of the NPP, Nana Akomea, at a press conference in Accra on Monday said Mr Woyome financed many projects of the NDC and paid some sums to some individuals within the party. He mentioned the party's General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah and Deputy General Secretary, Koku Anyidoho as beneficiaries of the booty. A former Attorney General Martin Amidu had earlier threatened to expose the names of some beneficiaries if given the opportunity to orally examine the businessman. But Nana Akomea said, GH60,000 payment was made to Mr Jewel Ackah on 16th of June 2011. They include a GH20,000 payment to General Mosquito on 2nd September 2011 and GH8,000 payment to one Suhuni of Radio Gold. He also mentioned the editor of the Insight Newspaper, Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr as also receiving GH2,000 from the money. According to Mr Akomea, Woyome, from the amount, funding the refurbishment of the NDC office in Accra and procurement of motorbikes for a constituency branch of the NDC in the Volta Region. By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @jnyabor The notion that God picks leaders for nations in this era is not true. All over the world, the most popular people in the popular parties win elections and become leaders of their nations The God I serve, is not a God who makes popular and predictable decisions like choosing Mahama or Akuffo Addo. These are purely human centred decisions God will never interfere with our choice; impose someone on us so that we blame Him when the person underperforms He has given us that responsibility and it therefore lies with us to make wise voting decisions on Wednesday and live with the consequence of our choice When we make the right choice, we will all enjoy, when we make the wrong choice, we have only ourselves to blame If all of us decide to vote for Jacob Osei Yeboah, no amount of prophesy or spiritual intervention can prevent him from becoming our president because regarding who leads us, our choice is Gods choice. Ghanaians are very religious but less spiritual. We blame God for our mistakes and take solace in the fact that God knows best when we carelessly refuse to obey our conscience and make wrong decision Some will vote for Nana Addo knowing deep within that Mahama has done enough and deserves to be given a second term to see out what he has started Another will vote for Mahama knowing very the man has failed and therefore the earlier we halt the rot the better These same people will say God when it is indeed them who made the decision to elect whoever wins the election This article is intended to dispel the notion that God has prepared someone for Presidency and conscientise people to move from the entrenched position they have taken because of the various prophesies and predictions and take the responsibility of choosing a leader of this nation Nana says the battle is the Lords; Mahama raises his hand to signal that he is a man who reveres God. The truth is that all these are done to woe people who buy everything and think everyone who calls the name of God is indeed a man of God or from Him. As citizens and equally religious people, we have a responsibility to vote the vote of our conscience. If deep down your heart you know Nana Addo deserves it, vote for him; if deep down your heart Mahama deserves one more term vote for him. Dont put your vote on autopilot without considering the facts and hide behind God. God accepts whoever we all decide to vote for If we all decide to vote for Papa Kwesi Nduom, Heaven will accept him as the president of Ghana This means that we have a responsibility to support whoever emerges victorious because our choice becomes Heavens choice As a Christian, I will vote for the person I sincerely thinks deserves to be my President. I will not vote against my conscience. The most important thing is that I am not going to vote for anyone because Owusu Bempah, Prophet Badu or any prophet has predicted victory for him. If that prophesy is true, with or without my vote, the person they have prophesied in favour of will still win One thing must also be noted, the fact that a prophesy has come in favour of one candidate or the other doesnt mean that person is the chosen one by God. Prophesy foretells events ahead of time, it does not necessarily influence it to be so. It just tells what will be because God sees tomorrow as if it happened yesterday This why I find the prophesies that says, Mahama will win but if he doesnt take care, Nana Addo will snatch it from him an apology. You dont even need to hear the voice of God to know that if Mahama is not careful Nana will win or the other way wrong. This is pure adjana one adjana two prophesy That said, one or two prophets have made some bold predictions, it doesnt matter; it is our choice that is eventually blessed by God. The fact that Nana Addo wins just as Owusu Bempah has prophesied doesnt mean Nana Akuffo Addo is the man God has chosen for us. It also applies to Mahama who Prophet Badu Kobi has tipped to win. It is our choice that ultimately becomes the choice of God This is why as citizens we need to take responsibility and exercise our franchise. If you dont vote, others will vote the wrong person for you and God will recognise that person Dont blame God if you dont make the right voting decision Four years is a long time. This is your chance as a citizen to choose who leads you. God will bless whoever you decide to vote for This is the exact principles God applies to marriage. Inwardly, he will try to guide you to make the right choice. But the ultimate decision lies with you. If you decide not to marry the woman God leads you to marry, you have not committed any sin- you live with the consequence of your choice On Wednesday we have the chance to choose a bride for the next for four years. It is up to you to choose and not up to God to impose one on you It is as simple as that Isaac Kyei Andoh [email protected] Counsellor Yvette Chesson-Wureh, Initiator, addressing participants 05.12.2016 LISTEN Accra. 5th December, 2016. The Womens Situation Room, WSR Ghana, a women-led peace building mechanism that embraces the youth to mitigate conflict before, during and after elections, has officially opened the Physical Womens Situation Room and have Youth Peace Torches from all ten regions of Ghana handed over to Eminent Women at a ceremony in Accra. The event was attended by all major stakeholders in the peace and development spectrum in Ghana including dignitaries from organisations sponsoring the initiative: United Nations Development Programme, African Women Development Fund, UNWomen, UNOWAS, Canadian and the Norwegian governments. The award-winning Womens Situation Room is endorsed by the African Union and has been replicated successfully in Liberia, Nigeria, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Uganda. Earlier on Friday, the Liberian President, Champion of WSR and Chair for ECOWAS, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf praised the initiative: The Women Situation Room is a successful peace-building and conflict mitigation initiative and it has been deployed, tested and result-oriented. WSR Ghanas Physical Situation Room, on a 24-hour basis, will monitor the 2016 elections and assist in mitigating conflict before, during and after the elections through its carefully-selected Ghanaian and African eminent women and over 120 focal persons situated in all the identified hotspots across the country. Additionally, youth leaders across all ten regions of Ghana who have been massively mobilised to support the women's call for peaceful elections exemplifying the commitment of the Ghanaian youth across all regions of Ghana to peace, handed over peace torches to eminent women. The Initiator of the Womens Situation Room, Counsellor Yvette Chesson-Wureh reiterated the need for peace: We cannot be complacent about peace, we need to keep working at it. Representatives from partner organisations gave goodwill messages and commended the initiative. The WSR Ghanas Physical Situation Room has a toll-free number (0800-100-100) that is accessible across all networks and anyone from across Ghana could call to report any act of violence, voting anomaly or violence against women, for the intervention of WSR Ghanas robust conflict mitigation process. On December 2, 2016 the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Dmitry Kuptel, met with the Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy of the African Union Commission, Elham Ibrahim. During the meeting, the sides discussed current state and prospects for cooperation between Belarus and the Commission of the African Union, including the development of the legal framework. A powerful new film featuring UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham was released today to illustrate the brutal reality that physical and psychological abuse can mark children forever. During the new 60-second UNICEF film, scenes of violence against children appear as animated tattoos on David Beckhams body. While Beckhams own tattoos were marks chosen to represent happy or important memories, millions of children bear marks they have not chosen: the long-lasting scars of violence and abuse. The animations in the film depict all too common forms of violence that boys and girls endure in spaces where they should be safe their homes, schools, online and in their communities. From today, the South African television channel, SuperSport, a partner of UNICEF South Africa, will be broadcasting the short film for a two-month period to 10 million families throughout Africa. Beckham said: When I launched my 7 Fund with UNICEF, I made a commitment to do everything I can to make the world a safer place for children and to speak out on issues that are having a devastating impact on childrens lives. One of those issues is violence. Every five minutes, somewhere in the world, a child dies from violence. Millions more are in danger of physical, emotional and sexual abuse that could destroy their childhoods forever. Last year I visited Cambodia with UNICEF where I met and listened to children tell me about terrible violence they have experienced. I was shocked by what I heard and I saw how violence can leave deep and lasting scars. No child should have to endure this. Yet in all corners of the world, in their homes, schools and on their streets, children are suffering similar violence. I hope this new project will draw attention to this urgent issue and inspire action. Violence against children is wrong and together we need to end it. Using U-report, a messaging tool that allows young people to report on issues affecting their lives, David Beckham invited youth to answer questions on violence against children. More than 190,000 U-Reporters from 22 countries responded. Two-thirds of them said that they have personally experienced physical or verbal abuse or know somebody else who has. When asked who they think commits violence most often, one-third said police or law enforcement, 29 per cent said their peers, 28 per cent said a parent or caregiver and 9 per cent said teachers. Approximately 80,000 U-Reporters provided suggestions on what can be done to address violence in their communities. A 24-year old U-Reporter from the Philippines said, I will let my voice be heard and warn all people around me on what is happening, and ask for someones help to end it if I cannot do it alone. The tragic consequences of violence affect all aspects of a childs life and can be passed down from one generation to the next. Violence against children carries serious costs to all societies in every region of the world. Violence and abuse take a terrible toll on childrens lives and futures -- harming their bodies, undermining their emotional wellbeing, even interfering with the healthy development of their brains, said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. When we protect children from violence, we prevent individual tragedies -- and promote stronger, more stable societies. Thanks to powerful advocates like David Beckham, and fueled by the voices of children and young people themselves, we are building momentum for ending violence against children everywhere. Violence is not inevitable. UNICEF points to seven proven strategies that can help end violence against children. These include strengthening attitudes that support non-violence; enforcing laws; creating safe environments for children; supporting parents and caregivers; increasing family incomes to reduce poverty; strengthening social services and equipping children with life-skills. David Beckham and UNICEF are urging people to share the new film on social media platforms. After 10 years as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, David Beckham launched 7: The David Beckham UNICEF Fund in February 2015, making a commitment to helping the worlds most vulnerable children. Later that year, Beckham visited Cambodia where he met children who had suffered violence and abuse. Moved by the stories he heard, Beckham subsequently attended the United Nations and called on world leaders to put children, especially the most disadvantaged, at the centre of the new Sustainable Development Goals. Accra, Dec. 5, GNA - Mrs. Lucy Quist, the Chief Executive of Airtel Ghana, (CEO) has called for a national stakeholder engagement towards empowering the youth to research and innovate technologies, especially in the Internet of Things (IoT), to leapfrog Ghana's socio-economic advancement. She said making such critical investments in Science and Technology held the key for any developing country to catch up with the advanced world. Mrs. Quist, who was addressing Editors at a Forum, in Accra, organised by the Company to share its vision to spearhead Ghana's developmental efforts as a good corporate citizen, said there would be 400 million IoTs devices with cellular connections at the end of 2016. The figure, she said, was expected to reach 1.5 billion in 2022, with 70 per cent of the devices using cellular technology. Ghana, Mrs. Quist said, had to put her act together to become a key market player in this era of information revolution. In 2015, the United Kingdom reportedly allocated 40 million pounds in its annual budget for research and the development of technologies into IoTs. When physical devices, vehicles, buildings, animals and other items are embedded with software electronics, sensors, actuators and network connectivity to enable them to collect and exchange data, they are referred to as IoTs. 'IoTs allow objects to be sensed or controlled remotely across executing network infrastructure, creating opportunities for more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based systems, resulting in improved efficiency, accuracy and economic benefit,' according to an online source. IoTs are being used to enhance health and medical care, lifestyle management, transportation, infrastructural management, energy and environmental management, agriculture, media service, manufacturing and many other areas. In agriculture, for instance, IoTs could help to monitor plant nutrients for critical interventions in growth and maturity as well as the well-being of farm animals and their security. For infrastructure, they help to monitor any changes in structural conditions that could compromise security, schedule repairs and coordinate tasks between service providers, and more. In the medical and health fields, IoT devices, including wearables, are used to monitor blood pressure and heart rate, give notifications on emergencies for actions, adjust hospital beds automatically, etc. As part of Airtel's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Programmes, it funds the Evolve with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Initiative, which is the brainchild of Mrs. Quist. The Initiative resources young people to enjoy STEM and to initiate their own projects in these areas and it has impacted more than 2,000 beneficiaries across the four regions. Airtel has been highly recognised both globally and locally for developing innovative, sustainable and inclusive programmes, while transforming lives with their products and services. In November, it won the 'Best Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative Award at the 2016 Global Carrier Awards, held in Paris, France. During the forum, the editors asked questions on Customer Service efficiency and impact, the criteria for CSR programmes, Mobile finance services, and other issues, which were adeptly addressed by the respective heads of departments. Mrs. Hannah Agbozo, the head of Legal and CSR, said Airtel was passionate about helping to make Ghana a better place with its educational, health, environmental sustainability and other programmes. The desire to become a good corporate citizen, she said, was yielding dividends for the company as well-loved brand. GNA 05.12.2016 LISTEN By Francis Ameyibor, GNA Accra, Dec. 4, GNA - Mr Seth Terkper, Minister of Finance, has noted that the country needs stronger indigenous oil marketing companies (OMCs) to propel the economy. 'With a growing Oil and Gas economy, vibrant indigenous OMCs are what we require to make our local content policy succeed. Ultimately, a stronger and financially solvent indigenous OMC is good for a stronger cedi. 'As we embrace competition, it is important indigenous OMCs up their game and strengthen their capital base, so that they can rub shoulders with other multinationals and also be players in sectors such as the bunkering, which demands huge financial commitment,' Mr Terkper stated at GOIL end-of-year award and dinner in Accra. The Finance Minister noted that GOIL continue to play crucial role in stabilizing the once turbulent petroleum marketing sector. Indeed, the performance of indigenous companies like GOIL has vindicated government's decision to de-regulate the sector in July 2015. 'I would like to recall that when government took that decision, some in the industry were concerned that a liberalized environment will result in increased prices, which will not be beneficial for the consumer. 'The other concern was the thought that government will lose control of this critical sector,' he said. Mr. Terkper however noted that, the deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector has had a positive impact on government's finances and has cushioned the country tremendously, the shocks associated with crude price volatility on the international market. 'For instance in 2013, Government spent a whopping US$2.6 billion to import finished petroleum products from Europe for local consumption. After deregulation, data from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) indicates that the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs) accounted for 74 per cent of the imports, while government institutions imported the remaining 26 per cent. 'Clearly a huge financial burden was removed from government after deregulation. 'Let me emphasize that, it is in pricing that the effects of deregulation has greatly impacted on the consumer. 'No doubt, government's decision to de-regulate the petroleum downstream sector has brought about stiff competition and compelled players in the sector to reduce their prices which have eventually benefitted the consumer,' the Finance Minister noted. Speaking on the topic; 'The relevance of indigenous OMC in the de-regulated petroleum downstream industry in Ghana,' Mr. Terkper said indigenous OMCs have a stabilizing role to play. 'Let me also put on record the important role GOIL has played in stabilizing the market and helping the consumer to get fairer fuel prices on the market,' he said. He however noted that other indigenous OMCs can only play that role if some of them can consolidate and muster the financial muscle. Professor William Asumaning, GOIL Board Chairman, noted that GOIL continued to focus on growing its core business through value-added joint venture engagements, take-over of distressed competitor stations and acquisition of new stations. He said despite the challenging market conditions and stiff competition, the Company achieved the biggest market share among the over 80 Oil Marketing Companies. GOIL's fuel sales during the year 2015 exceeded its own target and remains on course in the retail business through competitive pricing, offering quality additivated products, value for fuel purchased by our cherished customers and maintaining a high level of visibility by the strategic spread of its stations. Prof Asumaning said in June 2015, when the other Bulk Distribution Companies (BDCs) were finding it difficult to import finished petroleum products into the country, BOST together with GOENERGY (a subsidiary of GOIL) rose up to save the situation. 'As a result, the country did not experience any significant fuel shortage. Once again, GOENERGY'S contribution to the implementation of the deregulation exercise in the country is a success story we can all share,' he said. He said the synergy between GOIL and GOENERGY has pushed the Company as a group to grow to a level we are all proud of. Prof Asumaning therefore commended GOIL Board, Management, staff, Filling Station attendants, customers, the media and other stakeholders including Banks for supporting GOIL. Mr Patrick Akpe Kwame Akorli, Group Chief Executive Officer of GOIL, received award for over 20 years dedicated service to GOIL in several subordinated positions. Mr Akorli has worked through the ranks to his current position as the Group CEO and Managing Director. Other staffs who have worked between ten and 35 years of service were also awarded. GNA ROME, ACCRA, Dec. 5 - (UPI/GNA) - Another European leader has gone down in the wave of populism washing over Europe as Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Monday he will resign after voters soundly said no to his proposed changes to the constitution there. Renzi said after 60 percent of Italian voters rejected his proposals that he would meet with the president and his cabinet to make the resignation official, saying the defeat would be the end of his run in government. The proposals were meant to cut government bureaucracy by reducing the number of elected officials in the Italian parliament, eliminating most of another level of government and other smaller changes to elections which were thought could help speed government action. The vote was treated by many as a referendum on Renzi himself, however, as he promised repeatedly to resign if the constitutional changes were not approved by voters. "The 'no' won in an incredibly clear way," Renzi said Monday. "I assume all the responsibility of the defeat. [and] my experience of government ends here." The loss is expected by many in Italy to throw the country somewhat into chaos, and members of the European Union already were concerned what would happen if the 'no' votes prevailed and Renzi left government. The populist, anti-establishment 5 Star Movement has plans to refinance the country's $2 trillion debt and wants to hold a nonbinding referendum on Italy's membership in the European Union. While Austrians voted against far-right candidate Norbert Hofer, elections in France, Germany and Italy, could bring in the same type of populist leadership that led Britain to leave the European Union and has voters around the world moving to reject much of the established political and financial practice of recent decades. GNA Accra, Dec 5, GNA - FBNBank Ghana has scaled up its money transfer services with the introduction of TransFast Money, a global remittance service. Managing Director of the Bank, Gbenga Odeyemi, said the addition 'is to present customers with a range of options when sending remittances for business transactions and to their families back home.' 'According to the World Bank, one in seven people worldwide are migrant workers and we know that within the global percentage are many Ghanaians and Nigerians who need to remit money regularly to their family and friends back home and at FBNBank Ghana, we want to ensure that no matter where our customers and their relations are, they can send money,' said Mr. Odeyemi. 'We also know that the Global remittance economy is a huge economy which is fast expanding and as a player in the global money economy, we want to play our part in its growth. 'With TransFast, FBNBank Ghana is proud to introduce a renowned brand to its customers and potential customers,' he added. TransFast Money is the latest addition to other money transfer services offered by the Bank such as Western Union, MoneyGram, Ria, Sigue and Integrity. With its headquarters in New York, TransFast provides multi-currency, cross-border payments for companies and individuals through a wholly owned direct-to-bank network in accordance with all international laws and safeguarding customers' information. 'For any money transaction, safety, reliability and convenience are critical and FBNBank Ghana strives to give our customers that and more in a comfortable and friendly environment,' Mr Odeyemi said. Aside FBNBank Branches in Ghana and some West African countries, TransFast can be accessed around the world in First Bank of Nigeria branches and agencies all over the globe, as well as from 200,000 pay points across 120 countries. GNA Koforidua (E/R), Dec.5, GNA - Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has stated that he is upbeat that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) could win 60 per cent of the votes in Eastern Region. He said the Party's target of winning 50 per cent of the votes in the Region had now moved from 'Agenda 50/50' to 'Agenda 60/40'. Vice President Amissah-Arthur made the statement when he addressed hundreds of NDC supporters at a regional rally at Jackson Park, Koforidua. The rally, which attracted party supporters from the various constituencies in the Region, has at its main objective, 'Agenda 50/50', to win 50 per cent of the votes in the Region. Vice President Amissah-Arthur urged NDC supporters to conduct their campaigns in a peaceful manner. He said elections were not akin to 'a do or die affair' but presented opportunities for the electorate to express their choices as who they wanted to govern the country. He extended President John Mahatma's message of commendation to the Party's executive for their tireless effort to ensure victory in the December Polls. He said the NDC had elected the best parliamentary candidates for the Region, and therefore, urged the supporters to vote massively for them Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the General Secretary of the NDC, also reiterated the NDC's objective to win 50 per cent of the votes in the Eastern Region had now progressed from 'Agenda 50/50 to 'Agenda 60/40'. He said initially he doubted whether the target was realistic but upon arrival at the Jackson Park, and seeing the large enthusiastic NDC supporters, he was optimistic that the 'Agenda 50/50' could be surpassed. He said judging from the work that the party officials had done on the ground, he was optimistic that the NDC could easily achieve the new target of 'Agenda 60/40'. Mr Asiedu Nketiah commended the Regional and Constituency executives of the Party for working hard to ensure victory in the December polls. He reminded the supporters that the Eastern Region was not the stronghold of the NPP as people were made to believe because in 1992 and 1996 elections, the NDC won. He charged the party foot soldiers to go out to communities to canvass for more votes to give President Mahama one-touch victory on Wednesday. Dr Edward Omane Boamah, the Minister of Communications, said the NDC had had complaints that some of its supporters in Kyebi were being intimidated by their NPP counterparts. He said the Party would not sit down for its supporters to be scared by the NPP in the Region. He said if in the year 2008 and 2012 NPP had it way by intimidating NDC supporters, this time round in 2016 they would not be allowed to do that. Dr Omane Boamah said the NDC would protect every ballot and ensure that each vote cast was counted to elect President John Mahama for another four-year term. He urged the NDC supporters to go back to their communities to embark on door-to-door campaign in these last few days to the elections to ensure total victory for the Party. GNA Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - Gambian opposition leader Ousainou Darboe, who had been jailed for taking part in a protest, was freed on bail with 18 others Monday, days after a shock opposition election win. The head of his defence team said the group's bail was a sign of The Gambia's new democratic maturity following its first transfer of power by the ballot box last week. Judges handed down the much-awaited ruling three days after an opposition coalition took a surprise victory in a presidential election that will see businessman Adama Barrow take over from President Yahya Jammeh after 22 years in office. Ousainou and the others took part or were picked up nearby a demonstration in April over the death in custody of Solo Sandeng, a fellow member of the United Democratic Party (UDP), who had taken to the streets to demand electoral reform. "This ruling by the court is a vindication of the country's democratisation process, which has begun," defence lawyer Atoumane Gaye said. The UDP is one of eight political organisations represented in the coalition. The appeal of the 19 UDP members against their three-year sentences passed down in July continues, but Gaye said he hoped that by January -- the deadline for the coalition president to take power -- they would be definitively released. Gaye further remarked that the decision could herald a new era for independent courts in the country, which have long been seen as an instrument of outgoing president Yahya Jammeh to prosecute his critics. Speaking to journalists prior to the ruling, the slight and elderly Darboe said he bore no grudge against Jammeh. "I think he is someone who has done his bit," Darboe said, referring to the leader's 22-year rule. "I have respect for him as the president of this country and I would never address him as a crazy man and I would never address him as an evil man," he added. He was defiant, however, saying that "what I did was not against the law." Human Rights Watch hailed "an important first step in demonstrating improved respect for the rule of law", while Amnesty International said it hoped the ruling would lead to a full acquittal. President-elect Barrow has pledged to rejoin the International Criminal Court and the Commonwealth, both institutions which Jammeh railed against and withdrew the country from, to the dismay of many. His coalition will govern for three years with Barrow as its figurehead, after which elections will be held and he will step down in line with a memorandum signed by all the parties involved. Tripoli (AFP) - Forces loyal to Libya's UN-backed government said Monday they had seized full control of Sirte from the Islamic State group, in a major blow to the jihadists who fought for months to retain their bastion. The battle for the coastal city, which was the last significant territory held by IS in Libya, cost the lives of hundreds of loyalist troops and an unknown number of IS fighters. The offensive was backed by a US bombing campaign launched in August, which as of December 1 had seen American warplanes, drones and helicopters carry out 470 strikes. "Our forces have total control of Sirte," Reda Issa, a spokesman for pro-government forces, told AFP. "Our forces saw Daesh (IS) totally collapse." "Our forces are combing the last pockets and carrying out a major operation to trap those trying to flee," said the spokesman, adding that around 30 jihadists had surrendered. Locator map of Sirte in Libya and timeline since June 2015 when it was first taken by IS group. Issa said a public announcement of "the liberation of Sirte" would follow within hours "once the last jihadist has been wiped out". Forces allied with the country's unity government began the offensive to retake Sirte on May 12, quickly seizing large areas of the city and cornering the jihadists. But IS put up fierce resistance with suicide car bombings, snipers and improvised explosive devices. "Daesh has totally collapsed and dozens of them have given themselves up to our forces," said a statement on the loyalist forces' official Facebook page. Major setback The capture of Sirte boosts the authority of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), which was launched in Tripoli in March but whose legitimacy is contested by a rival administration based in eastern Libya. Damaged buildings in Sirte last month The country descended into chaos following the NATO-backed ousting of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, with rival administrations emerging and well-armed militias vying for control of its vast oil wealth. The infighting and lawlessness allowed extremist groups such as IS to seize several coastal regions, giving the jihadists a toehold on Europe's doorstep. The fall of Sirte -- Kadhafi's home town located 450 kilometres (280 miles) east of Tripoli -- is a major setback for IS, which has also faced a series of military defeats in Syria and Iraq. Iraqi forces are advancing on the IS stronghold of Mosul, while a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance last month launched an offensive to retake Raqa, the Syrian capital of the "caliphate" the jihadists proclaimed in 2014. Forces loyal to Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord gather in Sirte on November 20, 2016 "Losing it (Sirte) could cause a momentary loss of traction, but a lot will depend on what happens in Syria and Iraq and whether the ungoverned spaces in Libya will remain such," said Mattia Toaldo, a Libya expert with the European Council of Foreign Relations. Toaldo said IS's failure to hold Sirte was due in part to its lack of resources in Libya. "They didn't manage to seize any considerable source of revenue," he said. "What they found in the banks in Sirte was not comparable to what they found in Mosul, nor was there an equivalent weapons stockpile." 'Last stand' The fight for Sirte took far longer than originally planned, but signs emerged in recent days that IS was about to capitulate. The Pentagon last week said that IS holdouts were staging a "last stand" in their former stronghold. And pro-GNA forces Sunday said they had detained several jihadists trying to swim to safety. Almost seven months of fighting have left nearly 700 GNA fighters dead and 3,000 wounded. Forces loyal to the Government of National Accord hold a position in Sirte's Al-Giza Al-Bahriya district on November 21, 2016 Issa said in November that the final assault was held up mainly because it would "result in very intense street fighting and Daesh is determined to defend its positions right down to the last square metre". Claudia Gazzini, an analyst with the International Crisis Group think tank, said jihadists who escaped from Sirte had probably moved south to Sebha, closer to Libya's borders with Algeria and Niger. Others from the group are believed to be operating in second city Benghazi and possibly in and around Tripoli. "Despite the demise of IS in Sirte we cannot rule out that they will continue to have cells in other parts of the country," Gazzini said. The GNA is the centrepiece of Western hopes to stem the upsurge of jihadism in Libya, as well as to halt people trafficking across the Mediterranean that has led to thousands of drownings. But the unity government headed by Fayez al-Sarraj has struggled to replace two rival administrations. The Vice President has assured that all eligible voters resident in neighboring countries would be allowed access into the country to exercise their franchise on December 7 . Kwesi Amissah-Arthur's comment follows claims by opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Volta Region that it would ensure no Togolese is allowed entry into Ghana to vote under its "Operation Eagle Eye". Addressing NDC sympathizers at a rally in Hohoe in the Volta Region on Sunday , Amissah-Arthur explained that nobody or party has the right to prevent any Ghanaian resident abroad who has duly registered from voting. "I hear that in the Volta Region you people are afraid they say they will stop some people from voting, nobody can stop any Ghanaian from voting", he stressed. "The same people who introduced the representation of people law to bring people from America and Britain to come and vote, say if you are coming from Togo you can't vote, if you are coming from Benin you can't vote, why? Is it because they are afraid of Ghanaians who are living there who wants to come and vote. We shall vote today, we shall vote tomorrow !" Mr Amissah-Arthur said. He indicated that he knows Ghanaians who live in America, U.K., Germany, Nigeria, Chad and other countries who have flown home to vote...so if you come by plane you are Ghanaian, if you come by road you are not Ghanaian? Every Ghanaian can exercise his franchise and we will allow every Ghanaian who has a vote no matter where he lives to come to Ghana and vote." Mr Amissah-Arthur who commended people of the Volta Region for the massive support shown the NDC thanked the supporters on behalf of the President. "He is thanking you ahead because he knows that you are determined to vote for the NDC on Wednesday . Let me on behalf of JM thank the people of Volta for the work that you have done in the last five months of this campaign," he said. He urged Ghanaians to vote massively to maintain the NDC to enable the Mahama-led-government complete its development agenda for the country and assured that there would be enough jobs for the seeming youth when the infrastructure works are completed. "We have work to do in the next four years, we have to finish the roads in this constituency, we have to finish the roads in the Volta Region, we have to finish the schools, we have to bring hope to our people, we have to give jobs to the young people of our country." The NDC Parliamentary Candidate for Hohoe Constituency, Bernice Adiku Heloo urged her constituents to reject any other party and vote President Mahama and herself for continuing development of the constituency. The NDC is targeting to garner 97% of total votes in the Hohoe Constituency on the election day. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Fred Quame Asare | Joy News Accra, Dec. 5, GNA - December 3 marks International Day of Persons with Disabilities and the theme for this year is: 'Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want.' We mark this Day in the wake of the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the United Nations (UN, Mr Yaw Ofori Debra said in a statement to the Ghana News Agency on Saturday. 'This global blueprint for action summons us to leave no one behind in the world's development process,' he said. Below is the full statement issued and signed by the Federation president. This year marks 10 years since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and the Persons with Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715). As an organisation solely focused on the rights of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) seeks to raise awareness about this Day. We urge Government, Stakeholders, the media, persons with disabilities, and the public to support the implementation of the PWDs Act, 2006 (Act 715) as well as the UNCRPD. In September 2015, the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its related targets to guide the global development agenda for the next 15 years. Goal 10 target 2 of the SDGs focuses on promoting the social, economic and political inclusion of all persons including PWDs while Goal 16 target 7 advocates for responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels. As the December 7 Presidential and Parliamentary elections approach, the GFD will like to urge the Electoral Commission and relevant stakeholders to provide reasonable accommodation by making the voting centers, information and materials available and more accessible to PWDs as they exercise their franchise during the elections. Also, we encourage the general public and election officials to be receptive and allow PWDs to enjoy preferential treatment as is being championed by the Electoral Commission of Ghana. Whichever political party emerges victorious after the elections is also immensely encouraged to have an inclusive governance structure and system that will include PWDs. It is through these consciously planned interventions that we can ensure the full and effective participation of PWDs in our national discourse. The International Day of PWDs which falls on December 3 every year is an international observance promoted by the United Nations since 1992 and has been celebrated with varying degrees of success around the globe. The observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of PWDs. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of PWDs in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. The Federation wishes to commend all persons with disabilities and our numerous development partners and donors for your continuous support to the Federation and the entire disability community in Ghana. The GFD is a national umbrella of organizations of persons with disabilities in Ghana. It was established in 1987 with a mandate to advocate for total inclusion and effective participation of PWDs in the Ghanaian society at all levels. Its seven national member organisations include, Ghana Blind Union, Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled, Mental Health Society of Ghana, Ghana National Association of the Deaf, Ghana Association of Persons with Albinism, Share Care Ghana - a group of people with auto-immune conditions and Inclusion Ghana - a group of people with intellectual disabilities. GFD also embraces other categories of PWDs including persons who are Deaf blind, Little People, Burn Survivors and persons with Leprosy. GNA "I love you daddy": Cute little girl crawls up to her father's bed to wake him up, touches his cheeks in sweet video The founder of Omega Fire Ministries International (OFM), Apostle Johnson Suleman, has come under fire from some Nigerians following his declaration the popular money doubling scheme MMM is satanic. Apostle Suleiman Apostle Suleiman had in a message to his congregation during a church service said MMM is satanic and that those involved in it are demonic. "Go and check the founder of MMM. He was a fraudster in America; defrauded people, and that's what you're involving yourself in and you are a Christian, looking for easy way out. Many Christians have gotten involved. If you are involved in MMM, I have to pray for you today. It's not of God. Any quick fix way for money is not of God because some people are being defrauded to enrich some other people, the controversial preacher warned his members. READ ALSO: Pastor involved in MMM-Nigeria says he has never met Mavrodi He said any quick-rich scheme is wrong, noting that a quick business transaction like MMM that can brings a return of over 200 person, is not of God. However, condemnation has trailed Apostle Suleimans demonization of the MMM scheme. Some Nigerians sympathetic to the scheme say MMM is better than churches who collect money from their member without offering any benefit. The aggrieved Nigerians called on Apostle Suleiman to reject the tithes and offerings that come to his church as some of the money may be proceeds gotten from MMM. See reaction below: Paul Kaigama: "What is your reason of claims, i think there is no difference between some church and the MMM which the MMM is even better than them as peple keep putting money without any divident as church members but MMM gives divident." Anthony Benedict: "And offerings & tithes comes to church box with no prove of source is normal. Members cannot attend church schools that are ridiculously expensive is normal. Leave Nigerians alone ooo." READ ALSO: MMM participants panic over reports of Ultimate Cycler's crash Ekemini-abasi Okon: "Seriously I don't know why somebody who calls himself a man of God will leave what he is supposed to preach and rather chase shadows. You are not involved in mmm and therefore you don't know how it works. Pls judge not that you may not be judged.leave whoever was a fraudster to God alone. No one is a the right to condemn anyone. It is always appropriate to say things u know very well to avoid making blunders.May God help us all." Krusader Ebube Frederick Okafor: "And at the end of his senseless preaching he will demand that they come for weekly thanksgiving, tithe, covenant seed, seed of faith. Birthday, First Sunday of the month, last month of the year. And he never cares how they got the money for the Thanksgiving.. This man once said that El Rufai will die sometime ago. What happened. Who is now a fraudster. Him or mmm." Rilwan Oludare Amusa: "If this man is looking for cheap publicity i think he should organise crusade at eagles square in Abuja and invite all the honourable criminals calling themselves politicians after all these are the people paying huge tithe and offering among the congregation.... Pastor abeg park well." Velli Dike Rubbish: "Those mics, the phones ,the laptops, the big tv screens, the amps and other musical instruments he and other churches are using were all invented and produced by those who either doesn't believe in God or those who are not Christians! Shouldn't we say they are demonic too?" Confidence Nwanyanwu: "Sooo tithes people pay and we all think God actually comes down from heaven to collect the money but at last we discovered it's was going straight to your pocket is what? Is that not the ultimate sin robbing God? That one is the real MMM." Wenite Nworah Ojor: "Most pastors and prophets are occultic and demonic. MMM is even better than them. They make their money through the easy way of swindling their already brainwashed followers. If the easy way of making money through offerings and tithes is demonic, then the self made prophet is implicated." Adebowale Oluwamayowa: "Which means having a facebook account is also demonic because the founder does not believe in the existence of God. Mark Z is an atheist. I bet you will welcome mark in church and you will never decline his donation." Maryjayne Eriagbor Esekhaigbe: "Abeg let this pastor pray and fast for our country Nigeria. I know of pple that benefited from MMM. I have even grooved from the money . Most importantly who told him it is evil. Na wah." Moshi Emmaster: "Jealously nd envy has taken over churches. How on earth can a man of God call this charity organization (mmm) satanic? He must be an enemy of progress that wants the poor to remain poor for life." Meanwhile, fresh findings by Legit.ng have revealed that the money spinning Ponzi scheme Mavrodi Mundial Movement also known as MMM might crash between June-July 2017. Some experts in Ponzi schemes who spoke with our reporter said the scheme might not last longer than July of 2017 following recent developments such as multiple registrations by participants by users within the scheme. Source: Legit.ng The Nigerian Customs Service has placed a ban on the importation of vehicles through the land border. In a statement signed by Wale Adeniyi who is the public relation officer of the customs service, he revealed that the ban takes effect from January1, 2017. READ ALSO: Price of rice will crash next month - FG The ban is said to come from President Muhammadu Buhari just like the ban on the importation of rice. Read the statement below: File photo of cars imported into the country Importation of vehicles into Nigeria through the land Borders have been banned by the Federal Government. The prohibition order covers all new and used vehicles. The Ban is sequel to a Presidential Directive restricting all vehicle imports to Nigeria Sea Ports only. The order takes effect from 1st January 2017. The restriction on importation of vehicles follows that of Rice, whose imports have been banned through the land Borders since April 2016. Importers of vehicles through the land borders are requested to utilize the grace period up till 31st December 2016 to clear their vehicle imports landed in neighbouring Ports. Meanwhile, operatives of the customs service carried out anti-smuggling operations that has resulted in the seizure of 29 prohibited items with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N1,074,099,739.00 and under payment recovered of over N54 million. In a statement by Ifeoma Onuigbo who is the public relations officer of the Federal Operations Unit Zone C, Owerri of the service, it was revealed that the confiscated items include 2,522 bags of 50 kg foreign rice, 61,333 cartons of imported foreign poultry products, 720 cartons of foreign vegetable oil, 1,618 cartons 1,466 pieces of furniture, 269 pieces of unused tyres, 59 cartons and 1,964 pieces of spare parts, 39 pieces of used compressors, 29 bales of second hand clothing as well as 480 pairs of used shoes and 9 vehicles of assorted types. Source: Legit.ng - The Buhari-led administration has been described as the most corrupt in the history of Nigeria - Junaid Mohammed said as a president, Buhari was a 'monumental failure' and he deceived the north using the toga of Islam - He called on the north to replace him if he decided to run for re-election in 2019 - Mohammed said the PDP was dead and the APC is on its way to collapse Dr. Junaid Mohammed, a second republic lawmaker and a foremost commentator on northern Nigerian affairs, has described President Muhammadu Buhari as a 'monumental failure' as president. The Whistler reports that Mohammed warned that crisis may erupt which could hasten the break-up of the country if Buhari decides to run for re-election in 2019. If Buhari decides to contest in 2019, he will be defeated, except if he rigs the election and there will be violence which may lead to the break-up of Nigeria," he said. Junaid Mohammed said Nigeria may break up if Buhari is re-elected in 2019 READ ALSO: Buba Galadima speaks on thieves in Buhari's government Mohammed said if the north wants to retain power, it needs to replace Buhari in 2019 and not support him. Although I have not heard of plans to replace him and field another northerner in 2019, I will not be surprised if this happens," he said. According to him, the Buhari-led government was the most corrupt in the history of Nigeria and the most nepotistic that has ever been since independence. So, the north is justified culturally, politically and morally to replace Buhari in 2019 if it chooses to do so, he added. Mohammed accused Buhari of deceiving the north using the toga of Islam and that he has their interest at heart. But, in the real sense, the north has been backward under him and he has not done anything for them, Vanguard reports. He also condemned moves to form a new mega party, saying it was meaningless as the political class was inconsistent. He said it was an indication of the insincerity of the political class. I believe before we get to 2019, the people of Nigeria will decide what to do. What I can see right now is that the PDP is dead and APC is on its way to collapse. I am not surprised about the development in PDP because its convocation from day one was not that of a political party and for APC, it is a party in transition and on its way to collapse," he added. Reports suggesting that President Buhari would seek a second term in office had been strongly criticized by some Nigerians. They said it would be a shame for Buhari to run for second term when he has not offered solution to the myriads of problems facing the country. They also warned that he might be stoned if he contests in the 2019 presidential election. Also, a former Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) member, Alhaji Buba Galadima said that Buhari would be abandoned by the people in 2019. In a swift reaction, presidential spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu, said the masses are solidly behind Buhari for 2019 because the incumbent president is not stealing their money and their future. Source: Legit.ng Photographs by Jennifer Moller Subscribe | What is RSS News Release Date: December 5, 2016 December 5, 2016 Contact: Dani Crawford, 508-255-3421 ext. 0305 During the month of December, Cape Cod National Seashore will exhibit photographs from artist Jennifer Moller as part of its Perspectives: Seeing Cape Cod National Seashore through Art series. Jennifer has created a body of work that represents the passage of time, the resiliency of nature, and the transformational beauty of kettle pools. She uses film photography and scanning to make 40x40 digital archival prints. Moller is an awarding wining media artist, photographer, and arts educator. She has created several public video installations, including "seas," which is in the private collection of the Hood Museum in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Her photography and videos have been exhibited nationally and she curated several video/media festivals at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum on Cape Cod. She has taught at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, New England School of Photography, and The Santa Fe Media Workshops. In 2010 she was invited to teach as a visiting artist at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe. She currently resides on the Cape and in Boston, and she teaches digital design at University of Massachusetts at Lowell. She is represented by Cynthia Reeves Gallery. Moller says The camera is a tool for marking time, and six years is a short period in the lives of ancient kettle holes. I am watching this natural interconnectedness and taking it for evidence of how the spiritual world permeates the mundane. The dynamic weather and moving tides contrast with these persistent forms, and this beautiful interplay has moved me to record these pools over the course of many years. My director and collaborator is nature. Meet the artist during a reception with refreshments on Saturday, December 10, from 2 to 4 PM in the exhibit room at the Salt Pond Visitor Center. IF YOU GO: Salt Pond Visitor Center is located at the intersection of Route 6 and Nauset Road in Eastham, and can be contacted by calling 508-255-3421. The center is open daily from 9 AM to 4:30 PM, with staff to assist with activity planning. Visit the museum, view a park film, enjoy panoramic views of Salt Pond and Nauset Marsh, and shop in the gift and bookstore featuring national seashore-related items. During the month of December, Cape Cod National Seashore will exhibit photographs from artist Jennifer Moller as part of its Perspectives: Seeing Cape Cod National Seashore through Art series. Jennifer has created a body of work that represents the passage of time, the resiliency of nature, and the transformational beauty of kettle pools. She uses film photography and scanning to make 40x40 digital archival prints.Moller is an awarding wining media artist, photographer, and arts educator. She has created several public video installations, including "seas," which is in the private collection of the Hood Museum in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Her photography and videos have been exhibited nationally and she curated several video/media festivals at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum on Cape Cod. She has taught at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, New England School of Photography, and The Santa Fe Media Workshops. In 2010 she was invited to teach as a visiting artist at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe. She currently resides on the Cape and in Boston, and she teaches digital design at University of Massachusetts at Lowell. She is represented by Cynthia Reeves Gallery.Moller says The camera is a tool for marking time, and six years is a short period in the lives of ancient kettle holes. I am watching this natural interconnectedness and taking it for evidence of how the spiritual world permeates the mundane. The dynamic weather and moving tides contrast with these persistent forms, and this beautiful interplay has moved me to record these pools over the course of many years. My director and collaborator is nature.Meet the artist during a reception with refreshments on Saturday, December 10, from 2 to 4 PM in the exhibit room at the Salt Pond Visitor Center.IF YOU GO: Salt Pond Visitor Center is located at the intersection of Route 6 and Nauset Road in Eastham, and can be contacted by calling 508-255-3421. The center is open daily from 9 AM to 4:30 PM, with staff to assist with activity planning. Visit the museum, view a park film, enjoy panoramic views of Salt Pond and Nauset Marsh, and shop in the gift and bookstore featuring national seashore-related items. Coming through on campaign promises can be difficult for any President-elect, but Donald Trump changed that when he announced companies are not going to leave this country anymore without consequences in front of press and workers at Indianas Carrier plant, where select jobs were saved from outsourcing in exchange for massive corporate tax breaks. Even before taking the oath of office, it is being written up by the Trump transition team as a major victory and a sign of things to come. Per the deal, one thousand jobs will stay in Indiana instead of being moved to Mexico. So what does this say about the way Donald Trump is going to govern the country? For one, it is another in a long line of huckster-ish half-promises, or whole lies. He promised to keep jobs in America, and he did just that. But what he isnt admitting is the ruinous terms of the deal. In order to save one thousand jobs, United Technologies, Carriers parent company, will still be sending most of those manufacturing jobs across our southern border while receiving millions of dollars in tax benefits from the State of Indiana. This is one thousand good paying jobs in a recovering economy, and one thousand fewer taxpayers in Indiana; and until they can find another job, one thousand more people in the unemployment line. According to the New York Times, Trump not only had to renege on the promise of a 35% tariff on companies that send jobs across borders, but will be providing unnamed benefits to UT that the Times Editorial Board believes will come in the form of corporate tax cuts (and, inevitably, tax loopholes for specific industries) along with regulatory rollbacks. Its hard to say whats actually going to happen, as with anything in the Trump Administration, but these terms spell disaster for Indiana in particular, and the country in general, if he continues to deal with companies in this manner. The problem isnt so much the jobs leaving the country, but the fact that other large corporations in America will now be looking for their own handout. And the reasoning is obviousTrump only wants the chance to say that he saved x amount of jobs while ignoring the x amount of jobs leaving. What company wouldnt line up for that? Bernie Sanders, in an op-ed for The Washington Post wrote that even corporations that werent thinking of offshoring jobs will most probably be re-evaluating their stance this morning. Robert Reich described it in a talking head interview on MSNBC as a 24/7 job for President Trump. One need only look to GE to see that companies will hold the government hostage at every turn. In early 2016, the decision was made final to move a substantial portion of the company from Fairfield, CT to Boston, leaving a hole in Connecticuts budget large enough to question whether it will ever be filled. The reason it left? Taxes. GEs contributions in actual taxes were minimal to begin with for a business that rakes in over ten billion global dollars annually. And that left Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy in the position of needing to come up with revenue, and one of the ways of doing that is by getting companies to pay their fair share. GEs CEO Jeff Immelt took Malloys plan for government solvency and decided that it was backwards thinking, saying at a benefit dinner: We need an ecosystem thats forward-looking, thats future-looking; thats willing to fight hard to be competitive and enduring for the future. Immelt started that brief statement by saying were a company that doesnt look for special deals. But the opposite was shown to be true: In deciding to leave, they made it known that they would go where a deal could be made. Its a kind of blackmail that we will see under a Trump administration that doesnt care who loses a job where, as long as the optics can be spun in his favor. Connecticuts dedication to its citizens and to a solvent budget was a bridge too far for GE. And in that case, and Indianas case with Carrier, those tax breaks will now be a burden on the states residentlikely leading to major cutbacks in every possible area, as we are seeing in Kansas right now. That state, under Sam Brownback, is conducting the largest scale cutbacks on taxes and spending since Reagan promised that wealth would trickle down. Other than cutting back on income taxes, Brownback created what was thought to be a business haven of low-to-zero taxes and few regulations. And with everything going according to Brownbacks plan, Kansas is falling apart. Hes had to cut funding from nearly everything in the state, from education to the highway programs, and hes seen the states economy dwindle. In an oft-cited irony, it has gotten so bad for Kansas that the quarterly reports that were once meant to show how well his program was doing have stopped being published because they showed the great trickle-down experiment was failing. Kansas is quickly catapulting toward ruin, and no economist with his head on straight would point to anything but tax cuts and deregulation as the culprit. The problem isnt a Red State problem, or even a Blue State problem. The problem is Corporate Welfare, and for many on both sides of the political spectrum, the idea that companies like GE and United Technologies need these tax breaks, write-offs, and loopholes is appalling in theory, and something far worse in practice. It allows corporations to take from the United States government, the governments of the states, and from the very citizens of this Country, all while using their rights of Corporate Personhood granted by the reviled Citizens United case to prop up politicians that fight tooth and nail for safety-net welfare programs like unemployment and Obamacare. And what kind of role model will the no-tax paying President Trump be? Will he call upon his cronies to pay their fair share in a crisis? Theyd laugh in his face and roll the tape of him saying that not paying taxes makes him smart. Two previous Presidents, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, cut taxes and kowtowed to business interests. Both Presidents promised that wealth would spread around, and in both cases income inequality grew, and recessions were sparked that hurt the working classes even more. It is still the lingering effects of Bushs recession that some economists feel helped Trump win the presidency in the first place. And this should be a lesson to President Trump that there will be consequences if he continues to bend over backwards for companies so he can smile in front of a camera. If he truly wants to make America great again, he needs to help the factory workers, not the factory owners. And he needs to help all of them, not just one plant in Indiana. Every weekend of this month, enormous protests have shut down central Seoul. The demonstrations stretch for several kilometers from the gates of the old royal palace and past City Hall. The protestors march in flowing, peaceful battalions, chanting and singing, waving candles and signs. It feels more like a festival than a protest. Young people, old people, high school students, farmers, office workers, mothers with toddlers in prams, all united in a single demand. President Park resign! Even for the most conspiracy-prone individual, the scandal engulfing South Korea is unfathomably bizarre, a multi-level maze of embezzlement and extortion involving the presidents best friend, a mysterious cult, and a crew of small-time hucksters and crooks who appear to have been running the government from behind the scenes. However the scandal is explained, it starts with President Park Geun-hye the democratically elected daughter of a former dictator and her closest friend and confidant, a woman named Choi Soon-sil. Using her access to and influence over the president, Choi is alleged to have extorted more than $60 million dollars from Koreas largest conglomerates in the form of charitable donations. The scandal began with investigations into two charitable foundations run by Choi. Strangely, the foundations sprang up overnight, registered and approved in a single day, and immediately flooded with donations from corporations like Samsung, Hyundai and LG. Meanwhile, the Korean media was drawn to large campus protests at the prestigious Ewha University, whose students were protesting the admission of a young woman never attended classes yet received fantastic grades for papers that might have been written by a child. The student was Choi Soon-sils daughter. Questioned about her connection to this mysteriously wealthy woman, President Park denied having any dealings with her in recent years. A few days later, reporters from a local cable news channel uncovered a laptop from Chois recently vacated office. On the laptop, totally unencrypted and unsecured, were drafts of presidential speeches and hundreds of policy documents, all containing memos and revisions by Choi. Park had lied. And a woman largely unknown to the public, with zero security clearance, was reviewing top secret policy documents and making changes to presidential speeches. Choi claimed that laptop wasnt hers. It was filled with her selfies. Again, to put this in American terms, this is bigger than Hillary Clintons emails. This is President Obama sending a draft of the Iran nuclear deal to a college roommate via a Hotmail account with the password Obama1234. As the scandal has unfolded, the details have become more lurid, more compelling, more pathetic. One of Chois closest associates, Cha Eun-Taek, a high-flying director of K-pop music videos, has been quietly running the Ministry of Culture like a private business, redirecting large sums of public money to various personal projects. No avenue of enrichment was too small or petty for Choi and her associates. Choi even took charge of designing the presidential wardrobe, assigning the task to her lover, a male host bar waiter (of the topless kind). The cheap look of the presidents accessories and clothes did not escape the publics attention. Hilariously, Choi also procured medicine from a clinic illegally, and organized secret beauty procedures for the president, who entered the clinic under an assumed and obviously fake name taken from her favorite Korean drama. Again, imagine President Obama getting Botox injections in a clinic in Vegas under the name Walter White. And yet the weirdest aspect of the story remains Choi herself, and the roots of her incredible influence over President Park. Choi is the daughter of a man named Choi Tae-min, who became Parks most trusted advisor when she was 22. The leader of a small cult combining Christianity and ancient Korean shamanism, he claimed to have the ability to channel the spirit of Parks deceased mother. The U.S. embassy in Seoul even noted the rumors in a diplomatic cable back in 2007: Rumors are rife that the late pastor had complete control over Parks body and soul during her formative years and that his children accumulated enormous wealth as a result. When Choi Tae-min died, it seems his daughter inherited her fathers strange influence over Park. Again, imagine President Obama letting a snake-handling southern preacher with psychic no, you have to go all the way back to Tsarist Russia for this one. The Korean press have nicknamed Choi Rasputin. The scandal is still unfolding. President Park has a year left in office (thankfully, presidents can only run for a single term) and is refusing to resign. All her long-time aides are under arrest, as are Choi and her various cronies. Parks approval rate is a record low of five percent. Constitutionally unable to arrest the sitting president for corruption, the public prosecutors office has named her a criminal suspect. Lawmakers are drawing up impeachment plans, but this process could take almost a year. And even if she goes, there are few compelling options to replace her. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon was widely expected to make a bid for the presidency on Parks conservative party ticket. Hes the candidate with the highest name recognition, but association with the presidents party is now electoral poison. The opposition parties have several potential candidates, but none are very inspiring or polling impressively. Public disgust may simply result in voter apathy. Because behind the lurid details of this scandal lies the same dull reality of Korean politics as usual: greed, stupidity, and a political elite who care only for themselves. President Park ran on a promise to boost Koreas meager welfare state for the elderly citizens who voted for her in large numbers. Instead she has allowed a gang of small-time crooks to loot the nation. Yet the people are speaking, in weekly protests across the country, the largest seen since the country democratized in the late 1980s. The people of South Korea want a fairer society where success comes from hard work, not access to power. They want leaders with imagination and policies that support those in need. For now President Park, alone and friendless, is carrying on as if its business as usual, making speeches, meeting dignitaries and appointing ambassadors. But theres no doubt she can hear the growing cries of the crowds outside the presidential palace. Peaceful, determined, a million voices united, chanting President Park, resign! Can anyone say for sure whether or not New Zealand is really its own country and not just a distant, unpopular state of Australia? Yes, they can, because it is but Ill be damned if I ever acknowledge it. It turns out Kazakhstan feels much the same. Kiwi traveller Chloe Phillips-Harris was detained in the country for a day and a half in May by airport officials who insisted that New Zealand was in Australia and she would require an Aussie passport to enter the country. Apparently, her insistence that New Zealand is actually, in fact, a country was made difficult by the fact that it wasnt on the map of the world they had in the interrogation room: I landed in Kazakhstan on the last flight of the night, and I got to an immigration booth and they asked me for an Australian passport, and told me I couldnt come in without an Australian passport. They said New Zealands clearly a part of Australia. Plainclothes policemen got involved, immigration police got involved, airport officials got involved and at that stage it was a bit late to bribe my way out, which apparently is what I was supposed to do from the beginning, but being a New Zealander were not familiar with that. She managed to get out of the situation by getting some friends in the country to help her secure a US passport and a new visa: The people I knew in Kazakhstan got me a new type of visa and paid the right people and got me out, thats probably the easiest explanation. Chloe isnt holding a grudge against Borats country of origin, though: Its is changing very fast, theres a huge amount of potential over there. It is corrupt and there are problems there but there are a lot of good people there too, its just a beautiful country to be in. Its just really unfortunate there was a world map that didnt have New Zealand on it. Very nice. Source: News.com.au. Photo: Flight Of The Conchords. Traian Bostan Wins Record-Breaking 2016 Unibet Open Bucharest (100,000) December 04, 2016 Christian Zetzsche Contributor The biggest Unibet Open Main Event ever has determined a winner and it was local player Traian Bostan who completed a Cinderella story to come back from less than four big blinds and emerge victoriously. A total of 603 players ponied up the buy-in of 1,100 to participate in the popular live tournament series in the Romanian capital of Bucharest, and it was Bostan who lifted the trophy in the Grand Ballroom of the stunning JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel. The final day saw 15 hopefuls return to the tables with Eli Heath in the lead. The Brit made it all the way to heads-up and eventually finished runner-up after a fierce duel for the title and payday of 100,000. While the home country made up the majority of participants, it was still impressive to see seven Romanians reach the final table. Dan Murariu's attempt of making further history was halted in sixth place; it was the seventh final table of the two-time Unibet Open champion. Place Player Country Prize 1 Traian Bostan Romania 100,000 2 Eli Heath United Kingdom 64,200 3 Adrian Stefan Calusaru Romania 44,200 4 Cosmin Cimpeanu Romania 32,800 5 Gabriel Gavrila Romania 25,200 6 Dan Murariu Romania 19,400 7 Eugen Chiva Romania 15,500 8 Ionut-Alin Tambura Romania 12,400 9 Juho Launonen Finland 9,910 The first casualty of the final day was Nikita Malinovskiy who returned as one of the top five stacks. After losing some smaller pots, Murariu cracked his pocket queens with king-queen making a runner runner straight. The next hand, short stack William Hens shoved with ace-ten suited and Malinovskiy called all in from the small blind with king-nine suited. Neither player hit anything and ace-high scooped the pot for Hens. Cristian Dan joined the short stacks early on and three-bet shoved with ace-jack in the second level of the day. He failed to improve against the pocket eights of Heath and made his way to the payout desk. Soon after, he was joined on the rail by Martin Wendt who called all in with pocket deuces after a shove by Adrian Stefan Calusaru with ace-queen. An ace appeared on the flop and the Dane was eliminated in 13th place. Popular Unibet community member Hens then finished in 12th place. He three-bet shoved with ace-queen and Murariu reshoved with ace-king from one seat over on the button. Hens flopped a queen, but Murariu turned a king to then dodge an additional flush draw by the Dutchman on a blank river. Hens' countryman Gordon Plomp, who lives in Belgium, was the next to join the early exits on the rail. After falling short again, he shoved the button with jack-nine and Murariu called with ace-jack in the small blind. Both players flopped a pair with the jack, but the kicker played to eliminate Plomp. Soon after, the final table of nine was set with the elimination of Roei Motola. The last remaining player from Israel got it in good with ace-ten against the ace-nine of Eli Heath. Both hit their kicker on the flop but Heath turned trips nines to bust Motola. Down to the last nine, Bostan was by far the shortest stack but it was Juho Launonen who ran out of chips first, busting in the very first hand of the official final table. The three-bet shove of the Finn with ace-king suited was snap-called by Calusaru with pocket aces and that was all there was to it. Bostan then scored a vital triple up with six-four suited against the isolation shove of Murariu with ace-king thanks to a runner runner flush. From then on, it was all about Bostan who kept winning pot after pot. Ionut-Alin Tambura fell in eighth place when his pocket nines failed to improve against the pocket queens of Cosmin Cimpeanu. Fellow Romanian Eugen Chiva sent his chips over to Cimpeanu as well when he shoved the button with king-three. Cimpeanu had eights in the small blind and held up. Murariu lost a big flip with ace-king against the pocket queens of Bostan for two third of his stack and would eventually boy out with ten-nine against Calurasu's ace-four suited. Day 1b chip leader Gabriel Gavrila followed in fifth place; his ten-eight suited blanked as Heath claimed the pot with king-jack. Cimpeanu also fell victim to the run of Heath, three-betting with ace-ten suited and then calling the shove of the Brit to see Heath's pocket jacks stay ahead on flop, turn and river. The heads-up duel for the title was set when Calusaru, with pocket tens, and Bostan, with ace-queen, clashed with even stacks. A queen on the flop and an ace on the turn improved Bostan to two pair and that was it for Calusaru. Bostan already had the Pokerfest.ro last longer locked up as a result and won the package for the next Unibet Open stop in London in February 2017. What followed was a hard-fought battle by Heath and Bostan, with the latter eventually grinding down his opponent. Heath shoved 14 big blinds with queen-seven off suit and Bostan snap-called with ace-queen suited to see the board run out jack-high. Just like that, the record-breaking festival in Bucharest came to a close. That was it from the PokerNews live reporting team here in Bucharest. Make sure to tune back in next week for coverage of the last ever European Poker Tour festival in Prague. Sharelines Traian Bostan has won the largest Unibet Open ever, the Unibet Open Bucharest. New Kindle book provides insights on how Donald Trump shocked the American political establishment and was elected 45th president of the United States. By: Sheldon Filger Contact Sheldon Filger ***@yahoo.com Sheldon Filger End -- Real estate mogul Donald Trump scored the greatest upset in American presidential politics in more than half a century in his surprising victory over Hillary Clinton on November 8, 2016. Those are the observations of Sheldon Filger, author ofThe eBook explores the unconventional campaign strategy employed by Trump, explains why it succeeded as well as exploring the reasons for the political establishment and mainstream media in the United States consistently underestimating the power and effectiveness of the celebrity entrepreneur's campaign strategy.Among the elements that contributed to Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election was his ability to connect with large numbers of American voters who had become disenchanted with and alienated from traditional Democratic and Republican politics through the power of his charismatic celebrity brand combined with mass rallies and social media platforms, according to the author. The eBook also outlines the failure by America's mainstream media in its coverage of Trump's presidential campaign, which, along with the political establishment and pollsters, predicted initially that Donald Trump would never win the GOP presidential nomination and then affirmed the certainty of Hillary Clinton being elected the nation's 45th president. Many other interesting facets of Trump's historical road to the White House are illuminated by the author. Mr. Filger also looks at the prospects for the new Trump administration.Sheldon Filger is an active blogger with The Huffington Post, having contributed pieces on politics and economics. He is also founder of the website, GlobalEconomicCrisis.comcan be ordered from the Kindle store on Amazon.com or at http://www.amazon.com/ PRESIDENT-DONALD- TRUMP-Political- Ea... The exhibition which is open until December 7 will have dedicated sections for manufacturers and suppliers in textile & garments, furniture, home electronics, building materials, lighting and household articles & gifts By: ME Orient China Homelife Exhibition 2016 Contact Shaina ***@oakconsulting.biz Shaina End -- China Homelife Dubai 2016 is now open to visitors at the Dubai World Trade Centre. At a grand opening ceremony, H.E. Majid Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, formally inaugurated the exhibition that has 1500 exhibitors showcasing over 70,000 products over a period of three days. Also present at the opening of the largest China sourcing platform in the Middle East was Li Lingbing, Consul General, Consulate of China in Dubai and Guo Ping, Director of Hangzhou Municipal Commission of Commerce China. The exhibition which is open until December 7 will have dedicated sections for manufacturers and suppliers in textile & garments, furniture, home electronics, building materials, lighting and household articles & gifts.With some of the most well renowned manufacturers choosing to be a part of the exhibition, the event has grown in stature and reliance over the last 7 years. Exhibitors have recognized the importance of the regional implications of their participation as well as understand the strong business hub that Dubai has grown into. The opportunities presented move further than the Middle East with additional scope for re-export into North Africa and Asia.The growing numbers of targeted visitors has also played an important role in encouraging on-going and new exhibitors to build on their business potential at China Homelife Dubai."The effort we make in sourcing quality manufacturers to surpass expectations each year across exhibitor categories has contributed to the success of China Homelife Dubai. This has also impacted the visitor profile who have developed strong business connections over the years. This year, we have seen immense interest in the Middle East and adjoining regions with more visitors registering from neighboring countries. It is our endeavor to provide them with strong and sound services which helps them in strengthening their business goals with specialized options to maximize business potential," said Binu Pillai, Chief Operating Officer, MEOrient International Exhibition.The exhibition organizers have strategically worked to build on the services which include a Match-Making programme that helps in connecting the exhibitors with targeted potential visitors in a dedicated area. This is supported by skilled and professional interpreters who are able to tackle communication gaps. Alongside this, exhibitors are also assured of extremely targeted visitors that are chosen and hosted from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Lebanon, this year there are 1300 hosted visitors. It is an exclusive service provided to top buyers who represent several large business houses and organizations with senior executives visiting the exhibition and have direct purchasing authority. The exhibition will also run seminars and workshops that will present educational sessions which will help in making strategic business decisions.For the second year in a row, the textile and garment exhibitors were able to showcase the current trends through five well choreographed fashion shows on the opening day. Many exhibitors took the opportunity to highlight their creativity and showcase their developments in textiles as well as lay focus on current and future garment collections. The regional fashion industry is growing at an extremely fast pace, and seizing the opportunity, select exhibitors launched their 2017 collections.China Homelife Dubai Exhibition is supported by the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Dubai. The three day exhibition is open for visitors from 10 am to 6pm at Shaikh Saeed Hall at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Contact Bonnie Harris ***@waxmarketing.com Bonnie Harris End -- Representatives from Vail Place, a non-profit organization providing comprehensive services, supports, and resources for adults with mental illnesses, announced that Target has awarded the organization with a $15,000 grant for Supportive Housing services. These services help Vail Place members secure safe, affordable, independent housing, as well as give individuals the skills and tools to retain housing and achieve self-sufficiency."Adults with serious mental illnesses often struggle to find and maintain safe and affordable places to live. In fact, about two thirds of them are at risk of homelessness at any time," said Stefano Loverso, Vail Place Director of External Affairs. "Vail Place programs help provide the skills and tools needed to help them retain housing, and to achieve self-sufficiency. Target has been a long-time supporter of our work in this area."Vail Place members receive direct support to ensure successful, independent living including long-term support provided in the home on a regular basis. This may include assistance with applications, liaison with landlords, long-term home support and independent living skills assistance. For the past two years, 100% of adults supported by Vail Place housing services have maintained their housing for more than six months."Our Housing services are designed to offer both housing-related information and technical assistance, and ongoing direct support to ensure successful independent living. By recognizing the importance of long-term, supportive housing services with this grant, Target has reinforced its brand as a significant corporate contributor to our community," said Vicky Couillard, Vail Place Executive Director.Vail Place is celebrating its 35anniversary as a provider of uniquely integrated services that empower people to manage complex mental, physical and social needs so they can live independently in the community.About Vail PlaceVail Place is a non-profit organization based in Hopkins, Minnesota. The organization was founded in 1981 to provide community-based recovery services for adults with serious mental illnesses. It has expanded over the years to include Targeted Case Management and Collaborative Community Programs, including site-based supportive housing and a Total Care Collaborative in North Minneapolis (partnership with North Memorial). Vail Place operates two facilities in Hopkins and Minneapolis, Minnesota. For more information, visit http://www.VailPlace.org About TargetMinneapolis-based Target Corporation serves guests at 1,795 stores and at Target.com. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its profit to communities, that giving equals more than $4 million a week. For more information, visit Target.com/Pressroom. For a behind-the-scenes look at Target, visit Target.com/abullseyeview or follow @TargetNews on Twitter. Commonwealth Motors - Help Us Help Cor Unum Meal Center. We'll Match up to $10,000 in donations. End -- This winter, Commonwealth Motors has put together an effort to provide Non-Perishable food items to assist the Cor Unum Meal Center of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Charlie Daher and Commonwealth Motors are matching every non-perishable item donated up to $10,000.There are always people in need, but come the Holiday season and the winter cold, these local families need our help even more. The communities surrounding Lawrence and the Merrimack Valley have some of the hardest working people in all of Massachusetts. Any help we can give to make this holiday season a little more comfortable will go a long way. Lawrence alone is a city with over 80,000 people and 33.1 percent are below the poverty line. You may not see it, but there are needy folks right in your backyard!The majority of those who are hungry are members of working families that are trying to make ends meet to keep a roof over their kids' heads and do not earn enough to pay for both housing and food.Through December, Commonwealth Motors will be collecting Non-Perishable Food Goods at any one of our 5 Dealerships located at 1 Commonwealth Drive in Lawrence, MA to deliver to the Cor Unum Meal Center.It really rings our bell to see fellow members of the community pull together to help those less fortunate! Together we can help our friends and neighbors!Sincerely,Charlie Daher and the Commonwealth Motors Family By: Moss Foundation End -- Moss Foundation, along with individual members of its team, donated a total of 137 shoeboxes filled with toiletry items to the Seafarers' House Christmas Campaign, a yearly drive dedicated to giving back to seafarers arriving to Port Everglades.Due to the nature of their job, seafarers spend a significant amount of time away from their families. This initiative encourages the local community to donate everyday toiletry items in decorated shoeboxes to give to the seafarers during the holiday season. The organization also accepts monetary donations that are used to purchase additional items or calling cards for them to communicate with their families."Seafarers' House's overall mission is an admirable cause to support the maritime community at Port Everglades by offering refuge, communication services and other resources while these seafarers are away from home," said Bob Moss, chairman and CEO of Moss & Associates. "We are thrilled to contribute to this effort. The holidays are very special to us at Moss and being able to support Seafarers' House in a joint effort with our employees, exemplifies the true meaning of the holiday season."Seafarers' House's shopping list included such items as toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, soap, shaving cream, disposable razors and additional toiletry items.The Seafarers' House recently honored Bob Moss as its 2016 South Florida Business Leader. Honorees are selected by their peers due to their leadership, impact on the community, entrepreneurial background and philanthropic contributions to the South Florida community.Moss Foundation, Inc. ( http://mosscm.com/ about-moss/moss- foundations/ ) is a 501(C)3 organization dedicated to assisting non-profit organizations and communities throughout the nation under the leadership of President Chad Moss. Created by Moss & Associates, a national privately held construction firm headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the foundation prides itself in giving back to the community and enhancing its surrounding areas. NAILS Next Top Nail Artist announces the Top 3 finalists, who will complete their final challenge at Chicago's America's Beauty Show in March 2017 By: NAILS Magazine Media Contact Beth Livesay ***@bobit.com 3105332552 Beth Livesay3105332552 End -- After 10 weeks of high-level nail design challenges, NAILS Next Top Nail Artist announces three finalists: Jonny Diep Pham of Sydney, Australia; Liina Leino of Helsinki, Finland; and Tracey Lee of Eindhoven, Netherlands. The three beat out 21 other competitors presenting themed work on nail tips with accompanying tutorials; entries were presented and judged entirely online.Next is a series of final challenges to be presented at America's Beauty Show in Chicago in March, along with a public interview on the show floor by CND co-founder Jan Arnold. On Saturday March 25, the winner will be announced at an evening event in Chicago's famed Roof on theWit."The winner of Next Top Nail Artist doesn't really rest after this," says Beth Livesay, NAILS executive editor and director of the competition. "He or she represents the entire professional nail community and will hold a very high profile in the year ahead." The winner attends New York Fashion Week and works with a top designer, creating nails that complement the runway looks. Other prizes include doing a cover for NAILS, a feature in Modern Salon, cash, professional products, and numerous opportunities for editorial work.Meet the Top 3:Jonny Diep Pham: The 32-year-old nail artist from Sydney first gained attention at Nailympia Australia last year with his immaculate yet emotionally driven artistry. He skipped this year's competition in order to prepare for NTNA.Liina Leino: Setting Finland on fire with her incredible range of technical and design skill, the 26-year-old Finnish nail tech has eight years of experience and endless passion for her craft. Liina also delights the judges with her highly entertaining videos.Tracey Lee: Tracey Lee is truly a global artist, with nail design awards stretching from South Africa (her home country) to the U.K. and Australia. A big move from Johannesburg to the Netherlands caused Tracey to leave recruitment and follow her true calling by completing a course in gel and acrylic nail systems. The rest is history.Each challenge during the NTNA season was underwritten by top nail products companies, including top sponsor CND as well as Akzentz Professional, American Dawn, Inc., Artistic Nail Design, Bio Seaweed Gel, EzFlow Nail Systems, Gelish, Gel II, ibd, INM, Minx, Morgan Taylor, and Orly.To learn more about the finalists and how each rose to the top, visit www.nailsmag.com/ news/117050/ nails-cnd-announce- top-3-finalists- in-next-top- nail-artist- season-4 . For interviews and photos contact Beth.Livesay@bobit.com. Skanska Property Poland has signed an agreement on the rights of perpetual usufruct, a right granting long-term use of real estate, on the land plot near ONZ Rondabout. Currently, the Ilmet office building is located on this plot. In addition, the company has bought the Warsaw One project, which was [] Royal Enfield has announced the launch of their Himalayan FI for the US market (ABS is not on offer). Priced from $4,499 (Rs 2.9 lakh), the motorcycle made its global debut in Jan 2016 in India. This price tag makes the Himalayan the cheapest entry level adventure motorcycle on sale in the 250-500 cc segment. It rivals the likes of Versys-X 300 ($5,399 or Rs 3.5 lakh), Kawasaki KLX250 ($5,349 or Rs 3.45 lakh), and Honda CRF250L Rally ($5,899 or Rs 3.8 lakh). Custom-made for those riders who want to travel the world on a motorcycle, no matter the distance or terrain. Royal Enfield claims that the Himalayan is a true adventure motorcycle built to last any terrain the rider throws at it. Even in India, the Himalayan is one of the most affordable ADVs you can buy. Before Himalayan, such a bike would have set you back by a couple of lakhs, cause the options in the entry level are the likes of Benelli 600 GT, Kawasaki Versys 650, Triumph Tiger 800, and so on. What Royal Enfield has done, is designed a bike which will be similar in characteristics to the names above, but will also be easy on the pocket. Royal Enfield Himalayan is powered by LS400, a single cylinder 410 cc oil-cooled engine which is rated at 25 hp and 32 Nm. Mated to a 5-speed gearbox, RE claims that service intervals are at 10,000 kms, while spark plug change is required at 25,000 kms. Built on a chassis designed by Harris Performance Parts, Himalayan is the first RE motorcycle to feature rear mono-shock suspension. Tested by CS Santosh, features on offer with Himalayan includes 21 inch wheels in the front, 19 inch at the rear, off-road tyres, long travel front suspension, analogue / digital instrument panel with speedometer, odometer, tachometer, altimeter and compass. Hero MotoCorp Hero MotoCorp, the countrys largest two wheeler manufacturer reported sales to the extent of 479,856 units during November 2016 down 12.8% as compared to sales of 550,731 units in November 2015. Sales dipped significantly as it was during the month of October that the company had seen sales to the extent of 6,63,153 units and it was in October 2016 that for the third consecutive month Hero sales over shot the 6 lakh mark. Dip in sales could be due to the effects of demonetization which has affected the industry at large. Honda Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) domestic sales dipped from 326,466 units sold in November 2015 to 325,448 units in the past month. Despite fall in sales, the company gained 1% in market share to 23% in November 2016. With Honda Dio commencing full fledged exports from the companys fourth plant in Gujarat to new export markets of Sri Lanka, exports increased 81% to 26,053 units as against exports of 14,391 units in November 2015. Bajaj Pune based two wheeler makers, Bajaj Auto Limited, suffered a 13% fall in sales during November 2016 when sales stood at 269,948 units as compared to 309,673 units sold in November 2015. Motorcycle sales decreased 12% to 237,757 units in November 2016 as compared to 270,886 units sold in November 2015 while total exports declined 10% and stood at 1,15,425 units as compared to 1,37315 units exported in the corresponding month last year TVS TVS Motor Companys total two wheeler sales increased 0.63% in November 2016 to the extent of 224,971 units over sales in November 2015 which stood at 225,401. Scooter sales dipped 3.83% to 73,135 units in the past month while motorcycle sales fell 17.36% to 67,896 units over sales in the same month of the previous year. Three wheeler sales which stood at 5,883 units in November 2016, also fell 23.55% as compared to sales in November 2015 while total exports dipped 2.36% from 33,621 units in November 2015 to 32,829 units in the past month. Royal Enfield Royal Enfield Limited overall sales increased 41% in November 2016. Sales stood at 57,313 units in the past month as compared to sales to the extent of 40,769 units in November 2015. Domestic sales stood at 55,843 units while exports increased significantly to 1,470 motorcycles exported in November 2016 as against just 457 units exported in the same period last year, a jump of 222%. These increased exports owe their outstanding performance to the new Himalayan launched in Australia and Colombia last month. Yamaha Yamaha Motors announced a 20% increase in sales in November 2016 despite demonetization constraints. Domestic sales which also included Nepal stood at 51,106 units in the past month as against 42,719 units sold in November 2015. It was the companys increased focus in Tier II and III cities across the country that allowed it to experience increased sales. Note We will update the post once Mahindra and Suzuki reveal their sales figure. Two new species of lizards have been discovered in the Andean highlands of Southern Chile. Collected from areas of heroic past, both small reptiles were named after courages tribal chiefs who have once fought against colonial Spaniards in the Arauco war. The study, conducted by a team of Chilean scientists, is published in the open access journal ZooKeys. Jaime Troncoso-Palacios from Universidad de Chile and his team found both new species near a lake in a pre-Andean zone among deciduous vegetation. Following the examination of the collected specimens and further analysis of their mitochondrial DNA, performed by Dr. Alvaro A. Elorza from Universidad Andres Bello, Chile, the scientists concluded that they belong to species unknown to science. One of the species, called Liolaemus janequeoae, or, Janequeo`s Lizard, is distinct for being smaller than its relatives, measuring a maximum of roughly 7 centimeters at length, as well as having no pattern on its back. Both features are quite striking for the group of lizards it belongs to. The only contrasting coloration for the species are several white scales appearing on the upper side in males. Otherwise, the species are predominantly light brown with pearly whitish down side of the body. In the local Lonko tribe's history, Janequeo was a prominent chief, who lost her partner during the Arauco war, after he was caught and tortured to death by the colonial Spaniards. She is said to have had a leading role in the Battle of Fort Puchunqui. Coincidentally, the new species was discovered where the war once took place, in the Araucania Region. The second new species, called Liolaemus leftrarui, or Leftraru`s Lizard, was collected from the same locality, hence it also received a heroic name honoured in the Arauco war. It is called after the most prominent Mapuche tribal chief. According to the stories, he was taken by the Kingdom of Chile's Governor at the age of 11 to become his servant. There, however, he learned the military strategy of the Spanish, managed to escape and joined his people in the war. Later, not only did he kill his former master, but also won the most remarkable victories over the Spaniards. The Leftraru`s Lizard is a large species of about 8 centimeters in length, characterised with absent precloacal pores, a common feature for its lizard group, save few. On the upper side of its body there are also unusual light blue dots. Overall, its colour is brown splashed with dark brown spots. Apart from the blue scattered scales on the back, there is also a bit of green on its head, limbs and tail. At the rear it becomes yellowish. In conclusion, the authors note that the lizard fauna of Chile has been mistakenly assumed to be quite scarce up until recently. Yet, their latest discovery, along with several other new species, described in recent years, could be a clear sign that, "some populations under study could be described as new species in the future." Researchers are increasingly skeptical about the validity of bite-mark identification as trial evidence. A new paper in Journal of Law and the Biosciences describes the legal basis for the rise of bite-mark identification and reviews relevant empirical research on bite-mark identification -- highlighting both the lack of research and the lack of support provided by what research does exist. Forensic dentists claim that they can accurately associate a bite mark to the one and only set of teeth in the world that could have produced the crime scene bite mark. There is, however, no sound basis for believing that forensic dentists can do such a thing. Before 1974, forensic dentists confined themselves to trying to identify victims of disasters, usually by comparing the victims' dentition against their dental records, which often included full-mouth X-rays. A 1975 California case marked the first time bite marks were used to try to identify a perpetrator. The circumstances of the injury, however, presented an unusually stable bite mark of a very unusual set of teeth. Studies of wrongful convictions based on DNA exonerations have found the forensic sciences to be second only to eyewitness errors as a source of false or misleading evidence contributing to erroneous convictions. Error rates by forensic dentists are perhaps the highest of any forensic identification specialty still practiced. One recent evaluation sought to examine all empirical research aimed at determining whether all human dentition is unique. Following an extensive bibliographic search, 13 studies were found and each was reviewed in detail. None was able to support a conclusion of dental uniqueness. Nine of the studies explicitly failed to find uniqueness. Four claimed to have succeeded, but were found to be methodologically incapable of supporting the asserted conclusions. Four additional studies found specimens in the study populations that were indistinguishable within measurement resolution -- that is, their differences did not exceed the margin of error for the study population. The American Board of Forensic Odontology conducted a reliability study of the judgments of experienced, board-certified forensic dentists making decisions about bite marks. Researchers selected 100 photographs of suspected bite-mark injuries from actual cases. These were examined by 38 forensic odontologists, who were asked to review the injuries and respond to three questions: is there sufficient evidence in the materials to determine whether the injury is a human bite mark? Is it a human bite mark, not a human bite mark, or suggestive of a human bite mark? Does the bite mark have distinct, identifiable arches and individual tooth marks? For only 14 of the 100 cases did at least 80 per cent of the examiners give the same answers to all three questions. Moreover, recent reviews of the field's claims, as well as recent empirical findings, have underscored the lack of reliability and validity of the most fundamental claims about the ability of forensic dentists to identify the source of bite marks on human skin. A number of DNA exonerations have occurred in recent years for people convicted based on erroneous bite-mark identifications. A committee of the National Academy of Sciences recently concluded that bite-mark identification testimony has been "introduced in criminal trials without any meaningful scientific validation, determination of error rates, or reliability testing." "Evidence-based evaluation of forensic techniques has only recently been recognized as essential to establishing scientific claims -- about a century later than it should have, said lead author Michael Saks, a psychology and law professor at Arizona State University. "And bite mark identification has become a central focus of concern." Ann Mastergeorge and Elizabeth Trejos-Castillo appeared to be in a scene from a dystopian novel. They stood in a clean room on the upper floor of a new, government-built apartment building. From the window, it was a spare but pleasant space for somebody to make a temporary home. One glance ut the window, however, showed a different world: crack addicts, just finishing a hit, sprawled on the pavement, many half-dressed. The pavement was heated to the point of pain by the 100-degree weather, but none were sober enough to recognize their skin was burning. Fumes filled the humid air, wafting into open doors and windows. Police watched nearby. This was no dystopian novel. It was October in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in an area known as Cracklandia. And it wasn't just adults who lived and died there. "We watched children," said Mastergeorge, chairwoman of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Texas Tech University. "It just broke my heart to look at these young children in abandoned buildings eating a piece of bread, and they're hanging their shorts out over this windowsill and the street is just filled with people who are abusing drugs. They're inhaling toxic fumes. That is what they witness every single day." The two researchers -- Trejos-Castillo is a professor in the same department -- have spent their careers examining what's broken in schools, homes, government and society and the effect that damage has on children. More importantly, they look at what can be done to fix these problems. advertisement That is how they came to be standing in an upstairs room of a detox facility in downtown Sao Paulo, looking at the scene in Cracklandia. Mastergeorge and Trejos-Castillo were among the half-dozen Texas Tech researchers who partnered with Brazilian researchers through the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). FAPESP donated $20,000 over a two-year period through the Sao Paulo Researchers International Collaboration (SPRINT) program, and Texas Tech matched the money. Trejos-Castillo and Mastergeorge, along with Andrea Jackowski, a researcher from the Federal University of Sao Paulo, are examining the effects of toxic stress on the brain development of children using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology. The Texas Tech researchers spent a week in Sao Paulo in October to meet with current and potential collaborators and see what the children whose brains they're studying see every day and how the experiences of these children could be applied to the world over. It turns out, it's not so different elsewhere. "We have forgotten what the basic needs of a child are: feeling safe, cared for, loved, protected and supported," Trejos-Castillo said. "The very basic things that should happen in a family, we may be forgetting about these." What is toxic stress? Stress comes from the car breaking down and putting the repair on a credit card, setting you back financially for a couple of months. advertisement Toxic stress comes from a constant, unending worry about money, wondering where food is going to come from, if there's enough money to pay rent, not being able to afford a much-needed doctor's visit, not being able to leave an abusive spouse because of a lack of resources. The first, while difficult in the moment, does not consume a person's life. The end is in sight, and in the long run he or she will suffer little because of it. The second, if left unchecked, can literally become a part of the people struggling with it. Toxic stress is pervasive. It bleeds into every aspect of a person's life, offering no respite or recourse. There is no visible end. It is that person's normal. Clinically, Mastergeorge said, toxic stress is defined as "unrelieved activation of the body's stress management system due to strong, frequent and/or prolonged adversity such as physical/emotional abuse, neglect, extreme poverty, exposure to violence and other traumatic events without adequate adult support." There's also no outlet to relieve this stress, Trejos-Castillo said. People who experience stress or even trauma, such as witnessing a terrible car accident, usually are able to go home, talk it out with a spouse or friend, eat dinner with the family, cry, take a long bath or walk or find some way to release the stress of what they experienced. That's not true with toxic stress. "In this case you're not able to de-escalate the stress," Trejos-Castillo said. "You're exposed to stress continuously for a long period of time, and then the body basically starts developing non-positive ways of coping with the stress." The causes of toxic stress are varied. Abuse (verbal, emotional, physical and sexual) and neglect can cause toxic stress, as can extreme poverty or witnessing violence, including domestic violence between parents or violence in the community. What is the effect of toxic stress on children? Some of the effects have been determined, particularly in recent years. Improved technology and society's recognition that long-term exposure to trauma causes damage have led researchers in recent years to pinpoint certain effects of toxic stress. Children experience externalizing behaviors like aggression and internalizing behaviors like anxiety and depression. The difficulty for many observers is these behaviors aren't exclusive to children whose development has been stunted by how they grew up, and often people see only an aggressive child who's acting out, not a child who's acting out trying to get someone to notice the constant pain he or she experiences. The trauma causing toxic stress and its effects also can have the subtle but equally dangerous effect of normalization. Children who don't have a bigger worldview may come to think domestic violence happens in every family or people being shot in the streets is a part of life. They expect to get caught up in gang violence, go to prison or die young. "Some talk about how long they're going to live," Trejos-Castillo said. "It sounds very pessimistic, but they say they don't expect to live more than 25 years because that's what they see." What is perhaps scarier for the researchers is how insidious this toxic stress is. Jackowski collected fMRI data of children who experienced toxic stress, and Mastergeorge and Trejos-Castillo analyzed that data. What they see is unrelenting, unending trauma seeps into a child's brain development, altering his or her cognitive abilities and ability to function. A child reaches a point where trauma-affected behavior cannot be unlearned. The damage is already done. Where are children most likely to experience toxic stress? Syrian refugees have been exposed to trauma, both in their ISIS-controlled homeland and in the difficult journey away from Syria. Children who grow up in the favelas of Brazil, where drug- and gang-related crime are rampant, witness trauma that affects them. It is not, however, a problem exclusive to the developing world. Children in the United States, including children in Lubbock, are exposed every day to the kind of stress and trauma that can damage their cognitive development. Children in Texas are particularly vulnerable, both researchers said. "Lubbock has one of the highest percentages of child abuse and neglect in Texas and in the country," Trejos-Castillo said. "It has to do, among other things, with a lot of ignorance and generational abuse in families." It also has to do with the lack of funding and awareness from those making funding decisions, Mastergeorge said. "Services have been cut at the state level, in particular to cities," she said. "We're learning from our international colleagues that we have much more in common than we would have thought." Research so far hasn't shown much difference in how a child reacts to toxic stress based on geography. Children in East Lubbock who experience extreme poverty, children in south central Los Angeles and Brazil who see gang violence every day and children in Syria who see war all experience basically the same cognitive and behavioral effects. "What's important for a layperson to understand is a child in East Lubbock who's experiencing toxic stress is very similar to a child you might see in another country who's homeless or who's been exposed to the bombings in Syria," Mastergeorge said. "The way the body responds to toxic stress is similar across contexts -- we're all human beings; we're not very different from people in other parts of the world," Trejos-Castillo echoed. What can be done to prevent or at least mitigate the effects of toxic stress? This is, after all, the million-dollar question. Knowing the effects is most valuable in how it informs the way society responds to these issues. "It doesn't get better on its own," Trejos-Castillo said. "People feel like they'll grow out of that, it's just children and teens acting out." Teachers, counselors, hospital workers Much can be done by providing children with a safe space filled with people who can help them. To that end, Trejos-Castillo and Mastergeorge would like to focus on training school teachers and counselors to recognize the effects of trauma. Instead of taking a child who is acting out to the principal's office, calling his or her parents or sending the child to in-school suspension, a teacher may recognize the child is asking for help, albeit in a disruptive way. "Probably the only place they actually feel safe and are able to show what they're going through is in school," Trejos-Castillo said. Those who are in positions of authority should talk to the child, look for signs of trauma in their lives and take proactive steps to teach the children healthy coping mechanisms. Even actions as simple as explaining that what these children are experiencing is not normal can help. "In a way it helps them realize what is going on in their house, although it's normal for them, it's not positive and it's not good, and they don't have to follow exactly the same kind of behaviors they're seeing," Trejos-Castillo said. Teachers, counselors and religious leaders also need to know what challenges students are facing. Lubbock may not have the rampant gang violence that Brazil does, but for families in extreme poverty, the situations aren't noticeably different. However, poverty and its effects are less dramatic in terms of headlines and grabbing community attention. "Hunger is a huge issue in in our culture that affects children every day," Mastergeorge said. Policymakers Get either of these women in a room with someone at the Texas Capitol and they'll give the same message every time: Texas needs to invest more money protecting and helping children and families affected by abuse, neglect and extreme poverty. If the state continues underfunding these programs, the children affected today likely will suffer the rest of their lives because of it, and the largely fixable problem will be passed onto another generation, thus exacerbating the problem. "There's something called a return on investment, and it's true in development as well," Mastergeorge said. "We know if you invest early, the return on your investment is very, very high. We have data on that from economists and developmentalists; it's all been well-documented. I just hope the investment in funds for these families in need, especially in our state, is heard." After media reports earlier this year showed almost 1,000 at-risk children in Texas had gone unseen by Child Protective Services employees for six months and the Department of Family and Protective Services had a budget shortfall of $40 million, the organization asked for millions to hire additional employees and pay their current employees more. Legislators have committed to take on the issue in the 2017 session. It has to be a priority, Mastergeorge said. "It's critical for our legislators and government officials to really understand the impact of poverty and stress, in particular toxic stress, on the outcomes for young children and children in general," Mastergeorge said. "If we don't do something to effect a more positive approach to children's development, we will continue to have long-term problems in our society." Researchers All three researchers expect their work to advance the collective knowledge not only of the effects of toxic stress on children but also where this question is leading, informing other researchers on similar studies. It also may destroy some assumptions researchers have held previously that restricted the questions they asked and open the door to additional collaboration. "The research we do, the impact it can have on the field -- it's substantial," Mastergeorge said. "We talk about impacting professionals and the community at large, but there are other scientists who do work in the field and they need this information to help propel them forward in terms of what they're going to be doing both clinically and in the field." "This is not a group of researchers' problem," Trejos-Castillo said. "This is society's problem." Prevention vs. Intervention Most people agree preventing problems is easier and more cost-effective than fixing what's already broken. However, that doesn't always pan out in the real world. "A problem with prevention is you don't see the effects," Trejos-Castillo said. "When we do intervention we can say we changed something, but when we do prevention we're trying to not have the problem. As a culture we are really backward about that." While pushing for opportunities for prevention, they're taking the situation as it is now and looking at ways to mitigate the harmful effects of toxic stress. Mastergeorge is a frequent and vocal supporter of programs like Early Head Start, which helps provide children with a safe environment for several hours throughout the week, thus relieving some of the pressure, but also works with parents and families to break the cycle of poverty, drug abuse or domestic violence that contributes to volatility at home. Regardless of the focus, this research and related studies have made one point clear: a significant amount of work remains to reduce the far-reaching effects of extreme poverty and the related issues of drug abuse and domestic violence on children and families the world over. It's a difficult subject for researchers to consider because of the emotions that came when studying children who are suffering, but one they can't let go. "Basically, to do this kind of work you have to have hope," Mastergeorge said. "I have a lot of hope that the work we do can make a difference. Not only is it essential that we pay attention to these areas that are very difficult to pull the veil off of and really take a hard look it, but I do strongly believe based on what I have observed both as a clinician and a researcher and also just being in the trenches with families that the kinds of preventions and interventions we can provide really do have an impact. "I think that's why we do what we do." A study of more than 5,000 Wisconsin lakes shows that nearly a quarter of them have become murkier in the past two decades. It also shows this trend could get worse as a changing climate leads to increased precipitation. However, the study -- led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources -- reveals that reducing the amount of agricultural land immediately surrounding Wisconsin's waterways could improve water clarity by limiting nutrient runoff. It also shows most lakes have stayed the same and some are even seeing an improvement in clarity. "In the face of increasing precipitation, this analysis provides empirical support for the fact that adapting our landscape is going to be important into the future," says co-author Monica Turner, a UW-Madison professor of zoology. Specifically, limiting farming to 10 percent or less of the so-called riparian buffer zone around a lake and the streams flowing into it can improve water clarity. The riparian buffer refers to the vegetation immediately adjacent to a body of water. Implementing such actions also benefits farmers, as they suffer less damage to their croplands during heavy rains, Turner says. Using more than 25 years of data collected by citizen scientists, the DNR and the federal government, the researchers analyzed Wisconsin's lakes to identify not just trends in water clarity (an indicator of lake health) but also how the landscape and the climate interact to determine year-to-year fluctuations. While their results show water clarity in the majority of lakes has not changed and six percent of lakes are on an upward trend, the fact that more lakes are getting worse signals there is work to be done. advertisement "If we want to maintain or improve water clarity, we need to think about trends in precipitation," says lead author Kevin Rose, formerly a postdoctoral researcher at UW-Madison and now an assistant professor of freshwater ecology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. The study, published in the journal Ecological Applications, shows that wet years (like the current one) can be especially hard on lakes that typically have greater water clarity, like those found in northern Wisconsin. Clear lakes are more sensitive to the onslaught of nutrients and plant matter flushed in by the rain, which can cause water to turn murky, brown and green. Mitigating the negative impacts of more rain, however, will require managing land in ways the research team didn't expect. They approached the study thinking that what happens across an entire watershed, such as where and how the landscape is farmed, would impact water clarity, especially during wet years. While the results indicate broad-scale land use does matter during dry years, the opposite is true in years with higher precipitation, when water clarity is more dependent on how the land is managed in particular places. Namely, riparian areas with less agriculture fare better and can play a significant role in reducing nutrient runoff, Rose says. "This study provides on-the-ground evidence that is consistent with what our computer models are telling us," says Turner, referring specifically to model results produced by the Water Sustainability and Climate Project at UW-Madison. The models indicate that water quality in Wisconsin could decline as precipitation increases into the future without concrete efforts on the landscape to buffer waterways and reverse the trend. The study, Turner adds, also highlights the importance of looking ahead to anticipate how climate and landscape changes will affect Wisconsin's lakes and what we can do now to prevent future problems while also protecting Wisconsin's farming industry. "It absolutely provides evidence for the importance of continuing to look for solutions to sustain the economy of Wisconsin without sacrificing the quality of our water," she says. A Florida State University researcher has designed new materials that could be used to store hydrogen fuel more efficiently in vehicles or other devices that use clean energy. Jose Mendoza-Cortes, an assistant professor in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, describes his proposed solution and designs for these new materials in an article in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. "There will be many proposals to solve energy issues, and this may be one option," Mendoza-Cortes said. "We wanted to find the most effective way to store hydrogen so that perhaps in the future, cars could use this to run longer distances and more efficiently." Scientists had already discovered that they needed to pressurize hydrogen to compact it and make it usable as a fuel for cars. But Mendoza-Cortes wanted to take it one step further and make the process more efficient and economically viable. "We still want to pressurize it, but we want to do it more efficiently," he said. "Right now, it's extremely costly to do this." Using complex mathematical equations and computer simulations, Mendoza-Cortes designed porous materials of transition metals -- compounds involving cobalt, iron or nickel -- that cause hydrogen to bond with it. This next-generation design could then be placed in a tank of a car that uses hydrogen for fuel. These new materials are made of Earth abundant elements and therefore are easily available. advertisement Mendoza-Cortes designed 270 compounds through these simulations and then tested their performance for hydrogen storage. The idea is that since hydrogen will bind to the actual device, more hydrogen could be packed in and condensed into a tank. Because the hydrogen easily sticks to the device, the tank would never actually reach empty. Additionally, he found it would take a smaller energy expenditure to fill up the tank. "In other words, more hydrogen can be stored at lower pressures and room temperature, making some of these materials good for practical use," Mendoza-Cortes said. As of 2016, three companies have produced hydrogen fuel cars -- Toyota, Hyundai and Honda. Currently, hydrogen can be made into liquid at 1 bar -- bar is the unit of measurement for atmospheric pressure -- and 20 degrees Kelvin or -423.67 Fahrenheit. At that rate, hydrogen can be stored at 71 grams per liter. While at 700 bar and 298 degrees Kelvin or 76.73 Fahrenheit, hydrogen can be stored at 37 grams per liter. With Mendoza-Cortes' proposed new materials, hydrogen could be stored at less than 200 bar to fill up the same tank at room temperature, creating a far more efficient system. "You don't have to spend all that energy to get the same amount of storage," he said. Mendoza-Cortes came to FSU by way of the Energy and Materials Strategic Faculty Hiring Initiative. He is a researcher at FSU's High-Performance Materials Institute (HPMI), a multidisciplinary research institute dedicated to research and development of advanced materials and manufacturing technologies. A team of researchers led by a University of Rhode Island scientist has discovered an important molecular link between a rare childhood genetic disease, Fanconi anemia, and a major cancer gene called PTEN. The discovery improves the understanding of the molecular basis of Fanconi anemia and could lead to improved treatment outcomes for some cancer patients. According to Niall Howlett, URI associate professor of cell and molecular biology and Rhode Island's leading expert on Fanconi anemia, the disease is characterized by birth defects, bone marrow failure and increased cancer risk. He said the genes that play a role in the development of the disease are also important in the development of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Howlett's new study now establishes a molecular link between Fanconi anemia and a gene strongly associated with uterine, prostate and brain cancer. This research was published this month in the journal Scientific Reports, with URI graduate student Elizabeth Vuono as lead author. About 1 in 150,000 children in the United States is born with Fanconi anemia. "People often ask why we study such a rare disease," said Howlett, who has been studying Fanconi anemia for nearly 20 years. "First and foremost, there is no cure or effective treatments for it. So a greater understanding of the molecular basis of Fanconi anemia is critical to address this need." In addition, Howlett said there are countless examples of how the study of Fanconi anemia has greatly benefited the general population. The first umbilical cord blood transplant, for example, was performed with a Fanconi anemia patient. Bone marrow transplants have become much safer and more effective because of studies with Fanconi anemia patients. And new breast and ovarian cancer genes have been discovered as a result of studies on the molecular biology of Fanconi anemia. advertisement Howlett's current research is another example of the broader impact of Fanconi anemia studies. The URI researcher speculated about the existence of a biochemical link between Fanconi anemia and PTEN. Mutations in PTEN occur frequently in uterine, prostate and brain cancer. "The PTEN gene codes for a phosphatase -- an enzyme that removes phosphate groups from proteins," explained Howlett. "Many Fanconi anemia proteins have phosphate groups attached to them when they become activated. However, how these phosphate groups are removed is poorly understood." Howlett said that cells from Fanconi anemia patients are characteristically sensitive to a class of drugs widely used in cancer chemotherapy called DNA crosslinking agents. "So we performed an experiment to determine if Fanconi anemia and PTEN were biochemically linked," he said. "By testing if cells with mutations in the PTEN gene were also sensitive to DNA crosslinking agents, we discovered that Fanconi anemia patient cells and PTEN-deficient cells were practically indistinguishable in terms of sensitivity to these drugs. This strongly suggested that the Fanconi anemia proteins and PTEN might work together to repair the DNA damage caused by DNA crosslinking agents." By using epistasis analysis, a genetic method that determines if genes work together, Howlett and his research group found that the Fanconi anemia proteins and PTEN do indeed function together in this repair pathway. "Before this work, Fanconi anemia and PTEN weren't even on the same radar," said Howlett. "This is really important to understanding how this disease arises and what its molecular underpinnings are. The more we can find out about its molecular basis, the more likely we are to come up with strategies to treat the disease." Howlett's research is equally important to cancer patients who do not have Fanconi anemia. He said that since his study found that cells missing PTEN are highly sensitive to DNA crosslinking agents, it should be possible to predict whether a particular cancer patient will respond to this class of chemotherapy drug by conducting a simple DNA test. "We can now predict that if a patient has cancer associated with mutations in PTEN, then it is likely that the cancer will be sensitive to DNA crosslinking agents," he said. "This could lead to improved outcomes for patients with certain types of PTEN mutations." Crystals that don't experience mechanical stress during growth, will be of superior quality. Levitate the liquid metal, is the idea behind the new project 'Perfecting metal crystals', led by the University of Twente in The Netherlands. The UT scientists want to grow crystals from a metal melt that is levitated by an electromagnetic field, under vacuum conditions. The liquid is no longer kept within a container and isn't mechanically stressed by the walls of this container. Crystal defects caused by stress can be kept to a minimum in this way, the researchers expect. Crystals with superior properties find their way to the semiconductor industry or synchrotron applications, for example. The research project will be done in close cooperation with the Dutch company Surface Preparation Laboratory (SPL), market leader in crystal surfaces of very high quality. The common crystal growth technique involves melting the metal inside a container. Inserting a lower temperature stick with a seed crystal and pulling it out subsequently, results in crystal growth. This is, however, influenced by stress and contamination of the container wall surface. The crystals may contain carbon caused by this, Dr Arie van Houselt says, of the Physics of Interfaces and Nanomaterials group (UT's MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology). The step towards growing crystals by levitating liquid metal is a promising one, but it is technically challenging to keep the liquid in place. With the seed crystal forming inside the liquid, the crystal is formed that can be removed from the vacuum system as a whole. Without any wall stressing the crystals, at ultra-high vacuum and very clean: will this, as expected, lead to crystals with superior quality? The UT group will characterize the newly formed crystals using a whole range of techniques like Low Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Their colleagues at the University of Leiden, involved in the project, will focus on the chemical properties. The project 'Perfecting Metal Crystals' is funded by Dutch Technology Foundation STW for a period of four years, 0.5 million euros. Two PhD's will work on it, closely collaborating with the SPL company. Researchers from the UCLA Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology Oncology and the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have published two studies that define how key genetic factors affect blood-forming stem cells by either accelerating or hindering the cells' regenerative properties. The findings could one day lead to improved treatments for people undergoing common therapies for cancer such as chemotherapy and radiation. Background Blood-forming stem cells, or hematopoietic stem cells, are found in the bone marrow. These cells have two unique properties: They can self-renew and, through a process called differentiation, they can form any type of blood cell. A healthy immune system depends on the regenerative abilities of hematopoietic stem cells. Common cancer therapies such as chemotherapy and radiation can eliminate cancer by killing cancer cells. But these treatments also damage hematopoietic stem cells, which can impede the cells' ability to regenerate blood, slowing the immune system and resulting in a longer, more complicated recovery for people with cancer. Previous research indicated that certain genes may alter hematopoietic stem cells' regenerative capacity by either accelerating or hindering the cells' ability to restore the immune system, but more research was needed to pinpoint the specific genetic activity and effects. Method One of the new studies focused on a gene called Grb10 that is expressed by hematopoietic stem cells. Grb10's function was previously not known, so to better understand its role, the scientists deleted Grb10 from hematopoietic stem cells in lab dishes and in mice that had received radiation. They found that deleting Grb10 strongly promotes hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. In the other study, researchers analyzed a protein called DKK1. DKK1 is produced by a gene expressed by a specific "bone progenitor" cell that is present in the "niche," or cellular environment, that surrounds the hematopoietic stem cell. Typically, bone progenitor cells regenerate bone, but scientists had previously hypothesized that these cells also play an important role in regulating hematopoietic stem cells' ability to self-renew and differentiate into other blood cells. "The cellular niche is like the soil that surrounds the stem cell 'seed' and helps it grow and proliferate," said Dr. John Chute, professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology Oncology in the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and the study's senior author. "Our hypothesis was that the bone progenitor cell in the niche may promote hematopoietic stem cell regeneration after injury." The researchers showed that adding DKK1 to hematopoietic stem cells in lab dishes and mice that had received radiation produced a cascade effect within the cell niche that greatly enhanced hematopoietic stem cells' ability to self-renew and differentiate into other blood cells. Impact Taken together, the studies uncover two molecular mechanisms that could potentially be manipulated to increase the regenerative properties of hematopoietic stem cells and improve cancer therapy. Scientists can now test drugs that inhibit Grb10 or test the effectiveness of administering DKK1 intravenously to promote immune regeneration in people who have received chemotherapy and radiation or those undergoing bone marrow transplants. 3 Jet Airways employees have confessed to stealing liquor bottles from the baggage of a flier. By PTI: CISF surveillance and intelligence staff has intercepted three Jet Airways employees for stealing liquor bottles. Eldho Mosses, Jobit Jolly and Chirag Mehroliya have been accused from of removing the bottles from the registered baggage of a flier, K Ravi Kishore travelling to Bhubaneswar. Instead of keeping the recovered liquor bottles in their office, the accused tried to hand it over to another staff, AI Sats staff revealed. advertisement All three staff have confessed to the involvement in stealing the liquor bottles. Their airport entry passes have been confiscated for further forwarding to Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), under intimation to their companies. Officials said the incident was reported yesterday noon when an on-duty CISF personnel detected suspicious activity of the three employees in the terminal area, on the CCTV surveillance system. Upon interception, they said two liquor bottles were recovered from the trio's possession. --- ENDS --- This simple photo of a home improvement store employee and his pet is quickly going viral on social media - and for all the right reasons. Judy Dechert Rose, a customer at Lowe's in Abilene, Texas, posted the image online this week with a caption describing the heartwarming story behind it. "This is a retired vet who struggled to get a job because he needs his service dog! Lowes hired them BOTH!!" Dodo Shows Faith = Restored Rescued Animals Melt Into This Woman's Arms When She Sings To Them The Dodo reached out to the store's human resource manager, Jay Fellers, who identified the employee and pup as retired Air Force vet Clay Luthy and his dog Charlotte. When Luthy interviewed for the position a few months ago, his faithful companion was by his side then, too. "We didn't realize he was having a difficult time finding a job," said Fellers. "He applied here and went through a normal interview process, and brought Charlotte in as part of the interview. He told us about Charlotte, and how she supports him. He ended up being our top candidate." The signs have long been evident that Vancouvers skyrocketing costs for even basic shelter pose a threat of setting Vancouverites against each other young families unable to afford a starter home versus older homeowners; and longtime residents versus offshore buyers. In months to come, civic, B.C. and federal officials will be called upon to guard against resentment and xenophobia, currently a pox on Europe and the U.S. The facts about the Vancouver market are sufficient to curb any ugliness. Most of the upward pressure on residential real estate prices is due to local buyers, not investors from abroad. The factors also include a limited housing supply, which the federal government, especially, can rectify by honouring its promise to build the affordable housing that private-sector developers have long shunned in favour of luxury condos. (That applies to the unaffordable Toronto market, as well.) Yes, there are problematic tax loopholes for offshore buyers that need to be reformed, but so does the mix of inducements and disincentives motivating local developers to shortchange the Lower Mainland of affordable housing. Theres no time like the present to drain the toxicity from this issue, before it comes to partly define life in one of the worlds great cities. OPEC cries uncle OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers meet Friday to formalize production cuts that signal Saudi Arabias two-year-long price war with U.S. frackers might be winding down. That might finally be a piece of good news that Alberta and Hibernia oil producers can take to the bank. Indeed, watch for the global price to climb from its current $50 (U.S.) to $55 by year-end. That should see some of the 100,000 Albertans laid off during the oil glut called back to work, in both existing production operations and new and expanding ones. As usual, theres concern about the usual OPEC-quota cheaters who might not comply with the agreed-upon production cuts. Non-OPEC producer Russia looms large in that category. But Russia will likely go along; its petro-economy needs the money. In fact, thats the motivating factor for all the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, starting with a nervous House of Saud, which launched the market-share war in 2014. Even as OPEC members were voting to re-embrace profit maximization, OPEC member Qatars energy minister was cracking us up with his assertion that the OPEC climb-down is for the general well-being and (the) health of the world economy. If true, that would be a first in OPECs 54-year history. The real motivator is that OPEC members are struggling to balance their books and risk social unrest over no longer affordable subsidies for domestic populations. Saudi princes and Kuwaiti emirs dont want to flirt with a second, and more widespread, Arab Spring uprising that could extend this time to Iran, Kuwait and Qatar. The growing appeal of Putinism Sundays referendum on reforming Italian governance aside, its sponsor, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is under considerable pressure at home and elsewhere in the European Union (EU) to not resign, thus calming global financial markets with Italexit jitters. Renzi remains sufficiently popular to govern, and is a good fit with the new Putinism sweeping Europe and the United States. By running against the elites in his successful bid for PM, Renzi earned the populist nickname Il Rottamatore (the Demolisher). Francois Fillon, whose centre-right party will try in next springs French presidential election to keep the anti-EU Marine le Pen from succeeding in her shockingly viable bid for residence in the Elysee Palace, is another Putinist. A personal friend of the increasingly autocratic Russian president, Fillon promises to back away from more than a half-century of Western European wariness of Russia. Donald Trump and Putin also have a mutual admiration affair, and Trump has threatened to ditch U.S. commitments to defend its NATO allies. Rising intolerance in the U.S. and across Europe is finding a vessel in Putin. The Russian president also exemplifies the autocrat that so many populists now crave, from Manila to Missouri. All over Europe, Putinism has emerged as an ideological alternative to globalism, the European Union, etcetera, Benjamin Haddad, a French analyst at the Washington-based Hudson Institute think tank, recently told the New York Times. Putin is seen as a bulwark for conservative values a strongman against gay marriage, immigration, Islam. Indeed, a President Fillon would, he vows, severely cut immigration, champion conservative social values and impose strict administrative control over Islam. That troublingly last line, vague enough to embrace all manner of civil-rights abuses, could be lifted from a Trump rally. Remaining pluralistic countries like Canada aside, entry into the 21st century is proving to be a dark passage for progressives. Earnings reports this week. Monday: Hudsons Bay Tuesday: Bank of Montreal, Transcontinental Wednesday: Dollarama, Lululemon, Laurentian Bank of Canada, Costco Thursday: Brick Brewing, Restoration Hardware Friday: Le Chateau SHARE: Barbie is bigger than Amy Schumer. About 57 years, 8 months and 26 days after she stormed the toy world, Barbara Millicent Roberts is bigger than any human. Barbie is sold in more than 150 countries. She generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue. The paragraph above took about seven seconds to read. And in those seven seconds, another 21 Barbie dolls were just sold. The point is: the Barbie brand is immune to any Hollywood tinkering. You could cast LeBron James to play Barbie and product sales would remain a slam-dunk. I say that not as a journalist, but as a father of twin girls who, in recent years, has contemplated a second mortgage to help pay for the books, clothing, DVDs and insouciant dolls that surround me like an occupying army. Mattel, why dont you just garnish my wages? Itd be easier for all involved. Which brings us back to Schumer. The actress and comic is now negotiating a deal with Sony. As first reported by Deadline, Schumer will star in a live action Barbie movie. Expected in 2018, the story will be reminiscent of films like Splash and Big. The synopsis: Schumers Barbie gets banished from Barbieland because shes not perfect enough. She then goes on an adventure in the real world. Eventually, she has a revelation about how perfection comes on the inside, not the outside and the key to happiness is belief in oneself, free of the obligation to adhere to some unattainable standard of perfection. So before the script and production details are even finalized, skittish parents can exhale. Schumer will not repaint the Dreamhouse in R-rated shades. The Pop-Up Camper will not be a Trainwreck powered by the F-word and crotch jokes. Barbie is not about to go on a bender in Vegas and then rack up one night stands before leaving her dead-end job at a nail salon for more lucrative escort work that leads to a heroin addiction and epic fallout with her transgender BFF after Ken is killed during a botched car jacking outside an abortion clinic. This Barbie tale will be uplifting. This Barbie tale will be calibrated with the soul-searching of recent months that has Mattel embracing themes of empowerment in its marketing and a mandate to stretch, shorten and widen the factory mould-machines so Barbie, circa 2016, comes in an array of diverse body types. To be a Barbie girl in the modern world means rethinking that hourglass figure. As researchers in Australia once estimated, the chance of a real woman having Barbies calculated proportions is about one in 100,000. If Barbie were a real woman, as Finnish researchers concluded, shed lack the body fat to menstruate. Meanwhile, Sony, which has mulled a live action Barbie movie for a few years, now has a game plan that dovetails with Mattels sign-off authority. Sony is lunging for the funny bone via the heart. This is a slight deviation from even 20 months ago when leaked emails showed the studio was eager to land Margot Robbie as Barbie. (At the time, tellingly, Schumer was seen more as sidekick material.) Which brings us back to the comedian yet again. While you can understand why Barbie wants Amy, whats less clear is why Amy wants Barbie. In many ways, Barbie, as a cultural idea, is the anti-Schumer. So is the real life comic trying to expand her fan base by using the worlds most popular doll as a Trojan Horse into a family-friendly second act? Or is Schumer now at an artistic crossroads, hobbled by a gradual uptick in the criticism she seems to field on a monthly basis over everything from charges of anti-feminism to charges shes culturally insensitive? Does Amy need Barbie more than Barbie needs Amy? Barbie has endured those exact same charges over the past half century. And shes emerged as a queen of reinvention, 11.5 inches of resilience. Barbie ceased to be an individual a long time ago. Shes now hundreds of identities that, when combined, form an amalgam of the past and litmus test for what comes next. Barbie is more than 40 ethnicities. Shes had more than 150 careers, including paratrooper, firefighter, architect and paleontologist. She travelled to space four years before man walked on the moon. Shes as comfortable in her yoga pants as her neurosurgeon scrubs. By contrast, Schumer does not seem particularly comfortable right now in her own skin. Barbie has much to teach her. SHARE: Theres no such thing as too many candles, says Arne Nordtorp, a Denmark-born Toronto resident, and Danish design aficionado. Soft lighting is key to any happy home. So are cosy blankets and beautiful furniture. A lot of people think Danish design is stark and cold, but when you get to the DNA, its really warm and colourful, says Nordtorp, who owns the Danish furniture and design store Torp on Davenport Rd. The space itself needs to be beautiful because when youre in a beautiful space it really makes you feel more comfortable. Its a philosophy called hygge, and Danes live by it. The goal is to create an atmosphere that encourages people to spend time together doing almost nothing at all, Nordtorp says. Hygge (pronounced HUE-geh or HOO-geh, depending on whom you ask) is all about creating a cosy and comfortable environment, says University of B.C. Danish culture and language lecturer Jens Monrad. And the ideology is currently sweeping the globe, he says. Five books on the topic have recently been released, while news organizations around the world, particularly in the U.K., have devoted plenty of ink to explaining the philosophy. And while the trend is just starting to bubble to the surface in Canada, the current state of social and political affairs might lead to a surge in popularity here, too. The old Norse term originally meant to think of caring for someone or something, Monrad says. In the mid-1800s when Denmark was replete with political and civil unrest the word resurfaced in literature, usually around themes of families coming together to create a comforting environment. Nikolaj Grundtvig, founder of the Danish Peoples Church, later equated the concept of creating a cosy and quiet comforting home environment to a churchlike experience, and the philosophy really took off. He made the gates of paradise sound like something out of Ikeas Christmas catalogue, says Monrad. Anytime there was civic unrest, such as during the Nazi occupation in the Second World War, hygge resurfaced until it just became part of everyday life in Denmark, he says. It is why in a modern context, (hygge) has connotations of something overly escapist perhaps a little bit self-satisfied. Today, its part of what makes Denmark, Denmark one of the happiest countries on the planet, according to the World Happiness Report. With the continued economic slump, global safety concerns, Brexit, Trump theres never been a better time to create that welcoming and comfortable home environment to escape the stresses of modern life, Monrad says. But, he adds, hygge is more than just escaping the harsh realities of the world in a candlelit, blanket-covered room. To live a truly hyggeligt life, its about fostering a closeness and comfort with friends and family. Torontos Steve Miller, an ad agency executive whose mother is Danish, grew up with hygge candles and blankets everywhere, and plenty of sweets in the home. Now at 41, he continues his moms traditions, and theres nothing more hygge than the holidays, he says. Friends and family come over to eat open-faced sandwiches and pastries around a candlelit table, and they sit around for hours discussing everything and nothing at all. Friends, family and laughter thats hygge. How to Hygge Canadian winters are cold and long. Here are three ways to add a little hygge. Accessories: Candles are crucial for creating hygge at home, Monrad says. Even though Ikea is Swedish, he says, its a great place to get inexpensive candles, such as the patterned Kornig ($9.99 for a set of three). To really drive the feeling of warmth home, toss some throws, (Ikeas Odort faux-fur blanket, $59.99), onto every surface possible. Ikea.com Furniture: When decorating your home, look for comfortable furniture, such as the Flag Halyard Chair ($11,201) from designers Hans Wegner and Kasper Holst Pedersen. And since the dinner table is such an important part of the hygge experience, Nordtorp says a beautiful table, such as the Crosslegged Table (Wegner and Holst Pedersen, $5,092), will encourage guests to linger. Torpinc.com Foods: Bowls of sweets are common in Danish households as are rich, flaky pastries. Pick up some Hoj Snegl (cinnamon roll buns), or Smakager (cookies) or Smorrebrod (savoury, buttery open-faced sandwiches common at group gatherings) from the Danish Pastry House in Oakville to complete your table. Danishpastryhouse.ca SHARE: By PTI: New Delhi, Dec 5 (PTI) Telecom operator Aircel today launched a scheme offering three-month unlimited on-net calls bundled with limited free data usage and calls to other networks for Rs 148. "Customers will enjoy free Aircel to Aircel (Local and STD) and also Free Aircel to others (local and STD with a free usage of 15,000 seconds (250 minutes) per month for three months for 90 days with the First Recharge of Rs 148," Aircel said in a statement. The benefits will be available for customers in Delhi NCR only. In addition to the calling benefits, customers will get unlimited 2G data for one month with fair usage limited up to 500 megabyte. Besides, the customer will have to recharge for minimum Rs 50 in second and third month for any of the Aircel service to continue the call benefits. advertisement Aircel Regional Manager - North Harish Sharma said the recent drop in the average selling price of smart phones has led to an explosion in the adoption of smart phones among Indians. "More and more Indians are using mobile for calling (Voice) as well as surfing/sharing online (Internet/data). Aircel recognises the trend of customers becoming a multi-service user hence it becomes imperative to introduce fully loaded combo packs which is a solution to their evolving communication needs," Sharma said. PTI PRS MR --- ENDS --- Canada cannot sit back in a dangerous world, despite the potential dangers of an upcoming peace mission that could put soldiers in harms way, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says. In a meeting with the editorial board of the Toronto Star on Friday, Trudeau provided a hint of the risks and rationale for the upcoming mission, along with a commitment to spell out to Canadians all the factors that went into making the decision. Mindful of Canadas long engagement in Afghanistan and the question of whether it had lasting effect Trudeau said Canadas upcoming peace mission will seek to be more than a Band-Aid and instead endeavour to provide lasting stability, he said. The Star has reported that the deployment is probably headed to Mali, home to one of the most dangerous United Nations missions, raising the real prospect that Canadas mission could take casualties if that deployment becomes a reality. Trudeau said the government is being very, very thoughtful about those kind of risks and potential outcomes of the operation. Thats the calculation you have to do, to a certain extent how can we both create the peace, stability, positive outcomes that we want, at a level of minimal risk to Canadians? We have a dangerous world right now, theres no question about it. And, we cannot simply sit back and say Were not going to do anything about it because, we know, that instability around the world does end up affecting us here, in Canada. So we have a responsibility, we have an opportunity, to engage it, the prime minister said. Trudeau cautioned that Africa might not be the only focus of his governments peace initiatives, which are expected to be debated soon by cabinet. I think everybody knows its likely to be Africa, but until we make a final decision, then it may be 90 per cent in Africa and 10 per cent somewhere else. I mean theres a broad range of things that were going to be looking at, Trudeau said. Certainly Africa has been a focus of much the governments pre-deployment planning as it deliberates where to deploy up to 600 soldiers and 150 police officers along with $450 million in funding over three years. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has made two fact-finding missions to countries on the continent. International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau made her own trip to three African nations in late August. Trudeau made plain that the mission will attempt to help set in motion lasting changes, to be part of a trend-line towards greater stability and security in whichever region we end up in. Its not enough to just fix a punctual problem. I think we know that theres a level of continual engagement, which doesnt mean unlimited or unbounded, but it does mean a level of engagement that is more focused on evolving the situation towards peace, rather than imposing it in a way that will flare up as soon as we pull out. Trudeau said that the federal government has learned from past engagements, notably Afghanistan, where he concedes the record of enduring success is a mixed one, despite a military mission that stretched more than 10 years, cost the lives of 158 Canadian soldiers and left several thousand more suffering the physical and mental wounds of their deployment. The prime minister said he disagrees with any suggestions Canada didnt make a significant positive difference in Afghanistan. As much as we might have hoped for? Probably not, obviously not, Trudeau said. Indeed, on key measures he himself cited more opportunities for girls to attend school, more stable governance structure, opportunities for peace and security and economic growth Trudeau conceded that the record was mixed. I would say that its been a very challenging situation, the prime minister said. I think there are definitely indicators that weve managed to improve. There are others that we havent managed to, he said. He singled out governance as one area where Afghanistan has a long way to go. Theyre still a country struggling with levels of corruption, with levels of insecurity. . . . regional divisions that are less than ideal for a stable, successful state, he said. But moves by the Taliban to reclaim territory and influence in Afghanistan have again raised questions whether the long and costly military intervention by Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and others made a lasting mark. That question looms large for Canada as it ponders a sizable military deployment to another trouble zone. I think one of the things thats very clear is that we learn, he said, saying that the Afghan mission helped shape the ongoing mission in northern Iraq, where Canadian soldiers are mentoring peshmerga troops Every step of the way, we get better at understanding the nature of conflicts the world is facing right now, and how Canada can play a constructive role, consistent with our abilities and our competitive advantages, he said. But as cabinet gets ready to make a decision, the Senate committee on national security and defence last week issued a report that warned that the upcoming mission will be risky and complicated. The security environment where the UN missions now deploy has grown increasingly complex and dangerous as armed conflicts and tribal tensions become more fragmented and multi-dimensional, the report said. UN peace operations increasingly face asymmetric threats on the ground. This trend has led to rising death tolls in UN missions taking place in Africa, particularly Mali, it said. The report called on the government to table a statement of justification setting out the size of the mission, its goals and risks, the costs, details for a fixed-term withdrawal plan along with clear rules of engagement that permit troops to defend themselves and civilians. Senators also want the government to ensure that soldiers returning from the mission are looked after, especially those who develop post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of their deployment. With files by Brennan Doherty Read more about: SHARE: A former Canadian soldier being held in Iraq is in good health and Canadian Embassy officials are working to win his release, federal cabinet minister Judy Foote confirmed Monday. Foote, the senior minister responsible for Newfoundland and Labrador, spoke to Mike Kennedys mother in Newfoundland earlier in the day, said press secretary Jessica Turner. Kay Kennedy told radio station VOCM her son was arrested in Erbil in northern Iraq while taking part in what she called a humanitarian mission. She said she was speaking with him on Tuesday evening when she realized something was wrong. He wasnt his upbeat self, she told VOCM. He was very abrupt in his answers to me. Then, all of a sudden, he said, Mum, I gotta go. The woman told VOCM she hasnt heard from her son since then, but she said a friend of his later confirmed via text message from northern Iraq that her son had been arrested after returning from a mission in northern Syria. Kay Kennedy told the radio station it appeared there was a problem with some documents, suggesting some had expired. She said she was sure her sons visa was good until January. The stress of having a son in a war zone is nothing new for Kennedy. On April 8, 2007, her son Kevin was one of six Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan when their light armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb. The six were all members of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, based at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in New Brunswick. Its not easy, especially after losing a son in 2007 in Afghanistan, she said. I havent been sleeping, just pacing the floors. Im strong. Im not falling apart Im doing what I got to do to get my son out of there. Global Affairs Canada told The Canadian Press it was aware of a Canadian citizen being detained in Iraq, and spokeswoman Kristine Racicot confirmed in an email that Canadian officials are providing consular assistance and are in contact with local authorities. However, Racicot said she could not disclose more details because of privacy considerations. Racicot said Global Affairs Canada is advising against all non-essential travel to Iraq, including the provinces under the control of the Kurdistan regional government in northern Iraq. The department said the security situation in Erbil and a few other towns could deteriorate quickly. All Canadians who travel to Syria and Iraq must do so at their own personal risk, the email said. Due to the unpredictable security situation, providing consular assistance in all parts of Iraq and Syria is severely limited. Kennedy is believed to be among hundreds of foreign volunteers, including other Canadians, assisting Kurdish forces in the area. In October, former Canadian soldier Dillon Hillier released a book in which he recounts the three months he spent in a volunteer effort accompanying the Kurdish army in a series of battles against Daesh in northern Iraq. The veteran said he headed to the front lines because he was horrified by headlines showing the havoc wreaked by Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), including the capturing of Yazidi women as sex slaves, and a violent campaign of rape, torture and killing. Hillier, who served a tour in Afghanistan as a corporal in the Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry, also said he was stunned by the fact that about 90 Canadian citizens were, at the time, participating in these atrocities. That made me think: OK, I may be able ... to at least show people, the Kurds and everyone, that there are Canadians willing to do the right thing as well even though theyre not being asked to, he said in an interview with The Canadian Press after One Soldier was published. Canada deployed special forces troops to work with Kurdish forces in October 2014. During the federal election campaign in the summer and fall of 2015, the Liberals promised to end Canadas combat mission in Iraq. Once in power, Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau withdrew six CF-18 fighter jets previously deployed by the Conservatives, but he also expanded the number of troops on the ground to more than 200 from 69. At the same time, there has been a clampdown on information about the mission with fewer briefings. Last month, the Liberal government faced fresh accusations of misleading the public after the countrys top soldier, chief of defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance, said Canadian troops have been allowed to fire first in Iraq. Government and military officials have previously said Canadian troops can and have fired in self-defence. Vance cited as an example a situation where Kurdish forces might not have the weaponry to destroy a Daesh suicide bomber driving a heavily armoured vehicle. He said if Canadian troops fired on the vehicle, it would meet the definition of defensive fire. SHARE: HALIFAXNova Scotia students will return to their classrooms Tuesday, as the government abruptly backed off plans to impose a contract settlement on teachers. The government had sent parents scrambling for child care by announcing on the weekend it would close schools to students. But on Monday, it quickly adjourned what was expected to be a weeklong emergency session of the legislature, and announced schools would re-open. The government said it reversed itself because the union addressed its safety concerns surrounding teachers work-to-rule campaign, but the opposition said the Liberals had simply caused chaos. The government closed the schools ... on the pretext of safety, said Opposition Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie. That pretext was blown out of the water for the lie that it is today and now the governments credibility is in tatters. Baillie blasted Premier Stephen McNeil, who was a no-show at the legislature Monday. Education Minister Karen Casey told reporters the government sought and obtained assurance about student safety from school administrators and an executive member of the teachers union. The union had directed its members to do the minimum amount of work required under the current agreement, including arriving at school 20 minutes before classes begin and leaving 20 minutes after they end. We are confident the Nova Scotia Teachers Union has modified its directives in such a way that schools can now open safely, said Casey, who read from a list of seven points that were issued by the union on Friday. Casey said she now believes school administrators can take all reasonable steps to create and maintain an orderly safe learning environment in our schools. In addition, the minister said, principals are now able to use cellphones more than 20 minutes before school begins and 20 minutes after school ends and that is an important communications tool. When asked why she had moved ahead with the announcement about the proposed legislation forcing a contract on teachers on Saturday, Casey said she was never officially notified about the unions changes. Caseys announcement came hours after House leader Michel Samson told reporters the labour bill would be delayed to allow for hastily organized talks about safety concerns around student supervision during the teachers work-to-rule action. Union president Liette Doucet said the governments actions on Monday were unnecessary. There was no question about student safety, said Doucet. There were no directives changed today and there was no need to keep students out of class today. Doucet confirmed the changes around student supervision were made by the end of the business day on Friday and were emailed to the government. She said the governments actions had further served to erode trust with the union, but she wasnt sure how that would play out in trying to resolve the contract differences. I would say we have to get back to the table so that we can figure that out, she said. Casey had previously said schools could be closed for up to a week, depending on the passage of a bill that would impose a contract on the union representing 9,300 educators in the province. She said the closures were needed to ensure student safety, citing risks posed by the NSTUs work-to-rule job action that was due to take effect Monday. Teachers were being allowed into the schools, but students were being kept out. On Monday, Baillie called for Caseys resignation. The only way forward now is through is through a sincere effort to work with teachers to make classrooms better. That cannot happen under this minister, she needs to go, he said. But Samson said Casey has the confidence of the government and he said the proposed legislation, known as Bill 75, would be shelved for now. At this point in time this bill is not moving forward, thats the best I can give you, he told reporters. Dozens of protesters, including some students and sympathizers from other public sector unions showed up at the legislature Monday to voice their discontent with the governments apparent move toward a legislated settlement to the long-simmering contract dispute. Some carried signs saying Let Teachers Teach and Negotiate Dont Legislate. Contract negotiations between the province and the NSTU fell apart Nov. 25 after the sides agreed to meet with a conciliator following failed attempts to convene a conciliation board and to take the dispute to mediation. The union membership has twice rejected a contract offer that the union executive recommended, and voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike. Read more about: SHARE: Not all Mounties are created equal. When a Canadian is kidnapped abroad, some RCMP officers go the distance and beyond, putting their families second to better serve a hostages terrified relatives. They answer their phones any hour of the day and night, fly far away, provide comfort and assurance when they can. Then there are those who clock in and out. Families can call them after quitting time to flag sudden news about a hostage half a world away, but they learn not to expect a shared sense of urgency. The desperation will go to voice mail. Relatives of Canadian hostages who spoke with the Star for this series report wildly varying experiences with the frontline Mounties who acted as Family Liaison Officers (FLOs) the crucial point of contact between the family and the government and as investigating officers. Some were astonished at the indifference they encountered as they scrambled to get answers. More than one relative said they were impatiently rebuffed with excuses along the lines of officers having to get back to their full-time jobs. Says Trudi Shaw: We were just cardboard figures in this little play. I never got a sense of understanding or compassion for what any of us were feeling. Shaw is one of Robert Halls sisters. Hall, along with fellow Canadian John Ridsdel, was murdered by the Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines this year after the kidnappers ransom demands werent met. From start to finish, it seemed that a team was assigned basically part-time to us. Id get aggravated. Id tried to get hold of the RCMP and be told over and over, Well you know, they have full-time jobs, says Halls other sister, Bonice Thomas. And its just like I dont care. If you cant stand the heat, get out of the kitchen or assign somebody else and make this their full-time job. Surely to God, we have the resources to put somebody on this. Both sisters had the added trauma of undergoing treatment for breast cancer during Halls nine-month captivity. Stress feeds cancer, Thomas says. But we needed help, we needed reassurance that something was happening. My health went way, way down. My sister got much worse. The trauma of the runaround, not being given any answers or support theres just zero support and a callous lack of caring. The Ridsdel family, in contrast, offers only praise for the two FLOs assigned to their case. They were available 24/7, really supportive, really accommodating, says Ridsdels daughter, who asked that her name not be printed because of privacy concerns. We had systems of exactly how we wanted to contact each other at different times and what was the protocol of contact in the middle of the night. But she said the FLOs (one replacing the other during a maternity leave) were given only scant information to pass on. In RCMP lingo, this is the need-to-know dogma and the force felt the relatives did not need to know much. Considering the RCMP is a hyper-secretive organization and a proud federal force whose unofficial motto is they always get their man the reluctance to share makes sense. Theyre just not used to that, nor should they be. If theres an ongoing investigation thats happening in Canada the police are not going to release details, Ridsdels daughter said in a recent interview. Therein lies the problem. International kidnappings are really a world apart from other cases handled by the police force. Getting the man is less important than freeing the victim. For the Ridsdel family who were forced to rely on Ottawa after the private company involved in the case walked away trying to navigate the RCMPs black hole of information was beyond frustrating. This went on for so long and we were constantly asked to make decisions, fly to Ottawa, make a phone call, make an appeal the demands on you are intense and then not getting the big picture, not having all information, makes you feel very powerless, she said. At the end of the day, there are people sitting in a room figuring out a new tactic. Theyre analyzing everything. Theyre receiving intelligence reports from everywhere and filtering information and deciding on a course of action and what you get from that is three bullet points. This is essentially what Robert Fowler said five years ago. Mary Fowler sat with the senior RCMP officer, desperate for news about her husband, Robert, who had been kidnapped in Niger while on assignment for the United Nations. She was constantly frustrated at being left in the dark and had to conduct her own investigations to find out what Ottawa already knew but didnt tell her. It was Feb. 23, 2009, two months after Robert was abducted along with his Canadian colleague Louis Guay, and Mary wanted to know if his kidnappers, members of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, had demanded a ransom as media reports claimed. A senior RCMP officer interrupted, pointing his finger across the table to where she sat, and gratuitously snapped, As long as I am in charge of this investigation not one cent will be paid for the release of these high muckety-mucks, Fowler writes in his book A Season in Hell. Her confidence in the RCMP, or at least its senior management, was finally and irrevocably shattered. Fowler and Guay were released April 22, 2009, after 130 days in custody. The kidnappers, according to subsequent reports, did receive a ransom, and Ottawa was involved although exactly where the money came from is unclear. The issue that still causes me visceral anger is the lack of trust, courtesy even respect on the part of some of those charged with dealing with our families. This attitude, in our familys view, too often threatens, however unreasonably, to overshadow the hard, innovative work done by so many others to win our release. This particular high muckety-muck has nothing but scorn for a senior RCMP officer who would seek to bully Al Qaeda kidnap victims families already distraught and vulnerable enough, and nothing but contempt for those who would stand aside and allow this to happen. Fowler published his book in November 2011. A week later, Bob Paulson, newly named RCMP commissioner, stood in a scrum of parliamentary journalists fielding questions about allegations of sexual harassment and bullying on the force. Fowlers allegation was raised. Do you know who that senior officer was and whether thats good behaviour? a journalist asked. As for whether I know who that person is, Im going to be cute and say, no, Paulson answered, because I think hes talking about me. And I didnt say that. Fowler and his wife, Mary, have stated publicly that they stand by the books account of the meeting. The Star sent four separate sets of questions to the RCMP, the Prime Ministers Office, the Canadian Armed Forces and Global Affairs Canada. Initial government reaction to the families criticisms is mixed. The RCMPs email response expressed confidence in the forces ability to both investigate overseas abduction cases and simultaneously serve as the liaison officers to families in crisis. They did not address the families specific complaints but suggested the families may simply be projecting their frustrations at a target closer to home than the kidnappers. These individuals (FLOs) form a sensitive interface with families of kidnap victims, recognizing the bewildering and emotional trauma to which families are exposed, the RCMP statement said. It is not unusual for family members to focus their emotions toward authorities in an effort to understand what is happening to them. This is particularly so in cases with adverse outcomes, and the RCMP recognizes and accepts this. Joshua Boyle comes from a large tight-knit family. In writings that his captors allowed him to send home, he addresses each of his siblings individually. Boyle, 33, has been held hostage since 2012 by the Taliban-linked Haqqani Network along with his wife, Caitlan Coleman, 31. They have delivered two sons in captivity. Kaeryn Boyle was 23 when her brother and sister-in-law were taken in Afghanistan, and like the rest of her family, she was thrown into a terrifying new world: waiting, worrying and dealing with a phalanx of security and government officials. Along with her sister Heather, two years younger, she began calling those government officials who dealt with her family The Suits. I wish they took us seriously and acknowledged that while this is their job, its our daily life, she told the Star recently by text. I wish they treated me and Heather with respect, not as children. They dont end texts with smileys for other members of the family. Kaeryn and her siblings say they would have also really benefited from counselling, especially in the first year of Joshs kidnapping. But none was ever offered. The lack of psychological support was noted by other hostages families, too, who said they were left to find their own therapy, unless a loved one was murdered and then they were provided a 1-800 number. Ridsdels daughter said she was lucky to have supportive friends many who had worked in war zones and understood what she might be going through but the strain of trying to save her fathers life took its toll as the months dragged on. Along with her partner, she sought help on how to deal with the stress. We ended up on the couch of some guy who was out of a Woody Allen movie, wearing a tweed coat and asking, What was your relationship with your dad as a child, and all this bulls---, or, Lets talk about how this is affecting your marriage. Lets talk about that, she said in a recent interview. It was ridiculous. You cant just go down the street to your average therapist and be like, Hey, this is whats happening in my life. Theyre not going to have the tools to deal with that. But there are people who are therapists to people in the RCMP, and others with a kind of expertise in dealing with trauma and violence and these types of situations. In response to questions from the Star, an RCMP media spokesperson wrote that the force continually reviews its practices and learns from its experience. The statement ends with a reference, not about concerns for the families, but about the RCMP itself. One of the lessons learned is the need to care for our dedicated members who endure significant personal challenges in trying to help the victims and their family navigate through these emotionally charged crises. SHARE: Thornhill resident Vitaliy Ferynskyy has been named as Torontos 63rd homicide victim after he was apparently stabbed to death early Sunday morning, Toronto police say. Ferynskyy, 32, had driven himself to the former site of the Humber River Hospital, now an emergency clinic, which was closed by the time he arrived. Security staff at the hospital found him banging on the doors of the facility at 3 a.m., and proceeded to call 911. Paramedics transported him to a nearby trauma centre, where Ferynskyy succumbed to his injuries in hospital later in the day. Police believe that the stabbing was the cause of his death, although a post-mortem has not been completed. Ferynskyy, from Ukraine, was a permanent resident of Canada and had applied for citizenship, according to immigration lawyer Randal Montgomery, who had represented him in past legal proceedings. He did have a lot of problems over the years, but he straightened them out to the point that he was granted permanent residence, Montgomery said. Ferynskyy, who had arrived in Canada with his family in 2001, was ordered deported in 2006, but later granted a five-year stay with conditions. From 2001 to 2008, he had been convicted of 19 criminal offences, nine of which involved fraud or theft under $5,000, which he attributed to a heroin addiction. Ferynskyy subsequently served 82 days in jail on weekends. He had four convictions for assault from 2001 to 2008, one of which was on a police officer. He had also breached his probation and failed to comply with a recognizance. The last time I saw him, a few months ago, everything was going fine. He seemed to have dealt with those old issues and was moving ahead, said Montgomery. He seemed to have straightened himself out. Hes a very intelligent guy and I thought he would go far. I could see him being a very successful business person. Montgomery noted Ferynskyy received a Certificate of Commendation from the Toronto Fire Services for risking his life to extinguish a fire in his neighbours apartment. Ferynskyy studied international business at Seneca College, where a letter from one of his professors indicated he had a positive attitude and is a very dedicated student who is always willing to help his classmates, according to court records. In 2014, Ferynskyys removal order was set aside after he demonstrated he had complied with the conditions of his stay and hadnt faced any further convictions. Police are now trying to piece together where the stabbing actually took place in an effort to find the attacker. They believe that the crime scene was about five minutes drive from the Humber River Urgent Care Centre, at Hwy. 400 and Finch Ave. The TPS Homicide division is asking anyone in the area to check their household security footage for clues. Theyve asked residents to check their footage from 2:45 a.m. to 3 a.m. Ferynskyy was driving a black four-door Hyundai Sonata, and was wearing a brown bomber jacket, black pants, and red running shoes. Police have also asked anyone that had contact with Ferynskyy after 2:30 p.m. on Saturday to speak to police. TPS homicide can be contacted at 416-808-7400 SHARE: As Toronto police photographed and searched the tony North York home once shared by doctors Elana Fric-Shamji and Mohammed Shamji, a group of Ontario physicians called an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss ways to commemorate a much-loved family doctor allegedly killed by her neurosurgeon husband. Two days after police charged Toronto Western Hospitals Dr. Mohammed Shamji with first-degree murder in the death of Fric-Shamji his wife and the mother of his three children investigators obtained authorization to search the familys large, brick home on Verwood Ave. in the Bathurst and Sheppard area. Friends of Fric-Shamji laid flowers on the homes front lawn Sunday, while neighbours expressed sadness and shock. I dont know how we will be able to see this house. Now we see this house in a different way, said Marylou Tolentino, who lives next door to the Shamji home and who described the family as normal, nice people. Toronto police investigators are also awaiting information from Ottawa police pertaining to a previous complaint Fric-Shamji made about her husband. The couple lived in Ottawa, where Fric-Shamji had established her own practice, before the family moved to Toronto around 2012. According to colleagues, Fric-Shamji, 40, filed for a divorce from her husband of 12 years just over a week ago. The accomplished physician, who worked at the Scarborough General Hospitals family practice teaching unit, said she was looking forward to a fresh start. On Sunday, many of the same medical colleagues who last weekend were working alongside Fric-Shamji at a council meeting for the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) found themselves planning a commemoration of her life. The group is looking at everything from a trust fund for her children, to support for one of the many causes she was passionate about, said OMA President Virginia Walley in a statement, adding the doctors are also working on a way to permanently honour Fric-Shamji. We continue to keep her family and friends in our thoughts and prayers, Walley said. Fric-Shamji was reported missing Thursday, after she failed to show up for work. That afternoon, the body of a woman was discovered by York Regional Police near a bridge beside the West Humber River. According to a source with knowledge of the investigation, Fric-Shamjis body was found in a suitcase. Police say she was strangled and suffered blunt force trauma of some kind. Shamji, 40, was arrested Friday night at a coffee shop near Lakeshore Rd. E. and Highway 10 in Mississauga. He made a brief court appearance at Old City Hall Saturday and will remain in custody until his next court appearance Dec. 20. The couples children are currently with Fric-Shamjis mother, according to police. As recently as last weekend, Shamji had been publicly praising Fric-Shamji, sending her a Twitter message on Nov. 27 saying, best wishes for a successful meeting. Fric-Shamji had recently become a Toronto district delegate with the OMA council and was a wonderful and knowledgeable presence at meetings, said Dr. Michael Finkelstein, a chair with the OMA. Her input was always worth listening to and considering. Her knowledge of health policy, expanded through academic study, was a great resource for me and the District and it is very sad that we have lost her thoughtful voice. Fric-Shamji completed medical school at the University of Ottawa, then received a master of public policy degree from Duke University in North Carolina. Shamji is listed as an assistant professor of surgery with the University of Torontos faculty of medicine, and a specialist in spinal surgery. According to his biography, he is a graduate of Yale University, and completed his neurosurgery residency program at the University of Ottawa. SHARE: Students in wheelchairs who cant use playground equipment or open classroom doors. Children with impaired vision or dyslexia unable to read the Smartboard in class. Youth with autism who miss out on co-op placements because workplaces dont accommodate their needs. These are just a few examples of obstacles faced by special needs students from pre-school to university who arent getting the education theyre entitled to, according to a group of almost two dozen community groups. Their solution: an education accessibility standard across Ontario. On Monday, the 22 groups will be asking Premier Kathleen Wynne for that commitment, arguing it would be a monumental step towards providing special needs kids with classroom settings, curriculum and teaching that are vital to their futures. These barriers make it harder for students with disabilities to succeed in Ontarios education system, the groups say in a five-page letter to be sent to Wynne. They contribute to the high unemployment rate among Ontarians with disabilities. The letter notes that education is essential to getting a job at a time when unemployment levels for disabled adults is not only a national crisis but a national shame. The letter is signed by the CNIB, the Canadian Mental Health Association, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, the Canadian Hearing Society and groups representing those with autism, spinal cord injury, epilepsy and a range of other intellectual and sensory conditions. The proposal has also been endorsed by five unions representing teachers and educators at all levels. The goal of a standard like this is to get everybody on the same page and provide some kind of equal starting point, says Robert Lattanzio, executive director of Toronto-based Arch Disability Law Centre, one of the signatories. Having a consistent baseline in Ontario that guarantees access to all kinds of supports would help the one in six students receiving special ed services learn to the best of their abilities and reach their potential, he adds. Arch hears from parents across the province seeking legal help to fight for the supports their children have been promised. The letter to Wynne argues that a new standard would mean families dont have to sue one barrier at a time, one education organization at a time. It would also save the province money because school boards wouldnt have to re-invent the same solutions. Rana Nasrazadani of Toronto recalls her own frustration with barriers she faced in high school. She used a walker because of her cerebral palsy and often found herself stranded in corridors because she couldnt open doors. Sometimes she was marked late for class as she stood outside waiting for someone to help her in. Her individual education plan (IEP) entitled her to extensions on assignments, says Nasrazadani, 20. But if teachers didnt comply, she didnt know how to fight for her rights. Too often, her IEP was designed without her input, she adds. It added a lot of stress, says Nasrazadani, now a student in human rights and equity studies at York University. There are really some gaps that need to be addressed in order for students to be successful. Under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), the province is committed to becoming accessible by 2025, and has highlighted five key areas of focus, including transportation and employment. The 22 organizations urge Wynne to also make education a priority and address outdated special education laws that dont include such disabilities as sensory, communications and mental health conditions. The province is open to considering other accessibility standards, including in the area of education, a spokesperson for Tracy MacCharles, minister responsible for accessibility, said Friday. We know the current system isnt working, we know families feel under a lot of pressure, says Toronto lawyer David Lepofsky, head of grassroots group the AODA Alliance, which monitors accessibility in the province. As of early this year, only 85 of the Toronto District School Boards 550 schools were physically accessible, says Lepofsky, also chair of the TDSB special education advisory committee. Developing an education standard would also mean a fundamental shift towards creating a universal design for schools, curriculum and teaching strategies aimed at a broader range of students, rather than relying on an old mainstream model that involves shoehorning special needs kids into an environment that doesnt fit, says Lepofsky. Making schools more accessible is also a priority for student groups like the Ontario Student Trustees Association, which recently made a video highlighting examples of learning initiatives aimed at including all students. Its an issue that affects every single one of us, says Dasha Metropolitansky, a trustee whos in Grade 11 at White Oaks Secondary School in Oakville. Its about forming a connection with your peers, she says. If theres an issue that affects your classmate, you should care. And creating classrooms environments that are easier for all students to engage and participate in is just better for learning, for staff and for students. SHARE: Tucked away in a corner of East York, lies a quaint neighbourhood that, with its small wooden houses and manicured lawns, seems almost frozen in time. The houses are a warm reminder of a postwar Toronto, but some have struggled to stand the test of time over the past 70 years. Should these homes called charming by some, dilapidated by others be protected? Many of the houses that line the streets with such names as Valor Blvd., Warvet Cres. and Vicross Rd., were built in the 1940s for veterans coming home from the Second World War. And they share many of the same features: wooden framing, cladding, a steep roof, close to the sidewalk, with a separate garage in the backyard. Some residents are concerned that new proposed developments for larger, modern houses will ruin the character of Sunshine Valley, a small enclave of the Topham Park neighbourhood, and want the area to be designated a Heritage Conservation District. Designed by architect Bruce Haken Wright, the area is a distinct departure from Torontos grid subdivisions. The streets are laid out diagonally, with a grand boulevard with a central median, and four locations where houses stand around open green spaces. When they were first constructed in the 1940s, the 197 houses were staggered on the street in waves. Last week, Ward 31 Councillor Janet Davis hosted a meeting attended by about 30 residents to discuss what options they have to try to stop the development of what she called monster homes. Residents said they wanted more accountability and consistency from the Committee of Adjustment, which considers applications for minor variances on developments. Many raised concerns that some developments they consider to be monster houses are passing through the committee without serious consideration. Were losing heritage buildings all the time, an angered resident said. Some residents also want the city to move ahead with the Heritage Conservation District study, which would determine whether the neighbourhood should receive the designation and the additional rules that consider characteristics of an area when it comes to new developments and upgrades. People tonight said we reject this model of development for our neighbourhood. They want to preserve green spaces and the smaller frame homes they chose when they moved here, Davis said last week. Although some houses in the neighbourhood that have been torn down and rebuilt still reflect the esthetic of the postwar homes, over the past several years, new developments in Sunshine Valley have been met with heavy skepticism and, in many cases, outright hostility. Dave Duncan and his wife moved into a small, one-and-a-half storey home in Sunshine Valley seven years ago. When it was just the two of them, it suited them perfectly, but two kids and a dog later, the limited space was too much to handle. They decided to demolish and rebuild. Duncan hired a local architect, who lives in Sunshine Valley, to design a home that would fit in with the neighbourhood. He met with concerned residents, showed them plans for his home, and still had letters submitted to the Committee of Adjustment over his development including one letter from his city councillor, Davis. I found the process to be a lot less stressful and taxing than others have experienced, but part of that was we did a lot of ground work with our neighbours, he said. Duncan said although its important to maintain the character of the neighbourhood something he went out of his way to do the community needs to be realistic when it comes to development. Im torn because one of the things we love is the character of the neighbourhood. But, on the other hand, if I buy a car, I can make it any colour I want. If I own property, I can put in a nice, modern house, if thats what I really want. Duncan hopes the Sunshine Valley residents will be able to have a constructive conversation as more people move into the neighbourhood. I hope we can move forward as a community in a way that both respects the heritage but also respects the fact that development is a reality, and its not a bad thing. Aristotle Christou, a planning consultant, testified at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) on behalf of the owner of 98 Squires Ave., who wanted to take down the existing property a small home totalling less than 600 square feet and build a substantially larger brick home. Christous clients requested variances were rejected because the mass of the house would overwhelm its near neighbours and the adjacent neighbourhood and therefore would not fit into the existing character. Christou called the OMB decision unfair and dismissed the heritage value of the neighbourhood, saying that because something is old and dilapidated, it does not automatically have to be preserved in perpetuity. These are very inexpensive houses that were built to reflect the needs of the people of the time. People didnt have cars, people didnt have high expectations, they only had a need to house themselves, Christou said. Things have changed over the past several decades. People like to have a bit of luxury in their homes. He said new development and higher density homes are needed now more than ever because of Torontos housing crisis. If that designation goes through, there wont be any changes and that is really detrimental for the renewal of an area where the houses are 90 years old, Christou said. This area needs renewal and reinvestment. When Clevys Monasterios first saw the cute house on Merritt Road 19 years ago, she fell in love with it. The house featured original details glass door knobs, hardwood flooring, a cast iron bathtub that she adored, plenty of light, and a spacious backyard. It was the modest home shed always wanted. She felt like she was in a small community, despite the fact that downtown Toronto is a relatively quick drive away. Monasterios attended last weeks meeting because she wants to see what can be done to maintain the areas charm/character. If we dont pay attention, this charm is going to be lost, Monasterios said. Its not that Im against progress. There have been some changes that are great and really go with the neighbourhood, but now they are coming in with new kinds of construction that really dont belong. She believes that going forward, new construction should be a compromise. Its OK to build, but they should be respectful to the neighbourhood, Monasterios said. At the meeting last week, Davis and other city representatives explained how residents can engage in the planning process through the Committee of Adjustments and then the OMB. Neighbours have seen too many bad examples of inappropriate development, she said. SHARE: CANNON BALL, N.D.Protesters who celebrated a major victory in their push to reroute the Dakota Access oil pipeline vowed to remain camped on federal land as they wait to find out whether President-elect Donald Trump might seek to overturn a decision that delayed the $3.8 billion project. The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the U.S. oil and natural gas industry, urged Trump to make approval of the disputed pipeline a top priority once he takes office next month, but a Trump spokesman on Monday offered few clues about how the incoming president might address the matter. The Army Corps of Engineers on Sunday denied a permit for the pipeline to cross under the Missouri River in southern North Dakota near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. The tribe believes the 1,200-mile pipeline to transport North Dakota oil to a shipping point in Illinois threatens drinking water and cultural sites. The segment under Lake Oahe is the only remaining big chunk of construction on the four-state pipeline that also crosses through South Dakota and Iowa. I am hopeful President-elect Trump will reject the Obama administrations shameful actions to deny this vital energy project, American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Jack Gerard said in a statement late Sunday. Trump supports construction of the pipeline, spokesman Jason Miller told The Associated Press on Monday, but Miller wouldnt say whether Trump would reverse the Corps decision. We will review the full situation when were in the White House and make the appropriate determination at that time, Miller said. The uncertainty of what Trump will do is keeping many supporters in the camp despite winter conditions. The whole world is watching, said Miles Allard, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux. Im telling all our people to stand up and not to leave until this is over. Pipeline opponents have camped for months near the pipeline route in North Dakota. Hundreds of people at the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires, encampment cheered and chanted mni wichoni water is life in Lakota Sioux on Sunday when they learned of the Corps decision. The uncertainty of what Trump will do is keeping many supporters in the camp despite winter conditions. The company constructing the pipeline, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, slammed the Corps decision as politically motivated and alleged that President Barack Obamas administration was determined to delay the matter until he leaves office. The White Houses directive today to the Corps for further delay is just the latest in a series of overt and transparent political actions by an administration which has abandoned the rule of law in favour of currying favour with a narrow and extreme political constituency, the company said in a statement Sunday night. Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said in a news release that her decision was based on the need to consider alternative routes for the pipelines crossing. Her full decision doesnt rule out that it could cross under the reservoir or north of Bismarck. Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, its clear that theres more work to do, Darcy said. The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing. North Dakotas leaders criticized the decision, with Gov. Jack Dalrymple calling it a serious mistake that prolongs the dangerous situation of having several hundred protesters who are camped out on federal land during cold, wintry weather. U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer said its a very chilling signal for the future of infrastructure in the United States. U.S. Secretary for the Interior Sally Jewell said in a statement that the Corps thoughtful approach . . . ensures that there will be an in-depth evaluation of alternative routes for the pipeline and a closer look at potential impacts. SHARE: BERLINThe arrest of a 17-year-old Afghan migrant suspected of raping and killing a university student must not be used for rabble-rousing and conspiracy propaganda, Germanys vice chancellor said Monday as a nationalist party argued that the government bears a share of the blame. The teen, who entered Germany last year as an unaccompanied minor, was arrested Friday. The victim, a 19-year-old medicine student, vanished in mid-October on her way home from a party in the southwestern city of Freiburg and her body was found in a river. The suspect, whom officials have linked to the crime through DNA evidence and video footage from near the scene, hasnt made a statement. His arrest, however, has played into ongoing tensions about the arrival in Germany last year of hundreds of thousands of migrants. Joerg Meuthen, a co-leader of the nationalist Alternative for Germany party, argued Sunday that Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel bear a decisive share of the responsibility for this cruel act and many other isolated cases that have happened daily in Germany since the unhindered entry of illegal immigrants. The party rose in polls following last years migrant influx and hopes to enter the national Parliament in an election next year in which Merkel is seeking a fourth term. We must not allow this abhorrent act to be abused for rabble-rousing and conspiracy propaganda, Gabriel told Mondays edition of the Bild daily. It is clear to everyone that refugees can commit equally terrible crimes as people born in Germany. Merkels spokesman, Steffen Seibert, condemned the appalling crime and said that the perpetrator must be punished with the full force of our laws. But we must not forget that we are talking about a possible act by one Afghan refugee, not a whole group of people who, like him, are Afghans and refugees, he told reporters in Berlin. While many Germans have welcomed refugees, there has been strong opposition from a vocal minority. A string of sexual assaults and robberies on New Years Eve in Cologne blamed primarily on foreigners also fed fears. One of Germanys public television stations, ARD, drew criticism for not featuring the Freiburg arrest in its evening news bulletin Saturday, the day it was announced. The broadcaster said in a blog that it hadnt considered the case to rise above other killings to be nationally and internationally relevant. Read more about: SHARE: By India Today Web Desk: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had committed suicide by overdosing on tranquilizers, said several 'reports' on social media over the weekend. It all started on Friday (December 2) with a Pakistani website, a report in which said how Aishwarya had just 'survived a suicide attempt' and was in the hospital. Messages on WhatsApp and websites with dubious credibility soon followed up on the news on how Aishwarya had 'tried to commit suicide' after her in-laws, Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan, were apparently miffed with her over her steamy scenes with Ranbir Kapoor in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. advertisement ALSO READ: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Movie Review Aishwarya is said to have tried taking her own life and the hospital where she was apparently treated, kept the 'news' under wraps following strict instructions from the Bachchans. While no one from the Bachchan family even as much as bothered to address these baseless rumours, Aishwarya herself did it yesterday. She turned up dressed immaculately in black at fashion designer Manish Malhotra's 50th birthday bash, with hubby Abhishek Bachchan by her side. Rai Bachchan posing happily for the shutterbugs took care of whatever 'suicide attempt' people entertained themselves with over the weekend. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan with husband Abhishek Bachchan at Manish Malhotra's 50th birthday bash. Photo: Yogen Shah As for the 'report' in the Pakistani blog, it still hasn't been taken down at the time of filing this. Aishwarya, who has been praised to the heavens for her performance in the Karan Johar film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, is currently busy basking in the success of the same. Before the release of the film, there were reports that Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan were not exactly ecstatic with Ash and her intimate scenes with Ranbir in the film. At the inaugural ceremony of the Kolkata International Film Festival this year, when Amitabh was asked to comment on Aishwarya's role in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, he said that Aishwarya's character Saba turned the tables on men. WATCH: Aishwarya Rai opens up on doing racy scenes, from Dhoom 2 to Ae Dil Hai Mushkil --- ENDS --- WASHINGTONThe bizarre rumours began with a leaked email referencing Hillary Clinton and sinister interpretations of references to pizza parties. It morphed into fake online news stories about a child sex trafficking ring run by prominent Democrats operating out of a Washington, D.C., pizza joint. On Sunday, it culminated in violence when police say a North Carolina man fired an assault rifle multiple times inside the Comet Ping Pong restaurant as he attempted to self-investigate the conspiracy theory known in the Twitterverse as Pizzagate. No one was hurt and the man was arrested. But the shooting alarmed those from neighbouring businesses all the way to the White House about the real-life dangers of fake news on the Internet. One of those posting on the conspiracy theory is the son of president-elect Donald Trumps proposed national security adviser. White House spokesperson Josh Earnest, asked about the shooting Monday, said, Theres no denying the corrosive effect that some of these false reports have had on our political debate . . . Its deeply troubling that some of those false reports could lead to violence. Edgar Maddison Welch, 28 of Salisbury, N.C., was arrested Sunday afternoon outside the popular eatery in an affluent capital neighbourhood, police said. At a first appearance Monday in D.C. Superior Court, Welch appeared handcuffed in a white jumpsuit and was ordered held pending a hearing Thursday. A public defender representing him didnt immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Comets owner, James Alefantis, said in a statement Sunday night: Let me state unequivocally: These stories are completely and entirely false, and there is no basis in fact to any of them. What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences. Still, at least one person clinging to the conspiracy theories is prominently connected to Trumps transition team. Michael Flynn Jr. is an adviser to his father, Michael Flynn, whom Trump selected to serve as national security adviser. Flynn Jr. has made numerous posts on Twitter about the Pizzagate conspiracy theories. Flynn Jr., who has accompanied his father to presidential transition meetings inside Trump Tower and lists the presidential transition website as part of his Twitter bio, tweeted Sunday night that, Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, itll remain a story. Trumps team had no immediate response to questions about the conspiracy theory or the younger Flynns role in the transition. Welch was charged on multiple counts, including assault with a dangerous weapon. Police recovered an AR-15 rifle, a Colt .38 handgun, a shotgun and a folding knife. At an address listed for Welch in Salisbury, a woman drove out as a reporter was approaching and asked him to leave. She then hammered a no trespassing sign on a stand by the private driveway. A Salisbury, North Carolina, police report said Welch hit a 13-year-old pedestrian in October, but was not immediately charged. The teen boy was airlifted to a hospital. Court records also show Welch pleaded guilty in 2013 to driving while impaired with a blood-alcohol content of .09 and was sentenced to probation and 24 hours of community service. Court documents show he underwent alcohol abuse counselling. Comet Ping Pong, so named because patrons can play ping pong on tables in its back area, is in a neighbourhood of well-tended private homes and apartment buildings on leafy streets dotted by shops, restaurants and the Politics and Prose book store. While Comet bore most of the scorn heaped by adherents of the Pizzagate conspiracy, businesses all along the block received threats and menacing phone calls, said Bradley Graham and Lissa Muscatine, co-owners of Politics and Prose. Graham said the store took the threats seriously, reporting them to police. He expressed frustration that police seemed uninterested before Sundays shooting in investigating more thoroughly. Weve been trying to deal with this problem for several weeks now, Graham said. Joseph E. Uscinski, an associate professor in the political science department at the University of Miami, said it isnt the first time a conspiracy theory has led to violence. Isolated incidents like this do happen, he said. Sometimes people believe in conspiracy theories and do act on them, said Uscinski, who co-authored the book American Conspiracy Theories. The exact origins of the rumours are murky, though it seems to have gained momentum in the week before the election. Some elements trace back to hacked emails from Clinton chief of staff John Podesta released by WikiLeaks that refer to pizza parties, with online commentators speculating that pizza party is a code word for something more nefarious. By Nov. 3, Comet had been pulled into the conspiracy. On Sunday, police said, Welch fired several times inside the restaurant. Authorities set up a perimeter and arrested Welch after he walked out with his hands up and unarmed, leaving his weapons inside, according to court records and Interim D.C. police chief Peter Newsham. Court records released Monday showed that Welch surrendered peacefully when he found no evidence that underage children were being harboured in the restaurant. Read more about: SHARE: TOKYOJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Pearl Harbor with U.S. President Barack Obama at the end of this month, becoming the first leader of his country to go to the U.S. Naval base in Hawaii attacked by Japan in 1941, propelling the United States into the Second World War. Mondays unexpected announcement came two days before the 75th anniversary of the attack and six months after Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the memorial in Hiroshima for victims of the U.S. atomic bombing of that city at the end of the same war. Abe, in a brief statement to reporters, said he would visit Hawaii on Dec. 26 and 27 to pray for the war dead at Pearl Harbor and to hold a final summit meeting with Obama before the latters presidency ends. We must never repeat the tragedy of the war, he said. I would like to send this commitment. At the same time, I would like to send a message of reconciliation between Japan and the U.S. The White House confirmed a meeting in Hawaii on Dec. 27, saying the two leaders visit will showcase the power of reconciliation that has turned former adversaries into the closest of allies, united by common interests and shared values. More than 2,300 U.S. servicemen died in the aerial attack, which will be marked Wednesday by a remembrance ceremony and a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., when the Japanese planes hit their first target. Three and a half years later, the war came to an end after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and on the city of Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945. Japan surrendered six days later. Obamas decision to visit Hiroshima in May divided Americans and was broadly welcomed in Japan. Abe said Monday that Obamas message aiming for a world without nuclear weapons still touches the hearts of many Japanese. In the seven decades since the war, the United States and Japan have become staunch allies in one of the more remarkable turnarounds of former enemies in world history. Our talks in Hawaii will be a chance to show the rest of the world our ever stronger alliance in the future, Abe said. The announcement of the summit comes as Japan worries about the direction of U.S. foreign policy under Obamas successor, Donald Trump. The president-elect said during the campaign that Japan and other allies should contribute more to the cost of stationing U.S. troops in their countries. About 50,000 American troops are based in Japan. Abe met with Trump in New York last month. He wouldnt disclose details, but said that Trump is a leader he can have great confidence in. Read more about: SHARE: CHARLESTON, S.C.A South Carolina judge declared a mistrial Monday after a jury deadlocked in the murder trial of a white, former police officer charged in the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist. A panel of one black and 11 white jurors who had seemed close to a verdict to convict on Friday, with apparently only one holdout said Monday they were unable to reach a unanimous decision after deliberating more than 22 hours over four days. We as a jury regret to inform the court that despite the best efforts of all parties we are unable to come to a unanimous decision, said Circuit Judge Clifton Newman, reading a note from the jury before declaring a mistrial. Former patrolman Michael Slager was charged with murder in the April 4, 2015 shooting death of 50-year-old Walter Scott. The judge had said the jury could also consider a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. Cellphone video taken by a bystander that showed Scott being shot in the back five times was shown widely in the media and on the internet and shocked the country, inflaming the national debate about how blacks are treated by law enforcement officers. After the video went public, Slager was fired by the police department and charged with murder. Scotts family called for peace in the North Charleston community. Their calls for calm are believed to have helped prevent the kind of violence that erupted elsewhere when black men were killed in encounters with law enforcement. Its the second time in recent weeks a jury has deadlocked in an officer-involved shooting. A mistrial was declared Nov. 12 when a jury in Cincinnati couldnt reach a verdict in the case of a former campus police officer who was also charged with shooting a black motorist. The video in the Scott slaying renewed debate over how blacks are treated by white law officers. There have been similar debates over race and policing in places from New York to Ferguson, Missouri and from Tulsa, Oklahoma to North Carolina. Slagers wife, Jamie, cried after the jurors were dismissed and briefly put her head on the bench in front of her. She said thank you for everything to the defence lawyers as they left the courtroom. She did not respond when reporters asked if she wanted to comment. One female juror wiped away tears with her hands and a tissue as the attorneys addressed them and thanked them for their hours of work. There were no outbursts in the courtroom. Savage did not comment. Scotts mother and brother said outside the courthouse that justice will eventually prevail. Im not sad because I know justice will be served, Judy Scott said. Scotts family also called for peaceful protests. Were not going to tear up this city, said Scotts brother, Anthony. Were not happy. But were not sad. Asked whether he could forgive Slager, Anthony Scott said he could eventually find the peace to forgive the ex-officer but not before justice is served. He gets to spend Christmas with his family, he said of Slager. Wilson praised Scotts family for their patience and understanding. They have not received the credit they deserve in their calm leadership for the community, she said in a statement. The Scotts have been a sterling example of dignity and grace in extraordinary circumstances. Slager also faces trial next year in federal court on charges of depriving Scott of his civil rights. While Slager is white and Scott was black, the video, not the races of the men, dominated the trial. Scott was pulled in North Charleston for having a broken tail light on his 1990 Mercedes and then fled the car, running into a vacant lot. Family members have said he may have run because he was worried about going to jail because he was $18,000 (U.S.) behind on child support. The prosecution argued that the 35-year-old Slager let his sense of authority get the better of him. The defence maintained that the two men wrestled on the ground, that Scott got control of Slagers stun gun and then pointed the weapon at the 35-year-old officer before the shooting. The defence also contended there was no way the officer could tell if Scott was unarmed. Last year, the city of North Charleston reached a $6.5 million civil settlement with Scotts family. In the wake of the shooting, the city also asked that the U.S. Justice Department conduct a review of its police department policies with an eye toward how the department can improve its relationship with residents. SHARE: Though optimistic analysts try to reassure us, perhaps cynically, that Donald Trump wont keep most of his campaign promises once in office, the indications so far are less than convincing. For reasons that shouldnt surprise readers of this column, in addition to my fears about the consequences of Trumps xenophobia, misogyny and racism, Im also alarmed at the re-emergence of anti-Semitism during his campaign and thereafter. This shouldnt only be a Jewish concern. Throughout most of history, countries could be judged by the way they related to their Jewish minority. Anti-Semitism has almost invariably been a symptom of sickness of a whole society. A headline in the Washington Post the day before the election was explicit: Anti-Semitism is no longer an undertone of Trumps campaign. Its the melody. Prominent American Jews, among them journalists, were especially targeted. The fact Ivanka Trump has embraced Judaism and is raising a Jewish family doesnt assure the Jewish community that her fathers administration will oppose anti-Semitism. Fears persist that the slogan, America first implies that, together with Blacks, Hispanics and Muslims, Jews as a minority except for individuals like his Jewish family may now be last. The appointment of Stephen Bannon as one of the closest advisers of the next president of the United States is a case in point. Bearing in mind the sad fact that as the chair of a website reputed to be steeped in conspiracy theories that ran many anti-Semitic columns and as a person, who himself is said to have made anti-Semitic comments, a New York Times editorial described Bannons appointment as unacceptable. The fact Bannon, together with Trump and those around him, have proclaimed their support for the State of Israel need not mean that theyre not anti-Semites. History also tells us that many enemies of the Jews wanted to banish them from the land into a country of their own. American strategic interests in the Middle East coupled with enmity to Arabs and Islam may be added reasons for Trumps formal, seemingly self-serving, support of Israel. The Times of Israel reported that already weeks before the election, the campaign had spawned some 2.6 million tweets containing language commonly associated with anti-Semitic vitriol and that they had an estimated 10 billion impressions. Hadas Gold, a Jewish journalist, was a recipient of some of these messages. One of them read: Aliyah (Hebrew for immigration to Israel) or line up by the wall, your choice. Unfortunately, some Jews, especially misguided pious mystics and passionate right-wing nationalists, appear to have been duped to hail Donald Trump as the hope of Israel. The same people also tend to be quixotically enthusiastic about ardent evangelicals who proclaim their commitment to the Jewish state in the belief that, once all Jews come to live there, theyll see the light and embrace Christianity. The virus of Jew hatred is spreading far beyond the next American administration. Shany Mor writing in the British online journal Fathom, has remarked that the Trump campaign constitutes a big step in the renormalization of anti-Semitism in democratic politics in the West. The hatred that has thus been stirred up has given encouragement to many others. For example, the public endorsement of Trump by the Ku Klux Klan and its celebration of his victory bodes ill for the future as does the enthusiastic support of David Duke, the former leader of the KKK. My hope is, of course, that my fears and the fears of the sources I cited here as well as those of countless women and men around the world will prove to be unfounded. As for now, however, Im scared. Dow Marmur is rabbi emeritus of Torontos Holy Blossom Temple. His column appears every fourth week. Read more about: SHARE: Ive always tried to give Trump-supporting Conservative MP Kellie Leitch the benefit of the doubt because Im a feminist and shes a woman. Im soft-hearted when it comes to the sisterhood, although I suspect it is one of those things that, like Rogers new skinny cable package, was created merely to disappoint. But Leitch has gone all the way politically from weakness to debility ever since she first came to public attention with her Barbaric Cultural Practices Hotline. Even normal people have a secret list of Barbaric Cultural Practices: the neighbours big blue porta-potty, national newscasts referring to our reporters as if they were ailing pets, my new Toyota saying goodbye to me when I leave, which makes me want to stay in the car, and the way Leitch says racially coded things while looking like a stressed-out Peter Pan. Leitch is one of those people who always gets the tone a bit off and the timing slightly wrong. Despite my need to admire anyone who is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon those poor kidlets I am gobsmacked by the ugliness of her campaign for the Conservative leadership. Leitch is calling for Canadian values which everyone reads as anti-Muslim so why start the campaign crying, as she did, about her hotline regret? There was no misunderstanding. Her base is Angry Pajamas, who are mad at the world for their own failures, and online commenters, who hate each other on principle. It worked for Trump but Canadians dont lash out when they vote. They purse their lips. And Prime Minister Trudeau has shown that he cares profoundly about jobs. Unemployment makes people desperate and the Liberals understand that, so Leitch is stuck with promoting paranoia, not a winning card. After her career-ending Trumpet, Leitch realized her error and said, Im not a racist. In Canada, if you have to say that, you know you crossed a river and your boat sank; it will not rise again. Then she added, I am not a person whos out groping other individuals. Nobody said you were. Why mention it? Then theres her rabbiting on about Canadians being sucked dry by elites. If anyones elitist, its Leitch, who got her medical training from a tax-funded university, is paid by tax-funded medicare as a doctor, is paid by a tax-funded university to teach and by the federal government as an MP, and has a whacking federal pension. I resent none of this. But she is herself what she claims to detest, a psychoanalytical principle that I see a lot of in politics. Although she is a doctor, she is no Dr. Jane Philpott caring, ethical, high-achieving who continues to shame me as I sit typing while being comparatively none of these things. Oh, that elitist health minister with her barbaric saintliness, her annoying modernizing of the health care system and her endless outreach to fellow humans. Bet she thinks shes better than me. (She is. My mother says so.) Doctors and politics seem not to mix well. In the U.S., they become cranks. Theres neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson saying evolution is a theory of the devil, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Tom Price, just nominated by Trump to crater Medicare or maybe all medical care, ophthalmologist Dr. Rand Paul, everyones weird libertarian friend from high school who brings his own toast to dinner and says the market has decided when you ask him if he wants beef. Leitch was seen as a bad bet for the Tory leadership because Canadians didnt know who she was. Now shes a bad bet because we do know. Leitch always has a new line and it always tanks. She wants to kill the CBC, even though the CBC would never run this rather rude column. But I have a conflict of interest: I will always love and trust the CBC despite its awkwardly timed move down-market and to the right, just before Trump. Leitchs latest strangeness is her call for women to legally defend themselves with pepper spray. Against Trump? Why not a taser? Her office then hastily added, Illegal usage will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. What if I get it wrong on a dark street? The burden of proof is on me? Every time Leitch cooks something up to appeal to a thin base, she adds something corrosive. Her muffins rot. Her walnut bites give you chemical burns. What does her Simcoe-Grey riding see in her? I remain puzzled. SHARE: The Ontario governments new package of measures to address the crisis of court delays in the province comes not a moment too soon. The grinding pace of justice here and across the country carries a steep human cost and poses a growing threat to public safety. The right to a trial within a reasonable time is entrenched in the Charter, and yet in Ontario and other provinces our court systems have become so overburdened that they are consistently unable to uphold that right. In 2013-2014, the median completion time of a case before superior courts was 514 days. Its not uncommon for cases to carry on for upwards of five years, like something out of Dickens. The consequences are cruel for all involved. Drawn-out trials interfere with victims healing, repeatedly forcing them to revisit traumatic experiences. The accused, assumed innocent, too often spend lengthy periods in jail and accumulate crippling legal bills; they lose jobs, relationships, years of their lives and without compensation. To redress this injustice, the Supreme Court recently imposed deadlines: provincial courts must decide cases within 18 months from the time charges are laid; superior courts within 30 months. While necessary, the decision added a new dimension to the court delay crisis. In recent months, many charges have been stayed, including at least two for murder. The culture of delay and complacency in the Canadian justice system that the top court identified now poses an imminent threat to public safety. The new plan out of Queens Park is a good start. Attorney General Yasir Naqvi announced last Thursday that the government will appoint 13 new provincial court judges and 32 Crown attorneys, among other court staff - a welcome step to address the growing number of judicial vacancies and other human-resource issues that legal experts have long argued are key obstacles to timely justice. The government also announced an overdue, if overly limited, revamp of its badly broken bail system, which has unnecessarily tied up the courts for years. Naqvi said the province will expand a program that allows impoverished people accused of minor offences to be released under supervision, rather than waiting in jail at great taxpayer expense simply because they cant afford bail. The government will also place Crown attorneys in police stations to, among other things, help find alternatives to criminal charges for low-risk offenders. These steps, in particular, signal the kind of strategic response that will be essential to ensure our approach to crime is not only timely, but smart. For example, earlier this month, Nova Scotia announced that it will make its restorative justice pilot project permanent and province-wide. As the Star has argued before, such programs have the potential to save huge sums of money by averting long trials and incarceration, to somewhat decrease recidivism and to help address racial inequities in the justice system. Plus, they reduce court delays. Ontario would do well to build on its recent efforts by exploring its own alternatives to traditional prosecutions. But no province can succeed without Ottawas help. The federal government, with its responsibility for the criminal law, has a crucial role to play in fixing our broken court system. After all, a decade of punitive crime policies has created a dangerous burden on the justice system, not to mention the public purse, despite the absence of any evidence that these policies make us safer. The Trudeau government, which makes much of its commitment to evidence-based policy-making, has been strangely passive in the unmaking of Stephen Harpers blindly ideological crime policies. Ontario has taken a good step toward ensuring timely justice and protecting public safety. Ottawa should hurry up and do its part. SHARE: The Toronto Transit Commission has had five years to make a convincing case that there is a serious drug or alcohol problem among its staff that is putting public safety at significant risk. So far it hasnt. But that hasnt stopped the commission from announcing last week that it would go ahead with its misguided plan, originally approved in 2011, to randomly test thousands of transit workers for drug and alcohol consumption with invasive mouth swabs and breathalyzer tests. While the TTC is right to discourage on-the-job impairment, random screening of thousands of people is the wrong way to proceed. It would sacrifice workers rights to privacy on a massive scale in return for minimal safety benefits. Indeed, this intrusive approach, budgeted at $1.3 million for 2017, is especially unjustified given that the TTC already subjects it employees to extensive screening under its fitness-for-duty policy. That program tests staff for drug or alcohol impairment after a serious incident; for reasonable cause (such as appearing to be drunk); if theyre returning from rehab; and before they are hired. It covers all drivers, maintenance staff, anyone operating heavy machinery, all managers responsible for those workers, and TTC executives. Despite that program and a staff of 14,000 the TTC had recorded just six cases of impairment at work or refusal to take the test by April of this year. (The TTC does not more recent figures.) Why the push? The commissions CEO, Andy Byford, is insistent on implementing whatever measures are available to make sure there is no question of its employees in a safety critical position being under the influence of drugs or alcohol. But according to the TTC, Windsor, Ont., is the only city in the country that subjects its transit workers to random drug and alcohol testing. That hasn't stopped Byford. He's lobbying the Ontario government to make it mandatory for all public transit agencies in the province. To be fair, Byford says the testing program will check only for impairment at work. The employer, for example, would not be told if someone on a Monday morning showed traces of having smoked marijuana on Sunday, as long as they were no longer impaired. Still, this all seems especially perverse given the argument from union president Bob Kinnear that sleep deprivation from long working hours and split shifts is a bigger concern for impairment than drugs and alcohol. They should be looking at other measures to ensure . . . operators get the rest they need to operate a vehicle safely. Indeed. In the meantime, the TTC should hold off on random testing until it can actually prove that its needed. SHARE: Re: Federal watchdog rebukes Ottawa, Nov. 30 Federal watchdog rebukes Ottawa, Nov. 30 The Star reported: A federal watchdog has issued a damning indictment of how Ottawa works, painting government as slow-moving, self-serving and blind to the needs of Canadians. A headline in the same edition states: Civil servants getting pay hikes of up to 35 per cent. You captured the twin proclivities of government in very few words. Robert Fripp, Toronto Read more about: SHARE: Re: Poverty costs city billions each year, Nov. 28 Re: Homelessness in Toronto severe, Nov. 26 Re: Pursuit of economic growth leaving millions of Canadians behind, Opinion Nov. 22 Poverty costs city billions each year, Nov. 28 We all are painfully aware about the unconscionably high prevalence of poverty, which has become rampant in Toronto. This is not only a burden on society but also greatly weighs down people living on low incomes a sad situation does not appear to be abating. It is encouraging that the first-of-its-kind comprehensive report by Stapleton, Briggs and Lee effectively points out, When a city makes a plan to cut poverty and invests to make it happen, everybody wins. It is shocking to consider that in the dynamic and prosperous world-class city of Toronto as many as 265,000 families live on low incomes. The report effectively pegs the economic burden of poverty at between $4.4 billion and $5.5 billion a year. If the heart wrenching side effects of poverty in our premiere city did not yet move our key decision-makers into action, surely the huge costs of additional healthcare, policing and the depressed economic productivity should now become a wake-up call. The report also warns that doing little or nothing greatly outweighs the costs of undertaking a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy. This calls for some smart investments in transit, housing and services today to ensure a better tomorrow. While it will be the City of Toronto that will need to do the heavy lifting to get things started, it will be critical for the federal and provincial levels of government to participate in order to cut poverty and invest, in order to finally achieve the elusive goal of poverty reduction. M. Fernandes, Mississauga Child poverty in Canada should not just be a federal concern. All levels of government should be addressing this issue. There is poverty in northern Ontario, downtown Toronto and in pockets all over the GTA. All levels of government should be assisting those that live in the towns, cities and provinces. What is really frustrating me is reading about the Toronto mayor and the Ontario premier flying around the world with their entourages, in style no doubt, to Israel, Korea, Asia. What possibly for? What role do city mayors/premiers have in international business? The money spent on these unnecessary travels could certain be put towards poverty in our cities or in the northern indigenous communities. Enough is enough with the ongoing ridiculous spending. Like many Canadians, I am all for paying taxes as long as it is funnelled towards improving living conditions for all. Not for supplementing the lifestyle of rich politicians. M. Kohek, Whitby As I read the Stars Nov. 28 front page, I was struck by the irony of one article talking about the cost of having 235,000 impoverished families in our community, while you laud the refugee process, using a family of 14 as an example of the success of the program. Yet you ignore the relationship between the two articles. With both language and education as a barrier, how will this refugee family as well as so many others successfully achieve economic independence? The past success of refugees to our community has largely successful because there were jobs available immediately where language was not an immediate requirement. Jobs in construction and manufacturing served as the entry point for almost immediate independence. Today, those jobs either no longer exist or the qualifications have been upgraded. In addition, the family size of the average refugee family was average. Thus, with less mouths to feed, it was far easier to achieve economic independence. What we can anticipate is that refugee families will be adding disproportionately to the growing list of impoverished families. Programs like that child benefit which pays over $5,000 per child per year to low-income families will become the economic foundation for many of these families, as a opposed to the supplement to decrease poverty as it is intended. As the newspaper with the largest circulation in the country, it is time that there is a more realistic discussion about these issues. Our resources are finite and the choices we make should be in the best interest of our country. We have already exceeded the Syrian refugee target set by the Prime Minister. It is time to examine the impact before we commit to doubling the number who have recently joined us. Stephen Handler, Mississauga The subheading of the article says it all: Report says spending to reduce poverty is a good economic investment in the long run. Thats the problem with our elected representatives. They are in power for just four years. That means that planning can only cover a maximum of four years from the time of the election until the next time politicians have to face the voters. So much for good economic investments. Stephen Bloom, Toronto Homelessness in Toronto severe, Nov. 26 Homelessness is a complex social problem that is not unique to Toronto. Other cities have tried innovative solutions to address this issue. Denver, Col. began a recent one-year pilot project to hire 150 unemployed homeless people. The temporary recruits would be fed a daily lunch and paid hourly to plant trees, clear snow and maintain public parks. The goal is to connect them to long-term, full-time jobs with an established private company or with the city. Municipal workers in Denver supported this idea because existing employees would not lose their hours or wages. Social workers lauded this initiative because recipients with addictions or other problems would receive support services to help them prepare for the labour market. The city of Albuquerque, N.M. launched a similar program in 2015. After one year, 196 urban blocks were beautified and more than 100 people joined the permanent workforce. Luis Silva, Toronto The Star has been giving the issue of child poverty in Canada lots of attention of late. That is to the good as for a very long time child poverty has been a most serious problem across the country and remains so. But your editorial of Nov. 27th is considerably off the mark when it says, If anything shows that politics can be all talk, no action, it is the present state of child poverty in Canada. The action by the Trudeau government in significantly increasing the federal child benefit tells a very different story and provides an opposite lesson. As a result of this measure the rate of child poverty is being reduced by approximately 25 per cent and those remaining below the poverty line will now be much closer to the low income cut-off. That is a serious accomplishment and the Liberal government deserves considerable credit for its action on the child poverty front. There is, of course, much more to be done and no doubt organizations like Campaign 2000 will continue to educate and push for governments at all levels to do what is necessary to further reduce the presence of poverty in Canada. The imperative in doing so should not however minimize the importance of the recent action of the federal government to that end. Simon Rosenblum, Toronto Pursuit of economic growth leaving millions of Canadians behind, Opinion Nov. 22 Roy Romanow and the report on Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW) certainly have the right goal. The report deserves credit to references to strategies that would help millions, such as child care and lower tuition. But the report did not refer to child poverty or youth underemployment and unemployment, which is double the national average. The report did not refer to national dental care or pharmacare plans, which would benefit millions. It did not focus on infrastructure and transportation projects that would benefit millions. Nor did it advocate family friendly work policies, or improving minimum wage and Employment Standards acts for countless precarious workers. The report shows how damaging high unemployment recessions are on CIW, but it does not offer policies to keep employment highas do progressive economists like professor William Scarth. Having self-supporting jobs is essential to our well-being. Joseph Polito, Toronto Some 48 per cent of children under five years of age in India are stunted, as a result of chronic under-nutrition. Childhood stunting prevents normal brain development and results in long-term consequences, including reduced mental ability, poor performance in school, diminished income potential and increased risk of chronic disease. Canada contributes only 0.3 per cent of its total aid budged to early childhood development programs and this needs to change. Investing in ECD programs ensures that children develop normally and become contributing members to society, resulting in a healthy global economy. As decisions for the 2017 budget inch closer, it is crucial that we lobby our government to increase funding for official development assistance by ensuring that they understand the necessity of investing in ECD programs. This will ensure our ability to distribute sufficient funds for ECD programs worldwide. Canada has fallen short of its commitment to ending extreme poverty worldwide and we need to make sure that our leaders understand this! Hasrit Sidhu, New Westminster, B.C. SHARE: Since Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook took the reins at McDonald's (MCD) in March 2015, the company has undertaken a series of initiatives to revamp its business and better compete in a changing restaurant economy. Many observers think the sector is facing a so-called restaurant recession, during which eatery chains across the board will suffer from declining sales and traffic. Simply put, this restaurant recession is fueled by a crop surplus that has led to low prices for groceries at supermarkets. At the same time, restaurants are paying more for ingredients, triggering menu price hikes, which has made home cooking even more attractive. Americans simply aren't dining out as often as they used to. But even before the restaurant recession began, McDonald's was facing pressure from increasing competition in the fast-casual sector. Led by companies such as Chipotle Mexican Grill, these restaurant chains deliver ingredients that are considered fresher and of better quality but with the same speedy counter service boasted by fast-food joints such as McDonald's or Restaurant Brands' Burger King. What the restaurant industry has been left with is a smaller clientele that is choosier about food. Last week, the company said that it has expanded its test of fresh, never-frozen burger patties. McDonald's is also testing local specialties and entrees that involve more gourmet and healthier ingredients, such as quinoa and kale. But in order to successfully undertake these initiatives, McDonald's needs to keep a tight focus. That is partly why the company is selling off its Asia-market business. On Friday, McDonald's said that it had sold the franchise rights to its locations in Malaysia and Singapore to Saudi Arabia-based privately owned Lionhorn. Lionhorn's leaders, Abdulrahman Alireza and Sheik Fahd, are already franchisees for nearly 100 McDonald's locations in southern and western Saudi Arabia. The financial details of the sale haven't been disclosed, but in October the company had neared a deal worth as much as $400 million to franchise the locations to Reza. This deal is all part of McDonald's smart plan to eliminate its direct ownership in Asia. This regional segment has proven too capital-intensive for the company to maintain. McDonald's is also nearing a deal for its China and Hong Kong assets worth $3 billion with a consortium led by Carlyle and China's Citic. This deal has been brokered by Morgan Stanley and is expected to close as soon as Christmas. Shares of McDonald's have been flat so far, year to date. The company is clearly affected by the restaurant recession, but by reorganizing its strategies and business, McDonald's will survive. Look for any dips to grab shares of this profit-potential play for the long term. --- But if you're not willing to settle for the long term, there is a way that you could start collecting income from profitable trades right now. In fact, I know a trader who has turned $5,000 into more than $5 million just by following this simple step-by-step process. Click here to see how easy it is to make "Free Money" every month. The author is an independent contributor who at the time of publication owned none of the stocks mentioned. By PTI: Amaravati, Dec 5 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will leave for UAE and Kuwait later this week to promote the "Partnership Summit 2017" scheduled to be held in Visakhapatnam in January. A government statement today said Naidu will be accompanied on the trip from December 10 to 13 by state ministers Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Ganta Srinivasa Rao and P Narayana besides a host of officials. advertisement The delegation will visit Dubai, Abu Dhabi (in UAE) and Kuwait City and seek investments into the state. The business event, to held on January 27-28, is the second Partnership Summit being organised in the new state. Interestingly, a high-level delegation led by Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu is currently touring Australia and New Zealand to promote the summit. It will return to the state on December 7. Sources said the Chief Minister will also address the Telugus in Kuwait for which the Telugu Desam Party unit there is making necessary arrangements. Naidu is expected to seek financial support from Telugus settled in the Gulf for the Smart Village programme. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in partnership with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the AP government, is organising the summit in the port city. The event aims to further partnerships to build ideologies based on shared dreams that bind societies together in this knowledge driven world. PTI DBV RSY KIS SRE --- ENDS --- Japan's first casino resort won't open until 2023 if the legalized gambling legislation currently being debated in the country is passed by the end of the current legislative session, which has been extended to December 14, according to Bernstein analysts. Legislation to legalize gambling in the country of 127 million passed a House of Representatives (lower house) committee on Friday after just six hours of debate. Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic party and opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai party both back legalized gambling. A full lower house vote could occur as early as Tuesday, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency. U.S.-based casino operators MGM Resorts Int'l (MGM) and Las Vegas Sands (LVS) have each pledged to invest billions in Japan if the legislation is passed. Since at least 2010, Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been a vocal supporter of legalizing integrated resorts in Japan, the world's third largest economy. "If the enabling bill passes, the next step would be to move forward with further legislation as there is a two-step process in the casino legislation. The further legislation would need to be fully drafted and debated in 2017 (or could slip into 2018 depending on scope and debate). After legislation is passed and regulations are developed, the selection process would occur," Bernstein analysts Vitaly Umansky, Zhen Gong and Yang Xie wrote in a recent note, according to GGR Asia. Despite the positive momentum for the legislation, there is a possibility that Japan follows the more conservative path to gambling that Singapore has taken as opposed to China's Macau region, limiting the number of gaming licenses it approves, according to Morningstar analyst Dan Wasiolek. "The big caution with gambling is the potential negative impact on society. Singapore cited that as the reason it has only issued two gambling licenses in the decade since it first legalized gambling," Wasiolek told TheStreet. "Singapore issued two licenses and only has two gaming resorts while Macau issued six licenses and has about 30 different casinos in the region." About 5% of Japan's adult population has a compulsive gambling habit, according to a 2015 government census. In October, MGM CEO James Murren said that his company is prepared to invest between $4.8 billion and $9.5 billion on an integrated resort that combines gaming with hotels, shopping and conference space in Japan. Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson has said that his company is ready to invest $10 billion in Japan. "We will spend whatever it takes. We could pay all cash," Adelson said, according to Bloomberg. Other casino resort operators such as Malaysia's Genting Group, Macau-based Melco Crown (MLP) and Hard Rock Cafe are also positioning themselves to apply for gambling licenses in Japan, according to Trefis Research. Asia is shaping up to be the next growth frontier for the gaming industry as the Macau gaming region in China continues to show signs of recovery. Last month the region posted its fourth consecutive month of year over year gambling revenue growth after 26 straight months of declines. 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 Woolmark Company hosted its first 'Grown In Australia, Made In India' conclave in Delhi and impressed the attendees. By Radhika Bhalla/Mail Today: Australian wool brand, The Woolmark Company, hosted its first 'Grown In Australia, Made In India' conclave in the Capital recently in collaboration with India Fashion Forum at The Grand Hotel, Vasant Kunj. The day-long event witnessed a host of designers and dignitaries. Industry insiders discuss the potential of merino wool as a fabric for use in India, especially with regard to its versatility when blended with other fibres like bamboo, cashmere and polyester. advertisement Participants included designers Suket Dhir, Nachiket Barve and Ritu Kumar, CEO and country head of H&M India Janne Einola and vicepresident of Raymond Textiles, Ram Bhatnagar. Among the facts that emerged was that trans-seasonal fabric can be used even in summer, as has been seen by members of the Bedouin tribe from the Sahara. Speaking to Mail Today, country manager at The Woolmark company of India, Arti Gudal said, "Our wool comes from Australia but we make the fabric in India. There is a connect here and that is what we are trying to highlight in this conclave." A fashion show was also held at the event. --- ENDS --- The following companies are subsidiares of Novartis: 1 A Pharma GmbH, Abadia Retuerta S.A, Admune Therapeutics, Advanced Accelerator Applications, Advanced Accelerator Applications, Advanced Accelerator Applications International SA, Advanced Accelerator Applications S.A., Advanced Accelerator Applications S.r.l., Advanced Accelerator Applications USA Inc., Aeropharm GmbH, Alcon, Alcon Couvreur NV, Amblyotech, Amblyotech Inc., Arctos Medical, Arctos Medical AG, Australia Pty Ltd, Beijing Novartis Pharma Co. Ltd., BioMedical Research Co. Ltd., CELLforCURE, Cadent Therapeutics, Cadent Therapeutics Cambridge, Cellerys, Cellerys AG, CellforCure, Chiron Corporation, Ciba-Geigy Japan Limited, Co. Ltd, CoStim Pharmaceuticals, CoStim Pharmaceuticals Inc., Coalesce Product Development Limited, Corthera, Development Co. Ltd., EBEWE Pharma Ges.m.b.H Nfg. KG, Encore Vision, Endocyte, Endocyte Inc., Eon Labs Inc., Farmanova Saglik Hizmetleri Ltd, Fougera Pharmaceuticals, Fougera Pharmaceuticals Inc, Gyroscope Therapeutics, HEXAL AG, Hexal, IDB Holland BV, Iberica S.L.U., Ilaclari Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S, JSC Sandoz, Japat AG, Kedalion Therapeutics Inc., Lek Pharmaceuticals d.d., Lek S.A., Manufacturing Pte Ltd , Navigate BioPharma Services Inc, Neutec Pharma Limited, Novartis (Hellas) S.A.C.I., Novartis (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Novartis (Taiwan) Co. Ltd, Novartis (Thailand) Limited, Novartis Argentina S.A., Novartis Australia Pty Ltd, Novartis Austria GmbH, Novartis Biociencias S.A., Novartis Biosciences Peru S.A., Novartis Bioventures AG, Novartis Business Services GmbH, Novartis Capital Corporation, Novartis Chile S.A., Novartis Corporation, Novartis Corporation Sdn. Bhd., Novartis Deutschland GmbH, Novartis Ecuador S.A., Novartis Farma S.p.A., Novartis Farma Produtos Farmaceuticos S.A., Novartis Farmaceutica S.A, Novartis Farmaceutica S.A. de C.V., Novartis Finance Corporation, Novartis Finance S.A., Novartis Finance Services Ltd, Novartis Finland Oy Espoo, Novartis Gene Therapies, Novartis Gene Therapies EU Limited, Novartis Gene Therapies Inc., Novartis Grimsby Limited, Novartis Groupe France S.A., Novartis Healthcare A/S, Novartis Healthcare Philippines Inc., Novartis Healthcare Private Limited, Novartis Holding AG, Novartis Hungary Healthcare Limited Liability Company, Novartis India Limited, Novartis Inflammasome Research, Novartis Integrated Services Limited, Novartis International AG, Novartis International Pharmaceutical Investment AG, Novartis Investment Ltd, Novartis Investments S.a r.l., Novartis Ireland Limited, Novartis Israel Ltd, Novartis Korea Ltd., Novartis Middle East FZE, Novartis Netherlands B.V., Novartis Neva LLC, Novartis New Zealand Ltd, Novartis Norge AS, Novartis Ophthalmics AG, Novartis Optogenetics Research Inc., Novartis Overseas Investments AG, Novartis Pharma (Logistics) Inc., Novartis Pharma (Pakistan) Limited, Novartis Pharma AG, Novartis Pharma B.V. , Novartis Pharma GmbH, Novartis Pharma GmbH, Novartis Pharma K.K., Novartis Pharma LLC, Novartis Pharma Maroc SA, Novartis Pharma NV, Novartis Pharma Produktions GmbH, Novartis Pharma S.A.E., Novartis Pharma S.A.S., Novartis Pharma Schweiz AG, Novartis Pharma Schweizerhalle AG, Novartis Pharma Services AG, Novartis Pharma Services Romania S.R.L., Novartis Pharma Stein AG, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Limited, Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Limited, Novartis Poland Sp. z o.o., Novartis Portugal S.G.P.S. Lda., Novartis Ringaskiddy Limited, Novartis Saglik Gida ve Tarim Urunleri Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S, Novartis Saudi Ltd., Novartis Securities Investment Ltd, Novartis Services Inc., Novartis Slovakia s.r.o., Novartis South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Novartis Sverige AB, Novartis UK Limited, Novartis US Foundation, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Inc, Novartis Vietnam Company Limited, Novartis de Colombia S.A., Novartis de Venezuela S.A., Novartis s.r.o., Oriel Therapeutics Inc., PT. Novartis Indonesia, Protez Pharmaceuticals, Pte Ltd, Research Inc, Salutas Pharma GmbH, Sandoz A/S, Sandoz AG, Sandoz B.V., Sandoz Canada Inc., Sandoz Egypt Pharma S.A.E., Sandoz Farmaceutica S.A., Sandoz Farmaceutica Lda., Sandoz GmbH, Sandoz Hungary Limited Liability Company, Sandoz Ilac Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Sandoz Inc, Sandoz Industrial Products S.A, Sandoz International GmbH, Sandoz K.K., Sandoz Limited, Sandoz Manufacturing Inc., Sandoz NV, Sandoz Pharma K.K, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals AG, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals d.d., Sandoz Philippines Corporation, Sandoz Polska Sp. z o.o. , Sandoz Private Limited, Sandoz Pty Ltd, Sandoz S.A. de C.V, Sandoz S.A.S., Sandoz S.R.L., Sandoz S.p.A., Sandoz South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Sandoz Ukraine LLC, Sandoz d.o.o. farmaceutska industrija, Sandoz do Brasil Industria Farmaceutica Ltda, Sandoz s.r.o., Selexys Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Shanghai Novartis Trading Ltd., Societe par actions SANDOZ, Spinifex Pharmaceuticals, The Medicines Company, The Medicines Company, Triangle International Reinsurance Limited, Trinity River Insurance Co Ltd, Vedere Bio, Vedere Bio ll, Xiidra, Ziarco, and Ziarco Group Limited. Read More 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. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa passed away late Monday night. We take a look at her life and the timeline of her political career. By Vishakha Saxena: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa died at Chennai's Apollo Hospital late Monday night after remaining hospitalised for 74 days. Born on February 24, 1948, she was initially given the name Komalavalli. Her family served King Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar of Mysore, and she had two siblings, a brother and a sister - who only came to fore in 2014, after she spoke of their connection to a Kannada TV Channel. advertisement Read: Jayalalithaa dead, Tamil Nadu on edge, shockwaves across India FULL COVERAGE: #AMMAFOREVER Jayalalithaa's father died when she was just two, and her mother joined Tollywood to support the family. Initially Jayalalitha lived with her grandparents in Bangalore, but moved to Chennai to live with her mother in 1958. There, she received training in classical music, western classical piano, and various forms of classical dance, and soon followed her mother -- reluctantly so -- to the world of cinema. (That's her acting and singing in the movie 'Adimai Penn') Between 1961 and 1980, Jaya acted in countless films, including one English and one Hindi production. She tasted early success in acting, was popular and sought after. In 1966, she had as many as 11 releases lined up, spread across 12 months, and each of them were successful. Posters of Jayalalithaa's sole Bollywood release 'Izzat', she acted with Dharmendra. (Sources: pinterest, ebay) Couple of years after her last film, Jaya made the foray into politics where, too, she was immensely successful. Her career was mired in corruption, but Jaya was also hailed for her governance and schemes like Amma Canteen. She was incredibly respected by party workers who gave her the names 'Amma' (mother) and 'Puratchi Thalaivi' (revolutionary leader). Here's a timeline of her political career: 1982 Jayalalithaa enters politics, joins AIADMK In multiple interviews Jayalalithaa credits Ramachandran, the Tamil Nadu chief minister between 1980 and 1987, for introducing her to politics. Actor-turned-politician Ramachandran had been her co-actor in various movies. 1983 Becomes propaganda secretary Ramachandran reportedly created the post specifically for Jayalalithaa. Her work brought her success and caused resentment among high-ranking party members. 1984 Nominated, elected to Tiruchendur Assembly constituency This was a huge achievement for Jayalalithaa, considering she was wading through infamously male-dominated Dravidian politics. 1989 Elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly With this win, Jayalalithaa became the first woman to be elected Leader of the Opposition in the state. February 1989 The two AIADMK factions merge and unanimously accept Jayalalithaa as their leader March 1989 Physically assaulted by ruling DMK members in assembly After the assault, carried out in front of the assembly speaker and allegedly on behest of then chief minister Karunanidhi, Jayalalitha left the Assembly with a torn saree. advertisement June 1991 First term as chief minister When she was sworn-in, Jaya became the youngest chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Her alliance with the Congress enabled her to achieve the coalition victory. 1992 Jaya introduces Cradle Baby Scheme The scheme aimed to address the skewed sex ratio in the state due to a high rate female infanticide. September 1995 Jaya's foster son Sudhakaran, marries Tamil film actor Shivaji Ganesan's granddaughter The grand ceremony was broadcast on huge screens and was reportedly watched by more than 150,000 people. It even holds two Guinness World Records, one for the most guests at a wedding and the second for being the largest wedding banquet. The grandeur irked many and put her on the receiving end of multiple graft cases. May 1996 AIAIADMK loses general elections miserably The loss was attributed to an anti-incumbency sentiment, spurred by corruption allegations against Jaya and her ministers. The party managed to win just 4 of the 168 seats contested. July 1996 Subramanian Swamy files private complaint in court advertisement Leader of the Janata Party, Swamy accused Jayalalithaa of amassing wealth worth Rs 66.65 crore -- disproportionate to her known sources of income during 1991 to 1996. December 1996 Jayalalithaa arrested on charges of corruption She had earlier filed for anticipatory bail in trail court but it was rejected, opening the door for her arrest in the Disproportionate Assets case. April 1997 DMK sets up three special courts The ruling government tried Jayalalithaa, her former cabinet colleagues and others in 47 corruption cases through these courts. April 1999 Jaya marks the downfall of Vajpayee-government Burying a long-standing hatchet, Jayalalithaa joined Subramanian Swamy for his famous 'tea party' along with Sonia Gandhi. Jaya withdrew her support to the Atal Behari-led NDA government at the centre, and delivered it a fatal blow. Later, that same year, BJP came back to power in general elections held and Jayalalithaa broke her ties with Swamy to return in support of BJP. 2000 Special courts convict her in two graft cases Jayalalithaa was indicted in the Pleasant Stay Hotel case where she was accused of granting permission for construction that flouted rules, and in the TANSI land deal case where she was accused of selling public land at a throw-away price to companies in which she and her aide Sasikala had holdings. advertisement May 2001 Second term as Chief Minister Indicted in three cases, Jayalalithaa was barred from standing as a candidate in the elections. But the AIADMK won a majority anyway, and three days later Jayalalithaa took the chief ministerial oath as a non-elected member of the state assembly. September 2001 Supreme Court legally voids appointment The court ruled that Jaya could not hold the CM post whilst convicted of criminal acts. Subsequently, AIADMK minister O Panneerselvam was installed as state chief minister, but it was largely seen as a 'puppet' government micromanaged by Jayalalithaa. December 2001 Madras High Court acquits Jaya in Pleasant Stay Hotel and TANSI cases February 2002 Elected to Assembly in a by-poll from Andipatti constituency March 2002 Jayalalithaa assumes the position of chief minister yet again Panneerselvam resigned from the CM post as soon as the Supreme Court overturned Jayalalithaa's conviction. He was reinstated as the Minister for Public Works, Prohibition and Excise. March 2002 The DA case Soon after Jaya's return three public prosecutors and their senior counsel resigned from the case. Several prosecution witnesses resiled from their earlier depositions too. June 2003 Sets up India's first company of female police commandos The move was hailed as a step towards equality, as the women were trained in shooting, weapons handling, swimming, rowing, rock-climbing, rappelling and horse-riding - just like their male colleagues. July 2003 Sacks almost 2,00,000 government employees November 2003 Supreme Court upholds acquittal in TANSI case Five days before the acquittal, Supreme Court had transferred the case to Bengaluru after DMK expressed doubts over conduct of a fair trial in Tamil Nadu with her being the chief minister. May 2006 DMK returns to power Jaya-led AIADMK lost the assembly elections as a result of the myriad of corruption charges against her. May 2011 Third term as Chief Minister AIADMK won the April 2011 election as part of a 13-party alliance September 2014 Jayalalithaa unseated as Chief Minister Special Court held Jayalalithaa and three others guilty of corruption in DA case and awarded a four-year jail term to each. Jaya was fined Rs 100 crore and sent to jail after the judgement. The three other accused were fined Rs 10 crore each. Jaya was removed as Chief Minister after being disqualified as an MLA due to the conviction. Her loyalist O Panneerselvam was declared as the new chief minister of Tamil Nadu. October 2014 Jayalalithaa gets bail After spending 21 days in Bangalore Central Prison, Jaya was granted bail by Supreme Court. Her supporters held jubilant celebrations outside the jail and across the state. Mar 2015 BJP leader Subramanian Swamy goes back to court Swamy prayed to the court to confirm Jayalalithaas conviction. But eventually Karnataka High Court reserved its order on appeals filed by Jaya and three others against their conviction. May 2015 Karnataka High Court acquits Jayalalithaa While acquitting Jaya, Justice Kumaraswamy in his 919-page judgment said the prosecution had failed to prove the conspiracy. The proceedings lasted just five minutes. The acquital paved the way for her to return as Tamil Nadu chief minister. May 2016 Wins state elections to serve consecutive terms as CM This was Jayalalithaa's fourth assembly election victory. In her victory speech, she said, "even when 10 parties allied themselves against me, I did not have a coalition and I placed my faith in God and built an alliance with the people. It is clear that the people have faith in me and I have total faith in the people." ILLNESS September 2016 Jayalalithaa is admitted to Apollo Hospital The chief minister was admitted to the hospital for fever and dehydration. Despite reports on her condition ranging from 'serious' to 'critical', the hospital maintained she was under observation, responding to treatment and set to be discharged soon. October 2016 Confusion over Jaya's condition continues AIADMK members continued to assert that Jayalalithaa was healthy, even as Dr Richard Beale -- an expert in sepsis, ARDS, haemodynamics, critical care nutrition and ICU informatics -- was flown in to examine her. Eventually Apollo Hospitals said in a statement that Jaya was on respiratory support and under treatment for infection. At the same time they maintained that Jaya's health was improving. AIADMK, meanwhile, refused to entertain demands to release photographs of Jayalalithaa from the hospital. It also maintained there was no legal necessity for a substitute chief minister. November 2016 AIADMK and Apollo Hospitals continue to maintain Jaya is stable and 'completely recovered'. Both state several times that she will be discharged soon. On November 13, Jayalalithaa released her first statement since the hospitalisation saying, "I have taken a rebirth with the prayers of party cadres and people. What can harm me when I have your love. I am waiting to completely recover and resume my work for people." December 2016 Jayalalithaa suffers cardiac arrest Just hours after AIADMK members said Jaya would return home soon, Apollo announced that Jaya has suffered a cardiac arrest. A team of specialists from AIIMS was assembled to look into her treatment. Dr Beale was also consulted again. Meanwhile, on December 5, AIADMK MLAs were called inside Apollo Hospital to sign a statement saying O Panneerselvam will be her successor. Amid conflicting reports, Jayalalithaa's condition continues to be critical. --- ENDS --- Ekas eight-year-old daughter, Salome, has also been diagnosed with autism. Two years ago, when Eka and her family were riding a public bus, Salome became excited, angering the driver, who verbally abused them and told them that sick persons should be in the hospital and not allowed to walk the streets. In a separate incident, her fellow passengers turned on her, hurling insults and threatening with violence. For now, Eka has abandoned all attempts at a public life for her child and has retreated to her small home. All I want is to move around the city and feel protected, she explains, and what makes me angry is that nobody has ever apologized to my child. Sadly, the experiences of Salome, Gabriel and their families are not isolated incidents, but part of a broader pattern of discrimination against children with disabilities in Georgia. The problem is illustrated in the 2015 Welfare Monitoring Study conducted by UNICEF, which found that 41 per cent of the Georgians hold negative attitudes towards people with disabilities. Everywhere we go, we are called mad, says Tamuna, who feels isolated and frustrated by her sons stigmatization and the lack of support from state institutions. Eka is worried about the effects that social pressure is having on her younger daughter and she is increasingly uncomfortable going out with Salome for fear of being shouted at. A 2016 UNICEF study which examined commonly-held attitudes towards children with disabilities in Georgia, found that stigmatization is rooted in four core perceptions: that these children are abnormal, that disability is a threat or contagious disease, that the children are dependent, and that religious and cultural norms justify negative attitudes. Like Tamuna, the study sees improving public understanding of disability as critical to combating such perceptions. UNICEF, with the support of the 7: David Beckham Fund, is working to promote more positive attitudes towards children with disabilities in Georgia through a nationwide campaign that aims to challenge some of the most widely-held misperceptions and create a safer environment for children like Gabriel and Salome. Officially launching in January, the campaign will be a movement led by children and young adults with disabilities, who will act as role models by telling their stories and advocating for their rights. These stories, told mostly through documentaries, will raise awareness about the barriers these children face in everyday life, while highlighting their abilities. Other activities will include video contests, comics and animations about myths and misconceptions, guidance for teachers and medical personnel, and media engagement. The movement aims spread tolerance and acceptance of children and young people with disabilities by sensitizing the population and addressing widely-held stigmas in society. Energetic and friendly, Gabriel bounces around the room, cheerfully interacting with his visitors. Tamuna is nervous, as her son has just started primary school. The school is required by law to provide specialized support for children like Gabriel, but shes not confident in what shes seen so far. What worries her most, however, is the continued fear that someone will again hurt her son. University of Rochester Medical Center neurologist Gretchen Birbeck, M.D., M.P.H., has been chosen to serve on the Advisory Board of the National Institutes of Healths Fogarty International Center, which supports basic, clinical, and applied medical research and training for U.S. and foreign investigators working in the developing world. Birbeck, the Edward A. and Alma Vollertsen Rykenboer Professor in Neurology, has spent the last 20 plus years studying the burden of neurological disorders and the effectiveness of health care delivery in sub-Saharan Africa. She divides her time between Rochester and projects in Africa. Birbecks specific interest is epilepsy and seizure disorders which are far more common in Africa due to higher rates of parasitic and viral infection and constitute a significant public health problem and the creation of scalable interventions to prevent seizures and provide better care to vulnerable populations on the continent. She is also collaborating with local academic institutions, hospitals, and government officials in Zambia, Malawi, and Uganda to develop the networks necessary to conduct clinical trials and create education and training programs for health care providers and researchers. The Fogarty International Center funds some 400 research and training projects involving more than 100 U.S. universities. These U.S. scientists, in turn, collaborate with colleagues in numerous foreign countries, most of them in the developing world. Fogarty also convenes the best scientific minds around the world to address critical global health research problems and guide national and international global health policies. Looking for a proven designated hitter at an affordable price, the New York Yankees scored, landing Matt Holliday with a 1-year, 13 million dollar contract. Holliday will see most his time at DH, but he has experience playing both first base and outfield as well. Yankees miss out on Beltran, get Holliday for cheap The Yankees had expressed significant interest in bringing back Carlos Beltran to the Bronx. They had traded the 39-year old at the deadline last season, but his production (.295 batting average) made him an appealing choice to fill their void at designated hitter. However, the Yanks failed to tender an offer to Beltran, who signed with the Houston Astros earlier this week. The Yankees had also looked into signing Edwin Encarnacion, but the price tag ultimately scared the Bronx Bombers away. With their top two options taken away, the Yankees still managed to land a seasoned veteran, and 7-time all-star, in Holliday. Although coming off a down year, Holliday was an All-Star as recently as 2015. He hit just .246 last, but he still ripped 20 home runs over just 110 games from the St. Louis Cardinals. At 36 years old, his durability is a question mark, has he has played just 183 games in the past 2 seasons. However, the Yankees hope that the extra rest that comes with the DH position will give Holliday the legs he needs to last an entire season. Excluding a 2015 game that saw his second half cut short by injury, Holliday has knocked at least 20 long balls in every season since 2006. He was an all-star four times in his eight-year stint with the Cardinals, with whom he hit .293 and 156 home runs total. The Yankees hope he can resurrect some of those numbers, especially after Holliday's numbers hit career lows last year in both batting average and on-base percentage (.322). Holliday will serve mainly in the role Beltran had last year for the Yankees, who are looking to make it past the Wild-Card round for the first time since 2012. He will play mostly DH, but he gives New York the option to put him in left field or at first base if they want to give another starter a day off his feet. Matt Holliday has experience both in the outfield and at first base, providing some needed versatility to the New York roster. Mlb.com Yankees can focus on pitching at Winter Meetings With their major offensive need taken care of at a cheap price, the Yankees can focus on adding pitching to their staff. Yankee personnel have already said the team will focus on signing a starting pitcher to round out their rotation and possibly reuniting with Aroldis Chapman. The flamethrowing closer, fresh off a World Series title with the Chicago Cubs, was another player the Yankees dealt at the deadline last year, but he has already expressed interest in playing the next few years of his career in the Yankee pinstripes. These moves will be critical, as the Yankees look to challenge the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and the Baltimore Orioles for the A.L East. They finished fourth a year ago, ahead only of the lackluster Tampa Bay Rays. With their offense largely intact heading forward, a few key additions could get this team to the next level. Hudson volcano (Southern Chile and Argentina, South America) activity update: increased seismic activity Mon, 5 Dec 2016, 16:03 16:03 PM | BY: T 16:03 PM | BY: T Seismic activity under the volcano has recently shown a mild increase, triggering Chile's SERNAGEOMIN to raise the volcanic alert level to "yellow".The frequency of volcanic quakes increased from less than 10 during each of August and September to 26 in October and 70 in November. In the latter month, phases of tremor and so-called hybrid earthquakes - both thought to represent magma movements at depth - also occurred.The source of the quakes seems to be the same or similar to the 2011 eruption. No other significant signs of volcanic unrest (such as increased degassing, surface temperature etc) have been detected suggesting that an eruption (if at all) is not likely to come very soon.ONEMI (Chilean Civil Protection) also issued a warning for 3 municipalities (Aysen, as well as Rio Ibanez and Chile Chico to the east and SE) which are potentially at risk in case of new eruptive activity. The principal hazards are ash falls and mud flows (lahars), the latter are however only likely in case of a major eruption (such as the one in 1991) that could generate a glacial flood into rivers draining the summit caldera.This institutional warning allows the agency to implement a number of measures, such as distributing related information to the population and developing emergency plans.The last eruption of Cerro Hudson was in Oct 2011 when a small explosive fissure eruption (VEI 2) took place inside the volcano's glaciated caldera. SECOND-CHANCE CITY | This is part of a continuing series that will examine issues related to repeat violent offenders in the District of Columbia. Part I | Part II | Part III Kristin Van Goor talks about how her husband, Dave, was robbed at gunpoint last year while walking home from the Stadium-Armory Metro station. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) On a warm summer night, Kristin Van Goor was jolted awake by the sound of knocking. She hurried down the wooden staircase in her pajamas. Through the windows, she saw red and blue police lights flashing, and her husband, Dave, on the doorstep. A detective in a police cruiser shouted, Are you all good? Dave gave a nod and walked inside their Hill East home, just after midnight. Dave paced in the living room. The memories spilled out in jagged pieces. He remembered the black gun held to his head. Three young men, wearing black masks over their faces, surrounded him as he walked home from the Stadium-Armory Metro station about 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 20, 2015. They grabbed his backpack. They took his phone and laptop, his wallet and keys. They dug deeper still into his pockets and fished out the last bit of loose change. Just get through this, Dave thought. Just survive. During the days and months to follow, one young man would be linked to the crime. In a span of several months, he would leave a trail of terror across the region, only to be granted a break under the Youth Rehabilitation Act, a D.C. law often used by judges seeking to give second chances to young violent offenders. The mans case is one of more than 3,000 felony sentences handed down since 2010 under the law, which allows for leniency in some sentences and the opportunity for offenders to emerge with no criminal record. The story that brings together that young man, the Van Goors and other victims illuminates the difficulty of trying to protect a young mans future and society at the same time. It also shows how victims suffer not just during the crime, but also in the aftermath how the system can leave them disillusioned and deliver not justice but frustration. This account is based on interviews with the victims, and on police reports and court records. On that night in August 2015, Dave Van Goor saw only the masked men surrounding him. One of them demanded his iPhone passcode. The man held the gun sideways and pointed it toward Daves temple. Right f---ing now! he yelled. After they got the code, the men sprinted into an alleyway and fled into the darkness. Dave ran to get help. Good Samaritans in a nearby apartment building called 911. Police officers took his statement and drove him back to the safety of his home. But Dave and Kristin didnt feel safe. Not that night. And not in the weeks and months to follow. It was their first night of a year-long journey in a new role: victims. Both had earned PhDs in scientific fields. Dave, then 38, was a student at George Washington University Law School and worked for a law firm; Kristin, 35, had a job at a biopharmaceutical company. The criminals who brazenly robbed Dave at gunpoint, on a residential street just a mile and a half from the U.S. Capitol, now had the keys to their house and car. How are we supposed to sleep? Kristin asked. We are sitting ducks. One police officer told the Van Goors not to worry. Criminals never return to the scene of the crime, he said. Twenty-plus years of experience told him so. But the Van Goors worried anyway. At 1 a.m., they walked outside and fastened a club over the steering wheel of their black Volkswagen Tiguan SUV. The key to the club was already in the hands of the robbers. The couple hoped the robbers might not think of it. The Van Goors retreated to the basement with their jittery labradoodle, Darwin. There were credit cards to cancel. Insurance companies to call. Locks to be changed. Dave huddled with Kristin and Darwin in the basement. He flipped on the TV and sipped some Scotch. The whisky dulled his nerves and soothed his anger. He drank a little more and drifted to sleep just before dawn. The missing car: 7:45 a.m., Friday, Aug. 21, 2015 Kristin Van Goor (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) Kristin was up early the next morning, with plans to drive to Baltimore for a work meeting. The Van Goors had parked their Tiguan behind a motorcycle less than a block from their home on A Street NE. The motorcycle was there. But the SUV was gone, just an empty space in its place. Kristin shouted to a family across the street, Did you happen to see a black Tiguan parked here? They had not. Kristin ran to tell Dave. Are you f---ing kidding me? he said. She called 911 about 8 a.m. She called again at 8:39 a.m. A dispatcher told her that they were busy with higher-priority calls. At 11:26 a.m., Kristin called once more. Officer Topaz Proctor responded, and Kristin yelled at him on the doorstep. Dave tried to calm her. She apologized for snapping at the officer. Now, they had more paperwork to handle: A new police statement. A call to the car insurance company. And a contract for a rental car. The first clue: Monday, Aug. 24, 2015 In the Van Goors mail was an envelope with no return address. Inside the envelope: a handwritten note, dated Aug. 21, 2015 the day after the armed robbery. The envelope also contained a reimbursement check from her company, made out to Kristin, for $95. Hello Ms. Van Goor, My name is Brenda, and on my way to work this morning I found this check near Texas Ave. and Dubois St. in S.E. Days before the robbery, Kristin had signed the check and asked Dave to deposit it for her. It had been in his stolen backpack. Kristin immediately called Brenda to thank her and to tell her about the robbery. Then, she called the police. She thought the note was an important clue. If the check was found on a street in the Benning Ridge neighborhood, their Tiguan had to be nearby. Maybe the robbers lived in the neighborhood. She got through to a D.C. police detective who said that he knew the neighborhood quite well. Go look for my car, she begged. He later told the Van Goors that he spent a few hours looking but had no luck. The next victim: 7:50 a.m., Friday, Aug. 28, 2015 Kimberly Potter-Cooper recalls being robbed last year by a young man with a gun while walking in an alley adjacent to where she worked at the Center City Public Charter School in Southeast Washington. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) Kimberly Potter-Cooper, 40, had just a few days to prepare for the first week of school at Center City, a charter school in the Hill East neighborhood. As the assistant principal, she had plenty of work to do. On her drive to school, Potter-Cooper sang along to gospel tunes in her Honda Civic. Just before 8 a.m., she parked in a lot beside the school and unloaded three bags: a Michael Kors purse, a computer bag and a Kate Spade workbag filled with school supplies, a hammer and paint to redecorate her office. Still humming, she walked through the parking lot and into an alley on her way to the front door of the school. Then she saw a young man, dressed in a loose white T-shirt and black pants with a skullcap on his head, lingering nearby in the alley. I saw him clear as day, she said. The public high school, Eastern, was just down the block. Classes had already begun there, and she thought he was probably a student at Eastern. She passed him and then heard his footsteps scraping the gravel on the pavement behind her. She moved to the right, thinking he wanted to pass her along the chain-link fence. Suddenly, he grabbed her purse strap, and she turned to face him. She racked her brain. She had taught for 17 years in the District. Maybe she knew his name. If I can call his name, maybe he wont do this, she thought. He raised his shirt, flashing the handle of a gun tucked into his waistband. He put a finger to his mouth, signaling for her to be quiet. She then handed over her workbag and her purse, containing her wallet, cash, credit cards, drivers license, and keys to her Civic and her home. He pointed at her computer bag, which held her MacBook. Do you want that? he asked, with chilling calm. Yes, she begged. Please. Inside, there were irreplaceable work files. Student projects. Years of lesson plans. Nah, give me that, too, he told her. He took her last bag and then motioned for her to walk away. Her back toward him, she walked down the alley along the chain-link fence toward the street. Her eyes were closed. She feared he was going to shoot her. She willed herself to keep walking. Just be numb. At the end of the alley, her eyes were still clenched shut. She opened her eyes, turned left and sprinted up the steps to the charter school. Help me! she screamed. Ive been robbed! Kimberly Potter-Cooper, a former assistant principal, was walking toward her school when she was robbed by a youth armed with a gun. She describes her encounter with the gunman. (Whitney Shefte/TWP) A crime alert: 8:15 a.m., Friday, Aug. 28, 2015 A block away, Kristin Van Goor stood in line at Mias, a local coffee shop. It had been a week since her husband was robbed. She read a new email on her phone. There was an urgent neighborhood crime alert: Someone had just been robbed at gunpoint, and the robber was on the loose in Hill East. Kristin had planned to walk to the Metro from the coffee shop, but she changed her mind. She decided to return home and drive her rental car instead. A stakeout: Midmorning, Friday, Aug. 28, 2015 Dispatchers broadcast details of the crime to police officers in the neighborhood. Officer Proctor heard the description of the robber of a young black male with a black skull cap and white T-shirt. Just moments before the robbery, the officer had seen a young man driving a black Volkswagen Tiguan who matched that description. Kimberly Potter-Cooper (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) Kimberly Potter-Coopers husband drove into the District from their home in Upper Marlboro, Md., with the familys spare car keys. She and her husband wanted to quickly move her Honda Civic away from the school parking lot. The gunman had the keys, and they thought he might come back for it. They moved the car back to their home. Officers staked out the school parking lot for several hours, thinking the man might return to try to find the car. At 10:56 a.m., they once again spotted the young black man, driving the Tiguan near the parking lot. When they tried to stop him, he fled east on East Capitol Street. About three miles from the start of the pursuit by police, the driver crashed the Tiguan into a city street-sweeping machine near 51st Street and Ayers Place SE. The driver and two other men bailed out of the car. After a brief foot chase, the officers caught the driver but lost sight of the other men. Inside the SUV, they recovered Potter-Coopers ID card. On the passenger side, they found a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol on the floor. A show-up identification: 12:35 p.m., Friday, Aug. 28, 2015 After they caught the suspect, police called Potter-Cooper at home. She needed to return to the school, where a police detective would be waiting for her. Potter-Cooper sat in the back seat of the police cruiser as a detective drove her on East Capitol toward Southern Avenue. She was going to see the gunman in person. They arrived about a block away from the scene of the crash. The detective told Potter-Cooper that he would record her reactions. The Van Goors' totaled Volkswagen Tiguan. (Courtesy of the Van Goor family) Potter-Cooper would be asked to take a live look at the young man in handcuffs to see whether she could confirm that he was the man who robbed her. Potter-Cooper was confident that she would be able to identify him. She had made an effort to stare into the young mans eyes. She would not forget them. In clear view, they walked the young man toward the police SUV in the street. She worried that he could see her through the car windows and knew where she worked. He had her ID. He knew where she lived. She knew it was him. The pants were the same. He had changed his shirt, but he still wore the skullcap. She made the identification. But then she got jittery. Oh, my gosh, she thought. Im about to send a black male to jail. She asked to see him once more. She thought of her own son. If youre about to send this young man to jail, you better know for sure, she thought. She identified him for the second time, 100 percent sure. Later, police asked her to come to the station, where she collected some of the items that were recovered from the Tiguan. When the detective briefly left the room, she peered over his desk. There was a police photo of the young man who robbed her. And for the first time, a name: Joshua Mayo. Kimberly Potter-Cooper describes what it was like to identify the man with a gun who robbed her. (Whitney Shefte/TWP) Preliminary hearing: Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015: After being arrested on suspicion of armed robbery, Mayo was taken to Childrens National Medical Center in the District for minor injuries sustained in the crash. He was two weeks shy of his 18th birthday, but he would be charged as an adult in the armed robbery of Potter-Cooper. Joshua Mayo (Prince Georges County Department of Corrections) The Aug. 29 charging papers also revealed a direct link between Mayo and the Van Goors: The Tiguan he crashed was their stolen SUV. Three days later, Mayo appeared in D.C. Superior Court for a preliminary hearing. Magistrate Judge Frederick Sullivan heard testimony from Officer Proctor, who described spotting Mayo in the Tiguan near the school parking lot, wearing a skullcap. Sullivan said there was plenty of probable cause to move forward. Your clients involved himself in extremely dangerous conduct, Sullivan told the defense attorney. Hes sticking a gun into people and taking their property . . . and then hes fleeing in an automobile with other guys in the automobile and it looks as though there may be a couple of different crimes here. He ordered Mayo held without bond. A Pretrial Services official noted that there were also two arrest warrants for Mayo in connection with armed robberies in Prince Georges County, Md., in July. On Sept. 4, 2015, the Van Goors learned from a police officer that their stolen SUV had been recovered. They were told few details, only that their vehicle had been used as a getaway car in an armed robbery. Joshua Mayo: Early fall 2015 Armed with the name Joshua Mayo, Potter-Cooper took matters into her own hands. She wanted to know why Joshua was not in school on the day of the robbery, the first week of public school in the District. Her mind was racked with questions for him: Was it fun? Were you just doing this for kicks? Or were you doing this because you thought it was the way to survive? Assistant U.S. Attorney Vivien Cockburn was assigned to her case. All the prosecutors would say is that he had been in a little bit of trouble, Potter-Cooper said. They kept saying, Hes done this before. She received an official letter telling her that she was the victim of a crime. It laid out her rights for compensation. The price of changing her locks $716 could be covered by a victims fund. Meanwhile, the Van Goors were in the dark. Every time I called the prosecutors office, they had no idea what was going on, Kristin said. When I tried to call back, I was never able to figure out if Daves robbery had been reviewed by a prosecutor or even been assigned to a prosecutor. No charges had been filed against Mayo for the crimes involving their family: the armed robbery of Dave and the theft and destruction of their SUV. Eventually, they learned from Cockburn that Joshua Mayo was the man who crashed their SUV. At 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 14, a woman named Rekha Patil showed up on the Van Goors doorstep. She asked for Dave, acting friendly, Kristin recalled. Kristin assumed she was a law school classmate. But Patil was an investigator for the D.C. Public Defender Service. She was there to help defend Joshua Mayo. She wanted to ask about the robbery. Kristin screamed at her to leave, immediately. Like Kristin, Kimberly Potter-Cooper also had a bitter run-in with a woman from the Public Defender Service. She could not remember the womans name but said she did not think it was Patil. The woman, who had jet black hair pulled back into a ponytail, showed up at her school on Oct. 1, claiming to work for the defense team of Joshua Mayo. I really want to talk to you because I dont think you know what youre doing, the woman said, according to Potter-Coopers account. Youre about to send an innocent young man to jail. He wasnt a young man the day he robbed me, Potter-Cooper said she told her. Patil referred a reporter to her bosses for comment. In a statement to The Washington Post, the Public Defender Service responded that its investigators have a constitutional right and duty to attempt to interview witnesses to crimes as part of the defense case. PDS investigators need to, often under very tight time constraints, attempt to speak with any witnesses and victims to get their side of the story, said Janet Mitchell, PDS supervising attorney. Investigators are instructed to be persistent but also professional and respectful. Kimberly Potter-Cooper in the alley where she was robbed. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) The makings of a deal: Friday, Oct. 2, 2015 The next day, Mayo was offered a deal by the U.S. attorneys office. The paperwork revealed yet another twist in Mayos brief but violent history. He had been linked to a third armed robbery in the District of Columbia. In April 2015, a group of young men approached a 39-year-old man in Southeast Washington and stole his phone. They also shot him in his right arm. With the stolen Samsung Galaxy phone, they made a selfie video of joy rides around the city. In the video, they blow smoke and flash a gun, laughing. What they did not know, however, was that the video automatically uploaded to the victims online cloud storage. Their faces were clearly visible. The victim turned the video over to police. In August, the D.C. police posted the video online and asked for tips. An anonymous tipster identified Joshua Mayo. On Sept. 4, after he had been charged with armed robbery in Potter-Coopers case, Mayo was charged with another count of armed robbery for taking the 24-year-old mans cellphone. Prosecutors wrote that Mayo, under D.C. law, would face a mandatory minimum prison term of five years for each armed robbery, since they were separate crimes. If convicted, he would be spending a mandatory 10 years in prison. But they offered him a generous plea deal. They would dismiss the charge of the first armed robbery connected with the cellphone theft and shooting in exchange for a plea to a misdemeanor charge of receipt of stolen property. The misdemeanor carried a penalty of 180 days in jail. For the second armed-robbery charge the crime against Kimberly Potter-Cooper prosecutors would agree to accept an admission by Mayo of committing an armed robbery with an imitation weapon, even though police officers had recovered a real firearm the .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol. The significance of the imitation weapon: Mayo would no longer be subject to the mandatory minimum of five years for armed robbery. I was like, Are you kidding me? Potter-Cooper said. I knew damn well it wasnt a toy gun. Richard Tischner, chief of the Superior Court Division for the U.S. attorneys office, said imitation weapon clauses are sometimes stipulated as part of plea negotiations, even if real guns are used in the crimes. Its not a lie, he told The Post. Its a concession to the case. Signing the deal: 10 a.m., Friday, Oct. 9, 2015 Mayo pleaded guilty before Judge Todd Edelman. The judge approved a defense attorneys request for a Youth Rehabilitation Act study for Mayo, who was now 18 years old. Potter-Cooper had heard of the law before. As a teacher, she had worked with young men who had received the benefit of the law. Tell me your thoughts about it, Cockburn asked her, according to Potter-Coopers recollection. Potter-Cooper said she opposed it in Mayos case. In some cases, I just feel like it doesnt work, she said. Especially if hes been in trouble already. At some point and time, you have to be fully responsible for your actions. The imitation-weapon plea deal had been infuriating to Potter-Cooper. And now, Mayo was up for the Youth Rehabilitation Act. It really is a game, she told The Post. Kimberly Potter-Cooper, a victim of armed robbery, describes how she felt about the plea deal the assailant was offered under the Youth Rehabilitation Act. (Whitney Shefte/TWP) A victims connection: Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015 It had been six weeks since the car crash, and the Van Goors had not been allowed to see their vehicle. Finally, on a Wednesday morning, the Van Goors traveled to an impound lot in Southwest Washington to take a look at their totaled Tiguan. The front end was completely bashed in, and the car reeked of mold. The Van Goors desperately wanted one item back: Daves keychain. It held a small memento in honor of his brother, who had died several years before. The SUV was full of rubbish: umbrellas, T-shirts, frozen lunches and cologne. The cup holders were filled with cigarette ashes. They could not find the key chain. But they did find a debit card, in a side pocket of the SUV. It belonged to a woman named Kimberly Potter-Cooper. Kristin did a Google search for the womans name. She saw that the woman worked as an assistant principal at Center City charter school. Later that afternoon, Kristin called the school and asked to speak with Potter-Cooper. The two women swapped stories over the phone. Potter-Cooper told Kristin that prosecutors had already offered Mayo a plea deal for the school robbery. He had accepted it. Kristin was stunned. No one from the U.S. attorneys office had told her anything about a plea offer. The offer made a reference to Mayos crashing the Van Goors SUV but guaranteed that he would face no further charges in the incident. The indictment: Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016 While Joshua Mayo was in the D.C. jail awaiting sentencing, a grand jury impaneled in Prince Georges County indicted him on charges of armed robbery, robbery, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, use of a firearm in a crime of violence, theft and conspiracy. Meanwhile, jail officials in the District conducted a Youth Rehabilitation Act study ordered by Judge Edelman to see whether Mayo could benefit from rehabilitative treatment. The results would not be disclosed to the public, but they would be given to Edelman. Conflicting thoughts: Winter 2016 Potter-Cooper was on the fence about attending the sentencing. At the beginning, I was all for it, she said. As time went on, the fear set in. She refused to go outside for recess. She carried her car keys in her bra. She began carrying a small Taser in her purse. He will be able to sleep, she said of Mayo. I dont sleep. I watch my back. Cockburn told her, repeatedly, that they desperately needed her voice for Judge Edelmans consideration at the sentencing. Potter-Cooper had one request for the prosecutor: If she attended, could she give two books to Mayo? She wanted to share The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Cooked, the memoir of a prison cook who turned his life around and became a famous casino chef. Cockburn, who declined to be interviewed for this article, told Potter-Cooper that it would not be possible. Potter-Cooper did not see the point of attending the sentencing. No one called the Van Goors to inform them of the sentencing date. They learned of it while researching the case through court records. Kristin planned to show up, mainly because she wanted to see Mayos face. She believed that he was the young man who held a gun to her husbands head. But the sentencing was postponed two months, and by that point, the never-ending frustrations had worn her down. She did not attend. The wife of an armed-robbery victim describes her reaction to the lenient sentence the robber received under the Districts Youth Rehabilitation Act. (Whitney Shefte/TWP) The sentencing: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 On the day of the sentencing, Cockburn apologized to Judge Edelman for Potter-Coopers absence. I urged the victim to come. And I wanted unfortunately, she is not here today. I wanted to very briefly describe this person to you, she said. The victim is this tiny lady. She only comes up to my shoulder, but she is a spitfire. She is a very lively, engaged woman. But Cockburn said that over several months, she saw the victim suffer. She speaks to me on the phone and tells me how shes now, and has been, afraid to even step out of her own building, and she is the assistant principal, she said. This is not a woman that is shaken easily, and yet now, she looks over her shoulder, she finds other people to go outside, and she is struggling. Cockburn asked for five years prison time. She said the totality of Mayos violent crimes should warrant appropriate punishment. Defense attorney John Fowler, from the Public Defender Service, said the government was too focused on punishment and deterrence rather than rehabilitation. He said Mayo should serve no more than 36 months in prison. Fowler told the judge that Mayos upbringing had been plagued by health problems and difficulties in D.C. public schools. Mayo dropped out of school after the 10th grade, according to court records. Fowler told the judge that Mayo had suffered from a heart ailment since he was a toddler. I dont think he ever got the support that he needed, Fowler told the judge. Fowler said that Mayo had taken advantage of the very limited opportunities at the D.C. jail. He was attending classes there five days a week to work toward his GED. The attorney said he worried that prison would be particularly hard on Mayo. For instance, if Mayo got into a fight, or took a punch to the face, he said that the consequences could be severe. He doesnt have the health of an 18-year-old, Fowler said. He doesnt have the heart of an 18-year-old. Judge Edelman asked Mayo whether he would like to say anything. I want to say that I apologize for my actions, Mayo told the judge. I own up to them. And I dont want everybody to say Im a bad person. Edelman, who declined to comment for this article, indicated that he was conflicted. We have such a young person, who has so much of his life ahead of him and who has arguably been very let down by, for example, our educational system, he said. And on the other hand, you have such a chilling act or set of acts here. . . . Its an armed robbery with a .45-caliber handgun. Prosecutors had brought up the links between Mayo and the robbery of Potter-Cooper, the cellphone case and the Van Goor case. The government submits that the defendants connection to three armed robberies is not a coincidence, and indicates a disturbing pattern of criminal activity by the defendant, the prosecutors sentencing memorandum states. Edelman acknowledged that there was some connection between Mayo and the two other armed robberies in the District. The judge also made reference to the pending Prince Georges armed-robbery case, which could bring a sentence of 10 to 15 years. Additionally, the judge mentioned that Mayo had a firearm charge in family court, a juvenile matter that was not part of his adult record. Ultimately, the judge sentenced Mayo to serve 42 months in prison for the armed robbery, with credit for the five months he had already spent in jail. The sentence was 18 months below the mandatory minimum for armed robberies with real guns. The judge also added six months for the misdemeanor stolen-property charge connected to the cellphone armed robbery and shooting, for a total of 48 months. Edelman granted the defense attorneys request for Youth Rehabilitation Act status, saying that it was appropriate to treat Mayo as a youthful offender. And, as the judge pointed out, the prosecutor had not objected. The leniency was infuriating to Potter-Cooper. Mayo was getting time shaved off, but she would be scared for life. Hell no, she thought. No one is shaving that off for me. Potter-Cooper eventually left her job at the charter school and moved to an alternative school for young adults. She did it for Joshua, she said. I still believe that no one wakes up and just says, This is who I am, she said. Somewhere, he was made into this. Somewhere, he has gotten lost. When I looked into Joshs eyes that day, I saw a kid. I didnt see a robber. She stopped herself. Shame on me, maybe, she said. Kimberly Potter-Cooper describes the new path she is taking with her career as a result of what happened to her. (Whitney Shefte/TWP) The aftermath: Summer 2016 Last spring, Mayo was briefly sent to a federal prison in New Jersey, where he began serving his sentence. This summer, he was extradited to Maryland to face charges in the July 29 armed robberies. Mayo, now 19, pleaded guilty in October to possession of a firearm and two counts of armed robbery and faces between five and 15 years of prison time. He is scheduled to be sentenced in January. Mayo, through his court-appointed attorney in Maryland, declined to comment for this article. There have been no charges filed in the armed robbery of Dave Van Goor. The case remains under investigation, according to William Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office. Miller said his office disputes the victims assertions about their interactions with prosecutors he said his office had had extensive communication with the Van Goor family and contested Potter-Coopers account that she was upset about the plea deal. But he declined to provide details or make prosecutors available for interviews. Generally speaking, we devote considerable time and resources to ensuring that victims are kept informed and heard throughout proceedings, and their views are given strong consideration, Miller said. The Van Goors tried to move on with their lives, but the fear and the frustration persisted. They still wanted justice. At a minimum, they thought Mayo should be charged with wrecking their SUV. Its all so frustrating, Kristin told The Post. They arrested the man who totaled it. How is he not being held accountable for what he did? In June, a family friend wrote a letter on their behalf to Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), and to then-D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier and U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips. The Van Goors case is a textbook example of what is wrong with how DC approaches crime, especially how DC approaches violent gun crime, wrote the friend. Kristin received phone calls from Lanier and the Van Goors representative on the D.C. Council, Charles Allen (D-Ward 6). On June 13, she met with Phillips and two assistants at the Paul bakery a few blocks from the courthouse. I thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention, wrote Phillips to Kristin in an email the following day. We always strive to do better and your comments were insightful and instructive. Kristin was encouraged. Another assistant U.S. attorney, Kacie Weston, soon got in touch with the Van Goors. She had been assigned to review the case. Kristin felt optimistic that prosecutors intended to charge Mayo with felony destruction of property. At the end of August, Weston called Kristin. Weston said her colleagues did not think they could charge Mayo for totaling the Van Goors car. Weston explained that Mayos signed admission in the plea deal about the car wreck essentially barred prosecutors from pursuing him on that charge. Kristin could not believe it. When she tried to respond, her voice started to crack. Her words failed her. She told the prosecutor she had to go. Choking back tears, she hung up the phone. Self-taught baker Danielle Konya started with one peanut butter cake and turned it into Vegan Treats Bakery, a round-the-clock business in Bethlehem, Pa., with more than 40 employees. (Ken Penn/Kencredible) Every month or so, Dwane Bowen drives two hours across Pennsylvania to buy cookies, brownies and sticky buns from a vegan bakery in Bethlehem and hes not even vegan. A friend brought me here about a year ago, says Bowen, and I said, It better be damn good if were driving two hours just to get a cookie. He was right, though. Bowens pilgrimage is to Vegan Treats Bakery, and owner Danielle Konya says she is not surprised. Weve actually found people camping outside the store when we arrived to open up in the morning, from Europe, Israel, all over, she says. People track us down. [27 holiday cookies youll want to bake this season] When Konya, 41, started baking vegan goodies for herself at home back in the 1990s, she had no idea that her hobby would become a phenomenon. Eighteen years later, her 1,600-square-foot bakery employs more than 40 people in a round-the-clock operation that in 2012 was named one of the top 10 bakeries in the world not just the top vegan bakeries by American Expresss Departures Magazine. [Holiday Cookie Generator: Explore more than 300 recipes] Maybe it was just good timing, Konya says. Ellen Kassoff, co-owner of Equinox restaurant in the District, says its much more than that. Equinox gets a regular delivery from Vegan Treats of mini cheesecakes and petits fours for its weekly vegan brunch. What shes doing over there is phenomenal on a big scale, Kassoff says. Her experience shows. A baker preps Iced Snowflake Shortbread Cookies at Vegan Treats Bakery in Bethlehem, Pa. (Stacey Emenecker/Vegan Treats Bakery) Gluten-Free Coconut Cream Pie at Vegan Treats Bakery. (Stacey Emenecker/Vegan Treats Bakery) That experience is entirely self-taught. With nothing but a passion for plant-based baking and a flair for design, Konya experimented with triple chocolate chip cookies and whoopie pies, and they were a hit with her family and friends. But it wasnt until 1998, after she gave a cake her now-signature chocolate peanut butter mousse bomb to a guy in Philly who was selling vegan cheesesteak sandwiches, that she thought about a business. He used to always say that there was no such thing as a good vegan dessert, Konya says. I just brought him the cake to prove a point, but then he called me a few hours later and said, The cakes all gone. Can you make me 12 for next week? [How to buy Vegan Treats Bakerys goods without driving to Bethlehem, Pa.] Although the cheesesteak operation didnt stand the test of time, Konya spent the next eight years building her own business from scratch with the help of her mom, Vicki, working 80 hours a week, first from home and later in a shared commercial kitchen. The storefront bakery opened in 2005. It clearly has been a labor of love for Konya, but also a way to promote her agenda as an animal-rights activist. Eating vegan food is the easiest way to make a difference on the planet, she says. Compassion starts with your fork. For those who think baking without eggs, butter or milk is a challenge, Konya and her staff the vast majority of whom are not vegan would strongly disagree. Its just science, says pastry chef Samantha Armstrong. If you can come up with a recipe made with traditional ingredients, you can always come up with one thats vegan. Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Dreams. Recipe link, below. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) [Make the recipe: Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Dreams] Potato starch, tapioca starch and silken tofu are some of the ingredients that help give Vegan Treats desserts the same rich mouth feel their non-vegan counterparts have, but, to Konya, it all comes down to flavor. Honestly, no one takes a bite of the Chocolate Peppermint Dream cookies and asks where the butter is. The focus is on the dark chocolaty base and that bite of peppermint. Using pureed fruit, such as applesauce or mashed pumpkin, in place of eggs to provide moistness is a technique common to fat-free baking, but, as Konya says, Im not cooking with substitutes. Im just baking the only way I know how. For instance, when she was developing the Molasses Pumpkin Streusel Bars in October, autumnal flavors and textures were the starting point. Then it started to come together as a classic bar cookie, with a layer of vegan cream cheese to balance out all that rich flavor and a crumbly topping for texture. It was really just about imagining what Id like to eat on a chilly gray afternoon. When youre churning out thousands of cookies a week, along with doughnuts, brownies, cupcakes and 500 or so cakes, you dont have time to be daunted by ingredients. Space is a much bigger challenge here than the recipes, says pastry chef Ryan Mason. Were just trying to figure out where to put all the layer cakes. The wholesale and retail business shows no signs of slowing. Even at midday on a Tuesday, theres a steady stream of customers of all ages at the retail counter, on a street that is not a pedestrian thoroughfare. Outside, a truck is being loaded with wholesale orders one of five deliveries a week to more than 100 coffee shops, restaurants and boutique grocery stores in New York, Philadelphia and Washington. Vegan Molasses Pumpkin Streusel Bars. Recipe link, below. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) [Make the recipe: Vegan Molasses Pumpkin Streusel Bars] I call it the bakery on a treadmill, says Konya, laughing. Were always trying to catch up. Vegan Treats also pitches its tent at vegetarian food festivals in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, where fans will line up for several hours. The array of treats in the tent can be mind-boggling, from mini-cakes coated in chocolate ganache and topped with colorful handmade fondant flowers to Bavarian cream doughnuts to Key lime pie. I like the classics, says Konya, but also to innovate. Pastry chef Armstrong agrees: Other bakeries will give you the opportunity to be creative, but a vegan bakery especially this one challenges you to think way outside the box. Konyas commitment to operating an ethical and earth-friendly bakery means spending energy on sourcing ingredients that fit both her mission and her standards, all within the confines of a high-volume operation. Sweetened condensed soy milk is shipped from a supplier in Portugal, while custom-blended chocolate made without palm oil (an ingredient linked to deforestation and animal extinction) comes from Switzerland. On the flip side, Konya forages for wild black raspberries herself in the nearby countryside each summer for a house-made soft-serve ice cream that is available only at the store. We could definitely make condensed soy milk in-house, says Konya, but we go through so much of it on a daily basis that it would be a full-time job for someone to produce the volume that we need. On the other hand, those black raspberries are local and seasonal, so they are worth that little extra effort. Holiday Confetti Cakes at Vegan Treats Bakery. (Stacey Emenecker /Vegan Treats Bakery) Mindful of her commitment to veganism, Konya immediately pulled candy sprinkles off the line in 2014 after a customer asked whether the sprinkles on the doughnuts were made with shellac, a common ingredient that is also a byproduct of beetles. When the manufacturer couldnt adequately explain what ingredients it was using, Konya switched to sprinkles coated with carnauba wax. Besides the ethical concern, the ingredient swap also pointed to the trust that she wants to build with her customers. We have people coming here who are vegan or kosher or have food allergies, she says. Our ability to know exactly what is in everything we make is important. Searching for a new building to house a larger bakery is next on the agenda, says Konya, who says she also dreams of starting a retail project that would bring more of her products to other cities. Just dont expect her to move from Bethlehem. I grew up here, she says, but, more importantly, my moms here. And I really love my mom. The scene at an ACT UP protest. (Rick Gerharter /Photo courtesy of Penguin Random House) David France managed to simultaneously break my heart and rekindle my anger in just the first few pages of his breathtakingly important new book, How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS. (The book, released last week, is based on his 2012 Oscar-nominated documentary of the same name.) In the prologue, titled The Memorial Service, France introduces Spencer Cox, one of the foremost AIDS activists of his generation and a star of this book. Few people personified the epidemics long history in America more than Cox, France writes. Cox was diagnosed with AIDS at age 20 in 1989 and like everyone else at that time given only a few months to live. But he didnt die. Instead he fought back and became an early member of ACT UP, the AIDS advocacy group founded by playwright Larry Kramer. Cox was a key player in bringing about the drug therapies that stopped HIV from being a near-certain death sentence. Then, more than two decades later, he inexplicably stopped taking the drugs. Cox died in 2012, and at that time activist Mark Harrington told the New York Times, He saved the lives of millions, but he couldnt save his own. Cox was a friend who contributed his wisdom and special brand of gay camp to this column in its early days as a member of my kitchen cabinet of advisers. He also loved to argue with me about what was appropriate behavior. Like many others, I was shocked by his death. I was also reminded of the generation of activists who fought with tenacity against an indifferent government, price-gouging pharmaceutical companies and unchecked homophobia. This was, after all, the era in which then-Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) called for reduced spending on AIDS because weve got to have some common sense about a disease transmitted by people deliberately engaging in unnatural acts. Frances riveting story spoke to me in deeply personal ways, and I wept as I recalled too many friends and colleagues who died needlessly from this plague. It triggered the memory of my own terror at being diagnosed with AIDS in 1986. Fortunately, it later turned out I had been misdiagnosed, swept up in a rush to judgment because I was a young, sexually active gay man. The book is also something of a how-to manual for activism. ACT UP agitators shut down the FDA, blocked access to drugmakers buildings, and even placed an enormous condom over Helmss house. Their efforts built new and lasting bridges among activists, scientists and policy wonks while establishing a blueprint for social change. France was emphatic when he told me that the lesson from the AIDS era is a sweeping one: Against all odds, he declared, empowerment and victory are possible. Thats an important one to recall at the dawn of a Trump administration. But the thread that most captured me was the morality tale woven throughout the book. Lessons about civility or the dearth thereof in the Reagan era are manifold. The first family certainly had a reputation for fancy manners (embodied in the Reagan administrations many state dinners, Nancy Reagans designer gowns and her new 4,370-piece china service), but our 40th president fell far short of what it means to be well-mannered. As Emily Post wrote, Good manners reflect something from inside an innate sense of consideration for others. Today, we simply call this empathy. Reagan, France says, is the coldhearted president who might have contained the epidemic. But he was also the president who refused to even mention HIV/AIDS until 1986 and who cut funding for HIV research at a time when diagnoses and deaths were exploding. Many maybe most of those deaths were preventable, France told me. Reagan was blind to the suffering of the gay community. France points out that unfortunately, the future might hold the same kind of blindness for LGBT Americans, African Americans, immigrants and Muslims. Which brings me back to Cox, described by his friend and fellow ACT UP member John Voelcker as striking and attractive, not to mention smart and funny. But Cox also had empathy. Not long before his death, France interviewed Cox for the documentary and asked, What did you learn? You keep hoping until you die. Which is going to happen someday. You make your life as meaningful as you can make it. Dont be afraid of whos going to like you, or are you being appropriate? You worry about things like being kind; you worry about things like being generous. If its not about that, what the hell is it about? Thats what Ive learned. I think Cox was being too modest. Cox and his cohort of dedicated citizens did nothing less than change the world. Now it is up to us to protect it and ourselves from going back in time. As these activists taught us, when playing the long game, empathy and kindness will triumph over pomp and circumstance every time. Agree or disagree with my perspective? Let me know in the comments section below. Email questions to Civilities at stevenpetrow@gmail.com (unfortunately, not all questions can be answered). You can reach him on Facebook at facebook.com/stevenpetrow and on Twitter: @stevenpetrow. Join him and author David France for a chat online at washingtonpost.com Tuesday at 1 p.m. Police said that Sanjay is the owner of the gun that was used to kill Kulwinder Kaur while she was performing at a wedding. Sanjay Goyal, owner of the gun used to kill the dancer. By Manjeet Sehgal: Punjab Police today arrested all the four accused in connection with the murder of a 22-year-old pregnant dancer, who was killed on Saturday evening in Bathinda. The four arrested have been identified as: Lucky Goyal alias Billa (prime accused), Sanjay Goyal (weapon owner), groom's father Narinder Kumar, who booked the palace and the palace owner Jagsir Singh. advertisement Earlier, the police had recovered a 32 bore revolver and a 12 bore rifle from Sanjay Goyal. Police said that Sanjay is the owner of the gun that was used to kill Kulwinder Kaur while she was performing at a wedding. The prime accused Lucky Goyal is Sanjay's friend who have no criminal background, according to the police. Sanjay, who is son of a former municipal corporation councillor, is bring produced in the court. Both Sanjay and Lucky are small time business owners in Maur Mandi. Kaur was shot dead on stage allegedly by Lucky after he was not allowed to dance with her troupe in Punjab's Bathinda district. The incident happened on Saturday night during the marriage function of a local commission agent's son in Maur where the deceased was performing with her dance troupe. Also read: Delhi: Woman's body found in drain with legs chopped off A group of the groom's friends, who were allegedly drunk, were firing in the air and tried to come on to the stage to join the dancers, police said. BULLET HIT KAUR IN THE HEAD According to the police, the accused Lucky was not happy as the dancer had refused to dance with him and his friends. Video footage of the incident shows the victim being shot at from close range and collapsing to the ground. "She died on the way to hospital," Bathinda DSP (Maur) Davinder Singh said. Also read: Hyderabad: Software professional stabs wife 15 times --- ENDS --- Comet Ping Pong customers came out to support the restaurant after a gunman entered it with an assault rifle, firing it at least once. Several other businesses on the block have received other threats as well. (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post) Comet Ping Pong customers came out to support the restaurant after a gunman entered it with an assault rifle, firing it at least once. Several other businesses on the block have received other threats as well. (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post) The fake news stuff weve been talking about? That all just got real. An entire D.C. neighborhood was on lockdown Sunday because some dope with a gun believed a fake news story that wildly and wrongly linked a neighborhood pizzeria to a child sex ring. You could conclude that Edgar Maddison Welch, the 28-year-old man from North Carolina who allegedly walked into the Comet Ping Pong restaurant carrying an assault rifle, pointed it at an employee and then fired one or more shots, may be a singular nut job. [N.C. man told police he went to D.C. pizzeria to investigate conspiracy theory] The exterior of Comet Ping Pong, where a gunman showed up to self-investigate a fake story about a child sex ring. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) He told police that he had come to the restaurant to self-investigate a false election-related conspiracy theory that linked Hillary Clinton to the child sex ring. But he wasnt the only dope who was roped into this. A week before the presidential election, the son of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn the man President-elect Donald Trump has chosen as his national security adviser shared the Comet Ping Pong conspiracy story. Thousands of others shared it, too. Days later, the retired general himself tweeted a hashtag referring to another fake news story that accused Clintons campaign chairman, John Podesta, of satanic rituals using bodily fluids. That there, the satanic ritual stuff, is straight out of the grocery checkout line. Remember when Americans used to laugh at the crazy-bad supermarket tabloid stories about Bat Boy! or Titanic Survivors Alive! or Alien Bible Found! They worship Oprah!? D.C. police detained a gunman on Dec. 4, who had walked into Comet Ping Pong, a popular Northwest Washington restaurant and music venue. Police said no injuries were reported. (Faiz Siddiqui,Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) What was different back then? Why didnt a desperado come storming toward the White House gates with his gun after the story about George W. Bush meeting with aliens hit the stands? Because most people knew the source of the news the National Enquirer, News of the World, etc. wasnt remotely serious, as lacking in nutrition as the candy bars the tabloids were displayed alongside. But in todays social-media universe, theres a flood of stories from fake news sites that look legit. And stories that sound as ludicrous as alien love triangles dont get a laugh; they get shared by our leaders, generating violent threats, dangerous reactions and, in the worst cases, bloodshed. [Fake news writers need to meet the real reporters who die trying to do their jobs] In an era when we have more access to more information than ever before, weve also become more willing to believe the crazy and share it with others. What happened at Comet Ping Pong isnt the first time weve seen real consequences of the doctored-news phenomenon. A year ago, a gotcha video created by folks who lied, schemed and plotted to get a doctor to talk about the graphic details of her work while secretly being recorded was pinging in the head of Robert Lewis Dear Jr. when he stormed a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado. Dear used the phrase no more baby parts after he allegedly killed three people a police officer, an Iraq War veteran and a mother of two and injured nine others in that shooting rampage. Grandstanding congressmen fed him the baby parts line after they watched that heavily edited video of a Planned Parenthood executive talking about the donation of tissue from aborted fetuses. (They mustve forgotten that fetal tissue has been used in important medical research since the 1930s and helped produce vaccines for polio, measles and mumps.) The video was created under false pretenses and never would have met the standards of a legitimate news organization. That faux investigation ended in hours of congressional hearings, a budget crisis for Planned Parenthood in many states and the deaths of those three people in Colorado. [Words matter in attacks on Planned Parenthood, Black Lives Matter, Muslims] Five years ago, it wasnt fake news but an equally careless use of words that helped incite an equally terrible burst of violence. Supporters of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin put out a map with crosshairs targeting the districts of 20 House Democrats and urging folks: Dont Retreat, Instead RELOAD! Then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) was on that map and criticized it as soon as it was posted online and her office was vandalized. Were on Sarah Palins targeted list, but the thing is that the way she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district, Giffords told MSNBC at the time. When people do that, theyve got to realize theres consequences to that action. On Jan. 8, 2011, the consequences were chilling: Jared Loughner showed up with a gun outside a Tucson supermarket where Giffords was greeting constituents and killed six people and injured 20 more, including Giffords. Still, as the funerals were being held and Giffords was in intensive care, Palins supporters insisted that crosshairs were never a reference to guns. Words matter. That kind of disregard for common sense and responsibility has kudzued into what we have today educated leaders willing to believe conspiracy theories about child sex rings and satanic rituals thanks to nothing more than a slick-looking online story. Get a grip, America. The owner of Comet Ping Pong had endured weeks of death threats. Phone calls, messages, stalkers, employees being harassed. Theyve all complained about the relentless attacks. Then they faced a real attack, which has left a business and a neighborhood deeply shaken. Let me state unequivocally: these stories are completely and entirely false, and there is no basis in fact to any of them, owner James Alefantis wrote on his Comet Ping Pong Facebook page Sunday night. There is no FBI investigation, no New York Police Department takedown. None of that. What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences, Alefantis wrote. I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away. Those who run our social-media companies and Internet search engines need to find a way to help a gullible country differentiate between fake news and real news. Lets make America believe in facts again. Twitter: @petulad D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser sees room for collaboration with President-elect Donald Trump, especially on infrastructure, her aides say. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) will travel to New York on Tuesday to talk privately with President-elect Donald Trump, a meeting the mayor said she requested to discuss how the two could work together to continue Washington D.C.s growth. But growing the nations capital is opposite of what Trump promised to voters when he was campaigning for the White House. With pledges to drain the swamp, Trump suggested a hiring freeze for federal workers and wants to make it easier to fire bureaucrats, many of whom live in the District. The meeting between Bowser and Trump is likely to draw attention to the deep political divide between the heavily Democratic residents of the nations capital and the citys new Republican overseers in the White House and Congress. During one presidential debate, Trump labeled D.C. an inner city where crime is rampant and walking down the street can be unsafe. At a news conference Nov. 9, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser laid out what's next in her fight to make the District the 51st state in light of Donald Trumps victory. (YouTube/D.C. Government) In a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by 2 to 1, just 4 percent of voters backed Trump, while 90 percent voted for former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. It was the worst showing for a Republican presidential candidate in the city in decades. The mayor, a Democrat who campaigned for Clinton, repeatedly blasted Trumps tough talk on immigrants last year, at one point calling disparaging remarks he made idiotic. She tweeted and retweeted negative comments about Trump, including that he was gross. And, like other Democratic elected officials, Bowser declined an invitation to attend the grand opening of Trumps luxury hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue weeks before the election. [In D.C., jitters over a Trump administration] At a news conference the day after Trumps win, Bowser characterized many D.C. residents as anxious, angry and worried about what a Trump administration would mean for the city. But in the weeks since, Bowser has been careful not to criticize Trump directly, saying it is Washington residents long-standing role to be gracious hosts to an incoming administration. Bowser and her aides have stressed that she sees room for collaboration with Trump, especially if he can push an infrastructure spending package through the Republican-controlled Congress. Maintenance and upkeep of federal bridges leading into the District is a major concern of regional transportation officials. The District would also like the federal government to pay more for upkeep of the Metro system, which is used by many federal workers. [Will Donald Trump make Metro great again?] Bowser has been notably more subdued than mayors in New York, San Francisco and elsewhere in responding to Trumps pledge to strip all federal funding from sanctuary cities, where political leaders have decided that local law enforcement will not collaborate with federal officials to deport illegal immigrants. Such a punishment would be severely felt in Washington, which relies on direct federal funding for 25 percent of its budget. D.C.s decision to become a sanctuary city is one of several areas in which laws advanced by the local Democratic majority are in conflict with federal law. The District has also legalized marijuana for recreational use, allowing residents to grow the plant and smoke it in their own homes. Trump has supported states right to choose how to legislate medical marijuana but has not backed legal recreational use. Vice President-elect Mike Pence is opposed to legalization and has called marijuana a gateway drug to harder narcotics. The meeting is a first for Bowser and Trump since the 2014 groundbreaking for Trumps luxury hotel. Bowser said last month that her first request of Trump would be support for the Districts bid to become the 51st state. Citing unfinished business from the civil rights era, she pushed a statehood referendum last month that was endorsed by more than 4 in 5 voters. The mayor has conceded that it is unlikely that statehood will advance under Trump but said she must still try. Thats number one on our agenda for the next president; theres no way were going to forget we just had this vote, she said. Speaking to The Washington Post editorial board in March, Trump said he didnt have a position on D.C. statehood. I think statehood is a tough thing for D.C., he said. I think its a tough thing. I dont have a position on it yet. I would form a position. But I think statehood is a tough thing for D.C., and I dont see statehood for D.C. Tuesdays meeting between Bowser and Trump will come two days after a gunman entered a pizza restaurant in Northwest D.C. The gunman, who was arrested, allegedly told District police officers that he was investigating what was known to be a fake story circulating on the Internet that Clinton was operating a child sex ring at the Comet Ping Pong pizza restaurant. No one was injured, although several shots were fired. Several businesses in the block near the pizzeria have also been bombarded with threatening phone calls. Bowser has been an outspoken advocate for maintaining tough gun-control laws in the District. Key elements of those laws are now facing a court challenge. On neighborhood listservs in Northwest on Monday, dozens of residents encouraged one another to urge Bowser to bring up the toxic issue of fake news and to ask Trump to denounce it. I strongly encourage you to raise with the President-elect on our behalf, the significant concern our community has regarding the fake news/attack on Comet and request his engagement in putting an end to the toxic falsities being propagated on social media, one resident wrote to Bowser. Our safety and the safety of our children depend on this. Chester E. Finn Jr. was named vice president of the Maryland State Board of Education. (Maryland State Department of Education) The Maryland State Board of Education tapped a longtime education scholar who lives in Chevy Chase as its new vice president. Chester E. Finn Jr., president emeritus of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and a senior fellow at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution, stepped into the board leadership role Monday after the October resignation of Vice President S. James Gates Jr. Gates, a highly recognized physicist and professor at the University of Maryland in College Park, left the board after the recent mandate by Gov. Larry Hogan (R) that schools in Maryland open for classes after the Labor Day holiday and end by June 15. [Maryland state school board moves on Hogans Labor Day executive order] Hogan said the move was good for the economy and families, but many school district officials objected, saying it usurped local control and could affect student learning. As the state board took steps to allow systems to seek waivers, Hogan revised his mandate in a way that made it nearly impossible for most districts to qualify. I do not now confidently work in an environment I perceive as supportive of education nor respects the independence of the board, Gates said in a three-page resignation letter. [Maryland education official resigns, slams Hogan] Finn, who was elected vice president at a state board meeting Monday, has been part of the 12-member board since 2015, when he was appointed by Hogan. As the Hogan mandate stirred debate in the fall, Finn did not support the idea. He said school calendars should be a matter of local control and wrote in a blog post that limiting the school year, with a mandate about start and end dates, was educationally unsound. Maryland has way too many disadvantaged kids who are not achieving enough in school, and for those kids, an extended school year is an educational option that should certainly be available, he said in an interview. Finn later described Gatess departure as a loss and said that although the board wanted to emphasize its independence, he also believed it would move forward and work with Hogan on education issues in Maryland. Finn held the Fordham Institutes top post from 1997 to 2014. He was a professor of education and public policy at Vanderbilt University from 1981 to 2002. From 1985 to 1988, he was assistant secretary for research and improvement at the U.S. Education Department. The author or co-author of more than 20 books, he earned his bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees from Harvard University. Antwan Wilson is drawn to challenging school districts. In Denver, he was solely interested in working as a principal in the systems worst school. He accepted a job leading the Oakland Unified School District at a time when the California system faced declining enrollment and was in financial disarray. Now, hes ready to take on D.C. Public Schools and its yawning achievement gap. I run to places where I believe I am going to be most needed, Wilson said. Its 100 percent possible to educate every child. Sometimes people say thats unrealistic, but I just dont believe that. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) last week nominated Wilson, 44, to lead the Districts school system, which still struggles with achievement but has seen improvements in the past decade under Kaya Henderson and Michelle Rhee. District schools are experiencing increased enrollment and a rise in graduation rates and test scores as the city gentrifies, but the system is still plagued by a persistent achievement gap between white and minority students. Wilson said eliminating the disparities something that has proven extraordinarily difficult will be his top priority as chancellor. He believes schools need to invest resources in adding time for students who are struggling academically. That might mean a longer school day or year, or additional tutoring programs. Wilson also said he wants to ensure students are fully engaged in school. In middle school, for example, he said its critical that all students take classes such as speech, debate and robotics and that they have access to after-school clubs and sports. Educators and community members in Wilsons two previous school systems Denver and Oakland say Wilson pursued ambitious reforms and is deeply committed to improving academic outcomes for the neediest students. He is seen as a driving force in improving academics in Denver. But in just more than two years in Oakland, Wilson has struggled to make sweeping changes, facing intense backlash from parents and teachers on many of his most ambitious initiatives. Some say they are disappointed that Wilson is leaving after such a short time in the top post of a school district that has had high leadership turnover during the past decade. The San Francisco Chronicles editorial board criticized Wilson, saying it rings hollow to hear superintendents talk about their concern for the students when so many are so eager to bolt for the next bigger payday. Theres some disappointment that hes leaving so abruptly and in the middle of his contract, said Kim Davis, an Oakland parent who sits on the citys Parents United for Public Schools leadership committee. Wilson said he was committed to staying in Oakland and was not actively looking for a new job until about five weeks ago, when the firm hired to lead the Districts search called to ask if he was interested in the job. At first he said he wasnt, but a conversation with Bowser enticed him. Reporting to the mayor in a city that already has a working relationship with a robust charter sector and community partners was too compelling to turn down, he said. Oakland had prepared me very well for this opportunity, Wilson said. When Wilson arrived in Oakland in 2014, 61 percent of students were graduating on time, according to data from Californias Department of Education. A year later, under Wilson, the rate increased slightly. Data for the Class of 2016 is not yet available. Its hard to tell what hes done for Oakland because hes only been here for two whole schools years, and a lot of what he accomplished were things that were put in place before he arrived, Davis said. In his strategic plan for the Oakland school system, Wilson hoped to reach a graduation rate of 85 percent by 2020. He also set a target to more than double third-grade literacy rates. To meet those goals, Wilson sought input from teachers, parents, community organizations and school leaders to improve the systems five most troubled schools, which the board identified before he was hired. Charter schools could also submit proposals. That did not sit well with the Oakland community. Wilson was accused of trying to dismantle the public schools by replacing them with charters. The same criticisms were lobbed against Wilson when he later tried to improve the enrollment system to give parents the ability to simultaneously apply to enroll their children in public and charter schools. D.C. already has a robust group of charter schools and the common application that Oakland resisted. Superintendent Wilson is deeply committed to ensuring that there are high-quality schools in every neighborhood, said Jonathan Klein, chief executive of GO Public Schools, an Oakland-based education advocacy group. He thinks families should know all of their school options. There are constituencies that frame that as being for charters. Other initiatives that received strong backlash included plans to restructure schools and integrate special-education students into regular classrooms. Those who voiced concern at school board meetings at times also spewed personal attacks against Wilson, calling him an Uncle Tom and a practitioner of Jim Crow laws. Allen Smith, Oaklands former chief of schools, said the environment in Oakland made it nearly impossible for Wilson to be successful, but Smith said Wilson would have died trying. I dont think he would ever admit this, but I believe he was deeply hurt that people saw him as anything other than a true warrior fighting for kids, Smith said. You have a guy who actually wants to be here, who knows how to do the work, and instead of embracing that, you are fighting him. In Denver, Wilson was more successful in turning things around. Beginning in 2005, Wilson spent three years as the principal of Montbello High School, one of the worst schools in the system. I was hearing things like God bless you. Good luck. And thats from the people who hired me, that was central office, Wilson said. Under his leadership, the school saw the number of students who went on to enroll in two- and four-year colleges increase from 36 percent in 2005 to 43 percent in 2008, according to data from Denver Public Schools. The school no longer exists; it was phased out and replaced with three new programs, a plan that Wilson supported. Wilson was then challenged to expand that success to schools across the district. He was charged with overseeing all high schools, turnaround schools, middle schools and alternative schools. Wilson is credited with boosting high school graduation rates, redesigning the systems alternative schools and increasing enrollment in Advanced Placement courses. We owe a tremendous amount to him, said Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg. Boasberg said he and Wilson often sought to emulate the D.C. public school systems reform efforts. Perhaps one of Wilsons greatest challenges as a new chancellor will be following Henderson, someone Boasberg called one of the most thoughtful and strategic superintendents in the country. They share a number of strengths, but they are different people, Boasberg said. If confirmed by the D.C. Council, Wilsons job will be to build on Hendersons reforms. Bowser is not seeking a dramatic change in direction but has said community members expressed their desire to see someone who is always out into the community and focused on closing the achievement gap. The council must vote to confirm Wilson before he is officially hired and plans to host two more hearings on the matter, one Monday and one Thursday, at which Wilson is expected to testify. At a council breakfast last week, David Grosso (I-At Large), the chairman of the education committee, described Wilson as a good choice and commended the mayor on the search. The mayor has done a great job with the process, Grosso said. Bowser appointed a panel of education and community leaders and enlisted a private recruiting firm to help find the next chancellor. City law requires her to solicit opinion from the panel on the hiring. Jennifer Niles, the deputy mayor for education, said Wilson came under consideration after conversations she and the search firm had with education leaders nationwide. Antwans name came up over and over again, Niles said. Mostly with people who said, I dont think you could get him to leave Oakland. Washington Teachers Union President Elizabeth Davis, who sat on the hiring panel, accused Bowser of violating city law because she informed the panel that Wilson was a candidate only after she decided to hire him. The Bowser administration has said it followed protocol. BLOOD DONATIONS Blood drives Dec. 12, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., First Potomac Realty Trust, 45610 Woodland Rd., Sterling, 800-733-2767; Dec. 17, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Leesburg Public Safety Center, 65 Plaza St. NE, Leesburg, 800-733-2767; Dec. 20, 3-7 p.m., Rust Library, 380 Old Waterford Rd., Leesburg, 866-256-6372; Dec. 30, 1:30-6 p.m., St. James Episcopal Church, 14 Cornwall St., Leesburg, 800-733-2767; Jan. 3, 3-8 p.m., Ashburn Farm Association, 21400 Windmill Dr., Ashburn, 800-733-2767. Inova Blood Donor Center Mondays noon-8 p.m., Tuesdays 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Fridays 6 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sundays noon-4 p.m. Dulles Town Center, 45745 Nokes Blvd., Sterling. 866-256-6372 or inova.org/donateblood. FIRST AID First aid/adult, infant and child CPR/AED (Automated External Defibrillator) Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m, Fauquier Hospital Medical Office Building, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-3588. $85. Registration required. HEARING Disability Resource Center Technical assistance through the state Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and presentations to businesses, groups and schools. Third Tuesdays 2-5 p.m., Workplace, 205 Keith St., Warrenton. Call for an appointment, 800-648-6324; TDD, 540-373-5890. Free. Free hearing tests Age 18 and older. Mondays-Thursdays 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Blue Ridge Speech and Hearing Center, 19465 Deerfield Ave., Suite 201, Lansdowne. 703-858-7620. Registration required. Hearing loss, tinnitus and Menieres syndrome support For all ages, including parents of children with hearing loss. First Fridays at 2 p.m., Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. 703-430-2906. Northern Virginia Resource Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Age 18 and older. Second Tuesdays 10 a.m., Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. 571-258-3400. Hearing loss outreach Free referrals. Fourth Thursdays 10 a.m.-noon, Loudoun County Workforce Center, 102 Heritage Way, Leesburg; third Thursdays 10 a.m.-noon, Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. Free appointments: 703-430-2906 or nvrcloudoun@aol.com . MENTAL HEALTH Counseling for sexual violence survivors Provided by Loudoun Citizens for Social Justice. 703-771-9020. Crisis Intervention Treatment and Assessment Center Provides emergency mental-health, substance-use and developmental services to individuals in the Loudoun community. Daily from 7 a.m.-11 p.m. 102 Heritage Way NE, Suite 102, Leesburg. Emergency services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 703-777-0320. Crisislink Suicide and crisis intervention. Community education, a volunteer crisis response team and CareRing, a telephone outreach program for the elderly and disabled. 703-527-6016, volunteer@crisislink.org or crisislink.org. Piedmont Chapter, National Alliance on Mental Illness Serves Fauquier, Orange, Madison and Rappahannock counties. Support group, education classes and events for people living with mental illness and their family members. First Wednesdays 7-9 p.m. Fauquier Hospital, 500 Hospital Dr., Sycamore Room A, Warrenton. 571-426-8213. Mental health first-aid A public education program offered by the Loudoun County Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Developmental Services that can help communities understand mental illness, seek intervention and save lives. Go to loudoun.gov/mhfirstaid. Northern Virginia Chapter, National Alliance on Mental Illness A support group, classes and programs for people living with mental illness and their family members. naminorthernvirginia.org. PREGNANCY, PARENTING Adoptive family preservation Adoptive families discuss common experiences; registration required. Third Tuesdays 12:30-2 p.m., Ashburn Library, 43316 Hay Rd. Call 703-941-9008, Ext. 23, or email jmellario@umfs.org . Birthright of Loudoun County Free pregnancy tests, baby clothing, transportation and support throughout pregnancy, 823 S. King St., Leesburg. 703-777-7272. Bond Between Us A nonprofit organization that offers support to birth parents when children have been placed for adoption. Fourth Tuesdays 7:30 p.m. Call for location. 703-771-7844. Breastfeeding support Mondays 9:30-10:30 a.m., Fauquier Hospital Family Birthing Center, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-3588. Dad support New and expectant fathers share ideas. First Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Leesburg. 703-858-6360. For the Childrens Sake A group for separating or divorcing parents to share advice. Four-hour session weekly. Information: 703-391-8599 or fitsfoundation.org. La Leche League Mother-to-mother support and breastfeeding information. 10 a.m. second Wednesdays in Warrenton, 540-351-6103. Third Fridays 10:15-11:45 a.m., call for location, 703-444-7386. Second Fridays 10:15 a.m., Ashburn Library, 43316 Hay Rd., 703-829-0349; Thursdays 10 a.m.-noon, Panera Bread, 43670 Greenway Corp. Dr., Ashburn, email lllashburn@gmail.com. Third Fridays 10:15 a.m., Christ the Redeemer Church, 46833 Harry F. Byrd. Hwy., Sterling, 540-338-4637. Loudoun Fatherhood Program Fathers discuss the joys and challenges of being a parent. Meets every other Saturday for two hours for four months; sponsored by Northern Virginia Family Service. 571-748-2796. Free. Loudoun Nurturing Parenting Program Positive parenting techniques; children attend with parents. Registration required. Call 703-771-3973, Ext. 27, or email nurturingprogram@lcsj.org. Free. Mothernet/Healthy Families Loudoun Program links first-time parents with medical, social and educational resources to give children a socially and physically healthy start in life. Family support workers meet with participants in homes. English-Spanish translation provided. 703-444-4477, Ext. 217 , or inmed.org. New mother support Wednesdays 9:30-11:30 a.m. Inova Loudoun Medical Pavilion, 224 Cornwall St., Leesburg. Babies welcome. 703-858-6360. Young parent services Support for teenage parents. Loudoun County Department of Family Social Services, 52 Sycolin Rd., Leesburg. Call for times. 703-771-5375. Online childbirth education program Inova Loudoun Hospitals Web-based program uses animation, videos and interactive activities to guide users through the basics of childbirth, breastfeeding and caring for newborns. 703-858-6360 or thebirthinginn.org/classes. Parenting Alone group For parents of school-age children who have lost a spouse or partner to cancer. Second Tuesdays 5:30-6:30 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital, Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. Call 703-698-2536 or email jennifer.eckert@inova.org . Pregnancy and childbirth support Childbirth Solutions Resource Center, 8393 W. Main St., Marshall. 571-344-0438. SENIORS Exercise equipment Weights, treadmills, bikes and a cardio-glide. Instruction provided. Age 55 and older. Weekdays 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Free. Fitness for people 55 and older Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 1-1:45 p.m. Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. 571-258-3400. $36, 12-visit card. Eye care LensCrafters staff members will clean glasses and make minor repairs. Second Wednesdays 1-2 p.m. Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. 703-430-2397. Free. Inova Loudoun mobile van Blood pressure checks. Second and fourth Tuesdays 9:30 a.m.-noon, Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling, 571-258-3280; first Wednesdays 9:30 a.m.-noon, Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Laughing yoga for seniors I mprove flexibility and balance. Thursdays 9:30-10 :30 a.m. Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Free. Loudoun Adult Day Centers For seniors with physical limitations or memory loss, a safe and social environment, therapeutic activities, individualized care and respite for caregivers. Limited transportation. Sliding-scale fees. Weekdays in Leesburg, 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., 703-771-5334; Purcellville, 571-258-3402; and Ashburn-Sterling, 571-258-3232. Senior Outreach Services Free and confidential assistance from an Area Agency on Aging case manager. Call for an appointment or sign up at the Senior Center at Cascades. First and third Wednesdays 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. 571-258-3280. Senior Outreach Services Free and confidential assistance from an Area Agency on Aging Elder case manager. Sign up in the Leesburg Senior Center lobby. Second and fourth Thursdays 11 a.m.-noon and 12:30-4:30 p.m. Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Free. Senior Outreach Services Free and confidential assistance from an Area Agency on Aging Elder case manager. Call for an appointment or sign up at the Carver Center. First and third Mondays, 12:30-5 p.m. Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. 703-737-8741. Free. Tai chi Stretching and strengthening movements. Mondays 11 a.m. Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Free. Zumba gold class Age 55 and older. Wear rubber-soled shoes and comfortable clothing; bring water and a towel. Tuesdays 11 a.m., Tuesdays and Fridays at 1 p.m. Senior Center of Leesburg, 102 North St. NW, Leesburg. 703-737-8039. $24 per month. Zumba For people 55 and older who are learning Zumba for the first time, or those who prefer a lower-impact version. The fitness program combines Latin and international music with dance.Thursdays 11 a.m. Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. 571-258-3280. $12. SUPPORT GROUPS Al-Anon Service Center of Northern Virginia A volunteer is available 24 hours with information for spouses, family members and friends of problem drinkers. 703-534-4357 or 877-339-8350. Mondays 8 p.m. Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 125 W. Washington St., Middleburg, 540-554-2747; Tuesdays 7:30 p.m. St. James Episcopal Church, 14 Cornwall St. NW, Leesburg, 877-339-8350; Fridays 8:30 p.m. Grace Episcopal Church, 6507 Main St., The Plains, 800-344-2666; Tuesdays 12:15 p.m. Warrenton Church of Christ, Route 29 N., 540-347-7448; Tuesdays 7 p.m. and Saturdays 8:30 p.m. Warrenton Presbyterian Church, 91 Main St., 800-344-2666. Alcoholics Anonymous Various meeting times and locations in Loudoun County. 800-208-8649 or 703-876-6166. nvintergroup.org. Alzheimers caregiver support For those who care for people with Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia. Fourth Wednesdays 4-5:30 p.m. The Villa at Suffield Meadows, 6735 Suffield Lane, Warrenton. 540-316-3800. Alzheimers caregivers support For those caring for people with Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia. Second Mondays 7-8:30 p.m. Galilee United Methodist Church, 45425 Winding Rd., Sterling. 703-430-9229. galileeumc.org. Alzheimers caregivers support Emotional, educational and social support for family members and friends of people with the disease. Third Saturdays 10 a.m. Loudoun County Area Agency on Aging, 20145 Ashbrook Pl., Ashburn. Call 703-771-5407 or email lesley.katz@loudoun.gov. Alzheimers caregiver support group Fourth Thursdays 3-4 p.m. Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. 540-903-6831 or alz.org. Alzheimers support First Tuesdays 10-11 a.m. Spring Arbor Assisted Living, 237 Fairview St. NW, Leesburg. 540-338-6520. Alzheimers support First Wednesdays 4 p.m. Leesburg Adult Day Center, 16501 Meadowview Ct., Leesburg. 703-771-5334. Alzheimers support Fourth Thursdays 3-4 p.m. Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. 571-258-3400. Talk About Curing Autism A nonprofit organization educating and supporting families affected by autism. tacanow.org. Autoimmune support Last Thursdays 6:30-7:30 p.m. Jackson Building, 209 Gibson St., Leesburg. autoimmunesupport@hotmail.com. Bereaved parent support One-on-one counseling is available. Spiritual Care Support Ministry Center, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814. scsm.tv. Bereavement support For those experiencing loss because of the death of a loved one. Age 18 and older. Third Mondays 1 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Chestnut Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. Sponsored by Capital Caring. 703-957-1800. Breast cancer support Fourth Tuesdays 7-8 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Tower, Chestnut Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-349-0588. Breast cancer support For those with new diagnoses or starting treatment. Register if attending for the first time. Fourth Mondays 5-6:30 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. 703-858-8857. Breast cancer support For those who have finished treatment, have had a recurrence or metastatic breast cancer. Register if attending for the first time. Fourth Mondays 6:30-8 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. 703-858-8857. Free. Breast Cancer Support Assistance Fund Loudoun County residents who have received a diagnosis or have undergone treatment in the past 12 months are eligible to apply for financial assistance. Areas included are wigs, bras, puffs and prostheses, mammograms and medical bills, food and help with utilities, rent or mortgage, and transportation costs. The Pink Assistance Fund has been established by the Loudoun Breast Health Network. lbhn.org. Cancer support Oncology nurses, social workers and spiritual-care providers offer education and support to patients, families and caregivers. Second Mondays 5:30-6:30 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Sycamore Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-2273. Cancer support Life with Cancer, for patients, family members and friends. Second Thursdays 7 p.m. Ashburn Presbyterian Church, Room 202, 20962 Ashburn Rd. ashburnpresbyterian.org or 703-729-2012. Caregiver support Provides emotional, educational and social support. Encourages caregivers to maintain their personal, physical and emotional health while caring for people with dementia or other chronic illness. Fourth Thursdays 3-4 p.m. Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. 540-903-6831. Caregiver support and resource group Wednesdays 10:30 a.m.-noon (no meeting first Wednesdays), Spiritual Care Support Ministry Center, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814. scsm.tv. Caring for Aging Parents Support group. Confidential. Fourth Wednesdays 7:30 p.m., Family Focus Counseling Service, 20-B John Marshall St., Warrenton. 540-349-4537. Chadd parents support For parents of children with ADD/ADHD. Fourth Sundays 3 p.m. KinderCare, 44051 Ashburn Village Shopping Plaza. chadd.nova loudoun@gmail. com . Chronic illness support Tuesdays 10:30-11:30 a.m. Spiritual Care Support Ministries, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814 or scsm.tv. Coffee and Conversation Support for those discouraged because of illness, bereavement, caregiving or a loved one in the military. Thursdays 10 a.m.-noon. Spiritual Care Support Ministry Center, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814. Compassionate Friends For parents who have experienced the death of a child. First Wednesdays 7:30 p.m. St. James Episcopal Church, 14 Cornwall St. NW, Leesburg. 540-882-9707. Creating and Connecting Two-hour art therapy and relaxation workshop for cancer patients. Every other month, 12:30-2:30 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. Call for dates. 703-858-8850. Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance of Western Loudoun Saturdays 3 p.m. Purcellville Library, 220 E. Main St., Carruthers Room. Call 703-431-7160 or email kathy@dbsanca.org. Drop-in grief support For those coping with a death. Second and fourth Wednesdays 1-2 p.m. St. Davids Episcopal Church, 43600 Russell Branch Pkwy., Ashburn. Sponsored by Capital Caring. 703-597-1781. Families Overcoming Drug Addiction Support group. First and third Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Sycamore Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. myfodafamily@gmail.com or 540-316-9221. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth and parent support A group in partnership with Metro DC PFLAG. Fourth Sundays 4-6 p.m. Unitarian Universalist Church, 22135 Davis Dr., Sterling. 703-328-6518. Griefshare Open to anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one. Tuesdays through Dec. 6 from 7-8:30 p.m. Purcellville Baptist Church, 601 Yaxley Dr., Purcellville. Call 540-338-0918 or email caring@purbap.org . Workbook, $15. Griefshare Nondenominational seminar and support group. Tuesdays 7:30-9 p.m., and Wednesdays, 1-2:30 p.m. Spiritual Care Support Ministry Center, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814. Free. Grief support Sponsored by Hospice Support of Fauquier County. Individual counseling available. First and third Thursdays 3:30-5 p.m. Hospice Support Office, 42 N. Fifth St., Warrenton. Registration required. Call 540-347-5922 or email hospicesupport@verizon.net. Grief support Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m.-noon, Spiritual Care Support Ministry Center, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814. Hospice support Free medical-equipment loan facility for Fauquier County residents. Especially needed are donations of wheelchairs, bedside commodes, rolling walkers, electric hospital beds, shower benches and chairs, adult diapers, lift chairs, Ensure and hospital bed mattresses. 540-347-5922. Look Good, Feel Better For women undergoing or emerging from cancer treatment. Every other month, 6:45 to 9 p.m. ,Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. Call for dates. 703-776-2820. Free. Loudoun CHADD support Led by Children and Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Third Thursdays 7 p.m. Leesburg Town Hall, lower-level conference room, 25 W. Market St. 703-669-2445. Lyme disease support Fourth Sundays 2-4 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Conference Room A and B, Leesburg. Go to natcaplyme.org or email loudounlymeadvocates@gmail.com. Lyme disease support Third Thursdays at 7 p.m. Warrenton Church of Christ, 6398 Lee Hwy. Access Road, Warrenton. 540-347-7265 or email lymeinfauquier@gmail.com. Lyme disease support Third Thursdays at 7 p.m. Warrenton Church of Christ, 6398 Lee Hwy. Access Road, Warrenton. 540-347-7265 or email lymeinfauquier@gmail.com. Lyme disease support Age 18 and older. First Tuesdays 7-8:30 p.m. Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. Email charphealy@yahoo.com. MADD Loudoun victim support For those who have been affected by drunken driving. Third Wednesdays 7:30 p.m. 210 Wirt St., Leesburg. 540-338-6491. Man-to-Man Cancer Support Sponsored by Loudoun Cancer Care Center, for prostate cancer patients and their families. Second Tuesdays 6:30-8 p.m. Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. Call 703-858-8857 or email karen.archer@inova.org. Menopause support Third Thursdays 6:30-9 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Leesburg (second floor, Patient Education Room). 703-858-8060. Multiple sclerosis support Saturdays 10:30 a.m. Fauquier Hospital Chestnut Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-349-2826. Multiple sclerosis support Last Sundays 2-4 p.m. Cascades Library, 21030 Whitfield Pl., Potomac Falls. 703-771-4256. Nar-anon family support For those affected by loved ones with addiction. Meaningful Mondays, 7-8 p.m., Galilee United Methodist Church, 45425 Winding Rd., Sterling. 703-203-9792; Wisdom Wednesdays 7-8 p.m., St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, 37730 St. Francis Ct., Purcellville, 703-606-7125; Serenity Thursdays, 7-8 p.m. Leesburg Presbyterian Church, 207 W. Market St., Leesburg, 703-606-7125. Overeaters Anonymous For fellowship and support. For locations and times, call 571-420-2012. oa.org. Parkinsons support Open to those with Parkinsons disease, their family members and caregivers. First Tuesdays 1:30-3 p.m. Call for Ashburn location. 571-442-8851. Post-partum support Second and fourth Wednesdays 1-2:30 p.m. Inova Loudoun Cornwall Campus, 224 Cornwall St., Leesburg. Call 703-909-9877 or email lamckeough@gmail.com. Registration required. Reach to Recovery Home visit program for mastectomy and lumpectomy patients. Temporary prostheses, exercise instruction and encouragement. 703-938-5550. Sexual assault and incest survivors group counseling Services provided by Loudoun Citizens for Social Justice and the Loudoun Abused Womens Shelter are free and confidential. 703-771-9020. Sexual assault survivors empowerment support Sponsored by Sexual Assault Victims Volunteer Initiative. Child care available with 48 hours notice. Mondays; call for times and locations. 540-349-7720. Spiritual support group For cancer patients, family members and friends. Third Tuesdays 6:30-8 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. 703-858-8850. Stroke survivors and caregivers support Second Wednesdays 11 a.m.-noon, Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Leesburg, second floor, Patient Education Room. 703-858-6199 or jill.lieb@inova.org. Suicide counseling Third Wednesdays 7-8:30 p.m. Leesburg Town Office, Conference Room 2, lower level, 25 W. Market St., Leesburg. 703-587-1618 or survivorsofsuicidelossleesburg@gmail.com. Womens support Sponsored by Services to Abused Families. Tuesdays 6:30-8 p.m. Confidential location. 540-825-8876. Widows and widowers support Third Mondays 11 a.m. Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Womens cancer support Woman to Woman, first Wednesdays 6:30-8 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. Registration required. 703-858-8850. MISCELLANEOUS Brain trauma survivors brown bag lunch For survivors and caregivers. First Tuesdays, noon-1:30 p.m., Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Leesburg, second-floor Patient Education Room. Call 703-737-3150 or email jberg@braininjurysvcs.org. Free. Child developmental screenings For ages 2-5. Children may not be kindergarten-age-eligible. Sponsored by the Loudoun County public schools Child Find Center. 571-252- - 2180. Cholesterol screenings Weekdays from 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Fauquier Health LIFE Center, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-2640. Registration required. $35. Emergency food supplies Loudoun County residents in need can receive a free three-day supply of groceries. Supplies are distributed Mondays through Saturdays by Loudoun Hunger Relief. Call 703-777-5911 or go to loudounhunger.org . Fauquier free walk-in medical clinic Patients must call Thursdays from 12:30 to 1 p.m. to register for the clinic, which begins at 5:30 p.m. Patients are also seen by appointment Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Fauquier and Rappahannock residents only. Bring proof of address for the first visit. Patients cannot have Medicaid, Medicare or private insurance. Information: 540-347-0394 Tuesdays or Thursdays, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Bistro Senior Supper Club Nutritious meals and fellowship for people 55 and older. Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:30-6:30 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Bistro on the Hill, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-3588. $5.49. HEROES (Hometown Enabling Relationships, Opportunities and Empowerment through Support) is a program for military families. A trained volunteer provides support to military members and their families, from pre-deployment up to two years post-deployment. Assistance includes financial help, job placement, family care and mental-health services. caring@purbap.org or heroescare.org. Inova Loudoun Hospital Mobile Health Services Blood pressure screenings, Tuesday 10 a.m.-noon, Dulles South Multipurpose Center, 24950 Riding Center Dr., South Riding; Wednesday 10 a.m.-noon, Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW, Leesburg; Dec. 13, 9 a.m.-noon, Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling; Dec. 15, 11 a.m.-noon, Lovettsville Community Center, 57 E. Broad Way, Lovettsville; Dec. 19, 9-11 a.m. William Watters House, 22365 Enterprise St., Sterling; Dec. 22, 9 a.m.-noon, Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville; Dec. 27, 9 a.m.-noon, Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. For information, call 703-858-8818 or go to inova.org/mobilehealth. Free. Loudoun Cares information and referral help line Call 703-669-4636 for help in finding resources for county residents who are dealing with rent eviction, utility cut-offs, needed health care and employment. Motor skill screenings Birth to 21 months. First Thursdays, Blue Ridge Speech and Hearing Center, 19465 Deerfield Ave., Suite 201, Lansdowne. Call for an appointment. 703-858-7620. Free. Northern Virginia long-term care ombudsman Call 703-324-5861 for help in resolving complaints related to long-term-care facilities. Road to Recovery For cancer patients who need rides to appointments. Call 410-781-6909 or email jen.burdette@cancer.org. Free. Safe sitter classes For girls and boys ages 11-14. First Saturdays except for holiday weekends. 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Leesburg. To receive a Safe Sitter Certificate, students must pass practical and written tests on babysitting concepts and handling an emergency. Bring a lunch or buy lunch in the cafeteria. $70, includes handbook and snacks during the day. Registration required. Call 703-858-8818 or email charlene.martin@inova.org. Seven Loaves Food Pantry Individuals and families can receive a three-day supply of food, distributed Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m.-noon. Go to sevenloavesmiddleburg.org or call 540-687-3489. Tree of Life Food Pantry Serving western Loudoun County. Food is delivered Wednesdays and Saturdays. 703-554-3595. Compiled by Sandy Mauck TO SUBMIT AN ITEM Email: ldliving@washpost.com Fax: 703-777-8437 Mail: Health Calendar, The Washington Post, 104 Dry Mill Rd. SW, Suite 101, Leesburg, Va. 20175 Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar The advocacy group Mothers Against Drunk Driving is calling on a Prince Georges County lawmaker who was arrested last month to submit voluntarily to an ignition interlock program that would prevent him from driving if he has been drinking. Council member Mel Franklin (D-Upper Marlboro) was charged with driving under the influence and related violations after the government vehicle he was driving struck a car stopped at a traffic light on Pennsylvania Avenue on Nov. 21, injuring two people. His attorney has not entered a plea, and no court date has been set, court records show. By volunteering to have an ignition lock installed in his car, Franklinwould be sending a signal of leadership, said Joseph Sikes, chairman of the Maryland advisory board for MADD. We put our trust in him to be a leader for Prince Georges County, and he should step up to the plate and show the responsibility to support the laws and do the right thing to get this straightened out, Sikes said. Franklin, who has been involved in two other crashes with county-owned vehicles, did not respond to requests for comment on MADDs proposal on Monday. The advocacy group lobbied hard this year for passage of Noahs Law, an ignition-lock statute named for Montgomery County police officer Noah Leotta, who was killed by a drunk driver in Rockville. The law, which took effect in October, requires drivers convicted of a first-time DUI offense to have the interlock installed on their vehicles for six months. The driver must blow into a mechanism that will prevent the car from starting if it detects that the driver has consumed alcohol. Drivers charged with DUI can also volunteer to install such a system before trial, and to receive credit for the time it has been in use if convicted of the offense. Franklins blood alcohol concentration was 0.10 when he was arrested, state police have said, above the 0.08 that supports a DUI conviction under state law. If convicted, he faces up to a year in jail, $1,000 in fines, 12 points on his drivers license and suspension of his license for at least six months. MADD last week criticized Prince Georges County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) for comments he made about Franklins situation. In response to questions from reporters about the arrest, Baker said the two-term lawmaker has a bright future. I mean, this is, this is a blip. He and his family are hurting right now. The families that were in the accident are hurting, too. Bakers words played down the seriousness of the alleged violation, said Sikes, whose daughter was killed in a 1992 drunken-driving crash. He noted studies showing that most people caught driving while intoxicated have done it many times before. MADD tweeted at Baker, Drunken driving is not a blip. Baker replied contritely. DUI is very dangerous, he tweeted. I apologize for using Blip to explain how the Councilmans action will impact his career. Richard A. Schmidt is shown in this passport page included in a court filing from his case. The former Maryland schoolteacher was sentenced to 15 years in prison for molesting young boys in Southeast Asia under a law that made it easier to prosecute child-sex crimes committed abroad. Now he is challenging his conviction, and a federal appeals court must decide whether he can be released without any monitoring. (US District Court) (N/A/US District Court) The arrest of Richard A. Schmidt, a serial child molester from Maryland, was touted more than a decade ago as a major success of a law to track and punish sexual predators globally. Now a federal appeals court must decide whether Schmidt should be set free without any monitoring. Schmidt, who had been an elementary school teacher, was arrested several times in the 1980s for molesting young boys in Maryland and served more than a dozen years in prison. After his release in 2002, he was accused of violating parole and fled to the Philippines and later to Cambodia, according to court records. Shortly after Schmidt arrived in Southeast Asia, Congress passed a law giving prosecutors more power to pursue U.S. citizens suspected of sexually exploiting children in foreign countries, including those involved in sex tourism. Schmidt was arrested again in Southeast Asia for abusing young boys and deported to the United States in 2004. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. Richard A. Schmidt, in the red shirt, is shown in a photograph made by a non-governmental organization investigating sex tourism. The photo is included in a court filing from his case. (U.S. District Court) Nearly a decade later, Schmidt, now 74, appealed his conviction, and last year a federal judge in Baltimore said that while the record establishes that Schmidt is a sexual predator, he also agreed with Schmidts argument: Schmidt did not break U.S. law because the crimes he pleaded guilty to did not happen in the first country he visited after leaving U.S. soil but in the second. For prosecutors to have authority on foreign soil, U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz said, there must be a direct connection between the United States and the foreign country. Motzs opinion set up the hearing this week at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit after prosecutors challenged the Baltimore ruling. The appeals argument does not center on whether Schmidt exploited young boys but on whether his 2005 conviction hinged on the wrong segment of his trip and whether Schmidt was still traveling when he left the Philippines for Cambodia. Schmidts attorney, Mary E. Davis, said in court filings that Schmidt is not guilty because the travel to Cambodia was from the Philippines, where he lived, not from the United States. Schmidt had made the Philippines his home, she said, renting a house, getting a local drivers license and working full time. He was not some itinerant vagabond, Davis said. Schmidt left the United States with the intent not to return. Prosecutors said the exact timing of Schmidts travels is not what matters. Congress intended to criminalize all illicit sexual conduct by U.S. citizens abroad, regardless of when they traveled, said Sujit Raman, chief of appeals for the U.S. attorneys office in Maryland. Since 2003, at least 90 Americans have been prosecuted under the law, according to the Justice Department. Even before the Baltimore ruling, Schmidt was scheduled to be released Jan. 20, according to federal Bureau of Prisons records. If the ruling by the Baltimore judge stands on appeal, prosecutors are concerned that Schmidt would not be supervised or registered as a sex offender after his release. He would have no obligation to register under federal law or for the Maryland convictions from the 1980s. The office of Rod J. Rosenstein, U.S. attorney for Maryland, is asking the appeals court to reinstate Schmidts sentence and initial terms of his plea agreement to ensure that he registers as a federal sex offender and is subject to a bar on applying for a new passport and having unsupervised contact with children. Authorities are working on a separate track to keep Schmidt in custody, a legal process that is also tied up on appeal at the 4th Circuit. In anticipation of Schmidts scheduled release, the Bureau of Prisons evaluated Schmidt and determined that he is a sexually dangerous person. The finding allowed the government to ask to have Schmidt civilly committed after his release from a North Carolina prison, scheduled for January. But that separate attempt to try to keep Schmidt in custody triggered its own legal wrangling. The prisons finding that Schmidt was a danger came after the Baltimore judge had said he was being unlawfully held in the overseas travel incident, raising the question of whether the psychiatric evaluation done in prison is valid. It is unclear when the Richmond-based appeals court will rule on the psychiatric commitment case, which was argued in October. [Hunting for sex-traffickers abroad by posing as johns] When a warrant was issued for Schmidts arrest in 2002, he left for the Philippines, where he worked as a computer consultant and instructor at a local school. The next year, he was arrested for alleged sex crimes against numerous local children ranging in age from 9 to 16, according to court records. He was released in the Philippines and fled to Cambodia in December 2003, where, U.S. prosecutors said, he spent time in guesthouses and other temporary quarters that cater to [sex] tourists. In court filings, prosecutors said Schmidt never settled permanently in the Philippines and was still in transit when he fled to Cambodia. He maintained a U.S. bank account and relied on a series of tourist visas, federal prosecutors said. Schmidt was arrested in Cambodia after child-welfare organizations notified local police about his liaisons with more young boys. He enticed them to his apartment with video games, food and English lessons, according to an affidavit filed by a U.S. immigration agent. He was arrested at a guesthouse, where a 13-year-old boy told a U.S. immigration agent that Schmidt sexually assaulted him, according to the affidavit. Schmidt was detained and deported to face charges in the United States. The year after Congress made it easier for prosecutors to go after sex tourists, federal officials held out Schmidt as a prime example of the type of person the law was designed to catch. He was featured in a New York Times report about expanded law enforcement efforts to combat child exploitation overseas. In 2013, Congress amended the law again. It now states specifically that the law covers Americans residing temporarily not just traveling abroad. The CBI conducted searches at 10 different locations across the city of Bangaluru, including the residences of bank officials, offices of Karnataka Bank, Dhanalaxmi Bank and the private company. By Shivendra Srivastava: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against chief manager of Karnataka Bank, manager of Dhanalaxmi Bank, a PWD officer of Karnataka government and three others; a private company (involved in deposit of new currency notes in ATMs) and unknown public servants and unknown others for unauthorisedly diverting several crores of new currency notes to some individuals in violation of the Reserve Bank of India circular. advertisement The CBI registered case under Section 120-B r/w 420, 406, 409, 468, 471 and 477A of IPC, on an information that after demonetisation some officials of the public sector banks colluded with some agents to divert new notes illegally. It was alleged that the accused company and unknown officials of other public sector and private sector banks in a criminal conspiracy had fraudulently diverted the new currency meant for deposit/replenishing the ATMs of different banks and exchanged them against old demonetised currency notes, through various middlemen and agents. The said agency and company was handling funds of around 18 banks including some public sector banks. Also read: Demonetisation chorus doesn't change in Parliament, opposition sticks to same demands The CBI conducted searches at 10 different locations across the city of Bangaluru, including the residences of bank officials, offices of Karnataka Bank, Dhanalaxmi Bank and the private company. During searches, several incriminating documents including computer hard disks, applications along with the ID proofs submitted to the bank for exchange SBNs and vouchers, through which money was withdrawn have been recovered. Investigation is on to compare the cash received from the RBI and disbursed by the banks etc. The CBI is also in close coordination with other agencies of the government to investigate the case. A sum of around Rs 5 crore was also recovered during the searches. Also read: Demonetisation: People are being forcefully bulldozed, Mamata tells Bengal assembly Both the accused were produced before a court in Bangaluru and remanded to five days police custody. --- ENDS --- A man died after a shooting in Capitol Heights on Saturday, according to police. Deandre Hodge, 23, of Southeast Washington was found suffering from a gunshot wound about 7 a.m. Dec. 3 in the 4700 block of Mann Street, where officers were called to check on his welfare, Prince Georges County police said in a statement. Hodge was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. Detectives are seeking a suspect and motive in the case but do not believe this was a random crime, police said. Authorities are asking anyone with information about the case to call 301-772-4925 or, to remain anonymous, 866-411-TIPS (8477). A reward of up to $25,000 is available for information leading to an arrest and indictment. Ryan. Alex. Siri. These are names of robotic voices that are often programmed on electronic tablets. They also become default identities for people with speech disorders who rely on technology to communicate. Now some speech scientists are developing customized voices to reflect the broader diversity of the people who use them. To do it, they are tapping into a vast network of volunteers who are donating their voices to share with people who cannot speak. The effort to build an international Human Voicebank has attracted more than 17,000 volunteers from 110 countries, including Priyanka Pandya, a 16-year old from Columbia, Md., who spent several hours during Thanksgiving weekend recording a string of sentences into her laptop. To be able to give somebody the gift of voice, said the junior at Glenelg Country School, I think thats really, really powerful, she said. Her voice could be used to help one of more than 2 million Americans who have severe speech disorders and need help to communicate, a dilemma captured in the acclaimed new television series Speechless, whose main character, a teenager with cerebral palsy, relies on technology and a personal aide to act as his voice at school. [How one actors silent performance in ABCs Speechless gives a voice to kids with disabilities ] Everyone has a voice, said Rupal Patel, the founder of VocaliD, the Belmont-Mass.-based start-up that launched the voice bank. Even people who are speechless have sounds that are unique to them, she said. Her company designs personalized synthetic voices, by recording the unique, if limited, sounds of the user, and then blending them with a larger sample usually six to 10 hours of recordings from a voice donor, matched by age, gender and region. The company is developing voices now for its first 100 customers. But researchers have been honing the technology for many years. Tim Bunnell, head of the Speech Research Laboratory at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del., has engineered voices for more than 1,000 people with degenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. Those people were usually able to record their own voices before they lost the ability to talk. He said its much more challenging to extrapolate what a voice should sound like for someone who can only make a few vowel sounds. The scientists in Bunnells lab take the sounds and analyze them for vocal qualities, such as pitch and timbre, and record them as a batch of numbers. Then they map out the recordings from a voice donor. They merge the voices by modifying the donor voice to reflect the qualities of the users voice. Bunnell said, in particular, they work to match the vowel quality because the color of someones voice is primarily conveyed through the vowels. Its a process of tweaking the numbers and trial and error. Patel, who is also a speech technology professor on leave from Northeastern University, worked with Bunnell as a researcher. When she decided to bring the technology out of the lab, she developed her own method for blending voices and turned to crowdsourcing to gain access to enough voices to reflect the diversity of potential customers, which could include a middle-aged man from Alabama or a little girl from Ireland. Since she announced the voicebank two years ago, the response has been overwhelming, she said, with donors aged 6 to 91 logging on from all over the world. People donate for many reasons: Some are practicing English or working toward community service requirements. Some have throat cancer or degenerative diseases such as ALS and could eventually become voice recipients. Some donors said they are undergoing gender transition and want to preserve their voice before it changes. Many are simply interested in a new way to volunteer. Priyanka Pandya has gone on mission trips to South America, and she started a service organization at her school. But the aspiring biomedical engineer said she was inspired to help someone speak and also was fascinated by the technology and the ability to intertwine two voices. She began recording her voice last summer using a pair of headphones and speaking into her MacBook Air as she read the prompts on her computer screen. Then she recruited family friends and members of her Girl Scout troop to do the same. The emerging technology has challenges. Patel said she is continuing to streamline the process to build voices cost effectively and efficiently. The $1,249 price tag puts it out of reach for many people. And for donors, the process is lengthy: It can take between six and 10 hours to record the 3,500 phrases required to complete a voice sample. Only about 10 percent of the donors have made it all the way through. Also, voices change. The company is looking for donors who are willing to record their voices, and then record them again as they get older. But some of the first customers say they are happy with the results. John A. Gregoire of Windham, Maine, was one of the first to receive a customized voice last December from VocaliD, then in a pilot phase. The voice came eight years after his diagnosis of ALS, and more than six years since his voice had become unintelligible to everyone except his wife and youngest son. Since then, his wife, Linda, said she got used to hearing him speak with Ryan, the American-sounding male voice programmed into his iPad. When they heard his customized voice, they reacted simultaneously, Linda said. It was him. The couple is raising money to build a sound studio to encourage people in their community to make high quality recordings of their voices to donate to others. Having a distinctive voice is like getting something back that was stolen, John Gregoire said. VIRGINIA Suspect charged after service-station slaying A suspect has been arrested and charged in the fatal beating Saturday morning of a clerk at a Sunoco station on Jefferson Davis Highway south of Fredericksburg, the Spotsylvania County sheriffs office said Sunday. It said David Junior Washington, 50, of Spotsylvania, was charged with murder in the death of Saleh Yousef Abukhait, 54. Abukhait was beaten with a piece of 2-by-2 lumber, the sheriffs office said. Martin Weil Pedestrian dies after being struck by car A pedestrian struck by a vehicle in Alexandria at Mount Vernon Avenue and West Glebe Road on Thursday has died of her injuries, the police said. They identified her as Rosemarie Cruz, 49, of Alexandria. Martin Weil THE DISTRICT Rockville man held in violent robbery A suspect has been arrested in a Nov. 24 robbery in the 1400 block of Otis Place NW in which the victim was knocked unconscious, police said. They said Raymond Golt Jr., 39, of Rockville, was arrested Friday and charged with robbery. Susan Svriluga A proposal to place statues of anti-slavery heroes Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass in the Maryland State House would add a new chapter to the history of Maryland as told through its iconic capitol building. The plan would help educate future generations of visitors about the key roles in U.S. history played by the two 19th-century Marylanders who were born into bondage on the Eastern Shore. It would also make a statement about where Maryland stands in the early 21st century much as the statue of a brooding Chief Justice Roger B. Taney outside the State Houses front door represents the pro-Southern sentiments in the state in the post-Civil War era. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (Calvert) and House Speaker Michael E. Busch (Anne Arundel), both Democrats, recently proposed the plan to place statues of Tubman and Douglass in the Old House of Delegates Chamber. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) quickly embraced the idea. The support of the three top leaders makes it virtually certain that Tubman and Douglass will take their place among the select group of historical figures honored with statues at the nations oldest state capitol building still being used by a legislature. Anti-slavery crusader Harriet Tubman is seen in a picture from the Library of Congress taken by photographer H.B. Lindsley between 1860 and 1870. (REUTERS) Miller said its especially important for the thousands of schoolchildren who tour the State House each year. Theyve got to see people they can relate to and understand and help them interpret our states history, he said. We have these two prominent people who played a huge role in our states history and our nations history. Tubman was born into slavery in Dorchester County around 1820. She escaped to Philadelphia in 1849 and began in Maryland to conduct hundreds of slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War, she served as a spy and a scout for the Union Army. This year, the Treasury Department announced that her image would replace that of Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. Douglass, born in Talbot County around 1818, escaped from slavery in Baltimore in 1838. He soon emerged as one of the most effective writers and orators in the movement to abolish slavery. He gained prominence not just in the United States but in Europe as an abolitionist and an early advocate of equality for women. During the Civil War, he served as an adviser to President Abraham Lincoln and helped recruit African American troops for the Union. He later served as a diplomat in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. While many of the details still must be worked out by the State House Trust, it appears likely that Tubman and Douglass would join a select group of individuals to be memorialized in statues on the State House and its grounds. The original and most controversial such figure is Taney. The jurist from Maryland is best known as the author of the Dred Scott decision, in which the Supreme Court held that African Americans have no rights that whites are bound to respect. Taney stayed with the Union when the Civil War broke out and continued as chief justice until his death in 1864, but the ruling he wrote is regarded as one of the factors that sparked that conflict. In the 1990s, in response to calls from black lawmakers and others for the Taney statues removal, state officials crafted a compromise under which a larger memorial was erected honoring Thurgood Marshall. The civil rights attorney, a Marylander, became the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court. The Marshall memorial now stands in Lawyers Mall, across from the 1905-1906 State House annex in which the General Assembly meets. It is a site with much greater traffic than Taneys location. But its prominence hasnt stilled the calls for the Taney statue to go. Miller and Busch have proposed placing statues of Tubman and Douglass across the Rotunda from the Old Senate Chamber, where George Washington resigned his commission as commander of the Continental Army in 1783. The restored room reopened in 2015 with a life-size statue showing Washington addressing Congress, then meeting in Annapolis, in what is regarded as a vital affirmation of civilian rule in the new United States. The restoration and the statue have been widely praised. However, it is hard to escape that in honoring Washington, Maryland is paying tribute to a slaveholder. Placement of the Tubman and Douglass statues across the hall in the Old House chamber could provide a rough balance. Early this decade, the chamber was restored to its appearance in 1876, about a decade after the end of the Civil War and at a time when the two anti-slavery leaders were still alive. Both played key roles in that time period, Busch said. The chamber is of that time period. The speaker said he sees no connection between the proposal to honor the anti-slavery leaders and the Taney controversy. This stands on its own, he said. The addition of a Tubman statue would also be a step toward addressing the underrepresentation of women in the State Houses telling of Maryland history. For now, the most prominent depiction of a woman in the building is that of a spectator the statue of Molly Ridout watching Washington from the gallery of the Old Senate Chamber. Elaine Rice Bachmann, deputy state archivist, said the statues of Tubman and Douglass would most likely be placed at the rear of the chamber facing the speakers rostrum, on either side of the large portrait of Gov. Thomas Holliday Hicks, a proslavery politician who nevertheless helped keep Maryland in the Union. That is the room where the Maryland House voted on the post-Civil War constitutional amendments that abolished slavery and extended civil and voting rights to African Americans. Tubman and Douglass were not actually present for those votes, in which Maryland rejected those amendments. It will be an interpretive challenge because were putting people in that space who were never there historically, Bachmann said. Tentative plans call for the statues to be life-size and approachable by the public, like the depiction of Washington. That would let visitors touch the statues and pose for photographs with them as people do with Washingtons statue. Bachmann said that is preferable to statues on the State House grounds. Putting them on a human scale in the building gives us a better opportunity to reach people, she said. Kenneth B. Morris Jr., Douglass great-great-great grandson, said hes excited about the proposal, but has taken no position on the statues placement. It should be in a place where the most children have an opportunity to see it, said Morris, president of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives. I would support the place where they would get the interpretive story. Del. Cheryl D. Glenn (D-Baltimore), chairwoman of the Legislative Black Caucus, said she welcomes the proposed indoor statues. But she would still like to see a full-sized memorial to Tubman near the Marshall statue. I look at that being in addition to and not instead of, she said. Glenn warned that adding the Tubman and Douglass depictions would not mollify critics who want to see the Taney statue removed from the grounds. Thats a real sore issue with African Americans, she said. Miller, a longtime student of Maryland history, said there is more to Taney than Dred Scott. He said he had a long, distinguished career as chief justice apart from that ruling. The Senate president said an opinion Taney drafted as President Andrew Jacksons attorney general later formed the basis for Lincolns decision to fight South Carolinas secession from the Union. So while he says hes excited about adding Tubman and Douglass, he opposes proposals to erase Taney from the State House historical record. Thats not going to happen as long as Im here, he said. Brian Whelan has arranged nine of his holy city paintings to form a 9-by-12-foot mural for an exhibition that is on display at the Washington National Cathedral through next month. (Courtesy of Brian Whelan) Over the past two decades, Brian Whelan has created countless paintings of holy cities, which he describes as thin places where heaven and Earth seem so close as to actually touch. Whelan, who lives in the western Loudoun County village of Waterford, is particularly fascinated by the idea of cities where shrines, temples, cathedrals and mosques attract pilgrims of the three Abrahamic faiths Judaism, Christianity and Islam coexisting in peace and harmony. Nine of Whelans paintings are on display in Holy City, an exhibition running through January at the Washington National Cathedral. The works are arranged in rows of three, forming a 9-by-12-foot mural in which the scenes blend seamlessly. Having exhibited his works at the cathedral previously, he approached officials about displaying his paintings of holy cities, which he had completed over two years. Whelan was born in Britain and lived there most of his life, but he considers himself Irish. His parents were from Ireland and immigrated to London before he was born. Whelan grew up in a London-Irish community where Catholic schools, the church and Irish pubs were integral parts of daily life. Although many of his paintings have religious themes, he said he doesnt want to come across as pious or proselytizing. I was brought up a Catholic, but I certainly didnt get high marks in my religious education, Whelan, 59, said. I can definitely remember being at the bottom of the class. He spent seven years in art school, including the Royal Academy of Arts. Afterward, he needed seven years to forget what I had learned over those seven years to be able to start [painting] again, he said. When I was at each of these places, I would always dabble in something religious, he said, even though his instructors often disapproved. The history of art is the history of religious art, so Im just drawing on this resource. Whelan met his wife, Wendy Roseberry, in Britain. They married in 2006 and moved to Virginia in 2013. Roseberry, an American, already had a house in Bluemont, but Whelan described it as all glass, with no place to hang a painting. They eventually found a more suitable home in Waterford. Parts of the house date to 1790, when it was occupied by the only Irish family in Waterford, Roseberry said. Its walls are filled with Whelans paintings. Whelan said he was first captivated by the idea of holy cities about 20 years ago, when he asked an art class of eight senior citizens to use their imaginations to depict such a city. The purpose of the project was not to create a scene of Jerusalem, Whelan said, but rather an aspirational vision of what a holy city might look like. In his paintings, Whelan uses bright colors to create rich, playful scenes in which churches, mosques and synagogues on hillsides lean into one another at precarious angles. Religious symbols the cross, the Star of David, and the crescent moon and star are intermingled with images of nature and peace, such as white doves and a rainbow. Each scene also includes a pilgrim, which Whelan considers to be essential to the idea of a holy city. The holy cities that I have painted . . . speak to that which pilgrims have always sought: a place where ones soul can find refuge and rest, he said at the exhibitions opening in September, which was timed to coincide with the 15th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001. The pilgrims are drawn not so much to a place, as to the possibility that such a place exists, he said. The paintings also incorporate shiny pieces of foil wrappers from chocolates and other candies from around the world. The foil adds luminosity to the scenes and suggests that the religious structures are merely shells that invite people to come inside to find much richer treasures, he said. Whelan said he puts different colors and shapes together to create harmony out of religious diversity. And, in fact, the hard lines between the mosque and the church and the shrine and the synagogue that is part of the painting, he said. Its when you get further and further away, it starts to blur . . . which is sort of like a unity. But I want to celebrate the differences. Since the election of Donald Trump, few groups have mobilized more quickly to try to influence his future decisions and appointments than scientists and environmentalists, constituencies that fear they could be marginalized once he takes the helm of the federal government in January. Petitions and open letters have poured out in the past couple of weeks, including a call by nearly two dozen Nobel laureates that Trump defend scientific integrity and independence and a petition by more than 11,000 female scientists demanding that he respect inclusiveness and the scientific process. The efforts underscore how these individuals could be at the front lines of an oncoming political clash. The two groups have different missions and interests many scientists receive federal funding and work in academic institutions, while many national environmental groups rely on an independent financial donor base and concentrate their work on directly lobbying elected and appointed officials on policy matters. But many fields of science have implications for conservation, climate change and other environmental issues that have been politicized, and scientists have become more vocal about their findings policy implications. Both groups have expressed concern about the next administrations direction. [2,300 academics urge Trump to respect scientific integrity and independence] Physicist Neal Lane, who served as President Bill Clintons science adviser and is a professor emeritus at Rice University, said the scientific community as a whole is worried about threatened funding cuts, where he thinks climate-related science and technology research and development is likely to be particularly attacked. An even deeper problem than funding cuts, though, he said, involves the integrity of scientific information. We saw it in the George W. Bush administration, and that was the federal governments disregard for the integrity of science. The publicizing of demonstrably false information by several federal agencies, Lane said. I dont want to prejudge anybody, but theres at least a danger that this issue of integrity of scientific knowledge and information and the importance of accuracy in reporting to the public, that may not be fully respected or understood. Before the election, Rices Baker Institute for Public Policy prepared a nonpartisan scientific advisory report for the next president that outlined how the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy could best be staffed, resourced and operated. The institute contacted Republicans close to the Trump transition team who said they would forward the report, but Lane said he has not heard any feedback. Trumps team did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A coalition of environmental groups has taken a more direct approach: On Thursday, 30 groups sent a letter to every senator, arguing they should support Cabinet nominees next year only if they are committed to key environmental safeguards. That missive came just hours after the League of Conservation Voters called on Trumps three oldest children to ensure that the next president protects the environment, citing an open letter they and their father signed in 2009 urging President Obama to act on climate change. Given the yawning political and ideological divide between these advocates and the president-elects team, the leverage scientists and environmentalists have with the next administration is tenuous. I dont think the new Trump administration is going to be taking its cues from the environmentalist activist community, said Scott Segal, a partner at the firm Bracewell LLP who represents coal companies and other energy firms. These letters are about garnering attention, but are not even designed to be influential. LCV Senior Vice President Tiernan Sittenfeld, whose group plans to launch a petition drive next week following up on the letter that its president and board chair sent to Trumps children, said that they are sincere attempts to influence policy. In no way did the elections give the incoming administration or the 115th Congress a mandate to roll back either recent environmental progress or our bedrock environmental laws, she said, and we also hope these letters help make crystal clear for all people in this country just how much is at stake. [Fearing Trump, environmentalists ask his kids to help save the planet] Academics have been moving to the left politically in recent years, and people with postgraduate degrees voted for Hillary Clinton over Trump by a 21-point margin, according to network exit polls, 58 percent to 37 percent. Thats a larger margin than either candidate achieved for any other educational group: Clinton won college graduates by five points, for example, while Trump won voters with a high school degree or less by the same margin. Similarly, professors at U.S. colleges and universities seem to have been getting more and more liberal over time. Based on data from the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, while only about 40 percent of professors had a liberal or far left ideology in 1990, that number was about 60 percent by 2014. When it comes to national environmental groups, the alliance with Democrats is even tighter. These organizations spent more than $100 million during the 2016 election, and nearly all of that money went to Democrats. But many scientists and academics are still mobilizing, in the hopes of influencing key selections and policy decisions in the coming four years. Last week, the American Association for the Advancement of Science submitted a letter to the president-elect urging him to quickly appoint a science adviser and offering its members expertise on science and technology issues that might face the new administration. Its one thing to say out with the old, in with the new, said association chief executive Rush Holt, but you dont want to say out with the tested and in with the untested when it comes to knowledge. On Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats are strategizing with environmentalists on how they can serve as a sort of green firewall against GOP proposals to roll back policies on climate change and other issues. There is no doubt Republicans are going to go after clean water and air protections with everything theyve got, but Im optimistic that they wont have the votes they need in the Senate, said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), the incoming minority leader. The Union of Concerned Scientists, for its part, is preparing for a world in which government scientists might face serious workplace restrictions. It is girding for battle, ready to receive information securely and anonymously should scientists encounter censorship from political appointees. Weve been to this rodeo before, although the bull this time is a bit tougher, wrote Michael Halpern, the unions deputy director of the Center for Science and Democracy, in an email. Science advocacy used to be primarily about securing funding for research. Now many more scientists care just as much about how the science they create is used or misused to create policy. . . . Weve heard all kinds of reactions to the election, but we havent heard indifference. chris.mooney@washpost.com Sarah Kaplan and Emily Guskin contributed to this report. By PTI: New York, Dec 5 (PTI) Changes in the bones may act as one of the earliest indicators of brain degeneration in people with Alzheimers disease, a new study has found. Researchers at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) in the US have identified the link between areas of the brainstem - the ancient area that controls mood, sleep and metabolism - and detrimental changes to bone in a preclinical model of Alzheimers disease (AD). advertisement Alzheimers has major social, emotional and financial consequences for patients and their families. Incurable and seemingly unstoppable, less than five per cent of AD cases are due to a clear genetic reason, so it is hard to predict who will be at risk for acquiring this devastating disease. Researchers report that early reductions in bone mineral density (BMD) that occur in a preclinical model of AD are due to degeneration in an area of the brainstem that produces the majority of the brains serotonin - a neurochemical that controls mood and sleep, which are two processes that are also affected early in AD. Ones bones may be one of the earliest indicators of brain degeneration in Alzheimers disease. Reduced BMD, which sometimes leads to osteoporosis, translates to increased bone fracture risk, decreased quality of life, and increased mortality for AD patients. Researchers suggest that early bone loss and serotonin deficiency in AD may tell us something very important about how we approach diagnosing and treating this disease. "Measurement of bone density, which is routinely performed in the clinic, could serve as a useful biomarker for assessing AD risk in our ageing population," said Christine Dengler-Crish, assistant professor at NEOMED. "The findings of this study motivate us to explore the serotonin system as a potential new therapeutic target for this devastating disease," she said. The study appears in the Journal of Alzheimers Disease. PTI NKS MHN SAR MHN --- ENDS --- BRITAIN Supreme Court begins Brexit hearings Britains Supreme Court on Monday began hearing arguments in a case that could complicate Prime Minister Theresa Mays plan to set in motion Britains exit from the European Union by the end of March. Britain voted in a June referendum to exit the bloc. The case will determine whether May and her government can use a prerogative once reserved for kings and queens to invoke Article 50, the never-before-used mechanism for getting out of the E.U. The High Court for England and Wales said last month that Britains parliamentary sovereignty tradition dictated that the nations lawmakers be given the final say in any exit. The case will be argued through Thursday, with a decision expected next month. Unlike the public, which voted in favor of getting out of the E.U., most members of Parliament prefer staying in the bloc. Griff Witte UNITED NATIONS 41 suspects identified in peacekeeper probe A U.N. investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic has identified 41 of the alleged perpetrators, a spokesman said Monday. Stephane Dujarric said the investigation identified 25 peacekeepers from Burundi and 16 from Gabon as suspects in incidents that allegedly occurred between 2014 and 2015 in CAR. Dujarric said investigators interviewed 139 possible victims, using photo arrays and other collaborating evidence to identify suspects. He said responsibility for further investigation lies with Burundi and Gabon, because the countries providing the peacekeepers have jurisdiction over prosecuting such crimes. Associated Press LIBYA Islamic State said to be close to defeat in Sirte As Libyan fighters make their final push to dislodge the Islamic State militant group from its last bastion in Libya, female suicide bombers were among the groups last attempts to slow down the fall of Sirte, officials said Monday. Two media officials and a senior military officer said the city is all but liberated, with final clearing operations underway. In one week, the senior military official said, eight suicide bombers including three women tried to delay the advance of pro-government forces. The Islamic State and other extremist groups gained a foothold in Libya in the chaos after the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed dictator Moammar Gaddafi. Associated Press Fake U.S. embassy shut down: A fake U.S. embassy that operated for about a decade in Ghana issuing counterfeit and fraudulently obtained visas has been shut down, the State Department said. It said the scam was orchestrated by Ghanaian and Turkish organized crime rings and a Ghanaian lawyer. From news services The Hunting Towers in Alexandria, Va., at the edge of the Potomac River near the Wilson Bridge, in February 2014. (Jahi Chikwendiu/Washington Post) Regarding the Nov. 29 Metro article A goal to keep affordable housing on track with transit: While concentrating high-density development around transit stations, a long-standing objective of planners, obviously makes good sense, officials must be cautioned against exceeding allowable building heights and densities. Higher buildings in exchange for more affordable housing will create problems elsewhere: crowded station platforms, delays waiting for elevators, etc. The effect will be simply shifting congestion from one place to another. The argument that developers need higher densities to secure financing has been almost universal (and quite debatable) wherever they seek to maximize densities and profit. One alternative is the suggestion of Michelle Krocker of the Northern Virginia Housing Alliance to consider building market-rate housing in conjunction with such public facilities as community centers. In furtherance of such an approach, consideration should be given to nonprofit developers for meeting the need by allowing such projects to be mixed-use, with commercial income facilitating the necessary financing. Many nonprofits, with professional assistance (as with private developers), are qualified. Otherwise, local officials will continue to be confronted by private developer initiatives that will not satisfy the need for a properly balanced approach that provides for affordable housing. Joseph G. Feinberg, Gaithersburg The Nov. 29 Metro article on affordable housing reported that the future Purple Line in Maryland and the Silver Line extension in Virginia are already seeing development of low-income and affordable housing units and many pricier, luxury units nearby. Whether optimistic ridership projections ever materialize, particularly in Maryland, many transit users will be low-income workers, but they will not reduce traffic congestion, the stated goal. Many low-income workers now take bus transportation either because they do not own a car or cannot afford expensive garage parking in Bethesda, Silver Spring and Tysons Corner. Carless riders may switch from bus to rail, but car drivers may not. As always, governments optimistic ridership bets will be borne by taxpayers, not these lucky developers. Mike McGovern, Bethesda Former Cuban president Fidel Castro may seem to be an icon of freedom and struggle for some in Africa, but not for all. As a former U.S. ambassador to Morocco, I have met with many who suffered immensely because of Mr. Castros destructive revolutionary agenda. His pivotal support for a violent separatist movement in Morocco known as the Polisario resulted in decades of war and the sequestration of tens of thousands in dismal refugee camps in southwestern Algeria that exist to this day. I have met people who were torn from their parents as children and sent to Cuba for revolutionary training, who spent years imprisoned in holes dug in the ground because they dared to question the revolution of the Polisario and its Cuban allies and who risked their lives to flee refugee camps in the dead of night to return to their home in Morocco. To them, Mr. Castro was no hero. Edward M. Gabriel, Washington Donald Trumps most polarizing promises on the campaign trail concerned how he would protect the homeland and treat Muslims inside the United States and abroad. Whether and how those boasts become national policy depends heavily on his choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security. So its interesting that one leading candidate is going public with detailed and relatively workable plans to turn Trumps ideas into reality. The leading contenders for homeland security secretary are House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), retired Marine Gen. John Kelly and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Kelly would give Trump a military leader who could run the southern border with efficiency. Kobach, who accidentally revealed some of his ideas during a recent visit to Trump Tower, is reliably conservative but has limited experience. McCaul will make his case for the job in his second annual State of Homeland Security Address on Dec. 7. Its not a coincidence his speech coincides with the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Overall, McCaul will agree with Trump on most issues, such as extreme vetting of immigrants and refugees, building a border structure with Mexico and deporting criminal illegal immigrants. But McCauls speech also includes a more nuanced plan for dealing with the most pressing terrorism problem facing the United States: the threat of Islamic radicalization inside the country. He has worked on the issue for years, sometimes at odds with staunch conservatives. McCauls approach is to strike a balance between cooperating with American Muslim communities and policing them, rather than cutting off government support to Muslim organizations. The Obama administrations counter-radicalization program has been a failure, McCaul told me. I would repeal and replace that office with more of a radical Islamist-based threat picture. And the way you do that is through credible voices in the community and testimonials. McCaul wants to narrow counter-radicalization efforts to focus on Islamic extremism first and foremost, work with the private sector to remove terrorist content from the Internet, scale up counter-message propaganda using local Muslim voices and engage with Muslim communities to spot warning signs, as is done extensively in Europe. He also wants to get Silicon Valley to deny bad actors dark spaces to communicate in encrypted apps. What McCaul represents for Trump is a senior lawmaker who is steeped in the issues, has an experienced staff ready to go and has legislation prepared to bring Congress along. What McCaul represents for the country is a voice of moderation for a president-elect who has often gone to extremes when talking about Islam. The Muslim community will tell you that al-Qaeda and ISIS are radicals who have hijacked their religion so you have to work with these communities to eradicate the bad actors, McCaul told me. During the campaign, McCaul joined with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and former attorney general Michael Mukasey to write a memo that was key to Trumps evolution away from calling for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. Instead, Trump shifted to a pause in immigration from countries where the threat is high and vetting insufficient. In his address, McCaul will define extreme vetting as increasing visa security by deploying more investigators at diplomatic posts abroad. He will propose further tightening the Visa Waiver Program to hold partner countries accountable for screening on their end. McCauls proposal on Muslim immigration is to suspend admissions from major terror-threat countries, like Syria, until we are confident terrorist groups cannot use pathways like our refugee program as a Trojan Horse to send operatives to attack us, according to a preview of his remarks. McCaul supports taking a military approach to securing the southern border and even inserted language into the defense authorization bill that would establish a military-style joint task force to command all government personnel there. General Kelly would be a good guy to implement that, he told me, suggesting his rival for a sub-Cabinet position. Some of McCauls proposals are sure to be controversial. He wants to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization and join with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi in cracking down on its members. McCauls plans to engage with Muslim communities have run afoul of some conservatives because they involve using government funds to support Muslim groups. Homeland security secretary is not a job for a rigid ideologue or decorated military officer. Management skill, direct subject-matter expertise and a willingness to engage communities of interest constructively are required. McCauls plans and experience come closest to making Trumps homeland security policies workable in the real world. Read more from Josh Roginss archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. By PTI: New Delhi, Dec 5 (PTI) Cairn India will invest Rs 30,000 crore in the next three years to produce an additional 1,00,000 barrels per day of oil and oil equivalent gas, primarily from its prolific Rajasthan fields, said its mining billionaire promoter Anil Agarwal. He also said the merger of the cash-rich Cairn with its parent Vedanta Ltd is likely to be completed by March-end. advertisement "We have committed to investing Rs 30,000 crore to add 1,00,000 barrels per day of oil and oil equivalent gas over the next three years," he told PTI here. Cairn produced 2,06,230 barrels per day of oil equivalent in the second quarter ended September. Bulk of the production came from its Rajasthan block that gave 1,67,699 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). The Ravva field in the Bay of Bengal produced 18,823 boepd and Cambay another 9,877 boepd. "India has been very less explored and we believe there is enough resources below the ground that can be produced," he said. Cairn India has been operating for more than 20 years playing an active role in developing Indias oil and gas resources. Till date, Cairn India has opened 4 frontier basins with numerous discoveries, 37 in Rajasthan alone, he said. The Mangala field in Barmer, Rajasthan, discovered in January 2004, is the largest onshore oil discovery in India in more than two decades. Mangala, Bhagyam and Aishwariya fields -- major discoveries in the Rajasthan block -- have a gross ultimate oil recovery of over 1 billion barrels from primary, secondary and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods. "Out of the $50 barrels per day of price, the government gets USD 43 (in taxes, royalty, cess and profit petroleum) and the company gets USD 7. There cannot be any better Make in India," he noted. Cairn is investing in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and improved oil recovery (IOR) scheme to sustain production from the oil fields as also develop the Raageshwari Deep Gas (RDG) project. It is looking to increase gas production to 40-45 million standard cubic feet per day (mscfd) by 2017 and 100 mscfd by 2018-19. Natural gas production from RDG went up to 33 mscfd in the second quarter of 2016-17, from 28 mscfd in the first quarter, amounting to 3 billion cubic feet (bcf). Agarwal added that the merger of Cairn India with Vedanta Ltd will be completed by March-end. "We are on track. There is no problem. The merger will be completed by March," he said. advertisement While the shareholders of the two companies have approved the merger, it is awaiting nod of high courts and other regulatory bodies. Through the merger, Agarwal is looking to create Indias largest diversified natural resources firm, which can compete with BHP Billiton and Vale SA. Cairn India shareholders in September had approved merger of the company after Cairn Energy of the UK voted in favour of the sweetened merger ratio. LIC, which holds 9.06 per cent stake in Cairn India, skipped the vote. Cairn Energy Plc, the erstwhile owner of Cairn India which sold a majority stake in the company to Vedanta, has 9.82 per cent. In a bid to salvage the merger, Vedanta had in July this year sweetened the deal by offering three additional preference shares with the hope of winning over minority shareholders. In the revised offer, Vedanta will give minority shareholders of Cairn India one share and four redeemable preference shares with a face value of Rs 10 each. The preference shares will carry a coupon of 7.5 per cent and tenure of 18 months. In June last year, Vedanta had offered shareholders of Cairn India one ordinary share and 7.5 per cent redeemable preference share with a face value of Rs 10 each. advertisement Vedanta is said to be keen on using Rs 23,290 crore cash lying with Cairn to pay off part of its Rs 77,952 crore debt. PTI ANZ ARD --- ENDS --- IT IS hard to say exactly what impact President-elect Donald Trump might have on the fight to slow human-caused climate change for two reasons. First is that Mr. Trump has not been particularly clear on his views, though he leaves little reason for hope. He has at times sounded like a wholesale climate denier and conspiracy theorist, such as when he claimed global warming is a hoax. At other times he has taken a slightly more conciliatory tone. The last word the country has had from the next president was widely interpreted as falling into the latter category; he told the New York Times that there is some connectivity between human action and the warming of the planet and that he is keeping an open mind on the matter. The reaction to Mr. Trumps latest statement was almost certainly too optimistic: Mr. Trump also claimed that Im not sure anybody is ever going to really know what the facts on climate change are, though the scientific community has dedicated decades of study to the issue and is near-unanimous in its concern. Mr. Trump also promised to cancel job-killing energy regulations in a post-election YouTube video, and his incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus, assured Fox News viewers that his default position is that most of it is a bunch of bunk. All that suggests Mr. Trump is unlikely to treat global warming as the threat it is and that he will favor fossil fuel interests when he is in the White House. How that translates into policy changes, however, is also unpredictable and offers slightly more reason for hope. Reversing federal rules takes time and sustained effort, and courts do not always allow regulatory changes. Congress could help Mr. Trump gut environmental protections, but the Senate, with its narrow Republican majority, may balk. The George W. Bush administration was pretty favorable to fossil fuels, but, for all its effort, it failed to change many enduring environmental programs. The United States is still on track to lower its emissions in a way that could maintain some of its credibility on the international stage, in part because utilities have substituted cheap natural gas, which Mr. Trump favors, for coal. That trend, along with a continuation of federal renewables subsidies already written into law and the progress of various state-level efforts, will put downward pressure on the countrys carbon emissions. These factors are not nearly enough to transition off dirty energy in the long run, but they do mean that even if Mr. Trump foolishly defies the warnings of experts, there may be ways to limit the damage over the next four years. Given that Mr. Trump does not want to undermine the success of natural gas, that he cannot control the actions of states and cities, and that he will not eliminate every pro-renewables policy on the federal level, the next administration should ask itself why it would pull out of the Paris agreement, an international climate deal that took decades to strike. Doing so would relieve pressure on China, India and other big emitters to contain their emissions. If the United States is going to constrain its carbon footprint, anyway, why let other countries off the hook? French Socialist President Francois Hollande knew which way the winds were blowing. His announcement last week that he would not seek reelection was a response to record-breaking unpopularity. But it also reflects weaknesses haunting the left and center-left throughout the democratic world. Donald Trumps victory may thus be only a particularly alarming portent for moderate progressives who, less than two decades ago, were confidently on the march. Now, the radicalization of the right threatens the consensual welfare-state capitalism that gave the West decades of relative social peace and prosperity. France is the latest example, and a dramatic one. If there is one taken-for-granted assumption in French political life, it is that Marine Le Pen, the candidate of the far-right National Front, will find her way into the runoff in next years presidential election. The first round will be held in April; the second, between the top two finishers, in May. Francois Hollande announced that he would not seek reelection in 2017. He is the most unpopular president in the history of modern France, with an approval rating dropping as low as 4 percent. (James McAuley, Jason Aldag / The Washington Post) But the surprise, at least to much of the media and political class, was the victory of Francois Fillon in the November primaries for the countrys main center-right party, the Republicans. Fillon, a traditionalist Catholic, is a critic of multiculturalism and what he sees as Muslim encroachment on French identity. He routed former president Nicolas Sarkozy and the favorite, former prime minister Alain Juppe. Juppe was the moderate in the group, and a significant number of Socialist Party supporters crossed into the other sides contest to help him. They hoped that if the country eventually faced a center-right vs. far-right choice in the general election runoff thats the betting line now the former would be at least acceptable to them. But after Sarkozy was eliminated, Fillon defeated Juppe in a landslide. This parlous choice gave the already done-for Hollande an excellent reason to announce that he would not seek reelection. As a Socialist, because thats my lifes commitment, I cannot accept, I cannot resign myself, to a scattering of the left, to its breaking up, Hollande declared Thursday night. Because that would take away all hope of winning against conservatism, and even worse, against extremism. Well, yes, but the French left is already in pieces. It faces not only divisions but also subdivisions within its divisions. Emmanuel Macron, 38, quit Hollandes cabinet to form a new centrist political movement built around modernizing French politics and embracing economic openness. He is in a long line of politicians going back to the center-left heyday of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair who have positioned themselves against both the traditional left and right. I want to unite the French, Im not reaching out to the left or the right, Im reaching out to the French, he said in a television interview. Polls suggest that Macron may be able to appeal to some of the same anti-system feeling that is motivating votes for the far right. Still, his Third Way politics are more in keeping with the prosperous and optimistic 1990s than with our gloomier and more nationalistic moment. And with Hollande out of the race, Macron could find himself challenged for votes from the moderate left by another political modernizer from inside the Socialist Party, Prime Minister Manuel Valls. The splintering on the progressive side goes further still. Outside the Socialist Party, Jean-Luc Melenchon is running as the champion of the harder left. Arnaud Montebourg, the former economics minister, comes from the Socialist Partys own left wing, pushing for protectionism to battle the excesses of globalization. Hollandes withdrawal creates a sense of at least remote possibility among socialists, and the European left and center took heart at the result of Sundays presidential election in Austria, where Norbert Hofer, the candidate of the far right, was defeated by Alexander Van der Bellen, a former Green Party leader. Hollande called the outcome a choice for Europe and for openness. The French Socialist primary in January will likely feature Valls, Montebourg and possibly others. But its winner could still hemorrhage votes to Macron in the center and Melenchon on the left. Every country has its particularities. Hollandes problems were personal as well as ideological: Even his own political base came to see him as hapless and indecisive. But the center-lefts troubles and the hardening of opinion on the right reflect the rise of a politics of fear across so many of the democracies, including the United States. Its elements include fear of the impact of globalization on the living standards of the working class, fear of immigration and the dilution of national identity, and fear of terrorism. A center-left that once thrived on a politics of hope must either come to terms with these fears or actively push back against them. It is divided because it cannot decide which strategy is more promising and which is more in keeping with its values. Read more from E.J. Dionnes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Relax. Breathe. Donald Trumps phone call with the president of Taiwan wasnt a blunder by an inexperienced president-elect unschooled in the niceties of cross-straits diplomacy. It was a deliberate move and a brilliant one at that. The phone call with President Tsai Ing-wen was reportedly carefully planned, and Trump was fully briefed before the call, according to The Post. Its not that Trump was unfamiliar with the Three Communiques or unaware of the fiction that there is One China. Trump knew precisely what he was doing in taking the call. He was serving notice on Beijing that it is dealing with a different kind of president an outsider who will not be encumbered by the same Lilliputian diplomatic threads that tied down previous administrations. The message, as John Bolton correctly put it, was that the president of the United States [will] talk to whomever he wants if he thinks its in the interest of the United States, and nobody in Beijing gets to dictate who we talk to. The Washington Posts Jia Lynn Yang explains the back story on relations between the U.S., China and Taiwan and the ramifications of Friday's telephone call between President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. (Alice Li,Victoria Walker/The Washington Post) [Americas overreaction to Trumps Taiwan call is dangerous] Amen to that. And if that message was lost on Beijing, Trump underscored it on Sunday, tweeting: Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the U.S. doesnt tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I dont think so! He does not need Beijings permission to speak to anyone. No more kowtowing in a Trump administration. Trump promised during the campaign that he would take a tougher stand with China, and supporting Taiwan has always been part of his get-tough approach to Beijing. As far back as 2011, Trump tweeted: Why is @BarackObama delaying the sale of F-16 aircraft to Taiwan? Wrong message to send to China. #TimeToGetTough. Indeed, the very idea that Trump could not speak to Taiwans president because it would anger Beijing is precisely the kind of weak-kneed subservience that Trump promised to eliminate as president. Trumps call with the Taiwanese president sent a message not only to Beijing, but also to the striped-pants foreign-policy establishment in Washington. It is telling how so many in that establishment immediately assumed Trump had committed an unintended gaffe. Bottomless pig-ignorance is how one liberal foreign-policy commentator described Trumps decision to speak with Tsai. Trump just shocked the world by winning the presidential election, yet they still underestimate him. The irony is that the hyperventilation in Washington has far outpaced the measured response from Beijing. When American foreign-policy elites are more upset than China, perhaps its time for some introspection. [Trumps Taiwan charade] The hypocrisy is rank. When President Obama broke with decades of U.S. policy and extended diplomatic recognition to a murderous dictatorship in Cuba, the foreign-policy establishment swooned. Democrats on Capitol Hill praised Obama for taking action that was long overdue. Former President Jimmy Carter raved about how Obama had shown such wisdom, while the New York Times gushed that Obama was acting courageously and ushering in a transformational era for millions of Cubans who have suffered as a result of more than 50 years of hostility between the two nations. 1 of 74 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Heres what President-elect Donald Trump has been doing after the election View Photos Trump has been holding interviews and meetings as he prepares to transition into the White House. Caption He has been holding interviews and meetings as he prepares to enter the White House. Jan. 19, 2017 President-elect Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, visit the Lincoln Memorial before the Make America Great Again concert. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. But when Trump broke with decades of U.S. diplomatic practice and had a phone call with the democratically elected leader of Taiwan, he was declared a buffoon. Well, if they didnt like that phone call, his critics may hate what could come next even more. Trump now has an opportunity to do with Taiwan what Obama did with Cuba normalize relations. There are a number of steps the Trump administration can take to strengthen our military, economic and diplomatic ties with Taiwan. My American Enterprise Institute colleague Derek Scissors has suggested that Trump could negotiate a new free-trade agreement with Taiwan. Taiwans tiny population means there is no jobs threat, Scissors says, but Taiwan is also the United States ninth-largest trading partner. A free-trade agreement would be economically beneficial to both sides and would send a message to friend and foe alike in Asia that, despite Trumps planned withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the United States is not withdrawing from the region. On the military front, Trump could begin sending general officers to Taipei once again to coordinate with their Taiwanese counterparts and hold joint military exercises. On the diplomatic front, Bolton says the new administration could start receiving Taiwanese diplomats officially at the State Department; upgrading the status of U.S. representation in Taipei from a private institute to an official diplomatic mission; inviting Taiwans president to travel officially to America; allowing the most senior U.S. officials to visit Taiwan to transact government business; and ultimately restoring full diplomatic recognition. Beijing would be wise not to overreact to any overtures Trump makes to Taiwan. When China tested President George W. Bush in his first months in office by scrambling fighters and forcing a U.S. EP-3 aircraft to land on the Chinese island of Hainan, its actions backfired. After the incident, Bush approved a $30 billion arms package for Taiwan, announced that Taiwan would be treated as a major non-NATO ally and declared that the United States would do whatever it took to defend Taiwan. His actions not only strengthened U.S. ties with Taiwan but also set the stage for good relations with Beijing throughout his presidency. China does not want to make the same mistake and overplay its hand with Trump. Trumps call with Taiwans president was a smart, calculated move designed to send a clear message: The days of pushing the United States around are over. That may horrify official Washington, but its the right message to send. Read more from Marc Thiessens archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Authorities in Oakland, Calif., say dozens of people have died in a fire that broke out during a party at warehouse that served as an art and music venue. (Claritza Jimenez,Victoria Walker/The Washington Post) Authorities in Oakland, Calif., say dozens of people have died in a fire that broke out during a party at warehouse that served as an art and music venue. (Claritza Jimenez,Victoria Walker/The Washington Post) One of the deadliest fires in recent U.S. history began amid a cluttered collective of artist studios known as the Ghost Ship and spread quickly through a two-story warehouse that did not have fire sprinklers, killing at least 36 people and possibly more. Help me! shouted partygoers who had gathered at the warehouse for a Friday evening of music and dancing in East Oaklands Fruitvale district, only to find themselves trapped in an inferno. Firetrucks arrived within three minutes, officials said, but nothing could be done to stop the fast-spreading flames soon enough. The sky was lit with a huge fireball, ignited by an array of artisan works, guitars, pianos, bookshelves, bowls and countless other tinderlike pieces. Bob Mule, a photographer who worked at the warehouse, told the local NBC affiliate that he saw the fire coming from the back left corner of the building. He heard a friend with a broken ankle calling for help. Mule said he raced to the friend, but there was a lot of stuff in the way and the flames were too much . . . I had to let him go. Standing outside the warehouse as flames continued to burn through the walls and the roof, with an arm bandaged from wounds suffered during his flight from the fire, Mule said he had not heard whether his friend had made it out. Firefighters work inside the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in Oakland, Calif. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters) As the fire raged, city officials met with dozens of families who had undertaken anguished searches for relatives. The rescue effort quickly turned into a salvage operation. Authorities on Monday raised the death toll to 36 as search teams pulled more bodies from the charred debris many victims burned beyond recognition. One survivor estimated that at least 50 people had been in the building. On Sunday, the coroners office released the names of some of those who didnt make it out: Cash Askew, 22, David Cline, 24, Travis Hough, 35, and Donna Kellogg, 32, all of Oakland; Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, of Coronado, Calif.; Sara Hoda, 30, of Walnut Creek, Calif., and Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, of Hayward, Calif. [All I could do was stand there as flames took her friend] Firefighters moved slowly in the search, walking amid fallen beams and smoldering ruins looking for bodies. They undertook their mission at great risk, with ceilings and floors in danger of collapse. They doused flames by passing buckets down the line. The firefighters ranged in experience from a few months to 30 years, but all were affected by the intensity of the blaze and the piles of bodies they encountered along the way, officials said. The warehouse had long been the subject of complaints. Local officials said they were alerted to possible code violations on Nov. 13, but they could not get inside the structure when they visited four days later. Local news outlets reported that a number of artists used the building as their sleeping quarters as well as studios. A woman cries on Sunday near the site of a warehouse fire that started Friday night and killed dozens of people. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP) [Site of Oakland warehouse fire was jammed with flammable objects] Asked on Sunday about the inspection, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf (D) said: The complaint alleged there was blight and external trash and debris, not just around the building but in the adjacent lot that is owned by the same owner. They also alleged there was illegal or unpermitted construction inside, and possible residential use . . . The inspector was able to document the external blight but was unable to gain access to the building. So that investigation had remained open and an initial notice of violation was issued to the owner with regard to the blight. Local officials said it was the deadliest fire they could recall in the city, and it ranked as one of the worst structural fires in recent U.S. history. The deadliest fire in recent years occurred in 2003, when 100 people died at a West Warwick, R.I., nightclub called the Station. The fire began about 11:30 p.m. Friday, as partygoers gathered on the second floor to listen to a music group called Golden Donna. The band played before a dance floor of about 2,500 square feet inside the roughly 10,000-square-foot warehouse. By the time firefighters arrived at the scene, the staircase had burned away, Mark Hoffmann, deputy chief of the Oakland Fire Department, said Saturday. [Death toll rises to 13 in Tennessee wildfires] Firefighters used special equipment to breach a wall and then deployed the most basic means to carefully make their way inside, clearing debris with shovels and other hand tools, and dousing flames with buckets passed from one person to another. We had firefighters with basically coveralls and buckets and shovels, taking bits of debris out into the vacant lot, to be then loaded into dump trucks and removed to an off-site location, Melinda Drayton of the Oakland Fire Department said at a news conference near the scene. This will be a long and arduous process, but we want to make sure we are respecting the victims, their families and our firefighters safety to work slowly and carefully through the building. Drayton said she was inside the structure and watched the somber approach that [firefighters] took to this search. It was quiet, it was heartbreaking. She said crews found 10 of the victims in the middle of the building. Four of them were close together, and the other six were within 10 feet. Three more were found on the east side of the building, Drayton said. Sgt. Ray Kelly, spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriffs Office, said the death toll will go up. We will be here for days and days to come, Kelly said. We anticipate that the number of victims will rise and will increase. Questions remain about whether electrical issues, pyrotechnics or errant candles or cigarettes had started the fire. Fire officials said the building did not have sprinklers. A criminal investigation team was sent to the site to preserve the option of a possible prosecution, officials said. The buildings interior featured a tangled network of antique furniture, artwork, musical instruments, wooden lofts, tapestries and oddities, such as mannequin parts, according to a Tumblr blog that appears to show the building. Al Garcia, 62, said the warehouse across the street from his business was fully engulfed when he walked over about 12:30 a.m. Saturday. Officials say the fire broke out an hour earlier during a rave party that was attended by more than 50 people. Garcia said he saw two teenagers sitting on a sidewalk, crying. They were at the party, they told him, and were the last ones to get out. Garcia asked what happened. It got dark, and smoke took us over, one of the teens told him, Garcia said. They couldnt see where they were going, they told Garcia, but they knew several people were behind them, also trying to get out. When we turned around, nobody came out behind us, one of the teens said, according to Garcia. The music events Facebook page was filled with inquiries on Saturday from people looking for their loved ones or offering their assistance to families and friends of the victims. Michael Rosen, who had been at the party Friday night, said there were no more than 75 people in attendance. This was a very intimate gathering, he said. It wasnt a wild, out-of-control party where things got out of hand. Carmen Brito and Nikki Kelber, who lived at the warehouse, spoke in an interview on Sunday about their emotions as they tried to process what had happened. They survived the fire but lost everything in the process except for the clothes on their backs, handouts from friends and, in Kelbers case, her cat, Mookie, which she managed to carry out of the burning building after escaping from her first-floor apartment. Emotionally, for everyone who was a resident there, we are going back and forth between feeling like Oh, my god, I almost died, to Oh, my god, I lost everything, to Oh, my god, these people died in our home, Brito said. Kelber said,about 23 people lived in the building. It was one of the most amazing, beautiful spaces you could ever see. It was so creative and so inspiring as an artist, she said. There was always somebody working on another project, always somebody to bounce ideas off. Max would be tattooing or working on a piece of jewelry . . . Anthony was sewing in the back, and Carmen was painting in the back and someone else is doing visual artistry . . . These werent just roommates, and these werent just people who lived in a building that you didnt talk to. These people were part of your daily lives. Friends and family members of the concertgoers also cobbled together a list of missing people in a shared Google Docs spreadsheet. They included identifying features and contact numbers. Forty names were listed as of Saturday evening; seven were marked either safe or in the hospital. The list is now private. Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach-Reed said fire officials will verify those names against the ones they have compiled. This is pretty tragic for us, Deloach-Reed said. It is hitting this community pretty hard. I dont even want to talk about how the families and friends are feeling. We have a community thats hurting. The building was considered to be an artist collective, as city officials put it, with spaces for artists to work. It was beautiful, said Pete Veilleux, a friend of several of the buildings residents and the owner of a nearby native-plant nursery called East Bay Wilds. It was like an art gallery, but people lived there. As darkness fell here, the makeshift memorial on the corners of East 12th Street and 31st Avenue continued to grow. Close to two dozen bouquets of flowers were laid on the sidewalk, and the same number of candles were lit in remembrance of victims of the tragedy. Several names including Ara Jo, Draven and Johnny were left on signs and postcards and Post-it notes as ways to remember them. Kranish and Guerra reported from Washington. President-elect Donald Trump speaks at an event in Cincinnati. In a series of posts on Twitter, Trump warned that businesses could face tariffs on returning goods if jobs are sent overseas. (Evan Vucci/AP) President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday issued a dramatic warning to companies that they would face retribution in the form of tariffs if they move American jobs overseas, setting up a collision with corporate America and the free-market wing of the Republican Party. In a string of early-morning tweets, Trump said he intends to keep jobs in the United States by lowering taxes for companies and slashing regulations, two key components of his economic agenda. But he also warned that companies that send jobs offshore would face a 35 percent tariff on goods sold back to the United States. Any business that leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant in the other country, and then thinks it will sell its product back into the U.S. . . . without retribution or consequence, is WRONG! Trump wrote on Twitter. The threat marked perhaps the clearest sign yet since the election that Trump has not abandoned the controversial economic positions he adopted during the campaign. In addition to vowing to hit American companies with severe consequences if they imperil American jobs as a candidate, he pledged to tear up trade agreements and tag products from countries such as China and Mexico with tariffs if those nations continue to take American jobs. [Trump says direct negotiation with Carrier was very presidential] The comments set up a clash with Republicans who have long argued in favor of free trade and against excessive intrusion by government into the affairs of businesses. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), a frequent Trump critic, argued that a 35 percent tariff would be passed along to American consumers in the form of higher prices. Pres-Elect Trump means well. But wont his 35% tariff idea raise prices on American families? How would it not be a new 35% tax on families? Sasse wrote on Twitter. A conservative advocacy group, the Club for Growth, said that it favors Trumps proposals on tax and regulatory changes but warned of the consequences of cutting off trade. We think its bad economic policy. Itll cost more American jobs than it saves, said former Indiana congressman David M. McIntosh, the head of the Club for Growth. Therefore it needs to be stopped. Trumps threat Sunday also put American companies in an extraordinarily difficult position. Offshoring has been a key element of corporate Americas strategy in recent decades, and major lobbying groups have been defenders of trade agreements. But groups stood nearly silent on Sunday, potentially worried about drawing the wrath of the president-elect. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nations largest business lobby, declined to directly respond to Trumps comments but signaled that it has not budged in its opposition to tariffs. President-elect Donald Trump on Dec. 1 celebrated a deal that will keep jobs at a Carrier plant in Indianapolis and announced that he chose retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis for secretary of defense. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) We are not going to comment on Trumps comments directly, but in general, the Chamber has always called for pro-growth policies that help American companies succeed globally and welcome foreign investment within our borders, said Blair Latoff Holmes, a spokeswoman for the group. She pointed to a recent Fox Business Network interview in which the Chambers chief economist said that tariffs are self-destructive. Last week, Trump made clear he would intervene in specific situations in which companies are considering moving work overseas. Last week he traveled to an Indiana factory owned by furnace and air-conditioner manufacturer Carrier to champion a deal to keep about 800 jobs in the United States. To much criticism, Carrier had planned to move them to Mexico. [Why Trump gets more hype out of 1,000 jobs than Obama did out of 16 million] On Sunday, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said that Trump would continue the extraordinary interventions, working on deals with such companies on a day-by-day basis. Although Trump would be able to follow through on some of his threats without congressional approval for example, declaring China a currency manipulator and launching a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement its not clear whether he could penalize companies broadly for moving jobs overseas without congressional authorization. Gary Clyde Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think tank that regularly supports proposed trade deals, predicted that Trump would face legal obstacles if he tries to impose tariffs on individual companies unilaterally. This would be, in my way of thinking, a real intrusion of congressional powers over foreign commerce, Hufbauer said. Weve never had this kind of policy before, so hes on novel ground. During the past few decades, the prevailing view in the Republican Party has been to favor free-trade deals and oppose tariffs. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.), for instance, has argued against the government picking winners and losers. Spokesmen for Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) offered no comment on Sunday. In his interview with ABCs This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Pence rejected the idea that Trump will be picking winners and losers. What the president-elect did with Carrier was simply reach out, one American to another, and just ask them to reconsider, Pence said. He told them, were going to do exactly what we said we would do in this campaign, were going to make the American economy more competitive, were going to get tougher and smarter on trade deals. Tom Davis, a former Virginia Republican congressman, said that Trump is realigning cultural and economic issues and the way voters have historically associated them with the two parties. But he predicted Republicans leaders wouldnt instantly fall in line behind him. I dont think it happens overnight. Its evolutionary, its not revolutionary. Youll see more and more Republicans move to align on the trade issue with Trump, especially in the rural areas, said Davis, who described himself as an avid free trader. Trump celebrated the Carrier deal in which Indiana promised to provide Carrier about $7 million in incentives, while the company would invest $16 million in the factory over the next two years with a tour of the factory last week, followed by a rally in Cincinnati to kick off his thank you tour. On the stump, Trump espoused an aggressively protectionist stance toward international trade, and his skepticism of the benefits of globalization resonated with many middle-class voters who bore the brunt of its downside. Even some leading liberal Democrats acknowledged that his elements of economic message broke through with working-class voters and opened up the possibility of working with him on shared areas of interest. But since his election, his advisers have softened some of his most heated rhetoric. Trumps picks for treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, said that they would pursue bilateral trade agreements with other countries but remained wary of sweeping regional deals. Ross also said that blanket double-digit tariffs on goods from Mexico and China which many economists warned could spark a damaging trade war would be used only as a last resort. Still, Trumps social-media message on Sunday served as a signal that the Trump who appeared on the campaign trail at raucous rallies and boasted about his ability to shake up Washington isnt going away. Please be forewarned prior to making a very . . . expensive mistake! Trump wrote on Twitter. He continued, in all capital letters, THE UNITED STATES IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS! The Washington Posts Jia Lynn Yang explains the back story on relations between the U.S., China and Taiwan and the ramifications of Friday's telephone call between President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. (Alice Li,Victoria Walker/The Washington Post) The Washington Posts Jia Lynn Yang explains the back story on relations between the U.S., China and Taiwan and the ramifications of Friday's telephone call between President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. (Alice Li,Victoria Walker/The Washington Post) Donald Trumps protocol-breaking telephone call with Taiwans leader was an intentionally provocative move that establishes the incoming president as a break with the past, according to interviews with people involved in the planning. The historic communication the first between leaders of the United States and Taiwan since 1979 was the product of months of quiet preparations and deliberations among Trumps advisers about a new strategy for engagement with Taiwan that began even before he became the Republican presidential nominee, according to people involved in or briefed on the talks. The call also reflects the views of hard-line advisers urging Trump to take a tough opening line with China, said others familiar with the months of discussion about Taiwan and China. Trump and his advisers have sought to publicly portray the call the president-elect took from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday as a routine congratulatory call. Trump noted on Twitter that she placed the call. He took the call, accepted her congratulations and good wishes and it was precisely that, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Sunday on ABCs This Week. Vice President-elect Mike Pence and President-elect Donald Trumps senior transition adviser Kellyanne Conway on Dec. 4 defended Trumps phone call with Taiwans leader Tsai Ing-wen. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) That glosses over the extensive and turbulent history of U.S. relations with Taiwan and the political importance the island and its democracy hold for many Republican foreign policy specialists. Some critics portrayed the move as the thoughtless blundering of a foreign policy novice, but other experts said it appeared calculated to signal a new, robust approach to relations with China. China reacted sternly to the Taiwan call, suggesting that it shows Trumps inexperience. [China blasts petty Taiwan phone call with Trump] Trump sent two Twitter messages Sunday that echoed his campaign-stump blasts against China. Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the U.S. doesnt tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? he asked. I dont think so! The United States does impose a tax on Chinese goods 2.9 percent for non-farm goods and 2.5 percent for agricultural products. Some of the GOPs most ardent Taiwan proponents are playing active roles in Trumps transition team, and others in the conservative foreign policy community see a historic opportunity to reset relations with Taiwan and reposition it as a more strategic ally in East Asia. Several leading members of Trumps transition team are considered hawkish on China and friendly toward Taiwan, including incoming chief of staff Reince Priebus. Indeed, advisers explicitly warned last month that relations with China were in for a shake-up. In an article for Foreign Policy magazine titled Donald Trumps Peace Through Strength Vision for the Asia-Pacific, Peter Navarro and Alexander Gray described Taiwan as a beacon of democracy in Asia and complained that its treatment by the Obama administration was egregious. The article, flagged to China experts as a significant policy blueprint, described Taiwan as the most militarily vulnerable U.S. partner anywhere in the world and called for a comprehensive arms deal to help it defend itself against China. Fridays phone call does not necessarily mean that will happen, but it does look like the first sign of a recalibration by a future Trump administration, experts say. It was planned weeks ahead by staffers and Taiwan specialists on both sides, according to people familiar with the plans. Immediately after Trump won the Nov. 8 election, his staffers compiled a list of foreign leaders with whom to arrange calls. Very early on, Taiwan was on that list, said Stephen Yates, a national security official during the presidency of George W. Bush and an expert on China and Taiwan. Once the call was scheduled, I was told that there was a briefing for President-elect Trump. They knew that there would be reaction and potential blowback. [Trump called these foreign leaders the day after the election] Alex Huang, a spokesman for Tsai, told the Reuters news agency, Of course both sides agreed ahead of time before making contact. Tsais office said she had told Trump during the phone call that she hoped the United States would continue to support more opportunities for Taiwan to participate in international issues. Tsai will have sympathetic ears in the White House. Priebus is reported to have visited Taiwan with a Republican delegation in 2011 and in October 2015, meeting Tsai before she was elected president. Taiwan Foreign Minister David Lee called him a friend of Taiwan and said his appointment as Trumps chief of staff was good news for the island, according to local news media. Edward J. Feulner, a longtime former president of the Heritage Foundation, has for decades cultivated extensive ties with Taiwan and is serving as an adviser to Trumps transition team. At the Republican National Convention in July, Trumps allies inserted a little-noticed phrase into the partys platform reaffirming support for six key assurances to Taiwan made by President Ronald Reagan in 1982 a priority for the Taiwan government. Also written into the 2016 platform was tougher language about China than had been in the partys platform in its previous iteration four years ago. We salute the people of Taiwan, with whom we share the values of democracy, human rights, a free market economy, and the rule of law, the platform said, adding that the current documents governing U.S.-Taiwan relations should stand but adding, Chinas behavior has negated the optimistic language of our last platform concerning our future relations with China. Yates, who helped write that portion of the platform, said Trump made clear at the time that he wanted to recalibrate relationships around the world and that the U.S. posture toward China was a personal priority. About the same time, Navarro, one of Trumps top economic and Asia advisers, penned an op-ed saying that the United States must not dump Taiwan and needs a comprehensive strategy to bolster what he termed a beacon of democracy. The president-elects advisers have said the communication does not signify any formal shift in long-standing U.S. relations with Taiwan or China, even as they acknowledge that the decision to break with nearly 40 years of U.S. diplomatic practice was a calculated choice. Of course all head-of-state calls are well planned, said Richard Grenell, a former State Department official who has advised the Trump transition effort. Grenell and others noted that the call came about two weeks after Trump had spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that it was not substantive. There was no policy discussion, and everyone involved is well aware of the One China policy, Grenell said, referring to the Nixon-era shift that established formal direct ties between Washington and Beijing. The United States maintains a military relationship with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a province, but closed its embassy there in 1979. Republican administrations since then have emphasized Taiwans democracy and flirted with the idea of a shift in policy, but none have held public discussions with a Taiwanese leader. There are a lot of things that previous Republican presidents, and Democratic presidents, would do that Donald Trump wont do, Grenell said. Hes a man that understands that typical Washington rules are not always best for our foreign policy. During the campaign, Trumps fiery rhetoric against China resonated with his supporters, especially those in the economically beleaguered Rust Belt states where he registered unexpected wins. Trump accused China of raping the United States by stealing trade secrets, manipulating its currency and subsidizing its industries. He vowed to institute tough new policies designed to crack down on the Chinese and extract concessions, such as by imposing higher tariffs on goods manufactured there. [On substance and style, Trump may be headache for China] By irritating if not angering the Chinese government with his talk with Tsai, Trump showed his core supporters in the United States that he would follow through with his promise to get tough on China, some observers said. He campaigned on an America first platform, GOP pollster Frank Luntz said. Calls like this may upset the diplomats, but they communicate to Americans that hes not going to play by the same rules and isnt just talking differently but will act differently. Walter Lohman, director of the Heritage Foundations Asian Studies Center, said the call with Tsai was deliberate. It was not an accident. Obviously he made a conscious decision to have the call arranged. She called him, but there was an agreement for it. Gordon Chang, an Asia expert and author of The Coming Collapse of China , said Trumps tweet Friday night that he had just accepted a call from Tsai was not credible. This has all the hallmarks of a prearranged phone call, Chang said. It doesnt make sense that Tsai out of the blue would call Donald Trump. She is not known for taking big leaps into the unknown, and it would be politically embarrassing when it was learned that she called Trump and he would not take her call. Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to Trumps transition team, brushed aside questions about what the call signals about the incoming administrations priorities and policy on China. All he did was receive a phone call, Conway told reporters Sunday at Trump Tower in New York. Everybody should just calm down. Hes aware of what our nations policy is. Denyer reported from Beijing. The leader of the Five Star Movement, Beppe Grillo, delivers a speech on Dec. 2 in Turin, Italy. (Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images) Italys anti-elite parties vowed Monday to join forces with other insurgents around Europe as Prime Minister Matteo Renzi prepared to resign, but it was unclear whether an unlikely alliance of disaffected voters could propel the populists to office. Italy plunged into political uncertainty Monday after the decisive defeat of Renzis signature constitutional revision plan, which was meant to strengthen his hand and defuse the establishment-bashing movement. The rejection by voters had the opposite outcome. Now, anti-immigrant, anti-euro populists on the left and right who have steadily built power as an alternative to Italys old-guard political leadership are seeking to transform their success into a chance at their nations highest office. The eclectic Five Star movement is polling at 30 percent, neck and neck with Renzis center-left Democratic Party. A lesson for everyone: You cant always lie to the people without suffering the consequences, said Beppe Grillo, the caustic comedian who founded the Five Star movement. [Italian prime minister resigns in populist revolt] But markets and leaders elsewhere in Europe reacted with caution Monday to the Italian shifts, reflecting the steep barriers that remain before insurgents could capture Italys top job. The youthful, Coca-Cola- guzzling Renzi had portrayed himself as a lone warrior against the Euroskepticism that fueled Britains vote in June to break with the European Union and gave tail winds to right-wing political leaders in France and elsewhere. This is something that is going on all over Europe, if you look at the momentum, said Manlio Di Stefano, a Five Star lawmaker in the lower house of Parliament. People are really tired of the same kind of politics. Every term is the same, every government is the same, so people are reacting. But Renzi also alienated Italian voters over 2 years in office by failing to jump-start growth in Europes fourth-biggest economy. The referendum results 59 percent of voters opposed the revisions may have reflected enmity toward Renzi as much as a wave of populism washing over the Italian electorate. Much like the coalition of working-class voters and the right-wing establishment that drove Donald Trump to victory in the United States, the forces that united to defeat Renzi came from across Italys political spectrum. The diverse views may make collaboration difficult. [After Renzis defeat, this Trump fan could throw Europe into crisis] The decision about Renzis successor as prime minister falls to Italian President Sergio Mattarella, an establishment stalwart who is unlikely to clear an easy path for Five Star backers. A likely scenario could be a caretaker government headed by a different leader from Renzis center-left Democratic Party who would hold office until new elections in early 2018. Mattarella asked Renzi on Monday to hold off on his resignation until the government passes next years budget, a potential delay of a few days or a week that will buy some time for succession planning but does not significantly alter the political situation. Once Renzis successor is announced, the process of forming a new government will take weeks. Italy is no stranger to political chaos, and the next government will be the 64th in 70 years. But many Italians are growing weary of a long stretch of unelected prime ministers, going back to 2011. The people do not recognize their vote in the government. Because its what in the E.U. context is called a deficit of democracy, said Stefano Stefanini, a former senior Italian diplomat who is now a political consultant in Brussels. Mainstream parties also plan an overhaul of an electoral law that would make it far harder for the Five Star movement to govern without a coalition, yet another barrier to its quest to capture office. The Five Star movement has a patchwork collection of policies that are more Bernie Sanders than Donald Trump. Grillo, the founder, has praised Trump and agitated against migrants, but many of the movements rank and file have softer edges. The party has promised to hold a referendum on Italys membership in the euro zone if it captures office, criticizing the currency as a project of the elite that has harmed ordinary Italian workers. The movement also agitates against corruption and for the environment. And it forms many of its policies through an online platform for its members that it brags is a cutting-edge tool for direct democracy. [Is the referendum Italys Brexit moment?] But when Five Star members have captured power, they have sometimes had difficulty governing, most notably in Rome, where a Five Star mayor has struggled to deliver public services since she took office in the spring. The mayor of Turin has done better. But she trained at one of Italys top universities, is from a prominent business family and has governed as a moderate. The Italians are essentially unhappy with the establishment, with the establishment parties. They are looking at the Five Star movement, but they are still looking for credible faces, said Wolfango Piccoli, co-president of Teneo Intelligence, a political risk consulting firm. Even if the insurgent populists never come to office, they are guiding the national political discussion by sending mainstream politicians scrambling to appeal to their anti-system voters. By simply being there, they shape the political agenda, and they force the system to react to them, Piccoli said. If the Five Star movement does succeed in calling a referendum on the euro, the move could pressure Italys shaky banking sector and rekindle the euro crisis. Shares in Italian bank stocks were broadly down Monday; the nations most troubled bank, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, lost 3.9 percent in late-afternoon trading. But reflecting the overall short-term calm, Italys main stock exchange in Milan was slightly down in late-day trading. Many other European markets, including Londons FTSE and Germanys DAX, were up. European leaders said Monday that they were confident Italian politicians would overcome the turbulence without setting off a broader crisis on the troubled continent, which has struggled in the face of Greeces fiscal collapse and an unprecedented surge of migrants and refugees. This is a strong country with strong government, and I have every confidence in Italy to deal with the situation, Pierre Moscovici, the senior E.U. official in charge of economics, told France 2 television. Yet the Five Star movement is surging against its competitors. In head-to-head polling against the ruling Democratic Party, it is the clear favorite, with an advantage of 53 percent to 47 percent, according to a survey from the EMG polling group released Sunday. Measured against all the parties in Italy, Five Star and the Democratic Party are in a dead heat. Renzi allies said Monday that the rejection of the constitutional changes has dealt Italy a significant blow. The risk of disintegration began with Brexit, when a very important member was lost, said Sandro Gozi, a top Renzi ally who is Italys undersecretary of state for European affairs. The European Union needs to depart from the status quo, because it makes the future much harder. Birnbaum reported from Brussels. Read more In Italy, a comedian getting the last laugh Is Trump a Berlusconi? Let a Berlusconi expert explain. Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Firefighters in Oakland, California, found the remains of nearly three dozen victims as they sifted through the debris-filled shell of the two-story converted warehouse being used by an artists' collective. Flames rise from the top of a warehouse, which caught fire during a dance party in Oakland, California; Photo: Reuters By Reuters: A fire that devastated an Oakland, California, loft building during a weekend dance party has taken at least 33 lives and the toll will likely rise, authorities said on Sunday, as criminal investigators joined recovery teams at the charred ruin. Firefighters in Oakland, east of San Francisco, found the remains of nearly three dozen victims as they sifted through the debris-filled shell of the two-story converted warehouse being used by an artists' collective. advertisement The cause of the fire was still undetermined, officials said. Arson is not suspected but investigators want to find out if the building, which was often used for musical performances, had a history of code violations. Mayor Libby Schaaf said the Alameda County District Attorney's Office activated its criminal investigation team at the fire scene. A representative of the prosecutor's office is monitoring the recovery process, she said, adding she was not authorized to say if a criminal probe was under way. SEARCH OPERATION CONTINUES, DEATH TOLL LIKELY TO RISE The mayor said the city's first priority was finding the victims and supporting the families. "We have delivered the unacceptable and horrific news of losing a loved one to seven of our families." The blaze, which erupted about 11:30 p.m. on Friday, already ranks as the deadliest in the United States since 100 people perished in a 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire. As of Sunday evening, only 35 to 40 percent of the building had been searched, said Sergeant Ray Kelly, spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. He said some of the victims were under 18 years old, although most were in their 20s and 30s. The recovery operation was delayed for hours as the roof collapsed onto the second floor and in some spots, the second story had fallen onto the first, making it unsafe to enter. The warehouse, which served as a base for the Ghost Ship Artists Collective, was one of many converted lofts in the city's Fruitvale district, a mostly Latino area where rents are generally lower than in the rest of Oakland. --- ENDS --- Three F-16 aircraft take part in a media preview in Singapore. The fighter plane, fllown by air forces around the world, may soon be manufactured only in India. (Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images) As a new American president bent on retaining American jobs prepares to take office, the Obama administration and the U.S. defense industry are working on a deal with the Indian government to build iconic U.S. combat aircraft in India. In recent months, Lockheed Martin and Boeing have made proposals to the Indian government to manufacture fighter jets the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F/A-18 Super Hornet in India as the country seeks to modernize its rapidly aging fleet of largely Russian-built airplanes. In both cases, the aviation companies would be building production facilities in India; Lockheed Martin proposes to move its entire F-16 assembly line from Texas to India, making India the sole producer of the single-engine combat aircraft. The U.S. military is phasing out the F-16 for its own use, but other countries remain as likely customers. The proposals have the strong backing of the Obama administration, which has sought a closer connection with the Indian military in recent years. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said she was optimistic about the prospect of a deal after a visit to New Delhi in August, and Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter is set to return to India this week, with procurement high atop the list of discussion topics. President-elect Donald Trump said that his administration will crack down on what he referred to as "foreign trade abuses" during a rally in Cincinnati on Thursday. (The Washington Post) But the election of a billionaire businessman focused on keeping jobs at home, rather than creating them overseas, has brought a measure of uncertainty to the talks. What will be the U.S. policy posture now that the new president-elect is in the mix? said one high-level official at an American defense firm in India, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal negotiations. Is he going to continue the policy of engaging in India on co- production and co-development? All of those are unknown at this point. On Thursday, President-elect Donald Trump appeared at a Carrier plant in Indiana, where his team had brokered a deal to save about 1,000 jobs, and on Sunday he let fire a series of tweets that implied a new tax penalty on goods produced by companies that leave the United States. [After Trump pledged to keep Carrier jobs in U.S., company says it wont move nearly 1,000 to Mexico] Please be forewarned prior to making a very expensive mistake! THE UNITED STATES IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS, he tweeted. On the campaign trail he railed against job losses to Asia and Mexico. We are living through the greatest jobs theft in the world, Trump said last month, citing American companies that have laid off workers and moved jobs to India, Singapore and Mexico. Its getting worse and worse and worse. Officials at Lockheed Martin and Boeing said that any partnership to manufacture jets in India would not result in a net loss of American jobs but would create Indian employment about 1,000 positions in the case of Lockheed Martin. About 300 mechanics on the Fort Worth assembly line would be moved to the F-35 assembly line at the same plant. Others would be given an opportunity to apply for other jobs on the newer F-35, Lockheed officials said, although they concede that some positions would be lost in the move because of attrition or retirements. I see this as a great opportunity for all parties involved, said Randy Howard, director of business development for Lockheeds integrated fighter group. It doesnt take jobs away from the U.S., it extends existing jobs, and not just for Fort Worth but for many other companies around the U.S. that build parts for the F-16. Nevertheless, workers in Fort Worth say they are worried about the future. Wouldnt you be? said Earnest Boone, president of the District Lodge 776, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents Lockheed employees. In October, the Indian government sent a letter to foreign missions and aerospace manufacturers inquiring about single-engine fighter aircraft that could be manufactured locally. India wants to co-produce the fighter jets as part of its Make in India program, which has the lofty goal of expanding the manufacturing base to 25 percent of the gross domestic product in the next six years. [India welcomes foreign companies, but is the nation ready for them?] Nitin Wakankar, a spokesman for Indias Ministry of Defense, said that the process of selecting the new jet has not started yet, so answering detailed questions would be premature. Indias costly earlier effort to partner with the French company Dassault Aviation for 126 jets unraveled, and the government ended up buying only 36 ready-made Rafale planes this year. Analysts say Lockheeds main rival in the single-engine sphere is Swedens Saab Group and its Gripen fighter. Chicago-based Boeing also has proposed to make its twin engine F/A-18 in India. Boeing recently took a group of Indian defense journalists on a whirlwind tour of Australia and the United States to show off its program. The U.S. Air Force is phasing out the F-16 in favor of the F-35 aircraft in coming years and the company has no orders for the F-16 beyond October 2017, but it is seeking other customers and does not plan to dismantle the assembly line just yet. The F-16 airplane remains one of the most widely used aircraft in the world, and Lockheed is continuing to negotiate deals to sell the fighter to other countries. Those F-16s would be made in India under the deal once the new assembly line was up and running, Howard said. The aircraft has been made in joint ventures with other nations before, but weve never offered our only production line to another country, Howard said. Its unprecedented. Lockheed has promised that India would not only manufacture and export its jets, but it also would play a critical role in supporting a fleet of about 3,200 F-16s in operation around the world, said Jon Grevatt, an Asia Pacific defense industry analyst with IHS Janes, a defense analysis firm. Thats a big carrot, he noted. A potential stumbling block to the deal is the willingness of the U.S. government to part with enough of its mission system technology to make the package palatable to the Indians. The aircraft is viewed negatively by some in the defense establishment here as a dated platform that first rolled off the assembly line in 1978 despite its current state-of-the-art avionics. Another strike against it, for some, is that it is the fighter aircraft used by archrival Pakistan. The F-16 is a good aircraft, it has lived its life, but its time is over, said Muthumanickam Matheswaran, a retired Indian air force air marshal and analyst. A greater concern, said Pushan Das, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in Delhi, is whether India wants to be seen as close to the United States and building U.S. fighter aircraft, or does it want to be more politically neutral and choose a partner like Sweden, given the fact that New Delhi needs to manage its relationship with Russia and China. Thats the main thing. Indias defense procurement typically moves at a glacial pace. Ashley J. Tellis, a scholar for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote in a March paper that the Indian air force is in crisis and that its troubled acquisition and development programs threaten its air superiority over rapidly modernizing rivals Pakistan and China. The country hopes to expand its fleet from 36.5 squadrons to as many as 45 squadrons by 2027 an unlikely prospect, the study found, because of budget constraints, slow procurement and other limitations. Read more U.S. military wants India to counterbalance Chinas rise as a sea power Trump just scored a jobs victory. But it comes with a huge asterisk. India welcomes foreign companies, but is the nation ready for them? Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news French Prime Minister Manuel Valls delivers a speech to announce his bid to become the Socialist presidential candidate in the 2017 presidential election, at the town hall of Evry, south of Paris, on Dec. 5, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images (Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images) French Prime Minister Manuel Valls stepped down Tuesday to focus on his presidential campaign, bringing as successor a former interior minister who spearheaded the nations fight against Islamist militants. The new prime minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, takes over amid an apparent surge in French right-wing political forces that reflect wider trends across the West calling for calling for a tougher line on immigration and stronger steps against suspected homegrown terrorist networks. The Cabinet shake-up followed Valls' announcement Monday that he would run for the presidency a race that will not include Francois Hollande, who said last week he would not seek reelection in April. Hollande is the most unpopular president in modern French history, with approval ratings that have dropped, by one poll, to a minuscule 4 percent. In his speech on Monday, Valls promised that France, under his leadership, would remain a bulwark of progress amid a global turn to the right. I want an independent France, inflexible in its values, he said, to face the China of Xi Jinping, the Russia of Vladimir Putin, the America of Donald Trump, the Turkey of [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan. Cazeneuve led investigations into some of the highest-profile attacks waged in Europe by Islamist factions, including last years Paris rampage that killed 140 people and the this years Bastille Day carnage in July in Nice, when a truck plowed in crowds and killed more than 85 people. In the wake of Britains vote last year to leave the European Union, the presidential election victory of Donald Trump and, most recently, Sundays constitutional reform referendum in Italy, Frances 2017 election is widely seen as a potential next chapter in a revolt against the Wests established order. Valls pledged to launch a strong leftist defense against the rising tide of Marine Le Pen, the savvy leader of the National Front, Frances far-right populist party, which has risen steadily in the polls. He said he would step down as prime minister Tuesday to seek the Socialist presidential nomination in a primary in January. If he wins the primary, Valls will also have to contend with Francois Fillon, a more moderate conservative candidate who advocates a free-market economic platform but shares many of Le Pens anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiments. [Francois Fillon vows return of the traditional French right] The French left, once the undisputed bedrock of national politics and a principal architect of the European Union, has fallen in esteem to such a degree that winning the presidency in 2017 is almost inconceivable, analysts say. As an explanation, they generally cite Frances stubbornly high unemployment rate and a wave of devastating terrorist attacks that have claimed some 230 lives here in the last two years. In the wake of those attacks, Hollandes Socialist government has struggled to project an image of strength, responding with measures that critics say are primarily concerned with saving face instead of enacting real change. In his address Monday evening, Valls rejected this assumption, insisting with dramatic emphasis that the left still has a viable chance to win the presidency. Im told that the left has no chance, but nothing is written, he said. That it will never come together, that the extreme right is qualified for office, but nothing is written. That Fillon is already the next president of the republic, but nothing is written. He continued: The left is big and beautiful when it speaks to all the French, when it gathers together, when its destiny is entwined with that of France. France needs the left! [Why Hollande wont seek reelection] But the French left is deeply divided within its own ranks, largely thanks to Hollandes controversial proposal to strip French nationality from convicted terrorists who hold dual citizenship. Many on the left insisted that the proposal would enshrine a legal distinction between citizens who are supposed to remain equal before the law, and it was ultimately abandoned. But the broader rift inside the party has remained. Valls, who has sought to project a certain tough-guy swagger as prime minister, has been a constant fixture in that internal struggle, especially vis-a-vis Frances Muslim community, the countrys largest minority group. During a furor over the burkini this past summer, for instance, when some 30 French towns banned the modest swimsuit from public beaches, he was among the towns loudest defenders. French courts have since overturned many of the burkini bans in the jurisdictions that passed them. But Valls called the burkini, designed to allow Muslim women to enjoy the beach while respecting traditional dress codes, a provocation, insisting that the garment was an affront to Frances secular values. In response, Muslim leaders quickly accused him of hypocrisy. Supporters of French secularism, they pointed out, do not object that virtually all of Frances public holidays are Christian in origin. On Monday, Valls suggested that bigger battles lie ahead. I note the division on the left, he said, but until when will we endure this spectacle? Read more Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Prime Minister Theresa plans to set in motion Britains exit from the European Union by the end of March. (Alastair Grant/AP) The British people spoke in June: They want out of the European Union. But more than five months after the countrys referendum, the question of who actually gets to pull the trigger on Brexit remains a muddle. Prime Minister Theresa May says she does. A high-level British court argued otherwise last month, ruling that Parliament must have a say. Now its up to the U.K. Supreme Court, which on Monday began hearing arguments in a case that could complicate Mays plan to set in motion Britains exit by the end of March. The case, one of the most constitutionally significant for Britain in decades, will determine whether May and her government can use a prerogative once reserved for kings and queens to invoke Article 50, the never-before-used mechanism for getting out of the E.U. Her attorney general, Jeremy Wright, argued Monday before an 11-judge panel that the power is not an ancient relic but instead a fundamental pillar of our constitutional state. The June referendum, Wright said, was conducted with the universal expectation that the government would implement the result. Complicating that argument, however, is the fact that the referendum was not legally binding. The High Court for England and Wales said last month that Britains tradition of parliamentary sovereignty dictated that the nations lawmakers must be given the final say in any exit. The outcome of the case which will be argued through Thursday, with a decision expected next month could have significant ramifications for Mays E.U. departure plans. Unlike the public, which voted 52 percent to 48 in favor of getting out of the E.U., most members of Parliament prefer staying in the bloc. Pro-E.U. lawmakers have been careful to insist that they have no plans to overturn the publics will. But even so, a Supreme Court decision to place Brexit decision-making in Parliaments hands could open the door to protracted negotiations even before Britain begins its two-year divorce proceedings with the E.U. Shami Chakrabarti, legal affairs spokeswoman for the opposition Labour Party, told the BBC on Monday that Brexit will happen, pursuant to the will of the people. But she added that the party intends to use parliamentary debate to shape the final package. There is not a simple question of in and out of the European Union, she said. There are many questions that Parliament has to scrutinize about what happens next. A spokeswoman for May, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity, told journalists on Monday that opposition parties are trying to frustrate the will of the British people by slowing down the process of leaving and trying to tie the hands of the government negotiation. The court case has reignited passions that have barely cooled since the June vote. After last months High Court ruling, British backers of E.U. membership celebrated while Brexit advocates condemned the judgment. Enemies of the People, read the banner headline on the front page of the pro-Brexit Daily Mail. Above those words were photos of the three judges. On Monday, rival protesters some dressed as judges staged small demonstrations outside the court. Brexit champion Nigel Farage had initially planned a 100,000-person rally on Monday in support of an exit. But he canceled those plans last week amid fears that it could lead to violence. Read more: Britains scientists are freaking out over Brexit What a real Brexit Britain would look like Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will go to Pearl Harbor with President Obama later this month, becoming the first Japanese leader to visit the site of the attack on Hawaii 75 years ago that thrust the United States into World War II. The joint trip comes after Obama went to Hiroshima with Abe in May, making him the first sitting American president to visit the city where the United States dropped the first of two atomic bombs in 1945 to force Japans surrender. Abe said Monday that he will visit Hawaii on Dec. 26 and 27 to pay tribute to military personnel from both sides of the Pacific who died during the war. About 2,000 Americans were killed in the Pearl Harbor attack. This visit is to comfort the souls of the victims. Wed like to send messages about the importance of reconciliation between the two countries, Abe told reporters in Tokyo. The 75th anniversary of the attack falls Wednesday. In this May 27, 2016 file photo, President Obama, right, shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in in Japan, as Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the site of the world's first atomic bomb attack. (Carolyn Kaster/AP) The White House welcomed Abes decision, confirming that Obama would accompany Abe to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor to honor those killed. The two leaders visit will showcase the power of reconciliation that has turned former adversaries into the closest of allies, united by common interests and shared values, Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said in a statement. The meeting will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review our joint efforts over the past four years to strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance, including our close cooperation on a number of security, economic, and global challenges, he said. [In Hiroshima, Obama calls for end of nuclear weapons] There had been speculation that Abe would reciprocate Obamas Hiroshima visit by coming to Pearl Harbor during the last days of the U.S. presidents second and final term and during Obamas last annual two-week winter vacation as president. The prime ministers wife, Akie Abe, visited Pearl Harbor in August, laying flowers at the USS Arizona Memorial and meeting a survivor of the attack. Earnest described Obamas visit to Hiroshima as a powerful image seeing the American president and the Japanese prime minister standing side-by-side in that city. I suspect seeing the Japanese prime minister and American president in Pearl Harbor at the memorial at the USS Arizona just a couple of weeks after the 75th anniversary will be similarly powerful, Earnest told reporters Monday. It is just one more occasion for us to remember the substantial sacrifice and remarkable patriotism of the greatest generation of Americans. Bruce Klingner, an Asia specialist at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington-based think tank, called Abes announcement very surprising news but also reasonable quid pro quo since Obama went to Hiroshima. People will be watching for his remarks, said Klingner. I think it will be another way for the U.S. and Japan to reaffirm their strong relationship. But Shinzo Abes move is likely to anger the more conservative forces in his right-wing government, who promote a revisionist view of Japans history and seek to restore their nations pride in its imperialist past. While Abe shares some of these sympathies, he also has taken a pragmatic approach. On the 70th anniversary of his countrys surrender, he issued a statement last year that expressed remorsefor Japans World War II actions. His government also has agreed on a final deal with South Korea to resolve the long-standing dispute over the Japanese armys wartime use of women as sex slaves, euphemistically known as comfort women. The visit would, however, probably be popular among the general public, said Scott Seaman, Asia analyst at the Eurasia Group, and give an additional boost to Abe, who could call snap elections in the influential lower house of the Diet, or parliament, as soon as January. The trip to Pearl Harbor, which the vast majority of Japanese will view as a foreign policy victory, supports this base case, with a February election much more likely than one in January, Seaman said in a note. Although Abe is returning the favor that Obama did for him by visiting Hiroshima, the Pearl Harbor visit could smooth the way for Abe to build a strong relationship with the incoming Trump administration, Seaman said. We assess that Trump and his team will applaud the visit, he said. Just before 8 a.m. Hawaii time on Dec. 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. Almost 200 aircraft bombed the site for more than 30 minutes, destroying the USS Arizona and other naval vessels. The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called the ambush a date which will live in infamy and asked Congress to declare war on Japan. Japan surrendered Aug. 15, 1945, after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although the two nations have long since become close allies, Obama and Abe have attempted to use the visits to bring closure to old grievances. Abe was the first foreign leader to meet with President-elect Donald Trump last month in New York. Tokyo has been alarmed by Trumps rhetoric on trade and security, and Abe said afterward that he had a very candid discussion with him. David Nakamura in Washington contributed to this report. Read more: In Hiroshima 71 years after first atomic strike, Obama calls for end of nuclear weapons Japans leader stops short of WWII apology Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news A Syrian army soldier places a Syrian flag during a battle with rebel fighters at the Ramouseh front line, east of Aleppo, on Monday. (Hassan Ammar/AP) Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council proposal to stop fighting in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Monday, thwarting flurried international efforts to end violence that has killed hundreds of civilians in recent weeks. A Syrian and Iranian-backed push to retake the flash-point city has brought President Bashar al-Assad close to his biggest victory in more than five years of war. Russia, a key ally of Assads, has vetoed several Security Council resolutions aimed at easing the war. On Monday, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the latest proposal was rejected because it ignored parallel diplomatic efforts with the United States. Washingtons representative, Deputy Ambassador Michele Sison, described that remark as a made-up alibi. We will not let Russia string along the Security Council while waiting for a compromise that never seems to come, she said. Aleppos rebels rejected calls to withdraw from their shrinking enclave Monday, despite government advances through what was once the oppositions most important stronghold. The offensive has boxed the rebels into a small patch of territory, killing at least 500 civilians and shattering the areas remaining infrastructure. Yasser al-Youssef, a spokesman for the hard-line Islamist Nour al-Din al-Ziniki faction, insisted that a withdrawal was unacceptable. Another rebel representative, Abu Abdel Rahman Al-Hamawi of the Jaish al-Islam group, said his forces would continue until the last drop of blood. But the Aleppo rebels are running out of options. Militarily overwhelmed and weakened by infighting, they face a stark choice: stay in the city and face a near-certain defeat, or retreat to Idlib, a neighboring province and something of a holding pen for Syrias remaining armed opposition. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, says at least 50,000 civilians fled rebel-held eastern Aleppo last week as government forces, backed by an array of Iran-funded militia, closed in. As fierce clashes erupted Monday around Aleppos Old City a world-famous heritage site pro-government forces tightened their grip on opposition-held districts where tens of thousands of people are trapped. Civilians also reported intense bombardment of the al-Zubdiyah neighborhood. Rebel forces have regularly shelled government-held areas in response. The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday that two of its nurses had been killed in one such attack on a field clinic. Describing the armed opposition as animals in human form, a spokesman for the ministry, Igor Konashenkov, blamed the rebellions Western backers. The blood of our servicemen is on the hands of those who ordered this murder, he said. Yes, yes, I mean you, gentlemen, those who cover for the terrorists from the United States, Great Britain and France and other states and entities that sympathize with them. Mondays Security Council veto on action in Syria underscored the intractable divisions among foreign powers that have complicated international efforts to end the war. Yet Aleppos most recent spasm of violence has sparked intense diplomatic activity to stop the fighting, even temporarily. On Friday, Canada led calls for a U.N. General Assembly meeting on the crisis. In a separate effort, Russia met with Syrian rebel representatives in the Turkish capital, Ankara, to offer an end to the bombing in return for the withdrawal of armed groups from Aleppo. David Filipov in Moscow contributed to this report. Read more: Fearing abandonment by Trump, CIA-backed rebels mull alternatives We are alone: The voices of besieged rebel-held Aleppo Syrian men caught in government net as Aleppos rebel zones fall Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news This tea vendor got the shock of his life when a team from the income tax department came to his doorstep and accused him of converting black money into white. By India Today Web Desk: After a chaiwala's account was credited with Rs 4.8 crore, a team from the income tax department knocked at his door. Rajkumar, a tea vendor one can find outside Jaipur's Udyog Bhawan, got the shock of his life when he was notified about this incident. The inquiry went on for five hours wherein he was accused of converting black money into white and was forced to reveal the source. The tea seller told them that he is an ordinary man and have no idea from where the money was credited. advertisement It was later found out that there was a problem with the bank entry. Also read: Income Tax department rejects black money disclosures of over Rs 2 lakh crore After five hours of inquiry, he was taken to the bank and when the bank manager checked the record it was found that only Rs 3 crore 32 lakh was deposited in the bank. The tea vendor said he had deposited 48 notes of Rs 1,000 and it was later found that a bank employee had entered a wrong amount. Due to the wrong entry, Rajkumar had to face an inquiry that lasted over two days. Also read:Going to the bank with Rs 500, 1000 notes? Beware, the Income Tax department is watching OP Tripathi, bank manager of Bank of Baroda, said that it was a manual error and might have happened due to the increased work load. The error was rectified and Rs 4 crore 80 lakh was converted into Rs 48,000. --- ENDS --- Local Chinese magazine Global People with a cover story that translates to "Why did Trump win" at a news stand in Shanghai. (Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images) Donald Trumps shoot-from-the-hip style goes down well with a large part of the American electorate. It probably wont be a barrier to relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and could even be an advantage when dealing with President Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines. But with Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, it might be a different story. Both in substance and style, the Trump presidency represents a very serious challenge to U.S.- China relations. Quite how much U.S. policy toward Taiwan will change after Trumps protocol-shattering phone call with that countrys leader, Tsai Ing-wen, on Friday remains unclear, but when it comes to relations with China, experts say the president-elect represents a fundamental shift. His approach moves away from a decades-old consensus that economic engagement between the two countries is a mutually beneficial win-win relationship. Trump has repeatedly indicated that he views the relationship with China as much more of a zero-sum game, and one he believes the United States is losing. He has been very consistent about it. On trade, security issues, investment issues, he hasnt said anything kind or nice about China, said Yanmei Xie, China policy analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics in Beijing. Trump genuinely believes China is a problem for the U.S. That, Xie said, represents a paradigm shift. Then there is the style. Presidential phone calls and personal meetings between the leaders of the United States and China have always been heavy on talking points, laborious reiterations of long-established positions and carefully scripted statements that are short on surprises and long on bureaucratic formulas. There is very little spontaneity or any shooting from the hip. But Trump, his senior adviser Kellyanne Conway observed on Sunday, is not really a talking points kind of guy. [Trumps Taiwan phone call was long planned] Instead, he is a Twitter kind of guy, using the social media platform first to respond to the furor over his telephone call with Tsai and then to respond further to Chinas objections to that call. Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the U.S. doesnt tax them) or build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? he asked. I dont think so! While China used to hold down the value of its currency, Trumps complaint about devaluation is now widely considered to be years out of date: Between 2005 and 2015, China allowed the yuan to appreciate significantly. But his two other claims are closer to the mark: China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001 as a developing country, and under WTO rules its import tariffs are significantly higher than most U.S. tariffs. China has reclaimed land in the South China Sea on disputed reefs and rocks and is building what appear to be military bases there, experts say, although Beijing insists it is merely asserting its territorial rights and will continue to guarantee freedom of navigation. Aside from the irony of Trumps using a social media platform that is banned in China, there is the risk of a diplomatic spat deteriorating into a more significant war of words or fanning deeper suspicions between the two sides, experts say. Before, China could assume its tough rhetoric would be taken as tough rhetoric, but Trump has shown he does not take rhetorical slights lightly, Xie said. He takes them as serious offense. Chinas Foreign Ministry adopted a sober tone over the Taiwan call, reiterating that it had lodged a protest both in Washington and Beijing. The world is very clear on Chinas solemn position. The U.S. side, including Trumps transition team, is also clear on Chinas solemn position, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a news conference. China and U.S. economic and trade relations have long been mutually beneficial, or it would not have developed to this stage. To sustain such momentum, it requires joint efforts, and both sides need to remain committed to the principles that led to the establishment of our diplomatic ties. Of course, there are reasons to remain levelheaded. Trump and his team of advisers are not in the business of destroying relations with the worlds second-largest economy and one of the United States largest trading partners. Trump and Xi have already spoken by telephone and established a clear sense of mutual respect, according to a statement last month from his campaign team. Qiao Mu, a journalism professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said Trumps anti-establishment, chaotic and egotistical work style would almost certainly bring some turbulence to the relationship. But he said Trumps style might be more acceptable to an authoritarian leader like Xi, since they both think its okay to skip the proper process and relevant departments, and make decisions on their own. In another sign that Beijing did not want to be drawn further into the spat, Lu, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, declined to comment directly on the content of Trumps tweets. I know the media in the U.S. made a lot of comments on President-elect Trump during his campaign season, but for us in China we never comment on the style and personality of political leaders from other countries, he said. What we care about is his policies, and especially his policies toward China. Nevertheless, China will have to get used to a very different way of conducting diplomacy. For a country where status and saving face are very important, that will be a challenge. For all the talk of chemistry between them, President Obamas meetings with Xi were always dominated by the exchange of talking points, diplomats have said. There was also a mutual sense of trust that whatever disagreements the two men might have, a team of experienced and committed diplomats would ensure that relations remained on an even keel. Under a Trump administration, that assurance and trust could be absent. His refusal to use talking points and acknowledge foreign policy conventions could lead him to make gaffes that are inherently destabilizing and require constant and extensive cleanup or walking-back by his team, said Paul Haenle, who was on the National Security Council staffs of George W. Bush and Obama and is now director of the Carnegie- Tsinghua Center in Beijing. Moreover, they force leaders to constantly be guessing whether they should take Trumps words or tweets seriously, or whether he is speaking impulsively and without background, Haenle said. Chinas Communist Party, however, knows it needs a solid partnership with the United States for its own security and economic interests, and will do its best to maintain relations on an even keel. Luna Lin contributed to this report. Read more: Despite fiery campaign rhetoric, Trump reports cordial call with Chinas Xi Philippines Duterte says he and Trump are alike at least in their language Putin just called Trump smart, but it's not entirely a compliment Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news A Russian Su-33 fighter jet, like the one reported crashed, sits on the flight deck of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. (AP) The second crash of a Russian warplane off the coast of Syria in less than a month intensified scrutiny Monday of a critical weakness in Moscows show of naval force in the Mediterranean and the 1,000-foot hulk leading it. The Admiral Kuznetsov, Russias sole, aging aircraft carrier, made a very public entry into the Syrian conflict when it steamed through the English Channel in October. But analysts say it is not suited to the task of providing ground support in a protracted conflict. Nor is it suited for the job President Vladimir Putin intended when he ordered the ship into the Mediterranean: to project Russian naval power. The Admiral Kuznetsov was not designed for such tasks, Alexander Golts, a military writer for the independent Moscow-based news journal New Times , said in an interview. Its a very old ship with very old technologies. It is not prepared for intensive flights. Golts spoke after Russias Defense Ministry announced Monday that an Su-33 Flanker returning from a combat mission plunged into the Mediterranean as it tried to land on the Kuznetsov. The accident occurred when an arresting cable on the aircraft carrier snapped during the landing, the ministry said in a statement. The pilot ejected and was saved by a search-and-rescue team, the statement added. He was not injured. Last month, a Russian MiG-29K fighter jet crashed while attempting an emergency landing on the aircraft carrier shortly after takeoff. The Syrian conflict is the first combat deployment for the Admiral Kuznetsov, which has a history of onboard accidents during training missions since being launched in 1985. [An advanced Russian jet just crashed during its debut off the Syrian coast] Unlike modern aircraft carriers, the Kuznetsov does not have a catapult system, and the jets it carries must launch off a ramp, which makes takeoff and landing extremely challenging. We have a very limited number of pilots who can fulfill this task, Golts said. I doubt there are many in the world. The Kuznetsovs design also limits the loads of fuel and weapons that its jets can carry, which was not a serious impediment for its intended purpose: to defend Soviet submarines preparing to launch nuclear weapons. This carrier was never designed for projecting power on shore, said Pavel K. Baev, who studies Russian military reform at the Peace Research Institute Oslo. The fact of the military matter is that this deployment adds nothing, just absolutely nothing to the capabilities that Russia has on the ground in Syria. When the Kuznetsov set sail, state media said the expedition demonstrated Russias independence as a regional power. But by mid-November, military analysts were questioning the ships suitability for the task. The intermediate results produced by the Admiral Kuznetsovs carrier air wing have been not what the top brass expected, military analyst Sergei Ishchenko wrote in the Svobodnaya Pressa online news agency a week after the carrier launched its first attacks in Syria. For one thing, the Su-33 is an air-superiority fighter designed to provide air defense to friendly naval forces far away from home shores, not to attack ground targets. The MiG-29K is a multi-role fighter capable of attacking targets in the air and on the ground, and it is a newer, carrier-based variant of the traditional MiG-29, but Ishchenko said the jets were grounded, at least for a while, after one of them crashed, leaving the Su-33s to shoulder the burden. Asked about the latest crash Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said only that the important thing is that the pilot was not injured. This is a very intense, hard, heroic job, the news agency Interfax quoted Peskov as saying. Translation: Dont look for Moscow to order the Kuznetsov to set sail for home anytime soon. One lost plane was not enough for exposing the absurdity of this demonstration of nonexistent force, Baev said. And two may be not quite enough, either. Read more: Satellite images highlight potential problems with Russias lone aircraft carrier Russian air defense raises stakes of U.S. confrontation in Syria How Russias lone aircraft carrier will change the fight in Syria Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Celebrating Sinterklaas in traditional Zwarte Piet blackface. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) Its not only in America that the nationalist, populist debate is raging onward as exemplified in this years U.S. presidential elections. Theres plenty of a similar nature going on in the rest of the world. Take the Dutch holiday tradition of so-called Black Pete, for example. Known in his native Netherlands as Zwarte Piet, the holiday character has been a winter tradition in the country for some time, and in recent years the tradition has been met with protest and cries of racism as one would imagine for any character traditionally portrayed in blackface, with Afro wigs, golden earrings, and bright red lips. While fans of Black Pete claim the portrayal is not racist and should be preserved as part of tradition, this recent video from Vox.com takes a look at some of these consistent arguments for maintaining a celebration that a fast-growing number of people feel is harmful, racist, and long overdue for a change. The video disputes the two strongest claims for maintaining a Black Pete character in celebrations: thats its ancient tradition and that its not a racist portrayal of a black man, but rather just someone covered in soot. Zwarte Piet has been a holiday tradition in the Netherlands since the 1850s. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) The video points out that Black Pete is, in fact, a relatively recent development among holiday legends. While Sinterklaas stems from stories of St. Nicholas harkening back to the Middle Ages, Zwarte Piet was a modern invention, stemming from a story book from the 1850s, at a time when slavery was quite active in Dutch colonies. And the character was specifically created to represent a Spanish Moor slave. Sinterklaas, based on St. Nicholas, is celebrated every year in the Netherlands. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) In the stories, one of Zwarte Piets jobs was punishing naughty kids by hitting them with a switch or kidnapping them in a knapsack to take them back to Spain. If you have eyes and a little heart, you would know that this is wrong, says Jerry Afriyie, a Zwarte Piet protester. What we are fighting is institutional racism approved by the government, approved by the police, approved by professionals, approved by schools, everywhere. Its so much embedded in the whole society that it makes it very difficult to bring changes to it, and everyone is using their power to suppress us, and its very difficult. Story continues Despite the pushback, and even some violence around protests, it appears that parts of Dutch society are ready to move on from the practice. Amsterdams Sinterklaas Party, for the first time this year, will eschew blackface and instead feature a new more inclusive spin on Black Pete, namely Chimney Pete. This character will actually have soot on his face and drops the unnecessary if you claim the character isnt blackface grossly exaggerated lips, earrings, and Afro accessories. As Pam Evenhuis, spokewoman for Amsterdams festivities, points out in the Vox video, Bear in mind the objectives to have smiles on the faces of the children, to be happy. Despite a seeming willingness to change, many experts and followers of the topic fear that the backlash against the changes could be even more harmful than allowing Black Pete to exist as is. As Anna P.H. Guerts, a teacher and researcher in Dutch Studies in the U.K., explains: A large part of the Dutch public, as well as the political establishment, including Prime Minister Mark Rutte, have responded to criticism with outright denial. They refuse to let their fond memories be tinged with the hateful epithet of racism. Anger at the suggestion that their childhood friend might be a racist fantasy has been running so high that riot police had to be on standby for this years opening of the festive season. It remains to be seen if Chimney Pete will be able to successfully replace the old childhood friend in blackface. But this years festivities should be a sign of things to come, no matter the outcome. In an exclusive interview in Russia with Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric, Edward Snowden, the fugitive whistleblower who leaked information about U.S. surveillance activities, says he is kind of encouraged by the idea that Russian President Vladimir Putin might return him to the U.S. to stand trial because that would show the world hes not a spy and Russia doesnt own me. But he also acknowledged he isnt eager to return home to face U.S. justice, saying such a prospect would be a threat to my liberty and to my life. Speaking for 90 minutes in a Moscow hotel room, Snowden calm and completely unrepentant also took new swipes at top U.S. intelligence officials, claiming they have accused him of damaging national security only because they were embarrassed by his disclosures of classified National Security Agency documents and worried about their reputations. Those comments drew an angry rebuke Sunday from the Obama administrations former top counterterrorism official. Snowden is delusional, said Matt Olsen, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, when read excerpts of the interview. It wasnt so many years ago that people were saying, This guys a Russian spy, said Snowden when asked by Couric how nervous he was about the possibility of losing his Russian sanctuary and being sent home to face criminal charges of theft of government property and violations of the Espionage Act. But countries dont give up their spies. And if my recent criticism of the Russian governments Internet policies, criticisms of their human rights record, have been so severe that even my greatest critics in the intelligence community are now saying, Oh, yeah, hes a liability, they wanna get him out of there, thats a vindication. Vindication of what? Couric asked him. The fact that Im independent, the fact that I have always worked on behalf of the United States, and the fact that Russia doesnt own me, Snowden replied. In fact, the Russian government may see me as sort of a liability. Story continues Slideshow: Katie Couric interviews Edward Snowden: A look behind the scenes >>> So you wouldnt mind if Putin extradited you and said, Here you go, President Trump? asked Couric. Well, who wouldnt? Snowden answered. I mean, that would obviously be something that would bother me. That would obviously be something that would be a threat to my liberty and to my life. What Im proud of is the fact that every decision that I made I can defend. There is no evidence that Putin is considering such a move. But Snowdens fate is very much uncertain: His comments come at a crucial moment for him, three and a half years after he deserted his job as an NSA contractor in Hawaii and fled, initially to Hong Kong, with a thumb drive of highly classified documents that he began disclosing to journalists. Facing what is expected to be an unyielding hard line from the new Trump administration Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo, who is designated to be Trumps CIA director, has called him a traitor who should be subject to the death sentence Snowden and his allies in the United States are mounting an aggressive public campaign for a pardon by President Obama. Time is running out, reads one of the headlines on the campaigns website, which also cites sympathetic comments by former Attorney General Eric Holder that Snowden performed a public service by triggering a debate about U.S. surveillance programs that led to reforms, including the end of the bulk collection of U.S. phone records by the NSA. But Obama has made clear, as recently as last month, that he wont consider a pardon until after Snowden returns and his case is adjudicated. And even Snowden acknowledged hes not expecting one. Well, Im not counting on it, he told Couric when asked about a pardon. In the meantime, Snowdens lawyers and defenders are privately seeking to open discussion of a possible plea bargain that would allow him to return home without facing a trial that could result in a long prison sentence. A letter to Obama and Attorney General Loretta Lynch from the Pardon Snowden campaign, signed by 15 former staff members of the Church Committee which exposed abuses by the FBI and CIA in the 1970s urged leniency for Snowden, while avoiding any mention of a pardon. In the interview, Snowden seemed to draw a parallel between the information he leaked to journalists in 2013 and the findings of the committee (headed by the late Sen. Frank Church, D-Idaho), including how U.S. intelligence agencies were secretly administering psychedelic drugs to college students to see the impacts they would have. Snowden went on: They [the CIA] were engaging in assassination operations that were contrary to both American and international law, all kinds of crazy things. And these individuals who [signed the letter] are experts in whats going on in intelligence at the classified level, who worked for the government, right? These arent sort of hippie reformers or anything like that. They argued that President Obama should seriously consider leniency in this case. He said that or they said that this case has caused far more benefits to American society, which I think is uncontroversial at this point, than any claimed harms for which weve never seen evidence. If you had one minute to make your case face-to-face to President Obama, what would you say to convince him to pardon you? Couric asked. I wouldnt, Snowden replied. I would respectfully say to the president, I understand you have an incredibly difficult job. No one wants to be a whistleblower. This is something thats hard to do. Its hard enough to stand up to a bully in your life, to your boss in the office, much less the combined might of the National Security Agency, the FBI and, you know, the apparatus of government. But any consideration of leniency for Snowden will run into fierce resistance from the U.S. intelligence community, which continues to view the former NSA contractor as an untrustworthy renegade who deceived his colleagues and endangered national security. This week, U.S. intelligence officials told Yahoo News, the office of the director of national intelligence is planning to declassify new portions of a highly critical 36-page report by the House Intelligence Committee that concluded Snowden was a serial fabricator who stole more than 1.5 million documents 90 percent of which were military and defense secrets unrelated to the surveillance programs involving the privacy of U.S. citizens. Snowden, for his part, casually dismissed claims that his disclosures to journalists did any damage to U.S. national security at all. Do you really think if the government can show somebody was hurt, a program was damaged, weve gone dark and cant track dangerous people, they wouldnt leak that criticism? Snowden replied to Couric when asked about claims that the information he disclosed made it harder for U.S. agencies to monitor terrorists. That wouldnt be on the front page of the New York Times by the end of the day? I dont think so. And I hope, maybe in time, youll think the same. Couric noted that even former Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on NSA documents he received from Snowden, recently wrote: I do not share the view of some of his fans that he did no damage at all. Can you at least acknowledge that damage might have been done as a result of your disclosures? Couric asked Snowden. I dont agree with him in that regard, he replied about Gellmans comment. What I will say is this. Whenever were talking about damage without evidence this is an intentional effort to change the conversation from the concrete harms of these programs that violated the rights of every man, woman and child in the United States and people around the world What Barton Gellman was acknowledging there was that, yes, its possible that officials could have been embarrassed by this. Reputations could have been damaged by this. And the intelligence community considers this to be a matter of national security. But I would argue theres more to national security than reputations. Couric pressed: But arent we talking, in fairness, more than simply reputations or being embarrassed? Virtually every U.S. security official, current and former, agrees that these disclosures made it more difficult to track the movements of organizations like ISIS and other terrorist groups. I dont agree with that, Snowden responded. Terrorists read the newspaper too. But Ill tell you, terrorists already knew the NSA was coming after them. And what we saw in the newspaper wasnt anything that they didnt already understand. What was revealed in the newspaper was only a surprise to Americans and ordinary citizens. It was these comments that drew a sharp response from Olsen, the former Obama administration counterterrorism director, who has said he watched in 2013 as terrorist operatives grew dark and changed their communication methods after the Snowden disclosures. Regardless of his motivation, the fact is that his theft and release of an unprecedented amount of classified information have directly aided terrorists, Russian intelligence services, and other US adversaries, Olsen wrote Sunday in an email to Yahoo News. His actions have resulted in the loss of intelligence sources that have saved American lives around the world. Olsen added: Snowden disclosed specific information about how the US collects intelligence, who we work with, and where we have operations. These are activities that are entirely lawful and most have nothing to do with the privacy of Americans. These facts are not disputed, except by Snowden himself and perhaps his Russian hosts, with whom he has shared intelligence. Snowden, for his part, denied sharing any information with the Russian intelligence services. He also denied the assertion by U.S. intelligence officials that he visited the Russian Consulate in Hong Kong before flying to Moscow en route, he claims, to Ecuador, only to be trapped in Russia because the U.S. had revoked his passport. Snowdens comments about U.S. intelligence officials being embarrassed by his disclosures werent his only remarks in the interview that have triggered sharp responses. Former U.S. intelligence officials and national security experts sought to debunk his assertion, published by Yahoo News on Sunday, that former CIA Director David Petraeus had disclosed far more highly classified information than I ever did. Petraeus, who is said to be under consideration for secretary of state in the Trump administration, shared top-secret information with his lover and biographer. He was forced to resign and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information. I am not in any way defending Petraeus, but I dont think many intelligence experts would agree with this, tweeted Tommy Vietor, a former national security spokesman for the Obama White House. Snowden is apparently taking a play from Trumps book on how to reinvent facts, Mark Zaid, a prominent national security lawyer, wrote in a Facebook posting. It is absurd to claim Petraeus actions were worse or more damaging than his. Other than giving classified information to his mistress, which is totally unacceptable (even though she had a security clearance), the information was neither stolen nor compromised. Moreover, it was never published. To the contrary, Snowden stole highly classified information and DELIBERATELY compromised it by allowing the world, which includes our enemies, to see it. While insisting on his independence from Putin, Snowden seemed to echo the Russian governments line regarding charges that its intelligence services hacked into Democratic Party campaign committees to influence the 2016 election. Moscow says the Obama administration has failed to give evidence for these allegations. While conceding it was possible that the Russians had hacked the Democrats, Snowden added: What bothers me about this kind of conversation is that the last time there was a significant hack that affected the United States that we believed had an association to a nation-state, it was the Sony hack, which we said North Korea was behind. The FBI immediately released evidence that they believed proved that they were behind that attack. We havent seen that here. And I think if were gonna have this conversation, it should be evidence-based. Snowden deflected most questions about his activities that led up to his flight to Moscow. He refused, for example, to identify any of the 10 NSA colleagues and superiors to whom he has said he raised concerns about U.S. surveillance before he began disclosing classified documents. Asked why he has been unable to produce a single email in which he raised such concerns, Snowden replied: Im not an email administrator and These arent things you put in writing at NSA. Saying, I think the NSA is breaking the law. I think maybe this program is violating the Constitution is a career-ending move. And the people that I talked to first, my supervisor, said, You know, hey, we can talk about this, but you shouldnt rock the boat, and dont write this down. (The only email that has surfaced that touches on surveillance practices, released by the NSA, shows that Snowden asked one of the agencys lawyers in April 2013 to clarify an issue about legal authorities in an agency training manual, but expresses no concern about the NSAs programs or potential infringements on privacy.) Why hasnt anyone come forward, though? Couric retorted. Why havent you given any names to corroborate the fact that you did, in fact, try to go through the so-called proper channels? Because if I did that, they would end the careers of these individuals, right? If these individuals spoke on their own without waiting for me, they would go to jail. Snowden who has consistently asserted he shared documents only with responsible journalists who worked for publications he knew would carefully vet them was also challenged on why he revealed highly classified information about NSA hacking in China to a journalist for the South China Morning Post while he was in Hong Kong. He defended the disclosure, saying the institutions being hacked by the NSA were not valid intelligence targets but civilian ones, such as hospitals and universities. He said for the first time that he didnt know that the reporter to whom he gave this information, Lana Lam, worked for the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (although she was identified as one of the papers correspondents on its website); he says he understood she was a freelancer from Australia. So you didnt even know that it was going to be in a newspaper in China? Couric asked him. I knew it would be in a newspaper, he said. I didnt know what newspaper. This was not my concern. Brian Rhoads, managing editor of the South China Morning Post, said in an email to Yahoo News Monday that the papers reporter, Lam, made clear her status and who she was working for when she interviewed Snowden in Hong Kong. She was a full-time staff member of the South China Morning Post at the time, and represented herself as full-time staff throughout the interview process. We asked Snowden and the lawyers follow up questions and communicated with them about dates we were planning publication of the material. Rhoads also emphasized that the South China Morning Post is an independent publication that is not controlled by China and does not share information with the countrys government. Snowden, who lives with his longtime girlfriend, Lindsay Mills, in a Moscow apartment, and says he walks freely throughout the city unmolested and for the most part unrecognized, was asked by Couric at one point what he misses most about the United States. Family, of course, he replied. Thats always the thing. You know, they can come and see me, but youve got all these travel arrangements and logistics, youve got to go on an airplane ride. Who doesnt miss that? When you look back at the last three years, was it worth it? Couric asked. Absolutely. I would do it again. No regrets? No regrets at all. Rome (AFP) - Over 1,300 migrants have been rescued from the Mediterranean over the past 48 hours with 16 bodies recovered, the Italian coastguard said Monday. On Sunday, the Italian coast guard ship Diciotti discovered 11 bodies on a boat which had run into difficulty, while a commercial vessel intervening at another boat found three dead. The Aquarius, a relief vessel chartered by the NGOs SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), meanwhile, said efforts to resuscitate two women found on a dinghy had failed. "Two women died of hypothermia in spite of the colossal efforts of the team. We are heartbroken, again," MSF said on Twitter. The reasons for the other deaths were not specified, but burns or fuel inhalation can prove fatal to already weakened migrants setting off from crisis-hit Libya, where abuse and torture is rife. A turn in the weather over winter usually slows departures, but the pace has remained steady this year while the number of NGO vessels patrolling off Libya has dropped sharply. A total of 285 migrants were rescued on Saturday, 791 on Sunday and 231 on Monday. All were packed into small wooden boats or inflatable dinghies which often begin to sink after just a few hours at sea. Among those pulled to safety were a number of Syrian families travelling with young children. Most of the over 173,000 migrants who have arrived this year in Italy have come from West Africa and the Horn of Africa. According to the UN, at least 4,700 people have died or are missing feared drowned this year while trying to cross the Mediterranean. Finding the perfect rental can be a challenging process scouring listings, cramming multiple viewings into a single day, and feeling like your ideal place is a needle in a haystack. So its understandable to quickly pull the trigger when you find that dream home in the perfect neighborhood with a reasonable monthly rent. But before you sign on the dotted line for the keys to that perfect apartment for rent in Dallas, TX, there are some things to keep in mind. Pay attention to these 8 details, and youre bound to be a happy camper once youre all moved in. Read the entire lease Reading your entire lease will help prevent simple problems from popping up. But you can take this one step further and make sure youre signing the right lease for your city or state. Ordinances vary by city and state, so be sure to call your local government to find out local regulations for landlord-tenant law. Fortunately, there are nonprofit renters rights organizations in most major cities, so a quick phone call can help make sure youre on the right track. Remember: Its a partnership The landlord-tenant relationship can be friendly, especially if it gets off to a good start. Present yourself well on viewing day and be as polite and professional as you would be for a job interview. They are probably showing the property to many prospective tenants and you want to stand out in all the right ways. Also remember that as much as your landlord is trusting you with their property, you are trusting them to maintain a safe and healthy living environment. Dont be afraid to ask questions or request repairs and note the response. If theyre not willing to hear your concerns or write repairs into the lease, it could foretell problems down the road. Visit the apartment at different times of day Maybe the master bedroom gets gorgeous morning sunlight but also sits right under a street lamp, throwing off even the best sleepers circadian rhythms. (Potential solution: blackout shades!) Visiting a unit more than once and at different hours will help you get a better sense of the space, from changing noise levels to noting the best hours for soaking up the rays. And while its not possible to stretch out your visits over multiple seasons, its always a good idea to ask the landlord about the apartment under different weather conditions. He or she may be able to prepare you for a loud radiator come winter or give you the scoop on a lifesaving cross-breeze during the summer months. Ask about alterations (no matter how small) Most lease agreements will specify what changes youre allowed to make to an apartment, but its always a good idea, before signing, to get specific. Whether youre hoping to install patio stones in the backyard or just put some nails in the wall, be sure to bring up those enhancements at the first viewing. Landlords can differ greatly in what customization they will allow; taking it for granted that you can make your rental home your own could put your security deposit at risk. And if there are things you feel compromise the safety or integrity of the apartment, have your landlord agree in writing to make those repairs. Understand the rules for subletting Subletting can be a great option for renters who might need to move out early. Maybe youre renting while planning to buy, and your dream home comes along mid-lease, or a job unexpectedly takes you to a new state. Subletting can help you avoid breaking your lease by letting someone else pay out the remaining months but make sure your landlord allows it or would consider an exception to the rule. Penalties for subletting can range from a hefty fine to eviction, so best to be in the clear before passing off the keys to another renter. Ask whats included (and be clear on what isnt) Utilities and other hidden costs can add up if theyre not included in the monthly rent. Even if you determine that the basics like gas and electric come with the rental, be sure to ask about hidden fees like garbage pickup, on-site parking, or monthly pet fees. Or if the property hosts an on-site gym or free laundry, factor those savings into your household budget. If no utilities are included, try to get a ballpark idea of what they might cost and budget accordingly. Asking a neighbor or the previous tenant can help give you an idea of what others spend. Talk to your new neighbors Get to know your neighbors, even before you sign. If theyre in the same building, you can get an expert opinion on the ins and outs of your prospective rental. They can let you know what utilities usually cost, weigh in on the dependability of your landlord or property management company, and tell you what to expect from the neighborhood. Ask how long theyve lived in their apartment: Its a good sign if your neighbor has found reason to renew their yearly lease. Neighbors can be good for so much more than a borrowed cup of sugar! Fred Leidels three-wheeled bicycle is a familiar site around Madison, Wisconsin. The 100-year-old, who was born before women could vote and spent World War II designing airplane propellers, tucks his walker in a cargo basket on the back of the bike and puts people a quarter his age to shame with the amount of activities gets done. When you get as old as I am, you have to find things to occupy your time, Leidel told the Wisconsin State Journal. Among those things: Exercise that includes weightlifting and swimming laps, volunteering for the Experimental Aircraft Association Leidel spent 37 years teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Madisons college of Engineering, where he was also an associate dean and at least one time, skydiving. Related: WWII Vet Reunited with Stolen Chihuahua But perhaps the most impactful of Leidels varied extracurriculars are his twice-weekly visits to Schenk Elementary School, where he reads to kindergartners there who know him as Grandpa Fred. I like when he reads books to me, and I like it that whatever books you want to read and how many books you want, he does it, Alaura Villarreal, who once had Leidel read seven books to her, told the State Journal. So many of our kids dont have other opportunities to read a lot of books at home. His purpose for reading is really for fun, teacher Lindsay Snyder told the State Journal. It gives them a role model of someone who gives back to our neighborhood. Related: 90-Year-Old WWII Veteran Remembers the Touching Gift a French Child Gave Him After Normandy Landing Leidel made news last month when his UW faculty ID wast accepted at his local polling place on Election Day. So, in another example of his perseverance, he spent two hours getting a new state ID before returning to the polls to cast his vote. Schenk is throwing a birthday party for Leidel on Tuesday, and he says he has no intention of stopping his reading trips to the school. As long as I am able to get over here, Leidel said. Late Friday night, an Oakland concert venue and art space called The Ghost Ship caught flame during a stop on Golden Donna's 100% West Coast Tour. The fire broke out in the middle of the concert while an estimated 50 to 100 concertgoers were in the two-story building. Attendees on the first floor had easier access to the venue's exit than those on the second floor, who had to locate a makeshift stairwell to exit the building. As of Sunday morning, the Alameda County Sheriffs Office reports that the fire department has accounted for thirty deceased victims so far, according to the New York Times. The fire department will continue clearing away the rubble for several more days. Although the cause of the fire is unknown, the warehouse is not currently considered a crime scene, the Los Angeles Times reports. Arson is not suspected, but has not been ruled out either. 100% Silk, the record label that represents Golden Donna, the scheduled performer, has issued a statement in response to the tragic event. They extend their condolences to the families of the victims and describe the fire as "a nightmare scenario." Read 100% Silk's statement in full below. Continue Reading On PigeonsandPlanes More from PigeonsandPlanes Mamata Banerjee is leading her party , TMC from the front in opposing demonetisation from the streets to the assembly. By India Today Web Desk: Till now West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had been fighting the political demon of demonetisation on streets from Delhi to Kolkata. Now, she has taken the fight to West Bengal assembly. Upping her ante against the Modi government over demonetisation on Monday, Mamata Banerjee launched a scathing attack on the Centre during her speech in the West Bengal assembly. advertisement "It is a financial crisis in Delhi today. People are being forcefully bulldozed"- this is how Mamata Banerjee described demonetisation in the state assembly. West Bengal: TMC MLAs protest outside assembly in Kolkata over #DeMonetisation pic.twitter.com/KtEKtCIxXm ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 Outside the assembly, the TMC MLAs staged protest in Kolkata against withdrawal of high valued currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. WB CM Mamata Banerjee in state assembly. (Photo: @ANI_news) The TMC also protested in Delhi, where Party MPs voiced their opposition to the demonetisation in Parliament complex holding placards and banners. Delhi: TMC leaders stage protest against #demonetisation in front of the Gandhi statue in the Parliament premises pic.twitter.com/OeVuwlRexR ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 TMC got support from other quarters as well. Congress leader Renuka Choudhury took a dig at the new amendment to the income declaration scheme. Renuka Choudhury said, "He (PM) is too busy to come to Parliament, busy deciding how much gold married woman or unmarried woman is allowed to have." Taking swipe at PM Modi winning popular vote for Time Person of the Year, Renuka Choudhury said, "Of course he (Modi) is 'Man of the Year'. Who else can tear up every citizen's pocket and throat with one stroke?" Of course he (Mr Modi) is 'Man of the Year', who else can tear up every citizen's pocket & throat with 1 stroke? : Renuka Choudhury, Cong pic.twitter.com/Xnroh2Suda ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 However, the BJP's response, as expected, was diametrically opposite. Union Minister Uma Bharti said, "This is just the beginning, PM will be chosen as the man of the century." Ye to bas shuruwat hai, PM toh man of the century bhi honge aage: Uma Bharti,Union Minister on PM won TIME Magazine person of the year pic.twitter.com/s1MgkevENf ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 Meanwhile, demonetisation led to two contrasting scenes in Uttarakhand. On one hand, people were scene queuing up in front of banks and ATMs. Hundreds of people were seen outside a bank in Dehradun. Dehradun (Uttarakhand): People queue up for cash withdrawals outside banks #DeMonetisation pic.twitter.com/qRbxjtqXZ2 ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 advertisement On the other hand, demonetised currency notes were thrown in a stream in Haldwani in upper reaches of Uttarakhand. Locals recover demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes from a stream in Kathghariya, Haldwani (Uttarakhand) #demonetisation pic.twitter.com/slyrKAGeR4 ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 --- ENDS --- A pre-dawn inferno at a four-star hotel in Pakistan's Karachi killed 12 people Monday and wounded 75, police said, with desperate guests jumping from windows and scrambling down knotted bedsheets to escape. The blaze at the Regent Plaza Hotel in the centre of the port megacity broke out when many guests were still asleep, with a lack of fire alarms and emergency exits leaving many trapped in their rooms. "The hotel had no fire safety system and no fire exit to evacuate people, they had no fire alarm," Karachi mayor Waseem Akhtar told reporters at the site. "Trapped people showed courage and made ropes of bed sheets and came out one by one, many people have been injured," hotel guest Saeed ur Rehman, himself wounded in the fire, told AFP. Guests were left helpless, he said, for hours. Police have said it took up to three hours to bring the fire under control. "At least 12 people had been killed in the fire incident," doctor Kaleem Shaikh of Karachi's Jinnah hospital told AFP. He said around 70 wounded people had been discharged from hospital after treatment as their condition was stable. At least two Pakistani international cricketers were among the guests, one-dayers Sohaib Maqsood and Hammad Azam, though they were not believed to be seriously injured. Earlier Semi Jamali, a doctor at the same hospital, told AFP the facility had received 11 bodies and 75 wounded. Many of the victims had suffered from smoke inhalation or suffocated, Jamali said, but others sustained cuts or fractures as they leapt to safety from the eight-storey hotel's upper floors. Police Senior Superintendent Saqib Memon confirmed the death toll and said the cause of the fire was unclear, with an investigation launched. "Many people we interviewed told us that they did not hear any fire alarm," a police investigator told AFP on condition of anonymity. Building fires in Pakistan are often caused by faulty wiring or electrical short-circuits. Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino walked out the door of his house on the night of Nov. 18 and was never seen alive again. On Saturday, weeks after his disappearance, one of Lees classmates at Lawrence High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts, was arrested and charged with allegedly murdering and decapitating the 16-year-old, PEOPLE confirms. But a motive in the brutal slaying and the exact nature of the relationship between Lee and the 15-year-old suspect, Mathew Borges, remain unclear. This was a horrific, horrific murder, Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said at a news conference on Saturday. While it shook the community, we were completely and totally resolved to bring this matter to justice. Mathew allegedly stabbed and mutilated Lees body so severely that his autopsy took 11 hours, Blodgett told reporters. Authorities have not said why Mathew allegedly killed and then decapitated the teen, though police claim Mathew confessed afterward. A witness told investigators that Mathew told them he did something bad, according to a police report obtained by the Boston Globe. Mathew then told him that he stabbed a kid and cut his head off. A woman walking her dog on Thursday discovered Lees body on a street near the Merrimack River, according to authorities. His head was found about 50 feet from his body, The Eagle Tribune reports. On Monday, Mathew pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Lawrence District Court, Carrie Kimball Monahan, a spokeswoman for the district attorney, tells PEOPLE. His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment. was ordered held without bail, Monahan says. He is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 10 for a probable cause hearing. 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. Mathews age and murder charge automatically mean he will be tried as an adult, Monahan says. Story continues Authorities are unclear about how the two teens knew each other, she says. We dont know what type of relationship they had, she says. We dont know if they were friends. We just know that they went to the same school. Lees family, whom PEOPLE could not immediately reach, reportedly said Mathew had only come to their house once. On Nov. 18 the day of Lees disappearance the two teens left Lees home at about 5:40 p.m. and headed to the nearby Merrimack River, according to authorities. Pick up PEOPLEs special edition True Crime Stories: Cases That Shocked America, on sale now, for the latest on Casey Anthony, JonBenet Ramsey and more. Lees family later reported him missing when he failed to return home. They told reporters theyre upset because they feel police considered this a runaway case and failed to do everything they could to find him, The Boston Herald reports. I do want to ask a question, with all due respect, to the mayor, to the chief of police, to every police officer, detective, in our police department, one relative told reporters, according to the Globe. If it was their kid, would they have waited two weeks to look for him? The familys criticism was echoed by similar statements made recently by a Lawrence police officer to the Globe. The Lawrence Police Department has not responded to these complaints, and it could not immediately be reached for comment. Over 1,000 migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean Sea between Sunday, December 4, and Monday, December 5, the Italian Coast Guard said. The crews also discovered 16 bodies on Sunday. The Italian Coast Guard ran nine rescue operations on Sunday, they said, recovering 791 people and 16 bodies. On Monday, 231 more people were rescued in four different operations. The video above shows migrants being rescued on Sunday. Credit: Youtube/Guardia Costiera via Storyful Certain people make gift buying easy. Maybe they mentioned something in passing months ago that got you thinking, or you saw a gift in a store and thought, "That's so Mom!" Others on your list may have you scratching your head. You'd love to get them that new flat-screen TV or laptop they've been eyeing, but let's be real times are tight, and the last thing you want to do is wind up in debt or fall behind on your bills, which can put a real strain on your credit score. (Not sure how your financial choices have affected your credit? You can find out by viewing two of your credit scores, updated every 14 days, for free on Credit.com.) To help you prepare for your holiday shopping, we've rounded up some of the best gifts for the loved ones on your list. All are under $100, so these will be gifts that can help you stick to your budget and keep your spending under control. 1. Fortune & Frame Envelope Key Chain A little something special for a special someone, this envelope keychain in high polished brass holds a fortune you can choose from a selection of fortunes or one you compose yourself (up to 95 characters). Get the key chain for $98 on Sucrenyc.com. 2. Print Art Kids Jigsaw Puzzle At least one person on your list loves puzzles, and what better puzzle than one emblazoned with your child's artwork? Print Art Kids makes all sorts of items out of kids' artwork, and the Jigsaw Puzzles are their newest. Score your masterpiece starting at $33 on PrintArtKids.com. 3. Tiny Prints Custom & Personalized Notebook Journaling is so personal, so why not give a personalized journal? The cover can be customized however you like, from a simple, sophisticated monogram in their favorite color to a photo collage, the possibilities are pretty much endless. Get yours on TinyPrints.com, starting at $14.99. 4. Kusmi Anastasia & Prince Vladimir Mug For the tea or coffee lover, these beautiful mugs, whimsically modeled after Russian nesting dolls, are available in an Anastasia or Prince Vladimir version. Dishwasher and microwave safe, they're available for $22.90 each on US-EN.KusmiTea.com. Story continues 5. Blink This wireless home security camera can be set up in a flash. Once motion is detected, Blink records HD video, which you can watch on your phone. You can also receive instant alerts on your smartphone or tablet using the free Blink app. Get Blink for $99 on Shop.BlinkforHome.com. 6. Duane Hybrid Briefcase For the commuter on your list, this versatile bag by Solo transforms from briefcase to shoulder bag to backpack, all in an instant. It's designed to hold laptops as large as 15.6" in a fully padded pocket, along with all the other essentials. The briefcase, part of the Urban Collection, is available for $50 on Solo.net. 7. coveRumps Trucker Hat Perfect for those who love lived-in things, these distressed trucker hats are just the ticket. They are super soft and look lovingly worn, and available in several colors with your choice of state emblem or pineapple. Score yours for $26.50 on Etsy.com/shop/coverumps. 8. Chuckit! Pro LX Launcher Dog lovers will dash out with Fido immediately after they open this awesome toy. Even when it gets dark, playtime continues, thanks for an integrated LED flashlight and ultra-reflective ball, which dogs can easily spot from over 50 yards away. Score your own Chuckit! for $27.99 on Petmate.com. 9. Epicurean Hexagonal Display Boards These gorgeous display boards, available in Slate and Walnut in three different sizes, can be mixed and configured to suit any gathering. They will surely be put to good use. Find the boards for $20 and up on Epicureancs.com. 10. Hand-Carved Serving Spoons If you're looking for a gift that will both be useful and help people in need, these olivewood serving spoons are a great option. For $75, you can get this set of serving spoons, which come in a hand-sewn African fabric gift bag. What you spend is considered a donation (which will go to help Kenyan orphans of the Kamba tribe) and is tax-deductible. You can get these spoons on Donate.WorldVision.org. 11. Madrona Hang-Out Lantern Perfect for the campsite or backyard, this lantern sits on its base on a flat surface or can be hung from a branch or a hook, thanks to its magnetic lanyard. The light intensity can be adjusted up to 300 lumens, and there's a blue light for a relaxing glow. (Don't forget the three D-cell batteries.) Find the lantern for $39.99 on UcoGear.com. 12. Hundred Headlamp Got a frequent camper on your list? They might like this colorful hands-free light next time they're at their favorite campsite. This headlamp comes in five cozy styles and can cycle through three different settings to suit all your lighting needs. Get yours for $29.99 on UCOGear.com. 13. Tasc Performance Base Layer In the cold winter months, any guy on your list will be happy to receive this long-sleeved top. It can be worn alone in moderate temperatures or as a cold-weather layer. The bamboo/merino wool/lycra spandex blend helps the wearer stay dry. Order the shirt for $90 on TascPerformance.com. 14. Armitron Men's Sport Camouflage Military Green Resin Digital Chronograph Watch This camouflage watch is not just for men it's so cool women's fashion editors love it as well. It's also highly functional, with day/date, chronograph, alarms and countdown features, and it's water resistant up to 330 feet. Find the watch for $35 on Armitron.com. 15. Gaea Black & White Gift Set The hand-painted bottles of this oil and vinegar set will add a dash of style to any countertop, and the single varietal olive oil from Crete and aged vinegar from Santorini is sure to delight the palate. Get the set for $30 on GaeaUS.com. 16. Kinivo BTH260 (V2) Premium Bluetooth Headphones These wireless Bluetooth headphones ensure access to tunes and hand-free calls almost anywhere. In addition to an impressive 25-hour rechargeable battery, the headphones are sweat-proof. Get them for $62.99 on NewEgg.com. You can see the rest of the 21 top holiday gifts under $100 for him or her on Credit.com. Photo credit: YouTube From Cosmopolitan According to the Providence Journal, Onasi Olio-Rojas crashed into a garbage truck on Route 6 in Rhode Island while going at least 100 miles per hour Thursday. After hitting the truck, the suspect's Honda Civic careened over three lanes and struck the highway's barrier. The 20-year-old was allegedly live-streaming himself driving on Facebook leading up to the crash. In the video (which has since been taken down, as has Olio-Rojass page), the suspect films himself listening and singing to music and flips the camera back and forth to the speedometer as he goes faster and switches quickly between lanes. The car is going as fast as 116 miles per hour before the video cuts off and Olio-Rojas allegedly hits the truck. Olio-Rojas was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries, but his condition has since been upgraded to fair. State police plan to arraign him when hes conscious. The truck driver was unharmed in the accident. WPRI reports Olio-Rojas has several previous traffic violations, including a citation for texting while driving. Though it's unconfirmed by authorities, ABC 6 reports Olio-Rojas may have been driving with a suspended license. Police also say theyve interviewed people who watched the stream of the crash in real time and that theyve requested an official copy of the video from Facebook to use it as evidence in court. Follow Tess on Twitter. You Might Also Like Netflix has big plans when it comes to adding more original content to its library. The company is planning to release about 20 unscripted series in 2017, according to Netflixs chief content officer Ted Sarandos. Netflix revealed Monday that the company would spend $6 billion on new programming next year, creating 1,000 hours of original programming and 20 unscripted shows, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Speaking to investors at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference, Sarandos talked about Netflixs upcoming competition show and a new model for the service. Sarandos couldnt help taking a dig at Amazon, the company behind Transparent and Mozart in the Jungle. Sarandos implied that Amazon was not gaining much traction despite a high level of spending. Amazon recently added HBO and Cinemax programming which Netflix doesnt offer for Prime members for an additional fee of $9.99 per month. Maybe it sells Prime memberships or other things Im not privy to, but right now it just looks like theyre spending a lot of money, Sarandos said at the event. Netflix currently has 30 original scripted series in development or release, and is planning to get into unscripted shows. Sarandos referred to unscripted programming as a very interesting business. He said that Netflix can come up with unique concepts and has the ability to scale its shows. The content itself seems to be largely interchangeable. Meaning, if you want to see a show about hoarding, there are three different shows about hoarding, said Sarandos, as reported by The Wrap. Sarandos also offered an update on Netflixs efforts in original content, including its investments in feature films. He said Adam Sandler films that Netflix made are quite popular, accounting for a third of subscriber viewing on Netflix, but didnt say how many people were watching them. Related Articles The crown that caps every bottle of Clive Christian perfume is not just a telling trait of noble quality, but a relic of a royal past. The 19th-century Crown Perfumery Company was granted permission to use the replica diadem of Queen Victoria by the Widow of Windsor herself. Today, the houses successorwhich is best known for No. 1, the worlds most expensive perfumecontinues to keep high society at its roots, as illustrated by its latest fragrance debut, Noble VII. In fact, according to the brands namesake, the very notion of owning a Clive Christian perfume itself comes with an elite badge of aristocracy. So, in the spirit of nobility and holiday giving, we checked in with Clive Christian to discuss the three things you should consider before gifting another fragrance, to ensure that your presents this year leave your loved ones feeling especially regal. High quality comes with a price tag. Clive Christian: Like everything else in life, when youre buying something that is important, see what you can afford. If you cant afford the best, then dont do that. If you can afford the best, then buy the very best that you can under all circumstances. Why would you buy something thats not as good if its available? Its more important, possibly, when youre buying for somebody else, because you can cope with a small mistake if youre buying for yourself. Its different with somebody else. My suggestion would be: buy Clive Christian. When in doubt, gift a classic. Clive Christian: The first thing youve got to decide is who youre buying it for. If youre buying it for a non-romantic interest, then you could pretty much give Clive Christian No. 1 to anybody, because it is a classic perfume for men and a classic perfume for women. Ive never had anybody say thats anything other than delightful. Of course, the quality is amazing and the packaging represents that. No. 1 is a very complicated, very expensive perfume. It may not be the perfume of life for somebody, but its an easy purchase. You know it will be well-received. Dont be afraid to stray from someones signature scent. Clive Christian: I think its an old-fashioned concept to have one perfume you wear all the time. One of anything for all time isnt going to work. Generally, somebody will lock on to a particular scent within a range. I would say, within Clive Christian, youll find something that you like. It is a house; we dont jump around with different smells that dont have any feel that work together. You will have a style that is likely to remain unchanged. Then, youll become a little bit of a connoisseur the more that you delve in. For example, I do like No. 1 for women, and I always have for the last 17 years, but that doesnt stop me [from] trying others and wearing others, because theres harmony within the house. More From Robbreport.com 3 Things To Consider Before Gifting Another Fragrance Spend Some Quality Time with This Yacht Designed by Mercedes-Benz Style Colossal Diamond Ring Tops $1.8 Million at Sothebys Sale Jewelry Designer Sharon Khazzam Allows Clients to Handpick Their Gems Walt Disneys Will Among Magic Kingdom Collectibles at Auction The Peninsula New York Debuts Fifth Avenue Suite The directive has been issued anticipating a possible scenario of shortage of cash that could result in longer than normal traffic at the toll plaza booths. By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) today issued an advisory to all the states to deploy adequate police force at toll plazas, to facilitate smooth passage of national highways users at all toll collection booths. The MHA Centre-state division asked the states to ensure availability and deployment of adequate officers and police forces so that no law and order situation arises across toll plazas. advertisement This directive was passed anticipating a possible scenario of shortage of currency notes that could result in longer than normal traffic at the toll plaza booths. The advisory has come as toll collection resumed across all the national highways on December 2. Also read: Toll plazas get long queues back with end of demonetisation freebies Several measures have been undertaken so that traffic runs smoothly at toll collection booth such as fee collection through credit/debit cards through point of sale system installed by the banks, usage of fee paid instruments, e-wallet, electronic toll collection and acceptance of old currency note of Rs 500 till the December 15 as a special case. This new directive to deploy police forces is an additional measure at toll collection booths to keep the situation under control. Also read: Government to pay Rs 500 crore to companies for loss due to toll suspension --- ENDS --- The rise in websites dispensing false information has become a problem for Facebook. But for one high school teacher, having students take misinformation at face value is nothing new -- though it's gotten worse. "I'm constantly got kids coming to me, 'Did you know?' insert whatever conspiracy theory," says Dave Stuart Jr., who teaches world history at Cedar Springs High School in Michigan. "Ranging from the Apollo missions to the moon never happened, to current events-related stuff." The Common Core standards focus strongly on skills that should prepare students to detect fake news -- the standards emphasize the need for students to write and read arguments using and looking for strong reasoning and evidence, says Dana Maloney, an English teacher at Tenafly High School in New Jersey. [How to talk to teens about being responsible on social media.] However, students overall aren't very good at evaluating the credibility of online information, according to a new study from researchers at Stanford University of middle school, high school and college students. "You cannot flourish in an information age if you are not able to discern the validity of information; you just can't do it," Stuart says. High school teachers can use some of the following tips from other educators to teach the media literacy and critical thinking skills needed to assess information. 1. Teach teens to question the source: Two key skills for students to have are to be able to question a source and to corroborate what is being presented with other sources when vetting credibility, Stuart says. Students should ask who wrote the information, when and where -- see if an author is even listed, he says. To corroborate, students could see what other articles say, if they agree and why or why not. "A problem -- not just with fake news but even biased news -- is we often just one stop shop for our news," he says. Just like students wouldn't corroborate what happened during a historical period by looking at one primary source document, he says, one shouldn't look at only one article for their news. Story continues 2. Help students identify credible sources: Tara Kajtaniak, an English teacher at Fortuna High School in California, trains her students to look for credible websites and sources. "I gave them a list of credible news sources, but I'm clear about their neutrality or lack thereof," she says. She also introduced her students to databases and how websites like Wikipedia and Quora work. "I'm like, 'I love Wikipedia, here's what I love about it. Here's why I never cite it in an academic paper,'" she says. Teaching students how to blog may help them become better at recognizing the quality of blogs as well, she says. [Get three tips for high school teachers to use social media responsibly in class.] 3. Give students regular opportunities to practice vetting information: "A standalone mini lesson that is never practiced again is ineffective," says Kajtaniak. These media literacy skills need to be taught in all subject areas -- not just English -- because students need to know how to evaluate sources of information in all content areas in age appropriate ways, she says. Stuart says one popular exercise is called " Article of the Week." Each week, students read and assess a recent news article. Teachers could also give students the chance to discuss these issues with each other, he says, and could have short pop-up debates on the validity of a set of sources, for example. "I think sometimes we don't give the kids enough credit -- that they could actually enjoy being given chances to critically assess the validity of sources," says Stuart. Have something of interest to share? Send your news to us at highschoolnotes@usnews.com. Alexandra Pannoni is an education digital producer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at apannoni@usnews.com. Photo credit: Nell Webbundefined From Woman's Day We may enter a relationship with high hopes and rose-colored glasses, but nobody's perfect. Most couples will run into a trust issue of some sort over the course of their relationship. The most common? "Cheating," says M. Gary Neuman, LMHC, creator of the Neuman Method. But that doesn't necessarily mean catching your husband in bed with another woman is the only thing that can cause a rift between you and your partner. "Trust is broken whenever there is lying that creates a shift in the couple's life," says Neuman. "Gambling, drug use, and even emotional and online infidelity often lead to severe trust issues." The fact is, all of the phones, laptops, and social networks we're glued to 24/7 provide ample opportunity for foul play. "It's more common now for affairs to be emotional-on social media, reconnecting with a high school sweetheart-or using office chat apps or email accounts to carry on a flirtation," says Dr. Vagdevi Meunier, PsyD, a Gottman Institute master therapist. "As Shirley Glass, author of Not Just Friends, has said, affairs are about access and opportunity." If trust has been broken between you and your partner, whether it was a physical affair, an emotional affair, or a gambling or drug habit, we've asked relationship experts to outline the exact steps you need to take if you want to work on rebuilding your relationship. Step One: Confrontation First things first (and no, we're not talking about yelling and screaming): Have the confrontation in person. "Once you've discovered the infidelity, you need to evaluate your partner's response," says Neuman. "Is he apologetic and remorseful, or confused and 'in love' with this other person?" Don't assume anything, fight via text or email, or make decisions about your future before having a face-to-face conversation. In addition to talking to your partner, "you'll feel a need to tell some people what happened because you'll need to vent," says Neuman. "But try to limit this sharing to those who will really be there for you and give you a safe space to share-NOT a lot of advice." The idea is to get support without being swayed one way or another. You also don't want to be sitting around the Thanksgiving table a year from now knowing that everyone in your family knows your dirty laundry. So be careful about who you tell, and how much you tell them. Story continues Finally, watch out for urges to "even the score" or make some questionable decisions of your own. "Don't create a toxic relationship by taking revenge, being vindictive, or bringing other people in," warns Meunier. In other words, reconnecting with your own high school sweetheart for comfort is not the best idea, nor is recruiting your in-laws to chastise your partner about what he did. Photo credit: undefined Step Two: Atonement This is a time for full transparency: "The person who made the choice to commit the act of betrayal should take time to understand the impact of his or her actions, tell the full story of the betrayal, and answer any questions their partner has," says Meunier. "Your spouse has to want to make this relationship work, be apologetic and-in the case of an affair-be willing to completely end it with the other woman," stresses Neuman. It's also a time for emotional support. It's not uncommon to lose sleep, stop eating, or even have trouble functioning after discovering an infidelity, so Meunier encourages the offending partner to "be available to support and comfort the hurt partner." Translation: He needs to be patient and kind and cater to you for a bit, not pop off angrily every time you want to talk about the issue. You also need to give yourself some extra love right now: "Practicing meditation, daily gratitude, reading books on affair recovery (the ones based on scientific research are best) yoga, and journaling are all good techniques," says Meunier. "I also encourage both partners to engage in light and easy activities that preserves a sense of continuity, fun, and a feeling of family. This can be as simple as having breakfast or dinner, watching a show on the couch together, or going grocery shopping. If there are children present, this is even more important." [contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Story" customtitles="23%20Things%20Spouses%20Hide%20From%20Each%20Other" customimages="" content="gallery.2623"] Step Three: Reconnecting Once you've talked through all the details of the betrayal and have decided to recommit to one another, it's time to start limiting how often you bring up the infidelity. "I encourage couples to only talk about the betrayal in the counselor's office, or to set a scheduled meeting, like lunch, to do this," says Meunier. "Avoid talking about it in closed intense environments such as the car or in the bedroom. Instead, go out on the porch-the fear of neighbors hearing will make both of you behave better." After you eliminate the constant "threat" environment that comes with discussing the issue, you can begin to learn how to be more connected and emotionally present with each other. How do you do that, exactly? "Once broken, trust has to be earned by small things each person does every day," says Meunier. It's about consistency and kindness: Be home when you say you will, avoid that work event where you know the affair partner might be, and give regular, sincere compliments to build back your partner's self-esteem. It may take time, but if your partner is willing to show you he is committed and consistent in his actions, he'll slowly earn back your trust. This isn't always easy-the betraying partner has more of a burden during this time, explains Meunier-but if he sticks it out, you'll see results. And remember, the effort shouldn't feel one-sided: "Eventually both people need to be making small gestures of kindness," adds Meunier. [contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Story" customtitles="Men%20Cheat%20Because%20They%20Crave%20Praise" customimages="" content="article.55871"] Step Four: Building a New Relationship At this point, you're building a brand new emotional, physical, and social contract for the relationship. You're connecting in a more honest way, asking for what you really need, and, "Doing whatever is necessary to affair-proof your relationship going forward," says Meunier. The key here on out is positive responses: "We use a term developed by Dr. Gottman called turning towards," says Meunier. "Intimacy is built by repeated experiences of one partner bidding for their partner's attention or affection and receiving a positive response," says Meunier. When you receive consistent, positive reactions from one another in everyday life, trust returns. Here's an example: "If the betraying spouse says 'Will you watch Real Housewives with me?' I want the hurt partner to say 'yes' not because they suddenly forgive their partner or love the show, but because they recognize that it costs nothing to sit quietly next to someone and watch a television show, and that doing so gives them points in the emotional bank account. Similarly, if the hurt spouse calls while you're apart and says 'Can you turn on Facetime and show me who is in the room with you?' I encourage the betraying partner to do that whenever possible. Not ignoring your partner, not rejecting each other, and being kind are all ways we build a sense of normalcy and safety, which in turn builds trust." For further reading, check out: The Gottman Institute The Center for Relationships in Austin, Texas The Neuman Method You Might Also Like Selling your house in Austin, Texas, for the highest price involves more than a "for sale" sign and a signature. From marketing to pricing to educating, sellers need a knowledgeable, trustworthy real estate agent in their corner to help them make informed decisions. Asking the right questions can help you find an agent who best fits your needs -- and who will help you quickly grab an excellent offer. "There are three primary pillars -- price, promotion and product -- that must be aligned to have selling success. When you're interviewing agents, ask questions that revolve around these pillars," says Chris Watters, Realtor, broker and owner at Watters International Realty. To help you find an agent you trust, U.S. News spoke with some of Austin's top real estate agents, as listed by real estate technology company OpenHouse Realty (a U.S. News partner), to gather insight about what questions sellers should ask when interviewing potential agents. [Read: 5 Up-and-Coming Neighborhoods in Austin to Buy a Home.] How successful have you been with other sellers in my area? Real estate is a local business, and your agent needs to know who's buying in your area, alternate spots buyers are considering and competition in surrounding neighborhoods. Look for a full-time agent who has strong sales results in your neighborhood. "Experience is important -- not just by years, but by the number of transactions the agent's been involved with in your particular area," explains Matt Menard, Realtor and partner at Austin Real Estate Experts. "The stakes are high and you want someone with expertise." Menard also advises asking if they've ever had complaints filed against them with the state real estate commission. Successful agents know their sales numbers inside and out, and should be able to tell you what their sold price (as a percentage of the list price) is on average. It also should be clear how their stats, like the number of days their properties spend on the market, compare to the local board of Realtors' average numbers. Story continues Don't get caught up on accolades or big-name brokerages. "Realtors love to tout awards, but what do they do for the consumer?" Watters says. "Many new agents work for big-box brands because they have no experience and want to leverage the name to look better than they are." What's your recommended list price? When it comes to price, sellers should ask about what comparable properties have sold for and where the market is going in their location and price range. Watters suggests finding an agent who sees the historical data, but who also has a laser focus on the absorption rate -- or the amount of available inventory -- for your price bracket. [Read: 5 Ways to Sell Your House in Austin Fast.] If an agent suggests your home is worth more than you think, he or she may be only telling you what you want to hear. Bounce the number off at least one other agent to see if the value sticks. On the other hand, if you think your property is worth more than the market suggests, expect the agent to have a conversation about setting realistic expectations that are backed up with facts from previous sales in your area. Signing with an agent who has financial knowledge also helps once potential buyers get serious. Menard says the agent should be able to evaluate the risks, advantages and likelihood of success of each offer. How are you going to market my home? Marketing your home means professional photography and staging, syndicated listings and maximizing the number of online impressions to drive as much traffic as possible to the listing. "If an agent doesn't have a formal listing presentation, let them go," Watters says. "They should sit down in a consultative manner to find out your goals and educate you about the marketplace. Then, they should be transparent by showing you the exact marketing plan they'll utilize to sell the home." It's critical to select an agent who has an online and offline marketing plan plus the financial resources to market your home on third-party sites like Zillow, Realtor.com and Trulia. For an additional fee, these sites will rank your listing at the top of the search results and won't limit the amount of uploaded photos. How are we going to communicate? Ask potential real estate agents how often they expect to communicate with you during the selling process and make sure it matches your expectations. "Good communication skills are helpful, and knowledge equals credibility," Menard says. "People make the mistake of listing with the first person they meet, and if they sound experienced, have good results and a good plan, they're probably fine. But if the agent doesn't have you feeling like this is the person for you, talk to someone else." [Read: 5 Things to Know About Selling a Home in Austin.] Watters says the most successful real estate agents he's brought into the company come from a consultative background and listen 80 percent of the time while talking 20 percent. Finding a real estate agent who asks relevant questions and connects frequently with you is crucial. Looking for a real estate agent in Austin? U.S. News' Find an Agent tool can match you with the person who's most qualified for the job. Mandy Ellis is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Find her on her website. Hoping Santa will bring you a new career for Christmas? Wishing for a professional change is easy -- but taking action to land a new job is grueling work. Often, job seekers start off with a bang, but what can you do when your efforts fail to get results? Here are four things you can do today to revive a stalled search. First, do you have a thesis (and is it realistic)? Most job seekers stagnate because they don't have a clear idea about how their background makes them an ideal employee. In high school and college, the papers that get an A are the ones with a clear thesis and ample evidence that supports the point of view. The same is true in job searching. If you cannot communicate (through your resume, profile and interview) why you are a good hire -- trust me, employers won't be able to figure it out either. Clarity of purpose and value are key to a successful search. Also, your goal or goals should be realistic. For example, if you are returning to work and your skills require some updating, targeting a role at the most in-demand, cutting-edge tech firm is not highly probable. It might happen, but you have many more barriers than you might with more reasonable expectations. A great way to test your expectations is to look at job descriptions online for desired roles. If your background is a 70 to 80 percent match, the role is on target. If you are less than 60 percent qualified, convincing a manager that you are a fit will require savvy networking and ample preparation. If you aren't up for that challenge or are finding the results lacking, time to adjust your targets. [See: 10 Things New Grads Can Do Right Now to Get a Job.] Next, are you using the best tools? Your resume and your LinkedIn profile are the first things almost every potential employer reviews before deciding to request an interview. If you aren't getting any requests for interviews, there is a strong possibility that your resume and online presence are lacking. A common pitfall is displaying a lack of attention to detail, with typos, misspellings, not capitalizing proper nouns, inconsistent formatting, poor word choices and an overall disorganized layout. Using a variety of font types or point sizes and having no strategy regarding spacing can be very distracting to the reader. Online, the same care and proofreading is also essential. Often, people throw together a LinkedIn profile quickly. With over 467 million users on LinkedIn, a carelessly created profile can scare off hiring managers even if you have a well-crafted resume. Having an outdated or nonexistent presence online can deter recruiters who are looking for more savvy job seekers. Avoiding or dismissing online job searching is a mistake no job seeker should make. Take the time to make sure you have an impressive presence on the web. [See: 8 Things That Are More Productive Than Staring at a Job Board.] Third, do you have ample prospects? Looking for a job should mirror being in a sales role. In the technology industry, for example, sales reps are expected to reach out to 50 or more prospects every day to create a productive funnel of business. While it is unlikely that you may have 250 positions to apply to every week, the average job seeker feels disappointed after applying to three to five positions without getting hired. That is only 1 percent of the activity expected of many sales professionals. To increase your prospects, make a list of people who think highly of you and would be willing to help you. You should have at least 20 people (and ideally many more). Contact your network and describe your career goal, such as, "I am looking for an accounting assistant role near San Jose, California." Ask if they have any advice regarding companies that are hiring or additional people with whom you should network. Write down everything they suggest. Resist the urge to argue about the validity of the advice or to tell them a sad story of all the things you have tried. Be positive, attentive and thankful. Conduct these meeting in person or over the phone if you can. This is not a mass email. Now, add all of their suggestions to your list of contacts. [See: How to Follow Up on a Job Application Without Being Annoying.] Fourth, and most importantly, take action. Every day, great prospective employees stall because they won't act. Apply to jobs, follow up on your applications, ask for advice, take the advice, proactively reach out to companies that align with your goals. Do more. Relying on only the most obvious job-search path means you must compete with the greatest amount of applicants. Less than 50 percent of positions are ever posted on a job board or company website. Proactively networking for your next role makes a significant difference and can help you stand out from other applicants. Furthermore, your willingness to act tells an employer that you are a problem-solver. Managers want someone who will get things done on their team. Looking for a new position can take a toll on even the most confident person's self-esteem. Instead of letting the lack of success get to you, think of your search just like a sales professional builds his pipeline. Know how to articulate your value, have the best marketing materials ready to go (your resume, online profile), build a diverse prospect list and then take action. In summary, polite persistence pays off. Having an action-oriented plan in place can renew your confidence and reignite a stalled search. Robin Reshwan is the founder of Collegial Services, a consulting and staffing firm that connects college students and business professionals with the organizations that hire them. She has interviewed, placed and hired thousands of people across a broad spectrum of companies and industries. She is a Careers contributor for USNews.com and her career tips and advice are used by universities, national clubs, associations and businesses. A Certified Professional Resume Writer, Robin has been honored as a Professional Business Woman of the Year by the American Business Women's Association. Investing hard-earned money can cause investors' emotions to run high, often creating a wall of worry that can actually hinder rather than help their financial security. In the months leading up to this presidential election, many investors were tempted to allow their worries surrounding the race to cloud their judgment and push them into decisions or actions that didn't fit with their long-term financial plan, such as selling off stocks or stockpiling cash. On the night of Nov. 8, when it became clear that Donald Trump was the surprise winner, Dow futures plunged more than 800 points. Sell-off participants were quick to say "I told you so," but in fact the market's reaction to the election results swiftly reversed. The next morning and days following, the stock market surged, and investors who had dumped their stocks in the weeks, months, or even during overnight hours on election night were unable to benefit from the rally. [See: 8 Ways President Donald Trump Will Affect Wall Street.] The presidential election in the U.S. and the "Brexit" vote in the U.K. are stark reminders that despite what political surprises lurk, investors must remember not to let short-term market events impact their long-term financial thinking. In the end, staying the course and focusing on quality investments is the best protection from the unexpected. While you might already be planning for the many decisions the new administration will make in the coming months from trade agreements to health care, there are several actions you can take now that will help secure your financial future regardless of how the next presidency plays out. Evaluate your investment strategy with fresh eyes. Take the time to ensure your portfolio aligns with your risk tolerance and financial goals. This should be a regular exercise to confirm your desired and actual risk remain in balance, and that you and your financial advisor are on the same page. The level of risk you want in your portfolio will likely shift as you get older, as young investors tend to begin with a somewhat aggressive asset allocation and gradually transition to a more conservative mix as they approach their retirement years. Story continues [See: 7 of the Best Stocks to Buy for 2017.] Assess your retirement savings and consider tax diversification. If you have already been contributing money to a retirement plan each month, see if you can increase the percentage of each paycheck that is put toward your nest egg. If you aren't already contributing to a retirement plan, start now. Discuss your plan with your employer and decide on a certain amount to set aside each month. If your company offers an employer match, make sure to contribute enough to receive the maximum match. For individuals who don't have an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan, there are other suitable retirement savings options such as an individual retirement account. Regardless of which plan you use, make sure you're aware of its tax implications. A 401(k) and IRA are tax-deferred, but Roth IRA contributions are made with after-tax dollars so account withdrawals do not incur a tax penalty. You may want to consider contributing to more than one account and diversifying your tax treatments, which could help prepare you for emergencies or other unexpected events. Give your emergency fund some extra padding. If the election was a shock to you, a helpful reaction is to build up your emergency fund. Ideally, you should have three months of your salary set aside at a minimum, but it's always a good idea to have more in order to prepare you for possible events like job loss or changes to health care plans. Focus on your own financial situation before helping others. In uncertain times, it is more important than ever to get your own finances in order before helping other loved ones. As they say before takeoff, "secure your own oxygen mask before assisting others." It can appear essential to focus efforts on saving for a child's college tuition or providing financial support to elderly parents, particularly for members of the sandwich generation. However, make sure you are well-positioned for retirement and pay off any student loans or consumer debt before offering financial aid to family or friends. [See: 11 Tips for the Sandwich Generation: Paying for College and Retirement.] In a world where much is unclear, one thing is certain: investors who remain focused on their long-term investment strategy in spite of rattling short-term market events will be rewarded for their patience. Masood Vojdani is a contributor to The Smarter Investor blog, and founder and CEO of MV Financial, an asset management firm based in Bethesda, Maryland. MV Financial provides investment and advisory services to retail and institutional clients. At the Wharton School, graduates earn significantly more than the national average starting salary. (Credit: AP /Beth J. Harpaz) With college tuition more expensive than ever, many students decide to major in a subject thats likely to earn them a decent starting salary: business. In fact, business is the most popular major in the US, according to the Department of Education. In an inaugural list, Poets & Quants, a publication that covers business schools, ranked undergraduate business programs on admissions standards, the academic experience as judged by alumni, and employment outcomes. The study revealed eight undergraduate business programs whose graduates earn an average starting salary of $70,000, which is at least $20,000 more than average college grad starts out making in the US. Here are those schools: One of the nations most competitive undergraduate business programs, Wharton has an acceptance rate of just 9% which is even lower than the acceptance rate for Harvards MBA program. It is also the only undergraduate business program to boast an elected president as an alumnus: Donald J. Trump. Berkeleys undergraduate business school has an even lower acceptance rate of 8.22%, though students dont begin taking courses at the school until their junior year. Among Berkeleys most recent innovations is a dual degree program in engineering and computer science and business that is accepting applications for 2017. Tepper may have been ranked 24th on the publications overall school list, but the business school students are extremely experienced 98% have completed an internship by graduation. The undergraduate school has also seen its population nearly double since 2012 as the result of new space being added. With a 16.5% acceptance rate, Ross is one of the most selective undergraduate business schools in the country and is only getting more selective. Starting in the fall, the school will expand its undergraduate program from three years to four, meaning more freshmen will be involved in the business school right away. Story continues McIntire students are not only well compensated, but they are quickly compensated 94% of the Class of 2016 was employed within 90 days of graduation. The school ranks 8th on Poets & Quants overall list of undergraduate business schools. Sterns proximity to Wall Street less than three miles away gives the undergraduate business school a definite advantage for students looking to take internships close to the action. The school, ranked No. 9 on Poets & Quants list, has extensive international programs and is one of the only schools to offer a degree in business and political economy. Cornell University, Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics & Management $70,552 Dyson originated as part of a land-grant agricultural school more than 100 years ago and has since evolved into the most selective undergraduate business school in the world, with fewer than 7% of applicants accepted to the program. This year Cornell merged Dyson with its School of Hotel Administration and the Johnson Graduate School of Management in a controversial reorganization. Located in downtown LA, Marshall has a unique internationally focused curriculum in its World Bachelor in Business Program. The joint program has students studying around the globe at USC, HKUST Business School in Hong Kong, and Universita Bocconi in Milan, Italy. Check out Poets & Quants full ranking here. Photo credit: Twitter From Cosmopolitan At least nine people died in a blaze that broke out during a party in a warehouse late Friday night in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to fire officials. Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloche-Reed says at least another 13 people are unaccounted for as of Saturday morning. The fire started about 11:30 p.m. Friday. It tore through the building during an event featuring musician Golden Donna's 100% Silk West Coast tour, the East Bay Times reports. Oakland firefighters tweeted video of flames pushing through the roof. Fire officials said the building had no sprinklers. Authorities told KTVU-TV about 50 people were inside the building, which houses a group of artists and their studios. "It was too hot, too much smoke, I had to get out of there," Bob Mule, a photographer and artist who lives at the building and suffered minor burns, told the East Bay Times. "I literally felt my skin peeling and my lungs being suffocated by smoke. I couldn't get the fire extinguisher to work." People used a Facebook page Saturday to post and seek information on family and friends who may have been in the building. Oakland police urged those concerned about missing people to call the Alameda County Sheriff's Coroner's Bureau at 510-382-3000. The office said the coroners were also at the scene Saturday morning and unavailable for comment. Update 12/3/16, 12:25 p.m. EST: Authorities say arson investigators and other fire experts will comb through the wreckage of a deadly fire in Oakland, California, but the burn site is not considered a crime scene. Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly says Saturday that fire investigations must start out looking at worst-case scenarios. The blaze broke out about 11:30 p.m. Friday, and officials have confirmed nine deaths. They fear up to 40 more could have died. Authorities are working to verify who was in the building when the blaze broke out. Terry Ewing says his girlfriend was at the party and is missing. He went to a sheriff's office building Saturday to await information. He says he didn't know about the party and that he learned of the fire from friends who came to his house. Story continues Update 12/4/16, 1 p.m. EST: Officials have confirmed 24 dead, with more still missing. We anticipate the number of victims will rise, said Alameda County Sheriffs Sgt. Ray Kelly. You Might Also Like Photo credit: Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved From Cosmopolitan During a "thank you" rally in Cincinnati on Thursday, president-elect Donald Trump announced that he would be appointing retired Marine Gen. James Mattis as head of the Department of Defense. BREAKING: Trump announces James Mattis pick for Secretary of Defense during Cincinnati "Thank You" rally https://t.co/8g1P3El17G - MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 2, 2016 "We are going to appoint Mad Dog Mattis as our Secretary of Defense," he said. "But we're not announcing it till Monday, so don't tell anyone - Mad Dog. He's great. He is great." And on January 20th, mere hours following Trump's inauguration, the Senate confirmed Mattis's nomination. Here are just a few things you should know about Trump's latest Cabinet pick. 1. He served in the Marine Corps for four decades before retiring in 2013. NBC reports that Mattis is perhaps best known for leading the 1st Marine Division's "rapid drive into Baghdad" during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. He served as the 11th commander of the U.S. Central Command from 2010 to 2013, and previously commanded the U.S. Joint Forces Command while concurrently serving as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation. During the Iraq War, along with the 1st Marine Division, Mattis also commanded the I Marine Expeditionary Force and U.S. Marine Forces Central Command. There's actually a technicality here, because Mattis is required to have been retired for at least seven years before taking the job - but he'll easily get that waived, especially given his impressive military resume. 2. He considered running for president as an independent. Mattis was courted by conservatives wanting to counter Trump's ascent during the general election and reportedly gave a presidential bid serious consideration before ultimately deciding not to run. Story continues 3. He has admitted he enjoys "brawling" with the enemy of war and once said, "It's fun to shoot some people." "Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight," he said during a 2005 forum about war strategies in San Diego. "You know, it's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up-front with you, I like brawling. You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them" Another time, he told a group of Iraqi commanders, "The first time you blow someone away is not an insignificant event. That said, there are some assholes in the world that just need to be shot." 4. His nickname is "Mad Dog Mattis." He's earned the nickname in part due to his straight-talking personality, "combative nature," and the fact that he openly discusses the brutality of war - for better or worse. However, he's reportedly not a huge fan of the nickname, which NBC reports is likely because it suggests he's far less strategy-focused and cerebral than he really is. 5. He's also known as the "Warrior Monk" because of his love for military strategy. Mattis has essentially dedicated his whole life to the army, and according to ABC, "is known for a singular focus on military history, tactics and strategy, traits that, along with his unmarried status, led to his Warrior Monk nickname." Mattis has an extensive library and is himself a writer, and has always valued the importance of strategy over all else. Multiple sources report that he has famously told his Marines, "The most important six inches on the battlefield is between your ears." In a letter to the 1st Marine Division, he wrote, "You are part of the world's most feared and trusted force. Engage your brain before you engage your weapon." 6. He's a favored pick for Democrats and Republicans alike. In an interview with NPR, Michele Flournoy - who served in President Barack Obama's Defense Department and was rumored to be the top pick for Secretary of Defense if Hillary Clinton had won the election - praised Mattis as a wonderful choice for the role. "General Mattis is a storied and much respected military leader," she said. He's a student of history. He's a strategic thinker, and he also has real passion for, you know, the care of the men and women in the U.S. military and their families. So, you know, I think he would be an outstanding candidate." 7. He takes a strong stance on Iran. During his time as the 11th commander of the U.S. Central Command, Mattis butted heads with President Barack Obama over his Iran policy and was extremely vocal about his disapproval over the president's decision to agree to the Iranian nuclear deal. "The Iranian regime, in my mind, is the single most enduring threat to stability and peace in the Middle East," he said during an April Washington think tank. "Among all the issues facing us in the Middle East, I think Iran is actually foremost. And yet at the same time, it appears here in Washington that weve forgotten how to keep certain issues foremost." 8. He's currently a fellow at Stanford University. Mattis is Stanford University's Davies Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, as part of the "Military History/Contemporary Conflict Working Group" research team. He is currently studying national security issues with a focus on "strategy, innovation, the effective use of military force, and the Middle East," while also working on a book about leadership. 9. He co-wrote the Counterinsurgency Field Manuel with Army Gen. David Petraeus. As Slate reports, Mattis and Petraeus pushed for the creation of the Army/Marine Counterinsurgency Field Manuel in 2006 as a guide for troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. According to the U.S. Government Counterinsurgency Guide, "Counterinsurgency (COIN) is the blend of comprehensive civilian and military efforts designed to simultaneously contain insurgency and address its root causes. Unlike conventional warfare, non-military means are often the most effective elements, with military forces playing an enabling role." Essentially, the field manual encourages using less force in the short-term at a higher risk in order to establish longer-term relations with civilians that could benefit military efforts in the long run. 10. He has reportedly clashed with Trump's transition team. According to the Washington Post, Mattis and Trump's transition team have clashed over candidates for the top roles in the Department of Defense. Trump's team reportedly had people in mind for those positions and are not open to the idea of "Never Trump" Republicans, but Mattis thought he would have significant influence in the selections. Mattis was not happy that Trump announced Vincent Viola as secretary of the army without his input, CNN reported. Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer responded to the Washington Post story, tweeting, "Great transition at DoD. Reports to contrary completely false and come from sources who do not have any knowledge of our transition efforts." Follow Gina on Twitter. You Might Also Like Last Friday, Accenture Plc ACN, the global IT services provider, announced that it has completed the acquisition of Defense Point Security, LLC DPS. However, the financial details of the transaction were kept under wraps. The two companies had entered into an acquisition deal in October. The move marks Accentures efforts toward improving its government security portfolio. Based in Alexandria, VA, the privately held cybersecurity company, DPS, was founded in 2007. DPS is well known for providing advanced cyber defense solutions to the U.S. federal government. Additionally, it specializes in providing advanced Security Operations Center (SOC) expertise, cyber operations, security engineering and cyber analytics to the same. With the successful completion of the acquisition, DPS has now become a wholly owned subsidiary of Accenture Federal Services (AFS). The company claims that its federal business has served every cabinet-level department and 30 of matt the largest federal organizations. The latest acquisition is expected to expand Accentures federal services capabilities as well as strengthen its leadership position in providing cybersecurity solutions to the U.S. federal departments. As per David Moskovitz, chief executive at Accenture Federal Services, The addition of DPS specialized cyber defense tools and methodologies, together with our powerful client insights, will further propel our strategy to be a leading provider of end-to-end, federal enterprise security services. Acquisitions A Key Growth Strategy Accenture pursues strategic acquisitions to diversify its offerings and expand operating markets. So far this year, the company has either completed or has signed about 12 acquisition deals across various business segments, including IT security, CRM capabilities and strategy consulting. Last year, it had closed 21 takeovers. These acquisitions have enabled Accenture to foray into newer markets, diversify and broaden the product portfolio, and maintain its leading position. A strong cash balance of $3.50 billion and an operating cash flow of $2.52 billion at the end of third-quarter fiscal 2016 are expected to support Accentures inorganic growth strategy. Story continues Bottom Line Accentures long-term prospects look promising due to its sustained focus on new and innovative product launches, continuous investments in enhancing digital and marketing capabilities, as well as major acquisitions. Moreover, we believe that regular acquisitions will significantly contribute to the company's revenue stream. Notably, shares of Accenture have been steadily treading higher on a year-to-date basis. The stock generated a return of 12.2%, which outperformed the Zacks Consulting industrys gain of 11%. Currently, Accenture carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. A few other stocks worth considering in the broader technology sector are Cirrus Logic Inc. CRUS, FormFactor Inc. FORM and NVE Corporation NVEC, all sporting a Zacks Rank #1. Cirrus Logic witnessed upward estimate revisions in the last 60 days and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate thrice in the trailing four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 53.68%. Estimates for FormFactor also moved up in the last 60 days. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate thrice in the trailing four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 21.97%. NVE Corp. witnessed upward estimate revisions in the last 60 days and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate thrice in the trailing four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 8.77%. The Best Place to Start Your Stock Search Today, you are invited to download the full list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 ""Strong Buy"" stocks absolutely free of charge. Since 1988, Zacks Rank #1 stocks have nearly tripled the market, with average gains of +26% per year. Plus, you can access the list of portfolio-killing Zacks Rank #5 ""Strong Sells"" and other private research. See these stocks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report FORMFACTOR INC (FORM): Free Stock Analysis Report CIRRUS LOGIC (CRUS): Free Stock Analysis Report NVE CORP (NVEC): Free Stock Analysis Report ACCENTURE PLC (ACN): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research LONDON (Reuters) - The Twitter account of a seven-year-old Syrian girl, who garnered followers worldwide with her updates from Aleppo, has become inactive on the micro-blogging site as government forces advance into the city's rebel-controlled areas. Bana Alabed, whose @AlabedBana account was managed by her mother Fatemah, had close to 200,000 followers since joining the social media site in September. She posted pictures and videos of life during the nearly six-year conflict. Last week, Fatemah posted tweets, including a picture of Bana covered in dust, describing the bombardment of their house as government forces advanced on the eastern rebel-held parts of the city. She later told Reuters the family were staying with neighbours while they looked for another house. On Sunday, she told her followers in a tweet: "We are sure the army is capturing us now. We will see each other another day dear world. Bye. -Fatemah #Aleppo". Reuters could not immediately independently verify what was described in the tweet. A search for the account on Monday revealed a message saying the page no longer existed, drawing concern from other Twitter users who began using the hashtag #WhereIsBana. Residents of eastern Aleppo say communicating with the outside world has grown more difficult as Internet services have been knocked out during government advances. "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, who together with her agent sent Bana eBooks about the boy wizard, also retweeted messages about Bana's account going silent. Syrian government forces and their allies advanced into another rebel-held part of eastern Aleppo, a rebel official and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday, as the army drew closer to opposition-held parts of the Old City. (Reporting by George Sargent and Eleanor Whalley; writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; editing by Mark Heinrich) The memorandum submitted to the deputy governor said that the move has caused frustration, mental agony and trauma to the a common man. By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: Citing large scale hardships to a common man, a delegation of Shiv Sena MPs met RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi on Monday evening demanding active measures to ease out the chaos, post demonetisation. The delegation also submitted a memorandum to the RBI Governor. The memorandum said that the move has caused frustration, mental agony and trauma to the people, who have been restrained to withdraw their legitimate money from their bank accounts, and has resulted in more than 80 deaths till date. advertisement The Shiv Sena also raised the issue of the district co-opertive banks in the memorandum. "371 district co-operative banks, the backbone of the rural economy, too have suffered serious setback as the RBI circular restrained co-operative banks from conducting their banking operations. Recently, the Bombay High Court has observed that some arrangements need to be created to address the plight of DCCB following demonetisation," reads the letter. The Shiv Sena also attacked the BJP by quoting former PM Manmohan Singh in its memorandum. The letter said, "Eminent economist like Dr. Amartya Sen, Dr. Manmohan singh and many others have questioned the wisdom of the Government in playing demonetisation gamble. Government has sighted long term gain out of demonetisation measures but as observed by Dr. Manmohan Singh in his remarks "In the long run we all are dead" needs serious thinking on the part of the government." Speaking to reporters after the brief meeting with the deputy governor, Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar said, "Prime minister had urged thepeople of the nation for 50 days timeframe to streamline the currency circulation. The countdown has already begun as 27 days out of 50 have passed by and 23 days are left for the government to put the derailed economy back on tracks and restore normalcy." "If things are not normalised, no doubt the government will be responsible, but we as Shiv Sena too will be responsible as we are also a constituent supporting the government," added Kirtikar. --- ENDS --- By Harriet McLeod CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - Accused white supremacist Dylann Roof got his attorneys back on Monday, after changing his mind about representing himself in the first phase of his federal trial for the shooting deaths of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church last year. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel on Monday granted a request that Roof had filed through a handwritten motion on Sunday. The 22-year-old facing the death penalty indicated that he wanted his defense team restored at least temporarily, and that he later wished to represent himself during the trial's sentencing phase. Roof's decision was "knowing, intelligent, voluntary and timely," Gergel said in a court in Charleston, South Carolina, where Roof stood before him in a gray and white prison jumpsuit. Roof faces 33 counts of hate crimes, obstruction of religion and firearms charges stemming from the shooting, which occurred during a Bible study session at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June 2015. On Wednesday, attorneys will begin the final phase of jury selection, picking 12 jurors and six alternates who will hear the case. Attorneys expect the first phase of the trial, in which the jury weighs guilt, to last about a week, followed by the sentencing phase, which is expected to take some time. Roof would plead guilty if federal prosecutors agreed to a sentence of life in prison without parole, his lawyers said previously. Prosecutors, who say he planned the attack for months, have refused. The massacre of the nine churchgoers, gunned down after welcoming a stranger into their prayer group, shocked Americans of all races and sparked debate about race relations in the country. Roof requested to represent himself throughout the trial when final jury selection began last week. But on Sunday, he wrote that he had changed his mind at least temporarily. "Can you let me have them back for the guilt phase, and then let me represent myself for the sentencing phase of the trial?" Roof wrote in ink on lined notebook paper. Story continues Gergel, in granting the motion, advised Roof to keep his representation through sentencing. Roof's attorneys indicated in court filings last week that he wants to suppress evidence during sentencing. While details about his mental health were not publicly disclosed, his attorneys cited media reports that noted delusions suffered by many defendants with paranoid schizophrenia, who may desire to die. Gergel said he would not weigh in on the defense dispute. Roof also faces the death penalty in a state murder trial set to begin early next year. (Writing by Letitia Stein; Editing by James Dalgleish) This adorable 9-year-old girl just won a major award, and we applaud her Last night, the British Independent Film Awards were held in London, honoring the best of independent filmmaking in Britain. American Honey took home the Best Independent Film award, but the biggest surprise of the evening came from the film Under the Shadow. Under the Shadow is a Farsi-language horror film that follows a mother and daughter as they cope with the terrors of post-revolution Tehran in the 1980s and a mysterious evil force starts to take over their house. The films director, Babak Anvari won awards for screenplay and best debut director. But the young 9-year-old actress who starred in the film, Avin Manshadi, took home a prize as well. The adorable Avin Manshadi took home the prize for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Under the Shadow. The British Independent Film Awards - Winners Eeeee! Isnt she just the sweetest? Avin was clearly proud of her prize, and she should be! This was only her first film, and shes already got some fabulous bling to show for it. Avin was also clearly as adorable in the film as she was at the awards. Those gorgeous eyes! We can see a great career ahead of her. And Avin looked fabulous in this black dress with flowers around the hemline. The British Independent Film Awards - Arrivals The Peter Pan collar and bow add the perfect bit of detail to the top. We really hope that dress come in adult sizes! Were so proud of this little cutie for taking home a big win. We hope to see more of Avin in the future! The post This adorable 9-year-old girl just won a major award, and we applaud her appeared first on HelloGiggles. The German government pleaded for calm on Monday after the arrest of a teenage Afghan asylum seeker for the alleged rape and murder of a German student triggered fresh criticism of the country's liberal refugee policy. The anti-migrant AfD party blamed the crime on the "uncontrolled" influx of foreigners, while the head of a police union warned of the "dangers that always go along with massive immigration". But Chancellor Angela Merkel warned against "rejecting an entire group". "If it turns out that it was an Afghan refugee, well then it's absolutely condemnable, as any other murder would be," she told public broadcaster ARD. Likewise, Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said the murder of the 19-year-old medical student should not be used to whip up hatred against all refugees. "Such horrible murders already happened before the first Afghan or Syrian refugee arrived here," Gabriel told the Bild newspaper. "We will not allow incitement after such violent crimes, no matter who commits them." The 17-year-old suspect, who arrived in Germany in 2015 as an unaccompanied minor, was arrested in the southwestern town of Freiburg on Friday after his DNA was found at the crime scene and he was identified on CCTV. The victim was found dead on a river bank on October 16. An autopsy found that she had drowned. News of the arrest triggered strong reaction on social media with some people saying an ironic "thank you" to Merkel, whose open-door asylum policy brought a record number of migrants and refugees into Germany last year. - 'Warnings written off' - The chairman of the DPoIG police union, Rainer Wendt, said the killing could have been prevented. "We wouldn't have this victim, and so many others, if our country had been better prepared for the dangers that always go along with massive immigration," he told Bild. AfD co-chief Joerg Meuthen, whose party has made gains on rising discontent over the flood of refugees, said: "We are shocked by this crime and at the same time we see that our warnings about the uncontrolled arrival of hundreds of thousands of young men from Islamic-patriarchal cultures are written off as populist." Story continues Germany received 890,000 asylum requests in 2015, although that rate slowed to 213,000 from January to September 2016 following a deal with Turkey and a series of border closures on the Balkan route. Public anger about the refugee arrivals has been stoked by some high-profile crimes involving migrants. During the last New Year's Eve celebrations, hundreds of women reported sexual assaults in Cologne and other German cities, with the attacks blamed largely on Arab and North African men. JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African police watchdog has recommended that suspended national commissioner Riah Phiyega be deemed unfit to hold office and dismissed, the City Press weekly newspaper reported on Sunday. Phiyega was the country's top-ranking police official when police killed 34 striking workers near Lonmin's Marikana mine in 2012. She was suspended by South African President Jacob Zuma last year pending an inquiry into allegations of misconduct. Reuters was not able to contact Phiyega for immediate comment but her lawyer, Sandile July, told the eNCA channel: "We have no idea what is in the report", declining to make further comment. The police shootings were South Africa's worst since the end of apartheid and have become known as the "Marikana massacre". The Democratic Alliance, the official opposition party, said in a statement that the report recommending Phiyega's dismissal should be produced in parliament, adding that reports indicated that it has been ready since November 13. Zuma appointed Phiyega in June 2012, after sacking her predecessor Bheki Cele over the irregular signing of a lease for a new police headquarters worth nearly $100 million. Cele's predecessor, Jackie Selebi, also did not complete his term after he was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He died last year while on medical parole. (Reporting by James Macharia; editing by Jason Neely) BEIRUT (Reuters) - Air strikes killed at least 73 people in rebel-held Idlib province, including 38 in the city of Maarat al-Numan, on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group monitoring the war, reported. Russian war planes and Syrian military jets and helicopters have been conducting heavy strikes for months against rebels in Idlib, southwest of Aleppo. Insurgents had previously tried to get help and supplies to fellow rebels in the city from Idlib. The Observatory said the death toll in Maarat al-Numan included five children and six members of a single family. The bombardment included barrel bombs, improvised ordnance made from oil drums filled with explosives and dropped from helicopters, the monitor said. The Syrian military and Russia both deny using barrel bombs, whose use has been criticized by the United Nations. Syria's civil war, which began in 2011, pits President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia, Iran and Shi'ite Muslim militias against mostly Sunni rebels including groups supported by the United States, Turkey and Gulf kingdoms. Jihadist militants are also fighting alongside the insurgents, including Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, which has a large presence in Idlib province and was known as the Nusra Front until July when it broke its formal allegiance to al Qaeda. Russia says its air campaign, which began in September 2015, is aimed at preventing jihadists, including both Fateh al-Sham and the Islamic State group, from gaining more territory in Syria that could be used to mount attacks overseas. (Reporting by Angus McDowall; Editing by Louise Ireland) * U.S. blocks Aixtron's takeover by Chinese firm * U.S. says objection centres on Aixtron U.S. * Aixtron signals deal may still be possible (Adds details on Aixtron U.S. ops, patents, company comment) By Ben Blanchard and Harro Ten Wolde BEIJING/FRANKFURT, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The sale of Aixtron to Chinese investors could go ahead under new terms if the German semiconductor equipment maker sells its Silicon Valley division separately to get around U.S. objections, analysts said Monday. On Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama stopped Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund (FGC) from buying Aixtron U.S., the division of the German company in California where nearly a fifth of its 713-strong workforce is based. While the 670 million euro ($717 million) deal is small, U.S. opposition is seen as a sign of growing concern in the West about the acquisition of new technology by Chinese players and comes after Washington blocked the sale by Philips of its U.S. lighting business to Asian buyers. The crux of the issue for Aixtron is that it makes devices which produce crystalline layers based on gallium nitride that are used as semiconductors in weapons systems. The German firm's technology is being used to upgrade both U.S. and foreign-owned Patriot missile defence systems and the U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday the deal had been blocked due to national security risks. Aixtron said, however, the U.S. order "was limited to the United States business and did not prohibit the acquisition of Aixtron shares", indicating that a deal could be revived, albeit under revised terms. "Chinese investors might be willing to take over Aixtron without its U.S. business including U.S. patents and patent applications," DZ Bank analyst Harald Schnitzer said in a client note. "That could be possible but we doubt that GCI (FGC) would be prepared to pay 6 euros per Aixtron share in such a case." Aixtron shares were up 0.9 percent at 3.86 euros by 1515 GMT well below the 6 euros per share FGC offered in May. Story continues WHITE KNIGHT? Aixtron's operations in Sunnyvale, California are its third-largest site with manufacturing, sales, service and engineering as well as research and development. In the first nine months of the year, the U.S. operations contributed 22 million euros or about 20 percent to total sales of 107 million. Analysts have said Aixtron has a bleak future as a stand-alone company as it struggles in an overcrowded market where Chinese companies call the shots. Aixtron has also said it needs to cut costs and jobs if the deal falls through, while analysts said a white knight bidder such as U.S. chip equipment maker Applied Materials could emerge. Another obstacle is that the German Economy Ministry withdrew its approval for the Chinese acquisition in October and is conducting its own review of the transaction. Aixtron had registered patents for 189 products at the end of 2015, according to its annual report. Of those, 97 were patent protected, with patents pending for the remaining 92. "Patent protection for inventions is usually applied for in those sales markets relevant for Aixtron, specifically in Europe, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States," the company said in the annual report. A company spokesman declined to give a geographic breakdown of the patents. CHINESE ANGER The U.S. decision to block the Aixtron deal angered China, with the foreign ministry calling it "political obstruction". Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China had always supported Chinese firms investing overseas on the basis of market principles, international rules and respecting local laws, adding that the Aixtron deal was purely a commercial matter. "China resolutely opposes the politicisation of any normal commercial takeover or the wrong move of political obstruction," Lu told a news briefing, saying that China hoped the United States would stop making "groundless accusations" against Chinese firms and provide a fair environment for them. Aixtron makes so-called Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) systems, used to grow crystalline layers for semiconductors, especially those based on gallium nitride. Gallium nitride is a powdery yellow compound used in light-emitting diodes (LED), radar, antennas and lasers. Gallium nitride technology can boost the power of weapons systems while making them cheaper because it needs less electricity. ($1 = 0.9343 euros) (Editing by David Clarke/Keith Weir) Former Vice President Al Gore had what he described as a very productive meeting with President-elect Donald Trump on Monday. Gore, one of the nations most vocal advocates for combatting climate change, also met earlier in the day with one of Trumps closest advisers: his daughter Ivanka Trump. After the meetings, Gore spoke briefly with pool reporters as he exited the elevator at Trump Tower in New York City. I had a lengthy and very productive session with the president-elect, Gore said. It was a sincere search for areas of common ground. I had a meeting beforehand with Ivanka Trump. The bulk of the time was with the president-elect, Donald Trump. I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued, and Im just going to leave it at that. Gore, who endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for president, said after Trumps election that he hoped to work with the president-elect on climate policy. An aide to the former vice president tells PEOPLE, Vice President Gore made clear in his statements following the election that he intended to do everything he could to work with the president-elect to ensure our nation remains a leader in the effort to address the climate crisis. He happens to be in the New York area this week for his 24-hour live broadcast, The Climate Reality Projects 24 Hours of Reality, and they took him up on the opportunity to discuss the issue. According to Politico, an adviser to Trump said that Gore and Ivanka were meeting to discuss climate change. Ivanka, 35, is planning to make climate change one of her signature issues as first daughter, Politico reported last week, citing a source close to the businesswoman. The source added that Ivanka was just beginning to explore how to use her voice to speak out on the issue. RELATED VIDEO: Backlash Over Ivanka Trumps Meeting with Japanese Leader as Source Says Trumps Are Adjusting to New Realities Trump transition spokesman Jason Miller announced Ivankas meeting with Gore on Monday mornings daily conference call, saying at the time that the president-elect would not participate in the talk. Story continues Miller also said that Trump supports the Dakota Access pipeline project and will review the Obama administrations decision to halt construction on the controversial pipeline once he takes office. Trump, who has called climate change a hoax perpetuated by the Chinese, conceded in a New York Times interview late last month that there is some connectivity between humans and climate change, adding, It depends on how much. It also depends on how much its going to cost our companies. Growing Pains TV dad Alan Thicke said he wouldd have voted for Hillary Clinton in the recent U.S. presidential election. "But I'm a Canadian citizen, so down here my vote only counts on Dancing with the Stars," Thicke jokingly told the Hollywood Reporter while attending the Whistler Film Festival. On a more serious note, he criticized anti-Donald Trump demonstrators who blocked Los Angeles traffic on election night as they reacted to the president-elect's win. Organizing against policies on immigration, climate change and a Muslim registry to possibly sway the president-elect is one thing, Thicke argued. "But just to march in the streets and clog up traffic on a freeway in L.A. so people can't get home, to me that not only sends the wrong message of disorganization and anarchy, but it's annoying, and you lose people, you lose your base," he added. Election-night demonstrations were mostly peaceful, but some local freeways were blocked in Los Angeles. Thicke urged anti-Trump protests to go online and use social media. "That's how Trump got elected. Use that tool to say, 'Join us, here's our website, we're citizens against the Muslim registry. We're citizens against the wall, and get enough signatures and get enough attention.' But not by clogging the freeways," he said. Thicke, who received the Canadian Icon Award in Whistler, also talked about a long career as an actor, game show and talk show host on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border, including with his latest film, It's Not My Fault and I Don't Care Anyway. He recounted following up his 1970s Canadian talk show, The Alan Thicke Show, with the short-lived late-night talker Thicke of the Night, produced by MGM Television and airing in 1983. Despite that disappointment, Thicke said the exposure of his U.S. talk show led to his starring role as Jason Seaver on ABC's Growing Pains. "It becomes a back and forth exchange, and that's very healthy," he said. "You try to learn your craft in one place, and they let you polish it in another. It's a never-ending ladder." Read more: Los Angeles Protestors Burn Donald Trump's Head in Effigy Almost half of Americans see torture as a useful way of getting information out of enemy combatants during times of war, according to a new survey. Americans views on the issue of torture, a war crime, differ from those of people in many other countries, including Afghanistan. The survey by the International Committee of the Red Cross found that 46% of Americans consider torture a useful tactic, while 30% see it as wrong. To nearly 33% of Americans, torture is merely a part of war. The findings differ greatly from Afghanistan, where some 83% of respondents said torture was wrong. Recently, a prosecutor for the International Criminal Court found reason to believe American troops may have committed war crimes in Afghanistan, including torture and the cruel treatment of prisoners. The International Committee of the Red Cross surveyed 17,000 people in 16 countries to get their opinions on war and several acts that are considered criminal under international law, including torture and attacks on hospitals and aid workers. The survey found that respondents in the worlds most powerful countries, including the U.S., Russia, China, France, and Britain, had a more lax view about what should be considered criminal and what was merely a consequence of war. President-elect Donald Trump said during his campaign that he would bring back interrogation techniques banned by President Obama, but walked back some of his statements after meeting with his pick for Secretary of Defense, General James Mattis. In an exclusive conversation, German-Russian actress Elena Kazan spoke to us about the challenges of staying in a "dirty" and "unhygienic" house. By Parmita Uniyal: Elena Kazan, who got evicted last night, is relieved after coming back to home post her "difficult" stay in the house. She told us that she slept for the entire day after her 'release'. She compared her stay in the BB 10 house to a prison term and felt that the environment in the house was extremely unhealthy. Surprisingly, she is the first contestant to sing paeans about Swami Om, saying that he never said NO to any of her requests. But her favourite contestant, no doubt, is Bani Judge and she wants her to win. advertisement Excerpts from the interview: India Today Online: Elena, you got eliminated in just a week's time. Are you disappointed? Elena Kazan: Honestly, I'm quite happy to be back home. I would say the experience in the house was very interesting, but there were a lot of challenges. There was not enough food; we were in a small room. It's a very unhealthy and dirty place. It's a very unhealthy environment; you could see rats and stuff around. But psychologically, yes, it was interesting. For us, it was even more difficult because we were locked up in a small place, with no food. People were not making food for us. I am just talking from a physical well being point of view. Apart from that, I had a lot of fun talking to Bani and Jason. We shared a lot of jokes so that part was really good. India Today Online: You had described yourself as a fighter before entering the house. Then why did you give up so easily in the Dome task? Elena Kazan: I will fight for the right things. In the Dome task, I knew I could have survived without going to the bathroom for a fairly long time, because I have travelled in Indian trains and I have gone without peeing for a long stretch of time. Nitibha would have left earlier because she could not have gone without peeing for that longer. But she threatened to pee inside and I wouldn't want to be in a situation where anybody would pee near me. I didn't know her. She might have lied, she might not have actually done such a thing, but I didn't want to put myself in a situation where there was even a remote possibility of what she said to me. It's not about giving up. In bicycle task, I didn't give up. India Today Online: Lopamudra gave you just 1 star while rating you? Do you think her judgment was fair? Elena Kazan: That's her opinion. Not right and wrong. Some people like you some people don't. If Gaurav or Omji would have rated me, they would have given me more stars. You must be knowing that Lopa and I had fight over the food thing. advertisement India Today Online: Who according to you has higher chances of winning? Elena Kazan: According to me, three people can win-- Bani, Priyanka and Gaurav. Priyanka, because she is ready to go to any extent, as per my analysis. Bani is very strong and she is my friend. Gaurav is very calm, and he displayed this quality in the captaincy task also. India Today Online: What do you think about Swami Om, the most controversial contestant inside the house? Elena Kazan: I know people have negative opinion about him. I saw him yelling at others. But I was pleasantly surprised, he was very supportive. He was one of the people who would come and talk. He would bring food. If you ask him something, he would never say no. Compared to other people, who said they were tired, he would never refuse. India Today Online: What next for you--films or television? Elena Kazan: Cinema is my first love. And that would always be my first preference. As far as television is concerned, I like dancing, so I wouldn't mind a dance reality show. I would also be interested in Khatron Ke Khiladi. --- ENDS --- advertisement Amazon.com, Inc.s AMZN Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Salesforce.com, Inc. CRM have strengthened their global strategic alliance with five service integrations. With these integrations, the Salesforce Platform will be connected to Amazon AppStream 2.0, Amazon Redshift, Alexa, AWS IoT, and Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) to offer customers better ways of managing their data. Salesforce will now use AWS across all of its core products, namely, Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Analytics Cloud, Community Cloud and more. Canada will be the first country to host this integration that is expected to be initiated by mid-2017. The move appears to be a part of the broader infrastructure expansion plan that the duo had unveiled in May. The Integrations in Detail Amazon AppStream 2.0, which is a fully managed secure application streaming service, will be made available in the Salesforce AppExchange as a Lightning Component. This will allow quick and easy integration of AWS cloud directly with Salesforce. Similarly, Amazon Redshift which is a fully managed petabyte-scale data warehouse service will be connected to Salesforce Wave Analytics. This will enable quick and easy analysis of large data sets. AWS Internet of Things (IoT) will connect to Salesforce IoT to allow linkage of device data with customer data, helping businesses to develop services based on customer activity on connected devices. Moreover, the new Alexa Toolkit for Salesforce will now enable developers to use the Salesforce learning platform Trailhead to develop Alexa Skills for Salesforce. Another tool enables customers to establish secured connections between Amazon VPCs (Virtual Private Clouds) and Salesforce Heroku without having to use a public network connection. Salesforce is the latest to join the long list of AWS users that include big names like Netflix NFLX, Expedia and Adobe Systems. AMAZON.COM INC PE Ratio (TTM) AMAZON.COM INC PE Ratio (TTM) | AMAZON.COM INC Quote Story continues All in Amazons Favor This is a big win for Amazon, which also recently helped Netflix move to the cloud. While Amazon remains the largest online retailer with significant growth prospects, all the excitement in recent times has been about AWS. Note that Salesforces flagship CRM offering competes with Microsofts MSFT Dynamics CRM. Microsoft ranks second in the infrastructure as a service (IaaS) segment, so Amazon (the market leader) is the best company that Salesforce could have gone to. AWS Holds the Key We see the move as Amazons latest gambit to increase its market share in the lucrative cloud computing business. It intends to give both sellers and customers a solid reason to opt for AWS. Amazon Web Services is in the business of providing computing infrastructure so that companies dont need to maintain their own IT infrastructure. It provides tools that support website production, social media and mobile applications that have taken the company to the top spot in the IaaS space. It is the cash cow for Amazon. The business contributed $3.2 billion in the third quarter. It generates much higher margins than retail and therefore has a positive impact on Amazons profitability. Amazon remains the cloud infrastructure leader, well ahead of Microsoft, Alphabet and IBM. However, the speed at which businesses are moving to the cloud and innovating in the space has intensified competition. This also puts pressure on Amazons resources. Shares of Amazon have been steadily treading higher on a year-to-date basis. The stock generated a return of 9.54% compared with the Zacks Electronic Commerce industry's gain of 6.49%. We remain positive about AWS' growth prospects. Amazons continuous efforts to launch new features, open more data centers globally and constantly lower prices will give it a competitive advantage. We remain optimistic about the functionality, partner ecosystem and the experience that AWS offers and believe this will lead to continued customer wins. Zacks Rank Amazon currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here. The Best Place to Start Your Stock Search Today, you are invited to download the full list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 ""Strong Buy"" stocks absolutely free of charge. Since 1988, Zacks Rank #1 stocks have nearly tripled the market, with average gains of +26% per year. Plus, you can access the list of portfolio-killing Zacks Rank #5 ""Strong Sells"" and other private research. See these stocks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report AMAZON.COM INC (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report NETFLIX INC (NFLX): Free Stock Analysis Report MICROSOFT CORP (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report SALESFORCE.COM (CRM): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Photo: Courtesy of American Airlines American Airlines flight attendants received a wardrobe upgrade in September when the company rolled out new uniforms to more than 70,000 of its front-line workers. Employees were excited about the new work outfits appearance but now theyre singing a different tune, according to USA Today. We have received over 1,600 flight attendant reports of suspected uniform reactions that include headaches, rashes, hives, burning skin and eye irritation, itching, and respiratory problems to name a few, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) Americans flight attendants union. said in a memo to its members late Wednesday. In response, the airline launched an investigation. It thought it resolved the issue, saying the issue was a wool allergy, but according to the flight attendants, the problem has continued to spread. The growing number of reports of suspected reactions, triggered by both direct and indirect contact with the uniform, has prompted APFA to ask that all uniforms be recalled until further joint testing with the company can be completed, the union said. American Airlines spokesman Ron DeFeo told the Dallas Morning News that the carrier has already done three rounds of testing, but all results have so far been in line with normal standards. DeFeo also said, however, that the airline has permitted about 200 attendants to continue wearing their old uniforms, and that the company has ordered 600 nonwool versions of the new uniforms. American is also offering dermatological testing for individuals who have had reactions to try to determine a cause, according to Fort Worths Star-Telegram. While the company will continue to take the issue seriously, it stands firm in its conviction that the uniform is safe, American Airlines executives said in a letter to flight attendants. The union isnt satisfied, however; it feels a remedy that excludes a full recall of the uniform fails to adequately protect our members. Story continues Some of the flight attendants affected are actually fans of the new look, but the whole beauty-is-pain outlook is not acceptable on a 15-hour flight. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration, delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Should you buy organic? Or avoid foods made with genetically modified ingredients? Americans are divided in their thinking on whether such choices are beneficial for their health, a new survey finds. Just over half of all Americans, or 55 percent, consider organic produce to be healthier than conventionally grown produce, and 39 percent of Americans think that foods with GM ingredients are less healthy than those without such ingredients, according to the survey. On the other hand, 41 percent of Americans think that organic produce is neither better nor worse for one's health than conventionally grown produce, and 48 percent of Americans think the same about GM foods, according to the nationally representative survey, published today (Dec. 1) by the Pew Research Center. [10 New Ways to Eat Well] "The data suggest that people's divisions are linked to their interest in food issues and how they think food consumption ties to their well-being," Cary Funk, the associate director of research at Pew Research Center and the lead author of the report on the survey, said in a statement. Based on the survey respondents' answers to other questions, the researchers also concluded that people's views on food "are not driven by their political attitudes, their level of education, their household income or where they live," Funk said. For example, roughly equal shares of Republicans and Democrats think that GM foods are worse for a person's health than foods that don't have GM ingredients, according to the survey. And 50 percent of Republicans and 60 percent of Democrats think that organic foods have health benefits beyond those of conventionally grown foods. Age, however, did appear to play a role in people's views: Adults under 50 were more likely than older adults to say that organic produce is healthier than conventionally grown produce, the researchers found. And 48 percent of adults ages 18 to 29 thought that GM foods are worse for health than non-GM foods, compared with 29 percent of adults over 65 who think this, according to the survey. Story continues Is there anything Americans agree on? Americans aren't completely divided, the researchers found. Indeed, 72 percent of Americans said that healthy eating habits are very important for a long and healthy life, and 71 percent said that getting enough exercise is very important for a long and healthy life, according to the survey. But the majority of Americans feel like they aren't meeting their healthy-eating goals: 58 percent said that on most days, they feel like they should eat healthier, the researchers found. [6 Easy Ways to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables] In addition, depending on a person's level of science knowledge, it may be difficult to know how to eat healthy, the researchers found. For example, among those with low science knowledge, half said "the core ideas of eating healthy are pretty well understood," while 47 percent said that conflicting information from news reports made it difficult to know how to eat healthy. Among those with high science knowledge, however, 92 percent said that the core ideas of healthy eating were well understood, the researchers found. Can food scientists help? The researchers also looked into how Americans view food scientists. They found "that Americans have limited trust in scientists connected with GM food," Funk said. Only 19 percent of Americans think that scientists understand the health effects of GM foods "very well," the survey found. Another 44 percent said they think that scientists understand these health effects "fairly well," and 35 percent think that scientists either do not understand these effects at all or "not too well." However, although only 35 percent of Americans said that they trust scientists to give the public complete and accurate information about the health effects of GM foods, 60 percent say they think scientists should play a major role in food-policy issues, the survey found. The findings were based on surveys completed by 1,480 adults in all 50 states and the District of Columbia between May 10 and June 6, 2016. Surveys were either mailed or emailed to the participants. Originally published on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations Amgen Inc. AMGN, along with partner Allergan plc. AGN, announced the submission of a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for ABP 215, their biosimilar version of Roche Holding AGs RHHBY cancer drug Avastin (bevacizumab). ABP 215 is the most advanced oncology biosimilar candidate in Amgens pipeline. Amgen shares gained 3.5% in the past one month, comparing favorably with an increase of 3.1% for the Zacks classified Medical-Biomed/Genetic Market. Last month, the companies filed a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the FDA for ABP 215. Note that Amgen has a collaboration agreement with Allergan for the worldwide development and commercialization of the formers oncology antibody biosimilar medicines. The MAA submission was based on data from a phase III comparative efficacy, safety and immunogenicity study, which evaluated adult patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study confirmed no clinically meaningful difference between ABP 215 and bevacizumab in terms of efficacy, safety and immunogenicity. We note that Amgen has a total of nine biosimilar candidates in its portfolio, which includes Amjevita, a biosimilar version of AbbVie Inc.s ABBV Humira. Amjevita was approved by the FDA this September. Those currently under development include the biosimilar versions of Roches Rituxan, Eli Lillys Erbitux, and Johnson and Johnson/Mercks Remicade. Amgen has also tied up with Daiichi Sankyo for the commercialization of nine biosimilars in Japan. The company plans to launch the first biosimilar in 2017, followed by four others through 2019, subject to successful approval. According to sources, the market for biosimilars can grow to $20 billion in 2020. Not surprisingly, competition in this space is intensifying with the number of pharmaceutical and biotech companies working on biosimilars growing by the day. AMGEN INC Price AMGEN INC Price | AMGEN INC Quote Zacks Rank Amgen currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. The Best Place to Start Your Stock Search Today, you are invited to download the full list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buy" stocks absolutely free of charge. Since 1988, Zacks Rank #1 stocks have nearly tripled the market, with average gains of +26% per year. Plus, you can access the list of portfolio-killing Zacks Rank #5 "Strong Sells" and other private research. See these stocks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report ROCHE HLDG LTD (RHHBY): Free Stock Analysis Report ALLERGAN PLC (AGN): Free Stock Analysis Report AMGEN INC (AMGN): Free Stock Analysis Report ABBVIE INC (ABBV): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Comedian Amy Schumer may star in a Barbie movie. (Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic) On Friday, news broke that Amy Schumer is in talks to star in Sonys upcoming Barbie film, and sad surprise! the Internet wasted no time in bringing out the body-shaming. The live-action feature will follow Schumer as a version of the titular Mattel doll who just doesnt fit into the uniform perfection in Barbieland, and is expelled to the real world, a la Daryl Hannah (and soon Channing Tatum) in Splash, according to the Hollywood Reporter. There, our Barbie discovers that her uniqueness is gasp! who knew! an asset. This promisingly self-aware narrative fits in with Mattels efforts in recent years to reflect the bodies of real women. While the differences between the traditional Barbie doll and the average flesh-and-blood woman are well-known to be startling, Mattel announced three new body types for the iconic doll in January this year tall, petite, and curvy and just last month, the company released a Barbie doll inspired by prominent plus-sized model Ashley Graham. None of this matters to a certain segment of the Twitterverse, however, which was flooded this weekend with a series of body-shaming Tweets directed at Schumers involvement in the film. @GodfreyElfwick Barbie Goes to Fat Camp starring Amy Schumer. Buck Buckelson (@BuckyBuckBuck1) December 2, 2016 I hear @amyschumer is going to be in the new #Barbie movie. Im wondering if she plays her chubby, dopey friend or what? Kakashi (@EroSennin2112) December 2, 2016 If Barbie became obese and heinous to men, @amyschumer is perfect. https://t.co/M5eN5TMUmL Anglo1066 (@anglo1066) December 2, 2016 Amy Schumer was cast as Barbies fat, loud mouth nemesis right? No? SHE is playing Barbie? hahaha! Is this a horror film? Mark Dice (@MarkDice) December 2, 2016 Thankfully, others quickly came to the funny ladys defense, rejoicing over the casting as an empowering choice for women of all shapes and sizes. Story continues People who are body shaming Amy Schumer for playing the roll of Barbie are the reason why we need Amy Schumer to play Barbie nicole (@nicoleparsons13) December 5, 2016 The ONLY way Id watch a movie about #Barbie is if @amyschumer was starring in it. Alexis Golden (@AlexisGoldenXXX) December 3, 2016 The shit people are saying about Amy Schumer as Barbie is awful. You do get that the original doll is bad for girls body image, right? Veruca Salty (@annie_anita) December 3, 2016 While one Twitter user may have predicted this entire thing back in August. Schumer herself has yet to comment on the reaction, but she is not likely to be surprised by it. An outspoken advocate for body positivity, the comedian frequently shares body-positive messages (like this inspiring, self-accepting mirror selfie) on her social media accounts. Earlier this year, she went so far as to post a photo of herself in a bathing suit with a caption directly calling out nasty comment-leaving Internet trolls. This is how I look. I feel happy, she wrote. I think I look strong and healthy and also like miss trunchbull from Matilda. Kisses! With that in mind, heres to Schumer as a happy, healthy, strong Barbie. Its about time. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration, delivered fresh to your feed, every day. "I'm not a Christian person. I consider myself pantheist, agnostic, occasionally atheist, and a little bit Jewish, but mostly confused," Andrew Garfield told The Hollywood Reporter during the Actor Oscar Roundtable. He stars in Martin Scorsese's latest film, Silence, in which he plays a Jesuit priest. "It was a year that I spent with this one particular Jesuit priest, Father James Martin, who was a consultant on the film and has become a dear friend and my spiritual director in a very surreal way. It's the thing that transcends simply making a film." Garfield also stars in the critically acclaimed Mel Gibson-directed film Hacksaw Ridge, about a conscientious objector during WWII. "I feel privileged that I get to be such a fool for a living," said Garfield. "I like knowing everything that I can. I want to know everything about everything, and that's not possible. I know I'm never going to be able to quit. It's like a longing pain." More roundtables featuring actresses, screenwriters, songwriters, documentarians, directors, composers and producers will continue throughout February in print and online. Tune in to new episodes of Close Up With 'The Hollywood Reporter' starting Jan. 15 on Sundance TV, and look for clips at THR.com/topic/roundtables with full episodes on THR.com after broadcast. Billy Eichner has taken to the streets to get people excited about a few sensationalized reboots he has in the works. In a PEOPLE exclusive sneak peek, Billy on the Streets Eichner goes all over New York City with Andy Samberg dressed as MySpace founder Tom Andersons iconic social media profile and the fishing boy in the DreamWorks logo. The pair manage to confuse and intimidate passerby with their raucous romp through the streets. Among other highlights, viewers meet the Starbucks siren, Blake Livelys assistant, the Princess Diana commemorative Beanie Baby and the Spotify logo. As Eichner approaches one concerned citizen, the man tells him, Move on, and control yourself. Later in the clip, Jon Hamm, who previously joined Eichner in an episode, also helps reimagine famous characters. Marvel and Hallmark are teaming up to create, Eichner starts as Hamm finishes the introduction, Dr. Strange, Medicine Woman. Its about an English lady that lives in the Old West and also learns mystic Asian spellcasting. Hamm then proceeds to trade his medicine woman costume for a black top hat, monocle and a red coat as he is introduced as the dandy mascot from The New Yorker. Take me seriously! I get very upset if you dont, Hamm says in reference to his characters catchphrase. Soon after, Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyongo joins the team as the peacock in the iconic NBC logo. Im the NBC peacock. Ill kill you, she says when asked for her catchphrase. And after getting a less-than-enthusiastic review from a man on the street, she suggests another: We just found out about Chicago four years ago and were very into it. Billy on the Street airs Tuesdays (10:30 p.m. ET) on truTV. Srinagar: National Conference President Farooq Abdullah along with his party leaders paying floral tribute at the mausoleum of his father & founder of National Conference, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah on his 111th birth Anniversary,at Naseem bagh in Srinagar By Shuja-ul-Haq : Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and the president of the National Conference Farooq Abdullah triggered a controversy today by asking the Hurriyat to unite for the cause of Kashmir and that his party was with them in it. Abdullah was speaking at the occasion of 111th birth anniversary for his father Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in Srinagar. "I ask these Hurriyat leaders to unite. We are standing by your side at this hour. Don't think of us as your adversaries. We are not your adversaries." He then went on to address his party workers saying, "Don't stay behind in this struggle of Kashmir". advertisement He also told the Hurriyat leadership that as long as their path wasn't 'wrong' he was ready to move ahead with them. "We have struggled before and wasted our whole life on this (Kashmir issue). I am telling you from this sacred place: 'Move ahead, we are with you until you keep treading the right path. And until you can guide this nation on the right path." Taking a dig at both India and Pakistan Dr Abdullah also said that these countries were out there to subjugate Kashmiris which isn't going to work. "One day they will have to resolve this. They think they can subjugate us. But they are wrong," Farooq Abdullah said. The Valley has been under going a period of unrest for last more than 4 month after the death of Burhan Wani, the Hizbul Mujahideen posterboy, in an encounter. Close to 100 people have died and more than 10000 have been injured. Though the situation has considerably calmed down but even now there are protests happening as separatists come out with weekly calendars. On Monday, the government foiled separatist proposed Lal Chowk march by detaining top leaders like Yasin Malik, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq while continuing the house arrest of Syed Ali Shah Geelani. --- ENDS --- Europe is tottering if by Europe we mean not only a place on a map but a community of value. Italian voters have rejected a constitutional referendum upon which forward-looking Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had staked his reputation and his job. Frances Socialist president, Francois Hollande, has fallen so low in the polls that he has chosen not to run for a second term. The good news is that Austrian voters just elected a Green Party member as president over Norbert Hofer, the leader of a far-right, anti-immigrant party though both Hofer and his party were marginal only a few years ago. Among the major nations, Germany stands alone as the bulwark of the liberal order established after World War II in order to prevent German-style fascism from destroying Europes peace once again. That is a historical irony of which the Germans themselves are acutely aware. In announcing that she would seek a fourth term, Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted that it was absurd to expect one person to preserve European values but that, indeed, is the increasingly desperate hope of many Germans and of people across the West. Merkel herself bears some responsibility for the right-wing tide, for it was she who most openly welcomed the refugees fleeing Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere in the summer of 2015. Europes acute case of nationalism has many causes, but anger toward refugees may be first among them. The effort to absorb and integrate those refugees, above all in Germany, which accepted almost 1 million of them last year alone, poses the most severe test of Europes commitment to the treaties, moral principles, and rules that make the continent something more than simply a geographical accident. That is why I plan to spend much of the next year studying whether this experiment is likely to succeed or fail. After spending several days in Dresden last month, what became clear to me is that Germany is trying very hard to get rid of many of the refugees to whom it opened its arms. After a change in policy by the Interior Ministry last spring, Syrians now receive only one year of asylum, which must be renewed, rather than the three years they routinely got before. During the same period, the Bundestag, Germanys parliament, passed a law putting an end to family reunification for those who only receive these one-year grants. And Germany has increased the pace of deportations for those who do not receive any form of protection. In short, Germany is engaging in a kind of triage, limiting the number of asylum-seekers to whom it offers shelter in order to discourage potential new migrants, more effectively integrate those who remain, and drain some of the rage fueling the far-right. I chose Dresden because it lies in the former East Germany and thus is less wealthy and less cosmopolitan than cities like Munich or Frankfurt or, of course, Berlin. Dresden is also the capital of Saxony, which is governed by a branch of Merkels Christian Democratic Union (CDU) that has drifted further and further to the right. The city is also the birthplace of Pegida, the vehement and at times violent anti-immigrant movement that has spread across Germany and parts of Europe. There have been more than 250 recorded incidents of violence against refugees in Dresden alone this year; many involve attacks on their housing. Ali Moradi, the managing director of the Refugee Council of Saxony, says in years past the state government simply turned a blind eye to racist and far-right activism, but now it sees the Nazis a word that Germans apply broadly to violent far-right groups as potential allies in its own campaign to persuade refugees that they are not welcome. The government has largely stood aside, Moradi says, as violent youths have terrorized refugees, especially in the states small towns and villages. At times, federal prosecutors have had to step in when local authorities failed to act in the face of attacks on immigrants. The combination of national legal changes, local restrictions, and growing public intolerance has convinced some of the refugees I met that they made a terrible mistake seeking asylum in Germany. Unlike Syrians, Iraqis do not enjoy automatic refugee status, even at the one-year level. I met with a group of Iraqis who have spent months in a converted Days Inn at the far edge of town waiting to hear whether or not they could stay in Germany. Owing to their uncertain status, they are not allowed to do any work, save the most menial, nor with one or two exceptions even take classes in German. They were bored out of their minds, angry, and frustrated. When I asked one of them, Hussein Hamzi Karim, what he does all day, he said, I ride my bike until I get tired, and then I come back here and sleep. Karim is a former policeman who says that he fled Baghdad in November 2015, after he was threatened by Sunni extremists. If another week goes by, he told me, Ill chain myself under a train so the whole world can see the reality of this German dream. In October, the EU reached an agreement with Afghanistan to send migrants who had been denied asylum back to cities deemed sufficiently safe, including Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif places many of the migrants have never even seen. Germany continues to offer asylum to many Afghans, especially unaccompanied minors; those who cannot demonstrate a legitimate fear of persecution, however, increasingly face the prospect of forcible return. Saxonys provincial government has carried out 19 percent of Germanys deportations, though it has only 5 percent of the refugees. In some cases, according to officials with the Refugee Council of Saxony, the government has separated families despite medical testimony that those left behind are at risk of committing suicide. Yet Dresden is still Germany, a country that has pledged itself to European values and is prepared to put its money where its heart is. Those refugees who are granted asylum receive as much as $750 a month for living expenses, housing, and health insurance. Those funds are chiefly federal, but Saxony has also begun, albeit grudgingly, to pay for refugee care. Sebastian Vogel, a Social Democrat who serves in Saxonys new post of minister for equality and integration, told me that his annual budget had gone from $180,000 to $11 million to $15 million and he expects it to continue rising. Nevertheless, he says, the need far outstrips the available funds. We no longer have to struggle to convince the CDU of the need for programs, he said. We have to struggle to convince them to pay the money for the programs. Even as officials reduce both the number of migrants to whom they grant asylum and the benefits they extend, Germany is going to great lengths to successfully absorb those who will remain. An integration law passed in July sought, among other things, to open up the labor market for refugees, ending the practice of exhausting the pool of German and EU job-seekers before making positions available to new arrivals. One Syrian I met, Tarek al-Salloum, who had received a diploma in veterinary science from Hama University before fleeing the country to avoid military service, had reached Dresden in February 2015, received refugee status three months later, and began studying German. Salloum told me that he had been offered an internship as a vet but decided instead to continue improving his German in the hopes of ultimately landing a better job. Like so many refugees, Salloum had a hellish passage from Turkey across Europe, but he could not think of a single bad experience hed had since reaching Germany. If anything, he worried that his fellow immigrants were setting a poor example. The Pegida guys pay taxes, he said, and they cant accept that there are people getting benefits without doing any work. I dont agree with them, but I understand them. There are people who have been here for two years and have never gone to German class or looked for work. I feel like theyre disappointing the expectations of the German people and Angela Merkel that they would become part of German society. Salloum is especially vexed, he said, at the Tunisian guys who hang out in the train station and whistle at girls. The Tunisians will probably be deported, at least once the authorities catch up with them. But how many model immigrants like Salloum are there among Dresdens roughly 5,500 refugees? Despite the oft-repeated view that Syrias well-educated middle class decamped en masse for Europe, no more than half of adult refugees in Dresden have graduated from high school. The liberalized labor rules for refugees wont matter if the new arrivals dont qualify for the available positions. Dresden doesnt need more cooks, bakers, or construction workers. The country does need labor for its auto plants and machine shops, but highly automated factories require workers with advanced training. I heard in Dresden what I often heard last year in Sweden: We can always use more elder-care nurses. But how many? I met another Syrian whom Ill call Khaled. (He didnt want me to use his name not because he feared for his familys safety but because he was too resentful of foreign journalists seeking, as he saw it, to exploit Syrian misery.) Khaled had gone to university in Aleppo for two years, studied history and philosophy, and wrote poetry. But he was 50 years old, and he admitted that he and his wife were making very slow progress in their German-language class. When I asked Khaled if he was looking for work, he laughed ruefully and said, Its very comfortable here. The state authorities had given him a comfortable, if spare, apartment in a Soviet-era housing block, as well as a monthly stipend. Khaled has four children, aged 10 to 19. He said theyre doing well in school. The struggle of integration hinges on their success or failure, more than on Khaleds. That is what I plan to follow. The dawn of a new and very frightening political era here in the United States has turned the refugee crisis into yesterdays story. But the truth is that Europe faces a threat to its liberal values and its political order that is more immediate, and probably graver, than the one represented by the election of Donald Trump as president and certainly by the immigration crisis in America he campaigned on. And for all of Trumps bombastic attacks on President Barack Obamas refugee policy, the United States, which has taken all of 12,000 Syrian refugees, faces problems of integration that are trivial compared with most European countries, leave aside Germany. It is easy enough for us, at a distance, to conclude that a Europe sending refugees back to Afghanistan and Iraq has lost its moral compass. But the choices faced by Angela Merkel, who has expended a good deal of her political capital in order to honor the obligation to admit refugees, are simply agonizing. If she stops making impossible distinctions between, say, the merits of Syrian and Iraqi refugees, and thereby strengthens the hand of Pegida and the far-right Alternative for Germany political party, she will fail her own citizens and soon the refugees themselves. Triage demands painful, even ugly, choices. But she has calculated that this price must be paid in order to preserve the liberal order that has sustained the West for the last seven decades. We should hope that she is right. Photo credit: Getty Images/Foreign Policy illustration Photo credit: St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office/Twitter From Country Living If you hate fake Christmas trees, you're not the only one. A beaver was apprehended on Wednesday in Charlotte Hall, Maryland after wandering into a dollar store and trashing an aisle of Christmas decorations, the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. From the pictures, it looks what started off as a casual Christmas errand ended in rage after the beaver only found artificial trees for sale. Photo credit: St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office/Twitter Photo credit: St. Mary's Country Sheriff's Office/Twitter "Cpl. Yingling had a unique call for service when the suspect, pictured, was witnessed causing property destruction at a store in Charlotte Hall," the sheriff's office tweeted. Cpl. Yingling had a unique call for service when the suspect, pictured, was witnessed causing prop. Destruction at a store in Char. Hall. pic.twitter.com/6qKlu7tqA7 - St. Mary's Sheriff (@firstsheriff) November 30, 2016 The "suspect attempted to flee the area," the sheriff's office reported in a statement, but was apprehended before wreaking too much havoc against all things Christmas. This critter looks guilty as charged. Photo credit: St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office/Twitter But don't worry-the beaver isn't in jail. "All joking aside, the beaver was safely rescued by animal control and was released to a wildlife rehabilitator," the sheriff's office tweeted later that day. The beaver tweet may go viral! All joking aside, the beaver was safely rescued by animal control & was released to a wildlife rehabilitator. pic.twitter.com/0VyLXJPjxh - St. Mary's Sheriff (@firstsheriff) November 30, 2016 We bet this beaver had a "dam" good reason for what he did, though. You Might Also Like By turning to Ben Carson to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development, President-elect Donald Trump has nominated a prominent retired brain surgeon with absolutely no government administrative experience. But Trumps former rival has strong conservative views on the limits to assisting economically depressed inner cities and the housing market more generally. While initially rejecting Trumps entreaties to join his new administration, Carson said last week on his Facebook page, After serious discussions with the Trump transition team, I feel that I can make a significant contribution -- particularly to making our inner cities great for everyone. We have much work to do in strengthening every aspect of our nation and ensuring that both our physical infrastructure and our spiritual infrastructure is solid. Related: Carson Accepts Trump's Offer to Head U.S. Housing Department His nomination will be highly controversial because of his dearth of experience in the highly technical field of housing finance, housing law, and urban development, prompting even one of his closest advisers, Armstrong Williams, to acknowledge, Hes never run an agency and its a lot to ask. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) tweeted today that Carson was a great choice to head HUD, while House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said that Carson was disturbingly unqualified for the position. Solomon Greene, a housing expert with the Urban Institute, said today that while the post of HUD secretary is viewed by many as one of the less glamorous or high profile cabinet picks, it nonetheless is extraordinarily important particularly at a time like now when we are facing a growing housing affordability gap as well as really entrenched poverty, especially in urban areas. Its hard for many of us to get a sense of what Carson would do as a HUD secretary because he doesnt have a track record or experience working on housing issues, Greene added. Story continues Carson, 65, an African-American who rose to prominence with a compelling story about overcoming poverty growing up in Detroit, has espoused a minimalist view of what the federal government, including agencies like HUD, should be doing to encourage home ownership and rental, especially among low-income minorities. Carson is no fan of what he considers Obamas tortured reading of the Fair Housing lawsto affirmatively promote fair housing, even in the absence of explicit discrimination. He charges the administration with regulation overreach designed to break down racial barriers by forcing municipalities to build low-income housing in wealthy neighborhoods, comparing them to the worse efforts at social engineering. And he has been highly critical of what he has deemed runaway government spending and tax breaks to promote housing policy. Although there is virtually no chance of this ever happening, Carson campaigned for the GOP presidential nomination advocating a major overhaul of the federal tax code that would eliminate the highly popular deduction on home mortgage interest for tens of millions of American homeowners. The deduction, which enables primarily middle and upper-income families to write off part of their monthly mortgage payments, for decades has been instrumental in expanding the housing market and costs the government about $70 billion annually in forgone revenue. Related: Republican Ben Carson Opts Against Job in Trump Cabinet Carson also declared war on wasteful government spending contribution to the $19.9 trillion gross national debt and vowed to dramatically scale back or eliminate a hodgepodge of federal programs. Those presumably include subsidies for public housing and Section 8, a housing choice voucher program that assists very low-income families, the elderly and disabled people attempting to purchase decent housing. The federal government has been living beyond its means, and it is time to tighten the belt and make wholesale reforms, especially means-tested welfare initiatives, Carson wrote in a campaign document called Prescription for a Responsible and Efficient Government. Carsons call for reducing government involvement in the housing market extends to his support for privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two giant semi-public entities engaged in insuring mortgages. Steven Mnuchin, Trumps nominee to become the next Treasury secretary, said last week that privatizing the financially troubled Fannie and Freddie is right up there on the top-10 list of things were going to get done. HUD is a sprawling bureaucracy providing housing and community development assistance and access to fair and equal housing. Carson would be in charge of an agency with more than 8,400 employees and an annual budget of roughly $50 billion. Traditionally, presidents have turned to candidates with substantial experience in the arcane world of housing, or who are highly knowledgeable in government management and budgeting. Julian Castro, President Obamas current HUD director, is a former mayor of San Antonio mayor who garnered kudos for helping to revitalize that Texas citys downtown. His predecessor, Shaun Donovan, had been the commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration and the New York Citys Department of Housing Preservation and Development prior to coming to Washington. Donovan went on from HUD to become director of the Office of Management and Budget. Trumps nomination of Carson must be confirmed by the Senate, and the celebrated brain surgeon is likely to face some tough questioning by the Democrats. Carson, a skilled brain surgeon who practiced for years at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore before becoming an author and highly acclaimed speaker, is the first African-American to be selected for Trumps emerging Cabinet. Related: HUD Gives $37 Million in Housing Subsidies to the Wrong People "I am thrilled to nominate Dr. Ben Carson as our next Secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development," Trump said in a statement today. "Ben Carson has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities." However, during the 2016 GOP primary, Trump repeatedly mocked Carson as having super low energy and questioned his temperament and qualifications to serve as commander in chief. Carson surprised many early in the campaign with his growing popularity and mass appeal to conservative and Tea Party Republicans. He began to falter after a series of blunders and bizarre statements, including standing by a statement he made to a group of conservatives in 2013 comparing Obamacare to slavery and insisting that the Egyptian pyramids were used to store grain. Carson dropped out of the Republican presidential campaign after disappointing finishes on Super Tuesday, March 4. He later set aside his differences with Trump and joined New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another failed GOP candidate, in endorsing Trump for the nomination. Related: HUD Execs Flagged for Ethics, Lobbying Violations Even before Trump announced his choice of Carson on Monday, some housing experts and advocacy groups sounded the alarm about the possibility of Carson undercutting years of progress in promoting housing rights and benefits for blacks, Hispanics and Asians. We hope that, if confirmed, Ben Carson will join a long line of Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretaries in trying to meet the national housing goal that every American family should be able to afford a decent home in a suitable environment, regardless of the color of their skin, Greene, Margery Austin Turner and two other Urban Institute housing experts wrote last week. It would be a tragedy to turn back the clock now. We know that every year a child lives in a distressed neighborhood reduces their earnings as adults. Our country cannot be great if we squander the potential of any of our children. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Shares of Archer Daniels Midland Company ADM have moved up nearly 1.8% since its Dec 1, 2016 announcement of selling its stake in the Australian grain handler, GrainCorp Limited. Under an underwriting agreement signed last week, Archer Daniels has agreed to sell its 19.9% stake in GrainCorp for A$387 million ($286.92 million), or A$8.53 per share. As part of the deal, the company will execute an underwritten sale of its stake in GrainCorp to an underwriter. The transaction is in sync with the companys portfolio management initiative, wherein it seeks to realize value and invest the same in the best possible resources to enhance returns. The company believes the sale of GrainCorp will further cut down its invested capital, which will provide increased cash to reinvest in other higher-return projects. Additionally, this highlights the companys focus on its balance-capital allocation strategy as it expects to generate solid long-term returns by redirecting this capital. This deal follows Archer Daniels three failed attempts to acquire GrainCorp. In Nov 2013, the Australian government ruled out Archer Daniels takeover bid for GrainCorp on grounds of national interest. The companys other portfolio management transactions include the recent acquisition of Amazon Flavors, which is a manufacturer of natural extracts, emulsions and compounds. Other actions taken in this connection are the buyout of Harvest Innovations; 50-50 joint venture (JV) with Quality Liquid Feeds to enhance production capabilities; the purchase of AOR N.V. a European bottling company; the acquisition of some assets from its 50-50 JV with Tate & Lyle, Eaststarch C.V.; the Eatem Foods buyout; and smooth integration of WILD Flavors, which keeps it on track to achieve the targeted 100 million in synergies in the next three years. Other such activities undertaken by the company include plans to sell its Brazilian sugarcane ethanol operations, the sale of its chocolate business to Cargill, its global cocoa business to Olam and 2014 divestiture of its South American fertilizer business. Moreover, the company is on track with the strategic review of its ethanol dry mills. These acquisitions and divestitures are expected to solidify the companys portfolio, improve its knowledge, help focus on consumers and drive returns. Shares of Archer Daniels have gained nearly 20% on a year-to-date basis. This compares favorably to the 17.3% increase recorded for the Zacks categorized Agricultural Operations industry. Story continues Zacks Rank Archer Daniels currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the related food industry include Campbell Soup Company CPB, Ingredion Incorporated INGR and Lancaster Colony Corporation LANC, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Campbell Soup, with a long-term earnings growth rate of 5.3%, has surged nearly 9.7% year to date. Ingredion has gained nearly 23.7% year to date. Moreover, it has a long-term earnings growth rate of 11%. Lancaster Colony has jumped 15.8% year to date. The stock has a long-term earnings growth rate of 3%. The Best Place to Start Your Stock Search Today, you are invited to download the full list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 ""Strong Buy"" stocks absolutely free of charge. Since 1988, Zacks Rank #1 stocks have nearly tripled the market, with average gains of +26% per year. Plus, you can access the list of portfolio-killing Zacks Rank #5 ""Strong Sells"" and other private research. See these stocks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CAMPBELL SOUP (CPB): Free Stock Analysis Report ARCHER DANIELS (ADM): Free Stock Analysis Report INGREDION INC (INGR): Free Stock Analysis Report LANCASTER COLON (LANC): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. The woman who once ruled the world of digital media is now selling something entirely different: sleep. In August, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington announced that she would be stepped down as editor-in-chief of the publication to focus on a brand-new venture, Thrive Global. Wednesday marked the long-awaited launch of the company, whose stated aim is to promote emotional and physical wellness in and outside the workplace. The company has three major revenue streams: 1) corporate partnerships and training programs 2) a media platform for wellness-focused content and 3) an e-commerce presence. The idea behind Thrive is to end the delusion that we have to burn out in order to succeed and provide specific micro-steps, as we call them, that can make us not just survive, but thrive, Huffington tells Fortune. Though still in its infancy, the company already boasts a number of high-profile clients (Accenture, Airbnb, , and Uber have all signed up) and contributors (Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Ambassador Samantha Power have already written pieces for the platform). While the retail arm of the business will mostly be online, Thrive unveiled a brick-and-mortar pop-up shop in New York City the day after the venture launched. The store will showcase some of the startups products, which include a mix of non-pharmacological sleep aids, high-end sleepwear, meditation guides, health-tech accessories, and books--including, of course, Huffingtons own bestsellers Thrive and Sleep Revolution. Subscribe to the Broadsheet, Fortune's daily newsletter on the world's most powerful women. Huffingtons favorite product is Thrives phone bed charging station. The idea is that it lives outside of everybodys bedrooms--its a ten-port charging station so theres room for daddys phone and mommys phone and the childrens phones so that by the time your children are teenagers it doesnt become like a battle, she says. Story continues Other high-tech gadgets featured in the shop include a nap pod for taking a quick snooze at the office, a crib that puts fussy infants to sleep using white noise and automated rocking, and a virtual reality meditation guide. Each of the products at the Thrive store encourage people to take micro-steps to enhance their well-being, says Huffington. The shop will be open to the public until January 15, 2017. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com Ariel Winter looked like a total goddess in this black and white sheer gown Were not gonna lie. We could look at red carpet looks all day and then some. And were currently thanking the red carpet heavens, because last night Ariel Winter rocked a plunging dress at the TrevorLIVE fundraiser. She basically turned every head and channeled her inner-goddess. The ivory gown had black, swirling accents, and featured a long sheer skirt over a mini dress. We just love how this outfit showed off her curves and showed off some leg while still looking super classy. AND with the addition of dark nail polish that matched her jet black hair, this was the perfect way to welcome the beginning of winter (we know its not technically winter yet, but its getting cold!). With pink lips to add that splash of color, this outfit really projected all the good vibes. Just look at this girl! Were taking so many style tips from Winter right now. Floor-length dresses can be sexy and sophisticated (and comfortable, by the looks of it). All you gotta do is OWN it. Keep doing you, Ariel! Were here to soak up all your fashion inspo. #tbt to a great weekend at @miraval_resort #spa #trip A photo posted by ARIEL WINTER (@arielwinter) on Aug 11, 2016 at 11:41am PDT Go GIRL! Now given the abundance of holiday parties upon us, its probably appropriate to go dress shopping! Yessss. The post Ariel Winter looked like a total goddess in this black and white sheer gown appeared first on HelloGiggles. By PTI: Toronto, Dec 4 (PTI) Scientists have discovered what could be the worlds first polluted river, contaminated about 7,000 years ago by Neolithic humans who may have been producing copper metals from ores. In the now-dry riverbed in the Wadi Faynan region of southern Jordan, Professor Russell Adams from the University of Waterloo in Canada, and colleagues found evidence of early pollution caused by the combustion of copper. advertisement The findings shed light on a turning point in history, when humans began moving from making tools out of stones to making tools out of metal. This period, known as the Chalcolithic or Copper Age, is a transitional period between the late Neolithic or Stone Age and the beginning of the Bronze Age. "These populations were experimenting with fire, experimenting with pottery and experimenting with copper ores, and all three of these components are part of the early production of copper metals from ores," said Adams. "The technological innovation and the spread of the adoption and use of metals in society mark the beginning of the modern world," he said. People created copper at this time by combining charcoal and the blue-green copper ore found in abundance in the area in pottery vessels and heating the mixture over a fire. The process was time-consuming and labour-intensive and, for this reason, it took thousands of years before copper became a central part of human societies. Many of the objects created in the earliest phase of copper production were primarily symbolic and fulfilled a social function within society. Attaining rare and exotic items was a way in which individuals attained prestige. As time passed, communities in the region grew larger and copper production expanded. People built mines, then large smelting furnaces and factories by about 2600 BC. "This region is home to the worlds first industrial revolution. This really was the centre of innovative technology," said Adams. However, people paid a heavy price for the increased metal production. Slag, the waste product of smelting, remained. It contained metals such as copper, lead, zinc, cadmium, and even arsenic, mercury and thalium. Plants absorbed these metals, people and animals such as goats and sheep ate them, and so the contaminants bioaccumulated in the environment. Adams believes the pollution from thousands of years of copper mining and production must have led to widespread health problems in ancient populations. Infertility, malformations and premature death would have been some of the effects. Researchers have found high levels of copper and lead in human bones dating back to the Roman period. advertisement Researchers are now trying to expand the analysis of the effects of this pollution to the Bronze Age, which began around 3200 BC. PTI MHN SAR SAR --- ENDS --- (Updates to add comment from Energy Transfer and Sunoco Logistics, paragraph 8) By Ernest Scheyder and Valerie Volcovici CANNON BALL, N.D./WASHINGTON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said on Sunday it turned down a permit for a controversial pipeline project running through North Dakota, in a victory for Native Americans and climate activists who have protested against the project for months. A celebration erupted at the main protest camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, where the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others have been protesting against the 1,172-mile (1,885-km) Dakota Access Pipeline. It may prove to be a short-lived victory, however, because Republican President-elect Donald Trump has said he supports the project. Trump takes over from Democratic President Barack Obama on Jan. 20 and policy experts believe he could reverse the decision if he wanted to. The line, owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP , had been complete except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River. That stretch required an easement from federal authorities. The Obama administration delayed a decision on the permit twice in an effort to consult further with the tribe. "The Army will not grant an easement to cross Lake Oahe at the proposed location based on the current record," a statement from the U.S. Army said. Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Army's Assistant Secretary for Civil Works, said in a statement the decision was based on a need to explore alternate routes for the pipeline, although it remained unclear what those alternatives would be. Energy Transfer Partners and its partner Sunoco Logistics blasted the decision in a statement, calling it the "latest in a series of overt and transparent political actions" by the Obama administration. They said they were committed to seeing the project completed without rerouting the line. Protesters have said the $3.8 billion project could contaminate the water supply and damage sacred tribal lands. Story continues "I hope they follow through here with this. They haven't been following the law all along. So we'll see - but this is a victory today for our people and our water," said Native American Gerad Kipp, 44, an irrigation engineer from Missoula, Montana. Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault II thanked activists for their support in the protest effort. "The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and all of Indian Country will be forever grateful to the Obama Administration for this historic decision," he said in a statement. "We want to thank everyone who played a role in advocating for this cause. We thank the tribal youth who initiated this movement," he said. Protest organizers had for months argued that crossing the Missouri River adjacent to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation presented a danger to their water source. Protests grew over the months, with hundreds of veterans flocking to the camp in recent days to stand against what they said were aggressive law enforcement tactics. Activists at the camp were seen hugging each other and letting out Native American war cries on Sunday, but many remained wary, knowing that Trump has voiced support for the line. "It's not a 100 percent victory. But I think the people who've been here for almost eight months have earned the right to be excited today," said Eryn Wise, 26, an organizer with International Indigenous Youth Council. 'FAILS TO RESOLVE ISSUE' North Dakota Congressman Kevin Cramer and Senator John Hoeven, both Republicans who favor the line, blasted the decision, saying it "violates the rule of law and fails to resolve the issue." Cramer, an adviser to Trump under consideration for a Cabinet post, said the president-elect would "restore law and order." Trump has yet to react to Sunday's decision. "He could approve the pipeline within a matter of hours of taking office," said Brigham McCown, the former head of the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration under George W. Bush. "He can simply reinstate the previous decision or by executive order say that it's part of national critical infrastructure and approve a permit." Still, the pipeline route's opponents said they hoped the line would be rerouted. "We're hopeful that when the Trump administration takes office it will look at all of the priorities it has and that putting at risk the water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux isn't on their list," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. Any alternative route would still likely need to cross the Missouri River, probably upstream of Lake Oahe and closer to the state capital of Bismarck. Many pipelines travel under U.S. waterways already, and pipe is considered a safer way to transport crude oil than rail. North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat, acknowledged that the next steps remain unclear, saying in a statement Sunday the pipeline "still remains in limbo." Pipeline proponents are looking to different policies from the incoming Trump administration, particularly after the Obama administration's denial of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have come from Canada through Nebraska. A number of states and municipalities have made it more difficult to build pipelines in recent years. "With the federal environmental assessment finding the current route will have the least impact on the environment, we're looking forward to getting past this administration's politicization of Dakota Access and future decisions made on the merits of this project," said John Stoody, a spokesman for the Association of Oil Pipe Lines, in Washington. (Additional reporting by Terray Sylvester in Cannon Ball, and Jessica Resnick Ault in New York and Liz Hampton in Houston; Additional reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Writing by David Gaffen; Editing by Chris Reese, Mary Milliken and Paul Tait) By Ernest Scheyder and Terray Sylvester CANNON BALL, N.D. (Reuters) - A Native American leader asked thousands of protesters to return home after the federal government ruled against a controversial pipeline, despite the prospect of President-elect Donald Trump reversing the decision after he takes office. A coalition of Native American groups, environmentalists, Hollywood stars and veterans of the U.S. armed forces protested the $3.8 billion oil project. They said construction would damage sacred lands and any leaks could pollute the water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. The tribe still wants to speak with Trump about the Dakota Access Pipeline to prevent him from approving the final phase of construction, Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault told Reuters. "The current administration did the right thing and we need to educate the incoming administration and help them understand the right decision was made," he said.Trump's transition team said on Monday it would review the decision to delay completion once he takes office Jan. 20. "That's something that we support construction of and we'll review the full situation when we're in the White House and make the appropriate determination at that time," Trump spokesman Jason Miller said at a transition team news briefing. Archambault said nothing would happen over the winter before Trump takes power, so protesters should leave. Many had dug in for the harsh winter of the North Dakota plains, where a blizzard hit on Monday and 40 miles-per-hour (64 kmh) winds rattled tipis and tents. "We're thankful for everyone who joined this cause and stood with us," he said. "The people who are supporting us ... they can return home and enjoy this winter with their families. Same with law enforcement. I am asking them to go." It was unclear if protesters would heed Archambault's call to leave the Oceti Sakowin camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota. SHORT-LIVED VICTORY On Sunday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rejected an application for the pipeline to tunnel under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River. The Army Corps said it would analyze possible alternate routes, although any other route is likely to cross the Missouri River. The camp celebrated the decision, but some expressed concern their victory could be short-lived. "I think this is just a rest," Charlotte Bad Cob, 30, of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, said on Sunday. "With a new government it could turn and we could be at it again." On Monday, tribal leaders and hundreds of veterans walked to Backwater Bridge, one of the focal points of the protests, and offered prayers and chanted after the victory. Several veterans said they had no plans to leave and suspected Sunday's decision was a ruse to empty the camp. The company building the 1,172-mile (1,885-km) pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, said late on Sunday that it had no plans to reroute the line, and expected to complete the project. The Obama administration's decision was a "political action", ETP said in a joint statement on Sunday with its partner Sunoco Logistics Partners. The pipeline is complete except for a 1-mile (1.61 km)segment that was to run under Lake Oahe, which required permission from federal authorities. The chief executive of ETP, Kelcy Warren, donated to Trump's campaign, while the president-elect has investments in ETP and Phillips 66, another partner in the project. As of Trump's mid-2016 financial disclosure form, his stake in ETP was between $15,000 and $50,000, down from between $500,000 and $1 million in mid-2015. He had between $100,000 and $250,000 in shares of Phillips, according to federal forms. (Writing by David Gaffen and Simon Webb; Editing by Toni Reinhold and Alan Crosby) Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. AJG remains on the growth track supported by its strategic acquisition and mergers. Notably, the company evolved from a small retail presence in Australia, Canada and New Zealand to one of the top five brokers globally. Arthur J. Gallagher made 28 acquisitions since January through October this year with annualized revenues of $97.4 million. In November, the insurance broker acquired London-based Argentis, Altman & Cronin Benefit Consultants in the U.S., and Michigan-based Regency Group. Arthur J. Gallagher has also accelerated its acquisition activity in the retail employee benefits brokerage and wholesale brokerage space. The company intends to pursue smaller tuck-in mergers in 2017. These acquisitions have not only expanded the companys global footprint but also added capabilities to its suit of products and services. Strategic buyouts, along with organic initiatives, have been fueling top-line growth for years, increasing at a four-year CAGR of 26% in 2015. Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher have increased 1.21% in the last one month compared with the Zacks categorized Insurance Broker industrys 3.54%. The estimates have also moved down in the last few weeks. Nonetheless, we believe that the above-mentioned growth drivers will help the stock to turn around. Also, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) insurer has delivered positive surprise in the last four quarters with an average beat of 6.3%. The long-term expected earnings growth is pegged at 9%. Price earnings growth ratio, which determines the relative trade-off between the price of a stock, the earnings generated per share, and the company's expected growth, is 1.99. This is above the industry average of 1.67. The company has seen its 2016 estimates moving north by more than 1% over the last 60 days. Stocks to Consider Some better-ranked insurers that warrant a look include Alleghany Corporation Y, Arch Capital Group Ltd. ACGL and First American Financial Corporation FAF. All of these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Story continues Alleghany Corporation, which is engages in P&C reinsurance and insurance businesses in the U.S. and internationally, beat estimates in three of the last four quarters with an average positive surprise of 20.52%. Arch Capital, a provider of property, casualty, and mortgage insurance and reinsurance products worldwide surpassed estimates in the last four quarters with an average positive surprise of 9.27%. First American Financial, a provider of financial services, surpassed estimates in the last four quarters with an average positive surprise of 14.32%. The Best Place to Start Your Stock Search Today, you are invited to download the full list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buy" stocks absolutely free of charge. Since 1988, Zacks Rank #1 stocks have nearly tripled the market, with average gains of +26% per year. Plus, you can access the list of portfolio-killing Zacks Rank #5 "Strong Sells" and other private research. See these stocks free>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report GALLAGHER ARTHU (AJG): Free Stock Analysis Report FIRST AMER FINL (FAF): Free Stock Analysis Report ALLEGHANY CORP (Y): Free Stock Analysis Report ARCH CAP GP LTD (ACGL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research By Shadia Nasralla and Kirsti Knolle VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrians' desire to stay anchored in the European Union outweighed concerns over immigration and security and helped former Greens leader Alexander Van der Bellen defeat his far-right rival Norbert Hofer in Sunday's presidential election. Van der Bellen, whose win bucks a trend of populist victories across Western democracies, had put Britain's decision to leave the EU at the center of his own campaign, warning voters not to "play with this fire". "I will be a pro-European president of Austria open to the world," Van der Bellen, 72, said in his victory speech. Hofer, whose Freedom Party (FPO) is anti-immigrant and eurosceptic, had suggested at one point in the campaign that Austrians could vote within months on whether to follow Britain out of the EU, though he later rowed back from the comments. Austria's economy is closely integrated with the rest of the EU, the destination last year of about 70 percent of its exports, worth some 91 billion euros ($96.81 billion). "Austria, as a small and open economy, profits more than average from free trade and its integration into the European market," said Georg Kapsch, head of Austria's Chamber of Industry, when congratulating Van der Bellen on his victory. A SORA survey published shortly after Britain's vote to leave the EU in June showed about 70 percent of Austrians would have voted to "remain" in the bloc, which it joined in 1994. Two-thirds of Van der Bellen's supporters backed him because they thought he would represent them best abroad and because he supports the EU, a SORA survey conducted on Dec. 1-4 found. This compared with 36 percent of Hofer voters who saw their man as a good representative abroad, SORA said. "PRESIDENT OF CENTER" "(Van der Bellen) is a president of the center and arguments relating to Europe, to jobs, were very strong reasons that made people understand this," said Johannes Zweytick, a deputy mayor in the rural town of Ehrenhausen from one of Austria's governing parties, the conservative Austrian People's Party (OVP). Some conservatives including the OVP leader backed Van der Bellen for the mainly ceremonial post of president despite their traditional scepticism about the Greens due to uncertainty over the stance of Hofer and his FPO towards the EU. "People found this (ambiguity) irritating," said Zweytick. The FPO now says it favors Austria's continued membership of the EU but says they would seek a referendum on the issue if the bloc became more "centralized" or if Turkey joined the EU - a very unlikely prospect any time soon. Underlining its wariness on the issue of the EU, the FPO quickly distanced itself just before Sunday's election from comments by Nigel Farage, former leader of the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) and veteran supporter of Brexit. Farage said he expected Hofer would push for a similar referendum in Austria if he became president. "The FPO is neither for Austria's exit from the EU nor does it want (to) build the EU into a United States of Europe with the loss of veto rights for member states," it said. Despite Hofer's defeat, the FPO remains Austria's most popular party and could play the leading role in forming a new coalition government after the next parliamentary election, which is due in 2018 but could come sooner. Both Hofer and Van der Bellen ran as outsiders amid widespread dissatisfaction in Austria with the two main parties, the Social Democrats and Christian Conservatives, who have dominated politics in the wealthy Alpine nation for decades. Europe's migrant crisis has fueled support for the FPO as more than 120,000 people have sought asylum in Austria in the past two years, though the issue did not rank in the SORA poll as one of the main factors for voters backing Hofer. (Editing by Gareth Jones) Snack foods manufacturer B&G Foods, Inc. BGS seems to be on an acquisition spree. After acquiring the spices and seasonings business of ACH Food Companies, Inc last month, B&G Foods has now taken over Victoria Fine Foods Holding Company and Victoria Fine Foods, LLC from Huron Capital Partners and other sellers for roughly $70 million in cash. B&G FOODS CL-A Price B&G FOODS CL-A Price | B&G FOODS CL-A Quote B&G Foods Benefits Founded in 1929, Brooklyn-based Victoria Fine Foods brand offers a variety of premium pasta and specialty sauces, savory condiments and tasty gourmet spreads. Victoria sauces are made using traditional cooking methods and are slow kettle-cooked in small batches to ensure rich flavor and a homemade taste. Integrating Victoria Fine Foods and the Victoria premium pasta sauce brand to the B&G Foods family complements the companys existing portfolio of brands, comprising Don Pepino pizza sauces, Sclafani crushed tomatoes and Emerilspasta sauces. With the acquisition of ACH Food, B&G Foods bolstered its presence in the shelf-stable product market. B&G Foods already sells staples like Mrs. Dash salt-free flavoring and Vermont Maid syrups. Now, with the addition of Victoria brands, the company has broadened its sauce line of offerings. Financially, B&G Foods expects this acquisition to prove immediately accretive to its earnings and free cash flow. The company expects the Victoria brand to generate net sales of approximately $41 million on an annualized basis and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $9.0 million post full integration. Notably, acquisitions have been a key growth driver for B&G Foods. Total revenue of $318.2 million in the third quarter of 2016 was driven by its recent acquisitions. Revenues in the third quarter increased 49.2% year over year on strong sales at Green Giant, which was taken over in Nov 2015. Also, the company reported adjusted earnings per share of 56 cents that beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 52 cents by 7.7%. Earnings also increased 43.6% from the year-ago quarter on higher sales and margins. Share Price Performance B&G Foods has outperformed the Zacks categorized Food-Miscellaneous/Diversified Market year to date, with shares gaining 21.4% compared to the broader markets tepid growth of 2.4%. Story continues Zacks Rank & Key Picks BGS Foods currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the same space include Ingredion Incorporated INGR, Lancaster Colony Corporation LANC and Mondelez International, Inc. MDLZ, all carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Ingredion has a decent earnings surprise history, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all of the last four quarters, the average earnings surprise being 10.47%. Lancaster Colonys fiscal 2017 earnings are expected to grow 7.3%. Mondelez will likely witness 11.4% EPS growth in 2016. The Best Place to Start Your Stock Search Today, you are invited to download the full list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buy" stocks absolutely free of charge. Since 1988, Zacks Rank #1 stocks have nearly tripled the market, with average gains of +26% per year. Plus, you can access the list of portfolio-killing Zacks Rank #5 "Strong Sells" and other private research. See these stocks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report B&G FOODS CL-A (BGS): Free Stock Analysis Report INGREDION INC (INGR): Free Stock Analysis Report MONDELEZ INTL (MDLZ): Free Stock Analysis Report LANCASTER COLON (LANC): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. A Southwest Airlines plane had to be diverted Sunday after a baby was born mid-flight. The flight from Philadelphia was headed to Orlando but when the expectant mom went into labor, the plane was diverted to Charleston, South Carolina. Read: Panic on the Tarmac: Passengers Shocked as Woman Jumps Out of Plane While It's Taxiing The flight crew got on the intercom and asked if any doctors were on board. The mother got lucky because two of the passengers were doctors and one was a nurse. Everyone did their part and raced into action during the birth. Read: Donald Trump Supporter Banned From Delta Flights for Life After Tirade Against 'Hillary B****es' When the plane landed, the baby was rushed to a nearby hospital. Officials say the flight and the remaining passengers arrived in Orlando just over an hour behind schedule. Watch: How Airline Programs Designed to Protect Unaccompanied Children Can Sometimes Go Awry Related Articles: By PTI: Patna, Dec 5 (PTI) Union Minister Giriraj Singh has advocated Nasbandi (sterilisation) after demonetisation for population control to spur development, but the idea was trashed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as "bakwaas" (nonsense). The Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) had come up with the idea yesterday and had said after "notebandi" (demonetisation), there is an urgent need to make laws for "nasbandi" (sterilisation) in the country. advertisement "India has 17 per cent of the world population which adds population equal to Australia every year. The country only has 2.5 per cent of land mass of the globe with only 4.2 per cent of water resources. In this scenario, the population explosion in the country is proving to be a big roadblock for development. We need a population control act to tide over the problem," Singh had said. He had also reportedly talked about sterilisation to control the population growth at a function in his Nawada parliamentary constituency on Sunday last. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar trashed the idea as "bakwaas" (nonsense). "The country has seen effect of Nasbandi earlier," he said referring to the mandatory sterilisation drive during Emergency period. (More) AR SNS DKB SNP --- ENDS --- Six people died after separately overdosing on heroin Sunday night within just a few blocks of each other in Philadelphia. The deaths were the latest fatalities from a spike in drug use in the city. Police had been investigating a bad batch of heroin making its way through Philadelphia and suspected possibly laced drugs in the deaths of more than 50 people in the past month alone, according to Philadelphia's Fox 29. The city has experienced a significant uptick in drug overdoses in recent years, with almost 700 overdose deaths occurring in 2015. "There's always going to be a crackdown on narcotics, regardless of what form it is," Philadelphia police officer Tanya Little told International Business Times. "That's a focus of ours." Sunday's overdoses were concentrated in what the police department refers to as the East End, a division including Kensington and parts of North Philadelphia. The six deaths included men and women aged 24 to 42. "We have that division out there patrolling and trying to combat the drug issue situation that we have here," said Little. Philadelphia's Department of Public Health released a report in June on the near-crisis proportions of the city's opioid problem. Heroin in Philadelphia has a high purity and a low price, according to the report, and deaths from the drug have increased steadily since 2011. A drug-related overdose death report for Pennsylvania released in July showed the death rate for overdoses in the state was 26 per 100,000 people in 2015, an increase from 21 per 100,000 people in 2014. Pennsylvania's physician general signed a standing order for the antidote naloxone in 2014 to expand its availability to friends and families of drug users. The Department of Public Health now urges all first responders, as well as family and friends to have it on hand at all times. The abuse of illicit street drugs and diverted pharmaceuticals continues to take too many lives and destroy families across Pennsylvania and the nation at large, said Gary Tuggle, special Agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administrations Philadelphia Division. It is imperative that law enforcement, healthcare and treatment professionals, elected officials and community groups work together to address the factors impacting availability, use and abuse of these drugs. Related Articles The bad boy of ballet is making the leap to Hollywood. Sergei Polunin, the 27-year-old Ukrainian considered by many to be one of the finest ballet dancers of his generation, has been cast in two hot upcoming titles: Kenneth Branagh's all-star adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express and the spy thriller Red Sparrow from Fox, appearing alongside Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton. Already a major force in the ballet world having become the British Royal Ballet Company's youngest-ever principal at just 19 (a role he would sensationally walk out of just two years later), Polunin became an international viral star last year thanks to a video shot by David LaChapelle of him dancing to Hozier's hit song "Take Me to Church." The video is currently nearing 17 million views. Murder on the Orient Express and Red Sparrow will be his first major studio features, but Polunin is also the subject of Dancer, Steven Cantor's PGA award-nominated documentary. Polunin confirmed his new casting to The Hollywood Reporter from the sidelines of the British Independent Film Awards ceremony on Sunday night, where Dancer was up for best documentary but eventually lost out to Notes on Blindness. Murder on the Orient Express, also starring Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley, Penelope Cruz, Michelle Pfeiffer and Judi Dench, with Branagh directing himself as the famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, is thought to start shooting in Pinewood in January. Read more: AFM Indie Director Roundtable: Ewan McGregor, Josh Kriegman and 4 More on Financing Films and Handling Actors DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh will share findings from its investigation into how unidentified hackers pulled off one of the worlds biggest cyber bank heists to help speed up recovery of the stolen funds, its law minister said on Monday. Bangladesh has up to now declined to disclose its findings of an inquiry into how the hackers used stolen Bangladesh Bank credentials to try to transfer nearly $1 billion from its U.S. Federal Reserve account in February. Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, who last week met a Bangladesh delegation led by Minister of Law Anisul Huq, said Manila "strongly recommended" Dhaka share the results of its investigation. While the Bangladesh central bank, the Bangladesh Bank, had previously declined to release any inquiry findings, saying it wanted to deny the perpetrators knowledge of the investigation, it would now do so, Huq told Reuters. It is part of co-operation. We will give them an update of our investigation, he said. The hackers managed to transfer $81 million via an account at the New York Federal Reserve to four accounts in fake names at a branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp in the Philippines. Most of the money was laundered through Philippine casinos and only about $15 million was recovered from a gaming junket operator and returned to Bangladesh. Bangladesh has said it wants the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) to compensate it for its losses, but the bank refuses to pay and has said the Bangladesh central bank was "negligent". Huq last week said RCBC should shoulder the burden for accepting stolen funds. RCBC was fined a record one billion pesos ($20 million) by the Philippine central bank for its failure to prevent the movement of the stolen Bangladesh money through its bank. Huq said paying that fine was tantamount to accepting culpability. A Philippine anti-money laundering agency last month filed charges against five RCBC officials in connection with the theft. No arrests have been made despite investigations by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Interpol, Bangladesh police and authorities in the Philippines. (Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Robert Birsel) Photo credit: undefined From Town & Country No red-white-and-blue real American will admit it, but we feel a bit left out with no royalty or aristocracy to kick around. And 2016 has been no good at all for our political dynasties, which took a double beating when the Donald-elect vanquished a Bush in the primary and a Clinton in the general election. Well, at least we have the princes of Goldman Sachs, the Windsors of Wall Street, back on center stage. For it was a restoration at Treasury, wasn't it, when from the Tower on Fifth it was announced yesterday that Steve Mnuchin, former partner at Goldman Sachs & Co. and son of a former partner at Goldman Sachs & Co. would be nominated as the republic's 77th Secretary of the Treasury ? [contentlinks align="left" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Story" customtitles="The%20Wealthy%20Donors%20Funding%20Trump's%20Transition" customimages="" content="article.8772"] Surely Treasury ought to belong to Wall Street and, therefore, first dibs thereon ought to go to Goldman (unless J.P. Morgan wants in). Except the numbers, dear reader, tell us that Wall Street occupation is a Johnny-come-lately phenomenon when it comes to the top government finance job, and the Goldman folks are arrivistes of the first order. It all started according to plan. The first Secretary of the Treasury was the Founding Father of the moment, New York's own Alexander Hamilton. Founder of the Bank of New York, he was oldest of old school Wall Street. But his successor, Oliver Walcott, wasn't even a banker at all, rather a lawyer and judge, setting the trend for the next 70 years, which saw 25 more Secretaries of the Treasury and not a single banker, not to mention Wall Streeter. It seems impossible, but counting Mnuchin, there have only been 12 Secretaries of the Treasury with private sector banking experience, and only eight of them have come from Wall Street. Story continues The next Treasury Secretary with any banking experience at all was Hugh McCulloch, appointed by Lincoln weeks before he was assassinated, and he barely qualifies, as he was only the manager of the Fort Wayne branch of the Bank of Indiana. Photo credit: undefined It seems impossible, but counting Mnuchin, there have only been 12 Secretaries of the Treasury with private sector banking experience, and only eight of them have come from Wall Street. The next Wall Street-pedigreed Secretary after Alexander Hamilton was Douglas Dillon, chairman of Dillon, Read & Co., appointed by President Kennedy in 1961 as the token Republican in his senior cabinet. Thirteen years later, William E. Simon, a senior partner at Salomon Brothers, was appointed by President Ford; Donald Regan, chairman of Merrill Lynch, was Secretary of the Treasury for all of President Reagan's first term. Nicholas Brady, another Dillon, Read chairman, served as Reagan's last and held the post throughout President George H. W. Bush's presidency. This brings us to last two and latest from Wall Street-and the only from Goldman Sachs: Robert Rubin who served President Clinton from 1995 through 1999, and Hank Paulson who served George W. Bush during the 2008 Financial Crisis. And while Rubin's and Paulson's tenures were noteworthy, with one presiding over the dismantling of Glass-Steagall and the deregulation of the financial industry and the other wrestling with Wall Street's most serious panic since the Great Depression, Goldman Sachs is only tied with Dillon, Read for most alumni holding the position. (If confirmed, Mnuchin would break that tie). What these number perhaps most reveal is how many august Treasury Secretaries came from outside the money business. Carter Glass, President Wilson's Secretary of the Treasury, was a small town newspaper publisher who never finished eighth grade. He also had the greatest financial mind of any person who ever held the post: He financed World War I, not only for the United States but our allies as well; wrote the Federal Reserve Act; and, later when he was a U.S. Senator, drafted the Glass-Steagall Act. And if you're interested in dysfunctional transitions, FDR announced his Treasury appointment by short wave radio from Vincent Astor's yacht in Biscayne Bay. William Woodin, FDR's first Treasury Secretary, came up with the bailout plan that ended the bank runs that collapsed the financial system in 1933. He was a railcar manufacturing executive whose appointment was roundly criticized by the financial press. (And if you're interested in dysfunctional transitions, FDR announced the appointment by short wave radio from Vincent Astor's yacht in Biscayne Bay, where he fished and sailed for a week while the nation's banks failed. They (including President Hoover) begged President-elect FDR to make a statement to calm the markets and the public, but to no avail.) Photo credit: undefined President Roosevelt's next appointment for Treasury (following Woodin's death from throat cancer in 1934) was the most controversial of them all. Henry Morganthau, Jr. was the slacker son of a politically connected wealthy New York real estate developer. Despite having all the silver-spoon advantages imaginable, Henry Jr. never graduated college, dropping out of Cornell twice. He tried his hand at agriculture and lost a small fortune as a failing Christmas tree farmer. He did, however, have the good fortune to have that farm located in close proximity to FDR's estate in Hyde Park and the two became fast friends. After appointment to minor agricultural-related patronage positions in FDR's gubernatorial and presidential administrations, Morganthau was nominated to the top cabinet position, to howls of outrage from the press and Congress. Morganthau would serve for eleven years and brilliantly finance the New Deal and World War II. [contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related%20Stories" customtitles="10%20Things%20to%20Know%20About%20Steven%20Mnuchin%7CWhatever%20Happened%20to%20Ivan%20Boesky?%7CStaffers%20for%20Clinton%20and%20Trump%20Got%20Testy%20at%20Forum" customimages="||" content="article.8777|article.8525|article.8797"] You Might Also Like Panel to Discuss Reg A+ vs RTO NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / December 5, 2016 / BANQ, a division of TriPoint Global Equities, LLC, a leading electronic broker-dealer announced today that its CEO, Mark Elenowitz will be the moderator at the at 9th Annual LD Micro Main Event, Reg A+ vs the RTO Panel: Examining the pros and cons of new techniques for going public and raising capital on December 6, 2016 in Bel Air, CA. The amendments to Regulation A, known as "Regulation A+," were adopted by the SEC pursuant to Title IV of the JOBS Act and became effective in June 2015. Regulation A+ is designed to allow early stage growth companies to raise up to $50 million in a public offering through a process that provides streamlined and lower-cost access to the capital markets for the issuer and provides investors the opportunity to participate in an IPO for these potentially high growth companies. BANQ's CEO Mark Elenowitz will be joined by Nimish Patel, Vice Chairman at MSK, LLP, Jeff Houston, CEO of GHB CPA's and Paul Dorfman, Managing Director of the New York Stock Exchange. The panelists will review the regulations, accounting standards and provide guidance on the realities and risks, and offer alternative forms of fundraising with Reg A+ and RTO (Reverse Take Over). LD Micro Main Event When: December 6-8, 2016 Where: Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel in Los Angeles, CA Presentation Day and Time: Tuesday, December 6th at 6:15 pm PST Presentation Room: Track 1 About TriPoint Global Equities, LLC and BANQ www.banq.co TriPoint Global Equities, LLC ("TriPoint "), a FINRA member firm, is a boutique investment bank, with corporate finance and sales and trading services. TriPoint focuses on providing U.S. and non-U.S. companies of up to $500 million in revenue with capital raising, corporate finance advisory services and assistance with navigating the regulatory environment for companies listing on U.S. markets. TriPoint Global maintains specialized practices in institutional private placements, sales and trading, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance. BANQ, the online division of TriPoint, www.banq.co, is an electronic investment banking platform that streamlines the matching of investors with quality growth companies and alternative investment opportunities. BANQ provides investors access to exciting companies with exposure to rapidly growing sectors and new technologies. BANQ takes the entire public and private offering process digital and online, providing access to U.S. opportunities and offerings in the U.S. markets. BANQ widely markets its offerings utilizing the new general solicitation and advertising rules promulgated by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, in response to the passage of the JOBS Act of 2012, primarily Reg A+ and Reg D. In addition BANQ offers some of the lowest trading costs in the industry. TriPoint has offices in New York City, Jericho, NY, Akron, OH, Beijing China and Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit http://www.tripointglobalequities.com and www.banq.co. About LD Micro LD Micro was founded in 2006 with the sole purpose of being an independent resource in the microcap space. What started out as a newsletter highlighting unique companies has transformed into an event platform hosting several influential conferences annually (Invitational, Summit, and Main Event). In 2015, LDM launched the first pure microcap index (the LDMi) to exclusively provide intraday information on the entire sector. LD will continue to provide valuable tools for the benefit of everyone in the small and microcap universe. For those interested in attending, please contact David Scher at david@ldmicro.com or visit www.ldmicro.com/events for more information. Contact: Mark Elenowitz, CEO TriPoint Global Equities 212-732-7184 SOURCE: TriPoint Global Equities, LLC Photo credit: Getty From ELLE Last night, President Obama hosted his last ever ( ) National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at the White House. Never one to shy away from the microphone, he ended the night with an exuberant rendition of "Jingle Bells" and sang it louder than Chance the Rapper, Eva Longoria, James Taylor, Garth Brooks, and all the other folks on stage. It might've been his most DAD moment (of which he has many) to date. Watch the video below and allow yourself to feel the joy: For the 100,000,000th time, we're going to miss him. You Might Also Like Barcelona (AFP) - Barcelona striker Neymar is suffering from muscle fatigue but no serious injury after Saturday's 1-1 draw with arch rivals Real Madrid, the club said on Monday. The Brazil star was substituted just before Sergio Ramos's dramatic late equaliser in El Clasico and had complained of pain in his right leg. "The FC Barcelona medical services conducted tests on Neymar this Monday morning and were able to confirm that the trouble he is feeling is due to muscle fatigue in the groin area," the club said in a statement. "They also determined that there is no sign of any injury," it added, with Neymar to undergo physiotherapy over the course of the next few days before returning to training. The 24-year-old is suspended for Tuesday's final Champions League group game at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach as well as Saturday's visit to Osasuna in La Liga. By PTI: New Delhi, Dec 5 (PTI) The government has issued directions prohibiting certain manufacturers from emitting a potent greenhouse gas with high global warming potential into the atmosphere, the Rajya Sabha was informed today. "The government has issued orders on October 13, 2016 directing manufacturers of hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC-22) not to emit or vent hydrofluorocarbons (HFC-23) in the atmosphere," Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. advertisement He said HFC-23 gas is a by-product of the process of manufacture of HCFC-22 gases. "Under the orders, the producers of HCFC-22 are mandated to file their report on production of ozone depleting substances under Ozone Depleting Substances Rules, 2000 as amended from time to time and to certify the status of HFC-23 production in each category being incinerated or used as feedstock or used for any other purpose on annual basis," he said. He said the state pollution boards concerned will ensure compliance of this order while renewing Consent to Operate or through their regular inspection. Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are compounds consisting of hydrogen, chlorine, fluorine, and carbon atoms. HCFCs and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) were created as substitutes for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) for use in refrigeration. All three of these classes of compounds either destroy the stratospheric ozone layer essential to life on Earth or contribute to global warming. At a crucial climate conference on HFCs in Kigali in Rwanada recently, India had announced that it will eliminate the HFC-23 gas as part of its commitment to combat the threat emanating from climate-damaging HFCs. Giving the go-ahead for releasing the order for incinerating HFC-23 by producers of HCFC-22 gas, Dave had said, "HFC-23 gas, a potent greenhouse gas with global warming potential 14,800 times more than CO2 is produced as a by-product of HCFC-22 manufacturing, and if vented out is a threat to the environment". PTI TDS AAR --- ENDS --- Over the weekend, a resurfaced interview of director Bernardo Bertolucci at the Cinematheque Francaise made headlines with outlets around the world claiming that the Oscar-winning director admitted to the "non-consensual" rape of Maria Schneider on the set of The Last Tango in Paris. The video made it clear that Schneider was not made aware of graphic details of the shoot of the infamous butter rape scene until the day of the scene, as Bertolucci admitted that he and Brando had improvised the use of butter the morning of the shoot. The wheelchair-bound director issued a statement in Italian on Monday, saying, "I would like, for the last time, to clear up a ridiculous misunderstanding that continues to generate press reports about Last Tango in Paris around the world. Several years ago at the Cinematheque Francaise, someone asked me for details on the famous butter scene." "I specified, but perhaps I was not clear, that I decided with Marlon Brando not to inform Maria that we would have used butter. We wanted her spontaneous reaction to that improper [butter] use. That is where the misunderstanding lies. "Somebody thought, and thinks, that Maria had not been informed about the violence on her. That is ! Maria knew everything because she had read the script, where it was all described. The only novelty was the idea of the butter. "And that, as I learned many years later, offended Maria. Not the violence that she is subjected to in the scene, which was written in the screenplay." Bertolucci has been outspoken about the simulated sex scene over the years, and gave a series of interviews in 2013 around the release of his film Me and You, also apologizing to Schneider for leaving the details of the scene unknown to her. It did not create such an outrage then, except in his native Italy, where headlines read "Bertolucci Confesses the Violence of Maria Schneider" and "Bertolucci Repents: I Misled Schneider." Story continues In the resurfaced interview, Bertolucci said of the butter scene: "It was in the script that he had to rape her in a way. And we were having with Marlon breakfast on the floor of the flat where we were shooting. And there was a baguette and there was butter, and we looked at each other and without saying anything, we knew what we wanted. "But I've been, in a way, horrible to Maria, because I didn't tell her what was going on, because I wanted her reaction as a girl, not as an actress. I wanted her to react humiliated, if it goes on, she shouts, 'No, no!' And I think that she hated me, and also Marlon, because we didn't tell her, and there was that detail of the butter used as a lubricant, and I still feel very guilty for that." Read more: In 2013 Interview, Bernardo Bertolucci Denies Forced Sex Took Place In 'Last Tango' Rape Scene Over the weekend Hollywood took to Twitter to express outrage over the interview. Jessica Chastain called it a planned rape. Ava DuVernay said she was "horrified, disgusted," by the resurfaced news. And Chris Evans tweeted, "They should be in jail," referring to Brando and Bertolucci, although Brando died in 2004. Schneider, who signed up for a film about anonymous sex in an anonymous apartment, was 19 at the time she shot Last Tango in Paris with Bertolucci, one of cinema's most infamously sexual directors, and the then 48-year-old Marlon Brando. In a 2007 interview Schneider said of the butter scene, "That scene wasn't in the original script. The truth is it was Marlon who came up with the idea. They only told me about it before we had to film the scene, and I was so angry." "I should have called my agent or had my lawyer come to the set because you can't force someone to do something that isn't in the script, but at the time, I didn't know that." Schneider was unprepared for the global attention the film brought her at a young age. She was never able to shake her association with the role, and often cited it as the cause for later downfall into a life of drug addiction and mental illness, claiming that people only saw her as a sex symbol and not a serious actress. "Maria accused me of having robbed her of her youth," Bertolucci said at the time. "In truth she was too young to sustain the impact of the unpredictable and brutal success of that film." The film, which resulted in an indecency trial in Italy for Bertolucci, garnered two Academy Award nominations for Bertolucci and Brando. Schneider went on to star in films with Michelangelo Antonioni and Franco Zeffirelli before her death in 2011. Read more: Hollywood Reacts With Disgust, Outrage Over 'Last Tango in Paris' Director's Resurfaced Rape Scene Confession Rome (AFP) - Italian film director Bernardo Bertolucci on Monday blamed a row over his comments on a notorious anal sex scene in "Last Tango in Paris" on a "ridiculous misunderstanding". The veteran director has come under attack in recent days from several Hollywood stars who accuse him and Marlon Brando of abusing actress Maria Schneider by keeping her in the dark about how the scene was to be shot. Bertolucci, 76, acknowledged Schneider was not aware that Brando's character would use butter as a lubricant during the scene in which the actor simulates anally penetrating his lover, played by then 19-year-old Schneider. "I want for the very last time to clear up a ridiculous misunderstanding," Bertolucci said in a statement about the steamy 1972 movie. "We wanted her spontaneous reaction to this improper use (of the butter). The misunderstanding arises from this. People thought, and think, that Maria was not informed of the violence she was to suffer (in the scene). False! "Maria knew everything because she had read the script, in which it was all described." Bertolucci spoke out after the recent resurfacing online of a 2013 interview in which he said he and Brando had decided to introduce the butter without informing the actress. Bertolucci, considered one of the giants of Italian and world cinema, confirmed that was what happened. - 'Naive' - "The only new thing was the idea of the butter. It was this, I learned many years later, that upset Maria, and not the violence that was in the scene and was envisaged in the script of the film. "It is both consoling and distressing that anyone could be so naive to believe that what happens on the cinema screen actually takes place. "Those who do not realise that sex is (almost) always simulated in films probably believe that every time John Wayne shoots an enemy on film that someone really dies." Schneider, who suffered drug addiction and depression before her 2011 death, said four years earlier she had felt "a little raped" during the scene and was profoundly angry about it for years afterwards. Story continues The relaying of Bertolucci's interview comments have prompted outrage on social media, fuelled by top actors. "To all the people that love this film - you're watching a 19yr old get raped by a 48yr old man. The director planned her attack. I feel sick," Oscar-nominated Jessica Chastain wrote on Twitter. In the 2013 exchange, Bertolucci explains how the butter idea came about. "We were having, with Marlon, breakfast on the floor of the flat where I was shooting," the director says. "There was a baguette, there was butter and we looked at each other and, without saying anything, we knew what we wanted." Actor Chris Evans said on Twitter: "I will never look at this film, Bertolucci or Brando the same way again. This is beyond disgusting. I feel rage." "Westworld" star Evan Rachel Wood, who recently opened up about her own sexual abuse, described Bertolucci and Brando -- who died aged 80 in 2004 -- as "very sick individuals to think that was ok." A Pennsylvania judge today ruled that damning depositions Bill Cosby gave in 2005 and 2006 can be used as evidence in a criminal case there against the much-accused actor. The trial over the alleged 2004 sexual assault of then Temple University employee Andrea Constand is scheduled to go to trial in June 2017. And now, this 5th day of December, 2016, upon consideration of the Defendant s Motion to Suppress The Contents Of His Deposition Testimony and Any Evidence Derived Therefrom on the Basis that the District Attorneys Promise Not to Prosecute Him Induced Him to Waive His Fifth Amendment Right Against Self- Incrimination, filed August 12, 2016, the Commonwealths Response thereto, filed September 2, 2016, and after hearing before the undersigned on November 1, 2016, based upon the arguments of counsel and the evidence adduced, the Defendants Motion to Suppress is hereby DENIED in its entirety, ordered Judge Steven ONeill (read the ruling here) this morning in another big defeat for Cosby and his ever-changing team of lawyers. Made public last year, the past depositions found Cosby admitting to having drugs for the purpose of having sex with women. His attorneys have worked hard to suppress the depo as well as keep up to 13 women who say Cosby sexually assaulted or drugged them from being allowed to testify. More than 60 women have come forth in the past few years with detailed and similar accusations to Constands. If found guilty of the three felony charges of second-degree aggravated indecent assault, the 79-year old Cosby would face up to a decade behind bars and hefty fines. Further pre-trial hearings on the matter, and other attempts by the defense to derail the process, are set for later this month in front. The Pennsylvania case is the only criminal one against the actor with charges laid by the newly elected D.A of Montgomery County late last year just before the states 12-year statute of limitations in such sex crimes expired. Cosby was arraigned December 30 and released on $1 million bail without entering a plea. Story continues Related stories Bill Cosby Loses Latest Attempt To Have 2004 Rape Case Dismissed Bill Cosby Expects To "Resume" TV & Stand-Up Career Once Rape & Defamation Lawsuits Are Over Bill Cosby 2004 Rape Trial Could Start "Earlier," Judge Says At PA Hearing - Update Scandal-plagued comedian Bill Cosby was dealt a heavy blow in the looming sexual assault trial against him, as a judge ordered that potentially damaging deposition testimony that Cosby gave in 2005 and 2006 can be used in the case. Cosbys team had sought to suppress the deposition testimony, claiming that previous Montgomery County, Pennsylvania district attorney Bruce Castor had agreed not to prosecute him for the alleged sexual assault of former Temple University employee Andrea Constand. However, in an order handed down Monday, Judge Steven. T. ONeill shot down that line of argument. Also Read: Bill Cosby-Inspired Legislation Signed Into Law by California Governor Instantly, this Court concludes that there was neither an agreement nor a promise not to prosecute only an exercise of prosecutorial discretion, the order reads. This Court finds that there is no Constitutional barrier to the use of the Defendants civil deposition testimony. The testimony, portions of which leaked to the media last year, stemmed from Constands lawsuit against Cosby, which the pair ultimately settled. The testimony gained widespread attention in part because Cosby, who has been accused of drugging and raping or sexually assaulting numerous women, admitted that he had obtained Quaaludes to give to women with whom he wanted to have sex. Cosby is accused of drugging and assaulting Constand at his home in 2004. Last December, the comedian was charged with aggravated indecent assault, following the election of a new district attorney who made the Cosby case a prominent part of his campaign. Also Read: Bill Cosby's Lawyers Play Race Card as Comedian Heads Back to Court Cosby has denied the allegations. Pamela Chelin contributed to this report. Related stories from TheWrap: Bill Cosby-Inspired Legislation Signed Into Law by California Governor Bill Cosby Racism Claim Is an Attempt to Sway Jurors, Legal Experts Say Bill Cosby's Lawyers Play Race Card as Comedian Heads Back to Court In the early days of September 2001, I was driving down Santa Monica Boulevard on my way to a call-back for Guy Ritchie's adaptation of Swept Away, starring his then-wife Madonna, when it dawned on me: Instead of turning left toward the office buildings, I would be veering into the residential area. I was going to Madonna's house. Her music had been the soundtrack to my preteen angst, and she was my idol as a feminist and as an artist. Naturally, I pulled the car over, called my sister and had a mini-freak-out. When Madonna walked into Guy's home office that day, her little son, Rocco, was perched on her hip. She told me that my audition was funny and that I'd be good in the movie, and I just tried to keep breathing. I assume it was in that moment that Guy concluded I'd be the perfect, nubile idiot to cast in Swept Away. I won the part. The next few weeks were surreal for all of us. I had seen Madonna in concert as a teenager and had splurged on tickets for her Staples Center show scheduled for Sept. 11, 2001. Needless to say, that concert was postponed as the world came undone. But a couple of weeks after we met, I watched Madonna finish her Drowned World Tour. Before the music began that night, she started with a prayer for peace: "If you want to change the world, change yourself," she told the crowd. Through tears, I sang along for the entire show. Anyone who has ever had the opportunity to work alongside her -- as I did in Malta during those next couple of months -- understands why Madonna is Madonna. She works harder than anyone I've ever met; she exists in this world by her own rules; she has remained in control of her own voice, paving the way for the Taylor Swifts and Adeles of the world to do their thing in the process. During the course of her more than three-decades-long career, all of those instincts have helped her land the most top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and hold the record for the most No. 1s by any act on a single Billboard list (46 No. 1s on Dance Club Songs). With more than $1.3 billion earned from her groundbreaking concert tours through the years, as reported to Billboard Boxscore, she now reigns, at age 58, as the highest-grossing female touring artist of all time. Her most recent trek, the Rebel Heart Tour, grossed $170 million during the course of 82 performances, concluding in March 2016. (A concert film chronicling the tour, Madonna: Rebel Heart Tour, premieres Dec. 9 on Showtime.) Story continues But it has never really been about the numbers for Madonna. Whether through her music, her devotion to her family -- daughter Lourdes, 20; son Rocco, 16; son David Banda, 11; and daughter Mercy James, 10 -- her advocacy for LGBTQ rights or her ongoing work with Raising Malawi, the nonprofit she co-founded in 2006 to help combat the extreme poverty experienced by the African republic's orphans, Madonna's existence has always been rooted in making the world a more inclusive place. There is no higher calling. On a recent Monday afternoon in between parent/teacher conferences for my kids and meetings for Pitch Perfect 3 -- a film that focuses on young women finding harmony through music -- Madonna and I reconnected over the phone. Since there is no shortage of Madonna books, articles, blog posts and career analyses, I just wanted a snapshot of Madonna right now, in this moment, because she is a woman who lives in the present and never looks back. Where are you today? I'm in New York, trying to get my Raising Malawi art auction together for Art Basel in Miami. Just dealing with artists and temperamental people. How many artists will you feature? It will probably be 12 amazing works of art. I wanted to keep it to artists that I collect myself or I'm friends with or art from my own collection. Originally it was just going to be art, but now it's also experiences, so I'm trying to make them as interesting as possible. For instance, one is a trip with me to Malawi, where my son and daughter [David Banda and Mercy James] are adopted from. Another is playing poker with Jonah Hill and Ed Norton, and another is staying at Leonardo DiCaprio's house in Palm Springs for a week. I didn't think it was going to be as complicated as it is, but, oh well, that's life. It's complicated because I'm involved with everything: the lighting, the curtains, the flowers, the decor, the food. I've tasted too many bad bottles of wine. This auction is an extension of me, so I want everything to be beautiful, tasteful and well-appointed. It becomes exhausting because I need to be involved in every aspect of it: the people who are speaking, the clothes people are wearing, the music on the playlist. Will there ever be a time that you let go of that control, or is this like, "I have to?" I have to. Where does that come from? Obviously, you could say it has to do with my childhood, if you're going to psychoanalyze me: My mother dying and me not being told, and a sense of loss and betrayal and surprise. Then feeling out of control for the majority of my childhood, and becoming an artist and saying that I will control everything. No one will speak for me, no one will make decisions for me. You could say I'm a super control freak. That's what everybody likes to say. I don't want to have an event that I'm not proud of. It's like everything that I do. My shows, my films, my house, the way I raise my children. I take great offense when details are overlooked. I want to ask you about ageism in the music world. In Hollywood, as you know, it's rare for women to find great roles as they get older. I imagine it's even tougher to be a woman of a certain age in pop music. When you go into the studio or mount a tour like Rebel Heart, are you concerned about staying relevant? I don't care. It's the rest of society that cares. I don't ever think about my age until someone says something about it. I feel that I have wisdom, experience, knowledge and a point of view that is important. Can a teenager relate to that? Probably not. But that's OK. I understand that. "Relevance" is a catchphrase that people throw out because we live in a world full of discrimination. Age is only brought up with regard to women. It's connected to sexism, chauvinism and misogyny. When Leonardo is 60 years old, no one is going to talk about his relevance. Am I relevant as a female in this society that hates women? Well, to people who are educated and are not chauvinists or misogynists, yes. Speaking of: How did you feel about the outcome of the election? It felt like someone died. It felt like a combination of the heartbreak and betrayal you feel when someone you love more than anything leaves you, and also a death. I feel that way every morning; I wake up and say, "Oh, wait, Donald Trump is still the president," and it wasn't a bad dream that I had. It feels like women betrayed us. The percentage of women who voted for Trump was insanely high. Why do you think that is? Women hate women. That's what I think it is. Women's nature is not to support other women. It's really sad. Men protect each other, and women protect their men and children. Women turn inward and men are more external. A lot of it has do with jealousy and some sort of tribal inability to accept that one of their kind could lead a nation. Other people just didn't bother to vote because they didn't like either candidate, or they didn't think Trump had a chance in the world. They took their hands off the wheel and then the car crashed. Were you surprised? Of course. I was devastated, surprised, in shock. I haven't really had a good night's sleep since he has been elected. We're f - ed. Do you know anyone who voted for Trump? Yeah, and I've gotten into major arguments. What did they say? That they would rather have a successful businessman running the country than a woman who lies. Just absurd. But people don't have faith in government as we know it. We live in a country that's run by bankers. In a way, it makes sense that Donald Trump is the president. Because money rules. Not intelligence, not experience, not a moral compass, not the ability to make wise decisions, not the ability to think of the future of the human race. What do you think artists' responses will be? I've witnessed many protests in Manhattan, but in the end the protests have to equal something. Something has to manifest. Do you think you can be an agent for change? Well, of course you know the answer to that. I'm trying to figure out my response to Trump. I like the idea that women are marching on Washington, D.C., the day after the inauguration. I want to rain on his parade. I was put on this earth to fight for the underdog and fight against discrimination. As a fellow New Yorker, have you ever met the president-elect? I wouldn't call him a friend or anything, but I've certainly met him. I did a photo shoot years ago at [Trump's] Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach [Fla.] for a Versace campaign. He's a very friendly guy, charismatic in that boastful, macho, alpha-male way. I found his political incorrectness amusing. Of course, I didn't know he was going to be running for president 20 years later. People like that exist in the world, I'm OK with it. They just can't be heads of state. I just can't put him and Barack Obama in the same sentence, same room, same job description. When you go to Malawi, or travel the world, you must clearly get a sense of how our president affects the globe. We're the laughing stock of the universe right now. We can no longer criticize other governments, other leaders. I'm hanging my head in shame. What have you learned through your work in Malawi? It really opened my eyes to what's going on in the rest of the world. It has connected me to organizations and NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] in other countries in Africa. It got me involved with the importance of secondary school for girls because girls are not encouraged to be educated in Africa. I've been working in Malawi for over a decade. I have a huge commitment and love for the country and I will never desert them. I adopted my two children that I'm so lucky to have living in my house right now. Since then I've been working tirelessly trying to make Malawi a more self-sufficient country. I've been building orphan-care centers, funding clinics and schools, and the list goes on. I've also been supporting this pediatric surgeon, Eric Borgstein. He's an angel in human form who has given his life to looking after children. He's tireless and fearless and performs multiple surgeries a day in the most dire conditions. I couldn't take it anymore, so I built a hospital. I've been subsidizing education of other surgeons to work by his side so he doesn't do everything on his own. That's really what this Art Basel fundraiser is about: creating an endowment for the hospital with art. Art is how I express myself, and art is how I can change the world. When I visit your social media accounts, you're either posting about Malawi or about your family. My family is everything. I will go to war for them. Whatever I'm fighting for, it's for my daughters and my sons. I want them to have a good future. I've created an unconventional family and we have discussions at the dinner table about all sorts of things. My 11-year-old son can speak eloquently about Malcolm X and Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela and James Baldwin. My daughter Mercy plays the piano and can talk to you about Nina Simone. I'm really proud of that. How do you decide when to include your children in your social media posts? When I post their things, they give me permission. A lot of times they'll send me pictures and say, "Please don't post this," and I won't. They have private accounts, and I respect that. I also consider my children part of my work and the work that we do together. What is going on with you as a filmmaker? I want to make more films, and I'm going to make more films. I've written screenplays and I'm hoping to make them next, but who knows. Making films is very complicated. There are a lot of people involved. When I go on tour I just go, "OK, I'm going on tour." But with films, I don't have that kind of control. It's much more frustrating for me. Besides Trump, what does Madonna worry about? Do you even worry about anything? What? I worry about absolutely everything. I worry about my kids all day long. I worry about my health. I worry about whether I'm going to get things done in time. I worry about every project I'm working on. I worry about whether I'll get to sleep at night. I worry about the state of the world. There isn't anything I don't worry about. Artists Weigh In on Madonna's Inspirational Role in Their Lives "When I think of greatness and what a legend is, I always think of Madonna. She has always been true to herself as an artist. She does things her way no matter what, and that always inspires me. Because she never backs down from her beliefs and takes risks, she has made history. Working with her was one of the proudest moments of my career. She's the ultimate boss." -- Nicki Minaj "Madonna paved the way for girls in pop to express themselves sexually, without apologizing. I really admire what she has created!" -- Tove Lo "Madonna has always been an inspiration to me. She's a strong woman who knows what she wants and doesn't compromise her vision. And she's not afraid to reinvent herself -- with every album she experiments more and pushes the envelope. That takes a lot of courage, which motivates us all." -- Britney Spears "Madonna is such a singular artist. She created the modern pop star and has pushed boundaries for music for 30 years. She's legendary, and yet she still brings this incredible young energy." -- Diplo This article originally appeared in the Dec. 10 issue of Billboard. Billboard's Women In Music event takes place on Dec. 9 in New York City and airs on Lifetime Dec. 12. In a whirlwind year that began when veteran music agent Cara Lewis parted ways with Creative Artists Agency in November 2015, the famously tough and meticulous agent says she was given a mandate by her artists, who include established acts like Eminem and Pitbull as well as younger artists like Chance the Rapper and Bryson Tiller. "The thought of building another agency and dealing with the insane politics did not excite me or my clients," recalls Lewis. "Everybody unanimously agreed, 'You should start your own company.'" That led to the formation of the Cara Lewis Group, with a roster built on dedication, loyalty and relationships that extend back to her 20-plus years as an agent with William Morris Endeavor, which she left for CAA in 2012. In its first year, Cara Lewis Group booked more than 800 shows around the world, including Chance's 30-plus-date Magnificent Coloring World Tour; 70 shows for Travi$ Scott; a rare run of South American Lollapalooza dates for Eminem; and Tiller's first headlining run, which took him from 1,000-2,000-capacity rooms in January to a two-night stint at the 6,000-capacity Radio City Music Hall by April. "It's about artists, it's about imaging, and it's about the team," says the New York native. "You can have an incredible record, but it doesn't mean you're going to have the staying power unless everything you do around it is correct." That also has included partnering with Marcie Allen's MAC Presents to deliver brand partnerships for her clients; working with MAC and Chance's management team, for instance, led to partnerships with Citi, Honda and Bud Light for the artist's Magnificent Coloring Day Festival in September. That event was booked and curated by Chance and his team and broke the attendance record at the Chicago White Sox's home stadium, U.S. Cellular Field, by selling more than 50,000 tickets. "I love being an agent and building foundations that will forever be meaningful; I built two businesses with that mentality," says the 2016 Billboard Women in Music honoree. "Now I am doing it for myself and my clients." Nelson Peltz Trian Partners' Nelson Peltz said he thinks companies could come back to the US under President-elect Donald Trump. "If he gets the kinds of tax reductions he's talking about, we will wind up having more employment, more companies coming back to the United States," Peltz told CNBCs David Faber on Monday's Squawk on the Street. "I think the Trump rally is celebrating that capitalism is back," he added. The activist investor, who is a board member at Mondelez, has drawn scorn for cutting jobs at the Oreo-maker. Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders earlier this year criticized Mondelez's decision to move some jobs to Mexico. Mondelez is one of Trian's largest positions. In a speech last year, Trump said that he'll "never eat another Oreo again," according to CNN Money. For Mondelez, Peltz said those jobs never should have been there in the first place, and that many of the cut jobs weren't in the US. "There were lots of jobs cut all through Europe, Asia," he said. "We were fat." He added that there's a "suffocating bureaucracy" in many large companies that Trian invests in. "You've got to cut fat and know when you hit muscle, and you better not be hitting bone," he told CNBC. Peltz has been associated with job cuts, for instance at Legg Mason in 2010. Trump has since ended his criticism of Mondelez, Peltz said. "I explained to him that we have a dozen plants across America today making Oreos. We have one plant that's been open for about two years in Mexico making Oreos for Mexico and for the United States," he said. "Mondelez's margins when I got on the board, we were coming off an 11% year in 2014. And now they're 15 to 16," he added. Peltz also told CNBC that Trian recently starting buying stocks in a new target company, but declined to identify the new position. NOW WATCH: Here's everything we know about former Goldman Sachs banker Steve Mnuchin - Trump's pick for Treasury Secretary More From Business Insider Stockholm (AFP) - Music icon Bob Dylan won't be at the Nobel prize ceremony this week to accept his award, but he has sent along a speech to be read aloud, the Nobel foundation said Monday. The 75-year-old, whose lyrics have influenced generations of fans, has had a subdued response to the honour, remaining silent for weeks following the news in October he had won the prize for literature. "This year's Laureate in Literature, Bob Dylan, will not be participating in the Nobel Week but he has provided a speech which will be read at the banquet," the foundation said in a statement. Sending along the speech does not exempt the American songwriter from holding a lecture at a place and a type of his choosing, the only requirement by the Nobel foundation. Rock legend Patti Smith will perform a version of Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" at the ceremony on December 10 in Stockholm, which is the same day as the banquet. Dylan said in a letter on November 16 that he would not attend the ceremony because he had "pre-existing commitments", in an announcement that did not come as a surprise to observers. Several other prize winners have skipped the Nobel ceremony in the past for various reasons -- Doris Lessing, who was too old; Harold Pinter, because he was hospitalised, and Elfriede Jelinek, who has social phobia. Dylan did not say a word about his prize on the day it was announced, October 13, when he was performing in Las Vegas. The writer of "Blowin' In The Wind", "Like A Rolling Stone", and "Mr. Tambourine Man" confined himself to his songs. The Swedish Academy said it respected Dylan's decision, but that it was "unusual" for a Nobel laureate not to come to Stockholm to accept the award in person. Asked on October 28 by Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper if he would attend the Nobel prize winners' banquet, Dylan said: "Absolutely. If it's at all possible." Story continues Academy member Swedish writer Per Wastberg accused Dylan of being "impolite and arrogant", and said it was "unprecedented" that the academy did not know if Dylan intended to pick up his award. But the first songwriter to win the prestigious award in literature is expected to come to Stockholm early next year. Nobel laureates are honoured every year on December 10 -- the anniversary of the death of prize's founder Alfred Nobel, a Swedish industrialist, inventor and philanthropist. Several other literature prize winners have skipped the Nobel ceremony in the past for various reasons -- Doris Lessing on grounds of ill health, Harold Pinter because he was hospitalised and Elfriede Jelinek due to social phobia. The value of the prestigious award this year amounts to 8 million kronor ($870,000). By PTI: Mumbai, Dec 5 (PTI) Superstar Shah Rukh Khan is happy with the response to his latest film "Dear Zindagi" and says he had to make sure he lived up to the expectations of the makers. Gauri Shinde helmed "Dear Zindagi" had Alia Bhatt in the lead. The film has Shah Rukh as Dr Jehangir, an unconventional therapist who helps a budding cinematographer (Alia) gain a new perspective on life. advertisement "I am happy the film has turned out well. Its Gauri Shinde and Alia Bhatts film. I am a small part of it. I had to make sure I stand up to their expectations and I am very happy I could do that," Shah Rukh told reporters here last night at Star Screen awards. Now, the 51-year-old actor is all excited about his next "Raaes" directed by Rahul Dholakia. The film is set to release on January 26. "The trailer will be out on December 7. Hopefully everyone will like it. I hope everyone will like the film as well," he added. PTI KKP DK JCH --- ENDS --- By Stephanie van den Berg THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic was a central figure in the 1995 massacre of thousands of Muslims from Srebrenica, prosecutors told judges at his genocide trial on Monday. Prosecutors were making their closing arguments in Mladic's trial, the last major war crimes case at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which is winding down after more than 20 years prosecuting the ethnic warfare that accompanied the 1990s collapse of Yugoslavia. Prosecutor Alan Tieger told judges at the Tribunal that rather than the "marginalised figure" his defence attorney made him out to be, Mladic helped orchestrate the killings, "Mladic walked into Srebrenica and vowed that the time had come to take revenge on the Turks," Tieger said of the massacre, in which 8,000 Muslim men and boys, some as young as 12, were "systematically slaughtered". Mladic, 74, faces up to life imprisonment on two counts of genocide and nine counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Hearings are due to conclude on December 15 and a judgement is likely in 2017. "The cleansing campaign tore apart non-Serb families and communities and left behind destroyed mosques and Catholic churches, the burned-out and empty shells of Bosnian Muslim villages and mass graves," adsded prosecutor Arthur Traldi. Mladic, frail from a series of strokes when he was arrested in 2011, was alert, listening intently and occasionally wiping his brow with a handkerchief as prosecutors spoke. "If Mladic hadn't come to Srebrenica my son Nermin, whose birthday it is today, would still be alive," said Munira Subasic, one of a group of grieving relatives gathered outside the court in The Hague. Mladic was charged alongside former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic, who was sentenced to 40 years in prison in March. Prosecutors say they masterminded a conspiracy to carve an 'ethnically pure' Serbian state out of Bosnia. [L5N16W1OS] Tieger quoted Mladic as telling the Bosnian Serb assembly in 1994 they had an historic opportunity to create "not any kind of state, but an all-Serb state with as few enemies as possible". Karadzic and Mladic were indicted shortly before the end of Bosnia's war, which claimed up to 100,000 lives, but spent more than a decade on the run in Serbia before their arrest. Established in 1993, the tribunal indicted 161 individuals from all sides of the conflict and 83 have been convicted. (Edited by Anthony Deutsch and Thomas Escritt) By Jessica Resnick-Ault NEW YORK (Reuters) - BP Plc's (BP.L) decision to move ahead with a $9 billion (7.10 billion pounds) project to drill in the Gulf of Mexico is the first step toward major oil companies moving forward with U.S. offshore plans postponed during crude's price rout. Exploration and development of new wells in the Gulf slowed as crude prices (CLc1) cratered from over $100 a barrel in 2014 to a low of $26.05 early this year. The project, known as Mad Dog Phase 2, is the first new Gulf platform to be sanctioned in a year and a half, since rival oil major Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA.L) proceeded with development of its Appatomattox project in July, 2015. BP's decision on the platform and infrastructure, announced on Thursday, came after the oil major managed to cut projected costs for the project by more than 50 percent, BP said. Mad Dog, which will have the capacity to pump up to 140,000 barrels per day (bpd), has access to a proven crude supply and the drilling will be completed in an area that requires less technical complexity than some of the deepwater fields where competitors have proposed projects. It is slated to start producing oil in late 2021. "They were able to reduce their capital expenditures, the fields that they pick happen to have the right DNA, and this is exceptional DNA," said Nansen Saleri, chief executive office of Quantum Reservoir Impact, and a former head of reservoir management for state oil company Saudi Aramco. "When you're talking about 10,000 barrels per day, that's Middle East standards." The return to U.S. deepwater is likely to be slow, Saleri said, as oil prices still are not high enough for a rush back into the Gulf. Full reentry into the Gulf will require sustained benchmark oil prices above $60 a barrel, far above the near $50 currently trading, he said. BP is returning to expansion in the Gulf after a painful hiatus following the 2010 explosion at its Macondo well, which led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. BP has had to pay over $55 billion in claims and costs associated with the spill. Story continues The company maintained an active interest in the region in the meantime, bidding for rights to develop territory that came up for auction in the interim and working to drive down costs of projects kept on hold. DOG DAYS The U.S. Gulf, once prized for its abundant resources and lower political risk than alternatives such as West Africa, fell out of favour as technology unlocked cheaper production from U.S. shale fields onshore, creating a glut of production that could be more easily increased or throttled back in response to price fluctuations. The Gulf produced 1.5 million bpd of oil in September, the latest month for which data is available, compared with a high of 1.7 million bpd in 2009, before shale's popularity grew. "Some people say that deepwater is finished. Well, as you can see from this, we have a very different view. Based on our current calculations Mad Dog will break even around the $40 per barrel mark," Bernard Looney, BP's chief executive of upstream, told investors in June. While producers have sanctioned relatively small $300 million to $400 million projects, known as tie-backs, no standalone projects have been approved since Shell's Appatomattox. Other U.S. drillers including Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC.N) and Cobalt International Energy have platforms under review in the Gulf, and Chevron Corp's (CVX.N) Anchor project is also being appraised. BP may have the edge on competitors because Mad Dog is locked in Mycocene-era geological formations, according to Wood Mackenzie. Those formations do not require the same level of high-pressure, high-temperature drilling that Anadarko and Cobalt's platforms targeting oil in Lower Tertiary rock formations may require. "At the end of the day, these large companies need large projects, and deepwater is going to be where they are going to find these large projects to move their needle," said Imran Khan, research manager at Wood Mackenzie. (Reporting By Jessica Resnick-Ault; Editing by Simon Webb and Marguerita Choy) WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / December 5, 2016 / Brad Nierenberg, the innovative CEO of RedPeg Marketing in Alexandria VA, understands how important a positive corporate culture is to employees, and also to a business' bottom line. As the founder of an experiential ad agency, Nierenberg has realized that the individual experiences of employees have a much more significant impact on morale than the typical business-offered "morale boosters." The creative marketing expert recently shed light on the three most important aspects of creating a meaningful, productive, and thought provoking work environment. In 2012, Columbia University researchers conducted a study on the effects a company's atmosphere has on its turnover rates. They came to the conclusion that employees were 45% more likely to leave a job with poor culture than one that provided positive experiences. The results also showed that employers who cultivate a rich work setting often enjoy retention rates as high as 77%. The first step, Brad Nierenberg states, is to welcome creativity. At RedPeg, Nierenberg takes the open door policy a step further. To his managers he asks, "Is your door really open? Are you truly encouraging fresh thinking?" If ideas are immediately rejected or disregarded by superiors, employees feel their professional growth is being stunted, and the business in turn suffers when they refrain from contributing again. In order to achieve company-wide growth, the creative process demands that new concepts and solutions be embraced and encouraged, not discouraged. Industry powerhouses like Google and 3M are a direct result of innovation from within. Google actually encourages staff to dedicate one day a week to creating new concepts. 3M's most successful product, the Sticky Note, was completely designed by employees. Managers must be able to accurately identify a person's strengths and weaknesses, and create tasks that allow them to maximize the impact of their talents. A recent poll by Gallup showed that putting these techniques into practice will result in employees being 7.8% more productive and six times more likely to be engaged in their job. When a team is compiled to successfully take advantage of its strengths, its work output is increased by 12.5%. In other words, more is being accomplished, and those completing the jobs are also receiving immense satisfaction doing the work. Story continues Finally, and most importantly says Nierenberg, officemates must feel like they are surrounded by a second family. To accomplish this, he curates experiences that build deeper bonds between his employees. Each week he sends three employees from different departments out to lunch. Called the Three Amigos, this helps team members get to know each other in ways that may not happen in the office. Nierenberg has also rented a beach house during the summer and sent different sets of employees there. The resulting bonds are stronger than what could be achieved in the day-to-day work back at the office. Inevitably, conflicts will occur, but those moments of uncertainty should be used as a chance to work towards something greater, together. High levels of respect, trust, and comfort will make the countless hours of working closely together a rewarding experience. Treating employees as valued contributors helps employers to continually improve and adapt the workplace to best optimize culture and productivity. Brad Nierenberg is an entrepreneur and the President & CEO of RedPeg Marketing. With over 20 years of industry experience, Nierenberg has won several awards for his contributions to the field of Experiential Marketing. Besides being a nationally sought after speaker, his written works have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Inc. Magazine, along with many other prestigious business publications. Brad Nierenberg - President & CEO of RedPeg Marketing: http://bradnierenbergnews.com Brad Nierenberg (@bradnierenberg) - Twitter: https://twitter.com/bradnierenberg Brad Nierenberg - Raises Awareness with the Chance For Life 12th Annual Charity Poker Tournament: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/brad-nierenberg-raises-awareness-chance-114500589.html Contact Information: BradNierenbergNews.com www.BradNierenbergNews.com brad@bradnierenbergnews.com SOURCE: Brad Nierenberg BRASILIA (Reuters) - The leader of the Brazilian government in Congress, Romero Juca, said on Monday that the Senate will go ahead with a scheduled vote on a key spending cap proposal next week even after the surprise removal of the head of the upper house. A Supreme Court judge earlier on Monday decided to remove the president of the Senate, Renan Calheiros, who was indicted last week by the top court on charges of embezzlement, a court spokesman said. (Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Writing by Alonso Soto; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli) Brasilia (AFP) - A supreme court judge in Brazil on Monday suspended the Senate's powerful speaker, a key ally to President Michel Temer, before he goes on trial for alleged corruption. The interim decision to strip Renan Calheiros, 61, of his duties worsens the outlook for Temer as he struggles to lift Latin America's biggest economy out of crisis. It also deepens the perception that the country is inextricably mired in political graft. The suspension ordered by judge Marco Aurelio Mello has "immediate effect," but needs to be confirmed by a majority of judges on the supreme court bench, a court official said. An opposition group, Rede, had called for the suspension, arguing that an official in line for presidential succession -- as the Senate speaker is -- cannot hold his or her position while facing trial. The supreme court last week ordered Calheiros to face trial for alleged embezzlement. He has denied accusations he used public funds to make maintenance payments to a woman with whom he had a child. In a separate case, Calheiros is also among numerous top politicians including an ex-president and lawmakers accused of helping steal billions from state oil firm Petrobras. Protesters on Sunday held demonstrations demanding Calheiros' ouster, with a crowd in Brasilia chanting "Lock Renan up!" as they performed a mock funeral with a coffin inscribed "corruption." Calheiros had tried unsuccessfully last week to push through an urgent reform that would challenge judges' powers to investigate corruption. Temer went from vice-president to president this year when he and Calheiros drove proceedings that saw Brazil's previous president, Dilma Rousseff, impeached for fiddling the government's books. Rousseff's own predecessor, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, is facing three corruption-related court cases related to the Petrobras affair. Although Temer has not been formally investigated himself over the Petrobras scandal, it has forced the resignation of several of his ministers. London (AFP) - Britain is beginning work on becoming an independent member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) after Brexit, using the EU's current terms as the template, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said Monday. Britain is currently represented in the 164-member body through its membership of the European Union, but when it leaves the bloc it will need to establish its own terms, or schedules. "In order to minimise disruption to global trade as we leave the EU, over the coming period the government will prepare the necessary draft schedules which replicate as far as possible our current obligations," Fox said in a written statement to parliament. "The government will undertake this process in dialogue with the WTO membership. "This work is a necessary part of our leaving the EU. It does not prejudge the outcome of the eventual UK-EU trading arrangements." Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to begin formal exit talks with EU leaders by the end of March, but has refused to give a "running commentary" on her negotiating strategy. She says she wants "maximum possible access" to the European single market after Brexit, and last week a senior minister, David Davis, suggested the government would consider paying for this. May has also stressed she wants to control immigration, putting her at odds with EU leaders who say freedom of movement is a pre-requisite of membership to the single market. In a speech to the WTO last week, Fox said: "Britain stands ready to take a leading role within the WTO. "We have the diplomatic experience and economic gravity to be a considerable ally to those countries who share our values on free trade, and our vision for the global economy. "Director General (Roberto) Azevedo has already offered his support and that of the WTO Secretariat as we consider our transition to becoming an independent member." London (AFP) - Britain should consider requiring newcomers to take an oath of integration on arrival, according to proposals in a government-commissioned report released on Monday. The report follows a year-long study which found some communities in Britain were becoming more segregated, despite progress in recent years which has led to greater integration overall. It proposed immigrants being required to take an oath of integration with British values and society on arrival in the country, rather than awaiting their final citizenship test. The review highlighted the "huge national, cultural and symbolic value" of citizenship and urged the promotion of British laws, history and values within the core school curriculum to build "integration, tolerance, citizenship and resilience". The report was commissioned in 2015 by the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, and carried out by Louise Casey, a former interior ministry official. Casey additionally recommended greater mixing among young people through activities such as sport, in addition to providing more English lessons for isolated groups. In the review she said women were particularly vulnerable to being marginalised, in part due to their poor language skills, and be subjected to "coercive control, violence and criminal acts of abuse, often enacted in the name of cultural or religious values". "Too often leaders and institutions have ducked these difficult issues... for fear of being labelled racist or insensitive," Casey wrote in the Guardian newspaper on Sunday. "A failure to talk about this only leaves the ground open for the far right on one side and Islamist extremists on the other." The report additionally called on the government to raise employment levels among marginalised groups and require local authorities to record indicators such as language skills and hate crime in their local area. "We need more effort to be put into integration policies to help communities cope with the pace and scale of immigration and population change in recent years. Story continues "But we also need more of a spirit of unity, compassion and kindness that brings people together under our common British values of tolerance, democracy, equality and respect," the report said. Communities minister Sajid Javid welcomed the report as a "valuable contribution" to be studied. "So while itas right that we celebrate the positive contribution that diverse groups make to British life, we also need to continue making sure that nobody is excluded from it or left behind. "To do that, we need to take a serious look at the facts and must not shy away from the challenges we face," he said in a statement. London (AFP) - British lawmakers have tabled a change in the law to enable the government to freeze British assets of international human rights abusers, following a campaign in memory of late Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. The amendment to the Criminal Finances Bill, which became public on Monday and is due to be debated in parliament this month, would give a judge the power to seize property and bank accounts of anyone involved in "gross human rights abuses". William Browder, a former Moscow financier turned anti-Kremlin campaigner, said the amendment sent a message to "human rights violators around the world that their blood money is no longer welcome here". The US-born British citizen is the founder of the Hermitage Capital hedge fund where Magnitsky worked when he went public with details of massive fraud by state officials. Shortly afterwards Magnitsky himself was charged with tax evasion. Magnitsky died in detention on November 16, 2009 after having spent 11 months on remand in squalid prisons. "By creating personal consequences for the perpetrators of these crimes, the UK will protect whistleblowers such as Sergei Magnitsky around the world," Browder said in a statement. The statement said the legislation would be known as the "Magnitsky Amendment", and is so far backed by 27 MPs. The "Magnitsky Act" in the United States allows the seizure of assets from Russian officials implicated in the lawyer's death. The statement also quoted Conservative MP Dominic Raab, who tabled the amendment, as saying: "This change in the law will protect Britain from becoming a safe place for despots and dictators to hide their money." Britain has come under pressure from non-governmental organisations to do more to crack down on the flow of proceeds of corruption as well as enforcing transparency in its overseas tax havens. Former oil tycoon and Kremlin foe Mikhail Khodorkovksy last month urged British MPs to punish corrupt Russian officials with assets in Britain. "Britain is quite popular with Russian political elites as a place for illegally obtained money," he told a British parliamentary committee. Helsinki (AFP) - A 26-year-old British woman has been stabbed to death in Lapland where she was employed by a "Santa safari" tour firm in the run-up to Christmas, Finnish police said on Monday. The suspect -- the woman's 36-year-old Czech boyfriend -- fled on a dog-sled, sparking a manhunt involving police on snowmobiles, the daily Helsingin Sanomat added. He was arrested after being spotted by a helicopter crew and taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia before being transferred to police custody, according to police and media. The Briton, who has not been named, died from her wounds. The attack happened on Saturday in Kuttanen, which lies close to the Swedish border and around 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of the Arctic Circle. On its Facebook page, the Santa safari tour operator Transun confirmed its employee's death on Saturday without providing further details. "We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of staff working for our overseas supplier Santa safari was discovered dead on the 3rd December. "The thoughts of everyone at Transun go out to the family, friends and the Santa safari team," it said. Due to the police investigation, there would be some disruption to planned tours, it added. By PTI: Bhubaneswar, Nov 4 (PTI) Adoption of healthier lifestyle by around 72 million people with diabetes in the country can prevent incidence of type-2 cases by 70 per cent in patients, experts said at a national conference here. Terming diabetes as a leading cause of blindness, cardiovascular disease, kidney failure and lower limb amputation in many countries, they said screening of diabetes complication is an important part of effective management of the disease. advertisement If complication of the disease is diagnosed at the primary stage, substantial disability and premature death can be checked, the speakers said. Inaugurating the meet organised by city based Kanungo Institute of Diabetes Specialities (KIDS) and Cuttack Diabetes Research Foundation (CDRF) yesterday, Odishas Industries minister Debi Prasad Mishra said lifestyle changes had caused diabetes in over ten per cent of population in the state which has over 40 lakh diabetes patients. Emphasising on the need for concrete steps to deal with the disease, he said Odisha government is providing diabetic medicines free of cost under the Niramaya scheme. Speaking on the occasion Dr Alok Kanungo, chairman of the organising committee said, apart from other objectives, the conference aims at educating treating physicians serving in rural and remote areas where health care facilities and infrastructure are either deficient or not available. Prof Dr C B Sanjeevi, head of diabetes immunology group, Karolinska University, Stockholm, Sweden also addressed the conference attended by around 600 delegates from across the country. Lifetime achievement award was presented to four noted diabetologists on the occasion for outstanding contribution to diabetes care, Research and Education. PTI SKN DKB --- ENDS --- Bruker Corporation BRKR, a leading manufacturer of scientific instruments for molecular research, recently announced that it has become the key corporate partner of The International Phenome Centre Network (IPCN). The company has collaborated with IPCN for NMR technologies, methods and the NMR standard operating procedures (SOPs) within its Biospin preclinical imaging, which are vital for clinical metabolic research and validation. The IPCN, founded by Imperial College London and numerous international partners in Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, U.S. and U.K., was recently launched at the 2016 World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) conference in Doha, Qatar. This global network is a critical link between leading research centers across the world and will support research on some of today's pressing global health issues. For the last six months, Bruker has underperformed the Zacks categorized Scientific Instruments market. Currently, the stock is down 14.4%, wider than the loss of 1.6% for the broader industry of scientific instruments, as per the last six months price return performance. Adding to the woes is the companys mixed third-quarter results. While Brukers quarterly earnings were better than estimated, revenues declined on a year-over-year basis. Slashed revenue guidance also adds to the concerns. On a brighter note, Brukers BioSpin group, optics and semiconductor metrology businesses performed comparatively better. Margin recovery has also been observed at Bruker Nano-surfaces business. We expect these positive aspects as well as the latest corporate partnership deal with IPCN to play a vital role in the companys recovery going ahead. This can be supported by Brukers favorable estimate revision trend with seven upward revisions and no downward movement for the full year over the last couple of months. The current year estimates have also risen from $1.00 per share to $1.10 over the same time frame. Coming to partnership details, IPCN aims to expand global research capabilities in the field of phenomics. Through comprehensive analysis of biological fluids or tissue samples, phenomics examines how microbiomes, lifestyles and the environment interact with genes. Phenomic analysis of metabolites is mainly driven by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry analysis. The IPCN depends on the Bruker IVDr by NMR system, a biofluid metabolic 600 MHz NMR screening platform with well-documented and tested SOPs, for clinical and translational research. Story continues BRUKER CORP Price BRUKER CORP Price | BRUKER CORP Quote Both the Biospin Division of Bruker and IPCN are optimistic about their strategic alliance. Since NMR spectroscopy is considered a central pillar of molecular phenomics and systems metabolism, Brukers IVDr NMR platform is expected to help researchers combat some of the most challenging global diseases and emergent disease threats. As per a MarketsandMarkets report, the global preclinical imaging market is expected to reach a worth of $910.4 million by 2021, growing at a CAGR of 6.2% during 2016 to 2021. Meanwhile, Brukers Biospin division is taking advantage of growth in the molecular research market. In the recently concluded quarter, the Biospin preclinical imaging business saw a rebound, thanks to steady demand for NMR applied market products. We are hopeful that the companys association with IPCN will enhance the segments performance in the forthcoming quarters as well. Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks Bruker currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other favorably ranked medical stocks are NxStage Medical Inc. NXTM, Baxter International Inc. BAX and Bovie Medical Corporation BVX. NxStage Medical and Baxter International sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) while Bovie Medical carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here NxStage Medical surged 22.5% over the last one year compared to the S&P 500s 4.7% over the same period. The company has a four-quarter average positive earnings surprise of 50.00%. Baxter International rallied 17.2% over one year, much higher than the S&P 500. It has a trailing four-quarter average positive earnings surprise of 27%. Bovie Medical recorded a 121.2% gain in the past one year, way better than the S&P 500. The company has a trailing four-quarter positive average earnings surprise of 28.7%. The Best Place to Start Your Stock Search Today, you are invited to download the full list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buy" stocks absolutely free of charge. Since 1988, Zacks Rank #1 stocks have nearly tripled the market, with average gains of +26% per year. Plus, you can access the list of portfolio-killing Zacks Rank #5 "Strong Sells" and other private research. See these stocks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report BRUKER CORP (BRKR): Free Stock Analysis Report BAXTER INTL (BAX): Free Stock Analysis Report NXSTAGE MEDICAL (NXTM): Free Stock Analysis Report BOVIE MEDICAL (BVX): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f307521%2fa470b0cd715844baa3959cef1940a0e1 From sushi donuts to Swedish Fish Oreos to the mufgel, 2016 has been the year of food mashups. And now joining the ranks is the Burgrito, a burger and burrito mashup, with its own restaurant headed to Brooklyn. SEE ALSO: This ramen joint is an introverted foodie's paradise The Burgrito is a stomach-busting concoction stuffed with tomato, bacon, lettuce, American cheese, onion, chipotle sauce, fries and hamburger meat. They also have a vegan Burgrito option, the Veg-rito. Image: burgrito's Mashable spoke with Lawrence Laby, owner of Burgrito's, on why he is excited to expand the business from Long Island to Park Slope. "My brother Darin and I, who own and operate Burgrito's [on Long Island] together, have a connection to Brooklyn," he said. "We worked there for our family moving and trucking business for over 10 years each prior to acquiring Burgrito's almost two years ago. We like the energy and development in Brooklyn, both on the residential and commercial/retail side." A photo posted by Burgrito's (@burgritos) on Jun 9, 2016 at 12:08pm PDT "The combination of burger and burrito seems to work as we have had great support from the community in our Bethpage location," Laby told Mashable. "However, the main reason that people enjoy our food is that it's simple, fresh and prepared well and consistent." While the menu's starring item is of course the Burgrito, they also offer regular burgers, regular burritos, other Mexican food options, wraps, salads and vegan items. (But why would someone go there and not try the Burgrito?) Thank you @lickisland for posting this nice picture of The #burgrito. Glad you enjoyed! #burgritos #bethpage A photo posted by Burgrito's (@burgritos) on May 13, 2016 at 12:54pm PDT If the burger and burrito combo sounds a little familiar, you might have heard of the Whopperito, Burger King's attempt at mashing up a cheeseburger with a burrito. While the Whopperito didn't seem to be the hit Burger King had in mind, the Yelp page for the Long Island Burgrito's is flooded with positive reviews. Burgrito's Park Slope will open in Jan. 2017. BONUS: This gadget converts a stick of butter into a spray can of fatty goodness...just in time for the holidays From Popular Mechanics Buzz Aldrin had an unexpected bedside visit from NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman on Saturday as he continued to recover in a New Zealand hospital from his medical evacuation from the South Pole. Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, posted a picture of himself with Newman on Twitter. Aldrin, who was wearing pajamas and sitting up in bed, was giving a thumbs-up sign, as was Newman. "I had a surprise visitor this morning. My longtime friend ... She beat me to the South Pole by one day," Aldrinwrote. Newman also posted some pictures on Twitter of Aldrin sitting up in bed and gesticulating, with a tray of food and juice in front of him. Aldrin, 86, was visiting Antarctica as a tourist when he fell ill this week. He was flown to Christchurch from McMurdo Station, a U.S. research center on the Antarctic coast. Tour company White Desert said Aldrin has fluid in his lungs, but was responding well to antibiotics. His manager Christina Korp, who accompanied him, said he was in good spirits. As Aldrin recovers, she said on Twitter, "I did want to let people know that he did make it to the South Pole which was his objective. Thnx for prayers!" Korp said on Twitter she'd told Aldrin he now holds the record as the oldest person to reach the South Pole, according to the National Science Foundation. "He'll be insufferable now," she wrote. She said the evacuation had been grueling. She posted side-by-side photos of Aldrin - one on a stretcher giving a thumbs-up with a purple knit cap on his head, another in a hospital bed, on oxygen and with an IV in his left arm. Aldrin and Neil Armstrong became the first men on the moon, on July 20, 1969. Armstrong died in 2012. Just three weeks ago, Aldrin was at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the unveiling of a new astronaut exhibit. The ceremony coincided with the 50th anniversary of his launch with Jim Lovell on Gemini 12, the last of the two-man Gemini flights. Both were present and looked as energetic as usual. Story continues Aldrin has crisscrossed the globe in recent months and years, pushing hard for human exploration of Mars and promoting space and science education. His latest book, "No Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons from a Man who Walked on the Moon," came out in April. He also teamed up with the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida, now home to the Buzz Aldrin Space Institute. Aldrin lives in nearby Satellite Beach, Florida, not far from Cape Canaveral and its launch pads. "We wish Buzz a speedy recovery," the London-based White Desert said in a statement. Aldrin was part of an Antarctica sightseeing tour, along with son Andrew. The elder Aldrin was clearly excited about his adventure to the bottom of the world: "South Pole here I come!" he said via Twitter on Nov. 28. The group departed Tuesday from Cape Town, South Africa, on a trip that was supposed to last just over a week. Doctors agreed an evacuation was prudent after Aldrin's condition deteriorated, according to his staff in Florida. The National Science Foundation helped provide the air lift via a ski-equipped LC-130 cargo plane from the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station to McMurdo, and then on to New Zealand on another plane. You Might Also Like By Yasmeen Abutaleb SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A California state senator introduced a bill on Monday that would mandate reporting of antibiotic-resistant infections and deaths and require doctors to record the infections on death certificates when they are a cause of death. The legislation also aims to establish the nations most comprehensive statewide surveillance system to track infections and deaths from drug-resistant pathogens. Data from death certificates would be used to help compile an annual state report on superbug infections and related deaths. In September, a Reuters investigation revealed that tens of thousands of superbug deaths nationwide go uncounted every year. The infections are often omitted from death certificates, and even when they are recorded, they arent counted because of the lack of a unified national surveillance system. The (Reuters) story highlighted some of the problems that have come from the lack of information, the lack of reporting, especially deaths, said state Senator Jerry Hill, who introduced the bill. I wasnt aware that on death certificates, antibiotic-resistant infections have never been called out. Because there is no federal surveillance system, monitoring of superbug infections and deaths falls to the states. A Reuters survey of all 50 state health departments and the District of Columbia found that reporting requirements vary widely. California is among the states that do not require reporting of superbug-related deaths. A Reuters analysis of death certificates from 2003 to 2014 identified more than 20,000 deaths linked to the infections in California, the most of any state and probably an undercount, given the unreliability of death certificate data. Hills bill would require hospitals and clinical labs to submit an annual summary of antibiotic-resistant infections to the California Department of Health beginning July 1, 2018; amend a law governing death certificates by requiring that doctors specify on death certificates when a superbug was the leading or a contributing cause of death; and require the state Health Department to publish an annual report on resistant infections and deaths, including data culled from death certificates. Story continues Hill introduced legislation in 2014 that would require reporting of superbug infections - not deaths. It was ultimately stripped down to mandate that all hospitals in California implement stewardship programs to prevent the overprescription of antibiotics that promotes drug resistance. Hill said the state medical association and other physician groups opposed the initial proposal. The 2014 legislation followed a 2013 threat report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which estimated that at least 23,000 people in the U.S. die every year from antibiotic-resistant infections. A Reuters analysis of the agencys math found that the numbers are based on such small sample sizes that they are mostly guesswork. Hill has written several superbug-related bills that have been signed into law in recent years. Those include laws that regulate antibiotic use in livestock and others that mandate antibiotic stewardship programs in nursing homes and other healthcare facilities. We dont know how (superbugs) affect California, Hill said. We could be overreacting in certain areas or underreacting in areas that could create real problems for people. (Edited by John Blanton) Democrats in California are making sure President-elect Donald Trump has a tough time enacting any of his campaign promises regarding immigrants. One of two bills arriving in the state Legislature Monday, which gained a supermajority of Democrats on Election Day, will aid undocumented immigrants facing deportation, while the second legislation will provide educational resources and training for their public defenders. Voters in the Golden State, where Latinos outnumber whites and there are more immigrants than any state in the country, vowed to protect its undocumented immigrants after Trump won the election. California politicians were also vocal in their opposition to the president-elects promise to deport millions of immigrants upon assuming office Jan. 20. "Throughout the presidential campaign and since, the president-elect has made many troubling statements that run counter to the principles that define California today," Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon said in a statement. "There is no greater policy area than immigration where the comments run headlong to the values we share as Californians." Now, with a more than two-thirds majority in the state Senate and Assembly, it appears California is gearing up to take on the White House. The bills, called "due process for all," are expected to pass easily through the legislature Monday as one of the first progressive batches of legislation California Democrats are readying for 2017. The first legislation allocates funding to non-profit organizations providing resources and legal aid to undocumented immigrants. The legislation also provides limits to local law enforcements ability to work with federal immigration agents, effectively blockading national efforts to deport immigrants in the coastal state. The second bill will provide funding to educational training programs for public defenders tasked with immigration and deportation cases. Lawmakers are aware that time is of the essence: the joint bills were drafted under an urgency clause, which allows each to go into effect immediately after approval from the governors office. Urgency clauses require state legislation to receive two-thirds majority vote. California Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign both bills if they're passed by the Legislature. Related Articles By Curtis Skinner and Peter Henderson OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) - The confirmed death toll from a blaze that engulfed a converted warehouse during a weekend dance party in Oakland, California, rose to 36 on Monday, the greatest loss of life from a U.S. fire in over a decade, and officials said they were certain to find more bodies. What sparked the fire, which erupted late on Friday in a sprawling two-story building that housed an artists' collective, has yet to be determined, but authorities were believed to be examining possible safety violations at the site, which was already under investigation for reports of illegal construction. Investigators from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives identified an "area of interest" on the ground floor that was still out of reach, according to Sergeant Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. He declined to elaborate, though authorities said their first priority remained the recovery of victims and support for their loved ones. "We are no closer to finding the cause, and we absolutely believe that the number of fire fatalities will increase," Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton told a news conference at the site. Authorities have said arson was not immediately suspected. But a team of criminal investigators from the Alameda County District Attorney's Office has been activated, and prosecutors are monitoring the recovery process, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said on Sunday. The nature of the fire has raised questions about whether building code violations might have been a factor. City officials have said the warehouse, known locally as the Ghost Ship, was under scrutiny for complaints of illegal construction inside, and that an inspector visited the property on Nov. 17. FIRE HAZARDS Municipal authorities also cited reports that people were living in the structure even though it was not permitted for residential use. A number of individuals who had been inside the warehouse described it as a potential fire trap. The first floor of the building, which housed a group of artists who called themselves the Satya Yuga Collective, was a cluttered warren of partitioned studio spaces and rooms crammed with furniture, musical instruments, antiques, sculptures, wall-hangings and rugs, according to photos posted on social media before the fire and accounts of survivors and city officials. Two recreational vehicles believed to have been used as living quarters and work space was found parked on the ground floor inside, Kelly said. The dance party was held on the second floor, which partially collapsed when the roof gave way in the fire. The building lacked sprinklers or smoke detectors, and a makeshift stairway between the first and second floors was at least partly constructed from wooden pallets, officials said. The 10,000-square-foot structure, which occupied about half a city block, had just two exterior doorways. The recovery of three more bodies from the charred ruins brought the official fatality count to three dozen, a tally that made it the deadliest blaze in the United States since 100 people perished in a 2003 nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island. About 70 percent of the Oakland site had been searched by the time recovery crews suspended operations in the early morning hours due to a wobbly exterior wall, but their work resumed at about 9 a.m. local time. As of Monday morning, 11 of the dead had been identified, police said. YOUNG VICTIMS Most victims were in their 20s and 30s, though some were teenagers, officials said. According to Kelly, the warehouse was known as a "safe-place" haven for young members of the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Some victims were from other parts of the country or overseas, including an unspecified number from South Korea, Finland and South America, Kelly said. With many of the dead burned beyond recognition, families were asked to preserve items that might contain their DNA to help identification. Kelly said some had died from smoke inhalation. Officials were unsure how many people were present when the fire erupted. One survivor has estimated 60 to 70 were inside at the time. The warehouse was one of many converted lofts on the east end of San Francisco Bay in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood, a mostly Latino district where rents are generally lower than in the rest of city. Survivors recounted fast-spreading flames and smoke that quickly filled the interior, blinding occupants trying to flee. Chris Nechodom, 30, said he was on the ground floor when he saw flames race across the ceiling. As he fled, he heard a loud noise and saw a plume of thick black smoke. "It blew out maybe 10 feet out of the entrance," Nechodom said. "After that, I saw a few more people crawl out." Police will use body camera footage from first responders, emergency calls and other information to help determine the cause of the fire and whether criminal charges should be filed. Exhaustion has taken its toll on fire crews who have worked around the clock. One of those killed was the son of a sheriff's deputy, Kelly said. "This tragedy has hit very close to home," he said. (This story has been refiled to add missing word in second paragraph) (Additional reporting by Laila Kearney in New York, Timothy McLaughlin in Chicago, and Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, Califorinia; Writing by Daniel Wallis and Steve Gorman; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Lisa Shumaker) The Daily Beast GettyRussia announced Wednesday that it views Norways work with other countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as provocative, warning that Norways efforts to bolster its military in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine this year will likely be the death knell for Oslo-Moscow relations moving forward.Oslo is now among the most active supporters of NATO's involvement in the Arctic, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Wednesday, according to TASS. We cons By PTI: From Sajjad Hussain Islamabad, Dec 4 (PTI) The declaration adopted at the Heart of Asia conference, which named Pakistan-based terror outfits LeT and JeM, was unanimous, said Sartaj Aziz, advisor to the countrys Prime Minister, who attended the meet in Amritsar. On his return home, Aziz sought to play down its significance by highlighting that other groups were also mentioned in the declaration along with Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, the terror groups blamed for attacks in India. advertisement Addressing a press conference, he said the emphasis of the conference was on tackling all regional outfits to stamp down militancy. HOA is a platform for discussing reconstruction of the trouble-torn Afghanistan. The HoA declaration expressed serious concern over gravity of the security situation in Afghanistan and in many parts of the region, holding that united efforts are required to contain terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e- Mohammad, Taliban, the Haqqani Network, Al Qaida, IS and its affiliates, TTP, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Jundullah and other foreign terrorist groups. Aziz said the declaration was unanimous and not only Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad were mentioned but several groups were named. "We are not under pressure to deal with militancy. It is not true as we are already doing it in our own interest," he said. "I put forward the objective situation in my statement. I said that we need holistic approach, as there are different groups and foreign elements. Afghanistan is complex and needs careful handling," Aziz said. He also defended the Pakistan governments decision to attend the HoA conference. "It was good decision to attend HoA. It was good to attend multilateral forum...to show solidarity with Afghanistan. If we had boycotted, then India would say that first they expelled Pakistan from SAARC and now from HoA," he said. Aziz also said that on the sidelines of the conclave he met Iranian foreign minister Jawad Zarif, foreign minister of Turkmenistan and Chinese assistant foreign minister. To a question, he said India had restricted movements of the Pakistani delegation. "Our interactions were not structured but overall there were constructive," he said. PTI SH ASK AKK AKK --- ENDS --- Voters who supported Donald Trump through his campaign for the presidency have been slowly coming to the realization that not all of the president-elects promises were meant to be taken literally -- or that he even remembers making them. For some, the realization that they had been sold a bill of goods by the incoming president hit home when it became clear that alumni of Goldman Sachs, the investment bank Trump constantly attacked on the campaign trail, would be key members of his new administration. Related: How Donald Trump Can Grow the Economy and Keep His Promise For others, it took Trump explicitly admitting it himself. Last week, after announcing with great fanfare that Carrier Corporation had been persuaded to keep some 700 jobs in Indiana rather than sending them to Mexico (along with the more than 1,000 jobs it is still sending south of the border) Trump admitted that he had never actually meant it when he promised voters in Indiana that Carrier would never leave. In fact, he said, it wasnt until he watched a video of his own speech that he even remembered saying it in the first place. But while many of the promises Trump is likely to break or conveniently forget can be chalked up to the president-elect taking advantage of what even some of his supporters are admitting is a post-truth era in American politics, one of Trumps oft-repeated pledges is dead on arrival in Washington regardless of how well Trump remembers making it: Congressional term limits. During the campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to push for a Constitutional amendment limiting members of the House of Representatives to three two-year terms and U.S. senators to two six-year terms. Related: The 'Carrier' of Crony Capitalism Is Evident in Trumps Deal If I'm elected president, I will push for a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress, Trump said in October. They've been talking about that for years. Decades of failure in Washington and decades of special interest dealing must and will come to an end. Story continues Were going to put on term limits, which a lot of people arent happy about, but were putting on term limits, Trump said in an appearance on 60 Minutes shortly after his election. Were doing a lot of things to clean up the system. There are multiple problems with plans to impose Congressional term limits, including the fact that the Supreme Court has declared previous efforts to impose them unconstitutional -- hence the need for an amendment to the nations founding document. However, the biggest obstacle will be Congress itself. Related: Trumps Wooing of Democrats Could Pad the GOPs Senate Majority The easiest route to a Constitutional amendment would be for both houses of Congress to pass a call for an amendment making term limits the law of the land. That would take the form of a joint resolution supported by two-thirds of both the Senate and the House. If the amendment passed that high bar, it would then need to be ratified by three-quarters (38 of 50) of the states in order to take effect. But the chance of any such amendment ever making it out of Congress, at least as it is currently configured, is virtually zero. It would, for example, make more than half the current members of the House and Senate ineligible to continue in office beyond the end of Trumps first presidential term. And politicians arent known for voting themselves out of office. I would say we have term limits now, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters after Trump was chosen as the next president. Theyre called elections. And it will not be on the agenda in the Senate. Related: Here Are the CEOS and Wall Street Titans Trump Will Turn to for Advice There is, however, a way that Trump could theoretically bypass the Congress on the term limits issue. The Constitution can also be amended during a Constitutional Convention called by two-thirds of state legislatures. However, there are currently 27 amendments to the Constitution and not a single one of them has been implemented through a Constitutional Convention. In fact, since the first Constitutional Convention, in 1787, there has never been another. And experts worry that convening one would have huge and unknowable consequences because once convened, there would be no limit on the scope of the conventions work beyond those it places on itself. It is, of course, a highly unlikely scenario. But to be fair, it would also produce the sort of no-holds-barred, unpredictable environment in which Trump has demonstrated the ability to thrive. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seeking to modernize the system that helps refugees in Canada to make the process more efficient for government and less frustrating for families. Trudeau said during a meeting with a group of Syrian refugees and their sponsors Friday that hed experienced frustrations from the inefficient system since his time as a member of parliament and that significant improvements in the immigration system were needed. "Because of this level of frustration that I've seen as an MP and because families live with, one of the things that we've committed to is actually properly resourcing our immigration system," said Trudeau. "Looking at how we can be much more computer-based so that you can see real-time updates and we don't have to hire someone to answer you and we can use modern technology." Piali Roy, a sponsor of six refugees, told Trudeau during the meeting that shed experienced significant difficulty while trying to get information about a family member who had been left behind in Beirut. "So we have to go through our MP's office to be able to get updates, and that's been one of the frustrating parts of this process and we don't understand why the file doesn't get updated on the computer system, for example," said Roy. Trudeau suggested designating specific staff members to answer questions from refugees and sponsors and process important files. He also said that while he is focused on creating a more efficient system for the refugees, he wants to ensure Canadians that the process by which national security is maintained is thorough. RTSPDUU Photo: Reuters Trudeau leads Canada's Liberal Party, which has maintained a welcoming stance toward refugees. Canada has taken in almost 31,000 refugees since 2015. The party's website states that it will expand the nation's intake of refugees by 25,000 through government and private sponsorship. At a United Nations conference in September, Trudeau announced that he would spend an additional $64.5 million over the next several years to support refugees and help others affected by crises. Related Articles - By Mark Yu Last week, Princess Cruise Lines, one of the subsidiaries of Carnival Corp. (CCL), pleaded guilty to seven federal charges in relation to illegally dumping oily waste into ocean water. The cruise line, based in Santa Clarita, California, is set to pay a record fine of $40 million as a result. In addition, cruise ships from eight Carnival cruise line companies (Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line NV, Seabourn Cruise Line Ltd. and AIDA Cruises) will be under a court-supervised Environmental Compliance Program (ECP) for five years according to the Department of Justice. Carnival shares were down 3% at market close. (Guardian) Valuations The largest leisure travel company in the world currently trades at a trailing 12-month price-earnings (P/E) ratio of 15.46 times (industry median: 21.56), price-book (P/B) ratio of 1.6 times (industry median: 1.7) and price-sales (P/S) ratio of 2.36 times (industry median: 1.76; 1). Carnival also had a trailing 12-month dividend yield of 2.69% with a 40% payout ratio. Market performance Meanwhile, Carnival underperformed year to date with -5% while the Standard & Poor's 500 index returned 9.45%. For the past five years, the $38 billion cruise company still underperformed the broader index with 11% versus 14.42%. (Carnival) Earnings performance In late September, Carnival delivered its fiscal third-quarter and nine-month operational results including forecast. Carnival had a sales growth of 3.76% to $12.45 billion and an amazing 46% profit growth to $2.17 billion. As observed, operating costs related to fuel for the cruise company were 34.9% lower for the period and accompanied by reduced nonoperating expenses associated with derivative losses on fuel that resulted in improved profitability for the company. "We delivered the strongest quarterly earnings in our company's history affirming our ongoing efforts to expand consumer demand in excess of measured capacity increases and leverage our industry leading scale. Revenues during the peak summer season were bolstered by strong performances from both our North American and European brands and across all major deployments including the Caribbean, Alaska and Europe." - Carnival President and CEO Arnold Donald Story continues According to the company's news release, Carnival also signed a memorandum of agreement with shipbuilders Meyer Werft and Meyer Turku for the construction of three new 180,000-ton cruise ships. Two of the ships are to be added to the Carnival Cruise Line fleet in 2020 and 2022, and the other ship will join the P&O Cruises UK fleet in 2020. Outlook Carnival expects a 3.5% constant currency growth on its fiscal 2016 net revenue, compared to fiscal 2015. Also, Carnival sees its adjusted earnings per share to grow about 24% midline of its outlook of $3.33 to $3.37 a share. "We are well on track to deliver nearly 25% earnings growth in 2016. With cash from operations expected to reach a record $5 billion this year, we continue to fund our growth and return cash to shareholders. During the third quarter, we repurchased $700 million of Carnival Corp. shares bringing the cumulative total to $2.5 billion in share repurchases over the past year." - Carnival President and CEO Arnold Donald On average, Carnival had a 1.66% sales growth for the past five years and -1.76% Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) eps growth (2). (Annual Report) Carnival Carnival was founded 44 years ago by Ted Arison who was an Israeli businessman. In 2015, Carnival was the largest cruise company in the world having carried 47% of global cruise guests. Carnival operates its cruise ships within a portfolio of 10 leading global, regional and national cruise brands. These brands sell tailored cruise products, services and vacation experiences in all of the world's most important vacation geographic areas (3). Carnival's portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia included Carnival Cruise Line, Fathom, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (U.K.). Carnival also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. As of 2015, Carnival operated 99 cruise ships globally while it expects another 17 cruise ships to be delivered between 2016 and 2020. (Carnival Passengers, Annual Report) As observed, Carnival has been able to grow its passengers consistently for the past half-decade. Accordingly, demographics also point to further growth and indicate future business growth developments for the company (4). Accompanied by this growth, Carnival's passenger capacity always had been linearly growing upward, too (5). (Carnival Segments, 10-K) Carnival had nine leading cruise brands in 2015, which operating segments were discussed. These world-leading cruise brands are aggregated into two geographical segments as North America and Europe, Australia and Asia. (Carnival Corporation Cruise Brands, 10-K) North America operations include the Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Seabourn while Europe, Australia and Asia include AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK). As of 2015, Carnival Cruise Line has the largest passenger capacity among the North America segment, representing 29%, followed by the Princess Cruises ("Princess") at 20% of total North America passenger capacity (6). In the Europe, Australia and Asia segment, Costa Cruises ("Costa") had the largest passenger capacity with 17% of the group's total, followed by AIDA Cruises ("AIDA") with 9%. Carnival's North America segment sales grew 3.2% to $9.87 billion in fiscal 2015 while delivering an operating margin of 18.3%, compared to 10.9% in fiscal 2014. The Europe, Australia and Asia segment, meanwhile, grew -8.3% to $5.6 billion with an operating margin of 16.6%, compared to 14.5% in fiscal 2014. Oil price vs. Carnival's profits (Carnival GAAP profits vs. Brent Oil price chart; 7) As one could observe here, Carnival's profits for 2016 were trailing 12 months, and Brent oil price was averaged on a monthly basis. Nonetheless, there was an almost perfect negative linear relationship of -0.94 between the two sets of data suggesting that as oil price goes down, profits go up over the duration of relationship. Cash, debt and book value Carnival had $462 million in cash as of August with $9.39 billion in debt with a debt-equity ratio of 0.41. Carnival also had 10.8% of its $39.3 billion assets in goodwill and intangibles, while having a book value of $22.9 billion, compared to $23.8 billion in November 2015. Cash flow (Carnival) According to its news release, Carnival was able to grow its cash flow from operations by 15.2% to $4.1 billion three quarters into fiscal 2016 operations. Capital expenditures were $2.4 billion, leaving the company with $1.69 billion in free cash flow. Carnival also allocated 42.6% of its free cash flow in dividends and claimed that it had repurchased a cumulative figure of $2.5 billion worth over the past year. On average, Carnival used 114% of its free cash flow to hand out dividends and perform share repurchases in the past three years. Conclusion Carnival's operations in recent times were astounding. Not only was the company able to demonstrate growth, but it also exceeded its historical averages. Correlation brought sense when profitability was measured against oil price as the company also spends a good amount of its sales in fuel expenses. In 2015, fuel-related expenses accounted for 15.6%, or $2.2 billion, in Carnival's income statement. (Google Finance) Nonetheless, Carnival sees better days ahead as it orchestrates a good fiscal 2016 following an expected record of $5 billion in cash flow from operations. Bernstein, in late November, upgraded Carnival shares to outperform while Macquarie had a neutral stance on the company back in early October. Nonetheless, historical averages with historical profit growth average would indicate a low value for Carnival while traditional earnings multiple with a 20% margin from its peers indicated a price of $56 a share. Also, given the interesting oil price fluctuations that have been occurring, buying Carnival shares would probably be a semicommodity-related type of investment. In summary, Carnival is a speculative buy. Notes (1) GuruFocus data. (2) Morningstar data. (3) Annual report. (4) 10-K: The average age of populations in established cruise regions is increasing. The average age of a cruise guest, which varies by brand, ranges from approximately 40 years to 60 years in established cruise regions. Between 2015 and 2025, the number of people in the cruise business' primary age group of 45 years and older is expected to grow by 18 million, or 12%, in the U.S. and Canada, 13 million, or 9%, in the major Western European countries and 1.5 million, or 17%, in Australia. (5) Annual report: (6) 10-K: Carnival Cruise Line offers cruises generally from three to eight days with almost all of its ships departing from 15 convenient U.S. home ports located along the East, Gulf and West coasts, Puerto Rico and Hawaii. Carnival Cruise Line is the leading provider of year-round cruises in The Bahamas, the Caribbean and Mexico and also operates seasonal cruises in New England, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii and Europe. Princess, whose brand name was originally made famous by the Love Boat television series, has been providing cruises since 1965 and is the world's largest premium cruise line based on passenger capacity. Princess offers 150 unique itineraries with cruises ranging from three to 20 days with longer exotic sailings from 25 to 111 days, including two world cruises. Most of its cruises sailing in Asia are from three to five days and cater to its Asian guests. (7) Me: GAAP profits from Morningstar.com and Brent Oil Futures from Investing.com Disclosure: I do not have shares in Carnival. Start a free seven-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. When I first started teaching economics, one day a student came to my office to argue about how a multiple test question was graded. He believed his answer was correct and explained why, but I disagreed. However, the student would not give up; he kept arguing and began to get angry. Finally, to make it go away I took what seemed to be the simple route and gave him credit for the question. That was a mistake. It turned out the student knew lots of other people in the course, and within three or four hours at least 20 students who had marked the same wrong answer showed up and demanded they be given credit as well. I had no choice but to give in. I then had to check all the answers for the 300+ students in the course to make sure everyone was treated the same, and in the end the question was essentially nullified. That was unfair to those who answered correctly. Once I made that first fateful choice to take the easy way out there was no way to be fair to everyone. Related: Trump Gets a Big Win With Carrier, but Some Conservatives See a Loss There is a lesson here regarding Trumps announcement that he is essentially bribing Carrier with tax cuts to keep jobs in the US. What is going to stop other firms who are thinking about moving jobs outside the US from demanding the same treatment? If they are denied, how is that equitable? To make it worse, this will induce firms who have not yet investigated moving jobs elsewhere to do so, and to make a case for tax breaks whether they are truly thinking of leaving or not. If they are denied, some firms that might never have thought of moving might end up doing so after investigating this option and finding it will save them money. There is another way in which the Carrier deal causes inequities that has largely been overlooked. In reporting the cost of the jobs that will be saved, most outlets have noted that Indiana will give Carrier $7 million in tax breaks to save 800 jobs (though 1300 are still going to Mexico), which works out to $8,750 per job over a ten year time-period. But that is not how economists measure costs. To measure the cost of the policy, we must evaluate the opportunity cost the highest valued alternative use of the $7 million. Story continues Remember that states, unlike the federal government, must run a balanced budget. Thus, if a state gives a company tax breaks that werent in the original budget, the tax cuts must be paid for by either raising taxes or cutting government programs. Suppose the tax cuts are paid for by cutting a program essential to low income households. Is the value of the saved jobs larger than the value of these social programs? Is this equitable? Related: Carrier Gets State Incentives, Trump Pledge for Keeping U.S. Jobs Personally, I would view the cost of the program quite differently if it were financed by tax increases on the wealthy they wouldnt have to give up much at all rather than through cuts to essential social programs. Similarly, if the result were to cut a program of little or no societal value, then the evaluation of the overall impact would be different. At this point, we simply dont know exactly how the tax cuts for Carrier will be paid for what will be given up elsewhere so there is no way to evaluate the true cost of this program and the cost of all the other firms that will demand similar treatment. I do have a strong suspicion, however, that increasing taxes on high-income households will be off the table. Finally, as has been widely discussed, the Carrier deal can also be opposed because it interferes with market adjustments. Democrats generally argue that we should let competitive markets do what they do, and provide generous assistance to workers who lose jobs as markets adjust to shocks, new technology, changes in preferences, and international specialization. Republicans have, in the past at least, agreed government should not meddle in; they claim to be more market fundamentalist than Democrats. The difference is that they are not as willing to embrace generous, widespread social assistance for those who are struggling to make ends meet. The Carrier deal marks a departure from the idea that painful as it is pain that Democrats would like to ease significantly through social programs the government should not interfere in markets. But perhaps the more important reason to oppose the Carrier deal is that it represents cronyism. As Tyler Cowen explains: Related: Sanders to Trump: Use Defense Contracts as Leverage for Carrier Jobs We don't know exactly what the company is getting. There's plenty of talk that the reason Carrier went along with the deal was because they were afraid their parent company would lose a lot of defense contracts. So this now creates the specter of a president always being willing to punish or reward companies depending on whether or not they give him a good press release. Crony capitalism is a system where businesses who are in bed with the government and who give the president positive press releases are rewarded and where companies who oppose or speak out against the president are, in some way, punished. We should do what we can to create an environment that will attract good jobs to the US and keep the jobs we have, and there are ways to create broad-based incentives that will induce firms to locate or stay in the US. But having the president negotiate with individual firms, with rewards to cronies who benefit him in some way and penalties for those who dont, is not among them. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Fidel is dead, and now, buried. Some will call him the last of the Cold Warriors. But there are still plenty of regimes that have been in power for decades. Are they frozen in time, or is change bubbling beneath the surface? In each case, the answer may depend on how long political power can be kept within the family. A look at five of the longest-ruling regimes in the world, and where they go from here. 1. Cuba For all the breathless headlines this year about historic change, Cuba remains a one-party state controlled by the same figures and power brokersi.e. the military and the Communist Party old guard. In todays Cuba, the majority of land and labor remains in the hands of the state; private ownership is limited; rationing continues; the media is state-run; the government continues to repress dissent. In fact, the most important change has been its opening with the U.S.but that has more to do with the current economic crisis engulfing Venezuela, which had been Cubas benefactor after the fall of the Soviet Union. Now Venezuela cant even afford to feed itself. Read More: Inside Fidel Castros Cuba and His Legacy While theres been some opening up to allow for private ownership and employment in recent years, there has been no movement on political reform. Fidels brother Raul promises to step down when his presidential term ends in 2018, making way for his presumed successor, First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, in a managed transition. Raul will stay on as the head of the Communist Party and remain influential behind the scenes. But it wont be until Raul and key members of the Politburo are buried that true political change will come to Cuba. Fidels death is the beginning, not the end. 2. Belarus Somewhat remarkably, Belarus has managed to retain a large part of its Soviet-era economic model with heavy state control and major reliance on Russias economy. The political system remains similarly controlled; in fact, five-term President Alexander Lukashenko is much more powerful than his Soviet-era predecessors. Condoleezza Rice wasnt wrong when she once referred to Belarus as Europes last dictatorship. Story continues But its getting harder for Minsk to depend on Moscow, both politically (Vladimir Putin has his own ambitious political agenda, after all) and economically (Russian GDP fell nearly four percent in 2015 alone, its biggest drop since 2009). So Minsk has begun looking westward to the E.U. as a possible partner. These moves have come in fits and starts, and E.U. demands havent opened up the countrys politics much. It doesnt help that Belarus is one of five countries that have signed up for the Eurasian Economic Union, Moscows response to the E.U. Read More: How Fidel Castro Went From Revolutionary to Ruler In all likelihood, Belarus is going to stay in Russias orbit while they seek ways to build ties with the E.U. for the sake of the economy. But dont expect much more than symbolic gestures towards Brussels; the countrys elites have too many interests to protect to cut themselves off completely from Moscow. The future could depend on the strongmans 12-year-old son Kolya. The president enjoys taking the boy to important international meetings and dressing him in clothes that match his own, leading some to speculate that Kolya is bound for bigger things. (Bloomberg) 3. Kazakhstan Kazakhstan is currently ruled by Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has held the post of president since 1991 and served as head of the Kazakh Soviet Republic before that. He won the 2015 elections with 98 percent of the vote, topping the 95.5 percent he earned in 2011. Kazakhstan is fortunate to have sizable natural wealth; 21 percent of the countrys economy comes from oil. Its economic growth during the high-oil early 2000s turned Kazakhstan into the economic leader in Central Asia, something the government parlayed into a role as a regional political and investment center. The countrys key industries remain under strong direct and indirect state control. When the time comes, the countrys next-generation leaders will struggle to end overreliance on oil, to satisfy high public expectations that economic growth will improve their well-being and to find a leader who commands the same beyond-question respect as Nazarbayev. We know the successor wont be Nazarbayevs much-feared son-in-law, Rakhat Aliyev. He reportedly committed suicide in an Austrian detention center last year. His daughter Dariga and her son Nurali Aliyev remain prominent contenders. (Bloomberg, World Bank) 4. Zimbabwe The 92-year old Robert Mugabe has been in power since 1980. To his followers, hes an elder statesman courageous enough to pursue an African liberation agenda in the face of Western opposition; to everyone else, hes a strongman who retains power through a security network of enforcers, secret police and intelligence operatives. Staying in power hasnt been easy. Following the loss of urban voters during the late 1990s, Mugabe focused on building a rural power base. This involved land grabs from white farmers and the handover of property to political cronies. The land redistribution program initially failed and crippled an economy that was then-dominated by agriculture. The country has limped along ever since. Read More: How Castro Will Be Trumps First Foreign Policy Test Mugabes saving grace is a political opposition thats unable to muster sustainable support and shows limited organizational skill. Speaking of keeping power within the family, members of Mugabes party are already lining up behind potential successors, with one faction being led by Mugabes wife Grace, and the other by current Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa. But for those hoping to see a sea change in the countrys politics, the current economic collapse is more likely to force political change than the internal machinations of Mugabes partyprovided the political opposition can get its act together. Thats a big if. (Quartz) 5. North Korea Kim Jong-un is the third generation Kim to dictate political and economic realities for North Koreans. At the same time, hes pursuing what can be only described as authoritarian style reforms. During his fathers reign, the Democratic Peoples Republic suffered from widespread famine. In response, Kim Jong-un has introduced limited, controlled reforms primarily to the farming sector. Hes also focused on shoring up the countrys paltry manufacturingand while private enterprise is still technically outlawed, its tolerated as the emergence of a private economy has aided the countrys growth. The results have been real: There are now more consumer items available and more restaurants, housing prices are rising in attractive urban centers and there is even a fashion culture budding in Pyongyang. And whos more stylish than President Kim himself? But make no mistake, North Korea remains a centrally-planned system in the grip of the Kim familythe family has spent generations purging any possible political opponents, and looks likely to continue doing so. Also like his predecessors, Kim Jong-un has prioritized the countrys nuclear program over the well-being of the North Korean people. Some traditions are just hard to break. (Reuters) Havana (AFP) - After burying Fidel Castro, Cuba is 15 months away from seeing his brother, Raul, give up the presidency. For the first time in almost 60 years, the president won't be named Castro. The man in line for the job is Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who is relatively young at 56, outside the small circle of guerrilla war veterans and not a family member. The grey-haired Diaz-Canel, who favors jeans or more formal suits and ties, has been a discreet communist party operator who lacks Fidel Castro's charisma and Raul's military experience. But he has been "a good soldier in the shadows," Christopher Sabatini, an international policy lecturer at New York's Columbia University, told AFP. President Raul Castro named Diaz-Canel as his deputy in 2013. While Raul Castro looks healthy at 85, he has vowed to step down in February 2018 during the next communist party congress, though he would likely remain the party's chief. His brother, who was buried on Sunday after dying on November 25 at age 90, clung to power from 1959 until an illness forced him to hand the presidency to Raul in 2006. Tall and affable, Diaz-Canel lacks the oratory skills of Fidel Castro but Raul gave him a ringing endorsement when he named him vice president in 2013. "Comrade Diaz-Canel is neither a novice nor an improviser," Raul Castro said. The electronics engineer is an advocate of a more critical press and an opening of the internet on the island, where a tiny fraction of the population has web access. "Today with the development of social media ... and the internet, prohibiting something is almost an impossible pipe-dream. It doesn't make sense," the vice president once said. Diaz-Canel, who is from the central province of Villa Clara, gradually worked his way up the echelons of Cuba's single party. In 2003, he entered the influential 15-member politburo, a key step for any official with higher aspirations. Story continues Six years later, Raul Castro named the former university professor as his higher education minister. In March 2012, he became one of the eight vice presidents on the council of ministers. He rose to the more powerful post of first vice president on the council of state a year later, replacing veteran revolution fighter Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, 86. Since then, Diaz-Canel has often traveled abroad, either with Raul Castro or as the president's representative. - New generation - But he is not the only member of the younger generation to have risen in ranks in recent years. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, 58, was a key player in the diplomatic rapprochement with the United States and the European Union. In a sign of his growing influence, Rodriguez appeared with the Castro family, top military officers and Diaz-Canel outside the armed forces ministry in Havana last week to watch Fidel's ashes depart on a cross-country trip to his burial place in eastern Cuba on Sunday. Rodriguez and Diaz-Canel were the only members of the new generation of communist officials at the symbolic farewell. Another relatively young operator is Marino Murillo, 55, an economist who is in charge of the crucial but modest economic reforms that Raul Castro has implemented. Raul's only son, Colonel Alejandro Castro Espin, 51, is also gaining influence in the interior ministry. All of them are keeping a low profile. Others who appeared too ambitious in the past lost their jobs unceremoniously, such as former vice president Carlos Lage and former foreign minister Felipe Perez Roque. - Economy crucial - For Ted Piccone, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution think thank, Diaz-Canel is the natural political heir apparent. "I don't see any other rival. I don't see any other scenario, but we've also seen in the past younger leaders groomed for leadership and they've been eliminated or removed from power," he said. To help his successor, Raul Castro needs to speed up the reforms to fix the troubled economy, Piccone said. "The legitimacy of the post-Raul government will depend on a much better economic performance," he said. Sabatini said Diaz-Canel faces "three competing pressures": The old guard in the politburo, the "younger generation of party apparatchiks who want change" and the military. But Raul Castro would be watching over him, as he would not be completely retired as party chief. "Raul's and Machado's support can prop him up" as president, said Arturo Lopez-Levy, a Cuba expert at the University of Texas. "Once he is in this position, it will be up to him to navigate successfully the task of building a consensus without humiliating any of the factions that form the Cuban leadership," he said. Five of the biggest supermodels in the world will battle it out Monday evening for the title of International Model 2016 at the British Fashion Awards. So, which one deserves it most? Here's the lowdown on the finalists. Adwoa Aboah Adwoa Aboah has had a hectic year. The latest cool Brit on the fashion scene has starred in campaigns for Calvin Klein, Roberto Cavalli, Marc Jacobs and H&M, as well as taking to the runway numerous times for DKNY, Fendi and Rihanna's Fenty x Puma, among others. In between all the glamour, the London native has been busy promoting her social initiative Gurls Talk -- a feminist platform that encourages young women to talk openly about personal issues or experiences. Bella Hadid 2016 was the year that Bella Hadid officially gave big sister Gigi a run for her money in the supermodel queen stakes. The California native has had a stellar year, being snapped up as the face of Dior Beauty in August and starring in Fendi's 90th anniversary runway show at Rome's Trevi Fountain in July. Amidst high-profile appearances at all the major fashion weeks, she set pulses racing off the runway when she showed up to the Cannes Film Festival in that red Alexandre Vauthier dress, which saw her star factor skyrocket. She ended the year on a high with her debut role in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Gigi Hadid But Gigi's not giving up the crown that easily. The model has strengthened her brand by making the ultimate move -- the transition to designer -- with her debut fashion collection. Created with Tommy Hilfiger, 'TommyxGigi' made its debut in September to huge success, and a second instalment is scheduled for February 2017. She also designed a boot for Stuart Weitzman, became an ambassador for Reebok, and hit the headlines for her job as co-host of the American Music Awards in November. She also walked for some of the biggest names in the industry, starred in multiple Versace campaigns and landed the August cover of US Vogue. Kendall Jenner Fellow LA native Kendall Jenner continued to build her off-runway business empire this year, launching her own video game, Topshop bikini collection and exclusive nine-piece capsule collection for Neiman Marcus with sister Kylie. She took to the catwalk for all the heavy hitters, from Chanel to Givenchy, starred in lingerie campaigns for La Perla and Calvin Klein campaign and caused a sensation when she donned a blonde wig for Balmain's Fall/Winter fashion show. Lineisy Montero Dominican model Lineisy Montero's star is rising fast. 2016 saw her make countless catwalk appearances for the biggest names in the business, including Givenchy, Dior, Chanel and Prada, to name just a few, as well as featuring heavily during the major haute couture shows. She starred in H&M's Fall beauty campaign, posed for Spring/Summer 2017 shoots for Zara and Chanel and landed the August cover of Elle France, the Spring 2016 cover of i-D Magazine and the March cover of Harper's Bazaar UK. Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, (I-CT), and former Gov. Jon Huntsman, (R-UTAH), who are the Co-Chairs of the No Labels movement, weigh in the groups latest efforts to achieve more bipartisan compromise in Washington, D.C. Its the new center of American politics. Its a place where Democrats, Republicans, Independents could come together to try to get something done in our government and we think the time is right after this election, particularly to work with the President-elect, Lieberman told the FOX Business Networks Maria Bartiromo about the organization. Along with the creation of the Problem Solvers Caucus, according to Lieberman the organization is also creating a Super PAC, With a goal of raising $50 million to support candidates for Congress who, when it comes to the big votes, say no to the parties leadership, say no to the interest groups, Im going to do what I think is right and negotiate a compromise with the other party to get something done for our country. Huntsman said he expects the incoming Trump administration to get right to business. This is the first time in eight years that weve really had environment for deal making and problem solving. So we see the next 100 days, six months, the first year of a President Trump Administration as being absolutely critical in getting the big things done, he said. He said he expects big changes ahead. Whether its health-care reform, whether its tax reform, infrastructure, this is the kind of team youre going to need to get it done. Otherwise were going to have a replay of what we saw eight-years ago, health-care reform, Obamacare, slammed down peoples throats, a straight-line party vote and now people are looking to completely redo it, its been a waste of time and we dont want to repeat that history, he said. Huntsman then responded to speculation his name is on the short list for the Secretary of State post in Trumps cabinet. You know, Im greatly honored that my name is even in a mix, an expanded, large group of people. I have not had the meeting, but I think its really important and it says something about the President-elect that hes taking this job very seriously, hes reviewing the candidates, hes looking at the issues, hes bringing in different voices who maybe look, see differently Americas role in the world and thats a good thing, he said. Story continues When asked if he was expecting to have a phone call or meeting with Trump about the position, Huntsman said, Like a lot of other people when these things happen, your name is floated and there might be a follow up call, there might not be, well have to wait and see. Related Articles China today said that it hoped India would not take actions to further complicate the boundary dispute on the eastern section of the China-India border. By Ananth Krishnan: China has said it hoped India would not take actions to "complicate" the boundary dispute after the Tibetan spiritual leader, the 17th Karmapa, made his first visit to Arunachal Pradesh last week. Beijing said on Monday it hoped India can "refrain from any action that might complicate the boundary question", responding to the Karmapa's visit to address a large gathering in the Mon region of the state, which China has territorial claims on. advertisement The visit by the Karmapa, who is after the Dalai Lama perhaps the most important leader in Tibetan Buddhism as the head of the Karma Kagyu school, was significant as it was backed by the Indian government, signalling a greater role for the 31-year-old Tibetan leader. He was accompanied by Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who tweeted this was the first visit by a Karmapa since that of the 3rd Karmapa some 900 years ago. CHINA CALLS DALAI LAMA A SPLITTIST While China often hits out the Dalai Lama as "a splittist", it generally refrains from criticising the Karmapa, who fled Tibet aged 14, in similar terms. Unlike the blanket ban on the Dalai Lama and his images, the Karmapa's photos are displayed in many Chinese monasteries and also widely shared by his numerous followers on Chinese social media. On Monday as well, China refrained from criticising the Karmapa, but asked India to not "complicate" the boundary dispute. "China's position on the eastern section of the China India border is clear and consistent," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang told reporters. Also read: Demonetisation: China ready to work with India to curb 'corruption cancer' "We hope India can abide by relevant consensus and refrain from any action that might complicate boundary question. We should ensure peace and stability of border areas and sound and steady development of bilateral relations serves the common interests of the two sides." CHINA, INDIA HAVE CONSTANT COMMUNICATION Asked if China had raised the matter with India, Lu said, "China and India have constant communication on this and India is also very clear about our solemn position when it comes to the boundary question." Also read: Non-committal Trump may push China to work with India in fighting climate change The visit by the Karmapa appears to suggest a new approach from the Indian government towards the Tibetan spiritual leader. Some in the government have long questioned his links with China, starting with his unlikely escape from Tibet aged 14, to more recently, following the discovery of foreign currency, including from China, in a monastery linked with him. advertisement The suspicions often angered his followers, who wanted the government to stop curtailing his travels in India and abroad as the head of one of Tibetan Buddhism's most important schools. Also read: Executed man proven innocent after 21 years in China: Judiciary's triumph or Chinese propaganda? --- ENDS --- Chicago has planned to commit $1 million to establish a legal defense fund for undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation under President-elect Donald Trumps administration, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Friday. Anxiety and uncertainty among the roughly 150,000 undocumented immigrants who call the windy city home was cited as a reason for the move. The fund, which offered a legal path towards acquiring U.S. citizenship to those at risk of deportation, affirmed Chicago's status as a sanctuary city for those who were uneasy about their ability to stay in the country. Trump has promised to deport 3 million undocumented immigrants immediately upon taking office. There is no legal definition for the term sanctuary city but it is generally regarded as a place where the local police refuses to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials looking to deport undocumented workers, according to the Washington Post. Trump previously said he would block federal funds to cities that declined to disclose information about the immigration status of its residents with national government officials. The fund was established in partnership with the National Immigrant Justice Center, an organization committed to protecting human rights for undocumented immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers based in Chicago, to provide " immediate legal information, screenings, consultations and representation to individuals who may be at risk for deportation," according to a news release Friday from the mayors office. The money for this program will come from the capital that wasnt used in a $ 20 million property tax relief program set up by the mayor on Oct. 1, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday. The city spent a mere $1 million dollars of that property tax rebate fund when only 12,000 households applied for tax relief through the initiative, leaving substantial money left over to spend on immigrant resources. Story continues Were putting our money where our mouth is as the city of Chicago, Emanuel said Friday. I want them to know that the city of Chicago, your children, you and your family, are safe, secure and supported. And were gonna put resources to ensuring that youre safe, secure and supported. The Chicago Democratic mayors announcement Friday acts in accordance to the rhetoric about immigration from some other mayors of major U.S. cities. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged two weeks ago to use all the tools at our disposal to act against any plan by the federal government to deport any of its residents. Los Angeles and San Francisco also allocated resources toward undocumented immigrants, such as providing free ID cards that give them access to numerous city and municipal services. Related Articles China Monday criticised a US decision to block a Chinese company's purchase of German semiconductor equipment maker Aixtron, saying business should not be politicised. President Barack Obama blocked the deal by rejecting the inclusion of Aixtron's US unit in it. The US Treasury Department said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States had found that the risks posed by the purchase, which could put sensitive technology with potential military applications in Chinese hands, were too great. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the move to purchase Aixtron was purely market-driven. "China opposes politicising normal business behaviour or interfering in it in a political way," he told a regular press briefing. "We hope the US side can stop making groundless accusations to Chinese companies and provide a fair environment and good conditions to Chinese investments." In a statement Friday the US Treasury said publicly-traded Aixtron SE's expertise in technology which is key to making advanced compound semiconductors used for LED lighting, lasers and solar cells also has military applications. Washington does not want to see such technology end up in the hands of the Chinese government-backed company which wants to buy Aixtron, Grand Chip Investment. The Treasury said Aixtron's US business was an important contributor to that technology. In late October the German government withdrew its initial approval for the 670 million euro ($714 million) takeover after Washington raised security concerns. Citing German intelligence sources, Handelsblatt daily reported that the US had expressed fears that China could use Aixtron technology to bolster its nuclear programme. After receiving the information, the German economy ministry said on October 24 that it would reopen its review of the deal. It may sound prosperous that President-Elect Donald J. Trump could learn anything from leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules a country he has accused of stealing American jobs and concocting the hoax of climate change. But a country that has transformed itself from an impoverished communist society into a thriving capitalist one in four decades may have a thing or two to teach the former television show host of The Apprentice. Even a casual look at how a regime dominated by fanatical communist ideologues could be converted into one led by consummate pragmatists should be especially useful for Trump. As he basks in the afterglow of his surprise victory, Trump obviously knows that his presidency -- and his chances of re-election in 2020 -- will depend on his economic report card in the next four years. But based on appointments of ideological hardliners such as Tom Price (a staunch foe of Obamacare nominated to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services), Michael Flynn (Trump's national security adviser with a dim view of Islam) and Mike Pompeo (the incoming CIA Director who has fiercely opposed the Iran nuclear agreement) and many of his campaign pledges, the chances are high that Trump could squander his limited political capital on divisive ideological issues and neglect his most important priority - getting the American economy out of its low-growth rut. Although Chinese rulers do not have to face voters to stay in office, as Trump will likely do in four years, they have a far more intuitive sense that it is their ability to deliver economic prosperity rather than their ideological purity that will keep them in power. The transition from a radical regime guided by a utopian ideology to a pragmatic one with a laser-like focus on maintaining power by delivering superior economic performance is one of the main drivers for how China has managed to engineer an economic revolution since the late 1970s. But the shift from an ideologically driven regime to a developmental party-state was not easy. It required Chinese leaders to be disciplined and focused on nothing else but pro-growth policies even when such policies were denounced or opposed by ideologues inside the regime. In the early years of China's economic reform, Deng Xiaoping, the paramount leader, exemplified this pragmatist philosophy. In spite of the resistance from conservatives, Deng supported policies that attracted foreign investment, privatized agriculture, and boosted private entrepreneurship. Of course, Deng was no democrat and would side with conservatives when the CCP's political monopoly was under attack. But on most social and cultural issues, Deng had a hands-off policy because he did not have time for such distractions. On the international stage, Deng also pursued a pragmatic foreign policy that served only one objective: supporting China's economic growth. Again, he knew that China needed a peaceful international environment and good relations with the world's richest countries. During his reign, except for a brief border war with Vietnam in 1979, Deng withdrew Chinese support for leftist insurgency forces around the world, ended aid for communist regimes, and strengthened ties with the U.S., Europe, and Japan. In retrospect, Deng's pragmatism, which has guided the CCP's policy for most of the post-Mao era, has saved the one-party rule. What, if anything, can Trump learn from Deng? To start, he should avoid becoming a prisoner of his own campaign rhetoric. For example, waging a war over the abortion issue makes no sense. It will not only polarize society but also distract Trump from other pressing economic issues. Similarly, conducting mass deportation of undocumented immigrants will hurt the economy while producing hear-rending images of families torn apart. As for picking constant fights with the media and calling for taking away the citizenship of flag-burning protesters, such acts serve only to dilute Trump's economic message. On the foreign policy front, Trump will need to rethink the economic consequences of his positions as well. Starting a trade war with your most important trading partners (China and Mexico, for instance) is pure folly since the certain outcome of such a confrontation is a net loss of American jobs and growth. Hectoring your long-term allies in Europe and East Asia to pony up more money for common defense may, under the best circumstances, shave a small amount off the Pentagon's budget, but at the expense of long-term trust. Tearing up international agreements such as the Paris Accord and the Iran nuclear deal could be disastrous, too. Except for projecting a fleeting image of a strongman, such gratuitous acts bring no economic benefits. Indeed, they are almost certain to cost Trump dearly in terms of international goodwill. Of course, we could be wrong if Trump believes that he can win another term by running the same populist campaign in 2020. This is wishful thinking. By that time he would be part of the establishment and those who put him in office last November will not support him again unless he produces tangible economic improvements in their lives. If the so-called communists in China have long understood the elementary lesson of performance legitimacy, the next occupant of the White House who prides himself as a savvy and successful capitalist surely knows it, too. Minxin Pei is a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College and the author of China's Crony Capitalism. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com China was muted Monday after Donald Trump's latest Twitter tirade, with analysts suggesting Beijing was scrambling to work out what the outburst could mean for relations with Washington. Reaction from both government and official media was unusually subdued after the businessman-turned-president-elect lashed out on social media, accusing China of military expansionism and manipulating its currency. "Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea?" Trump demanded, adding: "I don't think so!" China had "no comment" on the tweets' motivation, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters Monday. "We do not comment on his personality. We focus on his policies, especially his policies towards China," he said, adding that economic relations between the countries had been "mutually beneficial". Although Trump's comments were uncharacteristically sharp for a US leader, the initial response from state media -- often a proxy for government pronouncements -- was restrained. By late afternoon, the comments still had not been reported by the official Xinhua news service. But the agency did issue a comment piece warning against focusing on Trump's "sensational claims". It was "hasty to draw a pessimistic conclusion" about his intentions, the piece said, but urged the president-elect to resist "light-headed calls for provocative and damaging moves on China". Even the Global Times -- famed for its thin-skinned nationalism -- merely noted that the "bombardment" was the first time Trump had "expressed a clear view" on the South China Sea -- a strategically vital area contested by China and its neighbours, including Vietnam and the Philippines. Story continues Chinese leaders, who have long counted on stable, predictable relationships with US leaders, are probably scrambling to figure out how to respond" to Trump, said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. China's president Xi Jinping will want to "avoid being seen as weak," especially as he faces a major Communist Party congress next year, she said. Jin Canrong, professor of international studies at Renmin University, said Beijing was "very much on guard against the future administration, but won't have any formal reaction" while Obama was still in office, especially since Trump has not yet formed his cabinet or chosen a secretary of state. He predicted Trump would moderate once he takes office, but added the president-elect "is a trendy and impulsive man who does Twitter very well, which helped him during the campaign." "But when transferred to the international arena," he said, "it will cause lots of trouble." Theres a reason Donald Trumps impetuous conversation with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has left foreign-policy experts tearing their hair out by the roots. The fussy diplomatic protocols Trump flouted, in this case, are not a mere formality. They are a finely honed coping strategy for Chinese emotions that are very raw and potentially explosive. Although the Chinese reaction has been surprisingly perhaps hopefully muted, there is no more sincerely sensitive issue in China, among politicians and the public, than Taiwan. Taiwan, or the Republic of China, was founded by the fleeing Kuomintang (KMT or Nationalist Party), the modernizing but corrupt, authoritarian, and incompetent rulers of China in the 1930s, after they lost the mainland to the Communist Party, the modernizing but corrupt, authoritarian, and incompetent rulers of China from 1949 to the present. They fled to the conveniently defensible island on Chinas southern margins, once famous as a haven for pirates and later a Japanese colony. The republic still claims to be the legitimate successor to the Chinese state, as does with considerably more force behind it nowadays Beijing. Both are publicly committed to the idea of a single China; they merely disagree vehemently about which one it is. (Thats the public position, anyway; millions of Taiwanese, especially the young, are willing to acknowledge the possibility of full independence.) In the past, Taiwan was even more revanchist about the borders of China than Beijing; it refused to acknowledge the existence of Mongolia until 2002 91 years after Mongolia broke away from the flailing corpse of the Manchu-ruled Qing dynasty that also controlled China. The whole thing is a giant mess of political fictions and competing histories. Chinas historical claim to the island is far sketchier than its own propaganda makes out, as with vast stretches of the countrys border regions elsewhere; its argument that a democratic state should surrender its sovereignty to a distant and unloved tyranny is deeply unconvincing. A forcible invasion would be a publicity disaster for China and maybe also a military one; its plan has always been to push for long-term political reconciliation, which seemed to be on course until the upstart Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan disturbed the comfortable relationship that the Chinese Communist Party and KMT had developed in recent years. But that doesnt make the divide any less painful or the feelings of most Chinese any less real. In China, its not an avoidable issue. When I worked in English-language Chinese state media, the importance of using the correct vocabulary for Taiwan was hammered into staff on a regular basis. The reasoning behind some decisions about the correct form, made decades ago, was opaque; mainland China was verboten, for instance, but the Chinese mainland was fine, and it was the Taiwan question, not the Taiwan issue. It was more obvious why Taiwan couldnt have a president, although leader was acceptable. A little before I arrived at one newspaper, there had been a small witch hunt to find who was responsible for this sentence: The paper factory is the largest in China and the second-largest in the world. After two days of investigations, the guilty Chinese reporter was fined about a third of her monthly salary, had to write a self-criticism letter, and strict protocols were put in place to make sure such a disaster was avoided in the future. Why the problem? The largest paper factory was in Taiwan, and so the sentence copied unthinkingly from a foreign source that didnt suffer from such sensibilities was dangerously splittist. In moments of particular stress, Taiwanese was forbidden, the adjectival form believed to imply unacceptable separatism. I would strenuously point out that Californian implied no allegiance to the Bear Flag Republic and that our many references to Sichuanese, Henanese, and Yunnanese had not yet meant a return to the Warring States, and eventually sanity would usually prevail. Like a puritans sexual fears, the obsession with belittling Taiwans status actually ends up drawing constant attention to it. Sentences such as Taiwans so-called president, Tsai Ing-wen, addressed the so-called legislature of the Chinese island of Chinese Taiwan, a province of China, yesterday regularly deface articles in Chinese newspapers. The fixation isnt limited to the media. Chinese customs confiscates globes and atlases that have the effrontery to show Taiwan in a different color from the mainland. Chinese education officials tear Taiwanese adverts out of conference booklets. Chinese students throw hissy fits at Taiwan being listed as a country at Model U.N. events. And theres the real problem. This isnt just a set of political restrictions imposed by a paranoid party one that has always been obsessed with controlling and contorting language. Its bone deep in mainland Chinese, a conviction drummed into them by childhood and constantly reasserted. Plenty of elements of party propaganda are inconsequential to most Chinese or even mocked. Taiwan isnt one of them. I have lived in China for 13 years, and in that time I have talked with perhaps three mainlanders who thought that Taiwan had the right to determine its own future. Everyone else with whom Ive discussed the issue, from ardent liberals to hardcore Marxists to the politically apathetic, has been fervently against the idea that Taiwan could ever be considered a country. Its an idea as weird, taboo, and offensive to the majority of Chinese as proposing the restitution of slavery would be to Americans not for its moral value but for going against everything they hold dear about their country. Most of the time, when Beijing says something has hurt the feelings of 1.3 billion Chinese, its petulant bullshit; on Taiwanese issues it comes closer to the truth. On the WeChat Moments feed of a former student, a bright and intellectually curious teenager, I saw her rage at finding the Taiwanese flag on the wall of a dorm at her new American university. ITS NOT A COUNTRY! she indignantly declared, her anger echoed by her (Chinese) schoolmates follow-up comments. This is, of course, a deeply unthinking attitude. Its a product of decades of propaganda about Chinas (real but century-old) humiliations at the hands of foreign powers. It arises, too, from a complex of neuroticisms and resentments about Taiwans wealth and success in the past, now mixed with smugness at the mainlands new power. And for ordinary Chinese, its a result of the constant lessons beginning with kindergarten rhymes and reinforced every week by their parents, peers, and teachers about Chinas supposed oneness and the evil of those who would split the country. Its an unhappy and bitter part of Chinese nationalism, one that denies both the six-decade reality on the ground and the agency of Taiwanese to decide their own future. But its not going to disappear overnight. If the Communist Party vanished into smoke tomorrow, Chinese would still be contemptuous of Taiwanese aspirations and furious with anyone who suggested otherwise. On Americas part, the issue needs to be handled carefully, respectfully, and with a certain allegiance to diplomatic fictions. Anything else risks stirring not just Beijings ire but genuine public anger a force that Beijing itself might sometimes manipulate but may also not be able to entirely control. Photo credit: LINTAO ZHANG/Getty Images By Roberta Rampton and Ben Blanchard WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday it had sought to reassure China after President-elect Donald Trump's phone call with Taiwan's leader last week, which the Obama administration warned could undermine progress in relations with Beijing. The statement from a spokesman for U.S. President Barack Obama highlighted concerns about the potential fallout from Trump's unusual call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday, which prompted a diplomatic protest from Beijing on Saturday. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said senior National Security Council officials spoke twice with Chinese officials over the weekend to reassure them of Washington's commitment to the "One China" policy and to "reiterate and clarify the continued commitment of the United States to our longstanding China policy." The policy has been in place for 40 years and is focused on promoting and preserving peace and stability in the strait separating China and Taiwan, which is in U.S. interests, Earnest said. "If the president-elect's team has a different aim, I'll leave it to them to describe," he said. "The Chinese government in Beijing placed an enormous priority on this situation, and its a sensitive matter. Some of the progress that we have made in our relationship with China could be undermined by this issue flaring up," he said. The call with Taipei was the first by a U.S. president-elect or president with a Taiwan leader since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of "one China." China regards Taiwan as a renegade province. Despite tensions over matters ranging from China's pursuit of territorial claims in the South China Sea and trade, the Obama administration has highlighted cooperation on global issues, such as climate change and Iran's and North Korea's nuclear programs. Earlier on Monday, China's Foreign Ministry said Trump was clear about China's position on the Taiwan issue and that China had maintained contacts with his team. Vice President-elect Mike Pence sought to play down the telephone conversation, saying on Sunday it was a "courtesy" call, not intended to show a shift in U.S. policy on China. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang would not say directly whom China had lodged "stern representations" with about Trump's call, repeating a weekend statement it had gone to the "relevant side" in the United States. "The whole world knows about the Chinese government's position on the Taiwan issue. I think President-elect Trump and his team are also clear," Lu told a daily news briefing. "In fact, China has maintained contacts and communication with the team of President-elect Trump," he added, repeating a previous assertion, although he did not give details. Lu also said he would not speculate on what prompted the call, but described the matter of Taiwan as the most important and sensitive question between China and the United States. TOUGH RHETORIC Trump, who vowed during his campaign to label China a currency manipulator, issued more tough rhetoric on Sunday. "Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the U.S. doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!" Trump said on Twitter. China is not currently viewed as a currency manipulator by either the Treasury department or the International Monetary Fund. The World Trade Organization says Chinese tariffs on imported goods are generally higher than U.S. tariffs. China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei claim parts or all of the energy-rich South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually. Lu would not be drawn on directly commenting on Trump's tweets but defended the China-U.S. relationship. "The China-U.S. economic and trade relationship has over many years always been a highly mutually beneficial one, otherwise it couldn't have developed the way it has today," he said. The diplomatic contretemps was one of several recently for the Republican president-elect, a real estate magnate who has never held public office and has no foreign affairs or military experience. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, is still considering his choice for secretary of state. Pence called the uproar over the call with "democratically elected" Tsai a "tempest in a teapot." He blamed the media for the controversy, saying the call was similar in nature to one between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping after the Nov. 8 election. Stephen Moore, an economic analyst and Trump adviser, defended the president-elect's move and said it did not matter that China was angry over the exchange. "Taiwan is our ally," Moore said in an interview with WLS AM890 radio in Chicago. "That is a country that we have backed because they believe in freedom. We oughta back our ally, and if China doesn't like it, screw 'em. (Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, David Brunnstrom, David Chance and David Lawder in Washington; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Peter Cooney) SHANGHAI, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Chinese trainmaker CRRC plans to build more factories abroad as part of its plan to double sales outside of China to up to $15 billion by 2020, state-run China Daily reported on Monday. CRRC expects a total of $8 billion worth of orders from overseas customers this year, and was also open to teaming up with competitors to win bids in some markets, company executives were quoted by the newspaper as saying. Since it was formed in 2015 by the merger of China's top two trainmakers, CRRC has been aggressively chasing overseas orders and deals. It agreed in September to join forces with Canada's Bombardier on overseas bids, and would target projects such as New York's subway system, the newspaper said. The firm, however, said global demand was weakening as slower economic growth dragged on infrastructure spending. "The world's rail-transport market is not as hot as in past years, just like the global economy. Infrastructure construction needs money. The general demand is falling," Zhao Mingde, CRRC's director of strategy and planning, was quoted as saying. "Many foreign governments also ask us to build plants in their countries as part of the deal to continue the business," he added. Overseas orders accounted for about 7 percent of CRRC's 2015 sales. The company wants to boost this to 35 percent by 2025, the newspaper reported. CRRC, whose main customer is China's state railway operator, competes against France's Alstom, Germany's Siemens and Bombardier in international markets. It has factories in South Africa, Malaysia, Turkey and Iran, and opened a joint venture plant in India in August. Last month, CRRC also said it was in talks to buy Czech trainmaker Skoda Transportation, a deal which brokerage Guotai Junan puts at 3.8 billion yuan ($550 million). ($1 = 6.8895 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Richard Pullin) Is there any substance in Pakistani PM's Advisor Sartaj Aziz's allegations that India placed too much restrictions on his movement while he was in the country for the Heart of Asia conference? By India Today Web Desk: India has rejected the allegations levelled by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Advisor Sartaj Aziz that restrictions were put on him during his visit to Amritsar for the Heart of Asia conference. The government sources said that India was 'gracious' in hosting Sartaj Aziz, who was extended all the facilities for the trip. There was no reason for Sartaj Aziz to complain. advertisement Pakistan has claimed that during Sartaj Aziz's visit to Amritsar, restrictions were put on his movement and that he was not allowed to speak to media. READ| Jayalalithaa continues to be very critical, says Apollo Hospital: Latest updates EXCEPTIONAL TREATMENT TO AZIZ In response the government sources said that a rare exception was made to allow arrival and departure of Aziz by air at Amritsar which is not a designated port for entry and exit of Pakistani nationals. Sartaj Aziz, who led the Pakistani delegation, was also given swift clearance despite a last minute change in his scheduled arrival by a special flight, the sources maintained. Here's the link to the "Amritsar Declaration" adopted at the 6th Ministerial Conference of #HeartofAsiaClick: https://t.co/yPOdxLi4Q9 pic.twitter.com/xC5dn2XUfm Indian Diplomacy (@IndianDiplomacy) December 4, 2016 READ| PM Narendra Modi wins Time's Person of the Year online readers poll AZIZ'S ALLEGATIONS In a hurriedly called press conference after his return from Amritsar last night, Aziz had accused India of not treating the Pakistani media properly at the Heart of Asia meeting and said he was not allowed to have a press conference. "The attitude towards media was not good. I wanted to have press interaction with our own media. But we were not allowed," he alleged. Earlier on Sunday, Pakistan had also claimed that Aziz was not allowed to visit the Golden Temple and speak to Pakistani media at the hotel where he was staying even as India said it was done considering his security. WATCH: INDIA'S REPLY "They have no reasons to complain. We were gracious hosts. Extended tarmac access, gave additional rooms, provided armoured cars (not given to every Foreign Minister) and other conveniences keeping special security requirements in view," the sources said. "This was done despite the last minute change of programme and advancing of arrival in Amritsar by special flight by more than 12 hours. Fresh flight clearance was issued within minutes," the sources said. WATCH: WHAT ELSE IS IN NEWS They said Aziz could be present in the official dinner and in the call on Prime Minister on the evening of October 3 due to the last minute clearance given. advertisement "In addition, they were actively engaged in the Senior Officials Meeting and Ministerial and all other requests honoured. A rare exception was made to allow arrival and departure by air at Amritsar which is not a designated airport for entry and exit for Pakistani nationals," they said. Pakistan-India relations are at such an ebb that nothing positive can be expected - so if something positive does happen consider it a bonus pic.twitter.com/0pek6Nm79f omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) December 4, 2016 Aziz was scheduled to arrive at Amritsar on Sunday but came a day early for the conference due to prevailing weather condition. Almost the entire northern India has been affected by thick cover of fog for the last two days, delaying flights and trains services. (With PTI inputs) ALSO READ| Demonetisation chorus doesn't change in Parliament, opposition sticks to same demands --- ENDS --- SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese trainmaker CRRC plans to build more factories abroad as part of its plan to double sales outside of China to up to $15 billion by 2020, state-run China Daily reported on Monday. CRRC expects a total of $8 billion worth of orders from overseas customers this year, and was also open to teaming up with competitors to win bids in some markets, company executives were quoted by the newspaper as saying. Since it was formed in 2015 by the merger of China's top two trainmakers, CRRC has been aggressively chasing overseas orders and deals. It agreed in September to join forces with Canada's Bombardier (BBDb.TO) on overseas bids, and would target projects such as New York's subway system, the newspaper said. The firm, however, said global demand was weakening as slower economic growth dragged on infrastructure spending. "The world's rail-transport market is not as hot as in past years, just like the global economy. Infrastructure construction needs money. The general demand is falling," Zhao Mingde, CRRC's director of strategy and planning, was quoted as saying. "Many foreign governments also ask us to build plants in their countries as part of the deal to continue the business," he added. Overseas orders accounted for about 7 percent of CRRC's 2015 sales. The company wants to boost this to 35 percent by 2025, the newspaper reported. CRRC, whose main customer is China's state railway operator, competes against France's Alstom (ALSO.PA), Germany's Siemens (SIEGn.DE) and Bombardier in international markets. It has factories in South Africa, Malaysia, Turkey and Iran, and opened a joint venture plant in India in August. Last month, CRRC also said it was in talks to buy Czech trainmaker Skoda Transportation, a deal which brokerage Guotai Junan puts at 3.8 billion yuan ($550 million). ($1 = 6.8895 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Richard Pullin) By Ben Blanchard and Harro Ten Wolde BEIJING/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The sale of Aixtron (AIXGn.DE) to Chinese investors could go ahead under new terms if the German semiconductor equipment maker sells its Silicon Valley division separately to get around U.S. objections, analysts said Monday. On Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama stopped Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund (FGC) from buying Aixtron U.S., the division of the German company in California where nearly a fifth of its 713-strong workforce is based. While the 670 million euro ($717 million) deal is small, U.S. opposition is seen as a sign of growing concern in the West about the acquisition of new technology by Chinese players and comes after Washington blocked the sale by Philips (PHG.AS) of its U.S. lighting business to Asian buyers. The crux of the issue for Aixtron is that it makes devices which produce crystalline layers based on gallium nitride that are used as semiconductors in weapons systems. The German firm's technology is being used to upgrade both U.S. and foreign-owned Patriot missile defense systems and the U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday the deal had been blocked due to national security risks. Aixtron said, however, the U.S. order "was limited to the United States business and did not prohibit the acquisition of Aixtron shares", indicating that a deal could be revived, albeit under revised terms. "Chinese investors might be willing to take over Aixtron without its U.S. business including U.S. patents and patent applications," DZ Bank analyst Harald Schnitzer said in a client note. "That could be possible but we doubt that GCI (FGC) would be prepared to pay 6 euros per Aixtron share in such a case." Aixtron shares were up 0.9 percent at 3.86 euros by 1515 GMT well below the 6 euros per share FGC offered in May. WHITE KNIGHT? Aixtron's operations in Sunnyvale, California are its third-largest site with manufacturing, sales, service and engineering as well as research and development. Story continues In the first nine months of the year, the U.S. operations contributed 22 million euros or about 20 percent to total sales of 107 million. Analysts have said Aixtron has a bleak future as a stand-alone company as it struggles in an overcrowded market where Chinese companies call the shots. Aixtron has also said it needs to cut costs and jobs if the deal falls through, while analysts said a white knight bidder such as U.S. chip equipment maker Applied Materials (AMAT.O) could emerge. Another obstacle is that the German Economy Ministry withdrew its approval for the Chinese acquisition in October and is conducting its own review of the transaction. Aixtron had registered patents for 189 products at the end of 2015, according to its annual report. Of those, 97 were patent protected, with patents pending for the remaining 92. "Patent protection for inventions is usually applied for in those sales markets relevant for Aixtron, specifically in Europe, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States," the company said in the annual report. A company spokesman declined to give a geographic breakdown of the patents. CHINESE ANGER The U.S. decision to block the Aixtron deal angered China, with the foreign ministry calling it "political obstruction". Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China had always supported Chinese firms investing overseas on the basis of market principles, international rules and respecting local laws, adding that the Aixtron deal was purely a commercial matter. "China resolutely opposes the politicization of any normal commercial takeover or the wrong move of political obstruction," Lu told a news briefing, saying that China hoped the United States would stop making "groundless accusations" against Chinese firms and provide a fair environment for them. Aixtron makes so-called Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) systems, used to grow crystalline layers for semiconductors, especially those based on gallium nitride. Gallium nitride is a powdery yellow compound used in light-emitting diodes (LED), radar, antennas and lasers. Gallium nitride technology can boost the power of weapons systems while making them cheaper because it needs less electricity. (Editing by David Clarke/Keith Weir) By Ben Blanchard and Harro Ten Wolde BEIJING/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The sale of Aixtronwill@cvradio.com Police say a Grand Forks woman shot by her adult son before he took his own life has died of her injuries. Authorities say 53-year-old Jennifer Harrison died at Altru Hospital days after she was found in her home with multiple gunshot wounds to her torso and head. According to officials, 21-year-old Tyler Harrison shot his mother Wednesday at the home they shared in Grand Forks. Police say he turned the gun on himself and was found dead in their driveway. Officials say the shooting was domestic-related, but that their investigation is continuing. ATHENS, Ga. A tremendous weekend of racing concluded Sunday with even more success in the pool for the Cal men's swimming team as the Bears captured the team title at the Georgia Fall Invitational hosted by the University of Georgia.At the conclusion of three days of racing, Cal owned a commanding lead to take the team title. The Bears scored 859 points, outdistancing second-place Georgia, which finished with 710. Auburn placed third with 656.After two strong days staked Cal to the team lead, the Bears left no doubt on Sunday. That started with a strong swim in the 1,650-yard freestyle byas the sophomore finished in a time of 14:51.89 that was over 15 seconds faster than Michigan's Blake Maczka in second place.The 200 backstroke came next andmade it a double for the weekend as he finished three seconds clear of Georgia's Jay Litherland to win in a time of 1:38.65. The mark also gives the senior his NCAA A standard in the event, qualifying him for both the 100 and 200 as he looks to win both for the fourth straight year.With four swimmers in the 100 freestyle, Cal stood a good shot of picking up more team points and the Bears didn't disappoint asled a Cal contingent that finished in places two through four. Jensen,andtouched the wall one after another and senioralso got in on the point-scoring festivities, winning the B final to add another good finish for the Bears.Three more Cal swimmers made the A final in the 200 breaststroke and seniorput the finishing touches on a standout fall campaign by winning with a time of 1:55.24.andalso reached the A final andwon the B final.A day of good swims continued in the 200 butterfly withandfinishing second and third behind only Georgia's Chase Kalisz. Seliskar's time of 1:40.74 achieved the A standard in the event.The Bears wrapped up the weekend with another relay win, achieving yet another NCAA A standard with a victory in the 400 freestyle relay. Murphy got things rolling, Jensen took up the charge next, Lynch jumped in to keep the lead and Seliskar finished it off as Cal finished with a time of 2:49.84. Another Cal team fought hard to take third, with the team of Lileikis, Sendyk,andfinishing in 2:53.13.Sunday marks the end of the fall season for the Bears, who will look to training camp over the holidays before returning to competition on Jan. 14-15 with the Cal Invitational. Dual meet action resumes Jan. 20 and 21 at Arizona and Arizona State. Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney, in a briefing Sunday, Dec. 4, said law enforcers will back away from a contested bridge near the camp of protesters opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Laney, who has taken a lead role in assisting Morton County, said law enforcement officers will move away from the north side of the Backwater Bridge to help de-escalate the conflict, which this weekend drew military veterans from around the country to join protesters. Law enforcement said they would vacate the area no later than 4 p.m. Sunday if protesters stay at their camp and remain away from Backwater Bridge, unless a pre-arranged meeting with Morton County is approved. Laney called "ludicrous" the idea that law enforcement officers would sweep in to make mass arrests of protesters for camping on Army Corps of Engineers land without a permit. "It's not going to happen," Laney said in a video of the briefing provided by law enforcement. "There's a political agenda here that will have to work itself out." He added: "We will back off and we will de-escalate." However, Laney warned protesters to stay away from the bridge as well as barriers and wires intended to keep people away for what he said were public safety reasons. "We will respond appropriately, depending upon what they're doing," Laney said. "We're not for the company or for them. We're that big wall in-between to prevent a war." The $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline would carry Bakken crude from North Dakota to a hub in Illinois, 1,172 miles away. The North Dakota segment of the project is complete except for a crossing underneath Lake Oahe on the Missouri River, near the protest site. The Corps of Engineers has yet to issue a permit to allow the pipeline to cross the river. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is against the pipeline, which would cross just north of its reservation, on the grounds that it could contaminate their water supply. | BY Lynchy | Next year, one of the creative giants (and good guys) of adland, Droga5s Ted Royer, is returning to Asia as Grand Jury President of ADFEST 2017. In a career spanning 20-years, Royer has won enough metal to sink a small ship: over 100 major awards, and counting. Just this week Droga5 was named Adweeks 2016 U.S. Agency of the Year ~ the 8th AOY title in 10 years ~ and earlier this year Royer was named #1 in Business Insiders The 30 most creative people in advertising 2016. Campaign Brief Asia caught up with Royer Chief Creative Officer at Droga5 New York to find out more about his trip to Thailand next March. Ted, this is not your first ADFEST is it? I used to live in Singapore, so Ive been to ADFEST a few times. Im really excited about returning besides the chance to catch up with a lot of old buddies, I love going to other parts of the world and seeing how our industry has evolved in different markets. ADFEST has its finger on the pulse in so many parts of Asia: countries I havent been exposed to in awhile. I think some of the work from these places is going to be fascinating to me. AdAge recently wrote of Droga5: Its this obsessive, relentless giving-a-damn that has led the agency to where it is today. Is it true that you care too much? I dont know if we can care too much as an industry, but its something we do say at Droga5 that caring is often out of scope. A lot of companies can deliver work that meets the brief. We dont think thats enough. One of the best barometers for our ideas is when we find ourselves asking: Can we even do that?? Because thats the work that pushes people and shocks people. Sadly a lot of our industry might have phoned it in when it comes to moving out of their comfort zones. We dont want to be that agency. We want to be making work that makes us nervous. So how do you sleep at night? Ambien, ha! Actually, youre not going to be very good if youre burning yourself out. We want people to take their vacations at Droga5. You dont have to stay at the office all night to be a good creative. Theres a way to have ambition and work hard without burning yourself out, and its important to turn your brain off for a while. When was your last vacation? We rented a house with some other families over summer. Actually, I didnt turn my phone off the whole time so Ive made an agreement with my wife that on our next vacation, I can only turn my phone on at 11am and 3pm. There are agencies that ask people to keep their phone on all night though and I say, fuck that, you have to be respectful of peoples time. Were not the kind of industry that needs to be run on high military alert. Droga5 New York has grown into an agency of nearly 700 people in New York. Does the agencys growth sometimes gobsmack you? Its been a big, fat fucking rollercoaster ride. Its been incredibly fun, and were incredibly proud of it. Not only have a lot of us never run an agency this size, but weve never worked in an agency this size, which means none of us have bad habits to shed. Were all just trying to be as ambitious, smart and compassionate as we can be. Weve achieved between 30% and 40% revenue growth every year, so Droga5 feels like a different agency every year. But the same spirit is still there we hug each other a lot, we drink together, hopefully a few people made out at our party last night, although nobody tells me anything anymore. Its getting harder to know everyone in the office with 700 people, but that spirit lives on, and it trickles down from the top. Youre based on Wall Street, not Madison Avenue. Why? Well, theres a ferry from Williamsburg that comes right here, and a lot of people at Droga5 live there because its a cool part of New York. Basically, we found a space we love and can keep growing into. Weve taken over two more floors and we have the ability to grow into the building. And were changing the neighbourhood, the coffee is getting better on Wall Street thanks to us. One of the agencys principles is humanity obsessed. What does this mean to you? Were proud of being in advertising, but we dont want to make crap that people avoid. Almost every day a new technology is built to avoid advertising. We dont want to be part of the wall of sound out of respect for peoples time. Also no matter what were doing business-wise, we will use a proportion of our brains and hearts to do something we truly believe in, beyond helping clients. Some examples are the Equal Payback Project, Tap Project for UNICEF, Not There for the Clinton Foundation and The Great Schlep. How do you make time for these kinds of projects? We treat it like a real business or brief, we dont say: Do this in your spare time. If you treat it like a sideshow, it will be a sideshow. ADFEST celebrates 20 years next year. Your career spans 20 years. What have been the highlights and biggest nightmares? The business of advertising is nightmarish on a regular basis you cant go a week without being punched in the gut. I think you have to take failures and setbacks with grace this is something I had to learn, I used to stamp my feet and get angry. In terms of career highlights, Im really proud of the amount of work Ive been able to do around the world, practising this craft in different places I think its given me a good radar for a great global versus local idea. And Im especially proud of the team at Droga5, and proud of having helped to build that team. Do you think your time living and in Singapore and Argentina shaped you creatively? I encourage every creative to do a stint abroad because it will stretch your mind in incredible ways. Even if you have a terrible day at work, the sounds and smells, even the sunlight, will be different when you leave the office, and cant help but ignite your creativity in different ways. And when youre living in another country, you have to be really open to letting things shape you, and letting go of preconceived notions you might have about how things should be done. I found that when I did this, it was much more fun. Youve won basically every award and accolade this industry has to offer. Is there anything youre yet to accomplish? I love the idea of creating environments where younger, more creative and more energetic people than me can really flourish. And Id really love to write and teach more in future. I do give seminars occasionally, but Id love to make teaching a bigger part of my life. If I can take some of the crap Ive been through and let people know its normal to go through this crap, that would be a good achievement. | BY Ricki Green | Designer British radio brand VQ plans to accelerate its expansion into Australia through a joint Christmas campaign with Commercial Radio Australia aimed at putting the glamour into radio products via Eardrum, Sydney. The campaign is VQs first major marketing push in Australia since entering the market earlier this year, and promotes the Retro Mini DAB+ digital radio with built-in Bluetooth speaker, which retails for $129. Commercial Radio Australia chief executive officer Joan Warner said the entry of VQ was creating new interest in digital radios as its products primarily targeted the more style-conscious female consumer, a segment which has often been overlooked when it comes to the audio category. Says Warner: Were excited to partner with VQ because they are a young audio brand that has achieved phenomenal growth in the UK and theyre keen to replicate that success in Australia. VQ Australia country manager Lara Young said all its products were British-designed and engineered with more than 11 colours available and included exclusive collaborations with homeware designers such as Emma Bridgewater. Says Young: We rebel against the traditional design of consumer technology products being just black and silver. We believe our products will appeal to Australians because there is a strong interest here in home, lifestyle and design. The marketing campaign, which has been developed by advertising agency Eardrum, reinforces the VQ brand ideals of sound and style, with Australian characters morphing into the voices of glamorous 1950s icons in the vein of Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly. The radio campaign will run for three weeks through to Christmas across 42 commercial radio stations in the five capital cities as well as DAB+ only stations. It will be supported by retailer catalogue and online promotion. | BY Ricki Green | An award-winning team of creatives have put their talent behind a powerful new awareness campaign for the child protection organisation Bravehearts. The television commercial by creative director Mike Boswell and director Sonia Whiteman, uses a lion to represent the power that personal safety education has in the fight against child sexual assault. Says Whiteman: I was honoured to work on this powerful campaign with Mike Boswell and Bravehearts, and all the cast and crew who believe so passionately in protecting children from childhood sexual assault. We hope this TVC is shared all around Australia, to ignite conversation and inspire everyone to become fierce protectors of Australian children. Bravehearts founder and chair Hetty Johnston AM said the TVC encourages the community to be brave and talk about child sexual assault. Says Johnston: Every two hours in Australia a child is sexually assaulted in some way. This is unacceptable. The ad encourages the community to see that by educating our kids, this crime can be prevented. Some of Australias top advertising talent donated their expertise to make this ad possible, including award winning Australian commercial director Paul Middleditch, who was the executive producer and world-class post-production facility The Editors. The beautiful lion footage was kindly donated by US based Green Screen Animals. Says Zoe Hermans, marketing manager, Bravehearts: The lion in the ad is a metaphor for Bravehearts as a guardian and protector of Australian children. The main character is a young girl who is seen being shadowed by her own personal protector a lion as she goes about her day. She is wearing a Bravehearts wristband that signifies she has seen our personal safety education show, Dittos Keep Safe Adventure, which stars Ditto the lion cub. Children who see our Ditto show are empowered to listen to their intuition and encouraged to speak up if they find themselves in a situation that doesnt feel right. They learn about YES and NO feelings, and what to do if they feel unsafe. The skills they learn through Bravehearts education program are life-long skills. Our goal is to see every Australian child empowered with these personal safety skills from a young age. It is an absolutely essential part of preventing child sexual assault in this country and a key to making Australia the safest place in the world to raise a child. Dittos Keep Safe Adventure Show has so far this year seen over 100,000 Australian children, visiting schools as far south as rural Tasmania to as far North as the Torres Strait, and West into remote indigenous communities near Broken Hill. The lion advertisement is part of Bravehearts online Christmas appeal, calling for donations to help support the Ditto education program, which costs the organisation an average of $12 per child to deliver. To help boost fundraising efforts across social media, Bravehearts has partnered with leading payment technology provider, IntegraPay, to integrate an Australian-first in-video payment system into the ad. Says Hermans: The technology is ground-breaking for charities and donors alike because users can donate whilst they watch the video, and dont have to be redirected to a third-party webpage or pop-up to complete their donation. IntegraPays chief operating officer, Kathryn Porritt, said IntegraPay wanted to create a modern and innovative way to raise funds for charities. Says Porritt: Were delighted to be able to assist Bravehearts help protect Australias children by making the donation process easier. Our In Video Payment System is an Australian and New Zealand first and aims to reduce the steps to transaction completion keeping potential donators engaged and inspired. | BY Lynchy | Droga5 New York ~ led by Aussie expat David Droga ~ has taken out its eighth US Agency of the Year title in ten years with AdWeek honoring the agency with its 2014 award. Says AdWeek: Droga5 enjoyed a 2016 that any agency would envy. It created some of the marketing industrys best creative work in recent memory, won a litany of top-tier clients (occasionally even without a review), swept up 66 major industry awards and grew its revenue an impressive 35 percent. | BY Ricki Green | Coca-Cola South Pacific has today announced details of Glaceau smartwaters major new Australian summer campaign, fronted by global superstar Jennifer Aniston who has been brought on board as brand ambassador. The campaign was originally created by Circus Maximus, New York localised for Australia via McCann Sydney. Off the back of huge global success in the US and UK markets, the campaign reflects Coca-Colas commitment to the premium water category, leveraging a significant marketing opportunity to drive category value over the summer period. Following the successful launch of Glaceau smartwater in Australia earlier this year, Coca-Cola has committed a multi-million dollar investment behind the latest fully integrated marketing campaign to drive product awareness and trial over summer. Targeted primarily at 20-39 year old females, a key theme of the campaign revolves around enjoying the summer season and hydration in style. Aniston will be front and centre of the campaign, appearing across large format iconic out of home displays that include full wraps of Melbourne and Adelaide trams, as well as national billboards in high impact locations. She will also be prominently featured in print, with partnership placements in premium womens fashion, style and fitness magazines including Elle, Marie Claire, Womens Healthand Harpers Bazaar. Says Gloria Young, brand manager, Glaceau smartwater: We are excited to make a huge splash with Glaceau smartwater this summer, evidenced by the significant investment in this large multi-channel campaign. The premium, stylish and functional nature of the product will help us make a big impact in this category. It is such a thrill to be working with a global superstar like Jennifer Aniston, whose sophisticated and stylish image is a perfect fit for Glaceau smartwaters sleek look. Given her success as brand ambassador in other markets, where she appeals to both men and women, we are confident she will resonate with our target demographic in Australia and further drive brand recognition. In addition to the Aniston creatives, the Glaceau smartwater summer campaign will also include stand alone and contextually relevant seasonal displays across out of home and in close proximity to stores, with messaging that reflects the brands stylish and playful nature. Its unique qualities will be explained via a digital video that brings the process of vapour distillation to life, educating consumers on the smart way that nature purifies water for a clean, crisp taste. Product trial will be driven through one of Coca-Colas largest ever sampling programs in Australia. Glaceau smartwater has partnered with Westfield to activate targeted sampling at selected NSW and VIC Westfield shopping centres, getting in front of their target audience as they do their Christmas and New Year shopping. Advertising: Circus Maximus New York & McCann Sydney Media: UM Sydney | BY Lynchy | Medibank has launched Joy an immersive VR experience for hospital patients to enjoy over the festive season. Joy is designed to provide a comforting environment which helps alleviate feelings of social isolation and loneliness. The initiative was conceived by Sydney agency B.B.E, alongside VR specialists Liminal, in response to new Medibank research which found loneliness is a growing issue, and Aussies with health concerns are amongst those most at risk. With Joy landing in partner hospitals yesterday, the initiative is being launched with a digitally-led PR and content campaign encouraging Aussies to visit their loved ones this Christmas. The campaign will be supported by a paid media strategy focused entirely on social, and kicks off via a 90-second video content piece, which is being pushed out across Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Says Medibank General Manager Marketing, Fiona Le Brocq: Medibank is for the better health of all Australians whether theyre in good health, in recovery, or living with health issues. Were looking into all kinds of ways to demonstrate this and this latest initiative is just one of those ways. The power of VR is becoming increasingly realised, and globally, were seeing the technology being applied to support various health issues from pain management to PTSD treatment. Knowing the high prevalence of loneliness amongst those in hospital and that the issue is likely to peak over the festive season we wanted to see how we could help. Through Joy, were excited to be the first Aussie health insurer to explore the vast potential of virtual reality. To help people be healthier in this way is truly fantastic. Joy is a storytelling experience, and each of the stories is narrated by a Medibank staff member including General Manager, Marketing, Fiona Le Brocq. The experience is available exclusively on Google Daydream View marking one of the first global brand activations on the newly-launched headset. Says Liminal Clinical Neuroscientist and Neuropsychologist, Sami Yamin: Medibanks research shows many hospital patients suffer from loneliness, but feel too unwell to do something about it. Knowing this, weve helped create an experience which transports patients from their current situation and allows them to feel unencumbered by their physical constraints for a while. Joy was conceived out of extensive research into the known alleviations of loneliness including pet therapy, bibliotherapy and the incorporation of nature scenes resulting in an experience which takes patients to a virtual world where they can feel comfort and connection. Medibank will be rolling out Joy in certain hospitals from today. To find out more, visit medibank.com.au/joy. Agency: B.B.E Initiative & Campaign Development, PR, Content & Social Strategy: Adam Beaupeurt PR & Content: Cleo Posa, Georgia Ness & Matea Rojas Project Management: Kitty Jonsson Project Assistance: James Grose, Regan Kerr & Jordan Croome VR Production Project Management: Damian Moratti, Nick Busietta CTO: Lachlan Sleight Head of Research: DPsych (Clin Neuro) Sami Yamin Creative Director: Stephanie Andrews Film Production Director: Scott Heinrich Cinematographer: Jon Oldmeadow Camera Assistant: Anthony Rilocapro Production Assistant: Matthew Harkin Medibank General Manager -Marketing: Fiona Le Brocq Head of Creative Services, Content Marketing and Social Media: Billy Falkingham Consumer PR Lead: Giselle Lloyd Digital Marketing Lead Social & Content: Laura Stephenson Head of Brand: Kelly MacLean | BY Ricki Green | The Royal Brunei Airlines Australian office has announced the appointment of full-service creative and media agency The Ross Partnership to handle media duties for the business. Royal Brunei Airlines is an award winning airline that was established on 18 November 1974 as an independent corporation wholly owned by the government of Brunei Darussalam and is the countrys flagship carrier. Started with only a fleet of two aircraft, Royal Brunei Airlines now has a fleet of 10 aircraft and currently flies to 16 destinations across Australia, South-East Asia, the Middle East and the UK. The airline recently achieved a top 10 ranking (of 420 customer rated airlines) in the Skytrax 2016 Most Loved Airlines; recognition of the exceptional product and service offering onboard the boutique carrier. Kyle Ross, account director at The Ross Partnership says the team is excited about this opportunity. Says Ross: Were thrilled to welcome Royal Brunei Airlines to the TRP family. The brand is a great fit for us as a premium boutique agency. The airline sector has become fiercely competitive over the last decade and Royal Brunei was looking for an agency to help lift its profile and reputation as a quality airline across Australia. We have a great opportunity ahead to expand their customer base as a genuine challenger in the local market. Giles Gilbert, country manager for Royal Brunei Airlines in Australia says he is delighted to be working with TRP in the local market: TRP will help to showcase our brand and to continue to make Royal Brunei Airlines an airline of choice in Australia. | BY Ricki Green | Australian provider of online education Swinburne Online is launching an integrated campaign via Ogilvy Melbourne encouraging Australians to complete their higher education online. The new campaign has kicked off this week with a TVC featuring inspirational students and inviting Australians to take action and continue their tertiary studies with the rally call Lets Do This. Different versions will be rolled out focusing on the different degree programs such as Business, Design, Education and Psychology. Executions will then be pushed online, plus print and outdoor across the country. Says Teresa Smith, executive director of sales and marketing, Swinburne Online: The success of students studying through Swinburne Online is at the centre of everything we do. This latest campaign builds on our core support message of Well see you through. We know Swinburne Online students are time-poor, working Australians who are balancing work and life commitments alongside their studies. It takes dedication and self-motivation to complete tertiary studies. However, we want to reassure students that behind the scenes there is a whole team of people who will work with them to see them through to graduation. The Lets Do This campaign continues to illustrate Swinburne Onlines student-centric learning model, which is underpinned by innovative support systems. Says David Ponce de Leon, ECD, Ogilvy Melbourne: When we have encouragement and support on our side, were capable of more. Sometimes we need a bit of positive motivation to make things happen. A friendly nudge to get started. Some support along the way to make the challenge less daunting. And a little reassurance that we can get there together. Lets Do This does just that. Its an inclusive campaign designed to motivate students, calling out Swinburne Onlines unique position of supporting their efforts all the way through. Swinburne Online provides students with a clear alternative to campus based tertiary education. Through an innovative delivery model, Swinburne Online offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs in business, communication, design, education and social sciences. The campaign is designed to increase awareness of the diversity of courses available online and the quality of education students can receive from completing a degree with Swinburne Online. Creative Agency: Ogilvy Melbourne Client: Swinburne Online CEO Denice Pitt Executive Director, Sales & Marketing Teresa Smith Marketing Consultant Michael Sharlassian Production/Post-Production Company: Mr. Smith Director Curtis Hill Producer Elise Trenorden | BY Lynchy | J. Walter Thompson Pakistan has appointed Shazia Khan as Planning Director. Khan brings over a decade in experience in the advertising industry. Khan (pictured), who has a Masters degree in Business Administration from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), started her career in one of the biggest agencies in Pakistan and by 2007, was looking after the countrywide portfolio at Ogilvy & Mather Pakistan. Her key projects included launching Nestle Bunyad and Nesquik, relaunching Nestle Fruitavitals (Juices) and creating the very successful Mumschool activation for Maggi. Later, she was also assigned BAT Pakistans star brand, Goldflake, a period in which she developed a research paper on Pakistani youth. Khan is one of five founding members of Ogilvy Noor the worlds first Islamic branding consultancy. In 2010, she moved to Malaysia as Associate Planning Director, representing Ogilvy Noor in the region. One of the key projects she worked on was a Halal beauty proposal for the beauty giant Shiseido. | BY Kim Shaw | After opening Sundance, starring at Tribeca and achieving worldwide distribution, Taika Waititi and Curious quirky film about a boy who triggers a manhunt, has been named #1 Best Movie of the Year by Empire magazine. Empire is THE British film magazine published monthly by Bauer. Its the biggest selling film magazine in the UK that is also published in the US, Australia, Turkey, Russia, Italy and Portugal. Being on its Best Movies of the Year List is a merit award every filmmaker desires most keenly. Waititi and Curious have just had their film placed at the top of that list of the 25 best films made throughout the world. Curious executive producer and managing partner, Matt Noonans comment is understandable: Holy fucking shit, he stated So many amazing films. Empire, on the other hand, wrote: To say that Hunt For The Wilderpeople was a surprise is perhaps overstating it. Anyone whod seen director Waititis vampire mockumentary, What We Do In The Shadows, would know we were in for an Antipodean treat. But the way it perfectly balances its elements emotional without being overwrought, quirky without being twee, hilarious without losing touch of the story or characters is an achievement that nobody saw coming. Its a small, charming, utterly delightful film, from a tiny island on the other side of the world, and it deserves to take the world by storm. Wed call it majestical, but as Ricky insists, thats not a word, so well have to settle for calling it the best film of 2016. Hunt for the Wilderpeople was written and directed by Waititi. It stars Australias export to Hollywood, Sam Neill, and rising star, Julian Dennison. Curious was the films production partner, in charge of editorial, picture and sound production. It produced the film in collaboration with Defender Films and Piki Films. Noonan was the films producer, with Carthew Neal, Leanne Saunders and Waititi himself. Federal authorities say an investigation into the theft this summer of several semitrailers loaded with frozen beef from Nebraska has led to arrests and uncovered a multimillion-dollar theft ring targeting meatpacking plants in six Midwestern states. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported Tuesday that the discovery of the Miami-based theft ring began in June when several semitrailers loaded with nearly $1 million in frozen beef were stolen near the Nebraska cities of Lincoln and Grand Island. An investigation determined that beef and pork packaging plants in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin were being targeted. On Oct. 20, investigators arrested three Miami men on suspicion of transporting stolen goods and money laundering. "Whether it's planting two million trees as a result of the Green Army or ridding 90,000 hectares of weeds, but these are issues that have to be looked at in the overall context of the budget situation," he said. "The Green Army has unique qualities, including encouraging younger people to participate in Landcare-related activities, with some of those people going on to find careers in this space and others have at least got some familiarity with environmental principles," she said. CANNON BALL A sunny afternoon at the Oceti Sakowin camp turned jubilant with whoops of joy, drums and dancing as word spread like wildfire that the Obama administration sided with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in its pushback against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The word exploded around the camp around 3 p.m. and, within minutes, car horns were honking, people were grabbing hugs from anyone nearby, some shouted Water is Life! while others went looking for more confirmation that the tribes request for a full Environmental Impact Statement and possible reroute might come to pass after all. It seemed too good to be true, given the pipeline is nearly complete and all that remains is the Missouri River/Lake Oahe river crossing very near the reservation and disputed by the tribe. The camp, along with the Sacred Stone spirit camp, have been the heartbeat of the protest, pulsing with thousands of protesters living in temporary shelters out on the prairie, prepared to hunker down in the cold for as long as necessary to stop the pipeline in what has become a broad stand for new clean energy policies. Ken Frost, a spokesman for the tribe, brought the news to a gathering of veterans who came to protect the camp from police actions and others on N.D. Highway 1806 preparing for a prayer walk down to the nearby police barricade on Backwater Bridge. We are all part of history here, Frost told the assembly, which quieted completely to hear every word. Its the only time in world history that 350 tribes from all over the world have come together. We will never see this again in our lifetime. Each and every one of you was important. Down at the Seven Council Fire which has been lit since the camp sprung up in August and where a ring of people three deep danced in celebration elder Carole Standing Elk said she would wait to dance. Ill wait until DAPL takes down its lights and removes its equipment, she said, pointing just to the north where the company brought in high-wattage lights a month ago to illuminate its work route leading to the river. Im not as trusting. Words can be said for the public and taken back. Ill wait until I see it in my hand, she said. Like others, Standing Elk said she didnt plan to leave the camp anytime soon. Ill stay here. I want to make sure they dont do this anywhere anymore in this country, she said. The announcement came on a day when there possibly was more people in camp than ever before. Streams of cars arrived all day, lined up a half-mile down the highway. Adding to the crowd was the arrival of 2,000 veterans, who were there to protect the protesters from police tactics and put their weight behind the right to free speech. Tom Barber, a retired 21-year member of the U.S. Army, said he believed it was not just the veterans, but the collective presence of everyone at the camp that made the Obama administration change the course of the pipeline. This announcement is like ice on the water how thick is it? Can I walk on it? Drive a semi on it? I hope I can trust the ice, Barber said. Veteran Troy Wohmitten, of Montana, said he came because he was tired of what he was seeing done to the tribal members. I couldnt believe it until I heard it the second time; then it sunk in, he said. Jimmy Jackson, a member of the Navajo nation, said he had a vision and was expecting the announcement. I think the vets coming here turned the tide, he said. Down at the fire, the announcer got a hearty response from everyone gathered around by calling out, Hey, DAPL, its time to go home, theres no permit to drill. To the mayor of Bismarck, we heard your message: Its time to go home. Joye Braun, an organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network, said the declaration wasnt a complete victory and there is still much to learn about what Sundays decision means. It was worth every minute, every second, every prayer, she said, of the effort that started back in April with a small spirit camp and grew in the largest, most entrenched pipeline protest in the countrys history. Tom Goldtooth, an IEN founder, said he would take the news as a victory, while acknowledging that nothing is certain, and politics are extreme. He said he expects Dakota Access will file suit and the issue will fall into president-elect Donald Trumps domain. Were not packing up. We have to prepare for another administration thats declared its support for the pipeline, Goldtooth said. This is a moment, though, where the prayers of a million people have been answered. Q. What have been the highlights and key developments for China Mobile in the region in 2016? China Mobile maintains a leading position in mainland China, reaching 4G to 497 million subscribers out of 845 million total subscribers. In 2016, China Mobile International (CMI) put resources and effort in supporting The Belt & Road to build a high-speed information channel connecting Europe and Asia in order to stimulate regional economic development. The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and South East Asia Region (SEA) are strategically important regions for CMI to develop, developing alongside The Belt & Road. CMI has rich network capacity in GMS/SEA, providing high quality, availability and short latency connectivity services between China and GMS/SEA. We have deployed points of presence (PoPs) in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and we plan to build a new one in Vietnam, connecting with different submarine/terrestrial cables. For the submarine cable, CMI invested in the APG and SJC cable landings along the major GMS/SEA countries, including: Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. APG has newly launched and its Hong Kong landing station is located in CMIs data centre GNC. Together with the soon-to-be-launched SEA-ME-WE-5, we can extend the connection to Europe and the Americas. CMI has a border station between China and Vietnam and plans to build China-Myanmar and China-Laos stations. With these border stations and our partners terrestrial cables, the network can be extended to all GMS/SEA countries, including: Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand. CMI is also planning to build a data centre and provide IDC services in Singapore, Thailand and other GMS/SEA countries. Our operation in GMS and SEA is supported by offices and representatives in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. To date, CMI has established overseas offices in 14 countries around the world. Q. What are the main challenges of operating in the Asian market and how are you looking to tackle those challenges over the next period? The main challenge is how to respond to changes of the internet of things (IoT) era and the industry chain reshape. As the market moves towards end-to-end digital service, as an operator we have to change our operating model and integrate the internet with a range of traditional businesses to create new opportunities. We believe mobile internet and industrial IoT, in particular the IDC and cloud computing business, have enormous potential in the Asian market, both for now and in the future. Another challenge we face is how to leverage our international service teams to ensure customer satisfaction and successful end-to-end delivery in the Asia-Pacific region despite different cultures, service standards and customer requirements. With a vision to provide innovative, advanced digital services to our customers, we are now teaming up cross-regional professionals so that we can quickly respond to the many and changing customer requirements. We are dedicated to providing a high standard of customer satisfaction. This is not just about the service quality, but also about how we can meet customer demands in complicated customer scenarios, such as delivering low latency networks for the financial services industry, high capacity interconnection to big service providers. Q. What are your strategic priorities as well as expansion plans for the region in 2017? In 2017, our vision is to become a global operator in innovative digital service. We will boost our connectivity scale, optimise connectivity service and strengthen connectivity to fully implement our Big Connectivity Strategy. We plan to build more than 100 PoPs by the end of 2017, covering Asia- Pacific, Europe and North America. The transmission bandwidth will be over 25T in 2017. Diversified and upgraded enterprise solutions, such as cloud and CDN, will be launched to help enterprises to grow in this new digital world. The Hand-in-Hand Programme, which China Mobile initiated for strategic partnership, has brought together 22 international operators and service providers so far. They join hands to research and co-develop new business opportunities in innovation and the internet of everything. Through cross-industry collaboration, we believe we can transform the digital life of end users. Q. What does China Mobile hope to achieve by attending Capacity Asia 2016? Capacity Asia is one of the largest telecom conferences which gathers the professionals of this industry to share and exchange the information. We expect to have in-depth conversations with professionals about the challenges and solutions of this fast-changing market in this new digital world. In a historic decision, the Army Corps of Engineers prevented further construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline on Sunday afternoon. The Corps denied the pipeline a legal easement required to drill under the Missouri River, saying that an environment impact assessment was needed before the Energy Transfer Partners could put an oil pipeline beneath the Standing Rock Sioux tribe's only source of drinking water. Finally, something to celebrate. (Not that Trump couldn't legally reverse this decision once he's in office.) President-Elect Trump has tapped Dr. Ben Carson for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. This despite the fact that Carson said he would not seek a cabinet position, since he has literally no government experience. So, you know. I'm sure that'll pan out well. Tragedy in Oaklandmy old homeon Friday night, when the Ghost Ship warehouse- turned- art- space burned down during a dance party. At least 36 people are confirmed dead. The murder trial for the police shooting of Walter Scott, an unarmed Black man, is still deadlocked. Michael Slager, the police officer on trial, was recorded laughing immediately after he shot the man, who was running away from him. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has asked the federal government for $35 million to cover the cost of protecting Donald Trump and his family until inauguration day. Law enforcement officers have left Backwater Bridge on N.D. Highway 1806 near the Dakota Access Pipeline protest camps in an effort to reduce conflict. Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said police pulled back from the bridge Sunday afternoon, complying with an agreement sent forth Friday between police and camp organizers. Officers will not be manning the bridge at all times; however, they are still monitoring it. The only time we approach the bridge is if there are individuals on the bridge, trespassing or messing with the barricades," Kirchmeier said Monday. However, Morton County law enforcement did arrest and charge an individual with criminal trespass after he failed to heed commands to return south of the Backwater Bridge, bringing the arrest total to 566 since Aug. 10. The snow-covered bridge is reinforced with cement Jersey barriers and razor wire, which will remain in place until the bridge is inspected for safety, according to Kirchmeier. While some protesters moved onto the bridge Monday morning, Kirchmeier said most of them retreated after being warned by police. One person was arrested and charged with criminal trespass. "Were hoping that the protesters will keep their end of the bargain, and that its not an issue," he said. On Monday, hundreds of protesters and military veterans headed to the bridge around 1 p.m. We basically want to make sure we keep the distance between ... protesters and law enforcement for everybodys safety. And right at the moment, there is no (pipeline construction) work going on, so theres no reason to try to trespass on private land," Kirchmeier said. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' decision Sunday to not grant an easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline across Lake Oahe will not affect how police are patrolling the protest camps, said Kirchmeier, adding he intends to keep the same number of officers there with no plans to send out-of-state officers home. Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact. Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here. Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing. You are our people. You Care. We Care2. The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2016 was held yesterday on December 4, 2016 in two sessions across the country. The exam was held across 138 cities, about 1.95 lakh candidates have to said to have taken-up the examination. This year, CAT 2016 saw a seven-year high of registrations with 2,32,434 applications. CAT 2016 was organised by Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. CAT is conducted for admissions into IIMs and other premier B-schools across the country. Candidates who appeared for CAT 2016 also claimed that the test was not free of errors. According to TOI, some candidates claimed that 3 questions in the quantitative ability (QA) section showed 'Pi' symbol on their computer screens instead of what should have ideally been a 'square root'. Some applicants and experts also have claimed that at least one questions in the quantitative ability (QA) section was wrong. Candidates who have found the glitches in the CAT 2016 question paper are apprehensive to know how these mistakes will be compensated. The number of questions and pattern was as similar as that of the last year say experts. The questions were similar to the previous year had 3 sections verbal ability and reading comprehension (34 questions), data interpretation and logical reasoning (32 questions) and quantitative ability (34 questions). The data interpretation and logical reasoning part was said to be the toughest section this year. To curb malpractice, IIM Bangalore had barred several items including watch, mobile phone, earphones, microphones, pager and healthband to the examination hall. Candidates were also notified not to wear closed shoes and even socks to the examination hall. The aspirants were also asked not to wear mehandi saying it would affect the finger prints of the candidates. The results of CAT 2016 will be declared during the second week of January 2017. The Indian Army has devised a new method for its recruitment process. In its latest proposal, it has decided to recruit soldiers in different categories through army recruitment rallies. The candidates will be selected based on a basic written test followed by a series of other tests. According to Maj Gen J K Marwal, officiating DG (Recruitment) Army Headquarters, the idea is still under probation at the government level. The plan is to have a written examination to test the eligibility of the candidate and then hold other exams to test various other parameters. "This will be a major change in the recruitment process which will reduce administrative arrangements and requirements. It will be more convenient," he told reporters during an army recruitment rally at Jaipur. Jaipur, Ambala and Chennai Zones have been selected for the pilot project under the proposed system, he said. Currently, the written test is held after the candidate clears physical fitness test and medical tests. Marwal also assured that the entire recruitment system is online which has no chances of any irregularities and warned that candidates should also beware of the fact that no one can help them in getting recruited in the Army except themselves. He also interacted with the candidates who turned up in large number to participate in the recruitment rally at CISF ground in Amber area located on the outskirts of the city. Officer in Indian Army: Way to go The Indian Navy has called for interested and eligible candidates of Nepal and Bhutan to the posts of Sailor for the Artificer Apprentice (AA) for the year 2017. Candidates can apply for the posts through the Indian Navy official website in the required format. The last date to apply for the post is on or before December 19. Job Vacancy: Sailor - One post Eligibility criteria for Sailor: Education Qualification: The candidates should have passed the Higher Secondary (10+2) examinations with amajor in Maths or Physics. Professional Qualification: The candidates should have had at least a minimum experience in any of the relevant field. Age Bar: For General: The candidates should have been born between August 1, 1997 and July 31, 2000 For OBC/ SC/ ST: As per the rules, the reserved category candidates may apply in the required format. Selection Process: The selection of candidates will be on the basis of written examination, Physical Endurance Test, Medical Examination and Personal Interview. Application fee: For both General/ Reserved category candidates, the fees is Rs 60 How to apply for the post of sailor in Indian Navy: Log on to the official website www.joinindiannavy.gov.in Click on " Join Navy " tab on the top of the home page " tab on the top of the home page Click " Ways to join Navy " " Choose " Sailor " " Fill the online application form as per notification Download the form and take a print out of it Check your details once Send the application with required documents affixing a postal stamp of Rs 10 to the following address: 'Post Box Number 476, Gol Dak Kkana GPO, New Delhi- 1100001' Deadlines to Note: The last date for submission of online application is December 19 The last date to receive application is December 26 For candidates from remote area, the last date to receive application is January 2. Also Read: Indian Navy To Consider JEE Mains Scores For Entry Scheme Instead of Class 12 When the Toyota Raize came into the picture early this year , it commanded the kind of attention that made you think of it as possibly just ... After months of protests near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, the U.S. Army announced Sunday it would not approve an easement to allow the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under the Lake Oahe section of the Missouri River. U.S. Army Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy wrote in a memorandum to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the decision "merits additional analysis, more rigorous exploration and evaluation of reasonable siting alternatives and greater public and tribal participation and comments. Accordingly, the Army will not grant an easement to cross Lake Oahe at the proposed location based on the current record." Darcy recommended the corps conduct an environmental impact statement with "broad public input and analysis" before determining any appropriate route. Among the considerations would be more information on the alternative routes, including the one crossing north of Bismarck, details on potential spills and impact on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's water intake and the extent of the tribe's treaty rights in Lake Oahe. Darcy indicated the corps' prior reviews and actions had complied with legal requirements, but this case required more analysis. "My decision acknowledges and addresses that a more robust analysis of alternatives can and should be done, under these circumstances," she wrote. The corps' decision followed several months of protests by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, along with members of Native American tribes from across the country and supporters from the environmental movement. Since August, people have camped along the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation and staged protests at pipeline construction sites and in the Bismarck-Mandan area. The tribe is concerned a pipeline leak would contaminate its water supply and that construction has desecrated sacred sites and asked for the full environmental impact statement. Construction of the $3.8 billion oil pipeline, which is designed to carry Bakken crude from North Dakota to Illinois is nearly complete outside of the Lake Oahe segment. The company has said the pipeline is a safer and more efficient method of moving oil from the Bakken than trucks and trains used now. In a statement Sunday afternoon, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II thanked the Obama administration and all of the groups that have supported the months-long protest. "In a system that has continuously been stacked against us from every angle, it took tremendous courage to take a new approach to our nation-to-nation relationship, and we will be forever grateful," Archambault said of the administration. "With this decision we look forward to being able to return home and spend the winter with our families and loved ones," he said. Archambault said he hoped Kelcy Warren, CEO of pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners, Gov. Jack Dalrymple and the incoming Trump administration would respect the corps' decision. However, in a statement released late Sunday night, Energy Transfer Partners called the decision a "purely political action" and said they "fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting in and around Lake Oahe. Nothing this Administration has done today changes that in any way." Dallas Goldtooth, an organizer with Indigenous Environmental Network, could hardly contain his smile in a video posted to his Facebook page Sunday afternoon. I cannot describe how good I feel right now," he said. "It is a tremendous victory for Standing Rock, for the Oceti Sakowin, for the countless tribal nations, indigenous communities and the millions of Americans and people across the world who hit the streets in support of Standing Rock, in support of protecting water." Reaction from state politicians was swift and critical. Gov. Jack Dalrymple called the decision a "serious mistake." "It does nothing to resolve the issue, and worst of all it prolongs the serious problems faced by North Dakota law enforcement as they try to maintain public safety," Dalrymple said in a statement. "Its unfortunate that this project has become a political issue rather than one based on engineering science." The state politicians also quickly noted that the Trump administration could put any decision on the easement in question. "The pipeline still remains in limbo," said Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D. "The incoming administration already stated its support for the project and, the courts have already stated twice that it appeared the corps followed the required process in considering the permit. For the next month and a half, nothing about this project will change." Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., criticized the decision and said it could jeopardize future infrastructure projects. "Refusing the easement has ramifications over the long term," Hoeven said in a statement. "If companies and individuals cannot rely on a system that follows the rule of law, nobody will risk making future investments in our countrys vital infrastructure. That will make our nation vulnerable and less secure." Hoeven also renewed his call to the federal government to provide additional funding and law enforcement to back up local efforts. Morton County law enforcement took steps to de-escalate tensions Sunday afternoon by relocating farther away from protesters north of the Backwater Bridge, a move announced before the corps decision became public. The move requires protesters to follow certain conditions, including staying off the bridge. Forum News Service contributed to this report. Unveiled at the 2016 Paris Auto Show earlier this year, the new Suzuki Ignis has just arrived in the UK. In Europes largest left-hand drive market, the five-seat small crossover carries a starting price of 9,999 ($12,728) for the SZ3, which comes with 15-inch wheels, front electric windows, six airbags, DAB radio with Bluetooth and air conditioning. The mid-range SZ-T model adds 16-inch alloy wheels, roof rails, wheel arch extension, satellite navigation system and four seats, with individually sliding rear seats for 11,499 ($14,637), while range-topper SZ5 can be had from 12,999 ($16,546) and comes with LED headlights with DRLs and front fog lamps, rear electric winwdows, Dual Camera Brake Support and keyless entry&go. Power comes from a 90 PS (89 HP) naturally aspirated 1.2-liter four-cylinder petrol unit, which can be specified with a mild hybrid application that sees the addition of a belt-driven integrated starter generator, and a lithium-ion battery, as previously seen in the Baleno. In this form, it returns 65.7 mpg UK (54.7 mpg US / 4.3l/100 km) and emits 97 g/km of CO2 for the 2WD model. Buyers can choose between a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed automated manual gearbox, and can also specify the new Ignis with the brands ALLGRIP four-wheel drive system, which is only available on the SZ5 grade, where it adds a 200 ($255) premium on top of its starting price. Besides the UK, the 2017 Suzuki Ignis is also on sale in the Republic of Ireland, where it can be had from 12,995 ($16,541), up to 17,995 ($22,906), depending on the selected grade. PHOTO GALLERY An Australian man has crashed a silver McLaren F1 in New Zealand while taking part in a road trip organized by the British firm paying tribute to its Kiwi founder, Bruce McLaren. The 65-year-old driver reportedly lost control of the multi-million dollar exotic just after a tight left-hand bend while travelling on the Queenstown-Glenorchy Road. Soon after the crash, a cover was placed over the F1 to hide its identity and according to the NZ Herald, a news reporter on the scenes was offered cash to go away. Given the presence of the cover, it is impossible to determine how much damage has been sustained to the near-priceless automobile. However, it appears to have careened in to a ditch, inevitably damaging much of the front end. After the crash, police confirmed that the man had been summonsed to appear before court over careless driving. Interestingly, this isnt the first time this McLaren F1 has been crashed. It normally resides in Melbourne, Australia and is the countrys only F1, one of just 64 road-going examples ever produced. It was totaled in 1997 when being driven by a mechanic and was later shipped back to the UK to be rebuilt. New Zealand.McLaren driver charged with careless driving https://t.co/ZsC1nKRnPO onepercenter13 (@onepercenter13) December 4, 2016 e driver of a $20 million McLaren F1 supercar which crashed near Queenstown https://t.co/lqnM0anzBy Clarke Thomas (@needcaffeine) December 4, 2016 PHOTO GALLERY GRAND FORKS -- Here it comes, folks: Winters here. Thats the message Jim Kaiser, a Grand Forks meteorologist for the National Weather Service, has for residents. Despite the higher-than-average temps seen through November, thermometer readings are set to dive early this week as a cold front brings snow and wind to the Red River Valley. We havent had a morning low below normal since sometime in October, Kaiser said. The cold is late to arrive this year. Grand Forks temperatures were forecast to dip to 24 degrees Sunday night and plunge lower through the early week. Todays forecast calls for a high of 34 degrees -- the warmest temperature expected all week. Kaiser said 1 to 4 inches of snow also is expected Monday afternoon and night. Youll know when the cold front comes through, Kaiser said, adding strong winds will be 20 to 25 mph, with bitter gusts up to 35 mph. And thatll be winter knocking on the door, I guess. November was a month of record highs with an average temperature of 40.8 degrees 14.7 degrees higher than the historical average. The high hit 73 degrees on Nov. 4, just 2 degrees short of the all-time November high of 75 degrees set Nov. 5,1975. Records were set on five other days last month: Nov. 4, 6, 9, 10 and 13. But there will be no doubt about this week looking a lot more like winter. Highs will drop to the teens most of the week. Tuesdays high is pegged at 17, Wednesdays at 14 and Thursdays at 11. Lows will stay above zero, but not by much. Wednesdays low is expected to be 7 degrees -- and lows could go even lower if snowfalls are closer to the high end, Kaiser said. Were saying cold, but in all reality, its not terribly cold, Kaiser said. Were just so used to well above cold that its going to feel colder than normal. On the back of numerous concept renderings emerging online of an affordable fleet of EVs from Chinas WM Motor, the company has released a statement saying these images are not in fact of its models. Although reception to the sleek concepts was largely positive when they were first published, it soon emerged that images of the proposed SUV were photoshopped around a Mitsubishi Outlander concept. Later, eagle-eyed commenters said that the brands other models included elements from the Opel Zafira and potentially, the Peugeot 508 RXH. All of the images of the brands alleged models circulated throughout local Chinese media but dont appear to have been published by the company itself. Lawyers representing WM Motor released the following statement: We here refer to the recent alleged concept design images of WM Motor distributed over the Internet. As an innovative electric vehicle company, WM Motor has always been paying extra attention to defences and protections of our intellectual properties. The design process for WM Motor is strictly confidential. We have completed most of the contractual arrangements with our supplying partners. The construction of our first intelligent industry park for WM Motors electric vehicles has already started at Oujiangkou District, Wenzhou City in Zhejiang Province of China. The construction site will occupy approximately 165 acres. Our first EV product will be launched in 2018. We are pleased to announce all related works have been progressing timely. WM Motor independently owns the intellectual properties that are related to its innovations and products. Any alleged concept design images mentioned over the internet are NOT related to WM Motor to any extent. WM Motor will not hesitate to take immediate legal actions against those ungrounded reports of distributions should they cause defamation, infringement or any other harm to WM Motor. We hereby confirm that all official updated will be firstly released at our official homepage http://www.wm-motor.com. We sincerely thank you for your attentions! We will keep you updated about further developments with WM Motor. PHOTO GALLERY Ford Romania has decided to create a Gymkhana video in order to celebrate the 40th anniversary of one of its local factories. Although the Gymkhana master, aka Ken Block, wasnt called upon for the video, the automaker did manage to land the driving skills of Simone Tempestini, a two-time Romanian rally champion. Ford then gave him the keys to a Fiesta R5 and let him go wild at the Craiova production plant. While the Fiesta in question isnt quite as ludicrous as Blocks, it is still a potent performer. In fact, its 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder delivers 290 hp and is mated to a Sadev five-speed sequential transmission. As the clip shows, the finished package is perfect for all the donuts and drifting duties of any Gymkhana video. As a way to celebrate a birthday in automotive style, its hard to get much better than this, dont you agree? VIDEO Porsche is set for a seventh straight record year in the United States, and thats despite having most of its models replaced or revised in 2016. Lots of credit for this surely goes to the Macan, which has surpassed the Cayenne as the best-selling Porsche, with sales up 44 percent, to 17,536 units, through November. Nearly 40 percent of the customers opted for the four-cylinder, entry level version that was introduced this summer, beating the companys own estimate that called for just 20 percent in the overall mix. Porsche Cars North America CEO Klaus Zellmer told Autonews that he expects the mixture to stay the same in the future and that the Macan has proven itself to be a great vehicle with which to draw new buyers to the brand. Eighty percent of the customers that have bought that car previously didnt have a Porsche that is a lot, Zellmer said. So we are actually able, with that car, to onboard new customers into the brand, which is exactly what we are always trying to do. It works really well. Thus, even with the Cayenne being phased out as the new one is set to launch in late 2017, the Macans popularity, along with the rest of the new line-up, makes the projections for 2017 being even better in terms of sales quite realistic. France may be the home of the FIA headquarters, and arguably the birthplaces of grand prix racing but the country has not hosted a Formula One race since 2008. That hiatus will soon come to an end, however, as reports confirm the return of the French Grand Prix. Both Autosport and Motorsport report that the Automobile Club de France announced in a press conference at its Paris headquarters that a new deal had been reached with Bernie Ecclestones Formula One Management to put the French Grand Prix back on the calendar. Rather than hold the race at Magny-Cours, where it was last held, it will return to the Paul Ricard circuit in the South of France. The track which just so happens to be owned by Ecclestones Excelis holding company hosted the French Grand Prix on an alternating basis with the Dijon-Prenois circuit further north in the country between 1971 and 1984. The race was subsequently held exclusively at Paul Ricard for six years before it switched to Magny-Cours. Since the demise of the French Grand Prix over eight years ago, racing fans in France have had to go north to Belgium or southwest to Monaco (both neighboring, French-speaking countries) to catch the action. But it will now return to Frances borders for at least the next five years. Local governor Christian Estrosi dedicated the races return to Jules Bianchi. The late F1 driver hailed from Nice the coastal city located between Paul Ricard and Monte Carlo and was buried there a year and a half ago after succumbing to injuries sustained in a crash during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. Bianchi won Formula 3, Formula Renault 3.5, and GP2 races at the track, and achieved a points finish at the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix nearby. The return of the French Grand Prix to the calendar comes as the German Grand Prix has been dropped from next years after both Hockenheim and the Nurburgring failed to secure a deal. Photo Gallery In a bid to cut air pollution, the cities of Paris, Madrid, Athens and Mexico City have agreed to ban diesel-powered vehicles by 2025. The announcement was made at the C40 summit, where 40 different cities are pledging to battle climate change. At this stage, the mayors of the four cities havent announced just how the ban will be phased in or when it will start taking effect. While speaking at the summit, the head of the United Nations climate and clean air coalition Helena Molin Valdes said: Soot from diesel vehicles is among the big contributors to ill health and global warming. According to reports cited by The Guardian, 3 million people die prematurely every year because of dirty air partly affected by the harmful nitrogen dioxide produced by diesel vehicles. According to the major of Athens, Giorgos Kaminis, this ban on diesel vehicles is just the first step in totally banning cars from cities. Mexico City mayor Miguel Angel Mancera thinks it will help his city boost its public transportation system. PHOTO GALLERY Your Names deserving win wont likely have much influence on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which has awarded the Oscar to the Disney Company for eight out of the last nine years. Meanwhile, the Annie Awards has awarded their best animated film prize to either a Disney or Dreamworks production for nine out of the last ten years. (This year, four of the five best feature Annie nominees are produced by Disney or Dreamworks.) Other recent animation winners of the L.A. Film Critics award include Anomalisa (2015), The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2014), and Ernest & Celestine (2013). Funimation has picked up the North American distribution rights to Your Name and will open it in the U.S. in early 2017. No details on dates or theaters have been announced yet. Contributed The RDOS has been celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and will release their final anniversary videos in the coming months. Residents are invited to check out What Citizens Should Know About the RDOS video above. They can also visit the anniversary page on the RDOS website. The regional district wants to hear from residents as well. For example, if people are interested in learning more about the RDOS or if someone they know was a past director or past staff member or if they have an interesting historical story about the regional district. Photo: Contributed Parking meters could be used to help solve the parking crunch around Kelowna General Hospital. That's one of several recommendations contained in an extensive on-street parking plan for the hospital area to be presented to city council Monday. Parking meters would be placed on streets directly adjacent to the hospital to allow for visitors to park for more than two hours, while ensuring vehicle turnover is achieved. As part of the plan, full-time metered parking would be introduced to the south side of Royal Avenue adjacent to the hospital, while 12-hour pay parking (8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) would be added to Abbott Street and Rose Avenue fronting KGH. The north side of Royal Avenue between Long and Pandosy streets would change from resident permit parking only to a full-time one-hour maximum zone. Overnight (8 p.m. to 8 a.m.) resident permit parking only would be introduced for residential block near the hospital, such as Glenwood, Christelton, Speer, Abbott, Rose and Atwood. While full-time residential permit parking would be instituted on both sides of Long Street between Royal and Cadder avenues. As part of a longer-term vision, in order to ensure employee parking needs are met, that another parkade be constructed in the hospital area by either the city or Interior Health The plan is part of a broader hospital area plan, a combined land use, transportation and parking strategy. Photo: Castanet Staff It may not be pulled by reindeer, but Santa will still be using it to get around the city. Once again, BC Transit and its regional partners are getting into the holiday spirit with the return of the Santa Sleigh Bus and the Parade of Lights. The Santa Sleigh Bus will roll through the Central Okanagan from Dec. 4-10, and will make more than 30 stops over seven days collecting food, toys and cash donations for the Salvation Army Christmas Hamper program. This is the 13th year that the Santa Sleigh Bus fundraiser has been running in the region. Each year the donations collected enable the Salvation Army to help families in need over the holidays and year-round. It is a great way to contribute to the local community. For exact times and locations, see the attached PDF. The Parade of Lights will be held Dec. 9-10. Buses will run from Costco at 7 p.m. and tour some of the most decorated homes and businesses in the Kelowna region. Tickets for the Parade of Lights are available at Q103, Power 104 and Castanet.net with a donation of food, clothing or cash donation. Photo: Contributed It would seem the majority of Canadians agree with The Donald on at least one topic. According to a survey conducted for CTV, nearly two thirds of Canadians 63 per cent agree with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's proposal to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. The Nanos Research poll surveyed 1,000 Canadian adults in late November. The majority of survey respondents either agreed or somewhat agreed that approval of the Keystone XL pipeline which connects the oil sands to the U.S. market would be good news for Canada. About one in three (32 per cent) either disagreed or somewhat disagreed, according to the pollster. The plan for the 1,900-km pipeline from Alberta to refineries in the southern U.S. was quashed by U.S. President Barack Obama just over a year ago, despite support from a politically-diverse group of Canadian leaders including Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose and NDP Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. In May, Trump told reporters he would absolutely approve the pipeline, but added he would want America to get a piece of the profits. The poll also found Canadians also agree with Trump that Canada should contribute its fair share to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). However, those surveyed showed strong support for the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that Trump has vowed to scrap or re-negotiate. Canadians also have little interest in the idea of Canada making special provisions for illegal immigrants he deports. - with files from CTV Photo: The Canadian Press U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Sunday that it won't grant an easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline in southern North Dakota. The decision is a victory for the several thousand camped near the construction site, who've said for months that the four-state, $3.8 billion project would threaten a water source and cultural sites. The pipeline is largely complete except for the now-blocked segment underneath Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir. According to a news release, Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said her decision was based on the need to "explore alternate routes" for the pipeline's crossing. "Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it's clear that there's more work to do," Darcy said. "The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing." The company constructing the pipeline, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, had said it was unwilling to reroute the project. It and the Morton County Sheriff's Office, which has done much of the policing of the protests, didn't have immediate comment. U.S. Secretary for the Interior Sally Jewell said in a statement that the Corps' "thoughtful approach ... ensures that there will be an in-depth evaluation of alternative routes for the pipeline and a closer look at potential impacts" and "underscores that tribal rights reserved in treaties and federal law, as well as Nation-to-Nation consultation with tribal leaders, are essential components of the analysis to be undertaken in the environmental impact statement going forward." The federal government has ordered people to leave the main encampment, which is on Army Corps of Engineers' land, by Monday. But demonstrators say they're prepared to stay, and authorities say they won't forcibly remove them. Earlier Sunday, an organizer with Veterans Stand for Standing Rock said tribal elders had asked the military veterans not to have confrontations with law enforcement officials, adding the group is there to help out those who've dug in against the project. About 250 veterans gathered about a mile from the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires, camp in southern North Dakota for a meeting with organizer Wes Clark Jr., the son of former Democratic presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark. The group had said about 2,000 veterans were coming, but it wasn't clear how many actually arrived. "We have been asked by the elders not to do direct action," Wes Clark Jr. said. He then talked about North Dakota authorities' decision to move away from a key bridge north of the encampment by 4 p.m. Sunday if demonstrators agree to certain conditions, saying the National Guard and law enforcement have armoured vehicles and are armed. "If we come forward, they will attack us," Clark said. Instead, he told the veterans, "If you see someone who needs help, help them out." Photo: Contributed It looks like winter may be arriving in the Okanagan. Following a warm November, the mercury is set to take a nosedive over the next few days of December with the weather man calling for below zero temperatures. Throughout the Valley, it is expected to drop to -5C on Tuesday and then -8C Wednesday and Thursday. And along with cold is a prediction of snow from Thursday to Saturday. Temperatures are expected to climb to -1C by the weekend. No weather warnings have been issued, but people are being urged to prepare for an Arctic blast. Photo: The Canadian Press As President-elect Donald Trump stood onstage during the debut night of his "thank you" tour and teased that he was about to announce a surprise Cabinet pick, some in the Ohio crowd bellowed: "No Romney! No Romney!" Trump's administration selections have largely been cheered by close allies and supporters. Many have deep ties to Washington and Wall Street that would seem contradictory to the populist, outsider campaign Trump ran with a promise to "drain the swamp" of corruption and elitism in government. But the possible selection of Romney, who has been on Trump's shortlist for secretary of state despite being a forceful critic throughout the campaign, has been met with trepidation from many of the working-class voters that propelled the Republican to his astonishing victory. Kim Doss loudly cheered Trump at the Cincinnati rally but will not forgive Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, for the "witch hunt" he held "to make sure Trump wasn't the nominee." "I think he went out of his way to make that happen, which totally backfired on him," said Doss, a 46-year-old accountant from Hebron, Kentucky. "He obviously said some really ugly things about (Trump)." Some of Trump's most prominent allies, including his campaign manager, have taken the unprecedented step of using national television interviews to bash Romney. And nearly a dozen Trump backers who attended the Ohio victory lap vehemently denounced Romney as a choice to be the nation's top diplomat. Then there's the Russia twist: Russian politicians are concerned about reports that Trump would even consider Romney as secretary of state because of Romney's harsh stance on Russia. Trump has said he would like to improve U.S.-Russian relations. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the NTV channel that Trump's business accomplishments show him to be a "smart man." He added that "if he is a smart man, that means that he will fairly soon become aware of a different level of responsibility. We expect that he act with these considerations in mind." Rally-goer Josh Kanowitz said he was willing to give Trump the benefit of the doubt for some of his establishment-friendly picks including former Goldman Sachs partner Steve Mnuchin for Treasury secretary but he visibly recoiled at the suggestion that Romney would be a team-of-rivals style selection from Trump. Romney, the GOP's 2012 president nominee, eviscerated Trump in a March speech, delivering broadsides against the New York businessman who he deemed "a con man" and "a fake." "His domestic policies would lead to recession," said Romney. "His foreign policies would make America and the world less safe. He has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president and his personal qualities would mean that America would cease to be a shining city on a hill." Photo: The Canadian Press In the heart of Miami's Little Havana, Cuban exile Armando Garcia said Sunday's funeral of Fidel Castro granted neither simple closure nor optimism for immediate change, but was a glimmer of hope for democracy in Cuba. Garcia, 76, a retired electronics salesman who left Cuba in 1963, sipped espresso as others smoked cigars at the Versailles restaurant, a hub for exiles who fled political oppression or other hardships since Castro's communist revolution of 1959. Huge, noisy crowds had gathered for days after word spread last weekend of Castro's death, but had dissipated by Sunday. "It's a light at the end of the tunnel," Garcia said of Castro's death, but he said he was not counting on moves toward democracy any time soon. Garcia said it was painful to see leaders in some Latin American countries praising Castro "'for supposedly liberating the poor, when in reality he has enslaved the poor." He joked that there was no sadness at the restaurant about Castro's funeral. "It's the best funeral ever. Look at us. No one is crying, everyone is happy, no need for handkerchiefs. It's a party," Garcia said. Jose Llanes, 70, said nobody should be fooled by any images from Cuba showing thousands of people mourning. "When people are oppressed, they are told what to do." Later Sunday, dozens of people gathered for a rally at the Cuban Memorial in Miami's Tamiami Park in honour of people who were victims of Castro's regime and those who died trying to overthrow him. People searched for names of deceased relatives on a black marble wall beneath an obelisk with a Cuban flag pattern. It was important to gather here Sylvia Iriondo, president of the group of Mothers and Women against Repression in Cuba, told the group to remember those victims and to remember that, "Fidel Castro, the dictator, was not a hero." The older generations of Cuban exiles have generally backed a hard line toward U.S. relations with the island, including an embargo and strict limits on engagement until the island shows moves toward democracy, but that view has softened among the younger generation. Giancarlo Sopo, 33, founder of Miami-based CubaOne Foundation, which arranges trips for younger Cuban-Americans to visit the island, said in a telephone interview that for five decades Fidel Castro dominated the way people viewed Cuba. "It is now my hope that when people now think of Cuba they think of the hopes and dreams of the 11 million people who live there," he said. "Both younger and older Cuban Americans care about Cuba, but we express that passion in different ways. My father was a Bay of Pigs veteran," Sopo said. "For his generation caring about Cuba meant supporting sanctions. My generation has taken a different approach. My generation wants to go to the island, meet their peers, reconnect with their families and learn about the cultural affairs. The focus has broadened, but we still very much respect their pain." Aida Levitan, president of Artes Miami, a non-profit organization that promotes Latino artists, said that the funeral "instills a little bit of hope for the Cuban people that this is the beginning of the end." Photo: The Canadian Press The death toll from a fire that tore through a warehouse hosting a late-night dance party climbed to 33 on Sunday as firefighters painstakingly combed through rubble for others believed to still be missing. Less than half of the charred remains of the partly collapsed structure had been searched, and crews clearing debris were expected to find more bodies as they advanced, Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly said. Officials said they have identified seven people who were killed. Among them is Donna Kellogg, according to her father, Keith Slocum. He declined additional comment. Kelly said those killed range in age from teenagers to 30-plus years old. Anxious family members who feared the worst gathered at the sheriff's office to await word on their loved ones. They were told they may have to provide DNA samples to help identify remains. The building known as the "Ghost Ship" had been carved into artist studios and was an illegal home for a rotating cast of a dozen or more people, according to former denizens who said it was a cluttered death trap with few exits, piles of wood and a mess of snaking electric cords. "If you were going there for a party, you wouldn't be aware of the maze that you have to go through to get out," said Danielle Boudreaux, a former friend of the couple who ran the warehouse. As many as 100 people were there for a party Friday night when the fire broke out just before midnight. Fire officials were still investigating the cause of the blaze, but they said clutter fueled the flames, there were no sprinklers inside and few exits to escape. Boudreaux identified the operators of the Satya Yuga collective as Derick Ion Almena and Micah Allison. She had a falling out with Almena when she convinced Allison's parents and sister about a year ago that the warehouse was a dangerous place for the couple's three children to live. The couple rented out five recreational vehicles and other nooks on the ground floor as living spaces. A rickety makeshift staircase led to a second floor where concerts were held. Former residents said there frequently was no electricity or running water. Oakland planning officials opened an investigation last month after repeated complaints from neighbours who said trash was piling up and people were illegally living in the building zoned as a warehouse. An inspector who went to the premises couldn't get inside, said Darin Ranelletti, of the Oakland Planning Department. Photo: The Canadian Press Italian Premier Matteo Renzi announced he will resign Monday after suffering a stinging loss in a reforms referendum, triggering immediate calls from a populist party and other opposition forces for elections to be held soon. "The 'No's' have won in an extraordinary clear-cut way," Renzi told reporters in Rome about an hour after polls had closed in Sunday's balloting. "I lost and the post that gets eliminated is mine," Renzi said. "The government's experience is over, and in the afternoon I'll go to the Quirinal Hill to hand in my resignation" to President Sergio Mattarella. Leaders of the populist 5-Star Movement, which is led by comic Beppe Grillo, joined the chorus for early elections. The 5-Stars are the chief rivals of Renzi's Democrats and are anxious to achieve national power for the first time. With ballots counted from nearly half of the polling stations, the "No" votes were running at nearly 60 per cent to 40 per cent for the "Yes" votes on reforms Renzi claimed were vital to modernize Italy. Mattarella as head of state would have to decide whether to accept any resignation. Renzi is expected to be asked to stay on at least until a budget bill can be passed later this month and to shepherd a months-long electoral reform process. Opposition leader Matteo Salvini, of the anti-immigrant Northern League, hailed the referendum as a "victory of the people against the strong powers of three-quarters of the world." Many had read the referendum as an outlet for growing anti-establishment, populist sentiment in Europe. The self-assured Renzi late last year pledged to offer his resignation if the referendum on overhauling a good part of the 1948 Constitution went down to defeat. Photo: Twitter Nova Scotia's education minister expects public schools to be closed for up to a week starting Monday, depending on the passage of a bill that would impose a contract on the union representing 9,300 educators in the province. Karen Casey said Sunday that she recognizes the school closures are an "inconvenience" but concerns for students' safety have to take precedence, given what she says are the risks posed by the Nova Scotia Teachers Union's work-to-rule job action. "There was no superintendent in this province who could say to us, 'We can guarantee that the child will be safe,'" said Casey. "I knew that they were nervous, I was nervous. We had to make a decision that would protect students." Casey announced the school closures on Saturday, sending parents scrambling to find childcare with less than 48 hours notice. She compared the situation to a "storm day," suggesting school boards provide little more than a few hours notice when the roads are deemed unsafe for travel. Parents received "as much notice as could possibly be given," Casey said in an interview, after the provincial government reviewed the risk assessments of eight superintendents regarding the job action proposed by the NSTU. After failed contract negotiations with the provincial government, the NSTU directed its members to do the minimum amount of work required under the current agreement, including arriving at school 20 minutes before classes begin and leaving 20 minutes after they end. Casey said Saturday that these directives would "put our students in an unsafe environment," citing concerns about students being stranded in schoolyards, unsupervised in classrooms and children with special needs arriving on buses and getting to class without teacher assistance. NSTU President Liette Doucet said in a statement Saturday that if the provincial government were concerned about students' safety, it would have let students go to school where teachers would have been ready to teach. "With this step, our government is showing that it will do anything except negotiate with teachers," said Doucet. "Instead of negotiating with teachers in good faith, this government has decided to take away their collective rights and impose a contract ... one that doesn't address the core problems with our education system." Nova Scotia's House of Assembly is set reconvene Monday to consider legislation that would extend the tentative agreement reached by the province and the teachers union in September through to July 2019. If passed, the legislation would make job action illegal until the contract expires. Photo: Contributed This year's poppy fund in Kelowna has hit a new record, according to MLA Norm Letnick. A cheque for $176,297.72 has been cut for Royal Canadian Legion Branch 26, marking the most successful poppy fund campaign ever, according to Letnick. That's slightly over the campaign's goal of $175,000, which was the total raised in 2014, the year Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was gunned down at Parliament. This year's campaign faced difficulties, with a lack of volunteers, meaning those who did volunteer, largely seniors, often did more than one shift. Photo: news.gc.ca A group of university students in Squamish, B.C., is hoping their school work will help change the life of a woman whose Canadian citizenship was stripped under a little-known policy. Leanne Roderick, an instructor at Quest University, wanted the 20 students in her democracy and justice class to meet someone who was really wrestling with representative democracy in Canada, so she introduced them to a local woman named Byrdie Funk. Funk was born in Mexico to Canadian parents and moved to a small community in Manitoba when she was two months old. Though her upbringing was quintessentially Canadian, Funk learned earlier this year that her nationality had been revoked. An unknown number of people born abroad to Canadian parents between 1977 and 1981 were stripped of their nationality because they were unaware of an obscure piece of legislation requiring them to apply to retain their citizenship before the age of 28. The American election made immigration a popular topic of conversation, and Roderick wanted her students to see how a real person was impacted by government policy. "To be able to sit down with someone and hear their story, a very real story, I just wanted to put a face on this big issue of citizenship in Canada," she explained. After Funk spoke to the class, Roderick tasked them with developing a policy brief advising government on how politicians could help so-called lost Canadians. The results were surprising, the instructor said, with students delivering in-depth, well-researched plans that included suggestions of private members' bills and amendments to the Citizenship Act. "They really are passionate. I think that age range kind of gets a bad rap sometimes, but they really do care and they really do want to be politically engaged citizens," Roderick said. Several students forwarded their work to MPs and cabinet ministers, encouraging them to get involved in Funk's case. Third-year student Ellie Fraser sent her policy brief to four MPs, but said not one responded, even with a note thanking her for writing. "It really disappointed me that my voice wasn't necessarily heard in this context," Fraser said. Photo: The Canadian Press President-elect Donald Trump continued to use Twitter Sunday to defend his engagement with the leader of Taiwan, a breach of diplomatic protocol as the U.S. shifted recognition from Taiwan to China nearly 40 years ago. In a series of evening tweets, Trump groused about criticism that he didn't work with China ahead of the contact. China considers Taiwan a rogue province. "Did China ask us if it was OK to carry out a number of actions such as build up disputed islands in the South China Sea or take economic measures hurtful to the United States," Trump tweeted. The Taiwanese leader, Tsai Ing-Wen, called Trump Friday to congratulate him on the election in a call set up by an American third party. Taiwan's official Central News Agency, citing anonymous sources on Saturday, said that Edwin Feulner, founder of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, was a "crucial figure" in setting up communication channels between the sides. The call prompted an understated complaint from China to the U.S. government. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday that the contact was "just a small trick by Taiwan" that he believed would not change U.S. policy toward China, according to Hong Kong's Phoenix TV. "The one-China policy is the cornerstone of the healthy development of China-U.S. relations and we hope this political foundation will not be interfered with or damaged," Wang was quoted as saying. Chinese officials said they lodged a complaint with the U.S. and reiterated a commitment to seeking "reunification" with the island, which they consider a renegade province. The call was the starkest example yet of how Trump has flouted diplomatic conventions since he won the Nov. 8 election. He has apparently undertaken calls with foreign leaders without guidance customarily given by the State Department, which oversees U.S. diplomacy. "President-elect Trump is just shooting from the hip, trying to take phone calls of congratulatory messages from leaders around the world without consideration for the implications," said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Vice-President-elect Mike Pence said Sunday that the phone call shouldn't necessarily be interpreted as a shift in U.S. policy. He shrugged off the attention to the incident as media hype. "It was a courtesy call," Pence told NBC's "Meet the Press." Over the decades, the status of Taiwan has been one of the most sensitive issues in U.S.-China relations. China regards Taiwan as part of its territory to be retaken by force, if necessary, if it seeks independence. It would regard any recognition of a Taiwanese leader as a head of state as unacceptable. Taiwan split from the Chinese mainland in 1949. The U.S. policy acknowledges the Chinese view over sovereignty, but considers Taiwan's status as unsettled. Photo: The Canadian Press Teenagers, the son of a local sheriff's deputy and young artists who loved music are among the dozens of people who died when a fire broke out at an underground dance party in a warehouse that visitors called a death trap. The victims of a party Friday night in Oakland included 17-year-olds and people from Europe and Asia, Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly said. Authorities have recovered 33 bodies, with more expected as crews continue to clear debris. The city of Oakland identified some of the victims as Cash Askew, 22, David Clines, 35, Travis Hough, 35, and Donna Kellogg, 32, all of Oakland; Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, of Coronado, Sara Hoda, 30, of Walnut Creek, and Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, of Hayward. Officials said they had identified an eighth victim, but they were not releasing the name because the person was 17 years old. Kelly also revealed the death of a deputy's son at a news conference Sunday, but he did not release the name. Kellogg's father said he was not ready to comment further on his daughter's death. As names of the dead were being announced, friends and family of the missing anxiously awaited news. A tearful Tammy Tasoff, 29, called Peter Wadsworth a best friend who was like an older brother to her. The dental student said Wadsworth always looked out for her, doing the little things that would make her life easier. He would organize her messy files and give her advice and fix her computer if she needed help, Tasoff said. He bought video games because he knew she loved them, and he would often watch her play, she said. "Usually he'd say let's play video games and then he'd say no, I just want to watch you play. He'd make me food. He took really good care of me. He was like my big brother," she said, sobbing. Andy Kershaw, a DJ, has several friends missing from the party, including his wife, photographer Amanda Allen, and a fellow DJ, Johnny Igaz. He said he had not heard from authorities as of early Sunday. Kershaw called his wife vibrant, awesome and magnetic. Photo: Twitter A Pakistani police officer says a fire that swept through a four-star hotel in the southern port city of Karachi has killed at least 11 people. Tauqeer Naeem says more than 50 people suffered injuries in the Monday morning blaze, which started in the hotel kitchen. He says an exact cause of the fire was not known. Dr. Semi Jamali at Karachi's Jinnah's Hospital says some foreigners were among those being treated for burns. Most of Pakistan's buildings don't meet safety standards to avoid such mishaps. TV footage of the incident showed guests at the hotel using bedsheets to climb down from windows. Photo: The Canadian Press Attorney Mark Brewer addresses the Michigan Board of State Canvassers. A judge has ordered a hand recount of Michigan's presidential results to begin by noon Monday, and the Green Party is trying to force a federal court order for a statewide recount in Pennsylvania. Green Party candidate Jill Stein is trying to force recounts in three states. The count is underway in Wisconsin. In Nevada, a partial recount of the race was requested by independent presidential candidate Roque De La Fuente. Judge Mark Goldsmith issued his ruling early Monday that rejected an effort by Michigan state officials to wait two business days before starting to hand-count about 4.8 million ballots. The move increases the chances that the state could complete the count ahead of a Dec. 13 deadline. Stein's lawyers argued that waiting until Wednesday would cut it too close. Photo: Contributed Closing arguments are scheduled to begin today in the trial of three people connected to a British Columbia polygamous community. Brandon Blackmore, Emily Ruth Gail Blackmore and James Oler are charged with taking girls into the United States for a sexual purpose. A court document says the two Blackmores are each accused of transporting a 13-year-old girl across the border to be married. Priesthood records admitted into evidence show Warren Jeffs, the now imprisoned prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, married that girl in 2004. Meanwhile, James Oler faces the same charge in connection to a 15-year-old who the records say was married to James Leroy Johnson in 2004. Justice Paul Pearlman of the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that the priesthood records dictated by Jeffs and found in a secure vault on a church ranch are trustworthy and can be used in the criminal trial of the three people from Bountiful. Photo: The Canadian Press Publicity about near-misses between drones and passenger aircraft might give terrorists ideas about how to take down a plane, a federal intelligence report warns. The Transport Canada report obtained by The Canadian Press also suggests small unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, could easily be used for advance surveillance of targets. The report tempers such fears by noting the practical hurdles in employing a drone for nefarious purposes. But the assessment underscores concern in intelligence circles that terrorists could take advantage of the tiny, inexpensive and widely available flying machines. The report documents five reports of "near misses" between Canadian aircraft and UAVs last year. In September 2015, a WestJet flight from Edmonton to Abbotsford reported a drone passing about 60 metres underneath the plane. Just last month, a Porter Airlines fight to Toronto narrowly avoided crashing into an object initially thought to be a drone. Media coverage of near-collisions between UAVs and passenger aircraft "may encourage interest amongst extremists to consider the tactic," the Transport Canada intelligence report says. However, given the short flying time 10 to 40 minutes of most off-the-shelf drones and strong, persistent winds at high altitudes, "intentionally striking an aircraft in-flight would be unlikely," the report adds. A heavily censored version of the secret January 2016 report was released under the Access to Information Act. Extremist use of a drone is "certainly not impossible and the authorities are not necessarily exaggerating things here," said Jez Littlewood, a terrorism expert at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University. But given the current state of the technology, Canadians shouldn't panic about the notion of a commercially available drone being used to ram into an aircraft, he said. Using a store-bought drone to carry and drop a bomb would also be challenging, and extremist groups tend to gravitate to more readily available weapons, Littlewood added. Photo: The Canadian Press A spokeswoman for Rachel Notley says the Alberta premier will visit British Columbia today. Cheryl Oates confirmed the visit would occur when she was asked via text over the weekend, but did not respond to emails asking for details. Notley said last week that she would be heading to B.C. to make the case for Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced federal approval of Trans Mountain last Tuesday. Trans Mountain still has to clear regulatory hurdles and faces stiff opposition in B.C. from environmentalists, First Nations and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. The project proposes to triple the bitumen-carrying capacity of the pipeline from near Edmonton to Burnaby, and increase the number of tankers leaving the Vancouver-area. Notley said Wednesday that it was important for her to go to B.C. and tell people who link the pipeline with climate change and greenhouse gas that Alberta's climate change leadership plan "effectively delinked those issues." Notley's government is making changes to environmental, electrical and tax rules to reduce Alberta's greenhouse gas emissions and move toward renewable energy sources. The new pipeline will be safer than moving oil by rail, she said. Trudeau said approval of Trans Mountain would not have been possible without Alberta's plan. Photo: The Canadian Press A spokeswoman says the death toll in an Oakland warehouse fire has climbed to 36. As investigators searched for signs of a crime in the late-night dance party blaze, survivors and teary-eyed friends of those who perished viewed the charred building from a distance, placed flowers on several small memorials and embraced each other to mourn their losses. Bouquets of sunflowers, single white roses, lilies and carnations were stuck in chain-link fences, votive candles burned on sidewalks and post-it notes paid tribute to the missing and the dead in the most lethal building fire in the U.S. in more than a decade. Kai Thomas and a group of red-eyed classmates from an arts high school in San Francisco pressed against police tape Sunday near the street corner where the "Ghost Ship," a warehouse converted to artist studios and illegal living spaces, rapidly went up in flames late Friday, taking the life of a friend. Three of the boys had been in the cramped and dark building, Thomas said, but one got separated from them 30 seconds before someone yelled, "Fire." "It was just really smoky and hard to see," said Thomas, a high school junior who wasn't there, but recounted what he had been told by two others who didn't want to speak. "They jumped off the second-floor balcony and ran out." The boys waited for their 17-year-old friend for more than three hours, but he never emerged. The district attorney's sent a team to search for signs of a crime in the warehouse that was already under investigation by the city for possible code violations. The space was only permitted as a warehouse and neighbours had complained of trash piling up and people were illegally living there. Photo: Julie Bruns UPDATE: 11:45 a.m. The first significant snowfall to hit the Vancouver region in more than two years is causing widespread transit delays and has prompted several school closures, including the shutdown of a university campus. Environment Canada issued a weather warning early Monday, predicting up to five centimetres of snow for much of the south coast as well as southeastern Vancouver Island. The Island warning was lifted later in the morning. Matt MacDonald, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said the snow would let up by the afternoon but that a stronger storm was forecast to move in by mid-day on Thursday. "I think this morning was a good reminder and test for what may be to come," MacDonald said Monday. "We'll see the temperature drop to minus two tonight, and on Tuesday down to minus seven in Vancouver, so some of the coldest temperatures we've seen for a long time." MacDonald said the previous two winters saw only a single instance of light snowfall in the Vancouver area. The most recent significant amount of snow to hit the Lower Mainland was in late February three winters ago, when the region saw 23 cm of the white stuff, he added. Chilly temperatures are expected to stick around for the next few days, until a second bout of snow arrives later in the week, he said. ORIGINAL: 7 a.m. Wet, slippery snow is causing havoc on the morning commute in Vancouver. TransLInk is reporting SkyTrain delays and bus service disruptions and detours throughout the metro area. Service was shut down to the Simon Fraser University campus in Burnaby due to treacherous road conditions, and classes have been cancelled for the day, or until conditions improve. There are reports of numerous spinouts and fender benders across the region. Environment Canada's forecasts for today is for periods of snow mixed with rain, ending near noon, then cloudy with a 60 per cent chance of flurries or rain showers. Snow accumulations of five centimetres are expected, with the temperature steady near 2 C. There is a 30 per cent chance of more flurries this evening in Metro Vancouver, with conditions clearing overnight. The Biodiversity Heritage Library is pleased to welcome the Museum national dHistoire naturelle (MNHN) as a new Member. As BHLs 17th Member, MNHN will expand the breadth of BHLs collection and service to the global scientific community. The Museums membership came into effect at a ceremony in Paris at the Museum national dHistoire naturelle on 2 December 2016. During the ceremony, Dr. Bruno David, President of the Museum, signed a certificate of membership on behalf of MNHN, and Dr. Nancy E. Gwinn, Chair of the BHL Members Council and Director of Smithsonian Libraries, co-signed the certificate on behalf of the BHL consortium. Ceremony and Certificate of Membership Signing at the Museum national dHistoire naturelle on 2 December 2016. From left to right: Dr. Bruno David (President of the Museum), Martin R. Kalfatovic (BHL Program Director), Laurence Benichou (Head and Publications Manager, Museum Science Press, MNHN), Dr. Nancy E. Gwinn (Chair of the BHL Members Council and Director of Smithsonian Libraries), Gildas Illien (Director of Libraries and Documentation, MNHN). Image copyright: MNHN JC Domenech. Established in 1793, le Museum as it is simply known in France is the national natural history Museum of France. The MNHN Library holds more than 2 million items reflecting the vast spectrum of the Museums research activities. The library has been digitizing its collections for well over a decade, often in connection with European and international digital collaborations including BHL Europe. Over 500,000 pages of primarily natural science literature have been digitized to date. The Museum is committed to facilitating its global service to research by developing international partnerships and enhancing its digital strategies. It has invested significant effort and resources into developing a comprehensive digitization program, asserts Dr. Bruno David, President of the MNHN. BHL has become a standard resource for natural scientists around the world and it provides services that are extremely popular within our own research communities in France. Participation in BHL will allow us to increase the visibility of our collections, contribute to the international dissemination of taxonomic research, and participate in a global effort to promote open access, open science, and open data. As a BHL Member, MNHN will enhance BHLs collection by contributing rare and unique material from the Museums library, including the entire collection of MNHN scientific publications from 1802 to 2000. (Materials published after 2000 are available through other portals.) The library will also contribute to the expansion of global collection development strategies and facilitate partnerships with other institutions in France and throughout Europe. We have had a relationship with Museum national dHistoire naturelle for many years through BHL Europe, and this year we are excited to see that relationship expand through membership, affirms BHL Program Director Martin R. Kalfatovic. For the past decade, we have been working diligently to build global partnerships that allow us to enhance the comprehensiveness of our collections and support research across the globe. We look forward to working with our MNHN colleagues to increase our impact on the European and international research communities. Explore the full BHL consortium here. Photo: Santa Safari Finnish police say they are holding a 36-year-old foreigner suspected of fatally stabbing his female friend in the Arctic wilds of Lapland. Tourism officials say the victim was a British employee. Lapland police said that after Saturday's stabbing, the suspect fled into the forest in temperatures of -30 C. After a manhunt with several police patrols and helicopter he was found lying in the snow suffering from hypothermia. Britain's Press Association reported the woman was a member of Santa Safari, which organizes Christmas-themed excursions to Lapland. The company confirmed Monday that one of its female employees was discovered dead on Dec. 3 and that it's assisting Finnish police. Police said they detained the suspect Sunday after he was released from a hospital. The suspect's nationality wasn't immediately provided. Photo: The Canadian Press Confusion reigned at the Nova Scotia Legislature Monday after the Nova Scotia government temporarily recessed a sitting aimed at imposing a contract on public school teachers. Minutes prior to a bill briefing in advance of the sitting, Liberal House leader Michel Samson told reporters the bill would be delayed to allow for hastily organized talks about safety concerns around student supervision during the teachers' work-to-rule action. "There are ongoing discussions to address the safety concerns that were identified. We will wait to see how those discussions unfold in the next number of hours," said Samson. "Based on how those discussions go, we'll determine whether we proceed or not." Classes were cancelled Monday for all students at public schools across Nova Scotia. Teachers were being allowed into the schools, but students are being kept out after the provincial Liberals announced the closures Saturday. A Nova Scotia Teachers Union source originally confirmed talks were taking place, but following the recess vote in the house, union president Liette Doucet said she was unaware of any formalized talks. Neither Premier Stephen McNeil nor Education Minister Karen Casey were on hand for the house vote. Doucet said the government had reached out to union officials for some clarification about student safety under work-to-rule, but that was all. "The negotiating team is here in the building," said Doucet. "We were in the gallery and we haven't had any discussions today." Doucet said nothing had changed as far as she knows. "We've given directives to our teachers. There are no safety concerns as far as we're concerned, we would never put student safety in jeopardy." Doucet said the union's provincial executive would be meeting later Monday to discuss its next move in light of events. Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie said the government is scrambling in the face of public pressure and he believes pressure from Liberal backbenchers, given the government's sudden announcement followed a caucus meeting. "Obviously the government is in chaos, the government MLAs are freaking out and their leader is not even here to lead them in this effort," said Baillie. Education Minister Karen Casey said Sunday that schools could be closed for up to a week, depending on the passage of a bill that would impose a contract on the union representing 9,300 educators in the province. Photo: The Canadian Press The Oscars finally have a host: Jimmy Kimmel will emcee the 89th Academy Awards. Kimmel will be hosting the show for the first time, the Academy of Motion Pictures said Monday. In September, he hosted the Emmy Awards for the second time. The selection of Kimmel gives ABC, home of the Oscars telecast, the choice the network had sought. The academy waited much later than usual to name a host for the Feb. 26 ceremony. This year's show is being produced by Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd. Photo: Contributed Electric vehicle charging stations are being added to 25 Canadian Tire Gas+ locations across Ontario. AddEnergie Technologies says the stations, which starting rolling out early next year, join the 2,500 stations along its FLO Canadian charging network. Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr who participated in Monday's announcement in Toronto says the federal government will be contributing nearly half of the $1.8-million investment through a loan. The funding is part of the government's commitment to provide $62.5 million for fast-charging stations for electric vehicles as well as natural gas and hydrogen refuelling stations along key transportation corridors. The charging stations will be added to some of the province's busiest highways, particularly Highway 401, and accommodate all electric vehicles. They will be equipped with direct-current fast chargers that can replenish 80 per cent of a vehicle's capacity in up to 30 minutes and dual Level 2 curbside chargers that take three to four hours. The rapid charging costs $20 per hour, with per minute billing, while the standard charging costs $1.50 per hour. Canada's FLO charging network currently includes 70 fast-charging stations. About 65 per cent of the network is located in Quebec, 20 per cent in B.C., 10 per cent in Ontario and five per cent in the Maritimes. Photo: DriveBC UPDATE: 12:15 p.m. Highway 1 has reopened in both directions. ORIGINAL: 11:35 a.m. Highway 1 is closed near Field because of a crash. DriveBC says the highway is closed nine kilometres west of the eastern B.C. community. It's expected to re-open just after 12:30 p.m. There is no detour. Photo: The Canadian Press A union spokeswoman says members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have ratified the tentative agreement reached last summer with Canada Post. Lise-Lyne Gelineau, president of the union's Montreal section, tells The Canadian Press rural and suburban mail carriers voted 55 per cent in favour of the new contract, while urban postal workers voted 63 per cent in favour. The agreement represents a 2.5 per cent salary increase for urban carriers over two years, while rural and suburban employees are to receive three per cent over the same period. Negotiations between Canada Post and its unionized employees lasted months and resulted in threats of lockouts and strikes that never materialized. The union represents roughly 54,000 postal employees across the country. Photo: Contributed The RCMP has admitted that an employee fabricated a response to an access-to-information request. Supt. David Vautour says the employee acted in a manner that was contrary to the Mounties' core values and has been disciplined. The fabrication came to light last week in a letter Vautour sent to Bruce Cheadle, a reporter for The Canadian Press who, in May 2015, requested information regarding the now-defunct long-gun registry. Cheadle did not receive a response to his access request until March 1, 2016, but that letter was backdated almost five months. Vautour says a note included with the tardy response claimed that the letter had originally been sent to Cheadle in October 2015, but was returned to the RCMP by Canada Post due to an incorrect postal code. He says the Mounties have since determined that the backdated letter and the explanatory note were fabricated to avoid a possible complaint about the delay in responding to the access request. "Our office does not condone actions that are contrary to the RCMP core values of honesty, integrity and professionalism," Vautour wrote Cheadle. "We want to advise you that we have addressed this matter through a formal disciplinary process and made the Office of the Information Commissioner aware of this matter." In a phone call to Cheadle, Vautour also suggested that unspecified action would be taken soon to deal with the employee's supervisor. The reporter has since lodged a formal complaint with Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault. Ironically, Cheadle's original access request flowed from reporting on backdated legislation which retroactively absolved the RCMP of any wrongdoing when it illegally destroyed long-gun registry records in 2012, even as Legault was conducting an investigation into a complaint about access to those records. Stephen Harper's previous Conservative government passed the Ending the Long-gun Registry Act in April 2012 and then pushed the Mounties to quickly destroy the data, despite assuring Legault that the records would be preserved until her investigation was completed, as legally required. When Legault subsequently informed the government that the RCMP had committed an alleged offence, the Conservatives re-wrote the law, retroactively stripping Legault of her jurisdiction over the registry records, absolving the Mounties of any wrongdoing and shutting down an active investigation into the matter which had been started by the Ontario Provincial Police. The backdated response to Cheadle's access request for copies of electronically scanned long-gun registration application forms and transfer applications informed him that the Access to Information Act no longer applied to the requested records. Let Him Who Is Sinless Throw The First Stone | Main | Defense One Notes Israels Security Challenges December 05, 2016 Iranian Ship Threatens U.S. Helicopter, Media MIA An Iranian ship threatened a U.S. military helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz on Nov. 26, 2016. Many major U.S. news outlets have ignored the incident. Reuters, citing two anonymous U.S. defense officials, reported that a small Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard vessel pointed its weapon? at the U.S. Navy MH-60 helicopter (Iranian vessel points weapon at U.S. helicopter: officials,? Nov. 29, 2016). The behavior by our standards is provocative and could be seen as an escalation,? the U.S. officials told Reuters. Many in the U.S. press failed to cover the event. A Lexis-Nexis search of several U.S. print news outlets, including The Washington Post, USA Today and The Baltimore Sun, showed that the latest threatening Iranian action against the U.S. was ignored. In the last year alone, Iran has engaged in cyberwarfare against the U.S. and threatened U.S. vessels and troops in Iraq, among other aggressive acts (Wheres the Coverage? Iran Threatens U.S. Troops,? Dec. 11, 2015). Yet, the media frequently underreports or ignores Iranian belligerence, as CAMERA has noted (see, for example Iran Increases Cyber attacks Against the United States; Wheres the Coverage?? Nov. 30, 2015). Posted by SD at December 5, 2016 09:34 AM Guidelines for posting This is a moderated blog. We will not post comments that include racism, bigotry, threats, or factually inaccurate material. Post a comment Vietnam: Ha Long Cement dust complaints 05 December 2016 Residents of the northern Quang Ninh Province's Hoanh Bo District have complained about dust emissions, noise and smoke from the Ha Long Cement plant. Nguyen Van Ty head of Dat Do Villages residential area said dust had been continuously discharged for 20 days. A representative from the cement plant responded to this claim, saying the plant had suffered technical errors and that the issue would be resolved soon. Nguyen Ba Thanh, head of Ha Long Cement Factory's Environment Safety Unit, told local news sources that the factory uses modern production lines imported from Denmark, which wouldnt impact the surrounding environment. He also assured that the factory implemented air monitoring annually and the data had been transmitted to the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Hoanh Bo District Office, in co-operation with the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, has strengthened inspections on all factories in the district, including Ha Long Cement Factory, which has committed to fixing the situation and minimising dust emissions. Published under Egypt: South Valley Cement discusses new Beni Suef line 05 December 2016 Ahmed El-Mekati, board member of South Valley Cement Company (SVCC), has said the company is looking into the investment cost of a new 1.5Mta production line, as the cost of importing the production lines components has increased with the EGPs flotation. SVCC is due to hold a meeting this month to discuss the launch of the new line and study available financing options. It is compare the value of borrowing from banks and increasing its capital in the stock market. The new line would be installed at the companys plant in Beni Suefs industrial zone and would double the plants capacity to 3Mta. Such a project is estimated to take about three years to complete. SVCC won the new cement line licence after Misr Beni Suef Cement withdraw from the auction. It was granted the licence to build the new production line for EGP160.3m (US$8.9m), the minimum value of the licences proposed by the Industrial Development Authority. Published under Egypt: IDA to allow cement producers to pay licenses in installments 05 December 2016 The Industrial Development Authority (IDA) is allowing the three winners of last week's cement production license auction to pay license fees in annual instalments, Al Mal reports. A source at the IDA said that the companies will receive their letters of guarantee in full once they begin production and would until then be paid back in tranches of EGP50m as they complete each phase of construction. Cement Egypts CEO Ahmed Abou Hashima (who is also CEO of Egyptian Steel) told Al Mal that his company will begin working on its 2Mta plant in Sohag before the beginning of the new year. Published under PLEASE NOTE! Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate! All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited! (One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!) Donald Trump,Ben Carson In this Aug. 25, 2016 photo, former Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson during Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's roundtable meeting with the Republican Leadership Initiative in his offices at Trump Tower in New York. Trump has chosen former Campaign 2016 rival Ben Carson to become secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (AP file photo) NEW YORK -- President-elect Donald Trump, moving closer to filling his Cabinet, chose former campaign rival Ben Carson on Monday to be secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Trump's decision, announced by his transition office, comes as the real estate mogul continues a series of conferences with aides and others -- including unlikely figures such as former Vice President Al Gore -- aimed at forming his administration and its policies. He announced several Cabinet selections last week. In a statement, Trump said he was "thrilled to nominate" Carson, describing the retired neurosurgeon as having "a brilliant mind" and being "passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities." Carson had been coy about joining the new administration, saying shortly after Trump's election victory that he wasn't certain he'd fit into a Cabinet-style role. The discussion at that time centered on speculation that he might be selected to head the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services. "Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country," Trump said, "and is part of ensuring that this is a presidency representing all Americans." Carson would oversee a budget of nearly $50 billion that provides rental assistance for more than 5 million households. Demand for that assistance is high due to housing costs rising faster than incomes. HUD also promotes home ownership with the Federal Housing Administration underwriting about 1 in 6 mortgages issued in the U.S. The agency is also charged with enforcing federal fair housing laws. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Carson has no credentials for the job and was a "disconcerting and disturbingly unqualified choice." She said the country deserves someone with "relevant experience to protect the rights of homeowners and renters." Carson was among the 16 Republican candidates who challenged Trump for the Republican nomination. He was a favorite of religious conservatives and a strong fundraiser, but his team burned through money quickly and he failed to win any of the early primary contests. Trump treated Carson harshly during the primary, saying he had a "pathological temper." Still, Carson quickly endorsed Trump after he dropped out of the contest. As a Trump supporter, Carson was both loyal and critical. He conceded that Trump had "major defects" and said at one point that he would have preferred a scenario other than Trump winning the Republican primary. On Monday, Trump continued to receive visitors to the New York skyscraper that bears his name. His most surprising guest was Gore, the former vice president who endorsed Trump's Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the campaign's stretch run. Transition officials said early Monday that Gore would meet with Trump's daughter, Ivanka, about climate change, which is the former vice president's signature issue. But Gore said he also met with Trump directly and the two had a "very productive conversation." "It was a sincere search for areas of common ground," said Gore, who did not detail what the men discussed. The president-elect has called manmade climate change a hoax and has pledged to undo a number of regulations designed to protect the environment. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican who declined to support Trump during the campaign, also visited the tower, telling reporters in the lobby he was there to discuss policy with senior aides and not meet with Trump. Outside the building, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein vowed to forge forward with her push for a recount in three states -- Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania -- that helped Trump win. "Let every vote count," Stein said. "That's what makes America great." But her news conference was repeatedly interrupted by shouts of protest. Several Trump supporters heckled the proceedings, and a disagreement broke out between attendees who were ostensibly on the same side. When one Green Party speaker who preceded Stein took repeated swipes at Clinton, several Democrats in the crowd tried to shout him down before they themselves were heckled by other Stein supporters. Additionally, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he's asking the federal government for $35 million to cover costs related to securing Trump, who has indicated he will largely work out of Trump Tower as he builds his government ahead of his inauguration. Trump has now expanded his pool of candidates for secretary of state, raising a question about whether former CIA Director David Petraeus' guilty plea for leaking classified information disqualifies him. Trump's aides had confirmed that the president-elect had settled on four finalists for the post. But over the weekend, two people close to the transition told The Associated Press that Trump is moving away from two of the four: former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee. That would leave Petraeus as a top contender, along with Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Both people close to the transition said Trump's prolonged decision-making process has left the door open to other options. Among other possibilities, one official says, is Jon Huntsman, a former Republican Utah governor who also served as the ambassador to China and speaks Mandarin. The people close to the transition spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private process publicly. In July, the Obama Administration finalized a rule banning the slaughter of downer calves -- animals too sick or injured or weakened to walk to their own slaughter. Photo by iStockphoto 471 shares As part of my 2016 round-up of our accomplishments and activities, today I run through the 10 most popular blogs for the year the ones that got the most page views (I write about 275 blogs a year, or one each weekday). These include four blogs covering a bill signing or a final rulemaking action by the Obama Administration, including measures to protect downer calves, to restrict predator killing on tens of millions of acres of federal lands in Alaska, and to reduce animal testing for chemical safety tests. There were also big-news items that broke into the top five, most notably the killing of Harambe the gorilla in Cincinnati and Under Armours sponsorship of an Ohio couple who killed a black bear in Alberta with a spear. The reforms that we secured from SeaWorld and Walmart two big brands also captured the nations attention, and yours. Rounding out the summary are blogs that recounted one of our biggest puppy mill rescues of the year, and a continuing investigation into horse soring. The HSUS put the issue of downer calf slaughter on the national radar with a pair of damning undercover investigations at the slaughter plants of Bushway Packing, Inc. in 2009, and Catelli Bros. in 2014. Our undercover videos showed workers abusing and hitting juvenile animals too sick or injured or weakened to walk to their own slaughter. We estimate that thousands of veal calves, most of them only a few days or weeks old, collapse on their way to slaughter each year, but a 2009 federal regulation that banned killing downed cattle for human consumption did not include downer calves. In July, the Obama Administration closed this loophole by finalizing a rule banning the slaughter of downer calves. The victory was celebrated by animal lovers around the United States, making this the most read blog of 2016. In May, a boy slipped past his mother and entered the enclosure of Harambe, a gorilla at the Cincinnati zoo. Zoo officials, worried that the boys life was in danger, shot and killed Harambe, setting off a moral debate over our relationship to animals and the keeping of these highly intelligent animals in captivity. As I wrote, the death of Harambe was deeply tragic, but it also an opportunity to remember that in our world, the mass killing of animals for sport or entertainment or fur fashion or for palate preference continues. The best kind of remembrance we could offer Harambe was to use this time to examine, as individuals and as a society, whether its okay to kill animals for utterly gratuitous purposes, knowing that there are functionally equivalent or superior options available to us. Josh Bowmar, a man from Columbus, Ohio, engaged in a stunningly unethical trophy hunt for a black bear in Alberta. He baited the animal, conducted the hunt during the spring, when mothers are nursing dependent cubs, and used a homemade seven-foot-long spear to kill her. Following a national furor, Under Armour, the Baltimore-based sportswear giant, cut ties with Bowmar and his wife, Sarah, who had acted as a brand ambassador for the company. But a cautious statement issued by Under Armour was underwhelming: the company said it opposes spearing terrestrial wildlife, but did not come out against any other forms of cruelty in hunting, including the crossbow Sarah Bowmar used to wound a bear in Alberta, whose intestines spilled while he ran away in pain and terror. Under Armour also failed to come out against baiting and hunting in spring unacceptable practices that occur in more than a dozen states. For years, in Alaska, trophy hunters have gunned down untold numbers of bears and wolves often theyve been spotted from air and then shot after landing, killed over bait barrels of meat scraps and jelly donuts, clubbed or shot in their dens, and hunted down with lights at night. Its called intensive predator management, and its become part of the wildlife management paradigm of Alaska. In August this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prohibited these cruel killing methods some of the most wanton and misguided ever to slaughter grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, and coyotes on our public lands in Alaska. The new protective regulations cover more than 76 million acres of Alaskas National Wildlife Refuges, and are similar to protections enacted on the states more than 20 million acres of National Park Service Preserves early in the year. In a pathbreaking announcement for captive marine mammals, SeaWorld, in cooperation with The HSUS, announced in March that it would end all breeding of its orcas and it wont obtain additional orcas from other sources. The company also announced, after negotiations with The HSUS, that it would phase out its theatrical orca shows in favor of orca exhibits that highlight the whales natural behaviors, and have no orcas at all in any new parks around the world. SeaWorld agreed to redouble its efforts to conduct rescue and rehabilitation for a wide variety of marine creatures in distress and to join The HSUS in our advocacy campaigns against commercial whaling, sealing, shark finning, and other cruelties. Finally, in September, SeaWorld announced it would revamp food policies at all of its parks for 20 million visitors, including switching to cage-free eggs and gestation crate-free pork, and providing more plant-based meals. In 2015, The HSUS obtained still photographs and reports from U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors who examined horses abused by Larry Wheelon, a well-known trainer and horse show judge in the Tennessee walking horse industry. The photos and reports revealed that Wheelon and his associates intentionally injured and sored horses feet to produce an artificial, exaggerated gait known as the big lick. That expose was on one of our 10 most popular and widely read blogs of last year. The issue continues to resonate with readers in one of this years most popular blogs, in which we released to the public, for the first time, USDA video footage that graphically documents the blatant cruelty perpetrated inside Wheelons training barn. The video shows a USDA inspector evaluating the injuries to the tormented horses and confirms in a dramatic way what the still photographs told us about the cruelty these people committed in that barn. Our Animal Rescue Team has deployed hundreds of times over the years to rescue animals from natural disasters and human-causes crises. This year, we were called to assist at a puppy mill in Madison County, Arkansas, where we found 295 dogs, including puppies, living in the midst of the dead and decomposing bodies of other dogs. The animals were in extreme distress, many of them caked in mud, standing ankle-deep in feces, severely matted, and in desperate need of medical attention. Once our Animal Rescue Team had removed all the animals and transferred them to a temporary shelter, our Emergency Placement Partners stepped in to help rehabilitate the dogs and find them homes. You can watch the story of one of the rescues, Daniel, in this video. In June, President Obama signed into law a bill that upgrades the Toxic Substances Control Act, a 40-year-old federal law regulating the use of chemicals. The bill contains for the first time in any broader environmental and health protection statute an explicit decree from Congress to minimize animal testing and to create a clear preference for the development and use of alternative methods and strategies. This was a hard-fought battle for The HSUS and its allies, and it will accelerate the movement away from animal tests for chemicals, pesticides, biocides, cosmetics, and other potentially dangerous substances in risk assessment protocols or for safety substantiation. In April, Walmart, the worlds largest retailer and Americas biggest food seller, announced that it will source all of its eggs from cage-free sources. We worked with Walmart to embrace the five freedom principles for animals last year, and on its historic cage-free policy. The effects will be felt by millions of hens in cruel battery cages, because Walmart accounts for 25 percent of all groceries sold in the United States. Walmarts announcement came in the midst of an exodus away from battery cages by virtually all of Americas largest food producers and retailers, and cemented the fact that the era of confining hens in cages in Americas food system is officially sunsetting. Until recently, American soldiers who committed acts of cruelty against animals on military bases outside the United States could not be charged because U.S. state cruelty laws cannot be applied internationally. In October, President Obama signed an executive order closing this loophole. The new provision under the Uniform Code of Military Justice will now apply anywhere in the world where the military is stationed and will be on a par with states animal cruelty statutes. It was especially important for us to get this provision included because of some high-profile cases of animal cruelty on military bases that have been in the news in recent years. Secretary of State Bill Bradbury has edited two Oregon Voter's Pamphlet statements to eliminate any reference to the fact that the signers are 27 Oregon district attorneys. "The district attorneys failed to include their titles when they filled out the forms authorizing use of their names," said Don Hamilton, a Bradbury spokesman. "Oregon law requires the state to use their names in the Voters' Pamphlet exactly as authorized." A Marion County judge on Monday upheld the decision. The ballot statements are in support of Measure 57, which would increase penalties for burglary, identification theft and drug-dealing; and Measure 62, which requires lottery money be spent on public safety. "District attorneys from across Oregon were intricately involved in the development of Measure 57, and we're among the measure's strongest supporters," Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote said in a statement. "The unwarranted action taken by the Secretary of State effectively silences the voices of many of Oregon's district attorneys who have endorsed Measure 57." Measure 57 is one of two ballot measures that would increase penalties for property crimes and drug dealing. Measure 61, sponsored by Kevin Mannix, a former Republican state legislator, would set mandatory minimum sentences. Measure 57, which was referred to the ballot by the Legislature, is widely supported by law enforcement, drug treatment providers and advocates for seniors and children. A committee of public officials estimated that Measure 57 would add about 1,600 prison inmates and cost an estimated $411 million in operating costs over the next five years. The state would also borrow $314 million between 2010 and 2017 for additional prison space. Measure 61 would add 4,000 to 6,000 new inmates and cost an estimated $522 million to $797 million during the next five years. The state would also borrow $1.1 to $1.3 billion to build new prisons between 2010 and 2017. Mannix is among those who claim the cost estimates are too high. -- Ashbel S. Green; tonygreen@news.oregonian.com Republican Mike Erickson's latest ad uses a familiar tactic: hammer your opponent for being a tax-crazed career politician. Erickson accuses his 5th Congressional District opponent, Sen. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, of voting "to raise taxes and fees over 70 times," supporting a statewide sales tax as well as "the largest tax hike in American history." Erickson used the same approach against Kevin Mannix, whom he narrowly defeated in the May primary. He claimed Mannix voted for 83 tax increases during a decade in the Legislature. Schrader said the ad is full of falsehoods. Backing a big tax hike? Nope. Bogus. Schrader said Congress shouldn't extend tax breaks, which expire in two years, to the ultra rich. The sales tax? That was part of a larger tax-relief plan the Legislature considered last year. The plan would have cut personal income taxes and capital gains taxes. "He has this difficulty when it comes to telling the truth," Schrader said. The Erickson ad didn't cite any of the 70-plus tax and fee increases attributed to Schrader. If elected, Schrader will probably have to decide on whether to extend tax cuts approved in 2001 and 2003. The cuts expire in 2010 unless they are reauthorized by Congress. Schrader said he favors eliminating some tax breaks, in particular those for super-wealthy. He also supports keeping cuts that lowered estate taxes and those that eased the income tax burden on married couples. -- Steve Mayes; stevemayes@news.oregonian.com The Oregon Democratic Party is holding its Oregon Summit, a biennial politics and policy conference, at Sunriver this weekend. And The Oregonian's senior political reporter Jeff Mapes is there. The event features presentations from several members of Congress, as well as the first joint appearance by three Democratic gubernatorial candidates -- former Gov. John Kitzhaber, former Secretary of State Bill Bradbury and former Hewlett-Packard executive Steve Shields. Mapes will blog throughout the weekend. . -- The Oregonian STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- On public display at Casa Belvedere from Dec. 12-Jan. 7 is a gift of friendship and solidarity from the Naples, Italy, Chamber of Commerce to The New York City Fire Department in honor of the victims of Sept. 11, 2001 and the brave city firefighters, police officers and EMS workers who responded to the tragedy. In December of 2001, an 18th century style, handcrafted, 120-piece, 16 feet wide, 7-foot-tall and 5-foot-deep nativity scene gift arrived from the Naples Chamber of Commerce to the NYC Fire Department. The artisan's meticulous attention to detail and the beauty and warmth of the work of art is of museum quality. The unveiling of the custom crafted nativity scene, on loan courtesy of the International Columbia Association of the FDNY, will be Monday, Dec. 12, at 5 p.m. at Casa Belvedere, the Italian cultural foundation on Grymes Hill. "We are very proud to be the custodians of this extraordinary and symbolic 'Presepio Della Solidarieta' which we proudly display every year for the public to enjoy," announced Gina Biancardi, the founder and president of Casa Belvedere. "The exhibit is particularly meaningful to Staten Islanders who tragically lost many FDNY and other civil servants on 9/11/01. I know many 9/11 victims' family members who come every year simply to pay homage to their loved ones as they get very tearful viewing the beautiful display," Ms. Biancardi continues. "What really tugs at your heart are the figures of the three Kings who, instead of bringing gifts of gold, incense and myrrh, present Baby Jesus with three New York City firefighters' helmets with the numbers 9, 11 and 01. It's really very symbolic and a sight to see. We encourage the public to visit and experience this magical display firsthand" adds Marian Rodi of Casa Belvedere. The custom crafted pieces were created by master artisans of the Campania Region of Italy and is consistent with techniques that date back to the 17th century. They are comprised of 120 handmade pieces including peasants to noblemen, the Holy Family, many animals typical of that time period, angels, a faux mountain, a stable and more. However, it is not just recreating a stable scene of Christ's Birth. It is magnificently unique in that it tells the story of what unfolded on Sept. 11, 2001 in a heartfelt and meaningful way. The elaborate and elegant display is right in line with the grand and regal Roebling-Stirn Mansion. The Italianate-style, Neo-Renaissance mansion, built in 1908, was renamed "Casa Belvedere" almost a century after it was built. The "house with a beautiful view" boasts spectacular views of the Verrazano Bridge and New York Harbor. The building also maintains its historic significance as a New York City Landmark building listed on the NY State and National Registers of Historic Places. Additional features of this event include live Christmas caroling by the Notre Dame Academy High School Chorus and a blessing of the creche by Father Ambrose Madu of Our Lady of Good Counsel R.C. Church, Tompkinsville. Also on this date, guests attending are encouraged to support their Children's Toy Drive. The Belvedere Club will be accepting new and unwrapped toys to be donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. We ask that before choosing a gift, kindly consult the link: https://www.stjude.org/treatment/services/support-services/child-life/provide-a-special-event-at-the-hospital/contribute-supplies.html for guidelines on what toys are permitted. Toy donations will be accepted at Casa Belvedere until Wednesday, December 14th. The Italian Cultural Foundation at Casa Belvedere is a registered 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization that seeks to preserve, promote and celebrate the legacy of its ancestors by offering myriad cultural and educational activities, programs and special events to the public at large. CELEBRATIONS: DEC. 6 Birthday greetings Tuesday go to Michael Pittelli Jr., Steven Leahy, Parker Hayes Lorentzen, who turns 6, Gerard Loesch, William J. Slaven Sr., Grade Decker and Lindsay SanFilippo. Happy wedding anniversary Tuesday to Terri and Mike Boyle. What's it really like to work at Chicago startups and tech companies? Blue Sky's Inside Job lets people on the ground tell us in their own words. Allie Curry, 26, Android Lead Engineer for M1 Finance Advertisement M1 Finance is an online brokerage that automates the investment process. We aim to make investing really easy for everyone, and also, we aim to make everything really transparent. On the trading platform, instead of working with individual stocks, you set up percentages, and you can automate the stocks you have based on allocations. It sounds a little complicated but actually makes things much easier. You can own microshares; you can own 0.2 shares of Google, for instance. Trading is free. We have a flat annual fee, 0.35 percent of your account value. You can trade as much or as little as you want. Advertisement We've been around for over a year and a half. The product has only been out since September. We have over 1,000 accounts now. And there's tens of millions of dollars in the platform. Everything you see on Android was built by me. I am the lead and sole Android engineer. Day to day, I'm usually adding new features, fixing bugs or planning for the next round of the product. Most of that is coding. The other part of that is testing and planning with the team and just figuring out what we think is best for our users, analyzing feedback, things like that. Allie Curry works at her desk at the M1 office. (Kristen Norman / Blue Sky) I've been using Android since I first got a smartphone in college because of the openness of the platform. If I'm not sure what's going on with my phone, I can actually go in and see the code of the system. That sort of freedom and openness has always been really fascinating to me. My mom built her own website for the Girl Scouts. She was a stay-at-home mom, and she was the forum leader for a Girl Scouts community online. I got inspired myself, and I had my own little website by the time I was 14, just showing off my art. I would draw lots of figures and animals and cute fashion dresses. In high school, I coded people's Myspace layouts and edited their photos. I just fell in love with coding the first time I learned Java, at Riverside Brookfield High School. I ended up really intrigued with the computer science program at University of Illinois at Chicago and went there for it. It was a combination of it coming naturally to me and the love of problem solving. There's something we're trying to build and create, and going through the process of figuring it out is really fun for me. I actually teach a kids (coding) program right now, at Power Up Tech Academy. It's a mix of boys and girls, but I also teach a girls-only session. We code video games, and we're also about to code some Android apps. We set up an environment where they can feel, "Look, there's lots of girls around you, ready to do coding, too." Since college, I had been a mobile consultant, doing contracts for larger corporations and then switching to my own company, StarSky Co., and focusing on startups. I still have my company, and I still help some of my previous clients, mostly with debugging, to help them keep things going. M1 was looking for someone to be the Android expert. I really fell in love with the product. Investing was very daunting for me. The idea of making it something easy and automatic just totally blows my mind. Advertisement We try to do movie nights once a month. We'll watch videos in the other room. We just watched "The Big Short" a finance movie! We have a monthly Demo Day when we get a chance to show off everything we've done for the month and be proud of it and help support each other and get feedback, too. We also turn that into a happy hour. So it's a day of reflection and socialization. Our ideas are allowed to flow freely. It doesn't matter what your title is, really, because you can go to the CEO, Brian (Barnes), and spout hundreds of lists of ideas and actually get feedback on all of those things. It's very clear not only how intelligent everyone is, but how open, understanding and close-knit everybody is. It's a really good core team that we have. As told to freelance reporter Erin Chan Ding. Stories are edited for length and clarity. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that examines whether Advocate Health Care must follow a federal law designed to protect employee pensions or whether its religious affiliation exempts it from that law. (Olivier Douliery / Abaca Press) The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that examines whether Advocate Health Care must follow a federal law designed to protect employee pensions or whether its religious affiliation exempts it from that law. It's a case with implications for a number of religiously affiliated hospital systems in Illinois that also have been brought to court over the issue. Advertisement A federal law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, requires that pension plans be insured and sufficiently funded, among other things. But Downers Grove-based Advocate argues that it shouldn't have to follow that federal law when it comes to pensions for its 35,000 employees because its pension plan is technically a "church plan," and church plans are exempt from the law. Advocate, which has 11 hospitals and a two-campus children's hospital, is affiliated with Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Church of Christ. Congress has allowed church plans to be exempt from the federal law in order to limit government intrusion into church activities, Advocate has said in court documents. Advertisement Those who brought the lawsuit, however, say that exemption wasn't meant to extend to "giant businesses" such as Advocate. Allowing Advocate to get around that law leaves Advocates' employees vulnerable to pension problems and gives the hospital system an unfair advantage over competitors, they say. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of current and former employees. Advocate says that its pension plan is fully funded. Advocate does, however, require employees to wait five years to vest in the plan, whereas the federal law caps that vesting period at three years. If Advocate isn't subject to the federal law, it also potentially could get around other requirements meant to protect employees, those who brought the suit contend. Advocate spokeswoman Lisa Lesniak said in a statement Monday that the hospital system "welcomes" the Supreme Court's decision to take up the case. "As a nonprofit health care ministry, we have been operating our generous defined-benefit pension offering as a church plan for more than 30 years with the approval of the federal government," Lesniak said. Karen Handorf, an attorney for the Advocate employees, declined to comment on the case Monday. Handorf is with law firm Cohen Milstein Seller & Toll, which along with law firm Keller Rohrback, has brought similar cases against religiously affiliated hospitals across the country. In court documents, attorneys for the Advocate employees argue that under the current situation, "employees must endure the costs and risks of Advocate's legally inadequate pension plan, while Advocate reaps competitive advantages in the marketplace from its ability to operate a substandard plan." Advocate, meanwhile, says in court documents that it and other religiously affiliated hospital systems "are nonprofit organizations serving the needy for whom the potential financial liability could be crippling." If the court finds against Advocate, the system says that it could owe billions of dollars in retroactive penalties, which would "come at the expense of destitute citizens of Illinois who rely on the free care and other free services that Advocate provides" a claim that the other side says is greatly exaggerated. Advertisement Advocate warns that if religiously affiliated hospitals are required to follow the federal law, some of them may eliminate their pension plans altogether, and smaller organizations might be forced out of business. The Advocate case is one of three involving religiously affiliated hospital systems that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear together. Nearly two dozen hospitals and hospital systems across the country already had been sued over the issue as of July, including at least a handful in Illinois. Other Illinois hospital systems also battling such lawsuits in court include Presence Health, which has 11 Illinois hospitals; OSF HealthCare, which has 10 Illinois hospitals; Sinai Health System's Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago; and Franciscan Health, which has 12 hospitals in Indiana and two in Illinois. Most of those cases have already been stayed pending the outcome of the U.S. Supreme Court cases. Advocate's case arrived at the Supreme Court after the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the hospital system in March. Federal appeals courts also ruled against the hospital systems in the other two cases going before the Supreme Court with Advocate. The Supreme Court cases might be heard in March or April. lschencker@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @lschencker Last fall, the biotech executive Martin Shkreli became widely reviled for hiking the price of a lifesaving drug by more than 4,000 percent overnight, to $750 per pill. Public outrage at Shkreli has apparently reverberated all the way to a high school science lab in Australia, where a group of 11th-grade students claim to have proven a point: the drug can be made for much, much cheaper. Advertisement The group of 11 high school students, ages 16 and 17, successfully re-created the drug, Daraprim, for a mere $2 a pill, according to scientists from the University of Sydney. "We've been really shocked by Martin Shkreli," Alice Williamson, a postdoctoral teaching fellow with the university's school of chemistry, said in an interview with The Washington Post. "I couldn't really stop thinking about it." Advertisement Williamson, who works with the Open Source Malaria consortium, had teamed up with a local high school, Sydney Grammar, to support student science projects. She came up with an idea. "Why don't we see if we can try to get the boys to make this medicine?" she said. In February, the group of students began spending about an hour before and after school working to re-create the drug, with the help of their science teachers, using a recipe from a patent. They posted all of their work online periodically through Open Source Malaria, which allowed scientists to provide them with guidance and feedback. The students spent about $15 on the material needed to produce 3.7 grams of Daraprim about $100,000 worth of the drug in the U.S. market, Williamson said. Earlier this month, one of the students' teachers took the drug sample to the University of Sydney for it to be assessed. After examining the molecular fingerprint, and determining the crystal's melting point, Williamson determined the students had in fact synthesized pyrimethamine, or Daraprim. "They've really gone and done it," Williamson said. "They've made a very pure sample of the medicine too, which is a challenge." The 62-year-old drug is used to treat a condition called toxoplasmosis, which can be a life-threatening disease for pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems, such as those living with HIV or AIDS. The drug had been sold for $18 a pill by the company that previously held the rights to the drug. But when Turing, Shkreli's company, bought the medicine in 2015, it immediately hiked the price to $750 a pill a move that some patient advocates calculated would bring the annual cost of treatment for a single person to hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Post reported. In Australia, 50 tablets of the drug can be purchased for $13, Williamson said. She said she hopes the project sends a message to pharmaceutical companies particularly those in the United States that expensive drug prices are not always justified. If high school students can produce the same drug with minimal training, for very low cost, she says, "how can you get away with charging $750 for an essential medicine to so many people who are already vulnerable?" Advertisement The students' story led to cheers across Twitter, with many directly tweeting at Shkreli, including: "Nice one, boys! Sydney schoolkids show up Martin Shkreli by making a malaria drug for $2 that he charged $750 for: https://t.co/zpIYZeNaDo" Shkreli responded in his typical unapologetic fashion, telling one user "learning synthesis isn't innovation" and telling another "almost any drug can be made at a small scale for a low price." Williamson said the students would not be able to sell the drug in the United States, however, because Turing still has the exclusive rights to it, creating significant legal barriers for entering the market. But, Williamson said, "We're not thinking of starting a business out of this. That's not the aim." Chicago's Merchandise Mart, photographed in 2012, will become the global headquarters for Beam Suntory, it was announced Feb. 29, 2016. The premium spirits company will complete the move of 450-plus employees from Deerfield by the end of 2017. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune) Beam Suntory opened its Merchandise Mart headquarters Monday, moving about half of its 500 employees from suburban Deerfield to downtown Chicago. The rest are expected to make the move next year, Beam Suntory spokeswoman Emily York said. Advertisement Beam Suntory, known for whiskeys such as Jim Beam and Maker's Mark, is one of several companies in recent years to abandon the suburbs in hopes of attracting a younger and more diverse workforce in the city. Beam Suntory is subleasing 110,000 square feet on the 16th floor of the Mart from Motorola Mobility. "Chicago is one of the world's greatest cities, and this move underscores our strategic priority of getting closer to our customers and consumers in major cities around the world," Matt Shattock, Beam Suntory chairman and CEO, said in a news release Monday. Advertisement Chicago has had a good year in terms of attracting corporate headquarters. In January, Kraft Heinz moved 1,500 employees from Northfield to the Aon Center. Conagra Brands relocated its headquarters from Omaha, Neb., to the Merchandise Mart this summer. And McDonald's announced plans to move from its longtime headquarters in Oak Brook to Chicago's West Town neighborhood. Beam Suntory was created when Japan's Suntory bought Beam for about $16 billion in April 2014, bringing together American brands such as Jim Beam bourbon and Japan's Yamazaki single-malt whiskey. Its brands also include Knob Creek bourbon; Canadian Club, Kakubin, Hakushu and Hibiki whiskeys; and Courvoisier cognac. Assemblywoman Malliotakis seeking holiday packages for miiltary Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis sits for an interview in her Albany office. (Staten Island Advance/Rachel Shapiro) (Nicholas Woodman nwoodman@siadvance.com) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R.C.I-East Shore) has partnered with the New Dorp High School Future Teachers' Academy to spread holiday cheer to American military personnel overseas. And she needs help from the community of Staten Island to help her assemble care packages. For those who aren't aware: The Future Teachers' Academy is a learning community within New Dorp High School for students who wish to pursue a career in education. "We can only imagine what it's like to be so far away from home, under such stressful circumstances, during the holidays," said Malliotakis, a member of the New Dorp High School Class of 1998. She adds: "What may seem like small basic items, can actually bring a smile to the face of a soldier or sailor who doesn't have them readily available. I'm honored to join my alma mater on this worthwhile effort." "During this special time of year, I am so happy that the students of the Future Teachers Academy at New Dorp High School, have come together on a holiday project to support the U.S. troops," said Principal Dierdre DeAngelis-D'Alessio. "Our students are aware of what they sacrifice for our country as well as the fact that they will not be home with their families during the holidays. I am extremely proud of our students and I hope that their actions bring a smile to the faces of our service men and women," "We wanted to do something nice for others for the holidays and, considering everything that's going on in the world we should help our troops and get the community involved," notes Jessica Economos, an Engish teacher in the Future Teachers' Academy. "Because the holidays are about giving, we wanted to donate to a certain group would sacrifice themselves daily for us. Collecting specific items that the troops miss from home is the least we can do to offer our comfort and support," said Stephanie Alonso, guidance counselor for the Future Teachers' Academy. Requested items include: Long-distance phone cards. Sheets, pillows, and pillowcases. Socks, brown T-shirts, shoe/boot laces, underwear, hand warmers. Coffee, hot chocolate, juice boxes, and drink pouches. Q-tips, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors, baby wipes, shampoo, lip balm, disposable shower towels, deodorant. Breakfast cereal, protein bars, granola bars, peanut butter. Pain-relieving topical cream (Icy Hot), air-activated heat wraps for sore muscles. Video games, cards, dominoes, crossword puzzles, magazines. Movies, DVDs, CDs. Zip-loc bags, AA batteries, D batteries, air fresheners, sewing kits, spices (ex: crushed red pepper), salt, pepper, hot sauce, barbecue sauce, olives, pickles. Jiffy Pop, Pringles, beef jerky, Rice Krispie Treats, M&Ms, nuts, sunflower seeds, gum, Little Debbie's snacks, mini muffins, individual packs of cookies. Canned foods, ramen noodles, macaroni & cheese, soup mix, canned tuna, canned chicken, Spaghetti-O's . Ink pens, notepads. Microwaveable plates, bowls, paper plates. Donations may be dropped off in the New Dorp High School lobby, 465 New Dorp Lane, on Mondays and Tuesdays between 2:30 to 3:45 p.m., or at Malliotakis' district office, 11 Maplewood Place, Midand Beach, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Under a new partnership, Abbvie will fund research at Northwestern University, then get first crack at the results. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune) Northwestern University and North Chicago-based pharmaceutical company AbbVie will spend the next five years working together researching ways to fight cancer, AbbVie announced Monday. AbbVie will fund research at Northwestern's Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. The company will then get first pass on bringing resulting discoveries to market. Gary Gordon, AbbVie vice president of oncology development, said Monday he was not at liberty to disclose how much money AbbVie is giving to the cancer center. Advertisement The partnership will focus on a range of cancer research, which could examine lung, colorectal, breast, prostate and hematological cancers, among others. "The goal here is to try to marry what we're good at with what Northwestern is good at and say, 'How do we advance the effort broadly and more quickly?'" Gordon said. Advertisement Dr. Leonidas Platanias, Lurie cancer center director, said academic institutions often collaborate with the pharmaceutical companies to bring potential drugs to clinical trial. He said the agreement with AbbVie is a way to collaborate earlier in hopes of making the whole process more efficient. A joint steering committee, with members from AbbVie and Lurie, will choose the partnership's research projects. Researchers from both organizations also will hold a symposium each year to discuss research. AbbVie also has similar partnerships with the University of Chicago and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. lschencker@chicagotribune.com Twitter @lschencker Donald Trump's threats to use taxes as "retribution" against U.S. companies that move jobs overseas are legally dubious, tax specialists say and they're prompting resistance from some Republican leaders who fear a coming era of economic protectionism or international trade wars. "I think there's other ways to achieve what the president-elect is talking about," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters Monday, arguing that changing the tax code is the way to entice companies to create jobs and keep them in the U.S. "I don't want to get into some type of trade war," McCarthy said. In a series of tweets Sunday, Trump warned that "any business that leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant in the other country, and then thinks it will sell its product back into the U.S., without retribution or consequence, is WRONG!" Trump's approach is in keeping with his style of firing off tweets that stake out bold positions that may require eventual compromise. Nonetheless, the threat in his Sunday tweets is making some Republicans nervous because it contradicts longstanding free-market and pro-trade orthodoxy espoused by many party leaders, including Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Trump's extraordinary threat is an attempt to make good on his campaign promise to stop U.S. jobs from moving overseas, which was central to his appeal among white voters without college degrees, who made up one-third of the 2016 electorate, according to exit polls. Those voters helped him win Democratic-leaning Midwest states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, home to America's once-vibrant manufacturing sector. On Sunday, Trump repeated claims from his campaign that he'd impose a tariff of "of 35% for these companies wanting to sell their product, cars, A.C. units etc., back across the border." He added, "Please be forewarned prior to making a very expensive mistake!" A Trump transition-team spokesman didn't immediately return a message seeking comment on the pushback from Republicans. House Republicans have their own plans for a far-reaching overhaul of the U.S. tax system that would apply corporate taxes to all imports while eliminating them from exports. That so-called border adjustability would apply to all imported goods and services not just those from certain countries or from certain companies. Proponents argue that such changes along with plans to cut the corporate tax rate generally from 35 percent to 20 percent or less would make U.S. tax policy more competitive globally and help eliminate current incentives for U.S. companies to shift their production and profit offshore. But critics argue that such changes could put the U.S. in violation of World Trade Organization rules that limit such adjustments to "indirect" taxes, such as value added taxes. James Pethokoukis, a scholar with the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said Trump's position "makes no economic sense from a pure pro-growth perspective." He added: "Of course, 'expanding the pie' might not be at the heart of Trumponomics. This is economic nationalism. 'Sovereignty is the new capitalism,' as they say." Late last month, Trump and Pence, who's still the governor of Indiana, intervened to prompt Carrier Corp. to keep 800 furnace maker jobs in Indianapolis instead of sending them to Mexico, as planned. The company still plans to send other Hoosier State jobs including coil makers and line workers to Mexico, meaning it could remain in Trump's crosshairs for tariffs. His Twitter postings on Sunday "suggest this is just the beginning of an extensive and involved effort by Trump to cajole and nudge and even intimidate firms thinking about offshoring," Pethokoukis said. "Trade is the issue Trump has been banging on about for 40 years." Trump's goals are generally more in line with labor unions and Democrats, who have previously tried to discourage companies from offshoring jobs via tax-code changes and have run into Republican opposition. A senior Senate Democratic aide said it's not clear that Trump's approach is correct, but said the party is interested in working with him to find solutions. Other Democrats are more skeptical. "This is not a fight he can win," said Jim Manley, a lobbyist and former adviser to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada. "Sure, he can score some victories with individual companies, but market forces are far stronger than any one person, even if that person is the president of the United States." Legally, Trump does have some unilateral powers to tax particular goods that cross the border, but not entire companies' products, said Gavin Ekins, a research economist at the right-leaning Tax Foundation. "In reality, a tariff doesn't quite work that way," he said. "But you can tax a class of goods. It's possible to say 'I'm going to put tariffs on heavy trucks within this time range.'" Ekins said Trump will likely face legal challenges and may need buy-in from Congress and the World Trade Organization to make his plans stick. "He can technically do this but there's going to be push-back in many ways if he does," he said. "He's extremely constrained in what he actually can do in the very end." Chad Brown, an expert at the pro-trade Peterson Institute For International Economics, said Trump has broad authority to apply import restrictions under national-security exceptions, but he argued that going after entire companies' products would be "unprecedented" and could "backfire along a number of different dimensions." Brown said that uncertainty about the sustainability of Trump's plan could discourage U.S. firms from hiring, and he echoed the view that such moves could spark trade wars. He cited one example: "In 2009, the Obama administration imposed restrictions on Chinese tires. In response, they hit restrictions on U.S. poultry products, in particular chicken feet, a Chinese delicacy that we exported a lot of." Trump wouldn't be the first president to unilaterally pursue protective tariffs. In March 2002, for example, George W. Bush slapped tariffs of as much as 30 percent on steel imports to protect the ailing domestic industry, after his administration concluded that trading partners were engaging in predatory practices known as "dumping." The move faced international push-back, and 21 months later Bush abandoned the tariffs under threat of a trade war with Europe. Trump's threats have the potential to backfire, particularly since Congress may not go along with them. "This would be a 35% tax on all Americans-a tax that especially hurts low-income families. Maybe the slogan should be #MakeAmericaVenezuela," Rep. Justin Amash, R-Michigan, tweeted in response to Trump. With assistance from Lynnley Browning and Billy House The Dec. 18 show by controversial metal band King 810 has been canceled after members of the community expressed concerns to the venue, Thalia Hall, about the band's "excessive use of guns and violent imagery." "The gun thing is part of the culture where we're from, it's inherently part of the band, it's not something we apologize for or regret or anything like that," says King 810 frontman David Gunn regarding the tour date. Advertisement The Flint, Michigan-based act is known for its visuals which blur the line between social commentary and obscenity, as well as handguns and rifles which appear in music videos and on stage. In the past, the band has had to cancel shows due to members' arrests and other violent behavior. Advertisement A email from the booker at Thalia Hall posted by an online metal zine reads in part, "We are ending 2016 with the highest rate of gun violence in Chicago's history and people are paritcularly sensitive. Defending the show, in the current environment, is becoming more and more difficult." In his statement, Gunn said he believes excessive use of guns is what happened to Pantera's Dimebag Darrell, the guitarist who was shot while playing with his band Damageplan, or what happened at the Bataclan in Paris. "Guns are a part of our lives and we're not going to be caught in those types of situations. "With all due respect to anyone in those types of situations, if anyone ever comes through the front door with automatic rifles, they're not going to be able to kill 150 people at a King show, they'll probably be shot from stage. The guns aren't going away and we don't apologize for anything." The Tribune reached out to King 810 and Thalia Hall, but neither was available for comment. Chicago's own Twin Peaks have announced on Twitter that they will be filling the Dec. 18 slot. So if you couldn't nab tickets to see them at Thalia Hall on Dec. 16 or Metro on Dec. 17, the third time's the charm. MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR Watch the latest movie trailers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox) Marlon Brando, right, and Maria Schneider are seen in a scene from the film "The Last Tango in Paris." (United Artists/AP) "Last Tango in Paris" director Bernardo Bertolucci referred to it as "that detail" with the butter, conveniently dehumanizing the human being at the center of a story like so many others of male privilege, artistic license and female exploitation. This story's recirculating with a vengeance this week. It involves a scandalous 1972 film; director Bertolucci in cahoots with his star, Marlon Brando; and the coercion, manipulation and violation of then-48-year-old Brando's co-star, 19-year-old Maria Schneider. Advertisement Thanks to Elle magazine and other outlets, a 2013 Dutch television interview with Bertolucci gained new, angry traction over the weekend. In the interview, the director acknowledged he felt "guilty" though no "regret" over the filming of the most notorious scene in Bertolucci's picture, which finds the American in Paris, played by Brando, and his French lover, played by Schneider, in the American's apartment. Director Bernardo Bertolucci poses for photographers during a photo call at the Rome Film festival in Rome on Oct. 15, 2016. (Gregorio Borgia / AP) In an act of pure, hostile aggression, he commits anal rape (simulated) with the aid of a stick of butter as a lubricant. Throughout the scene Brando seethes aloud about the terrors of the family structure as he knows it, "where the will is broken by repression where freedom is assassinated by egotism." Improvised or no, that sort of strained, high-toned pretension marks what passes for the film's thoughts about what it means to be middle-aged, white, male and, not incidentally, a powerful Hollywood commodity. Advertisement Egotism comes in many forms. In the 2013 interview Bertolucci relayed that he and Brando came up with the scene that morning, almost by accident. At the breakfast table "there was a baguette, there was butter and we looked at each other and, without saying anything, we knew what we wanted." On Monday in Rome, the director issued a statement designed to discredit the late Schneider while defending his rapidly corroding reputation. "A ridiculous misunderstanding," he called it. Schneider, the director claimed, knew about the simulated sexual violence called for by the script. (Schneider never denied that.) The butter was the gotcha, the surprise element. As Bertolucci himself said in the 2013 interview, he and Brando knew what they wanted. What they didn't want was a level playing field, and the results inform every beat, each grim detail of what Schneider's going through in that scene. They jumped into filming without letting Schneider know what was about to happen. MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR "I didn't want Maria to act her humiliation, her rage," the director explained. "I wanted Maria to feel, not to act." Though few take it to Bertolucci's extremes this strategy is a weirdly revered and respected method of artistic manipulation, and many major film and stage directors have profited from it. It brings out both the trickster and the sadist in the director's chair occupied, overwhelmingly over the years and today, by white men in control. In a 2007 Daily Mail interview, four years before her death, Schneider told her side of it, undisputed by all parties. The scene may have been simulated, but her conspirators' methods fit every sane definition of sexual violation. As Melissa Silverstein wrote this weekend in The Guardian, Schneider endured subsequent suicide attempts and ongoing addiction problems "attributed at the time to the onslaught of fame in hindsight we can see that this woman had PTSD (something that is common with rape survivors) because she had to cover up her own assault and it tortured her for the rest of her life." Schneider said: "I should have called my agent or had my lawyer come to the set because you can't force someone to do something that isn't in the script, but at the time, I didn't know that. Marlon said to me: 'Maria, don't worry, it's just a movie.' ... After the scene Marlon didn't console me or apologize." As Anna Kendrick of "Pitch Perfect" tweeted over the weekend: "Ms Schneider stated this several years ago. I used to get eye-rolls when I brought it up to people (aka dudes)." Director Ava DuVernay, also on Twitter, put it this way: "As a director, I can barely fathom this. As a woman, I am horrified, disgusted and enraged by it." Advertisement By the ton, stories of exploitation persist. In 2013 the French film "Blue is the Warmest Color," a lesbian coming-of-age drama, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The actresses starring in director Abdellatif Kechiche's picture, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux, opened up about the grueling 5 1/2-month shoot following the Cannes premiere. The director filmed the key sex scene, using fake labia in some shots, over a period of 10 days. Other scenes involved one actress slapping the other in the face, over and over, and the takes went on and on and on. "In America," Seydoux told the Daily Beast," "we'd all be in jail." Is it worth it? Is the so-called authenticity justified by working methods that are dubious at best, criminal at worst? Chicago-based author and activist Luvvie Ajayi (her latest book is "I'm Judging You") let loose about "Last Tango in Paris" on Facebook. Sunday night she told me by phone: "OK, so you're basically ruining a woman's life in the name of getting one scene on camera? People use the guise of art, and artistic expression, to do all kinds of hateful things. It's like Trump and everybody else using the guise of humor to say hateful things, the excuse being: 'I was just being funny.'" Ajayi sees the years-late "Last Tango" uproar as part of a continuum. Maybe, she says, "people will finally tune into the idea that society doesn't protect women's bodies. And we can change that." Schneider didn't feel safe speaking up, fighting back against her collaborators. On "Last Tango in Paris," it was two against one. Interviews with the director just after the film's 1973 U.S. release take on a particularly damning air, now that Schneider's trials are better known. From a 1973 Rolling Stone Q&A with Bertolucci: Advertisement Q: How do you relate to your actresses? Is it different from the way you approach a woman you like? A: The manner in which we who love the cinema love a woman is very special. It's a very mythological way of loving women and it's doomed to sado-masochism. The last word belongs to Schneider. In her Daily Mail interview the actress shared what countless women working in the movies have thought, or endured, but never said aloud. After "Last Tango" finished filming, Brando told one interviewer that as an actor he felt "raped and humiliated" by the experience. To which Schneider, years later, responded: "So you can imagine how I felt." Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic. mjphillips@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @phillipstribune RELATED STORIES: 'Last Tango in Paris' rape scene was not consensual, director Bernardo Bertolucci admits When it comes to Woody Allen and others, when do allegations of sex abuse taint everything they do? Watch the latest movie trailers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox) Students at the University of Chicago and DePaul University talk about how apps affect the college dating scene. (Jessi Roti / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune) Would you believe University of Chicago singles are the most chatty? The hottest singles attend Northwestern? Or that the least assertive daters go to DePaul? They're all true, according to a user analysis by dating app Coffee Meets Bagel, which also looked at Loyola and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Advertisement Anne Kennedy, a 21-year-old senior at DePaul, agreed with the findings that students at her university are less assertive and less chatty daters. "Since it's such a large commuter school and the campuses are split, there's very little interaction if you don't already know the people around you." The study analyzed more than 16,000 Coffee Meets Bagel profiles of singles who attend or have graduated from these five Chicago colleges, says Dawoon Kang, who launched the app with her two sisters in 2012. "The data set for each college included at least 2,000 singles." Advertisement The results broke down members at each university by most attractive (percentage of times the singles were liked); most assertive (average number of times the single made the first move); most picky (percentage of times male or female users passed); most chatty (number of messages sent between singles); and matchmakers (percentage of members who suggest potential matches for their single friends). The University of Chicago took top spots in three categories: most chatty, with users sending nearly 20 more messages on average than those at Northwestern and UIC; most assertive, with users making the first move 14.3 times, on average, compared with Northwestern's 12.7 times and UIC's 9.5 times; and just edging out Northwestern by 2 percent in the matchmakers category. "We wanted to highlight "most assertive" and "most chatty" particularly because there is a sentiment among millennials that it's just "not cool" to make the first move (especially among women) or that it's OK to ghost (end conversation or interaction without reason) on your matches." Kang says. Of the five categories analyzed, attractiveness and assertiveness got the biggest reactions from daters out and about on campuses. "I'm not sure that I agree with University of Chicago's results," says University of Chicago student Amy Treber, 20. "One of the snarky sayings about UChicago is 'UChicago, where the squirrels are cuter than the girls and more aggressive than the guys.' Isn't that awful? So being assertive isn't the stereotype, and I don't know if, in my experience, I've seen that either." "While at UIC, I did not find many men attractive or assertive when it applied to dating," says UIC graduate student Faith Ostrowski, who said she had to ask her boyfriend out first. Adrian Acciardo, a sophomore at DePaul, liked the inclusion of the assertiveness category since being more assertive often comes with age and isn't an attribute typically associated with college-age millennials, he said. "I know it is very stressful to approach someone you like and express your extended feelings for them," he says. "I think it is interesting to see which schools show more confidence when dating." Advertisement Loyola University student Emily Morgenstern agreed with her university's top spot regarding pickiest women. "As a woman who goes to Loyola, I do agree that Loyola women tend to be pickier when it comes to men because a majority of the women are focused on their schooling, future career and friends." Morgenstern and fellow student Blake Keller agreed that the student body is less chatty and less assertive. Morgenstern said it's because the school is small and students don't feel the pressure to constantly try to meet new people. But Keller argued, "A lot of people are just so involved, not only with school but with work and any extracurricular clubs or organizations, their first priority is that and not dating." Carly Jones, a freshman at DePaul, said dating trends across college-age Chicagoans didn't actually seem to differ significantly. "These results reflect on the outgoing and assertive nature that many young people in Chicago have or look for in others. I feel as if many people new to the college scene are looking for somebody to have a good time with rather than somebody to settle down with, hence categories focusing on attractiveness, chattiness and assertiveness of those in the college scene. These categories are qualities that one may focus on for a good hookup or short relationship." jroti@chicagotribune.com Advertisement RELATED STORIES: Is friends-first approach key to lasting relationship? Good sex outranks shared chores, adequate income for happy marriage I fell for a narcissist, then America voted for one how can we avoid their charm? Three historic cathedrals, crowned by pristine white towers with golden domes, surround an open square. Hushed crowds of tourists edge their way past the tombs of royal dynasties, craning their necks to see the centuries-old religious art that covers every square foot of the soaring interiors. All this in the middle of the Kremlin. Advertisement For an American who grew up in the Cold War era, it's a slap-your-head surprise one of many in store for anyone who visits Russia with a vague, stereotypical impression. Come to Moscow expecting the grim, gray capital of a police state, and find a throbbing metropolis. Moscow was the first stop on a 13-day cruise that took us 1,123 miles northwest to St. Petersburg. Advertisement On a sunny June day, Moscow was positively electric, flirtatious even. Flowers arranged on arched metal sculptures covered pedestrian walkways. Tourist boats plied the Moscow River. Around one corner was a giant dog topiary. Down another street, adults cavorted on swings outside a concert hall. It was all positively whimsical. And that's before you see the one Moscow landmark known the world over for its candy-colored onion domes, St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square. It's remarkable to see it in person, surrounded by tourists and just steps from the Kremlin. And this is when you realize that the Kremlin isn't just a building. It's a 60-plus-acre stone-walled fortress built between the 14th and 17th centuries, containing an armory, several palaces and the neoclassical Senate building. A river cruise is an ideal way for first-time visitors to get a sense of this vast nation, the largest in the world. At 6.6 million square miles, Russia is about twice the size of the United States, with fewer than half as many people, spanning nine time zones. Even with our 13-day cruise, we only got an up-close look at a small part, what is usually known as European Russia, the area west of the Ural Mountains. We had time to explore two key cities and some unusual small towns along the way. Aboard Viking River Cruises' 95-stateroom Ingvar, we spent four days in Moscow at the start, four days in St. Petersburg at the end, and had some of the most compelling experiences of the trip in between. Visiting the small Volga River town of Uglich, we shopped for souvenirs at an outdoor market and met a local woman who hosts small groups of tourists for brief home visits. She served us cheese, bread, cucumbers and cakes, along with tea and a bit of her family's searing moonshine. Through a translator, we asked how her life has changed since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The gist is that during Soviet times, there was economic security, but not many consumer options. Now, there are plenty of things to buy, but jobs aren't guaranteed. With some trepidation, I signed up for a typical Russian bath-house experience in the town of Mandrogy. Inside the wooden banya, our group of five women perched on a raised wooden bench while a Russian man tossed water on heated stones to send the steam and temperature rising. He gently patted our limbs and backs with birch branches before telling us in broken English and pantomime to go outside to the pier and jump into the icy cold Svir River. We did, some naked underneath the towels we shed at the pier, others in panties and a couple of smart women in the bathing suits they'd remembered to bring. Two sessions of steam, birch branches and river plunge, and it was time to sip some hot tea. It was simultaneously invigorating and relaxing. The last stop on the cruise was St. Petersburg, Russia's cultural heart and an imperial capital for nearly 200 years. It's worth a journey in itself if only to see the Hermitage Museum, which rivals the Louvre as one of the great collections of paintings. Many of the Hermitage galleries are in a former royal palace, the Winter Palace, the main residence of Russia's rulers in the 18th and 19th centuries. The storming of the palace in 1917 marked the beginning of the Russian Revolution. Advertisement The Hermitage almost requires two visits, once for the art and once for the over-the-top splendor of great halls meant to convey the might of imperial Russia. It also must be one of the world's most crowded museums. The lines to get in stretched down the block, and the interior was a shoulder-to-shoulder throng of humanity. Our guides explained that the museum's government managers, eager for revenue, have declined to limit how many people can visit at once. In three hours, we saw works by Rubens and Rembrandt, Leonardo and Michelangelo, Titian and El Greco. Located on a former swamp at the edge of the Baltic Sea, St. Petersburg was founded by Czar Peter the Great, who hoped to bring Russia closer to Western Europe and away from medieval isolation. The city was besieged by the German army during World War II, but few vestiges of that ordeal remain. The city center is laced by canals and straddles the River Neva, providing avenues for boat tours in warm months and for very cold strolling in winter. Peter and his successors brought in architects from Italy and France who put their stamp on the city center; many of the parks and historic buildings in baroque and neoclassical styles wouldn't be out of place in London or Paris. It's the city's Western European feel that makes St. Petersburg's most striking building such an interesting contrast. The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood, finished little more than a century ago, looks straight out of medieval Russia, encrusted with intricate mosaics and icons and topped by a breathtaking cluster of colorful onion domes. The church derives its gory name from its reason for being. It marks the spot where Czar Alexander II was blown up by revolutionaries in 1881 an ironic twist, since Alexander was a reformer of sorts who had freed Russia's serfs two decades earlier. Alexander's son decided that a great church must shelter the spot where his father's blood was spilled. Josef Stalin no fan of churches or czars later used the building to store potatoes. It reopened in 1997 after 30 years of restoration. Terri Colby is a freelance writer. Advertisement If you go Viking River Cruises operates its Waterways of the Tsars 13-day cruises between May and October, with prices starting at $5,099 a person; www.vikingrivercruises.com. RELATED STORIES: Russia's Christmas decorations factory Galveston, Texas, goes Victorian with Dickens on the Strand History of Christmas still celebrated at California missions Bryan Dominguez (center) and his sister, Maritza, help their mother, Josefina Herrera, prepare dinner at their Wheling home on Nov. 30, 2016. Dominguez and his mom will be visiting two Wisconsin universities to start exploring possible schools for the Buffalo Grove High School junior to attend. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune) From filling out forms and writing essays to building a resume and gathering letters of recommendation, applying to college is a rigorous part of high school. But for 16-year-old Bryan Dominguez, the stress is magnified. Unlike many of his peers at Buffalo Grove High School, he doesn't have anyone at home who's been through the process. The son of Mexican immigrants and the oldest of four children, Dominguez, of Wheeling, will be the first in his family to go to college. Advertisement "The whole concept of college is very confusing in general to me and my parents," he said. "All I know is my one goal in life is to go to college. Being the first person in my family ... is something I hold very close to my heart." Recognizing first-generation college students have unique needs, Arlington Heights-based Township High School District 214 developed a field trip for its students to tour two colleges with their parents as part of learning more about the entire process. Advertisement Counselors say students without college degrees in their family have more questions, a harder time finding assistance and often fewer financial resources. Their parents also might be more hesitant and have many questions about the college experience because they've never been through it. Plus, first-generation students are more likely to drop out of college than their peers, experts say. The voluntary trip, piloted last year in District 214, is designed to put the fears of both students and their parents to rest by offering them a chance to learn together. This Tuesday, about 30 juniors, accompanied by one parent each, will head by bus to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and nearby Marquette University. On the way to and from Milwaukee, high school counselors will talk to the group about college applications, financial aid and information essential to the process, said Erin Brooks, executive director of the district's education foundation, which sponsors the trip. During the visits, students will meet with admissions staff at each university, receive a tour, eat lunch at a student union and see alumni from their high school who are now students at the colleges. Brooks said the foundation took on the project after asking counselors "What was missing? What should we be spending money on?" One counselor told her, "We need this experience districtwide," Brooks said, and not just students, but also their parents. "We want the whole family to get the message. College is a reality. You can succeed." While many high schools, colleges and community groups offer a variety of programs to assist first-generation students, addressing parents' concerns directly through a school-sponsored college visit appears to be less common, according to district officials. "There's a lot of information that we need and sometimes we don't know," said Bryan Dominguez's mom, Josefina Herrera, 33, who will be making the trip with her son. "One of the things I want to learn is what can he do ... to better his future." Advertisement Kathy Fox, a counselor at Buffalo Grove High School, said first-generation students and their parents have special concerns, and addressing those worries gives them the best shot at success. The district, which includes six high schools in the northwest suburbs, estimates about 35 percent of its students come from families without a college education. "They're starting from zero," she said. When it comes to students whose parents did go to college, "even though their parents have applied to college a long time ago, (the process) is not brand new." Several other high schools in the area bring first-generation students on college visits, though most without parents, and they also provide other tools to help them apply for college. In Palatine-based Township High School District 211, Project Excel begins before students enter high school. Palatine High School counselor Alonso Ramirez said students are identified based on test scores and teacher interviews, and remain in the program throughout high school. In it, they not only visit colleges, but also participate in community outreach programs to build their resumes for scholarships and perfect their college applications during school. In the program's 10 years, the district has seen success, Ramirez said. At his school, 96 percent of the students who graduated last year now attend college. In Elgin-based School District U-46, the college seed is planted in parents and students early on in elementary school. Because there are a lot of first-generation students, the district last year started a nine-week program for parents of elementary school students. Each week, parents who sign up learn about talking with their children about college and career readiness, said Karla Jimenez, coordinator of family and community engagement. Advertisement Parents are taught to foster a sense of career building in their children by encouraging them to learn more about what they want to be when they grow up by researching at the library, or meeting someone who actually does the job, Jimenez said. "It's never too early," she said. Some schools get parents involved by offering programs geared toward them, such as in Addison's DuPage High School District 88, where parents can get help filling out FAFSA forms, among other assistance, Assistant Superintendent Jean Barbanente said. And the nonprofit Chicago Scholars program helps many Chicago Public Schools students and their parents navigate applications through monthly meetings with a counselor. But "some of these (first-generation) families have not been on college campuses," said Buffalo Grove High School's Fox. "The college visit lets them learn about how to explore their college options. Even if they don't go to these two schools, they will understand the process." Fox said the district decided to go to the two Wisconsin colleges because they provide examples of a public and private campus. Plus, visiting both in one day is possible and a reasonable drive from their district. She said they also offer a chance for the students to see schools outside Illinois that they might not have considered visiting. Bryan Dominguez said he has several other colleges in mind, and as an honors student with a high GPA, he has many options. He's not sure where to start and has many questions about the entire process, so he signed himself and his mom up for the field trip to get answers along with other families who are in the same boat. Advertisement "There won't be any judgment," he said. "There won't be any dumb questions." His mom, who works as a nursing assistant at a senior center, said when she was a teenager growing up in Mexico, college wasn't an option. "There was no time to go to college," Josefina Herrera said. "I had to work on the farm with my father and mother. "I'm very proud of him," she said of her son for his commitment to school and the example he sets for his siblings. "In this time, teenagers don't want to go to school. He's keeping in his mind that he wants to go to college. I couldn't have if I wanted to." Katherine Holubec, 42, of Des Plaines, hopes to have a better grasp on the application to-do list that her daughter, Nicole Holubec, 17, will have to complete over the next year or so. "We started looking at the paperwork recently," she said. "It's very overwhelming." Advertisement Katherine Holubec started at a community college after high school, but dropped out to get her real estate license. She said she's excited for her daughter a junior at Elk Grove High School to pursue a four-year degree and a career in teaching. "This is something we've talked about for years. She's just going to have so many more opportunities," she said. "Our whole family is behind this." Nicole Holubec said she thinks a large university will be the right fit and is interested in a few that aren't too far from home something her mom appreciates. She said she's especially looking forward to seeing a college campus for the first time. "I kind of want to make that dream into a reality," she said. Emily Tai, 17, a senior at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, attended last year's inaugural field trip with her mother. Tai was born in the U.S., but her parents grew up in China and did not attend college. However, Tai said the family expects her to do so. "That's not the question anymore," Tai said. Advertisement Instead, she said, the question is, "Where?" Before going on the trip, Tai wasn't sure how she would pay for college and didn't really talk about the application process with her parents. Now, she said her mom is more involved, and the family learned about financial aid opportunities they might not have realized they could tap into. Tai is finishing up applications to schools that include the University of Illinois and Northwestern University, along with smaller schools in Iowa and Minnesota. She said she plans to major in biology and become a pharmacist. "It makes me really glad to think that I'm not going to be worried about money one day," she said. Warren Scherer, director of the Inclusive Excellence Center at the UW-Milwaukee, said the District 214 trip is unique and necessary. "Students who are first-generation, they cannot rely on preexisting knowledge of their parents to navigate the bureaucracy of higher education," he said. "It can be very isolating. Advertisement Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > "When a student is communicating with their parent ... it would be incredibly useful if a parent had knowledge of (what they're talking about). That's why it's incredibly important to have the parents with the students," Scherer said. "You bring ... the parents along so (they) can support the child in the learning." That way, he said, the child doesn't feel isolated. And while it's important to address the needs of first-generation college students during the application process, it's also necessary to do so after they begin college, he said. The university, like others, helps such students with mentoring programs and an opportunity to live with others like them, among other initiatives, he said. It's all part of an effort to address statistics that show first-generation students are more likely to drop out than their peers. "We're helping them build a community," Scherer said. "For some first-generation students, they are carrying the hopes of not just their parents, but maybe many of their family members." kthayer@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @knthayer A study by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign offers a way to get more people to sign up for expedited security screening and save the government money: make PreCheck free for frequent fliers. Experienced air travelers swear by PreCheck, which allows fliers to skip the hassle of taking off shoes, belts and light jackets and removing laptops from suitcases while going through sped-up security lines. The Transportation Security Administration has a goal of signing up 25 million fliers by 2019. There are already nearly 12 million participants in expedited screening programs like PreCheck and Global Entry, TSA spokesman Michael McCarthy said. Advertisement But applying for PreCheck, which involves fingerprinting and an FBI background check, requires an $85 fee, which deters some fliers who would otherwise qualify. The TSA underestimated the number of fliers who would sign up, which along with higher passenger numbers, a staff shortage and tougher security measures contributed to two-hour airport lines this past spring. The TSA addressed the line problem this year by beefing up staff and canine teams at major airports, and average waits in regular security lines at O'Hare International and Midway airports are now less than five minutes, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. Advertisement But the TSA still wants more people to sign up for PreCheck, which allows the agency to concentrate on passengers who are at highest risk to be security threats. The University of Illinois study proposes that if the TSA paid for PreCheck applications for high-volume fliers, it would save the agency $34 million a year, create shorter lines and enhance security at the nation's airports. "It's a great way to save money and make the system more safe," said Sheldon Jacobson, professor of computer science at the University of Illinois and the lead author on Monday's report, along with Arash Khatibi and Ge Yu. Jacobson has been studying aviation security since the mid-1990s. His research on screening based on passengers' security profiles helped lead to the creation of PreCheck, which became available to the general public in 2014. If a traveler qualifies for PreCheck, it's good for five years. But Jacobson said it became clear that the $85 enrollment fee, which covers the background check and other administrative costs, was "very intrusive" and a disincentive to people to join. The report figures that it is four times more efficient to screen people through PreCheck than through ordinary, enhanced screening with its time-consuming indignities. Jacobson's team, which used TSA's 2017 budget figures for the cost of screening, calculates that having 25 million travelers enrolled in PreCheck would result in 300 million faster screenings per year and save the agency $459 million. If the TSA paid the PreCheck fees for frequent fliers, the cost would be $425 million per year, so the net savings would be $34 million, the report found. The study figures that the TSA could achieve the savings by enrolling passengers who average at least 12 screens per year, or six round trips. So the free application would be limited to frequent travelers only. The TSA's McCarthy declined to comment on the study, since officials had not yet reviewed it. Advertisement Jacobson acknowledged that fliers who have paid for PreCheck might be annoyed at future applicants getting it for free, but he noted that everyone has to renew every five years, so all high-volume travelers would qualify for the benefit sooner or later. A fee waiver would not mean the process is any less secure, Jacobson said. Applicants would still have to go through a "rigorous" vetting process, Jacobson said. "It's more than just making sure you are a safe traveler," Jacobson said. "It's a body of information about you and whether you're a safe person." He said the checks could also be used to screen people looking to purchase firearms. Airline officials speaking anonymously expressed skepticism, noting that the barrier to getting PreCheck may not be the price but the time it takes to go to one of the PreCheck facilities and go through the process. There are facilities at O'Hare, Midway, downtown Chicago and in other locations around the Chicago area. The application and an appointment at a facility can be made online at https://www.tsa.gov/precheck. Security expert Bruce Schneier has long criticized the enhanced post-9/11 security screenings as "security theater" that do not make anyone safer. "I want PreCheck-style screenings for everyone," said Schneier, a fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center. He worries that giving PreCheck only to frequent travelers or those who pay creates a class divide the poor get invasive screenings, while the wealthy are in the faster lines. Advertisement Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > The TSA has already given some groups of travelers who have undergone federal background checks PreCheck at no cost, McCarthy said. These include active-duty armed services members and State Department employees. Airlines also provide incentives to get PreCheck, such as application vouchers for frequent fliers and airline credit cards that waive the enrollment fee, according to Vaughn Jennings, spokesman for Airlines for America, a trade group. Jennings said a recent Airlines for America survey found that those enrolled in expedited screening report better travel experiences than those who are not. Of fliers who were "very satisfied," 49 percent had PreCheck and 67 percent were in the more inclusive Global Entry program, compared with 35 percent of travelers overall. DePaul University transportation expert Joseph Schwieterman thought making PreCheck free would encourage more people to sign up, though he thought the TSA's goal of 25 million was a "pipe dream." He wondered if processing facilities could handle the numbers. "Like most Americans, it's on my list of things to do," Schwieterman said, of getting PreCheck. "If it were free, it would be a no-brainer." He said both the time it takes to go to a facility and the $85 cost cause "a tendency to procrastinate." mwisniewski@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @marywizchicago Its raining red divas this December what with the regal colour emerging a hot favourite among stylists for the year-end fashion magazine covers, and were not really complaining. Both Deepika Padukone and Anushka Sharma turned up the heat this winter with their cover photo shoots, wearing red, off-shoulder gowns showing a slight decolletage. Now, weve always loved red on Deepika Padukone, and this look yet again reaffirms our love for the combo. She looks ravishing in the stunning strapless gown by Bibhu Mohapatra, paired with dissimilar Louis Vuitton earrings with her hair done up in a messy bun. The make-up is minimalist and the overall look is quite refreshing. This comes right after the extremely sultry look for Hello magazines cover shoot this month. Padukone is currently riding high on a series of fashion perfect moments, both in India and abroad. Her Monisha Jaising military green gown for the MTV EMAs may have got her the title of Bollywood Blunder by one publication, but the rest of the fashion fraternity simply loved the look, and not to mention her emergence as the Indian version of Angelina Jolies the leg stance. From her look at the EMAs to the lilac gown by Ralph and Russo at another awards show in Mumbai. Continuing the streak is this red-hot look for a wintery December. On the other side, we have Ae Dil Jai Mushkils Anushka Sharma, whose 2014 shoot with the same fashion magazine had us gaping in amazement for carrying off a bold and rique avatar with aplomb. In this shoot, Sharma dons this uber sensuous red off-shoulder gown with a thigh-high slit, and we absolutely love this bold look on her. Akin to Padukones make-up, even Sharmas stylist opted for a minimalist look with nude lips, slightly messy hair letting that luxurious dress do much of the talking. http://www.queeniebridesmaid.co.uk/red-bridesmaid-dresses-uk | black bridesmaid dresses New Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx detailed her plans for creating a gun crimes unit during an interview with the Chicago Tribune on Dec. 5, 2016. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune) New Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx detailed her plans for creating a gun crimes unit during an interview with the Chicago Tribune on Dec. 5, 2016. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune) (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune) Newly elected Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx detailed her plans Monday for reshaping the second-largest prosecutor's office in the country, including creating a unit to target firearms trafficking and revamping the team that reviews potentially wrongful convictions. Foxx, 44, the first African-American woman to hold the powerful office, comes aboard as Chicago battles seemingly runaway violence with homicides exceeding 700 for the first time in nearly two decades and shooting victims topping 4,000. Advertisement During her campaign, Foxx had vowed to make the office more transparent. If Monday was any indication, she promises to be accessible as well. She met in the morning with a Tribune reporter in her corner office on the 32nd floor of a county high-rise building in the Loop and later in the day showed up in the dismal, windowless newsroom at the Leighton Criminal Court Building to answer follow-up questions. The protege of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle handily defeated two-term incumbent State's Attorney Anita Alvarez in a three-way primary last spring after public outrage over the release of the video showing a white Chicago police officer shooting black teen Laquan McDonald 16 times. She then cruised to victory last month over a meagerly funded Republican opponent. Advertisement For now, many in the legal community are optimistic about Foxx, who was sworn in Thursday. "Alvarez consistently put politics ahead of the interests of justice, and I believe Kim Foxx when she says she is going to change that," said Jon Loevy, one of the city's top civil rights lawyers. Foxx said she wants to tackle violent crime by identifying and pursuing the most dangerous criminals and improving communications among her office's bureaus including traffic and child support to add to the pressure on those violent offenders. She laughed incredulously at how the state's attorney's office has long had units devoted to crimes such as car theft but no team assigned to target gun crimes. She said not enough attention has been focused on the massive number of firearms available in Chicago. "That's just who we are in Chicago we have a lot of guns on the street. Why? How are we partnering to stop the flow of guns. How are we actively going after the suppliers?" she said. Foxx has turned to Harvard Law professor Ronald Sullivan Jr. to reorganize the office's conviction integrity unit, created by Alvarez in 2012. The conviction review unit Sullivan created and ran for the Brooklyn, N.Y., district attorney's office has an independent advisory panel staffed by outside attorneys that issues nonbinding recommendations on whether convictions should be dismissed. Sullivan could not be reached for comment Monday, but Foxx said he "will design a unit that fits for Chicago." "It's a top priority of ours," she said, adding that Sullivan, whom she named a co-chair of her transition team, "has real concerns about the way in which our unit has been comprised." Advertisement The co-chair of her transition team was Kamala Harris, California's first female attorney general who last month was elected the U.S. Senate's only African-American woman. In several meetings, Harris suggested ways to make the office more transparent, Foxx said. Another member of the team was Sandra Wortham, an attorney and sister of slain Chicago police Officer Thomas Wortham IV, who advised Foxx on advocating for crime victims, Foxx said. Foxx said her office is looking at not waiting for months or years while the Independent Police Review Authority completes its investigation of police shootings. She has previously said she wants a special prosecutor to investigate all police-related shootings. "We're looking at our authority to go in immediately like with the other cases, collect evidence and do a parallel investigation so ... that we get results in a timelier fashion," she said. "Waiting for secondhand information to come after the completion of an investigation by another agency and then reviewing their work months later, I don't think necessarily gives us the best results." Foxx also said she wants to change how the office reviews felony cases and deals with the public. She pledged training for prosecutors to help root out "implicit bias" while also reaching out to Chicago and other police departments to advise them on how best to bring cases that will stand up in court. Advertisement Foxx also wants to create a chief data officer position to help fill in the "big gaps" in knowledge in how the office is handling criminal cases such as the number that end in plea deals. She said the office plans to make that data public. "I think you have to start at the beginning and say we have a huge gap in the information that we have," she said. "One for people who think you aren't sharing something, you're holding back the truth is we just don't have it. And we want to work and build it and do it right." Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > She plans to also have an ethics officer to train attorneys and investigate ethical lapses. She said she wants her office's civil bureau more focused on wage theft and reviewing workers' compensation claims an area she thinks the county can defend more vigorously. Foxx is part of a wave of African-Americans elected to top jobs in prosecutors' offices across the country in recent years, including at the Los Angeles County district's attorney's office, the nation's largest, which is also led by an African-American woman. "I think she's in a position right now where she has a great opportunity to really push for progressive policies, bring a lot of transparency into the office, and I think she really can bring a lot more public trust," said William Jorden, president of the National Black Prosecutors Association and a prosecutor in Baton Rouge, La. But Jorden said Foxx must remain accessible to the city's different constituencies to listen to their concerns and address their expectations. Advertisement "If we have decades and decades of a system that many people feel has oppressed sometimes people want answers overnight," he said. sschmadeke@chicagotribune.com Twitter @SteveSchmadeke Byron L. Johnson, 45, was ordered held without bail Dec. 5, 2016, in the killing of Lamarr Watson, 39. (Chicago Police Department) A Lawndale man is charged with stabbing to death his wife's godbrother in October after the woman asked her husband to leave their home and the godbrother tried to help get him out of the house, prosecutors said Monday. Byron L. Johnson, 45, is charged with first-degree murder after prosecutors say he fatally stabbed Lamar Watson, 39, at Johnson's home in the 1400 block of South Avers Avenue about 8:45 a.m. Oct. 24. Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. ordered Johnson held without bail in a hearing Monday, according to court records. Advertisement Johnson and his wife got into a dispute Oct. 25 at their home while the wife's two sons and Watson were also there, prosecutors said. Johnson's wife told him to leave the home, began packing his things and asked her sons to keep Johnson out of the bedroom, prosecutors said. Johnson lost his temper because Watson was helping Johnson's wife. He grabbed a crutch and hit Watson with it, prosecutors said. Advertisement Watson, who lived at the same address, told Johnson they should go outside, and they got into a fistfight, prosecutors said. Watson walked away from the fight, but Johnson followed him into the kitchen. Johnson ran at Watson, grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Johnson in the chest twice, prosecutors said. Watson ran outside, and Johnson's wife called 911 while Johnson ran out the back door as police arrived, prosecutors said. Paramedics treated Watson and took him to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about half an hour after the stabbing, prosecutors said, Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Evidence technicians took into evidence two steak knives from the kitchen sink. Johnson's wife and her two sons identified him as the man who stabbed Watson. Later, the Cook County medical examiner's office determined following an autopsy that Watson died of multiple stab and incise wounds in a homicide. The day after the stabbing, detectives obtained a murder arrest warrant for Johnson, according to prosecutors and court records. About 10:50 p.m. Sunday, Johnson was arrested during a traffic stop in the 4400 block of West Jackson Boulevard, according to police. Officers on patrol had made a license plate check on a car and found that the license was suspended, prosecutors said. Johnson was the front seat passenger, and officers arrested him on both the murder warrant and a warrant for a parole violation, prosecutors said. Johnson, who has 11 felony convictions dating to a 1991 robbery case, is on parole after serving three years in prison for a six-year sentence in a 2012 drug case, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records. The Chicago Tribune's Steve Schmadeke contributed. Advertisement An earlier version of this story incorrectly gave Watson's first name as Lamarr. Matthew Reardon, 32, of the 5200 block of West Warner Avenue, was charged with attempted murder in connection with the stabbing of a 49-year-old man about 1 a.m. Friday in the 6200 block of South Marshfield Avenue. (Chicago Police Department photo) A Portage Park man attacked a man who was urinating in a West Englewood alley, stabbing him in the face and fleeing covered in blood, prosecutors said Sunday. Matthew Reardon, 32, of the 5200 block of West Warner Avenue, was charged with attempted murder in connection with the stabbing of a 49-year-old man about 1 a.m. Friday in the 6200 block of South Marshfield Avenue. Advertisement Reardon was being held in lieu of $750,000 bail following a court hearing Sunday. The victim was in critical condition at Mount Sinai Hospital, a prosecutor told Cook County Judge James R. Brown at the hearing. When Reardon made his first appearance before Brown, he was still wearing a hospital wristband after being treated for cuts he suffered in the attack. Advertisement Officers responded Friday to the stabbing on Marshfield and saw a man matching a suspect description aired in a police radio transmission, according to Officer Nicole Trainor, a Chicago Police spokeswoman. Police found Reardon "lying on the concrete covered in blood," according to police reports. Reardon told police he had a knife on him, which they found in his backpack, according police reports and prosecutors. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > The 49-year-old man was urinating in an alley when he saw a man walking nearby, the assistant state's attorney said. The man, who police later identified as Reardon, accused the victim of stealing his bicycle. Then the victim felt something sharp at the back of his head, the prosecutor said. Reardon stabbed the other man several times in the face, arms and wrist, according to police. Reardon said nothing at his first appearance. What appear to be spots of blood are visible on Reardon's face and clothing in his police booking photograph. Reardon has been arrested on several misdemeanor charges dating to 2004, court records show. He pleaded guilty in a 2007 felony drug case and in a 2016 misdemeanor domestic battery case. Echerney@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @ElyssaCherney Mayor Rahm Emanuel and President-elect Donald Trump discussed Chicago's status an a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants during a phone conversation since Trump's election win last month, Emanuel said Monday. The mayor said Trump called to talk about the White House transition. Emanuel tried to walk the line between honoring the privacy of the chat and letting Chicagoans know he stood up to the president-elect for the city's values. The conversation took place in the past couple of weeks, according to a source familiar with the phone call. Advertisement "The president-elect called, and I want to, again I want to be, the key thing is, when somebody's making a phone call, you know my view about this, which is, they're private unless they want to talk about it," Emanuel said after the groundbreaking for a lakefront theater project in Lincoln Park. "That said, I was upfront, honest, we talked about a range of issues. I think it's fair for me at least to characterize he is obviously quite familiar with my background working with two prior administrations in different roles, and also their transitions. "And while that was the impetus, we talked about a number of things, but I was also clear about what I think is important, what I care about, what I think is what I'm willing to speak up about when it comes to our values of what I think represent this great country," he said. Advertisement Emanuel often talks about his need to keep private conversations with presidents and other officials. "It can also be, if you do it wrong, the last phone call you have," the mayor said. Without getting into specifics, Emanuel tried to send the message that he stood up to Trump, who has been calling big-city mayors around the country and is scheduled to meet with Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser on Tuesday. "You know he's talked to Mayor de Blasio. You know he's talked to Mayor Garcetti. I had a conversation with him, and I was, I'm familiar with talking to presidents and I was upfront and direct," said Emanuel, referring to the mayors of New York and Los Angeles. Emanuel said he talked to Trump about Chicago being a sanctuary city, a status the mayor repeatedly has promised to defend since the election in light of Trump's campaign pledge to deport millions of people in the country illegally. In Chicago, laws prohibit government workers and police officers from asking about residents' immigration status. "We talked about a range of things he was interested in, and a range of things that I wanted to be clear about that I think we all believe in, care about, because this is a great city," Emanuel said. "And as you know, he's an investor in this city. He's an investor in this city that is also, let me be clear, a sanctuary city. And there's a reason it's a sanctuary city." During his campaign, Trump promoted get-tough tactics like stop-and-frisk to deal with violence and often singled out Chicago in his speeches as a city where crime is rampant. For their part, Chicago aldermen last month voted to remove an honorary "Trump Plaza" sign outside the then-GOP nominee's eponymous River North tower on Wabash Avenue in retaliation for those comments on Chicago violence and Trump's deportation pledge. Emanuel's comments on Trump came as aldermen Monday advanced a nonbinding resolution he sponsored reaffirming Chicago's sanctuary city status and another resolution condemning hateful speech and violent actions against Muslims, immigrants and people of color. Advertisement The resolution states that the city "categorically rejects political tactics that use fear to manipulate voters or to gain power or influence" and commits to ensuring "those targeted on the basis of race, religion or immigration status can turn to government without fear and recrimination." Approval of the resolution came after nearly two hours of testimony from Muslims and Arab-Americans who said people have felt freer to target them in the wake of the election of Trump, who has called for a halt to immigration by people of the Muslim faith. Pakistani immigrant Hira Siddiqui, a junior at Amundsen High School and member of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, said that as vote tallies came in on election night, "I felt my heart sink. I realized that our president would be one who ran a campaign that told people they should hate and fear others from my religious background. The day after, Siddiqui said, she was shoved by a woman on a bus, contending that was a sign "that people were beginning to act on Islamophobia in their hearts, and the Muslim community was already being targeted." Ald. Scott Waguespack, who sponsored the ordinance, said after the meeting that aldermen in Chicago and other urban locales began to talk about such declarations during the summer, as Trump's election effort gathered steam. "It was his campaign, but the lack of pushback from the Republican Party at the national level as well," said Waguespack, 32nd. "It was sort of building up over the summer." Advertisement jebyrne@chicagotribune.com hdardick@chicagotribune.com Democrat Susana Mendoza is sworn into office as Illinois comptroller at the state Capitol on Dec. 5, 2016, in Springfield. With Mendoza are her mother, Susana, left, her husband, David M. Szostak and son David Q. Szostak. (Seth Perlman / AP) SPRINGFIELD Democrat Susana Mendoza was sworn in Monday as state comptroller during a small ceremony at the Capitol, asking for patience and prayers as she takes office with lllinois' pile of unpaid bills topping $10.4 billion. Mendoza said she will use her role overseeing the state's checkbook to "safeguard the interests of the state's most vulnerable people," a goal that will be no small feat as Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats who control the Legislature remain deadlocked on a budget. The nearly two-year-long stalemate has led to a huge spike in debt as court orders and laws still require the comptroller to cut checks for some key services even if there's no money in state coffers to cover the costs. Advertisement "I ask you to please bear with me, this is going to be tough," Mendoza warned. "Keep me in your prayers as I take on what will be the most challenging experience of my lifetime." She pointed to the sea of red ink, noting that the state's failure to pay bills affects businesses small and large and the people they have been hired to serve. Advertisement "Let's start by the fact that we're looking at almost $11 billion in bill backlogs, but that's not just $11 billion. That $11 billion signifies people who need us to do the right thing for them. They are not numbers on a spreadsheet, they are stories of people's lives and how people are hurting in this state," Mendoza said. Mendoza won the seat in November, defeating Republican Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger, who Rauner appointed to the post following the death of Judy Baar Topinka shortly after she won another term in office in 2014. Now, Mendoza will face re-election in two years. With her victory last month, Democrats now control every statewide office except that of Rauner and his lieutenant governor. Mendoza, though, vowed to carry on Topinka's reputation for working across the aisle and frequently referenced their friendship throughout her speech. Mendoza wore a red suit with gold buttons that was formerly owned by Topinka and took the oath of office with her hand on the Topinka family Bible. The ceremony marks Mendoza's return to Springfield, where she served as a House lawmaker from 2001 to 2011 until she was elected Chicago city clerk. Mayor Rahm Emanuel will name Mendoza's clerk replacement. Despite her status as a former lawmaker, Mendoza said she hoped her former colleagues in the Legislature understand her decision to continue a Munger policy that's held up their paychecks for several months. In April, an election-seeking Munger announced that legislative salaries would no longer be among the first bills paid each month, sending them to the back of the queue alongside nonprofits and other businesses waiting to get paid. A group of Democratic lawmakers sued last week in an effort to speed up their paychecks, saying the move violated the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branch. Munger called the suit "cowardly" and questioned the timing, noting the office was soon to be "led by one of their own." On Monday, Rauner called on Democrats to drop the legal challenge, calling it "an insult to the taxpayers of Illinois." Advertisement The governor said the effort was a "rigged deal," pointing to one of the lawmakers' attorneys, Michael Kasper, a Democratic lawyer with long-standing ties to House Speaker Michael Madigan. Rauner called upon Mendoza to hire outside counsel instead of relying on representation from Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who is the speaker's daughter. "Pretty clearly, this is an orchestrated effort. It's clearly coordinated," Rauner said. "It's not fair to taxpayers. And frankly, it's not fair to our government service recipients. Why should legislator pay be put ahead of our human services funds? Why should legislator pay be put ahead of our school funding?" Mendoza has said the delay will continue unless she is ordered otherwise by a court, and she said she also will put her personal paychecks at the end of the line. Asked if Democrats should drop their suit, Mendoza said legislators "make valid points." "However, I make a very valid point that the state of Illinois is in its worst fiscal crisis right now," Mendoza said. "Not because I want to villainize legislators, I clearly don't. I think a lot of them work very hard. However, we are public servants and in this fiscal crisis we need to make sure we prioritize the right people first." Mendoza said blame for the budget impasse falls on Rauner and Democrats alike. But she echoed a leading Democratic argument that the economic agenda the governor has made a condition of a budget deal should be considered separately from any spending plan. She called on all sides to work together to reach an agreement, before saying that Munger's administration did not provide any help with the transition. Advertisement Munger said last week that she did not meet with Mendoza but their staffs had been in talks. Munger contended that Mendoza was trying to put political workers on the state payroll before she took office. Still, Mendoza said she was not going to dwell on the past, tearing up as she talked about the path ahead. "I am so proud to have the opportunity to lead you, and I hope that when my day is over here you will have been proud of me as well," Mendoza said. "We're going to get out of this, and we're going to do it together. And Illinois will see brighter days ahead." Chicago Tribune's Kim Geiger contributed from Chicago. mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com Police surround Comet Ping Pong, a pizza restaurant that was the subject of a fake news story claiming it was the center of a child sex ring orchestrated by Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief, John Podesta, after a man with an assault rifle entered the restaurant in Washington, DC, on Dec. 4, 2016. (JIM LO SCALZO / EPA) A North Carolina man was arrested Sunday after he walked into a popular pizza restaurant in northwest Washington carrying an assault rifle and fired one or more shots, D.C. police said. The man told police he had come to the restaurant to "self-investigate" a false election-related conspiracy theory involving Hillary Clinton that spread online during her presidential campaign. Advertisement The incident caused panic, with several businesses going into lockdown as police swarmed the neighborhood after receiving the call shortly before 3 p.m. Police said 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch, of Salisbury, North Carolina, walked in the front door of Comet Ping Pong and pointed a firearm in the direction of a restaurant employee. The employee was able to flee and notify police. Police said Welch proceeded to discharge the rifle inside the restaurant; they think that all other occupants had fled when Welch began shooting. Advertisement Welch has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. Police said there were no reported injuries. Interim D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said police arrived on the scene minutes after the first call, set up a perimeter and safely arrested Welch about 45 minutes after he entered the restaurant. Police recovered two firearms inside the restaurant; an additional weapon was recovered in Welch's car. Vivek Jain, of Potomac, Maryland, was eating lunch inside Banana Leaf, a nearby Indian restaurant, when Comet patrons came rushing inside. He said Banana Leaf was locked down for about 90 minutes. "A bunch of people ran in from Comet and said a man walked in with a gun," Jain said. About 45 minutes later, he said, he saw a man walking backward out into the street with his hands in the air. "He laid down on Connecticut Avenue and he was immediately picked up by the police and taken away," he said. The popular family restaurant, near Connecticut and Nebraska avenues NW in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of D.C., was swept up in the onslaught of fake news and conspiracy theories that were prevalent during the presidential campaign. Advertisement The restaurant, its owner, staff and nearby businesses have been attacked on social media and received death threats. Although police initially said it did not appear the incident was related to the threats, businesses and residents immediately surmised it might be connected to "pizzagate." James Alefantis, the owner of Comet Ping Pong, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Sunday. The restaurant's owner and employees were threatened on social media in the days before the election after fake news stories circulated claiming that then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief were running a child sex ring from the restaurant's backrooms. Even Michael Flynn, a retired general whom President-elect Donald Trump has tapped to advise him on national security, shared stories about another anti-Clinton conspiracy theory involving pedophilia. None of them were true. But the fake stories and threats persisted, some even aimed at children of Comet Ping Pong employees and patrons. The restaurant's owner was forced to contact the FBI, local police, Facebook and other social-media platforms in an effort to remove the articles. Last month, citing its policy against posting the personal information of others, Reddit banned the "pizzagate" topic. Advertisement But it didn't stop the harassment, and nearby businesses have received threats as well, according to police. On Sunday, Washington Post reporters involved in this article were the target of online threats shortly after it posted. Matt Carr, the owner of the Little Red Fox market and coffee shop, which is next door to Comet Ping Pong, said his business started getting threats last weekend. They got 30 to 40 calls before they stopped answering calls from blocked numbers, he said. "One person said he wanted to line us up in front of a firing squad," said Carr, who spent more than an hour in lockdown with his employees Sunday. The threats were all tied to the Comet Ping Pong accusations online, he said. "There's some old painted-over symbol on the marquee that they claim is an international symbol of pedophilia and that there are underground tunnels. ... There's some video on YouTube that has almost 100,000 views and talks about me, the owner of the Little Red Fox, by name. "This was our worst fear," he said, "that someone would read all this and come to the block with a gun. And today it happened." Politics and Prose, the bookstore that has been a Washington institution and neighborhood fixture for more than 30 years, was in the middle of a book event when attendees and staff saw police converging on the block, said Bradley Graham, a store co-owner. They, too, had received threats recently, Graham said, and were planning to meet with police Monday "because we had feared that what, up to now, had been simply despicable menacing verbal attacks online or on the phone might escalate." Advertisement Graham said he was told that the gunman walked into the kitchen at Comet Ping Pong on Sunday, "presumably looking for the alleged tunnels" where children were hidden and tortured. Graham believes that account of the gunman's actions came from an employee at the restaurant. He said the businesses are hoping to get more police protection, "and we would also hope that law enforcement authorities will be prompted to take additional measures to shut down the sites where this hateful material is being spread, and also measures to try to trace the menacing phone calls. " . . . We're all rather shaken," he said. "Political figures have the means to deal with conspiratorial allegations and threats, but your neighborhood mom and pop shop does not," Carr said later in an email. "I make coffee and breakfast burritos for a living. This is out of our league." D.C. Council member Mary Cheh was getting gas down the street from Comet Ping Pong and saw what she described as intense police activity around the restaurant. Cheh said she spoke with Mayor Muriel Bowser, who had been briefed by police. At the time she spoke to reporters, Cheh didn't know the gunman's actions were connected to the false rumors surrounding Comet Ping Pong, but she was concerned. "It's very, very worrisome," Cheh said. "I'm just very worried that [the rumors] may have unleashed people who are unstable to pursue violent action, as has happened before." Advertisement She praised the speed of the police response, which she said may have prevented an attack. "It all looked so efficient and professional. I was very pleased it was locked down so quickly." Gareth Wade, 47, and Doug Clarke, 50, were sitting down for pizza and beer at Comet when they spotted a commotion. All of a sudden, said Wade, "the server said someone just walked in with a shotgun. "A man had just walked into the building, passed us into the back of the building, he seemed to have a shotgun or a rifle-type of [gun] and said we ought to vacate the building," Wade recalled the server saying. They rushed out of the restaurant and had planned to head to Politics and Prose, where Clarke's wife and 5-year-old took shelter, but they got separated. Clarke and Wade were met by a heavy police presence when they attempted to join up. "Police said you can't go to the bookstore," Wade said. They ended up behind a nearby police barricade. Clarke's wife and son were forced to remain inside the bookstore. Meanwhile, Clarke was trying to reunite his son with a present he had received for his fifth birthday, a stuffed lion that they were forced to leave inside the restaurant. "He's kind of shaken up about the whole thing," Clarke said. "We've been talking a lot about it and trying to help him understand. That he was a man with a weapon, weapons are bad - he was not a nice person." Advertisement --- Steve Hendrix and Valerie Strauss contributed to this report. This July 29, 2016, file booking photo made available by the Boone County Jail in Burlington, Ky., shows Christopher Lee Cornell of Green Township in suburban Cincinnati. Federal authorities say Cornell, who plotted to attack the U.S. Capitol during President Barack Obama's 2015 State of the Union address, kept trying from behind bars to incite others to violence in support of the Islamic State. (Boone County Jail / AP) CINCINNATI A 22-year-old Ohio man accused of plotting to attack the U.S. Capitol in support of the Islamic State group shouted out his support of Allah after being sentenced to 30 years in prison. A federal judge Monday also sentenced Christopher Lee Cornell of suburban Cincinnati to lifetime probation after his sentence. Advertisement As he was led out of the courtroom, Cornell shouted: "Allah is in control, not this judge!" The FBI arrested Cornell in January 2015. He pleaded guilty to three charges, including attempted murder of U.S. officials and employees. Court documents show Cornell said he wanted to attack during President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. Advertisement Cornell's attorneys argued for a shorter sentence, saying he has rejected "radical Islamic propaganda." Associated Press Last December, Republicans and advocates for education practitionersincluding teachers unionsteamed up to shrink the federal footprint on K-12 education, with the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act . The law maintained some guardrails for historically disadvantaged groups of students but not nearly as many as some in the civil rights community would have liked. And it included some pretty big blows for reform-minded Democrats, such as a section restricting the U.S. Secretary of Educations role on teacher evaluation, standards, school turnarounds and more. Those provisions read like a personal rebuke to former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who stretched his executive muscles using waivers and competitive grants. Teachers unions, who were also pretty annoyed at Duncan for using federal authority to push policies like teacher evaluation tied to test scores, didnt seem put off by those prohibitions. In fact, the National Education Association gave the provisions chief architect, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a Friend of Education award, along with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash ., his partner on ESSA. Flash forward one year later: Donald Trump, who said he wants to direct $20 billion in federal funding to a giant school choice program , has been elected president. And hes picked an education secretary, billionaire donor Betsy DeVos, who has been advocating for school choice for decadesa sign hes serious about the proposal. Meanwhile, Alexander and many other Republican leaders in Congress have made no secret of the fact that they think vouchers are good policy. In fact, Alexander introduced a proposal for a Pell Grants for Kids program that would essentially accomplish what Trump pitched on the campaign trail, allowing states to take billions in federal funding and direct it to school choice programs, including private school choice. Alexander tried to make the program a part of ESSA, but couldnt get it past procedural hurdles in the Senate, in part because of opposition from school groups. So does a big voucher push mean the honeymoon between school groups and the GOP is over? I dont think it should be, said a Senate GOP aide. The answer is you work with each other when you agree and you work against each other when you dont. Republicans and advocates for practitioners were on the same page when it came to a lot of whats in ESSA, the aide said. And, in the aides view, nothing has changed there. In fact, if Trumps secretary of education takes federal authority too far and tries to mandate particular prioritiesincluding vouchersthrough regulation, GOP lawmakers are probably not going to be very happy. I dont know that Republicans in Congress would put up with that, the aide said. Theres no role in mandating vouchers unless we pass a new bill. Unless and until that happens, the real K-12 action is now with the states, the aide said. The K-12 era [in Washington] is over. Congress will move on to higher ed and early ed, the aide said. And on ESSA? I bet Betsy DeVos is going to approve every state plan that comes to her. Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, says she expects that there will still be common ground on ESSA implementation. And shes hoping GOP lawmakers will resist the temptation to act on Trumps voucher program. Most Congress members who voted for the bill remain in office, and if they continue to follow the will of the voters, the coalition will remain focused on supporting our public schools and the 90 percent of Americas children who attend them, said Weingarten in an email. This is a gut check for Congress about what its members believe in: a populist agenda for strong public schools, or an ideological fixation on a 25-year voucher experiment that makes Wall Street and private school advocates more money, but has never had an effect on student success. But Jack Jennings, a long-time aide to Democrats on the House education committee, thinks that the unions and other groups representing district officials will have their hands full fighting vouchersand they probably wont be able to turn to their sometime-GOP allies for help. Anyone who is in favor of public education is going to have a fight and a half on their hands the next couple years, he said. The Republicans control everying, so its going to be difficult to stop them, particularly if a GOP president and education secretary are leading the charge. Both the National Education Association and the AFT quickly threw cold water on Trumps selection of DeVos . And that may have been a tactical error, said Andy Smarick, a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, a think tank. (DeVos is on the organizations board and has donated to it.) After all, a hefty chunk of NEA and AFT members voted for Trump . The unions could have decided to rethink their views on school choice in light of that, Smarick said. But they didnt. They played this exactly according to script, he said. There was an opening, and now it feel like that door is shut. On the flip side, though, Trumps electionand a big school choice pitchmay bring together groups that found themselves at odds on issues like accountability, testing, and spending rules. If the Trump administration pushes hard to allow federal money to be used for vouchers, advocates for teachers, superintendents, and other practitioners are almost certain to find common cause with civil rights advocates. A full attack on public education is a great way to unify a diverse constituency that represents almost all children in the country, said Liz King, the director of education policy for the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. The level of the threat that we perceive to be in the works at the moment is going to call for new alliances and partnerships and building a broader opposition. An attack on public education is bad for the civil rights community, bad for educators, bad for students, and bad for the economic future of the country. Noelle Ellerson Ng, the associate executive director of policy and advocacy for AASA, the School Superintendents Association, which worked closely with Republicans on ESSA but vehemently opposes vouchers, said shes ready to team up with whomever she needs to in order to fight Trumps proposal. And she wont be surprised to find herself strategizing over the next few months with groups that were on the opposite side of the negotiating table on issues like accountability and wonky regulations governing supplement-not-supplant during negotiations over ESSAs development and implementation. We have no forever friends and no forever enemies, Ellerson Ng said. And, because everyone in Congress has a public school in his or her district, every [member of Congress] is fair game. Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 . Police officers stand on Fifth Avenue across from East Aurora High School Friday afternoon, near where police say two students were stabbed durng a fight. (The Beacon-News / Hannah Leone) Two East Aurora High School students have been charged with attempted murder in connection to the stabbing of two other students Friday afternoon across from the school. The students, both Aurora boys ages 15 and 16, have been charged as juveniles with attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery and mob action, police said in a news release Monday. Advertisement The 15-year-old was also charged with armed violence with a knife. Both boys were taken Friday to the Kane County Youth Home in St. Charles, police said. The charges stem from a fight police said occurred at 2:15 p.m. on the 800 block of Fifth Avenue, on the north side of the street across from the school. Advertisement Monday morning, students were searched for weapons with security wands as they entered East Aurora High School and district administrative staff, including the two interim superintendents, were at the school as students entered, school board President Annette Johnson said. In a statement, interim superintendents Mark McDonald and Marion Hoyda said in addition to the wands, there was also increased adult presence in the hallways at the school and additional police officers on campus. Parents were notified of the extra security measures via robocall yesterday. Nothing was found during the searches. "We believed the incident on Friday alarmed many students, parents and staff," McDonald said in an email. "We believe East High is a safe school environment; we wanted to make a statement through our actions about going above and beyond to address any fears and concerns among our students and staff." Police on Friday said everyone involved in the fight were East Aurora students. The 15-year-old charged is accused of taking out a knife and stabbing two 16-year-old Aurora boys during the fight, police said. One boy received "multiple" stab wounds, and the other was stabbed at least twice, according to police. The two students who were stabbed ran about one block west, where police found them. Aurora Fire Department paramedics arrived and took them to an Aurora hospital, where they were treated for wounds believed to be non-life-threatening, police said. The teens charged in the stabbing ran east on Fifth Avenue to Smith Boulevard, then ran north, police said Friday. Police took the teens into custody without incident near Ohio Street and Harriet Avenue about seven minutes after the initial call reporting the fight, they said Monday. Police said they recovered a knife from the 15-year-old. The two who were stabbed were part of a five-person group, three of whom ran away after the fight, police said. All of the teens involved had left school early and had been involved in a verbal altercation inside the school earlier in the day, police said. Detectives said the fight appears to have been motivated by the earlier verbal altercation. Police said they believe the incident is gang-related. Advertisement Dozens of Aurora police officers responded to the area after the fight was reported. The high school was placed on a soft lockdown Friday while police conducted their preliminary investigation. The fight and stabbing happened while school was still in session, according to police. Johnson said she is seeking attendance records for the students because they were not in school during school hours. She said the district was already working to address attendance problems among some students by setting up a mentorship program. A high school discipline team, which will likely address truancy, is also in the works, she said. "Ninety-eight percent of (students) are good," she said. "But unfortunately, there are a few that get in trouble, and I do know that we are looking at other ways to address that population." The administration will investigate the situation and "issue consequences to the students involved," McDonald said. Any investigation by the high school administration will take place after the police investigation has ended, he said. The fight was not captured on video, Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said. McDonald said the high school has cameras outside, but they don't cover areas that far across the street. Advertisement Police said there were no further acts of violence or threats inside or outside the school Friday. McDonald said there could be additional precautions at the high school in the coming days, but high school administrators will determine the specific measures based on the needs of the staff and students. hleone@tribpub.com sfreishtat@tribpub.com Twitter @hannahmleone, @srfreish Cross maker Greg Zanis is making a cross for every person killed due to gun violence in Chicago in 2016. Zanis plans to hold a vigil Dec. 31, 2016. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune) Even for Greg Zanis, the number of homicides in Chicago this year recently topping 700 is staggering. "It's hard to keep up with the number of people killed in Chicago from the night before," he said. "How much hate is out there?" Advertisement Zanis, 66, of Aurora, has made a name for himself building crosses and taking them to sites of mass killings. Earlier this year, he built 49 crosses and took them to Orlando, Fla., to honor the victims of the mass shooting there outside a nightclub. Now, Zanis is tackling by far the biggest project of his life building a cross for every person killed in Chicago in 2016. Advertisement "We all know the numbers. It's horrific. It is a war zone," he said. "We hear people say the homicide rate and shootings are unacceptable and we need to do something about it. This is my way of doing something." The crosses will be placed in a 4,500-square-foot vacant lot at 5539 S. Bishop St. in Chicago, with a vigil planned at noon Dec. 31 to honor those killed in the city in 2016. The lot was donated by a Chicago woman who wants to remain anonymous, Zanis said. The lot is not the only donation Zanis has received for the project. Another anonymous donor is supplying the wood enough to build a three-car garage to make the crosses, he said. The quality of the lumber, he said, is top-grade. He's used to using repurposed lumber from crates or fencing or anything else he can find. He's used to funding projects out of his own income. "I have been offered small amounts of lumber but nothing like this," he said. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 7 Greg Zanis, 66, makes a cross at his home in Aurora on Dec. 6, 2016. Zanis is making over 700 crosses for each of the homicide victims this year in Chicago. The crosses will be placed in a 4,500-square-foot vacant lot at 5539 S. Bishop St. in Chicago, with a vigil planned at noon Dec. 31 to honor those killed. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune) Zanis has cut wood for the first 465 crosses and their bases. He recently assembled 30 of the crosses with the name of the victim on the crossbar in black marker, along with their age and date of their death. He also affixes red hearts to the crosses. "People have loved the hearts it opens the conversation," he said. He plans to deliver 100 crosses at a time to the site in his pickup truck. Zanis said the idea of doing a cross project in Chicago makes sense. Advertisement "It's been on my mind to do Chicago ever since Orlando," he said. "People keep asking me to have a presence in Chicago." Aurora resident Greg Zanis is building crosses to represent each of the people killed in Chicago in 2016. (Linda Girardi / The Beacon-News) He said his motivation is simple for the Chicago project. "We need to show that we love one another," he said. It was a personal tragedy that set Zanis on his cross-building mission. He was a luxury custom home builder until his father-in-law, Ralph K. Stadler, 71, was shot and killed in his office on the 600 block of Jungles Avenue in Aurora during an armed robbery in 1996. A few months later, 6-year old Nico Contreras, of Aurora, was fatally shot in a gang-related shooting while sleeping at his grandparents' home. Nico's mother asked Zanis to build a memorial cross for her son, and at that moment he found his purpose in life, he said. Zanis has traveled the country since then placing thousands of markers at the sites of murders and tragedies. Now Chicago is the site of his latest mission. He said he's received requests from some Chicago churches interested in having the crosses he makes on display next year. He's hoping the crosses will have a different home each month in 2017. Advertisement "Ideally I would like a major venue in the city to display the crosses for each month. I think the city would be embarrassed," he said. "Even more ideal would be if one of the city's ballparks would allow me to place the crosses in stadium seats that would be a dramatic expression it would make people wake up in the rest of the world." He hopes the crosses make people think about the ongoing violence in Chicago. "I feel a tour of the crosses is necessary. They will show how really bad it has gotten in Chicago," he said. "I am trying to make this a visual expression that we need help. I don't know what help we need, but we need it in Chicago." Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News Area residents attend an open house on the possible expandion of Deerfield Road on Nov. 30, 2016 in Buffalo Grove. (Steve Sadin / Pioneer Press) Improvements to the frequently congested section of Deerfield Road between Milwaukee Avenue and Saunders Road are on the agenda at the Lake County Department of Transportation. The department gathered input from residents of communities that will be impacted by the future work at an open house on Nov. 30 at Aptakisic Junior High School in Buffalo Grove. The feedback is part of a study that's being conducted during the initial engineering phase of the project. Advertisement When a thoroughfare has average daily traffic of more than 15,000 vehicles, it is time to look at ways to ease the flow, according to Chuck Gleason, the project's manager. "That's the red flag," Gleason said. "The average traffic here is almost 20,000. That's the sign we have to do something." Advertisement Gleason said the possibilities include everything from adding a third lane for turning to building a five-lane road with two lanes going in each direction and a fifth for turns along the route. Expanded intersections, sidewalks and bicycle lanes are also a possibility, he said. The open house drew more than 100 people during the first hour, officials said. Sid Mathias, a Buffalo Grove resident and member of the Lake County Board, said residents from his town use Deerfield Road to access the Interstate 94. The road often comes to a crawl during rush hour, he said. "It's bumper-to-bumper every afternoon," Mathias said. "When they cross Milwaukee Avenue it opens up." Deerfield Parkway, the name of the road once it goes west of Milwaukee Avenue, became four lanes along that stretch years ago, said Lake County Treasurer David Stolman. Stolman, a Buffalo Grove resident, said those living in the middle of the village must go north to Half Day Road or south to Lake Cook Road for tollway access if they want to avoid the traffic on Deerfield Road. Mathias said taking Deerfield Road to Interstate 94 also provides better access for Buffalo Grove residents to the Edens Expressway, by using the spur ramp to access the Edens. "They don't have to deal with all the lights on Lake Cook Road that way," Mathias said. Advertisement Riverwoods Mayor John Norris, who was also at the open house, wants to see the wooded tranquillity of his village preserved as much as possible, but recognizes the fact that change is most likely imminent. "I'd like to find a way to keep it a two-lane wooded road and get rid of the traffic," Norris said. "Some of my residents can't get in and out of their driveways. Something has to be done." For Norris, the solution is to work with the county to lessen the environmental impact of any road widening. While Mathias talks about easier access on Half Day and Lake Cook Roads, Norris said he does not like the way those projects turned out aesthetically. "I want to work with the county on the streetscape," Norris said. "I want to see trees and bushes to dampen the noise. I don't want it to be loud like Lake Cook Road." The project is a year away from any specific plans where costs can be calculated, according to Gleason. He said options will be presented next fall and studied in full before a final plan is proposed in the spring of 2019. After that, detailed plans will be drawn and necessary land acquired. If things go according to schedule, construction could take place in 2022, Gleason said. Advertisement Steve Sadin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press. The holiday season got off to a good start Friday in Clarendon Hills when the Chamber of Commerce hosted the popular annual Christmas Walk. A few hundred people visited the village's downtown area for an evening that started at Village Hall with Christmas carols being sung and a tree lighting. From there, events ran until 9 p.m. and include a strolling mime, roasted chestnuts, candied nuts, horse-drawn carriage rides, Victorian carolers, an ice sculptor and a visit in the Sloan Triangle from Santa, who had a long line waiting for his 7 p.m. arrival. Advertisement "We put on this event as a thank you for our village, just to thank people for shopping down here." said Laura Marquardt, president of the Clarendon Hills Chamber of Commerce. Sahil Patel had a good time with his four children. Advertisement "It's a very friendly environment, and I get to know more and more people each year," Patel said. "The kids have a good time running around." Kristin and Joe Herndon took advantage of the Christmas Walk for a family outing with their daughter, Brianna, 2. "It's nice. It's the whole community coming out," Kristin Herndon said. "You see your neighbors here and can really enjoy the small-town charm." Chris Moon said was there with his wife, Courtney, and children, Madelyn, 5, and Owen, 2. "I'm usually deer hunting when they have this, but it's a nice family event," Moon said, noting that his children were excited about the carriage rides and seeing Santa. Adam Szymanski has lived in Clarendon Hills for five years and attended with his children, Linus, 6, and Hugo, 3. "I like walking around and singing Christmas carols," Linus said. Chamber officials accepted canned food items for food pantry donations throughout the evening. Advertisement The holiday season continues in Clarendon Hills with a park district contest. The organization has scrapped its competition to find the house in the village with the best holiday decorations, instead planning a "best snowman" contest. The park district is accepting photos of snowmen built by residents from Dec. 1 through Feb. 28, and will announce a winner in March 2017. Entry photos may be dropped off at the park district office, 315 Chicago Ave., or emailed to Valerie Louthan, recreation supervisor, at valeriel@clarendonhillsparkdistrict.org. cfieldman@pioneerlocal.com Twitter @chuckwriting Rashad Williams has been arrested in connection with the killing of a Canadian National Railroad security guard in Harvey, according to police. (Harvey Police Department / Handout) A man wanted in last month's killing of a Canadian National Railroad security guard in Harvey was arrested Sunday night in Chicago Heights, police said. Rashad Williams, 24, was stopped about 8:30 p.m. by police who were following him after he left a grocery store in Chicago Heights, according to Harvey police spokesman Sean Howard. Advertisement Williams allegedly was armed when he was arrested and told police he was prepared for a shootout, but he was unable to draw his gun before being apprehended, Howard said. A warrant for Williams' arrest was issued last week. Howard said the Cook County state's attorney's office on Monday was reviewing the case. A spokesman for the state's attorney's office said it was possible Williams would appear in court Tuesday. Williams has prior convictions that include at least one weapons offense, authorities said. Advertisement Investigators say Williams shot and killed 38-year-old Tyrone Hardin on Nov. 26, an incident caught on surveillance video. Howard said tips from the public and the offer of a reward helped police find Williams. "One particular call led us to Chicago Heights," Howard said. Howard said police knew Williams was going to the grocery store in Chicago Heights, but they did not try to arrest him there because of possible danger to bystanders. A couple of plainclothes officers followed Williams into the store, and he departed with a couple of bags of groceries. Officers then followed him in several unmarked cars and stopped Williams as he was walking about a block from the store on Lincoln Highway. "He had no idea he was being followed," Howard said. "He was very irate and said no jail cell was going to keep him down." Williams has addresses in East Hazel Crest and Park Forest, police said. Hardin, of Merrillville, Ind., was fatally shot Nov. 26 while working on Canadian National Railway property in the 15800 block of West Avenue, officials said. Hardin was pronounced dead later at Advocate South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest, according to the medical examiner's office. Advertisement Hardin was working as a contracted security guard for Canadian National Railroad when he was killed as Williams was fleeing officers, authorities said. "By all accounts, Tyrone Hardin was a great man," Harvey Police Chief Denard Eaves said last week. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > Hardin's stepdaughter, Sharell Oliver, 26, of Gary, said last week Hardin took his security job seriously and took pride in his work. During a news conference last week, police confirmed that Williams allegedly also shot at, but did not hit, a second person in the same incident. They declined to comment on details about the second person. Hardin had been working for the Hazel Crest company Gideon's 300 Security Services for a year and a half, according to a statement from company president Lawrence Moore. The company was contracted by Canadian National. Harvey police had been pursuing a stolen vehicle when it crashed in the area of 159th Street and Park Avenue. The driver got out and ran on top of a viaduct, which led to an area belonging to Canadian National, Howard said previously. The driver then came in contact with Hardin and shot him several times in the abdomen, Howard said. Advertisement After shooting the security guard, the man got on a railroad car headed south. Near 171st Street, he jumped from the rail car and ran away from authorities, Howard said. Hardin's wake is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, followed by a funeral at 11 a.m. in Harvey Church of Christ, 15246 Marshfield Ave. Freelance reporter Nick Swedberg and Post-Tribune freelancer Michelle L. Quinn contributed. The Greenville, Miss., superintendent has been fired, allegedly in connection with his handling of a case involving a teacher who pulled a special education student by her hair across a gymnasium, according to the Associated Press. On Friday, the board said that it was firing Superintendent Leeson Taylor immediately and had turned down his appeal to keep his job. The district said that recent events, referring to the October incident, have raised concerns among the public about the districts ability to properly safeguard students. Taylor was put on paid leave in October when a video emerged showing a teacher pulling a special education student across the gym floor at Greenville High School. Taylor was to appear before the school board on Nov. 29 to explain his handling of the incident, according to Mississippi Today. Among the questions that the board had was whether Taylor notified the board in a timely manner. State law requires that incidents of child abuse be reported within 10 days, the paper said. The teacher involved in the incident, Linda Winters-Johnson, has been fired, and she was indicted in late November on a misdemeanor charge of abusing a vulnerable person , the AP said. The state could also revoke or suspend Winters-Johnsons educator license. She is scheduled for a Dec. 7 hearing before the state Board of Education, according to the AP. Taylors lawyer told the Associated Press that the school board was attempting to create an impression that it was kept in the dark about the incident until the video went viral. Thats just not true, the attorney, Brandon Dorsey told the news agency. He said Taylor might sue the school board. The Oak Lawn Chuck E. Cheese has been the scene of numerous arrests and violent incidents in recent years and village officials are mulling whether to revoke its business license. (Zak Koeske / Daily Southtown) A motorist was shot Saturday night near the Evergreen Park-Oak Lawn border shortly after reportedly leaving a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant that has for years been plagued by fights and disorderly behavior, authorities said. Within minutes of the shooting, which occurred around 9 p.m., Evergreen Park police responded to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where a victim reported that he had been shot in the area of 95th and South Pulaski Road, according to an Evergreen Park Police Department news release. Advertisement The victim, a Chicago resident, told police he had just left the Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant, 4031 W. 95th St. in Oak Lawn, and was driving east on 95th near Springfield Avenue in Evergreen Park when a person in a black Jeep-like vehicle also traveling east fired shots at him, according to the release. The wounded motorist, who was able to drive himself to the nearby hospital, was treated for injuries to his lip and lower back, and released, police said. The car's three passengers, two of whom were juveniles, were not hurt, Evergreen Park Police Capt. Peter Donovan said. Advertisement The victim would not comment further on the incident to police and said he would not sign a criminal complaint. Both Evergreen Park and Oak Lawn police are investigating the incident, which could pose problems for the troubled Oak Lawn Chuck E. Cheese's. Since 2011, Oak Lawn police have responded to more than 300 calls and made more than two dozen arrests at the 95th Street restaurant, mostly for battery and disorderly conduct, according to village data. Village trustees had considered taking disciplinary action against the business following a violent incident inside the restaurant this August, but instead decided after meeting with company executives who promised additional safety enhancements to form a committee composed of village officials and residents to monitor developments over the next six to eight months before making any decisions. Saturday's shooting, which occurred before the newly-formed advisory committee had even met, apparently is accelerating the trustees' timetable to consider action. Trustee Terry Vorderer, a former Oak Lawn Police patrol chief who represents the district where the restaurant is located, said Monday that the village board would hold a special meeting Wednesday night to consider initiating the revocation of the business' license. "I don't know how to resolve their problems," he said. "But I do know their problems are affecting the security and safety of my community, so I can only take this measure to resolve it." Vorderer said he asked Mayor Sandra Bury to call the special meeting after confirming with police Monday that the victim had indeed left Chuck E. Cheese's moments before his car was fired upon. Advertisement He said he would make a motion at Wednesday's meeting to initiate the revocation process, and hopes other trustees would support him to that end. An identical motion failed by a 3-2 vote in October, when Vorderer declined to support it, saying, "Personally, I don't think [the problems] are going to end, but I feel it's fairer to give this company a fair shot at it." CEC Entertainment, the parent company of Chuck E. Cheese's, released a statement Monday in which it acknowledged the shooting and said it was cooperating with police in their investigation, but denied the restaurant had any connection to the violent incident. "We are aware of the shooting that took place Saturday evening in the Evergreen Park community, several blocks away from our establishment," the company's statement reads. "We have confirmed that there was no altercation or issue at our restaurant and we were not involved in this incident." A spokeswoman for the company did not immediately return a request for comment on the board's decision to begin the disciplinary process against Chuck E. Cheese's. Over the years, the village has worked with CEC Entertainment to enhance safety at the location following violent incidents there. Advertisement CEC has installed surveillance cameras and monitors throughout the establishment, rearranged its interior to increase visibility and sight lines, and added "Rules of Conduct" signage to enhance compliance with restaurant policies. Chuck E. Cheese's also has paid to have multiple Oak Lawn police officers work a security detail inside the restaurant Thursday through Sunday, and in 2014, it voluntarily relinquished its liquor license. Even Kimco, which owns the shopping center, has done its part to improve security at the location enhancing exterior lighting and paying for a police car to sit in the parking lot outside the store, Bury said. Security upgrades made at the Oak Lawn restaurant this fall, following the August incident, included the hiring of an additional off-duty police officer to provide on-site security on weekends; the outfitting of game room attendants in brightly colored vests to make them more identifiable; the enhancement of both interior and exterior lighting; an increase in the prominence of code of conduct messaging; and the repositioning of a number of popular games that had been located side-by-side to decrease the potential for crowding. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > Vorderer said he had not been in touch with CEC Entertainment officials since the shooting, but commended the company for "making every attempt" to resolve the Oak Lawn restaurant's ongoing safety issues. "They have been a very responsible company...and yet these problems continue," said Vorderer, who has felt increasing pressure from residents to "take action to ensure the security of the community." Advertisement "This incident has riled up the community to the point that I have to put it in the hands of the professionals to try and resolve the problem," he said. If the board votes to initiate disciplinary proceedings on Wednesday, the case will move to an adjudicator, who will investigate the situation and make a recommendation to the board, Vorderer said. "He could make a recommendation of no action, suspension of license or a revocation of license, so we'll see how that all plays out," he said, adding that he believes CEC Entertainment will put up a strong fight if the board ultimately votes to revoke the business' license. zkoeske@tribpub.com Twitter @ZakKoeske Perturbed about Petraeus I understand that Donald Trump was looking at former CIA director Donald Petraeus as secretary of state. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Hillary Clinton all beat up because she used a private server for classified information? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Petraeus the one who gave classified information to his girlfriend? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Hillary get all beat up by what happened in Benghazi? Who was the person in charge of the CIA when the Benghazi incident happened? It was Petraeus. Advertisement Trump security too pricey How much taxpayer money will New York City be forced to spend to provide the Trump organization with security services? It will probably cost a million dollars per day. American taxpayers cannot afford this new president. Advertisement Commoners 1, elitists 0 The commoners have awakened and risen. The elites and self-anointed intellectuals have fallen and don't know what to do. Hmmmm. Trump right on voter fraud I seldom agree with Donald Trump, but I have to agree with him when he claims many fraudulent votes were cast in this election. I live surrounded by citizens of Mexico. About half of the adults voted in this election. Their IDs were purchased on the streets of Waukegan, and partisan registrars made it possible. They brag about it. To be honest, you do not have to be a U.S. citizen to vote, just a resident. The rights of citizenship are constantly being eroded. Rights and benefits that used to be reserved for citizens are now routinely given to residents. Lake County News Sun Twice-weekly News updates from Lake County delivered every Monday and Wednesday > No sanctuary here Waukegan is broken. Having illegals and making it a sanctuary city is just wrong. Get them out. You sir are a usurper Donald Trump was elected by a minority of the voters, after an election in which the Republicans probably used voter suppression tactics in many states. Trump must be viewed by intelligent observers as an illegitimate political usurper. Advertisement Twitter @NewsSun Editor's Note Talk of the County is a reader-generated column of opinions. If you see something you disagree with or think is incorrect, please tell us. Call us at 312-222-4554 or email talkofthecounty@tribpub.com. For a continuously updating blog of Talk of the County comments, go to newssunonline.com/talk. A Lake Zurich park board member has been tapped to replace a village trustee who is moving out of the community. Trustee Dan Stanovich, who has served since April 2013, is scheduled to step down Dec. 12 and vacate the remaining four months of his term, village officials said in a news release. Advertisement Stanovich, whose term expires in April 2017, must step down because his family is moving out of Lake Zurich. Trustees must live in Lake Zurich to serve on the village board. "It has been a true honor to serve the community of Lake Zurich over the past three and a half years, but we recently purchased a home in a neighboring community and will be moving out of the village," Stanovich said in a statement. "As a result, I will unfortunately not be able to serve out the remainder of my term as trustee." Advertisement Lake Zurich Village President Tom Poynton was scheduled to recommend longtime Lake Zurich resident Greg Weider as Stanovich's replacement during a board meeting Monday. Weider, who serves on the Lake Zurich Park and Recreation Advisory Board, likely will be sworn in to serve out the remaining months of Stanovich's term during a meeting Dec. 19, village officials said. During his tenure as trustee, Stanovich provided a voice for both residents and local business, Poynton said. "Dan has been a quality public servant and a highly valued member of the team," he said in a statement. "He has been a thoughtful advocate for the residents and businesses of Lake Zurich. I enjoyed his insight and his concerns for different projects." If Weider is appointed to the board, he will serve on it until April 2017, when Lake Zurich voters will be asked to elect someone to the board position for the next four years. Weider, a 20-year resident of the Cambridge Creekside subdivision in Lake Zurich, is the executive director of Fox Valley Hands of Hope in Geneva, which provides support to individuals and families experiencing grief or life-threatening illnesses in Kane and Kendall counties, as well as parts of DuPage County. Weider also has served on the park board since July 2013, village officials said. He is also married and has two children, officials said. Wider received a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point and a master's degree in management from North Park University in Chicago, according to the village. Advertisement Weider did not return requests for comment. Poynton said Weider played an important role on the park board and will likely do the same on the village board. "Greg possesses a high level of professionalism and community spirit," he said. "He has been a high level contributor to the park board, and I am confident that he will do the same for the benefit of the residents and the businesses of Lake Zurich." Phil Rockrohr is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press. Dinky (Tammy Walker) and Santa (Perry Cavitt) are pictured in this scene from "Dinky the Dancing Reindeer," one of three short plays in Child's Play Touring Theatre's production of The Christmas That Almost Wasn't, the first presentation of the Goodman Theatre's new Family Theater Series. (Child's Play Touring Theatre / Handout) What happens when a reindeer can't concentrate on flying lessons or when Santa gets sick or when a witch moves in at the North Pole? "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't," presented by Child's Play Touring Theatre of Chicago, attempts to answer these questions and more with its for-kids, by-kids production. Advertisement Shows are at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday at the theater in Pfeiffer Hall at North Central College in Naperville. Child's Play Touring Theatre got its start in 1978 in Champaign-Urbana by the husband-and-wife team of Victor and June Podagrosi. June Podagrosi kept the company running after her husband's death 21 years ago. She still serves as the executive director. Advertisement "Everything we do is written by children," she said. "Kids write it and adults put it up on the stage. We try to let each piece of writing dictate the form that it takes." The production that's coming to Naperville started out as a writing contest while they were still in Champaign, she said. The assignment was: what could possibly happen that would keep Christmas from coming? What could go wrong? "The first piece is called 'Dinky the Dancing Reindeer,' and it is about a little reindeer who loved to dance, and her dance classes were conflicting with Santa's sleigh rehearsals, and she's getting there late and zigging when she should be zagging," she said. "She really causes chaos when she should be getting her work done. Santa Claus is probably the most patient man in the world but even he has an end to his patience. He calls her into his office and asks what's going on, and she tells him she loves to dance." Santa asks Dinky to show him some dance moves, and she obeys and dances with Santa. "The kids love that," she said. Santa thinks Dinky is pretty good and suggests she change her name to Dancer. "The whole audience sighs at that point," she said. "That's one of our longest-running pieces." Advertisement The next act is called "How Santa Got Well." "Poor Santa doesn't have his glasses on and he mistakes his vitamins for reindeer medicine," she said. Santa has a bad reaction to the reindeer medicine, but when he gets a letter from a little boy on the other side of the world asking for food for Christmas instead of presents, the man in red leaps into action despite his doctor's and Mrs. Claus' warnings. "Santa defies his doctor's orders and says he has to go and see if he can help this kid," she said. He delivers a Christmas bounty, the boy hugs him, and Santa is cured. "The love of a child saves Christmas," she said. "That was the heaviest message as far as trying to communicate something to kids. I feel like if you have an audience, you shouldn't just be entertaining them. There should be something of substance that's there. They should learn something about themselves or their community." Advertisement Even if it's as simple a lesson as the power of love, being responsible or solving a problem, she said. The last piece is "Santa and the Witch." "It's about a witch who moves to the North Pole to get away from the noise of society," Podagrosi said. The witch, angry that no one has ever given her a present, puts a sleeping spell on Santa. This one has plenty of audience participation, and kids solve the problem of how to make the witch like Christmas. With her heart thawed, she releases Santa from the spell, and all is right with the world. Child's Play has several shows in its wheelhouse, many of which are updated and re-written over the years, she said. Advertisement "We could do that with the Christmas show too, but it's so good the way it is," she said. "I guess it's the magic three three solid pieces that really work as far as the arc of the whole show. There's fun and merriment in the beginning, and then it gets serious, and then there's this more in-depth audience participation. The whole show kind of builds on itself." There will be humor for the adults, she said. She hopes families take advantage of a unique play this season. "It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It's not like 'A Christmas Carol' or a 'Nutcracker' where you can see it anywhere, anytime," she said. "It's all original, made up by kids. And it will bring out the kid in you as well as the children you're bringing along. It will really tickle everybody's fancy. It has a wonderful message about love and caring, which we need more than ever now." Annie Alleman is a freelance writer. 'The Christmas That Almost Wasn't' When: 1 p.m. Saturday Advertisement Where: Pfeiffer Hall at North Central College, 310 E. Benton Ave., Naperville Tickets: $6-$12 Information: 630-637-7469 or www.northcentralcollege.edu/show As things stand now, something nearly miraculous has happened: the protesters have won, indigenous people will not be forced at gunpoint to allow a danger to their drinking water that their settler neighbors had rejected, and the pipeline may die. Despite a media blackout and brutal suppression, native people have won an historic and just victory through bravery and humbling perseverance, and that victory has also struck a blow for a world where preventing climate change and preserving our common home takes precedence over enriching the tiny minority of investors in the oil industry. The oil pipeline is being rerouted! Don't ever let them tell you your voice/protest doesn't matter #NoDAPL #DAPL pic.twitter.com/BcccwCVcE0 sabreigha (@sabreigha) December 4, 2016 But it's far from over. The Army Corps will apparently research alternate routes for the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners could sue to repeal the refusal, the Trump administration could reverse the Corps. The Army wants the water protectors to clear out, but many are digging in to stay and ensure that the decision sticks. At best, this encampment could be the seed of a new post-Trump resistance that fuses the Occupy movement and movements for justice for indigenous people like Idle No More. But others voiced caution, noting the incoming Republican president and hints that the energy company will appeal the decision. "It's a trick. It's a lie. Until that drill is shut down it's not over yet," said Frank Archambault, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who moved his entire family to the encampments in August. "Everybody needs to stay in place." "We've been lied to and deceived this whole time," he said. "Why should this time be any different?" "We know DAPL can appeal," said Danny Grassrope, a member of the Lower Bruce Sioux Tribe. "This battle is won but the war isn't over." Grassrope added that the tribes would not give up either. "We're not done yet. This is just the beginning of something extraordinary." Standing Rock: US denies key permit for Dakota Access pipeline, a win for tribe [Julia Carrie Wong/The Guardian] Morton Grove has agreed to hire an attorney to negotiate a water contract with the city of Evanston on behalf of the village and neighboring Niles. Morton Grove trustees voted unanimously at its Nov. 28 village board meeting to hire the Chicago-based Klein Thorpe and Jenkins Ltd. as special counsel to assist both villages in drafting a contract that would be in effect for up to 60 years, allowing Evanston to supply water to both towns. Advertisement The Niles village board is expected to address the proposal at an upcoming meeting, Morton Grove Village Administrator Ralph Czerwinski said. The two villages plan to split the cost of the negotiations, said Teresa Hoffman Liston, attorney for Morton Grove. Advertisement Niles and Morton Grove officials are working "diligently" to complete negotiations as soon as possible, Niles spokesman Mitch Johnson said. After substantial increases in rates from Chicago, which currently supplies water to both towns, Morton Grove and Niles began working together to find lower rates, Hoffman Liston said in a report to the Niles village board. "The villages have received a proposal to purchase water from the city of Evanston, which presents immediate and long-term savings and stable, ascertainable rates over a 60-year period," she said. Officials are hoping to finalize the agreement in early January, Morton Grove's administrator said. "We're in negotiations with the city of Evanston towards the development of a legacy effort, which has long-term implications for over 40 years," Czerwinski said. "We think it's necessary to have a clear and appropriate intergovernmental agreement prepared." The three towns have not yet settled on a rate, but preliminary talks suggest Evanston's rate "would be a significant savings" over what Morton Grove and Niles are now paying to Chicago, Czerwinski said. Morton Grove is currently paying Chicago $3.81 per 1,000 gallons of water, he said. The amount Niles pays was not immediately available. Advertisement Since 2000, Chicago has increased its rates to Morton Grove by 134 percent, Czerwinski said. Morton Grove's contract with Chicago expires in December 2018, and Niles' contract with the city expires in December 2019 , he said. Czerwinski explained that Niles and Morton Grove must first reach a supply agreement with Evanston and then hire an engineering firm to conduct a route study to determine how the water will be transferred to both towns. The study is expected to cost about $600,000 and would also be negotiated by Klein Thorpe and Jenkins, he said. "The attorney is going to help us develop the terms of the agreement for that study," Czerwinski said. "We're not going to engage in a route study until we have a clear understanding of our water supply contract agreement." A proposed contract would cover 40 years with options for two 10-year extensions, he said. Advertisement Skokie has offered to let Morton Grove and Niles use its water lines to transfer water from Evanston, Czerwinski said. "That would have to be evaluated from an engineering perspective," he said. "Another alternative is to place (new) pipe for Morton Grove and Niles from the city of Evanston to our water reservoirs." Phil Rockrohr is a freelancer. In the wake of the abrupt resignation last year of its superintendent and another top financial officer, Niles Township High School District 219 should beef up its ethics, anti-nepotism and whistle blower policies among other changes an attorney for the school district recently told the board of education. The recommendations were part of a report produced by the Chicago-based law firm of Franczek Radelet that was presented to the school board at its Nov. 15 meeting. Advertisement The recommendations were the latest in the school district's ongoing self-assessment and investigation that began when the school district placed two top administrators, Supt. Nanciann Gatta and chief legal officer and Asst. Supt. for Operations John Heintz, on leave in August 2015. Gatta and Heintz resigned in November 2015. The district has not said much about the investigation, Advertisement and school board members mostly listened as attorney Dana Crumley, of Franczek Radelet, presented the list of 17 findings and suggestions for corrective procedures. However, the school board could take action on the recommendations at the upcoming Dec. 13 meeting, officials said. "The biggest takeaways are first and foremost that we had the investigation based upon past practices," school board President Mark Sprout said about the report. "What we want to do as the board is we want to be physically responsible for our constituents and make sure that we are doing things properly." Neither Gatta nor Heintz has been charged with any wrongdoing. During the November board meeting, Crumley told the board that the district must continue to implement an ethics policy for the school board and Dist. 219 administrators, and extend the policy to third party providers. Additionally, the district should create a policy that provides for full reporting and a requirement that supervisors stay out of employment decisions relating to spouses, relatives and significant others. "Part of this is just a change in the culture," Crumley said. "I think one of the things that's relevant to this is we are starting to do more training and bringing administrators in at the policy level to make sure they're understanding the policies and use the policies just in their every day work." Gatta's brother and husband, at one point, worked for the school district, and a firm her father owned did business with NTHS Dist. 219, the Chicago Tribune reported in 2012. Three other school board members had relatives on the district's payroll during the same Gatta's relatives were employed . "We want to hire individuals based on getting the most qualified people in there," said Sprout. "It could be an individual that is a relative or whatever, but we just want to make sure they are properly vetted and that we are getting the correct individuals in." Advertisement In the fall of 2015, a Chicago Tribune investigation showed that two unnamed former administrators at the high school district received $450,000 worth of benefits and nearly $300,000 worth of graduate school tuition at the Booth School of Business. Documents indicate Gatta's compensation also exceeded what was allowed by her contract. She cashed out nearly double the amount of unused vacation time she was allowed under her contract, and received $73,000 from the district directly rather than through a retirement fund per her contract, according to district records. Additional recommendations included in the Franczek Radelet report call for better monitoring of credit card spending by district officials, better financial oversight and a coherent whistleblower policy among other things, officials explained. "We're still undertaking a comprehensive review of all of your policies that impact ethics," said Crumley. "Every policy that touches ethical behavior will be examined and brought to youin the December board meeting." Brian L. Cox is a freelancer The University of Toronto's Citizen Lab (previously) is one of the world's leading research centers for cybersecurity analysis, and they are the first port of call for many civil society groups when they are targeted by governments and cyber-militias. Citizen Lab's John Scott-Railton has published a fascinating analysis (originally published in IEEE Security & Privacy, but since updated) of the most common tactics deployed against civil society and makes some recommendations about how these groups can defend themselves as well as recommendations for how the platforms that civil society groups should retool to protect their users. One of Scott-Railton's most interesting points is that civil society groups are canaries in the coal-mine: the attacks they face from well-resourced attackers generally become more automated and thus more available to petty crooks and other untargeted attackers who go after broad swaths of the population. That means that platforms can use the attacks these groups face as a preview of their coming security challenge and by defending civil society, they armor their whole user-base against those coming threats. The attackers in Scott-Railton's data are more socially sophisticated than they are technologically sophisticated. Almost all of the time, these attackers are using old, known hacks as weapons (not sexy, unpublished, "0-day" exploits). They rely on the idea that their targets overtaxed civil society activists are likely to have unpatched systems that can be targeted by these older exploits. Even if many of the members of a target group have updated, it's often sufficient to attack a single laggard (remember, to get inside a group's messages, you just need to compromise one member of that group!). Scott-Railton is very strong on two-factor authentication, though he notes that attackers have used extremely sophisticated social engineering to beat this. Nevertheless, his top recommendation is for everyone to turn on 2FA, and for platforms to make things like 2FA mandatory, so that overtaxed users don't ever opt-out. It's human nature to want to help, to be curious, and to respond to a sense of fear and urgency. This natural urge presents an endless opportunity for attacks that rely on deception and trust exploitation. The PGEAs targeting civil society groups share the emphasis on targeting human behavior as the primary entry point for their campaigns. This "just enough" principle holds for many more sophisticated a ack groups, even with harder targets, as the head of the US National Security Agency's Tailored Access Operations recently pointed out at a security conference (www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDJb8WOJYdA). Social engineering has always been a game of probability, and most organizations contain members who are more likely to be taken in than others. A growing cottage industry is "security training" that focuses on increasing civil society's awareness of surveillance and malware and on shifting security behavior. This development is promising but deserves a stronger evidence-based footing and numbers-driven repeat testing, such as the use of regular phishing simulations and penetration testing. Even when large user populations become vigilant and change their behaviors, attackers have shown a remarkable ability to adapt their techniques in response. Still, a range of good security technologies attempt to account for some of these risks; the challenge is ensuring that they're systematically enabled. Security for the High-Risk User: Separate and Unequal [John Scott-Railton/Citizen Lab] (via The Gruqq) With the scope and penalties of Chinas social credit system being further clarified in 2021, legal and regulatory compliance has become more important than... After more than a decade of rapid growth, the Chinese outbound travel market is seeing more Chinese travelers who are independent, sophisticated and eager to seek out new experiences, industry experts say. Previously, many inexperienced Chinese tourists stuck to well-known sites, and it didnt take a lot of expertise to win their business. But that, they said, is changing. The desire of seasoned Chinese travelers to experience authenticity and nature is getting bigger, said Wolfgang Arlt, director of the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute. Consequently, for many service providers and destinations, the easy harvest of low hanging fruit seems to have come to an end. The number of Chinese outbound tourists reached a record in 2015 of 117 million, according to the China National Tourism Administration. More of those tourists are independent travelers who are looking to travel and live like locals, a recent research report from COTRI said. It is important that foreign tourism marketers do not stereotype the Chinese market, said Alastair Morrison, former president of the International Tourism Studies Association and CEO of Belle Tourism International Consulting, based in Shanghai. Morrison said he thinks that there is a lot of labeling of Chinese tourists, such as pigeonholing a particular age group as all liking to shop and demanding to eat Chinese food all the time. It is important to avoid stereotypes, because the outbound Chinese market is becoming more sophisticated, more mature and more segmented. I do not think foreign marketers should use stereotypes to portray the Chinese market in their advertising and promotion, said Morrison. A new tourism research report confirmed that the market is maturing as the motives for Chinese travelers change from sightseeing to lifestyle experiences. A research report on 2015-2016 Chinese outbound tourist consumption by World Tourism Cities Federation and Ipsos, a market research firm, was presented at the World Travel Market in London recently. Based on a survey of over 11,000 Chinese tourists, the report suggests that more than 76 percent consider travel an important way to improve their quality of life and happiness. It also found that the average Chinese tourist makes five foreign trips abroad during a lifetime. This shows that the Chinese outbound tourism market is developing in a way that is much more in line with Western markets, said James Kennell, principal lecturer in tourism at the University of Greenwich. I suspect that as Chinese millennials (people who reached adulthood by the year 2000) move into the tourism market, we will see these trends continuing. As the Chinese outbound market matures, there will be more independent travelers and fewer who opt for package tours, meaning foreign tourist destinations will need to develop new types of tourism products and new arrangements for Chinese tourists. It will be a good opportunity for special interest tourism, involving history, art, culture, cuisines, the natural environment and ecology, Morrison said. Worldwide, international tourist arrivals have surged from 25 million globally in 1950 to 1.1 billion in 2015, and are expected to reach 1.8 billion by 2030, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. The increase of 700 million global travelers anticipated between 2015 and 2030 will mainly stem from China, said Arlt, who spoke at the 2016 World Tourism Market in London. For Europe, this is a good chance to lure the rising numbers of Chinese visitors to more places, so that big, popular cities do not become even more congested with tourists. Given the evolving nature of more experienced Chinese visitors, the Italian tourism authorities are looking to offer more diverse travel itineraries. In an attempt to attract experienced Chinese travelers known for seeking out new destinations, a new Italian tourism product the Pilgrims Paths is meant to appeal to the curiosity and desires of the target group. It consists of routes, once walked by religious pilgrims, that are packed with history. Raffaella Rossi, director of Francescos Ways, a consortium of businesses aiming to promote the routes internationally, said such new tourism options respond to the needs of tourists, including Chinese travelers, because they offer a large variety of experiences in places that are not so well-known to the public. We must help tourists from China get to know our great food and wine, numerous crafts and shopping areas, as well as the small towns in different regions, and romantic places where they can experience slow tourism and come into contact with untouched nature. We need to enrich our offerings of special and thrilling experiences that can spark the interest of this clientele, she said. Slow tourism allows travelers to take their time to more fully enjoy the experience. Almost every tourism board is talking about getting more Chinese visitors. However, Arlt said not all of them understand that it is not necessarily the number of arrivals, but the numbers of overnight stays and how much each visitor spends that is important. Having fewer visitors who stay longer, spend more, have more interest in the country they are visiting is actually better and more sustainable than bringing crowds of package-tour, short-time visitors who look for the cheapest offer and do not really care about what they are taking photos of, Arlt explained. Flash Somalia's Puntland state forces killed seven militants loyal to the Islamic State (IS) militant group and injured several others in a fierce fighting on Saturday, a local official said Sunday. The forces launched an offensive aimed at flushing out pro-IS militants in an area near the coastal town of Qandala in Bari region. "We have killed seven ISIS (IS) militants at Bashashin area and after fighting, three of our soldiers sustained light injuries in a landmine blast in the area. Our forces pushed the ISIS militants back," Yusuf Mohamed, governor of Bari region, told reporters Sunday. Mohamed said some of the militants were captured during the offensive. Other militants retreated into a hill outside the village after the fighting, he said, adding: "We shall keep on pursuing the fighters until we get rid off them from Qandala." The pro-IS militants, which split from Al-Shabaab Islamist group in 2015, took over Qandala from the Puntland administration in October. Residents reported sporadic gunfire ongoing near Bashashin and Karin villages. "Puntland forces -- both security and maritime police forces -- are in the operation to eliminate terrorists and restore Qandala location back to our control in 24 hours," said Mohamed. There was no immediate comment from the pro-IS fighters led by Sheikh Abdulkadir Mumin, a former leader of the Al-Shabaab, which has been battling the Somali government for years. Flash At least 34 people were killed on Sunday by intensified airstrikes on rebel-held areas in Syria's northern province of Idlib, a monitor group reported. Seven children and six women were among those killed in at least 40 air raids on areas in the countryside of Idlib, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UK-based watchdog said the airstrikes targeted the towns of Sarmin, Jisr al-Shughour, Marat al-Numan, Kafr Nubol, Khan Shaikoun and other areas in Idlib's countryside. The death toll is likely to rise due to a large number of critically wounded people, it added. The Observatory, which says it relies on a network of activists on ground, made no mention of the identity of the warplanes striking Idlib. Meanwhile, Idlib-based activists said that at least 55 people were killed in the airstrikes, posting online some photos of what they said was the aftermath of an airstrike on a vegetable marketplace in Marat Numan area. Much of Idlib has fallen to the rebels over the past year, except two Shiite towns loyal to the government. The rebels who are fleeing or evacuating areas under their control in the capital Damascus or the northern city of Aleppo were all headed toward Idlib, making the province increasingly heavy with armed militants. If you were to pick the ultimate scent destination, it would have to be Provence. This region in the south of France has been the cradle of the modern perfume industry since the end of the 18th century, but even before that it was known for its aromaticslavender, mimosa, rosemary, genet, and other perfumed plants. Although today Provences days as the center of rose and jasmine cultivation are long gone, its still a place for a fragrance lover when the air is perfumed with the salty-green scent of lavender and garrigue, a distinctly Provencal medley of herbs. In October, when I arrived in Luberon, the first thing I smelled was the fallen leaves and briny breeze. The mistral, a cold northwesterly wind, denuded the tall plantain trees, but it cleared the sky of clouds and it looked so blue that even the air felt turquoise. I arrived at the hotel Moulin de Vernegues, the venue for The Secret of Scent. The Secret of Scent is a three-day course by Science & Vacation, a company that specializes in events combining sensory explorationsvacation, in other wordswith an educational angle. I was to lecture for three days about the history and art of perfumery, while Luca Turin had a similar task, but with a focus on the science. To be honest, I was a little bit nervous. While I give perfumery courses on a regular basis, my audience is usually industry folkmarketing, sales people and perfumers. While theyre not necessarily experts on all of the subjects I cover, I at least know the rough outlines of their knowledge. The Secret of Scent was open to everyone, and I wasnt sure what our participants would be interested to learn. As it turned out, they were curious about everything! Luca and I asked Sergey Kuznetsov, the event organizer, to limit the group size in order for us to give as much attention as possible to each participant and make the class experience more comfortable. There were about fifteen people total, and they included a chef, a chemist, a wine maker, a fragrance boutique owner, an art expert, and even an indie perfumer. Many people came from the USSeattle, Wyoming, Oregon. There was also a visitor from Canada. One lady flew in from Bangkok. It was a variegated, diverse group, and the one thing we had in common is our passion for scent. Perfumery as a subject of serious study is hampered by a number of misunderstandings. For one thing, it has the reputation of being a frivolous pursuit. However, its also seen as a complex, esoteric field where people dont even speak normal human language. Whats aldehydic? Why is it that aromatic means having an aroma in the English language and smells like camphorous herbs in perfume speak? On the first subject, I have little to say, other than to quote the great Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder: The pleasure of perfume [is] among the most elegant and also most honorable enjoyments in life. As for the complexity of perfumery, its true to the extent that, like all fields of art and scienceand perfumery is the distillation of the twoit requires specialized knowledge. But anyone can learn how fragrances are put together, how to smell them, how to understand their messages. Its up to the teacher to make the subject accessible. Of course, its for my group to judge my success in conveying all of these nuances. For my part, I was impressed with how interested people were to learn and how much more precise and vivid their descriptions of aromas became over the three days we studied together. I prepared several exercises on connecting words and scents and showed certain techniques that perfumers use when smelling. Although I didnt expect any prior knowledge of perfumery, my goal was nevertheless to offer a professional class. I was fortunate to learn from some of the greatest perfumers in the industry like Sophia Grojsman, Dominic Ropion, Calice Becker, and Maurice Roucel, and I wanted to share as generously as they shared with me. I envisioned a class covering both the technical aspects of perfumery and the enjoyment of scents in ones daily life. After all, the stuff in the bottle is only one aspect of this fascinating pursuit. But we certainly smelled plenty of stuff in the bottle, starting from legends like Coty Chypre, Guerlain Rue de la Paix, the original formula Shalimar, Mitsouko, Jicky, Apres LOndee, Chanels, Carons, Diors and moving through the whole 20th century of perfumery. We also had fine Givaudan essences to exploretheir tuberose, jasmine, ylang ylang, vetiver, and benzoin are veritable gems. We also tried our hand at making a classical accord. Talking to my group and smelling its creations made me wonder how much richer our world would have been had we learned the basics of aromas from an early age, the way we learn painting or music. After giving my classes, I had a chance to become a student myself for the second part of the program. Lucas lectures on the science of olfaction and the properties of aromatics were both interesting and thought-provoking. As someone commented, if chemistry were taught with this kind of passion at schools, how different would the lay understanding of this science be. There was also wine tasting, lots of good food and evening trips into the neighboring small towns. We even had an impromptu calissons tasting in Aix-en-Provence, lozenge shaped sweets fashioned out of candied melon, orange peel and almonds. The best part of all for me, however, was meeting so many passionate, interesting people. I thank Luca, Sergeyand also Katerina and Zhenia, the other S&V organizersfor this experience, and of course, a big thank you to all of you who joined us on our Provencal adventures. You made for one of the best experiences of 2016 for me. Because I was completely focused on teaching, I took few photographs during the event. Sergey Kuznetsov was kind enough to send me the images above (the photographs of the Provencal herbs and perfume oils are by me, however). Flash Officials in Oakland, California, said Sunday that 33 bodies have been found after warehouse fire occurred Friday night. A man places flowers to mourn the victims of a warehouse fire in Oakland, California, the United States, Dec. 4, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] Authorities said the loft building did not have permits and investigators have not found the cause of the fire. Sergeant Ray Kelly of Alameda County Sheriff's Office said about 20 percent of the warehouse, which was burnt out by a fire starting about 11:30 p.m. on Friday, had been searched. Heavy machinery was brought in to the site on Saturday to help with cleaning up the debris and shore up the structure, designated only as a warehouse but turned into a party venue and probably a residence. Officials initially said firefighters found nine victims of the blaze, which took place during an electronic music party in the two-story building in an industrial neighborhood in the Bay Area city east of San Francisco. In a previous press conference, Kelly said he did not know how many people were in the building, and how many left, meaning that there was no exact number of people unaccounted for. On Sunday, he said the number could rise, as well as the death toll. The building is now a crime scene investigated by local and federal law enforcement agencies. Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf pledged a full investigation into the incident. Flash Green party-backed candidate Alexander Van der Bellen beat the right-wing candidate in the rerun of Austrian presidential election on Sunday, according to the projection by the SORA institute for broadcaster ORF. The projection showed that Van der Bellen got 53.3 percent of the votes, 6.6 percent higher than the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) candidate Norbert Hofer's 46.7 percent with a margin of error of 1 percentage point, making Hofer impossible to reverse in the election. Hofer conceded defeat in Sunday's election via a Facebook post. "We are all Austrians, no matter what we decided at the ballot box," he wrote, saying that he feel "sad." He also congratulated Van der Bellen. Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of FPO, in an interview of ORF criticized that many other parties in Austria get together to fight against his party during the election. "Others would have wished for such a result today, who did not even make it to the run-off round," he said. He said he is anticipating that general elections will take place in 2017. As the main candidate for his party, he said he will be glad to have Hofer and other FPO personalities in his team. Van der Bellen could be the first Austria's president who is not from the mainstream parties since the end of World War II. It seems to be a victory for Austria to defend against populism. Austria was concerned if the victory of Donald Trump in the United States could embolden the populism in the country. The victory is not announced by Austrian Interior Ministry yet. Austria's president traditionally plays a ceremonial role, but the president could dismiss a government under the constitution, the most significant clout which hasn't been used by presidents after the war. Hofer said he needs Austrians and would work for them, threatening to dismiss the parliament when necessary. The 45-year-old was also the youngest right-wing candidate of the election, the leading runner in the first round of election. Van der Bellen was the former chief of green party and an independent candidate but backed by the Green Party. The presidential election's influence is already far beyond Austria, and carefully monitored by other EU states, even by the world. Flash Italians were expected to reject a proposed constitutional reform in a crucial referendum held on Sunday, exit polls showed. The "No" vote would be between 54 percent and 58 percent, according to exit polls by Ipr-Piepoli Institute broadcast by Rai state television. The "Yes" vote would be between 42 percent and 46 percent. Polling stations opened from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. local time, and some 46.7 million Italians were eligible to cast their ballot. The turnout was 57.24 percent at 7 p.m., according to the Interior Ministry. Over 3.9 million Italians living abroad had their chance to vote earlier this month. Italians had to choose on whether confirm or reject a reform of the constitution that had already been passed by lawmakers earlier this year, but not with the required majority of two-thirds in each house of the parliament in the second vote. The major amendment proposed was to cut the size of the senate to 100 from 315 seats, and strip it of the power to bring down the cabinet with no-confidence sessions, and vote on national legislation. Currently, draft bills have to be approved by both houses in an identical text in order to become laws. The referendum was also seen as a key test of popularity for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's center-left cabinet. The government has much advocated the reform, claiming it would help streamline the country's laborious law-making process, and increase the stability of the cabinets. Italy has had more than 60 governments since 1948. Opponents argued it would concentrate too much power in the cabinet, weakening the parliament's control. Renzi has said he would resign in case of defeat, which might trigger a government's crisis and plunge the country back into a period of political and economic instability. The vote has also been closely watched across Europe for a possible impact on the euro-zone. The prime minister is expected to address the country around 12 p.m., local media said, citing government sources. Flash The UN refugee agency said Sunday that the number of South Sudanese refugees in Sudan has reached 263,000, with October 2016 marking the highest monthly arrival rate. "About 263,000 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Sudan since Dec. 2013," said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) in a statement. "With continuing insecurity in South Sudan, a steady influx of new refugees is expected throughout December and into next year." The majority of the South Sudanese refugees live in the camps distributed in the states of White Nile, East Darfur, West Kordofan and Khartoum. On March 17, the Sudanese government decided to treat the South Sudanese nationals inside the country as foreigners, saying it would adopt legal procedures against those who do not have passports or entry visas. An armed conflict broke out in South Sudan in late 2013, causing hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee to neighboring countries including Sudan. Flash Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party announced Sunday the names of the newly elected members of the party's central committee and the revolutionary council. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas (C) casts his vote at the Muqataa, the Palestinian Authority headquarters, in the city of Ramallah in the Israeli occupied West Bank, on December 3, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] Abdullah al-Ifranji, a senior Fatah official and former member of the party's central committee, announced that 18 new members of the committee and 80 new members of the revolutionary council had been elected. He also said three additional members were named as eternal members of the central committee which has 22 members in total, including President Abbas who was re-elected by the congress as the party chairman. "We present this success to the spirit of late leader Yasser Arafat who is buried a few meters from this congress and to our people who struggle and will keep struggling until gaining our freedom and our independence," President Abbas told the congress. The five-day Fatah congress, attended by 1,320 members out of 1,411, kicked off on Tuesday at the Abbas headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. It is the second congress of the party that is held in the Palestinian territories since the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994. The first congress was held in 2009 in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. You are here: Home Flash Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi gestures during a media conference after a referendum on constitutional reform at Chigi palace in Rome, Italy, Dec. 5, 2016.[VCG] Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on early Monday announced resignation, as exit polls suggested a large defeat in the referendum on cabinet-backed constitutional reform which was held on Sunday. "The experience of my government clearly ends here," Renzi told a press conference early on Monday. "Tomorrow afternoon, I will gather the cabinet to thank my ministers, and later go to the Quirinale (the presidential palace) to resign." According to local media, "No" votes were at 59 percent and the "Yes" at 41 percent. "The vote turnout exceeded all expectations, and the No has won in an extraordinary, clear way," the prime minister said. Polling stations closed at 11 p.m. local time, and definitive results were expected later on Monday. Provisional data from the Interior Ministry showed over 65 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots, which was a very high turnout by Italian standards in a popular referendum. Flash The most important case in a generation before the supreme court in Britain will begin in London Monday morning. The decision by the supreme court will have a major implication for the British constitution over who wields power, parliament or the British government, currently led by Prime Minister Theresa May. For the first time in its history, all 11 judges will hear the case which has aroused worldwide interest. The hearing is expected to last four days and the final decision will be made early January. The supreme court is expected to rule whether parliament has the authority to trigger Britain's exit from the European Union (EU). May continues to insist that under the centuries old principle of the Royal Prerogative her government has the power to start the process of leaving the EU following the June 23 referendum vote which backed Brexit. She has vowed to start the process by the end of next March, starting a two-year period of talks with Brussels about Britain's future relationship with the EU. Many of the politicians in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords have maintained that they, and not May's government, should be in the driving seat and be involved in the Brexit process. At the heart of the wrangle is what kind of deal would be brokered between Westminster and Brussels. If Britain leaves with a so-called Hard Brexit, it would mean the door closing on access to the single market with its potential 400 million-plus customers, one of the world's biggest trading blocs. Brussels insists that allowing post-Brexit Britain to have access to the single market goes hand-in-hand with free movement of all EU citizens. Growing immigration into Britain has been cited as a key reason for many people voting in June to quit the EU. Just a few days ago the Office for National Statistics in London reported that net migration into Britain this year is at an all time high. The figures revealed immigration into Britain in the year ending June 2016 was 650,000, its highest ever level. When the numbers leaving are taken into account it gave a net migration of 335,000 which included 189,000 EU citizens. May has so far refused to show her hand, saying discussing a potential deal before formal talks start could risk Britain ending up with a poor deal. The prime minister and her Brexit team of ministers also fear that if the exit process is handed to parliament there is a risk some politicians will attempt to block the will of the public who voted by a 52-48 margin to leave Europe. The battleground, in the event, was not laid by politicians, but by a group of individuals who took the matter to the High Court in a legal bid to force May's government to seek parliamentary approval for the Brexit process. In what came as a bombshell to the government, the three High Court judges agreed with the individuals who brought the case, led by wealthy British businesswoman Gina Miller. Miller said after her court victory: "It was the right decision because we were dealing with the sovereignty of parliament." Britain's International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, one of the so-called "Three Brexiteers", expressed disappointment at the result. He said: "The country voted to leave the EU in a referendum approved by an Act of Parliament. The government is determined to respect the result of the referendum." Nigel Forage, former leader of UKIP, the political party set up 23 years ago to campaign for Britain's exit from the EU, has commented: "I worry that a betrayal may be at hand. I fear that every attempt will be made to block or delay the triggering of Article 50. If this is so they have no idea of the level of public anger they will provoke." Intensive squabbles, mainly through the columns of newspapers and on broadcast media, have dominated the headlines over the weekend ahead of the historic court case. But when the hearing starts Monday, in what is the only court in Britain to allow in the cameras, it will be a somber event, with days of detailed and intensive legal submissions by both sides. Day One will be taken up entirely or mostly by a legal submission by the government's Attorney General Jeremy Wright. As well as being the government's top legal officer, 44-year-old Wright is a barrister and a Conservative member of parliament (MP) for Kenilworth and Southam in Warwickshire. As a leading barrister of law, Wright decided to fight the case himself. After Wright has finished his legal presentation, the judges will hear from the Advocate General for Scotland and the Attorney General for Northern Ireland. It will be mid-afternoon Tuesday, or even Wednesday before Gina Miller's legal team put their case forward that the decision of the High Court should be confirmed. Her father was the attorney general of Guyana, a former British colony in South America. After Miller's lawyers have finished, lawyers for the second lead person in the legal battle, hairdresser Deir Dos Santos, aged 37, will put forward their case, again calling for the earlier decision to be upheld. Dos Santos, who describes himself as "just an ordinary guy" was born in Brazil but is now a British citizen. His lawyers have said: "If his rights are going to be taken away, he wants it done in a proper and lawful manner." On Wednesday and into Thursday when the case finished, other legal submissions will be made, including legal arguments put forward by the Scottish. Looking at the world through the eyes of the Web Liu Shiyu, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. [Photo provided to China Daily] The Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which launches today, will benefit mid- and large-cap growth stocks in the long term, particularly those from consumption-driven sectors, said analysts. The SZ-HK stock connect will cover 881 Shenzhen stocks and 102 Hong Kong stocks. Starting today, 76 percent of the A-share market cap and 87 percent of Hong Kong market cap will be mutually accessible. The connect will see more northbound interest in mid- and large-cap growth stocks, according to Gao Ting, analyst with UBS Securities. "The existing programs that allow overseas investors to invest in mainland markets, QFII/RQFII and the northbound Shanghai-Hong Kong Connect, show that outside investors have a clear preference for lower valuation mid- and large-caps in financials and traditional consumer sectors, such as foods and beverages, home appliances and autos," said Gao in a latest research note. Analysts said that overseas investors, many of whom are institutional investors, are focusing more on stable and steady yields instead of a short-term, speculative approach when trading A-shares, so they favor consumption-driven companies, particularly those playing a leading role in their respective field. Carlson Tong, chairman of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. [Photo provided to China Daily] The Shenzhen market has a high concentration of technology stocks, 20 percent of its total market capital, offering a wide range of choices to investors with a strong interest in this fast-growing sector in China, said a research note from Haitong Securities. Food and beverage players, such as Chinese white liquor (baijiu) makers, dairy goods makers, and snacks makers are also among investors' favorite options. Over the past 10 days since the launch of the SZ-HK stock connect was announced, share prices of leading companies in the food and beverage sector have risen over 5 percent. For instance, Wuliangye Yibin Company Limited gained more than 5.8 percent, from some 34 yuan ($4.94) per share to more than 36 yuan per share. Analysts said companies in sectors which are rarely seen in Hong Kong are also likely to win overseas investors' favor because they are supplementary to existing choices in Hong Kong's market. These sectors include machinery, defense-related high-tech, pharmaceuticals, and policy-driven trade and infrastructure players, including those that have benefited from the Belt and Road Initiative and countrywide urbanization. Liu Xiaoning, analyst with Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, said that Shenzhen-listed companies that have significant market share and have disclosed winning bids for infrastructure projects are likely to realize stable and steady income and profits in the long run. Overseas investors, however, may not decide to participate in the market immediately with large investments as they did when the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect was launched, because the overall situation of the A-share market is significantly different now, said analysts. "When the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect was launched, the A-share market was so heated that few investors foresaw the risks of downward pressure. Investors, domestic and overseas, were quite bullish about the market and somehow less rational than they should have been. Regulations, market conditions, and compliance were not kept to as high standards as they are now. In short, the A-share market is now with more rational and value investors. There won't be investors flocking toward the SZ-HK connect. More will patiently study, research, and make decisions," said a research note from Ping An Securities. Two technicians inspect a high-speed train's wheels at a maintenance shed in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. [Photo provided to China Daily] With production units abroad gathering speed, CRRC eyes 35% of sales from overseas markets China Railway Rolling Stock Corp Ltd, the country's railway vehicle and equipment exporter, will augment both overseas production and R&D to increase overseas sales revenue substantially. In 2015, CRRC's overseas sales reached 26.57 billion yuan ($3.86 billion), up 67 percent year-on-year, and accounted for 7 percent of total sales. It is seeking to boost the figure to 35 percent by 2025 (that is, the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan). The goal is to grab more market share from established global rivals. Its sales in 2015 reached 243.7 billion yuan, up over 8 percent year-on-year, earning a profit of 16.3 billion yuan, up over 17 percent. Zheng Changhong, former CRRC's deputy chairman, said the group expects a total of $8 billion worth of orders from overseas customers by the end of this year. "The opportunities come from surging demand in both developed and developing countries for high-speed railroads, improved railway infrastructure, upgradation of subway systems, passenger services and regional connectivity, as well as their desire to create jobs and new commercial areas," said Zheng, who retired last week. CRRC's main competitors are France's Alstom SA, Germany's Siemens AG and Canada's Bombardier Inc. The other three have over 30 percent of international business in railway vehicles, related products, operations-related solutions and maintenance. CRRC's biggest customer is still China Railway Corp, the country's railway operator. Eager to enhance earnings from this fast-growing industry and prevent unhealthy competition among Chinese firms in overseas markets, the Chinese government decided to merge two former rivals, CSR Corp and CNR Corp, to form CRRC in 2015. The State-owned enterprise now has 190,000 employees and 430 subsidiaries, including five listed companies, throughout the world. Zheng said the merged entity has managed to cut overlapping investment worth 1 billion yuan, including building manufacturing facilities in a number of Chinese cities, and "will gear up to export bullet trains, subway cars, rail technologies and equipment". Till date, CRRC has shipped and deployed its railway vehicles, parts, signalling systems, maintenance and other service businesses to markets in 102 countries and regions, accounting for 83 percent of countries that operate railway services in the world. "The world's rail-transport market is not as hot as in the past years, just like the global economy. Infrastructure construction needs money. The general demand is falling," said Zhao Mingde, director of CRRC's strategy and planning department. "Many foreign governments also ask us to build plants in their countries as part of the deal to continue the business." With a total asset amount of 22.6 billion yuan, the Chinese company has set up 56 branches such as CRRC North America or CRRC South America in 21 countries with 4,625 employees. In August, CRRC's first joint venture plant in India/South Asia started operations. India has one of the world's most extensive rail systems. The joint venture, CRRC Pioneer (India) Electric Co Ltd, is based in Bavo Industrial District, Haryana state, near the national capital New Delhi. The manufacturing base saw an investment of $63.4 million. The Chinese side holds a 51 percent stake in the venture. Even though CRRC has set goals to double its global sales to as much as $15 billion by 2020, Zhao said localization, quality after-sales services and reasonably-priced advanced products will be key to overcoming business uncertainty caused by declining global demand and trade protectionism in certain regions. "Under such circumstances, we wouldn't mind building 'competitor-partner' relations with rivals to win bids in certain markets if it's necessary," said Chen Dayong, general manager of CRRC's international business department. For instance, CRRC and Bombardier agreed in September to expand their relationship and join forces on international bids. They will cooperate to develop the market of New York's aging subway system. The Chinese company will also deliver its first train built at its manufacturing plant in Springfield, Massachusetts, to the Boston transit system in 2018. The construction work was completed in August. In March, CRRC also won a bid in Chicago to produce 846 metro rail cars, a record in the developed markets. The group now operates plants that produce electric locomotives, electric multiple units and subway trains in South Africa, Malaysia, Turkey and Iran. The goal is to tap key countries and regional markets around each plant. CRRC's subsidiaries, including CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co, Zhuzhou CRRC Times Electric Co and CRRC Sifang Co, have invested 3 billion yuan so far to acquire European technologies and manufacturing parts suppliers, including the United Kingdom-based Dynex and Germany's Boge Elastmetail GmbH. CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co, one of CRRC's manufacturers mainly producing electric locomotives, is also in takeover talks with Czech Republic's Skoda Transportation. Any deal would mark the Chinese group's first takeover of a full-fledged rail transit equipment manufacturer. Skoda Transportation mainly produces trams, electric locomotives, carriages, electric buses, traction motors and complete drives for traffic systems. "Widening the international sales network and manufacturing bases in overseas markets can help not only the Chinese rail equipment manufacturer but infrastructure and service providers, who can enhance their localization abilities. Expanded global play could also help gain political and public support through local employment," said Cheng Hui, a researcher at the Institute of Transportation Research under the National Development and Reform Commission. By 2015-end, China had built more than 19,210 km of high-speed railroads country-wide, building a solid foundation for an industry that can generate new market growth points during the nation's 13th Five-Year Plan period. Harry Potter producer David Heyman gives autographs to fans during an event at the British Embassy in Beijing on Nov 20, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] Harry Potter producer David Heyman will produce Alibaba Pictures' film adaptation of the children's book series Warriors. The collaboration came about when China's Alibaba Pictures acquired the rights to the British book series about four clans of wild cats. There are 36 books in the main series of the novels, written by a writing team under the name of Erin Hunter and published since 2003, which sold over 30 million copies worldwide. The first live-action film with computer-generated characters will be an original story, which follows the path of main character Rusty, a pet cat raised by humans, and his joining a wild cat clan in the forest, Heyman told The Hollywood Reporter in Beijing. "He's stigmatized, he's an outsider, he is not from the forest, he's lived in the comfort of a human home," said Heyman. "So it's about him getting acclimatized into this place, earning his place in spite of great prejudice against him and ultimately rising up." Heyman and Alibaba have no idea yet of how many films they will make of the adaptation. "The interesting thing about the books is there are such a lot of narratives. And the books are still being written, so there will be as many films as long as we can keep telling interesting stories and the audience is receptive of it. We'll keep on making them," Heyman said. Heyman said the first film could be in any language, not necessarily an English-language or Chinese-language film. "The beauty of it is, there are no humans walking around in the stories. What you have is cats... Cats are not specific to any country," said Heyman. "Though I suspect it'd probably be set in a forest in the UK, because the authors are British. We may use actors anywhere. It's too early to tell, but we're open to all possibilities." The film will be a Chinese-British co-production between Alibaba and Heyman's Heyday Films. "The thing I love about this is that it will be an authentic collaboration between China and England. And there were too many inauthentic collaborations between the US and China, which feel contrived. They are arranged marriages. And this feels so organic, where we can use talent from both countries. And not just the UK and China, it can be from France, from the US, wherever the talent is, we can use it," Heyman said. The film will not be using motion capture for the cats' performance. "I think motion capture works best when there are humanoid characterstwo arms, two legs," said Heyman. "If you're doing a cat, it doesn't work. What we'll do is to film actors for reference, like what we did in Paddington." Heyman is now trying to find a screenwriter to adapt the books. "There are six books in the first series. It's important that we find a way so that the films don't feel episodic but feel like a unified story," said Heyman. The budget of the film is not yet set, said Zhang Wei, Alibaba president. "We have to find a screenwriter, and we'll look at the cost of filming and visual effects, to set a budget. What we know is we will use the best resources, the best team," Zhang said. Heyman, producer of the Harry Potter film series, spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them series, Paddington, and The Light Between Oceans, sought out Alibaba Pictures two years ago. "I met with Alibaba, and I learned more about Alibaba and the culture of Alibaba, which was remarkable to me. I felt like I should go work for Alibaba," said Heyman. "It was such an inspiring meeting, not just because of the brilliance of their business, but because of the human nature of their business. It's about connecting people and community. I think that is what we try and do in films. And I found with the people I met a kindred spirit. It's very surprising, when you meet with people who might finance films, all they care about is money. I understand, it's called the film business. But there is no business unless there is heart." Bloomberg Jan Cortanbach, CTO of Royal De Heus China, an investor in Wellhope, inspects one of its facilities in March. [Photo provided to China Daily] Wellhope Agri-Tech is going full steam ahead to dominate the animal feed industry Wang Zhenyong has just applied for his fourth passport. That's because as overseas business vice-president of Wellhope Agri-Tech Joint Stock Co, China's leading feed producer and broiler meat processor, he travels a lot and the pages of his passport get filled up quickly with visas and arrival stamps. Wang's annual business travels include, but are not limited to, five visits to India, four trips to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, three landings each in Russia and Iran, one visit each to Nepal and Ugandaall to expand Wellhope's global footprint. He notches up 300,000 miles (480,000 kilomiteres) every year. He is a top customer for many airlines. By the end of this October, Wang helped set up three joint ventures in India, Iran and the Philippines. And another two are under negotiation. International markets have already contributed over 400 million yuan ($57.9 million) in revenue to Wellhope. Founded in 1995, the Shanghai-listed Wellhope's January-September revenue reached 8.48 billion yuan, up 15 percent year-on-year. On Oct 20, the company announced that it invested 24 million yuan in a feed production and pig breeding facility in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The joint venture would hire around 500 local workers, according to Wang. This will help Wellhope to elbow its way into the local market that has a population of over 100 million. "The Philippines is one of our targets overseas as it has shortage of meat supply but abundant water, soil and labor. Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Africa are on top of our agenda," said Jin Weidong, chairman of Wellhope. The company has tied up with Southeast Feeds Specialist Corp in the Philippines. "We are grateful for Wellhope's trust and we would never infringe on Wellhope's benefit. And after retirement, our successors will also write such a guarantee," said George Co, general manager of Southeast Feeds. Jin expects international markets will account for 500,000 metric tons of feed sales and net profit will reach 100 million yuan before 2018. "The international sector generally contributes over one-third of the revenue for big names in the field such as Charoen Pokphand Group, Cargill and ABN. In the following 10 years, our aim is to be the top 10 in feed industry around the world," said Jin. Wellhope is among the first few Chinese agri-tech companies that started to expand globally over a decade ago. In early 2005, the company signed a joint venture contract with the Vaidya family in Nepal, an influential industrial player in the region. The Nepalese venture proved to be a big success in the following years and set the benchmark for the feed business in the country. "More important is that the Nepalese company worked as a seed for the market. That seed will sprout and soon branches will be visible," said Wang. "Going global may be hard. But the hardest thing was to convince my colleagues who could not speak English and feared to go abroad." But Wang did not worry after 2011 when China's feed market saw surplus. China's overall annual output reached the peak of 200 million tons, according to research of Industrial Securities. "Going global and extending industrial chain become a reasonable choice for those ambitious and fledgling companies," said Chen Jiao, chief agricultural analyst at Industrial Securities. What's more, the Belt and Road initiative worked as a springboard for the Chinese companies seeking to expand into international markets. After the initiative was launched, Chinese companies won the trust and respect from local partners in various markets outside China, said Wang. In 2014, Wellhope finally went public. Jin determined to go full steam ahead to realize his dream of making Wellhope a global leader. But that was easier said than done. The past few years saw the tide turning against the international operations of Chinese private and State-owned enterprises. Only those helmed by a captain with both foresight and a qualified crew succeeded to weather the storm. Jin is one such captain. He received a PhD from Shenyang Agriculture University. That's extraordinary because agriculture was and remains the last choice as a career option for most Chinese, given the hard work required and low returns. Few educated people choose the feed industry as their field of endeavor even though it was opened up to private and international business in the early 1980s. "I take part in all overseas negotiations because the ability to communicate in a foreign language is vital in any overseas negotiation. It helps me find a potential opportunity, qualified local partners and judge the investment environment," said Jin. "And I believe this is the key for the success of our international business." Besides Jin, six out of seven founding members of Wellhope hold doctorate degrees, effectively making it more of a technology company than one engaged in agriculture. Ten years after starting up, Jin chose to cooperate with De Heus, Holland's largest feed company, which helped improve company's technical level and also enhanced its international way of thinking and operating. Zhang Xin, vice-president and human resources manager of Wellhope, said the company now hires only those who are versed in the English language. It also provides weekly English classes and administers an annual English language proficiency test to its staff. "After 30 years of development, Chinese feed companies have built up advantage in terms of technology, capital, talent and management. It is time for them to set sail," said Chen. For the coming year, Wang said his new mission is to make leading companies in various local markets outside China Wellhope's partners. "The emerging markets look like nuts with a hard shell. But if you have a handy nut-cracker, you can enjoy the delicious kernel. For decades, China's rural residents have rushed to big cities to increase their earnings, but today, more are avoiding travel and homesickness to make money at home. The central government released a set of guidelines last week to encourage rural residents to pursue entrepreneurship and innovation. According to a State Council document, the government will roll out policies to encourage migrant workers to start businesses in rural areas to help economic development there. Inside a four-story building in impoverished Xinxian county in Henan province, at least 100 women were working to assemble electronic products. The factory, set up by 46-year-old Tu Guangyong, employs more than 300 "left behind" women, whose husbands have gone to find work in cities, to care for children and elderly at home. In 1991, Tu started working as a janitor at a factory in Guangdong province, known as the "world's factory", but he was soon promoted to a managerial position. He resigned and returned home in 2010, taking with him the management and marketing skills he had learned. "It was getting more difficult and expensive to hire workers in Guangdong. Women in my hometown could provide precious labor resources," Tu said. "It was time for me to go back home and start a factory." Tu opened three factories near schools. Workers can choose to work between four and eight hours per day, making sure they have enough time for their children who are studying next door. Thanks to low costs and high quality, Tu's products have been well received at home and abroad. Tuis just one of the 2 million migrant workers who have returned home to become self-employed in new businesses, including large-scale farming, farm produce processing, rural tourism and producer and consumer services. Returned migrant workers are expected to inject new energy into the rural economy by introducing modern technology, systems and management skills. Still, many challenges need to be overcome in order for migrant workers to return home, stay and thrive. "Costs and risks may soar, considering the underdeveloped infrastructure, and the lack of supporting policies and capable employees in rural areas," said Cui Chuanyi, a researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council. Cui said the newly released guidelines emphasize equality and support by rolling out measures such as easing market access, improving rural financial services, increasing fiscal support, providing training in entrepreneurship and innovation and perfecting the social safety net. Employees work at a refrigerator production plant of Haier Group in Lahore, Pakistan. [Photo/Xinhua] More than three quarters of $46 billion in planned Chinese-led investments in Pakistan will be implemented by next year as part of the world's second-largest economy's flagship Belt and Road Initiative. "Out of this $46 billion, we have been so far able to energize about $35 billion," Pakistan's Planning, Development and Reforms Minister Ahsan Iqbal said in an interview in London. "By energizing, I mean these are projects either in advanced implementation or in a stage of financially closing." Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is seeking to boost infrastructure growth levels to their highest levels in about a decade, after China announced its investment plans in the nation of about 190 million people last year. It's part of an initiative the Chinese government calls Belt and Road Initiative that aims to revive trade across Central Asia and into Europe via a network of railways, ports and highways. About $11 billion has been allocated to infrastructure projects including roads, with concessional loans provided at about 2 percent with payback in 20 years, along with a five-year grace period, said Iqbal, who is heading the investment plans in Pakistan. The rest has been earmarked for generating electricity, with about 11,000 megawatts expected to be added by 2018 to end the nation's chronic power outages. In September, Iqbal said a further $8 billion would be provided by China and the Asian Development Bank to update Pakistan's dilapidated railway network. Bloomberg Delegates wait for the opening ceremony of the first annual meeting of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing. [Photo/Agencies] The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is looking to hire fixed-income management companies to help invest its billion of dollars of spare funds. But don't bother applying unless your company has some serious credentials. The multilateral lender posted a help-wanted advertisement on its website for investment managers. It prefers one who has managed at least $100 billion in fixed-income portfolios, has beaten the benchmark bond index for three to five years and has 10 years of fixed-income management experience. Those are among several credentials listed by the bank, although not all are required. "Chinese institutions may find it difficult to get in, because they lack the type of experience needed," said Zhou Hao, an economist at Commerzbank AG in Singapore. Large US and European asset managers would likely be eligible, Zhou said. The high bar could spell opportunity for global players such as Blackrock Inc, Vanguard Group Inc and Pacific Investment Management Co, which stand to benefit. And if those criteria aren't stringent enough, the bank also wants to know how well you manage. The ad seeks candidates with an information ratioa technical measure of actively managed returns per unit of riskof at least 0.5 for 3 to 5 years. The requirements on returns are high but "not impossible" for big international funds, said Du Yang, Shanghai-based managing director of Yaozhi Asset Management International Ltd. The key will be how to match those with AIIB's investment policies and rules, he added. The AIIB hasn't decided which types of fixed-income assets will be included, but the investment policy will be "prudent and conservative," like at other multilateral development banks, according to the bank. While fees might not be very high, the opportunity would be good for investment managers to build a reputation, Zhou said. The bank certainly has business for qualified candidates. It expects paid-in capital of $7 billion to $8 billion by the end of 2016, Senior Communication Officer Song Liyan said in an email. "The allocation to external asset managers will be a portion of that, the size of which has not been determined yet," he said. In contrast, AIIB has only approved over $800 million of loans to fund projects in Asian countries since beginning operations in January. It aims to lend $1.2 billion in 2016, President Jin Liqun said earlier this year. Bloomberg GENEVA - Eighteen World Trade Organization (WTO) members made progress but failed to close the existing gaps to reach a consensus on a trade facilitation agreement concerning environmentally-related products, according to a WTO statement published on Sunday. WTO noted that constructive talks were held and progress was made during the just-concluded ministerial meeting on the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA), held Saturday and Sunday at WTO's headquarter in Geneva. "Participants negotiated in good faith and made good progress towards an agreement. I believe that the knowledge and understanding gained in these discussions will help us to move forward in the near future," said WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo. However, he urged "participants to show whatever flexibility they can to help conclude the deal." Azevedo stressed that "the trading system should be in a position to make a positive and meaningful contribution towards tackling environmental degradation... building on recent achievements such as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda." As co-chairs of this weekend's EGA ministerial meeting, the United States and the European Union said in a statement that they believe a high standard EGA would "enhance global access to clean technologies; advance environmental protection; and benefits workers, business and consumers." The 18 participants, including China, the United States, the European Union, Japan and Korea, account for most of the global trade in environmental goods. Since January 2014, they have been engaged in negotiations to slash duties on products used in a variety of environmentally-related functions including: generating clean and renewable energy; improving energy and resource efficiency; reducing air, water and soil pollution; managing solid and hazardous waste; noise abatement; and monitoring environmental quality. BEIJING - Overseas institutes and experts lately conveyed their optimism about the prospect of the Chinese economy, saying the Asian country will sustain stable and upbeat growth momentum thanks to its continuous supply-side structural reforms, booming domestic consumption and flourishing service industry. The Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) said in a report published on Nov 18 that there remains colossal policy space for China to achieve stable economic development, and its annual GDP growth rate in 2016 is expected to rebounce to 6.8 percent. The SCB said that besides the official regulation, other factors that contribute to China's steady growth include the flourishing domestic consumption, the net export in the second half of this year, the stable increases in the service industry and industrial added value, and the rising confidence of small and medium-sized businesses and manufacturers. The bank added that keeping stable growth with ample policy instruments will prop up the Chinese economic prospect in the upcoming years. According to a report released on Nov 23 by the HSBC, China's recent policies on regulating the property market will not hinder the nation's economic recovery and GDP rebounding. The HSBC noted that the regulations' impact on the economic growth will be offset by the marginal increases of the infrastructural construction investments supported by national fiscal expansion. The bank predicted that in the forthcoming seasons, China's GDP performance will continue to pick up thanks to the ever increasing optimism of private investments, the overall recovery of domestic demand and the advancing supply-side reforms. The National Australia Bank also said on Nov 18 that China's current economic performance is satisfactory and will not be met with a "hard landing," as its thriving third industry has exceeded in size the traditional industries and become the major powerhouse of the Chinese economy. In a report issued on Nov 22, Moody's heralded a robust growth of the Chinese economy in 2017. The rating agency explained that the stimulus included the ever stabling international commodity prices, the mild increase in demand for the Chinese construction companies due to the expanding infrastructure construction projects in and out of the country, and the enhancing liquidity of the Chinese IT companies as a result of their new products and services. Another US rating institute Fitch also echoed the pervasive optimism about the Chinese economy by raising its expectation for China's growth rate in 2016 from 6.5 percent to 6.7 percent, and 6.3 percent to 6.4 percent in 2017. Xie Dongming, an analyst with the Singaporean banking institution OCBC, said that thanks to the easy monetary policy and mounting stimulus released by the Chinese government, the market's confidence in the prospect of the Chinese economy is rising, no matter whether in terms of demand or supply. For his part, Andrei Ostrovsky, deputy director of the Far East Research Institute of Russia's Academy of Sciences, told Xinhua that China's reform and opening up policy has achieved enormous success despite remaining problems such as the development gaps between different regions and industries. Alexey Maslov, a professor at the Russian Higher School of Economics Research University, also said that the slowdown of China's growth is normal for an economy that has maintained rapid development for over 15 years. "China is reforming its fundamental economic structure as it has rolled out a series of actions to deepen reform and opening up in less than a year," Maslov noted. He suggested that China shall introduce comprehensive reforms of its taxation system and promote the "go globe" strategy to advance its domestic market. Canada wants to expand co-operation with China on environmental protection and climate change, a senior official from the Northern American country says. Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna said on Monday that Canada looked forward to building on our accomplishments and working with China. "We are confident that we will continue to achieve important results through these exchanges," she said. "Together, we will continue to build a new global clean economy." McKenna, who arrived in Guangzhou on Sunday, is leading a clean technology advocacy program with Canadian and Chinese companies in Guangzhou and Foshan. While in Foshan, McKenna participated in the official unveiling of the new Canada China Technology Transfer Institute. This new technology facility will be built jointly by Ontario-based Canada Clean Tech Capital (China) Inc and Foshan University. In Guangzhou, McKenna met senior officials from the Guangdong provincial development and reform commission to discuss co-operation between Canada and Guangdong province. McKenna left Guangzhou and flew to Beijing on Monday night. Before flying out, McKenna attended opening ceremony of the new premises of the Consulate General of Canada in Guangzhou which has a consular territory consisting of the provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Hainan, Hunan and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Monday. "The new premises of the Consulate General in Guangzhou are a concrete expression of Canada's commitment to strengthening its long-standing ties with China, across a wide range of sectors," said McKenna. "This new expanded Consulate General in Guangzhou, in addition to the whole China network of diplomatic missions, provides a dynamic platform to bring our countries and people together to increase our mutual economic prosperity and protect our global environment." Charge d'Affaires of Canada to China Cindy Termorshuizen said: "Canada places a great deal of importance upon further developing and sustaining a robust and strong relationship with China. The growth and expansion of this Consulate General in Guangzhou is one demonstration of this." Consul General of Canada in Guangzhou, Rachael Bedlington, said: "Besides assisting Canadians in need, the Consulate will serve to reinforce the already deep commercial, academic, cultural and people-to-people ties between Canada and South China." Guangdong Provincial Office of Foreign Affairs deputy director Luo Jun said Guangdong and Canada have already established very close economic and win-win relations in recent years. The foreign trade volume between Guangdong and Canada reached more than $4 billion in the first six months of the year. General Motors Co stands to lose as much as $9,000 on its electric subcompact Chevrolet Bolt. Sounds crazy, but it makes perfect business sense under the no pain, no gain policy driving the electric-vehicle boom in the US. California crafted the doctrine, with tough clean-air rules and a mandate that automakers sell some nonpolluting vehicles if they want to do business in the state, and nine others have adopted it, including New York and New Jersey. The states' rules are set to tighten so that zero-emission vehicles, or ZEVs, will have to increase by an estimated 15.4 percent of sales by 2025, some five times the current level. The hurdles may go even higher in California, where greenhouse-gas emissions are required to be 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. To get there, ZEVs, plug-in hybrids or fuel-cell cars may have to comprise 40 percent of sales, up from about 3 percent now, according to the California Air Resources Board staff projections. "The idea that automakers will sell 40 percent of their vehicles at a loss in California is ludicrous," said Eric Noble, president of CarLab, a California-based consulting company, who reckons most electric cars lose at least $10,000 per sale. The industry's willing to take the hit on a small scale now. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's battery-powered Fiat 500e is made for California alone, and Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne said in 2014 that it was losing $14,000 per sale. The industry might figure out how to make zero-emission cars into money makers once the charging-station infrastructure is built up and battery costs fall. Global demand seems sure to rise, with major economies, including China, having recognized climate change as a threat and emissions from gas-powered autos a chief contributor. The US has a zero-emission vehicle incentive, offering a $7,500 tax credit to buyers, and also gives credits to manufacturers to reward them for cars that meet the greenhouse-gas reduction targets set by the Obama administration. On Wednesday, the US Environmental Protection Agency took a formal step to make it harder for President-elect Donald Trump to undo Obama's targets. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy announced a preliminary determination that Obama's 2025 targets are achievable, affordable and appropriate. Whatever happens in the national capital, California will be where the power is for years to come. The bill that established its greenhouse-gas targets was championed by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Under the rules, GM needs to sell enough Bolts so that it can sell other vehicles, including pickups and SUVs. The Bolt's anticipated per-sale loss of roughly $8,000 to $9,000 is an estimate based on a sticker price of $37,500, according to a person familiar with the matter. Here's how the math works for GM in California: Let's say it sells a total of 219,962 vehicles in one model year (as it did, in fact, in 2015). To avoid heavy fines or the threat of getting shut out entirely, it would need state-awarded ZEV credits equal to 14 percent of the totalor 30,794. That would mean finding buyers for 7,698 Bolts, earning four credits for each, or 10,082 Chevy Volt plug-in hybrids or a combination of the two. "Electric vehicles are compliance vehicles and GM knows this," said the CarLab's Noble. "The Bolt will take sales from all of the other vehicles on the market, and GM will get a lot of credits." The more ZEVs a company peddles to the public, the more credits it earns, and those with a surplus can sell them to competitors that are falling behind. Tesla has been able to really tap the program. In the third quarter, it made $139 million by selling credits, which helped Tesla hit its second-ever quarterly profit on a GAAP basis. The US is one-fifth of the global car market, and groups ready to go to battle over emissions like to offer an argument beyond the threats of smog and global warming. California's policies are forcing companies to be innovative, said Luke Tonachel, a senior analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council. If they stop, "US manufacturers could lose market share." Bloomberg A 94-year-old woman in North China's Shanxi province has been praised for her virtue after caring for her partially paralyzed daughter-in-law for almost three decades. Sun Yincong combs the hair of her daughter-in-law Ren Caimei at their home in Yuncheng, Shanxi province. [For China Daily] Sun Yincong, from Tai'an village, in Yuncheng's Ruicheng county, has been named one of the province's most moral citizens, local newspaper Sanjin City News reported recently. Her fellow villagers revere her to such an extent that they have set aside one day each year to celebrate her, the eighth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. "Sun has spent 27 years caring for her paralyzed daughter-in-law, and has never left her side. It's common to see daughters-in-law looking after mothers-in-law, but Sun's case is just the opposite," said one villager, who refused to be named. In November 1989, Sun's husband died of an illness. Her son was poisoned in a gas leak just 10 days afterward. Six months later Sun's distraught daughter-in-law, Ren Caimei, had a stroke and developed hemiplegia - partial paralysis down one entire side of her body. Sun decided then and there to take care of Ren. "My grandma never leaves my mother's side for a moment and always looks after her," said Gao Weidong, Sun's eldest grandson. "Once my mother had such a severe stroke that the doctors were ready to give up. Our relatives and friends asked my grandma to give up treatment. But my grandma insisted on taking my mother to another doctor. Thanks to my kind grandma, my mother is still alive." For years, Sun would help Ren in and out of bed, carrying her when necessary and dressing her when she could not. But since last year, she has asked Gao Hongyu, Ren's daughter who lives in the same village, to help with the daily chores. "Each morning, grandma helps wash mother's face and comb her hair. She usually takes my mother to enjoy the sunshine when it's sunny and is used to preparing meals after asking my mother's opinions with gestures," Gao Hongyu said. "When my mother draws a circle with her hands, my grandma will serve her baked pancake, but when my mother draws a long strip with hands, that means she wants noodles." Sun, who lives in the room beside Ren's, said the whole family had pulled together to look after her disabled daughter-in-law. "Thanks to our family's efforts, our lives are better. No matter what happens, our family will keep on living a full life," she said. Zhang Chaoping, head of Tai'an village, said Sun had a "great personality" and was also kind to other villagers. "Her actions teach her family members, neighbors and other villagers," Zhang said. Contact the writer at yaoyao@chinadaily.com.cn By Li Yingqing in Kunming and Xu Wei in Beijing | China Daily | Updated: 2016-12-05 07:37 A scientist known as China's "father of hybrid rice" has developed a new strain that could enable the plant to adapt to more varied growing environments at a significantly lower cost. The strain, the third generation of hybrid rice that Yuan Longping has developed, is designed to be hardier and able to withstand lower temperatures during the plant's reproductive phase. "The third generation will also incorporate the merits of the previous two generations, and its adaptability to low temperatures will increase significantly," he said in an interview with China Daily. Low temperatures during the reproductive phase resulted in crop failure for the second generation of hybrid rice in Anhui province in 2014, triggering government scrutiny over the adaptability of the strain. It also infuriated farmers, whose yields plummeted from an expected 7.5 metric tons to 750 kilograms per hectare, or even to zero. Yuan said the cost of breeding the new strain has also decreased significantly, making its commercial use viable in the short term. However, he declined to disclose the expected average unit yield of the new rice strain. The yield of the second-generation hybrid rice reached a record average production volume of 1.03 tons in 2014. Yuan said the plantings of hybrid rice reached 17 million hectares in recent years, accounting for about 57 percent of the country's total rice acreage. The average production volume of rice nationwide is 6.4 tons per hectare, while that of hybrid rice stands at 7.5 tons. Yuan is also developing a new strain of saltwater-resistant rice that could yield up to 4.5 tons per hectare - about 60 percent of the yield from regular paddies. His team, meanwhile, is looking to sell the new strain to the world's major rice-growing countries, according to a team member who asked not to be identified. "The high adaptability of the third generation has made the worldwide promotion of hybrid rice possible," he said, adding that difficulties related to breeding the second generation of rice had made its promotion virtually impossible, despite its record-high yield. The company will look to breed rice seeds in destination countries, which could lower the cost of the breeding process even further, the team member said. Zhang Taolin, vice-minister of agriculture, said in a news briefing last year that the ministry will conduct more comprehensive assessments of hybrid rice varieties, including their yields and the adaptability of such varieties to different growing environments, including resilience to disease and insects. He insisted that hybrid rice remains an important part of the national strategy to ensure grain security. Both gain sympathy for the other in Changzhou outreach program The Urban Management Bureau of Changzhou, Jiangsu province, shared its daily work with vendors, in an effort to cultivate mutual understanding with a group that is often hostile toward urban patrol officers and their enforcement duties. One of the vendors, Liu Wei, who has lived in Changzhou for eight years, was fined by the bureau for selling barbecued food without a license. "I was fined twice by the bureau, totaling 1,000 yuan ($145)," Liu said. "That meant I worked five days for nothing. When I saw the bureau's notice to share their work, I jumped at the chance. I want to know what they do and why they fine us." Liu donned an official uniform, carried a recorder, received an intercom and started a day's work in the city's Tianning district. "I thought the work would be very easy because I'm one of them. I have many vendor friends and I know how to talk to them," he said. But the work turned out to be more difficult than he imagined. Some vendors refused to leave the roadside where passersby often stop and buy goods. A supermarket owner even pushed Liu out of the door after he tried to talk him into moving roadside goods indoors. Liu had to call his colleagues for help. They told him he should keep calm and avoid using provocative words that might worsen the situation. They smiled and explained the regulations patiently to the vendors and shop owners. Besides patrolling roads, Liu's work included cleaning up random graffiti on walls, demolishing illegal constructions and controlling illegal parking. He and other patrol officers had to carry a video recorder to prove that they did not use violence in doing their job. "I used to think that the work of the urban management bureau was to rob vendors," Liu said. "Now I know their duties and that their work is not easy. Mutual understanding is essential to avoid conflicts." Then there was the other side: Some undercover urban management officers also worked as vendors in Changzhou to experience the vendors' daily lives and ensure that their colleagues do their work in the right way, according to Qian Li, deputy director of the Lanling squadron in the city's Tianning district. "Their experiences will be shown on the internet," Qian said. "A documentary will also be made based on the experiences of the vendors and our workers." Conflicts between vendors and city management workers are reported from time to time throughout China. Ahmat Gopur lost his legs in a car accident in 2012. As a cotton farmer, the 36-year-old from Daxi village, Yuli county, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, made 40,000($5,800) to 50,000 yuan a year, but the accident stripped him of everything. In 2014, desperate to make his own living, he started learning how to use a computer. The training provided him with the skills to set up an online store in August, selling dried fruits and nuts. "My life was in ruins before I started my online business," he said. "I make 2,000 to 4,000 yuan a month, not as much as I made before, but better than nothing," he said. "For a disabled person, having a stable income means being independent and having a decent life." Because adults with disabilities are more likely to live in poverty, Daxi village's e-commerce service center provides preferential treatment for people in Gopur's situation. He manages his store from an office built and provided by the center, and although he sometimes needs help reading Chinese, his language skills are improving through frequent contact with his customers. The office provides a base for 10 disabled internet entrepreneurs. Because they have mobility problems, delivery teams visit the office to pick up their products - another preferential service. One of Gopur's peers, Zhou Yuexia, had polio as a child. Since the 46-year-old opened an online store in January, she has made about 3,000 yuan a month. "The service center provides us with a free office, computers, technology training and subsidies," she said. After her store made 3,000 yuan in its first month of business, Zhou took her 11-year-old daughter to eat hotpot, a rare luxury for the family. Zhou used to work as a nurse at a local hospital, but one day, a patient refused to be treated by her because of her condition. "He made fun of me and then imitated the way I walk," she said. "Not long after that, I quit." Later, she tried a number of small business ideas, including selling fried chicken on the street. "However, my disability always haunted me. I couldn't bear the way people looked at my legs," she said. "The online store has solved my problem; I've not only earned money, but also dignity." We generally believe that women are the victims of domestic violence, but on Saturday, Beijing issued the first personal protection order to a man who claimed to be a victim of domestic violence for more than half a year. The man, called Zhang, said he and his wife, Li, always quarrelled after their marriage. Li beat him for the first time this May and his injury sent him to hospital. Several days ago, a similar incident happened and this time he called the police. Zhang said Li never thought of how her behavior frightened their child to tears. Li also abused Zhang's mother. Zhang finally decided to protect himself through the law. He filed for divorce last month. As his wife is nursing their child, his divorce was suspended. Zhang applied for a personal protection order and delivered the evidence to court. Based on the photos, medical record and diagnosis, the Mentougou district court issued a protection order to Zhang, urging Li to stop the abuse and harassment. The order is valid for six months, if Li violates the order during the time, she can be fined and even subject to criminal prosecution. China's first anti-domestic violence law was adopted by Chinese legislature at the end of last year and took effect in March. It is a landmark move to bring silent abuse victims under legal protection. Screenshot of the couple on live broadcasting. [Photo from web] A couple hid in a Shanghai IKEA store to live broadcast their late night adventure last Saturday. IKEA security discovered them and called the police. The police said that the couple may be detained for several days. On Friday, the man announced his plans on Weibo, saying he would invite a beautiful lady to hide in an IKEA for the night. They arrived at IKEA hid in a closet and live broadcasted the darkness. Later in the evening, a security guard discovered them and called the police. Police officers came at soon after and started a trial. Police officers noticed there was another man with the couple. The three said they wanted to experience the childhood feeling of hiding in a closet and meant no harm. The live broadcaster apologized on Weibo Sunday morning. Live broadcasting is an increasing trend in China. In order to attract audiences, broadcasters always try their best, and unfortunately at times do illegal activities. Chinese authorities published a regulation on live streaming one month ago, ordering providers and releasers to obtain qualifications and act according to the rules. It banned the use of live streams to undermine national security, destabilize society, disturb social order, infringe upon others' rights and interests, or disseminate obscene content. The file photo shows the outlet of American Apparel in Sanlitun, Beijing. [Photo/sohu.com] An outlet of American Apparel in Beijing refused to uphold a request to access surveillance footage after a woman lost her mobile phone while shopping in the store. The woman initially went to the local police, who suspected her phone may have been stolen in the shopping district. The police then accompanied her back to the store and asked for surveillance footage to investigate further. The outlet refused and the manager said as American Apparel will close in Beijing at the end of this month, the surveillance is now in the hands of the US headquarters. The outlet was unable to provide the surveillance without permission from the headquarters, even if it was to assist a police investigation. Employees said the only way to obtain footage is to submit an application to the head office. The store contacted the US headquarters on access, and promised to inform the customer when they would hear back. As to date, no further contact from the store has been received. A lawyer from Beijing Yue Cheng Law Firm, said as the store is registered in Beijing according to China's corporation law, the store's assets belong to the store, this includes the surveillance cameras and monitoring equipment, there should be no problem in them accessing the footage. Also, the footage doesn't have property value and may involve criminal scenes, so businesses should cooperate when asked by the police for investigations. The lawyer said China's laws are applicable to the outlet running in China, even if it claims as an overseas-funded enterprise. Businesses resisting police investigations may be fined or detained. News / National by Simbarashe Sithole HARARE - There was an action packed film at Machipisa police station in Highfield Harare this morning (Wednesday) when a Chitungwiza bound commuter omnibus driver refused to stop at a police road block.It is alleged a kombi plying Makoni- Machipisa route had been stopped by four police officers manning a road block just a few metres from their police station.The Kombi refused to stop prompting a female officer to strike the windscreen at the same time allowing another cop identified as constable Mapfumo to throw a spike.When Bulawayo24.com arrived on the scene three furious kombi operators disembarked armed with stones and started attacking the cops who rushed into the police station shouting for a gun to be brought to them.After noticing their victory the kombi operators made a U turn to Machipisa rank and the overpowered cops took a loaded riffle before chasing after the violent kombi operators. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Zhang Yanqi, cofounder of bike sharing startup ofo, delivers a speech at the Chuangyebang 100 Future Leaders Summit in Beijing on Thursday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] "Sharing economy is not in the future but is happening now. It is not only happening in the developed countries but also is reshaping developing countries such as China," said Zhang Yanqi, cofounder of ofo, a Beijing-based bike-sharing startup, at the sideline of Chuangyebang 100 Future Leaders Summit on Thursday. From September 2015, when ofo delivered its first batch of yellow bicycles to university campuses to October 2016, when it delivered the first bicycle to larger communities in cities, the bike-sharing has become full-fledged part of sharing economy in China. "In the past, people bought houses or cars to make them their own property. But this concept of possession will change to sharing. It is very efficient from economic perspective," he said. Ofo is a platform that connects bicycle users. It encourages people to share their own bicycles to exchange the right of using every bicycle on the platform free of charge. Those who do not have a bicycle to share should pay to use them. Today, it connects 217,365 bicycles collected from common people or bicycle producers with more than 3 million registered users from 200 university campuses in 22 cities across China or communities in first-tier cities. "We will go to more cites," said Zhang Yanqi. "Ofo aims to connect all bicycles in the world." Unlike ofo, another ride-sharing platform Mobike produces special-designed bicycles for citizens to share. The original purpose for Mobike to share bikes is to save energy, space and time, said cofounder Hu Weiwei. Hu Weiwei, cofounder of bike sharing startup Mobike, delivers a speech at the Chuangyebang 100 Future Leaders Summit in Beijing on Thursday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Official data show that the commute coverage is less than 5 kilometers in 39 percent of car driving in Beijing in 2014. Five kilometers is a common distance for bicycle riding and walking. "When everyone has a car, 90 percent of the time cars are just parked, and rest of the time is spent in the middle of the road in traffic jam or wasted in looking for a space to park," said Hu, adding that a car's carbon emission is 18 times than that of a bicycle and needs 10 times more parking area. Bicycles makes traveling more efficient, and ride-sharing strengthens it. Hu showed that Mobikes are used 24 hours a day in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, with a video during her speech at the summit. Hu said she was surprised about the around-the-clock use at first, until a Shenzhen Mobike user told her the reason. "Some workers, for instance, cleaners, get off or go to work early morning when public transport isn't operating. In the past, they may use their own bicycles, and now they use Mobike," she said. Sharing bicycles benefits all people living in the city. "Fifty-two percent of users are post-80s and nearly thirty percent post-90s. Also, there are foreigners from 110 countries registered on our platform," said Hu. Many people asked about the risk of bicycles being stolen. "A good system will breed goodwill," said Hu. "If everyone can get a bicycle anywhere anytime, no one will want to steal it." Authorities are backing these innovators. In December of last year, President Xi Jinping said that the government will support the sharing economy and internet-empowered innovations. "In less than one month of Mobike's launch in Guangzhou, the local government designated 39 Mobike parking areas across the city to support us," said Hu. "Shanghai government not only earmarked parking areas but also set up signs to teach people how to use Mobikes," she added. A new novel set during the Sino-Japanese war has been praised by researchers of the Nanjing Massacre. The Chinese version of Nanjing Never Cries has recently published in China and was discussed at an event in Nanjing, Jiangsu province on Monday. The author, Dr Hong Zheng, also known as Hung Cheng, spent 10 years researching material, visiting survivors of the massacre and consulting experts to finish writing the novel. As a professor of applied mathematics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Zheng knows the power of nuclear bombs and said he mourns the Japanese civilians killed in war. But he said history cannot be distorted and the tragedy of the Chinese must be heard. In his novel, MIT graduate John Winthrop and his Chinese classmate Calvin Ren, or Ren Kewen, travel to China together with Calvin's wife. There they meet the beautiful 18-year-old Chen May. The characters witness people close to them being killed along with thousands of civilians when the Japanese invasion takes place and the city of Nanjing falls into chaos. To make the story realistic, Zheng referred to documents from many countries, and incorporated his research into the novel. Born in 1937, the professor experienced the difficulties of the aftermath of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45). He noticed that Nanjing Massacre has long been ignored, while the Americans' guilt for bombing Japanese cities was discussed publicly frequently. "Writing this novel is not to promote hatred," Zheng said. "I hope that the history can be known to more people through this book, so to avoid the happening of the same tragedy." Curator of a memorial to the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, Zhang Jianjun, said he was deeply touched after receiving and finishing the book on Sunday. "The audience can be moved by the details of the history described in the novel," Zhang said. Book publisher She Jiangtao said that the massacre should always be remembered to keep people alert. "It's a wound that will never heal for the Chinese nation. Keeping the records of it will benefit both the Chinese and world peace." According to Chinese documents, more than 300,000 people were killed by Japanese troops during the Nanjing Massacre, which took place from December 1937 to January 1938. A series of activities will be held in Nanjing to commemorate the anniversary of the massacre, which falls on Dec 13. CHIFENG -- Several officials have been suspended from their duties following a deadly colliery blast that left 32 dead in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Saturday. Those that were relieved of their posts include the deputy heads of the work safety bureau of Chifeng City and the work safety bureau of Chifeng's Yuanbaoshan District, according to the city government. Police have detained those in charge of the coal mine. The explosion occurred around midday Saturday at Baoma Mining Company in Chifeng. A total of 181 people were working underground at the time of the accident, with 149 workers managing to get above ground to safety. The State Council has approved a team to investigate. Premier Li Keqiang speaks with Zhang Huamei, who obtained China's first small private business permit in 1980, at a ceremony on Monday.[WU ZHIYI/China Daily] Premier Li Keqiang called on small private business owners to build their brands and contribute to employment and the national economy at a ceremony on Monday. At the event, marking the 30th anniversary of the China Privately Owned Business Association, the premier met with more than 200 representatives of the group. Among them was Zhang Huamei, a 56-year-old woman who in 1980 obtained China's first permit to open a small private business. Such businesses now provide 40 percent of the country's jobs and have played a vital role in boosting economic growth, vitalizing the market and meeting the public's diversified demands, the premier said. "Private businesses should operate with integrity and build their own brands to win market recognition, and, meanwhile, avoid counterfeit and fake products," Li said. The government will further streamline administrative processes and strengthen public services to protect their rights and legal property, he said. Analysts said Li's high-profile speech at the ceremony is an indication of the importance the central government attaches to this group of business owners, whose number has grown about thirtyfold over the years to more than 300 million. China is aiming for medium to high speed economic growth, requiring the participation and support of millions of market entities, Li said. Private business owners, he added, should accurately survey market opportunities to create goods in order to meet new demands and create more jobs. According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 10.67 million new jobs were created in the first nine months of the year, three months in advance of the 10-million-job annual goal the premier set in his Government Work Report in March. Observers said that achievement could be largely attributed to small private businesses. Li has repeatedly talked about the importance of steady employment opportunities as China's economy faces downward pressure amid sluggish world trade. Export and investment, which have been economic drivers for decades, are slowing or even shrinking, so private capital and businesses are getting more significant in the national economy. The private sector, small businesses in particular, has helped increase employment opportunities and ensure China achieves its annual economic growth target, said Ma Baocheng, director of the Decision-Making and Consultation Department at the Chinese Academy of Governance. Facing flagging global demand, China's exports declined and private investment growth has also slowed over the past few months. To further stimulate private business owners' enthusiasm, the central government has worked to simplify administration and expand the reform of government services, Ma said. China dispatched the first 120 members of its 700-strong peacekeeping infantry battalion to Juba, capital of South Sudan, on a 12-month United Nations mission on Sunday. Two Chinese peacekeepers were killed there in July. The battalion also includes a 13-member female unit to undertake humanitarian missions, and protect women and children's rights, the Defense Ministry said. Jiang Qihu introduces the art of Peking Opera at the culture talk in India, Nov 21, 2016. [Photo/Chinaculture.org] Performers from the National Peking Opera Company of China have taken the stage in India, Russia and Mongolia from Nov 21 to 30. Jiang Qihu, one of the opera company's stars, performed excerpts from classics during a series of talks on "The Charm and Beauty of Traditional Chinese Culture: The Art of Peking Opera" in the three countries. India Charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy to India, Liu Jinsong, and Delhi Intentional Arts Festival director Prathibha Prahlad were among 300 Chinese and Indian officials and ambassadors who attended the talk. Lui spoke of the friendship beween Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore and Chinese Peking Opera Master Mei Lanfang. "The talk fulfilled Mei Langfang's dream of visiting India. We hope the cultural exchanges could boost the mutual relationship between the two nations," Liu said. Prathibha Prahlad said the culture talk enhanced the mutual understanding of Chinese and Indian people and suggested having more exchanges and communication between the two countries' artists. A Russian student, who studied in Delhi, agreed. "I hope I could have the chance to watch more Peking Opera in Delhi and Moscow. I plan to study Chinese from now on to know more about Chinese culture," the student said. Russia As the student wished, the talk continued to Moscow in Russia. The Bureau for External Cultural Relations of the Ministry of Culture deputy director-general Chen Fafen, and minister counselor of the Chinese Embassy to Russia, Zhang Zhonghua, were among 500 Russian officials, scholars and artists who attended the talk. Some Russian audience members said they wanted to go to China and feel the charm of Peking Opera in Chinese theatres. Mongolia Another 500 officials and artists turned out to hear the talk in Mongolia, including Chen Fafen and Cultural Counselor of the Chinese Embassy to Mongolia, Li Wei. Mongolian audiences praised the talk for its interesting combination of presentations and performances. They also hoped there would be more chances for them to watch Peking Opera in Mongolia. About Chinese Culture Talk The events belongs to Chinese Culture Talk that was launched in 2015 by the Ministry of Culture of China. Chinese Culture Talk is a series of high-level cultural and academic lectures. More than 40 lectures have been held in the US, France, Italy, Cambodia and Indonesia. The content varies from philosophy, religion, cultural heritage, literature and art, costume, cooking and Chinese medicine. China makes steady strides in poverty alleviation Updated: 2016-12-02 ( Xinhua ) As the only breadwinner in the family, Zhang Shiwei, 45, from Gansu Province in the northwest of China, was relieved to get a loan from a local credit cooperative. Zhang's parents and his wife are unable to work and his three children are still in school. He had made plans to start a greenhouse business, but getting a bank loan without collateral proved difficult. This year, Gansu came up with a new policy on credit unions and, in November, Zhang's dream took a step closer to becoming a reality. Zhang's case is far from unique: China plans to end poverty by 2020. In November last year, President Xi Jinping suggested that elimination of poverty would require more targeted and precise measures. Since then, steady progress has been made. Local governments and officials, particularly in underdeveloped regions, have made poverty alleviation their top priority. As industrial development is key to poverty alleviation, industry development plans, many already put into practice, have been at the heart of government activities. With 30 million people to rise out of poverty by 2020 through industrial development, relocation has also been highlighted over the past year. Around 10 million people are expected to take this route out of poverty and hundreds of impoverished counties now have formal arrangements for relocation, many of which are underway. Tuition fees and other expenses have been waived for senior high school students from poor families, while basic medical care services now cover all poor people in rural areas. Fiscal expenditure on poverty relief has increased, and private investment has been encouraged. Central and provincial governments earmarked a record high of over 100 billion yuan (around 14.5 billion U.S. dollars) for poverty relief this year. Preferential tax policies, reduced interest on loans, and other financial incentives have encouraged financial institutions to offer more products aimed at reducing poverty. And China has been consistent in its commitment in eliminating poverty. Over the past three decades, some 700 million people across China can longer consider themselves "poor." The first developing country to meet the Millennium Development Goal of reducing the population living in poverty by half, China plans to lift all of its people out of poverty by 2020. Major tasks for the next five years include ensuring people to have enough to eat and wear, and that they have adequate education, health services and housing. Per-capita disposable income in poor areas must grow faster than the national average, and standards of basic public services must be close to the national average. These tasks are closely related to the more ambitious goal of building a moderately prosperous society by 2020. If the tasks are completed on time, China will meet the United Nations Goal of wiping out poverty in all its forms and dimensions 10 years ahead of the 2030 deadline. As of the end of 2015, China had 55.75 million people in rural areas living below the poverty line of 2,300 yuan in annual income by 2010 price standards. Smoke rises from a chimneys of a steel mill on a hazy day in Fengnan district of Tangshan, Hebei province February 18, 2014.[Photo/Agencies] JIXIAN COUNTY IN TIANJIN HAS BEEN RUNNING A WASTE-TO-ENERGY PLANT since April, after local residents apparently gave it a green light two years ago. In its environmental impact evaluation, the local bureau of environmental protection said 200 questionnaires had been distributed in the 10 villages nearby and 96.5 percent of the respondents had said "yes" to the plant. Yet recently, residents from six of the villages said they never saw the questionnaire or received any other advance notice of the plant. Beijing News says it is highly possible that the power plant fabricated the signatures of villagers and submitted a false report to the local bureau of environmental protection: This is not the only case of its kind. There have been many reports of enterprises falsifying such questionnaire results; in some cases, they even "obtained" the signatures of people who died in the 1990s. This is not funny. Behind each case, the health and even the lives of local residents might be put at risk. One of the main reasons for this is a loophole in the law. According to the current regulation on public participation in environmental impact evaluation, public opinion must be sought in advance for programs that might have a serious environmental impact, but the regulation does not specify how. In practice, it is always the enterprises that "solicit" public opinions, and some of them cheat in the process because a "yes" result is essential for their interests. It is time the judiciary strengthened the regulation. The local environmental protection agencies, not the enterprises concerned, should be responsible for soliciting public opinions. Besides, the enterprises cheating in their solicitation of public opinions should be punished, so that others do not dare to flout the law in the future. The process of public participation should also be made more transparent. In the Tianjin case, when some villagers applied to see the 200 signatures, they were told by the local environmental protection bureau that the signatures are confidential. This is ridiculous and will curb transparency. The higher authorities need to investigate and punish those responsible if they find there has been any cheating. Gu Weiqi (third from right) and her schoolmates before the graduation activity of Thames boat cruise in London, UK, July 12, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Look before you leap overseas Starting salaries of some overseas-returnees in China have reportedly fallen to as low as 40,000 yuan ($5,805) a year. Why? The expectations of those who study overseas vary. Many students going abroad for studies have dreams of working in a foreign country. After completing their studies, they plan to get a job in the country of their stay. Only when they realize how difficult it is to land a job in that way do they return home. Since their original plan is to work overseas after graduation, they prepare themselves differently compared with the students in China. The wide gap between the demands of the domestic and overseas job markets shatters the dream of many returnees expecting to get cushy, well-paying jobs at home. Students who study overseas for many years could lose track of the developments in China. They could also be found wanting in many areas as they cannot keep pace with their peers at home. Some students who return to China are less capable of dealing with different situations or lack comprehensive skills, and hence adapt to the changing environment more slowly than others. To begin with, students, especially those who are part of international education exchange programs, should be well versed in globalization. Given the uncertainties of the global job market, they cannot focus on just one area. They ought to master communication skills, be familiar with different subjects and be able to adapt to changes. Second, whether or not a student should be sent overseas for studies should be decided by their aptitude, intellect and level of adaptability. And third, students going overseas for studies should know that on return employers are more likely to treat them the same as domestic graduater, because they no longer have the advantages they once enjoyed. Chu Zhaohui, senior researcher at National Institute of Education Sciences. News / National by Stephen Jakes A Zanu PF legislator Terence Mukupe has said people of Zimbabwe are tired of politicking done by politicians who can not arrest the scourge of corruption threatening the survival of the country economical.Several incidents of corruption involving top Zanu PF politicians have been unearthed by there is not record of any politician who has been arrested and jailed for the crime."In my own small way, I will be the voice of reason in my community. The people are tired of politicking but want results. They want a better Zimbabwe. No to corruption, thieving and Robbin Hoods!!! The announcement by VP Mnangagwa that Group 5 defrauded Zimbabwe by inflating prices on the Plumtree Mutare road is sickening. We need to start arresting thieves starting probably with the minister who was responsible for this oversight. We need to make a big statement on corruption!," Mukupe said.Latest in the corruption allegations is Minister of Higher Education Jonathan Moyo and his deputy Godfrey Gandawa who are accused of abusing over $400 000 from the ZIMDEF. Cai Meng/China Daily Within half an hour on Nov 30, I went on a personal roller coaster between feeling mildly good about myself to feeling duped. It was all because I had forwarded an article on WeChat. The article detailed the difficulties faced by Luo Er, a reporter in Shenzhen, whose 5-year-old daughter, Luo Yixiao, was in intensive care for leukemia. He mentioned the treatment could cost between 10,000 yuan ($1,500) to 30,000 yuan a day. But instead of explicitly asking for donation, he said forwarding his article would suffice as a third party would pay 1 yuan each time it was reposted. I normally refrain from doing such "good deeds" but Luo's status as a journalist, his recounting of the details of his daughter's situation and his non-coercion in seeking public support lend it credibility. Most crucial of all, my brother recently died of colon cancer and I had a reflex of empathy for Luo. Little did I know that when I was reposting it to my friends on the app, the piece was being debunked: Luo had three properties in the city where real estate prices are sky high. He had vastly exaggerated his financial need. The whole thing was a scam concocted by a company whose goal was to accumulate eyeballs. I quickly deleted my post, feeling bad about anyone who might have lost money because of my impulsive act. But I also thought things weren't as clear-cut as they were made out to be. Thanks to the timely reaction of local media and relevant organizations, the truth emerged the next day. And indeed, it was not all black and white. The medical condition of Luo's daughter was accurate. In China, it would be a gross violation of ethics if a parent makes up such a claim. It would be seen as a curse on one's child. Luo indeed has three propertiesone in Shenzhen, where the family resides, and two in neighboring Dongguan. The Dongguan apartments have not been issued ownership permits yet, which makes resale a bit hard. And all three units are far from being highly valued. The sky cinema inside the Oriental Salt Lake Resort. [Photo provided to China Daily] The Oriental Salt Lake Resort in Jintan, Jiangsu province, looks a little like Zhejiang's touristy Wuzhen, but with a regal and religious touch. Yang Feiyue reports. Yang Feiyue It was like time travel when we set foot at the Oriental Salt Lake Resort. A giant Taoist stone sculpture and an extensive rugged stone wall greeted us at the resort that is located at the foot of the Taoist holy mountain Maoshan in Jintan, Jiangsu province. Soft and smooth Taoist music wafts through the air adding to the atmosphere. It is late in the afternoon when we arrive here in late November. We are awestruck as we explore the resort walking along the stone slab-paved roads. The road gradually takes us to buildings that overlook each other and small lakes. Yellow lights shine on gates, pavilions, inns and museums that wear an ancient look, making for a magnificent view. The area somehow looks a little like Zhejiang province's tourism hotspot Wuzhen, yet with a regal and religious touch. Further away, stretches of dark green mountains hug the resort. The resort, when completed, will cover an area of 27.8 square kilometers at a cost of nearly 10 billion yuan ($1.45 billion). The first phase (66.7 hectares), which was opened to the public in March, has integrated the mountains, water, and local tea and food resources. The resort has already logged approximately 1 million visits since its inauguration. "Self-drive visitors are the biggest group so far," says Yang Guozhong, head of the Jintan tourism bureau. The resort is an hour's drive from Nanjing and two hours from Shanghai. "Most of them (visitors) typically spend two days here, getting in touch with nature and soaking up Taoist culture," says Yang. Accommodation is priced from 600 yuan ($87) to a little more than 1,200, with breakfast for two and entrance fees. Here, visitors can practice tai chi, enjoy organic food and take trips to villages nearby. It remains the conventional wisdom among overseas companies that their success or failure in China will be largely determined by the effectiveness of their local strategies. There are approximately 77 million foreign companies that operate in China in some fashion, according to a report released by China's Administration for Industry and Commerce in January. It came as no surprise to me that during the recent Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Facebook, the social networking giant, was reported to have quietly created software to censor content on its website in China, an effort that signifies its willingness to abide by local laws on cyber content and security. Given China's massive potential as the world's largest mobile and internet market with more than 721 million users, no US brands can afford to lose an opportunity there. Facebook is under pressure for continuous growth and looking for its next billion users. It sells ads for many businesses from its Hong Kong office. Some Western observers suspect that Facebook is paying too high a price for entering the Chinese market; for example, a recent article on Forbes.com called Facebook's content censorship "a tough choice", and an analysis at The New York Times referred to the software as "suppression tools". All foreign companies operating in China need to follow local rules, and they should carefully construct their strategies to consider differences in ideology, cultural and social norms, and more importantly, the laws of China. To be effective in China, the management of a foreign company should nurture cultural sensitivity and display a willingness to adapt products, services and management styles to meet industry norms. Companies must build trust with local clients and industry administrators while adhering to international business standards and corporate ethics. I applaud the great efforts that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made over the years to cultivate a relationship with China. He, among several other CEOs at American high-tech companies such as Tim Cook at Apple, Virginia Rometty at IBM and Jeffrey Bezos at Amazon, was received by President Xi Jinping in Seattle during his US state visit in 2015. Zuckerberg has made himself a household name in China by visiting many times, giving a speech at Tsinghua University in Mandarin, jogging near the Forbidden City, and along with his wife and toddler daughter, sending Chinese New Year greetings in Mandarin. According to insiders, the new feature of Facebook's software will prevent certain content from appearing in feeds to comply with government requests. Instead of blocking the posts itself, Facebook would open-source the software to a third party, most likely a Chinese partner company, to monitor sensitive posts that might go viral. It would be the Chinese partner's responsibility to determine whether such content should be removed or not. In response to employees' questions about the tool, Zuckerberg said at a gathering in July at Facebook's Menlo Park, California headquarters: "It's better for Facebook to be a part of enabling conversation, even if it's not yet the full conversation (with China)." A Facebook spokesperson said "we have long said that we are interested in China, and are spending time understanding and learning more about the country". Contact the writer at junechang@chinadailyusa.com SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba - The remains of the Cuban revolutionary leader and former President Fidel Castro were buried Sunday morning at the Santa Ifigenia cemetery in Santiago de Cuba. Cuban president Raol Castro (C) places the ashes of his brother and Cuban leader Fidel Castro in his tomb at Santa Ifigenia cemetery in Santiago de Cuba (Cuba), 04 December 2016. [Photo/IC] At 9:45am, the public was allowed to briefly visit his tomb, guarded by a dozen soldiers.His final resting place is very close to other national heroes, such as Jose Marti, Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, and Fidel's comrades from the revolutionary struggle.Thousands of people waving Cuban flags bid farewell to Castro while crying out "I am Fidel", during the passage of the car bearing with his ashes along the local Avenue Patria to the cemetery.After a 21-gun salute, soldiers dressed in white gala uniforms and bearing black armbands carried the cedar-wood urn, covered by the Cuban flag, for the final stretch.Fidel's brother and current President, Raul, placed the ashes inside the tomb.The solemn private ceremony was only attended by family members, friends, and special guests, including Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, and former Brazilian Presidents, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff.Fidel Castro died on November 25 at the age of 90. The government decreed nine days of national mourning.The funeral honors began with a popular tribute and a massive rally at the Revolution Plaza in Havana, attended by thousands of Cuban and heads of state from around the world.On Wednesday morning, the caravan carrying the ashes of the leader left for a journey across the country, and reached Santiago de Cuba on Saturday, a city considered to be the cradle of the Cuban revolution.Hundreds of thousands of people lined the route across Cuba, often waiting for hours in heavy rain or beating sun, many bearing flowers, flags, and photos of Castro, or having his name written on their faces.During a ceremony on Saturday night in Santiago de Cuba, Raul Castro disclosed that Fidel had insisted that no public institutions or places be named after him and that no monuments or statues of him be erected."The leader of the Revolution rejected any form of a cult of personality and was consistent with that attitude until the last hours of his life," said Raul.He added that at the next session of the National Parliament in December, the government will present the legislative proposals required to comply with Fidel's wishes. New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key addresses the audience during a meeting at the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Ceo Summit in Lima, Peru, November 19, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] WELLINGTON -- New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on Monday shocked the nation and his cabinet by announcing his resignation after eight years at the head of one of the most popular governments in the country's recent history. Key, who led his center-right National Party to three successive general election victories, said in a broadcast statement that he would not lead his party into a fourth term in next year's election. His voice audibly shaking, Key said he had informed the cabinet the same morning. "I do not believe that, if you asked me if I was committed to serving out a fourth term, that I could look the public in the eye and say yes," he said. "This has been the hardest decision I have ever made and I do not know what I will do next. But for me this feels the right time to go." He cited family reasons for his resignation, saying the post had required great sacrifices "from those who are dearest to me." "For my wife Bronagh, there have been many nights and weekends spent alone, many occasions that were important to her that I simply could not attend," said Key. "My daughter Stephie and my son Max have transitioned from teenagers to young adults while coping with an extraordinary level of intrusion and pressure because of their father's job." Key said the National Party Members of Parliament would hold a special caucus on Dec. 12 to choose a new leader, who would have time to "settle in" before the next election. He was confident his party would be returned to power in the election which must be held by November next year. Key, who was elected to parliament in 2006, said he would not be contesting his parliamentary seat of Helensville, in the mainly rural northwest of Auckland, at the next election. He said the caucus had "a number of individuals who would make a fine future PM," but he would support Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bill English in the leadership race, if English put himself forward. "Whoever the caucus elects will have my unwavering support, but if Bill English puts his name forward then I will vote for him," said Key. "For 10 years now Bill and I have worked as a team. I have witnessed first-hand his leadership style, his capacity for work, his grasp of the economy, his commitment to change and, most of all, his decency as a husband, as a father, as a friend, a colleague and as a politician." Recovery teams examine the charred remains of the two-story converted warehouse that caught fire killing dozens in Oakland, California, US, December 4, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] OAKLAND, California - A fire that devastated an Oakland, California, loft building during a weekend dance party has taken at least 33 lives and the toll will likely rise, authorities said on Sunday, as criminal investigators joined recovery teams at the charred ruin. Firefighters in Oakland, east of San Francisco, found the remains of nearly three dozen victims as they sifted through the debris-filled shell of the two-story converted warehouse being used by an artists' collective. The cause of the fire was still undetermined, officials said. Arson is not suspected but investigators want to find out if the building, often used for musical performances, had a history of code violations. Mayor Libby Schaaf said the Alameda County District Attorney's Office activated its criminal investigation team at the fire scene. A representative of the prosecutor's office is monitoring the recovery process, she said, adding she was not authorized to say if a criminal probe was under way. The mayor said the city's first priority was finding the victims and supporting the families. "We have delivered the unacceptable and horrific news of losing a loved one to seven of our families." The blaze, which erupted about 11:30 pm on Friday (0730 GMT on Saturday), ranks as the deadliest in the United States since 100 people perished in a 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire. The warehouse, which served as a base for the Ghost Ship Artists Collective, was one of many converted lofts in the city's Fruitvale district, a mostly Latino area where rents are generally lower than in the rest of Oakland. As of Sunday evening, only 35 to 40 percent of the building had been searched, said Sergeant Ray Kelly, spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. Officials are still unsure how many people were in the building at the time of the fire and how many more victims might be found. News / National by Stephen Jakes People's Democratic Party (PDP) Harare Province Secretary For Information and Publicity Nqobizitha Dumakude Khumalo has described the ruling Zanu PF as Satan's organisation operating physical on this earth.His remarks were in reference to the suffering masses due to cash crisis which is believed to be caused by the Robert Mugabe l;ed government of Zanu PF. The cash crisis has seen people sleeping in queues as they hope to get their cash to no avail at times. Even the Ecocash facilities have seen people being given as little as $10 from each agent with the cash out charges gobbling a lot of their money in the process.Also of serious concerns is the continued abduction and brutalization of those opposed to the government policies which Khumalo said makes the ruling party more devilish."I went to visit Comrade Kauzani in hospital. We were not allowed access to him. He was in theatre and reports suggest that the situation is rather serious. I later met his wife. The report is that Kauzani was probably spotted in town and tailed. He boarded a kombi on his way home in Kuwadzana. A twin cab of unidentified make and without number plates followed the kombi," he said."As they were entering Kuwadzana the car overtook the kombi and ordered it to stop. Two men then got into the kombi and instructed Kauzani to disembark. He refused and the other passengers supported him after which the men took out pistols and threatened to shoot. Kauzani had no option but to obey. They first assaulted him and then threw him into their car. They drove along Bulawayo Road and then veered off into some bushes where there were at least three other cars of identical make."Khumalo said the occupants are said to have celebrated his capture and it is then that they started interrogating him about Tajamuka, its source of funding and the other members of the group."He was also asked about the number of trained people in Tajamuka and also on the manner of the training they had. All this time time there were mercilessly pounding him with clenched fists and booted feet. They undressed him and stole his cellphone and the little cash he had," said Khumalo."They expressed their strong desire to kill for Mugabe and said that they didn't care what human rights organisations and the international community thought. As they assaulted him they challenged him to call Trump for help. They kicked him on the chest and face and stepped on his face and crushed his feet and legs with heavy sticks. Before they left one of them warned him to run away or they would finish him off if they found him still on the spot."He said poor Kauzani could not walk, the best he could do was crawl slowly and painfully."They returned a second time and found him still groaning and moaning as he tried to drag himself away. They started assaulting him again lifting him high in the air and letting him fall. Many times he blacked out. Finally they said they were going to do something to ensure he did not commit mischief again. They ran him over with their car. Had he not twisted away they might have crushed him. However they ran over his two legs breaking one and severely bruising the other," he said."They then threw him into their car and drove back into town, dumping him at Pamuzinda Bar in front of shocked revellers who thought a corpse was being dumped on them. He was undressed. People crowded around him and he gave the cell number of his wife. A car was found and he was carried to hospital where he is till now."Khumalo said this is one of the most frightening stories that crowd the pages of our newspapers today."We are all apprehensive especially after going through the horrors of Gukurahundi and 26 June. The beastly cruelty of the whole scenario is frightening. We are all afraid. What is this leading to. Has the beastly Zanu PF found a new terror tactic; a higher level of cruelty. In 2008 there was the method of assaulting someone and then spraying them with acid or pesticides resulting in ugly and frightening injuries. Next came short and long sleeves, the amputation of arms at upper arm or wrist level respectively," he said."Now we are asking ourselves; is running over people's feet the new method of maiming now adopted by this ultra stalinist style. We wonder. I urge the civilised world to treat this case with the seriousness it deserves. This case will be an indictment on the moral standards of our generation, the mark of Cain upon us all. May I remind my fellow Zimbabweans of the words attributed to Mustapha Muhammad; there are three people with no room in heaven: the oppressor, the one who helps the oppressor and the one who tolerates the oppressor."He said how many people killed Jesus? It was three: the Roman soldier (the oppressor), the crowd shouting "crucify him" together with those who delivered him up (those who help the oppressor) and Pontius Pilate who washed his hands clean and refused to take action (the one who tolerates the oppressor.)"Where do you stand. Are you the oppressor: the partisan policeman and soldier or the Zanu Pf assassin or the youth burning people's houses, killing and maiming. Are you the one aiding the oppressor, selling out your neighbour, actively campaigning for a murderous party and every five years helping to renew its mandate to kill and torture innocent Zimbabweans and starving innocent children to death? Or you are like Pilate, the smart one who is above it all; refusing to be involved. I am a Christian, l am too educated et cetera," he said."You have no room in heaven. Oppression of your fellow humans is a sin of commission. Tolerating oppression is a sin of omission. I indict this generation for crucifying Christ afresh, for where truth and justice are on the cross Christ is crucified anew. Many of us on that great day of reckoning that shall soon or later come upon us all find our fingers dripping with the blood of people we never knew we killed. Let Zimbabweans stand up and say no to further brutalisation of our nation." Launch ceremony of Inspiring Women online platform in Beijing, China on Dec 4, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Pilots, surgeons and firefighters are traditional male-dominated professions that few girls have dared to dream of. Those who study traditional female-dominated majors, such as education and nursing, may not be fully aware of what the jobs really look like when they choose their majors. Inspiring Women, a project initiated by the British Council, was launched in Beijing on Sunday to provide girls from middle schools to colleges a chance to get to learn more about their future careers in advance and learn from the experiences of outstanding women from all walks of life. On the occasion of the upcoming fourth China-UK High Level People to People Dialogue, to be held in Shanghai on Tuesday, the Inspiring Women project on Sunday launched its online platform for volunteers and schools. Women of all professions are welcome to sign up as volunteers and spend one hour a year speaking and sharing information on their career, their education path and their life choices to the young women at a specific school. School heads and teachers are also welcome to search the platform and find a volunteer in a specific profession to give a speech to their female students. "We are expecting at least 1,000 volunteers' registration in 2017," said Carma Elliot, director of British Council China. Carma herself, as well as Dame Barbara Woodward, British ambassador to China, also shared their own journeys as successful career women. Paralympics gold medalist Susie Rodgers shared an enthralling account of her journey to win a team gold medal. "I would always give the advice to women that never to give up and my motivation was to focus on little positive things that I could do every day," she said. Paralympics gold medalist Susie Rodgers speaks to the audience in Beijing, China on Dec 4, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Ma Feng, who is from a rural area in North China's Gansu province, told the audience that if one has a dream, she can find the way to achieve it. Ma was sponsored by the Educating Girls of Rural China Organization and studied at Liverpool University in the UK, and found a good job at a financial investment company after graduation. Founded in 2013, the Inspiring Women project has had great success in UK by inspiring the girls to a broader career routes. "Women from archeology to zoology, from junior to senior positions will share their own experiences to the girls here in China," said Nick Chambers, co-organizer of the project and also CEO of The Education and Employers Taskforce charity. In 2015 and 2016, Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Yandong proposed that women be added to the China-UK People to People Dialogue as the eighth theme, and the launch of Inspiring Women China is a proactive response to China's interest in addressing the women's agenda. Li Yuanchao, China's vice president, in his opening remarks at the Women 20 (W20) in Xi'an, May 2016, stated that the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women workers and managers will raise per capita productivity by 40 per cent. It is all the more important to pool women's wisdom and strength at a time when the global economic recovery remains fragile, Li said. President Xi Jinping drinks a pint of beer with British Prime Minister David Cameron at The Plough at Cadsden in Princes Risborough, northwest of London, on Oct 22, 2015. The two leaders met for talks and dinner during a four-day state visit hailed as landmark by both China and Britain. [Photo by Wu Zhiyi/China Daily] The country pub where then-Prime Minister David Cameron treated President Xi Jinping to fish and chips and a pint during Xi's state visit last yearhas been sold to a Chinese investor. The Plough at Cadsden in rural Buckinghamshire shot to fame in China after the presidential visit and has since become a tourist attraction, with busloads of Chinese tourists arriving to sample the same classic British fare. The value of the purchase by SinoFortone Investment was not disclosed but the company said previous owner Steve Hollings would continue to run the pub. Peter Zhang, SinoFortone Investment's managing director, welcomed the deal, saying: "The English pub concept is growing very fast in China, and it's the best way, culturally, to link people from different countries and build friendships." Sales of Greene King IPA (short for India Pale Ale), the brew consumed by Xi and Cameron, are said to have soared in China during the last year. The Plough deal was brokered through Christie & Co, a leading specialist advisor for buying and selling businesses. Neil Morgan, managing director of its public houses and restaurants department, said: "The Chinese market has huge potential and many opportunities. We will see more activity over the coming months and years." Morgan said an increasing number of Chinese investors had been approaching the company to express an interest in British hospitality and leisure opportunities, and also in taking classic British themes to China. Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group, said the latest deal showed that Chinese tourists were looking for authentic British places to visit, such as the pub Xi visited. He said Chinese tourists were shifting away from shopping to experiences. Museums, palaces, and pubs were all becoming major tourist destinations. The Plough purchase is not SinoFortone's first investment in the UK. Last October, it announced it would invest 2 billion pounds in two eco-parks, in north and southwest Wales. "So, this pub purchase is consistent with that focus," said Jeffrey Towson, a professor who teaches investment at Peking University. He added that this particular investment also has symbolic meaning. The fact that Xi had visited the Plough was important to Chinese tourists, but it was also important to a prominent Chinese-owned company such as SinoFortone, he said. To contact the reporter: wangmingjie@mail.chinadailyuk.com Enfield, a borough in north London with deep manufacturing roots, is counting on closer links with China for job creation, according to local officials. "We are very keen to work with companies and the Chinese government to understand the approach to the market, making sure our apprenticeship here is matching the need," Joan Ryan, Member of Parliament for Enfield North, told China Daily on Friday on the sidelines of a China business workshop held in Delta Park Industrial Estate. The seminar, co-hosted with the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) aims to inform companies of China's political and economic environment and outline what support is available from national and local government. "China is definitely a market our business needs to reach into", said Ryan, quoting industry projections that China, currently the UK's fourth export destination, will become the largest luxury goods market by 2020, and see a middle class population grow to 600 million in the years to come. Though still planning her first visit to the country next year, Ryan cited the seminar that drew representatives of over 15 companies as an example of growing interest in China. "We have to keep down the size so that people can ask detailed questions." The borough is home to factories of companies such as Siemens, Johnsons and local healthcare brand Fortuna. Known for once pioneering in colour-television manufacture, Enfield now dwells on another relatively new focus, as Chinese ethnicity accounts for only 1 percent of the area's population. However, such initiative comes as Britain i8ntends to boost exports to China as its second largest destination by 2025. "To achieve the goal, the government will provide direct service supports to help companies broaden the access," said John Pearson, deputy head of the China Department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, adding that the two countries have communications at multi-level and on a regular basis. Britain has seen most trades and investment deals with China in aerospace, healthcare, environmental and other technologies, as the two have entered into a "golden era", accompanying President Xi Jinping's state visit last October. "The visa center in China is UK's largest one in the world, issuing about half a million visas per year. The average Chinese tourists spend twice as much as others," said Pearson, "At the moment we have about 140,000 Chinese students in the UK." "China's middle class is the key opportunity in the UK," said Mark Hedley, business adviser of the CBBC, adding that the group tends to have a higher level of disposable income than the west because of different family structure. The e-commerce that is becoming pervasive in China makes it easier than before to engage with Chinese consumers through social media and targeted marketing, Hedley noted. "The British heritages have huge power in China, with incredible respect and awareness," said the adviser, "Companies shouldn't be afraid to play on your Britishness." Quality export products lie in the key of the links with China, said Ryan. To contact the reporter: daitian@chinadaily.com Opinion / Columnist Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo writes in his personal opinion as the Director of Mentorship Institute of National Development and Sustainability. MINDS is a civic society organization responsible for policy research, gender and development studies, public finance, sustainable development through Agriculture and rural development. He is also a consultant in Development and Capacity Development and Institutional Building. He can be contacted at greatorminds@gmail.com Elections evolve a lot of things and this is what makes one win an election. The problem with our African politics we always cry foul yet there is need for every political party to put facts, ideologies and good communication in order to register a win. In politics it is a game of numbers it is either you win or loose an election. Most of the people who are on the social media always participate in political debates and end there whilst the people who vote are on the ground. Zanu Pf has been in power for 36 years and it does not mean they can't win any election again, and being in power for 36 years will not disqualify them from winning an election or ruling and governing this country for another decade. This is not the time to have cry-babies but it requires people with political maturity and political integrity. We are tired of people who register complains of rigging without any basis. One has to master the tactic of the ballot, know what people want, and be able to read between the lines.THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR COALITION BUT MOBILIZATIONI get so worried when I hear people being obsessed with power to an extend that they don't know that election issue evolves a lot. This is not the time to be talking of coalitions but time to mobilize resources and recruiting membership drive programmes. Zanu Pf is a clever institution it makes sure that you get carried away with coalition matters whilst they are busy with party meetings. Country wide Zanu Pf is busy mobilizing resources for elections and putting structures together whilst these small political outfits are busy with coalition matters. The so called political talks were meant for pocketing allowances only. Honestly how can one talk of a coalition when he cannot even hold a single rally. Since the formation of PDP it has never held any single rally, Mavambo dawn project we don't even know whether it still exists and then they call for a coalition it's amazing.FACEBOOK, TWITTER, SKYPE DOES NOT VOTEIn the American context many anticipated voters were relying much on social media and insults on trump not knowing that Trump was on the ground busy campaigning. Trump was with voters encouraging them and he was confident of the message he was giving to them voters, and at the same time Clinton was busy with the media giving her false hope. Many times voters rely much with Facebook and social media. Majority of Zimbabweans spend more than 8 hours a day on social media whilst their opponents are on the ground busy campaigning. When election times comes they begin to cry foul. The role of media is to sensitise people and to inform people on events taking place. On the case of Zimbabwe, in the run up to 2013 election there was baba jukwa and this dubious character had more than 500 000 followers and people left their campaign trail and relaxed thinking baba jukwa had done them a good job not knowing that baba jukwa was a faceless character who had a mission to mislead people. Politics is a game of tactics and counterfeit measures, you need to be well informed and be ahead of your opponent. As we speak Tsvangirai is a good guy he only need good advisors, as we speak right now he is being misled with few characters in the party who have a sinister agenda.EFFORT IS REQUIRED IF YOU WANT TO WIN AN ELECTIONDonald Trump had to put a lot of effort, despite the attacks on sexual scandals but he was determined for a win. He never stopped campaigning he was very aggressive. As a party or constituency you have to put a lot of effort when you are determined to win. This issue of rushing to press conference and holding media briefings should come to an end when you are determined to win. In the case of Zambia as a country during their run up to 11 August elections, the main opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema was busy with media briefings, press statements whilst Lungu was in the jungle campaigning. What Africans don't want is reality, when you tell them the truth the begin to make some accusations that you have been bought. Hakainde Hichilema was concentrating with urban places only whilst Lungu was focusing on both entities. Hichilema was fooled by huge crowds which turned to rallies but when voting day came those people went and voted for Edgar Lungu.DONALD TRUMP HAD ENOUGH RESOURCESDonald Trump was well organized institution which made sure that the election had enough resources. You cannot run an election without enough resources, you need enough funding to run the campaign. Lessons should be drawn from Trump s victory in relation to funding and other logistical issues. His team was well polished team which knew exactly it wanted. The other problem with election matters is where a party rushes into an election with an assumption that we are well known and we have a wide support base yet that will be wrong assumption. Coming back closer home if you look at the Zimbabwean context you would find that Zanu Pf goes into an election well organized in terms of resources and funding, and if you look at their election material it's of quality, whilst one may question the source of funding but the fact remains the same funds will be available for funding. Looking at MDC-T during the previous elections they were going into election campaigns without enough resources especially the 2013 election there was no enough resources. This should be a lesson to them as well.POLITICAL BRANDOne cannot wake and say you want to run for presidency. You need a strong brand to convince the masses that you have the people. Donal Trump has the masses behind him, he campaign was well calculated way long back. You have to build trust with the people. You have to be in touch with the people at grassroots level. Coming back closer home we have political stalwarts like Tendai Biti who claim to have the people. He has never held a single rally in his own life time as the president of PDP. You can't match Biti s brand with that of Morgan Tsvangirai. It's quite clear that Tendai Biti has a sinister agenda towards the coalition talks. The truth of the matter is that Tendai Biti has lost political relevance and his political career is sinking and there desperate attempts to hoodwink the electorate into believing that he has the people. If you look at his party, they don't vote but they adopt which is typical of dictatorship. There is a danger to appoint Biti as the leader of the coalition given the spirit he has of dictatorship. If you look at Zanu Pf brand itself its strong and intact because Robert Mugabe is behind it. I've no doubt in Zimbabwe that there are only two political brands remaining Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe the rest have been put into the political oblivion. No one can dispute the issue of political brands, they work to the advantage of winning an election. Selection of candidates at parliamentary, council have also a bearing on the future of the party. Candidates should never be imposed but rather should come from the people. This tendency of imposing people will have a negative impact towards the elections.ELECTORAL INSTITUTIONS MUST BE REFORMEDWhilst coalition matters are gathering momentum it is also good for people not to easily get carried away by these petty issues. Opposition parties have a mountain to climb given the context that they have a task of reforms which must deliver a credible election, at the same time they need to mobilize voters and also at the same time they need to sort out the issue of the coalition. What I have noted is one step forward and one step backward and time is moving. If you look at America you will find that their electoral systems are transparent, the current sitting Head of State Barrack Obama was favouring Clinton but surprisingly she was defeated, if the electoral systems were not transparent he could have easily connived with the system to make sure Clinton wins. Zimbabwe should learn a lesson from the USA electoral institutions so that they can usher in a democratic and legitimate Government. Opinion / Columnist Wilson Chipangura nom de guerre Comrade Mazhambe is the leader of Pan Zimbabwean Society (a social lobby group that advocates for extreme patriotism). Email: heavmany@gmail.com The country was once a vibrant supplier of surplus farm produce many years ago. Long, long ago is now the statement of solace and comfort for the country's unfortunate citizens who have been stucked into historical reference which has turned itself into folklores.The country is now almost a circus of nasty jokes from other states around the globe. Every headline partaining Zimbabwe's sorry state sells big abroad.Having a better record of intelligence or intellectual capability has not helped at all as all the intellects have fed the 'baby' with a poison coated spoon. The nation has experienced a meteoric rise in critics than in solution providers or builders.The country has been hampered by 'traitors' who have masquaraded as pro-democrats and democrats while causing disillusions among the unfortunate civilians.The case of Zimbabwe is so big that it cannot be rested into watery hands lest the state might fall on the ground with gritty force and break into unmendable pieces.The country was long affected by the years of transformation from socialism to 'capitalism' prior to the late 90s during the same time when the socialist Soviet Union was experiencing a breakaway crisis and economic slump.The years of ESAP were the menace of ill-advice from the international monetary communities and so-called economic experts on the necessary modalities which were to be taken to avoid some 'kicksteps'.Unfortunately the venom from these 'experts' sandwiched by the illusion of the government of ZANU PF at that time would spill into an industrial lay-off of labour and frequent low wages.Strikes became rampant during the period and as the government tried to correct the problem there were more problems which were born out of the mess.Two of the them are the formation of the Movement for Democratic Change party in 1999 backed by the disgruntled labour and the catastrophic Land Reform of 2000(to current). The latter was almost ideal as per its theorems but the undertaken practicality points otherwise.This is an action which caused a horrendous damage to the country's reputation with the withdrawal of funding and imposition of sanctions all these leading to the creation of a Pariah State.The economic slump continued its downward spiral and the level reached alarming levels in 2008 when socio-economic and political pillars fell to the ground and forced the house to follow suit.The pebliscite was heavily disputed by all and sundry in the international community as well as the opposition forces and this led to the formation of the Government of National Unity with the sole responsibility to align key reforms in all the aforementioned pillars of the country.This was all in vain as all the 'men' tasked with the mandate betrayed the country's populace by sleeping on duty and took pride in a recovering economy at the expense of the political structure.This calamitious and 'lacadaisical' approach has come to haunt the opposition political fronts in Zimbabwe who are trying to find their way to the podium amid abject failure and resounding defeat again in the 2013 elections by ZANU PF.The opposition has cried foul and refused to endorse the elections citing manipulation of the votes in favour of the ZANU PF machinations.This has confused the povo on which 'guntruth' to follow.Facts in as much as they are said to be stubborn should not be spared though, that the opposition parties who were part of the 2009 to 2013 coalition failed the nation more than themselves by failing to force for the alignment of the same reforms they are demanding and demonstrating for when they had the chance to do so and instead chose luxury.This treachery is one for all be it Mr Richard Tsvangirai,Welshman Ncube,Tendai Biti,Joice Mujuru or whoever in the opposition right now.In as much as we accept that Mr Tsvangirai is a man who is loved by many a people and command a huge following,there are a few points which need to be rectified on/by him or the MDC-T party or else they just take solace in sinking like the titanic.There is a reason why I have decided to touch on this man and sparing others,the reasons are that all his other competitors are proven failures and also 'wolves' which are being sponsored to spoil democrative initiative from running within the country.It boggles the mind to find Mr Tsvangirai accusing President Mugabe of clinging onto power for too long when evidence shows that they are birds of the same feathers.The former might have a case that on many occasions he has won but somehow prevented from assuming power through lack of endorsement from the securocrats and war veterans. Not only that,Mr Tsvangirai has also defied the terms of democracy by 'lying' to the general public concerning the issue of his Highlands mansion he has refused to vacate upon the lapsing of the GNU in 2008.He has justified that no one knows the agreement he entered with President Mugabe and has vehemently denied to divulge any further information on the matter.The same man has made it clear that while we dream of a zion in Zimbabwe he wants to create a Sodom like democracy in Zimbabwe where one can 'run' on another person's back and where Peter and John can marry.This initiative is wholly against our cultural norms and beliefs. The same matter which made Sodom go under the hammer of the hand of God is what the crowd-pulling Mr Tsvangirai wants to create in the country and unless he wholly confess whole-heartedly to God that he will stop homosexuality from penetrating into Zimbabwe, his chances of taking over the reigns are next to none with reference to the way kings were appointed in the Old Testament(they were tasked with the mandate to promote the morality apprehended by God).In as much as the foreign policy of Zimbabwe needs some review,the country should cease to be a puppet of either the East or the West as we have the capability not to over-rely on the countries in those bands.This cannot improve under the tutelage of Mr Tsvangirai who is a known admirer of the West though belief is high he can turn around the woes of the country especially economic wise.Therefore,there is only one man stucked over the horizon in exile who has proven his mettle over the years as the person who can take this country somewhere.He can make Zimbabwe strives again like what his name states for itself.Strive Masiyiwa is a philanthropist and business mogul who has the keys to unlock the value chain of the country as he has demonstrated through his ever-successful business empire dotted across the globe.The man who owns Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has also demonstrated his silent but charismatic fighting spirit which led him to acquire the heavily disputed operating licence against all-odds.He is one man with a clear record of victory which almost everyone has bowed down to everywhere on the Zimbabwean plateau.His genuine character and hardworking discipline is a rare fundamental which cannot be found in the opposition circles at the moment and it is wisee for Mr Masiyiwa to feel for the citizens' cause and return home to be given 'his throne' as of now no one deserves it among the band of treacherous and proven failures within the Zimbabwean political fraternity.Zimbabwe has statistically been proven to have an underlying potential to be the second world super power and richest nation if it manages to efficiently harness its capability,stamp out the menace of corruption and therefore, for it to realise that only a person in the calibre and mould of Mr Masiyiwa can make the country strives again as he has the requisite needed to match the strengths of Mr Tsvangirai or any other opposition candidate and cover up for their weaknesses at the same time.He is a good and seasoned administrator who has the backing of key investors besides being also one and he is a 'God fearing man full of admirable humility.'Only God knows that no prophet is accepted in his country of origin and this might be true to some extent on Mr Masiyiwa as some greedy and power hungry comrades will likely to dismiss the notion given above for the sake of protecting the diary plants full of milk for self-aggrandizement.The country needs less talkative leaders who do not sleep on duty, fresh and hands clean personalities who can steer the country upward and forward and Masiyiwa is the man with rare and unique qualities to take the country to 'our own Canaan'. (Photo : Facebook) Duterte called Trump to congratulate him on his victory and Trump wished him success in his fight against drug. Advertisement Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte described his phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday as "encouraging," according to his aide after the two leaders had a very "engaging and animated" talk. Duterte called Trump on Friday evening to congratulate him on his victory and Trump wished him "success" in his fight against drug. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement PH-US Relations Seems Improving The "strained" Philippine-US relations seems improving after the Duterte-Trump phone conversation, a Malacanang official said Saturday. Duterte allegedly felt a rapport between them and gave assurance that their ties remain intact, despite a period of rocky relations. Duterte said in his office release that "I could sense a good rapport, an animated President-elect Trump. And he was wishing me success in my campaign against the drug problem." Trump was "sensitive" and understanding about his crackdown and was encouraged by what he interpreted as Trump's indication that he would not interfere, he added. A statement issued by Trump's team said Duterte congratulated the US president-elect and the two leaders "noted the long history of friendship and cooperation between the two nations, and agreed that the two nations would continue to work together closely on matters of shared interest and concern." Trump to visit Philippines in 2017 During the conversation, Trump invited Duterte to visit him in the White House and in return Duterte also invited Trump to attend the 2017 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, which will be hosted by the Philippines. Both presidents have been known for their controversial statements, with Duterte being called the "Trump of the East," while Trump has also been branded as the "Duterte of the West." A statement from the Malacanang said, Duterte "looks forward to working with the incoming administration for enhanced Philippines-US relations anchored on mutual respect, mutual benefit, and shared commitment to democratic ideals and the rule of law." Duterte said Trump extended his "warmest regards to the Filipino people." Advertisement Tagsdonald trump, President Rodrigo Duterte, Phone Conversation, animated, ASEAN (Photo : USMC) U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis as a General in the United States Marine Corps. Advertisement U.S. Secretary of Defense designate James Mattis, more popularly known by his nickname "Mad Dog Mattis," stands resolutely against China's unlawful expansionism in the South China Sea, one of the few points he shares with his soon-to-be-boss, President-elect Donald Trump. While Mattis and Trump disagree on a wide range of topics (Mattis described Trump's dismissal of NATO as "kooky," for example), both agree on a more muscular response to China's unrepentant aggression in Asia despite China's legal defeat that nullified its claim to own the South China Sea. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The former four star Marine Corps General who was once Commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) responsible for the Middle East is mostly described as a warrior monk, an intellectual and the "quintessential Marine" who spent over four decades in the Corps he loves. A voracious reader and bibliophile who once ordered his officers to read military history, Mattis has a library of over 7,000 books. Mattis, 66 and a bachelor, is known to disfavor the sobriquet "Mad Dog" frequently attached to his name. That nickname was appended to his name because of many a colorful utterance such as ""Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everybody you meet." Mattis retired from the Marines in 2013. Trump holds Mattis in very high regard. In November after he made known Mattis was one of his candidates for SecDef, Trump tweeted ""General James "Mad Dog" Mattis, who is being considered for Secretary of Defense, was very impressive yesterday. A true General's General!" Trump later said, "They say he's the closest thing to Gen. George Patton that we have and it's about time." It isn't known if the gruff and outspoken Mattis has a similarly fulsome opinion of Trump. Unsurprisingly, Mattis favors a very strong U.S. military. His current worldview has been shaped by his experience in the Middle East as CENTCOM commander. He is steadfastly anti-Iran. Mattis once said the three gravest threats facing the U.S. are "Iran, Iran, Iran." And after Iran, there's Russia and China. Mattis has called for boosting U.S. naval power by building more warships and deploying more advanced technologies in light of Beijing's increasing and unrelenting aggression in the South China Sea. "While our efforts in the Pacific to keep positive relations with China are well and good, these efforts must be paralleled by a policy to build the counterbalance if China continues to expand its bullying role in the South China Sea and elsewhere," he said. Mattis once said China must be denied "veto power" over the territorial claims, security and economic conditions in the Pacific. He also called on the United States, especially the Congress, "to adapt to changing circumstances, to come out now from our reactive crouch and take a firm, strategic stance in defense of our values." Congress must play a key role in developing this "refreshed national strategy" that will guide the military forward as it faces down the United States five greatest threats: Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and Violent Extremist Organizations (VEOs). Advertisement TagsJames Mattis, Secretary of Defense, United States, Donald Trum, donald trump, Mad Dog, Mad Dog Mattis, United States Marine Corps, United States Central Command (Photo : Getty Images) Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev (L) is welcomed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (2nd R) before their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on December 10, 2015. Advertisement Russia is considering of delivering goods from China through Azerbaijan, Rashid Ismailov, Russian Federation's deputy minister of telecom and mass communication, told Trend. "We considered delivery of Chinese goods to Russia by our planes, transshipping them from here [Azerbaijan], but Silk Way [Azerbaijani cargo airline] has opened a subsidiary in Moscow which allows delivering goods directly to Moscow or Yekaterinburg, depending on the necessity," he said. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The news came after Russia and Azerbaijan are reportedly preparing to sign a cooperation agreement in the field of postal services. Meanwhile, Russia has also offered Azerbaijan last month to initiate joint tourism packages to lure Chinese tourists in the country, the AzerNews reported. "Given the preference of Chinese tourists for package tours, Russia offers us to discuss creation of joint tourist packages that would include, let's say, the North Caucasus and Azerbaijan," Rauf Pashayev, the deputy head at the Tourism Department of Azerbaijan's Culture and Tourism Ministry, said. Pashayev said that the ministry will discuss the proposal, while Azerbaijani will consider its contribution for the said project. He further noted that the ministry aims to increase the influx of tourist in Azerbaijani, especially those from Russia. "To this end, we have opened a representative office in Russia in 2016," he said, adding that it will further strengthen its tourism promotion via Russian TV channel ads and increase Russian population's awareness about the country. "This year we see an increase in the number of tourists from Russia by a few percent, and I think this figure will only grow in the future," Pashayev said. Advertisement TagsRussia, azerbaijan, china, China Azerbaijan relations (Photo : RAF) RAF Eurofighter Typhoons in formation. Advertisement State-run Chinese media is depicting the United Kingdom's decision to send jet fighters of the Royal Air Force to patrol the South China Sea (followed later by Royal Navy warship patrols) as an illustration of British braggadocio that makes the UK a "meddler" in the same mold as the United States and Japan. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement A lengthy commentary in one of the People's Liberation Army's more important websites said the UK's Ambassador to the United States, Sir Nigel Kim Darroch, was simply trying to impress his Japanese hosts when he said that RAF Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighters currently deployed on a visit to Japan will fly across the South China Sea to assert international overflight rights. "Such remarks create the impression that London may soon deviate from a largely aloof attitude over the South China Sea issue and start playing a meddling role there like the United States and Japan," said the commentary. Any British warplane flying "a so-called 'freedom of navigation' mission in the South China Sea ... would only serve to further complicate the issue and weigh on thriving China-Britain ties." The commentary said British policymakers "should be well aware that by copying provocative actions of Washington and Tokyo over the South China Sea, it stands to lose on at least two sides: its credibility as a responsible global player and its relations with China." Darroch's South China Sea remarks "indeed struck an alarming note." The author blamed "tons of biased Western media reports and a string of irresponsible U.S. military maneuvers in the South China Sea" for making freedom of navigation freedom of navigation "a ready excuse for outsider parties to impose themselves over the issue." He said the reality is "there's never been any problem with the legitimate passage of ships and planes in the area." He also noted the South China Sea is vital both to global trade and to China's development. "China itself needs unimpeded passage in the body of water more than any other country, and maintaining peace and stability has been the overriding consideration of its South China Sea policy," he said. The United Kingdom last week announced it will regularly patrol the disputed South China Sea, first with jet fighters from the Royal Air Force and later with jets from aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy. The patrols are meant to reinforce the right of nations to freedom of navigation in this disputed maritime area. The Royal Navy patrols will begin by 2020 when the Royal Navy's newest aircraft carrier, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, becomes fully operational. The Royal Navy said jet fighters from the Queen Elizabeth will fly over the South China Sea. It also expressed concerns about restrictions to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea as a result of China's string of man-made islands, some of which have become military bases with facilities for jet fighters, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, radar installations and warships. The first Royal Air Force patrols over the South China Sea might take place as early as this year, however. Advertisement TagsUnited Kingdom, air patrols, naval patrols, South China Sea, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, Sir Nigel Kim Darroch, national overflight rights., HMS Queen Elizabeth (Photo : Getty Images) US Vice president-elect Mike Pence said US-Taiwan controversial phone call was merely a "courtesy" call. Advertisement US Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Sunday downplayed the significance of Donald Trump's phone conversation with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday, describing the phone call as a "mere courtesy" call. The 10-minute phone call, which immediately prompted diplomatic protest from China, was the first publicly reported phone call between the US president and Taiwanese leader ever since Washington officially recognized the 'One China' policy in 1979. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement "This was a courtesy call. The democratically elected president of Taiwan called to congratulate the president-elect," Pence said on NBC news channel. The vice president-elect reminded Chinese leadership that Trump and President Xi had a similar phone conversation two weeks back. "I think I would just say to our counterparts in China that this was a moment of courtesy. The president-elect talked to President Xi two weeks ago in the same manner. It was not a discussion about policy," he added. Pence clarified that he is not aware whether Trump's transition team has contacted Chinese leadership since Friday's call. He also insisted that there is less likelihood that Trump would try to assuage Chinese leadership in the coming weeks in a bid to ease the tension. There have been a lot of speculations about the Sino-US relationship since Trump's unexpected victory in the US presidential election. Trump had targeted China with barrage of tirades, calling the country "job thief" and "currency manipulator." He claimed that China would eventually behave under his presidency. China Lodges Diplomatic Protest Meanwhile, Chinese leadership could hardly wait to lodge diplomatic protest following Friday's unprecedented phone call. Although Beijing blamed Taiwan for last Friday's conversation, it called on the US to be more sensitive on the issue. In a statement released on Saturday, China's foreign ministry said that it has urged the US government to be careful in handling the Taiwan issue to avoid any unnecessary disturbances in diplomatic ties. It also reiterated that 'One China' principle is the bed rock of the China-US relationship. China considers Taiwan as a wayward province that is waiting for unification. The island nation had separated from Mainland China in 1949, following a prolong civil war. Since then, Taiwan has staked its claim as a self-ruled province and has relied on US support to counter China's alleged aggression. Advertisement TagsMike Pence, china, donald trump, Donald Trump China, Taiwan, China and Taiwan (Photo : Getty Images) WeChat has over 806 million monthly active users and most of them are located in China. Advertisement WeChat is censoring messages that go beyond China's borders, according to a report by Citizen Lab. The report said that WeChat is banning messages with keywords that mention sensitive subject like the Tiananmen Square massacre, Tibet, or the banned spiritual movement Falun Gong both in private and group chats without users' knowledge. Citizen Lab found 174 keywords that are censored in WeChat. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Previously, the Tencent-owned chat app would notify users when their messages were not delivered because it contained controversial subjects such as Tiananmen Square massacre. Currently, WeChat no longer sends notification to either sender or recipient of the messages. The latest censorship in China extends to users living abroad with an account originally registered using a Chinese phone number, even if their account was switched to an international number. By removing notice of censorship, WeChat sinks deeper into a dark hole of unaccountability to its users, Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert said. Jason Ng, a researcher from Citizen Lab, said that the app censorship is being done via phone number because it allows WeChat to target all Chinese users even if they are using virtual private network (VPN) or other means to avoid the vast censorship apparatus called the Great Firewall of China. Aside from the controversial keywords, Citizen Lab report found that WeChat is also implementing URL filtering system in its built-in browser. It uses various lists of blacklisted and whitelisted websites for Chinese and International accounts. The report has determined 41 of the websites that were blocked in accounts that were registered under mainland Chinese phone numbers. The latest report from Citizen Lab was developed from its previous study in 2015 where it found that WeChat censorship started heavily targeting politics and rumor discussions. Last years report discovered that the Chinese-owned app deleted sensitive posts using its public accounts feature. WeChat has over 806 million monthly active users, and most of them are located in China. It is built as an instant messaging service but expanded into video conferencing, voice messaging, media file sharing, and a built-in Web client for surfing the Internet. Advertisement TagsWeChat, Tencent, china, censorhip, Citizen Lab, China censorship, messaging app (Photo : Getty Images) President-elect Trump renewed his criticisms against China on social media Advertisement US President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter and attacked China anew on Sunday, accusing Beijing of currency manipulation and increasing its military aggression in the disputed South China Sea. Trump's tweets further escalated tensions between Washington and Beijing after the Republican billionaire broke decades-old foreign policy by taking a congratulatory phone call from Taiwan president Tsai-Lng-wen last Friday. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement "Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the U.S. doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!" Trump tweeted. Trump told his 16.6 million Twitter followers that he would not be dictated by Beijing on who he wants or does not want to talk as he brought up again his complaints and grievances on China that formed part of his winning presidential campaign. Over the weekend, China has lodged 'solemn representations' with the US embassy complaining about Trump's total disregard for the decades-old diplomatic protocol by speaking directly to Taiwan president Tsai-Lng-wen. Beijing considers Taiwan as a renegade province and has publicly and repeatedly declared that it would use force on the island should it push for independence. Meanwhile, China has called on the US authorities to strictly adhere to the One China policy and deal with issues relating to Taiwan carefully. The US had broken diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979 and officially recognized China's communist government in Beijing. China has kept the incident from becoming a full-blown crisis and has instead opted to file 'solemn representations' with the US and not a formal protest. Advertisement TagsDonald Trump tweets, currency manipulation, South China Sea, One China policy, Taiwan, china, solemn representations, Taiwan president Tsai-Lng-wen, Chinese President Xi jinping (Photo : Getty Images) Former Foxconn senior manager is facing charges for allegedly stealing and selling more than 5,000 iPhones worth $1.56 million, Advertisement A former senior level Foxconn manager was indicted by Taiwanese prosecutors on Dec. 2 on accusations of allegedly stealing and selling more than 5,700 iPhone units. Court documents reveal that the Foxconn manager sold the stolen iPhones in China, which cost around $1.56 million. The Foxconn manager who goes by the name of Tsai ordered that thousands of iPhone units will be smuggled out of the company's handset testing facility. Foxconn is the biggest electronics assembler in the world, and the company is known for working with top tech companies like Apple and Sony, according to ZDnet. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The theft was eventually discovered following an internal Foxconn audit. Investigations eventually revealed that at least eight employees were involved or have helped in stealing the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s models. The Taipei district prosecutor's office said that the iPhones were sold between 2013 and 2014, and added that Tsai could face up to 10 years of jail time if found guilty of the crime. This is not the first time that a Foxconn employee broke protocol and was charged with breach of trust. In 2015, public prosecutors charged five former Foxconn employees for allegedly receiving kicks back from certain Foxconn suppliers in exchange for clearing some quality checks and buying equipment, according to BGR. The employees were reported to have received more than $5 million in kickbacks. A Taipei court ruled out last month sentencing the employees up to 10 years and six months in prison. Foxconn has been criticized in the past for the company's low wage and poor working conditions. Advertisement TagsFoxconn, foxconn manager, iPhone, stolen iPhone, apple, stolen apple iphone, foxconn news (Photo : Russian Aerospace Forces) Square-sided Russian missile, the KH-592 cruise missile. Advertisement Apart from having more powerful jet engines, Russia's new Sukhoi PAK FA stealth fighter will come with a number of new air-to-ground missiles whose rectangular fuselages make them stealthier than conventional tubular shaped missiles. The square cross section of these new missiles also means more of them can be mounted inside the PAK FA's two internal weapons bays. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement "As part of the 'stealth' concept, special missiles for the PAK FA are being developed, with a square cross section that will allow more warheads to be carried in hatches during combat missions," said Vadim Kozyulin, Professor at the Academy of Military Sciences in Moscow. Prototypes of these square missiles were publicly revealed in late 2015 and work on them is progressing. Among these oddly shaped stealth missiles being developed for PAK FA and the proposed PAK DA stealth bomber are the Kh-59K2 cruise missile and Kh-58UShKA anti-radar missile. Russian media described these missiles as compact and redesigned versions of existing missiles deeply modernized to satisfy the needs of the PAK FA. The Kh-59MK2 stealth standoff missile is a lightweight but compact tactical stealth air launched cruise missile with a range of 550 km. It measures 0.4 meters by 0.4 meters in section and is only 4.2 meters long. This missile can be launched from between an altitude of 200 meters to 11 km, delivering its 310 kg warhead to a target at a speed of up to 1,000 km/h. The other square-shaped missile, the Kh-58UShKA, is a stealth variant of the Kh-58UShKE anti-radiation supersonic missile and is designed for use by PAK FA and PAK DA. The missile has an angular, compact airframe and a stealth coating to minimize its radar cross section. It has folding wings so it can fit into a PAK FA's inner weapons bays. The existence of the Kh-58UShKA missile developed by Raduga was only revealed in October 2015. This missile can fly its 150 kg warhead at speeds of up to Mach 3 (3,600 km/h). In addition, PAK FA can also be armed with conventionally shaped missiles such as the K-74M2 short-range air-to-air missile and the K-77M medium range, active radar homing air-to-air missile. Advertisement TagsSukhoi PAK FA, stealth fighter, square cross section, Kh-59K2 cruise missile, Kh-58UShKA anti-radar missile An Armed Man Took Over A Pizza Restaurant At The Center Of A Fake Clinton Sex Scandal Trending News: Pizzagate Involves Pizza, Guns And A Fake Clinton Sex Scandal Long Story Short A man wielding a rifle fired at least one shot in the pizza restaurant in northwest Washington DC and said he was self-investigating Pizzagate, the bizarre conspiracy theory that, based on no facts whatsoever, posits that the restaurant is a front for a child-sex ring. Long Story Edgar M. Welch, a 28-year-old from Salisbury, NC, allegedly entered Comet Ping Pong just after 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon and fired off at least one round, prompting terrified patrons to flee and a police lockdown. No one was hurt and Welch was soon arrested, but the incident has raised tensions in an already tense neighborhood. Welch appears to be one of many people who have been taken in by Pizzagate, one of the weirder conspiracy theories to rise out of the mire of the stupider, viler corners of the Internet and Twitter. Without any physical evidence, alleged victims or witnesses, a belief arose somehow that Comet Ping Pong was a front for a child-sex ring operated by and for high-level Democratic Party operatives. The fake story was eagerly shared by Trump-lovers, Hillary-haters and the paranoid gullible, with almost a million messages sent via Twitter containing the term pizzagate, according to the BBC. Pizzagates evolution from the ridiculous to the dangerous was a complicated journey but the bare bones of the story is this: it grew out of Wikileaks publications of Hillary Clintons campaign chair John Podestas e-mails in early November. One of them was an exchange between Podesta and Comet Ping Pong owner James Alefantis, a Democratic supporter whod raised funds for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The child-sex theory spread from 4chan to Reddit to, bizarrely, elements of the pro-government Turkish media and soon gained a foothold on Twitter, where alt-right activists gleefully shared the shocking but, as far as anyone, including the DC police, can tell, entirely substance-free charge. Just a taste of these nitwitsa tweets pic.twitter.com/n5USgI29zZ Andrew Beaujon (@abeaujon) December 5, 2016 Back at Comet Ping Pong, Alefantis, his staff and his customers were on the receiving ends of death threats and protests. On Sunday afternoon, their fears became reality. In a statement following the shooting, Alefantis said, What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences. I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today and stop promoting these falsehoods right away. Other merchants nearby expressed their disappointment to the New York Times that the FBI and police didnt take their concerns over the online attacks seriously prior to Sundays shooting. Own The Conversation Ask The Big Question When you mix paranoia, hyper-partisan politics and guns, what do you think is going to happen? Drop This Fact The Pizzagate subreddit has been banned and even 4chan users have begun discrediting the conspiracy theory. Air Force vet's wife and daughter killed; she had a 'huge heart full of God's love' Editorial Staff | 05 December, 2016 by Joni B. Hannigan LAKE BUTLER, Fla. (Christian Examiner) A churchgoing family who faced unimaginable tragedy just before Thanksgiving when mom Donna Lynn Murphy Crews, 41, and her daughter, Kaelyn Scelesta Crews, 10, were killed in a car accident, are the focus of a fundraising effort. Joshua Crews, a former Air Force Master Sargeant who is now a jewelry store owner, and his young daughter Ashlyn Elizabeth Crews, were left behind when Donna and Kaelyn Crews perished Nov. 22. The accident took place nearby their home in Keystone Heights, Florida where the Crews were hit head on by a pick up truck while traveling on State Road 100 near Lake Butler, according to various news reports; and then struck from the rear by another car. Donna Crews' obituary describes the 17-year career nurse as "a true servant with a huge heart full of God's love for others." A member of First Baptist Church in Starke, she served as a pianist, choir and praise team member, and a drama team and children's church volunteer. Kaelyn Crews was a fourth grader at Hope Christian Academy in Starke, Florida where she was a cheerleader and an active member of the church where she sang in the children's choir and was a member of the drama team. "[M]ost of all she loved her baby sister and best friend Ashlyn." The effort to raise funds for the family is being led by Sarah Lee Weaver who is the sister of Angelica Crews, the wife of Daniel Crews, a well-known young worship leader in North Florida and South Georgia who is Joshua Crew's brother. A GoFundMe account goal was set at $35K and by Dec. 5 had reached nearly $23K. James Peoples, the immediate past president of the Florida Baptist Convention, and pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Keystone Heights, commented on Facebook about the Nov. 25 service. "Beautiful service honoring the lives of Donna Murphy & Kaelyn Crews," Peoples wrote. "Encouraging word from Pastor Scott Crook pointing to Jesus Christ, our hope & comforter." According to a police report, 19-year-old Christopher Driggers, of Lake Butler, was driving the truck and taken to a hospital afterwards with serious injuries, as was the driver of the other vehicle, 42-year-old Viola Butts. After 15 years in the Air Force, Joshua Crews set up shop as a jeweler in Keystone Heights in 2013 where he has focused on custom-made jewelry, according to an article in the Lake Region Monitor. 'Haystack Monument' commemorating Christian missions in danger of removal from Massachusetts college 05 December, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , | WILLIAMSTOWN, Massachusetts (Christian Examiner) A monument honoring the formation of the first American missions society may be in jeopardy of removal because some perceive it as offensive to indigenous peoples worldwide, The College Fix has reported. Located on the campus of Williams College, established in 1793, the monument is among a list of items being reviewed by a committee for their cultural "appropriateness to modern times and impact on today's campus climate." According to the news site, this is the second time this year the Committee on Campus Space and Institutional History at Williams has reviewed so-called "controversial works of art" at the institution. Earlier this year, Williams covered up a mural of Native Americans that was deemed by some at the school as "stereotypical and offensive." They later uncovered it and placed a description near it explaining the "context" of the painting. At the time, Williams had a strong emphasis on Christianity and it was common for graduates to become ministers. ... Now we are an institution with students and faculty from lots of different faiths or no religious belief at all, and no longer have mandatory chapel attendance. At question now is the "Haystack Monument" on the campus. Built in 1867, the monument commemorates the formation of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1810. Just four years before, five students at the college, all New England Congregationalists inspired by the already-occurring Second Great Awakening, decided to launch the missions sending agency after gathering to discuss Particular Baptist William Carey's treatise, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens. While meeting, a thunderstorm broke overhead causing the five to seek shelter under a haystack. They prayed for the formation of a missions sending agency. The "Haystack Prayer Meeting" came to fruition four years later when the ABCFM was formed. Several of the students were among the first missionaries appointed to India. Luther Rice and Adoniram Judson and his wife were also among the first appointed missionaries. Judson became a Baptist and worked, even while in prison in Burma, to establish a sense of urgency for foreign missions. "At the time, Williams had a strong emphasis on Christianity and it was common for graduates to become ministers," Kevin Murphy, a member of the college's institutional history committee told The College Fix. "Now we are an institution with students and faculty from lots of different faiths or no religious belief at all, and no longer have mandatory chapel attendance." Murphy said, like the mural that was covered, uncovered, then explained, the question is now one of "context" because, he said, the history of missions is "difficult to separate from American and European colonial expansion, a fraught topic, but one that offers productive areas for discussing historical and current attitudes to (primarily) non-Western cultures." Murphy said Christian groups not affiliated with the school sometimes visit the monument to commemorate the Haystack Prayer Meeting, and the outside visitors are important. Their visits, however, have to be balanced with the college's "responsibility to past and future students." Murphy said he doubts anything will happen to the monument, since it is historically significant. It could, perhaps, receive a "context clue" the same way the mural did. That painting depicted the meeting of Colonel Ephraim Williams, the college's namesake, and a Mohawk leader before both were killed at the Battle of Lake George in New York in 1755 during the French and Indian War. "Some members of the Williams community raised concerns that the mural portrayed Native Americans stereotypically and in its image of the relationship between the British and Mohawks misrepresented the history of that relationship. These concerns, in turn, raised questions about whether the room felt like an inclusive space to diverse groups of students," the committee stated. The students involved in the Haystack Prayer Meeting were Samuel Mills, the son of a minister, James Richards, Francis Robbins, Harvey Loomis, and Byram Green. The US Supreme Court will hear appeals in three separate cases relating to Christian-affiliated hospital systems that claim church exemptions from federal retirement and pension laws. The non-profit hospitals including St. Peter's, Advocate Health Care Network, and Dignity Health are non-profit organizations that are faith-based ministries serving the poor, and have several branches employing thousands of people. The Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) mandates retirement funds to be managed according to set standards so that employees receive their pensions consistently. The employees working in these hospitals have accused their health care systems of working like big businesses under the garb of church affiliations so that that they can get away with lax regulations on pension reporting principles, by not being tied up with ERISA. The hospitals claim that the lawsuits would force certain requirements on them which could endanger their mission to impart care to the poor. When ERISA was approved in 1980, it had an exemption for churches and church-affiliated organizations, and hundreds of hospital systems around the country had applied for the accommodation. However, the employees say that the hospitals do not fit under the categories specified in ERISA owing to their multi-denomination affiliations. They also say that these hospitals are basically large corporations only with loose religious ties. "Congress did not, and had no reason to, allow giant businesses like Advocate to create their own ERISA-exempt benefit plans, simply because they claim a religious affiliation," said the workers. The employees also alleged that the pension plan in Dignity Health, one of the hospitals sued, is underfunded by $1.2 billion. The workers want retroactive penalties to account for failure of the hospitals to adhere to ERISA in the past, which could amount to millions or billions of dollars in addition to current liabilities which make the healthcare systems already short of funds. "These suits seek billions in retroactive liability and a wholesale upheaval in the administration of pension plans affecting religious employers and employees across the country," said the appeals filed by three hospital systems. home World 300,000 pro-lifers sign petition to keep abortion illegal in Northern Ireland Democratic Unionist Jim Wells presented 300,000 signatures on a petition opposing the legalization of abortion to the Speaker of the Assembly in Northern Ireland on Monday. The move comes after a 45,000 signature petition from Amnesty International, which called for a reform of Northern Ireland's stringent abortion laws, was presented to Assembly Speaker Robin Newton last week, Belfast Telegraph reported. Wells said that the petition, which initiated by the pro-life group Precious Life, included the names and addresses of the signatories in order to establish that they all reside in the region. "Today I am presenting you with what I believe to be the largest petition ever received by the Northern Ireland Assembly - 300,000 signatures - not 45,000 - 300,000 signatures calling for the protection of unborn children in Northern Ireland," Wells told Newton. "These have been signed by Northern Ireland residents who have given their address and can be verified so therefore I believe that this petition is indeed authentic," he added. Bernadette Smyth, the director of Precious Life, argued that Amnesty's petition holds no weight because the anyone can sign the petition even if they do not live in Northern Ireland. She noted that the petition only asked signatories to provide a name and an email. Wells noted that eight million babies have been aborted in other parts of the U.K. since the Abortion Act was introduced in 1967. "I am absolutely convinced the people of Northern Ireland do not want that law to extend to this part of the United Kingdom," he said. Northern Ireland only permits abortion when there is a risk to the mother's health. Amnesty International cited the results of a survey which indicated that 72 percent of people in Northern Ireland agree that abortion should be permitted in cases of rape or incest. The survey also revealed that 67 percent support abortion in cases when there is a diagnosis of a fatal fetal abnormality. The ministers in the Stormont Executive are currently considering the recommendations of an expert panel examining the abortion ban with regard to cases of the said abnormality. Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has expressed his intention to support a change in the abortion law to accommodate those specific cases. home US Chip and Joanna Gaines' pastor is 'grateful' for attention gained from Buzzfeed's hit piece Jimmy Seibert, the pastor of Antioch Community Church in Waco, Texas, said that he is "grateful" for the Buzzfeed article that targeted "Fixer Upper" hosts Chip and Joanna Gaines because it drove traffic to the church's website. Last week, Buzzfeed published an article which questioned the Gaines couple's association with Seibert who is opposed to gay marriage and has preached that homosexuality is a sin. The article linked to a sermon that Siebert has preached after the Supreme Court declared that gay marriage is a constitutional right. Seibert spoke with Family Research Council President Tony Perkins on his radio program called "Washington Watch" on Thursday to respond to the controversy, The Christian Post reported. The pastor revealed that the traffic to the church's website increased by "a thousandfold" after the Buzzfeed article was published. "That reminds me of another passage in scripture [Romans 8:28] that says 'All things work together for good, for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose,'" said Perkins. "You know, the evil meant for good is actually giving a platform to the truth. A lot of people are seeing something they may not have seen before," he added. Siebert agreed with Perkins and said that he was encouraged by the increase of visitors to the church's website because of the Buzzfeed article. "Thousands and maybe hundreds of thousands of people are now getting some Scripture, getting some clarity, some truth and some thought on this issue or marriage and life and sexual identity and all that," said Siebert. The pastor said that he welcomes those who are struggling with homosexuality to his church. HGTV, the network that airs "Fixer Upper," has released a statement assuring its viewers that it does not discriminate against the LGBT community in its shows. A petition launched by the Family Research Council to support Siebert and the Gaines family has amassed over 30,000 signatures as of Monday. The American Family Association (AFA) also initiated a petition calling on HGTV network to stand by Chip and Joanna Gaines and continue airing their show. More than 83,000 people have signed the AFA petition. home US Congress removes religious liberty provision in defense bill Congress has removed a provision, which seeks to protect religious organizations from discrimination in their contracts with the Defense Department, from the 2017 defense authorization bill last Wednesday. Last summer, Rep. Steve Russell introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would apply religious exemptions under Title VII Of the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act to federal grants and contracts. Senate Democrats threatened to filibuster the entire defense bill if the Republicans did not remove the religious liberty provision, also known as the Russell Amendment, World reported. Russell expressed his disappointment over the removal of his amendment but he said that he has seen "positive signs" that it will get full support from President-elect Donald Trump. "I'm confident we will see this brought to a complete resolution in the near term," Russell told World. "They're tactical ways and then there are strategic ways, but I don't think anyone on the opposing side of this issue is under any illusion that they somehow won," he added. Russell stated that his provision only seeks to ensure that contractors will get fair treatment regardless of religious beliefs. Without the Russell Amendment, faith-based organizations may be forced to violate their religious convictions or lose their federal contracts due to a 2014 executive order that prohibits federal contractors from considering sexuality and gender identity in their hiring practices. In October, President Barack Obama hinted that he is prepared to veto the defense bill if it includes the religious liberty provision. Senate Democrats sent a letter to the Armed Services committees in both chambers that highlighted their concerns about the amendment. "This provision would jeopardize protections against discrimination for LGBT workers on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. This discrimination erodes the freedoms that our military has fought for generations to protect," the lawmakers wrote. Congress also struck down an amendment to the $618.7 billion defense bill that would have required women aged 18 to 25 to register for the draft. David Christensen, vice president for government affairs at the Family Research Council (FRC), expressed his frustration over the removal of the Russell Amendment, but he was pleased that the lawmakers decided not to require women to enter the draft. He believes that the Russell Amendment will come back under the Trump administration. "The Obama administration has turned our military into a social engineering laboratory," he told World. "And we hope the next administration will take these issues seriously." home World Disappearance of three human rights advocates sparks fears of renewed crackdown in China The recent disappearance of a prominent Christian lawyer and two publishers of human rights news website has sparked fears that the Chinese government has renewed its crackdown on activists and lawyers. Jiang Tianyong, Huang Qi, and Liu Feiyue, who disappeared within days of each other, are believed to be detained by the police, but only Liu was charged with an offense, according to a report from The New York Times. The disappearances are reminiscent of the crackdown that occurred on July 9, 2015, when more than 250 human rights lawyers and activists were arrested by the authorities in an attempt to silence dissenters. Jiang, a prominent Christian lawyer in Beijing, was supposed to board a Beijing-bound train in Changsha on Nov. 21, but he never arrived. His family said that he recently visited the wife of human rights attorney Xie Yang in the city of Changsha. Xie was one of the lawyers arrested in the operation which is now called the 709 crackdown. Jiang, who is known for representing famous clients such as Chen Guancheng and Christian dissident Gao Zhisheng, has been disbarred in July 2009, but he continued with his work. He had been abducted and tortured several times by the police. His wife, Jin Bianling, is worried about her husband's health, and she fears that he might be tortured while he is incarcerated. A week after Jiang's disappearance, the home of Huang in Chengdu was raided by the police. Huang, the founder of human rights news website 64 Tianwang, was arrested along with another volunteer. "The arrest of Huang Qi signals a renewed effort to punish those who publish material the Chinese government does not wish to see made public," said Robert Mahoney, the deputy executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, as reported by World. "We call on Chinese authorities to release Huang immediately and to cease jailing online journalists for reporting the news," he added. Liu, who runs a website that tracks down human rights abuses, was arrested in Hubei on Nov. 17 for subverting state power, which is punishable by life imprisonment. The Chinese Human Rights Defenders in Washington, D.C. said that the whereabouts of the three men are currently unknown, and there are concerns that they could be at risk of torture. "China's campaign to silence dissent and suppress civil society has grossly breached its HRC member obligations, which require it to 'promote universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all,'" the organization said in a statement, noting that China is a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council. home World Displaced Christians receive constant death threats from Muslims in European refugee camps Christians who fled the violence in the Middle East say that they are facing death threats from Muslims in European refugee camps because of their faith. In Germany, Christian converts at the refugee center in the town of Rotenburg an der Fulda said in a letter that they fled from Iran to escape persecution, but they still encounter the same threats from Afghan Muslims in the refugee camp, BosNewsLife reported. "We, the Iranian refugees based in the city of Rotenburg, have fled from the Islamic Republic of Iran because we have been accused of being Christians and, therefore, have repeatedly been threatened by torture, imprisonment and the death penalty," the Christian converts wrote "Here, where we have been accommodated presently, we are exposed to the same kinds of threats as before, this time at the hand of Afghan Muslims, and we fear for our lives," they continued. In France, a Kurdish church leader said that he received death threats for converting to Christianity when he lived in the camps in northern France. He was threatened by other Kurdish refugees in Calais when they saw him wearing a cross around his neck. "The smugglers saw the cross round my neck saying: 'You are Kurdish and you are a Christian? Shame on you.' They said to me, 'We will tell the Algerians and Moroccans to kill you,'" the church leader narrated. He recounted that his tent was burnt down when he lived at a camp just outside of Dunkirk. He explained that he came from a devout Muslim family in Kurdistan in Iraq and left the country after he received death threats when he converted to Christianity. In October, Open Doors Germany reported that there had been at least 743 Christian refugees who were attacked by Muslims in German camps in 2016. The group noted that the latest figure is likely just the "tip of the iceberg" and asserted that there is likely a high number of unreported cases as well. Open Doors called on German authorities to end the "integration experiments" at the expense of religious minorities in the asylum centers. home US Federal Court dismisses lawsuit that seeks to remove 'In God We Trust' from currency A federal judge has dismissed a complaint filed by an atheist seeking to remove the phrase "In God We Trust" from the U.S. currency. "Plaintiffs cannot demonstrate that the use of the motto on currency substantially burdens their religious exercise," Judge Benita Pearson stated in her ruling on Wednesday, as reported by Christian News. "No reasonable viewer would think a person handling money does so to spread its religious message," she added. The judge further noted that the government does not require anyone to display money and that it does not exist for the specific purpose of being observed or read by the public. Michael Newdow initially filed a complaint about the U.S. currency in March 2013 in the Southern District of New York. He argued that the phrase violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution because it proselytizes to unbelievers. His complaint was dismissed by a district court judge in September that same year. He brought his case to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan in May 2014, but it was also struck down. Newdow filed a new case with 43 other plaintiffs which included nine children. "When [the child] is confronted with 'In G-d We Trust' on every coin and currency bill she handles or learns about in school, the power and prestige of the federal government is brought to bear upon her with the message that her father's (and her own) atheism is false," the complaint read. Pearson ruled that the currency does not hinder the free exercise of religion, and the plaintiffs are free to use other forms of currencies that do not have the motto. An amicus brief was filed by the First Liberty Institute on behalf of The American Legion, a veterans service organization in the U.S. with over two million members. Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO Of First Liberty Institute, said that her organization is pleased that the government's ability to display the national motto on the U.S. currency was upheld by the federal court. "'In God We Trust' is deeply embedded in our nation's history and is a symbol of patriotism," she added. home Entertainment 'Fixer Upper' couple get support from Benham brothers after media attack Chip and Joanna Gaines, hosts of HGTV's "Fixer Upper," were featured in a media hit piece this week for attending a church upholds a traditional view of marriage. The couple gained the support of David and Jason Benham, who once hosted their own show on the same network. Earlier this week, Buzzfeed and Cosmopolitan revealed that the Gaines family attend the Antioch Community Church in Waco, Texas. The church's pastor, Jimmy Seibert, has preached that homosexuality is a sin and expressed his firm opposition to same-sex marriage. Both articles questioned whether the Gaines couple agree with Siebert's teaching and whether a same-sex couple would ever be featured on the show. Buzzfeed noted that the show has fans who are members of the LGBT community. In an interview with The Christian Post on Wednesday, David Benham described the hit piece on the Gaines couple as "another witch hunt searching to devour anyone who would disagree with their thoughts on human sexuality or on marriage." David and his twin brother Jason once hosted a show called "Flip It Forward" on HGTV. The network decided to cancel the show a day after Right Wing Watch reported their Christian views on abortion, homosexuality, and no-fault divorce. "The first phone call that Jason and I took after we got fired by HGTV was from Chip Gaines who told us that he was sick and tired of watching what was happening to his country and how people are just sitting back and doing nothing," David told The Christian Post. "The Gaines are like millions of other Americans. They are not anti anything. They're pro-Jesus and they're pro-Bible because they know what God's best is for human flourishing," he added. David believes that HGTV's advertisers would be targeted if the media does not succeed in shaming the Gaines family or Siebert. HGTV has issued a statement in response to the controversy to assure its viewers that the network does not discriminate against the LGBT community in any of its shows. He wrote a book in 2006 accusing Israel of apartheid, and gave an interview to Tikkun in which he said that Israeli policies are actually worse than what happened in South Africa. He charged that university campuses with high Jewish enrollment blocked him from speaking about his book. He asserted that beginning in August 2004, Hamas meticulously observed a cease-fire commitment with Israel. (That period included the Hamas suicide-bombing massacre of 16 Israelis in Haifa and many other Hamas attacks.) He claimed (in his 1985 book, The Blood of Abraham) that Israels secret goal is to attain boundaries similar to those in the time of King David. Stephen M. Flatow is an attorney living in New Jersey. He is the father of Alisa Flatow who was murdered by Palestinian terrorists in April 1995 and founder of the Alisa Flatow Memorial Scholarship Fund. Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blog spot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. ..Times of Israel..04 December '16..Mark Twain once reiterated that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics. And former president Jimmy Carter has made a post-presidential career out of lying about Israel. The latest is this doozy, which appeared in his November 29 op-ed in the: Over 4.5 million Palestinians live in these occupied territories. Most live largely under Israeli military rule.Not only is that a lie, but Carter knows its a lie. The former president has visited Ramallah , the Palestinian Authoritys capital city with a population of more than 57,000 residents, on numerous occasions most recently in May 2015, when he placed a wreath at the tomb of arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat there. He has seen with his own eyes that there are no Israeli troops occupying that city, or any of the other cities where 98% of the Palestinian Arabs reside.Carter knows that the PA, not Israel, rules those areas. He knows that the PA, not Israel, runs the schools, the courts, the police department, and all other aspects of daily life.Since Carter used the figure 4.5-million in his op-ed, he must have been including Gaza in his accusation. Yet he knows there are no Israelis occupying Gaza. He knows that Hamas rules that area.So how can the ex-president knowingly tell such blatant lies? The same question might be asked about many of his past statements about Israel:These are just a small sample from Carters record on Israel.So we see that Carters lie about the Israeli occupation, in hisop-ed, is just the latest in a long series of fabrications. Its as if when it comes to Israel, he just cant control himself. But what is the excuse for publishing such a blatant falsehood? Were the fact-checkers asleep when Carter submitted his op-ed? home World France passes bill to criminalize 'misleading' pro-life websites The French National Assembly has recently passed a bill that seeks to criminalize websites that could discourage women from terminating their pregnancies. The bill would outlaw websites that are deemed to be misleading or "exert psychological or moral pressure" on women who are looking for information about abortions, The Guardian reported. Offending website owners could be punished with up two years imprisonment and a a30,000 fine. Laurence Rossignol, the Socialist women's minister, said that the new bill was not intended to suppress anti-abortion opinion, but it targets websites that hide their true nature and utilize "insidious" pressure on women. "Everyone is free to affirm their hostility to abortion online or anywhere else, but on condition of doing it in all honesty, because freedom of expression can't be confused with manipulating people," Rossignol told the Parliament. "Thirty years ago, campaigners chained themselves to the gates of family planning clinics or operating tables to stop women accessing terminations. Today the next generation continues this battle online," she continued. Abortion was legalized in France over 40 years ago. In 1993, the government passed a law to criminalize "false information" about abortion. The new bill will extend the 1993 law, which was originally intended to prevent pro-life activists from obstructing access to abortion clinics, to apply to digital media. Earlier this year, the senate blocked the first attempt to pass the bill. Dominique Tian, a Republican MP, said that the proposals were "dangerous for democracy and probably anti-constitutional." He accused the government of "attacking freedom of expression" and stated that his party would do everything to keep blocking the bill. The proposal was passed just after the Republican party nominated Francois Fillon as its presidential candidate. Fillon said that he is personally against abortion due to his Christian faith, but he stressed that would not overturn the French abortion law. The bill will go through the Senate on Dec. 7 for a second reading. The final reading is expected to take place at the end of February. home World HK cardinal decries Vatican deal with China, says it would 'betray Christ' Cardinal Joseph Zen, the most senior Chinese Catholic, has warned against a potential deal between the Vatican and China, saying that the Church would be "betraying Jesus Christ" if it signs an agreement with the Communist government. Zen, the former bishop of Hong Kong, has strongly opposed the possible deal, stating that an agreement with China to give them power to approve clergy would be "a surrender." "You cannot go into negotiations with the mentality 'we want to sign an agreement at any cost,' then you are surrendering yourself, you are betraying yourself, you are betraying Jesus Christ," Zen told The Guardian. "If you cannot get a good deal, an acceptable deal, then the Vatican should walk away and maybe try again later," he added. Zen, who spent seven years teaching across China after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, argued that those who are supporting the deal had no first-hand experience with the state of the church under the Communist regime. "The pope used to know the persecuted Communists [in Latin America], but he may not know the Communist persecutors who have killed hundreds of thousands," said the cardinal. Chinese Catholics are allowed to attend mass but evangelism is forbidden. The China Catholic Patriotic Association, which is controlled by the government, appoints bishops without the Vatican's approval. The underground Catholic church, which is believed to be larger than the official church, faces persecution from the authorities. Zen predicted that the proposed deal would allow priests to preach and open more churches but it only gives the Catholics an impression of freedom. He added that people would soon realize that the official bishops are not really part of the Church but "puppets of the government." "The official bishops are not really preaching the gospel. They are preaching obedience to Communist authority," Zen said told The Guardian. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal earlier this month, Zen pointed out that churches in former communist countries in Eastern Europe were not saved by negotiating with the government but through the faith of the Catholics. He believes that the same thing would happen in China if the Church refuses to surrender to Communist Party. home US ISIS claims Ohio State University assailant as its 'soldier' The Islamic State claimed that the man who carried out the attack at the Ohio State University (OSU) on Tuesday was one of its "soldiers." Abdul Razak Ali Artan, a Somali-born 18-year-old student at OSU, drove his car into pedestrians and slashed people with a knife before he was shot dead by a police officer. Eleven people were injured in the attack, The New York Times reported. There is no immediate evidence to indicate that Artan had pledged allegiance to any terrorist group, but ISIS has released a statement on its news wire declaring him as its "soldier." "The executor of the attack in the American state of Ohio is a soldier of the Islamic State," the terrorist group was quoted as saying, according to the translation provided by the SITE intelligence group. "He carried out the operation in response to calls to target citizens of international coalition countries," the statement continued. The Daily Mail reported last week that ISIS released a 14-minute video that called for attacks in the U.S., U.K., and France. The clip included instructions on how to kill "disbelievers." Before Artan carried out the attack, he posted a message on social media stating that if the U.S. wants "Muslims to stop carrying lone wolf attacks, then make peace with 'dawla in al sham.'" "Every single Muslim who disapproves of my actions is a sleeper cell, waiting for a signal. I am warning you Oh America," Artan wrote in the same post. Federal law enforcement said that Artan lived in Pakistan for seven years before he came to the U.S. with his mother. He lived in a townhouse apartment in Columbus with his mother, several siblings, and possibly other family members. Joe Brickner, a neighbor, said that there was nothing unusual about the family. "They just seemed like a normal family. They always parked right here, that's the only thing weird about them," said Brickner pointing to a fire hydrant. Leaders of the local mosques and Somali community groups said that they are not familiar with Artan or his family. home World ISIS to attack soft, random targets across Europe, warns Europol Jihadist members of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, plan to carry out attacks on soft, indiscriminate targets in European countries on its hit list, reveals Europol's European Counter Terrorism Centre in a report published on Friday, Dec. 2. According to the report published by the European Union's law enforcement agency, the Islamic State has shifted its focus from symbolic or high-profile targets such as the police or the military, as well as critical infrastructures such as power facilities and mass transportation hubs. Instead, it is eyeing unsuspecting recipients to intimidate the greater population. "Indiscriminate attacks have a very powerful effect on the public in general, which is one of the main goals of terrorism: to seriously intimidate a population," the report explains. Intelligence from the Europe police also indicate countries that are members of the anti-ISIS coalition, including Belgium, Denmark, Germany, and the United Kingdom, appear to be high on the Islamic State's hit list. The report also highlights France as a prime target, as demonstrated in the high-profile acts of terror that the country has suffered over the past few years. In November 2015, the Islamic State staged a series of gun and bomb assaults across Paris, leaving 130 people killed and hundreds injured. The Europol report offers several possible reasons for why France has been marked. One of this is the Islamic State's high regard for history and honor, and the group possibly holds a grudge against the country for the downfall of the Ottoman Empire and the elimination of the Caliphate, the political-religious group that ruled over Muslim communities worldwide for centuries, after Word War 1. "We have to be vigilant, since the threat posed by the so-called Islamic State and returning foreign fighters is likely to persist in the coming years," said EU counterterrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove said in a statement. home Entertainment Martin Scorsese meets with Pope Francis after the screening of 'Silence' in Rome Oscar award-winning director Martin Scorsese was granted an audience with the Pope after the screening of his new film, "Silence," in Rome. The film, based on the novel of the same name by Japanese author Shusaku Endo, highlights the struggles of two 17th century priests who went to Japan in search of their mentor at a time when Christianity was forbidden in the country. The Pope, who had wanted to go to Japan as a missionary back when he was a young priest, told Scorsese that he had also read the 1966 novel by Endo, Variety reported. More than 300 Jesuit priests attended the screening on Tuesday night at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. Another screening was held at the 50-seat Vatican Film Library, but it was not known whether the Pope attended. The Vatican press office reported that the 15-minute meeting between Scorsese and the pope was "very cordial." Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest who served as a consultant for the script, answered questions from other Jesuits after the screening. "He was very engaged and energetic and really impressed the Jesuits in the audience with the depth of his spirituality," Martin said, as reported by Religion News Service. "You could not make a spiritual film like that without being a spiritual person. It would come off as empty," he added. The cast of "Silence" includes Adam Driver, Andrew Garfield, and Liam Neeson. Driver explained that he and Garfield had to lose a lot of weight in order to portray their roles with authenticity. "When the movie begins, the characters have been traveling for two years, from Portugal to Macau, sailed around Africa. There's disease and shortage of food," said Driver in an interview with People. "They're already kind of depleted when they get to Macau before their last leg to Japan. There's a lot of storytelling happening off camera," he added. Driver said that Scorsese asked them to lose more weight as they continued filming. He revealed that the hunger sometimes helped him deliver a more raw performance, but there were times when he encountered difficulties due to the lack of energy. "I don't think I've ever taken it to the extreme before. It's an interesting thing," he remarked. "Silence" will be released in New York and Los Angeles on Dec. 23 before it rolls out nationwide in January. home US Megyn Kelly leaving Fox News for CNN? Megyn Kelly is one of the most recognizable TV news anchors today. As she holds contract discussions with Fox News, questions arise on whether she will stay with the network or move to a new one. Speculations are rife that she could be moving to CNN. According to Drudge, CNN head Jeff Zucker has been wooing Kelly. A source who is reportedly knowledgeable of the ongoing talks between the two claims the former is moving mountains to get Kelly but may not be able to match the $20 million a year that Fox is offering Kelly. Instead, CNN will allegedly make-up for the difference through heavy promotion and exposure through all TIME WARNER outlets. Despite the hefty salary that Fox has put on the table, there are factors that could potentially lead the popular anchor to bring her talents elsewhere. Kelly was reportedly unpopular among colleagues at Fox. Earlier this year, Fox News had to deal with sexual abuse scandal when its then CEO Roger Ailes was accused of sexual assault or harassment by several female personalities employed at the network. Those who came out include Gretchen Carlson, whom Fox, on behalf of Ailes, paid $20 million in out-of-court settlement; and Andrea Tataros, who turned down a seven-figure settlement, as revealed by her lawyer to Variety. In her book that came out last month, Kelly revealed that she was also a victim of Ailes' sexual advances. Many personalities at Fox came to Ailes' defense, including Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and Greta Van Susteren, and such could have soured Kelly's professional relationship with some of them. Fox's leading lady also had a separate rift with Hannity at the height of the election campaign, when the former attacked her and called her a supporter of Hillary Clinton. Kelly's "Kelly File" is one of the most watched shows on Fox News. In November, reached a new high when it earned 754,000 viewers among those aged 25 to 54. The TV news star has three young children, and according to Variety, her family is her main consideration in her decision-making on whether to stay with Fox News or move to a rival network. Kelly's contract with Fox is set to expire in July 2017. home US New Texas law requires proper burial for aborted babies The State of Texas has issued a new regulation that would require abortion facilities and hospitals to cremate or bury the remains of aborted babies. The rule, which was finalized on Monday, was proposed by the Texas Department of Health and Human Services in July and will take effect on Dec. 19, according to LifeSite. "The new law honors the humanity of each child and gives the baby the dignity he or she deserves," Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins told LifeSite. "It's no surprise the abortion industry is adamantly opposed to this law. They would rather sell those body parts for money or find some other non-humanitarian way to dispose of the remains," she added. The new regulation will not apply to women who miscarry or perform chemical abortions in their homes. The current state law allows the remains of aborted babies to be discarded, incinerated, or ground up and be disposed of in a sanitary landfill. The disposal is usually handled by third-party special waste services. Several abortion advocates have raised their concerns that the new rule would be costly and make it more difficult for people to obtain abortions. HHS spokeswoman Carrie Williams said that the department has conducted a study that indicated that the new regulation would not increase the costs of healthcare facilities. "While the methods described in the new rules may have a cost, that cost is expected to be offset by costs currently being spent by facilities on disposition for transportation, storage, incineration, steam disinfection and/or landfill disposal," Williams said in an email in October, as reported by Dallas News. Health officials have clarified that patients will not be responsible for the disposal of the fetal remains and there will be no requirements for birth or death certificates. Lawyers for the Center for Reproductive Rights have hinted that they are likely to challenge the new rules in court, The Texas Tribune reported. In a letter to the health officials, the lawyers stated that the regulation "will almost certainly trigger costly litigation." home World Nickelback music punishment for drunk drivers; Canadian police use different approach Authorities in Kensington, Canada are bent on reducing the number of drunk driving incidents by employing a different approach, one that threatens violators with music from rock band Nickelback. A post on the Kensington Police Service's Facebook page warns that those who will be caught drinking and driving during the holiday season will be sanctioned with a hefty fine, one-year driving suspension and a surprise bonus a "playing the office's copy of Nickelback in the cruiser on the way to jail." The local police department reminds residents to observe responsible driving during the holiday season, particularly those who will be coming from social gatherings. They suggest having a designated driver or using a taxi instead of getting behind the wheel after a drinking spree. The Facebook post further reads, "So please, let's not ruin a perfectly good unopened copy of Nickelback." It adds, "You don't drink and drive and we won't make you listen to it." In an interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corp., Constable Robb Hartlen, the author of the Facebook post, explained that Nickelback part was mentioned in jest as they simply wanted to get people's attention by saying something relatable and to "spark that conversation." "What we were trying to do is put a little humour into a very serious matter of drinking and driving," he said. Hartlen also admitted that he personally likes the band, but that "Everyone says they don't like Nickelback. It's fashionable to do so." The police officer also explained that the group behind hits such as "How You Remind Me" and "Far Away" was mentioned in their campaign because vocalist Chad Kroeger was convicted for driving under the influence (DUI) back in 2008. Despite having sold 24 million albums worldwide, per Nielsen Music, and more than 50 million worldwide, as claimed by its music label back in 2011, as reported by Billboard, and having received recognition at the American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards and MTV Video Music Awards, the quartet from Hanna, Alberta have been at the receiving end of hate and bashing over the past years. Several famous Canadian personalities have come to the group's defense. One is Avril Lavigne, who took to Twitter back in May to slam media outlets that referred to Nickelback as a benchmark for unpopularity. Another one is Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who commented as a guest on "The Daily Show" also in May, "You know what? Nickelback's alright." home World Pakistan province approves bill prohibiting forced conversions Pakistan's Sindh province has passed a law against forced conversions last week following complaints from religious minorities that Muslims are forcibly converting people to Islam. The Sindh Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Bill of 2015 requires a 21-day period for adults to consider their decision to convert to another religion and forbids minors from converting even of their own free will, Al-Jazeera reported. "Forced conversion is an abhorrent and violent offence and an issue that has become prevalent across Sindh [that] must be eliminated by recognising the importance of tolerance, peace and respect for all religions and persons, irrespective of their religion," the bill stated. The bill was proposed over a year ago by Kumar Goklani, a legislator of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional. "Every person has the right to practise their religion and beliefs," said in a phone interview with Al-Jazeera. "We must ensure that no one is forced to change their religion due to physical or mental pressure on them. We now have a law to help stop this practice. It is a historical move," he added. He added that those who are found to be in violation of the law would receive a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of life imprisonment. The NGO known as Movement for Solidarity and Peace in Pakistan has estimated that at least 1,000 girls and women go through forced conversions and marriages in the country each year. Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), an aid group that supports persecuted Christians in Pakistan, welcomed the new law and stated that "it is a great step taken by the Sindh government to protect the religious minorities." Nasir Saeed, director of CLAAS-UK, noted that police do not usually act upon complaints against forced conversions out of fear from the Muslim community but they are now obligated to take action because of the new law. Saeed called on the authorities in Punjab, a Pakistani province populated by many Christians, to follow the example of Sindh and pass a law against forced conversions as soon as possible. home US Pastor who aided a former lesbian to flee the U.S. with her daughter pleads guilty in kidnapping case A Mennonite pastor who helped an ex-lesbian flee from the U.S. with her daughter has pleaded guilty in Buffalo federal court on Wednesday to a charge of conspiracy in international parental kidnapping. Timothy Miller is facing a recommended sentence of 12 to 18 months in prison, Buffalo News reported. Another defendant named Philip Zodhiates was found guilty last September after a two-week trial. The pastor was accused of buying the plane tickets for Lisa Miller and her daughter, Isabella, to fly from Toronto to Nicaragua. Timothy, who is unrelated to Lisa, allegedly used his mother-in-law's credit card to pay for the tickets. He reportedly met up with the mother and daughter in Managua and helped them find refuge in the country. Lisa fled the U.S. after a federal judge threatened that the custody of Isabella would be transferred to her ex-parter Janet Jenkins if she does not allow her to visit the child. According to a report from Christian News, Jenkins and Lisa were joined in a civil union in Vermont in 2000. Lisa was able to give birth to Isabella in 2002 through an artificial insemination procedure from a male donor. The lesbian couple split up in 2003 due to continued tensions in their relationship. Lisa reportedly became a Christian afterward and renounced homosexuality. Isabella remained in her custody, but the court granted visitation rights to Jenkins. Lisa testified in court that Isabella was traumatized by her visits with Jenkins. She claimed that the girl, who was six years old at the time, was forced to take baths with Jenkins and was touching herself inappropriately. She also said that Isabella occasionally talked about suicide. She filed for exclusive custody of Isabella which the court granted, but Jenkins challenged the ruling and was awarded visitation rights in 2008. A family court granted full custody to Jenkins after Lisa continued to refuse her from visiting the child. By the time the transfer order was issued, Lisa had already fled the country. Ken Miller, another Mennonite pastor who also helped Lisa escape, was sentenced to 27 months in prison in 2012. 16 years and counting of talking about whatever catches my fancy. Mostly comics, books, and movies, but there can always be surprises. home World Persecuted Christian lawyer in China writes letter to thank supporters Zhang Kai, a Christian and a prominent human rights lawyer who was imprisoned for six months in China, has written a letter to thank those who supported him while he was serving his sentence. Zhang and his two legal assistants were taken into custody in August 2015 after he represented about 100 churches that are affected by the Communist Party's demolition campaign, China Aid reported. He was kept incommunicado inside a "black jail" for six months and was forced to make a confession on television. He later retracted his confession and said that he did it out of fear. The lawyer, who is currently out on bail, wrote a letter last week to express his gratitude to the people who offered prayer and support while he was incarcerated. "The history of Thanksgiving is a history of escaping from oppression, seeking freedom and thanking God. On this special day, even though I often feel desperate and devastated, I deeply know in my heart that God always encourages and supports me with His irresistible love, and my gratitude is always beyond words," Zhang wrote. "Thanks to those comforted and cared for my parents when I was in trouble last year. On this special day, I thank the friends, lawyers and the strangers who appealed for me and supported me. Thanks to all the Christians at home and overseas, who are praying for me all of the time," he continued. Zhang, who was originally from Beijing, moved to Zhejiang Province prior to his arrest to organize a team of 30 lawyers to defend the churches that are facing demolition or being forced to removed the crosses from their buildings. Hundreds of crosses have been removed from churches across the province since 2014, but some have estimated that the actual figures could be around 1,500. According to a report from Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Zhang was supposed to meet with the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, David Saperstein, but he was arrested before the meeting took place. Over 300 people were interrogated, arrested, and imprisoned, and some people also disappeared in China's crackdown on human rights lawyers and activists beginning in July 2015. Many have since been released, but some have been formally arrested while others were held incommunicado. home World Pregnant women in China go into hiding to avoid forced abortions Women in China are still being coerced by family planning officials to abort their babies despite the abandonment of the One-Child Policy. Last year, the Chinese Communist Party announced that married couples will be allowed to have up to two children but some observers claim that coercion and human rights abuses are still committed against pregnant women who are over their birth quota. Couples who are found to be in violation of the new policy can face steep fines and be compelled to abort their babies. "We'll definitely find you and persuade you to do an abortion," a family planning official told an undercover BBC reporter, as reported by Epoch Times. Some couples go into hiding in order to keep their baby. "If we weren't in hiding, they would have forced us to have an abortion," said a local man who fled from his village with his wife after she became pregnant for the third time. Couples who refuse to abort are often threatened with the loss of their jobs. In some provinces, such as Fujian, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Jiangxi, Yunnan, and Zhejiang, employers are allowed to terminate their employees if they exceed their birth quota. Last August, Sixth Tone reported that a woman identified only as Anxiang was forced abort her baby after she was threatened with fines and dismissal from her job. She thought she would be allowed to keep her baby under the two-child policy, but the law in the province of Guangdong had an omission regarding remarried women. After the procedure, she went on the WeChat group for remarried couples in Guangdong and posted a message which read: "I saw my daughter. She didn't move. She was dead." In January, Vice Minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission Wang Pei'an stated that the family planning regulations could continue for "at least 20 years, 30 years." Chinese President Xi Jinping also indicated that he will continue to push for the planned birth policies. "The population issue has always been an overall, long-term, strategic issue facing our country...the tensions between population and resources and environment will not fundamentally change," said Xi in a statement to the Family Planning Association. home US Tullian Tchividjian's former church says he should not be in ministry Kevin Labby, a senior pastor of Willow Creek Presbyterian Church, has issued a statement on Thursday saying Tullian Tchividjian is not ready to return to the ministry, and he should return to his former church "to pursue healing and renewal." Tchividjian, a grandson of famed evangelist Billy Graham, stepped down from his position as a pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church last year after he admitted that he had an affair. Last March, he was fired from Willow Creek after he confessed to the church elders that he had an "inappropriate relationship." Labby's statement came after a woman who allegedly had an affair with Tchividjian came forward and said that she was "groomed" by the former pastor, Christian Today reported. "We would also like to state in the clearest possible terms that we do not believe that Mr. Tchividjian should be in any form of public or vocational ministry," said Labby in the statement. "Rather, inasmuch as he is truly repentant and in accordance with his membership vows, we would urge him to immediately return to his church of membership, submit to its leadership, and pursue healing and renewal through repentance in the context of his local church to the glory of God and for the good of the broader Church and her witness to the world," he continued. A woman identified only as Rachel claimed that she came to Tchividjian for help regarding her troubled marriage, but the former pastor lured her into having an affair with him. She alleged that Tchividjian urged her husband to divorce her without her knowledge. Rachel also said that Tchividjian borrowed $11,000 from her and her husband so that he could investigate his now ex-wife Kim. She said that her affair with Tchividjian was discovered by the I.T. department of Coral Ridge because the contents of his phone showed up on the church's public server. Rachel claimed that the former pastor asked the staff member to remove everything. Labby said that he was "deeply grieved" about the latest allegations against Tchividjian, and he expressed his gratitude for the women who came forward to share their stories. Tchividjian has since remarried and recently delivered a sermon on God's redemption at the Spring Hills Community Church in Santa Rosa, California. home US U.S. smoking ban to hit public housing nationwide A new rule banning smoking in public housing developments across the United States was announced by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Wednesday. The mandate will prohibit the use of lit tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and water pipes, also known as hookahs, inside residential units, common areas, and administrative offices in public housing residences. The restriction will also cover outside spaces within 25 feet of the buildings. Public housing agencies are given 18 months to put compliance policies in place. In a statement, HUD highlights that per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the new smoke-free policy is expected to yield a total of $153 million in savings every year. This covers $94 million in secondhand smoke-related health care, $43 million in maintenance, and $16 million in repairs due to preventable fire losses. HUD estimates that more than 1.2 million households will be affected but notes that around 200,000 are already complying with voluntary smoking bans initiated by several public housing agencies across the United States. New York, which has the most number of federally owned apartments in the country, will be most impacted. The New York City Housing Authority manages about 178,000 buildings and more than 400,000 dwellers. In line with their campaign against secondhand smoke, which is a known cause of various health problems including respiratory infections and asthma attacks especially among infants and children, groups such as the American Lung Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have long been lobbying for such mandate. According to a CDC study last year, two in five children in government-subsidized housing suffer from exposure to second-hand smoke, Reuter reports. "Every child deserves to grow up in a safe, healthy home free from harmful second-hand cigarette smoke," said Housing and Urban Development Secretary JuliAn Castro in the statement posted on the department's website. home US US Presidential Elections 2016 recount news update: Jillian Stein withdraws Pennsylvania recount bid Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein has dropped her petition to conduct a state-wide recount of votes cast in Pennsylvania during the U.S. presidential election. Based on court documents made available on Saturday, Dec. 3, the bid was withdrawn after a judge ordered Stein's camp to post $1 million as bond by Monday. The amount, which was set by the state's Commonwealth Court, is a modification of the $10 million bond requested by representatives of President-elect Donald Trump. Stein's campaign decided to withdraw, citing that they could not afford the required bond. Attorney Lawrence Otter's letter addressed to the court reads, "Petitioners are regular citizens of ordinary means. They cannot afford to post the $1,000,000 bond required by the court." Stein, who got only one percent of presidential votes, said in a statement, as reported by Reuters, "The judge's outrageous demand that voters pay such an exorbitant figure is a shameful, unacceptable barrier to democratic participation." She is set to hold on Monday a previously scheduled news conference at Trump Tower in New York City, where is expected to announce her next steps in her recount campaign. Stein has also sought for the recount of votes in Michigan and Wisconsin. In all three states, Trump won by a narrow margin over Hillary Clinton during the Nov. 8 election. Meanwhile, Trump supporters have filed lawsuits seeking to stop the recount activities in the three states, citing that such would unnecessarily cost the public millions of dollars. Last Friday, a federal court in Wisconsin denied a request for a temporary restraining order on the ongoing recount. U.S. District Judge James Peterson rejected the motion based on the argument that no harm is seen in allowing the recount to carry on while the filed lawsuit is being processed. Wisconsin has until Dec. 13 to certify the votes to avoid a situation wherein the Congress will have to decide on what to do with its ballots. In accordance with the federal law, recounts must be completed within 35 days after the election. In Michigan, the elections board deadlocked on Friday, with its two Democrat members moving to push through with the recount, and the Republicans voting otherwise. Unless the Court of Appeals and state Supreme courts intervene, recount in Michigan will commence on Tuesday or Wednesday. The general expectation is that the recounts, even if they push through in all three states, is unlikely to overturn the results for the presidential bid. Anglican Pastor May End Up in Jail in California for Offering Prayers for Women Entering Abortion Facility A pastor in California may end up in jail and be asked to pay a hefty fine for offering prayers for pregnant women entering abortion clinics, hoping to change their minds about killing their own babies. Father James Linton, an Anglican pastor, was formally charged last Friday by the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office with alleged "interference with a business," Tru News reported. Linton was taken into police custody last month while standing on a public easement outside a Planned Parenthood facility in San Bernardino, praying and offering incoming mothers and fathers alternatives to abortion. The Christian pastor has been staying every Friday outside the abortion clinic for a year now, in an attempt to save babies at risk of abortion. In fact, Planned Parenthood already built a wall near its San Bernardino facility in an attempt to hinder sidewalk counselors and prevent them from speaking to mothers and fathers in the parking lot. Allison Aranda, senior staff counsel for the Life Legal Defense Foundation and a former prosecutor for Riverside County currently helping Linton, described the pastor's arrest as "outrageous," and questioned the basis of the charge against him. "Fr. Linton certainly did not intend to interfere with Planned Parenthood's ability to conduct its business. Rather, he simply offered assistance and alternatives to its patrons that could save the lives of their precious babies," Aranda told Tru News. She further asserted that Father Linton did not violate any law by praying and speaking out outside the abortion clinic, since he was only exercising his right to freedom of expression, which is enshrined in the Constitution, on the public sidewalk and rights of way in their community. "In fact, the code section under which Fr. Linton was charged, specifically exempts from criminal liability, those who are engaging in activities that are protected by the California and United States Constitution," Aranda noted. Aranda's group pledged to help Linton with the legal troubles he is facing, and to also defend other sidewalk counsellors. Are The Days Of A Bible In Every Hotel Room Coming To An End? The tradition of offering Bibles in hotel rooms could be in decline as increasing numbers of guests access spiritual literature via apps on their phones. Even until recently, most hotels in the West would have a Bible in their guest rooms, distributed free by Gideons International since 1908. More than 80 million Bibles are still distributed annually by Gideons and demand is growing in areas such as South America and Asia, not just in hotels but in schools and prisons as well. Yet fewer than half of US hotels have Bibles in their room, according to new research, the Daily Mail reports. At the same time, nine in 10 hotel rooms offer high definition or flat-screen televisions and more than eight in 10 offer free gyms to work out in. The American Hotel and Lodging Association and hotel research firm STR surveyed 8,000 hotel managers. Marriott International is among hotel chains deciding to restrict distribution of Bibles. A spokesperson for the company told the Los Angeles Times that Bibles did not fit the "personality" of the Moxy and Edition hotel brands, aimed at millennials. However, President-Elect Donald Trump's new Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC includes a Gideon Bible in the nightstand in every room. The Washington Post reorts that a note left with the Bible says: "If you would like to continue your spiritual journey, we also offer the followings: Talmud. Quran. Gita. Avesta. Tripitaka (Pali Canon). Shri Guru Granth Sahib. Book of Mormon. Kindly contact Housekeeping should you wish to have one delivered to your room." The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which lobbies to maintain separation of church and state, wrote to 15 major hotel companies last year, asking them to keep Bibles out of hotel rooms. Jeff Pack, of Gideon International, told the Los Angeles Times that he is not sure why there is an apparent decline in religious material in hotel rooms because there has been no fall in the distribution of Gideon Bibles. "The decline of religious materials in hotels, as cited in the survey, is reflective of increasing secularism and independence in the world. This has resulted in an erosion of spiritual awareness," he said. Two years ago in Britain, Travelodge removed Bibles from hotel rooms to avoid discriminating against any particular religion. Guests can still borrow them from front desks on request. British Baptists Issue Call For Unity Over Same-Sex Marriage Senior British Baptists have issued a call for denominational unity in the face of challenges posed by the issue of human sexuality. Signed by pastors, academics and the general director of BMS World Mission, the denomination's overseas mission agency, the document entitled The Courage to be Baptist: A Statement on Baptist Ecclesiology and Human Sexuality is billed as "a call to Baptist churches to face our present disagreements over same-sex marriage by being faithful to a Baptist way of being church". Some signatories hold a traditional view of marriage and sexuality, while others affirm the theological validity of same-sex relationships. The Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) has previously urged its member churches not to register to conduct same-sex marriages, though it has acknowledged it cannot prevent them doing so if they wish. It has also said its ministers have the freedom to conduct such marriages, though they are prohibited from entering into same-sex marriages themselves. While most Baptist churches are theologically conservative on the issue, the question of how inclusive the denomination can be has caused debate in recent years. The BUGB is not a centrally organised or heirarchical denomination and the principle of congregational independence is central to its identity. The first of the three clauses in its "Declaration of Principle" says that "our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, is the sole and absolute authority in all matters pertaining to faith and practice, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and that each Church has liberty, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to interpret and administer His laws". An introduction on The Courage to be Baptist website says: "This Baptist way of being church allows us to maintain unity even when we disagree about certain issues. We believe this is a gift of God, allowing us to witness to our true unity in Christ even when we disagree about serious matters." Among the signatories are Rev Dr Ruth Gouldbourne, minister of Bloomsbury Baptist Church, Rev Dr Steve Holmes, senior lecturer in systematic theology at the University of St Andrews, and BMS general director Rev David Kerrigan. The statement acknowledges that every Western Christian denomination is struggling with ethical questions about human sexuality. However, it notes that British Baptists have "united around a minimal statement of shared principles and so modelled living together in unity and love despite differences". Among these, it suggests, are the ministry of women and the remarriage of divorcees. It rejects the idea of seeking unity by "imposing uniformity, tying the body of Christ to a procrustean bed to distort and dismember it". The statement calls for local churches to engage together "much more deeply and honestly than before" and for a "serious, open-ended and respectful conversation". It says: "We call for shared trust and good faith, a commitment to believe that those churches with whom we disagree take their positions out of a desire to shape life according to the gospel, and to follow faithfully the laws of Christ disclosed in Scripture." Among those commending the statement is Rev Dr Nigel Wright, a former principal of Spurgeon's College, who says: "Were it up to me I would wish our denomination to hold fast fearlessly, publicly and with a good conscience to a traditional understanding of marriage and sexual relations. I hope it will go on doing so. However, respect for the freedom of informed (and sometimes dissenting) consciences is a high priority for any Baptist, a proven way of holding together when there are deeply-felt disagreements, and a moral strength. This statement offers a thoughtful and compassionate rationale for such an approach and as such is to be commended." Principal emeritus of Regent's Park College, Rev Dr Paul Fiddes, says: "Since its authors differ on the issue of same-sex relations, their writing models, in an extraordinarily helpful way, the love and unity that should be possible among Baptists at this critical moment in their story. Read widely, this statement could transform attitudes and strengthen Baptists to share in the mission of God." British Government Bans Iraqi, Syrian Archbishops From UK Visit The British government has been slammed for refusing visas to archbishops from Iraq and Syria invited to participate in a service addressed by Prince Charles. The three archbishops from Iraq and Syria were refused permission to enter the UK to attend the consecration of the Syriac Orthodox Cathedral of St Thomas on November 24. Prince Charles spoke at the event and condemned the "appalling suffering" of Syria's Christians. The three clerics serve areas that have been in the front line of attacks by Islamic State. But the Archbishop of Mosul, Nicodemus Daoud Sharaf, the Archbishop of St Matthew's in Iraq's Nineveh Plain, Timothius Mousa Shamani, and the Archbishop of Homs and Hama in Syria, Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh, were told they could not attend. According to the Daily Express, Alnemeh was told the British Government could not offer exceptions to its policy of refusing all visa applications from Syria. The men were also told they did not have enough money to support themselves in the UK and they might not leave. The leader of the UK's Syriac Orthodox Christians, Archbishop Athanasius Toma Dawod, condemned the decision. He said: "These are men who have pressing pastoral responsibilities as Christian areas held by IS are liberated. "That is why we cannot understand why Britain is treating Christians in this way?" A Home Office spokesman said: "All visa applications are considered on their individual merits and applicants must provide evidence to show they meet the requirements of the immigration rules." Does Integration Mean Government Control Of Religion? The Casey Review into "opportunity and integration" in the UK makes sobering reading. It's a forensic look into how isolated and deprived communities actually work. Dame Louise Casey says in the foreword that she wanted to look at "what divides communities and gives rise to anxiety, prejudice, alienation and a sense of grievance". Well, she found plenty. Many parts of the country don't offer opportunities and aren't integrated. Black boys still don't get jobs, white working class kids on free school meals still do badly in the education system, Muslim girls do brilliantly at school but don't go on to get great jobs. More troublingly, there are "cultural and religious practices" in some communities particularly Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslim that are "not only holding some of our citizens back but run contrary to British values and sometimes our laws". There are, Casey says, "too many religious leaders condoning or promoting intolerant and hateful teachings" and the peace-loving majority are "not being loud enough or bold enough to protect vulnerable individuals or to reduce the fear and suspicion of others". She goes into considerable detail about in the full report. If you're pressed for time, the summary is here. The key section, though, is subtitled 'Leadership'. It says that for generations we've welcomed immigrants to our countries without really trying to integrate them. Now there are lots more of them and "leaders in public office" have failed to rise to the challenge. They don't want to be thought of as racists or Islamophobic. So abuse in particular communities might go unchallenged, like in the Rotherham child abuse case. Sharia courts can be badly run and leave women and children traumatised. "Accommodation" can go too far and "play into the hands of extremists". Casey also says: "As a nation we have lost sight of our expectations on integration and lacked confidence in promoting it or challenging behaviours that undermine it." The Casey Review explictly raises issues of huge importance. How far can communities be left to develop separately from the UK mainstream? Are we OK with supporting enclaves in our cities where people don't speak English and are still spiritually and mentally in rural Pakistan? How far should they be required to integrate? Much of it is timely and needs saying. It can't really be right that the Department for Communities and Local Government spent more on promoting the Cornish language than English. And communities that don't relate to the world outside their own few streets are inevitably and avoidably impoverished, and not just materially. However, there are implicit questions that the report doesn't seem to acknowledge at all. It is severe, and rightly, on religious leaders who teach hateful or extremist ideology. But in a telling comment, it says: "Too often, these views appear to be based on warped theology, designed to sustain the power of particular individuals or groups and to excuse or even legitimise their transgressions." Earlier it cites approvingly the work of Dilwar Hussein, who promotes a "modern British understanding of Islam". What's happening here is that the state in the person of Dame Louise is attempting to do theology. It approves of certain kinds of religion and not of others. It wants religion to serve the purposes of the state. It has decided what "British values" are, and it is prepared to judge and potentially control anything that departs from them. There are serious implications here for religious liberty, a term that does not appear in the report (though "individual liberty" does). The Casey Review is obviously right to highlight the dangers from Saudi investment in mosques teaching ultra-conservative Salafi Islam. It's also right to worry about misogynistic and homophobic teaching. But another example of what it thinks is unacceptably divisive is a leaflet urging Muslims to boycott a community music festival in a local park. Now, to a non-religious person this might seem odd, but it is absolutely no business of government to tell religious communities whether they should listen to music or not. It also refers to "the treatment of women in some strictly Jewish Orthodox communities (with children reportedly being taught that a woman's role is to look after children, clean the house and cook) and newer Christian churches (with activists seeking to 'cure' people of homosexuality). All such instances undermine integration and should be challenged." Let's be clear: women can do anything they want, and homosexuality can't be 'cured'. But when the state starts prescribing to faith communities what they should and shouldn't teach, it runs the risk of crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed. Of course, one of the problems is that government does not understand religion as the Archbishop of Canterbury said recently, it has "no grip" on what it means to be religious. It cannot grasp that for anyone serious about their faith Muslim or Christian it is not the state that judges the faith, but the faith that judges the state. The Casey Review includes these words, which are correct: "For all those involved, faith is not something incidental to their actions. It is fundamental: the font, the origin, the thing that makes these people who they are and do what they do." It demonstrates its tone-deafness to faith, however, in the next sentence: "To them, their faith is realised in action: in commitment to others; in caring; in compassion; in an all-embracing feeling of solidarity." In other words, it's just about being nice. The civil service recoils from the idea that it might be about God. No one with any sense believes that any of the abuses identified in the Casey Review ought to be unchecked. But where these arise from religion, any attempt by a liberal democracy to impose a solution is going to fail. If the government really wants genuine integration it needs to find a way of working with the grain of religion. There is little evidence as yet that it intends to try. Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods Ex-Betting Chief Campaigns Against 'Crack-Cocaine' Of Gambling Paddy Power's founder and former chief executive secretly lobbied against high-speed betting terminals that allow pundits to gamble 300 per minute. Stewart Kenny, who co-founded Britain's largest bookmaker, warned the Irish government off the highly addictive machines, according to The Times. Fixed-odd betting terminals (FOBTs) are "the crack cocaine of gambling" and are "particularly enticing to younger gamblers in disadvantaged areas", Kenny told an Irish government consultation on whether to legalise the machines. He said the British government was "as addicted to the tax revenue [from the machines] as vulnerable customers are to losing money in them". According to the Times he wrote in 2009: "There is no public demand, other than from sections of the betting industry, for FOBTs to be legalised in Ireland. It is in no one's interest, neither betting shop customers nor wider society... Let us learn from the mistake in the UK of allowing them into betting offices, once they are in it is impossible to get rid of them or even curb their more addictive elements." FOBTs provide more than half the profits for bookmakers and Kenny's intervention is likely to cause alarm in the industry. Last year companies made 1.75bn from the high-speed machines, providing the Treasury with 438m in tax revenues. The Association of British Bookmakers has denied the machines are more addictive than other forms of gambling and does not agree they are linked to crime and debt. But CARE, a Christian public policy charity which has long campaigned for reducing the stake on FOBTs, said this was because of the profits involved. CARE's CEO Nola Leach said: "The gambling industry makes millions from these machines and let's be honest, it's hardly in their interests to curb these profitable machines." Leach urged the government to back moves reducing the maximum stake from 100 per 20 seconds to 2. "We know that curbing the maximum stake will not solve the issue of problem gambling but it will undoubtedly help," she said. A government consultation on the issue closed yesterday and ministers are expected to make a decision in the New Year. French Secularists Win Battle To Remove Virgin Mary From Shore Of Lake Geneva Pixabay A small town in France has been ordered to remove a statue of the Virgin Mary from the shores of Lake Geneva or risk a fine of 80, or more than $100, a day. A court in Grenoble has ordered Publier in Haute-Savoie in eastern France to remove the statue because in French law it qualifies as a religious symbol in a public space. Such symbols are banned in France, which also does not allow Muslims to wear a full face veil in public. The blue marble statue, inscribed with the words: "Our Lady of the Lake Geneva, watch over your children", currently sits in a public park. The Mayor Gaston Lacroix pledged to try and find piece of private land to put it on, which would solve the problem. The statue was first erected in 2011, without consutation with the local authority. A court first ruled against it in January last year but Lacroix did not move it. According to local news reports, the statue was originally taxpayer funded at a cost of about 30,000 or $38,000. It was then sold to a religious culturual association after an appeal for funds. Right-wing politician Jacques Clostermann, of the Front National party, was among many who protested the ruling on social media. He tweeted: "I think I have an open mind, but I can't stand this new tyranny." Sabine, from Nice, descrcribed it as a "secular Inquisition": Others tweeted of France's "shame": Lacroix told Le Monde. "I'm not deaf to the decisions of the court." He said he had just not received a specific injunction. "I am a Republican elected guarantor of secularism. We will find a private property." The court ruled the decision to erect the statue was "contrary to the principles of secularism". The case was brought by an association of free-thinkers. LGBT Film To Premiere In Welsh Cathedral A documentary about gay nuns will premiere in a Welsh cathedral this week in a move that has been welcomed by the Archbishop of Wales. All One in Christ is a 12-minute documentary about two ex-nuns who fall in love before being rejected by their community. Deeply critical of the Church's attitude towards gay couples, it will be screened in St Asaph's Cathedral, north Wales, on Tuesday evening. The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, welcomed the move and said: "This film will not be easy watching for church members as it reminds us how people among us have been ostracised and mistreated because of their sexuality. "By sharing the personal stories of those who have suffered and been hurt I hope this powerful film will bring home to all the scale of the damage done and ultimately help change attitudes within the church." But Dr William Strange, vice-chair of the Evangelical Fellowship in the Church in Wales, told Christian Today it was "regrettable" the Church had made this "public demonstration after our governing body decided not to give the green light to change teaching on sexuality". The film is part of a series by the Iris Prize, the world's largest LGBT short film prize. Financed by the Big Lottery Fund it tells the story of former nuns Ann and Marika Jane Savage-Lewis and the outrage of their local bishop after they were outed 40 years ago. The local Bishop of St Asaph, Gregory Cameron, will take part in a panel discussion after the event on Tuesday. Mike Jones from the campaign group Changing Attitude, Trawsnewid Agwedd Cymru said: "We are very grateful to the Iris Prize Outreach team, and the Big Lottery Fund Wales, for making it possible for us to produce our film, 'All One in Christ' and for the Church in Wales bishops who encouraged us to do it. "Those who took part in the film describe the pain experienced by LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, asexual) people, as a result of being made unwelcome, or the fear of being unwelcome, even rejected, by the Church. But the film is also full of faith, and hope, and even love, for a Church that continues to struggle with accepting people whatever their sexuality. "We are all one in Christ. This means, for example, that everyone should be able to celebrate their marriages or civil partnerships in churches and receive God's blessing, wherever they live in Wales. Many and, in some parts of Wales, the majority of church members, clergy and bishops agree. But not all do. "Our hope is that the film will challenge and inspire the Church in Wales to fully include LGBTQIA people in its life and ministry, and be a sign of God's love and justice in a broken world." Patriarch Kirill Consecrates New Orthodox Cathedral In The Shadow Of The Eiffel Tower The head of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has formally consecrated the church in Paris that serves as the centrepiece of the new ROC centre near the Eiffel Tower. Patriarch Kirill led the hours-long ceremony at the gold-domed Trinity Cathedral yesterday. He said the church was a symbol of the close ties between the peoples of Russia and France, saying: "It's a monument to our close relations in the past and, certainly, a symbol of what awaits us in the future." He also thanked France for its hospitality to Russians escaping from the country after the Revolution of 1917. He urged Russians living abroad to "consider themselves members of the Church and to go to church... and by no means allow their children to lose their language and culture". "It's your duty. You can live wherever you want, but you can't break spiritual and cultural ties with your people," he said. Around 500 members of France's Russian community attended the event, as well as the Paris mayor, Russian model Natalia Vodianova and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's wife Svetlana. The opening of the cathedral marks another diplomatic move by President Putin's government, with which Kirill is deeply involved. While suggestions that the Russian Orthodox Centre could be used to spy on nearby French intelligence agencies and government departments have been dismissed, the ROC is deeply indebted to Putin's regime and its senior clergy sometimes play quasi-diplomatic roles. Kirill was due to meet today with France's President Hollande, a fierce critic of Russian foreign policy in Syria and Ukraine. 'Regressive Religious Practices' Fuel Worrying Racial Segregation in Britain - Report Racial segregation and social exclusion have reached "worrying levels" in the UK, a new report out on Monday revealed. Dame Louise Casey's year-long review found successive governments have failed to ensure cohesion keeps up with the "unprecedented pace and scale of immigration", which has left some communities increasingly divided. Casey put a spotlight on Muslim-majority areas, noting that some mosques teach women and girls regressive ideas about their role in society. She warned the fear of being labelled racist had led to public bodies ignoring or even condoning divisive and harmful religious practices. The independent review recommended an "intergration oath" to encourage migrant communities to adopt British values, learn English and mix with other ethnic groups. It comes after the review found 682 electoral wards had more than 40 per cent non-white residents in 2011, and in 17 wards that figure was 90 per cent up from just one in 2001. Casey focused on Islamic and Hindu communities where women were twice as likely not to speak English than men and more likely to be forced to stay at home. "Misogyny and patriarchy has to come to an end," she said. "We must not fear being racist or homophobic." She warned there has been a failure to call out "deeply regressive religious and cultural practices, especially when it comes to women" in some ethnic minority communities in the UK. The review found "high levels of social and economic isolation in some places, and cultural and religious practices in communities that are not only holding some of our citizens back but run contrary to British values and sometimes our laws". But Casey admitted there was a "vicious circle" where Muslims are blamed for terrorism and extremism leading to mutual suspicion and mistrust. "In some ways we're pushing some people in the Muslim community away, because they do experience this sense of taking responsibility," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "Every time there's a terrorist attack people automatically blame a person that's called a Muslim. That's wrong. Muslims are no more responsible for terrorist attacks than I am for the IRA." But as well as Islamic communities Casey also pointed to Orthodox Jewish communities where children are taught "that a woman's role is to look after children, clean the house and cook". Some Christian communities also came into the spotlight "with activists seeking to 'cure' people of homosexuality". Casey said: "All such instances undermine integration and should be challenged". Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, said: "This government is building a democracy for everyone and our country has long been home to lots of different cultures and communities, but all of us have to be part of one society British society. "So while it's right that we celebrate the positive contribution that diverse groups make to British life, we also need to continue making sure that nobody is excluded from it or left behind." Javid called the report a "valuable contribution" and said he would be studying its findings closely. Skip Church This Christmas, Says American Atheist Group A US atheist group has launched a billboard campaign encouraging people not to go to church at Christmas. American Atheists has installed an "Atheist Christmas" billboard in Colorado Springs and several other cities urging passers by to skip church this year. One design shows a disapproving mother and her daughter, who is engaged in a text conversation. It runs: "U going to church this Xmas?" She responds, "Lol. No way. I don't believe that stuff anymore." The friend replies, "What will your parents say?" She texts back, saying, "They'll get over it. :-P." Another design references President-Elect Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan, reading: "Make Christmas Great Again, Skip Church!" American Atheists said in a press release that it aims to tackle the "stigma" nonbelievers face in America. "It is important for people to know religion has nothing to do with being a good person, and that being open and honest about what you believe and don't believe is the best gift you can give this holiday season," said president David Silverman. "More and more Americans are leaving religion, but we still have work to do when it comes to fighting the stigma many atheists face." The American Atheists Christmas campaign has become a holiday staple. Silverman told The Christian Post in December 2014 that the hope is for the messages to "spur intra-family communication". Small Town Sets New Record For World's Largest Nativity In real life, there probably wouldn't have been much room in the stable for many more than the Holy Family itself when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. But that didn't stop Bible Society from pushing the boundaries of the story of the birth of Jesus, to the point of setting a new Guinness World Record. Bible Society, along with Calne town council in Wiltshire, has now been awarded the record for world's largest nativity play. They had to defeat the previous record, taken by Utah in 2014, of 1,039 people taking part in a nativity. Led by the Calne Players, an amateur dramatics group, dozens of wise men, shepherds ,angels, donkeys, sheep and even stars gathered on the town green. In the end, 1,254 people took part. The Bible Society posted on Facebook: "Delighted to say that, along with Calne Town Council, we now hold the Guinness World Record for the largest nativity! Thanks to everyone who took part and made this possible!" The record was for the "most living figures in a nativity scene" and everyone had to take part in the nativity for at least 30 minutes. Those who arrived without costumes were given clothes to wear and wore a special white wristband to make sure the count was accurate. The nativity was linked to Calne's Christmas lights switch-on and also included a live video link to early Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, where it all began. Tom Rounds, Mayor of Calne, said: "What an extraordinary achievement and what a fantastic night. In rising to the challenge, the people of Calne have pulled together to show an amazing sense of community spirit. Everyone from the local laundrette, who gave us sheets for costumes; to the local pubs and hotels; schools and charities, played their part in making the day the success it has become. "Most of all, the people of Calne - families and friends - did their bit by turning up on the night and joining in the spirit and fun of the event. It shows what communities can achieve when they come together." Paul Williams, chief executive of Bible Society, said: "People of faith; no faith and other faiths turned up tonight to celebrate the original Christmas story from the Bible. They had great fun; broke the world record and, we hope, brought the Bible to life. We hope people were reminded where the story came from and what it means to millions of Christians across the globe." The Church Army and Salisbury diocese also had people involved and both joined the celebrations: In #Calne they're trying to break the world record biggest nativity play, over 1000. It's looking good! #Wiltshire pic.twitter.com/7JoWeQS4sU Diocese of Salisbury (@DioSalisbury) December 3, 2016 'The Light Of Goodness And Innocence': The Words Of Pope Francis To Young Girl Dying Of Cancer "I see in your eyes the light of goodness and innocence." These were the words of the Pope to a little girl who was dying of cancer. The mother of 10-year-old Paolina Libraro had written to Pope Francis earlier this year asking him to pray for and bless her daughter, and enclosing some photographs. He invited the young girl to the Vatican for an audience in October. But in the end, she was too ill to travel and died soon afterwards. The moving letter that Pope Francis sent to Paolina was instead read out loud at her funeral. It has now been published by the website Il Faro di Roma, or The Lighthouse of Rome. Paolina, whose funeral mass was held at St Leopold Mandic church in her home town of Massafra in Taranto province in south-east Italy, died on 22 November. The parish priest, Father Michele Quaranta, read out the inspirational words of the Pope. The Pope wrote: "Dear Paolina, your photos are on my desk. They are really special because in your eyes I see the light of goodness and innocence." He urged her to read the letter with her mother. "The kiss that she will now give you will be the kiss of the Pope." He said he was joining his hands to her and all those praying for her, which he said made a prayer chain that was long enough to reach up to heaven itself. "But remember that the first link in this chain is you, because you have Jesus in your heart! Remember it!" He said he was talking to Jesus about her and also about her mother and father, in need of such great help and comfort to face the difficult steps ahead. "You will certainly be very good at suggesting to Jesus what to do for them!" he added. He also asked her to intercede with Jesus in heaven on his own behalf: "Remember, please, to tell him what to do for me, while I remember what to do for you. I will tightly embrace and bless you with all my heart, with your parents and to your loved ones. Francis." Trump, Farage, Erdogan, Modi All Make TIME Person Of The Year Shortlist TIME magazine's shortlist for Person of the Year 2016 includes religious extremists, far-right leaders and ethically controversial scientists. The annual coronation is made in December each year and goes to the "person who most influenced the news, for better or for worse". Despite the magazine's regular protests it is often seen as an honour or award. The 2016 shortlist of 11 includes UKIP leader Nigel Farage, Turkey's authoritarian Islamic President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the gene-editing CRISPR scientists, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President-Elect Donald Trump. The controversial Modi won the online readers' poll with 18 per cent of the vote ahead of Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Julian Assange, who all received seven per cent, Hillary Clinton (four per cent) and Mark Zuckerberg (two per cent). Modi's government is the political arm of the extreme Hindu nationalist group, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He also makes the shortlist of 11 for the official Person of the Year title. The winner is chosen by TIME editors but the online poll gives a flavour for public opinion. A spokeswoman from religious freedom charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide told Christian Today Modi's rule shows a "worrying disregard from human rights". She said: "Mr Modi's stewardship as Chief Minister of Gujarat during the communal attack in Gujarat in 2002 continues to overshadow his record on freedom of religion or belief in India. "His rise to premiership in 2014, which was built on Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) politics and the rise on attacks against religious minorities across India shows a worrying disregard for human rights." Turkey's President Erdogan has overseen an unprecedented crackdown on opponents since a failed coup in July and analysts have suggested protestant Christians are now in the firing line. US pastor Ryan Keating was recently expelled and branded a "threat to national security". He said his experience was "typical" of the way Christians are treated in Turkey. The CRISPR scientists have developed groundbreaking new research to edit human DNA. This could remove mutations but has also raised profound ethical questions around designer babies. Christian charity CARE said their inclusion was "disconcerting" given the "spurious ethics involved with their research". CEO Nola Leach told Christian Today: "There are vast ethical holes in CRISPR's research the risks involved in changing and altering DNA can have unpredictable implications for future generations. Genome editing is a cautionary tale; technological advancement should not override ethical costs." She added their inclusion should not "invalidate the ethical concerns many scientists and members of the public have about gene editing". Leach urged governments to "be vigilant about the need to ensure that ethical and safety guidelines continue to be upheld with all research and any decisions regarding gene-editing moving forward." TIME's full listis available here. The official result will be announced on Wednesday. Turkey Crackdown Turns On US Christians, Analysts Warn Turkey has turned on US Protestants in its post-coup crackdown, analysts have warned. President Erdogan has targeted American Christians in retaliation over the White House's refusal to comply with Turkey's demands and extradite cleric Fethullah Gulen. The Pennsylanvia-based preacher was a former ally but the Turkish President has now blamed him for the failed uprising in July. Erdogan has unleashed a backlash against perceived opponents in response to the coup, using it as a basis to arrest tens of thousands of Turkish citizens and fire many more from public sector jobs. Now researchers have warned his focus has turned on American Christians. "Protestant or Christian churches are seen as an American influence, and now that Turkey is anti-American they are being targeted even more," said Aykan Erdemir, a senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former member of the Turkish parliament, according to RNS. Erdemir was speaking after US pastor and long-term Turkish resident Ryan Keating was detained at Istanbul airport while trying to re-enter after a short trip out of the country. Keating was told he could never come back. No reason was given and there was no evidence. He was held in a cell overnight at Istanbul airport and interrogated by anti-terror police. Then he was told he was a threat to national security and forced aboard the next plane out the country. In an interview with Christian Today shortly after his arrest in October, Keating said this kind of treatment of Christians in Turkey was "typical". While doing a PhD in philosophy of religion at Ankara University, Keating set up Ankara Refugee Ministry (ARM), which provides food, shelter and clothing to 6,000 refugee families. Run out of Kurtulus Church, one of Turkey's largest evangelical churches, which the Keatings attend, ARM also offers English classes and career training for a handful of Turkey's 2.7 million refugees. He told Christian Today: "There has been some ways in which Turkey has given increased freedom to religious minorities. But there are other incidents of arbitrary discrimination and this is one of them. "There is no evidence or justification for why I have been banned. I know I haven't done anything illegal ever in Turkey. We are very careful to obey the laws. We have done nothing to threaten or do harm to Turkey in any way. "There has been no investigation, no evidence, just an arbitrary ban. And to use this blanket 'threat to national security' what does that even mean? What are they suggesting I have done or would do?" He said since the coup "there has been an atmosphere of tension and fear and suspicion" in Turkey. Turkey's constitution is technically secular but 99 per cent of the population is Muslim. The rights of minorities are severely limited according to the US State Department's religious freedom report. US Church Sprayed With Bible Verse About The Killing Of 185,000 Assyrian Christians Muslim and Christian leaders in the United States have condemned the vandalism of an Assyrian church with graffiti that references the killings of 185,000 Middle Eastern Christians. The words "Jehovah lives!" and "2 Kings 19:35" were spray-painted onto Mar Shaleeta Ancient Church of the East which has been in San Fernando Valley in California for two decades. The Bible passage in Kings reads: "Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead." Father Athanasis Toma, parish priest, told the Los Angeles Daily News: "When I read the verse, I realised it's really not just graffiti. It's aimed toward a specific nation. It's hatred toward a nation. The meaning of that verse struck me hard. That's someone who knew what they were talking about. "In a civil society, things like this should not be happening. It doesn't matter what ethnicity." Hussam Ayloush, of the Los Angeles Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations voiced solidarity with the Christian community after the attack. He said: "We condemn the implied threat in this apparently bias-motivated vandalism, and offer the Muslim community's solidarity and support in dealing with this incident." The graffiti also included a reference to Matthew 19:26: "And looking at them Jesus said to them, 'With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" Assyrians in Iraq have endured some of the worst sufferings of any Christian community in the world during the occupation of Mosul and the Nineveh Plain by Islamic State. Thousands have been murdered, tortured, and sold into sexual slavery. The US is home to the world's third-largest Assyrian community. Many fled there to escape the genocide in the early 20th Century. The Assyrian American Association of Southern California condemned the vandalism in a statement posted on Facebook: "We as Assyrians in the United States have faced many struggles in the past that have made us more united and rigorous here in the United States and in our ancestral lands. We have been the subject to many accounts of bigotry, hate and discrimination. But those trials and testaments have only made us stronger as a community. Assyrians here in the Southern California region have repeatedly shown their strength, pride and resilience when our community has been affected. We have shown that we are one large family that stands together through sorrow and joy." What We Have Misunderstood About Pharisees and How Jesus Treated Legalism Legalism is a problem that has existed for ages, and it seems that we're never going to see an end to it in this age. If you're anything like me, it probably irritates you. How do you usually treat legalistic persons? We might attack them, bad mouth them, make fun of them, or curse them. Why? Because that's what Jesus did, right? Wrong. I admit that I used to read stories about Jesus' encounters with legalistic Pharisees and teachers of the law and think, "Yeah, Jesus, show them who's boss!" I thought then that He hated their guts. But that's not entirely true. Sure Jesus did hate the sin and the spirit that motivated their spiteful behavior. But there is reason to believe that behind all those encounters between Jesus and the Pharisees, Jesus wanted to show love to them even if it meant making them look like the bad guys. Jesus Loved and Cared for the Pharisees Let us remember that it was Jesus who urged people in Matthew 5:44, saying, "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Jesus was not someone to command us to do something He doesn't do Himself. The Best Antidote to Legalism is Love Believers are in a battle against legalism thinking that attacking modern-day Pharisees is the way to beat the spirit. But that's not what Jesus did. Jesus used one weapon all throughout His ministry, and that weapon was love. 1 Corinthians 13:1 reminds us, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." It doesn't matter how skilled we are in debunking pharisaical or excessively or hypocritically pious teachings and how bold we are in confronting them. If our heart is not love for those who could fall for these wrong teachings and also love for those who have been confused and lead astray by such thinking, we're never going to beat legalism. The answer to spiteful legalism isn't spiteful contesting but whole-hearted compassion and love. It's time we stopped fighting fire with fire. Only love can defeat legalism and the people who need it most are the legalistic people. Theyre artists. Theyre musicians. Theyre performers. And they were among the missing on Saturday, the day after a deadly fire ripped through an Oakland warehouse filled with partygoers. Tied together through the Bay Areas close-knit techno arts community, dozens had converged for a night of drinking and dancing at an underground rave inside a converted warehouse that served as an artists live-in wonderland. Many were students and service workers holding restaurant and retail jobs while trying to break through as entertainers, sustaining a creative culture thats become scarce in the Bay Area as economic prosperity increasingly prices out the arts scene. These were not drugged-out, raving kids, They were talented. They worked hard, said Dylan Gallagher, part of Berkeley-based synth pop duo vverevvolf, who had performed with some of the musicians at Fridays event, like Nicole Denalda Renae and Ben Runnels of Introflirt. This is more than just a loss. Its frustrating, as weird as that sounds. They had so much potential. Thirty people were confirmed dead in the blaze, though their names were yet to be released. The death toll was expected to grow. Micah Danemayer, 28, was doing a light show for the party and he and his girlfriend, Alana Jen Kane, were among the missing late Saturday afternoon, according to Danemayers friend and bandmate Devyn Fordyce, 26. Ive never met anybody so passionate, not only for his own art and music but for everyone elses, Fordyce said by phone Saturday afternoon after trying to go to work but leaving early because he was distressed. I just really, really hope hes just asleep somewhere. Danemayer and Fordyce had recently started an electronic music band, Red Cellar, playing synthesizers to create improvised rhythmic noises. Their first real gig is supposed to be in January. Jason McCarty, 36, also hadnt been heard from by late Saturday afternoon. The sound artist, whose stage name is Dilatedears, came to California from Iowa in 2005 to get his masters degree at San Francisco Art Institute and never looked back, according to his girlfriend, Grace Lovio. Hes really connected to the Bay Area art scene, she said by phone Saturday afternoon, before boarding her flight to the Bay Area from France, where she is studying at the Paris Institute of Political Studies. The two spoke Friday, but McCarty didnt mention that he was going to the show. On Saturday, Lovio saw his name on a list of people who were unaccounted for being circulated online. McCarty didnt return her calls. I just feel kind of hollowed out. I just really love him and just cant imagine Im just kind of scared, she said. Michela Gregory, among the missing Saturday afternoon as well, is a student at San Francisco State University studying child development, while holding a job at Urban Outfitters on Fillmore Street in San Francisco. She went to Fridays show with her boyfriend, Alex Vega, something the two often do together, according to her parents. Im in shock, said her father, David Gregory, who was in Oakland on Saturday to try to learn the whereabouts of his daughter at the sheriffs substation where the Red Cross was set up. Im hoping for a miracle. Pete Wadsworth, 38, was another who couldnt be located Saturday, according to friends. He was among a dozen or so people who lived at the burned-out arts space, known as the Ghost Ship. He was like my big brother. He took very good care of me. He was a sweetheart, said Tammy Tasoff, a 29-year-old student at UCSF. Wadsworth was the entrepreneurial type, Tasoff said, and his latest venture was trying to start a cannabis salsa company. He previously worked with drones. Since moving from Boston about three years ago, Wadsworth had taken an interest in art, making sculptures at the warehouse, Tasoff said. Vanessa Plotkin, a third-year sociology student at UC Berkeley, went with her roommate to downtown Oakland and likely stopped at the rave, too, said family members who had been texting her about her plans to go to a party and hadnt heard from her since 11 p.m. Friday. Were beside ourselves, said Gary Plotkin on Saturday night from their home in Lakehood (Los Angeles County). This is just like a nightmare. I cant believe this. Alex Ghassan was also unaccounted for, according to his friend Vikram Babu. The noted video and music producer, who has recently done work for KQED and the Oakland Museum, is considered a driving force in Oaklands arts scene. He would attend parties like this because thats how you network as a creative, said Babu, reached by phone late Saturday afternoon. Thats how you find interesting people who are sticking it out here despite expensive housing and sky-high rent. Much of Ghassans work reflects upon the economic and artistic struggles of the black community. He has come to know many longtime Oakland residents, Babu said, and has supported those trying to preserve the citys culture and diversity amid gentrification, like several at Saturdays show. These were musicians and artists trying to give more meaning to their life than what this economic climate has designed for them, Babu said. Its a small creative community here. Chronicle staff writers Erin Allday and Rachel Swan contributed to this report. Kimberly Veklerov, Jenna Lyons, Jill Tucker and Kurtis Alexander are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com, jlyons@sfchronicle.com, jtucker@sfchronicle.com, kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov, @jennajourno, @jilltucker, @kurtislexander The Service Employees International Union in Texas filed for bankruptcy protection this weekend, three months after a jury in Harris County slapped it with a $5.3 million judgement. Professional Janitorial Service successfully sued the union, alleging that its aggressive organizing campaign went too far and maligned the commercial cleaning company's reputation. Brent Southwell, Professional Janitorial's CEO, said he's not deterred by the bankruptcy filing. "The SEIU won't escape its fate after attacking my company," he said in a written statement. "We will keep this process going for as long as the SEIU wants, first by making them reveal their secrets and then by making the union's Washington, D.C. office pay for its sins." The Texas branch of the nation's second-largest labor union filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on Saturday in federal court in Corpus Christi. The filing halted any effort, at least temporarily, by the janitorial company to take possession of the union's assets to pay the damage award. It also allows the union to reorganize its finances and continue operating. Since the jury's decision in September, the total amount the union owes Professional Janitorial Service has grown to $7.8 million, including interest of $2.5 million that has accumulated since the lawsuit was filed nine years ago. This debt grows by more than $1,000 a day. The statewide union, which represents 3,500 janitors in Houston and has its headquarters here, warned that the judgment would put the group into a dire financial situation if it had to be paid. "This filing ensures that our union will remain open for business, representing members at the bargaining table and maintaining the vital role the union plays in helping working Houstonians have a voice at work, protecting them from unfair employers, and building a better future for their families," according to a written statement from Elsa Caballero, president of SEIU Texas. John Zavitsanos, a Houston lawyer with AZA Law representing the cleaning company, speculated that the union filed for bankruptcy protection because Professional Janitorial Service was getting too close to making the debt an obligation of the international union, rather than just the local. The international dictates everything the local union does, he said. "The bankruptcy maneuver puts up a wall that we have to get over," he said. Professional Janitorial Service claimed in its lawsuit that SEIU targeted the company as part of its "Justice for Janitors" organizing campaign and wrongly claimed it had violated wage, overtime and other labor laws. The jury agreed. The $5.3 million verdict represented the actual damages the janitorial company faced when it lost clients. The union is appealing the judgment, arguing that its efforts to organize the Houston janitors was protected by free speech rights and federal labor law. Typically a defendant in a civil lawsuit has to put up the amount of the judgement to pursue an appeal. SEIU Texas has asked the court for permission to post an appeal bond of $100,000 instead, saying it can't afford more because of its tenuous financial position. Professional Janitorial Service argues the union should have to post $6.1 million to appeal because its international parent, with its $306.3 million in assets, funds its legal defense and is behind its "Kill PJS" campaign, according to court documents. The company also introduced memos and other evidence that shows the international union was orchestrating a campaign against Professional Janitorial Service in Austin. Caballero noted in a statement that SEIU Texas, while affiliated with the international, is a separate organization and has a separate board of directors. The SEIU filing is not the first time a labor union filed for bankruptcy. The Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers local union in Port Arthur filed for bankruptcy protection after a Texas appeals court in 1989 reinstated a $1.2 million verdict against the union after a striking worker was shot several times when he crossed a picket line. Filing bankruptcy will cast a "black eye" on SEIU and will likely hinder its efforts to organize other workers , said Stephen Roppolo, an employment lawyer in Houston who represents management. Other unions may point to SEIU's bankruptcy as a reason not to join, he explained. "I'm not sure on the effectiveness of the ploy," he said. Melissa Phillip/Staff Houston was one of 12 cities tracked by a monthly JPMorgan Chase & Co. Institute's commerce index where monthly consumer spending declined since 2015. The institute's Local Consumer Commerce Index uses data from 16 billion transactions by 54 million customers to track credit and debit card spending in 15 cities, as a measure of consumer strength. The Union Tank Car Co., known has UTLX, says it intends to layoff one-third of its workers at a facility in Houston, the company told the Texas officials. The Chicago-based manufacturer of tanker railway cars said in a letter to the state that it will permanently cut 106 jobs starting Jan. 20. The company will keep 218 jobs. Houston will get its first Abuelo's Mexican restaurant when the Lubbock-based brand opens its first area restaurant in Katy in February 2017. The restaurant is scheduled to open at 24600 Katy Fwy., Suite 1020 at the Shoppes at ParkWest. The 7,600-square-foot store will seat about 270 diners. This will be Abuelo's 39th store; it has restaurants in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. The ranch that epitomizes everything Texas Hill Country has to offer has been sold for $6.93 million. The 96-acre ranch with a spa pool, two barns, exotic animals, wood-beamed ceilings and limestone walls was put on the market by former owner billionaire John Paul DeJoria of Patron Tequila and John Paul Mitchell Systems hair-care products. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When Atascocita resident Victorina Piccio was laid off from an oil and gas company in February, she received an offer from another company that next day. "I went for the interview that next week and I just didn't feel it in my heart; I felt like God had pulled me out of that situation for a reason," Victorina said. Victorina discussed options with her husband, Irwin Casiano, and decided to focus on her passion: traveling. "I figured this was the opportunity to do something I love," Victorina said. "I love to travel. I have been to seven continents; I asked (Irwin) if he would support me if I decided to focus on starting a travel blog and anything to do with traveling. At that point, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do but I knew it had to deal with traveling." Victorina launched her travel blog, SquirmyFeet Explores, but that passion for travel remained though she didn't want to travel without her husband. After much discussion, Victorina and Irwin decided to quit their jobs, sell everything they have and embark on a road trip to visit all of the United States National Parks. "I gave this idea of traveling together; we had a few savings and calculated the costs and realized it was doable," Victorina said. "It's scary and it's exciting; we've never done anything like this. The longest we have camped in five days and this trip is expected to be 12-18 months. In the beginning, we thought we would take a cargo trailer and stay in a tent, but a friend recently decided to sell her travel trailer so we jumped at the chance to purchase that and take it with us." In total, there are 59 United States national Victorina and Irwin will not leave for their adventure until after the holidays in an effort to spend time with their families and tie up a few loose ends. They plan to document preparing for their adventure as well as their trip via their blog and YouTube channel by the same name. SquirmyFeet is a nickname Irwin has for Victorina. The duo will begin their adventure in February 2017, starting with the U.S. Virgin Islands then Florida and heading north along the east coast all the way to Alaska. "We have found there are a few parks like in Alaska that we can't drive to," Irwin said. "I look forward to not having to worry about work. I am a very schedule oriented person so it will take some time to get used to not being on a regular work schedule. We will have a small house, but a big backyard because we will be able to hike and explore through some of the most beautiful parts of the United States." Another challenge they perceive they will face along the journey is space constraints since they will transition from a house to a travel trailer for several months during the trip. For Victorina and Irwin, they are both looking forward to visiting Yellowstone National Park and the Denali National Park in Alaska as well as many other parks during their trip. "Sometimes you have to throw caution to the wind and see what happens," Irwin added. Besides the passion and desire to travel the country to see the various parks, Victorina and Irwin both wanted to take this trip while they were young and could enjoy the challenges. "One of the big reasons we decided to take this trip is because we've seen it in our parents," Victorina said. "My father died at 66 years old, I am 41 years old. If I am even blessed to go that far, I have 25 years left and what am I going to do with those years. "There is no good time to do it; you just have to decide and do it." Irwin agreed with Victorina's comments by adding, "Life is short, you never know what tomorrow may bring." Victorina and Irwin recounted an experience where they traveled to Death Valley National Park and they got lost which was an experience that helped them to grow closer and depend upon each other in various situations. "This will be a long road trip," Victorina said. "I felt like a whole door was opened for us when I was laid off. We want to inspire others to explore, not be afraid and follow their dreams. "We also want to showcase the beauty of the American parks through our YouTube. The geography of the United States is very diverse. I hope that we can learn how to let it all go, relax and enjoy life in the moment with this trip." For more information or to keep up with their journey, visit their website at http://www.squirmyfeetexplores.com/, YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_ymnfiUYmspitrG-NZ-DPw or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/squirmyfeetexplores/. Lake Jackson-based mega convenience store chain Buc-ee's has signed an agreement with two companies to provide power microgrids for existing and new locations. Enchanted Rock and Texas Microgrid on Monday jointly announced a long-term service agreement with Buc-ee's. After a series of setbacks, The Hanover Co. has closed on the purchase of a parcel of land off Kirby Drive near Kipling Street in Upper Kirby that will eventually be the site of a high-rise apartment building, the Houston Business Journal reported. The 1.65-acre site, which formerly housed the oak-lined Kirby Court apartments, is between the West Ave and Kirby Collection mixed-use developments. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Tarkington teen will represent not only her hometown, but the state of Texas, this week as she competes in the inaugural Junior National Rodeo Finals (JrNFR) in Las Vegas. Ashlyn Wright, the 15-year-old daughter of Jon and Kim Wright, is a champion barrel racer who will be up against 30 other young ladies from all across the United States in the 12-16-year age group. Wright entered the sport at the age of 9. Since that time, she has competed in numerous events, traveling to a competition nearly every weekend of the year. The contests are picked by where the stiffest competition and biggest prizes will be, she said. Keeping a tough schedule is challenging for the entire Wright family as her parents travel with her to each and every event, but they don't seem to mind. Wright's devotion to the sport is matched by her family's devotion to her. She was first introduced to horses by her paternal grandmother, Ruby Wright, and the interest was furthered by her aunt, Lacy Sizemore. "My love of horses came from my grandma but my aunt is the one who taught me how to barrel race," she said. Wright qualified for the JrNFR in Bryan, Texas, at the KK Runs produced by Kelly Kaminiski. In Vegas, she will be riding on Nick, whose registered name is PC Senor Jetwood. During the JrNFR, just like every other competition, she will be wearing her good luck charm a belt buckle bearing her name and that of her first horse, Jim, who died when she was 12. "I earned the belt buckle with Jim in New Caney when I qualified for Georgia Youth World," Wright said. "That was a couple of summers ago. Jim came out of making a run and collapsed in the alleyway and passed away." If Wright wins at the JrNFR, she will be the first champion of the newly-formed division. Her first competition will take place on Thursday, followed by another round on Friday. "It's a lot of pressure but we are trying not to put too much pressure on me. Whatever happens, happens. I am going to embrace it all and make good of it, win or lose," she said. For one so young, Wright has the discipline of a seasoned athlete waking up to feed her horses before setting off to school, then returning home to do homework before training with her horses. "Sometimes I might not get back home until 10 p.m., but I guess it's worth it. It keeps me out of trouble. I don't have time to hang out with people who might be a bad influence on me," she said. Though her eyes are fixed at the moment on the JrNFR, Wright is looking beyond that to her future. She says she hopes to attend Sam Houston State University or Texas A&M after high school graduation to train for a career as a dental hygienist or another health-related field. "If my plans change, I would probably go to the pro-rodeo circuit and try to make the National Finals Rodeo [in the adult age group]," she said. Though it might surprise some people, barrel racing is a sport in which women can compete for many years. "The number 1 in the world right now is Mary Burger of Oklahoma and she is 67 years old," Wright said. As with any sport, supporters are essential. Wright credits her trainer, Tammy Hubier, of Cleveland, and her grandfather, Winston Sizemore Sr., for their support and encouragement. "I wouldn't be here without my sponsors, especially my grandfather," she said. The Cleveland Advocate will post results from the competition later this week at www.YourClevelandNews.com and on the Advocate's Facebook page. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Dayton has spoken. An overwhelming crowd of residents delivered their expectations and hopes to city leaders and Kendig Keast Collaborative who has been contracted by the Dayton Community Development Corporation and the city of Dayton to manage the growth at the city's doorstep. The unexpected turnout had officials scrambling to open a larger ballroom to accommodate the crowd that seemed to never stop coming. Once the meeting got under way, Kendig Keast senior associate Luis Nunez guided the discussion and exercises meant for those present. The host of residents were seated at round tables to allow for open and frank conversation and enough room to commit to paper their concerns. The first exercise was intended for individuals alone and turned in within 15 minutes. The second was more of a team effort and required making some lists of concerns and solutions. Once the information was gathered, a team captain at each table reported to the entire group their concerns and solutions. With some ideas, there was a smattering of applause while others received enthusiastic support, but the concerns and ideas for the future seemed synonymous throughout each group. "I liked everyone's ideas," said Richard Libey. "Everybody wants to keep the old and build the new. I like a mixture of both." The Dayton High School junior was one of the youngest at the meeting, but felt it important enough to encourage his dad to go to the meeting and take him. "I'd like to go to college and then come back to my hometown," he said. He wanted to be an integral part of the process. "We've been planning [on coming to] this for a couple of weeks," his dad Richard said. The father and son showed up at 4:30 p.m. to get a good seat for the 6 p.m. meeting and have their voice heard. "It's imperative we get this right," his dad said. Business owners in the downtown area were happy to hear residents say they wanted to keep the downtown area vibrant, even more so than it is now. Adam Passarelli, who owns a barber shop on Main Street next to Country Kitchen, considered the meeting important enough to close his business early to be there. "The growth is coming to Dayton, no matter what," he said. "We need to look to the future with our plans and decide which way we're going to go," he said. Like organizers, Passarelli was pleasantly surprised with the turnout and the content of the meeting. "I'd like to see another one and it was so good to see so many people participating," the barber said. Probably the bravest man in the room was railroad engineer Ronnie Mahaffey. The father and community volunteer in Dayton knew he might draw some ire, but residents were understanding that he has no control over the situation. "It sounds like everybody is pretty much on the same page with their ideas," he said. "We need to fix up and revitalize downtown, we need to bring industries in, and commercial retail." Mahaffey echoed most of the residents' sentiments regarding restaurants. "We don't need more fast food places; we need nice, sit down restaurants where we can take our family," he said. Mahaffey, who also volunteers with the Dayton High School Junior ROTC program, parroted what others were also saying: "We need more things for the kids to do in Dayton!" Over and over, traffic was addressed, including the railroad, but Mahaffey didn't take any offense to the comments. "The rail is a necessary evil," he said. "That rail has been there 100-plus years and it isn't going anywhere." Mahaffey said the railroad is considering more and more traffic and he's heard plans for them to double-track it all the way into Houston. City Manager David Douglas was smiling from ear to ear during the meeting. "The meeting was wonderful! It covered a lot of information and I'm just blown away by the attendance," Douglas said. "We had a widespread cross-section of the community that voiced their concerns, and they voiced their desires and it gave us a roadmap for the future." Douglas also announced an early Christmas surprise for residents. "A fly-way over the railroad tracks in Dayton at the Highway 90 crossing is currently being studied by the Texas Department of Transportation," he said to the jubilant crowd. "TxDOT has indicated that this item has come up on their radar screen due to dangers associated with trains crossing major highways," he said. Douglas also announced that the schedule for the study and initiation of actual construction is normally five (5) years. Nunez was stunned with the results of the meeting. "Well, I've never seen attendance like this in all of my planning career," he told the Dayton News. "That is unbelievable! To have 150-plus folks show up for a meeting like this says a lot about the community and it's future, and their commitment to a quality future," he said. "The meeting exceeded everyone's expectations." "Not just because of the attendance, but because of the quality of the feedback and the comments provided by everyone in attendance," Nunez said. The next phase will be for Kendig Keast to draft the comprehensive plan, or the so-called "Existing City Report," which will capture a lot of the existing conditions as they are in the community. "That will set the foundation for the creation of the plan, or the Future City Report," Nunez said. "In other of words, the first part of the process is to compile the research and data and the future city will be the actual plan moving forward." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Friendswood police have identified the officer who shot and killed a theft suspect on Tuesday, Nov. 29 as Officer Bradley Rusk, 31. Rusk, who is now on administrative leave per police department policy, shot Toby Dean Cummins, 55, after encountering Cummins walking in the 400 block of S. Friendswood Drive shortly after 3 p.m. Rusk was wearing a body camera that recorded the event, police said in a release. Cummins "came at the officer" brandishing a box cutter before the officer shot the suspect, police said. The Houston Chronicle has filed a public information request for a copy of the video. SMELL OF GUNPOWDER: Friendswood workers recall what they saw after Friendswood officer-involved shooting Cummins was transported to Clear Lake Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead. Rusk has been employed by the Friendswood Police Department for six years. Police told the Chronicle that Cummins, who was from California, was suspected of stealing beer from a Shell convenience store at the intersection of S. Friendswood Drive and FM 2351. In an interview with Chronicle reporter Harvey Rice, family members described Cummins as a kind, charismatic man. They said Cummins traveled around the country and had stopped in Houston to pick up a job building decks on his way to New Orleans, where he hoped to find work. "If he only had a dollar in his pocket and you needed it, it was yours," said Cummins' sister, Stephanie Mosley, 58, of Campbell, Calif. "He loved life and he loved being around people, that's his main thing." Individuals who may have witnessed this event are asked to contact the Friendswood Police Department at 281-996-3300. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate It all began nine years ago with a small snow hill and free chili. This year, Holiday in the Park/Santa in the Park will draw thousands of people to Stevenson Park, 1100 S Friendswood Drive. Set from 3-8 p.m. Dec. 10, the annual event is hosted the city of Friendswood and its chamber of commerce and includes the 30-year-old Christmas Lighted Parade at 6 p.m. An estimated 4,000 pounds of snow is planned to create two large snow hills and that, along with train rides, a tree lighting ceremony, coloring contests, choirs, dancers and at least 75 booths of arts and crafts, should paint the perfect portrait of a small-town Christmas, according to Kimberly Ramirez, assistant to the city's parks and recreation director. "This has turned into one of the biggest events of the year," she said. Last year rain put a damper on the local-business-sponsored event, Ramirez said, but in 2014, the city and chamber welcomed 7,000 to the events. "We have over 20 sponsors as far as monetary and in-kind (donation of goods and services) that help make this event run," Ramirez said. Weather is out of anyone's control, but Ramirez is hoping that there will be a nip in the air. "It is lot better when it's cold. You get more of that holiday feeling instead of having to wear shorts, and the kids love it," Ramirez said. The snow is brought in courtesy of an ice company and arrives as ice blocks. It takes about two to three hours to turn those blocks into sled-worthy snow. "It's always a huge draw, and the kids are fascinated because those that have never been out of Texas have never seen snow before," Ramirez said. The lineup for the chamber-organized parade will begin at 5 p.m. at Heritage and FM 518. Streets will close at 5:45 p.m. for the 6 p.m. trek down S. Friendswood Drive toward Stevenson Park. The lighted parade, which lasts roughly 45 minutes, includes school marching bands, ROTC organizations, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and other community and school groups, with Santa riding the last parade entry. The event is also the chamber's kick-off reminder for the community to "shop local" during the Christmas season. "We like to say, 'Shop and eat where you live' - support your community," chamber president Carol Marcantel said. When the parade ends, the tree lighting and fireworks begin. "It's a little different from the Fourth of July in that people come out with their families, they get there early and find a spot they like," Marcantel said. "Kids are excited. It's generational and people come out because its tradition." " For more information on the Home for the Holidays, Santa in the Park and the Holiday Parade, visit www.friendswoodchamber.com or www.ci.friendswood.tx.us. Jayne Piana is just now getting over the shock she felt when she heard the results of the presidential election. As she moves on from her disappointment, she knows it's time for her to actually do something other than writing the occasional check to organizations she supports. After a self-imposed hiatus from the internet for a few days, the 41-year-old in-house attorney for BP and Heights resident, received an email from a friend letting her know that the American Civil Liberties Union was going to be hosting an informational meeting at Antidote coffee shop on Studewood in the Heights on Tuesday evening. "I thought 'Perfect,'" she said, "'I'll find out about what they do and how I can help.'" Executive Director of the ACLU of Texas Terri Burke estimates that anywhere from 400 to 500 people showed up over the course of the three-hour gathering. "What happened in the Heights Tuesday night ended up being quite different. It was intended as a meet and greet, to explain in a one-on-one fashion, and to gauge interest in volunteers," said Burke. "So very many people came; apparently they were serious about it. It was amazing." Burke says that since the election, ACLU of Texas, headquartered in Houston, has been inundated with requests for volunteer opportunities. The ACLU is a national nonprofit started nearly 100 years ago to ensure people are afforded their individual rights guaranteed in the Constitution. From the 1925 Scopes case of the Tennessee school teacher who was prosecuted for teaching evolution in the classroom and the ACLU's role in securing high-profile attorney Clarence Darrow for his defense, to their most recent Supreme Court victory in 2015 when the organization helped secure the freedom to marry for millions of gay and lesbians in the U.S., they take on First Amendment cases of all kinds. Antidote was well-positioned to host the event that night as the week before they celebrated their ninth anniversary with a party and donated all of their profits from the evening to the ACLU. Scott Repass, shop owner, has a friend who does legal work for ACLU, when the lawyer-friend learned of the generous act, he sent a note to the higher ups at the Texas chapter. "The ACLU fights a very, very valuable fight," said Repass. "Our civil liberties are constantly under attack, it's gained a lot more interest now since the election, but I don't think it's a new thing." Having such an ally at the trendy coffee spot and desiring to meet the demand they'd received in the recent weeks, the nonprofit asked if they could host a meet-up there. The gathering took place mostly outside in the parking lot next to the food-truck Foreign Policy - which was no accident as the manager arranged for them to be there that night, he said. Repass said at one point in the mingling, there was a county call-out, and it was revealed that people had driven from both Galveston and Fort Bend counties to attend. "All ages, some people in their 60s ... a lot of younger people as well," said Piana. Burke said they signed up 52 volunteer attorneys, 141 people signed up for training and 178 people signed-up to volunteer. There were 13 ACLU staff on hand to answer questions as they mingled with the attendees. In between the chatting, Burke formally addressed the crowd. She explained ACLU history and mission, and its intention of remaining vigilante about protecting First Amendment rights. She went over the specific trainings for lawyers who want to volunteer to speak on panels, write briefs, or actually represent clients, as well as the webinars they offer on immigrants' rights. Piana said she learned what a "legal observer" is. In a protest, she said, there are people trained as observers who are impartial and don't participate in the actual protest, but stand by, set apart in a colored vest, to ensure everyone's rights are upheld during the protest. Although she's not exactly sure how she'll be involved, Piana is motived. "I'm not sure where to begin. During the campaign, he (President-elect Trump) said a lot of racist things about Mexicans, building a wall, about Muslims, incredibly offensive things about abortion ... it goes on," she said. But, she adds that during the gathering there wasn't much talk of the newly elected president or the campaign. It was more about people wanting to learn what they can do to help. Burke said outside of the annual board meetings and training programs, the ACLU of Texas doesn't normally hold these type of informational gatherings, at least not yet. "Now that we've seen the success of the meet-up, we will probably be dong more," she said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate THE CONCEPT Casual Rice Village ramen shop from Piran Esfahani, the proprietor of the Midtown's now-shuttered Tarakaan lounge. Esfahani sees Nao Ramen House as the model for potentially growing a Nao brand, including a quick Nao "express" type of store. THE SPACE Gone are the many TVs that littered the former sports-bar space (55 Bar & Restaurant). The new look is spare and modern with a dining room decorated by a wall of forest moss. Two communal tables dominate the floor with views of an open kitchen. There are about 60 seats in the dining room, 30 at the bar and 50 on the patio. THE FOOD Chef Rob Frias has fashioned a well-edited menu of small plates (dumplings, chicken wings), yakitori, bao and rice bowls. He put greatest effort into the ramen, naturally. Instead of one or two standard broths, Frias is offering four, including shoyu beef, pork tonkotsu, chicken and miso - the broths take 22-24 hours to make. He's also using the chicken broth to create a spicy red curry ramen bowl that may emerge as the restaurant's signature dish. THE DRINKS Full bar with a cocktail menu, modest wine list, sake and a selection of Japanese whiskey. THE WORD "There's still some whimsy that shows up in our kitchen," Frias says about his red curry ramen, which he describes as taking a slightly Thai direction with lemongrass and ginger notes as well as a Cajun and Tex-Mex twang. The heart of soup is the broth. "(Broth is) one of the things we do to separate ourselves from the pack and make us unique," he says. ONE MORE THING Nao opens at a time when Houston is getting its ramen slurp on. Hawaiian chain Agu Ramen is opening three ramen stores here before the end of the year, with more to come in 2017. Cultish Austin shop Ramen Tatsu-ya opens in Montrose next year. Those concepts join an already crowded noodle city that includes the Seattle-based Samurai Noodle, which opened its second Houston outpost earlier this year in the Conservatory downtown; as well as ramen-offering restaurants such as Jinya Ramen, Tiger Den, Kata Robata, Soma Sushi, Cafe Kubo, Fat Bao and Jenni's Noodle House. THE DETAILS Nao Ramen House, 5510 Morningside, 713-526-1669; naoramen.com. Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays-Wednesdays; 11 a.m.-midnight Thursdays; and 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The Sunday before Thanksgiving, Wenda Leonardo learned late that night that her 18-year-old son wouldn't be coming home for the family dinner this year, or any other holidays from now on. Houston Police Department officials say that around 10 p.m. that day, Juan Carranza Jr. was shot in the parking lot of a shopping center on Richmond Avenue and Fondren Road. He was declared dead on the scene. There was one witness to the crime, police said, who gave a description of the shooter as a "heavy-set, Hispanic male about 5 feet 8 inches who fled the scene in a newer-model white sedan." Leonardo said Monday that her oldest son, who everyone called "Tiny," a nickname that stuck because he was born premature, leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter who was born when Carranza was 16. He had been working hard to support her financially ever since. "He was a good boy, a loving dad and a hard worker ... a mama's boy, and he was proud of it," she said. Leonardo, who is a Spanish interpreter at a hospital and lives in northwest Houston, near Highway 6, said that the funeral for her son last week was crowded with old friends and even some from outside the U.S. who traveled to be there. The Brazilian community is mourning the loss too, said Leonardo, because Carranza, along with most of the family, practiced Capoeria, the traditional Brazilian art form that combines dance, fight and rhythm. But she said the group of friends he was hanging out with recently wasn't the best crowd, and that his girlfriend of the past year was particularly troublesome to her. "Since he met her everything started," she said. Houston Police Department officials say they currently don't have a motive for the crime, but Leonardo says that one police officer she spoke with told her that they think Carranza may have been attempting to rob the shooter, as her son was wearing mostly black and a ski-mask type beenie when he was found. It was not clear whether Carranza's face was covered with the beenie at the time. Court documents show that Carranza was charged with a misdemeanor in August stemming from a "misunderstanding with his stepfather," said Leonardo, in which the police were called, but that later his stepfather dropped the charges. Leonardo said Carranza got his preference for dark clothing from her and that his black clothes should not indicate he was attempting a crime. She's also worried police are making a false assumption about his possible criminal intent, and that they will not pursue the case as heavily as she would like because her son was Hispanic. Carranza was first-generation American. His father was born in Mexico and Leonardo is from Guatemala. Police officials would not comment on any suspects they may have, or what Carranza was wearing at the time because it is an ongoing investigation. Still, Jodi Silva, public information officer with HPD, said Leonardo should not worry about police neglecting the case. "Every homicide is assigned an investigator who follows up on all leads," said Silva. "Every case is handled with the same amount of attention and care, no matter who the victim is. It has nothing to do with age, race, gender or religion." His mother says the entire family is mourning the loss of the young father, but their memories of him will be of the happy moments. "That's how everybody remembers him, with a big smile," Leonardo said. Less than a week later, on Thanksgiving day, police reports show there was another homicide just one block from where Carranza was shot, this time on Hillcroft Street. The male victim's name has not been released yet, but police alerts say he was found dead from multiple stab wounds in the parking lot of an apartment complex there. Investigators believe he was stabbed elsewhere before collapsing at the location he was found, but have not indicated any connection in the homicides. Anyone with information about these crimes can call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 713-521-4600. Changes are coming to next year's Fort Bend ISD calendar that may result in shorter Thanksgiving and winter breaks. It's because of a state law that prohibits districts from starting school before the fourth Monday in August. At Aug. 28, that Monday in 2017 will happen to be the latest to occur in a year since the state law went into effect in 2007, according to a letter sent out by Fort Bend ISD Superintendent Charles Dupre. This year that fourth Monday was six days earlier - Aug. 22. So, area school districts have to figure out how to make up for those lost days. CHANGE TRAVEL PLANS: Pearland ISD moves graduation date, last day of school for 2016-17 Fort Bend ISD, which covers an area including part of Pearland's Shadow Creek Ranch, has published a preliminary draft of the 2017-2018 school year calendar online. Parents and community members can give feedback on it and other options until Dec. 11. To make up for starting school later, the draft's calendar swaps what was a weeklong break at Thanksgiving during the current school year for just three days off. It also would have winter vacation begin later, on Dec. 22 compared with Dec. 19 this year. The prospect has sparked emotions ranging from anger to reluctant acceptance among parents. "I'm beyond livid," Pecan Grove resident and Fort Bend ISD parent Windy Halvert said. "That is a time when a lot of teachers and a lot parents use vacation time to go visit their relatives out of state." Neighboring Alvin ISD is in a bind as well. The district's committee that writes the calendar is still gathering community input and hasn't released a draft yet, district spokesperson Daniel Combs said. But it's been a more arduous process this year because of the late start date. "It's caused some challenges that weren't there last year when we were laying out the calendar," Combs said. Like Fort Bend ISD, Alvin ISD also had a weeklong break at Thanksgiving during the 2016-2017 school year. Alternatives on Fort Bend ISD's website to the shortened breaks during fall semester included extending the school year into the week of June 4 or increasing the length of the school day by five minutes to make either Thanksgiving or winter break as long as in recent years. Parent and Sienna Plantation resident Tracy Donovan thinks the draft calendar presented, though cutting down on vacation days, would likely be the best option. Her opinion is at odds with those of her neighbors, she said, who want that weeklong Thanksgiving break. But Donovan, who has two children in high school and a middle-schooler, said the calendar that cuts down on breaks is the best bet for making sure there's adequate time to finish out fall semester before the holidays. "I just want to get the first semester in before (winter) break," Donovan said. There is a way around the Aug. 28 start date for some districts. A handful of Houston-area school districts - including Fort Bend ISD - have began the process to gain a "district of innovation" designation. The designation, which is only available for school districts that meet state academic standards, gives districts most of the flexibility available to Texas' open-enrollment charter schools. That includes starting school earlier. Spring Branch ISD already has the innovation status. The district's school board will decide in December whether to give Spring Branch ISD the go-ahead to seek an exemption to the Aug. 28 start date, district spokesperson Linda Buchman said. In January, the Spring Branch ISD board will likely vote on its 2017-2018 calendar. The district is considering recommending options with a start date before Aug. 28. More community members than not gave feedback that they wanted that earlier start date, Buchman added. Fort Bend ISD spokesperson Amanda Bubela said it's not likely Fort Bend ISD will have its designation in time to change the start date of the 2017-2018 school year. It is something the district could pursue for later years should it get the designation, Bubela said. After Dec. 11, the Fort Bend ISD's calendar committee will reconvene to develop a final calendar to recommend. The district plans to submit a calendar to the Fort Bend ISD school board for a vote by its Jan. 23 meeting. For more information, or to vote on the calendar, visit: fortbendisd.com/domain/63 and click on "Draft 2017-18 School Calendar." The entrance to The Woodlands Country Club Palmer Course was filled with dolls, board games, bikes, remote-controlled cars, building blocks and a variety of other toys Nov. 29; and on Christmas morning, they will be under the trees of underprivileged children around Montgomery County. The sixth annual Christmas with the Commissioner, hosted by Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack, drew a full house of community members, including many who came with an unwrapped toy to donate to the Marine Corps League's Toys for Tots program. The hundreds of toys were placed neatly around a couch where Gunny Santa, the Marine's version of Santa Claus, sat and took pictures with little boys and girls. "When I first ran for office, I wanted to use it to serve the public, not only in an official capacity, but also to do good," said Noack, dressed in a festive red jacket and plaid tie. "Children are a passion of my wife and I. We can't imagine a child waking up on Christmas morning without a toy under the tree." Each year, the party collects hundreds of toys. The local chapter of the Marine Corps League, which serves Montgomery County as well as five other surrounding counties, is responsible for brightening Christmas for over 20,000 children. Thanks to the community's generosity, the League expects to collect more than enough toys for area children in need, according to Russ Shoup, senior vice commandant. In addition to enjoying hors d' oeuvres, mingling and the country club's Christmas decorations, guests were entertained by the Ann Snyder Elementary School Choir and Miss Boni's School of Dance. The choir started out the night with rousing renditions of "Frosty the Snowman," "Silver Bells," "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer," and an abbreviated "Five Days of Christmas." Later in the evening, the young dancers rallied through technical difficulties with the music to perform several dances from The Nutcracker. Noack announced that his charitable foundation, which he started as a fund for the education and charitable good of children in Montgomery County, would be expanding its influence beyond the Toys for Tots program. This year, the Noack Foundation raised $7,500 to donate to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which will go to granting the wish of a sick young girl from Shenandoah to go to Disney World. "Because of the people in this room, we granted a wish in this community," Noack said. This year, Make-A-Wish served 18 kids from Montgomery County. Noack has committed to fulfilling the wishes of all the children on the list next year. I recently had a conversation with a neighbor who had listed his home for sale. Because he was a longtime homeowner in my neighborhood, it seemed odd to me that he would suddenly be moving. He had retired three years previous but before doing so, he had been a manager in a Fortune 500 company, and had financially done very well. He had paid off all his indebtedness, including his home, and seemed to be enjoying his lifestyle. When I asked him why he was moving, he replied, "the property taxes are killing me;" and at the rate of increase from year to year, it would soon be impossible for him to maintain his current lifestyle. He continued, "The taxes are now almost the amount of the payment I used to make on my home." The result was that he moved out of Texas. Over the last decade, Texas property owners and more specifically residents of Montgomery County have faced unprecedented increases in their property taxes. Constituents complain that when they inquire to the taxing entity as to why there is such an increase, they are assured by that entity that it's not as bad as the constituents think. After all, their tax rate is lower than in previous years. However, they fail to address the question everyone seems to be asking, which is, "If my tax rate is lower, why am I writing a larger check each year for these taxes?" The answer is simply this, although the tax rate has gone down, the appraised value of the home has gone up disproportionately to the reduction of the rate. Even with legislation recently passed by the 84th Legislature, which increased the homestead exemption, the net property tax payment for the average homeowner is still higher than previous years. From 2006-16, homeowners have experienced unprecedented appraisal growth in their dwellings. Before the economic downturn of 2009, values went up 17 percent in 2006 and 12.8 percent in 2007. From 2008-13 because of the sluggish economic recovery, growth was stymied; but with the highest increases of the decade being experienced in 2014 and 2015, the net annual growth was a staggering 9.1 percent annually. Imagine how high taxes would be were it not for the recession. Some argue that the increase in equity in their homes has been positive, to which I respond, "short of borrowing the money against your equity, can you pay for college with your equity? Or can you put food on the table with your equity or can you maintain your automobile with the equity?" No, you can't. These necessities are paid for with cash, the availability of which is yearly being eroded by increased property taxes. We all know that Montgomery County has seen incredible population growth. However, the increase in property values has escalated far beyond the growth of the population. And with personal and household income remaining basically flat during this time, increased taxes are becoming alarmingly burdensome. To be sure, to the credit of the Texas Legislature in 1978 and in 1987, in the event of potential runaway appraisals, an emergency cap of 10 percent was enacted. At the time of its enactment, who would have believed that the 10 percent would become almost a guaranteed increase for the taxing entities regardless of the economy? From 1978-87, appraisals basically increased proportionately with population growth, which was far below the emergency cap of 10 percent. The law was designed to protect Texans and not to become a guaranteed increase for taxing entities. Additionally, many properties cannot take advantage of homestead exemptions or a cap on their appraised values because they are not protected under the same rules as homeowners. Commercial property owners suffer huge annual increases only causing their owners to increase prices to end users of their properties exacerbating an already difficult economic situation for the users of those properties. Because this is a huge concern for the residents of Montgomery County and Texans at large, just as in 1978 and in 1987 it is for me and many of my colleagues in the Texas Legislature a concern that must be addressed. In the 84th Legislature, state Rep. Cecil Bell, of District 3, introduced the initial bill. But as the session moved toward conclusion, the bill was unable to be addressed and debated on the floor due to timing constraints. Having joint authored the bill along with Rep. Will Metcalf, of District 16, Bell allowed me to pick up the bill in an amendment that was later determined by the House authorities as not germane to the final budget requirements of the Legislature. For this reason, I am proposing a bill, known as House Bill 44, in the upcoming 85th session, that also will be joint authored by Bell and Metcalf benefiting both homeowners and commercial property owners. HB 44 will establish a maximum cap of 5 percent or less of the previous year's fair market value on all real properties. This does not mean that the value of your home will automatically go up 5 percent in value each year. It guarantees that your property value must be appraised at fair market value for the appraisal district to raise the value. If the fair market value rises above 5 percent, you will be taxed on the 5 percent cap for that year. The following year, your taxes will not be based on an inflated appraisal but rather by the fair market value. This makes it possible for your property value to be lower than the previous year but never above 5 percent. Residential and commercial values always will be based on fair market, and the possibility of exorbitant values resulting in high property taxes will be eliminated. For those who believe that lowering the constitutional cap from 10 percent to 5 percent will leave a major funding gap in school districts, cities, counties and other taxing authorities, think again. The people, not the governmental entity, will be able to determine whether there is a gap in funding that needs to be addressed. HB 44 will require that taxing entities, not unlike you and me, live within their means. If the governing authorities say they require a higher tax rate to meet the needs of the community, they'll have to do so knowing that increasing tax rates to compensate for a lower cap ultimately will be judged as appropriate or not by the voters during the next election cycle. As the 85th legislative session is approximately one month away, there will be much discussion about reforming our current appraisal system. HB 44 lowers the cap, eliminates the possibility of inflated appraisal values and allows business properties to be evaluated at the same cap as residential. HB 44 will encourage our governing authorities to spend within their means and will allow you the people to take charge of rising property values that are eroding your available cash and potentially ruining your financial future. Accomplishing this reform will not be easy. But as your state representative, just like all elected officials, I have been entrusted to protect you and the community at large. I will work hard on your behalf to ensure that meaningful property tax relief is realized this legislative session. Mark J. Keough, R-The Woodlands, represents District 15 in the Texas House of Representatives. Contact him via email at Mark.Keough@house.texas.gov. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A state commission has denied a new application to build a landfill in Waller County, saying ordinances adopted by the county and the city of Hempstead now prohibit a garbage dump in the area. A highly charged debate over proposals to build a landfill rising as high as 151 feet above ground has been going on for about five years. The Georgia-based Green Group Holdings, LLC, has pursued the project, while a local advocacy group, Citizens Against the Landfill in Hempstead, and current local elected officials oppose it. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality last year rejected an original application filed by Green Group, citing an alleged failure of the company to account for how high the water level might get in the area of the proposed Pintail Landfill. The commission returned an appeal of that rejection in the spring, saying it came too late. The company, meanwhile, went ahead and bought the 723-acre property in June and filed a new application. It reiterated its commitment to meeting required standards and stated a belief that it should be grandfathered in under old laws before the local ordinances had been adopted to prohibit a landfill at the site, which is north of the city of Hempstead off Texas 6. But, in a letter dated Thursday, Earl Lott, waste permits director for TCEQ, wrote that the ordinances prevented the agency from granting the new application. For any questions, Lott directed the company to contact its staff attorney. "We are evaluating all options in light of the recent decision," said David Green, president of Green Group, in a written statement. The Waller County judge and the citizens group praised the decision, but expected more to come from the company. "If there's a question as to the validity of an ordinance, it's up to a court to determine that issue, not an executive agency, so I think it was a good policy decision," County Judge Trey Duhon said. "Regardless, this is still one of the worst locations geologically to put a landfill." Citizens Against the Landfill in Hempstead concurred, writing in a news release, "This latest development does not necessarily mean that the fight is over." The group planned to host a garage-sale fundraiser this weekend. Duhon credited their ongoing efforts as "amazing," Added Duhon: "My hope is at the end of the day that Pintail would realize this is not the right location and that they would look elsewhere." A previous commissioners court in 2013 cleared the way for the landfill's construction on a 250-acre site. A jury later found the commissioners guilty of violating transparency laws in their decision. Duhon and other landfill opponents won a majority on the commissioners court in 2014, and a lawsuit brought against the county by the city of Hempstead and Citizens Against the Landfill in Hempstead was later settled. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Firefighters battled a blaze Monday at an apartment complex in southwest Houston. The blaze broke out about 11:20 a.m. in the 10300 block of Kinney near Kipp Way not far from KIPP Houston Public Schools, according to the Houston Fire Department. Officials said no injuries were reported. Firefighters called for extra equipment and personnel because the complex is large. No other details were immediately available. More details will be reported when they are released. Chronicle photographer Karen Warren contributed to this report This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A former pediatric oncologist at MD Anderson got choked up at a Monday hearing where a Galveston judge sentenced him to federal prison for logging onto a dark website and downloading child pornography. Dennis Patrick Meehan Hughes dabbed at tears, apologizing and expressing remorse for his actions, as a crowd of friends and colleagues sat in attendance. U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks Jr. then sentenced him to seven years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Hughes must register as a sex offender, and adhere to restrictions on access to children and the Internet, the judge said. Hughes, 50, of Pearland, pleaded guilty in March to all three charges against him -- accessing, receiving and possession of child pornography. "It's, obviously, been a real tragedy," said his lawyer, Neal Davis. "It's a very sad case. We're grateful that the judge recognized that Dennis Hughes has made great strides in atoning for what happened. He has great promise to still do great things as a research scientist." Davis said he was grateful the judge granted a downward departure, which he believed was due to his client's commitment to intensive solo and group therapy. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri Zack, under Project Safe Childhood. Hughes was one of more than 135 suspects nationwide who were arrested in a federal sting out of Quantico, Virginia, in which Federal Bureau of Investigation agents took over a dark website that featured lewd images of prepubescent children. Agents arrested an individual running the server in early 2015 and in February, obtained a warrant to hack into the computers of anyone who logged onto the site. Those arrested included eight individuals in the Southern District of Texas, including a college professor, a former bank executive and a Drug Enforcement Agency agent. One of the IP addresses found in the FBI hack traced back to the home in Pearland where Hughes lived with his family. Officers searched his home on June 5, 2015. They arrested Hughes and took control of his computers and other digital equipment. Hughes told officers he had child pornography on the homes devices and a work computer portraying prepubescent girls. Investigators found 329 videos and 2,693 images in his possession. Hughes had who worked at University of Texas facility for over a decade. The medical board withdrew his credentials shortly after his arrest. The judge permitted him to remain free on bond pending orders from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Police shot and wounded a suspect who opened fire on the officers as he ran away from them during a chase early Monday in north Houston, according to police. The exchange of gunfire started about 1:35 a.m. in the 300 block of Benmar Drive, said Jodi Silva, a spokeswoman for the Houston Police Department. Two officers on routine patrol spotted a van on Northchase traveling at a high rate of speed, Silva said. When the van ran a red light, the officers attempted to stop it, but the driver sped away. The driver - whom police later identified as 26-year-old Francisco Javier Solais - pulled into an apartment complex driveway, stopped, jumped out and ran away. Silva said officers noticed he was carrying handgun. They ran after him. During the chase, the man fired at least once at the officers - and the officers shot back, wounding the suspect multiple times, according to an HPD news release. Officers took Solais into custody and immediately started giving first aid, police said. He was rushed to Ben Taub General Hospital in stable condition. Solais will face charges of aggravated assault on a peace officer and aggravated robbery. The officers were not hurt. Investigators found a handgun at the scene. Silva said the suspect may be connected to an earlier robbery that occurred nearby. Another male suspect in that case was detained by a security guard during the robbery. As is customary in officer-involved shootings in the city, the HPD Homicide and Internal Affairs divisions will investigate the case in addition to the Harris County District Attorney's Office . One person was injured as a fire ripped through apartments early Monday morning in west Houston. The 2-alarm blaze broke out about 6:30 a.m. at 12633 Memorial Drive near Rip Van Winkle, according to the Houston Fire Department. Officials said when firefighters arrived they saw heavy smoke and flames rising from the patio of a lower apartment and reaching to the balcony of a second-floor unit. A person who had been burned in the flames was outside the downstairs apartment. The person was rushed to a nearby hospital. No details were available about the person's injuries or condition. Firefighters quickly called for more equipment and personnel to battle the blaze. The fire heavily damaged two apartments while smoke and water damaged at least four others. Investigators are trying to determine what sparked the blaze. The Red Cross was notified about helping displaced residents find shelter and other necessities. Police are searching for a suspect wanted in the beating death of a 44-year-old man earlier this year in southeast Houston. Antonio Izaguirre-Flores, 30, is charged with murder after the victim was found unconscious about 1 a.m. Oct. 16 in at 5123 Telephone Road, according to the Houston Police Department. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Ants are a nuisance, best known for itchy bites and ruining picnics. But, a new species of crazy ant is taking over Texas. In some ways they appear to be worse than fire ants and there's no good way to stop them. These ants swarm fast and are plentiful in some areas. WILD SEAFOOD: Fisherman accidentally catches giant 'sea-montser' lobster An invasion of these can be so extreme that its hard to call it just a nuisance, University of Texas entomologist Edward LeBrun told The Austin American-Statesman. The wacko ants first popped up in Pearland in 2002 and have been becoming more and more of a problem ever since. The ants have been known to crawl into and ruin televisions, appliances and other electronic devices. No one is entirely sure why. THAT'S FAST: Researchers clock bats leaving cave at 99 mph David Oi, a research entomologist at the Department of Agriculture, told The New York Times in 2013, the bizarre idea that the bugs are actually attracted to the electricity itself cant be ruled out. The crazy ants or Raspberry ants - yep, that's actually what they are called - are found in 23 Texas counties. The ants have very little venom, but do impose a slight sting when they bite. Mostly, though, they're a hazard to electrical equipment. OUCH: Here's the most venomous animals in Texas They are a relatively new species in the region and little is known about how to control or kill the population. And, unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much that can be done about them right now. So, for the moment, the best advice is to avoid ant piles and clusters. And, hope that none make it inside to crawl around the electronics. WASHINGTON - A North Carolina man was arrested Sunday after he walked into a popular pizza restaurant in northwest Washington, D.C., carrying an assault rifle and fired one or more shots, D.C. police said. The man told police he had come to the restaurant to investigate "PizzaGate," a false conspiracy theory related to Hillary Clinton that spread online during her presidential campaign. The incident caused panic, with several businesses going into lockdown as police swarmed the neighborhood after receiving the call shortly before 3 p.m. Police said 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch, of Salisbury, North Carolina, walked in the front door of Comet Ping Pong and pointed a firearm in the direction of a restaurant employee. The employee was able to flee and notify police. Police said Welch proceeded to discharge the rifle inside the restaurant. He has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. Police initially said it was unclear what the motive for the shooting was but many in the neighborhood had suspected it might be related to "PizzaGate." The popular family restaurant, was swept up in the onslaught of fake news and conspiracy theories that was prevalent during the presidential campaign. The restaurant, its owner, staff and nearby businesses have been attacked on social media and received death threats. Startled patrons rushed out of the restaurant, taking shelter in nearby businesses that remained locked down for more than an hour. Vivek Jain, of Potomac, Maryland, was eating lunch inside Banana Leaf, a nearby Indian restaurant, when Comet patrons came rushing inside. He said Banana Leaf was locked down for about 90 minutes. "A bunch of people ran in from Comet and said a man walked in with a gun," Jain said. About 45 minutes later, he said, he saw a man walking backward out into the street with his hands in the air. He said the man lay down on the street, and "he was immediately picked up by the police and taken away." Police said in addition to the assault rifle, they also recovered two firearms inside the restaurant; an additional weapon was recovered in Welch's car. Bomb-sniffing dogs and at least one armored vehicle were present at the scene. The restaurant's owner and employees were threatened on social media in the days before the election after fake news stories circulated claiming that then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief were running a child sex ring from the restaurant's back rooms. Even Michael Flynn, a retired general who President-elect Donald Trump has tapped to advise him on national security, shared the stories. None of them were true. But the fake stories and threats persisted, some even aimed at the employees' children. The restaurant's owner was forced to contact the FBI, local police, Facebook and other social media platforms in an effort to remove the articles. James Alefantis, the owner of Comet Ping Pong, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Sunday. Last month, citing its policy against posting the personal information of others, Reddit banned the "pizzagate" topic. But it didn't stop the harassment and nearby businesses have received threats as well, according to police. On Sunday, after spending more than an hour on lockdown with employees and customers, Matt Carr, the owner of the Little Red Fox market and coffee shop, which is located next to Comet Ping Pong, said his business started getting threats last weekend. They got 30 to 40 calls before they stopped answering calls from blocked numbers, he said. "One person said he wanted to line us up in front of a firing squad." The threats were all tied to the Comet Ping Pong accusations online, he said. "There's some old painted-over symbol on the marquee that they claim is an international symbol of pedophilia, and that there are underground tunnels. ... There's some video on YouTube that has almost 100,000 views and talks about me, the owner of the Little Red Fox, by name. "This was our worst fear," he said, "that someone would read all this and come to the block with a gun. And today it happened." Nearby bookstore Politics and Prose was in the midst of a book event when they saw police converging on the block, said Bradley Graham, a store co-owner. Like other businesses on the block, they had gotten threats recently, he said, and were planning to meet with police Monday afternoon "because we had feared that what, up to now, had been simply despicable menacing verbal attacks online or on the phone might escalate." He said the businesses are hoping to get more police protection, "and we would also hope that law enforcement authorities will be prompted to take additional measures to shut down the sites where this hateful material is being spread, and also measures to try to trace the menacing phone calls. ". . . We're all rather shaken," he said. "Political figures have the means to deal with conspiratorial allegations and threats, but your neighborhood mom and pop shop does not," Carr said later in an email. "I make coffee and breakfast burritos for a living. This is out of our league." On Sunday, Gareth Wade, 47, and Doug Clarke, 50, were sitting down for pizza and beer at Comet when they spotted a commotion. All of a sudden, "the server said someone just walked in with a shotgun," Wade said. "A man had just walked into the building, passed us into the back of the building, he seemed to have a shotgun or a rifle-type of [gun] and said we ought to vacate the building," Wade recalled the server saying. They rushed out of the restaurant and had planned to head to Politics and Prose, where Clarke's wife and 5-year-old took shelter, but they got separated. Clarke and Wade were met by a heavy police presence when they attempted to join up. "Police said you can't go to the bookstore," Wade said. They ended up behind a nearby police barricade. Meanwhile, Clarke was trying to reunite his son with a present he'd received for his fifth birthday this weekend, a stuffed lion that they were forced to leave inside the restaurant. "He's kind of shaken up about the whole thing," Clarke said. "We've been talking a lot about it and trying to help him understand. That he was a man with a weapon, weapons are bad - he was not a nice person." --- The Washington Post's Steve Hendrix contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate It started as a bizarre conspiracy theory about a Washington, D.C. pizza joint, Democratic operatives and allegations of underage prostitution. Like most conspiracy theories, it had some believers, but no one moved to action, until Sunday. That's when an armed North Carolina man went to Comet Ping Pong - the pizza parlor at the center of the theory - to investigate the claims. It seems a bit off the wall that someone would go to such lengths to chase down the odd concept that Democrats were calling the place to order up child prostitutes under the guise of wanting a pizza. ILLEGAL VOTERS?: Donald Trump's conspiracy theory has Texas roots But, it happened. The original concept started like most conspiracy theories - with an unsubstantiated claim on a website. This one came to life on a thread on 4Chan in July with someone claiming to have inside knowledge of an FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation stemming from the ongoing sexting investigation of former Congressman Anthony Weiner. From there, it jumped to a site called Godlike Productions, a self-described forum for "UFOs, Conspiracy Theorists, Lunatic Fringe." There, someone posting as "Warthog76" floated the theory that the Clintons were running a sex ring with the Clinton Foundation as a front to cover it. Conspiracy theorists said they had info from the FBI, New York Police Department and other officials - none of which has been produced. STILL BUSY: 53 years later, JFK conspiracy theorists press on The story gained momentum with a tweet on Oct. 30 from an account that frequently posts pieces backing Donald Trump as well as white supremacist materials. The initial tweet from someone posting as "David Goldberg" who identifies as a Jewish lawyer from New York and uses an avatar found on the white supremacist site the Daily Stormer was followed by a second similar tweet. That's when the theory took hold and caught fire. It grew like mushrooms in an unkempt yard from there. The theory spread across white supremacist and right-wing websites, with people who hate Hillary Clinton buying in. The restaurant's owner and employees faced social media threats before the election and fake news stories continued to cite Comet Ping Pong as a hub of underage prostitution for the Clintons. REDDIT REGRETS: Reddit CEO sorry for editing Trump supporters during election Reddit even banned the topic, but the fake stories continued. Now, 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, N.C. is in custody, charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. And, Comet Ping Pong's owner, James Alefantis, took to Facebook to refute the claims made about his establishment and to thank law enforcement for keeping things from getting worse. "Let me state unequivocally: these stories are completely and entirely false, and there is no basis in fact to any of them. What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences," Alefantis wrote. 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. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. President-elect Donald Trump has selected Ben Carson as his pick to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development. If confirmed, Carson will inherit an agency operating many programs that hes likely to take issue with. Public housing is a paramount example of the long-term government dependency Carson decried during his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. In New York City, home of the nations largest public-housing program, the average resident has spent 22 years living in a subsidized home. Reforming the culture of public housing will require skill and commitment. There are, however, some policies that Carson could implement quickly to begin the process of transforming Americas public-housing system from a modern poorhouse into a vehicle for upward mobility. Time Limits for Public and Voucher Housing: Sending a signal to new subsidized tenants that they shouldnt expect lifetime housing supportto which they are entitled at presentwould be the best way to change the culture of public housing. A time limit, moreover, is not fanciful. As a result of discretion permitted by the Moving to Work demonstration program, eight public-housing authorities have already adopted time limits, with promising results. In San Bernardino, California, incomes among those subject to a five-year time limitcall it short-term assistance if that sounds more compassionaterose by more than 12 percent since 2008. Employment rates among those in the time-limited program rose by 17 percent. Time limits also free up housing units for those whod otherwise be stuck on a waiting list. Carson should extend the discretion to impose such limits to all 3,000 of the nations public-housing authorities. Stop Work Disincentives for Subsidized Housing: Under current law, a public or subsidized housing tenant must pay 30 percent of his income in rent. That may sound like a good deal, but it means that, for every $100 that a tenants income increases, his rent goes up by $30. This creates an obvious disincentive to work, and sends exactly the wrong message to those at the bottom of the income ladder. Moving to Work has allowed 20 housing authorities to treat subsidized tenants like other citizens by letting them sign a fixed-rent lease. This approach, too, should be expanded across the public-housing system. Privatize Management of Public-Housing Properties: There may once have been good reason for government to build low-income housing, but theres no reason why it should also manage the properties once theyre built. Private management firms can undertake capital repairs through expansion of another fledgling HUD program already on the books. The Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program lets HUD subsidies be used as bond-repayment guarantees for private investment capital. New Yorks public-housing authority has considered upgrading its antiquated heating systems, but fears seeing its federal support reduced if it lowers its utility costs. The RAD program can change that, and should be expanded. End Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing: The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule is premised on the wrongheaded idea that the best way to encourage upward mobility among minorities is simply to relocate poor inner-city households to wealthy suburbs. The rule should be done away with. At the same time, the Community Development Block Grant, designed to support physical improvements to low-income neighborhoods, should come without strings attached. Let localities decide how best to put that money to use. End Affordable Housing Mandates: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the secondary-mortgage market giants supervised by HUD, are charged with fulfilling the federal governments affordable-housing mandates. They must demonstrate that large percentages of the mortgages they purchase have been made to low-income buyers or neighborhoods. These mandates contributed to the 2008 financial crisis and continue to send the wrong message to banks, which are essentially told to fulfill mortgage quotas even when loans arent repaid. Its time either to scrap the mandates or require Fannie and Freddie to report on the performance of such loans. HUD has made many mistakes over the years. Instead of pursuing yet another scheme to rebuild Americas inner cities, HUD should instead do what it can to make poor neighborhoods safe and attractive to private investment. The agency should cease ordering banks to make such investments and roll back disincentives for upward mobility. Ben Carson is just the man for that job. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images While media organizations have spent the post-election period highlighting the perils of fake news on social media, few seem to recognize the risk of fake news appearing where they might least be looking for it: their own websites. The vast majority of mainstream news organizations still publish to HTTP domains, making it impossible to guarantee either their readers privacy or the authenticity and accuracy of what those readers are seeing. News sites that publish on HTTPS domains, however, can guarantee all of thiswithout additional effort from users. Publishing their stories via HTTPS, says Betsy Reed, editor in chief of The Intercept, protects against attackers making fake Intercept articles that are impossible to tell apart from real ones. In fact, Reed continues, The FBI did this to the Associated Press in 2007, but if [the] AP used HTTPS this attack wouldnt have worked. HTTPS has been around as long as the Web, but in the early days of slow connections and computers, the faster and simpler HTTP protocol dominated as the way to publish content online. HTTPS was typically reserved for login and e-commerce pages, where better security was more valuable than any potential time-lag it caused. In the last few years, however, an exponential increase in cybersecurity threats and revelations of mass surveillance have offset these tradeoffs entirely. Today, web browsers and search engines actually give preference to HTTPS websites, and key technologies for improving page speed are only available to those on HTTPS. With the American media also now facing one of the most hostile and unpredictable executive leaders in recent history, the imperative for reputable news sites to move to HTTPS is now greater than ever. The ability to guarantee readers are seeing authentic, reliable information should make switching to HTTPS an obvious choice for journalists. But for readers, the stakes are even higher. HTTPS affords increased privacy: When readers visit sites served over HTTP, anyone from their service provider to someone sitting next to them in a coffee shop (especially if the WiFi is also unsecured, as it is in many public places), can see exactly what theyre readingeven if their web browser is in private or incognito mode. If profiling individuals based on their reading habits seems far-fetched, recall the early days of the Patriot Act found librarians shredding borrowing records and computer sign-in sheets to avoid sharing reader data with the FBI. Sign up for CJR 's daily email While the Snowden revelations showed intercepting and manipulating HTTP content is well within the capacities the NSA and GCHQ, such interventions arent solely the purview of sophisticated agencies. As projects like Newstweek and Firesheep illustrate, interfering with HTTP-delivered content (especially over unsecured WiFi) can be as simple as plugging in a device that looks like a power adapter. Fortunately for news organizations, going HTTPS-only has never been easier, especially for small or startup media organizations. If somebody is launching a new business, theres no reason they shouldnt be on HTTPS, says Rajiv Pant, chief technical and product officer of Thrive Global, Arianna Huffingtons new media and lifestyle brand, which launched on HTTPS at the end of November. For smaller organizations, content delivery networks (CDNs) like CloudFlare and hosting providers like WPEngine have integrated support for HTTPS, making it possible to switch with little to no technical assistance. For larger organizations, going HTTPS is a bit more complex. When youre doing a site redesign, thats a good time to make the change to HTTPS, says Pant, since youre likely to impact other things on the site anyway, like SEO. Indeed, the decision to go HTTPS may be the hardest part for large organizations, because of perceived difficulty or overhead. HTTPS is also an all-or-nothing proposition: A website serving any HTTP content wont show the crucial green lock in the browser bar confirming all the information is both authentic and private. This means news organizations have to examine dozens if not hundreds of apps and vendors as well as seemingly countless lines of codeall the while potentially breaking links and threatening SEO. The business decision to do it is the harder part, says Will Van Wazer, a lead engineer at The Washington Post who oversaw its five-person, seven-month transition to HTTPS in 2015. From a technical perspective, Van Wazer says, Its not like anything is particularly hard. Its just that theres a huge scope of things that you need to do. While news sites like The Washington Post, Wired, The Intercept, ProPublica, The Marshall Project, and most recently, The Guardian, have either launched as HTTPS-only or successfully made the switch, many major news outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, LA Times, Reuters, and The Associated Press remain at least partially HTTP. (Editors Note: CJR doesnt currently use HTTPS, though the publication is studying shifting to the technology as part of an upcoming upgrade of its site.) When I asked Pant (who left The New York Times in 2015) why this change had yet to be realized more than two years after he and his colleagues wrote a post on the Open Blog titled Embracing HTTPS he said simply: Many of the people who had started the project ended up leaving the companyhighlighting the commitment needed to see such a project through. At The Washington Post, Van Wazer was initially concerned about persuading the advertising and editorial departments to make the switch to HTTPS, but It was much more collaborative than I was expecting, he says. Especially from the editorial sidethey were really great partners. The trade offs were relatively minor, Van Wazer says. For example: Our website is going to be more secure, but we wont be able to embed a graph from this random website. Indeed, the kind of business objections that would have been raised to an HTTPS conversion just two years ago are now largely a thing of the past. For example, HTTPS connections require more bandwidth, potentially slowing down secure sites for users. According to Pant, however, as computers have gotten faster, the speed difference is negligible. Its like saying that certain safety features in a car may make it heavierbut it still goes quite fast. For The Washington Post, in fact, HTTPS has been the key to faster loading pages, rather than the reverse. Their progressive web app, which reduces page load times by at least a third and in some cases renders them instantly, relies on Web service worker technologies that are only possible because of HTTPS, says Van Wazer. Not only does this technology play nicely with services like Google AMP, Googles service for instantly loading articles, now it appears that search engines give you somewhat better ratings when your site is HTTPS, says Pant. Speed and search results are important, of course, but in the end, many news organizations still rely on advertising to make their money online. The biggest thing has been working with advertising agencies, says Pant. But in the last few years these services are working with HTTPS more and more, so even that excuse is dwindling. Even the ad networks have been paving the way, says Van Wazer. In a 2015 blog post, the vice presidents of the display, video and AdWords programs at Google pledged to make their online ad inventory available via HTTPS. Ad networks are following that lead, says Van Wazer. One final barrier to HTTPS has often been the cost of security certificates (also called SSL certificates). These digital documents are issued by certificate authorities, to assure users a website is really owned and operated by the organization it appears to be. With the 2015 launch of projects like Lets Encrypt, which provides SSL certificates for free, the cost of getting a certificate has gone down to zero, says Van Wazer. While I believe in the integrity and privacy of HTTPS connections, it was in my role as the assistant director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism (and its primary website administrator) that I recently had my own practical encounter with setting it up. One day last month, I logged into our WPEngine hosting provider to find a message announcing free Lets Encrypt SSL certificates were now available to all clients. After toggling a setting on the website and requesting a small change to our domain configuration, towcenter.org went HTTPS a few days later. I think thats the story thats going to be playing out a lot more, said Van Wazer, when I relayed this experience. Converting to HTTPS is going to be as easy, soon, as flipping a switch. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Susan McGregor is Assistant Director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism and Assistant Professor at Columbia School of Journalism. Virginia suffered only a glancing blow from Hurricane Matthew last month when unprecedented amounts of rain fell, but on Wednesday officials estimated flood damage to be hundreds of millions of dollars, making it the costliest storm since Hurricane Isabel in 2003. Emergency management officials are now renewing calls for residents to get flood insurance, saying a vast majority of homeowners in areas vulnerable to major hurricane storm surge lack coverage. This was the glancing edge of a Category 1 storm, Jeffrey Stern, the state coordinator for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, told reporters in Virginia Beach. We really need to pause and get ready for a direct hit. Donald Keldsen, a coordinator with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said about 4,000 people affected by Matthew in Hampton Roads have registered with FEMA so far. They have received $7 million in aid, much of it for hotel rooms and emergency repairs. Those numbers are likely to rise before the registration deadline in January. The major costs will come from flood insurance payouts as well as aid for the majority of victims who lacked coverage. Stern said the National Flood Insurance Program is expected to pay out $80 million to policyholders, who make up about 15 percent of Matthews victims. Stern said aid from FEMA and volunteer groups as well as federal loans will have to cover thousands of other homes. The flooding was a surprise to many here because it occurred in neighborhoods miles from the Atlantic Ocean or Chesapeake Bay. Instead of a storm surge that most fear, weeks of rain brought by Matthew and previous storms overwhelmed drainage systems. Homes that had never flooded or stayed dry for decades were inundated with as much as 3 feet of water. Ellen Ughetto, 78, of Virginia Beach, told The Associated Press that she canceled her flood insurance two years ago. Water hadnt entered her house since 1964, and she and her late husband had paid off their mortgage, releasing them from any obligation to buy coverage. Plus, she said, rates had doubled to $1,600 a year after her neighborhoods flood map was updated. Then the rains from Matthew came. Four inches of water entered her home. She expects the damage will cost her $20,000. Ughetto has already used some of her savings to buy materials for flooring and walls. She was preparing to crack open an annuity from her husbands life insurance policy when she received $13,000 from FEMA. She said getting the federal dollars meant she had to buy flood insurance again. Ive learned my lesson, she said. The fear, officials said, is that too few people will be insured when a major hurricane strikes. Stern, of the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, said 473,000 homes are vulnerable to storm surge from a Category 4 hurricane but less than 8 percent of them have flood insurance. The damage from such a storm, he said, would be billions of dollars. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Changing marijuana laws arent necessarily making weed more welcome in the workplace. For now, many employers appear to be sticking with their drug testing and personal conduct policies, even in states where recreational marijuana use is now permitted. Others are keeping a close eye on the still evolving legal, regulatory and political environment. Voters in California, Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada voted Nov. 8 to approve the use of recreational marijuana, joining Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska, where it had previously been legalized. (A recount of Maines close result is scheduled.) More than two dozen states have medical marijuana programs. But the drug is still against federal law. A closer look at what it all means for workers and businesses: CAN MY EMPLOYER STILL TEST ME FOR POT? Bottom line: You cant come to work high. You can still be drug tested. And you can still be fired or not hired for failing a drug test even if youre not the least bit impaired at work. All the states with legalized recreational pot have exemptions for workplace drug policies. In Massachusetts, for example, the law includes language stating that the authority of employers to enact and enforce workplace policies restricting the consumption of marijuana by employees is not changed. Yes, you may be able to have (marijuana) at home, but that doesnt mean its OK in the workplace, said Edward Yost, an HR specialist with the Society for Human Resources Management. WHAT ABOUT WORKPLACE SAFETY? Advocates for marijuana legalization said it was never their intention to compromise safety, a central reason offered by employers for drug testing. We dont want anyone to come to work impaired on any drugs, said David Boyer, campaign manager for the ballot initiative in Maine. A 2013 survey by the employee screening firm HireRight found 78 percent of employers conducted drug tests either randomly, as a condition of employment, after accidents or for some combination of those reasons. The federal government requires drug testing for some workers, including truck drivers and others in transportation. Quest Diagnostics, which performed nearly 11 million laboratory-based drug tests for employers in 2015, said the percentage of tests coming back positive has shown a modest increase in recent years. Nearly half of all positive tests showed evidence of marijuana use. CAN I GET FIRED EVEN IF IM NOT HIGH? THC, the psychoactive chemical in cannabis, can stay in a persons system for days or even weeks, experts say long after the buzz has subsided. Its the equivalent of firing somebody who drank a glass of wine on Friday evening and then came to work on Monday, said Tamar Todd, legal director for the Drug Policy Alliance, who believes employers should reconsider zero-tolerance policies in light of changing laws and attitudes. A number of efforts are underway to develop an accurate method, akin to the Breathalyzer for alcohol, to measure actual marijuana impairment. Such a test might be useful not only for employers, but also for police and prosecutors trying to determine what constitutes driving under the influence of marijuana in states where recreational pot is legal. WHAT SHOULD COMPANIES DO? At a minimum, companies should review their current polices, make sure their managers are trained and make clear to employees that marijuana use on or off the job can still land them in trouble, said James Reidy, a New Hampshire-based attorney who advises clients around the country on drug testing issues. Tina Sharby, chief human resources officer for an Easter Seals affiliate with about 1,700 employees in New England, said the organization, which provides services for people with special needs, is monitoring the evolving legal and regulatory environment but is sticking with its drug testing protocols for now. We have a drug-free workplace policy, and we believe that the current policy we have is effective, Sharby said. But drug testing and zero-tolerance rules can also make it difficult for businesses with a need to recruit young professionals who may harbor more liberal attitudes toward pot. We have ski industries out here, and if they really took a hard line on marijuana use, they would have to shut down, said Curtis Graves, information resource manager for the Colorado-based Mountain States Employers Council. After Colorado became the first state to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012, surveys showed an uptick in workplace drug testing, Graves said, but that trend has begun to shift in the other direction. Employers who have a zero-tolerance policy maybe shouldnt apply that to non-safety sensitive workers, because if they do testing on them, they run the risk of inviting an invasion of privacy claim, suggested Amanda Baer, a Boston-area attorney who specializes in labor and employment issues. WHAT DO THE COURTS SAY? Adding to the uncertainty is the scarcity of legal precedent in states that have legalized recreational marijuana. But several cases involving employees with permits to use medical marijuana have reached the courts, and most have been decided in employers favor. The most widely cited case is a 2015 Colorado Supreme Court that upheld Dish Networks firing of a disabled man who used medical marijuana and failed a drug test. The court ruled that a state law barring employers from firing workers for off-duty behavior that is legal did not apply because pot remains illegal under federal law. Similar rulings have been issued in other states including California, Montana and Washington. As medical marijuana programs become more common even in states where recreational pot remains outlawed, some companies have begun to weigh accommodations for workers with permission to use marijuana for an existing health condition. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The driver in a Chattanooga, Tenn., school bus wreck that killed six children last week has declined to be interviewed by federal crash investigators on advice of his lawyer, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday. The NTSB has filed subpoenas to obtain 24-year-old driver Johnthony Walkers medical and mental health history. Investigators are also seeking his cellphone records and employment details from his second job with Amazon. The agencys final report is expected to be presented within 18 months. The six children died on Nov. 21 after the bus carrying 37 students hit a mailbox and utility pole, rolled onto its side and then crashed into a tree. Walkers attorney, Amanda Dunn, has said she expects him to plead not guilty if a grand jury indicts him for vehicular homicide. Walker was working for school bus contactor Durham School Services, which is paying his legal bills. Durham CEO David A. Duke said in a video released Thursday that the company is making multimillion-dollar safety changes after the crash. Duke said Durham will put in place a nationwide complaint management system where teachers and administrators can report specific issues with drivers and buses. It will be online immediately in Chattanooga and across the country for Durham by the end of next year. The company will also install cameras in all buses that record the driver and the road each time they sense unusual driving. Theyll be installed on Chattanooga buses by the end of the year and on all buses within the next two years. Duke said the companys own investigation into the accident is ongoing. The Hamilton County school district last week released a correspondence from students, parents and administrators raising concerns about Walkers behavior behind the wheel of the bus in the weeks before the crash. Duke told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that his company searched its email database and only found a handful of complaints. After someone complained Walker had been speeding, the company checked GPS data on the bus and found that it wasnt the case, Duke said. We can only act on what we know and whats before us, Duke told the paper. Duke has said the company is cooperating with law enforcement and federal crash investigators. That cooperation pledge doesnt extend to Walker, for whom the company has hired his own independent lawyer. We are not privy to the advice that the counsel is providing Mr. Walker, Durham spokeswoman Molly Hart said. (Associated Press writer Jonathan Mattise contributed to this report.) Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Six months after a train hauling Bakken crude oil derailed along the Columbia River Gorge, Washington, Oregon and other officials are still tabulating a bill to send to Union Pacific Railroad. Union Pacific said in a statement that it is committed to absorbing all the costs incurred as a result of the fiery crash on June 3 in Mosier, Oregon. The railroad is not required to disclose costs associated with its cleanup efforts or how much its insurance policy will cover, The Columbian newspaper reported. But an email obtained by the newspaper shows the railroad has estimated its costs associated with the derailment at about $8.9 million. The railroad reported $1.7 million in equipment damage and $176,811 in track damage to the Federal Railroad Administration, with the remaining millions for response and remediation costs. Meanwhile, an intergovernmental group made up of officials with Mosier city, the fire district and a school foundation is currently in negotiations with the railroad over compensation and other issues. William Gary, a Portland-based attorney working with that Mosier group, declined to say what kind of compensation the government agencies are seeking. We are in a confidential mediation at the moment, Gary said. Were working with the railroad to resolve a host of fairly complicated issues. Three Oregon agencies that responded to the newspapers request for information, including the Department of Environmental Quality, say theyre seeking a total of nearly $400,000 in reimbursement costs. Those numbers could increase. The Environmental Protection Agencys bill is at $340,000, the newspaper reported. And two Washington agencies that responded to the derailment are billing the railroad $66,000 next month, a Department of Ecology spokeswoman said. Sixteen tanker cars that went off the tracks in June held 448,000 gallons of oil, but only 47,000 gallons leaked. Much of that went into a wastewater treatment unit, avoiding a more difficult river cleanup. There remain unanswered questions, however, such as the degree to which the river was effected and what long-term effects there could be on the groundwater and soil. Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska waters in 1989, Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act in 1990. That law requires polluters pay for cleanup, remediation and response costs; they must have insurance and the funds to cover the cleanup. To address the growing risks of oil movement through the state, the Washington Legislature in 2015 passed a law that will soon require railroads hauling crude oil to demonstrate the ability to pay damages in the event of a spill. They will also be required to share information about the type of oil and the volume with the state and first responders. California and Minnesota have similar laws for railroads hauling crude, according to Washingtons Department of Ecology. But Oregon does not have such a law. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ToysforTots-2016.jpg Councilman David Kos is Avon Lake/Avon coordinator for Toys for Tots. Donations and volunteers are needed. AVON LAKE, Ohio - Once a Marine, always a Marine--and always a Marine for Toys for Tots. Avon Lake councilman, and former Marine, David Kos made sure Toys for Tots (TFT) had a new headquarters for this year's Christmas season. Christy Howard, Toys for Tots Lorain County coordinator, said, "I am very thankful for David Kos finding us this spot in an emergency situation we had at our old location in Elyria." The new headquarters is located in the old Blockbuster building in Towne Center in Avon Lake. Kos, who is the Avon and Avon Lake coordinator, said, "I called Bucky (Herman) Kopf and he said, sure, come to Towne Center. Thanks to him, 3,000 Lorain County underprivileged kids will have Christmas gifts again this year." Toy donations for ages newborn to 14 years, as well as volunteers, are needed, said Kos. "We need new, unopened, unwrapped toys. We are always short on gifts for pre-teens, ages 11-14. We already get a lot of toys for little kids." Volunteers staff the storefront, organize toys, set up displays and get things ready for parents, according to Kos. Donations in the form of checks or online monetary donations will also help TFT volunteers purchase gifts needed. "97% of what we collect goes into the program," said Kos. Primary donation locations include city hall, police departments, fire departments and libraries in Avon, Avon Lake and North Ridgeville. In Avon Lake, there is also a donation location at the regional water office, as well as the senior center in Avon. Parents who have registered for TFT and who have been approved will be sent an email for an appointment to come to the new headquarters to "shop" for gifts for their children. "We are the first campaign to ever allow parents to come in and shop for toys. Nobody else had done it and now many others are following suit," said Howard. Kos is a former Marine who served near Hiroshima, Japan in the early 1990s. As a member of the Elyria detachment of the Marine Corps League, a veterans' organization, he helped out with league events. "We are a very active group. We do fundraisers, community outreach, parades, and we raise money for scholarship funds and participate in military funerals," he said. In 1995, the U.S. Secretary of Defense approved Toys for Tots as an official activity of the U. S. Marine Corps and an official mission of the Marine Corps Reserve. By the following year, the Marine Forces Reserve expanded Toys for Tots to cover all 50 states. Kos and the Elyria Marine Corps League got involved with Toys for Tots in Lorain County with a Marine responsible for each location scattered throughout the county. Howard got involved when her oldest son was in the Young Marine program. She has been with the program for seven years. Her son, stationed in Japan, has been in the Marines for three years. He is coming home soon on a medical discharge due to a back injury sustained in a training accident. Both Kos and Howard are genuinely enthusiastic about TFT and hope everyone will reach out to touch a child's life this Christmas season. "The number of children in need keeps going up," said Howard. In just the past year, she said, the number of children rose by 500. "On Christmas morning it is so nice to know we have touched someone, somewhere who would not have had anything." For more information or to donate or volunteer for Toys for Tots, call 440-506-4765 or email Tftlorain@gmail.com. cash.jpeg A federal judge has tossed a lawsuit filed by a California atheist challenging the use of "God" on U.S. currency. (File photo) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A federal judge in Youngstown tossed a California atheist's lawsuit that said having "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency violates the constitutional separation of church and state. U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson wrote in a Nov. 30 opinion that Sacramento doctor and lawyer Michael Newdow and the other plaintiffs can't show that having the phrase on a dollar bill hinders their right to exercise their religious beliefs, or their lack thereof. It also does not substantially affect their right to free speech, since no reasonable person would think that a person paying with cash is doing so to spread a religious message, Pearson wrote. Newdow filed his lawsuit in January, representing many unnamed parents and children that are atheist or being raised as atheist. Some are from Ohio, while others are from Michigan. The Northern Ohio Freethought Society is part of the lawsuit. Newdow immediately appealed Pearson's decision. Newdow has made a name for himself in the past as an outspoken atheist. He has sued the government at least twice before about the use of "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, with courts ruling against him both times. He also previously filed suit in California over U.S. currency. A federal appeals court ruled against him in 2010. CLEVELAND, Ohio - "Mad" is a tale of two sisters. The 2016 film introduced us to cutthroat career woman Connie (Jennifer Lafleur) and free-wheeling Casey (Eilis Cahill). The otherwise opposing forces are bound together by one thing: A mother in the midst of a mental breakdown (Maryann Plunkett). Nothing about this should be funny, but "Mad" searches for humor in life's everyday moments, both lows and highs. Shot over 18 days in Northeast Ohio, it's also a story of Robert Putka, the now 26-year-old Cleveland-based filmmaker who was inspired to pen the script because of his own complicated relationship with his mother. His semi-autobiographical writing serves him well -- "Mad" became a breakout at its premiere at this year's Slamdance Film Festival, and subsequently screened at the internationally acclaimed "A List" Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia and the Cleveland International Film Festival, among others. Today it arrives on Netflix through its distributor, The Orchard. When Putka began writing "Mad" in 2012, he imagined Connie and Casey as the dueling sides of his own personality. In the film, Connie is abrasive and jaded, while Casey is more empathetic. "I still relate to them 100 percent," says Putka. "I feel a little more secure since the film seems to connect with people. Because it was so personal, it doesn't feel like me against the world. There's a lot of people out there that are a lot like me." "Mad" world Putka studied media technology at Cuyahoga Valley Career Center, where he learned the basics of filmmaking. Before "Mad," his first feature film, he directed a string of shorts, four of which featured frequent collaborator Cahill. Two earned nominations for SXSW's Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative in 2012 ("Mouthful") and 2014 ("Oi, Meu Amor"). His writing found its footing in humor early in his career as he looked to directors Judd Apatow and Mike Leigh as inspiration. The humor in "Mad" appears at moments least expected, like a hospital check-in and group therapy session, or when a character finds herself slapped with a lawsuit. "I told myself that if I could make a film where there's an incredibly dramatic situation and make it funny, then everything else I'll ever do for the rest of my life would be easy," says Putka. But it shouldn't seem all that surprising, he notes. The times when we're most on edge are also when we become the most unscripted. "For me, a lot of these tense situations I've gotten myself into, they're very high stakes. And in the moment, when you look back at what you actually said in heated contentiousness, a lot of the things we say to each other are really absurd or bizarre," says Putka. "With tension comes those bizarre one-liners that aren't necessarily a stretch or exaggeration." Just don't expect to like every character you meet in "Mad." They often clash, and Putka has no remorse for making viewers feel uncomfortable. But it's not for lack of awareness. Putka builds his story around why each character is justified in their flaws before he exploits them. Despite Connie's lack of empathy, for example, it's obvious from the start that she's been burned by her mother in the past. "I think that, in order to pull off those characters, you need to give people a very legitimate reason as to why they act that way without making excuses for them," says Putka. "I think a lot of films that are accused of having unlikable characters stems from them not presenting the evidence to the contrary. You have to have both sides of their stories and I always try to present that. I think that's why people can get on board with the characters." What's next Today, Putka is working on developing television pitches with a team in Los Angeles, but his baby is the locally minded follow-up feature he's trying to put together with friends and family. "I want my story to be a rallying point for people looking to get behind local artists," he says, "I want to do it here, but we need the support." While it differs from his work on "Mad," and he hopes it's a step up in budget, he maintains that it will again be a personal film "attempting to mix big laughs and real heart." "That's my sweet spot, and I don't think I could make those types of films if I wasn't from Cleveland," says Putka. "Sweet and salty - that's Cleveland to me." Since the release of "Mad," Putka has been in talks with people in the industry on his next direction. Because of his dialogue and character-driven style, many have been trying to push him toward television. "Indie film is where I feel most comfortable," he says. "Film allows for more creative expression. I want to be able to make bigger and bigger films every time I go out there. If TV can offer a steadier paycheck and some semblance of artistic freedom and expression, then I want to follow that as well. It's really hard to be an independent filmmaker." As he continues his work on new projects, he still credits "Mad" as a stepping stone. "It's definitely cathartic. I feel less alone now. I don't think I can summarize it any better than that. Just knowing that there's a lot of people out there that have gone through similar things, painful things." The surprise OPEC deal last week sent crude prices surging and left some market watchers slack-jawed, including Dennis Gartman. The agreement came after months of false starts, including a failed accord in Doha, Qatar, in April that sent markets reeling. "Clearly we were wrong in selling crude oil short the day before the OPEC meeting," the editor and publisher of The Gartman Letter wrote Thursday. Despite being caught off guard by the move, Gartman explained to CNBC why he doesn't expect the rally, or deal, to last long. "If you can bet on one thing in this world, bet on a mother's love, and bet on the fact that OPEC cheats," he said in a recent interview on CNBC's "Futures Now." "But it will be a month or two before we see that happening." Oil surged above $50 for the first time since late October in the days after OPEC's agreement to cut production for the first time in nearly a decade. The move prompted crude to post its biggest weekly gain since February 2011. Still, Gartman is skeptical that the rally can be sustained, as he believes the recent run has been nothing more than a short squeeze. Meanwhile, tensions between OPEC rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran which was resistant to the idea of a curb on production mean something may have to give eventually. "I've said for a long time that i don't expect oil to get above $52," he said. "There are so many people caught on the short side of WTI and that's what you are seeing right now. That will end sometime in the coming weeks," said Gartman. In addition to what he anticipates as a failed agreement, Gartman said the strong will weigh heavily on oil and all commodities in the next year. "The strong dollar is going to continue to be overhead resistance on commodity prices. Clearly that adds to the price of crude oil and that is bearish in the long run," he said. US President-elect Donald Trump arrives to attend a Villains and Heroes themed costume party on December 3, 2016 on Long Island, New York. Chinese state media on Monday continued to play down the protocol-bending phone call last week between U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan's president, with editorials in two newspapers saying the move showed Trump's inexperience. China's national English-language newspaper, the China Daily, said the 10-minute call "exposed nothing but the inexperience Trump and his transition team have in dealing with foreign affairs". "The action was due to a lack of a proper understanding of the sensitive issues in Sino-U.S. relations and cross-Strait ties," it said. The Friday call was the first by a U.S. president-elect or president since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of "one China". China's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it had lodged "stern representations" with what it called the "relevant U.S. side," urging the careful handling of the Taiwan issue to avoid any unnecessary disturbances in ties. China considers Taiwan a wayward province and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday pointedly blamed Taiwan for the exchange, rather than Trump, calling it "a petty action". watch now Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetization move has sparked headlines across the world, though not in the way he necessarily hoped. Supporters had hailed the move, which was initially pegged as an important step in the fight against counterfeit notes as well as the so-called black money that has plagued the economy for years. But recent days have seen a reassessment of the potential success of the drive. Tales of hardship and uncertainty have dominated headlines, in stark contrast to the optimism that initially accompanied India's move to demonetize nearly 85 percent of the currency in circulation. While it's still possible that the government succeeds in boosting tax receipts by bringing unaccounted cash under its scanner, news reports have lavished attention on the adverse impact on India's middle-class and lower-income households, who have spent the last few days huddled in serpentine queues trying to get small amounts of cash. All this against a backdrop of rules that have been upended faster than some of Donald Trump's policy stances. I was recently in India and needed some local currency. Neelabh Chaturvedi | CNBC The first step was to find a working cash machine. Easier said than done. A couple of automated teller machines (ATMs) near my parents' flat in East Delhi were shut all day on December 1, likely because the cash dispensing machines were drier than a North Indian summer. There were slightly more hopeful scenes less than a mile away. Two of the five ATMs in a commercial area (one belonging to a foreign lender, the other belonging to a state-run bank) were still dispensing cash. I joined one of the lines at 6:10 p.m. local time. There were roughly 35 people in front of me (not including a cop who jumped the line to take out cash using multiple cards to side-step the daily limit for withdrawals from a cash machine: 2,500 rupees $73.37 for Indian bank account holders) who stood on a paved road dotted with betel-leaf stains while a stray dog foraged for food from the street-side restaurants. The people waiting in line were primarily from middle-class and lower-income households: executives from private sector companies, pensioners, handymen and housewives. The rich businessmen whose dubious financial engineering skills partly prompted the government to take this step were conspicuous by their absence. One person I spoke to had spent the entire day trying to get cash to meet expenses. A labourer for a company setting up the trackworks for an extension of the Delhi Metro, he told me he first went to a bank branch to deposit cash but left in frustration after a couple of hours of fruitless waiting. He then went to an ATM, where he lined up for just over an hour, only to find that cash ran out when he was third in line to get 2,000 rupees. This was his third stop. Another waited anxiously only to find out when he reached the ATM that his card had been locked. watch now Donald Trump has lashed out again at China, accusing Beijing of manipulating its currency, unfairly taxing U.S. products and militarizing the South China Sea. Tweeting on Sunday evening, the U.S. president-elect said: Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into. their country (the U.S. doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so! This followed a tweet-heavy weekend, in which Trump used the social media platform to threaten a 35 percent tax on products sold in the U.S. by any domestic business that moved operations overseas. The real estate mogul had campaigned on a platform of boosting business and American jobs. The tweets also came as Trump strained relations with China on Friday by accepting a congratulatory phone call from Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, breaking almost four decades of U.S. foreign policy that has acknowledged Taiwan is part of China. China considers Taiwan a renegade state that can be retaken by force at any time and Beijing has made clear its dislike of pro-independence Tsai. At the weekend, China lodged a diplomatic protest with the U.S. over the call - it wasn't clear if the protest was made directly to Trump's transition team - but blamed Taiwan for the "petty action." The reference to the South China Sea is particularly sensitive, as the U.S. and China are locked in a battle of wills over the maritime region, which China, as well as other Asian countries, claims as its own. In July, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague found that China's claims of historical rights to the region - which is a key international shipping route - were not founded on evidence and were counter to international law. The court found that Chinese efforts to create man-made islands on top of atolls and reefs, as well as its large-scale fishing in the disputed areas, were illegal. China has refused to recognize the court's authority. Meanwhile, the U.S. had continued to assert its right to conduct naval patrols in the area. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. German Chancellor Angela Merkel greets France's President Francois Hollande, (2nd R) U.S. President Barack Obama, Prime Minister of Great Britain David Cameron (L) and Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi (R) at Schloss Herrenhausen palace on April 25, 2016 in Hanover, Germany. A bit more than six months after, only one of the world leaders looks set to stay in politics - for now. Here's a good example of how much global politics has changed in 2016. Back in April, leaders of the G-5 group of leading industrial nations sat down for a round-table discussion at a summit in Hannover, Germany. David Cameron resigned last June after losing a referendum where Britain chose to leave the European Union. Barack Obama is leaving the White House in January after a shock vote last month where the Republican nominee Donald Trump was elected the next president. Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing a key election early next year. Apart from new opponents on the left, Merkel has to deal with a growing support for anti-euro and anti-European populism parties and criticism over her refugee policy. Francois Hollande announced last week that he would not seek a second term as French president given his low popularity among the electorate. Matteo Renzi is handing in his resignation to the Italian president on Monday after losing a key constitutional referendum. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. Most of the market focus in 2017 is set to be on key European elections, but predicting any of the outcomes could be a daunting task, a key European official told CNBC. France, Germany, the Netherlands, and possibly Italy, will hold key votes during 2017 that could change the entire landscape of European politics. The rising support for anti-establishment parties and recent shock outcomes in Britain and the U.S. indicate that any predictions cannot be taken as a guarantee, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the Eurogroup and finance minister of the Netherlands, told CNBC on Monday. "Everyone who is sure about the outcome of the elections in the Netherlands, Germany and France will probably be wrong. It's very hard to predict," he said. "The only thing that we know is that voters are much more on the move as they were some years ago and of course they're critical of the situation," Dijsselbloem added, as he entered a meeting of finance ministers in Brussels. The Eurogroup meeting of euro zone finance ministers was overshadowed by the reactions to the Italian referendum, where voters rejected the government's proposal for constitutional reform. Dijsselbloem told CNBC that if markets keep reacting calmly in the wake of the referendum result, there was no need for emergency steps. For now, concerns that the political instability will spread to the banking system and potentially impact the wider euro area seem muted. The German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said at his arrival in Brussels that there was no reason for a euro crisis and investors should be relaxed on Italy. The former French minister, Pierre Moscovici, remembered that the Italian vote wasn't an anti-Europe vote. China is trying to capitalize on President-elect Donald Trump's hardline immigration stance and vow to clamp down on a foreign worker visa program that has been used to recruit thousands from overseas to Silicon Valley. Leading tech entrepreneurs, including Robin Li, the billionaire CEO of Baidu , China's largest search engine, see Trump's plans as a huge potential opportunity to lure tech talent away from the United States. More from NBC News: How a Trump administration could reshape the Internet Will Trump and tech be the 'disaster' some people have Trump may have just built his first bridge to Silicon Valley The country already offers incentives of up to $1 million as signing bonuses for those deemed "outstanding" and generous subsidies for start-ups. Meanwhile, the Washington Post last month reported on comments made by Steve Bannon, who is now the president-elect's chief strategist, during a radio conversation with Trump in Nov. 2015. Bannon, the former Breitbart.com publisher, indicated that he didn't necessarily agree with the idea that foreign talent that goes to school in America should stay in America. "When two-thirds or three-quarters of the CEOs in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia, I think ...," Bannon said, trailing off. "A country is more than an economy. We're a civic society." While Trump's unprecedented telephone conversation with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday may worry leaders in Beijing, comments like Bannon's and the president-elect's campaign pledges are music to the ears of tech leaders like Li. "I read that an adviser to President-elect Donald Trump openly complained that three-quarters of CEOs in Silicon Valley are Asian immigrants," the influential entrepreneur said in a recent keynote speech at a state-sponsored conference, a copy of which was provided to NBC News by Baidu. "Many entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley have expressed worries, especially after Trump's election, about the harm to the United States' capabilities in innovation," Li told the audience at China's third annual World Internet Conference. "I truly hope that these excellent talents from various countries will migrate to China and help China play a more important role on the stage of global innovation." He added: "I hope everybody will come to China, let's innovate together." As part of the plan for his first 100 days in office, Trump has vowed to prioritize immigration issues and "direct the Department of Labor to investigate all abuses of visa programs that undercut the American worker." On the campaign trail, he denounced the H-1B visa program, which admits 85,000 foreign skilled workers and graduate students annually many of whom work in the tech industry and eventually become legal U.S. residents or citizens. "It's very bad for business and it's very bad for our workers and it's unfair for our workers. And we should end it," he said. He sparked more uncertainty by naming Sen. Jeff Sessions, a long-time critic of the skilled-worker visa program, as his pick for attorney general. Sessions has accused tech firms in Silicon Valley of exploiting the program to pass over American labor for foreign workers to cut technology costs. China's efforts to attract foreign workers has traditionally been hurt by Beijing's web censorship and strict government control of the internet. China has around 700 million internet users who type a mind-boggling 35 billion words every day, according to the latest survey examining the behavior of the country's netizens. But Li argued that the "global center of innovation is shifting," describing the world's second-largest economy as the "biggest and fastest growing internet market." A Baidu spokesperson told NBC News that the company has a program to attract "top-tier talent" in China and abroad, to advance "Baidu's technological leadership in areas including artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning and autonomous diving." Hugo Barra, a Brazilian computer scientist, stunned the technology world in 2013 by leaving his post as Google 's vice-president in charge of its Android division to join a private Chinese startup called Xiaomi. As Xiaomi's international vice-president, Barra has taken charge of global expansion for the smartphone company that has been compared to Apple for its slick marketing and management. The Beijing-based firm has now become the world's fourth-biggest smartphone maker and is broadening its businesses to mobile apps, laptops and Wi-Fi-enabled consumer electronics. Analysts have also noted China's emergence as the world's biggest e-commerce market and a leading innovator in mobile services, on the strength of the country's estimated 600 million smartphone users, which is expected to reach 700 million by 2019. WeChat, China's smash-hit messaging app owned by Tencent, the country's most valuable tech company, has also become a mobile payment giant that is chasing market leader Alipay. The two companies had the lion's share of last year's mobile transactions of $235 billion, pushing China ahead of the U.S. where the market was $231 billion, according to data provider Euromonitor International. China is also leading the global innovation race. Of the 2.9 million patent applications worldwide in 2015, about 1 million of them came from China. In comparison, 526,000 applications came from the U.S., according to data released by the World Intellectual Property Organization. Success stories include Dajiang Innovations (DJI) the world's biggest maker of consumer and small commercial drones. The Chinese start-up boasts three factories in the booming city of Shenzhen, a marketing office in Los Angeles that works with filmmakers, and a Frankfurt office which deals with content partners. Paul Pan, DJI's product manager, saw the potential of the company and moved to Shenzhen from Silicon Valley in 2013. During a factory visit last year, he demonstrated to NBC News why DJI was an industry leader. From humble beginnings in a dorm room in 2006, the private company is now valued at over $10 billion. Shenzhen itself is now widely considered "China's Silicon Valley" and has taken the lead in rolling out a massive subsidy program to attract high-tech talent. The southern city is currently led by Communist Party boss Ma Xingrui, a space scientist and former chief of China's moon mission. His ambition is to make the city a leading innovation hub as it sheds its image as a manufacturer of cheap goods for export. Shenzhen's recruitment program has attracted 1219 "high-level talents" as of last year, according to Shenzhen Daily newspaper, of which 74 are "foreign experts." Under a multi-category scheme updated in October last year, the highest incentive for so-called "Outstanding Talent" a designation open for foreigners from 24 countries, including the United States, if the individual won a Nobel Prize in economics or physics is an outright lump sum allowance of close to $1 million or 10 years free housing in a 2,200-square-foot apartment. A lower category, an "Overseas Talent" who starts a business in the city, can receive a subsidy of up to $150,000. In the past, Chinese companies could only attract Chinese engineers who studied abroad, Baidu's Li lamented. But he pointed out that Trump's plans have created hope for China to attract "more and more talents from various countries and various nationalities." WHEN: MONDAY, DECEMBER 5 WHERE: CNBC'S "MAD MONEY W/ JIM CRAMER" Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with United Technologies Chairman & CEO Greg Hayes tonight on "Mad Money." Video of the full interview will be available on CNBC.com. All references must be sourced to CNBC's "Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer." The full interview with United Technologies Chairman & CEO Greg Hayes will air on CNBC's "Mad Money" on Monday at 6 pm EST. JIM CRAMER: Greg, I'm surrounded by incredible equipment. What is being made here and how important is it to United Technologies? GREG HAYES: So, Jim, you're standing in the Middletown-- Connecticut, final assembly facility for Pratt Whitney. What you see around you here today are the final assembly line for the-- gear turbo fan engine for the A320 product line. The engines at the JIM CRAMER: A320 being air bus. GREG HAYES: The air bus. JIM CRAMER: Foreign companies GREG HAYES: A3-- A319, A320 JIM CRAMER: Right. GREG HAYES: --A321 models. JIM CRAMER: Okay. Now why would I choose this geared turbo fan over somebody else's engine? GREG HAYES: Well, if you see the size of the fan-- 81 inch diameter fan. That particular engine is about 16% more efficient than the last generation of engines that we were building with E2500. Let me put that in context. 16%. So we've got about 8,000 engines in backlog today. Over the next JIM CRAMER: Quarter - for 8,000 of these. GREG HAYES: Of these. So JIM CRAMER: Okay. GREG HAYES: --of those 8,000 engines, in the next ten years we'll save the airlines 11 billion gallons of fuel. 11 billion. At $1.40 gallon, which is I think jet a today, you're talking $15 billion of savings to the airline. That's-- the biggest benefit. JIM CRAMER: Okay. GREG HAYES: But on top of that you've also got-- so the technology allows us to reduce the particulate emissions. So we're gonna take emissions down about 50%. That takes essentially two million cars off the road for ten years by using our engines. The other piece of the pie-- the third piece office is the noise. JIM CRAMER: Right. GREG HAYES: This is about 75% quieter than the engine that it's gonna replace. So if you're LaGuardia and you're over the flight path today about 500,000 people wouldn't hear this plane coming in-- that they hear the planes today. That's why that-- we have 8,000 orders for this engine. JIM CRAMER: All right, how hard is it to make? GREG HAYES: It's hard. Right? Think about this engine. We've spent about $10 billion developing the technology around these engines. It starts with the gear. And we have a star gear system which allowed us to do something we've never been able to do before, which is to spin the fan in the front at a third of the speed of the turbo machinery in back. JIM CRAMER: Okay. GREG HAYES: Okay? That is the key to this entire architecture. It's called-- that's why we call it the geared turbo fan. By spinning the fan at about 8,000 rpms and the turbo machinery at 24,000 rpms you optimize the turbo machinery, and you also optimize the bypass. So the other beautiful thing about this engine-- see, it's a lot bigger than the JIM CRAMER: Right. GREG HAYES: --engines it's replacing. The 81 inch fan. It's got about a 12 to one bypass, which means most of the thrust is coming from the fan and not from the thrust of the turbo machinery. JIM CRAMER: All right, is that--what's caused what you're-- executive has said is teething problems in trying to get the backlog-- under control, don't wanna lose any orders to the other guys? GREG HAYES: No. So, look, we have had a number of teething issues. We've talked about that during the course of the year. Today we've got ten airlines using-- are operating this-- this engine. We've got about 50,000 flight hours-- and we-- 99.88% dispatch reliability. And so while there remain some things that we're learning as we get more and more hours on the engines-- I would tell you those are nuisance faults as compared to the overall design. The beautiful thing is the gear works. And I think that was the thing that people always were concerned about is can you really put a gear on the front of a large-- turbo-- turbine fan engine? And the fact is we've been able to do it. JIM CRAMER: All right, where does this fit into the vast--divisions that you have at United-- at United Technologies? Whether it be climate security, whether it be OTIS GREG HAYES: Right. JIM CRAMER: These are huge, important-- and of course Carrier. GREG HAYES: Right. So we've got four big businesses, right? Each one of them-- I would say global in scale. Pratt Whitney's about $15 billion in revenue today. Because of the geared turbo fan by 2020, four years from now, we'll be about $21 billion in sales as we ramp up production here. You compare that to our climate business with Carrier, it's about $17 billion. We've got the OTIS elevator business of course you know, which is about $12 billion. And then we've got our aerospace systems business. And if you think about this big engine almost all of the components that go around, the things that make the engine work, the FADEC-- the full authority digital electronic control-- those are made by aerospace systems business. That's about a $15 billion business as well. So think about $30 billion in aerospace, $30 billion in the buildings systems. JIM CRAMER: All right, so look, I- you know, obviously this is a key part of the United Technologies story. So is Carrier. I know that you've been in a tough spot of late. I look at you as a guy who wants to make as much money for shareholders as possible. You are committed to doing that. You came up from the CFO ranks. You go to a board. The board wants to represent shareholders. The main thing that you and I would talk about is how much you can save and what kind of revenue. We look at these great engines. We know these are great sales. What happens when the government gets involved? Could you walk us through your side of what happened when President-elect Trump called? GREG HAYES: Well, it's no secret. I got a call from-- President-elect Trump a couple of weeks ago. JIM CRAMER: Right before Thanksgiving? GREG HAYES: Yeah, about a week before Thanksgiving. JIM CRAMER: Okay. GREG HAYES: And he simply said, "Look, Greg-- I need you to relook at the decision to close the Indianapolis factory of Carrier." He said, "We're gonna do a lot of things in this country that's gonna make it a lot more conducive to manufacturing. We're gonna take the tax rate down. We're gonna reduce all this burdensome regulation. When all that happens you're gonna be printing money, but I need you to relook at your decision to close to factory in Indiana." JIM CRAMER: All right, now you have an obligation to your company. To relook at it means that you had done something that was cons-- that actually-- Greg, hundreds of American manufacturers have done. Ever since NAFTA it's been the right thing to do. We all accept the fact that I would-- I would be critical of you for not doing it because I care about the shareholders. How do you justify it? I mean, you tell Mr. President-elect, look, that's not what I do. I make good stuff and try to get the best cost. GREG HAYES: So I had that discussion. And I had it with--Vice President Pence specifically a couple of times. 'Cause we talked about the fact that most of the supply chain on the-- HVAC side has already moved to Mexico. We've got about a million manufacturing square feet in Mexico already. And so this is just kind of a natural evolution to close a couple of our facilities in Indiana and move those down to Mexico. These are commodity products at the end of the day. Unlike the engines that you see here JIM CRAMER: Right. GREG HAYES: --right, where you've got a workforce here highly skilled-- highly, highly skilled; highly trained. I think the average employee here on the shop floor has got about 26 years of experience. Right? Very difficult to do. But these are the kind of jobs that we can do in America because they require high skill and high value add. The assembly lines in Indiana-- I mean, great people. Great, great people. But theskillset to do those jobs very different than what it takes to assemble a jet engine. JIM CRAMER: Okay, but what can-- there's no give without a get. We all know this. I mean, you-- he'd like you to rethink it, but at the same time you're-- everybody's gonna get those benefits that you talk about. GREG HAYES: Absolutely. JIM CRAMER: What specifically do United Technologies-- we heard about this $700,000 incentive, but that's obviously much less-- $700,000 a year-- much less than you would've saved. GREG HAYES: So-- there was a cost as we thought about keeping the Indiana plant open. At the same time-- and I'll tell you this because you and I-- we know each other, but I was born at night but not last night. I also know that about 10% of our revenue comes from the U.S. government. And I know that a better regulatory environment, a lower tax rate can eventually help UTC of the long run. And so we weighed all of things in making the decision with the board JIM CRAMER: But you weigh-- not the President-elect did not say GREG HAYES: No, I JIM CRAMER: --"Hey, by the way, Greg, have you seen how many engines that we bought from you?" GREG HAYES: Yeah, well, the JIM CRAMER: It did not come up? GREG HAYES: No, it-- it did not come up. JIM CRAMER: Okay. GREG HAYES: Nor-- nor was there any I would say deal. There was no quid pro quo to him to say, "Look, I'm not gonna tax you-- if you don't do this." He simply said, "Take a hard look at it." (BEEP) We worked with Governor Pence. And I think we came up with-- a relatively good solution for everybody. We keep the plant open, we keep 1,100 people employed in Indianapolis. We still get to do the preponderance of the restructuring, which we were going to do anyways. So it's-- I would say no deal, but at the end of the deal a good deal for UTC. JIM CRAMER: How about for the United States? GREG HAYES: So, look, I think if we can see a renaissance in manufacturing in the U.S. that's a good deal for the U.S., but it's gotta be a renaissance, right? And it's gotta come from more thoughtful regulation and a more competitive tax rate. And I think those are the things that they're focused on. I know Paul Ryan is. German Brady in Ways and Means-- they're on the right track to do those things. JIM CRAMER: But you make the best engines in the world. You are a true globalist. You have factories everywhere. Suddenly it sounds like that you're being asked to be an American first who has to put other interests at heart-- not just the shareholders. That was not the previous way that business was done in this country. GREG HAYES: Well, Jim, I- think it's more than just shareholders. You have to think of the stakeholders. Right? All of the stakeholders as you have in a corporation. Be it the communities, be it the employees, be it the share owners. And you have to make a trade. At the same time I would tell you the genie of globalization is not going back in the bottle. Right? Free trade is still essential to the growth of this country. This country was founded on two principles, right? Immigration and free trade. JIM CRAMER: Right. GREG HAYES: And that is what made America great over time. Because we had the ability to develop and innovate in the U.S. and take those products and sell them around the world. Just like I sell OTIS elevators around the world. JIM CRAMER: Right. Did-- do you-- are you put at a competitive disadvantage? I mean, all the other guys may have moved their gas furnaces to Mexico. Suddenly you do have-- I mean, what is-- what's good about Mexico? What's good about going there? And obviously what's good about staying here? GREG HAYES: So what's good about Mexico? We have a very talented workforce in Mexico. Wages are obviously significantly lower. About 80% lower on average. But absenteeism runs about 1%. Turnover runs about 2%. Very, very dedicated workforce. JIM CRAMER: Versus America? GREG HAYES: Much higher. JIM CRAMER: Much higher. GREG HAYES: Much higher. And I think that's just part of these-- the jobs, again, are not jobs on assembly line that people really find all that attractive over the long term. Now I've got some very long service employees who do a wonderful job for us. And we like the fact that they're dedicated to UTC, but I would tell you the key here, Jim, is not to be trained for the job today. Our focus is how do you train people for the jobs of tomorrow? I've talked about our employee scholar program. The fact that JIM CRAMER: You're the second biggest after the government according to GREG HAYES: Right. So we've had-- we got 45 JIM CRAMER: For scholarships. GREG HAYES: --45,000 people have been through our employee scholar program. 38,000 degrees. We've spent $1.2 billion over the last 20 years educating our workers. We've got 7,000 people currently enrolled in this program. And the whole idea improve your own marketability. Improve your own skills. Because the skills that you have today are not the skills that are gonna get you through tomorrow. JIM CRAMER: At the same time it's not-- sometimes I feel like it's bad luck, Greg. I remember when you guys-- and you were quoted-- when you guys moved that factory from Nogales, Mexico, to Florence, South Carolina. GREG HAYES: Right. JIM CRAMER: The big OTIS factory. You felt that that was a good thing, but there was $60 million costs that first year. It's not as easy to reshore. GREG HAYES: Well, look, it-- any time you do-- undertake a major restructuring-- closing a plant JIM CRAMER: Right. GREG HAYES: --whether the plant's in Mexico, whether the plant's in China, or whether the plant's in Indianapolis, it is expensive and it's high risk. And so we did. We spent about $60 million extra to move the plant from Nogales to Florence. Today it's one of our most efficient plants, and the entire OTIS network is in Florence, South Carolina. Great workforce, great productivity, and great products coming out of there. JIM CRAMER: Okay. Look-- now-- when we talk about something like in Indiana, I mean, what happens? Trump calls. Then you work out the deals with Pence. He gives you some incentives but it's nothing that-- that really makes up for it, but you have a new view because you can't just be a globalist. GREG HAYES: Well, look, you have to recognize the reality of the day, right? I always tell you at UTC we reserve the right to get smarter. And when the facts change we have to be able to adapt. And I think that's exactly what I would say we did here. We understood that the facts have changed. Something we didn't expect. JIM CRAMER: Right. GREG HAYES: But we have to be adaptable. JIM CRAMER: But if you-- come up with a not competitive-- okay-- not competitive, whatever. You-- not competitive engines. You will lose to others. GREG HAYES: Right. Well, and again, if you think about what we talked about last week we're gonna make up $16 million investment in that factory in Indianapolis to automate to drive the cost down so that we can continue to be competitive. Now is it as cheap as moving to Mexico with lower cost labor? No. But we will make that plant competitive just because we'll make the capital investments there. JIM CRAMER: Right. GREG HAYES: But what that ultimately means is there will be fewer jobs. JIM CRAMER: I was going to ask you. I mean, to me I don't see a million people working here. But this is-- but the engineers are nearby. Right? You could not make this in Mexico-- these cannot be made. You need those great American engineers to do it. GREG HAYES: Look, we invented this engine here in Connecticut, right, just up the road in East Hartford where we have 6,000 engineers. There's another 1,100 engineers-- you can't see them in the plant. And there's 1,400 mechanics that work on these lines every day. Right? Having the closeness and the proximity to the engineering talent with the shop floor is critical. It's the same reason we're setting up our overhaul and repair facility for the engines in Columbus, Georgia. We didn't want-- we--could've put it someplace like Mexico, we could've put it someplace like China, but we elected to put it in the U.S. because, again, you need to have that engineering talent to support the overhaul process to see what you need to learn as these engines age. JIM CRAMER: And these engines as I understand it they're a great starter. The-- actual maintenance business is a fabulous business for United Technologies. GREG HAYES: Well, that's why we're in the business of selling jet engines. As--you know every time you sell a jet engine you send a check to the customer-- of a million or so dollars. JIM CRAMER: People don't know that, Greg. You've told me that, but the fact is that you wanna be in the long-term. You have 8,000 orders. You get those orders. It's-- almost a razor-- razor-blade model. GREG HAYES: These are really expensive razor blades. Or razors rather. I mean, seriously, this-- but it's a business where you have to take a very long view. JIM CRAMER: Right. GREG HAYES: Right? This is-- this-- these engines will be in production for the next 30 years. They'll be on the aircraft for the next 40 or 45 years. And so if you think about it you give away the engine up front of you get paid a small piece, two thirds of the price of the engine, the cost of the engine, but then you make it up because you are gonna overhaul the engine three, four, or five times. I was at the airport yesterday. I saw an old-- MD80 taking off with JT8Ds that were built 40 years ago. I love those engines. Right? I mean, it's the same thing. You w-- you know, we'll sell spare parts on these engines for years and years. And that's why we're in the business. But that's why there's so few people in the business, because the barriers to entry are huge. JIM CRAMER: At the same time-- I mean, it sounds-- when you moved OTIS to Florence, again, you wanted the engineers next to the OTIS elevators. GREG HAYES: Right. JIM CRAMER: That has been your philosophy. When you have highly complex things you build them here with engineers. GREG HAYES: Right. JIM CRAMER: That's how it works. GREG HAYES: That's-- you need to have the engineering talent because as you think-- we talked about it. These engines don't go together all these easily at first. JIM CRAMER: Right. GREG HAYES: And there's a lot of learning. There's a lot of things that have to be changed as you go through the process of learning out. You know, today it takes us about 17 days to assemble an engine here. JIM CRAMER: Okay. GREG HAYES: In another year it'll be 10 days. Right? Eventually we'll get that probably in half from even there. JIM CRAMER: Will you get to the 200 that you were hoping? GREG HAYES: Well, this year we talked about 150. JIM CRAMER: Well-- but you-- we have an outside hope that you can beat that. GREG HAYES: Well, let me tell you. We're-- we'll actually ship more engines than that. JIM CRAMER: Okay. GREG HAYES: But what we won't ship is fan blades. And we've talked about that as well. JIM CRAMER: Right. GREG HAYES: So we'll ship well in excess of 150 engines to air bus. You can see them. None of these engines of course have fan blades. Those all get shipped directly from our plant in Lansing, Michigan, to Toulouse where they're assembled onto the engine. JIM CRAMER: All right, how good is the world for your different product lines? And how valuable will that money be repatriated both to shareholders and to engineering and to American manufacturing money? GREG HAYES: Just think about this. If tax reform is-- the key for UTC-- because it-- we've got today $27 billion of permanently reinvested earnings overseas. JIM CRAMER: $27 GREG HAYES: $27 billion. $6 billion of that's sitting in cash that I JIM CRAMER: And you wanna bring here? GREG HAYES: --that I could bring back tomorrow and invest here. Whether it's paying dividends, buying back stock, or investing in the next technology engine. JIM CRAMER: Right. Doing more research and development in America. GREG HAYES: More research. We're already spending $2.5 billion a year on R&D even with the burden of not having access to the cash. So you can imagine-- again, there could-- really could be a renaissance in manufacturing in the U.S. if we get a competitive tax rate. JIM CRAMER: Right. So-- of the things that you're most proud of, I mean, you build the best stuff, you're an American in a globalist environment, but you're also now thinking larger. I mean, you're still a globalist. I mean, if I asked you are you a globalist' GREG HAYES: Absolutely. JIM CRAMER: But-- you are now more concerned at-- in this regime it's-- you get a call from the President-elect. Do you think some of this is 'cause United Technologies is just a very well-known company? Or is it the luck of the draw that someone had-- a camera up and saw the executive say, "Listen, we're moving this factory"? Which is it? GREG HAYES: Well I think there's a little bit of bad luck involved if you will-- if I have to really be honest with you, Jim. The fact is-- when we made the announcement in Indiana and we were trying to be as humane as possible talking-- giving the employees a three year lead time on the announcement. Unfortunately and not unexpectedly, you know, someone took issue with it. They didn't like the fact that we're moving the jobs to Mexico. Everybody's seen the YouTube JIM CRAMER: Right. GREG HAYES: --three minutes. It's unfortunate. And I think, you know, that just-- happened to get in front of Mr. Trump. JIM CRAMER: Right. GREG HAYES: And he saw that. And he picked up on that as a campaign issue. JIM CRAMER: And Indiana was GREG HAYES: And Indiana. And, you know, he's picked up-- you know, he's used the message not just in Indiana JIM CRAMER: Right. GREG HAYES: --but through the whole Rust Belt. And if you think about, you know, the election of Trump I mean it is because of the Midwest and the Rust Belt went with Trump. JIM CRAMER: Right. I mean, Hillary had won and that plant might've gone. Yes. Okay, with this kind of inspiration and discussion, and bargain, and art of the deal can United Technologies lead the renaissance? Are you in a position to lead the manufacturing renaissance? GREG HAYES: Well, absolutely. We're doing huge innovation, right? We're not talking just about these engines, right? Whether you're talking about the next generation of elevators that we're working on, the next generation of aerospace systems that we're working on, power electronics-- what we're doing in the Carrier business in terms of some of the 3,000 ton coolers that we're working. I mean, there is truly going to be huge growth in manufacturing here in the U.S. But a big piece will-- end up getting exported. Think--about it this way. Of UTC's U.S. sales, which are about 30% of our total sales. $10 billion get directly exported today. Almost all of that aerospace-- that supports 40,000 jobs here in the U.S. 40,000. Now if you think about Pratt Whitney, they're gonna add about 8,000 manufacturing jobs in the U.S. in the next ten years. Right? Those are good paying JIM CRAMER: That's real GREG HAYES: Those are real JIM CRAMER: Those are the jobs that GREG HAYES: --jobs. JIM CRAMER: --we want in this country. GREG HAYES: Which pale in comparison to the 800 jobs we were able to save in Indiana. JIM CRAMER: That's. GREG HAYES: These are very, very high paying jobs; high technology jobs. And I think again our challenge is where do we get the people to do that? And part of that is their-- our obligation to train people-- JIM CRAMER: Right. GREG HAYES: --for the next generation. JIM CRAMER: But you provide more scholarships than any other company. That's really important. GREG HAYES: It's about life-long learning, Jim. JIM CRAMER: Exactly. I wanna thank Greg Hayes, Chairman and CEO of United Technologies. Greg, thank you so much for your time. About CNBC: With CNBC in the U.S., CNBCin Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and CNBC World, CNBCis the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-timefinancial market coverage and business information to approximately 381 millionhomes worldwide, including more than 94 million households in the United Statesand Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million householdsacross China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming inNorth America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC'sglobal headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBCNews bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new realityprogramming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC anda number of distinctive in-house documentaries. CNBC also has a vastportfolio of digital products which deliver real-time financial market news andinformation across a variety of platforms including: CNBC.com; CNBC PRO, thepremium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides live access to CNBCprogramming, exclusive video content and global market data and analysis; asuite of CNBC mobile products including the CNBC Apps for iOS, Android andWindows devices; and additional products such as the CNBC App for the AppleWatch and Apple TV. Members of the media canreceive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBCUniversalMedia Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/programming/cnbc. For more information aboutNBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com. A Chinese newspaper featuring a photo of US President-elect Donald Trump that reads 'President Trump shakes America', is partially covered by a 100 Yuan note on a news stand in Beijing on November 10, 2016. President-elect Donald Trump's recent public insults against China mark his latest departure from "the formal way things are done," CNBC's Jim Cramer said Monday. The president-elect in a series of tweets on late Sunday lashed out at China, accusing Beijing of manipulating its currency, unfairly taxing U.S. products and militarizing the South China Sea. Tweet 1 Tweet 2 "I think Trump is breaking with all sorts of protocols, whether it be State Department, whether it be environment," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street." "And this is all a part of it. It's a way to be able to state your case that China can't take the jobs." On Friday, Trump splintered "protocol" after he accepted a congratulatory phone call from Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, a move that broke with nearly four decades of U.S foreign policy in which the U.S. has embraced a "One China" policy, under which China views Taiwan as part of China. In his presidential campaign, Trump pledged to go against the Washington political establishment and keep jobs from leaving the U.S. Cramer said the U.S. is beginning to see the kind of Trump that will take over the Oval Office in January. "It does seem like right now we have two issues of Trump," he said. "We've got the repatriation lower taxation issue. And then we've got the, 'Listen, we're defending the working person.' And I think that Wall Street's going to be a little surprised about the real defense of the working person." "I think people felt that maybe that wasn't sincere," he said. "Well, these actions are certainly sincere." European stocks recovered to close higher on Monday following early losses after Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi lost a referendum to reform the country's constitution. . European markets The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended 0.56 percent higher with almost all sectors in positive territory. Bank stocks fell more than 1.2 percent at the open but pared losses to close 0.76 percent higher at the end of the trading day. However, Italian banks - Unicredit , Banco Popolare and Banca Popolare di Milano were all near the bottom of the Stoxx 600 with the latter falling by more than 7.9 percent. The Italian had been trading flat for most of the session and ended the day down around 0.21 percent. Meanwhile in the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average hit fresh all-time highs yet again on Monday as investors digested comments from New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley. "It doesn't take a lot for the Dow to be at an all-time peak anymore. Another half a percent climb has seen the index break 19250 for the first time, continuing its astonishing post-election rise," Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex told CNBC in a note on Monday. Ongoing political instability Nearly 60 percent of Italian voters rejected the government's proposal on constitutional reform. Renzi had said he would resign if the reform wasn't approved by voters. Investors are worried over the possibility of new elections in the third-largest euro economy and with the impact that the ongoing political instability will have for the fragile banking system. The troubled Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena is reportedly having to wait for another three or four days to find out whether a recapitalization plan of 5 billion euros ($5.29 billion) is to be implemented, according to Reuters sources. Its shares ended 4.2 percent down. Unicredit is trying to sell its asset manager, Pioneer, to Amundi for about 3 billion euros. The deal would help the Italian bank to boost its capital ratios, the Financial Times reported. Despite such news, shares of Unicredit closed down by more than 3.3 percent. Claus Vistesen, chief euro zone economist at Pantheon Macro, said in a note: "The economy could easily grind to a halt due to political uncertainty. It could also prevent urgent action on the country's ailing banks. A deal with the EU on recapitalization can't be postponed for much longer if Italian politicians want to avoid a sudden failure of one or more of the country's mid-size banks." Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's said in a note that "the negative outcome of the referendum yesterday does not have an immediate impact on Italy's creditworthiness as it does not have immediate implications for Italy's economic or budgetary policies beyond likely near-term changes in Italian politics." The euro fell to a 20-month low during Asian trading but has since rallied to hit a two-week high against the dollar. Fireworks fill the night sky above Oceti Sakowin Camp as activists celebrate after learning an easement had been denied for the Dakota Access Pipeline near the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on December 4, 2016 outside Cannon Ball, North Dakota. In June, Warren donated $100,000 to the Trump Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee for Trump's campaign, and a further $3,000 directly to the Trump campaign. For his part, Trump's campaign financial disclosure forms revealed the President-elect's investments totaling between $500,000 and $1 million in Energy Transfer Partners. "I believe we will have a government in place that believes in energy infrastructure," he said. In an interview with NBC News in November, Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren said he was "100 percent sure that the pipeline will be approved by a Trump administration." In general, Trump has pledged to invest in infrastructure projects. During the campaign, he also supported the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which has also prompted opposition. Trump supported the completion of the pipeline, according to an aide's memo recently obtained by the Associated Press. A spokesman, Bryan Lanza, said in the memo that Trump's backing for the pipeline "has nothing to do with his personal investments and everything to do with promoting policies that benefit all Americans." Here's what may be next for the protesters and Energy Transfer Partners, the Dallas-based company building the pipeline, after the U.S. Army Corps turned down the permit for the project. "You know it's hard to get excited," said Stevey Seymour, a member of the Colville Tribes. Seymour said she was worried the decision could be easily overturned by President-elect Donald Trump 's administration. But reality soon began to sink in among the thousands who have been fighting the construction of the 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline for months, which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others say endangers local drinking water and would disturb sacred tribal sites. In the Oceti Sakowin camp, native and non-native alike danced to celebratory drumming that blasted through loudspeakers. News that the federal government ruled against a controversial North Dakota pipeline project was greeted with singing and roars of joy among protesters. A spokesperson for the president-elect's office was not available for comment. Any legal options for Energy Transfer Partners? In its statement Sunday night, Energy Transfer Partners did not threaten legal action against the Corps. That may be because the company, at least right now, would have a weak case in court, said Deborah Sivas, an environmental law professor at Stanford University. "The statement was clear: a final decision has not been made," Sivas told NBC News. "Unless they find themselves before a very sympathetic judge, they don't have a case with no finality to a decision." The language in the Corps decision, Sivas added, both concedes that the company has met all the legal requirements while also a recognizing a "heightened duty to tribes and protecting their lands." An Energy Transfer spokesperson declined to comment on the possibility of the company taking legal action against the government. According to Sivas, however, there may be a political route for the company in the absence of legal recourse. "I suspect that they have the ear of the transition team," said Sivas. "If I were advising them, I would say your political strategy is likely to be more successful than your legal options at this point in time." What could Energy Partners do? The Dallas-based company financing the $3.7 billion project does not look to be backing down. "The Administration's statement today that it would not at this time issue an 'easement' to Dakota Access Pipeline is a purely political action," read a statement by the company Sunday. The company went on to say that it expected "to complete construction of the pipeline," noting that "nothing this Administration has done today changes that in any way." When asked by NBC News whether the company would be willing to pay any fines to the government if they continued construction, an Energy Transfer Partners spokesperson said "it would not." These fines would be slapped on Energy Partners if the company defies the Corps of Engineers' orders and drills under Lake Oahe, a large Missouri River reservoir. That stretch required an easement from federal authorities. Will the pipeline be re-routed? The Army Corps assistant secretary for civil works, Jo-Ellen Darcy, said in a statement Sunday that the Corps based their decision permission to the company "on a need to explore alternate routes for the Dakota Access Pipeline crossing." The pipeline would cross 90 to 115 feet below Lake Oahe with double walled and remote-controlled shutoff valves on each side of the crossing. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, whose reservation lies just a half-mile from where the pipeline would be constructed, has for months said the pipeline would destroy the area's water supply and ancient sacred sites dating back 15,000 years. Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II has called for a pipeline re-route a request that has been rejected on numerous occasions by Energy Transfer Partners. The tribe's worry the pipeline would destroy sacred sites and compromise its water supply "were not based on the facts," Energy Transfer Partners' Warren told NBC News. Warren has also told NBC News that there was no guarantee an oil spill would not happen, but the pipeline would be prepared to withstand such an event. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has said it will look at possible alternate routes, although any other route is also likely to cross the Missouri River. What will pipeline opponents do next? The U.S. Corps of Engineers decision to deny the permit to Energy Partners was welcomed, albeit cautiously, by those opposing the construction. Brian Cladoosby, the president of the National Congress of American Indians, called the move was a victory for "all of Indian Country" that showed "respect for tribal sovereignty and a true government-to-government relationship." Still, the new Trump government would bring with it renewed struggle, according to Charlotte Bad Cob, from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. "This is a temporary celebration. I think this is just a rest," she told Reuters. "With a new government it could turn and we could be at it again." The U.K. supermarket registered the trademark in 2014 with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, but the government claims this harm's the country's businesses and prevents them from describing their products as Icelandic. The country's ministry for foreign affairs revealed on Friday that representatives from Iceland (the government) met with representatives from Iceland Foods (the supermarket) to resolve an issue concerning a trademark over the name. The government of Iceland has announced that it will proceed with legal action against a U.K. retailer with the same name after talks with the supermarket failed late last week. The government claims that, during last week's meeting, Iceland Foods refused to give up control over the word and presented unsatisfactory proposals to resolve the situation. As a result, the government will proceed with legal action to invalidate the trademark. It described the issue as a "matter of principle". "The registration of a country name that enjoys highly positive national branding to a private company defies logic and is untenable as it hinders companies and entities to register their products with their country of origin," the government said in a press release. Iceland Foods confirmed that it sent a delegation to Iceland on Friday to meet with the government, in the hope of achieving an amicable solution. "This got nowhere because it rapidly became clear that the Icelandic authorities have no interest in reaching a compromise," said Iceland Founder & CEO Malcolm Walker, in a press release. "We have no real idea why this has suddenly become such a major problem for Iceland (the country). Iceland Foods had Icelandic majority shareholders and Icelandic representatives on its board for seven years to 2012. At no point in all those years did any representative of Iceland (the country) raise the slightest concern about our company's branding." Walker denied claims that the company has tried to prevent the country using the name "Iceland" to promote Iceland. He added that his company has only ever sought to prevent other food and retail companies using "Iceland" in a way that may cause confusion with its brand. "The one absolute certainty about legal action is that it will take up a great deal of time and cost a large amount of money, and that ultimately the only real beneficiaries will be lawyers," he added. "That is why I once again urge the Government and people of Iceland to talk to us to achieve the sensible coexistence agreement which I am sure is well within reach and very much in the best interests of all parties and their stakeholders." Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. Donald Trump speaks during the grand opening of the Trump International Hotel as his daughter Ivanka looks on in Washington, DC, on October 26, 2016. President-elect Donald Trump's proposed 35 percent tariff may hit close to home and could end up hurting daughter Ivanka's business. In a series of tweets Sunday, Trump said any business that leaves the country would face "retribution or consequence." The Ivanka Trump Collection has several imported dresses listed on its website, implying they are manufactured abroad. @JuddLegum: Dear @realDonaldTrump Will you impose a 35% tariff on the Ivanka Trump Collection? She's manufacturing clothes abroad, importing to US Harvard Law professor Robert Lawrence had previously conducted an analysis of Ivanka Trump's clothing items and accessories. Of 832 examined, he found at least 628 were imported, including 354 made in China. Earlier this year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled 20,000 Ivanka Trump scarves because they did not meet federal flammability standards and posed "a burn risk" for the people wearing them. A spokesperson for the Ivanka Trump brand said the brand is interested in bringing more manufacturing jobs to the U.S. and looks forward to being a part of the conversation. It will be the United States' responsibility to lead its allies in the Asia-Pacific region on a number of matters including trade, former Deputy Treasury Secretary Bob Kimmitt told CNBC on Monday. "I think our allies are looking for U.S. leadership in the Asia-Pacific region ... that is political, military and economic," Kimmitt, who was deputy secretary under President George W. Bush, told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." Kimmitt said Donald Trump's negative stance on the Trans-Pacific Partnership will not yield the isolationist result many are expecting, noting that the president-elect is likely to set up a number of bilateral trade agreements rather than one broader multilateral accord. "I think the U.S. has an important leadership role to play on trade," Kimmitt said. "I don't think the president-elect is going to shrink from that leadership role." With U.S.-China relations coming into focus this weekend after Trump circumvented cornerstone foreign policy protocol, speaking with the president of Taiwan and accusing China on Twitter of a number of misdeeds, Kimmitt said that the president-elect should be picking his Cabinet with China on his mind. "The China relationship is one of most important bilateral relationships," said Kimmitt, who is also a former undersecretary of State. "Whether State, Defense or Treasury, it certainly should figure into the calculus when the president makes his final personnel decisions not just at Cabinet level, but the sub-Cabinet level," he said. Kimmit said the leader of the Treasury will have particularly close encounters with China, "from the currency report to cases that come before the Committee on Foreign Investment, which he will chair, to activities in the G20," an international summit for government officials from 20 of the world's leading economies. The former deputy Treasury secretary said China was also a key player in the effort to uphold economic sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Trump has nominated Steve Mnuchin for the role of Treasury secretary in his administration, and Ret. Gen. James Mattis for secretary of Defense. A North Carolina man who claimed he was investigating a fake news report that a Washington pizzeria was involved in a child-sex ring was arrested after opening fire in the restaurant, authorities said. Police said Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, of Salisbury, fired into the floor of the Comet Ping Pong restaurant on Sunday, but no one was hurt. Customers immediately fled. Welch told police he had gone to the pizzeria to "self-investigate" a fake news conspiracy theory which claims that Comet was at the center of a child-sex ring operated by Hillary Clinton and her campaign chairman, John Podesta. Lee Elmore, a bartender at Comet who said he didn't see a gun himself, told NBC 4 Washington that people started to panic as the man walked to the back of the restaurant. Elmore described his demeanor as "bizarre," saying he "didn't make any eye contact, didn't talk with anybody." James Alefantis, owner of Comet, said Monday he hopes that people who have been "fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today and to stop right away." "What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories do come with consequences," Alefantis said in a statement, adding that the conspiracy theories about his establishment "are completely and entirely false." The Associated Press reported that police seized a Colt AR-15 rifle, a .38-caliber Colt handgun, a shotgun and a folding knife. Politico reported that the son of retired Gen. Mike Flynn, Trump's pick for national security adviser, embraced the fake news conspiracy theory. @mflynnJR: Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it'll remain a story. The left seems to forget #PodestaEmails and the many "coincidences" tied to it. The conspiracy theory known as "Pizzagate" is based on an unconfirmed hacked email published on WikiLeaks in which Podesta asked Comet about hosting a Clinton fundraiser. Conspiracy theorists then made baseless allegations that the pizzeria was part of a child-trafficking ring. NBC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Ever experienced a bout of anxiety at work? I just did. One day last week I had several assignments to finish in quick succession. I could feel thoughts pinging around in my brain as I tried and failed to decide what to focus on first. Once I was able to get the pandemonium under control, my brain felt like mush. More from The New York Times: Bossy vs. Buddy: Two Leadership Styles, Each With Its Place Conflict at Work? Empathy Can Smooth Ruffled Feathers Paying With Cash Hurts. That's AlsoWhy It Feels So Good So what did I do? I breathed deeply from the middle of my body. I imagined the top of my head, and pictured arrows coming out the sides of my shoulders. I stood up for a while and then walked around the newsroom. And went back to work. These simple solutions to anxiety are not so easy to practice in an era of multitasking, multiple screens and mindless distractions. I learned them only after signing a contract to write a book and becoming so anxious about it that I developed back and stomach pains. Unable to score a prescription for Klonopin (it's addictive, my doctor said), I was reduced to seeking out natural methods to relieve my anxiety. The methods I learned helped me write the book. But they also made me realize that workers of all stripes could use them to reduce stress, and to think more clearly and creatively. My first stop was Belisa Vranich, a clinical psychologist who teaches or rather reteaches people how to breathe. Dimly I sensed that the way I was inhaling and exhaling was out of whack, and she confirmed it by giving me some tests. First off, like most people, I was a "vertical" breather, meaning my shoulders moved upward when I inhaled. Second, I was breathing from my upper chest, where the lungs don't have much presence. In her Manhattan studio, Dr. Vranich taught me the right way to breathe: horizontally and from the middle of the body, where the diaphragm is. You should expand your belly while inhaling through your nose, she said, and squeeze your belly inward while exhaling. At first, this seemed counterintuitive. And yet it is the natural way to breathe the way children and animals do it, Dr. Vranich said. It's when society begins to exert its merciless pressure on us that we start doing things the wrong way. When we are under stress at work, we tend to brace and compress ourselves, and our field of vision becomes narrow, Dr. Vranich said in a recent interview. This causes us to breathe more quickly and shallowly. The brain needs oxygen to function, of course, and breathing this way reduces the supply, causing muddled thinking. Also, the digestive system doesn't receive the movement and massage it needs from the diaphragm, and that can lead to problems like bloating and acid reflux, she said. Stress can send people into fight-or-flight mode, which can lead them to brace their bellies to appear strong. This is exactly the stance that interferes with calm, alert thinking, Dr. Vranich said. The fight-or-flight response means business. It developed early when our ancestors needed it as protection from predators. It was so crucial to survival that it has stuck around to this day, as a response to stress. Just enough stress (such as the kind provided by a realistic deadline) gets your adrenaline going and pushes you through to the finish line. But too much (the kind you feel when you have too many deadlines you know you can't meet) can push you into fight or flight, causing you to crouch, clench and tense. I was also feeling pain and tension in my back and shoulders as I started to write my book as if my body were trying to hide from a lion. So I took posture lessons. When I told people I was working on my posture, they tended to feel ashamed of their slouchiness and lifted their chins, pulled their shoulder blades together and stiffened their necks and shoulders. But that is exactly what you don't want to do, said my posture teacher, Lindsay Newitter, who runs a company in New York called the Posture Police. Rather, you want to gently release the tension that you may not even be aware is compressing your body. Ms. Newitter helped me undo habits that had been tensing me up for years. Having an expert try to correct your unique postural peculiarities can be a help, but even without lessons, a few basic principles can help you get through the workday. First, as mentioned, simply imagine the top of your head. At the risk of looking like a monkey, you can even touch the top of your head to get a sense of where it is in space (you may be surprised at how off you were). This act of imagination gently guides you into better alignment. Imagining horizontal arrows moving in opposite directions from the sides of your shoulders expands your chest area and allows you to breathe more freely. Try to be aware of any part of the body where you are exerting more tension than you need. For example, the effort of operating your mouse should come more from your fingers than from gripping it with your hand, your wrist and your whole arm, Ms. Newitter said. The same principle applies to typing. Good posture helps you feel "spready instead of squished," Ms. Newitter said recently, quoting her 9-year-old daughter. Ms. Newitter teaches a method known as the Alexander Technique, which was developed in the 19th century by Frederick Matthias Alexander, an Australian actor who invented it to cure his career-killing hoarseness. He came up with a concept known as "end gaining," which has arguably only worsened as computers and smartphones have come on the scene. It means trying to get somewhere before you are actually there, so you are not inhabiting your own body in the present. Screens aggravate end-gaining because they cause people to curl forward to meet them, which compresses the spine, Ms. Newitter said. Let the screen come to you rather than lurch out toward it, she said. Another important point I learned in my quest to calm down is that to do our best work, we need to move around. People mistakenly think that being in one position for a long period will improve concentration, but the body needs to move and take regular breaks to focus, said Alan Hedge, an ergonomics professor at Cornell University. We've all heard that sitting for long periods is bad for you, but standing for a long time isn't good either, Professor Hedge said. You need to mix it up. He has done research showing that workers should sit for roughly 20 minutes, stand for about eight minutes and move around for two minutes. Donald Trump has been ruffling diplomatic feathers since he was elected by casually talking to world leaders without first getting guidance from the State Department. He's already angered close allies like Britain and India, but his latest phone call threatens to do far more damage. That's because of whom it was with: President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan. This isn't just some charming diplomatic faux pas by Trump this was a blunder of potentially historic proportions. Trump's call is believed to be the first between a US president-elect and a leader of Taiwan since diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed in 1979. More from Vox: How Italian PM's resignation impacts relationship with Europe Austria just decisively rejected the far-right's presidential candidate TheArmy Corps just blocked the route of the DakotaAccess Pipeline Trump's transition team may have made matters even worse with its formal statement about the call, which referred to Tsai as the "President of Taiwan"a title no American leader has used to refer to the head of Taiwan in decades. The word choice is certain to rankle China, which doesn't recognize the legitimacy of Tsai or any of her predecessors: President-elect Trump spoke with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, who offered her congratulations. During the discussion, they noted the close economic, political, and security ties exists between Taiwan and the United States. President-elect Trump also congratulated President Tsai on becoming President of Taiwan earlier this year. Shortly after the transition team issued that statement, Trump took to Twitter and essentially doubled-down, once again referring to Tsai as the "President of Taiwan": Donald Trump Tweet: The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you! With this phone call, and the follow-up tweet, Trump is risking fundamentally upending decades of US policy toward Taiwan and enraging China, the world's only other superpower. China sees Taiwan not as an independent country, but rather as part of China. The dispute between China and Taiwan goes back to 1949 and the end of the Chinese Civil War, when the defeated Nationalists fled to the island of Taiwan, leaving the communists in power in mainland China. The two territories have been governed separately ever since, with both governments claiming to be the legitimate representative of "One China"that is, China and Taiwan. Most countries, including the US, only have formal diplomatic relations with mainland China and don't officially recognize the government in Taiwanwhich is why Trump's casual chat with the president of Taiwan, and his seemingly cavalier choice of words when describing Tsai, is so surprising, and so risky. Trump, responding to the immediate groundswell of criticism after the phone call, fired back on Twitter: Donald Trump Tweet: Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call. His point is valid the US does sell Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment. But it betrays a clear lack of understanding of both US policy toward China and of how diplomacy works. Under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, the US has pledged to "make available" to Taiwan various weapons and other military supplies "as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability." It's not a defense treaty, but rather a statement of policy that the US will help Taiwan maintain a defense against China. Yet it also makes clear that the US does not formally recognize the government of Taiwan. It's a policy known as "strategic ambiguity," in which the US essentially tries to walk a very fine diplomatic line between supporting its friend Taiwan without upsetting the status quo or angering China. Of course, China could theoretically choose not to give too much weight to Trump's actions, deciding that the president-elect doesn't know what he's doing and isn't signaling a fundamental shift in US policy. Diplomats from other countries privately say their governments aren't currently taking Trump's pronouncements seriously because they attribute them to ignorance, rather than a change of direction. China is a savvy observer of American politics, and is virtually sure to recognize this as a gaffe. Indeed, a few hours after the incident occurred, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, speaking at a conference, called the move a "petty act" by Taiwan and said it wouldn't change the US's longstanding "One China" policy. But that doesn't mean it won't do damage. Trump spent the campaign accusing China of manipulating its currency and taking advantage of American businesses, and threatened to take a harder line toward Beijing's aggressive actions in the East and South China Seas. Trump may not realize it, but the US desperately needs Chinese diplomatic support at the United Nations and in reining in nuclear-armed North Korea. Any decision by Beijing to begin selling off its vast holdings of American debt, meanwhile, could throw the US economy into recession. That means that it doesn't matter whether Trump meant to change US policy or not; Beijing may file away the call as it decides how to calibrate its relationship with the new administration and whether to see Trump as a potentially ally or a potential adversary. Regardless of whether he "meant it" or not, China could take actions or make decisions based on those assumptions that could lead to insecurity and potentially even conflict. "The Chinese leadership will see this as a highly provocative action, of historic proportions," Evan Medeiros, former Asia director at the White House National Security Council, told the Financial Times. "Regardless if it was deliberate or accidental, this phone call will fundamentally change China's perceptions of Trump's strategic intentions for the negative. With this kind of move, Trump is setting a foundation of enduring mistrust and strategic competition for US-China relations." On Saturday, China's Foreign Ministry reportedly said it had lodged "stern representations" with what it called the "relevant U.S. side," urging the careful handling of the Taiwan issue to avoid any unnecessary disturbances in ties. This is at least the third time that a Trump phone call has triggered controversy. He told British Prime Minister Theresa May, "If you travel to the US you should let me know" as if sitting heads of state just pop into other countries unannounced. He also managed to anger India by lavishing praise on Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and promising to visit Pakistan something President Obama pointedly avoided doing during his two terms because of the two countries' complicated relationship. With this latest call, the president-elect hasn't just caused a headache that Obama will have to deal with during his last weeks in office; he's also given a worrying hint of the kind of diplomatic crises that may erupt once he moves into the White House. United Technologies CEO Greg Hayes told Jim Cramer on Monday that he didn't make a deal with President-elect Donald Trump because he had shareholders in mind he did it for all stakeholders. "I would tell you that the genie of globalization is not going back in the bottle. Free trade is still essential to the growth of this country," Hayes told the "Mad Money" host. Stakeholders, he said, include the community, employees and share owners. U.S. technology giants including Facebook , Twitter , Microsoft , and Google's YouTube could face new laws forcing them to deal with online hate speech if they don't tackle the problem themselves, the European Commission warned. In May, the four U.S. firms unveiled a "code of conduct" drawn up in conjunction with the Commission, the European Union's executive arm, to take on hate speech on their platforms. It involved a series of commitments including a pledge to review the majority of notifications of suspected illegal hate speech in less than 24 hours and remove or disable access to the content if necessary. Another promise was to provide regular training to staff around hate speech. But six months on, the Commission is not happy with the progress. EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova has commissioned a report, set to be released later this week, which claims that progress in removing offending material has been too slow. "In practice the companies take longer and do not yet achieve this goal. They only reviewed 40 percent of the recorded cases in less than 24 hours," a Commission official said. "After 48 hours, the figure is more than 80 percent. This shows that the target can realistically be achieved, but this will need much stronger efforts by the IT companies." Hayes said that a Trump administration could potentially bring a "better" regulatory environment and a lower tax rate, which could help United Technologies in the long run. "I was born at night, but it wasn't last night," Hayes told " Mad Money " host Jim Cramer on Monday. "I also know that about 10 percent of our revenue comes from the U.S. government." United Technologies CEO Greg Hayes said there's a cost to keeping Carrier's Indiana plant open in a deal with President-elect Donald Trump , but he expected that the move will pay off in the long-term. President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect Governor Mike Pence and United Technologies CEO Gregory Hayes visit the Carrier air conditioning and heating company greets workers on December 1, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. United Technologies is the parent company of furnace and air conditioner maker Carrier, which came under fire during Trump's campaign for its announced plans to close two Indiana plants and move production to an existing manufacturing facility in Mexico. Carrier will keep more than 1,000 jobs, but will still close another Indiana plant and send about 700 jobs to Mexico. If Trump's plans to revive manufacturing in the U.S. leads to a resurgence on American soil, Hayes said that is a good thing, and he believes Trump's team will be focused on it. "I think if we can see a renaissance in manufacturing in the U.S. that is a good deal for the U.S. But it's got to come from more thoughtful regulation, and a more competitive tax rate. I think those are the things they are focused on," Hayes said. Programming note: The full interview with United Technologies CEO Greg Hayes will air on "Mad Money" on Monday at 6 p EST. If you've been putting off enrolling in Medicare for next year, now is the time to act. Open enrollment for Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug coverage is winding down. Eligible individuals have between Oct. 15 and Dec. 7 to make updates to their coverage for the following year. (One caveat: if you're still working past age 65 and are covered by your employer, you get a special enrollment period when you do retire.) During that time, you can also switch from original Medicare, known as Part A hospital insurance and Part B medical coverage, to a private Medicare Advantage plan. More than 55 million Americans are currently enrolled. A woman waits to speak with Medicare consultants for enrollment in the Medicare Part D program in New York City. Getty Images Over this seven-week period, you can also join a prescription drug plan, drop your coverage or swap Medicare Advantage plans. You can also just keep your current plan. "You should know that it's not too late," said Katy Votava, founder of Goodcare.com, a Medicare consultancy. She said that while you can enroll through the entire day on Dec. 7, the government's website, Medicare.gov, will likely be slow. Though President-elect Donald Trump has said he'd like to "modernize" the program, what may happen is still unknown. Here's what you should know in the remaining hours to renew coverage for 2017. Understand your medical needs Even though time is short, be sure to pull together a list of your providers and medications to ensure that you can still access them next year. Talk with your doctor and make sure that he or she is on the same supplemental plan that you're on, said Carolyn McClanahan, a certified financial planner who began her career as a physician and is now president of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida. Don't just "phone in" your Part D plan selection for next year. Use the Medicare Plan Finder, an online wizard from the government that can help you decide which plan is best. You can also input details for your prescription drugs. "Be prepared with your list of medications and make sure that they're covered," said Votava of Goodcare.com. Switching to Medicare Advantage If you make the jump to Medicare Advantage, don't do it on the fly. You might not have access to the same doctors and hospitals. "Make sure you can live with the limitations of Medicare Advantage," said McClanahan. Coverage through health maintenance organization plans, for instance, generally only give you access to providers who are in network. "Your choices will be very limited, so be at peace with it," she said. Don't just roll over coverage The plan you have now might not be the best choice for you next year. Insurers could change their cost structure for 2017, which may result in higher premiums, deductibles and copays. In the event the company providing your Medicare Advantage or Part D plan does not renew its contract with Medicare for the new year, you'll have a grace period from Dec. 8 until the last day of February to join a new plan. It's best to call the provider of your coverage to ensure they are still participating in Medicare next year, Goodcare.com's Votava said. Last-minute fixes If you sign up for Medicare Advantage before the Dec. 7 deadline, but you decide you want to switch back to original Medicare, you can do so from Jan. 1 to Feb. 14. This is called the Medicare Advantage Disenrollment Period. If you revert to original Medicare, you'll have until Feb.14 to join a Part D drug plan. Votava also recommends picking up a Medigap policy to help cover additional costs. Be aware that you can't swap between Medicare Advantage plans, switch out Part D drug plans or change from original Medicare to Medicare Advantage during the Jan. 1 to Feb. 14 period. What about after 2017? U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (DN.Y.). (Eric Reinhardt / BJNN file photo) LOWVILLE, N.Y. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) on Friday said hed fight attempts to claw back critical federal funds that allow small hospitals, such as those in the North Country, to provide necessary services to senior citizens and underserved populations in rural areas. Schumer outlined his concern during a visit to Lewis County General Hospital (LCGH) in Lowville. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has changed a funding formula and pursuing millions in retroactive payments from some New York hospitals benefiting from two federal programs. The programs Schumer explained that Sole Community Hospitals (SCH) and Medicare-Dependent Hospitals (MDH) are often the only sources of emergency care for miles in rural areas. SCH and MDH are federal programs that provide hospitals, particularly in rural areas, with funding they need to continue essential health-care services in communities that would otherwise not have options, Schumer explained in a news release posted Friday on his website. At the same time, they often suffer from declining patient volumes. As a result, CMS provides these hospitals with the funding needed to stay afloat. Formula change CMS recently decided to change a calculation used to determine certain funding for SCHs and MDHs, according to Schumer. When these hospitals have a decrease in discharges of more than 5 percent from one cost reporting year to the next, they can apply for a volume-decrease adjustment (VDA) payment. Schumer explained that, due to this circumstance beyond their control, the federal government provides the adjustment payment to cover some of the costs needed to maintain necessary core staff and services. However, Schumer said CMS has decided to go after hospitals to try and retroactively recoup funds based on the new formula and not the formula in place when it made these funding determinations. The retroactive recalculations affect 16 New York facilities in the SCH and MDH with repayments that could total between $15 million and $20 million. Lewis County General Hospital, for example, will soon receive a notice that it owes hundreds of thousands of dollars and will only have 15 days to pay. LCGH estimates this amount will be at minimum $300,000, Schumers office said. In addition, many other North Country hospitals are facing the same situation. Massena Memorial Hospital; Carthage Area Hospital; EJ Noble Hospital (now Gouverneur Hospital); Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital; Adirondack Medical Center; and Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center in Ogdensburg are all part of this group of 16 New York SCHs and MDHs that could have to turn over hundreds of thousands of dollars. For example, Massena Memorial Hospital was recently notified it had to pay back $1.6 million to the Feds. Reaction Michele Prince, interim CEO of Lewis County General Hospital, and officials from other affected North Country hospitals, joined Schumer as he spoke. Lewis County General Hospital (LCGH) is one of the hospitals that will be affected by the Medicare low volume cuts. The funds, which are intended to provide support for safety net hospitals, like LCGH, will have a major impact for rural hospitals in the North Country, Prince said in Schumers release. If the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proceeds with its plan to recoup funds that have already been utilized to serve patients, LCGH could potentially lose over $300,000. This burden on our facility and the other safety net hospitals would be significant. Prince said she hopes that CMS will reconsider the retroactive payment. Schumer contends it is completely unfair, and is demanding CMS immediately reverse course on this action... Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com Dennis Gates and new-look Mizzou basketball ready for introduction It's been an offseason filled with change for Missouri basketball. Now, Dennis Gates and company are ready to get the games underway Donna James Leads a Bold Plan to Revive Victorias Secret James has a proven record as a C-suite executive and adviser. Now, shes guiding the lingerie giant toward a more inclusive, financially sound future. LAS VEGAS -- Capital One Financial Corp. is taking big steps in its transformation into a tech company. The Fortune 500 company, one of the top 10 largest banks in the U.S. with $313 billion in total assets, wants to be a tech company that also is a top financial services provider. It's a change in strategy and focus, said Rob Alexander, CIO of Capital One, based in McLean, Virginia. Among its plans as it transitions to a "tech" company are an open, collaborative workspace, IT workers with new skill sets, fast-paced apps and a service evolution, and a focus on leading with cutting-edge technologies. "We need to be a high-productivity software engineering organization," Alexander said in an interview with Computerworld at this week's AWS re:Invent conference. "The winners in banking are going to be really great technology companies. It didn't use to be the case historically that you really needed to be a great software development company and a great analytics company, but it's really important today." As part of that goal, Capital One needs to be laser-focused on the cloud, and the company announced this week that it chose Amazon Web Services (AWS) to be its predominant cloud infrastructure provider. While it's a solid move to partner with a cloud vendor, Judith Hurwitz, an analyst with Hurwitz & Associates, noted that there also are some big risks attached. "The disadvantage of going with a single cloud vendor can be significant," she said. "Many companies want to be able to use several vendors so that they can have some control and move if another vendor is more innovative or more cost effective." Capital One was thinking about that risk. The company is still doing smaller cloud projects with other providers, including Salesforce.com, Microsoft and Google. However, AWS will be their primary partner in moving to the cloud. Capital One started exploring the possibilities of cloud computing in 2013, mainly doing development and testing in its innovation lab. By 2015, it began using the cloud in production but only on new and small projects. But the company's developers were getting frustrated because they couldn't do more sensitive and higher stakes work in the cloud. That has all changed. With the AWS partnership, Capital One is developing new apps for the cloud, while also steadily migrating its legacy applications. The bank's mobile app, one of its primary customer-facing mediums, began running on the AWS cloud in the past month. Every development team they have is either working on the cloud now or has a plan to transition their applications to the cloud. They also have plans to move their mainframe applications, which could be decades old, to the cloud. "I think there's a power in a strategic declaration saying we are going to be cloud first," Alexander said. "It changes how you build your apps. It changes the direction of your investments. You're not investing in building your own infrastructure It's a different way of operating." Capital One is creating this different way of operating because of a decision it made in 2010. Driven by the growing importance of the internet to their business, company executives decided to change their mindset and stop thinking like traditional bankers. "We needed to deliver capabilities at a faster pace because we were working like a bank," Alexander said. "The recognition that we needed to be a different kind of company happened It is an enormous change to do what I'm talking about. There's a lot of learning that happens along the way." Capital One is in an industry that could see some dramatic changes to the way it operates in the coming years, said Jeff Kagan, an independent industry analyst. "This is all very forward thinking of them," Kagan said. "It is very innovative for a financial company of yesterday to think like a tech company in the money space tomorrow. This is the kind of thinking every company that wants to be a winner going forward must have." Hurwitz said it's smart for Capital One to get out ahead in its efforts since it's a move that Capital One, and its competitors, would eventually have to make. "These companies don't have a choice," Hurwitz said. "They will need to be technology companies. They have to offer their services in an agile and innovative way or they will risk losing market share." But why act like a tech company and not just an innovative bank? It's a matter of speed, agility and meeting customers' quickly changing needs, Alexander said. It's also provides the opportunity to use the latest technology, such as the cloud and artificial intelligence, to drive its business. The staid banking industry hasn't been known for its quick turns and maneuverability, but that's what Capital One wants. "Consumer expectations of what they should get from a financial services provider are changing," Alexander said. "The winners will be those who do all the important things banks do but will also be really great at building technology solutions for customers Thinking about your mobile app as a product that lives on and evolves regularly is something that tech companies do but not necessarily banks. It's a different way of operating. It changes the way we think about and build applications." Capital One needs to be able to turn out quick updates to its apps and services, adding new features and wowing its tech-savvy customers. The company is also building deeper analytical capabilities, exploring the use of machine learning for customer service, fraud protection and cybersecurity. So how does a bank with an IT organization transition to a technology organization? The first step is to look at tech companies that are nailing it and model after them. "If you want to be a great tech company, you need to see what they do and figure out how to be one of them," Alexander said. The company looked at the operations of its new partner, Amazon, along with Netflix, a major AWS user and cloud pioneer, and Google, for its work with machine learning. "You can build a better financial services company by building better data and analytics," he added. Not without risk The problem, according to Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group, is that by focusing on the transition to a tech company, a business risks losing sight of its main task. "Some companies generally enter the effort with a lot of money and no experience and exit with no money left in the project but a deep understanding of why they never should have done this in the first place," Enderle said. "They often don't get that this isn't a 'build it and they will come' market." The problems often arise from not keeping the customer in mind from the outset. There also the risk of using apply new and innovative technology thinking but then losing focus on the primary goal. For Capital One's Alexander said he has the customer front and center in his mind. "I think it will be really important for us to have a differentiated Capital One experience with customers," he said. He added the company is exploring the use of chat bots as a different way to communicate with customers. "If we can show up on their mobile phone, if we show up in Amazon Alexa, when they go online, when they pay with their Capital One credit card they'll see the value-add we're making." Changes to the IT team and culture, too To get there, Alexander has been transforming his IT team. Some IT workers were let go, though Alexander did not specify how many were terminated, so they could reskill the department, retraining many employees and hiring others with skills that range from the cloud to machine learning and agile software development. "We've been hiring thousands of software engineers for the last five years," he said. "Principally, we've been about hiring new talent with modern skills The software engineering talent is in high demand If you're going to attract top engineering talent, you need others for them to work with, you need to let them build and ship product fast." One of the ways Capital One is trying to attract more talent is to offer them a hipper, upscale, open-concept work environment. The office would have a Silicon Valley feel, with moveable furniture, snack stations and walls that can be written on. It would be a change from the traditional buttoned-down suit environment normally associated with a bank. "We want to tell our story of what it feels like to work at Capital One and how different it is to work here than at other banks," Alexander said. "The physical space is designed to look like a modern tech company We want to accommodate the way people want to work, and we feel like it's important to have high-quality physical space to attract the talent we want. It's jeans and casual. It's snacks at the galley." He continued: "How do we leverage the tech revolution that is happening in our domain? I think we're looking at a pretty dramatic shift for our company. When you think about the makeup of our organization, it'll have the feel of a technology company. It will show up in the pace of innovation, which we see really picking up, and the quality of experiences we can deliver. It'll show up with us winning in the marketplace, ultimately." The Federal Trade Commission has long maintained that minors, who can't agree to a legal contract, can't be forced to pay for in-app purchases they make. But there are ambiguities within that policy. Do merchants overstep when they make it difficult to get reimbursed for such unauthorized purchases? And just what constitutes a "minor"? Amazon has been especially aggressive in pursuing payments for in-app purchases, and last spring the FTC received a summary judgment in its suit against the online retailer, joining Apple and Google as companies that the FTC has successfully pursued regarding in-app sales to minors. Then, last month, a federal judge rejected the FTC's proposal for a $26.5 million fine against Amazon, but made some interesting observations at the same time. In the Nov. 10 ruling, U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour wrestled with how to calculate intent, given the FTC's attempt to connect password failures with intent. "The FTC requested approximately $26.5 million in monetary damages. The FTC generated this figure by calculating an 'unauthorized charge rate'the rate of password failures as a portion of total password prompts givenand applying it to the universe of relevant in-app purchase revenue. The Court held that the rate suggested by the FTC in its original briefing was too high, as it assumed every failed password attempt should be associated with an attempted in-app purchase by a child. Rather, as the Court discussed, 'many password "failures" could have occurred because the user got distracted, changed his or her mind, or simply could not remember their password.'" Then there's the issue of what constitutes a minor. Any uncertaintly on this question can be traced to the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which sets out to protect the privacy of children under the age of 13. Amazon wanted the court to restrict its reimbursements to cases involving children younger than 13. The court rejected that argument. "The Court is not persuaded by Amazons argument that purchases made by children age 13 and older are not part of the harm in this matter. As the FTC points out, the FTC never made any sort of concessions on the scope of liability by using search terms like 'pre-teen' and 'under-13' during discovery. The Court agrees. This case deals with all unauthorized in-app purchases made by children. Children between ages 13 and 17 are included in this definition because drawing a line at age 13 would be an arbitrary distinction for which the Court finds no basis under these facts. Therefore, all unauthorized in-app purchases by children, not just those age 12 and under, are included in the potentially eligible transactions." Amazon had also asked to exclude purchases made between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. Pacific time, arguing that such a limit would exclude most children. The court agreed. "The Court concludes that a reasonable way to account for the fact that not all failed password attempts would have been made by children is, in fact, to omit the purchases made in the late night hours. In so doing, the Court takes judicial notice of the fact that children are generally asleep between 11:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (2:00 a.m. 6:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time). Common sense dictates that the majority of people are asleep during these hours, particularly if they are children." The retailer also tried to limit the definition of "unauthorized." If an adult shopper, for example, had already received a refund for an in-app payment by a child, Amazon argued "that those customers were fully informed about parental controls and the possibilities of in-app purchasing" because of the refund. The court disagreed. "Amazon has not provided sufficient evidence that all consumers who received refunds were instructed about parental controls. In fact the evidence indicates that Amazon customer service agents did not always instruct or effectively educate customers about parental controls," Coughenour wrote. "Accordingly, purchases made after receipt of a refund are still included in the potentially eligible transactions. The same is true for purchases made regardless of a customers use or awareness of parental controls or Kindle FreeTime. Amazon did not disclose that parental controls or FreeTime had to be activated to avoid unauthorized in-app charges." Amazon also tried to say that certain kinds of apps are unlikely to be of interest to children. "Amazon submits that additional apps potential refunds should be excluded: (1) those rated 'adult' or 'mature,' (2) those classified in categories that would not interest children, 'such as personal finance or navigation' and (3) thirty specific apps, including 'Crime City' and 'Gun Zombie: Hell Gate,' with violence or characteristics rendering them unlikely to have been played by children." Really, Amazon? You think that games claiming to be violent are not of interest to children? Have you ever met a 15-year-old boy? The court also found the argument lacking. "The Court agrees with the FTC that Amazons argument that the potentially eligible transactions should be decreased by certain high-risk apps that are not likely to be of interest to children is inadequate. There is substantial evidence that those very apps have been used by children." Amazon most impressively showed its chutzpa by trying to make any refunds paid only by Amazon gift cards. "Although it may be convenient for customers, that refund form is completely contrary to the Courts determination that Amazon is liable for violations of the FTC Act. If Amazon were able to issue Amazon gift cards as a refund, Amazon would undoubtedly recapture some of the profits that are at issue. Therefore, the Court rejects that proposal and agrees with the FTC that the refunds should be returned to the source of the initial charge (such as a credit or debit card), and if that option is not available, the refunds should be issued in check form." The court, unfortunately, did not directly address the key issue. When an 11-year-old asks a parent for permission to make an in-app purchase and is told "no" and the child makes that purchase anyway, are the parents liable for the charge? The implication is that they aren't. What if parental controls which would theoretically lock out any unauthorized purchases are offered but not used? Does that change the liability picture? Again, the court's decisions suggests that it doesn't. As a practical matter, though, a strict interpretation of the law should be irrelevant. If a shopper calls and says that in-app purchases were made by an 8-year-old without authorization, marketing and customer service common sense demands that the charges be reversed. This forces a key retail ROI decision. How many unauthorized charges will be disputed? Even in this decision, the paperwork burden on the consumer is non-trivial. Will fast and pleasant reversals please shoppers enough to generate good will and more future revenue? In-app revenue is a key exploration area. At least now we have a few guidelines from one federal judge to consider. As expected, the Italian referendum has produced a No vote and a resounding No at that, which exceeded the poll forecasts. True to his word, Matteo Renzi has resigned as Prime Minister after two years and nine months in the job. The fact that this period in office is well above the average for Italian Prime Ministers is a sign of the political instability that he hoped to solve with his constitutional reforms, and points to more instability that will follow his resignation. The President of the Italian Republic now has to choose whether to try to form a new Government or hold elections. The former might be quite difficult if tried along normal party lines, given the fragmentation of the parliament among numerous medium-sized and small parties, some of whom loathe the president and plenty of whom loathe each other, suggesting he will try to go down the traditional route of installing a technocratic Government to steady the ship. Even if that proves possible in the short term, the shock delivered by the referendum throwing the ruling left-wing coalition into chaos and emboldening the disruptive Five Star Movement (M5S) makes it likely that the next election will be brought forward. What happens then is anyones guess. Beppe Grillos M5S will see this as their chance to enter Government, and will throw everything at the campaign. Ironically, Renzis changes to the electoral system which werent on the ballot paper, but which did attract plenty of criticism from M5S and other No campaigners have now gained the support of Grillo, who wants an immediate election under the new rules. The reason is both ironic and obvious: if brought into force, these rules would make it easier for a party which wins an election but doesnt secure an outright majority of the vote to still gain a majority in the parliament. The system Renzi envisaged as offering him the opportunity of majority rule, but which contributed to his downfall, could yet propel his principle opponent into majority government instead. If that system isnt used, or if it is and Grillos hopes of winning an outright majority arent fulfilled, what then? Assuming the No parties including M5S, Berlusconis Forza Italia and the Front National-style Lega Nord do well, then most possible coalitions end up having to incorporate one or more eurosceptic or outright anti-Euro parties. M5S wants a referendum on the Single Currency and are aware that ditching that policy in return for a power-sharing deal would dirty their anti-establishment credentials. Forza Italia dont have an official anti-Euro policy but have become much more Eurosceptic since they last held power, and are prone to refusing to rule out a referendum. The Lega Nord is dedicatedly anti-Euro its leader, Matteo Salvini, told the FT in October that in the next election Everyone who votes for us will know that a Northern League government would get rid of the euro and move back to a national currency. While a Euro referendum isnt a nailed-on certainty, then, it has undoubtedly just become a lot more likely. Meanwhile, storm clouds continue to hang over the Italian banking sector. Shares dipped this morning but rallied somewhat by lunchtime, suggesting traders had priced in much of the possibility of a No vote. However, various banks still urgently need to raise more capital, and private investors may be understandably concerned by continued political disruption particularly (as my brother writes over at the Telegraph) given the fact that many of the banks are major holders of Italian Government bonds. In the traditional political model, this would strengthen Romes motivation to install a technocracy in short order to steady the ship. But with Italian politics in uproar, and the victorious No parties demanding a new election immediately, that supposedly safe route could lead to more instability, not less. Either way, Brussels has lost a close ally and its critics are emboldened. I have only been to the Black and White Ball once as a guest of someone who could afford the tickets and came away thinking it was a concoction of monstrous vulgarity (not that this stopped me from tucking in while I was there). The event might almost have been designed to portray that Conservatives as, if not precisely the Nasty Party, then at least the out-of-touch one. I wonder the food didnt turn to ashes in our mouths! Eggs! Muffins! Sardines! All wrung from the bleeding lips of the starving poor! cries Comrade Butt in The Inimitable Jeeves (to which Bertie Wooster replies: Oh I say! What a beastly idea!) Goodness knows what Comrade Butt would have made of the Black and White Ball. I will spare readers the details, though I see from the files that Alexander Termerko, who by concidence writes on ConservativeHome today, bought a bust of David Cameron, worth 12,000, at the auction for 90,000. He later donated it to the Carlton Club. A shoe-shopping session with Theresa May was a prize at a later ball, but it was reported earlier this year that she was mulling scrapping the whole thing. If so, she has evidently been persuaded otherwise. CCHQ claims that, in the second quarter of this year, Labour received 8.2 million in donations, significantly more than the Conservative Party, and argues that one has to keep up with the Joneses. So the ball is going ahead. But with a difference. Patrick McLoughlin has waded in to ensure that a hundred Party members will be offered tickets at a discounted rate of only 75. CCHQ delights in pointing out that tickets at Labours conference business dinner cost 400 a head. I am not sure how the hundred will be selected, or whether their presence means culling some of the hedge fund managers or simply expanding the numbers overall, but the McLoughlins aim is unambiguous: he wants a less elitist feel to the event or, as I might put it were I really on-message, a Black and White Ball that works for everyone. This includes a number of complimentary tickets for the most hardworking campaigners and party supporters. These will be nominated and selected by Area Chairmen. So if the event sounds your sort of thing, send yours a Christmas card now, if you havent done so already. Nicola Sturgeon will presumably try to hold a vote on Brexit in the Scottish Parliament at a moment that suits her in other words, one that will best maximise, as she sees it, support for Scottish independence, thereby paving the way for a second referendum on the matter. Her five tests for Theresa Mays Government to pass are clearly framed so that they can be judged to have been failed. (They include safeguarding free movement of labour and access to the Single Market, which some believe would necessitate a hard border between Scotland and England,) As matters stand, she may struggle. Recent polls show support for Scottish independence falling. The drop in the price of oil, and the prospect of being outside both the EU and the UK, seem to be taking their toll. But this is where the Supreme Court comes in. Since the Governments defeat in the High Court, the Scottish Government has joined the case. James Woolfe, Scotlands Lord Advocate, argues in a submission to the Supreme Court that moving Article 50 would affect the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. It therefore follows, he claims, that if the Government is to move the article in London, then a legislative motion is also required in Holyrood. Were to court to uphold his view, it is easy to see what would follow. Sturgeon would declare her tests unpassed, and the Scottish Parliament would vote against Brexit. It has no power, of course, to over-rule whatever the Government or Parliament in Westminster decide to do. But that is beside the point which is that the highest court in the land would have decreed that MSPs must vote on Brexit, and they would duly oppose it. Sturgeon would then be in a position to whip up pro-indepedence sentiment, and try to get those polls on a second referendum moving back in her direction. She might succeed, and might not. But such a verdict by the Court would risk reviving the campaign to break up the United Kingdom. Its worth noting that the court will also be hearing another crucial case two appeals against the verdict of the High Court in Northern Ireland which decided, contrary to the High Court in England, in favour of the Governments position on Brexit. If the Government loses the Miller appeal, it may not get a Brexit Bill through Parliament in time to meet its March 31 timetable: much depends on when the judges produce their verdict. But it is convenient to Ministers that the cases are being heard before the bill commences, which may explain their insistence on proceeding as they have. So, then. If the Government loses the Northern Ireland appeal, a constitutional crisis would be sparked. For how can one part of the UK stay in the EU while the other three parts leave? Experts reportedly consider such an outcome unlikely but, to paraphrase Michael Gove, experts are sometimes wrong. And if the court rules that a comprehensive replacement for the European Communities Act of 1972 is required before Article 50 is moved a possibility floated by Lady Hale, one of the judges who will rule on the appeal, in a lecture abroad the Governments Brexit timetable could go bust. In such an eventuality, Brexit might take place after the 2020 election and not before it, which would open the door to the poll overturning the referendum result. This is unlikely, given Labours present policy stance, but one cant be sure. But in any event, it is the possibility of the court declaring that a legislative motion is required in Holyrood, and the Scottish Parliament then voting against Brexit, that will concentrating Ministers minds most. If it comes to pass, the Government will have three options. Ignore the vote altogether, and press ahead with Article 50 . This would risk boosting pro-independence support north of the border, and paving the way for a second referendum on Scottish independence, which might be won. Back down . Which could mean dropping Brexit altogether or, more likely, signing up to Single Market membership and, in consequence, abandoning any credible attempt to cut EU migration. This would be a gift to UKIP and Nigel Farage, and split the Conservative Party. Call a general election . Not so easy, of course, given the Fixed Terms Parliament Act. But not impossible, either. And a poll would probably confirm though Who Governs Britain? polls have an unhappy history that the UK wants out of the EU. But were Ruth Davidsons candle of Tory revival to be snuffed out in Scotland, such an election might simply entrench the two countries positions. What would happen then? P.S: Experts apparently consider it unlikely the court will rule in favour of Scotlands Advocate-General. But I cited Gove earlier on experts, and do so again now. Stephan Lupino doesnt really like to do photography anymore and prefers to sculpt instead. The self-taught mans intuition led him into very diverse experiences : he was a bodyguard and a world champion in karate, among other things. He left his birthplace Varazdin for Great Britain, where he wanted to learn English, then left for New York to study acting. He worked as a photo model when he was noticed by photographer Deborah Turbeville, and she was the very person who lent him his first camera. He found himself on the other side of the lens and amazed with his photography, which was characterized by an almost physical intensity, and was published in magazines such as Vogue, Photo, Zoom, and Stern. He started observing the New York nightlife for the avant-garde magazine Details, and he thrived in the incredible atmosphere of clubs in the 80s. Lupino still holds the reputation of a former photography king of the New York nightlife, and not for nothing ; his photographs exhibited in the exhibition Eighties in New York are proof of that. The debauchery, wildness, and eccentricity ; all are found in Lupinos photographs from the era. In his usual style, photographing clubs was actually a performance, and so were the clubs. The creative potential of partying has been a focus of art and music since the early 60s, with Andy Warhol, the most famous and controversial protagonist of the scene, at its head. Warhol was also one of the many famous artists and eccentrics who frequented the short-lived nightclub Area (1983 1987). Among the partygoers was also Stephan Lupino, who has set up an improvised photography studio in the bathroom of the club. Area promised a new world, in which art was the space in which you drank and danced. The only constant was change : a team of artists and workers remodeled the club every six weeks according to a new topic, such as : Red, Art, or The Suburbs. Keith Haring painted live, Jean-Michel Basquiat DJ-ed, Joni Mitchell came to celebrate her birthday. All the while, Stephan Lupino took pictures. He emphasizes that he liked to undress the people he was photographing. The main idea of the club was that there was no division between performers and guests, and entering the club really meant entering a stage. You entered into art, into another reality, in which potential is amplified and everybody could become something else, something more. Clubs encouraged unusual clothing and outfits, making everyone a possible star. Beneath all of this is, of course, also something fundamentally narcissistic, which is illustrated by a group photo. It depicts Lupino with an outstretched hand holding a camera, guiding the enthusiastic crowd of partygoers, and resembling Liberty from Delacroixs painting. Lupino not only photographed the events, he was part of them. For this reason, he also shot photographs which were not meant to be published. These photographs may not be as artfully refined, technically perfected, and less famous people are portrayed in them. But this is exactly why Lupino is able to present the eighties in New York in another way : as closer, more personal, and with a shadow of anxiety behind the decadence. The exhibition Eighties in New York focusses on photographs made by Lupino-participant, not just Lupino-photographer. There is a crack in the numerous more or less exposed poses, one which mundaneness and humanness creep trough, even though the decadence of art wishes to surpass them (and forget them ?). A young boys expression, photographed in the bathroom, is surprisingly vulnerable, others poses are excessively obvious, a number of people in the photographs graphically imitate art behind them (the art works on the walls of the club were obviously a regularity). Occasionally, someone in the back is making fun of the model before the camera, and at other times, the perfection of motif and composition is ruined by another unexpected detail. Area was only running for four years, which seems significant life is simply not allowed to eternally pretend its art. The inexorable mundaneness and mundane inexorability have crept trough the cracks. At the end of the eighties, the club scene was dying out. It became too expensive to rent large spaces in the city, life became tougher, and young people became more serious and focused. As a dark echo of Eros, death crept in (New York was more affected by the AIDS epidemic of the 80s than any other American city). Even Lupinos photographs, saturated with life, cannot avoid the premonition of anxiety and death : memento mori, a most photographic thing, after all. Iza Pevec OPENING HOURS IN OUR GALLERY & BOOKSHOP Monday - Friday : 10h - 19h, Thursday 10 - 21 Saturday 10h- 13h & 16h - 20h and by appointement Galerija Fotografija d.o.o. Levstikov trg 7, 1000 Ljubljana info@galerijafotografija.si Continue Reading Below Advertisement To call the Egyptian Armed Forces influential would waste a great opportunity to use the phrase "iron fist," and that would be a shame -- until Netflix releases their Marvel series, our chances to use such a glorious phrase may be few and far between. The EAF's influence extends way beyond Egypt's military -- it's also the country's biggest corporation. Every government body is more or less under control of military personnel. Shockingly, military-controlled businesses seem to bag all the major contracts for government construction projects, such as the development of the Suez Canal. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Most armies don't literally carve up continents. It's impossible to say just how big the EAF is, at least not without invoking the inevitable comparisons to Hydra. Military-controlled companies are estimated to produce the majority of the country's consumer and industrial products. Experts say that up to 60 percent of the economy could be under EAF control. Still, it's all guesswork: Good luck finding reliable numbers in a world where business projects and financial statements are classified and marketing is aided by a goddamned military propaganda machine. During the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, a group of army officers -- backed by enormous financial resources -- overthrew King Farouk and helped establish a republican form of government. And once the revolution ended, the new government was left with a large body of soldiers who didn't have much else to do. Since they had just finished Season 1 of Military Coup: Egypt, the government couldn't just fire them and risk pissing off a whole bunch of soldiers specifically trained to overthrow governments. So they stuck around, dabbling in whatever they felt like with impunity. It wasn't until the Arab Spring that they became the powerhouse they are today. During the 2011 protests that eventually ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak, the army flat out ignored government orders to fire at the protesters, and instead joined the anti-Mubarak posse. As awe-inspiring as this seemed at the time, it wasn't out of the goodness of their hearts: Mubarak and the EAF had been struggling for power for some time, so the military was all too happy to see him go. Cruises Inc., CruiseOne and Dream Vacations, part of World Travel Holdings, kicked off its weeklong 2016 National Conference aboard the Carnival Vista over the weekend. Before the ship set sail from Miami, approximately 1,000 attendees gathered together for the opening session which featured a keynote from Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corporation. He also participated in a question and answer session with World Travel Holdings Vice President of Operations David Crooks. Since a majority of our business comes from selling cruise vacations, it is important to us that we host our National Conference aboard a cruise ship, so that our network of home-based travel professional can experience first-hand the product that they are selling, said Drew Daly, general manager of network engagement & performance for Cruises Inc, CruiseOne and Dream Vacations. Attending National Conference is truly a priceless investment in themselves and their business. It is such a valuable opportunity for them to network with each other, the headquarters team and our suppliers, getting re-energized and inspired for 2017. The conference theme BELIEVE promises to create a positive and electric atmosphere. Costa Crociere is takings its Italian product offering one step forward, now producing what it called top-quality mozzarella directly onboard its ships. Thanks to the collaboration of Latteria del Curatino, Costa Cruises is the first company in the world to serve its guests mozzarella made onboard like in a real creamery. This new service is already available onboard our flagship Costa Diadema and on Costa Favolosa; in the next few months it will also arrive on board six other ships, said Giuseppe Carino, vice president of guest experience and onboard revenue at Costa. Latteria del Curatino is an Italian brand created by the cooperation between two leading dairy companies. Comat is involved in dairy production and equipment, while Podere dei Leoni is a producer of buffalo mozzarella. Mozzarella is made onboard Costas ships with Comats steam and electricity-powered machine. The stretched curd produced by the machine is rolled into a ball to create a mozzarella as tradition demands, or artfully shaped and moulded by the expert hands of the cheesemakers to become buffalo mozzarella. The mozzarella and other traditional Italian cheese specialities produced onboard are including in the new Goccialatte menu available in the onboard pizzerias. The menu will comprise a mozzarella roll with salad, vegetables and smoked salmon; tomato and buffalo mozzarella done three different ways; tuna with Doganella oil, red onions and burrata; beef carpaccio with a chicory salad and smoked scamorza; warm focaccia, mortadella and stracciatella cheese served with pickled vegetables made on board; Neapolitan peasant bread, porcini, fior di latte cheese and guanciale. The daily production of the mozzarella will be overseen on each ship by two specialist cheesemakers that have attended a specific training course. BRIDGEPORT Two Bridgeport men suspected in a Massachusetts murder were arrested here following a collaborative effort between Bridgeport and Massachusetts law enforcement. According to a news release from the Worcester County District Attorneys office, Ramon Milan, 37, and Jose Crespo, 32, both of Bridgeport, reportedly assaulted three people in a Fitchburg, Mass., apartment, then set fire to the home, leaving one dead. Firefighters were called to the apartment on report of a fire, and discovered the victims badly burned body. An investigation found that the victim and two other people were confronted by two masked assailants. The three victims were separated and the suspects concentrated their assault on one victim. Once the fire started, the other two victims were able to escape. The victims identity is being withheld. Following the fire, Crespo and Milan reportedly fled the scene of the crime and headed back to Bridgeport, where the citys Detective Bureau, Patrol Division and Emergency Services Unit cooperated to arrest the men and charge them as fugitives from justice. According a release from Bridgeport spokesman Av Harris, police also executed a search warrant at a Bridgeport residence Sunday afternoon and found items of interest in this investigation, but the release didnt elaborate. Milan and Crespo will face charges in Massachusetts of assault with a deadly weapon, arson of a building and armed home invasion. The charges could be upgraded, according to the district attorneys office. In the citys release, Harris praised local law enforcement for the operation. I would like to thank all those who assisted the Massachusetts State Police in this investigation, and they conveyed that they were truly impressed by our department's professionalism and assistance, he said. STORY LINK GBP EUR Exchange Rate Slides as Government Supreme Court Appeal Begins Pound Euro (GBP EUR) Pressured by Supreme Court Appeal Euro Exchange Rate Shakes off Renzi Resignation GBP EUR Exchange Rate Forecast: Eurozone GDP Data due Tomorrow Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues: The GBP EUR exchange rate fell this morning after initially rising to its best levels since the UKs vote to leave the EU as Sterling was pressured lower by the UK governments Supreme Court appeal.The Pound Euro (GBP EUR) exchange rate slid this morning as the UK government made its appeal to the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn a High Court judgement that the government requires a vote in parliament before it is able to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and begin the 'Brexit' process.The government is making the argument that its prerogative powers gives it the ability to both make and repeal treaties such as Article 50 without the consent of parliament. Attorney General, Jeremy Wright QC opening the appeal by saying;The use of prerogative in foreign affairs is not ancient relic but a ...fundamental pillar of our constitutional state. The need [for governments] to maintain control of strategy and policy matters is clear and compelling.Investors fear that should the appeal be successful there will be little to stop the government from pursuing a hard Brexit', which would likely lead to the UK losing access the single market in order to gain stronger controls on immigration.After initially tumbling this morning due to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzis resignation the Euro quickly recovered, reaching a two-week high against the Pound.Renzi had vowed to quit if his constitutional reforms were rejected in Sundays referendum, an outcome that had been widely predicted in recent weeks.With the result priced in to a certain extent, his resignation had a limited impact on the single currency.Italy is no stranger to political instability having had 65 governments since the Second World War, and analysts predict that an interim government is likely to formed, led by finance minister Pier Carlo Padoan, until the general election in 2018.This has helped to allay fears that a populist party like the Five Star Movement may have been able form a new government if a snap election was called.The GBP EUR exchange rate may see some movement on Tuesday with the release of the latest Eurozone GDP figures.While investors currently predict that Eurozone GDP will hold at 1.6% in the third quarter, an unexpected rise could see an uptick in the Euro. This may also help to temper the European Central Banks (ECB) plans to extend its economic stimulus when it meets for its latest rate meeting on Thursday.Meanwhile, a lull in UK data in the first half of the week may prevent Pound movement as the currency remains under pressure from the government's appeal to the Supreme Court. International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements. TAGS: Currency Predictions Euro Forecasts Euro Pound Forecasts Somerset County Treasurer will 'do what it takes' for best returns Robert Chote, the head of the Office for Budget Responsibility, has been a thorn in the Governments side over Brexit. And Chote, the personal choice of the then Chancellor George Osborne to head the OBR when it was set up in 2010, was at it again last week. Chote, whose OBR was supposed to restore credibility to financial forecasting, told the Treasury select committee that Brexit will cost the country 12 billion every year. The figures have been contradicted by Tory MPs, who have always regarded Chote as an unashamed cheerleader for the EU. Robert Chote, the head of the Office for Budget Responsibility, has been a thorn in the Governments side over Brexit Its not just that he was head of the student branch of the Lib Dems the party demanding a second referendum on Brexit when he was at Cambridge University. I now learn that Chote actually sought a career in politics with the Lib Dems. In 1989, he ran as a candidate in the Hampshire county council elections. FACT OF THE WEEK American GDP per capita is $56,000 per head, while in Cuba its $6,000. As Tory MP John Redwood says: Why do some people still think dictator Fidel Castro did a good job? Advertisement Chote, 48, who is married to a former adviser to Tony Blair, stood in Eastleigh, polling 988 votes to the 2,322 for the successful Tory candidate. Yet there is no mention of his abortive attempt to become a Lib Dem politician in his Whos Who entry, or anywhere else for that matter. Is he embarrassed by the result or, more likely, worried people might assume he is still doing the Lib Dems bidding on the EU? At the Institute of Directors dinner, Lady Judge one of Britains top business executives and the first woman to chair the IoD praised the London Mayor, saying: He has been intimate with IoD members. To which Sadiq Khan retorted: Not literally. Mirren's praise for Iron Lady Already in recent days weve had the great Kate Bush endorsing Theresa May, whom she said was wonderful. Now comes somewhat unlikely admiration for the last woman premier, Margaret Thatcher. Dame Helen Mirren tells Woman and Home magazine: I was on the other end of the spectrum to [Mrs Thatcher] in just about every way, but whenever a little girl asked: Mummy, whos that lady? her mother was able to say: Thats the Prime Minister. Those words mean so much because until you see a woman doing that you dont understand you can do it, too. Role models are so important for women and girls. Because the other image of women being constantly reinforced is a sexual one. Spare a thought for the poor loves on Labour-controlled Camden Council in North London. Two thirds of the councillors gathered in the chamber to be shown the technique of mindfulness, designed to help soothe their furrowed brows. There was silence, then the lights were dimmed as they were urged by the teacher to close their eyes. Or, they could lower their gaze to take some tension to your feet, and feel your feet on the ground, to just notice what that feels like. I dont know what it feels like, but I do know what it sounds like. Thin red line Deafening silence from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on the by-election result in Richmond Park, which saw Tory-turned-Independent Zac Goldsmith humiliated at the ballot box by the Lib Dems. But it was worse for Labour, whose candidate Christian Wolmar secured only 3.7 per cent of the vote the partys weakest result in London for 100 years. Labour front bencher Diane Abbotts constituent, Ed Balls, is out of Strictly Come Dancing, but would the Shadow Home Secretary a former lover of Corbyn ever don the sequins? No, No, No! she tells her local newspaper, the Hackney Gazette. What a relief! Osborne banks on his speeches George Osborne has just delivered two speeches to investment bank JP Morgan. This is the same JP Morgan which Osborne addressed in June before the EU referendum, when he warned that 400,000 jobs were at risk if we voted for Brexit. Jamie Dimon, the JP Morgan chief executive, added to the Project Fear gloom by declaring thousands of his bank staff could lose their jobs if we left the EU. If he still thinks that, how can JP Morgan justify paying the former Chancellor 81,000 and 61,000 for his speeches? Today, at long last, the Supreme Court begins to sit in judgment over a decision that will have a profound impact on our nations destiny. The 11 senior judges must decide whether or not to uphold the incendiary High Court ruling that Parliament, not the people, will have the final say on how and when we exit the EU. Their defenders have argued that, with almost superhuman powers, they are somehow able to be guided only by intellectual legalistic principles, divorcing themselves from the consequences of their decision. This newspaper has emphatically argued otherwise. Lord Toulson (not sitting in the Article 50 case), Lord Carnwath, Lord Sumption, Lord Wilson, Lord Reed, Lord Hughes, Lord Hodge. (front row left-right) Lord Kerr, Lady Hale, Lord Neuberger, Lord Mance, Lord Clarke, who are the Justices of the Supreme Court of the UK who will be sitting on the Article 50 case We believe it is utterly impossible for them to deliberate in a vacuum, impervious to the political heat and fury surrounding their ruling. Yesterday, the outbursts of militant Remainers with huge influence only served to prove our point. Nakedly and unashamedly, they have made clear that if the Supreme Court decision goes their way, they will use it to sabotage the referendum result and thwart the will of the people. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said hell delay Brexit legislation with an interminable string of Commons amendments. Euro-fanatic Nick Clegg of the Lib Dems (MPs: 9) says hell simply vote against unless theres a second referendum on the terms of Brexit. And in a further twist, the Supreme Court is being asked to rule that the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly must agree the timetable for leaving before its initiated. If that happens, were in for a full-scale constitutional crisis. So, in what universe could it be argued that this court ruling is not political? How long ago it seems that David Cameron told voters: This is your decision. And how right the Attorney General Jeremy Wright now is to warn the Supreme Court that upholding the High Courts decision would be to treat the electorate with contempt. Our missing billions Local Enterprise Partnerships were David Camerons big idea to stimulate business. With a staggering 7.3billion spent since 2010 and further billions committed by Chancellor Philip Hammond in the Autumn Statement, they were also among his most expensive. So how depressing that the Mails Investigations Unit today reveals that of the billions that can actually be accounted for vast tranches have been given to projects run by those who decide how to spend it. We reveal that on 276 occasions, payments were made to LEP officials, their own companies or schemes from which they stood to benefit. With a staggering 7.3billion spent since 2010 and further billions committed by Chancellor Philip Hammond in the Autumn Statement, they were also among his most expensive Yet, incredibly, there are no rules to prevent them doing this and they are able to operate almost completely in secret. After the scandals of the Troubled Families Programme which had no discernible effect despite lavish funding and the A4E welfare-to-work scheme, which was mired in fraud allegations, the Government must expose LEPs to the full glare of public scrutiny. They have benefited from billions in public money. Taxpayers deserve to know exactly where their cash has gone. The last three governments have promised some form of cap on the lifetime cost of elderly care but all have failed to deliver. The devastating effects of those broken pledges are all too apparent today, as local authorities seize the family homes of huge numbers of old people to meet spiralling nursing home bills. With our rapidly ageing population, no one pretends this is an easy problem to solve. But it simply must be tackled. Self-tanning in winter requires careful consideration: the shade should be much less intense than your summer colour. Aim for more of a glow than full-on bronze. Dove Derma Spa Summer Revived (below, 6.99, boots.com) is designed to tan skin gently, with a buildable colour that brightens dull, winter skin. Self-tanning in winter requires careful consideration: the shade should be much less intense than your summer colour The lighter of the two shades is ideal for very pale skin. Fake Bake Flawless Coconut Tanning Serum (now 25.45, debenhams.com) has a lightweight, fast-absorbing formula that conditions and hydrates, while firming ingredients tighten the skin. The serum blends evenly and doesnt streak. Dove Derma Spa Summer Revived (6.99, boots.com) is designed to tan skin gently. For spray-tan lovers, you can achieve a stripefree tan with Garnier Ambre Solaire No Streaks Bronzer Self-Tan Mist For spray-tan lovers, you can achieve a stripefree tan with Garnier Ambre Solaire No Streaks Bronzer Self-Tan Mist (,11.69, boots.com). It has a multi-way spray, which makes it easier to do your legs, arms and even your back. It also dries very quickly great for a last-minute application before the Christmas party. Twiggys new beauty collection at Marks & Spencer is fabulous. With elegant, minimalist designs, the range looks much more expensive than its affordable price tags. Highlights include the Twiggy Lily Blossom Candle (9.50, marksandspencer.com) with a warming mix of apple blossom, peony and clove. There is also an Amber Blossom Eau de Toilette, 16, which combines Twiggys favourite fragrances of sweet lily, freesia and orange blossom. And my favourite product is the Bath Elixir Decanter, 14, a large glass bottle of bubble bath which draws on the same romantic scent. Twiggys new beauty collection at Marks & Spencer is fabulous. With elegant, minimalist designs, the range looks much more expensive than its affordable price tags Gwyneth Paltrow has revealed she is a fan of Klorane Oat Milk Gentle Dry Shampoo (8, boots.com). It gives hair texture, pepping it up between washes, which means you dont have to shampoo as often. Simply spray on to the roots and leave for two minutes before brushing the product through. Its so popular one can is sold every ten seconds worldwide. Gwyneth Paltrow has revealed she is a fan of Klorane Oat Milk Gentle Dry Shampoo (8, boots.com) Yes, squinting at laptops and phones can increase the frequency and depth of crows feet. And we tend not to blink as much when staring at a screen, so eyes can become dry and irritated. Ophthalmologist and aesthetic doctor Dr Maryam Zamani recommends taking regular breaks from screens and ensuring rooms are lit properly. MZ Soothe & Smooth Skin Collagen Activating Eye Complex (90, harrods.com) increases the production of collagen A good eye cream is also a must to help protect and rejuvenate the skin. MZ Soothe & Smooth Skin Collagen Activating Eye Complex (90, harrods.com) increases the production of collagen, helping to support skin around the eyes, and works to reduce puffiness, brightening and smoothing the area. Peter Thomas Roth Anti-Ageing Cleansing Gel (25, selfridges.com) combines glycolic and salicylic acids with botanical extracts to cleanse and gently exfoliate skin, leaving it feeling smoother and looking fresher. Ideal for more mature skin this doesnt strip its natural oils or leave skin feeling dry and tight. Peter Thomas Roth Anti-Ageing Cleansing Gel (25, selfridges.com) combines glycolic and salicylic acids with botanical extracts If youre looking for the perfect gift for a make-up lover, this stunning palette from Armani could well be it. With glittering shadows and silky powders filling two tiers one for eye make-up, one for the complexion The Holiday Palette (right, 99, armanibeauty.co.uk) has all you need. There are ten eyeshadow shades, ranging from subtle beiges and greys to black and a rich brown. If youre looking for the perfect gift for a make-up lover, this stunning palette from Armani could well be it For the complexion, the Luminous Silk powder blots shine and hides imperfections, while Maestro Fusion Makeup, a creamy foundation, can also be used as concealer for maximum coverage. The shiny black case is robust enough to survive daily rummaging and the large mirror makes it easy to touch up on the go. Molton Brown Hand Cream Molton Brown Ylang-Ylang Replenishing Hand Cream (10, boots.com) contains white truffle to soften tired, drying skin and lock in hydration to repair and protect the hands. It also has a wonderful, gentle scent. Shop Nuxe Reve de Miel Hand Cream Nuxe Reve de Miel Hand Cream (11, spacenk.com) is excellent at soothing dry skin without being greasy. It contains restorative and repairing ingredients, including sweet almond oil and acacia honey, and also strengthens your nails. Shop Reaction has been divided, as to whether or not unconventional works Meanwhile, Instagram is full of alternative, trendy options to browse But she's not the only person to embrace an alternative creation As any self-respecting Christmas traditionalist will know, decorating the Christmas tree is an integral part of the lead-up to the festive season. Families around the world gather round to adorn their centrepiece with baubles, lights and a fairy or angel, while green trees glow from the windows of houses as far as the eye can see. But what if you're just not that into all the pine needles, red, gold and silver? What about those who want to get a little more creative with the conventional Christmassy blueprint? Modern: Australian TV presenter, Bec Judd, posted a picture of her modern Christmas tree with rose gold decorations (pictured), but she's not the only one with an alternative creation Enter Australian model and TV presenter, Bec Judd, who for the second year running has set up a stick Christmas tree, which comes without branches, pine needles or even a hint of green. 'My husband almost breaks his back every year when he needs to get our tree out of storage,' the 33-year-old Ms Judd posted on Instagram. 'It is soooooo heavy (this is just the top section) and made of recycled branches by @greghatton. 'Our decorations are from @countryroad. Christmas is coming...,' the Australian media personality concluded. Creative: Instead, the stylish media personality (pictured) is just one of the many people on the Internet posting pictures of their alternative Christmas trees Other exemplars: Former model, Kyly Clarke, also uploaded a snap of her Christmas tree (left), which is fit for her one-year-old by not having baubles towards the base Hipster: From baubles and lights adorning creative trees (left) to an actual tree made from baubles (right), many have shown off their inventive sides on the photo-sharing platform Minimalist: One particularly popular option online sees a simple glass jar filled with twigs and decorated with baubles (left) - another shows blocks piled up on top of each other The Melbourne-based wife of former AFL player, Chris Judd, wasn't the only one approaching Yule from a different angle either. Former model, Kyly Clarke, also opted for an unusual tree, which was not only entirely white, but also sparsely decorated with baubles in various colours. Towards the bottom of her tree, Ms Clarke added no decorations - which she explained in the caption is down to having a one-year-old who might like to reach out and snatch one or two of the shiny things. All of the lights: One person installed an almost actual tree in their home, and placed many candles at the base (left) - another simply stuck three planks of wood together (right) Reaction: People have been divided online as to whether they like the trendy trees online or not (pictured) Opposites attract: While one person went for a tree made with sweets (left), another opted for a totally plain cardboard-like tree without decorations (right) Countless others on Instagram have also uploaded snaps of their alternative trendy trees, too. From the minimalist approach of one Instagrammer - which came in the form of a jar filled with twigs and baubles - to another person's inventive use of three planks of wood for the furniture of the tree, you have to praise many for both their imagination and their resourcefulness. One option online even saw an entirely plain tree made from cardboard in place of the traditional model - this came without a single decoration or adornment. Popular: Piles of wood on top of each other have proven popular online this year (left) - others go simple in style of tree, but heavy on lights (right) Modern Christmas: Many of the trees have been hashtagged on Instagram with #modernchristmas - there are currently numerous options Not all of the less conventional trees have fared well online, however. Many people have taken to the photo-sharing website to offer their views on these alternative creations. 'Every year she puts up this tree and I hate it - barren, lacking cheer, colour and festivity!,' one person wrote beneath Bec Judd's rose gold-coloured tree. Another disagreed, posting: 'What a fantastic spin on an Xmas tree.. it's like a summer version'. Meanwhile, plenty of others continue to set up their alternative Christmas trees made from re-fashioned household items and more. Janice hopes that she will be able to expand her career and move away from making money from sponsored content In addition to her Instagram page, Janice has a YouTube channel and website After getting down to 96lbs and dealing with an injury from Online sensation Janice Joostema has revealed how she went from a struggling model to making six-figures as an Instagram star with a whopping 1.1 million followers. Thanks to her stunning photos and loyal fan base, the 21-year-old social media influencer from British Columbia commands thousands of dollars for just one sponsored post on her Instagram page. However, before her rise to online fame, the five-foot-seven-inch beauty told Cosmopolitan.com that she faced terrible abuse as a model that led her to shrink down to a 96lb frame and an 18-inch waist. Scroll down for video Social media sensation: Janice Joostema has more than 1.1 million Instagram followers Put together: The 21-year-old from British Columbia describe the aesthetic of her Instagram page as neutral but warm 'I was told to lose more weight, I was told not to eat anything. I was told to throw up,' she recalled of trying to jump start her modeling career in Indonesia when she 18. Janice, who still does her own make-up for her photoshoots, started experimenting with different cosmetics and hairstyles when she was only 11 years old, around the time that her parents split up. After being bullied by a group of girls who threw rotten food at her, Janice dropped out of high school with just one semester left in her senior year. She got a full-time job as a receptionist while she pursued her degree online. Money maker: Janice earns thousands of dollars for just one sponsored Instagram post Helping hands: Janice is photographed by her 31-year-old boyfriend, James Lynch, and her business partner, Hourash Salati It was around this time that Janice became interested in working as a model, and a friend introduced her her now-31-year-old boyfriend James Lynch, a marketing director who dabbled with photography on the side. A few months after their fateful meeting, Janice made the decision to pursue her modeling career in Jakarta, but it was a 'terrible' experience that left her broke, defeated, and with an exercise injury. 'Unless youre Kendall Jenner, theres not really a point of being a model,' she said. 'You're basically an object.' Tough times: Janice moved to Indonesia when she was 18 to pursue a modeling career, but she left after it turned out to be a 'terrible' experience Nightmare: When she was working as a model in Jakarta, she was told to 'lose weight' and 'throw up'. The five-foot-seven-inch beauty dropped down to 96lbs Start of it all: Janice returned home from Indonesia and started sharing photos of her make-up and hairstyle experimentations on Instagram When she returned home, Janice and James moved in together, and she started to experiment with her hair and make-up again, only this time, she was having the final results photographed by James. She soon earned 8,000 followers from a beauty shot featuring an Anastasia Beverly Hills product that was regrammed by the company. She admitted that at first she would photos just because they looked good, but now she works with James and her business partner, Hourash Salati, to ensure that everything she shares is a reflection of her aesthetic. Each of her shoots take approximately an hour, and she uses FaceTune, VSCO, and Darkroom to edit them. All the tricks: Janice's shoots take about an hour, and then she edits the pictures using FaceTune, VSCO, and Darkroom Strike a pose: Janice is pictured at the fourth annual Beautycon Festival Los Angeles in July Despite her success, Janice admits that having James help her was an advantage when she was starting out because 'It's a little bit impossible to do it by yourself'. Janice went on to note that it is more difficult than ever to garner an Instagram following because of the app's new algorithms. In addition to her Instagram page, the social media star has a YouTube channel and a website, and she is looking for ways to earn revenue without sponsored content. Prince William has called on businesses large and small to take the mental health of their employees more seriously. Mental ill-health is the leading cause of absence in the UK, costing businesses nearly 26billion pounds each year an average of over 1,000 per employee - the royal told a meeting of FTSE 100 company representatives. Employers, he said, should strive to create a culture where it is as easy to pick up the phone and admit that you are suffering from depression as it is to say you have a cold. Prince William (right), talking with Unilever employee David Titman, has called on businesses large and small to take the mental health of their employees more seriously And the pilot prince praised his own bosses at East Anglia Air Ambulance for doing just that for its staff, who are often faced with horrific life or death situations. He said: 'Work, as we all know, can at times be a source of great fulfilment, growth and fun, but also at times a significant source of stress sometimes, if we are honest, to the point of its being overwhelming. 'As a pilot working with an air ambulance charity, I have seen first-hand how work can affect individuals' mental health. 'But I have also seen how an employer can create an environment where it is as unremarkable to talk about feeling a bit 'down' as it is to admit to having a cold. Mental ill-health is the leading cause of absence in the UK, costing businesses nearly 26billion pounds each year 'All of the air ambulance team know that we can get help for what is going on in our heads if we need it. We know where to turn, as practical help is well signposted, and we know that no-one will judge us if we do admit to difficulties. 'Mental health exists just as physical health exists. It is no big deal.' William has started the Heads Together campaign along with his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge and brother, Prince Harry, in order to help change the conversation on mental health. He said: 'The rapid increase in poor mental health is one of the biggest challenges we face as a society and it is a challenge Catherine, Harry and I feel duty bound to tackle. 'All of us in this room have mental health, just as we have physical health, and we will all experience pressures on our mental health at some point in our lives. But for too long, held back by stigma, shame and fear, people have found it difficult to open up to others about those times when their mental health needs support. Employers, he said, should strive to create a culture where it is as easy to pick up the phone and admit that you are suffering from depression as it is to say you have a cold 'When we talk and listen to family, to friends and colleagues, we share the load; we reduce the problem; we realise we are not alone and we break down the barriers that prevent us from getting the help we need. 'It is really that simple: a problem shared is a problem halved.' William urged his audience at the briefing, hosted by Unilever, one of the campaign's founding partners, to start setting an example in the workplace by encouraging people to talk about the issue. 'Without employers committed to changing attitudes, we would be pushing a rock uphill but, with you, we can and will change the way we think about mental health in this nation,' he said. Chatting earlier with already established mental health organisations such as MIND and CALM, William said: 'The corporate world is quite key to hit. 'It is very proud and we need to break down barriers. William urged his audience at the briefing, hosted by Unilever, to start setting an example in the workplace by encouraging people to talk about the issue 'We need to get people to see the positives and talk about these things.' William also spoke to representatives of his father's charity, Business In The Community, whose Wellbeing at Work Campaign Director, Louise Aston, told him: 'The companies that that are doing it well are doing it really well. But there is still a long way to go,' she said. 'A lot of businesses think this is too a difficult an area to challenge but there are still small steps that they can take. 'Creating an open culture where people feel able to talk about the mental health in the way they do about their physical health. ' Unilever's CEO, Paul Polman, said of the continuing stigma: 'If you had a problem with your heart you would tell your manager.....Yet one of the biggest killers [in terms of staff lost through suicide], one of the biggest losses to business and we don't want to talk about it. The first day of winter is only a few weeks away, but Ivanka Trump is still happily showing off her legs in thigh-skimming dresses and high-heeled sandals. The 35-year-old businesswoman ignored the early morning rain and chilly weather as she stepped out of her Park Avenue apartment on Monday wearing a floral dress, caged heels, and black handbag from her eponymous collection. Ivanka kept warm in a $380 wool maroon coat coat that is also from her clothing line as she flashed a smile to the photographers standing outside her building. Out and about: Ivanka Trump was photographed wearing a wool coat, floral dress, and caged sandals from her eponymous collection when she stepped out of her apartment on Monday The mother-of-three left her blond hair loose and shielded her eyes from the sun with a pair of sunglasses. Although she sometimes walks to her Trump Tower offices, Ivanka has been frequently utilizing a driver since her father Donald became President-elect. Former Vice President Al Gore showed up at Trump Tower on Monday to meet with Ivanka before spending the rest of his time speaking with the President-elect about climate change. Happy to start her work week! The 35-year-old was all smiles as she headed into her office at Trump Tower And while it is unclear if she has any other meetings planned for the day, it's safe to say she probably won't stay outside for long. The doting mom spent the weekend with her husband Jared Kushner, 35, and their three children, Arabella, five, Joseph, three, and Theodore, eight-months. On Sunday morning she took to Instagram to share a video of one of New York's beloved holiday traditions. Busy day: Ivanka met with former Vice President Al Gore at Trump Tower about climate change on Monday before he spoke with the President-elect Must have gone well! Ivanka was all smiles as she headed back upstairs in the elevator 'Santa being "rescued" by firefighters from the rooftop of the New York City Fire Museum this morning!' she captioned the clip. 'Joseph, and the hundreds of kids gathered to watch this holiday tradition, absolutely loved it! 'Thank you to the brave men and women who work every day at fire houses across this country risking their lives to keep us safe,' she added. 'We are grateful to you!' All smiles: Ivanka shared a clip of herself shimmying her shoulders on Friday in celebration of the weekend All together: Ivanka, her husband Jared Kushner, and their three children, Arabella, Joseph, and baby Theodore, posed for a family photo on Thanksgiving In the heartwarming video, firefighters can be seen helping Santa Claus onto ladder of their truck while Ivanka and her son are heard celebrating his rescue in the background. Ivanka converted to Judaism when she married Jared in 2009, and the two are raising their children to be Jewish as well. However, it seems like couldn't help but get into the Christmas spirit on Sunday. The New Yorker may be trying to enjoy as much of the city as possible. On Monday it was that Ivanka and Jared are house-hunting in Washington, D.C. so they can be close to her father while he is in office. A British woman claims to have seen the face of Donald Trump in a red pepper. Janet Ayers, from Portsmouth, England, was cooking a vegetarian chili for dinner when she sliced the vegetable in half and made the discovery. The woman, who is self-employed, bought the pepper from British grocery store Waitrose, she told The Register. Donald Trump? A British woman claims to have found fave of US President-Elect in a red pepper, pictured On the brain: She sliced the red pepper in half long ways and claims to have spotted the face of the US President-elect, pictured, inside An image of the vegetable shows two slits that look like closed eyes, a dent for a nose and a few seeds inside an open mouth shape that look like teeth. She was having a conversation about the controversial US President-Elect when she noticed his face in the pepper. 'A discussion about Trump and the state of the world was going on while the veg was being sliced up. It was as if the pepper was mirroring the conversation,' she told the tech publication. She posted a picture of the pepper on Facebook where others also noticed the resemblance. She said: 'We then continued to chop up the pepper. It went into the chili with all the other ingredients. 'We ate it for dinner and suffered no ill effects from the Trump pepper.' In 2004, a woman from Florida sold a ten-year-old cheese sandwich for $28,000 after she claimed to see the face of the Virgin Mary in the snack. Diana Duyser was about to take a bit from the sandwich when she spotted the similarity and instead decided to save it. 'I would like all people to know that I do believe that this is the Virgin Mary Mother Of God,' she wrote in her Ebay ad. Vulnerable women with dementia are being abandoned in old age by a health system offering them worse care than men (stock photograph) Vulnerable women with dementia are being abandoned in old age by a health system offering them worse care than men, a major report concludes today. Female dementia patients are seen less frequently by their GPs than men, are not given the same checks and tests, and are more regularly given sedative drugs to control behaviour. Experts at University College London, who examined the health records of 68,000 dementia patients over a decade, found a significant gulf in care between men and women. Charities said the findings raised 'grave concerns' about the state of dementia care for women and called for GPs to pay special attention to female dementia patients. The authors of the research found women were 18 per cent more likely than men to be given antipsychotic or sedative medications treatments which many regard as unsuitable for people with dementia. Patients are often given the drugs to control their behaviour, an action that critics describe as handing out a 'chemical cosh'. The team, whose results are published today in the journal Age and Ageing, also discovered GPs saw women 10 per cent less frequently than men, weighed them 9 per cent less often, and checked their blood pressure 4 per cent less frequently. Female dementia patients are seen less frequently by their GPs than men, are not given the same checks and tests, and are more regularly given sedative drugs to control behaviour Each of these measures is crucial to monitoring a dementia patient's state of health and the progress of their disease. Although some of the differences were small, the researchers said the overall pattern was clear women are slipping through the net. Because women tend to live longer than men, and so are more likely to be widowed, they are more often left living alone as their health deteriorates, the team said. Study leader Dr Claudia Cooper, a psychiatrist who specialises in old age care, said: 'Women are more likely to be left by themselves. LET ELDERLY HELP OUT IN SCHOOLS Older people at risk of loneliness should be signed up to walking groups and encouraged to help children read in school, an NHS watchdog has said. NICE, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, is calling for public bodies to work together to tackle loneliness in old age. It says councils and the voluntary sector should identify the lonely, who may include the recently widowed, those who live alone with little opportunity to socialise and those who have given up driving. Health officials recommend dancing or swimming clubs, arts and walking groups and community choirs. And it suggests younger people could be encouraged to befriend the older generation, such as helping them use new technologies. Retired people could return the favour, going into schools to help children read. Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive of NICE, said: 'Everyone is affected differently by aging and whilst many older people can remain independent we need to do more to help those who can't.' Advertisement 'In many ways the issue is about how much we rely on family carers. You are significantly disadvantaged if you are by yourself with dementia.' She added: 'We found women were more likely to be on psychotropic drugs sedatives or antipsychotics which can be harmful in the long term and may not be appropriate. Women tended to stay on such drugs for longer, perhaps because they have fewer check-ups to see if the drugs were still needed. 'Women with dementia who live on their own may need additional support accessing healthcare services.' The findings come at a time of serious questions over dementia care in this country. The Government's first Ofsted-style audit revealed in September that 57 per cent of health boards in England were providing inadequate dementia care. Charities say those without close relatives nearby are left relying on 'threadbare social care services'. The Office for National Statistics last month revealed dementia had become the biggest cause of death in England and Wales, overtaking heart disease for the first time. More than 1 billion is spent by the NHS on just four drugs, latest figures show. Of its depleted 116 billion budget, the health service now spends 15 per cent on medications and treatments. This is 30 per cent higher than it was five years ago, rising from 13 billion in 2011 to 16.8 billion in the last year. Of its depleted 116 billion budget, the health service now spends 15 per cent on medications and treatments. This is 30 per cent higher than it was five years ago While 45.2 per cent of this was spent on medicines used to treat patients in hospital, according to data from NHS Digital. The most expensive drug was adalimumab - used to treat arthritis, costing 416 million. While ranibizumab, a popular medication used to help ease macular degeneration, was responsible for nearly 249 million of the NHS' budget. Another arthritis drug - etanercept - rounded up the top three at 230 million while bowel cancer treatment, aflibercept, cost 198 million. Sarah Wollaston, chairwoman of the Commons health select committee, told The Times: ' These issues are going to become increasingly important in how we actually fund the NHS and how we decide which of these high cost items we can afford. THE TOP TEN COSTLY DRUGS IN 2015/16 Adalimumab - 416,647 million. Used to treat arthritis Ranibizumab - 248,975 million. Used to treat macular degeneration Etanercept - 230,588 million. Used to treat arthritis Aflibercept - 198,268 million. Used to treat bowel cancer Infliximab - 178,179 million. Used to treat Crohn's disease Rituximab - 155,893 million. Used to treat arthritis Trastuzumab - 152,037 million. Used to treat breast and stomach cancer Lenalidomide - 141,840 million. Used to treat myeloma Rivaroxaban - 106,586 million. Used as an anticoagulant Imatinib - 89,067 million. Used to treat leukaemia Advertisement 'What we are doing is withdrawing funding for things like helping people to lose weight because of cuts to public health but we are funding massively high cost drugs when there may be alternatives to them.' While in May, the head of the NHS rationing watchdog warned thousands will miss out on cancer medicines unless drug companies reduce their prices. Sir Andrew Dillion, chief executive of NICE, said pharmaceutical giants have been allowed to charge huge prices for life-saving drugs for too long. And he made it clear that their pricing behaviour needs to change, adding that many therapies will be dropped from the NHS unless firms take responsibility for the sums they charge. Just last month another expert warned that expensive cancer drugs are contributing little to the life expectancy of dying patients. Despite billions of pounds being spent on investment, most extend the lives of patients by just a few months at best, claimed Dr Peter Wise, a retired consultant physician from Charing Cross Hospital in London. This is the heartbreaking image of a seven-year-old boy laying exhausted on his sofa after undergoing chemotherapy. Logan Sellers, from Bangor, Wales, was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma after a lump developed behind his eye. His condition causes him to wake up in the middle of the night and often makes him lash out at his parents in frustration. But now the twin has become so poorly that he often turns down food and isn't interested in playing with his toys. His father, James, 37, decided to post a heart wrenching picture on Facebook of his son just after chemotherapy to let others know just how badly he is affected. His family have since temporarily relocated to the US as Logan receives pioneering treatment to fight his cancer which isn't available in the UK. Logan Sellers, from Bangor, Wales, suffers from rhabdomyosarcoma. His father, James, 37, posted this image of his son on Facebook being exhausted from chemotherapy treatment Mr Sellers told the Daily Post: 'The main reason I posted a poorly picture was to show the harsh reality behind the scenes. 'Logan is a cancer patient, he is really poorly and it affects him in ways people can't imagine. 'To be honest it's uncomfortable and upsetting to talk about but it's only through people like me that people can be educated.' On a bad day, Mr Sellers says Logan, who also suffers from cerebral palsy, spends the entire time vomiting as a result of his rare cancer. His condition causes him to wake up in the middle of the night and often makes him lash out at his parents in frustration (pictured with his twin sister Francheska) It is believed that fewer than 60 children are diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma in the UK each year, with it being more common in boys than girls. WHAT IS RHABDOMYOSARCOMA? Fewer than 60 children are diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma in the UK each year. Most of them are younger than 10 years old. It's more common in boys than girls. These tumours develop from muscle or fibrous tissue and can grow in any part of the body. The most common areas of the body to be affected are around the head and neck, the bladder, the testes, the womb or the vagina. If the tumour is in the head or neck area, it can occasionally spread into the brain or the fluid around the spinal cord. The causes of rhadomyosarcoma are unknown but research is going on all the time. Source: Macmillan Advertisement The tumours develop from muscle and can grow in any part of the body, but the cause remains unknown. He also has been known to wake up in the middle of the night, sweating, screaming and crying as a result of his disease. But it can take up to an hour just to try and calm him down as he will often hit out at his father during an aggressive bout. In a video posted to the Facebook group 'Logan's Journey', Mr Sellers said: 'He doesn't know how to express feelings so he gets emotional and upset very easily. 'It's difficult to plan anything because we don't know what he will be like the next day.' The Facebook page was designed to document Logan's journey through chemotherapy at the Royal Manchester Hospital. Currently, the family live in the US while Logan receives proton therapy - a type of radiation which can more accurately pinpoint and kill tumours - that is not available in the UK. The NHS are funding the treatment but the family have since created a GoFundMe page to appeal for living costs while they are based abroad. His family have since temporarily relocated to the US as Logan receives pioneering treatment to fight his cancer which isn't available in the UK (pictured with Francheska in the US) You may not feel ready to kick the habit just yet. But health officials are urging smokers to quit - if only to save their pets. Chemicals in tobacco smoke wreak havoc on the blood and organs of cats, dogs, guinea pigs, hamsters and even fish - driving up their risk of developing cancer, heart disease or lung disease. Compared to human studies, research on smoking-related illnesses in animals remains relatively scarce. However, the Food and Drug Administration has released an advisory urging smokers that the studies we do have show even third-hand smoke can kill animals. 'Smoking's not only harmful to people; it's harmful to pets, too,' said FDA veterinarian Carmela Stamper. Chemicals in tobacco smoke wreak havoc on the blood and organs of cats, dogs, guinea pigs, hamsters and even fish - driving up their risk of developing cancer or lung disease 'If 58 million non-smoking adults and children are exposed to tobacco smoke, imagine how many pets are exposed at the same time. 'Like children, dogs and cats spend a lot of time on or near the floor, where tobacco smoke residue concentrates in house dust, carpets and rugs. 'Then, it gets on their fur. 'Dogs, cats and children not only breathe these harmful substances in, but pets can also ingest them by licking their owner's hair, skin, and clothes.' Secondhand smoke can cause lung and nasal cancer in dogs, malignant lymphoma in cats and allergy and respiratory problems in both animals, according to studies done at Tufts University's School of Veterinary Medicine in Massachusetts, Colorado State University and other schools. The number of pets that die each year from tobacco exposure isn't available, but vets know from lab tests and office visits that inhaling smoke causes allergic reactions, inflammation and nasal and pulmonary cancers in pets. Lymphoma is one of the leading causes of feline death. The Tufts research showed that repeated exposure to smoke doubled a cat's chances of getting the cancer and living with a smoker for more than five years increased the risk fourfold. It can also cause a fatal mouth cancer. Tobacco companies acknowledge the risks of smoking in people but haven't taken the same stance with dogs and cats. Philip Morris USA says on its website that it believes cigarettes cause diseases and aggravates others in non-smokers and that the problems warrant warnings. Symptoms of cancer in animals include coughing, trouble eating or breathing, drooling, weight loss, vomiting, nasal discharge, bleeding and sneezing. Cancer kills more dogs and cats than any other disease, according to Denver-based Morris Animal Foundation, which has been funding pet cancer research since 1962. In addition, the recent surge in the use of electronic cigarettes has raised questions about their impact on pets. The greatest danger is the trash, where dogs can find nicotine cartridges from e-cigarettes, said Rozanski, the Tufts veterinarian. 'You wouldn't think dogs would eat such things, but they do,' she said. RISK FOR DOGS WITH BIG NOSES Dogs with big noses have a higher risk of developing nose cancer. The hair and mucus in one's nose - either human or animal - traps tobacco smoke, dust and other particles, stopping them from reaching the lungs. Therefore dogs with bigger noses - Greyhounds, Borzois, and Doberman Pinschers, for example - trap more particles. Dogs with big noses have a higher risk of developing nose cancer While this protects them from lung cancer, the toxins are then stuck in their noses, where they fester. Over time, these carcinogenic toxins could cause nose cancer. RISK FOR DOGS WITH SMALL NOSES Smaller-nosed dogs have a higher risk of lung cancer. These pups - including Pugs, Bulldogs and Beagles - do not have the same filter as their bigger-nosed cousins. Fewer tobacco smoke particles get trapped, and therefore more carcinogens travel directly into the lungs, increasing the risk of lung cancer. For dogs with small noses, more carcinogens travel directly into the lungs, increasing the risk of lung cancer RISK FOR CATS Cats tend to have a much higher risk of developing cancer than dogs. Most common among cats are mouth cancer and cancer of the immune system (lymphoma). That is because they groom themselves, licking their fur - and the invisible carcinogenic toxins that have become stuck to their fur. By licking these toxins, cats in smoking households have a four-times higher risk of developing oral squamous cell carcinoma - an aggressive form of mouth cancer. The most common cancers among cats are mouth cancer and cancer of the immune system Even with chemotherapy, rarely more than 10 percent of cats live for more than a year after being diagnosed with this type of cancer. Cats whose owners smoke one pack a day have a three-times higher risk of developing lymphoma than those that don't. Even with treatment, they have a life expectancy of six months. EVEN YOUR FISH IS IN DANGER Nicotine emanates into the air through second-hand and third-hand smoke. The carcinogenic substance easily dissolves into water. As a result, it easily infects fish water, poisoning your fish. A study by the Veterinary Clinics of North America Exotic Animal Practice found fish exposed to toxic levels of nicotine will start to spasm, lose color, get rigid fins, then ultimately die. Another study published by Tobacco Control placed a school of minnows in nicotine-infected water. Half of them died within 96 hours. Drinking just one glass of wine or bottle of beer a day could trigger a dangerous 'heart flutter', experts warn. Data from more than 900,000 people suggests regular drinking - even at light levels - can be dangerous to the heart. Experts found drinking one 'standard' drink a day - defined as about 340ml of 5 per cent strength beer, or 140ml of 12 per cent strength wine - increased the risk of an abnormal heart rhythm by 8 per cent. And every extra drink consumed daily increases the risk by another 8 per cent, they found. Data from more than 900,000 people suggests regular drinking - even at light levels - can be dangerous to the heart An abnormal heart rhythm, known medically as atrial fibrillation, is a major cause of strokes and heart failure. The condition affects an estimated one million people in the UK, and becomes more common with age, affecting about seven in 100 people aged over 65. Experts previously knew binge drinking could trigger atrial fibrillation, a problem doctors called 'holiday heart syndrome'. But the new study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, is the first solid evidence it can be triggered by even light drinking. The team, which examined data from people who were monitored for at least 12 years, said 'habitual drinking' raises the risk at any level. Scientists think this is because alcohol alters the electrical signals that regulate the contraction of heart muscle cells, and also interferes with the autonomic nervous system that controls pulse and breathing rates. Drinking can also lead to small amounts of fibrous tissue building within the heart, which may also interfere with heart rate. Lead researcher Professor Peter Kistler, from the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, said: 'There has been a lot of attention in recent years about the benefits of drinking small amounts of alcohol for the heart. 'The results are significant, since chances are, there are people who are consuming one to two glasses of alcohol per day that may not realize they are putting themselves at risk for irregular heartbeat.' Experts found drinking one 'standard' drink a day increased the risk of an abnormal heart rhythm by 8 per cent The researchers advised people who experienced occasional irregular heartbeats to limit their alcohol consumption to one drink a day, and ensure they have two 'dry' days per week. Christopher Allen, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: 'The festive period is often a time of feasting and celebrations which can often lead to an increase in alcohol consumption. 'There is no truly 'safe' amount of alcohol you can drink and even if you don't exceed the recommended guidelines of 14 units per week, you could still be putting your heart health at risk. MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN DRINKING TOO MUCH BOOZE Middle-aged women are drinking three times as much alcohol as they should be, research has suggested. Many are counting one unit as one glass - even if it contains a third of a bottle of wine, experts claimed. More than a quarter of 2,000 British women aged between 40 and 65 years old drink between five and 16 glasses each week. While five per cent admitted to drinking more than 16 alcohol drinks over the course of a week. But while government guidelines state we should stick to no more than 14 units a week, many women are assuming this means 14 glasses. Advertisement 'Any small benefits there could be from drinking alcohol are far outweighed by the risks and drinking too much could lead to irregular heart rhythms and also liver failure, high blood pressure and stroke.' More than 10 million people in England drink more than the Government's recommended weekly limit of 14 units - the equivalent of six or seven glasses of wine. The Government's chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies earlier this year warned people to think about the health risk - every time they reached for the bottle. She said she was particularly worried about the risk of cancer. 'I would like people to take their choice knowing the issues and do as I do when I reach for my glass of wine and think - do I want the glass of wine or do I want to raise my risk of breast cancer?' she told a Commons select committee in February. 'I take a decision each time I have a glass.' A report published by Public Health England last Friday reported that Britain is one the only countries in Western Europe in which death rates from drinking are still rising. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval told Pakistan Prime Minister's advisor on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz to 'walk the talk against terrorism' as the two met briefly on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia summit in Amritsar. A source close to Doval told Mail Today: 'Our message to Pakistan is that whatever they say they do to counter terror activities should also be followed by action on ground against groups spreading terror in India.' According to sources, India maintained that it is ready to start a dialogue on terrorism, but for that to happen, Pakistan will first have to take action against the terror groups operating from within the country. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval told Pakistan Prime Minister's advisor on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz to 'walk the talk against terrorism' as the two met briefly on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia summit The tough talk heard on the sidelines was also backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the sixth edition of the summit, as 40 countries, including major regional and global powers and blocs, passed the Amritsar Declaration after two days of deliberations. Pakistan was cornered as the declaration called for dismantling of terrorist sanctuaries and safe havens in the region, as well as disrupting all financial, tactical and logistical support for terror networks. India was joined by Afghanistan, which is chairing the meet, as its President didn't mince his words at the inaugural session. Delivering a hard-hitting address Ghani accused Pakistan of being the root cause of terror in the region. 'Despite our intense engagement with Pakistan on bilateral and multilateral basis, the undeclared war - the name that I gave to the phenomenon in the winter 2014 not only has not abated but also intensified during 2016, with special intensity right after the Brussels Conference,' Ghani said. 'The response of the states has been fragmented and some still provide sanctuary and support or tolerate these networks. 'As Mr. Kakazada, one of the key figures in the Taliban movement recently said, if they did not have sanctuary in Pakistan, they would not last a month,' he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi then underlined terrorism and 'externally induced instability' as gravest threat to Afghanistan's peace, stability and prosperity that endangers the entire region. 'Support for voices of peace in Afghanistan alone is not enough. It must be backed by resolute action. Not just against forces of terrorism, but also against those who support, shelter, train and finance them. 'Silence and inaction against terrorism in Afghanistan and our region will only embolden terrorists and their masters,' Modi said in his speech. Pakistan though remained defiant in its response. At the ministerial session, Sartaj Aziz, the first veteran Pakistani leader to visit India in months following derailed bilateral talks and recent escalation at the LoC, refuted the allegations. 'The security situation in Afghanistan is very complex. It is simplistic to blame only one country for the recent upsurge in violence. We need to have an objective and holistic view,' Aziz responded. According to sources, India maintained that it is ready to start a dialogue on terrorism after Pakistan takes the initiative on home-grown terror (pictured - Pakistan's National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz) The Amritsar declaration unveiled at the end of the conference also came down hard on Pakistan without naming it specifically. But all the terror outfits operating out of Pakistani soil were named in a more hard-hitting joint document compared to the previous declarations. 'We remain concerned by the gravity of the security situation in Afghanistan in particular and the region and the high level of violence caused by the Taliban, terrorist groups including ISIL/ DAISH and its affiliates, the Haqqani Network, Al Qaida, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, East Turkistan Islamic Movement, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e- Mohammad, TTP, Jamaat-ul- Ahrar, Jundullah and other foreign terrorist fighters,' para 14 of the 33 para declaration read. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval told Pakistan Prime Minister's advisor on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz to 'walk the talk against terrorism' as the two met briefly on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia summit in Amritsar Meanwhile, India and Afghanistan held bilateral talks following Sartaj Aziz's meeting with Ghani on Sunday morning ahead of the conference. A statement released by the Indian External Affairs Ministry said, 'The two leaders agreed to strengthen counter terror cooperation and enhance coordination at the UN and other relevant fora.' Bollywood star Salman Khan and model Iulia Vantur have been teasing fans about their relationship status. Even though Iulia has never admitted to it, rumours of their relationship have been fuelled by several public appearances together. Recent reports suggested that the two had called it quits after Iulia left the country, but her return sparked off the rumour-mill once again. Salman Khan and model Iulia Vantur have been teasing fans about their relationship status for a while and now the Romanian singer returned to India the rumour-mill has again kick-started Recently, Iulia addressed the media at a promotional event for her music album with Himesh Reshammiya, and cleared the air on her relationship with the superstar. According to a report, the Romanian beauty said, 'He is a very good friend! What more can I say? He is a very good friend for everyone who meets him. He has such a good heart and he is welcoming to everyone. So you know what I think about him.' She also addressed the rumours of her impending marriage to Salman, 'There is a lot of respect for him. It is because of him I met India! And I love India. 'I always wanted to come here since I was a kid because I used to read so many stories about India. When I stepped on this land it was like home. The energy, the vibe of this place was so good and so welcoming. And honestly, when I left from India, I cried because I didn't want to leave this land. 'But life brought me here back. So I am happy. There were rumours that I didn't like India or its culture but it's not correct.' Even though Iulia has never admitted to it, rumours her relationship with Salman have been fuelled by several public appearances together The Romanian beauty says the rumours of her link-up with superstar Salman Khan don't disturb her, but her parents. 'It's not disturbing for me, it's for my parents. But it's no one's fault. I have worked a lot for everything that I have achieved there. I think people can speak more about work, professional stuff than personal thing,' Iulia said. The model-actress also brushed aside the reports of her being married saying, 'For me such reports are not a problem, somewhere I am used to this, but for my parents it's difficult. 'Also, I want to clarify that I was never married. It came in the press that I was married and I left my husband but it's not true,' she added. Asked what she has learnt from the Dabangg star, she said, 'To give your best'. It will take roughly a year to know the true direction of the incoming Trump Administration in the United States. The phone calls and conversations that are making waves today - with Nawaz Sharif and Tsai Ingwen - are no indicator of which way the US will go under his presidency. The policy will only assume shape after Cabinet appointees have gone through their confirmation hearings and sub-cabinet officials selected and appointed. Donald J Trump never really expected to win the election and had not done the elaborate preparation for taking up the job like his rival Hillary Clinton Given that some choices could be controversial, the confirmation process may prove to be long and arduous. Strategy Donald J Trump never really expected to win the election and had not done the elaborate preparation for taking up the job like his rival Hillary Clinton. In any case, a Clinton administration would have appointed a large number of Obama officials who are currently in a state of shock because none of them expected to be out of a job so soon. The special thing about foreign policy is that there are only some variables you can control. No matter how powerful or determined a US President, his policy still depends on developments abroad, as well as the actions of other countries, some friends and others rivals. There is likely to be little change in American grand strategy which has sought to ensure that no regional hegemon (supreme leader) arises in Europe, Persian Gulf and East Asia. The thing about foreign policy is that there are only some variables you can control. No matter how powerful or determined a US President, his policy still depends on developments abroad. To this end, leading the alliance in Europe is important, just as it is to prevent the rise of Iran in the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia simply lacks the population base to be a regional hegemon of any kind. Russias resurgence is really a defensive reflex and not a bid to restore the glory of the erstwhile Soviet Union. The real challenge is in East Asia where China is determined to challenge the American sway and has successfully breached the ASEAN. Critics of Obama say that the eight years of his presidency have featured inaction, inattention and withdrawal from global affairs. While the decision to pull out from Iraq was understandable, the speed of the withdrawal from Afghanistan has had widespread repercussions. Likewise it would have been foolish of the Americans to go in too deep into European ventures like Libya and Syria, but its own pivot to Asia proved to be anemic. Obama did little to check Russia and instead reached out to make peace with Iran and Cuba. The emergence of Francois Fillon as the centre-right candidate for next years presidential elections in France, combined with the inclination of the US President- elect to make a deal with Russia could upend the verities of the Obama era which had sought to cordon Russia from Europe through economic sanctions. Nawaz Sharif and Barack Obama in the Oval Office of the White House Outreach A US-Europe-Russia deal has vast implications. It will almost certainly involve handing over Syrian affairs to them, in exchange for Moscow backing off in Ukraine in exchange for the Americans acquiescing in the occupation of Crimea and lifting the sanctions. NATO expansion into Ukraine and Georgia would be checked and the US would permit Assad to regain control of Syria with the commitment of fighting the ISIS. People who complain about the amorality of all this forget that the US and China were supported the Pol Pot regime because of their antipathy for Vietnam. This is what big power politics is all about. The outreach to Russia could have another important result - the pullback of the Russia drift towards a proto-alliance with China. This will have important implications for the One Belt One Road project, as well as Chinese military modernization, which still relies on Russia for crucial elements such as jet engines and high quality air defence systems. Fallout The one area which remains an unknown is Iran. Conservative elements close to Trump have a deep antipathy to Iran and Cuba. In the case of Cuba, it is motivated by Cuban exiles that have deep roots in the conservative establishment. In the case of Tehran a great deal of it arises from Israel and its powerful American supporters who view the current regime as an existential threat. However, the US knows that any going back on the nuclear deal could have serious consequences, notably a breakdown of the big-power consensus that led to the Iran nuclear agreement. The US would find it difficult, if not impossible, to resume the economic sanctions that had, to an extend, brought Iran around. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and President George W. Bush President George W. Bush There could be a negative fallout for India as well. Our big geopolitical riposte to the OBORthe Chah Bahar project could come undone. In addition, our energy security could be affected in view of our huge purchases of Iranian oil. New Delhi would have to make choices here and they are not likely to be simple. Not going with the Americans could have repercussions elsewhere, while tailing them could seriously damage our standing in a region which is vital to our security. If sitting out and enjoying tandoori chicken or barbecued kebabs is a part of your daily routine then the South Delhi Municipal Corporation is about to spoil your lunch. To support such a ban, the officials read out an IIT Kanpur 'source apportionment' study last year that said particulate matter (PM) pollution from tandoors was akin to mass burning in landfills and leaf burning, both of which are banned. South Delhi has a sizeable number of the city's 9,000 hotels and restaurants which use coal ovens and their business may go up in smoke if the proposed move comes into effect. If sitting out and enjoying tandoori chicken or barbecued kebabs are a part of your daily routine then the South Delhi Municipal Corporation is about to spoil your lunch 'Saving your lungs is more important than tickling your taste-buds,' said an officer in SDMC health department. 'We have actually been thinking about it since monsoon when dengue and chikungunya broke out. These eateries are a source of unnecessary filth as plates, spoons, are thrown anywhere, and attract stray dogs and cats. 'Now, with various think-tanks stating this as one of the major sources of air pollution in the city, we could close the ovens. We will take public opinion before we do that,' the official said. South Delhi has a sizeable number of the city's 9,000 hotels and restaurants which use coal ovens and their business may go up in smoke if the proposed move comes into effect Other SDMC officers too admitted that the department was seriously considering the option of closing the ovens, at least in winters. However, a few officers said this could be a desperate measure based on a lone study as the city and central governments have been grappling with answers to lay before the Supreme Court on air pollution-reducing measures. 'The open clay ovens may just prove to be the fall guy,' one official differing with the proposed move said. According to the IIT (K) study, 'The PM emission in the form of fly-ash from this source is large and contributes to air pollution. 'It is proposed that all restaurants of sitting capacity more than 10 should not use coal and shift to electric or gas-based appliances.' Pollution is such a problem in Delhi that it has been proposed that all restaurants seating 10 or more should not use coal and shift to electric or gas-based appliances The study was commissioned by the Delhi government in 2012 and it brought out the report after analysing several contributory sources of Delhi's hazardous air - vehicles, power plants, industries, traffic, local power generation, hotels and open burning of municipal solid waste (MSW). 'The details of the hotels and restaurants were obtained from the DPCC (Delhi Pollution Control Committee) and related websites. During the field survey, it was observed that hotels, restaurants, use coal as fuel in tandoors. 'The average consumption of coal in tandoor based on survey was 30 kg/day,' the study said. However, the study assumed that 25 per cent of total hotels were using tandoors or coal-based fuel to cook meals. 'The total number of hotel and restaurant enterprise was 36,099 (Delhi Statistical Hand Book, 2014). We assume that 25 per cent of these enterprises use tandoor for food preparation,' the study said. Delhi has a trash problem with landfill sights full to the brim with festering garbage (file pic) According to the report, coal and fly-ash are the largest contributors to PM 10 (particulate matter less than 10 micron in diameter) and PM 2.5 (particulate matter less than 2.5 micron in diameter) in the summers. Of the 37,171 kg/day and 18,369 kg/day of PM 10 and PM 2.5, the report shows 3,493 kg/day and 1,758 kg/day of the same particulate matter is from hotel and restaurant emissions. 'A careful examination shows that about 67 per cent reduction of PM10 (2,142 kg/day) and PM2.5 (1,083 kg/day) emission from this source can be achieved by stopping uses of coal. Living longer is being viewed more as a problem by society than a benefit, say half of over-65s. Worries over people running out of money in their retirement years and how public services will cope are weighing heavily on the perception that a longer life is a good thing, a survey by financial advice firm Chase de Vere said. Asked how people living longer was viewed by society, some 44 per cent of people under age 65 and 50 per cent of people over 65 said it was regarded as a problem. That compared to the 31 per cent and 28 per cent in those age groups, respectively, who said it was felt to be a benefit. Living longer: Do people regard increased longevity as a benefit or a problem for the UK? The findings emerged in a study into attitudes towards living longer and hopes for retirement in the UK and four other European countries - Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland - by Chase de Vere. It showed that rather than celebrating our longer lives, r ising life expectancy means old age is being viewed as a problem and is creating concern about whether UK health and care services will cope. And while we put concerns over health above money, we also downplay higher pension costs yet retain the ambition to retire as young in life as possible The responses to the survey broadly found that people in the UK were putting less priority on their finances than on other retirement matters. Patrick Connolly, certified financial planner at Chase de Vere, said: 'Our research paints a rather sorry picture of increasing longevity in UK. We see people living longer as a problem for society, with particular concerns about the sustainability of healthcare and social services. 'Individuals seem to desire a long retirement but arent taking the steps to retire when they want and have no real plans to enjoy their retirement when they do actually get there. In too many respects we are lagging too far behind our European counterparts.' There are concerns that the UK isnt prepared enough to cope with increasing demands on health and social services, and these appear to run deeper than in the other four European countries in the study. Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland are collectively referred to as 'Europe' for the purposes of the study, which showed how we view longer life expectancy. It also looked at how prepared people felt their country was. (Source: Chase de Vere) Physical and mental health were considered more important factors than economic resources when it comes to controlling your life, but the importance of money was given less weight in the UK than in the other countries. Chase de Vere said there was a clear disconnect between the relatively few people aged under 65 in the UK who see having economic resources as an important factor for a good quality of life in old age, and the desire of 39 per cent to give up work as soon as possible. 'Only 19 per cent of those in the UK want to continue working full time in their current jobs past the state pension age. The reality is that many more may be forced to do so,' said the firm. Understandably physical and mental health came out as most important aspects of older life More people in the UK want to retire as early as possible than in the Europe countries Chase noted that people in the UK gave more prominence to having control over their time, but less to what they were actually going to do with it. 'Worryingly only 19 per cent of UK respondents under 65 were looking forward to being financial independent in retirement,' it added. 'European respondents are focused far more on taking the steps needed to be better equipped to enjoy a longer life. This includes being healthy, investing savings and developing relationships and social connections,' said Chase. 'Other than taking no action at all, the only other area where the UK scored higher than Europe was in under 65s reducing their expenses, although this could have been through necessity rather than choice.' Having more control over time came out top in what people look forward to in retirement Maintaining a healthy lifestyle came out as the top step for a better longer life HOW WAS THE RESEARCH CARRIED OUT? Chase de Vere surveyed 1,000 people aged 35 and over in the UK. It focused on the perceptions, behaviour and aspirations of two demographic groups, those aged 35 to 64 and those aged 65 or older. 'The sample represented a cross-section by gender, social class, working status and UK region,' it said. It carried out similar research with 1,265 people in total across Germany, France, Switzerland and Austria. Meanwhile, new research from Prudential shows that 53 per cent of people aged under 30 are contributing only the minimum sums to their workplace pensions under auto enrolment or are not saving for retirement at all. Asked the reason for their low levels of saving, more than half said they wanted their employer to do a better job of explaining pensions and their benefits, while 33 per cent found pension rules confusing and 24 per cent said they couldn't afford it. At present, people who qualify for auto enrolment put 0.8 per cent of their earnings into a pension unless they opt out, but individual contributions will rise to 2.4 per cent in April 2018 and then to 4 per cent in April 2019. These payments are then topped up by employers and by tax relief from the Government. See the table below. Three former Hawaiian students, now in their mid-80s, have described how the Pearl Harbor attack shaped their childhoods 75 years ago, turning their home island into a war zone where schools required them to keep a gas mask at all times - including while posing for a class photo. December 7 marks the 75th anniversary of the Japanese-led attack, which prompted the United States to engage in World War II. Joan Martin Rodby, Florence Seto and Emma Veary all went to Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Waikiki and have since kept in touch. A 1942 class photo shows them among 30 fifth-graders 26 girls and four boys, each a bag containing a gas mask. The bags remain as a sign of how war suddenly broke apart the routines of their adolescence on December 7, 1941. Joan Rodby, one of three students who went to Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Waikiki after Pearl Harbor, points to herself in a 1942 photo Rodby (left), 85, and Veary (right), 86, have kept in touch throughout the years. They hugged during a reunion in Makawao, Hawaii Florence Seto (pictured) also went to Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Waikiki and is pictured holding a 1942 photo of her fifth-grade class shortly after Pearl Harbor Seto, who is Japanese-American, recalled sharing ice cream with Rodby, and being worried that her family would be taken away. Rodby remembered the carefree walks to school, and her family building an air raid shelter in their yard. Veary reminisced about her days singing, and her family covering the windows at night so Japanese pilots couldn't use the light of homes to guide them. On the morning of December 7, a Sunday, Japanese bombers flew across Oahu and began their assault. Some children climbed onto the roofs of homes to see what was happening. The planes were so close to the ground in some cases that they could make out the Rising Sun insignia. Soon, smoke rose over the water, about 10 miles from Veary's home near Waikiki. Rodby (back) remembered her family building an air raid shelter in their yard. Veary (front) reminisced about her family covering the windows at night so Japanese pilots couldn't use the light of homes to guide them After Pearl Harbor, schools required students to carry gas masks with them at all times. Students are pictured in May 1942 being fitted for gas masks at Kapalama School in Honolulu Veary, then 11, climbed on top of a neighbor's house. Back then, Waikiki didn't have any high-rise hotels and condominiums to block the view, so she could see all the way to the naval base. Her parents yelled at her to get down as soon as they heard about the attack. Seto, who lived a few blocks away near homes belonging to Navy families, remembered a neighbor rushing out of her home, screaming about how the Japanese, using an epithet common at the time, had attacked Pearl Harbor. The young Seto ran home, and, using the same word, told her parents, both immigrants from Japan. 'That didn't go over too well,' she said. The attack killed more than 2,300 people, nearly half of them on the battleship USS Arizona. More than 1,100 were injured. After the attack, President Franklin D Roosevelt delivered a speech before Congress, calling December 7 a 'date which will live in infamy.' The US declared war against Japan. Veary, Seto and Rodby suddenly found themselves living in a war zone, as an ever-present worry about a Japanese invasion permeated life in their island home. Some children saw their parents digging trenches outside their school. Students at Liliuokalani school are pictured learning first aid during a drill in Honolulu in March 1942 Seto (right), pictured with her granddaughter Michelle Kalehua Kukahiko, said the only scary part of the entire war was when military police showed up at her house looking for her father During the holidays, Veary's brother and sister would bring servicemen they met on the bus home to eat food cooked by their mother and their neighbors. Veary is pictured looking at a photograph of herself, taken when she was a teenager, in Makawao, Hawaii About a month or two after the attack, Rodby and her classmates were issued gas masks. Rodby, who was 10 at the time, remembers being tested on how quickly she could don the mask. If an air raid siren went off, they had to be able to put the masks on in seconds. The children put their gas masks around the backs of their chairs while in class. When playing outside, they kept them in a set spot so they could grab them right away. 'It was like an extra arm we had to have all the time,' Rodby said. At home, her father, who worked at Honolulu Iron Works, built an air raid shelter in their yard. They didn't know how long the war would last or how long they would need it, so they stocked it with pillows, blankets, dishes and a kerosene lamp to make it comfortable. 'We would have food down there and artificial lighting and the more we needed the air raid shelters, the fancier they got inside. I mean, people would have beds and they put flooring in,' she said. Her school had air raid trenches dug by parents and volunteers. They were covered with grass, tin or wood so any airplanes flying overhead wouldn't be able to spot them. Many of Rodby's war memories are happy ones, though. She recalls walking and skipping the four blocks or so from her home to the school, meeting friends along the way. They'd be a big group by the time they reached campus. Seto said the only scary part of the entire war was when military police, carrying guns with fixed bayonets, showed up at her house looking for her father. Her neighbors, who served in the Navy, suspected he was hoarding food and reported him after he used his painting business truck to load up on Vienna sausage, Spam and rice for friends. Rodby (left) and Veary (right) kept in touch over the years. They are pictured looking out over the countryside in Makawao, Hawaii Seto's immigrant parents had trouble communicating with the police. Her brothers explained what their father was doing and gave the police the names of families they were helping. The military police apologized and left, she said. The families who called the police were good friends of the Setos. Their children played with Seto and her siblings. 'They were just afraid. It was a scary time,' she said. Government authorities detained 1,330 Japanese-Americans and Japanese nationals from Hawaii, particularly community leaders like Shinto priests and teachers. Seto said her father was investigated, but she believes he was spared because a business associate vouched for his trustworthiness. But a family friend, a restaurant owner, was deported. 'We didn't know any details except my mother and father would talk about it and then hush up when we would come close by,' she said. Many of Seto's other memories were happy ones. She had the most fun helping out in the pineapple fields to fill in for men who left to serve in the military. 'Everyone did their part,' she said. Soon after the attack began, Veary's father got a call to go to Pearl Harbor to help rescue sailors. He was a tug boat captain for a local shipping company. He didn't come back for more than a day. Life under the threat of further Japanese attacks meant her family had to cover their windows to block any light from escaping at night. Wardens would patrol neighborhoods to make sure no light was visible through the windows. They would knock on the door of offending houses. But there were plenty of light-hearted moments, too. She practiced her singing, including in front of audiences a talent that would later become her profession. During the holidays, Veary's brother and sister would bring servicemen they met on the bus home to eat food cooked by their mother and their neighbors. 'We weren't a well-to-do family, but whatever we had we liked to share,' Veary said. Lonely hospital patients are being given virtual reality headsets to help Medical experts are trialling virtual reality headsets in hospital in an attempt to combat loneliness at Christmas. The 'pioneering' experiment will see patients try on devices that will show them animated videos that are hoped will soothe them and help them relax. The clip, which you can watch below, shows a group of people sitting around a campfire reading stories to one another as a sleepy dog patiently watches them. Doctors believe watching the life-like video could cut loneliness among patients on hospital wards during the festive season and one unwell person who has used the virtual reality headset has even reported a reduction in pain. Medical experts are trialling virtual reality headsets in hospital in an attempt to combat loneliness at Christmas. Pictured, the clip shown on the headsets The 'pioneering' experiment will see patients try on devices that will show them animated videos that are hoped will soothe them and help them relax The 'Joy' virtual reality devices are being trialled in Brunswick Private Hospital in Melbourne, Macquarie University Hospital in Sydney, St Andrew's Hospital in Adelaide and Mater Hospital in Brisbane. Dr Linda Swan, chief medical officer at Medibank - the health insurance firm behind the headsets - said watching the videos could help improve patients' health. 'Loneliness has a significant impact on health so really this is a great idea that's going to be tested in some patients and hospitals and hopefully have an impact at a difficult time of year,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'We know that loneliness is associated with an increased mortality, increased risk of cognitive diseases and cardiovascular disease' Dr Swan continued: 'It is harder to reduce loneliness in hospitals but hopefully this virtual reality device is an innovative way to combat that. 'Hospitals can be quite isolating, you do feel alone because you're unwell and out of your comfort zone. 'And it's not that nursing staff aren't doing their best, it's just a very individual experience being lonely and it's hard to prescribe a treatment that will work for everybody.' Older people are more likely to spend Christmas alone and are also more likely to be hopitalised than younger people - and Dr Swan said the device is suitable for all ages. The clip shows a group of people sitting around a campfire reading stories to one another as a sleepy dog patiently watches them Doctors believe watching the life-like video could cut loneliness among patients on hospital wards during the festive season 'Loneliness is becoming increasingly prevalent in younger people too, but certainly there are more older people in hospital and more older people becoming lonely,' she said. 'The tool is not just necessarily for older people but it will be interesting to see which age groups react to it best.' Sami Yamin, a neuropsychologist who helped develop the headsets, explained why they chose to use an animation of a campfire and a sleepy dog. 'What we wanted to do was bring the outside in and transport them to a natural environment that is calming and relaxing,' he told Daily Mail Australia. One unwell person who has used the virtual reality headset has reported a reduction in pain The 'Joy' virtual reality devices are being trialled in four hospitals around Australia. Pictured, a clip from the virtual reality device 'We really wanted to find something that was applicable to a wide range of people. 'The campfire is something that is quite cross-cultural and is a place where people come together to tell stories. We also found that there's some literature that suggests that watching and listening to a crackling fire can help. 'Pet therapy is well established so we wanted to bring some of that into our experience.' He added: 'We've had really good feedback. One person had a reduction in their reported pain. The United States Navy is planning to purchase dozens of F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter aircraft over the course of the next few years while ditching the older Hornet model jets. The Navy says that it is experiencing a shortfall in aircraft due to the extensive maintenance required on the original Hornets as well as delays in bringing the new F-35 fighter jet onto its aircraft carriers, Reuters reported. If the plan is implemented, it would be a boon for the plane's manufacturer, Boeing Co., whose plant in St. Louis faced a gap in production brought on by a decision by Congress to leave out the purchase of 12 Super Hornets in the 2017 defense authorization bill. The spending measure, which totals $618.7billion, was passed by the House of Representatives on Friday, and is due for a vote in the Senate next week. The US Navy wants to buy dozens of F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft, like the one seen in the above undated file photo during a mission over the Persian Gulf Navy officials are hopeful that the Super Hornets could be added in a supplementary budget that would have to be submitted by Donald Trump once he takes office after January 21. Republicans, who will control both houses of Congress and the White House after Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20, see good prospects for raising military spending levels and scrapping a 2010 law that imposed mandatory cost caps on defense spending. The older model Hornets could be transferred to the Marine Corps, which has faced its own maintenance issues, including a lack of spare parts. 'We would welcome an opportunity to develop a plan, with the Navy, that would allow us to continue providing the robust capabilities of the Super Hornet well into the future,' said Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher. The Super Hornet (above) first entered service in 1999. Its designers improved upon the original Hornet by making it bigger with a 25 per cent larger wing area The F/A-18 Hornet (above) is a twin-engine supersonic, all-weather multi-role plane that is designed to engage in air-to-air combat as well as undertake attack missions The F/A-18 Hornet, which the Navy is planning to phase out over the next few years, first entered into operation in the late 1970s. Its primary users were the Navy and the Marine Corps as well as a number of foreign air forces, including the Royal Australian Air Force and the Spanish Air Force. The Hornet is a twin-engine supersonic, all-weather multi-role plane that is designed to engage in air-to-air combat as well as undertake attack missions. Delays in the deployment of the F-35A joint strike fighter (above) have created a shortfall which the Navy says it needs to fill by acquiring Super Hornets It can reach a top speed of Mach 1.8, which is equivalent to 1,190mph while carrying a wide variety of bombs and missiles, including both air-to-air and air-to-ground. The Hornet first saw extensive action during the US bombing campaign against Libya in 1986. Its successor, the Super Hornet, first entered service in 1999. Its designers improved upon the original Hornet by making it bigger with a 25 per cent larger wing area. President-elect Donald Trump (left) and House Speaker Paul Ryan meet in Washington on November 10. The Republicans are said to be eager to boost military spending It also has longer range, which is made possible by the bigger internal fuel tank. The United States government and authorities in Ghana shut down a criminal operation this past summer that ran a fake embassy which issued forged documents to unsuspecting visa applicants in the West African capital for 10 years. The embassy in Accra had some of the trappings of a diplomatic mission a flag hanging from its exterior, a picture of President Barack Obama hung on the walls, and signs suggesting that it was indeed the real thing. Visitors to the building were instead being hoodwinked by organized crime figures from Turkey and Ghana who managed to fool the public by speaking English and Dutch, according to a report that first appeared on the State Department web site. The sham embassy had apparently stayed in business by charging applicants up to $6,000 for phony visas, birth certificates, and bank records. The building seen above in Accra, Ghana, flew an American flag and had pictures of US President Barack Obama on its walls, fooling people into thinking it was a real embassy Its operators avoided being shut down for a decade by simply bribing corrupt officials, the State Department said. The US government learned of the fake operation during a wider investigation into fraudulent practices affecting American diplomatic missions throughout West Africa. During the investigation, it was also learned that the operators of the sham embassy were also running a fake Dutch mission, the State Department said. The fake embassies would not accept walk-in visa appointments. Raids conducted by officials from the US State Department as well as Ghanaian authorities yielded passports and forged documents used by the operators of the sham embassy Instead, its employees would drive to customers in places like Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Togo. The customers would then be driven to Accra in shuttles and placed in a rental hotel room. From there, they would be taken to the property in Accra that served as a fake embassy, where they were issued fraudulently obtained visas, fake identity papers, and birth certificates. Raids by US security officials as well as Ghanaian authorities revealed a cache of cell phones; a laptop computer; 150 passports from 10 countries; real and fake visas from the US, India, and South Africa; and other counterfeit documents. The State Department says its real embassy in Accra is the building seen above. The US has been trying to crack down on fraud against its consular missions in West Africa A Ghanaian lawyer who is one of the alleged front men for the operation has been taken into custody, while the Turkish underworld figures remain at large. or even may require some families to bring in items for DNA matching, such as a hairbrush Authorities say that due to the condition of the bodies, they may need to consult dental Advertisement Twelve victims have been named as firefighters announced they have recovered 33 bodies from the Oakland warehouse party blaze. The names of Cash Askew, 22, David Cline, 24, Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, Sara Hoda, 30, Donna Kellogg, 32, Nex Iuguolo, 32, and Travis Hough, 35, were released by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office Coroner's Bureau on Sunday. Pete Wadsworth, Barrett Clark, Ara Jo, Jonathan Bernbaum and 17-year-old Draven McGill have also been identified as victims of the fire by family and friends on social media. Sergeant Ray Kelly also revealed on Sunday that the deceased includes the son of an Oakland police deputy, but did not release the boy's name. 'This tragedy has hit very close to home for our agency,' he said during a press conference. 'We're still dealing with that as we continue to deal with the other victims. Our department is hurting from that.' Kelly said that among the victims are citizens from countries in Europe and Asia and that the department is in the process of contacting the necessary embassies and consulates before their names are released. Scroll down for video Donna Kellogg (left) and Cash Askew (right) have been identified as two of the 30 victims of the Oakland Ghost Ship fire Barrett Clark (left) and Nex Iuguolo (right) have been confirmed as dead by their family and friends on social media Sara Hoda, 30, (left) and Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, both perished in the fire during an electronic dance music event on Friday The sergeant said firefighters have made their way through about 30 percent of the building so far and that it remains unclear if the death toll could rise. 'We have another 60 plus percent to search, and we're finding motor homes and trailers where people may have been living inside,' he said. 'We don't even know if people are inside of those, we can't get into those yet.' 'If you had told us at the start of this investigation that we would have 33 victims, we wouldn't have believed you,' he added. 'We don't know how many people were in that building that night - we don't know how many people got out of that building that night.' Kelly said that victims are being found 'throughout the entire square footage' of the venue. 'We've broken the warehouse into four quadrants, we found victims in every quadrant of the warehouse,' he said. 'We're finding victims where we least expect them.' Investigations continue but the fire chief admitted that they had not ' even gotten close to the point of origin of the fire.' Authorities said that some victims will have to be identified by matching dental records or even DNA testing as families are urged to bring in items such as hair brushes to see if the DNA matches the bodies. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf confirmed that the District Attorney's Office activated their criminal investigation team and that a representative of the DA was onsite. 'It is far too early for us to have suspicions for what caused this fire,' she added. 'There are many interviews being conducted right now, but you have to understand that the scope of this tragedy is tremendous.' 'We have many, many witnesses to interview. We are in the process of doing that.' 'Our first task is to attend to the victims and the families, that is our moral obligation to put the bulk of our resources right now on this most important task.' Travis Hough (left) and Peter Wadsworth (right) also tragically perished in the warehouse fire on Friday night Family members confirmed that that UC Berkeley alumnus David T. Cline (lef) and Ara Jo (right) are victims of the horrific fire Draven McGill, 17, was one of the fire's youngest victims. Sgt Kelly reported that multiple teenagers were killed in the tragedy Jonathan Bernbaum was an esteemed visual artist for the popular electronic music act known as Knife Party and had also worked with DJ Markus Schulz A neighbor of the Ghost Ship warehouse, who saw it go up in flames, has claimed the blaze began in a junk yard belonging to the artists. Nick Garcia, 21, said he first saw a little fire in the the empty lot next to the building which was full of RV parts, wood and welding equipment. He told Daily Mail.com: 'We saw it a little bit start in the yard, and then within about five minutes the entire building was burning and then after that there was nothing. Within about five minutes of a little fire in the yard, the whole thing lit up and then it burned for like four hours.' Nick said the building's windows had metal screens on making them impossible to use as an escape route. 'If you look at the outside of them they were bolted on metal mesh,' he said. 'There's no way, they couldn't even jump out of them if they wanted to. I know there was a way to get to the roof, because we've seen people on the roof.' 'It used to be a warehouse and it was abandoned for a long time and then these people moved in about three or four years ago. They are in and out different people, if you want to come and stay there you can stay there.' Nick's mother Nancy Garcia, who's brother Al Garcia runs Reid supply next door to the warehouse, said it was 'unbelievable' how quick the building went up in flames after it began at around 11.40pm. ' 'By 11.50pm the whole building was engulfed. How could it go up that fast both floors?' she asked. Askew, a transgender musician from San Francisco, is among the 30 victims who lost their lives in the fire Brian Hough shared a touching photo of himself and Travis, the musical creative behind Ghost of Lightning who also went as Travis Blitzen, on Facebook as he confirmed his son had died in the blaze Ara Jo's death was confirmed by the brother of her partner Zack Dewane (pictured together). 'She is family, and I can't explain how devastated we all are,' Ian Dewane wrote on Sunday. 'She was an amazing artist, musician, and all around bad a**' Tributes have been pouring in for those that lost their lives in the blaze. Clark (left), a freelance sound engineer, of Santa Rosa, who studied Sound at SAE Expression College, appeared to have touched many people's lives before his tragic death. Friend Emmet Corman, described Barrett as his 'guiding light' Bob Mule (left) a photographer and artist who lived at the building and attended the electro dance party, told how he got burned trying to drag Wadsworth to safety 'The flames were so intense it was like they were almost fuel there.' Garcia said the warehouse used to have air vents on the roof but the inhabitants got rid of them two years ago because of rain getting in. 'When they moved in, there used to be wind turbines to take the air out of the place, and they took them down and covered them,' she said. 'So if there was any place to get air out of the place they sealed it.' Bob Mule, a photographer and artist who lived at the building and attended the electronic dance party suffered burns trying to drag his friend to safety. The artist told NBC he had been running back to get his camera when he saw Wadsworth lying on the floor with a suspected broken ankle after he tried to climb down from his loft space. 'He needed me to pull him out. I tried my best - he was a larger gentleman. T here was a lot of stuff in the way, there was too much smoke. 'I had to let him... I had to let him...' he said, his voice breaking. 'The thought of him in there is in my brain.' Mule suffered burns on his arm, hands and shoulder, while his denim vest was left charred and blackened. 'If I didn't have this vest on while I was pulling out Pete, I don't know. It would have been me too probably.' Meanwhile, a former tenant of the warehouse has since described the venue space as a 'death trap' full of illegal electrical cords and music equipment. Shelley Mack said Saturday that she didn't know the dwelling was illegal when she lived there about two years ago, and was told to tell visitors it was a 24-hour workspace for artists. Kellogg (pictured) is believed to have been on the second flore when a blaze tore through the Oakland warehouse party Iuguolo (left), also known as Chase, of Oakland, was a project director for a band called Symbiotic Fungi, according to his Facebook page. A friend of Pete Wadsworth (right) had attempted to pull him to safety to no avail Clint was from Santa Monica, California and lived in Berkeley. His brother Neil announced he was one of the victims When inspectors or other outsiders came to visit, she said she and other residents scurried to hide clothes, bedding and other evidence anyone was living there. Oakland officials say the space was cluttered with rugs, old sofas and other items when the fire tore through it during the dance party on Friday night. Fire crews were only able to access 20 percent of the smoldering warehouse wreckage after working through Saturday night. Sgt Kelly says crews are starting to get deeper into the building and that as they advance they expect to find more victims. Fire Chief Battalion Melinda Drayton said at a press conference on Sunday that they recovered 30 bodies just within the fifth of the building. The fire chief appeared to be overcome with emotion at one point, as Kelly explained that the search effort had been 'emotional' for all of them. 'We anticipate the number of victims will rise,' he added. 'This will be a long, arduous process,' Drayton said. 'What we were able to accomplish in 12 hours was a phenomenal feat. We have a lot more to go. We're going to be here for a few more days.' They are working tirelessly, around the clock in 12-hour shifts removing debris 'bucket by bucket,' she said. Oakland Police Officer Joanna Watson said that police have also been working to identify victims and missing persons by looking at cars parked near the building - potentially belonging to party revelers - to try and trace their owners. Th e sheriff's office began making notifications on Saturday night. But dozens of families are still desperately waiting to hear if their loved ones are alive or dead. Officials said the building had no sprinkler system or working smoke detectors. The owner had been cited by the city just last month for other violations. Max Ohr, the creative director of the art collective that used the warehouse, told the TODAY Show on Sunday that he was working the door when he saw 'an orange glow coming from the back of the warehouse' and had run to get an extinguisher. He estimated around 70 people had been inside the venue at the time. Sergeant Ray Kelly revealed on Sunday that the deceased include 17-year-old minors and that one of the victims is the son of an Oakland police deputy Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf confirmed that the District Attorney's Office activated their criminal investigation team and that a representative of the DA was onsite. The fire chief (left) appeared to be overcome with emotion at one point, as Sergeant Ray Kelly (right) explained that the search effort had been 'emotional' for all of them 'I ran back and got maybe one squirt out of and realized it wasn't going to do anything,' he said. 'The roof had already caught and the flames were coming towards the door at an alarming rate.' 'It took about 15 seconds to go from notification of a fire to completely engulfed,' he added. Ohr said there were no sprinklers in the building prior to the art collective leasing the warehouse. He blamed poor wiring for the cause of the fire. The creative director said that the art collective had reported the building's electricity issues to the warehouse owner. 'They were not very helpful with us throughout the entirety of our struggle with the electricity here so that's my first instinct is to think perhaps some of the building's wiring had something to do with this,' he said. 'The landlord has been in communication with both myself and the owner of this space for at least three years now and the electricity was a major issue prior to my coming on board,' he said. Eva Ng, the warehouse's owner's daughter, said the family had no comment. 'We are also trying to figure out what's going on like everyone else. We're so sorry to hear about the tragedy,' Ng said in an email attributed to her mother, building owner Chor Ng. 'Our condolences go out to the families and friends of those injured and those who lost their lives.' Today, tributes have been pouring in for those who lost their lives in the blaze. Anya Taylor, the civil partner of Askew, a transgender musician from San Francisco, has been left devastated by the loss. 'My love is gone,' she posted on Facebook. 'Nothing is real. All I want is her. I miss my love so much and I can't fathom a life without her. 'I would give anything to have her back. I love you Cash' Adi Putra said she was 'truly devastated by the news' and the loss of 'sweet, dear Cash. Thanks for the beautiful tunes and memories.' Another friend said his 'heart was breaking' after finding out the Them Are Us Too band member, 'the sweet beautiful Cash Askew', had perished. Askew's father Christopher Conn Askew had posted a desperate plea for news of his daughter in the early hours of the morning, before confirming she was among the 30 casualties. Meanwhile Mollie Cohen Rosenthal D'Agostino paid tribute to Kellogg, who was reportedly on the second floor, and whom she called 'a beautiful giggly, wise, person who will be very missed.' Firefighters work at the aftermath of a warehouse fire as smoke continues to rise from the structure in the Fruitvale district of Oakland Firefighters pull debris at a warehouse where a fire killed 30 people at 31st Ave. and International Blvd, Oakland A firefighters, covered in black soot from the fire, helps clear away debris as crews search for bodies Clark, a freelance sound engineer from Santa Rosa who studied Sound at SAE Expression College, appeared to have touched many people's lives before his tragic death. 'It's not often that person can literally change your whole life,' friend Brian Adler said. ' Barret, I'll miss you forever.' His former roommate Bascom P LeMay said: ' Goodbye Barrett. We saw each other at our best. You saw me at my worst. Our times together I'll cherish forever. A true friend - roommate - collaborator - brother. He had my back so many times. His smile, his laughter, his heart will be missed.' Another friend, Emmet Corman, described Barrett as his 'guiding light.' 'Now that he's gone, I feel lost. Fly thither, friend, twixt the ether. Thank you for blessing us with your chaotic grace, you are forever among us.' Chandra Shukla described Clark as someone who could make anyone laugh and a 'huge friend' that filled 'a huge hole in our lives.' 'He was always there to make us smile and reassure us things were going to be ok no matter how dire the consequences. I was reeling in disbelief yesterday that the GhostShip fire would claim him as he was the guy that wasn't supposed to leave us.' Brian Hough shared a touching photo of himself and Travis, the musical creative behind Ghost of Lightning who also went by Travis Blitzen, on Facebook as he confirmed his son had died in the blaze. Friends and family described him as 'the warmest, sweetest guy who is loved by all'. Meta Jane Johnson wrote: 'Travis Hough you will always be loved, missed and remembered. Your energy touched everyone around you, and couldn't help but make us smile. Your creativity was unparalleled. You were my favorite rockstar & always will be. My thoughts and prayers are with you, your family, and all the friends you treated like family. Sending so much love.' Iuguolo, also known as Chase, of Oakland, was a project director for a band called Symbiotic Fungi, according to his Facebook page. Friends described him as the 'best dude at the bar', while Liz Melena shared a picture of Iuguolo, who she says used to live with her and her daughter. 'He was a very good friend. An amazing, quirky guy. Great cook, he had a ear for music, sweet voice. I will truly miss him,' she wrote. UC Berkeley students Jenny Morris (left) and Vanessa Plotkin (right) are among the dozens missing after an Oakland warehouse was engulfed with flames during an electronic music event on Friday night Griffin Sean Madden is a fellow UC Berkeley student who attended the event and remains missing as of Saturday night Ara Jo's death was confirmed by Ian Dewane, the brother of her partner Zack. 'She is family, and I can't explain how devastated we all are,' he wrote on Sunday. 'She was an amazing artist, musician, and all around bad a** who could light up a room with her infectious big hearted laugh.' Friend Barb Streis reminisced about the work Ara had put into the East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest occurring just next week. 'I was supposed to help Ara make some props when I got back from my trip. She put sooooo much energy and time into doing it and she said it was going to be her last year,' Streis wrote. 'She never wastes time, always producing something, whether it be food, art, music or laughter.' 'There is no way for me to be productive right now and I know nothing will ever be done as well as Ara Jo could do it. She's five awesome people for the price of one.' It appears Jo was also the co-director of Sgraffito, an art gallery in Emeryville, and also worked at an Oakland beauty salon and a Berkeley arts and crafts shop. Three UC Berkeley students, Griffin Sean Madden, 21-year-old Jenny Morris and Vanessa Plotkin, are among those who have not yet been accounted for. Fellow Cal student Seung Lee briefly attended the event but left temporarily with friends to purchase alcohol at a nearby liquor store. When they returned, the venue was on fire. 'We just saw this thick black smoke just coming out of the front windows at a very furious pace,' he told UC Berkeley's student newspaper The Daily Californian. Lee said there were people holding each other outside, worried about friends they had not yet found. 'There were some people kind of crying and wailing and just saying, "Oh my god, oh my god'', he said. 'That's one of the hardest parts - it's the fact that you know maybe they knew that they had people inside there.' Musician Amanda Allen (left) and musician Joseph Matlock (right) are thought to be missing as people have posted requesting information about their whereabouts on the Facebook event page Musician Alana Kane (right) is thought to be missing as people have posted requesting information about their whereabouts on the Facebook event page During an afternoon press conference yesterday, city officials said that the building owner had been cited by the city just last month and an investigation was underway into whether the interior of the structure was illegal. Officials said that the last use of the property was legalized to be just a warehouse and not a residential building, as the city was investigating reports that people were living inside the warehouse. A city inspector had attempted to secure access to the building on November 17, but the official was not able to enter inside. The city has not confirmed whether people were living inside. A city official also revealed that the building had no permits for a party to be held at the space. Arson investigators and federal authorities have been on the scene since Saturday morning to help with the investigation. Those searching for the missing were sent to a local sheriff's office, where Dan Vega was anxiously awaiting news. He had been unable to find his younger brother Alex or his brother's girlfriend Michela Gregory. Chelsea Faith is thought to be missing as people have posted requesting information about her whereabouts on the Facebook event page Jennifer (Kiyomi) Tanouye (pictured is thought to be missing as people have posted requesting information about her whereabouts on the Facebook event page Vega said he was not sure if the two were at the party on Friday night but that his brother likes to go to raves and he had not been able to reach him on Saturday. His girlfriend's car was still parked at a transit station in San Bruno, south of San Francisco. Fighting tears, Dan Vega said he's frustrated authorities hadn't been able to tell him anything about his 22-year-old brother. 'I just want to go over there. I have my work boots on, I'm ready to go,' Dan Vega said. 'Just give me some gloves. I'll help out any way, shape or form, I don't care. This is infuriating. I don't know where my brother's at. I just want to find him.' A Facebook event page showed 176 people planned to attend the party, which featured electronic music performances. Golden Donna, Cherushii and Nackt were among the acts scheduled to perform as part of the Los Angeles-based 100% Silk label's West Coast tour, Variety reported. David Marks of San Francisco, who was searching for news of a friend, said: 'We are all just hoping people ditched their phones when they got to the party.' Marks had planned to go to the party after working late, but checked Facebook before setting out and saw news of the deadly blaze. Sabrina May Dolan told DailyMail.com that her sister, Chelsea Faith, was performing at the party under her stage name Cherushii when the fire started on the second floor of the building. Denalda Nicole Renae is thought to be missing as people have posted requesting information about her whereabouts on the Facebook event page Hanna Henriikka Ruax (left) and Alex Ghassan (right) are thought to be missing as people have posted requesting information about their whereabouts on the Facebook event page Jalien Adrian (left) is thought to be missing as people have posted requesting information about his whereabouts on the Facebook event page Dolan said she is standing by waiting for an update, as her sister still has not been located and cannot be reached. Numerous people posted on the event page on Facebook about who they believe is missing, as others have posted on the page to say they are safe and escaped the fire unharmed. 'It's just so hard to accept that some really wonderful people's lives got cut short,' said Jenny Yang, 34, an artist and activist who was waiting for news of missing friends at Eli's, an Oakland bar that opened early as a gathering spot. 'I don't have high hopes,' said a woman who had four friends among the missing, declining to give her name. 'We've just spent the night calling hospitals and listening to police scanners.' Terry Ewing said his girlfriend was at the party and is missing. Ewing, who went to a sheriff's office building on Saturday to await information, said he didn't know about the party and that he learned of the fire from friends who came to his house. Golden Donna, the electronic dance musician headlining the warehouse party, whose real name is Joel Shanahan, was reportedly performing when the fire broke out. Early reports indicated the Wisconsin-based musician was one of the missing, but a post on his Facebook late on Saturday morning confirmed he made it out of the blaze alive, according to CBS. 'Joel is safe but like many people he is heartbroken and has several friends among the missing,' the Facebook post read. 'Please refrain from messaging this page or Joel's personal channels unless you have information on the Oakland fire victims. Sending love to everyone affected by this horrific event.' Deloche-Reed said 50 to 100 people were believed to have been at the party when the fire started and that clutter 'made it difficult for people to escape.' The warehouse was partitioned into artist studios and was packed with furniture, mannequins, statues, lamps, and other objects and did not have a clear entry or exit path, the fire chief said. She added that there was no sprinkler system and that firefighters saw no evidence that smoke detectors were activated during the blaze inside the two-story building. Johnny Igaz (left) and Micah Danemayer (right) are thought to be missing as people have posted requesting information about their whereabouts on the Facebook event page Saya Tomioka posted on the event page for the party saying she was looking for Griffin Madden (above) who is believed to be missing as no one has heard from him Michela Gregory is thought to be missing as people have posted requesting information about her whereabouts on the Facebook event page Caw Charleston (left) and Jessi Canz (right) are thought to be missing as people have posted requesting information about their whereabouts on the Facebook event page Feral Pines is thought to be missing as people have posted requesting information about their whereabouts on the Facebook event page Deloache-Reed said that fire crews found a 'makeshift stairwell' between the first and second floor and that most people who died were on the second floor of the building. According to The East Bay Times, records show on November 13 a neighbor filed a complaint over a 'a ton of garbage piling up on the property' at 1305 31st Ave. 'Also, a lot of items are left on the sidewalk near the property,' the complaint said. 'Some of trash was hazardous. This property is a storage but the owner turned it to become trash recycle site. 'The yard became a trash collection site and the main building was remodel for residential. The change causes our neighborhood looks very bad and creates health issue.' The next day the city launched an investigation into an illegal interior building structure, but the status of that investigation is unknown. Property records list the owner as Chor N. Ng, who purchased the warehouse in 1997. She also owns other properties in the city. Oakland City Councilman Noel Gallo, who represents the Fruitvale district and lives a block from where the fire occurred, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the building 'has been an issue for a number of years.' 'People have been living inside, and the neighbors have complained about it,' he said. 'Some of these young people that were in there were underage. They frequently had parties there.' At least 30 people died and 20 are still missing after a massive fire destroyed a northern California warehouse during a party early Saturday morning, officials said Firefighters examine the roof of the warehouse to check its stability after a portion of it collapsed in the fire It's unclear what started the deadly blaze that has left at least 9 people killed and dozens more missing Firefighters are still working at the aftermath of a warehouse fire in the Fruitavale district of Oakland at the corner of 31st Avenue and International Boulevard Fire Chief Teresa Deloche-Reed (above) said that at least another 25 people are still unaccounted for after the deadly blaze started around 11:30pm in the 1300 block of 31st Avenue during an event featuring musician Golden Donna's 100% Silk West Coast tour Alameda County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Ray Kelly said they fear up to 40 people could have possibly died in the blaze that has destroyed the warehouse (above) Firefighters assess the scene where a fire tore through a warehouse party early Saturday The party featured numerous electronic musicians, performers and producers as well as visual projections, the Facebook page for the event states. Han Park, drove up from Los Angeles to Oakland yesterday after hearing his niece Ara Jo, 29, had attended the warehouse rave but hadn't been heard from since. Speaking outside a family assistance center set up for victims' families about a mile from the sight of the fire, Han told Daily Mail.com: 'I came from LA looking for my niece. She was there. I haven't heard from her. 'Her friend called her brother and her brother informed all the family so everybody could come up here. Her brother said she went to this band and now she's missing and we don't know where she is. She's on the missing list. Nobody knows exactly who's in the hospital and what they found, they identified a few, they're not really releasing any information at this point...so hopefully (she's ok).' Ara's parents were in Korea when they got the news and are currently traveling to Oakland. Han said: 'Her parents moved back to Korea and they are flying back to the US. They've been told. Everyone is very very anxious to hear what's going on.' Park described his niece as a sociable artist, and a 'great painted' who attended school in Oakland. 'She was great girl,' he said. 'Lovable kid, everybody loved her. She used to draw pictures on the schoolbags and charge kids and everybody loved it. She was gifted.' Oakland City Councilman Noel Gallo, who represents the Fruitvale district and lives a block from where the fire occurred, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the building 'has been an issue for a number of years.' Above firefighters work at the aftermath of the warehouse fire The next day the city launched an investigation into an illegal interior building structure, but the status of that investigation is unknown. Above firefighters work at the aftermath of the warehouse fire Records show on November 13 a neighbor filed a complaint over a 'a ton of garbage piling up on the property' at 1305 31st Ave. Above firefighters work at the aftermath of the warehouse fire Just last month city officials cited the owner of the warehouse and had launched an investigation into whether the interior structure was illegal. Above firefighters work at the aftermath of the warehouse fire Asked what he knew about the Ghost Ship venue, Han said: 'I don't know anything about this place, what I heard is they tried to raise a fund for these artists rent money...that it was a fund helping other artists to pay their rent, it was a good cause.' Deloach-Reed explained that a multi-agency task force was created to investigate the fire and begin the task of recovering victims inside. 'The building is a huge building,' Deloach-Reed said. Fifty-five firefighters battled the blaze at the scene, as crews found flames on three sides of the building located in the Fruitvale district of the city, Battalion Chief Lisa Baker told the East Bay Times. Oakland Police Department PIO Johnna Watson speaks to the media at a press conference as firefighters and investigators continue work at the scene of the warehouse fire An emotional man covers his face outside of the warehouse that was destroyed by a fire on Saturday A person collapses to the street as coroners begin work at the scene of the warehouse fire on Saturday Flowers are placed on a street sign as people begin to leave memorials while firefighters and investigators continue work at the scene of the fire An aggressive attack on the fire was underway when conditions suddenly changed and firefighters had to go back outside. Officials say it took an estimated four hours to bring the huge blaze under control. Terry Lightfoot, a representative of Oakland's Highland Hospital, told CNN that 'the hospital received two patients and one of them has been discharged. Lightfoot did not know the condition of the patient who remained hospitalized.' California Gov. Jerry Brown issued a statement of condolences and said he and his wife, Anne, were saddened to hear about the deadly blaze. In the statement Saturday he said: 'Our thoughts are with the entire city in this difficult time and we extend our condolences to the family and friends of those lost.' The destroyed building is known as The Oakland Ghost Ship, as authorities say fire fighters had a difficult time getting inside due to massive amounts of clutter. The interior of the warehouse before the fire is pictured above in an undated photo Deloach-Reed said that fire crews found a 'makeshift stairwell' between the first and second floor and that most people who died were on the second floor of the building. The interior of the warehouse before the fire is pictured above in an undated photo Deloach-Reed said that when fire crews first entered the building to fight the blaze, they were impeded by a massive amount of clutter that included furniture, art and several mannequins. The interior of the warehouse before the fire is pictured above in an undated photo She said: 'It filled end to end with furniture, whatnot, collections,' Deloach-Reed said. 'It was like a maze almost.' The interior of the warehouse before the fire is pictured above in an undated photo Officials say between 50 to 100 people were in the building for the party when the fire started around 11:30pm PT Fifty-five firefighters battled the blaze at the scene, as crews found flames on three sides of the building, Battalion Chief Lisa Baker told the East Bay Times Numerous people have been posting on the event page on Facebook about who they believe is missing Oakland police said those who were concerned about missing people in the fire should contact the Alameda County Sheriff's Coroner's Bureau 510-382-3000. The electronic music label, 100% Silk, that hosted the party issued a statement offering up resources for friends and family of the victims. 'What happened in Oakland is an unbelievable tragedy, a nightmare scenario. Britt and I are beside ourselves, utterly devastated,' the statement shared to Facebook reads. 'We are a very tight community of artists and we are all praying, sending love and condolences to everyone involved and their families.' 'Thank you for everyone who's been reaching out, we are hoping so hard for the best. We will be posting here on how you can help, and any information as it comes to us.' The electronic music label, 100% Silk, that hosted the party issued a statement (above) offering up resources for friends and family of the victims Other people have posted on the event page to say they are safe and escaped the horrific fire unharmed As of 4:20am PT, the fire was not officially under control, as smoke was still coming from an upper floor in the building. It took firefighters four hours to put the blaze out Some Facebook users commenting on a post about those who have been reported missing by family or friends have shared their experiences at The Oakland Ghost Ship and how it apparently was disorganized by the clutter Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf released a statement late Saturday morning: 'Last night's fire was an immense tragedy. I am grateful to our first responders for their efforts to deal with this deadly fire. 'Our focus right now is on the victims and their families and ensuring that we have a full accounting for everyone who was impacted by this tragedy.' 'We are fully committed to sharing as much information as we can as quickly as possible.' Oakland Vice Mayor Annie Campbell Washington said: 'This is a huge tragedy for Oakland, such a deep loss of life last night. 'This is being reported as the worst structure fire in Oakland and I'm here to express my deepest condolences.' Some Facebook users commenting on a post about those who have been reported missing by family or friends have shared their experiences at The Oakland Ghost Ship and how it apparently was disorganized by the clutter. George Goatmandan Weber said on Facebook: 'This was the nightmare I always had about hazmat. I spent alotta (sic) time planning escape routes from that sh******.' Another user, Kristen Parks, replied back to him about how 'narrow' walkways were inside the building. 'yes (sic) true no windows too. I remember this (sic) place being super scary escape wise with wood everywhere and narrow walkways'. On Saturday, a Google Doc had been created with a list of resources for survivors and concerned family and friends looking for their loved ones. statement labeled him the 'Grinch who tried to steal Christmas' Hours after Francis Keller, 56, was released from a jail for attempting to steal Christmas packages, he was arrested again for holding up restaurant patrons at gunpoint A man described by police as a Christmas 'Grinch' is behind bars after he was arrested twice over the course of one weekend. Francis Keller, 56, was arrested on Sunday by Boynton Beach Police Department officers for holding up a fast food restaurant and pointing a gun at patrons. The ex-postal worker was charged with armed robbery and armed carjacking. Keller was taken back into custody just 48 hours after police found him inside a post office work room using scissors to open packages, NBC Miami reported. Officers arrested him and he was charged with burglary. Police said Keller, who worked in the postal service for 30 years, gained entry using an old security code for the door. According to cops, Keller was drunk when he was found and officers say he told them he was planning to steal valuable items to buy crack. A police statement called him 'the Grinch who tried to steal Christmas'. The ex-postal worker was nicknamed the 'Postal Grinch' when he was caught trying to steal packages (played here by Jim Carrey) The alleged restaurant robbery occurred just hours after Mr Keller was released from jail. At a Sonic Drive-in, Keller approached an employee and inquired about a job before pulling a gun from his waistband and demanding money, reported the Sun Sentinel. After robbing the 21-year-old employee of cash, police say Mr Keller ran to a vehicle in the restaurant parking lot and demanded the driver get out of his car. The driver, a 16-year-old male, and the other occupants of the car, also teenagers, called 911. Five more people, including a missing woman and her two daughters, have been identified as victims of the deadly wildfires that have ravaged Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Constance Reed, 34, and her two daughters 12-year-old Chloe and nine-year-old Lily are among the 13 victims who have died in the massive wildfires, officials said. Their bodies were discovered at their home, according to AL.com. Rev. Dr. Edward Taylor, 85, and Bradley Phillips, 59, have also been named as victims, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Scroll down for video Constance Reed, 34 (picutred left with her husband) and her daughters 12-year-old Chloe and nine-year-old Lily (pictured together right) are among the 13 victims who died last week in the Tennessee wildfires, officials said The Reed family pictured together above. Michael Reed and the couple's 15-year-old son were not home at the time when fire broke out on their street on Monday The other victims include Alice Hagler, May Vance, and couples Jon and Janet Summers, along with John and Janet Tegler. At least 13 people have died from the fires, and several people in the area are still unaccounted for. Twelve of the deaths were directly related to the blaze and one person died of a heart attack while fleeing, said Larry Waters, mayor of Sevier County, which includes the city of Gatlinburg, gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The situation is 'distressing and saddening to all,' Waters said at a news conference. 'I can't describe the feelings we have over this tragedy.' Reed and her daughters had been missing since Monday when they trying to escape their home during the wildfires, according to media reports. Rev. Dr. Edward Taylor, 85, (pictured left) and Bradley Phillips, 59, (pictured right) were also named as victims of the wildfires, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency Her husband, Michael Reed, and their 15-year-old son were in a different part of Gatlinburg at the time and were trying to reach home but were unable to due to traffic and the inferno closing in around them. Earlier this week, Michael Reed said he had last spoken to his wife and daughters as they were trying to flee their home on Wiley Oakley Drive. He has been on a desperate search to find them and was hoping for a miracle that they were able to make it out to safety after learning the entire street had been engulfed in flames and that all the homes were destroyed in the blaze. His father, Grant Reed, confirmed the mother and daughters were deceased on Saturday. 'With profound sadness that is now a part of my soul I am sorry to share the passing of Constance, Chloe and Lily,' Grant Reed told AL.com on Saturday. Firefighters stand by a destroyed home after a wildfire forced the mandatory evacuation of Gatlinburg, Tennessee in a picture released on November 30 Smoke plumes from wildfires are shown in the Great Smokey Mountains near Gatlinburg on November 28 Smoke rises from destroyed homes, many burned down to the foundation, the day after a wildfire that hit Gatlinburg 'Please continue to pray for my son Michael and his son Nichols.' Rev. Taylor, a beloved Gatlinburg minister and a World War II veteran, was found dead outside his home due to smoke inhalation, according to WJHL. His 10-year-old dog was found wandering the property and is now with family, the station reported. Taylor, who retired from Gatlinburg Chapel Ministries last year, established one of the first wedding chapels in the city, AL.com reported. He has married more than 85,000 couples since 1979. Phillips was also found dead outside his home, according to Heavy.com. His wife was out of state visiting her mother at the time when the fire struck, according to their daughter. Jon and Janet Summers, 61 and 60, of Memphis, Tennessee (pictured), were in a car, celebrating their twin sons' birthdays when they tried to escape on foot and died Alice Hagler, 70, (left) died while she was staying at a cabin rental called Chalet Village. May Vance, 75, (right) died from a heart attack caused by smoke inhalation as he tried to escape his home in Gatlinburg Alice Hagler, 70, was staying at a cabin rental called Chalet Village. She was confirmed dead by her son. Jon and Janet Summers, 61 and 60, of Memphis, Tennessee, were in a car, celebrating their twin sons' birthdays when they tried to escape on foot and died. Their three sons Branson, Jared and Wesley were hospitalized, with one in critical condition. A crowdfunding effort has raised more than $64,000 for their medical expenses. John and Marilyn Tegler, 70 and 71, a couple who were visiting from Canada, were also among the victims at Chalet Village. May Vance, 75, died from a heart attack caused by smoke inhalation as he tried to escape his home in Gatlinburg. A bulletin released Thursday said: 'The wildfire was determined to be human-caused and is currently under investigation.' More than 1,400 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed and 100 people have sustained injuries related to the wildfires, officials said. The wildfire, which erupted on November 23, eventually spread across 17,000 acres with the help of drought-parched brush and fierce winds. Five tornadoes further spurred the inferno, according to TEMA. Numerous spot fires to broke out before they exploded into an inferno on Monday, destroying nearly 1,000 buildings while 14,000 people were forced to evacuate from the resort towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Plans to restore the NASA mission control room that served as the nerve center for the Apollo missions, when man first reached the moon, have been discussed for more than 20 years. But its restoration and preservation remain in limbo with no set date for work to begin. Officials at Johnson Space Center in Houston say the restoration of Mission Operation Control Room 2 is a priority. However, it notes that NASA has other priorities, too including the space flights managed in the large, active building where the control room is located. Scroll down for video Plans to restore the NASA mission control room that served as the nerve center for the Apollo missions remain in limbo with no set date for work to begin. The mission control room shown above during Apollo 8 blastoff in December 1968 The room was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985 and retired seven years later. In the room that had its glory days during the decades of Gemini and Apollo and the shuttle programs, many of the carpet squares are stained and taped together, The Houston Chronicle reported. Behind the glass in the visitor area where dignitaries and media observed mission control at work the seats are worn. Ash-tray covers have been pried loose and pieces of upholstery cut away for souvenirs. Gene Kranz, a flight director during NASA's Gemini and Apollo missions who was portrayed by Ed Harris in the film 'Apollo 13,' told a group of preservationists touring the room last month, 'This is a place of history.' 'But what I see is a tired Mission Control, worn of its heart and soul. It's time to start the battle for its restoration,' he said. NASA personnel are shown around the console in Mission Control at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston on August 21, 1967,. Facing the camera from left are, Richard D. Glover, Electrical, Environment and Communication Officer; Elliott H. See Jr., member of backup team; and Paul Haney, voice of Gemini. Seated at console from left are, Eugene Kranz and Christopher C. Kraft, flight director Like others from NASA, Kranz usually refers to the room by its acronym, MOCR2 pronounced 'Mo-ker Two.' The most recent proposal to restore the room, released last year, would cost about $3 million and require about 18 months of work. That would restore the room to the way it was for Apollo missions 11 through 17 right down to the headsets, pencil holders and amber glass ash trays. The result would make MOCR2 already a popular attraction the crown jewel of Space Center Houston, the Johnson Space Center's visitor center. To be ready by July 16, 2019 - in time for the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing - the room's restoration would have to start by the end of 2017. 'We are certainly excited about the whole restoration project,' said Johnson Space Center Director Ellen Ochoa. 'And we're also committed to doing it in time for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.' Flight Control Room 1 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston is shown in October 2006 She also notes though that they 'have to make sure we concentrate on the current work and the future as well.' MOCR2 is just one room in a building where NASA still does classified work. The Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center still manages space flights from there. Because it's a historic landmark, the National Park Service and the Texas State Historical Association are both interested parties in the room's restoration. However, it remains the property of Johnson Space Center. The National Historic Preservation Act requires a consultation meeting to advance the project, but it hasn't taken place. Donald Trump is expanding his pool of candidates for secretary of state, with possible contenders slated to meet the president-elect in the coming week. Adviser Kellyanne Conway told reporters on Sunday, 'There's not a finite list of candidates,' adding: 'Who knows how many finalists there will be?' Aides previously said the shortlist had been whittled down to four, but those close to the transition told The Associated Press that Trump is moving away from both Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani. Meanwhile, former CIA Director David Petraeus, who pleaded guilty for leaking classified information in 2015, would have to check in with his parole officer before being named secretary of state. ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson and retired Navy Admiral James G. Stavridis have been invited to meet Trump, while names like John Bolton, former ambassador to the UN, and Jon Huntsman, former ambassador to China, are also considered possibilities. Donald Trump is expanding his pool of candidates for secretary of state, with possible contenders slated to meet the president-elect in the coming week Romney, who was a harsh critic of the Donald throughout the campaign, may anger many of Trump's supporters for being firmly planted within the Republican establishment. Giuliani's international business ties and public campaigning for the job are said to have rankled Trump. The former New York City mayor gave paid speeches for as much as $200,000 a pop, earning a total of $11.4million in just one year, according to a financial disclosure report cited by the New York Times. He also gave speeches to an Iranian opposition group that was on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations until 2012, the Times reported. His firm, Giuliani Partners, had contracts with the government of Qatar. Trump had criticized his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton for making paid speeches to Goldman Sachs, and slammed the Clinton Foundation for accepting contributions from Qatar. Patraeus, a former four-star general, pleaded guilty in 2015 to sharing classified information with his mistress, Paula Broadwell. He was spared prison time under a plea agreement with the Justice Department and was given two years' probation. Two people close to the transition told The Associated Press that Trump is moving away from both Mitt Romney (left) and Rudy Giuliani (right) who were considered front runners for the job Former CIA Director David Petraeus (left) pleaded guilty for leaking classified information in 2015. Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee was also among the top four Federal prosecutors said Petraeus provided black binders knowing full well that they contained classified information, while FBI Director James Comey said there was no evidence that Clinton or her aides had intended to break the law through careless handling of sensitive information. Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, may draw support from politicians of both parties, but those close to the transition said Trump's prolonged decision-making process has left the door open to other options. Among other possibilities, one official says is Jon Huntsman, a former Republican Utah governor who also served as the ambassador to China and speaks Mandarin. The people close to the transition spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private process publicly. ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson is set to meet with Mr. Trump on Tuesday, sources told the New York Times Mike Pence on Sunday referenced former U.N. ambassador John Bolton (right) on Sunday. Jon Huntsman (right) the former ambassador to China has also been named by one officla Retired Navy Admiral James G. Stavridis will also reportedly meet with Trump this week. He had been vetted as a possibility to run as Clinton's VP There was other evidence that Trump is looking beyond the known four contenders. Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Sunday listed the quartet, but added a fresh reference to former U.N. ambassador 'John Bolton or others who may be added to the list' of candidates. 'I think the person who will make the decision about our next secretary of state is the president-elect,' Pence said on ABC. 'And he'll factor the totality of Gen. Petraeus' career in making that decision.' Pence also referred to Petraeus as a 'hero.' But it seemed unclear even to Trump's inner circle whether the retired general's guilty plea has turned off the president-elect. Patraeus said on Sunday: 'I made a mistake. I have again acknowledged it. Folks will have to factor that in and determine whether that is indeed disqualifying or not' Patraeus, a former four-star general, pleaded guilty in 2015 to sharing classified information with his mistress, Paula Broadwell (right) Patraeus appeared on ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday, saying: 'I made a mistake. I have again acknowledged it. Folks will have to factor that in and determine whether that is indeed disqualifying or not.' Whoever takes on role will steer Trump's foreign policy agenda, which the president-elect has said would include renegotiating key trade deals and the pact aimed at keeping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Trump has no experience with government diplomacy. A gamekeeper who taught princes William and Harry how to shoot has spoken out after he was wrongly imprisoned for being a drugs baron. William Stirrat finally won a 12-year struggle for compensation last month after police erroneously concluded he was running a drugs factory in Lanarkshire. As a result of the conviction in 2004, Mr Stirrat lost his job and home on the Douglas and Angus Estate in Crawford, where he taught the royals to shoot. He was released after serving six months in prison pending an appeal, but officers refused to reinstate his gun licence, meaning he was not able to work as a gameskeeper. William Stirrat looked after Prince William and Prince Harry (pictured right) while they learnt how to shoot However the Scottish government informed Ms Stirrat in November that it would be paying compensation, thought to be in the region of six-figures, for the damage caused to his life. The conviction would cost him his marriage, as well as the home he shared with his wife and two young children that was tied to the estate. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Stirrat said: 'The whole thing has been horrendous. I have been classed as a drug dealer, nobody would look at me. 'The number of discrepancies throughout the trial was unbelievable'. Mr Stirrat found himself being accused by police after surveillance evidence submitted by a junior police officer that was highly questioned during the trial. The judge, Lord Emslie, would even express his astonishment at the jury's decision to convict Mr Stirrat, querying the 'credibility and reliability' of the evidence. A deadly thunderstorm asthma could hit Sydney tonight two weeks after freak weather killed eight people in Melbourne. Dozens of people with breathing problems needed an ambulance in Melbourne as high temperatures gave way to storms across Victoria early on Sunday night. Now Sydneysiders with asthma and hay fever are being urged to be mindful, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning of evening thunderstorms, following 30 degree Celsius temperatures on Monday. Storm clouds gather over suburban Melbourne on Sunday afternoon Storm clouds gather at Rye Beach, at the edge of Port Phillip Bay south of Melbourne The National Asthma Council Australia chair, Dr Jonathan Burdon AM, said people suffering from hayfever were also vulnerable to a potentially-fatal thunderstorm asthma attack. 'As we have seen with the recent events in Melbourne any serious asthma attack can be life-threatening and have tragic consequences,' he said. 'Act quickly if you start to have symptoms such as shortness of breath or wheezing. 'If you havent previously had a diagnosis of asthma and are experiencing regular symptoms, book in to have a review with your doctor. Rain falls in central Melbourne on Sunday afternoon as authorities warn of asthma attacks Grey skies form over Melbourne's city centre hours before a thunderstorm strikes 'As we have seen with the recent events in Melbourne any serious asthma attack can be life-threatening and have tragic consequences.' Thunderstorm asthma Potentially fatal asthma attacks can occur when thunderstorms stir pollen, mould and dust in the air. This follows changes in humidity and temperature. Asthma and hay fever sufferers who breathe in this air endure irritated airways causing extra mucus to be produced. This causes their airways to narrow, triggering a rapid and severe asthma flare-up, even in people who have never experienced an asthma attack. Severe thunderstorms in Melbourne on November 21 killed eight people, after hospital resources were stretched. The victims included law student Hope Carnevali, 20; Omar Moujalled, 18, who had just finished his year 12 exams; grandfather Ranjith Peiris, 58; Apollo Papadopoulos, 35; Clarence Leo; and father of four Sam Lau, 49. Source: Victorian Government Advertisement Light rain fell on Melbourne on Sunday afternoon, with a feared thunderstorm averted after sweltering in a 32 degree Celsius heatwave while Kyabram, 200 kilometres north, baked in 37 degrees. Strong winds fuelled concerns about fatal asthma attacks, only a fortnight after freak storms in Melbourne killed eight people and stretched hospital resources, in the world's most recorded thunderstorm asthma event. Ambulance Victoria received dozens of calls from people suffering from breathing difficulties. 'It's unclear if they were weather related,' the spokesman said. Tim Cartwright, who was acting Victoria Police chief commissioner in 2015, is reviewing the response to the world's worst recorded thunderstorm asthma attack, which killed eight people in Melbourne, following severe thunderstorms on November 21. A thief with a guilty conscience has returned a donation tin containing $300 for a girl suffering from cerebral palsy and epilepsy after he was shamed on Facebook. Customers of Bakin' Bits bakery, on Boyne Island on the Sunshine Coast, had donated money to help Zoey O'Donohue and her family, who were struggling financially because of her condition. The five-year-old finds it hard to walk because of cerebral palsy and needs constant care and treatment to keep her epileptic seizures at bay. A donation tin containing $300 (right) for cerebral palsy and epilepsy sufferer Zoey O'Donohue (left) was stolen on Friday night On Friday morning, staff at the bakery noticed their Ride For Zoey charity tin was missing after a customer asked where it was so they could make a donation. Owners of the bakery, Kathi and Glenn Wilson, could not believe someone could steal the donation tin and expressed their disgust in a Facebook post. 'It is with a very sad heart I have to announce someone has selfishly taken the 'Ride for Zoey' Donation Tin that was on our counter next to the till,' the Facebook post read. 'It was full and ready for us to give to the family. We do have security cameras and the image has been passed on to the authorities. Customers of Bakin' Bits bakery, Boyne Island, in the Sunshine Coast, had helped donate money towards Zoey's cause The five-year-old struggles to walk because of cerebral palsy and needs constant care, treatment and therapy to keep her epileptic seizures at bay The five-year-old's family will now be able to make use of the returned money 'We thank all the wonderful people who have contributed to the donation tin, let's hope whoever took it has a guilty conscience.' Apparently the thief did suffer pangs of guilt and to the amazement of Bakin' Bits staff the tin and its contents were returned on Saturday night. 'An amazing outcome.... Facebook must of worked its magic [as] the money tin that was stolen was thrown over the fence at the Bakery last night!!!!' the jubilant bakery owners wrote on Facebook. 'Still with all the money, this does not condone the actions of the person who took it but is a fantastic outcome for Zoey & her family and all the wonderful people who donated their money.' A plane was forced to evacuate passengers at San Antonio airport after the aircraft's nose gear collapsed after landing. The United Express plane was forced to make an emergency landing at San Antonio International Airport on Sunday at about 2pm after the crew reported landing gear issues. The aircraft had to circle the tower before landing on the tarmac. Scroll down for video The nose gear of a United Express plane that was forced to make an emergency landing at San Antonio International Airport on Sunday collapsed after landing on the tarmac San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Woody Woodward said that when the plane landed Sunday afternoon its nose gear collapsed. Bystanders at the airport took photos of the aircraft with its nose clearly resting on the tarmac. The 55 people on board had to be evacuated from the plane via emergency slides on the runway. Woodward said the passengers and crew were safely evacuated from the plane. San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Woody Woodward said that when the plane landed Sunday afternoon its nose gear collapsed Bystanders at the airport took photos of the aircraft with its nose clearly resting on the tarmac He said there was only one minor ankle injury reported by the person refused treatment because she was concerned about making her connecting flight. Skywest Airlines said Skywest Flight 5588, operating as United Express, from Houston to Monterrey, Mexico, diverted to San Antonio after the crew got a gear indication. The airline said there were 51 passengers and four crew members aboard the Embraer-manufactured E175. Of 42,000 total words she has spoken, only 3,991 are distinct and have never been repeated The Queen's speech is one of the most predictable television programmes, according to an analysis from University College London The Queens speech is one of the most predictable and repetitive television programmes of Christmas, according to an analysis. Her Majesty has delivered 63 broadcasts to the nation since taking the throne in 1952. But of the 42,000 words she has spoken, only 3,991 are distinct words which have never been repeated, according to mathematicians at University College London (UCL) The Queens speech is one of the most predictable and repetitive television programmes of Christmas, according to an analysis by the University College London Of the 42,000 words she has spoken, only 3,991 are distinct words which have never been repeated. She is pictured here after recording her Christmas Day broadcast last year That makes her festive musings as limited in their vocabulary as songs by rappers Snoop Dog, Kanye West and Jay Z, the analysis found. Focusing on nouns and phrases, and ignoring common words like of and the, they found the speeches frequently use words such as families, Commonwealth, children and peoples. Other oft-repeated phrases included tragic example, shining example, and weak and innocent. Hannah Fry and Thomas Oleron Evans, both of UCL, examines the speeches in a quest to find out what Christmas really means to Her Majesty. Miss Fry said: Since she came to the throne in 1952, the Queen has given 63 Christmas broadcasts, only failing to appear once in 1969 when she issued a written message. She could have said a lot in that time but if you analyse the text she has actually said very little and often repeated herself. There are words about time, about society and some religious words ... all very good and noble of course, but also a bit dull and repetitive. Their findings, published in a book called The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus: The Mathematics of Christmas, also discovered increasing references to Christianity over the years. The Queen has delivered 63 broadcasts to the nation since taking the throne in 1952. She is pictured here at Southwark Cathedral for her 2006 Christmas message Jesus was hardly mentioned in the 1950s and from then until 1973, there was virtually no reference to religion. But in 2000 there were 20 mentions, another dozen in 2011 and between five and 10 mentions in recent years. Last years Christmas speech was one of the most overtly Christian yet. King George V delivered the first royal Christmas broadcast, a message composed by author Rudyard Kipling, live on the radio from Sandringham in 1932. The fixed time of 3pm was chosen then because it was the best time to reach most of the countries in the British Empire. There was no broadcast in 1936 or 1938, and it wasnt until 1939 that the tradition was firmly established by King George VI to boost morale during the Second World War. This is the moment an alleged paedophile was confronted by an online vigilante after apparently agreeing to meet an underage girl for sex. The 'Coffs Coast Pedo Hunter' claims to have been posing as a 14-year-old girl before exchanging explicit messages with the man and then agreeing to meet. But the accused denies knowing the girl was underage, insisting he was drunk and stoned at the time those messages were sent and doesn't remember seeing them. This is the moment an alleged paedophile was accused of trying to meet up with a 14-year-old girl he met online but was confronted by a pair of vigilantes instead The footage begins in a dark park with the 'paedophile hunter' and another man walking to meet the accused at a spot they had agreed on. When confronted the accused paedophile initially gives a false name and denies waiting to meet anyone in the park. But after being shown his picture and messages on the vigilante's phone, he changes his story - instead claiming he was drunk when the 'girl' revealed her age. He says: 'The night I first spoke to this Shelia I was f***ing p***ed, eh? That was said to me f***ing ages ago and I don't f***ing recall it. I was blind that night. The man initially gives a false name and denies being in the park to meet anyone, but then changes his story, instead insisting that he didn't know the girl's age The man claims to have been drunk and stoned when the messages discussing the girl's age, saying he doesn't remember sending them 'I don't need to f*** f***ing children mate. I did not know that you would be a 14-year-old girl mate. 'I smoke dope and I f***ing drink and I don't recall that that was f***ing said. What are you trying to prove? You've f***ed me.' The vigilante claims to have sent messages to the man over a period of at least several days that referenced going to school and dance classes. He argues that the man should have known the girl would be underage, but the accused sticks to his story. The vigilante also claims to have received explicit images from the man, including pictures of his genitalia. The vigilante claims to have received sexually explicit messages from the accused man, including images of his genitalia The footage ends with the vigilante walking away as the man refuses to budge from his story. It is not known if he was reported to police or what action was taken The footage ends as the vigilante walks away, after the accused refuses to budge on his side of the story. It is not clear whether the man was reported to the police, or what action was taken. This is not the first time the 'Coffs Coast Pedo Hunter' has tried to expose men he spoke to online. Back in September a man named Trent was filmed handing himself over to police in New South Wales after being confronted. The man believed he was meeting with a 14-year-old girl after swapping messages with her online, but was instead met by the cameraman. Dylann Roof (pictured) asked a judge on Sunday if he could have his defense team back temporarily Dylann Roof who is accused of fatally shooting nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church, asked a judge on Sunday if he could have his defense team back, at least temporarily. In a handwritten request, Roof asked US District Judge Richard Gergel to bring his defense team back on board for the guilt phase of his federal death penalty trial, which begins this week in Charleston. 'I would like to ask if my lawyers can represent me for the guilt phase of the trial only,' Roof wrote. 'Can you let me have them back for the guilt phase, and then let me represent myself for the sentencing phase of the trial? If you would allow that, then that is what I would like to do.' Death penalty cases are split into two parts: the guilt phase, and then a separate portion that focuses on whether or not the defendant will be sentenced to death or life in prison. The 22-year-old faces dozens of federal charges, including hate crimes and obstruction of the practice of religion, for the June 2015 slayings at the end of a Bible study at Emanuel AME Church. In a handwritten request (pictured), Roof asked US District Judge Richard Gergel to bring his defense team back on board for the guilt phase of his federal death penalty trial, which begins this week in Charleston Death penalty cases are split into two parts: the guilt phase, and then a separate portion that focuses on whether or not the defendant will be sentenced to death or life in prison. Roof is pictured during a hearing in July 2015 The 22-year-old is charged with counts including hate crimes and obstruction of religion in connection with the June 17, 2015, attack at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. He's pictured being escorted by police a day after the attack The request comes a week after a federal judge allowed Roof to represent himself, a request that came as court convened last week to begin the process of qualifying a jury pool to hear Roof's case. Gergel, who had found Roof competent to stand trial a week earlier, said Roof had the constitutional right to act as his own attorney, a decision the judge called 'very unwise'. Roof's former defense team has remained his legal advisers but has sought to play a larger role in his defense, expressing concern last week Roof may not present evidence that could sway a jury to spare his life something that could violate the US Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The lawyers said they didn't know why Roof wanted to represent himself but added that other capital defendants have fired their lawyers to avoid having embarrassing evidence revealed, writing that the 'ninth-grade dropout' might deliberately sabotage his own defense in order to get the death penalty. There will be a hearing Monday for Roof and prosecutors to discuss pretrial motions, and opening statements are currently scheduled for Wednesday. If Roof's request isn't granted and he continues to represent himself, he'll be making those statements, as well as questioning witnesses at trial. Nine black people (pictured during a memorial service), including the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, 41, died in the church massacre, and Roof later told investigators he wanted to 'start a race war' According to police, Roof sat through nearly an hour of prayer and Bible study at the church (pictured) with its pastor and 11 others before pulling a gun from his fanny pack and firing dozens of shots That could include relatives of the shooting victims, some of whom said at Roof's initial court appearance that they forgave him and would pray for him. Roof has already been found competent in state court, where prosecutors plan a second death penalty trial on nine counts of murder. According to police, Roof sat through nearly an hour of prayer and Bible study at the church with its pastor and 11 others before pulling a gun from his fanny pack and firing dozens of shots. NOTORIOUS KILLERS WHO DEFENDED THEMSELVES ON TRIAL Colin Ferguson: He went on trial in 1996 for shooting six people to death on a Long Island, NY, commuter train. Ferguson insisted on representing himself. He was found guilty and sentenced to six consecutive life terms. Charles Manson: He was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the 1969 deaths of actress Sharon Tate, her unborn baby and six others. The judge reluctantly granted Manson's wish to represent himself. Ted Bundy: He confessed to 30 killings in the 1970s and was later executed. Bundy, who was a former law student, represented himself while on trial for the murder of two college students and assaulting others in 1979. John Allen Muhammad: He was convicted of being the 'Beltway sniper', in a cold-blooded shooting spree that killed 10 people in the Washington, D.C. area in 2002. He was executed in 2009. Muhammad acted as his own lawyer briefly, but soon changed his mind and requested help from defense attorneys. Advertisement Nine black people, including the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, 41, died in the church massacre, and Roof later told investigators he wanted to 'start a race war'. Cynthia Hurd, 54, the Rev Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45, Tywanza Sanders, 26, Ethel Lance, 70, Susie Jackson, 87, Depayne Middleton Doctor, 4, the Rev Daniel Simmons, 74, and Myra Thompson, 59, were all victims of the attack. Roof shouted racial insults at the six women and three men he is charged with killing and the three people left alive, authorities said. He said he left the three unharmed so they could tell the world the shootings were because he hated black people. Roof shouted racial insults at the six women and three men he is charged with killing and the three people left alive, authorities said Media commentator Prue MacSween says Sudanese migrants in Australia are joining gangs and failing to assimilate. Her comments come as the Victorian government tackles the African Apex gang in Melbourne, which mainly includes South Sudanese youths, with new laws that would jail for 10 years adults who lure children into committing crimes. 'We're bringing these people in. And a lot of them are these Sudanese gangs who have no, very limited English, no skills,' she told the Nine Network on Monday. Media commentator Prue MacSween said Sudanese gang members were failing to assimilate Prue MacSween made her comments to Sonia Kruger (pictured right with co-host David Campbell) who in July called for a ban on Muslim migration to Australia 'Are we bringing the right people into this country? And are they going to be able to assimilate ... to be able to have a proper existence to be lawful citizens who celebrate the fact they're allowed in this country?' Ms MacSween made her comments to Today Extra co-host Sonia Kruger, who sparked outrage in July by calling for a ban on Muslim migration. She backed the Labor government's new laws in Victoria, designed to crack down on African Apex gangs, which include Sudanese, Pacific Islander, Afghan, Asian and Caucasian members. About time. It should happen. I know people in Victoria who fear for their lives,' Ms MacSween said. 'Its really scary in Melbourne now. 'Theres a siege mentality because kids, these gangs, are running riot and the problem is that while there arent enough police and thank goodness they are bringing more on, it's the other parts of the system, the justice system, which are either not doing the job, finishing it off. 'So we have a situation where these gangs are just thumbing their nose at the law.' Prue MacSween told the Nine Network Sudanese youth had terrified Melbourne residents She added these youths were getting bail and committing crimes again. 'People are terrified and we have to look not just at the justice system. We have to look at who we're bringing in to this country,' Ms MacSween said. Sonia Kruger questioned whether the new laws would actually lead to criminal heavies being jailed, as children charged with crime refused to dob in the adult ringleaders. 'How scared would the kids be? They're not going to rat someone out are they?' Victoria's new Fagin's Law has been named after Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist who recruited children and taught them how to steal for him in exchange for shelter. Attorney-General Martin Pakula said the new legislation could see adult criminals sentenced to 10 years in jail for such behaviour regardless of the crime committed by the youth they recruited. Adults who lure children into committing crimes could face up to 10 years behind bars under tough new laws as police recruit more officers to tackle offences. Up to 180 youths are responsible for almost one in four crimes in Victoria, including violent carjackings, armed robberies and home invasions (stock image) Adults who lure children into committing crimes could face up to 10 years jail (stock image) Up to 180 youths are responsible for almost one in four crimes in Victoria, including violent carjackings, armed robberies and home invasions, Crime Statistics Agency has revealed. Children as young as 10 are being groomed to commit crimes, with the state's rate of youths under justice supervision almost doubling since 2012. The statistics comes as the Victorian government calls on 'Fagin's Law' to be introduced to State Parliament next year in an effort to target adults procuring children to do their criminal 'dirty work'. In tackling crime, Victoria's police force will boost its frontline by nearly 3,000 extra officers as part of a $2 billion recruitment drive, the largest ever in the state's history. Another 2,729 officers will be recruited over the next four years, with the funding going towards building new police stations and expanding their specialist units. The funding announcement will see the force grow 20 per cent by 2021. 'Sadly, many in our community do not feel safe at this time,' Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters on Sunday. 'We have seen crime rise and we have seen the need to do more, and not more of the same.' Victoria's police force will boost its frontline by nearly 3,000 extra officers as part of a $2 billion recruitment drive, the largest ever in the state's history (stock image) Chief Police Commissioner Graham Ashton said crime statistics have risen in the past six years - mostly relating to family violence, car thefts and carjackings (stock image) Chief Police Commissioner Graham Ashton said crime statistics have risen in the past six years - mostly relating to family violence, car thefts and carjackings. 'The increase in theft of motor car and associated offences has really stretched police resources in dealing with that crime because it has been high in volume,' Mr Ashton said. WHERE THE $2 BILLION INVESTMENT WILL GO? 2729 new police 415 frontline and specialist family violence officers 42 new youth specialist officers Metro police stations at Wyndham, Altona North, Reservoir and South Melbourne to be replaced Regional police stations at Warracknabeal, Rutherglen, Wedderburn, Alexandra, Wycheproof and Tangambalanga to be replaced Advertisement 'It's often quite violent crime as well, so it's been challenging for police.' The additional funding, combined with the 406 new officers included in this year's budget, will increase the total number of police recruitment to 3135. That number is just shy of the police union's push for 3301 new officers to help relieve short-staffed stations. The latest investment will include 415 specialist family violence officers and 42 youth specialist officers. Up to 180 youths are responsible for almost one in four crimes in Victoria, including violent carjackings, armed robberies and home invasions, new statistics have revealed (stock image) Another 2,729 officers will be recruited over the next four years, with the funding going towards building new police stations and expanding their specialist units (stock image) Premier Daniel Andrews said 'business as usual won't cut it anymore' and police and the government were changing the way they allocate resources thanks to a new model developed with the police union. 'Recent events, and recent trends, have demonstrated to us that the boom and bust cycle of police recruitment is not the way to fight crime and keep our community safe,' he said. Police Association secretary Ron Iddles said the new staff allocation model guarantees a long-term approach to policing. 'Every member of the Victorian community will benefit from this, regardless of what political persuasion you are,' he said. An investigation is underway over whether the alleged incident took place News Corp claims Fairfax Media knew of the initial allegation for 'weeks' Another woman has come forward to allege sexual harrassment Forbes is accused of 'groping' a female reporter on the bottom Staff in the Melbourne newsroom were told on Monday Former The Age editor-in-chief, Mark Forbes, has resigned from the role The editor-in-chief of The Age has resigned as Fairfax Media investigates allegations of sexual harassment against him. Mark Forbes is expected to release a statement soon, the Melbourne-based publication said on its website on Monday. Forbes was stood down on Friday less than an hour before the Walkley Awards - a major national media awards event - were due to begin in Brisbane last Friday. Alex Lavelle, editor of the Age, will now oversee the newsroom which was held by Forbes since April this year. Staff in the Melbourne newsroom were reportedly addressed by Fairfax Media group director of news and business media Sean Aylmer earlier on Monday. Former The Age editor-in-chief, Mark Forbes, has resigned following accusations of sexual harassment Insiders said he was stood down after Fairfax was called by The Australian the same day, suggesting it was trying to cover up the allegations, News Corp claimed. It was suggested by The Australian that Fairfax was attempted to hide the incident by letting Forbes remain in his job as an investigation was conducted. It came as a second woman made allegations he made unwanted sexual advances upon her in February, separate to a female reporter who alleged he had touched her bottom at an event in November, according to News. The young reporter made a formal complaint to management after Forbes allegedly 'groped her on the bottom' at the Age Music Victoria awards in November, The Guardian reported. The second woman to complain alleged he made inappropriate remarks and stared at her breasts at social function earlier in the year, News Corp reported. The Age offices in Melbourne. Editor Alex Lavelle will now oversee the newsroom On Friday, Fairfax told The Australian: 'We make no apology for following due process in investigating any HR-related matter. 'Your suggestion that your inquiry was key to the timing the announcement of the decision [of Forbes being stood down] is incorrect and conceited'. Before the Walkley event, Forbes was reportedly seen in Fairfax's Brisbane newsroom in 'tense' discussions on a phone and it appeared he did not attend the event, it was reported. 'Mark Forbes has been stood down pending the outcome of an investigation that is underway,' a spokesman said. 'Fairfax is committed to a safe workplace and has zero tolerance for any behaviour that does not meet the highest standards. Upon his appointment to the top position, Mr Forbes was described as an 'outstanding journalist' by Fairfax Media editorial director Sean Aylmer. 'Mark is an outstanding journalist, with a keen news sense and belief in quality reporting. He is the ideal person to continue The Age's transformation, providing quality journalism across print and digital.' Mr Forbes was appointed editor-in-chief in April after serving as The Sunday Age and Fairfax's correspondent in Indonesia. A hammer-wielding man brought an annual Cambridge boat race to a halt in an attempt to protect swans. The man, whose identity is not known, was arrested after causing the Cambridge Christmas Head Race to be delayed by nearly an hour. Blocking the river with his boat and waving a yellow hammer, the protestor kept more than 50 competitors waiting at the start line in Christmas fancy dress. A hammer-wielding man brought an annual Cambridge boat race to a halt in an attempt to protect swans by blocking rowers pathway with his boat and shouting at them Race marshals said the serial offender often spreads food for birds along the banks of the river and in the water ahead of races to try to coax them over. Before the race on Saturday, bird seed was scattered along the banks of the River Cam in Cambridge, as masses of swans took to the water. While blocking the river the man shouted about wanting to protect the swans and ducks and claimed the rowers would smash into the birds. One male race marshal, who did not want to be named, said: Hes a serial offender. He disrupts races all the time. The man, whose identity is not known, was arrested after causing the Cambridge Christmas Head Race to be delayed by nearly an hour Hes one of those people who doesnt like anyone to have any fun. I could hear him shouting as he basically puts lots of food down for the swans to bring the swans out in front of the boats, which quite frankly is appalling. He added: It is supposed to just be a fun race. There is lots of kids here getting excited about it and they all had to sit and wait in the freezing cold. The Christmas Head Race is hosted by the City of Cambridge Rowing Club and is an annual event where people take part in festive fancy dress. It was made up of separate four divisions but one had to be cancelled due to the man wielding the yellow hammer. The race marshal added: We had to cancel a division and there were probably 50 boats in that division so there were quite a lot of people affected. We were sat here for about half an hour before we decided to cancel that division as he just plonked himself in the middle of the river and refused to do anything. Rowers head off to the start of the Christmas head race before it was held up by the man Cambridgeshire police were called at around noon to reports of a man blocking the river with his boat in a bid to try and stop a race which began at 10am. Officers then arrived and boarded the red boat before one officer removed the hammer. The man was arrested on suspicion of assault following the incident but police would not confirm the age of the man nor whether he is from the local area. Spectator Martin Webb, 52, said he could hear the male claiming the rowers werent supposed to be there and that the swans should be protected from them. A police officer removes a hammer for the mans boat by the river Cam (left) and a rower in awkward fancy dress (right) The Cambridge resident said: There was a huge stand off with 50 crews all waiting there while this bloke caused a scene. The marshals tried to keep his boat to the side of the river but he got a hammer out and was threatening them with it. It was something to do with swans and ducks and wanting to protect them from the rowers. I saw the police then take him away but it went on for quite a long time and everyone was just waiting around. After the man was removed, the race continued as normal and prizes were given out to the winners and those who wore the best fancy dress. A police spokesman said: We were called at 12.03pm on Saturday to reports of a man blocking the river with his boat in a bid to try and stop a race. A 19-year-old woman has opened up about 'feeling ugly' after she was slashed in the face with a wine glass at a nightclub. Kayla, who wished to keep her surname anonymous, has been scarred after needing stitches on her face following the alleged attack on the dancefloor at The Thirsty Whale Bar in Napier, New Zealand on Saturday night. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia about the terrifying ordeal, the young woman said the horrific injuries has shattered her confidence after she suffered deep cuts to her face, chest and eye lid. Kayla claimed she was enjoying a night out with a friend but their evening quickly turned ugly when she was attacked by another woman - who was a stranger to her. New Zealand woman Kayla (pictured) has opened up about 'feeling ugly' after being slashed in the face with a wine glass at a nightclub on Saturday The 19-year-old woman was rushed to hospital with serious lacerations to her face 'My friend was walking in front of me, holding my hand through the crowd when someone bumped into me and spilt their drink down my front,' Kayla claimed. 'I brushed the wine off me - it didn't bother me and I didn't get angry. But when I turned around and looked back at her, she slashed my face. 'She smashed the glass on my face, and blood was gushing everywhere.' The Thirsty Whale Bar declined to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia. Standing in the middle of the crowded bar, Kayla said she was unable to see what was in front of her because she was covered in blood - and the glass had narrowly missed her eyes. 'I couldn't see her [alleged attacker] face but it happened so quickly,' she recalled. 'All I could remember was being dragged into the kitchen and there was just blood everywhere. It felt like a murder scene. I was given a towel but it was filled up with blood straight away.' Kayla has been scarred after needing stitches on her face following the alleged attack The alleged attack happened on the dance floor at The Thirsty Whale Bar (pictured) in Napier Kayla was rushed to hospital with serious cuts to her face where she underwent a surgery Kayla was rushed to hospital with serious lacerations to her face before she underwent a two-hour operation in an effort to fix her scars. 'I have scars to my eye lid, across my nose, chest and the left side of my face,' she said. 'People had told me they saw my face split open when I was on the dancefloor. I didn't realise how bad it was until I saw myself in the mirror. 'I feel really ugly. People have to look at me and think "look at that". It's just horrible. I was really angry but I'm getting used to it [scars] being there now.' And despite the alleged attack, Kayla appeared in good spirits when she said the incident has not deterred her from going out again. 'I'll still go out, you can't stop me,' she said as she laughed. 'I'm always having a good time with my friends but I'll definitely be extra cautious next time.' Kayla said she was enjoying a night out with a friend but their evening turned ugly when she was allegedly attacked by another woman - who was a stranger to her The young woman was struck in the face, with the wine glass narrowly missing her eyes Standing in the middle of the crowded bar, Kayla said she was unable to see what was in front of her because she was covered in blood The alleged attack happened at the New Zealand bar in the early hours of Sunday morning Her stepfather Henry said he only learned about the incident when he saw a Facebook post on his other daughter's page in the early hours of Sunday morning. The young woman said the horrific injuries has shattered her confidence 'That's how I got hold of Kayla,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'I just can't understand why another human being could do something like this to someone. I'm really angry, absolutely angry. I just can't get my head around why someone would do something like this. It's so sad. 'Kayla was visiting her family and friends in Napier for the weekend. As soon as I heard about what happened, I rushed to be by her hospital side. 'I truly hope she [alleged offender] holds accountable for what she has done to my daughter. Kayla doesn't really seem to be affected as such from the incident but that's something she'll have to see every time she looks in the mirror. I feel for her.' New Zealand Police have confirmed a 25-year-old woman was arrested on Sunday morning in relation to the alleged assault. The woman was located a short distance away from the bar. She will appear in the Napier District Court next week. He is now in custody and facing weapons and assault charges A man walked into a popular pizza restaurant with an assault rifle and demanded to know the truth about a pizza-gate conspiracy theory claiming Hillary Clinton had abused children in the basement, police say. Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, from Salisbury, North Carolina, was arrested and is now facing assault charges after he stormed into Comet Ping Pong in Washington D.C. on Sunday at about 3pm and fired multiple times - damaging walls, a door and a computer. He was pictured walking backwards on the street with his hands on his head as police surrounded him with guns drawn. Cops said he had an AR-15 and a handgun when he was arrested in the restaurant. He also had a shotgun and a knife in his car. Police said Welch told them he was carrying out a 'self-investigation' into 'pizza-gate' - a story widely circulated on fake news sites and forums prior to the election that claimed Clinton had run a child sex abuse ring. In his first court appearance on Monday, Welch was held without bond, and is set to return to face a judge again on Thursday. Scroll down for video Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, (pictured) from Salisbury, North Carolina, has been arrested after he walked into pizza restaurant to 'self-investigate' bizarre claims Hillary Clinton was operating a child sex ring in the basement Welch, 28, (pictured) was arrested on the street after he stormed into Comet Ping Pong in Washington D.C. on Sunday at about 3pm armed with the rifle Police said Welch (pictured surrendering) told them he was investigating 'pizza-gate' - a story widely circulated on fake news sites and forums prior to the election that claimed Clinton was abusing children in secret tunnels under the restaurant According to eyewitnesses, Welch spent 45 minutes inside the pizzeria where he was said to be looking for the secret tunnels identified in the false news stories, which has caused the restaurant to be a target of numerous threats. Sharif Silmi, an attorney who was at the restaurant and witnessed the incident, told DailyMail.com people are now claiming he was a crisis actor who was stationed inside the venue by the government. Conspiracy theorists attacked him on Twitter when he was interviewed by a local TV station. On Sunday night, after the gun was fired, Michael Flynn Jr. the son of incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn posted messages supporting the conspiracy theory. Welch left customers and staff terrified when he walked through the front door and through to the back of the restaurant. Police say he may have been looking through the 'Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it'll remain a story. The left seems to forget #PodestaEmails and the many 'coincidences' tied to it,' the younger Flynn tweeted. He stood by his tweet as the night continued, retweeting people who were accusing the mainstream media of being part of the conspiracy to cover up the sex ring. The incident raised questions about Gen. Flynn himself. He had not commented publicly on Comet, but in early November he tied Clinton to pedophile rings in a tweet of his own. "U decide - NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex Crimes w Children, etc...MUST READ!," he wrote ahead of the November 8 election. On Welch's Facebook page, he mixed "like" endorsements for a number of conservative Christian groups with similar "likes" for Infowars and its founder Alex Jones. When Welch first entered the store, he left customers and staff terrified when he walked through the front door and through to the back of the restaurant. Police said he pointed a gun at an employee and threatened them before they were able to escape and notify police. Several customers and employees took shelter in nearby businesses. They added that the lone gunman then fired one or more shots into the floor, but no one was injured. Authorities found two firearms inside the restaurant. There was also a shotgun and a folding knife in his car parked outside. They said the incident was not terrorism related. Welch was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and destruction of property. His family in North Carolina appear to have a history in the broadcasting and movie industry. An IMDB account under the name Edgar Maddison Welch shows he had a small part in the 2009 film, The Bleeding, and was part of the crew in four other projects. According to reports, his father Harry owns a film production company. WBTV in North Carolina also reported that a man with the same name ran over a black 13-year-old boy while behind the wheel of his car on October 24. The teenager survived and Welch was not arrested as a result. He is a Republican supporter, according to voter records. Owner of Comet Ping Pong James Alefantis said: 'What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences. 'I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away.' On Sunday night, after the gun was fired, Michael Flynn Jr. the son of incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn posted messages supporting the conspiracy theory The 28-year-old was was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon after the ordeal at the popular pizzeria Comet Ping Pong Police closed off Connecticut Avenue as they responded to reports of a gunman inside the Comet Ping Pong restaurant on Sunday at 3pm Detectives examined a car outside the pizzeria believed to belong to the alleged gunman. Police say two guns were found inside the shop and another in his car Police initially said Welch's motive was unclear but many quickly speculated it was related to the pizza-gate election conspiracy. Following Welch's arrest, police described pizza-gate as a 'fictitious online conspiracy theory'. The shooting comes just weeks after the pizzeria was swept up in controversy during the presidential election campaign when it became the victim of the fake news story being shared on social media. Staff at the restaurant received a number of death threats on social media following claims it was the center of a child sex abuse ring run by then Democratic presidential candidate and her campaign chief John Podesta. Some of the rumors even claimed that kidnapped and trafficked children were being kept in the venue's back rooms and secret basement tunnels where they were being molested. Police said the gunman told them he went to the pizzeria to investigate 'pizza-gate' - a story prior to the election that claimed Clinton had run a child sex abuse ring there The man, from Salisbury, North Carolina, was taken into police custody and the streets remained closed on Sunday afternoon There has been no evidence of the so-called abuse, no investigation and no victims who have come forward. The restaurant also says it does not have a basement or any hidden rooms. But thousands of alt-right Trump supporters and anti-Hillary Clinton followers believe the claims. The owner of the restaurant, James Alefantis, was forced to contact the FBI after the abuse became too much and he caught one supporter of the rumor trying to shoot a live video from within the pizzeria. Just last week the pizzeria, which also hosts music shows, revealed it was adding more security to is shows following the online harassment. 'There have been no hostile situations at the venue, and we do not anticipate any altercations as much of the harassment has occurred online, but as a precaution we now have security and police present at every show,' the venue wrote on Facebook. The owner of the restaurant James Alefantis (pictured) was forced to contact the FBI after the children of some staff were targeted Staff at the popular restaurant had received a number of death threats on social media following fake claims that it was the center of a child sex abuse ring run by Hillary Clinton Just last week the pizzeria, which also hosts music shows, revealed it was adding more security to is shows following the online harassment The conspiracy theory took hold when the emails belonging to Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta, were released by WikiLeaks. Users on the online message board 4Chan found a reference of Alefantis in one of Podesta's emails just days before the election. Alefantis had been discussing a Democrat fundraiser. Alefantis was once in a relationship with outspoken Clinton supporter David Brock. The 4Chan users speculated that Alefantis' Comet Ping Pong was part of a Democratic child trafficking ring. The conspiracy theory then took hold on social media, including Twitter and Reddit. Reddit eventually took the step of banning the pizzagate topic from its message boards, citing its policy against posting the personal information of others. 'From this insane, fabricated conspiracy theory, we've come under constant assault,' the business owner told the New York Times at the time. 'I've done nothing for days but try to clean this up and protect my staff and friends from being terrorized.' Warning: Dame Louise Casey (pictured) said in her report that successive governments have 'ignored or even condoned harmful cultural and religious practices, for fear of being branded racist or Islamophobic' The author of a bombshell report on immigration and integration in Britain today slammed 'right on' critics for ignoring real problems. Dame Louise Casey made a series of extraordinary recommendations today after months studying the impact of migration across the country. Among her proposals is a demand for all new migrants to Britain to take an oath of allegiance where they promise to embrace liberal values before arriving. Dame Louise said ghettos have formed because the pace and scale of immigration has been 'too much' and some towns and cities have been transformed 'out of all recognition', it says. She said successive governments have 'ignored or even condoned regressive, divisive and harmful cultural and religious practices, for fear of being branded racist or Islamophobic'. But Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, has condemned the report as 'inflammatory, divisive, pandering to the agenda of the far right'. 'We are saddened that once again British Muslims have become a political football which is bashed from time to time without any regard for the impact this has on individuals who then are subjected to threats and violence,' he said. When confronted with this on Radio 4 Dame Louise dismissed some critics as 'right on' and said the UK could 'no longer duck difficult issues' even if parts of her report would be 'hard to read'. The report warns that rapid population change has also increased ethnic segregation and left communities more divided than ever, she said, adding: 'We are developing pockets where there is a monoculture, a monoethnicity and that's a concern'. Warning of 'escalating division and tensions in society', she called for greater efforts at integration to 'bind Britain together'. Currently migrants do not have to swear an oath unless they want to secure UK citizenship. At the moment, millions of migrants must take a 'Life in the UK' test about their knowledge of Britain to secure their right to stay. Dame Louise also says the criteria for full citizenship should be reviewed. Divided Britain: A bombshell report says ghettos have formed because the pace and scale of immigration has been 'too much' and some towns and cities like Bradford (pictured) have been transformed 'out of all recognition' Segregation: The Page Hall area of Sheffield there is a 6,000-strong Roma or eastern European community living together (pictured) Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said he would be studying the findings closely but the Ramadhan Foundation condemned the 'inflammatory' report. Mr Javid said the UK was home to many cultures and communities 'but all of us have to be part of one society - British society'. WHAT BOMBSHELL REPORT SAYS ABOUT BRITAIN The report by Dame Louise Casey (pictured) contains these fact - In one school pupils believed the population of Britain to be between 50% and 90% Asian - One in four Pakistani men are employed as taxi-drivers and two in five Bangladeshi men work in restaurants - Almost all ethnic minority groups still have unemployment rates around double the national average - Economic inactivity levels remain unusually high among women from Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups 57.2% are inactive in the labour market compared with 25.2% of White women - Britain's population has risen by 4.1 million between 2001 and 2011 - m ore than half of this growth was due to immigration. - It has been claimed that 70 to 75% of Muslim marriages in the UK have not been registered under the Marriage Act. Half of British Pakistanis married back in Pakistan, and that most of these marriages were between cousins or other members of extended kin groups - Report cites 2016 survey that found 47% of Muslims did not agree that it is acceptable for a homosexual person to be a teacher in a school -compared with 14% of the British population. And 23% supported the introduction of Sharia law instead of British laws in some areas of Britain. - Ethnic minority groups, including pupils of Chinese, Indian, Irish, and Bangladeshi ethnicity, outperformed White British pupils in their GCSEs. Pupils of Pakistani and Black ethnicity had an attainment gap of more than 5% percentage points lower than White British pupils. Pupils of White Gypsy and Roma ethnicity had the lowest attainment levels with only 8.6% achieving five or more good GCSEs Advertisement 'So while it's right that we celebrate the positive contribution that diverse groups make to British life, we also need to continue making sure that nobody is excluded from it or left behind,' he said. 'To do that, we need to take a serious look at the facts and must not shy away from the challenges we face.' The new review says Muslim enclaves are concentrated in northern areas such as Bradford, Birmingham and Blackburn, where MailOnline revealed last month there is a halal butcher who has never served a white customer. Some rarely, if ever, leave their neighbourhoods and in one non-faith school with a high Asian population, pupils estimated the Asian population of Britain to be between 50 and 90 per cent. However, according to the report, the actual figure is 7 per cent. Figures from the 2011 Census put the proportion of Muslims in England and Wales at under 5 per cent, while Christians account for nearly 60 per cent. Dame Louise's report criticises the rise of 'Sharia councils', which have been allowed to run unhindered and in some cases support extremist values, wife beating and forced marriage and marital rape. Mosques and Islamic organisations are offering regressive advice about the behaviours expected of Muslim women and girls. This includes not being able to leave the house without telling their husband, not being allowed to travel without a chaperone or even not being able to wear jeans, despite Islamic theologians dismissing such advice as inappropriate, she says. And there is not just segregation in Muslim communities, Dame Louise said that there are hundreds of electoral wards where there are 40 per cent non-white British residents or more. In 17 wards the figure was 90 per cent. In one borough of Sheffield there is a 6,000-strong Roma or eastern European community living together. In Jewish orthodox communities they have been allowed to teach their children 'that a woman's role is to look after children, clean the house and cook'. While some Christian groups have been allowed to try to 'cure' people of homosexuality' without being challenged. And the Polish community in Britain has grown by 500,000 in a decade, with many heading to areas like Boston, Lincolnshire. The report concludes: 'We know that where communities live separately, with fewer interactions between people from different backgrounds, mistrust, anxiety and prejudice grow. 'Conversely, social mixing and interactions between people from a wider range of backgrounds can have positive impacts; not just in reducing anxiety and prejudice, but also in enabling people to get on better in employment and social mobility.' The report, commissioned by David Cameron to try to address how some Muslim communities are cut off from the rest of society, also: - Recommends schoolchildren are taught 'British values' of tolerance, democracy and respect as well as the country's laws, history and values; - Warns that women are being held back by regressive cultural practices and face coercion, violence and abuse; - Warns that children being taught at home or outside mainstream schools are being exposed to divisive practices; - Calls on ministers to provide more English language classes for 'isolated groups'. Among community cohesion tsar Dame Louise's recommendations is an 'oath of integration with British values and society' for new arrivals. Migrants who want to come to the UK could also be required to sign up to 'clear expectations on integration' when applying for visas. The reports says that in Kersal in Salford, pictured on the show Strictly Kosher, 41 per cent of are of the population of Jewish faith In the past decade the Polish community in Britain has grown by 500,000, with areas including Boston in Lincolnshire cited in the report (pictured) Her report says that while Britain has benefited hugely from immigration and increased ethnic and religious diversity, 'nowhere near enough emphasis has been put on integration in communities to match the pace and scale of the change in our population in recent years'. In a bleak warning about the impact of mass immigration, it reports some communities saying the pace of change has been 'too much' for them to deal with. Dame Louise, a former homeless charity executive, said last night: 'Social integration is about closing the gaps that exist between people and communities. This report has found those gaps exist in terms of where people live but also in terms of the lives they lead and the opportunities they have to succeed. So it is about how we get on in life, as well as how we get along with each other. 'To help bind Britain together and tackle some of the division in our society, we need more opportunities for those from disadvantaged communities, particularly women, and more mixing between people from different backgrounds. 'We also need more of a spirit of unity, compassion and kindness that brings people together under our common British values of tolerance, democracy, equality and respect.' The report says promoting British laws, history and values within the 'core curriculum in all schools' would help build integration, tolerance, citizenship and resilience in children. Dame Louise also says it is 'extremely concerning' that some children are opting out of state education 'without sufficient checks on their wellbeing and integration'. The report was commissioned by David Cameron to try to address how some Muslim communities are cut off from the rest of society DAME LOUISE'S REPORT AT A GLANCE Communities say the pace of change because of immigration has been 'too much' for them to deal with There is 'nowhere near' enough integration in communities given the 'pace and scale' of population change Some communities are becoming more segregated and Britain is facing 'escalating division and tensions in society' Much more effort is needed to ensure integration and 'bind Britain together' Migrants should sign up to an 'oath of integration with British values and society' as soon as they arrive or even before Children should be taught British values of tolerance, democracy and respect as well as British laws and history Women in some communities are being 'held back by regressive cultural practices' and face coercion, violence and abuse in the name of 'cultural or religious values' Children being taught at home are being exposed to 'divisive practices' Ministers should provide more English language classes for 'isolated groups' All councillors, MPs and other public office holders should swear an 'oath of integration enshrining British values'. Advertisement They should all be required to register with councils, and home schools should be told that 'divisive practices are not acceptable in any setting'. Dame Louise says efforts to promote integration in recent years have failed, adding: 'They have been well-meaning but grossly insufficient to cope with the scale of the challenge. Events and projects that have been described to us as 'saris, samosas and steel drums' can help bring people together but too often attract the already well-intentioned and do not succeed in tackling difficult issues.' Her conclusions about the conditions facing some women are particularly excoriating. Women face 'persistent gender inequalities' in some communities, including lack of job prospects at best, and at worst 'coercive control, violence and criminal acts of abuse, often enacted in the name of cultural or religious values'. Dame Louise also calls for more action to tackle 'regressive and harmful' practices in Muslim communities, such as forced marriage, female genital mutilation and other abuses. Dame Louise's oath proposal has not even come before ministers, so is a long way from potentially becoming law. Dr Alan Mendoza, of the Henry Jackson Society security think-tank, said: 'This review contains serious concerns about the state of integration between different communities in the UK today, particularly Muslim communities in certain areas. I would urge the Government to strongly consider the nature of this problem and commit to action to counter it.' Jon Yates, of The Challenge, a leading social integration charity, said: 'Unless we act urgently our country is in danger of becoming a less integrated and more divided place.' On Saturday, Margaret Rhodes, the Queens cousin and lifelong friend, gave a rare insight into her childhood with the future monarch. Here, in our second extract from her magical memoir, Mrs Rhodes, who died last month at 91, recalls life with her aunt, the Queen Mother: her disdain of politics, how bereft she was at Margarets death and those cruel rumours about her drinking... On my most recent visit to Birkhall, the Scottish country house which was the summer retreat of my much loved aunt, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, I got quite a jolt when I saw several of her blue raincoats in the hall, long after her death in March 2002. Still hanging there even though Birkhall, which is part of the Balmoral estate, has subsequently been taken on by her grandson Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, they prompted a flood of memories about our windy walks and rain-swept picnics in the surrounding countryside. In our second extract from her magical memoir, Mrs Rhodes, who died last month at 91, recalls life with her aunt, the Queen Mother I particularly remember when we met a group of hikers on their way to nearby Dubh Loch. My aunt had a long conversation with them and from then onwards she received a Christmas card from the hikers of the Dubh Loch. On another occasion she shared our picnic with some walkers. Hers was the unstuffiest of courts and it made her day if something went wrong on a formal occasion, for example the mishap which befell my father, the 16th Lord Elphinstone, at the funeral of King George V in 1936. As Captain General of the Royal Company of Archers, the Sovereigns bodyguard north of the border, my father marched behind the coffin. There was a strong wind and he thought the long eagles feathers in his cap were going to blow away. He lifted his arms to secure them and his braces snapped, forcing him to walk four-and-a-half miles desperately holding his trousers up with his elbows. Thats the kind of story which delighted my aunt, who was my mothers youngest sister, and regarded me as her third daughter. Nothing pleased her more than if a lady-in-waiting made a mistake, or arrived in the wrong place, or at the wrong time. I was able to oblige her shortly after taking up that role in 1991. In the car on an early-evening visit to the British Library, she asked me if her hair combs were firmly in place. I tried to push one in, forgetting I had my handbag on my arm. It shot forward and hit her hard on the back of her head. She was angelic enough not to mind. Whether she was at Clarence House, Birkhall, or Royal Lodge, her weekend home in Windsor Great Park, her Household was legendary for its hospitality, conviviality and for her quick repartee. My husband Denys Rhodes wrote thrillers, and one evening, when we were staying at Balmoral Castle, Princess Margaret asked how his latest novel was going. Its nearly finished, he replied, but I desperately need a title. At which point a voice behind us said: And I cannot think of a reason for giving you one. It was my aunt, who had entered the room unobserved. She kept her politics from the public gaze, but no one could say that she leaned towards the Left. GRIEF OF HER FINAL WEEKS When my aunt died in March 2002, at the very great age of 101, I had just returned from a cruise with some friends down the Chilean coast and during that time Princess Margaret had died following a complete breakdown in her health. She had her third stroke on February 8 and developed cardiac problems. A few days before this Margaret had told an old friend that she felt so ill that she longed to join her father, King George VI. My elder daughter Annabel had telephoned me on board the ship to break that sad news. The Queen Mother, although very frail, had bravely insisted on coming down from Sandringham, where she had been staying since Christmas, for her younger daughters funeral in St Georges Chapel, Windsor. I felt so sad about Margaret, but perhaps more for my aunt than for anyone else. It is unnatural for a mother to suffer the death of a child, of whatever age, and it compounds the grief. After the funeral she returned home to Royal Lodge, and did not leave it again. And it was only seven weeks after her daughters death that she herself went upstairs as she always described the exit lounge of mortality. Advertisement I remember my daughter Annabel having tea with her and the conversation touching on Tony Blairs then latest wheeze, Cool Britannia. This prompted her to remark wistfully: Poor Britannia. She would have hated being Cool. My invitation to become one of her ladies-in-waiting came in 1990, nine years after Denys died of lung cancer. At the time of his illness, we thought it sensible to move from our isolated house on the edge of Dartmoor. The problem had been finding somewhere suitable and affordable. There was not a great deal of money in hand, and therefore I shall never forget the morning when my prayers were answered. I was out riding with the Queen on the Balmoral estate and she turned in the saddle and said: Could you bear to live in suburbia? It transpired that she was offering us a house in the Great Park at Windsor, a short drive from the castle and almost round the corner from the Queen Mother whenever she was staying at Royal Lodge. Denys died soon after we moved there. In the years afterwards my life lacked focus and so I said an emphatic and immediate yes when my aunt asked me to become one of the eight Women of the Bedchamber who did fortnightly periods in-waiting and accompanied the boss on her official engagements. A rather elderly entourage, we were very well briefed on how to behave before we went out to meet the public as if we didnt know and the Private Secretary would warn us about any potential trouble spots, such as tricky stairs and steps. Fortunately, when I was in-waiting there were no mishaps. We were always supplied with the names of everyone we could possibly meet, and details of what they were interested in, so that there would be no awkward silences. Our handbags contained the little extra necessities of life to make a royal visit go like clockwork. I did not know the contents of Her Majestys handbag, but there was astounded merriment at Clarence House when the satirical magazine Private Eye suggested that she never ventured far without an ironed copy of The Sporting Life, a packet of Marks & Spencer chocolate eclairs, a ready-mixed gin and Dubonnet in a hip flask, and a large number of 50 notes just in case. Tony Blair is shown conversing with Oasis star Noel Gallagher and wife Mel Gallagher When I was not trailing round after her, coping with the overflow of bouquets and keeping conversation going along VIP line-ups, I spent a lot of my time answering letters at Clarence House. She had a huge post, and every letter even if written by some poor person who was mildly deranged had to have a response. There were quite a few of those. Her official engagements never started before the sun was well and truly up and were conducted at a leisurely pace. She liked to give full value, and so they often ran late, which didnt bother her at all, although some members of the Household accompanying her occasionally got twitchy. When she did decide it was time to end a conversation, she had a wonderful sign-off line. It went something like this: Well, Id love to stand here talking all day, but I really must get on, as if she had to get home and put the joint in the oven. KILTS THAT EXPOSED ALL I learned my first lesson about male anatomy when we were holidaying with the Royal Family at Balmoral during the war. My mentor was the Kings younger brother, the Duke of Gloucester, who unfortunately never quite mastered the correct technique of adjusting the kilt when seated. Years later, at the annual Ghillies Ball at Balmoral, the Resident Factor, who is responsible for the management of the Balmoral estate, and kilted of course, was sitting out one of the reels on a leather-covered banquette. It was perhaps a little over-warm and when the Queen approached, he had to struggle to rise slowly and with obvious difficulty. His bare bottom had stuck to the leather and there was an unexpressed ouch. He told me afterwards: I only hope that Her Majesty thought the tears in my eyes were due to the emotion I felt at being addressed by her. Advertisement People were enchanted by her mix of cosiness and glamorous royalty. I have seen even the most die-hard republicans melt when she directed the full beam of her blue-eyed charm at them. Princess Diana shared this talent for scattering stardust, although in a much more overt way. But the Queen Mother was compassionate, too, although she did not brim over with it before the crowds. A no-nonsense woman, she did not admit to illness, unless totally unavoidable, and regarded aspirin as a dangerous drug. Her idea for the curing of a bad cold was a bracing walk in a stiff breeze across rugged terrain. It invariably worked! But during her tenth decade, her family became increasingly worried about her falling over. The Queen sent her a special walking stick, asking her to at least try it. She did, but under protest. I recall watching her, after one engagement, tossing it with a gesture of contempt into the back of her car. And so the royal round continued, as did my stints in-waiting. Of all my aunts homes, Birkhall was the one I most deeply loved and the few rooms there for visitors were filled whenever she held open house. As an 80th birthday present, her friends and relations had all contributed to the cost of building a charming little wooden cabin beside one of her favourite pools in the River Dee. She called it the Old Bull and Bush after a pub near Londons Hampstead Heath. That had been immortalised in the music hall song Down At The Old Bull And Bush performed by Florrie Forde in the Twenties, when my aunt was a young woman. She loved the old songs and knew all the words. In another life she might have been a star of the Halls. Maragret Rhodes is pictured with reigning monrach Queen Elizabeth II Dinner at Birkhall could be an uproarious affair. At the end of the meal she would start a series of toasts. As well as Hooray for . . . with glasses held high, there was even more of Down with . . . with glasses almost disappearing beneath the table. The toasts, combined with the nostalgic sing-songs, always made for an unforgettable evening. So being in-waiting was not all protocol and curtseying: it was, in fact, tremendous fun. After my aunts death, my life changed radically. I was almost 82 then and my social life has since become minimal, although I have regular stays with my cousin the Queen at Balmoral and Sandringham, which, as always, are hugely enjoyable. At home, the Queen drops in on me sometimes on Sunday after matins in our little chapel, and we exchange the latest news. I have been fortunate to have had her as my cousin and to have seen first-hand what she has achieved. In her lifetime, the country and the Monarchy have markedly changed, but the one constant has been the role of the Queen. MARTINIS, GIN AND FIZZ A myth has grown that the Queen Mother was over-fond of drink. It fitted in with the image that she was a good old girl and a sport, but all I can say is that her having a drinking habit was simply unimaginable. Her alcohol intake never varied. Before lunch, she would have a gin and Dubonnet, with a slice of lemon and a lot of ice. During the meal she might take some wine. In the evening she would have a dry Martini and a glass of champagne with her dinner. There was no excess. Advertisement The annus horribilis of 1992, when two of her children were divorced and there was a major fire at Windsor Castle, was clearly a time of great sadness for her. But it was when Princess Diana died in 1997 that there was a new mood about the Monarchy and the Royal Family, which was unique in her reign. A lot has been written about the outpouring of emotion at that time. The Queen and Prince Philip were at Balmoral with the children when the news reached them, and her instinct was to do everything to protect the grandchildren from the full glare of grief and publicity. This was misinterpreted as her being out of touch with the prevailing mood, but nothing could have been further from the mind of the Queen, who as I know, is a caring and feeling person. The Queen Mother is seen above with the Queen during her 100th birthday celebrations She has weathered many storms, both public and private, but she has made it absolutely clear that: My job is for life. It has been a question of maturing into something that one has got used to doing and accepting the fact that it is your fate. In 2012, her Diamond Jubilee year, she emerged as the consummate master of her role. The nation has cause to be grateful. I certainly am. One Nation co-founder David Oldfield has accused Pauline Hanson of going soft on Islam because she has trouble concentrating. During the last election, Senator Hanson called for a royal commission into Islam. The Queenslander also used her maiden speech to the Senate in September to call for an end to Muslim migration to Australia. However Mr Oldfield, who co-founded One Nation in 1997 with Ms Hanson, said only a Mills and Boon novel about Muslim terrorists, called Ahmed and Fatima, would make her read about Islam. Scroll down for video One Nation co-founder David Oldfield said Pauline Hanson had been silent on Islam Pauline Hanson, pictured in September delivering her maiden speech to the Senate calling for a ban on Muslim migration to Australia 'Maybe we need an Islamically-based romance novel where terrorists murder everyone,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday. 'She just doesn't really read. She doesn't read serious material. 'It's hard enough to get Pauline to read a single paragraph let alone documentation that's research or scientifically based,' he claimed. 'She's the sort of person who needs to be entertained, she's childlike in that sense. 'She becomes very bored very quickly. 'She has to be told verbally. Then she's subject to things being forgotten,' he said. He said his former boss had largely gone quiet on Islam since she returned to federal parliament this year after an 18-year absence. 'I haven't heard Pauline have anything to say, really, on Islam or terrorism or any of those sorts of issues particularly since she's been elected,' he said. David Oldfield said his former boss Pauline Hanson (pictured) had a short attention span 'She should be on every news story on Islamic-related issues that are negative for Australia be it crime, be it terrorism, be it anti-social behaviour, be it practices undertaken by their people which we find abhorrent in the 21st century.' Mr Oldfield, who once worked for former prime minister Tony Abbott, urged Senator Hanson to ignore the left-wing media. 'The media is littered, in a majority sense, with left-wing especially print journalists,' he said. 'If those people are intimidating Pauline, she simply shouldn't let that happen.' Mr Oldfield, who recently appeared on SBS's First Contact program as a conservative provocateur on indigenous issues, said right-wing coalition MPs George Christensen and Cory Bernardi, who criticised Islam, were more intelligent than Senator Hanson. One Nation co-founder David Oldfield said Queensland senator Pauline Hanson (pictured) didn't read much and could only relate to a Mills and Boon novel 'They're more articulate and they're more well versed and they're more educated and informed on these matters, both George and Cory,' he said. 'They're both more intelligent people to begin with.' Shortly after the July 2 election, Ms Hanson said Islam was not a religion of peace. 'I'd like to know what they are teaching in those mosques. You can't deny the fact that in these mosques they've been known to preach hate towards us,' she told reporters. Mr Oldfield said Senator Hanson's One Nation team had since engaged in silly media stunts, like visiting the Great Barrier Reef in November. 'Jumping off a boat, snorkelling off the Barrier Reef, that was a huge waste of taxpayers' funds,' he said. David Oldfield's wife Lisa (pictured) stars in Real Housewives and also dislikes Pauline Hanson 'I don't think it would have impressed anybody. 'Those sort of stunts won't increase their vote and it won't catch the imagination of their supporters.' The husband of Real Housewives star Lisa Oldfield added he wanted Senator Hanson and One Nation to succeed because he shared their values but said he had found her difficult to work with two decades ago. 'We're not in contact and I would be sure she wouldn't return my calls,' he said, adding he was not seeking a job with One Nation. Lisa Oldfield in July described Senator Hanson is unflattering terms to Daily Mail Australia. 'The idea of Pauline Hanson is like masturbating with a cheese grater,' she said at the launch of Real Housewives in Sydney. A spokesman for Ms Hanson told Daily Mail Australia that she had made a number of statements about Islam in recent weeks, reeling of 10 occasions she had spoken on the matter. Attorney General Jeremy Wright has urged the court not to stray into politics Opposition parties were yesterday accused of plotting to frustrate the will of the people over Brexit ahead of todays crunch Supreme Court hearing. Attorney General Jeremy Wright has urged the court not to stray into politics as he argues that it should reverse last months High Court ruling that Parliament must vote on starting the process of leaving the EU. If the Government loses, the Lib Dems, Labour and the SNP will all try to frustrate or even block Theresa Mays attempts to trigger Article 50 which begins the two-year process of leaving the EU by the end of March. Yesterday there were growing signs that ministers will face an almighty political battle to get a Bill through the Commons and the Lords. Lib Dem leader Tim Farron and his predecessor Nick Clegg said their party which has only nine MPs but 100 peers will block Article 50 unless the Bill includes provisions for a second referendum on the Brexit terms. On Saturday Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that, if the Supreme Court forces a vote in Parliament, Labour would try to amend the legislation to insert clauses on workers rights and the environment. And former SNP leader Alex Salmond said his party could block Brexit if the Supreme Court gives the Scottish Parliament a veto on Article 50. Last night leading Leave campaigner Iain Duncan Smith said: All these so-called democrats dont actually believe in democracy. A man like Nick Clegg from a party of only nine MPs, what right does he have to defy the public? This is the most undemocratic and elitist group of people I have ever come across. BORIS SLAPS DOWN CALLS TO KEEP SENDING BILLIONS Boris Johnson led a fightback yesterday over plans to send billions of pounds to Brussels once Britain leaves the EU Boris Johnson led a fightback yesterday over controversial plans to send billions of pounds to Brussels once Britain leaves the EU. The Foreign Secretary made it clear he opposes proposals floated by Brexit Secretary David Davis and Chancellor Philip Hammond that could see Brussels keep a big chunk of the 10billion we currently send to the EU every year in return for access to the single market. Other senior ministers, including International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and International Development Secretary Priti Patel, are also said to be uneasy about the idea, as are many Eurosceptic Tory backbenchers. Asked about the plans yesterday, Mr Johnson dismissed the idea of paying for access to the single market as speculation. That is something that obviously David Davis is considering. It doesnt mean that a decision has been taken, he told BBC1s The Andrew Marr show. The Foreign Secretary later abruptly ended a separate interview live on Sky News after he was challenged to name the president of South Korea. Presenter Dermot Murnaghan first asked him who the French foreign minister was with Mr Johnson replying correctly. But he appeared to struggle when he was asked for the name of South Korean president, Park Geun-hye. Mr Johnson paused, then replied: We are not getting into a pub quiz about leaders.... I am going to, with great respect, invite you out to the pub Dermot so we can take these conversations further. He then added: Have a good morning, see you, before removing his earpiece, and walking off camera. Advertisement Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson accused Labour of trying to frustrate the will of the people by playing political games with the Article 50 process. Mr Johnson said there was no history in any EU negotiation or any EU treaty talks of the House of Commons doing anything to fetter the discretion of the Government or to have a vote on these. His comments came during angry clashes with Labours Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer on the BBCs Andrew Marr show. Mr Johnson said: I would like to ask Keir Starmer why he is seeking to frustrate the will of the people. Sir Keir replied: Were not. Any attempt by pro-Remain politicians to thwart Brexit will hinge on what decision is made by the 11 judges of the Supreme Court in the most important case in its history. On Saturday the Daily Mail revealed that Mr Wright had accused the High Court of treating the Brexit vote as little more than a footnote in its ruling. Today he will address the Supreme Court and urge the justices to reverse the ruling at the start of a four-day hearing. If ministers lose they will attempt to pass a short Article 50 Bill through Parliament. A ruling is expected in the New Year. In submissions lodged with the court Mr Wright has told the judges they should not stray into areas of political judgment rather than legal adjudication. Two hundred business leaders today urge Mrs May in a letter to trigger Article 50 no later than March 31 or risk business uncertainty. Signatories include Tory donors Peter Cruddas and Michael Spencer. These are the first pictures taken of the man who ran the doomed Oakland Ghost Ship warehouse since it burnt down in a devastating fire on Friday night, killing at least 33 people. Derick Ion Almena was spotted just after checking into a smart hotel in Oakland city center last night with his wife Micah Allison. The pair ignored all questions from the Daily Mail Online but a pal who was with them, who declined to give his name, said they currently had no comment, just saying: 'No statements' before hurrying them into an elevator. This comes as a long-time friend of Almena told DailyMail.com that the warehouse Almena operated was rancid, covered in feces and frequented by drug users. She described Almena as an 'arrogant' man who was so self-involved that he laughed off warnings his artist's commune was a potential death trap and allegedly ignored repeated safety warnings. Scroll down for video Serious questions: Dericl Ion Almena is pictured here for the first time since at least 33 people died in the Oakland Ghost Ship blaze on Friday Upmarket: Since the fire gutted the warehouse, Almena (left) has been staying in one of Oakland's more upmarket hotels with his wife Micah Allison (pictured right) Homeless: Micah Allison, the wife of Derek Ion Almena was photographed on Sunday with the couple's three children Controversy: Friends of Almena have told DailyMail.com that he was warned repeatedly about the dangerous living conditions inside the warehouse In an earlier phone call to Almena's phone, the same friend told Daily Mail.com: 'He's not available, we will release a statement. Upset is really not the word when we have the magnitude of this tragedy. 'You can't really describe how that feels, there's no words to describe the magnitude of the loss of life and the sorrow.' Asked if Almena regretted his insensitive Facebook post after the fire in which he moaned about losing his furniture and art collection in the tragedy, the man said: 'Let's say we would like to look for the next post ok. There will be another statement. There will be a release for the media.' Almena's Facebook post has become a lightning rod of anger at the 'deathtrap' warehouse where the party took place. Commenting on the anger over Almena's Facebook post and allegations he had ignored numerous warnings the art commune was a dangerous and he had failed to make it safe for the parties held there, the man said: 'I think at this point the people are going to lash out. I think that's sad that's the focus. The gravity of it is hard to even comprehend.' Tinder box: Alameda County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Ray Kelly said they fear up to 40 people could have possibly died in the blaze that destroyed the Oakland Ghost Ship Raging inferno: The blaze which took hold on Friday razed the artist enclave to the ground and killed at least 33 people Almena pictured with his wife Micah Allison (left). One of his friends has alleged that Almena (right) had been warned by friends and city officials about how the building was dangerous but claimed that he just 'laughed' it off The couple's three children were seen being loaded into a car outside the hotel and were driven off by a woman wearing some form of ID badge. An eyewitness said: 'It looked like the woman was an official of some capacity.' This comes as it emerged Almena was warned repeatedly he had created a death trap but laughed off concerns, DailyMail.com has learned. A friend of Derick Ion Almena claims the venue operator was so 'arrogant' that he brushed off any fears surrounding his 'amazing' art space. Danielle Boudreaux, who has known Almena and his wife Micah Allison for eight years, even claims one visitor to the warehouse - known as the Oakland Ghost Ship - was so concerned about the state of the property that she told her fire-fighter husband who arranged for an immediate fire inspection. Claims: Danielle Danielle Boudreaux and Mariah Benavides have made damning allegations against Almena and the way he operated the Oakland Ghost Ship Almena reportedly lived in the space with his wife, Micah Allison, and children who were staying at a hotel during the electronic music party held there on Friday night She claims the local fire department carried out an inspection two years ago and warned Almena of several fire safety violations, branding the warehouse a 'tinder box' - but still nothing was done. At least 33 people perished at a rave on Friday night at the structure, with many more still missing. Shortly after the blaze Almena wrote on Facebook to say he and his wife Micah and their three children were okay and then moaned about losing his furniture in the tragedy. He wrote: 'Confirmed. Everything I worked so hard for is gone. Blessed that my children and Micah were at a hotel and safe and soundit's as if I have awoken from a dream filled with opulence and hope to be standing now in poverty of self worth.' This comes as a worrying picture begins to emerge of life inside the Ghost Ship, where several people are believed to live, some in an indoor 'RV park'. Visitors have described a squalid scene where cat faeces and used condoms litter the limited floor space, junk and 'art' is piled high in every room, nails protrude from stairs made out of old pallets, brick work crumbles in the walls and drug use rife among the party goers who came and went. Disastrous: Flames rise from the top of the warehouse, which caught fire during a dance party in Oakland on Saturday And DailyMail.com has also spoken to the nanny who worked for Almena and his wife Micah who tells how the couple would disappear to wild parties for five nights at a time leaving her to care for their three children. Almena's insensitive Facebook posts sparked outrage on Saturday and Boudreaux told DailyMail.com that he had repeatedly ignored pleas to make the place safer. She said: 'When people told him it was a deathtrap, he would laugh. In Derick's mind he was creating this amazing art space, and everything going on there was the most amazing thing ever. 'I was disgusted by his Facebook post, but it was typical Derick. People were saying 'maybe he didn't know people were dead at that time', no he knew. 'I'm telling you anybody who was upstairs, if there was a fire started anywhere downstairs, the likelihood of you being able to get out of that building is slim to none. 'And there were no fire alarms, no sprinklers, nothing.' Boudreaux said Almena and wife Micah moved into the warehouse with their children around three years ago. She said he rented the place for $5,000 a month and sub-letted space to several artists. Wooden: Fire fighters had a difficult time getting inside due to massive amounts of clutter. The interior of the warehouse before the fire is pictured above in an undated photo The owner of the property has been identified as Chor Ng who owns several buildings across the bay area. According to property records inspectors found two violations at an apartment building in San Francisco he owns including cracked walls. In Oakland the City has received four complaints about another property owned by Ng in Chinatown, three for graffiti and one to do with sewer waste leaking from the property. None of the properties received as many complaints as the warehouse in Oakland where the fire broke out at about 11.30pm on Friday. The property has received 10 complaints over the past 10 years, the most recent involving a makeshift stairwell and un-permitted construction. She said Almena lived upstairs with his family where they slept in wooden four poster beds he'd imported from Bali. The eccentric building operator created an indoor 'RV park' downstairs charging residents $500 a month per person and would also make money renting the space for parties. 'The first quarter of the 2nd floor was the family's residence, the rest of it was the dance area and the stage,' Boudreaux explained. 'They had these crazy huge four poster Balinese beds up there, and huge wooden Balinese couches, and a pagoda. 'Downstairs was the RV park. It was filled with a revolving cast of drug addicts who would come and go. 'It was $500 per person per month. His goal was always to have at least ten people, because the rent was $5k a month.' In an ominous Facebook post from May 2014 Almena advertised his warehouse space - chillingly he wrote: 'Smokers are welcome'. Clutter: A friend of Derick Ion Almena claims that the building was rancid - and that rodent and cat feces littered the floor along with condoms The ad said he was 'looking for artists to inhabit as often and long as desired... to and who... manifest immediate change and loving revolution.... thru. dance theater, crafting, poetics, dramatics, film, tantric, kitten juggling.... and nude traffic directing. At this moment... women dames chicks ladies grannies of the girl type persuasion would be preferred.' Boudreaux claims drug use did occur at the enclave, but it was travelers coming and going and taking crystal meth and not residents. And the mother-of-two, who has a son who attended school with Almena's children, said she and others had become increasingly alarmed about living conditions at the Ghost Ship. She said the property became more and more squalid as time went on. 'There were piles of wood with nails sticking out, cat faeces, tall piles of laundry of mildewed clothes, there would be food all over the place,' she said. 'Most of the windows on the bottom floor were blacked out from the plies of wood and everything. 'People are calling it a staircase but would you call a jungle gym a staircase? It was crates. 'He at one point cleaned out a piano store, 35 pianos and six organs, and they were all in there. Concerns: Just last month city officials cited the owner of the warehouse and had launched an investigation into whether the interior structure was illegal Two years ago Almena hosted a teacher appreciation party at the warehouse for parents from his children's elementary school. Afterwards one mom told her firefighter husband about several fire safety violations inside and the fire department came over and told Almena to get it up to code, Boudreaux claims. She said: 'The woman told me afterwards 'my husband says the place is a tinder box'. 'She said there was a formal inspection and they were in violation but also they lied to them and said at the time people weren't living there. In truth people were living there since day one and the landlord knew it too. 'Everyone who's been in that building knows it was a fire hazard.' A nanny who worked for the couple has painted a very similar picture of the warehouse and described Almena and his wife as 'crazy'. Mariah Benavides worked for the couple for a year at their previous home in Oakland just before they moved to the warehouse three years ago. She was just 16 when she was put in charge of their three children - a boy now aged five, and two girls now eight and 14. She told DailyMail.com: 'At first they were more stable but they seemed to start to decline. Gross: A friend of Almena told DailyMail.com that drug users would regularly come and go from the property and would sometimes smoke meth 'I remember having conversations with Micah the wife she would say 'oh we danced under the moon, it was this transcendent experience'. I was like cool, while I was watching your kids for like five days straight and you weren't here. At the time the youngest child was one. 'They would throw parties even before they had the warehouse space, they would rent other spaces, or had friends who had warehouse space. 'I wouldn't say they'd disappear without contact, they'd say 'we're going to go and have fun' and they were going to be gone a bit longer. 'The children were upset, the older one would be defiant and not want to listen and the younger ones would cry for them.' Speaking about dad Almena, she said: 'He always seemed to be off his head, it seemed like on some substance. 'I never saw first-hand (him taking drugs), but people within the circle of friends would talk about it.' She added: 'He was just arrogant and self-involved.' Mariah, 20, said Almena was a photographer but would also organize huge parties. She visited the family in the Ghost Ship toward the end of 2014 and recalls: 'The thing about the stairs is totally true, they made them from wood pallets. It was a death trap. I felt so unsafe just going up and down the stairs. 'It was scary in there, it was dark, I don't think they even had running water they were doing their laundry on the roof and there was a ladder to the roof. 'There was holes in the wall, parts of brick missing, all this rubble in the back, broken concrete everywhere. It was like a maze, you had to watch where you were stepping. There was stuff everywhere.' Mariah was upset that there were children living there. She said: 'I would hear things about people in the circle, there would be used condoms on the floor. There were nails sticking out of the floor too, it was just not a good place. 'It was a terrifying place for children, it was a terrifying place for me and I was 18 at the time. 'It was so creepy being there, the people there were just really sketchy.' Gutted: Firefighters work at the aftermath of a warehouse fire as smoke continues to rise from the structure in the Fruitvale district of Oakland on Saturday morning Mariah described Almena as 'selfish and negligent' and blames him for the blaze. 'He neglected to take any action as far as the safety of the building while having people in there, that's just total neglect,' she said. 'There wasn't even a sprinkler system in there. How can you have a party in there when it's clearly not safe? Whether it's an accident or not, it's something that could have been prevented. Mariah said she was not surprised by Almena's distasteful Facebook post after the fire. 'It was disgusting, it was a reflection of who he is, it's all about him,' she said. 'It just sounds like something he would say, the things he would say were very off-putting, he would use super vulgar language, he would make me feel uncomfortable.' Almena has not posted another message since his much criticized update after the fire. His whereabouts are currently unknown. DailyMail.com asked Oakland police if they were investigating Almena or the owner Chor Ng. A spokesperson said there was not currently a criminal investigation but Oakland City officials were looking into the legality of the set up. Remarriage has been described as the triumph of hope over experience, and no one is more hopeful than retail tycoon George Davies. The 75-year-old creator of High Street giant Next has quietly married for a fourth time. His new bride is former sales manager Arlene Winter, who is 29 years his junior. Yes, its true, Arlene tells me. The ceremony was held at Cheltenham register office and we had the reception at our home. George is very youthful and I always say to him that he thinks hes Peter Pan. Known as the King of the High Street, Davies created the highly successful George brand for Asda and the Per Una range for Marks & Spencer. George Davies (left), the 75-year-old creator of High Street giant Next has quietly married for a fourth time to former sales manager Arlene Winter (right) , who is 29 years his junior He is said to have been responsible for the sale of more than 54 billion worth of clothing since his time at Next, and his fortune is estimated to be 100 million. The wedding, which was held in the summer, was particularly poignant as Davies had been seriously ill. George proposed to me in February, but started feeling under the weather the following month, discloses Arlene, who lives with him at his farmhouse in Moreton-in-Marsh in the Cotswolds. After a series of tests he was diagnosed with cancer of the colon. He underwent an operation in May and has now been given the all clear, so were very relieved and happy. Back in the day, George Davies with Next model Leane Amiable Arlene was introduced to Davies by a mutual friend three years ago and started working for him in 2014. She runs his property portfolio. Liverpool-born Davies has seven children by his three former wives. Georges children have all been very friendly and welcoming, Arlene says. I dont want to have any children of my own. Davies divorced his third wife, Fiona, 52, the former chief executive of Per Una, in 2008 and gave her an estimated settlement of 34 million. Before meeting Arlene, the vivacious businessman enjoyed several relationships, including one with Sarah Clarke, an instructor in Zumba dancing. Mili's 49,000 charity pay rise Pope Francis is not paid a salary, so I wonder what he thinks of David Miliband, whom he met at the Vatican on Saturday. For I can disclose that the former Foreign Secretary has received a $62,000 (49,000) pay rise from the charity he works for in America. Pope Francis greets the faithful and tourists during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, Vatican, Rome It takes his pay as boss of the International Rescue Committee to $662,536 (520,000). Given the recent fall in the value of the pound, Miliband is paid 113,000 more than last year, when his pay caused an outcry after it was revealed by this column. David Miliband has received a $62,000 (49,000) pay rise from the charity he works for in America Miliband, who lives in New York with his wife and their two adopted children, is believed to rent out the familys 3 million home in Londons chi-chi Primrose Hill for around 81,000 a year. The brother of former Labour leader Ed Miliband often hints he will return to save the Labour Party, but could it afford him? Anyone wondering what happens to a BBC star who steps out of line should speak to its former golden girl Selina Scott. After the newsreader, who launched BBC Breakfast, attacked the Corporation and its former director-general Mark Thompson for keeping more mature women off the screen in favour of younger autocuties, she has become persona non grata. Former golden girl Selina Scott who launched BBC Breakfast, attacked the Corporation and its former director-general Mark Thompson for keeping more mature women off the screen in favour of younger autocuties Bosses were especially stung by her remark that when a womans age exceeds her bra size, shes history. BBC producers have approached her several times since, including a meeting about becoming a contestant on Strictly, but each time the job has mysteriously failed to materialise. A close friend tells me: Selina knew she would be frozen out, but this was a matter of principle to her, no matter what the personal cost. Selina, 65, declines to beg for work, saying: I would rather die on my legs than live on my knees. Hillary Clintons election failure reveals the hazards of women following their husbands into politics, but Nick Cleggs wife seems undeterred. Hillary Clintons election failure reveals the hazards of women following their husbands into politics Highly paid lawyer Miriam Gonzalez Durantez has revealed that she is considering standing for office. Suggesting she has been inspired by Brexit, she tells an interviewer from her native Spain: After what weve seen in recent months, I think we all have to be more political. We cannot remain silent while others destroy our values. Christmas cards can say a lot about the sender. While previous Prime Ministers, including David Cameron, have sent greetings with flattering photographs of them and their families, Theresa May takes a less self-regarding approach. She is keeping up her tradition of asking primary schoolchildren from her Berkshire constituency to illustrate her card, on the theme of Christmas at No 10. She says with some understatement: This year I expect to be sending even more cards than usual, so Ill be selecting three different designs. On November 8, 1965, newspaper columnist and TV game show star Dorothy Kilgallen was found dead of an alleged drug overdose in her Manhattan townhouse. Her death reportedly came just weeks before a trip she had planned to New Orleans to meet with a secret informant relating to an 18-month investigation she was conducting about John F Kennedy's assassination for a tell-all book. A medical examiner at the time ruled her death accidental, caused by a combination of sleeping pills and alcohol, and the case was closed. But lawyer and author Mark Shaw believes Kilgallen was the victim of foul play orchestrated by a mobster who feared her tell-all book would accuse him of being the mastermind behind Kennedy's assassination. Scroll down for video Newspaper columnist and TV game show star Dorothy Kilgallen (pictured left and right) was found dead on November 8, 1965 of an alleged drug overdose in her Manhattan townhouse Kilgallen (pictured far left) is best known for her role as a star panelist on CBS's TV game show What's My Line? Now Shaw, author of The Reporter Who Knew Too Much, is calling for a full investigation into Kilgallen's death, charging that her death was a homicide and was covered up, and that the main suspect still remains at large. 'Murder is murder whether it happened five days or 50 years ago,' Shaw told the New York Post. 'Victims have rights, and Dorothy was denied hers because there was no investigation.' Through the discovery of more than 40 videotaped interviews with some of Kilgallen's closest friends and one of the last people to see her alive - Shaw contends her death is a murder mystery featuring suspects including Frank Sinatra, Mafia Don Carlos Marcello and a 'mystery man' who may have silenced her. In 1963, Kilgallen - best known for her role as a star panelist on CBS's TV game show What's My Line? - was devastated by Kennedy's November 22 assassination, according to Shaw. Kennedy, who Shaw had considered a friend and even visited in the White House, was fatally shot by Lee Harvey Oswald as the then-U.S. president traveled through Dallas in a motorcade. After his death, Kilgallen launched her investigation and dismissed the notion that Oswald acted alone, gathering evidence, including notes and interviews. But after her death, the file of evidence was never found, with Shaw telling the Post that whoever silenced Kilgallen 'took that file and burned it.' Author Mark Shaw believes Kilgallen was the victim of foul play orchestrated by a mobster who feared her tell-all book would accuse him of orchestrating the assassinations of John F Kennedy (left) and Lee Harvey Oswald (right) Bystanders look on as Jacqueline Kennedy reaches over to help her husband and then-president who lies on the rear of a car after being struck by an assassin's bullet as his motorcade traveled through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas in November 1963 Kilgallen died days before a trip to New Orleans where she was going to investigate Carlos Marcello (pictured) - who she had suspected of masterminding Kennedy's assassination According to Shaw, Kilgallen was under surveillance at the time of her death due to her writings about Fidel Castro as well as Kennedy's assassination. One of her hairdressers and close friend Charles Simpson said that Kilgallen had told him: 'If the wrong people knew what I know [about the JFK assassination], it would cost me my life.' Kilgallen had reportedly also found an enemy with then-FBI Director J Edgar Hoover due to her Voice of Broadway columns for the New York Journal-America, criticizing Hoover and his theory that Oswald acted alone. This caused Hoover to have a motive to silence Kilgallen, according to Shaw. Kilgallen later managed to be the only reporter to interview Jack Ruby, the Dallas bar owner who fatally shot Oswald at Dallas police headquarters. She later exposed Ruby's testimony to the Warren Commission before its official release, angering government officials. As she researched Kennedy's assassination, intended for a tell-all book for Random House, she set up a second trip to New Orleans. She was going to investigate Marcello - who she had suspected was the mastermind behind Kennedy's assassination. Prior to her trip, she told a friend she was going to meet a source who she did not know, but said they were going to give her information about the case. Kilgallen pictured center. In a letter set to be delivered to Manhattan District Attorneys Office on Monday, Shaw writes that with the new evidence, 'investigating Kilgallens death is judicially responsible' She also told her lawyer Mort Farber she was going to 'break the real story and have the biggest scoop of the century.' However her tell-all book was never published after she was found dead ust days before the intended trip. 'The killers won, because she was eliminated and erased from any historical record about the JFK assassination,' Shaw told the Post. When Kilgallen was found dead inside her Manhattan apartment, she was sitting up in a bed, dressed in only a blue bathrobe, and still had a floral hair accessory in her hair that she had worn the night before when she appeared on the TV game show. An empty sleeping-pill bottle and a drinking glass were found on the nightstand, but Shaw contends they were part of a 'staged' death scene. One of her hairdressers, Marc Sinclaire, noted that prior to her death Kilgallen had bought a gun and changed her will, adding she was 'scared for her life and family.' He also said Kilgallen's body was found in a bedroom she never slept in and that she was wearing bed clothes she never wore to bed. However, police at the time reportedly found nothing suspicious about the death, ruling out a suicide and homicide. Mark Shaw, is calling for a full investigation into Kilgallen's death An autopsy done at the time reportedly cited the cause of death as 'acute ethanol and barbiturate intoxication, circumstances undetermined.' Joe Tonahill, who was Jack Ruby's co-counsel, said Kilgallen did not show any signs of being an alcoholic or using drugs prior to her death. Never-before-released lab results from Killgallen's autopsy obtained by Shaw have revealed the presence of two other drugs in her system, tuinal and nembutal. Shaw said three years after Kilgallen's death, two toxicologists found the extra drugs in lab tests but did not alert authorities. Tests also revealed the glass found on the nightstand contained a powder residue, suggesting someone opened capsules and poured drugs into her drink, Shaw said. Shaw also discovered her autopsy was conducted in Brooklyn Medical Examiner's and not the Manhattan office even though she died in Manhattan. Dr Steven Goldner, who worked in the Brooklyn office, said that office was controlled by the mob and they 'deliberately sent her body to Brooklyn as part of the cover up,' according to the Post. The last person to see Kilgallen alive, Katherine Stone, said she saw the journalist with a 'mystery man' talking 'serious business' at the Regency Hotel in New York City. The mystery man was identified by Shaw as Ron Pataky, who was 12 years younger than her, who he believes Kilgallen had an affair with. Kilgallen was married to Richard Kollmar, who she went on to have children with. Shaw believes Pataky and Kilgallen's relationship fell apart when she started suspecting he was leaking her evidence about the assassination to her targets. The Reporter Who Knew Too Much (cover of the book shown above) is out on December 6 Shaw contends that two poems written by Pataky 40 years after Kilgallen died suggest his involvement with the lines, 'Somebody who's dead could tell no tales,' and 'Make one of 'em poison' in a line about a bartender making drinks. Pataky told Shaw last week that he 'loved Dorothy dearly' and denied an affair or that he was at the Regency Hotel the night before her death, according to the Post. However, he did admit a close friendship with Kilgallen. Through his findings, Shaw is hoping officials will fully investigate the Kilgallen case. In a letter set to be delivered to Manhattan District Attorneys Office on Monday, Shaw writes that with the new evidence, 'investigating Kilgallens death is judicially responsible.' 'Even though the events surrounding her death are now five decades old, I do not believe your offices re-opening the investigation will result in futile posturing,' he wrote. 'There are strong leads based on credible witnesses and a primary suspect is indeed still alive.' Club-goers could be allowed to check the quality of illegal drugs for the first time in a trial that hopes to cut deaths among users. The initiative which police are considering backing follows the deaths of 57 people after taking class-A drug ecstasy in England and Wales last year. Those using the service would remain anonymous and not risk arrest. They would also have the chance to speak to an NHS-trained drugs worker. The initiative which police are considering backing follows the deaths of 57 people after taking class-A drug ecstasy in England and Wales last year (file photo) Not-for-profit organisation The Loop hopes to operate the scheme in Preston on Friday and Saturday evenings. Users would be warned about adulterated or highly potent drugs which could kill them or make them ill. But the experiment has been criticised amid fears it could normalise illegal drug use. The Loop co-director Professor Fiona Measham likened the scheme to needle exchanges for heroin addicts. Operating from a converted caravan, it would use laser equipment to diagnose the content of any substances within minutes. Professor Measham said evidence collected from the small-scale trial will be used to assess whether it can reduce drug-related harm. She added: The 57 deaths last year from ecstasy represent a five times increase over the last five years and the figure is only one below the record of 58 deaths in 2005. Professor Measham, a professor of criminology at Durham University, said the purity of ecstasy pills and chancers who dupe clubbers with fake drugs were the main concerns. She said many ecstasy pills now contain very high levels of main ingredient MDMA which is particularly dangerous for young womens bodies. A date has yet to be set for the Preston scheme but The Loop plans to offer further drug testing in Manchester and at ten music festivals next year. It is also working with Fabric nightclub in London, which has just had its licence restored, after the deaths of six clubbers from ecstasy in five years. Professor Neil McKeganey, of the Centre for Substance Use Research, said he was staggered that the plan was being considered. The police are advocating a view which one would not unfairly describe as facilitating drug use, he told the Sunday Times. By implication the green light has been given by the authorities to consumption. Club-goers could be allowed to check the quality of illegal drugs for the first time in a trial that hopes to cut deaths among users (file photo) Professor Measham said that during small-scale trials at two festivals, about a fifth of the 300 people who had drugs tested decided not to take them. She said countries which offer testing, such as Switzerland, have had no party drug deaths for seven years. She said of the trial: Its a pragmatic response to the fact that we have an illegal market and criminal organisations sell a whole range of rubbish to people, some of which is risky, some of which is deadly. Simon Bray, the National Police Chiefs Council spokesman on drugs, was broadly supportive. He said: Some form of testing may be a really useful and practical way forward. A well-known Dallas lawyer died on Sunday, just two days after his daughter's funeral. Personal injury lawyer, Brian Loncar, 56, was found dead near his law firm in Dallas, the New York Daily News reported. A Dallas County Medical Examiner's office spokesman told the newspaper that Loncar's cause of death will be released later this week. Personal injury lawyer, Brian Loncar, 56, who was known as The Strong Arm in TV commercials that promoted his law firm, died on Sunday. His death comes just two days after his daughter, Grace's funeral Authorities said he was found near his law firm Loncar & Associates (pictured). A spokesman for the medical examiner's office was unable to confirm whether or not it was a possible suicide of homicide The spokesman was unable to confirm whether or not it was a possible suicide or homicide. Police said Sunday that Loncar, who was known as The Strong Arm in TV commercials that promoted his law firm, was taken to Baylor University Medical Center overnight. His stepson, David Long, told Dallas Morning News that a team at Baylor had notified the family that Loncar's death was probably caused by a heart attack, but the medical examiner's office has not confirmed that. Police investigated a Rolls Royce Wraith parked outside his firm, according to the newspaper. Loncar's youngest daughter, Grace, 16, committed suicide on November 26 after battling depression. Her funeral was held on December 2, according to her obituary. Loncar's youngest daughter, Grace (pictured), 16, committed suicide on November 26 after battling depression. Her funeral was held on December 2, according to her obituary Grace's (left) obituary said that she was diagnosed with depression when she was just 11 years old. Brian Loncar (right) leaves behind his wife, Sue and five children 'From the time she was diagnosed at age 11, until her death, she struggled. She would tell her family that she could never feel anything,' the obituary read. 'She couldn't feel all the love from everyone around her.' The family released a statement on Sunday to the Dallas News that said: 'Our family is filled with enormous sadness and profound grief. 'Right now, we are hurting and struggling to understand. Today, we are embracing each other; we know this pain and heartache will be with us forever.' Loncar & Associates was founded in 1988 and operates 11 firms across Texas. A three-year-old boy who sustained horrific injuries after he was allegedly beaten by his mother's boyfriend died after he was taken off life support, family members said. Jaden Jordan, of Brooklyn, New York, was hospitalized on Monday with a fractured skull, a lacerated liver, and injury to the brain 'consistent with suffocation, strangulation and shaking', prosecutors said. Salvatore Luchesse told police that he was giving the boy a shower when the toddler fell and hit his head, but he was later arrested and charged with four counts of assault and endangering the welfare of a child, the New York Post reported. Jaden Jordan (left), of Brooklyn, New York, was taken off life support on Saturday after he was allegedly beaten by his mother's boyfriend, Salvatore Luchesse (right) The toddler (left) was hospitalized on Monday with a fractured skull, a lacerated liver, and injury to the brain 'consistent with suffocation, strangulation and shaking', prosecutors said Lucchesse was babysitting the toddler when police received a 911 call around 4.30pm on Monday. Jordan was found unconscious and covered in feces before he was rushed to the Coney Island Hospital in critical condition. Lucchesse initially said he was giving the three-year-old a shower after the toddler soiled his pants. The 24-year-old, who has been arrested for domestic abuse numerous times, claimed the boy fell over and hit his head. But he was later arrested and charged with four counts of assault and endangering the welfare of a child. It remains unclear whether the charges will be upgraded after Jordan's death. Jordan showed no signs of brain activity on Tuesday, and he was transferred to the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan. The toddler was taken off life support on Saturday, his biological father Guseyn Aliyev told the New York Post. He said: 'I was crying. The whole day I was there with him. I was rubbing his head. I told him, "I will see you on the other side."' Jordan showed no signs of brain activity on Tuesday, and he was transferred to the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan (pictured) Aliyev, who was not on speaking terms with the boy's mother Raven Haynes, told ABC he thought his son was 'in good hands'. The 33-year-old also slammed the Administration for Children's Services, since they received an anonymous tip that a child was being abused and kept in a dog crate. But the tipster had given authorities the wrong address, and the ACS was unable to track down Jordan. The agency is now under investigation, the Post reported. Aliyev told ABC: 'The whole thing would have been avoided if they had done their job...If somebody calls you, you can't just, "oh, wrong house," and forget about it.' The boy was forced to stay inside a dog cage with a pit bull, the New York Daily News reported. Luchesse has a history of domestic abuse allegations. He was accused of choking his five-year-old nephew in 2001, but he was not charged after doctors didn't find any evidence, the Daily News reported. Woolworths spokesperson said they are 'reaching out to the customer' Woolworths has since apologised to Ms Iemma and her Ms Iemma said she was 'appalled' and 'disgusted' by the customer service She claims her sister was then made to feel Woolworths have apologised for the 'unacceptable behaviour' of two of their employees after they allegedly told off a pregnant mother for not controlling her kids. Nancy Iemma, 30, was at the Moonee Ponds store in Melbourne shopping with her pregnant sister and her young nieces - aged three and one - when the kids started to have fun throwing items in her trolley or on the ground. In a post to Facebook, Ms Iemma said she was frantically trying to clean up after the kids, with the help of her sister, but the energetic kids were just being cheeky. In a post to Facebook, Ms Iemma (pictured) said she was frantically trying to clean up after the kids, with the help of her pergnant sister, but the energetic kids were just being cheeky Woolworths have 'apologised' for their staffs 'unacceptable behaviour' after an employee was claimed to have lectured a pregnant mother over her 'cheeky' kids (Stock Image) 'We both were aware and trying to pick up after them,' she wrote in a post on Woolworths' Facebook page. 'It was difficult as they were also running around being cheeky, as I said kids usually are, it's their nature.' After Ms Iemma went to get Milk, she returned to her pregnant sister in shock. Her heavily pregnant sister was allegedly confronted by an employee who abruptly told her to clean up after the kids. Ms Iemma alleged her sister was told by a staff member, 'Your kids are making so much mess and throwing things everywhere! You should clean up after them!'. Claiming the staff member was 'out of line' Ms Iemma said another employee then backed up the first one and kept 'butting in' when they started speaking to the manager. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Nancy Iemma for a comment In disbelief at how the situation had unraveled, Ms Iemma said her sister was 'in complete shock'. Ms Iemma said she was 'appalled' at the customer service and was surprised since they were long term shoppers at Woolworths. 'I said very firmly 'We have been shopping at Woolworths for a very long time, we are just doing our Sunday night shopping, how dare your employee make us feel so uncomfortable in the store, kids are kids, they are going to be cheeky.' A Woolworths spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia they were reaching out to the customer. 'Woolworths apologises for the unacceptable behaviour the customer received in our store.' 'We expect our staff members to provide the best experience for our customers by helping out and assisting with their grocery shop in any way possible. However, on some occasions we may not reach the high standards we set. 'We are currently reaching out to the affected customer to discuss her poor treatment and any requests she might have.' The post has since been deleted. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Nancy Iemma for a comment. A Woolworths spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia they were reaching out to the customer and had apologised (Stock Image) Profits from illegal tobacco smuggling may be being used to fund Islamic extremism in Austraslia, an official has warned. Organised crime syndicates are taking advantage of the huge cash flow from tobacco smuggling to fund extremist activities, Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Wayne Buchhorn told ABC's 7.30 program. Several members of an infamous Middle Eastern syndicate, which operates in Arncliffe, Sydney, were arrested and charged for drug and tobacco smuggling. Scroll down for video The Australian Border Force raid a Melbourne home looking for illegally smuggled tobacco Buchhorn said they have evidence of extremist activities being funded by the tobacco trade, after police intelligence linked the infamous gang to fundraising for a Lebanese charity associated with extremist group Hezbollah. The notorious group is also believed to be responsible for the brutal assault of a British-American tobacco executive outside his Sydney home in May. Middle Eastern crime gangs operating in Australia are a significant threat due to their connections in the Middle East, Buchhorn told ABC 7.30. His investigations reveal crime syndicates have obtained Federal Government licences to operate freight depots or customs broking agencies. These are used to fund contraband importations and other serious organised crime activities. 'I would consider it [a national security threat] because [of] the potential for organised crime groups to attack the institutions of state, whether through corruption or through their infiltration of legitimate supply chains,' Mr Buchhorn told ABC 7.30. ABF find what they are looking for - boxes of illegally imported tobacco and cigarettes ABF arrested two men for attempting to illegally import more than 17,000 undeclared cigarettes each through Melbourne Airport in November But the Australian Border Force has experienced major setbacks in its investigations. Tracking devices, conducting raids and arresting suspects without the support of the Federal Police are not within the scope of their powers. While the illegal tobacco industry, estimated to be worth billions of dollars, is considered less serious than terrorism or drug-related offences, there is a possibility that these types of crimes could overlap. Black-market cigarettes are easily purchased in Australia and many are imported from China and the Middle East. The US State Department and the United Nations also believe the global trade poses a threat to national security. The Australian Border Force prepare for an early morning raid in Melbourne at 6.30am The older brother of a toddler that went missing almost 50 years ago said his heart still aches as he broke down in front of media. Police have announced a search for a new suspect of over three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer's abduction in 1970 from a Wollongong beach in New South Wales. No trace of her has ever been found despite an extensive search, but at the time it was reported a man was seen carrying a blonde girl wrapped in a towel as he ran towards the car park. Scroll down for video Ricki, Cheryl's older brother, said he has 'never forgiven' himself for his sister's abduction A breakthrough in the case came two weeks ago during a re-enactment of the incident, where several witnesses corroborated the presence of a teenage boy, aged between 17 and 18 At the time it was reported a man was seen carrying a blonde girl wrapped in a towel as he ran towards the car park New information has led to the cold case being re investigated 46 years after the abduction The young girl (right) is believed to have been snatched from outside a shower block A breakthrough in the case came two weeks ago during a re-enactment of the incident, where several witnesses corroborated the presence of a teenage boy, aged between 17 and 18. But the three brother's of Cheryl - Ricki, Stephen and Paul - never gave up hope in finding their sister. 'Heartache decisions I made on the day were wrong. I shouldn't have left,' Ricki said standing in front of his brothers at a press conference on Monday at Fairy Meadow Beach, where Cheryl was last seen. 'What do you say? What do you do? It's affected me all my life.' Police said the re-enactment had been staged as a matter of course five years after Cheryl was declared dead but missing by the coroner An unsolved homicide team are focusing on a new lead of a young male at the scene Police said the re-enactment had been staged as a matter of course five years after Cheryl was declared dead but missing by the coroner 'Come forward please, let us know. We really want to know,' Stephen said. Ricki said he has 'never forgiven' himself for his sister's abduction. 'Everyone says it wasn't my fault but come and stand where I'm standing, see what it feels like,' he told reporters. 'Just let us know where she is, give us something so we can mourn. It's cost me and my family everything.' Stephen Grimmer said his mother Carol, on her death bed, wanted her three sons to find out what happened to their sister, according to The Daily Telegraph. 'Mum was hanging on and when I told her we would continue to find out the truth about what happened to Cheryl she relaxed,' he told the publication. 'A few minuted later she passed away'. Police said the re-enactment had been staged as a matter of course five years after Cheryl was declared dead but missing by the coroner. The shocking murder of three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer (pictured with her father, John) could finally be solved almost 47 years after detectives found a new lead in old case files Cheryl's family were pictured eating a meal on the night of her disappearance '(Our view) has been strengthened because of the witnesses returning here to the scene and they've mentioned this person a number of times,' Detective Inspector Brad Ainsworth told reporters. He said detectives from Wollongong are dedicated to the case and have gone through hundreds and hundreds of statements, running sheets and interviews. 'You've got to remember this all took place in 1970 under the old format, the old style of investigation recording,' detective inspector said. So all of that's been reviewed, it's been transcribed and transposed put onto our current investigation computers and our systems, so that's how it's come about.' Police said the suspect was Caucasian, about 152cm with brown hair, blue eyes and fair complexion and, if alive, he would be in his early 60s. Cheryl's brothers say they've never stopped thinking about 'the tiny, bubbly little thing'. 'I ride past here, I walk past here and I always look, it's always on your mind,' Stephen said. Cheryl's parents John and Carole Grimmer died never knowing what happened to their little girl. This ransom note for $10,000 was sent to Cheryl's parents after three days but no one showed up to collect the money where police dressed as council workers lay in wait 'Mum and dad are never going to know. Please get it off your mind and let us know.' The shocking murder of a three-year-old girl could finally be solved almost 47 years after detectives found a new lead in old case files. Cheryl Grimmer disappeared from outside a beach shower block near Wollongong on January 12, 1970, and despite a massive search no sign of her was ever found. Police now believe the little girl was abducted by a teenage boy, who would now be in his early 60s, seen running from the area towards bushland around the time she was last seen. Police believe the man is still alive. The suspect was missed on the day and though they would not reveal many details, investigators are 'confident [they] are on the right track'. 'We are calling this a breakthrough in the investigation. It's something that was missed over the years,' Detective Sergeant Damian Loone told the Daily Telegraph. The vital clue was found by reviewing many boxes of old case files looking for leads the original investigation missed or didn't follow up on. Their renewed interest followed a re-enactment of the Grimmer family's day at the beach two weeks ago in a bid to convince the killer to turn themselves in. 'It's time to come clean and absolve yourself and tell us what happened on that day and, more importantly, for the family. If not for yourself, do it for them,' Sergeant Loone said. The new suspect was described at the time as caucasian, aged between 16 and 17, about 152cm tall with a medium build, brown hair, blue eyes and fair complexion. Cheryl disappeared from outside this beach shower block near Wollongong on January 12, 1970, and despite a massive search no sign of her was ever found Cheryl was at the beach with her mother Carole and brothers Ricki, eight, Stephen, six, and Paul, five, when the four children were sent to the showers at about 1.30pm. A few minutes later Ricki ran to his mother and said Cheryl wouldn't come out of the shower block, but by the time they got there she was gone and never seen again. 'She was gone in just a minute or two. It's something I still live with every day,' Ricki, 54, said last week. There were myriad conflicting reports of who took her and subsequent sighting and theories, none of which panned out. Some said a man in an orange swimsuit lifted a girl to drink at a fountain before running off with her, another witness saw her being driven off in a white car. A ransom note for $10,000 was sent to Cheryl's parents after three days but no one showed up to collect the money where police dressed as council workers lay in wait. The couple John and Carole lost their youngest child less than a year after coming to Australia from England and were living in a hotel near the beach. President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday defiantly rejected criticism he received for accepting a congratulatory phone call from the president of Taiwan, a move which angered China in the process as it broke with decades of protocol. Trump used his favorite medium, Twitter, to insist that he didn't need China's permission to engage the leader of Taiwan, an island which Beijing views as a breakaway province. The US has not formally recognized Taiwan as an independent state since it re-established diplomatic ties with the communist mainland over 40 years ago. 'Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!' Trump tweeted on Sunday. See below for video President-elect Donald Trump (left) accepted a congratulatory phone call from the Taiwanese leader, Tsai Ing-Wen (right), on Friday, sparking controversy over a breach of protocol The Taiwanese leader, Tsai Ing-Wen, called Trump Friday to congratulate him on the election in a call set up by an American third party. Taiwan's official Central News Agency, citing anonymous sources on Saturday, said that Edwin Feulner, founder of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, was a 'crucial figure' in setting up communication channels between the sides. Trump turned heads when he accepted the call from Tsai, whom he referred to on Twitter as the 'President of Taiwan,' hinting to the world that he may upend the 37-year-old policy in which the United States recognizes Beijing as the seat of Chinese power, while having no official diplomatic relations with the island of Taiwan. Both Taiwan and Beijing have claims on the same territory so foreign countries, like the United States, cannot recognize both. Trump defended himself on Twitter late Sunday by denouncing Chinese policies on trade and its military actions in the South China Sea 'Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency, tax our products or build a massive military complex in the South China Sea? I don't think so!' the president-elect tweeted The United States recognizes Beijing, but sells arms to Taiwan, in an effort to protect a fellow democracy. While Trump remained defiant, top members of his inner circle were interviewed on television, defending their boss and insisting that there was no harm intended in taking the call. Vice President-elect Mike Pence and top Trump aide Kellyanne Conway were on message Sunday morning when talking about the controversial call. 'Well, I think the conversation that happened this week with the president in Taiwan was a courtesy call,' the vice president-elect said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' Vice President-elect Mike Pence (left) and Donald Trump's campaign manger Kellyanne Conway (right) took to the Sunday shows to defend Trump's conversation Friday with the president of Taiwan 'It was just a phone call at this point,' Conway echoed during an interview with Chris Wallace on 'Fox News Sunday.' 'She reached out to the president-elect and he took the call from the democratically-elected leader of Taiwan and it's one of more than 50 telephone calls that the president-elect has taken from and made to world leaders in the midst of a historic pace in cabinet appointments and senior appointments, building a legislative agenda, even traveling the country and saving a thousand jobs in the state of Indiana,' Pence said. Conway made the same point. 'He accepted a congratulatory call from the president of Taiwan, that marks probably the 40th or 50th world leader that has reached out to the president-elect or the vice president-elect Mike Pence since they won the election last month,' she said. Vice President-elect Mike Pence (left) told Chuck Todd (right) not to expect Donald Trump to calm the waters this week by reaching out to the Chinese 'Meet the Press' host Chuck Todd asked Pence if accepting the call was meant to be an intentional message to the Chinese, who have already complained about the conversation between the Taiwanese leader and the president-elect. 'No. Chuck, this was a courtesy call of the democratically-elected president of Taiwan. And a call to congratulate the president-elect,' Pence said. Trying to pin Pence down, Todd mentioned how upset the Chinese were over this call and asked him what his advice would be to his counterparts in China. 'I think I would just say to our counterparts in China that this was a moment of courtesy,' Pence said. 'The president-elect talked to President Xi two weeks ago in the same manner that was not a discussion about policy,' Pence continued. 'And we're going to be preparing after January 20th to advance now what will be President Trump's agenda on the world stage and we'll deal with policy at that time,' the vice president-elect added. Pence also said he didn't expect Trump to call the Chinese this week to calm the waters. Conway suggested the real policy talk should be left until after inauguration as well. Advertisement The man who heroically punched a kangaroo to save his pet dog is a zookeeper and 'family man' who was out on a special hunt with a dying friend. Greig Tonkins, 34, found himself at the centre of international attention on the weekend after a video of him fighting a marsupial to save his beloved dog 'Max' went viral. Mr Tonkins, who Daily Mail Australia can reveal is an elephant keeper at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, New South Wales, was out hunting wild pigs with a group of friends in June when his dog was attacked by the roo, however video of the incident only went viral recently after it was posted to Facebook. An elephant keeper standing more than 200 centimetres tall, Mr Tonkins stood toe to toe with the huge marsupial in the footage viewed by millions. Scroll down for video Greig Tonkins (circled, middle) has been revealed as the man who punched a kangaroo while on a hunting trip in rural New South Wales in an effort to save his pet dog from its attack Mr Tonkins collected the animal with a right-hand punch in an effort to redirect it away from his dogs and the truck full of hunters Mr Tonkins (pictured far right) is a committee member of the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association, and in October his dog 'Max' won a high jumping competition at the organisations AGM The father-of-two has gone to ground since the video went viral, overwhelmed by the attention his action has received. A spokesperson for the zoo where Mr Tonkins works told Daily Mail Australia they were considering 'appropriate action' against him. 'Taronga Western Plains Zoo can confirm that Greig Tonkins is an employee at Taronga Western Plains Zoo,' the spokesperson said. 'Good animal welfare and the protection of Australian wildlife are of the utmost importance to Taronga. 'We are working with Mr Tonkins to understand the exact circumstances of the event and will consider any appropriate action.' He was part of a large group of men who went on the hunting trip, in an effort to help their sick friend Kailem Barwick catch a 'tonner' - a wild bore that weighs more than 100 kilograms. A videographer joined the group to record their special trip and ended up recording the moment that has now gone viral. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, one of the men on the trip backed Mr Tonkins' actions, saying the punch was only thrown to protect the dog and prevent the roo attacking anyone else. 'The dog wanted no part of it, all it was trying to do was escape from the roo and that's why he stepped in,' the man said. Mr Tonkins ran from the truck to save his dog 'Max', which was being held in the firm clinches of the large kangaroo After the dog managed to escape the roo's clinches, the man and marsupial stood toe to toe. Mr Tonkins stands over 200cm tall, showing the enormous size of the roo 'There's people on social media saying, "I know men like that, I bet they killed it afterwards", but that's just ridiculous. 'He only threw the punch to redirect the animal and afterwards there were a few nervous and relieved laughs, and then we just went on with getting Kailem a tonner.' The trip ultimately proved successful, with the group ensuring the young man managed to kill his 'tonner'. Sadly Kailem passed away last week after a long battle, with his funeral to be be held this Thursday. The fellow hunter said he was dumbfounded by the reaction in Australia and left wondering why some were happy for the dog to be injured but not the kangaroo. 'The video went viral in America and there was not one bad comment, and then it goes crazy in Australia and there's a whole bunch of outrage,' he said. After landing the punch on its face the stunned kangaroo threw its arms into the air and stood shocked for a few seconds 'It made me sick to be part of this country when people were wishing this family man and dog died, when the kangaroo wasn't even hurt.' Daily Mail Australia can also reveal Mr Tonkins is a committee member of the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association. In October, 'Max' - the same specially trained dog that was attacked by the roo - won a high jumping competition at the organisation's AGM, with the performance captured on video. Millions of people across the world have viewed the video since it was posted to Facebook. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Tonkins for comment. 'Keep Australia White': Hundreds of racist posters attributed to an online Neo-Nazi group have been found stuck to walls at the University of Melbourne Vile posters bearing the racist slurs 'Keep Australia White' and 'Stop the Hordes' have been plastered across a university campus over the weekend. The posters - which called for'sh**skins', 'ni***s' and 'chi**s' to get out of Australia - were found fixed to walls in the University of Melbourne on Saturday morning. The confronting illustrations - which were adorned with swastikas - were attributed to a deliberately provocative online Neo-Nazi group named 'Antipodean Resistance'. The same group was responsible for a set of similar posters calling for transgender and gay people to be gunned down at Swinburne University on October 11 - the day before an annual LGBTI pride day event. A spokesperson for the University of Melbourne told Daily Mail Australia the posters were found stuck to the walls of the Old Engineering, Microbiology and John Medley buildings during routine security patrols. The same group was responsible for posting sickening illustrations calling for transgender and gay people to be gunned down at a different Melbourne university in October The university said all of the posters would be removed on Monday 'The University removed the posters that it could at the time, and painted over those that could not be immediately removed,' the spokesperson said in a statement. 'All the posters will be fully removed by COB today.' 'The University is committed to a safe, inclusive and respectful environment for its diverse community.' 'Activities of hatred and intolerance from any group against another are not tolerated, and the University condemns the sentiments in these posters.' The incident has been reported to Victoria Police. 'White pride world wide': The group's posters are adorned with swastikas and Neo-Nazi propaganda Two months ago the group gloated online after leaving behind 20 signs depicting emaciated men wearing 'Gay and Proud' shirts being shot in the head. 'You finally have literal Nazis that you can report honestly on ... but you dont do it because honesty and integrity is simply beyond you,' an anonymous post on the group's website read. 'The postering had nothing to do with the plebiscite, it wasnt even something we considered. ' 'We put up the posters because of the march that was taking place the next day. And because we hate f***ots.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Antipodean Resistance for comment. A woman has called for speed limits of 20km/h to be imposed on cyclists using shared paths after a 'Lycra-clad bike rider' struck and killed her beloved pet. Ravinder Singh was walking her 11-year-old pomeranian Milo through an underpass in Tuggeranong, in the ACT, with a friend and a two-year-old girl when a cyclist rode through 'like a bullet' and ran over the leashed dog last Sunday evening. Ms Singh scooped Milo up into her arms and rushed him to a vet where she discovered he had a collapsed lung, internal injures and several broken ribs. The kind-natured dog succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday, prompting Ms Singh to demand a slower speed limit be enforced on the path which is often used by young families and the elderly. Milo died afer sustaining internal injuries, several broken bones and a collapsed lung 'It has been a very hard time for us but I want to bring attention to the speed the cyclists are riding at it was my puppy this time but it could be a kid next time,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Ms Singh said she believes the rider was travelling at speeds of up to 40 kilometres around a bend. 'It was a narrow passing and he just came through like a bullet from the back. 'From the minute he yelled out 'bike' it took him maybe two seconds to go past me. 'There was no time to do anything and he just ran right over my puppy - we were horrified.' Ms Singh said the 'sweet' dog would have turned 12 on the 21st of December, with the whole family already feeling the gaping hole he has left in their lives. Ravinder Singh was devastated by the death and has demanded speed limits be imposed She recalled her children dragging their mattresses out to sleep by his side after he was de-sexed as a puppy and the days he would snuggle up to her when he sense something was wrong. 'He was a real companion to me and my husband. He was our puppy, our kid. 'We understand dogs have small life spans but when and individual goes naturally it is different. 'When they go like this it ruins you I am really hurting inside,' she added. Ms Singh said she has not been able to sleep since the shocking incident and often lays awake with the horrific scenes replaying over and over again in her head. 'It is so tragic because it could have been avoided all the man had to do was slow down to see what was in front of him,' the mother-of-three said. 'When they go like this it ruins you I am really hurting inside,' Ms Singh said of Milo's death 'We have been keeping an eye out for the cyclist because I want to stop him and hold him accountable for what he did to my puppy and my family. 'I want him to take ownership of the emotional damage he has done.' Ms Singh said she and her friend were 'quite traumatised' and were thankful the toddler present was too young to understand what had happened. Ms Singh said she does not want Milo's death to be in vein and would like either the speed limit reduced or a second path to be put in to separate pedestrians from cyclists. 'I need to do something to give Milo's death some sort of meaning. Even if two people are more aware after this we could save another pet, or even a little kid.' Ms Singh said a limit of 20 kilometres an hour should be imposed where pedestrians and cyclists share the path. 'I don't feel safe when walking on the path anymore. We keep looking over our shoulder because we are worried about speeding cyclists,' Ms Singh said (stock image) She said there had been a number of incidents before Milo's death where she had felt unsafe on the path. 'I don't feel safe when walking on the path anymore. We keep looking over our shoulder because we are worried about speeding cyclists. 'I need to do something to give Milo's death some sort of meaning. Even if two people are more aware after this we could save another pet, or even a little kid.' 'There has been three incident where these lycra clad bikers almost hit me and also my friend. 'I have mentioned it to my neighbours and everybody has complained about the cyclists going past at those speeds. She said riders will often give pedestrians 'dirty looks' if they are taking up some of the shared path. 'They give you a look like 'how dare you be on this path',' she said. Ms Singh acknowledged the majority of riders using the path take it slowly around bends and where visibility is restricted. But she said there is a portion who 'race' around the lake as if it were a time trial in the Olympics. Ms Singh acknowledged the majority of riders using the path take it slowly around bends but said there is a portion who 'race' around the lake as if it were a time trial in the Olympics Ms Singh said she could not believe the speed limit was 50km/h on some parts of the shared path while cars driving in school zones are restricted to 40km/h. 'We don't want to see a kid getting hurt next time. It is an accident waiting to happen,' she told Daily Mail Australia. A spokesperson from the Justice and Community Safety Directorate (JCSD) said a default speed limit of 50km/h applies unless there is signage to indicate otherwise and that the government had no plans to lower the limit for shared paths. 'While the speed limit on paths is generally the 50km/h urban default, most cyclists would struggle to maintain an average speed above 20-25km/h which is generally considered to be a safe speed in shared transport environments. 'However, cyclists are encouraged to look out for pedestrians and slow down when overtaking especially in areas where there are kids and animals.' The Justice and Community Safety Directorate said all cyclists should ensure 'vulnerable people such as kids and older pedestrians' are not put at risk if they ride at speed (stock image) They said cyclists should sound their bell or give a verbal warning when approaching a cyclist and remain on the left unless it is 'impractical to do so'. 'It is important for both pedestrians and cyclists to share the pathway to ensure the safety of each other.' A Kiwi tourist claims she was detained in Kazakhstan for almost two days after immigration officials refused to believe New Zealand was a country. Chloe Phillips-Harris, 28, arrived in Kazakhstan in May for what was meant to be an exciting adventure exploring the mountainous country and working on farms. But when her flight touched down at Almaty Airport, immigration officers refused to let her into the country - insisting New Zealand was actually a state of Australia. Kiwi tourist Chloe Phillips-Harris, 28, claims she was detained in Kazakhstan for almost two days after immigration officials refused to believe New Zealand was a country The self-described 'intrepid adventurer' was meant to be exploring the mountainous country (Lake Almaty pictured, near national airport) and working on farms 'I got to an immigration booth and they asked me for an Australian passport, and told me I couldn't come in without an Australian passport,' she told the NZ Herald. 'They said New Zealand's clearly a part of Australia.' The self-described 'intrepid adventurer' was barred from entering the country and ushered onto a plane flying to China, told she would need to leave immediately. Making some phone calls to well-placed contacts she managed to make her way off the China-bound flight, but was whisked away into a tiny interrogation room. To make matters worse, the small room had an old world atlas stuck on the wall - but New Zealand was excluded from it - making it even tougher for her to argue her case. Immigration officials reportedly told her that New Zealand was 'clearly' a part of Australia, and refused to let her in as she did not have an Australian passport She was ushered onto a China-bound plane out of the country, but made her way off it - only to be whisked away into an interrogation room by policemen (stock image) and airport officials Ms Phillips-Harris said by this stage plain-clothes policemen, immigration police and airport officials were involved, meaning it was far too late to bribe her way out of it. Still unconvinced with her argument that New Zealand was a separate country from Australia, she was locked in a guarded room for the next day and a half. The empty room had one small bed and no food or water - apart from a sip of soft drink given to her by friendly guards she suspected felt sorry for her. Luckily, her contacts pulled through the next day to provide her with a new visa and an American passport, and after letting go of some cash she was free to leave. 'The people I knew in Kazakhstan got me a new type of visa and paid the right people and got me out, that's probably the easiest explanation,' she told the NZ Herald. Despite the horror chain of events, Ms Phillips-Harris decided to stay for the full six months to explore the country before heading back to her hometown in New Zealand. She described the situation as 'unfortunate' and stressed that Kazakhstan was a 'beautiful country to be in' with 'a lot of good people.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Phillips-Harris for comment. Immigration officials remained unconvinced that New Zealand was a country and kept her in a guarded room overnight Officer Aml Elsokary and her teenage son were allegedly harassed on Saturday night in Bay Ridge by man because they are Muslim A Muslim police officer says she and her son were threatened by a passerby who told her and her 16-year-old son to 'go back to your country'. Officer Aml Elsokary was in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of New York City on Saturday around 6pm when she dropped her son off and went to park her car. Police say when she returned, a man was yelling at her son and pushing him. When Officer Elsokary stepped in, the man, identified as Christopher Nelson, 36, from Brooklyn, said: 'ISIS (expletive), I will cut your throat. Go back to your country' reported ABC 7 NY. Mr Nelson was arrested on Sunday night and charged with menacing as a hate crime and aggravated assault in the second degree, police said. Officer Elsokary, who was wearing a Muslim head covering at the time of the incident, did not reveal herself as a police officer to Mr Nelson nor was she carrying her service revolver. Mayor Bill de Blasio took to Twitter on Sunday night, saying, 'Aml Elsokary is one of 900 Muslim-Americas in @NYPDNews who protect us. Let's stand with her family. Call 311 with any info. #NotInOurCity' In 2014, Officer Elsokary was praised as a hero after saving a grandmother and her one-year-old granddaughter from a fire in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The officer and her partner responded to a call about a fire over police radio, said the New York Daily News. When she got to the building on Scholes Street, she heard a baby crying on the second floor. Officer Elsokary, who is a a mother-of-five herself, used her jacket to open a burning-hot doorknob, grabbed the toddler and grandmother and brought them to safety. She received a medal for her bravery. Officer Elsokary had just dropped off her son on Ridge Boulevard, pictured, when Christopher Nelson began to harass them, calling the officer 'ISIS', threatening to cut her throat and telling her and her son to 'go back to your country' At a 2014 dinner at Gracie Mansion to celebrate Ramadan Iftar, the end of the Ramadan fast, Mayor de Blasio said Officer Elsokary 'was a hero long before that remarkable day'. He said she joined the NYPD not long after the September 11 terrorist attacks to 'show people that the terrible acts of that day contradicted the teachings of Islam.' According to the NYPD, hate crimes are on the rise by 30 per cent throughout the city. On Sunday, New York State Senator Kirsten Gillibrand called for a further $5million in funding to protect religious institutions and community centers. For the first time in 27 years, Harper Lee's hometown may not host the annual stage adaptation of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee's hometown, Monroeville in Alabama, was made famous by her iconic novel and soon after the town started hosting the the popular series of performances. But that legacy may be jeopardized after the non-profit, Mockingbird Company, created by Lee, her lawyer, Tonja Carter, and Montgomery accountant Paul Fields, took over the production of the play last year. Mockingbird Company was created in 2015 before Lee's death. It replaced the Monroe County Heritage Museum as the organizer of the productions, AL.com reported. For the first time in 27 years, Harper Lee's hometown may not host the stage adaptation of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee is pictured in the Monroe County Courthouse while visiting her hometown Lee's hometown, Monroeville in Alabama, was made famous after it started hosting the popular series of performances (cast members performing), but that legacy may be jeopardized after non-profit, Mockingbird Company, took over the production of the play The company that was created partly by Lee (right) also doesn't have a contract with the Monroe County Courthouse, where the production is usually performed each year The organization has yet to find a permanent replacement for the director it fired earlier this year, ahead of the production's spring 2017 debut. The company currently does not have a contract with the Monroe County Courthouse, where the production is usually performed each year. Not to mention that several member's of the Mockingbird Players cast, who are all volunteers, may not perform in the series if the company doesn't change their organizational approach. Some members, who have been a part of the cast for more than two decades, have described the company as approaching them in 'disrespectful' ways. Eric Gould, a member of the cast told AL.com that he believes 'they won't be able to do the play this year because they won't be able to get enough members of the old cast together to do one act'. Tim McKenzie, a 10-year veteran of the cast told the site that he was sent an email about the Mockingbird Company rescinding 'the Facility Rental Agreement for the use of the courthouse and grounds in 2017'. Lee, along with her lawyer, Tonja Carter (left) and Montgomery accountant Paul Fields (right) started the Mockingbird Company in May 2015 Some of the actors (pictured), who have been participating in the play voluntarily for decades have said they feel the company's approach to them has been 'disrespectful' in some ways Pete Black, a member of Mockingbird Company's board who was directed by Carter to speak with AL.com on behalf of the nonprofit, said he is 'not sure exactly why it was rescinded', adding that he is 'confident it will be resolved'. McKenzie told the site that there is a 'possibility' that they 'won't have a play this year'. 'We don't want to see that, but it's a possibility,' he said. He added that the actors 'feel like something's just been taken away from us and that creates some animosity'. The actors were also upset because of the rehearsal schedule, which had them rehearsing at least four days per week. Pictured is the Monroe County Courthouse, where the play is usually held each spring The cast voiced their concerns of the company handling the sale of tickets. They believe that the proceeds from the play, which have been as much as $120,000, should be given to the museum Earlier this year, Jane Busby was dismissed from her role as the amateur director and replaced with professional stage director Greta Lambert. In mid-November, Lambert attended an open audition for actors hoping to take part in the series, but many of the Mockingbird Players didn't show up because of a rule introduced by Mockingbird Company requiring veteran cast members to re-audition. The actors were also upset because of the rehearsal schedule, which had them rehearsing at least four days per week, actor Robert Champion, told AL.com. The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960 'We finally got a schedule of the rehearsals and it was totally undoable,' Champion said. 'I think someone forgot we are not a professional group, we are everyday working people.' Lambert is no longer signed on as director of the play. Kathryn Taylor, who served on the museum board from 2008 to 2014 told AL.com that the main issues is that the proposed cast said 'this is how we like to do it', and set out guidelines, 'and the Mockingbird Company totally ignored all the requests the cast made about scheduling the play and the rehearsals'. 'So it was sort of a mass mutiny,' she added. The cast voiced their concerns of the company handling the sale of tickets. They believe that the proceeds from the play, which have been as much as $120,000, should be given to the museum. McKenzie, Gould and Champion said they would all love to participate in the play again this year, but only if its proceeds go to the museum. Glenn Chase Dove (above), 33, was charged in Detroit federal court with abusive sexual contact for allegedly fondling and groping two female passengers on a flight from Mexico to Detroit in July A 33-year-old faces federal charges of abusive sexual contact for allegedly fondling and licking a 17-year-old girl and groping another woman on a Delta airlines flight from Mexico to Detroit. Federal authorities alleged on Saturday that Glenn Chase Dove bent over and licked the knee of the girl whom he sat next to on Delta Flight 512 which took off from Mexico bound for Detroit on July 2 of this year. At the start of the flight, Dove allegedly positioned his face 'very close' to that of the girl seated next to him, The Detroit News reported. He then allegedly licked her knee and fondled her breast, court documents say. When the girl slapped his hand away, Dove is said to have replied: 'This is a joke.' He is then alleged to have continued to stare at her before squeezing her breast three more times. The girl turned away from him, though she did not alert the flight attendants because she feared that he would victimize others on the plane, according to documents. Dove is then alleged to have set his sights on another victim, a 24-year-old woman seated nearby. 'Victim 2 -- a twenty-four-year-old female -- was seated across the aisle from Dove in the same row as Dove and V-1,' authorities allege. The alleged incidents occurred aboard Delta Airlines Flight 512 which took off from Mexico and landed in Detroit this past July 2, according to federal authorities 'During the flight, V-2 stood up and left her seat for a moment. When she returned to her seat, Dove ran his hand up the outside of her leg.' The document cites two witnesses seated in the same row as having seen Dove grope the second woman. One of the witnesses sat next to the 17-year-old girl, who was in tears. She tried to console victim until the plane landed in Detroit. Dove is free on bail after posting a $10,000 unsecured bond, according to The Detroit News. Advertisement The top Republican in Congress criticized the Obama administration on Sunday for the Army Corps of Engineers' decision to deny access for the Dakota Access pipeline to be constructed near tribal land. House Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted on Sunday that the decision was 'big-government decision-making at its worst.' The Wisconsin Republican tweeted Sunday night that he looks 'forward to putting this anti-energy presidency behind us.' Another Republican, House Rep. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, said that the move was a 'chilling signal to others who want to build infrastructure in this country.' Protesters at the Standing Rock Indian reservation triumphed today as the US Army Corps of engineers backed down in its plan to enforce an easement that would allow a pipeline to be built on their land Demonstrators praised the decision to block the pipeline, although Donald Trump could reverse the decision on December 20 Opponents of the controversial pipeline celebrated the decision with a late night fireworks display 'I can't wait for the adults to be in charge on Jan. 20,' said Cramer, a supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated as president on that day. The company building the $3.8 billion oil pipeline also slammed the Obama administration. Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners released a statement Sunday night calling the decision 'just the latest in a series of overt and transparent political actions by an administration which has abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency.' In a stunning victory to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters, the Army announced that the pipeline will not cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota. The tribe and its supporters have long argued the project would threaten the its water source and cultural sites. House Speaker Paul Ryan (left), a Republican from Wisconsin, slammed the Obama administration on Sunday, tweeting that the move was 'big-government decision-making at its worst' by an 'anti-energy' President Barack Obama (right) The US Army Corps of Engineers will not grant an easement allowing the pipeline's construction half a mile south of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Jo-Ellen Darcy, United States Assistant Secretary of the Army, said the federal agency will 'explore alternate routes' in an announcement that came just one day before the Corps was scheduled to cut off access to the protesters' camp. Thousands of demonstrators at the Oceti Sakowin campsite erupted into cheers and cries of Mni Wiconi - 'Water is life' - went up from the crowd as the news spread. Moments after the decision was announced, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Council Chairman Harold Frazier told DailyMail.com that he was 'shocked' by the news. The camp erupted into cheers as the news spread and cries of Mni Wiconi - 'Water is life' - went up from the crowd The $3.8billion pipeline running through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois, is mostly complete, except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, which protesters resisted for several months. Faith Spotted Eagle, an elder of the Ihanktonwan tribe, said: 'The easement has been denied. We have all come to this gathering being hosted by Mother Earth. I love you all.' Shailene Woodley, star of the 'Divergent' movies and 'The Fault in Our Stars', who had previously been arrested while protesting told a huge crowd: 'We feel so honored to have been a small part of this movement.' Native American protesters and their allies rejoiced as it was announced by the US government that the Dakota Access Pipeline would be re-routed away from the reservation In a statement, Standing Rock tribal chairman Dave Archambault II said: 'Today, the US Army Corps of engineers announced that it will not be granting the easement to cross Lake Oahe for the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline. 'Instead, the Corps will be undertaking an environmental impact statement to look at possible alternate routes. 'We wholeheartedly support the decision of the administration and commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and do the right thing. The Army's Assistant Secretary for Civil Works said a new route will be explored with consideration to the Environmental Impact Statement along 'with full public input and analysis' (pictured, water protectors celebrating the decision) 'The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will forever be grateful to the Obama administration for this historic decision.' He went on to thank all of those who had given moral, physical and financial support from around the globe, and in particular thanked those who had joined the protesters at Standing Rock. 'We hope that [Energy Transfer Partner CEO] Kelcy Warren, [North Dakota Governor Jack] Dalrymple and the incoming Trump administration respect this decision and understand the complex process that led us to this point,' he added. Protesters signaled their happiness after the announcement. Standing Rock tribal chairman Dave Archambault II said 'The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will forever be grateful to the Obama administration for this historic decision' 'Treaties are paramount law and must be respected, and we welcome dialogue on how to continue to honor that moving forward,' Archambault said. 'We are not opposed to energy independence, economic development, or national security concerns but we must ensure that these decisions are made with the considerations of our Indigenous peoples.' He also said he hoped to 'heal' the tribe's relationship with local law enforcement and that he looked 'forward to a future that reflects more mutual understanding and respect'. Protesters opposed the $3.8 billion pipeline, saying the project, slated to carry 570,000 barrels of crude oil a day across four states, could harm drinking water and Native American cultural sites In an official statement, Darcy, the Army's Assistant Secretary for Civil Works, decided not to approve the easement, which would have allowed the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe. She said her decision was based on the need to 'explore alternate routes' for the pipeline's crossing, although it doesn't rule out the possibility that it could cross under the reservoir or north of Bismarck Demonstrators celebrated the announcement after months of resistance. Some of the clashes led to hundreds of arrests, with authorities reportedly using tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray and water cannons 'Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it's clear that there's more work to do,' Darcy said in the statement. 'The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing.' She also added the new routes will be explored using an Environmental Impact Statement, 'with full public input and analysis'. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Sunday that the Department of Justice will 'continue to monitor the situation' and stands 'ready to provide resources to help all those who can play a constructive role in easing tensions.' 'The safety of everyone in the area - law enforcement officers, residents and protesters alike - continues to be our foremost concern,' she added. Shawn, a friend of Chairman Frazier, told DailyMail.com: 'It's a heck of a victory for the Great Sioux Nation. I have a lot of pride.' Marine veteran Lanny Laplante, of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, told DailyMail.com: 'I am in disbelief. You pray about this for so long. 'As a people we have been mistreated forever and to get this support I don't think this could have happened without social media and Facebook. 'As a people we were ready for this. [It was] a greedy corporation abusing indigenous people. 'It's an awakening. You look at the water - and how they are going to put oil over water and when there is a shortage of water in the world? I am just blown away by it. 'Perhaps when Trump comes into office it might be different. It took Obama so long to respond to this - why didn't he answer sooner when he made so many promises? Thousands of veteran US soldiers recently arrived at the camp to support the protesters against the US Army Corps of engineers. Some were Native American; others were allies to the cause 'The world has weighed in, it's all of the little people, it's the people all across the nation who liked anything on Facebook. 'It took the world to stand up for this to happen. We are all related. Water is older than the earth. Water is that closest element to God, it cuts steel, cracks rocks but purifies and sustains us. 'It's a great victory.' Miles Allard, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux, said he was pleased but remained cautious, saying, 'We don't know what Trump is going to do.' 'The whole world is watching,' Allard added. 'I'm telling all our people to stand up and not to leave until this is over.' President-elect Donald Trump has voiced his support for the pipeline. Spokesperson Hope Hicks said Trump sold his $500,000 to $1million stake in Energy Transfer Partners, the Washington Post reported. Trump's most recent federal disclosure forms, filed in May, showed that he also owns between $100,000 and $250,000 in Phillips 66, which has a one-quarter share of Dakota Access. A Native American man signals for the veterans to arrive at Standing Rock camp early on Sunday A large group of veterans stood on Highway 1806 just outside the Oceti Sakowin camp earlier on Sunday. Temperatures over the weekend hovered around 30F and authorities had ordered protesters to evacuate citing harsh winter conditions last week Catcher Cuts the Rope (center), an veteran who was wounded in Iraq, served as head of security on Highway 1806 While the announcement signaled a great victory for the Standing Rock Sioux and their supporters, some remained cautious, saying it was unclear what would happen with president-elect Donald Trump assuming office in January Chief Joseph River Wind (left), a former military police officer, said he felt a calling to join the protesters while Army Vet Art Desmarais (right) traveled from New Hampshire to Cannonball, North Dakota, to show his support Asthma and hay fever suffers in Sydney are urged to stay indoors after today's predicted thunderstorms to avoid experiencing breathing problems. Lightning has struck across Sydney with hail falling on parts of the city. Respiratory physician Dr Jonathan Burdon, who chairs the National Asthma Council of Australia, said the rain was likely to stir rye grass starches and pollen which made going outside risky after the storm. 'It's really after the rain has been where the pollen gets ruptured and the starch granules start being released into the atmosphere,' he said told Daily Mail Australia on Monday. Scroll down for video The Sydney Harbour Bridge on Monday afternoon shortly before lightning struck the city Asthma and hay fever suffers are urged to stay inside after the thunder as storm clouds gather over Sydney Harbour The National Asthma Council of Australia says the aftermath of thunderstorms are dangerous for asthma sufferers as pollen and grass starches are stirred up 'Once the wind starts it will blow up the pollens.' Dr Burdon, a physican at St Vincent's Private Hospital in Melbourne, said most face masks were ineffectual. 'The average paper mask, they're not particularly protective because there are leaks all around,' he said. He is urging asthma sufferers to have their blue inhalers ready, two weeks after thunderstorm asthma in Melbourne killed eight people. 'The best advice to people with asthma in this rainstorm, thunderstorm situation is to take their asthma medication on regular basis,' Dr Burdon said. 'You should have that on hand all the time. Storm clouds gather over suburban Melbourne on Sunday afternoon Storm clouds gather at Rye Beach, at the edge of Port Phillip Bay south of Melbourne 'If that's not working and you're taking your reliever then call an ambulance or get medical attention early.' BEING PREPARED Thunderstorms can cause pollen grains to explode and release fine particles. These fine particles can make someone wheeze and sneeze if inhaled into the lungs. People with hay fever who are allergic to pollens, particularly rye grass pollen, are most at risk. Get medical help if you are experiencing breathing difficulties. Source: NSW Department of Health's director of environmental health Dr Ben Scalley Advertisement Sydneysiders with asthma and hay fever are being urged to be mindful, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning of evening thunderstorms, following 30 degree Celsius temperatures on Monday. Dr Burdon AM said people suffering from hay fever were also vulnerable to a potentially-fatal thunderstorm asthma attack. 'As we have seen with the recent events in Melbourne any serious asthma attack can be life-threatening and have tragic consequences,' he said. 'Act quickly if you start to have symptoms such as shortness of breath or wheezing. 'If you havent previously had a diagnosis of asthma and are experiencing regular symptoms, book in to have a review with your doctor. Rain falls in central Melbourne on Sunday afternoon as authorities warn of asthma attacks Grey skies form over Melbourne's city centre hours before a thunderstorm strikes 'As we have seen with the recent events in Melbourne any serious asthma attack can be life-threatening and have tragic consequences.' Thunderstorm asthma Potentially fatal asthma attacks can occur when thunderstorms stir pollen, mould and dust in the air. This follows changes in humidity and temperature. Asthma and hay fever sufferers who breathe in this air endure irritated airways causing extra mucus to be produced. This causes their airways to narrow, triggering a rapid and severe asthma flare-up, even in people who have never experienced an asthma attack. Severe thunderstorms in Melbourne on November 21 killed eight people, after hospital resources were stretched. The victims included law student Hope Carnevali, 20; Omar Moujalled, 18, who had just finished his year 12 exams; grandfather Ranjith Peiris, 58; Apollo Papadopoulos, 35; Clarence Leo; and father of four Sam Lau, 49. Source: Victorian Government Advertisement The New South Wales Department of Health's director of environmental health, Dr Ben Scalley, said forecast storms for the state were a timely reminder for people to check their asthma plans. 'A range of environmental conditions can trigger asthma,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday. 'The recent Melbourne outbreaks of asthma shows that triggers can have a very rapid onset and be hard to predict.' Dozens of people with breathing problems needed an ambulance in Melbourne as high temperatures gave way to storms across Victoria early on Sunday night. Light rain fell on Melbourne on Sunday afternoon, with a feared thunderstorm averted after sweltering in a 32 degree Celsius heatwave while Kyabram, 200 kilometres north, baked in 37 degrees. Strong winds fuelled concerns about fatal asthma attacks, only a fortnight after freak storms in Melbourne killed eight people and stretched hospital resources. Ambulance Victoria received dozens of calls from people suffering from breathing difficulties on Sunday night. 'It's unclear if they were weather related,' the spokesman said. Tim Cartwright, who was acting Victoria Police chief commissioner in 2015, is reviewing the response to the world's worst recorded thunderstorm asthma attack, which killed eight people in Melbourne, following severe thunderstorms on November 21. Whistleblower Edward Snowden says potential Secretary of State David Petraeus released more classified information than anything he ever disclosed but was let off because he was 'well connected'. Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor who leaked classified information about the government's surveillance programs, has criticized the U.S. for its 'two-tier' justice system. He used Petraeus, the former CIA director named as a possible contender to serve in President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet, as an example. Whistleblower Edward Snowden said former CIA director David Petraeus (pictured) released more classified information than he ever did but was let off because he was 'well connected' 'We have a two-tiered system of justice in the United States, where people who are either well-connected to government or they have access to an incredible amount of resources get very light punishments,' Snowden said in an interview with Yahoo News' Katie Couric. 'Perhaps the best-known case in recent history here is Gen. Petraeus - who shared information that was far more highly classified than I ever did with journalists.' Snowden said he shared information 'with the public for their benefit,' whereas Petraeus shared information with 'his biographer and lover for personal benefit.' Petraeus pleaded guilty last year to knowingly sharing binders of classified information, including the names of covert operatives, with his mistress Paula Broadwell. Snowden, who is facing espionage charges in the U.S. after leaking classified security information, criticized the U.S. for its 'two-tier' justice system Petraeus, pictured leaving Trump tower, pleaded guilty last year to sharing classified information with his mistress. He was sentenced to two years' probation and a $100,000 fine The 64-year-old was sentenced in April 2015 to two years' probation and fined $100,000. He also resigned as director of the CIA in the aftermath. Snowden is currently seeking asylum in Moscow as he faces 30 years in prison in the U.S. over espionage charges. The material he leaked to the press in 2013 revealed how the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the UK's Government Communications Headquarters, an intelligence agency, were tracking conversations online and on the phone. It comes as Snowden campaigned for President Barack Obama to grant him a pardon before he leaves office - fearing Trump will take a hard line against him. Petraeus has emerged as a potential candidate for the prestigious Secretary Of State job in Trump's administration. He was spotted at Trump Tower last month and has received praise from the president-elect. Snowden has campaigned for President Barack Obama to grant him a pardon before he leaves office - fearing President-elect Donald Trump will take a hard line against him An off-duty New York City correction officer has been fatally shot. Police say 25-year-old Alastasia Bryan was shot Sunday night while sitting in a car outside a home in the Flatlands neighborhood of Brooklyn. Officers say they found her with gunshot wounds to her head and torso, according to ABC 7. There were at least five bullet holes in the driver's side window, pictures show. Bryan was pronounced dead at the scene. Police say 25-year-old Alastasia Bryan was shot Sunday night while sitting in a car outside a home in the Flatlands neighborhood of Brooklyn. There were at least five bullet holes in the driver's side window (pictured) The Correction Officers' Benevolent Association has issued a statement saying the correction family is 'shocked and grieving the horrific murder' of Bryan. 'There are no words that can express the depth of this tragedy. The COBA will do everything we can to support the officer's family during this time and we will not rest until the assailant or assailants are brought to justice,' said Correction Officers' Benevolent Association President Elias Husamudeen. The shooting happened around 9.15pm, near Avenue L and E 73rd Street in the Flatlands section of the borough. A police source told the New York Daily News that Bryan worked at the medium-security facility, Anna M Kross Center on Rikers Island, which houses male inmates. Police are looking for a gray or beige Honda Civic that sped off from the scene, sources told the newspaper. Her uncle told ABC that she had just become an officer a month ago, and was hard-working. A motive for the shooting remains unclear. No arrests have been made. Police continue to investigate. Trump's pick to be in charge of the Pentagon Defense Secretary Ash Carter has said his incoming successor General James Mattis is 'extremely capable', and insists his military background shouldn't bar him from the Pentagon. President-elect Donald Trump has put forward the retired general, also known as Mad Dog, to be the man in charge of the US military. His choice is somewhat controversial as the appointment will need to win approval in Congress. Scroll down for video Defense Secretary Ash Carter has praised his incoming successor General James Mattis, pictured, calling him 'extremely capable'. Mattis is seen standing alongside Donald Trump during meetings with potential cabinet members in New Jersey on November 19 Politicians from both Chambers will have to waive a rule barring a retired military general from being defense secretary within seven years of leaving active duty. Mattis has only been retired for three. But speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Mr Carter says he believes his designated successor will be a quick study regarding the responsibilities of the office. And although he declined to comment directly on questions about preserving the principle of civilian control of the military, Mr Carter said: 'I think that will be taken into account by the Congress. Last week, Mattis, 66, was named as Trump's pick for Defense Secretary having retired in 2013 as a four-star general 'They have made provision that this is possible, in the law, expecting that on occasion this may be a president's choice, and also an appropriate choice, as seen by Congress. 'He's an extremely capable person. I've known him literally for decades. 'Not only am I committed to helping him to hit the ground running, but it will be an easy thing to do because I know him well enough, I'll help him every way I can.' Last week, Mattis, 66, was named as Trump's pick for Defense Secretary having retired in 2013 as a four-star general. He is a combat veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and is a former head of U.S. Central Command. He gained his 'Mad Dog' nickname before the first Gulf War when he was a Marine Corps officer and, unsurprisingly, it stayed with him. Known for his eccentric style and as a leader who liked to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his Marines, he has produced some dazzling quotes over the years proving he is worthy of his title. His take on warfare is brutally straightforward, and is reported as saying: 'The first time you blow someone away is not an insignificant event. Politicians from both Chambers will have to waive a rule barring a retired military general from being defense secretary within seven years of leaving active duty. Mattis (above) has only been retired for three 'That said, there are some a**holes in the world that just need to be shot.' He enlisted in the Corps in 1969, was commissioned three years later, and went on to serve in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. In Afghanistan he served first as a colonel before promotion to brigadier-general, to lead the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade. Meanwhile during a battle against insurgents as part of Operation Phantom Fury in Iraq, he remarked: 'There is nothing better than getting shot at and missed. It's really great.' Trump has compared Mattis to George Patton, the US Army general who commanded the troops in Europe during the Second World War and was also well-known for his straight-talking and inspirational speeches. At the rally where Mattis' appointment was confirmed, the President-elect told supporters: 'They say he's the closest thing to General George Patton that we have and it's about time.' Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Mr Carter (pictured) says he believes his designated successor will be a quick study regarding the responsibilities of the office But it is not all macho bravado. One of his nuggets of wisdom to his troops is, 'Engage your brain before you engage your weapon', and he insists, 'The most important six inches on the battlefield is between your ears.' If appointed, Mattis would be the first retired general to serve as defense secretary since George Marshall in 1950-51. A criminal investigation has been launched into the devastating Oakland warehouse fire that killed at least 33 said authorities - as it emerged that a probe into the 'illegal' structure was started just three weeks before the blaze. Authorities in Oakland, California, received a complaint on November 13 that there were tons of garbage left on the sidewalk near the warehouse, and an inspector verified the complaint but failed to gain access inside. But there were other complaints over the course of the last year, citing cramped conditions, electrical wiring issues, and residents living inside. Tinder box: Alameda County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Ray Kelly said they fear up to 40 people could have possibly died in the blaze that destroyed the Oakland Ghost Ship The blaze which took hold on Friday razed the artist enclave to the ground and killed at least 33 people Almena (pictured, with his wife Micah Allison, left) ran the doomed Oakland Ghost Ship warehouse . One of his friends has alleged that he had been warned by friends and city officials about how the building was dangerous but claimed that he just 'laughed' it off Fire fighters had a difficult time getting inside due to massive amounts of clutter. The interior of the warehouse before the fire is pictured above in an undated photo At least 33 people died when the fire broke out at around 11pm on Friday while a dance party was being held at a two-story converted warehouse that was being used by an artists' collective. Mayor Libby Schaaf said during a press conference on Sunday the Alameda County District Attorney's Office activated its criminal investigation team at the fire scene, but she would not elaborate on whether a criminal probe was under way. According to The East Bay Times, records show on November 13 a neighbor filed a complaint over a 'a ton of garbage piling up on the property' at 1305 31st Ave. 'Also, a lot of items are left on the sidewalk near the property,' the complaint said. 'Some of trash was hazardous. This property is a storage but the owner turned it to become trash recycle site. 'The yard became a trash collection site and the main building was remodel for residential. The change causes our neighborhood looks very bad and creates health issue.' The next day the city launched an investigation into an illegal interior building structure, but an inspector failed to gain access to verify the construction complaint, the city has said. Schaaf told reporters she did not know why inspectors were unable to get into the building when they tried to inspect it. She said she was putting together a team of city employees 'to gather every piece of information.' Photos of the 'Ghost Ship' venue posted online showed a space brimming with an elaborate array of musical instruments, religious statues and antiques. The area was furnished with a mix of overstuffed sofas and colorful carpets and featured a maze of side rooms and nooks. 'The whole place was built like you are going to set up for a fire,' said Matt Hummel, 46, who twice visited the space before the fire and had helped renovate other warehouse spaces for artists. Derick Ion Almena ran the doomed Oakland Ghost Ship warehouse, and a long-time friend of told DailyMail.com that he laughed off warning that his artist's commune was a potential death trap and allegedly ignored repeated safety warnings. The party on Friday took place on the second floor of the building, which appeared to have only two exits, officials said. There was no evidence of smoke detectors or sprinklers, they added. Since the fire gutted the warehouse, Almena (left) has been staying in one of Oakland's more upmarket hotels with his wife Micah Allison (pictured right) Property records list the owner as Chor N. Ng, who purchased the warehouse in 1997. She also owns other properties in the city. Oakland City Councilman Noel Gallo, who represents the Fruitvale district and lives a block from where the fire occurred, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the building 'has been an issue for a number of years.' 'People have been living inside, and the neighbors have complained about it,' he said. 'Some of these young people that were in there were underage. They frequently had parties there.' Schaaf said on Sunday: 'I can confirm the district attorney has activated the criminal investigation team. 'A representative from the district attorney's team is on site to making sure we have the ability yo conduct the level of investigation that would be required.' While Schaaf said it was 'far too early' to determine what caused the fire, an official said the deadly blaze appeared to be an electrical fire according to intial indications, ABC7 reported. Just last month city officials cited the owner of the warehouse and had launched an investigation into whether the interior structure was illegal Musicians and artists who were integral members of Oakland's creative community are among the 33 victims who perished in the city's warehouse blaze. What began as a fun night of dancing at an electronic music event turned into tragedy when the Oakland Ghost Ship burst into flames around 11.30pm on Friday. Cash Askew, 22, David Cline, 24, Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, Sara Hoda, 30, Donna Kellogg, 32, Nex Iuguolo, 32, and Travis Hough, 35, were identified as victims by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office Coroner's Bureau on Sunday. Pete Wadsworth, Barrett Clark, Ara Jo, Jonathan Bernbaum and 17-year-old Draven McGill also perished in the fire, according to friends and family members on social media. Cash Askew, 22, was one of the youngest victims to perish in the horrific fire that tore through the Oakland Ghost Ship and took 33 lives on Friday night Askew was a transgender musician from San Francisco who is one-half of the 'goth-inflected duo' called Them Are Us Too Tributes pouring in from around the Bay Area have revealed that many of the victims had inspired and touched countless others through their passion for music and art. Cash Askew was a transgender musician from San Francisco who is one-half of the 'goth-inflected duo' called Them Are Us Too. They had just released their debut album last year. The band's label and management said Askew was a 'loved and treasured member of the Drais family', according to a statement released to Pitchfork. 'We were in awe of her talent, her gentle kindness, and her creative momentum,' it read. 'Her passing is an excruciating loss that we may never fully process of recover from.' Anya Taylor, Askew's girlfriend, confirmed news of her death on Saturday night. 'My love is gone,' she posted on Facebook. 'Nothing is real. All I want is her. I miss my love so much and I can't fathom a life without her. 'I would give anything to have her back. I love you Cash' Adi Putra said she was 'truly devastated by the news' and the loss of 'sweet, dear Cash. Thanks for the beautiful tunes and memories.' Brandon 'Chase' Wittenauer, who went by his stage name Nex Iuguolo, was an electronic music artist who performed in the band Symbiotix.Fungi Iuguolo was known in the Bay Area's arts community for his support, always spotted cheering on his friends at their sets and exhibits Another friend said his 'heart was breaking' after finding out the Them Are Us Too band member, 'the sweet beautiful Cash Askew', had perished. 'Thank you for standing up for me. Thank you for being genuine. Thank you for your art,' wrote another friend name Edward Marie. 'Thank you for being a beautiful vibrant human. I love you and am going to miss you terribly.' Brandon 'Chase' Wittenauer, who went by his stage name Nex Iuguolo, was an electronic music artist who performed in the band Symbiotix.Fungi. Friends described him as the 'best dude at the bar', while Liz Melena shared a picture of Iuguolo, who she says used to live with her and her daughter. 'He was a very good friend. An amazing, quirky guy. Great cook, he had a ear for music, sweet voice. I will truly miss him,' she wrote. Iuguolo was known in the Bay Area's arts community for his support, always spotted cheering on his friends at their sets and exhibits. 'Every time we (saw each other) it was because he was out showing up at art shows and music events to support his friends, even hometown friends he hadn't seen in years,' Jamaica Rose Chavez-Xochitil told the San Francisco Chronicle. 'He relentlessly worked on music all these years and dedicated his life to it in a big way.' Fellow musician Travis Hough was part of the Oakland electronic bands Ghost of Lightning and EASYSTREET, the latter of which he was performing with on Friday His manager, Brendan Dreaper, said Hough was also an artist and glassblower who had recently launched a podcast discussing how musicians found creativity Brian Hough shared a touching photo of himself and Travis,who also went by the stage name Travis Blitzen, on Facebook as he confirmed his son had died in the blaze Fellow musician Travis Hough was part of the Oakland electronic bands Ghost of Lightning and EASYSTREET, the latter of which he was performing with on Friday. His manager, Brendan Dreaper, said Hough was also an artist and glassblower who had recently launched a podcast discussing how musicians found creativity. 'He will be remembered for his positivity and his ability to always make a situation fun,' Dreaper said. 'Every time he walked in a room, he brightened it up and was always there for a good laugh. He was always optimistic.' Friends and family described him as 'the warmest, sweetest guy who is loved by all'. Meta Jane Johnson wrote: 'Travis Hough you will always be loved, missed and remembered. Your energy touched everyone around you, and couldn't help but make us smile.' 'Your creativity was unparalleled. You were my favorite rockstar & always will be.' 'My dear cousin Travis Hough, you have impacted me in so many ways and helped me through so much,' wrote Jocelyn Paige. Jonathan Bernbaum was an esteemed visual artist for the popular electronic music act known as Knife Party and had also worked with DJ Markus Schulz Brent Bucci called Bernbaum, a USC School of Cinematic Arts alum, an incredible person who pushed our art form further 'A beautiful man, musician and soul the world is missing today. I love you forever. I hope it's happy up there.' Jonathan Bernbaum was an esteemed visual artist for the popular electronic music act known as Knife Party and had also worked with DJ Markus Schulz. Brent Bucci called Bernbaum, a USC School of Cinematic Arts alum, an incredible person who pushed our art form further. He dared to create not for praise or fame or any of the conventional bulls**t. He created angry beauty designed to captivate and horrify.' 'His visuals and performance was inspiring to countless artists in our industry. I like many others owe my career to his late night programming lessons, countless phone calls and endless debates. 'You inspired so many of us, we will carry on your teachings and continue your legacy,' added Thomy Hoefer. 'Thank you so much for every word of encouragement, tip and all the laughs.' Barrett Clark, a freelance sound engineer from Santa Rosa who studied Sound at SAE Expression College, appeared to have touched many people's lives before his tragic death Jason Kick called Clark one of his 'live sound heroes' who 'had a great ear, great sense of humor and always mixed nice and loud. He may have been the best sound engineer we had' Barrett Clark, a freelance sound engineer from Santa Rosa who studied Sound at SAE Expression College, appeared to have touched many people's lives before his tragic death. 'It's not often that person can literally change your whole life,' friend Brian Adler said. 'Barret, I'll miss you forever.' Jason Kick called Clark one of his 'live sound heroes'. 'He had a great ear, great sense of humor and always mixed nice and loud. He may have been the best sound engineer we had.' Pete Wadsworth was a consultant, designer and Harvard University graduate who had been living in the warehouse His former roommate Bascom P LeMay said: 'Goodbye Barrett. We saw each other at our best. You saw me at my worst. Our times together I'll cherish forever. A true friend - roommate - collaborator - brother. He had my back so many times. His smile, his laughter, his heart will be missed.' Another friend, Emmet Corman, described Barrett as his 'guiding light.' 'Now that he's gone, I feel lost. Fly thither, friend, twixt the ether. Thank you for blessing us with your chaotic grace, you are forever among us.' Chandra Shukla described Clark as someone who could make anyone laugh and a 'huge friend' that filled 'a huge hole in our lives.' 'He was always there to make us smile and reassure us things were going to be ok no matter how dire the consequences. I was reeling in disbelief yesterday that the GhostShip fire would claim him as he was the guy that wasn't supposed to leave us.' Pete Wadsworth was a consultant, designer and Harvard University graduate who lived in the warehouse. Bob Mule, pictured, a photographer and artist who lived at the building and attended the electronic dance party suffered burns trying to drag his friend to safety Bob Mule, a photographer and artist who lived at the building and attended the electronic dance party suffered burns trying to drag his friend to safety. The artist told NBC he had been running back to get his camera when he saw Wadsworth lying on the floor with a suspected broken ankle after he tried to climb down from his loft space. 'He needed me to pull him out. I tried my best - he was a larger gentleman. There was a lot of stuff in the way, there was too much smoke. 'I had to let him... I had to let him...' he said, his voice breaking. 'The thought of him in there is in my brain.' Mule suffered burns on his arm, hands and shoulder, while his denim vest was left charred and blackened. Draven McGill, the youngest of the identified victims, was a junior at the competitive Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco 'If I didn't have this vest on while I was pulling out Pete, I don't know. It would have been me too probably.' Draven McGill, the youngest of the identified victims, was a junior at the competitive Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco. McGill was a member of the schools vocal department and the Pacific Boychoir Academy. 'He was always smiling and therefore making everyone around him, especially his friends happy,' wrote Lilah Segal-Angel in a Facebook tribute to McGill. 'He was a smart and talented boy in the vocal department. He was a great guy.' Classmate Emma Shen added that McGill was always 'laughing and smiling with his friends', writing 'I never saw him any way else'. Ara Jo's death was confirmed by Ian Dewane, the brother of her partner Zack. 'She is family, and I can't explain how devastated we all are,' he wrote on Sunday. 'She was an amazing artist, musician, and all around bad a** who could light up a room with her infectious big hearted laugh.' Ara worked for the East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest and was also the co-director of Sgraffito, an art gallery in Emeryville Her death was confirmed by the brother of her partner Zack Dewane (pictured together). 'She is family, and I can't explain how devastated we all are,' Ian Dewane wrote on Sunday Friend Barb Streis reminisced about the work Ara had put as a co-organizer of the East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest occurring just next week. 'I was supposed to help Ara make some props when I got back from my trip. She put sooooo much energy and time into doing it and she said it was going to be her last year,' Streis wrote. 'She never wastes time, always producing something, whether it be food, art, music or laughter.' 'There is no way for me to be productive right now and I know nothing will ever be done as well as Ara Jo could do it. She's five awesome people for the price of one.' Jo was also the co-director of Sgraffito, an art gallery in Emeryville, and also worked at an Oakland beauty salon and a Berkeley arts and crafts shop. Jason Kick said that Jo was 'indispensable' to Oakland's creative community. Nick Gomez-Hall was an administrative assistant at the Counterpoint Press in Berkeley The San Diego native was a 'talented artist' who had just begun to do book design 'She spent tireless, thankless hours making this community and world a better place on all levels,' he wrote. Nick Gomez-Hall was an administrative assistant at the Counterpoint Press in Berkeley. The San Diego native was a 'talented artist' who had just begun to do book design, the Berkeley publishing house told the Berkeleyside. 'Everyone on staff here in Berkeley, and in Portland and New York, is simply heartbroken,' they said in a statement. Gomez-Hall's friend Erin Tanner paid tribute to his photography. 'We only had a few chapters together but they were golden, and he documented them with his photography so well,' Tanner wrote on Facebook. 'Nick I'm missing you and I thank you for touching my life and sharing your spirit, your music and your friends.' Erin Elizabeth Birgy called Gomez-Hall the 'coolest musical loving genius' while Nile Cappello said he made her and 'many others feel a little less alone through some of the most challenging years of our lives'. David Cline, a Santa Monica native, was a recently UC Berkeley graduate who received bachelor's degrees in cognitive science and computer science Friend Blake Bijari remembered Cline as one of the most 'unique, fun and loving personalities I've ever come across' 'I hope his family and friends feel a little less alone knowing how much he impacted each and every one of us,' she added. David Cline, a Santa Monica native, was a recently UC Berkeley graduate who received bachelor's degrees in cognitive science and computer science. Friend Blake Bijari remembered him as one of the most 'unique, fun and loving personalities I've ever come across'. 'He made every single person around him laugh to no end regardless of the mood they were in,' Bijari wrote. 'I remember trying to avoid him at practice because I didn't want to get in trouble for goofing off because any encounter with him guaranteed it.' 'David T Cline thank you for being inherently you,' wrote Kaya Day. 'For the smile that spread from ear to ear, for your bone crushing bear hugs, for the unparalleled energy you provided, for the beautiful person you are, for being bp partner #1, for the positive light you brought to so many people's lives.' Sara Hoda was a teacher at a Montessori school who loved children and was a 'good, hardworking person', her former housemate Carol Crewdson wrote on Facebook. 'She didnt deserve to go like this. After reading an account of what it was like to get out of there, all I can hope is that it happened quickly.' Sara Hoda was a teacher at a Montessori school who loved children and was a 'good, hardworking person', her former housemate Carol Crewdson wrote on Facebook. Alison Marie said her former housemate loved 'yoga handstands, art, community, bikes, yummy cooking and always thoughtful insight'. Alison Marie said her former housemate loved 'yoga handstands, art, community, bikes, yummy cooking and always thoughtful insight'. 'A woman full of love and life and creativity,' she wrote. 'You were one of the kindest and most selfless people I've ever met and I wish you could have stayed with us longer,' added Angie Greene. 'You were always one to give and support and you will be dearly missed.' Donna Kellogg was a barista at Highwire Coffee Roasters in Berkeley who recently graduated from San Francisco State University and was working toward an additional degree in the culinary arts. Kellogg's father, Hugh Slocum, said she had a passion for playing the drums, cooking vegetables and soup, and 'avant-garde music'. Mollie Cohen Rosenthal D'Agostino said Kellogg was 'a beautiful giggly, wise, person who will be very missed.' Kellogg's former fiance, John Howes, came to the scene of the tragedy. He said he needed closure, adding: 'I still love her.' Donna Kellogg was a barista at Highwire Coffee Roasters in Berkeley who recently graduated from San Francisco State University and was working toward andegree in the culinary arts A newly married man who took Jetstar's Facebook page to say thanks rather than lay a complaint has discovered a little kindness goes a long way. Jay Mancuso recently returned to Adelaide on a Jetstar plane from Bali where he married his wife, Catriona. He took to the airline's social media to outline his experiences with them - including the seats with extra leg room they paid for being overbooked - and it seemed like he was making a complaint. Newlyweds Jay and Catriona Mancuso from South Australia A part of Mr Mancuso's message to Jetstar, which he posted on the airline's Facebook page Jay Mancuso recently returned to Adelaide on a Jetstar plane from Bali where he married his wife, Catriona and they were happy with the customer service But although at first he seemed unhappy, it eventually became clear he was praising the efforts of the flight host who sorted out the situation. Their seats were changed but once they boarded, the host - identified only as Abbey - asked why they had been changed. 'I explained. Abbey then moved us to front row opposite and apologised profusely,' he wrote. 'BUT! It didn't stop there. Abbey had the nerve to tell us that she was incredibly embarrassed about our mix up, gave us both a Jetstar comfort pack (love the toothbrush) and a warm little blanket for the journey. 'Wow, of all the insolence. Then, THEN just after take off, would you believe she continued her torrent of niceness, and told us to select a beverage and some food FREE of charge!!!!!' 'Landing in Adelaide at 6:00am she then still gave us a huge friendly smile and apologised once again. Jetstar responded to Mr Mancuso's message and even offered him a partial refund The couple were impressed with the service the received and went out of their way to say thanks for it 'This is not the behaviour one expects when travelling with a low cost carrier and it must stop! I expect far less of your staff and I think Abbey needs a good talking to. 'So, in finishing. To dear Abbey, flight manager on board flight JQ128 ex DPS-ADL on Friday night the 25th November 2016, I salute you. Your customer service and attention to detail was exemplary. 'We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, you turned our frowns upside down. Jetstar, give this girl a sticker of excellence.' To dear Abbey, flight manager on board flight JQ128 ex DPS-ADL on Friday night the 25th November 2016, I salute you. Your customer service and attention to detail was exemplary. Jay Mancuso, Jetstar customer After posting his heart-warming message which was 'liked' almost 800 times, Mr Mancuso got a reply from Jetstar. 'Mrs Jetstar' let him knew the airline and its staff appreciated kind feedback and even said the money he had paid for extra leg room would be refunded. Although other people commented that the airline didn't respond so well when they received a complaint, Mr Mancuso thanked the airline again for the help. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Mancuso for comment. Mr Mancuso's reply to Jetstar when they responded to his message on Facebook A mother has been left outraged after her teenage son was sent home from a private high school because his hair was 'too short'. The year 10 student at Corpus Christi College in the southern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, was forced home from school just days after getting a new haircut. The boy returned to school the next day but was forced to wear a hat, much to the anger of his mother who attacked the school on Perth radio station 6PR on Monday. A Perth mum has been left outraged after her son (pictured) was sent home from a private high school because his haircut was 'too short' 'We had a wedding on the weekend and he had his hair cut, so he's got it cut short on the sides, and just a little bit long on the top,' the boy's mum Sandra said. 'His hair's not long, it's not short, he hasn't got a shaved head, he hasn't got stripes or swirls cut on his head... it's just a boy's haircut.' According to Sandra, her son was told by a teacher that school policy dictated hair must be above a 'two'. The boy was then forced to get a note from his barber to prove that the haircut did meet school rules. An irate Sandra said she had found out about the problem after receiving a message from her son. She said she then spoke to a teacher at the school and questioned why they seemed to have no problem with other boys who have much longer hair than her son. The Year 10 student at Corpus Christi College (pictured) in Perth, Western Australia, was allowed back to school the following day after producing a note from his barber that proved his hair met school rules 'I said (to the staff member), "You've got boys there with their hair looking like mop-heads and you allow them",' Sandra said. '(And the staff member said), "Oh no they've got their hair tied up", I said, "No they don't, I've been on canteen duty, I've seen them walk in and walk out they don't have their hair tied up and you don't send them home".' He was sentenced to community service and banned from owning animals A man has pleaded guilty to bashing his partner's disabled dog and causing it serious internal injuries. Christopher De La Fuente, 25, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty on his girlfriend's dog in February 2015, at the Parramatta Local Court on Friday. The female cavoodle named Paris, who had its right right leg partially amputated, was subjected to a harsh training method for five to six weeks in De La Fuente's attempt to assert himself as the 'alpha male'. Christopher De La Fuente, 25, has been convicted of bashing his girlfriend's disabled cavoodle dog named Paris In February 2015, De La Fuente found the cavoodle had defecated and urinated inside their Epping apartment and kicked the dog hard on both sides of her torso causing serious internal injuries including causing 16 rib fractures On the morning of February 23, 2015, De La Fuente's girlfriend left for work early, leaving him responsible for the four-year-old dog for about two hours. During this time he admitted he 'disciplined' Paris, by kicking her hard on both sides of her torso, causing 16 rib fractures he found the dog had defecated and urinated inside their Epping apartment. His partner arrived home within 10 minutes of De La Fuente leaving for work and found her dog lying on the floor, injured, and immediately rushed the dog to the Epping veterinary clinic. The vet found the dog was unable to stand up, had a faint heartbeat, a distorted rib cage, breathing difficulties and increased lung sounds on the right side of her chest. Shortly after he left for work, his girlfriend arrived back home to find Paris injured and lying on the ground, and immediately rushed her to the Epping veterinary clinic The vet found Paris was unable to stand up, had a faint heartbeat, a distorted rib cage, breathing difficulties and increased lung sounds on the right side of her chest Aside from multiple rib fractures, X-rays also showed Paris had two splintered ribs, and an older healed fracture. She was taken to North Shore Specialist Hospital for specialist treatment for a number of internal injuries, consistent to haemorrhage and traumatic injury. Magistrate Tim Keady said the De La Fuente caused 'quite serious injury' that was an indication of his character and of deeper problems. Magistrate Tim Keady convicted of animal cruelty, sentenced him to 150 years service and banned from owning any animal for the next 10 years De La Fuente was convicted of animal cruelty, sentenced to 150 years service and banned from owning any animal for the next 10 years. RSPCA NSW Chief Inspector David O'Shannessy said the offender was 'totally' at fault for the intentional assault of the defenseless dog. A British seasonal worker has been stabbed to death at a festive centre in Lapland where she took children to meet Santa. The 26-year-old, who gave guided tours to see Father Christmas at the tourist attraction in Kuttanen, Finland, was found dead on Saturday. Finnish police launched a manhunt for her 36-year-old Czech boyfriend and later found him suffering from hypothermia in freezing -35C temperatures. The 26-year-old, who gave guided tours to see Father Christmas at the tourist attraction in Kuttanen, Finland, was found dead on Saturday The alleged attacker is understood to have fled into the area's Arctic wilderness. Lapland's police said in an online report: 'A homicide occurred on Saturday morning. A 36-year-old man is suspected of having stabbed to death his 26-year-old girlfriend. Both of them were foreign seasonal workers. 'After the deed, the man fled with their dogs,' the statement said, adding that a Border Guard helicopter had been brought in to help with the manhunt. They said he did not resist on his arrest and was taken to hospital in Rovaniemi. Manhunt: The alleged attacker is understood to have fled into the area's Arctic wilderness The woman was a member of the Santa Safari team which works with Oxford-based tour operator Transun Travel to organise Christmas-themed excursions to Lapland. It is understood the victim comes from Scotland. Seasonal workers are drawn to the area, 50 miles north of the Arctic Circle and close to the border with Sweden, during peak winter months of November to January. A spokeswoman for Santa Safari said: 'We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of the Santa Safari team was discovered dead on December 3. 'We are all in shock from this tragic news and our thoughts go out to her family. 'Our team is working closely with the Finnish police and relevant authorities to support the investigation that is now under way. 'It goes without saying that we will do everything we can to support the family and our staff at this incredibly difficult time.' 'We are all in shock from this tragic news and our thoughts go out to her family.' Roof, described by his lawyers as a 'ninth-grade dropout', is believed to fear that his attorneys might use something Attorneys will represent Roof until a verdict is reached; if he is found guilty, Roof will be his own lawyer during the Accused church killer Dylann Roof received permission from a federal judge Monday to rehire his lawyers until a verdict is reached, after asking to represent himself in his death penalty trial. Roof, 22, is accused of fatally shooting nine black parishioners at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina in June last year. His attorneys will represent him while a jury determines whether Roof is guilty. Roof will remain his own lawyer if he is found guilty and the trial moves into a penalty phase. The decision by US District Judge Richard Gergel ended a week of Roof acting as his own attorney. Roof wrote the Judge a handwritten note with his request to rehire his legal team over the weekend. It is unclear why Roof, described by his lawyers as a 'ninth-grade dropout', is so determined to keep the attorneys out of the penalty part of his case. In their own motion Friday asking Gergel to order Roof to hire them back, they suggested there is something embarrassing Roof is afraid they might use to try to spare his life. Accused church killer Dylann Roof (pictured in a file image) received permission from a federal judge Monday to rehire his lawyers until a verdict is reached Roof, in his gray and white jail jumpsuit, simply answered questions with 'yes' or 'no.' After Gergel ruled, the 22-year-old quietly slid back into the far left chair at the defense table. Lead lawyer and capital defense expert David Bruck took back the lead chair, at least for now. Death penalty trials are split into two parts: the guilt phase, and then a separate portion that focuses on whether the defendant will be sentenced to death, or life in prison. Roof's lawyers can represent him in the guilt portion. Gergel, who last week called Roof's decision to be his own lawyer 'unwise,' said he is still worried Roof is making a grave error by deciding to represent himself in the penalty phase. 'I continue, Mr Roof, to urge you to reconsider this decision,' Gergel said. Authorities said Roof shot nine black people during a prayer meeting on June 17, 2015, because he hated African-Americans. He faces hate crimes and obstruction of religion charges. Roof, 22, had asked Sunday in a handwritten note (pictured) for permission to rehire his attorneys for the first phase of his trial, after demanding to represent himself It is unclear why Roof (pictured), described by his lawyers as a 'ninth-grade dropout', is so determined to keep the attorneys out of the penalty part of his case Roof is accused of fatally shooting nine black parishioners (picutred at a prayer vigil) at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina in June last year Authorities said Roof shot nine black people during a prayer meeting on June 17, 2015 at the Emanuel AME Church (pictured), because he hated African-Americans A state death-penalty trial on nine counts of murder will follow the federal trial. Roof's main act during his week as his own lawyer was to oversee, along with prosecutors, the selection of 67 people who will make up the pool for the 12 jurors and six alternates. The jury will be selected Wednesday before opening statements. The week of jury qualification was much shorter than the federal death-penalty trial of Boston bomber Dshokhar Tsarnaev, which took almost two months. Gergel held a 50-minute hearing to deal with other motions Monday. He agreed to allow Roof's parents, grandmother and grandfather, who is a lawyer, to be in the courtroom for the trial even though they are potential witnesses. All other witnesses must stay out of the courtroom unless they are testifying. Prosecutors told Gergel that they expect their case in the guilt phase to last six or seven days, with Bruck saying he will take 'very little additional time'. Stein is now taking the fight for a Pennsylvania recount to federal court change election results but to see if voting machines were tampered with She had argued that her recount is not Michigan is beginning a hand recount of votes at noon today as the Green Party's legal fight for a statewide recount moves to Pennsylvania. Green Party candidate Jill Stein has been trying to force recounts in three states: Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania - all part of the Rust Belt. The traditionally blue states all bucked the trend and gave their electoral votes to President-elect Donald Trump Trump won Michigan's 16 electoral votes by just 0.2 percentage points, leading Stein to market the recount as an effort to explore whether voting machines and systems had been hacked and the election result manipulated. Judge Mark Goldsmith issued a ruling early on Monday morning, rejecting an effort by Michigan state officials to wait two business days before starting to hand-count about 4.8million ballots, reported the Detroit Free Press. Scroll down for video Green party presidential candidate Jill Stein had framed the recount as an effort to explore whether voting machines and systems had been hacked and the election result manipulated Stein blasted the expense of the recounts on Twitter when news originally broke of the dropped bid in Pennsylvania on Saturday night Stein's lawyers argued that waiting until Wednesday would cut it too close to meet December 13 - the federal 'safe harbor' deadline to guarantee Michigan's electoral votes are counted by the time the Electoral College meets on December 19. The move increases the chances that the state could complete the count ahead of the federal deadline. Judge Goldsmith said a state law requiring a two-business-day waiting period to start the recount likely violated voting rights. He wrote in his opinion: 'With the perceived integrity of the presidential election as it was conducted in Michigan at stake, concerns with cost pale in comparison. 'Budgetary concerns are not sufficiently significant to risk the disenfranchisement of Michigan's nearly 5million voters.' As of Sunday, the recount was over in six Wisconsin counties with more than one million votes. The margin between President-elect Trump and Hillary Clinton stayed exactly the same - both candidates losing a total of 20 votes. Stein, who asked for the recount and will cover the cost, picked up an extra 27 votes. Trump has lashed out at Jill Stein over her recount suit. By the time he typed this Tweet, Stein had decided to refile the suit in federal court As for Pennsylvania, Stein announced on Saturday she would drop the suit citing the cost it would place on voters. A state court had ruled that the voters requesting the recount must pay a $1million bond. But on Sunday night, she announced she was filing suit in federal court. Despite Stein having won only 0.8 per cent of the total votes in Pennsylvania, and her camp not producing any evidence of hacking having occurred, recount campaign lawyer Jonathan Abady released a statement that assured a continued fight. This is the moment ISIS thugs hurled a prisoner from a roof top before a baying mob of fanatics pelted his corpse with rocks - for the 'crime' of being gay. The victim was dragged to the top of a building in Maslamah City in war-torn Aleppo, Syria, having been accused of 'homosexual relations'. He was then launched face first from the edge of the roof and plunged to his death inches away from a crowd of onlookers. Sickening photos capture the moment ISIS thugs hurled a prisoner from a roof top before a baying mob of fanatics pelted his corpse with rocks - for the 'crime' of being gay The victim was dragged to the top of a building in Maslamah City in war-torn Aleppo, Syria, having been accused of 'homosexual relations'. Another picture shows men throwing rocks at his body Another picture shows men throwing rocks at his body. Earlier, the terror group's religious police had read out the charges against the unnamed man who was then blindfolded ahead of his execution. It comes after US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said today that it was 'possible' ISIS could be driven out of the besieged city of Mosul before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Earlier, the terror group's religious police had read out the charges against the unnamed man who was then blindfolded ahead of his execution Some 100,000 Iraqi government troops, Kurdish security forces and mainly Shi'ite militiamen are participating in the assault on Mosul that began on October 17, with air and ground support from a US-led coalition. The capture of Mosul, the largest city under control of ISIS, is seen as crucial toward dismantling the caliphate which the militants declared over parts of the Iraq and Syria in 2014. The euro bounced back today and stock markets across Europe weathered the storm as investors brushed off the resignation of the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who lost a referendum on constitutional reform. Investors had been braced for a turbulent day's trading as a political crisis hits Italy, the euro zone's third largest economy. On the currency markets the euro had hit a 20-month low earlier against the dollar, but it rallied this morning and is now trading higher. By lunch the euro is up 0.5 percent against the dollar, at $1.0719, and up 0.47 percent against the pound at 1.1899. In London, the FTSE 100 was up 6.5 points at 6,737.2 at lunch, while the Dax index in Europe gained 1.5 per cent and the Cac in France moved 1.1 per cent higher. Matteo Renzi, a Left-winger, has been Prime Minister of Italy since 2014 but he staked his reputation on victory in the referendum and, like David Cameron earlier this year, has now bowed to the inevitable Renzi went to see Italy's head of state, President Sergio Mattarella, today to see if they could plot a way forward out of the impasse. Both men were seeking to ease fears of instability and a crisis for Italy's already troubled banking sector. It will be up to President Mattarella to decide whether to call fresh elections or just appoint a new prime minister, with Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan the favourite if he chooses the latter option. Renzi's decision to quit, which echoes David Cameron's announcement in the wake of the Brexit referendum, is the latest seismic shock in a year of populist uprisings against the political establishment. Beppe Grillo of the Left-wing 5 Star Movement, and Matteo Salvini of the anti-immigrant Northern League, have both claimed credit for the No campaign's victory in the referendum and have urged an early general election. Grillo has also called for a referendum on Italy pulling out of the euro, and bringing back the lira. Matteo Salvini (left) of the Northern League and Beppe Grillo (right) of the 5 Star Movement, have both claimed credit for the No side winning the referendum Renzi resigned shortly after exit polls indicated a clear defeat, saying: 'I accept all responsibility for this loss. I'll say it out loud.' Grillo, urging a No vote, had told Italians: 'Go with your gut, not your brain'. Jane Foley, a senior FX strategist at Rabobank, said the referendum result partly reflects a protest against Renzi and his policies, but suggested the banking system could be the next casualty. She said: 'For Italy's banks the referendum result will mark a huge disappointment. 'A decision will be forthcoming as to whether the 5billion recapitalisation of Monte dei Paschi will go ahead. If a private recapitalisation were to fail it is likely that the government will step in to prevent the spread of contagion.' Mr Renzi makes his resignation speech as his wife, Angese Landini, looks on He said: 'For Italy, establishing stable governance and a plan to guide the nation is of critical importance given the fragility of the economy, challenging policies and the liquidity problems in the banking system.' EU Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici denied the referendum was a vote against he EU or the euro. He told French television: 'It's a solid country with solid authorities and I have complete confidence that Italy can handle this situation.' EU Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said the referendum was a domestic issue and not a referendum on Italy's membership of the euro Craig Erlam, analyst at Oanda, added: 'The moves in the euro appear to be mirroring those of European equity markets where weve seen a similar rebound following earlier weakness. 'Theres a buy the dip mentality in the markets at the moment that appears to kick in shortly after the release of any apparent bad news, the referendum result and US election being the two obvious examples. The European Central Bank meets on Thursday amid much speculation it will announce a six-month extension of its asset buying programme and widen the type of bonds it can purchase. The Royal Navy will send its flagship aircraft carrier to the South China Sea after rival claims to the territory escalated. HMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest ever British warship, will sail through the contested zone in 2020. The 72,000 ton vessel, which has cost 3billion, will be armed with F35-B Lightning jets and helicopters. It will launch for sea trials next year. Scroll down for video How HMS Queen Elizabeth, marked by a Royal Navy destroyer, will look when it is out at sea The 72,000 ton vessel, which has cost 3billion, will be armed with F35-B Lightning jets (pictured) and helicopters. It will launch for sea trials next year. HMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest ever British warship, will sail through the contested zone in 2020 (pictured in 2014) A host of countries have filed rival claims to the South China Sea, including the largest of which coming from China RAF Typhoon fighter jets will also fly over the South China Sea next year to assert international air sovereignty. Rival countries, including China, Vietnam and the Philippines, have insisted the territory is theirs. The British ambassador to the United States, Kim Darroch, said although focus would be needed in the Middle East, the Government would also make the military's presence known in the Pacific. 'Certainly, as we bring our two new aircraft carriers onstream in 2020, and as we renew and update our defense forces, they will be seen in the Pacific,' he said. 'And we absolutely share the objective of this U.S. administration, and the next one, to protect freedom of navigation and to keep sea routes and air routes open.' In spite of Britain's preoccupations in the Middle East, 'we will try to play our part' in the Pacific, he said. The largest aircraft carrier the Royal Navy has ever built will be equipped with helicopters HMS Queen Elizabeth, which will launch for sea trials next year, will be joined by its sister carrier HMS Prince Charles Rival countries, including China, Vietnam and the Philippines, have insisted the territory (pictured) is theirs RAF Typhoon fighter jets will also fly over the South China Sea next year to assert international air sovereignty Four Typhoons jets arrived in Japan in October to take part in exercises with Japanese forces. Japan's ambassador, Kenichiro Sasae, said the US, Japan and the Government discussed greater naval cooperation at a meeting at the Pentagon in October and Tokyo welcomed greater British involvement in Asian security. The US has sent warships through the disputed waters for years in 'freedom of navigation' missions. A pregnant woman was shot dead while on stage when she refused to dance with a drunken guest during a wedding in India. Kulvinder Kaur, 25, was shot with a 12-bore double barrel shotgun as she was performing with her dance troupe at the wedding in the Punjab. Kulvinder, who was two months pregnant, was shot in the head on Saturday night and died in hospital in the town of Bathinda in the south of Punjab. The long barrel of the gun suddenly emerges in the foreground as Kulvinder (right, in the white dress) dances with other members of her troupe The gunman appears to take aim at Kulvinder seconds before the blast Kulvinder Kaur (pictured) worked as a dancer and choreographer, mainly at weddings Her husband, Rajinder Singh, said she worked as a dancer and choreographer, performing mainly at weddings. Mr Singh claimed the killer, who was a friend of the groom, had got drunk at the party and got angry when he and his friends were told they were not allowed on stage to dance with Kulvinder and her troupe. He told NDTV: 'They had been asking her to get off the stage and join them... but she refused... so they shot her.' A video of the incident, which was taken on a mobile phone, shows Kulvinder - in a white dress - and three other women dancing on stage. Panic ensues as Kulvinder collapses to the floor after being shot at almost point blank range Suddenly the silhouette of a long gun emerges in the foreground and appears to be pointed straight at Kulvinder. Seconds later she collapses to the ground, having been hit at virtually point blank range. But the Times of India suggested the killing in the suburb of Maur Mandi may have been an accident, due to celebratory firing. The case has fuelled the debate on India's gun problem as firing in the air during weddings and other celebrations is customary in parts of north India, claiming many lives every year. Senior Superintendent of Police, Swapan Sharma, said: 'A case has been registered against four people which includes the owner of the venue, a family member, the person who carried the gun and the shooter. 'The gun is owned by Sanjay Goyal, son of Vijay Goyal, who is a local politician. Sanjay was also present at the crime scene,' he said. Superintendent Sharma said: 'Raids are being conducted to find the shooter and the close family members are being interrogated.' Kulvinder's family said the groom was the son of an important local politician and they claimed the police only reluctantly began an investigation after they protested in the streets. Nobody present in the hall is willing to talk on the issue but nobody can get away with murder Lalitha Kumaramangalam National Commission for Women chief Lalitha Kumaramangalam told Times Now: 'Nobody present in the hall is willing to talk on the issue but nobody can get away with murder.' It is not clear who took the footage, which was captured on a mobile phone camera and later emerged online. In 1999 a model, Jessica Lal, was shot dead at point blank when she refused to serve a drink to a man at a party in Haryana state. Transport minister John Hayes has ordered Highways England to look at whether average speed limits at roadworks can be 'safely' increased beyond the maximum 50mph Speed limits could be eased on motorway roadworks to help end the misery for thousands of drivers a day who are slapped with penalties. Motoring groups have complained that average speed limits on long stretches of motorways is unfair and unnecessarily slowing down Britain's roads. Transport minister John Hayes has ordered Highways England to look at whether average speed limits at roadworks can be 'safely' increased beyond the maximum 50mph to 60mph. Motorway roadworks could also be shortened to a maximum of 10-mile stretches under plans set out by ministers. Mr Hayes also wants to increase the use of contraflows, where temporary lanes are opened on the other side of the motorway, to ease delays caused by roadworks. Currently drivers are handed a minimum 100 fine and three penalty points added to their licence. They catch thousands of people every day with fines worth a combined 3million a year. The proposed changes come ahead of years of further disruption on Britain's motorways and A-roads as part of the Government's biggest building scheme in a generation. The Government is spending 15.2billion on resurfacing and expanding Britain's road network. The investment is designed to ease pressure on the M1, M6, M11 and M20, where drivers currently face the longest delays. Highways England is currently trialling a 60mph limit near upgrades on the M1 near Rotherham. Motorway roadworks could also be shortened to a maximum of 10-mile stretches under plans set out by ministers Last week Nice published draft guidance calling for increased use of variable limits to cut down on pollution-heavy traffic jams. The M1 trial taking place over a four-mile stretch of the northbound carriageway began in November and is due to go on for around another two weeks. Motoring groups have complained that average speed limits on long stretches of motorways is unfair and unnecessarily slowing down Britain's roads Fumes play a role in around 25,000 deaths a year in England, almost 5 per cent of the total, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice). Mr Hayes said: 'I have asked Highways England to look at shortening the length of roadworks to reduce the impact on road users. 'Following my discussions with them, Highways England are working towards utilising shorter lengths and looking at whether they can safely increase speed limits through roadworks, which will improve the overall customer experience and minimise disruption. 'Contraflows and reducing lane size can be used to allow for more lanes to be opened during maintenance.' Ed King, the President of the AA, said: ' If you look at sections like the M3 on the M25 to Basingstoke you have 25 miles of roadworks with a 50mph limit. 'It's very difficult for drivers to concentrate over a period of time at those speeds. Shortening the length of those roadworks would make it safer and mean less people are caught out. The man, 34, and his partner left the children inside for 30 minutes A member of the public saw the crying baby and informed security staff The children were aged seven and four years-old, and four-months-old A couple who left their three children, including a four-month-old baby, inside their car on a hot day, will face court. The Mt Druitt man, 34 and his 29 year-old partner have been charged with leaving three young children in a motor vehicle unattended outside a St Marys shopping centre, in western Sydney on Saturday, The Daily Telegraph reported. A member of the public notified shopping centre security of a crying baby inside a car. Mt Druitt man, 34 and his 29 year-old partner will face court charged with leaving three young children inside a motor vehicle unattended Police arrived at the scene just after 2pm to find the newborn, as well its four and seven-year-old siblings inside the car. The couple allegedly left their children inside the vehicle for 30 minutes in direct sunlight on a day where temperatures reached as high as 28c. The three children were unharmed. The couple will face Penrith Court on January 20. Advertisement Dozens of wealthy residents are today sifting through what remains of their flood-wrecked possessions after a burst water main left a trail of destruction in its wake on streets close to Boris Johnson's north London home. Around 100 people were evacuated from their homes early this morning after raging flood waters tore through 'pride and joy' gardens and townhouse basements in an upmarket area of multi-million pound properties. One elderly couple now fear they will be homeless for Christmas, while homeowner and businessman Stuart Rock described the aftermath as 'like a scene from a disaster movie'. Another tearful woman had to be consoled by passers-by as she broke down on the steps of one of the flood-hit homes. Families say the cost of repairing the damage will likely run into the tens of thousands of pounds. Meanwhile, a torrent of water was seen rushing towards Mr Johnson's four-storey, 2.3million townhouse, but it is unclear if the foreign secretary was home at the time. Scroll down for video Chaos: Dozens of people have been evacuated after a burst water main sent raging flood waters towards homes in Islington Devastation: The water is at a depth of two metres in the basements of properties on Charlton Place in Islington (pictured) One woman was in tears outside a townhouse in Islington after flooding devastated a number of properties on Charlton Place On the rise: Water is seen gushing out of the windows of a basement at a townhouse in Islington earlier this morning A pensioner had to be carried to safety after the water flooded homes in a street where properties are worth up to 5million The Met Police said officers were called to Upper Street at the junction with Camden Passage to reports of a burst water main The water is at a depth of two metres in the basements of properties on Charlton Place in Islington, and about 100 people have been evacuated, London Fire Brigade (LFB) said. Pictures posted on social media show water gushing through the streets and up through the road. Police are using The Steam Passage tavern as a refuge for residents, while Upper Street is currently closed with motorists advised to avoid the area. Homeowner Mr Rock, 56, who lives on a street where homes are worth up to 5million, said: 'The worst moment so far today was the terrible noise or the back doors caving in - whoosh - and you know that's it. 'Its just monstrous - one of those times you think "well, what are we going to do"? Its like a classic disaster movie. 'Basically everything you need to run a house has gone. Its going to take forever to put it right again.' Margaret, 75, and Bernard Fishel, 93, who have lived on Charlton Place, Islington, for 36 years, were evacuated after a 36 inch mains pipe burst. Now they fear they will be forced out of their home for weeks after the property was flooded. Mrs Fishel said: 'At 5.20am it sounded like heavy rain. Then I said "It's not rain, it's water lapping." We got up and looked out and that was it. This map shows the extent of the flooding in the area and how close the waters are to Boris Johnson's house Flood-hit: Businessman Stuart Rock (pictured with his wife Jo Willett) said the garden at his home looked more like a 'lake' Gardens were ruined when water from the burst water main gushed through the streets and towards homes in Islington Emergency services were called to Upper Street at the junction with Camden Passage after reports of a burst water main Rescuers have been helping to evacuate dozens of residents from their homes as water continues to flow through the streets Gardens were ruined and upmarket basements flooded in a part of north London where properties are worth up to 5million The trail of destruction left following the burst water main on Upper Street at the junction with Camden Passage is pictured 'The whole street was a river with water lapping over the pavements, coming down the street. So we phoned 999 for the fire brigade. ' Within about ten minutes the police were there banging on the door, saying they had to evacuate everybody. 'So we got dressed and came down and police carried us across the road because the water was flowing so fast.' Mr Fishel, a retired university maths teacher, said: 'The next thing we saw of our home was on the news, on the television.' His wife, a former university librarian, said: 'That wasn't very nice. I wasn't scared, I was just generally angry because we have experienced it before, ten years ago. 'We do not have family to stay with so I do not know what we will do for Christmas. The basement has been flooded.' LFB, who said they were called just after 5am, have a range of equipment which can be used to help rescue people trapped by flood water, to pump water away and to protect properties. Rescuers carry a pensioner to safety as the rising flood waters threaten more damage to houses in Islington, north London The water is at a depth of two metres in the basements of properties on Charlton Place in Angel, Islington, and about 100 people have been evacuated, London Fire Brigade (LFB) said LFB, who said they were called just after 5am, have a range of equipment which can be used to help rescue people trapped Rescuers have so far evacuated around 100 people from their homes following the early morning flooding destruction The Metropolitan Police said officers were called to Upper Street at the junction with Camden Passage to reports of a burst water main at around 4am. One resident told how he watched as water levels in his basement rose from a few inches to more than eight feet in minutes after a major water main burst. Alex Green, 22, was woken in the early hours as flood water caused the garden wall to collapse. He had only just managed to rescue the family dog before a conservatory window caved in. The house in Devonia Road was flooded as hundreds of thousands of gallons gushed from the burst water main. Mr Green said: 'I was woken up at 6am by the sound of the wall coming down at the bottom of the garden.' 'I spent the next 10 minutes moving things upstairs before a firefighter knocked on the front door and told the family to evacuate.' Mr Green, who is studying a MA in newspaper journalism at City University, had only just brought his dog, Sooty, up the stairs when the conservatory window caved in. He said: 'At first I was just like - this is quite irritating. But then I was terrified. 'We heard a bang and it all came pouring in. Pictures posted on social media show water gushing through the streets and up through the road. One Twitter user said the flood water was approaching Boris Johnson's home (pictured) Water was seen rushing towards Mr Johnson's home (pictured), but it is unclear if the foreign secretary was home at the time Scene: The water main burst at 4am this morning and sent water rushing towards homes (left), flooding basements (right) Rescuers evacuated around 100 people from their homes after water gushed through the streets and up through the road Damage: The destruction caused by the burst water main in Islington was clear to see in Camden Passage early this morning 'The kitchen, lounge, larder and utility room have all been flooded. In the space of five minutes it went from a couple of inches to six, seven, eight feet high.' He added that his mother, who was away last night and has not yet seen the house, will be 'devastated' at the damage to the garden - which has been entirely submerged for hours. 'The garden was her pride and joy,' Mr Green said. Neighbours Stuart Rock and Jo Willet are in talks with a loss adjuster who will estimate the cost of the damage. The couple believe the damage will cost tens of thousands of pounds. Mr Rock said: 'You want to ask Thames Water how many water pipes have burst round here in the last few years. 'This isn't the first time this has happened.' Rosie Cutler, 28, a freelance radio producer who lives in Dalston, was on her way to work when she encountered the flooding, and said: 'London never really gets flooded so it was quite shocking to see.' Thames Water said: 'Were sorry to customers in the N1 postal code area who may experience no water. The arrester wire, which is designed to catch the landing plane, snapped It is believed to have been on a bombing mission in Syria, pilot survived The plane was coming in to land on the carrier Admiral Kuznetsov A Russian Navy jet has crashed into the Mediterranean while operating from the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. The Sukhoi Su-33 Flanker jet reportedly crashed on Saturday, the second such incident involving Russian forces deployed in Syria. The Aviationist reported the plane crashed at its second attempt to land on the aircraft carrier in good weather conditions. The Russian Ministry of Defence said the arrester wire, which is designed to catch the aircraft as it comes into land on the carrier's short runway, snapped. The Sukhoi Su-33 (pictured) is a variation of the Su-27, adapted for use on aircraft carriers The plane skidded off the end of the runway but the pilot ejected before it hit the water and he was later picked up by a Russian Navy search and rescue helicopter. 'Naval aviation sorties are continuing in accordance with the schedule,' the defence ministry said in a statement. It comes only two weeks after a MiG-29K jet crashed on its way back to the carrier. The plane failed to land on the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov (pictured) Naval aviation sorties are continuing in accordance with the schedule Russian Defence Ministry This latest crash is another blow to the Russians, who specificially brought the carrier to the Mediterranean so they could launch airstrikes against rebel-held areas of Aleppo. The first incident, on November 14, happened just days after the flotilla of Russian warships arrived in the eastern Mediterranean after being sent to back up a bombing campaign in support of Moscow's ally, President Bashar al-Assad. The battle group has travelled from the North Sea through the English Channel in the biggest such naval deployment in recent years as part of Russia's military intervention in Syria. Russia has been flying a bombing campaign in Syria for the past year in support of President Assad and has deployed a naval contingent to back up its operation. The Sukhoi Su-33 (pictured) has been heavily involved in bombing missions over Syria The naval task force has been monitored closely by NATO, whose chief Jens Stoltenberg voiced concern the ships would be used to support the Russian military operation in Syria and 'increase human and civilian suffering.' The commander of the carrier, Sergei Artamonov, said last month: 'Flights are being carried out from the deck... they are working on coordination with the shore port. 'The flights have been going on practically every day for the last four days.' Kim Jong-un may be preparing for an invasion of South Korea through a network of secret tunnels, with up to 20 underground passages feared to already exist. South Korean officials already know about four tunnels under the border between the two countries - but fear there could be as many as 16 more. It raises fears Pyongyang is plotting to invade the south and comes just two months after the secretive nation carried out nuclear bomb tests. Kim Jong-un may be preparing for an invasion of South Korea through a network of secret tunnels, with up to 20 underground passages feared to already exist. A passage already known to authorities is pictured above South Korean officials already know about four tunnels at the border between the two countries - but fear there could be as many as 16 more. Pictured is a visitor access tunnel leading to one of the passageways Authorities fear some tunnels were designed to transport up to 30,000 troops an hour, according to North Korea expert Michael Havis. But border guards say the size and design of the passages mean this figure would be 'impossible' to achieve. In 2014, it was reported that South Korean authorities still search for tunnels under the demilitarised zone between the two countries. But the last one to be discovered was in 1990. The first was found a mile into South Korean territory in November 1974. An American officer and South Korean soldier were killed while investigating the tunnel when a bomb went off. At the time there were estimates that up to 2,000 troops an hour would have been able to emerged from the underground passage. The third infiltration tunnel discovered in October 1978 (pictured) was dug at 73m underground In 2014, it was reported that South Korean authorities still search for tunnels under the demilitarised zone between the two countries One of the tunnels is now a tourist site, but is still closely guarded. The last tunnel to be discovered was in 1990 Further searchers revealed a second possible invasion route in March 1975 and a much deeper third tunnel in October 1978 following a tip-off from a defector. One of the tunnels is now a tourist site, but is still closely guarded. It comes days after the US issued new sanctions to cut off money to the country and counter continued 'provocative behaviour' by Pyongyang in the wake of its September nuclear tests. The US move followed a sweeping new round of UN sanctions aimed at choking North Korea's nuclear program by cutting off foreign trade revenue. Pyongyang called the UN action, the harshest to date, an 'abuse of power' and says it will be met with tough countermeasures. The US action designates 16 entities and seven individuals for their suspected ties to the North Korean government or its nuclear and weapons proliferation effort. Company bosses will deliver a letter to Downing Street today urging Theresa May, pictured, to 'get on with leaving the EU' Company bosses will deliver a letter to Downing Street today urging Theresa May to 'get on with leaving the EU'. They tell the Prime Minister it is 'vital' she sticks to her pledge of triggering Article 50 - the formal mechanism for divorcing from the EU - by the end of March but 'preferably sooner'. The Government must stick to the timetable to 'create certainty and confidence' for business in the UK. 'Trade and jobs will follow,' the 200 business leaders write in the letter. It was organised by rival groups Leave Means Leave and Change Britain and is signed by a range of company bosses, including City leaders Dr Peter Cruddas, Sir Michael Hintze, Jim Mellon and Michael Spencer and David Cameron's former enterprise advisor and ex-trade secretary Lord Young of Graffham. JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin, theatre impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh and the leading entrepreneur Luke Johnson are also signatories. They tell Mrs May in the letter they are 'confident that Britain can prosper outside the EU. 'Some of us voted Leave, some Remain. Others represent international businesses with a stake in Britain's success. JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin, pictured, theatre impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh and the leading entrepreneur Luke Johnson are also signatories But the letter will arrive in Downing Street as the Government's lawyers fight to stop its timetable for Brexit being derailed by Remain supporters - led by Gina Miller, pictured, in the Supreme Court 'What we share is a respect for the decision made by a clear majority of the British people to leave the EU, and a belief that it is now vital that Article 50 is triggered within the Government's timeframe - no later than 31st March 2017, but preferably sooner - so that the country can get on with leaving the EU, and businesses and investors can plan accordingly. 'Create certainty and confidence, trade and jobs will follow.' But their letter will arrive in Downing Street as the Government's lawyers fight to stop its timetable for Brexit being derailed by Remain supporters in the Supreme Court. The Government's appeal against the High Court's decision last month that MPs must be consulted before Mrs May triggers Article 50 started this morning. Attorney General Jeremy Wright QC will warn judges not to defy the 'will of the electorate' or 'stray into areas of political judgment' as the case gets underway today. Attorney General Jeremy Wright QC, pictured right outside the Supreme Court, will warn judges not to defy the 'will of the electorate' or 'stray into areas of political judgment' as the case gets underway today Remain figurehead Gina Miller, who defeated the Government in the High Court last month, arrived at the Supreme Court in Westminster this morning after saying Mr Write and other critics are wrong to criticise them or point out their views on the EU. She told the Guardian last night: 'I think it is such a dangerous road to be going down to be attacking the judges and their integrity and their independence. They are being vilified and it is totally disgraceful.' The case is expected to run for four days this week but a decision is not expected until early next year. If the 11 judges decide not to overturn the High Court's decision the Government will have to win a vote in Parliament before triggering Article 50. Racism row: Actor Mark Tree posted this picture online with the caption 'now I can finally play Othello' An amateur dramatics society is at the centre of a racism row over a photo of a 'blacked up' actor with the caption 'now I can finally play Othello'. The image was uploaded by Mark Tree, 36, onto his Facebook page and shows him pouting his lips while his face is covered in 'blackface' make-up. Mr Tree, from Orpington, London, captioned it 'now I can finally play Othello', a reference to the black lead character of Shakespeare's play of the same name. A woman who is a member of Essex-based Chelmsford Theatre Workshop which Mr Tree was also belonged to, said: 'Ooh, blackface, lol.' Another woman, who complained about the photo, said: 'We all know that the backlash against blackface has been well reported and it is a real shame to see that the message hasn't filtered through to such an important part of Chelmsford's cultural life. 'It is the actions of a minority like this that see Chelmsford and wider Essex branded with the stereotype of provincial bigotry, something I'm sure most of us are keen to shake. That starts with holding our cultural institutions to account. 'Theatre has always been an important space for liberal voices, the exploring of identity, and a home for those who society misunderstood, misrepresented, or discriminated against. 'Theatre should be a safe and inclusive space - but how can it be when you have people like this making and acting in shows?' Apology: Chelmsford Theatre Workshop, which often performs at the Old Court Theatre (pictured), has apologised and says it is reviewing its social media policy Barry Taylor, artistic director for the Chelmsford Theatre Workshop (CTW), said: 'With regard to recent posts added by a third party to the Chelmsford Theatre Workshop page regarding apparent racism, the committee would like to state that racism is unacceptable in any theatre and does not condone its members making racist comments. 'The initiator of this matter posted on their own page not realising or intending that this would be seen to represent the views of CTW. 'We have spoken with this person and they made an unconditional apology. 'In discussion they stated they realised their error of judgement and immediately removed the post from their own page. 'CTW extend their own apology for this incident and in light of this, the committee will be reviewing our membership policy and are considering the introduction of a social media protocol.' Mr Tree's apology states: 'I would like to offer my most sincere and profound apologies for the offence caused by my Facebook profile picture; it was not intended to cause offence in any way. Michael Coe has been jailed for attacking a schoolboy he saw cuddling a girl in public The former 'bodyguard' of hate preacher Anjem Choudary has been jailed for 28 months for knocking a schoolboy unconscious because he cuddled his girlfriend in the street. Michael Coe saw himself as an enforcer of 'how Muslims should behave' and tried to enforce strict views on the streets of east London, the court heard. The 35-year-old was radicalised in prison by al Qaida terrorist Dhiren Barot in 2007 while serving an eight-year term for firing a shotgun at police during an arrest. The married father-of-two was convicted of attacking the boy after he took exception to the 16-year-old cuddling his teenage girlfriend in Newham in April. Coe, a Muslim convert, has a long record of violent offences starting when he was 16, including assaults, burglary, robbery and violent disorder. Sentencing him at Southwark Crown Court, Judge Michael Gledhill QC said: 'At the time of these offences you either held extremist views or views that were getting very close to extremist views. 'And I have no doubt at all that these views were nurtured in prison and probably outside prison by your association with convicted extremists in prison, and perhaps out of prison.' Michael Coe (left) is said to have worked as hate preacher Anjem Choudary's bodyguard The judge added: 'You stopped to reprimand them, and you were acting as a self-appointed enforcer of your interpretation at the time of how Muslims should behave.' The judge said he had concluded this for two reasons. 'Firstly, when you told the boy to let the girl go, you asked him how would he feel if someone did the same to his sisters. 'When he protested that he was doing nothing wrong, he showed you his school tie to let you know that he was just a schoolboy. 'You then asked him, and then her, whether they were Muslim. They both denied that they were. 'Why? Because they were frightened of what you would do if they told you the truth, that they were in fact Muslim. He claimed he attacked the boy because he was worried about the girl's safety 'Denying their religion shows just how threatening you were when they said they were not Muslim.' The judge continued that the second reason he believed Coe was policing how he thought young Muslims should behave is because he was involved in a similar incident in 2013. He was convicted of religiously aggravated harassment after seeing a Muslim woman talking to a group of men and telling her that it was against Islam. Sentencing rules mean Coe will be released on licence from prison after serving half of his term. Coe, also known as Mikaeel Ibrahim, has attended a number of extremist demonstrations, including protests over the banning of niqabs in France and the values of Sharia law. He became a close associate of convicted hate preacher Choudary, founder of the banned organisation al-Muhajiroun, of which Coe was a member. Coe was driving through east London when he spotted the two 16-year-olds hugging on the pavement. He pulled over to confront the pair, demanding to know if they were Muslims, before calling the boy's girlfriend a 'whore'. He then grabbed the boy by the throat and threw him to the ground before kicking his head as he lay there, leaving him unconscious and bleeding from two head injuries. The attack took place near Upton Park underground station in east London in April When passing schoolteacher Boutho Siwela tried to come to the teenager's aid, he was also attacked. Coe, who is 6ft 1in and weighs 16 and a half stone, admitted 'shoving' the boy, who is half his size, but claimed he was acting in self defence. In a victim impact statement the youngster, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the attack had left him frightened of older men. Naeem Mian, defending Coe, insisted :'He isn't some kind of self-appointed enforcer that your honour would like to think he is.' Barnaby Joyce was attacked by swarm of flies live on television tonight. The deputy prime minister was left swatting insects away as he spoke to Leigh Sales on ABC 7.30 - with the journalist barely able to keep a straight face. As he tried to discuss the classification of the Adler shotgun and whether to scrap Tony Abbott's Green Army initiative, Mr Joyce was suddenly struck by the plague of flies. Barnaby Joyce was attacked by swarm of flies live on television earlier this evening The deputy prime minister was left swatting insects away as he spoke to Leigh Sales on ABC 730's - with the journalist barely able to keep a straight face Mr Joyce, who was in Tamworth, New South Wales, did his best to remain composed as the flies landed on him, and to his credit the deputy prime minister was still able to field questions as the insects crawled all over his face. But viewers - and even Ms Sales - could not help but notice that Mr Joyce was in some discomfort as he tried to slap the flies away. 'Thanks for persisting with those flies - let's keep going,' Ms Sales said between questions, as the deputy prime minister nodded and smiled awkwardly. But while Mr Joyce persisted, so did the insects - with dozens of the flying critters landing on his mouth, cheeks and nose. He continued to try to swat them without making too much of a scene, but it was too late. Several ABC viewers took to Twitter during the interview to poke fun at the deputy prime minister. As he tried to discuss the classification of the Adler shotgun and whether to scrap Tony Abbott's Green Army initiative, Mr Joyce was suddenly struck by the plague of flies Mr Joyce did his best to remain composed as the flies landed on him, and to his credit the deputy prime minister was still able to field questions as the insects crawled all over his face 'Little wonder Barnaby Joyce is covered in flies. His comments regarding debt, stink,' Alan J Wright tweeted. Dianne F wrote: 'Counting the flies crawling up @Barnaby_Joyce's nose on @abc730.' Anthony Earl mused: 'How many flies went up @Barnaby_Joyce 's nose during his @abc730 interview?' A builder in China has miraculously survived after a six-foot-long lightning conductor pierced his body from his shoulder to waist. The rod, measuring 6ft6, fell from above at a construction site in Huizhou city and became lodged in the man, local media reported. Doctors successfully removed the rod from the 'extremely blessed man' after a two-hour operation. Miracle: A builder in China has survived after a six-foot-long lightning conductor pierced his body from his shoulder to waist Difficulty: Medical staff could not place the patient on the surgical bed as the rod was too long and fire fighters were requested to attend the hospital to cut the rod down to 3ft The 28-year-old builder, known as A Feng, was working on the site on the afternoon of November 29, reported GDTV. A lightning rod fell from the seventh floor of a building at the site and impaled A Feng. The construction worker, still conscious and able to talk, was sent to Huizhou First Hospital. Construction in progress: A lightning rod fell from the seventh floor of a building at the site (pictured) and impaled A Feng Lucky: The surgeon said the builder was 'born with good luck' and that the rod didn't pierce through major vessels Dr Yang Wendong, the hospital's head of cardiothoracic surgery, told MailOnline that the medical staff could not place the patient on the surgical bed as the rod was too long. Fire fighters were requested to attend the hospital to cut the rod down to 3ft before the operation. After inspection, the team realised the steel rod had pierced his abdomen, lung, liver and kidney. However, A Feng was 'born with good luck' as the rod didn't pierce through major blood vessels, according to Dr Yang. After inspection, the hospital staff realised the steel rod had pierced through his abdomen, lung, liver and kidney The rod also only damaged the surface area of his lungs. Dr Yang decided to remove the rod from the man's shoulder by simply pulling it out. The actual removal of the object only took two to three minutes. The team of surgeons then focused on repairing the wounded organs. The entire operation took two hours and the patient's blood loss was minimal. Dr Yang told MailOnline on Monday that A-Feng's condition is currently stable. There is only minor infection in his waist but he has already started eating, according to Dr Yang. Dr Yang decided to remove the rod from the man's shoulder by simply pulling it out (above) David Grunwald disappeared after he dropped his girlfriend off at her house on November 13 The remains of a missing Alaskan teenager have apparently been discovered three weeks after he disappeared. Another teenager was arrested on suspicion of his murder and kidnapping. David Grunwald, 16, told his girlfriend he was going to see his friend Erick Almandinger after he drove her home on November 13. He never returned home. Almandinger, also 16, was arrested on suspicion of murder in the first degree and kidnapping. He will be tried as an adult and appeared in court on Saturday morning. David's mother, Edith Grunwald told KTUU: 'We didn't know Erick. We still don't know Erick.' Alaskan State Troopers reported: 'Others involved in this incident have been identified but have not been charged as of yet.' Troopers are appealing for security footage of David in his 1995 Ford Bronco the night he disappeared. The day after David went missing his car was discovered burned off a trail in Wasilla, Alaska 21 miles away from his home. What appear to be his remains were found weeks later in the Knik River Road area. The remains were sent to the Alaska State Medical Examiner in Anchorage to confirm identity and how he died. David's mother told Alaska Dispatch News her son had plans to join the military and become a pilot one day. David Grunwald, 16, told his girlfriend he was going to see his friend Erick Almandinger David's short life was celebrated at a candlelight vigil on December 3 the day after his remains were discovered. There were approximately 150 people in attendance to support his loved ones. That night the David Grunwald Missing Palmer, AK Facebook page read: 'Sadly, the information in the media is correct, our sweet precious David was murdered.' More than 150 people attended a vigil for David on December 3 'Our hearts and souls are crushed beyond words beyond comprehension of this news, please know from the bottom of our hearts we are grateful for all of your kind words, support and prayers from day one.' David's parents said he was a responsible boy. His last words to his parents as he walked out the door the night he disappeared were 'Love you too.' As relatives and friends of ravers still missing after the Oakland warehouse fire anxiously wait for news, a former resident of the site has claimed the owner stole electricity from his neighbours. Rescue workers are still combing the wreck, after the 'Ghost Ship', a warehouse converted to artist studios and illegal living spaces, rapidly went up in flames on Friday night. So far 33 bodies have been recovered but only half of the warehouse has been examined. A group prays near the site of the warehouse which was left gutted after a fire that has killed at least 33 people Rescue workers are still combing the wreck, after the Ghost Ship, a warehouse converted to artist studios and illegal living spaces, rapidly went up in flames Sol Rodriguez and Aaron Torres visit a shrine for the victims of the Oakland warehouse fire Lists of the missing circulated and many of those who had been unable to reach friends in the past two days had given up hope when authorities said people either escaped without injury or died inside. And now Shelley Mack, who lived in the warehouse two years ago says she always thought the place was a death trap. She claims that the building was often freezing cold and that water and power were stole from neighbours. The 58-year-old tech sales worker and jewelry maker also recalled how inside the building was a jumble of extension cords and heavy musical equipment. She said: 'I didn't think it was going to last this long before it went up or somebody shut it down.' Mack found the rental in a Facebook ad and paid about $700 a month to live there, along with a security deposit of the same amount and a one-time contribution of about $700 to a fund meant to go toward improvements. She said none were ever made. Derick Ion Almena has been named as the owner of the warehouse alongside his wife Micah Allison. They have so far refused to comment on the allegations or the fire. However, one relative of those missing is Andy Kershaw and he is refusing to give up hope. Many people have been leaving flowers, candles and even post-it notes at a makeshift shrine close to the scene A note on a floral tribute that has been left next to the warehouse, which many have said was unsafe Kershaw, a DJ had several friends missing from the party, including his wife, photographer Amanda Allen, and a fellow DJ, Johnny Igaz. He had never heard of the warehouse, and he was appalled by the crowded and unsafe conditions inside. He said: 'The whole point of a warehouse party is it's supposed to be an empty warehouse.' Igaz was reportedly playing a set when the fire broke out. He is listed as a record buyer at Green Apple Books and Music in San Francisco. His Facebook page was littered with tearful posts from friends who called him a beautiful soul and a true friend. Meanwhile, Yuri Kundin of San Francisco said he is awaiting word about his friends, Alex Ghassan and Hanna Henriikka Ruax, who is from Finland. People place flowers and notes at a makeshift memorial yesterday as they came to pay their respects Teenagers gather to pay their respects. The youngest victim of the fire is thought to be 17 years old He hasn't heard from the couple for the last few days and has plastered notes looking for them on social media. Kundin said: 'We're just hoping to hear some good news from a hospital. We don't know what's happening.' Meanwhile Kai Thomas and a group of red-eyed classmates from an arts high school in San Francisco pressed against police tape near the street corner where the 'Ghost Ship went up in flames. Three of the boys had been in the cramped and dark building, Thomas said, but one got separated from them 30 seconds before someone yelled, 'Fire.' 'It was just really smoky and hard to see,' said Thomas, a high school junior who wasn't there, but recounted what he had been told by two others who didn't want to speak. 'They jumped off the second-floor balcony and ran out.' The boys waited for their 17-year-old friend for more than three hours, but he never emerged. In a macabre indication of what the fire may have done to the bodies, authorities are asking relatives to preserve hairbrushes and toothbrushes to assist in matching DNA samples They wouldn't give his name, but the victims included a 17-year-old, as well as people from Europe and Asia and some over 30, said Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly said. Photographer Chris Nechodom, who was at the dance party, said people first thought the smoke was coming from a fog machine. 'And then it got a little thicker,' he said. 'It all happened within seconds. We started seeing people running around, frantic and screaming 'fire'.' One of the many post-it notes left on a sidewalk around the corner from the remains of the warehouse said, 'Praying for you... Hope you're still here.' Meanwhile, in a macabre indication of what the fire may have done to the bodies, authorities are asking relatives to preserve hairbrushes and toothbrushes to assist in matching DNA samples. Advertisement A previously unseen photo has emerged showing Adolf Hitler celebrating the wedding of his future 'brother-in-law' - who he had executed a year later. The picture, taken just three days before D-Day, shows the Nazi dictator congratulating SS officer Hermann Fegelein and bride Gretl Braun at a reception in Salzburg, Austria. Just 11 months later, Hitler ordered the execution of the groom for the crime of deserting his post during the Allied invasion of Europe. Scroll down for video A previously unseen photo has emerged showing Adolf Hitler (right) celebrating the wedding of his future brother-in-law SS officer Hermann Fegelein (left) to bride Gretl Braun (centre). Hitler had Fegelein executed a year later Pictures taken just three days before D-Day also show Eva Braun (centre) being serenaded by Nazi musicians Celebration: Gretl Braun is pictured, right, leaning back on new husband Hermann Fegelein on their wedding day The photo was found in an album of 12 black and white snaps of the wedding reception that lasted for three days and was organised by Eva Braun, the elder sister of Gretl and Hitler's mistress. Many high ranking Nazi's were in attendance The photo was found in an album of 12 black and white snaps of the wedding reception that lasted for three days and was organised by Eva Braun, the elder sister of Gretl and Hitler's mistress. The fuhrer was one of the witnesses to the marriage along with SS chief Heinrich Himmler and Martin Bormann, Hitler's private secretary. The photos show the wedding guests enjoying themselves at the Mirabell Palace in Salzburg with lots of dancing, champagne and live music. Three days later Hitler was fast asleep at his nearby Berghof residence when the Allied invasion of Europe began. As tens of thousands of British, American and Canadian troops landed on the beaches of Normandy at 6am on June 6, Hitler's staff were too afraid to wake him to inform him. The photos show the wedding guests enjoying themselves at the Mirabell Palace in Salzburg with lots of dancing, champagne drinking and live music Three days after the wedding, Hitler was fast asleep at his nearby Berghof residence when the Allied invasion of Europe began The 12 black and white photos taken at her first wedding have sold at Marlows auctioneers of Stafford for 400 Family affair: Sisters Gretl Braun (left) and Eva (right) were pictured embracing at the wedding ceremony This delayed the German response and counter-attack and allowed the Allies to gain a foothold on Nazi-occupied Europe. Eleven months later, in January 1945, and with defeat for Germany only a matter of time, Hitler had retreated to his Fuhrerbunker in Berlin. By April of that year, Russian tanks had reached the outskirts of the city. With battle raging in Berlin, Fegelein, who was also in the bunker, fled after reportedly deciding not to join a suicide pact - but was tracked down and arrested by Hitler's elite security force. He had gone to his Berlin apartment and was in civilian clothes preparing to run away to Sweden or Switzerland and after being dragged back to the bunker, he was subjected to a court martial for desertion. Eva Braun is said to have begged Hitler to spare Fegelein's life with his wife, Gretl, heavily pregnant. Although there are conflicting reports of what happened next, it is thought he was taken to the garden of Berlin's Reich Chancellery on April 28 and shot. Gretl (pictured being serenaded by Nazi musicians) was heavily pregnant when Hitler ordered the execution of her husband The rare set of photos show Gretl Braun receiving wedding gifts at her reception in Austria. High ranking Nazi officials were invited The ceremony took place at a hall in Salzburg, Austria, close to Hitler's Berghof residence A day later, Eva and Hitler married and on April 30 they both committed suicide; Eva by taking cyanide and Hitler by shooting himself. Five days later Gretl gave birth to a daughter, Eva, who she named after her sister. Eva killed herself in 1971 following the death of her boyfriend in a car accident. Gretl married a textile distributer in 1954 and lived in Bavaria until 1987. Aherne, who died from cancer aged 52 in July, did not leave a will Royle Family creator and star Caroline Aherne left an estate worth more than 500,000 to her mother, it has been revealed. Aherne, who died from cancer aged 52 in July, did not leave a will and so her entire wealth will be inherited by her mother Maureen. But as the amount is over the Inheritance Tax threshold of 325,000 she will be forced to pay more than 71,000 back to the taxman. The Mrs Merton star Aherne had no children and was not married at the time of her death. Ahernes business had just 76,000 in the bank when she died. Five years ago her company Mitzi Entertainment was worth almost 300,000. She shot to fame as the bespectacled chat show host in The Mrs Merton Show which ran on the BBC from 1995 to 1998. Her character would gently put down celebrity interview guests with barbed one-line comments. Mrs Merton famously asked Debbie McGee: 'So tell me, what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?' The Bafta-winning writer and actor also wrote and appeared in BBC comedy The Fast Show and co-created The Royle Family with Craig Cash which ran from 1998 to 2012. She played idle daughter Denise Royle in the sitcom about a TV-obsessed Northern family alongside Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston. The Mrs Merton star Aherne had no children and was not married at the time of her death Caroline Aherne and her mother Maureen arriving at the BAFTA Television Awards in 1999 The classic Royle Family line-up of Ralf Little as Antony, Sue Johnston as Barbara, Caroline Aherne as Denise, Ricky Tomlinson as Jim, Liz Smith as nana and Craig Cash as Dave Aherne was married to New Order bassist Peter Hook for three years from 1994 to 1997 Aherne battled alcohol problems and depression in the 1990s and moved to Australia for a year in 2001 after announcing she was quitting showbiz. But she returned and went on to narrate Channel 4's TV reality show Gogglebox from 2013 until she became too ill to continue in April this year. Aherne, a former heavy smoker, revealed in 2014 that she was battling lung cancer and told loved ones in May this year that she was dying. But her condition suddenly worsened and she died alone at her bungalow in Timperley near Altrincham. Aherne was married to New Order bassist Peter Hook for three years from 1994 to 1997. He revealed in his autobiography after her death that she had attacked him with knives, bottles and chairs during their marriage. Aboriginal couple Peter Miller Koncz and his wife Kahlia claim they were refused entry to an Adelaide pub because of their skin colour. They went to the Palais Hotel in Semaphore, Adelaide, on Saturday night only to be turned away by security who told them the manager had said 'not to let Aboriginals in tonight', Mr Miller Koncz alleged. Security told them there had been a large fight involving Aboriginal people at the venue a week before. The father-of-three spoke to management but was met with a dismissive attitude, The Advertiser reported. Aboriginal couple Peter Miller Koncz and his wife Kahlia claim they were refused entry to an Adelaide pub because of their skin colour The father-of-three Peter Miller Koncz and his wife claim they were refused entry to an Adelaide pub because of their skin colour Peter Miller Koncz and his wife, Kahlia, were told they couldn't enter the Palais Hotel on Saturday because they were Aboriginal, he claimed 'My heart dropped and I was in shock after we left. My wife and kids often go there to have lunch and we were even considering having our wedding there a few years ago, that's how much we go to the place,' Mr Miller Koncz told the publication. 'A precedent has been set concerning this kind of behaviour with equal opportunities taken against a hotel in Ceduna and I would be recommending the hotel association conduct cultural awareness training for all staff and security so this kind of behaviour doesn't happen in the future. We can't be treated as second-class citizens in our own country.' Peter Miller Koncz said 'My wife and kids often go there to have lunch and we were even considering having our wedding there a few years ago, that's how much we go to the place' 'My heart dropped and I was in shock after we left,' the father said He posted on the hotel's Facebook page regarding his disappointment with the racism on display, however, the post was later deleted. The owner of the Palais, Steve Karpluk, denied there was any directive from management to deny people entry based on their race. He also completely rejected any claims of racism. 'We are looking into these allegations and we can assure you we take them very seriously,' Mr Karpluk said in a statement. 'We would like to state that as a business and family-owned hotel we categorically deny any allegations of racism and there has never been or will there be a directive from management to refuse any patron entry due to race.' But Mr Miller Koncz said his family wouldn't be going back to a venue they frequently visited - and had even once considered getting married at. We can't be treated as second-class citizens in our own country. Peter Miller Koncz Taylor Power-Smith, also said she'd been denied entry, except the night before on Friday, The Advertiser reported. Although she was told there were 60 people inside and the bar would close shortly, she was also given the line about the fight involving Aboriginals. She said she felt guilty and unfairly judged for something she hadn't done. Ms Power-Smith had complained to the venue and intended to report the incident to the Equal Opportunity Commissioner. Mr Miller Koncz had been advised to do the same. The Palais Hotel in Semaphore, Adelaide, where the alleged incident took place The former boss of Britain's biggest bookmaker secretly urged the Irish government not to give the go-ahead to 'dangerously addictive' fixed odd betting terminals. Stewart Kenny, who founded Paddy Power, slammed the terminals in a consultation response to the Irish government in 2009. The machines - dubbed the 'crack cocaine of gambling' - allow punters to bet 100 every 20 seconds and they raise billions in revenue for the British betting industry. Paddy Power co-founder Stewart Kenny, pictured right alongside non-executive director William Reeve, slammed Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) in a consultation response to the Irish government in 2009 Bookies have repeatedly insisted to regulators in UK the machines are not more addictive than other forms of gambling. Mr Kenny said they were 'particularly enticing to younger gamblers in disadvantaged areas', in a submission uncovered by The Times. He claimed the machines were allowed in Britain only because the UK treasury was 'as addicted to the tax revenue [from the machines] as vulnerable customers are to losing money in them'. In the past 12 months, bookies made 1.75 billion from FOBTs - producing taxes worth 438 million. The Government is consulting on tighter regulations amid demands the maximum stake allowed should be slashed from 100 to 2. The Government is consulting on tighter regulations for FOBTs amid demands the maximum stake allowed should be slashed from 100 to 2 (file picture) Players bet on electronic casino games such as roulette, can re-bet any winnings immediately and are enticed to keep playing with sounds, bright lights and moving graphics. Mr Kenny - who was serving on the Paddy Power board until last summer - would have stood to see his company gain from allowing the machines in Ireland. In the UK, Paddy Power operates 1,400 FOBTs in 350 betting shops. But lobbying against his own interests, he said: 'There is no public demand, other than from sections of the betting industry, for FOBTs to be legalised in Ireland. It is in no ones interest, neither betting shop customers nor wider society. 'Let us learn from the mistake in the UK of allowing them into betting offices, once they are in it is impossible to get rid of them or even curb their more addictive elements.' Paddy Power operates 1,400 FOBTs in 350 betting shops across the UK (file picture) Labour MP Carolyn Harris, who chairs a parliamentary group on FOBTs, welcomed the remarks. She told The Times: 'This admission is refreshing. The gambling industry should not be encouraging people to get involved with something that they know carries a high risk of them losing all their money and in many cases their sanity because the addiction is driving them to desperate levels.' David Lammy, another Labour MP, said: 'FOBTs destroy lives - addiction, debt, destitution, depression and family breakdown. Action is well, well overdue.' Two teenage girls were arrested after a taxi driver was 'beaten to a pulp'. Witnesses say the 47-year-old victim was attacked by a gang of youths after telling them he was booked. They said the group - two girls and two boys - first tried to take the driver's keys, before launching a vicious assault in Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester. The victim managed to escape and run off up the road but is said to have been followed by one of the girls who began hitting him again, knocking him to the floor, before stamping on his head. Witnesses say the 47-year-old victim was attacked by a gang of youths after telling them he was booked (the attack happened in this street) It happened at around 9.30am on Sunday morning in Lullington Close. The driver was taken to hospital and police confirmed two females were arrested and were being questioned. A cordon was put in place around the Club Cars taxi while officers carried out their investigation. One neighbour told how her five-year-old daughter saw what was happening out of the window and began screaming. 'It was terrible,' she said. 'My neighbour had phoned for a taxi and when it came round the kids tried getting in it, he told them the taxi was booked and he couldn't take them anyway because they didn't ring the base to book one. 'That's when they tried taking his keys and ended up beating him in the middle of the main road, he got away and then the girl ran up to him and started hitting him, got him to the floor and was stamping on his head. The driver was taken to hospital and police confirmed two females were arrested and were being questioned after the Lullington Close (pictured) attack 'It was awful to watch.' The neighbour added: 'The taxi driver was in a right mess, he was beaten to a pulp and was sobbing his heart out. All he was going on about was his young children.' A police spokesman said: 'We were called to Lullington Close in Wythenshawe at 9.32am on Sunday morning to reports of an assault on a taxi driver. 'Two females were detained for assault and remain with officers. 'The 47-year-old victim was taken to hospital, and has since been released.' Pope Benedict has said he was not entirely happy when he heard the name of his successor but was reassured after he 'saw how he spoke with God'. The German-born pontiff, who was the first Pope in 600 years to step down from the office as head of the Roman Catholic Church, said Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, had been something of an unknown quantity. He said: 'No one expected him. When I first heard his name, I was unsure. But when I saw how he spoke with God and with people, I truly was content. And happy.' He says of Pope Francis: 'He embodies holiness, and is a man of a man of God.' Benedict (pictured, left) was the first Pope since 1415 to abdicate while head of the Vatican. He said he was initially unsure when his successor - who became Pope Francis (right) - was chosen Pope Benedict - who, as Cardinal Ratzinger, was well known within the Vatican as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, before he was elected Pope in 2005 - has published an English version of his autobiography, Last Testament: In His Own Words. AOL report that in the book he talks about his childhood in Nazi Germany, about trying to clean up sexual abuse by Catholic clerics, and the so-called Vatileaks case, in which his butler leaked letters that alleged corruption in the Vatican. He also talks about his decision to step down due to ill health, the first since Pope Gregory XII quit in 1415. Pope Benedict (right) was seen as quite a conservative pontiff while Pope Francis (left) had a reputation for tolerance and for tackling issues of social deprivation The book is the result of a series of interviews the former Pope gave to German journalist Peter Seewald. Benedict told Mr Seewald he was a 'news junkie' who had been 'glued to the television to see who won' when his successor was chosen in 2013. He said he ignored a call from Archbishop Bergoglio, not realising that he was the man who had just been chosen during the papal conclave. Benedict says in his book: 'What did touch me, though, was that even before going out onto the loggia, he tried to phone me.' Benedict, now 89, is blind in his left eye and cannot walk without assistance. The Daily Beast reported that at one point Mr Seewald asked him if he would see his 90th birthday and Benedict replied: 'Hopefully not.' Mr Seewald told the German newspaper Die Zeit: 'I don't want to say he is tired of life, but that he has simply given all he's got to give.' A family's dream holiday to Disneyland Paris was ruined when they were 'gassed and robbed' whilst staying at a service station. Fiona and Andrew Plews were asleep in their caravan with their young children, Megan, 10, and Adam, seven, when they had more than 1,000 worth of possessions stolen. They were on their way to the Disney theme park when they decided to pull over and rest at a service station. Fiona and Andrew Plews were asleep in their caravan with their young children, Megan and Adam, when they had more than 1,000 worth of possessions stolen French police are investigating whether they were gassed before thieves broke through the caravan door. Mr Plews was taken to hospital suffering a rash and blistering on his leg, which he says was caused by an adverse reaction to the gas. French authorities have warned holidaymakers not to stay at service stations overnight because thieves will use gas to knock out those sleeping inside caravans. Mrs Plews, from Newton Aycliffe, near Middlesborough, told the Northern Echo: 'All the things that happened - you couldn't make up. 'We are 99 per cent sure we had been gassed because we would have heard something. 'It didn't seem real. It wasn't until later on we realised they could have done anything - we could have found these two (the children) gone. It was scary.' Megan and Andrew with Damo Stevens, one of he stars of television programme, Police Interceptors paying the children a surprise visit after their ordeal The family were on their way to the Disney theme park when they decided to pull over and rest at a service station (stock image) The family had stopped and parked between two lorries at the service station at around 4am. But when Megan work up at 7.50am to see the door wide open she knew something was wrong. A screwdriver had been used to force the door. Once inside the burglars stole valuables, including tablet computers and a watch. After informing the authorities the family continued their holiday only for Mr Plew's condition to worsen and need urgent hospital treatment. Doctors treated the 40-year-old's rash and blisters for five days. Star of Police Interceptors, Damo Stevens, visited the family after the ordeal. Formula 1 star Jenson Button said he and his wife were gassed when they were robbed last year. The pair were with friends in St Tropez when thieves broke in and stole valuables worth 300,000 including Mrs Button's engagement ring, believed to be worth 250,000. Tyrone Unsworth cried hysterically as he told a friend of how kids at his Brisbane high school told him he should kill himself just one day before the 13-year-old committed suicide. The gay, indigenous teenager died on November 22 after being bullied, taunted and even hit over the head with a fence paling in the months prior, his friend Gypsie-Lee Edwards Kennard told ABC's 7.30. 'He was an absolute mess, crying his eyes out and telling me everyone wants him dead and I said, "Tyrone, what do you mean everyone wants you dead?",' she said of the conversation she had with Tyrone on a fishing trip the day before his death. Scroll down for video Gypsie-Lee Edwards Kennard (pictured) has spoken out about the bullying Tyrone Unsworth endured before he took his own life Tyrone Unsworth (pictured with his mum), a gay 13-year-old high school student from Brisbane, cried hysterically as he told a friend how kids taunt him and tell him to kill himself just one day before he committed suicide The indigenous teenager died on November 22 after being bullied, subjected to homophobic slurs and even hit over the head with a fence paling in the months prior, his friend Gypsie-Lee Edwards Kennard (pictured) said 'He said, 'The kids at school keep telling me to go kill myself', and I was obviously gobsmacked,' she recalled of her conversation with Tyson (pictured) 'He said, "The kids at school keep telling me to go kill myself", and I was obviously gobsmacked,' she said. 'He just felt like no-one wanted him around and he didn't belong.' The year seven student at Brisbane's Aspley State High School had also been subjected to homophobic slurs and name calling. '[The other students] did call him nasty names, like f****t and fairy,' she said. Ms Edwards Kennard said the bullying escalated one month ago when a student he often fought with hit him. 'A kid and him, they fight a lot, this kid picked up a fence paling and hit him from behind and knocked him out and broke Tyrone's jaw,' she said. Ms Edwards Kennard said Tyrone was targeted by a boy who broke his jaw with a fence paling '[The other students] did call him nasty names, like f****t and fairy,' she said of her friend (pictured with his mother) the day before he died Tyrone liked to dress up and would sometimes ask to wear make-up, Ms Edwards Kennard said Ms Edwards Kennard said the bullying escalated one month ago when a student he often fought with hit him with a piece of wood and broke his jaw (Tyson is pictured with his mum) After which, his family said he refused to go back to school. Although she begged him to talk to his teachers about the bullying, Ms Edwards Kennard said Tyrone told her they didn't care, according to 7.30. Tyrone's death ignited national outrage and his parents have pleaded for more support for members of the LGBT community and an end to harassment and bullying of in schools. The 13-year-old's family has continued to be trolled online after someone made a social media profile under Tyrone's name and began sending messages to his mother. Their identity is unknown. Ms Edwards Kennard begged Tyrone to speak with his teachers but the teenager believed they did not care about his troubles On December 1, Tyrone was farwelled by his family and friends at Albany Creek Memorial Park Lakeview Chapel The 13-year-old's family (pictured) has continued to be trolled online after someone made a social media profile under Tyrone's name and began sending messages to his mother Tyrone's parents embrace during his funeral last week (pictured) On December 1, Tyrone was farwelled by his family and friends at Albany Creek Memorial Park Lakeview Chapel. Ms Edwards Kennard joined hundreds of people gathered in Brisbane on Sunday for a rally to promote the Safe Schools program, during which people were asked to wear bright colours similar to those Tyrone enjoyed wearing. 'He loved girly things, he's chosen dresses for me and his mum to wear, he's asked to use makeup,' Ms Edwards Kennard told 7.30. Because he's was enjoyed such activities, kids though he could be a target for their bullying, she said. For confidential support call the 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14 or 1800 551 800. A 32-year-old French man has been ordered two years of jail time and a 30,000 fine after being found guilty of repeatedly visiting pro-ISIS websites. His conviction in Ardeche last week has drawn the attention of human rights activists, who believe his sentence under a controversial new law is unjust. Though he had no plans to launch a terror attack or join ISIS, police claim he had pro-ISIS imagery including execution videos on his mobile, PC, and USB drive. A 32-year-old French man has been ordered two years of jail time and a 30,000 fine after being found guilty of repeatedly visiting pro-ISIS websites He also had the ISIS flag as the background of his mobile, of which the phone passcode was '13novembrehaha' - the date of terrorist attacks that killed 130 people in Paris last year. The unnamed man maintained his innocence, stating that he was simply perusing the sites out of curiosity, according to Yahoo News. He told the court: 'I wanted to tell the difference between real Islam and the false Islam, now I understand.' The man's computer password was '13novembrehaha', the date of terrorist attacks at Le Bataclan in Paris last year which killed 130 people - mourners light candles in remembrance However, he admitted to not reading any international news or press, and police claim he had been regularly visiting the pro-ISIS sites for two years. Family members stated that the man's behaviour had changed recently - and that he'd grown a long beard and became aggravated when asked about religion. Human rights activists have condemned his conviction. The honorary president of the Federation for Human Rights, Patrick Baudouin, called the sentence 'excessive' and stated: 'The consultation of a site does not define a person as a terrorist.' The new law allows individuals to be jailed and ordered to pay 30,000 for 'habitual' viewing of pro-ISIS materials, including photos or videos In the wake of several tragic terror attacks in France, the country has been on high alert, and implemented a new law enforcing strict penalties for viewing pro-ISIS material. Article 421-2-5-2 of their penal code makes 'habitual' viewing illegal, and states that 'images or representations showing the commission of such acts consisting of voluntary violence to life is punishable by two years imprisonment and a 30,000 fine'. However, individuals are allowed to visit the sites if they are acting 'in good faith' for 'research, to inform the public, or for judicial purposes.' Australian customers have been scammed out of thousands of dollars by Airbnb, according to the latest research. The Australian competition and consumer commission have revealed the number of complaints made about the home-stay networking app has tripled since 2015. The ACCC Scamwatch website received over 150 complaints with a total of $80,000 lost to dodgy accommodation deals. Over 150 complaints about dodgy Airbnb deals have been lodged with the ACCC with a total of $80,000 lost to dodgy accommodation deals (stock image) The commission's deputy chairwoman Delia Rickard warned holidaymakers to be aware of great locations being advertised at cheap price. Ms Rickard said scammers direct people away from the official payment method of Airbnb and ask for payment using money order or third-party wire transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram. She added that some have gone to greater lengths by setting up 'very convincing fake' accounts to take personal details and banking information. 'Be aware that the scammers may send 'confirmation' emails which appear to be official, using a logo or an email address that imitates the real thing.' The deputy chairwoman advised people to double check the email, website or URL and to be aware that some links may redirect to a fake address that appears like the legitimate site. The commission's deputy chairwoman Delia Rickard warned holidaymakers to be aware of great locations being advertised at cheap price (stock image) Sam McDonagh, Airbnb Australia's country manager, said the company is happy to be working with the ACCC to ban the scammers, in a report by The Sydney Morning Herald. 'The bottom line is when you book a reservation through our secure platform, you receive the benefits of Airbnb's global trust and safety team and the forty safety features that kick in long before a transaction can take even place,' McDonagh said. Ms Rickard said that peer-to-peer sites such as Airbnb have secure payment systems in place where they act as the middle-man between the traveler and the property owner and provide both party's with safeguards for refunds, cancellation policies and dispute resolution. The White House says World War II veterans who feel 'personally embittered' by Japan's unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor should set aside their feelings and welcome Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the military base later this month. Abe will meet Barack Obama at the site of the 1941 sneak attack, which was described as a day 'a date which will live in infamy,' for a final summit, just weeks before he hands over power to President-elect Donald Trump. The Japanese leader has not said whether or not he will apologize for the provocative attack that thrust the United States into the world war. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday 'the kind of sentiment that's being expressed by the prime minister of Japan is one' the administration believes 'would be warmly received by most Americans.' Scroll down for video Shinzo Abe, left, will become the first Japanese Prime Minister to visit Pearl Harbor when he travels to Hawaii for a final summit with outgoing US president Barack Obama, right Japanese aircraft attacked the US Pacific fleet on December 7, 1941 killing 2,400 people President Obama met with Prime Minister Abe at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on May 27, to become the first serving US President to visit the site of the world's first atomic attack Earnest told a reporter inquiring about an apology and how it might perceived, 'I can't speak for every single American and how they will react to this particular situation. 'A WWII veteran who was drafted by the U.S. military to go and fight for our country overseas in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack might feel quite embittered, and I think it would be a perfectly natural and understandable human reaction to not be particularly satisfied with the words of the Japanese prime minister.' The White House official began to make a statement about those veterans, saying, 'The thing that we know about the Greatest Generation of Americans is that they're anything....' but stopped himself mid-sentence. He paused, restarted and said, 'I think, we take a risk if we underestimate their patriotism and their capacity to set aside their own personal interests and prioritize the ambition and opportunity of the American people. 'So yes, there may be some who feel personally embittered, but I'm confident that many will set aside their own personal bitterness, not because they're personally satisfied by the words of the prime minister but because they recognize how important this moment is for the United States. Adding, 'And that's certainly why they qualify to be described as the Greatest Generation.' Abe will visit Hawaii on December 26 and 27 for the highly symbolic meeting with Obama. The Japanese PM will pray for the war dead at Pearl Harbor. The December 7, 1941 attack claimed the lives of 2,403 Americans with a further 1,178 wounded and prompted the entry of the United States into the Second World War. Obama became the first sitting president to travel to Hiroshima, the site of the war-ending atomic bomb in May. He did not apologize for the United State's use of the deadly weapon. Instead, the U.S. president said, 'We come to Hiroshima to ponder the terrible forces unleashed in the not so distant past. We come to mourn the dead.' Abe on Monday said, 'We must never repeat the tragedy of the war. I would like to send this commitment. At the same time, I would like to send a message of reconciliation between Japan and the US.' The White House confirmed the meeting in an official statement that said 'the two leaders' visit will showcase the power of reconciliation that has turned former adversaries into the closest of allies, united by common interests and shared values'. President Obama, pictured at the USS Arizona memorial on December 29, 2011, will meet Prime Minister Abe for their last official summit before he leaves the White House next month A ceremony will be held on Pearl Harbor on Wednesday to mark the 75th anniversary of the attack. A moment of silence will be observed at 7.55am - when the first Japanese aircraft struck their first targets. In the seven decades since the end of the war, the United States and Japan have become close allies as Japan rebuilt itself into an economic power. It is one of the more remarkable turnarounds of former enemies in world history. Abe said Monday, 'Our talks in Hawaii will be a chance to show the rest of the world our ever stronger alliance in the future. 'I'll visit Pearl Harbor with President Obama. This will be a visit to console the souls of the victim. I would like to show to the world the resolve that horrors of war should never be repeated.' The White House refused to say on Monday whether Abe would or should apologize on behalf of his country. 'I don't want to prejudge at this point what Prime Minister Abe may choose to say when he visits Pearl Harbor,' Earnest said. 'I think that most Americans would warmly receive the sentiment that he expressed in the statement earlier today.' Earnest said it is the White House's opinion that the visit 'underscores the benefits of pursuing peace and reconciliation.' The State Department likewise said, 'The meeting will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review our joint efforts over the past four years to strengthen the US-Japan alliance, including our close cooperation on a number of security, economic, and global challenges. 'The President will also accompany Prime Minister Abe to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor to honor those killed. 'The two leaders visit will showcase the power of reconciliation that has turned former adversaries into the closest of allies, united by common interests and shared values.' A police officer has been filmed repeatedly punching a man in the face during a forceful arrest in Perth. Three cops are seen pinning the man to the floor in the shocking video that appears to show an officer thumping him in the face at least three times. The footage is reportedly being investigated by police, who are said to have claimed that the officers' force 'may have been justified'. A police officer has been filmed repeatedly punching a man in the face during a forceful arrest in Perth The arrest video, obtained by 9 News, reportedly shows a wanted man being detained in Perth. The short clip does not show the man being tackled and it is not clear whether he was resisting arrest or endangering the officers' safety. It is not known why the man was arrested or what he was wanted for. A probe has reportedly been launched into the arrest. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Western Australia Police for comment. Did you see the arrest? Email ollie.gillman@dailymail.com The son of the celebrated interior designer who worked on the QE2 and the Savoy has lost his multi-million pound legal battle against his mother and sister to claim his father's entire fortune. Michael Inchbald - who enjoyed a glittering career and lived in one of London's most expensive private homes - left his fortune shared equally between his son and daughter when he died in 2013. But, after his death, his 57-year-old son Courtenay launched a High Court battle, claiming the 92-year-old wanted his sister's share of the inheritance to eventually pass to him and his children. Courtenay Inchbald, the son of the celebrated interior designer who worked on the QE2 and the Savoy, has lost his multi-million pound legal battle against his mother and sister Amanda (right) to claim his father's entire fortune For the past three years, Courtenay has been embroiled in a bitter fight with his sister Amanda, 56, and mother Jacqueline Duncan, whom he accused of conspiring to swindle him out of his rightful inheritance. But a senior judge has now ruled against Courtenay, insisting the revered designer knew his own mind when he signed his final will in 2007. Handing down his ruling, Judge John Martin QC said: 'I am not prepared to accept the picture he (Courtenay) paints. 'He has made this case his full-time work for the last three years or so, and appears to me to have lost all sense of perspective about it.' Mr Inchbald - whose high-profile portfolio includes the first-class saloon on the QE2, the penthouse at Claridge's and the American Bar at the Savoy - signed his final will in 2007, six years before his death. Apart from small gifts to others, it split his fortune equally between his two children. Luxury living: Designer Michael Inchbald with his first wife, Jacqueline Duncan, their son Courtenay, left, and daughter Amanda, at their home in Milner street, Knightsbridge, London, in November 1960 But that will replaced one written in 2005, which gave Courtenay half the estate and held the other 8million in trust for Amanda for life. That will stipulated that the capital would revert to her brother or his children when she died. Richard Wilson QC, for Courtenay, had argued that the move from a life interest trust in 2005 to an absolute bequest was a 'fundamental change' which Mr Inchbald did not understand. He was suffering from dementia at the time and did not 'know or approve of' the contents of the new will, he claimed. A room inside Mr Inchbald's house featuring a large Georgian portrait above a marble fireplace, pictured Other rooms in his property include a large entrance hall with golden-framed mirror, left, and a study complete with 17th Century chairs, right Michael Inchbald, who was born in March 1920, spent much of his childhood at Stanley House in Chelsea, the home of his uncle which he would later inherit and transform into one of the most beautiful properties in London (pictured) Courtenay also claimed his mother had 'masterminded' a scheme to surround his father with flunkies who imposed their views on the ailing designer. But Judge John Martin QC said there was no truth to the claims and that Courtenay had 'persuaded himself' of a scurrilous plot that never happened. He also added that Mr Inchbald had 'a strong sense of family loyalty' and 'a well known eye for detail'. He simply left half of his worldly wealth to each of his children and there was nothing odd or suspicious about that, he ruled. The judge concluded: 'I had no hesitation in reaching the view that Mr Inchbald was fully aware of the nature and effect of what he was doing. Mr Inchbald's high-profile portfolio includes the the American Bar at the Savoy (pictured) In 1969, Mr Inchbald was commissioned to work on the first class saloon on the QE2, The Queens Room (pictured), where he designed everything from ashtrays to the carpet The designer also worked on the penthouse suite in Claridge's, London (pictured) 'There is nothing to suggest that the dispositions in the September 2007 will were contrary to his true intentions.' An equal, outright, division of his fortune between his two children was 'unremarkable', he ruled. FROM CRUISE SHIP ASHTRAYS TO BUCKINGHAM PALACE: THE LIFE OF MICHAEL INCHBALD Michael Inchbald, who was born in March 1920, spent much of his childhood at Stanley House in Chelsea, the home of his uncle which he would later inherit and transform into one of the most beautiful properties in London. As a child, Mr Inchbald had a precocious talent for drawing and was sent to Sherborne, where he devoted his time to artistic creations. He later enrolled at the Architectural Associations school but preferred interiors and went on to forge a reputation as a designer. In the 1950s, after winning prizes for designs including a chair and an ashtray, Mr Inchbald began to design for companies, creating headquarters for Plessey and Bank of America. In 1969, he was commissioned to work on the first class saloon on the QE2, The Queens Room, where he designed everything from ashtrays to the carpet. As his career developed, he was also employed by hotels, designing the penthouse at Claridges, American Bar at the Savoy, and the interiors for the Berkeley. He was also consulted about changes to the decor of Buckingham Palace. In 1960 his first wife, Jacqueline, began offering a concentrated course in all aspects of design and decoration, which evolved into the renowned Inchbald School of Design. It was initially located at Stanley House, but is now based in Belgravia. Advertisement Courtenay also claimed his father's valuable collection of Thomas Blunt clocks had been promised to him. He told the court the fact they were not left to him in the will must have been due to a misunderstanding or 'a clerical error'. But the judge said the will clearly stated Mr Inchbald's intention that the clocks should be put on display at the British Museum. The court heard Mr Inchbald lived in a Grade-II listed building in Milner Street, Kensington, said to be one of the grandest private homes in the capital. His children were the product of his first marriage, to Mrs Duncan, which ended in divorce in the mid-1960s. As well as his work on the QE2 and London's most famous hotels, Mr Inchbald was reportedly consulted about changes to the decoration at Buckingham Palace. He was also commissioned by the Duc de la Rochefoucauld, the 13th Duke of St Albans and the 6th Marquess of Bristol for work on stately homes. Speaking about her father, Amanda had told the court: 'He was very particular, he wouldn't be pushed around by anyone. 'He wanted to dot the I's and cross the T's and he checked everything to the Nth degree. I never spoke to my father about his financial affairs or his will.' And her barrister, Peter John, said: 'There is nothing sinister or unusual or unreasonable in what he did in September 2007. 'Far from the suggested conspiracy, here is a man very content... to make a will which brings equality to both his offspring. A digital artist has shed new light on famous faces from the past by colourising historic black and white images. Marina Amaral, 21, from Brazil, chose well known figures and used detailed research to ensure original colours were represented. Her painstaking work has resulted in a fresh perspective on familiar faces including Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf and Alexander Graham Bell. A digital artist has shed new light on famous faces from the past - including former US president Abraham Lincoln (pictured) - by colourising historic black and white images Marina Amaral, 21, from Brazil, chose well known characters - including Virginia Woolf (pictured) - and used detailed research to ensure original colours were represented Her painstaking work has resulted in a fresh perspective on familiar faces including Scottish inventor Alexander Graham Bell (pictured) The Brazilian selected photographs of famous individuals including US writer, Mark Twain (pictured) It has also had the effect of humanising criminal figures, including those involved in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Marina said: 'There's nothing automatic in the process, which means that every pixel and every detail is coloured by hand. Photoshop gives me the tools and workspace, but the rest is up to me. 'An extensive and detailed research process happens beforehand for me to be able to reproduce the original colours with the greatest accuracy possible. 'I am aware that I need to respect all the historical aspects of each photo, and that's why absolutely nothing is removed from the original shot. The colours are the closest possible to the original colours of that particular scene.' Another transformed image shows John F Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (poictured) Sergeant Taria was a member of the Grenadiere de la Garde from 1809 to 1815 and one of the last surviving veterans of Napoleon's army. He is shown here in full dress uniform, wearing the Saint Helene meda Another figure from the past selected for the picture project was US Major General William T. Sherman Included in the transformed photos are pictures of the 16th US president Abraham Lincoln, American author Mark Twain, British writer Virginia Woolf and Scottish inventor Alexander Graham Bell. Another set of photos shows John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated Lincoln, as well as co-conspirators Lewis Powell, David Herold and George Atzerodt. Another transformed image shows John F Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Amaral first got into the specialised field of colourising archive images by using Photoshop. 'I started to restore and put colour into photos that were originally black and white, allowing people to see history from a new and colourful perspective. Photos show John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated Lincoln, as well as co-conspirator Lewis Powell (pictured) Edmund Spangler (pictured) was another suspect in Abraham Lincoln's assassination David Edgar Herold (pictured) was an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln David Edgar Herold (pictured) was an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln John Harrison Surratt, Jr. was accused of plotting with John Wilkes Booth to kidnap Lincoln and suspected of involvement in the assassination 'Each photo is made to be realistic by recognising the value behind each one of them, respecting and preserving their stories, paying attention to the finer details and maintaining their original essence. She said that every completed work 'has gone through long and in depth research' that she said was backed by experts in each particular area. 'Colouring black and white photos is an art that requires a deep work of research, analysis of each object to make it be as realistic as possible, historical knowledge and enough respect to value and preserve every detail in each story. It is a complex process able to transport us to anywhere. 'It feels very weird to look at old photos and realise how many people have passed through this world, wrote their stories and died. 'This causes in me a combination of sadness and fascination. I look at each person's faces trying to imagine what happened in their lives.' Another set of photos shows John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln George Atzerodt (pictured) was executed along with three others over the Lincoln assassination conspiracy Michael O'Laughlen, Jr. was another conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln A Labour MP was branded a rodent and an evil money-grabber in a series of repulsive anti-Jewish blogs over four months, the Old Bailey heard today. Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger, 35, is said to have been harassed online by Joshua Bonehill-Payne, 23, a committed proponent of anti-Semitic views. Bonehill-Paine allegedly posted five hateful and insulting articles about the woman he blamed for the jailing of a far-right extremist he saw as a comrade. Trial: Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger (left), 35, is said to have been harassed online by Joshua Bonehill-Payne (right), 23, a committed proponent of anti-Semitic views Garron Helm was sentenced to four weeks in prison after pleading guilty to sending a malicious communication. He tweeted a picture of Ms Berger with a Star of David superimposed on her forehead accompanied by the words #Hitler was right. Philip Stott, prosecuting, told jurors that Bonehill-Paine regarded the sentence as wrongful and set about targeting Ms Berger afresh. Mr Stott said: The common ideology which so stirred Mr Bonehill-Paine is one of fierce anti-Semitism. Throughout the articles... Ms Berger is referred to by Mr Bonehill-Paine as, for example, a rodent, as evil, a money-grabber, a dominatrix and responsible for the death of Jesus. Repulsive as they may be to you and me, I understand that Mr Bonehill-Paine is not likely to dispute that he made these remarks. The prosecutor told jurors that the defendant was expected to argue his posts were reasonable in the circumstances and fall within the bounds of free speech and freedom of political expression. Four of the blogs were posted on The Daily Bale (Britain Against Left-wing Extremism), which Bonehill-Paine founded, and another on his personal website. Each article makes anti-Semitic remarks about Jewish people, Jewish Labour MPs and their colleagues and Ms Berger in particular, the court heard. At court: Bonehill-Paine allegedly posted five hateful and insulting articles about Ms Berger (left, today), who he blamed for the jailing of a far-right extremist he saw as a comrade Bonehill-Paine, of Yeovil, Somerset, denies racially aggravated harassment of Ms Berger between October 26, 2014 and January 25, 2015. The first post came seven days after Helm was sent down on October 20 2014. In a blog entitled Racist Anti-White Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger Exposed, Bonehill-Paine allegedly accused her of criminally instigating a campaign of personal hatred against British freedom of speech hero. He went on to state that she must be a dominatrix with a deep-rooted hatred for men and her choice of partners makes her a money-grabber, the court heard. The post was illustrated with three offensive images, including one of Ms Berger's face superimposed on a rat, the court heard. The MP's parliamentary assistant, Eve Byrne (pictured), reported the blogs to police In a second post on November 4, 2014, Ms Berger was described as being part of a new line of Jewish MPs who are ensuring that white genocide happens without fail. An article days later was entitled Zog (Zionist Occupied Government) attacks Daily Stormer in retaliation to a successful Berger campaign. The far-right website was hailed for its fantastically successful campaign against the Jewess cited as a battle between good and evil, white and anti-white. On November 20, 2014, the defendant went on to post Joshua Bonehill-Paine: On the eve of battle in which he is depicted holding a Union flag. Referring to a court hearing for similar offences, he described a charge against him of calling a Jewish pervert a Jew, jurors were told. The final piece, on January 24 2015, was titled The Legacy of Operation Filthy Jew B****. Mr Stott told jurors: It was, as such a title might suggest, the article which caused Ms Berger perhaps most distress. Within it, Mr Bonehill-Paine celebrates the 2,500 plus tweets which Ms Berger received as a result of the campaign and urged that 'veterans of Operation Filthy Jew B**** should be on stand-by for future operations'. The MP was alerted to the blogs by friends and constituents and her parliamentary assistant, Eve Byrne, reported them to police. Bonehill-Paine was arrested on February 13 last year. On being charged, he allegedly said: I am really pleased. This gives me an opportunity to be found not guilty, hopefully at a full Crown Court trial, with the media that will bring. Attending court: Bonehill-Paine allegedly accused Ms Berger (pictured today) of criminally instigating a campaign of personal hatred against British freedom of speech hero Mr Stott told jurors: Both the language and the imagery deployed in these articles are strongly offensive. You might think the message they convey is even more so - that Ms Berger is, through her membership of the Jewish faith and community, filthy, money-grabbing and a dominatrix, evil - in short to be detested. That she has gained her position through being put there by other Jewish Labour MPs in the furtherance of an imagined white genocide rather than, as is the real case, by being democratically selected and elected. The prosecutor highlighted more examples of Bonehill-Paine's passionate hatred of the Jewish community in YouTube rants from the time. A video posted in October 2014 encouraged people to back the #FreeGarronHelm campaign. Another, the following January, called The Jewification of Great Britain, talks of what he saw as the foreign Jewish enemy, the court heard. On October 28, 2014, Bonehill-Paine admitted six charges of sending malicious communications and one of harassment over posts on Twitter and the Daily Bale alleging that several people were paedophiles. He was on bail awaiting sentence for the whole period he is alleged to have harassed Ms Berger and was handed a suspended sentence in February 2015, the court heard. Giving evidence at the Old Bailey, Ms Berger said she found the cliched image associating a member of the Jewish faith with a rodent as troubling and she was incredibly concerned. She told jurors: I felt sick really. She said: It's attacking me for my faith or religion and not something I have said or done for my constituents. Ms Berger went on to describe the effect of the defendant's alleged Filthy Jewish Bitch Campaign following Helm's jail sentence. She said: I did not jail anyone - it was the police and CPS to prosecute, and he pleaded guilty and it's not within my gift to send anyone to jail. Some of the militaristic language used about going into battle was particularly worrying, she said. On fears for her personal safety, the MP said: It's fair to say I was the most concerned I have ever been about my personal safety since I was elected. It was in the midst of this Filthy Jewish B**** campaign the police were in constant contact with me. They were in my office and home and assisted my personal safety. I had police patrolling outside my home and office. It was because of those patrols that a demonstration happened outside my office over a weekend in support of Garron Helm. I have received as an MP anti-Semitism since I was elected. The scale and body during this period, combined with articles, I felt very much under attack. It was all-consuming. Ms Berger said measures had been put in place in part because of the online posts. The Labour politician told jurors that some of the blogs were still online. Even if you were convicted in this country, if it is an American website there is nothing you can do, she said. Cross examining, James Palfrey suggested there were elements of the posts which were a puerile attempt at satire. He asked if, for example, anyone would seriously blame her for the death of Jesus. But Ms Berger said: My interpretation of it - it is clearly anti-Semitic. Mr Palfrey went on to ask about the representation of Jewish people in Parliament. Trial judge Mr Justice Spencer cut in to curb the line of questioning, saying: This is turning into a debate rather than a cross examination. Ms Berger told the court that she did not regard images of her face on a rat as just clumsy, as the barrister suggested, but ugly. As a result of the Filthy Jewish B**** Campaign, Ms Berger said she had received death threats, tweets telling her to watch my back, porn DVDs and abusive messages on Facebook and Instagram from Britain and abroad. No 10 today accused Labour and the Liberal Democrats of not being on the 'UK team' because of plans to re-write any legislation needed to start Brexit talks. The question of whether a new law is needed is hotly contested and is the subject of a landmark case that started at the Supreme Court today. Downing Street said amendments to any judge-ordered law would slow down the process even further and would tie the Government's hands in Brexit negotiations. If it proves necessary, a planned new law would explicitly hand power to Theresa May to invoke Article 50 of the EU treaties and start divorce proceedings with the trading bloc. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, pictured in Prague on Saturday, was accused of not being on the 'UK Team' today after he declared his plan to try and amend any Article 50 legislation Government lawyers led by Attorney General Jeremy Wright are today arguing the PM already has the power, making the planned bill unnecessary. But if the Government loses, ministers are expected to try and drive the short piece of legislation on starting Brexit through Parliament in a matter of days. Labour and the Liberal Democrats want to amend it in various ways - each of which has the potential to slam the brakes on getting Britain out of the EU. The Prime Minister's spokeswoman said: 'While others are seeming to make clear that they want to frustrate the will of the British people by slowing down the process of leaving and trying to tie the Government's hand in the negotiation, the Government is getting on with respecting what the British people decided and making a success of Brexit. 'What is important is that the Government's hand is not tied in the negotiation. 'If you are backing the UK team you want them to be able to go into the negotiation and get the best deal possible.' Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn vowed on Saturday to table amendments to the legislation. He said: 'When the Article 50 debate comes up we will put forward an amendment to it, which will be on the issues I've just said about market access and protections.' Theresa May, pictured in Downing Street last week, today slammed opposition parties for plotting amendments that could delay Brexit Mr Corbyn said the amendments would not be red line issues that would mean Labour would refuse to support Article 50 going ahead. But amendments could nevertheless prompt lengthy debate and delay the process. Speaking in Prague, Mr Corbyn said: 'T wo thirds of Labour voters voted to remain. 'There isn't a blank cheque to the Government it's up to us, to Parliament, to hold the Government to account. That is exactly what we are doing. 'Article 50 will still be invoked. We are not going to block it. We don't think that's right to do that. 'But I do think there will be a considerable body of MPs on both sides which does require an amendment that supports a trade agreement with Europe in the future.' Government lawyers led by Attorney General Jeremy Wright are arguing at the Supreme Court, pictured arriving at the court in Westminster today, that a new law is not necessary. Despite their case, Ministers have drafted a short Bill as a contingency measure Remain campaigners, led Gina Miller, centre arriving at court today, contest that Parliament must take the decision to trigger Article 50 of the EU treaties The Liberal Democrats have gone further, vowing to vote against Article 50 without guarantees of a second referendum on the final Brexit deal. Senior Tory MP Steve Baker has slammed the Labour plan. He said: 'Labour are playing games. Both sides said we would leave the single market. 'It's the only way to respect the will of the people by taking back control. And virtually everyone has access, so of course we will too. Australian police have announced a major breakthrough in the Madeleine McCann-style disappearance of a British three-year-old girl who was abducted in 1970. Cheryl Grimmer was just three when she vanished from outside a beach shower block in Wollongong, New South Wales. Despite a massive search at the time, police were unable to recover the toddler, who is believed to have been murdered. Scroll down for video The shocking murder of three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer (pictured with her father, John) could finally be solved almost 47 years after detectives found a new lead in old case files Three days after the abduction on January 12, 1970, a ransom note was sent to Cheryl's parents demanding $10,000, but with police lying in wait, no one turned up to claim the cash. Australian police now believe the youngster was kidnapped by a teenage boy - who would now be in his early 60s. He was seen running towards bushland from the area where Cheryl vanished. Cheryl and her family emigrated from the UK in the late 1960s. The family were living in a hostel near the beach at the time of the abduction. Her three brothers Ricki, Stephen and Paul have called on the killer to hand himself in. Ricki told a press conference during a re-enactment of the disappearance at Fairy Meadow Beach, where Cheryl was last seen: ' Heartache decisions I made on the day were wrong. I shouldn't have left. What do you say? What do you do? It's affected me all my life. Ricki Grimmer, centre, pictured with his brothers, Stephen, second left, and paul, right, along with Detective Inspector Brad Ainsworth, left, said he still blames himself despite being only eight at the time of his sister's disappearance in January 1970 'Everyone says it wasn't my fault but come and stand where I'm standing, see what it feels like. 'Just let us know where she is, give us something so we can mourn. It's cost me and my family everything.' The suspect was missed on the day and though they would not reveal many details, investigators are 'confident [they] are on the right track'. 'We are calling this a breakthrough in the investigation. Its something that was missed over the years,' Detective Sergeant Damian Loone told the Daily Telegraph. The vital clue was found by reviewing many boxes of old case files looking for leads the original investigation missed or didn't follow up on. The young girl (right) is believed to have been snatched from outside a shower block Cheryl's family were pictured eating a meal on the night of her disappearance This ransom note for $10,000 was sent to Cheryls parents after three days but no one showed up to collect the money where police dressed as council workers lay in wait Madeleine McCann was last seen at an apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 Their renewed interest followed a re-enactment of the Grimmer family's day at the beach two weeks ago in a bid to convince the killer to turn themselves in. 'Its time to come clean and absolve yourself and tell us what happened on that day and, more importantly, for the family. If not for yourself, do it for them,' Sergeant Loone said. The new suspect was described at the time as caucasian, aged between 16 and 17, about 152cm tall with a medium build, brown hair, blue eyes and fair complexion. Cheryl was at the beach with her mother Carole and brothers Ricki, eight, Stephen, six, and Paul, five, when the four children were sent to the showers at about 1.30pm. A few minutes later Ricki ran to his mother and said Cheryl wouldnt come out of the shower block, but by the time they got there she was gone and never seen again. 'She was gone in just a minute or two. Its something I still live with every day,' Ricki, 54, said last week. There were myriad conflicting reports of who took her and subsequent sighting and theories, none of which panned out. Cheryl disappeared from outside this beach shower block near Wollongong on January 12, 1970, and despite a massive search no sign of her was ever found Some said a man in an orange swimsuit lifted a girl to drink at a fountain before running off with her, another witness saw her being driven off in a white car. A ransom note for $10,000 was sent to Cheryls parents after three days but no one showed up to collect the money where police dressed as council workers lay in wait. Under David Cameron the Black and White Ball was highly controversial, with millionaire donors bidding tens of thousands of pounds for lots Theresa May has stopped short of scrapping the lavish Tory Black and White Ball - but the fundraiser is being made 'less elitist'. Under David Cameron, the annual event attracted huge controversy with a string of millionaire donors bidding huge sums for auction prizes such as City internships for wealthy youngsters, shoe shopping sessions with Mrs May and a JCB digger. Hedge-fund kings, City tycoons and captains of industry mingled with Mr Cameron and his wife Samantha, Cabinet ministers, senior MPs and peers. When the ball last took place in February, around 700 guests paid between 500 and 1,500 for a seat at a table at an 18th-century brewery in the City of London. Lots put up for auction in the past have included a shoe-shopping trip with Mrs May - which went for 17,500. A 10km cross-country run with former Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith has also been sold off. However, after Mrs May entered Downing Street insiders suggested she might want to ditch the bash. The move would have fitted in with the incoming PM's commitment to represent ordinary working people rather than the elite. Sir Patrick McLoughlin, who replaced close Cameron ally Lord Feldman as party chairman, is a former miner and has been tasked with reaching out to voters outside the Notting Hill set. Senior party sources confirmed today that the ball will go ahead, but in a break from the past there will be more than 100 tickets available for rank-and-file members that will either be heavily discounted at 75 a head, or complimentary. The ConservativeHome grassroots website said Sir Patrick's aim was to bring a 'less elitist feel'. But the leadership appears to have accepted that the hundreds of thousands of pounds raised at the ball cannot be foregone, given that Labour has been raking in more donations recently. Ironically, the memo warning senior government staff not to leak information was revealed in a letter from Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood, pictured, which was itself leaked to the Mail On Sunday An inquiry has been launched into how a memo threatening to sack senior ministers and mandarins caught leaking Cabinet secrets to the media was leaked itself, Downing Street announced today. Yesterday it was revealed that Theresa May had launched an extraordinary crackdown on anyone suspected of revealing Government splits or secrets. Ironically, the draconian action was revealed in a letter from Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood that was leaked to the Mail On Sunday. Today the Prime Minister's spokeswoman said the Government is taking the latest leak 'extremely seriously' and suggested the culprit will be sacked. In a further humiliation for the Government, an investigation is now under way to identify who leaked news about the crackdown on leaks. It is further evidence of the growing signs of Brexit panic in Downing Street and the secretive nature of the Government's plans for negotiations with the EU. Asked if any action is being taken about yesterday's leak, the PM's spokeswoman said today: 'The usual process for leaks is being followed. We will take this issue extremely seriously....The civil service code sets out very clearly the role of civil servants and how they are expected to behave with regard to official information. Action is being taken to follow up and investigate on that thats the position. 'There will be an investigation and appropriate action taken if perpetrators are identified. Sir Jeremys reputation for Whitehall secrecy dates back to his role in the Iraq War, and has led to him being dubbed Sir Cover-Up. He told mandarins about the crackdown in a written letter instead of an email in an attempt to keep it secret. But enraged insiders, who called the crackdown quasi totalitarian, leaked the memo to the Mail On Sunday. The Prime Minister has ordered security chiefs to seize mobile phone and email records of anyone suspected of revealing Government splits or secrets Significantly, Sir Jeremy also sent the letter to Paddy McGuinness, Deputy National Security Advisor at the Cabinet Office. The diktat follows a series of Cabinet leaks, splits and rows over Brexit and other issues involving Mrs May, Chancellor Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Brexit Minister David Davis and International Trade Minister Liam Fox. Sir Jeremy said the leaks crackdown comes on the orders of Mrs May, who has struggled to impose the same rigid control over No 10 than she previously did over the Home Office. Her stern tone can be clearly heard in the letter from Heywood who adds she will reinforce the message in a personal missive to Ministers. Sir Jeremys letter, headed OFFICIAL: SENSITIVE. Security of Information says the spate of corrosive leaks must end. It said: Security teams believed to be MI5 officers will take charge of beefed-up leak inquiries with the power to demand immediate access to phone and email records and to interrogate suspects. Anyone found to have leaked sensitive information will be dismissed, even where there is no compromise of national security. From now on Ministers and officials must use officially supplied Whitehall mobile phones which can be monitored by security officials to stop them using private mobiles and emails to leak secrets. An Orwellian-sounding cultural change will be demanded to keep the lid on secrets concerning Brexit and other vital issues. The Prime Ministers draconian action was revealed in a letter from Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood which was, ironically, leaked to The Mail on Sunday Sir Jeremy said: The Prime Minister has directed that we urgently tighten security processes and improve our response to leaks. 'She has instructed that we begin this work immediately and expects to see rapid and visible improvement. 'Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and senior officials set the tone in an organisation and no amount of process will make up for an environment where leaks are accepted. If leaders think they are the necessary cost of open ways of working they are mistaken. DON'T CALL HIM BORIS, SAYS (LEAKED!) EDICT The leaked memo told ministers to stop calling the Foreign Secretary, pictured yesterday, by his first name because it is 'making his job impossible' Ministers have been told to stop making jokes about Boris Johnson in a bid to banish his Cabinet clown reputation. The edict leaked to the MoS is understood to have been ordered by Foreign Office mandarins amid complaints that jokes about Johnson including those by Theresa May herself were making his job impossible. To boost Johnsons statesman credentials, MPs and officials have been told to stop calling him Boris and say Foreign Secretary instead. However it is often Johnsons own actions that cause offence. One Minister said: We all know Boris is a clever chap but he cannot stop playing the fool when he meets EU leaders. We think he is funny but to them he is disrespectful. Pro-Brexit former Minister Iain Duncan Smith said: European leaders are out to needle Boris because they blame him for Britain leaving the EU. We need to rally behind him. Advertisement Sir Jeremy vowed to impose tough disciplinary measures when a culprit has been identified to show leaking will never be tolerated. He demanded a strict ban on ministers and officials using their own mobiles and says he will take personal charge of mole witch-hunts led by the Cabinet Office Government Security team Whitehall jargon for spooks. Sir Jeremy added: I have already strengthened the controls for sensitive Cabinet Committee papers. We will review areas most vulnerable to leaks and tighten up security in those departments. He said this will require cultural change. Underlining Mays influence, Sir Jeremy said it was vital to meet the Prime Ministers expectations as he clarified the ruthless new codes of conduct and threats of sackings. The Government Security team will be in touch shortly to put tighter processes in place, says Sir Jeremy, adding: The PM will be writing in similar terms to Ministers. In the secret letter Sir Jeremy suggested he has lost trust in our people to act properly and raises the spectre of mandarins having to return to the old days of hard copy letters, rather than emails, to beat the leakers. But being a hard copy didnt prevent his letter from being leaked. He also gunned for unnamed Ministers and officials suspected of leaks, vowing to target weaknesses. As well agent McGuinness, now responsible for intelligence, security and resilience, Sir Jeremy sent his letter to Sue Gray, Whitehalls head of ethics, and Simon Case, the PMs Principal Private Secretary. The letter came amid reports that Mrs May is edging towards a so-called soft Brexit rather than a hard one. She faces mounting pressure to spell out her position but is reluctant to do so for fear of giving an advantage to the EU in the run-up to Brexit negotiations next spring. president - said president-elect 'showed the dictators in Beijing that he's not a pushover' California congressman Dana Rohrabacher says he thinks he could 'accomplish a lot' with former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton as his deputy, should he become the next secretary of state. Two aides to President-elect Donald Trump transition told DailyMail.com last week that that Rohrabacher had been added to the list of candidates amid infighting within the incoming administration over who should be the nation's top diplomat. Rohrabacher's resume has since risen to the top of stack, according to the Washington Examiner. He and Bolton are under consideration as a 'consensus package.' The Republican lawmaker said today that Bolton is a 'very good friend' and he agrees with him on 'most things.' Rohrabacher told Fox & Friends that he also shares Trump's views on challenging China and a detente with Russia in 'order to defeat radical Islam.' 'Some of my other colleagues found that impossible to do,' he said. 'It feels like they want to get back to the Cold War with such hostility.' California congressman Dana Rohrabacher says he thinks he could 'accomplish a lot' with former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton as his deputy, should he become the next secretary of state. The U.S. faced off against the Soviet Union in the Cold War, he said. 'Not Russia.' 'Russia and the people of Russia are good people, and they have a chance to work with them to defeat this evil that threatens the planet right now.' Rohrabacher has openly advocated for a military alliance with Russia to fight terrorists in the Middle East, a policy that would dramatically change the balance of power between Washington and a strategic rival. President Vladimir Putin's military has been aggressively bombing anti-government rebels in Syria in some cases, the same insurgents the U.S. has been arming. Rohrabacher said Monday he agrees 'very heavily' with Trump that the U.S. should 'establish a positive relationship' with Putin's government 'in order to defeat radical Islam.' He at the same time defended Trump's hard-charging rhetoric against China and the president-elect's phone call with Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen. 'I think it's terrific,' Rohrabacher said of the controversial call the Trump administration has tried to downplay as a 'courtesy.' 'Consensus package?' Rohrabacker and Bolton are reportedly being considered for the top two diplomatic positions Vice-president elect Mike Pence said Sunday that China shouldn't be angry about the talk - the first between a U.S. leader and a head of state in Taiwan since 1979 - and argued that Trump is being held to an unfair standard. 'I think most Americans, and frankly most leaders around the world, know this for what it was. And it's all part and parcel,' Pence said. 'I think you're going to see in a President Donald Trump a willingness to engage the world but, engage the world on America's terms.' Rohrabacher told Fox Trump 'showed the dictators in Beijing that he's not a pushover.' 'You've got to remember, China has had an enormously aggressive foreign policy, and by him actually going to Taiwan, he's showing the people in Beijing that they cannot have this aggressive foreign policy and expect to be treated just the same by an American president. 'So I think it was a terrific message to them: We're no longer going to be pushovers, and there's going to be consequences for their hostile and aggressive actions,' Rohrabacher said. Rohrabacher told Fox & Friends he shares Trump's views on challenging China and a detente with Russia in 'order to defeat radical Islam' Rohrabacher said in an interview with DailyMail.com he's confident he's the best-suited contestant in the State Department sweepstakes. A group of transition advisers including Blackwater Worldwide founder Erik Prince a Rohrabacher intern more than a quarter-century ago are pushing the Trump team to consider the congressman alongside reported front-runners including Gen. David Petraeus, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Sen. Bob Corker and Bolton. 'I really think I could do the best job for him,' he told DailyMail.com confidently after listening to a list of their names. Rohrabacher backed the president-elect in the general election but was critical of him early on, saying after Nancy Reagan's death in March that the former first lady would have been 'horrified' to hear some of Trump's rhetoric. 'Every time there's a debate he's insulting his opponents in the debate. Reagan would never have dreamed of that. And Nancy more than anything else was someone who demanded a sense of propriety,' Rohrabacher said on MSNBC. But that was then. 'Of the people who we've talked about so far as secretary of state, I know that I would do a much better job of promoting a Trump foreign policy, because I believe in it,' Rohrabacher said. Rohrabacher, seen in 2013 with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is a senior member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Rorhabacher (right) and a small bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2014, one of many meetings Rohrabacher has touted He compared himself to 'the other people that are being looked at who may be very well-loved people, but at the same time may think that they are big enough to try to push Trump in their direction, rather than trying to work with Trump to ensure he succeeds in what he wants to do.' 'A lot of these bigwigs that everybody knows,' Rohrabacher added, 'they've got an ego so big that they think they should be able to push the president around.' The lawmaker said he has support for the job 'just below the top level' of the Trump transition, but he hadn't received an invitation him to interview with the president-elect at that time. Prince, who spoke to DailyMail.com last week, as well, said he's 'all-in. I am an unabashed supporter of Dana Rohrabacher.' 'He's a very hands-on guy,' he said of his former boss. Rohrabacher 'would be a different kind of secretary of state because he's not the typical diplomatic conference attending kind of guy. He's a practical guy who sits across from people and learns what they want and see how it jives with what's good for America and Western civilization,' he added. Rohrabacher was a Trump backer late in the presidential campaign, but criticized his harsh rhetoric early on Rohrabacher met in 2012 with Afghan Chairman of National Front Ahmed Zia Massoud. The Congressman once fought the Soviet Union's army to help push it out of Afghanistan Trump has already named Prince's sister, Betsy DeVos, to lead the Department of Education. It's unclear whether she is supportive of Rohrabacher, but Prince said she isn't 'actively lobbying' the transition team on his behalf. Rohrabacher, a 13-term Republican, is a senior member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and chairs the Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats. He has a reputation for pushing the boundaries of international relationships on trade and national security. And he pulls no punches when he talks about the upcoming pressure, especially from conservative Republican members of Congress, to roll back much of what the Obama administration has wrought overseas. 'We've got to turn the direction of the country. ... And no matter what department of agency we're in, we've had radical liberal leftists in charge of our government and setting policy for America for the last eight years,' he said. 'And that is going to be a horrific process.' Rohrabacher said Russia's Vladimir Putin (left), Japan's Shinzo Abe (center) and India's Narendra Modi (right) are the world leaders he would visit first as secretary of state Erik Prince, the founder of military security contractor Blackwater Worldwide, is a former Rohrabacher intern and said he's 'all-in' trying to persuade Trump insiders to give his old boss a serious look The congressman told DailyMail.com that the U.S. military should be actively cooperating with Vladimir Putin's Russia on missions to push back the ISIS terror army in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. 'Absolutely,' Rohrabacher said. 'Military cooperation with Russia.' 'Right now our primary enemy is radical Islam!' he exclaimed. 'And we need to work with the Russians to eradicate radical Islam! Syria, he said, is 'where I think we can have the most impact, and that's where we can be very productive with Russia, in fighting radical Islam.' Rohrabacher has a history with Putin. Politico called Rohrabacher ' Putins top congressional ally,' an odd position for a former Cold Warrior who once fought the Soviet Union to expel it from Afghanistan. But Trump, too has advocated a thaw between Washington and Moscow, an attitude that could put the Californian in his foreign-policy sweet spot. Rohrabacher has already been trying to generate buzz about making him secretary of state, sending a plea to his constituents for votes on a Breitbart.com poll Rohrabacher told DailyMail.com that Russia, Japan and India are the three countries he would visit first as secretary of state, with both trade and military cooperation in mind. 'I would immediately take a plane and land in Tokyo and talk to ... Abe. I'd go to Moscow and talk to Putin. And I'd go to New Delhi and talk to Modi. And talk about how we're going to have a much higher level of cooperation in the years ahead,' he projected. 'We should be cooperating with them economically, militarily just across the board we should try to make sure that there's a bond between our governments and our people,' Rohrabacher explained. Russia, he said, should be discouraged from forming strategic alliances with China, especially when the U.S. is trying to thwart Beijing's new territorial claims in international waters. 'Perhaps we can make sure that they don't in some way get themselves aligned in China, and these South China Sea islands and some of the other territorial claims that China has made. So yeah, we would be working with Russia,' he said. 'Russian ships should be joining us in transiting through what the Chinese are calling their territorial waters because they built some island.' On the phone call, Rohrabacher underscored five separate times that he would promote Trump's foreign policy objectives not his own if he were to lead the State Department. 'One of the prerequisites is that I've worked in the White House. You have to accept the president's decisions and work for that goal,' he said. He also sent an email to his constituents to drum up public support for the idea. 'I have been told that I am under consideration to join President Trumps team as Secretary of State. While my present intention, of course, is to continue to fight for liberty and freedom as a member of the House of Representatives, as a strong supporter of President-Elect Trumps vision for America, it would be a privilege and an honor to serve as his Secretary of State,' the message read. A woman gave birth in mid-air on a flight from Philadelphia to Orlando on Sunday night. Southwest Airlines flight 556 ended up having to make an unscheduled landing in Charleston, South Carolina because of the arrival of an extra passenger. The plane was about an hour into its flight from Philly when the woman went into labor. Luckily, there was a nurse on board the plane who was able to provide some assistance to the birthing mom who was seated in the first row of the plane. The flight from Philadelphia diverted to Charleston after the pregnant woman gave birth The flight, which left Philadelphia at 2:46 p.m., was diverted to Charleston, S.C., where medics took the parents and the baby to an area hospital. The flight then continued onto Orlando, with 132 passengers just an hour behind schedule. Journalist Izzy Gould for AL.com who happened to be on the flight tweeted his praise for everyone involved. 'A woman went into labor. Flight crew did a great job,' he wrote. 'It was a memorable flight. Can't say enough about the crew, and the medical peeps that delivered the baby. True pros.' The boss of Iceland Foods has poked fun at his fierce legal battle with the country after tweeting a picture of him appearing to slay a viking. Malcolm Walker posted a photo of him sword fighting with a man dressed in full viking garb, as he entertained hundreds of his employees at the frozen food chain's head office in Flintshire, Wales. Walker is currently locked in a fight with the Government of Iceland over naming rights, although it did not appear to be bothering him that much. Scroll down for video The boss of Iceland Foods Malcolm Walker has poked fun at his fierce legal battle with the country after tweeting a picture of him appearing to slay a viking In footage of the supermarket giant's viking themed Christmas party, Walker addresses his crowd: 'I don't know whose b***** stupid idea it was to have a Viking night tonight when the Icelandic government are suing us for the name!' After the event, he posted a picture of him surrounded by a viking horde, and wrote: 'Funnily enough we love Iceland (the country) so much we held a Viking-themed Christmas party at our head office last night.' He followed up with a picture of him defeating his Scandinavian opponent, and tweeted: 'Though of course if it has to come to a fight ' Iceland Foods, which has 900 stores across Britain, has been trading under its name since the 1970s. However, ministers in Reykjavik claim the supermarket, by using the name, is holding Icelandic brands back from showing their identities. Last month a spokesman from the Icelandic Government said: 'Iceland Foods has aggressively pursued and won multiple cases against Icelandic companies which use 'ICELAND' in their representation or as part of their trademark, even in cases when the products and services do not compete. 'A Europe-wide trademark registration for the word mark 'ICELAND' is held by Iceland Foods, a UK company. Iceland has 900 stores nationwide and has been trading under its name in the UK since 1970 Government Ministers in Reykjavik claim the supermarket, by using the name, is holding Icelandic brands back from showing their identities. 'The Icelandic government's legal challenge at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EU-IPO) seeks to invalidate this exclusive registration on the basis that the term 'ICELAND' is exceptionally broad and ambiguous in definition, often rendering the country's firms unable to describe their products as Icelandic. 'The government of Iceland is concerned that our country's businesses are unable to promote themselves across Europe in association with their place of origin a place of which we are rightly proud and enjoys a very positive national branding. 'This untenable situation has caused harm to Icelandic businesses, especially its small and growing companies. 'A company or product made in Iceland or by an Icelandic company should be able to represent itself using the name of the country.' Millionaire Dick Smith supports far right politician Pauline Hanson and has offered guidance to her party, One Nation, during the next state and federal elections. He predicts she'll be backed by Donald Trump-esque supporters from traditionally conservative electorates and plans to help her campaign for Western Sydney. After first speaking last week, Smith and Hanson are to meet before Christmas so he can give her policy advice, according to The Daily Telegraph. Millionaire Dick Smith, once worth $50 million, supports Pauline Hanson's One Nation (stock image) The former electronics mogul has offered to provide Hanson (pictured) with policy advice (stock image) But the former electronics mogul, once worth $50 million has ruled out donating to One Nation. Smith was reportedly attracted to Hanson when friends began to back her party. 'I support her policy on Julian Assange. I support her immigration policy. She says she's going to have a policy to help general aviation. I'll certainly support that,' he told the Telegraph. But despite that, he disagreed on her Muslim immigration stance. Although agreeing with some of Hanson's policies, he disagreed on her stance regarding Muslim immigration (stock image) 'People tend to say that she's racist. So I asked her, does she think that she's superior to other races? She said no.' He liked that Hanson's was the only party not focused on population growth, saying it would stabilise the number of people in Australia, with benefits like young people being able to afford homes. Although there were other policies of Hanson's he didn't like, he was beginning to understand where support came from, Smith told the Telegraph. People tend to say that she's racist. So I asked her, does she think that she's superior to other races? She said no. Dick Smith Hanson is planning to stand candidates in areas of Sydney where she believes voters are disenchanted with major parties. 'People are just really fed up with the major parties and screaming out for change.' Smith even said he might stand for federal parliament as an independent. Three people have been charged with animal cruelty for allegedly getting a three-month-old puppy drunk and posting pictures of her on social media. Jennifer Schwab, 36, Tanna J. Howser, 32, and Farrell Weger, 39, all from Ashtabula, Ohio - about 50 miles northeast of Cleveland - were charged over the incident, police reports state. They trio allegedly plied the pooch with vodka and Kahlua until she passed out drunk, the Star Beacon reports. Three people have been charged with animal cruelty for allegedly getting a three-month-old puppy drunk and posting pictures of her on social media Farrell Weger (left), 39, and Tanna J. Howser (right), 32, were charged with animal cruelty, along with 36-year-old Jennifer Schwab Howser is accused of then posting a picture of the dog, Lily, to Facebook, along with the caption: 'lilybug is drunk she pass the f*** out on us LOL.' The newspaper reports Schwab told police Weger was the one who gave the young dog drinks. Police were called to the home on West 53rd Street shortly after 3:30pm on Monday, after they were tipped off by residents who had seen the alleged photo on social media. The city's animal control officer removed the dog from the home and took it to the local Animal Protective League. A man accused of stabbing a Frenchman to death in the outback is schizophrenic and was paranoid police were after him in the weeks leading up to the attack, it has been claimed. Pande Veleski, from Melbourne, is charged with murdering tourist Philippe Jegouzo, 33, in the Northern Territory last week. He is accused of stabbing the man in the neck after meeting him and his wife, Aurelie Chorier, at a rest stop. Pande Veleski, from Melbourne, is charged with murdering tourist Philippe Jegouzo, 33, in the Northern Territory last week Veleski is accused of stabbing the man in the neck after meeting him and his wife, Aurelie Chorier, at a rest stop Veleski, who was found naked after spending a night in the bush following the alleged murder, reportedly feared the police wanted to arrest him after he was the victim of an attack in his own home earlier this year. Relatives of the accused murderer, 35, told News.com.au that he has schizophrenia and that his condition worsened after he was attacked during a home invasion. They also claimed that the breakdown of his marriage and his loss of contact with his daughter had affected his mental stability. The anonymous family member said two men 'smashed into his flat and basically ransacked' it, as well as attacking him. Veleski is claimed to have moved out of his home in Melbourne to live with his parents following the attack, which had 'freaked him out'. However, the relative believes Veleski fled to the Northern Territory over fears the police wanted to arrest him following the home invasion. The French tourist couple were travelling in a 1998 Toyota RAV4 (pictured above) Veleski was found naked after spending a night in the bush following the alleged murder. Pictured, a police officer stands near the French couple's car Police reportedly asked him if he wanted to testify against the two men who attacked him 'but he misunderstood the message from the police who he thought wanted to arrest him'. Veleski's brother, Tony, thought he had gone to the Northern Territory 'to flee these attackers and the police' as he thought they were tailing him, the family member said. He bumped into Mr Jegouzo at a rest stop near Connors Well, nearly 100km north of Alice Springs, before allegedly stabbing him. Veleski was too unwell to appear in court yesterday, a 'He has been receiving psychiatric care from the Alice Springs Hospital,' Judge David Bamber told Alice Springs Local Court, the ABC reported. Prosecutors said Veleski had been in hospital during his time in custody after self-harming. The accused's lawyer, Maker Mayek, said his client was on medication and that he would not be able to attend court for 'at least the next two to three days'. As well as murder, Veleski is also charged with two counts of assaulting police and one count of escaping lawful custody. A father is facing three assault charges after he forcibly brushed his teenage son's teeth and made his gums bleed. The unidentified Perth man allegedly grabbed the boy on the back of his neck and steered him toward the bathroom, according to Seven News. He then allegedly brushed his teeth aggressively. A Perth father is facing three charges of aggravated common assault after police allege he grabbed his teenage son by the back of his neck and forcibly brushed his teeth until they bled (stock image) Police have charged the man with three counts of aggravated common assault, which has left his defence barristers a bit baffled. 'I find (the charges) extraordinary, and it is legal in Western Australian for parents to apply physical force to correct the child as long as it's reasonable and proportionate,' lawyer Nicole Young said. 'So I can't really understand how the police decided to bring these charges.' His attorneys said they are negotiating with police to dismiss the charges, Seven News reported. The father is expected to appear in court next year. A CCTV footage has captured the moment a female kindergarten teacher fought off two attackers who tried to bundle her into a car in broad daylight. The 20-year-old woman, surnamed Li, was seen walking in the Zhangmutou area of Dongguan city, China, when a man got out of a black car and began to follow her. The woman, who was holding a white umbrella, was attacked from behind by her stalker with the help of an accomplice. Caught unawares: A woman was walking in the Zhangmutou area of Dongguan when she was attacked from behind and robbed Attack: A man got out of a vehicle and attempted to grab the woman from behind (pictured) She kept a firm grasp on her umbrella throughout the scuffle, even when the second man exited the car to join in the assault. At one point, it appeared as though the two men had succeeded as she briefly disappeared in the car. But the fierce teacher clawed her way out and ran away with only minor injuries, though without her wallet and her umbrella, Guancha News reported. A third man acted as the driver during the attempted kidnapping on the morning of November 23, but remained unseen throughout the footage released on Sina News. A second attacker got out of the vehicle and helped the first attacker restrain the woman Justice: One of the suspects, who admitted to robbing Ms Li, is handcuffed in a photo released by the local police Shame: Another suspect stands handcuffed and shackled after he was arrested in Hengli Town Two suspects were arrested on November 28 in Hengli Town, Dongguan, 13 miles northeast of Zhangmutou, according to a statement released by the local police. The suspects, surnamed Zhou and Peng, admitted to stealing Ms Li's belongings in an attack that was not premeditated according to the statement. A third suspect with surname Wang is still at large. The local public security bureau expressed concern about the incident and is conducting an investigation. Police in one Pennsylvania town sent an armed robbery suspect a message on Facebook, and it's not because they wanted to be friends. In a Facebook post over the weekend, Bridgeville police warned 32-year-old Robert Watkins III that he was the suspect in the Thanksgiving Day robbery of Gulf Station. 'You have the option to turn yourself in,' wrote Chief Chad King, of the Bridgeville Police Department. 'Contact us as listed above. 'It's only a matter of time before we find you. Make it easier on yourself now, because we WILL find you.' Robert Watkins III, 32, (pictured) was warned that Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, police were coming to nab him for the Thanksgiving Day robbery of a Gulf Station Watkins (pictured) was arrested on Monday after the local police chief warned him: 'Make it easier on yourself now, because we WILL find you' In his post (pictured), Chief Chad King urged Watkins to turn himself him by presenting him with the strong body of proof against him Watkins was arrested Monday morning, police said. King put pressure on Watkins to turn himself in his post. He added several pictures of Watkins to the post, saying he'd been identified through surveillance video at the scene. 'We have the video of you changing your clothes before, and after, the robbery,' the police chief wrote. 'We have you stashing your clothes, your fingerprints were on the counter you slammed and, best of all, your hat is full of your DNA. After the arrest, Bridgeville police also included a note for Watkins to read if he were released on bail even hinting at who turned him in. Police had been looking for Watkins (pictured) on an arrest warrant for robbery and other charges. He was arrested Monday 'Note to Robert: you will probably be reading this post within a few hours after it is released,' King wrote. 'The same way you did with the original armed robbery post, as you were holed up, hiding, in that apartment with people that you thought were your friends.' The police believed Watkins was headed to his hometown of Meadville, about 100 miles north of Bridgeville, in western Pennsylvania. It is unclear where Watkins was arrested. Senate Democrats who are angry at Republicans for refusing to confirm President Barack Obama's final Supreme Court nominee are threatening revenge and plotting to throw up roadblocks to stymie President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks. Senior GOP senators have refused to schedule Merrick Garland for a vote since his mid-March nomination to fill the seat of deceased justice Antonin Scalia. 'Past is present, and what goes around comes around,' California Sen. Dianne Feinstein told Politico on Monday. 'Now, those are pretty hackneyed sayings, but those are really true around here.' 'What comes around goes around' Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Democrats will play the tit-for-tat game by slowing down Trump cabinet confirmations as payback for stonewalling on President Obama's final Supreme Court nominee Trump will rely on Sen. Mitch McConnell (right), the majority leader, to push his nominees through a bickering, partisan Senate Feinstein will retire when the new Senate is sworn in, but others said they will delay the confirmation of the incoming White House's top men and women. Because of a rule change that Minority Leader Harry Reid pushed through when he was the majority leader three years ago the so-called 'nuclear option' the GOP will only need a simply majority of 51 votes to confirm cabinet secretaries. The rule had previously required a supermajority of 60. Republicans will take full advantage, leaving Democrats only with delaying tactics in their arsenal. But some liberal senators say they'll play every card they have, including drawing out the process as long as possible. 'They've been rewarded for stealing a Supreme Court justice. We're going to help them confirm their nominees, many of whom are disqualified?' Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown complained to Politico. 'It's not obstruction, it's not partisan, it's just a duty to find out what they'd do in these jobs.' Democrats could also force each nomination to consume as many as 30 hours of debate, tying up the ambitious but time-starved Senate In 2009 the Republican minority put up a fight over just one nominee Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, allowing Democrats to clear more than a dozen senior nominees in the first week without a fight. Even in Clinton's case, they merely demanded a roll-call vote, a minor calendar-shift. Billionaire Steve Mnuchin, Trump's pick to be secretary of the treasury, could receive a Democratic grilling over his ties to Wall Street Sen. Jeff Sessions could be put through the wringer by Democratic senators who insist they see him as a throwback to southern racism and don't want him to be attorney general It's not hard to read between the lines of what Democrats are promising this time around. 'I don't want to needlessly prevent President Trump from being successful,' Delaware Sen. Chris Coons said. 'But accelerating the confirmation of unacceptable candidates who have views that are outside the mainstream is not constructive.' Don Stewart, a spokesman for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, told Politico that a 'smooth transition' is 'something President Obama recently called for and that Democrats always say they want.' 'When the shoe was on the other foot, Republicans worked with Democrats to confirm the president's Cabinet in a very, very timely manner.' But Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said senators should demand roll-call votes 'on every one of the president's Cabinet nominees.' That would give Democrats the option of abstaining even as a group in order to paint Trump's cabinet confirmations as products of unilateral partisan voting. U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Merrick Garland's Supreme Court nomination has languished in purgatory for nearly 9 months because Republicans insisted that the incoming president should choose the late Justice Antonin Scalia's replacement Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown has revenge on his mind: 'They've been rewarded for stealing a Supreme Court justice. We're going to help them confirm their nominees?' They could put up an even bigger fight on Defense secretary-designate Gen. James Mattis. Since he hasn't been a civilian for the required seven years, he will need a waiver from Congress in order to run the Pentagon. That vote requires a 60-vote supermajority in the Senate. At least one Democrat says the threats of delaying tactics by his own party on attorney general-designate Jeff Sessions are 'just bull***t.' 'My God, I think we should have an attorney general in place on Jan. 20. I sure do believe that,' West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin said. Manchin will run for re-election in 2018 in a deep-red state. He's also in line for a possible Trump cabinet appointment himself. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia (left) and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas (right) are both expecting the Senate to push through fast confirmations and they could both be nominees themselves The two senators from Texas, both Republicans, said last month that they were confident Trump's cabinet will ultimately be confirmed. 'We're going to confirm the president's nominee one way or the other. And there's an easy way and there's a hard way,' Sen John Cornyn, the majority whip, said. 'They just need to accept that reality.' Sen. Ted Cruz predicted that 'the Democrats will not succeed in filibustering a Supreme Court nominee. 'We are going to confirm President Trump's conservative Supreme Court justices.' Cruz, like Manchin, could be the nominee who tests that confidence. A year ago Agota Jakutyte had the world at her feet - she was acing law school with a prestigious job at the EU Parliament fighting for human rights. She also started a glamorous modeling career when she was 14 that saw her travel to Milan, New York and Miami at just 17. But instead of reveling in her charmed life, the 22-year-old was crying on the floor of her bathroom for reasons she could not understand. Agota Jakutyte, 22, says he dog Crete (pictured with her) saved her life when she was depressed A year ago she had the world at her feet - she was acing law school with a prestigious job at the EU Parliament fighting for human rights 'My body was shaking and through my tears, I barely could see anything. I lost a track of time, space and life itself,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'You know that feeling - when you are alone, lost and frustrated from life. You don't know what to do, to whom to talk or where to go.' Diagnosed with depression, the Lithuanian-born woman dropped out of university, quit her job, and even stopped modeling - spending her days feeling empty. An early photo of Ms Jakutyte with Crete Ms Jakutyte with her pack of pups: Her boyfriend's pug Ferdinando (top), Brit the 'German Shepherd wannabe' (L), Clemence the whippet (R) and Crete (bottom) Ms Jakutyte with a selection of her company, SHOO X, hygiene products 'Every single morning I felt like my hopes and dreams were stoned in my bed indefinitely,' she said. 'It was an emptiness, when you feel alone, when you feel that nobody cares and needs you, when you feel that whatever you do nobody cares.' The once happy, bubbly young woman even considered suicide on many occasions. 'Even right now I am shivering just to remember that,' she said. The strong young woman made a recovery from her deep depression and feels better than ever 'Often I hugged her and felt like our hearts were beating as one,' she said of Crete during her recovery She started a glamorous modeling career when she was 14 that saw her travel to Milan, New York and Miami at just 17 She tried yoga and saw a therapist but nothing helped, until she bonded with the abandoned stray pooch that would save her life. Crete, an adorable black and brown mixed-breed female, helped her recover over long walks in the park and sleeping in the same bed telling stories like her father once did with her. 'I remember I was crying on the day when I took Crete from shelter, but those tears were happy ones,' Ms Jakutyte said. Diagnosed with depression, the Lithuanian-born woman dropped out of university, quit her job, and even stopped modeling - spending her days feeling empty Instead of reveling in her charmed life, the 22-year-old (pictured during happier times) was crying on the floor of her bathroom for reasons she could not understand The once happy, bubbly young woman even considered suicide on many occasions 'She has the compassionate eyes ever, and despite of her rounded complexity she always managed to scramble up close to me. 'Often I hugged her and felt like our hearts were beating as one.' Filled with a renewed purpose in life, Ms Jakutyte spent months volunteering in an animal shelter, and while there were a lot of tears they helped her find what she wanted out of life. 'Month after month I spent my days with stray dogs instead of law students. But I was happy!' she said. She and her boyfriend, who also battled depression with the help of his pug Ferdinando, now have a pack of four rescue dogs. She tried yoga and saw a therapist but nothing helped, until she bonded with the abandoned stray pooch that would save her life 'Every single morning I felt like my hopes and dreams were stoned in my bed indefinitely,' she said 'It was an emptiness, when you feel alone, when you feel that nobody cares and needs you, when you feel that whatever you do nobody cares.' The other two pups are Brit the 'German Shepherd wannabe' they found tied up and starving near a cemetery, and Clemence the whippet rescued from owners who didn't want him anymore. In May this year, Ms Jakutyte was working at the shelter so much she found it difficult to get the animal smell off skin, so she tried dog shampoo. This gave her an idea. Horrified at the amount of toxic ingredients in pet cleaning products, she started her own line of hygiene products suitable for both pets and their human owners called SHOO X. 'Its like a carrot - you do not buy different carrot for you and your rabbit, because it is born in the same planet as you, or dog, or rabbit, or every other mammal,' she said. All the products, which include shampoos, air fresheners, detergent, scrubbers and cleaning liquid, are made with all-natural ingredients and part of their sales are donated to animal shelters. Filled with a renewed purpose in life, Ms Jakutyte spent months volunteering in an animal shelter (pictured) Horrified at the amount of toxic ingredients in pet cleaning products, she started her own line of hygiene products suitable for both pets and their human owners Ms Jakutyte and her boyfriend built the company with their savings as it was months before they convinced retailers to give them a go. Now she wants to expand the business and has started a Kickstarter campaign to fund the development of new products. 'We want to save people time and minimise their life - the less things in your life, the more space in your head to think about better things,' she said. Ms Jakutyte is also excited about building a customer base in Australia, where she sees huge potential for her products. 'Australians really liked our products. One distributor even considered opening new department for pet products just because of our products and our story,' she said. 'There are a lot of dog owners in Australia as it is a very outdoors country, and like many others people are very interested in natural products.' Queues are expected to form around the block next month after an Italian glamour model offered to perform a sex act on everyone who voted No in yesterday's referendum. Paola Saulino, 27, is flying from her home in Los Angeles to 10 Italian cities for The Pompa Tour. Pompa is an Italian slang word for a certain sexual act and the image promoting the tour which Ms Saulino posted on Twitter showed her sucking a lollipop. Paola Saulino said she would begin making good her promise on January 7 in Rome and promised to continue right through until December 2018 She first made the promise on November 23 and she has now announced tour dates in 10 Italian cities next month, saying: 'I am a woman of my word.' The Sun reported that Ms Saulino said: 'Those who say NO to the referendum will be waiting in delight for my Pompa Tour in January for what I promised to those who voted no.' She tweeted at the weekend: 'Everything in the utmost fairness and serenity. The tour will continue in smaller cities, will end by December 2018.' Ms Saulino's Instagram page is full of suggestive images and modelling shots Ms Saulino claimed she would be visiting Rome, Florence, Bologna, Verona, Milan, Turin, Naples, Bari, Lecce and Palermo in January for the first leg of her promise and urged people to fill in a booking form if they had voted No. Fabio Bertini tweeted her: 'I'll wait in Florence on (January) 9 after voting convincingly NO. PS would you know where to find you in Florence?' One chancer, American Rifleman, tweeted to her: ' I voted NO. Are you coming to Alaska?' Several Italians horrified at the publicity stunt criticised Ms Saulino. One said: 'You're just throwing mud on those who defend the constitution.' International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, pictured, announced the Government will seek to 'replicate as far as possible' the UK's existing commitments as part of the EU Ministers have started the preparation for Britain to become an independent trading nation after Brexit. Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary announced the Government will seek to 'replicate as far as possible' the UK's existing commitments as part of the EU. He said in a statement to Parliament today that work is under way to register the UK with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as an individual country, in preparation for the day when Britain leaves the EU. At the moment the UK is represented at the inter-governmental trade regulator by the EU, which makes commitments on issues like trade tariffs and quotas on behalf of all of its 28 member states. Following Brexit, the UK will need to have its own 'schedule' of WTO commitments as a baseline from which to negotiate its own trade deals with countries round the world. Downing Street insisted the preparations are independent of Brexit negotiations and do not indicate or judge the kind of deal the UK is seeking to agree with the EU. The Prime Minister's spokeswoman described it as 'prudent preparatory work' to 'establish our presence' in the WTO once again. Britain was one of the founding members of the international trade regulator more than 20 years ago. In his statement, Dr Fox said: 'In order to minimise disruption to global trade as we leave the EU, over the coming period the Government will prepare the necessary draft schedules which replicate as far as possible our current obligations. 'The Government will undertake this process in dialogue with the WTO membership. This work is a necessary part of our leaving the EU. It does not prejudge the outcome of the eventual UK-EU trading arrangements.' Theresa May, pictured at Prime Minister's Questions last week, was told by 200 company bosses to 'get on with leaving the EU' in a letter delivered to Downing Street today The plans came as Theresa May was urged to 'get on with leaving the EU' by leading businessmen and women. In a letter signed by 200 company bosses and delivered to the Prime Minister today, they say it is 'vital' she sticks to her pledge of triggering Article 50 - the formal mechanism for divorcing from the EU - by the end of March but 'preferably sooner'. The Government must stick to the timetable to 'create certainty and confidence' for business in the UK. 'Trade and jobs will follow,' the 200 company bosses write in the letter. It was organised by rival groups Leave Means Leave and Change Britain and is signed by a range of company bosses, including City leaders Dr Peter Cruddas, Sir Michael Hintze, Jim Mellon and Michael Spencer and David Cameron's former enterprise advisor and ex-trade secretary Lord Young of Graffham. Attorney General Jeremy Wright QC, pictured right outside the Supreme Court, will warn judges not to defy the 'will of the electorate' or 'stray into areas of political judgment' as the case gets underway today JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin, theatre impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh and the leading entrepreneur Luke Johnson are also signatories. They tell Mrs May in the letter they are 'confident that Britain can prosper outside the EU. 'Some of us voted Leave, some Remain. Others represent international businesses with a stake in Britain's success. 'What we share is a respect for the decision made by a clear majority of the British people to leave the EU, and a belief that it is now vital that Article 50 is triggered within the Government's timeframe - no later than 31st March 2017, but preferably sooner - so that the country can get on with leaving the EU, and businesses and investors can plan accordingly. 'Create certainty and confidence, trade and jobs will follow.' But their letter will arrive in Downing Street as the Government's lawyers fight to stop its timetable for Brexit being derailed by Remain supporters in the Supreme Court. But the letter will arrive in Downing Street as the Government's lawyers fight to stop its timetable for Brexit being derailed by Remain supporters - led by Gina Miller, pictured, in the Supreme Court The Government's appeal against the High Court's decision last month that MPs must be consulted before Mrs May triggers Article 50 started this morning. Attorney General Jeremy Wright QC will warn judges not to defy the 'will of the electorate' or 'stray into areas of political judgment' as the case gets underway today. Remain figurehead Gina Miller, who defeated the Government in the High Court last month, arrived at the Supreme Court in Westminster this morning after saying Mr Write and other critics are wrong to criticise them or point out their views on the EU. She told the Guardian last night: 'I think it is such a dangerous road to be going down to be attacking the judges and their integrity and their independence. They are being vilified and it is totally disgraceful.' The case is expected to run for four days this week but a decision is not expected until early next year. If the 11 judges decide not to overturn the High Court's decision the Government will have to win a vote in Parliament before triggering Article 50. Edward Snowden still says he has no regrets about blowing the whistle on the NSA's global spying program, but admits he's worried about being handed over to the US by Vladimir Putin - and that he's 'not counting' on an Obama pardon. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Katie Couric for Yahoo News, Snowden, who has been given asylum by Russia since 2013, admitted he would be bothered about being handed over to Donald Trump. 'Well, who wouldn't?' he answered. 'I mean, that would obviously be something that would bother me. That would obviously be something that would be a threat to my liberty and to my life.' Scroll down for video Hiding out: Edward Snowden says he doesn't expect President Obama to sign a pardon for him, but hopes he will - because if he doesn't, he may be handed over to Donald Trump Pardon: Obama's said he won't sign a pardon unless Snowden returns for trial - but Snowden says if he returns without a pardon it 'would be a threat to my liberty and to my life' Snowden was given three years' asylum in Russia in 2013 after fleeing the US, where he faced a maximum of 30 years in prison for leaking the NSA documents. Now intelligence officials believe that Vladimir Putin is considering handing over Snowden to President-elect Donald Trump as a welcome gift - and as punishment for speaking out about the country's repressive laws, Yahoo reported. Snowden has been vocal about his contempt for Russian surveillance laws and its treatment of gay, lesbian and transgender people. Should he be returned home without a pardon or plea bargain to grasp onto, Snowden likely faces a grim future: Donald Trump's incoming CIA director, Kansas congressman Mike Pompeo, has called for the death penalty for Snowden. However, the 33-year-old told Couric that whatever happened, he was unrepentant. 'What I'm proud of is the fact that every decision that I made I can defend,' he said. At the moment, Snowden is backed by an online campaign to get President Obama to pardon him before he leaves office. But Obama says he won't sign off on any deal until after Snowden is in the country and his case has been through court. 'I'm not counting on it,' Snowden said when asked about the possibility of a Presidential pardon. But he says that 'the possibility for a pardon has never been more likely, and this is a surprise to myself as much as anyone else, I think.' Deal: It's believed that Vladimir Putin (right) may hand over Snowden to Trump as a welcome gift - and because Snowden's spoken out about Russia's anti-LGBT and web surveillance laws Snowden cited a letter signed by 15 former staff members of the Church Committee - which exposed FBI and CIA abuses, including drugging unwitting college students in the 1970s - that backs him as evidence of how strong his case is. That letter, reported by The Intercept, urges Obama and Attorney General Loretta Lynch 'leniency to Edward Snowden in negotiating a fair and just settlement of the criminal charges against him' - but stops short of demanding a full pardon. The letter's authors argued 'that this case has caused far more benefits to American society, which I think is uncontroversial at this point, than any claimed harms for which we've never seen evidence,' Snowden said. When Couric asked him whether what he'd done had made it harder for the US to deal with terrorist threats, Snowden was dismissive. 'Do you really think if the government can show somebody was hurt, a program was damaged, we've gone dark and can't track dangerous people, they wouldn't leak that criticism?' he said. Interview: Snowden made the remarks in an interview with Katie Couric (left). He says that if he is handed back to the US it will at least prove that he's not been colluding with Russia 'That wouldn't be on the front page of the New York Times by the end of the day? I don't think so. And I hope, maybe in time, you'll think the same.' And while he may find himself ejected from Russia for speaking out against the government, he remains stoic - arguing that it proves he's nor an enemy of the US. 'It wasn't so many years ago that people were saying, "This guy's a Russian spy,"' he said. 'But countries don't give up their spies. And if my recent criticism of the Russian government's Internet policies, criticisms of their human rights record, have been so severe that even my greatest critics in the intelligence community are now saying, "Oh, yeah, he's a liability, they wanna get him out of there,' that's a vindication."' When asked what it's a vindication of, he replied: 'The fact that I'm independent, the fact that I have always worked on behalf of the United States, and the fact that Russia doesn't own me.' According to PardonSnowden.org, there are 45 days left for Obama to sign a pardon. China's state council has announced new measures to eliminate poverty by 2020 as part of its latest Five Year Plan. The policies, which will be in effect between 2016 and 2020, are expected to lift the poorest 56million people in the country above the poverty line, which is currently set at 2,800 Yuan (320) per year. As well as developing the economy, the plan also introduces the possibility of the government helping its most impoverished citizens to move to areas with more economic opportunities. China's state council has announced new measures to eliminate poverty by 2020 as part of its latest Five Year Plan (file photo) The plan has promised to ensure China's enormous population have 'enough to eat and wear, adequate education, health services and housing', according to a cabinet document released on December 2. Low-income areas will be supported in their expansion of industries, such as agriculture, tourism and e-commerce. According to the cabinet document, China's poor population is most prevalent in 832 counties across the country. Poverty incidence in western China stood at over 10 percent. The rate in eight ethnic minority areas is even worse at 12.1 percent. CHINA'S POVERTY RELIEF PLANS (2016-2020) Aim: to lift 56 million people out of poverty Regional measures: boost agriculture, tourism, e-commerce, asset-return, technology Employability enhancement: provide vocational training and relocation support Education: perfecting the rural education system, support poor students, offer better access to higher education Healthcare: improve quality of hospital service in poor areas, better coverage of medical insurance Source: China's state council Advertisement These included five provincial-level autonomous regions in Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Xinjiang, Guangxi, Ningxia, as well as the provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Qinghai. Some people living in impoverished regions will be given the opportunity to relocate, with a variety of support measures introduced to increase their income and employability in their new homes. Resources will be allocated to cultivate competitive industries, such as agriculture, tourism and e-commerce in these regions, said the document. The plan also aims to provide easier access to education and health care services. 2020, a year before Communist Party's 100th anniversary, is a critical deadline for the government to review whether the party has delivered on its promises. Some people living in impoverished regions will be given the opportunity to relocate, with a variety of support measures introduced to increase their income and employability in their new homes (file photo) In late 1970s, former communist leader Deng Xiaoping famously vowed to move the national population into 'well-off society', known as 'xiao-kang' in Chinese, by the end of 20th century, according to China Daily. Another leader, Jiang Zemin, elaborated on the concept and set a goal of quadrupling the 2000 GDP by 2020. The latest and 13th Five-Year Plan is a blueprint for Chinas economic and social development from 2016 to 2020. Poverty relief is one of the main agendas for the plan, but it also address a diverse range of societal issues. For instance, China, set a goal to slash carbon dioxide emissions by 18 percent by 2020, according to an earlier report by MailOnline. Struck off: Solicitor Anthony Dart A solicitor has been struck off after he watched porn with a vulnerable client who offered to pose for a topless photo shoot when she could not afford to pay her bills. Anthony Dart, 64, discussed settling his bill 'in kind' after a client said she could not afford to pay for legal advice he had provided. The client suggested she could take part in a topless photo shoot in lieu of payment before the pair watched online pornography together in his office, a tribunal heard. Mr Dart, of Tony Dart Solicitors and Advocates, based in Barnstaple, Devon, appeared before the tribunal accused of improper behaviour with a client. He was banned from practicising law in the UK and ordered to pay 12,000. The tribunal heard how on October 19, 2013, Mr Dart met with the client, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to discuss outstanding fees. She offered to strip for a topless photo shoot in lieu of monetary payment, it was heard. Mr Dart claims the woman told him she was an aspiring model and had recently been asked to perform in a pornographic film. In a statement to the tribunal, he said: 'She was quite animated and said she had been in contact with someone via the internet which could lead to her being paid lots of money for participating in a porn movie. 'She shooed me out of my chair in order to use my computer and went onto a website which contained adult porn. She showed me a couple of clips over a few minutes.' Mr Dart claimed she then continued to text him to arrange a photo shoot but that he told her to stop. He added: 'In the light of that text I deleted subsequent texts from her and late one night after leaving the Custody Centre very tired and in the knowledge that I was never going to be paid and also worried about where this was going I threw my second phone into the river.' The tribunal was shown a transcript of Mr Dart's police interview, in which he was played a recording of a telephone conversation between himself and the client. Representing the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Jonathan Goodwin said Mr Dart made his intentions clear in the recordings. Mr Goodwin said: 'He was discussing with a vulnerable female client the settling of his bill "rather than in cash but in kind" and these were his words.' He added: 'From the recordings it was clearly intended that there would be explicit photographs and there were clear implications regarding sexual activity.' In conversations played back to Mr Dart by the police, the solicitor asked the client not to send explicit texts because they might be checked by the authorities. Mr Dart said what she suggested 'would be wonderful and would be nice' and 'I dont expect that a session is going to clear the bill.' He continued: 'Im sure we could think of some bright ideas where I might end up owing you some money, but at least that would clear the debt as far as Im concerned.' Mr Goodwin also presented evidence showing Mr Dart was also aware the woman had been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. Mr Dart admitted to the tribunal that between July 12, 2013 and November 15, 2013, he had taken part in discussions with a vulnerable female client about an 'inappropriate and improper arrangement for the settlement of an outstanding bill'. He also admitted to watching pornography in his office with a vulnerable female client on or around October 19, 2013. Mr Dart also presented evidence he hoped would mitigate his actions. The tribunal 'accepted that this misconduct occurred in a long unblemished career but it was not a one-off but a series of contacts.' Mr Tinkler, the chairman of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, who oversaw the hearing said: 'There was no suggestion that the respondent [Mr Dart] had committed a criminal offence, but his conduct so greatly and clearly undermined the trust the public would place in solicitors that in the view of the tribunal he could not continue as a member of the profession.' After the case Mr Dart said: 'I don't want to make any comment. This has been a very difficult time for me. I think the press need to show me a bit of respect. 'I have got to live my life and it is really tough. It is the end of my career. It is a pretty awful time for me and my family. but is expected to survive Another man in his 20s was taken to the hospital for emergency Baby Xy'Ahir was pronounced dead at the hospital The baby, his father and a few other men were in the house when a gunman burst in and opened fire Ten-month-old Xy'Ahir Davis was killed in a shooting at his home in Marrero, A 10-month-old baby boy was killed this weekend, after a gunman burst into his family home and opened fire. The baby boy has been identified as Xy'Ahir Davis, who was nicknamed 'Nemo' by his loved ones. An unidentified man who was in the house at the time was also injured but is expected to survive his injuries. Scroll down for video Ten-month-old Xy'Ahir Davis was killed on Saturday after a gunman burst into his house and opened fire The incident happened Saturday afternoon, around 4:30pm, at a house in Marrero, Louisiana. A woman who asked not to be named told Nola.com that Xy'Ahir, his father and several other young men were in her daughter's home at the time. The baby's father went outside to get some diapers and shortly after he returned the gunman burst in an opened fire. Both baby Xy'Ahir and an unidentified man in his 20s were struck with multiple bullets. Another man in his 20s was injured in the shooter Saturday afternoon at a residence in Marrero, Louisiana Baby Xy'Ahir was rushed to West Jefferson Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. The other victim was taken to University Medical Center for emergency surgery and is expected to pull through. The gunman remains at large. No description of the shooter has been released yet. On Sunday, family members gathered outside the scene of the shooting for a vigil for baby Xy'Ahir. 'I really don't know what to say,' Steven Davis, the boy's grandfather, told Nola.com. 'I'm at a loss for words.' Portuguese police say they are 'completely in tune' with British detectives following a tip that a gang of European traffickers snatched Madeleine McCann. Policia Judiciaria bosses say their relationship with the Scotland Yard team given fresh cash to investigate the new lead is 'easy and fluid.' The comments, made by a Lisbon-based senior officer, will give missing Madeleine's parents fresh hope of answers to the near ten-year-old mystery. The PJ made no secret of their rejection of the theory championed by former Operation Grange chief Andy Redwood about Madeleine being kidnapped from her Algarve holiday flat by a gang of thieves during a bungled burglary in May, 2007. Detectives will work on the assumption that Maddie (pictured) was snatched by a gang of European traffickers Kate and Gerry McCann hold a news conference in 2012 to mark the 5th anniversary of the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine Before this weekend's trafficking revelations, it was thought the botched burglary claims formed the final line of inquiry. But Portugal's Attorney General's office confirmed today the last of six 'letters of request' Portuguese police based in the Algarve city of Faro had been asked to work on, was completed and sent back on October 25. Officers in Faro had been expecting to receive a new letter asking them to arrange a fresh interrogation of four locals questioned as 'arguidos' or official suspects in July 2014 as part of the botched burglary theory - but so far none has been forthcoming. The Operation Grange team, now led by DCI Nicola Wall, is in regular contact with the Madeleine McCann review team based in Porto which got the case reopened in Portugal in October 2013 after linking convicted burglar Euclides Monteiro who died in a tractor accident in 2009 to the Brit child's disappearance. A senior Lisbon-based PJ officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: 'Although we are talking from a formal point of view about two different investigations which are independent of each other, the contacts between the two teams are easy and frequent. 'The high-ranking meetings at the PJ HQ in Lisbon, which worked to establish models of co-operation are no longer needed. A police officer and sniffer dog search scrubland for missing British girl Madeleine McCann during a previous investigation in Praia da Luz, Algarve 'Since the Operation Grange leadership changed, the relationship is easy and fluid and conducted by phone. 'There is still work to do. Not all possibilities have been dismissed. There is one line of investigation to be explored and we and Scotland Yard are completely in tune with each other. 'We are both working on the same line of investigation and are in close contact.' Weekend reports said the Scotland Yard search for Madeleine had been extended by months after detectives were given more cash. The Met was said to be taking the development about a gang of European traffickers snatching the youngster so seriously that leading Whitehall officials were being briefed on its progress. The investigation of the new lead was described as 'the last throw of the dice.' In July 2014 four Portuguese men faced a barrage of more than 250 questions while being questioned as arguidos or formal suspects in interviews conducted at Scotland Yard's request. Scotland Yard is set to investigate an 'important' new lead in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann They included the question: 'Did you kill Madeleine?' All four men denied any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance. They were quizzed after British detectives honed in on the theory Madeleine, three when she disappeared on May 3 2007 from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz as her parents ate tapas nearby, may have killed during a bungled break-in and her body buried on waste ground nearby. Eleven witnesses including several Brits were questioned in December 2014 at the same police station in Faro. Portuguese police privately dismissed the botched burglary theory and indicated at the time they believed Madeleine had been snatched by a foreigner no longer in Portugal, although they didn't rule out the involvement of Euclides Monteiro, a former worker at the Ocean Club where the McCanns stayed. The Policia Judiciaria declined today to make any official comment on the weekend trafficking claims, which came eight months after Met commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe predicted the force's 12 million Operation Grange probe was coming to an end. The 'arguido' status of the four men questioned in July 2014 was lifted under Portuguese law when the rogatory letter relating to the questioning was returned. A spokesman for Portugual's Attorney General's office confirmed today the first of the six letters was returned on November 26 2014 after being completed. The remaining five were returned between January 12 last year and October 25 this year, when the final one which is thought to have contained the results of DNA tests from Portugal's Police Scientific Laboratory, was sent back to the British authorities. The content of the letters has not been made public. A Faro police source said the PJ team there had been expecting to receive a new letter after Operation Grange officers signalled they believed the 253 questions they wanted asked of the arguidos and witnesses hadn't been put to them in all cases. Detectives have explored dozens of theories since she vanished, including allegations she was kidnapped by a paedophile gang or snatched and sold by child traffickers He said: 'We maintained regular email correspondence with the team but reached a point where they kept saying 'We are re-evaluating our investigation.' 'As they expressed the need for further questioning, we have been expecting a new rogatory letter, but it never arrived' 'The last letter of request was answered, once we received the remaining requested results. 'That was our task, to answer the letters of request about everything requested and allowed by Portuguese law. 'Now, we have no more contact with the British authorities unless something new is requested, which hasn't happened yet'. The child trafficking theory was first raised in late 2007 by private detectives who believed there could have been gang 'spotters' working in Praia da Luz. Nicholas Eggington, 58, a former teacher at Prince Charles' old school, has been jailed for three years for sexually abusing a pupil in his classroom cupboard in the early 1990s A former teacher at Prince Charles' old school has been jailed for three years for sexually abusing a pupil in his classroom cupboard in the early 1990s. Nicholas Eggington, 58, taught at the renowned Cheam School where he befriended the young boy so he could create opportunities to be alone with him, a court heard. He then abused him sexually on a number of occasions at the school - including his store cupboard, the photography club's darkroom and other secluded areas of the schools 100-acre grounds in Hampshire. The preparatory school is steeped in history, having been founded nearly 400 years ago in 1645 and boasting former prime ministers and chancellors among its ex pupils. The Duke of Edinburgh also went there. Eggington, of Arnold, Nottingham, was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court after being found guilty of two counts of indecent assault on a male child and two counts of gross indecency with a male child. He is also the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offenders' register for life. A Hampshire Police spokesman said that the offences relate to a single victi, who was under 14 and occurred between 1992 and 1993 at the Cheam School in Headley where Eggington taught between 1987 and 1993. Detective Constable Craig Ferguson said: 'This was a very detailed investigation which required the continued strength and support of the victim and his family. 'I would like to take this opportunity to thank the victim and to commend him for the courage and resolve he has demonstrated throughout this difficult investigation. Teacher: Eggington taught at the renowned Cheam School in Hampshire (pictured) where he befriended the young boy so he could create opportunities to be alone with him, a court heard Former pupil: Prince Charles joined as a boarder in 1957 (pictured), and a nine-year-old pupil when The Queen afforded him the titles of The Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester 'I am aware that this case was at times very difficult for the victim and his family but I hope now that we have seen justice he can start to try to rebuild his life and move on.' The school now caters for children aged up to 13, with more than 300 pupils in years three to eight. Prince Charles joined as a boarder in 1957, and a nine-year-old pupil when The Queen afforded him the titles of The Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester. His father Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was also once a pupil there. Henry Addington, who was Prime Minister between 1801 and 1804, Sir Winston Churchills father Randolph Churchill and Hugh Childers, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1882 and 1885, also attended Cheam School. He was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court (pictured) after being found guilty of two counts of indecent assault on a male child and two counts of gross indecency with a male child In more recent years another notable former student was celebrated mountaineer Jake Meyer, 32, who was formerly the youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest in 2005, aged 21 years 4 months. An NSPCC spokesman said: 'It was Eggingtons job to nurture the children in his care. Instead he sought out opportunities to commit abuse. A suspect in the Stephen Lawrence murder case who was thought to be on the run in Spain has been allegedly seen in Britain wearing a pair of dark sunglasses. Jamie Acourt, 40, of Bexley, South East London, who is wanted over claims he was in a 4million cannabis gang, is said to have been seen in exclusive Mayfair. Acourt was once named as a suspect in the investigation into the racist murder of 18-year-old Stephen who was killed by up to six attackers in Eltham in 1993. On the run: Jamie Acourt (left) was once named as a suspect in the investigation into the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence (right) who was killed by up to six attackers in Eltham in 1993 Exclusive location: The sighting of the former steel fixer was allegedly made near the five-star Dorchester Hotel in London's Mayfair around the time of a Crimestoppers appeal in October Police believe the father-of-two is now being harboured by various contacts along the southern Spanish coast on what has become known as the 'Costa del Crime'. But officers now think he returned to Britain on a fake passport to meet friends and raise funds for his fugitive life, according to The Sun reporter Mike Sullivan. A source told the newspaper: He was casually walking along Park Lane without a care in the world and no doubt living it up in style. The suspicion is he came back from Spain on a false passport to raise money and is now likely back there. Father-of-two: Police believe Acourt (pictured in 2006) is now being harboured by various contacts along the Spanish coast on what has become known as the 'Costa del Crime' Interview: Acourt is shown the famous Daily Mail front page from 1997 by journalist Martin Bashir in 1999 that named him among five men as Stephen's killers The sighting of the former steel fixer was allegedly made near the five-star Dorchester Hotel around the time of a Crimestoppers appeal in October. Acourt is suspected of being a 'principal member' of an organised crime group involved in the large-scale supply of cannabis. Scotland Yard detained a number of people following a surveillance operation that lasted for two years, but Acourt fled before the arrests. Since the Lawrence case, Acourt has had only one conviction, after he stole empty soda siphons from a drinks warehouse in 1999. But police believe he has enjoyed a luxury heavy-drinking lifestyle as a result of his role in a drugs smuggling gang. Investigation: Crimewatch aired a reconstruction of Stephen's murder in September. The above video grab shows actors playing Stephen (right) and his friend Duwayne Brooks (left) Developments in the case: Two original suspects, Gary Dobson (left) and David Norris (right), were convicted of murdering Stephen in 2012 and jailed for life Acourt and his brother Neil, 40, are two of the five men named by the Daily Mail in 1997 as the killers of black teenager Stephen. Two original suspects, Gary Dobson and David Norris, were convicted of murder in 2012 and jailed for life. The Acourts and Luke Knight are the other three men, who have never been charged by the Crown Prosecution Service. Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, are planning a move to Washington DC and house-hunting for locations that would put them close to Ivanka's father when Donald Trump takes the White House, it was reported Monday. The move would put the power couple in close proximity to Trump and provide them easy opportunities to dispense advice, talk business, or catch about family. Kushner has been a leading advisor to Trump's campaign, and accompanied the president-elect when he visited the White House to meet President Obama. Kushner was photographed with Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough during the White House visit. CNN reported the house-hunting news. Ivanka Trump has been a trusted advisor to her father for years, in the campaign, during the transition, and on NBC's 'The Apprentice,' although she is barred by federal nepotism laws from serving in his administration. Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner are house hunting with an eye toward moving from New York to Washington, CNN reported. The married couple are pictured together in May Trump has said he plans to hand over his business to Ivanka and two other adult children, Eric Trump and Donald Trump., Jr. He plans to outline his plans for the business at a press conference in New York with Ivanka Trump on December 15. Ivanka Trump has spearheaded one of Trump's signature projects, development of the Old Post Office in Washington into the new Trump International DC hotel. The hotel, located on Pennsylvania Ave. near the White House, has been listed as a potential conflict of interest, as diplomats have said they would look to book rooms to send a good message to the new president. She has also been at her husband's side during some important meetings during the transition, including one with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. The New York Times reported Monday that Ivanka Trump's company is finalizing a branding deal in Japan financed by the Development Bank of Japan, which is owned by the government The move would put the power couple in close proximity to Trump and provide them easy opportunities to dispense advice, talk business, or catch about family. They are seen here with two of their three children in New York in March White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough (R) and Jared Kushner spoke during Trump's visit to the White House to meet with President Obama Ivanka Trump speaks during the grand opening ceremony of the Trump International Hotel in Washington. Her father has said he plans to turn over the business to three of his adult children Donald Trump's wife Melania and their son Barron plan to stay in New York City, possibly through the end of the school year Trump and Kushner have three children: Arabella Rose, 5, Joseph Frederick, 3, and Theodore James, who was born in March. Donald Trump's wife, Melania, plans to continue living in the couple's New York penthouse while Barron Trump finishes the school year. Ivanka Trump has said she wants to make women in the workforce one of her top issues, and a source told Politico she would take up the mantle of climate change. An Iranian was almost stabbed to death in a Dutch migrant centre after fellow asylum seekers reportedly found out he was gay. Police initially thought the attack on the 25-year-old in the town of Bellingwolde in the north-eastern part of the Netherlands was drugs-related. But an LGBT organisation says it has witness statements confirming that the assault was because the victim is gay. A shocking picture has emerged of the Iranian lying in a pool of his own blood shortly after the knifing. An Iranian was almost stabbed to death in a Dutch migrant centre after fellow asylum seekers reportedly found out he was gay A 34-year-old Tunisian asylum-seeker is suspected of carrying out the attack on September 15, details of which have only just emerged. The young Iranian man had just left the room of an Iranian family in the asylum centre when the attack unfolded. They had been drinking gin to celebrate his 26th birthday the next day. When he walked out of the room after the small party, he was immediately attacked and a knife wound in the thigh, severed a main artery, according to reports. The Iranian immediately fell to the ground. Paramedics were called and rushed him to a nearby hospital. The police initially said the motive was that the Iranian had refused to sell a joint to his attacker. Police initially thought the attack on the 25-year-old in the town of Bellingwolde (pictured) in the north-eastern part of the Netherlands was drugs-related But LGBT Asylum Support says it has statements of witnesses confirming the homophobic motive. The organisation's Sandro Kortekaas said: 'At least it looks like a good idea and desirable to me to reinvestigate the case.' The victim recovered from the stabbing and is now living in another asylum centre. Kortekaas added: 'The central asylum centre authority gives a false sense of security. Even if the victim has been moved, he is still confronted by friends of the perpetrator.' The public prosecutor's office said in a statement that while their initial investigation has not yet proven there was any anti-gay motive, they had decided to look into the matter. Joe McKnight, former New York Jets and Kansas City NFL player, in Tarrytown, Louisiana, last week The family of a white motorist who shot dead a black man in a road rage attack in New Orleans have said he has a 'good heart' - and is not a racist. Relatives of Ronald Gasser said that they were praying for him and for Joe McKnight, the former New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs running back who he killed. Mary Short, who was married to Gasser's dad Ronald Sr until his death last July, said he was a 'good son to his dad and a good person'. DailyMail.com can also reveal that Gasser's daughter Candice is in 'shock' and is struggling to come to terms with what her father did. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Arrested: Ronald Gasser was help by police at the scene of the shooting, when ended in the death of Joe mcKnight, a 28-year-old former NFL player Dead: Ex-NFL star Joe McKnight was shot dead by Gasser after a confrontation, sparking racial tensions in New Orleans. McKnight had played for the Jets and also the Kansas City Chiefs 'Good son': Mary Short (left) who was married to Ronald Gasser's father, Ronald snr (right) until his death, said: ' I'm praying for Ronnie, that's what we call him, and I'm praying for Joe.' Gasser, 54, has admitted to killing McKnight, 28, after the two became involved in a road rage row that began on a bridge went on for four miles. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff has said that when they arrived in in Tarrytown, Louisiana, Gasser shot McKnight three times from inside his car. The case has sparked racial tensions in New Orleans as Gasser has not been charged and has not even been remanded in custody. Investigators are now piecing together what could have caused him to react in such a way, Although Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand has already said that he does not believe it was a hate crime. Speaking from her home in Metairie, Short told DailyMail.com that Gasser was not the person he was being made out to be. She said: 'He was a good son to his dad. He's a good person. I'm praying that this all just goes away. I'm praying for Ronnie, that's what we call him, and I'm praying for Joe.' Short revealed that Gasser lived with his father for years until she moved in with him. She said that Gasser and his father, an insurance agent, were 'very close' and looked after him in his old age. Short, 73, said that Gasser's father was 'wonderful' and 'the love of my life'. Short said: 'Ronnie has a good heart. I've never seen him be violent or anything like that. I don't think this is about race. I've lived around black people all of my life and I don't think like that and neither does Ronnie'. Wanda Bua, 59, Gasser's former partner who had a daughter, Candice, with him, said that the killing was 'senseless' She said that she and Candice had not seen Gasser for 'years' because 'my daughter and Ron got busy and drifted apart and haven't seen each other for a long while'. Asked what Gasser is like, Bua said: 'We don't know'. Family: Candice Bua (left), Ronald Gasser's ex-partner and mother of his daughter Candice (right) said the killing was a 'heavy burden' on her, despite her being estranged from her father Remembered: Tributes have been left at the spot where the confrontation between Gasser and McKnight turned fatal last week She said: 'With the NAACP getting involved it's scary and I want people to know we didn't have anything to do with it. Bua added that Candice is 'not doing good' and has a 'heavy burden' on her shoulders. Bua said: 'It's still her dad'. Neighbors at his Gasser's suburban Gretna said that he was a 'loner' and that he used to work nights - Gasser was the owner of his own telecoms company. They used to see him out cutting his grass and he used to cut the grass of his neighbor Regina Sam, 59. She said that Gasser used to watch over out for her son who is in the military and is in Iraq. She said: 'He was mild-mannered and was always nice to me. I never got the feeling he had a racial problem. He looked out for me and never disrespected me'. Regardless of how good a neighbor he was, Gasser does appear to have longstanding issues when he got behind the wheel. Between he and his father they had at least 13 traffic tickets ranging from illegally going over private property to avoid a red light to not wearing a seatbelt. The most serious incident was by Gasser and was 10 years ago at the exactly the same spot as the incident with McKnight. John Shilling (pictured) claims he was attacked by Ronald Gasser in a road rage incident in 2006 Back in 2006 Gasser chased former policeman John Shilling then spat at him and tried to beat him up at a gas station. The charge of simple battery was not pursued by prosecutors. In addition to working as an insurance agent Gasser's father, Ronald Sr, owned a number of properties in the New Orleans area. According to his will filed at the Jefferson Parish Court, when Ronald Sr died last July he gave Short one of his homes to keep and it appears the mortgage was fully paid off. He also gave one property each to Gasser and his daughter Sharon Weileman. She did not answer the door or respond to messages left by DailyMail.com. Court documents obtained by DailyMail.com reveal that Ronald Sr and State Farm, his home insurance company, were sued for $50,000 by one of his tenants in July, a year after he died. Patricia Demouy, one of his tenants, claimed that Ronald Sr failed to properly deal with water leaking into a wall which led to dry rot and caused her to breathe in toxic materials. Islamic State's new spokesman has begun by calling on lone wolf fanatics in Europe, US and Russia to attack people 'in their markets, roads and clubs'. Abi al-Hassan al-Muhajer got the job after the terror group's previous spokesman was killed in a U.S. air strike in Syria on August 30. His first message - entitled For You Will Remember What I Tell You - claims US, Russia, Europe and Iran are all seeking the destruction of the Muslims. Scroll down for video Islamic State's new spokesman has begun his latest job by calling on lone wolf fanatics in Europe, US and Russia to attack people 'in their markets, roads and clubs' (stock image) Responding to the West's latest campaigns against ISIS, Abu Hassan promised: 'We will attack them in their own countries'. He also urged ISIS supporters to attack Turkish military, economic and media targets, as well as its embassies around the world. He told supporters: 'Your operations make a difference, change the situation... Attack them in their markets, roads, clubs, and any unexpected location and burn the ground under their feet.' The recording appeared on Al Furqan, a media organisation linked to Islamic State, giving the new spokesman's name as Abi al-Hassan al-Muhajer, but keeping his appearance secret. The United States confirmed in September that Islamic State's previous spokesman, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, had been killed in an airstrike. Yemen-born Shawqi Awad Balzuhair was released from Guantanamo on Sunday The Obama administration on Sunday transferred a Guantanamo Bay detainee to Cape Verde it says is no longer a threat to the country's security. Yemen-born Shawqi Awad Balzuhair was originally labeled as an al-Qaeda 'operative who planned to participate in terrorist operations targeting U.S. forces' in Pakistan, and even the United States. A review conducted in January categorized him as a 'low-level fighter' with no 'ongoing extremist ties.' Balzuhair 'is hoping to start his life after GTMO by finding a wife,' a U.S. military official said, according to the Miami Herald. He had been a prisoner at the U.S. detention center since 2002. His release to the African island-nation brings the prisoner population at Guantanamo down to 59. President Barack Obama entered office on a promise to close down the Cuban facility altogether but was unable to do so in his eight years in office after Congress blocked him from moving combatants the Pentagon said could not be remanded to their home countries to U.S. soil The administration has had an especially difficult time clearing out Yemeni fighters approved for release. Latest release brings the prisoner population at Guantanamo down to 59 Donald Trump has said 'load it up with some bad dudes'. He has not commented on Obama's latest move to reduce the prisoner population President Barack Obama entered office on a promise to close down the Cuban facility altogether but was unable to do so in his eight years in office after Congress blocked him from moving combatants the Pentagon said could not be remanded to their home countries to U.S. soil. The administration has had an especially difficult time clearing out Yemeni fighters approved for release. Italy, Oman and Saudi Arabia have accepted prisoners this year. The White House said Monday it's 'continuing to do the diplomatic work of finding an arrangement' for the prisoners cleared for transfer. Donald Trump has said he will 'load it up with some bad dudes' and even suggested his administration could try Americans accused of terrorism at the offshore facility, even though the practice is currently illegal. He has not commented on Balzuhair's release. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday afternoon that the president is still trying to shutdown the prison. Earnest accused lawmakers of 'politically-motivated' efforts that prevent it from happening. 'Our view is that it also that continuing to have the prison open only serves to advance the recruiting interests of extremist organizations that do view the continued operation of the prison at Guantanamo Bay as an effective recruitment tool,' he said. Arkansas Senator and Obama antagonizer Tom Cotton lit into the exiting president today for releasing Balzuhair. 'President Obama is spending his last days in office making America less safe by rushing to fulfill one final campaign promise and release hardened terrorists from Guantanamo Bay,' he said. Any transfers in the lame duck period of Obama's presidency will demonstrate 'Obama is more concerned with his own legacy than national security,' Cotton said. 'The inmates remaining at Guantanamo are the worst of the worst and need to remain where they are so they cannot return to the battlefield and attack us once again.' Balzuhair is the only prisoner the Obama administration has released since Trump's upset victory in the presidential election four weeks ago. Of the 59 that remain, 20 detainees have received recommendations for transfer. The White House indicated last week that it could release more fighters from the camp before Obama leaves office on Jan. 20. 'After that, the president-elects team will have to decide how they want to handle that situation,' Earnest said. Arkansas Senator and Obama antagonizer Tom Cotton lit into the exiting president today for releasing Balzuhair. Any transfers in the lame duck period of Obama's presidency will demonstrate 'Obama is more concerned with his own legacy than national security,' Cotton said Trump's campaign said in an October statement that Obama's actions are 'dangerous and lawless.' His 'backdoor' approach to closing the prision 'is needlessly putting American lives at risk,' former Congressman Peter Hoekstra said on behalf of the Republican candidate. Hoekstra claimed that 'dozens of released detainees have already returned to combat against the U.S. and our allies, and many have been involved in new attacks against Americans.' Obama's followed a 'politically driven approach to terrorism,' the ex-House Intel Committee member said. Gitmo detainees 'should be tried by military commission and punished accordingly.' Balzuhair was taken into custody on Sept. 11, 2002, in Pakistan. U.S. officials first believed him to be part of an active terror cell yet now believe he 'was a low-level Yemeni militant who traveled to Afghanistan in mid-2001, received basic training at an al-Qaida camp, and served on the front lines before 9/11.' He 'was probably awaiting a chance to return to Yemen when he was arrested at the Karachi safe house,' the report said. A review board determined that he doesn't express 'support for extremist ideologies' and it is 'no longer necessary' for the U.S. to hold him. The Herald reports that his military advocate introduced him as 'quite pleasant' at a May panel. Rival gangs of migrants attacked each other with tables and chairs during a shocking riot at a Dutch asylum centre. Footage leaked by Dutch far right politician Geert Wilders, shows the massive disturbance involving dozens of young men inside the asylum centre's canteen area. Wilders, who is leader of the anti-immigrant Freedom Party, claimed he received the footage from a worker inside the centre. Dutch far right politician Geert Wilders published footage he claimed showed a riot at a centre for asylum seekers in Apeldoorn in the east of the country on his Twitter feed earlier today Wilders claimed the shocking footage was leaked to him by one of the centre's employees During the shocking footage, the men can be seen breaking chairs and flinging the debris at each other as the situation quickly spirals out of control. The men appear to be being held in a windowless room when the disturbance breaks out. Four people were believed to have been injured in the riot, although the exact timing of the violence appears to be in dispute. Wilders told his 730,000 twitter followers, the footage came from an asylum centre in Apeldoorn and was filmed last Friday. His supporters used the contents of the video to write vitriolic and racist comments about asylum seekers in Holland. One individual compared those in the asylum centre to animals in a zoo. Others claimed they should be immediately deported. However, according to Gelrenieuws, local police confirmed the incident took place on December 4, 2015 when four people were injured. Joop.nl said those behind the disturbance were moved to a different asylum centre. The anti-Islam politician is leading opinion polls ahead of next March's elections. Estimates claim Wilders and his party would receive about 33 seats of 150-seat lower chamber, pushing the current prime minister Mark Rutte into second place. Geert WIlders, pictured, is performing well in Dutch opinion polls ahead of March's elections Sophie Taylor died when her car crashed during a chase through Cardiff, a court heard A young woman was killed as she made a 999 call to say she was being chased by a car through a city centre. Terrified Sophie Taylor, 22, told police her ex-boyfriend was following her at speed and she feared for her safety. But officers failed to respond and Ms Taylor's black BMW ploughed into a block of flats as she tried to escape the chasing car. Call centre worker Ms Taylor died at the scene and her front seat passenger only survived after 11 hours of life-saving surgery. Ms Taylor's ex-boyfriend Michael Wheeler, 22, is facing jail after admitting causing death by dangerous driving. Ms Taylor's father has said he wants answers over the response by South Wales Police. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has launched an investigation into the crash in Adamstown, Cardiff, on August 22. The tragedy happened after Ms Taylor went to Wheeler's home to confront him about a loan she took out to help him buy a motorbike. Ms Taylor asked friend Joshua Deguerra, 22, to go with her for moral support but Wheeler refused to pay up and the pair left, a judge was told. Ms Taylor's ex-boyfriend Michael Wheeler (pictured) is facing jail after admitting causing death by dangerous driving The court heard were driving home when they became aware they were being followed by Wheeler in a black Vauxhall Corsa. Police are understood to have CCTV footage of the chase which ended when Ms Taylor's 1-Series BMW left the road and hit a block of flats in the Adamsdown area of the city. Wheeler, of Cardiff, who also admits dangerous driving, was remanded in custody. Ms Taylor's heartbroken parents Jackie, 52, and Rod, 58, are demanding to know why South Wales Police did not respond to their daughter's plea for help. Her mother said after the case: 'Sophie was driving so Joshua made two 999 calls - the first one lasted 24 minutes. 'We haven't heard the recordings of the calls but Sophie must have been asking for help because they were being chased. 'The second call went on for eight minutes and includes the impact when her car hit the building. 'The impact is on the recording and apparently you can hear the voices of the first paramedics on the scene.' Sophie's relatives paid tribute to their 'beautiful princess' at her funeral in September Mrs Taylor and her fire safety consultant husband have not heard the tape because it is part of the evidence. Advertising executive Jackie said: 'This all stemmed from a dispute over a loan Sophie took out for Wheeler to buy a motorbike because he couldn't get a loan himself. 'But they only went out together for four or five weeks and she wanted the loan repaying. It was worrying her. Sophie's car crashed at this junction in the Adamstown area of Cardiff on August 22 'The night she died she went around to see him and that was the last time I saw her alive. We have been let down by the police in every way. This was not an accident, it was preventable Ms Taylor's father 'We didn't know about the problems she was going through but she had decided to give him a chance to pay up before she took it further. We found a leaflet from the Citizen's Advice bureau in her handbag,' Mr Taylor said: 'We have been let down by the police in every way. This was not an accident, it was preventable.' A spokesman for Donald Trump said Monday that the president-elect is in favor of building the Dakota Access pipeline, and will revisit the Obama administration's decision to halt construction until it can be routed around land owned by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. The company behind the project had sought an easement to begin construction. But following months of sometimes violent protests, on Sunday the Army Corps of Engineers said it would find another path for the pipeline. Trump spokesman Jason Miller said the crude oil conduit is 'something that we support construction of, and we'll review the full situation once we're in the White House and make an appropriate determination at that time.' North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven said Thursday that Trump's team had assured him that they sided with the pipeline's supporters. Donald Trump supports the Dakota Access pipeline and will 'review the full situation' as president, a spokesman said after the Army Corps of Engineers caved to protests and said it will seek an alternate route for the project While the announcement signaled a victory for the Standing Rock Sioux and their supporters, some remained cautious, saying it was unclear what would happen when Trump takes office Protesters at the Standing Rock Indian reservation rejoiced as the Obama administration backed down from its plan to enforce an easement that would allow a pipeline to be built on their land 'We have met with President-elect Trumps transition team on a range of issues, including the need for the new president to issue an easement for the project,' Hoeven said in a Dec. 1 statement. 'Today, Mr. Trump expressed his support for the Dakota Access Pipeline, which has met or exceeded all environmental standards set forth by four states and the Army Corps of Engineers.' The top Republican in Congress criticized the Obama administration on Sunday for the sudden and unexpected decision to deny access for the pipeline to be built near tribal land. House Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted on Sunday that the decision was 'big-government decision-making at its worst.' The Wisconsin Republican tweeted Sunday night that he looks 'forward to putting this anti-energy presidency behind us.' Rep. Kevin Cramer, also a North Dakota Republican, said that the move was a 'chilling signal to others who want to build infrastructure in this country.' 'I can't wait for the adults to be in charge on Jan. 20,' said Cramer, a supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated as president on that day. Opponents of the controversial pipeline celebrated the decision with a late-night fireworks display House Speaker Paul Ryan (left) slammed the Obama administration on Sunday, tweeting that the move was 'big-government decision-making at its worst' by an 'anti-energy' President Barack Obama (right) Army Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said Sunday in a statement that '[a]lthough we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it's clear that there's more work to do.' 'The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing.' She also added the new routes will be explored using an environmental impact statement, 'with full public input and analysis'. The company building the $3.8 billion oil pipeline slammed the Obama administration. Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners released a statement Sunday night calling the decision 'just the latest in a series of overt and transparent political actions by an administration which has abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency.' The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters have long argued the project would threaten the its Lake Oahe water source and cultural sites. North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven met with Trump on Dec. 1 and came away confident that the president-elect would side against the pipeline protesters The Army's Assistant Secretary for Civil Works said a new route will be explored in consideration of an environmental impact statement along 'with full public input and analysis' Standing Rock tribal chairman Dave Archambault II said 'The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will forever be grateful to the Obama administration for this historic decision' but the Trump administration could reverse it with the stroke of a pen Thousands of demonstrators at the Oceti Sakowin campsite erupted into cheers and cries of Mni Wiconi 'Water is life' went up from the crowd as Sunday's news spread. Moments after the decision was announced, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Council Chairman Harold Frazier told DailyMail.com that he was 'shocked' by the news. The $3.8 billion pipeline running through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois is mostly complete, except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, which protesters resisted for several months. Faith Spotted Eagle, an elder of the Ihanktonwan tribe, said: 'The easement has been denied. We have all come to this gathering being hosted by Mother Earth. I love you all.' Shailene Woodley, star of the 'Divergent' movies and 'The Fault in Our Stars', who had previously been arrested while protesting told a huge crowd: 'We feel so honored to have been a small part of this movement.' In a statement, Standing Rock tribal chairman Dave Archambault II said: 'Today, the US Army Corps of engineers announced that it will not be granting the easement to cross Lake Oahe for the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline. 'Instead, the Corps will be undertaking an environmental impact statement to look at possible alternate routes.' 'The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will forever be grateful to the Obama administration for this historic decision,' he added. But that decision could be short-lived. Trump takes office in just 45 days. Protesters opposed the $3.8 billion pipeline, saying the project, slated to carry 570,000 barrels of crude oil a day across four states, could harm drinking water and cultural sites Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Sunday that the Department of Justice will 'continue to monitor the situation' and stands 'ready to provide resources to help all those who can play a constructive role in easing tensions.' 'The safety of everyone in the area - law enforcement officers, residents and protesters alike continues to be our foremost concern,' she added. Shawn, a friend of Chairman Frazier, told DailyMail.com: 'It's a heck of a victory for the Great Sioux Nation. I have a lot of pride.' U.S. Marine veteran Lanny Laplante of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, told DailyMail.com that Sunday's news was 'a great victory,' but added: 'Perhaps when Trump comes into office it might be different. It took Obama so long to respond to this why didn't he answer sooner when he made so many promises?' Miles Allard, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux, said he was pleased but remained cautious, saying, 'We don't know what Trump is going to do.' 'The whole world is watching,' Allard added. 'I'm telling all our people to stand up and not to leave until this is over.' Early concerns about a potential Trump conflict of interest turned out to be unfounded: Spokeswoman Hope Hicks told last month that the president-elect sold his stake in Energy Transfer Partners. A millionaire who strangled his escort lover to death claims he was only trying to scare her after overhearing her say that she wanted him dead. Peter Morgan, 54, told police that he placed string around Georgina Symonds's throat in the hope she would apologise for trying to 'fleece' him. But, when the 25-year-old replied threatening to 'ruin him', he strangled her to death, the court heard. Millionaire Peter Morgan (pictured), who strangled his escort lover to death, claims he was only trying to scare her after overhearing her say that she wanted him dead Peter Morgan, 54, told police that he placed string around Georgina Symonds's throat in the hope she would apologise for trying to 'fleece' him. She is pictured left and right He later told officers that killing Ms Symonds - who wanted Morgan to give her his bungalow - was the 'only option'. The court was told he had installed a listening device in Ms Symonds's bungalow and overheard her telling her boyfriend about her plans to get the bungalow and flee to London. In the recorded police interview played to the court, Morgan claimed he installed the device to check on her drug use but that he unexpectedly heard the conversation. He said: 'It wasn't with the intention of tracking her every move. It was to try and tell when she was on coke, because I didn't like it. 'I suppose I was using it to spy on her but it was out of concern. I rang it several times a day.' Morgan told police he wanted to 'frighten' Ms Symonds. The jury heard the former burlesque dancer blamed Morgan for the suicide of her ex-boyfriend Peter Deem in November 2015 and was angry about it. 'She was on the phone to someone and she said "as soon as the bungalow is in my name I'm going to go up to escort in London and I'm going to do him over" - meaning me financially,' Morgan told police. 'She said "I wish Pete had killed him so I had that life insurance". Morgan (pictured) told officers that killing Ms Symonds - who wanted Morgan to give her his bungalow - was the 'only option' 'So I went down there. I didn't go there with the intention of killing her. I thought I'd get the string, put it around her neck to frighten her. She was planning to blackmail me.' Morgan told officers that he would've stopped 'if she had said sorry'. 'But she wasn't scared, she was defensive and aggressive,' he told officers in the interview. 'I took the string off. I told her I knew exactly what she was doing. 'But she said she'd make sure I'd lose everything. So I put the string around her neck again. It was at that point I strangled her.' He later added that he 'didn't think he would be able to physically kill someone'. 'I find it difficult to kill animals,' he added. 'It wasn't hatred. I loved her. I just saw it as the only option.' He added that he had 'no intention of killing her'. But he added: 'I did bring the polyethylene in case push came to shove. I had to confront her about what I'd heard, but I couldn't do it when she could move about.' The court previously heard Morgan was letting Ms Symonds stay in a bungalow on his Pencoed Castle at Llanmartin, Gwent, and had promised to sign it over to her after the divorce with his wife was settled. The court heard he had a collection of guns including an AK47 and a full-scale army tank. He said: 'I could have taken a knife down I suppose. I didn't know how else to frighten someone, see. Morgan told officers that he would've stopped 'if she had said sorry'. He was paying Ms Symonds 10,000 a month to be his personal escort 'I could have taken a gun down and taken a shot. But perhaps if she didn't react then I would've had to shoot her.' Morgan said he had taken out a 1m life insurance policy with Legal and General to be paid to Miss Symonds upon his death. He gave Miss Symonds 10,000 per month to be his exclusive escort, reducing this to 7,000 when she moved into the bungalow in August 2015. 'If you look on WhatsApp, going back there's one where she says "if you stop giving me the money I'm going to make sure all your family and your daughters know how we met",' he told police. 'She had a photograph that would cause me a lot of problems. It was of me with another escort in the family home.' Morgan told police he was planning on pleading guilty and 'wanted to be caught' by officers. The court previously heard Morgan was letting Ms Symonds stay in a bungalow on his Pencoed Castle at Llanmartin, Gwent (pictured), and had promised to sign it over to her after the divorce with his wife was settled Morgan admits strangling the mother-of-one, then wrapping her body up in black plastic and hiding her in a workshop behind his farmhouse (pictured) but denies murder He told detectives: 'I'm not denying I'm guilty. Don't know why I have to be questioned and cross-examined. 'It was a premeditated plan. I just wish Peter Deem had never killed himself in November and it would've all been ok. I loved her and I still love her.' Property developer Morgan earlier told police he 'gave up everything' for Ms Symonds in the months before killing her. He said he had left wife of 22 years Helen Morgan, 51, and was preparing to hand over half of his property empire to divorce her. Morgan said in a police interview: 'I love George. I gave everything up for her. I've been married for 22 years so I gave up my marriage for her. 'I was in the process of giving up half my properties and companies to my wife to be with her.' Prosecutors say Morgan murdered her after he found out she was going to leave him as soon as he signed one of his homes over to her. Her body was found in Morgan's farm workshop wrapped up in black plastic having been strangled to death with bailing twine. He admits strangling the mother-of-one, then wrapping her body up in black plastic and hiding her in a workshop behind his farmhouse. Morgan, of Llanellen, near Abergavenny, South Wales denies murder because of diminished responsibility due to Asperger's syndrome. Russia has mocked a British war games exercise at the weekend in which Nato forces posed as invading 'Russian' tanks rumbling across the border into a Baltic state. The exercise, on Salisbury Plain, involved an army of imaginary Russian tanks and troops advancing onto the territory of a Nato ally in an act of naked aggression by Vladimir Putins regime. Under the North Atlantic Treaty Britain, the US, France and Germany would be obliged to come to their defence, like the Allies were when Poland was invaded by Hitler's forces in 1939. Polish T72 tanks, flying the flags of a fictional country, were used to simulate President Putins forces invading Estonia, but the Russian Embassy in London said they were a poor imitation for the real thing But the difference this time is that both sides have nuclear weapons. The Russian Embassy in London described the exercise as 'bizarre, delusionary and surrealistic'. They also said the Polish-assembled T72 tanks were 'a poor replacement for real stuff'. The Russian Embassy in London tweeted sarcastic comments today about the wargames The Russian Embassy tweet hinted that the latest updated T72 were a big improvement on the old Polish versions used in the exercise The Mail on Sunday obtained exclusive photographs of the most realistic war games ever staged. The dramatic pictures show the incredibly life-like exercise on Salisbury Plain, intended to simulate President Putins forces invading Estonia, according to Army sources. Taking part were troops due to be deployed early next year to shore up Nato forces in the Baltic states. Every detail was as close as possible to those British soldiers will experience if Putin goes into Estonia. Taking part were troops due to be deployed early next year to shore up Nato forces in the Baltic states This demonstration on Salisbury Plain is exactly what I expect the Army to be doing, writes General Sir Richard Shirreff, and obviously theyve thought it through The enemy wore distinctive blue uniforms resembling Russian military police outfits and were equipped with AK-74 semi-automatic assault rifles issued to Russian troops. Every detail was as close as possible to those British soldiers will experience if Putin goes into Estonia The Russians launched a tank assault using the T-72, a model recently upgraded by the Kremlin at 20 million per tank. As well as the Polish-built T-72 there were three other Soviet-design tanks, supplied by a private collector and the Tank Museum. UK forces responded with missile strikes from Apache helicopter gunships and bursts of fire from Warrior armoured fighting vehicles. Challenger tanks patrolled the battlefield and RAF Tornados performed mock bombing runs. The Ministry of Defence confirmed some of the troops are expected to deploy to Estonia. The 400 UK soldiers will be within range of thousands of Russian troops and nuclear-capable missiles at Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea. Due to Army cuts, the MoD used a recruitment agency to find civilians to play enemy troops for the exercise. Gurkhas also became enemies. A defence source said: The idea was to simulate elements of Russias invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014, which included a rapid seizure of territory which led to the annexing of Crimea. The UK troops will be part of the biggest Nato deployment in the Baltic region since the Cold War. It comes after Russian military manoeuvres in areas bordering Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Some fear that Putin wants to test the West after US President-elect Donald Trump questioned the Nato alliance. Just a war game? No, the threat is terrifyingly real By General Sir Richard Shirreff Ex-Nato Deputy Supreme Commander Europe - and author of 'War with Russia' The defence of Britain starts these days not at the White Cliffs of Dover, but in the forests of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to whose defence we are committed under Article 5 of the Washington Treaty of 1949 which created Nato. This demonstration on Salisbury Plain is exactly what I expect the Army to be doing, and obviously theyve thought it through. It also sends exactly the right message about the importance of an effective deterrent It also sends exactly the right message about the importance of an effective deterrent. Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are no backwater. Rather they are the new front line in a very dangerous world. The spotlight is on the Baltic states now as it was on Berlin and the Hanover Plain during the Cold War. The Baltic is the most dangerous place from a British perspective, one of the reasons being that these states have such significant Russian-speaking populations about 20 per cent in Estonia and 27 per cent in Latvia. Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are no backwater. Rather they are the new front line in a very dangerous world And we only need to go back to the Crimea and how President Putin claimed that Russia should look after the interests of all Russians, wherever they are, to realise how he might seek to justify any encroachment into the Baltic territories. Any notion that he has a right to interfere with his neighbours on the basis that their populations include Russian speakers in a process that has been called linguistic imperialism is ridiculous and highly dangerous. In Crimea, President Putin also went to great lengths to claim that his invasion was a civil war. He may do so again in the Baltic. He may also seek to manipulate the Russian minorities in these countries using propaganda, cyber-warfare and other types of information warfare. I have no doubt that what youre seeing on Salisbury Plain is a response to a very serious conventional warfare threat, because, dont forget, the Russians by their own admission have formed three divisions in their Western Military District, which is right on the doorstep of the Baltic states. That is a really significant force, while Putin also continues to call snap exercises with immediate call-ups of as many as 40,000 troops at a time to demonstrate their readiness for war. They've been locked up in a room in his flat because of vicious The Chancellor's Welsh terrier, Rex (right) and a dachshund named Oscar (left) pose outside Number 11 for Philip Hammond's Christmas card Chancellor Philip Hammond has finally been allowed to unleash his two pet dogs in Downing Street - but only to pose for his Christmas card. His Welsh terrier, Rex, and a dachshund named Oscar, moved into Downing Street a few weeks ago but has had to keep them locked up in a room upstairs to keep them safe from their vicious neighbour - Larry the cat. They were given their first view of Downing Street outside Number 11, dressed in seasonal attire, for Mr Hammond's Christmas card, which was published today. The Chancellor is the first politician to publish his Christmas card so far this year - but it certainly won't go down as the most memorable. Relations between the pooches and Larry got off to a bad start last month. Mr Hammond confessed to friends that Rex and Oscar had not been allowed out of his flat at Number 10 because Larry patrols his domain downstairs at Number 10. Meanwhile Boris Johnson, who succeeded Mr Hammond as Foreign Secretary, brought Christmas back to the Foreign Office today by unveiling a large Norwegian Christmas tree. The tradition of having a Christmas tree in the courtyard outside the FCO was ditched by the last Labour government and the Scrooge-style approach was maintained under Tory foreign secretaries William Hague and Mr Hammond. Mr Johnson unveiled the return of the Christmas tree during a visit of the Norwegian foreign minister Borge Brende today. Philip Hammond, pictured left with Brexit Secretary David Davis, right, arriving for a meething with business executives at the Shard in central London today, is the first politician to publish his Christmas card so far this year 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 Some have interpreted the frosty relationship between Mr Hammond's dogs and No. 10's Larry as symbolic of the relationship between the Chancellor and the Prime Minister. A friend of the Mr Hammond 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. Boris Johnson, who succeeded Mr Hammond as Foreign Secretary, brought Christmas back to the Foreign Office today by unveiling a large Norwegian Christmas tree. Mr Johnson, pictured at the lectern, unveiled the return of the Christmas tree during a visit of the Norwegian foreign minister Borge Brende, pictured right, to the Foreign Office today 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. 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. Jeremy Corbyn was criticised over his choice of picture for his Christmas card last year Larry has become known for his feisty nature and has clashed with Palmerston, the cat from the Foreign Office, on numerous occasions 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 military mom in Ohio decided to stage the sweetest surprise for her son for Christmas, after being deployed in the Middle East for the last 12 months. Petty Officer Julie Workman has been deployed in Bahrain since January. However she secretly returned to her hometown of Strongsville to surprise her 12-year-old son, Dylan, who was at SouthPark Mall with his aunt. Photo time: Dylan's aunt, who was in on the surprise, had him pose for a photo with the Santa at SouthPark Mall. Little did he know that his mother was waiting in the wings Surprise: This is the moment Julie Workman suddenly appears and surprises her son, who she had not seen all year Beautiful moment: An overjoyed Dylan smiles and leaps off Santa's lap to hug his mother Reunion: Petty Officer Julie Workman has been deployed in Bahrain since January Together again: The officer returned to her hometown of Strongsville to surprise her 12-year-old son, Dylan, who was at SouthPark Mall with his aunt It was his aunt, Jessica Workman, who works at the mall, that orchestrated the surprise with Dylan's mom. She had asked Dylan to have his photo taken on Santa's lap. Julie Workman was waiting nearby, and while Dylan was having the picture taken, she suddenly appeared. 'She had mentioned she wanted to a surprise and I'm a fan of those homecoming surprises as much as anyone else, so I was like okay lets do it,' Jessica told Fox 8 News. Dylan said he was overwhelmed by the moment and admitted he didn't quite know how to react to suddenly seeing his mom. 'I didn't know what to do, and whether I should wait for the picture to be over and then give her a hug, but I just jumped up and gave her a hug,' Dylan said. 'It's the best present I could ask for.' Together again: The surprise between Dylan and his mom was organized by his aunt, Jessica Workman (right), who works at the mall The mall put the video of what happened on their official Facebook page, with the clip quickly being shared thousands of times. The post said: 'Petty Officer Julie Workman surprised her son last evening at SouthPark Mall's Ice Palace. She's been deployed in Bahrain since January 2016 and this heartwarming reunion shows how much she was missed. Wishing you loving reunions all season long. Happy Holidays!' Teresa Kirk was jailed for refusing to move an elderly man into a different care home on the orders of her local council Senior judges have raised concerns about the jailing of a grandmother who refused to bring an elderly man back from his care home in Portugal. Teresa Kirk, 71, was sentenced to six months in prison for disobeying a court order to return the elderly dementia sufferer to social services care. After spending six weeks behind bars, appeal court judges ordered that the grandmother, from Brighton, should be released from prison immediately. Three Court of Appeal judges on Monday outlined their reasons for ruling that she should go free, finding the 'circumstances of the case' were of 'significant concern'. Devon County Council took the elderly woman to court after she refused to remove the 80-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, from his care home in his native Portugal. Mrs Kirk believed that the man - whose relationship to her cannot be disclosed - was happy where he was and that he would not want to be put into council care. When social services bosses took her to court to compel her, as his legal guardian, to sign papers ordering his return to Britain, she refused. Mrs Kirk was jailed in August following a secret Court of Protection hearing in London, at which judge Mr Justice Newton concluded she was in contempt of court. In a ruling released today, Lord Justice McFarlane said: 'I am bound to record that I find the circumstances of this case to be of significant concern. 'The Court of Protection has sentenced a 71-year-old lady to prison in circumstances where the lady concerned is said to be of previous good character and ... has been acting on the basis of deeply held, sincere beliefs as to the interests of (the elderly man) for whose welfare she is... genuinely concerned.' The case of Ms Kirk, pictured after her release from prison, raised 'significant concern', senior judges have now found in an Appeal Court review of the case The two other appeal judges, Lady Justice Black and Sir James Munby, agreed. The court heard that the elderly man at the centre of the case had dementia and had signed a 'power of attorney' giving Mrs Kirk and another person permission to manage his affairs. Appeal judges said he had lived in Devon for many years but was originally from Madeira - where some of his relatives still lived. In 2015 an independent social worker had concluded that the man should live in a care facility near his Devon home. Shortly afterwards, Mrs Kirk had moved him to a care home in Portugal. Mrs Kirk had subsequently been ordered by a judge to 'cause' the man's return to England. Appeal judges said it was 'common ground' that Mrs Kirk had failed to comply with an order and the man remained in a Portuguese care home. The case was looked at by Appeal judges after anger over the grandmother's imprisonment They said Mr Justice Newton had 'no option' but to conclude that she was in contempt of court. Despite that, judge Sir James Munby had said during the appeal hearing that Mrs Kirk had been 'failed by the system'. 'Of greatest concern... is the fact that, in circumstances where she should never have been committed at all, Mrs Kirk languished in prison for almost seven weeks before being released,' Sir James added in the ruling. 'How much longer might she have remained there had Mr Challenger not intervened and been so tenacious in his pursuit of her release?' Theresa May faces her first major Commons rebellion over Europe as up to 40 MPs could back a Labour motion demanding details of her Brexit plan. Ex-Tory minister Anna Soubry - who backed Remain in June - today broke cover and said she could see nothing in it she 'could not support'. Labour's motion 'calls on the Prime Minister to commit to publishing the Government's plan for leaving the EU before Article 50 is invoked' and will be subject to a debate and vote on Wednesday. The motion, tabled by leader Jeremy Corbyn and shadow Brexit secretry Sir Keir Starmer, has been carefully drafted to maximise Conservative support and is certain to be backed by the SNP, Liberal Democrat and the vast majority of Labour MPs. Theresa May, pictured in Downing Street, faces her first major Commons rebellion over Europe as up to 40 MPs could back a Labour motion demanding details of her Brexit plan Remain campaigner Anna Soubry, pictured last week, said she could see little in the motion she could not support The Government retreated from a Commons battle over another motion in October, allowing a motion demanding 'proper' Parliamentary scrutiny to pass unopposed. The new motion goes significantly further and a first Commons defeat on the issue would be acutely embarrassing and politically damaging for Mrs May. The Prime Minister has said she plans to trigger Article 50 - the EU's divorce procedure - before the end of March despite a challenge over her powers to do so getting snarled up in an historic court case. Ms Soubry told the BBC's World at One: 'I have to say I can't see anything in it I don't approve of and could not support.' She added: 'These things are incredibly important. This actually transcends party politics and tribalism.' Ms Soubry said the rebellion could extend to scores of Conservative MPs and as many as 40 are thought to be considering backing it. Sir Keir told MailOnline: 'The purpose of the motion is straightforward: to bring a basic level of scrutiny and accountability to the process. 'I hope members across the House will feel able to support the motion.' Mrs May's Government has a fragile Commons majority of just 13 MPs, meaning just a handful of rebels could be enough to consign her to a first defeat. Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer is set to press a motion that 'calls on the Prime Minister to commit to publishing the Government's plan for leaving the EU before Article 50 is invoked' The Prime Minister herself will miss Wednesday's vote as she is in the Gulf. Several other senior ministers, including Chancellor Philip Hammond and Brexir Secretary Liam Fox, are also due to be out of the country. LABOUR'S BREXIT MOTION IN FULL Labour's motion, tabled by leader Jeremy Corbyn and shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, will be vited on Wednesday. It reads: 'That this House recognises that leaving the EU is the defining issue facing the UK; 'Notes the resolution on parliamentary scrutiny of the UK leaving the EU agreed by the House on 12 October 2016; 'Recognises that it is Parliament's responsibility to properly scrutinise the Government while respecting the decision of the British people to leave the European Union; 'Confirms that there should be no disclosure of material that could be reasonably judged to damage the UK in any negotiations to depart from the European Union after Article 50 has been triggered; 'And calls on the Prime Minister to commit to publishing the Government's plan for leaving the EU before Article 50 is invoked.' Advertisement Mrs May's deputy official spokesman refused to be drawn on the Government's tactics today but at a regular briefing insisted the policy of not spelling out the negotiating strategy was unchanged. He said: 'We are not going to set out the terms of our negotiation before we need to do so.' Mrs May has insisted detailing her Brexit objectives and tactics would undermine Britain's chance of getting the 'best possible deal'. A Labour spokesman said: 'Labour respects the decision of the British people to leave the European Union and supports the invoking of Article 50. 'But the Government must first of all bring its opening negotiating terms to Parliament for scrutiny. 'It is about to enter the most significant set of negotiations this country has faced for decades and the British people must first have sight of the Government's plan - if it indeed has one.' James McGrory, co-Executive Director of the Open Britain campaign, said: 'Brexit is the defining issue of this Parliament and it transcends party politics. 'Politicians from across the political spectrum believe that the Government should commit to publishing their plan for leaving the EU before Article 50 is triggered. 'The Government should commit to publishing a plan before Parliament inevitably forces their hand.' Shocking footage shows a mother threatening to cut out her five-year-old daughter's tongue - before hitting her with a broom. The woman was filmed lashing out at the youngster while on the porch of their home in Samut Prakan, central Thailand - allegedly because she struggles with speaking. The footage shows her pulling her daughter's hair before threatening her with a six-inch kitchen knife. Shocking footage shows a mother threatening to cut out her five-year-old daughter's tongue A neighbour recorded the attack and reported the woman, who also has another twin daughter, to police. The mother, who has not been named, has been charged with assault and held in custody while social workers investigated. Superintendent Vichit Boonchinwutthikul said the two twin girls would undergo a medical check-up to find out whether they suffered serious injuries from the alleged beatings. The woman then starts hitting her daughter with a broom - allegedly because she struggles with speaking Child welfare worker Paveena Hongsakula said the mother told her she was angry at her daughter because she ''did not speak like other children her age'. She said her twin girls had been raised by her mother-in-law in in a neighbouring province several hours away but her husband brought them to live with her eight months ago. The father of the girl now said he will take the children back to live with his mother. Schneider told the Daily Mail in 2007 she had felt raped while taping the scene and had cried 'real tears' Marlon Brando, who appears in the scene, was 48; Schneider was 19 His previous comments on the filming have caused outrage on social media But he now claims the only thing she didn't know about was 'use of butter' The director of Last Tango of Paris has claimed actress Maria Schneider did know about the 'violent' rape scene between her and Marlon Brando in the 1972 film - but claims she did not realise Brando would use butter as a 'lubricant'. Bernardo Bertolucci, 76, has come under fire in recent days from several Hollywood stars who accused him and Brando of abusing actress Schneider by keeping her in the dark about how the scene was to be shot. Bertolucci acknowledged Schneider was not aware that Brando's character would use butter during the scene in which the actor simulates raping his lover, played by Schneider, who was then just 19. The director of 'Last Tango In Paris' claims actress Maria Schneider did know about the infamous rape scene (pictured) with Marlon Brando in the 1972 film The director, 76, (pictured) previously said he 'didn't tell Schneider' about the scene, which caused outrage and led to accusations that it was 'non-consensual' Schneider, pictured in 2010 a year before her death, previously said she felt 'a little raped' during the scene, at which time she was 19 and Brando was 48 In a statement he said: 'I want for the very last time to clear up a ridiculous misunderstanding. 'We wanted her spontaneous reaction to this improper use (of the butter). The misunderstanding arises from this. 'People thought, and think, that Maria was not informed of the violence she was to suffer (in the scene). False! 'Maria knew everything because she had read the script, in which it was all described.' Bertolucci spoke out after the recent resurfacing online of a 2013 interview in which he said he and Brando had decided to introduce the butter without informing the actress. Bertolucci, considered one of the giants of Italian and world cinema, confirmed that was what happened. 'The only new thing was the idea of the butter. It was this, I learned many years later, that upset Maria, and not the violence that was in the scene and was envisaged in the script of the film. 'It is both consoling and distressing that anyone could be so naive to believe that what happens on the cinema screen actually takes place. Bernardo Bertolucci (right) said in a 2013 interview he didn't tell Schneider (left with Brando) about the scene because he wanted her to react 'as a girl, not as an actress' In her 2007 interview with the Daily Mail, Schneider, pictured with Brando in the film, said she was 'profoundly angry' about the scene for years 'Those who do not realise that sex is (almost) always simulated in films probably believe that every time John Wayne shoots an enemy on film that someone really dies.' Schneider, who suffered drug addiction and depression before her 2011 death, told the Daily Mail in 2007 she had felt 'a little raped' during the scene and was profoundly angry about it for years afterwards. 'I should have called my agent or had my lawyer come to the set because you can't force someone to do something that isn't in the script, but at the time, I didn't know that,' Schneider said. The relaying of Bertolucci's interview comments have prompted outrage on social media, fuelled by top actors. 'To all the people that love this film - you're watching a 19yr old get raped by a 48yr old man. The director planned her attack. I feel sick,' Oscar-nominated Jessica Chastain wrote on Twitter. In the 2013 exchange, Bertolucci explains how the butter idea came about. 'We were having, with Marlon, breakfast on the floor of the flat where I was shooting,' the director says. 'There was a baguette, there was butter and we looked at each other and, without saying anything, we knew what we wanted.' Actor Chris Evans said on Twitter: 'I will never look at this film, Bertolucci or Brando the same way again. This is beyond disgusting. I feel rage.' 'Westworld' star Evan Rachel Wood, who recently opened up about her own sexual abuse, described Bertolucci and Brando - who died aged 80 in 2004 - as 'very sick individuals to think that was ok.' Bertulocci previously said he felt guilty but didn't regret shooting the scene as he did. He said: 'I wanted her reaction as a girl, not as an actress. And I think that she hated me and also Marlon because we didn't tell her. 'I didn't want Maria to act her humiliation, her rage. I wanted Maria to feel, not to act the rage and humiliation,' he said. 'Then she hated me for all her life.' Schneider told the Daily Mail in 2007 she had found out about the upcoming scene at the last minute - and that there was nothing fictional about the pain and anger she felt on set. 'That scene wasn't in the original script. The truth is it was Marlon who came up with the idea,' she said. They only told me about it before we had to film the scene and I was so angry. 'I should have called my agent or had my lawyer come to the set because you can't force someone to do something that isn't in the script, but at the time, I didn't know that. Actor Chris Evans reacted to the newly unearthed interview on Twitter Saturday, writing: 'Wow. I will never look at this film, Bertolucci or Brando the same way again' Actress Anna Kendrick replied: 'Ms Schneider stated this several years ago. I used to get eye-rolls when I brought it up to people (aka dudes)' Evans told Kendrick he had no idea, adding he would have felt rage earlier if he had found out when Schneider's claims first surfaced. He added: 'They should be in jail' 'Marlon said to me: 'Maria, don't worry, it's just a movie,' but during the scene, even though what Marlon was doing wasn't real, I was crying real tears. 'I felt humiliated and to be honest, I felt a little raped, both by Marlon and by Bertolucci. After the scene, Marlon didn't console me or apologize. Thankfully, there was just one take.' Schneider said there was no attraction between her and Brando, whom she regarded as a father figure while she felt like a daughter. Actor Chris Evans reacted to the newly unearthed interview on Twitter Saturday, writing: 'Wow. I will never look at this film, Bertolucci or Brando the same way again. This is beyond disgusting. I feel rage.' Actress Anna Kendrick replied: 'Ms Schneider stated this several years ago. I used to get eye-rolls when I brought it up to people (aka dudes).' A judge sentenced Justin Ross Harris to life in prison without parole on Monday after a jury last month found that he intentionally left his 22-month-old son in a hot SUV to die. An additional 32 years was added to the sentence by Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark, following the prosecutors' recommendation. Harris, a 36-year-old former web designer, was given the maximum penalty allowed. The hearing ended a two-year police and judicial drama surrounding young Cooper's miserably cruel death - and his father's obsession with sex, deceit and a 'double life'. 'The state's recommendation is the very least that can be considered just,' Staley told the court. 'There is no justification,' lead prosecutor Chuck Boring told the court as he requested the maximum punishment. 'This is basically the most aggravated killing of another individual, especially a young child that there's only one sentence that reflects the evil nature of what he did.' Harris, wearing shackles and an orange jumpsuit was dry eyed and emotionless as his sentence was read out. He did not speak when given the opportunity to do so on his own behalf. Harris was convicted on November 14 on eight counts of malice murder, felony murder, cruelty to children and several related 'sexual exploitation of minors' charges. Scroll down for video Justin Ross Harris was sentenced to life in prison without parole plus an additional 32 years on Monday Harris, wearing shackles and an orange jumpsuit was dry eyed and emotionless as his sentence was read out Cooper baked to death after Harris left his son in a hot car for seven hours while he worked at his Home Depot job in Marietta, Georgia Police were suspicious from the start and took Harris into custody in the strip mall parking lot where he had pulled over and removed his son's lifeless body from the SUV in Smyrna, Georgia. But Harris' lead defense attorney, Maddox Kilgore, said on Monday that there were 'breakdowns' that affected the trial. 'There were breakdowns in this process that occurred,' Kilgore said following Harris' conviction, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. 'There were breakdowns in the investigation. 'There were breakdowns in the pre-trial phase, the motions phase. And there were breakdowns in the trial. It's our belief those breakdowns affected the verdict.' Kilgore offered no evidence and few comments in the hearing. He plans to appeal aspects of the trial within 30 days. Harris was found guilty of malice murder, Georgia's version of a first-degree murder charge that specifies the death was intentional. The indictment charged that Harris 'did unlawfully and with malice aforethought cause the death of Cooper Harris', which carries a life sentence with a minimum of 30 years before parole eligibility. Harris was also convicted of two counts of felony murder for causing a death during the commission of another felony - in this case first and second degree cruelty to children. An additional 32 years was added to the sentence by Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mark Staley Clark, following the prosecutors' recommendation Harris' lead defense attorney, Maddox Kilgore, said on Monday that there were 'breakdowns' that affected the trial Each charge also carries a life sentence with a minimum of 30 years before eligibility of parole. Added to the list were first and second degree 'cruelty to children' charges. The indictment alleged that Harris 'did, with criminal negligence, cause Cooper Harris cruel and excessive physical pain' and carries both a 5-20 year and 1-5 year sentences. Harris was further convicted of sexual exploitation of children - also a felony - as well as two counts of dissemination of harmful material to minors, which are both misdemeanor crimes. Harris' trial included five weeks of testimony, 70 witnesses and more than 100 items of evidence Evidence showed that Harris sent images of his erect penis to minor females and asked a teen girl to text images of her genitals to him. Judge Clark had the option of sentencing Harris to life with possible parole but instead sentenced him to life in prison without parole. The two felony murder charges were vacated. The misdemeanor charged were sentenced for 'time served', so no additional time was sentenced on those. As Cobb County Court Administrator Tom Charron explained, 'In Georgia, life means life'. Harris will remain behind bars for the rest of his days, he said. Harris' trial was held in Brunswick, Georgia, nearly six hours southeast of his home county in Marietta, Georgia. Defense attorneys had convinced the court that Harris could not have received a fair trial in the well-publicized case, as most of the potential jurors questioned indicated they had already formed an opinion as to Harris' guilt. The trial included five weeks of testimony, 70 witnesses and more than 100 items of evidence. The hearing ended a two-year police and judicial drama surrounding young Cooper's miserably cruel death - and his father's obsession with sex, deceit and a 'double life' Ross Harris did not speak when given the opportunity to do so on his own behalf in court Ross Harris was surrounded by his legal team as a Cobb County judge read out his sentencing Ross Harris signed documents at his sentencing. He was given the maximum punishment of life without parole plus an additional 32 years Following his sentencing, Ross Harris was led out of the Georgia courtroom by deputies Defense attorneys had argued that Harris was a loving father and that while he was responsible for the boy's death, it was a tragic accident. The toddler died after being left for seven hours in the back of Harris' SUV on June 18, 2014. Harris said he forgot to drop his son off at day care that morning and drove straight to his job as a web developer for Home Depot, not realizing Cooper was still in his car seat. He told police he didn't notice Cooper until he left work for the day to go to a movie. Police were suspicious from the start and took Harris into custody in the strip mall parking lot where he had pulled over and removed his son's lifeless body from the SUV Soon afterward, investigators found evidence that Harris was having sexual relationships - both online banter and in-person affairs - with numerous women, including a prostitute and a teenager. 'He thought he was smarter than anybody else. He didn't think anyone was going to call his bluff' and get away with it,' Boring said. 'He professed love for many of these young girls,' he said. The woman who he was most attached to was slipping through his fingers. She was gradually cutting him off. The day before Cooper's death, he messaged her and she didn't respond. The girl was 18 at the time. Prosecutors charged Harris with malice murder, saying he intentionally killed his son in order to escape the responsibilities of family life. They ultimately prevailed with their argument that Harris must have known Cooper was in the car. Harris drove less than two minutes to work after strapping the child into his car seat when they finished breakfast at a Chick-fil-A restaurant just over a half-mile from Harris' office. Parking lot surveillance video showed Harris also went to his car after lunch and tossed in some light bulbs he had purchased, though he never got inside. Harris' defense attorneys argued that he was a loving father and that while he was responsible for the boy's death, it was a tragic accident Harris, 36, was charged with malice murder, two counts of felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children, and second-degree cruelty to children. Pictured above, the vehicle where Cooper was found dead Graphic images revealed during trial showed Cooper's legs that seemed frozen in a bent position from sitting in a car seat inside the hot and locked car. The disturbing images troubled several jurors as the displays continued Detectives testified Harris seemed too calm when answering their questions hours after his son died. 'It wasn't one thing that (jurors) said, "This proves malice",' lead prosecutor Chuck Boring told reporters. 'It was everything.' Friends and family members testified that Harris was a devoted and loving father, and the jury watched video clips of Harris trying to teach Cooper to say 'banana' and letting the boy strum his guitar. The joyous moments had some jurors laughing aloud. Harris' ex-wife, Leanna Taylor, also came to his defense. She divorced him in March and bitterly told the jury that Harris 'destroyed my life'. But she testified he was a loving father who, regardless of how unhappy he may have been in their marriage, would not have harmed their son on purpose. Prosecutors said Harris left online clues to murderous intentions. Evidence showed that minutes before Harris locked the car door on his boy, he sent an online message: 'I love my son and all, but we both need escapes'. Five days earlier, Harris watched an online video in which a veterinarian sits inside a hot car to show it reaches 116 degrees in a half-hour. Cooper had been left in his car seat (pictured above), where he was trapped for seven hours Jacquelyn Piper, Cobb County Police officer, explains photographs made at scene near Smyrna, Georgia, where Cooper was removed from the SUV Photos documented the interior of the SUV and showed the proximity of Cooper's red and black car seat, only inches behind and to the side of the driver's seat Harris was also found guilty of sending sexual text messages to a teenage girl and asked for nude photos of her pubic area. The girl testified Harris knew she was in high school the months they swapped sexual banter when she was 16 and 17, and Harris several times sent her photos of his penis. He was asking for a photo of her breasts the day Cooper died. Harris moved to Georgia from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 2012. He lived in the Atlanta suburb of Cobb County, which is also where Cooper died. Harris admitted he was responsible for his son's death, and his defense attorney said as much when the trial began in early October. 'Responsibility is guilty in this case,' and there's no doubt that Harris is guilty of all of the charges,' Boring said. This isn't a case about an adult hating a child,' Boring told the jury. 'It's just that he loves himself and his other obsession more than that little boy.' 'Killing a young children, there is no excuse for it,' Boring said. That Harris was a good dad on other occasions does not excuse what he did, he continued. Jurors told prosecutors in a closed, post-trial interview that they were close to a unanimous guilty verdict from the first day of their deliberations. But the deliberations still continued for four days, some of it described by court officials as 'spirited' conversations. Ms Ashtari says she's been wrongly convicted and will appeal decision It is feared the missing little girl drowned at a picnic held by the Found guilty of manslaughter after the disappearance of a child in 2014 A British woman who moved to India to build an orphanage has been jailed for killing a girl who vanished during a picnic despite no body ever being found. Narges Ashtari, 28, set up a foundation in 2010 with the hope of 'improving the lives of orphans and abandoned children around the world'. But after the 2014 disappearance of a child feared drowned she became embroiled in a criminal case accused of manslaughter. Scroll down for video Narges Ashtari (centre), 28, set up a foundation in 2010 but has now been jailed for killing a child Today she was sentenced to a year in jail and fined 3,500 by the Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) court in Rayagada. Her friend told Mirror Online that she intends to fight the accusations on appeal. 'She is very upset, very, very upset,' he said. 'I could not talk to her at all she was crying non-stop. She is completely devastated and was not expecting it at all.' Narges Ashtari is originally from Iran but grew up and went to school in Exeter, Devon. Her Ashtari's parents both died when she was a child and when she met an orphaned baby boy in Sri Lanka named Prishan he inspired her to help others. Her Prishan Foundation has since built an orphanage for girls and a home for blind children in the eastern state of Odisha in India. In 2014 tragedy struck at a riverside picnic for staff, parents and children, where the young girl vanished. Witnesses have been giving evidence about her disappearance including the child's mother, who testified on September 29. Ms Ashtari claims to have been targeted by vengeful locals intent on destroying her work or extorting money. She insists she has been wrongly accused and is the victim of corruption, which is endemic in parts of India. The terrified traveller grew up and went to school in Exeter, Devon, before setting up the Prishan Foundation for orphans Ms Ashtari, who was born in Iran, was inspired to help orphans after losing her own parents as a child She issued a desperate plea to her old friends and colleagues in England to support her through her ordeal amid fears she could be jailed. An online campaign was launched calling on the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in her case, which has been rumbling on for two years. Ms Ashtari feared she would not get a fair trial and called on people to support her by adding their names to an online petition. She said she has been denied permission to leave the country until the legal action has concluded. She said before the trial: 'I feel betrayed - I have spent years in this area and we have made a huge difference - this is how I have been repaid. 'There is only so much I can put up with - I feel like going somewhere else but this just seems to be dragging on. There have been just three hearings so far.' Since a child disappeared at a picnic, feared drowned, Ms Ashtari has become embroiled in a criminal case and has now been jailed The 28-year-old, a former West Exe and Exeter College student, claimed she had been wrongly accused and is the victim of corruption, which is endemic in parts of India She said the British Embassy has not helped but an online petition has raised awareness of her cause, reminding people in India that she is not alone in her fight. 'I grew up in Exeter and see myself as being as British as you can be. 'Because of the childhood I had - losing my mother and father - I just wanted to give something back,' she explained. 'I travelled a lot and found myself here, a place where lots of people are in need. 'We have done real work but there are lots of bad people here and they take advantage. When they see somebody from the outside they just see money. The troubled charity worker is seen here in a selfie with a smiling young Indian girl Ms Ashtari's Prishan Foundation has built an orphanage for girls and a home for blind children in the eastern state of Odisha in India 'At least I have a voice to speak to the outside world, something a lot of people here don't have. 'If this can happen to a British national like me I cannot imagine what can happen to them.' She added: 'I still have friends in Exeter who I grew up with who have always been in touch even though I have been all over the place. 'If people sign my petition it really helps. People see names from around the world and think 'she's not alone'. All I ask is that I get a fair trial.' Ms Ashtari first arrived in India in 2011 and began working with local non-governmental organisations to help children get a better education. The White House said Monday that it didn't understand why Donald Trump upended nearly 40 years of U.S. foreign policy by speaking to Taiwan's president. Trump bit into the forbidden fruit on Friday when he accepted a call from Taiwan's Tsai Ing-wen. His transition team is officially saying it was a 'courtesy'. A Washington Post report says Trump was spoiling for a fight with China. 'I think it's hard to determine exactly what the aim was of the president-elect,' White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said today. Scroll down for video White House press secretary Josh EArnest said Monday that the Obama administration doesn't understand why Donald Trump upended nearly 40 years of U.S. foreign policy by speaking to Taiwan's president The Obama administration official warned Trump that he risked damaging U.S. interests and creating unrest in the Taiwan Strait, which separates the island from the mainland, with the gesture. 'Some of the progress that we have made in our relationship with China could be undermined by this issue flaring up,' Earnest said. It is also 'unclear' how it helps the people of Taiwan, he stated. Already, it has provoked China to 'ratchet up' its rhetoric against Taiwan, which is also the United States' ninth-largest trading partner. 'These are significant issues,' he said, 'and worthy of careful consideration.' The White House says two national security officials in the U.S. talked to their counterparts in Beijing and restated the Obama administration's commitment to its one-China policy. 'The Chinese government and senior officials in the Chinese government are sophisticated enough to understand the complexities in the U.S. political system,' he said. 'Our message...was intended to make clear that the policy position of the Obama admin had not changed.' Trump said in a four-tweet statement that Tsai called him. He used the occasion to whack China, saying the country devalues its currency and built 'a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea' without U.S. permission. 'I don't think so,' he added. Vice president-elect Mike Pence said Sunday that the incident was overblown. 'She reached out to the president-elect and he took the call from the democratically elected leader of Taiwan,' he said on Meet The Press. 'I think most Americans, and frankly most leaders around the world, know this for what it was.' Donald Trump, pictured, accepted a phone call of congratulations from Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday and it has caused diplomatic issues with the Beijing Trump claimed on his Twitter feed that the Taiwanese government had called him. His vice president said he took the call as a 'courtesy' Pence said it was a 'courtesy' call and Trump intends to 'engage the world on America's terms.' 'It's striking to me that President Obama would reach out to a murdering dictator in Cuba and be hailed as a hero,' he said. 'And President-elect Donald Trump takes a courtesy call from the democratically-elected president of Taiwan and it becomes something of a thing in the media.' Earnest referred to Pence's statements today and the conflicting portrait presented in the Washington Post. The publication claimed Trump had been planning the move since before he became the Republican nominee for president. 'It's unclear exactly what this strategic effort is, what the aim of this strategic effort is,' the Obama spokesman said. 'And it's unclear exactly what potential benefit could be experienced by the United States, China or Taiwan. But I'll leave that to them to explain.' Trump responded to criticism of the phone call with an attack on China China rebuked Trump through the official publication of its Communist Party for taking the call - the first conversation between a U.S. leader and Taiwan since 1979. The overseas edition of the People's Daily said 'creating troubles for the China-U.S. relationship is creating troubles for the U.S. itself' and Trump 'would greatly reduce the chance to achieve the goal of making America great again' if he continues down this path. China's foreign ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, said Monday that his county had launched 'stern representations with the relevant side in the U.S.' but would not say who officials spoke to, Reuters said. Former Vice President Al Gore turned up Monday at Trump Tower, but it wasn't for a screening of his global warming movie 'An Inconvenient Truth. Gore, among the most outspoken and wealthiest climate warriors, was scheduled to meet with Ivanka Trump but ended up spending more time with President-elcet Donald Trump. He told a pool reporter in the Trump Tower lobby that he 'had a lengthy and very productive session with the president-elect. It was a sincere search for areas of common ground.' Scroll down for video Former Vice President Al Gore waved to reporters after he met with Ivanka Trump and President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower on Monday Gore was scheduled to speak with Ivanka (center), but surprised journalists by saying that the bulk of his time in Trump Tower was spent with the president-elect Donald Trump, shown Saturday night outside a party, has said in the past that the U.S. shouldn't spend money on the global warming 'hoax' 'I had a meeting beforehand with Ivanka Trump. The bulk of the time was with the president-elect, Donald Trump. I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued, and I'm just going to leave it at that,' Gore said. Gore emerged from a lobby elevator at 1:00, the precise time Trump was scheduled to have his first meeting of the day, with former U.S. Attorney Deborah Wong Yang. A Trump transition spokesman told reporters during a mid-morning conference call that Gore would meet with Ivanka, but never mentioned a higher level get-together with the president-elect. Gore last surfaced during a mid-October campaign rally for Hillary Clinton, calling her 'one of the worlds foremost leaders on climate change.' He warned that America was headed for an environmental 'catastrophe' of Trump were elected. But many in the student-heavy Miami audience were pictured browsing their smartphones while he spoke. Gore warned during a mid-October Hillary Clinton campaign rally that Trump would send the U.S. careening toward a climate 'catastrophe' Gore said Sunday that greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. are likely to decline regardless of actions Trump may take as president. 'Business alone, along with states, will almost guarantee that we meet the [Obama administration's] reduction targets,' he told Reuters. Gore will lead a 24-hour telecast Monday and Tuesday to talk about global efforts to limit what he says are perilously rising temperatures. Donald Trump raised eyebrows on Election Day in 2012 when he tweeted that 'the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.' The view, articulated through his lens of combat with aggressive trading partners, never gained currency. Trump tweeted on Election Day in 2012 that 'the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive' The day after his first major Republican primary cattle-call event, Trump demanded to know if the U.S. was still 'spending money on the global warming hoax' But he has said on the campaign trail that he would take a fresh look at the Paris climate accord because it requires dramatic changes in American commerce without adequate participation from the Chinese. During a Dec. 30, 2015 rally in South Carolina, Trump complained that President Obama was 'talking about all of this with the global warming and ... a lot of it's a hoax. It's a hoax.' 'I mean, it's a money-making industry, okay? It's a hoax, a lot of it.' A year before he would put his toe in the political waters, Trump laid out what would become his recurring theme. 'NBC News just called it the great freeze coldest weather in years,' Trump wrote on Twitter in January 2014. 'Is our country still spending money on the GLOBAL WARMING HOAX?' Trump said during a Noth Dakota speech in May that if he became president he would withdraw 'all the job-destroying Obama executive actions, including the Climate Action Plan' Gore shared a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his work on global climate change; the theory suggesting humans are to blame for it is still a controversial theory that has divided scientists As he faced withering criticism this year from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Trump said during a 'Fox & Friends' broadcast in January of this year that 'the climate change is just a very, very expensive form of tax. A lot of people are making a lot of money.' 'I know much about climate change. ... [I've] received environmental awards. And I often joke that this is done for the benefit of China. Obviously, I joke.' 'They burn everything you could burn; they couldn't care less,' he added. 'They have very you know, their standards are nothing. But they, in the meantime, they can undercut us on price. So it's very hard on our business.' Months later, during a North Dakota energy policy speech in May, he hammered the Obama administration for embracing 'draconian climate rules' and said he would withdraw 'all the job-destroying Obama executive actions, including the Climate Action Plan.' Trump also pledged at the time to 'cancel the Paris Climate Agreement and stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs.' 'President Obama entered the United States into the Paris Climate Accords unilaterally and without the permission of Congress,' he told an audience of oil and gas producers. A millionairess arrested for 'manhandling' a flight attendant seems to have put her troubles behind her - after she was seen strolling down an exclusive Barbados beach with her tycoon lover. Diane Breen was let off with a warning by magistrates last week after she lunged at a woman in the first-class bar on board the Virgin Atlantic flight. But a weekend in the sun seems to have done the 52-year-old the world of good, judging by photographs taken of her and partner Steve Palmer on what is understood to be the luxurious Sandy Lane Beach. The beach, located next to the prestigious Sandy Lane Resort, is a far cry from the interior of District B Magistrate Court, where Breen found herself on Thursday. Millionairess Diane Breen seems to have quickly put her troubles behind her, just days after being arrested for drunkenly manhandling an air stewardess on a flight to Barbados The 52-year-old was spotted in an extremely skimpy bikini as she strolled along one of the island's idyllic beaches with partner Steve Palmer Diane Breen was let off with a warning by magistrates last week after she lunged at a woman in the first-class bar on board the Virgin Atlantic flight The beach, located next to the prestigious Sandy Lane Resort, is a far cry from the interior of District B Magistrate Court, where Breen found herself on Thursday Breen, whose 1.5million home is located in a village where TV's The Real Housewives of Cheshire is filmed, was acquitted after it was ruled local laws did not apply over the Atlantic Breen, who is a former stewardess herself, had been asked to keep the noise down following complaints from other passengers Breen, who is a former stewardess herself, had been asked to keep the noise down following complaints from other passengers. She was later arrested at the Caribbean Island's Grantley Adams International airport following the incident. Breen, whose 1.5million home is located in a village where TV's The Real Housewives of Cheshire is filmed, was acquitted after it was ruled local laws did not apply over the Atlantic. Breen's partner Palmer, who owns a telecoms business, was present as magistrate Elwood Watts said: 'I do not feel this court is in a position to rule on the case.' Breen's partner Palmer, who owns a telecoms business, was present at the magistrate hearing So when I was invited to so a supermarket run, I didn't pass up the chance. I am not one to plan a meal - unless, I have this bugging idea in my head for a long time. More often than not, I just wing it. I look at my fridge and pantry, and then think what I can do with those ingredients. I start from there. I don't usually follow a recipe to a T, unless it's really something I want to try for the first time. So while on the supermarket run, I picked up the Contadina products that I thought would help me cook an easy yet very tasty dish. As much as I wanted to research on what to prepare, I thought to myself - well, that's really not my style. Hahahaha!! After picking up the Contadina products, I proceeded to the meat section. I am a fan of chicken, I really like chicken. I know, I'm boring - but I feel that chicken is very versatile and forgiving. So I picked up a pack of thigh fillets. Then I saw pork tenderloins that were cut thinly! I got this idea of doing a chicken parm with pork in it. So I got about 6 pieces of the pork. I then raced to look for bread crumbs but found only panko bread crumbs - as I said, I'd wing it so I got that too. It took me a while to prepare the dish - but when I did, it was quite fast. I was amazed how fast I was able to whip it all up - but I did! My yayas were also surprised how fast the dish was prepared. So, tada!!!!! Pesto Pork and Chicken Roll Up with Linguini in Olive Oil 1 piece of Chicken Thigh Fillet (Pounded flat) 1 piece of thin sliced Pork Tenderloin Contadina Pesto Sauce Salt and Pepper to taste Tooth picks (to hold the roll together) 1 Egg (beaten) 1 cup Panko bread crumbs Contadina Linguine Pasta Contadina Extra Virgin Olive Oil (for the pasta) Contadina Pure Olive Oil (for cooking/frying) 1. Pound the Chicken Thigh Fillets 2. On a cutting board (or any clean surface) season the pork and chicken with a bit of salt and pepper. Then first lay out the pork - spread some Pesto Sauce (not to much!) and then lay on top of it, the pounded chicken. Spread some Pesto Sauce on the chicken too. 3. Now, here's the tricky part. Rolling up the pork and chicken. You will need toothpicks to hold them in place. So, roll them up and insert toothpicks. (Don't roll up the meat too thick or else you'll have a hard time cooking the insides) 4. Dip the rolled up meat into the egg and then on a plate (spread the Panko or any bread crumbs) roll the egg dipped meat into the panko (or bread crumbs) and coat very well. 5. Pan fry over medium heat the rolled meat with panko until golden brown. 6. On a separate pan, cook the Linquini. I learned from a friend to make the water as salty as sea water. I cook my pasta noodles on a shallow pan, it cooks faster - I learned this on a video in Facebook. Hahaha!! :) 7. When the meat is already golden brown, set it aside and slice it the same way in the picture (so you can see the roll) Twirl a fork through the pasta (I learned this from Chef Jayps) and place on a plate. Don't forget to drizzle the Extra Virgin Olive Oil on the linguini! There you have it! My Contadina Pesto Pork and Chicken Roll Up with Linguini in Olive Oil. Here's a brief background on Contadina: With Filipinos fast becoming global citizens evident in the evolving local culinary scene, Del Monte Philippines brings in Contadina, a brand of authentic ingredients that feeds every foodies passion of re-creating flavours from their travel and food adventures. woman of the fields, which has come to symbolise the care and the quality that women of old poured into the making of savoury dishes. The brand was born in 1914 by three Italian immigrant families in the US. Contadina is an Italian word meaningwoman of the fields, which has come to symbolise the care and the quality that women of old poured into the making of savoury dishes. The brand was born in 1914 by three Italian immigrant families in the US. Originally owned by Del Monte Foods Inc., a company based in California, USA, Contadina is only distributed in the United States and Latin America where it is seen as a high-quality, authentic Italian brand. In these territories, the portfolio is focused on tomato products such as canned tomatoes, tomato sauces & pastes, and pizza sauces. When Del Monte Pacific Limited, Del Monte Philippines parent company, bought the US business in 2014, they fell in love with the Contadina brand and decided to bring it to the Philippines whilst extending its portfolio of products. The Contadina line now consists of an array of Mediterranean cuisine essentials - olive oils, canned tomatoes, pasta and pasta sauces, all made of the finest quality, sourced from the worlds best-producing regions to deliver truly, authentic flavors. Olive Oils (Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Pure Olive Oil) Made from the fine olives grown in Andalucia, Spain. The aroma is very distinct; one can really smell the notes of freshly-cut greens and fruits. The taste of olives is very pleasant and enhances the flavour of any recipe without overpowering the other ingredients. Pasta (Spaghetti, Linguini, Penne) Made from 100% Canadian Durum Wheat Semolina known for its fine texture and ability to create firm pasta with the right bounciness and golden, creamy color. Pasta Sauces (Formaggio, Napoletana, Arrabbiata, Aglio Arrostito, Pesto Alla Genovese) From Italy, very fresh and flavourful, like they were bottled yesterday use authentic Grana Padano cheese and fresh Italian herbs. Canned Tomatoes (Diced Tomatoes, Crushed Tomatoes, Diced Tomatoes with Italian Herbs, Stewed Tomatoes Italian Recipe) From California, known for producing Roma Tomatoes with juicy and meaty flesh. The cuts, particularly for the Diced and Stewed variants, are very clean and the shape is preserved even after cooking. Del Monte Philippines Inc. is one of the largest food and beverage brands in the Philippines. We are market leaders in most of the categories we play in - pineapple Juice, Tomato Sauce, Spaghetti Sauce, and Pineapple Solids. The brand and its products are widely known for theirs quality and is a staple in both everyday meals and special occasions. Having been introduced to the products of Contadina, I must say that it has made my cooking a LOT easier. I really like how Contadina pastas are easy to make, their sauces are very good too! I so love the flavor and aroma of the Contadina Olive Oils. The businesswoman and former model behind the Article 50 legal battle was flanked by bodyguards today as she arrived and left the Supreme Court. Gina Miller has been bombarded with abuse over the historic court case, in which she won a landmark victory at the High Court last month. Ms Miller - who has been supported in her case by an extraordinary array of characters from a plumber to a Brazilian-born London hairdresser - condemned 'irresponsible' Leave supporters for fuelling anger ahead of today's case. Investment fund manager Ms Miller has spent around 60,000 on beefing up security measures amid the court case, and leased a temporary office for security reasons. Her security team was obvious today as she arrived and left the Supreme Court, which sits on Parliament Square directly opposite the Palace of Westminster. Gina Miller arrived at the Supreme Court today surrounded by her team and two men who appeared to be bodyguards The businesswoman revealed she had spent around 60,000 beefing up her security after receiving a slew of threats over her Brexit court challenge Supreme Court President Lord Neuberger started the four-day appeal hearing with an extraordinary warning to those who have targeted Ms Miller and others with abusive emails and social media messages. He said: 'Threatening and abusing people because they are exercising their fundamental right to go to court undermines the rule of law. 'Anyone who communicates such threats or abuse should be aware that there are legal powers designed to ensure that access to the courts is available to everyone'. The judge said that no addresses of people involved should be published to protect them. Ms Miller's supporters gathered outside the Supreme Court today wearing judge costumes and carrying pro-Brussels banners including some saying: 'Brexit is racist'. Fights also broke out between rival supporters as legal arguments went on inside the court. Mrs Miller claims she has been been threatened with murder, rape and being set on fire, added: 'I don't go anywhere it has been a complete poisoned chalice'. The heavy weight presence was back alongside Ms Miller tonight as she left the Supreme Court building in Westminster at the end of the first day's evidence THE MILLIONAIRE PLUMBER WHO PARKED HIS BENTLEY ON PM MAY'S BREXIT PLAN Charlie Mullins illegally parked his Bentley outside the High Court when it ruled against Theresa May's Article 50 powers Flamboyant plumbing tycoon Charlie Mullins a dedicated Remainer and key backer of the legal challenge cuts a bizarre figure outside court. The founder of Pimlico Plumbers, who describes himself as the 'plumber to the stars'. When the case was at the High Court, he illegally parked his blue Bentley on the pavement outside. The entrepreneur, who is worth more than 70million and is a Tory donor, even brought along a livery-clad lackey to buff his 336,000 Bentley Mulsanne, which has a customised number plate 'CH4RLE'. He has described Brexit supporters in Government as busybodies and claimed the appeal to the Supreme Court will fail, adding: Were on a winning horse, and a jockey doesnt get off a winning horse. Mr Mullins spokesman said he was a financial and philosophical backer of the court challenge and contributed towards legal costs, but would not say how much. Advertisement She told the Guardian last night: 'I think it is such a dangerous road to be going down to be attacking the judges and their integrity and their independence. They are being vilified and it is totally disgraceful.' Ms Miller's case is being supported by 'concerned citizens' drawn from all walks of life, including London hairdresser Deir Dos Santos, 37. He helped start the legal battle over Brexit but, say his lawyers, has been forced underground after receiving 'vile' hate mail. Also involved is Remain campaigner and Tory donor Charlie Mullins, founder of Pimlico Plumbers. In an interview ahead of the Supreme Court appeal, Ms Miller revealed she had suffered 'extraordinary' levels of 'sexual and racial' threats - including a bounty of 5,000 being offered to run her over. Police have been informed and are poised to interview or arrest five people, she said. In an interview with Reuters, Ms Miller - who is British but was born in Guyana - described receiving a slew of abusive and threatening emails. 'The levels of sexual and racial violence have been quite extraordinary, to the level that because I'm a 'coloured woman' I don't have any place outside of a kitchen,' she said. 'This division was always there but Brexit perhaps has been irresponsible: Those who were talking about leaving in particular have emboldened people to think such behaviour is acceptable.' She added: 'It's revealed a side to society which is extremely worrying.' Pimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins, pictured outside the Supreme Court today, is one of the supporters of Ms Miller's case But she insisted she is a 'born fighter' and will not be deterred by threats, despite believing she has been abandoned by senior politicians from Labour and other Remain-backing parties. 'They're being silent because everything to do with Brexit is so emotionally charged that they're hiding and they're quite happy for me to take the blame and be in the headlines and take the threats while they sit around and figure out what they do,' she said. Ms Miller also dismissed the idea that she was part of an out-of-touch elite. 'My principles have been exactly the same from when I slept three weeks in a car because I had no money, to being a single parent doing four jobs to pay for myself through university, having no food, I have had both extremes,' she said. 'What is wrong with me now using my money that I have worked very, very hard for to do what I think is right?' said Miller. She is being represented by London law firm Mishcon de Reya, which agreed not to charge legal fees. Josef Fritzl (pictured) was jailed for life in 2009 after being convicted of murder The house where Austrian incest monster Josef Fritzl shut his daughter in the cellar for 24 years has been sold for 135,000 to a woman who runs a local strip club. The Niedersterreich Nachrichten newspaper quoted a man named Herbert Houska as saying that his wife Ingrid and her business partner have purchased the building in Amstetten in northern Austria. They intend to renovate the house and convert it into flats, he said. Other reports said that in addition to the Stadtbrauhof pub, the Houskas also manage Bar Josefine, a local strip club. Mr Houska said: 'It can't stay empty for ever. We need to bring life into it. In two years it will be a house like any other. 'We have lots of trainees, some from (nearby towns) Persenbeug and Ybbs, and so we need employee flats,' he told the Niederoesterreiche Nachrichten. The Die Presse newspaper speculated that women working in Bar Josefine could be put up in the house. The Austria Press Agency cited the liquidator of Fritzl's assets, Walter Anzboeck, as saying that the purchase price was 160,000 euros (135,000). The keys will be handed over this week. The cellar where Fritzl kept his daughter Elisabeth, fathering seven children by her, is no longer usable, having been filled with cement in 2013. A photo taken by a forensic team in 2008 which shows a view into a hidden room in the house in Amstetten, Austria Her ordeal came to an end in April 2008 when the oldest child, then 19, had to be taken to hospital, bringing the gruesome story to light and attracting massive media interest. Fritzl, 81, was found guilty in 2009 of murder over the death of one of Elisabeth's babies, as well as incest, sequestration and 3,000 counts of rape. He was jailed for life. A New York man who suffered third-degree burns after an e-cigarette exploded several times in his pocket has now been released from hospital. Otis Gooding, 31, left the Burn Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital on Sunday in a wheelchair, his hand and leg bandaged, following the incident on November 23. Gooding was at work at the Central Cellars wine shop inside Grand Central Terminal when the vaping device in his pocket suddenly exploded, with sparks and flames flying about the store. He had to undergo major skin grafting surgeries on his thigh and leg, but was discharged at the weekend to continue the healing at home. Discharged: Otis Gooding, 31, is seen leavingthe Burn Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital on Sunday, pushed in a wheelchair by his lawyer, Sanford Reubenstein Severely injured: Gooding, a working dad, suffered burns to his right hand left, leg and thigh Gooding had skin graft surgery to repair the injuries he suffered November 23 when the e-cigarette erupted in his pocket Gooding told the New York Daily News that doctors are still not sure of the extent of his injuries, but at the moment he is unable to walk and in a lot of pain. He will return to the Burn Center on Tuesday and be reassessed. Device: The e-cigarette that exploded was a Wismec Reuleaux RX200 (pictured) 'I'm still afraid about my hand, about using my hand, and I'm right-handed and I'm still worried about my leg, about how fully can I walk on my leg and stuff and I can barely walk now,' he told The Daily News. 'I just can't walk and then when I try it's just too painful.' Gooding's lawyer Samford Reubenstein revealed that the device that exploded was a Wismec Reuleaux RX200, which retail for about $69.99. The e-cigarette was taken by officials from the Fire Department of New York, however it will be returned to Gooding following an investigation. 'Right now, the focus is on his healing,' Rubenstein told the newspaper. 'At an appropriate time, after we've had the e-cigarette examined by our experts, we intend to pursue appropriate legal action and we will be getting custody of the e-cigarette.' Otis Gooding, 31, of New York, has now hospital after sustaining horrific burns when an e-cigarette exploded in his pocket at Grand Central Terminal Gruesome photos show skin on his leg melted away. His hands were also charred as he frantically tried to put out the fire in his pants Gruesome photos released by Rubenstein have shown skin on his leg melted away, exposing raw skin, to his charred hands that were injured as he frantically tried to put out the fire in his pants. In one of the photos, skin is seen completely removed from a portion of his thigh exposing raw, pink membrane. Gooding's family are now concerned about his future. There are fears he may lose the use of his right hand and will struggle to walk His badly burned hand also has portions of skin removed, revealing flesh on the palm of his hand and his index finger. Another photo shows Gooding, who has a seven-year-old son, lying in his hospital bed with bandages on his right leg and right hand. Reubenstein said Gooding is in a lot of pain and is concerned about ever being able to fully use his right hand. Surveillance video inside Central Cellars showed the fireworks-like display that was set off by the explosion last month. The footage caught the employees scattering as the man's pants began flashing white explosions of fire and spewing gray smoke. 'It exploded multiple times almost like fireworks,' Reubenstein told Dailymail.com. Central Cellars assistant manager John Lee says it looked like fireworks exploding when the vaporizer pen suddenly blew up in the man's pants Wednesday morning. 'I saw fireworks coming out of his pocket and I thought, 'He brought fireworks to work,' Lee told the Daily News. 'He went to pull the cigarette out of his pocket and burned his hand, his nail. There were some some projectiles during the explosion - I ducked out and we all evacuated...I guess these e-cigarettes are a dangerous thing,' Lee told NBC. He said the victim began frantically dancing around, trying to put out the flames. 'Then I saw a projectile fly... the explosion ripped a hole in his pants,' he said. 'He went to take it out and his hand burned. I saw his nails burn, right down to the root.' He added that the man's hand was was charred and blackened. 'This is very dangerous and the public needs to know about the dangers of e-cigarettes,' Reubenstein told Dailymail.com. 'The government needs to look at risks of e-cigarettes and needs to consider banning them until manufactures determine what causes them to explode and corrects the defect.' The victim (top right) stands unaware that his pocket is about to explode from his e-cig Smoke starts billowing from Gooding's pants as his friends make a run for it Soon flames are shooting out of the man's pants as the e-cigarette catches fire Reubenstein was the only one injured in the incident, but the lawyer said there have been about 25 reported cases of explosions in the past, 'so this is not an isolated incident.' Gooding, who is from Jamaica Queens and lives with his family, was disappointed to have to spend Thanksgiving in hospital, Reubenstein said. His family is now worried about Gooding's future. They are particularly concerned that he could lose the use of his right hand and may not be able to work again. The family is also worried about how he will recover after the skin grafts and whether he will be able to walk. Another employee said the explosions looked like the store clerk had fireworks in his pocket Employee Bryon Gonzales, 26, said Gooding's exploding device took them all by surprise. 'We were just having a conversation about the daily routine and all of a sudden his pocket caught on fire,' he told the Daily News. 'I jumped behind a wall because I didn't want to get burned.' Electronic cigarettes and other battery-operated electronic smoking devices occasionally do catch fire. There were 25 reports of e-cigarettes exploding between 2009 and 2014, according to the US Fire Administration. The problem with e-cigarettes seems to be their lithium battery, according to one report, which stores a great deal of energy in a small space. Eighty percent of them explode while charging. In 2014, a man in Scotland died when his e-cig exploded near his oxygen tank, according to The Scotsman. Police will search the banks of a river for the remains of a woman who vanished 11 years ago after DNA testing proved a bone found nearby belonged to her. Malcolm Naden was convicted of murdering his cousin Lateesha Nolan, 24, in 2012 after seven years on the run following the mother-of-four's disappearance in January 2005. He provided information about where he dumped her body to police, but her remains had not been found until a member of the public stumbled upon a bone laying on the bank of the the Macquarie River south of Dubbo last week. Police announced early Tuesday morning that forensic testing had proved the bone belonged to the slain young woman and a search for her body would be launched. Scroll down for video Police are searching for the remains of Lateesha Nolan (pictured) after a member of the public found a bone that had belonged to her laying on the banks of a river near Dubbo Her notorious cousin Malcolm Naden (pictured) was jailed for life over her murder in 2012 after spending seven years on the run Homicide squad detectives said they will conduct a coordinated search of the riverbank near Butlers Falls on Tuesday with the operation expected to take a number of days. Homicide Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Mick Willing, said detectives were determined to find Ms Nolan's remains so they could give her family some closure after a drawn-out investigation into her death. 'We now know we are looking at the right spot, which is near the 2012 excavation, but changes to the terrain have meant this area was unexposed at that time,' he said in a statement. 'The loss of a loved one is never easy to deal with, but the grief can be even harder to overcome when you can't lay them to rest. The notorious killer was picked up by hidden CCTV cameras in the bush while on the run Ms Nolan (pictured) was strangled in her car, dismembered and buried beside the Macquarie River Detective Superintendent Mick Willing said he wants to give Ms Nolan's family some peace Police searched the area for her body after Naden provided information on her whereabouts Police said the search area was unexposed when Naden led them to it in 2012 (pictured) In 2013 Naden, a former shearer and abattoir worker, was sentenced to life in prison after facing court on two murder charges 'For more than a decade investigators have been following every line of inquiry in hope of ending the family's search for answers. 'We hope we will soon be able allow them to properly - and respectfully - say goodbye,' Det Supt Willing said. In 2013 Naden, a former shearer and abattoir worker, was sentenced to life in prison after facing court on two murder charges. The then 39-year-old had pleaded guilty to the murder of Ms Nolan whom he strangled in her car in Dubbo before dismembering her body and burying it beside the Macquarie River. Naden was also sentenced for the murder of his cousin's partner Kristy Scholes (pictured) The 24-year-old was staying with him at his grandparents house in Dubbo when he strangled her in June 2005 Naden went on the run and committed a spate of break and enters before shooting a police officer during his arrest He was captured in 2012 following one of the biggest manhunts New South Wales has ever seen Naden was also sentenced for the murder of Kristy Scholes, 24, who was staying with him at his grandparents house in Dubbo when he strangled her in June 2005. Naden then went on the run before being captured in 2012 after one of the state's biggest manhunts. Elderly jihadis have been filmed executing prisoners by putting World War Two Soviet-era sniper rifles into their victims' mouths before pulling the trigger. The sickening video, titled 'These Are My Forefathers', is believed to have been filmed in the divided eastern city of Deir Ezzor. It shows the elderly barbarians lining up to shoot four prisoners described as 'murtadeen' someone who has wilfully left Islam - as they kneel on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs. Deir Ezzor is the second most important city that ISIS controls after its de facto Syrian capital of Raqqa, which is in the sights of an offensive by a US-backed Arab-Kurdish alliance. Elderly jihadists have been filmed murdering prisoners in Syria in the latest propaganda video The geriatric ISIS fighters were recorded murdering the prisoners with World War Two rifles The guns used in the video are Mosin Nagant M91 rifles, used by the Soviet Union in WW2 The jihadists murdered the prisoners with Mosin Nagant M91 rifles, which were produced and used during World War Two as the Soviet Union mobilised the biggest army in history. After slaughtering the four men with point blank shots, the sick ISIS fighters step over the dead bodies lying on the ground in the barren wasteland. Elsewhere, the slick 16-minute video shows jihadists in the battleground, images of dead terrorists, brainwashed youngsters attending 'classes' and a fighter riding a horse into the sunset while carrying an ISIS flag. The emergence of the video comes as ISIS's new spokesman, Abi al-Hassan al-Muhajer, called on lone wolf fanatics in Europe, US and Russia to attack people 'in their markets, roads and clubs'. He got the job after the terror group's previous spokesman was killed in a US air strike in Syria on August 30. His first message - entitled For You Will Remember What I Tell You - claims US, Russia, Europe and Iran are all seeking the destruction of the Muslims. The video shows four elderly gunmen slaughtering prisoners with the Second World War rifles The ISIS fighters were filmed killing four prisoners, seen kneeling on the ground, with rifles Responding to the West's latest campaigns against ISIS, Abu Hassan promised: 'We will attack them in their own countries'. He also urged ISIS supporters to attack Turkish military, economic and media targets, as well as its embassies around the world. He told supporters: 'Your operations make a difference, change the situation...attack them in their markets, roads, clubs, and any unexpected location and burn the ground under their feet.' The recording appeared on Al Furqan, a media organisation linked to ISIS, giving the new spokesman's name as Abi al-Hassan al-Muhajer, but keeping his appearance secret. Another ISIS video today showed the murderous group hurling a prisoner from a roof top before a bay mob of fanatics pelt his corpse with rocks - for the 'crime' of being gay. The victim was dragged to the top of a building in Maslamah City in war-torn Aleppo, Syria, having been accused of 'homosexual relations'. He was then launched face first from the edge of the roof and plunged to his death inches away from a crowd of onlookers. Madonna felt 'like someone died' after Donald Trump's shocking presidential victory - and now feels betrayed by women who voted for him. The pop star bashed the president-elect in an interview with Billboard published Monday. She spoke to the magazine ahead of an auction and show she held in Miami over the weekend, during which she further slammed Trump on stage. Madonna, who had promised sexual favors to those who would vote for Hillary Clinton, said she wanted to 'rain on Trump's parade' and supports women who plan to march in Washington, DC the day after his inauguration in January. Trump received 42 per cent of women's votes according to exit polls, a percentage that Madonna deemed 'insanely high' as she described her struggles to come to terms with the result of the election. Scroll down for video Madonna said in an interview published Monday she felt 'like someone died' after Donald Trump's shocking presidential victory - and now feels betrayed by women who voted for him 'It felt like someone died,' she told Billboard. 'It felt like a combination of the heartbreak and betrayal you feel when someone you love more than anything leaves you, and also a death. 'I feel that way every morning; I wake up and say, "Oh, wait, Donald Trump is still the president," and it wasn't a bad dream that I had.' The outcome of the election, according to Madonna, 'feels like women betrayed us.' 'Women hate women. That's what I think it is. Women's nature is not to support other women. It's really sad,' she said. The Material Girl spoke to Billboard magazine ahead of an auction and show she held in Miami over the weekend, during which she further slammed Trump on stage Madonna repeatedly slammed Trump on stage in Miami Friday night, singing Britney Spears' 'Toxic' while images of the president-elect appeared behind her (pictured) Madonna was so shocked at the prospect of a Trump presidency that she hadn't gotten a good night of sleep since the election, at the time of the interview. 'We're f****d,' she added. Women plan to march on Washington, DC the day after Trump's inauguration on January 20 - an idea Madonna said she liked. 'I want to rain on his parade,' she said 'I was put on this earth to fight for the underdog and fight against discrimination.' Madonna repeatedly slammed Trump on stage in Miami Friday night, singing Britney Spears' 'Toxic' while images of the president-elect appeared behind her. She said she had once been in Trump's bed, before revealing it was for a magazine photo shoot and that Trump wasn't there then she criticized his sheets, which she claimed were cheap. A vigilante Australian commuter has filmed himself confronting two teens caught brazenly vandalising the inside of a train carriage. The man, known as Mark, posted the smartphone video online in 2013 which shows one of the teens spray painting a wall on a Victorian train in broad daylight. 'Guess what matey, you're gone,' Mark said. 'Guess where this is going boys - straight to crime stoppers.' Scroll down for video The man, known as Mark, posted the smartphone video online in 2013 which shows one of the teens spray painting a wall on a Victorian train in broad daylight The shocked teen and his friend cover their faces and try to hide once they notice Mark is holding a camera up to them The shocked teen and his friend cover their faces and try to hide once they notice Mark is holding a camera up to them. 'How f****n dare you?' Mark asks. 'Our taxes pay for this s**t. And serious, get some cred about you. That is ugly as.' Both taggers try to escape but Mark grabs onto one of them, chasing them off the train at the next station, and attempts to make a citizen arrest. But one of the youngsters produced a rock, forcing Mark to let go of him. Mark told Nine News that the young vandals had to be taught a lesson. 'I thought, if these kids aren't taught now they'll probably think they will get away with it and continue doing it - and probably end up in the big house when they are older. And you don't want that,' he said. A vigilante Australian commuter, known as Mark, has filmed himself confronting two teens caught brazenly vandalising the inside of a train carriage in Victoria, 2013 Both taggers try to escape but Mark grabs onto one of them, chasing them off the train at the next station, and attempts to make a citizen arrest The footage went viral with more than 444,000 views on YouTube and 22,000 likes on Facebook in one day. Social media users praised Mark for his vigilance, agreeing that the boys had to be taught a valuable life lesson. One comment read: 'I really like this guy, he had the balls to confront these little sh**s aswell as try and hold them, but looks like he decided a man teaching some boys life lessons was better so even more reason this mad deserves our respect. ' Victoria Police told Nine News hey could not confirm where the incident took place, or whether the vandals were prosecuted. A Metro spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that Victorian taxpayers spend more than $10 million a year on graffiti removal. 'This is money we could spend on upgrading the network.' Vigilate train passenger Mark approaches the young vandal on a Victorian train in 2013 Social media users praised Mark for his vigilance, agreeing that the boys had to be taught a valuable life lesson One social media user said Mark did the right thing by trying to call the police Mark told Nine News that the young vandals had to be taught a lesson A 15-year-old boy who allegedly decapitated his 16-year-old classmate has been denied bail during his first court appearance over the 'horrific, horrific death'. Mathew Borges, 15, appeared in court for his arraignment in Lawrence District Court in Massachusetts after being charged over the death of Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino. Borges pleaded not guilty, and was then ordered to be held without bail and to appear again on January 10, the Eagle-Tribune reports. Mathew Borges (pictured), 15, appeared in court for his arraignment in Lawrence District Court in Massachusetts after being charged over the death of Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino There was an 'extremely heavy police presence' throughout the brief appearance. Borges was arrested on Saturday after Viloria-Paulino's headless and dismembered body was found on Thursday and his head was discovered on Friday near a Massachusetts river. The two boys attended Lawrence High School. An Essex District Attorneys Office spokeswoman said on Monday the department has no idea what motivated the alleged crime. 'Were not aware of what type of relationship they had,' Carrie Kimball Monahan said, according to the New York Post. Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino (pictured), 16, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was identified after a woman walking her dog discovered a decapitated body on Thursday afternoon Mathew Borges, 15, attends his arraignment in Lawrence District Court in Lawrence, Mass, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016 Borges was held without bail after pleading not guilty at the brief arraignment Monday on a first-degree murder charge It comes after it was revealed a woman walking her dog along the banks of the Merrimack River called police about 2:45pm on Thursday after she found the body. Viloria-Paulino's head had been removed, along with his arms - which were cut off close to his elbow. The 16-year-old was reported missing about two weeks ago. Viloria-Paulino's family held a press conference at their home on Friday, the Boston Herald reported. Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said Mathew Borges (pictured) was arrested over the alleged murder on Saturday morning Police found a severed head nearby along the Merrimack River in Lawrence, Massachusetts Viloria-Paulino was last seen on November 18, and his family frantically posted flyers (pictured, his father along the river before Viloria-Paulino was identified on Friday) The teenager's aunt Christine Michaud told the newspaper: ' I want people to know that he wasn't just another (expletive) kid from Lawrence.' She said he was a good student who loved poetry, adding: 'He was a good boy, he loved his family, he helped others whenever they needed it... He is loved by so many.' Michaud added that she and Viloria-Paulino ate dinner together, sharing a laugh and a hug before they parted ways the day he was last seen. Fellow classmate Dalfry Lopez, 15, told the Boston Globe: 'I feel bad, because he was really friendly. Who would do something like that to him?' Gustavo Paulino (center) and Ivelisse Cornielle (right), the grandparents of Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino, are pictured at a press conference A woman who was walking her dog along the banks of the Merrimack River called the police after she made the grisly discovery The teenager was last seen on November 18, and his family frantically posted flyers and appealed for his return on social media before his body was found on Thursday near McCabe Court, CBS reported. Arial footage showed two teams of detectives working in separate spots along the Merrimack River on Thursday and Viloria-Paulino's relatives were on the scene. Police recovered the head nearby, according to Carrie Monahan, a spokesperson for the Essex district attorney's office. Family members mourned their loss after the high school sophomore at Lawrence High School was identified on Friday. Prosecutors have vowed to re-try a South Carolina police officer for murder over the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist after a hung jury was announced. Circuit Judge Clifton Newman declared the mistrial after a jury said Monday that it was unable to unanimously agree on a verdict for Michael Slager - the police officer who shot Walter Scott dead. Slager was standing trial for shooting dead 50-year-old Scott in North Charleston after stopping him for having a broken taillight in April 2015. Following news of the mistrial, solicitor Scarlett Wilson said she planned to retry Slager as soon as possible. Scroll down for video A mistrial was called in the murder trial of Michael Slager (second left) on Monday. The former South Carolina cop is pictured in court as jurors were deliberating The jurors could not come to a unanimous decision to convict Slager (pictured above outside court on Monday) Slager, right, was charged with murder in the April 2015 fatal shooting of Walter Scott, left 'While I cannot overstate our disappointment that this case was not resolved, I commend those who sacrificed so much time, energy and effort to serve on this jury,' Wilson said in a statement. 'We will try Michael Slager again.' Scott's mother Judy said outside court that she knows justice will be served. 'God is my strength and I know without a doubt that he is a just God and injustice will not prevail,' she said. 'I don't care how it looks, it's not over - you all hear me - it's not over, until God says it's over.' The jury had been deliberating for about 22 hours over four days before the mistrial was announced on Monday. The judge had told jurors they could also consider a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. Scott's murder in April 2015 was captured on a cellphone video taken by a bystander, which showed him being shot in the back. The footage, which was widely shown in the media and online, shocked the country. The 2015 incident (pictured) was caught on a bystander's cellphone video, intensifying the debate in the US States over racial bias by police Prosecutors repeatedly showed the video in court and urged jurors to trust what they saw After the video went public, Slager was fired by the police department and charged with murder. Scott's family called for peace in the North Charleston community. Their calls for calm are believed to have helped prevent the kind of violence that erupted elsewhere when black men were killed in encounters with law enforcement. The video in the Scott slaying renewed debate over how blacks are treated by white law officers. There have been similar debates over race and policing in places from New York to Ferguson, Missouri and from Tulsa, Oklahoma to North Carolina. Race was never made a major issue at trial, even though Slager is white and Scott was black. On Friday, it appeared that the stalemate involved only one juror. But a Monday note said that a majority of the jurors on the panel of 11 whites and one black were still undecided. The jury told Circuit Judge Clifton Newman on two separate occasions on Friday they were deadlocked but then the jury foreman said he thought the jurors could reach a verdict. The jury of 11 whites and one black needed to reach a unanimous verdict. Michael Slager was escorted from the courthouse by security personnel after a hung jury was announced at his murder trial on Monday Walter Scott's mother Judy was comforted by her son Rodney after the mistrial was declared Judy Scott was visibly upset outside court on Monday following news of a hung jury Scott was pulled over in North Charleston for having a broken taillight on his 1990 Mercedes and then fled the car, running into a vacant lot. Family members have said he may have run because he was worried about going to jail because he was $18,000 behind on child support. The prosecution argued that 35-year-old Slager let his sense of authority get the better of him. The defense maintained that the two men wrestled on the ground, that Scott got control of Slager's stun gun and then pointed the weapon at the 35-year-old officer before the shooting. Defense attorney Andy Savage, left, assistant Cheryl Savage, center, look at a document with former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager at the Charleston County court on Monday Defense attorneys Andy Savage, left, Don McCune, and Miller Shealy, right, sit around former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager on Monday During his testimony Slager used body language to explain to jurors how the incident unfolded Slager choked back tears on Tuesday as he testified during his murder trial The defense also contended there was no way the officer could tell if Scott was armed. Much of the testimony at the trial centered on the cellphone video, which at times was blurry and shaky. The jurors saw the video numerous times, including several times frame by frame. Last year, the city of North Charleston reached a $6.5 million civil settlement with Scott's family. In the wake of the shooting, the city also asked that the U.S. Justice Department conduct a review of its police department policies with an eye toward how the department can improve its relationship with residents. Slager also faces trial next year in federal court on charges of depriving Scott of his civil rights. They were joined by other planes that China flew two nuclear-capable bombers around Taiwan prior to Donald Trump's controversial phone call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, it has emerged. Two Chinese Xian H-6 bombers, along with two escort planes, flew from mainland China and passed around Taiwan in international airspace on November 26. The surveillance operation, though legal, is an unprecedented sign of heightened tension between the two countries, Fox News reported - a tension made worse by the President-elect's conversation with Tsai on Friday, six days later. Scroll down for video Bomber: China flew two H-6 bombers (one pictured with fighter jets in September) around Taiwan on November 26. The H-6 is capable of dropping nuclear bombs Dispute: Both China and Taiwan claim to own each-others' territories, a long feud held since WWII. The Chinese planes conducted surveillance on Taiwan and Japan Controversial: On Friday Donald Trump and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (right) talked by phone. That went against long-standing US policy that recognizes only China as a real country Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com The two bombers set off and landed from different military bases, accompanied by two escort planes, a Tupolev Tu-154 and Shaanxi Y-8, Fox reported. It was the first time that China had ever attempted such an act, a Taiwanese official claimed. China has said it won't be the last. The escort planes - which at one point also included J-10 and Su-30 fighter jets - were used to conduct surveillance on Japan and other US allies in the region, a source said. In response, Japan scrambled eight F-15 fighter jets to intercept the planes, although they never entered Taiwanese airspace. 'Taiwan faces a much more serious Chinese challenge than it has ever faced before,' Anthony H Cordesman, the Arleigh A Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said. 'China has steadily built up a massive military capability in the area around Taiwan. This isn't simply a matter of flying bombers.' However, he pointed out that the US is in a difficult situation if it wants to object to the movement. 'Understand that technically, we can't object to flying bombers near Taiwan if we are flying combat aircraft and reconnaissance aircraft near China,' he said. 'This is simply legal under international law.' Both Taiwan and Beijing have claims on the same territory so foreign countries, like the United States, cannot recognize both. And tensions between the two have been raised recently after the election in May of Tsai, whose party maintains that Taiwan is an independent state in function if not name. Her predecessor's party were in favor of eventual reunification. It was in that atmosphere - and the wake of the bomber campaign - that Trump and Tsai had their conversation Friday. Trump says that it was initiated by Tsai as a congratulatory phone call. Upset: China was upset by Trump's call, although the White House on Monday reaffirmed the US's acknowledgement of China's claim (pictured: A H-6 at a Chinese flight show in November) The White House under Barack Obama on Monday reaffirmed its 'One China' policy, in which it recognizes the PRC as a legitimate country and not Taiwan, but continues a fruitful unofficial relationship with the Republic of China. In this way it's able to sell arms to Taiwan - maintaining its military strength - while continuing economic co-operation with mainland China. The White House remark from the White House came after a Twitter tirade Sunday in which Donald Trump lambasted China after strong criticism of his talk with Tsai. 'Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!' he tweeted. All this comes after an increasingly militarily pushy China spent the past few years building islands in the South China Sea, militarizing them and trying to claim ownership of officially recognized international waters. The US Navy has performed several passes through those waters with aircraft carrier groups to keep China in check. Defensive: Trump defended himself on Twitter late Sunday by denouncing Chinese policies on trade and its military actions in the South China Sea Angry: 'Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency, tax our products or build a massive military complex in the South China Sea? I don't think so!' the president-elect tweeted Advertisement Two Special Forces soldiers were buried at Arlington National Cemetery Monday, one month after being shot and killed during a suspected terrorist attack at an air base in Jordan. Staff Sergeant Kevin McEnroe, 30, and Staff Sergeant James Moriarty, 27, were remembered by their families and members of the armed forces during ceremonies with full military honors in the Virginia cemetery. Both were shot and killed along with Staff Sergeant Matthew Lewellen, 27, when their convoy came under fire while entering the military base. The incident, which occurred in November this year, was being investigated by US officials as a possible terrorist attack. Lewellen's body was brought back to his hometown of Kirskville, Missouri shortly after his death. He was buried with full military honors at the Missouri Veteran's Cemetery in Jacksonville, Fox4KC reported at the time. McEnroe, of Tucson, Arizona, and Moriarty, of Houston, Texas, were both laid to rest Monday, more than a month after the suspected attack. Horses could be seen bringing Moriarty's casket into the cemetery and members of the armed forces lifted McEnroe's flag-draped casket as others saluted. Staff Sergeant Kevin McEnroe, 30, and Staff Sergeant James Moriarty, 27, were laid to rest Monday at Arlington National Cemetery. Pictured, Moriarty's casket is carried to the burial site by horses and escorted by members of the armed forces McEnroe, of Tucson, Arizona, and Moriarty, of Houston, Texas, were shot and killed during a suspected terrorist attack in November at an air base in Jordan. Members of the US Army Honor Guard are pictured carrying Moriarty's casket Linda Frost, McEnroe's mother, kissed and embraced her son casket as Monday's ceremony drew to a close in Arlington James Moriarty (right), Moriarty's father, gave a final salute to his son during the full honors funeral service Monday US Army Special Forces members (back) saluted as a casket team of the Army's 3rd US Infantry Regiment proceeded in the funeral service for McEnroe, in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery A bugler played Taps during the full honors service for McEnroe Monday. McEnroe had served for more than eight years Brian McEnroe, McEnroe's father, bent to kiss his son's casket at the conclusion of the soldier's burial service on Monday Frost, McEnroe's mother (left), carried an American flag and a red rose to her son's casket at the conclusion of the service. Moriarty's sister, Becca (right), hugged Major General James E Kraft Moriarty's sister knelt down next to her brother's casket to place a flower on top of it during the burial service in Arlington Staff Sergeants James Moriarty (left), 27, Kevin McEnroe (center), 30, and Matthew Lewellen (right), 27, died in November after a suspected attack at an air base in Jordan. Lewellen was buried in his native Missouri shortly afterwards Flags were flying at half-staff Monday in Arizona in honor of McEnroe, by order of Governor Doug Ducey, Tucson News Now reported. McEnroe, who had more than eight years of service behind him, had received the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon, according to the Army Times. Moriarty, a five-plus-year veteran, had earned the Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon. Lewellen, who had served for more than six years, had been a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Overseas Service Ribbon and the NATO Medal. Jordanian officials had at first said that US soldiers had failed to stop at the entrance of the base, prompting the shootout. But the US embassy in Jordan dismissed that theory, saying in a statement there is 'absolutely no credible evidence' that the Americans hadn't followed protocol. US officials later said a video of the incident appeared to show a targeted terrorist attack. The footage, according to an account published by CBS, showed a guard suddenly opening fire on a vehicle in the convoy. The incident was being investigated by US authorities as possible terrorism. Moriarty, a five-plus-year veteran, had earned the Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon. Members of the US Army Honor Guard are pictured carrying his casket The caisson (left) and escort platoon (right) took part in Monday's full honors funeral service for Staff Sergeant Moriarty Cynthia Moriarty, Moriarty's mother, placed a flower on her son's casket during the burial service in Virginia Monday Melissa Moriarty, Moriarty's sister, also placed a flower on his casket and knelt down by its side for one final embrace Moriarty's sister Rebecca took a moment to kneel next to his casket as she placed a flower on top of it during the service The caisson and casket are pictured arriving at the grave site to take part in the service held in honor of fallen soldier Moriarty A Special Forces member paid his respect by pounding in a pin into McEnroe's casket. McEnroe had received the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon Major General James Kraft Jr (left) presented a flag to McEnroe's parents Brian (second from left) and Linda (third from left) Special forces members saluted during the playing of 'Taps' during the full honors burial service for Staff Sergent McEnroe The star of a popular HGTV reality show who have come under fire after it was revealed that the pastor of their church is firmly against gay marriage and even believes in conversion therapy for homosexuals are asking the public for 'respect.' Chip Gaines, who along with his wife Joanna is featured in the popular program Fixer Upper, asked not that his followers 'respect' him and his wife or even his church, but rather the authors of two of the stories about the family's religious practices. 'Regardless of our decision to make a statement about all this craziness, or not, I ask that people please! respect @KateAurthur & @ginamei,' wrote Gaines on Twitter. He then wrote one day later: 'In times of trouble.. you'll find the gaines family at church.' This came after Buzzfeed revealed in a story last week that the couple's friend and pastor Jimmy Seibert has preached about the dangers of same-sex marriage and claimed members of LGBTQ community could change if they wanted to. That article forced HGTV to issue a statement saying: 'We don't discriminate against members of the LGBT community in any of our shows. HGTV is proud to have a crystal clear, consistent record of including people from all walks of life in its series.' Scroll down for video Chips Gaines (above with wife Joanna) has responded to the recent uproar over a story last week revealing that his church pastor is against same-sex marriage Gaines, the star of the popular HGTV series Fixer Upper, asked that his Twitter followers respect two of the writers who wrote stories about their church (above) He also wrote on Sunday: 'In times of trouble.. you'll find the gaines family at church' (above) Both Chip and Joanna have been very open about being devout Christians, with the family of six attending Antioch Community Church, an evangelical Christian church located in Waco, Texas - the same area their Magnolia businesses are located and the show is set. The church's website - which BuzzFeed was directed to when asking for conformation of the church's stance on same-sex marriage - declares that a marriage is between a man and woman. 'Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. 'A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ.' The passage, under the heading 'family', also states the pro-life stance that children are a 'blessing' from the moment of conception. The couple's friend and founder of the church, Seibert, has spelt out the church's position further during his sermons and in particular in a special sermon last year following the Supreme Court legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states. In the almost hour long sermon, he said: 'This is a clear biblical admonition. So if someone were to say, ''Marriage is defined in a different way,'' let me just say - they are wrong. God defined marriage, not you and I. God defined masculine and feminine, male and female, not you and I.' The Gaines' popular show is in its fourth season and has never featured a same-sex couple Making his position crystal clear, Seibert continues: 'Truth No. 1 - Homosexuality is a sin. The lie - Homosexuality is not a sin.' He does, however, ask his congregation to show gay people compassion as 'the statistics say that 90 percent of people who are in a full-blown homosexual lifestyle were abused in some way. Physically, sexually, mentally.' Others have become 'addicted' to being gay after sing it in pornography, he said. Despite conversion therapy being declared harmful, he continued: 'Truth No. 2 - God is able to give us power over every sin, including homosexuality. Lie No. 2 - I am a homosexual in thought and action, and I cannot change.' Since Buzz Feed's story was released, Seibert has spoken out against the story, saying he is not 'anti-gay'. He told conservative columnist Todd Starnes: 'We are not only not anti-gay, but we are pro-helping people in their journey to find out who God is and who He has made them to be.' He stood firm on same-sex marriage: 'Our definition is not the definition we made up. It's straight from the Scripture. One man, one woman for life. That's how God created us. That's what he has for us. 'The main reason for the sermon is for the confused middle the majority of America. People don't know what the Bible says anymore on issues of sexuality. 'People don't know what God says on homosexuality or any other issue. I felt the need to say we are all a mess but the fixed points were set by God not us.' HGTV released a statement saying: 'We don't discriminate against members of the LGBT community in any of our shows' The stories written last week pointed to statements made by Jimmy Seibert (above with the couple), who in addition to being against gay marriage believes in conversion therapy The pastor said he has spoken to his famous friends, who have been members of his church for 15 years, he refused to say what they had discussed. 'This is who they have always been. They are tremendous people with tremendous values and I've known them for many, many years.' While he would not speak for the Gaines family directly, he told all Christians to stay true and not be afraid to let their beliefs guide their lives and businesses. 'Do we believe that God and his word is right and enough? As a believer, I need to do what's right and trust God with what's wrong. So when I have a biblical conviction about my lifestyle choices or how I should run my business or how I should run my home, we should be free to do that to lovingly express our views to the world around us.' Chip and Joanna's show is now in its fourth season and is one of HGTV's most popular offerings. It has, however, yet to feature a same-sex couple despite other shows on the network including the Property Brothers and House Hunters International - its other top ranking shows - often helping find the perfect home for couples of the same sex. Aside from their reality show, Chip and Joanna are the founders of Magnolia Homes, Magnolia Market, and Magnolia Realty in Waco, they have their own home collections as well as collaborations with bigger retailers. At least 12 people, including nine members of a children's acrobatics team, have been killed in a road collision in eastern Siberia. Officials in Russia's Khanty-Mansiysk district said the crash happened on a road linking two Siberian oil towns, and a further 20 people were injured. Early reports indicate the driver of the bus, which was carrying the team, lost control and collided with a truck in the oncoming lane. The bus was taking the children home after a competition in the regional capital. The crumpled bus pictured after the horror crash in Russia's Khanty-Mansiysk district Officials said they were investigating different factors including low visibility and bad weather conditions as they look in to the cause of the crash. Temperatures were around -17C at the time on Sunday evening, and there were reports of a blizzard. The Russian health ministry dispatched top doctors from Moscow to treat the survivors, while Khanty-Mansiysk governor Natalya Komarova visited the crash site and the hospital. 'The injured are in a grave condition,' she was quoted as saying. 'The doctors are doing their best.' The Interfax news agency quoted a local police spokeswoman as saying the drivers of both vehicles, who are in hospital, tested negative for alcohol. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is asking Barack Obama for $35 million to cover the cost of security for Donald Trump. De Blasio said during a press conference on Monday he was sending letters to President Obama, Congress and administration officials to 'formally initiate' the process of the city getting some of its money back. The request covers the period from November 8 to January 20, during which time it will cost about $500,000 each day to keep Trump safe, CNN Money reports. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is asking Barack Obama for $35 million to cover the cost of security for Donald Trump In his letter, which was obtained by the network, De Blasio said the area around Trump Tower in Manhattan is now a: 'unprecedented and unique target for potential terrorist activity.' The security includes a New York Police Department detail at the president-elect's home on Fifth Avenue, Trump Tower. The mayor also says he has called Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin about the request, and that Mnuchin said he: 'fully understood that there was a real important discussion to be had on how we deal with reimbursement issues going forward'. The high cost of security for Trump in Manhattan is unlikely to drop substantially after January 20, with his wife, Melania, and their 10-year-old son, Baron, expected to stay in the city until at least the end of the school year. Police are seen providing security for Donald Trump outside Trump Tower in Manhattan on November 20 De Blasio's request covers the period from November 8 to January 20, during which time it will cost about $500,000 to keep Trump safe Trump has also said he wants to spend as much time as possible at his Manhattan residence. NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said the approach and cost for protecting the Donald once he becomes president 'hasn't been firmed up yet', CNN Money reports. It had been reported last month security for Trump and his family was costing about $1 million per day. De Blasio said on Monday he is sending letters to President Obama, Congress and administration officials to 'formally initiate' the process of the city getting some of its money back The former principal of a Catholic boarding school has been found guilty of almost 40 sexual abuse charges against young male students - but will likely avoid jail 'because of his medical conditions and age.' James Sampson Doran, from St John's College Woodlawn in northern NSW, pleaded not guilty to 37 counts of indecent and sexual assaults on ten former schoolboys between 1973 and 1986. The court heard evidence from a number of men - whose identities have been suppressed - about dozens of sexual assaults on school grounds, at cadet camps, in Doran's car and in an open air cathedral,The Australian reported. James Sampson Doran, former principal of St John's College Woodlawn, has been found guilty of almost 40 sexual abuse charges against young male students One witness described being pulled into an office and forced to engage in sexual activity, with Doran telling him: 'It's not a sin, it's only mutual masturbation.' Other former students recalled going on excursions for debating competitions and staying in motel rooms with too few beds - sometimes being forced to share with other teenagers and other times being abused by Doran himself. Witnesses were visibly emotional in Sydney's Downing Court on Friday as Judge Robert Toner delivered a guilty verdict for 37 charges - including six counts of homosexual intercourse by a teacher of a pupil under the age of 18. Judge Toner described Doran's evidence as 'uncompelling', and slammed him for being 'theatrical and dogmatic in his presentation.' He said the witnesses' evidence was 'compelling' and 'fair', and praised them for bravely making 'proper confessions' with detailed accuracy. Doran is the second teacher from the Catholic boarding school (pictured) to have been convicted for historic child sex charges In an earlier hearing, the court heard that Doran gave a police statement following his arrest in 2014. 'I just can't believe this,' he told police. 'I guess you leave yourself open when you muck around with the kids, tell a dirty joke and pinch their arse and stuff.' Doran is the second teacher from the Catholic school, run by the Marist Fathers Catholic order, to have been convicted for historic sexual assault charges. Last year, the school's former discipline master Richard O'Connor, then 75, was sentenced to 10 years in jail after pleading guilty to over 40 charges of physical and sexual assault. The assaults were on 12 boys between the ages of 12 and 16 during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and were described in vivid detail by former students. Last year it was revealed by The Australian that at least seven of O'Connor's former students had committed suicide - with at least three directly linked to his abuse. Doran was granted bail and will face sentencing in February. Daily Mail Australia has contacted St John's College Woodlawn for comment. The gunman who stormed a DC pizzeria on Sunday to investigate a fictitious pedophile ring run by Hillary Clinton was armed because he wanted to 'rescue the child sex slaves' - but surrendered peacefully when he realized they didn't exist. Edgar Maddison Welch from Salisbury, North Carolina, made his first appearance in court on Monday, after he walked into the Comet Ping Pong - armed with an AR-15 and a handgun - and opened fire at the floor and walls. Police later said the 28-year-old told them he wanted to 'self-investigate' fake news articles that suggested the Democratic presidential candidate was abusing children in the basement. A judge held Welch without bail on assault and numerous weapons charges after prosecutors said he went into the eatery, looked around, and then laid the assault rifle on kegs after realizing there was no evidence supporting what he had read online. Welch, described in court documents as S-1, said he had read online that Comet was 'harboring child sex slaves and that he wanted to see for himself if they were there', according to prosecutors. Scroll down for video Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, (pictured) from Salisbury, North Carolina, stormed a DC pizzeria on to investigate a fictitious pedophile ring run by Hillary Clinton was armed because he wanted to 'rescue the child sex slaves' - but surrendered peacefully when he realized they didn't exist Welch, 28, (pictured) was arrested on the street after he stormed into Comet Ping Pong in Washington D.C. on Sunday at about 3pm armed with the rifle. Court documents said he surrendered peacefully after he found no evidence to back the fake news stories Police said Welch (pictured surrendering) told them he was investigating 'pizza-gate' - a story widely circulated on fake news sites and forums prior to the election that claimed Clinton was abusing children in secret tunnels under the restaurant Cops at the scene say he then stated that Welch was armed 'to help rescue them', but followed officers' orders to get on the ground when he realized they weren't there. Welch was pictured walking backwards on the street with his hands on his head as police surrounded him with guns drawn. He also had a shotgun and a knife in his car. According to eyewitnesses, Welch spent 45 minutes inside the pizzeria where he was said to be looking for the secret tunnels identified in the false news stories, which has caused the restaurant to be a target of numerous threats. Sharif Silmi, an attorney who was at the restaurant and witnessed the incident, told DailyMail.com people are now claiming he was a crisis actor who was stationed inside the venue by the government. Conspiracy theorists attacked him on Twitter when he was interviewed by a local TV station. On Sunday night, after the gun was fired, Michael Flynn Jr. the son of incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn posted messages supporting the conspiracy theory. Welch left customers and staff terrified when he walked through the front door and through to the back of the restaurant. Police say he may have been looking through the 'Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it'll remain a story. The left seems to forget #PodestaEmails and the many 'coincidences' tied to it,' the younger Flynn tweeted. He stood by his tweet as the night continued, retweeting people who were accusing the mainstream media of being part of the conspiracy to cover up the sex ring. The incident raised questions about Gen. Flynn himself. He had not commented publicly on Comet, but in early November he tied Clinton to pedophile rings in a tweet of his own. 'U decide - NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex Crimes w Children, etc...MUST READ!,' he wrote ahead of the November 8 election. On Welch's Facebook page, he mixed 'like' endorsements for a number of conservative Christian groups with similar 'likes' for Infowars and its founder Alex Jones. When Welch first entered the store, he left customers and staff terrified when he walked through the front door and through to the back of the restaurant. Police said he pointed a gun at an employee and threatened them before they were able to escape and notify police. Several customers and employees took shelter in nearby businesses. They added that the lone gunman then fired one or more shots into the floor, but no one was injured. Authorities found two firearms inside the restaurant. There was also a shotgun and a folding knife in his car parked outside. They said the incident was not terrorism related. Welch was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and destruction of property. On Sunday night, after the gun was fired, Michael Flynn Jr. the son of incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn posted messages supporting the conspiracy theory His family in North Carolina appear to have a history in the broadcasting and movie industry. An IMDB account under the name Edgar Maddison Welch shows he had a small part in the 2009 film, The Bleeding, and was part of the crew in four other projects. According to reports, his father Harry owns a film production company. WBTV in North Carolina also reported that a man with the same name ran over a black 13-year-old boy while behind the wheel of his car on October 24. The teenager survived and Welch was not arrested as a result. He is a Republican supporter, according to voter records. Owner of Comet Ping Pong James Alefantis said: 'What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences. 'I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away.' The 28-year-old was was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon after the ordeal at the popular pizzeria Comet Ping Pong Police closed off Connecticut Avenue as they responded to reports of a gunman inside the Comet Ping Pong restaurant on Sunday at 3pm Detectives examined a car outside the pizzeria believed to belong to the alleged gunman. Police say two guns were found inside the shop and another in his car Police initially said Welch's motive was unclear but many quickly speculated it was related to the pizza-gate election conspiracy. Following Welch's arrest, police described pizza-gate as a 'fictitious online conspiracy theory'. The shooting comes just weeks after the pizzeria was swept up in controversy during the presidential election campaign when it became the victim of the fake news story being shared on social media. Staff at the restaurant received a number of death threats on social media following claims it was the center of a child sex abuse ring run by then Democratic presidential candidate and her campaign chief John Podesta. Some of the rumors even claimed that kidnapped and trafficked children were being kept in the venue's back rooms and secret basement tunnels where they were being molested. Police said the gunman told them he went to the pizzeria to investigate 'pizza-gate' - a story prior to the election that claimed Clinton had run a child sex abuse ring there The man, from Salisbury, North Carolina, was taken into police custody and the streets remained closed on Sunday afternoon There has been no evidence of the so-called abuse, no investigation and no victims who have come forward. The restaurant also says it does not have a basement or any hidden rooms. But thousands of alt-right Trump supporters and anti-Hillary Clinton followers believe the claims. Alefantis was forced to contact the FBI after the abuse became too much and he caught one supporter of the rumor trying to shoot a live video from within the pizzeria. Just last week the pizzeria, which also hosts music shows, revealed it was adding more security to is shows following the online harassment. 'There have been no hostile situations at the venue, and we do not anticipate any altercations as much of the harassment has occurred online, but as a precaution we now have security and police present at every show,' the venue wrote on Facebook. The owner of the restaurant James Alefantis (pictured) was forced to contact the FBI after the children of some staff were targeted Staff at the popular restaurant had received a number of death threats on social media following fake claims that it was the center of a child sex abuse ring run by Hillary Clinton Just last week the pizzeria, which also hosts music shows, revealed it was adding more security to is shows following the online harassment The conspiracy theory took hold when the emails belonging to Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta, were released by WikiLeaks. Users on the online message board 4Chan found a reference of Alefantis in one of Podesta's emails just days before the election. Alefantis had been discussing a Democrat fundraiser. Alefantis was once in a relationship with outspoken Clinton supporter David Brock. The 4Chan users speculated that Alefantis' Comet Ping Pong was part of a Democratic child trafficking ring. The conspiracy theory then took hold on social media, including Twitter and Reddit. Reddit eventually took the step of banning the pizzagate topic from its message boards, citing its policy against posting the personal information of others. 'From this insane, fabricated conspiracy theory, we've come under constant assault,' the business owner told the New York Times at the time. 'I've done nothing for days but try to clean this up and protect my staff and friends from being terrorized.' A 17-year-old boy accidentally shot his friend late Friday afternoon in a hunting accident in Virginia. The teen mistook his 16-year-old hunting companion for a deer, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries said. Investigators said the incident took place on private property on Mt Carmel Road in Charlotte County. A 17-year-old boy accidentally shot his 16-year-old friend late Friday afternoon in a hunting accident in Virginia. Investigators said the incident took place on private property on Mt Carmel Road in Charlotte County The victim was standing in an agricultural field and the shooter was 150 to 200 yards away. The 16-year-old died at the scene. Authorities determined that both were wearing blaze orange and had taken hunter education classes. The department says both teens had hunting licenses. The agency has not released their names. The department says the shooter is from Cullen, Virginia, and the victim was from Phenix, Virginia. Authorities said the victim's body was transported to the medical examiners office in Richmond. The incident remains under investigation by the department. This is the moment a large red lorry bulldozed through cars, motorcycles and bicyclists before erupting in flames. The unstoppable vehicle came up behind a row of cars, which were stopped at an intersection in the city of Zhaoqing, Guangdong province, and rammed into them. The lorry then continued to smash into several other vehicles and explode into flames before finally coming to a stop, leaving a trail of destruction. The build-up: A red lorry slammed into a white car which began a chain reaction that resulted in three deaths at an intersection in Guangdong Province The lorry caught on fire and nearly took out a furiously pedaling bicyclist before it came to a complete stop The first victim was a white car, which immediately flipped sideways. This in turn whipped one car to its right and slammed another in front of it. At this point, the crash became a true terror as the relentless pileup caught some crossing cyclists and took down a telephone pole. The video from China's People's Daily shows one cyclist appear to pedal for his life as the still-moving lorry bursts into flames just meters behind him. Finally, the lorry came to a slow halt in front of a patch of grass, in a billowing cloud of black smoke. The collision involved four small passenger cars, two motorcycles, a bike and a tractor according to a statement issued by the local government. Three people were killed and three were taken to hospital for non-life threatening injuries. A difference of mere seconds: Cars (pictured) are stopped at a regular intersection when a red lorry bulldozes through the traffic Fire: The lorry caught on fire during the collision that killed three people and injured three others Zhaoqing deputy mayor Zheng Jian Ge took action to promote road safety and identify the cause of the accident, which as of yet is unknown. The video was originally shared on video-sharing app Miaopai, where it's received more than 13million views since Friday. It has received hundreds of shares on People's Daily's Twitter as users have expressed their disbelief at the chaos of the crash. One user wrote: 'That dude on the bicycle got f*****g destroyed. Telephone pole to to the dome, run-over by a truck, and set on fire all at once.' Local police are currently investigating the incident. The elusive weasel-like mammal poked its head out of the wooden crate, glanced around and quickly darted into the thick forest of Mount Rainier National Park returning to a landscape where it had been missing for seven decades. One by one, 10 Pacific fishers that had been trapped in British Columbia were set free at the park south of Seattle as part of a multiyear effort to reintroduce the native species to its historical range. A large crowd gathered Friday to herald the return of the dark-brown member of the weasel family with its lush fur and bushy tail. The elusive weasel-like mammal poked its head out of the wooden crate, glanced around and quickly darted into the thick forest of Mount Rainier National Park returning to a landscape where it had been missing for seven decades. A Pacific fisher is pictured They cheered, clapped and hooted, and First Nations and American Indian tribal members sang and drummed, as each crate door was lifted and a fisher streaked out of sight across the snowy ground. 'We're correcting something that we mismanaged a long time ago before we knew enough to manage wildlife populations,' said Jeffrey Lewis, a biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. 'Now we can fix that because we know how to. We know we've got a lot of habitat here. All we were missing were the fishers.' Fishers historically were found throughout much of the forested areas of the West Coast. But they declined in numbers due to trapping in the 1800s and early 1900s, and the loss of forest habitats. By the mid-1900s they were eliminated from Washington state. The solitary animal, which hunts snowshoe hares, rodents and small mammals, were listed as state endangered species in 1998. One by one, 10 Pacific fishers that had been trapped in British Columbia were set free at the park south of Seattle as part of a multiyear effort to reintroduce the native species to its historical range A large crowd gathered Friday to herald the return of the dark-brown member of the weasel family with its lush fur and bushy tail THE PACIFIC FISHER Fishers historically were found throughout much of the forested areas of the West Coast. But they declined in numbers due to trapping in the 1800s and early 1900s, and the loss of forest habitats. By the mid-1900s they were eliminated from Washington state. The solitary animal, which hunts snowshoe hares, rodents and small mammals, were listed as state endangered species in 1998. They're one of the few predators of porcupines and are found only in North America. While common in the Northeast and Midwest, they're rare in the Northwest. Population estimates of West Coast fishers today are anywhere from a couple hundred to a few thousand, mostly in southern Oregon and Northern California. Advertisement They're one of the few predators of porcupines and are found only in North America. While common in the Northeast and Midwest, they're rare in the Northwest. Population estimates of West Coast fishers today are anywhere from a couple hundred to a few thousand, mostly in southern Oregon and Northern California. More recently, West Coast fishers have faced threats from illegal pesticide use by marijuana growers and other threats. But they're slowly making a comeback in Washington through reintroduction efforts involving WDFW, Conservation Northwest, the National Park Service and other partners. 'These animals were here before us and so it's our duty to take care of them,' Hanford McCloud, a Nisqually Indian Tribe council member, said during a ceremony before the fishers were released on park land designated for the tribe's use. Several First Nations people traveled with the fishers, some that were captured First Nations land in British Columbia. The first fishers, about 90 in all, were reintroduced in Washington state in Olympic National Park starting in 2008. Those animals are reproducing and expanding its geographic range. West Coast fishers have faced threats from illegal pesticide use by marijuana growers and other threats. But they're slowly making a comeback in Washington through reintroduction efforts involving WDFW, Conservation Northwest, the National Park Service and other partners 'We're heartened by reintroduction efforts, but they alone are not going to be sufficient to save the fishers,' said Tom Wheeler, Environmental Protection Information Center, one of the groups that sued The second phase of the project involves relocating fishers from British Columbia into the southwest Cascade Mountains and later into the North Cascades. The goal is to reintroduce 80 fishers to each region. 'We feel like we're making headway and we're getting good positive results. It's too early to say that we're establishing a self-sustaining population but it sure is looking positive,' said Lewis. The recovery efforts, however, comes as conservation groups have sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, alleging the federal agency failed to consider the best scientific evidence when it decided not to provide the fisher protections under the Endangered Species Act. Fish and Wildlife had proposed listing the forest-dwelling mammal as threatened in 2014 over concerns about logging practices, illegal pesticide use by marijuana growers and other threats. While common in the Northeast and Midwest, they're rare in the Northwest. Population estimates of West Coast fishers today are anywhere from a couple hundred to a few thousand, mostly in southern Oregon and Northern California Tara Chestnut, a Mount Rainier park ecologist, said the return of fishers to the Cascade Mountains will restore biodiversity to the ecosystem. 'But there's also cultural significance,' she said. 'Fishers are part of our natural history and our natural heritage' In April, the agency acknowledged the creatures no longer occur in their historical ranges in Washington, Oregon and California but concluded they were not in danger of extinction. The agency said the best available science showed current threats aren't causing significant declines in West Coast populations. It also cited conservation measures such as reintroduction efforts in Washington. 'We're heartened by reintroduction efforts, but they alone are not going to be sufficient to save the fishers,' said Tom Wheeler, Environmental Protection Information Center, one of the groups that sued. He said the animals need greater federal protections because they still face ongoing threats. Tara Chestnut, a Mount Rainier park ecologist, said the return of fishers to the Cascade Mountains will restore biodiversity to the ecosystem. 'But there's also cultural significance,' she said. 'Fishers are part of our natural history and our natural heritage. 'There are also spiritual aspects of their return that are really important.' BMW will test autonomous vehicles in Munich next year as it seeks to keep up with ride-hailing firms like Uber, which have spent billions on pay-per-use personal transport. The German carmaker will have about 40 vehicles with self-driving functions in Munich's inner city and then expand the project to other cities, BMW executives said on Friday. 'There is a trained test driver behind the wheel of every car,' Klaus Buettner, BMW's Vice President in charge of Autonomous Driving said. Scroll down for video BMW will test autonomous vehicles in Munich next year as it seeks to keep up with ride-hailing firms like Uber, which have spent billions on pay-per-use personal transport. The German carmaker will have about 40 vehicles with self-driving functions in Munich's inner city Uber's rapid growth has prompted BMW to consider how autonomous vehicles may help them accelerate their own push into pay-per-use transport. Software and technology companies like Lyft, Juno and Uber have shaken up the traditional auto industry business model of selling cars by offering customers an alternative to vehicle ownership through smartphone-based ride-hailing services. Now traditional car companies are expanding their own ride-hailing schemes, while investing in self-driving technology. 'Ride hailing is nothing more than manual autonomous driving,' Tony Douglas, Head of Strategy for BMW's mobility services said. 'Once you dispense with the driver you have a license to print money.' BMW has already made significant progress expanding into the market for car sharing by introducing pay-by-the-minute services like ReachNow in Seattle, Douglas said. 'We had 14,000 people sign up in 4 days, in a market already served by Zipcar, Uber, Lyft and Car2go,' Douglas said. Uber's rapid growth has prompted BMW to consider how autonomous vehicles may help them accelerate their own push into pay-per-use transport. The BMW i3 is pictured 'Someone else spent the money to educate the market and then we came in with a cool product. We will not be the largest, but we can be the coolest,' Douglas said. BMW plans to use not just its expertise making premium vehicles, but also its ability to manufacture, own and manage fleets of premium vehicles. 'Uber and Lyft do not operate their own fleets of cars. Owning the fleet means you can make offers that Lyft and others are unable to provide. For example providing car sharing for a specific community only,' BMW's Chief Executive Harald Krueger said For nervous fliers, the reassuring voice of a pilot can be enough to see them through a bad patch of turbulence or a bumpy landing. But in the not-too-distant future, twitchy travellers might be even more troubled when they realise the person manning the plane is sitting hundreds of miles away. For a British defence company is developing a pilotless plane. Engineers at BAE Systems have already launched a series of test flights in which the high-tech prototype flies by itself using computers while being monitored by operators sitting 15,000ft below it. BAE, which hopes it can open the door to unmanned flights in commercial travel, has transformed a small aircraft that normally holds 16 people into a flying test room. Instead of a pilot and co-pilot, the Jetstream 31 is controlled by a sophisticated infra-red camera known as the 'electronic eye' in the cockpit. The remote-control passenger plane will have a cockpit-mounted camera which acts as 'electronic eye' Aided by seven cameras on the plane's undercarriage, the system will allow the aircraft to undertake emergency landings by finding suitable stretches of land. It can also detect different cloud types, allowing the plane to fly around poor weather conditions. It is hoped the 400,000 test programme proves that larger unmanned craft can travel safely in open airspace alongside traditional planes. While the plane is ultimately expected to complete its course using technology alone, the current system requires a pilot on the ground to monitor the flight. Using satellite technology, the pilot communicates with air traffic controllers and sends directions to the plane, which has a top speed of 282mph. The current series of test flights, with the planes flying 300 miles from Warton in Lancashire to Inverness, use two pilots to assist the aircraft's take-off and landing. A team of engineers monitors the on-board computer system over the 90-minute journeys, while an observer helps the remote pilot. The possibility of introducing unmanned flights to British civil air space was instigated more than ten years ago by a government-funded consortium of companies, including BAE. When funding was cut in 2013, BAE largely took over control of the programme. Engineers at BAE Systems have already launched a series of test flights in which the high-tech prototype flies by itself using computers The company has a vested interest in relaxing the rules about flying unmanned craft in British air space. It is currently forced to undertake test flights of the Taranis, a pilotless fighter jet developed in a 185 million programme with the Ministry of Defence, in Australia. By moving the operation closer to its base in England, BAE bosses believe it can speed up the development and cut costs. Maureen McCue, of BAE Systems, said: 'Our priority as always is to demonstrate the safe and effective operation of autonomous systems. We are working towards the possibility of flying our own unmanned systems in a highly controlled environment in the UK. Nissan is testing self-driving cars to shuttle vehicles around its production facility in Japan. As part of the trials, the cars are towing loaded trailers to the wharf for loading on transport ships. The Japanese automaker thinks the technology will, in the long run, save costs and boost efficiency and can add to knowledge needed to take such autonomous driving onto public roads. Nissan is using driverless cars to tow other vehicles around its production facility in Japan. Called Leaf, the self-driving cars tow vehicles on a trailer to the wharf for loading without anyone behind the steering wheel Nissan executive Haruhiko Yoshimura said Nissan hoped to use the technology throughout the plant in Yokohama, near Tokyo, by 2019. But the technology could be rolled out to overseas plants in the future. During a demonstration today, a Leaf car with no one inside scooted along the road, pulling a trailer with three other Leafs on it, stopped properly for other vehicles, and then veered into a parking lot. But one vehicle ran into trouble, refused to move and was not able to take part in the demonstration. The Japanese automaker thinks that using the self driving technology to tow vehicles at its production plant will, in the long run, save costs and boost efficiency NISSAN'S SELF DRIVING TOW CARS Nissan is using driverless cars to tow other vehicles around its production facility in Japan. The self-driving Leaf cars tow vehicles on a trailer to the wharf for loading without anyone behind the steering wheel. The technology is currently being tested at Nissan's Oppama production in in Yokohama, near Tokyo. The Japanese automaker hopes to use the cars throughout the plant by 2019, potentially rolling out the technology to plants overseas in future. Advertisement Kazuhiro Doi, a Nissan vice president, acknowledged such glitches showed a challenge unique to the technology. 'If there are drivers, they can take action,' he said. 'Mechanical operations are all there is in a driverless car.' Nissan, which makes the March subcompact, Infiniti luxury models and the Leaf electric car, now has just two of the self-driving Leaf cars. For all the vehicles produced at the Oppama plant to be towed in a driverless way, five more such vehicles are needed, according to Nissan. People still had to get inside each of the towed vehicles to drive them to the proper wharf, but Nissan hopes that as self-driving technology advances cars will drive themselves into the ships, up the plank on their own. During a demonstration Monday, a Leaf car with no one inside scooted along the road, pulling a trailer with three other Leafs on it, stopped properly for other vehicles, and then veered into a parking lot Driverless cars are still not allowed on regular public roads in Japan, although major automakers are all working on such technology. The technology is, however, legal within private facilities like Nissan's. In commercial products available in Japan, the vehicles, with some variation of autonomous driving, can stop on their own before a crash or stay inside the lane on their own for highway driving, although all must have drivers. Nissan, allied with Renault SA of France, has been carrying out tests with driverless towing since last year. The group is planning to sell a fully autonomous car by 2020. While many fans may have had sexual fantasies about their favourite celebrity, most would never have had the opportunity to act on them. But robotics could change this, according to one sex robot expert. London-based Dr David Levy, author of 'Love and Sex with Robots', has said in the future it will be common to find sex robots modelled on celebrities. Scroll down for video Earlier this year a graphic designer created a life-like replica of actress Scarlett Johansson (pictured) which is not a sex robot but winks and giggles when people tell her she's cute. In the future, sex robots could be modelled on celebrities, according to one expert WILL SEXBOTS STOP CRIME? Many people can see a variety of benefits that sexbots have to offer. Behaviour therapist Nicolas Aujula sees them as a mechanism for helping fetishists explore extreme sexual fantasies, which could help fight sex crime. Mr Aujula said: 'Over the next few years, sex bots I believe could commonly provide a safe and discreet solution for exploring fantasies offering the possibilities of simply having more creative sex, through to satisfying extreme fetish behaviour. Advertisement Speaking to the Daily Star Online, Dr Levy said there is a demand for celebrity sex robots. 'You can imagine people saying, "I've got a sex robot who looks like Angelina Jolie and she's fabulous in bed!"' he said. He also said celebrities could be set to make a lot of money out of the venture. 'If youre Angelina Jolie and theres a company manufacturing a high-quality product, and youre getting a royalty of 1,000-2,000 for each one, you could make even more millions than you've got just by licensing your appearance,' he said. Any celebrity would need to consent in their image being used in this way. Mr Levy said the celebrity lookalike robots will be ideal for people who want to have sex with their favourite film star or actor. Earlier this year, a graphic designer created a life-like replica of actress Scarlett Johansson, which is not a sex robot but winks and giggles when he tells her she's cute. Like many children with imaginations fired by animated films, Ricky Ma grew up watching cartoons featuring the adventures of robots, and dreamed of building his own one day. Unlike most of the others, however, he has realised his childhood dream at the age of 42, by successfully constructing a life-sized robot from scratch on the balcony of his home. Dr Levy will be speaking at the international conference on sex with robots, which was once banned by Malaysia because it was deemed too extreme, that will be hosted by Goldsmiths University on the 19th and 20th of December. Sessions will focus on a variety of topics, from humanoid robots and teledildonics, which means cybersex toys, to intelligent electronic sex hardware. 'Within the fields of Human-Computer Interaction and Human-Robot Interaction, the past few years have witnessed a strong upsurge of interest in the more personal aspects of human relationships with these artificial partners,' a statement from Goldsmiths says. Registration is open for anyone wishing to attend, but it costs 200 ($244) for a full price registration, or 125 ($152) for a student. Sex counsellor Ian Kerner thinks sex robots, likeTrue Companion Roxxxy (pictured), will allow couples to live out fantasises they might not be able to fulfil with other humans, because of feelings of awkwardness or jealousy WHO WOULD BENEFIT? 'The hypothetical applications of sex robots and related products, part of a field called technosexuality, seem endless,' Ian Kerner said. 'I could see couples using them to enact fantasies, such as a threesome, that they might not feel comfortable trying with real people. ' He also said it could allow couples to work through differences that might otherwise cause them to separate. 'If one partner has a higher libido, a robot could allow him or her to enjoy a fulfilling sex life without straying. 'And robots might help couples break out of sex ruts by adding spice to their relationship or maintaining long-distance romances.' Advertisement Counsellor Ian Kerner thinks sex robots will allow couples to live out fantasises they might not be able to fulfil with other humans, because of feelings of awkwardness or jealousy, he revealed last week. Writing for CNN, New York-based author Ian Kerner, said many people could benefit from sex robots. 'The hypothetical applications of sex robots and related products, part of a field called technosexuality, seem endless,' he said. 'I could see couples using them to enact fantasies, such as a threesome, that they might not feel comfortable trying with real people. ' He also said it could allow couples to work through differences that might otherwise cause them to separate. 'If one partner has a higher libido, a robot could allow him or her to enjoy a fulfilling sex life without straying. 'And robots might help couples break out of sex ruts by adding spice to their relationship or maintaining long-distance romances.' In September a robotics expert warned robot sex could become addictive, and will someday even replace human-human sex entirely. Like many other technologies that have replaced humans, robots could even surpass human technique, to become better lovers, he claims. Speaking to the Daily Star, Joel Snell, a robotics expert from Kirkwood College in Iowa, said: 'Robotic sex may become addictive. 'Sexbots would always be available and could never say no, so addictions would be easy to feed. 'People will rearrange their lives to accommodate their addictions.' Skeletons unearthed at a site said to have been visited by King Arthur are the oldest example of monks ever found in the UK, archaeologists have said. Carbon dating revealed the remains discovered at medieval Beckery Chapel, near Glastonbury, Somerset were from the 5th or early 6th Century AD. The team found about 50 to 60 skeletons, most of whom were adult male, apart from two juveniles thought to be novice monks. Scroll down for video Skeletons unearthed at a site said to have been visited by King Arthur are the oldest example of monks ever found in the UK, archaeologists have said. Excavation of adult male over 45 years old. The individual died between AD 425 and 579 MONKS AT BECKERY CHAPEL Beckery Chapel, a holy shrine dating back over 1,500 years to late Roman or early Saxon times, was excavated in May by the South West Heritage Trust. Beckery either means bee-keepers island in Old English or is Irish for Little Ireland. Carbon dating revealed the remains discovered at medieval Beckery Chapel, near Glastonbury, Somerset were from the 5th or early 6th Century AD. It predates Iona Abbey in Scotland, founded in the late 6th Century, and nearby Glastonbury Abbey, which dates from the 7th. King Arthur is said to have seen a vision of Mary Magdalene and the baby Jesus at the chapel. The Irish saint Bridget also reputedly visited it in AD 488 and left some possessions at the site, which later became a place of pilgrimage. Advertisement 'It's the earliest archaeological evidence we've got for monasticism,' said site director Dr Richard Brunning. Beckery Chapel, a holy shrine dating back over 1,500 years to late Roman or early Saxon times, was excavated in May by the South West Heritage Trust. The team found about 50 to 60 skeletons, most of whom were adult male apart from two juveniles thought to be novice monks. A female skeleton is believed to have been a visiting nun or patron. Mr Brunning said the balance of male and female remains and the new scientific evidence meant there was little doubt the burial ground had been a monastic cemetery. 'It is great to show that a community excavation can produce results that revolutionise our view of the origins of monasticism in Britain and Ireland,' Mr Brunning said. 'Archaeology is providing evidence that can get us beyond the uncertainty of the historical sources. Aerial view of the site showing the remains of two phases of stone chapel, the larger, outer walls being from the later chapel. The graves were underneath and outside these chapels. Four of the excavated graves are visible as disturbed patches of soil Carbon dating revealed the remains discovered at medieval Beckery Chapel, near Glastonbury, Somerset (map pictured) were from the 5th or early 6th Century AD Reconstruction of how the site may have appeared in the late Saxon period when the last burials were being made around AD 880 'The ancient origins of the Beckery site may explain why later medieval writers linked it to figures such as King Arthur and Saint Brigit.' King Arthur is said to have seen a vision of Mary Magdalene and the baby Jesus at the chapel. The Irish saint Brigit also reputedly visited it in AD 488 and left some possessions at the site, which later became a place of pilgrimage. 'This discovery just goes to show the incredible hidden heritage and untold stories still to be discovered within our landscapes,' said Nerys Watts, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) South West. The team found about 50 to 60 skeletons, most of whom were adult male apart from two juveniles thought to be novice monks. Example of one of the bones, pictured WHO WAS KING ARTHUR? The facts around the real King Arthur are mired in myth and folklore, but historians believe he ruled Britain from the late 5th and early 6th centuries. What is known is that during his reign as king he had to defend the land against Saxon invaders. He first appears in historical documents from the early 9th century, but much of what we know of the legendary king comes from the writings of Geoffrey Monmouth, who penned his history of Arthur in the 1100s. Links with the Holy Grail first appear in French accounts of the king, written circa 1180. Many historians agree that while the king was a genuine historical figure in early Britain, he could in fact be a composite of multiple people from an age of poor record keeping. Advertisement Volunteers excavating the site with Glastonbury Tor and Wearyall Hill (right) in background. Beckery Chapel predates Iona Abbey in Scotland, founded in the late 6th Century, and nearby Glastonbury Abbey, which dates from the 7th Beckery Chapel predates Iona Abbey in Scotland, founded in the late 6th Century, and nearby Glastonbury Abbey, which dates from the 7th. The earliest monks died in the 5th or early 6th centuries AD with burials taking place at Beckery until the early 9th Century AD. 'It would have been very small, we're only talking about a small number of monks there at any one time, effectively it's like a large hermitage', explained Mr Brunning. 'It's on a small island just off Glastonbury so it's surrounded by the wetlands and cut off from normal life, that's probably why it's based there. 'There are a few rudimentary buildings made of wattle and daub so nothing grand made of stone.' Further tests are planned to establish if the inhabitants were local or came from further afield. Experts believe use of the site ended when the Vikings invaded later in the 9th Century AD and attacked Somerset. Advertisement Area 51 is one of the most secretive locations in the world. The Nevada-based military testing facility has been a focal point of many conspiracy theorists and UFOlogists since the late 1970s, who claim that the base houses secretive alien technology. Now, a Google timelapse has revealed how the mysterious base has developed over the past 32 years. This animation reveals how Area 51 has evolved since 1984 using Google Earth's timelapse feature. The Nevada-based military testing facility has been a focal point of many conspiracy theorists and UFOlogists since the late 1970s Slide me The sprawling military complex sits between a dry lake bed to the North East, and a small mountain to the West. It has long been fenced off from the prying eyes of the public, with armed guards swarming the surrounding area. This image shows a sliding comparison of how the base looked in 1984 and in 2016 GOOGLE TIMELAPSE The images were captured using Google's timelapse feature. Timelapse is a global, zoomable video that lets users see how the Earth has changed over the past 32 years. It is made from 33 cloud-free annual mosaics, one for each year from 1984 to 2016. Users can simply type in the name of a place in the search bar, and then move the timeline along the bottom to choose a year Advertisement The sprawling military complex sits between a dry lake bed to the North East, and a small mountain to the West. It has long been fenced off from the prying eyes of the public, with armed guards swarming the surrounding area. The timelapse reveals that the base has been gradually expanded and improved by the US military since the first photo, taken in 1984. The original runway is now far wider and longer, with a large second runway now built further to the East. The images suggest that the US government has dedicated a lot of construction to the North end of the base in particular. And military engineers have steadily been digging into the mountain to the West of the base. An excavation site clearly expands over the decades, though what it is being used for is unknown. 'Area 51 has always been a magnet for those who believe the US Government knows a lot more about UFOs than they are prepared to reveal to the public,' Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigations Manual, told MailOnline. 'People like the late Boyd Bushman, a senior scientist who worked for Lockheed Martin, have declared that Area 51 is a base where extraterrestrial spacecraft and technology is stored and examined.' Claims of alien conspiracies around Area 51 have largely been debunked. But the site has been confirmed as an historic test site for military aircraft. Famous machines developed there include the U-2 spy plane, SR-71 Blackbird, and the F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter. In this image, the base is shown in a small yellow square within the massive Air Force base at Nevada's Groom Lake The U-2 spy plane is photographed as it is tested at Area 51 in 1955. Early missions involving the plane were used throughout the Cold War for surveillance over Cuba, the Soviet Union and China Images of the base are extremely rare, with any photographers brave enough to travel there kept far back from the perimeter by the base's many armed guards. Area 51 is blanketed by a strict 23 by 25-mile (37 by 40km) no-fly zone for civilian aircraft. Nearby viewpoints Freedom Ridge and White Sides Peak, which offer vantage points looking down on the base, are off-limits to the public. But the US government cannot block satellite photos being taken from space. The photographs come from Google's timelapse feature, which received a big update last week. The extraterrestrial Highway is between Highway 6 and Highway 93 in Nevada, and is the closest main road to Area 51 After a series of declassifications, official details of Area 51 only came to light in 2011. This image shows a suspended, upside-down titanium A-12 spy-plane prototype as it is 'prepped' for radar testing The timelapse reveals that the base has been gradually expanded and improved by the US military since the first photo, taken in 1984. Image: Area 51 is located in a remote section of the Nevada desert The interactive timelapse experience enables people to explore changes to the Earth's surface like never before. The update added four additional years of imagery, with huge amounts of new data, and a sharper view of the Earth over the last 32 years. As the tool is global, users can type in the name of any location to see how it has transformed. Google first released its Timelapse visualisation of Earth in 2013, providing a comprehensive picture of our changing planet. The images were originally collected as part the Landsat initiative - an ongoing joint mission between the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Nasa. The U.S. Air Force's SR-71 (double cockpit training version pictured) was in many ways a product of Area 51 testing and an evolution of the A-12, which was decommissioned in 1968 The unique design of the A-12 made at Area 51. A mock-up of the aircraft is seen here upside down as it is tested. Ironically, this is is also how test pilot Collins had to eject in 1963 The company combined the 2,068,467 images - a total of 909 terabytes of data - with its Google Earth technology to find high quality photos for every year since 1984 and for every spot on Earth. It compiled these into huge pictures, one for each year. 'It is only in the past few years that the US Government has admitted the existence of Area 51, so it is surprising they have allowed Google to publish these images,' Mr Watson told MailOnline. 'Though it won't stop us speculating that they still hide much more, and that they will keep a tight grip on these secrets for as long as possible.' Alien spacecraft could be surrounding the sun in order to harvest solar energy. At least, that is the latest claim made by UFO hunters who believe that they have spotted evidence for star lifting in images taken by Nasa. The image appears to show an unidentified white dot joined to the sun by a 'connected line'. Scroll down for video Aliens could be surrounding the sun in order to harvest solar energy. That's the latest claim made by UFO hunters who believe that they've spotted evidence in images from Nasa. The image appears to show an unidentified white dot joined to the sun by a 'connected line' WHAT IS STAR LIFTING? Star lifting is a general name to describe any process by which civilisations could remove material from a star, and use it for themselves. This could involve a Dyson sphere, a swarm of satellites that surrounds a star, or other methods. Many star lifting mechanisms involve harnessing solar wind, for example. The idea is popular in science fiction. In the series Stargate Universe, the Ancient ship Destiny is fuelled by plasma from stars. In the Star Wars franchise of Knights of the Old Republic, the Star Forge is capable of star lifting. Advertisement Star lifting is a general name to describe any process by which civilisations could remove material from a star, and use it for themselves. A video uploaded last week by YouTube user Streetcap1 was posted with the caption: 'Is this a massive UFO feeding off sun energy?'. While the uploader admits to being initially sceptical, they appear to have been convinced the image may well show some sort of alien activity. 'The fact that the UFO is a different colour and shape to the rest of the "Connected Line" is what convinced me to upload this,' they said. 'I was not a great believer in this Plasma SUN Energy Theory, but this has got me thinking'. UFO hunter Scott C. Waring from UFOSightingsDaily.com also believes the image shows evidence of aliens. 'The UFO may have beenusing the sun's energy to fuel itself or to recharge in some way, but it's leaving at high speed, he said. 'Notice that the UFO is a glowing white, but the sun's plasma in a yellow. 'This tells us the craft is made from a different material than the sun's surface. However, UFO expert Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigations Manual does not believe that the image is proof of alien life. 'These might be objects shooting away from the sun and they look sinister because they are not very clear images so we can use our imagination to insert aliens into the equation,' Mr Watson told MailOnline. 'If they are UFOs it is good to know they use clean solar energy so it seems unlikely they will rob us of our fossil fuels or pollute our skies,' he added. The image appears to show an unidentified white dot joined to the sun by a 'connected line' While the uploader admits to being initially sceptical, they appear to have been convinced the image may well show some sort of alien activity. A close-up shows the mystery object An extreme close-up of the UFO gives few clues as to what it could be. However, UFO expert Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigations Manual does not believe that the image is proof of alien life This isn't the first time that alien hunters have suggested that extraterrestrials may be mining energy from the sun. Earlier this year, a YouTuber and 'UFOlogist has spotted what he claims to be numerous UFOs travelling around the sun in images sent back from the Solar Heliospheric Observatory. The video appears to show images with strange green lit objects floating around the bright glowing ball of gas. In another case, a Martian researcher discovered a black cube orbiting the sun while analysing an image sent back from Nasa's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. Some claim this is the American space agencys method for covering up alien spacecraft that get caught in the images. EX-NASA AGENT CLAIMS AGENCY USED CODE WORD SANTA CLAUS FOR THREE UFOS Three flying saucers were spotted on the moon during Nasa's lunar landings, according to the bizarre claims of a former Nasa contractor. In a YouTube video testimony, Dona Hare says the space agency covered up a series of UFO sighting that they codenamed 'Santa Claus'. Hare claims she was told by numerous sources, which she does not name, about three UFOs that landed shortly after one of the moon landings. Not only is she accusing Nasa of hiding UFOs from the public, she has also stated the agency has doctored and obscured thousands of photos. She went on record to state the agency erases anomalies from pictures before selling them to the public. During her time at Nasa, she was employed as an illustrator and photographic slide technician and received many awards for her work. She claims Nasa threatened those who dared speak about the UFO sightings or airbrushed pictures. Advertisement Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of ancient tools used by Vikings more than 1,000 years ago. After excavating a chunk of earth lifted from the site of a ring-shaped Viking fortress in Denmark, researchers discovered the remains of a craftsmans toolbox. They claim the find is one of only a few examples of Viking tools to have survived the centuries intact and provide new insight into life inside the fortress at a time when the Danes ruled the region. Scroll down for video Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of ancient tools used by Vikings more than 1,000 years ago. The find is one of only a few examples of Viking tools to have survived the centuries and provide new insight into life inside the fortress at a time when the Danes ruled the region Archaeologists uncovered the artefacts during a dig at the site of Borgring, near the port of Kge. The Viking ring fortress was first uncovered in 2014 by a team from the Danish Castle Centre and Aarhus University, with researchers believing it could date back to King Harald Bluetooth. The remains of the toolbox were found under the eastern gate, which they say could be evidence of a workshop in the former gatehouse. According to ScienceNordic, 14 items made of iron were uncovered in total, including spoon drills, a chain and a plate for making bracelets. Archaeologists uncovered the artefacts during a dig at the site of a Viking ring fortress called Borgring, near the port of Kge, southwest of Copenhagen WHAT WAS IN THE TOOLBOX? Excavations at the site of a Viking fortress revealed 14 items made of iron, which archaeologists believe are the remains of tools. Among the tools were spoon drills, a chain and a plate for making bracelets. Archaeologists say any evidence of the toolbox itself would have long been lost as the wood degraded over the centuries. The tools were found under the eastern gate of the fortress, where a workshop may have stood. Advertisement Dr Nanna Holm, an archaeologist at the Danish Castle Centre told ScienceNordic: The toolbox is the first direct indication of life that weve found around the fortress. Im very excited to get a closer look at these objects and get a better understanding of what type of craftsman were dealing with. Using CT scans to analyse the find in closer detail revealed the collection of tools were placed together, but any trace of the toolbox itself has decomposed over the centuries. The team also believes that due to the value of iron, if the items would have been discarded the iron would have been melted down to form new tools. The initial signs point to a carpenters toolkit, but the draw plate would have been used to create bracelets, by drawing the wire through smaller and smaller holes. A time-lapse video shows ScienceNordics Charlotte Price Persson excavating the items with Dr Holm, slowly revealing the ancient tools over two days (still pictured). The items will be on display in Denmark from next year, once they have been restored Evidence of the Viking ring fortress was uncovered in 2014 by a team from the Danish Castle Centre and Aarhus University, with researchers believing it to be the site of fighting and have found traces of burnt timbers A time-lapse video shows ScienceNordics Charlotte Price Persson excavating the items with Dr Holm, slowly revealing the ancient tools over two days. The toolbox will be on display in Denmark from next year, once the tools have been restored by a team of conservationists. Im quite content that we found so many objects in a very small space, Dr Holm told ScienceNordic. The fortress dates back to the 10th century, a period when Harald Bluetooth reigned over Denmark and Norway. The signs evidence at Borgring suggests a similar fortress to others from the same time, such as the fortress found at Trelleborg, with signs of fighting and traces of burnt timbers. A reconstruction of the fortress shows one of the gates. Evidence suggests that there were large fires at the northern and western gates, which may be signs of battle The wooden fortress at Borgring is similar to other dating back to the reign of Harald Bluetooth, such as the fortress found at Trelleborg (reconstruction pictured) Its exciting that there are so many things that we couldnt see on the scan. However, Id hoped that the things wouldnt be so corroded, which wouldve allowed me to say what everything is with greater certainty. Archaeological evidence suggests the Vikings were far more regal than the image of a warrior race. Beyond the horned helmets and drab leather dress, experts at the National Museum of Copenhagen believe the Vikings would have had fashion trends, including bright colours, capes and fur collars. A wide range of jewellery also suggests they showed off their status with ornate gold and silver bracelets and armbands. The fortress dates back to the 10th century, a period when king Harald Bluetooth reigned over Denmark and Norway. Pictured is the detail from a baptismal font uncovered in Denmark showing the baptism of King Harald Cyber criminals could have the power to cause deaths on a massive scale by hacking into smart devices. Any device connected to the internet, such as home thermostats or medical systems, could be under threat. Now, security experts claim we need to take the threat seriously to avoid major casualties in the future. Scroll down for video experts have now warned that more government involvement in needed in internet security to stop 'life-threatening technologies' (stock image) THE INTERNET OF THINGS The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the connection of devices, other than computers and smartphones to the Internet. For example, cars, kitchen appliances, and even medical devices can all be connected through the IoT. As the Internet of Things grows in the next few years, more devices will join that list. Advertisement Bruce Schneier, a veteran cybersecurity researcher and lecturer at Harvard University, expressed his concerns to two US House of Representatives subcommittees at the end of November. 'The internet now affects the world in a direct physical manner,' he said. 'The Internet of Things is bringing computerisation and connectivity to many tens of millions of devices worldwide. 'We are connecting cars, drones, medical devices and home thermostats. 'What was once benign is now dangerous.' Mr Schneier said the market has prioritised fancy features and low costs over security, leaving devices vulnerable. He said: 'The teams building these devices don't have the security expertise we've come to expect from the major computer and smartphone manufacturers, simply because the market won't stand for the additional costs that would require. 'Unlike your computer and smartphone, these devices don't get security updates, and many don't even have a way to be patched. Unlike computers and smartphones, devices, such as smart baby monitors (stock image), don't get security updates and are not regularly replaced 'And, unlike our computers and phones, they stay around. DVRs and cars last a decade. Refrigerators, 25 years. We expect to replace our home thermostats approximately never.' But Mr Schneier said with strong regulations, manufacturers will be forced to upgrade their security. He added: 'This is truly an area where the actions of a few countries can drive worldwide change.' HOW TO AVOID SMART DEVICES BEING HACKED - Change the default credentials on devices. - Use strong and unique passwords for device accounts and Wi-Fi networks. - Don't use common or easily guessable passwords such as '123456' or 'password'. - Many devices come with a variety of services enabled by default. Research the product's capabilities, security features and privacy agreement, then disable features and services that are not required. - Modify the default privacy and security settings of IoT devices but also be careful when installing unverified applications from unknown sources. - Use a strong encryption method, such as WPA2, when setting up Wi-Fi networks. If possible use wired connections instead of wireless. - Regularly check the manufacturer's website for firmware updates: Install updates as soon as they become available and, if available, enable automatic updates. Source: Norton Advertisement Mr Schneier is not the only person calling on governments to support internet standards that the industry can adopt. Kevin Fu, CEO of Virta Labs, said he feared for the day 'when every hospital system is down, for instance, because an IoT attack brings down the entire health care system.' He said: 'I think you need to spend more time on the pre-market. 'I know from my working with manufacturers that the engineers there are brilliant, but they often are not given the time of day from their executives, they're often not given the resources to do their jobs. A close inspection of remains from almost 2,000 years ago has revealed traces of malaria, hinting that a severe form of the disease was plaguing the citizens of ancient Rome. Analysis of remains from three separate burial sites across Italy show traces of a virulent form of the malaria-causing parasite from as far back as the 1st century CE. Scientists say the findings provide more information about the evolution of the disease, with the death toll potentially hitting the Roman Empire hard. Analysis of remains from burial sites across Italy (pictured) show traces of a virulent form of malaria as far back as the 1st century CE The fall of the Roman Empire has been attributed to a combination of factors, from failing crops to widespread political instability, but some suggest diseases such as malaria may have played a key role. Previous research has indicated that malaria was a killer in ancient Rome. The new DNA evidence adds more weight to the theory, pointing to a dangerous form of the disease which could have killed swathes of people. Malaria was likely a significant historical pathogen that caused widespread death in ancient Rome, said Hendrik Poinar, a geneticist and director of McMaster's Ancient DNA Centre, who led the study. By analysing DNA extracted from their teeth of almost 60 adult and 10 child skeletons, researchers found evidence of a parasite which causes the most deadly form of malaria, associated with the highest rates of complications and death The team looked at remains from three Italian cemeteries dating back to between the 1st and 3rd century CE in Isola Sacra, Velia and Vagnari DID DEADLY MALARIA SPREAD THROUGH ROME? The fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century has been attributed to a combination of factors. Disrupted food supplies, political and economic instability and Germanic invaders all contributed to the fall of Rome in 476 CE, but disease may have played a key role as well. Troops from Imperial Rome may have brought back disease from campaigns in the far reaches of the empire. Historical evidence describes fevers throughout the Empire, some of which sound like malaria. The latest DNA evidence suggests that a severe form of the Plasmodium parasite, responsible for malaria, was present as early as the 1st century CE. Advertisement Researchers looked at remains from three Italian cemeteries dating back to between the 1st and 3rd century CE in Isola Sacra, Velia and Vagnari. By analysing DNA extracted from their teeth of almost 60 adult and 10 child skeletons, the team led by McMasters University in Canada found evidence of a parasite which causes the most deadly form of malaria, associated with the highest rates of complications and death. There is extensive written evidence describing fevers that sound like malaria in ancient Greece and Rome, but the specific malaria species responsible is unknown, said Stephanie Marciniak, a former post doc at McMasters and now at Pennsylvania State University. Our data confirm that the species was likely Plasmodium falciparum, and that it affected people in different ecological and cultural environments. Malaria has spread throughout southern Italy for centuries, including the virulent form of the disease. At the end of the 19th century, the disease was responsible for an estimated 20,000 deaths a year, until parliament threw its weight behind eradicating the mosquitoes which carry the bug and distributing the antimalarial quinine. Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites transmitted through the bites of from infected female Anopheles mosquitoes (pictured) Dr Marciniak added: These results open up new questions to explore, particularly how widespread this parasite was, and what burden it placed upon communities in Imperial Roman Italy. The findings are published in the journal Current Biology. According to the World Health Organization, P. falciparum remains a killer throughout sub-Saharan Africa and is the most-deadly form of Plasmodium parasite, responsible for the largest number of malaria-related deaths around the world. P. falciparum causes hundreds of thousands of deaths each year, the majority of which are children under the age of five. The space capsule that sent British astronaut Tim Peake, 44, to space and back will be displayed at the Science Museum in London early next year. The Russian Soyuz TMA-19M craft has been refurbished, but remains slight charred from re-entry into our planet's atmosphere when it was heated to about 1,500C. Major Peake, who was the sixth person born in the UK to go to the ISS, says he is 'absolutely delighted' by the news that it will go on display. Scroll down for video The Russian Soyuz TMA-19M craft has been refurbished, but remains slight charred from re-entry into our planet's atmosphere when it was heated to about 1,500C HOW TIM PREPARED FOR HIS TRIP TO SPACE - Space law classes - Rocket propulsion and spaceflight engineering classes - Russian language classes - Survival skills including CPR and how to be a rescue diver - Moving around in zero gravity by learning how to walk in a spacesuit underwater - as it imitates the reduced gravity conditions of space - Developed team building skills by living in an underground cave in Italy for a week - Lived in a laboratory 20 metres underwater for 12 days Advertisement 'Hopefully it may act as an inspiration for the next generation of scientists and engineers,' Major Peake told the BBC. In 2009, he was selected from 8,413 applicants to take part in the European Space Agency's astronaut screening process. He was offered one of six places with the European Astronaut Corps. Helen Sharman, the first British and first female astronaut to visit the Mir space station in 1991, told the BBC: 'The fact that we know our astronaut was actually inside it - he physically sweated inside the suit, he looked outside of that window and saw what it was like to re-enter Earth's atmosphere - it really provides us with the link to our own astronauts.' The Soyuz TMA-19M capsule is a Russian designed aircraft that was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on December 15, 2015. The capsule transported Russian commander Yuri Malenchenko, Tim Peake and American astronaut Timothy Kopra to the International Space Station. It landed back on Earth at 25 times the speed of sound, surrounded by fire as it entered the Earth's atmosphere. After Tim Peake landed back on Earth, he had to wait months before his body would get back to normal, as those who travel to space suffer from reduced muscle mass and bone density, eyesight problems and low blood pressure The Science Museum Group's director Ian Blatchford said that he hoped displaying the capsule would help inspire future generations While at the International Space Station, the team worked on maintenance jobs such as replacing a component that regulates the Station's solar power supply. After Major Peake landed back on Earth, he had to wait months before his body would get back to normal, as those who travel to space suffer from reduced muscle mass and bone density, eyesight problems and low blood pressure. After he landed, a crew of recovery and rescue workers were ready to greet them and help them out of the capsule. Major Peake's journey landing back on Earth in the Soyuz capsule, after spending 186 days in space A conspiracy theorist has claimed that Jesus will return to Earth this month, guiding his people to heaven and leaving the planet totally sterile for 1,000 years. Nora Roth, a Christian computer programmer, says she has performed complex calculations which suggest the apocalypse will occur by the end of 2016. At that point, 'everlasting righteousness will be brought in', and Earth will be 'left to rest' for a millennium. A conspiracy theorist has claimed that Jesus will return to Earth this year, guiding his people to heaven and leaving the planet totally sterile for 1,000 years The claims have been made on Ms Roth's website, MarkBeast, in a post called '2016 The Time of the End.' Ms Roth writes: 'In the fall [autumn] of 2016, the 6,000 years of sin on earth will come to an end, everlasting righteousness will be brought in, and Jesus will come again to take His people to heaven.' 'Then the Earth will begin its 1,000 years of rest.' Ms Roth believes that each person has a probation time on Earth. Ms Roth's calculations are based on an excerpt from the Bible's Book of Daniel, which tells the story of the Jewish people's forced relocation to Babylon. Nora Roth claims that by the end of the year, 6,000 years of sin on earth will come to an end and Jesus will come again to take His people to heaven (artist's impression) In the story, Gabriel says that 'Seventy sevens are decreed [] to put an end to sin.' Ms Roth believes that 'sevens' refers to a Jubilee cycle, which is a unit of time. The Bible states that the working week should be six days long, with a rest day on Sunday. This also extends on a larger scale, and Ms Roth says that God 'told the children of Israel to plant and to harvest their land for six years and then let the land rest the seventh year.' BELIEVE IN CONSPIRACY THEORIES? YOU'RE PROBABLY A NARCISSIST People who doubt the moon landings are more likely to be selfish and attention-seeking, according to a study earlier this year. Over the course of three online-based studies, researchers at the University of Kent showed strong links between the belief in conspiracy theories and negative psychological traits. Writing in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, the team explained: 'Previous research linked the endorsement of conspiracy theories to low self-esteem.' In the first study, a total of 202 participants completed questionnaires on conspiracy beliefs, asking how strongly they agreed with specific statements, such as whether governments carried out acts of terrorism on their own soil. Alongside this, they were asked to complete a narcissist scale and a self-esteem assessment. The results showed that those people who rated highly on the narcissism scale and who had low self-esteem were more likely to be conspiracy believers. Advertisement A Jubilee Cycle consists of seven of the larger units, followed by a year of rest a total of 50 years. Ms Roth writes: 'The 70 Jubilees began in 1416 BC when God's children entered Canaan. 'The 70 Jubilees will end 3,431 years later in 2016 AD.' But Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigations Manual, says the predictions have little evidence to them. Mr Watson told MailOnline: 'Obscure numbers and codes are loved by fearmongers, and by using them to predict the end of the world, they show they have an insight into the mind of God and/or the workings of the Universe. 'Using knowledge of past predictions, and the fact we are still here, I predict we shouldn't worry about this latest revelation.' This is not the first claim that the world will end in 2016 due to the second coming of Jesus. In July, a video posted on YouTube claimed that a magnetic polar flip would trigger worldwide earthquakes and a 'rolling cloud' that would destroy the world. End Times Prophecies, who posted the video, claimed that the Earth is currently overdue a magnetic flip, and predicted it would happen in July as it overlapped with the 'second coming of Jesus.' Luckily for us, the world did not experience a magnetic polar flip, and did not end in July. split from the group that would later give rise to mammals, birds and reptiles They come from a crucial point when While much is known about our evolutionary history, until now, a 15-million-year gap has remained in the fossil record. But researchers believe they may have helped bridged that gap after unearthing five new species of what may be the earliest four-legged backboned animals to walk on land. The animals come from a crucial point in history, when amphibians split from the group that would later give rise to mammals, birds and reptiles. While much is known about our evolutionary history, until now, a 15-million-year gap has remained in the fossil record. But researchers have unearthed five new species in the Scottish Borders that could help to close this gap WHY ARE FOSSILS FROM THE TIME SO RARE? Fossils from this time are very rare, and until now, only small bones have been found in Scotland and Canada. The reason for the gap in tetrapod data has been a hotly debated topic. Some theories suggest that a lack of oxygen during the time led to a decrease in tetrapod numbers. But the Cambridge researchers also analysed the oxygen in the fossils, and concluded that levels were about the same in the Tournaisian period as the later Devonian. Advertisement Researchers from the University Museum of Zoology Cambridge describe five new species of four-legged vertebrates discovered in Scotland in their paper, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution. Some of the fossils look like lizards or newts, while others are larger, according to a report in the BBC. 'We're lifting the lid on a key part of the evolutionary story of life on land," said Prof Jennifer Clack of the University of Cambridge told the BBC. 'What happened then affects everything that happens subsequently - so it affects the fact that we are here and which other animals live with us today.' A Perittodus apsconditus was discovered with two tusks and at least two smaller teeth, pictured bottom row, while a Koilops herma was found to have fine irregular teeth, pictured top row Around 360 million years ago, four-legged vertebrates, known as tetrapods, split into two groups the ancestors of amphibians, and the ancestors of amniotes (mammals, birds and reptiles). But fossils from this time are very rare, and until now, only small bones have been found in Scotland and Canada. The reason for the gap in tetrapod data has been a hotly debated topic. Some theories suggest that a lack of oxygen during the time led to a decrease in tetrapod numbers. One of the fossils was a lower jaw with an unusual double row of teeth, which the researchers named Diploradus austiumensis The Ossirarus kierani fossil had an estimated skull length of 50mm, and the researchers say the structure suggests the animal was not a juvenile when it died But the Cambridge researchers also analysed the oxygen in the fossils, and concluded that levels were about the same in the Tournaisian period as the later Devonian. The researchers discovered the fossils in ancient rock in the Scottish Borders, dating back to the Tournaisian period. The fossils suggest that the first backboned animals on land may have lived in the Scottish Borders They latest fossils suggest that the first backboned animals to crawl around on land may have lived in what is now Scotland. Two of the fossils belong to early amphibians, and resemble small lizards, while the other three belong to amniotes. One of the fossils was a lower jaw with an unusual double row of teeth, which the researchers named Diploradus austiumensis. Another was a partial skull of a short-snouted animal with slender limbs, called Aytonerpeton microps. Speaking to the BBC, Professor Jennifer Clack, who led the study, said: 'We're lifting the lid on a key part of the evolutionary story of life on land. 'What happened then affects everything that happens subsequently - so it affects the fact that we are here and which other animals live with us today.' The fossils suggest that the first backboned animals on land may have lived in the Scottish Borders, or that similar fossils in other areas haven't been found yet. Government travel advice has been updated to urge British tourists in Spain to use balconies safely. The Foreign Office (FCO) said there had been a number of 'very serious accidents' as a result of falls from balconies and popular craze 'balconing'. The practice involves jumping off a balcony into a swimming pool. Government travel advice has been updated to urge British tourists in Spain (pictured is Palma de Majorca) to use balconies safely Three balcony falls resulting in serious injury were reported to the FCO earlier in 2016, travel trade organisation Abta said. The figure represents 'just a fraction of the total number of incidents', the organisation added. The updated advice, published on the FCO website, states: 'There have been a number of very serious accidents (some fatal) as a result of falls from balconies. 'Many of these incidents have involved British nationals under the influence of drink or drugs. 'Your travel insurance may not cover you for incidents that take place while you're under the influence of drink or drugs.' It adds: ' Some local councils will impose fines to those caught behaving irresponsibly on balconies or practising "balconing".' Earlier this year Spanish doctors warned drunken British holiday makers against balcony leaps. Xavier Gonzalez, head of surgery at the Son Espases hospital in Palma de Majorca, has even been studying the phenomenon. Three balcony falls resulting in serious injury were reported to the FCO earlier in 2016, travel trade organisation Abta said He said: 'It's endemic. It seems that... it's like an initiation rite for some tourists, whose parents already came here when they were young.' During 2010 - 2015, Gonzalez's treated 46 patients who suffered falling injuries. He said 60 per cent of the victims were British, followed by Germans and Spaniards. The average age of the victims was 24. The fall itself was from an average height of 26 feet. Passengers and crew landed in Doha on a replacement aircraft on Monday night One flyer suffered 'fractured leg' and others minor injuries during landing A Qatar Airways jet made an emergency landing at a Portuguese military base in the Azores islands after a passenger suffered a suspected heart attack - but then several other flyers were badly injured after it hit severe turbulence during the descent. The Boeing 777, bound from Washington to Doha, was re-routed during a storm to the Azores, a Portuguese territory in the North Atlantic, and landed at the Lajes Air Base on Sunday. Officials and witnesses said the packed passenger plane had dropped steeply in altitude, hurling several passengers out of their seats and injuring them. One reportedly suffered a broken leg. A passenger is treated after the Qatar Airways plane lands in the Azores Officials and witnesses said the packed passenger plane had dropped steeply in altitude, hurling several passengers out of their seats and injuring them. The damage to the aircraft's ceiling is visible (left) and the plane once it had landed on the tarmac (right) The Boeing 777, bound from Washington to Doha, was re-routed during a storm to the Azores after a passenger suffered a suspected heart attack (file image) Passengers were diverted to Lajes Air Base on Sunday A dramatic photograph, taken by passenger Azad Dessa, shows a passenger being treated by paramedics on the ground. Another reveals the extent of the damage to the aircraft's roof after passengers were flung against it. Flight QR-708 travelling from Washington Dulles International, Virginia, to Doha's Hamad International Airport carrying 350 people on board was flying over the Atlantic Ocean when the pilot took the decision to land in the Azores. The airline said the flight diverted over a passenger suffering a suspected heart attack and that the plane experienced 'moderate to severe turbulence' during the landing. Anjali Sarker, a Bangladeshi passenger onboard, told The Associated Press that she and others hurt themselves when the Boeing 777-300 sharply plummeted at one point. Oxygen masks were reportedly deployed and a number of passengers with unfastened seat belts were injured as the aircraft hit turbulence. One passenger allegedly 'fractured their leg, another complained of pains in their heart, a three-year-old was thrown across the aisle on to the lap of another passenger' and a number of other flyers experienced minor injuries, according to AV Herald. Passengers were pictured waiting for visas at Lajes Air Base after their terrifying ordeal Passengers are currently waiting for a replacement aircraft due to fly them onwards to Doha, Qatar Azad Essa, an Al Jazeera journalist who was on board, tweeted: 'Some passengers bleeding after flung in the air, hitting the ceiling + landing in the aisles after plane suddenly lost altitude.' He also tweeted: 'When plane dropped, three-year-old Lebanese boy flew out of his seat, and landed across aisle into the lap of an Indian man who held him.' AV Herald reported that the aircraft held at 6,000ft to dump fuel before landing safely at Lajes military airport approximately 35 minutes after re-routing. Essa also captured an image of the aircraft on the runway against a stormy sky. Passenger Azad Essa, who was on board the aircraft, tweeted this map claiming the Azores were not on his bucket list The Azores is a Portuguese territory in the North Atlantic Passengers disembarked safely and were transferred to hotels on the island. An airbase spokesman said: 'All the passengers were taken to a hotel in the evening and are due to depart on Monday morning.' He added that several people onboard had 'suffered light injuries during the turbulence'. 'There was a medical emergency as one of the passengers had a cardiac complaint during the turbulence,' a civil protection official in the Azores said. 'He was hospitalised along with two other passengers.' Passengers and crew landed in Doha, Qatar, after boarding a replacement aircraft on Monday night. Most Americans have seen Harry Potter or Downton Abbey, so they may think that they know all that there is about living in the UK. But for many who travelled across the pond from the US to set up home there, big surprises awaited them - and they've been airing what raised the eyebrows on an internet forum. One said he discovered a 'culture of functioning drunks', another 'primitive' laundry services. But there was praise, too - especially for the NHS and the transport system. Although the two countries speak the same language and have a shared history, the US and the UK have very different cultures (stock photo), as an internet forum revealed As one American ex-pat, Kasey Coff, pointed out: 'There is a huge cultural gap - it is, in every respect, a foreign country.' The comments were made on forum Quora, which posed the question: 'What is it like to move to England from the States?' 'In London, the following factors usually determine your ability to connect with others - your accent, your secondary school, and your uni,' described one American, Sanford Dickert, living abroad. He added: ' As many others have said, this is a culture of "functional drunks" - capable of carrying on until 3am in the morning, stumbling home and then waking up for work on Friday, with a slight reduction in performance.' He described the city as a 'culture centered around pints and pubs'. Nearly everyone who posted on the forum commented on the ease of public transportation in the UK, specifically in London (stock photo) British aspects that many people admired included public transportation, the NHS, and a more 'relaxed' office culture. One of many to comment on public transportation, James Baxley said: 'London has a great transportation system, it can take you anywhere you want in the UK and to major connections in continental Europe.' Many Quora users commented on the convenience and superiority of the NHS compared with American health care systems. One user said: 'The NHS. Is fabulous. Once you've got a home address, find your nearest GP and register.' The National Health Service was another popular subject on the forum, with many Americans commenting about the ease of British health care Shannon Idzikowska, an ex-pat who now considers herself a Londoner, said: 'We are much more relaxed about work tasks and creating a balance for our own sanity. 'You won't be seen as a "bum" because you didn't work 60 or even 40 hours this week.' Less popular with Quora users include early closing times and over-crowding of McDonald's. Mr Baxley described why it is 'hard living in the UK as an American'. He said: 'I tried to go to the Asda down the road, which had a giant, blazing green sign out front which read "Open 24 Hours".' 'Sunday evening at seven I tried to shop and the Asda was closed. 'I mentioned this to a friend and he said that 24 hours just meant weekdays.' Mr Dickert added: 'Everything closes by five pm on Sundays.' One difficulty brought up by multiple people was doing laundry in the UK, and specifically the lack of access to tumble dryers Many Americans who posted on the forum brought up their difficulty doing laundry, and lack of access to a tumble dryer. Dawn Marchant, who has been in the UK since marrying a 'Brit' in 1995, said: 'I would give my right arm for an American washer and dryer, and you won't understand this unless you've seen the laundry situation here.' Additionally, nearly everyone who commented mentioned something about the food, with many saying they were surprised by the abundance of good eats. Mr Dickert said: 'There are amazing restaurants to be found in London - some great restaurants and farmers markets.' However, one American who was stationed here during his time in the US Air Force, said: 'McDonald's locations tend to be mobbed most of the time. For a reason.' He's recently shed some weight in an effort to lose his 'dad bod.' But it seems newly single Karl Stefanovic, 42, is still suffering from a case of 'dad style,' as he suffered a fashion fail in Sydney on Friday. The Today Show co-host stepped out for lunch at Rushcutters Bay, wearing a chunky R.M. Williams belt with a linen shirt and shorts paired with Birkenstock sandals. Scroll down for video An odd mix! Newly single Karl Stefanovic, 42, suffered a fashion fail in Sydney on Friday, wearing Birkenstocks with a linen outfit and a chunky R.M. Williams belt Mixing resort wear with cowboy aesthetics, the media personality showed off his trimmed down figure. Karl wore a white shirt, while his shorts were beige in colour. He teamed the ensemble with a pair of dark tinted sunglasses and a chunky silver watch. Weight loss to lose the 'dad bod': Mixing resort wear with cowboy aesthetics, the media personality showed off his trimmed down figure His look: Karl wore a white shirt, while his shorts were beige in colour. He also wore a chunky watch and sunglasses Fancy: The Today Show co-host stepped out for lunch at Rushcutters Bay During the outing, he met up with a male friend, who wore a navy blue suit and with a crisp white shirt. Karl took the wheel of his flashy white Mercedes and gave his friend a lift on the day. It seems the presenter has a fond love of Birkenstock sandals, with the father of three seen wearing the shoes before with a variety of outfits. Karl has also previously experimented with his look and earlier this year, stepped out at an event wearing a suit with leather shoes and no socks. His favourite! It seems the presenter has a fond love of Birkenstock sandals, with the father of three seen wearing the shoes before with a variety of outfits Catching up: During the outing, he met up with a male friend, who wore a navy blue suit and with a crisp white shirt Zooming around? Karl took the wheel of his flashy white Mercedes and gave his friend a lift on the day Transformation: Karl recently revealed on Today that he's been shaping up, having lost a whopping ten kilograms recently Keeping up with the trends! Karl has also previously experimented with his look and earlier this year, stepped out at an event wearing a suit with leather shoes and no socks (seen with ex Cassandra Thorburn in May) Karl recently revealed on Today that he's been shaping up, having lost a whopping ten kilograms recently. The star is currently on a brief break from the show but will return in January. He has made headlines recently after he and wife Cassandra Thorburn split in September after 21 years of marriage. Sad: He has made headlines recently after he and wife Cassandra Thorburn split in September after 21 years of marriage (seen together in 2011) Rumour mill: Karl has been pictured spending time with engaged food blogger Sofia Levin, 27, after she jetted into Sydney from Melbourne recently Karl has been pictured spending time with engaged food blogger Sofia Levin, 27, after she jetted into Sydney from Melbourne recently. The Australian foodie has denied a romance with Karl, insisting that the pair are just friends. Pals: The Australian foodie has denied a romance with Karl, insisting that the pair are just friends In images published in New Idea on Monday, Karl is seen picking up the pretty brunette in his luxury car, with the pair laughing and smiling as they drove off together. According to the magazine, Melbourne based Sofia was in Sydney for five days, and during that time the pair enjoyed several outings together. On the day Karl picked Sofia up in his car, the pair were later seen enjoying a leisurely stroll before having lunch together at Verde Restaurant in Sydney. In an interview with on Woman's Day recently, Sofia said she and Karl text and FaceTime each other several times a week. Hanging out: In images published in New Idea on Monday, Karl is seen picking up the pretty brunette in his luxury car Friends: On the day Karl picked Sofia up in his car, the pair were later seen enjoying a leisurely stroll before having lunch together at Verde Restaurant in Sydney Close: In an interview with on Woman's Day recently, Sofia said she and Karl text and FaceTime each other several times a week 'Yes, we FaceTime and text each other, but I don't believe my relationship with Karl is at all inappropriate - I didn't known him when he was with his wife,' Sofia said. 'We're just friends. I'm in the middle of planning my wedding!' Longtime partner Matt John, also laughed off claims of a romance between Sofia and Karl saying: 'I've hung out with Karl and Sofia together.' No bad blood: Sofia's longtime partner Matt John, also laughed off claims of a romance between Sofia and Karl saying: 'I've hung out with Karl and Sofia together' Timing: She met Karl in September during an appearance on the Today show She met Karl in September during an appearance on the Today show. 'We just got along really well and have stayed in touch,' Sofia said. Friends of Karl's estranged wife, Cassandra Thorburn, previously told the publication she was the brunette in the middle of the couple's fights over FaceTime calls. New Idea claimed Karl had developed a crush on Sofia after she made a guest appearance on the Channel Nine breakfast program several weeks ago. 'Karl loves how free and easy Sofia is - she's a lot of fun,' the magazine's insider claimed. The story was strongly denied by his representative. Awkward! Friends of Karl's estranged wife, Cassandra Thorburn, previously told the publication she was the brunette in the middle of the couple's fights over FaceTime calls Claims: New Idea claimed Karl had developed a crush on Sofia after she made a guest appearance on the Channel Nine breakfast program several weeks ago, but his representative strongly denied the claims They've been working alongside one another for three years, hosting Nova 96.9's Kate, Tim & Marty Show. But it appears Tim Blackwell may have inadvertently got a little too hands-on with his co-host Kate Ritchie in a snap shared via Instagram, as fans pointed out. 'Friends don't touch a married woman's a**,' one person commented on a photo of the co-workers, in which Tim's hand is firmly placed on the mother-of-one's backside. Scroll down for video Watch that hand! Fans were outraged after Tim Blackwell was seen posing with his co-star Kate Ritchie, while placing his hand on her behind Another wrote: 'Is tim touching your a**e Kate?? (sic)' It appears the 35-year-old's hand placement was noticed by everyone, with another noting: 'Colleague butt grab.' 'Note the hand placement...' another of Kate's 138,000 followers commented. Too close: One fan commented on the snap shared via Kate Ritchie's Instagram, writing: 'Friends don't touch a married woman's a**' What's going on, here? Another fan commented: 'Is Tim touching your a**e Kate??' The photo was taken in November during Nova's Melbourne Cup celebrations in Sydney. It's not the first time Tim, who is married to yoga teacher Monique, has featured on Kate's social media account. The 38-year-old has shared countless friendly selfies with her co-host taken during parties and work trips. Close: Tim, who is married to yoga teacher Monique, often features on Kate's social media accounts, with the former Home And Away actress sharing snaps of the pair at various events 'Inseparable': A source claimed to Woman's Day that the duo are 'best mates and are literally inseparable' On Monday, Woman's Day claimed that the pair have become 'incredibly close' since they began working together on Nova. 'They're best mates and are literally inseparable,' the magazine's radio insider claimed, adding that the former Home And Away actress 'lights up when Tim is around'. 'It would only be natural if Tim's wife Monique or Kate's husband Stuart weren't entirely comfortable about their friendship,' the source concluded. Married: A radio insider told Woman's Day it 'would only be natural if Tim's wife Monique (pictured) or Kate's husband Stuart weren't entirely comfortable about their friendship' Split rumours: Meanwhile, Kate and her husband Stuart Webb (pictured) have been plagued with split rumours for months Meanwhile, Kate praised her former NRL star husband last week, following months of speculation that their relationship was on the rocks. In an interview with Jules Sebastian, the former actress said: 'He was one of these people who really loved his dog,' she laughed, before adding: 'He is very kind and he is very nurturing.' During her chat, Kate revealed details of their first meeting - which took place when she worked for Nova FM in 2008. Setting the record straight? But last week, Kate seemingly shut down the rumours during an interview with Jules Sebastian, saying that her husband is 'very kind' and 'very nurturing' 'We knew each other many years ago, through other people, then we met again when we were both single,' she explained. 'We were at the races, so we were all dressed up, looking our best and I guess that got us over the line.' The couple's marriage has been plagued with split rumours for months. In August, it was claimed the pair had been living separately, with Stuart residing in their newly-purchased Southern Highlands home while Kate and their daughter Mae stayed in Sydney. Trouble in paradise? Speculation that the couple's relationship might be on the rocks were fuelled when they both stepped out without their wedding rings They further fuelled speculation of 'trouble in paradise' after stepping out without their wedding rings. But Kate put split rumours to rest in September by wishing her husband a happy anniversary on social media. 'Six years ago today,' she captioned a photo of the couple. They married in an intimate country wedding in 2010, a year after getting engaged on holiday in Europe. In August 2014, the couple welcomed their first child, daughter Mae. Married: Kate and her former NRL star beau married in 2010 and welcomed their daughter Mae in 2014 When it comes to women, Geoffrey Edelsten certainly has a type. But after dating several busty blondes, including the likes of Brynne Edelsten and Gabi Grecko, Geoffrey Edelsten has now set his sights on billionaire Gina Rinehart. The flamboyant businessman told Woman's Day magazine he is interested in Australia's richest woman. Scroll down for video Interested: After dating several busty blondes, including the likes of Brynne Edelsten and Gabi Grecko, Geoffrey Edelsten has now set his sights on billionaire Gina Rinehart (seen) 'I don't normally like women my age but Gina Rinehart is mature, independently wealthy and intelligent,' he told the magazine. 'She's been looking attractive in recent years, has lost a lot of weight and has clearly been looking after herself.' Mining magnate Gina has recently shed 35 to 40 per cent of her body weight, Woman's Day has previously reported. Weight loss: Mining magnate Gina has recently shed 35 to 40 per cent of her body weight, Woman's Day has previously reported (seen in November) 'I don't normally like women my age': Geoffrey gushed about Gina It came ahead of her daughter Ginia's wedding in June and reportedly after she was upset an actor had to wear a fat suit to play her in the House of Hancock mini-series. A cosmetic physician told the publication at the time that Gina weighed roughly more than 100kg at her heaviest. Gina's first husband was Greg Milton - who went by the last name Hayward when married - who she married when she was 19 years old and shares children John and Bianca with. She was also previously married to American lawyer Frank Rinehart - who she married in 1983 - with the pair welcoming children Hope and Ginia. Looking for love? Gina has been married twice Case of the ex: Geoffrey meanwhile, has been married three times (seen here with ex wife Brynne Edelsten in 2013) In happier times: In 2009, he married American socialite Brynne Edelsten, 33, and last year wed American model and former prostitute Gabi Grecko, 27 (seen together in 2014) Geoffrey meanwhile, has been married three times, with his first wife being Leanne Nesbitt, who he married in 1984. In 2009, he married American socialite Brynne Edelsten, 33, and last year wed American model and former prostitute Gabi Grecko, 27. Geoffrey's most recent ex is busty American glamour model Ashley Kirk, 32. Photos of Ashley have surfaced on a website that allows users to pay for dates with women, although it is not confirmed whether use of her photos was authorised by Ashley. He has a type! Geoffrey's most recent ex is busty American glamour model Ashley Kirk, 32 Making headlines: Photos of Ashley have surfaced on a website that allows users to pay for dates with women, although it is not confirmed whether use of her photos was authorised by Ashley The profile for 'Kylie2' on WhatsYourPrice.com includes three professional images of the 32-year-old former Playboy model. The dating profile is no longer visible to non-members, but an archived version from 2012 still exists online. It is not known if the profile belongs to Ashley or if it is a 'sock puppet' account using her images without permission. On the profile, 'Kylie2' lists her dating interests as: 'Short Term Relationship', 'Mutually Beneficial Arrangements (Sugar Daddy / Sugar Baby)', and 'No Strings Attached', among others. Busty: It is not known if the profile belongs to Ashley or if it is a 'sock puppet' account using her images without permission Ashley rose to fame this year when she was romantically linked to Melbourne millionaire, Geoffrey. She denied the accusations at first, but later Daily Mail Australia published text messages which appeared to confirm they had dated. It was previously reported that Geoffrey had met ex Gabi on a 'sugar daddy' website. Former girl: It was previously reported that Geoffrey had met ex Gabi on a 'sugar daddy' website She quickly became known for her diva behavior as she appeared on the X Factor Australia's judging panel this season. Now it has been revealed that Iggy Azalea, 26, left the Aussie set for a final time without saying goodbye. Fellow judge Guy Sebastian, 35, told Channel 9's Today show on Monday the rapper bounced after their last episode together without bidding him farewell. 'There seems to be a little tension between you and Iggy Azalea,' said TODAY host Lisa Wilkinson. 'Off air she was pretty sweet, then on-air she would always be at me for some reason,' Guy answered, noting their 'weird chemistry'. 'I even had my mum and everyone texting [me], going "What's with Iggy Azalea being at you all the time?" he continued. 'She just went off': Guy Sebastian, 35, told the Today show hosts on Monday how fellow X Factor judge Iggy Azalea left the set after their final episode together, without saying goodbye Richard Wilkins then asked if he'd spoken to her since the show's last episode. 'No, she didn't say bye at the end,' he replied. 'Just went off. Just out of here.' Lisa, who had earlier remarked, 'How could anyone be awful to this man?' then turned to Guy and said, 'We're on your side!' Awkward: Guy described the chemistry between him and the rapper on-set as 'weird' and that 'off air she was pretty sweet, then on-air she would always be at me for some reason' Fellow judge Adam Lambert also didn't mince words when he was asked about the Aussie hip-hop sensation last month. 'She is quite a diva', the former American Idol runner-up told Sunrise hosts Samantha Armytage and Mike Amor. 'She shows up late, you never know what you're going to get with her. It is never boring, I will tell you that.' Odd one out? From the earliest episodes of this season's X Factor Australia, the blonde bombshell was singled out as being a 'diva' with her antics including arriving to set late It's been reported Iggy left Channel 7 executives highly disappointed in her first attempt at joining the judging panel. The Los Angeles-based artist has now returned to America and released a new collaboration with French Montana, Sexy. The rap duo have been rumored to be dating since her break up with ex-fiance,Los Angeles Lakers star Nick Young in June this year. She went to the dark side recently but looks like this star could not stay away from her signature shade for long. Jessica Chastain was back to her strawberry-blonde best as she promoted her new film Miss Sloane. On Saturday, the 39-year-old and her old hair stopped by the SVA Theater for a Q&A about film in New York City. Promo trail: Jessica Chastain was spotted leaving the SVA Theater after a Q&A for her new film, Miss Sloane, in New York on Saturday, and was back to her signature strawberry-blonde shade Her strawberry-blonde hair was styled so that it fell straight but with some loose waves at the ends where her locks cascaded over her collar. Just a few days ago, her signature shade was replaced by two much darker colours as she filmed her other new movie, Molly's Game. For the film she rocked dark red hair and a dark brown shade, no doubt thanks to some well-made wigs. Back to being able to show off her famous shade, Jessica seemed much happier as she wrapped up the Q&A. Matchy-matchy: The star cut a stylish figure as she color-coordinated her shoulder-length locks with a chic coat for the fall night out in the Big Apple Jessica looked trim and stylish in a black silk blouse with a necktie detail, slim-fit pair of matching trousers and a warm woollen coat. She teamed the winning look with a pair of pointy-toed pumps and kept her accessorizes to a minimum. She also highlighted her natural beauty with minimal make-up and left her tresses down. The leggy star chatted on a panel at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a screening of Miss Sloane at MOMA Different look: Just a few days ago, her signature shade was replaced by two much darker colours as she filmed her other new movie, Molly's Game The dark side: For the film she rocked dark red hair and a dark brown shade, no doubt thanks to some well-made wigs Jessica's chic topper featured colorful embellished buttons and was slung casually over her shoulders. The actress plays the titular, ambitious lobbyist Elizabeth Sloane in the political thriller, which was already released in the US, but won't hit UK theaters until February 17. Miss Sloane also features Gugu Mbatha-Raw, John Lithgow, Alison Pill, Dylan Baker, and Mark Strong. Winning look: The 39-year-old actress looked trim and stylish in a black silk blouse with a necktie detail and a slim-fit pair of matching trousers which she wore with black pumps Current role: In Miss Sloane, she plays the titular, ambitious lobbyist Elizabeth Sloane in the political thriller, which was already released in the US, but won't hit UK theaters until February This outing comes just as Chastain revealed her horror after reading that Bernardo Bertolucci directed a non-consensual rape scene in his 1972 film Last Tango in Paris. 'To all the people that love this film,' the actress - who boasts 1.9M followers - tweeted on Saturday. 'You're watching a 19yr old [Maria Schneider] get raped by a 48yr old man [Marlon Brando]. The director planned her attack. I feel sick.' In the news: This outing comes just as Chastain revealed her horror after reading that Bernardo Bertolucci directed a non-consensual rape scene in his 1972 film Last Tango in Paris The two-time Oscar winner said in an interview unearthed November 23: 'I wanted Maria to feel, not to act the rage and humiliation. Then she hated me for all her life' The Italian 76-year-old finally admitted back in 2013 that he had treated the French starlet - who died age 58 from cancer in 2011 - 'horribly.' 'I wanted her reaction as a girl, not as an actress. And I think that she hated me and also Marlon because we didn't tell her,' the two-time Oscar winner said in an interview unearthed November 23. 'I didn't want Maria to act her humiliation, her rage. I wanted Maria to feel, not to act the rage and humiliation. Then she hated me for all her life.' She's the inspiring TV host who fought breast cancer following the birth of her first child five years ago. And Sally Obermeder is about to become a mother for the second time as she headed to the U.S. with her husband Marcus and sister Maha and their daughter Annabelle, 5. The 43-year-old, who suffered from breast cancer in 2011, following the birth of her daughter travelled to the states to meet her surrogate baby. Mother to be! Sally Obermeder is about to become a mother for the second time as she headed to the U.S. with her family The Daily Edition host opted for surrogacy after doctors told her it would be too risky for her to undergo another pregnancy following her cancer treatment. According to Woman's Day, Sally told the publication: 'I acknowledge I'm extremely lucky to have one child...but the yearning and desire to be a mum again is so strong it has not passed.' And, Sally's wishes were granted when American paediatric nurse and mother-of-three Rachel agreed to carry the couple's child. Quality time: Before meeting up with her surrogate newborn, Sally took time out to enjoy a babymoon with her family in Hawaii 'Isn't it crazy how you can not know someone and they do this thing for you that's beyond the greatest thing you could ever happen to you,' Sally continued. Before meeting up with her surrogate newborn, Sally took time out to enjoy a babymoon with her family in Hawaii. Uploading various snaps to her Instagram account, Sally was seen in various pictures spending quality time with Annabelle. Island fun! Uploading various snaps to her Instagram account, Sally was seen in various pictures spending quality time with Annabelle Inspiring: In sharing her journey, Sally is hoping to inspire other women facing similar difficulties In sharing her journey, Sally is hoping to inspire other women facing similar difficulties. 'People get cancer every day. There's nothing special about me or my cancer - it happens all the time,' Sally continued. She also revealed that she felt there was nothing special about fertility issues either and she is very open and keen to share with others what she has been through. Survivor: People get cancer every day. There's nothing special about me or my cancer - it happens all the time,' Sally said After being told she would never have another child, Sally announced she was expecting a second baby via a surrogate in July. As well as her family commitments, the TV personality runs lifestyle website SWIISH.com with her sister, Maha, with whom she also worked with to write two successful recipe books, Super Green Smoothies and The Good Life. But her focus recently has been the pending arrival of her second child via surrogate. Baby on Board! After being told she would never have another child, Sally announced she was expecting a second baby via a surrogate in July Earlier in November she held threw a baby shower, inviting close friends and media 'besties' for the stylish event held at Darling Point. It's another area in her busy life where she is thankful for the supportive network around her, including her husband of 15 years. 'I'm very lucky Marcus and I are both very active, hands-on parents,' she told Prevention magazine. 'I have an amazing mum and dad who live close by and the support is invaluable.' The controversial pop star was a hit on The Voice in the US this year. And it is rumoured Miley Cyrus could be jumping back behind that red button in Australia next year. Producers from the reality singing show met with the 24-year-old in Los Angeles last week, reported Woman's Day. Scroll down for video Team Miley! The Wrecking Ball hit maker is rumoured to be making a move down under to continue her time on The Voice after proving a huge hit on the US version of the show According to the magazine, Miley is strongly considering signing on for the upcoming season. Her fiance Liam Hemsworth is expected to be spending time down under next year too. It is rumoured the Hunger Games star has signed on to two movies being filmed in Australia over the next twelve months, though no formal announcement has been made. Perfect timing: At the same time, it has been rumoured her fiance Liam Hemsworth will be filming two movies in Australia next year According to a source on the set of The Voice, Miley has been interested in moving to Byron Bay, near Chris Hemsworth and wife Elsa Pataky for some time. 'Miley has loved her trips down under, and she's become incredibly close to Elsa,' they told the magazine. 'She is really envious of the laid-back life they led in Byron Bay and would love to try living there for a while.' More time with friends! Elsa Pataky, Liam's sister in law, has developed a close friendship with Miley Matchy matchy! Miley and Elsa received matching tattoos earlier this year These are not the first whisperings of a potential move away from LA for the couple. In June, it was reported they would be marrying in Australia over the summer. 'They're getting married on the beach,' a source told US Weekly, adding the smitten duo 'will have help planning the event'. She'll come TO a land down under! Miley has also had a jar of Vegemite tattooed on her arm Family ties: Liam's brother Chris and his parents still live in Australia. Miley is said to be jealous of Chris and Elsa's laid back Byron Bay life 'Their parents are doing most of the work. It's been easy,' they said. In July, Miley showed of her love for the country by having a jar of Vegemite tattooed on her arm. Woman's Day reports Keith Urban is also being considered for a role on the reality singing show, alongside the Wrecking Ball hit maker. He spent time in a Thai rehab facility with his wife back in November of 2013. But in 2014, Grant Denyer came back brighter than ever to host Family Feud, a show which earned him a Logie, earlier this year. The 39-year-old says he attributes his success to a change of scenery, which has allowed him to indulge his love of car racing and really relax before heading back to work, report TV Week. Scroll down for video Better than ever: Grant Denyer attributes his happiness to his home on a farm in Bathurst, which helped him bounce back following a stint in rehab in 2013 Grant, his wife Cheryl and children Sailor and Scout moved to a 28-acre property near Bathurst, NSW two years ago. The family have an orchard and even a few Scottish Highland Cows. 'For me, I think [living in the country] is the secret to a happy life,' he said. 'Being submerged in television can make you indulgent, self-centred and selfish - when I come out here, I can unplug. 'You're out here among real people, instead of pretend people.' A whole new world: The race car enthusiast lives on a 28-acre farm, just a short drive away from the famed race track on Mount Panorama. Family fun! The former Sunrise weatherman lives there with his children Sailor and Scout (pictured) Winner winner chicken dinner: The 39-year-old won a Logie for his work on the hit game show, earlier this year Despite his home being hundreds of kilometres from his work, Grant doesn't spend all of his time commuting. In 48 hour stints, the presenter will film 15 episodes of the hit game show before returning to his country oasis. It's a far cry from the former Sunrise weatherman's life just three years ago. Grant's health suffered an all-time low, and doctors said his organs were running at about 10 per cent. Indulging: When he's not in front of a camera, Grant is an accomplished race car driver The race car enthusiast explained his health scare, saying: 'I just pushed it too hard for too long, I went overseas for a little bit of privacy to just try and work on chronic fatigue.' But while he was recovering, he took another hit when tabloids began to report he was not being treated for exhaustion, but for an expensive methamphetamine addiction. In response, the couple released a statement to News Corp that denied the claims and revealed the reality of their struggles. Feeling better: Grant and his wife Cheryl spent time in a Thai rehab facility in late 2013 'Grant and Chezzi Denyer are saddened by the highly defamatory article in this week's Woman's Day Magazine,' it read. 'The couple have been under immense stress in recent months due to Grant dealing with chronic fatigue brought on by exhaustion and an ongoing unknown stomach illness. 'Chezzi has also been dealing with PTSD and anxiety issues resulting from Grant's condition.' Read more: This latest issue of TV Week is out now She enjoyed a triumphant turn at the annual Victorias Secret runway show in Paris only days earlier. But it was a comparatively low key Gigi Hadid who arrived in London after crossing the English Channel on Sunday afternoon ahead of an appearance at the British Fashion Awards. The American supermodel, 21, caught the eye in a black leather jacket and cropped slacks after departing the Eurostar at the citys Kings Cross St. Pancras station following a journey from Brussels. Scroll down for video Low key: Gigi Hadid caught the eye in a black leather jacket and cropped slacks after departing the Eurostar at London's Kings Cross St. Pancras station following a journey from Brussels on Sunday Gigi added to her relaxed look with a pair of distinctive floral emblazoned loafers with striking fur lining, while heavily tinted sunglasses proved to be the only visible accessory. On another chilly day in the capital the model wrapped up with a thick, patterned scarf as she made her way across the sprawling terminal. Keeping her hair in an on-trend top-knot, Gigi looked effortlessly stylish during the latest in a series of appearances during her whistle-stop tour of Europe. Well wrapped: On another chilly day in the capital the model wrapped up with a thick, patterned scarf as she made her way across the sprawling terminal Just four days earlier she was joined by younger sister Bella as the siblings took to the catwalk for the Victoria's Secret show at the Grand Palais in Paris. Gigi looked incredible wearing a very sexy one-piece which had criss-cross straps running throughout. She wore lace-up thigh-high boots and wore a giant pair of feathered wings on her back. Striking: Gigi added to her relaxed look with a pair of distinctive floral emblazoned loafers with fur lining Having amassed a fortune of some 14million between them, Gigi and Bella have starred in campaigns for top international fashion brands including Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Balmain, Marc Jacobs, Topshop and Dior. The American It models of the moment will battle it out on Monday at the British Fashion Awards, where they will go up against Kim Karashian's sister Kendall Jenner. The winners will be announced at a glittering gala ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in front of 4,000 people. Halle Berry got a jump on holiday shopping in casual style on Sunday in Los Angeles. The 50-year-old actress wore a loose black cowl-neck top and blue skinny jeans while shoppint at The Grove outdoor mall. She covered up with a black jacket with leather sleeves and completed her look with three-buckle black ankle boots. Holiday shopping: Halle Berry got a jump on holiday shopping on Sunday at The Grove outdoor mall in Los Angeles The Oscar-winning actress had her short dark hair gathered in a ponytail and accessorised with large black sunglasses. Halle carried a pair of shopping bags and also munched on pretzels while walking around the mall. The Monster's Ball star recently jetted back home to Los Angeles after attending a Revlon party last week in New York City. The bash was held in support of the make-up brand's annual charity giveaway and Halle is a longtime spokeswoman for Revlon. Twisted treat: The Oscar-winning actress munched on pretzels while shopping at The Grove Halle was beating the chill while out in the Big Apple. She shared an Instagram snap of herself inside her New York pad with a thermometer showing the night temperature outside at 48 degrees. 'Says it's 48 degrees outside... But it's hot AF in my house,' she said in the caption of the sultry photo. Oscar winner: The Monster's Ball star is shown in October in Beverly Hills, California Halle can next be seen in the sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle. She'll portray a Statesman secret agent named Ginger in the upcoming British-American spy action comedy. Kingsman: The Golden Circle is due in theaters on October 6, 2017. Halle is the mother of eight-year-old daughter Nahla and three-year-old son Maceo. The actress and French actor Olivier Martinez, 50, announced they were divorcing in October 2015, but it has yet to be finalised. Planet Earth II Rating: Casualty Rating: Footage of lionesses hunting a buffalo in the floodlands of Botswanas Okavango Delta, on Planet Earth II (BBC1) were as thrilling as we have come to expect from this majestic wildlife series. But the tale of how those pictures were filmed, casually revealed to me in a chat with producer and director Chadden Hunter last month, will leave you speechless at the gung-ho courage of the camera teams. I confess that when the aptly named Mr Hunter first told me, I thought he was spinning a yarn. The tale of how those pictures were filmed will leave you speechless at the gung-ho courage of the camera teams Every time you watch something new and spectacular, remember theres an excellent reason why it hasnt been seen on TV before filming it was just too perilous This story wasnt featured in the Making Of Planet Earth segment at the end of the programme, for the simple reason that there was no one else around to video Chadden and his cameraman, film-making veteran Brad Bestelink, as they took a dinghy hundreds of miles across the waterlogged savannah. When their boat was trapped by rafts of floating vegetation, Brad told his boss they would have to get out and push. Take your shoes off, he advised. If you dont, and you tread on a crocodile, youll think its a log . . . until it swings round and bites your foot off. In your bare feet, he added, trust me you will know when your toes touch a croc. Then get out of the way. With their heads just above the water, they were bitten raw by mosquitos, while their feet were slashed to ribbons by the underwater swordgrass. None of that could be filmed: they were too busy pushing the boat full of equipment. The story behind the opening sequence, shot on the Eurasian steppes in springtime, was even more surreal. The saiga, an antelope apparently assembled from bits of deer, pig and elephant, were congregating in vast herds. The babies were in the long grass, hiding from wolf packs. TRIBUTE OF THE WEEKEND Tribute of the weekend: One great thing about having so many dozens of TV channels is that telly now has time to give beloved stars the send-off they deserve. The Gold channel cleared its schedules for a night of Fawlty Towers, as a salute to Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel. Bravo! Advertisement What the cameras were forbidden to film was the carnage that spread to the horizon in every direction. A mysterious plague had stricken the herd, and animals were dropping where they stood. But the Russian authorities insisted that if the BBC crew tried to film this, all their equipment would be confiscated. And to back up their threat, black military helicopters swooped on the team at dawn one morning. The whole scene looked like something out of The X Files, says Hunter. His team were three days drive from the nearest city. They had no choice but to hand over the videos for inspection by Putins men, to prove there was no footage of sick saiga. Arrest by the Russians was not the worst of their fears. Planet Earth II has been amazing us for weeks now, so long that were almost tempted to take it for granted The antelope were dying horribly from a virus that appeared to act like ebola, liquidising their innards. The camera crew had no way of knowing whether this disease could spread to humans. Thankfully, they all escaped infection. Latest research suggests the plague is a regular occurrence, perhaps similar to myxomatosis in rabbits. Planet Earth II has been amazing us for weeks now, so long that were almost tempted to take it for granted. But every time you watch something new and spectacular, remember theres an excellent reason why it hasnt been seen on TV before filming it was just too perilous. Once upon a time, the most dangerous job on TV was a bit-part on Casualty (BBC1). This Christmas party episode did include one improbable fatality, when a young woman died of a hangover. Shed been boozing all week, and gobbling aspirin for breakfast: all of a sudden she hiccupped and keeled over like a saiga with a nasty case of Russian flu. But the days when this medical soap killed off patients in two or three simultaneous subplots seem to be on hold. Instead, Casualty is obsessed with sex: its like the teen soap Hollyoaks, in surgeons scrubs. The opening scene had wimpy Dr Ethan Hardy (George Rainsford), hopelessly in love with his brothers girlfriend, burying his head in a pillow. He was trying vainly to drown out the sound of the saucy couple as they bounced on the bedsprings in the next room. She is known for her cool, calm and collected posture. But according to Woman's Day, Bec Hewitt lost it at a hairdressers recently. The wife of Lleyton Hewitt reportedly 'lost her cool after five hours in the chair getting her roots touched up.' Angry! The wife of Lleyton Hewitt reportedly 'lost her cool after five hours in the chair getting her roots touched up' According to the publication, she was getting her hair done at a hairdressers in Melbourne. The outburst comes amid rumours the blonde beauty may be expecting a fourth child and is currently experiencing marriage troubles, claims which Bec strongly denies. Woman's Day claimed Bec is pregnant after 'talking about having another baby for ages'. Everything OK Bec? The outburst comes amid rumours the blonde beauty may be expecting a fourth child and is currently experiencing marriage troubles, claims which Bec strongly denies 'She feels lonely now all the kids are at school and Lleyton's away so much because of his work', a source allegedly told the publication. Daily Mail Australia has previously reached out to the couple for comment. The couple married in 2005, when she was pregnant with Mia and have since welcomed seven-year-old son Cruz and Ava, six. Isolated: 'She feels lonely now all the kids are at school and Lleyton's away so much because of his work', a source allegedly told Woman's Day Their marriage has been the subject of gossip for years but Bec has said she 'doesn't know why' people are interested in her life. 'It could be the whirlwind engagement with Lleyton,' she told Today. 'It was a long time ago. I'm just doing the normal things that mums do.' Currently the pair's multi-million dollar Kenthurst home is listed for sale. Fed up: Their marriage has been the subject of gossip for years but Bec has said she 'doesn't know why' people are interested in her life The listing of their property comes after Woman's Day reported an explosive row between the couple outside the Lavazza marquee at the 2016 Melbourne Cup Spring Racing Carnival. It was claimed that Lleyton's alleged gambling and drinking caused tensions to rise between the pair. That same week, New Idea also claimed Lleyton was 'obsessed with the gambling side of things' as he attended the event, for which his wife was an ambassador. 'He proceeded to get more and more wasted, while we didn't even see her with one drink!' an onlooker told the publication. It was also claimed that the former sportsman's marriage to Bec was on the rocks, claims which Bec strongly denies. Family troubles? The couple married in 2005, when she was pregnant with Mia and have since welcomed seven-year-old son Cruz and Ava, six With Christmas around the corner, he's obviously in the mood for giving. And the Bachelor's Richie Strahan, 31, took to Instagram on Sunday to give his fans a treat by flaunting his washboard stomach and megawatt smile. The six foot two mining rope technician turned Chadwicks model was photographed in the kitchen professing, 'I love a cup of coffee in the morning'. Piping hot: The Bachelor's Richie Strahan took to Instagram on Sunday to give his fans a morning treat by flaunting his washboard stomach and megawatt smile The Bonds spokesman gave fans a glimpse of his branded briefs strategically poking out from the top of his tracksuit pants. 'Let's be honest, no one likes working and how good does it feel knowing you're on holidays?' Richie wrote about his love for the silly season. 'And you're free to travel, hang with friends, spend time with the fam and hit the beach? You can do what ever you like!!' he continued. Chill: The Bachelor star is no stranger to taking time out, pictured last summer shirtless and in patterned board shorts - with a frangipani flower behind his ear - laying back in a hammock Richie's girlfriend Alex Nation, who is busy promoting MTV's new series of Teen Mom UK, was impressed with his physique in the black and white image. 'Do I like this photo??? ABSolutely' she left in a comment underneath, with winky and kissy face emojis. The reality TV couple met while filming The Bachelor in Australia earlier this year. Dripping: Covered in chocolate, Richie and Alex had a sweet bath date in one of The Bachelor's more memorable scenes from last season, stripping off to enjoy the decadence Alex, 25, introduced her five-year-old son Elijah to Richie prior to their first magazine photo shoot together, despite previous claims they actually met on set. She told Daily Mail Australia: 'It was tricky because the biggest thing with us was Richie meeting Elijah. It's not about exploiting Elijah, myself or Richie. 'It is just about having things in our control and as a mother you go to great lengths to do the right things for your child, but also his dad as well,' she continued. 2016 has been a rough year for many. But Kylie Jenner gave several fans a new reason to be excited about 2017. The 19-year-old reality star took to her Instagram and Snapchat on Sunday night for a sneak preview for her upcoming raunchy calendar. Scroll down for video Coming soon: Kylie Jenner took to her Instagram and Snapchat on Sunday night for a sneak preview for her upcoming raunchy calendar In one of the snaps, the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star even shows off her bodacious behind as she poses with a python wrapped around her. She did not appear to be frightened by the nonvenomous snake one bit as she flashed a sultry look into the camera while wearing a matching black underwear set. The cover of the publication is almost just as racy as she could be seen wearing lacy black strapless lingerie. Va va voom: The 19-year-old showed off her bodacious behind as she poses with a python wrapped around her Keeping it cool: She first debuted the cover of the calendar on her Snapchat Wow factor: In a revealing snap she wore a matching black underwear set She tries to live up to her old Snapchat handle name 'King Kylie' as she could be seen wearing a black crown in the front image. Her locks are dyed platinum blonde and worn down as she rocks dark evening eye make-up and pink lipstick. As if that wasn't raunchy enough she showed off another photo where she could be seen rocking fishnets along with a cut off shirt and a thong. There are hundred dollar bills thrown up in the air as her shirt reads 'Please Insert Money.' Racy: She showed off another photo where she could be seen rocking fishnets along with a cut off shirt and a thong Interesting: There are hundred dollar bills thrown up in the air as her shirt reads 'Please Insert Money' The snaps for the upcoming 2017 publication were shot by controversial photographer Terry Richardson. The 51-year-old artist has quite the reputation as he has been accused of inappropriate conduct several times in the past few years. Richardson has strongly denied all accusations, which have come mostly from models he has worked with, that he acted inappropriately towards them. Kylie's new calendar can be purchased at KylieJennerShop.com on Saturday. Excited: She addressed her social media followers with this self-taken video Chill mode: Kylie rocked a black top for the social media post Many people amble into the airport with long faces and dumpy duds resigned to the less-than-glamorous aspects of travel days - but not Alessandra Ambrosio. The Brazilian stunner was a vision of perfection as she was snapped at LAX Airport on Sunday, literally looking like she'd just walked off a magazine cover. The 5 ft. 10 in. jaw-dropper wore a white sweater with vertical lines, a creme-colored scarf wrapped around her neck, skinny blue jeans and black ankle boots with chunky heels. Scroll below for video Glam girl: Alessandra Ambrosio, 35, looked every bit the supermodel as she ventured to take a flight out of LAX Airport on Sunday Moving forward: The model seemed deep in thought as she made her way through the travel terminal Business-minded beauty: In addition to her Victoria's Secret's efforts, Alessandra also has a popular swimwear line, Ale by Alessandra Alessandra rounded out the cosmopolitan get-up with black sunglasses while lugging her goods around with both a swanky leather purse and a roll-on suitcase. She was accompanied by a pal as she departed LaLa Land. It's been a jam-packed few days for the Victoria's Secret supermodel, coming off another triumphant march down the catwalk at the lingerie retailer's annual fashion show on Wednesday in Paris. At the event, which was held at Le Grand Palais, Alessandra and fellow A-list model Adriana Lima were the final models to walk the runway, doing the coveted honors of finishing the show. Her final get-up the evening was certainly worth waiting for, as she donned the Dark Angel costume of an all-black corset-style cropped top with thigh-high lace-up stilettos that well showcased her mile-long legs. She rounded out the mouthwatering ensemble with a black garter belt and panties, and was flanked by a giant set of metallic feathers and wings strapped to her back. Always glam: No matter the occasion, the Brazil native is always perfectly styled for it Scorching schedule: After returning from Paris earlier this week, Ambrosio had a few days at her Southern California home with her kids, but now it's back to work Total package: Brains, beauty and class, it's little wonder how the stunning supermodel remains atop her highly-competitive field year after year The gorgeous mother-of-two - Anja, eight, son Noah, four, with fiance Jamie Mazur, 35 - quickly hightailed it back to Los Angeles to promote the show, which marked her 16th appearance in the beauty extravaganza, a feat only tied by her comely colleague Lima. She was also snapped Saturday in Los Angeles taking her tots for a meet-and-greet with Santa Claus at The Grove. The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, also featuring Lily Aldridge, Jasmine Tookes and Lais Ribeiro, airs Monday at 10/9c on CBS. Beauty beyond words: With her looks, elegance and charm, it's no wonder Alessandra's walk down the runway last week - her 16th, overall - marked a Victoria's Secret record They may be in separate countries, and one may be twice the other's age, but Kim Zolciak and Brielle Biermann seemed of one mind on Sunday. That, at least, was the impression both of their Instagram pages gave whilst the 19-year-old was holidaying in Nassau and her mother was back home stateside. Both women uploaded pictures in which they showcased their exquisitely toned torsos, Brielle in a bikini and Kim in a crop top. Sunning: On Sunday, Brielle Biermann uploaded a photo of herself enjoying the water around Nassau whilst wearing a bikini The 19-year-old was stood in the water, rocks heaped behind her, her body facing to one side but her head turned to glance at the camera. Her blonde hair fell sloppily about her face, sliding occasionally over the pair of red aviator sunglasses she'd popped on. The Atlanta native vamped that 'when i go on vacay i might rent out the bahamas,' quoting her friend, hip hop artist Lil Yachty. That line came from this year's song D.R.A.M. by Broccoli, which featured Lil Yachty and appeared on the album Big Baby D.R.A.M. Flashing a peace sign: Meanwhile, back in the U.S., her mother Kim Zolciak posted a mirror selfie in which she showed off her bare midriff in the casual outfit she wears about the house As her Snapchat's attested over the past days, Brielle's holiday companion's been her boyfriend, Red Sox minor-league pitcher Michael Kopech. Meanwhile, back in the land of the stars and stripes, Mrs Kroy Biermann was posing for a mirror selfie in her vast walk-in closet. Her tiny black crop top framed a well-maintained midriff above a comfortable-looking pair of light grey sweats. Large grey slippers were on her feet. Paradise: For the past few days, the 19-year-old's been posting Instagram updates of her holiday in the Bahamas The erstwhile Real Housewife Of Atlanta captioned: 'Sooooo unless I'm working ... filming I mean or entertaining guests I wear this EVERY SINGLE DAY! The second I can I put this hot little number on I do!' As the 38-year-old reminisced, 'I have worn this "look" for 5 years ever since I was pregnant with Kj!' She offered up a 'Thx to La Perla for the comfy pants, UGG for my comfy yet can leave the house in them slippers and ATM tanks (rolling the tank up for ya to make it a little sexier!' After throwing in the hashtags: '#LetsNotForgetMyRobe #ThatsMyFavoriteAccessory' she closed out with: 'I know how much my girls enjoy this look'. She debuted her acting career as the cherubic-faced cutie Bree Timmins on Neighbours in 2005. And Sianoa Smit-McPhee looks unrecognisable with her revamped gothic style almost ten years on. The 24-year-old actress attended the AACTA Awards in Sydney on Monday in an all-black ensemble with thigh-high latex boots. Who is that girl? Former Neighbours child star Sianoa Smit-McPhee looked unrecognisable with her revamped Gothic style at the AACTA Awards on Monday, almost ten years since appearing on popular show Boho-goth! Sianoa paired a sheer lace bell-sleeve top with a leather skater skirt, stockings and shiny high-heeled boots Having outgrown her baby face, the former soap star gave brooding stares as she made her appearance on the red carpet. Sianoa paired a sheer lace bell-sleeve top with a leather skater skirt, stockings and shiny high-heeled boots. Her long, thick tresses were left out and covered her ample assets in the semi-sheer design. She had a bohemian vibe to her gothic ensemble by sporting the over-sized bell sleeves and a chic beaded headband. New look: She had a bohemian vibe to her gothic ensemble by sporting the over-sized bell sleeves and a chic beaded headband as she posed on the red carpet beside her American music producer husband, John Rush Changing looks: Having outgrown her baby face, the former soap star has also made the transformation from blonde hair to red-brunette locks She was joined by her American music producer husband John Rush, who also wore an all-black ensemble with the addition of a cream silk bomber jacket. Taking to social media, she reflected on the awards: ' So honored to be nominated. We are having so much fun today.' Sianoa returned to the public eye earlier this year as she prepares to take on Hollywood and the music world. Edgy! Sianoa has adopted a more edgy style since her childhood acting days, and has announced this year that she is preparing to take on Hollywood and the music world Following her appearance on Neighbours between 2005 and 2007, she went on to appear in TV series As the Bell Rings for two years. She went on to work another two years on the set of Hung while also guest appearing in Criminal Minds and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Sianoa has also featured in films, All Cheerleaders Die, Mall and most recently, Fallen. Shark Tank judge Naomi Simson made a major investment on Sunday when she married her long-term partner Stuart King. The Red Balloon founder said 'I do' in front of around 90 friends and family at her Sydney home, The Daily Telegraph reports. The union is the 52-year-old's second marriage following her split from husband of 20 years, Peter Simson, in 2011. Scroll down for video The big day: Shark Tank judge Naomi Simson made a major investment on Sunday when she married her long-term partner Stuart King Naomi and Stuart specifically chose the date to tie the knot because it marks the fifth anniversary of their first date. The businesswoman's new husband is a former Victorian police officer who now works as managing director for brand protection company Risk To Business. The newlyweds, who both have two children from their previous marriages, have already flown off on their honeymoon. Time to wed: Naomi and Stuart specifically chose the date to tie the knot as it marks the fifth anniversary of their first date In the tank: The published author can be seen grilling young entrepreneurs before deciding whether to invest large sums of money in their company Posting on Instagram on the day of her wedding, she said: '"Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful" but when you have the man that you adore holding your hand... anything is possible and everything seems wonderful.' Her marriage to Stuart comes five years after the TV personality saw her relationship with Peter break down. However, Naomi continues to work side-by-side with her ex-husband in the company they founded together in 2001, Red Balloon. Cheers! The businesswoman's new husband is a former Victorian police officer who now works as managing director for brand protection company Risk To Business Former flame: Her marriage to Stuart comes five years after the TV personality saw her 20-year marriage to Peter Simson break down Both are co-directors of the online experience gift retailer. Naomi also scheduled her big day to coincide with the end of filming for the third series of Shark Tank. The published author can be seen grilling young entrepreneurs before deciding whether to invest large sums of money in their companies. Naomi will be back on Channel Ten beside fellow 'sharks' Janine Allis, Andrew Banks, Steve Baxter and Dr Glen Richards in 2017. Karl Stefanovic was spotted showing his gentlemanly side in Sydney on Monday as he helped his mother Jenny out of his white Mercedes. The vehicle is the same car he was spotted in with food blogger Sofia Levin, just days earlier, in pictures published in New Idea. The Today show host attempted to cut a youthful figure as he stepped out of his ride, pairing what appeared to be rocket printed shorts with a navy blue polo shirt. Scroll down for video New style: Karl was spotted in a pair of eye catching shorts as he spent time with his mother Jenny on Monday He added his favourite pair of Birkenstocks, making the outfit look rather mismatched. Trying to stay incognito, the presenter hid his identity with a pair of rounded sunglasses and a rimmed hat. The outfit is a far cry from the tailored suits fans are used to seeing the 42-year-old dressed in. Take my hand: The Today Show presenter held out his hand for Jenny to grab as she exited the vehicle Undercover? The 42-year-old appeared to be going incognito as he donned a rimmed hat and rounded sunglasses Errands already! Jenny appeared to be in the mood to do some odd jobs around the house and was seen holding two solar powered outdoor lights Karl's mother Jenny looked casual in a knee-length black dress teamed with a purple bolero. Jenny arrived in Sydney on Wednesday evening, possibly to spend time with her son as he takes a break from television over the summer. Karl decided to enjoy his summer break and relax, following his split with wife of 21 years Cassandra Thorburn. Lots to catch up on: Karl appeared to be deep in conversation with his mother as they walked towards the house He announced her arrival on the Today show on Thursday, telling viewers: 'Mum got in last night, she hasn't stopped talking yet!' He joked around about his mum getting lost in Sydney, and said: 'If you have seen Jenny around, people, don't call me!' Later in the show he softened his tone and said he would be taking her out for dinner that night. The car Karl helped his mother out of is the same one he was recently spotted in with 27-year-old food blogger Sofia in pictured published in New Idea. Sometimes you just need mum: Jenny arrived in Sydney on Wednesday evening, possibly to spend time with her son as he takes a break from television over the summer following his split from wife Cassandra Thorburn Karl and Sofia spent time together in Sydney while she visited from Melbourne. In images published in New Idea on Monday, Karl is seen picking up the pretty brunette in his flash Mercedes Benz, Sofia smiling at the TV star while seated in the luxury car. According to the magazine, Sofia was in Sydney for several days, and during that time the new friends enjoyed several outings together. One outing included a reported lunch together at Verde Restaurant in Sydney. Sofia is engaged to Matt John who owns Sydney eatery Epic Pizza. The following day Karl and Sofia were pictured at Sydney's QT Bondi Hotel. The TV host's brother, Peter, and his fiance Sylvia Jeffreys were also seen at the hotel with the pair. The pair were pictured enjoying a few drinks on the balcony of the luxury hotel. According to the publication an insider said of the new found pals: 'They have developed a close bond since meeting. They were both excited to see each other and be together as much as possible.' 'They were both excited to see each other and be together as much as possible': According to the publication an insider said of the new found pals 'were both excited to see each other' Daily Mail Australia contacted Channel Nine, and a spokesperson declined to comment on the recent photographs. Meanwhile, in an interview with Woman's Day, Sofia said she and Karl text and FaceTime each other several times a week. Yes, we FaceTime and text each other, but I don't believe my relationship with Karl is at all inappropriate - I didn't known him when he was with his wife,' Sofia said. 'We're just friends. I'm in the middle of planning my wedding!' Longtime partner Matt John, also laughed off claims of a romance between Sofia and Karl saying: 'I've hung out with Karl and Sofia together.' She's one of the most beautiful models in the world - and Emily Ratajkowski showed off her incredible figure in white lace lingerie on Monday morning. The 25-year old shared the sultry snap on Instagram, delighting her 9.5million followers as she took a selfie in the mirror. She captioned the image with one simple word: 'Night', just days after slamming photographer Jonathan Leder for publishing previously unseen naked photos of her. 'Night': Emily Ratajkowski displayed her incredible figure in a semi-sheer lace lingerie number after lashing out over nude photo being published Standing in a beautiful hotel room, the brunette beauty pushed her locks from her face as she pouted, showing off a beautiful peach lipstick. Emily shot to fame after stripping off for Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines video in 2013. 'My body, my choice,' the actress and model wrote just hours before she landed at LAX airport on Thursday, following the photo release. Flying under the radar! Emily was covered head-to-toe as she arrived at the LAX airport on Thursday 'My body, my choice': The model took to Twitter on Thursday to rant about nude photos of her from 2012 being leaked The brunette beauty began her rant since Wednesday and tweeted her anger, stating: 'This book and the images within them are a violation.' The explicit photo shoot was done in May 2012 and some of the pictures have been widely reproduced by media outlets and magazines. News of the photos broke last week and Emily explained: 'Ive been resisting speaking publicly on the recently released photos by Jonathan Leder to avoid giving him publicity. But Ive had enough.' Fashionable flyer: The 25-year-old model was spotted after she took to Twitter and slammed photographer Jonathan Leder for publishing previously unseen naked photos of her Low-key look: The Blurred Lines beauty wore a loose-fitting black sweater which she teamed with light wash distressed denim jeans She explained that the Polaroids were taken for an artful magazine spread and she never intended for the unused ones to be published. 'These photos being used w/out my permission is an example of exactly the opposite of what I stand for: women choosing when and how they want to share their sexuality and bodies,' she tweeted. The genetically-gifted stunner continued her rhetoric on Thursday and wrote: 'To be clear: I signed no release & was not paid.' Natural beauty: Emily went makeup-free for her travels which featured her flawless complexion Details: The genetically-gifted stunner rounded out her low-key look was a pair of simple wire-framed glasses and dainty silver necklaces 'That said, the legal side of this is private,' she added. 'And I would appreciate it if people waited to base their opinions on facts rather than speculation or assumptions.' The Vogue Germany cover girl touched down at the Los Angeles terminal in light wash distressed denim jeans. She wore a loose-fitting black sweater which she teamed with matching suede ankle boots. Outrage: While she's happy to flaunt her body for fame, the model insisted via Twitter on Wednesday that it's up to her when and how she chooses to show off her figure Her silky chestnut tresses were styled straight and parted down the centre for a classic look. Emily went makeup-free for her travels which featured her flawless complexion and natural beauty. Rounding out her low-key look was a pair of simple wire-framed glasses and dainty silver necklaces. Sophie Monk has revealed she sends naked photos of herself to 'whoever' she is dating. The radio star made the revelation as she hosted KIIS FM's Summer Fling, which airs on the station across Sydney and Melbourne. 'I think most people have (sent nude snaps),' Sophie told her co-host Matty Acton on Monday. Scroll down for video '650 times I've taken a different nudie photo': Sophie Monk admitted on breakfast radio on Monday that she sends naked texts of herself to 'whoever' she dates 'You do it to your boyfriend, don't you? Whoever your'e dating... So 650 times I've taken a different nudie photo,' the 36-year-old glamour joked. While making the admission, Sophie revealed she feels less comfortable receiving nude texts from men. 'I've been surprised with three in one week. I was like, "What? I didn't want that." 'It's more ego for the guy. The girl's sitting there going "really?" and comparing it to another photo.' Not afraid to be risque! Both on the red carpet and in relationships it seems the blonde beauty isn't afraid of being risque after admitting she's sent sexy texts to all her past boyfriends Sophie is known for her celebrity romances including with former fiance and guitarist for American band Good Charlotte, Benji Madden. The pair were engaged in 2007 after dating for just one year prior, but the relationship soured and ended in 2008. She later started to date multimillionaire businessman Jesse Esberg, who was nearly 20 years her senior, and announced their engagement in 2011. History: Sophie is known for a string of celebrity romances over the past few years Unlucky in love: Sophie was engaged to Good Charlotte star Benji Madden before their relationship soured and ended in 2008 The unlikely pair didn't last, and ended their relationship just two month later. Most recently, her on-and-off romance with former Parramatta Eels star Eric Grothe Junior ended as reports of a sexting scandal emerged. Eric, 36, had been sending 'explicit messages' to a 24-year-old woman on social media, according to Woman's Day. 'Initially his messages were friendly and flirty, then they changed,' the woman apparently told the publication. 'My **** is so ****ing hard now': An unnamed woman said messages sent by former Parramatta Eels star Eric Grothe Junior quickly progressed from friendly to sexual The 24-year-old unnamed woman reportedly said the messages quickly became sexual. The magazine published messages, which seemingly came from Eric's Instagram page, including: 'My **** is so ****ing hard now' and 'I want you to f*** me so good.' As the reports emerged, Sophie revealed she had already split with the ex-NRL player. She is renowned for her barely-there getups. And Lady Victoria Hervey proved her ensembles only get smaller as she hits the beach, when she stripped down to a host of tiny bikinis while enjoying the festivities at the Art Basel festival in Miami on Saturday. The 40-year-old socialite flashed every inch of her toned frame as she soaked up the sun while larking around on the shores during a lonesome trip to the beach. Scroll down for video Tiny: Lady Victoria Hervey proved her ensembles only get smaller as she hits the beach, as she stripped down to a host of tiny bikinis while enjoying the festivities at the Art Basel festival in Miami on Saturday Lady Victoria is no stranger to the beach, as she is frequently spotted ocean-side in tiny swimwear which makes the most of her flawless frame. As she flitted between a variety of swimsuits, she ensured she only went for the smallest looks for maximum exposure of her body. One of the scantiest of Victoria's racy beach getups was undoubtedly a white number, complete with golden adornments and a bust-highlighting halterneck strap. The low-slung bottoms to the two-piece helped show off her incredibly taut abs and slender hips - with more adornments drawing further attention to her shape. Sensational: The 40-year-old socialite flashed every inch of her toned frame as she soaked up the sun while larking around on the shores during a lonesome trip to the beach Sexy stuff: Lady Victoria - who is the daughter of the late 6th Marquess of Bristol - recently told the Daily Mail's Sebastian Shakespeare that English women struggle to be sexy Blue babe: A cobalt blue number boasted similar detailing, with dainty beads sitting at the hips and neckline and once again acting to highlight her shape Saucy! Lady Victoria is renowned for her barely-there getups - often seen in tiny gowns which leave very little to the imagination Injecting a designer touch into the ensemble, Lady Victoria wrapped a Missoni sarong around her hips, in a moment of covering up against the breeze. A cobalt blue number boasted similar detailing, with dainty beads sitting at the hips and neckline and once again acting to highlight her shape. She complemented the look with a thick pair of dove grey sunglasses, with a black lens yet pulled the sun protectors off to show her dazzling complexion. Working her best angles: Gazing into the distance, the blonde beauty showed off her incredible physique in all its glory In the pink! Proving her attention to detail, Victoria later slipped into a striped pink two-piece - which coordinated with the strap on her Apple watch Perfect tan: The blonde beauty was perfectly tanned for her trip to the beach Look at me! By opting for the smallest possible bikinis, Lady Victoria made sure the whole beach were admiring her Proving her attention to detail, Victoria later slipped into a striped pink two-piece - which coordinated with the strap on her Apple watch. The details on the garment gave the look a boho feel, which she contrasted against her dog tag necklaces. Ensuring it was not only her body which turned heads, the stunner wore her hair in perfectly coiffed waves which helped perfect the beach babe feel of the ensemble. Striking: Despite being by the sea, like a true diva, Lady Victoria was still perfectly styled with highlighter acting to emphasise her flawless bone structure and a slick of mascara drawing out her almond shaped eyes Style chameleon: Victoria was in and out of a number of bikinis throughout the day Are you shore? As she walked along the beach, it was clear to see Lady Victoria oozes body confidence Legs eleven! Not only were her stomach and cleavage attention grabbing, but Lady Victoria's endless legs undoubtedly turned heads Cooling off: Sure to not get dehydrated in the searing Miami sun, Lady Victoria grabbed a cooling drink Despite being by the sea, like a true diva, Lady Victoria was still perfectly styled with highlighter acting to emphasise her flawless bone structure and a slick of mascara drawing out her almond shaped eyes. Lady Victoria - who is the daughter of the late 6th Marquess of Bristol - recently told the Daily Mail's Sebastian Shakespeare that English women struggle to be sexy. 'Women in London are too conservative and dont have the courage to wear sexy outfits. Its an English thing,' she said. Little Miss-oni: The stunner could not resist putting her own designer touch on the ensemble Chatting away: Aside from modelling her array of swimsuits, Lady Victoria also stole a moment to have a chat A thoughtful moment: In between changing bikinis, Lady Victoria looked lost in thought Can't make your mind off? As the sun varied throughout the day, she was flitting between wearing sunglasses and not Lounging around: Deep in thought, the socialite appeared to be mulling things over during a break from the sandy shore Loving it: Victoria added that she still leads by example, sporting an array of sheer ensembles at parties recently, she said: 'Its empowering to dress provocatively' 'I grew up in the South of France so I have a much more international approach.' Victoria added that she still leads by example, sporting an array of sheer ensembles at parties recently, she said: 'Its empowering to dress provocatively'. Her body confidence put her in good stead during her modelling career, which saw her work for the likes of Christian Dior. Blue beauty: Victoria worked all her best angles in front of the camera Model behaviour: Her body confidence put her in good stead during her modelling career, which saw her work for the likes of Christian Dior Floating around: Lady Victoria splashed around but was sure not to get her perfectly styled locks right Out and a pout: Her pout was second to none as she gazed into the distance Police have arrested a 51-year-old women for allegedly stalking actor Sean Penn. TMZ report that the woman was picked up by cops at Penn's Malibu home last week after she reportedly tried to contact the star at his house twice in two days. The actor was allegedly at home the first time and contacted police, before someone else contacted law enforcement the second time and the woman was arrested for felony stalking. Stalked: Police have arrested a 51-year-old women for allegedly stalking actor Sean Penn She was released the next day on $150k bail, according to TMZ. Penn has reportedly told police the same woman has tried to contact him around 50 times this year by phone or email, and allegedly believes she has a 'romantic relationship' with the Oscar winner. A representative for the star has been contacted by MailOnline for comment. Penn has been busy shooting his new movie The Professor and the Madman in Dublin in recent weeks. Based on Simon Winchester's 1998 book, The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words. Arrest: TMZ report that the woman was picked up by cops at Penn's Malibu home last week after she reportedly tried to contact the star at his house twice in two days At home: The actor, pictured on Saturday flying into Washington DC was allegedly at home the first time and contacted police Mel Gibson will star in the film as professor James Murray, who began compiling the Oxford English Dictionary in 1857 and also led the overseeing committee. The big budget movie also features Penn as William Chester Minor, a former US army surgeon who contributed more than 10,000 entries to the Oxford English Dictionary while being held at an asylum for the criminally insane. Minor, who passed away in 1920, became a devoted contributor after answering a call for volunteers from Scottish lexicographer Sir James Murray - the dictionary's primary editor (Gibson). They're currently enjoying their I'm A Celebrity afterparty in Australia, after Scarlett Moffatt won the jungle crown on Sunday night. And so it's little wonder that Adam Thomas seemed very giddy and giggly when he joined co-star Joel Dommett on This Morning on Monday. The boys left their party halfway through to do the interview, following their triumphant turn on the much-loved show, leaving hosts Holly and Phil in hysterics. Scroll down for video 'They're going to have a RIOT': Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield were in hysterics on Monday as worse for wear Adam Thomas interrupted his I'm A Celeb party for an interview He and Joel Dommett left the I'm A Celebrity afterparty halfway through to do the interview and it certainly showed, with Adam saying: 'We're going on the lash Talking about Adam's infectious laugh, Joel burst out with: 'You try living with it for three weeks.' Holly then asked Joel what he had learned while being on the show and he joked: 'I'm so happy I beat Adam.' Adding: 'I just love beating Adam. I also learned that I shouldn't be on the phone as much.' Throwing some shade: Talking about Adam's infectious laugh, Joel burst out with: 'You try living with it for three weeks' Truthful: Holly then asked Joel what he had learned while being on the show and he joked: 'I'm so happy I beat Adam' Adam chimed in: 'You've not been off it since you've been out.' Talking about the night's events, Adam added: 'We're halfway through the party now. We're going out on the lash.' Bursting out laughing once again, Holly and Phil urged the boys to go and enjoy the rest of their party. 'I love them,' Holly said. 'They're going to have a riot tonight.' Off you go: Bursting out laughing once again, Holly and Phil urged the boys to go and enjoy the rest of their party Laughing their heads off: 'I love them,' Holly said. 'They're going to have a riot tonight' Earlier in the day, Joel spoke to Lorraine, where he said that he wasn't really a big drinker. 'I might have a thimble of booze tonight,' he told her, explaining that he wasn't going too wild. Adding: 'Then I am going to go and sleep in the corner.' Busy Joel also spoke to Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain earlier that day, where he admitted he had ' met someone before the show' who he was hoping to reconnect with. Taken? While he may have enjoyed some flirty banter with Carol Vorderman in the jungle, it seems that Joel, 30, won't be pursuing a romance with his campmate Speaking to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Monday's Good Morning Britain, the Impractical Jokers star finally put pay to rumours of his attraction to Carol, 55. Being the only singletons in this year's competition, and following a series of flirty moments fans of the reality show were left questioning if sparks might fly between the two. But when quizzed about his love-life by Piers and Susanna, Joel admitted his heart had already been stolen by another, explaining: Just a friend: Speaking to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Monday's Good Morning Britain, the Impractical Jokers star finally put pay to rumours of his attraction to Carol, 55 'I met someone I like just before the show but my job and gigging have made things difficult': Following the show's final on Sunday, the comedian admitted he was hoping they'd reconnect 'I met someone I like just before the show but my job and gigging have made things difficult.' Over the course of the past three weeks fans saw Joel's cheeky charm win over his fellow campmates - in particular, Carol. The pair's flanter (flirty banter) even saw bosses use the idea of a romance between the pair as the basis for one of the camp's secret trials. One part of a secret treat mission, saw both of them tasked with convincing their fellow celebs they were attracted to each other. Over the course of the past three weeks fans saw Joel's cheeky charm win over his fellow campmates - in particular, Carol. 'It was fun to flirt with her. It was wonderful, but then I also flirted with Adam!': Asked if he found the former Countdown star attractive, Joel cheekily quipped: 'Who doesn't!' 'I used to as ask her if it was, "One from the bottom Carol?"': He did admit that Carol have him the inspiration for one of his own favourite jokes in the jungle And it seems that Piers was keen to grill Joel on his relationship with Carol, despite the actor and comedian's romantic admission. Asked if he found the former Countdown star attractive, Joel cheekily quipped: 'Who doesn't!' He added: 'It was fun to flirt with her. It was wonderful, but then I also flirted with Adam!' However, he did admit that Carol have him the inspiration for one of his own favourite jokes in the jungle. You won't find that on the menu! Despite clearly enjoying his time in the jungle, Joel said he was so excited when he arrived at the hotel after last night's final he ate three cheesecakes Back to reality: He admitted to Piers and Susanna that as soon as he got back to the hotel, he 'ate two cheesecakes, hopped in the shower and then had another one' Recalling the celebrities' daily visits to the dunny, he explained he always had a parting message for Carol as she went to the bathroom. Grinning as he revealed the Countdown-inspired quip, Joel said: 'I used to as ask her if it was, "One from the bottom Carol?".' A reference to her job on Countdown. Despite clearly enjoying his time in the Australian outback, Joel said he was so excited when he arrived at the hotel after last night's final that he ate three cheesecakes. He admitted to Piers and Susanna that as soon as he got back to the hotel, he 'ate two cheesecakes, hopped in the shower and then had another one'. Joel came in second-place on Sunday night's final, as he was pipped to the show's crown by Gogglebox star, Scarlett Moffatt. They've rekindled their romance after a rocky couple of months. And Megan McKenna and Pete Wicks combined work and fun on Monday as they headed to Clothes Show Live in Birmingham together. The TOWIE couple were pictured arriving at the NEC arm in arm, with Megan looking glam in a metallic mini skirt for her day promoting her new calendar. Joining forces: Megan McKenna and Pete Wicks combined work and fun on Monday as they headed to Clothes Show Live in Birmingham together Megan showed some leg in her glam mini which she teamed with a pair of black suede thigh-high boots with an open toe. She added to her statement items with a simple black poloneck and a cosy winter coat. Her brunette locks were styled into a high ponytail, while she rocked a full face of makeup. All dressed up: Megan showed some leg in her glam mini which she teamed with a pair of black suede thigh-high boots with an open toe Back on: The TOWIE couple were pictured arriving at the NEC arm in arm So chic: She added to her statement items with a simple black poloneck and a cosy winter coat, while Pete kept things more casual Finishing touches: Megan's brunette locks were styled into a high ponytail, while she rocked a full face of makeup. Pete was more casually dressed for the couple's busy day, rocking ripped jeans and a baggy grey sweater. The couple joined the likes of Charlotte Crosby at the Clothes Show, with the ex Geordie Shore star matching Megan's glam style with her skimpy black playsuit. Megan and Pete decided to give their romance a second chance after Pete was accused of sexting his ex Jacqui Ryland while the pair were on holiday in Spain together. Working hard: Megan was promoting her racy 2017 calendar at the event Warm welcome: Fans looked delighted to meet the TOWIE star as she handed out copies of her calendar Leggy: The reality show beauty showed some skin in her skimpy mini skirt Time for a selfie: Megan perfected her pout as she snapped snaps with fans Promo trail: Megan gave a speech to her fans during her busy day at the annual Birmingham event Ready for her close up: Megan worked a full face of makeup, teaming a sweep of shimmering pink eyeshadow with glossy lips The couple reconciled in October, and have put on a united front at multiple public events since, as well as enjoying a romantic spa weekend together. The brunette beauty even set her sights on being a mother in the not too distant future, in light of her reunion with Pete. She told Now magazine last month: 'I'd really like to have kids before I'm 30 so I think I need to have kids by the time I'm 28. Dressed down: Pete added a gold chain to his casual look Wow factor: The couple joined the likes of Charlotte Crosby at the Clothes Show, with the ex Geordie Shore star matching Megan's glam style with her skimpy black playsuit Good to see you! Megan and Charlotte gave each other a big hug All star turn out: The Clothes Show welcomed a host of reality stars this year 'Basically I want to have my career and my business all around me first. I want to feel satisfied with what I'm doing professionally before I settle down and have children.' The TOWIE season finale saw the Essex babe get back together with her man, after it emerged he had been sending explicit text messages to several other women. One of the messages reportedly saw Pete admitting he 'can't wait to get home' from his trip with 'boring' girlfriend, and that it is not just his ex Jacqui who misses their previous relationship. Feeling festive: Charlotte slipped a Christmas jumper over her skimpy playsuit Sitting pretty: Charlotte kept her jumper on for her on stage appearance Careful! The star seemed to struggle with her skimpy playsuit as she sat down He's in fashion: X Factor star Jake Quickenden was looking suave in his leather jacket While many fans have slammed her for the reunion, Megan remains defiant in her decision as she believes their trust can be rebuilt. She told the Daily Star: 'People can call me a mug for giving it another go but we are happy, in love and moving forward. Learning to trust him will be a work in progress but I do believe he would never do that again or I wouldn't have taken him back.' And it seems this seems this trust is already beginning to take hold - with Megan confessing she no longer feels the need to check his social media pages and private messages. She continued: 'Pete wanted me to have access to his Twitter on my phone to make me feel better, but I don't need that reassurance any more.' All dressed up: X Factor's Bratavio stood out in outfits made of playing cards She is known for her toned physique, having released a fitness DVD of her own two years ago. So it is no wonder Charlotte Crosby was confident to show off her enviable figure on Monday, as she made her glamorous arrival at the Clothes Show in Birmingham. The Geordie Shore star, 26, showed off her tanned and toned pins for all to see in a thigh-skimming black playsuit and knee-high boots, as she made her way to the NEC for the fashionable event. Scroll down for video Hot stuff: Charlotte Crosby, 26, showed off her tanned and toned pins for all to see in a thigh-skimming black playsuit as she arrived at the Clothes Show in Birmingham on Monday The former reality star looked sensational in the tiny one-piece, which cut off high up her thigh to leave her leggy figure on show. The high-shine playsuit cinched in at her middle with a satin waistband to flatter her slender waist, before softly skimming her frame the rest of the way down. The super-short outfit remained demure with chic long sleeves, before it plunged slightly at her chest to give a sophisticated but sexy glimpse of her cleavage. Leggy lady: The former reality star looked sensational in the tiny one-piece, which cut off high up her thigh to leave her leggy figure on show Strutting her stuff: The high-shine playsuit cinched in at her middle with a satin waistband to flatter her slender waist Keeping the look trendy, Charlotte teamed the outfit with a pair of raunchy thigh-high black boots, which tightly hugged and elongated her enviably slim pins. The Geordie lass maintained the simple but classic feel of her look by accessorising with a camel checked bag and leaving her tresses in soft, loose waves. Dressing her face with matte, bronzed make-up and adding a slick of metallic shadow to her eyes, the designer enhanced her naturally pretty features at the event. Sexy: The super-short outfit remained demure with chic long sleeves, before it plunged slightly at her chest to give a sophisticated but sexy glimpse of her cleavage These boots were made for walking: Keeping the look trendy, Charlotte teamed the outfit with a pair of raunchy thigh-high black boots, which hugged and elongated her slim pins Famous friends: Charlotte greeted fellow reality star Megan McKenna at the event, who was glamorously clad in a shimmering silver skirt Simplicity is key: The Geordie lass maintained the simple but classic feel of her look by accessorising with a camel checked bag and leaving her tresses in soft, loose waves Legs eleven: Charlotte wowed in her sexy shorts Charlotte smiled for cameras and happily greeted fans at the bash, before she got more into the Christmas spirit by layering a chunky festive jumper atop of her look. The star was then interviewed on the event's famous Discovered Catwalk by Antonia O'Brien, where the pair sang, joked and danced around to the delight of fans. It is no wonder that the former Geordie Shore star was invited to the event, after recently carving a career as a successful designer. The Celebs Go Dating star released a clothing line with online retailer In The Style, entitled Nostalgia, back in 2014, and has since expanded it into swimwear and plus-sizes this year. Stylish: Charlotte smiled for cameras and happily greeted fans at the bash, before she got more into the Christmas spirit by layering a chunky festive jumper atop of her look 'Sleigh my name!': Charlotte later got more into the Christmas spirit at the show by layering a chunky festive jumper atop of her look Ready for action: Charlotte was thrilled to be signing autographs for fans at the event Leading lady: Charlotte was also interviewed on the catwalk by Antonia O'Brien Putting on a show: The starlet sang, joked and danced around to the delight and laughter of her adoring fans Fashionista: Charlotte was keen to show off her winning ensemble on the catwalk - having found fame in more recent times as a clothes designer Her success in the fashion world has become more apparent over the last few months, after she moved into her dream home earlier this summer. Charlotte documented a tour of her plush new pad, which featured a sprawling walk-in wardrobe, on her Snapchat account in October, before gushing to OK! last week 'I cant believe I own a house with a swimming pool and a gym! Things appear to be on the up for Charlotte, who explosively quit the show that shot her to fame, Geordie Shore, back in June. The star made her departure after revealing she had suffered an ectopic pregnancy with on/off flame Gary 'Gaz' Beadle, and admitting that she could not be around him anymore. New projects: The Celebs Go Dating star released a clothing line with online retailer In The Style, entitled Nostalgia, back in 2014 Strength to strength: Charlotte discussed her range at the fashion event, which has since found huge success and expanded into swimwear and plus sized this year Tim Roth has revealed he was abused as a child by his grandfather, labeling him 'a f***ing rapist'. The Hollywood actor, 55, had previously admitted he was subjected to sexual abuse, but until now had kept the identity of his abuser a secret. Speaking to The Guardian, the Pulp Fiction star revealed both he and his father had been abused, and that the traumatic experience had prompted his to make The War Zone (1999). Scroll down for video 'He was a f***ing rapist': Tim Roth (pictured in May) has revealed he was abused as a child by his grandfather, labeling him 'a f***ing rapist' Tim Roth pictured as a young man, having grown up in London before moving to the States in 1991 Dark material: The War Zone (pictured) saw an alienated teenager struggling to find a way to deal with a dark family secret - his father's abuse of his older sister 'He was an abused kid, my dad, and it was a terrible childhood that he had, and he took that s*** seriously,' ' he admitted. 'He was a damaged soul. I loved him. He was funnier than f***,' the actor said of his father. 'He was abused. And I was abused. But I was not abused by him. I was abused by his abuser.' 'Yeah, it was his father,' he said. 'He was a f***ing rapist. But nobody had the language. Nobody knew what to do. That's why I made The War Zone.' The War Zone, written by Alexander Stuart, saw an alienated teenager struggling to find a way to deal with a dark family secret - his father's abuse of his older sister. The film starred Ray Winstone as the father and Lara Belmont as Jessie (the abused girl), while Freddie Cunliffe played the role of alienated Tom. In the past Tim had spoken about the abuse he suffered during his childhood but always refused to reveal the identity of the perpetrator. He previously explained: 'It happened during my childhood up to my early teens and although I'm not going to say who it was, he's long gone now - and I hasten to add it wasn't my father or mother.' The making of The War Zone, had a cathartic effect on Roth. 'Things happen to you in your life, but you don't want to consider yourself to be a victim. 'You want to be a survivor and the first thing that helps you do that and helps you get through it is speaking and finding your voice. I'd been wanting to direct a film for years and told my agent to start looking for a script.' He elaborated on the point: 'The first one that came through the door was the one for The War Zone. 'If you are a survivor of abuse and you get the opportunity to tell a story about that subject, then you can really get in there and tell the truth. It was a fantastic chance for me to exorcise a lot of demons.' Using it: Tim explained his directorial debut was made to address his abuse at the hands of his grandfather, saying: 'He was a f***ing rapist. But nobody had the language. Nobody knew what to do. That's why I made The War Zone' The Guardian interview from his Pasadena home also touched on Roth's reasons for leaving London in 1991 - the city of his birth - to live in LA full time. 'I like working there, but Im done living there. I fell out of love with it. I think the tabloid sensationalism world of it just became too overwhelming for me. Its here, too, but you dont notice it so much. And now with Brexit ... I dont know what to make of it all. Strange thing'. The actor also made it clear that he is fervently anti-Trump. ' I hate Trump. I hate everything that he stands for. He should never be forgotten or forgiven for anything he said on the road to the White House. 'Look at where we are now and who is in charge of this country and, by extension, a good chunk of the world someone with misogynistic tendencies'. Roth went on to reveal he was a Bernie Sanders supporter, before backing Hillary despite predicting a Trump win. She's built a successful fashion empire which has graced the catwalk at many a New York Fashion week. And on Monday Victoria Beckham reminded onlookers just why she was a sartorial leader as she stepped out in a blue and white patterned dress. Turning up the glamour during a shopping trip in the Big Apple, the 42-year-old former Spice Girl put on an elegant display. Scroll down for video Feeling blue: On Monday Victoria Beckham reminded onlookers just why she was a sartorial leader as she stepped out in a blue and white patterned dress The mother-of-five stood out in the ankle-length striped number, and accentuated her long lean physique in a pair of white silver heeled shoe boots. The frock was perfectly tailored across her waist, cinching in her slender midriff. And accessorising with oversized shades and a faux fur clutch, the raven-haired Brit put on a stylish display. Chic: Turning up the glamour during a shopping trip in the Big Apple, the 42-year-old former Spice Girl put on an elegant display Her bright get-up made a change from her favoured black tailored formal look. Last week Victoria shared a sweet Instagram with husband of 17 years David Beckham, showing the couple cuddling up on a night out in Miami. The ex-Spice Girl looked stunning in a high necked sleeveless red silky dress and matching shoes. Model strut: The mother-of-five stood out in the ankle-length striped number, she accentuated her long lean physique in a pair of white silver heeled shoe boots Toned: The frock was perfectly tailored across her waist, cinching in her slender midriff 'Honored to be supporting World AIDS Day in Miami with my husband and good friends,' she wrote next to the snapshot. 'Thank you @lorenridinger @jrridinger for welcoming us X @unaidsglobal #bornfree. x VB.' The designer was at an event in support of International World AIDS day and posed for another photograph alongside entrepreneur Loren Ridinger. Turning heads: Her bright get-up made a change from her favoured black tailored formal look Her catwalk: The fashionista made the NYC side walk her runway As a UNAIDS Global Goodwill Ambassador, Victoria recently designed a T-shirt to raise money for the cause. All profits from the sale of Victoria's T-shirts go directly to support Born Free Africa in their work to promote the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT). Back in October, Victoria and her eldest son Brooklyn, 17, took a trip to Kenya where they visited a clinic of the Beyond Zero campaign which works to reduce maternal and child mortality in Kenya. Suited and booted: Victoria (pictured last year with David Beckham) favours the black suited look Cuddling up: Victoria Beckham shared a sweet snapshot of herself and husband David at an event in Miami on Thursday night Victoria said: 'We are learning so much and we have met some phenomenal people on our trip. 'I'd like to take the opportunity to say how impressed I am with the AIDS response and the progress made here. And this week the jet-setting business woman was back in New York following her fleeting trip to Miami. An array of work commitments may well have kept her away from the annual Victorias Secret fashion show, but there was no stopping Karlie Kloss as she stepped out in London on Monday evening. The American supermodel, 24, caught the eye in a fitted two-piece ensemble that accentuated her slender physique during a visit to Swarovski on the citys winding Regent Street. Comprised of short sleeved top and matching pencil skirt, the outfit ensured Karlie commanded as she made her way inside ahead of a likely appearance at the British Fashion Awards. Scroll down for video Striking: Karlie Kloss caught the eye in a fitted two-piece ensemble that accentuated her slender physique during a visit to Swarovski in London on Monday evening The statuesque model added to her look with a pair of conventional black stiletto heels, while a matching jacket, casually draped across her shoulders, added an elegant flourish to an already sophisticated outfit. Selecting her make-up from a subdued colour palette, Karlie drew further attention to her sharply defined features while posing for photos. The model missed out on the annual Victoria's Secret fashion show in Paris on Wednesday evening, but made it clear she was there in spirit. Elegant: Comprised of short sleeved top and matching pencil skirt, the outfit ensured Karlie commanded as she made her way inside Finishing touches: The statuesque model added to her look with a pair of conventional black stiletto heels Chic: A matching jacket, casually draped across her shoulders, added an elegant flourish to an already sophisticated outfit She shared Instagram snap showing her with the Angels in 2013 with the accompanying caption:'Thinking of the Angels and my entire @victoriassecret family as they make their way to Paris today. 'Unfortunately this year I have a work obligation that is keeping me from Paris. I'm sad to miss it but am wishing everyone all the best from afar!' She added: 'There is truly no show quite like the VS Fashion Show, and there is no feeling quite like walking on that magnificent runway.' Natural beauty: Selecting her make-up from a subdued colour palette, Karlie drew further attention to her sharply defined features while posing for photos Strike a pose: The model, who also works as the face of Swarovski, was in high spirits during her latest appearance at the brand's Regent Street store In good company: The supermodel was joined by renowned fashion blogger Tina Leung Karlie first appeared on the show in New York in 2011 and became an official Angel in 2013, only to leave the lingerie brand in 2015. Her last year on the VS catwalk was December 2014 in London. The 2016 show at the Grand Palais in Paris is expected to air on American TV network CBS on December 5. Tasteful: A choice selection of jewelry complimented her striking ensemble Absent: The model missed out on the annual Victoria's Secret fashion show in Paris on Wednesday evening, but made it clear she was there in spirit by posting a snap on Instagram Seasoned pro: Karlie first appeared on the show in New York in 2011 and became an official Angel in 2013, only to leave the lingerie brand in 2015 She is one of the most sought-after actresses in the industry. And Marion Cotillard is showing no signs of slowing down despite her pregnancy, as she hops straight from promotion for war drama Allied to that of her new flick, Assassin's Creed. The French beauty, 41, shielded her blossoming baby bump with an effortlessly chic striped dress as she jetted to her hometown of Paris, France for a photo call for the new blockbuster. Scroll down for video Golden girl: Marion Cotillard, 41, shielded her blossoming baby bump with an effortlessly chic striped dress as she attended a photo call for Assassin's Creed in Paris, France on Monday The La Vie En Rose star truly dazzled on the carpet in the frock, which was patterned with classically chic horizontal stripes of black and pale gold. Ruched at the shoulders to give the effect of a puffed sleeve, the dress then remained loose fitting from top to toe, skimming her womanly figure and ever-blossoming baby bump. The frock, although simple, was utterly elegant and classy as it cut into a tight and high round neck, and fell softly to her mid-calf. Showing her stripes: The La Vie En Rose star truly dazzled on the carpet in the frock, which was patterned with classically chic horizontal stripes of black and pale gold Marion further elongated her frame by teaming the show-stopping number with a pair of leather pointed ankle boots, complete with stiletto heels. Maintaining the effortlessly stylish vibe throughout, the Allied star then slicked her brunette tresses back into a sleek, wet-look style - keeping her hair off her face to draw attention to her naturally stunning features. Not without her usual hint of glamour however, she accessorised with a striking pair of emerald drop earrings, adding a drop of colour to the look. Statuesque beauty: Marion further elongated her frame by teaming the show-stopping number with a pair of leather pointed ankle boots, complete with stiletto heels Striking: The Allied star slicked her brunette tresses back into a sleek, wet-look style - keeping her hair off her face to draw attention to her naturally stunning features Placing her hands on her back in support the actress, who is expecting her second child with husband Guillaume Canet, dazzled on the carpet as she posed comfortably, despite her burgeoning pregnant figure. Marion later joined forces with co-star Michael Fassbender, 39, who cut a casual but cool figure at the event in a two-tone bomber jacket and faded jeans. Marion and Michael have been travelling the world over the last month to promote the new film Assassin's Creed - attending photo calls in Sydney and Berlin prior to the French event. Despite their chemistry evident as they chatted, Marion cheekily revealed to The Project last week that the Steve Jobs star had a particular bad habit on set. Easy peasy! The actress, who is expecting her second child with husband Guillaume Canet, dazzled on the carpet as she posed comfortably, despite her burgeoning pregnant figure Leading roles: Marion later joined forces with co-stars Ariane Labed (L) and Michael Fassbender, who cut a casually cool figure in a two-tone Theory bomber jacket and jeans The Academy Award-winner said Michael can be distracting as 'he works out a lot. And he's very vocal'. 'And sometimes you don't even know if he's actually working out or doing something else,' she added with a sly glance at Michael. 'Sometimes I was yelling, "Stop it now",' she continued. Michael promptly responded with the cheeky note: 'They're all calorie burners'. Based on the Ubisoft video game of the same name, the dynamic pair explore the scientific and philosophical potential of humans in the film - looking at concepts such as genetic memory and who controls free will. Busy: Marion and Michael have been travelling the world to promote the new film Assassin's Creed - attending photo calls in Sydney and Berlin prior to the French event The blockbuster featured a dedicated team of stunt performers who were required to free fall, from incomprehensible heights. According to TechnoBuffalo, Michael Fassbender's stuntman was required to perform the biggest free fall in 35 years at 125 feet. Even more impressively, Marion revealed playfully during an appearance on Aussie radio that she actually performed all of the stunts. 'I did everything myself,' she shared lightheartedly. The movie, to be released next week, was shot in Malta, Spain and England and is based on the popular video game first inspired by a Slovenian novel. It was a bitingly cold and grey Monday in New York City with the temperature just 38F in the morning. But models Adriana Lima and Elsa Hosk brought a ray of sunshine to the chilly plaza outside NBC's Today Show studio in New York. The Angels - who can be seen in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show which airs Monday on CBS - were there to help collect gifts for the show's toy drive. Scroll down for video Chills and thrills: Adriana Lima, left, and Elsa Hosk joined the Today Show hosts in the plaza on a cold Monday in New York to help with toy drive The show filmed in Paris last Wednesday. Adriana, 35, and Elsa, 28, both covered up for their outdoor interview. The beautiful brunette, who hails from Brazil, looked chic in a dove grey dress with a high neckline and asymmetric hemline, a matching coat plus black tights and black high heels. The blonde Angel, a native of Sweden, looked more Christmassy in a long red dress with a thigh-high split up the front that she wore under a long black leather coat. Keeping warm: The Today team of hosts bundled up to join the Victoria's Secret Angels outside Having fun: Aside from the toy drive, Adriana, 35, and Elsa, 28, talked up the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which took place in Paris last Wednesday and is due to air on NBC tonight Elsa completed her ensemble with black, high-heeled caged sandals - a brave choice on such a cold day. Adriana admitted that she still got nervous before she hit the catwalk even though it was her 16th show for the lingerie brand. 'I thought it was going to go away but I get more and more...Oh my God.' So elegant: The beautiful brunette, who hails from Brazil, looked chic in a dove grey dress with a high neckline and asymetric hemline, a matching coat plus black tights and black high heels Quick change: The beautiful blonde Swedish native changed out of the festive red dress she wore for the interview into warmer black skinny jeans and a jumper as she left the studio 'She did awesome': Adriana congratulated Elsa on opening the show for the first time And she congratulated Elsa for opening the show, gushing: 'She did awesome, now she know how it feels.' Elsa enjoyed the experience, saying: 'You feel the music and the performers and the energy of the crowd. And it was in Paris so it was inevitable you feel the amazing beauty and energy of that.' Meanwhile, Adriana's morning wasn't over with the Today Show. On the go: After appearing on the Today Show Adriana dashed off for a chat on The Wendy Williams Show Another quick change: Adriana took off her grey dress in favour of a warmer, dark red velvet suit and draped a black fur coat over her shoulders She changed into a dark red velvet suit and draped a black fur coat over her shoulders for an appearance on the Wendy Williams Show. In addition to Adriana and Elsa, this years Victorias Secret Fashion Show features Alessandra Ambrosio, Lily Aldridge and Jasmine Tookes wearing the $3 million Bright Night Fantasy Bra. Also on the catwalk are Karlie Kloss, sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid, Josephine Skriver, Lais Ribeiro, Martha Hunt, Romee Strijd, Sara Sampaio, Stella Maxwell and Taylor Hill Bruno Mars, The Weeknd and Lady Gaga are performing. So saucy: The brunette strapped on black wings plus a red bra, string undies and shiny black boots as she strutted past Bruno Mars on the Paris catwalk last Wednesday Hot stuff: Elsa paraded in a tiny pale blue bra and matching undies, plus thigh-high red boots with spike heels, decorated with blue dragons, and a brightly coloured dragon wound around her slender body Jimmy Kimmel has been named as the host of the 2017 Academy Awards. The Hollywood Reporter revealed the news on Monday morning, after much industry speculation about who would follow last year's host, Chris Rock. It will be the first The Late Night With Jimmy Kimmel star has fronted the awards, although he has plenty of experience at hosting. The 49-year-old has twice hosted the Emmys, the American Music Awards on five occasions, and even the ESPYS back in 2007. He has also regularly fronted a Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Oscars special, which aired immediately following the awards ceremony. The producers of the 89th Academy Awards show were named last month as Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd. The announcement by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences came much later than usual and after widespread conjecture over who would take the reins of next year's ceremony. Last year's show: The Chris Rock-hosted broadcast, marked by the OscarsSoWhite backlash, drew 34.4 million viewers, one of the show's smallest audiences in recent years Reginald Hudlin and David Hill, who produced this year's show, were jettisoned after the Chris Rock-hosted broadcast, marked by the OscarsSoWhite backlash, drew 34.4 million viewers, one of the show's smallest audiences in recent years. De Luca is a veteran producer and three-time Oscar nominee, currently in post-production on Fifty Shades Darker. Todd is president of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's Pearl Street Films. They're both first-time Oscars producers, though they were co-chairs of January's PGA Awards, put on by the Producers Guild of America. As a veteran Victoria's Secret Angel, she is set to appear in the brand's annual fashion show on Monday. But Adriana Lima showed she's also not always so angelic as she made an appearance on The Wendy Williams Show in New York earlier in the day to promote the big event. The stunner was a vision in devilish crimson, dressed in a velvet pantsuit. Scroll down for video Not such an angel: Adriana Lima, 35, made an appearance at The Wendy Williams Show in New York to promote the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Adriana, 35, kept warm in a fur-like black coat, layered over her stylish ensemble. The blue-eyed Brazilian wore her raven locks in soft, bombshell curls, which she parted to one side. The supermodel's look was complete with a set of black pumps, rings and delicate earrings. Lady in red! The stunner was a vision in crimson, dressed in a velvet pantsuit What a stunner! The blue-eyed Brazilian wore her raven locks in soft, bombshell curls, which she parted to one side 'How you doin'?': The mum of Valentina, seven, and Sienna Jaric, four, took to Instagram ahead of her talk show appearance 'You're my daytime angel!': In another picture, Adriana posed with the talk show host herself The mum of Valentina, seven, and Sienna Jaric, four, took to Instagram ahead of her talk show appearance. In one snap, the richest Victoria's Secret Model, with an estimated worth of $75 million, held up a sign bearing the show's trademark phrase. 'How you doin'? @WendyShow Watch now! #vsfashionshow,' read the photo's caption. In another picture, Adriana posed with the popular talk show host herself. 'Thank you for having me @WendyShow... you're my daytime angel!' Making the rounds! The stunner also stopped by AOL's Build Series Girl chat: Adriana was joined by fellow VS model Sara Sampaio, 25 Shinng star: Sarah dazzled in a sleeveless, turtleneck frock and thigh-high boots In their zone: The models gave off one of their signature poses Although she is practically the face of the Victoria's Secret brand, having walked in the Fashion Show since 1999, the supermodel has not let it get to her head. The Vogue Eyewear spokeswoman is known for her kind spirit and bubbly personality among her peers and the press. While on the Today Show on Monday, Adriana praised fellow model Elsa Hosk, 28, who opened this year's show. 'She did awesome! Mow she know how it [opening the show] feels,' she said, as she sweetly hugged the fellow beauty. Signing off! Both girls left a sweet message on an office wall 'Show your own personality!': The ladies chatted away on the show. Adriana gave advice for walking down the runway Genuine gal: The Vogue Eyewear spokeswoman is known for her kind spirit and bubbly personality among her peers and the press Last week, the beauty also had kind words to say about Kendall Jenner, 21. 'I have worked with Kendall on runways before when we were in Europe, like Versace and also with Victoria's Secret. Kendall is very sweet and very nice, and it's always pleasant to work with someone like that,' she told E!. 'You know, she works as hard as we [VS vets] do, so I give her credit for all the effort. And I think she is going to do great because Victoria's Secret is all about personality, and she has her own personality.' 'She did awesome!': While on the Today Show on Monday, Adriana praised fellow model Elsa Hosk, 28, who opened this year's show Advertisement The cream of high-end couture gathered on Monday evening for the British Fashion Awards 2016 at Londons Royal Albert Hall. And leading a heady mix of homegrown and international talent, Gigi Hadid further cemented her supermodel credentials in another stunning ensemble as she was named International Model of the Year at the prizegiving. She joined Nicole Scherzinger, Lady Gaga and Kate Moss on the star-studded red carpet as the creme de la creme of the fashion world turned out in force. Scroll down for video and full list of winners That's one way to turn heads: (L-R) Model Of The Year Gigi Hadid joined Nicole Scherzinger, Lady Gaga and Kate Moss all arrived at London's Royal Albert Hall ahead of the British Fashion Awards 2016 on Monday evening Leading the way: Gigi Hadid was hard to miss in a daring silver jumpsuit with a sophisticated off the shoulder detail as she made her way into Catwalk queen Gigi, 21, was hard to miss in an intricately designed silver jumpsuit with a sophisticated off the shoulder detail as she made her way into the iconic venue ahead of the Swarovski sponsored annual event. A sweeping pleated train gave the look a distinctive flourish, while a matching sash added to the complex nature of her latest red carpet ensemble. Styling her hair in an on-trend top knot, the Beverly Hills based model revealed a face accentuated by deft touches of foundation, blusher and immaculately applied eye-shadow. In high spirits as she made her way into the venue, Gigi saw the funny side as doting mother Yolanda Hadid fussed over her train. It was a huge night for Gigi, as she took to the stage to receive the top prize, putting her in fashion history alongside the likes of Cara Delevingne and Kendall Jenner. However, it was bittersweet because she beat her sister Bella to the title, as well as BFF Kendall, who took home the prize last year. Tasteful: Styling her hair in an on-trend top knot, the Beverly Hills based model revealed a face accentuated by deft touches of foundation, blusher and immaculately applied eye-shadow Here she comes: The supermodel commanded attention as she crossed the red carpet on Monday evening Mum knows best: Gigi was in high spirits as doting mother Yolanda Hadid adjusted her sweeping silver cape Taking care of business: Yolanda ensured her supermodel daughter's gown did not get caught under her feet Not to be outdone in the style stakes, Nicole Scherzinger gave the supermodel a run for her money as she proved to be an equally dazzling sight in a barely there catsuit that clung to the former Pussycat Doll's undeniably toned body. The eye-catching and intricate number - made up of 115,000 Swarovski crystals, and was designed by Julian MacDonald - began at the 38-year-old's neck, with the only thick strap of fabric on the entire outfit encircling her throat. From this, the catsuit split into three directions, along each shoulder and into a diamond shape at the front, covering the stars bust with the swirling inky design. Star attraction: The Beverly Hills based beauty led the glamour at the annual event, held annually in partnership with Swarovski All eyes on me: Gigi greeted onlookers with a wave as she prepared for her attendance at the annual celebration of local and international fashion Finishing touches: Intricately designed strappy heels rounded off the model's latest red carpet ensemble Gigi took to social media on Tuesday to share an emotional thank you post to the British Fashion Council. Alongside a snap of herself with Donatella Versace, she commented: 'To be voted for this award by the @britishfashioncouncil, to stand in front of an audience full of my greatest inspirations, idols, and friends, and to be presented International Model of the Year by my angel @donatella_versace was one of the most humbling and emotional experiences of my life. 'To walk into that room and feel so at home is a great blessing and I have & will cherish every friend, memory, lesson and adventure this industry has given me, forever. 'I can't wait to continue to grow and create with all of you, and to see what the future holds !! Make a conscious effort every day to be someone people enjoy working with, and your possibilities will surprise you.' Stop that train: The supermodel cut an elegant figure as she ascended the steps outside the London venue Lights, camera, action! Gigi had never looked more striking than as she ascended up to the Royal Albert Hall Proud mama: Gigi's former model mother Yolanda couldn't hide her pride as she kissed her stunning eldest daughter on the cheek Drama! Even as she headed to her table, Gigi couldn't resist striking a pose The shoulders dropped down into long flowing sleeves that just about covered Nicole's toned arms as they extended beyond her wrists, along her fingers and right down to her knees in a cape-like design. The front of the catsuit narrowed at the waist with half-moon cut-outs, accentuating her toned midriff and then cascading down her toned pins, again continuing the stripy black pattern. Elsewhere Karlie Kloss ensured she was centre of attention after work commitments resulted in her missing out on the annual Victoria's Secret runway show in Paris last Wednesday. Over the moon: The model couldn't contain her delight as she posed backstage with her award Seal of approval: An ecstatic Gigi was congratulated by celebrated fashion designer Donatella Versace, who presented her with the award So happy: The two friends beamed as they posed for photos following Gigi's win Emotional: Gigi took to social media on Tuesday to share an emotional thank you post to the British Fashion Council The American supermodel, 24, caught the eye in a glittering cinched gown that showcased her sensational slimline physique as she made her entrance. A cinched, belted waistline further accentuated her slender figure, while strappy heels added an understated flourish to a conventionally stylish look. Adding a splash of vibrancy to her wardrobe, the supermodel opted for vibrant red lipstick that offset an otherwise subdued colour palette as she posed for photos at the annual event. I say: Not to be outdone, Nicole Scherzinger proved to be an equally dazzling sight in a barely there catsuit that clung to the former Pussycat Doll's undeniably toned body Revealing: With daring cut out panels on either hip, Nicole's racy choice of ensemble ensured she was not overshadowed Picture purr-fect: The X Factor judge accentuated her catsuit with a tasteful selection of accessories, while dusky make-up rounded things off Quite an eyeful: Even by her own revealing standards the X Factor judge put on a highly provocative display Fellow model Jourdan Dunn turned heads in what proved to be the most revealing outfit of the night. Exposing her cleavage in a cream bralette, the Victoria's Secret Angel, 26, was in fine form as she showed off her figure after greeting photographers at the annual event. Generously cut flared trousers added to a bold, daring look as London based Jourdan mingled with a host of catwalk pals. A vision in black: Catwalk veteran Kate Moss also made an appearance on the night in a comparatively subdued but no less distinctive choice of ensemble Side by side: The British supermodel was joined by celebrated fashion photographer Mario Testino She's a natural: Kate looked typically chic in an elegant black evening dress - an understated choice that served to accentuate her effortless sense of style Upbeat: The model was in high spirits as she made her latest public appearance in the capital on Monday evening Here she comes: Rounding off her outfit with a tasteful fur jacket, Kate was her usual brooding self as she greeted photographers Two peas in a pod: The model rubbed shoulders with guests including singer Lady Gaga, who also opted for a striking black ensemble Catwalk veteran Kate Moss also made an appearance on the night in a comparatively subdued but no less distinctive choice of ensemble. The celebrated supermodel, 42, looked typically chic in an elegant black evening dress - an understated choice that served to accentuate her effortless sense of style. Rounding off her outfit with a tasteful fur jacket, Kate was her usual brooding self as she greeted photographers with a trademark pout. The model was in good company on the night in the form of fashion photographer Mario Testino, who welcomed her with a warm hug. Not so Gaga anymore: Lady Gaga continued to wow with her more demure style as she arrived for the British Fashion Awards Walk this way: The beauty couldn't resist strutting her stuff up the carpet in her trademark killer heels Your Poker Face? The hitmaker struck a series of outlandish poses and rounded off her outfit with her trademark killer platform heels Miss Guided: The singer was leant a hand as she walked the red carpet with a fashionable friend Lady Gaga continued to wow with an equally demure style by leaving her her wacky ensembles in the wardrobe and walking the red carpet in a seriously elegant black gown. Of course, being Gaga, she couldn't leave all the theatrics at home - the Poker Face hitmaker struck a series of outlandish poses and rounded off her outfit with her trademark killer platform heels before rubbing shoulders with close pal Kate. Conversely Naomi Campbell, another member of Kate's closest circle, left little to the imagination in a sheer dress which cheekily showcased her pert backside. BRITISH FASHION AWARDS 2016 - THE WINNERS International Business Leader: Marco Bizzari (President and CEO, GUCCI) Presented by Francois Henri Pinault & Karlie Kloss International Urban Luxury Brand: Vetements Presented by Marilyn Manson New Fashion Icons: Jaden & Willow Smith Presented by Edward Enninful OBE & Skepta International Model: Gigi Hadid Presented by Donatella Versace Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator: Bruce Weber (Photographer) Presented by David Bailey CBE & James Jagger British Emerging Talent: Molly Goddard Presented by Alexa Chung & Jordan Kale Barrett International Accessories Designer: Alessandro Michele for Gucci Presented by Jared Leto British Womenswear Designer: Simone Rocha for Simone Rocha Presented by Kate Beckinsale International Ready-to-Wear Designer: Demna Gvasalia for Balenciaga Presented by Carine Roitfeld & Stella Tennant British Brand: Alexander McQueen Presented by Naomi Campbell Outstanding Achievement in Fashion: Ralph Lauren Presented by David Beckham OBE Advertisement Sheer delight: Naomi Campbell, another member of Kate's closest circle, left little to the imagination in a sheer dress Youthful: Also displaying almost flawless skin, the veteran catwalk star appeared much younger than her actual age of 50 Focal point: The dress also drew attention to her cleavage, which was also a deliberate feature, as she posed up a storm A bum deal: Naomi's sheer dress cheekily showcased her pert backside, but thankfully, the sexy design offered modesty in the form of a fitted body underneath In you go: The supermodel turned heads as she made her way into the annual event on Monday evening Plenty to smile about: Seasoned catwalk veteran Naomi was in high spirits ahead of the ceremony Thankfully, the sexy design offered modesty in the form of a fitted body underneath, but - considering she's fast approaching 50 - the wardrobe choice was a bold one. Clearly loving the attention, she posed up a storm on the red carpet. Not that the exhibitionism ended there, of course. The dress also drew attention to her cleavage, which was also a deliberate feature. Also displaying almost flawless skin, the veteran catwalk star appeared much younger than her actual age. Stunning: Karlie Kloss caught the eye in a glittering cinched gown that showcased her sensational slimline physique as the annual event Here I am: The model ensured she was centre of attention after work commitments resulted in her missing out on the annual Victoria's Secret runway show Looking good: A cinched, belted waistline further accentuated her slender figure, while strappy heels added an understated flourish to a conventionally stylish look Colourful: Adding a splash of vibrancy to her wardrobe, the supermodel opted for vibrant red lipstick that offset an otherwise subdued colour palette as she posed for photos at the annual event Actress Jenna Coleman's interest in former monarch Queen Victoria extended to her choice of ensemble as she stepped out at the annual event. Stepping back in time, the brunette beauty, 30, sported a floor-length number which was emblazoned with pale blue flowers. Boasting ruffled sleeves, a modest trail and a high collar, the quirky number was thankfully sexed-up with cleavage-enhancing detail. It was also adorned with a number of matching broaches, strategically placed for maximum impact, while a dusting of make-up guaranteed she oozed class. In good company: The supermodel was joined by Nadja Swarovski, whose high end brand work in collaboration with the British Fashion Awards Hard to miss: All eyes were on Karlie as she posed for photos outside the Royal Albert Hall on Monday evening Strike a pose: The American star ensured her latest red carpet display was a memorable one Elsewhere WAG Abbey Clancy, 30, left little to the imagination while flaunting both her legs and cleavage in a revealing choice of ensemble. Dressed to impress, the wife of professional footballer Peter Crouch managed to look chic in her wrap-around dress, which tied at the waist. Adorned with miniature crystals, it certainly added sparkle to the proceedings, although onlookers could be forgiven for focusing on her chest, which was on bold display. Forfeiting a bra to maximise the look's impact, she even provided subtle side-boob - but the former Strictly Come Dancing winner didn't let the exhibitionism end there. Boasting a slight mullet hem, the eye-catching dress also showcased her toned legs, which - although marred by a nasty graze - were anchored with a pair of strappy stilettos. A helping hand: Lady Gaga came to thes rescue as Jourdan Dunn struggled to adjust her outfit Model behaviour: The star turned heads in what proved to be the most revealing outfit of the night Fear is not an option: The London born model showed off the inspirational quote tattoo on her left forearm A flare for fashion: Generously cut flared trousers added to a bold, daring look as Jourdan marked her arrival on Monday night Toned and trim: Jourdan showed off her taut physique as she posed for snaps ahead of the ceremony Laura Haddock, 30, looked suitably festive in the merlot-coloured frock, which covered her up completely yet gave a glimpse of her waist and chest all at once. The dress was high-necked, circling her throat with a burgundy frill, with a slither of the actress's pale skin peeking through at the chest. The remainder of the gown totally covered the star's torso, arms and legs, but was designed with a patterned lace, blocked with thicker strips of gauzy fabric, accentuating Laura's slim frame. Her strapless bra was boldly visible underneath the dress and the grape-coloured lower half of the gown cascaded down her toned pins in a flurry of ruffles and frills. Aye carumba! Salma Hayek ruled in heavily embroidered gown in silk with a floral pattern Quite the arrival! The actress arrived on the arm of her billionaire husband Francois-Henri Pinault, Gucci Creative Director Alessandro Michele and the ever stylish Jared Leto Up front: Salma's famous cleavage was on full show thanks to the stunning Gucci dress' low neckline Leading the fash pack: Salma chatted to style icon Jared and held onto the suited and booted Alessandro Michele as she made her entrance A right royal show! Making an entrance at London's Royal Albert Hall event, Jenna Coleman seemed to have taken fashion tips from her TV character's era Old-school: Stepping back in time, the brunette beauty, 30, sported a floor-length number which was emblazoned with pale blue flowers Looking good? Boasting ruffled sleeves, a modest trail and a high collar, the quirky number was thankfully sexed-up with cleavage-enhancing detail The look was completed with some black stiletto heels, just visible through the lace as Laura held the dress up to approach the red carpet. The English rose - who welcomed a son with her husband and fellow actor Sam Claflin, 29, earlier this year - kept her slicked back mane in a low ponytail, highlighting her striking features. Her make-up was fairly pale in shade, but rouged in all the right places on her cheeks and lips, giving her quintessentially English look. Sensational: Elsewhere WAG Abbey Clancy, 30, left little to the imagination while flaunting both her legs and cleavage in a revealing choice of ensemble Taking the plunge: Forfeiting a bra to maximise the look's impact, she even provided subtle side-boob Stylish: Dressed to impress, the wife of professional footballer Peter Crouch managed to look chic in her wrap-around dress, which tied at the waist Daisy Lowe, 27, showcased her famous hourglass curves in a skintight fuchsia jumpsuit which effortlessly hugged every inch of her toned physique. The figure-hugging garment was simple in design, but featured bedazzled gold chain straps for some added glamour. Injecting a dose of sparkle to her colourful outfit, the model rocked a pair of metallic pointed courts. She wore her glossy raven hair in an artfully tousled ponytail, while sporting her trademark blunt fringe in a messy cut. Framing her eyes with heavy kohl and lashings of mascara, Daisy plumped her pout with a bright pink lipstick. Suits you! Kate Beckinsale arrived back in London from her adopted LA for the big night on Monday evening Leave them panting: The English Rose snubbed a gown for a fitted tuxedo with nothing worn underneath Pure elegance: The British actress cut a typically sophisticated figure ahead of the prestigious ceremony Strike a pose! Kate did her best to compete with the supermodels with her hand on hip pose Laura Whitmore, meanwhile, opted for an irreverent, doll-like ensemble with her dusky pink minidress that featured a flattering A-line cut with racy semi-sheer neckline and delicate lace embroidery. Flaunting her endless legs, the MTV personality added height with some gold platform block heel sandals. She wore her golden tresses pinned back in a tousled style that allowed her striking features to take centre-stage. Complementing her whimsical dress, the blonde beauty rocked a dusky pink lip and smoky eyeshadow. Captivating in crimson: Laura Haddock floats onto the red carpet at the British Fashion Awards in a striking gown made with frills and lace Glorious in grape: The 30-year-old Guardians Of The Galaxy actress looked suitably festive in the merlot-coloured frock, which covered her up completely yet gave a glimpse of her waist and chest all at once One step off the catwalk: Supermodel Erin O'Connor looked incredible in her satin puffball gown which was incredibly theatrical Meanwhile Victoria's Secret Angel Lily Donaldson, 29, looked exquisite in a stunning semi-sheer nude gown. Covering her modesty with a delicate lace-embroidered sheer overlay, the garment subtly flaunted the London-born model's slim physique. Letting her dress do all the talking, the blonde beauty kept the rest of her look understated - opting simply for some layered gold necklaces. Pretty in pink: Daisy Lowe showcased her famous hourglass curves in a skintight fuchsia jumpsuit which effortlessly hugged every inch of her toned physique On trend: She wore her glossy raven hair in an artfully tousled ponytail, while sporting her trademark blunt fringe in a messy cut Standing out: Her figure-hugging garment was simple in design, but featured bedazzled gold chain straps for some added glamour Say cheese: The model was joined by an elegant Portia Freeman at the event on Monday evening Adding height to her statuesque frame, Lily added some gold T-bar heeled sandals as she worked her angles on the red carpet. Her glossy golden tresses were styled in tousled undone waves that allowed her striking features to take centre-stage. Donaldson, who has 28 Vogue covers under her belt, plumped her pout with a blushing pink lipstick and framed her eyes with a bronze iridescent shimmer. Irish beauty: Laura Whitmore, meanwhile, opted for an irreverent, doll-like ensemble with her dusky pink minidress Effortless: The Irish star oozed glamour as she posed for photos on the red carpet in her striking ensemble On display: Flaunting her endless legs, the MTV personality added height with some gold platform block heel sandals Winnie Harlow proved she part of that elite group by making a stunning entrance at the event. The Canadian supermodel, 22, looked incredible in a black ball gown with a sexy thigh-high slit as she walked the red carpet on Monday evening. Arriving in style, Winnie dressed up her already glamorous ensemble with strappy green metallic pumps and one large feather earring that cascaded down around her shoulder. The bow on the other side of the dress complimented the feathers, giving the entire look a more balanced feel. The rising star, who suffers from the skin condition vitiligo, put her beautiful black hair up in a high top knot to draw attention to her pretty face. Victoria's best kept Secret: Elsewhere Victoria's Secret Angel Lily Donaldson looked exquisite in a stunning semi-sheer nude gown Blonde beauty: Covering her modesty with a delicate lace-embroidered sheer overlay, the garment subtly flaunted the London-born model's slim physique Speaking for itself: Letting her dress do all the talking, the blonde beauty kept the rest of her look understated - opting simply for some layered gold necklaces Shoulder to shoulder: Lily was joined by fellow Victoria's Secret Angel Joan Smalls Hollywood actress Salma Hayek surpassed herself at the event by pouring herself into a highly revealing number that left many fans open-mouthed with her undeniably busty appearance. Clearly dressing to impress, the Mexican-born actress, 50, was out in full-force and put on an eye-popping display in a skin-tight dress. Featuring a plunging neckline with ruffled detail on the shoulders, it purposely drew attention to her ample bosom, which took centre stage. Utterly figure-hugging, the black, gold and red number left little to the imagination and seemed to be tailor-made for extra snugness. Legs for days: Canadian model Winnie Harlow showed off her toned legs in a stunning dress with a thigh, high slit Stunning display: The rising star glammed it up for the annual event on Monday evening Beauty: The supermodel looked incredible in a black ball gown with a sexy thigh-high slit Confidence: The star, who has the skin condition vitiligo, put her beautiful black hair up in a high top knot to draw attention to her pretty face Meanwhile Pixie Lott stunned in an aquamarine Dolce & Gabbana gown, made of silk and featuring a fishtail hem as she made an appearance at the event alongside fiance Oliver Cheshire. The singer, 25, kept her make-up low key by opting for shimmering orange lipstick, a light eyeliner and a hint of eyeshadow. Her glam look was topped off with a dazzling tiara, which went perfectly with her shining engagement ring. Fashion first: The ever stylish Alexa Chung also made an appearance at the annual event on Monday evening Eastern influence: The fashionable presenter caught the eye in an Oriental themed co-ord ensemble This is for you: Alexa was on hand to present Molly Goddard with the British Emerging Talent Award Dutch beauty Lara Stone, 32, donned a figure-hugging black mini dress at the bash, which paraded her never-ending pins to perfection as she strutted up the carpet. Elongating her already slender limbs, she adorned her feet in a pair of pointed black pumps that offset her alabaster skin while she held her black clutch in her hand. Lara's choice of thigh-skimming number featured pocket detail and a plunging sweetheart neckline that exhibited her ample cleavage as she stopped for pictures at the annual awards. Thigh-skimming: Dutch beauty Lara Stone donned a figure-hugging black mini dress at the bash, which paraded her never-ending pins to perfection as she strutted up the carpet Chic: Highlighting her delicate decolletage, she decorated her neck with a delicate diamond necklace while her long golden locks fell into a tousled curl down her back She's pleased: The model was in high spirits as she posed for a photo alongside Frame Denim creative director Erik Torstensson Highlighting her delicate decolletage, she decorated her neck with a delicate diamond necklace while her long golden locks fell into a tousled curl down her back. Adding an extra touch of Hollywood glamour to proceedings, Jaden Smith made a welcome appearance at the event after flying into London from his native Los Angeles. The young actor, 18, looked smart in a striped two-piece suit and crisp white shirt, buttoned to the throat as he greeted onlookers outside the prestigious London venue. A sweeping statement: Mollie King ensured she was not overshadowed by the array of supermodels on show at the event Intricate: The Saturdays star was eye-catching sight courtesy of her delicate, floral embellished semi-sheer dress Highly visible: The ruffled, generously cut dress exposed Mollie's legs during a solo appearance at the annual event Upbeat: The singer offered onlookers a cheerful smile as she made her way across the red carpet Alright in white: Pixie Geldof opted for a striking bohemian dress ahead of her appearance at the annual event I've got your back: The brunette was accompanied by her close friend, Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw Hand on hip: Pixie adopted a trademark model pose in her bold, breezy evening dress on Monday night Subtle: The daughter of rocker Bob Geldof added a splash of colour by applying soft red lipstick But despite his suave appearance he had competition in the form of McFly bassist Dougie Poynter, whose dapper tuxedo and bow tie ensured he was not overshadowed. The musician, 29, added to his look with a pair of chocolate brown Chelsea boots, while his long tousled locks were casually swept away from his face. Arriving in characteristically flamboyant style, French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier was in high spirits as he prepared for a surprise role as red carpet reporter for event partner Swarovski. Love is in the air: Pixie Lott injected some royalty and class into her Dolce and Gabbana outfit as she attended at the British Fashion Awards with her fiance Oliver Cheshire Nothing fishy about that: The London-born singer went all out in an aquamarine Dolce & Gabbana gown, made of silk and featuring a fishtail hem Finishing touches: Her glam look was topped off with a dazzling tiara, which went perfectly with her shining engagement ring Sensible option: The singer kept her make-up low key by opting for shimmering orange lipstick, a light eyeliner and a hint of eyeshadow Happy couple: Handsome male model Oliver proposed to girlfriend Pixie earlier this year Always the entertainer, Gaultier, 64, greeted onlookers with a beaming smile while making his way across the sweeping red carpet in a bejeweled dinner jacket and matching waistcoat. The eccentric designer added to his ensemble with a nautical striped T-shirt and slim fitting black jeans, with red, black and white trainers rounding things off. Nadja Swarovski proved to be an equally eye-catching sight in an intricate, floral embellished gown with striking sheer arms as she posed for photos ahead of the annual event. Incoming: American socialite Olivia Palermo opted for an off the shoulder gown with a bold embroidered design Here we go: The New York based star flashed a hint of leg as she made her way into the Royal Albert Hall on Monday evening Beautiful in blue: British model Neelam Gill also put on a very leggy display courtesy of her sweeping ensemble Quite a sight: The sultry star stunned in a Kristiana Adnevik dress as she made her way across the red carpet (left) while Maria Hatzistefanis wowed in an extreme thigh-split embellished number On a chilly night the Austrian businesswoman, 46, added to her look with a large maroon stole that gave an otherwise busy ensemble a welcome focal point. The British Fashion Awards, held annually in partnership with Swarovski, celebrates an eclectic mix of British and international talent from the world of fashion. This year the event will raise funds for the British Fashion Councils Education Foundation charity for education scholarships in a bid to guide some of Britain's more promising young designers into fashion college. In attendance: Sultry model Zara Martin made an appearance at the star-studded fashion event Stylish: The brunette caught the eye in an on-trend asymmetrical dress that ensured she claimed her own share of the spotlight Winner: Adding an extra touch of Hollywood glamour to proceedings, New Fashion Icon award winner Jaden Smith made a welcome appearance at the event after flying into London from his native Los Angeles Unlikely pals: The young actor was presented with his award by legendary rocker Marilyn Manson It's an honour: American fashion designer Ralph Lauren, pictured here with wife Ricky, was presented with the Outstanding Achievement Award Everyone's a winner International Model award winner Gigi Hadid with Donatella Versace (L) and British Brand award winner Sarah Burton with Naomi Campbell (R) Thumb's up: Jared Leto presented Alessandro Michele with the International Accessories Designer award Kisses: Kate Moss was greeted by close friend Jean-Paul Gaultier, who had a surprise role as red carpet reporter for event partner Swarovski Memorable night: Craig Green recieved the British Menswear Designer award from Lady Gaga Here come the boys: Male models Jordan Barrett (L) and David Gandy (R) looked suitably dapper in matching tuxedo suits Busy: Nadja Swarovski proved to be an eye-catching sight in an intricate, floral embellished gown with striking sheer arms Success: Simone Rocha won the British Womenswear Designer award (L) while Bruce Weber won the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator (R) Quite a pair: British socialite Tamara Beckwith was joined by husband Giorgio Veroni on Monday evening Banter: Marilyn Manson passed the time with grime artist Skepta backstage at the awards ceremony Font of all knowledge: Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour made an appearance at the annual event on Monday evening Later on in the evening, a host of stars were pictured inside the venue at the drinks reception. With many clutching the gongs they had received on the night, it was a very showbiz affair as celebrations went on late into the night. The celebrities appeared in high spirits as they larked around and posed for a series of pictures after enjoying their dinner and letting the drinks flow. Friends in high places: Fashion designer Zandra Rhodes caught up with acclaimed photographer Mario Testino and Kate Moss All stars: (L to R) Yolanda Hadid, guest, Gigi Hadid and guest attend The Fashion Awards 2016 drinks reception Out in force: (L to R) Toby Huntington-Whiteley, guest, Eric Underwood and Vanessa Kingori Model behaviour: Supermodel Lara Stone cosied up to Jordan Barrett (left) while fellow catwalk queen Edie Campbell hung out with designer Derek Blasberg Well inked: Lady Gaga (left) showed off her tatts, as did Jourdan Dunn (right) on the night out What a beauty: Alexa Chung wore an Oriental-inspired outfit and overcoat (left) while fashion designer Donatella Versace sparkled in a gold creation (right) So rock 'n' roll: Annabelle Wallis and Jared Leto had seriously dressed to impress for the party Following the drinks reception, the celebrities flocked to an afterparty hosted by The British Fashion Council at 180 The Strand. Giving the Queen a run for her money was newly-engaged Pixie Lott, who wore a gown and tiara as she arrived on the arm of her fiance Oliver Cheshire. Kate Moss appeared bleary-eyed as she was pictured vacating the venue later that night. Giving the Queen a run for her money: Newly-engaged Pixie Lott wore a gown and tiara as she arrived on the arm of her fiance Oliver Cheshire, while Clara Paget (R) was also in attendance with a pal Queen of the crop: Kate Moss appeared bleary-eyed as she was pictured vacating the venue later that night That's what friends are for: Kate Moss steadied herself as she held onto a pal while walking down the street She's at the top of her game: Naomi Campbell looked sensational as she pounded the pavement in her glitzy dress Stunner: Gigi was later seen heading to Chiltern Firehouse in her silver siren outfit to party the rest of the night away She's a show-stopper: Amber Le Bon also looked like she was having fun in her black and white dress Move over Gigi, Ireland and Kendall - there's a new celeb daughter trying her hand at modelling. But unlike her peers, Frances Cobain comes with a serious rocker pedigree. And on a grunge-inspired Marc Jacobs shoot in downtown Los Angeles this week, Frances brought some serious attitude, as is perhaps only to be expected from the daughter of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. Scroll down for video Nevermind the clothes! Frances Cobain shows off her slender frame on grunge-inspired Marc Jacobs shoot in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday Not just another clothes horse: The brooding 24-year-old pouted away as she struck a series of poses, while wearing the British designer's typically edgy yet playful outfits The brooding 24-year-old pouted away as she struck a series of poses, while wearing the designer's edgy yet playful outfits. Oversized platforms and loose camo coat served to highlight the young model's slender frame. She wore her midlength dark hair styled loose and shaggy, and her clear skin highlighted by dark make-up. Frances looked totally professional as she posed against the gritty urban backdrop. Strike a pose: She wore her midlength dark hair styled loose and shaggy, and her clear skin highlighted by goth-influenced dark make-up She's got style: The only child of the Hole and Nirvana rockers has shown a growing interest in fashion in recent months Moving on: Her new modelling career comes after Frances filed for divorce from husband Isaiah Silva in March The only child of the Hole and Nirvana rockers has shown a growing interest in fashion in recent months. She joined Courtney at Paris Fashion Week earlier this year, sitting front row at a series of shows. Courtney later told Britain's Grazia magazine of her daughter: 'It was great doing the shows with Frances, we get along fine now. In demand: Her mother Courtney Love has said Frances had been offered 'a load of campaigns' Working it: Frances looked totally professional as she posed against the gritty urban backdrop She's Courtney's girl: The oversized platforms and loose camo coat served to highlight the young model's slender frame 'She's been offered a load of campaigns but she's not going to consider anything until her album is out. 'I do feel like I am passing the torch of high fashion on to my daughter. She doesn't borrow much from my wardrobe, she's finding her own style - she's only 24. I am very proud of her.' Her new modelling career comes after Frances filed for divorce from husband Isaiah Silva in March. The duo are currently working on their divorce and are set to meet to work out the logistics of their split. Her ex reportedly hopes to receive $25,000 a month in spousal support. They stole the show in dazzling sequins on the Strictly Come Dancing floor. And Daisy Lowe and Laura Whitmore took centre-stage once again at the British Fashion Awards in London's Royal Albert Hall on Monday night. Model Daisy, 27, showcased her famous hourglass curves in a skintight fuchsia jumpsuit, while her Irish presenter pal, 31, oozed elegance in an ivory minidress. Scroll down for video Pretty in pink! Daisy Lowe, 27, took centre-stage at the British Fashion Awards in London's Royal Albert Hall on Monday night Daisy showed off her body-confidence in the vibrant pink one-piece, which effortlessly hugged every inch of her toned physique. The figure-hugging garment was simple in design, but featured bedazzled gold chain straps for some added glamour. Injecting a dose of sparkle to her colourful outfit, the model rocked a pair of metallic pointed courts. Bum's the word: Model Daisy showcased her famous hourglass curves in a skintight fuchsia jumpsuit, Chic: Irish presenter Laura Whitmore, 31, oozed elegance in an ivory minidress with delicate lace trim She wore her glossy raven hair in an artfully tousled ponytail, while sporting her trademark blunt fringe in a messy cut. Framing her eyes with heavy kohl and lashings of mascara, Daisy plumped her pout with a bright pink lipstick. Laura, meanwhile, opted for an irreverent, doll-like ensemble with her dusky pink minidress. Ready for her close-up: Framing her eyes with heavy kohl and lashings of mascara, Daisy plumped her pout with a bright pink lipstick Looking good: Daisy showed off her body-confidence in the vibrant pink one-piece, which effortlessly hugged every inch of her toned physique Going for gold: Injecting a dose of sparkle to her colourful outfit, the model rocked a pair of metallic pointed courts The garment, which featured a flattering A-line cut, also had a racy semi-sheer neckline and delicate lace embroidery. Flaunting her endless legs, the MTV personality added height with some gold platform block heel sandals. She wore her golden tresses pinned back in a tousled style that allowed her striking features to take centre-stage. Complementing her whimsical dress, the blonde beauty rocked a dusky pink lip and smoky eyeshadow. Pretty lady: Laura, meanwhile, opted for an irreverent, doll-like ensemble with her dusky pink minidress Ready for her close-up: The blonde beauty rocked a dusky pink lip and smoky eyeshadow Legs for days: Flaunting her endless limbs, the MTV personality added height with some gold platform block heel sandals Meanwhile, after her stint on Strictly, Daisy blamed her commitments to the show for her recent split with Bradley 'Frankie' Wade. Detailing the rehearsals, promotional commitments and appearances on spin-off It Takes Two, Daisy told The Sun it became impossible to sustain her relationship with the hunk. 'At the beginning, which is supposed to be the most joyful honeymoon period, I had nothing to give him, we could have coped with the pressure if we had been together for ages and had known all of the ins and outs of each other.' Taking centre-stage: Daisy posed confidently on the red carpet Double trouble: The brunette beauty joined model Portia Freeman Having fun? The Strictly Come Dancing star seemed to be having a great time at the awards Daisy added that she had no personality at the end of a day of training at Strictly, coupled with the weekend performance and commitments to It Takes Two. She continued: 'Trying to start a new relationship at the same time was just too much. Strictly is the most intense thing Ive ever done, as well as the best.' Daisy said that couple - who dated for five months - were too early on in their relationship to love each other, anyway. 'Love didnt ever come into mine and Frankies relationship,' she went on. 'We never talked about it because we only dated for a few months. Mane attraction: She wore her glossy raven hair in an artfully tousled ponytail, while sporting her trademark blunt fringe in a messy cut They are two of the most successful British models in the world. And Lily Donaldson and Jourdan Dunn proved why they are the darlings of the fashion world as they attended The Fashion Awards 2016 at London's Royal Albert Hall on Monday night. The blonde beauty, 29, looked exquisite in a stunning semi-sheer nude gown as she joined fellow catwalk queen Jourdan, 26, who rocked dazzling white co-ords. Scroll down for video In the nude! Lily Donaldson, 29, proved exactly why she is a darling of the fashion world as she attended the The Fashion Awards 2016 at Royal Albert Hall on Monday night Lily looked every inch the English rose in the blushing pink gown which featured a lingerie-inspired bustier underneath. Covering her modesty with a delicate lace-embroidered sheer overlay, the garment subtly flaunted the London-born model's slim physique. Letting her dress do all the talking, the Victoria's Secret Angel kept the rest of her look understated - opting simply for some layered gold necklaces. All white on the night: Jourdan Dunn,26, looked stunning as she rocked dazzling white co-ords Sheer beauty: Lily looked every inch the English rose in the blushing pink gown which featured a lingerie-inspired bustier underneath Looking good: Covering her modesty with a delicate lace-embroidered sheer overlay, the garment subtly flaunted the London-born model's slim physique Taking centre-stage: The Victoria's Secret Angel stunned in the dusky pink gown Letting her dress do all the talking: The Victoria's Secret Angel kept the rest of her look understated - opting simply for some layered gold necklaces Adding height to her statuesque frame, Lily added some gold T-bar heeled sandals as she worked her angles on the red carpet. Her glossy golden tresses were styled in tousled undone waves that allowed her striking features to take centre-stage. Donaldson, who has 28 Vogue covers under her belt, plumped her pout with a blushing pink lipstick and framed her eyes with a bronze iridescent shimmer. Simply stunning: Donaldson, who has 28 Vogue covers under her belt, plumped her pout with a blushing pink lipstick and framed her eyes with a bronze iridescent shimme Fancy footwear: Adding height to her statuesque frame, Lily added some gold T-bar heeled sandals as she worked her angles on the red carpet Mane attraction: Her glossy golden tresses were styled in tousled undone waves that allowed her striking features to take centre-stage Smouldering: Lily aimed her best model pout as she posed for the cameras Model behaviour! Lily cosied up to fellow supermodel Joan Smalls who stunned in a statement fur coat In high spirits: She laughed prettily as she strode confidently into Royal Albert Hall Jourdan, meanwhile, went for a more fashion-forward futuristic look with her sharp ivory two-piece. The brunette beauty flaunted her ample cleavage in a skimpy white bandeau crop top, which featured a silk pleated panel. Showcasing her taut abs, the London-born model paired the bustier with some wide-leg palazzo pants that effortlessly skimmed her coltish limbs. Stunning: Jourdan went for a more fashion-forward futuristic look with her sharp ivory two-piece Glowing: She highlighted her features with some well-placed highlighter and a dusky nude lip Hair today, gone tomorrow: She scraped her raven tresses into a high ponytail Chic: The brunette beauty flaunted her ample cleavage in a skimpy white bandeau crop top, which featured a silk pleated panel Revealing her delicate tattoos, Jourdann eschewed accessories as she posed confidently on the red carpet. Scraping her raven tresses into a high ponytail, she highlighted her features with some well-placed highlighter and a dusky nude lip. It was a change of scenery for Jourdan, who enjoyed a trip to the beach in Miami on Thursday. Legs for days: Showcasing her taut abs, the London-born model paired the bustier with some wide-leg palazzo pants that effortlessly skimmed her coltish limbs Coquettish: Jourdan flashed a flirty look over her shoulder as she posed at the event Double trouble: Jourdan and Lady Gaga perfected their best sultry pouts Firm friends: The Bad Romance singer slung an affectionate arm around Jourdan's neck Monochrome maven: Lady Gaga looked elegant in an understated black halterneck gown Give the poor girl a hand! Lady Gaga laughed as she helped Jourdan adjust her crop top Social butterfly! Jourdann also mingled with Will Smith's son Jaden, who caught the eye in a striped suit The model chose to snub the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show which took place at the Grand Palais in Paris the night before. Jourdan famously pulled out of the show in 2015, launching a bizarre attack on the brand, just hours after Rihanna canceled her performance at the event. The British supermodel tweeted at the time: 'Feeling so much better about not doing BS... sorry I mean VS now that Rihanna isn't doing it also,' along with a laughing emoji. Jourdan, who walked the runway in the Victoria's Secret fashion shows from 2012 - 2014, later deleted the post. Having trouble? Jourdan struggled to contain her cleavage in the plunging crop top Understated: Revealing her delicate tattoos, Jourdann eschewed accessories as she posed confidently on the red carpet Working her angles: The supermodel knew exactly how to own the red carpet Chris Pratt used to do some pretty surprising things to keep from going hungry back when he was struggling to make it as an actor. In a clip from The Graham Norton Show which aired on BBC in the United Kingdom, the funny guy talked about how he used to wait tables at a 'terrible restaurant' in Beverly Hills. Unfortunately the tips weren't very good, according to the leading man, so he'd eat the leftovers off of the plates of his customers because he wasn't making enough to buy his own food. Scroll down for video Are you gonna eat that? Actor Chris Pratt told stories on BBC's The Graham Norton Show about stealing food off of his customers' plates while working as a waiter in Beverly Hills The co-star of the upcoming movie Passengers explained: 'Thats how I ate. I had no money. 'No one was coming to the restaurant so I wasnt making any tips. It was really a place Id go to eat.' Going hungry: Jennifer Lawrence and Jamie Oliver laughed about Chris's past antics while he shared stories about stealing food from customers Pratt shared one story of how he nearly got caught by one customer. The hungry young actor panicked when a woman surprised him by asking for a doggy bag after he'd already eaten the remaining 14 ounces of the 32 ounce porterhouse steak he had recommended for. It worked out well for him, though. He made up a story about it being thrown out and then had the cook make a new one. Lucky for him the woman had to leave before it was done, so he scored an extra meal to go that day. Not hungry now: Chris and his wife of seven years are doing pretty well for their family now It's hard to imagine the award winner ever had to struggle to make ends meet. That's not the case any more, though. Celebrity Net Worth estimated the former server to be worth $30 million. And that's in addition to the estimated $20 million in net worth of his hilarious wife of seven years, Anna Faris. Leading man: The established star's latest movie, Passengers with Jennifer Lawrence, will be released on December 21 The television-turned-movie star has been acting consistently since 2002 when he landed the role of athlete Bright Abbott in the tv series Everwood. His latest movie, Passengers, will be released in theaters on December 21. Pratt has been making the rounds to promote the film, most recently in Moscow. Despite winter being in full swing in London. Plummeting temperatures did little to deter supermodels Karlie Kloss and Lara Stone from daring to bare as they worked the British Fashion Awards red carpet in skin flashing black looks on Monday night. 24-year-old beauty Karlie ensured she was centre of attention after work commitments resulted in her missing out on the annual Victoria's Secret runway show, working a sultry Stella McCartney number for the fashion bash in partnership with CIROC vodka. Scroll down for video Dare to bare: Plummeting temperatures did little to deter supermodels Karlie Kloss and Lara Stone from daring to bare as they worked the British Fashion Awards red carpet in skin flashing black looks The American runway star caught the eye in a dazzling crushed velvet gown which displayed her sensational slender physique as she made her entrance at the Royal Albert Hall. Her choice of floor-grazing gown focused on the juxtaposition between textures as the front of her red carpet choice featured a burdet material with glittering firework inspired embellishment. Karlie's saucy red carpet pleaser featured a racer back as it boasted daring side cut-outs, which teased at his toned torso and displayed a hint of side boob. A cinched, mirrored belted waistline further accentuated her slimline figure as she sashayed her way up the carpet, stopping to pose for pictures along the way. Attention grabbing: 24-year-old beauty Karlie ensured she was centre of attention after work commitments resulted in her missing out on the annual Victoria's Secret runway show, working a sultry Stella McCartney number for the fashion bash Dazzling: The American runway star caught the eye in a dazzling crushed velvet gown which displayed her sensational slender physique as she made her entrance Texture trend: Her choice of floor-grazing gown focused on the juxtaposition between textures as the front of her red carpet choice featured a burdet material with glittering firework inspired embellishment Sultry: Karlie's saucy red carpet pleaser featured a racer back as it boasted daring side cut-outs, which teased at his toned torso and displayed a hint of side boob Work it! A cinched, mirrored belted waistline further accentuated her slimline figure as she sashayed her way up the carpet, stopping to pose for pictures along the way What a beaut! Adding inches to her already statuesque height, the model - who stands at 6ft 1 - worked a pair of strappy heels that added an understated flourish to a conventionally stylish look Red hot: Bringing a splash of vibrancy to her wardrobe, the supermodel opted for vibrant red lipstick that offset an otherwise subdued colour palette as she posed for photos at the annual event Going with the curve: Karlie was sure to flaunt her model curves as she placed her hand on her slender hips Adding inches to her already statuesque height, the model - who stands at 6ft 1 - worked a pair of strappy heels that added an understated flourish to a conventionally stylish look. Karlie injected a touch of sparkle to her ensemble as she placed drop statement diamond earrings and wrapped an eye-catching bangle around her slender wrist. Bringing a splash of vibrancy to her wardrobe, the supermodel opted for vibrant red lipstick that offset an otherwise subdued colour palette as she posed for photos at the annual event. Eye-catching: The fashion darling commanded attention as she posed for waiting cameras at the event What a tease! Karlie's saucy red carpet pleaser featured a racer back as it boasted daring side cut-outs, which teased at his toned torso and displayed a hint of side boob Diamond darling: Karlie injected a touch of sparkle to her ensemble as she placed drop statement diamond earrings and wrapped an eye-catching bangle around her slender wrist Touch of elegance: She teased her shoulder-length sandy blonde tresses into side parting, working her locks into a soft tousled curl before pinning a strand behind her ear to display her exquisite jewellery Red carpet ready: Karlie stood in front of the red carpet clad steps, posing before she worked her way up them She teased her shoulder-length sandy blonde tresses into side parting, working her locks into a soft tousled curl before pinning a strand behind her ear to display her exquisite jewellery. Not alone at the event, Nadja Swarovski posed up a storm with the acclaimed style maven in an equally eye-catching sight in an intricate, floral embellished gown with striking sheer arms as she posed for photos ahead of the annual event in partnership with Swarovski. On a chilly night, the Austrian businesswoman, 46, added to her look with a large maroon stole that gave an otherwise busy ensemble a welcome focal point at the awards. Fashionable pair! Nadja Swarovski, of Swarovski Crystals, (L) and Karlie (R) posed together on the red carpet Wrapping up: Nadja - who is the sole female member of her family's executive board - wrapped up in a cosy fur stole Posing up a storm: The jewellery businesswoman slipped into a floral full-length gown which featured sheer sleeves in contrast to model Karlie's look Crystal clear: The two posed for a number of pictures on the red carpet at the awards in partnership with Swarovski What a highlight: Karlie was sure to display her striking facial features with a touch of highlighter across her cheeks Bottoms up! Karlie's choice of ensemble hugged her pert behind as she began to tackled the many steps to the venue Meanwhile, Karlie shared Instagram snap showing her with the Angels in 2013 with the accompanying earlier this week, captioning it:'Thinking of the Angels and my entire @victoriassecret family as they make their way to Paris today. 'Unfortunately this year I have a work obligation that is keeping me from Paris. I'm sad to miss it but am wishing everyone all the best from afar!' She added: 'There is truly no show quite like the VS Fashion Show, and there is no feeling quite like walking on that magnificent runway.' Strike a pose! Inside the venue, Karlie struck her signature pose Award darling: Presenting on the night, Karlie gave President and CEO of Gucci, Marco Bizzarri (L), his International Business Leader award Statuesque: The pair went onto the red carpet to pose with his accolade following the presentation All smiles: Karlie and Marco coordinated each other in their demure black ensembles Karlie first appeared on the show in New York in 2011 and became an official Angel in 2013, only to leave the lingerie brand in 2015. Her last year on the VS catwalk was December 2014 in London. The 2016 show at the Grand Palais in Paris is expected to air on American TV network CBS on December 5. Meanwhile, Dutch beauty Lara Stone donned a figure-hugging black mini dress at the bash, which paraded her never-ending pins to perfection as she strutted up the carpet. Leggy display: Dutch beauty Lara Stone donned a figure-hugging black mini dress at the bash, which paraded her never-ending pins to perfection as she strutted up the carpet Show-stopping: Highlighting her delicate decolletage, she decorated her neck with a delicate diamond necklace while her long golden locks fell into a tousled curl down her back Elongating her already slender limbs, she adorned her feet in a pair of pointed black pumps that offset her alabaster skin while she held her black clutch in her hand. Lara's choice of thigh-skimming number featured pocket detail and a plunging sweetheart neckline that exhibited her ample cleavage as she stopped for pictures at the annual awards. Highlighting her delicate decolletage, she decorated her neck with a delicate Boucheron necklace while her long golden locks fell into a tousled curl down her back. Eye-popping: Lara's choice of thigh-skimming number featured pocket detail and a plunging sweetheart neckline that exhibited her ample cleavage as she stopped for pictures at the annual awards Never-ending pins: Elongating her already slender limbs, she adorned her feet in a pair of pointed black pumps that offset her alabaster skin while she held her black clutch in her hand The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has won what may be a temporary victory in their fight against building the Dakota Access pipeline. And in celebration of the landmark decision by the Obama administration to halt construction on the oil pipeline one of Hollywood's bad boys found his own way to mark the occasion. Josh Brolin posted a nude photo of himself standing on a red rock, in a bizarre nod to the tribe, with the caption: 'Celebrate Standing Rock. #protectthesacred #humbled #reallife.' Baring his truth: In celebration of the landmark decision by the Obama administration to halt construction on the Dakota Access pipeline one of Hollywood's bad boys, Josh Brolin, found his own way to mark the occasion on Monday In the photo the 48-year-old gestures to the sky with his back to the sun, exposing his toned rear to the camera. The government had ordered protesters to leave federal land by Monday, though authorities made no noticeable effort to enforce that mandate as the deadline passed. Many demonstrators insist they will stay for as long as it takes to permanently divert the $3.8 billion pipeline, which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe believes threatens sacred sites and a river that provides drinking water for millions of people. Brolin posted a nude photo of himself standing on a red rock, in a bizarre nod to the tribe, with the caption: 'Celebrate Standing Rock. #protectthesacred #humbled #reallife.' (Pictured in February in Berlin) So happy! Shailene Woodley celebrated the denial of the oil pipeline in her own way on Instagram Protesters at the Standing Rock Indian reservation rejoiced as the Obama administration backed down from its plan to enforce an easement that would allow a pipeline to be built on their land The pipeline is largely complete except for a short segment planned to pass beneath a Missouri River reservoir, and opponents scored a victory during the weekend when the Army Corps said it would deny a permit for the crossing while further assessing potential changes. The company doing the building says it is unwilling to reroute the project. While a spokesman for Donald Trump said Monday that the president-elect is in favor of building the Dakota Access pipeline, and will revisit the Obama administration's decision to halt construction until it can be routed around land owned by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. While the announcement signaled a victory for the Standing Rock Sioux and their supporters, some remained cautious, saying it was unclear what would happen when Trump takes office Trump spokesman Jason Miller said the crude oil conduit is 'something that we support construction of, and we'll review the full situation once we're in the White House and make an appropriate determination at that time.' North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven said Thursday that Trump's team had assured him that they sided with the pipeline's supporters. Donald Trump supports the Dakota Access pipeline and will 'review the full situation' as president, a spokesman said after the Army Corps of Engineers caved to protests and said it will seek an alternate route for the project House Speaker Paul Ryan (left) slammed the Obama administration on Sunday, tweeting that the move was 'big-government decision-making at its worst' by an 'anti-energy' President Barack Obama (right) The top Republican in Congress criticized the Obama administration on Sunday for the sudden and unexpected decision to deny access for the pipeline to be built near tribal land. House Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted on Sunday that the decision was 'big-government decision-making at its worst.' They are, of course, the ultimate supermodels. So it's fitting that Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss reunited at the British Fashion awards 2016 on Monday night. The two women, 46 and 42 respectively, dazzled at the event's Royal Albert Hall location, which hosted the industry's biggest names. Scroll down for video The original supermodels: Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss reunited at the London's British Fashion Awards 2016 on Monday Streatham-born Naomi left little to the imagination in a sheer dress which cheekily showcased her pert backside. Thankfully, the sexy design offered modesty in the form of a fitted body underneath, but - considering she's fast approaching 50 - the wardrobe choice was a bold one. Clearly loving the attention, she posed up a storm on the red carpet. Cheeky! Naomi may be approaching 50, but she's still keen to flaunt her body on the red carpet Looking good: The veteran catwalk star looked much younger than her actual age Not shy! Streatham-born Naomi left little to the imagination in a sheer dress which cheekily showcased her pert backside Not that the exhibitionism ended there, of course. The dress also drew attention to her cleavage, which was also a deliberate feature. Also displaying almost flawless skin, the veteran catwalk star appeared much younger than her actual age. Following suit, fellow supermodel Kate also wowed in a crushed velvet dress and dramatic fur-effect coat. Still got it! Kate Moss also wowed in a crushed velvet dress and dramatic fur-effect coat Strike a pose: The ultimate model was in full-sophistication mode for the annual bash Top of her game: Kate has been the reigning queen of cover stars since her 1990s debut Wearing her blonde hair in a classy side-parting, she too oozed glamour as she posed for the world's media. First, she worked the magic alone - showing off her metallic shoes and gold clutch bag - before being joined by photographer Mario Testino. The pair, who have a long-standing friendship, were undoubtedly the most VIP of all the attendees. Pals: First, she worked the magic alone - showing off her metallic shoes and gold clutch bag - before being joined by photographer Mario Testino On fine form: Wearing her blonde hair in a classy side-parting, she too oozed glamour as she posed for the world's media Not that there was a shortage of talent, of course. Lady Gaga continued to wow with an equally demure style by leaving her her wacky ensembles in the wardrobe and walking the red carpet in a seriously elegant black gown. Of course, being Gaga, she couldn't leave all the theatrics at home - the Poker Face hit-maker struck a series of outlandish poses and rounded off her outfit with her trademark killer platform heels before rubbing shoulders with close pal Kate. Leader of the pack: The 42 year-old smouldered in her sassy, classic style choice Gap pals: Lady Gaga (L) and Kate attend The Fashion Awards 2016 drinks reception Loving life: The women smile and wave for the camera as they enjoy the festivities Other guests included Karlie Kloss, Nicole Scherzinger, Jourdann Dunn, Gigi Hadid and Jenna Coleman. The British Fashion Awards, held annually in partnership with Swarovski, celebrates an eclectic mix of British and international talent from the world of fashion. This year the event will raise funds for the British Fashion Councils Education Foundation charity for education scholarships in a bid to guide some of Britain's more promising young designers into fashion college. Sheer delight: Naomi looks hardly any different to her hey-day back in the mid-90s Sex appeal: The brunette beauty managed to walk a fine line between classy and sexy Lena Dunham had some extra precious company for a flight out of Los Angeles on Sunday. The actress, 30, was spotted leaving LAX with a pint-sized pooch inside her tote bag. Lena smiled as she strode through the transport hub, as her furry travel companion poked his little head outside of her bag. Travel size! Lena Dunham was spotted leaving LAX on Sunday with a cute little dog in her tote bag For her flight out of Los Angeles, Lena cut a casual and cosy figure in her yoga pants, black winter sweater, and boots. The fresh face star wheeled a black suitcase as she also carried a grey suede purse and a graphic print tote over her shoulder which read, 'Official Member Of The Girls Family.' Last week, Lena revealed to her Instagram followers that she and her boyfriend Jack Antonoff had welcomed a new dog into their lives. The couple already have a canine named Lamby, and the one Lena was spotted with Sunday appeared to be the new addition. Precious cargo: Last week, Lena revealed to her Instagram followers that she and her boyfriend Jack Antonoff had welcomed a new dog into their lives While in California, Lena attended a charity bash for Los Angeles Review of Books, where she shared a snap of herself clad in a silky gown that clung to her physique. She posted the image to her Instagram account, where a well-meaning follower posed the question, 'Are you expecting?' Lena offered up a hilarious and eye-opening response as she replied directly to her fan, who had also complimented the actress on how amazing she looked. Cool customer: For her flight out of Los Angeles, Lena cut a casual and cosy figure in her yoga pants, black winter sweater, and boots 'thank you!', Lena first wrote in response to the admiration. 'I'm not expecting but I did enjoy a large box of gluten free crackers prior to this image,' she hilariously continued. Lena also added she was no stranger to being asked that particular question. 'It's funny,' she added. 'Folks have told me I looked pregnant/asked since I was 15 - I choose to embrace it as another curve like a** or boobs or hip.' Clearing things up: The 30-year-old posted to her Instagram account on Sunday a photo of herself clad in a silky grey gown that clung to her belly, which prompted a follower to pose the question - 'Are you expecting?' The fan who had asked Lena if she was expecting received flak from other uses, who scolded her for asking the star if she was pregnant. But she insisted she meant no offense. '@lenadunham well you look amazing!!! Sorry if it offended you as many seem to think it should have. I don't know you personally so it was just an innocent question,' she replied. No offense intended: A fan asked Lena if she was pregnant - she later clarified she did not intend to upset her with the question Owning her curves: Dunham hilariously responded to the fan, 'I'm not expecting but I did enjoy a large box of gluten free crackers prior to taking this image' Made In Chelsea was difficult to swallow. Yes, even more than usual. The sight of Stephanie Pratt force-feeding Julius Cowdrey oysters and then devouring the poor lamb at the dinner table for example was sickening - literally sick-inducing, and not because of having that taste in your mouth. (Of the oysters that is, not Stephanie. Although...) When the Reality TV veteran compounded her twisted seduction technique by brazenly denying that she had been cougaring, the sight of Stephanie Pratt acting the innocent and reacting with moral outrage (or at least trying to) was even harder to stomach. Outraged: Stephanie Pratt brazenly denied that she had been cougaring Julius Cowdry The experienced sexual predator's swoop took place during the date' she had forced upon young Julius in the previous episode. Steph was very forward. She asked me out, Julius told Fredrik and his Incredible Performing Hair. It was quite sweet. It really wasn't. Sweet' was the last thing it was. Sinister was more like it. Do you reckon theyre going to kiss on the first date? Fred asked Olivia - a rhetorical question if ever there was one. It was in the script. And if it wasn't, Stephanie had plans to make sure of it by using natures answer to Rohypnol: oysters. Passionate: The experienced sexual predator's swoop took place during the date' she had forced upon young Julius in the previous episode Steamy: It wasn't long before Stephanie had enticed Julius over to sit next to her and kissed him Awkward: The sight of Stephanie Pratt force-feeding Julius Cowdrey oysters and then devouring the poor lamb at the dinner table for example was sickening Julius was blissfully unaware of any of this when she lured him to Bentleys Oyster Bar in Mayfair, walking in to find Stephanie had arrived early and pre-ordered several kilos of oysters. Confirmation of her intentions came when she revealed that she did not even eat oysters. 'Youre actually going to feed me! Im quite excited! he trembled, although he was not as excited as she was when she sat there watching seven oysters slip past his red lips and down his pretty throat. 'Keep going ! she ordered, salivating. Once she had set her sights on her prey Julius never stood a chance. Youre like a little puppy! A little cute puppy! she purred openly, before evidently deciding this approach was not direct enough. Youre very good-looking. Do you get that a lot? Cutting to the chase she added: Do you hook-up with people? What this really meant was: Will you hook-up with me? Pillow talk: Youre looking great,' he hastily told her. I like your choker. I think its really sexy. Well I like your chest ! she leered subtly Forward: Stephanie said: 'Youre very good-looking. Do you get that a lot? Cutting to the chase she added: Do you hook-up with people? Im usually into brunettes but Im happy to make an exception, he suggested. And they say romance is dead.Which on Made In Chelsea, it IS. No youre looking great,' he hastily assured her. I like your choker. I think its really sexy. Well I like your chest ! she leered subtly. 'My libido is going BANG right now!' Julius yelped, not without a certain (understandable) panic. Really?!' Stephanie responded ruthlessly. Just keep eating oysters! Whether it was the oysters or the script we will never know. It could even have been the actual allure of Pratty herself. Cheeky: Julius replied: Im usually into brunettes but Im happy to make an exception' Mission accomplished: Whether it was the oysters or the script we will never know. It could even have been the actual allure of Pratty herself But it wasn't long before Stephanie had enticed Julius over to sit next to her and kissed him. Stephanie didn't need any oysters of course. She devoured Julius as her main course. On the morning after when Steph saw Toff the tiny toff and Victoria Baker Harber and told them shed been on a date with Julius, tragically the sex-crazed Californian expected them to be impressed. Not, like, laugh at her. Oh my God shes cougaring ! howled Victoria with her characteristic mix of horror and delight. My soul is evaporating right now! This was pretty grave - given that Victoria looks like the most glamorous zombie in The Walking Dead or a vampire from The Hunger. Steph hes 23 ! gasped Toff. Disbelief: On the morning after when Steph saw Toff the tiny toff and Victoria Baker Harber and told them shed been on a date with Julius, tragically the sex-crazed Californian expected them to be impressed Mirth: Oh my God shes cougaring ! howled Victoria with her characteristic mix of horror and delight. My soul is evaporating right now! They were clearly unaware of the fact that, according to her page on Wikipedia, Stephanie herself was only 30, although admittedly this was more of a claim than a fact. If she was 30, the age difference really wasn't that bad. (Seven years by my calculation.) The way Victoria and Toff talked to her (and how scandalised they were) it didnt seem to have occurred to them that Steph was anything other than at least 50. Stephanie hinted at it too when she fretted: Am I going to be arrested and deported? If theres a hard Brexit? Yes. Hopefully What age Stephanie actually thought Julius was it was hard to say. Surely not older than 23. (Julius actually looked younger than 23 - like Nick Tilsley in Coronation Street before he was played by Adam Rickitt.) Eek! Steph hes 23 ! gasped Toff, as Stephanie asked: Am I going to be arrested and deported? If theres a hard Brexit? Yes. Hopefully Warped logic: Bizarrely she refused to accept that Julius WAS actually 23, arguing even more bizarrely: But hes so tall ! Oh dear What? So small people are automatically young? And tall people are old? clarified the tiny toff, who by Steph's logic was so petite she would really have been seven. HOW old is he? she cried, as if she was beginning to fear he was too young. Bizarrely she refused to accept that Julius WAS actually 23, arguing even more bizarrely: But hes so tall ! Even Toff thought that this was stupid - and you know you're in trouble when Toff thinks you're dumb. What? So small people are automatically young? And tall people are old? clarified the tiny toff, who by Steph's logic was so petite she would really have been seven. Everyone I've ever dated has been my height. So I just assumed he was older, explained Stephanie, although this was not remotely an explanation but either simply illogical or just spectacularly dim. That night Stephanie confronted Julius, behaving as if he had deceived her into becoming a paedophile. Nonsensical: Everyone I've ever dated has been my height. So I just assumed he was older, explained Stephanie' Why the hell didn't you tell me you were 23?! she blazed. The question of age didnt come up,' he shrugged. Why? Does that change things? Yeah ! she cried, as if to say yeah - obviously ! 'I'm not ready for the second date, she announced primly as if anything else would be the height of impropriety. As if she were not a blonde whod do anything for a Prada handbag on Made In Chelsea but a young virgin wearing a bonnet in a Dickensian costume drama. Honestly, youre younger than Sam Thompson ! THAT BLOWS MY MIND ! The idea of someone more immature, irritating, and adolescent than Little Sammy T was certainly horrendous. If the seven year age gap bothered her that much, you thought, we can only imagine how horrified shed be if she were much (much) older. Tension: That night Stephanie confronted Julius, behaving as if he had deceived her into becoming a paedophile She is accustomed to being both glamorous and sexy. But Hollywood actress Salma Hayek surpassed herself when she attended the British Fashion Awards 2016 on Monday evening. Pouring herself into the revealing number, she left many fans open-mouthed with her undeniably busty appearance at London's Royal Albert Hall. Scroll down for video Chesty: Salma Hayek was seriosuly curvy when she attended the British Fashion Awards 2016 on Monday evening Clearly dressing to impress, the Mexican-born actress was out in full-force and put on an eye-popping display in a skin-tight dress. Featuring a plunging neckline with ruffled detail on the shoulders, it purposely drew attention to her ample bosom, which took centre stage. Utterly figure-hugging, the black, gold and red number left little to the imagination and seemed to be tailor-made for extra snugness. Looking good: Clearly dressing to impress, the Mexican-born actress was out in full-force and put on an eye-popping display in a skin-tight dress Where to look?The 50 year-old certainly poured herself into the black, red and gold gown As if that wasn't enough, the slinky style choice also featured a revealing thigh-high slit to showcase her legs. With her hair pulled up into a high ponytail, she certainly appeared younger than her 50 years - especially in the chest area, where she was particularly perky. Keeping her make-up subtle for the occasion, she posed up a storm at the bash, which celebrates the industry's best talent. Strike a pose: The veteran film star oozed confidence as she navigated the red carpet Wow: With her hair pulled up into a high ponytail, she certainly appeared younger than her 50 years - especially in the chest area, where she was particularly perky Brilliantly, she was accompanied on the red carpet by some fellow stars who dressed in sync with the actress. These included Alessandro Michele, Creative Director of Gucci, and My So-Called Life actor Jared Leto, who was equally kitted-out in eccentric gear. His outfit consisted of a bright red overcoat and a gold neck-tie, plus a rather elfin-inspired haircut. Cheeky! As if her look wasn't revealing enough, the dress also featured backless detail Trio: Alessandro Michele, Salma Hayek and Jared Leto attend The Fashion Awards 2016 So-called style: Jared's outfit consisted of a bright red overcoat and a gold neck-tie Other guests included Karlie Kloss, Nicole Scherzinger, Jourdann Dunn, Gigi Hadid and Jenna Coleman. The British Fashion Awards, held annually in partnership with Swarovski, celebrates an eclectic mix of British and international talent from the world of fashion. This year the event will raise funds for the British Fashion Councils Education Foundation charity for education scholarships in a bid to guide some of Britain's more promising young designers into fashion college. Line-up: Francois-Henri Pinault, Salma Hayek, Alessandro Michele and Jared Leto Hipster: Placing her hands on her hips, Salma was visibly loving all the attention Mass display of grief on late Thai king's birthday Thousands of Thais gathered on a Bangkok bridge named after the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej on what would have been his birthday Monday, the latest organised mass display of grief in a divided nation adjusting to life without him. For much of his remarkable seven decade reign, Bhumibol's 5 December birthday was an auspicious moment for Thais with the monarch often delivering key speeches offering social -- and sometimes distinctly political -- guidance in a nation buffeted by years of coups and instability. Stricken with ill health in the last decade of his life, he missed his last two birthday appearances before his death aged 88 on 13 October. Mourners hold pictures of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej as people gather to commemorate his birthday, on Bhumibol Bridge in Bangkok, on December 5, 2016 Lillian Suwanpumpha (AFP) His passing has plunged Thailand into a year of mourning, heavily orchestrated by an arch-royalist junta who seized power two years ago, and has removed a key pillar of stability. "I still feel lonely and empty as we don't have him anymore," a visibly moved Yaowana Kaewpud, one of the mourners on the bridge, told AFP. The 47-year-old and her daughters had travelled from the outskirts of Bangkok to attend Monday's dawn ceremony, which featured black-clad mourners giving alms to 999 monks. Bhumibol was widely revered as a calming constant and afforded a near god-like status among many Thais through his many years criss-crossing the nation, a reputation further burnished via a slick palace propaganda machine. He was also shielded from any criticism or scrutiny inside the kingdom by a strict lese majeste law forcing subjects and the media to heavily self-censor. His passing is a delicate transition both for the monarchy and its backers in the military elite. Bhumibol forged a strong alliance with Thailand's coup-prone generals, who often used perceived threats against the monarchy to seize power in putsches that were almost always recognised by the king. His reign saw breakneck development but also entrenched disparity between a Bangkok-centric elite and the rural poor. In the last ten years Thailand has been torn apart by competing political factions representing those two sides. While Bhumibol was widely revered, King Maha Vajiralongkorn has not yet achieved the same level of popularity. The 64-year-old prince ascended the throne last Thursday after a seven week hiatus in which he asked to be allowed time to mourn his father. He is comparatively unknown to ordinary Thais, choosing to spend much of his time outside the kingdom and has not given an interview for years. While critical reporting on Vajiralongkorn is curbed, most Thais are aware of his colourful lifestyle, his three marriages and some of the uncensored overseas articles that have been published about him, largely thanks to social media. But forwarding such articles can be perilous. On Sunday, prominent dissident Jatupat Boonpattararaksa was arrested for lese majeste for posting a profile by the BBC's Thai language service on the new monarch on Facebook. He faces up to fifteen years in jail if convicted. We should thank Ms. Cheryl Roddy for sharing the reason for her resignation as a substitute teacher with Roy Exum. He includes her letter in his recent article entitled "Why Our Schools Stink." All should read it, because it summarizes what has happened in many failing schools. It is little wonder that young adults flout the law when they reach the age of 20 and 30. By then, they have years of middle school and high school experience learning the joys of "do your own thing" while being aided and abetted by neglectful administrators. There are many reasons why our schools "stink," but one serious reason is the failure to institute and maintain logic based discipline. It is nearly impossible to teach if one or two students in a classroom refuse to follow a teacher's instructions and dominate class attention. It is impossible to teach if the administrator's actions (or lack thereof) enable the entire class to follow suit. Behind every good teacher, there should be a supportive high quality administrator. Good teachers do not survive long in tough situations without the support of school administrators. A teacher should not be expected to survive and thrive if they are battered like an island in a constant storm. Rapid turnover of new teachers and early retirement of veteran teachers proves this. I'm sure that some will see the plight described in Ms. Roddy's letter as what naturally happens to substitute teachers. However, that pervasive and false interpretation is the very foundation of disciplinary decline that underpins the destruction of many schools today. If you don't believe it, try observing the classrooms of top performing schools. There is a difference and the difference does not occur by accident. It is because they have a disciplinary system that works. Most teachers go into teaching, because they love children and are called to teach. They certainly do not go because they have heard teaching is the pathway to wealth. It is demoralizing and frustrating to repeatedly carry a dream of caring leadership into a classroom and be constantly disrespected or ignored by the people one hopes to improve. Nothing is more detrimental to a career than to seek the support of an administrator and be ignored. If you want to know why the turnover is so high for new teachers, you need not look further than Ms. Roddy's experience. Prior to being a substitute teacher, Ms. Roddy was an experienced teacher. So, even years of experience was not enough to help her survive. Folks, it's time to wake up and examine the origin of the "stink" Mr. Exum alludes to. We live in a world where intentional repetitive bad choices should have intentional meaningful consequences. The problem is, some children have difficulty learning a good behavior concept because it is not consistently modeled at home or school. If the standard for cooperative respectful behavior cannot be witnessed at school, where will it be learned? Many of our children live in chaotic homes. Far too many of our young people receive their first real consequence correction during an arrest. News Flash: A productive mature standard of behavior cannot be taught to a child if schools continue to embrace non-productive behavior diversity. Here are examples of non-productive school behavior diversity: Chatting on a cell phone during class. Talking with another student when the teacher is addressing the class. Standing and walking around in the classroom when the student is asked to remain in a seat. Playing music in the classroom whenever the student feels like it. School behavior should not be "do your own thing" and "anything goes." Society only works well when people learn that their diverse desires must be moderated in certain public situations to enable a greater good to occur. Schools that fail to impose discipline and/or fail to deliver consequences have no value. Oddly enough, children naturally seek and need discipline. Perhaps those of us over the age of 50 have memories of the old action consequence world? Fifty years ago if you disrespected a teacher, you paid dearly for that both at school and after you got home. Today, we know many students are left free to raise themselves. They get up when they want. They come home when they want. They roam the streets on school nights. Many of these neglected autopilot children seek and freely find discipline through induction into their respective gangs. They thrive in an ordered world of gang actions and consequences, until the day they are locked up or killed by the bullet of someone who taught them a serious consequence for disrespecting a fellow gang member. It is unrealistic to assume that schools, teachers, or school administrators can be all things to children. However, it is not too much to expect that order and discipline exist inside the classroom from first bell to the last bell. If this cannot occur, then teaching programs should be retooled to lead to degrees for more highly qualified correction and parole officers. We will surely need more of those. Deborah Scott In Aleppo, dreaming of home but finding only rubble Kafa Jawish hadn't slept in days, daydreaming of seeing her home in east Aleppo for the first time in four years, but when she arrived she found little more than rubble. The 36-year-old was among hundreds of Syrians returning to east Aleppo in recent days after the army recaptured large swathes of the city from rebels and encouraged residents to visit neighbourhoods and homes they left years earlier. She could barely contain her excitement as she sat on a government bus heading to her neighbourhood of Haydariya in northeast Aleppo, recaptured by the army earlier in the week. Kafa Jawish returns to her home in east Aleppo four years after leaving as rebels entered the city Youssef KARWASHAN (AFP) "I left my house four years ago and I'm just so happy to be going to see it, I haven't slept for three days because I'm so excited," she told AFP as the bus wound its way from western Aleppo. "I want to ululate with happiness when I see my house safe and sound," she said, dressed warmly in a black coat and headscarf that framed her smiling face. Stuffed into a bus crowded with other passengers, she and her husband Tajeddin Ahmed discussed their plans to return home, after years living in the Syriac Quarter in central Aleppo. "I'm going to go back to living in my house no matter what condition it's in," she said firmly. "We're tired of paying rent, we miss our house and our families and our neighbours." The couple fled Haydariya in July 2012, when rebels entered the city, leaving at dawn one morning without any of their belongings and moving into the ancient Syriac Quarter. More than half of Syria's population has been displaced internally or abroad by the conflict that began with anti-government protests in March 2011 before spiralling into a war that has killed over 300,000 people. - Shocking destruction - "I want to go back to the house that I lived in with my family and go back to living together safely and happily," said Ahmed, 45. "I'm really hoping we'll find the house in good shape." His phone rang as they talked: an old neighbour who couldn't leave work asked Ahmed to check on his house too. As the bus set out, Jawish expressed hope that her neighbourhood might be relatively untouched, reasoning it was far from the frontlines that saw the worst fighting. East Aleppo has seen some of the worst violence of the war, and has been pounded by the army since it began an operation to recapture the city in mid-November. As the bus edged closer to Haydariya, Jawishs smile dropped away, and she and Ahmed fell silent. Along the road, buildings were partially or fully collapsed, windows long blown out and furnishings destroyed or looted. The route itself was cratered in places, and the bus bounced as Ahmed stared grimly out of the window, murmuring prayers. Jawish tried to pick out places that held memories, spotting an area she used to picnic with her husband. Growing impatient with the bus's slow, careful progress, she tried in vain to convince her husband to get out and walk the rest of the way so she could get to her house quicker. But when they finally arrived, she burst into tears at the sight of their building, parts of the length of one side of it completely gone, leaving the inside exposed to the elements. - Old life 'a memory' - Most of the windows were blown out, along with their frames, the front door was missing and a stack of broken tiles was piled up in the doorway. Unable to enter the damaged building, the couple stood on tiptoes to peer in through a ground floor window at their old apartment. "We were so optimistic, I thought I was going to ululate when we arrived, but now we've found it like this, uninhabitable," she said tearfully. "We spent years working to make a home, buying things for it, bit by bit, until we had a washing machine and a fridge, and now there's nothing in it and the house is destroyed. Oh God." She described the concerts that once took place at their house, with people playing the lute and singing. "When I look at the house I remember all those beautiful moments." Ahmed appeared stunned as he looked on, repeating over and over: "Thank God for our health and wellbeing." "We sacrificed so much to make this house our home, how will we start over again?" Jawish asked. "I know that our relatives will all be in the same situation as us, who will help us?" The couple left to walk through the neighbourhood, checking on the homes of their neighbours, all similarly damaged and gutted. Their old life, Jawish said, "has become just a memory". Kafa Jawish (R) and her husband Tajeddin Ahmed return to the ruins of east Aleppo, which has seen some of the worst violence of the war in Syria Youssef KARWASHAN (AFP) Syria rebels reject Aleppo exit as army advances Russia said it would hold talks with Washington on Tuesday on a total rebel withdrawal from Syria's Aleppo, where the army has made sweeping advances, but opposition factions have rejected any evacuation. President Bashar al-Assad's forces have seized two-thirds of the former rebel bastion in east Aleppo since they began an operation to recapture all of the battered second city in mid-November. The assault has raised an international outcry, but Russia and China on Monday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a seven-day ceasefire in the city. Syrian pro-government troops hold a position in Aleppo's eastern Karm al-Jabal neighborhood as they advance towards al-Shaar neighbourhood on December 5, 2016 during their offensive to retake Syria's second city GEORGE OURFALIAN (AFP) Tens of thousands of east Aleppo residents have fled to other parts of the city to escape the fighting, which has raised widespread international concern. The rapid regime gains have left opposition fighters reeling and come ahead of talks in Geneva on Tuesday on a rebel evacuation. "During the Russian-American consultations the concrete route and timeframe for the withdrawal of all fighters from eastern Aleppo will be agreed upon," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier Monday. "As soon as these routes and timeframes are agreed on, a ceasefire can come into effect." Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the two sides "are close to an agreement on the basic elements". But deputy US envoy Michele Sison suggested there was no deal, saying "we will not let Russia string along the Security Council". "We will continue bilateral negotiations (with Russia) to relieve the suffering in Aleppo, but we have not reached a breakthrough because Russia wants to keep its military gains," she added. Rebel groups swiftly rejected any talk of an evacuation. Yasser al-Youssef of the Nureddine al-Zinki faction, a leading rebel group in Aleppo, described any such proposal as "unacceptable". "It is for the Russians to leave," he told AFP. Moscow is a close ally of Assad's government, and launched a military intervention in support of Damascus last year. Government troops have also been bolstered by Iranian forces, fighters from Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement and Shiite fighters from other countries. - 'Revolutionaries won't leave' - "The revolutionaries will not leave Aleppo and will fight the Russian and Iranian occupation until the last drop of blood," said Abu Abdel Rahman al-Hamawi of the Army of Islam, another smaller rebel group active in Aleppo. Rebels have been forced to evacuate several of their strongholds in Syria during the conflict, including a string of areas near Damascus in recent months. In many instances, they have reached deals with the government after months of army siege and fierce fighting, agreeing to lay down their arms in return for safe passage to rebel territory elsewhere. Among the most well-known evacuations was the 2014 exit of rebels from the Old City of Homs after a two-year government siege. But if Washington and Moscow were to agree a deal for a rebel evacuation from Aleppo, it would mark the first time that the two powers, which back opposing sides in the war, have negotiated the withdrawal of opposition forces. Estimates for the number of rebels in east Aleppo vary, with the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights putting the figure at 15,000 before the current assault began. The UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura in October put the number at 8,000 rebels, saying around 900 of them belonged to the Fateh al-Sham Front, Al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate previously known as Al-Nusra Front. The loss of Aleppo would be the biggest defeat yet for opposition forces in Syria's five-year civil war. - Army pounds east Aleppo - Russia is a staunch ally of Syria's government, and began a military intervention in support of Damascus in September 2015. It says it is not involved in the current offensive in Aleppo, which has seen the army advance quickly as it pounds the east with air strikes, barrel bombs and artillery fire. But Moscow has sent field hospitals to the city, and said Monday one of the facilities was hit by rebel fire, killing two Russian army medics and wounding another. On the ground in the east, Syrian troops battled rebels in the Shaar district, which the army has almost completely encircled after advancing overnight. The army on Monday pounded remaining rebel territory with incessant strikes and artillery fire that sent up plumes of smoke visible from across the city. The Observatory says at least 324 people have been killed in east Aleppo during the offensive, including 44 children. Rebel fire into the government-held west of the city has killed 73 people, including 29 children, in the same period, the monitor says. On Monday, state news agency SANA said eight people had been killed in rebel fire on west Aleppo, and an AFP correspondent in the west reported heavy incoming rocket fire that shook buildings. The battle for Aleppo Valentina BRESCHI, Simon MALFATTO, Frederic BOURGEAIS, Sophie RAMIS (AFP) Kefa Jawish and her husband Tajeddin Ahmed check their housein Aleppo's Haydariya neighbourhood on December 4, 2016 for the first time in four years Youssef Karwashan (AFP) Syrian pro-government forces advance in the Myessar district in east Aleppo in an ongoing operation to recapture the city, on December 4, 2016 George Ourfalian (AFP/File) Sea Shepherd ships leave to battle Japanese whaling fleet Two ships have left Australia bound for the freezing Southern Ocean to confront the Japanese whaling fleet in an annual high-seas battle, environmental activist group Sea Shepherd said Monday. The organisation's flagship Steve Irwin departed for Antarctic waters along with fast new patrol vessel Ocean Warrior, built with financial support from the Dutch, British and Swedish lotteries. It has a powerful water cannon and is capable of outrunning the whalers, which an official at Japan's Fisheries Agency said would be protected by a fleet of patrol boats. Sea Shepherd's flagship Steve Irwin has departed for Antarctic waters along with a fast new patrol vessel ISAAC LAWRENCE (AFP/File) "Sea Shepherd has engaged in repeated acts of sabotage over the years. Those actions threaten the lives of Japanese crew members and we cannot tolerate it," said the official, who declined to give his name. Japan has previously sought court action to halt the anti-whaling campaigns, saying the activists ram their ships, snare propellers with ropes and harass crew with paint and stink bombs. Sea Shepherd is embarking on its 11th campaign to disrupt the hunt, with the Japanese fleet setting sail on November 18 in defiance of a worldwide moratorium on commercial whaling and international opposition. "It's time that Japan respected the International Court of Justice... and the global moratorium on commercial whaling and ended their so-called scientific lethal hunting of whales off the Antarctic coast," said Sea Shepherd Australia chief Jeff Hansen. Japan is a signatory to the International Whaling Commission's moratorium in force since 1986. But it uses a loophole allowing for whales to be killed for the purposes of scientific research. Tokyo claims it is trying to prove the whale population is large enough to sustain a return to commercial hunting for a traditional source of food. But the meat from what it calls scientific research still ends up on dinner tables and is served up in school lunches. In 2014 the United Nations' International Court of Justice ordered Tokyo to end the Antarctic hunt, saying it found permits issued by Japan were "not for purposes of scientific research". After the ruling Japan cancelled its 2014-15 hunt, only to resume it the following year under a new programme with a two-thirds cut in the target catch number -- saying the fresh plan is genuinely scientific. Japan PM Abe won't apologise at Pearl Harbor: government Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will honour war dead but won't apologise when he becomes the first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor this month, a top government spokesman said on Tuesday. The move follows Barack Obama's historic May trip to Hiroshima, the first by a sitting US president, where he spoke of victims' suffering but offered no apology for dropping the world's first nuclear bomb. Abe will pay his respects to those who died in Japan's surprise 1941 attack at the US naval base in Hawaii, which triggered World War II in the Pacific, and highlight a decades-old security alliance between the former enemies. More than 2,400 American troops and civilians were killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 "The purpose of this visit is to commemorate war dead, not to apologise," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular press briefing in Tokyo. "The visit will serve as an opportunity to demonstrate to future generations our resolve not to repeat the horror and suffering of war as well as an opportunity to showcase the reconciliation between Japan and the United States," he added. US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, who is in Japan as part of his last Asian tour, echoed those sentiments Tuesday. "The US-Japan alliance has never been stronger than it is today," Carter told reporters during a visit to a Japanese destroyer. "It's a two-way stream, equal benefits for both countries. That's necessary because we face many common responsibilities and threats," he added, without elaborating. Carter, who is meeting with Abe later in the day, welcomed the Japanese leader's visit to Hawaii. "One thing I will be sure to say to (Abe on Tuesday) is how pleased President Obama is and we all are that he will be visiting President Obama in Hawaii in a few weeks' time," he said. - Nationalist leader - Abe -- a nationalist who has been criticised for playing down his country's wartime record -- will be in Hawaii on December 26 and 27 for talks with Obama, who will join him at Pearl Harbor. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the deadly December 7, 1941 assault on the US naval base that left about 2,400 Americans dead. The war ended in August 1945 after the US dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan and, although the countries have forged strong ties in the seven decades since, how the war began and concluded has cast a long shadow. In Hiroshima, Obama and Abe went to an atomic bomb memorial that honours some 140,000 people who died in the bombing or later from radiation exposure -- a visit that sparked speculation that Abe might go to Pearl Harbor in return. The US leader lay a floral wreath and reiterated his call for the abolition of nuclear weapons but did not apologise for the attack and a subsequent bombing of Nagasaki that ended the war. Abe's visit to Pearl Harbor also comes as Japan prepares to build a new relationship with Donald Trump, who will take over from Obama next month. Trump sent shockwaves through Japan earlier this year when he appeared to call into question the two countries' security alliance, prompting Abe to become the first world leader to meet him after the election to confirm the relationship. Second Russian jet crashes in failed carrier landing near Syria Russia's defence ministry said Monday a Sukhoi jet fell into the sea after a malfunction as it tried to land on the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier following a bombing raid in Syria. It was the second such crash involving Russia's lone carrier in a month, since it arrived in the eastern Mediterranean to bolster Moscow's airpower in Syria. "After carrying out its military assignment in Syrian airspace, a Su-33 fighter rolled beyond the deck of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier during landing due to breakage of the arresting cable," said a defence ministry statement quoted by Russian news agencies. Russia has been flying a bombing campaign in Syria for the past year in support of President Bashar al-Assad and has deployed a naval contingent to back up its operation The pilot ejected from the plane and reached the ship safely, it said, without specifying when the incident happened although reports mentioned Saturday. It said the carrier's planes were continuing to work in the Mediterranean with flights "continuing in accordance with the tasks." A MiG-29K crashed in the middle of last month due to a "technical fault", going down a few kilometres from the carrier off the Syrian coast. The Admiral Kuznetsov, the Russian navy's only aircraft carrier, was sent to participate in the Syria operations in October after completing a retrofit. Russia, US to hold talks on rebel withdrawal from Aleppo: Lavrov Russian and US experts will meet in the coming days to determine the routes and timing for a total rebel withdrawal from eastern Aleppo, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday. "During the Russian-American consultations the concrete route and timeframe for the withdrawal of all fighters from eastern Aleppo will be agreed upon," the Russian diplomat said, indicating that the talks in Geneva would likely start on Tuesday or Wednesday. "As soon as these routes and timeframes are agreed on, a ceasefire can come into effect," Lavrov said. The Syrian regime launched its offensive to retake all of east Aleppo on November 15 George Ourfalian (AFP/File) The discussions would be based on proposals made by US Secretary of State John Kerry in Rome on Friday, he said. Russia's top diplomat also denounced a proposed UN resolution demanding a temporary ceasefire in Aleppo, calling it a "provocative step". The UN Security Council will on Monday vote on the resolution, drafted by Egypt, New Zealand and Spain, that calls for a truce of at least seven days. "Taking into account all aspects and the current development of the situation, the draft resolution -- coming against the backdrop of the Russian-American initiative -- is, for the most part, a provocative step that undermines Russian-American efforts," Lavrov told a press conference. Despite concessions by those who drafted the text -- an early version demanded a 10-day truce -- it looks likely Moscow will use its veto to torpedo the measure. The forces of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and their allies are continuing to advance on Aleppo's rebel-held districts, after taking control of some 60 percent of the city so far, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights. Since the start of the Syrian regime's latest offensive in eastern Aleppo on November 15, at least 311 civilians have been killed, 42 of them children, the Britain-based monitor says. At the same time, rebel fire has killed nearly 70 people in the city's government-held west. Snowden does not expect pardon from Obama Edward Snowden says he does not expect a pardon from US President Barack Obama which would spare the fugitive whistleblower from a toughened approach when Donald Trump takes power. "I'm not counting on it," Snowden said in an interview published by Yahoo News on Monday. The former National Security Agency contractor leaked thousands of classified documents to the press in 2013 which revealed the vast scope of US surveillance of private data that was put in place after the 9/11 attacks. Edward Snowden will tried for espionage and other charges carrying up to 30 years in prison, should he ever return to the United States Frederick Florin (AFP/File) After fleeing his home in Hawaii, he now lives in exile in Russia where he has sought asylum. Should he ever return to the United States, Snowden would be tried for espionage and other charges carrying up to 30 years in prison. Since September, there has been a campaign calling for a presidential pardon that has won support from figures such as financier George Soros and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. The campaign says Snowden should be welcomed home "as a hero" for actions that benefited the public because they reined in US surveillance programs and led to improved privacy protection laws. Snowden's lawyers are trying to win him clemency before Obama leaves office in January or a plea bargain that would shield him from spending a lot of time in jail. - 'A total traitor' - During the election campaign, Trump said of Snowden, "I think he's a total traitor and I would deal with him harshly." Snowden has repeatedly said he would be prepared to return to the US if he is allowed to address a jury and tell them why he did it. But that is denied him under the restrictions of the Espionage Act under which he is charged. Asked in the interview, which was conducted by veteran US newscaster Katie Couric, what he would say to Obama, Snowden admitted his case put the president in a difficult position. But he said he was heartened by remarks in which Obama said Snowden had performed a public service by starting a debate on US surveillance practices. "There's one thing that I would hope he understands. And I think based on his recent statements, he does. He said that my actions, and this journalism, raised legitimate concerns," Snowden said. Journalism is under threat, and people in government who know what is going on -- "particularly when the operations of government start to go out of bounds" -- are more important than ever, he added. Bob Dylan sends speech for Nobel ceremony Music icon Bob Dylan won't be at the Nobel prize ceremony this week to accept his award, but he has sent along a speech to be read aloud, the Nobel foundation said Monday. The 75-year-old, whose lyrics have influenced generations of fans, has had a subdued response to the honour, remaining silent for weeks following the news in October he had won the prize for literature. "This year's Laureate in Literature, Bob Dylan, will not be participating in the Nobel Week but he has provided a speech which will be read at the banquet," the foundation said in a statement. Bob Dylan has sent a speech to be read out at the award of his Nobel prize for literature Amelie Querfurth (AFP) Sending along the speech does not exempt the American songwriter from holding a lecture at a place and a type of his choosing, the only requirement by the Nobel foundation. Rock legend Patti Smith will perform a version of Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" at the ceremony on December 10 in Stockholm, which is the same day as the banquet. Dylan said in a letter on November 16 that he would not attend the ceremony because he had "pre-existing commitments", in an announcement that did not come as a surprise to observers. Several other prize winners have skipped the Nobel ceremony in the past for various reasons -- Doris Lessing, who was too old; Harold Pinter, because he was hospitalised, and Elfriede Jelinek, who has social phobia. Dylan did not say a word about his prize on the day it was announced, October 13, when he was performing in Las Vegas. The writer of "Blowin' In The Wind", "Like A Rolling Stone", and "Mr. Tambourine Man" confined himself to his songs. The Swedish Academy said it respected Dylan's decision, but that it was "unusual" for a Nobel laureate not to come to Stockholm to accept the award in person. Asked on October 28 by Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper if he would attend the Nobel prize winners' banquet, Dylan said: "Absolutely. If it's at all possible." Academy member Swedish writer Per Wastberg accused Dylan of being "impolite and arrogant", and said it was "unprecedented" that the academy did not know if Dylan intended to pick up his award. But the first songwriter to win the prestigious award in literature is expected to come to Stockholm early next year. Nobel laureates are honoured every year on December 10 -- the anniversary of the death of prize's founder Alfred Nobel, a Swedish industrialist, inventor and philanthropist. Several other literature prize winners have skipped the Nobel ceremony in the past for various reasons -- Doris Lessing on grounds of ill health, Harold Pinter because he was hospitalised and Elfriede Jelinek due to social phobia. The value of the prestigious award this year amounts to 8 million kronor ($870,000). Bob Dylan with singer Joan Baez posing during their 1965 tour of England Afghan's murder-rape arrest reignites Germany refugee debate The German government pleaded for calm on Monday after the arrest of a teenage Afghan asylum seeker for the alleged rape and murder of a German student triggered fresh criticism of the country's liberal refugee policy. The anti-migrant AfD party blamed the crime on the "uncontrolled" influx of foreigners, while the head of a police union warned of the "dangers that always go along with massive immigration". But Chancellor Angela Merkel warned against "rejecting an entire group". Flowers and a heart-shaped personal note are fixed on a tree on December 5, 2016 in Freiburg, southwestern Germany, near the river Dreisam, where a young woman was killed Patrick Seeger (DPA/AFP) "If it turns out that it was an Afghan refugee, well then it's absolutely condemnable, as any other murder would be," she told public broadcaster ARD. Likewise, Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said the murder of the 19-year-old medical student should not be used to whip up hatred against all refugees. "Such horrible murders already happened before the first Afghan or Syrian refugee arrived here," Gabriel told the Bild newspaper. "We will not allow incitement after such violent crimes, no matter who commits them." The 17-year-old suspect, who arrived in Germany in 2015 as an unaccompanied minor, was arrested in the southwestern town of Freiburg on Friday after his DNA was found at the crime scene and he was identified on CCTV. The victim was found dead on a river bank on October 16. An autopsy found that she had drowned. News of the arrest triggered strong reaction on social media with some people saying an ironic "thank you" to Merkel, whose open-door asylum policy brought a record number of migrants and refugees into Germany last year. - 'Warnings written off' - The chairman of the DPoIG police union, Rainer Wendt, said the killing could have been prevented. "We wouldn't have this victim, and so many others, if our country had been better prepared for the dangers that always go along with massive immigration," he told Bild. AfD co-chief Joerg Meuthen, whose party has made gains on rising discontent over the flood of refugees, said: "We are shocked by this crime and at the same time we see that our warnings about the uncontrolled arrival of hundreds of thousands of young men from Islamic-patriarchal cultures are written off as populist." Germany received 890,000 asylum requests in 2015, although that rate slowed to 213,000 from January to September 2016 following a deal with Turkey and a series of border closures on the Balkan route. Public anger about the refugee arrivals has been stoked by some high-profile crimes involving migrants. Syria rebels rule out withdrawal from Aleppo Syrian rebels on Monday ruled out a pullout from east Aleppo despite sweeping government advances, after Moscow announced it would hold talks with Washington on their withdrawal from the city. The Syrian army has seized two-thirds of east Aleppo and continued to advance on Monday, pounding remaining opposition-held territory. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that Moscow would hold talks with Washington this week on a timeframe for the withdrawal of all rebels from Aleppo. Syrian government forces have made sweeping advances in their bid to recapture the whole of Aleppo GEORGE OURFALIAN (AFP/File) "During the Russian-American consultations, the concrete route and timeframe for the withdrawal of all fighters from eastern Aleppo will be agreed upon," he said, indicating the talks in Geneva would likely start on Tuesday or Wednesday. "As soon as these routes and timeframes are agreed on, a ceasefire can come into effect," Lavrov said. But officials from two rebel groups in Aleppo said they would reject any plan that involved the withdrawal of fighters from the city. Yasser al-Youssef of the Nureddine al-Zinki rebel group said any proposals "for the exit of rebel groups would be unacceptable." "It is for the Russians to leave Aleppo, and for the sectarian militias to leave Aleppo and Syria and stop interfering in the internal affairs of Syrians," he told AFP. Russia is a staunch ally of Syria's government, and it launched a military campaign to bolster President Bashar al-Assad's forces in September 2015. The government also fights alongside Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement, Iranian forces and Shiite fighters from other countries. "The revolutionaries will not leave Aleppo and will fight the Russian and Iranian occupation until the last drop of blood," said Abu Abdel Rahman al-Hamawi of the Army of Islam, another rebel group. "This is our land and the land of our ancestors, and we will stay on it, and defend it, God willing," he said. "The revolution will continue until victory." Both officials said rebels remained willing to approve a UN plan for the entry of humanitarian aid into the east, which has been besieged by government forces since mid-July. Rebel forces seized east Aleppo in 2012, and the army last month launched a major operation to recapture it. Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church will host a Christmas concert The Wonder of Christmas on Sunday, Dec. 11 , at 5 and 7:30 p.m. IS loses Libya bastion in major blow to jihadists Forces loyal to Libya's UN-backed government said Monday they had seized full control of Sirte from the Islamic State group, in a major blow to the jihadists who fought for months to retain their bastion. The battle for the coastal city, which was the last significant territory held by IS in Libya, cost the lives of hundreds of loyalist troops and an unknown number of IS fighters. The offensive was backed by a US bombing campaign launched in August, which as of December 1 had seen American warplanes, drones and helicopters carry out 470 strikes. Sirte, on Libya's Mediterranean coast, was the last significant IS-held territory in the north African country Mahmud Turkia (AFP/File) "Our forces have total control of Sirte," Reda Issa, a spokesman for pro-government forces, told AFP. "Our forces saw Daesh (IS) totally collapse." "Our forces are combing the last pockets and carrying out a major operation to trap those trying to flee," said the spokesman, adding that around 30 jihadists had surrendered. Issa said a public announcement of "the liberation of Sirte" would follow within hours "once the last jihadist has been wiped out". Forces allied with the country's unity government began the offensive to retake Sirte on May 12, quickly seizing large areas of the city and cornering the jihadists. But IS put up fierce resistance with suicide car bombings, snipers and improvised explosive devices. "Daesh has totally collapsed and dozens of them have given themselves up to our forces," said a statement on the loyalist forces' official Facebook page. - Major setback - The capture of Sirte boosts the authority of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), which was launched in Tripoli in March but whose legitimacy is contested by a rival administration based in eastern Libya. The country descended into chaos following the NATO-backed ousting of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, with rival administrations emerging and well-armed militias vying for control of its vast oil wealth. The infighting and lawlessness allowed extremist groups such as IS to seize several coastal regions, giving the jihadists a toehold on Europe's doorstep. The fall of Sirte -- Kadhafi's home town located 450 kilometres (280 miles) east of Tripoli -- is a major setback for IS, which has also faced a series of military defeats in Syria and Iraq. Iraqi forces are advancing on the IS stronghold of Mosul, while a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance last month launched an offensive to retake Raqa, the Syrian capital of the "caliphate" the jihadists proclaimed in 2014. "Losing it (Sirte) could cause a momentary loss of traction, but a lot will depend on what happens in Syria and Iraq and whether the ungoverned spaces in Libya will remain such," said Mattia Toaldo, a Libya expert with the European Council of Foreign Relations. Toaldo said IS's failure to hold Sirte was due in part to its lack of resources in Libya. "They didn't manage to seize any considerable source of revenue," he said. "What they found in the banks in Sirte was not comparable to what they found in Mosul, nor was there an equivalent weapons stockpile." - 'Last stand' - The fight for Sirte took far longer than originally planned, but signs emerged in recent days that IS was about to capitulate. The Pentagon last week said that IS holdouts were staging a "last stand" in their former stronghold. And pro-GNA forces Sunday said they had detained several jihadists trying to swim to safety. Almost seven months of fighting have left nearly 700 GNA fighters dead and 3,000 wounded. Issa said in November that the final assault was held up mainly because it would "result in very intense street fighting and Daesh is determined to defend its positions right down to the last square metre". Claudia Gazzini, an analyst with the International Crisis Group think tank, said jihadists who escaped from Sirte had probably moved south to Sebha, closer to Libya's borders with Algeria and Niger. Others from the group are believed to be operating in second city Benghazi and possibly in and around Tripoli. "Despite the demise of IS in Sirte we cannot rule out that they will continue to have cells in other parts of the country," Gazzini said. The GNA is the centrepiece of Western hopes to stem the upsurge of jihadism in Libya, as well as to halt people trafficking across the Mediterranean that has led to thousands of drownings. But the unity government headed by Fayez al-Sarraj has struggled to replace two rival administrations. Sirte retaken from IS Sophie RAMIS, Vincent LEFAI (AFP) Damaged buildings in Sirte last month Mahmud Turkia (AFP) Forces loyal to Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord gather in Sirte on November 20, 2016 Mahmud Turkia (AFP) S. African opposition in court to block ICC exit South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, launched a legal bid on Monday to block government plans to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, saying the move was unconstitutional. In October the government notified the United Nations that it would leave the ICC, dealing a major blow to the troubled institution that was set up to try the world's worst crimes. The DA lobbied for the High Court in Pretoria to nullify the decision, saying that the government had bypassed and "undermined" parliament, which had ratified South Africa joining the court in 1998. The International Criminal Court, pictured in The Hague, Netherlands, vowed to place a special focus on prosecuting crimes against children Martijn Beekman (ANP/AFP/File) "Only parliament can decide to remove South Africa from the treaty," DA lawyer Steven Budlender said. "What's going on here is really the usurpation of parliament's legislative powers." The withdrawal is set to take effect next October, one year after the government notified the UN, making South Africa the first country to pull out from the court. Within weeks of South Africa announcing its withdrawal, Burundi and The Gambia formally submitted their notifications to quit the court. Kenya and Namibia have also suggested they could leave the court, which several African countries have accused of having a bias against the continent. South Africa's decision followed a dispute last year when Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited for an African Union summit despite facing an ICC arrest warrant over alleged war crimes. South Africa refused to arrest him, saying he enjoyed immunity as a head of state. Bashir has evaded arrest since his ICC indictment in 2009 for alleged war crimes in Sudan's Darfur conflict in which 300,000 people were killed and two million forced to flee their homes. First Israeli envoy to Turkey since 2010 starts work Israel's first ambassador to Turkey since 2010 presented his credentials to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, completing a critical step in the normalisation of relations after a bitter diplomatic rift. Eitan Naeh was received by Erdogan at the presidential palace in Ankara, handing over his formal credentials and introducing his staff, a video shared on the Turkish president's website showed. The video showed Erdogan, who has in the past been bitterly critical of Israel, greeting the new envoy warmly and sharing a few words. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) and Israeli ambassador to Ankara Eitan Naeh chat with each other at the presidential Complex in Ankara, on December 5, 2016 Adem Altan (AFP) Naeh is the country's first envoy since Israeli commandos raided a Gaza-bound ship of activists in 2010, sparking an unprecedented feud between the one-time key allies. The career diplomat previously worked in Ankara between 1993 and 1997 and was serving as deputy head of mission at the Israeli embassy in London before being chosen for the new role. In the aftermath of the raid which killed 10 Turkish activists, the two countries pulled their envoys out from the respective capitals as relations fell to an all-time low. The rift came to an end in June after long-running secret talks in third countries. Israel paid $20 million (18 million euros) in compensation in September and offered an apology over the raid as well as permission for Turkish aid to reach Gaza. Last month, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim's foreign policy advisor Kemal Okem was chosen as Ankara's ambassador to Israel. Okem will start work on December 12, state-run news agency Anadolu said last week, marking the very final step in the diplomatic reconciliation. On Friday, a Turkish prosecutor called for charges related to the raid to be dropped because of the terms of the deal agreed between Israel and Turkey. In the agreement ratified by both sides, individual Israeli citizens or those acting on behalf of the Israeli government would not be held liable -- either criminally or financially -- for the raid. Russian medics killed in Aleppo shelling: Moscow Two Russian army medics were killed Monday in rebel shelling of a field hospital in Syria's Aleppo, Moscow said, blaming Western nations who support rebel fighters. One female medic was killed on the spot when a shell hit the reception area of the hospital, while a second died from her wounds later, Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. Medics were still fighting to save the life of a third doctor -- a paediatrician -- who was badly injured, Konashenkov said. Smoke rises from buildings in Aleppo's eastern Karm al-Jabal neighbourhood on December 5, 2016 George Ourfalian (AFP) A photographer who supplies AFP with photos described burned tents and charred boxes of medical supplies at the scene. Konashenkov earlier said the attack had "undoubtedly been carried out by 'opposition' fighters" and laid the blame at the door of Western nations -- including the US, Britain and France -- that have backed those fighting its ally, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. "We understand who gave the fighters the exact information and coordinates of the reception area of the Russian hospital as it was starting its work," Konashenkov added. "Our servicemen's blood is on the hands of those who ordered this murder." Syrian rebels are battling forces loyal to Assad after sweeping advances saw the government seize back large chunks of territory in eastern Aleppo. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that President Vladimir Putin had ordered that field hospitals be sent to war-ravaged Aleppo. Russia has been flying air raids in Syria since September 2015, to back up its longtime ally Assad. Russia says it has halted air strikes on rebel-held eastern Aleppo since October 18 following international condemnation over its ferocious bombardment of the city. The deadly war in Syria has killed more than 300,000 people since it started in March 2011 with a wave of anti-government protests. Kerry warns of 'anxieties' driving Western politics US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Monday that "anxieties" were sweeping Western democracies and stressed the need for strong transatlantic ties as Europe nervously awaits Donald Trump's start in the White House. "Anxieties are building up in a lot of places and they're manifesting themselves in the politics day to day all over the world," said the top American diplomat. Kerry was speaking in Berlin at the start of his European farewell tour, six weeks before he and the rest of President Barack Obama's administration hand over to the Trump team on January 20. US Secretary of State John Kerry delivers a speech at the German foreign ministry on December 5, 2016 in Berlin John MACDOUGALL (AFP) The populist billionaire has vowed to rip up key diplomatic achievements reached under Kerry -- from the Iran nuclear deal to a trans-Pacific trade pact -- and is now looking for a successor at the helm of the State Department. Kerry did not mention Trump but alluded to the US election and pointed to other political upheavals: Brexit, Sunday's Italian referendum that cost Prime Minister Matteo Renzi his job, and the Austrian presidential vote where a far-right candidate came in a strong second. "You see it in the anxieties of Italy voiced yesterday or the anxieties of Austria, where the election came out a different way but the anxieties were there," said Kerry. "You see it in Brexit," he said on Britain's shock vote in June to leave the EU. There was a widespread feelings that "something's not connecting ... Governance is at risk and challenged," said Kerry. But Kerry added confidently, as he accepted the German Cross of Merit from his counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, that this was no time to "put your head in the sand" and added: "We are gonna to be ok." For seven decades "our alliance has helped move this continent and our planet toward greater peace, security, and freedom", he said. This had been true "regardless of partisan political affiliations" on either side, "and that cannot, and must never, change" - 'A thousand miles away' - Kerry from Tuesday joins a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels which, a US diplomat said, aims to help "strengthen NATO's security .. and to strengthen NATO-EU cooperation". Yet partners will also seek clarity after Trump has suggested Washington might think twice about coming to the rescue of a NATO ally under threat if it had not paid its dues to the alliance. On Wednesday Kerry will travel to the northern German city of Hamburg for a foreign ministers' meeting of the 57-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Also there will be Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kerry's counterpart amid tensions over the Ukraine conflict and the Syrian war, where Moscow backs the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Meanwhile, back in the United States, Trump's team was searching for a candidate to replace Kerry, as the president-elect has been firing off diplomatic broadsides on Twitter, including one accusing China of military expansionism and currency manipulation. Whoever becomes the nominee to succeed Kerry, said Trump's senior aide Kellyanne Conway, must be ready to "implement and adhere to the president-elect's America First foreign policy, if you will, his view of the world". Kerry at the weekend said he was "working to stay a thousand miles away from the Trump transition and the process". Asked whether the Trump team had sought State Department input so far as it has made contact with foreign leaders, Kerry said "we have not been contacted before any of these conversations". In Europe, some fear the worst if Trump, as promised, steers the superpower toward an isolationist nationalism. Germany's former foreign minister Joschka Fischer wrote Monday that "Europe is far too weak and divided to stand in for the US strategically, and, without US leadership, the West cannot survive". Steinmeier, in his speech, sent a direct a message to the Trump team: "We want to sit down and have a conversation. It's important, and it's urgent." John Kerry at the COP22 climate summit on November 16, 2016, in Marrakesh Mark Ralston (POOL/AFP) Vietnam punishes editors over fish sauce story scandal Vietnam on Monday punished two editors of a major newspaper which had earlier been fined for publishing what authorities said were false reports on toxic fish sauce. Deputy chief editor of Thanh Nien newspaper Dang Ngoc Hoa, and senior executive Vo Van Khoi had their press cards revoked, Vietnam's information and communication ministry said. Communist Vietnam heavily restricts the media, which is all state-owned, meaning authorities rarely have to sanction an industry already under its thumb. Bottles of fish sauce on sale in Hanoi Hoang Dinh Nam (AFP) No reason was given for the order. But it comes after Thanh Nien was fined for reporting on a food scare that received widespread coverage mid-October. In Vietnam, fish sauce is consumed daily by most of the country's population of 93 million -- as a dipping sauce, marinade or in soups. A total of 50 news organisations were fined in November for running reports about high arsenic levels found in fish sauce, causing widespread panic. Thanh Nien newspaper received the highest fine. Authorities said the reports were misleading or incorrect because they failed to differentiate between highly toxic inorganic arsenic, and the less dangerous organic variety found commonly in seafood. Food scares have been a regular source of anxiety in Vietnam, often leading to public anger. US body fines Credit Suisse $16.5 mn for lax controls A US financial industry watchdog fined Credit Suisse $16.5 million for lax oversight to prevent money laundering, the agency announced Monday. The big Swiss bank was faulted for a number of omissions and failures in its system for identifying transactions that may be linked to illegal activity, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said. FINRA found that for two years, from January 2011 through 2013, Credit Suisse employees were not reporting suspicious activity and trades as they were required to do. Credit Suisse was faulted for a number of omissions and failures in its system for identifying transactions that may be linked to illegal activity, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Fabrice Coffrini (AFP/File) Investigators from the independent organization cited a hedge fund client whose transactions had traits typical of fraud, such as deposit, quick selling and then the wiring of the proceeds. "However no one at the firm reviewed the activity in the account for anti-money laundering purposes," FINRA said. In addition, from 2011 through 2015 Credit Suisse failed to adequately implement an automated surveillance system. The firm self-identified some of the problems, but "initially failed to devote adequate resources" to address the problem and "some of the deficiences remain unresolved today," FINRA said. Over 100 psychiatric patients escape as Kenya doctors strike More than 100 patients escaped from Kenya's only psychiatric hospital on Monday as doctors and nurses joined a national hospital strike for pay rises. Nairobi Police Commander Japheth Koome told AFP that police had launched an operation to return the patients to the hospital, as videos on social media showed them climbing over the hospital walls and running down a nearby highway in the capital. "We have already arrested dozens of the... patients who had escaped in an ongoing operation," Koome said. Psychiatric patients in Nairobi climbed over a wall to escape during a staff strike Tony Karumba (AFP/File) "The doctors messed (up) by leaving the patients unattended." Some 5,000 Kenyan doctors, pharmacists, dentists and nurses went on strike on Monday after negotiations between unions and government over a pay rise collapsed on Sunday. Unions are demanding a 300-percent pay rise for doctors and 25- to 40-percent pay rise for nurses that was agreed upon in a 2013 collective bargaining agreement, but has yet to be implemented. Hundreds of striking workers marched to the National Treasury wearing lab coats, masks and theatre caps before police dispersed the crowd with tear gas. "No amount of intimidation, no amount of propaganda will make us change our determination," said Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists' Union (KMPPDU) chairman Samuel Oroko. He said the public should be prepared for "the longest strike ever" as doctors would not return to work until their demands were met. Yemen's Hadi would only give way to 'elected' leader Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi would cede power only to an "elected" leader, after rejecting a UN peace roadmap asking him to hand over to a deputy, an official said Monday. Hadi made his statement during talks last week in Aden with UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who has begun a new attempt to restart negotiations between the government and Iran-backed rebels. The official said the roadmap, whose content was not made public, requires Hadi to cede power to a vice president named in agreement with the rebels, a plan the president rejected. Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi gestures during a meeting in Aden, on November 23, 2015 STR (AFP/File) Hadi referred to a former peace plan brokered by Gulf states, which stipulated that he would supervise the country's political transition. "The roadmap has contradicted the Gulf initiative in terms of the president's powers," the official told AFP, adding that Hadi should run Yemen during the transition and supervise national dialogue and elections. "He would pass his powers to an elected president," the official said. The Gulf initiative eased former president Ali Abdullah Saleh out of power in 2012 after 33 years in office following a year of nationwide protests. It also led to Hadi's election the same year. But in a blow to the political transition, Saleh allied himself with Shiite Huthi rebels who overran the capital in 2014 and expanded their control across Yemen, forcing Hadi to flee to Riyadh in March 2015. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the same month in support of Hadi's government. In his response to the UN mediator, Hadi demanded that Saleh and rebel chief Abdul Malik al-Huthi "abandon politics and be forced into a country of exile of their choice for 10 years". Status of main battle fronts in Iraq and Syria Here are the latest developments on the main battle fronts in Iraq and Syria, as of 1700 GMT on Monday: SYRIA - Battle for Aleppo - A Russian soldier inspects the damage at a field hospital that was reportedly destroyed by rebel shelling on December 5, 2016 in the Furqan neighbourhood of the government-held side of west Aleppo GEORGE OURFALIAN (AFP) Russia said it will hold talks with Washington on a total rebel withdrawal from Syria's Aleppo, where the army has made sweeping advances, but opposition factions rejected any pullout. The UN Security Council was due to vote on a draft resolution for a seven-day ceasefire in Aleppo. On the ground in the east, Syrian troops battled rebels in the Shaar district, which the army has almost completely encircled. President Bashar al-Assad's forces have seized two-thirds of the former rebel bastion in east Aleppo since they began an assault to recapture all of the city in mid-November. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 324 people have been killed in east Aleppo during the offensive, including 44 children. Rebel fire on the government-held west of the city has killed 73 people, including 29 children, in the same period, the monitor says. Two female Russian army medics were killed in shelling of a field hospital in Aleppo, Moscow said, blaming Western nations that back rebel fighters. Russia's defence ministry said a Sukhoi jet crashed into the sea after a malfunction as it tried to land on the carrier Admiral Kuznetsov in the eastern Mediterranean after a bombing raid in Syria. - Raqa - The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance, is trying to push closer to the Islamic State group's de facto Syrian capital of Raqa. The SDF has been battling the jihadists to drive them from positions around 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of the city. IRAQ - Battle for Mosul - Two days after taking control of Al-Ikha in eastern Mosul, Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service launched an assault on the city's Al-Taamim district, triggering heavy clashes. The special forces aim to join up with Iraqi soldiers advancing in southeast Mosul to head towards the Tigris river which divides the city. Since launching an offensive on October 17 to oust IS from its last Iraqi stronghold, pro-government forces say they have recaptured 40 percent of the eastern half of the city. Some 74,000 people have fled the fighting, but upwards of a million are still there. UN figures show that around 2,000 members of Iraqi forces and more than 900 civilians were killed in fighting across the country in November. Two senior Iraqi army officers were killed in clashes with IS in the Sharqat area, south of Mosul, Iraq's military command said. Here are street closings announced for Saturday: A Christmas Tail 5K & Mutt Strut: St. www.heschatt.org for more information. Lookout Valley Parade: This parade will take place from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. along Browns Ferry Road from Lookout Valley Elementary School to Walmart on Cummings Highway. Watch for closed lanes along Browns Ferry Road and Cummings Highway. In order to view a map of these closures, visit: http://www.chattanooga. gov/transportation/ traffic-eng ineering-a-operations/ special- events -a-street-closures Israel closes in on deal that could legalise 4,000 settler homes Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu closed in on a deal with a key rival Monday that could lead to approval of controversial legislation legalising nearly 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank. The bill has drawn harsh criticism internationally, with its main backer, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, calling it the start of Israel's eventual annexation of most of the West Bank. It would still need preliminary approval and three full votes at Israel's Knesset, or parliament, but an agreement between Netanyahu and Bennett would likely assure passage. Cranes and other machinery are seen on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza Strip, on September 8, 2016 Menahem Kahana (AFP) The bill has severely tested Netanyahu's coalition, seen as the most right-wing in Israeli history. A previous version was given preliminary approval last month. "With this law, the state of Israel has moved from the path leading to the creation of a Palestinian state to the path leading to (Israeli) sovereignty" over most of the West Bank, Bennett told army radio. Netanyahu told a meeting of members of his Likud party that "we have worked very hard to find a solution", while Israeli media reported that a compromise was at hand. The international community considers all settlements in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem and the West Bank to be illegal, whether they are authorised by the government or not. The Israeli government differentiates between those it has approved and those it has not. The agreement would see a wildcat Jewish outpost in the West Bank, known as Amona, removed from the bill. Amona, where around 40 families live, is under a court order to be evacuated by December 25 since it was built on Palestinian land. Some members of Netanyahu's coalition had previously said they could not support the bill if Amona remained part of it because of the court ruling against it. The agreement will instead see Amona residents temporarily moved to nearby land that Israeli officials describe as abandoned, until a permanent solution is found. Rights groups, however, say that land too is owned by Palestinians and that the move would violate international law. The bill's progress so far has alarmed many in the international community. The UN envoy for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, said the legislation "has the objective of protecting illegal settlements built on private Palestinian property in the West Bank. "It is a very worrying initiative. I encourage Israeli legislators to reconsider such a move that would have far-reaching legal consequences across the occupied West Bank." Bennett, from the religious nationalist Jewish Home party, is among members of Netanyahu's coalition who have made no secret of opposing a Palestinian state. Netanyahu says he still backs a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to settlement watchdog Peace Now, the bill, if Amona is removed, would legalise some 3,881 housing units. 1,300 migrants rescued in Mediterranean, 16 found dead Over 1,300 migrants have been rescued from the Mediterranean over the past 48 hours with 16 bodies recovered, the Italian coastguard said Monday. On Sunday, the Italian coast guard ship Diciotti discovered 11 bodies on a boat which had run into difficulty, while a commercial vessel intervening at another boat found three dead. The Aquarius, a relief vessel chartered by the NGOs SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), meanwhile, said efforts to resuscitate two women found on a dinghy had failed. According to the UN, at least 4,700 people have died or are missing feared drowned this year while trying to cross the Mediterranean ARIS MESSINIS (AFP/File) "Two women died of hypothermia in spite of the colossal efforts of the team. We are heartbroken, again," MSF said on Twitter. The reasons for the other deaths were not specified, but burns or fuel inhalation can prove fatal to already weakened migrants setting off from crisis-hit Libya, where abuse and torture is rife. A turn in the weather over winter usually slows departures, but the pace has remained steady this year while the number of NGO vessels patrolling off Libya has dropped sharply. A total of 285 migrants were rescued on Saturday, 791 on Sunday and 231 on Monday. All were packed into small wooden boats or inflatable dinghies which often begin to sink after just a few hours at sea. Among those pulled to safety were a number of Syrian families travelling with young children. Most of the over 173,000 migrants who have arrived this year in Italy have come from West Africa and the Horn of Africa. US fines Deloitte record $8mn over audit fraud in Brazil A US accounting watchdog hit Deloitte's Brazil division with a record $8 million fine for issuing false audits of a US-traded Brazilian airline and then doctoring papers to thwart an investigation, the agency said Monday. Brazil-based Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Auditores Independentes "knowingly issued materially false" audit reports for Brazilian carrier Gol Intelligent Airlines in 2010, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said in a statement. Numerous Deloitte Brazil personnel then sought to obstruct a PCAOB inspection in 2012, directing junior staff to alter documents and taking other steps to conceal the paper trail "with the knowledge and participation of senior firm leaders," the PCAOB said. Brazil-based Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Auditores Independentes "knowingly issued materially false" audit reports for Brazilian carrier Gol Intelligent Airlines in 2010, a US accounting watchdog said YASUYOSHI CHIBA (AFP) The case involves "some of the most serious misconduct the PCAOB has ever uncovered," agency enforcement chief Claudius Modesti said. Deloitte admitted to violating quality standards and to failing to cooperate with the investigation, the board said. In addition to the fine, Deloitte Brazil is required to appoint an independent monitor and is barred from accepting new work in certain areas until the monitor confirms progress in addressing the problems. The PCAOB also sanctioned a dozen former Deloitte Brazil officials, including the former audit practice leader, who was permanently barred from the industry. Others were fined sums of $10,000 or $20,000 and/or suspended or barred from practicing for one to five years. Nigeria says aid groups exaggerating hunger crisis Nigeria's presidency on Monday accused aid groups of exaggerating the food crisis sparked by the Boko Haram insurgency, accusing them of merely trying to drum up donations. Boko Haram jihadists have laid waste to northeast Nigeria since they took up arms against the government in 2009, displacing millions and disrupting farming and trade in their quest to establish a hardline Islamist state. Charity Save the Children estimates that 4.7 million people in the northeast need food assistance, with some 400,000 children at imminent risk of starvation. women and children queue to enter one of the Unicef nutrition clinics in Muna informal settlement, which now houses more than 16,000 IDPs (internaly displaced people) in the outskirts of Maiduguri the capital of Borno State, northeastern Nigeria STEFAN HEUNIS (AFP/File) But presidential spokesman Garba Shehu hit out at the claims, saying aid agencies had been attempting "to whip up a nonexistent fear of mass starvation". "One arm of the United Nations screamed that 100,000 people will die due to starvation next year," Shehu said in a statement. "We do not, however see the reason for the theories and hyperbolic claims being made ostensibly to draw donor support by some of the aid agencies." Shehu acknowledged that the brutal insurgency has led to "the displacement of more than two million people, mostly women and children". "Consequently, there is death, there is hunger and there is poor nutrition," he said. But he insisted that President Muhammadu Buhari's administration was handling the situation "with great sensitivity". Late on Monday, the United Nations said the response to the crisis "has been very well coordinated on both federal and state level in Nigeria" and that it was working closely with the government. "However, the reality is that if we don't receive the funding we require many thousands of people will die," Peter Lundberg, the UN's humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, said in a statement. The UN on Friday appealed for $1 billion (928 million euros) in humanitarian aid for northeast Nigeria, declaring it "the largest crisis on the African continent". "A projected 5.1 million people will face serious food shortages as the conflict and risk of unexploded improvised devices prevented farmers planting for a third year in a row," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. Government spokesman Shehu had in November admitted Nigeria was facing a potential disaster and urged cereal producers to concentrate on feeding the national market rather than exporting to neighbouring countries, warning: "If care is not taken, Nigeria could face a famine by January." India's filmstar politician dies after prolonged illness Jayalalithaa Jayaram, the chief minister of south India's Tamil Nadu state and one of the country's most popular political leaders, has died after a prolonged illness, hospital authorities announced late Monday night. "It is with indescribable grief, we announce the sad demise of our esteemed honourable chief minister of Tamil Nadu ... at 11:30pm (local time) today (December 5)," Chennai's Apollo Hospital said in a statement released to the media. Doctors had been treating the 68-year-old former film star, who enjoys an almost god-like status in Tamil Nadu. Supporters hold a photograph of Tamil Nadu state leader Jayalalithaa Jayaram as they offer prayers for her well being at a temple in Mumbai on December 5, 2016 INDRANIL MUKHERJEE (AFP) Hundreds of devotees have kept a round-the-clock vigil outside the private hospital in the state capital Chennai since she was first admitted in September suffering from a fever. Their numbers have swelled since her condition worsened on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences. "I will always cherish the innumerable occasions when I had the opportunity to interact with Jayalalithaa ji (honorific). May her soul rest in peace," Modi said on Twitter. Her political party, AIADMK, on Twitter said: "our beloved leader, the Iron lady of India... Amma, is no more." To millions of her followers, the chief minister was known simply as "Amma" (mother). The party also announced that her body would be kept at a prominent public hall in the city for people to pay their last respects. - Populist schemes - The southern state had been tense since Sunday after reports that her health had worsened and she had been put on life support. Earlier on Monday, scuffles broke out outside the hospital as many from the thousands of her supporters who had gathered outside tried to break through the police barricades. Images on Indian news channels from across Chennai showed many men and women crying after her death was finally confirmed. The police and security presence had been beefed up across the state over fears of chaos from the chief minister's angry and emotional followers. Jayalalithaa had earned the loyalty of many voters in the state with a series of highly populist schemes, including "Amma canteens" that provided lunch for just three rupees (five cents). She was also one of the country's most polarising politicians, accused of being dictatorial and was even jailed for corruption. Several of her supporters resorted to self-harm when she was briefly jailed in 2014 on charges of corruption. Her conviction, later overturned on appeal, sparked mass protests and even some reported suicides. Thousands of directors, actors and producers in the successful Tamil language film industry went on hunger strike to demand her release. Jayalalithaa's death has also plunged one of India's most economically powerful states into a period of political uncertainty. Her trusted cabinet aide, O Panneerselvam, was sworn-in as the chief minister of the state after midnight. Panneerselvam has been a lifelong loyalist of Jayalalithaa and she had earlier given him charge of the state when she had to step down over corruption charges. Observers now worry whether a loyalist, without real charisma or mass support, will be able to rule smoothly in the absence of the firebrand leader. After midnight, thousands of people lined both sides of the roads in Chennai trying to catch a glimpse of the late leader as her body was taken from the hospital to her residence in another part of the city. Images on local news channels showed police struggling to maintain order with the crowds swelling, particularly around her residence. "I will always cherish the innumerable occasions when I had the opportunity to interact with Jayalalithaa ji (honorific). May her soul rest in peace," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter LALIT KUMAR (PIB/AFP/File) Indian supporters of Jayalalithaa Jayaram react outside the hospital where she was being treated in Chennai on December 5, 2016 ARUN SANKAR (AFP) Two Muslim NY women subject to hate crimes in 36 hours Two Muslim women working for authorities in New York suffered hate crimes just 36 hours apart, officials said Monday, following an explosion in such incidents across America since the election of Donald Trump. A uniformed city transit employee was taken to hospital with injuries to her knee and ankle after being pushed down the stairs at Grand Central Station, the bustling rail hub in the heart of Manhattan, en route to work Monday. A male suspect allegedly pushed the station agent and called her "terrorist," said Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Nearly 900 incidents of hate and intolerance were recorded across the country in the first 10 days after Donald Trump's election Jason Redmond (AFP) On Monday, another man was held on a $50,000 bail on a hate crime charge after an off-duty Muslim police officer was harassed in Brooklyn while out with her 16-year-old son Saturday evening, prosecutors said. Cuomo said a subway train was also found vandalized with swastika graffiti on Saturday and that Ku Klux Klan fliers and business cards were distributed at two stations on the Long Island Rail Road last week. Cuomo and city mayor Bill de Blasio, both vehement critics of Trump, said hate crimes would be prosecuted and not tolerated. De Blasio linked a rising number of incidents to rhetoric from Trump on the campaign trail disparaging illegal immigrants, women and Muslims. "Do I blame Donald Trump for using hate speech during his campaign? Absolutely. He did. It's a fact. He said horrible things about Muslims, horrible things about Mexican Americans," he told reporters. Police officer Aml Elsokary, who proudly wears her hijab on duty, appeared at a news conference alongside de Blasio, who has hailed her a hero for running into a burning building to help save a young girl and her grandmother. "I became a police officer to show the positive side of a New Yorker, a Muslim woman, that can do the job," Elsokary told reporters. "I'm born and raised here and Im here to protect you," she added. Around 900 Muslim Americans currently serve in the New York police department, the largest city force in the country. Police said Monday that hate crimes were up 35 percent in the city from last year but that arrests in those cases were also up 45 percent. Most reported hate crimes are anti-Semitic, police said. New York is America's largest city and one of its most diverse with more than three million of its 8.55 million population foreign-born. Nearly 900 incidents of hate and intolerance were recorded across the country in the first 10 days after Trump's election, many by assailants apparently emboldened by his victory, an advocacy group reported last week. Trump's shock November 8 defeat of Hillary Clinton, who was bidding to become America's first female president, was cheered by white supremacists and others fired up by his rhetoric. Nigerian state seeks to prosecute pro-Iran leader Authorities in northern Nigeria on Monday called for the prosecution of the leader of the pro-Iran Islamic Movement of Nigeria, whose detention after deadly clashes between his supporters and soldiers was recently overturned by a federal court. The government of Kaduna State said Ibrahim Zakzaky, the head of the Shiite IMN, should be tried for the group's alleged "lawlessness" for the past 30 years. It said he should be "held responsible, fully investigated and prosecuted" for all the "acts of lawlessness committed by the organisation". After a Nigerian federal court ordered pro-Iran Islamic Movement of Nigeria leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky's release on December 2, 2016, state authorities called for prosecution on December 5, 2016 Aminu Abubakar (AFP/File) Kaduna's government accuses the IMN of "allegiance to a foreign power", an apparent reference to Iran. The call came just days after a federal high court ordered the government to free Zakzaky, who has been detained without trial since December last year, within 45 days. On Friday, Justice Gabriel Kolawole ordered that Zakzaky and his wife should be released and provided with decent accommodation and awarded the couple $158,000 (146,000 euros) in damages. Zakzaky was arrested after two days of violence last December, when his supporters refused to allow the chief of army staff's convoy to pass through the northern city of Zaria in Kaduna state. In April, rights group Amnesty International accused Nigeria's military of shooting dead more than 300 Shiite Muslims, burying them in mass graves and destroying evidence of the crime. Zakzaky was shot and injured, leaving him partly paralysed and blinded in one eye while his home and several sect religious centres were demolished. The new order against Zakzaky could threaten his release as the Kaduna state government could file charges against him. The military has claimed the IMN was trying to kill Nigerian army chief Lieutenant-General Tukur Yusuf Buratai during the unrest. In October, the Kaduna government banned the IMN as an illegal group and a security threat. The latest move could heighten tensions in a country where the army is fighting Boko Haram Sunni jihadists in the north and militants sabotaging oil installations in the southern Niger delta. Judge Kolawole warned against demonising the IMN, warning that if Zakzaky died in custody it would result "in many needless deaths." Draft law on settler homes passes first hurdle in Israel A controversial draft law that could lead to the legalisation of nearly 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank passed a preliminary vote in Israel's parliament on Monday. The bill, which was voted for by 60 deputies to 49 and still has to be adopted in three readings before becoming law, has already attracted strong international criticism. The draft is the fruit of a compromise between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the bill's main backer, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who has called it the start of Israel's eventual annexation of most of the West Bank. A draft law that could lead to the legalisation of nearly 4,000 settler homes has already attracted strong international criticism Menahem Kahana (AFP/File) Agreement between the two is likely to assure the draft bill's eventual passage through the Knesset, or parliament. Bennett, from the religious nationalist Jewish Home party, is among members of Netanyahu's coalition who have made no secret of opposing a Palestinian state. Netanyahu says he still backs a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Opposition leader Isaac Herzog, who heads the Labour party, denounced the law by equating its adoption with a "national suicide". The bill has severely tested Netanyahu's coalition, seen as the most right-wing in Israeli history. A previous version was given preliminary approval last month. "With this law, the state of Israel has moved from the path leading to the creation of a Palestinian state to the path leading to (Israeli) sovereignty" over most of the West Bank, Bennett told army radio. The international community considers all settlements in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem and the West Bank to be illegal, whether they are authorised by the government or not. - Court order - The Israeli government differentiates between those it has approved and those it has not. Before Monday's vote, Netanyahu and Bennett agreed on a vote on the draft bill and the displacement of some 40 families from the wildcat settlement of Amona near Ramallah. Amona is under a court order to be evacuated by December 25 since it was built on Palestinian land. Some members of Netanyahu's coalition had previously said they could not support the bill if Amona remained part of it because of the court ruling against it. The agreement will instead see Amona residents temporarily moved to nearby land that Israeli officials describe as abandoned, until a permanent solution is found. Rights groups, however, say that land too is owned by Palestinians and that the move would violate international law. Amona residents would be able to "stay on the hill where they are settled" but "move a few tens of metres", Netanyahu told his Likud parliamentary group. "They would be able to stay there as a community, and this is a very important news." The bill's progress has alarmed many in the international community. The UN envoy for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, said the legislation "has the objective of protecting illegal settlements built on private Palestinian property in the West Bank. "It is a very worrying initiative. I encourage Israeli legislators to reconsider such a move that would have far-reaching legal consequences across the occupied West Bank." According to settlement watchdog Peace Now, the bill, if Amona is removed, would legalise some 3,881 housing units. Russia, China veto UN resolution demanding Aleppo truce Russia and China on Monday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a seven-day ceasefire in the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo. Venezuela also voted against the text, while Angola abstained. The 11 other council members voted in favor. The vote marked the sixth time Russia has blocked a council resolution on Syria since the conflict began in March 2011, and the fifth for China. A Russian soldier inspects the damage at a field hospital that was reportedly destroyed by rebel shelling in the Furqan neighbourhood of the government-held side of west Aleppo GEORGE OURFALIAN (AFP) A close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow had expressed strong reservations about the text, the subject of weeks of negotiations. In an eleventh-hour effort, Russia tried to postpone the vote until at least Tuesday, when the Americans and Russians are set to meet in Geneva. But the text's main backers -- Paris, London and Washington -- decided to go ahead anyway. Russia says the Geneva talks will concern a plan for all rebel fighters to withdraw from eastern Aleppo, under siege by the regime. But the rebels have rejected the plan. The two sides "are close to an agreement on the basic elements," Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said. But deputy US envoy Michele Sison suggested there was no deal, accusing Churkin of using a "made-up alibi." "We will not let Russia string along the Security Council," she added. "We will continue bilateral negotiations (with Russia) to relieve the suffering in Aleppo, but we have not reached a breakthrough because Russia wants to keep its military gains." - 'Fragile glimpse of hope' - Had the resolution been adopted, it would have been a "fragile glimpse of hope" and allowed to "save lives," French ambassador Francois Delattre said. He accused Russia of having "decided to take Aleppo regardless of the human cost." But Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi said the council "should have continued negotiations," criticizing "politicization of humanitarian issues." In Paris, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault denounced "Russian obstruction." The veto prevents the Security Council from "assuming its responsibilities to Syria's civilian population, which faces the destructive madness of the Bashar al-Assad regime, as well as terrorist groups, starting with Daesh," he said, using a term for the Islamic State jihadist group. "The military escalation is... a stalemate that only aggravates the population's suffering and nourishes terrorism," Ayrault added. Human Rights Watch also condemned the veto. "Russia seems to not want any interference with its & Iran's joint military ops with Syria military in Aleppo, despite cost to civilians," the group's UN director Louis Charbonneau tweeted. The draft text demanded that "all parties to the Syrian conflict shall cease... any and all attacks in the city of Aleppo." It also called for the sides to "allow urgent humanitarian needs to be addressed," meaning permitting emergency services to enter and serve tens of thousands of residents in the besieged areas. The resolution's drafters wanted the temporary ceasefire to pave the way for a cessation of hostilities across Syria, although that would not have applied to military operations targeting "terrorist groups" such as the Islamic State group or ex-Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, previously known as Al-Nusra. A man from New Zealand has become the latest person to claim that late pop icon Prince is his father. Max Stacey McCormack has contacted the Purple Rain star's estate claiming to be the late singer's son, and lawyers have agreed to carry out DNA tests on him. Nevertheless, David Crosby, a lawyer representing Prince's estate, made no secret of his doubts about the claim, while admitting it was 'theoretically possible' the star had sex with McCormack's mother. Icon: Max Stacey McCormack is the latest person to claim late pop icon Prince, who died in April, was his father The claim comes after a claim by an imprisoned rapper, who alleged Prince was his father, was thrown out. The musician, full name Prince Rogers Nelson, had no recognised child or spouse. He died in April, but did not leave a will. In July a Minnesota judge dismissed claims from 29 would-be heirs, including four who claimed to be his children. McCormack, who is from Invercargill on New Zealand's southern tip, submitted as evidence a photo of a person who had a 'mild physical resemblance' to Prince, but did not appear to be him, Crosby said. Prince was one of the most influential musicians of his generation, with hits including Kiss, When Doves Cry and Purple Rain In a cutting response, Crosby wrote to the claimant: 'We must admit that we are somewhat skeptical of your claim, given our understanding that (Prince) was completing high school in Minnesota in 1976, as opposed to living in New Zealand for several months.' YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE RICH: THE ESTATE PRINCE LEFT Prince's estate is worth about $200 million, a new court filing suggests. It's the first time a specific estimate has emerged publicly from court proceedings following Prince's April overdose death. Since he left no known will, the rock superstar's sister and five half-siblings are in line to inherit equal shares of the estate - after taxes gobble up about half of it. Fellow rockstar David Bowie, who died in January, had an estate worth about $100 million, according to his will. Advertisement In a letter filed with a Minnesota court, Crosby said it was nevertheless theoretically possible that McCormack's mother had sex with Prince. He gave the New Zealander and his mother until December 12 to arrange DNA tests. Very little is known about the new claimant, the latest in a long line of people to allege Prince was their parent. A 2007 article in the newspaper The Southland Times said McCormack, then 30, was in court for allegedly injuring a woman's eye with a machete. Prince died on April 21 from an accidental painkiller overdose and left no will. This has set off a flurry of claims from people seeking to inherit his multimillion-dollar estate and vast song catalogue. A judge last week dismissed a claim from Carlin Williams, an imprisoned rapper who said his mother had sex with Prince in a Kansas City hotel. A judge last week dismissed a claim from Carlin Williams, an imprisoned rapper who said his mother had sex with Prince in a Kansas City hotel Prince (pictured in 2006) died in April from an accidental painkiller overdose, and left no will Prince left behind a sister and five half-siblings but no recognized child or spouse Williams, who has rapped about killing his alleged father, failed a DNA test and the judge, Kevin Eide, formally excluded him as an heir after a dispute about his request for a new examination. Others who have come forward to claim Prince's estate include a woman who said she had secretly married Prince in Las Vegas and a man in California who said the musician quietly promised him $1 billion. Linda Triplett, Charlotte Smalley and Pennie Layne pack bags with hats, cloves, socks, and scarves. Michael Lindsey, who prepared the soup, with Faith Morgan, Community Kitchen manager (right) Linda Triplett, Jaunita Jennings, Jerry Triplett and Charlotte Smalley, (left) Michael Lindsey, after the meal and cleaning is almost done Front, Linda Triplett and Susan Lindsey (back) Juanita Jennings and Charlotte Smalley Previous Next Members of the Judge David Campbell Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution served dinner Saturday at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen at 727 East 11th St., along with Michael Lindsey and Jerry Triplett. Mr. Lindsey made a hearty 15-bean soup and members of the chapter furnished bread sticks and sliced peaches for desert. Not only did they provide a meal for the diners, but also presented them with bags containing a pair of gloves, two pairs of socks, a stocking cap, and a fleece scarf made by chapter members. The original intent was to reach veterans in the local area who are struggling with housing; however, as the project developed, the chapter desired to help all who would dine at the kitchen. Members assisting with serving dinner and handing out the packages of winter wear were Regent Susan Lindsey, Service for Veterans committee member Sally Michaud, Linda Triplett, Juanita Jennings, Betty Damon, Charlotte Smalley and Pennie Layne. One hundred and thirty bags were handed out; however, over 300 scarves were cut by chapter members over a three-month period. The remaining scarves will be given to individual veterans at various activities over the next few months. Many of the children also received stocking hats and scarves. To learn more about the Judge David Campbell Chapter of the DAR, email judgedavidcampbell@tndar.org. US Supreme Court split in cases on race and redistricting The US Supreme Court appeared split Monday during hearings in two cases that combine race and politics -- accusations that two states have packed African-Americans into a small number of districts to limit their voting clout. The legislatures in North Carolina and Virginia stand accused of showing racial bias in redrawing the map of electoral districts to sideline African-American voters in the southern states, who traditionally back Democratic candidates. The eight justices, who heard the cases less than a month after a bitterly partisan election that illustrated the divide between white and minority voters, must decide whether lawmakers indeed engaged in discriminatory practices. The U.S. Supreme Court appeared split during two case hearings accusing North Carolina and Virginia of limiting African-Americans voting clout Jim Watson (AFP/File) Pointing to the changes in one Virginia district, Justice Stephen Breyer said, "They moved 11,293 people out and 17,000 in. So let's look at those people." "The ones they moved out were three-quarters or something white, and the ones they moved in were three-quarters or something black. So that's pretty similar," he said. "It seems to me they paid a lot of attention to race." - 'Very, very complicated' - But North Carolina and Virginia insist they made good-faith efforts to abide by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlaws racial discrimination in the US electoral process. The law requires states to take into account their minority populations -- generally prohibiting reducing minority-voting power through redistricting -- but not make that the defining principle in drawing up electoral maps. "The Voting Rights Act makes the consideration of race absolutely necessary," argued Paul Clement, a lawyer representing both states. The justices allowed the lawyers to speak at length, repeatedly grappling over the challenge of finding a balance in considering race when drawing political boundaries. "This is all -- as you lay it out -- very, very complicated," Justice Samuel Alito said at one point. "The state legislature has to redistrict a huge -- a large number of districts in a short amount of time using a multifactor, vague predominance standard." However, Democrats say Republicans overstepped their authority to boost their political power by drawing lopsided maps in both states, which have an almost equal number of Republicans and Democrats. "Legislators have a great deal of freedom in designing district maps but they cannot purposefully target and diminish the political power of minority voters for political gain," said The Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan organization that has submitted friend-of-the-court briefs in both cases. The organization cited the case of North Carolina's redrawing of its congressional map in 2011, shortly after Democratic President Barack Obama, a target of the conservative Tea Party movement, lost his majority in the US House of Representatives. The state legislature intentionally packed thousands of black voters into two congressional districts where they already consistently elected their preferred candidates, it said. By raising the populations of voting-age African-Americans in those districts to above 50 percent, "the General Assembly sought to diminish the impact of black voters in other parts of the state," the center said. - Gerrymandering - The Supreme Court has already dealt with questions of gerrymandering, in which districts are divided up to give one party an unfair majority advantage in voting strength. In 2015, it backed black and Democratic opponents of Alabama's 2012 redistricting, saying the southern state's Republican-led legislature had given racial considerations too much weight. The redrawing of electoral maps to gain political advantage is a long-used tool by US political parties. The term gerrymandering comes from the name of a 19th-century US vice president, Elbridge Gerry, who as governor of Massachusetts carved up electoral districts into what looked like a salamander. The press dubbed the map The Gerry-mander. The new case heard Monday by the eight Supreme Court justices -- a seat remains vacant after the death of one justice -- comes amid criticism of the US electoral system heightened by the recent US presidential election. In several states, organizations have condemned recent legislation aimed at combating voter fraud as covert actions to reduce minority voting power. In one case, the Republican-led legislature of North Carolina in 2013 adopted a law prohibiting voter registration on the day of the vote, and requiring in-person voters to show photo identity cards such as driver's licenses, which African-Americans disproportionally lack. However, a federal appeals court struck down those provisions last July, noting the measures "target African-Americans with almost surgical precision." Students waiting to vote in North Carolina where The Campaign Legal claims "the General Assembly sought to diminish the impact of black voters in other parts of the state" Sara D. Davis (Getty/AFP/File) PICTURED: Editor selections from the past week in Asia At least 200,000 conservative Muslims rallied peacefully in Indonesia's capital last week in the second major protest against Jakarta's minority Christian governor, who is being prosecuted for alleged blasphemy. The blasphemy controversy has challenged the image of tolerance associated with Islam in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. In other images from the Asia-Pacific region last week, Thailand has a new king, with the country's crown prince formally taking the throne to succeed his much-revered late father, who reigned for 70 years. Rallying for the sixth straight weekend in what has become perhaps South Korea's biggest protest movement ever, demonstrators in Seoul got the closest yet to the president they desperately want removed. The demonstration came hours after lawmakers formally launched an attempt to impeach President Park Geun-hye and set up a floor vote for as early as this Friday. In this Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 photo released by Bureau of the Royal Household, Thailand's new king Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun pays his respects to a portrait of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit at the Dusit Palace in Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand has a new king, with the country's crown prince formally taking the throne to succeed his much-revered late father, who reigned for 70 years. (Bureau of the Royal Household via AP, File) West Papuan protesters faced off with police in Indonesia's capital in a demonstration calling for the remote region's independence. Rights groups accuse the Indonesian military of serious human rights abuses in Papua, and some Melanesian island states have also voiced concerns and called for Papuan independence. Two separatist Hong Kong lawmakers lost their appeal against a ruling disqualifying them from office because they altered their oaths with an anti-China insult. ___ This gallery was curated by Associated Press photo editor Toru Takahashi in Tokyo. In this Friday, Dec. 2, 2016 photo, thousands of Muslims gather during a protest against Jakarta's minority Christian Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama who is being prosecuted for blasphemy, at the National Monument in Jakarta, Indonesia. Tens of thousands of conservative Muslims rallied in the Indonesian capital on Friday in the second major protest in a month against its minority Christian governor. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim, File) In this Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 photo, children walk through a fog enveloped field early in the morning in New Delhi, India. A thick blanket of fog engulfed Delhi, the national capital region and much of northern India, disrupting road, rail and air traffic. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File ) In this Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016 photo, Indonesian soldiers hold up headbands in the color of the national flag during a military-sponsored interfaith rally held ahead of the planned Dec. 2, Muslim protest against Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama in Jakarta, Indonesia. Thousands of Indonesians have joined interfaith rallies around the country organized by the military in an attempt to demonstrate national unity as religious and racial tensions divide the worlds largest Muslim nation. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim, File) In this Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 photo, a West Papuan protester shouts slogans as he and others are taken away on a police truck during a rally calling for the remote region's independence, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Dozens of demonstrators were blocked from marching onto a busy traffic circle in the capital by several hundred police who fired water cannons and dragged men from the crowd into waiting police vans. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara, File) In this Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016 photo, a protester wearing a mask of South Korean President Park Geun-hye performs during a rally calling for Park to step down in Seoul, South Korea. Park's conditional resignation offer appears to be causing cracks in what previously had been a strong push for her impeachment, with opponents now struggling to set a date for a vote to strip her of power. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File) In this Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016 photo, protesters shout slogans during a rally calling for South Korean President Park Geun-hye to step down in Seoul, South Korea. Banners held by the protesters read: "Arrest Park Geun-hye." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File) In this Friday, Dec. 2, 2016 photo, a Thai Buddhist monk walks past portraits of Thailand's newly appointed King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun in Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand's new king has carried out his first official duty, attending a solemn religious ceremony to honor his father and predecessor, who died seven weeks ago. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File) In this Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016 photo, newly elected Hong Kong lawmakers Sixtus Leung, left, and Yau Wai-ching listen to reporters questions during a press conference outside the high court in Hong Kong. The two lawmakers lost their appeal Wednesday against a ruling disqualifying them from office because they altered their oaths with an anti-China insult. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File) In this Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 photo, Indian laborers sit inside a storage facility for iron bars at the old quarters of New Delhi, India. A lot of regular activities and business involving payment in cash is seeing at least a temporary slowdown after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Nov. 8 televised address, announced demonetization of India's 500 and 1,000-rupee notes, which made up 86 percent of the country's currency. (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal, File) In this Friday, Dec. 2, 2016 photo, children jot down notes on their booklet as they look at ammonite fossils on display at the Museum of Natural History during a school outing in Beijing. Majority of schools in the capital city often organize outings for children to have the opportunity to develop their minds and bodies through far-reaching educational programs. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File) In this Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016 photo, an elderly Kashmiri Muslim man prays seated on dried leaves on a cold and foggy day in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir. Parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir region is experiencing cold and foggy conditions after fresh snowfall in the Himalayan mountain ranges in the past few days. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File) Bear hunt resumes, firearms only, after upright bear's death FREDON, N.J. (AP) Hunters have headed out across parts of the state for the second half of this year's bear hunt following the apparent death of a bear that walked upright like a human. The firearms-only hunt started shortly before daybreak Monday, though officials say early morning fog cut visibility for hunters and reduced animal movements before it burned off in early afternoon. About 2 inches of snow had fallen overnight in the higher-elevation areas. The hunt is scheduled to last through Saturday, but officials have said it could end early depending on how many bears are culled in the coming week. FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015, file photo, a woman holds a sign with a bear near the Statehouse in Trenton, N.J., as she and other animal activists renewed their calls for New Jersey officials to help ensure the welfare of a bear that walks upright and has become a social media darling. The death of a black bear presumed to be "Pedals" who walked upright on its hind legs due to an injury, is now serving as a rallying cry for those opposed to New Jersey's bear hunt. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File) Hunters killed 562 bears during October's six-day hunt, which was limited to bows and arrows and muzzle-loading guns, and 23 percent of them were previously tagged bears. This week's hunt will be suspended once the cumulative harvest rate of tagged bears reaches 30 percent. New Jersey approved resuming the bear hunt in 2003 after more than 30 years. Hunters and wildlife officials say the hunt is a way to curb a growing bruin population that was increasingly crossing paths with humans, but animal welfare groups and some lawmakers say the hunt causes more problems and is inhumane. Opponents are rallying behind the apparent death of Pedals, a bipedal bear believed to have been killed in October's hunt. Pedals walked upright like a human and was seen in numerous videos, becoming a celebrity. Pedals first surfaced about two years ago in Jefferson Township. The bear walked with an unusual gait on its hind legs and was spotted ambling around neighborhoods. It appeared in videos posted online and shown on national television. The New Jersey Herald reports that roughly two dozen people gathered early Monday at the Whittingham Wildlife Management Area in Fredon to peacefully show their opposition to the hunt. Officials said no arrests had been reported. Some protesters yelled "stop the killing" and "murderers" while another read what was intended as a eulogy for a killed bear as the first few hunters carried their kills to the check-in station at the wildlife area. ___ 2 cars submerged in San Antonio sinkhole; 1 man rescued SAN ANTONIO (AP) A San Antonio official says a 60-year-old man has been rescued after two cars were submerged inside a sinkhole created when a large sewer line ruptured. San Antonio Fire Battalion Chief Brian O'Neil tells the Express-News (http://bit.ly/2fYkHNJ ) that a woman sustained minor injuries when she rescued the man who drove into the sinkhole Sunday night. O'Neil says the man and woman were taken to the hospital and are "in good shape." Authorities were trying to determine if there was another person inside one of the vehicles. Officials were trying to figure out a way to stop the flow of the sewer line to allow emergency crews to get through. The San Antonio Water System reports that there had been four other sewer spill overflows on Sunday. ___ 'We have lost everything': Syrians return to ravaged Aleppo ALEPPO, Syria (AP) Amina Hamawy burst into tears and then fainted when she returned to eastern Aleppo to find that looters had ransacked her home. "Where am I? What happened?" she asked after her husband and daughter revived her. "We have lost everything." They were among a few hundred residents who fled fighting in the Hanano neighborhood last month and were able to return after government forces drove out Syrian rebels, whose besieged and bombed out enclave in eastern Aleppo has begun to collapse. After registering with authorities, Hamawy's family was driven past blackened shells of buildings and mounds of rubble, devastation wrought by more than four years of near-daily airstrikes, including explosives-filled barrels dropped from helicopters. In this Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016 photo, Amina Hamawy cries after she returned to her looted home in the Hanano district of eastern Aleppo, Syria. It's a painful homecoming shared by hundreds of Syrians who are returning to areas devastated by years of war and then retaken from the city's embattled rebels in a recent government offensive. More than 30,000 people have fled Aleppo since the latest government offensive began last month, joining the more than 10 million Syrians -- nearly half the population -- who have fled their homes since the conflict began. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) Their single-story home was still intact, but the television, electrical cables and a large battery that supplied power for the home had been taken, either by retreating rebels, advancing forces or thieves exploiting the chaos. The looters left the old refrigerator and the washing machine behind. "If it had been a new, fully automatic one they would have stolen it," said Hamid Malaji, Hamawy's husband. "The work of decades disappeared in a few hours." It could be much worse. His family survived and was able to flee when government forces moved in. And their gray and white cat emerged when they returned, meowing from hunger but otherwise unharmed. Few residents of eastern Aleppo have been as fortunate. The city became the epicenter of Syria's civil war when the rebels captured the eastern districts, starting with Hanano, in the summer of 2012. The city has been fiercely contested since then, and earlier this year government forces fully besieged rebel-held eastern Aleppo, where nearly every hospital has been destroyed, and so many people have been killed that there are few places left to bury them. The rebels are finally buckling under the pressure. They have been retreating for more than a week, and while a prolonged battle is expected in the narrow streets of Aleppo's Old City, government forces are likely to prevail. The loss of eastern Aleppo would mark the greatest victory for President Bashar Assad's forces and his Russian and Iranian allies since the conflict began in 2011 with peaceful protests against his family's four-decade rule. More than 30,000 people have fled Aleppo since the latest government offensive began last month, joining the more than 10 million Syrians nearly half the population who have fled their homes since the conflict began. Abdul-Ghani Kassab, a senior official in the Aleppo governorate, said 750 families have returned to Hanano, which was home to tens of thousands before the conflict began. He said 40 percent of the buildings will have to be demolished because they cannot be renovated. The Syrian government and humanitarian agencies are providing aid to those who have returned, meeting them as they disembark from green government buses. On Sunday, volunteers with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent distributed mattresses, blankets, food baskets and diapers. They also handed out large sheets of plastic that could be used to cover smashed windows or doors. Doctors standing outside ambulances diagnosed patients and prescribed medicine or vitamins. One woman arrived with her husband, who was ill and could barely walk. He was forced to leave eastern Aleppo yet again, this time rushed away in an ambulance to a hospital in the government-held west. In this Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016 photo, Amina Hamawy, right, and her daughter Nisrin Malaji return to their looted home in the Hanano district of eastern Aleppo, Syria. It's a painful homecoming shared by hundreds of Syrians who are returning to areas devastated by years of war and then retaken from the city's embattled rebels in a recent government offensive. More than 30,000 people have fled Aleppo since the latest government offensive began last month, joining the more than 10 million Syrians -- nearly half the population -- who have fled their homes since the conflict began. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) In this Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016 photo, Radia Malaji feeds her cat, that she left at home for 8 days when her family fled fighting, after returning, in the Hanano district of eastern Aleppo, Syria. It's a painful homecoming shared by hundreds of Syrians who are returning to areas devastated by years of war and then retaken from the city's embattled rebels in a recent government offensive. More than 30,000 people have fled Aleppo since the latest government offensive began last month, joining the more than 10 million Syrians -- nearly half the population -- who have fled their homes since the conflict began. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) In this Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016 photo, the Hamawy family cat eats after she was left alone at home for 8 days, as the family returns to their looted home in the Hanano district of eastern Aleppo, Syria. It's a painful homecoming shared by hundreds of Syrians who are returning to areas devastated by years of war and then retaken from the city's embattled rebels in a recent government offensive. More than 30,000 people have fled Aleppo since the latest government offensive began last month, joining the more than 10 million Syrians -- nearly half the population -- who have fled their homes since the conflict began. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) In this Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016 photo, Nisrin Malaji returns to her looted home in the Hanano district of eastern Aleppo, Syria. It's a painful homecoming shared by hundreds of Syrians who are returning to areas devastated by years of war and then retaken from the city's embattled rebels in a recent government offensive. More than 30,000 people have fled Aleppo since the latest government offensive began last month, joining the more than 10 million Syrians -- nearly half the population -- who have fled their homes since the conflict began. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) In this Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016 photo, Hamid Malaji returns to his looted home with his wife Amina Hamawy, center and his daughter Radia Malaji, in the Hanano district of eastern Aleppo, Syria. It's a painful homecoming shared by hundreds of Syrians who are returning to areas devastated by years of war and then retaken from the city's embattled rebels in a recent government offensive. More than 30,000 people have fled Aleppo since the latest government offensive began last month, joining the more than 10 million Syrians -- nearly half the population -- who have fled their homes since the conflict began. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) In this Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016 photo, Amina Hamawy, right and her daughters Radia Malaji, and Nisrin Malaji, ride in a pickup truck as they return to their looted home in the Hanano district of eastern Aleppo, Syria. It's a painful homecoming shared by hundreds of Syrians who are returning to areas devastated by years of war and then retaken from the city's embattled rebels in a recent government offensive. More than 30,000 people have fled Aleppo since the latest government offensive began last month, joining the more than 10 million Syrians -- nearly half the population -- who have fled their homes since the conflict began. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) Democrats looking to reclaim Midwestern supporters DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) With the dust now settled from the election, Democrats are looking to rebuild the political "blue wall" of traditionally Democratic upper Midwest and Great Lakes states that Republican Donald Trump captured with an appeal to white, working-class voters. Hillary Clinton's failure to hold key blocs of these voters helped seal Trump's stunning electoral victory and leaves Democrats with a gaping, perhaps long-term, hole in the party's national battle front. Trump boasted of his accomplishment at a post-election rally in Ohio. The president-elect crowed: "We didn't break it, we shattered that sucker. We shattered it, man. That poor wall is busted up." In this Dec. 1, 2016, photo, President-elect Donald Trump smiles as he speaks during the first stop of his post-election tour in Cincinnati. Democrats need to rebuild the political blue wall of traditionally Democratic upper Midwest and Great Lakes states that Republican Donald Trump captured with an appeal to white, working-class voters. Hillary Clintons failure to hold key blocs of these voters helped seal Trumps stunning electoral victory and leaves Democrats with a gaping, perhaps long-term, hole in the partys national battle front. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) Trump carried Michigan and Pennsylvania, where Democratic nominees had won the previous six presidential elections. Trump also won Wisconsin, carried by Democrats in seven straight tries, and Iowa, carried just once by a Republican over the same period. In each, Trump vastly outperformed 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney in rural areas, while also seizing more typically Democratic-voting small cities and working-class suburbs. Should Democratic voting continue to lag behind Republicans in midterm elections, as it did in in 2014, the results could be devastating in two years when the party will defend Senate seats in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and try to retake governorships in Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin. "Democrats suffered the consequences of apathy and selective amnesia over the past midterms and arrogance over the presidential electorate," said Haley Morris, a senior adviser to Democrat Gary Peters' Michigan Senate campaign, among the Democrats' few 2014 victories in the region. "We got walloped across the Midwest in 2010 and 2014. Democrats had a glimpse of what the results could look like without Barack Obama on the ticket and ignored it." Mark Jefferson, the Republican National Committee's Midwest regional political director, said the GOP consistently focused on "blue-collar Reagan Democrats, who were heavily trending toward Trump." County-specific, unofficial national voting data tabulated by The Associated Press shows Clinton received fewer votes than Trump in places Democrats had banked on for consecutive elections, and even decades, such as Dubuque County, Iowa. Trump edged Clinton by fewer than 1,000 votes in this northeast Iowa county known for its small-city namesake on the Mississippi River and its once thriving manufacturing economy. Trump became the first Republican to carry Dubuque County since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. Clinton's 22,774 Dubuque County total fell roughly 6,000 fewer short of Obama's 28,768 in 2012, and more than 1,000 behind his 23,791 in 2008. Dubuque's Rebecca Thoeni, a lifelong Democrat until recently, said Clinton did not seem to reach out to her or her peers in 2016. "Then I saw Donald Trump, and he got out there and showed he was serious about keeping jobs," said Thoeni, who attended a Dubuque Trump rally in January. "He explained things in layman's terms. That's what changed me." Thoeni's is a scenario that echoed loudly around the country, where six in 10 white women without college degrees said they voted for Trump, according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press by Edison Research. The rate was even higher among white, non-college educated men. And it played out in the thousands in Macomb County, Michigan, home to 10 percent of the state's voters. After railing for months against the North American Free Trade Agreement, enacted under President Bill Clinton, Trump won Macomb by 48,000 votes. Clinton received 176,238 votes, compared with Obama's 208,016 in 2012 and 223,754 in 2008. "In counties decimated by trade deals, decades of talking points don't pay the bills," said Robert Becker, who ran Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' winning campaign for the Michigan Democratic presidential 2016 primary. "For the party's future, we have to be honest that the jobs being created in the country aren't being created in this part of the country." The pattern held in Wisconsin too, where Trump won fewer votes than Romney did in suburban Milwaukee and where Trump's criticism of Gov. Scott Walker worked against him. However, he carried the state in part by winning places like Racine County, part of a former union-heavy industrial corridor between Milwaukee and Chicago. Trump received about 4,000 votes more than Clinton in Racine County. Clinton's 42,506 were more than 10,000 off Obama's 53,008 in 2012 and 53,405 in 2008. In Pennsylvania, Trump similarly won Erie and Luzerne counties, smaller metropolitan areas than sprawling Philadelphia and its suburbs, but with a higher white working-class population and unemployment higher than the state average. Democratic presidential candidates had carried both counties in the past six consecutive elections. Trump beat Clinton in Luzerne County childhood home of Vice President Joe Biden 78,303 to 52,092. In the final weeks, Clinton focused on emerging Democratic states such as Arizona and North Carolina. She lost both. Clinton did not have ties to working-class white voters as strong as those of her husband, who had been governor of Arkansas, said political historian Mary Frances Berry of the University of Pennsylvania. Berry, who has also worked for Democratic candidates, said before the election that Hillary Clinton was not contesting Trump in blue-collar country. Qatar Airways flight from Washington hits severe turbulence DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) A Qatar Airways flight from Washington heading to Doha hit severe turbulence while diverting for a medical emergency, sending some passengers tumbling through the aircraft. The state-run airline says QR708 landed on Sunday at Lajes Field on the Azores island of Terceira in the Atlantic Ocean. The airline says the flight diverted over a passenger suffering a heart attack and that the plane experienced "moderate to severe turbulence" during the landing. Anjali Sarker, a Bangladeshi passenger onboard, told The Associated Press on Monday she and others hurt themselves when the Boeing 777-300 sharply plummeted at one point. India's Tamil Nadu leader Jayalalithaa in critical condition NEW DELHI (AP) The popular leader of India's southern Tamil Nadu state was in critical condition after undergoing surgery Monday hours after suffering a heart attack, the hospital said. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa was being monitored by "a team of experts, including cardiologists, pulmonologist and critical care specialists," according to a statement from Dr. Subbaiah Viswanathan at Apollo Hospital in the state capital of Chennai. Richard Beale, an intensive care specialist and part of Jayalalithaa's medical team, said the "situation is grave." Supporters of Indian southern state of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa hold her photograph as they pray for her health at a temple in Mumbai, India, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. Thousands of Jayalalitha supporters and well wishers across India prayed for her speedy recovery after she was readmitted to the hospital in Cheanni following a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) "But everything possible is being done to give her the best chance of surviving," Beale said on NDTV news channel. Thousands of Jayalalithaa's supporters, wailing and crying, gathered outside the hospital to pray for her recovery. Police were deployed across the state to ensure security out of fear that her death could trigger widespread violence and riots. The neighboring state of Karnataka stopped public buses from traveling to Tamil Nadu after one of its buses was attacked Monday. The U.S. Consulate in Chennai put out an advisory urging Americans to be careful in the city and avoid large crowds. The 68-year-old actress-turned-politician had heart surgery early Monday after she suffered a heart attack Sunday night, her AIADMK party said. Jayalalithaa had already been in the hospital for two months since Sept. 22, when she was admitted with a fever, dehydration and a respiratory infection. Affectionately called "Amma," or "Mother," by her supporters, Jayalalithaa joined politics in the early 1980s after a successful film career that included appearances in nearly 150 movies. She has had three stints as chief minister of Tamil Nadu, the latest of which began in May 2011. The Latest: Russia, China block UN Aleppo truce resolution BEIRUT (AP) The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local): 9:30 p.m. Russia and China have blocked a draft resolution in the U.N. Security Council demanding a seven-day truce in the Syrian city of Aleppo. The resolution, sponsored by New Zealand, Egypt and Spain, sought to allow for the evacuation of the sick and wounded and to provide humanitarian aid workers enough time to get food aid and medicine into the besieged city. The resolution had 11 votes in favor, three against with one abstention when the council voted on Monday, but because Russia and China as permanent members of the 15-seat council have veto power the resolution did not pass. Russia has repeatedly blocked action in the Security Council over Syria where it is supporting Syrian government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad. ____ 8:45 p.m. The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote on a resolution demanding a seven-day truce in the Syrian city of Aleppo. The resolution, sponsored by New Zealand, Egypt and Spain, seeks to allow for the removal of the sick and wounded and to provide humanitarian aid workers enough time to get food aid and medicine into the city, where nearly a quarter of a million people remain besieged by Syrian forces backed by Russian air power. The council is expected to vote on the resolution Monday, but Russia which holds a veto as one of five permanent members of the 15-seat Security Council, is widely expected to block it. ___ 5:30 p.m. The Russian Defense Ministry says that a second nurse who was injured in rebel shelling on the Syrian government-held part of Aleppo has died. The Ministry statement Monday says the second nurse died of wounds suffered in the attack. Earlier reports said the shelling killed one Russian nurse and eight civilians in the makeshift field hospital. Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said in the emailed statement that another Russian, a pediatrician, remains in critical condition. Konashenkov also called on international organizations such as the Red Cross to condemn the attack on the medics "who were doing their medical duty to help the civilians of Aleppo." The field hospital was part of aid that Moscow had sent into Aleppo's Furqan neighborhood in the government-held section of the city the previous day. ___ 2:35 p.m. A Russian officer in the Syrian city of Aleppo says a Russian female nurse has been killed in rebel shelling of a makeshift Russian hospital in the city. The officer says two Russian doctors were also wounded in the attack on Monday that targeted the field hospital set up in the government-held part of Aleppo. The officer spoke to reporters in western Aleppo on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Moscow had sent in aid into the Furqan neighborhood in the government-held part of the city a day earlier, including equipment to set up the field hospital. Albert Aji in Aleppo, Syria. ___ 2:10 p.m. The Russian Defense Ministry says a Su-33 fighter jet, based on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, has crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after returning from a sortie over Syria. The ministry says in a statement that was reported by Russian news agencies that "because of the failure of the arrester system's cable, the Su-33 fighter rolled off the deck" on Monday. The pilot of the aircraft successfully ejected and was unharmed in the incident. The ministry added that Russian military operations over Syria will not be affected by the incident. This is the second loss of an aircraft from Russia's only aircraft carrier since it arrived off Syria last month. The Defense Ministry said that a Mig-29 fighter crashed into the sea on Nov. 15 while attempting to land on the Admiral Kuznetsov. ___ 11:50 a.m. Syrian activists say Russian and Syrian aircraft have stepped up their assaults on the rebel-held province of Idlib, a day after air raids killed more than 60 people. The activist-run Local Coordination Committees is reporting airstrikes on the towns of Binnish, Maarat Nasaan, and Saraqib, as well as the provincial capital, Idlib. The network says the Monday morning airstrikes killed three children. It blamed the attacks on Russian aircraft. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported strikes on Idlib city. It says 288 civilians have been killed in the province since Oct. 20, when Syrian government and Russian aircraft intensified airstrikes. U.S. Xpress, a transportation company in Chattanooga, adopted 215 angels this holiday season and is delivered all of the toys to 5000 Calhoun Ave. Monday morning. Through The Salvation Army Angel Tree Program, necessities and Christmas gifts are provided for disadvantaged children from infants to age 12 and for senior citizens who are 60 years and older. The Salvation Army of Greater Chattanooga offers holiday assistance to provide necessities and joy to many children, seniors and families in Hamilton, Bradley and Marion counties in Tennessee and Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties in Georgia. Because of the generosity of community members and corporations like U.S. Xpress, 4,700 angels in the Chattanooga and Cleveland areas will wake up to presents under the tree on Christmas morning. The Salvation Army is grateful for corporate partners, like U.S. Xpress, who have adopted more than 2,300 angels this Christmas season, said Director of Marketing and Development Kimberly George. Because of these corporations, we met our goal on time for adoptions this year. For more information about The Salvation Army Angel Tree Program visit: www.csarmy.org. For more information on The Salvation Army, please contact Kimberly George at 756-1023 or by email to Kimberly.George@uss.salvationarmy.org. No experience needed: Trump taps Carson for HUD secretary NEW YORK (AP) Donald Trump chose retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson on Monday to be secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, raising fresh concerns about the lack of experience some of Trump's Cabinet picks have with agencies they're now being chosen to lead. Carson, who opposed Trump in the Republican primaries, has no background in government or running a large bureaucracy. In addition, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Trump's choice to be ambassador to the United Nations, has no foreign policy experience. Steve Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs partner and Hollywood executive, is Trump's man to lead the Treasury Department but has never worked in government. And retired Gen. James Mattis, a widely praised battlefield commander, spent decades in the Marines but now is tapped to run the nation's largest government agency, the Defense Department, with 740,000 civilian employees in addition to 1.3 million service personnel. FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2016, file photo, former Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson speaks before Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's arrival at a campaign rally in Manchester, N.H. President-elect Donald Trump chose Carson to become secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Trump's decision, announced early Monday, Dec. 5, by his transition office at Trump Tower in New York, comes as the real estate mogul continues a series of interviews, meetings with aides and other sessions aimed at forming his administration. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) Democrats swiftly criticized Carson's qualifications for his job. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called him a "disconcerting and disturbingly unqualified choice." And New York Sen. Charles Schumer said he had "serious concerns about Dr. Carson's lack of expertise and experience in dealing with housing issues. Someone who is as anti-government as him is a strange fit for housing secretary, to say the least." Carson would oversee a budget of nearly $50 billion that provides rental assistance for more than 5 million households. Demand for that assistance is high in part because housing costs are rising faster than incomes. HUD also promotes home ownership with the Federal Housing Administration underwriting about 1 in 6 mortgages issued in the U.S. The agency is charged with enforcing federal fair housing laws, too. In a statement, Trump said he was "thrilled to nominate" Carson, describing his "brilliant mind" and his passion "about strengthening communities and families within those communities." Carson, who grew up poor, quickly endorsed Trump after ending his own presidential bid despite Trump noting what he called Carson's "pathological temper." Carson has been coy about joining the new administration, saying shortly after Trump's election victory that he wasn't certain he'd fit into a Cabinet-style role in a job like Health and Human Services secretary. "Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country," Trump said, "and is part of ensuring that this is a presidency representing all Americans." Heading a Cabinet agency is a huge bureaucratic job, with responsibility for overseeing massive budgets and thousands of employees. Choosing a leader without management experience could present challenges, warned Ben Chang, who worked under three different administrations. "People can learn the policies and the talking points, but the transition will be dictated by their own managerial style," said Chang, who remembered incoming Secretary of State Colin Powell walking the halls to meet with career officers and not just his executive staff. Trump's selections also highlight a frequent divide between the two major political parties in their strategies in filling out a Cabinet: In early 2009, Republicans criticized incoming President Barack Obama for not making enough selections with private sector experience. On Monday, Trump received a fresh stream of visitors to the New York skyscraper that bears his name. His most surprising guest was Democratic former Vice President Al Gore. Transition officials said early Monday that Gore would meet with Trump's daughter, Ivanka, about climate change, which is Gore's signature issue. But Gore said he also met with Trump directly and the two had a "very productive conversation." "It was a sincere search for areas of common ground," said Gore, who did not detail what the men discussed. The president-elect has called man-made climate change a hoax and has pledged to undo a number of regulations designed to protect the environment. Former South Carolina labor chief Catherine Templeton also met with Trump on Monday. She told The Associated Press the meeting was "productive" and she hoped to help the administration in any way she could. Templeton, a labor lawyer who specialized in fighting unions, ran South Carolina's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation at the request of Gov. Nikki Haley for just over a year. She was one of the first Cabinet appointees by Haley, who played up Templeton's union-fighting background and ability to keep unions out of the new Boeing Inc. assembly plant in North Charleston. A source close to the transition confirmed Templeton was under consideration for labor secretary. The source spoke anonymously due to lack of permission to speak about the process publicly. Separately, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he's asking the government for $35 million to cover costs related to protecting Trump, who has indicated he will largely work out of Trump Tower before his inauguration. Trump will continue his "thank you" tour with a stop Tuesday in North Carolina. His running mate, Mike Pence, told reporters that "decisions were made" Monday that would be announced in the coming days. It was unclear if one of those was Secretary of State, for which Trump has expanded his pool of candidates beyond the four finalists his aides identified last week. Over the weekend, two people close to the transition told The Associated Press that Trump is moving away from two of the four: former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee. That would leave former CIA Director Petraeus, who pleaded guilty to leaking classified information, and Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Among other possibilities, one official says, is Jon Huntsman, a former Republican Utah governor who also served as the ambassador to China and speaks Mandarin. The people close to the transition spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private process publicly. Meanwhile, the president-elect dined at one of his favorite New York restaurants, 21 Club, Monday night with this family. He ate at the same Midtown Manhattan restaurant last month but did not notify the reporters and photographers who follow his movements, drawing criticism from journalist groups. The press pool did travel with Trump to the restaurant Monday and waited outside in a van while the president-elect ate. ___ Associated Press writers Julie Pace in Washington and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report. ___ Reach Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire and Pace at http://twitter.com/@JPaceDC The Latest: Czechs send medics to Iraq for IS battle BAGHDAD (AP) The Latest on Iraq's Mosul offensive (all times local): 4 p.m. The Czech Republic is deploying medical personnel to Iraq as part of international efforts to combat the Islamic State group. Children who fled the fighting between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State militants play at a camp for internally displaced people, in Khazir, near Mosul, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. The U.N.'s refugee agency distributed aid to dozens of Iraqi families uprooted from their homes in and around the city of Mosul. They are among the nearly 5,500 people living in tents in the camp east of Mosul where the battle to retake the city from the Islamic State group is underway. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) The Czech Defense Ministry says a surgical field team of 17 left Prague early Monday. The team is heading to a U.S. Navy base located some 70 kilometers (44 miles) south of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city and the extremists' last urban bastion in the country. The medics will treat Iraqi and coalition soldiers taking part in the offensive to retake the city, which began in October. Iraqi troops are battling IS militants in several eastern districts. Earlier this year, the Czech Republic sent 31 instructors to work with Iraq's armed forces, and Prague says it will send more in 2017 if needed. ___ 11:30 a.m. The U.N. refugee agency has distributed aid to dozens of Iraqi families uprooted from their homes in and around the city of Mosul. UNHCR aid workers were handing out kerosene heaters, jerry cans, big sheets and hygiene kits to about 30 families on Monday, with people lining up to get the aid. The families are among the nearly 5,500 people living in tents in a camp east of the northern Iraqi city where the battle to retake the city from the Islamic State group is underway. So far, nearly 70,000 civilians have fled the massive, government-run military operation to retake Mosul. The operation started on October 17. Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, is the last major IS urban bastion in the country. Iraqi troops have advanced cautiously to avoid civilian casualties. Iraqis who fled the fighting between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State militants settle at a camp for internally displaced people, in Khazir, near Mosul, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. The U.N.'s refugee agency distributed aid to dozens of Iraqi families uprooted from their homes in and around the city of Mosul. They are among the nearly 5,500 people living in tents in the camp east of Mosul where the battle to retake the city from the Islamic State group is underway. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) Iraqi women, who fled the fighting between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State militants, wash dishes at a public water tap, at a camp for internally displaced people, in Khazir, near Mosul, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. The U.N.'s refugee agency distributed aid to dozens of Iraqi families uprooted from their homes in and around the city of Mosul. They are among the nearly 5,500 people living in tents in the camp east of Mosul where the battle to retake the city from the Islamic State group is underway. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) Iraqis who fled the fighting between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State militants settle at a camp for internally displaced people, in Khazir, near Mosul, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. The U.N.'s refugee agency distributed aid to dozens of Iraqi families uprooted from their homes in and around the city of Mosul. They are among the nearly 5,500 people living in tents in the camp east of Mosul where the battle to retake the city from the Islamic State group is underway. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) Iraqis who fled the fighting between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State militants settle at a camp for internally displaced people, in Khazir, near Mosul, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. The U.N.'s refugee agency distributed aid to dozens of Iraqi families uprooted from their homes in and around the city of Mosul. They are among the nearly 5,500 people living in tents in the camp east of Mosul where the battle to retake the city from the Islamic State group is underway. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) Baby's first flight: Woman gives birth while on airplane CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) A Southwest Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Charleston, South Carolina, after a baby was born in the middle of the flight. Airline spokeswoman Melissa Ford tells local news outlets that Flight 556 was on its way from Philadelphia to Orlando, Florida, on Sunday when a woman went into labor. Ford says medical personnel who were on the flight helped with the delivery, and the family was taken to an area hospital when the plane landed. Roasted duck is easier _ and more delicious _ that you think The prospect of roasting a duck strikes many a home cook as a mountain too high, but I'm not sure why. It's definitely no more complicated than cooking a whole turkey, and I think it tastes far better. Some folks surely suspect that duck is gamey, but that's only true of some wild ducks. It's not true of the kind known as Pekin (or Long Island) duck, the domesticated product most widely available at supermarkets. Other folks shy away because they've heard that duck is too fatty and rich. Sure enough, there is a fair amount of fat in duck, but most of it is in and under the skin. The meat itself actually is quite lean. And surprise! duck fat, unlike beef fat and most kinds of poultry fat, boasts some of the same healthy attributes as olive oil. FILE - This Oct. 26, 2015, file photo, shows bistro style slow roasted duck in Concord, N.H. Roasting a duck is no more complicated than roasting a turkey, and this recipe also has a French-style sauce. (AP Photo/Matthew Mead, File) So this holiday season why not roast a duck? As noted, it's pretty simple. However, you do need to set aside enough time to let the bird cook properly in the oven, just as you would when roasting a turkey. The goal is a bird with crispy skin and moist meat. The easiest way to make it happen? Roast the duck low and slow, pricking the skin every so often to drain out the fat. (Do be careful, however, not to prick the meat; you don't want to lose any juices from the meat.) At the end of the process, the duck is treated to a final crisping in a high-heat oven, then retired for a nice long rest to let the juices redistribute before the bird is carved. The slow-roasting process provides you with ample time to make a succulent sauce from the bird's giblets, neck and wings. Those parts are browned in a saucepan along with onions, carrots and garlic, then simmered in red wine and chicken broth, and finally finished with green peppercorns and Dijon mustard. (You're welcome to lose the peppercorns if they're too hot for you.) The end result is a wonderfully tasty duck swimming in a French-style sauce. Fancy! And much more interesting than turkey. Your guests will think you are a culinary genius. BISTRO-STYLE SLOW-ROASTED DUCK Start to finish: 4 hours 50 minutes (50 minutes active) Servings: 4 5 1/2- to 6-pound Pekin (Long Island) duck Kosher salt and ground black pepper 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped 1 small carrot, coarsely chopped 2 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of a knife 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 cup dry red wine 1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped 2 sprigs fresh thyme 1 bay leaf 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons drained bottled green peppercorns, packed in brine 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard Heat the oven to 250 F. Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity of the duck, pat dry and reserve. (Save the liver for another use, such as sauteing and serving on toast.) Cut the last two joints of the wings off and reserve. Remove the excess fat from the cavity of the duck and cut off the flap of skin at the back end of the duck. (You can save the skin and fat to render into duck fat for future use.) Rinse the duck under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Using the tip of a paring knife, prick the duck all over, in 1/2-inch intervals, inserting the knife at an angle to pierce just the skin, not the flesh. Make sure to prick the skin around the leg thigh joint thoroughly, as there is a lot of fat stored there. Season the duck well with salt and pepper. Place on a rack in a roasting pan and roast on the oven's middle shelf for 3 1/2 hours, removing the roasting pan after the first and second hour of roasting to re-prick the duck skin. After the duck has roasted for 3 1/2 hours, carefully pour off all the fat at the bottom of the roasting pan (reserving it for other uses, such as sauteing potatoes), and increase the oven temperature to 450 F. Return the duck to the oven and roast it for 10 minutes. Transfer the duck to a platter, cover with foil, then let it rest for 30 minutes before carving. While in the duck is roasting, cut the neck and wings into 1 1/2-inch pieces. In a large saucepan over medium-high, heat the vegetable oil. Add the neck, giblets and wings. Cook, stirring often, until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion, carrot and garlic. Cook until the vegetables are lightly browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the wine and bring to a boil, stirring to pick up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Boil until most of the wine has evaporated. Add the celery, thyme, bay leaf, broth and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface and adding water to the saucepan if the liquid dips below the bones, until the duck is ready to come out of the oven. While the duck is resting, strain the stock and discard the solids. Measure the liquid. You should have about 1 1/2 cups. If you have more, boil the liquid down. If you have less, add water. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and 1/4 cup water. In the saucepan, bring the duck stock to a boil, add the flour mixture in a stream, whisking. Bring the mixture back to a boil and simmer 4 minutes. Stir in the green peppercorns and mustard, then season the sauce with salt and pepper. Carve the duck and serve each portion with some of the sauce. Nutrition information per serving: 980 calories; 670 calories from fat (68 percent of total calories); 75 g fat (25 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 210 mg cholesterol; 850 mg sodium; 10 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 50 g protein. ___ Sara Moulton is host of public television's "Sara's Weeknight Meals." She was executive chef at Gourmet magazine for nearly 25 years and spent a decade hosting several Food Network shows, including "Cooking Live." Her latest cookbook is "Home Cooking 101." WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on the arrest of a man who police say fired shots in a pizzeria while investigating a fake news story (all times local): 3 p.m. The conspiracy theory involving a fake news story that links Hillary Clinton and a D.C. pizza shop to a child exploitation ring has at least one prominent adherent connected to President-elect Donald Trump's transition team. Edgar Maddison Welch, 28 of Salisbury, N.C., surrenders to police Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, in Washington. Welch, who said he was investigating a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a pizza place, fired an assault rifle inside the restaurant on Sunday injuring no one, police and news reports said. (Sathi Soma via AP) Michael Flynn Jr. is an adviser to his father, Michael Flynn, whom Trump selected to serve as national security adviser. Flynn Jr. has sent numerous posts on Twitter about the conspiracy theories of Pizzagate, a fake news story that suggests a pizza shop called Comet Ping Pong plays a key role in a child sex trafficking ring run by Clinton. Police say the conspiracy theory led to violence Sunday when a North Carolina man fired a rifle in the restaurant as he sought to investigate the accusations. No one was injured, and the man was arrested. Flynn Jr., who has accompanied his father to presidential transition meetings inside Trump Tower and lists the presidential transition website as part of his Twitter bio, tweeted Sunday night that, "Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it'll remain a story." Trump's team had no immediate response to questions about the conspiracy theory or the younger Flynn's role in the presidential transition. ___ 2 p.m. The bizarre conspiracy theory known as Pizzagate that police say led to a nonfatal shooting at a pizza shop in the nation's capital has affected several area businesses. Politics and Prose is an independent bookstore a few doors down from Comet Ping Pong, where a North Carolina man was arrested Sunday after police say he fired a rifle while trying to investigate a fake news story about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring. Bookstore co-owners Bradley Graham and Lissa Muscatine said that while Comet Ping Pong has found itself at the center of the conspiracy theory, the bookstore and other businesses on the block also received threats and menacing phone calls in recent weeks. Graham said the store has taken the threats seriously, reporting them to police. He expressed frustration that police seemed uninterested before Sunday's shooting in investigating more thoroughly. Politics and Prose was open for business Monday; Comet Ping Pong was closed, as it normally is on Mondays. Neighbors brought flowers and cards to the restaurant storefront saying "We support Comet" and "we love you and stand by you." ___ 12 p.m. Authorities say a man who fired a rifle inside a pizzeria in the nation's capital while investigating a fake news story about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring is expected to appear in court Monday afternoon. Police say 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina, was arrested after Sunday's incident at Comet Ping Pong. No one was injured and he was arrested afterward. Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, says Welch is expected to make his first appearance in court sometime after 1 p.m. Monday. It was unclear how long it might take before Welch's case is heard. An incident report lists a Colt AR-15 rifle, a Colt .38 handgun, a shotgun and a folding knife among the items seized in the case. Welch is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, other weapons offenses and destruction of property. ___ 9:35 a.m. Police say a man investigating a fake news story about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a Washington, D.C. pizzeria had an AR-15 rifle and a handgun when he was arrested after firing inside the restaurant. Police said in a statement that 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina, was arrested Sunday at Comet Ping Pong. No one was injured. Police spokeswoman Karimah Bilal says rounds were fired, possibly striking the walls, door and a computer. Police say Welch told police he'd come to the restaurant to investigate reports that spread online during Clinton's unsuccessful run for the White House. Police have called those reports a "fictitious online conspiracy theory." An incident report lists a Colt AR-15 rifle, a Colt .38 handgun, a shotgun and a folding knife among the items seized. Welch is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, other weapons offenses and destruction of property. ___ 4:10 a.m. Police say a man who said he was investigating a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a pizza place fired an assault rifle inside the Washington, D.C., restaurant Sunday. Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Aquita (ah-KWEE'-tah) Brown says police got a call Sunday afternoon about a male with a weapon on Connecticut Avenue, in an affluent neighborhood of the nation's capital. The Washington Post reports 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina, walked into the front door of Comet Ping Pong and pointed a gun in the direction of a restaurant employee. The employee was able to flee and notify police. According to a police statement, Welch told police he'd come to the restaurant to "self-investigate" a fictitious conspiracy theory that spread online during Clinton's run for the White House. Edgar Maddison Welch, 28 of Salisbury, N.C., surrenders to police Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, in Washington. Welch, who said he was investigating a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a pizza place, fired an assault rifle inside the restaurant on Sunday injuring no one, police and news reports said. (Sathi Soma via AP) Bach, Reedie clear air over Russian doping scandal LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) With another report on Russian doping looming at the end of this week, the presidents of the IOC and World Anti-Doping Agency met Monday to clear the air over their "perceived differences" over the handling of previous evidence of systematic cheating in Russia. IOC President Thomas Bach and WADA head Craig Reedie said they agreed to put aside any disagreements and "move forward together" in tackling doping and protecting clean athletes. "There was a very positive atmosphere in our meeting today, and I am very happy that any perceived misunderstandings could be clarified," Bach said. "We agreed to continue to work closely together to strengthen the fight against doping under the leadership of WADA." FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2016, file photo, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, second from left, is flaked by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, left, and LA 2024 chairman Casey Wasserman, second from right, and UCLA chancellor Gene Block, right, during a news conference in Los Angeles. Bach is visiting Los Angeles to check out proposed venues for the 2024 Olympic Games. The Los Angeles bid committee for the 2024 Olympics is projecting a $5.3 billion budget, a number that would be less than half the cost of the recently completed Rio de Janeiro Games and about a quarter of where Tokyos ballooning budget for 2020 currently stands. Bid officials say they can do this because more than 30 venues already exist and those that don't will be built as temporary structures. . (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File) The two men met ahead of a three-day meeting beginning Tuesday, in Lausanne, of the International Olympic Committee executive board. On Friday in London, WADA investigator Richard McLaren will release his latest findings on Russian doping, including evidence of manipulation of samples at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. The IOC and WADA clashed over the summer after the agency recommended that Russia be banned outright from the Rio de Janeiro Games. The IOC rejected that call, instead allowing international federations to decide which Russians could compete. "This was a very constructive meeting with a good atmosphere," Reedie said. "We share a common goal to strengthen the fight against doping and to protect the clean athletes and in this direction we will closely cooperate." The IOC said it was confident that progress was being made on reforming WADA's governance and setting up an independent drug-testing unit under the agency's umbrella ahead of the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Reedie, an IOC member from Britain, was re-elected last month to another three-year term as WADA president. That came after some leading Olympic officials had publicly called for a "neutral" president to take over. McLaren's first report, issued in July, detailed state-backed doping programs and cover-ups in Russia across more than two dozen summer and winter Olympic sports. His latest report is expected to focus on Sochi, including allegations by the former Russian lab director that he helped dope Russian athletes before the games and swapped tainted samples for clean one through a concealed hole in the wall at the lab. Without knowing the contents of McLaren's report, the IOC board is expected to issue a statement setting out how it will deal with the new findings including the possibility of stiff sanctions. The report will be sent to two commissions that the IOC has set up to look into the allegations. Bach said last month that once the investigations and hearings are completed, the IOC will take "the necessary measures and all the sanctions because if only part of this would be true, it would be an unprecedented attack on the integrity on the Olympic Games and on the Olympic competitions." The IOC will also review the result of its retesting of stored samples from the 2012 London Olympics and 2008 Beijing Games, a program which has produced about 100 positive cases so far. Many of the positives have involved weightlifting and athletes from former Soviet countries such Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine which could face IOC scrutiny for possible warnings or sanctions. The executive board will also receive reports from organizers of the Rio Games, as well as those from Pyeongchang and Tokyo. While Rio faced unprecedented political and financial pressures, Pyeongchang and Tokyo are now dealing with their own problems. Pyeongchang is preparing for the Winter Games just 14 months away at a time when South Korean President Park Geunt-hye is facing possible impeachment in a political scandal centering on allegations that a long-time friend manipulated government affairs from behind the scenes. Tokyo, meanwhile, is trying to reduce costs of the 2020 Olympics after construction costs soared to several times their original estimate. The IOC told Tokyo organizers last week it would not accept a proposed budget of up to $20 billion and demanded further cuts. The IOC board is expected to ratify the venue locations for the five additional sports baseball-softball, surfing, skateboarding, karate and sports climbing approved for inclusion in the Tokyo Games. Lawyers: Juror was biased, man's execution should be halted ATLANTA (AP) The execution of a Georgia death row inmate convicted of killing his father-in-law following a custody fight over his young son should be halted because a juror lied about her own custody battle and messy divorces and then persuaded fellow jurors to vote for a death sentence, his attorneys argue. No one disputes that William Sallie killed John Lee Moore in March 1990, but he has been unable to present evidence of juror bias that should entitle him to a new trial because he missed a filing deadline by eight days at a time when he didn't have a lawyer, his lawyers have said in court filings. Sallie, 50, is scheduled to be put to death Tuesday. His first conviction and death sentence were overturned because his trial lawyer was at the same time a law clerk for judges in the circuit where the trial was held. During his second trial, in 2001, the woman eventually chosen as a juror lied during jury selection and failed to disclose domestic violence, messy divorces and a child custody battle that were "bizarrely similar" to Sallie's case, his lawyers said. She later bragged to his attorneys' investigator that she convinced her divided peers to vote unanimously for death. Sallie had abused his wife, who was living with her parents in rural south Georgia in March 1990 after filing for divorce, according to a Georgia Supreme Court summary of the case. The two fought over their son, with custody ultimately going to Sallie's wife. After breaking into his in-laws' house early one morning, Sallie shot John and Linda Moore in their bedroom. John Moore died from his injuries. Death sentences in Georgia are automatically appealed. Once that appeal is complete, post-conviction proceedings involving petitions challenging the legality of the conviction and/or the sentence are typically filed in state court and, subsequently, federal court. There's no time limit to file a post-conviction petition in Georgia courts. There's a one-year limit after the direct appeal is complete to file a post-conviction petition in federal court, but that clock pauses once a state petition is filed and stays paused until appeals on the state petition are completed. Sallie filed his state post-conviction petition on his own a year and eight days after his direct appeal was complete. Since it was more than a year after the direct appeal ended, the clock wasn't paused on the federal filing deadline and it expired. Georgia and Alabama are the only two states that don't guarantee an attorney for state post-conviction proceedings, according to the American Bar Association. Sallie's lack of an attorney is the reason he failed to file his state petition in time to keep the federal petition deadline from expiring, his lawyers argue. Lawyers who later stepped in to handle Sallie's state post-conviction petition were aware that a female juror had started an affair with a married male juror while they were sequestered during the trial. But they failed to look into the woman's history, where they would have discovered her bias and ineligibility to be a juror, Sallie's lawyers say. Sallie's lawyers uncovered the alleged bias in 2012. They tried to raise the issue in federal post-conviction petitions, saying his earlier lawyers were ineffective, but a federal court and federal appeals court have ruled the evidence can't be considered because the deadline to file the federal petition passed in 2004 and it wasn't raised in the state post-conviction proceedings. Now they want the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his execution. They argue that the high court's ruling in a pending Texas case with ineffective counsel issues could remove the procedural bars that are keeping the lower federal courts from considering their juror-bias claims. But that decision could come after Tuesday too late for Sallie. Kosovo cuts 2 years from Serb's jail plotting terror attacks PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) A Kosovo appeals court has reduced by two years the sentence of an ethnic Serb for preparing terrorist attacks. Kosovo's Appeals Court on Monday decided to lower the 13-year jail sentence to the Serb, identified by his initials S.G., by two years "taking into consideration the fact that the defendant accepted the incriminating actions," according to a statement. The Serb man was arrested two years ago near the U.S. embassy in the capital, Pristina, after police found 23 explosive devices weighing 12 kilograms (26 pounds) he had transported from Belgrade, Serbia. He was accused of plotting a terrorist attack and endangering Kosovo's security and constitutional order. The Serb claimed he wanted to sell the explosives. To create Baltimore in Hollywood, just ask Derek McLane NEW YORK (AP) Set designer Derek McLane's transition from working on Broadway to the Oscars hit a bit of a bump on his first day. McLane had showed up for work at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles in 2013 when the show's TV director called him over to complain. "The backs of the scenery is all not finished," he was told. "'What am I going to shoot here?'" That was when McLane got a reminder of one big differences between Broadway and the TV telecasts cameras go everywhere, so everything needs to look good. "On Broadway, we never finish the back of the scenery," he said. "I just hadn't thought of it." This image released by NBC shows Derek Hough as Corny Collins, foreground left, and Maddie Baillio as Tracy Turnblad, foreground right, during a rehearsal for the musical "Hairspray Live!," airing on Dec. 7. Sets for the musical were designed by Broadway set designer Derek McLane. (Trae Patton/NBC via AP) McLane really hasn't put a wrong foot since, becoming the go-to guy responsible for making the last three NBC live musicals and the last four Oscar telecast look great. His next challenge is "Hairspray Live! " on Wednesday. He is a Broadway fixture a Tony Award-winner who crafted the scenery for such recent shows as "Beautiful," ''China Doll" and a lot of sturdy doors for "Noises Off" who found his skills translated to live TV. In addition to the Oscars, he's designed the sets for "The Wiz Live!," ''Peter Pan Live!" and "The Sound of Music Live!" "It's very different in some ways, but in other ways, it's really not," he said during a tour of his midtown Manhattan studio. "We're still telling stories and all of these stories happen to be based on Broadway shows." Playwright and director Moises Kaufman is a fan, having watched McLane create a stunning set of boxes upon boxes for "33 Variations," so lovely that it won him a Tony. "I believe in him tremendously. I think he's one of the great artists in America. I really do," said Kaufman. For "Hairspray Live!" McLane is transforming nondescript fake store fronts in Universal's backlot in Hollywood into 1960s-era Baltimore. Adding to the pressure is that 40 percent of the show will be filmed outside. "It's definitely risky. But it's also so much more, I think, exciting," he said. The show is based on a John Waters film that concerns the full-figured Tracy Turnblad whose fondest wish is to appear on a local television dance program and champion racial integration. The cast includes Harvey Fierstein, Jennifer Hudson and Ariana Grande. McLane is building a record store, a jail, a TV studio, a high school gym, and a house for the Turnblads, among others. He's putting real cars from the era on the streets and little nods to the musical's roots (Look for the store signs for "Waters Plumbing" and "Divine Pet Food.") The Yale School of Drama graduate consulted historic photos of the period and went down to walk around Baltimore, soaking in the flavor. "The sense of that period is important to the show, for sure," he said. McLane was first tapped for live TV when he was doing the scenic design for the 2011 Broadway revival of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" starring Daniel Radcliffe. Two of the lead producers were Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who also were doing the Oscars in 2013. They asked him aboard for that and then asked him again when they revived NBC's love of live musicals. He crafted an elegant set for "The Sound of Music Live!" though when he looks back he thinks his bedroom for Maria was too small as well as a Neverland for Peter Pan that took inspiration from the rock formations off the coast of Vietnam. His "The Wiz Live!" was heavy with technology and fantasy. McLane said he hopes to be able to continue straddling the words of theater and TV, as well as creating worlds onstage for off-Broadway shows and national tours. He doesn't matter so much if it's millions of people or a few hundred. "There isn't necessarily a correlation between something being big and good," he said. "There's nothing more satisfying ultimately than working on something that you think is actually really fun." ___ Online: http://www.nbc.com/hairspray-live ___ Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits In this image released by NBC, Garrett Clayton as Link Larson, foreground from left, Maddie Baillio as Tracy Turnblad, Harvey Feinstein as Edna Turnblad, Jennifer Hudson as Motormouth Maybelle and Ariana Grande as Penny Pingleton appear during a dress rehearsal for "Hairspray Live!" airing Dec. 7. Sets for the musical were designed by Broadway set designer Derek McLane. (Trae Patton/NBC via AP) This image released by NBC shows Garrett Clayton as Link Larkin, center left, and Derek Hough as Corny Collins, center right, during a rehearsal of "Hairspray Live!," airing on Dec. 7. Sets for the musical were designed by Broadway set designer Derek McLane. (Trae Patton/NBC via AP) AP Explains: What's behind persecution of Myanmar's Rohingya BANGKOK (AP) Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya minority face discrimination and violence from the Buddhist majority in the Southeast Asian country. Their plight generally goes unnoticed by the world at large, even though some rights activists say their persecution amounts to ethnic cleansing. Here are several things to know about the group: ___ "THE MOST FRIENDLESS PEOPLE IN THE WORLD" In this Dec. 2, 2016 photo, Rohingya from Myanmar make their way in an alley at an unregistered refugee camp in Teknaf, near Cox's Bazar, a southern coastal district about, 296 kilometers (183 miles) south of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Some 15,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh over past month, often brought in by smugglers, according to police and intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. They have joined up to 500,000 undocumented Rohingya who have been living in Bangladesh after arriving from Myanmar in waves since the 1970s. In refugee camps in Bangladesh, survivors of a wave of violence that has swept Myanmar in recent weeks say government forces have targeted minority Rohingya villages, burning many to the ground, killing the innocent and raping women. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad) Although Rohingya a Muslim ethnic minority of about 1 million among Myanmar's predominantly Buddhist 52 million people have lived in Myanmar for generations, most people in the country view them as foreign intruders from neighboring Bangladesh. Bangladesh, which hosts many Rohingya refugees, also refuses to recognize them as citizens. "The Rohingya are probably the most friendless people in the world. They just have no one advocating for them at all," Kitty McKinsey, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said in 2009. ___ BORDER ATTACKS LED TO LATEST OUTBREAK OF VIOLENCE Almost all Rohingya live in western Myanmar's Rakhine state, where the military has stepped up operations since November, when nine police officers were killed in attacks on posts along the border with Bangladesh. The identity of the perpetrators remains unclear. Rohingya villagers armed with homemade weapons resisted troops and an unknown number of villagers died, along with a handful of soldiers and officials. Rohingya solidarity groups say several hundred civilians have been killed since October. The New York-based group Human Rights Watch says satellite imagery shows 1,250 houses and other structures have been burned down. In 2012, violence between Rohingya and the Buddhist community killed hundreds and forced about 140,000 people predominantly Rohingya to flee their homes to camps for the internally displaced. About 100,000 remain in the squalid camps and dependent on charity. ___ DISAPPOINTMENT WITH SUU KYI There has been great disappointment that Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose political party took power in Myanmar this year after decades of military rule, has failed to ease the plight of Rohingya despite her reputation as a fighter for human rights. Speaking out for Rohingya rights is an unpopular political position in Myanmar. However, Suu Kyi's government in August appointed former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to head an advisory panel aimed at finding lasting solutions to the conflict in Rakhine state. He has visited Rakhine over the past few days and is scheduled to speak at a news conference Tuesday in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city. The U.N. special adviser on the prevention of genocide, Adama Dieng, last week expressed concern about reports of excessive use of force and other human rights violations against civilians, particularly Rohingya, including allegations of extrajudicial executions, torture, rape and the destruction of religious property. Keo-Kio, McCallie Schools preeminent senior leadership organization, welcomed 15 new members from the Class of 2017, inviting the seniors to join the group in a Chapel ceremony. The group honors students for their leadership, service and loyalty to the school and its abiding principles of honor, truth and duty. One of the schools oldest organizations, Keo-Kio is instrumental in planning annual events such as the winter semi-formal dance, Duck Day, community service projects and supporting new campus activities. The group also raises funds and distributes them to events and efforts made by other organizations at the school. The 15 new inductees, including seven boarders and eight day students, are: Miles Bagley, Chattanooga Jacob Burrus, Columbus, Ga. Walt Buzzini, San Antonio, Texas George Devaney, Lookout Mountain, Tenn. Will Driscoll, Lookout Mountain, Tenn. Josh Gable, Signal Mountain, Tenn. John Gilbert, Statesville, N.C. Anders Heald, Lookout Mountain, Ga. Cameron Langsett, Peachtree Corners, Ga. Ali Shafi, Ooltewah, Tenn. Jacob Stallings, Brentwood, Tenn. Harrison Swank, Covington, La. Kendall Watson, Harrison, Tenn. Jackson Yates, Chattanooga Stephen Xu, Shenzhen, China Prior to the induction, Upper School history teacher Duke Richey 86 holder of the Sen. Howard H. Baker Jr. 43 Chair of American History spoke to the Upper School student body about the importance of standing up for your friends and working together for the betterment of the world. Italy's political landscape after referendum MILAN (AP) The outcome of the referendum on constitutional reforms in Italy has prompted Premier Matteo Renzi to announce his resignation after 2 years in office. Here is a look at the political landscape in Italy following the result. ___ DEMOCRATIC PARTY A torn anti-referendum poster shows Premier Matteo Renzi, in Rome, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. Italian voters dealt Premier Renzi a resounding rebuke early Monday by rejecting his proposed constitutional reforms, plunging Europe's fourth-largest economy into political and economic uncertainty. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) The center-left Democratic Party, or PD, has been left most battered by Renzi's resignation as prime minister following the defeat of his constitutional reforms. The party is expected to have a leadership meeting in the coming days to determine the way forward. The PD already had deep rifts when Renzi became party secretary. The rifts widened and became more bitter after Renzi a former Florence mayor holding no seat in Parliament unceremoniously ousting Enrico Letta as premier in an insider revolt 2 years ago. Former Premier Massimo D'Alema, who with his long roots in what was the West's largest Communist Party, headed a faction of more leftist hardliners within the PD. D'Alema campaigned heavily against the reforms and celebrated their defeat. In the last polls before the referendum, the PD was favored by just under one-third of voters. ___ 5-STAR MOVEMENT The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement is the biggest winner in the referendum's failure. The movement campaigned hard against the reforms and has been against Renzi since he took office. Founder Beppe Grillo has called for quick elections. But political analyst Giovanni Orsina, deputy director of the school of government at Rome's LUISS university, said he probably doesn't want them to come too soon because he wants the establishment's failure to "cook" over time. The movement commands roughly one-third of the vote, if opinion polls hold. Whether that would be enough to govern would depend on how the new electoral law is written. ___ NORTHERN LEAGUE The anti-EU, anti-migrant Northern League leader Matteo Salvini's campaign against the referendum also focused on the overseas vote, as he seeks to expand his party's influence beyond its traditional northern base, including a trip to Moscow. The Northern League's popularity got a boost in the week after President-elect Donald Trump's victory, and Salvini has been deepening his alliances with Europe's far-right parties to solidify his influence. The Northern League also has tapped growing discontent with the migrant crisis, especially in the northern regions of Veneto and Lombardy where they run regional governments and where Italy's proud entrepreneurial class is still struggling to regain footing after the economic crisis. Salvini is pushing for immediate elections, seeking to transform that anger into votes before it can dissipate. ___ FORZA ITALIA Silvio Berlusconi's movement has been severely weakened since the three-time former premier's tax fraud conviction barred him from office. Still, Berlusconi is still seen as key to unifying the center-right, if not actively as its leader, at least in giving the nod to whoever will take the helm. Once backing Renzi on the need for the reforms, Berlusconi came out against the referendum, even though executives in his media empire backed the reforms as being good for the economy. The Northern League leader is eager to take up that center-right mantle, but Berlusconi has bristled at Salvini's uncompromising brashness. At 80, Berlusconi has had health setbacks, undergoing open-heart surgery earlier this year. ___ BROTHERS OF ITALY NATIONAL ALLIANCE The far-right party sometimes allies itself with the center-right. It was formed with some defectors from Berlusconi's Forza Italia in 2013 joined with the post-fascist National Alliance. The party promotes Italian nationalism and euroskepticism. The party's leader, Giorgia Meloni, has called for a speedy vote. ___ Frances D'Emilio and Nicole Winfield contributed from Rome. Northern League party leader Matteo Salvini speaks during a press conference in Milan, Italy, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. Salvini has called for an immediate election in Italy, energized by the decisive defeat of Premier Matteo Renzi's constitutional reforms in Sunday's referendum. (Matteo Bazzo/ANSA via AP) A newspaper headline reads in Italian "Renzi goes home" following the result of Sunday's constitutional referendum, at a newsstand in Milan, Italy, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. Italian voters dealt Premier Renzi a resounding rebuke early Monday by rejecting his proposed constitutional reforms, plunging Europe's fourth-largest economy into political and economic uncertainty. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) Italian Premier Matteo Renzi, left, leaves with his wife Agnese at the end of a press conference in Rome, early Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, where he announced he will resign after losing in a constitutional referendum his government proposed and that Renzi has staked his political future on. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Ex-Israeli mayor convicted for naming street after mistress JERUSALEM (AP) An Israeli court has convicted a former mayor in a series of scandals including naming a city street after a mistress. The Tel Aviv District Court convicted David Yosef Monday on 16 charges of sexual assault, fraud and breach of trust. The indictment detailed the harassment of dozens of women who worked at City Hall, and the firing of those who rejected his advances. Music therapist, teacher, teens among warehouse fire victims OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) A therapist who used music to help kids cope with trauma. A woman who taught at a Montessori school. An energetic artist who could make friends with anyone. These were some of the people killed when flames ripped through a converted Oakland warehouse during a dance party Friday night. The death toll from the fire climbed to 36 on Monday. Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern told The Associated Press he didn't believe more bodies would be found. Feral Pines, 29, a musician and artist from Connecticut, who recently moved to San Francisco to be with friends was also killed The victims also included teens and people from Europe and Asia, Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly said. Here's a closer look at who they were: PASSIONATE MUSIC THERAPIST Travis Hough, 35, believed music healed people, including himself. Hough was an experimental electronic artist behind Ghost of Lightning, a project in which he created music to explore and understand his own psyche, said Michelle Campbell, founder of Mixtape, an artist management company based in Oakland. Hough worked by day as a therapist in schools in the Bay area, using music to help children cope with trauma, Campbell said. "Really his passion was his work in helping find ways to use music as a means of healing," Campbell said. Hough played bass and keyboard and was a performance artist who was inspired by Prince and other male performers "who wear ruffles, glitter and makeup," she said. His shows included orbs of rhythmically pulsating light. He enjoyed a good meal with family and friends and hiking through northern California's Redwood forests. "He was definitely a radiant light," Campbell said. EXTRAORDINARY CO-WORKER Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, made a warm impression on friends and colleagues in California and Rhode Island as a musician, mentor and community advocate who most recently worked for an independent publisher. Berkeley, California-based publisher Counterpoint Press said Monday it was devastated by the loss of an "extraordinary co-worker and a true friend." "Whether he was recommending new music to listen to (and it was always so good), regaling us with tales of the bowling alley, offering his beloved truck for a ride if anyone needed it or sharing his much-appreciated opinions about a jacket or manuscript, he made everyone feel like they were his friend," the company wrote in a social media post. "He was kind, considerate, hilarious." Gomez-Hall was a 2013 graduate of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he concentrated in American Studies. The university on Monday said he "played an integral role" in the school's Swearer Center for Public Service. He volunteered to teach at an elementary school while an undergraduate and later helped run an after-school program. He also became well-known in Providence's music scene for playing guitar and singing in the two-man band Nightmom. Gomez-Hall recently moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. He was originally from Southern California and graduated from Coronado High School. 'TOTAL GOOFBALL' Cash Askew, a 22-year-old musician from Oakland, was kind, gentle and a "total goofball," said her girlfriend, Anya Taylor. The couple met about a year ago at a concert in Oakland and connected through their love of music. Taylor told the Washington Post (http://wapo.st/2gZc0Qu) she rushed to the scene after hearing about the blaze, but "all we could do was stand there." Leisa Baird Askew said her daughter grew up in a musical and artistic family. Cash was one of two members of the band Them Are Us Too. She had been performing with bandmate Kennedy Ashlyn since 2013. The duo met while studying at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Ashlyn said Askew recently started becoming "her best self" after she came out as transgender about two years ago. TEACHER, GARDENER Sara Hoda, 30, of Walnut Creek, was a "sweet person" who gardened and taught at a Montessori school, friend Carol Crewdson told the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/2g3oOTH) Crewdson, 33, met Hoda in 2010 when they started a collective where artists and creatives could stay, avoiding the San Francisco Bay Area's high rent. They lost touch after the collective shut down. But Crewdson said while it was operating, Hoda was very active in the collective process. THE HEART OF OAKLAND Friends called Ara Jo a vibrant artist and community organizer who could make friends with anyone, anywhere. Jo, 29, grew up in Los Angeles and was living in Oakland. Authorities notified her family of her death Monday. Her parents flew in from South Korea. "She's a typical artist. She's got more causes than she has energy, even though she has a lot of energy," said her boyfriend, Terry Ewing. Ewing said one of her latest causes was to raise money and awareness for American Indians and others protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline Project in North Dakota. Friends mourned Jo on social media, calling her the heart of Oakland. UNIQUE SENSE OF STYLE Donna Kellogg, 32, of Oakland, was described as energetic and intelligent by friends and co-workers. Josh Howes, an ex-boyfriend, said Kellogg wanted to be a healer, the East Bay Times reported (http://bit.ly/2h0AbAl). He said she was studying nutrition. Kellogg worked at Highwire Coffee Roasters, where founder Robert Myers said she had just cut her hair and was on the brink of changes. He said all her co-workers enjoyed connecting with her through their shared interests in coffee and her quirky sense of style. "I loved that she had a belt with her name on it and would wear it to work," Myer said. LIKE A BROTHER Peter Wadsworth was thoughtful, caring and always willing to lend a hand, his friend Tammy Tasoff said. Tasoff, 29, said Wadsworth looked out for her, doing little things that made her life easier. He would organize her messy files, give her advice and fix her computer if she needed help, said Tasoff, a dental student. He bought video games because he knew she loved them, and he would often watch her play, she said. "Usually he'd say, 'Let's play video games,' and then he'd say, 'No, I just want to watch you play,'" she said, sobbing. "He'd make me food. He took really good care of me. He was like my big brother." OTHER VICTIMS The city of Oakland also identified David Clines, 35, of Oakland, and Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, of Hayward, as victims. Another victim has been identified, but officials said they were withholding the name because the person was 17 years old. One of the people killed was the son of a local deputy, Kelly said Sunday. He did not release the name. ___ Many friends and family members were still awaiting word of their missing loved ones as crews searched for remains. Some gathered outside a sheriff's office for official confirmation on their status. LONG-DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP Among the missing were Alex Ghassan and his fiancee, Hanna Henrikka Ruax. Ghassan is a director and producer who worked with Spike Lee and Talib Kweli. He also is the father of twin toddlers. Ruax is a yoga instructor, entrepreneur and activist visiting from Helsinki, Finland. She arrived in Oakland in late November. The pair had been dating long-distance, and Ghassan was preparing to move to Europe, said his roommate Vikram Babu. "He was fed up with the U.S.," Babu said. Ghassan previously resided in Orange, New Jersey. He has lived in Oakland on and off for about a year, Babu said. Ghassan's mother, Emilie Grandchamps, told WABC-TV (https://goo.gl/HFH3eN), that Ghassan often went out of his way to help other artists. Before the fire, Ghassan posted video of the warehouse party on Instagram. "Oakland reminds me of #JerseyCity so much at times," he wrote. Ruax, meanwhile, is a social justice activist who organized a large protest in Finland after a neo-Nazi rally in that European country, Babu said. "She is very gentle," he said. Ruax's Instagram account is filled with playful photos of her and Ghassan. Last week, she posted a selfie with Ghassan where both made funny faces into the camera. "Sent this pic to my mumz after arriving home to my boo," she wrote. "Home sweet home!" ATTORNEY WITH A DESIRE TO HELP Nick Walrath, 31, of Oakland texted his girlfriend, Alexis Abrams-Bourke, from inside the burning structure, saying there was a fire and that he loved her. Abrams-Bourke said Monday that Walrath was among the missing. She spoke between sobs as she described him as a wonderful person who was open and vulnerable and goofy and generous. "I feel like my future has been ripped from me," she said. The two moved together from New York City several years ago after Walrath got a job as a clerk for the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He spent a year working as a judicial law clerk for the federal district court in San Francisco, and recently was hired as an attorney with the San Francisco law firm Durie Tangri. But his ultimate goal was to work for the American Civil Liberties Union, according to Abrams-Bourke. Helping people is what drove him. "He could really step outside of himself and care and listen to other people and feel their struggles, and want to help," Abrams-Bourke said. "Not everyone is equipped to help in that way, and he knew he was, you know, and that was his gift." District Judge Jon Tigar said in a statement that Walrath was an "exceptional" law clerk in his chambers. "Nick brought his brilliant intellect, cogent writing skills, curiosity and relentless work ethic to everything he did," Tigar wrote. 'SO SUPPORTIVE TO US' Barrett Clark, 35, was a popular sound engineer at the San Francisco club The Bottom of the Hill. And his friends say he appeared to be everywhere. Parker T. Gibbs, chief operating officer at Magnolia Media Productions, said when he'd walk into a rave full of strangers, he'd always spot Clark. "I knew where I'd be for the rest of the night," Gibbs said. "Right next to him." Authorities have listed Clark among the missing. Friends say the Santa Rosa native was a sound engineer and DJ who was a "standup guy" and appeared always ready to help musicians and fellow DJs. "Mourning Barrett Clark -- so supportive to us," composer and musician Holly Herndon tweeted Monday. "Played mesmeric live techno. Best sound engineer. Always laughing & making things work for ppl." Lynn Schwarz, co-owner of The Bottom of the Hill, said Clark was the engineer she hired to impress popular bands. "You couldn't shock the guy," Schwarz said. "He had all kinds of friends." PHOTOGRAPHER WHO LOVED MUSIC Friends and family were holding out hope that photographer Amanda Allen, 34, would be found safe. The Chelmsford, Massachusetts, native is a dancer with a passion for music, loved ones told The Lowell Sun (http://bit.ly/2gISHNd). "We are all praying for a miracle and coming together as a family," said her mother, Linda Smith Regan. Allen's husband, Andy Kershaw, a DJ, called her vibrant and magnetic. Allen graduated from Bridgewater State University in 2004. She and Kershaw moved to San Francisco from Boston in 2008. Chelmsford native Shannon Fisher said Allen took ballet as a child and later embraced "that underground musical life." Fisher described Allen as smart and funny, with a laugh that comes easily. A photography website belonging to Allen says she shoots portraits and events. A BEAUTIFUL SOUL Kershaw said his friend and fellow DJ Johnny Igaz also was unaccounted for. Igaz reportedly was playing a set when the fire broke out. He was listed on Facebook as a record buyer at Green Apple Books and Music in San Francisco. His Facebook page was littered with tearful posts from friends who called him a beautiful soul and a true friend. HER TRUE SELF Riley Fritz, 29, a musician and artist from Connecticut, recently moved to San Francisco to be with friends, according to her brother, Ben Fritz. "She was a kind and beautiful person who had the strength to be her true self even when she knew that was not an easy path," Ben Fritz, 39, told The Associated Press. He said she appeared to be the "happiest she had been in a few years." Ben Fritz said the family was notified Sunday night that Riley, also known as Feral Pines, likely was killed in the fire. Their father, Bruce Fritz, told the San Francisco Chronicle (http://bit.ly/2haW54C) he was flying to Oakland on Monday to identify the body. He said he would be joined by Ben Fritz, who lives in Los Angeles. Riley Fritz graduated from Staples High School in Westport in 2005 and the School for the Visual Arts in Manhattan in 2010. She lived in several places before moving to the Bay Area, according to her family. FINDING THEIR PLACE THROUGH MUSIC Ben Runnels and Nicole Renae Siegrist, known as "Denalda," named their last album "Temporary Heaven" to describe the fleeting nature of life and the moments of happiness when you feel completely comfortable with who you are, no matter how different from others you may be, said Brendan Dreaper, who helps operate Mixtape, the Oakland-based company that managed their band. That's also the message the two friends, who formed the group Introflirt, would want the world to remember about their music, Dreaper said. They dubbed their sound "croonwave" and made it their mission to create a "soundtrack for the insecure," according to Mixtape. Runnels, who played guitar and sang, was introverted but connected to people through his music, Dreaper said. Siegrist, who played the synthesizer, was an outgoing "free spirit" who used herself as a canvas, painting black streaks or bold marks on her face to contrast with outfits like a veil, halo of flowers and white dress. Runnels was from the East Coast, and Siegrist the Midwest. They met in the Bay Area a few years ago and wanted to send a message to people who feel out of place. "You may feel like an outsider, but that's your advantage in life," Dreaper said. "They were completely comfortable with being themselves. I think they did achieve that. I know people connected to them. The music did that for them, as well. It made them feel happy about themselves." The two went to the warehouse show with friends, including musician Hough, who also worked with Mixtape. They went to see Runnels' roommate, Igaz, who is listed among the missing. Siegrist's cousin, Rhonda Ford, said the musician grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, and described her as caring and outgoing, someone who could talk to anybody and lived life to the fullest. She said the family is awaiting formal notification of her death. Runnels' family could not be reached. He was listed by the city as missing. ___ Associated Press writers Julie Watson in San Diego, Janie Har in Oakland, Russell Contreras in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Matt O'Brien in Providence, Rhode Island, and Rachel D'Oro in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed to this report. This 2012 photo provided by Terry Ewing shows Ara Jo in New Orleans. Friends called Ara Jo a vibrant artist and community organizer who could make friends with anyone, anywhere. Jo, 29, grew up in Los Angeles and was living in Oakland. Authorities notified her family, including her parents who flew in in from South Korea, of her death on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. Jo was one of dozens of people killed in the fire at the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland, Calif., that started Dec. 2, 2016. (Terry Ewing via AP) This photo taken Oct. 19, 2016, in Thailand, and provided by Lexi Abrams-Bourke shows Nick Walrath in the Chiang Mai Night Market. Walrath was listed as missing Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, in a deadly warehouse fire in Oakland, Calif. (Lexi Abrams-Bourke via AP) Pictures and flowers adorn a fence near the site of a warehouse fire Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, in Oakland, Calif. The death toll in the Oakland warehouse fire climbed Monday with more bodies still feared buried in the blackened ruins, and families anxiously awaited word of their missing loved ones. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) Chievo draws 0-0 against Genoa, Udinese beats Bologna 1-0 MILAN (AP) Chievo Verona drew 0-0 against Genoa in Serie A on Monday, thanks in part to Valter Birsa's terrible penalty for the home side. Birsa should have put Chievo ahead in the 37th minute after Riccardo Meggiorini was fouled by Ezequiel Munoz, but he blazed the spot kick over the crossbar. Moments earlier, Meggiorini almost scored a stunning goal but saw his overhead kick come off the bar. Chievo Verona's Riccardo Meggiorini, right, and Genoa's Armando Izzo go for the ball during their Serie A soccer match at the Bentegodi stadium in Verona, Italy, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. (Filippo Venezia/ANSA via AP) Genoa, which beat Juventus 3-1 in the previous round, also hit the woodwork with Nikola Ninkovic's effort crashing off the right post in the 71st. The two teams remained in mid table, separated by a point, although Genoa has played a match less than nearly all the other teams. ___ UDINESE 1 BOLOGNA 0 Udinese marked its 120th anniversary with a last-gasp victory against 10-man Bologna. Bologna defender Erick Pulgar was sent off in the 68th following two yellow cards in 10 minutes. It looked as if Bologna was going to take a vital point, despite its numerical disadvantage, but Udinese captain Danilo acrobatically volleyed Silvan Widmer's cross in off the underside of the crossbar in stoppage-time. It was a magnificent strike no doubt appreciated by Udinese's record goalscorer Antonio Di Natale, who was among a number of former players in the stands at Stadio Friuli. Stipe Perica should have put Udinese in front earlier but fired over the bar from a good position and also had a header from point-blank range brilliantly stopped by Bologna goalkeeper Antonio Mirante. Udinese moved up to 13th, while Bologna slipped to 16th, eight points off the relegation zone. Chievo's Ivan Radovanovic, left, and Genoa's Giovanni Simeone vie for the ball during their Serie A soccer match at the Bentegodi stadium in Verona, Italy, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. (Filippo Venezia/ANSA via AP) Bologna coach Roberto Donadoni walks on the pitch prior to a Serie A soccer match between Bologna and Udinese, at the Friuli stadium, Italy, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. (Alberto Lancia /ANSA via AP) Udinese's Seko Fofana, center, and Bologna's Blerim Dzemaili, left, vie for the ball vie for the ball during a Serie A soccer match at the Friuli stadium, Italy, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. (Alberto Lancia /ANSA via AP) Candidate wanted on US drug charges wins Haiti Senate seat PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) A Senate candidate and former rebellion leader wanted on decade-old U.S. drug-trafficking charges has been elected to Haiti's Parliament. Provisional Electoral Council spokeswoman Nicole Simeon said Monday that preliminary results show Guy Philippe won a Senate runoff for the Grande Anse region. Final results won't be certified for weeks. It wasn't immediately clear if his rivals will contest. FILE - In this Aug. 25, 2016 file photo, Guy Philippe, center, is surrounded by supporters as he campaigns in Corail, Haiti. The senatorial candidate wanted on decade-old drug-trafficking charges by U.S. authorities has been elected to Haitis Parliament. A Provisional Electoral Council spokeswoman said Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, preliminary results show Philippe won a Senate runoff for the Grande Anse region. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery, File) Philippe belongs to the Consortium faction allied with President-elect Jovenel Moise's Tet Kale party. He is wanted on drug-trafficking charges including conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States. The indictment charging him is sealed and federal prosecutors decline to discuss it. Philippe denies any wrongdoing. He is reviled by some Haitians and celebrated by others as a leader of the 2004 rebellion that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Mexico awards first deep-water oil agreement MEXICO CITY (AP) Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex said Monday that it has awarded its first contract with a private firm for a joint operating agreement in deep-water oil drilling. The deep-water field known as the Trion block will be developed by the Australian firm BHP Billiton under a "farm-out" agreement in which the leaseholder of an oil field grants an operating interest to another company to develop the field. The Trion field is near Mexico's maritime boundary with the United States in the Gulf of Mexico and is believed to hold the equivalent of 485 million barrels of oil. BHP Billiton said it will take a 60 percent interest in the block, while Pemex will retain 40 percent. The Australian company could eventually invest funds and give payments to Pemex totaling $624 million under the agreement. "Today is a historic day for Pemex and Mexico, as it is the company's first association agreement," a Pemex statement said. The National Oil Commission later said the agreement could eventually result in as much as $7.4 billion dollars. The commission also announced the results of bidding on exploration licensing contracts for 10 other deep-water fields. Two of the contracts drew no bidders, but eight were assigned. The commission said the eight blocks would result in a total of $34.4 billion over 35 years. It said the Mexican government would receive between 59.8 and 66.1 percent of the profits from the exploration and production projects. Four blocks in the Perdido Fold belt, which is in the same area where Trion is located, were won mostly by foreign firms. China Offshore Oil Corporation E&P Mexico won contracts for two blocks. An alliance of Chevron, Pemex and Japan's Inpex got another block, and France's Total and ExxonMobil won the fourth. Six deep-water blocks were offered farther south in the Salina basin. Two drew no bidders, and four were awarded, mainly to foreign firms. Russia and China block Syria truce in UN vote UNITED NATIONS (AP) Russia and China used their veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block a draft resolution on Monday calling for a seven-day humanitarian truce in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo, leading the U.S. representative to accuse them of issuing a "death sentence" for innocent Syrians. It was Russia's sixth veto and China's fifth of resolutions on the civil war in Syria, now in its sixth year. The resolution, sponsored by New Zealand, Egypt and Spain, sought to allow for the removal of the sick and wounded and to provide humanitarian aid workers enough time to get food aid and medicine into the besieged city. The resolution had 11 votes in favor, three against with one abstention but because Russia and China as permanent members of the 15-seat council have veto power the resolution did not pass. Venezuela, a non-permanent member, cast the other "No" vote and Angola abstained. U.S. Deputy Ambassador Michele Sison called the vetoes "a death sentence for innocent men, women and children." "Let me tell you what Russia and China have vetoed today in blocking this resolution and allowing the bombardment of eastern Aleppo to continue. They have vetoed the delivery of basic medicine to people who will die without it. They have vetoed the evacuation of sick and dying people who have no chance of surviving in the bombed out hospitals and clinics of eastern Aleppo. They vetoed the delivery of food to civilians who could starve to death," Sison said. "They have vetoed the lives of innocent Syrians." Before the vote, Sison traded barbs with the Russian representative over who was to blame for the resolution's failure. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin complained that the vote violated the Security Council's working procedures because the draft hadn't been given the traditional 24 hours for it to be under review. He also complained that it did not take into account an agreement between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to organize a group of experts on Aleppo. Sison said that Churkin's contention that the U.S. and Russia were on the cusp of reaching a deal was "a made up alibi." "We will not let Russia string along the Security Council while waiting for a compromise that never seems to come," Sison said. The Security Council's inability to act over Syria has led to a number of initiatives to bring the matter before the entire 193-member General Assembly where resolutions are non-binding but have the force of demonstrating international opinion. Canada is moving to present a resolution to the General Assembly and a coalition of human rights groups last week called for a special emergency session on Syria. "Countries on and off the Security Council should immediately work to convene an emergency Special Session of the General Assembly to explore, among other things, ways to hold perpetrators of serious crimes in Syria to account," Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch said in a statement. Invited to speak before the council, Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari repeated a frequent justification of his government's actions in Aleppo as part of the effort to fight terrorism. Brazil's government proposes setting retirement age at 65 SAO PAULO (AP) The government is proposing that Brazil's minimum retirement age be set at 65 as part of an overhaul to a pension system many say is unsustainable. Currently, Brazilians have the option of retiring based on the number of years they have worked, and many retire in their mid-50s. President Michel Temer presented the pension plan to congressional and union leaders Monday night. The proposal goes to Congress on Tuesday. CORRECTS TO PENSION REFORM FROM SECURITY REFORM - Brazil's President Michel Temer, right, talks with Economy Minister Henrique Meirelles, during a pension plan proposal to National Congress leaders, at the Planalto Presidential Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. Brazil's government is proposing fixing the minimum retirement age at 65 as part of an overhaul to a pension system. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Brazil is suffering a deep recession, and the government hopes a pension reform will alleviate pressure on public finances and help stimulate growth. "Reforming social security today is the only guarantee of ensuring a social security system in the future," Temer said in announcing the proposal. Brazil's President Michel Temer smiles during a pension plan proposal to National Congress leaders, at the Planalto Presidential Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. Brazil's government is proposing fixing the minimum retirement age at 65 as part of an overhaul to a pension system. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) The Latest: Pizzagate shooting suspect ordered held by judge WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on the arrest of a man who police say fired shots in a pizzeria while investigating a fake news story (all times local): 6 p.m. A man who police say fired an assault rifle inside a pizzeria in the nation's capital while investigating a fake news story about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring has been ordered held until at least Thursday. Edgar Maddison Welch, 28 of Salisbury, N.C., surrenders to police Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, in Washington. Welch, who said he was investigating a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a pizza place, fired an assault rifle inside the restaurant on Sunday injuring no one, police and news reports said. (Sathi Soma via AP) Presiding Magistrate Judge Joseph E. Beshouri ordered 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina, jailed until a preliminary hearing and detention hearing set for 9 a.m. Thursday in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Welch was arrested after Sunday's shooting at Comet Ping Pong. No one was injured. He appeared in handcuffs in court Thursday wearing a white, disposable jumpsuit used when authorities take a suspect's clothing as evidence. He was appointed a public defender who didn't immediately return requests for comment. __ 4:20 p.m. Court records show a man charged with a firing a rifle inside a pizzeria surrendered peacefully after he told authorities he failed to find evidence after fake online news stories said the eatery was secretly harboring child sex slaves. Twenty-eight-year-old Edgar M. Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina, was expected to make an initial court appearance Monday afternoon in the District of Columbia. Police say he brought a rifle into the Comet Ping Pong restaurant in the nations' capital because he wanted to investigate rumors contained in fake online news reports claiming it was connected to a child sex trafficking ring supposedly run by Hillary Clinton. The court document states Welch "surrendered peacefully when he found no evidence that underage children were being harbored in the restaurant." In recent weeks, the so-called Pizzagate scandal has gained currency among some quarters in social media, fueled by the fake news stories distributed online. ___ 3 p.m. The conspiracy theory involving a fake news story that links Hillary Clinton and a D.C. pizza shop to a child exploitation ring has at least one prominent adherent linked to President-elect Donald Trump's transition team. Michael Flynn Jr. is an adviser to his father, Michael Flynn, whom Trump selected to serve as national security adviser. Flynn Jr. has sent numerous posts on Twitter about the conspiracy theories of Pizzagate, a fake news story that suggests a pizza shop called Comet Ping Pong plays a key role in a child sex trafficking ring run by Clinton. Police say the conspiracy theory led to violence Sunday when a North Carolina man fired a rifle in the restaurant as he sought to investigate the accusations. No one was injured, and the man was arrested. Flynn Jr., who has accompanied his father to presidential transition meetings inside Trump Tower and lists the presidential transition website as part of his Twitter bio, tweeted Sunday night that, "Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it'll remain a story." Trump's team had no immediate response to questions about the conspiracy theory or the younger Flynn's role in the presidential transition. ___ 2 p.m. The bizarre conspiracy theory known as Pizzagate that police say led to a nonfatal shooting at a pizza shop in the nation's capital has affected several area businesses. Politics and Prose is an independent bookstore a few doors down from Comet Ping Pong, where a North Carolina man was arrested Sunday after police say he fired a rifle while trying to investigate a fake news story about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring. Bookstore co-owners Bradley Graham and Lissa Muscatine said that while Comet Ping Pong has found itself at the center of the conspiracy theory, the bookstore and other businesses on the block also received threats and menacing phone calls in recent weeks. Graham said the store has taken the threats seriously, reporting them to police. He expressed frustration that police seemed uninterested before Sunday's shooting in investigating more thoroughly. Politics and Prose was open for business Monday; Comet Ping Pong was closed through Monday afternoon, as it normally is. Neighbors brought flowers and cards to the restaurant storefront saying "We support Comet" and "we love you and stand by you." ___ 12 p.m. Authorities say a man who fired a rifle inside a pizzeria in the nation's capital while investigating a fake news story about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring is expected to appear in court Monday afternoon. Police say 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina, was arrested after Sunday's incident at Comet Ping Pong. No one was injured and he was arrested afterward. Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, says Welch is expected to make his first appearance in court sometime after 1 p.m. Monday. It was unclear how long it might take before Welch's case is heard. An incident report lists a Colt AR-15 rifle, a Colt .38 handgun, a shotgun and a folding knife among the items seized in the case. Welch is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, other weapons offenses and destruction of property. ___ 9:35 a.m. Police say a man investigating a fake news story about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a Washington, D.C. pizzeria had an AR-15 rifle and a handgun when he was arrested after firing inside the restaurant. Police said in a statement that 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina, was arrested Sunday at Comet Ping Pong. No one was injured. Police spokeswoman Karimah Bilal says rounds were fired, possibly striking the walls, door and a computer. Police say Welch told police he'd come to the restaurant to investigate reports that spread online during Clinton's unsuccessful run for the White House. Police have called those reports a "fictitious online conspiracy theory." An incident report lists a Colt AR-15 rifle, a Colt .38 handgun, a shotgun and a folding knife among the items seized. Welch is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, other weapons offenses and destruction of property. ___ 4:10 a.m. Police say a man who said he was investigating a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a pizza place fired an assault rifle inside the Washington, D.C., restaurant Sunday. Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Aquita (ah-KWEE'-tah) Brown says police got a call Sunday afternoon about a male with a weapon on Connecticut Avenue, in an affluent neighborhood of the nation's capital. The Washington Post reports 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina, walked into the front door of Comet Ping Pong and pointed a gun in the direction of a restaurant employee. The employee was able to flee and notify police. According to a police statement, Welch told police he'd come to the restaurant to "self-investigate" a fictitious conspiracy theory that spread online during Clinton's run for the White House. Edgar Maddison Welch, 28 of Salisbury, N.C., surrenders to police Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, in Washington. Welch, who said he was investigating a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a pizza place, fired an assault rifle inside the restaurant on Sunday injuring no one, police and news reports said. (Sathi Soma via AP) Vet, author who advocated for vets, criticized war, dies LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) Luis Carlos Montalvan, a decorated Iraq war veteran who became a strong critic of the war and wrote a best-selling book about it, has died in El Paso. He was 43. Montalvan was found in a hotel room in downtown El Paso late Friday, El Paso police Sgt. Enrique Carrillo said Monday. The medical examiner's office has not completed a preliminary autopsy report. [caption] Montalvan served 17 years in the Army, doing two tours in Iraq. He received two Bronze Stars and the Purple Heart. His service dog, Tuesday, was the subject of Montalvan's book, which became a New York Times best seller. Some Army colleagues said Montalvan, who retired from the Army as a captain in 2007, embellished his account of the incident that led to his Purple Heart. Tuesday is now being cared for by a loving family in the Northeast, according to a statement from Montalvan's family. "He was an extremely dedicated activist nationwide for multiple causes, including rights and benefits of veterans and the disabled, as well as the promotion of service dogs," the statement reads. "His spirit lives on through his family and friends, Tuesday, his writings, and all the people he touched during his years of service to his country and his humanitarian work." Montalvan's book, " UNTIL TUESDAY: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him," was praised by Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, made him a leading advocate for wounded veterans and even led to an interview on David Letterman's show. But several men who served with him told The Associated Press in 2011 that he had exaggerated or fabricated key events from his service abroad. The AP also obtained documents that contradicted Montalvan's statements about the extent and severity of his injuries. Montalvan, who earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Maryland College Park and a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, declined to speak with the AP at the time, but issued a statement through his lawyer that his book "is a reflection of my experiences in the United States Army (and after) during one of the most controversial military actions since the Vietnam War. Some of the events described in 'Until Tuesday' resulted in wounds to myself both visible and invisible." Hachette Book Group, which published his first book and will publish his second, "TUESDAY'S PROMISE: One Veteran, One Dog, and Their Bold Quest to Change Lives," said in a statement that it was "deeply saddened" at Montalvan's death. "With his beloved service dog Tuesday at his side, Luis spent the past decade educating the public about trauma and advocating for veterans and people with disabilities," the statement reads. "He will be missed greatly and our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time." The organization that united Montalvan with Tuesday has set up a webpage in his honor. Donations can be made at www.ecad1.org/Luis . ___ AP reporter Hillel Italie contributed to this report. [caption] Security Concepts for Religious Institutions will be presented by AGAPE Tactical, LLC On Dec. 17. The interactive seminar will teach participants how to make their organization a safer place of worship. The seminar will cover topics such as: 1. The cost of having a safety team versus not having one 2. The truth regarding shooting incidents in churches 3. How to prevent tragedy from coming to your front door 4. How to create your own Security Vulnerability Assessment (SVA) 5. How to employ the Deter, Detect and Deny methodology 6. The importance of awareness training 7. Proper positioning of volunteers and ushers 8. The proper use of surveillance equipment and where it should be located 9. How to choose your safety team 10. How to harden your exterior without losing the warmth and inviting culture of your church Security Concepts for Religious Institutions is presented by Ken Alexandrow, founder of AGAPE Tactical, LLC. Mr. Alexandrow has spent more than 25 years serving the citizens of middle Tennessee as a career police officer. He started AGAPE Tactical, LLC in 2012, after being asked by several churches to help start their security programs. Since then, he has spoken at numerous church conventions and travels the country setting up church safety and security programs. His team has decades of experience in all levels of law enforcement, military, and private industry thoroughly informing their base of knowledge and experience in the field of security. Cost: $50 per organization (no limit to the number of representatives per organization) Contact: Tim White, tim@whitefamily.us, to register. Location: Grace Baptist Church, 7815 Shallowford Rd, Chattanooga, TN 37421 Time: 8:00 am to 12:00 pm (Up to 4 hours depending on questions and participation) House, Senate leaders reach deal on Calif. drought, Flint WASHINGTON (AP) House and Senate leaders reached agreement Monday on a bipartisan bill to authorize $170 million for Flint, Michigan, and other cities beleaguered by lead in drinking water, and to provide relief to drought-stricken California. A vote on the water-projects bill could be held this week as Congress wraps up its legislative work for the year. But the measure was jeopardized by sharp opposition from California Sen. Barbara Boxer and other Democrats who said it would harm drinking water quality and severely weaken the Endangered Species Act, threatening salmon and other endangered species. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the $558 million measure would bring more water to his state for farming and other uses. He hailed support from California's other Democratic senator, Dianne Feinstein, saying the agreement could not have been reached without her backing. "After years of hard work with countless constituencies, Congress is ready to pass a California water deal," McCarthy said, calling the bill "an important moment for the state." Feinstein also defended the bill. While not perfect, "I do believe it will help California and it has bipartisan support including Republicans and Democrats in the House, and that's why I'm supporting it," she said in a statement. "If we don't move now, we run the real risk of legislation that opens up the Endangered Species Act in the future, when Congress will again be under Republican control, this time backed by a Trump administration," she said. Boxer, who is retiring at the end of the year, vowed to fight the bill until the minute she leaves office. At a news conference Monday, an impassioned Boxer called the agreement a "devastating maneuver" and "a last-minute backroom deal" that could do irrevocable harm to her state. Boxer argued that the measure would "bypass the science" that forms the basis of the Endangered Species Act in order to direct that water be diverted to agriculture and other uses instead of protecting salmon and the imperiled Delta smelt. She accused McCarthy of an "outrageous attempt to undo one of our landmark laws in the dead of night." With Congress set to adjourn for the year as early as Friday, Boxer said she would use procedural moves to delay the bill, up to and including killing other must-pass legislation such as a short-term measure funding the government until early next year. Congress faces a Friday deadline for the bill to avoid a government shutdown. "We may be here through Christmas and New Year's Eve," Boxer said. Boxer deflected questions about Feinstein's role in the agreement, saying she and her veteran colleague have long disagreed about a drought remedy. While the pair agree on "98 percent" of issues, "we have a big disagreement on this," Boxer said. Under an agreement reached Monday, the water-projects bill would include language authorizing aid for Flint and other cities, but money for the bill would be included in the short-term spending bill. Flint's drinking water became tainted when the city switched from the Detroit water system and began drawing from the Flint River in April 2014 to save money. The impoverished city was under state control at the time. Regulators failed to ensure the water was treated properly and lead from aging pipes leached into the water supply. ___ First Lady Michelle Obama is to sit down for a farewell TV interview with Oprah Winfrey before leaving the White House. The special interview, which will focus on the Obamas' eight years in Washington, will air in the week before Christmas. Mrs Obama will talk about her legacy as First Lady and what is in store for her future but will presumably also be asked what she thinks about the Trump clan moving in. CBS is billing the event, which will be broadcast on December 19, as Mrs Obama's final one-on-one interview inside the White House. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrive for a reception to honor recipients of the 2016 Kennedy Center Honors at the White House on Sunday A Gallup poll revealed that Mrs Obama had a 64 per cent approval rating after her speech at the Democratic National Convention and many women have urged her to run for President. But following Hillary Clinton's bruising defeat, Mrs Obama may well have drawn her own conclusions about her own political ambitions as many voters said they were fed up of political dynasties. There has been much speculation about what the First Lady will do after leaving office but her husband has already ruled out a life in politics. Michelle Obama (left) and Oprah Winfrey (right) discussed 'trailblazing the path for the next generation of women' at a summit at the White House in June He told Rolling Stone magazine: 'You can see the incredible resonance she has with the American people. But I joke that she's too sensible to want to be in politics.' Mrs Obama, 52, nixed the rumors. CBS reported that at a summit for homeless veterans last month, she responded to a good-natured heckler who shouted out 'Run for President', by saying: 'Be quiet back there' as the audience laughed. The Obamas are reportedly planning to stay in Washington until their youngest daughter, Sasha, 15, graduates from high school. Her older sister Malia, 18, has accepted a place at Harvard next year but is currently taking a gap year. The outgoing President and his wife have both indicated they want to continue working on initiatives they began in office, including expanding girls education and helping young men of color reach their potential. Deportivo La Coruna tops Real Sociedad 5-1 in Spanish league MADRID (AP) Romanian striker Florin Andone scored a goal in each half as Deportivo La Coruna routed Real Sociedad 5-1 in the Spanish league to move out of the relegation zone. The result snapped Deportivo's six-game winless streak and moved the team to 16th in the 20-team standings, one point above the bottom three. "We needed this victory," Andone said. "We hadn't won in a long time and the fans deserved a result like this." In the next round, Deportivo faces leader Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Israel advances bill to legalize West Bank outposts JERUSALEM (AP) The Israeli parliament has given initial approval to a revised bill that would legalize scores of Israeli settlement outposts built without permission on private Palestinian land in the West Bank, but would allow for the court-ordered demolition of one such outpost this month. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has called the bill "really concerning." Lawmakers advanced the bill Monday in a 60-49 vote. The bill must receive more approvals before becoming law. The bill is a revised version of legislation initially devised to avoid demolishing the Amona outpost, which was built without permission on Palestinian land. The government now hopes to move Amona settlers to nearby land considered absentee property. California lawmakers aim to protect immigrants from Trump SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) California lawmakers on Monday urged President-elect Donald Trump to refrain from pursuing mass deportations and introduced urgent legislation to fund immigration lawyers and help public defenders protect the state's immigrants. Democratic lawmakers also passed resolutions in both chambers urging the incoming administration to uphold a program for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants in the country illegally, despite intense protests from some Republicans. State Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, introduced a bill to fund lawyers for immigrants in deportation proceedings, while Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, proposed helping public defenders assess the immigration consequences of criminal convictions. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount, center, discusses a pair of proposed measures to protect immigrants, during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. The lawmakers on Monday urged President-elect Donald Trump to refrain from pursuing mass deportations and introduced urgent legislation to fund immigration lawyers and help public defenders protect the state's immigrants. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) Both measures were marked urgent and aim to protect immigrants in California which has more than 10 million foreign-born residents from Trump's campaign promises of tougher immigration enforcement. "This is a salvo, if you will, across the board to make it very clear that these are the values of California," Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, a Democrat from Los Angeles, told reporters. Democratic lawmakers, who hold supermajorities in both chambers, proposed the measures following a heated election year where Trump made border enforcement a central point of his campaign and had harsh rhetoric for Mexican immigrants and Muslims. On the first day of the new legislative session which is typically reserved for congratulatory handshakes and bipartisan photo-ops debate was heated over Democrats' resolutions urging Trump to continue to issue work permits to young immigrants brought to the country as children. More than 740,000 young people are covered by the program today. Sen. John Moorlach, a Republican from Costa Mesa, said he thought it was the wrong approach for California to take such an antagonistic tone with a president who is not even inaugurated yet. "I'm not comfortable with saying we will fight, although I understand it. I think we ought to try to work with this administration," he said. "We should be collaborative. I don't think defiance is the right approach." De Leon called the resolution necessary and urgent as children are afraid their parents will be deported. Gov. Jerry Brown declined to take a position Monday on the immigration legislation being introduced. But he said he'll "look very carefully at whatever they propose." "I have signed some similar measures in the past, at least through the budget," he told reporters in his office. "I am very supportive of the people of California and those who have come here more recently, so I'll take a good look at whatever they present." About 2.4 million immigrants in California lack legal status, according to estimates by the Washington-based Pew Research Center. The two immigration bills introduced Monday could cost the state between $10 million and $80 million, according to proponents. Immigrant advocates said other bills are also being considered to further limit federal immigration enforcement in California and protect immigrants' information in state databases. In recent years, California has passed a series of measures to assist and protect immigrants in the country illegally, for example, limiting the cases when local law enforcement can turn over immigrant arrestees for deportation. California offers state-subsidized health care to children from low-income families who are in the country illegally and issues driver's licenses regardless of legal status. ___ Taxin reported from Santa Ana, California. Associated Press writers Juliet Williams in Sacramento contributed to this report. Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, second from left, discusses his proposed bill to help public defenders assess the immigration consequences of criminal convictions, during a news conference at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. Bonta's bill was among a series of proposals being discuss by lawmaker and immigrant advocates in California. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) UN calls on Congo to ensure credible and timely elections UNITED NATIONS (AP) The U.N. Security Council is calling on Congo to hold credible, inclusive and timely elections as soon as possible. In a press statement issued Monday, the council said it remained concerned about the risk for destabilization in Congo and in the region, but said it welcomed commitments to respect and preserve the constitution in letter and spirit, without specifying who made them. President Joseph Kabila's second term in office expires next month, but Congo's courts have ruled that the election of a new president can be delayed and that Kabila can stay in power until a new leader is chosen. Briton dies on Oxbridge ski trip to French Alps A British man has reportedly died during a university ski trip in France. He was found by friends in their accommodation in Val Thorens resort in the Alps on Sunday morning, local reports said. Thousands of students from Oxford and Cambridge universities attend the popular annual Varsity ski trip, which dates back to 1921. Reports said the man was found by friends in their accommodation at the Val Thorens resort Nuco Travel, which runs the week-long trip, told Cambridge University news site Varsity: "Sadly one of our passengers passed away on Sunday 4th December 2016. At this time, to respect their family's and friends' privacy, we will not be commenting further." Misogyny and patriarchy widening inequality, says integration report author The "misogyny and patriarchy" in some communities is widening inequality, the author of a Government-commissioned review has warned. Dame Louise Casey said the country is becoming more divided as it becomes more diverse and highlighted that in some communities women were the subject of "abuse and unequal treatment of women enacted in the name of cultural or religious values". Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said he would be studying the findings closely but the Ramadhan Foundation condemned the "inflammatory" report. Dame Louise Casey was commenting on her newly-published integration report Dame Louise said the UK could "no longer duck difficult issues" and highlighted the problems some areas had faced because of the pace and scale of immigration. In her report she acknowledged that elements would be "hard to read", particularly for Muslim communities which already felt under pressure, but she said the country had to face up to "uncomfortable" problems. The review recommended that schoolchildren should be taught "British values" of tolerance, democracy and respect to help bind communities together amid growing "ethnic segregation". It also suggested that ministers should consider whether immigrants intending to settle in Britain should swear an "integration oath" on arrival. It highlighted the plight of women who found themselves marginalised through poor English language skills while being subjected to "coercive control, violence and criminal acts of abuse". Dame Louise told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "I, only last Thursday, was in a community where women who have lived here for years are not allowed out of their house without their men's permission." She added: "Inequality within certain communities in these highly segregated areas is getting worse, not better." Dame Louise said she was "tired" of the debate around Muslim women wearing the veil, saying people should be allowed to dress how they wanted. But she added: "Do I think police officers or midwives should be fully veiled? No, I don't. I want to see their faces - most of us do." Dame Louise said: "At the end of the day it is not the women in those communities that I have a problem with, it is the men in those communities. It is the misogyny and the patriarchy that has to come to an end. "Leaders that are not Muslim and are Muslim need to unite around unity in this country. No matter who you are, no matter what creed or colour you are, equality rules." The review called for more English classes for isolated groups, greater mixing among young people through activities such as sport, and a new oath for holders of public office The review was originally commissioned by then prime minister David Cameron in 2015 as part of a wider strategy to tackle the "poison" of Islamic extremism. It found that while Britain has benefited hugely from immigration and the increased ethnic and religious diversity it had brought, there had not been sufficient emphasis on integration. It called on the Government to back a new programme to strengthen cohesion through promotion of the English language, raising employment levels among the most marginalised groups and "emancipating" women trapped in social isolation. It highlighted the "huge national, cultural and symbolic value" of British citizenship, urging the promotion of British laws, history and values within the core school curriculum to build "integration, tolerance, citizenship and resilience" in children. Mr Javid said the UK was home to many cultures and communities " but all of us have to be part of one society - British society". "So while it's right that we celebrate the positive contribution that diverse groups make to British life, we also need to continue making sure that nobody is excluded from it or left behind," he said. "To do that, we need to take a serious look at the facts and must not shy away from the challenges we face." Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, condemned the report as " inflammatory, divisive, pandering to the agenda of the far right". "We are saddened that once again British Muslims have become a political football which is bashed from time to time without any regard for the impact this has on individuals who then are subjected to threats and violence," he said. Harun Khan, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "Any initiative that facilitates better integration of all Britons should be welcomed, and we certainly endorse the few, fair and supportable suggestions proposed by the Casey review. "This includes the promotion of the English language, sharing of best practice across the nation and a range of measures to tackle exclusion, inequality and segregation in school placements. "And while we agree that forced marriages, female genital mutilation, honour-based killings and other practices have no place in modern Britain, we would argue that our faith tradition can be deployed to tackle what are essentially cultural practices. "I hope we can facilitate robust and active conversations in British Muslim communities where we are frank about the challenges facing us and creative enough to meet them head on. "Sadly, however, I fear that this report could be a missed opportunity. We need to improve integration, and it needs to involve the active participation of all Britons, not just Muslims. As former prime minister David Cameron has stated, 'integration is a two-way street'. "The report has little discussion on white flight, and could have delved deeper into the economic structural barriers to integration." Dame Louise insisted her report was designed to kick-start work and dialogue that will help tackle far-right and Islamic extremism. She told LBC radio: "I think if we don't grab this and say let's have a dialogue, let's work out how we do this, t hen you do give way to the extremists, the far-right, in some areas of the country. "This is a gift to them and every time these things happen, every time there's some political correctness on the front page of the Daily Mail, you get the far-right loving it. "It's appalling if they're using it to basically foment racist nastiness and on the other hand you've got Islamic extremists saying nobody has a chance in this country if you're a Muslim. Both those extremes are patently wrong." Speaking en-route to Bahrain for an official visit, Prime Minister Theresa May said: "The Government commissioned the Casey review... and it is a significant piece of work, there are a lot of recommendations and we will have to look very closely at what she has said and what her recommendations are." UK will 'work closely' with new administration in Italy after PM's resignation Britain will "work closely" with the new administration in Italy which emerges after the resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in the wake of his referendum defeat, Downing Street has said. The 41-year-old Italian PM threw the EU into fresh turmoil by announcing his departure following the decisive 59%-41% rejection of his plans for constitutional reform. His resignation sparked a slump in the euro, which fell sharply against the US dollar and hit a four-and-a-half-month low against sterling, reaching a 1.20 exchange rate for the first time since July. Matteo Renzi announces his resignation (AP) Number 10 stressed that the outcome of the referendum on proposed constitutional changes was "a decision for the Italian people". Theresa May's official spokeswoman said that the Prime Minister would seek to speak with Mr Renzi - who remains in office until his successor is appointed - over the coming days. Rome was one of the stops on Mrs May's whirlwind tour of EU capitals in the days after she took office in July, when she was given a red-carpet welcome by Mr Renzi for talks over lunch. Mrs May's spokeswoman told a regular Westminster media briefing: "The Prime Minister has had good relations with Matteo Renzi since she took office. She was appreciative of the way she was welcomed in Rome and t he work we have done together in previous years on an ambitious programme of reform. "Now we look to the future and we will want to work closely with the Italian government." The referendum result was being seen as a further victory for the anti-establishment backlash sweeping much of Europe and America - with the opposition to his plan headed by the anti-euro Beppe Grillo's populist Five Star Movement. The comedian-turned politician rode the same wave of discontent which propelled Brexit to victory in the UK and Donald Trump to the White House in the United States. Mr Renzi had staked all on his reform plan - vowing to resign if it was rejected by voters. But his gamble backfired as it turned the referendum into a vote on his record in office. In an emotional televised address, he accepted full responsibility for the "extraordinarily clear" defeat and said he would tender his resignation after meeting his cabinet on Monday. "The experience of my government ends here," he said. Earlier there was a rare moment of relief for Europe's beleaguered political mainstream as the challenge of the far-right Freedom Party for the Austrian presidency ended in failure. Norbert Hofer, who was seeking to become the first far-right president in Europe since the Second World War, was beaten by the Green Party's Alexander Van der Bellen. Mr Van der Bellen said his win sent a "message to the capitals of the European Union that one can win elections with high European positions". But Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's National Front, who is hoping to ride the populist tide to victory in the French presidential elections, praised Mr Hofer's party for a campaign "fought with courage". "Victory will be theirs in the next legislative elections," she said on Twitter. Downing Street said that the election of a president in Vienna was "a decision for the Austrian people". Government goes to Supreme Court to overturn Brexit ruling The Government goes to the Supreme Court today in the latest stage of the legal battle over Brexit. The highest court in the land is being asked to overturn a High Court ruling that the Prime Minister must seek MPs' approval to trigger the process of taking Britain out of the European Union. In a decision that infuriated Brexiteers, three senior judges said Theresa May lacked power to use the royal prerogative to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and start the two-year process of negotiating Brexit without the prior authority of Parliament. Protesters outside the Supreme Court in London Now 11 Supreme Court justices - a record number to sit on an appeal - will have their say regarding one of the most important constitutional cases in generations. If the appeal is unsuccessful, and any potential further appeal to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg also fails, the Government's plans for Brexit could be thrown into disarray. But Mrs May has made it clear she still intends to give an Article 50 notification by the end of next March to start the leave negotiations with 27 other EU countries. Brexit Secretary David Davis is leading the Government's historic legal action. His team of lawyers, headed by Attorney General Jeremy Wright, will argue in the four-day Supreme Court hearing that the three High Court judges erred over Article 50 and its use was legally justified by the June 23 referendum vote in favour of quitting the EU. Lord Thomas, the Lord Chief Justice, gave the ruling blocking the use of Article 50. Two other top judges - Master of the Rolls Sir Terence Etherton and Lord Justice Sales - agreed. Even though it was emphasised to a packed court in London that they were deciding "a pure question of law" and not expressing any view about the merits of leaving the European Union, they faced fierce criticism from Leave campaigners and an accusation that they were "enemies of the people". Against that background, the Supreme Court has already stressed that its judges will only be concerned with questions of law and not making political decisions. The Scottish and Welsh governments and the Attorney General for Northern Ireland are all intervening in the case. Scotland's Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC is to argue that it would be unlawful for the Article 50 process to start without a legislative consent motion (LCM) from Holyrood. The High Court ruling was won by Gina Miller, 51, an investment fund manager and philanthropist who was selected to bring the lead case. She reported that her high-profile role had led to death threats and she had spent 60,000 on security, but she is returning to the battle represented once more by Lord Pannick QC. Her case is being supported by "concerned citizens" drawn from all walks of life, including London hairdresser Deir Dos Santos, 37, who helped start the legal battle over Brexit but, say his lawyers, has been forced underground after receiving "vile" hate mail. The Attorney General said: " The country voted to leave the European Union in a referendum provided for by an Act of Parliament. "The Government is determined to respect the result of the referendum. The Government's case is that it does have legal power to trigger Article 50 on the timetable set out by the Prime Minister. We do not believe another Act of Parliament is necessary." Counsel General for Wales Mick Antoniw said: " The people of the UK voted to leave the European Union. I respect that decision and we will not work against the referendum result." He said: "Leaving the EU will lead to significant changes to the devolution settlement in Wales - only the UK Parliament can make those changes, which should be with the agreement of the National Assembly for Wales." The Welsh Government's legal team "will argue that the judgment of the High Court should be upheld, and that an Act of Parliament is required for the UK Government to give notice under Article 50". Shadow attorney general Baroness Chakrabarti defended the judiciary's role in the face of intense scrutiny "verging on vilification". She said: "The judges are not fair game. They cannot speak up for themselves and we all need them in the end if we are going to settle our disputes in a civilised way in the courtroom." She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "As a matter of law, our overarching constitutional principle in this country - one indeed that many Brexiteers wanted to champion - is the principle of parliamentary sovereignty. "The fact that the people have spoken via a referendum means that the people have spoken to Parliament." Lady Chakrabarti insisted that if Parliament was given a say, MPs and peers would not veto Brexit. She said: "We have been completely clear that we are democrats and respect the outcome of the referendum, even though many of us - myself included - campaigned in the opposite direction. "So this will happen, pursuant to the will of the people. But there is not a simple question of 'in and out of the European Union', there are many questions that Parliament has to scrutinise about what happens next." Attorney General Jeremy Wright Cafe on the Corner, an old time grocery store turned into local restaurant, is celebrating its one-year anniversary on Dec. 10 with tasty food specials, drinks, and live music. The restaurant has been open for one year following a devastating fire that forced the restaurant to close for over a year. We are so excited to celebrate our first birthday in our new space and cant for you to join us, says Owner and General Manager Ruth Oehmig. The event will begin at 11 a.m. and last till 9 p.m. Special guest Matt Downer who is a craft fiddler, banjo player and guitarist, will be playing from 2-4 p.m. Chattanooga Brewing Company will be producing a special brew just for Cafe on the Corner and all the proceeds from the beer sales will go to the Chattanooga Community Kitchen. In the week leading up to this celebration there will be food specials and the opportunity to register to win free brunch for an entire year. Planned infrastructure investment 'set to top 500bn for the first time' Planned investment in Britain's infrastructure is set to top 500 billion for the first time, the Government has said. Ministers are publishing a new National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline, setting out planned public and private investment over the rest of the current parliament and beyond. The Treasury said that 300 billion of the 500 billion of expenditure identified in the document will take place by 2020-21, with projects including investment in transport links, broadband, flood defences and housing. The Treasury said that 300 billion of the 500 billion of expenditure identified in the document will take place by 2020-21 It follows Chancellor Philip Hammond's announcement of an additional 23 billion of infrastructure spending in last month's Autumn Statement, as the Government seeks to raise the productivity of the UK economy. Ministers said that publishing the pipeline document would provide a single source of data for both Government and the private sector, offering greater certainty for investors and suppliers. Treasury Chief Secretary David Gauke said: "This record infrastructure pipeline is set to make a real difference to people's lives,from quicker and easier journeys to better broadband access, and building more homes for people who need them in high-demand areas. Duke of Edinburgh 'blessed with James Bond-esque genes' The Duke of Edinburgh is blessed with "James Bond-esque" genes, broadcaster Phillip Schofield has said after he worked with the royal for a new ITV documentary. The This Morning presenter has been following his royal namesake on the programme which focuses on the Duke's charitable work. Speaking about his experience working with the 95-year-old, Schofield told Hello! Magazine: "There were days when I was shadowing him and talking to people he had spoken to and by the end of it, my feet were bloody killing me. The Duke of Edinburgh is 95 "Yes, there's royal duty, but nevertheless, he's blessed with some extraordinary James Bond-esque type genes. "He's sharp as a tack, his memory is fearsome, his humour is razor sharp and he was extraordinary in the amount of time he would spend with people." The programme - in which Schofield also talks to the Earl and Countess of Wessex about their involvement - will celebrate 60 years of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which helps young people. The presenter also revealed Philip is "very funny". "He was absolutely lovely. He's got a great sense of humour. He was joking 'Oh bloody hell, not you again,' he was very friendly." The programme looks at how the Duke launched the scheme to provide life-changing opportunities for young people when he was 35. Schofield said: "When you look at him as a younger man, he was a stunning looking guy and a (naval) Commander. He's actually bloody James Bond. "He looked incredible, was very much the action man figure and so what better way to encourage people to do it than lead by example." Asked what he thought the Duke's secret was, Schofield said: "You have to be blessed with a body that will see you through that so I think he's probably a very lucky man that genetically, he's robust. And propping all of that up is this dedication to duty. Real, old-fashioned, 'well that's it, crack on'." The documentary, with the working title When Phillip Met Prince Philip: 60 Years Of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, is being produced by Spun Gold TV, which made When Ant And Dec Met The Prince: 40 Years Of The Prince's Trust. Royal prerogative is crucial in Article 50 appeal, Supreme Court hears The Government's use of the royal prerogative to trigger the process of taking Britain out of the European Union is not being done on a "whim" or "out of a clear blue sky", the UK's highest court has heard. Attorney General Jeremy Wright told 11 Supreme Court justices at the start of one of the most important constitutional cases in British legal history that it was the "logical conclusion of a process in which Parliament has been fully and consciously involved". The Government's top law officer said that process was one in which Parliament had "resolved to put a clear and decisive question about our nation's future to the British people, and in which Parliament expected the Government to act on the answer they gave". Satirical artist Kaya Mar with one of his political paintings outside the Supreme Court in London He added: "None of this means, of course, that Parliament will not be closely involved in the process of the UK's withdrawal from the EU over the coming months and years." Mr Wright was presenting argument on behalf of the Government urging the panel of justices to overturn a High Court ruling on November 3. In a decision that infuriated Brexiteers, three judges said Theresa May lacked power to use the royal prerogative to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and start the two-year process of negotiating Brexit without the prior authority of Parliament. Mr Wright told the justices in London that the case was of "great constitutional significance in which there is understandable and legitimate interest both inside and outside this courtroom". He said the High Court had reached the "wrong" decision. It was for the Government to exercise prerogative powers in the conduct of the UK's affairs on the international plane. The position of those who had brought the case and others had always been "that they have no interest in derailing Brexit but only in defending Parliament's role in the process". Mr Wright continued: "But if this is all about standing up for Parliament, I say Parliament can stand up for itself. "When it comes to leaving the European Union, Parliament has had full capacity and multiple opportunities to restrict the executive's ordinary ability to begin the Article 50 process and it has not chosen to do so." He said: "However much they may wish it had, those who support parliamentary sovereignty should, we submit, respect this exercise of parliamentary sovereignty too." Mr Wright submitted that "in the context of this case the imposition of a legislative precondition by the courts which Parliament did not choose to impose itself, cannot be supportive of parliamentary sovereignty but must be positively inconsistent with it". He said: "In the delicate balance of our constitutional settlement this court should, we submit, resist the invitation to make such an imposition." If the historic appeal is unsuccessful, and any potential further appeal to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg also fails, the Government's plans for Brexit could be thrown into disarray. But Mrs May has made it clear she still intends to give an Article 50 notification by the end of next March to start the leave negotiations with 27 other EU countries. The Government argues that the panel of High Court judges erred over Article 50 and its use was legally justified by the June 23 referendum vote in favour of quitting the EU. The High Court ruling was won by Gina Miller, 51, an investment fund manager and philanthropist who was selected to bring the lead case. Her case is being supported by "concerned citizens" drawn from all walks of life, including London hairdresser Deir Dos Santos, 37, who helped start the legal battle over Brexit but, say his lawyers, has been forced underground after receiving "vile" hate mail. The Scottish and Welsh governments and the Attorney General for Northern Ireland are all intervening in the Supreme Court case. A ruling will not be given until the new year. James Eadie QC, also appearing for the Government, said Parliament had arranged for the June 23 referendum through the 2015 EU Referendum Act on the clear understanding that the Government would implement its outcome. Nothing in law suggested that, following victory for the Leave campaign, the Government's decision to give Article 50 notice required further legislation. It was self-evident that withdrawal from the EU would affect the rights and obligations of individuals in a serious way, said Mr Eadie. Parliament knew that would be the effect, yet left the Government's prerogative powers untouched. If the intention of Parliament had been to make leaving or withdrawing subject to primary legislation "not merely could it have said so, but undoubtedly would have said so", argued Mr Eadie. "Its silence is consistent and compelling." HK's CKI returns to Australia with $5.4 bln bid for Duet Group By Tom Westbrook and Byron Kaye SYDNEY, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd made a A$7.3 billion ($5.4 billion) approach for Australian energy giant Duet Group , the target said, a sign CKI has not been deterred by a recent regulatory knockback Down Under. In August, the Australian government rejected a A$10 billion bid by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing's CKI for a controlling stake of state-owned energy grid Ausgrid, citing security concerns. The Hong Kong-listed firm's return four months later underscores strong global demand for mature Australian energy assets, while suggesting that foreign buyers may train their sights on the private sector following the Ausgrid setback. Duet said on Monday it received an "an unsolicited, indicative, incomplete, non-binding and conditional proposal" of A$3 per share in cash, a 28 percent premium to its last trade on Friday. In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, Duet said its board was considering the proposal and it was advising shareholders to take no action as there was no certainty the proposal will proceed. CKI, which already owns significant energy assets in Australia, was not immediately available for comment. Duet's biggest shareholder with 15.6 percent, education sector pension fund UniSuper, was also not immediately available for comment. Duet's second biggest shareholder, Lazard Asset Management Pacific Co, declined to comment. Any formal bid by CKI would be subject to approval from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). "While we see (Duet's) assets as potentially less concerning from a national security perspective than Ausgrid, we believe FIRB approvals remain a significant barrier to a deal proceeding," said Royal Bank of Canada analyst Paul Johnston in a note to clients. FIRB declined to comment, while the Australian Treasurer, Scott Morrison, who oversees the regulator, was not immediately available for comment. The deal is also subject to the approval of shareholders of Duet, which owns a gas pipeline serving the mining-rich state of Western Australia, and gas and electricity distribution assets in the second biggest Australian city, Melbourne. Nice regain three-point lead after win over Toulouse PARIS, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Nice restored their three-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 with a 3-0 win over Toulouse after producing another impressive performance on Sunday. Despite the absence of the injured Mario Balotelli, the hosts scored twice in quick succession in the first half through Alassane Plea and Younes Belhanda before Jean Michel Seri put the result beyond doubt after the break. Nice have 39 points from 16 games, three ahead of free-scoring Monaco who hammered Bastia 5-0 on Saturday. Champions Paris St Germain are four points off the pace after losing 3-0 at Montpellier on Saturday, their first defeat by three goals in more than five years. PSG host Nice next Sunday. Stade Rennais moved up to fourth on 27 points thanks to a 2-0 home victory over St Etienne on Sunday. Olympique Lyonnais slipped to sixth on 25 points after their game at Metz was abandoned on Saturday when firecrackers were thrown at visiting keeper Anthony Lopes. At the Allianz Riviera, Plea collected Dante's through pass before firing the ball between keeper Alban Lafont's legs to give Nice a 23rd-minute lead. Three minutes later Dante's cross caught the defence off guard and Belhanda coolly lobbed Lafont from 25 metres. Plea then headed a superb pass from Belhanda into the path of Seri who beat the keeper with a low shot in the 65th minute. Euro zone seeks compromise on Greek debt ahead of IMF deadline By Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers hope to reach a compromise on Greek reforms on Monday in a final bid to get International Monetary Fund support for its bailout programme by the end of the year. The regular gathering of the 19 ministers of the currency bloc will be held in the immediate aftermath of Italy's constitutional referendum, with a defeat of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi potentially putting the euro under new pressure and reigniting the smouldering euro zone crisis, further complicating the Greek talks. If ministers are able to reach a deal in Brussels, they are likely to hold a second meeting before Christmas to discuss Greek debt relief and the IMF's role, EU officials said. Greece is required by its euro zone creditors to pass wide-ranging reforms and sell state assets under an 86 billion euros ($92 billion) bailout programme, but negotiators have not been able to agree on labour and energy reforms or Greece's 2018 fiscal targets, leaving ministers to close the remaining gaps. A deal would allow discussions on substantial relief measures for Greece, whose debt, at about 180 percent of gross domestic product, is the highest in the euro zone. A first set of short-term measures, to be applied before 2018, will be presented by the European Stability Mechanism, the euro zone bailout fund, but they are far from enough to make Greece's debt sustainable, officials said. NEW YEAR DEADLINE The IMF, a key creditor in prior Greek bailouts, has linked its participation to a deal on a significant cut in Greek debt and has set the end of the year as a deadline for a decision. Germany, the euro zone's largest economy, wants the IMF onboard to reduce its own exposure to Greece and help step up the pressure on Athens to make reforms. Greece must carry out structural reforms instead of receiving further debt relief if it wants to achieve sustainable growth and stay in the euro zone, Germany's finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Sunday. The IMF considers Berlin's demands unrealistic unless Greece gets significant debt relief or adopts new budget cuts. The Greek government opposes new austerity measures. Although Athens is not in immediate need of new funds, it is keen to reach an overall deal in December so that it can be included in the European Central Bank's bond-buying programme before this is overhauled in March. It also fears that elections in Europe in 2017 may make debt relief less likely, if no decision is reached soon. Germans go to the polls in the autumn and tend to shun politicians who appear lenient towards Greece and other southern European countries. May's Brexit plans face British Supreme Court test By Michael Holden LONDON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May's government launches a challenge on Monday against a court ruling that it requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, a decision that could upset Britain's Brexit plans. If the Supreme Court, the United Kingdom's highest judicial body, dismisses the government appeal it could derail May's timetable for triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and leaving the EU. The government's legal fight comes against a backdrop of claims by some politicians and newspapers that establishment judges want to thwart the Brexit process. It will be the most high-profile and complex case the court has considered since it came into being seven years ago and is due to last for four days. For the first time all its 11 justices will sit on the panel with the verdict due later in January. "The case raises difficult and delicate issues about the constitutional relationship between government and parliament," Brenda Hale, the Supreme Court's Vice-President said in a speech last month. "What is meant by the exercise of the executive power of the state? We do not have a written constitution to tell us the answer. But I doubt whether many written constitutions would tell us the answer either." If May wins, she can proceed with her plans to invoke Article 50 by the end of March. But if she loses, parliament could in theory block Brexit as most lawmakers (MPs) supported staying in the EU in a referendum in June, though few observers expect such an outcome. Even so, lawmaker approval could open the process to greater scrutiny and delay. Investors believe the greater parliament's involvement the less chance there is of a "hard Brexit" in which tight controls on immigration are prioritised over European single market access. The pound surged after November's High Court ruling. In a sign of how thorny the process could be for May, the pro-EU Liberal Democrat party says it would vote against Article 50 unless there is a new referendum on the final Brexit deal, a concession May is highly unlikely to make. The party won a ninth seat in parliament on Thursday in a local by-election vote. The High Court challenge was brought by investment fund manager Gina Miller with hairdresser Deir Tozetti Dos Santos the second claimant. Other parties will also be allowed to offer legal arguments this week, including the devolved Welsh government, a group of ex-patriate Britons, and the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain which represents mainly low-paid migrant workers. So too will the Scottish government, which strongly opposes Brexit and has been seeking ways to keep Scotland in the EU. The case hinges on whether the government can use a historical power known as "royal prerogative" to invoke Article 50 without lawmakers' assent. USEFUL DISTRACTION? The challengers argued that Britons would inevitably lose rights granted under an act of parliament when leaving the EU, and that under Britain's unwritten constitution such rights could only be taken away with parliamentary approval. The High Court agreed with this, rejecting the government's assertion parliament had given its approval by allowing a referendum and that it was established the executive alone could make or leave international treaties. The government's prepared argument for the Supreme Court is little changed from before. Miller has told Reuters she suspected May might be happy to lose, with the court battle providing a useful distraction to ministerial divisions and Brexit indecision. June's vote to leave the EU exposed deep divisions in Britain, and some pro-Brexit politicians condemned the High Court for flouting democracy. The Daily Mail newspaper called the three senior judges involved "enemies of the people". Miller herself has become a target of hate and has received abuse and death threats. Some lawmakers in May's Conservative Party have also called for Supreme Court President David Neuberger to stand down because his wife had posted anti-Brexit messages on Twitter. One of the court's justices, Brian Kerr, said judges would not be swayed by personal views. "That's not to say we don't have personal views, but we are all extremely conscious of the need to set aside our personal views and apply the law as we conceive it to be," he told the BBC last month. Meanwhile, upsetting the media, politicians and some of the public is unlikely to faze Neuberger and the other justices. MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf may slip on Italy referendum result; CEO exit may hit Egypt's OTMT DUBAI, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Shares in the Gulf may slip on Monday as the global market mood has turned negative after Italy voted 'no' on constitutional reform, while shares in Egypt's Orascom Telecom could be hit by the surprise news that Naguib Sawiris is stepping down as chief executive. The euro has dropped to a 20-month low and investors are exiting riskier assets after Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he would resign following defeat in a constitutional reform referendum that could destabilise the banking system of Europe's third largest economy. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan is down 0.4 percent. Shares in Dubai and Qatar, which are most exposed to foreign funds, may underperform on Monday. "At this point those who may choose to cash out will sit out equity trading for the remainder of the year, and this means activity will be concentrated in small and mid-sized names," said a Dubai-based stock trader. Brent oil futures have inched below a 16-month peak hit on Friday and are trading at $54.07 a barrel. Most oil-sensitive shares may have already largely priced in last week's OPEC deal to cut output. A purchasing manager's index released on Monday showed growth in Saudi Arabia's non-oil private sector picked up in November from a record low in October, but other data had already suggested the improvement and the rebound was modest. In Egypt, Orasom Telecom may be dealt a blow after billionaire Sawiris resigned unexpectedly as chief executive and his deputy Tamer El Mahdi was nominated as his successor. The company did not explain his decision. Coking coal surge may extend if China cracks down on North Korea: Russell By Clyde Russell LAUNCESTON, Australia, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The already elevated price of coking coal could be boosted further if China decides to crack down on coal imports from its nuclear-armed neighbour North Korea. The United Nations Security Council last week imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea, limiting its annual coal exports to 7.5 million tonnes, or a value of $400.9 million, after the isolated communist regime conducted a fifth nuclear weapons test. This is significant for China's imports of high-quality coal used to make steel, as North Korea is one of its top suppliers. Chinese customs data show that China imported 18.517 million tonnes of North Korean coal in the first 10 months of the year, a gain of 12.8 percent on the same period last year. The jump in imports from North Korea this year came in spite of earlier Chinese commitments to ban the coal trade with Pyongyang. So far, the official line from Beijing is that China will meet its obligations under the U.N. Security Council sanctions, but as was the case earlier this year, it appears the commitment may not be absolute. Earlier sanctions banning coal purchases from North Korea were not enforced by China due to an exemption allowing imports for what was translated as "the people's well-being," or "livelihood purposes." China's Foreign Ministry said on Dec. 1 that while it will enforce the new measures, they aren't intended to harm "normal" trade with North Korea or impact upon civilians. "Resolution 2321 formulates new measures, showing the resolve of the Security Council, and also points out they must avoid creating adverse consequences for North Korean civilian and humanitarian needs, and are not intended to create negative effects on normal trade," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. Once again, it will appear to come down to what Beijing considers adverse effects on the North Korean populace, and it seems that the Chinese authorities are leaving themselves some wiggle room around the sanctions. BULLISH COKING COAL SIGNAL Certainly Chinese coal traders will be happy to be allowed to continue buying from North Korea once the new measures are put in place in January. China is believed to be the only country that buys North Korean coal, which is the biggest export earner for the dynastic communist dictatorship. Chinese customs data classifies North Korean coal as anthracite, which is a grade of coal high in energy content, making it ideal for use in the steel blast furnaces and ceramic factories in the northeast provinces close to North Korea. Russia is the second-largest supplier of anthracite to China, but its 1.867 million tonnes in the first 10 months is barely 10 percent of what was imported from North Korea. Rather, the main import competitor to North Korean anthracite is coking coal from Australia and Mongolia. Chinese imports of Australian coking coal were up 11.3 percent in the first 10 months of the year to 23.45 million tonnes, while those from Mongolia surged 75.3 percent to 17.47 million tonnes. Stronger steel production and a policy directive from Beijing to limit domestic coal output has combined to send coking prices sharply higher as China sucked up every available tonne from the seaborne market. Coking coal futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed at 1,276 yuan ($185.46) a tonne on Dec. 2, up 126 percent from the start of the year. These gains have been tempered in recent weeks as the Beijing authorities took actions to try to cool commodity markets, with exchanges requiring higher margins and charging increased fees. Australian coking coal prices ended last week at $308.70 a tonne, about four times the $77 recorded at the end of last year. With coking coal in strong demand in China, the potential loss of as much as 12 million tonnes of North Korean coal in 2017 would be a very bullish signal for prices. It's possible that Beijing will force domestic coking coal miners to ramp up output, and it's also possible that imports from North Korean won't be cut by as much as implied by the new U.N. sanctions. But for now, coking coal's extraordinary rally this year has just been given another reason to continue. Hawaii grandma's plea launches women's march in Washington By Laila Kearney NEW YORK, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Hawaii grandmother Teresa Shook wanted to share her outrage with other women the night after Donald Trump was elected president, but she had few options in her remote island community. So she went on Facebook and in a popular political group wrote the first thing that came to mind: I think we should march. Four weeks later, organizers credit Shook's quiet plea with igniting what could be the largest demonstration in the nation's capital related to a presidential election. More than 125,000 people from across the country have signed up to march in Washington on Jan. 21, the day after Trump's inauguration in support of women's rights. Sister protests are planned in London and Frankfurt and online interest has grown to hundreds of thousands. "I didn't have a plan or a thought about what would happen," Shook told Reuters by phone from the island of Maui. "I just kept saying, I think we should march." After a bruising election campaign marked by Trump's comments on women, organizers say his presidency could threaten access to women's healthcare, erode protection against sexual violence and roll back aid to struggling mothers. "I was in such shock and disbelief that this type of sentiment could win," said Shook, a retired lawyer from Indiana with four grandchildren. "We had to let people know that is not who were are." Shook first floated the idea of a women's march in a private Facebook group, Pantsuit Nation, which became a widely popular discussion page for supporters of Trump's rival, Hillary Clinton. After getting a response to her post from a single woman in the chatroom, Shook said she created a private Facebook event page for the march and invited a few dozen online friends to join before going to sleep. Overnight, a link to Shook's event page was posted in Pantsuit Nation and possibly sent to similar groups. "When I woke, up it had gone ballistic," Shook said. More than 300,000 people are now "interested" in the event on Facebook, including many of those who said they would participate. Women from across the United States contacted Shook and began to guide the effort. Supporters say they were galvanized by Trump's insults against high-profile women, as well as by fresh fears the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion could be at risk when Trump appoints the next Supreme Court justice. And they were outraged when a 2005 video surfaced in which he bragged about kissing women without permission and grabbing their genitals. Trump apologized for the comments. But the remarks opened wounds for assault victims, and they were followed by several women who accused him of sexually assaulting or harassing them. Trump denied the allegations. "Going through the whole election cycle was traumatizing for so many women," said one of the early organizers, Fontaine Pearson. "I think it politicized or woke up a lot of them." BEYOND WOMEN While support for the march grew quickly, it also drew criticism for lacking diversity. Nearly all of the initial organizers were white. The name, which started as the "Million Women March," was bashed on social media for mirroring the title of a march in Philadelphia 20 years ago to empower black communities. In response, the name was changed to the "Women's March on Washington" and several veteran protest organizers working on behalf of minority groups were enlisted as national co-chairs. They included Tamika Mallory, who led a criminal justice reform march from New York to Washington last year. "Women of color needed to be included," Mallory said. Bernice King, whose father Martin Luther King Jr. famously delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in a march on Washington a half-century ago, encouraged women's march organizers in a phone call last week, the organizers said. The march's mission was also expanded to include concerns about racism, xenophobia, and the targeting of Muslims and gay people. The alt-right movement, which includes white supremacists and anti-Semites, has been emboldened by Trump winning the White House. The Southern Poverty Law Center reported a sharp spike in hate crimes following Trump's victory. 'JUST ABOUT SHOWING UP' The route, security and speaker lineup, as well as permitting by the National Park Service have yet to be finalized, said march spokeswoman Breanne Butler. But that has not deterred many who plan to attend. Hotels in the Washington area have received calls from many prospective marchers, said Solomon Keene, president of the Hotel Association of Washington, DC. "It's just about showing up," said Gretchen Kryss, 29, a trainee psychologist who is driving to the rally from Cleveland with her fiance and a group of friends. The only other similar demonstration in recent memory was at the first inauguration of George W. Bush in 2001, but the several thousand who turned up were focusing on the contested election, not the new president. This time, the focus appears to be Trump himself, said Mark Peterson, chair of the Department of Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles. Peterson, a Washington native who is an expert on politics and political campaigns, said logistical challenges, including heightened security during presidential inaugurations, could hamper the women's march. But the level of anger voiced by many women over Trump's comments, including calling a former Miss Universe "Miss Piggy" and saying women should face punishment for abortions, could drive the demonstration to success, he said. The Tennessee Valley Authority is seeking public input on plans to change the way coal ash and other coal combustion residuals are stored at Cumberland Fossil Plant in Stewart County, Tennessee. TVA is considering options for a new dry storage landfill to receive future CCR produced at the plant as well as options for closing the bottom ash and main ash ponds on site. TVA is also evaluating the potential impacts of building a dewatering facility to remove moisture from the bottom ash stream. These projects support TVAs goal to eliminate wet handling of CCR storage across its system while meeting state and federal requirements including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys CCR Rule. TVA will hold an open house for the public on Monday, Dec.12, from 4:30-7:30 p.m. CST, to gather input on the scope of a proposed environmental impact statement for the CCR Management project at Cumberland. The meeting will be held at the Freedom Point Events Center at Liberty Park in Clarksville, Tn. The public comment period will remain open through Jan. 6, 2017. The EIS will look at potential environmental and socio-economic impacts of various alternatives for the future handling and storage of CCR at Cumberland. A portion of this EIS will be governed by the results of TVAs 2016 Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement that analyzed methods for closing CCR impoundments at TVA fossil plants and identified specific screening and evaluation factors to help frame its assessment of closures at any of its facilities. Documents and a comment form can be found on-line at www.tva.gov/nepa. Comments can also be addressed to Ashley Pilakowski at 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT 11D-K, Knoxville, TN 37902, or emailed to aapilakowski@tva.gov. All comments received, including names and addresses, will become part of the project administrative record and will be available for public inspection. Romania - Factors to watch on Dec. 5 Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Romanian financial markets on Monday. PPI DATA Romania's National Statistics Board to release October producer prices data at 0700 GMT. DEBT TENDER Romanian debt managers tender 300 million lei ($70.96 million) worth of Dec. 2022 treasury bonds. FX RESERVES The Romanian central bank's foreign exchange reserves, excluding 103.7 tonnes of gold, edged up 40 million euros on the month to 34.39 billion euros ($36.61 billion) at the end of November, it said on Friday. PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION SURVEY Romania's leftist Social Democrats (PSD) are likely to win a Dec. 11 parliamentary election, an opinion poll showed on Saturday, bolstering their chances of returning to government after a year-long break. STUDY ABROAD Roughly 16 percent of Romanian high school students enrolled in 2015-2016, or 112,000, plan to apply to colleges abroad, hoping for a better performing education system and higher paying jobs, an opinion survey showed. Ziarul Financiar For the long-term Romanian diary, click on For emerging markets economic events, click on For an index of all diaries, click on Bowing out, Hollande leaves successor to fix French economy By Leigh Thomas PARIS, Dec 4 (Reuters) - French voters elected Francois Hollande in 2012 on promises to fix the floundering economy. Five years on, he is leaving much unfinished work to his successor. The unpopular Socialist leader, who said on Thursday he would not run in next April's presidential election, can claim some success halting the economy's decline after the financial crisis of 2008-2009, and improving the public finances. But he has deeply frustrated voters with his lack of progress on growth and unemployment and left them bitter by landing households with the cost of reining in a budget deficit. Once in office, Hollande hiked taxes on households by more than 50 billion euros ($53.4 billion) - 2.5 percent of GDP - inadvertently snuffing out a nascent recovery in a move most economists now consider a mistake. The unemployment rate has risen above 10 percent, while Hollande has failed to deliver the level of growth he promised at the start of his term in office. Now with France having the highest tax burden in Europe at 47.9 percent of GDP and an ever-changing tax code, the next president will need to have fiscal reform at the top of their agenda, said Xavier Ragot, head of the OFCE economics think-tank. "What we need is a solid tax reform that makes things simple, let's have rates that everybody can understand and use other levers like public investment for economic policy," he told an economics conference in Paris on Friday. VOTER FRUSTRATION The economy, along with security and immigration issues, is likely to play a major role in the presidential election. The centre-right's candidate Francois Fillon, a former prime minister, is the early favourite. He has cornered the economic agenda so far, with proposals to cut taxes by 50 billion euros, mainly by reducing companies' tax bills. Former Harvard economist Philippe Aghion, who once advised Hollande but is now critical of him over his tax hike, said Fillon's platform was however still short of the details that could determine its success or failure. He told the conference that the structural change envisaged by Fillon would need to be accompanied by a strong focus on job training as well as a shake-up of the labour market and tax code, otherwise the plans would not work. Voters' frustration over a lack of significant economic improvement over the past five years could bolster the electoral prospects of anti-immigrant National Front leader Marine Le Pen who promises a clean break with what she describes as the failed policies of mainstream parties. "People want a storm to come and shake everything up. This desire is the simple result of inertia, an incapacity to act collectively that has become unbearable," said economist Denis Kessler, who is also CEO of French reinsurer SCOR. AS GOOD AS IT GETS? Hollande's government expects growth this year of only 1.4 percent - a far cry from the 2.5 percent he had set his sights on at the start of his term in office. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development calculates the economy has lost its capacity to grow much faster on a sustained basis over the long-term without deep changes - estimating France's "potential growth rate" at only 1.2 percent. However, France could lift its growth potential if it used the breathing space offered by low borrowing rates to finance growth-friendly measures. "(France should) use the window of opportunity for fiscal initiatives that have a key element not just of spending but also reducing taxes, altering the pension system and encouraging a structural change particularly in the labour market," OECD chief economist Catherine Mann said. After Hollande's initial tax hike, he shifted to a more favourable business-friendly stance, mainly by introducing a 40-billion-euro payroll tax credit scheme aimed at restoring firms' profitability and export competitiveness. That has helped halt the erosion of French companies' profit margins and stabilise their share of non-euro zone markets after years of decline though not enough yet to shift growth to a higher gear. http://tmsnrt.rs/2eh6bMi In the absence of more decisive measures, unemployment has risen over most of Hollande's term and is only now beginning to fall - too late to ease voters' frustrations. ($1 = 0.9367 euros) Czech Republic - Factors To Watch on Dec 5 PRAGUE, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Czech financial markets on Monday. ALL TIMES GMT (Czech Republic: GMT + 1 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA========================== Real-time economic data releases.................... Summary of economic data and forecasts........... Recently released economic data.................. Previous stories on Czech data............. **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: http://emea1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/Apps/CountryWeb/#/2E/events-overview =========================EVENTS================================= PRAGUE - Third-quarter wage data due out at 0800 GMT. Prague -The cabinet meets. Agenda includes defence issues including plans to strengthen European defence cooperation and plan to make it legally easier to send troops abroad. News conference TBA. ==========================NEWS================================== WAGE PRESSURE - Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka on Friday urged one of the country's largest retail firms, the Dutch-based Ahold, to raise wages as income gaps with western Europe increasingly become a political issue. Story: Related stories: GDP SLOWER - The Czech economy posted its slowest growth in two-and-a-half years in the third quarter, held back by weaker foreign trade that was offset by rising household consumption and investments Story: Related stories: CEZ BUYS GERMAN WIND PARK: CEZ said it acquired a 12.8 MW wind park in Germany from Aream. Story: Related stories: CEE MARKETS - The zloty hit a 5-month low due to fears that Standard & Poor's may downgrade Poland's debt rating, while long-dated government bonds remained under pressure in Central Europe. Story: Related stories: ---------------------- MARKET SNAPSHOT ------------------------ Index/Crown Currency Latest Prev Pct change Pct change close on day in 2016 vs Euro 27.017 27.052 0.13 -0.07 vs Dollar 25.529 25.452 -0.3 -2.69 Czech Equities 887.2 887.2 0.24 -7.23 U.S. Equities 19,170.42 19,191.93 -0.11 10.02 Pvs close or current levels vs prior domestic close at 1600 GMT ======================PRESS DIGEST============================== VITKOVICE: Engineering group Vitkovice has reached agreement with five banks on refinancing covering the next 12-18 months. This includes around 4 billion crowns in loans including 300-500 million in new financing. The group has been struggling, with several of its units falling into insolvency this year. Hospodarske Noviny page 1 ANO PARTY IN BIG LEAD: A poll by TNS Aisa for Czech Television showed Finance Minister Andrej Babis's ANO party with 33.5 percent support, ahead of Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka's Social Democrats with 14 percent. Party support has been volatile in various polls but ANO leads all of them with various margin. Lidove Noviny, page 4 OVERDUE DEBT: Statistics show that 133,000 Czechs face 10 or more cases of execution orders due to overdue debt. Lidove Noviny, page 15 GUITARIST DIES: Radim Hladik, an esteemed Czech rock guitarist and pioneer of electrical guitar in the country, died on Saturday, aged 69. Mlada fronta Dnes, page 12 ASSET CHECKS: Under a new law, tax offices will be allowed to measure individual's assets against their tax returns. Discrepancies crowns must be explained by the owners. Pravo, page 1 ARMY: The army needs to find 5,000 new soldiers to meet its planned staffing of 24,000. Another 5,000 soldiers should be added in 2023-2024, chief of general staff Josef Becvar says. Pravo, page 1 (Reuters has not verified the stories nor does it vouch for their accuracy.) For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX For updates on CEE currencies TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets Prague Newsroom: +420 224 190 477 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com ($1 = 25.4510 Czech crowns) (Reporting by Prague Newsroom) PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - Dec 5 SOFIA, Dec 5 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. -- The centre-right GERB party will not back any government in the current government and prefers early general elections, deputy prime minister and senior GERB member Rumiana Bachvarova said. (Trud, Standart, Sega, Monitor) -- Bulgaria's investment promotion agency certified some 18 investment projects worth 300 million levs ($162.39 million) which plan to open 4,000 new jobs this year, its head Stamen Yanev said. (Trud, Standart, Monitor) CAPITAL DAILY - The head of defence, General Konstantin Pavlov, resigned to go into retirement. Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev has said Pavlov's resignation is linked with the election of new president, former air force commander, Rumen Radev. Slovak Republic - Factors To Watch on Dec 5 BRATISLAVA, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial markets on Monday. ALL TIMES GMT (Slovak Republic: GMT + 2 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA======================== Real-time economic data releases.................. Summary of economic data and forecasts......... Recently released economic data................ Previous stories on Slovak data.......... **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: http://emea1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/Apps/CountryWeb/#/1C/events-overview =========================NEWS================================== FDI: Japanese electrical equipment manufacturer Minebea 6479.T will build a factory in eastern Slovakia, investing nearly 60 million euros ($64 million) and creating more than 1,000 jobs, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Friday. Story: Related stories: ROMA-BREXIT: Bystrany, a town in eastern Slovakia with a majority Roma population, has thrived in the past decade thanks to remittances from locals who grabbed the benefits of European Union membership and sought work in Britain. Story: Related stories: For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX Main currency report TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets News editor of the day: Jason Hovet on +420 224 190 476 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (Reporting by Prague Newsroom) U.N. launches record $22.2 billion humanitarian appeal for 2017 By Umberto Bacchi LONDON, Dec 5(Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The United Nations launched a record humanitarian appeal on Monday, asking for $22.2 billion in 2017 to help almost 93 million people hit by conflicts and natural disasters. More than half of the money will be used to address the needs of people caught up in crises in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and South Sudan, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. The appeal followed a trend of steady increases that have seen requests for funds grow almost three-fold from $7.9 billion in 2011. "As we speak, more people have humanitarian needs, not least because of protracted crises lasting longer and longer," U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien wrote in the introduction to the appeal, which covers 33 countries. Several countries, including Afghanistan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia have issued emergency appeals almost annually for the past 25 years and some faced worsening crises in 2017, the U.N. said. In 2016, the U.N. sought $22.1 billion, having initially appealed for $20.1 billion but a shortfall in donations meant the appeal was only 51 percent funded as of Nov. 30. "Sadly, with persistently escalating humanitarian needs, the gap between what has to be done to save and protect more people today and what humanitarians are financed to do and can access is growing ever wider," OCHA head O'Brien wrote. As humanitarian needs continue to rise, aid workers are increasingly at risk of targeted attacks and their efforts are hampered by reduced access, growing disrespect for human rights and flagrant violations of international humanitarian law, O'Brien noted. In Syria, humanitarian needs were expected to "grow exponentially" if no political solution was found to the nearly six-year-old conflict, with 13.5 million people requiring aid. In Afghanistan, where government forces are struggling to contain a Taliban insurgency, 1.8 million people, mostly children, will require treatment for acute malnutrition next year, according to the appeal. The political crisis in Burundi will see the number of people in need of urgent support triple to about three million. The U.N. last week doubled its appeal for northeast Nigeria to $1 billion, hoping to reach nearly 7 million people hit by the Islamist militant Boko Haram insurgency, including 75,000 children at risk of starving to death. Long-term conflicts resulted in higher costs partially because falling state revenues required aid agencies to offer healthcare, education and other services traditionally provided by governments, said Paul Knox Clarke, head of research and communications at ALNAP, a humanitarian action learning network. U.S. seeks to reassure Beijing after Trump call with Taiwan leader By Roberta Rampton and Ben Blanchard WASHINGTON/BEIJING, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday it had sought to reassure China after President-elect Donald Trump's phone call with Taiwan's leader last week, which the Obama administration warned could undermine progress in relations with Beijing. The statement from a spokesman for U.S. President Barack Obama highlighted concerns about the potential fallout from Trump's unusual call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday, which prompted a diplomatic protest from Beijing on Saturday. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said senior National Security Council officials spoke twice with Chinese officials over the weekend to reassure them of Washington's commitment to the "One China" policy and to "reiterate and clarify the continued commitment of the United States to our longstanding China policy." The policy has been in place for 40 years and is focused on promoting and preserving peace and stability in the strait separating China and Taiwan, which is in U.S. interests, Earnest said. "If the president-elect's team has a different aim, I'll leave it to them to describe," he said. "The Chinese government in Beijing placed an enormous priority on this situation, and it's a sensitive matter. Some of the progress that we have made in our relationship with China could be undermined by this issue flaring up," he said. The call with Taipei was the first by a U.S. president-elect or president with a Taiwan leader since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of "one China." China regards Taiwan as a renegade province. Despite tensions over matters ranging from trade to China's pursuit of territorial claims in the South China Sea, the Obama administration has highlighted cooperation on global issues, such as climate change and Iran's and North Korea's nuclear programs. Earlier on Monday, China's Foreign Ministry said Trump was clear about China's position on the Taiwan issue and that China had maintained contacts with his team. Vice President-elect Mike Pence sought to play down the telephone conversation, saying on Sunday it was a "courtesy" call, not intended to show a shift in U.S. policy on China. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, who has been mentioned as a possible secretary of state in the Trump administration, said on Monday he thought reaction to the Taiwan call was being overblown. "He got a call, he took it, and again, he's getting calls from everyone, so I think probably a lot more is being read into it than is the case, really," Corker said. 'STERN REPRESENTATIONS' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang would not say directly whom China had lodged "stern representations" with about Trump's call, repeating a weekend statement it had gone to the "relevant side" in the United States. "The whole world knows about the Chinese government's position on the Taiwan issue. I think President-elect Trump and his team are also clear," Lu told a daily news briefing. "In fact, China has maintained contacts and communication with the team of President-elect Trump," he added, repeating a previous assertion, although he did not give details. Lu also said he would not speculate on what prompted the call, but described the matter of Taiwan as the most important and sensitive question between China and the United States. Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who was White House national security adviser when President Richard Nixon made his historic visit to China in 1972, told a forum in New York on U.S.-China relations that he had been "very impressed at the calm reaction of the Chinese leadership" to Trump's call. Kissinger, who met with Trump last month, said it suggested Beijing may be looking to develop a "calm dialogue" with the new U.S. administration. TOUGH RHETORIC Trump, who vowed during his campaign to label China a currency manipulator, issued more tough rhetoric on Sunday. "Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the U.S. doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!" Trump said on Twitter. China is not currently viewed as a currency manipulator by either the Treasury Department or the International Monetary Fund. The World Trade Organization says Chinese tariffs on imported goods are generally higher than U.S. tariffs. China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei claim parts or all of the energy-rich South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually. Lu would not be drawn on directly commenting on Trump's tweets but defended the China-U.S. relationship. "The China-U.S. economic and trade relationship has over many years always been a highly mutually beneficial one, otherwise it couldn't have developed the way it has today," he said. The diplomatic contretemps was one of several recently for the Republican president-elect, a real estate magnate who has never held public office and has no foreign affairs or military experience. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, is still considering his choice for secretary of state. The Global Times, an influential tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, said in an editorial on Tuesday that China would have to meet Trump's "reckless remarks" head-on. "Trump's China-bashing tweet is just a cover for his real intent, which is to treat China as a fat lamb and cut a piece of meat off it," the paper said. PRESS DIGEST - RUSSIA - Dec 05 MOSCOW, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The following are some stories in Russia's newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. VEDOMOSTI www.vedomosti.ru The right to develop one of the world's largest undeveloped gold deposits - "Sukhoi log" in Siberia - will be up for grabs at an auction in January 2017, the daily reports. According to forecasts by Lukoil experts, oil production in Russia may fall in 2019 if there are no changes in the tax system, the daily writes. Russia's FSB security service said foreign intelligence services were planning a massive cyber attack on major Russian banks on Dec. 5, the daily reports. KOMMERSANT www.kommersant.ru Ukrainian energy firm Naftogaz has decided not to buy equipment to modernise gas pipelines carrying Russian gas to Turkey, the daily reports. Gazprom plans to reduce transit volumes via Ukraine when the Nord Stream 2 pipeline comes on line. ROSSIISKAYA GAZETA www.rg.ru A bus carrying a team of young acrobats has crashed in Khanty-Mansiysk in Siberia, killing 10 children and two adults, the daily reports. KRASNAYA ZVEZDA www.redstar.ru The daily reports that the FSB security service has killed a senior Islamist militant in a shoot-out in Dagestan, southern Russia. The newspaper says that Russia and Kazakhstan are preparing a new long-term agreement to jointly use the Baikonur cosmodrome and for Kazakhstan to invest in Russian aerospace programmes. VW's new division takes aim at Uber-style competition LONDON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Volkswagen launched a new digital business division on Monday to take on services such as Uber, shifting its focus beyond selling cars to catering for customers who prefer to pay for use rather than own a vehicle. VW will offer on-demand shuttle services next year through the new division, to be called MOIA. That takes Europe's largest carmaker deeper into digital mobility services after investing in ride-hailing business Gett earlier this year. "Mid and long-term MOIA will create the kinds of services that will meet the needs of urban citizens," Ole Harms, head of the new division said on Monday. VW, seeking to recover from its diesel emissions scandal, expects to earn a substantial share of revenues by 2025 from the new services business as it revamps its core brand while investing billions of euros in electric vehicles, ride-hailing and self-driving cars. The business prospects are huge, consultants A.T. Kearney said in a study published in October. The global market for self-driving vehicles and related services may surge to $282 billion by 2030 from $51 billion in 2020, the firm said. VW has been slow to embrace electric cars and has long ignored alternatives to ownership, while German rivals Daimler and BMW have for years been running their own car-sharing operations. BMW plans to test self-driving cars in Munich as a way to advance a new ride-hailing business model without needing drivers, the company said on Monday. VW made it clear it wants to make up for lost time as it used a London startup conference to launch MOIA. "Even though not everyone will still own a car in future, MOIA can help make everyone a customer of our company in some way or another," Chief Executive Matthias Mueller said. Mueller said last month that Volkswagen has been in talks with Uber on potential cooperation but the carmaker would not settle for the role as a mere supplier. The German company wants to become a leader in the new services in Europe over the next 1-2 years, Harms told reporters late on Sunday, adding that Berlin-based MOIA's workforce will quadruple to 200 staff next year. "We want to bring our services to the market at scale," Harms said, citing Europe, the United States, China as key markets. Rescue of Italian bank Monte Paschi in danger after Renzi's defeat By Silvia Aloisi MILAN, Dec 5 (Reuters) - A 5 billion euro ($5.33 billion) rescue plan for Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena hung by a thread on Monday after Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's heavy defeat at a weekend referendum tipped the country into political turmoil. The bank, saddled with bad loans, needs to raise the money by the end of the month to avoid being wound down, but Italy now faces early elections after Renzi said he would quit to take responsibility for the defeat of his constitutional referendum. Monte dei Paschi, rated the weakest lender in European stress tests this summer, had planned to secure a firm commitment from one or more anchor investors and launch a share sale as early as Wednesday or Thursday. The lender's shares fluctuated wildly in early Monday trade, with investment banks due to meet at around 1100 GMT to decide whether to back the cash call. Under a pre-underwriting deal, they can drop the transaction due to adverse market conditions. The bank's board was expected to convene on Tuesday. Renzi announced he would step down in the early hours of Monday after his constitutional reform was rejected by 59.1 percent of voters, a wider margin that had been expected. Italian government bonds and shares fell sharply early on Monday, as investors worried that instability in the euro zone's third-largest economy could reignite a dormant financial crisis and deal a hammer blow to the country's fragile banking sector. However, by mid-morning stocks had pared losses and Monte dei Paschi was down just 0.1 percent having earlier shed as much as 10 percent. Intesa Sanpaolo rose 2 percent after earlier falling around 5 percent, while UniCredit shed 0.4 percent having earlier dropped as much as 6 percent. "We believe the 'No' vote makes it more difficult for Monte dei Paschi to find an anchor investor. Based on the size and valuation of the capital increase needed, the challenge looks sizable," Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note. If Monte dei Paschi's plan fails, the Italian government is expected to step in and pump public money into the bank to avoid a crisis, bankers and European officials said. This would entail losses for the bank's subordinated bondholders in line with tough European bank crisis rules -- something Renzi's government had sought to avoid at all costs. It was not immediately clear to what extent retail investors, who hold 2.1 billion euros of the bank's junior debt, could be spared in the event of a state rescue. Even at the height of the euro zone's debt crisis, Italy had resisted calls to inject public money into its banks or ask for a EU bailout. But it is running out of private solutions to cure the sector, which is burdened by 360 billion euros of bad loans accumulated during a harsh recession. Italy's 4.25 billion euro Atlas fund, hastily created this year to help channel private funds into struggling banks, has seen its coffers dry up as banking crises mushroom around it. Two banks from the Veneto region that were rescued with a 2.5 billion euro capital injection by the fund in the spring need another 2.5 billion euros in fresh capital soon, analysts say. And four small lenders bailed out by healthier banks last year also need more money to clean up their balance sheets. Meanwhile, a failure of Monte dei Paschi's rescue scheme risks complicating UniCredit's own capital-raising plans. Italy's largest bank by assets is expected to unveil on Dec. 13 a cash call for up to 13 billion euros, to be launched early next year. Shaw Industries Group, Inc. announced on Monday that it has completed the purchase of US Floors, Inc. The acquisition will further expand Shaws strong position in the resilient luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and hard surface markets. As a leading innovator and marketer of composite core flooring, as well as cork, bamboo and hardwood products, USFloors will bring an even more diverse portfolio of products to Shaws expansive offerings. This is a marked time of growth and progress as we further expand our resilient and hard surface markets with the purchase of USFloors, said Vance Bell, Shaw chairman and CEO. Piet Dossche and the USFloors team will provide valuable expertise and market insights as we combine these two forward-thinking companies. Through the acquisition of USFloors, Shaw has procured the fastest growing company in the WPC flooring market. The purchase will help further solidify Shaws commitment to providing the most durable, design-forward and innovative resilient and hard surface products available in the market. Shaw also recently invested more than $100 million in the creation of a new resilient manufacturing facility in Ringgold, which currently employs approximately 100 associates. We are extremely proud to join Shaw, a company known for quality, team work, superior service and operational excellence, said Piet Dossche, CEO. By combining these two stellar flooring companies, we will further empower our talented teams to solidify our COREtec brand as the leading product within the new WPC flooring category. Weak UK regulation lets opaque companies persist By Tom Bergin LONDON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - To get an idea of how Britain allows individuals to hide behind hard-to-trace companies, take a look at Number 43 Bedford Street, a nondescript brick terrace in central London. The ground floor of the building is lined with myriad mail boxes and is more of a staging post than a conventional office. It is occupied by a branch of Mail Boxes Etc., a franchise chain that provides postal services for other companies. More than 1,600 companies or partnerships have used 43 Bedford Street as their registered office in the past five years, UK corporate records show. Some exist there in name only and their ultimate ownership is hard to determine, a Reuters examination of corporate filings found. While the UK government is trying to make companies give clear information on their owners and controllers, and while many users of mail boxes are transparent, opaque companies still persist. To help prevent fraud, business service providers, which include companies such as Mail Boxes Etc., are legally required to check the identities and backgrounds of their clients. They are required to pay particular attention to clients based offshore or in tax havens. A 2015 UK government assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing said it was likely that some business service providers facilitate money laundering "through the creation of complex corporate structures and offshore vehicles to conceal the ownership." Yet interviews with industry figures and a Reuters examination of corporate accounts, annual returns and other filings over the past five years show business service providers often do not know the people using their services. Reuters examined 55 companies that give 43 Bedford Square as their current registered address, yet are controlled by individuals or entities based offshore in jurisdictions with low corporate transparency such as Vanuatu, Belize or Panama. Rikesh Nichani, the Mail Boxes Etc. manager at 43 Bedford Street, told Reuters that he had not conducted due diligence on the companies. "We don't know who is behind the companies," said Nichani. "We have no idea who they are." With all the companies, Reuters could find no sign of physical existence such as other premises or websites. None of their names were publicly displayed, as required by the UK Companies Act, at 43 Bedford Street. Managers at other Mail Boxes Etc. branches said they, too, were unaware of the true owners of offshore-controlled companies based at their offices. Simon Cowie, head of the Mail Boxes Etc. franchise in the UK, said it is authorised as a business service provider by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and that he believed its operations met HMRC's requirements. "No one has raised a concern over it (Mail Box Etc.'s due diligence) with us," he said. Cowie said his network looked out for signs of fraud and conducted due diligence. He said the network did request identification from most but not all customers: If a customer came to Mail Boxes Etc. via another business service provider, he assumed that the other business service provider had already done sufficient checks on that client. "The whole point with AML (anti money laundering procedures) is that the risk assessment is proportionate and you don't carry out the whole bureaucratic checks at each stage in the process," Cowie said. It is a potential weakness in the system that is illustrated by mail box 11 at Bedford Street. The entity renting that mail box is a company formation agent, according to staff at Mail Boxes Etc. In turn, more than 100 businesses use mail box 11 as their registered address, and the formation agent that rents the mail box forwards correspondence to them. Mail Boxes Etc. said it had not done due diligence checks on these companies and had no direct dealings with them. Mail Boxes Etc. declined to name the company formation agent renting mail box 11, citing a policy of client confidentiality. The agent renting the mail box did not respond to a letter requesting comment. MBE Worldwide, the owner of Mail Boxes Etc., said the UK franchise network follows British laws and regulations, and liaises with the authorities. THE WATCHDOG HMRC told Reuters it regularly visits business service providers to "test and challenge ... their approach to anti-money laundering policies and processes such as customer due diligence." However, HMRC declined to say how regularly it visits agents or what specific checks it makes. Nor does it publish the register of firms it authorises as business service providers. Reuters has sought to obtain a copy of that list from HMRC for more than a year. The watchdog has declined to provide it, and has rejected requests for the list made under the Freedom of Information Act. In October, HMRC told Reuters it was aiming to make its register of business service providers public by the Spring of 2017. Of 20 UK business service providers contacted by Reuters, including Mail Boxes Etc., 12 said they did not check the background of potential clients or conduct enhanced due diligence on offshore clients. Ten said they didn't require any proof of identity for companies' ultimate beneficial owners. And two said they didn't ask for identification documents from someone wanting to rent a mail box. The 20 agents said they believed HMRC was happy with their practices and that they were complying with HMRC rules. HMRC declined to comment on specific cases. A company formation agent that fails to meet HMRC standards can be a fined or have their authorisation suspended. HMRC declined to say whether it had fined business service providers; last year it said it had withdrawn authorisation from some providers and had refused authorisation to some applicants. Two of the company formation agents contacted by Reuters said they did not offer services to offshore-controlled companies at all. They said they felt it was too difficult to do proper due diligence checks on such companies. "It's not an industry I want to be involved with," said Richard Jobling, managing director of The Company Warehouse, a business services provider. "Under the money laundering regulations, we have to identify the people of significant control, that's the majority shareholders. It's easier to do that if you're dealing with UK-based clients. They have a footprint." Bangladesh to share findings of heist inquiry with Philippines DHAKA, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Bangladesh will share findings from its investigation into how unidentified hackers pulled off one of the world's biggest cyber bank heists to help speed up recovery of the stolen funds, its law minister said on Monday. Bangladesh has up to now declined to disclose its findings of an inquiry into how the hackers used stolen Bangladesh Bank credentials to try to transfer nearly $1 billion from its U.S. Federal Reserve account in February. Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, who last week met a Bangladesh delegation led by Minister of Law Anisul Huq, said Manila "strongly recommended" Dhaka share the results of its investigation. While the Bangladesh central bank, the Bangladesh Bank, had previously declined to release any inquiry findings, saying it wanted to deny the perpetrators knowledge of the investigation, it would now do so, Huq told Reuters. "It is part of co-operation. We will give them an update of our investigation," he said. The hackers managed to transfer $81 million via an account at the New York Federal Reserve to four accounts in fake names at a branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp in the Philippines. Most of the money was laundered through Philippine casinos and only about $15 million was recovered from a gaming junket operator and returned to Bangladesh. Bangladesh has said it wants the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) to compensate it for its losses, but the bank refuses to pay and has said the Bangladesh central bank was "negligent". Huq last week said RCBC should shoulder the burden for accepting stolen funds. RCBC was fined a record one billion pesos ($20 million) by the Philippine central bank for its failure to prevent the movement of the stolen Bangladesh money through its bank. Huq said paying that fine was tantamount to accepting culpability. A Philippine anti-money laundering agency last month filed charges against five RCBC officials in connection with the theft. Philippines VP vows to take on Duterte after cabinet exit MANILA, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Philippines Vice President Leni Robredo resigned from the cabinet on Monday but vowed to lead the opposition and challenge the policies of President Rodrigo Duterte, including his deadly war on drugs and moves to reinstate the death penalty. Robredo, who will remain vice president, had clashed frequently with Duterte and decided to resign from her ministerial role after being instructed via a text message to stay away from his cabinet meetings. She was elected vice president in May in a separate contest and was not Duterte's running mate. Robredo renewed her warning of a plot taking shape to remove her from the number two post and said the instruction from Duterte was tantamount to being sacked. "If you are not being allowed to attend cabinet meetings anymore, what does that mean?" she said at a news conference. "I will be an opposition leader. I will oppose policies that will be detrimental to the people." Those includes the death penalty, lowering the age of criminal liability and alleged extrajudicial killings as part of the crackdown on drugs, which has killed more than 2,000 people. Duterte accepted Robredo's resignation as housing secretary "with a heavy heart", his spokesman Ernesto Abella said. Robredo, 52, a former lawyer and social activist, won the vice presidential election in May by a narrow margin, defeating Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son and namesake of the late dictator overthrown in a 1986 revolt. Marcos, better known by his nickname "Bongbong", has appealed to a tribunal of the Supreme Court for a recount, which Robredo said she was confident of winning. Robredo did not give details of the alleged plot to "steal" the vice presidency, but said Marcos accompanying Duterte on an official visit to China in October was telling. "In China, the president took Bongbong Marcos and even introduced him as the vice president," she said. Marcos's lawyer, Vic Rodriguez, issued a statement saying Robredo's resignation was "long overdue given her very obvious adversarial attitude". He described Robredo's claim of a plot to unseat her as hypocritical. Kenyan government doctors go on strike, demand honouring of 2013 pay deal By Humphrey Malalo and Thomas Mukoya NAIROBI, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Doctors working in Kenyan state hospitals went on strike on Monday to demand fulfilment of a 2013 agreement between their union and the government that would raise their pay and improve working conditions, a senior union official said. Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of members of the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists' Union (KMPDU) who had marched to the health ministry headquarters in the capital, Reuters witnesses said. The medics, wearing white gowns and surgical caps, then marched on to the Finance Ministry headquarters. Comprising about 5,000 members, the union says the bargaining agreement was to give them a 300 percent pay rise, review of their working conditions and job structures and criteria for promotions, and address under-staffing of medical professionals in state hospitals. Samuel Oroko, the union's national chairman, said they had given the government enough time to honour the deal. "We must be listened to... We have had lots and lots of diplomacy, and lots and lots of dialogue. Dialogue has to come to an end," he said to cheers of doctors present at a news conference before the march. "And the action is that doctors in Kenya will remain in strike until the CBA (agreement) is implemented," he said. There was no immediate comment from officials at the Ministry of Health on Monday, but Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu said on Sunday the strike would be unfortunate, given an Oct. 6 court ruling that had handed both parties 90 days to negotiate over the collective bargaining agreement. "We hope reason will prevail. Strikes are called as a last resort. In this case it is unfortunate," he said. After two years, why an OPEC deal now? Kemp By John Kemp LONDON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - OPEC has finally agreed to cut production, but only after two years of fruitless negotiations. So what changed to make an agreement possible now, after it had eluded negotiators at previous OPEC meetings? The intense diplomatic manoeuvring behind the deal has been capably chronicled by my colleagues at Reuters ("How Putin, Khamenei and Saudi prince got OPEC deal done"), Bloomberg ("OPEC deal hinged on 2 a.m. phone call and it nearly failed") and the Financial Times ("Saudi prince's ambition for life beyond oil forces OPEC deal"). The common theme in these accounts is the personal intervention of top political leaders, which overcame the obstacles which had stalled negotiations at technical level ("OPEC talks struggle with question of market share", Reuters, Nov 24). But the context was a change in oil market conditions that made it more attractive for Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to reach a deal. For the first time since 2014, the kingdom can afford to cut output without too much risk that other producers would fill the gap by raising their output in the near term. The signal for the November 2016 agreement came when Iran was no longer able to increase its oil production further over the summer. Saudi officials have long stated that it would only be possible to reach an OPEC agreement once Iran had normalized its output following the lifting of sanctions. SAUDI SHIFT Saudi Arabia, the organisation's most influential member, has been seen as relatively unenthusiastic about a deal until the last few months. But Saudi Arabia's veteran oil minister Ali al-Naimi, seen as a sceptic, was replaced by Khalid al-Falih in May, who has been more sympathetic to exploring the opportunities for an agreement. The Saudi economy has also continued to deteriorate, with a substantial increase in unpaid government and business bills, and a further fall in foreign reserves, all of which increased pressure for a deal. And the kingdom's "Vision 2030" economic transformation programme and planned share offering in the national oil company, announced in 2016, both depend for their success on higher oil prices. Saudi Arabia's willingness to strike a deal shifted at some point between the unsuccessful OPEC meeting held in June 2016 and the successful OPEC meeting held in September 2016. By September, Saudi negotiators went to OPEC's meeting in Algiers eager to reach a deal and willing to show sufficient flexibility to get one done. The provisional agreement concluded in Algiers was then turned into a final accord in Vienna this week ("Saudi brinkmanship aims to re-establish leverage within OPEC", Reuters, Nov. 28). INDISPENSABLE NATION Saudi Arabia is not like other members of OPEC. Saudi Arabia has always been the indispensable nation without which no agreement is possible. "Saudi Arabia is more influential than other OPEC members," wrote Anas Alhajji and David Huettner in what remains the classic short study of the organisation ("OPEC and other commodity cartels", 2000). "Saudi Arabia meets all the characteristics of a dominant producer by having relatively large market share, excess capacity, flexible behaviour (and) the ability to move its price by increasing or decreasing production." "No other OPEC member has similar behaviour. Therefore Saudi Arabia should be treated on its own within OPEC," they concluded. "Some of the confusion surrounding OPEC behaviour has been caused by mistakenly assigning the power of Saudi Arabia, along with its Gulf allies, to OPEC (as a whole)." MARKET SHARE Saudi officials have stated consistently the kingdom will not sacrifice market share to other producers - whether U.S. shale firms, OPEC rivals such as Iran and Iraq, or non-OPEC competitors such as Russia. Saudi officials refused to cut output during 2014 and 2015 for fear that any price increase would simply throw a lifeline to U.S. shale firms and encourage them to raise their production. Since May 2015, however, U.S. oil production has been falling, eliminating one source of competition. Saudi Arabia continued to refuse to cut output during 2015 and the first half of 2016, citing the threat of increased production from Iraq, Iran and Russia. But by the summer of 2016, Iranian output appeared to have reached a temporary plateau following the lifting of sanctions, reducing the threat from that quarter. The main challenge to Saudi market share now comes from Iraq and Russia, both of which have increased their output this year. But Saudi officials may have concluded the scope for further increases in the short term was modest and that an agreement to freeze Iraq's and Russia's output around current levels would be viable. MARKET POWER Saudi officials have usually assumed, with justification, that other OPEC and non-OPEC members will cheat on any production agreement if they can. But sometimes other OPEC and non-OPEC countries are unable to cheat because of war, sanctions, social unrest or lack of investment, which makes deals possible. Between 2014 and 2016, Saudi Arabia had no incentive to cut production because other countries were likely to respond by increasing their own output. Riyadh would have been left with lower output and unchanged or lower prices, resulting in lower revenues. Output cuts were not an optimal strategy for the Saudis. But with Iran's output apparently peaking in the summer of 2016, opportunities for cheating have become more limited. Most other OPEC members are struggling to maintain current production and have few options to raise output. The main challenge comes from further increases in output from Iraq and Russia, and both countries have agreed to freeze or cut their output under the November agreement. Given output from other sources is now maximized or frozen, Saudi Arabia's optimal strategy is to reduce output and secure an increase in prices. 1999 OUTPUT DEAL The circumstances for an output deal are somewhat similar to those which facilitated the successful output-cutting deal of March 1999 between OPEC and certain non-OPEC countries. "Lower capacity prevented OPEC members from cheating and prevented non-OPEC members from increasing their production," after March 1999, Alhajji and Huettner explained shortly afterwards. "The only country that reduced production voluntarily .... was Saudi Arabia, with marginal help from Kuwait and the UAE, while all other oil producing countries were forced to reduce their production because of technical, political or natural factors," they said. "The reason for the success of the March (1999) agreement, which included non-OPEC members such as Mexico, Oman, Norway and Russia, despite the failure of all prior agreements since 1984 in lifting prices is the inability of many countries to produce more oil." Production cuts are made by Saudi Arabia and its allies, rather than by OPEC as a whole, or by OPEC and non-OPEC. SELF INTEREST Saudi Arabia and its allies only cut output when they are confident other OPEC and non-OPEC members have limited capacity to cheat. These conditions occurred in March 1999 and again in November 2016, which is why Saudi Arabia and its allies have been willing to agree to a production cutting deal. While the current deal contains commitments to production cuts or freezes from other OPEC and non-OPEC members, and a verification mechanism, it does not really depend on them to be effective. From a Saudi perspective, the important consideration is that Iran cannot increase its output much further, and that Iraq and Russia have committed to freezing if not actually reducing their output. In the next year, the main threat to the deal comes from U.S. shale as well as from Iraq and Russia. The deal can survive some degree of "slippage" from shale and other OPEC and non-OPEC producers because consumption is growing, which will help absorb some non-compliance as well as a limited shale revival. But if rival producers start increasing their output significantly, maintaining output cuts will no longer be optimal and Riyadh will adjust its strategy accordingly. West Mosul shelled as Iraq steps up fight against Islamic State By Dominic Evans and Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Western-backed Iraqi forces have begun shelling parts of west Mosul, residents said, in preparation for a new front against Islamic State seven weeks into a difficult campaign to drive the militants from the city. Federal police forces, stationed a few miles south of Mosul, on the west bank of the Tigris River that divides the city, have long said they aim to advance towards the airport on the southwestern edge. Military commanders hope that by opening a second front within the city they can increase pressure on the few thousand jihadists who have deployed suicide bombers, snipers and militant cells against elite Iraqi troops in eastern districts. Some 100,000 Iraqi soldiers, security forces, Kurdish peshmerga fighters and mainly Shi'ite paramilitary forces are participating in the assault that began on Oct. 17, with air and ground support from a U.S.-led international military coalition. The city is sealed off to the north, south and east, while to the west the Shi'ite forces have cut the road to Syria and have advanced close to the Islamic State-held town of Tal Afar, about 60 km (40 miles) from Mosul. An audio statement from Islamic State's new spokesman on Monday urged the militants in Tal Afar to stand their ground. "Destroy their vehicles, raid them ... in their shelters so they can taste some of your misery and do not talk yourselves into fleeing," Abi al-Hassan al-Muhajer said in an audio recording posted online. Mosul is by far the largest city under Islamic State control and driving the militants out would roll back the self-styled caliphate which it declared in Iraq and Syria 2014 after seizing large parts of both countries. Militants still hold three-quarters of the city, where around 1 million residents are living under increasingly siege-like conditions as winter sets in. Speaking by telephone from western neighbourhoods, residents reported what they said was the first artillery or mortar bombardment of the area. "About 10 mortar bombs fell on the neighbourhood, coming from the south, as the Iraqi forces approached...during the past 24 hours," a resident of the Mosul al-Jadida district told Reuters late on Sunday. "It has sparked panic among civilians because this is the first time it has happened in our area." He said the bombardment had led to a virtual curfew in the district, with people afraid to leave their homes. "One of the mortar bombs exploded 100 metres from our house, killing three youths and wounding others," he said. MILITANTS ON THE MOVE In the adjacent neighbourhood of Mansour, a resident said the bombardment was an ominous development. "We're worried there will be a repeat of the scenario in the eastern districts which have seen humanitarian disasters," he said. An Iraqi police source, speaking from the front line south west of Mosul, said police rockets or mortars were not yet within range of the edge of the city. But a military source said French artillery forces, who are supporting the police units, had been firing in the south. The U.S.-led air coalition has also conducted some air strikes. Another Mosul resident said on Monday there had been "constant" air strikes against targets around the airport and in the Tel Roman district on the southwestern edge of the city. Militants were reported to be on the move. People said they saw 40 or 50 pickup trucks with rocket launchers on top leaving Wadi Agab, an industrial area on the western limits of the city targeted by strikes, and moving to residential areas nearer the expected new front line. A shopowner near the industrial area said he saw a long queue of pickups leaving the industrial area on Sunday. "This morning I saw more vehicles leaving. I counted at least 50 trucks," he said. FIGHTING IN EAST MOSUL The long-awaited attack from the south aims to relieve pressure on Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) troops which have spearheaded the fighting in east Mosul for the last month and have come up against the militants' lethal defences. Officers say they are engaged in fierce urban warfare, facing hundreds of suicide car bombers, snipers and militants exploiting a network of tunnels underneath residential areas to launch counter-attacks. The presence of civilians throughout the city has also hampered their progress, they say, reducing options for air strikes and heavy weapons in the densely populated streets. At current rates of progress, the campaign is set to last well into next year, raising fears among residents and aid groups of a humanitarian crisis, with possible food, fuel and water shortages in largely surrounded militant-held districts. Iraqi commanders say they have killed at least 1,000 of the 5,000-6,000 Islamic State fighters they estimated were defending the city when the campaign was launched. The military has not given figures for its own casualties. The United Nations said last week nearly 2,000 members of the Iraqi security forces had been killed across Iraq in November - a figure Baghdad says was based on unverified reports - and that more than 900 police and civilians had also been killed. Iraqi commanders say they continue to make progress, and U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Monday it was still possible that the city would be recaptured before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20. Sabah al-Numani, spokesman for the elite Iraqi CTS units, said they pushed into the east Mosul district of Bareed early on Monday. "Our heroic forces are launching a street fight in Bareed since the early morning hours in a bid to control the district. Fighting is still continuing," he said. The fighting in Bareed follows a series of counter attacks by Islamic State forces since Friday night in east Mosul, as well as to the south and west of the city. At least 10 soldiers and Sunni tribal fighters were killed on Monday, including two senior army officers, when they tried to retake a village near the town of Shirqat, about 70 km (45 miles) south of Mosul. Army troops and Sunni tribal fighters attacked the village of Ganous, but the militants hit back with two suicide car bombs and rocket-propelled grenades, army and police officers said. They said a Humvee and an armoured vehicle were destroyed. The International Organisation for Migration says 81,000 people have been registered as displaced since the start of the 50-day-old campaign. That figure does not include many thousands of people forced by the militants to accompany them as human shields as they retreated into the city last month, or others who have fled the fighting deeper into territory controlled by Islamic State. The World Health Organisation said on Monday it had delivered medicines and medical supplies for 13,000 people in east Mosul. NEWSMAKER-Manuel Valls, a tough-talker with French presidential ambitions By Ingrid Melander PARIS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Manuel Valls faces an uphill battle to unite his Socialist Party and overcome his government's deep unpopularity as he prepares to throw his hat into the ring for next year's presidential election. The 54-year-old is expected to announce on Monday that he is a candidate for January's primary to choose the Socialist nominee, after President Francois Hollande said he would not seek a new term. Within the party, the tough-talking centrist must win over left-wingers suspicious of his pro-business stance, and with the wider electorate, he would have to overcome the unpopularity of Hollande, whose poll ratings have sunk to as low as 4 percent. Opinion polls make him favourite to win his party's ticket, but his pro-business reforms and tough stance on law and order have made him enemies within his own party and it will be a hard fight. Even if he does secure the nomination, surveys show the presidential contest is set to come down to a run-off on May 7 between right-winger Francois Fillon of the Les Republicains party and Marine Le Pen, leader of the anti-EU, anti-immigrant National Front. Valls has been Hollande's prime minister since March 2014, after being his "top cop" interior minister for two years. He had strong opinion poll ratings when he was in the Interior Ministry but has seen his own popularity fall since. A Harris Interactive poll on Monday showed 69 percent of voters do not trust him. That's better than Hollande's 78 percent but hardly a good score. STRAIGHT-TALKING Valls is not your usual high-ranking French politician. Born in Barcelona to a Spanish father and a Swiss-Spanish mother who later left a country ruled by General Francisco Franco, Valls would, if elected president, be the first French leader who was not born French - he took French citizenship aged 20, three years after joining the Socialist Party. With a degree in history, he is also one of the rare senior French politicians who has not gone to the country's elite ENA administrative school. As implementer of Hollande's pro-business reforms, Valls is tarred by the same brush as his boss in the eyes of several influential Socialist figures who have seen the lurch to the right as a betrayal of party values. His straight-talking style, which critics describe as abrupt, and criticism of Socialist sacred cows, such as the 35-hour work week, have earned him the backing of those who want the party to be more centrist but the animosity of others. His hard line on secularism and security issues - witnessed by his comments on the full body burkini swimwear being a "provocation" and calls for the Muslim headscarf to be banned in universities - have caused controversy. Valls has recently sought to soften his image and made proposals on a minimum guaranteed revenue for all and life-long training rights, policies seen as more left-wing and a sign he is seeking to broaden his appeal in the run-up to the primary. He has nevertheless indicated he will defend Hollande's legacy. "We must defend our record. We must defend this action and I will do that unfailingly," he said. If, as expected, he does run for the Socialist Party ticket, his main rival will be Arnaud Montebourg, a leftist firebrand and former economy minister under Hollande, who quit the government over its move to the right. According to Jacques Hennen and Gilles Verdez, authors of "Manuel Valls, Secrets of a Destiny", the media-savvy politician has long harboured presidential ambitions. A long-time mayor of Evry, a gritty southern suburb of Paris, Valls has four children. His second wife is a violinist. Filmed by D8 television in an Evry market in 2009, before being in government, he was criticised for saying there were not enough "whites" around and this was giving the wrong image of his town. New York asks U.S. government for $35 mln in Trump security costs By Joseph Ax NEW YORK, Dec 5 (Reuters) - New York City asked the U.S. government for up to $35 million to cover security costs for protecting President-elect Donald Trump in his home atop a Manhattan skyscraper, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday. Trump, a Republican, has spent most of his time since Election Day in his apartment at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, forcing police to work with the U.S. Secret Service to provide intensified security measures in one of the city's busiest neighborhoods. The situation is "truly unusual," de Blasio said at a news conference. Trump has used the tower for years as his primary residence and the headquarters of his global business empire. His presence there while receiving high-profile guests to interview for his administration has caused traffic jams and frustrated commuters and tourists. De Blasio sent letters to President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders on Monday asking for federal funds to pay for security costs from the Nov. 8 election through Jan. 20, when Trump is to take the oath of office in Washington and become the 45th U.S. president. The 75-day period puts the daily price tag for the New York Police Department at about $467,000. The figure is about half the $1 million daily tab previously estimated by New York media and cited in a petition by City Council members to Trump last week. The 58-story building in the businessman's home city is close to several high-end shopping destinations, including Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany's and Louis Vuitton, and tourist attractions such as Central Park and the Museum of Modern Art. "This is a highly-trafficked, dense urban environment, and one that presents an unprecedented and unique target for potential terrorist activity," de Blasio wrote to Congressional leaders. "No other president in modern history has had his primary residence located in such a densely-populated neighborhood." De Blasio said that Congress has reimbursed New York in previous years for costs related to the protection of world leaders, including foreign dignitaries, and major events such as the 2004 Republican National Convention. The city would continue to seek appropriate reimbursement from the Trump administration after his inauguration, de Blasio said. He said he had already spoken with Trump's nominee for treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, about the matter. Gambia court frees prominent lawyer, 18 others jailed for protest By Emma Farge BANJUL, Dec 5 (Reuters) - A Gambian court freed a prominent lawyer and 18 other political prisoners on bail on Monday pending an appeal of their jail term for "unlawful assembly", in a sign that President Yahya Jammeh's shock election defeat last week could end years of repression. A Reuters witness was present for the decision to release Ousainou Darboe along with other senior members of the United Democratic Party (UDP), who had been jailed for three years in July for taking part in a small protest near the capital Banjul. Darboe appeared thin in a long blue robe but grinned broadly as he hugged family members and friends in the courtroom. He was greeted by cheers and cries of "A new Gambia!" as riot police attempted to control a large crowd of supporters outside. Separately, 14 other political prisoners and Darboe supporters detained in May appeared before Gambia's High Court on Monday but the judge delayed a decision on their bail. Jammeh ruled Gambia for 22 years with an iron fist and little tolerance of dissent. Rights groups say the government routinely imprisoned and tortured political opponents. But his ouster at the ballot box, and his shock acceptance of his defeat despite previously saying he would rule for "a billion years", has raised hopes that democracy is dawning in the small, riverside West African nation of 1.8 million people. The election results gave Adama Barrow, a real estate developer who once worked as a security guard at retailer Argos in London, a clear win over Jammeh. Barrow has said he will free political prisoners. "It is finally time for the families of those people wrongly detained to be reunited with their loved ones," Amnesty International's Steve Cockburn said. "Adama Barrow has promised to release all political prisoners and he should ensure this goes beyond opposition figures and includes everyone jailed simply for expressing their views," he added. Darboe's wife Mymuna said she hoped for more, saying that the perpetrators of human rights abuses under Jammeh should have their turn in the docks. Qaeda militants blow up Yemen gas export pipeline - local officials SANAA, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Al Qaeda militants blew up Yemen's only gas export pipeline on Monday, local officials said, in a further blow to a moribund but vital piece of infrastructure for an impoverished country battered by 20 months of war. The explosion occurred in the remote desert area of al-Uqla in the southern province of Shabwa, the officials said, and severd the link between Yemen's gas-producing Marib region and the export terminal of Balhaf on the Arabian Sea. You are here: Home China's budget airline company Spring Airlines has launched a direct air route between Bangkok and the southwestern Chinese city of Zunyi. An Airbus A320, coded 9C8722, departs from Zunyi, in Guizhou Province, at 12:45 p.m. every Friday and arrives in Bangkok at 3:50 p.m. local time. The return flight leaves Bangkok at 6:50 a.m. local time and arrives in Zunyi at 10 a.m. every Friday. Zunyi is a historic city with a variety of natural and cultural sites. Zunyi's airport opened in November last year. It currently has a regional and two international air routes, linking Zunyi with 30 cities. Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) today charged that a gazette notification had been issued by the Cabinet to establish a specialised government body with powers exceeding the executive powers of the President and some more special provisions to facilitate the formulation of a National Policy on all subjects including Accelerated Economic Development. GMOA Media Spokesman Dr. Samantha Ananda said the gazette notification was ordered to be published by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and was issued on November 25 at the Cabinet. He told a media briefing held today at GMOA Head Quarters that the board which would be managed by a government executive would not be accountable and responsible and the scope for legal action against the board was also restricted. He warned that the government was trying to facilitate the related undertakings of the proposed Indo-Lanka Economic and Technological Cooperation Act (ETCA) through the board. Super authorising powers are vested on a single board and an individual who will handle it. This is not healthy for the other sectors of the government. Formulating a national policy is praiseworthy and that was first proposed by the GMOA to the government. However, there should be proper and accepted way of doing such things, he said. According to the gazette notification, the board which would cover Economic Development Areas such as manufacturing, tourism, science and technology, logistics, business and service, high-tech fisheries and high-tech agriculture shall be in operation only for a period of three years from the appointed date. An Agency for International Trade will also be appointed by the board which will work with objectives of promoting and developing international trade of Sri Lanka, facilitating the growth of exports of Sri Lankan products and services, particularly the agricultural and fisheries products, promoting Sri Lanka as a major trade, business and logistical hub of the Indian Ocean region and serving as the agency for the formulation, implementation and co-ordination of international trade of Sri Lanka. (Piyumi Fonseka) Video by Danushka Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa today issuing a statement said the government has introduced constitutional reforms without reforming the electoral system and abolishing the executive presidency as promised during the Presidential election. The full statement The reports submitted by six subcommittees on constitutional reform appointed by the Constitutional Assembly were tabled in parliament while everybodys attention was focused on the budget. With that government ministers moved fast to meet the Ven. Mahanayake Theras with a view to obtaining their support for these proposals by saying that no recommendations have been made to alter the unitary character of the constitution, the special status accorded to Buddhism or for the merger of the northern and eastern provinces. Furthermore, leaving aside all the strikes and demonstrations over the budget, the president himself spoke in parliament about the need to devolve power. In the meantime government parliamentarians and ministers are being showered with all kinds of privileges such as new cars and generous special allowances. All these are signs that portend great danger to the nation. During the last presidential election campaign, the two main constitutional reforms promised to the people by this government were; the abolition of the executive presidency and reform of the electoral system. Neither of these two key issues have been dealt with by the subcommittees appointed by the Constitutional Assembly. Instead, six reports have been released on matters that were never even mentioned during the presidential elections. It is only in reading the subcommittee reports that the connection between the above mentioned events became clear. The subcommittee on Centre Periphery Relations has openly stated that the unitary character of our constitution is an impediment to the functioning of the provincial councils and some of the reports have made recommendations that are designed to end the unitary character of Sri Lanka without however deleting that word from the constitution. I would like to highlight some of the most harmful recommendations as follows: 1. The Subcommittee on Centre-Periphery Relations has made recommendations to strip the provincial Governors of all their powers. The Governors discretionary power to sign into law statutes passed by the PC is to be abolished and that authority given to the Chairman of the provincial council. His discretionary power to refer statutes back to the PC suggesting amendments or to refer a statute to the president to be sent to the supreme court for review is to be abolished. The Governors authority over the provincial public service is to be transferred to the chief minister and the provincial board of ministers. Furthermore, the Governor is to be appointed only with the concurrence of the chief minister and will have to perform his duties on the advice of the chief minister and the provincial board of ministers. Our system of devolution is modelled on that of India and the Governors of the Indian states have exactly the same powers as the provincial Governors in Sri Lanka. It is through the role of the governor that the provinces and the states are bound to the centre. If the powers of the Governors are taken away, both India and Sri Lanka will cease to be unified nations. 2. The list of concurrent powers which are wielded by both the central government and the provincial councils is to be done sway with and those powers transferred to the provincial councils so that the PCs and the central government become distinct spheres of authority. To further this objective, it has been recommended that the District Secretaries and the Divisional Secretaries who now function under the central government be placed under the authority of the provincial councils. Furthermore, the provincial public services commissions are to be allowed to decide on their cadre need including that of the local authorities, without Treasury oversight. 3. The Subcommittee on Centre Periphery Relations has also suggested that powers over state land be transferred to the provincial councils. The central government will be able to utilise state land in the provinces only with the concurrence of the provincial authorities. In India, the central government can use any state land with or without the concurrence of the state concerned. 4. The Subcommittee on police and law and order has recommended that the police force be divided into a national police force and nine separate provincial police forces. The national police will exercise jurisdiction over offences against the state and state property, the armed forces, parliamentarians, judicial and public officers, offences relating to elections, currency and government stamps, and international crimes. Everything else including crime investigations, fraud, narcotics, traffic, etcetera, will be under the provincial police forces. An investigation can be referred to the national police only if the provincial police commissioner consents to it. The provincial police forces will conduct their own training and have the final say in the type of weapons their policemen would use. The IGP will not have any oversight regarding the work of the provincial police. Provincial police personnel are to be recruited on linguistic and residential criteria which together with the fact that there will be no inter-provincial transfers, will mean that the provincial police forces in the north and east will be completely separate and will have virtually no interaction with the rest of the police force. 5. If a state of emergency is to be in force continuously for a period in excess of 3 months or for a period of more than 90 days within a period of 180 days, the extension of the state of emergency will require a special majority in parliament. The courts will be given the power to review and even invalidate the declaration of emergency and the emergency regulations. The judiciary is not equipped to determine whether a situation warrants a declaration of emergency or not and such matters should be the exclusive preserve of the executive. These provisions are obviously meant to ensure that the state will not be able to respond adequately to an emergency. Everyone knows that there are some elements who want to weaken the Sri Lankan State. 6. The Subcommittee on the Judiciary has recommended that when judges of the Supreme Court and the court of appeal are to be appointed, the nomination of suitable candidates would be done by a panel of former supreme court judges. This panel is to be appointed by the incumbent chief justice after consulting the Attorney General and the President of the Bar Association. The Bar Association is a highly politicised body and once had a UNP parliamentarian serving as President. His successor openly worked against my government and accepted a top political appointment from this government. The manner in which the Bar Association accepts funding from foreign powers has been commented on in the media. Such a body should never be given a role in nominating judges to the highest courts. There is also a serious conflict of interest issue in giving the private bar a say in appointing the judges who will be hearing their cases. This will lead to collusion and corruption and erode public confidence in the entire legal system. 7. It has also been recommended by the Subcommittee on the Judiciary that a seven member constitutional court made up of judges and specialists in the field be set up outside the regular court structure to exercise exclusive jurisdiction in relation to interpreting the constitution, reviewing Bills, the post enactment review of legislation and to adjudicate in disputes between the centre and the provinces. If a constitutional matter comes up in any case in any court in the country, it will have to be referred to this constitutional court. Under the present constitution, the interpretation of the constitution and review of Bills is the exclusive preserve of the Supreme Court and this should not be changed. We also have concerns about who the constitutional experts sitting on the bench of this court will be. Furthermore, the principle applied hitherto in this country is that the courts will not have the power of post enactment review of legislation. 8. The Subcommittee on Fundamental Rights has recommended that the standard provision found in most constitutions to the effect that the laws in force at the time the new Constitution comes into force would be valid only to the extent that they dont clash with the new constitution; be dispensed with in relation to the personal laws of certain communities. If any personal law is allowed to stand above the constitution, that would be a case of according to certain communities privileges not available to other communities and will give rise to ethnic and religious tensions. 9. According to Sri Lankas legal system, foreign treaties entered into by the government are not automatically incorporated into domestic law and parliament has to legislate the provisions of that treaty into law. The Subcommittee on Fundamental Rights has recommended that treaties to which Sri Lanka is a party at the time the new constitution comes into effect, should automatically get incorporated into domestic law after a lapse of two years. This is a naked attempt to bring into force through the back door, Optional Protocol I of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which was ill-advisedly signed in 1998 but due to subsequent enlightenment, never incorporated in our law by parliament because it makes our Supreme Court subordinate to the Human Rights Committee in Geneva. The automatic, unplanned incorporation of foreign treaties in our laws in the manner proposed will lead to confusion within the legal system. 10. One of the principal recommendations of the Sub Committee on Fundamental Rights is that both Sinhala and Tamil be recognised as the official languages of Sri Lanka. In 1957 S.J.V.Chelvanayagam proposed to make Tamil the language of administration in the North and the East with reasonable provision for the use of Sinhala for the Sinhala minority living in those areas. This was same the policy that S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike applied to the whole country with Sinhala as the official language and reasonable provision for the use of Tamil especially in the north and east. In India too, Hindi - the language of the largest linguistic group - is the official language while reasonable provision has been made for the use of other languages like Tamil, Malayalam etc. These are arrangements that should not be disturbed with ill-advised experiments. I call upon the government to act more responsibly in this all important matter of constitutional reform and to take up the two main electoral reform pledges they gave the people first, before dealing with matters that are of interest only to separatists and certain interested foreign parties. None of the recommendations mentioned above should be in the final draft of the constitution. The fact that the government sent an SLFP delegation to mislead the Ven. MahanayakeTheras about the constitutional reform proposals shows that they are trying to use the nationalistic credentials of the SLFP to deceive the MahaSangha and the people to push through a constitution which will divide the country without using the word division. I request all members of the SLFP serving in this government not to allow their enslavement to the UNP to go so far as to betraying every principle that the SLFP has stood for in the past six decades. Mahinda Rajapaksa M.P. Former President of Sri Lanka The case against former LTTE Spokesman Daya Master was concluded by Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya on the instructions of the Attorney General today. The CID informed court that the Attorney General had already filed a case against Daya Master in Vavuniya High Court over detaining civilians in the LTTE custody as hostages during the last stages of the war, therefore asked to finish the Magisterial inquiry. The Magisterial inquiry was initiated by the CID against Daya Master and former interpreter of LTTE George Master, when they surrendered to the Army at the Omanthai Army Post in April 2009. George Master was earlier discharged from the inquiry on AG's instructions. (Shehan Chamika Silva) Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya today refused to grant bail to former Minister Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, alias Karuna Amman who is in remand custody till December 7 for misusing a state vehicle. The Magistrate made this decision when the bail application filed by Counsel Kanchana Rathwatte, on behalf of the suspect through a motion, was taken up in court today. However, the magistrate also stated that bail conditions would be re-considered on December 7. Muralitharan was arrested by the FCID for allegedly receiving a bulletproof vehicle from the Presidential Secretariat in 2010 after being elected to parliament. According to the FCID, he had not returned this vehicle though he had lost his seat at the general election in August last year. (Shehan Chamika Silva) John Key, the New Zealand Prime Minister and leader of the National party, has resigned in a decision that has taken the country by surprise. Key held a media conference in Wellington at 12.45pm local time, after informing the cabinet of his decision. His resignation will be effective from 12 December, when National MPs will meet to select a new leader. Key said he would vote for his deputy prime minister, Bill English, if he put his name forward. English briefly led the party to its worst-ever electoral defeat in the 2002 election, but has since served as a successful finance minister. Key is widely regarded as one of the most popular prime ministers in New Zealands history. He was first elected in 2008, and recently marked his 10-year anniversary as leader of the National party. He said stepping down was the hardest decision he had ever had to make, but there was no way he could have served a full fourth term. This felt like the right time to go, he told reporters. Sometimes youve got to make hard decisions to make right decisions, he said, adding it was an opportunity to refresh the National partys leadership of the country and hopefully clinch a fourth term. I think one of the reasons governments fail at that fourth-term hurdle is leaders dont want to leave, everyone says Ive seen this before. This is the chance to demonstrate newness about us. He said he had a pretty long discussion about standing for a fourth term with his wife, Bronagh Key. I dont feel comfortable looking down the barrel of the camera and not being honest ... On a family basis, I dont think I could commit much longer than the next election. He denied that Bronagh had given him an ultimatum, but said his leadership had come at a cost to his family. Its been a decade of a lot of long, lonely nights for her and its the right time for me to come home. Analysis John Key kept the knife he reserved for himself perfectly concealed Fittingly, as head of a party lauded for its ability to renew, Key edged himself out of the leadership before there was much speculation about his future His children, Max and Stephie, had suffered an extraordinary level of intrusion along with the opportunities that came with being New Zealands first family. In the past year, Key has had to answer to questions about his sons burgeoning career as a DJ and social media personality. Spending more time with his family was a major factor in his decision to stand down, he said. Key said he believed the mark of a good prime minister was one who left the country in better shape than they found it. Over time others will judge whether Ive done that. All I can say is I gave it everything I had. I have left nothing in the tank. One of his regrets was not getting the Trans-Pacific Partnership over the line, as well as his failed bid to change the flag. He said he considered his economic management of the country as a mark of success, even though New Zealand had weathered some crises during his government, including the Canterbury earthquake and the Pike River mining disaster. Very few countries are in the financial position were in.(The Guardian) An investigation is to be initiated over the incident, where a retired senior Police officer had been captured by the Daily Mirror on Friday while he was stuffing a young domestic aide into the boot of a vehicle in the Matale town, Matale SSP I.B.T. Sugathapala said. The boy appeared to be around ten years, according to the pictures published in the Daily Mirror on Saturday. The Matale Police said that the officer concerned was a retired Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police and a resident of Dambulla. Residents of the Matale town who had seen the officer taking out the boy from the boot of his vehicle, which had been parked near the Matale clock tower on Friday and had alerted journalists, who in turn had hid inside a trishaw and captured the officer returning with the boy, who was carrying some bags. The retired DIG then had stuffed the boy into the boot of the vehicle again. (M.W.Somarathne) What does Patali know about politics that Harini doesnt know? Sri Lanka is going through great pains to get its economy in order after the ven 1,000 coconuts could not stop Donald Trump from winning the US presidential election. A group of Tamil National Alliance politicians dashed 1,008 coconuts to invoke blessings for Hillary Clinton. Still she lost. Now President Maithripala Sirisena has written to President-elect Trump seeking his good offices to bring an end to persistent meddling by the UN Human Rights Council in Sri Lanka. I sent a special message to Donald Trump asking him to support us at the (council), the President said in a statement issued from his office. I am asking him to help completely clear my country (of war crimes allegations) and allow us to start afresh. Mike Pence, the Vice-President-elect has phoned President Sirisena inviting him to visit Washington. It is not known whether Mr. Pence was responding to the Presidents letter. It is also not clear whether the presidents letter was written out of sheer desperation at the UNHRC or it was just a political gimmick. Usually as UNHRC sessions come closer, the South gets fired up. Navi Pillai, the former UNHRC chief was a household name, quite an accomplishment for an UN envoy. Though her successor Jordanian Prince ZeidRaad Al Hussein was not yet so well known, still any three-wheel driver in Colombo would easily recognize him. However, this time around, it was a bit too early to raise the UNHRC red flag before the Southern electorate. What motivated the president, therefore, cannot be sheer domestic political calculations. If he is acting in response to the broader changes taking place in Washington, and a probable shift in political values there itself, one cannot help but applaud him for his realist ingenuity, which is something lacking in Sri Lankan foreign policy throughout our independence. Mr. Trump may not share broader geopolitical interests of his predecessors, however, after assuming office, he will be compelled to socialize and adapt to them. However, if the tempo of his election campaign was any guide, he may not be too keen on preaching politically correct (and often ineffectual) approaches of solving domestic problems in foreign countries. He himself has vowed to bar Muslims from America, deport 11 million illegal immigrants and build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. He speaks of fighting Islamic State terrorists but describes the autocratic but secular president Asad of Syria who fights the same terrorists as incorrigible. He earlier vowed to authorize the use of waterboarding, and has now retracted it, because he has been told it does not elicit additional useful information. He has appointed a white nationalist as his chief strategist and picked a known former racist judge - who had previously been rejected as a federal judge for being too racist - as his Attorney General. All of that sounds awful. However, viewed from our angle, he may not be as enthusiastic as his predecessors to deliver justice to dead terrorists and unfortunate civilian victims of the final stage of war. That would probably make it easier for this government to work with the new administration in Washington. If this government can reach out to Trumps administration and start afresh, it will be a very smart thing. It would indeed be easier now than later when the rest of the world get over the shock of Trump victory and line up to pay homage. Still, he is snubbed by most of Americas closest allies. When he tweeted Nigel Farage would make a good British ambassador to the US, Downing Street said, no vacancy. On the contrary, less principled, and probably more practical leaders of small states like Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte have appointed Trumps business partner as Manilas envoy. After a telephone call between Messrs Duterte and Trump, the formers office said the two leaders had a very engaging conversation and Trump said the president of Philippines was doing the right thing in fighting his controversial drug war, which has killed 4,000 people in five months. Obama administrations vocal concerns over killings prompted the mercurial Philippine president to threaten to sever military ties with America. Our government heaped all hopes on the Obama Administration, partly driven by the modest recent thaw in relations, it hoped a continuum under a future presidency of Hillary Clinton. It also quickly developed a habit of echoing and often feigning the concerns raised by those Western powers. "Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Trumps business partner as Manilas envoy. After a telephone call between Messrs Duterte and Trump" Recently the freedom of maritime commence was a buzz word in official communiques with Western leaders, because Washington had been organizing a broader regional consensus against Chinas expansive maritime claims in South China Sea. That could have been the right thing to do then when the US was making a concerted effort of soft balancing of China -- though any band wagoning has to take into account our costs and benefits. Now the government is feigning the same bewilderment seen in Western Capitals towards the Trump presidency. Those big powers have the luxury to do so, but we dont. A countrys relationship to the international system is predicated, first and foremost, by its relative power. We have very little of it. Countries like Philippines have boosted up their limited internal power through alliances with the US, which make them more important to the US grand strategy than they could otherwise have been. Again, we have none of that. Much of the world is still reeling from the shock of the prospect of Trump presidency. Even cynics are flummoxed. They all surely have very noble concerns about the future of freedom and democracy. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera in an interview with this newspaper earlier confided he could have been happier had there been a different outcome to the US presidential election. (He nonetheless said Sri Lanka would seek to build on the momentum left behind by the Obama administration) "It is also not clear whether the presidents letter was written out of sheer desperation at the UNHRC or it was just a political gimmick" Leaders of small states like ours, especially with our current economic and social conditions, do not have luxury of acting on idealism. Such adventures in the past proved to be serial failures. This government is trying to harness our advantageous strategic location in the Indian Ocean and our recent democratic gains to leapfrog the countrys development. To that end, stronger relations with the US would be in our greatest interest, which among others, give us a greater bargaining power in our relations with other world powers. It does not matter who is in charge of America. The government should give a determined try to reach out to him. Perhaps, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who spends his intellectual energy in addressing seminars (the recent one in Hong Kong) can fix an appointment and see Mr. Trump. Of most leaders of this part of the world, Mr. Wickremesinghe should easily be able to impress the US- president elect. Who knows whether Donald Trump, as unpredictable as he is, could well turn out to the best thing happens to Sri Lanka-US relations. Follow Ranga Jayasuriya @ Ranga Jayasuriya on Twitter The Students Union of the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka staged a protest in front of the University Grants Commission today, over several demands, including the establishment of a Social Sciences Faculty for them. Pix by Nisal Baduge Western Provincial Councilor Jagath Kumara was granted bail after he surrendered to Court earlier today. The Councilor surrendered on charges of having assaulted a police superintendent during a protest launched by Samurdhi Officers at Polduwa Junction, Battaramulla near the Parliament on November 29, 2016. He was later released on a Rs. 500, 000 surety bail by Colombo Additional Magistrate Chandana Kalansooriya. (Shehan Chamika Silva) Huangling sets expectations high with its claim to be "the most beautiful countryside in China" plastered across its promotional material. Such a big statement may rouse the skeptics, but it's better to leave those quibbles at the cable car door and simply enjoy the view. The Hui-style architecture is marked by white walls and black-tiled roofs. [Photo by Rosemary Bolger/chinadaily.com.cn] The village has been turned into a living museum and its owner the Wuyuan Countryside Development Company does not pretend otherwise. The private company's largest shareholder Wu Xiangyang saw the location's potential as a tourism attraction 18 years ago. At that stage, there were less than 600 people living in rundown houses. "Most people want to go outside (the village) to work so few people were left in the village. If we waited another 5 to 10 years, it would have soon vanished," Wu says. The company has poured large sums into repairing and restoring the Hui-style houses known for their solid white walls (residents believed a dark room was more peaceful) and black-tiled roofs. Residents have paid a high price. They have been moved to an apartment complex at the base of the mountain, and their homes turned into boutique accommodation, fetching up to 5,000 yuan a night (although many rooms are available for much less). But in return they have gained jobs and their village has a future. Their smiles as tourists snap photos and observe their daily routines, suggests they believe the tradeoff has been worth it. "They used to be farmers, but now they are company staff," Wu says. In Jiangxi province, which has high levels of poverty, Huangling's turnaround is a beacon of hope. Wu says employees earn about 30,000 yuan a year, more if they are tour guides or hotel staff. Almost two thirds of the 300 staff are local and he expects to grow his workforce to 1,000. Wu has been wise to recognize the "rare and precious resource" of cooperation from the former residents. After all, it is their practice of laying out chillies, flowers, sliced radishes and pumpkins on large trays on rooftops that make Huangling so picturesque. While there are surely other charming villages carved into terraced mountainsides, the rich colors of the drying vegetables contrasted against the greenery beyond, could convince even the most skeptical of its lofty advertising claims. It will take roughly a year to know the true direction of the incoming Trump Administration in the United States. The phone calls and conversations that are making waves today - with Nawaz Sharif and Tsai Ingwen - are no indicator of which way the US will go under his presidency. The policy will only assume shape after Cabinet appointees have gone through their confirmation hearings and sub-cabinet officials selected and appointed. Given that some choices could be controversial, the confirmation process may prove to be long and arduous. Strategy Donald J Trump never really expected to win the election and had not done the elaborate preparation for taking up the job like his rival Hillary Clinton. In any case, a Clinton administration would have appointed a large number of Obama officials who are currently in a state of shock because none of them expected to be out of a job so soon. The special thing about foreign policy is that there are only some variables you can control. No matter how powerful or determined a US President, his policy still depends on developments abroad, as well as the actions of other countries, some friends and others rivals. There is likely to be little change in American grand strategy which has sought to ensure that no regional hegemon (supreme leader) arises in Europe, Persian Gulf and East Asia. To this end, leading the alliance in Europe is important, just as it is to prevent the rise of Iran in the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia simply lacks the population base to be a regional hegemon of any kind. Russias resurgence is really a defensive reflex and not a bid to restore the glory of the erstwhile Soviet Union. The real challenge is in East Asia where China is determined to challenge the American sway and has successfully breached the ASEAN. Critics of Obama say that the eight years of his presidency have featured inaction, inattention and withdrawal from global affairs. While the decision to pull out from Iraq was understandable, the speed of the withdrawal from Afghanistan has had widespread repercussions. Critics of Obama say that the eight years of his presidency have featured inaction, inattention and withdrawal from global affairs. (Photo: Reuters) Likewise, it would have been foolish of the Americans to go in too deep into European ventures like Libya and Syria, but its own pivot to Asia proved to be anemic. Obama did little to check Russia, and instead, reached out to make peace with Iran and Cuba. The emergence of Francois Fillon as the centre-right candidate for next years presidential elections in France, combined with the inclination of the US President-elect to make a deal with Russia could upend the verities of the Obama era which had sought to cordon Russia from Europe through economic sanctions. Outreach A US-Europe-Russia deal has vast implications. It will almost certainly involve handing over Syrian affairs to them, in exchange for Moscow backing off in Ukraine in exchange for the Americans acquiescing in the occupation of Crimea and lifting the sanctions. NATO expansion into Ukraine and Georgia would be checked and the US would permit Assad to regain control of Syria with the commitment of fighting the ISIS. People who complain about the amorality of all this forget that the US and China supported the Pol Pot regime because of their antipathy for Vietnam. This is what big power politics is all about. The outreach to Russia could have another important result - the pullback of the Russia drift towards a proto-alliance with China. This will have important implications for the One Belt One Road project, as well as Chinese military modernisation, which still relies on Russia for crucial elements such as jet engines and high quality air defence systems. Fallout The one area which remains an unknown is Iran. Conservative elements close to Trump have a deep antipathy to Iran and Cuba. In the case of Cuba, it is motivated by Cuban exiles that have deep roots in the conservative establishment. In the case of Tehran, a great deal of it arises from Israel and its powerful American supporters who view the current regime as an existential threat. However, the US knows that any going back on the nuclear deal could have serious consequences, notably a breakdown of the big-power consensus that led to the Iran nuclear agreement. The US would find it difficult, if not impossible, to resume the economic sanctions that had, to an extent, brought Iran around. There could be a negative fallout for India as well. Our big geopolitical riposte to the OBOR the Chabahar project could come undone. In addition, our energy security could be affected in view of our huge purchases of Iranian oil. New Delhi would have to make choices here and they are not likely to be simple. Not going with the Americans could have repercussions elsewhere, while tailing them could seriously damage our standing in a region which is vital to our security. But again, making choices and shaping policies is what big power politics is all about. A total of 20 young leaders from China and Austria have engaged in close discussions and exchanges in a four-day agenda from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3, in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two countries. Chinese and Austrian young leaders hold formal talks on Dec. 1, 2016. [Photo/China.org.cn] The China-Austria Young Leaders Program, which is in its second year, has drawn a wide circle of elites from government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGO), media, think tanks, universities and businesses in this annual event co-organized by the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA) and Foreign Policy and United Nations Association of Austria (UNA-Austria). Revolving around topics including cultural inheritance and China-EU interconnectivity, delegates from the two sides have engaged in lively discussions on how the two countries will dissipate misunderstandings and foster closer cooperation. According to President Xi Jinping's related remarks, policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds are the five aspects that constitute regional connectivity and are the major duties when pushing forward the Belt and Road Initiative, explained Chinese delegate Li Chao, assistant research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. "China and Europe are 'two powers, two markets and two civilizations' in the world; politics and global issues, economy and trade, culture and civilization together form the triangle to make our bilateral relationship permanently stable." He believes that mistrust and misunderstanding can be solved with ever closely connected facilities and policies as well as people-to-people exchanges in an era of globalization. "Public diplomacy is a possible and even a necessary approach to promote mutual understanding between Europe and China which may have a positive effect on co-evolution," said He Zhigao, assistant professor at the Institute of European Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and also a Chinese delegate. "Evidence shows that younger people develop a lot more understanding and respect for each other if they interact directly, if they grasp the background, the living conditions and the contexts of others." "We are all human and the cultural barriers are not as huge as you might think because after you get to know about each other after a little while, you know that what you share in common is even greater than your differences," said the Austrian delegate Madeleine Salinger, international relations officer at the City of Vienna. Impressed by the resources, knowledge and power, she recognized the dynamism of the country which is something that Europe needs to develop itself. "China may also need the 'slow path' of Europe to get back and think how things are going," she said. During the four-day agenda, the Chinese and Austrian delegations have engaged in formal talks and also visited several companies, museums and cultural sites in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. "We have got to know a lot about China even though we only visited three cities," said Bernd Hermann, head of the Austrian delegation and vice-secretary of UNA-Austria. He encouraged more Austrian and Chinese to visit each other and foster mutual understanding. "I was also impressed by the openness of the people that I met and it was very interesting to discuss with them and to exchange views on many things," said Roland Matous, research specialist at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The Young Leaders Program is a long-term program initiated in 2015 with the two countries taking turns to play the host each year. Hengqin New District [File photo] Leading postdoctoral researchers, scholars and experts from across the country will gather in Hengqin New District of Zhuhai, Guangdong Province on Dec. 10 for the National Postdoctoral Academic Forum 2016, an occasion to share the latest academic achievements while exploring new applications. The forum, commonly referred to as a grand gala of academia, is being held just one year after the postdoctoral work station was established in Hengqin, the first of its kind in a national free trade zone (FTZ). The station serves as a platform to attract more talents to contribute their innovative ideas for the development of Hengqin, besides creating a large talent pool for the FTZ. Holding the national postdoctoral forum, as well as the establishment of the postdoctoral work station, reflects recognition from the national body on postdoctoral administration of the trend-setting way Hengqin is treating existing talents and seeking more. With a theme of "New Type of Smart City and Global Outlook in the Era of Big Data," this year's forum will provide a platform for academic communication, strengthened exchanges and cooperation in the fields of big data, internet plus, smart city, smart FTZ and cloud computing. Together, such aspects will facilitate the construction and development of new types of smart cities. This forum is jointly organized by the National Postdoctoral Administration Committee Office, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, Guangdong Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, and jointly hosted by the Leading Group Office of Hengqin New District Postdoctoral Work Station and Zhuhai Da Hengqin Technology Development Co. Ltd. The Zhuhai Hengqin New District Management Committee provides additional support. At the opening ceremony of the forum, a total of 18 postdoctoral researchers will receive awards for their outstanding dissertations submitted to the organizing committee. During the following three panel discussions, 15 postdoctoral researchers will deliver prepared speeches on three topics: Big data, Smart City, Network and Intelligent Recognition. EnerSys provides various stored energy solutions for industrial applications worldwide. It operates in three segments: Energy Systems, Motive Power, and Specialty. The company offers uninterruptible power systems applications for computer and computer-controlled systems, as well as telecommunications systems; switchgear and electrical control systems used in industrial facilities and electric utilities, large-scale energy storage, and energy pipelines; integrated power solutions and services to broadband, telecom, renewable, and industrial customers; and thermally managed cabinets and enclosures for electronic equipment and batteries. It also provides motive power products that are used to provide power for electric industrial forklifts used in manufacturing, warehousing, and other material handling applications. In addition, the company offers mining equipment, diesel locomotive starting, and other rail equipment. Further, it provides specialty batteries for starting, lighting, and ignition applications in transportation; and energy solutions for satellites, military aircraft, submarines, ships, and other tactical vehicles, as well as medical and security systems. Additionally, the company offers battery chargers, power equipment, battery accessories, and outdoor cabinet enclosures, as well as related after-market and customer-support services for industrial batteries. The company sells its products through a network of distributors, independent representatives, and internal sales forces. The company was formerly known as Yuasa, Inc. and changed its name to EnerSys in January 2001. EnerSys was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania. The following companies are subsidiares of Accenture: 2nd Road, ?What If!, ?What If! China Holdings Limited, ?What If! Holdings Limited, ?What If! Limited, ACN Consulting Co Ltd, AD.Dialeto (Digital Agency acquired by Accenture), AFD.TECH, AGS Business and Technology Services Limited, AIG Shared Services Business Processing Inc, ASM Research Inc., ASM Research LLC, ATAN, Accenture (Botswana) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (China) Co. Ltd., Accenture (Shenzhen) Technology Co. Ltd., Accenture (South Africa) Pty Ltd, Accenture (UK) Limited, Accenture 2 Business Process Services S.A., Accenture 2 LLC, Accenture A/S, Accenture AB, Accenture AG, Accenture AS, Accenture Africa Pty Ltd, Accenture Agencia Interativa Ltda, Accenture Australia Holding B.V., Accenture Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture B.V., Accenture BPM Operations Support Services S.A., Accenture BPM S.C.R.L., Accenture BPS Services S.p. z o.o., Accenture Branch Holdings B.V., Accenture Bulgaria EOOD, Accenture Business Services for Utilities Inc, Accenture Business Services of British Columbia Limited Partnership, Accenture Business and Technology Services LLC, Accenture C.A., Accenture Canada Holdings Inc, Accenture Capital Designated Activity Company, Accenture Capital Inc, Accenture Central Europe B.V., Accenture Chile Asesorias y Servicios Ltda, Accenture Cloud Services GmbH, Accenture Cloud Software Solutions Limited, Accenture Cloud Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions LLC, Accenture Cloud Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd, Accenture Co. Ltd, Accenture Communications Infrastructure Solutions Ltd, Accenture Company Ltd, Accenture Consulting Pty Ltd, Accenture Consulting Services Ltd Tanzania, Accenture Consultores de Gestao S.A., Accenture Consultoria de Industria e Consumo Ltda, Accenture Consultoria de Recursos Naturais Ltda, Accenture Credit Services LLC, Accenture Customer Services Distribution SASU, Accenture Customer Services Ltd, Accenture Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, Accenture Defined Benefit Pension Plan Trustees Limited, Accenture Defined Contribution Pension Plan Trustees Limited, Accenture Delivery Poland S.p. z o.o., Accenture Dienstleistungen GmbH, Accenture Digital Holdings GmbH, Accenture East Africa Limited, Accenture Ecuador S.A., Accenture Egypt LLC, Accenture Enterprise Development (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Accenture Federal Services LLC, Accenture Finance II Limited, Accenture Finance Limited, Accenture Finance and Accounting BPO Services S.p.A., Accenture Finance and Accounting Services S.r.l., Accenture Financial Advanced Solution & Technology S.r.l., Accenture Flex LLC, Accenture GP LLC, Accenture Global Capital Designated Activity Company, Accenture Global Engagements Limited, Accenture Global Holdings Limited, Accenture Global Services Limited, Accenture Global Solutions Limited, Accenture GmbH, Accenture HR Services S.p.A., Accenture Healthcare Processing Inc, Accenture Holding Brasil Ltda, Accenture Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Accenture Holdings (Iberia) S.L., Accenture Holdings B.V., Accenture Holdings France SASU, Accenture Hungary Holdings Kft, Accenture Inc, Accenture Industrial Software Limited Liability Company, Accenture Industrial Software Solutions Kft, Accenture Industrial Software Solutions SA, Accenture Insurance Services B.V., Accenture Insurance Services LLC, Accenture International B.V., Accenture International LLC, Accenture International Limited, Accenture Japan Ltd, Accenture Korea B.V., Accenture LLC, Accenture LLP, Accenture Lanka (Private) Ltd, Accenture Limited, Accenture Lithuania UAB, Accenture Ltd, Accenture Ltda, Accenture Maghreb S.a.r.l., Accenture Managed Services SRL, Accenture Management GmbH, Accenture Marketing Services LLC, Accenture Marketing Services Limited, Accenture Middle East B.V., Accenture Minority I B.V., Accenture Mozambique Limitada, Accenture Mzansi Pty Ltd, Accenture NV/SA, Accenture NZ Limited, Accenture Nova Scotia Unlimited Liability Co., Accenture OOO, Accenture Operations GmbH, Accenture Operations S.p. z o.o., Accenture Operations Services Private Limited, Accenture Operations Services Sdn Bhd, Accenture Outsourcing S.r.l., Accenture Outsourcing Services S.A., Accenture Oy, Accenture Panama Inc, Accenture Participations B.V., Accenture Participations II Limited, Accenture Peru SRL, Accenture Post Trade Processing SASU, Accenture Post-Trade Processing Limited, Accenture Process (Mauritius) Ltd, Accenture Pte Ltd, Accenture Puerto Rico LLC, Accenture Qiyun Technology (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd, Accenture S.C., Accenture S.L., Accenture S.R.L., Accenture S.p. z o.o., Accenture S.p.A., Accenture SASU, Accenture SG Services Pte Ltd, Accenture SRL, Accenture Saudi Arabia Limited, Accenture Sdn Bhd, Accenture Service Center SRL, Accenture Services (Mauritius) Ltd, Accenture Services AB, Accenture Services AG, Accenture Services AS, Accenture Services GmbH, Accenture Services Morocco SA, Accenture Services Oy, Accenture Services Pty Ltd, Accenture Services S.p. z o.o., Accenture Services SRL, Accenture Services and Technology S.r.l., Accenture Services s.r.o., Accenture Single Member S.A. Organization Information Technology & Business Development, Accenture Solutions Co. Ltd, Accenture Solutions Private Limited, Accenture Solutions Pte Ltd, Accenture Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Solutions S.p. z o.o, Accenture Solutions Sdn Bhd, Accenture State Healthcare Services LLC, Accenture Sub II Inc, Accenture Sub III Inc, Accenture Sub LLC, Accenture Systems Integration Limited, Accenture Sarl, Accenture Tanacsado Kolatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Accenture Technology Solutions (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Accenture Technology Solutions (HK) Co. Ltd., Accenture Technology Solutions (Thailand) Co. Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions - Solucoes Informaticas Integradas S.A., Accenture Technology Solutions GmbH, Accenture Technology Solutions Oy, Accenture Technology Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions S.A. de C.V., Accenture Technology Solutions S.r.l., Accenture Technology Solutions SASU, Accenture Technology Solutions SRL, Accenture Technology Solutions Sdn Bhd, Accenture Technology Solutions Slovakia s.r.o., Accenture Technology Ventures B.V., Accenture Technology Ventures SPRL, Accenture Tecnologia Consultoria y Outsourcing S.A., Accenture Uruguay SRL, Accenture Vietnam Co. Limited, Accenture Zambia Limited, Accenture do Brasil Ltda, Accenture plc, Accenture s.r.o., Acceria, Acquity Group, Adaptly LLC, Adaptly UK Limited, AddVal Technology, Adqptly, Advantium Inc., Advoco, Agilex Technologies Inc., Alfa Consulting, Allen International, AlphaBeta Advisors, Altevie Technologies S.r.l., Altima, Altima (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Altima Asia Ltd, Altitude, Altitude LLC, Altius Consulting Limited, Altius Data Solutions Private Limited, Analytics 8 LP, Analytics 8 Pty Ltd, Analytics8, Aorui Advertising (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Apis, Apis Group Pty Ltd, Appaloosa Technology SASU, AppsPro, AppsPro, Arca, Arca Ingenieros y Consultoria S.L., Arca Telecom S.L., Ariba - BPO, Arismore, Artio People (Payroll) Pty Ltd, Artio People Pty Ltd, Aspiro Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Automation Partners Pty Ltd, Avanade (Guangzhou) Computer Technology Development Co. Ltd., Avanade Asia Pte Ltd, Avanade Australia Pty Ltd, Avanade Belgium SPRL, Avanade Canada Inc, Avanade Consulting Poland S.p. z o.o., Avanade Denmark A/S, Avanade Deutschland GmbH, Avanade Europe Holdings Limited, Avanade Europe Services Limited, Avanade Finland Oy, Avanade France SASU, Avanade Holdings LLC, Avanade Hong Kong Ltd, Avanade Inc, Avanade International Corporation, Avanade Ireland Limited, Avanade Italy S.r.l., Avanade Japan KK, Avanade Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avanade Middle East Limited, Avanade Netherlands B.V., Avanade Norway AS, Avanade Poland S.p. z o.o., Avanade Schweiz GmbH, Avanade South Africa Pty Ltd, Avanade Spain S.L., Avanade Sweden AB, Avanade UK Limited, Avanade do Brasil Ltda , Avanade Osterreich GmbH, Avenai, Avieco, Axia Ltd., BABCN LLC, BCS Consulting, BCT Solutions, BCT Solutions Pty Ltd, BENEXT, BPO Servicos Administrativos Ltda, BRIDGE Energy Group, BRIDGEi2i, Beacon Consulting Group Inc., Beijing Genesis Interactive Technology Co. Ltd., Beijing Zhidao Future Consulting Co. Ltd, Benext, Berico Technologies LLC, Bionic, Bionic Solution LLC, Blue Horseshoe, Boomerang Pharmaceutical Communications, Bow & Arrow, Bow & Arrow Limited, Brand Learning, Brand Learning Group Limited, Brightstep AB, Byte Prophecy, Byte Prophecy Private Limited, CAS, CRMWaypoint, CS Technology (Australia) Pty Ltd, CS Technology (UK) Limited, CS Technology Group LLC, CS Technology LLC, CadenceQuest Inc., Callisto Integration Europe B.V., Callisto Integration Europe Limited, Callisto Integration LLC, Callisto Integration Ltd, Capgemini - North American health practice, Capital Consultancy Services Inc, Certus Solutions Consulting Services Limited, Certus Solutions Ltd, ChangeTrack Research Pty Ltd., Chaotic Moon Studios, Chengdu Mensa Advertising Co. Ltd., Cimation, Cirrus Connect Australia Pty Ltd, Cirrus Connect Limited, Cirruseo, Clarity Insights, ClearEdge Partners, Clearhead, Clearhead Group LLC, ClientHouse GmbH, Cloud Sherpas, Cloud Sherpas (GA) LLC, Cloud Sherpas Japan G.K., Cloud Sherpas New Zealand Limited, Cloudeasier SAS, Cloudpoint Limited, Cloudsherpas Inc, Cloudworks, Cloudworks Consulting Services Inc, Cloudworks Technology LLC, Computer Research and Telecommunications LLC, Concrete Desenvolvimento de Sistemas Ltda, Concrete Solutions, Concrete Solutions Ltda, Context Information Security, Context Information Security LLC, Context Information Security Limited, CoreCompete LLC, CoreCompete Limited, CoreCompete Private Limited, Corliant Inc., Creative Drive LLC, Creative Drive US LLC, CreativeDrive, CreativeDrive Digital Content Services (Shenzhen) Co Ltd., CreativeDrive EMEA Limited, CreativeDrive Singapore Pte Ltd, CreativeDrive UK Group Limited, Cutting Edge Solutions Limited, Cygni AB, Cygni Norrsken AB, Cygni Stockholm AB, Cygni Syd AB, Cygni Vast AB, Cygni Ost AB, Cygni Ostersund AB, DAZ Systems Inc, DAZ Systems LLC, DAZSI Systems (India) Pvt. Limited, DI Futures Corporation, Data Essential SARL, Davies Consulting, DayNine Consulting, DayNine Consulting (New Zealand) Limited, DayNine Consulting LLC, Declarative Holdings LLC, Decora Marketplace LLC, Decorado Marketplace Ltda-EPP, Defense Point Security, Deja vu Security, Design Strategy and Research de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Designaffairs LLC, Digiplug S.A.S., Digital Results Group LLC, Double Digit Limitada, Double Digit Pty SA, Droga5, Droga5 LLC, Droga5 Studios LLC, Droga5 UK Limited, Duck Creek Technologies, ESR Labs, ESR Labs AG, EdenOne Solutions Limited, Edenhouse ERP Holdings Limited, Edenhouse Solutions Limited, Enaxis Consulting, Enaxis Consulting LP, End to End Analytics LLC, End-to-End Analytics, Endorphin Medici (M) Sdn Bhd, Energuia Web S.A., Energy Management Brokers Limited, EnergyQuote JHA, Enimbos, Enimbos Global Services S.L., Enkitec, Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions LLC, Enterprise System Partners, Enterprise System Partners B.V., Enterprise System Partners Bilisim Danismanlik Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Enterprise System Partners Global Corporation, Enterprise System Partners Limited, Enthusian Pty Ltd, Entropia, Entropia (M) Sdn Bhd, Entropia Holdings Pte Ltd, Entropia Intercraft Sdn Bhd, Epylon, Ergo, Espedia S.r.l., Ethica Consulting Group, Ethica Consulting S.p.A., Evopro Group, Exactside Limited, Experity, Exton Consulting, Exton Consulting Spain Strategy&Management S.L., Exton Germany GmbH, Exton International SAS, Exton Italia S.r.l., Exton SAS, FGM LLC, Fairway Technologies Inc, Farah BidCo Limited, Farah MidCo Limited, Farah Topco Limited, Filmproduction ApS, First Annapolis Consulting Inc., First Annapolis Consulting LLC, Fjord, Focus Group Europe, Formicary, Founders Intelligence, Fruendo S.r.l., FusionX, Future State Consulting LLC, FutureMove (Beijing) Automotive Technology Co. Ltd., FutureMove Automotive, FutureMove Automotive Co. Ltd., GRA Supply Chain Pty Ltd, Gagel Group S de R.L. de C.V., Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda, Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Genfour, George Group Consulting L.P., Gestalt LLC, Gevity, Gren utvikling AS, H.B. Maynard and Co. Inc., HRC Retail Advisory, Hagberg Consulting Group, Hahntel Ltda, Halo Partners LLC, Hamilton Holding Company S.A, Hangzhou Aiyunzhe Technology Co. Ltd., Happen, Happen GP Limited, Happen Limited, Headspring, Hjaltelin Stahl, Hjaltelin Stahl A/S, Hjaltelin Stahl K/S, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting Malaysia Sdn Bhd, IBB Consulting, ICM.S S.r.l., IMJ Corp, IMJ Corporation, INSITUM, IQSP Consulting LLC, IT One Company Limited, ITBS Servicios Bancarios de Tecnologia de la Informacion SL, Icon Integration, Icon Integration (NZ) Limited, Icon Integration Pty Ltd, Imagine Broadband (USA) Limited, Imagine Broadband USA LLC, Imaginea Inc, Imaginea Technologies LLC, Industrie IT (Hong Kong) Ltd, Industrie IT (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Industrie IT Group Pty Ltd, Industrie IT Pty Ltd, Industrie&Co, Infinity Works Consulting Limited, Infinity Works Holdings Limited, Infinity Works Management Limited, Infinity Works Midco Limited, Informatica de Euskadi S.L., Innotec International EAD, Innotec International S.p. z.o.o., Innotec Marketing GmbH, Innotec Marketing International Ireland Limited, Innotec- Marketing Spain S.L, Insitum Consultoria Argentina SRL, Insitum Consultoria S.A. de C.V., International Biometric Group LLC, International Biometric Group UK Limited, Intrepid, Intrepid Futureworks Sdn Bhd, Intrigo Systems Inc, Intrigo Systems India Pvt. Limited, Intrigo Systems LLC, Inventor Technology Ltd, InvestTech, Investtech Systems Consulting LLC, ItSafer Continuity Services S.L., JKD Consulting LLC, Javelin Group, K Comms Group Limited, KSC Studio LLC, Kaper Communications Limited, Karma Communications Debtco Limited, Karma Communications Group Limited, Karma Communications Holdings Limited, Karmarama, Karmarama Comms Limited, Karmarama Limited, King James Group, Knowledge Rules Inc., Knowledgent, Knowledgent Group LLC, Kogentix, Kogentix LLC, Kogentix Limited, Kogentix Singapore Pte Ltd, Kogentix Technologies Private Limited, Kolle Rebbe, Kolle Rebbe GmbH, Kream Comms Limited, Kunstmaan, Kurt Salmon, Kurt Salmon Canada LTD, Kurt Salmon US LLC, LEXTA, LINKBYNET, LINKBYNET Indian Ocean (L.I.O) Ltd, LabAnswer, Lexta GmbH, Lexta UK Limited, Lien par le reseau Inc, Lien par le reseau infrastructures Inc, Lin Bo (Shanghai) Network Technology Co. Ltd., Link By Net SAS, Link By Net SRL, Link By Net Vietnam Company Limited, Linkbynet East Asia Ltd, Linkbynet Singapore Pte Ltd., Loud & Clear Creative Pty Ltd, Lumenup S.A., MAXIM Systems Inc., MCG US Holdings LLC, Mackevision CG Technology and Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Mackevision Japan Co. Ltd., Mackevision Korea Ltd, Mackevision LLC, Mackevision Medien Design, Mackevision Medien Design GmbH, Mackevision Singapore Pte Ltd, Mackevision UK Limited, Maglan, Maglan Information Defense Technologies Research Ltd, Maihiro, Matter, Maud Corp Pty Ltd, Maxamine International, Measuretek LLC, Media Audits Ltd., Media Hive, Mediasenz Pty Ltd., Meredith Specialty LLC, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing LLC, Meridian Informed Purchasing Ltd., Mindtribe, Mistral Wind Operations Servicos Empresariais Unipessoal Lda., MobGen, Mortgage Cadence LLC, Mortgage Cadence an Accenture Company, Most Champion Ltd, Mudano, Mudano Limited, Myrtle Consulting Group LLC, N3, N3 (Dalian) Business Consulting Co. Ltd., N3 Brazil Consultoria em Marketing Ltda, N3 Germany GmbH, N3 LLC, N3 North America LLC, N3 Results Australia Pty Ltd, N3 Results Ireland Limited, N3 Results Japan G.K., N3 Results Limited, N3 Results Malaysia Sdn Bhd, N3 Results Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., N3 Results S.A.S., N3 Results Singapore Pte Ltd, N3 Results Unipessoal Lda, NYTEC, Nanjing Demeng Advertising Co. Ltd., Nashco Consulting, NaviSys Inc., Nell'Armonia Israel Ltd, Nell'Armonia SAS, Nell'Participation SAS, NellArmonia, Neo Metrics Analytics S.L., Neo Metrics Chile S.A., New Content, New Content Editora e Produtora Ltda, New Energy Group, News Imaging LLC, NewsPage, NewsPage (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, NewsPage Pte Ltd, Northstream, Novetta Holdings LLC, Novetta LLC, Novetta Solutions LLC, Novetta Topco LLC, OCTO Technology, OPS Rules Management Consultants, Octagon Research Solutions Inc., Octo Technology Pty Ltd, Octo Technology SA, Odgaard ApS, Olikka, Olikka Pty Ltd, Olympus Systems Corporation, Openmind, Openmind S.r..l., Openminded, Openminded SAS, Operaciones Accenture S.A. de C.V., OpusLine, Orbium, Orbium AG, Orbium Consulting Limited, Orbium Inc., Orbium Ltd, Orbium Pte Ltd, Orbium Pty Ltd, Origin Digital, PCO Innovation, PLM Systems S.r.l, PRION GmbH, PT Accenture, PT Asta Catur Indra, PT Kogentix Teknologi Indonesia, PacificLink Group, Paja Finanssipalvelut Oy, Parker Fitzgerald Inc, Parker Fitzgerald International Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Limited, Parker Fitzgerald PTY Ltd, Parker Fitzgerald Services Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Solutions Limited, Pecaso Ltd., Pegasus Production A/S, Pegasus Production K/S, Phase One Consulting Group, Pillar Technology, Pollux, Pollux Automation Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pollux Canada Inc, Pollux S.A.S., Pollux USA LLC, Pragsis Bidoop, Pragsis Bidoop UK Limited, Pramati Technologies Europe Limited, Pramati Technologies Private Limited, Presence of IT Workforce Management North America LLC, PrimeQ, PrimeQ Australia Pty Ltd, PrimeQ Ltd, PrimeQ NZ Pty Limited, Procurian Inc., Prof. Homburg GmbH, Proquire LLC, PureApps Ltd., Qi Jie Beijing Information Technologies Co. Ltd., RBCP Fund 1-A Vapor Blocker LLC, RBCP Platform Vapor Blocker I LLC, REPL Consulting LLC, REPL Consulting Limited, REPL Digital Limited, REPL Group K.K., REPL Group Pty Ltd, REPL Group Worldwide Limited, REPL Pte Ltd, REPL Software Limited, REPL Technology Limited, Radiant Services LLC, Random Walk Computing Inc., Reactive Media Pty Ltd., Real Protect, Realworld OO Systems Ltd., Redcore, Redcore (New Zealand) Limited, Redcore Group Holdings Pty Ltd, Redcore Pty Ltd, Revolutionary Security, RiskControl, Root LLC, Rothco, Rothco Limited, S3 TV Technology Ltd., SALT Solutions GmbH, SEC Servizi, SOPIA Corp., Sagacious Consultants, Salt Solutions, Sandbox Studio LLC, Sapling Bidco Limited, Sapling Midco Limited, Sapling Topco Limited, Schlumberger Business Consulting, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace (UK) Limited, Seabury Consulting, Seabury Corporate Advisors LLC, Seabury Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Search Technologies BPO Inc, Search Technologies International LLC, Search Technologies LLC, Search Technologies Limited, Securiview SAS, Sentelis, Sentor Managed Secuirty Services AB, Servicios Tecnicos de Programacion Accenture S.C., Seven Seas Business Ventures LLC, Shackleton, Shackleton Chile S.A., Shackleton S.L.U., Shanghai Baiyue Advertising Co. Ltd., Shun Zhe Technology Development Co. Ltd., SigInt Technologies LLC, Silveo, Silveo Consulting India Private Limited, Simian Pty Ltd, SinnerSchrader, SinnerSchrader AG, SinnerSchrader Content GmbH, SinnerSchrader Deutschland GmbH, SinnerSchrader Praha s.r.o., Sirvart S.A., Sistemes Consulting S.L., Skylink SAS, Soltians Limited, Solutions IQ LLC, SolutionsIQ, SolutionsIQ India Consulting Services Private Limited, Somers Ventures Ireland Limited, Somers Ventures LLC, Spacelink SAS, Storm Digital, Structure Consulting Group LLC, Sutter Mills, Synership LLC, Systor AG, T.A. Cook, TXF LLC, Tambourine, TargetST8, Tech - Avanade Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Tecnilogica Ecosistemas S.A., Tecnilogica, The Brand Learning Partners Limited, The Callisto Integration Corporation, The Monkeys, The Monkeys Pty Ltd, The Myrtle Group, Total Logistics, Tquila, Trivadis, Trivadis AG, Trivadis Austria GmbH, Trivadis Denmark AS, Trivadis Germany GmbH, Trivadis Holding AG, Trivadis Partner AG, Trivadis Services AG, Trivadis Services SRL, Troop Studios Pty Ltd, VanBerlo, Vector Acquisition Company LLC, Vector Topco LLC, Verax Solutions, Vertical Retail Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd, Vertical Retail Consulting Ltd, Vivere Brasil Servicos e Solucoes SA, Vivere Brasil Solucoes De Credito Ltda., Wabion GmbH, WaveStrike LLC, White Cliffs Consulting LLC, Wire Stone, Wire Stone LLC, Wise Partners SAS, Wolox, Wolox Colombia S.A.S, Wolox LLC, Wolox Mexico S.R.L de C.V., Wolox S.A., Wolox SpA, Workforce Insight, Workforce Insight LLC, Yesler, Yesler LLC, Yesler Limited, Yesler Singapore Pte Ltd, Zag, Zag Australia Pty Ltd, Zag Limited, Zag USA LLC, Zebra Worldwide Australia Pty Ltd, Zebra Worldwide Group Limited, Zebra Worldwide Media Pty Ltd, Zenta, Zenta Global Philippines Inc, Zenta Mortgage Services LLC, Zenta Recoveries Inc, Zenta US Holdings Inc, Zestgroup, Zielpuls, Zielpuls (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zielpuls GmbH, avVenta, designaffairs, designaffairs Business Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., designaffairs GmbH, designaffairs group China Co. Ltd., dgroup, i4C Analytics, iDefense, solid-serVision.com GmbH, and umlaut. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Becton, Dickinson and: Accuri Cytometers, Accuri Cytometers Inc., Alverix Inc, Alverix Inc., Atto Bioscience Inc, BD Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., BD Infection Prevention BV, BD Kiestra BV, BD Kiestra Total Lab Automation, BD Rapid Diagnostic (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., BD San Luis Potosi S.A. de C.V., BD Switzerland Sarl, BD Ventures LLC, BD West Africa Limited, BDX INO LLC, Bard (Thailand) Limited, Bard ASDI Inc., Bard Access Systems Inc., Bard Acquisition Sub Inc., Bard Australia Pty. Limited, Bard Benelux N.V., Bard Brachytherapy Inc., Bard Brasil Industria e Comercio de Produtos Para a Saude Ltda., Bard Canada Inc., Bard Chile S.p.A., Bard Czech Republic s.r.o., Bard Devices Inc., Bard Dublin ITC Limited, Bard EMEA Finance Center Sp.z o.o., Bard European Distribution Center N.V., Bard Finance B.V. & Co. KG., Bard Financial Services Ltd., Bard Finland OY, Bard France S.A.S., Bard Global Holdings I LLC, Bard Global Holdings II LLC, Bard Global Holdings III LLC, Bard Healthcare Inc., Bard Healthcare Science (Shanghai) Limited, Bard Hellas S.A., Bard Holding SAS, Bard Holdings Limited, Bard Holdings Netherlands B.V., Bard Hong Kong Limited, Bard IP Holdings Inc., Bard India Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., Bard International Holdings B.V., Bard International Inc., Bard Istanbul Healthcare Limited Company, Bard Korea Ltd., Bard Limited, Bard MRL Acquisition Corp., Bard Malaysia Healthcare Sdn. Bhd., Bard Medica SA, Bard Medical Devices (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Bard Medical R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Bard Medical SA (Proprietary) Limited, Bard Mexico Realty S. de R.L. de C.V., Bard Norden AB, Bard Norway AS, Bard Pacific Health Care Company Ltd., Bard Peripheral Vascular Inc., Bard Poland Sp. z.o.o., Bard Productos Plasticos e Medicos Ltda., Bard Reynosa S.A. de C.V., Bard S.r.l., Bard Sdn. Bhd., Bard Shannon Limited, Bard Singapore Private Limited, Bard Sourcing Office Singapore Pte. Ltd., Bard Sweden AB, Bard UK Newco Limited, Bard de Espana S.A., Becton Dickinson (Gibraltar) Holdings Ltd., Becton Dickinson (Gibraltar) Limited, Becton Dickinson (Gibraltar) Management Limited, Becton Dickinson (Mauritius) Limited, Becton Dickinson (Pty) Ltd., Becton Dickinson (Thailand) Limited, Becton Dickinson A.G., Becton Dickinson A/S, Becton Dickinson Argentina S.R.L., Becton Dickinson Asia Holdings Ltd., Becton Dickinson Asia Limited, Becton Dickinson Austria GmbH, Becton Dickinson Austria Holdings GmbH, Becton Dickinson B.V., Becton Dickinson B.V. Saudi Limited Company, Becton Dickinson Benelux N.V., Becton Dickinson Biosciences Systems and Reagents Inc., Becton Dickinson Canada Inc., Becton Dickinson Caribe Ltd., Becton Dickinson Croatia d.o.o., Becton Dickinson Czechia s.r.o., Becton Dickinson Dispensing Belgium BVBA, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Denmark A/S, Becton Dickinson Dispensing France SAS, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Ireland Limited, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Norway, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Spain S.L.U., Becton Dickinson Dispensing UK Ltd., Becton Dickinson Distribution Center N.V., Becton Dickinson East Africa Ltd., Becton Dickinson Euro Finance Sarl, Becton Dickinson Europe Holdings S.A.S., Becton Dickinson France S.A.S., Becton Dickinson GSA Beteilgungs GmbH, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings I Inc., Becton Dickinson Global Holdings II LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings IV LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings V LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings VII LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings VIII LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Services Centre Sdn. Bhd, Becton Dickinson GmbH, Becton Dickinson Guatemala S.A., Becton Dickinson Hellas S.A., Becton Dickinson Holdings Limited, Becton Dickinson Holdings Ltd., Becton Dickinson Holdings Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson Hungary Kft., Becton Dickinson India Private Limited, Becton Dickinson Industrias Cirurgicas Ltda., Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy AB, Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy Holdings UK Limited, Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy Systems Inc., Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy Systems Inc. S.A. de C.V., Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy UK, Becton Dickinson Insulin Syringe Ltd., Becton Dickinson International Holdings II Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson International Holdings III Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson International Holdings Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson Israel Ltd., Becton Dickinson Italia S.p.A., Becton Dickinson Ithalat Ihracat Limited Sirketi, Becton Dickinson Korea Holding Inc., Becton Dickinson Korea Ltd., Becton Dickinson Ltd., Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Finance S.a.r.L., Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Global Holdings Sarl, Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Holdings II S.a.r.L, Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Holdings III S.a.r.L, Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Holdings V S.a.r.L., Becton Dickinson Malaysia Inc., Becton Dickinson Management GmbH & Co. KG, Becton Dickinson Matrex Holdings Inc., Becton Dickinson Medical (S) Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson Medical Devices (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Medical Devices (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Medical Products Pte. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Medical Technology (Jiangsu) Co. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Netherlands Global Holdings II C.V., Becton Dickinson Netherlands Holdings B.V., Becton Dickinson Netherlands Holdings II B.V., Becton Dickinson Norway AS, Becton Dickinson O.Y., Becton Dickinson Overseas Services Ltd., Becton Dickinson Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd., Becton Dickinson Penel Limited, Becton Dickinson Philippines Inc., Becton Dickinson Polska Sp.z.o.o., Becton Dickinson Portugal Unipessoal Lda., Becton Dickinson Pty. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Research Centre Ireland Limited, Becton Dickinson Rowa Germany GmbH, Becton Dickinson Rowa Italy Srl, Becton Dickinson S.A., Becton Dickinson Sample Collection GmbH, Becton Dickinson Scot Financing L.L.P., Becton Dickinson Scot Financing L.P., Becton Dickinson Sdn. Bhd., Becton Dickinson Slovakia s.r.o., Becton Dickinson Sweden AB, Becton Dickinson Sweden Holdings AB, Becton Dickinson Switzerland Global Holdings SarL, Becton Dickinson Technology Campus India, Becton Dickinson U.K. Limited, Becton Dickinson UK Financing I Limited, Becton Dickinson UK Financing II Limited, Becton Dickinson Venezuela C.A., Becton Dickinson Venture LLC, Becton Dickinson Verwaltungs GmbH, Becton Dickinson Vostok LLC, Becton Dickinson Worldwide Investments Sa.r.L., Becton Dickinson Zambia Limited, Becton Dickinson and Company Ltd., Becton Dickinson de Colombia Ltda., Becton Dickinson de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Becton Dickinson del Uruguay S.A., Bee IT Solutions, Benex Ltd., Biometric Imaging, Bridger Biomed Inc., C. R. Bard (Portugal) - Produtos e Artigos Medicos e Farmaceuticos, C. R. Bard Do Brasil Productos Medicos Ltda., C. R. Bard GmbH, C. R. Bard Inc., C. R. Bard Netherlands Sales B.V., C.R. Bard Inc, CME America LLC, CME Ltd., CME Medical (UK) Limited, CME UK (Holdings) Limited, CRISI Medical Systems, CRISI Medical Systems Inc., Caesarea Medical Electronics, Cardal II LLC, Care Fusion Development Private Limited, CareFusion (Barbados) SrL, CareFusion (Shanghai) Commercial and Trading Co. Limited, CareFusion 213 LLC, CareFusion 2200 Inc., CareFusion 2201 Inc., CareFusion 302 LLC, CareFusion 303 Inc., CareFusion Asia (HK) Limited, CareFusion Corporation, CareFusion Corporation., CareFusion D.R. 203 Ltd., CareFusion France 309 S.A.S., CareFusion Israel 330 Ltd., CareFusion Italy 312 S.p.A., CareFusion Manufacturing LLC, CareFusion Mexico 215 S.A. de C.V., CareFusion Netherlands 328 B.V., CareFusion Netherlands 503 B.V., CareFusion Netherlands 504 B.V., CareFusion Netherlands Financing 283 C.V., CareFusion Resources LLC, CareFusion S.A. 319 (Proprietary) Limited, CareFusion Solutions LLC, CareFusion U.K. 244 Limited, CareFusion U.K. 305 Limited, CareFusion U.K. 306 Limited, Carmel Pharma AB, Carmel Pharma Inc, Cato Software Solutions, Cell Analysis Systems Inc, Cellular Research, Cellular Research Inc., Clearstream Technologies Group Limited, Clearstream Technologies Limited, Clontech Laboratories Inc, Corporativo BD de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Critical Device Corporation, Cubex, Cytognos, Cytopeia Inc, DLD (Bermuda) Ltd., DVL Acquisition Sub Inc., Davol Inc., Davol International Limited, Davol Surgical Innovations S.A. de C.V., Difco Laboratories Incorporated, Distribuidora BD Mexico S.A. de C.V., Dutch American Manufacturers (D.A.M.) B.V., Dymax Corporation, Embo Medical Limited, Enturia de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Enturican Inc., FJ International Inc., FlowCardia Inc., FlowCardia LLC, FlowJo LLC, Franklin Lakes Enterprises L.L.C., GSL Solutions, Gamer Lasertechnik GmbH, GenCell Biosystems, GenCell Biosystems Ltd., GeneOhm Sciences Canada ULC, GeneOhm Sciences Inc, Gentest Corporation, Gesco International Inc., Gesco International LLC, Glentech Inc, HandyLab Inc, HandyLab Inc., IBD Holdings LLC, Iontophoretics Corporation, JoHome LLC, Kabushiki Kaisha Medicon (Medicon Inc.), Liberator Health and Education Services Inc., Liberator Health and Wellness Inc., Liberator Medical Holdings Inc., Liberator Medical Supply Inc., Limited Liability Company Bard Rus, Loma Vista Medical Inc., Loma Vista Medical LLC, Luther Medical Products Inc, Lutonix Inc., Med-Design Corporation, Med-Design Investment Holdings Inc., Med-Safe Systems Inc, Med-Safe Systems Inc., MedChem Products Inc., Medafor Inc., Medegen LLC, Medinservice.com Inc., Medivance Inc., NAT Diagnostics Inc., NAT Diagnostics Inc., NOW Medical Distribution Inc., NOW Medical Distribution LLC, Navarre Biomedical LLC, Navarre Biomedical Ltd., Neomend Inc., Nippon Becton Dickinson Company Ltd., Omega Biosystems Incorporated, P.R.C. (Isialys) Societe a responsabilitie limitee, PT Becton Dickinson Indonesia, PharMingen, PharMingen., Plasso Technology Ltd, PreAnalytiX GmbH, Pristine Access Technologies Inc., ProSeed Inc., Procesos para Esterilizacion S.A. de C.V., Productos Bard de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Productos Para el Cuidado de la Salud S.A. de C.V., Puls Medical Devices AS LC, PureWick Corporation, Roberts Laboratories Inc., Rochester Medical Corporation, Rochester Medical Ltd., Saf-T-Med Inc, Safety Syringes Inc., Scanwell Health Inc., Sendal S.L.U., SenoRx Inc., SenoRx LLC, Shield Healthcare Centers Inc., Sirigen Group Limited, Sirigen II Limited, Sirigen Inc., Sistemas Medicos ALARIS S.A. de C.V., Specialized Cooperative Corporation, Specialized Health Products Inc., Specialized Health Products International Inc., Specialized Health Products International LLC, Staged Diabetes Management LLC, Straub Medical AG, Straub Medical AG, Surgical Site Solutions Inc., TVA Medical Inc, TVA Medical Inc., Tepha Inc, Tepha Inc., Tissuemed Ltd., Tri-County Medical & Ostomy Supplies Inc., TriPath Imaging Inc., Tru-Fit Marketing Corporation, Vas-Cath Incorporated, Vascular Pathways Inc., Velano Vascular, Velano Vascular Inc., Venclose Inc., Venetec International Inc., Venetec International LLC, Visitec, Y-Med Inc., Y-Med LLC, and ZebraSci Inc.. Read More Citigroup Inc. is one of the worlds largest financial institutions. It is the 13th largest bank globally by assets and 8th by market cap with operations in consumer and institutional banking. In the US, Citigroup is the 3rd largest bank by assets and one of the Big Four deemed systemically important and too big to fail. Citigroup Inc. was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York. The bank was run by Samuel Osgood who led the company with success for many years, even throughout the War of 1812. The bank was later renamed the National City Bank of New York in 1865 and by 1895 is the largest bank in the US. In 1913 it was the first contributor to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and a few years later it began to expand into overseas territories. The bank became the First National City Bank of New York after another merger in 1955 and then later, the New York part was dropped off as part of the 150th-anniversary celebration. By 1974 the company is known as Citicorp which is still the operational branch of the business and a global banking powerhouse. A merger with Travelers insurance group in 1998 resulted in the name Citigroup but the joint venture did not last. By 2002 Travelers was publicly traded once again but Citigroup retained the new name. Today, the company is headquartered in New York, New York but boasts more than 200 million customer accounts in 160 countries worldwide. As of mid-2022, it operated 2,649 branches in the United States, Mexico, and Asia. The company reports nearly 725 branches in the US and 1499 in Mexico with the rest scattered throughout its territory. Total annual revenue topped $75 billion in 2022. Citigroup is a diversified financial services holding company that owns Citicorp among other assets. The companys mission is to serve as a trusted partner providing responsible financial solutions to its clients. Citigroup provides financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions. The company operates in two segments, Global Consumer Banking (GCB) and Institutional Clients Group (ICG). The GCB segment offers traditional banking services including deposit and saving accounts, credit cards, personal loans, home loans, and investment services. This segment operates through local branches and digital means. The ICG segment offers wholesale banking products and services to corporate, institutional, public sector, and high-net-worth clients. As China marks its third Constitution Day that falls on Sunday, it is prudent to remember that is not just a day for pomp and ceremony, but an opportunity for all Chinese to celebrate the rules that govern the nation. The Constitution is nothing without the heartfelt support of all Chinese. Its power lies in the fact that people believe in what it stands for. This belief in the Constitution has not come naturally or easily. The current Constitution was adopted 34 years ago on Dec. 4, 1982. It has been a long, arduous journey. The quashing of the conviction of Nie Shubin on Friday, 21 years after he was executed for rape and murder, shows that the country is committed to purging the judicial system of undesirable behavior and righting the wrongs of the past. In December 2013, China abolished reeducation through labor after several highly controversial incidents drew nationwide attention. In one case, village official Ren Jianyu in Chongqing Municipality was put in the program for two years for "spreading negative information and inciting the subversion of state power" in 2011, and later released after he had served half of the sentence. In 2009, Tang Fuzhen, 47, from Sichuan Province set herself on fire over the forced demolition of her house. Such violent and deadly protests against land seizures got people's attention. In 2010, "administrative forced demolition" was banned. A regulation on homeless people in cities was implemented in 2003 after Sun Zhigang, 27, was beaten to death in an asylum. Behind such individual incidents, however, was the country's commitment and systematic top-down design to shore up the Constitution's authority and pursue the rule of law. Eying more effective supervising mechanisms ensuring the Constitution's implementation, the top legislature adopted the People's Congress Supervision Law and revised the Legislation Law, to enable its lawmakers to better supervise the government. In a legal reform blueprint adopted at a key Communist Party of China (CPC) session in 2014, the CPC vowed to enforce a constitutional supervision system under the National People's Congress (NPC) and to support all organs to better interpret the Constitution. Meanwhile, the top legislature exercised constitutional stipulations on amnesty, and improved the recording and review system for normative documents to ensure regulations, judicial interpretations, and other normative documents, which conflict with the Constitution or any other law are rescinded or corrected. Constitution Day has been celebrated since Dec. 4, 2014, and all elected or appointed officials must swear a public oath of allegiance to the Constitution. The life of Constitution lies in its implementation. The authority of the Constitution is defended, not only through a ceremonial day, but also through its implementation. The people must understand that the Constitution is not only a code of conduct that must be followed by all citizens, but also an "amulet" that safeguards their rights. National Bank of Canada provides various financial products and services to retail, commercial, corporate, and institutional clients in Canada and internationally. It operates through four segments: Personal and Commercial, Wealth Management, Financial Markets, and U.S. Specialty Finance and International. The Personal and Commercial segment offers personal banking services, including transaction solutions, mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit, consumer loans, payment solutions, and savings and investment solutions; various insurance products; and commercial banking services comprise credit, and deposit and investment solutions, as well as international trade, foreign exchange transactions, payroll, cash management, insurance, electronic transactions, and complimentary services. The Wealth Management segment comprises investment solutions, trust services, banking services, lending services, and other wealth management solutions. The Financial Markets segment offers corporate banking, advisory, and capital markets services; and project financing, debt, and equity underwriting; advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, and financing. The U.S. Specialty Finance and International segment provides specialty finance products; financial products and services to individuals and businesses in Cambodia; and investment solutions, guaranteed investment certificates, mutual funds, notes, structured products, and monetization. It provides its services through a network of 384 branches and 927 banking machines. National Bank of Canada was founded in 1859 and is based in Montreal, Canada. 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. Read More Leggett & Platt, Incorporated designs, manufactures, and markets engineered components and products worldwide. It operates through three segments: Bedding Products; Specialized Products; and Furniture, Flooring & Textile Products. The company offers steel rods, drawn wires, foam chemicals and additives, innersprings, specialty foams, private label finished mattresses, mattress foundations, wire forms for mattress foundations, adjustable beds, industrial sewing and quilting machines, and mattress packaging and glue drying equipment, as well as machines to produce innersprings for industrial users of steel rods and wires, manufacturers of finished bedding, big box and e-commerce retailers, bedding brands and mattress retailers, department stores, and home improvement centers. It also provides mechanical and pneumatic lumbar support and massage systems for automotive seating; seat suspension systems, motors and actuators, and cables; titanium, nickel, and stainless-steel tubing, formed tubes, tube assemblies, and flexible joint components for fluid conveyance systems; and engineered hydraulic cylinders to automobile OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, aerospace OEMs and suppliers, and mobile equipment OEMs. In addition, the company offers steel mechanisms and motion hardware for reclining chairs, sofas, sleeper sofas and lift chairs; springs and seat suspensions; components and private label finished goods for soft seating; and bases, columns, back rests, casters, and frames, as well as control devices for chairs. Further, it offers carpet cushion and hard surface flooring underlayment, structural fabrics, and geo components to manufacturers of upholstered and office furniture, flooring retailers and distributors, contractors, landscapers, road construction companies, retailers, government agencies, and mattress and furniture producers, as well as manufacturers of packaging, filtration, and draperies. The company was founded in 1883 and is based in Carthage, Missouri. On Sunday, president-elect Donald Trump pledged to lower corporate taxes for all, but also said he would be charging 35% tax for any company that leaves the U.S. to operate in another country, lays off employees or builds new plants or factories in another country and returns its products back to the U.S. Trump said that those businesses deserve a retribution and that businesses that want jobs offshore are now forewarned. Get Warning: Undefined variable $CompanyName in /home/acctdp/public_html/wp-content/themes/responsalambre/single.php on line 65 alerts: This is a promise that Trump had said before. However, after scoring big with his negotiations with Carrier, the ongoing debate of how and if politicians should stop companies in the U.S. from shifting their operations outside the U.S. is now in high gear. Many investors and economists are optimistic about the plan of Trump to focus on the potential for large tax cuts and to roll back business regulations. Businesses for years have urged Washington to cut corporate taxes from the current 35% rate. Trump wants that rate to be lowered to 15%. He also has pledged to cut the regulations on a number of industries including coal power and Wall Street. However, some economists expressed concern about Trumps protectionist policies on trade, which could hurt growth in the economy. Many opponents of Trumps 35% tax are conservatives, who argue Trump is selecting winners and losers. One national paper wrote negatively about the offshore policies of Trump arguing that politicians should not interfere with business decisions that try to maximize profits, as sometimes laying off workers in the U.S. is outweighed by benefits of raising profits, paying more taxes and hiring additional American in other areas of the business that are growing. In addition, the tax of 35% would increase prices for the American consumer. Even if the Trump administration imposes the promised tax tariff on the foreign goods, the tax of 35% could make those items even more attractive. Others say that Trump is only incentivizing companies to play a game of offshore chicken. To remain in the U.S., Carrier was given $7 million worth of tax breaks. Other companies that look for deals that are similar might first threaten to take their jobs overseas as well. It is also not clear how this type of tax would be carried out. United Technologies the parent company of Carrier went ahead with the plan it had of shifting 1,300 jobs into Mexico even after striking its deal to keep over 800 jobs in Indiana. One of the greatest current dangers to peace and security in the North Asian region, and indeed the world as a whole, lies in the proliferation of nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula. In particular, the DPRK has so far been deaf to all appeals to refrain from continuing to test weapons systems. On September 9, it conducted a fifth nuclear test in clear violation of the international non-proliferation regime; the next day, the UN Security Council moved to condemn the test and impose new sanctions on the DPRK. Resolution UNSCR 2321 was passed unanimously on November 30. China, which cooperated fully in ensuring agreement, feels particularly threatened by the development of the DPRK's nuclear capacity. Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula has always been the centerpiece of Chinese regional security policy; any instability would inevitably draw in both Japan and the U.S., causing both nations to increase their regional security profile, which is not what China wants at all. Also, as a direct neighbor of the DPRK, any trouble involving the latter could not fail to have negative effects on China, so it has always been deeply involved in efforts to avert the danger. At first, this was through the Six-Party talks, limiting negotiations to the most immediately interested parties; but it soon became clear this approach was ineffective. Thus, China has adopted the tougher policy of condemnation and sanctions through the UN Security Council. Even there, no real effect has been visible on the nuclear testing program the DPRK has pursued since 2006. Resolution 2321, in tightening economic sanctions, will, for example, limit exports of coal from the DPRK with immediate effect, to restrict its access to hard currency. The sale of copper, nickel, silver, zinc and statues will be completely banned. Action will also be taken against efforts by the DPRK representatives abroad to obtain hard currency through illicit channels. It will also place further limits on the export of dual-use items to that country, and - for the first time - threatens to explore the scope for the diminution of the DPRK's rights as a UN Member if it continues with these disruptive policies. Economic sanctions are not without dangers. Both China and Russia made it clear that the sanctions are not aimed at reducing still further the already low standard of living in the DPRK. The supply, sale or transfer of coal, iron and iron ore from the DPRK should be allowed only "for livelihood purposes." As China - and to a lesser extent Russia, which also has a short border with the DPRK - is well aware, the tottering domestic economy is also a potential cause of instability. There is already a stream of economic refugees from the DPRK crossing into northern neighbors, and it is a matter of concern to ensure a stream does not become a flood. It is also possible that economic decline may lead sooner or later to political instability, which in a nuclear-armed country must be avoided. We must now await the response of the DPRK leadership. Ideally, the UN resolution should not lead to further confrontation, but should serve to bring the DPRK back to the negotiating table. A great deal of patience has been shown by China and the other UNSC permanent members, but the DPRK response has not been positive. China still has closer relations with DPRK leaders than other major powers, but it is a common mistake in the West to overestimate the degree of China's leverage over her recalcitrant neighbor. The DPRK is impervious to threats: Her vulnerability to economic sanctions is limited, as the leadership knows well that other countries will be unwilling to press sanctions too far, as no-one wants to see an economic collapse. The only hope is dialogue, as China has consistently maintained; but for dialogue one needs real two-way communication, which hasn't appeared so far. And thus Pyongyang's reaction to UNSCR 2321 assumes the highest importance. If the North Korean leadership chooses to take the UN resolution as a chance to bash the DPRK, they are likely to dig in their heels for a further period of impasse. If, on the other hand, Pyongyang decides to accept the UN move in the spirit in which it was intended, getting back on terms with the rest of the world and working with neighbors and others for regional and global peace, then there may still be hope for the troubled North Asian region. Tim Collard is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/timcollard.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. MarineMax, Inc. operates as a recreational boat and yacht retailer and superyacht services company in the United States. It operates through two segments, Retail Operations and Product Manufacturing. The company sells new and used recreational boats, including pleasure and fishing boats, mega-yachts, yachts, sport cruisers, motor yachts, pontoon boats, ski boats, jet boats, and other recreational boats. It also offers marine parts and accessories comprising marine electronics; dock and anchoring products that include boat fenders, lines, and anchors; boat covers; trailer parts; water sport accessories, which comprise tubes, lines, wakeboards, and skis; engine parts; oils; lubricants; steering and control systems; corrosion control products and service products; high-performance accessories, including propellers and instruments; and a line of boating accessories, such as life jackets, inflatables, and water sports equipment. In addition, the company provides novelty items, such as shirts, caps, and license plates; marine engines and equipment; maintenance, repair, and slip and storage accommodation services; and boat or yacht brokerage services, as well as charters yachts and power catamarans. Further, it offers new or used boat finance services; arranges insurance coverage, including boat property, disability, undercoating, gel sealant, fabric protection, and casualty insurance coverage; and manufactures and sells sport yachts and yachts. Additionally, the company operates vacations in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. It also markets and sells its products through offsite locations and print catalog. The company has 79 retail locations in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. MarineMax, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Clearwater, Florida. The following companies are subsidiares of Clean Harbors: Ace/Allwaste Environmental Services of Indiana LLC, Altair Disposal Services LLC, Aquilex Finance LLC, Aquilex Intermediate Corporate Holdings LLC, Aquilex Intermediate Holdings LLC, Aquilex LLC, Baton Rouge Disposal LLC, Bridgeport Disposal LLC, CARBER Holdings Inc., CB Canada Acquisition Inc., CB Canada Holdings Inc., CB US Holdings Inc., CH International Holdings LLC, Car-Ber Investments Inc., Clean Harbors Andover LLC, Clean Harbors Aragonite LLC, Clean Harbors Arizona LLC, Clean Harbors BDT LLC, Clean Harbors Baton Rouge LLC, Clean Harbors Buttonwillow LLC, Clean Harbors Canada Inc., Clean Harbors Caribe Inc., Clean Harbors Chattanooga LLC, Clean Harbors Clive LLC, Clean Harbors Coffeyville LLC, Clean Harbors Colfax LLC, Clean Harbors Deer Park LLC, Clean Harbors Deer Trail LLC, Clean Harbors Development LLC, Clean Harbors Disposal Services Inc., Clean Harbors El Dorado LLC, Clean Harbors Energy Services ULC, Clean Harbors Energy and Industrial Services Corp., Clean Harbors Energy and Industrial Services LP, Clean Harbors Energy and Industrial Western Ltd., Clean Harbors Environmental Services Inc., Clean Harbors Exploration Services Inc., Clean Harbors Exploration Services LP, Clean Harbors Exploration Services ULC, Clean Harbors Florida LLC, Clean Harbors Grassy Mountain LLC, Clean Harbors India LLP, Clean Harbors Industrial Services Canada Inc., Clean Harbors Industrial Services Inc., Clean Harbors Innu Environmental Services Inc., Clean Harbors Kansas LLC, Clean Harbors Kingston Facility Corporation, Clean Harbors LaPorte LLC, Clean Harbors Laurel LLC, Clean Harbors Lodging Services LP, Clean Harbors Lodging Services ULC, Clean Harbors Lone Mountain LLC, Clean Harbors Mercier Inc., Clean Harbors Pecatonica LLC, Clean Harbors Production Services ULC, Clean Harbors Quebec Inc., Clean Harbors Recycling Services of Chicago LLC, Clean Harbors Recycling Services of Ohio LLC, Clean Harbors Reidsville LLC, Clean Harbors San Jose LLC, Clean Harbors San Leon Inc., Clean Harbors Services Inc., Clean Harbors Surface Rentals Partnership, Clean Harbors Surface Rentals ULC, Clean Harbors Surface Rentals USA Inc., Clean Harbors Tennessee LLC, Clean Harbors Westmorland LLC, Clean Harbors White Castle LLC, Clean Harbors Wichita LLC, Clean Harbors Wilmington LLC, Clean Harbors of Baltimore Inc. (DE Corp.), Clean Harbors of Braintree Inc., Clean Harbors of Connecticut Inc. (DE), Confined Space Services L.L.C., Cousins Waste Control LLC, Crowley Disposal LLC, Cyn Oil Corporation, Debusk Industrial Services Company LLC, Disposal Properties LLC, Emerald Services Inc., EnviroSORT Inc., EnviroSORT Inc., Eveready, Evergreen Holdings, GSX Disposal LLC, Global Vapor Control Inc., Green View Technologies Inc., HPC PetroServ Inc., Hilliard Disposal LLC, HydroChem Canada ULC, HydroChem Industrial Cleaning LLC, HydroChem LLC, HydroChemPSC, IISG Central Region LLC, IISG Gulf Coast LLC, IISG Real Estate LLC, Industrial Service Oil Company Inc., Inland Industrial Services Group LLC, Inland Waters Pollution Control Services LLC, Inland Waters of Ohio LLC, Jesco Industrial Service LLC, LJ Energy Services Holdings LLC, LJ Energy Services Intermediate Holding Corp., Lonestar Sylvan Inc., Lonestar Vacuum Inc., Lonestar West, Lonestar West Enterprises LLC, Lonestar West Inc., Lonestar West Services LLC, Murphy's Waste Oil Service Inc., Northeast Casualty Insurance Company, Omnichem LLC, PMS Industrial Services LLC, PSC Industrial Holdings Corp., PSC Industrial Inc., PSC Industrial Outsourcing LP, PSC Industrial Outsourcing of Michigan LLC, PSC LDAR Services LLC, Peak Energy Services, Philip Services/North Central LLC, Plaquemine Remediation Services LLC, Power Vac Construction L.L.C., RMF Aquilex Corp., Roebuck Disposal LLC, Romic Environmental Technologies, Rosemead Oil Products Inc., SK D'Incineration Inc., Safety-Kleen, Safety-Kleen Canada Inc., Safety-Kleen Envirosystems Company, Safety-Kleen Envirosystems Company of Puerto Rico Inc., Safety-Kleen Inc., Safety-Kleen International Inc., Safety-Kleen Systems Inc., Safety-Kleen of California Inc., Sawyer Disposal Services LLC, Seaport Environmental LLC, Service Chemical LLC, Speed Industrial Corporate LLC, Speed Industrial Service Catalyst LLC, Speed Industrial Service LLC, Speed Industrial Service of Beaumont LLC, Speed Industrial Services of Lake Charles LLC, Speed Industrial Services of Louisiana LLC, Speed Industrial Services of Texas LLC, Spring Grove Resource Recovery Inc., The Solvents Recovery Service of New Jersey Inc., Thermo Fluids, Thermo Fluids Inc., Tri-vax Enterprises Ltd., Tulsa Disposal LLC, Universal Environmental, Veolia North Americas U.S. Industrial Cleaning Services Division, Versant Energy Services Inc., Versant Energy Services LP, and Vulsay Industries Ltd.. Read More GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the creation, discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products, vaccines, over-the-counter medicines, and health-related consumer products in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceuticals R&D, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare. The company offers pharmaceutical products comprising medicines in the therapeutic areas, such as respiratory, HIV, immuno-inflammation, oncology, anti-viral, central nervous system, cardiovascular and urogenital, metabolic, anti-bacterial, and dermatology. It also provides consumer healthcare products in wellness, oral health, nutrition, and skin health categories. The company offers its consumer healthcare products in the form of nasal sprays, tablets, syrups, lozenges, gum and trans-dermal patches, caplets, infant syrup drops, liquid filled suspension, wipes, gels, effervescents, toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, denture adhesives and cleansers, topical creams and non-medicated patches, lip balm, gummies, and soft chews. It has collaboration agreements with 23andMe; Lyell Immunopharma, Inc.; Novartis; Sanofi SA; Surface Oncology; Progentec Diagnostics, Inc.; Alector, Inc.; and CureVac AG., as well as strategic partnership with IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. The company was formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline plc and changed its name to GSK plc in May 2022. GSK plc was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Brentford, the United Kingdom. Guess?, Inc. designs, markets, distributes, and licenses lifestyle collections of apparel and accessories for men, women, and children. It operates through five segments: Americas Retail, Americas Wholesale, Europe, Asia, and Licensing. The company's clothing collection includes jeans, pants, skirts, dresses, shorts, blouses, shirts, jackets, activewear, knitwear, and intimate apparel. It also grants licenses to design, manufacture, and distribute various products that complement its apparel lines, such as eyewear, watches, handbags, footwear, kids' and infants' apparel, outerwear, fragrance, jewelry, and other fashion accessories, as well as to wholesale partners to operate and sell products through licensed retail stores. The company markets its products under the GUESS, GUESS?, GUESS U.S.A., GUESS Jeans, GUESS? and Triangle Design, MARCIANO, Question Mark and Triangle Design, a stylized G and a stylized M, GUESS Kids, Baby GUESS, YES, G by GUESS, GUESS by MARCIANO, and Gc brand names. It sells its products through direct-to-consumer, wholesale, and licensing distribution channels. As of January 29, 2022, the company directly operated 1,068 retail stores in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Its partner's distributors operated an additional 563 retail stores worldwide. The company also offers its products through its retail websites. Guess?, Inc. was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The following companies are subsidiares of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft: ABFS I Incorporated, ABS MB Ltd., Alex. Brown Financial Services Incorporated, Alex. Brown Investments Incorporated, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft mbH, Ambidexter GmbH i.L., Argent Incorporated, BHW - Gesellschaft fur Wohnungswirtschaft mbH, BHW Bausparkasse Aktiengesellschaft, BHW Holding GmbH, BT Globenet Nominees Limited, Bainpro Nominees Pty Ltd, Baldur Mortgages Limited, Bankers Trust Investments Limited, Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc., Berkshire Mortgage Finance, Betriebs-Center fur Banken AG, Better Financial Services GmbH, Better Payment Germany GmbH, Borfield Sociedad Anonima, Breaking Wave DB Limited, Cardales UK Limited, Cardea Real Estate S.r.l., Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Asset Management Company Limited, Cathay Capital Company (No 2) Limited, Cedar (Luxembourg) S.a. r.l., Chapel Funding, China Recovery Fund LLC, Consumo Srl in Liquidazione, D B Investments (GB) Limited, D&M Turnaround Partners Godo Kaisha, DB (Barbados) SRL, DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Asing) Sdn. Bhd., DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Tempatan) Sendirian Berhad, DB Alex. Brown Holdings Incorporated, DB Aotearoa Investments Limited, DB Beteiligungs-Holding GmbH, DB Boracay LLC, DB Capital Markets (Deutschland) GmbH, DB Cartera de lnmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Chestnut Holdings Limited, DB Corporate Advisory (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., DB Delaware Holdings (Europe) Limited, DB Direkt GmbH, DB Elara LLC, DB Energy Trading LLC, DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equity Limited, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology SRL, DB Group Services (UK) Limited, DB HR Solutions GmbH, DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB IROC Leasing Corp., DB Impact Investment Fund I. LP., DB Industrial Holdings Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, DB Industrial Holdings GmbH, DB Intermezzo LLC, DB International (Asia) Limited, DB International Investments Limited, DB International Trust (Singapore) Limited, DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Partners Limited, DB Investment Resources (US) Corporation, DB Investment Resources Holdings Corp., DB Investment Services GmbH, DB London (Investor Services) Nominees Limited, DB Management Support GmbH, DB Nominees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB Nominees (Jersey) Limited, DB Nominees (Singapore) Pte Ltd, DB Omega BTV S.C.S., DB Omega Holdings LLC, DB Omega Ltd., DB Omega S.C.S., DB Operaciones y Servicios lnteractivos Agrupacicm de lnteres Econemico, DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Holdings Limited, DB Print GmbH, DB Private Clients Corp., DB Private Wealth Mortgage Ltd., DB Re S.A., DB Service Centre Limited, DB Service Uruguay S.A., DB Services (Jersey) Limited, DB Services Americas. Inc., DB Servizi Amministrativi S.r.l., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Products Inc., DB Trustee Services Limited, DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB UK Bank Limited, DB UK Holdings Limited, DB UK PCAM Holdings Limited, DB US Financial Markets Holding Corporation, DB USA Core Corporation, DB USA Corporation, DB Valoren S.a. r.l., DB Value S.a.r.l., DB VersicherungsManager GmbH, DB Vita SA., DB lmmobilienfonds 5 Wieland KG i.L., DB lo LP, DBAH Capital. LLC, DBCIBZ1, DBFIC Inc., DBNZ Overseas Investments (No.1) Limited, DBOI Global Services (UK) Limited, DBR Investments Co. Limited, DBRE Global Real Estate Management 18 Ltd., DBRMS4, DBRMSGP1, DBUK PCAM Limited, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ2 S.a. r.l., DBX Advisers LLC, DEBEKO lmmobilien GmbH & Co Grundbesitz OHG, DEE Deutsche Erneuerbare Energien GmbH, DEUKONA Versicherungs-Vermittlungs-GmbH, DEUTSCHE BANK AS., DI Deutsche lmmobilien Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, DISCA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DWS Alternatives France, DWS Alternatives Global Limited, DWS Alternatives GmbH, DWS Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, DWS Beteiligungs GmbH, DWS CH AG, DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Far Eastern Investments Limited, DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, DWS Group Services UK Limited, DWS Grundbesitz GmbH, DWS International GmbH, DWS Investment GmbH, DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment S.A., DWS Investments Australia Limited, DWS Investments Hong Kong Limited, DWS Investments Japan Limited, DWS Investments Shanghai Limited, DWS Investments Singapore Limited, DWS Investments UK Limited, DWS Management GmbH, DWS Real Estate GmbH, DWS Service Company, DWS Shanghai Private Equity Fund Management Limited, DWS Trust Company, DWS USA Corporation, Deposit Solutions, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Capital Holdings New Zealand, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Foreign Investments New Zealand, Deutsche (New Munster) Holdings New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Access Investments Limited, Deutsche Aeolia Power Production Societe Anonyme, Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (UK) Limited, Deutsche Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd, Deutsche Asset Management (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Australia Limited, Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Limited, Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA, Deutsche Bank (Uruguay) Sociedad Anenima lnstitucien Financiera Externa, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp., Deutsche Bank Europe GmbH, Deutsche Bank Financial Company, Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency Incorporated, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Deutsche Bank Mutui S.p.A., Deutsche Bank Mexico. S.A., Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Deutsche Bank Polska Spelka Akcyjna, Deutsche Bank Representative Office Nigeria Limited, Deutsche Bank S.A, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Limited, Deutsche Bank Societe per Azioni, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Delaware, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation, Deutsche Bank. Sociedad Anenima Espanola, Deutsche CIB Centre Private Limited, Deutsche Capital Finance (2000) Limited, Deutsche Capital Hong Kong Limited, Deutsche Capital Markets Australia Limited, Deutsche Capital Partners China Limited, Deutsche Cayman Ltd., Deutsche Custody N.V., Deutsche Domus New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, Deutsche Finance No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Foras New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur lmmobilien-Leasing mit beschrenkter Haftung, Deutsche Global Markets Limited, Deutsche Group Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Deutsche Group Services Pty Limited, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Deutsche Grundbesitz-Anlagegesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Holdings (BTI) Limited, Deutsche Holdings (Grand Duchy), Deutsche Holdings (Luxembourg) S.El r.l., Deutsche Holdings Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 3 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 4 Limited, Deutsche India Holdings Private Limited, Deutsche India Private Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services (Ireland) Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services Limited, Deutsche International Custodial Services Limited, Deutsche Investments (Netherlands) N.V., Deutsche Investments India Private Limited, Deutsche Investor Services Private Limited, Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd., Deutsche Leasing New York Corp., Deutsche Mexico Holdings S.a. r.|., Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Limited, Deutsche Mortgage & Asset Receiving Corporation, Deutsche Nederland N.V., Deutsche New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Nominees Limited, Deutsche Oppenheim Family Office AG, Deutsche Overseas Issuance New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Postbank, Deutsche Postbank Finance Center Objekt GmbH, Deutsche Private Asset Management Limited, Deutsche Securities (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Securities (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities (SA) (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities Asia Limited, Deutsche Securities Australia Limited, Deutsche Securities Inc., Deutsche Securities Israel Ltd., Deutsche Securities Korea Co., Deutsche Securities Mauritius Limited, Deutsche Securities SA. de C.V.. Casla de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia, Deutsche Services (Cl) Limited, Deutsche Services Polska Sp. z o.o., Deutsche StiftungsTrust GmbH, Deutsche Strategic Investment Holdings Yugen Kaisha, Deutsche Trustee Company Limited, Deutsche Trustee Services (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Trustees Malaysia Berhad, Deutsche Wealth Management S.G.I.I.C. SA., Deutsche lmmobilien Leasing GmbH, Deutsches lnstitut fur Altersvorsorge GmbH, Durian (Luxembourg) S.a. r.l., EC EUROPA IMMOBILIEN FONDS NR. 3 GmbH & CO. KG i.l., Elizabethan Holdings Limited, Elizabethan Management Limited, European Value Added I (Alternate GP.) LLP, Fiduciaria Sant Andrea S.r.l., Finanzberatungsgesellschaft mbH der Deutschen Bank, Funfte SAB Treuhand und Verwaltung GmbH & Co. Suhl "Rimbachzentrum" KG, G Finance Holding Corp., German American Capital Corporation, Grundstucksgesellschaft Frankfurt Bockenheimer LandstraBe GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Miesbaden LuisenstraBe/Kirchgasse GbR, Hollandsche Bank-Unie, ISTRON Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs-GmbH, IVAF l Manager S.a.r.l., Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben I GbR, J R Nominees (Pty) Ltd, Joint Stock Company Deutsche Bank DBU, Jyogashima Godo Kaisha, KEBA Gesellschaft fur interne Services mbH, Kidson Pte Ltd, Konsul lnkasso GmbH, LA Water Holdings Limited, LAWL Pte. Ltd., Leasing Verwaltungsgesellschaft Waltersdorf mbH, Leonardo lll Initial GP Limited, MEF I Manager. S. a r.|., MIT Holdings Inc., Maher Terminals Holdings (Toronto) Limited, Morgan Grenfell & Company, MortgageIT, MortgagelT Inc., MortgagelT Securities Corp., OOO "Deutsche Bank TechCentIe", OOO "Deutsche Bank", OPB Verwaltungs- und Treuhand GmbH, OPB-Oktava GmbH, OPB-Quarta GmbH, OPPENHEIM Capital Advisory GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Manager GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, PADUS Grundstcks-VermietungsgeseIlschaft mbH, PB Factoring GmbH, PB Spezial-lnvestmentaktiengesellschatt mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, PCC Services GmbH der Deutschen Bank, PT Deutsche Sekuritas Indonesia, Pan Australian Nominees Pty Ltd, Plantation Bay. Inc., Postbank Akademie und Service GmbH, Postbank Beteiligungen GmbH, Postbank Direkt GmbH, Postbank Filialvertrieb AG, Postbank Finanzberatung AG, Postbank Leasing GmbH, Postbank lmmobilien GmbH, Quantiguous, R.B.M. Nominees Pty Ltd, RREEF, RREEF America LLC., RREEF China REIT Management Limited, RREEF European Value Added I (G.P.) Limited, RREEF Fund Holding Co., RREEF India Advisers Private Limited, RREEF Management LLC., RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., Route 28 Receivables. LLC, SAB Real Estate Verwaltungs GmbH, SAGITA Grundstucks-Vermielungsgesellschaft mbH, SAPIO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, Sal. Oppenheim, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Beteiligungs GmbH, Sharps SP l LLC, Stelvio lmmobiliare S.r.l., Suddeutsche Vermeigensvewvaitung Gesellschaft mit beschrenkter Haftung, TELO Beleiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Tempurrite Leasing Limited, Thai Asset Enforcement and Recovery Asset Management Company Limited, Treuinvest Service GmbH, Triplereason Umited, VOB-ZVD Processing GmbH, WEPLA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Wealthspur Investment Ltd., World Trading (Delaware) Inc., lmmobilienfonds BuroCenter Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben II GbR, lmmobilienfonds Wohn- und Gescheftshaus Koln-Blumenberg V GbR, and norisbank GmbH. Read More Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) holds a welcoming ceremony for Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko before their talks in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 29, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] China and Belarus on Thursday have decided to forge a comprehensive strategic partnership, featuring mutual trust and win-win cooperation. When holding talks with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China and Belarus are good friends and sincere partners. Lukashenko is making a state visit to China from Wednesday to Friday at Xi's invitation. Hailing the close ever communication and cooperation between China and Belarus at present, Xi said bilateral ties are developing to a higher level. Xi said China is willing to work with Belarus to maintain the momentum of development and make full use of the chances brought by the Belt and Road Initiative to inject new impetus into relations and benefit the people of two countries. Both sides are expected to consolidate political trust, keep high-level visits and render firm support to each other on issues concerning their respective core interests, Xi said. "Political trust is the cornerstone of the China-Belarus comprehensive strategic partnership," said a joint statement signed between the two presidents after their talks. In the statement, the two sides agreed on respecting each other's development path as well as domestic and foreign policies, and supporting each other on issues involving their core interests. During the talks, Xi expressed his hope that China and Belarus will integrate their development strategies to have more common interests. Belarus is a reliable friend of China, Lukashenko said, noting that both countries have broad common interests and fruitful cooperation in various fields. Lukashenko said Belarus supports the Belt and Road Initiative and is ready to integrate its own development strategies with the initiative. According to the joint statement, China and Belarus decided to make joint efforts to advance the "Belt and Road" building and make the Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park Great Stone an exemplary project along the Belt and Road. The Belarusian side will also work for the alignment of the Belt and Road and the Eurasian Economic Union, said the statement. According to the statement, the two sides also decided to boost cooperation on trade, investment, finance, transport, security, technological innovation and culture as well as people-to-people exchanges. They agreed to keep close communication and coordination in regional and international affairs within the United Nations framework. After their talks, the two presidents witnessed the signing of 26 cooperation documents, including a list of measures to push ahead the Belt and Road Initiative. Prior to the talks, Xi held a red-carpet ceremony to welcome the visiting president. Earlier on Thursday, Lukashenko also met with Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee and Yu Zhengsheng, Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, respectively in Beijing. SunTrust Banks, Inc. operates as the holding company for SunTrust Bank that provides various financial services for consumers, businesses, corporations, institutions, and not-for-profit entities in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer and Wholesale. The Consumer segment provides deposits and payments; home equity and personal credit lines; auto, student, and other lending products; credit cards; discount/online and full-service brokerage products; professional investment advisory products and services; and trust services, as well as family office solutions. This segment also offers residential mortgage products in the secondary market. The Wholesale segment provides capital markets solutions, including advisory, capital raising, and financial risk management; asset-based financing solutions, such as securitizations, asset-based lending, equipment financing, and structured real estate arrangements; cash management services and auto dealer financing solutions; investment banking solutions; and credit and deposit, fee-based product offering, multi-family agency lending, advisory, commercial mortgage brokerage, and tailored financing and equity investment solutions. This segment also offers treasury and payment solutions, such as operating various electronic and paper payment types, which comprise card, wire transfer, automated clearing house, check, and cash; and provides services clients to manage their accounts online. The company offers its products and services through a network of traditional and in-store branches, automated teller machines, Internet, mobile, and telephone banking channels. As of December 31, 2018, it operated 1,218 full-service banking offices located in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. SunTrust Banks, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The following companies are subsidiares of PPG Industries: AIPCF V Texstars Blocker Inc., AkzoNobel, Alpha Coating Technologies LLC, Alpha Coatings Inc., Broad Range Development Limited, CG Holdings Manufacturing Co., Centro de Investigacion en Polimeros S.A. de C.V., Chemfil Canada Limited, Chorlton Trade Paints Limited, Comercial Mexicana de Pinturas S.A. de C.V., Comex, Comex Industrial Coatings S.A. de C.V., Consorcio Comex S.A. de C.V., Cristacol S.A., Cuming Microwave Corporation, Deutek SA, Dexmet Corporation, Dexmet Holding Corporation, Distribuidora Kroma S.A. de C.V., EPIC Insurance Co. Ltd., Eberle Design Inc., Empresa Aga S.A. de C.V., Ennis Canadian Holding Company, Ennis Paint Canada ULC, Ennis Paint Netherlands Holdings LLC, Ennis Paint U.K. Holding Company Limited, Ennis Traffic Safety Solutions Pty Ltd, Ennis-Flint, Ennis-Flint Inc., Foshan Bairun Chemicals Co. Ltd., Fpu Industrial S.A. de C.V., Grupo Comex S.A. de C.V., Hemmelrath Automotive Coatings (Jilin) Co. Ltd., Hemmelrath International Trade (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Hodij Coatings B.V., Homax Products, Industria Chimica Reggiana I.C.R. SPA, Johnstones Paints Limited, Kalon Investment Company Limited, Kalon South Africa Proprietary Limited, Karl Woerwag Lack-und Farbenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG, Masterwork Paint, MetoKote Corporation, MetoKote Mexico Holdings Inc., MetoKote UK Limited, MetoKote de Mexico S. de RL de CV, Milamar Coatings LLC, OOO Tikkurila, PPG A P Resinas S.A. de C.V., PPG AC - France SA, PPG ALESCO Automotive Finishes Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., PPG Aerospace Materials (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., PPG Architectural Coatings (Puerto Rico) Inc., PPG Architectural Coatings Canada Inc./PPG Revetements Architecturaux Canada Inc., PPG Architectural Coatings Ireland Limited, PPG Architectural Coatings Italy S.r.l, PPG Architectural Coatings UK Limited, PPG Architectural Finishes Inc., PPG Asian Paints Private Ltd., PPG Business Services S.A. de C.V., PPG COATINGS SINGAPORE PTE. LTD., PPG Canada Inc., PPG Cetelon Lackfabrik GmbH, PPG Cieszyn S.A., PPG Coatings (Hong Kong) Co. Limited, PPG Coatings (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., PPG Coatings (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Thailand) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Wuhu) Company Ltd., PPG Coatings (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings B.V., PPG Coatings Belgium BV, PPG Coatings Danmark A/S, PPG Coatings Deutschland GmbH, PPG Coatings Europe B.V., PPG Coatings Nederland BV, PPG Coatings S.A., PPG Coatings South Africa (Pty) Ltd., PPG DYRUP S.A., PPG Deco Czech a.s., PPG Deco Polska sp. z.o.o., PPG Deco Slovakia s.r.o., PPG Deutschland Business Support GmbH, PPG Deutschland Sales & Services GmbH, PPG Distribution S.A.S., PPG Europe B.V., PPG Finance B.V., PPG Finland Oy, PPG France Business Support S.A.S., PPG France Manufacturing S.A.S., PPG Guadeloupe SAS, PPG Hemmelrath Lackfabrik GmbH, PPG Holdco SAS, PPG Holdings (U.K.) Limited, PPG Holdings Argentina USA LLC, PPG Holdings Latin America USA LLC, PPG Iberica S.A., PPG Iberica Sales & Services S.L., PPG Industrial Coatings B.V., PPG Industrial do Brasil - Tintas E. Vernizes - Ltda., PPG Industries (Korea) Ltd., PPG Industries (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., PPG Industries (UK) Ltd, PPG Industries Argentina S.R.L., PPG Industries Australia PTY Limited A.C.N. 055 500 939, PPG Industries Colombia Ltda., PPG Industries Delfzijl B.V., PPG Industries Europe Sarl, PPG Industries France S.A.S., PPG Industries International Inc., PPG Industries Italia S.r.l., PPG Industries Kimya a Sanayi VE Ticaret AS, PPG Industries LLC, PPG Industries Lackfabrik GmbH, PPG Industries Lipetsk LLC, PPG Industries Middle East FZE, PPG Industries Netherlands B.V., PPG Industries New Zealand Limited, PPG Industries Ohio Inc., PPG Industries Poland Sp. Z.o.o., PPG Industries Securities LLC, PPG Industries de Mexico S.A. de C.V., PPG Investment (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., PPG Italia Business Support S.r.l., PPG Italia Sales & Services S.r.l., PPG Japan Ltd., PPG Kansai Automotive Finishes Canada LP, PPG Kansai Automotive Finishes U.K. LLP, PPG Kansai Automotive Finishes U.S. LLC, PPG Luxembourg Finance S.aR.L., PPG Luxembourg Holdings S.aR.L., PPG Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Packaging Coatings (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., PPG Paints Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Performance Coatings (Hong Kong) Limited, PPG Powder Coatings (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Refinish Distribution Limited, PPG Romania S.A., PPG Reunion SAS, PPG SSC Co. Ltd., PPG Switzerland GmbH, PPG Trilak Korlatolt FelelosseguTarasasag (PPG Trilak Kft.), PPG Vietnam Co. Ltd., PRC-DeSoto Australia Pty Ltd., PRC-DeSoto International Inc., PT. PPG Coatings Indonesia, Painter's Supply, Paintzen, Peintures de Paris SAS, Plasticos Envolventes S.A. de C.V., Polymeric Systems Inc., ProCoatings B.V., ProCoatings BV, Protec Pty Ltd, Reno A&E LLC, Revocoat France SAS, Revocoat Holding SAS, Revocoat Iberica SLU, Revocoat S.A.S, Road Infrastructure Investment Holdings Inc., SEM Products Inc., Sealants Europe SAS, Sierracin Corporation, Sierracin/Sylmar Corporation, Sigma Marine & Protective Coatings Holding B.V., SigmaKalon (BC) UK Limited, SigmaKalon Group, Sikar (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Spraylat International Ltd, Texstars LLC, The Crown Group Co., The Crown Group Inc, The Homax Group, Tikkurila Group, Tikkurila Oyj, Tikkurila Sverige AB, Traffic Safety Intermediate LLC, Traffic Safety Parent LLC, VF Specialty Products LLC, Vanex Inc., Vernisol S.p.A., VersaFlex Acquisition Corp., VersaFlex Inc., VersaFlex Intermediate Holdings LLC, Versaflex, Viasa S.A. de C.V., Whitford, Whitford B.V., Whitford Corporation, Whitford Jiangmen Ltd., Whitford Ltd. (HK), Whitford Ltd. (UK), Whitford Pte. Ltd., Whitford S.r.l., Whitford Worldwide Company LLC, and Worwag Coatings. Read More Flash China has expressed strong concern over the formation of a government by the Houthi group and its allies, hoping any move raised should serve peace in the war-torn Yemen. A Yemeni man stands on October 24, 2016 at the site of an air raid on a funeral ceremony that killed 140 people and wounded 525 on October 5. [Photo/Xinhua] China has been among the ten countries sponsoring the post-2011 political transition in Yemen. It is playing growing role since the war erupted in the country following the Houthi seizure of power in late 2014. Observers said China's concern over the Houthi-GPC government and reiteration of its support to the internationally recognized government signaled its intention to play a greater role in bringing peace back to the country. "Yemen is a promising country either with natural resources that China needs or infrastructure projects that China will seek contracts for," said Ahmed Noman, an expert at the Red Sea and East Africa Research Center. "And the most important point is that Yemen is a key gate to Africa where China is expanding its presence and investments, he added. Adil Al-Shuja'a, a politics professor at Sanaa University, said the Houthi-Saleh alliance has failed to introduce itself to the international community as a capable and legitimate authority. "The Houthis are facing the world, and simply China will not accept to back them," Al-Shuja'a said. "Moreover, China might seek to take advantage of failures of other foreign players in order that it plays a key role toward the situation in the country," he added. Some experts said China is a key business partner of Saudi Arabia and the logical reaction to the latest developments in Yemen is support the Saudi-backed government. Yaseen Al-Tamimi, a political writer and analyst, said China still looks into global issues from an economic perspective -- its attitudes over global issues can't be against key trade partners. "However, the clear Chinese reaction to the Houthi-GPC government apparently came in response to a Houthi attempt to show their government is not facing international isolation. A Houthi delegation has paid a visit to Beijing recently after the formation of the government, Al-Tamimi said, adding that "in the context of global peace issues, China is very wise and acts as a well-trusted and balanced player". The Houthi-GPC government of 42 ministers, the largest ever in Yemen's history, has been rejected by the international community as a unilateral move within the escalation affecting the peace process. Lately, both the legitimate government and the Houthi-Saleh alliance rejected the U.S. and UN peace initiatives as war continued in key parts of the country. Observers argued that the government of the Houthis and the former ruling party, the GPC, was not in line with this alliance's obligations toward the peace process. "Regrettably, the Houthi-Saleh alliance is taking advantage of lax international attitudes and unfair peace initiatives. But definitely the move was toward hell, not peace," he said. Faud Alsalahi, a political sociology professor at Sanaa University, said the Sanaa government comes within attempts to mix cards amidst political and military failures. "Yemen is dominated by political chaos primarily because Yemeni factions are being controlled by foreign players. We have two governments that can't even think of a dialogue in order to end the war and form a unity government away from foreign meddling," Alsalahi said. Yemen has been suffering from a civil war and a Saudi-led military intervention for around two years. The civil war began after the Houthi militants with support from forces loyal to the former president ousted the UN-backed transitional government. The legitimate government controls the south and some eastern parts, while the alliance controls the other parts including the capital Sanaa. The UN has sponsored peace talks between the warring factions several times, but the factions failed to reach common ground. WASHINGTON Made in the same factory as peanuts. May contain traces of tree nuts. A new report says the hodgepodge of warnings that a food might accidentally contain a troublesome ingredient is confusing to people with food allergies, and it calls for a makeover. Foods made with allergy-prone ingredients such as peanuts or eggs must be labeled so consumers with food allergies know to avoid them. But what if a sugar cookie picks up peanut butter from an improperly cleaned factory mixer? Todays precautionary labels about accidental contamination are voluntary, meaning theres no way to know if foods that dont bear them should or if wording such as may contain traces signals a bigger threat than other warnings. On Wednesday, a report from the prestigious National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine said its time for regulators and the food industry to clear consumer confusion with labels that better reflect the level of risk. Today, theres not any real way for allergic consumers to evaluate risk, said National Academies committee member Stephen Taylor, a University of Nebraska food scientist. He said research raises concern that consumers simply might ignore the precautions essentially a form of playing Russian roulette with your food. Food allergies are common and sometimes can trigger reactions severe enough to kill. About 12 million Americans long have been estimated to have food allergies, and scientists question if the numbers are on the rise. But Wednesdays National Academies report found that while food allergies are a serious public health problem, no one knows exactly how many people are affected because that hasnt been properly studied, in either children or adults. The report urged government researchers to rapidly find out, a key first step in learning whether allergies really are increasing and whos most likely to suffer. The panel also recommended: Better informing new parents about allergy prevention. Recent research has found that introducing potential allergy-triggering foods such as peanut butter before age 1 is more likely to protect at-risk children than the old advice to wait to try those foods until tots are older. Better education for consumers and health professionals alike about the differences between true food allergies and other disorders that people sometimes misinterpret as allergies, such as lactose intolerance and gluten sensitivity. Better training for restaurant workers, first responders and others about helping people avoid foods theyre allergic to, and how to treat severe allergic reactions with a quick jab of the drug epinephrine, often sold as an EpiPen. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America welcomed the recommendations as a roadmap of ways to improve the lives of families with food allergies. The labeling recommendation, if eventually adopted, could mark a big change in how allergic consumers decide what packaged foods are safe to eat. The report said the Food and Drug Administration should replace the precautionary label approach with one thats risk-based. The idea: Determine a safety level for different allergens just how much of a trace of peanuts or eggs or milk could most people with allergies tolerate? The resulting labeling would give consumers more information in deciding if theyd take a chance on a food or not, said Taylor, who pointed to a similar voluntary system in Australia and New Zealand. A food industry group indicated support. Our members are committed to ensuring that food-allergic consumers have the information they need on the food label to make informed choices about the safety of the products they purchase. We support the recommendations of the National Academies to establish threshold limits for products that use a may contain allergen precautionary statement, the Grocery Manufacturers Association said in a statement. FDA spokeswoman Megan McSeveney said the agency was reviewing the report but was particularly interested in the science behind the panels labeling recommendations. U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, recently renewed his call in the halls of Congress for legislative approval of the ongoing U.S. war against the Islamic State. In doing so, the onetime vice presidential candidate who is a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committee mentioned the death on Thanksgiving Day in Syria of Naval Chief Petty Officer Scott Dayton, a Virginian. Dayton, 42, of Woodbridge, was a bomb specialist who died in a improvised explosive device blast, becoming Americas first combat casualty in the fight against ISIS in the Middle Eastern country. Kaine, the father of a U.S. Marine, noted the local sailors 23-year distinguished career in calling, once again, for official authorization from Congress for the continued military action. He said that since the war against ISIS started in 2014 more than 5,000 Americans have served in Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria in addition to more than 12,600 American military air strikes. Because of the work of American troops we have made major gains against ISIS in Northern Iraq and in Northern Syria, Kaine said, crediting the bravery of service members like Dayton before adding, But the threat continues. The war has cost $10 billion over 800 days of operations for an average of $12.6 million a day, he said. More than 300 Special Forces now in Syria are fighting on a very complex battlefield where Turkish, Syrian, Russian, Iranian, Lebanese Hezbollah and Kurdish forces are operating in close proximity, Kaine said. I continue to believe that the troops we have deployed overseas deserve to know that Congress is behind this mission. The president is relying on the 2001 authorization to go after the perpetrators of 9/11 in conducting the war on ISIS, the senator said. He said when federal legislators assume their congressional seats in January that 80 percent of them will not have been in office when the 2001 authorization was passed. So the 80 percent of us who were not here have never had a meaningful debate on this war, Kaine said, adding that the Constitution obligates Congress to initiate war. Weve not had the debate. Weve not had the vote. He said the 2001 authorization has been cited by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama in at least 37 incidences to justify sending U.S. military to 14 nations including Libya, Turkey, Georgia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and Ethiopia. It is time for us to recognize that this is a continuing threat that is not going away anytime soon. Of all the powers Congress has, I cant think of any that are more important than the power to declare war, Kaine said. It should always be a hard vote, but it should be a necessary vote. The unwillingness of Congress to grapple with this sends a message thats unfortunate: it sends a message of lack of resolve to allies and our adversary. The senator ended his remarks by saying he was most concerned about the impact to people like Dayton, and the estimated 2 million American service members fighting the war against ISIS. People who are serving in the theater of war,who are risking their lives and giving their lives and doing it without the knowledge that Congress supports the mission that they are on, said Kaine. Chinas crackdown on lawyers and human rights defenders is not a single event but a rolling onslaught. Last month, three prominent rights activists were detained by police in separate provinces. What makes these detentions so pernicious is that Chinas security apparatus has targeted the backbone of the rights movement: lawyers and defenders who represent the accused. The latest detentions are part of President Xi Jinpings broader campaign to snuff out opposition to the ruling party-state wherever it can be found. Liu Feiyue, one of the activists recently arrested, started a website in 2006, Civil Rights & Livelihood Watch, or Minsheng Guancha. The website has documented protests, land seizures, detentions and other human rights violations that often go unreported by the official Chinese news media. Lius website, one of the few located on the mainland to courageously expose such stories, was blocked in China soon after it was launched. He was undeterred. For two decades, Liu has been repeatedly detained, harassed and put under surveillance by the authorities. He was routinely taken in during politically sensitive events such as sessions of the Chinese party congress and legislature. But this time, the charges appear to be more serious. He was detained in mid-November in the central Chinese province of Hubei and police informed his relatives the charges were incitement to subvert state power, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and is frequently used to silence journalists and dissidents. An unnamed volunteer in his group told Radio Free Asia that Liu is being prosecuted for accepting overseas funding to run his activities, but did not provide details. The overall crackdown has included new laws that impose sharp restrictions on foreign nongovernmental organizations that work in China. Also detained recently was prominent lawyer Jiang Tianyong, a leader of the China Human Rights Lawyers Group, who disappeared Nov. 21 when he had been due to board a train from the city of Changsha in Hunan province to Beijing. He had been in Changsha attempting to visit the wife of a fellow attorney who was among those taken in a wave of arrests of lawyers that began in July 2015. Jiangs clients have included the blind lawyer-activist Chen Guangcheng, now living in the United States. Yet another rights activist, Huang Qi, the Sichuan-based founder and director of a human rights group called 64 Tianwang, was taken from his home Nov. 28 by police. He, too, has been detained and imprisoned several times for his work and his website is blocked inside China. A volunteer, Pu Fei, initially published news of his detention on Twitter, but that message was deleted and Pu has also disappeared. Every effort must be made to speak up for those who are hustled away in the middle of the night. President-elect Donald Trump has shown little interest in human rights, but after he takes office he should not remain silent about these cases, because silence only encourages more repression. In June 2011, Myanmar civil war a war broke out in the northern part, and some refugees fled to the China-Burma border. There are 80,000 refugees temporarily staying at Yingjiang County, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, the majority of whom are Kachin and Lisu people. They are almost Christians. Knowing the situation, Yingjiang Church has helped the refugees for five years, supporting them food, clothes and daily necessities. Seeing that the refugees lived in the difficult conditions that they had no food and clothes to pass the winter, some Christians from Zhina Village and Zhanxi Town donated their own clothing, food and vegetables to them, which seemed a drop in the bucket. According to the book "Church Aids to Myanmar Refugees" sent by Yingjiang CCC & TSPM, refugees escaped to counties including Yingjiang, Lushui, Gongshan and Tengchong without bringing anything since the civil war in Myanmar in 2011. Arriving in Yunnan, some of them turned to their relatives for help. Considering that most of them are Christians, a refugee council was established to seek help from the churches locating at the borders in China. Rev. Mi Bingxing, chairman of Yingjiang CCC and associate president of the provincial CCC & TSPM, tells CCD that in response, Yingjiang CCC founded a relief group for the refugees. He stressed that the Chinese church helped the refugees rather than Kachin State because of humanitarianism. At that time the Burmese refugees sought asylum in the rural families and families. The council sent a petition for assistance to the church in Yingjiang on June 16, 2012, showing their gratitude for the aid and expectation to receive successive assistance from the Chinese members. The letter recorded that the people of God in Myanmar fled the hometown and received over 100 tons of clothes, more than 200 tons of rice, commodities as well as medicine. On Dec 11, 2012, a letter from a church for the refugees in Laiza, a town in the Kachin State, mentioned their thanks to Yunnan CCC & TSPM for the church in Yunnan sent 3500 copies of hymnals to the refugee believers. Later the refugee camp church wrote to the church in Yunnan, hoping to get more 4000 copies of hymns and 5000 copies of the Bible from the Chinese Christians due to no hymnal book left in the camp. Another leader written by Rev. Du Shan, associate president of Kachin Baptist Convention, on May 12, 2012, revealed that the believers of Xiaoyang Church of Hangzhou donated over 130 tons of rice to the refugees. Then more than 200 pastoral staff including pastors, elders, deacons and preachers were displaced, having to live in gunfires. "We feel the warmth and love from the Lord, like that God sent angels to help us. We have tided over a crisis and renewed our strength. We have seen God's power. Your aid has become a historical record among our Jingpo people and the refugees of each nationality. We give our sincere thanks to you, on behalf of the refugees and KBC." He hoped that the members of Xiaoyang Church could provide prayer and aid to them continuously because the war was ongoing at that time. The number of the refugees raised to exceeding 80,000 from over 50,000 and they were homeless. In addition, the Burmese pastor preached sermons in the refugee camps and comforted them with the message of the cross. Brother Pan Zhigang who supported the poor in Yunnan and Tibet also aided the refugees. It was known that he shed tears in sight of the hungry refugees with injuries. He cooperated the relief group of the church in Yingjiang and brought clothes, goods and cash, distributing them to the refugees. The letter added, "Today we are in two countries with the boundary. But we understand more that the Lord's love is boundless because of the faith, your love to God and everything you have done." Translated by Karen Luo Los Angeles CA - The rising star of fashion, Israeli Designer Mosher Liebowitz, this week unveiled the new Spring collection of Holocaust Chic. The paparazzi and stars clamored for a peek at the sizzling cat-walk models and Auschwitz clothing lines. My Social calendar is so full that I rarely find time to see anyone or any new shows, but I have to check this fabulous designer out. We have all heard so much about him. One of my darlings sent me two bags of fab Mcqueen jeans, so I tried out twenty-three this morning then settled on a pair of shorts with a black polar neck and my fabulous knee-high leather boots. Last night I was partying with fellow socialites at The Grove, and we met the whole of Los Angeles fab crowd there. My head still hurts from all the champagne and caviare so went to bed at 4am. Fashion Genius Liebowitz has pioneered size minus for his models, so he has now gone one better than size zero. His clothes are so small that they need to be put on with linseed oil, and they require three or four people to put them on the models. The models are all starved daily and are only allowed two pieces of lettuce, two lines of cocaine/hour and a constant stream of cigarettes. The Auschwitz look My good friend Paris Hilton is with me as we are crammed into the Auschwitz Fashion Carriage, unlucky for her Tinkerbell her pet poodle is trampled to death under the feet of all the guests. Oh well Ill phone mama up tomorrow, and she can get me a new one that looks exactly the same. She then snorts from her silver vial and everything is better. We arrive at the warehouse and the Fashion Police check to see if we are all wearing the latest designer couture and that all our VIP passes are in order. Anyone with any individual and unique fashion sense is immediately turned away, with the assembled entourage no one is thus turned away, and we all sigh in relief. The Fashion Police then use their cattle prods to get us into the warehouse, and we are truly wowed by the fabulous style and decor. Dazzling Couture Victoria Beckham who holds Liebowitz in high esteem says she aspires to his wonderful collection for her own burgeoning fashion house. She is in fact modelling a Liebowitz silver creation for the Holocaust Show today and the crowd whoops with joy as she twirls down the cat walk not flinching once as her stick like ankle bone snaps with a loud crack. She bravely completes the circuit with her bone jutting out of her leg. Such bravery in the name of fashion. This is a badge of honour for being a size minus model. The other model I see is a bag of bones her ribs so extended that I can see her heart beating clearly through her emaciated skin. The whole audience dutifully admires her fabulous bone structure. Nicole Richie is up next and her veins bulge in her legs, and you can see every sinew and muscle working even some of her intestines are visible. The crowd gasps in adoration as she shows off the Auschwitz chiffon double-breasted gold waistcoat creation. There is a tense moment as Ms Richie sways with exhaustion after walking 15 feet, but help soon comes quick as the illustrious designer himself picks her up with one hand and shows her the stage exit. More Wagner plays through the speakers, this time the rousing crescendo of Ride of the Valkyrie. We are all awed as the final celebrity model comes onto the catwalk modelling the Liebowitz creation that stands above anything else in the show. The gold tassels shimmer in the spotlight, and we are temporarily blinded by all the photographers snapping away. Paris who is sitting next to me stands up and claps incessantly with her jaw dropped and her coke fuelled left eyeball jutting out with fashion desire. I have to get that! She furiously searches for her Blackberry so that her mother can order one immediately. The aftershow party is truly splendid. A round of applause cacophonies around the huge hall for our esteemed hero designer as we are ushered into the party bunker resplendent with thick cast iron doors. In the bunker there are shower heads above us but instead of Zyklon gas we fashionistas are intermittently showered with Chanel No.5. We have our fill and the Krug Clos du Mesnil champagne flows. At $750 per bottle we are truly honoured to be part of the gloriously exclusive celebrations. MENOMONIE From a hill on a freezing November night in North Dakota, a Dunn County man stood next to a Vietnam veteran. Together they witnessed a spectacle unlike any they had ever seen as Morton County police in full riot gear aimed water cannons, tear gas and concussion grenades along with guns loaded with rubber bullets into a crowd of activists on a bridge over the Missouri River. On his second trip in two weeks, Leland Brenholt of Menomonie had arrived at Sacred Stone Camp to support the members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in their fight to block the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) from being laid across their land. To protect their main water source and sacred sites from being desecrated by bulldozers, the tribal protesters calling themselves water protectors set up camp in April on federal property across the Missouri River from the Standing Rock Reservation. Brenholt described the impact of the concussion grenades launched in the Nov. 20 incident: Even from a distance those things hit you in the chest, almost knock you over. I cant imagine it going off right over your head or right next to you. Turning to the man beside him, both men with tears in their eyes, Have you ever seen anything like this? Brenholt said he asked his companion. He couldnt answer; his tears said everything as he shook his head. The $3.7 billion underground pipeline planned by Energy Trade Partners would carry crude oil from the Bakken oil fields in northwest North Dakota through the Dakotas and Iowa to Illinois. The company had to abandon earlier plans to run the DAPL pipeline across the Missouri River north of Bismarck, N.D. when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided its proximity to the citys well supply made it a high consequence area and serious harm could result should the pipeline spring a leak. Instead, the line was re-routed through federal land that was once part of the Standing Rock reservation. Exceptional need Beginning with his first trip to North Dakota last month, Brenholt has been working at the camps main medical and wellness center. An acupuncturist and herbalist, he said he spent a year working as a certified nursing assistant at a Level One trauma center in Minneapolis. Brenholt returned to Menomonie to resupply before making a second trip Nov. 15 and was on hand to witness to the Nov. 20 incident and take part in caring for the injured. We were not prepared to triage dozens of rubber bullet wounds, fractures ... let alone a darn near amputee from a percussion grenade, Brenholt said, noting that the only pain relief that could be offered was aspirin, ibuprofen and topical lidocaine. We had eight people laying on the floor at one point bleeding and screaming and there was nothing we could do as we were waiting for the ambulances to arrive. ... Im side by side with seasoned docs and nurses and were all looking at each other, trying to figure out how to make this impossible situation better. Noting that he was one among many volunteers working in 20-degree weather, he added, No one died that night, not a single life was lost. I cannot iterate the magnitude of that miracle. My fear is that might get worse. On another brief trip home last week, Brenholt with support from the First Congregational United Church of Christ and other Menomonie residents gathered more medical supplies and gear to sustain the water protectors through the winter. Growing city Brenholt describes the camp he returned to for the third time Friday: Its a city that when I arrived four weeks ago was 1,000 and now its measuring toward seven or eight thousand. ... The infrastructure ... creativity ... industriousness ... generosity of everyone is truly something to behold. ... Its just breathtaking. He said that Standing Rock Reservations Council of Elders believe what is happening is a manifestation of a prophesy made by Black Elk, a contemporary of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse that the four nations red, white, black, yellow ... would come around the sacred fire and join hands and dance around the sacred fire. And from that, a tree sprouted from the middle of the dance with every color of the rainbow in its foliage and flowers. In addition to the many people from around the country who have come to North Dakota in support of the water protesters, Brenholt said, Im working side by side with people who are refugee trauma specialists from France ... next to people who are actual Australian aboriginals who have no idea how to deal with a North Dakota winter but theyre still there. Every indigenous tribe has gathered around the fire, and they regard each other as relatives and long lost family. This has never happened in history and its happening here. About the upcoming evacuation deadline, he said, That camp is preparing itself peacably without any weapons. This is an unarmed population ... facing a forced eviction from the federal government and all we can do is prepare ourselves for what might happen. Despite the relatively peaceful coexistence within the camp, Brenholt describes whats taking place in the region as a war zone: The difference is that DAPL and state officials and law enforcement on that side are waging actual war. The water protectors and those of us who are protecting the water protectors, were waging spiritual war. MADISON Gov. Scott Walkers family commission is calling for a series of state law and policy changes to alleviate poverty by strengthening families. The Future of the Family Commission last week recommended the state expand taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools, offer marriage tax credits, increase access to quality child care, and teach financial and family planning skills in school and parenting and relationship skills in prison. The commission also suggested that Wisconsin schools employ and promote the Success Sequence, an idea promoted by the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C. think tank, that emphasizes graduating from high school, getting a job, and turning 21 and getting married before having children. The recommendations could factor into Walkers upcoming budget proposal. Governor Walker thanks members of the commission for their hard work and looks forward to reviewing their recommendations, Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said. The governor is committed to helping strengthen families as we move forward into the new year and legislative session. Walker created the 12-member commission in January as a way to identify challenges and barriers families face and to discover solutions on how we can help them overcome those hurdles. The commissions 94-page report resulting from five meetings doesnt include a price tag for its recommendations. It identified 19 different challenges facing families, including: a lack of support for mens roles in forming and sustaining families, too many barriers to marriage, unplanned pregnancies, lack of family planning, lack of quality education for high-risk youth, inadequate adult literacy and math skills, insufficient supply of high-quality early childhood education, few positive cultural messages about marriage and cultural messages that sexual activity disconnected from a committed relationship has no consequence. 12 recommendations To address those challenges, the commission made 12 recommendations, including: Increase the demand for marriage by removing barriers such as marriage license fees and tax structures that create a disincentive for two-parent households; considering marriage and child tax credits; developing healthy relationship/marriage readiness programs; reframing the concept of marriage for teens and young adults and providing divorce intervention services. Educate young people about prevention of unplanned pregnancy by highlighting family planning and opportunities available by delaying sexual activity. Provide in-home education programs, including relationship skills, for new fathers. Teach financial and life skills in high school, such as the cost of child support and the Success Sequence which prescribes graduating from high school, getting a job and waiting until marriage and age 21 before having children. Increase high school students exposure to technical fields, especially in low-income communities. Promote school choice/taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools. Align transportation resources with available jobs. Provide support for offenders to re-enter society. Increase access to affordable, quality early childhood education. Develop and promote positive cultural messages for both men and women about healthy relationships. Provide programs for incarcerated men that build their skills in the areas of parenting, marriage and finance. Encourage community-based social support networks for families. Lawrence Berger, director of the Institute for Research on Poverty at UW-Madison, said the report addresses many of the key issues associated with family formation and stability, particularly by emphasizing the roles of men and fathers. However, he said he is less optimistic about the emphasis on marriage promotion and healthy marriage programs because the current evidence indicates these programs have not been effective. Marriage programs ineffective? This is not to say that effective programs could not be developed or that we should not continue experimenting with such programs, but the fact of the matter is that evaluations of existing programs have not demonstrated that they are effective, said Berger, who testified before the commission. He took issue with the report not recommending making long-acting reversible contraceptives such as intrauterine devices and implants more easily available to low-income women, something he deemed potentially game changing in terms of unplanned births, which account for the majority of nonmarital births, and associated family complexity and instability. He also said it didnt address financial support for those who are unable to work or face heavy barriers to employment, such as low education and skills, long periods of disconnection from the labor market, limited connection to social welfare programs, and criminal records. I would have liked to see a more explicit focus on how best to support these individuals and families not only to move into the labor market, but to also access sufficient economic resources during the process of doing so, Berger said. This, too, is crucial for family functioning and for best enabling parents to contribute to their children both financially and in terms of high quality caregiving. Julaine Appling, president of conservative Wisconsin Family Action, said she supported the commissions recommendations, particularly on marriage. Their recommendations are right in line with what we believe must be done, Appling said. I trust the state Legislature will utilize many of these recommendations and will make this a very high priority this session. MADISON Outdoor enthusiasts visiting state parks could pay higher fees for popular campsites, rent cabins or homes, see more merchandising and corporate sponsorship, and buy individual passes rather than vehicle stickers under recommendations to plug a $1.4 million hole in the states parks budget. Those are some of the recommendations included in a Department of Natural Resources report submitted Friday to the Legislatures Joint Finance Committee, which had requested options to increase state park revenues. State parks director Ben Bergey prepared the report, but DNR spokesman Jim Dick said the department is not expressing a preference among the various options. The options are meant to address a structural deficit caused when Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican Legislature removed all general tax dollars from the parks budget, requiring them to be self-sustaining. The proposals come on top of park fee increases that were included in the 2015-17 budget. The current budget projects a $4.9 million draw down of park reserves. The departments 2017-19 budget request doesnt specify how to shore up the parks budget. Walker is expected to propose his 2017-19 budget early next year. Altogether the report estimates the recommended options would generate $2.9 million more annual revenue in the short-term and $10.5 million per year over the long-term. The increased fees for both campsites and entrance would be targeted at high-demand parks that account for 33 percent of total park attendance. The proposal would add $10 to daily campsite fees that currently range from $20 to $35 depending on residency and whether the site has electricity, for an extra $1.45 million in annual revenue. The report identified six properties as high-demand state parks because of their proximity to urban areas and unique natural features Devils Lake in Baraboo, Governor Dodge in Dodgeville, High Cliff in Sherwood, Kohler-Andrae in Sheboygan, Peninsula in Door County and Willow River in Hudson. The report is also recommending raising admission prices by $5 per day for those same parks and to add $10 to the annual vehicle admission sticker for them, in order to generate another $1.45 million. It is possible the fee increase may meet consumer price resistance, but as past examples have shown, the resistance is usually for a short period, Bergey wrote in the report. As longer-term funding options, the report is recommending shifting from using vehicle stickers as passes to requiring individual passes, similar to what are used on some trails in the state park system. The department is projecting the shift could generate $12 to $15 million in annual revenue, up from the current $8 million in revenue. Another proposal would allow state parks to lease land for indoor lodging, which it expects would generate $405,000 in annual revenue. The report notes that indoor lodging is common in parks across the country, but only allowed for people with disabilities in Wisconsin parks. Finally, the report recommends securing patents and trademarks on state park names for the purpose of merchandising, as well as pursuing sponsorships, donations and advertisements that support the department mission centered on the state park brand. Other options detailed, but not recommended, in the report include expanding the number of campsites with electricity, allowing the purchase of an annual vehicle sticker as part of an annual vehicle registration renewal and increasing all admission fees by $4 for annual passes and $2 for daily passes. Those options would generate $3.3 million in the short-term and as much as $7 million a year for the annual sticker depending on its popularity. Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, a member of the Joint Finance Committee, said his primary concern with the recommendations is whether they would open the door to corporate naming rights for state parks. People who have used our state parks have very fond memories of Devils Lake State Park, as opposed to Devils Lake State Park brought to you by Menards, Erpenbach said. But he said he didnt have an issue with raising park fees. Those Ive talked to who use the parks dont mind paying a little more, as long as they know the money is going toward the state parks, Erpenbach said. Gov. Scott Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said he is reviewing the report. The Republican co-chairpersons of the Joint Finance Committee did not respond to a request for comment. Those Ive talked to who use the parks dont mind paying a little more, as long as they know the money is going toward the state parks. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton HSLDA Sues New York City Over Homeschool Hang-ups PURCELLVILLE, Va., Dec. 5, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) has filed a lawsuit against the City of New York for what they call "systematic mistreatment" of homeschooling families in New York City. HSLDA says that New York City's homeschool infrastructure is archaic and creates unnecessary burdens for homeschooling families, school officials, and social workers. The lawsuit seeks to fix these issues by requiring the city's bureaucracy to follow the state's homeschool regulations. "Family after family have found themselves in legal limbo because the central office simply cannot or will not follow the timelines in the regulation," said James Mason, HSLDA's Director of Litigation. "More than one homeschooling family told me they had been turned over to CPS (Child Protective Services) because of the office's delayed handling of the homeschooling paperwork." The issue was brought to a head with the case of Tanya Acevedo, a homeschooling mother in New York City who had withdrawn her child from public school to homeschool him, following every step to the letter. Nonetheless, Tanya was visited by a social worker at 7:00pm, one month after beginning to homeschool, because the system was showing that her son was truant. New York City's administrative functions relating to homeschooling for all school districts are located in one office that is understaffed and underfunded. The city often requires homeschooling parents to pick up and file paperwork in person (paperwork can be sent back by certified mail), which results in delays and, sometimes, lost paperwork. "Even though Tanya notified both the central office and the school before she began homeschooling, the school could not flip the switch in the attendance database to turn off her son's 'absences,'" Mason said. "And the central office, always woefully behind, had not gotten around to it yet." Tj Schmidt, HSLDA's contact attorney for New York, said he spends much of his time sorting out paperwork issues between homeschooling families and school districts. "In a city as diverse as New York City, it's hard to understand why the system in place has not been updated to aid parents who seek an educational alternative that best suits the needs of their children," Schmidt said. HSLDA's lawsuit is seeking money damages and an order forcing New York City to follow the homeschool regulations outlined in state law. HSLDA is working with local counsel Sean Eccles. HSLDA will track the progress of the case at hslda.org/acevedo. home Tech Nintendo Switch news: Nintendo announces hands-on event to be held in New York on January 2017 The Nintendo Switch a one of the most anticipated devices to be launched soon a will finally make its hands-on debut at a private event early next year. According to reports, Nintendo announced that the event will take place in New York on Jan. 13, 2017. After a streamed presentation on the night of Jan. 12 known as the "Tokyo webcast," the Switch will have a five-hour event in NYC. Nintendo previously announced that the Tokyo presentation will be held live for media and investors. The Switch's exact release date and price will also be announced in the event. To date, the next-gen console was only given a March 2017 release window. Further details about the New York event and its location are yet to be revealed, but the company did stress that it will "emphasize some of the details that Nintendo plans to announce." EA chief competition officer Peter Moore spoke at a conference event today, and he discussed the upcoming console from Nintendo. He revealed that the company is bringing a "major" game to the console, though he didn't announce which one. "We're huge fans [of Nintendo]," Moore said during the Credit Suisse Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference. "We've had a relationship that goes many decades back. They've had some difficult times recently, obviously, but [you should] never ever, ever discount Nintendo in this marketplace, and their ability to leverage their superb game development opportunities [and] their intellectual properties," he went on to say. As for the company's plan for Switch, Moore added: "We're going to watch with interest. You can rest assured that EA, as with every major publisher, is in regular conversations with Nintendo." EA is only one of the several game publishers confirmed as third-party partners for Nintendo's new console. Other big names in the gaming industry teaming up with Nintendo include Square Enix, Capcom, Bethesda, Ubisoft, Warner Bros., and Activision. Mumbai: Private carrier Jet Airways today cut its economy class fares by an average 20 per cent for select domestic and international routes under a limited period offer. The four-day fare sale starting from today will be valid for domestic travel commencing from January 5, 2017 onwards while a flyer booking tickets for travel on international sectors may commence journeys immediately, starting today, Jet Airways said in a release. The airline's attractive all-inclusive fares start from Rs 899 on select sectors across its domestic network and at Rs 10,693 on popular routes across its international network, the airline said. According to the airline, the one-way all inclusive fare for Mumbai-Dubai sector are Rs 11,999 while the ticket price for a Delhi-Singapore journey stands at RS 21,722. Similarly, a economy class journey for Paris from Hyderabad on a Jet Airways flight will now cost only Rs 35,702. On the domestic sector, the fare for Kolkata-Guwahati now starts at as low as Rs 1,494 and for Hyderabad-Pune the ticket price stands at Rs 1,880, among others, the release said. "It's a great opportunity for guests in India to take advantage of these attractive fares and the ongoing holiday season. Guests can also get to discover popular as well as new holiday destinations," Jet Airways Chief Commercial Officer Jayraj Shnamugam said. Jet Airways network across domestic and international destinations connects the fliers to 66 destinations across India and overseas. Valid for travel on Jet Airways direct flights on its domestic and international networks, the special fares are on offer on a first-come-first serve basis, the airline said. However, passengers will have the flexibility to alter their travel plans at an additional charge, it added. With the merger of all the five associates and BMB, SBI will become a global-sized bank and could compete with the largest in the world, with 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs. New Delhi: State Bank of India today said the merger plan of associates with itself is on track and it should not get delayed due to the ongoing demonetisation process. "No, I don't think so," SBI MD Rajnish Kumar said when asked if the merger of associate banks would be delayed due to the high-value currency withdrawal and its aftermath. The merger of five associates and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) is planned to be wrapped up by 2016-17 end. Asked about expectations from the monetary policy review to be unveiled on December 7, he said "very difficult to predict now because the monetary policy committee now decides. Maybe, like 25-50-basis point cut is what everybody expecting and no rate cut will be a bigger surprise". If the incremental CRR comes down, it will help banks pass on the benefit to customers, he said on the sidelines of Inclusive Finance Summit here. On demonetisation, Kumar felt that the there would be salary and pension rush for the next 5-7 days. The deposit transaction will be slightly lower during the salary withdrawal period. It is to be noted that the government earlier this year cleared the proposal to merge SBI with its five associate banks -- State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Hyderabad -- and BMB. In August, SBI had said all its associate banks along with BMB will be merged into it and that will add an additional Rs 8 lakh crore to its assets, potentially making it a banking behemoth with total assets of Rs 30 lakh crore, an increase of about 36 per cent. With the merger of all the five associates and BMB, SBI will become a global-sized bank and could compete with the largest in the world, with 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs. It will have over 50 crore customers. SBI has close to 16,500 branches, including 191 foreign offices spread across 36 countries. SBI had already merged two of its associates -- State Bank of Saurashtra in 2008 and State Bank of Indore in 2010 -- with itself. New Delhi: Riding on the government's digital drive, Bandhan Bank MD and CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh today said his bank is making all-round efforts to educate micro credit customers to use mobile banking. The Kolkata-based Bandhan, originally an MFI, became the first private bank to begin operations in a decade following grant of licences by RBI in June last year. "We are motivating our customers to move towards digital transactions. We are educating and handholding micro credit borrowers to show them how to transfer funds using mobile phones," Ghosh told PTI. Bandhan Bank, which has 738 branches and 238 ATMs across the country, is banking on its depositor and creditor base as the MFI has already crossed a customer base of 96.67 lakh. "We have taken a pilot project at a micro credit office so that 100 per cent of its customers can be brought into mobile banking net. Based on the success of this pilot, we will expand this to other micro credit offices. We are explaining to the customers how school fees, electric and grocery bills can be paid through mobile banking," Ghosh said. The bank, Ghosh said, is also planning to introduce point of sales (PoS) devices for merchants, whose utility has gone up in the wake of cash crunch following demonetisation. "In non-micro credit segment, we have seen transactions through mobile and Internet banking growing. We are venturing into merchant PoS device (space) so that funds can be transferred without hassle. We plan to introduce up about 2,000-3,000 devices by March 2017," he said. Point of sales (PoS) devices are used for cashless transactions for making payments. They can also be used for dispensing cash. The government has laid increased emphasis on promoting digital payments since the announcement of demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes on November 8. On Friday, the central bank had auctioned MSS worth Rs 20,000 crore, after MSS ceiling was raised to Rs 6 lakh crore. Mumbai: The RBI today auctioned the 35 days Cash Management Bills worth Rs 60,000 crore under government's Market Stabilisation Scheme (MSS) to mop up extra liquidity from the system against the backdrop of demonetisation. The central bank will also conduct an auction of 35 days Cash Management Bills under the MSS for Rs 60,000 crore tomorrow. On Friday, the central bank had auctioned MSS worth Rs 20,000 crore, after MSS ceiling was raised to Rs 6 lakh crore. The Cash Management Bills for a notified amount of Rs 60,000 crore was done using "Multiple Price Auction" method. The bids for the auction were submitted in electronic format on the Reserve Bank of India Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber) system. The Cash Management Bills have the generic character of Treasury Bills. After the withdrawal of the legal tender character of the Rs 500/1,000 denomination notes with effect from November 9, there has been a surge in deposits with the banks, the RBI had said. There has been a significant increase of liquidity in the banking system that is expected to continue for some time. "In order to facilitate liquidity management operations by the RBI in the current scenario, the government has, on the recommendation of the RBI, decided to revise the ceiling for issue of securities under the MSS to Rs 6,000 billion," it added. MSS bonds are issued with the objective of providing the central bank with a stock of securities with which it can intervene in the market for managing liquidity. These securities are not issued to meet government's expenditure. As part of liquidity management exercise, the RBI had earlier asked lenders to temporarily maintain an incremental cash reserve ratio (CRR) of 100 per cent. CRR is the portion of the deposits banks are required to park with the Reserve Bank. The actual current rate of CRR is 4 per cent. Meanwhile, the government has announced to sell four dated securities for Rs 14,000 crore on December 09, 2016. The auctions will be conducted using multiple price method. Up to 5 per cent of the amount of the sale of the stocks will be allotted to eligible individuals and Institutions as per the Scheme for Non-Competitive Bidding Facility in the Auction of Government Securities. Yes Bank said it is fully committed to help realise Governments initiative to propel digital payments in India and move towards a less-cash economy. New Delhi: Yes Bank has partnered cab aggregator Ola to set up mobile ATMs across 30 locations in the country that will allow people to withdraw up to Rs 2,000 per card. The Point of Sale (PoS) enabled ATMs will be stationed in Ola cabs from where customers of any bank can withdraw the amount, Yes Bank said. The service will be available in over 30 locations across 10 cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Jaipur. "This partnership is being done with an aim to ease the process of cash withdrawals for citizens across the country and provide seamless service to the customers with additional mobile infrastructure powered by Ola", said the bank in a release. Speaking about the partnership, Rajat Mehta, Senior President & Country Head, Brand & Retail Marketing, Yes Bank, said: "We are happy to partner with Ola to bring cash to the customer within easy reach and provide seamless withdrawal facility using Yes Bank PoS machines." Raghuvesh Sarup, CMO & Head of Categories, Ola, added,This is an important time for banking and mobility to come together and help people. Ola's fleet and technology strengths complement Yes Banks service, and enable convenient cash withdrawals for people. Ola is also accepting various modes of cashless payments." Yes Bank said it is fully committed to help realise Governments initiative to propel digital payments in India and move towards a less-cash economy. New Delhi: All government payments exceeding Rs 5,000 to contractors and suppliers would be made electronically, the Union finance ministry said on Monday, a move that will help in the Centres goal of moving towards maximum cashless transactions. The earlier limit for all ministries and government departments was Rs 10,000. The Centre also asked its officials to become ambassadors of digital payments, and use plastic money for their day-to-day transactions. All ministries and departments were told to encourage their employees to go for digital transactions. Ministries will liaise with accredited banks and set up camps to ensure all their employees have debit cards. Similar advisories will be issued to the subordinate offices, PSUs and autonomous bodies of these ministries and departments. The Centres shock move last month to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes has left millions low on cash and hit Indias largely cash-based economy, prompting Narendra Modi to urge Indians to go for digital transactions. The ministry said that Central government ministries and departments have been crediting salaries and other payments for the majority of its employees electronically, direct into designated bank accounts. Ensuring and encouraging government employees to maximise the usage of debit cards for personal transactions instead of cash would go a long way with employees serving as ambassadors for the digital push and also motivating and encouraging the general public in taking up the cause, said the ministry. In secret, behind locked gates, our Nation's Oldest City dumped a landfill in a lake (Old City Reservoir), while emitting sewage in our rivers and salt marsh. Organized citizens exposed and defeated pollution, racism and cronyism. We elected a new Mayor. We're transforming our City -- advanced citizenship. Ask questions. Make disclosures. Demand answers. Be involved. Expect democracy. Report and expose corruption. Smile! Help enact a St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. We shall overcome! Reports of Manish being miffed with Anushka for not giving him credit for her outfit in an 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' song had surfaced some time back. Mumbai: Manish Malhotra turns 50 on Monday and one of the most popular fashion designers in the film industry is all set to celebrate the milestone with a grand bash. His close friend Karan Johar has personally taken over the organisation of the bash and even designed a special gold invitation card for it. The bash is likely to be attended by the whos who of the industry on Monday. And according to sources, Anushka Sharma will be one of the performers at the event on Monday. We had seen pictures of Manish pulling Anushkas pallu while enacting a romantic scene on the sets of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and that shows the friendship that the duo shares. Anushka is apparently going to perform to The Breakup Song from the same film. Considering the number of actresses Manish has helped in looking beautiful on screen, we can definitely expect some more sizzling performances. Mumbai: While supporters have been clamming up outside Apollo hospital to ensure J Jayalalithaa recovers, celebrities have been taking to their social media feeds to wish the Tamil Nadu CM a quick recovery after she suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday. The 68-year-old former actress has been put on extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a heart assist device, and was under the watch of experts, including cardiologists. Actors Gautami, Rishi Kapoor, Hema Malini and Paresh Rawal wished her a speedy recovery on Twitter. Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital on September 22 after she complained of fever and dehydration, and later treated for infection and respiratory problem. Katrina Kaif is known for her fitness and Parineeti Chopra is definitely inspired by her. Mumbai: The sixth season of Karan Johars popular chat show Koffee with Karan has already created a lot of drama with numerous statements made by the celebrities already making headlines. Daawat-E-Ishq couple Parineeti Chopra and Aditya Roy Kapur also made an appearance on Sunday and the episode led to some interesting confessions by the actors, with one of them involving Katrina Kaif. While Aditya shared screen space with Katrina in the film Fitoor, Parineeti had bonded with her during the Dream Team Tour in the USA along with several other actors. Parineeti and Katrina were seen working out while they were preparing for the show and Parineeti revealed that Katrina was quite a taskmaster when it comes to fitness. She said, I am scared of Katrina, I hope she doesnt watch this episode. That day she came to gym and I increased the speed of my cycle and she was like, 'what you doing? how many minutes have you done?' I was like '20 minutes'(she said) do 5 more minutesI was like Okay okay whatever you say I will do." "During my weight loss year, I only used to watch her songs and run on the treadmill because her body is the body I want to have. Like she is my idol but I am very scared of her. "I always message her for fitness and she takes out the time to replyshe is such a beautiful personI am in love with her. Even Aditya agreed and said, yes Katrina, from time to time, she can intimidate. Katrina is also set to make an appearance on the show soon and it would be interesting to know what she feels about these comments. Mumbai: Kangana Ranaut had been shooting for Hansal Mehtas Simran in the United States for over two months but the actress was still in the news in India during that period. While fresh developments took place in her legal proceedings with Hrithik Roshan, her name cropped up several times on Karan Johars popular chat show Koffee with Karan, with Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh referring to her on the show. About an actress she would like to stalk if she was invisible, Alia Bhatt had said, I think Kangana, because she has a lot of lovely airport looks, but I really want to know where she is going. So many airport looks, where is this plane landing? At a recent event, Kangana finally interacted with the media persons, who were waiting to know her reaction on the comments. About Alias comments, Kangana said, "I love Alia, she is so talented and such a lovely girl, I am pleased that she wants to know about my whereabouts. I don't think it's offensive. Alia is one person I try and reach out to, I love her work and her spirit. I haven't seen her latest film but I believe she is incredible in it. She makes us very proud." Ranveer had said that Kangana and Ranbir Kapoor should hook up. About Ranveers suggestion, Kangana responded, "Ranveer is my buddy and he is very curious about my love life... I remember once he tried to grill me about it but like we all know, I am very mysterious and I don't give in. It would be interesting to now see how she will respond to it when Karan grills her on the show. the 34-year-old star is accepting of the fact that 'Dr. Who' is what he will always be recognised for. Mumbai: Actor Matt Smith said he has the face to play a James Bond villain, but is not "handsome enough" to portray the suave spy. The former 'Doctor Who' star said he could never be a serious contender to play the iconic British spy - but he would be right for one of the villains in the franchise, reported Contactmusic. "Oh God, I don't think I'm handsome enough... I'm more of a Bond villain," he said. Playing 'The Doctor' is just as iconic a role, and the 34-year-old star is accepting of the fact it's what he will always be recognised for. "It's always about The Doctor [when I get recognised]. I don't get anything else and I've always known that's how it will be for the forseeable future because of the cultural devotion - I've made my peace with that from the start. "Maybe it will be something else in 20 years - if I'm lucky. I'm lucky to be associated with that show in the first place." Among the hundreds who went early morning to catch a seat at the Sree Kumar Theatre, Thiruvananthapuram was Sunny Wayne. He watched with the many fans of Tamil superstar Vijay, a re-release of his film Pokkiri, 10 years after its release. At the end of the screening, Sunny stood up to announce a new film Pokkiri Simon, which comes with the tagline: Oru Kadutha Aaradhakan. Sunny will play the title character, a huge Vijay fan from Kerala, says Ampady K., who wrote the story, screenplay and dialogues of the film, directed by Jijo Antony and produced by Krishnan Sethukumar. We had been in talks with the fans, we have been observing them to make the film. One keeps hearing the question whether there really are so many fans for Vijay in Kerala. But you will find a ten-year-old to a man in his 70s among the fans. This is a story of those people deeply addicted to this man, of their happiness and problems, Ampady adds. The film will start shooting by February-March next year. In the two and a half years since Devendra Fadnavis assumed office as Maharashtras chief minister, his wife, Amruta Fadnavis, has become a name to reckon with. While many politicians wives have been part of sober charity functions, perhaps none have taken on the challenge of pursuing their professional goals, something that Amruta has changed with her recent music video in which she stars with Amitabh Bachchan. An independent working woman, Amruta works as a banker in a private bank. When she finds some time off from her day job, she pursues her singing. Amruta crooned for a Bollywood flick, Jai Gangaajal earlier this year. She even walked down the ramp at the New York Fashion Week for the students of the Chasa Institute of Design and Technology, a college for the economically backward in Pune. Her video with the Big B, then, comes as a natural progression of a talented lady, furthering her ambitions. However, it has become something of a talking point online. Actress and director, Divya Khosla Kumar, who has maintained a strong image as a filmmaker, besides being Bhushan Kumars wife, praises Amruta unconditionally for pursuing her own interests. This is a moment for applause in a country like India, where women are often looked at through the lens of their husbands identity. I think that Amruta or any woman for that matter should be judged as individuals. Shooting this video or making her own music, makes her an admirable individual in her own right. Divya adds that no one spouse should overshadow the other in any way. In any relationship, one individual is often in the limelight more that the other. That doesnt make what the other person is doing matter less. Actress and model Tara Sharma Saluja, who hosts The Tara Sharma Show on TV, says that the secret to success is mutual trust and support. She also cites the encouraging relationship she shares with her husband, the highly successful media businessman, Roopak Saluja. Ive known Amruta to be a career-oriented, admirable woman. So I only find it natural for her to pursue her dreams. When I created The Tara Sharma Show, I had the full support of my husband, and I support him in his ventures as well. I am sure that that is the case for Amruta and Devendra Fadnavis as well, she explains with a smile. With inputs from Yogita Chainani They are young, restless and unafraid to try something new. Tollywood is suddenly seeing an abundance of young talent, with several new directors, actors and other technicians entering the industry. While the industry was earlier dominated by certain film families, this new talent proves that no one needs a godfather or backup from any big film personality to make it. Take for instance actor Nani, who started his career as an assistant director and made a few small films. He is now in the big league. Likewise, many young actors in the making like Nikhil Siddhartha, Raj Tarun, Vijay Devarakonda and Adivi Sesh are choosing different content, with great success. Its a good sign for Telugu cinema and good days are ahead. The new talent has changed the scenario of Telugu cinema. Till now, it was more formula based, but now many youngsters are coming up with innovative ideas and people are encouraging them, says filmmaker Thammareddy Bharadwaj. He adds that directors like Koratala Siva are also changing the mindset of the big stars. All the big stars are afraid to take up a different concept, but he changed their mind with films like Srimanthudu and Janatha Garage. Then there are young directors like Tharun Bhasckar (Pelli Choopulu), Sriram Adittya (Bhale Manchi Roju), Chandu Mondeti (Karthikeya), and Merlapaka Gandhi (Venkatadri Express). I never think about how the industry is or about a formula. If I have a script in my mind, I approach people and do it. I never look for anyones backup or somebody to recommend me, says Sriram Adittya. He is happy that many youngsters have entered the industry. It gives us a good environment in which we can exchange ideas and share our thoughts. We never feel competition between us. While earlier, actors mostly came from the film families, nowadays, that is not the case. The mindset of the audience has changed and they are not encouraging the regular old formula. The younger generations want something that is related to their thought-process and narrated in an entertaining manner. Thats why new talent is more successful these days, says Raj Kandukuri, producer of Pelli Choopulu. I just attended an interaction with the students of a private college and asked them why they saw Pelli Choopulu. They said that the content is good and it related to the younger generation, says Raj. They dont bother whether you shot the film in Switzerland or at Ameerpet, but they want different story telling. The ticket price is the same for a Rs 150-crore Baahubali and a Rs 80 lakh small film. The audience never looks at the budget of the film, they look at the content, he says. He is now coming up with another small film with new talent. So what about star kids and their huge fan following? They will stay and nothing will happen. Stars who have a huge fan following will definitely get huge openings at the box-office, but in the end, it all depends on the content of the film, which is the king. The only advantage for them is that they will get more chances than others, feels Thammareddy. Will the young talent stand a chance to be in the industry for a long time or are they a passing trend? They will definitely stand out for a long time and in the near future, more and more people will come into the industry. You will see a big change in Telugu cinema with this new talent, believes Raj Kandukuri. IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao was all praise for Ram Charan at the Dhruva film event that was held in Hyderabad, where he recently attended as chief guest. Charan is a dear friend to me. His father Chiranjeevi is also known to me as we both met at Assembly when he was an MLA. Chiranjeevi is a dignified personality and I can see it in Charans upbringing, said KTR. He also revealed the actors interesting superstition. Charans lucky number is 9, his car number totals to 9 and his date of birth totals to 9 as well. The film is also releasing on the 9th. So I hope that this film is going to be a good hit for him, he said, adding, I told him that after watching the audio visuals, I also wanted to get fit. When somebody asked about a six-pack, KTR joked, I dont want to try a six-pack, its enough if I can get a two-pack. Ram Charan, in turn, spoke about the dynamic leader K.T. Rama Rao. Charan also added about his fathers 150th film. Now, we have to do films with utmost care as my father raises the standard with his films, he said. Andhra Pradesh Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Telangana Minister Talasani Srinivasa Yadav and many other film personalities participated in this event. If Srinanna invites me for the success meet, I will come to Vizag, said KTR to Ghanta Srinivasa Rao, who wants the success meet to be held in Vizag. London: In an unusual incident, a stray goat has head-butted a pensioner and jumped on cars after being refused entry to a shop in Northern Ireland. Staff and customers ran for cover when the unusual visitor appeared at the doors of the Eurospar store in Carrickfergus, a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on early Saturday morning. The shop manager told BBC News that the stray goat charged at one of his regular customers, named Billy. He said the goat "butted" Billy in the back before he managed to drag the pensioner into the shop for safety. "We had to trail him inside," the manager said, but added that the pensioner was not injured. In the forecourt of the shop, the goat got up on its hind legs and jumped on two cars, one belonging to a customer and another to a staff member. Speaking to the Carrickfergus Times newspaper, the manager said: "I was on my own in the store at around 6.20am and thought it was the bread man knocking." He looked up and saw the goat outside the door, adding: "It seemed to want to break into the shop and it was staring straight at me." The manager described how the goat began eating flower baskets outside the shop on Victoria Road and then frightened staff and customers as they tried to get into the building. "It was into the baskets eating all the plants and running round the car park, I thought: 'you've got to be kidding me!'" He said one customer tried to use the ATM when she spotted the goat and ran back to her car. Another customer shouted a warning to a member of staff who was walking in to the shop to start work. The manager said his employee replied: "Yeah, right" But when she spotted the goat she dove in to the customer's car for cover. The incident ended when a man, believed to be the goat's owner, arrived at the shop and dragged the goat off by the horns. Forest officials of Mancherial exhumed the carcass of a male tiger in the forest area of Pinnaram village in Kotapalli mandal, on Saturday. Hyderabad: The Adilabad tiger found dead in Chennur reserve forest area on Saturday was the 86th tiger killed this year indicating that the big cats mortality has increased more than 25 per cent in 2016 when compared to previous year. This number excludes the tiger skins seized. According to tiger.net, a directory of tigers and other wildlife mortality, and the database of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, a statutory body under the Union ministry of environment and forests, if skin seizures are included then the number of tigers killed in 2016 till date will be 107. Most killings are either due to poaching or electrocution. Forest officials confirmed that the tiger found in Chennur was killed by wild boar poachers. They have taken six tribals including a juvenile into custody. The big cat loss in Chennur forest highlights that the state forest departments failure on two fronts. It failed to protect tigers migrating from neighbouring habitats of Maharasthra; second, it failed to prevent man animal conflict. In 2015, 70 tigers were killed and 10 tiger skins seized. On November 22 in 2016, authorities seized tiger skin at Ettiguda, Bejur range, Kagaznagar division of the Kawal tiger reserve. Mr V. Tirumala Rao, DFO of Chennur division in Mancherial district, said, The tiger was killed by poachers belonging to local the tribal community. This was not done for crop protection. It is a clear case of poaching actually meant for smaller wild animals wherein the six members were involved. They hunt for wild boars and rabbits by setting up live wire from a KV line. The incident must have happened 10 days ago and they buried the carcass and all the tiger claws and teeth and skin are intact. They were afraid. He added, The Chennur reserve forest area falls in the tiger corridor between Maharashtra and Kawal tiger reserve where tigers migrate. Twenty days ago I asked all the staff to keep vigil and create awareness but this incident happened. We will be more vigilant. According to the Union ministry of forest and environment it has been estimated that in India there around 2,226 tigers (range 1,945 to 2,491) with a 30 per cent increase in tiger numbers in 2014 when compared to 2010. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana according to 2014 census were considered to be having 68 tigers but the numbers have gone up now according to experts. For AP around `173.4 crore was released under Centrally sponsored scheme in 2016-17 whereas Telangana state got around `239.2 crore for tiger conservation. Despite growing tiger numbers, the Centre has categorically said that no proposal has been received from any state government including Telangana and AP for additional funds. Hyderabad Tiger Conservation Society founder Imran Siddique said, The tiger that was killed in Adilabad had migrated in April this year from Maharashtra. It was three years old. Another tiger that came in and dislodged this tiger. This is the third tiger killed in Adilabad and surrounding areas in the past four years due to electrocution. Government and forest department should have acted on the issue of electric wires. Governments nod for killing wild boar has sent a wrong message that wild life can be targeted in the name of crop protection. Telangana Chief Wild Life Warden P.K. Jha said, The Adilabad incident was not for tiger poaching as all its parts are intact. There are incidents of humans losing lives due to wire. Habitat loss is one of the biggest issues we are facing. Electric fencing, a threat to animals Electric wire fencing set up by farmers poses a big threat to all wildlife including tigers. Wild boar culling failed to take off forcing farmers to put snares and fences with live wires for the crops to prevent damages. While they are laid for wild boars, other species like tiger and panther too are killed. Forest officials say the order to shoot wild boar was put in abeyance following controversy over selection of shooters. National Biodiversity Authority and Telangana State Biodiversity Board member Rajeev Mathew said, We are losing endangered spe-cies due to wild boar, monkey and peafowl menace. Farmers poison the grain, use electric fence and lay nooses made out of clutch wire to save crop. He said the growing number of man-animal conflicts should be addressed. Viable, techniques with some measures of wild boar population control should go a long way in tackling the problem and bring relief to endangered species like tigers, leopards and guar. There has been a lot of speculation about what policies US President Elect Donald Trump would pursue, especially since he voiced willingness to make Muslims carry ID cards and build a wall on the US-Mexico border, among other things, during his presidential campaign. Now that he is the US President, an environment of fear persists as people are closely observing his cabinet, and hate crimes against Muslims are on the rise post his win. In the present scenario, Arab-American comedian Mo Amer was surprised to find that he got a seat alongside Trumps son, Eric Trump, during a flight. When asked about registry for Muslims as part of Trumps policy, Eric asked Mo to not worry and not believe everything he read. Mo Amer said in a Facebook post that the discussion that followed was a pleasant one, with Eric telling him that Donald Trump is a nice man. But the comedian also said that he got a vibe that they might continue doing so if they did it to win. Given that Trump has been denying a lot of his own statements for a while and taking U-turns in policy matters, nothing can be said for sure as of now, but this admission by Trumps son might come as a relief. KOZHIKODE: The Sargaalaya Iringal International Crafts Festival (SIICF) hosted by the Saegaalaya Kerala Arts and Crafts Village, Iringal, an initiative of the Tourism Department will start on December 20 and go on to January 5. The international crafts festival is supported by the Grand Kerala Shopping Festival season 9. The Mega Season Crafts Expo will display handcrafting skills of artisans including national award winners along with the items handcrafted by them. It also offers Seminars on Tourism and Handicrafts, variety cultural programmes including Kashmiri Rauf Dance, Garba Dance, Bihu Dance and Mayoor Dance. Governor Justice P Sathasivam will inaugurate the festival on December 22 and AP Anilkumar, Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes & Backward Classes and Tourism will preside over the function. The South Zone Cultural Centre under the Central Ministry of Culture will host the Kerala Food Festival, Amusement Rides, Boating as an add-on to the festival. As many as 10 artisans from Thailand will put up stalls in the fair. Besides, 180 stalls from across the country have already registered. This time, the focus is on the diversity of crafts and ensuring participation of award winning artisans, said the crafts village CEO P.P Bhaskaran. Started in 2011, Sargaalaya Crafts Expo is now considered as one of the best handicrafts exhibitions in the country and this unique programme features over 200 selected artisans from 22 states in addition to the highly skilled 90 permanent participants belonging to Sargaalaya, he added. BENGALURU: Three college students, who allegedly stole a mobile phone and tried to extort a model by blackmailing her that they would post her obscene photos on social networking sites, were arrested by the Parappana Agrahara police. The accused have been identified as Ashwin Moses, 20, a BBM student, Akshay David, 20, a BE (Civil) student and Kiran, 21, a BCom student. All the three studied in different colleges are were residents of Hosapalya near Electronic City. According to the police, the accused trio had gone to a hotel, where they stole the mobile phone of the student, on October 4. They managed to steal the phone, as the complainant, also a student, had kept the phone in his backpack, but forgot to zip it. The same day, the student had filed a mobile phone theft case. A few days after the theft, the accused discarded the memory card from the phone and checked the contents. They found some obscene photos of the complainants girlfriend, who is a model. The memory card had the video chat that the complainant had with his girlfriend. Taking advantage of those photos and videos, the accused students contacted the model through messages and told her that they had her obscene photos and demanded her to pay them `1 lakh. They blackmailed her that they would post the photos and videos online. Initially, both the model and her boyfriend ignored their threats. As there was no response from the girl, the accused sent her some of her obscene photos. Realising the gravity of the issue, the girl discussed the issue with her boyfriend, who approached the police recently and informed them about the blackmailing, an official said. The police tracked the accused and trapped them by offering money to them. We made the girl to text them that she would pay `50,000 and asked the accused to come to a specific location on Saturday evening. When they came to collect the money, they were nabbed, the official added. Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused students were drug addicts and confessed to the offence, stating that they did it to buy drugs. They were also repeatedly stealing money from their own houses and were even warned by their parents, the police said. The police could not recover the robbed money so far as the cash is believed to be with the inspector. (Representational image) Hyderabad: Task force officials have taken absconding local Congress leader Thirumalesh Naidu, who is suspected to be involved in a robbery at Banjara Hills two days ago, into custody. Another accused, the detective inspector of Tappachabutra, Y. Rajashekhar, is still absconding, west zone police officials said. The police could not recover the robbed money so far as the cash is believed to be with the inspector. Following a tip-off, a team of the Commissioner's Task Force went to Vijayawada to hunt down the inspector. However, they could not arrest him. Thirumalesh and Rajashekhar had robbed a trader named Laxman Agarwal of Rs 30 lakh. They trapped him in a private guest house on the pretext of exchanging demonetised currency and took away his cash. The victim, Laxman Agarwal had come to Hyderabad with money to exchange it with demonetised currency for a commission. He had contacted his dealer, who trapped him by informing the Congress leader and the cop. "We are trying to trace the absconding inspector and other suspects in the case. The investigation is progressing," a senior official from west zone said. Pseudo cop gang busted, 6 nabbed Police busted a pseudo police and fake I-T officials gang who robbed a trader and his aides of Rs 9.2 lakh a week ago by arresting six people. The gang had stopped and searched the victims car, and kidnapped his team before taking away the cash in Rs 2,000 notes while he was transporting the money to Vikarabad. The gang claimed that they are I-T officials and members of the Special Operation Team of Cyberabad. The victim, Mohammed Salman Pasha from Vikarabad, had come to Hyderabad to exchange currency and had got Rs 9.2 lakh in Rs 2,000 notes from his friends. He and his two aides, Krishna and Shakeel, were returning to Vikarabad with the cash on November 26 when they were robbed. They had stopped their car at Langer Houz Green Bawarchi Hotel to have dinner. The suspects came there in a car with a beacon light on it. They picked up the victims, beat them up and searched their car. After finding the money they forcibly confined the victims inside the car, and took them to the Income-Tax Tower area in Masab Tank, where some more people joined them stating they were I-T officials. Later, they took the victim to Tippu Khan bridge near Golconda, dropped them there and fled with the cash, said DCP Venkateshwar Rao. Police arrested the suspects, Shiraz Ahm-ed, 46, an accountant from Tolichowki, Moh-ammed Irfan, 29, from Langer Houz, Syed Imroz Ahmed, 30, Gulshan Colony, Syed Mustafa Ali, 19, from Domalguda, Syed Azher Hussain, 22, from Golconda and Mah-mood Khan, 53, from Hussaini Alam. Police said three more people were absconding. The gang had got info about the victims movements and had chalked out a plan to rob him, officials said. Police officials said that the antique had reached India before independence and it has been sold and bought by different people earlier. (Representational image) Hyderabad: Commissioners Task Force team arrested two people and recovered a Victorian era marine telescope (brass telescope used at the time of World War 1) from their possession. The duo was trying to sell the telescope, which was made by W. Ottway & Co. Ltd in 1915 in London, for six lakh rupees to their potential customers. Police officials said that the antique had reached India before independence and it has been sold and bought by different people earlier, and thus it reached in the hands of the suspects. The accused persons P.Madhusudhan Reddy, 27, a financier from Upperpally, and G.Vishal, from Attapur, are friends since past five years. Few days back the Madhusudhan Reddy informed Vishal that he has two antique telescopes and had asked him to sell it to the prospective customers. He offered him 40% commission. Vishal was hunting for the customers near Nagarjuna Hills, Panjagutta when our team apprehended him, an official from Task Force said. Hyderabad: It appears that there will be more delay while taking a decision on the matter of disqualifying Opposition members who had defected to the TRS. The setting up of the five-member Constitution bench to decide the power of courts to interfere in matter under consideration with the Speaker will take more time. The Chief Justice of India decides and constitutes larger benches on matters referred to by small benches. Justice R.K. Agarwal and Justice Rohington Fali Nariman had last month referred the matter of disqualification of legislators in the TS Assembly, to Chief Justice T.S. Thakur to constitute the five-member Constitution Bench. Sources said Justice Thakur who would be retiring on January 3, 2017, had left the issue to be decided by his successor, Justice J.S. Khehar, who will be the Chief Justice of India till August 27, 2017. Normally the Chief Justice does not decide on the setting up of larger benches, days before demitting office, sources said. This means that till the Constitution Bench is constituted, concludes its hearings and pronounces judgement, there is no chance of Telangana state Assembly Speaker initiating proceedings on the petitions filed by the legislature parties of the Congress, Telugu Desam and the YSRC seeking disqualification of their MLAs who joined the TRS. When contacted, Mr K. Ramakrishna Reddy, Advocate-General of Telangana state, said, The setting up of Constitution benches or larger benches is a matter to be decided by Chief Justice of India. I cannot say when he will do it. Sources said that the matter of providing reservations to some Muslim groups as done by the late Y S Rajashekhar Reddy government, which was referred to a Constitution bench, was also similarly delayed. There are several such references by smaller benches to the CJI. Based on the importance and urgency of the matter the CJI will decide. a senior advocate said. The availability of judges and time allotted for hearings by the larger bench is important in such matters. This would come as a breather for the Speaker, who has not commenced hearings on the disqualification petitions. Telangana assembly to meet after December 14 Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday deci-ded to convene Legislative Assembly and Council after December 14. The State Legislature is being reconvened to follow a parliamentary convention of meeting legislatures having three sessions in a calendar year. The Legislature had met on August 30 to pass the GST Bill. Earlier, the Telangana Legislature had met for 16 days in the Budget Session. Together, the Legislature had met for 17 days in the last 11 months. Taking into account the last session of August 30, the Assembly need not be convened till January 30, 2017, as per the Constitutional requ-irement of not having six months gap between two sessions. According to Article 174, Six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session. In this backdrop, Speaker S. Madhusudana Chary and Legislature secretary S. Raja Sadaram are likely to cancel their London visit for attending the Commonwealth Parli-amentary Association meet between December 13 to 20. If the Assembly was reconvened on December 22 in order to allow the Speaker to visit London, the house could not run for a minimum period of one week due to ensuing the Christmas holidays, sources said. Hyderabad: The CID cyber crime police probing into the siphoning off of Rs 42 lakh from the account of a NRI customer found that the gang was operating from The Philippines. CID hasnt ruled out the role of insiders at ICICI Bank, Hyderabad, as the fixed deposits were liquidated with a simple e-mail of the customer without verification. A top TS police official said the NRI was is based in the US. We suspect he may have used a public wi-fi through which hackers may have stolen his email user ID and password and got access to his SB account. They found about the fixed deposits and sent a mail to the bank to liquidate the FD. Usually for NRI accounts there is no verification either by sending an OTP or by a phone call. The bank sent emails but as the account was in the control of the crooks, the complainant could not access it. The FD funds were transferred to Corpora-tion Bank in Chennai into the accounts of mules locals assisting the Nigerian fraudsters sitting in the Philippines. The money was withdrawn and then transferred to the gangs account. Though the police could trace the accused, due to jurisdictional and legal issues it is trying to get them extradited and recover the money. Hyderabad: A youth named Srinivas, 19, from Kalanagar near the toll plaza, risked his life to save the victims, but could not succeed. Srinivas suffered minor burns in the attempt. Meanwhile, Bhaskar who was dropped by the victims at the airport is also in shock. Srinivas sells Allamarabba (an eatable containing ginger and jaggery) near the Pedda Amberpet toll plaza. On Monday he came to the toll plaza at around 3.30 am. He looked towards the Outer Ring Road and suddenly saw a spark over the underpass. Srinivas and a friend rushed to the spot on his bike and found that a car was on fire. He found one person on the back seat shouting for help. He tried to open the door but it was jammed. Later, he alerted the toll plaza staff who called the fire service. "I wanted to save that person who was shouting but failed," said Srinivas. Bhaskar is depressed as his friends died after seeing him off. He came to know of the incident after he landed in Coimbatore and flew back to Hyderabad. New Delhi: Some ministers on Monday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for winning TIME Person of the Year 2016's online reader poll while opposition leaders took a dig at him, saying such a survey, if conducted in India, will show his popularity has declined, especially after demonetisation. "I feel Modi ji is not only Person of the Year, but Person of the Century. With the agenda of peace, prosperity, growth and employment he is setting, the coming 84 years will have India and the world revolve around him," Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti told reporters in the Parliament premises. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, too, wished Modi saying, "I congratulate him." Taking a jibe at the Prime Minister, Congress MP Raj Babbar noted that those who voted for Modi were allegedly unaware of the rise in prices of flour and daal in the country during the NDA regime and the plight of Indians post demonetisation. "I will humbly tell Modi ji... You should not go by the Times survey... The popularity, riding on which you became the Prime Minister, has gone down over the past two-and-half years. Please keep it in mind," Babbar said. CPI national secretary D Raja expressed similar views and said people are unhappy with demonetisation. "...The Prime Minister can be happy with this certificate from TIME, but what about the certificate from people of the country?" Raja asked. In a sarcastic comment, former Union Minister Renuka Chowdhury said it was not surprising that Modi won the survey, for he pushed all Indians into difficulties with just one stroke of demonetisation. "Who will not consider him as Person of the Year? In one stroke, he burnt pockets of people," she said. Modi has won the online readers' poll for TIME Person of the Year 2016, beating other world leaders like US President- elect Donald Trump, incumbent US leader Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Time's editors will decide the final Person of the Year later this week, but the online poll results provide a look at how the world sees these figures and Modi emerged as the most influential figure in 2016, according to the online poll. The sources also said the Enforcement Directorate has registered a separate case under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the basis of the CBI FIR to probe the flow of proceeds of crime. New Delhi: The CBI and Enforcement Directorate have registered cases in connection with the Income Tax Department's seizure of over Rs 5.86 crore from four individuals, out of which Rs 5.63 crore were in new currency notes introduced post-demonetisation, in Bengaluru on Thursday. CBI sources said it is alleged in the FIR that managers of Karnataka Bank and Dhanlaxmi Bank, Suryanarayana Bairy and Umashankar Renuka, entered into a criminal conspiracy with four individuals, which included two Karnataka government officials, to dishonestly and fraudulently facilitate exchange of scrapped Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes with new notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. They said the managers had allegedly entered into the criminal conspiracy with Secure Value India Limited, Ibrahim Shereef, Jaychandra, Nazeer Ahmed and Chandrakanth Ramalingam to facilitate exchange of notes. They said the managers had allegedly entered into the criminal conspiracy with Secure Value India Limited, Ibrahim Shereef, Jaychandra, Nazeer Ahmed and Chandrakanth Ramalingam to facilitate exchange of notes. The agency has registered a case of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery among others and slapped provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Bairy, Renuka, Secure Value India, Shereef, Jaychandra, Ahmed and Ramalingma besides unknown others. The sources also said the Enforcement Directorate has registered a separate case under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the basis of the CBI FIR to probe the flow of proceeds of crime. In the biggest-ever seizure of cash in new currency on December 1, the Income Tax department had unearthed over Rs 5 crore even as it detected unaccounted income worth Rs 152 crore after it conducted searches in a dozen premises in Bengaluru and other locations. The I-T department carried out searches and recovered Rs 5.17 crore from Shereef, which included Rs 4.80 crore of new notes, Rs 25 lakh from Jaychandra with Rs 5 lakh in new currency, Rs 44 lakh from Ahmed with Rs 32.70 lakh in new notes and Rs 46 lakh of new currency from Ramalingam which were allegedly diverted by Bairy and Renuka on the basis of forged documents, the FIR alleged. It is alleged that the bank managers diverted the new currency notes through agents by falsifying bank accounts on the basis of forged and fabricated documents of identity and address proofs in the name of several individuals to camouflage these exchanges as genuine transactions. Residents gathered in front of the apartment where the actress was found dead at Saligramam on Sunday. (Photo: DC) Chennai: A 49-year-old TV serial actress was found murdered in her apartment in Saligramam on Sunday after neighbours complained about the foul smell emanating from her flat located on Periyar street. The victim was identified as D Jayaseeli, a native of Salem, who had also figured in some advertisements as well. Her brother Selvaraj, working in Salem Corporation, told the police that at least 50 sovereigns of gold ornaments placed in her bureau were missing. The imitation jewellery she was wearing was not touched by her killer. Her partially decomposed body was found on the bed without any clothes. A condom was found on the floor. It looked like she was smothered with a pillow by the killer to murder her, police said after making preliminary investigations. Virugambakkam police said that the killer had locked the grill gate while the wooden door in the front was just latched from outside. The killer had also sprayed some perfume in the house, probably to prevent foul smell spreading in the apartment. One of the neighbours told reporters that Jayaseeli was last seen on Friday evening at her balcony. She was living with her physically challenged brother Prem Kumar in the apartment. Two weeks ago, she had taken him to their native place in Salem. Police, after conducting enquiries with the local residents, said she used to go out regularly in auto rickshaws or on her two-wheeler. But nobody had seen someone going in or out from her apartment in the last two days. Police said her brother came to Chennai on Sunday when she failed to answer the calls on her mobile phone, which was also missing. A police sniffer dog, which was brought to the scene, ran up to nearby Arunachalam road before halting. Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening, is "very critical" and is on ECMO support, the Apollo Hospitals said in Chennai on Monday, denying reports that claimed the 68-year-old leader had breathed her last. Violent protests had broken out outside the hospital following reports that the AIADMK leader was no more, but doctors issued a statement saying the leader was still on life support. "Some TV channels are wrongly reporting that the Chief Minister is no more. This is totally baseless and false. They are advised to rectify this mistake based on this press release," the hospital said. The press release issued by Apollo Hospitals "Jayalalithaa remains in grave situation, despite best efforts," the hospital had earlier said barely hours after it had issued its latest bulletin at 12.45 pm. Jaya was under constant observation, with top doctors monitoring her health. "The Chief Minister continues to be critical and is on extracorporeal membrane heart assist device (ECMO) device," Apollo Hospitals COO Subbaih Viswanathan said in the press release. British expert, Dr Richard Beale, Consultant Intensivist at the Guys and Thomas Hospital in London, was being consulted over Skype and mobile phone on a regular basis and has concurred with the current line of treatment being given to the chief minister. Read: Jaya's condition extremely grave, doing our best: British doctor Beale Situation extremely grave but can confirm everything possible being done to give her best chance of surviving, said consulting doctor Richard Beale on Monday afternoon. Dr Beale had examined the Jayalalithaa thrice in the past three months and is one of the senior members of the team attending on the AIADMK supremo. The Centre dispatched a team of specialists from the All India Institute of Medical Science to Apollo Hospital. Four specialists from AIIMS will soon be reaching Apollo Hospital, Health Minister J P Nadda said. "We are in constant touch with Apollo and Tamil Nadu Government. They had requested a team of doctors from AIIMS. We have sent a team of specialists from AIIMS Dr Khilani, Dr Trikha, Dr Narang and Dr Talwar. We hope that doctors from AIIMS and Apollo will be able to help in her recovery. We pray to God that she regains her health," Nadda said. The team of AIIMS doctors include pulmonologist Dr GC Khilnani, anaesthetist Dr Anjan Trikha, cardiac surgeon Dr Sachin Talwar and cardiologist Dr Rajiv Narang. Eminent cardiologist Dr Naresh Trehan will be heading the team. Nadda said the doctors would decide the line of treatment and that he has no plans as of now to travel to Chennai. We are constantly in touch with the hospital authorities and officials of the state government in Chennai. We have sent a team of doctors and are constantly monitoring the situation, Nadda said. Since the Chief Ministers health is critical and rumours about her health doing the rounds, Apollo Hospitals is expected to issue health bulletins on a regular basis. Union Health Minister J P Nadda also briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Jaya's health. A large number of AIADMK cadres, including women, anxiously stayed put outside the hospital, which has been covered in a thick blanket of security. Worried party supporters continued to pray for her recovery. Following the development, Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, who is also the Governor of Maharashtra, air-dashed to the city from Mumbai and visited Apollo Hospitals last night. On Monday, the Governor said there was no law and order situation in the state. Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, who arrived at the airport in Chennai on Monday morning, said all BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wished for a complete recovery of Jayalalithaa and they were praying for her. Actor and party supporter, 'Gundu' Kalyanam, said the party workers had faith in the divine power and expressed confidence that Jayalalithaa would recover. President Pranab Mukherjee, DMK leader M Karunanidhi, his son and opposition leader K Stalin, Union Ministers, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Chief Ministers and a host of leaders have expressed concern over Jayalalithaa's health condition and wished her speedy recovery. ECMO is a technique of providing both cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange to sustain life. (Photo: AFP/Representational Image) Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa suffered cardiac arrest on Sunday while still admitted to Apollo Hospitals in Chennai. She was put on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) device, commonly called a heart-assist device. So what exactly is an ECMO or heart-assist device? An extracorporeal medical procedure is one which is performed outside the body. ECMO is a technique of providing both cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange to sustain life. ECMO works by removing blood from the person's body and artificially removing the carbon dioxide and oxygenating red blood cells. The blood is pumped directly into the body to energise it as the heart and lungs are unable to perform the pumping function. The procedure was earlier performed mostly on children but is now being increasingly used on adults too. Criteria for the initiation of ECMO include acute severe cardiac or pulmonary failure that is potentially reversible and unresponsive to conventional management, according to the Extracorporeal Life Support Organisation. The use of ECMO has been shown to improve survival rates, say some scientific papers. A 2009 scientific paper by US-based doctors Thomas V Brogan, Ravi R Thiagarajan, Peter T Rycus, Robert H Bartlett and Susan L Bratton said that survival rates of 50 to 70 per cent have been recorded in uncontrolled clinical trials. AIADMK cadres holding special prayers for speedy recovery of party supremo J Jayalalithaa in front of Apollo Hospitals in Chennai. (Photo: PTI) Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening, continues to be critical and is under the observation of a special team of doctors at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai, where she has been undergoing treatment for more than two months. Doctors were closely monitoring the condition of Jayalalithaa and trying their "very best", the hospital said early today, hours after she suffered the cardiac arrest. British expert Dr Richard Beale, Consultant Intensivist at the Guys and Thomas Hospital in London, is being consulted over Skype and mobile phone on a regular basis. He has concurred with the current line of treatment being given to Jayalalithaa. Dr Beale had examined the Chief Minister thrice in the past three months and is one of the senior members of the team that was attending on Jayalalithaa. 68-year-old Chief Minister is put on extracorporeal membrane heart-assist device (a heart pump). Centre today dispatched a team of specialists from the All India Institute of Medical Science to Apollo Hospital. Four specialists from AIIMS will soon be reaching Apollo Hospital, Health Minister J P Nadda said. "We are in constant touch with Apollo and Tamil Nadu Government. They had requested a team of doctors from AIIMS. We have sent a team of specialists from AIIMS Dr Khilani, Dr Trikha, Dr Narang and Dr Talwar. We hope that doctors from AIIMS and Apollo will be able to help in her recovery. We pray to God that she regains her health," Nadda said. The team of AIIMS doctors include pulmonologist Dr GC Khilnani, anaesthetist Dr Anjan Trikha, cardiac surgeon Dr Sachin Talwar and cardiologist Dr Rajiv Narang. Eminent cardiologist Dr Naresh Trehan will be heading the team. Nadda said the doctors would decide the line of treatment and that he has no plans as of now to travel to Chennai. We are constantly in touch with the hospital authorities and officials of the state government in Chennai. We have sent a team of doctors and are constantly monitoring the situation, Nadda said. Since the Chief Ministers health is critical and rumours about her health doing the rounds, Apollo Hospitals is expected to issue health bulletins on a regular basis. Meanwhile, all AIADMK MLAs have rushed to Chennai and are waiting for instructions from the party headquarters. A large number of AIADMK cadres, including women, anxiously stayed put outside the hospital, which has been covered in a thick blanket of security. Worried party supporters continued to pray for her recovery. State DGP T K Rajendran yesterday asked all police personnel to remain on duty from today "until further orders". "They should report in full uniform with their vehicles for law and order bandobust duty until further orders," he said. Announcing the sudden deterioration in health, a statement by Chief Operating Officer and head of transformation of Apollo Hospitals Dr Subbaiah Viswanathan last night said, "she is being treated and monitored by a team of experts, including cardiologists, pulmonologist and critical care specialists." Following the development, Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, who is also the Governor of Maharashtra, airdashed to the city from Mumbai and visited Apollo Hospitals last night. On Monday, the Governor said there was no law and order situation in the state. Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, who arrived at the airport here this morning, said all BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wished for a complete recovery of Jayalalithaa and they were praying for her. He expressed confidence that Jayalalithaa will soon recover and resume official duties. Party workers, who had gathered in large numbers outside the hospital after news of her cardiac arrest broke, braved midnight rains and continued to wait outside, praying for the recovery of 'Amma' (mother), as she is fondly called by her supporters. Actor and party supporter, 'Gundu' Kalyanam, said the party workers had faith in the divine power and expressed confidence that Jayalalithaa would recover. President Pranab Mukherjee, DMK leader M Karunanidhi, his son and opposition leader K Stalin, Union Ministers, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Chief Ministers and a host of leaders have expressed concern over Jayalalithaa's health condition and wished her speedy recovery. Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital on September 22 after she complained of fever and dehydration, and later treated for infection and respiratory problem. Chennai: Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening and was being treated and monitored by a team of doctors, the Apollo Hospitals said on Sunday night. After she suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening, Ms Jayalalithaa was put on extracorporeal membrane heart assist device and the team of doctors attending on her quickly consulted British expert Dr Richard Beale, who had been treating her ever since she was admitted to the hospital on September 22. The Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, who is undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals, Greams Road, Chennai, suffered a cardiac arrest this evening, a medical bulletin issued by the Apollo Hospitals said. She is being treated and monitored by a team of experts including cardiologists, pulmonologist and critical care specialists, the statement further said. Later in a series of tweets, the hospital said Ms Jayalalithaa is on extracorporeal membrane heart assist device and is being treated by a team of expert doctors and critical care specialists. At the time of writing, a team of AIIMS doctors -- Dr G. Khilnani, Professor, Department of Pulmonology Medicine, Dr Anjan Trikha, Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care and Dr Nitish Nayak, Professor, Department of Cardiology was rushing to Chennai to join the doctors treating her. Informed sources said the Chief Minister was shifted back to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on Sunday evening. As soon as the news of Ms Jayalalithaa suffering a cardiac arrest spread, Acting Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao rushed to the city from Maharashtra, implying the gravity of the situation, and drove straight to the Apollo Hospitals. Police presence at the Apollo Hospitals was beefed up since Sunday evening and it was further strengthened late in the night after the official bulletin was put out by the hospital that confirmed the Chief Minister had suffered a cardiac arrest. DGP (in-charge) T K Rajendran and Chennai Police Commissioner George rushed to the hospital and were monitoring the situation. As ministers and party leaders rushed inside the hospital, cadres waited outside. I only want my Amma to come back. I am sure she will come back much stronger. Amma is everything for the people of Tamil Nadu and for the AIADMK, said a woman cadre, with tears rolling down her cheeks. Another cadre, who had come all the way from Ayanavaram after hearing the news that Ms Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest, said he would leave the hospital premises only after hearing the news that she is well. I dont want to hear anything other than the news that she has recovered. I only want that, he said. AIADMK supporters sit in front of Apollo Hospital after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest in Chennai. (Photo: PTI) Cuddalore: The frenzy over Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's critical heath condition seems to have begun as a distressed supporter died last night after watching news about her health. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) cadre Nelagandan from Cuddalore district died on Sunday night after seeing the news of Jayalalithaa's health on the television. Nelagandan, who was distraught upon finding out about Jayalalithaa, experienced severe chest pain and passed out. His family immediately called an ambulance, but were later informed by the medics that he had already passed away. Jayalalithaa is critical after she suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening. The state government has sought help of paramilitary forces to handle the crowd in case of any emergency. Security has been stepped up across the city to attend any eventuality and buses plying out of Chennai have been reduced and security in the capital has been tightened. Chennai: Fondly known as Puratchi thalaivi by her followers, Jayalalithaa was born on February 24, 1948, at Melukote, in Mandya district, which was then a part of then in Mysore State, and was always destined for fame and greatness. In May this year, she scripted history, by assuming office for the sixth time as Tamil Nadus Chief Minister, embarking on a new chapter in her chequered political career spanning over three decades. A leader known for her grit and determination, 68-year-old Jayalalithaa proved her detractors wrong again when she steered AIADMK to power for a second consecutive term in the May 16 assembly polls. Though she had to quit twice over corruption cases, she managed to make a dramatic come back. A peep into her political career beginning 1982 would show that she faced intense and protracted struggle to eventually head AIADMK, overcoming the animosity of rival camps led by the leaders including then Minister in the MG Ramachandran cabinet, RM Veerappan. She successfully contested the Tamil Nadu Assembly election in 1989 from Bodinayakkanur and became the first woman Leader of the Opposition in the House. She led the unification of the party in 1990 which had split following the death of party founder MGR in 1987 and eventually captured power in 1991. Since then, she has headed AIADMK governments for three separate tenures (1991-96, 2001-06, 2011-16). She also had to quit twice in the interim following court cases once in 2001 and later in 2014. For nearly six months, starting September 2001 she was out of office after being unseated by the Supreme Court vis-a-vis electoral disqualification in the TANSI case. Between September 29, 2014 and May 22, 2015 she was out of office again after she was disqualified as a legislator and consequently lost chief ministership following her conviction in a graft case by a trial court in Bengaluru, which was later set aside by Karnataka High Court. Altogether, she was sworn in as CM five times (1991-96, May-Sept 2001, 2002-06, 2011-14, and 2015-16. Known for her bold decision making, she had famously remarked after assuming office as Chief Minister for the second time that "I am a ringmaster" making things work by motivating government officials. As a teen starlet, Jayalalithaa made her film debut in CV Sridhar-directed 'Vennira Aadai' (white dress) in 1965, and went on to become one of the most popular actress of that era. In 28 films, she was paired with matinee idol MGR who later became her political mentor and in 1982 inducted her into AIADMK which he founded. She worked her way up in the party though factional leaders targeted her. She was appointed propaganda secretary in 1983. Hailed as 'Puratchi Thalaivi' (Revolutionary Leader), Jayalalithaa proved wrong all calculations of DMK retaining power in 2011 when she led her party to a fantastic victory by forming a rainbow coalition comprising DMDK and Left parties. Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has asked all district collectors to fast track the development of new districts. During a review meeting with ministers and officials at his camp office, Mr Rao asked collectors to devise programmes such as Know Your District, Plan Your District, for the speedy development of new districts. With the new districts completing two months on December 11, the Chief Minister said he would hold a collectors' conference on December 14 to devise district-wise development plans. The CM reiterated that each district would have its unique resources, strengths and weakness and the Collectors concerned should prepare a comprehensive plan based the requirement of their respective districts. Based on the population numbers, all the 31 districts in the State should be made into four divisions and separate development plans should be prepared accordingly. He asked officials to gather information on households in district, their socio-economic status, condition of road and railway network, status of irrigation projects, progress of land acquisition for project, Mission Bhagiratha, banking network and steps needed for cashless transactions, status of agriculture, horticulture and industrial sectors, status of eduction and health sectors etc. National Investigation Agency (NIA) team and Mumbai Police raids the Islamic Research Foundation office headed by Zakir Naik at Dongri in Mumbai. (Photo: PTI/File) Mumbai: Mumbai Police has handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) its probe into the foreign funding of controversial preacher Zakir Naik-promoted Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), which was banned recently, a top police officer said on Monday. "As the NIA has registered an offence against Naik and its investigation into the case is in progress, we have handed over the probe to them," a senior officer of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police, said. "We will provide whatever logistic support (to NIA) that is required," he said. In August this year, the EOW of Mumbai Police had initiated a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) into IRF's foreign funding. Naik had come under the scanner of the security agencies after Bangladeshi newspaper 'Daily Star' reported that one of the perpetrators of the July 1 terror attack in Dhaka, Rohan Imtiaz, ran propaganda on Facebook last year quoting Naik. The Centre recently banned the IRF and declared it as a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for five years. Earlier, Mumbai Police had submitted its report related to Naik and IRF's activities to the state government. During the EOW investigation, it was revealed that around Rs 50 crore were allegedly deposited from abroad into various accounts of Naik, his wife and other relatives. This funding was also under scanner under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The NIA had registered an offence against Naik on November 18 for promoting enmity and hatred between different religious groups in India through his public speeches and lectures on various platforms. Naik has been booked along with unnamed IRF officials under section 153-A of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) beside various sections of UAPA. The NIA had recently asked three banks to freeze 25 accounts of Naik, his family members and IRF. In addition, the NIA also handed over a list of over 12 people including Naik, his family members, close friends and organisations, to all 72 scheduled commercial banks to check whether these people had any account in these financial institutions. The NIA has also written to the MHA for banning the website run by the IRF and as well as suspending its online activities, which includes videos of speeches on social networking sites. New Delhi: The militants who attacked the Army camp at Nagrota in Jammu and Kashmir, had entered the premises from the forest area in its rear, official sources said today. The sources claimed that the militants used the forest area located behind the Army camp to gain entry. The area has barbed wire and a small wall, they said. Two Indian Army officers and five jawans were killed in an eight-hour long gun battle at the military camp near the Army's 16 Corps headquarters in Nagrota on November 29. Three militants were also neutralised in the attack. The Army unit is located just three kms from the Corps Headquarters at Nagrota. A statement by the Army soon after the attack had said that the terrorists forced their way into the Officers Mess complex by throwing grenades and firing at the sentries. However, Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag said here on the sidelines of an event that the incident was under investigation and a final report will clarify everything. Chennai: President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday night said he is praying for the speedy recovery of Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, who suffered a cardiac arrest. Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to the acting Tamil Nadu Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao to inquire about her health. Distressed to hear about CM Jayalalithaa suffering a cardiac arrest, my prayers for her speedy recovery, the President tweeted on his official Twitter account, within an hour of hearing the news. Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, a close friend of the Chief Minister, said he was feeling bad on coming to know about her health condition. Feeling bad to know about the critical condition of TN CM Selvi Jayalalithaa. Praying for her speedy recovery and quick response to the treatment, he tweeted. Wishing Jayalalithaa Hon CM of TN a speedy recovery, Let her be healthy soon, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu tweeted. Meanwhile, Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and enquired about Jayalalithaas health. Rao briefed Singh about the health condition of the Chief Minister and conveyed that doctors attending to her were taking all necessary steps, sources said, adding that the Governor told the Home Minister that he was rushing to Chennai to personally monitor the situation. The sources said Home Ministry officials are in constant touch with the officials of Tamil Nadu government and assessing the situation. The government would provide infrastructure for setting up cashless transaction system at major temples. Hyderabad: In a move to encourage cashless transactions, the endowment department will procure point-of-sale swipe units at all temples and upgrade the official websites to have payment gateways. Following Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Raos statement on the implementation of cashless transactions, endowment minister A. Indrakaran Reddy held a series of meetings with officials and executive officers from major temples. Mr Reddy told this newspaper that in view of demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency denominations and insufficient cash at banks and ATMs, the government would provide infrastructure for setting up cashless transaction system at major temples. In the initial state, we will select Yadadri, Bhadradri, Kaleswaram, Vemulawada, Kondagattu and Basara temples. We will implement the system at other temples in phases, he said. He said services like booking cottages, darshan tickets, special pujas, donations, payment at prasadam counters and at kalyanakatta would go cashless. Except offering hundi donations, we shall offer all services through cashless transaction system. In two days, well hold a final meeting and announce the system, he said. An official from the endowment department said that with the coordination of the information technology department, all the EOs from major temples would upgrade websites. Executive officers from major temples had already approached bankers for PoS units. Ibrahimpur is the first village in south India to become cashless, the state government release claimed. (Photo: Representational Image) Hyderabad: Telangana government on Monday said Ibrahimpur village in Siddipet Assembly constituency has become cashless, claiming it is the first hamlet in south India do so. The village, adopted by state irrigation minister T Harish Rao, has a population of about 1,200 and the process of opening bank accounts to all and distributing debit cards and swiping machines has been completed, it said in a release in Hyderabad. Ibrahimpur is the first village in south India to become cashless, the state government release claimed. Rao, who represents Siddipet in the state Legislative Assembly, observed cashless transactions in the village and said it would be ideal for others. The state government had recently declared that a pilot project would be undertaken to make the Siddipet Assembly constituency cashless. Chennai: With prayers on their lips, AIADMK leaders and cadre waited anxiously outside the Apollo Hospitals since Sunday evening after the news came out that their leader J. Jayalalithaa had suffered a cardiac arrest. Chennai Police had a tough time controlling the crowd outside the hospital on the busy Greams road as hundreds of people kept thronging the institution. Chest-beating women of the AIADMK started wailing and praying that the Chief Minister would emerge soon stronger from the hospital. As the crowd swelled outside the main gate of the Apollo Hospitals, where Ms Jayalalithaa was admitted on September 22, police had to resort to mild force to quell the people who, at one point, tried to break into the gate and enter the hospital. AIADMK bigwigs like Finance Minister O Panneerselvam, Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar and senior bureaucrats and officials rushed to the hospitals, while hundreds of AIADMK cadre also gathered outside Apollo Hospitals on the busy Greams Road. Thousands of party cadre rushed to the Apollo Hospitals after the news spread and tried to enter the premises, giving tough time for the police to control the situation. Hyderabad: Telugu Desam working president A. Revanth Reddy on Monday lodged a complaint with Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, against granting of Cabinet Status to people in excess of the number allowed under the Constitution. According to Article 164 (1A) of the Constitution, the Cabinet strength shall not be more than 15 per cent of the strength of Assembly. As per this provision, Telangana can have only 18 Cabinet ministers. Mr Reddy said the TRS government of late has accorded Cabinet Minister Status to several advisors, corporation chairmen and to special government representatives violating the rules. He observed the Chief Minister K. Chand-rashekhar Rao had recently appointed some more advisors with Cabinet Status. He demanded all those appointments must be scrapped immediately to protect the Constitution. The TD leader also recalled that the High Court had struck down their appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries who had Cabinet Minister Status, based on his complaint. The very notion that she would come back energised and fit enough to be the Chief Minister again could have been nursed only by her party loyalists and the millions who prayed for her faithfully. (Photo: PTI) The end came in the same hospital named after the Greek god of healing, Apollo - at which her political mentor and fellow actor MGR had first been treated after a serious illness in the 1980s. Ever since she was admitted to the corporate hospital on September 22, they put a blanket on the news coming out. State secret or not, insiders knew that her illness was far more serious than her close associates or her party leaders would ever concede. A suspected septicaemia was said to have led to other severe complications in the lungs and in the heart and she was soon breathing only with the help of a ventilator. As complication piled upon complication, the news flow got even more restricted. In about a months time, she was said to have staged a smart recovery from the life-threatening, multi-organ threatening infection. However, she had grown so feeble that she needed the support of machines to breathe and physiotherapy to bolster her body that had lost all its muscle. And, as the London intensivist Dr Beale was to reveal, anything could happen to her health in the event of a relapse. Hope was rising once again as she seemed to recover from the worst and doctors were even hoping in the last week of November she could get back home where physiotherapy and other treatment could continue. However, insiders were unwilling to put a date on her return home as they knew the merest setback could send her hurtling towards grave illness once again. The very notion that she would come back energised and fit enough to be the Chief Minister again could have been nursed only by her party loyalists and the millions who prayed for her faithfully. There was never a chance that her recovery would be anywhere near good enough for her to interact with anyone except doctors, nurses and those considered her adopted kin. To even believe she could get back on the gaddi in her favourite Secretariat in Fort St George was to have faith in the supernatural. The day she suffered a cardiac arrest was to be her second last and she lived on into Monday afternoon, which is when the life support systems such as Ecmo were no more life-sustaining. Her condition in her last days was said to be pathetic after she had lost a huge amount of weight and tubes were running to feed her nutrients and medicines and she could hardly speak after the Tacheostomy procedure to assist her breathing. She had reigned like a monarch with none around her willing even to speak a word she might take umbrage at. It was sad then that she should go after being a passive patient for 75 days. The doctors had taken the best possible care of her with the entire second floor of the hospital taken over for her to be in the Critical Care Unit as the sole occupant with lesser threat of infection. Her ministers and kin had space on a different wing of the same floor where they waited in vain for her complete recovery. An extracorporeal membrane heart assist device was to be the final companion for a woman who was the nearest anyone could have been to a modern monarch in India with the courtiers willing to die to please her. The farcical circumstances of news channels jumping the gun even in stating what was feared but not officially declared were avoidable. If only those running the state when the leader was sick had the least bit of concern for information flow, we would not have been subject to such uncertainty. Given the extra optimistic health bulletins of the party faithful like C.R, Saraswathi and the rigidly medical tone of Apollo Hospitals releases, there was bound to be a churning of anxieties in the public, who in the end were the real supporters of a leader who had striven to make their lives easier, if not better. Of course, given Jayalalithaas own Goebbelsian view of the media, it was no surprise that information flow was never an official priority. Of course, the tremendous regard she had for the Deccan Chronicle obviated the need for us to be hypercritical of her general media relations. CHENNAI: Galaxy of political leaders, including President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi, on Monday night condoled the death of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, saying the nation has lost an icon who was loved and admired by millions and her death has left a huge void in Indian politics. In messages issued immediately after Ms Jayalalithaas death was announced, Mr Mukherjee recalled his days in Rajya Sabha when the Chief Minister was a member of the House and said she was progressive in her thought and pro-active in pursuing the issues that were close to her heart, such as the empowerment of women and welfare of children. In her passing away, the nation has lost an icon who was loved and admired by millions. Her contribution to the progress and development of Tamil Nadu will be long remembered, Mr Mukherjee said. Mr Modi, who shared excellent rapport with Ms Jayalalithaa, said her demise has left a huge void in Indian politics. Jayalalithaa jis connect with citizens, concern for welfare of the poor, the women & marginalized will always be a source of inspiration. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Tamil Nadu in this hour of grief, the PM tweeted. May the Almighty grant them the strength to bear this irreparable loss with courage and fortitude. I will always cherish the innumerable occasions when I had the opportunity to interact with Jayalalithaa ji. May her soul rest in peace, Mr Modi said. Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi said Ms Jayalalithaa lived her entire life with the same indomitable courage with which she battled her last illness. The Congress Party, my family and I personally, share the grief and pain of the people of Tamil Nadu and her devoted supporters in the AIADMK who have lost their beloved Amma. She was a towering figure in our national and political life, the Congress President said. Her son and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi tweeted that the nation lost a great leader today. Women, farmers, fishermen and the marginalised dreamt through her eyes, he said. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said Ms Jayalalithaa was a Popular, strong, bold, efficient, people- friendly and charismatic leader. Amma. Always at the heart of people. Big loss. I am shocked and saddened. I humbly urge the people of Tamil Nadu and AIADMK to face this big loss with courage and greatness. May she Rest in Peace, she tweeted in English and Tamil. Magunta Srinivasula Reddy (Telugu Desam MLC): Jayalalithaa has been my familys well wisher for the last 30 years. I and my late elder brother Magunta Subbaramireddy had a close connection with her. Our relations were cordial and more family centric. No politics or business issues cropped up in our meetings. When my brother was shot dead by Naxals on December 1, 1995, and the cremation took place on December 3, she came to Nellore from Chennai to pay her respects. She attended wedding functions in our family. A few days before she was admitted to Apollo hospital in September, I met her at her residence. She used to talk to us in Telugu only, though I once told her we know Tamil, but she said it was better to speak in Telugu and she loved the language. She was our guide and mentor. Madasu Gangadharam (vice president, AP Congress): When K Karunanidhi became Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa felt insecure living in Chennai and shifted to Hyderabad in 1989. She lived in rented accommodation in Radhika Colony in West Maredpally, just opposite my house. She lived there for one year till she became Chief Minister of TN. She confined herself to her house; hardly anyone in the colony saw her. She bought agriculture land near Medchel and built a small house there where she grew grapes and vegetables. In Radhika Colony she had no telephone initially. One day she knocked on my door and asked to use my phone and I happily obliged. For her sake we bought a cordless phone and she gave my landline number to her contacts and they used to call us and we used to inform her about the calls. Before she left for Chennai, she came to my home and offered nee clothes to me and my wife and even invited us to visit her in Chennai. She remembered me when I was with the then Governor Rosaiah in the Chennai Raj Bhavan and told everybody that she was my neighbour in Hyderabad. I believe her mother (the actress Sandhya) had a problem evicting the tenant who occupied her flat in Srinagar Colony. It was sorted out during Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddys regime as Chief Minister. Renuka Chowdary (Congress Member): I used to see Jayalalithaa in Delhi as a fellow Rajya Sabha member from 1986. She was two years senior to me in the House. A very beautiful lady, young, energetic and always articulate. She would come to the Rajya Sabha having done her home work. Except for a few members like me, she didnt interact freely with others. We used to share several things. She had a great memory and was very intelligent. She visited my home in Hyderabad a number of times. She also invited my family to her farm house near Medchel. She used to bring cooks from Chennai to prepare various dishes for her guests. She made it a point to prepare one dish in four varieties - like chicken or meat or any vegetable item, but each in four varieties. But she was sensitive too, like a child. She used to see all those writings against her in the newspapers and express her anguish. I used to tell her dont take every criticism to heart. Our relations were very cordial always. I am much sought after: Jayalalithaa On her last visit to Hyderabad, on January 27, 1995, Jayalalithaa as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu entered into an agreement with the AP Government over the Telugu Ganga Works and visited the AP Secretariat along with her team of officials. It was a rare occasion when the yesteryears hero and heroine of Tollywood, N T Rama Rao and Jayalalithaa, were Chief Ministers of their states. During a media interaction, a reporter asked her: Will you now be after any political front at the national level? She replied, I am not such a person to be after anybody; rather I am much sought after by others. Chennai: With rumours of her death abounding more than once in the last three months, J Jayalalithaas health was a matter of much speculation in both conventional and social media. While much of this could be credited to the staunch secrecy with which her health status was guarded, the ones who bore the brunt were the people of Tamil Nadu. Despite constant health updates, the rumours surrounding the late AIADMK supremos health only got stronger, with the party, government and the state police forming massive machinery to quell unfounded reports. Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital on September 22 after she complained of fever and dehydration, and was later treated for infection and respiratory problems. Dubious audio clips, and statements attributed to anonymous staffs from her medical team did nothing but swell the tension that had already gripped the state with regards to her health status. So much so that over 50 cases were registered in this connection and over eight people detained. This only resulted in a passionate outburst of prayers, grief and despair, with reports of many worshippers succumbing to shock. From eating mansoru to endless recitations of Kala Bhairva Mantra to offering shocking sums of money to religious institutions, many resorted to various rituals to help their ailing leader. Sitting cramped in makeshift tents outside the Apollo hospital, reports revealed the gruelling daily rituals of recitations and special poojas conducted by sweaty, vermillion smeared followers for Jayalalithaas recovery. The sleepless nights and the killing suspense, worsened by the tense faces of party leadership scooting in and out of the Hospital, only made matters worse. But while the party workers and followers were pushed to seek divine intervention with prayers and rituals, the extreme centralisation of the party meant that without Amma the party was left without any decisive second-rung to run Tamil Nadu, noted a national daily in its editorial. The editorial piece cited O Panneerselvams tenure as acting Chief Minister in 2014 as an example, pointing out that no major decisions were taken during this period. All hell broke loose once again on December 5, when the national media announced the chief ministers death without waiting for the official confirmation form the party or the Hospital. The hospital authorities were forced to rush out to calm the mob outside the hospital, which had by then turned violent. The angry crowd jostled against the police and paramilitary forces, pelting stones and expressed their angst by resorting to violence. The officials from the hospital were forced to come out and re-affirm that Jayalalithaa was still alive and breathing, leaving people of the state reeling with confusion. Even the party members of AIADMK were caught off guard. The party flag was flown at half-mast, and was later flown to full mast. The lack of clarity regarding her health status was removed with the announcement of the leaders death on . only to be replaced soon with grief and despair, plunging the state into mourning. With political instability, suspense and rumour mills working overtime, the last three months have indeed been a rough ride for the people of Tamil Nadu. CHENNAI: J Jayalalithaa, the charismatic six-time Chief Minister who ruled the political arena and Tamil cinema world alike for decades on end, died at the Apollo Hospitals here on late Monday night, plunging Tamil Nadu and her party, the AIADMK, into a political crisis. Jayalalithaa, 68, breathed her last at the ICU of the hospital at 11.30 pm where she was admitted on September 22, despite efforts to sustain her revival, the Apollo Hospitals said. This is with indescribable grief that we announce the sad demise of our esteemed Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Puratchi Thalaivi Amma at 11.30 PM today (05.12.2016), the Apollo Hospitals said in an official release. It said the Apollo Hospitals joins the nation and the people of the state of Tamil Nadu in deeply mourning her loss. A political veteran, Ms Jayalalithaa achieved a historic milestone on May 19, 2016 when she led the AIADMK to a spectacular successive term on her re-election, a feat that was earlier achieved only by her mentor MG Ramachandran. A darling of the national media, Ms Jayalalithaa was hailed as an astute administrator and a shrewd politician, but her critics termed her arrogant and accused her of behaving like a monarch. Ms Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening and was put on ECMO support since then. The Apollo Hospitals has been issuing periodical health bulletins about the Chief Ministers health saying that she was very critical. An indication that the battle was lost and hopes began fading of a recovery came at around 3.30 pm when British expert Dr Richard Beale issued a statement saying that the situation was grave and everything that should be done to bring Ms Jayalalithaa out of the present situation was being done. The Chief Minister was rushed to the Apollo Hospitals on the night of September 22 and a medical bulletin issued the same night said she was being treated for fever and dehydration. As the uncertainty continued for days together, the Apollo Hospitals rushed British expert Dr Richard Beale, a world-renowned Intensivist Specialist, to examine Ms Jayalalithaa, who have developed infection in her lungs. Later, a top-notch team from the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi joined the team at Apollo Hospitals and Dr Beale. Together, the doctors drew a treatment plan that was continued till she suffered cardiac arrest on Sunday evening. The treatment plan had worked to a great extent and this was evident from a statement issued by Dr Beale on Monday afternoon in which he said he was like everyone been most encouraged by how well she had been doing. Ms Jayalalithaa entered politics in 1983 on the prodding from her mentor in film industry the legendary M G Ramachandran and was made the powerful propaganda secretary of the AIADMK and within a year, she was the partys face in the national politics after being elected to the Rajya Sabha. During her stint in Rajya Sabha, Ms Jayalalithaa developed a good working equation with the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and she was the virtual No.2 in the AIADMK after her mentor MGRs death in the winter of 1987. Though Ms Jayalalithaa lost the initial battle with MGRs widow Janaki Ramachandran, she bounced within a years time after which Ms Ramachandran quit politics. Ms Jayalalithaa became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in June 1991 and her first five-year tenure between 1991 and 1996 was marred by allegations of corruption. After a five-year lull, she bounced back in 2001 though she did not contest the Assembly elections and became the Chief Minister for the second time, though the tenure was interrupted due to a court ruling. After her victory in 2011 Assembly polls, Ms Jayalalithaa catapulted the party as the eternal biggest outfit in Tamil Nadu and ensured that power does not go away from her. The couple registered their marriage at a local court in Ratlam town on Saturday and tied nuptial knot at the Ram temple on Sunday. (Representational image) Bhopal: A marriage ceremony held in the district headquarters town of Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday saw a humble tea ceremony instead of the usual sumptuous delicacies. A couple Kapil Rathore and Antimbala from affluent families, had decided to go for a simple marriage when they failed to arrange money to meet expenses of their earlier fat wedding plan, owing to current cash crunch triggered by the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The couple registered their marriage at a local court in Ratlam town on Saturday and tied nuptial knot at the Ram temple on Sunday. The wedding held in a simple ceremony, where the bride and bridegroom parties were treated with only tea, according to N. Sorma, one of the kin of the bridegroom. The couple was blessed by the guests over a cup of tea, he said. No less than 800 members from bride and bridegroom sides attended the marriage function. The entire marriage ceremony cost hardly Rs 1,000, he added. The couple exchanged wedding rings three months ago and back then an extravagant wedding was planned to make the occasion a memorable event by both the families who ran flourishing business in the locality. However, the note ban poured cold water on their plan forcing them to take recourse to a simple marriage ceremony. But, the crisis has taught us a lesson that the big Indian fat wedding is nothing but wasteful expenditure, he added. The relatives of both the families who attended the marriage applauded the idea of holding a simple marriage then an expensive one. VHP said Rohingya refugees, who have found safe heaven in Jammu and Kashmir, pose a threat to the security of people in the region and should be thrown out of the state. (Photo: PTI/File) Jammu: Rohingya refugees, who have found safe heaven in Jammu and Kashmir, pose a threat to the security of people in the region and should be "thrown out" of the state, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Monday said. State VHP President Leela Karan Sharma sought to link the terror attack at Nagrota, Samba and other places to the refugees from Myanmar, saying the strikes were not possible "without local support and hideouts". "We oppose their settlement in Jammu. The state government should throw out these foreigners out of the state. They should not be allowed to set up clusters on government or private land. It's a risk to the security of people and the Army," he said. "A very deep-rooted conspiracy is being hatched by the refugees from Myanmar. There number, according to government figures released last year, is 5,700. It must have increased by now," the VHP leader said. Jammu and Kashmir is a sensitive state a victim of militancy and the Kashmir Valley has seen "forced migration of Hindu families, but the Rohingya refugees were settled in clusters. People in the administration gave them ration, water and electricity connections", he claimed. "It is strange how the refugees, after crossing the Indo-Bangla border and crossing the entire country have come to Jammu," he said. A VHP delegation also met the Divisional Commissioner Jammu and apprised hime of the issue, Sharma said. Kochi: BJP national president Amit Shah on Monday said that the greatest achievement of the NDA government led by Narendra Modi was that not even one coruption charge has been leveled against any minister in two-and-a-half-years. Inaugurating the first birthday conclave of the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) at Karukutty near here, he said that the demonetisation measure was aimed at unearthing black money and also bringing the poor to the path of development. Turning to state, Mr Shah said that though Modi Government since its inception launched a host of programmes like Jan Dhan, Skill India, Start-Up, Stand-Up, Mudra Bank, both the previous UDF Government and the present LDF Government failed to respond to it because of which Kerala people failed to benefit from these initiatives. He also said that the CPM believed only violence and not in development. Mr Shah while underscoring that the Modi Government was working for inclusive growth said that the BJP-BDJS led NDA will get majority seats in the coming Assembly and Parliament elections in the state. BDJS president Tushar Vellappally who presided over the function said that the organization has been able to make its presence felt in a short span of one year since its inception. Thousands of BDJS workers had gathered to witness the first birthday celebration held at Adlux Convention Centre. BJP leader Rajiv Chandrasekhar MP, BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan and former president V Muraleedharan, among others, were present. Jammu: Kashmiri politicians can speak anything against India but they had no courage to say a word against the separatists and Pakistan, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Sunday. Without naming former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, Singh criticised him for his remarks that Nagrota attack was a "result of statements" made by various union ministers against Pakistan. "I don't think such type of a childish statement need any response, but unfortunately the people who say that statements from India or the ministers of India provoke Pakistan...to launch terrorist attacks, I wish they had such courage to say a single word against Pakistan and its supporters living in India or the those who support terrorism", Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a function here. "The Kashmir centric politicians cannot do that because they know it is the vibrant democracy of India with its large heart that they can speak anything and if they utter a word against Pakistan or against separatists, the same can put them in distress", Singh said. Speaking to party workers in Anantnag on December 1, Omar Abdullah had said, "The Nagrota attack is a result of statements made by various ministers against Pakistan". Seven soldiers including two officers were killed and three terrorists were eliminated when terrorists' disguised in police uniform attacked an army camp in Nagrota area in the outskirts of Jammu on Tuesday. Earlier, while speaking at a function, Singh said drive against black money will ultimately benefit the farmer and enrich the agricultural and rural economy of India. The money added to state exchequer will eventually go to those sections of society which were so far being held to ransom as a result of black money hoarded by a few. He said, "Narendra Modi is the only Prime Minister, who could have taken this decision (demonetisation) because of his impeccable honesty, sincerity and courage of conviction, with no vested interest whatsoever or nothing to hide. The 6th Ministerial Heart of Asia conference that was held in Amritsar on Sunday, jointly inaugurated by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was part of a process that started in Istanbul in 2011 and now includes 14 participating and over two dozen supporting nations. With this years theme being Addressing Challenges and Achieving Prosperity, President Ghani set the stage by outlining the great opportunities and significant threats that his country faces. Geography dictates logic as Afghanistan is a natural land bridge between Central and Southern Asia to quote the Amritsar Declaration. It has unfortunately also become, since the 1979 Soviet intervention, the conduit for radical Islam, narcotics, illicit arms and terrorism. The Heart of Asia (HoA) process was to fill the vacuum anticipated after the downsizing of American military forces and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The fear was that Afghanistan could again become the theatre for regional rivalries or surrogates battling to control Kabul. But it could gain traction only if Afghanistans neighbours accepted that the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan had to be, as Mr Modi put it, Afghan-led, owned and controlled. Pakistan in particular had to concede that while its interests were genuine these could not take precedence over those of other neighbours nor be in perpetual opposition to the Indian presence or influence in that country. This zero-sum Pakistani thesis combined with the widely-held belief in Pakistani military and strategic circles that Afghanistan provided it strategic depth creates Afghanistans current existential dilemma. Pakistani diplomatic and military strategy after the 9/11 terror strikes on the United States in 2001 and the arrival of US and Nato troops to eject the Taliban regime from Kabul and eliminate Al Qaeda relied on protecting the Talibans core. Pakistan aimed to use them once the US moved on to other global engagements or simply quit like it did after the Vietnam War. Thus unsurprisingly, when the US forces got enmeshed in a Shia-Sunni-Al Qaeda civil war in 2005-06 in Iraq, the Taliban reappeared in Afghanistan. Osama bin Ladens compound at Abbottabad in Pakistan was also completed in 2005. Concomitantly, Pakistan kept its India-specific militant assets intact both as adjuncts to diplomacy and to provide alibis for its lackadaisical counterterrorism action along the Durand Line. For instance, the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001 came soon after the September 9/11 attacks when the US was compelling Pakistan to act against its old ally, the Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistan hoped that Indian military retaliation would enable it to withdraw troops from its counterterrorism duties on its Afghan frontier on the pretext of defending its eastern border. Despite US allurements of aid and weaponry to Pakistan since 2002, its core thinking on Afghanistan, conditioned by its paranoia over India, is unaltered. US economic and military assistance hovered around $2 billion per year from 2002 to 2008, falling to just over $1 billion in 2004. In 2009 it rose to $3 billion, further to $4.5 billion in 2010, before sliding gradually annually to $1 billion by 2014. It is now predominantly economic, though all through it was more than half military. The Heart of Asia conference provided India the chance as the host to steer the discourse towards this hard reality that duplicitous Pakistani strategy undermines attempts to stabilise Afghanistan as they are unwilling to stop aiding and abetting known terrorist entities based in Pakistan. President Ghani openly alleged that the Taliban leaders told him that they cannot exist except for the refuge and assistance provided by the Pakistani state. He contrasted this with the Indian development assistance that was without strings and ranged from the construction of the Afghan Parliament to Salma Dam, the Delaram-Zaranj road linking southern Afghanistan to Iranian ports and now the trilateral agreement between Iran, Afghanistan and India over the development of Chabahar port to provide an alternative Indian Ocean access to landlocked Afghanistan. The Amritsar Declaration lists the terrorist groups, including the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammad which are India-fixated. This was a major Indian success considering that China has been stalling the listing of their leaders by the UN Security Council committee on terrorist entities. The Amritsar Declaration balances the challenges that basically are the nexus in the region between narcotics, terrorist groups and radical Islam against the path to achieving prosperity. While all members are enjoined to counter terror as per their national laws and international commitments, the future of the region rests on better connectivity, freer movement of goods and the reintegration of Afghanistan into the regional trading network. The Chinese One Belt One Road infrastructure vision is meshed with other regional rail, road and port networks under negotiation or implementation. Above all, the Amritsar Declaration espouses the developing consensus that a stable Afghanistan is a must for a stable region. It recommends increased political dialogue and consultations. Conflicting reports emerged on whether Pakistans de facto foreign minister Sartaj Aziz met Indias national security adviser Ajit Doval. Hopefully, India did hear out his message, if there was one. The ceasefire having ended across the Line of Control and Pakistan getting a new Army Chief, it was necessary to judge whether the surgical strike doctrine has had any effect on Pakistani thinking. Heart of Asia may be a hyperbolic title for a conference on confidence-building in a dispute-ridden region. What is perhaps more significant for the region is what is in the hearts of Narendra Modi and Gen. Omar Javed Bajwa for trade and connectivity, as Saarc has discovered, get stymied when Pakistan makes confidence- building contingent on a resolution of the Kashmir dispute. We can only hope that the regions message from Amritsar to reverse that kind of thinking is clearly heard in Islamabad. The just-concluded Heart of Asia conference on Afghanistan in Amritsar highlighted the fact once again that countries in Pakistans immediate neighbourhood Afghanistan and India regard Islamabads cosseting of terrorism as the principal destabilising factor for the region. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani went as far as to rebuke Pakistan and reject its offer of $500 million in development aid, saying this might be better spent if used by Islamabad to end terrorism, for no amount of foreign aid would be of help in the absence of peace. Prime Minister Narendra Modi reinforced Afghanistans argument when he observed that condemning terrorism (in the abstract in conference documents) was not adequate, what was needed was concrete action on the ground to isolate and end terrorism. Pakistan foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Azizs point that Afghanistans problems were complex, and couldnt be ascribed to any single factor, seemed laboured. It became evident to all that the key issue in Afghanistan was Pakistan-sponsored and Pakistan-nurtured terrorism, and it was exactly this factor that has bedevilled India-Pakistan ties. After the cancellation of the Saarc summit in Pakistan this year, precisely on the ground of Islamabads fostering of terror as unspoken state policy, that country hasnt drawn the right lessons. Mr Aziz, though a seasoned diplomat, failed to appreciate the incongruity of his remark that he had come to Amritsar in spite of the current frostiness in ties with India because Pakistan desired peace and good-neighbourly relations. The observation found no takers, and this is likely to have gone home to Islamabads staunch backers, like China and Turkey. In that sense, the HoA meeting became a continuation of the Saarc summit fiasco for Islamabads regional standing in the context of its approach to terrorist violence. With New Delhi taking a strong line on Pakistan after the Pathankot and Uri attacks, and insisting that talks and terrorism couldnt go together, Islamabad adopted a painfully facile stance, namely, that this was Indias way to divert attention from its suppression of human rights in Kashmir. This was shown up in Amritsar with the strong position articulated by Afghanistan, which held support to terrorism by Islamabad as the main hindrance to peaceful development. The incumbent Afghan President, at the beginning of his term in 2014, went out of his way to court not only the civilian government in Pakistan but also the generals. But Pakistans position regarding terrorism has not changed, and 2016 has been the worst year in Afghanistan for civilian deaths at the hands of terrorists. Is there a lesson for India in this? Or, should talks happen when the time is appropriate? The fear of a populist revolt against the Establishment favouring the elite and global capitalism may be stoked further by the no in the Italian referendum that rejected constitutional reforms, after which Prime Minister Matteo Renzi may resign. What may have allayed such fears is another event in Europe itself, as Austria decisively rejected a far-right head of state in the Freedom Partys Norbert Hofer. The world, already in shock with Britain voting in a referendum to leave the EU and Donald Trump elected US President, may still hold a balance between the Left-Liberals and the far-right. The defeat of proto-fascists in Austria, a country that was the deliberate or unwitting cause of World War I and which also gave birth to Adolf Hitler, is a significant victory for those who believe the time is up for extreme and divisive political ideologies. The Italian vote is seen more as a negative response to the incumbent PMs record rather than the huge immigration problem the country faces in the wake of the Syrian/West Asian refugee crisis. The reforms were perceived as anti-democratic, lending further twist to a narrative far from the feared one of revolts turning a universal phenomenon. While the financial markets dread a possible Italian exit from the EU, there is a strong possibility the incoming PM may be pro-unity. India may have reason to sweat over the referendum result as it could impact trade, though the effects of such results are always known to be temporary, as seen in choppy stockmarket indices picking up later as things settle. Metamorphosis is a process where often living organisms, despite having their own identity, adapt to the surroundings with another object in such a way that it is difficult to recognise the original from the new. It was thus not a surprise when a teacher to a question heard in reply from one student the reason for Christmas being the birthday of Santa Claus. Many people, especially children, unfamiliar with Christian traditions now almost completely identify Christmas with Santa Claus, realising little that Santa Claus has nothing to do with Jesus birth (Christmas) though much to do with his radical teachings. Santa Claus is actually a mutation of Saint Nicholas, whose feast is celebrated on December 6. Born in the 3rd century in a small village, then in Greece but now in Turkey, Nicholas inherited great wealth from his parents who had unfortunately died in an epidemic. Being a devout Christian, Jesus words to a young man in the Gospel, Sell what you own and give the money to the poor and then come and follow me, set a goal for him to follow. It is said about Nicholas that often at night he would disguise himself and deliver food, clothing and money to the poor people of his village. Children were his favourites. He was made a bishop of Myra. However, under emperor Diocletian, who persecuted Christians cruelly, he was exiled, put into prison where he suffered much for his faith and died on December 6, 343. Through the centuries many stories have been told of St. Nicholas life and deeds, most of which highlight his extraordinary ventures of protecting the poor and helping the needy. Nicholas was so widely revered that thousands of churches were named after him, including 300 in Belgium, 34 in Rome, 23 in the Netherlands and more than 400 in England, not to mention about many others elsewhere. While St. Nicholas, now metamorphosed into Santa Claus, brings much fun and merriment to the long festive Christmas season, one must be reminded not only of the origin of Santa Claus but what he actually cherished doing. Celebrate Christmas we must, but can the celebration be given a twist and a taste of the spirit of Santa Claus? And that is, to exchange gifts not only among our own but to use the occasion to reach out to the poor who too would love to celebrate Christmas but are unable, sometimes even to have a meal, leave alone warm clothes during these wintry nights. Such a celebration would please not just Santa Claus and Jesus whose birthday gives us all the reason for Christmas but it will definitely please the giver more than the receiver. Whatever his personal inclinations, Narendra Modi should have been in Santiago de Cuba last Sunday for Indias sake. The Prime Ministers presence at Fidel Castros funeral would have served a dual purpose without supporting armed revolution or appearing anti-American. It would have assured Afro-Asia that India doesnt forsake old friends. It would also have warned Donald Trump that Indias own national interests will always take precedence over Americas global strategies. India needs the US. We should be grateful to P.V. Narasimha Rao for setting the relationship on an even keel after decades of estrangement, and to Manmohan Singh for his special ties with George W. Bush which produced the civil nuclear agreement. Mr Modi must also be complimented on building a series of strategic agreements on those foundations. But by paying his respects to Castros memory, he would have extended his own space for diplomatic manoeuvre with the incoming US administration. The presence of Justin Trudeau, Canadas young Prime Minister, would have served a similar purpose. It seemed at first that Mr Trudeau would attend the ceremony. He called Castro remarkable and larger than life, remembering him as a legendary revolutionary and orator who was a good friend of his fathers. The seminal visit Pierre Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister from 1968 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984, paid to Cuba in 1976 may have showed the way for an eventual reconciliation between Washington and Havana. It was not diplomacy based on Cold War polemics and hectoring but on realism and respect. Inspired by its own legitimate national reasons, Canada has always tried to rise above the limitations of geography and stress it isnt an American satellite. Thus, when the US trade and investment embargo on Cuba was at its most stringent, Ottawa, understanding this was a crude attempt at regime change, extended full support to Canadian companies investing in Cuba. Canadian tourists were encouraged to flock there. Castro showed his appreciation by attending Pierre Trudeaus funeral in 2000. Instead of returning the compliment, Justin Trudeau seems to have lost his nerve. Perhaps he received a hint from Barack Obama. Perhaps his advisers warned of Mr Trumps likely reaction. Perhaps he worried about domestic critics who accused him of naively pandering to a dictator. He was mocked on Twitter and attacked by hard-right US Republicans, such as Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. Being himself of Cuban descent, Senator Cruz takes a rigid line against Havana. I very much hope that we dont see any US government officials going to Fidel Castros funeral, he declared. I hope we dont see Barack Obama and Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton and Democrats lining up to lionise a murderous Communist dictator. Many commentators are surprised Mr Trudeau paid any attention to these remarks. They feel his father wouldnt have cared. Nor would he have snubbed Castros memory to mollify social media or the so-called alternative right in the US. Pierre Trudeau would proudly have emphasised his own independence by going to the funeral. Being experienced and realistic, he knew that Americas political morality is a matter of realpolitik. Whether or not Franklin D. Roosevelt ever actually said of the ruthless Nicaraguan dictator, Anastasio Somoza, that he may be a son of a bitch, but hes our son of a bitch, Americas brutal pragmatism banished all concern for genuine democracy and human rights when it came to authoritarian proteges like South Vietnams Ngo Dinh Diem, South Koreas Syngman Rhee, Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines or the Shah of Iran. They were perceived as anti-Communist, which only meant they were anti-Soviet. We are still witnessing a form of triumphalism that recalls Richard Nixons gloating when the Soviet Union disintegrated. Declaring that the time had come for America to reset its geopolitical compass, he crowed: We have a historic opportunity to change the world. Richard Cheney, George W. Bushs vice-president, repeated the boast. No country is our match in conventional military technology or the ability to apply it, he proclaimed. There are no significant alliances hostile to our interests. We may hear more such bombastic rhetoric from the Trump administration. Castros 900-km funeral procession retraced his 1959 Caravan of Liberty after one of the 20th centurys most audacious revolutions. At the end of it, Castro delivered a democratically idealistic speech at two oclock of the morning in pouring rain, assuring a huge crowd of Cubans they would no longer suffer the oppression inflicted by Fulgencio Batista. This time the revolution is for real, he promised. Will we ban freedom of the press? No. Will we ban freedom of association? No! Seven years later, the same city witnessed mass executions, admittedly of rebels organised and financed from Florida. He also bequeathed his office to his brother like a hereditary monarch or Communist dictator. The confrontation isnt over. Not because 85-year-old Raul Castro vows to continue his brothers revolution but because even a victorious US cant stop tilting at windmills in Moscow, Kiev, Pyongyang and scattered Arab capitals. Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi have been eliminated but Bashar al-Assad survives in Damascus. Its because the fight continues that Indias Prime Minister should have stood with the Presidents of Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and the Congo to honour Castro and remind the world that an India committed to the free market still retains its soul. P.V. Narasimha Rao told the Lok Sabha that non-alignment was synonymous with independence. So long as you want an independent country, it will have to be non-aligned. If Mr Modis India aspires to a global role he cannot afford to be seen as tamely following Mr Obama, Britains Theresa May and Germanys Angela Merkel, who also boycotted Castros funeral. The tandem fidayeen attacks, which had simultaneously targeted Headquarters 16 Corps at Nagrota and a BSF border outpost at Chamliyal near Samba, are the obvious Pakistani response to Indias surgical strike in response to the Uri attack. Headquarters, particularly the larger ones, are inherently soft targets as indeed are all types of administrative installations and base areas. This was graphically demonstrated during the Pakistani fidayeen attacks on the airbase at Pathankot. The selection of a corps headquarters for a fidayeen surgical strike is symbolic and a clear signal that Pakistan has upped the ante. The Indian Army on its part must ensure that its own soft targets are adequately hardened against such attacks, not only in border areas, but also elsewhere in the interior of the country as well. Fidayeen are brainwashed suicide squads. These are generally considered as non state actors. Hence, their terrorist attacks though deliberately targeted and launched to achieve military or psychological targets or objectives always have a factor of plausible deniability, a term originally coined by the Central Intelligence Agency for such cross-border operations based in Pakistan against the Soviet Army in Afghanistan. The ISI is now extensively utilising the same concept and methodology against India. These so-called fidayeen attacks are never hasty or short-notice opportunity operations launched at the spur of the moment. Rather, they are launched after detailed and deliberate preparation and planning, as well as local backup support, for which some time is necessary. The Pakistani attacks at Pathankot, Uri, Pampore and now Nagrota could not have been short-notice efforts and it should, therefore, be a matter of some concern that Indian counter-intelligence agencies or police have been unable to pick up early warning signals in any of these cases and take the necessary pre-emptive action. It is also a matter of concern that Indias border security agencies too could not intercept either of these groups and prevent their entry into this country. Recurring rumours of local support and sanctuary for the infiltrators by sympathisers and enemy elements already emplaced in India are another disturbing aspect. If there is any rot within the system, it seems to have set in deeply. The attacks on targets in Indias deep hinterland as disparate as the Taj Hotel at Mumbai or a military headquarters at Nagrota near Jammu have followed a classic pattern of commando-style assaults by well-armed, well-trained suicide groups hopped-up on jihadi religious frenzy to immolate themselves on a one-way trip to jannat and its promised delights. But somewhat disturbingly, even the modicum of prior information sought to have been conveyed by Indian intelligence agencies seemed to have been downplayed by the relevant authorities, both civil and military, and not acted upon. This is a fatal and recurring flaw, which in an age of nuclear terrorism can possibly cost the nation very dearly indeed. Meanwhile, there has been a change in command at the topmost echelon of the Pakistan Army. The new Chief of the Pakistan Army, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, is still an unknown entity. Not much is known about him in India but it would be prudent to assume that there would be no appreciable change in his attitude towards India from that of his predecessors or in the posture of the Pakistani Army towards India in the foreseeable future. The new incumbent is also rumoured to be hard on terrorism, but the context is not known. Going by past impressions, his attitude would most likely be in respect of Pakistans domestic jihadis, primarily bad terrorists of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) variety. It is highly unlikely that it would extend to Pakistans good terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Hizbul Mujahideen or Jaish-e-Mohammad, which are targeted primarily at India. Indias long war against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism requires to be focused on Kashmir. India will also have to respond to Pakistani fidayeen attacks with further surgical strikes of its own. Pakistani attacks can never be allowed to go unanswered. In the process, India must seriously consider a response to the fidayeen attacks at Nagrota in language that the Pakistan Army will understand. On an entirely different note, the eighth Heart of Asia Conference has just been held at the historic city of Amritsar in India, to discuss the central theme of aid to Afghanistan a country utterly devastated by years of internecine tribal conflict covertly sponsored by Pakistan in furtherance of its own political agenda. India has been amongst the moving spirits and strongest supporters of the Heart of Asia theme, as well as one of the largest providers of financial aid and technological support to the reconstruction of war-ravaged Afghanistan. Pakistan is also a member of the Heart of Asia grouping, which it has always tried to manipulate and exploit as yet another platform for maintaining its own exclusive dominance in Afghanistan and exclude Indian interests from that country. Pakistans national security adviser Sartaj Aziz is an unwelcome but utterly brazen guest who has insisted on gatecrashing into the Amritsar gathering, even though India had made it clear that after the Pakistani fidayeen attack at Nagrota his presence in Amritsar was seen as undesirable. The hackers managed to transfer $81 million via an account at the New York Federal Reserve to four accounts in fake names at a branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp in the Philippines. Bangladesh will share findings from its investigation into how unidentified hackers pulled off one of the worlds biggest cyber bank heists to help speed up recovery of the stolen funds, its law minister said on Monday. Bangladesh has up to now declined to disclose its findings of an inquiry into how the hackers used stolen Bangladesh Bank credentials to try to transfer nearly $1 billion from its U.S. Federal Reserve account in February. Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, who last week met a Bangladesh delegation led by Minister of Law Anisul Huq, said Manila "strongly recommended" Dhaka share the results of its investigation. While the Bangladesh central bank, the Bangladesh Bank, had previously declined to release any inquiry findings, saying it wanted to deny the perpetrators knowledge of the investigation, it would now do so, Huq told Reuters. It is part of co-operation. We will give them an update of our investigation, he said. The hackers managed to transfer $81 million via an account at the New York Federal Reserve to four accounts in fake names at a branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp in the Philippines. Most of the money was laundered through Philippine casinos and only about $15 million was recovered from a gaming junket operator and returned to Bangladesh. Bangladesh has said it wants the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) to compensate it for its losses, but the bank refuses to pay and has said the Bangladesh central bank was "negligent". Huq last week said RCBC should shoulder the burden for accepting stolen funds. RCBC was fined a record one billion pesos ($20 million) by the Philippine central bank for its failure to prevent the movement of the stolen Bangladesh money through its bank. Huq said paying that fine was tantamount to accepting culpability. Bangladesh will share findings from its investigation into how unidentified hackers pulled off one of the worlds biggest cyber bank heists to help speed up recovery of the stolen funds, its law minister said on Monday. Bangladesh has up to now declined to disclose its findings of an inquiry into how the hackers used stolen Bangladesh Bank credentials to try to transfer nearly $1 billion from its U.S. Federal Reserve account in February. Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, who last week met a Bangladesh delegation led by Minister of Law Anisul Huq, said Manila "strongly recommended" Dhaka share the results of its investigation. While the Bangladesh central bank, the Bangladesh Bank, had previously declined to release any inquiry findings, saying it wanted to deny the perpetrators knowledge of the investigation, it would now do so, Huq told Reuters. It is part of co-operation. We will give them an update of our investigation, he said. The hackers managed to transfer $81 million via an account at the New York Federal Reserve to four accounts in fake names at a branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp in the Philippines. Most of the money was laundered through Philippine casinos and only about $15 million was recovered from a gaming junket operator and returned to Bangladesh. Bangladesh has said it wants the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) to compensate it for its losses, but the bank refuses to pay and has said the Bangladesh central bank was "negligent". Huq last week said RCBC should shoulder the burden for accepting stolen funds. RCBC was fined a record one billion pesos ($20 million) by the Philippine central bank for its failure to prevent the movement of the stolen Bangladesh money through its bank. Huq said paying that fine was tantamount to accepting culpability. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Deputy Director of communications for the Seattle Police Department, Jonah Spangenthal-Lee had posted a witty summary of the event on the SPDs blog on Wednesday. (Representational Image) Seattle police recently arrested an alleged car thief by enlisting the help of the car maker BMW to both track and then remotely lock the car with the criminal still locked inside. Deputy Director of communications for the Seattle Police Department, Jonah Spangenthal-Lee had posted a witty summary of the event on the SPDs blog on Wednesday. A car thief awoke from a sound slumber Sunday morning (Nov. 27) to find he had been remotely locked inside a stolen BMW, just as Seattle police officers were bearing down on him, Spangenthal-Lee wrote. The suspect had found a key fob mistakenly left inside the BMW by a friend whod borrowed the car from the owner resulting in the alleged crime. After the theft was discovered by the owner, the police contacted BMW corporate, who tracked the car to Seattles Ravenna neighbourhood. The car was parked, still running, with the sleeping fast asleep behind the wheel. BMW employees were able to remotely lock the cars doors, trapping the suspect inside, presumably while hissing something terrifying like Im not locked in here with you, youre locked in here with me into the cars sound system, Spangenthal-Lee wrote. The 38-year old suspect was also carrying a small amount of methamphetamine or also known as crystal meth, was charged with auto theft and drug possession, police stated. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. It was only after the HMD Global possession that Nokia started producing smartphones. Nokia recently made it official that they were indeed, re-entering the smartphone business in Q1 of 2017. The next Nokia-branded smartphone, that will be launched by HMD Global, is said to run Googles Android operating system. Therefore, former will be benefiting from all Googles services and apps. HMD Global CEO Arto Nummela in an interview with Forbes said, Yes, were working with Google, and they are extremely eager to see Nokia in the Android line-up. Numella further confirmed that HMD Global will be present at Mobile World Congress 2017 in late February. The company will initially be focusing on promoting the Nokia brand on the handsets. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Apple revealed that iPhone is actually designed to shut down automatically under certain condition. Apple has acknowledged and apologised for the iPhone 6s battery issue which causes an unexpected shutdown following faster battery degradation. The Cupertino, California-based tech giant addressed the iPhone 6s battery issue on its Chinese website last week. The statement published on Apples website explains, iPhone 6s devices made in September and October 2015 contained a battery component that was exposed to controlled ambient air longer than it should have been before being assembled into battery packs," which caused these batteries degrade faster than a normal battery and led unexpected shutdowns to occur. Apple on its website highlighted not to consider the battery bug as a safety issue. Apple is offering its customers, who are experiencing the issue, batteries replacement free of charge. iPhone 6s owners can easily find out if their device is eligible by typing in their devices serial number on the iPhone 6s Program for Unexpected Shutdown Issues web page. Apple also revealed that iPhone is actually designed to automatically shut down under certain conditions, such as extremely cold temperatures. To an iPhone user, some of those shutdowns might seem unexpected, but they are designed to protect the devices electronics from low voltage, Apple said. Apple had looked for other factors that could cause the iPhone to shut down unexpectedly; however it could not find any. After intensive investigations, no new factors have been identified. We will continue to monitor and analyse customer reports, Apple added. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Cuba's President Raul Castro and Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel attend the opening of a twice-annual legislative sessions, at the National Assembly in Havana. (Photo: AP) Havana: After burying Fidel Castro, Cuba is 15 months away from seeing his brother, Raul, give up the presidency. For the first time in almost 60 years, the president won't be named Castro. The man in line for the job is Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who is relatively young at 56, outside the small circle of guerrilla war veterans and not a family member. The grey-haired Diaz-Canel, who favors jeans or more formal suits and ties, has been a discreet communist party operator who lacks Fidel Castro's charisma and Raul's military experience. But he has been "a good soldier in the shadows," Christopher Sabatini, an international policy lecturer at New York's Columbia University, told AFP. President Raul Castro named Diaz-Canel as his deputy in 2013. While Raul Castro looks healthy at 85, he has vowed to step down in February 2018 during the next communist party congress, though he would likely remain the party's chief. His brother, who was buried on Sunday after dying on November 25 at age 90, clung to power from 1959 until an illness forced him to hand the presidency to Raul in 2006. Tall and affable, Diaz-Canel lacks the oratory skills of Fidel Castro but Raul gave him a ringing endorsement when he named him vice president in 2013. "Comrade Diaz-Canel is neither a novice nor an improviser," Raul Castro said. The electronics engineer is an advocate of a more critical press and an opening of the internet on the island, where a tiny fraction of the population has web access. "Today with the development of social media ... and the internet, prohibiting something is almost an impossible pipe-dream. It doesn't make sense," the vice president once said. Diaz-Canel, who is from the central province of Villa Clara, gradually worked his way up the echelons of Cuba's single party. In 2003, he entered the influential 15-member politburo, a key step for any official with higher aspirations. Six years later, Raul Castro named the former university professor as his higher education minister. In March 2012, he became one of the eight vice presidents on the council of ministers. He rose to the more powerful post of first vice president on the council of state a year later, replacing veteran revolution fighter Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, 86. Since then, Diaz-Canel has often travelled abroad, either with Raul Castro or as the president's representative. New generation But he is not the only member of the younger generation to have risen in ranks in recent years. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, 58, was a key player in the diplomatic rapprochement with the United States and the European Union. In a sign of his growing influence, Rodriguez appeared with the Castro family, top military officers and Diaz-Canel outside the armed forces ministry in Havana last week to watch Fidel's ashes depart on a cross-country trip to his burial place in eastern Cuba on Sunday. Rodriguez and Diaz-Canel were the only members of the new generation of communist officials at the symbolic farewell. Another relatively young operator is Marino Murillo, 55, an economist who is in charge of the crucial but modest economic reforms that Raul Castro has implemented. Raul's only son, Colonel Alejandro Castro Espin, 51, is also gaining influence in the interior ministry. All of them are keeping a low profile. Others who appeared too ambitious in the past lost their jobs unceremoniously, such as former vice president Carlos Lage and former foreign minister Felipe Perez Roque. Economy crucial For Ted Piccone, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution think thank, Diaz-Canel is the natural political heir apparent. "I don't see any other rival. I don't see any other scenario, but we've also seen in the past younger leaders groomed for leadership and they've been eliminated or removed from power," he said. To help his successor, Raul Castro needs to speed up the reforms to fix the troubled economy, Piccone said. "The legitimacy of the post-Raul government will depend on a much better economic performance," he said. Sabatini said Diaz-Canel faces "three competing pressures", The old guard in the politburo, the "younger generation of party apparatchiks who want change" and the military. But Raul Castro would be watching over him, as he would not be completely retired as party chief. "Raul's and Machado's support can prop him up" as president, said Arturo Lopez-Levy, a Cuba expert at the University of Texas. "Once he is in this position, it will be up to him to navigate successfully the task of building a consensus without humiliating any of the factions that form the Cuban leadership," he said. Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday chose Ben Carson, the mild-mannered retired neurosurgeon who challenged him for the Republican nomination, to turn around troubled US inner cities as secretary of housing and urban development. Carson, an African American who is a religious conservative, has no background in housing policy but has cited his poor childhood in Detroit as a qualification for the job. He is the first black selected by Trump for his team. "Ben Carson has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities. We have talked at length about my urban renewal agenda and our message of economic revival, very much including our inner cities," Trump said in a statement. Carson said, "I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly by strengthening communities that are most in need. We have much work to do in enhancing every aspect of our nation and ensuring that our nation's housing needs are met." "I grew up in the inner city," Carson told Fox News last month. "And have spent a lot of time there. And have dealt with a lot of patients from that area." Carson briefly led the Republican presidential pack during the primaries, offering voters an unruffled, slow-talking persona that contrasted sharply with high-decibel slugfest around him. His bid, which initially gained support among Christian conservatives, ultimately fizzled as he stumbled presenting concrete policies and answering questions about key issues. The Seventh Day Adventist had presented himself as an alternative to the bombastic Trump, preaching tolerance and compromise but sometimes unleashing blunt rhetoric. These included many references to Nazi Germany, such as his suggestion that Jews would have fared better in the Holocaust had they been armed. Trump mercilessly mocked him on the campaign trail, accusing Carson of having a "pathological" temper. Carson nevertheless endorsed the real estate billionaire after withdrawing from the race in March, describing his former rival as "a very intelligent man who cares deeply about America." He took Trump on a neighbourhood tour of his Detroit hometown in September at a time when the nominee was looking to boost his image with African-American voters. And he came to Trump's defence following the release of a 2005 audiotape in which he bragged about groping women. American dream Carson's history is the epitome of the American dream. The 65-year-old grew up poor, raised by an illiterate mother who married at age 13 but left her bigamist husband. He developed into a model student, earning a scholarship to Yale University and attending the University of Michigan medical school. At 33, he became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University, earning global acclaim in 1987 by performing the first successful separation of twins conjoined at the head. He retired in 2013 to hit the conservative talk circuit, describing how faith and family values had helped him as a drifting teenager to realize his dream. He routinely promotes a return to individual responsibility, a value that led him to denounce the welfare state, which he has warned only traps people in poverty. "If we continually keep people in a dependent position," he told conservatives in 2013, "then they're soon going to lose the drive that is necessary to achieve in our society." Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump fired a Twitter broadside at China on Sunday, accusing the Asian giant of currency manipulation and military expansionism in the South China Sea. The taunt came two days after Trump risked offending Beijing by accepting a call from the Taiwanese president, and heralded the prospect of a trade battle between the world's largest economies. China was a frequent target of Trump's during his presidential campaign and, as he prepares to take office next month, every sign points to his taking an aggressive line with Beijing. "Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea?" he demanded, adding: "I don't think so!" China is the United States' largest trading partner, but America ran a $366 billion deficit with Beijing in goods and services in 2015, up 6.6 per cent on the year before. US politicians often accuse China of artificially depressing its currency, the renminbi, in order to boost its exports -- its value has fallen by around 15 per cent in the past two-and-half years. Trump has vowed to formally declare China a "currency manipulator" on the first day of his presidency, which would oblige the US Treasury to open negotiations with Beijing on allowing the renminbi to rise. With China holding about a trillion dollars in US government debt, Washington would have little leverage in such talks, but the declaration would harm ties and boost the prospect of a trade war. China charges an average 15.6 per cent tariff on US agricultural imports and nine percent on other goods, according to the World Trade Organization. Chinese farm products pay 4.4 per cent and other goods 3.6 per cent when coming into the United States. On Friday, Trump courted Chinese anger by accepting a congratulatory call from Taiwan's president Tsai Ing-wen. China regards self-ruling Taiwan as part of its own territory awaiting reunification, and any US move implying support for independence would gravely offend Beijing. Trump's incoming vice president, Mike Pence, played down the significance of the call, describing it as a courtesy, and said any new policy on China would be decided after his inauguration. China responded cautiously to the call, with state media putting it down to Trump's "inexperience." Pakistani national Tashfeen Malik and her Pakistani-American husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, shot and killed 14 people at a holiday party in San Bernardino in the US. (Photo: AP) Houston: There is a steep increase in the role of female American jihadists involved in terror activity in the last five years and they use social media for communication, a first-of-its-kind study has said. The researchers of George Washington University Programme released a new study examining the role of American jihadi women and found a steep increase in their participation in terrorist activity. The research paper "Cruel Intentions: Female Jihadists in America," was released on Thursday, almost exactly a year after Pakistani national Tashfeen Malik and her Pakistani-American husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, shot and killed 14 people at a holiday party in San Bernardino in the US. "The couple's path to radicalisation is still the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation, but Malik's active role in carrying out the plot was a shock to many who categorise extremist women as taking an auxiliary role in jihad," said Audrey Alexander, Program on Extremism research fellow and author of the new paper. "As a result of their actions, the threat became immediately apparent to policymakers, law enforcement officials and even the public that women were participating in terrorism," she said. Within the wider movement, American women served as plotters, supporters, and travellers. The study examined 25 cases from January 2011- September 2016. "This report refutes the misconception that women are naively duped into participation or are depraved instigators of violence," said Audrey Alexander, a researcher involved in the study. "By presenting comprehensive accounts of female jihadist activities, we can see that they are an evolving threat even though they are not the most prominent or visible proponents of jihadi ideology," he said. The report said that while few female American jihadists appear to act alone or conduct violent plots, many support activities in pairs and trios and with friends, siblings and romantic partners. They are active online and offline, but social media is an especially common medium for women to use, it said. "The increasing involvement of women in jihadi groups is a global phenomenon," said Lorenzo Vidino, director of the GW Program on Extremism. "Even though women rarely perpetrate violence, their diverse contributions advance and sustain the jihadi movement in the US and abroad," Vidino said. The report concludes by noting that it is important for policymakers to offer alternatives to arrest and emphasiaes that de-radicalisation and prevention are necessary steps to countering violent extremism by women, particularly in instances where individuals engage with the ideology but do not break the law or become violent. Modi won with 18 per cent of the vote when the poll closed last night, getting significantly more votes than his closest contenders. (Photo: PTI) New York: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the online reader's poll for TIME Person of the Year 2016, beating out other world leaders like US President-elect Donald Trump, incumbent US leader Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi won with 18 per cent of the vote when the poll closed last night, getting significantly more votes than his closest contenders, including Obama, Trump and Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange, who all received 7 per cent of the 'yes' vote. Modi was also placed far ahead of other prominent figures of this year, like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (2 per cent) and US Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (4 per cent), Time said. Time's editors will decide the final Person of the Year later this week, but the online poll results provide a look at how the world sees these figures and Modi emerged as the most influential figure in 2016, according to the online poll. Time said the reader poll is an "important window" into who they think most shaped 2016. It is for the second time that Modi has won the online readers' poll for Time Person of the Year title, securing the honour in 2014, when he had got more than 16 per cent of the almost five million votes cast. For the fourth year in a row, Modi is among the contenders for Time's 'Person of the Year' honour, which the US publication bestows every year to the one "who has most influenced the news and our world in the past year, for good or ill". Last year German Chancellor Angela Merkel was Time's 'Person of the Year'. Time said in recent months, Modi saw high approval ratings from Indians, according to a September Pew poll. It added that Modi has come under scrutiny recently for getting rid of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes, impacting cash-based businesses and threatening India's economy. Current poll results, analysed by poll host Apester, found that preferences differed across the world and the United States. Modi performed particularly well among Indian voters as well as those in California and New Jersey. Modi had been in the lead in this years online poll and according to the initial votes cast, he had got 21 per cent voting in his favour. For a while Assange had overtaken Trump for the lead in the online poll, getting 10 per cent of all the "yes" votes cast by participants, Time had said. Among the contenders this year are former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, FBI Chief James Comey, Apple CEO Tim Cook, parents of slain Muslim-American soldier Humanyun Khan, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Time had also analysed the moments from 2016 when this year's poll contenders were most talked about. For Modi it was October 16 when the Indian leader had suggested during a summit of BRICS nations in Goa that Pakistan is the "mothership" for terrorism. Christopher Lee Cornell, who plotted to attack the US Capitol during President Barack Obama's 2015 State of the Union address. (Photo: AP) Cincinnati: A 22-year-old man accused of plotting to attack the US Capitol in support of the Islamic State group will soon find out how many more years he must serve in prison. Christopher Lee Cornell of suburban Cincinnati was arrested by the FBI on January 14, 2015. He pleaded guilty to three charges including attempted murder of US officials and employees. Court documents show Cornell said he wanted to attack during President Barack Obamas State of the Union address. Prosecutors have recommended a 30-year sentence to US district judge Sandra Beckwith. Cornells attorneys say a significantly lower term would be more appropriate. They say he has rejected radical Islamic propaganda that influenced him. Defense attorneys plan to call a psychologist on Monday to testify in the sentencing hearing about Cornells mental condition. The accused, identified as Alaina Danielle Ferguson, was arrested after a senior student overheard the 16-year-old pupil talking about his teacher. Plano, Texas: A high school teacher from Texas has been arrested for flirting with her 16-year-old student on Snapchat and having sex with him. She has also been accused of exchanging nude selfies with him and even cancelling her own wedding. The accused, identified as Alaina Danielle Ferguson, was arrested after a senior student overheard the 16-year-old pupil talking about his teacher. According to a report in the Daily Mail, Ferguson worked as an Algebra teacher at the Plano Senior High School where she began a relationship with her student. The teenager with whom she engaged in a sexual relationship had allegedly left his Snapchat username on a test paper. When Ferguson came across his account details on the answer sheet, she contacted him. Soon after, the two started engaging in a physical relationship including having sex on a park bench in Lewsiville. Ferguson also sent some of her nude selfies to the teenager and even provided alcohol for games of beer pong, turning it into sex sessions. After her arrest, police said that the accused had sex with her student in her apartment once, when her fiance was out of town. Later, she even called off her wedding as she lost interest in her fiance. Ferguson also quit the school in October. However, she kept meeting her student regularly and maintained her physical relationship with him. She has been released on a bond of $100,000 but will have to wear an electronic monitoring device. Her social media accounts have been suspended and she has been barred from using the internet. There is no veto in the assembly, unlike the Security Council, but its decisions are not binding. (Photo: AFP) United Nations: The UN Security Council will vote Monday on a resolution demanding a temporary ceasefire in Aleppo and humanitarian access to residents trapped in the fighting, diplomats said on Sunday. Egypt, New Zealand and Spain drew up the text calling for a truce of at least seven days following lengthy negotiations with a highly resistant Russia, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Spain has just taken over the council's rotating presidency for the month of December. Despite concessions by the resolution's drafters - an early version demanded a 10-day truce - it remains uncertain whether Moscow will use its veto in the council to torpedo the measure. Russia had proposed a renewable truce of only 24 hours, and for militant groups such as the Al-Nusra Front to be excluded. The draft resolution stipulates that "all parties to the Syrian conflict shall immediately cease any attacks in the city of Aleppo to allow urgent humanitarian needs to be addressed" for an initial period of seven days that could be extended. It also calls for allowing relief supplies to reach the tens of thousands of residents under siege inside the rebel-held eastern part of the city. The resolution envisages the temporary ceasefire developing into a cessation of hostilities across Syria. In a parallel move, Canada - acting on behalf of 74 of the UN's 193 member countries - has requested a plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly to vote on another resolution on humanitarian aid in Aleppo. Although no date has been set for the meeting so far, it could take place in the coming days. There is no veto in the assembly, unlike the Security Council, but its decisions are not binding. However, the assembly can exert pressure for action, and a provision dating back to 1950 enables it to take over from the Security Council when it is too divided to act. Assad's forces and their allies are continuing to advance on Aleppo's rebel-held districts, with control of some 60 percent of the city so far, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights. The fighting has killed at least 311 civilians, 42 of them children, in east Aleppo since the start of the Syrian regime's latest offensive on November 15, the British-based monitor says, while rebel fire has killed nearly 70 people in the city's government-held west. The onslaught has forced more than 50,000 of Aleppo's 250,000 residents to flee, the observatory says, and caused horrific destruction. Leni Robredo resigned from her Cabinet post on Monday after citing irreconcilable differences with President. (Photo:AP) Manila: The Philippine vice president resigned her Cabinet post on Monday after citing irreconcilable differences with President Rodrigo Duterte, who had banned her from attending Cabinet meetings, in a new political dilemma for the leader. Robredo, who stepped down as housing secretary but will stay on as vice president, spoke of "major differences in principles and values" with the brash-talking president and an unspecified plot to remove her from the vice presidency. There was no immediate reaction from Duterte. In her resignation letter, Robredo told Duterte that she "exerted all effort to put aside our differences, maintain a professional working relationship and work effectively despite the constraints." But she said Duterte's order banning her from Cabinet meetings had made it impossible for her to do her job at the housing agency. "Remaining in your Cabinet has become untenable," she said. A human rights lawyer and respected political newcomer, Robredo said on Sunday that she would stay in her elected post as vice president. She was set to hold a news conference later on Monday to explain her action. In the Philippines, presidents and vice presidents are separately elected and often come from rival political parties, like Duterte and Robredo. "I will not allow the vice presidency to be stolen. I will not allow the will of the people to be thwarted," Robredo said in a statement Sunday, without elaborating. She did not include the allegation in her resignation letter. Aside from Robredo, Patricia Licuanan, the head of the government's Commission on Higher Education, said that she learned through a text message that Duterte had also banned her from attending Cabinet meetings, but that she would remain in her post. Robredo's resignation comes amid a political storm over Duterte's decision to allow the burial of long-dead dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the country's Heroes' Cemetery and a bloody crackdown against illegal drugs that has alarmed Western governments and human rights watchdogs. Robredo is the second official to resign from Duterte's administration in less than a week. Maria Serena Diokno quit as head of the government's historical commission last Tuesday to protest Duterte's decision to allow Marcos' reburial in the cemetery. Diokno has since joined street protests by anti-Marcos groups condemning the secretive Nov. 18 burial. Robredo on Sunday cited her opposition to the burial, the drug killings, Duterte's plan to reimpose the death penalty and "sexual attacks against women" among the issues on which she differed with Duterte, who took office on June 30. The last straw, she said, was when she was notified on Saturday by Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. through a text message about the president's order for Robredo "to desist from attending all Cabinet meetings" starting Monday. Evasco said Duterte decided to bar her from Cabinet meetings because of her "irreconcilable differences" with the Duterte administration. Robredo, 52, did not provide details about the alleged plot to remove her from the vice presidency, but her electoral victory has been questioned by her closest rival in the race, former Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., a son of the late dictator and a friend of Duterte. Marcos Jr. lost by a slim margin to Robredo, the widow of a popular politician who built a name as an honest, hands-on provincial mayor who wore slippers to work and reached out to the poor in the countryside. Robredo's husband died in a plane crash in 2012, and she later acceded to widespread calls for her to enter politics. Tokyo: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to become the first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor, announcing Monday a trip to Hawaii this month for talks with US President Barack Obama. "I will visit Pearl Harbor" with Obama, he told reporters in comments broadcast live on television. Abe, who will be in Hawaii on December 26 and 27, will visit the site of the surprise Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, that began World War II in the Pacific. The Hawaii visit comes after Obama in May journeyed to Hiroshima, the Japanese city where a US plane dropped the world's first atom bomb in the closing chapter of World War II. Nagasaki was bombed several days later. Obama's trip had sparked speculation that Abe could visit Pearl Harbor in response, though the government had previously denied that was under consideration. Abe's wife Akie visited Pearl Harbor in August and said on Facebook that she offered flowers and prayers at the USS Arizona Memorial. On the day of the bombing 75 years ago, Japanese planes swept low over the US naval base, killing more than 2,400 American troops and civilians, a date which then-president Franklin Roosevelt declared would live in "infamy". The two-hour bombardment of the US Pacific Fleet at anchor sank or damaged some 20 ships and destroyed 164 planes. It was found last week that these notes contain tallow, which comes from beef or mutton fat, triggering anger among vegetarians and religious groups. (Photo: AP) London: A number of Hindu temples in the UK have decided to ban the new five-pound notes as it contains traces of animal fat. It was found last week that these notes contain tallow, which comes from beef or mutton fat, triggering anger among vegetarians and religious groups. Now the Bhaktivedanta Manor, one of the UK's largest Hare Krishna temples in Hertfordshire, southern England, posted a photo of a sign to Facebook which said: "We no longer accept the new five pound notes as they contain animal fat. Apologies for the inconvenience". The National Council of Hindu Temples said in a statement that the new note "ceases to be a simple medium of exchange but becomes a medium for communicating pain and suffering and we would not want to come into contact with it". While it is unclear exactly how many temples have imposed a clear, the Hindu Forum of Britain (HFB), an umbrella body of Hindu organisations, had issued a statement over the weekend saying they were urging people to sign a petition to withdraw the notes and avoid its use in donations. Tarang Shelat, president of the Hindu Council of Birmingham - which is part of HFB, said: "It is important that we do make our views known in the strongest terms to the relevant authorities". Through ignorance they may not be aware of offence it is causing us as Hindus. "It is also important to mention that in our place of worship, animal based products are strictly forbidden and this would have a drastic effect on our collection boxes as 5 pound will not be allowed as donation," the petition titled 'Remove Tallow from bank notes' had clocked nearly 130,000 signatures. It will be delivered to the Bank of England when it hits 150,000. It reads: "The new 5 pound notes contain animal fat in the form of tallow. This is unacceptable to millions of vegans & vegetarians in the UK. We demand that you cease to use animal products in the production of currency that we have to use". The new notes with an image of Britain's war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill became legal tender in September this year. A vegetarian cafe in the university town of Cambridge had refused to accept the new notes last week. Sharon Meijland, owner of Rainbow Cafe, put up signs warning customers about the policy. Tallow's an animal product isn't it? Our whole business is based around not having anything like that on the premises. Although the same person doesn't handle the money that handles the food, that's not really the point," she said. The Bank of England says it is now looking into ways of removing the substance from the supply chain. "We are aware of some peoples concerns about traces of tallow in our new five pound note. We respect those concerns and are treating them with the utmost seriousness," a spokesperson said. Meanwhile, the Australian pioneer of the polymer bank note says its "stupid" that vegetarian and vegans are protesting in the UK about the five pound polymer note containing animal fat. Professor David Solomon says the polymer notes contain trivial amounts of tallow, which is also used in candles and soap. "It's stupid. It's absolutely stupid. There's trivial amount of it in there. It picks up less drugs than paper notes and you don't chop down trees. Its more hygienic than a paper note by a long way," he said. Syrian rebels are battling forces loyal to Assad after sweeping advances saw the government seize back large chunks of territory in eastern Aleppo. (Photo: Representational Image/AFP) Moscow: Two Russian army medics were killed Monday in rebel shelling of a field hospital in Syria's Aleppo, Moscow said, blaming Western nations who support rebel fighters. One female medic was killed on the spot when a shell hit the reception area of the hospital, while a second died from her wounds later, Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. Medics were still fighting to save the life of a third doctor, a paediatrician who was badly injured, Konashenkov said. A photographer who supplies AFP with photos described burned tents and charred boxes of medical supplies at the scene. Konashenkov earlier said the attack had "undoubtedly been carried out by 'opposition' fighters" and laid the blame at the door of Western nations including the US, Britain and France that have backed those fighting its ally, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. "We understand who gave the fighters the exact information and coordinates of the reception area of the Russian hospital as it was starting its work," Konashenkov added. "Our servicemen's blood is on the hands of those who ordered this murder." Syrian rebels are battling forces loyal to Assad after sweeping advances saw the government seize back large chunks of territory in eastern Aleppo. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that President Vladimir Putin had ordered that field hospitals be sent to war-ravaged Aleppo. Russia has been flying air raids in Syria since September 2015, to back up its longtime ally Assad. Russia says it has halted air strikes on rebel-held eastern Aleppo since October 18 following international condemnation over its ferocious bombardment of the city. The deadly war in Syria has killed more than 300,000 people since it started in March 2011 with a wave of anti-government protests. Among many recommendations include new migrants to the UK being required to understand and commit to British values at the beginning of the immigration process. (Photo: Representational Image/AFP) London: The UK has failed to truly integrate minorities, particularly Muslims of Pakistani and Bangladeshi- origin, leaving the ground open for extremists to exploit them, a new government-backed report said on Monday. Dame Louise Casey, a senior civil servant, in a study on community cohesion, commissioned by former Prime Minister David Cameron last year, has accused successive governments of failing on cohesion with attempts at integration amounting to nothing more than "saris, samosas and steel drums". The report said, "Since 2010, cohesion policy has largely been squeezed out. Governments policy consisted of a relatively small pot of funding going towards small-scale exemplar projects such as inter-faith dialogue, training curry chefs or cross community social events such as the Big Lunch and Our Big Gig. "This has been described to us as amounting to 'saris, samosas and steel drums for the already well-intentioned. These are worthy and enjoyable projects which should continue but they are not enough on their own, nor should they be a substitute for tackling difficult issues." In the report titled 'The Casey Review: A review into opportunity and integration', she was particularly critical of the segregation among Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin migrants to the UK. "In some council wards, as many as 85 per cent of the population come from a single minority background, and most of these high minority concentrations are deprived Pakistani or Bangladeshi heritage communities," she said. "I have also seen and heard that this sense of retreat and retrenchment can sometimes go hand in hand with deeply regressive religious and cultural practices, especially when it comes to women. These practices are preventing women from playing a full part in society, contrary to our common British values, institutions and indeed, in some cases, our laws," she added. In a foreword to the report, she warned: "A failure to talk about all this only leaves the ground open for the far-right on one side and Islamist extremists on the other. "Every person, in every community, in every part of Britain, should feel a part of our nation and have every opportunity to succeed in it. There can be no exceptions to that by gender, colour or creed." She underlined that it was important to fully acknowledge what is happening and resolve the problem of segregation. "The problem has not been a lack of knowledge but a failure of collective, consistent and persistent will to do something about it or give it the priority it deserves at both a national and local level," Casey concluded. "The work that has been done has often been piecemeal and lacked a clear evidence base or programme of evaluation," she said. She admitted that her findings would put further pressure on Britain's 2.8 million Muslims, amid concerns about rising Islamophobia. Among her many recommendations include new migrants to the UK being required to understand and commit to British values at the beginning of the immigration process. Kabul: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Sunday that the Taliban insurgency would not survive a month if it lost its sanctuary in neighbouring Pakistan, urging its neighbour to take on terrorist groups on its soil instead of giving Kabul financial aid. Ghani's remarks, made at an international conference in the northern Indian city of Amritsar not far from the border with Pakistan, suggested tensions were rising with Pakistan after Ghani attempted to improve relations with Islamabad when he took office in 2014. Pakistan said while violence had increased in Afghanistan , blaming another country for it didn't help. Violence has spread around Afghanistan and the Taliban's ability to conduct coordinated high profile attacks in the capital Kabul has piled pressure on Ghani's Western-backed government to provide better security to a war weary people. Last year, Afghanistan suffered the highest number of civilian casualties and military related deaths in the world, Ghani told the Heart of Asia conference aimed at getting regional players together to help stabilise his country. "This is unacceptable... Some still provide sanctuary for terrorists. As a Taliban figure said recently, if they had no sanctuary in Pakistan, they wouldn't last a month," he said. Analysts say Pakistan has historically backed the Afghan Taliban as a hedge against the influence of arch-rival India, with whom Pakistan has fought three wars, in its backyard. Pakistan denies this and instead said it is itself a victim of terrorism and that fighters of the Tehrik-i-Taliban, one of the main groups carrying out attacks inside Pakistan, were operating from Afghanistan. Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan's top foreign policy adviser, said it was true that there had been an upsurge in violence in Afghanistan. "We need to have an objective and holistic view rather to blame one country," he told the conference. The number of people displaced by conflict in Afghanistan this year has surpassed half a million people, the United Nations reported last month, the highest number since it began compiling such statistics in 2008. On top of the Taliban, ISIS has claimed responsibility for attacks targeting minority Shi'ites in Afghanistan where sectarian violence has been rare. Ghani said there were 30 terrorist groups identified by the UN that were trying to establish a base in Afghanistan. "I don't want a blame game, I want clarifications on what is being done to prevent the export of terror," Ghani said, calling it an undeclared war on Afghanistan. "We thank Pakistan for their pledge of $500 million assistance for reconstruction of Afghanistan. I hope you use it to fight terrorists and extremists in Pakistan." Pakistan had made the pledge earlier this year. Ghani's remarks, the strongest in recent months, come as India has simultaneously mounted pressure on Pakistan to end what it too calls cross-border terrorism in the disputed territory of Kashmir. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said regional players had to act against not only the terrorists but their sponsors. "It must be backed by resolute action. Not just against forces of terrorism, but also against those who support, shelter, train and finance them." Islamabad has rejected the Indian allegations and said it was ready to hold talks with India on the dispute over Kashmir, but no talks are planned with Aziz while he is in Amritsar, Indian officials said. Beijing: Reacting mildly to India allowing Tibetan spiritual leader Karmapa to visit Arunachal Pradesh, China on Monday expressed hope that New Delhi would refrain from taking any action that might complicate the boundary dispute. The 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje last week visited Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as a part of southern Tibet. Replying to a question on his visit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, "China's position on the East section of the China-India border is clear and consistent. We hope India can abide by relevant consensus and refrain from any action that might complicate the boundary question." "To ensure the peace and stability of the border areas and sound and stable development of the bilateral relationship serves the common interest of the two sides," he said. Asked whether China has lodged any protest with India in this regard, he said China and India are in "constant communication on this". "The Indian side is clear about solemn position when it comes to boundary question," he said. The 17th Karmapa during his first visit to Arunachal Pradesh toured West Kameng district and preached to the Tibetans at Gyuto Monastery at Tenzingang before leaving for Kalaktang. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju had thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for doing away with the restrictions imposed in the previous eras and for facilitating the Karmapas visit to any part of the country and elsewhere. China's reaction to Karmapas visit appeared far more guarded and mild compared to its response on India granting permission in October this year to the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh. There is also no direct criticism of Karmapa unlike the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing calls a separatist and a politician in the garb of religious leader. China routinely objects to visits by the Dalai Lama, Indian leaders as well as foreign dignitaries to Arunachal Pradesh. On October 24, China took exception to the visit of Richard Verma, the US envoy in India, to Arunachal Pradesh. The border dispute between India and China covers the 3,488-km long Line of Actual Control (LAC). India asserts that the dispute covered Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war. Islamabad: India's efforts to "spoil" Pak-Afghan ties will not succeed, Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has said as he downplayed Afghan President's criticism of Pakistan's support to terrorism, saying it was meant to "please" India. "Ashraf Ghani's (Afghan President) statement is regrettable. It shows anxiety in Kabul and is understandable due to deteriorating law and order situation," Aziz said, adding that Ghani's "statements were meant to please India". He said India's efforts to divide Afghanistan and Pakistan will not go far as "we are next-door neighbours". "Indian efforts will not succeed to spoil Pakistan ties with Afghanistan, as our ties are religious and cultural. That is why we want that terrorism should end in Afghanistan," he said on returning home after attending the Heart of Asia meeting in Amritsar. "But our ties with Afghanistan are independent and we need to cooperate on several issues," Aziz said. He claimed that India was trying to use Afghanistan for its own advantage "but it will not succeed". Aziz also accused India of not treating the Pakistani media properly at the Heart of Asia meeting and said he was not allowed to have a press conference. "The attitude towards media was not good. I wanted to have press interaction with our own media. But we were not allowed," he alleged. Afghan President Ghani had accused Pakistan of launching an "undeclared war" against his country by covertly supporting terror networks including the Taliban, and asked it to use its USD 500 million aid to check extremism on its soil. He had also demanded an Asian or international regime to verify Pakistan-sponsored terror operations. Aziz said Pakistan had reassured Ghani that its territory will not be used against Kabul. "I reassured Ghani that we will not allow out territory to be used against Afghanistan. But also emphasised better border management," said Aziz. Aziz said the Afghan leader had a different idea about USD 500 million assistance pledged by Pakistan and proposed a trilateral commission with China to utilise the amount for welfare of Afghanistan. Islamabad: Pakistan's new army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday confirmed the death sentences of four "hardcore" terrorists involved in scores of "heinous" attacks on civilians and security forces, his first such endorsement since taking command of the army. The terrorists belonging to various banned militants groups were convicted by special military courts set up after the Peshawar school attack of December 16, 2014 to try militants. The four were "hardcore terrorists" who were involved "heinous offences related to terrorism, including killing of civilians, officials of Law Enforcement Agencies and Airport Security Force," the army said. They planned and executed attacks on Jinnah International Airport Karachi, CID building Karachi, ISI Office in Sukkur and convoy of law enforcement agencies, the army said. The convicts were also involved in killing of 58 people including a Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and wounding 226 others. Army said fire-arms and explosives were also recovered from their possession. The convicts were identified as Attaur Rehman, Muhammad Sabir, Farooq Bhatti and Gul Zareen. It is unknown if they were tried when awarded initial sentence as the military courts operate in secrecy due to threat of backlash by the terrorists. General Bajwa, 57, took over the command of the army on Tuesday at a ceremony in Rawalpindi from General Raheel Sharif who retired on November 29. Islamabad: Pakistan's new army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday met Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and briefed him about the security situation along the Line of Control and measures being taken against extremism. The meeting was held at the Prime Minister's House in Islamabad, according to an official statement issued by the PM Office. "Professional issues pertaining to national security were discussed during the meeting," it said. According to official sources, General Bajwa briefed the Prime Minister about the latest security situation along the Line of Control (LoC). They also discussed the measures being taken against violent extremism in the country. Later, the army chief also called on President Mamnoon Hussain at the President House. He briefed the president about the prevailing security in the country. Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday honoured Pakistan's only Nobel laureate scientist Dr Abdus Salam by renaming the Physics department of a leading university after him, risking a backlash from fundamentalists who consider the physicist a heretic. "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been pleased to give in principle approval for the renaming of National Centre for Physics at Quaid-i-Azam University (Islamabad) as 'Professor Abdus Salam Center for Physics'", according to a statement. It said Sharif has directed Ministry of Federal Education and Professional to put up formal summary for renaming of the center for approval of the President of Pakistan. The PM has also been pleased to approve the grant of five (5) fellowships annually to Pakistani students for PhD in the field of Physics through Higher Education Commission in reputed international universities. "The fellowship programme is named as Professor Abdus Salam Fellowship," according to his office. Sharif has taken this decision in recognition of the"great contributions of renowned Pakistani physicist Dr Mohammad Abdus Salam" who is a major figure in the 20th century theoretical physics. Salam shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribution in the field of physics and become the first Pakistani to receive a Nobel Prize in science and the second from an Islamic country. "His remarkable achievement earned fame and prestige for the country which rightly deserves to be valued," PMO said. Unfortunately, the recognition came late as by the time Dr Salam was honoured by the Nobel committee, Ahmadis were declared non-Muslims as part of Islamisation in 1974. In 1984, they were banned from calling themselves Muslim. They are banned from preaching and even from travelling to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage. Their publications are prohibited. Ahmadi mosques have been shut down. Ahmedis were prosecuted by the fundamentalists and contribution of eminent people like Dr Salam was ignored. Sharif's decision may pitch him against the extremists who are still active to regularly attack the Ahmadiyya people. In May 2010, suicide bombers killed 80 people at two mosques during Friday prayers. The Enforcement Directorate has arrested two Axis Bank managers here and seized 3 kg gold bars in connection with its money laundering probe in a racket of illegally converting old notes in connivance with banking authorities. The agency's probe till now, after it registered a criminal complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on November 30, found that huge monies were transferred through RTGS transfers to some shell companies including a case where the Director of such a firm was a "petty labourer." "It was also found that directors of other shell companies were also persons of no means," the ED said in a statement. The agency identified the two managers as Shobit Sinha and Vineet Gupta, working at Axis bank's Kashmere Gate branch here, and said they were arrested late yesterday under the provisions of PMLA. This is the first time such high ranking bank offciials have been arrested for alleged fraud transactions post the currency scrap. They will be produced in a court today for further custody, they added. Axis Bank said it has suspended the officials concerned. The bank is committed to following the highest standards of corporate governance and has zero tolerance towards any deviation on the part of any of its employees from the set model code of conduct. In this particular case, the bank has suspended the erring employee and is cooperating with the investigating agencies," it said in a statement. A gold bar, part of alleged kickbacks payment given to the bankers, has been seized by the agency from Sinha's location in Lucknow, ED said, adding another 2 kg of gold bars have also been seized from one of the jewellers involved in the racket. The case was first detected by the Delhi Police after it intercepted three people with cash of about Rs 3.7 crore in old notes, in front of the said Axis Bank branch last month, and the ED took cognisance of the police FIR to slap money laundering charges against the accused. The Income Tax department too had carried out its action in this case and had surveyed the bank branch and later searched the residential premises of the duo. ED has notified the bank to "stop operations" in 11 accounts even as it has zeroed on a number of jewellers, entry operators and others in this case. "After demonetisation of high denomination notes certain persons having old currencies were looking for converting those notes into gold even at inflated rates. Such persons were contacted by the jewellers who collected such cash from these parties as advances against gold to be sold at high prices ranging from Rs 45000-50000 per 10 gm," the agency said. "The cash so collected was laundered through banking channels with the help of launderers who are professionally qualified CAs and managing several dummy/shell companies and finally payments from such companies were made through RTGS to bullion dealers and the physical gold so purchased at market rate of Rs 31000-32000/ 10gm was handed over to the persons from whom advances were received," the agency said ED claimed its probe found that some shell firms, which have their bank accounts in the said bank branch, were "used to deposit cash to the tune of Rs 39 crore between November 10-22 in close connivance" with the said bank managers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced demonetisation of the Rs 500/1000 notes on the night of November 8. "These cash deposits were in the installments of Rs 90 to 99 lakh so as to avoid detection/reporting to government agencies (like FIU and I-T department). In several instances more than one such cash deposit in a day was made in these accounts," the agency said. It added it has identified firms like Ms Beagle Marketing Private Limited, Sunrise Trading company, Himalaya International and RD Traders among others are part of the alleged shell companies racket being used to launder funds and convert black money into white. "During interrogation of the middlemen it was revealed that the bank officials agreed to the modus operandi for getting commission/bribe at 2 per cent of the amount deposited in cash in these accounts. This gratification was given to the bank mangers--Gupta and Sinha--in the form of gold bars (at the rate of 1 per cent each)," the agency said. It added that during interrogation of the bank managers it was "revealed that at their instance huge amount of cash was also exchanged in the initial three days (post November 8) without following the due procedure prescribed by RBI. "For this bulk change forms and unverified identity documents were received from certain customers along with old currency notes which were exchanged by giving them new currency notes in bulk amounting to several lakhs. The Directorate (ED) has arrested both bank managers for their connivance and further investigations are under progress," the ED statement added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the online reader's poll for TIME Person of the Year 2016, beating out other world leaders like US President-elect Donald Trump, incumbent US leader Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi won with 18 per cent of the vote when the poll closed last night, getting significantly more votes than his closest contenders, including Obama, Trump and Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange, who all received 7 per cent of the 'yes' vote. Modi was also placed far ahead of other prominent figures of this year, like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (2 per cent) and US Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (4 per cent), Time said. Time's editors will decide the final Person of the Year later this week, but the online poll results provide a look at how the world sees these figures and Modi emerged as the most influential figure in 2016, according to the online poll. Time said the reader poll is an "important window" into who they think most shaped 2016. It is for the second time that Modi has won the online readers' poll for Time Person of the Year title, securing the honour in 2014, when he had got more than 16 per cent of the almost five million votes cast. For the fourth year in a row, Modi is among the contenders for Time's 'Person of the Year' honour, which the US publication bestows every year to the one "who has most influenced the news and our world in the past year, for good or ill". Last year German Chancellor Angela Merkel was Time's 'Person of the Year'. Time said in recent months, Modi saw high approval ratings from Indians, according to a September Pew poll. It added that Modi has come under scrutiny recently for getting rid of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes, impacting cash-based businesses and threatening India's economy. Current poll results, analysed by poll host Apester, found that preferences differed across the world and the United States. Modi performed particularly well among Indian voters as well as those in California and New Jersey. Modi had been in the lead in this years online poll and according to the initial votes cast, he had got 21 per cent voting in his favour. For a while Assange had overtaken Trump for the lead in the online poll, getting 10 per cent of all the "yes" votes cast by participants, Time had said. Among the contenders this year are former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, FBI Chief James Comey, Apple CEO Tim Cook, parents of slain Muslim-American soldier Humanyun Khan, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Time had also analysed the moments from 2016 when this year's poll contenders were most talked about. For Modi it was October 16 when the Indian leader had suggested during a summit of BRICS nations in Goa that Pakistan is the "mothership" for terrorism. Scores of AIADMK workers today gathered at the Apollo Hospitals, where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa is undergoing treatment after suffering cardiac arrest, with some wailing and other looking dejected over the news of the deterioration in their leader's health. Party workers from several districts like Parimala of Tiruvannamalai and Subramanian of North Chennai, who arrived at the hospital, told PTI that "We are waiting. We are confident that we will get good news soon." Some people milling around the hospital premises, including AIADMK workers, were seen praying seeking divine intervention so that their party supremo Jayalalithaa recovers. 68-year-old Jayalalithaa has been put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a heart assist device, and was under the watch of experts, including cardiologists. State Ministers including senior Minister P Thangamani, and other top AIADMK functionaries like B Valarmathi, who arrived at the hospital earlier, left for a brief while and returned. Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan enquired about Jayalalithaa's health with hospital authorities and AIADMK leaders. Rajini, an elder woman party worker from Jayalalithaa's RK Nagar constituency, was seen praying fervently, tears flowing down her cheeks. She was joined by scores of party women workers from RK Nagar. With more and more people reaching the premises and lining up the approach roads, it resulted in traffic congestion in the neighbourhood. Police are having a tough time in regulating the crowd and ensuring that patients are not inconvenienced even as the hospital remained under tight security cover. Though the state government has not announced closure of schools and educational institutions, some of them remained closed as the managements took a decision in this regard. Even in schools that were open, thin attendance was reported. Shops and commercial establishments largely remained open, police said. The Indian Embassy here and its five consulates in the US will hold an open house every fortnight starting from January to address the grievances of people on issues related to visa, passport and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card. "I would like to announce an initiative today. We would institute from the first week of January next year an open house in the Indian Embassy," Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna, said yesterday at a reception held in his honour by top Indian-American community organisations of greater Washington DC area. Addressing several hundred Indian-Americans from in and around Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia, Sarna said "the Open House would be held every fortnight wherein people with their grievances related to passports, visas and OCI cards can simply walk in and the senior embassy officials would address them." "We would put out on the website once a fortnight, a designated day and a time where somebody who may have put in his papers and is not getting a response; somebody who actually have a particular problem which he wants to come and discuss with some body at the Embassy; somebody who is facing a problem in communication; somebody who does not have a paper for OCI, but still wants to have it; they would be able to come and we will have the our senior officers and the nodal officers will meet them and attend to their problem," he said. "We will also institute a similar arrangement in all our consulates in the United States," the Indian Ambassador said. His announcement was welcomed by the community leaders present at the reception, who also felicitated the outgoing Deputy Indian Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who now heads to Colombo as the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka. In his second stint to the Indian Embassy in Washington DC, Sarna acknowledged that problem persists despite best of the efforts and improvement in the system. "I know one place where we always go wrong is passport, visa, OCI. No matter, how, where we do, we outsource it, we monitor it and this is the nature of the beast, nobody's fault... no matter how efficient the machinery is this is ultimately a human error... there will always be a problem when you rang and nobody picked up the phone," he said. "When you actually send the passport and for some reason they are stuck in the post, where you actually wanted to use the electronic visa system, and they did not accept your card. "These happens, because these are new systems. These are being put through the teething problems. They need to be improved upon. In a couple of years, I can assure you will laugh at these problems," he said. In his remarks, Sandhu highlighted the role of the Indian American community in strengthening India US relationship. Among other things, he stressed on the need to involve second generation Indian Americans in community activities and strengthening India US ties. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the demonetisation move and called it a failure even as Modi supporters heckled him at the start of the event in North Delhi. Kejriwal, who was addressing members of Chamber of Bawana Industrialists on adverse impact of demonetisation on their trade, said that Modi's note ban has failed on all four counts checking corruption, stopping black money, stopping fake currency and blocking terror funding. In a stinging speech, the AAP convenor repeated exhorted the crowd to spread the "real truth" behind the currency ban, which he described as a "conspiracy" and "scam" implemented to favour the corporates. I have always backed Modiji on good issues. Swachcha Bharat, Yoga or Surgical strikes. But when he does something wrong like demonetisation he cannot escape criticism, said Kejriwal. If demonetisation was the solution to check black money and corruption, I would have myself shouted slogans hailing Modi, he said. Workers are facing lay off, industries are locking out, farmers cannot sow seeds and over 80 people have lost their lives due to demonetisation problems, he said. The Chief Minister narrated the tale of a farmer who was forced to commit suicide as he could not withdraw his own money from bank for his daughter's wedding. He said he had come armed with Income Tax department papers that would nail the lies of Modi. We have fought against corruption and even endangered our lives for it. I fasted for 10 days despite being a diabetic. It must have been some supernatural power that helped me fast as a diabetic cannot fast for more than two days, he said. I have shared corruption proof against Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi, Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani earlier, he said. He also took a pot shot at former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and said he would even get after her for Statehood issue Refeferring to a purported statement made by Delhi BJP Chief Manoj Tiwari, which Tiwari denied having made, Kejriwal said that by denying statehood to the national capital, BJP wants the people of Delhi to remain second class. The Delhi BJP chief, said Kejriwal, in his hurry to lodge his opposition, was latching on to a false report. The online exchange started with Kejriwals tweet: This is insulting to the people of Delhi. BJP does not want to give Delhiites the rights to be full citizens, want to keep them as second class citizens in their own country. Tiwari, who recently replaced Satish Upadhyay as BJPs Delhi President, tagged Kejriwal in his reply, saying he would send him the complete video tomorrow. At least listen to the complete statement. Why the hurry in opposing? I will send you the complete video tomorrow. You have latched on to a false report again, Tiwari tweeted. Tiwary later said the party was in favour of statehood for Delhi but stressed that there was a need to determine its limits. The issue of statehood for Delhi was mentioned in our election manifesto. We support statehood, but one should also keep in mind that Delhi is not just the capital of any state, but the entire nation. Therefore, the limits of statehood, especially in light of Kejriwals protest in Delhi ahead of Republic Day celebrations in 2014, must be determined, Tiwari said. Since storming to power, the Aam Aadmi Party government has repeatedly clashed with the Centre over the contentious issue of granting statehood to Delhi. The government had also a released a draft bill on statehood in May. However, there has been no progress on that front. DHNS/PTI As a "gracious host", India extended all facilities to Sartaj Aziz for his trip here to attend the Heart of Asia conference and there was no reason to complain, government sources said today, a day after Pakistan claimed that restrictions were put on his movement and he was not allowed speak to media. The sources also said a rare exception was made to allow arrival and departure of Aziz, who led the Pakistani delegation, by air at Amritsar which is not a designated port for entry and exit of Pakistani nationals, besides giving swift clearance despite a last minute change in his scheduled arrival by a special flight. In a hurriedly called press conference after his return from Amritsar last night, Aziz had accused India of not treating the Pakistani media properly at the Heart of Asia meeting and said he was not allowed to have a press conference. "The attitude towards media was not good. I wanted to have press interaction with our own media. But we were not allowed," he alleged. Yesterday, Pakistan had also claimed that Aziz was not allowed to visit the Golden Temple and speak to Pakistani media at the hotel where he was staying even as India said it was done considering his security. "They have no reasons to complain. We were gracious hosts. Extended tarmac access, gave additional rooms, provided armoured cars (not given to every Foreign Minister) and other conveniences keeping special security requirements in view. "This was done despite the last minute change of programme and advancing of arrival in Amritsar by special flight by more than 12 hours. Fresh flight clearance was issued within minutes," the sources said. They said Aziz could be present in the official dinner and in the call on Prime Minister on the evening of October 3 due to the last minute clearance given. "In addition, they were actively engaged in the Senior Officials Meeting and Ministerial and all other requests honoured. A rare exception was made to allow arrival and departure by air at Amritsar which is not a designated airport for entry and exit for Pakistani nationals," they said. Aziz was scheduled to arrive here on Sunday but came a day early for the conference due to prevailing weather condition. Almost the entire northern India has been affected by thick cover of fog for the last two days, delaying flights and trains services. India's efforts to "spoil" Pak-Afghan ties will not succeed, Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has said as he downplayed Afghan President's criticism of Pakistan's support to terrorism, saying it was meant to "please" India. "Ashraf Ghani's (Afghan President) statement is regrettable. It shows anxiety in Kabul and is understandable due to deteriorating law and order situation," Aziz said, adding that Ghani's "statements were meant to please India". He said India's efforts to divide Afghanistan and Pakistan will not go far as "we are next-door neighbours". "Indian efforts will not succeed to spoil Pakistan ties with Afghanistan, as our ties are religious and cultural. That is why we want that terrorism should end in Afghanistan," he said on returning home after attending the Heart of Asia meeting in Amritsar. "But our ties with Afghanistan are independent and we need to cooperate on several issues," Aziz said. He claimed that India was trying to use Afghanistan for its own advantage "but it will not succeed". Aziz also accused India of not treating the Pakistani media properly at the Heart of Asia meeting and said he was not allowed to have a press conference. "The attitude towards media was not good. I wanted to have press interaction with our own media. But we were not allowed," he alleged. Afghan President Ghani had accused Pakistan of launching an "undeclared war" against his country by covertly supporting terror networks including the Taliban, and asked it to use its USD 500 million aid to check extremism on its soil. He had also demanded an Asian or international regime to verify Pakistan-sponsored terror operations. Aziz said Pakistan had reassured Ghani that its territory will not be used against Kabul. "I reassured Ghani that we will not allow out territory to be used against Afghanistan. But also emphasised better border management," said Aziz. Aziz said the Afghan leader had a different idea about USD 500 million assistance pledged by Pakistan and proposed a trilateral commission with China to utilise the amount for welfare of Afghanistan. There is a steep increase in the role of female American jihadists involved in terror activity in the last five years and they use social media for communication, a first-of-its-kind study has said. The researchers of George Washington University Programme released a new study examining the role of American jihadi women and found a steep increase in their participation in terrorist activity. The research paper "Cruel Intentions: Female Jihadists in America," was released on Thursday, almost exactly a year after Pakistani national Tashfeen Malik and her Pakistani-American husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, shot and killed 14 people at a holiday party in San Bernardino in the US. "The couple's path to radicalisation is still the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation, but Malik's active role in carrying out the plot was a shock to many who categorise extremist women as taking an auxiliary role in jihad," said Audrey Alexander, Program on Extremism research fellow and author of the new paper. "As a result of their actions, the threat became immediately apparent to policymakers, law enforcement officials and even the public that women were participating in terrorism," she said. Within the wider movement, American women served as plotters, supporters, and travellers. The study examined 25 cases from January 2011 - September 2016. "This report refutes the misconception that women are naively duped into participation or are depraved instigators of violence," said Audrey Alexander, a researcher involved in the study. "By presenting comprehensive accounts of female jihadist activities, we can see that they are an evolving threat even though they are not the most prominent or visible proponents of jihadi ideology," he said. The report said that while few female American jihadists appear to act alone or conduct violent plots, many support activities in pairs and trios and with friends, siblings and romantic partners. They are active online and offline, but social media is an especially common medium for women to use, it said. "The increasing involvement of women in jihadi groups is a global phenomenon," said Lorenzo Vidino, director of the GW Program on Extremism. "Even though women rarely perpetrate violence, their diverse contributions advance and sustain the jihadi movement in the US and abroad," Vidino said. The report concludes by noting that it is important for policymakers to offer alternatives to arrest and emphasiaes that de-radicalization and prevention are necessary steps to countering violent extremism by women, particularly in instances where individuals engage with the ideology but do not break the law or become violent. Lenders to the defunct Kingfisher Airlines have decided to again put up for auction on December 22 the plush sea-facing Kingfisher Villa at Condolim in north Goa at a marginal discount of 5 per cent to the last reserve price. The lenders have set the reserve price at Rs 81 crore this time compared to Rs 85.29 crore at the first auction of the property on October 19. SBICap Trustee, which is auctioning the property, today said the reserve price for the property has been kept at Rs 81 crore and it would be put on sale on December 22. The villa was once used by Vijay Mallya to host lavish parties. After failed attempts to attract buyers in the first auction for different movable and immovable properties of the liquor baron Mallya, like Kingfisher House and various trademarks of the airlines, the lenders have reduced the reserve price by 10 per cent each. The luxury jet once owned by Mallya failed to get even one-tenth of the reserve price event at the third auctions last week. In the first attempt to sell the airline's erstwhile headquarters Kingfisher House in the city in March this year, the lenders had kept the reserve price at Rs 150 core but reduced it by 10 per cent to Rs 135 crore in the second auction later in August, which also failed. For the third time, lenders had put on block the Kingfisher House on December 19, with a reserve price 15 per cent lower at Rs 115 crore from the second auction in August. In the two failed attempts to sell the long-grounded Kingfisher Airline's brands and trademarks this year, the reserve price was lowered from Rs 366.70 crore to Rs 330.03 crore. However, it also could not attract any bidders. The lenders are once again auctioning the movable properties --10 cars ranging from Toyota Innova, Honda City, Honda Civic and Toyota Camry, among others, worth Rs 15.72 lakh. These cars would be auctioned on an individual basis on January 5, 2017. Mallya owes over Rs 9,000 crore to lenders like SBI, PNB, IDBI Bank, BoB, Allahabad Bank, Federal Bank and Axis Bank, among others. He had left the country on March 3 this year and is currently said to be in Britain. Last month, the CBI had initiated an extradition request to bring back Mallya from the United Kingdom through a Special Court in Mumbai. The investigative agencies secured a non-bailable warrant against Mallya, following it with an extradition request from a London special court. In a minor reprieve for Shirin Dalvi, former editor of Urdu newspaper Awadhnama, the Bombay High Court today directed the police not to file a charge sheet in the FIRs registered against her after the newspaper republished controversial caricatures from French weekly Charlie Hebdo. A division bench of Justices V M Kanade and Nutan Sardessai today admitted the petition filed by Dalvi, challenging the complaints lodged against her at various places in the state for allegedly spreading malicious content and hurting religious sentiments. The court, while directing the police not to file charge sheet in the cases against Dalvi pending final hearing and disposal of her petition, said, "These days people are hyper-sensitive about such matters." The now-closed newspaper, Awadhnama, had carried the cover page of French weekly Charlie Hebdo, on its front page in its January 16, 2015 edition. After a series of complaints, the paper had issued an apology on January 17. A series of FIRs were registered against Dalvi in Mumbai, Thane and Malegaon. She was arrested and later released on bail. Charlie Hebdo was the target of a terror attack in Paris last year in which 12 people were killed. Veteran actors Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha and Paresh Rawal have wished speedy recovery to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa after she suffered a cardiac arrest last evening. Taking to Twitter, the stars expressed their concern for the 68-year-old politician's health, who is currently undergoing treatment at the Apollo hospital in Chennai. "Reading news about Jayalalita ji and sending prayers for her speedy recovery," Bachchan tweeted. While, recalling his meeting with Jayalalithaa, Kapoor wrote, "Prayers for Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalitha ji's health. Remember her warmth along with MGR sahab when I met them at AVM Studio 1974 Chennai." Sinha called Jayalalitha a revolutionary leader and hoped that she will get well soon. "Very sad to hear the news of the cardiac arrest & critical health situation of the great revolutionary leader Ms Jayalalitha. My prayers go out to her and also her friends, fans, well wishers and supporters. May God grant them strength to face this test with dignity and calm," he wrote. Rawal also tweeted, "Prayer to god to grant a long and a healthy life to Amma Jayalalitha ji." In a tragic incident, an 18-year-old US girl shot herself dead in front of the family after being relentlessly bullied on Facebook for her weight. Brandy Vela shot herself through the chest in front of her stunned family members at their Texas home with a gun which her family members begged her to put down. Brandy, who was a high school senior, had sent her family a text message before shooting herself that read, "I love you so much, please remember that, and I'm sorry for everything." Her parents and grandparents were at the home when she fatally shot herself. "We tried to persuade her to put the gun down but she was determined. She said she'd come too far to turn back. It was very unfortunate that I had to see that. It's hard when your daughter tells you to turn around. You feel helpless," said Raul Vela, father of the girl. "(They) set up an account saying she was actually soliciting sex," he said. Brandy's sister Jackie told CNN the teen had always been bullied for her weight, but the cyberbullying ramped up in April. "People would make up fake Facebook accounts and they would message her and she wouldn't respond and they would still come at her," Jackie said. "They would say really, really mean things like, 'Why are you still here?' They would call her fat and ugly. She was beautiful, absolutely beautiful; the only thing people could find to pick on her was her weight," she said. Jackie said her sister changed her phone number and reported the bullying to police, but was told they could not help her. "[The police] couldn't do anything because [the suspects] used an app and it wasn't traceable, and they couldn't do something until something happened, like they fight," she was quoted as saying. Texas City police Capt Joe Stanton said the detectives were interviewing the family and will be contacting people the family believes are suspects. "It's extremely difficult to stop someone from sending messages when apps make it easy to remain anonymous," said Tortorici, the communications director for school where Brandy studied. Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who has been camping in Tamil Nadu since today morning, has apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the latest health condition of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Naidu, who met doctors from the Apollo hospital, where she is admitted and those from AIIMS who have been called in to treat the AIADMK chief, briefed the Prime Minister on the latest health condition of the 68-year-old chief minister, sources said. Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest late last night and is said to be in an "extremely grave" condition. Naidu also met top leadership of AIADMK, including party legislators, during the day, sources said. They said Jayalalithaa's condition would be evaluated once again around 10.30 pm. The Arctic Ocean may seem remote and forbidding, but to birds, whales and other animals, it is a top-notch dining destination. It is a great place to get food in the summer time, so animals are flying or swimming thousands of miles to get there, said Kevin R Arrigo, a biological oceanographer at Stanford University, USA. But the menu is changing. Confirming earlier research, scientists have recently reported that global warming is altering the ecology of the Arctic Ocean on a huge scale. The annual production of algae, the base of the food web, increased an estimated 47% between 1997 and 2015, and the ocean is greening up much earlier each year. These changes are likely to have a profound impact for animals further up the food chain, such as birds, seals, polar bears and whales. But scientists still dont know enough about the biology of the Arctic Ocean to predict what the ecosystem will look like in decades to come. While global warming has affected the whole planet in recent decades, nowhere has been hit harder than the Arctic. This month, temperatures in the high Arctic have been as much as 36 above average, according to records kept by the Danish Meteorological Institute. In October, the extent of sea ice was 28.5% below average the lowest for the month since scientists began keeping records in 1979. The area of missing ice is the size of Alaska and Texas (USA) put together. Retreating ice Since the mid-2000s, researchers like Kevin have been trying to assess the effects of retreating ice on the Arctic ecosystem. The sun returns to the Arctic each spring and melts some of the ice formed in winter. Algae in the open water quickly spring to life and start growing. These algae are the base of the food chain in the Arctic Ocean, grazed by krill and other invertebrates that in turn support bigger fish, mammals and birds. Kevin and his colleagues visited the Arctic in research ships to examine algae in the water and to determine how it affected the waters colour. They then reviewed satellite images of the Arctic Ocean, relying on the colour of the water to estimate how much algae was growing what scientists call the oceans productivity. The seas productivity was rapidly increasing, Kevin found. Last year, Kevin and his colleagues published their latest update, estimating that the productivity of the Arctic rose 30% between 1998 and 2012. But Mati Kahru, an oceanographer at the University of California, San Diego, was skeptical. As an expert on remote sensing, he knew how hard it is to get a reliable picture of the Arctic Ocean. The ocean is notoriously cloudy, and algae are not the only thing that tinting the water. Rivers deliver tea-coloured organic matter into the Arctic Ocean, which can give the impression that theres more algae in the water than is actually there. Mati and his colleagues decided to take an independent look, scouring satellite databases for images taken from 1997 to 2015 every image available, he said. The scientists used a mathematical equation to determine how the colour in each pixel of each image was determined by algae, runoff, and other factors. Mati decided that Kevin was right: the Arctic Ocean has become vastly more productive. Marcel Babin, an oceanographer at Universite Laval in Quebec, Canada who was not involved in the new study, said that the researchers had done very careful work that confirmed earlier studies. Its an important finding, he said. Not only is the Arctic Ocean producing more algae, but its doing sooner each year. These blooms are coming earlier, sometimes two months earlier, Mati said. In fact, the bloom may be coming even sooner than satellites can record. On research cruises, Kevin and his colleagues have found that open water is no longer a requirement for algae to grow. The ice has gotten so thin that sunlight reaches through it. Now theyre not even waiting for the ice to melt, said Kevin said of algal organisms. If we stay on our current course, pouring more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the Arctic will only get warmer, perhaps becoming ice-free in the summer. If algae can find more nitrogen and other nutrients in the ocean, its productivity may continue to rise. Scientists cant yet say what the ecological effects of this transformation will be. It is probable it will have an impact on the whole food web, Marcel said. Marcel and his colleagues have been studying that impact over the past two summers on an expedition called the Green Edge Project, which has studied the ecology in Baffin Bay off the coast of northern Canada. They hope to present the first results of the survey next year. Some species may thrive because they can graze on the extra algae. But if the ecosystem comes to life earlier in the year, many species may be left behind. Fish larvae may not be able to develop fast enough. Migrating whales and birds may show up too late. A lot of the extra algae may drop to the sea floor by then, untouched. Its going to be a different Arctic unless we turn things around, Kevin said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged global energy firms to step up investment in India, as its oil consumption is going to be more than the whole of Europe by 2040 that will throw up job opportunities for youth. Indias economy is expected to grow five-fold by 2040. As per estimates, India is poised to account for one-fourth of the incremental global energy demand between 2013 and 2040. India is expected to consume more oil in 2040 than the whole of Europe, the prime minister said while addressing the inaugural session of Petrotech conference here. Transport infrastructure is also expected to increase manifold, he said. The commercial vehicle population will increase four-fold from the current 1.30 crore by 2040. In civil aviation, India is currently the eighth largest market in the world and set to become the worlds third largest by 2034. Growth in the aviation sector is expected to raise demand for aviation fuel four times by 2040. All this will affect energy demand, he said. He said a new hydrocarbon exploration and production policy has been introduced to provide for uniform licence for exploration and production for all forms of hydrocarbons, including shale oil and gas and coal bed methane. This also covers open acreage policy allowing bidders to choose the acreage they wish to explore, revenue sharing model instead of profit sharing to reduce any scope for disputes and pricing freedom for crude oil and natural gas produced. I hope that our oil and gas sector companies will take the opportunity to tie up with their foreign counterparts to explore for more equity oil... Indian energy companies must become multinational and work towards India-Middle East, India-Central Asia, and India-South Asia energy corridors, he exhorted. He urged global hydrocarbon companies to come and make in India. Our commitment is strong and our motto is to replace Red Tape with Red Carpet, he said adding, We must also be sensitive towards the environment. It is something India does out of commitment not out of compulsion, Modi said. After a wait of three decades, the Indian Army is set to receive its first Howitzer by June 2017, thanks to a $737-million deal with the US. The government-to-government contract between Washington and New Delhi will facilitate the sale of BAE Systems M777 ultra-lightweight Howitzers to the army, which didnt have any artillery since the purchase of the Bofors guns. A week before US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carters India visit on December 8, the Defence Ministry had signed the Letter of Acceptance to purchase 145 M777 guns through the foreign military sales route. The countdown to the delivery has already begun as BAE Systems is to supply the first one within six months, sources said. The entire consignment is to be delivered over a period of about 54 months. While the first 25 guns are to be imported in two years, the rest would be assembled at a factory at Faridabad, which Mahindra set up in partnership with BAE Systems. At half the weight of other 155mm-towed Howitzers, the M777 provides a rapid reaction capability, and is the only battle-proven 155mm ultra-lightweight Howitzer in the world. For the Indian Army, the guns would be useful while serving on mountainous terrain. Also, since they can be carried by Chinook helicopters, which also India is buying from the US, they can be quickly moved to areas close to the border. Almost a decade ago, the army had proposed purchasing the 155 mm/39 calibre lightweight Howitzers. But even after the ministry approved the M777 purchase and the gun performed well in the trials, the deal was stuck due to price negotiation. The suspense over the much-awaited names of big people on whose behalf property dealer Mahesh Shah had declared Rs 13,860 crore under Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) remained unresolved on Monday. Shah, who said last Saturday that he would announce the names to Income Tax officials, is yet to make the revelations, despite over 14 hours of interrogation in the last three days. The I-T officials on Monday said that the 67-year-old businessman failed to provide any information on the IDS. Director General of Investigation, I-T, Gujarat, P C Modi said that Shah was in fact not cooperating with them. Despite opportunities given to him, he has neither provided any worthwhile information nor produced any evidence in support of his claims. More time sought On the contrary, he has sought more time from the department on the ground of his wifes illness. We have given him additional 2-3 days time, Modi said. The Ahmedabad-based property dealer is now involved in another controversy. On Sunday night, he was apparently taken to his daughters house in a police uniform. According to information available, the police inspector in-charge of Satellite police station in Ahmedabad, made Shah wear the police uniform to protect his identity, but, without consulting his seniors. As a result, Ahmedabad Police Commissioner A K Singh sought details into the incident. However, state DGP P P Pandey on Monday tried to make light of the incident. It may have been done to camouflage... like at times, some are made to wear burqa! Pandey told mediapersons in Surat. State BJP spokesperson and former minister S Suresh Kumar on Monday claimed that there is evidence to prove the role of a senior minister in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet, in the cash scam involving two top engineers who were recently raided by the Income Tax department. Addressing the media in Bengaluru, Kumar said that a prominent politician, (who he later clarified was a senior minister), was the mastermind behind the scam. It is the minister who had prevailed upon a bank manager to part with the huge sum of cash to the officials, most of it in brand new currency notes, he said. Kumar said that the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigations would reveal the involvement of more engineers as well as IAS and IPS officers in the cash scam. Names divulged The BJP leader said that suspended officers T N Chikkarayappa and S C Jayachandra who were caught in possession of ill-gotten wealth, have themselves divulged to the investigation officers, the names of those who are behind the cash scam. This also included names of some ministers. Kumar said that there is also evidence of a telephonic conversation between two ministers in this regard. Terming the Public Works Department pilferage without detection department, Kumar said that it was a bottomless pit for corrupt activities. The officials are now under the scanner because of being in wrong company. They are very close to certain ministers. It is little wonder how these two gained such high postings, the former law minister added. However, he did not reveal the names of the ministers and officers. Stating that the cash scam had brought shame to Karnataka, the BJP leader dismissed JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamys charges that the two officials were nurtured by the BJP, when the party was in power. Rayanna brigade meet Kumar said that BJP national general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Muralidhar Rao has told the party leaders in the state not to participate in the Sangolli Rayanna Brigades convention to be held at Nandgad in Belagavi on Tuesday. This is the partys stand. If any leader were to participate in the convention, then the party will take action against them, he added. ACB registers FIRs against 2 officials The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday registered FIRs against Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd managing director T N Chikkarayappa and Karnataka State Highway Development Project, Chief Project Officer, S C Jayachandra for owning disproportionate assets. ACB officials said that the FIRs were registered after receiving a preliminary enquiry report from the Income Tax Department. The state government had suspended Chikkarayappa and Jayachandra after they were caught in possession of huge cash during the Income Tax raids. An ACB official said the FIRs have been registered under section 13 (1) (d) and (e) of Prevention of Corruption Act. The FIR is only with regard to assets found in the possession of the duo. We have credible information that they have assets disproportionate to their known of sources of income,'' he added. The JD(S) corporators have left for Bengaluru, according to party sources, as the resort politics has picked up in connection with the election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, scheduled for December 7 (Wednesday). Meanwhile, both the BJP and the Congress are playing their cards to share power with the JD(S) in the Mysuru City Corporation. While the BJP is hopeful of continuation of the almost two decade-old coalition with the JD(S) in the district, the Congress is trying to strike a deal on the lines of the understanding in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. In the 65-member MCC, there are 64 members, following the conviction of JD(S) member Madesh in a murder case. The Congress has the highest of 20 seats, followed by JD(S) 19, BJP 13, SDPI two, KJP one, BSR Congress one and eight Independents. However, the lone KJP member B L Bhyrappa, who is presently Mayor, and newly-elected Independent Corporator Ashwini Ananthu have joined the JD(S), taking the strength to 21. The BSR Congress member has joined the SDPI and all the three members support the Congress. So, the Congress has 23 votes to its credit. Besides, there are three MLAs (M K Somasekhar, Vasu and Tanveer Sait) and an MLC (R Dharmasena) from the Congress. Hence the Congress can get 27 votes in all. The JD(S) has an MLA (G T Devegowda) and three MLCs (Sandesh Nagaraj, K T Srikantegowda and Marithibbegowda) taking the JD(S) tally to 25. The BJP has an MP (Prathap Simha), so it is assured of 14 votes. If the JD(S)-BJP combine continues it can get 39 votes, but if the alliance changes in favour of the Congress it can garner 52 votes. The BJP-JD(S) alliance in the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) went off without a hiccup in the last term. Bhyrappa was nominated by the JD(S) as mayor, while Vanitha Prasanna of the BJP was elected deputy mayor. The two parties are partners in the Mysuru zilla and taluk panchayats, too. The Congress, which is in Opposition in most of the local bodies, is trying hard to woo the JD(S) as well as Independents to wrest control of the MCC to save face in the CMs district. Cong for keeping BJP away The Congress has offered the JD(S) to settle for whatever posts were given for the BJP during the last term to keep the BJP away from power. So, the Congress may get the post of deputy mayor and chairpersons posts of two standing committees. If the JD(S) agrees to offer deputy mayors post to the Congress, there are many contestants like A Rajani, Kamala Udaykumar, M S Rajalakshmi, Bhagyavathi, Umamani and Rathnamma. With the mayors post reserved for the general category, senior corporators belonging to dominant communities are vying for it. Four-time corporator K T Chaluvegowda and former deputy mayor M J Ravikumar of the JD(S) are in the forefront. For the deputy mayors post, reserved for women (general), Seema Prasad, Pushpavathi and Rathna are holding talks with the BJP leaders. The next time you go to Nandi Hills, you will see a board cautioning you against taking selfies. The government is calling the popular tourist destination a no-selfie zone. Just an hours drive from central Bengaluru, the verdant hills are known for their sheer cliffs. The Karnataka State Tourism Department is erecting no-selfie boards at 400 destinations across the state. Tourism Department Principal Secretary Naveen Raj Singh told DH the boards would be in place in about a month and a half. The department has divided the state into three regions---south Karnataka, coastal Karnataka and Hyderabad-Karnataka, and its selfie-risk awareness campaign covers water bodies, hillocks, cliffs and rocky terrain. To start with, the boards are coming up at Nandi Hills, Chintamani Hills and Gudibande Hills, all quick drives towards the north of Bengaluru, and frequented by weekend tourists and trekkers. The department is also paying special attention to beaches where tourists from October to February. Tourism Department Director N Manjula told DH some boards would be customised for the locations. These boards will be coming up for the first time in the state and the aim is to reduce accidents. The department has identified hazardous areas, and directed all its assistant directors in the districts to list less known destinations that call for boards. Such boards have begun to greet tourists in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. In August, the Mysuru district administration, the Karnataka tourism department and the police tried to make the Chamundi Hills a no-selfie zone, but they havent been successful. Two deaths in Gokarna in May and two more at Alekan Falls in Chikkamagaluru in July prompted the department to think of warning boards. Concerned over such deaths across the country, the Centre had directed all states in August to put up such boards. Her supporters hailed her as Amma (mother) and Puratchi Thalaivi (revolutionary leader); her critics called her a ruthless autocrat who usurped democratic processes. But in a state where the reel is inexorably fused with the real, Jayaram Jayalalithaa proved herself to be one of the most tenacious politicians who served the state as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister for three terms. Known as Tamil Nadus iron lady, Jayalalithaa, who hails from Mysore, is famous for her tough, spontaneous and populist decisions. Mentored by her senior acting colleague and former state Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, Jayalalithaa formally joined All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in 1982, at the age of 34. She worked hard to climb the party ranks to become the propaganda secretary, much to the chagrin of seasoned partymen, and was soon nominated to Rajya Sabha. MGR may have brought her to politics, but she rose to the top purely on her own merits, breaking new grounds for women. When MGR was taking treatment in the US for his illness, AIADMK had to face the Parliamentary and Assembly polls in 1984. Jayalalithaa spearheaded her party to a spectacular victory, proving that she is equal, if not better, than her mentor when it comes to galvanising her party. After MGRs demise in 1987, AIADMK split vertically with Jaya heading one of the factions. In 1989 polls, she was elected from Bodinayakkanur and became the first woman leader of the opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly. In February that year, the party united under her leadership and she was elected the General Secretary. In 1991, Jayalalithaa led her party to a crushing victory to become the second woman Chief Minister of the state; MGRs widow Janaki being the first as she led a government that lasted for just 28 days. Jayalalithaa also became the first woman leader to complete a full term in the government, ruling the state from 1991 to 1996. One specific incident that defined her early career as a legislator was the brawl inside the Tamil Nadu Assembly during which her sari was torn and abuses were hurled at her. A tearful and dishevelled Jayalalithaa left the Assembly complex that day vowing to return as Chief Minister, something she managed with in two years. Allegations of massive corruption made her government unpopular and she lost the 1996 elections to her rival DMK, which lodged several cases against her that she continues to fight until now. Known for her strict handling of state bureaucrats, Jayalalithaa never hesitated to punish the civil servants who failed to discharge their duties. Jayalalithaas early years were spent in Bengaluru, where she studied at Bishop Cotton Girls School. As her family moved to Chennai, she went to the Presentation Convent Church Park School, where, after matriculating in 1964, she won a Government of India scholarship for higher studies. Her dream of further studies was abruptly cut short, when her mother Sandhya persuaded her to act in films at the age of 16. She soon grew busy acting in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and even doing a movie in English. Her only English movie titled Epistle was released in 1961 and was produced by Shankar Giri, son of former President VV Giri. The most memorable of her Bollywood movie was Izzat, in which she played opposite Dharmendra, who later joined the BJP. A voracious reader, Jayalalithaa was known to carry books to the film set and read between shots. Her favourite authors include Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw, Danielle Steel, Pearl S Buck and James Hadley Chase. She maintains a large library with several collections. Asked what she thought of the description of her as iron butterfly, Jayalalithaa said: I agree with the description iron, but why butterfly? I don't think the word butterfly fits me at all." The currency ban announced by the Union government on November 8 has severly affected the production of Kannada movies. As many as 58 Kannada films were in different stages of production when demonetisation was announced. Out of this, shooting of only 22 films are continuing while that of the remaining 36 have been stopped due to cash crunch, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce president Sa Ra Govindu said. He was speaking at an interactive session organised by the Academy here on Monday. Speaking on effects of demonetisation on the film industry, auditor Vivek Mallya said, It is not possible to completely go cashless. However, use of cash has to be reduced. Theatre owner K V Chandrasekhar said, Just a week after the currency ban, we felt the pinch. The revenues declined by 50%. Compared to Rs 42 lakh turnover in October, it was just Rs 27 lakh in November. Veteran film critic N Vidyashankar said the film industry needs to be aware of the overall impact of demonetisation. We have to wait for the next four months to realise effect of demonetisation on the industry, he added. Govindu said that a committee comprising members of film fraternity will be set up to approach the government seeking Goods and Services Tax (GST) exemption on Kannada films and, financial assistance for filmmakers through banks. Representatives from the Kannada film industry, who attended the session, sought GST exemption on Kannada movies stating that regional language films play an important role in preservation of language. Booking a cab at 30 Metro stations will be easier soon. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) has proposed to provide kiosks for the app-based cab (taxi) services at the stations shortly. This is part of their initiative to ensure first and last mile connectivity to the commuters. At present, the BMTC operates feeder route services while BMRCL has also introduced bike-hiring system at five Metro stations. Setting up of kiosks at Metro stations will help commuters book cabs without the help of mobile applications. Besides, it will also remove traffic bottlenecks outside the station. At present, cabs waiting for passengers often obstruct traffic. Similar kiosks are already operational in Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station, Bengaluru City and Kempegowda International Airport. On Monday, BMRCL floated tenders for 30 stations. The last date to submit the tender documents is on or before Jan 5, 2017. The successful bidder will be permitted to set up two kiosks close to the exit-entry gates of stations and the kiosk will be generally located at the paid area. App-based cab operators will be permitted to devise their application software and revenue model that is best suited for commuters, the tender document stated. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should also be questioned over irregularities in the Arkavathy Layout case, S Doreraju, senior counsel for the public, submitted before the Justice H S Kempanna Commission on Monday. Later, speaking to DH on the sidelines of the third round of arguments, Doreraju said that the chief minister had denotified a total of 983.33 acres in the controversial housing colony. This contradicts the government order (UDD 619/MNM 2014) which states that the Urban Development Department denotified only 944.5 acres. We pointed out this error to the commission on Monday and questioned what happened to 38.83 acres. The government did this deliberately, he added. In 2003-04, Doreraju continued, the government issued preliminary and final notifications, and allotted 8,813 sites even before the land acquisition process could get over and the required facilities were created. As many as 5,000 allottees registered the sites after receiving allotment letters. Procedures violated Doreraju questioned how could the allotment happen without following the due procedure. Sites were allotted to people even before farmers could be compensated for parting with their land. He suggested that the chief minister signed the papers without verifying the records or following the orders given by the Supreme Court. In 2003, then chief minister S M Krishna deleted 1,089 acres without assigning the reasons. His successor N Dharam Singh and then Governor Rameshwar Thakurs advisor Krishna Kumar also denotified land. Later chief ministers H D Kumaraswamy, B S Yeddyurappa, D V Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar followed suit, Doreraj said. The senior counsel said that while all the former chief ministers faced enquiry from the CID, the CBI and the Lokayukta, Siddaramaiah went scot-free. The incumbent chief minister should also be questioned, he said. The counsel also submitted to the commission that out of 3,889 acres of land, 1,039 acres were notified in the first instance. According to the revised and re-revised plans of Arkavathy Layout, the total available land is 1,766 acres and seven guntas. Of this, 1,000 acres of land are yet to be acquired by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) for developing more sites in the proposed layouts. A unique Military Transport Heritage Park was dedicated to the nation at the Army Service Corps (ASC) Centre and College here on Monday. Dubbed as one of its kind in the country, the park was formally inaugurated by Lieutenant General S P S Katewa, Commandant of ASC Centre. The park was conceived as a tribute to the valiant services provided by the mechanical warriors of the Indian Army Mechanical Transport fleet. The memorial is expected to document, exhibit and educate the coming generations of the fleets exploits. Lt Gen Katewa said the vintage Dodge and Ford vehicles of the British era were replaced by these mechanical warriors. These constituted the core of the Indian Army Mechanical Transport fleet over five decades. These gallant machines served the fledgling nation resolutely, both in peace and war, paving the way eventually for newer generation vehicles, he recalled. The heritage park displays five vehicles of Jeep, Tata-Mercedes Benz, Jonga and Nissan makes. Along with Shakthiman and Vahan 1 Ton, these formed the backbone of the Indian Army Mechanical Transport fleet since Independence, serving the Army in all kinds of terrain and operational conditions. The park also has an Animal Transport Memorial in the form of a sculpture erected in the Equitation Training Area. Designed and created by Tejinder Singh Bauni, a sculptor, in fibre glass with iron reinforcements, the artwork depicts a larger than life convoy of mules and their handlers carrying operational loads in mountainous terrain. The sculpture is 20 ft high and 71 ft long. Three soldiers of nine feet and five mules of 7.5 feet are placed on a pedestal of rock, cement and concrete. These colossal figures are meant to evoke feelings of pride for the muleteers and animals. Two relief sculptures on either side of the pedestal depict the evolution of this facet of ASC. The Army officials said the Animal Transport Memorial was the first of its kind in Asia. Asked why Bengaluru was chosen for the Park, Lt Gen Katewa said, We have a faculty of transport management, who are experts in maintenance, deploying the vehicles and more. They are the ones who give training related to the vehicles. So it is apt that we have it here. The park will be open to the public on special days with due security measures. School and college students could visit the memorial with the necessary permission. Good call, Trump: Its time America recognized Taiwan as a sovereign nation (and rejected the bullying of communist China) Keep reading if you want to know the real story about Trump, Taiwan and communist China. While mainstream media outlets are losing their minds over the fact that Taiwan president Tsai Ying-Wen called Donald Trump to congratulate him on his election victory, the simple, irrefutable fact is that mainstream media reporters are not only intentionally dishonest, they are incredibly ignorant of geopolitical reality. As someone who lived in Taiwan, speaks Mandarin Chinese and traveled throughout Asia, I can tell you a few key truths that the rest of the media doesnt know (or wont admit). Lets start with the basics: Communist China is a bigoted, intolerant, radical leftist communist regime that can best be described as being run by libtards with nukes. The Red China government routinely arrests people for their religious beliefs and harvests their organs for black market profits. The best way to imagine China is to think about where California is right now with mandatory vaccines, political correctness and safe space colleges, then fast forward about 25 years and add in a layer of massive industrial pollution. Thats China. Its deeply corrupt, hopelessly polluted and run by completely insane radical leftists who bully the entire world with their insane demands. Taiwan, on the other hand, is a nation of free markets, entrepreneurship, innovation and democracy. Taiwan might be viewed as the Texas of Asia, except its a whole lot smaller than Texas, and citizens cant own firearms. The Taiwan people are amazingly intelligent, resilient and determined. Theyre also honest and hardworking, and anyone who deals with imported goods from Asia knows that Taiwan manufacturers have far higher quality and ethics than China manufacturers. Communist China ridiculously claims it still owns Taiwan Now heres the real piece you need to know in all this: Ever since Chiang Kai-shek split off from the mainland and set up his own sovereign government in Taiwan (back in the 1940s), communist China has claimed it owns Taiwan. The communists have done everything in their power to prevent Taiwan from being recognized as a sovereign nation by world government bodies such as the UN. Even to this day, the UN still does not recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, even though it has its own government, its own culture, its own language, its own president, its own economy and so on. The United States Previously recognized Taiwan as a nation, but that changed under President Nixon, who dropped Taiwan to embrace communist China as the official ruler of all China, including Taiwan. (This was the first selling out of Taiwan by the United States.) Ever since then, all U.S. presidents have refused to recognize Taiwan because they didnt want to anger China, the largest purchaser of U.S. Treasury debt. In order for the U.S. government to keep running massive debt spending, they needed foreign suckers (er, I mean governments) to keep buying U.S. debt while the Federal Reserve continued printing more fiat currency money to fund its increasingly power-hungry growth of big government. On top of that, China is also obviously a huge trading partner with the United States, and it supplies U.S. consumers with cheap plastic crap sold at WalMart, helping to convince the dumbed-down, fluoridated masses that life must be okay since they can still buy non-stick cookware for $4.99. All the while, U.S. leaders (who were of course complete sellouts to the globalists) looked the other way on Chinas extreme human rights abuses in order to maintain economic stability. None of the U.S. Presidents since the 1970s have dared even accept a phone call from Taiwan, purely out of fear of angering China, the communist bully nation run by libtards with nukes. As all this was happening, China was of course constantly threatening to stage a military invasion of Taiwan. This stance continues to this very day. Taiwans economy is now deeply intertwined with Chinas factories and cheap labor But things have now become more complicated on the economic side. Taiwan manufacturing businesses, in search of ever cheaper labor, began opening factories in China. This involved a massive shift of manufacturing technology to China, essentially handing over technology in exchange for cheap labor. Today, tens of thousands of Taiwan business people live in China (or visit China frequently) to oversee Taiwan factories that are actually offshored to China for their cheap labor and practically non-existent environmental regulations. As all this is going on, China is routinely and deceptively manipulating its currency in order to create an artificial advantage in exporting products to other nations. This currency manipulation makes a mockery of free trade, and when combined with Chinas utter lack of environmental regulations, it gives China a wildly unfair advantage in international trade. President-elect Trump correctly identified Chinas currency manipulation as an enemy of legitimate free trade, and this is why Trump will very likely (and correctly) initiate a trade war with China. Yes, its time to start slapping tariffs on imported goods from China. The smirking neoliberal economists who taught you in college that tariffs are always bad are totally clueless about geopolitical reality. China pushing false climate change narrative to give themselves a trade advantage To further leverage their export advantage, China is pushing hard for Trump to maintain Americas climate change taxes so that energy production in the USA is financially penalized. Meanwhile, China is releasing extreme pollution from dirty coal thats cheap to produce, making Chinese manufacturing very cheap compared to USA production due to energy costs associated with all manufacturing. And yet, Chinas pollution blows right across North America, depositing mercury, cadmium, tungsten and other toxic heavy metals all across the U.S. landscape. In other words, U.S. consumers get cheap goods from China while exporting U.S. manufacturing jobs but importing pollution from China. What a deal! The result is a nation of unemployed Americans living on food stamps and voting for Democrats to bail them out with more government entitlements in other words, a Clinton paradise. Climate change, you see, is just another economic hoax being leveraged by China to suppress U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. Its all completely bogus, founded in quack science and dirty politics. Yet Obama kept it all going for the obvious reason that one of his primary goals from day one was to destroy U.S. economic productivity (while also destroying American culture, sovereignty and democracy). Globalists are now aligned with China to spread communism and crush freedom in Taiwan and the USA The globalists are all colluding to destroy America, suppress Taiwan and take over the world: Communist China, Barack Obama, George Soros, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates these people see freedom and sovereignty of nations like Taiwan and the USA as threats to the globalist agenda (of total economic domination and obedience enslavement of the world population). Trump, like Taiwan, is a threat to the globalist agenda. Thats why Taiwans media has recently been taken over by globalists who print all the same fake news you hear on CNN and NPR. Taiwans recent election of Tsai Ying-Wen was almost exactly the same sort of anti-establishment uprising we experienced in America with the election of Donald Trump. Just like the Democrats in America are all left-wing commie-loving globalist f##ktards, the KMT party in Taiwan is exactly the same thing. But Taiwans new president, Tsai Ying-Wen, represents the DPP party, which is all about Taiwan independence and sovereignty. In fact, the first thing China did after she won the election was to threaten Taiwan with a military invasion. In other words, the election uprising we just saw with Trump in the USA already took place a few months ago with Thai Ying-Wen in Taiwan. Its a global phenomenon, too: consider BREXIT and the upcoming elections in France and Italy. Everywhere you look, the people are rejecting the corrupt, globalist political elites. Its also important to note that Taiwan lived under Japanese occupation during World War II. People still alive today in Taiwan suffered mass starvation, brutal rapes and a military police state under the Japanese emperor. They know what its like to live as slaves under a brutal dictatorship, and they arent going to let that happen again. Thats why Taiwan is defiant against Chinese rule. Its also why Donald Trump should recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation. The people of Taiwan deserve our support as freedom-loving Americans. Globalists hope you never learn the truth about Taiwan and China The reason the Wall Street Journal wont tell you any of this is because WSJ writers work for the same globalist manipulators who are trying to enslave humanity and rule the world with fraudulent currency and electronic totalitarianism. Now you know why the corrupt, globalist-run mainstream media is condemning Trump for accepting a simple phone call from the President of Taiwan. 1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war. 2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war. 3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength. 4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war. 5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites. 6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination. 7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N. 8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N. 9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress. 10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N. 11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.) 12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party. 13. Do away with all loyalty oaths. 14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office. 15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States. 16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights. 17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks. 18. Gain control of all student newspapers. 19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack. 20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions. 21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures. 22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms." 23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art." 24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press. 25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV. 26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy." 27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch." 28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state." 29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis. 30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man." 31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over. 32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc. 33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus. 34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities. 35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI. 36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions. 37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business. 38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand. 39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals. 40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce. 41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. 42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems. 43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government. 44. Internationalize the Panama Canal. 45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike. A man newly diagnosed with diabetes has been ordered to pay a 200 fine for missing the deadline on a car parking ticket by five minutes while he stopped to check his blood sugar levels. Michael Hughes, of Trevellas, Cornwall, appeared at a small claims hearing at Truro County Court on Tuesday 29 November. Mr Hughes parked his car in AS Parkings Twwarnhayle Square, Perranporth, where an hours free parking is permitted, on February 20 this year. He explained that he returned to his vehicle five minutes late after feeling faint and suffering from a headache. He decided to check his blood sugar levels and took two glucose tablets before returning to his car when he felt able to drive. It was then that he discovered a parking fine notice on his windscreen. Mr Hughes was only recently diagnosed with diabetes, although the diabetes type was not disclosed, and was taken to court by a private enforcement company after failure to pay the initial fine. Mr Hughes did not send in medical evidence of his diabetes when he initially appealed against the charge. AS Parking director Kevin McManus said that had Mr Hughes done this, the fine might have been waived for a 20 administration fee. But Mr Hughes insists there was nothing in the paperwork regarding his appeal that stated a requirement to send documentation in advance. Mr McManus said: It is a common condition and we dont want to open the flood gates and offer a get out of jail free card every time someone with a medical condition is issued with a charge. Deputy District Judge Ian Taylor said: While I have every sympathy for you Mr Hughes, you did not prove to a satisfactory level in your mitigation evidence of your medical condition. You must send to court all statements 14 days prior to the hearing. The court does not accept last minute submissions. Mr Hughes bought a medical note from his doctor to court, but his case was rejected as he did not send the documentation beforehand. He was then told to take this issue up with the court. As a result, Mr Hughes was ordered to pay a 100 parking charge, as well as a 25 administration fee, a 25 hearing fee and 50 solicitors costs. In his defence, Mr Hughes said AS Parking was acting unreasonably. He added: It is a legal requirement that you shouldnt drive if your sugar levels are low. I wasnt going to break the law. I offered in my appeal evidence from the doctor of my condition, but nobody asked for it. This is an extremely sad situation, particularly as drivers with diabetes have enough to think about on a daily basis without enduring legal challenges when Mr Hughes was, after all, doing the right thing by not driving straight away when his blood sugar levels were low. The case raises an interesting argument about what should happen when it is medically inappropriate for a driver to drive away from a parking space. Google researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) that can detect diabetic retinopathy in patients with diabetes. The AI detects diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness among adults, by examining retinal photos. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that the AI detected retinopathy at roughly the same rate as human ophthalmologists. Google now hopes that this technology could be used to screen more people than doctors are able to, particularly in countries where screening is limited. Deep learning Googles AI uses deep learning to detect diabetic retinopathy, which involves the identification of faces, animals, and objects in pictures uploaded to Googles online services. The concept of using the AI to identify retinopathy began when a Google researcher noticed Indian doctors were struggling with the amount of screening required. The Google Brain team, a team inside Google that provides AI software, requested over four dozen doctors in India and the US to identify conditions in photos, such as diabetic retinopathy, and then fed around 128,000 of these images into Googles neural network. The system consistently identified diabetic retinopathy more than the doctors, avoiding both false positives and false negatives more than 90 per cent of the time the National Institute of Health recommend a standard of at least 80 per cent accuracy in diabetic retinopathy screenings. AI wont replace doctors Lily Peng, a physician and biomedical engineer at Google, insists the idea behind this AI is not to replace doctors, rather to help them. Her team are currently conducting additional trials to train Googles diagnostic AI, with preliminary results showing the system continues to perform as well as trained doctors. The findings have been met positive feedback by scientists. David McColloch, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Washington who specialises in diabetes, said: This is a well validated technology that can bring screening services to remote locations where diabetic retinal eye screening is less available. However, extended support for BB OS and Symbian till June 30, 2017 WhatsApp will soon stop supporting smartphones running older version of Android, iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry and Nokia's Symbian operating systems. Back in February, WhatsApp had announced plans to pull the plug on support for above mentioned ecosystems and later extended support for BB OS and Symbian till June 30, 2017. At the end of this year, WhatsApp will stop working on devices running Android version 2.2 or lower, iOS 6 or lower and Windows Phone 7. While WhatsApp is stopping support, the effect won't be huge since the market share of these operating systems have diminished overtime. According to Google's own dashboard, Android 2.2 is running on just 0.1 percent devices. Most Android users are either using Marshmallow or Lollipop or KitKat, so the effect will be very much limited. According to Apple's November Dashboard, only 8 percent devices running iOS version older than iOS 9. WhatsApp has decided to stop supporting iOS version 6.0 or older and if you are on such ancient versions then you should know that the support ends this year and should immediately upgrade to a latest version. Windows Phone has been a dead ecosystem for most part of this year and WhatsApp is aptly pulling down support for all devices running Windows Phone 7.1. Microsoft has updated every Windows Phone 7.1 device to Windows Phone 8.1 so you should immediately upgrade to continue using WhatsApp on your smartphone. While BlackBerry and Nokia users have some reprieve for now, it is not long before WhatsApp kills its support for those ecosystems too. WhatsApp says these ecosystems "don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future." WhatsApp has over 1 billion monthly active users and has been updated with tonnes of features since its acquisition by Facebook. WhatsApp currently offers features beyond messaging with support for voice and video calls. A General 4G (Android One) smartphone user in Turkey claims to have received the update It seems like Google has already started rolling out the Android Nougat v7.1.1 update. According to a report by androguider.com, a General 4G (Android One) mobile user in Turkey has already received the update. As per the report, the update is 240.6MB in size and besides bringing stability and bug fixes, it also consists of the December security patch. The Dember security patch is yet to be listed on the Android Security Bulletin. The build number of the update is tipped to be NMF26F. Last week, a listing by Vodafone Australia had suggested that that the update would start rolling out to Nexus 6P users from tomorrow. The listing by the operator also tipped the update to have the build number, NMF26F, but said that the download size would be 650MB. Now that the rollout has seemingly begun in Turkey, it shouldnt take Google too long to start rolling out the update to other countries as well. Its not known which devices will start receiving the update first, but it will most likely include the the new Pixel devices, as well as a number of Nexus devices like the Nexus 5X, 6P, 6, and 9. 21st Century Technology , which provides IT solutions to the transport sector, has won a 1m contract from an antipodean bus operator to provide engineering support services for an upgrade on its fleet. The upgrade will modernise the bus operators fleet of over 1,000 buses, which carries over 50m passengers a year, with CCTV and introduce a wireless video download system on 420 vehicles starting immediately, and will be completed during 2017. Chief executive Russ Singleton said: "This further demonstrates our capability in providing world-class solutions to major fleets throughout the UK, continental Europe and now further afield, through a bespoke technical and engineering solution." Shares in 21st Century Technology were up 5.45% to 2.90p at 1004 GMT. Hofer lost the re-run of the presidential election, for a largely ceremonial post, by 46.7% to 53.3% for Alexander van der Bellen, a pro-European from the Green party, with high turnout out at 73.8%. The vote was Austrias second presidential election this year, the previous one in May was annulled by the countrys supreme court because postal ballots were opened too early. Van der Bellen narrowly won Mays election by only 30,863 votes by 50.35% to 49.65% for Hoffers Freedom party (FPO). During the campaign Hoffer said he would call a referendum on EU membership, while Van der Bellen campaigned on a pro-EU ticket. The result is seen as a push back from a populist surge and was closely followed in Europe with elections in France, the Netherlands and Germany looming next year. Van der Bellen said the result was for a "pro-European" Austria based on "freedom, equality and solidarity". He said: "I will try to be an open-minded, a liberal-minded and first of all a pro-European federal president of the Republic of Austria." Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, said that in Austria, the eurosceptic, far-right is stronger than in other eurozone countries, now scoring about 34% in opinion polls. The FPOs Hofer came close to winning the presidential election partly because Van der Bellen, as a former boss of the Green party, was not ideally suited to attract all votes from the mainstream parties, especially those from the centre-right. If Hofer had won, it would have been the first outright victory for a right-wing populist in the eurozone. "In the wake of Donald Trumps upset triumph in the US, it would have made a torrent of headlines and would have been seized upon by Frances Marine Le Pen and far-right candidates elsewhere as evidence that they are on the way up." However, he said that from recent opinion polls, the FPO still looks set to become the strongest party in Austrias next parliamentary elections in autumn 2018. If so, the mainstream pro-EU and pro-euro parties from the centre-right and centre-left would still get 60% to 65% of the popular vote and seats in parliament. They would see to it that Austria does not turn its back on Europe and would prevent any referendum on the euro which would likely result in a clear vote for the euro anyway. "After all, Austria had de facto let its monetary policy be run from Frankfurt even well before the euro. In addition, sensing a realistic chance to get elected, Hofer had distanced himself from his partys earlier calls for an EU referendum, saying that such a referendum would only be necessary if Turkey were to join the EU. That looks pretty unlikely for the foreseeable future, to put it mildly. Rex Tillerson, chief executive officer of US oil corporation ExxonMobil , is reportedly being considered by Donald Trump for the key cabinet position of secretary of state. Trump begins the first full week of December with a number of important positions still to be filled, and the president-elect is said to be widening his options for the top diplomatic position in the US. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Tillerson is scheduled to meet with Trump this week in order to discuss the prospect of being appointed to the position. Other new potential candidates include Democrat senator Joe Manchin and Republican representative from California Dana Rohrabacher. One of Trump's senior transition team Kellyanne Conway confirmed on Sunday that he had "broadened the search". "He's very fortunate to have interest among serious men and women who, all of whom need to understand that their first responsibility as secretary of state would be to implement and adhere to the president-elect's America First foreign policy, if you will, his view of the world," Conway said. A number of frontrunners for the role are unlikely to be impressed with the widening of the search, including the likes of Mitt Romney and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. Tillerson joined the oil company in 1975, rising to lead the company which operates in over 50 countries. As Exxon CEO he has forged relationships with various world leaders, including Russia's Vladimir Putin. Greece will have to leave the Eurozone if it does not agree to a set of economic reforms, according to Germany's finance minister Wolfgang Schauble , ahead of a key meeting of European ministers on Monday. Schauble said in an interview with German newspaper Bild am Sonntag on Sunday that the troubled state must accept reforms that would be widely unpopular among its population, and ruled out any further debt relief for the country. "Athens must finally implement the needed reforms," he told the newspaper. "If Greece wants to stay in the euro, there is no way around it in fact completely regardless of the debt level." Greece has received more than 300bn of emergency loans in the last six years since from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Debates have raged about how to approach the debt crisis which has enveloped the country, and stifled economic recovery, while the ruling party led by prime minister Alexis Tsipras are coming under severe pressure as their popularity plummets. Finance ministers of all the Eurozone states will meet on Monday to discuss a raft of issues, with the situation in Greece thought to be near top of the agenda. A second review by Greek authorities into policy measures to relieve the debt crisis has been held up by contentious labour reforms in the country, an area where the leftist Syriza party have little room to manoeuvre. Renzi had said in the lead up to the crucial vote that if the reforms were not voted in he would stand down from his position, and although the defeat was expected, the scale not so much, as 59% of Italians voted no. There was a high turnout of 65% ensuring that Renzi could have little room for complaints, as his own unpopularity led to the demise of the proposals as much as anything else. The reforms set out by Renzi were an attempt to lower the size and reduce the power of the country's Senate, which currently has the same amount of power as the lower house of parliament. However, critics of the campaign said that the proposals were undemocratic and would place too much power in the hands of the ruling government. "My experience in government ends here. I did all I could to bring this to victory," Renzi said. "If you fight for an idea, you cannot lose." "My experience in government ends here. I did all I could to bring this to victory," Matteo Renzi Opposition to Renzi's plans came from the Five Star Movement and the Northern League, both very much far right populist organisms which joined together in an attempt to defeat the referendum proposal. It is the latest sign of the increasing influence of populism in global politics, following the success of the Brexit campaign in the UK, Donald Trump's victory in the US and the rise of Marine Le Pen's National Front in France. Global markets have so far evaded an immediate response to the referendum result and Renzi's resignation, with many analysts pointing to the fact that a "no" vote had already been priced in towards the end of last week. However, mounting pressure on the Italian banking system could lead to the biggest casualties arising from the political uncertainty. "The stability is needed for the Banking sector in Italy above all else with Monte dei Paschi looking over the precipice and could well be looking at state aid in the coming days," said GKFX chief market analyst James Hughes. "Uncertainty is the biggest risk to the markets and with comparisons already being made to the Trump and Brexit votes, Italy is very much in limbo." US president-elect Donald Trump has aimed a volley of attacks towards China after being criticised for breaking decades of presidential convention by taking a call from Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen on Friday. In what is increasingly becoming the Republican's favoured platform to vent his feelings, Twitter was Trump's chosen media by which to fire back at Chinese authorities, which referred to his "inexperience in dealing with foreign powers" after it emerged of his conversation with Taiwan. The call was a first by a US president since diplomatic recognition was switched from Taiwan to China in 1979, acknowledging the region as part of "one China". Trump responded to Chinese criticism of him by firing a number of shots relating to the country's currency, tax policies and exploits in the South China Sea. "Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea?" Trump tweeted. "I don't think so!" On Sunday, vice president-elect Mike Pence also defended Trump's decision to take the call, referring to the diplomatic row as a "tempest in a teapot". The use of the term "president" by Pence to describe the Taiwanese leader has particularly irked the Chinese, as it views the region as part of its own territory without a recognisable president. Markets in Asia slipped in Monday, with investors focusing on two Prime Ministerial resignations in Italy and New Zealand, and the euros fall to a near-two year low. Japans Nikkei 225 was down 0.82% at 18,274.99, with the yen 0.56% weaker at JPY 114.15 per $1. Shares in China were lower on the launch day of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which allows mainland investors access to Hong Kong stocks through Shenzhen, and foreign traders access to Shenzhen stocks. The Shenzhen Composite Index was off 0.78% at 2,068.17, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.2% to 3,204.95. South Koreas Kospi finished 0.37% lower at 1,963.36, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slipped 0.26% to 22,505.55. The major news of the day was the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, after voters in the country delivered a clear rejection to his proposed legislative reform. The risks by Italy's 'no' vote was about the potential for political instability and the possibility of an election in Italy rather than with any missed opportunity for long term constitutional reform, noted CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner. Renzi said he would meet with his cabinet on Monday, before tendering his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella. Oil prices were lower during Asian trading, though they picked up again during early trading in Europe. Brent crude was last up 1.22% at $55.12 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate added 1.15% to $52.28. Crude futures in the US were higher by 12% in the week to 2 December, however, marking the largest weekly growth in five years. Across the pond, Brent crude futures were up 15% during the week, which was the biggest jump since 2009. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.8% to settle at 5,400.40. New Zealands S&P/NZX 50 finished down 0.73% at 6,854.71 after Prime Minister John Key surprised the country with his resignation. The right-wing National Party leader, currently in his third three-year term at the helm, said it was the right time to step down and give his party a chance to bed in a successor ahead of the next general election in a years time. Both of the down under dollars were weaker, with the Aussie last off 0.4% at AUD 1.3456 against the greenback and the Kiwi slipping 0.64% to NZD 1.4088 per $1. Stocks in London reversed early losses following the unexpectedly poor showing for Italy's Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, in the countrys referendum on constitutional reform overnight. As of 0838 GMT, the Footsie was up by 0.84% or 56.80 points and trading at 6,787.52. In a speech early on Monday morning, Renzi said he would tender his resignation after roughly 60% of voters rejected his proposals. Not only was that a much weaker outcome than expected - although polls carried out several weeks beforehand had hinted at such a possibility - it came amid an unexpectedly high voter turnout of nearly 70%. In Italian politics, no one ever wins, Renzi told his supporters. The European single currency was initially sent sharply lower, falling to 1.0506 against the US dollar, its March 2015 lows, but had since completely recovered its losses after Renzi announced he would be stepping down. In the very short-term, some analysts believed that a new government might be in place even before Christmas, helping to forestall any risk of instability for the time being. However, other pointed out how the medium-term implications of the referendum result were yet to be determined. "The actual outcome of the referendum goes beyond what the polls anticipated and keeps uncertainty high. Investors will need to assess the medium-term implications of the referendum outcome for politics, growth, banks, ratings, etc. Moreover, this outcome weakens Renzi's political strength significantly," analysts at UniCredit said in a research note sent to clients. Commenting on the immediate impact the vote might have on those Italian banks which were looking to raise fresh capital, Morgan Stanley said: "Political uncertainty post the 'No' vote in the referendum reduces visibility on economic growth and the run down of NPL portfolios. A low take-up of Monte Paschi's LME raises the chances of it needing state aid. We stay cautious on Italian banks and expect volatility." On the data front, the UK services purchasing managers index is scheduled for release at 0930 GMT, while in the US, the ISM's own non-manufacturing gauge is expected at 1500 GMT. In corporate news, AstraZeneca has completed the sale of rights to its nasal spray outside of the US with Swiss pharmaceutical Cilag for $330m. The FTSE 100 company sold the rights for Rhinocort Aqua, a nasal spray to treat allergic and nonallergic rhinitis and polyps, for use outside of the US to a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Global specialist healthcare company BTG announced the inclusion of treatment with its PneumRx Coils product in guidelines for the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on Monday, as published by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). The FTSE 250 firm also said that at the same time, the French Ministry of Health published its positive recommendations regarding PneumRx Coils on its website. Royal Bank of Scotland said it had agreed payouts to some shareholders to settle allegations that it misled them ahead of a 12bn rescue rights issue in 2008 at the outbreak of the financial crisis. RBS said it had concluded a full and final settlement with three out of the five shareholder groups representing 77% of the claims by value. In total, RBS is willing to make available settlement sums of up to 800m assuming settlement of all claims, to be split among all five shareholder groups, subject to agreement and claim validation, RBS said in a statement. Market Movers FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,793.33 0.93% FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,519.98 0.49% techMARK (TASX) 3,249.07 0.96% FTSE 100 - Risers BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,341.00p 2.84% Antofagasta (ANTO) 713.00p 2.81% Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,083.00p 2.58% Anglo American (AAL) 1,240.00p 2.56% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,447.00p 2.48% Glencore (GLEN) 284.45p 2.36% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 676.00p 2.27% Wolseley (WOS) 4,781.00p 2.18% Barclays (BARC) 217.35p 2.07% Tesco (TSCO) 210.85p 1.98% FTSE 100 - Fallers Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,630.00p -3.35% Fresnillo (FRES) 1,169.00p -2.42% Polymetal International (POLY) 738.50p -1.07% Babcock International Group (BAB) 944.50p -0.58% Standard Chartered (STAN) 642.00p -0.47% Centrica (CNA) 207.60p -0.29% BT Group (BT.A) 357.70p -0.25% Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,244.00p -0.09% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 627.20p 0.02% United Utilities Group (UU.) 883.00p 0.06% FTSE 250 - Risers CMC Markets (CMCX) 188.10p 3.98% Polypipe Group (PLP) 314.80p 3.72% Rotork (ROR) 247.20p 3.52% Vedanta Resources (VED) 872.00p 3.07% Countrywide (CWD) 175.60p 3.05% Cobham (COB) 171.70p 2.94% Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 386.10p 2.88% Paysafe Group (PAYS) 370.00p 2.81% Laird (LRD) 141.90p 2.75% Bodycote (BOY) 590.50p 2.61% FTSE 250 - Fallers Acacia Mining (ACA) 388.40p -3.07% Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 516.00p -3.01% Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 211.00p -2.99% Allied Minds (ALM) 363.30p -2.34% Sports Direct International (SPD) 301.80p -2.24% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 219.10p -2.14% CYBG (CYBG) 276.10p -2.13% Henderson Group (HGG) 227.30p -1.86% G4S (GFS) 238.80p -1.77% Ashmore Group (ASHM) 276.60p -1.53% UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Britain should not pay punitive amounts to stay in the single market after it left the European Union. Johnson was responding to suggestions in the past week that the UK could retain tariff-free access for a fee. He told the BBC that no decisions had been taken, adding that the subject was "pure speculation". However, he did concede that if such a system was introduced any payments would have to be "sensible". "I have given you an indication of the kind of payments that I think might be sensible," he said. "My own view is that I see no reason why those payments should be large. And I do see a big opportunity for us to spend the money we are getting back on other priorities." The UK voted to leave the EU in a referendum last June. Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will trigger the formal process to leave, known as Article 50, by the end of March. Oil prices continued their steady advance following OPECs decision to cut its production by 1.2m barrels a day, propping up shares in Tullow Oil, Vedanta Resources (VR) and Petrofac on Monday. Goldman Sachs maintained its buy recommendation for VR and kept its price target at 1,300p. Citibank on the other hand maintained its rating for VR at Neutral/High Risk but upped its price target to 9.30 from 6.60. Copper miner Kaz Minerals enjoyed a boost from a 2.90% jump in copper prices. Separately, analysts at Citi rated the miner at Buy with a price target of 4.50. Following the restructuring in 2014, the group has an entirely new investment proposition for the market with high growth, low cost, long life, cash generating company, they said. The yellow metal on the other hand fell by 1.41% sending shares in gold miner Centamin down. Cranswick was on the back foot as Numis downgraded its stock to hold from add and cut the target price to 2,311p from 2,536p. While the company last week revealed a strong set of first half results, Numis noted the market's increased wariness of consumer-related stocks. Inter-dealer money broker Tullett Prebon was also downgraded by HSBC to hold from buy but raised the target price to 480p from 460p, sending its shares lower. While still having above-consensus forecasts, we now see relatively limited upside of 8% for the shares despite several earnings upgrades in the past several months and therefore downgrade shares to Hold, said HSBC. G4S gave back some of the gains from last week when it was rated neutral by Goldman Sachs with a price target of 258p. On Friday, it announced that it had agreed to sell its Israeli arm G4S Israel to private equity firm FIMI Opportunity Funds for an estimated net consideration of 425 million new Israeli Sheqel (88m) in cash. Risers Vedanta Resources (VED) 884.00p 4.49% Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 390.90p 4.16% Tullow Oil (TLW) 325.80p 3.56% Computacenter (CCC) 753.00p 3.36% Carillion (CLLN) 253.00p 3.31% Aldermore Group (ALD) 222.70p 3.29% Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 290.10p 3.24% Debenhams (DEB) 58.10p 3.20% Laird (LRD) 142.50p 3.19% Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 809.50p 2.53% Fallers Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,100.00p -4.26% G4S (GFS) 233.90p -3.78% Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 513.00p -3.57% Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,620.00p -3.51% Centamin (DI) (CEY) 125.70p -3.01% Cranswick (CWK) 2,166.00p -2.91% Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate (KWE) 967.00p -2.57% Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 436.20p -2.57% Pennon Group (PNN) 773.50p -2.46% Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 265.80p -2.42% Save my User ID and Password Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site. Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site. Inflation, abortion on voters' minds ahead of upcoming election What are the most important issues for Ohio voters? We canvassed the state as the midterm election nears. Here's what we learned. Subscriber content preview LOS ANGELES (AP) California Treasurer John Chiang on Friday appealed to President-elect Donald Trump for guidance on how the state's projected $7 billion marijuana industry can participate in the nation's banking system while pot remains illegal under U.S. law. California voters last month approved Proposition 64, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana, beginning in 2018. Largely at issue is how the state will collect an estimated $1 billion in annual taxes from legal pot sales and cultivation, when cannabis businesses can face obstacles opening bank accounts, getting loans or obtaining insurance. . . . The supermarket Iceland claimed that the Icelandic government is "not willing to hold any serious discussion" to reach agreement with over its use of the name Iceland. Iceland had launched legal action against the supermarket chain, saying it prevented the nation's firms from describing their products as Icelandic. Iceland Foods owned the European trademark for the use of the name Iceland and though the firm sent a delegation to the capital Reykjavik on Friday no agreement was reached. "[The talks] got nowhere because it rapidly became clear that the Icelandic authorities have no interest in reaching a compromise," said founder and chief executive Malcolm Walker. "We have no real idea why this has suddenly become such a major problem for Iceland (the country). "Iceland Foods had Icelandic majority shareholders and Icelandic representatives on its board for seven years to 2012. At no point in all those years did any representative of Iceland (the country) raise the slightest concern about our company's branding," he said. The foreign ministry of Iceland said on Friday that the company continued to exercise exclusive control of the word Iceland and that the government would therefore pursue legal action to invalidate the company's trademark (See: Government of Iceland takes UK's Iceland Foods to court over use of 'Iceland'). "The registration of a country name that enjoys highly positive national branding to a private company defies logic and is untenable," the ministry said. The government of Iceland had mounted a legal challenge against the supermarket at the European Union Intellectual Property Office last week. Iceland's government aimed to ensure the right of its companies to use the word 'Iceland' in relation to their goods and services''. The supermarket is said to have ''aggressively pursued'' and won many cases against Icelandic companies which used the word Iceland as part of their trademark. According to government officials, the supermarket had done so ''even in cases when the products and services do not compete''. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. The closeknit community of Newtowncunningham has bid farewell to a beloved minister and his wife shortly after re-opening the 19th Presbyterian Church. There was a real sense of Thanksgiving in the village, where Rev. Nigel Craig served for the last nine years. He and his wife Antonia were involved in everything in the community, and most especially at the heart of the church refurbishment. The church, which was built in 1881 at a cost of 1,252 currently serves around 70 families in the locality. After an architectural survey revealed that the spire was leaning slightly, it was clear that, in the interest of safety, the time had come for major improvements. The congregation vacated the church in December 2013. Four members of the congregation - Michael Roulston, brothers Robert and Leslie Edwards, and John Roulston - formed a subcommittee to oversee the work, which included removing and rebuilding the spire. A new heating system was installed and a new audio visual equipment was acquired. In addition, all the original pews were restored and 50 new chairs brought in to allow for some flexibility in seating arrangements. The original windows were also restored and a wall in the foyer was replaced with glass. To top it all off, there was a complete redecoration of the entire interior and exterior. The main contractor for the project was George Gill of Clonmany and a number of local companies were engaged to carry out most of the work. The church was ready to open in time for a wedding last July. In the autumn, the official reopening was celebrated with a Service of Thanksgiving with the former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Rev. Dr Alastair Dunlop as the guest speaker. All the contractors involved in the refurbishment project, former ministers, local clergy and members of other local churches joined the congregation for the evening. The only bittersweet note was the knowledge that Rev. Craig and his wife, who had added so much to the life of the church and to the wider community, were set to leave for Belfast just a few weeks later, where Rev. Craig was to be installed as Minister of Belmont Presbyterian Church. Nigel had been our much loved minister for nine years and we are sorry to lose him, a parishioner told the DD/DPP last week. The Toyota HiLux is set to become the first commercial vehicle to be crowned Australia's most popular new car. The rugged workhorse ute leads the 2016 sales race at the last hurdle after topping the charts as the best-selling vehicle in November, finishing over 400 units in front of the Ford Ranger - marking the first month that two commercial vehicles have finished ahead of regular passenger vehicles. According to VFacts figures due to be released today and seen by Drive, the HiLux leads the Toyota Corolla in a two-horse race to the flag with the ute edging in front of Australia's most popular new car for the past two years by just 615 units - 38,018 sales for HiLux compared to 37,403 for Corolla so far in 2016. Toyota also cemented its place as the country's favourite car maker, topping the overall sales chart in November with 18,162 new car registrations - almost double that of its closest rival, Mazda, which sold 9825 new cars while Hyundai rounded out the podium with 7991 sales. Toyota leads the overall market to the end of November with 189,685 sales, more than 80,000 units ahead of Mazda on 108,446 while Hyundai, currently sitting on 94,503 units (342 behind this time last year) will no doubt push hard this month with dealer incentives and sales promotions to match last year's six-figure result. Both of the Japanese car makers look set to post record annual sales results in 2016, with Toyota and Mazda running slightly ahead of the overall market which is up 2.2 percent year-to-date on last year's benchmark of 1.13 million new cars. The HiLux is playing a significant role in a dynamic shift of buying tastes towards crossover vehicles that has seen the light commercial vehicle segment increase sales by 9.5 percent year-on-year and the SUV segment increase by 8.9 percent while conventional passenger cars have tumbled by 5.9 percent. While the HiLux holds a commanding lead as the most popular ute - almost 8000 units ahead of the Ranger - the Corolla also looks set to maintain its position as Australia's favourite passenger car, leading the Hyundai i30 and Mazda3 by 2500 and 4500 units respectively. But Mazda looks to have a stranglehold on the best-selling SUV title, with its CX-5 winning an ultra-close contest in November (with just 22 units separating it from the Hyundai Tucson in third position with the Nissan X-Trail in between) to lead the segment by almost 4000 units. The Holden Commodore is also locked in a Titanic tussle with the Toyota Camry to retain its place as the best-selling Australian-made car as the Commodore leads the Camry to the end of November by just over 2000 units. With Toyota's family sedan pushing close to a podium finish in November with 2957 sales - 869 more than the Commodore - it will be a nail-biting finish for both cars in their last full year of local production. While the popularity of utes and SUVs continues to build, so does Australia's penchant for luxury cars with Mercedes-Benz beating mainstream rivals Kia and Honda to a place among the 10 best-selling brands in November. The German brand is riding a wave of success as the country's favourite luxury car maker, with year-on-year growth of 15 percent and a healthy 11k margin so far in 2016 over its arch-rival BMW which has also experienced double-digit growth in 2016. Audi is also running ahead of its previous best sales result in 2015, but has only experienced a four percent increase year-on-year. Jaguar has been one of the big movers in the prestige sector, almost doubling its sales in 2016 on the strength of new models such as the XE and XF sedans as well as the company's first SUV, the F-Pace. Top 10 brands (November 2016) 1. Toyota 18,162 2. Mazda 9825 3. Hyundai 7991 4. Holden 7750 5. Ford 6827 6. Nissan 6341 7. Mitsubishi 5875 8. Volkswagen 4862 9. Subaru 4141 10. Mercedes-Benz 3584 Top 10 vehicles (November 2016) 1. Toyota HiLux 3839 2. Ford Ranger 3410 3. Toyota Corolla 3245 4. Toyota Camry 2957 5. Mazda3 2877 6. Hyundai i30 2541 7. Holden Commodore 2088 8. Mazda CX-5 =9 Nissan X-Trail 1938 =9 Nissan Navara 1938 Half of kids aged 11 own a mobile phone, but a quarter of parents regret the decision Half of British children will own a mobile phone by the age of ELEVEN, according to new research. The study of 2,000 parents shows the average child will receive a phone worth 120 on their eleventh birthday, and will then spend two hours every day glued to the device. But four in 10 parents end up regretting giving their youngster a phone at such a young age as by their teenage years the child is transfixed by the likes of social media, texts, and computer games. Incredibly, researchers found one in 20 children will own a mobile handset by the age of SIX as parents give in to primary school peer pressure. Owning a mobile phone comes at a price for parents in addition to the 120 upfront fee, mums and dads will be expected to replace the phone at least twice due to it being lost, stolen or damaged. Dan King, Nationwides Head of FlexPlus Current Account, which commissioned the poll, said: Mobile phones have become central to our lives, so its not surprising that more and more young people are being given a phone. With children as young as primary school age being entrusted with a device, parents shouldnt be surprised if it needs replacing or repairing on more than one occasion. The study, which considers mobile phone ownership amongst children, reveals two thirds of parents will allow their child to have internet access on their device as soon as they get it. And 28 per cent of kids are then allowed to use their phone all day without any supervision from an adult despite 46 per cent have access to social media channels. A third of parents fear their children spend far too much time on their phone with one in eight kids spending more than four hours a day chatting to mates and playing games. According to the data, one in 10 children will use their mobile during the school day, and 12 per cent will log in to their phone as soon as they get home from school. Just 10 per cent of children can wait until after dinner before checking their phone. Thats on top of the 163 parents spend on securing a new mobile phone deal or device for themselves. Just one in six parents will limit their childs phone usage to emergencies only with many admitting their child uses their phone for a range of activities. Six in 10 children use their phone to play popular computer games, while 54 per cent will watch videos on the likes of YouTube and other social media channels. More than half of youngsters will spend much of their time surfing the internet, and 49 per cent regularly listen to music. But many parents purchase a phone for their children because they want them contactable at all times 55 per cent want the flexibility to stay in touch and more than a third cite safety fears as a reason for getting a handset for their children. Unfortunately, purchasing a phone only ADDS to the worry parents have. A fifth of parents are concerned their childs phone has now led to them not enjoying enough quality time with the family, and 16 per cent are concerned their child is missing out on face-to-face interactions with others. One in five mums and dads understandably worry about how much they are having to spend on phone calls, apps, music and games. As a result, two thirds of parents control how long their child spend on their phone by limiting their credit (42 per cent), confiscating the device in the evenings (21 per cent) and introducing strict rules on phone use (16 per cent). Dan King, Nationwides Head of FlexPlus Current Account, said: With the latest model of phone costing in excess of 500, its worth considering good quality family mobile phone insurance, such as that offered through Nationwides FlexPlus current account, to avoid ending up out of pocket. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority, or SF MTA, was hacked on Friday. You Hacked, All Data Encrypted, was the message reportedly displayed on computer screens at the authoritys stations throughout the city. Contact for Key (cryptom27@yandex.com)ID:681 , Enter. Fare payment machines at underground stations were out of order, resulting in free rides on the subway and light rail system known locally as SF Muni. Some SF MTA employees email systems did not work, The San Francisco Examiner reported. The MTA locked its subway fare gates in an open position to enable free riding, according to the paper. The agency was hit by a ransomware attack that disrupted some of its internal computer systems, including email, according to spokesperson Kristen Holland. The attack didnt affect transit service or buses, she noted. Neither customer privacy nor transaction information were compromised, and the situation was contained. All About the Dough A person at the email address provided by the hacker, who identified himself as Andy Saolis to the Examiner, demanded 100 bitcoins equal to about US$73,000 to release data captured from the MTA. The MTA payment system was inaccessible over the weekend, according to the Examiner, and employees were concerned that the personal data of the agencys nearly 6,000 employees was at risk. Saolis indicated the attack was for money, nothing else. Andy Saolis is the name used by the attacker who launched a full disk encryption ransomware package that Morphus Labs discovered earlier this year and dubbed Mamba. Open Muni The MTAs network was penetrated after an employee downloaded a torrented computer file that contained a software key code generator, Saolis reportedly said. That automatically launched an admin-level infection. The SFMTA network was very open, he maintained. Saolis threatened to close the email Monday if he hadnt heard from the MTA, which would lock the agencys infected computers out of its network permanently. It looks like the Muni scheduling and billing systems are running on the same machines as the employees email systems, said Michael Jude, a program manager at Stratecast/Frost & Sullivan. This implies that the Muni operations are exposed to external attack, he told the E-Commerce Times. Muni should have critical operations and management systems running in a secured environment, ideally one not exposed to outside access, Jude suggested. The Very Real Public Threat Penetrations of this sort can easily escalate to life-threatening events, Jude warned. Simply messing with route scheduling could lead to confusion or, possibly, collisions. Mass transit and passenger rail systems, including buses, light rail and subways, are one of the seven key subsections in the United States Transportation Systems Sector. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the sector jointly with the U.S. Department of Transportation, has issued a cybersecurity framework implementation guidance and a companion workbook for owners and operators in the sector to help reduce cyber risks. Keeping Transit Systems Safe The threat environment warrants evaluating security controls for any organization that relies on computer systems for providing a service or running a business, said Tim Erlin, senior director of IT and security at Tripwire. Ensuring adequate network separation is a good first step, he told the E-Commerce Times. Other basic best practices include monitoring for and patching vulnerabilities, validating secure configurations are in place, and watching system logs for indications of malicious activity. Blog Archive June 2021 (1) May 2021 (77) April 2021 (77) March 2021 (82) February 2021 (68) January 2021 (64) December 2020 (67) November 2020 (66) October 2020 (66) September 2020 (67) August 2020 (74) July 2020 (83) June 2020 (92) May 2020 (86) April 2020 (104) March 2020 (105) February 2020 (74) January 2020 (75) December 2019 (75) November 2019 (70) October 2019 (89) September 2019 (69) August 2019 (81) July 2019 (77) June 2019 (73) May 2019 (110) April 2019 (110) March 2019 (102) February 2019 (85) January 2019 (123) December 2018 (116) November 2018 (112) October 2018 (121) September 2018 (107) August 2018 (150) July 2018 (163) June 2018 (190) May 2018 (145) April 2018 (112) March 2018 (124) February 2018 (113) January 2018 (164) December 2017 (150) November 2017 (144) October 2017 (169) September 2017 (171) August 2017 (135) July 2017 (131) June 2017 (147) May 2017 (160) April 2017 (138) March 2017 (156) February 2017 (143) January 2017 (203) December 2016 (208) November 2016 (185) October 2016 (173) September 2016 (194) August 2016 (232) July 2016 (225) June 2016 (238) May 2016 (231) April 2016 (215) March 2016 (246) February 2016 (226) January 2016 (252) December 2015 (230) November 2015 (250) October 2015 (234) September 2015 (222) August 2015 (253) July 2015 (275) June 2015 (279) May 2015 (223) April 2015 (226) March 2015 (243) February 2015 (258) January 2015 (281) December 2014 (292) November 2014 (296) October 2014 (413) September 2014 (472) August 2014 (506) July 2014 (483) June 2014 (488) May 2014 (512) April 2014 (497) March 2014 (531) February 2014 (482) January 2014 (535) December 2013 (482) November 2013 (441) October 2013 (416) September 2013 (491) August 2013 (521) July 2013 (491) June 2013 (470) May 2013 (457) April 2013 (426) March 2013 (420) February 2013 (414) January 2013 (489) December 2012 (433) November 2012 (504) October 2012 (469) September 2012 (430) August 2012 (427) July 2012 (360) June 2012 (336) May 2012 (362) April 2012 (322) March 2012 (263) February 2012 (224) January 2012 (291) December 2011 (295) November 2011 (325) October 2011 (330) September 2011 (319) August 2011 (333) July 2011 (318) June 2011 (387) May 2011 (373) April 2011 (389) March 2011 (375) February 2011 (335) January 2011 (400) December 2010 (445) November 2010 (395) October 2010 (312) September 2010 (262) August 2010 (277) July 2010 (323) June 2010 (386) May 2010 (360) April 2010 (333) March 2010 (351) February 2010 (336) January 2010 (384) December 2009 (353) November 2009 (300) October 2009 (308) September 2009 (350) August 2009 (298) July 2009 (255) June 2009 (203) May 2009 (193) April 2009 (186) March 2009 (197) February 2009 (173) January 2009 (148) December 2008 (181) November 2008 (197) October 2008 (236) September 2008 (304) August 2008 (314) July 2008 (273) June 2008 (27) May 2008 (1) April 2008 (6) October 2007 (1) May 2007 (1) April 2007 (6) March 2007 (2) February 2007 (1) October 2006 (1) September 2006 (1) August 2006 (4) July 2006 (4) June 2006 (1) July 2005 (1) May 2005 (2) March 2005 (1) June 2004 (2) May 2004 (1) April 2004 (4) March 2004 (2) February 2004 (2) July 2003 (2) June 2003 (5) By Tracy Loeffelholz Dunn The federal government on Sunday denied the easement needed to complete the Dakota Access Pipelines route under the Missouri River. Here are the numbers behind the Standing Rock victory: 3,000 veterans estimated arriving over the weekend. 2 years of opposition to the pipeline by the tribe. 8 months of demonstrations and encampments. The first was April 2016. 8,250 living on Standing Rock Sioux reservation. 6,000 total water protectors on average occupying camps. Weekend numbers are higher. MSNBC reported 10,000 at the camps on Sunday. 4,000 camped at Oceti Sakowin on treaty land that the Army Corps of Engineers manages. $1,000 potential fine for not vacating the Oceti Sakowin camp by Dec. 5. $17 million borrowed from Bank of North Dakota for law enforcement to deal with protesters. 1.3 million Facebook users have checked in at Standing Rock in a solidarity campaign to thwart number-tracking by police. $3.8 billion to build the pipeline. $450 million in delay costs so far to Energy Transfer. 38 banks offered Energy Transfer a credit line of $10.25 billion for building the pipeline. 71,000 miles of pipeline owned by Energy Transfer. 17 million people downstream of the planned Oahe/Missouri pipeline crossing depend on Missouri for drinking. 470,000 barrels a day of Bakken crude carried by completed pipeline by Jan. 1. 1,300 law enforcement from 10 states and 76 different agencies contributed police. 500 National Guard activated by North Dakota governor last week. $100,000 donation from Kelcy Warren, the CEO of Energy Transfer Partners, to Donald Trumps presidential campaign. 43 days until Donald Trump takes office, presiding over the Army Corps of Engineers, the Justice Department and the Department of the Interior. The announcement by the Army Corps of Engineers came as veterans streamed into the camps over the weekend in cars and buses to offer their support to the tribe in its months-long battle. The veterans event had raised more than $1 million dollars in response to violent assaults on the demonstrators by law enforcement. The veterans said they would shield the demonstrators. Veterans Arrive at Standing Rock to Act as 'Human Shields' for Water Protectors https://t.co/rAF6PLVv0d @ChiefTheresa @BoldNebraska EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) December 5, 2016 The Department of the Army will not approve an easement that would allow the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota, the Armys Assistant Secretary for Civil Works announced Sunday. Jo-Ellen Darcy said she based her decision on a need to explore alternate routes for the Dakota Access Pipeline crossing. Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, its clear that theres more work to do, Darcy said in the announcement. The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing. Darcy said that the consideration of alternative routes would be best accomplished through an environmental impact statement with full public input and analysis. Dallas Goldtooth, a lead organizer at Standing Rock and the Indigenous Environmental Network, said in a Facebook statement that this is a tremendous victory for the tribe and for everyone who supported Standing Rock. However, he cautioned that this is not a clear cut denial of the pipeline but rather a plan to look at re-routing. Basically, he said, for the remainder of this administration, this pipeline route will not receive approval. Its a demonstration that we are on the verge of winning this fight. In an interview Sunday broadcast from Sacred Stone Camp, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II called the decision a blessing and that for now, I would say that its over. In an official statement, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II acknowledged that much could change once President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Archambault said he hoped the incoming Trump administration would Respect this decision and understand the complex process that led us to this point. Trump has recently discussed his support for the pipeline and could overturn the Army Corps decision when he takes office on Jan. 20. Archambault said: We commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and all of Indian Country will be forever grateful to the Obama administration for this historic decision. Reposted with permission from our media associate YES! Magazine. Today was supposed to be the deadline for thousands of protesters encamped to prevent completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline across Lake Oahe on the Missouri River to evacuate their camp-sites. Instead it has become a moment of celebration, as the Army Corps of Engineers and the Obama Administration have concluded that a new Environmental Impact Statement is needed to determine the best route across the Missouri River. But the incoming Trump Administration is likely to reverse the decision, with uncertain legal results for the environmental assessment process. This is what victory looks like for #NoDAPL activists. The U.S. Army Corps has denied the Dakota Access Pipeline route. pic.twitter.com/eKYqVndRdh AJ+ (@ajplus) December 5, 2016 The resistance by the Standing Rock Sioux nation and its allies to the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline routing signaled a new stage in evolving community resistance to fossil fuel extraction and transportationbut also reveals some ugly fissures within America as we enter a four year, almost certainly traumatic presidency. Standing Rock has been the largest and one of the longest, Native American resistance protests in modern America. It differs from earlier fossil fuel protests like those against Keystone XL or Shells basing Arctic drilling vessels in the Port of Seattle because the protesters attempted to physically disrupt the construction, not just symbolically protest it. They have succeeded, for the moment. Months ago construction slowed, Corps of Engineers permits were suspended and the President had already called for consideration of alternative routes. Native American vetoes of fossil fuel projects had become an acknowledged part of the regulatory and permitting landscape in Canada, but only recently have the tribes inserted themselves routinely into these processes in the U.S. They have some won victories already, as when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied the permit for a coal and oil export terminal at Cherry Point, Washington, saying the project would impair fishing grounds guaranteed to the Lummi Nation by treaty. The backstory of the project is particularly outrageous; alternative routings that would have avoided the Standing Rock issues altogether appear to have been rejected by the Army Corps and the developer, Energy Transfer Partners, because they might threaten water supplies for Bismark, North Dakotaa conscious decision to put an Indian nation at risk to protect a non-Indian community. Energy Transfer Partners appears to have tried to cover up evidence that the construction was disrupting sacred sites and actually faces fines from North Dakota as a result. And both the state and Energy Transfer have persistently treated the Standing Rock Sioux as one among many stakeholders who should be expected to participate in the regulatory process designed by North Dakota, rather than as a sovereign nation whose rights were, at the very least, in dispute and needed to be negotiated. Indian advocates point to Standing Rock as evidence of a broad consciousness among Native Americans of the need to see the fight against fossil fuel development as continental. By September, more than 300 tribes had gathered at the protest camp, at the confluence of the Cannonball and Missouri Rivers, along with numerous non-Indian supporters like a contingent of Catholic workers. Standing Rock organizers cite the evolution in Canada of a multi-First Nation alliance to resist any and all projects that would increase production of oil from the Albert tar sands. The first version of this treaty was signed in 2013; the latest, signed last September, and has now grown to link 112 Canadian and Northern U.S. tribes in a united front to oppose all pipelines or other infrastructure which might facilitate increased tar sands production. (Their opposition is critical because Canadas Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, last week approved two pipeline expansions serving the tar sands, expansions which would enable an additional 900,000 barrels of oil a date to reach U.S. and world markets, significantly increasing the likely price tar sands producers can get for their product, and the amount of it they can pump. But the First Nations will continue the fight). In response to the Standing Rock ongoing protests, the New York Times intensified its coverage of the resistance, including the first of two full throated editorials calling for the pipeline to be rerouted. Then, on the night Nov. 20, police surrounding the protesters escalated their tactics and crossed the line into brutal crowd suppression. In the words of a second The Times editorial denouncing the actions, They drenched protesters with water cannons on a frigid night, with temperatures in the 20s. According to protesters and news accounts, the officers also fired rubber bullets, pepper spray, concussion grenades and tear gas. More than 160 people were reportedly injured, with one protesters arm damaged so badly she might lose it. #DAPL Protester Might Lose Arm After 'Shot With a Concussion Grenade' During Police Standoff https://t.co/MtSa63yRxK @KXLBlockade @stopKXL EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) November 23, 2016 By the standards of historic violence against Native Americans, this is small bore stuffnothing like Wounded Knee for example. But it has been some time since peaceful protesters in the U.S. were met with such violence. A recently established normthat Americans may disruptively protest as long as they are peaceful without fearing police violencebroke down. After the brutal events of Nov. 20, the first instinct of the Corps and the State were to intensify the crack-down. The Corps declared that it would shut down the camp-site where most of the protesters have been housed and that any who remained would be subject to arrest for trespass. (This was stunningly tone deaf after the events in Eastern Oregon where right-wing ranchers armed with guns and openly threatening violence were permitted to occupy a federal wildlife refuge which also was the home to important sacred sites without being arrested for months). The state of North Dakota followed up by ordering the protesters evicted because their dwellings were not adequately winter-proofed. Both the Army Corps and North Dakota backed off slightly in the days following, the Corps making clear it would not forcibly evict protesters even if they were trespassing, and the state clarifying that its blockade of food and other supplies would be enforced with a threat of fines, not by actually physically obstructing access. Two thousand U.S. veterans organized as Veterans Stand for Standing Rock, agreed to serve as human shields for the protesters to avoid the kind of violence that flared up on Nov. 20. Then came Sundays stunning announcement. Veterans Arrive at Standing Rock to Act as 'Human Shields' for Water Protectors https://t.co/CEQrZMuhTG @GreenpeaceAustP @Green_Europe EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) December 5, 2016 In some ways Standing Rock is a Native American version of Gandhis 1930 Salt Marchand while the Trump Administration is likely to try to ram through the permits needed to complete Dakota Access, its similar efforts to revive Keystone XL are triggering vociferous opposition from Nebraska ranchers, unlikely partners with the Sioux, but symbolic of a new and emerging coalition. And Gandhi did not succeed in undoing the Salt Taxeshis game was much bigger, intensifying Indian resistance to British rule. Standing Rock, even if the pipeline gets built, seems likely to have had that impact across a wide swathe of Indian Country in the U.S. The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is only one battle in a larger war. Following news of the Army Corps decision to halt the pipelines construction, Reuters reported that President-elect Donald Trumps advisors are seeking to privatize Native American reservations, which sit on an estimated 20 percent of the nations oil and gas, along with large amounts of coal reserves. These resources are worth nearly $1.5 trillion. Fracking flares near agricultural land and a lake near the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota. Emily Arasim We should take tribal land away from public treatment. As long as we can do it without unintended consequences, I think we will have broad support around Indian country, said Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), a Cherokee tribe member and chair of Trumps 27-member Native American Affairs Coalition. The formation of the coalition was announced in October with the aim of electing Trump for president. As a local elected official, I am outraged that Indian Country is prevented from harnessing our own energy resources by ever-increasing regulations, state Rep. Sharon Clahchischilliage (R-NM 4th District), a Navajo tribe member and coalition co-chair, said in October. The Trump Administration will ease restrictions on American energy reserves worth trillions of dollars. Together we will block the bureaucrats holding Native American businesses back and bring new jobs into our communities. As it happens, three of the four chair-level coalition members have ties to Big Energy. According to campaign finance disclosures cited by Reuters, Mullin has received about eight percent of his campaign funds from energy companies while Clahchischilliage has received about 15 percent of her campaign funds from energy companies. Fellow co-chair and Cherokee nation ex-chief Ross Swimmer said it is possible to privatize reservations while limiting land sales to non-Indian buyers. It has to be done with an eye toward protecting sovereignty, said Swimmer, who is a partner at an Native American-focused investment fund that has invested in Energy Transfer Partners, the owner of the heavily contested DAPL. However, prominent Native American leaders have spoken against privatization. Our spiritual leaders are opposed to the privatization of our lands, which means the commoditization of the nature, water, air we hold sacred, said Tom Goldtooth, who runs the Indigenous Environmental Network and is a member of both the Navajo and the Dakota tribes. Privatization has been the goal since colonizationto strip Native Nations of their sovereignty, Goldtooth added. Thousands of Dakota Access Pipeline protestors are celebrating after the Army Corps rejection of the DAPL project but many water protectors also recognize the fight is not yet over. As Goldtooth said, this is check, not checkmate. Despite the Army Corps decision, Energy Transfer Partners said that it is still committed to seeing this vital pipeline brought to completion. My dad's words: This is Check, not Checkmate. Boom. Dallas Goldtooth (@dallasgoldtooth) December 5, 2016 Trump has holdings in Energy Transfer Partners and officially voiced support for the pipeline, even though his team said his support had nothing to do with his personal investments and everything to do with promoting policies that benefit all Americans. The incoming president has also picked climate change deniers and pro-fossil fuel bigwigs for cabinet positions. Not only that, many pro-drilling politicians currently sit in a GOP-controlled House of Representatives and Senate. Following the Army Corps Sunday announcement, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) tweeted: This is big-government decision-making at its worst. I look forward to putting this anti-energy presidency behind us. (Photo: REUTERS / Olivia Harris)Muslims wait to break their fast on the last day of Ramadan, at Masjid Jamek (Jamek Mosque) in Kuala Lumpur July 27, 2014. Conservative political leaders and clerics in Indonesia have taken to task a Cabinet member who issued a perceived benign reminder for non-Muslims concerning the holy month of Ramadan. Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin appealed to Muslims not to close street-side food stalls, locally known as warungs, during Ramadan, when followers of the religion are obliged to fast during daytime. "We have to respect the rights of those who are not required to or are not fasting," he posted on his Twitter account for Ramadan which started June 19. Lukman's fellow party member Fernita Darwis criticized the minister's reminder saying the remarks cast the United Development Party, in a bad light because it had "hurt the faithful." "We've had a lot of messages from clerics asking us to address this issue," she said, as reported by The Jakarta Globe. "The minister must immediately cease taking positions that hurt the Muslim faithful and cause negative stigma in the community." A few days after issuing the reminder, Lukman posted clarifications on his message, after it drew stern criticism from religious conservatives. The official pointed out that warung owners should not be forced to close during Ramadan. "If there are those who close their warung voluntarily, we of course respect that," he explained. "But good Muslims don't force others to give up their source of livelihood." Lukman stressed that religious harmony can only be built among people if they practice mutual respect and understanding around traditions like Ramadan that requires able-bodied men and women to fast during the daytime for a month. Despite being predominantly Muslim, Lukman pointed out that Indonesia is also home to people who do not need to fast during Ramadan. "We are obliged to respect the right [to access to food/drink] of those who are not fasting because they are not Muslim," he wrote. "We must also respect the right of Muslims who are not fasting because of [certain] conditions [traveling, illness, menstruating, pregnancy, nursing]." Since taking office in June last year, Lukman has taken a more lenient and inclusive approach in dealing with religious affairs but his strategy has drawn criticism for more fundament Muslims. The holy month of Ramadan is started in Jakarta upon the sighting of the crescent moon fasting has begun. (Photo: REUTERS/Beawiharta)Women members of the hardline Islamic group, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), shout slogans as they reject Basuki Tjahaja Purnama or Ahok as their governor in Jakarta, December 1, 2014. Ahok, Jakarta's first Christian governor in nearly 50 years was sworn in two weeks ago, despite protests from religious hardliners opposing a non-Muslim taking over one of Indonesia's most powerful political jobs. As the nation with the most Muslims worldwide Indonesia faces pressing demands from fundamentalist and sometimes extremist Islamic believers. This came to the fore when more than 200,000 Indonesian Muslims staged a protest Dec. 2 against the ethnic Chinese, Christian governor of Jakarta, demanding his arrest for alleged blasphemy. The protest was was organized by the FPI, a vigilante group that called for the arrest of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known as Ahok, the ethnic Chinese Christian governor of Jakarta. He is accused of disrespecting the Quaran, the Muslim holy book that contains the central religous text of Islam. A Sunday counter-rally, much smaller than the protests against the governor, was pitched Dec. 4 as a "parade of Indonesian culture" and it featured traditional dances from across the country and a giant flag proclaiming "We Are Indonesia." Police said 30,000 people attended the rally, the BBC reported. The Jakarta Post said the rally was organized by two parties that are part of President Joko Widodo's coalition. Speaking from the stage on Sunday, Surya Paloh, the chairman of the National Democratic Party, said Indonesians could not work together if they are "scattered, blaspheming, humiliating each other and no longer trust each other." Back on Nov. 4 tens of thousands of Indonesians rallied in Jakarta's center, calling for tolerance and unity after the massive protests by conservative Muslims against the city's Christian governor, Voice of America reports. They accuse Ahok of disrespecting the Quran while he was election campaigning as he had noted in a speech that his opponents were using a Quranic verse argue why he should not hold office. If convicted the charge could land the governor with a five year jail sentence. "I've been called to defend Islam," Lisnawati Djohar of West Sumatra told AFP. "As a Muslim, I feel guilty if I refuse a demand to defend my religion. I believe Ahok insulted the holy Quran and it's hurt us." President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, a political ally of the Jakarta governor had angered hard-liners by being out of the city during the first protest early in November. On Dec. 2, however, he went to the national monument to join Friday prayers with the crowd, although he called for demonstrators to disperse peacefully, The Associated Press reported. The demonstration during the Friday call to prayer was even bigger than the last one held Nov. 4, which attracted around 100,000 Muslims. Many wearing traditional white robes and skullcaps, the crowd chanted and prayed in unison at the National Monument. Purnama has apologized for the remarks, arguing he was criticizing his political rivals who were using the verse rather than the Quran itself, but after the attacks he has slipped into second place in the polls. He had been the favorite to win the February election, due to his no-nonsense style and determination to clean up Jakarta, a crowded, polluted metropolis of more than 10 million, AFP reported. According to this new information the Russians have known about alien civilizations for several decades, to many this comes as no surprise,... Latest News Scholarship alert: Rise Global Challenge 2023 invites applications Applications are open for 500 slots that can be submitted in both online and offline mode by the given Private education has grown faster in South Asia than any other region As learning levels in the region grow slowly as compared to the rest of the world, regulations that focus Alert: Applications for IIT Kanpur's eMasters Programme in cybersecurity to close on November 12 Candidates can apply on the official website at iitk.ac.in Irish pork exports slow down in 3rd quarter Irish fresh/frozen pork exports in the first three quarters rose 13% to 139,100 tonnes from the previous year. Third-quarter volumes, however, slid 1% compared with the same period last year, as the extent of the growth derived from the expanding Chinese market slowed, AHDB Pork reported. Shipments to Denmark, usually for re-export to the Far East, were up sharply during the first half of the year, but deteriorated to a year-on-year drop of 23% in the latest three months. Meanwhile, shipments to Germany, which largely consists of carcases, were below the 2015 levels. Citing data provided by Central Statistics Office Ireland, the pork division of the UK Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board reported that volumes of Irish pork shipped to the UK in the first three quarters were up 6% year-on-year to 44,000 tonnes. Positive growth continued into the third quarter, despite the devaluation of sterling decreasing the price competitiveness of Irish pork against UK domestic product since July. "This was likely influenced by the reduced production of pig meat in the UK", AHDB Pork said. Imports Ireland's importation of fresh/frozen pork during the first nine months declined 11% to 26,700 tonnes from the same period in 2015. Despite the overall decline, shipments from the UK grew during this period. However, the trend in UK shipments was reversed in the third quarter, despite the weak pound reducing unit prices in euro terms. "Tightening supplies may have limited UK export potential", AHDB Pork explained. Shipments from Spain showed notable growth, while imports from the Netherlands and Denmark decreased significantly. China's foreign ministry said Saturday it has lodged a complaint with the United States over a controversial phone call between President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan's President that has overturned decades of diplomatic protocol. China views Taiwan as a renegade province and, since 1979, the US has acknowledged Beijing's claim that Taiwan is part of China, with US-China relations governed by a set of protocols known as the "one China" policy. This means there are no formal diplomatic relations between the United States and Taiwan -- so Trump's decision to take Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's call could risk a major upset. "We have noticed relevant reports and lodged solemn representation with the relevant side in the United States," said a statement Saturday from China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang. "I must point out that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inseparable part of the Chinese territory ... The 'one China' principle is the political foundation of China-US relations. "We urge the relevant side in the US to adhere to the 'one China' policy, abide by the pledges in the three joint China-US communiques, and handle issues related to Taiwan carefully and properly to avoid causing unnecessary interference to the overall China-U.S. relationship." Earlier Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi labeled the phone call "a shenanigan by the Taiwan side" when he was asked about it on the sidelines of a foreign policy seminar. "The 'one China' policy is the cornerstone of a healthy China-U.S. relationship. I hope this political foundation won't be disrupted or damaged," he said. HTC 10, the current flagship product of the Taiwanese company HTC, has been a watershed for the fans with mediocre performance and high pricing. Once, a rival for majors to likes of Samsung and Apple, HTC products are lackluster of late. With no great innovations in the offing, HTC brand has gone to abysmal lows. But that's history and HTC planning to recoup from losses with a more powerful and beastly phone than HTC 10. Yes, we are talking about HTC 11, the new flagship from the company expected to release next year. According to Pocket-Lint, HTC 11 features all metal uni-body with 5.5" display boasting with a minimum resolution of 2560X1440 pixel. The phone presumed to be embedded with a more powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor supported with 4GB/6GB RAM. HTC failed to impress with LCD 3 on HTC 10 EVO and score better with Super LCD 5 on HTC 10, but an AMOLED display would be perfect to cut the competition. However, HTC 11 will roll out with Android Nougat 7.1 version, which will be released officially in December 2016. The smartphone as expected with Nougat version will support for Google Daydream project. A recently leaked video from a user-HTC Source asserts that the phone will be devoid of any buttons, means completely button less and works with HTC sense with touch and talk mode. It also comes up with dual speakers. As per Android Pure, the HTC 11 may be equipped with a 12MP rear camera and 8MP front camera with no dual camera technology. Another feature which must be introduced in HTC phones is the water & dust proof up to IP68. These specs look outdated in 2017 when all other brands including OnePlus thrusting on high-end camera and dust & water resistant phones. HTC 11 could be showcased at Mobile World Congress to be held between February 27 to March 2, 2017, in Barcelona. If HTC misses these dates then it will surely be launched before April 2017. Take your time out and keep visiting our site for more reviews & updates on all smartphones. LG OLED 4K TVs was released in 2014, and from there, several technology watchers and experts became skeptical about the success of these highly expensive new TV equipped with exotic display technology. Many people derided OLED in TVs and claimed that the gadget has no future. LG's impressive efforts every year has brought OLED in the TV Technology of choice for many serious AV fans. And when it comes to the world of professional monitors, Sony's Trimaster OLED screen have become pretty much popular with customers. Now, speculations are mounting that the clients will soon be able to get and avail a Sony-branded OLED television. According to Forbes, LG is all set to launch its wallpaper OLED next year on 2017. Wallpaper OLED TV of LG Display was first released in May 2015 during the press event in the South Korea. The display is equipped with the 55-inch screen coming in at a weight of only 1.9 kilograms (4.2 pounds). The LG's OLED TV Line-up according to Wi-Fi Alliance website is set to be released next year together with the B7, C7, E7, and G7. A Flat Panels HD was also spotted with a new model named the W7 which is rumored to be the wallpaper OLED TV. B7 is considered as the successor of the B6 model which is the most affordable OLED TV this year. According to the reports, C6 will be upgraded next year into C7 which will be equipped with the flat E6 and G6 TVs. W7 will be the new addition to LG's OLED TV product line for 2017. W7 will have several features like 65-inch and 77-inch sizes with 77-inch W7 which is expected to be the biggest OLED TV. LG display will provide panels to Panasonic for OLED TVs. The idea of Sony entering the consumer OLED TV makes a lot of sense. David Katzmier from CNET took a stab at the cost of the 65-inch wallpaper OLED TV, speculating that it would cost $10,000. Debunking the $15 minimum wage By Christopher Kuo I have supported the fight for 15.I will work as hard as I can to raise the minimum wage. I always have.? These words by Hillary Clinton refer to her goal of raising the federal minimum wage to $15. Though Clinton has lost the 2016 presidential election, her desire to increase the federal minimum wage lives on, influencing the policy proposals of Democrats throughout the country. Liberals have long trumpeted the idea that raising the minimum wage will give wider economic opportunities to low-income individuals and ensure greater economic justice.? In reality, however, the policy of raising the minimum wage hurts the very people it was designed to help, leading to greater unemployment among unskilled workers and rising prices for consumers. To begin with, the consequences of raising the minimum wage correspond to a basic law of economics--the law of demand. This law states that when the price of a good increases, the quantity demanded of it decreases. In this case, the minimum wage is the price for labor, and raising the minimum wage will decrease the quantity demanded for labor, especially for unskilled labor. The effect of a minimum wage that is set above the equilibrium price for labor is shown in the graph below: As one can see, a minimum wage above the equilibrium wage results in a surplus of (L2-L1) quantity of labor. This means that unemployment will result. Indeed, the increased costs from the raise in the minimum wage will force businesses to increase prices, decrease the working hours of their employees, or lay off some workers. This chart from the Heritage Foundation illustrates how an increase in the minimum wage will greatly increase the cost of hiring workers, leading to increased unemployment. Moreover, when businesses start firing employees, unskilled workers will be the first to go. A recent report by the Heritage Foundation encapsulates this idea. Employers will not pay workers more than the value they produce,? it states. Employers would respond [to a $15 minimum wage] by reducing employment of affected workers by approximately one-fifth, eliminating roughly seven million FTE jobs.? The experience of African American economist Thomas Lowell also validates the destructive impact that minimum wage hikes can have on unskilled or disadvantaged workers. In a 2015 article for Townhall, Sowell describes his experience of working as a black teenager. When he first started working, he says, the unemployment rate for black 17-year-old males was still in the single-digits, but liberals soon began pushing for increases in the minimum wage rate. The result? Ten years later, the unemployment rate for black 17-year-old males was 27.5 percent -- and it has never been less than 20 percent in all the years since then.? Clearly, increases in the minimum wage can have negative effects on unskilled and disadvantaged workers. In the words of renowned economist Milton Friedman, minimum wage hikes assure that people whose skills are not sufficient to justify that kind of a wage will be unemployed.? This is all well and good, you may say, but is there concrete evidence that minimum wage hikes harm rather than help? Absolutely. For instance, take the recent increase in Seattles minimum wage from $9.47 per hour to $11 per hour. The city commissioned a group of economists to study the effects of this minimum wage hike. Overall, Seattles labor force experienced a relatively good year, with rising wages. But the economists concluded that this occurred because of Seattles rapidly expanding economy, not because of the minimum wage increase. In the end, their 2016 report concluded that low-wage Seattle workers experienced a 1.1% decrease in the likelihood of remaining employed. Moreover, there was a substantial increase in the number of laborers who shifted from working in Seattle to working in other areas. The hours worked by Seattle workers also lagged behind regional trends by about four hours per week. These conclusions align with the analysis from a 2014 nation-wide study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). The NBER paper indicated that binding minimum wage increases had significant, negative effects on the employment and income growth of targeted workers.? Hence, economic data clearly backs up the claim that minimum wage hikes result in harmful economic consequences. In short, we have seen that minimum wage hikes result in negative consequences for the economy. Contrary to popular opinion, increases in the minimum wage can directly harm unskilled and disadvantaged workers. Ultimately, Clintons emphasis on raising the minimum wage reveals a fundamental lack of understanding regarding the economy, and an unwillingness to recognize the tradeoffs inherent in such a policy. The renowned economist Milton Friedman said it best: The rise in the legal minimum-wage rate is a monument to the power of superficial thinking.? Christopher Kuo is a high school student and this his first contribution to Enter Stage Right. (c) 2016 Home Looking at the structural problems of Canadian conservatism at the close of 2016 (Part Two) By Mark Wegierski The Toronto-based Mackenzie Institute (despite a far higher profile in the late-1980s) appeared to mostly have been (from the 1990s until early 2014) the personal enterprise of one indigent person. The full name of the Institute was rendered in earlier years as The Mackenzie Institute for the Study of Terrorism, Revolution, and Propaganda. In early 2014, The Mackenzie Institute revamped its website and appears to have become more dynamic. The Ottawa-based Centre for Immigration Policy Reform, which was founded around 2011, appears to have become more active in 2014. Its main leading figures are Martin Collacott, and James Bissett, both of them formerly being prominent Canadian diplomats and civil servants. The Centre argues for lowered numbers and more responsible selection and screening in immigration, temporary worker, and refugee policies. The author is also aware of an association called Societe Macdonald-Cartier Society. For non-partisan celebration of the Canadian Monarchy, there is the Monarchist League of Canada. The profile of social and cultural conservatism in Canada is rather thin. The main social conservative publications are The Interim: Canadas Life and Family Newspaper (and an associated website, lifesite.net). The longtime magazine Catholic Insight (Toronto) ceased printing in 2015. Lifesite has tried to found a similar magazine, called Faithful Insight. Lifesite has had to defend itself from an irksome libel suit that could have potentially financially crippled the website. (However, the litigant passed away in 2014.) The main pro-life, pro-family association is called the Campaign Life Coalition. There is a French-language, Quebec-based, social conservative intellectual journal, called Egards. The most prominent think-tank of what could be called broadly religious conservatives is CARDUS. CARDUS has linked with the Centre for Cultural Renewal (formerly the Centre for Renewal in Public Policy). CARDUS publishes a magazine called Convivium, as well as Comment. However, it is a think-tank which does not yet offer scholarships or grants (beyond one, as far as the author of this article can recall). In earlier articles, it had been suggested that CARDUS could try to move in the direction of becoming an institution like the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) in the United States. The ISI, which has, for most of its history, been mostly traditionalist conservative, offers very extensive scholarships to students, as well as publishing scholarly journals and books, and holding various seminars and conferences for promising students and academics. There is also the Ottawa-based Institute for Marriage and Family Canada. In Calgary, there is the Canada Family Action group. And, for many decades, REAL Women of Canada has been a well-known association. To be continued. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home Will Trumps tax plan really increase the national debt? Sarah Schott After reading an article titled, Trump Tax Plan would Increase National Debt by $7.2 trillion, I was immediately drawn in. The author claims, Donald Trumps tax proposal would dramatically cut income taxes for the wealthiest Americans and, overall, would worsen the national debt by $7.2 trillion over the next 10 years. This reasoning would make sense since collecting taxes overall helps the government pay for all its expenses and if taxes were decreased, the government would have less money available. However, looking closely at Trumps tax policy, he states, The Trump Plan will collapse the current seven tax brackets to three brackets. The rates and breakpoints are as shown below. Low-income Americans will have an effective income tax rate of 0. The tax brackets are similar to those in the House GOP tax blueprint. Figure 1: Less than $75,000 12% More than $75,000 but less than $225,000 25% More than $225,000 33% *Brackets for single filers are of these amounts Looking at the current tax brackets, Trump plans on not just cutting income taxes for the wealthiest Americans, yet also for the middle and even lower class. Under the current tax bracket those single filers who make less than $75,000 pay a 25% tax rate, yet under Trump will only pay a 6% tax rate. So really, Trump is not just lowering taxes for the wealthy, but for all Americans. Figure 2: 2016 IRS Tax Rate Schedule Tax Rate Single Filers Married and Filing Jointly or Qualifying Widow(er) Married and Filing Separately Head of Household 10% $0 - $9,275 $0 - $18,550 $0 - $9,275 $0 - $13,250 15% $9,276 - $37,650 $18,551 - $75,300 $9,276 - $37,650 $13,251 - $50,400 25% $37,651 - $91,150 $75,301 - $151,900 $37,651 - $75,950 $50,401 - $130,150 28% $91,151 - $190,150 $151,901 - $231,450 $75,951 - $115,725 $130,151 - $210,800 33% $190,151 - $413,350 $231,451 - $413,350 $115,726 - $206,675 $210,801 - $413,350 35% $413,351 - $415,050 $413,351 - $466,950 $206,676 - $233,475 $413,351 - $441,000 39.6% $415,051& above $466,951& above $233,476 & above $441,001& above What about the problem of increasing the nations debt? According to Trump, many jobs will be created in America due to his increased focus on bringing jobs back to America, especially from China. With this increase in job growth, more people will be supplied with a larger net income. With a larger net inco. (cme, there will be more people paying taxes so that the government can support different programs and projects. Because of his focus on bringing jobs to Americans, Donald Trump plans on imposing tariffs on certain imports. These tariffs mean tax money from other countries would be received by the American government and then used to lessen the United States debt. Since Donald Trump is an advocate for less government control and unnecessary government spending, the American government will predictably spend less money during Trumps presidency than if Clinton had been elected president. Therefore the US will not need as much money for government operations and therefore will not increase the debt. Overall, higher taxes proposed by Hillary will increase unemployment. The increase in unemployment is caused by companies who have to pay high taxes. Therefore, they are not able to support additional workers. So, will Trumps tax plan really increase the national debt? No, there will be the creation of jobs which will mean more people would be paying taxes. Also the taxes on imports would bring the government money for the support of its functions. Reasonably, the economy will grow and exports will increase causing the debt to diminish. Sarah Schott is a junior in high school. 2016 Sarah Schott Home LG to Give Tesla's PowerWall a Run For Its Money ROY, MI.--( eSolarEnergyNews )--LG Chem Ltd., a global leader in lithium-ion batteries for automotive, stationary and consumer application... Internet of Things Includes the Ocean, and it's Solar Powered SAN DIEGO, CA--(eSolarEnergyNews)--Kyoceras solar panels, tested for long-term deployment in marine and coastal areas, are powering an inno... IKEA Taps Phoenix Solar for Rooftop Solar Project in Singapore SINGAPORE & SULZEMOOS, GERMANY --(eSolarEnergyNews)--Singapores Phoenix Solar Pte Ltd has been awarded a contract by IKEA Southeast Asi... IKEA Installs the Largest Rooftop Solar in Memphis,Tennessee MEMPHIS, TN--( eSolarEnergyNews )--IKEA, the worlds leading home furnishings retailer, today announced that solar panel installation is com... IKEA to Install Washingtons Largest Rooftop Solar Array in Renton, WA RENTON, WA.--(eSolarEnergyNews)--IKEA, the worlds leading home furnishings retailer, today announced plans to install solar panels atop t... Sunnova and PetersenDean Partner to Deliver Integrated Solar Solutions to California Homebuilders HOUSTON, TX--( eSolarEnergyNews )--Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NYSE: NOVA), one of the leading U.S. residential solar and battery sto... Colorado Fires up Latest Solar Power Project WELLINGTON, CO --( eSolarEnergyNew s)-- PSEG Solar Source, Platte River Power Authority and juwi today joined to dedicate the PSEG Rawhide F... Amazon Meets Solar Goals Quicker Than Expected SEATTLE, WA--( eSolarEnergyNews )--Amazon today announced the early completion of its commitment to host 50 solar systems on its fulfill... SolarCraft Completes Rooftop Solar Installation for Appellation Trading Company Novato, CA, December 07, 2021 --( eSolarEnergyNews.com )-- The solar photovoltaic system is roof mounted and consists of 153 high-efficienc... Spanish and French scientists devote 15 years to the study of one of the most acidic rivers in the world and come up with a way of cleaning it, with a surprise in store. Tinto means red wine in Spanish. It is also the name of a river in the South of Spain which looks like out of this world: it is tinged red, has a very acidic pH and is extremely polluted due to more than 100 mines that line its banks. The mines date from pre-roman times and are now closed, however the minerals still leak their poison. This inhospitable river is close to another river, the Odiel, which is also heavily contaminated. The two rivers pour into the sea 30-40% of all the zinc worldwide that reaches the oceans, as well as 10% of all the copper. In the past, researchers at NASA have studied the Tinto River as a model for the extreme conditions present in Mars. Citizens in nearby towns are not allowed to use the water from these rivers in any way. The phenomenon responsible for the colouring of Tinto River waters is known as acid mine drainage (AMD). AMD is the result of pyrite oxidation, a chemical reaction that releases acidity into the environment. When these acid waters strike natural waters from adjacent rivers, natural nanoparticles of iron and aluminum oxy-hydroxides are formed, resulting in the beautiful colours that decorate the otherwise arid landscape. But a lot more is hidden behind the spectacular colours: these natural nanoparticles act as scavengers of toxic elements such as arsenic and selenium, and they concentrate Rare-Earth elements (REE), which are also known as critical materials for their use in technological applications. The Rio Tinto, with different tinges depending on the Ph of the water. In the last 15 years, a team from the Universidad of Huelva, which is very close to the site, the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC) from Barcelona, the ISTerre (CNRS, Universite Grenoble-Alpes) in Grenoble, and the ESRF, has tried to get a detailed nanoscale picture of the different geochemical processes underlying AMD. The result: experiments on seven beamlines, more than a dozen papers, clean water and the side-effect production of REEs. It is a very exhaustive story, explains Alex Fernandez-Martinez, a member of the team from the ISTerre (CNRS). There are two PhD students currently working on the subject and there have been twelve since the beginning of the project. This week, their latest results have been published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. From an analysis of the nanomaterials in the rock It all started when researchers studied the nanominerals that developed when the rock in the area (pyrite) comes into contact with rain. Our first experiments were devoted to learning how naturally-occurring pollutants are transported by the iron and aluminum nanominerals in the acid waters, says Rafael Perez-Lopez, from the University of Huelva. Scientists published the structures of schwertmannite and basaluminite, two of the more relevant nanominerals, over the last six years. The atomic-level information of the structure of these disordered phases was provided by Pair Distribution Function (PDF) experiments at the ESRF's ID15, ID31 and ID22 beamlines, in close collaboration with Agnieszka Poulain (ESRF). Further experiments at BM25 using X-ray absorption (EXAFS) gave information about the location of the contaminants in the structure of these nanominerals: This was a crucial step for the design of effective remediation strategies, says Perez-Lopez. The team used an array of techniques at the ESRF for this research, from X-ray absorption spectroscopy, to small-angle X-ray scattering, diffraction and PDF analyses in different beamlines. It is quite exceptional that a same subject of research can be studied in such a range of beamlines. The team during their last experiment at the ESRF, on ID22. Second picture, from left to right: Alba Lozano, Ingrid Nayeli, Pablo Cruz, Alex Fernandez-Martinez, Sergio Carrero. Credits: C.Argoud/ESRF. They also got insight into the formation of minerals using BM26, and about their texture using ID11. In situ small-angle X-ray scattering experiments showed the different steps of formation of the aluminum nanoparticles, mimicking the real chemical conditions of the rivers. X-ray diffraction microtomography was used to study the textural properties of schwertmannite, the iron oxide nanoparticles. The findings from all these experiments at the ESRF result in a complete characterization of the mineralogy and geochemistry of the rivers. It is interesting to see that the same processes that we found in nature are nowadays used in laboratory syntheses of nanomaterials. We can learn a lot from nature, says Sergio Carrero-Romero, a PhD student working between Huelva and Grenoble. to hitting the jackpot Alba Lozano, from the team, prepares a sample at the ESRF. Credits: C.Argoud/ESRF. In parallel to this research, scientists at the University of Huelva and the IDAEA were trying to figure out how to decontaminate the water from the two rivers to make it useable by the population. They came up with the idea of building big pools in which they could neutralize the acidity using dissolving limestone. But they were in for a surprise: This is a quite straightforward system, we started to test it in the lab in 2005, and we implemented it in the field in 2011. What we didnt expect was what the solid residues contained explains Carlos Ayora, from IDAEA. When they analysed the precipitates on ID21 and BM25, they hit the jackpot. Using the techniques of X-ray micro-fluorescence and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, they found high concentrations of REEs associated with the structure of the aluminum nanoparticles. REEs are used routinely in technology such as mobile phones or batteries. This was a real surprise as they have an important economic value. Today, China has the monopoly of REE thanks to its multitude of mines, and it supplies the rest of the world. Coming across such precious materials unexpectedly was a game changer. We could potentially exploit this to fund at least the purifying process, so it wouldnt cost money and the population in the neighbouring area could use the water, explains Jose Miguel Nieto, from the Universidad of Huelva. Models of basaluminite (left side of picture) structure reported by Farkas and Pertlik (1997) doped with arsenate or selenate located in: I) monodentate inner-sphere, II) bidentate inner-sphere, III) bidentate mononuclear inner-sphere and VI) outer-sphere theoretical position; and the most probable structural location of arsenate (top right) and selenate (middle and bottom right) onto basaluminite. The signal intensity was normalized by the maximum of Al-O distance. Reprinted with permission from Carrero S et al, (2016) Arsenate and selenate scavenging by basaluminite: Insights into the reactivity of aluminum phases in acid mine drainage, Environ. Sci. Technol. , DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b03315. Copyright 2006 American Chemical Society. Many times the academic work doesnt go beyond the University walls. In this case, however, a multidisciplinary team has managed to make a change for some citizens and the analysis at the ESRF have contributed to a great extent. As Alejandro Fernandez-Martinez says: "It's been a really great experience working on the Rio Tinto. This work has combined field and lab-based research, including many data collected at the ESRF. Thanks to this multi-scale approach, we've been able to get out and offer solutions to a real ecological problem. What's more we got the added bonus of being able to auto-finance the decontamination, so thus doubly helped the population around the river". Text by Montserrat Capellas Espuny References Carrero S et al, (2016) Arsenate and selenate scavenging by basaluminite: Insights into the reactivity of aluminum phases in acid mine drainage, Environ. Sci. Technol. , Just Accepted Manuscript. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b03315. Ayora C., et al, (2016) Recovery of Rare Earth Elements and Yttrium from Passive-Remediation Systems of Acid Mine Drainage. Environmental science & technology, 50: 8255-8262 Carrero S., et al,(2015) The potential role of aluminium hydroxysulphates in the removal of contaminants in acid mine drainage. Chemical geology, 417: 414-423 Perez-Lopez, R, et al, (2011) Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Zn-Rich Mine-Drainage Precipitates from an MgO Passive Treatment System by Synchrotron-Based X-ray Analysis. Environmental Science &Technology, 45: 7826-7833 Perez-Lopez R, et al, (2011) Synchrotron-based X-ray study of iron oxide transformations in terraces from the Tinto-Odiel river system: Influence on arsenic mobility. Chemical Geology, 280: 336-343 Fernandez-Martinez A., et al, (2010) The structure of schwertmannite, a nanocrystalline iron oxyhydroxysulfate American Mineralogist, 95, 1312-1322. Donate Today! Together We Can Make a Difference How to Donate : Donate safely by credit card below, or mail your donation to us. To support ETAN's political advocacy work, write a check made out to ETAN. For ETAN's educational efforts, U.S. tax-deductible donations of over $50 can be made out to A.J. Muste Memorial Institute/ETAN. Please mail contributions to: ETAN PO Box 1663 New York, NY 10035-1663 USA Thank you for your support. Download and share Nobel Laureate Ramos-Horta's letter about ETAN (PDF) Jose Ramos-Horta 1996 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former President, Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Dili, Timor-Leste December 2016 Dear friend of my beloved country, Timor-Leste recently celebrated the 41st anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, a right and a dream that was finally realized in 2002. For the last quarter-century of our journey, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) has been among our most effective and consistent supporters. Their solidarity has been exemplary, beginning during the brutal, difficult depths of the illegal Indonesian military occupation and continuing through the economic and political challenges we face today as a 14-year-old, post-conflict, post-colonial, sovereign nation. Twenty-five years ago, a month after Indonesian troops brutally massacred young, nonviolent Timorese protesters at Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili, peace and justice activists organized a peaceful vigil in front of the Indonesian Mission to the United Nations. With participation from people around the United States, that quickly grew into a national organization which, by 1999, had 12,000 members in 28 local chapters. Their protests and lobbying of the U.S. government and the United Nations were a vital element in enabling my people to vote in a UN-supervised referendum. As you know, Indonesian efforts to intimidate us failed, and the overwhelming mandate for independence led to Timor-Leste becoming the first new sovereign nation of the 21st century. "ETAN is an exceptional organization, and their continuing support for the people of my country needs your help. I recently made a sizeable donation to ETAN, and I hope you will also do so." -Jose Ramos-Horta Without solidarity from international friends like ETAN, Timor-Lestes dream of independence would not have become a reality. Before the referendum, I served as Timor-Lestes Foreign Minister in exile, lobbying decision makers all over the world for my peoples right to self-determination. Although ETAN always acted independently, we collaborated closely to encourage the U.S. government to abandon its diplomatic and military support for the Suharto dictatorships illegal occupation. Since 2002, I have been the Foreign Minister, Prime Minister and President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. As I evolved from diplomat-in-exile to Head of State, ETAN maintained their solidarity with my people. In government, I had to make difficult decisions concerning past crimes in the interest of better relations with post-Suharto Indonesia, our largest neighbor and biggest trading partner. Although ETAN and I sometimes have different views on issues like accountability for past crimes and self-determination for West Papua, I know that their positions are based on principle, and I admire and respect their tenacity. For the last five years, I have worked to improve the effectiveness of UN peacekeeping worldwide. I have helped Guinea-Bissau and other conflict-affected countries strive for the peace and human rights that the people of Timor-Leste are finally able to enjoy. I know how unusual and how important it is for people living under repression and conflict to have reliable, committed supporters in places like the United States. Timor-Leste never attracted widespread popular attention in the United States, even during the peak of our struggle against violent occupation. Since the killing ended, we have become a normal country, and U.S. government policy now respects the rights of my people. It is even more difficult to get Americans to care about a small nation on the other side of the world, which is why ETANs work continue to be essential. ETAN's John M. Miller and Charles Scheiner with Jose Ramos-Horta in Dili, May 21, 2012. Photo by ETAN. ETANs email list is an invaluable source of information, from a variety of perspectives, for more than 4,600 people around the globe. Their steadfast support for resolving permanent maritime boundaries with our neighbors, especially Australia, continues the international solidarity that was crucial to achieving sovereignty over Timor-Lestes land territory. As we evolve from a petroleum-export-dependent nation to one whose economy is based on our own resources and labor, ETANs support and encouragement continues to be irreplaceable. ETANs email list is an invaluable source of information, from a variety of perspectives, for more than 4,600 people around the globe. Their steadfast support for resolving permanent maritime boundaries with our neighbors, especially Australia, continues the international solidarity that was crucial to achieving sovereignty over Timor-Lestes land territory.As we evolve from a petroleum-export-dependent nation to one whose economy is based on our own resources and labor, ETANs support and encouragement continues to be irreplaceable. In 2012, on the 10th anniversary of the restoration of our independence, I was pleased to join in awarding both ETAN and its co-founder Charles Scheiner with the Ordem de Timor-Leste for their support for our liberation. ETAN's actions and campaigns have always been based on the interests of the people, developed after consulting our civil society. Although ETANs annual budget is smaller than virtually every other international organization involved with our country, the work that they do is invaluable. ETAN is an exceptional organization, and their continuing support for the people of my country needs your help. I recently made a sizeable donation to ETAN, and I hope you will also do so. Sincerely, Jose Ramos-Horta Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former President, Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste P.S. Please consider becoming an ETAN Sustainer by making a monthly donation by credit card. Help put ETAN on a firmer financial footing, see information here. Yes, I'll help the fight for justice and human rights! I want to contribute: How to Donate to ETAN To support ETANs advocacy work, please make your check out to "East Timor Action Network Mail to: ETAN, PO Box 1663, New York, NY 10035-1663 USA Donate by credit card (not US. tax-deductible) via PayPal ___________________________________ Give a U.S. tax-deductible donation by credit card: Pledge a recurring donation by credit card via Paypal: Amount: ($$$.) D onation period: Daily Weekly Monthly Yearly Donations of any size for ETAN's political and advocacy work should be made out to ETAN and are not tax-deductible. U.S. tax-deductible checks for more than $50 can also be made out to "AJ Muste Memorial Institute/ETAN" and will only be used to support our educational work. Please mail your donation to: ETAN, PO Box 1663, New York, NY 10035-1663 USA Thank you for your support! Having campaigned for Timor-Leste's independence for many decades, and as President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste for the last five years, I know that ETAN has consistently supported our people during bad and good times." Jose Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, former President, Timor-Leste WWW http://www.etan.org The European Union has commented on the recent developments in Myanmar where Rohingya refugees from the countrys northwestern Rakhine state are flooding across the border into Bangladesh, fleeing violence, rape and torture. Since the beginning of October, there have been ongoing violent attacks against Border Guard Police posts in northern Rakhine State. The attacks and the ensuing security operations resulted in the killings of both civilians and security staff as well as displacement of thousands of people who had lost their livelihoods. Moreover, regular humanitarian assistance has been disrupted for many weeks, putting at risk over 150.000 vulnerable people. The EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Stavros Lambrinidis, reiterated the call for the immediate resumption of humanitarian activities and the setting up of an independent and credible investigation into both the attacks and the subsequent actions. Brussels also recently welcomed the announcement by the Government of Myanmar of the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into the recent violence in Rakhine State and urged its work to be objective and preventive with regards to similar events in the future. The reports, however, generally indicate a marked deterioration of the human rights situation in northern Rakhine State amidst reported disproportionate use of force by the armed forces, rape and destruction of villages. The EU also said that it was important that those fleeing violence in Myanmar are not deported or turned back. Aung San Suu Kyi and her government has been criticized for not addressing the violence in Rakhine directly in the past month and accused of actually leading a brutal crackdown against the Rohingya Muslim minority. Observers estimate the death toll could be in the hundreds but since the government has banned journalists and human rights monitors from entering the province, the number is difficult to verify. A journalist working for a national newspaper chain has fabricated a claim about the Texas science standards, and now he and his editor are refusing to correct the record. In late September, three Texas newspapers owned by Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. (CNHI) published an article by reporter John Austin claiming that a science standard adopted by Texas in 2009 authorizes the teaching of non-scientific explanations. That claim is false. Austin asserted that conservatives on the Texas State Board of Education in 2009 inserted language into the high school biology curriculum allowing teachers to introduce non-scientific explanations for such questions as why some creatures suddenly appeared in the fossil record about 500 million years ago, instead of more gradually. (Emphasis added.) See the article at the Weatherford Democrat, The Huntsville Item, and Jacksonville Progress. In fact, the statement in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science standards Austin refers to says exactly the opposite: (7)(B) analyze and evaluate scientific explanations concerning any data of sudden appearance, stasis, and sequential nature of groups in the fossil record; (Emphasis added.) This is not a question of opinion. Its a question of basic fact. A reporter claims that an educational policy authorizes non-scientific explanations, but the text of the policy itself says it authorizes scientific explanations. You might like to think that when such a clear-cut factual error is pointed out, the journalist would quickly correct it. Unfortunately, that isnt the case when it comes to Mr. Austin and his Boston-based editor David Joyner. Yet two of our staff persons, Ms. Sarah Chaffee and Dr. Jonathan Witt, spent nearly a month in repeated emails and phone calls trying to get some action to correct this error. Only after continued and persistent requests for a correction did Austin finally respond. One of CNHIs local editors in Texas was sympathetic and fair-minded. But he indicated that he had no power to do anything because reporter John Austin is overseen by Boston-based editor David Joyner. Without explanation, Austin simply insisted that he and his editor had found no error. When our staff followed up with Joyner directly, he vaguely alluded to various statements in the standards that require critical analysis of sciences limits and asserted that the statement was accurate. But Joyner could not quote even one statement from the Texas science standards authorizing non-scientific explanations. More importantly, he did not explain how a policy that explicitly authorizes scientific explanations can be accurately described as calling for the opposite. We understand that the debate over how evolution should be taught in public schools is contentious, and that Mr. Joyner and Mr. Austin likely strongly disagree with current Texas science standards. But they should not allow their personal ideology to override their commitment to accurate reporting. Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. pledges that it will act at all times with integrity and honesty with fairness and straightforwardness of conduct. It also states that it is committed to excellence and will adhere to the highest standards of journalistic excellence. Unfortunately, those statements appear to be just words with nothing to back them up. Its because of reporting like this that the reputation of the news media in this country is so low. If you want to voice your concerns to Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc., email its President and CEO, Donna Barrett, at dbarrett@cnhi.com. You can also call the companys headquarters at (334) 293-5800. Image: Milles Studio stock.adobe.com. We devoted considerable attention to last months Royal Society meeting in London. Otherwise, the three-day conference on New Trends in Evolutionary Biology was kept rather quiet in the media. Oh, there were a few reports. Writing for the Huffington Post, science journalist Suzan Mazur complained of a lack of momentousness: [J]ust what was the point of attracting a distinguished international gathering if the speakers had little new science to present? Why waste everyones time and money? On the other hand, a write-up in The Atlantic by Carl Zimmer acknowledged a sense of strain between rival cliques of evolutionists: Both sides offered their arguments and critiques in a civil way, but sometimes you could sense the tension in the room the punctuations of tsk-tsks, eye-rolling, and partisan bursts of applause. Mild drama notwithstanding, why should anyone care about this meeting? Despite the muffled coverage, the meeting was still significant in a number of ways. First, remember that the Royal Society is arguably the worlds most august scientific body. Its founders included Robert Boyle and it was later headed for 24 years (1703-1727) by Isaac Newton a fact that is hard to forget when they have his death mask on prominent display in a glass case. Portraits of Boyle and Newton on the walls look down from above. The historical connections lent a certain weight by themselves to the proceedings. That such a thoroughly mainstream scientific organization should now at last acknowledge problems with the received neo-Darwinian theory of evolution is also obviously notable. Indeed, from our point of view, though presenters ignored, dismissed, or mocked ID, not realizing the number of design-friendly scientists in the audience, the proceedings confirmed something ID advocates, including Stephen Meyer and others, have been saying for years. Consider, for example, Meyers provocative claim in the Prologue to Darwins Doubt: The technical literature in biology is now replete with world-class biologists routinely expressing doubts about various aspects of neo-Darwinian theory, and especially about its central tenet, namely the alleged creative power of the natural selection and mutation mechanism. Nevertheless, popular defenses of the theory continue apace, rarely if ever acknowledging the growing body of critical scientific opinion about the standing of the theory. Rarely has there been such a great disparity between the popular perception of a theory and its actual standing in the relevant peer-reviewed science literature. The opening presentation at the Royal Society conference by one of those world-class biologists, Austrian evolutionary theorist Gerd Muller, underscored exactly Meyers point. Muller opened the meeting by discussing several of the fundamental explanatory deficits of the modern synthesis, that is, textbook neo-Darwinian theory. (Discovery Institutes Paul Nelson recounted Mullers remarks here, on which in part we base the following.) According to Muller, the as yet unsolved problems include those of explaining: Phenotypic complexity (the origin of eyes, ears, body plans, i.e., the anatomical and structural features of living creatures); (the origin of eyes, ears, body plans, i.e., the anatomical and structural features of living creatures); Phenotypic novelty , i.e., the origin of new forms throughout the history of life (for example, the mammalian radiation some 66 million years ago, in which the major orders of mammals, such as cetaceans, bats, carnivores, enter the fossil record, or even more dramatically, the Cambrian explosion, with most animal body plans appearing more or less without antecedents); and finally , i.e., the origin of new forms throughout the history of life (for example, the mammalian radiation some 66 million years ago, in which the major orders of mammals, such as cetaceans, bats, carnivores, enter the fossil record, or even more dramatically, the Cambrian explosion, with most animal body plans appearing more or less without antecedents); and finally Non-gradual forms or modes of transition , where you see abrupt discontinuities in the fossil record between different types. As Muller has explained in previously published work (with Stuart Newman), although the neo-Darwinian paradigm still represents the central explanatory framework of evolution, as represented by recent textbooks it has no theory of the generative.1 In other words, the neo-Darwinian mechanism of mutation and natural selection lacks the creative power to generate the novel anatomical traits and forms of life that have arisen during the history of life. Yet, as Muller noted, neo-Darwinian theory continues to be presented to the public via textbooks as the canonical understanding of how new living forms arose reflecting precisely the tension between the perceived, and actual, status of the theory that Meyer described in Darwins Doubt. Yet, the most important lesson of the Royal Society conference lies not in its vindication of claims that our scientists have made, gratifying as that might be to us, but rather in defining the current problems and state of research in the field. The conference did an excellent job of defining the problems that evolutionary theory has failed to solve, but it offered little, if anything, by way of new solutions to those longstanding fundamental problems. Much of the conference subsequent to Mullers talk did discuss various other proposed evolutionary mechanisms. Indeed, the prime movers in the Royal Society event, Muller, along with James Shapiro, Denis Noble, and Eva Jablonka the Third Way of Evolution crowd have proposed repairing the explanatory deficits of the modern synthesis by highlighting evolutionary mechanisms other than random mutation and natural selection. Much debate at the conference centered around the question of whether these new mechanisms could be incorporated into the basic population genetics framework of neo-Darwinism, thus making possible a new extended evolutionary synthesis, or whether the emphasis on new mechanisms of evolutionary change represented a radical, and theoretically incommensurable, break with established theory. This largely semantic, or classificatory, issue obscured a deeper question that few, if any, of the presentations confronted head on: the issue of the origin of genuine phenotypic novelty the problem that Muller described in his opening talk. Indeed, by the end of Day 3 of the meeting, it seemed clear to many of our scientists, and others in attendance with whom they talked, that the puzzle of lifes novelties remained unsolved if, indeed, it had been addressed at all. As a prominent German paleontologist in the crowd concluded, All elements of the Extended Synthesis [as discussed at the conference] fail to offer adequate explanations for the crucial explanatory deficits of the Modern Synthesis (aka neo-Darwinism) that were explicitly highlighted in the first talk of the meeting by Gerd Muller. In Darwins Doubt, for example, Meyer emphasized the obvious importance of genetic and other (i.e., epigenetic) types of information to building novel phenotypic traits and forms life. The new mechanisms offered by the critics of neo-Darwinism at the conference whether treated as part of an extended neo-Darwinian synthesis or as the basis of a fundamentally new theory of evolution did not attempt to explain how the information necessary to generating genuine novelty might have arisen. Instead, the mechanisms that were discussed produce at best minor microevolutionary changes, such as changes in wing coloration of butterflies or the celebrated polymorphisms of stickleback fish. Moreover, the mechanisms that were discussed niche construction, phenotypic plasticity, natural genetic engineering, and so on either presupposed the prior existence of the biological information necessary to generate novelty, or they did not address the mystery of the origin of that information (and morphological novelty) at all. (Not all the mechanisms addressed were necessarily new, by the way. Niche construction and phenotypic plasticity have been around for a long time.) Complex behaviors such as nest-building by birds, or dam construction by beavers, represent examples of niche construction in which some organisms themselves demonstrate the capacity to alter their environment in ways that may affect the adaptation of subsequent generations to the environment. Yet no advocate of niche construction at the meeting explained how the capacity for such complex behaviors arose de novo in ancestral populations, as they must have done if the naturalistic evolutionary story is true. Rather, these complex behaviors were taken as givens, leaving the critical question of their origins more or less untouched. While there is abundant evidence that animals can learn and transmit new behaviors to their offspring crows in Japan, for instance, have learned how to use automobile traffic to crack open nuts all such evidence presupposes the prior existence of specific functional capacities enabling observation, learning, and the like. The evolutionary accounts of niche construction theory therefore collide repeatedly with a brick wall marked ORIGINAL COMPLEX FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY REQUIRED HERE without, or beyond which, there would simply be nothing interesting to observe. Jim Shapiros talk, clearly one of the most interesting of the conference, highlighted this difficulty in its most fundamental form. Shapiro presented fascinating evidence showing, contra neo-Darwinism, the non-random nature of many mutational processes processes that allow organisms to respond to various environmental challenges or stresses. The evidence he presented suggests that many organisms possess a kind of pre-programmed adaptive capacity a capacity that Shapiro has elsewhere described as operating under algorithmic control. Yet, neither Shapiro, nor anyone else at the conference, attempted to explain how the information inherent in such algorithmic control or pre-programmed capacity might have originated. This same explanatory deficiency was evident in the discussions of the other mechanisms, though we wont attempt to demonstrate that exhaustively here. We would direct readers, however, to Chapters 15 and 16 of Darwins Doubt, where Meyer highlighted the way in which, not just neo-Darwinism, but also newer evolutionary mechanisms, including many discussed at the conference, fail to solve the question of the origin of information necessary to generate novelty. In those chapters, he reviewed a range of proposed fixes to the Modern Synthesis. He acknowledged and described the various advantages that many of these proposals have over neo-Darwinism, but also carefully explained why each of these mechanisms falls short as an explanation for the origin of the biological information necessary to build novel structures and forms of animal life. He quoted paleontologist Graham Budd who has observed: When the public thinks about evolution, they think about [things like] the origin of wings.But these are things that evolutionary theory has told us little about. Many fascinating talks at the Royal Society conference described a number of evolutionary mechanisms that have been given short shrift by the neo-Darwinian establishment. Unfortunately, however, the conference will be remembered, as Suzan Mazur intimated in her coverage, for its failure to offer anything new. In particular, in our judgment, it failed to offer anything new that could help remedy the main explanatory deficit of the neo-Darwinian synthesis its inability to account for the origin of phenotypic novelty and especially, the genetic and epigenetic information necessary to produce it. These are still problems that evolutionary theory tells us little about. Notes: (1) Gerd Muller and Stuart Newman, On the Origin of Organismal Form (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003), p.7. Photo: Royal Society, entrance, Carlton House Terrace, London, by Tom Morris (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons. The last 5-6 years have seen Amul not invest more than 0.8% of the organisations turnover in marketing or advertising Speaking at Indian Marketing Awards 2016, RS Sodhi, Managing Director, Amul, revealed that his organisations budget for brand building and advertising has never been more than 1%. In the last five or six years, we have never spent more than 0.8% of our turnover on advertising or marketing, he stated while mentioning that their competitors incur greater expenditure on marketing. When Nawal Ahuja, Co-founder & Director at exchange4media, asked Sodhi whether Amul was planning to cut back on its ad spends post-demonetisation, Amuls MD joked that the time was opportune to increase ad spends by asking media companies for a discount of 20-30%. What will we cut from 0.8%? There is no need, he added. Mantra for marketing Referring to himself as a doodhwaala (milkman) in lighter vein, Sodhi said that Amul was an iconic and ageless brand that has tasted success over the last six decades. He told the gathering that Amuls brand has two faces. We are in the business of C2C i.e. cow to consumer, he said. Hailing 3.6 million farmers of Gujarat as the backbone of the business, Sodhi mentioned that their trust and faith in the brand means everything. He felt that Amul has succeeded not only in empowering villages by providing farmers with a source of livelihood, it has also given million of consumers quality and tasty food products. Elaborating on Amuls Founder Chairman Verghese Kuriens mantra for marketing, Sodhi said, Marketing is not for business but for development of the most under privileged society of India. According to Sodhi, Kurien felt that a brand should command a similar sense of belief in stakeholders that they have towards their religion. Faith and trust is not an overnight job. It cannot come by advertising. It cant come by doing some big display. It has to come from inside, he said. He advised companies against underestimating the intelligence of consumers. Amul ads over the years As per Sodhi, brand building involves concentrating on supply side of the business alongside marketing and advertising. Showing snapshots of print advertisements of Amul from the sixties and seventies, he said, The other important thing in brand building is consistency in communication over a long period of time. He explained that Amul took brand positioning quite seriously and wasnt in for changing it substantially when the same strategy has paid off during continuing decades. Any brand, whether it is butter or milk, if any positioning has been taken, we have never tried to change it, he asserted. However, with changing times, Amul has exhibited dynamism by experimenting with new forms and ways of storytelling. For instance, Amul dabbled with coloured print ads in the seventies and made a film titled Manthan to educate the people about its brand. One brand as opposed to many Sodhi was all praise for Amuls singular brand identity status. The strategy which has worked very well for Amul brand is umbrella branding strategy. All our products are under one single brand, he said. While Amuls advertising agencies advised them to bring in new and sub-brands, the organisation decided against it since it would require more investment. In the words of the Managing Director, the increase in investment would have come from the pockets of the consumers only. Stressing on reaching maximum consumers with a limited budget, he argued the need for advertising but only that much to inform the consumers. On the iconic imagery of Amuls butter girl, Sodhi recounted how the first ad featuring her came fifty years back in the form of an outdoor hoarding. With immense pride, he put on record that the butter girl praised and often criticised the whos who of Indian public life and nobody objected to it except for on one or two occasions. As he spoke about creative freedom and trust in employees, he said, Let me also tell you that this campaign (Amul butter girl) is created by our same advertising agency for the last fifty years and they do not show us the creative. We see the creative and you see it. Need for start-ups beyond computers Following his speech, Sodhi engaged in a question and answer session with the audience moderated by Pradeep Dwivedi, CEO of Sakal Media Group. When Dwivedi urged Sodhi to lend leadership lessons to youngsters on start-ups, he sought to challenge the whole notion of a start-up being some sort of an exercise emanating out of a room or computer. He encouraged youngsters to look at a field wherein they can interact with consumers and suppliers to establish an ageless product. He saw immense potential in the food business particularly. In the last 70 years, we have got only 5% of the market and only 20% is offline, Sodhi said. The statistics were an indication of the space that can be taken up by others in the times to come since 80% of the concerned sector is still unorganised. Delving into the memory lane, Sodhi mentioned that the scenario was much different six decades back when India witnessed milk shortage like its neighbours. He claimed that countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are still suffering from the same. India is the worlds largest producer of milk. Fortunately, we are also worlds largest consumer, Sodhi said. Labelling farmers as vulnerable sections of the society, he stated that they nevertheless receive 85% of the money that consumers pay in Indian cities. Comparing the numbers with the developed world, Sodhi stated farmers got 36-38% in countries like USA. Demonetisation has strengthened farmers In the first few days post-demonetisation, Sodhi felt that demonetisation would have an adverse impact on farmers. At Amul, demonetisation impacted both sides of our C2C business i.e. farmers and consumers, he said. Some were concerned as to how farmers will manage to get cash. At a board meeting last week, Sodhi was met with a pleasant surprise. The board comprises of 18 farmers who dont understand the intricacies of the business. The Managing Director is the only professional. Surprisingly, everyone said that what couldnt happen in 10 years, happened in one stroke, Sodhi claimed. He insisted that Amul has been trying to alter the manner in which they make payments to farmers. Instead of paying them in cash, the idea was to put the money into their bank accounts. However, the same was being resisted by some vested interests at the village level that lent money to farmers and would take their respective cuts when payments arrived. The cash scarcity left no option except for depositing money in bank accounts. Many of the farmers already had a bank account under Jan Dhan Yojana. Those who did not have one realised the absolute necessity of having it in the past three-four weeks. From November 8 onwards, we have opened more than 3.5 lakh accounts, Sodhi mentioned. Nevertheless, certain problems arose owing to cooperative banks not receiving enough cash. But the intervention of Amul led to RBI sanctioning special money to make farmers payments. Phased growth is critical for success On the question of keeping products fresh, Sodhi responded by saying that the task is both easy and difficult. He reasoned that some of the very good brands fail because overnight they want to go national. Being an industry veteran, he called food business a local thing. He urged brands to follow a phased process of growth. He emphasized the need for creating a good product by using the latest technology and high-quality packaging. Thereafter, the brand has to establish itself first in the city followed by expansion in adjoining districts and states. Once you have built your brand in the state then think about national, Sodhi said. He also opined that entry of new players in the sector will create transparency and competition besides ensuring better rates for farmers. Brands can be ageless if all the stakeholders, be it suppliers, distributors, employees or consumers, enjoy the fruits and not just the manufacturer or marketer, he proclaimed. The Indian Marketing Awards 2016 were presented by Sakal Media Group and powered by &TV. Read more news about (marketing news, latest marketing news,internet marketing, marketing India, digital marketing India, media marketing India, advertising news) The British Pound slipped slightly from its Tuesday highs against the NZ Dollar in the afternoon as Supreme Court jitters returned to GBP trade. GBP/NZD is seen moderately lower on Wednesday's trading session, around 0.53 percent down on the day at the 1.76957 level. GBP/NZDs movement had been a lot calmer on Tuesday compared to Mondays wide fluctuations, but as a result the pairs advances have taken them nowhere near Mondays highs of 1.7986. The New Zealand Dollar was also supported slightly by news that Global Dairy Trade (GDT) prices had once again improved in Decembers first auction. With speculation of a softer Brexit deal continuing to mount the GBP to NZD exchange rate has trended higher, particularly as political uncertainty clouds the NZD outlook in the wake of the New Zealand Prime Ministers resignation. Comments from Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond helped to boost the Pound, with investors encouraged by the repeated suggestion of the UK paying to maintain its privileged access to the single market. While psychological resistance seems likely to hold the GBP NZD exchange rate below 1.80 in the near future the appeal of the New Zealand Dollar is not expected to particularly recover in the absence of significant domestic data. The Pound to New Zealand Dollar exchange rates gains softened slightly on Monday afternoon as Sterlings bullishness fell back slightly. At the days best levels, GBP/NZD trended over a cent above the weeks opening levels but once again faced significant psychological resistance as it neared the key level of 1.80. As a result, GBP/NZD struggled to hold these highs. A combination of events sawGBP/NZD gain around a cent in value last week, with the Pound advancing from 1.7723 to 1.7822. While GBP NZD struggled to hold its high of 1.7924 it tested that key 1.80 resistance level again after NZ Prime Minister Keys resignation. Latest Pound / New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rates On Thursday the Pound to British Pound exchange rate (GBP/GBP) converts at 1 FX markets see the pound vs pound exchange rate converting at 1. The pound conversion rate (against euro) is quoted at 1.161 EUR/GBP. The live inter-bank GBP-USD spot rate is quoted as 1.141 today. Please note: the FX rates above, updated 3rd Nov 2022, will have a commission applied by your typical high street bank. Currency brokers specialise in these type of foreign currency transactions and can save you up to 5% on international payments compared to the banks. Pound (GBP) Bullishness Slows as Article 50 Supreme Court Appeal Begins Last week, a number of factors allowed Pound (GBP) exchange rates to advance despite the brief surges in demand for risky currencies throughout the week. Most of Sterlings strength last week came from ongoing Brexit talks, as officials in the European Union and the UK began to indicate that there may be some hope after all for those wishing to remain in the European Unions single market. Eurogroup President and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem stated that while the UK would not have special treatment comparable to that of member states, the EU would likely find a way for the UK to have access to the internal market. UK Brexit Secretary David Davis also indicated that the UK government may be willing to pay a fee for single market access, though this was played down by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson over the weekend. On Monday, Sterling was weakened slightly. Markets became jittery as the UK Supreme Court prepared to hear an appeal from the government about the legality of activating Article 50 without a Parliamentary procedure. New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Plunges on Instability as Prime Minister Key Suddenly Resigns Demand for risk-correlated currencies was bolstered last week as OPEC managed to set out a comprehensive oil output cut plan that generally impressed traders. This increased prices of oil which in turn improved demand for commodity-correlated risk currencies like the New Zealand Dollar. Demand was limited by strong US data and a sturdy US Dollar however. However, the Kiwi Dollar plunged on Monday following the shock resignation of New Zealands Prime Minister, John Key, after eight years in the role. Key felt the time was right to leave and focus on family and is likely to be succeeded by his deputy, Bill English. However, there will be high uncertainty in New Zealand markets until the premiership is discussed in a National Party meeting on the 12th of December. GBP/NZD Forecast: Can Key Resistance Levels be Broken? The Pound to New Zealand Dollar exchange rate continues to test that key 1.80 resistance level. It has yet to touch upon it let alone break it, but this NZD selloff may be just what the Pound needs to get the ball rolling this week. New Zealand Dollar jitters are likely to remain throughout the week as a new Prime Minister is unlikely to be known until the 12th of December. However, markets could cool in the coming days as they digest the resignation. Sterling, on the other hand, may struggle to hold its highs if this weeks Supreme Court appeal appears to be going in the UK governments favour. The decision wont be known until the new year, but the possibility of the UK government activating Article 50 without any kind of Parliament vote has left traders worried about the fight for single market access in recent months. The New Zealand Dollar may see slight support on Tuesday if the days Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction reveals another increase in price for New Zealands most lucrative commodity. However, PM uncertainty could weigh on any bullishness it would otherwise find here. Hi Folks, Sorry if i this question was answered earlier ...I just didn't find it ... One of my friend is in US on proper h1 b visa and his dependents do also posses h4 visa. The issue is that his mom has B2 visa multiple entry for 10 years and he being the only child needs his mom to be with him in US. As far as the law goes his mother cannot stay with him for more then a period of 6 months upon each entry and again that is not guaranteed that she may be granted a 6 months upon each arrival because if the frequency of travel to US increases on b2 visa the stay would be shortened upon each arrival. Now is the real question.. 1. Is there any possibility for him to bring his mom for longer period of stay ( till his H1b is valid or till he wishes to stay in US upon H1 extensions) legally without going back to india after every 6 months. 2. If he decides to bring his mom on B1 visa and then decides not to send her back and will only take her back upon his final return to his country and will never come back to US. Would this have any consequences on his mother apart from getting banned to enter US again. 3. what would be the consequence for the son as he was on legal grounds in US but might face issues for reentering US in future because his overstayed his mother ( is this assumption correct) . And would this also impact his visa approval for other countries apart from US or for US as well in future. Belgian Princess Astrid will lead a trade and investment delegation of about 100 companies and several senior Belgian government officials to San Antonio on Tuesday as part of a five-city North American mission. Four of the stops will be in Texas. The Belgian trade and investment group arrived in Austin on Saturday and visits San Antonio on Tuesday afternoon, departing Wednesday to College Station. The tour continues to Houston on Friday and Saturday before traveling to Toronto and then back to Belgium this weekend. Belgium has a long-lasting relationship with Texas, and Belgium is the gateway to Europe, as headquarters to the European Union, Pieter De Crem, Belgiums federal secretary of state for foreign trade, said in an interview. In the United States, we want our companies to visit where the hot spots are, De Crem said of Texas. The Belgium delegation of 240 people are most interested in pharmaceuticals, chemicals, petrochemicals, new technologies and incubators in Texas, said De Crem, whos helping to lead the mission. Belgium companies are looking to export their goods to Texas as well as to import Lone Star State goods and services there, De Crem said, adding that he hopes to return to Belgium with a suitcase full of proposals for company investments both ways. The 100 companies from Belgium are spread across a wide variety of sectors, including biotechnology, energy, financial services, telecommunications, chemicals, construction, education, tourism, logistics, food and beverage, legal services, industrial equipment, engineering, aerospace, jewelry, high technology and packaging. The trade and investment mission has been planned for two years, said San Antonio lawyer Bob Braubach, honorary consul of Belgium for South Texas. Texas is an important relationship for Belgium, Braubach said. This group is looking at business opportunities in Texas. We hope there will be a follow-up trade mission in 2017 to Brussels, the capital of Belgium. The princess adds credibility to the trade mission. This is her first official visit to San Antonio, Braubach said. She reports to her brother Belgian monarch King Philippe. 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. Belgiums secretary of state for foreign trade and investment for the Brussels-capital region, Cecile Jodogne, and Belgiums ambassador to the U.S., Dirk Wouters, will also be part of the delegation. Princess Astrid will be greeted by San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday at the citys International Center, 203 S. St. Marys St. downtown before the delegation enters the building for an information session focusing on San Antonios health care, cybersecurity and advance research sectors. After a late afternoon visit to the Alamo with Taylor, the delegation then will board river barges for a trip up the San Antonio River to the Hotel Emma at The Pearl. A reception will follow at the hotel. dhendricks@express-news.net For decades, the nation revolved around baby boomers, the generation, more than 75 million people strong, born between the end of World War II and 1964. Now, its the turn of the millennials, who came of age around the start of the new millennium in 2000 and have surpassed the baby boomers as the biggest generation. Millennials, roughly age 19 to 35, have become the dominant group in the workplace, making up 34 percent of the labor force, according to the Pew Research Center, a public policy research unit of the Pew Charitable Trusts, a foundation based in Philadelphia. Within five years, millennials are expected to account for half of the U.S. workforce as more boomers retire. Some of the influence of millennials is already easy to spot, as more workplaces include amenities such as coffee bars and replace cubicles with sofas. Tweaks to the office decor is just one of the ways companies are trying to get the most out of the innovative, 24/7 pace of a generation that grew up with the internet, hovering helicopter parents and tightly orchestrated lives. Millennials arent hanging around for their gold watch, workplace specialists say. Instead, theyre entrepreneurial, expecting to change jobs frequently as they search for opportunities, build on their skills and advance their careers, rather than follow a predictable corporate path. More Information What millennials want Millennials are now the biggest generation in the workplace, and their size and influence will only grow as baby boomers retire. But many are unhappy, according to the consulting firm Deloitte, which surveyed 7,700 millennials and found that nearly half are looking to leave their jobs. Here are some insights into ways companies can attract and retain millennials, according to Deloitte's research. Work/life balance: Millennials want fulfilling professional and personal lives. Companies that help them move into leadership roles while allowing them to pursue their passions will have a leg up. Values: Millennials want to work for organizations that have a purpose beyond profit. More than half have ruled out working for a specific organization because of its values. Mentors: Millennials appreciate the advice and attention to their professional development. New challenges: Millennials are likely to leave if they feel their skills are not being developed or they're being overlooked for leadership positions. What have you done lately?: Millennials are unimpressed by how long a business has been around. What matters is the quality of a company's products and services today. See More Collapse Many already have one foot out the door, according to the consulting firm Deloitte, which surveyed 7,700 millennials last year. Nearly half said theyd like to leave their jobs, citing a lack of leadership development and a belief that theyre being overlooked for promotions. Deloitte called the remarkable absence of allegiance a serious challenge to companies. As millennials began moving into the workforce, human resource experts grew concerned about a generation that grew up in an atmosphere in which everyone got a trophy for every effort. They worried that they would expect constant praise and constant promotions. Human resource associations regularly hosted seminars on how to handle the unrealistic expectations of an entitled generation of workers. But corporate America seems to wring its hands every time a new generation comes of age, and such fears about millennials have largely dissipated. Instead, clever companies have taken advantage of the entrepreneurial desires of the generation that grew up watching technical wizards become wildly successful and wealthy inventing Facebook and other social media sites. Theyre ready to leap from opportunity to opportunity, rather than climbing a corporate ladder like their parents. And in these cases, it doesnt hurt that they have higher-than-usual levels of self-esteem and confidence. Millennials want to make meaningful contributions quickly, such as launching new products into the marketplace without kowtowing to corporate bureaucracies, said Scott Steinberg, author of the book Millennial Marketing: Bridging the Generation Gap. Once thats done, many are off to their next adventure. Sometimes that means millennials might go from leading organizations to joining startups. That may seem risky to older co-workers but logical to millennials focused on building skills rather than measuring success based on the number of subordinates they manage. They want to hop their way up the ladder, Steinberg said. Millennials, who grew up with the constant connection and instant response of social media, prefer direct contact with their managers and regular feedback, said Caitlin Porter, assistant professor of industrial organizational psychology at the University of Houston. They want to know how theyre doing and how they can progress. Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot. The desire for frequent chats is an adjustment for older managers, whose own experience taught them that if the boss wanted to talk, something was wrong, said Jason Dorsey, co-founder of the marketing and employment consulting firm Center for Generational Kinetics in Austin. Millennials want expectations laid out in advance, on matters both small and large, Dorsey said. If a companys dress code is business casual, explain what business casual means, he said. Even better, show photos or videos. A lot has been made that millennials dont care about money as they pursue excitement and opportunity. But thats not true for the generation that has racked up more college debt than any other. Like everyone else, millennials want to be well compensated for a job well done, Steinberg said. And they want money to pursue their passions. Instead of the hunker-down, live-to-work mentality pervasive among both pre-World War II and postwar generations, many millennials have embraced a work-to-live ethic. Money is good, but so is enough time and flexibility to enjoy their lives outside of their careers. lm.sixel@chron.com twitter.com/lmsixel This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate After losing over $50 billion in the decade following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, U.S. airlines have been enjoying some financially robust times of late. On the front lines, airline employees are reaping billions of dollars in wage and benefit increases, plus profit-sharing plans that spell record payouts amid record income. At almost $81,000, average airline worker salaries last year were 38 percent above other U.S. private sector jobs, according to the airlines trade group, Airlines for America. Carriers wages rose 29 percent between 2010 and 2015, more than double the national average. Yet this largesse hasnt been spread equally. If your job is to push a wheelchair through a United terminal or to check boarding passes for travelers headed to a Delta flight, your pay has been generally unaffected by the industrys cash boom. If we really want to make America great again, our airports are a good place to start, Oliwia Pac, a wheelchair attendant at Chicagos OHare airport, said in an allusion to President-elect Donald Trumps campaign slogan. These jobs used to be good ones that supported a family, but now theyre closer to what youd find at McDonalds. Pac and thousands of others protested at several large U.S. airports last week in a national Fight for $15 campaign to boost service workers hourly wages and to advance unionization efforts for a variety of fields where low pay is common. Beyond airports, the demonstrations included fast-food restaurant employees, Uber drivers, home health care workers and college teaching assistants. At airports, these low-paid positions include baggage handlers, wheelchair attendants, skycaps and aircraft cabin cleaners. Such contract laborers perform work that ostensibly serves the airlines, but theyre employed by companies the carriers hire amid bidding contests that typically hinge on which vendor offers the lowest price. Airlines hire outside contractors because the arrangement is more efficient for addressing each airports work load, explained Vaughn Jennings, a spokesman for Airlines for America. For example, a contract firm can hire 100 employees to handle baggage for five airlines instead of each carrier hiring 25 of its own staff for the task, he said. The pay disparity is likely to widen. On Thursday, Deltas 13,000 pilots ratified a new contract offering 30 percent raises over four years. That deal will also raise pay for pilots at United Continental Holdings because they negotiated a clause in their own contract to align with Deltas pay rates. The appropriate way to address wages is at the statewide or national level, so that wage scales apply to all workers equally, regardless of industry sector or geographic location, Jennings wrote in an email. Elizabeth Wolf, a spokeswoman for Delta Air Lines, which isnt part of the trade group, said only that the carrier supports the rights of individuals to respectfully make their voices heard. 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. Outsourced airport jobs represent the failures of a political and economic system geared towards the wealthy few and corporate profits at any cost, say organizers of the wage fight led by the Service Employees International Union. The union says 64 million Americans earn below $15 an hour, or less than $2,400 per month for full-time employment. Like too many other contracted airport workers, I often have to choose between paying the rent or putting food on the table, said Nancy Vazquez, 43, a wheelchair attendant at Newark Liberty International Airport. Vazquez said she lives with her sisters family because she cant afford her own apartment. Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said airlines are trying to stay at arms length to this (issue) because they dont want to take responsibility for it. Nelson, a flight attendant at United, said carriers arent interested in having such duties on their payrolls and that higher wages are likely to come from city and state laws. They treat those jobs as expendable, she said. In the race to attract the best workers this holiday season, retailers Kay Jewelers Inc., TJX Cos. and Dress Barn Inc. may have a secret weapon: gender-neutral job postings. Companies that use such language in employment listings can fill those positions two weeks faster than the industry average of 60 days, said Kieran Snyder, chief executive officer of Textio Inc., which advises companies on how to increase the diversity of applicants. In a Textio ranking released Wednesday measuring the neutrality of the wording in job ads, retail companies took six of the top 10 spots. Retail is a tough gig, so much of the hiring is seasonal or for high-turnover positions, said Snyder, a veteran of Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. Competition to fill roles quickly is really tough. The National Retail Federation predicts that U.S. merchants will need to hire between 640,000 and 690,000 holiday seasonal workers this year. Companies in all industries are jostling to appeal to more workers, particularly millennials, as lower unemployment increases competition for talent. Diversity has emerged as a key point as studies by McKinsey & Co. and others suggest that a diverse workforce leads to higher returns. Women continue to lag behind men in pay and power across the U.S. workforce. Textio has gathered 50 million job postings from clients such as CVS Health Corp., Capital One Financial Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. To develop an artificial-intelligence model to predict future success in hiring, the company analyzed factors such as the diversity of applicants and the time required to fill a job based on the words used, Snyder said. Textio examined companies with more than 500 job postings online in a year and ranked the top 50 based on outcomes predicted by that algorithm. Bloomberg Beta, an investment firm run by Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, is an investor in Textio. 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. Phrases such as ninja or rock star tend to turn off women, for example, and even the amount of bullet points can skew applicants: Too many discourage women, and too few mean men may look elsewhere, Snyder said. The goal is to balance the solicitations so that they attract the widest pool of applicants, she said. Considering that Textios roots are in the technology industry, the poor performance of Silicon Valley comes as a surprise, Snyder said. Five industrial companies, including 3M Co., made the top 50. Google is among four software and services companies on the list, while Kellogg Co. and Coca-Cola Co. are two of the four consumer-products companies listed. The companies that do this right are the ones we predict will be winning the talent wars in 2017, Snyder said. Veterans with epilepsy were 2.6 times more likely to die during a five-year span than their peers, according to a study presented at an American Epilepsy Society meeting Sunday in Houston. The study examined the records of 2,187 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with epilepsy receiving VA care in 2010 and 2011. Over the next five years, these veterans with epilepsy were much more likely to have died than similar veterans without epilepsy. This is true even when researchers took into account other issues veterans had such as cardiac disease and cancer. If you had two people with the same conditions, one who had epilepsy and one that didnt, the person with epilepsy is more likely to die than the other, said lead author Mary Jo Pugh, professor of epidemiology, biostatistics and medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center. Epilepsy affects around 5.1 million Americans, according to numbers from the Center for Disease Control. In epilepsy, the normal pattern of brain activity is disturbed, causing strange sensations and sometimes convulsions, muscle spasms, and loss of consciousness. Head trauma, stroke, brain tumor, and brain infection are the most common causes for epilepsy, but in 60 to 70 percent of cases the cause cannot be determined, according to the American Epilepsy Society. A recent investigation by the Department of Defense indicated that epilepsy incidence increased by 52 percent from 2006 to 2010, with approximately 8 percent of those with epilepsy having a previous diagnosis of TBI. Pugh began researching at epilepsy issues in veterans in 2000. Studies of Veterans from World War II and the Korean War identified linked epilepsy to traumatic brain injuries. One study done by Pugh showing 30 percent of those with a penetrating TBI developed epilepsy at some point. If you have a penetrating TBI, you are 20 times more likely to have epilepsy, Pugh said. A longer-term study on Vietnam veterans found 50 to 55 percent of those with penetrating TBI developed epilepsy over time. Symptoms of epilepsy often manifest as people age, Pugh said. An estimated 15 percent to 19 percent of troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan reported TBI with either loss of consciousness or altered mental status. Anyone with epilepsy is a relatively vulnerable population, Push said. People who have seizures cant drive, Pugh said, which makes it difficult to stay employed. Veterans with epilepsy may be medically discharged and separated from the military, which can lead to a difficult integration. People with epilepsy are more likely to have depression, PTSD, bipolar, suicidality. Pugh said the link goes in both directions: people with mental health disorders are more likely to develop epilepsy. Doctors may also prioritize treating a patients epilepsy symptoms and then neglect more subtle issues such as high blood pressure, Pugh said. We need to take a holistic approach in epilepsy care, Pugh said. We need to take care of epilepsy and other conditions that affect patients health, quality of life and, ultimately, mortality. For 70 percent of those with epilepsy, medication can control the seizures, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The study included investigators from the The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the South Texas Veterans Health Care System and the CDC. This is the first published study to examine mortality in veterans with epilepsy, according to the UT Health Science Center. Pugh and her team examined records of more than 320,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans receiving VA care. These records did not list causes of death. About 7,500 of the worlds leading breast cancer experts have made their way to San Antonio this week to unveil their latest diagnostic and treatment discoveries. The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium is a one-of-a-kind conference that brings scientists and physicians from more than 90 countries together, a collaborative effort that allows innovative treatments to progress beyond the lab setting and turns clinical observations into new medications. Symposium co-director Dr. Virginia Kaklamani, professor of hematology and oncology at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and co-leader of the symposium, described the San Antonio conference as the Mecca of the breast cancer world. This is where the basic scientists, who are used to looking at cells and fruit flies and mice, end up starting to think about people instead of fruit flies, Kaklamani said. And then theres the clinicians, who think about people for a living, that help them get those ideas into clinical trials so that we can evolve all of our research and make it patient-related. The first symposium was held in San Antonio in 1978, and is now an annual event. Kaklamani said the symposium has brought research funding and talent to the city, making the breast cancer program at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center at UT Health Science Center San Antonio one of the most productive programs in the country. More Information For more information about the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, visit sabcs.org. See More Collapse The Cancer Therapy and Research Center announced a new partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston on Nov. 1. The San Antonio instutition will be renamed the UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center. The symposium runs from Tuesday through Saturday at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. It is presented by the UT center, the American Association for Cancer Research and Baylor College of Medicine. Here are four of the major research trends to watch for at the symposium: Targeted therapy Instead of attacking tumor cells with chemotherapy, which can wipe out healthy cells as well, researchers are developing therapies to target the specific molecule or pathway the tumor is dependent on, and kill it that way. Dr. Rong Li, a professor of molecular medicine and co-leader of the Cancer Development & Progression Program at the San Antonio center , described it as trying to identify what I call the achilles heel for tumor cells. Manipulating the immune system The bodys immune system is designed to attack anything foreign, but some cancer cells have found ways to trick the immune system into thinking theyre supposed to be there. Doctors are now developing medications that can manipulate the immune system into seeing cancer cells for the enemies that they are. If we can do that, then we have this continued surveillance in the body that can remove cancer cells that are left behind, said Dr. Kate Lathrop, a hematologist and oncologist at UT Health Science Center San Antonio, and coordinator of education for the symposium. Liquid biopsies Traditionally, doctors perform a biopsy by removing a small part of a tumor and running diagnostic tests on the sample. But Li said that process is flawed because one part of the tumor may not reflect the whole thing, and doctors cant perform biopsies as frequently as they would like. Doctors can now perform liquid biopsies, or biopsies through blood samples, in addition to the traditional tumor sampling. Liquid biopsies are used to identify genetic mutations in the DNA or RNA in the blood around the tumor. That tumor mass constantly secretes materials into the blood, Li said. If you are able to get a liquid biopsy on a regular basis, you can basically monitor the responsiveness to (treatments). If a woman has a type of breast cancer that feeds off of estrogen, then doctors will reduce the amount of estrogen in her body. Over time, a smart tumor can adapt and stimulate tumor growth even without estrogen, Li said. The moment that you detect the mutated sequence in the blood you can say, Hey, wait a minute, there are some tumor cells that already changed their estrogen receptor sequence, so perhaps we should anticipate some drug resistance down the road, and perhaps we should combine with something else to overcome that resistance. Duration of therapy Some of the clinical trials presented at the symposium are a decade in the making. They studied how women react to medications that block estrogen or limit estrogen receptors to determine how long women should take them. Every medicine we give has side effects, and we want to make sure that the balance of side effects and benefits is always within the ratio of benefits, Lathrop said. Otherwise, we shouldnt be doing it. The goal is to figure out when and how cells become resistant to these medications. Then doctors can develop a drug that targets the resistance mechanism. Its a cat-and-mouse game, Lathrop said. Were trying to figure out smarter, more targeted ways to prevent cancer from becoming resistant to our therapies. She gave an example of a dog thats being kept in a kitchen. There are two entrances, one blocked with a swinging door and another with a baby gate. The dog gets out, so it is assumed it jumped over the baby gate. In response, a taller gate is put up. The taller gate keeps the dog in the kitchen for awhile, but then it learns to open the swinging door. So, maybe you put a latch on the swinging door so it cant get out that way, Lathrop said. Its this constant process. The tumor cells are adapting so we have to adapt our therapies. bmartin@express-news.net Twitter: @beedotmartin This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Otis Tyrone McKane, the man accused of killing a San Antonio police detective last month, said during a jailhouse interview Monday that his life has been demonized and that hes had numerous bad interactions with police. McKane refused to speak in detail about the slaying of Detective Benjamin Marconi, saying he didnt want to incriminate himself. Instead, he wanted to talk about his life, his recent marriage and his previous encounters with police, which he says has established a bias against him. My whole life has been demonized and criminalized because of my profile and the way I was born, McKane said through a glass window in a visitation room at the Bexar County Jail. Even when I was a little kid the police would take us from wherever we were and put us in the projects to put us in shame, or to put us down as a person. McKane, who also spoke to several television stations Monday morning, appeared frustrated and defensive during the interview with reporters from the San Antonio Express-News. At one point, he placed his cuffed hands on the table and laid his head in his hands. A couple times, he contradicted himself when talking about his work history and criminal record. However, his descriptions of an four-year custody issue with an ex-girlfriend match court records. Police say McKane, 31, entered police headquarters on the morning of Nov. 20 to speak to a clerk about a child custody dispute. Four hours later, McKane allegedly shot Marconi two times as the detective conducted a traffic stop outside police headquarters. Marconi, 50, was a 20-year veteran of the force who received dozens of commendations. He leaves behind a son, stepdaughter and many family members. The crime launched a 28-hour manhunt, during which McKane entered a Bexar County courthouse and married Christian Chanel Fields, a 27-year-old neighbor whom hed been dating since Summer. I already had it on my mind to marry her, McKane said during the interview. Then this all happened that situation with the police happened the day before. In my eyes, I didnt feel like I was a threat to the police department or the city cause I got married downtown in the middle of all the chaos, he added. McKane said he was trying to move on, and that police had an opportunity to arrest him at the courthouse that day but they didnt. At the time, McKane was pictured as a suspect in surveillance video released to the public, but his name had not yet been released. On Nov. 21, McKane was arrested on Interstate 10 East near Ackerman Road. McKane said that police fired a warning shot at his feet after he was pulled over with a woman and a 2-year-old, an allegation that Sgt. Jesse Salame, a police spokesman, denied Monday. As he was being escorted from police headquarters to jail, McKane told reporters he was upset about a child custody case and he lashed out at someone who didnt deserve it. But Monday, when asked how he could move on after he allegedly killed a police detective, McKane reiterated that he didnt want to talk about Marconi or the murder charge. I just hope my lawyer, the Lord, and the courthouse see and this situation works out the best for me, he said. At this point. I give up. Im going with the flow. McKane said that, if given the chance, he would tell the Marconi family he is sorry for their loss. I apologize for their loss and I hope they can stay strong through this situation and heal from it, he said. I know I'm gonna heal, I know that. People dont seem to realize that. The only thing I can do is understand everyone elses situation and pray for them. I was just a kid McKane said his mother raised him, his two sisters and a younger brother on Burnet Street, near East Houston Street, on the East Side. When he was 4, McKane said his family moved to a public housing project, where he said he witnessed violence regularly. Thats when the murder rate and the violence was the top five in America, he said. I was just trying to find ways to survive. I was just a kid. I just knew I didnt want to get hurt. When McKane was 11, his mother filed a court case against McKanes father, requesting regular child support, according to court records. Two years later, McKanes father still hadnt paid and the court ordered him to pay roughly $13,000 in back child support. On Monday, McKane said he communicates with his father off and on. In 2004, McKane graduated from Fox Tech High School, where he was a receiver on the varsity football team. An article in the Express-News at the time said McKane and his cousin were popular within the Fox Tech program for their upbeat and outgoing personalities. After he graduated, McKane said he attended Paul Quinn College, a private, historically black college in Dallas. McKane said he majored in kinesiology in hopes of becoming a coach. I could affect lives and make them better knowing that I was the stepping stone that put them in the right position, McKane said about his plans then. Three months later, McKane said he dropped out of school and returned to San Antonio to take a break. In 2007, McKane said, he enrolled at San Antonio College and majored in business management. He again dropped out and began working at various jobs, including a security guard, before he enrolled at Career Point College, a for-profit school that recently closed. McKane said he enrolled because he wanted to make more than $10 an hour. Between 2009 and 2011, McKane said he worked at the San Antonio Express-News. The newspaper did hire McKane several years ago as a contractor in the mailroom, a separate portion of the media company where the newspaper is packaged. It is unclear how long he worked at the paper. In 2009, McKane said he met his ex-girlfriend, whom the Express-News is not identifying because she is the victim of domestic abuse. According to court documents, McKane repeatedly threatened the woman and at one point, late in their relationship, punched her in the face. At that time, the ex-girlfriend filed for a protective order against McKane. In 2010, the couple had a child together. McKane said he tried to become a productive member of society at the time because he wanted to support his son. This woman tried to put me in the worst case scenario in order to make me look like a bad person so my son would not have the luxury of being tutored by his father, or a person who knows right from wrong, McKane said. Im not going to demonize her character, because thats not the type of person I am, McKane added. Im not going to put a person down. Thats not how I was taught to be. The woman has previously told the Express-News she does not wish to comment on the case or her interactions with McKane. McKane also said he was falsely accused of several crimes during that time, including a robbery at an H-E-B, which resulted in a prejudice that continues to affect him. He also said he was held in jail for no reason at all for one week in 2007. The bias against me has already been set, in the civilian world and the police station, he said. There are no records in Bexar County of McKane being arrested or charged with robbery. McKane was sentenced to 60 days in jail in 2012, but that was for pleading no contest to assault for hitting his ex-girlfriend. For four years, McKane said he tried to gain custody of his son, but he said he was unsuccessful because his ex-girlfriends mother worked as a police dispatcher. When asked if he had anything else hed like to say, McKane, who seemed nonsensical at times, said there should be an internal police investigation into why law enforcement officers falsely accuse him of crimes. Police are making me work for this city for nothing, taking all my money and putting me in a demonized situation so I cant function as a normal human being, McKane said. Ill be treated like a dog for the rest of my life. eeaton@express-news.net Twitter: @emilieeaton An aircraft reporting an in-flight emergency landed at San Antonio International Airport about 3 p.m. Sunday, and all 55 passengers were safely evacuated, officials said. The airport issued an alert to first responders about 2:40 p.m. after learning that United flight 5588, operated by SkyWest, was experiencing landing gear issues, airport spokesman Evelynn Bailey said in a news release. Compare and contrast. Native Americans protesting and trying to block the Dakota Access oil pipeline have been arrested by the scores and been bombarded with water cannons in freezing weather rubber bullets, pepper spray, tear gas and, according to the protesters, concussion grenades. An explosion damaged a womans arm and there were initial fears that amputation would be necessary. The pipeline, which will convey oil from North Dakota to Illinois, crosses ancestral lands and, the activists say, threatens their reservation water supply. They are trying to stop the pipeline from crossing the Missouri River and going under a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. A large tribal coalition and others have joined them, occupying federal land in an encampment. Theyve been ordered off. So far they are refusing. Stay tuned for how much authorities escalate. Flash back to Oregon earlier this year. Following a 41-day armed standoff at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon, a jury recently acquitted seven gunmen of the milquetoast charge of conspiracy to prevent federal employees at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge from doing their jobs jobs hard to do with armed folks in their midst. During their 41 days of occupation there were no water cannons, rubber bullets, pepper spray, grenades or tear gas. There were arrests on a roadway after the gunmen gave up the occupation. Yes, one was killed, after he tried to escape and reached for a gun. This is on the gunman and the occupiers, not the authorities. The lesson: Protesting while Native American carries more risk than protesting while white even if the whites are armed. Authorities say theyve been attacked with rocks and burning logs and law enforcement has alleged some shots from the Native Americans? Bottom line the same, however: Native Americans get attacked, armed white insurrectionists, er, protesters not. Im not advocating that federal authorities should have dislodged the, um, protesters at the refuge by force. And Im not advocating that tribal protesters arm themselves. Threatening violence only seems to work if you are a white occupier. Done by Native Americans in large scale, this could be a bloodbath. I am, however, noting the disparate reactions to armed occupation of public land as in belonging to you and me with the reaction when private property rights, as in corporate rights, are intruded upon. Yes, public roads are blocked in North Dakota. But, again, force is used to dislodge them. Not so in Oregon. There is a Texas connection here. The majority pipeline owner is Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners. It is set to be acquired by Sunoco Logistics, which, along with Phillips 66, is a partner in the $3.8 billion pipeline project. Sunoco Logistics website lists one of its two regional headquarters in Sugar Land and three of its eight regional field offices in Texas in Snyder, Sour Lake and White Oak. Phillips 66 headquarters are in Houston. Texas, of course, is thought to be a property rights state. You know, a state whose policy makers and courts hold private property as paramount in terms of protecting individual rights. Unless, of course, a pipeline wants to get across your property and then eminent domain and condemnation proceedings can make it clear that these rights are not so paramount when big companies are involved. The Dakota Access pipeline is running almost entirely across private property. But, yes, eminent domain is possible here as well. So, what leverage does a balking property owner have? Not much, as some Texas property owners have learned. More compare and contrast. Armed white protesters seize federal lands for 41 days. Theyre acquitted and uninjured, except for that guy who reached for a gun (after the protest was concluded). Road-blocking, largely unarmed Native Americans whose lands have been effectively taken not just in North Dakota but everywhere in the U.S., claim damage to stolen ancestral lands and a threat to their actual drinking water. Among other repressive tactics, theyre arrested and pummeled with water cannon in freezing weather. Yup, weve got those property rights and other rights down pat, dont we? o.ricardo.pimentel@express-news.net Twitter: @oricardopimente The Prairie Doc: Men, you can thank women for your good health columnists Feature Your Listing! Get better results! Make your listing stand out from the crowd! Improve your position and response with our premium listing. Place Your Advert Register or sign in to advertise your job In the run up to one of the busiest times of the year for food producers and retailers, ReFood, one of the UKs leading food waste recycler, has launched a campaign to reduce food waste through anaerobic digestion (AD). The business, which has a number of anaerobic digestion plants throughout the UK, are usually found on farms and turn food waste into renewable energy and bio-fertiliser. AD is the simple, natural breakdown of organic matter into biogas (carbon dioxide and methane) and organic fertiliser called digestate. It is a similar process to that which takes place in the stomach of a cow. AD provides farmers with reliable energy to meet on-site demand, and gives farms a diversified source of revenue from selling energy and digestate. The process contributed 4,000 to charities, and diverted an additional 192 tonnes of waste food away from landfill during a similar campaign last year. This years project will see donations made to homeless charities for every new bin collection signed up during November, December and January. The charities involved in the initiative all work with homeless, vulnerable people, an issue that comes into particular focus around Christmas. Leeds-based St Georges Crypt; Manchester charity Barnabus; independent, Liverpool-based charity The Whitechapel Centre; SHP in Dagenham; and Sheffields Sunday Centre, will all receive financial support from the campaign. Philip Simpson, Commercial Director at ReFood, said: Wed encourage all businesses involved in the food supply chain to think about their waste strategy, and recycle any waste food, and this campaign serves to highlight that. Over last years busy winter months, ReFood provided waste collection services to a total of 2,566 new businesses, meaning that significant amounts were raised for the chosen causes. The campaign also prevented an additional 192 tonnes of food waste from going to landfill, reducing carbon emissions equivalent to the average produced by a household over a 40-year period. CropTec 2016 proved particularly timely this year, living up to its reputation as the knowledge exchange event for progressive arable farmers and their advisers. Following the UKs decision to leave the EU, the event provided the ideal opportunity for visitors and their suppliers to discuss and explore ways to reduce unit production costs through the adoption of new technology, up-to-date agronomy and best business practice. Visitors to the event, which took place on Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 November, at East of England Showground, Peterborough, were increasingly constrained by many factors outside their control, he said. These included global supply and demand, currency fluctuations, regulation, climate and especially now, politics. More than 36 speakers took part in this years event and together with over 140 exhibitors and organisations like AHDB, NFU, Defra and the VI helped clarify some of the uncertainty and demonstrated how technical excellence could help improve growers competitive edge and profitability. Most of the seminars were standing room only. The programme focused on four key technical areas affecting profitability crop establishment, crop nutrition, crop protection and crop breeding, featuring some of the industrys most acknowledged experts. Beyond the seminars, exhibitor stands offered visitors the chance to explore a wide range of novel science and innovative technology in an informal atmosphere, creating the ideal forum for visitors, exhibitors and researchers to exchange ideas and experiences. The knowledge hubs short, sharp presentations delivering key take-away messages proved popular draws, none more so than the new blackgrass hub that offered the latest advice on aerial scanning, cultivations, cover cropping and chemistry to tackle the weed. CropTec returns to the East of England Showground, Peterborough on Wednesday 29 and Thursday 30 November 2017. First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has encouraged people to support Scotlands rural economy by buying home grown Christmas trees this year. Two Norway spruce trees, grown by Highfield Forestry in Beauly, were delivered to the First Ministers official residence, Bute House. The First Minister said the forestry industry is 'vital' to Scotlands rural economy contributing 1 billion and supporting 25,000 jobs. "The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the continued growth of the sector so Im delighted to have home grown trees in Bute House again this Christmas. It would be fantastic if as many people as possible bought a Scottish grown tree this Christmas. Stuart Goodall, Chief Executive of Confor, a forestry trade body representing 800 businesses in Scotland, said: "We want to see the forestry and wood processing sector grow to become a 2 billion industry in the 2020s and employ many thousands more people. To achieve that, it is important that the sector continues to work positively with the Scottish Government and publicises how important forests are to Scotland." Supporting fresh local produce Farming union NFU Scotland will be talking to shoppers in the coming weeks to encourage them to make their festivities Scottish and help support the nations farmers and crofters. John Armour, NFU Scotlands Supply Chain Policy commented: At a time of year when farmers and crofters are working hard to ensure you have food on your plate on Christmas Day, what better way to support them than to buy fresh, Scottish produce. Many continue to feed the beasts, milk the cows, and work on the farm during Christmas Day, and wed ask consumers to show appreciation by making sure their festivities are as Scottish and local as possible. The up and coming promotional days are just two of many weve held this year to speak to shoppers directly. Many dont realise the abundance of high-quality, local produce available right on their doorsteps, at affordable prices. Farmers are being urged to sign a government petition that is aiming to impose tougher penalties on rural fly-tippers. New fixed penalty fines of up to 400 for fly-tipping came into force in May as an alternative to prosecution but the petition says the penalty does not go far enough. According to Defra, 900,000 fly-tipping incidents were dealt with by local authorities in England during 2014/15. The petition says: "Incidents of large scale illegal fly tipping are occurring far to frequently and the fly tips are almost on an industrial scale, especially in rural areas. It is obvious to all that organised criminals have become involved and are profiting from fly tipping." CLA Midlands rural surveyor Mark Riches said that with fewer than 2,000 prosecutions for fly-tipping in 2014/15, more effective action is urgently needed. He said: "We receive regular reports from our members of fly tipping, particularly when their land is located on the fringes of urban areas. The waste involved is not just the occasional bin bag, but large household items, from unwanted sofas to broken washing machines and building materials. The CLA has been calling for offenders to be dealt with more robustly and we welcome this latest tightening in the regulations. "Fixed penalty notices will not solve the problem, but they are a positive step in tackling an issue which is estimated to cost rural businesses an average of 800 per incident and is a continuing and damaging blight on our countryside." 'Mindless individuals' Nature charity the Woodland Trust said its costs to clear up fly-tipping had risen again this year, to an estimated 27,982 in 2015, compared to 22,850 in 2013 and 24,427 in 2014. The charity, which owns and manages more than 1,000 woods across the UK, said it had recorded 112 fly-tipping incidents on its land so far this year. Some of the waste they have found has been out of the ordinary, at Scroggs wood in Cumbria, slurry and milk waste have polluted a stream, while at Nidd Gorge in North Yorkshire, a dead deer was left in a car park. In total the Woodland Trust said the cost of clearing up litter and fly-tipping had cost it 767,707 since 2010. Norman Starks, Woodland Trust UK operations director, said: "Fly-tipping is an illegal activity that currently costs us tens of thousands of pounds each year to clear up. "This means that a collection of mindless individuals are preventing us from caring for and improving our native woods for the benefit of local communities and wildlife." A Scottish council has banned sky lanterns on its property and its events after the NFU Scotland wrote a letter about their impact on livestock farmers. The union said it would welcome both personal and public use of the lanterns being banned as they are a 'fire risk' and could be dangerous to livestock. Stephen McCabe, leader for Inverclyde Council said the lanterns can cause huge damage both to the environment and to animals. He said: "They can also put an unnecessary strain on the emergency services with people confusing them as distress flares or even UFOs and calling 999. There is no doubt these lanterns can look spectacular and beautiful but that is easily outweighed by the potential damage they can cause." Eight Scottish local authorities - Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Falkirk, Highland, Perth and Kinross and Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands have already banned the release of sky lanterns and/or helium balloons. NFU Scotlands Animal Health and Welfare Policy Manager, Penny Johnston said: "Sky lanterns are seemingly innocent devices, and are beautiful to look at, but they can cause untold damage as there is no control over where these burning structures of paper, metal and wood decide to land." What are the risks? There is a risk to animals and livestock - frames can contaminate forage crops which are later fed to the animals. The frames of sky lanterns can harm or even kill farm animals if they are eaten. Animals can get tangled or injured from the sharp wire frames, and bamboo framed lanterns can splinter causing serious injuries if ingested. They often cause a false alarm - the Coastguard has reported incidents of sky lanterns being mistaken for distress signals and the Civil Aviation Authority are concerned with airborne lanterns being drawn into aircraft engines. They can also delay take-off and landing. Sky lanterns can be a major fire risk once lit and set off into the sky you don't know where an ignited lantern will land. Fields of standing crops, hay and straw stacks, farm buildings and thatched roofs are all at significant risk of being set alight. And lastly, they are a litter nuisance - farmers and other land owners have to clear up the remnants of sky lanterns from their fields. The farming industry is urging the public to send a letter to local MPs, prospective Parliamentary candidate, local council/authority or local venues that regularly hold events asking them to support a ban. Farmer, 20, who took over family farm after tragedy scoops award Celebration occurs each December 5 By Diego Flammini Assistant Editor, North American Content Farms.com With Dec. 5 being recognized by the United Nations (UN) as World Soil Day, social media is abuzz highlighting the important role soil plays in everyday life and the issues impacting soils around the world. "On World Soil Day, I call for greater attention to the pressing issues affecting soils, including climate change, antimicrobial resistance, soil-borne diseases, contamination, nutrition and human health," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on the organizations website. And who knows more about soil than farmers? "Farmers (use soil to) maintain an adequate and healthy food supply for human and livestock consumption as well as bioenergy and ecosystem health," said Andrew Sharpley, incoming president of the Soil Science Society of America. "It's quite a wide range of responsibilities farmers have on their shoulders Farms.com found a collection of quotes from the USDAs Natural Resources Conservation Service paying homage to soil and farmers relationships with it. To be a successful farmer one must know the nature of the soil. Xenophon, Oeconomicus, 400 B.C. As a farmer, man himself became closely attached to the landscape, firmly rooted to the soil that supported him. environmentalist Charles E. Kellogg Soil erosion is as old as agriculture. It began when the first heavy rain struck the first furrow turned by a crude implement of tillage in the hands or prehistoric man. It has been going on ever since, wherever mans culture of the earth has bared the soil to rain and wind. Hugh H. Bennett and W.C. Lowedermilk, 1930s. A quote thats been attributed to Paul Harvey, the man behind the So God Made a Farmer speech, reads: Despite all our accomplishments, we owe our existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact it rains. Two 14-year-old boys have been charged in connection with having a gun at Unity Reed High School in Manassas this week. The gun was not brandished toward other students and was not part of an Voter Guide: Everything Cumberland County voters need to know Early voting is underway, with local, state and federal races on the ballot in Cumberland County. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Monday it fined Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC $16.5 million for anti-money laundering and supervision violations. Credit Suisses suspicious activity monitoring program was deficient, FINRA said. The bank primarily relied on its registered representatives to identify and escalate potentially suspicious trading. In practice, risk activity was not always escalated and investigated, as required, FINRA said. And Credit Suisses automated surveillance system to monitor for potentially suspicious money movements was not properly implemented, FINRA said. A significant portion of the data feeds into the system were missing information or had other issues that compromised the systems effectiveness, FINRA said. The bank also failed to adequately investigate potentially suspicious activity it identified. FINRA said Credit Suisse didnt have adequate staff to review tens of thousands of alerts generated each year. FINRA is the biggest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. Last year it brought 1,512 disciplinary actions against registered brokers and firms and levied $95 million in fines. FINRA said Monday that Credit Suisse expected its registered representatives, who were the primary contact with the customers, to be the first line of defense against potential AML problems. The sales reps were expected to . . . . . . . . identify and report to its AML compliance department activity or transactions that were unusual or suspicious based on red flags described in Credit Suisses AML policies. Its AML compliance department was then required to investigate the potentially suspicious activity, document its findings and file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) where appropriate. But the banks systems and procedures that were supposed to monitor trading werent designed to detect potentially suspicious activity. FINRA also said, Credit Suisses reliance on representatives to escalate potentially suspicious trading failed to account for the fact that most orders it received from its foreign affiliates came in to the firm electronically and thus were not seen by the firms sales traders. Credit Suisse self-identified some of the deficiencies and retained a consulting firm to help evaluate and fix them. But the bank then failed to devote adequate resources to resolve the compliance issues in a timely fashion, and some of the deficiencies remain unresolved today, FINRA said Monday. Credit Suisse didnt admit or deny the charges but consented to entry of FINRAs findings. * * * FINRAs December 5, 2016 enforcement action against Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC is here (pdf). ___ Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. You arrive in a new city on a rainy day and check into your top floor hotel room, only to find the roof is leaking. When the receptionist comes to check, he looks up and says, I dont see what the problem is, madam. There is clearly more roof than holes on average. This has a striking resemblance to the recent FATF report. The new report on the United States by the global anti-money laundering body known as the Financial Action Task Force or FATF has a number of positive findings. The report notes the good coordination and extensive use of financial intelligence by U.S. authorities. It also rates as effective the investigation, prosecution and sanctioning of money-laundering, as well giving high marks to international cooperation by the U.S. with other countries. The U.S. achieves over 1,200 convictions a year and aggressively pursues high level confiscation in large and complex cases. However, the report finds significant weaknesses, with the most important being related to gaps in access to information on the ultimate owners of companies (beneficial owners). We have repeatedly pointed out this gap, including when we discussed these issues with the FATF secretariat and the peer review team when they conducted their on-site visit in the U.S., earlier this year. As is becoming widely recognized, especially following the Panama Papers, anonymously-held companies play a major role in furthering corruption and crime. As they allow corrupt politicians and other criminals to hide, transfer and enjoy their illicitly obtained wealth, they fuel abuses of power and exacerbate a culture of impunity. FATF warns that the weaknesses regarding beneficial ownership information undermine the effectiveness of preventive and supervisory measures by the U.S., and negatively impact financial institutions and other businesses and professions in their efforts to tackle money laundering. The FATF findings are similar to our own research released this time last year which showed that the U.S. scored among the lowest of all G20 countries for its beneficial ownership legal framework, assessed as weak. Additionally, FATF is critical of the weak supervision and limited anti-money laundering program requirements for gatekeepers such as company service providers and the real estate sector. In the U.S., the use of real estate as a vehicle for money laundering is well known. Nearly half of the most expensive residential properties in the United States are now purchased anonymously through shell companies. In order to prevent dirty money from entering the U.S., gatekeepers, such as the real estate industry, need to conduct due diligence into buyers identities and the sources of their funds. While the U.S. has made some progress in collecting beneficial ownership information for high-end real estate in some markets, what is really needed is to put an affirmative obligation on the real estate sector to conduct customer due diligence. Echoing repeated calls by civil society organizations such as Transparency International USA, FATF recommends stronger requirements for identifying beneficial owners, and extending legal anti-money laundering requirements to gatekeeper sectors. The ball is now in the court of U.S. authorities. Will they take the measures needed to plug the gaps? ____ Shruti Shah is a contributing editor of the FCPA Blog. Shes Vice President of Programs and Operations at Transparency International-USA. She can be contacted here. Max Heywood is an advocacy coordinator at Transparency International secretariat in Berlin. Before joining TI he worked as a researcher for the Economics Institute of the Cordoba Exchange in Argentina. He can be contacted here. Singapore authorities are banning the former director of Goldman Sachs in Singapore for ten years for his role in the 1MDB scandal. The Monetary Authority of Singapore said Friday it served notice of its intention to issue a Prohibition Order against Tim Leissner. The order will bar Leissner from working in Singapores capital markets for ten years, MAS said. Leissner resigned from Goldman Sachs in February 2016. He had moved from Singapore to the banks Hong Kong office in November 2011. Even after his move, Leissner was listed as the representative of Goldmans Singapore office. He was therefore subject to MAS requirements to being fit and proper to carry out regulated activities, MAS said Friday. Leissner issued an unauthorized reference letter to a bank in Luxembourg in June 2015, using Goldman Sachs letterhead. The letter said Goldman Sachs had conducted due diligence on Mr Low Taek Jho and his family, and had not detected any money laundering concerns with respect to Mr Low or his family. These statements were untrue and were made by Mr Leissner without Goldman Sachs knowledge or consent, MAS said. Low has been tied by U.S., Swiss, and Singapore prosecutors to the diversion of $3 billion or more from the Malaysia sovereign wealth fund known as 1Malaysia Development Berhad or 1MDB. In July, Singapore seized about $88 million in accounts controlled by Low, a Malaysian businessman. On Friday, MAS said Leissner managed the client relationship with 1MDB for its three bond issues from 2012 to 2013. The bond issues were fully underwritten by London-based Goldman Sachs International. A Goldman team from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates handled the work. MAS said its still working with foreign regulatory authorities on examining Goldman Sachs role in the 1MDB bond transactions. Goldman Sachs said Friday it learned about the letter in January this year and reported it to Singapore authorities. The bank said it put Leissner on leave before he resigned. * * * In October, Singapore shut down the local unit of Falcon Private Bank for anti-money laundering deficiencies connected to 1MDB. Zurich-based Falcon Private Bank is owned by a subsidiary of Abu Dhabis sovereign fund, International Petroleum Investment Company. In May, MAS closed the local operations of Swiss-based BSI Bank for money-laundering lapses linked to the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. Police in Singapore arrested a former BSI banker, Yeo Jiawei. At his trial that started last month, prosecutors said he helped launder up to $2.3 billion looted from 1MDB. At least a half dozen other former bankers have been arrested in Singapore, including the local manager of Falcon Private Bank, Jens Sturzenegger. Evidence from Singapore played a key role in the 144-page civil forfeiture complaint the U.S. Justice Department filed in July against about $1 billion in assets allegedly bought with money stolen from 1MDB. The DOJ said $3.5 billion was allegedly misappropriated from the Malaysia sovereign wealth fund. The Monetary Authority of Singapore also said Friday it fined two banks in connection with 1MDB. Standard Chartered Bank paid a penalty of S$5.2 million (about $3.66 million) and Coutts & Co Ltd paid S$2.4 million (about $1.69 million) for breaching AML requirements in the context of 1MDB-related fund flows. ____ Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. Jake Wood has promised 'EastEnders' fans that Max Branning will be a "changed character" when he returns to Albert Square. Jake Wood The ginger love rat was thrown behind bars earlier this year after he was wrongly convicted of Lucy Beale's (Hetti Bywater) murder, and the actor thinks his brief stint in prison has left his alter ego - who will be back in Walford at Christmas - a very different person. He said: "He's a changed character. "It was interesting for me to see those changes - he's not the same man as when he left. And I think the viewers will be surprised and excited about that. The reaction he gets will be interesting" Though Max's daughter Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) is currently living with her boyfriend Steven Beale (Aaron Sidwell) and his family - who framed Max as they knew their young son Bobby (Eliot Carrington) was Lucy's real killer - Jake thinks his relationship with his older daughter will be better than that he has with younger daughter Abi (Lorna Fitzgerald). He told RadioTimes.com: [His relationship with Abi] is a little bit fractured. "But, as it turns out, things are better between Lauren and Max than they are with Abi. "I think Lauren will be more pleased to see him, but hopefully Abi will come around. As I say, Max is a changed character coming back, so hopefully the girls will see that." While it has been speculated Max will return to Albert Square looking for revenge on the Beales, Jake refused to confirm whether or not that is the case. He teased: "If he's going to live on that Square, they have to come to some sort of understanding, put it that way. It's up to Max whether he forgives them or not. He's spent all that time in prison as a result of them lying in court. But it depends how Max feels when he gets back." Elton John has responded to claims he's planning to retire from the music industry after another string of live shows, denying what was said in the recent reports. Elton John Taking to his Instagram account, Elton posted a picture of himself with Bernie Taupin in the 1960s, writing: "Don't believe what you read in the papers today. There is no truth to the rumors (sic) that I am planning to retire. In fact, I am looking forward to celebrating 50 years of collaborating with my partner-in-song, Bernie Taupin, next year. The rumours seemed to begin circulating after Elton's appearance on The Graham Norton Show at the beginning of this year, where he said he wanted to spend more time with his children and husband. At the time he explained: "I'm gradually going to wind down because I want to see my boys grow up. I mean, what's the point of having children if you don't spend time with them?" Currently on the European leg of his tour, which finishes up in Dubai on December 15, Elton will begin another two-month residency in Las Vegas on December 28, taking place at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. Tour dates in the US then follow, before he returns to the UK in June 2017 and wraps up his tour in Marbella, Spain in July 2017. by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on Prince Harry gained a new admirer in the form of a caiman during his visit to Guyana. Prince Harry The 32-year-old royal took a trip to caiman pond in Iwokrama on Saturday (03.12.16) and the large reptile followed the flame-haired hunk around the wooden bridge he was standing on. According the Sunday Express newspaper, the beastly animal is called Sankar and is notorious in the area. Meanwhile, Harry - who is dating 'Suits' actress Meghan Markle - wrapped up his 15-day tour of the Caribbean with a visit to a children's centre in Guyana. The 32-year-old flame-haired hunk opened up to youngsters at Joshua House Children's Centre, in Guyana capital Georgetown, over the weekend about life as a royal. When asked what it's like being a member of the British royal family by one of the kids, he said: "It's good and bad - there's lots of privileges, of course, that you get from when you're born; but with privilege comes responsibility." The visit to the children's home was one of the final stops on Harry's 15-day tour of the Caribbean. During his trip he also met pop superstar Rihanna, 28, for the first time and the pair took a HIV test together for World AIDs Day to show how simple the test is and to encourage everyone to find out their HIV status. And he was also awkwardly invited to Antigua for his future honeymoon to his girlfriend of seven months, Meghan Markle. Prince William's Christmas note from his grandmother Queen Elizabeth is expected to fetch 1,400 at auction. Prince William The handwritten message on official Buckingham Palace paper, which presumably was accompanied with a gift, reads: "William, I hope you enjoy opening this each day." The Executive Vice President of RR Auction in Boston, America said of the unique piece: "A seldom-encountered piece of correspondence from within the royal family, enhanced by its fitting Christmas time association." The listings also include a letter from King Edward VIII to addressed to a Captain Faussett his trip to Rome, Italy in 1981. It reads: "My visit to Rome was semi-official 'on duty' & it was one long string of official visits, meals, receptions, etc & I had to make a speech in a place like the Albert Hall one night & I also visited the Pope... Oh!! This war how it does drag on though. It's going to last another 10 years, that's what I feel about it though. Of course the Americans are going to pull us through we should be done without them!! Please forgive such a rotten, dull & untidy scrawl but it's written in the office where we are very busy & where I'm being interrupted the whole time! (sic)" Fresh off the success of Gauri Shindes Dear Zindagi and just days after having moved into her new home , Chez-nous, in the Mumbai suburb of Juhu, 23-year-old Alia Bhatt is plotting her next move. I finish shooting for Badrinath ki Dulhaniya in December and then Im heading out to Italy in January to learn to cook authentic dishes, she says in a matter of fact manner. Our December cover star is unfazed by her unprecedented rise to fame, continues to re-invent the Bollywood dream and enjoys doing her own thing with equal precision. But this year has been one of the best years of her life, with successful hits like Udta Punjab and Kapoor & Sons, and the moving into her own home that she bought from Anupam Kher when she was just 21! After having done up the home for over a year and half, now she is finally looking forward to some household chores. I love cleaning my room even though I dont do it very often. I think I get my cleaning fixation from my German genes (Bhatts mother Soni Razdan is German), she adds with a laugh. Read the complete interview in Feminas new issue that's hitting stands soon. Next Story : Not Your Average Gift: Our Handpicked Thoughtful Diwali Gifts PVH Corporation, one of the largest apparel companies in the world, closed an agreement to form a joint venture with Grupo Axo, a multi-brand company for apparel. The agreement allows Grupo Axo to license the rights to operate distribution of Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Warner's, Olga and Speedo, which are wholly owned subsidiaries of PVH, in Mexico. The joint venture was formed by merging PVH Mexico, a wholly owned subsidiary of PVH and the operator of its Calvin Klein and Heritage Brands businesses in Mexico, with Baseco, a wholly owned subsidiary of Grupo Axo and a distributor in Mexico of PVH's Tommy Hilfiger brand products. We believe that leveraging Grupo Axo's in region expertise across our brand portfolio should ensure the long-term potential of our brands in Mexico while maintaining a direct ownership interest in our Calvin Klein and Heritage Brands businesses in Mexico and giving us more control over our Tommy Hilfiger business in the region, said Emanuel Chirico, chairman and CEO of PVH. PVH Corporation, one of the largest apparel companies in the world, closed an agreement to form a joint venture with Grupo Axo, a multi-brand company for apparel. The agreement allows Grupo Axo to license the rights to operate distribution of Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Warner's, Olga and Speedo, which are wholly owned subsidiaries of PVH, in Mexico.# We are excited about the opportunity to expand our relationship beyond Tommy Hilfiger to include the global megabrand Calvin Klein as well as Warner's, Olga and Speedo heritage brands. We believe all these brands present a significant opportunity for growth in Mexico and we look forward to partnering with PVH to make that potential a reality, said Andres Gomez, co-chief executive officer of Grupo Axo. The new joint venture also has the license to operate Tommy Hilfiger footwear, as the license agreement with a third party was recently assigned to Baseco. PVH expects this transaction to be neutral to PVH's 2016 earnings. (KD) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Adoption of digital payments in their existing business format would be intensified by traders from all over India. This would be done in pursuance of the call made by prime minister Narendra Modi to adopt digital payments, and also as a preparatory step ahead of the implementation of GST, which has electronic payment as one of its core fundamental. More than 300 trade leaders from 26 states attended a two-day 'Less Cash India Summit' in New Delhi, organised by the ?Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). Addressing the summit, department of industrial policy and promotion secretary Ramesh Abhishek emphasised that merchants and traders are at the forefront of demonetisation effort and called for meaningful engagement and incentives to aid businesses in digital adoption. The Government has been on the forefront of enabling a less cash economy. The move to incentivise cashless transactions and drive acceptance through installation of point of sale (POS) machines, low cost acceptance infrastructure, and rationalisation of merchant discount rate will enable the movement further, he said. Adoption of digital payments in their existing business format would be intensified by traders from all over India. This would be done in pursuance of the call made by prime minister Narendra Modi to adopt digital payments, and also as a preparatory step ahead of the implementation of GST, which has electronic payment as one of its core fundamental.# We are well aware that India is traditionally a cash-based economy, with the value of physical currency in circulation estimated to be over 11 per cent of GDP, highest in 16 years and within BRICS nations. China has seen a steady decrease in the ratio over the last 16 years (now at roughly 9 per cent), with Russia to be at 9 per cent and Brazil to be at 3 per cent, said CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal. Only 10 per cent of population in India is involved in cashless transactions, compared to Sweden (97 per cent), Belgium (93 per cent), France (92 per cent), Canada (90 per cent) and UK 89 (per cent), according to CAIT research. India has one of the lowest card swiping machine numbers per capita, worldwide. Data indicates it has some 690-odd terminals per ten lakh people. Even among emerging economies this is very low, with China having some 4,000 terminals per ten lakh people and Brazil having almost 33,000 terminals per ten lakh population. To promote the adoption of electronic payments by the trading community, CAIT will organise over 150 seminars, conferences, round-tables and workshops in over 30 cities across different states reaching out to over 20 lakh traders, the traders body said. (RKS) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Brazilian printmaking studio Elaia, which designs prints for both fabric and clothing manufacturers, has been distributing prints to textile mills that produce traditional Arab outfits in Sudan and Morocco since last six months. Prints are created by transferring ink from metal plates to engrave or etch on a sheet of paper or other material. The studio that has began getting several orders from Sudan and Morocco also creates signature collection, artistic and photograph based prints. Nearly 65 per cent of the company's sales are with exports to over 20 countries in Europe, North and Latin America, and Sudan and Morocco in North Africa, said Elaia's commercial director and owner Bruno Hansen, as reported by Brazil-Arab news agency. The studio that opened three years ago, formerly involved in other textile industry business. It began doing business in the foreign markets by going to Premiere Vision industry shows in the United States and France. Premiere Vision has been organising shows and events for professionals in the international fashion and textile industry. The show happens three times a year in the US and twice in France. The studio has been regularly participating in the show since its inception. Participation in international shows promoted exports to foreign countries and the firm is now planning to sell more to Arab countries. (RR) Brazilian printmaking studio Elaia, which designs prints for both fabric and clothing manufacturers, has been distributing prints to textile mills that produce traditional Arab outfits in Sudan and Morocco since last six months. Prints are created by transferring ink from metal plates to engrave or etch on a sheet of paper or other material.# Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Curators Rupa Sood and Sharan Apparao recently organised the second edition of Nayaab, an exhibition to showcase the finest textile traditions of India. The three-day exhibition, held in New Delhi, showcased the uniquely designed couture creations by nineteen talented designers who used traditional Indian textiles techniques in their creations. With this edition of the exhibition, the curators brought a wide selection of the Indian weaves paying tribute to the ancient textiles of the country. The exhibition encapsulated the aesthetic sensibilities of designers presenting their work of Indian textiles in modern fashion. Nayaab is an effort to celebrate Indian textiles. As curators, our effort is to present the best of the designers for our customers. We do a thorough research of each designer before collaborating for the exhibition. However, in this initiative we ensure to present not just the Indian weaves, but even the traditional techniques and methods to craft the textiles. Designers use different crafts to enhance their designs and it is every core together - the embroidery, the weaves, the dyeing to create each piece that we exhibit at Nayaab, Sood and Apparao told Fibre2Fashion. Curators Rupa Sood and Sharan Apparao recently organised the second edition of Nayaab, an exhibition to showcase the finest textile traditions of India. The three-day exhibition, held in New Delhi, showcased the uniquely designed couture creations by nineteen talented designers who used traditional Indian textiles techniques in their creations.# The curators carried out a thorough research to select the designers for the exhibition and helped them understand the idea behind Nayaab. The designers are chosen with thorough market research of their latest collections. In the process, we ensure the designers comprehend the quintessence of Nayaab as this helps them create the collection in sync with our exhibition. However, in terms of the techniques and the weaves, we always discuss and share inputs with each other but eventually we leave it to the designers to decide and present the final collection, as they understand the market well, continued the curators. Speaking about their plans of scaling up, the curators said, We certainly want to take the concept forward into a more brilliant work that should come out of Nayaab as the whole idea of Nayaab is to bring out something really out of the ordinary. At the moment, we have no plans to scale up the event. We want to keep it small, keep it contained, so that we can maintain the quality we started with. (KD) Click here to read the complete interview. Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Cotton output in Pakistan during 2016-17 season has already surpassed the total amount produced in the previous season. Ginneries in Pakistan have received 9.778 million bales of cotton by December 1, 2016, compared to the total arrival of 9.768 million bales in the previous season, according to the Pakistan Cotton Ginners' Association (PCGA). By December 1, 2016, cotton received at ginneries in Pakistan show an 13.28 per cent year-on-year increase over arrival of 8.631 million bales during the corresponding period of last season, according to the fortnightly report on cotton arrivals, prepared by the PCGA, in joint cooperation with All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) and the Karachi Cotton Association (KCA). In the major cotton producing province of Punjab, total cotton arrivals increased by 20.69 per cent year-on-year to 6.158 million bales, according to the data. While in Sindh province, cotton arrivals increased 2.57 per cent to 3.619 million bales as on December 1 during the ongoing cotton season 2016-17. Cotton output in Pakistan during 2016-17 season has already surpassed the total amount produced in the previous season. Ginneries in Pakistan have received 9.778 million bales of cotton by December 1, 2016, compared to the total arrival of 9.768 million bales in the previous season, according to the Pakistan Cotton Ginners' Association (PCGA).# Of the total arrival of 9.778 million bales at various ginneries in Pakistan, 8.900 million bales were pressed by ginners, of which 7.868 million bales were sold, leaving an unsold stock of 1.031 million bales with the ginners, as on December 1. The textile mills in Pakistan consumed 7.683 million bales, while another 184,944 bales of cotton were sold to exporters, according to the data. The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has not procured any bale of cotton so far this season. As of December 1, a total of 566 ginning factories were operational in Punjab compared to 691 ginneries that were operational during the same time last season. Similarly, 222 ginning units were operational in the Sindh region, compared to 228 operating units during the corresponding period last year. In 2015-16 cotton season, Pakistan's cotton output decreased by 34.28 per cent to 9.768 million bales, compared to the previous season's production of 14.871 million bales. (RKS) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India HON MINISTER NAIQAMU SPEECH AT THE OPENING OF THE WCPFC13 MEETING IN NADI The Chairlady of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, Mrs Rhea Moss-Christian; The Executive Director, Mr. Feleti Teo; The Honourable Ministers; Your Excellencies; Distinguished delegates; Ladies and Gentlemen. Bula vinaka, Talofa, Mauri, Namaste, Malo 'etau lava, and Noa'ia.It is with great honour and pleasure that I warmly welcome each of you on behalf of the Government of Fiji and its people to the 13th Regular Session of the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. It is with both our sincerest delight and gratitude that Fiji hosts this premier meeting at the Sheraton Denarau.We extend a warm welcome to everyone those from within the Pacific as well as those who have travelled far to come to our sunlit shores: the distinguished delegates, support staff, the Secretariats, non-Governmental organisations, Civil Society Organisations, Inter-governmental Organisations, Media, Academia, and Observers.For a number of you, Fiji is familiar shores. As for those who are here for the first time, we hope that you find that Fiji is a home away from home and that our God-kissed nation embraces you wholly.We recognise and appreciate the primacy of this Commission and its renowned stature, made so by the strong-willed and erudite philosophies and performances of its membership, that has grown over the years as one of the worlds leading Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, if not the most. Fiji has been, and will continue to be committed to and involved in the activities and processes of this Commission.We will have before us this week, a number of very important issues to deliberate on, and so, I am inclined to remind us of the need for strengthened cooperation in order to meet the various objectives set out in the Convention that binds us all.We come from our various homelands representing our own people and I respect the need for members to uphold, or strengthen their respective national interests. With this said, I acknowledge the fact that this will present us with certain tests this week. But I view this as a positive test of strength and with the firm belief that each member and distinguished representative is truly committed to working together to apply prudence and care to each of the important issues.This ever-evolving modern world has gifted us with more tools that assist us in better understanding our work under the Convention and through this Commission. Technological, biological, economical, and sociological dimensions have evolved considerably in such ways that can help us better understand the surface as well as deeper aspects of the oceans and fisheries resources under our care. I urge you all to take this into account especially with how it relates and applies in the plural, and mindful of the disparities.I am confident in saying that, despite its distinction, there is still a need for strengthening the Commission and its activities, and I am sure there is mutuality across the floor in this respect. We are the Commission: for a number of us, this is a national vocation.Fiji is committed to the discussions and we are willing to work with you all in our efforts to yield positive outcomes. We are here with our different standpoints regarding how we envision the outcomes from this week. However, I urge that our mutual understandings and cooperation over the years transcend to other matters that require our unison so that key fish species and fisheries can enjoy the long-term sustainability that is very much necessary for us, our people, our families, and our future generations. With the ever-increasing impacts of climate change on our oceans and its fisheries resources, compounded by the pressures of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing activities, it is our collective duty more so now than ever to ensure that the Commission, begotten by us and for us, elevates the oceans and its species under our care to a state of sanctity once again, so that nothing of value may perish from the sea.I do not intend to lengthen this address as I note the dearness of time. Therefore, I end here by saying that it is my hope that these lands and its aura may provide charm to this weeks process.It is also my sincere hope that you enjoy your stay here in Nadi. Please take time from your busy schedules to partake in Fijis culture and hospitality. May you find our Fiji enjoyable and pleasant and I once again Welcome You All.Vinaka Vakalevu, Thank You. We all were waiting to hear what Kangana Ranaut has to say on the comments that Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt made about her on the very famous chat show Koffee With Karan. And now the lady has finally responded to it in a very sporting manner. And sorry gossipmongers, Kangana didn't say anything nasty about Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt but gave some sweet and unexpected replies. Read it below. Kangana Ranaut's Reaction On Ranveer's Comment Kangana Ranaut told a leading daily, ''Ranveer is my buddy and he is curious about my love life. I remember once, he tried to grill me about it, but like we all know, I am mysterious and don't give in." When Asked About Alia Bhatt's Comment "I love Alia, she is so talented and such a lovely girl, I am pleased that she wants to know about my whereabouts. I don't think it's offensive. Alia is one person I try and reach out to. I love her work and her spirit. Alia is India's official sweetheart." What Ranveer Singh Had Said Those who are unaware, in Koffee With Karan, Ranveer Singh, who graced the couch with Ranbir Kapoor, had said, "Ranbir Kapoor should date Kangana. There's a lot of firework. He loves it." What Alia Wanted To Know About Kangana Alia Bhatt attended Koffee With Karan with none other than the Badshah of Bollywood, King Khan. During the show, Alia Bhatt said, ''Kangana has a lot of lovely airport looks, but where does she go?'' Talking about the same, a few days ago, Kangana Ranaut's spokesperson had told a leading daily, ''She is only laughing about it, for now," adding that she is currently focused on Rangoon and other professional commitments. However, the report had also said that Kangana will not shy away from speaking her mind when asked about it on a public platform. Also Read: Inside Pics: Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Deepika Padukone & Others Dazzle At Star Screen Awards Well, we loved the way Kangana Ranaut tackled the whole situation and gave such wonderful replies. On the professional front, apart from Rangoon, Kangana Ranaut will be seen in an emotionally-demanding role in director Hansal Mehta's Simran. The National Award-winner will play Praful Patel, a 30-year-old divorcee in the movie, for which she has already started shooting. Renowned American actor and film-maker David Arquette states that Christina McLarty, his wife is his real life hero. The Scream actor was caught showering praises on his wife McLarty as she has been an extremely supportive wife and a caring mother to their two-year-old son. The actor says the couple is now expecting their second baby. "She's doing good. It's not easy, it's so hard. I think the second pregnancy is a little harder than the first. She's got morning sickness on this one. Being pregnant and watching a little rascal that's firmly in his terrible twos is pretty difficult."David Arquette said in a statement. "She a trooper, she's doing great. She's my hero," added the actor. The 45-year-old film-maker and actor, who is also father of a 12-year-old girl named Coco from his ex-wife, says his wife Christina McLarty has been doing well to look after the children. She has been able to develop and maintain a unified bond in the family. "Charlie is really cute about it. We have little books that prepare him. We'll see how it goes when it all goes down. He's a tricky little bugger," David Arquette added further. Renowned Hollywood actor Johnny Depp says that he finds striking similarities between being in a musical band and acting in Hollywood movies, as both of them requires utmost dedication, hard work and teamwork. "When you're playing, though it's not remembering lines or serving the scene, or serving the script or whatever, the vision. On stage, it's the same sort of thing, you're still serving - you're serving the song but more you're serving the moment," Johnny Depp said in a statement. The actor also said that, every actor should approach movie roles with a mindset that this is going to fail miserably and prepare for the outcome eventually. The actors should be ready to take the risks always. "I think every actor should walk into a scene with the idea that this could f***ing fail miserably. I think it's important to take those risks." Depp added. "It should be scary. You've got a f***ing character that you've come up with and you believe in, and you feel a very strong foundation of this character beneath you," said the actor. He continued, "It's the same approach really you know, just go and improvise as always, the best thing because, I think some of the best performances of any recording artiste, especially the early recordings, it's f***ing chance." Depp also shared that at his younger age, he was "absolutely horrible at auditioning". And even now he does not like to watch himself on screen. CBI series is one of the most popular franchises in Malayalam films. The character Sethurama Iyer CBI has attained a cult status, over the years and is regarded as one of the most popular on-screen characters portrayed by Mammootty. Earlier, there were reports that the makers of the film are gearing up for the fifth instalment of the series. Now, here is an interesting update regarding the same. Reportedly, CBI 5 would go on floors by March, next year. If reports are to be believed, actor Mammootty has given the nod and he would join the movie, once he completes the shoot for Ranjith's Puthanpanam and Shyamdhar's upcoming project. Rumours are rife that the new film in the series would be quite different from the rest. Reportedly, the film would be shot in locations like Hyderabad, Delhi etc., and Sethurama Iyer and team would be heading for an investigation outside Kerala, for the first time. Renji Panicker would play an important character in the movie and would be the latest addition to the Sethuramaiyer team. The film has its script written by S N Swamy, who had penned all the other films of the series. K Madhu will wield the megaphones for the film. In Colors popular soap opera Kasam, Rishi confesses his love for Tanuja (Kratika Sengar) in an inebriated state, assuming her to be Tanu. He pours out all his feelings to Tanuja, who in turn promises that, she will never leave him again. The next day, Raj arrives to meet Rishi and Tanuja, who are on their honeymoon, to ensure that they are fine. The newly-weds pose as a happy couple in front of him. Raj is also shocked upon seeing Malaika there, and warns her to stay away from the newly-weds. (Check out the latest spoiler below). Malaika To Add Fuel To The Fire In the upcoming episodes, Malaika will add fuel to the fire by spilling the beans about Tanuja being pregnant to the entire Bedi family. Rishi Shocked No wonder, the entire family will be shocked and will confront her for the same. Rano will humiliate Tanuja. As per the latest spoiler, a lengthy argument will follow, post which Rishi will deny to be the father of the baby. Rishi Yells At Tanuja Not only that, Rishi will yell at Tanuja and even threaten her that he will throw her out. Tanuja will break down. Rishi who is slowly developing feelings for Tanuja, will be heartbroken upon learning about her pregnancy. Is Tanuja Pregnant? Million dollar question! Is Tanuja really pregnant? No. Well, as per the latest spoiler, Manpreet and Ahana's daughter, Smiley is pregnant. The entire family unaware of this, is busy hunting a groom for her. Tanuja Protects Smiley Well, it is being said that Tanuja will learn about this and in order to protect Smiley, she will decide to hide this and tolerate all the accusations against her. Will Rishi Get To Know The Truth? We presume that Rano and Malaika will have a last laugh upon creating a rift in Rishi and Tanuja's relationship. Will Tanuja reveal the truth to Rishi? Will he believe her? Stay tuned to know... In The Last Episode... Raj leaves for America.Meanwhile, Tanuja has injured her foot and as a responsible husband, Rishi accompanies Tanuja to the hospital and gets her treated. The newly-weds return home. Rishi is seen caring for Tanuja and he even helps her walk, much to Rano and Malaika's shock. Manpreet listens to Rano and Malaika's conversation, when they speak about separating Rishi and Tanuja. He vows to keep the couple united, no matter what. Later, Rishi and Tanuja spend some good time together, wherein Rishi admires Tanuja's cooking skills and she couldn't be more happier! Of course, this does not go well with Malaika, who listens to their conversation. The next day, Tanuja visits the doctor, who tells her that the pregnancy reports are positive. A shocked Tanuja tells the doctor not to inform her family, as she will first speak to her husband about this. Unfortunately, Malaika who was stalking her so far, listens to their conversation. What will happen next? WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (ETP) and Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. (SXL), in their response to a statement from the Department of the Army, announced that the Administration's decision not to issue an 'easement' to Dakota Access Pipeline at this time is a purely political action. The Administration stated that it has made a 'policy decision', which is Washington code for a political decision, the companies noted. 'This is nothing new from this Administration, since over the last four months the Administration has demonstrated by its action and inaction that it intended to delay a decision in this matter until President Obama is out of office,' the companies said in their joined statement. For more than three years now, Dakota Access Pipeline has done nothing but play by the rules, which the Army Corps of Engineers agrees, and has said so publicly and in federal court filings, the firms noted. The Corps' review process and its decisions have been ratified by two federal courts. The Army Corps confirmed in its statement that its policy decision does not alter the Army's position that the Corps' prior reviews and actions have comported with legal requirements. The Army Corps now seeks to engage in additional review and analysis of alternative locations for the pipeline. This is in spite of consistently stating at every turn that the permit for the crossing of the Missouri River at Lake Oahe granted in July 2016, comported with all legal requirements, including the use of an environmental assessment, rather than an environmental impact statement According to the companies, the White House's latest directive to the Corps for further delay is just the latest in a series of overt and transparent political actions by an administration which has abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency. ETP and SXL said they are fully committed to ensuring that this vital project is brought to completion and fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting in and around Lake Oahe. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de The U.K.'s Department for International Development (DFID) in Uganda has signed an Energy Africa Compact agreement with Ugandan officials that will work towards improving access to solar energy to the estimated 30 million people in the country without access to electricity. According to the DFID, four out of every five Ugandans do not have access to a reliable source of power, and so the agreement's chief aim will be to reduce this number by documenting strategic areas where the adoption of solar home power and lighting systems can be installed quickly and cheaply. The aim of the Compact is to electrify the entire country by 2030, and the Ugandan Ministry for Energy and Mineral Development has created a conducive environment to enable solar to thrive, including a VAT exemption on major solar components, financial support for private sector companies, provision of solar end-user subsidies, capacity building through the training of technicians, as well as the establishment of innovative solar financing models. The U.K.'s involvement will be largely as a facilitator, removing market barriers and enabling companies and Uganda's government to come together and see through their aims. According to Jennie Barugh, head of the DFID Uganda office, the aim is to expedite Uganda's ... Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 12/05/16 -- Advantage Lithium Corp. (the "Company" or "Advantage Lithium") (TSX VENTURE: AAL) and its joint venture partner, Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp. ("Nevada Sunrise"), are pleased to announce that lithium-bearing brines have been intersected in the second borehole of the 2016 drilling program at the Clayton NE lithium brine project in the Clayton Valley, Nevada ("Clayton NE", or the "Project"). This follows successful results from the first borehole (see NR dated Nov 1st, 2016). Clayton NE borders the Silver Peak mine, operated by Albemarle Corporation ("Albemarle"), North America's only producing lithium mine. Of particular note, hole CNE-16-02, has intersected multiple aquifer formations, including a 188.9m brine-producing strata averaging 164.2 parts per million ("ppm") lithium from a depth of 207.3m to 396.2 metres, including a higher grade interval averaging 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7m. Hole CNE-16-03, which is still in progress, has also encountered strong brines ranging up to 138,000 ppm total dissolved solids ("TDS"), with assays to follow. In addition, the JV has staked additional land available within and to the edge of the salar to the south-west at Clayton NE, bringing the total land package to 437 ha. Highlights -- All three holes intersect mineralized brine: 1st and 2nd holes have encountered lithium-rich brines and 3rd hole (still in progress) has hit mineralization with assays to follow. -- 3.43km mineralized brine trend: Holes CNE-16-01 and CNE-16-02, both with significant intervals of mineralized lithium brines, are located 3.43km apart. -- Intervals up to 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7m: Lithium brines intercepted by 2nd drill hole at Clayton NE, CNE-16-02, have returned intervals up to 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7m (286.5m to 396.2m), including peak values up to 227 ppm lithium over a 6.1m section (304.8m to 310.9m). These values are comparable to Albemarle's brine samples from their Silver Peak operation, immediately adjacent to Clayton NE and are in line with results from the first hole at Clayton NE. -- More results to come. Hole CNE-16-03, which has encountered 138,000 ppm TDS, is still in progress. Assays from holes CNE-16-01 and CNE-16-02 have shown that a relationship of TDS to lithium grade indicates a correlation between higher lithium values and higher strength brine. -- Strong brine flows. Brine flows of up to 120 gallons per minute issued from borehole CNE-16-02 between 1,000 and 1,300 feet (304.8 to 396.2 meters). Analysis shows this zone carries significant lithium concentrations. High brine flows are important for economic production. -- Clayton NE land package increased. The JV has staked additional land, increasing the overall land package to 437 ha. Ross McElroy, Technical Adviser and Director, of Advantage Lithium, commented: "We now have mineralization in all three holes over a mineralized strike trend traced to 3.43km at Clayton NE, with strong lithium grades and TDS results over wide intervals. These latest results include over 600 feet of brine producing strata and show even stronger flow rates than our first hole. This suggests we may have hit a key area of known aquifers at Clayton NE and we are delighted by the continued success of the drill program." Drill Hole Technical Details CNE16-01 CNE16-01 was completed to a depth of 512.1m (1680ft), intersecting the base of the Clayton Valley salar sedimentary basin at 506m. Drilling intersected typical Clayton Valley strata consisting of alternating layers of gravel, volcanic ash and clay. A total of 27 grab groundwater samples were collected as brine formations were encountered. Table 1 presents a compiled summary of the depths of the Aquifer Systems with brine interval thickness and associated average lithium grades and Total Dissolved Solids concentration. Anomalous lithium results were obtained from brine formations intermittently intersected over a 331.3m section (from 168.6m to 499.9m) within the Main Ash, Lower Aquifer System, and Lower Gravel Aquifer systems. The highest grade results were obtained in the Lower Aquifer System with peaks up to 218 ppm lithium (224.0m to 227.1m) while the widest intervals were reported in the deeper Lower Gravel Aquifer System, including a 103.7m wide interval (from 396.2m to 499.9m) averaging 134.8 ppm lithium. In addition, drill cuttings were collected for each 1.5m interval and have been submitted for analysis. Analytical results for the drill cuttings are pending. Table 1: Results of Brine Samples for CNE16-01 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aquifer System Interval --------------------------------- Drill Hole From (m) To (m) Width (m) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CNE-16-01 Main Ash 168.6 170.1 1.5 --------------------------------------------------------- Lower Aquifer System A 224.0 243.8 19.8 --------------------------------------------------------- Lower Aquifer System B 326.1 365.8 39.7 --------------------------------------------------------- Lower Gravel Aquifer 396.2 499.9 103.7 --------------------------------------------------------- including 457.2 481.6 24.4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lithium Total Dissolved Solids Lithium Average ("TDS") ppm Range (ppm) Grade(ppm) Drill Hole ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CNE-16-01 68,000 94.3 94.3 --------------------------------------------------------- 110,000 195 to 218 209.7 --------------------------------------------------------- 130,000 to 140,000 174 to 189 181.5 --------------------------------------------------------- 35,000 to 190,000 72.4 to 234 134.8 --------------------------------------------------------- 58,000 to 190,000 72.4 to 234 187.5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CNE16-02 CNE-16-02 was collared approximately 3.43km northeast of CNE-16-01. The hole was terminated within a Massive Clay formation within the Clayton Valley salar sedimentary basin at a depth of 426.7m (1,400 ft). As was observed in hole CNE16-01, drilling intersected typical Clayton Valley strata consisting of alternating layers of gravel, volcanic ash and clay. A total of 32 grab groundwater samples were collected as brine formations were encountered. Table 2 presents a compiled summary of the depths of the Aquifer Systems with brine interval thickness and associated average lithium grades and Total Dissolved Solids concentration. Anomalous lithium results were obtained from a 188.9m wide brine formation intersected from 207.2m to 396.2m within the Lower Aquifer System. This 188.9m interval averaged 164.2 ppm lithium, including a higher grade interval averaging 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7m (286.5m to 396.2m) and was associated with strong brine flows of up to 120 gallons per minute issued from 304.8m to 396.2m. In addition, drill cuttings were collected for each 6.1m interval and have been submitted for analysis. Analytical results for the drill cuttings are pending. Table 2: Results of Brine Samples for CNE16-022 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drill Hole Aquifer System Interval --------------------------------- From (m) To (m) Width (m) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CNE-16-02 Main Ash 190.5 199.6 9.1 --------------------------------------------------------- Lower Aquifer System 207.3 396.2 188.9 Including 286.5 396.2 109.7 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lithium Drill Hole Total Dissolved Solids Lithium Average ("TDS") ppm Range (ppm) Grade(ppm) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CNE-16-02 No Water --------------------------------------------------------- 50,000 to 380,000 72.4 to 228 164.2 140,000 to 380,000 151 to 227 2202.8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CNE-16-03 Hole CNE-16-03, collared approximately 670.6m northeast from hole CNE-16-01, is currently in progress at a depth of approximately 274.3 m. This hole has also encountered strong brines ranging up to 138,000 ppm total dissolved solids, as measured by a field instrument. Regarding Sample Analysis Groundwater samples were sent to Western Environmental Testing Laboratory in Reno, Nevada for analysis. General chemistry testing included analysis for specific gravity, total hardness and alkalinity, bicarbonate, carbonate, hydroxide, TDS and electrical conductivity. Anions (chloride, sulfate) were analyzed by ion chromatography. Trace metals (lithium, magnesium, boron, calcium, potassium and sodium) were analyzed by ICP-OES. TDS values obtained in the field are measured with a handheld YSI Model 556 Multiparameter Meter, which meets Good Laboratory Practice (as proscribed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) for calibration and measurement. All depth measurements reported, including sample and interval widths are down-hole. As holes are oriented vertical and geologic stratigraphy is primarily horizontal to sub-horizontal, downhole measurements are assumed to be close to true thickness. About the Program The 2016 exploration drilling program includes three vertical oriented conventional dual-tube reverse circulation ("RC") drill holes totaling approximately 1,500m (approximately 4,920 feet), focussed on lithium brine targets close to the Silver Peak mine border and several of Albemarle's production wells. Assays from Clayton NE drill holes have shown a relationship of TDS to lithium grade indicates a correlation between higher lithium values and higher strength brine. The lithium results from the first two boreholes of the 2016 drilling program are generally comparable to Albemarle's brine samples from Silver Peak mine production wells as reported to the State of Nevada for the period 2011-2015, which range from 98 ppm to 340 ppm lithium. The technical information in this news release has reviewed and approved on behalf of the company by Ross McElroy, P.Geol., Technical Advisor and Director for Advantage Lithium Corp., and a "Qualified Person" as defined in NI 43-101. About Clayton NE -- Consists of 55 unpatented claims totaling approximately 1,080 acres (437 hectares); -- Clayton NE is subject to an option earn-in agreement where Advantage Lithium can earn up to a 70% interest in the Project after fulfilling CDN$3.0 million in exploration expenditures on a package of five lithium properties optioned from Nevada Sunrise (for further details, see Nevada Sunrise news release dated June 20, 2016); -- Nevada Sunrise is the project manager at Clayton NE on behalf of Advantage Lithium, the operator. Water Rights Update On November 30, 2016, Nevada Sunrise and the Company learned that the State Engineer's office of the Nevada Division of Water Resources ("NDWR") has issued a ruling of forfeiture against the Company's water right in the Clayton Valley of Nevada (the "Ruling") citing lack of beneficial use for a period of five years. Nevada Sunrise has recently received evidence of water use that the NDWR requires, which will be presented during the appeal process. Nevada Sunrise has advised the Company that the appeal will be filed before December 29, 2016. Further information about the company can be found at www.advantagelithium.com. About Advantage Lithium Corp. Advantage Lithium Corp. is a resource company specializing in the strategic acquisition, exploration and development of lithium properties and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Common Shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "AAL". The company has signed an LOI with lithium producer, Orocobre, to acquire 100% interest in five projects in Argentina and up to 75% in a sixth, called Cauchari. Cauchari is host to a near-surface resource, has a large exploration target and is just 20km from Orocobre's Olaroz lithium production facility. The company is also earning an interest from Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp., in a portfolio of five lithium brine projects in the Clayton and Lida Valley regions of Nevada, USA, together with certificated water rights in the Clayton Valley. Additionally, the company has entered into an LOI agreement to earn interest from Radius Gold Inc. in four lithium brine projects in the states of Chihuahua and Coahuila, Northwest Mexico. In addition, the company has acquired 100% of the Stella Marys lithium brine project, immediately adjacent to Orocobre's Salinas Grandes project that hosts an inferred, near-surface resource, in Argentina's Lithium Triangle. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD David Sidoo, CEO, President, Director Cautionary Statement: The securities referred to in this news release have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer for sale of securities for sale, nor a solicitation for offers to buy any securities. Any public offering of securities in the United States must be made by means of a prospectus containing detailed information about the company and management, as well as financial statements. Certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information", within the meaning of Canadian legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur", "be achieved" or "has the potential to". Forward looking statements contained in this press release may include statements regarding the future operating or financial performance of Advantage Lithium which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may not prove to be accurate. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. Among those factors which could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: market conditions and other risk factors listed from time to time in our reports filed with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and the Company and Advantage Lithium disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: Advantage Lithium Corp. David Sidoo CEO, President, Director 604.343.3760 604.683.1585 (FAX) info@advantagelithium.com TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 12/05/16 -- EEStor Corporation (TSX VENTURE: ESU) ("EEStor" or the "Company") announced today that it has entered into a binding letter of intent (the "LOI") with Alchemy Synergy Group, Inc. ("ASG") for the joint development of highly polar silicone-based custom polymers to be used in EEStor's capacitor and electrical energy storage technologies. ASG principals have 25+ years of experience formulating and developing specialty polymers for unique applications. Over the years ASG has collaborated with multiple Fortune-500 chemical companies engineering unique polymeric solutions to work in difficult application challenges. Today ASG leads a team of specialists involved in research and development activities related to silicone-based polymer technologies, including polarized silicone-based polymer technologies, surfactants and viscosity modifiers. ASG's specific work in the fields of highly polarized silanes for use in antimicrobials applications, and specialty coatings applied to thin films provides ASG with the unique set of technology and applications process experience that should prove useful to EESTOR. Jeffrey Fredenburgh, President of ASG stated "We are very excited to announce our working relationship with EESTOR, helping to design a unique polymeric solution to work synergistically with the unique properties of EEStor's Composition Modified Barium Titanate". Ian Clifford, Founder and CEO of EEStor added: "We are very pleased to be collaborating with ASG on this critical project. Our work to date has been extremely effective and we look forward to certifying and publishing positive results of our collaboration as they become available." Under the LOI, ASG will develop sample custom polymers for testing by EEStor and, if successfully tested, will licence the developed polymers to EEStor and assist EEStor in sourcing the materials to produce the polymers in commercial quantities. All polymer technologies developed by the parties would be jointly owned and the parties would enter into a technology agreement for the cross-licensing of such technologies. EEStor would also have the right to acquire such developed technologies as they relate to the capacitor and energy storage industries in certain circumstances. Other than an initial payment of US$21,000 for consulting services and materials and the issuance of 100,000 common shares in the capital of EEStor, the consideration payable to ASG by EEStor is graduated and based on the achievement of a number of energy density and time-constant milestones. If all milestones are achieved, EEStor would be required to make cash payments aggregating US$106,000 and issue an aggregate of 1,950,000 common shares to ASG under the LOI. All shares issued would be subject to a 4-month hold period. The transactions contemplated by the LOI are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. About EEStor Corporation The Company's mission is to be the provider of leading edge electrical energy storage and related capacitor technologies. The Company operates on the principle and belief that a fundamental breakthrough in energy storage will be the catalyst for positive environmental and economic change globally. The Company's current business strategy is focused on licensing and partnership opportunities across a broad spectrum of industries and applications building on its recent technology achievements related to capacitors. The Company holds an approximate 71.3% as-converted equity and voting interest and certain technology rights to a solid-state capacitor and related energy storage technologies currently under development by EEStor, Inc. The acquisition of the controlling interest in EEStor Inc. aligned the businesses of both companies and now allows EEStor Corporation to benefit from other revenue streams that should be available to EEStor, Inc., including applications throughout the capacitor industry and not limited to high density energy storage applications. The Company's success depends on the commercialization of the technology developed by EEStor Inc and there is no assurance that it will be successful in the completion of the various enhancement phases to warrant the anticipated licensing opportunities in the technology. Readers are directed to the "Risk Factors" disclosed in the Company's public filings. About ASG For over 25 years, ASG has been involved in research and development activities related to silicone-based polymer technologies, including polarized silicone-based polymer technologies, surfactants and viscosity modifiers. ASG has collaborated with Fortune-500 chemical companies engineering unique polymeric solutions to work in difficult application challenges. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: Ian Clifford Chief Executive Officer EEStor Corporation 416-535-8395 ian.clifford@eestorcorp.com Jessica Thompson EEStor Corporation 647-988-5801 inquiries@eestorcorp.com Materion Corporation (NYSE: MTRN) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the principal portion of the high-performance target materials business of the Heraeus Group of Hanau, Germany. The acquisition is expected to be consummated in the first quarter of 2017, subject to the satisfaction of regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Negotiations for Heraeus' magnetic data storage business in Singapore continue and are not included in the definitive agreement announced today. Materion and Heraeus decided to proceed with the principal portion of the proposed acquisition announced in May 2016 in order to begin the regulatory approval process that is not expected to be required for the magnetic data storage business. Heraeus' target materials business generates approximately $60 million in annual value-added sales. The transaction purchase price is approximately $30 million, which represents a 6 times multiple of EBITDA. The target materials business is forecasted to be accretive to earnings in 2017. Heraeus manufactures precious and non-precious metal target materials for the architectural and automotive glass, electronic display, photovoltaic and semiconductor markets at facilities in Germany, Taiwan, the United States and Singapore. Once acquired, the businesses will operate within the Materion Advanced Materials business segment. Commenting on the agreement, Donald G. Klimkowicz, President, Materion Advanced Materials, said, "We are excited to have reached this milestone toward acquiring this business. There are both complementary and unique aspects inherent to both Materion's and Heraeus' target materials offering and capabilities, which, once combined, will allow us to enhance our position in traditional markets, widen our product breadth and drive additional growth in new markets. This investment underscores our commitment to the long-term future of the target materials business." Added Richard J. Hipple, Materion Chairman, President and CEO, "This planned acquisition is a compelling fit with our global growth strategy and our criteria for investment by adding critical mass in target materials underpinned by a broadened manufacturing presence in Europe, Taiwan and the U.S., as well as the addition of some highly differentiated technologies that will strengthen Materion's offering to global customers. We are looking forward to welcoming Heraeus' very talented target materials employees into the Materion family." Materion Corporation is headquartered in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, supplies highly engineered advanced enabling materials to global markets. Products include precious and non-precious specialty metals, inorganic chemicals and powders, specialty coatings, specialty engineered beryllium alloys, beryllium and beryllium composites, and engineered clad and plated metal systems. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161205005654/en/ Contacts: Materion Corporation Investor Contact: Michael C. Hasychak, 216-383-6823 mike.hasychak@materion.com or Media Contact: Patrick S. Carpenter, 216-383-6835 patrick.carpenter@materion.com or http://www.materion.com Mayfield Hts-g This industry report analyzes the market estimates and forecasts for all the given segments on global as well as regional levels presented in the research scope. The study provides historical market data for 2013, 2014 revenue estimations are presented for 2015 and forecasts from 2016 till 2025. The study focuses on market trends, leading players, supply chain trends, technological innovations, key developments, and future strategies for the existing players, new entrants and the future investors. The study presents detailed market analysis with inputs derived from industry professionals across the value chain. The market size is calculated based on the revenue generated through sales from all the given segments and sub segments in the research scope. The market sizing analysis includes both top-down and bottom-up approaches for data validation and accuracy measures. Key Topics Covered: 1 Market Outline 2 Executive Summary 3 Market Overview Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Blue Prism customer forums held in New York and London to share best practice and operational excellence for large-scale deployments of enterprise Robotic Process Automation Blue Prism users gathered in London and New York for three customer forums the latest in a series of events and programs that stretch back to July 2009. The community met to discuss and share experiences and best practice recommendations for large-scale, mission-critical, transformational deployments of enterprise Robotic Process Automation (RPA). As has been the case for all the previous meetings, the forums were hosted and chaired by Blue Prism customers. On Wednesday, November 30th, BNY Mellon hosted more than 65 members, representing 25 organizations, of Blue Prism's Robotic Automation Advisory Council (RAAC) in New York for their fourth meeting. This forum was made up of North America-based senior business operations, transformational change and IT executives driving significant RPA implementations. BNY Mellon presented its RPA journey and shared lessons learned, best practice methodologies and operating models for its impressive global RPA program. Also, members of the Robotic Automation Advisory Council formed five working groups to address issues that would advance their collective RPA efforts: the right working relationship with IT; the complementary tech ecosystem to support RPA; RPA governance and security; building the pipeline of processes for automation; and corporate responsibility for managing the social impact of RPA programs. On Thursday, December 1st, also in New York, Blue Prism hosted its sixth annual Technical User Group, a forum for members of the Blue Prism community to share operational and technical best practice and provide product feedback to the Blue Prism team. The Technical User Group was attended by technical support, development and operational management professionals from customers who shared their experiences and key learning for change management and large-scale robot implementations. The forum also served as an opportunity to learn about the latest developments in the Blue Prism product roadmap. This user community has a strong connection with Blue Prism's global technical support and product engineering organizations. Over the years, this group has helped drive new functionality and methodologies for enterprise RPA deployments. The two New York meetings followed Blue Prism's Operational Agility Forum, which took place on November 23rd in London. Hosted by IBM, this forum was attended by 75 attendees from the U.K., Europe, and Asia Pacific representing 35 organizations who together have automated millions of back office transactions per month, saving millions of hours of work. Since 2009, these forums have helped drive Blue Prism's product roadmap, delivery and support methodologies from which current members benefit. It also affords newer customers the chance to learn from the community's collective experience. Next year, the U.K.-based Operational Agility Forum and North America-based Robotic Automation Advisory Council will merge to become the Robotic Automation Advisory Forum (RAAF), a worldwide gathering of leaders from Blue Prism's user community of over 150 enterprise customers. The first international forum meeting will be held in Sydney, Australia, in April 2017. The RAAF will be the primary global customer forum aimed at the business operations and operational change teams. The Blue Prism Technical User Group will continue its role in supporting the delivery, technical and operational support audiences within the Blue Prism user community. "Our customers are collectively driving the most advanced and transformative use cases of enterprise RPA; these forums provide them the opportunity to learn from each other, inform our future product strategies and even set the tone for developing industry standards," commented Pat Geary, chief marketing officer, Blue Prism. "The collaboration and sharing amongst these trail-blazing organizations is outstanding, and we're grateful for the investment of our valued customers' time and energy they have made our product the industry leading enterprise RPA platform that it is today." About Blue Prism Debuting on the London Stock Exchange AIM market in March 2016, Blue Prism (AIM:PRSM) is the leading provider of enterprise Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software. The company's multi-skilled software robots are implemented as digital labor in the most demanding enterprise administrative environments to eliminate the disproportionately low-return, high-risk, manual data entry and processing work that humans shouldn't be doing. The company's pioneering technology is used to automate a multitude of tasks in sectors ranging from banking, telecoms, energy, BPO, government, financial services, retail and healthcare sectors. With offices in Manchester, London, Miami, Chicago, New York and San Francisco, Blue Prism has been recognized by Gartner as a Cool Vendor and by AI Business as the Best Enterprise Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the AIconics awards. For more information, visit www.blueprism.com and follow the company on LinkedIn and Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161205005861/en/ Contacts: Media Contact Version 2.0 Communications for Blue Prism Jenna Gilligan/Melissa Mahoney, 617-426-2222 blueprism@v2comms.com VIENNA, AUSTRIA--(Marketwired - December 05, 2016) - Efforts to control tobacco as a public health threat have escalated as clinicians and public health advocates have coalesced to beat back threats from tobacco companies through public advocacy, public health, and pension reform. Today, public health advocates from Brazil, Malaysia, Ireland, Australia, and Uruguay presented different strategies that have effectively reigned in the global threat of tobacco companies at a press briefing held at IASLC 17 th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC). As a young doctor treating lung cancer patients at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia, Dr. Bronwyn King was dismayed to see the impact of cigarette smoking on her patients -- many of whom had started smoking as children. However, her surprise grew when she discovered that her hospital's pension fund had invested her money in the very tobacco products that were killing her patients. "Once I discovered that through my compulsory pension fund, I was invested in and actually owned a part of several tobacco companies, I couldn't just do nothing -- I had to take action," she said. To accomplish this, Dr. King founded Tobacco Free Portfolios to collaboratively engage with leaders of the finance sector to encourage tobacco-free investment. She soon found that finance executives were also alarmed at the scale of the tobacco problem and have deeply re-considered the role they can play in addressing this pressing global issue. "Because of this, there are now 35 tobacco-free pension funds in Australia -- just over 40 percent of all funds. Many more will soon follow and each tobacco-free announcement is met with resounding public support," she said. In Ireland, the tobacco industry claimed that environmental tobacco smoke was not harmful to public health, but the Irish government rejected this claim and instituted a comprehensive workplace smoking ban that included bars, restaurants, bingo halls, and casinos, according to Dr. Luke Clancy of the TobaccoFree Research Institute in Dublin, Ireland. Ireland was the first country to enact a country-wide ban. "The 2004 smoking ban in Ireland has shown a positive impact on public health and has served as a model for other European countries to follow," said Dr. Clancy of the TobaccoFree Research Institute in Dublin, Ireland. Clancy reported that the planning and investment paid off, as the national Irish smoking ban was associated with reductions in early mortality. Studies on the effects of the smoking ban demonstrated a 13 percent decrease in all-cause mortality, a 26 percent reduction in ischemic heart disease, a 32 percent reduction in stroke, and a 38 percent reduction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. While King and Clancy battle tobacco interests in their countries, Dr. Zarihah Zain of Lincoln University College Malaysia is carefully examining global trade agreements to make sure tobacco products are treated like the dangerous, addictive products they are. "The main objective of any global trade agreement is to encourage the free movement of goods and service between countries by removal of any forms of tariff and non-tariff barriers. However, when this principle is applied to tobacco products, public health may suffer in the countries governed by these very agreements," Dr. Zain said. "Tobacco is not like any legal commodity, it is highly addictive, causes deaths, precipitates serious debilitating morbidity, and accounts for about 30 percent of all cancer incidence. An industry such as the tobacco industry should not be given any privileges and should not be allowed to benefit from trade agreements to gain hefty profits at the expense of public health," Dr. Zain said. The control of tobacco is one of the most cost effective public health strategies, and tobacco is the only legal consumer product that has an international law to curb its supply and demand via the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). However, Zain pointed out that there are clauses in many free trade agreements that can override the WHO Framework. Vera da Costa e Silva from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control began the press briefing by providing a global perspective on tobacco control and initiatives to counter tobacco company efforts to create trade treaties that are bad for public health. "I hope everyone in the world is soon free of tobacco smoke and that people encounter bars, restaurants, and public facilities that are smoke-free," she said. Tobacco control plays an important role in the IASLC 17 th World Conference on Lung Cancer. The IASLC is proud to have a committee comprised of world-renowned tobacco control experts from so many countries. For more information, visit http://wclc2016.iaslc.org/. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/12/5/11G124162/Images/group-fd7869d4de16921b8fc1d0631f17a2e3.jpg Embedded Video Available: https://youtu.be/1tmvagPtbNk Contact: Jenny Jaacks Email contact HOUSTON, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 12/05/16 -- Brown Publications Inc. (www.brownpublications.com), a division of Brown Technical Media Corp., a division of Panther Biotechnology, Inc. (OTC PINK: PBYA), is pleased to announce today that it has executed an exclusive publishing and distribution relationship with All Purpose Crane Training of Upland, California. All Purpose Crane Training (AP) (http://apcranetraining.com/), established in 2008, provides nationwide mobile crane operator and rigging training and assists operators preparing to obtain a nationally accredited certification which meets Occupational and Safety Health Administration (OHSA) and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) requirements. AP customizes classes to meet the specific needs of their customers. Their course can be taken either at the customer's site or at AP's training centers around the country. AP instructors provide over 100 combined years of training and field experience to assist in the demands of Mobile Crane Operator Certification and to help in reducing workplace injuries while meeting State and Federal requirements. Brown and AP have mapped out the development and release of over 25 exam prep books and online courses. Brown will immediately take over all printing needs for AP for its nationwide course material for students. In addition, Brown has launched a bookstore for AP's web users. Topics include aerial lift craning, forklift certification, mobile crane training and certification, overhead crane training, rigging and signal person as well as instructor courses. "Our goal is to create more brand awareness and market penetration for AP's training programs nationwide. With our ability to publish and distribute their top-quality content, we feel that their training opportunities will grow and our sales of their content will grow as well," stated Noah Davis, President and Chief Operating Officer of Panther. "The crane training and rigging market presents a tremendous growth market in the United States with certain federal requirements going into effect later this year." Brown has also partnered with AP to send Brown's crane and rigging training customers to AP under a profit sharing arrangement. About Brown Technical Media Corp. and Brown Publications Inc. (Brown) Brown is a leading online aggregator and publisher of compliance, career advancement, and training content for tradesman and technical experts in a wide variety of professions. Brown's mission is to disrupt and defragment the many disparate companies in the eLearning, standards and codes market place, which currently is collectively valued at over $100 billion globally, and growing. Brown is changing the landscape for small and medium size businesses by providing consistent, high quality training materials usually only available to enterprise level companies. Brown's strategy is to both grow its current revenue base organically while concurrently acquiring synergistic companies in the multiple industries that Brown is currently servicing. About Panther Biotechnology Inc. Panther Biotechnology, Inc. has been an entity focused on the acquisition and development of enhanced therapeutics for the treatment of neoplastic, autoimmune and antiviral disorders for the last two years. Panther has recently merged with Brown Technical Media Corp. Panther will continue its regulatory effort with the goal of seeking a partner or financing for its anticipated phase 2a study of Transferrin Doxorubicin and will focus its efforts on growing its revenues in the eLearning, standards and codes industries via both organic growth and acquisitions. Panther Biotechnology Inc. Evan Levine 858-263-2744 info@pantherbiotechnology.com DUBLIN, May 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Mammography Market - Drivers, Opportunities, Trends, & Forecasts 2017 - 2023" report to their offering. The Global Mammography Market is estimated to witness a CAGR of 15.03% during the forecast period 2017-2023. The market growth can be attributed to the rising initiatives by various governments and NGOs to raise awareness about early diagnosis of macrocalcifications in breast tissue. Some significant organizations such as the National Breast Cancer Foundation, CDC, and Breast Cancer Organization are promoting the early diagnosis of mammary gland calcification, which is one of the crucial factors expected to drive the demand over the forecast period. The major drivers of the mammography market include increasing incidence of breast cancer since past 25 years. In 2015, American cancer society estimated the 292,130 new cases of breast cancer. Moreover, increasing demand and current 3D mammogram launches by the major players is expected to boost the growth of the market during the forecasted period. For instance, Hologic offers 2D and 3D imaging-guided breast biopsies via Affirm prone biopsy system. The vendors are currently focusing on the technological advancements, new product launches, and strategic positioning of their businesses in the emerging economies. These factors are expected to drive the Global Mammography market in the future. Companies Mentioned Carestream Health Inc. Fujifilm Holdings Corp GE Healthcare Inc Hologic Inc Philips Healthcare Planmed Oy Siemens Healthineers Inc Toshiba Medical Systems Corp Key Topics Covered: 1 Industry Outlook 2 Report Outline 3 Market Snapshot 4 Market Outlook 5 Market Characteristics 6 Types: Market Size and Analysis 7 End-User: Market Size and Analysis 8 Regions: Market Size and Analysis 9 Market Attractiveness 10 Competitive Landscape 11 Vendor Profiles 12 Companies to Watch For For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/3x8cb7/global Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 TORONTO, ON and NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - December 05, 2016) - iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc., (CSE: IAN) (CSE: IAN.CN) (CNSX: IAN) ("Company"), announced today that its wholly-owned US subsidiary, iAnthus Capital Management, LLC ("iAnthus Capital Management" and, together with the Company, referred to for convenience as "iAnthus"), has closed on an agreement to acquire certain assets of Organix, LLC ("Organix"), the owner and operator of a Colorado medical and adult use marijuana operation with a cultivation facility in Denver and a fully-integrated medical and adult use dispensary located in the ski town of Breckenridge. The assets acquired include all real estate holdings of Organix's affiliate, DB Land Holdings, Inc., consisting of a 12,000 square foot cultivation facility in Denver, as well as all equipment and other tangible and intangible assets and all of the intellectual property of Organix, including its brands (the "Assets"). The Assets do not include any cannabis inventory and/or licenses to manufacture or sell cannabis. The purchase price for the Assets was US$4.375 million or approximately CAD$5.819 million, subject to certain purchase price adjustments to be determined over a portion of the 2017 fiscal year. This is an arm's length transaction as iAnthus holds no ownership interest in Organix. Organix Highlights: Organix is the market leader in Breckenridge with an approximate 40% market share in 2016; Estimated gross retail sales of US$4.4 million for calendar year 2016; Significant cash flow generation with cash flow margins over 30%; Organix is uniquely positioned as the only store in Breckenridge with both medical and recreational retail licenses; Breckenridge is one of North America's premier ski and winter resort destinations, attracting more than two million winter tourists and one million summer tourists; and Valuable cultivation real estate within Denver with an estimated market value of US$2.0 million. "With the closing last month of our successful financing of CAD$21.5 million in gross proceeds, iAnthus has the financial resources to diversify its footprint across the U.S." said Hadley Ford, CEO of iAnthus. "This acquisition is the first deployment of capital from our recent financing and helps set the stage for our growth strategy in Colorado." With this acquisition, iAnthus has made investments in four regulated cannabis states to date, including Massachusetts, Vermont, New Mexico and Colorado. "With an implied multiple of approximately four times cash flow, we believe that this transaction is both financially accretive and strategically valuable," said CFO Julius Kalcevich. "Organix has a great team and an efficient operation. Retail sales were up 7% over the last 12 months and margins have been expanding. This acquisition is iAnthus' first step in what we expect will be a broader presence for iAnthus within the Colorado regulated cannabis market." In a related transaction, Bellflower, LLC ("Bellflower"), a newly formed Colorado limited liability company, has agreed to acquire all cannabis inventory and licenses to cultivate, manufacture and sell cannabis-based products from Organix for US$300,000 or approximately CAD$399,000. Such agreement is conditioned upon the approval of the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division. iAnthus holds no ownership interest in Bellflower. Upon closing of the Bellflower transaction, in compliance with applicable state law, iAnthus will provide a broad range of real estate, financing, IP licensing and professional services to Bellflower through two new wholly-owned Colorado subsidiaries, including: Serving as a branding, marketing and professional services company that will license and/or sublicense certain technology, brand names and other intellectual property related to the business of cultivating, manufacturing and dispensing marijuana-based products and provide associated professional services in compliance with applicable state law; Serving as a real estate, fixtures and equipment holding company that will acquire, develop and manage real property, industrial fixtures and equipment, and lease such property to Bellflower in compliance with applicable state law; and Serving as a source of financing to be used to promote, support, and develop sales and distribution of marijuana-based products by licensed cannabis operators utilizing iAnthus' intellectual property and other assets, in compliance with applicable state law. In connection with the transactions, iAnthus has formed two wholly owned subsidiaries that are expected to provide long term contractual services to Bellflower and potentially to other licensed cannabis operators in Colorado. Scarlet Globemallow, LLC ("Scarlet Globemallow") will acquire substantially all of the Assets (other than real estate, cannabis inventory and licenses to manufacture and sell cannabis) of Organix and will serve as a branding, marketing, financing, equipment leasing and professional services company to Bellflower and potentially to other licensed cannabis operators in Colorado. iAnthus' second wholly-owned Colorado subsidiary, Bergamot Properties, LLC ("Bergamot"), will acquire and hold all the applicable real estate and master leasehold interests associated with Organix's operations and serve as a lessor of real property to Bellflower. As iAnthus continues to expand its footprint within Colorado, Scarlet Globemallow and Bergamot are expected to serve as strategic platforms to achieve operating efficiencies and economies of scale for other potential Colorado asset acquisitions. Until the closing of the sale of Organix's cannabis inventory and licenses to manufacture and sell cannabis to Bellflower, which requires the approval of the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division, the new iAnthus-owned entities in Colorado will provide similar services to Organix in compliance with applicable state law. About iAnthus Capital Holdings iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc., through its 100% owned subsidiary, iAnthus Capital Management, LLC, delivers a comprehensive solution for financing and managing licensed cannabis cultivators, processors and dispensaries throughout the United States, in accordance with applicable state law. Founded by entrepreneurs with decades of experience in investment banking, corporate finance, law and healthcare services, iAnthus provides a unique combination of capital and hands-on operating and management expertise. The Company harnesses these skills to support a diversified portfolio of cannabis industry investments for our shareholders, including direct equity investments in for-profit license holders and associated management and intellectual property holding companies, and lending facilities coupled with management services to not-for-profit license holders. For more information, visit www.ianthuscapital.com. Forward Looking Statements Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in iAnthus' periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will, could, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, potential, believe, should," and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements including statements related to: (i) the Organix transaction being financially accretive and strategically valuable, (ii) the presence of iAnthus within the Colorado regulated cannabis market, (iii) the long term contractual services to Bellflower, (iv) the services to other Colorado cannabis license holders, (v) other Colorado asset acquisitions, (vi) the expected closing date of Organix's cannabis inventory and licenses to Bellflower and (vii) other statements of fact. Although iAnthus has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there can be other factors that cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, including, but not limited to: dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; investing in target companies or projects which have limited or no operating history and are engaged in activities currently considered illegal under US Federal laws; change in laws; limited operating history; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; hindering market growth and state adoption due to inconsistent public opinion and perception of the medical-use and adult-use marijuana industry and; regulatory or political change. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. iAnthus disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and iAnthus does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this news release. Corporate: Julius Kalcevich Chief Financial Officer iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc. 647-705-5544 julius.kalcevich@ianthuscapital.com Investor Relations: Nicole Marchand Nicole Marchand Investor Relations 416-428-3533 nicole@nm-ir.com WINNIPEG, MANITOBA -- (Marketwired) -- 12/05/16 -- Editors Note: There is a photo associated with this press release. Winnipeg entrepreneur Kiera Fogg, mother of three, and believer in all things magical has used her love of rocks to create a unique business that is attracting the attention of Hollywood A-listers, Dragons and dreamers. When Fogg's company, Little Box of Rocks (LBOR), found itself on the holiday gift guides of Cameron Diaz and Gwyneth Paltrow last December, her sales skyrocketed and her home-based business took off overnight. Today, LBOR has not only been featured in the pages of Oprah, Chatelaine, Vogue and People Magazines, she recently took her story to Toronto and will appear in an upcoming episode of Dragons' Den which is set to air on CBC TV Wednesday, December 7th at 8:00 pm (CST). Fogg credits her success to the uniqueness of her product and the meaningful connection it creates between the sender and receiver. Dedicated to the art of inspiration through gift giving, Fogg's business creates personalized bouquets of meaningful crystals that are packaged in a keepsake box and sealed with a personalized secret message that she feels is an integral part of the experience. The secret message is truly the heart of the LBOR. Whether it's a simple congratulations, words of encouragement or an inside joke, the secret is kept private and creates a unique bond between the sender and recipient. "We've seen everything from marriage proposals to messages marking the end of chemotherapy treatments," Fogg said. Very much like a flower shop, these crystal bouquets are offered for a variety of occasions and themes like Wildfire (Success), Stardust (Birthday), Warrior (Strength), and Moonstruck (Romance). While selling rock bouquets is certainly unconventional, for Fogg it feels quite natural. As a young girl she would spend summers dreaming and exploring Northern Ontario's vast, rocky terrain where she would search for Amethyst and Pyrite, sparking a lifelong fascination with crystals and their various meanings. Today, as a 32 year-old entrepreneur, Fogg has turned her passion into purpose and it's truly paying off. Fogg and her staff fill orders from around the world and, due to high demand, is preparing to wholesale her product to select North American retailers in 2017. To view the photo / video associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://www.marketwire.com/library/20161205-Boxofrocks800.jpg Contacts: Media Contact: Karen Ilchena Karen Ilchena Communications (204) 781-5944 ilchena@shaw.ca Washington D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - December 5, 2016) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced insider trading charges against a San Francisco-based information technology specialist who allegedly hacked senior executives at online travel company Expedia and illegally traded on company secrets. The SEC alleges that Jonathan Ly, who worked in Expedia's corporate IT services department, illegally traded in advance of nine company news announcements from 2013 to 2016 and generated nearly $350,000 in profits. According to the SEC's complaint, Ly exploited administrative access privileges designated for IT personnel to remotely hack into computers and email accounts of senior executives and review confidential documents and pre-earnings reports. Ly particularly targeted information prepared by Expedia's head of investor relations summarizing Expedia's yet-to-be-announced earnings and describing how the market could react to particular announcements. Ly allegedly used this nonpublic information to make highly profitable trades in Expedia securities ahead of the announcements. "Ly allegedly exploited his role as an IT professional by stealing passwords and posing as other users in order to access Expedia's confidential information," said Jina L. Choi, Director of the SEC's San Francisco Regional Office. "Ly's alleged insider trading scheme continued even after he left Expedia when he secretly kept a company laptop and connected remotely to Expedia's network to steal confidential information." In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington announced criminal charges against Ly. To settle the charges in the SEC's complaint, which was filed in federal court in Seattle, Ly agreed to pay disgorgement of $348,515.72 plus interest of $27,391.30 for a total of $375,907.02. The settlement is subject to court approval. The SEC's investigation was conducted by John P. Mogg and supervised by Jennifer J. Lee of the San Francisco office with assistance from John Rymas of the Enforcement Division's Market Abuse Unit. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and Options Regulatory Surveillance Authority. TORONTO, December 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Assembling new team dedicated to foundational long-term relationships Bjarne Graven Larsen, Chief Investment Officer, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, today announced that Jonathan Hausman has been promoted to lead the new Global Strategic Relationships department, which is responsible for developing and cultivating mutually beneficial investment relationships around the world. His appointment as Managing Director and Head of Global Strategic Relationships is effective January 1, 2017. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161205/445531 ) "Strong relationships built over the long term are the foundation of our investment philosophy at Ontario Teachers'," said Mr. Graven Larsen. "We work with our partners to identify mutually beneficial opportunities, introducing each other to new individuals, teams and assets. Jonathan and his new team will be perfectly situated in the organization, working across our asset classes and supporting our teams in all regions globally to strengthen existing relationships and build new ones." Mr. Graven Larsen noted that this new team will integrate Ontario Teachers' efforts with its partner network in the Latin American region. Mr. Hausman joined Ontario Teachers' in 2004. He moves into his new role from Ontario Teachers' Capital Markets department, where he has been responsible for the Fund's global hedge fund portfolio, as well as its internal global macro and systematic trading strategies. Prior to joining Ontario Teachers', Mr. Hausman was Executive Director at Goldman Sachs, where he managed sovereign risk strategy and advised government clients on their external financings and international credit ratings from the London, New York and Hong Kong offices. "Jonathan has been instrumental in building our global network of partners," said Mr. Graven Larsen. "He leads our investment missions to new markets, and has led the Investment Division's Emerging Markets Committee for several years. He brings a depth of knowledge and appreciation for the unique characteristics of each region in which we invest and how best to integrate our efforts there." Jonathan holds a BA (Hons.) from McGill University, an MSc. (Econ.) from the London School of Economics, and an MPA from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He alsohas ICD.D certification from the Institute of Corporate Directors, and chairs the Advisory Board of the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and the Canadian Council for the Americas. About Ontario Teachers' The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Ontario Teachers') is Canada's largest single-profession pension plan, with $171.4 billion in net assets at December 31, 2015. It holds a diverse global portfolio of assets, 80% of which is managed in-house, and has earned an annualized rate of return of 10.3% since the plan's founding in 1990. Ontario Teachers' is an independent organization headquartered in Toronto. Its Asia-Pacific region office is located in Hong Kong and its Europe, Middle East & Africa region office is in London. The defined-benefit plan, which is fully funded, invests and administers the pensions of the province of Ontario's 316,000 active and retired teachers. For more information, visit otpp.com and follow us on Twitter @OtppInfo. Deborah Allan, Vice-President, Communications, +1(416)730-5347, deborah_allan@otpp.com TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 12/05/16 -- Homeland Energy Group Ltd. (NEX: HEG.H) ("Homeland" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the services of the transfer agent has been reinstated and the trading of the securities of the Company will be reinstated at the open of the market on Wednesday, December 7th, which was halted as a result of the termination of the services of the transfer agent. The Company also intends to hold its Annual General Meeting no later than March 30, 2017. As of this date the Company has no stock options outstanding. Homeland Energy Group Ltd. (NEX: HEG.H) is a company seeking out interests in viable projects in neighbouring countries as well as internationally. Homeland Energy Group Ltd. is currently traded on the NEX under the symbol HEG.H with 472,204,149 common shares issued and outstanding. www.homelandenergygroup.com CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. This News Release includes certain "forward-looking statements". Contacts: Ajay Gupta Homeland Energy Group Ltd. +1 416 520-4593 ajay@srkcap.com Agreement includes Localiza's purchase of the Hertz operations in Brazil and combined Localiza Hertz branding in Brazil ESTERO, Florida, Dec. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) has reached a long-term agreement with Localiza, South America's largest rental car company and the market leader in Brazil, to form a strategic partnership encompassing co-branding in Brazil and use of the Localiza brand in other select markets, customer referrals and the exchange of technology and information. As part of the agreement, which is subject to approval by the Brazilian antitrust authority (Administrative Council for Economic Defense or CADE), Localiza will purchase the Hertz operation in Brazil. Under the referral and brand cooperation aspects of the agreement, Localiza customers traveling outside of South America will be referred to Hertz reservation channels. In select markets, including the U.S., Hertz expects to display the Localiza brand at key airport locations that frequently serve visitors from Brazil. Similarly, Hertz customers traveling to Brazil will be referred to Localiza, with "Localiza Hertz" branding in many locations, providing them access to a broader network of locations and a larger vehicle fleet than currently offered by Hertz Brazil. The purchase price for the Hertz Brazil operation, which includes both rental car and vehicle leasing, is expected to be R$337 million. The final purchase price will be determined at the closing date. Both companies will continue to operate independently until the agreement receives anti-trust approval. "This agreement enables us to partner with South America's largest rental car company, extending the reach of the Hertz brand in Brazil and leveraging Localiza's customer base when they travel outside of South America. Additionally, Hertz customers traveling to Brazil will have access to an expanded service offering through Localiza's network," said John Tague, Hertz Global Holdings president and chief executive officer. "We are proud to forge a partnership with Localiza, which has a legacy of market leadership and a commitment to the same premium service levels as our Hertz brand. We expect this partnership to be a win-win for both companies." "This partnership represents a milestone in the history of car rental in Localiza and in Brazil. Hertz is a widely recognized brand with a strong international presence. We have many common qualities: business expertise, excellence in service and innovation DNA," saidEugenio Mattar, Localiza chief executive officer. About Hertz Global Hertz Global operates, through its operating company The Hertz Corporation and its subsidiaries, the Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty vehicle rental brands in approximately 10,000 corporate and franchisee locations throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Hertz Global is one of the largest worldwide airport general use vehicle rental companies, and the Hertz brand is one of the most recognized in the world. Product and service initiatives such as Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, Carfirmations, Mobile Wi-Fi and unique vehicles offered through the Adrenaline, Dream, Green and Prestige Collections set Hertz Global apart from the competition. Additionally, Hertz Global owns the vehicle leasing and fleet management leader Donlen Corporation, operates the Hertz 24/7 hourly vehicle rental business in international markets and sells vehicles through its Rent2Buy program. For more information about Hertz Global, visit: www.hertz.com. About Localiza Localiza is the largest car rental network in South America, with 564 locations in 7 countries and a fleet of 136,202 cars. It is a reference in customer service excellence and recognized by numerous awards in its category. Its ability to innovate makes it a protagonist in the car rental market in Brazil. More than 6 million customers use its car rental solutions and its cutting edge products to have a superior experience. Spotlight on Localiza Fidelidade (loyalty program), which has already distributed more than 1.3 million free rental days and also upgrades, the program offers more convenience, agility and exclusive service; Localiza Way, a gadget that offers GPS, wi-fi network, music through Spotify and direct connection with Customer Assistance; Localiza Express, self-service totem that guarantees more agility to customers in the process of picking up the cars in the branches; Mobile checkout, which makes it possible to close the contract, guaranteeing more agility and simplicity to the process of returning the cars; App designed for reservations, car upgrades, follow the route of the van, open contracts through "I have arrived" button, a pre-service that allows the customer to pick up the car even faster; Localiza Prime, group of luxury cars, like the models BMW 320i and Volvo S60; And the latest innovation of Localiza, an unprecedented technology in Latin America to pick up of the car without going through the service desk: the customer only needs a mobile application to open the door of the car and in less than a minute leaves by driving the car. TORONTO, ONTARIO and NUCLA, COLORADO -- (Marketwired) -- 12/05/16 -- Western Uranium Corporation (CSE: WUC) (CSE: WUC.CN)(OTCQX: WSTRF) ("Western" or the "Company") announces that directors of Western will be attending the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference 2017 to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on January 22-23, 2017 sponsored by Cambridge House International. Company representatives will be available for meetings with shareholders and stakeholders. If you wish to meet with Western representatives, please email the Company's Investor Relations department at ir@western-uranium.com to set up a meeting. As previously disclosed in the November 3, 2016 news release, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the "NRC") has provided an unsupported advisory opinion (the "Advisory Opinion") to the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment (the "CDPHE") on the requested matters relating to the production of U308 utilizing ablation mining technology - an Advisory Opinion with which Western's expert regulatory counsel do not agree. On December 1, 2016, Western received a CDPHE decision letter regarding the regulation of ablation mining technology (AMT) through a milling license for the Company's proposed conventional mining operation at Sunday Mine. Further the decision provisions for consideration of alternative disposal methods subject to the approval of both the CDPHE and NRC because the wastes have been documented to possess significantly less radiological and hazardous risk than typical uranium mill tailings. The CDPHE regulatory determination follows the Advisory Opinion provided by NRC and allows the Company to continue pilot testing of AMT under the qualifications for a source material general license. This determination provides Western new regulatory certainty as to how to proceed to fully leverage the multiple potential applications of AMT to uranium recovery operations, site remediation, environmental cleanup, and other applications. Western remains committed to the development of AMT in accordance with appropriate regulatory requirements whether it is deployed in conjunction with an existing uranium mill license, at uranium mine sites as a mobile mill pursuant to an amendment to an existing uranium mill license, or used for the primary purpose of the environmental remediation of accumulations of mine waste-rock, protore, and low grade stockpiles. About Western Uranium Corporation Western Uranium Corporation is a Colorado based uranium and vanadium conventional mining company focused on low cost near-term production of uranium and vanadium in the western United States and development and application of ablation mining technology. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS AND CAUTIONARY NOTE This news release may contain forward-looking statements that are based on the Company's expectations, estimates and projections regarding its business and the economic environment in which it operates. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to control or predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements and readers should not place undue reliance on such statements. Statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. Contacts: George Glasier President and CEO 970-864-2125 gglasier@western-uranium.com Michael Skutezky Chairman of the Board 416-564-2870 mskutezky@western-uranium.com PLEASANTON, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 12/05/16 -- Sensiba San Filippo LLP (SSF), a leading Northern California-based accounting and business consulting firm, is pleased to announce the addition of Jarrett Warner to the SSF team. With over 13 years of experience in public accounting, Warner has joined SSF after more than a decade at an international accounting firm, where he most recently held a role as Tax Director. Warner has significant experience managing and implementing tax strategies for a wide range of industries and individuals. In addition to holding leadership roles in multiple firms, Warner has also co-instructed a course on S-corporations at Santa Clara University. "We are very pleased to welcome Jarrett as a Senior Manager at SSF," says John Sensiba, Managing Partner of Sensiba San Filippo. "We take great pride in the level of talent and professionalism we bring to our clients, and we are all very excited to have Jarrett as a part of our tax team." About Sensiba San Filippo With 40 years of experience, Sensiba San Filippo LLP (SSF) ranks among the region's top 20 public accounting firms. Offering comprehensive assurance, tax and consulting services, the Firm has a regional focus with global expertise. As a member of Morison KSI, SSF is a part of an international association of affiliated accounting firms that supports their clients' global business needs in over 88 countries. Headquartered in Pleasanton, the Firm has offices in Oakland, San Mateo, San Jose, Morgan Hill and San Francisco. For more information, visit www.ssfllp.com. Contact: Jennifer Cantero Sensiba San Filippo LLP 925.271.8700 jcantero@ssfllp.com Peugeot, Citroen and DS PSA Group (Paris:UG) has created The Business Lab, a new initiative that plans to meet the development of new automobile uses. The new unit, part of the deployment of the Push to Pass strategic plan, aims to detect, experiment and transform opportunities into new businesses for the Group, particularly with regard to Mobility and Digital issues. Led by Anne Laliron, Director, the Business Lab is based on three main activities: a Business Innovation Hub to detect business and technological innovations, by promoting interactions with innovative ecosystems, at a world level, and by being the privileged entry point for startups; a Business Factory to carry out full-scale experiments of new value proposals for its customers; a Venture Development initiative to facilitate the creation of partnerships with innovative startups and to take minority stakes through capital risk funds and directly. As part of the Venture Development activity, the Business Lab has signed a partnership agreement with Idinvest Partners. FinSMEs 05/12/2016 Mumbai: Ousted Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry today alleged that Ratan Tata "undermined a key reform" for introduction of an "incentive linked to productivity" at Tata Motors by asking for public support from the auto major's labour unions. In a scathing attack on Ratan Tata, Mistry in a letter to the shareholders of group firms, that have called for an extraordinary general meeting to remove him as director, said the "key reform measure" was undermined for getting the trade union's support. "Tata Motors was close to finalising for the first time, a productivity-based agreement with labour unions. Ratan Tata called the labour unions and asked the union leaders for their public support and in return undermined the introduction of the incentive linked to productivity," Mistry wrote. The union leaders were paraded before the waiting media and Tata Motors did not get the benefit of a key work reform measure, he added. On 13 November, ahead of Tata Motors' crucial board meeting, two unions of the company representing around 16,000 employees had written to the management expressing their support to Ratan Tata. In a letter to Tata Motors CEO and Managing Director Guenter Butschek, Tata Motors Employees Union, Pune expressed "deep concern" over the rift between Tata Sons and the leadership of Tata group companies. Similarly, in a letter to the plant head of Tata Motors' Jamshedpur unit, Telco Workers Union termed Ratan Tata as "our another great leader" and invoked his saying "if you want to walk fast walk alone but if you want to walk far walk together" to express their support. Tata Motors has called an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on 22 December to seek shareholders' approval for removing Cyrus Mistry and Nusli Wadia as directors of the company. Ousted from Tata Sons, Mistry continues as Chairman of the group firms like Tata Motors and Tata Chemicals. Tata Motors has called an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on 22 December to seek shareholders' approval for removing Cyrus Mistry and Nusli Wadia as directors of the company. In a sudden and dramatic turn of events last month, Mistry was unceremoniously removed as the chairman of Tata Sons and replaced by his predecessor Ratan Tata in the interim, triggering a confrontation between the single-largest shareholder and the Tatas. Returning to Tata Sons after the abrupt removal of Mistry, Ratan Tata has moved quickly to consolidate his grip over USD 103 billion salt-to-software group by seeking to remove the ousted chairman from boards of major group firms. TCS has called an EGM on 13 December, Indian Hotels Co Ltd on 20 December, Tata Steel on 21 December, Tata Motors on 22 December, Tata Chemicals on 23 December and Tata Power on 26 December to seek Mistry's ouster as director. Even after being removed as chairman of Tata Sons - the holding company of the Tata Group, Mistry continues to head the group's several listed firms including Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals. Mumbai-based Tata Motors is India's largest automobile company, with consolidated revenues of Rs 2,75,561 crore in 2015-16. New Delhi: US-based handset maker InFocus will soon launch a new smartphone in India that will support Aadhaar authentication using the iris scanner on the device. Priced at under Rs 12,000, the device will be made available early next year. InFocus has been awarded STQC (Standardization Testing and Quality Certification) from the Indian government and the company plans to launch more device supporting Aadhaar authentication in the future. STQC certification authenticates the use of Iris-recognition devices, used for biometric authentication linked under the Aadhaar project. "InFocus smartphone features IriTech's superior iris image quality assessment and on-board K7 generation algorithm to provide good quality images and avoid false positives while maximising true positive identification rates," InFocus India Country Head Sachin Thapar. Apart from UIDAI, IriTech also works with government agencies in the US, Kenya and Columbia. The smartphone with embedded algorithm can complete an image capture and K7 image generation in less than 2 seconds. It can capture the iris image under various environments, including under direct sunlight. "Moreover, the biometric data from the InFocus device gets encrypted by a UIDAI key at the chip level in device, making it impossible for anyone but the Aadhaar server to see the information. Such encryption prevents information leakage of all kinds," he said. Thapar said there is a great potential in the integration of iris recognition technology in a ubiquitous device like smartphone. "While the M425 will be made available in the next 2-3 months, we will bring more devices with this technology as we have received the certification," he added. Currently, Samsung is the only phone maker to have already embedded Delta ID's ActiveIRIS technology in its Galaxy Tab Iris. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has held discussions with handset makers and operating system providers to embed the identification technology onto their devices. The availability of smart devices that are Aadhaar-enabled will help people authenticate their Aadhaar biometrics on the phone itself to avail of various government schemes, subsidies and services. "The InFocus Aadhaar-enabled iris smartphone is a great example of the innovation possible on the Aadhaar platform. The phone is timely as it can be used for applications like opening instant bank accounts with eKYC and as a cashless microATM for merchant payments. This will accelerate JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) implementation," said Nandan Nilekani, former Chairman of UIDAI. The M425 is a 4G-VoLTE enabled smartphone, powered by 1.5 GHz quad-core processor. The dual SIM phone features 4.5-inch display, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory (expandable up to 64GB) and 2,300mAh battery. Stating that the device can be used as a secure and reliable biometric solution in various arenas like banking, E-PDS (Electronic Public Distribution System), MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural employment Guarantee Act) payments, E-governance services such as passport, taxation, healthcare and education, Thapar said this also represents a huge leap towards facilitating biometric identification. "It also eliminates use of any separate devices for biometric identification," he added. MELBOURNE India's Adani Enterprises Ltd reached a milestone on Monday in its bid to build a controversial $16 billion coal project in northern Australia, winning approval for part of a rail link to service the planned mine.The mine has now secured all major state and federal government approvals, said the Queensland state government, whose premier will meet with chairman and founder Gautam Adani in the northern city of Townsville on Tuesday.Adani was also expected to meet with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Monday, amid local media speculation the federal government could contribute A$1 billion (583.55 million pounds)in rail funding."I do expect to meet Mr Adani and I have got no doubt we will be discussing his proposed substantial investment in Queensland," Turnbull told reporters in Melbourne.The Carmichael mine has faced years of legal delays and rollercoaster coal prices, amid strident opposition from environmentalists opposed to coal mining and concerned at the impact the mine will have on the Great Barrier Reef. Adani, India's biggest solar power producer and top coal-fired generator, said in October it was preparing to start construction of the mine in 2017, although it still faces several court challenges and appeals. Queensland state premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she will meet Gautam Adani on Tuesday to gain an assurance the firm will use local labor for the coal, rail and port project, rather than foreign workers. The mine would be twice the size of Australia's current largest coal mine and would yield as much as 60 million tonnes of coal per year from the site for 60 years.Prices for the thermal coal Adani would mine have doubled since June to more than $100 a tonne last month as electricity generators across Asia clamor for limited supplies, but have recently eased back to around $90. Adani last month said it had secured land to build two solar farms in Australia, together worth A$400 million ($300 million) as part of a five-year drive to construct 1,500 megawatts of solar energy plants in the country. (Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Richard Pullin) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Alex Lawler | LONDON LONDON OPEC's oil output set another record high in November ahead of a deal to cut production, a Reuters survey found on Monday, helped by higher Iraqi exports and extra barrels from two nations exempted from cutting supply - Nigeria and Libya.The latest rise in supply means the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will have a bigger task in complying with a plan to cut supply starting in 2017 - its first production-reduction deal since 2008.Supply from OPEC increased to 34.19 million barrels per day (bpd) in November from 33.82 million bpd in October, according to the survey based on shipping data and information from industry sources.Brent crude rose above $55 a barrel on Monday, trading at a 16-month high, on prospects of a tighter market next year following OPEC's deal. Prices are still half their level of mid-2014."OPEC's decision to cut production has removed a lot of downside risk for 2017," said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB, even though "some cheating is a natural habit among OPEC's members". Based on the November survey, OPEC is pumping 1.69 million bpd above the 32.50 million bpd production target that it agreed last week to adopt from January 2017, following an outline agreement reached in September.Supply has risen since OPEC in 2014 dropped its historic role of fixing output to prop up prices as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran pumped more. Production also climbed due to the return of Indonesia in 2015 and Gabon in July as members.November's supply from OPEC excluding Gabon and Indonesia, at 33.23 million bpd, is the highest in Reuters survey records starting in 1997. At last week's meeting, Indonesia suspended its membership again. In November, Angola provided the largest supply boost as planned maintenance on the Dalia crude stream ended.Output also climbed in Iraq due to record exports, lifting supply to 4.62 million bpd in November according to the survey. Iran, which was allowed to raise output under the OPEC deal as sanctions had crimped its supply, pumped 40,000 bpd more.Indonesian output rose by 10,000 bpd. Libya and Nigeria, both of which are exempt from the supply cut due to the impact on their output from conflict, boosted production in November.Among countries with lower output, the biggest drop came from top exporter Saudi Arabia due to reduced crude use in power plants for air-conditioning, and lower refiner processing, sources in the survey estimated.The Reuters survey is based on shipping data provided by external sources, Thomson Reuters flows data, and information provided by sources at oil companies, OPEC and consulting firms. (Additional reporting by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Dale Hudson) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Noah Barkin | BERLIN BERLIN The resounding "no" from Italian voters to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's referendum on constitutional reform was not a rejection of the European Union and its single currency, as jubilant populists from across the bloc claimed on Monday.But the vote, which pushes Renzi out of office, does represent a significant setback for Europe at a time when its leaders are scrambling to mount a credible response to Brexit, the election of Donald Trump in the United States and their stubborn economic woes at home.In one fell swoop, it adds another country to the list of EU members that are likely to be pre-occupied by domestic politics in 2017, a year in which the Dutch, French, Germans, and possibly the British, will go to the polls.And it sends a warning to other European reformers like Francois Fillon, the conservative frontrunner for the French presidency, who has promised no less than five referendums to push through his domestic agenda if he is elected next spring.More immediately, despite the relatively calm reaction of financial markets on Monday, the vote will deepen concerns about Italy's under-funded banking sector and the economic prospects of the euro zone's third biggest member state.That, in turn, could complicate the calculus for the European Central Bank, which meets on Thursday to decide on the future of its controversial bond purchase programme."This won't push Italy back into crisis for now," said Marcel Fratzscher, head of the DIW economic institute in Berlin and a former top official at the European Central Bank."But it means lost time for a country that faces huge problems with its banks, its enormous public debt levels and high unemployment. There is a significant danger that the reform course will now slow."BREXIT PARALLEL Renzi, seen by his European partners as an anchor of stability in a country where political upheaval has been the norm for decades, won just over 40 percent of the vote in the referendum, a far worse result than polls had predicted.His defeat comes only days after deeply unpopular French President Francois Hollande, also a leftist, bowed to political realities and announced he would not seek a second term.Renzi's departure could lead to early elections in Italy next year. It increases the risks of the anti-euro 5-Star Movement gaining power, although the prospect of that remains slim.After the Brexit vote went bad for David Cameron in June, it is the second time in half a year that the leader of a major EU member state tied his future to a referendum and lost, a development that was seized upon by the region's anti-EU firebrands."The Italians rejected Renzi and the EU," Marine Le Pen of France's far-right National Front said on Twitter. "This vote looks to me to be more about the euro than constitutional change," added Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party (UKIP).But unlike Britain, polls show that a solid majority of Italian voters are in favour of both the EU and the euro. They were encouraged to vote "no" by all of the major parties in Italy outside of Renzi's Partito Democratico (PD).His defeat therefore, which came on the same day that Austrian voters sent a far-right candidate to defeat in a presidential run-off, looks less like a rejection of Europe and the political establishment, and more like a serious miscalculation on the part of Renzi."When a prime minister who will always be remembered for taking office through an old-style party coup calls a national referendum in a country that's still struggling to emerge from a triple-dip recession, he can expect an unfavourable result," said Nicholas Spiro of Lauressa Advisory. CRUNCH TIME That won't cushion the impact for Europe, whose leaders have promised to unveil their post-Brexit vision for the EU in the Italian capital next March, the 60th anniversary of the bloc's founding Rome treaty. Who will host that summit is now an open question.The same month, Dutch voters will go to the polls and British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to invoke Article 50 of the EU treaty, triggering a tight two-year countdown to Brexit -- a timeline made all the more challenging by Europe's heavy election calendar.Only a month later, the first round of the French election will take place.Polls suggest that will produce a showdown between Le Pen and Fillon, the hardline conservative who is advocating a radical overhaul of the French economy through deep cuts in public sector jobs and the scrapping of the 35-hour workweek.Fillon has proposed a total of five referendums: one to enshrine a balanced budget law in the constitution, a second to overhaul French territorial authorities, a third to unwind France's generous pension regimes, a fourth on immigration quotas and a fifth - in an echo of Renzi's own referendum - to reduce the number of parliamentarians.Far more than the Italian referendum, the French vote is shaping up as a make-or-break moment for Europe and its political mainstream. Fillon, no doubt, will be watching what is now unfolding in France's southern neighbour as he girds for battle. "The French election will be the crucial test for Europe," said Dominique Moisi of the Institut Montaigne. "To counter Le Pen, Fillon may have to move to the centre. He will have to put quite a bit of water in his traditionalist wine." (Reporting by Noah Barkin; editing by Anna Willard) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Employees' unions have demanded that the banks should be shut down for 15 days, until the Reserve Bank of India prints enough currency to meet the demand of the customers, a report in The Economic Times has said. RBI should take a view to stop banking operations for 15 days till adequate money is available. Let RBI close the banks till money comes, CH Venkatachalam, chief of the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), has told the newspaper. The union has been of the view that the RBI was not at all prepared for such a grand scheme of demonetisation and that the central bank has faltered in its implementation. Over the weekend, bank ATMs across the country witnessed long queues of customers waiting to withdraw cash after the salary day. Banks were under pressure on Friday, the first salary day after the government announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on 8 November, but weekends saw bigger crowds at ATMs as customers sought to stock up cash ahead of the week days. However, the cash crunch continued as there is scarcity of notes of lower denomination such as Rs 500 and Rs 100. Customers have been getting Rs 2,000 notes from ATMs which they are finding it difficult to use for want of smaller denominations. It is in this context that the bank staff union has demanded that banks should be kept shut until the RBI is ready with cash. According to media reports, Rs 500 notes are being printed but there is a 21-day lag for for these notes to come into the banks. It is to be noted that the RBI has not yet come out with exact details of how much currency has been printed and how cash is dispatched to the banks. The union has also demanded more transparency from the central bank. At a press conference in Chennai, Venkatachalam also said the staff will resort to protests in the next 10 days to bring the plight of the staff to the notice of the government. On 2 December, AIBEA and the All India Bank Officers' Association had written a letter detailing the hardships the staff at various branches are facing. The acute shortage of notes is forcing branches to ration cash disbursal and this is resulting in tensions, exchange of words, quarrel, abuses, insults, insinuations on bank staff, the letter said. "While RBI is repeatedly making public statements that adequate cash is being supplied to banks, the reality is otherwise. These statements are making the public to feel that RBI is supplying cash to Banks and bank staff are deliberately not extending payments," the letter said. The fumes that have arisen ever since PM Narendra Modi made the demonetisation announcement on 8 November refuses to abate. The public has been standing in long queues ever since with many having to return empty handed, some being given less than their requested amounts and most ATMs dispensing only Rs 2000 notes while many went dry. Over the weekend, the trouble just heightened for the common man as customers rushed to ATMs to withdraw their salary credited just a day or two back. The queues before ATMs were lengthier and stretched beyond late night at certain places. Meanwhile, supporters and those opposing the scheme continued their war of words. Here's a round-up of what happened over the weekend: Need clear tax laws to prevent black money creation: Niti chief Terming taxation laws in the country as ill-defined, Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya called for removing ambiguities in them so as to do away with "discretion of the tax officer". He also said that demonetisation of high value currency is just one step to combat black money, and more needs to be done. "Tax reform is really important to curb black money," he said at a panel discussion here. Retailers asked to accept old Rs 500 note for recharges: COAI Amid complaints about non-acceptance of old Rs 500 notes for mobile recharges at some places, cellular operators body COAI has said the companies have given strict guidelines to accept these notes from customers but retailers and distributors cannot be forced. COAI Director General Rajan Mathews said that operators have provided strict guidelines to their distributors and retailers for accepting and processing Rs 500 demonetised notes so that no inappropriate activity, contrary to the objectives of the government, takes place. "However, these retailers and distributors cannot be forced to do something they do not want to do, if they believe the process is tedious. Depositing black money in banks will not make it white: FM Issuing a veiled warning, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said one cannot convert black money into white by merely depositing unaccounted cash in bank accounts as taxes are required to be paid on them. "By just depositing it (unaccounted money), you don't avoid the responsibility of paying tax," he said when asked about surge in deposits in banks following withdrawal of high denomination currency notes. He further said the income tax department is keeping an eye on such deposits. Goyal describes demonetisation scheme 100 percent success Power Minister Piyush Goyal described the decision to demonetise currency notes "100 per cent success" and said money which was not kept in bank accounts has come into formal economy and now is traceable. "We have never imagined that (black) money will not be deposited in banks. We have given 50 days time to deposit (old currency notes of Rs 500/1,000) money," Goyal told reporters. Kerala FM terms demonetisation as national calamity Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac described the Centre's decision to demonetise old Rs 500 and 1,000 notes a "national calamity" which has put the nation in a turmoil. "There is going to be a severe downturn. Even if you take 2 percent (decline in GDP as suggested by former prime minister Manmohan Singh)... it means something like loss of production of Rs 2.5 lakh crore...," Isaac said, adding that the Centre's move is now impacting almost all sectors of the economy. He dubbed it as a failed exercise, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi is shifting the goalpost to cashless economy. Petrol pumps get into digital overdrive, play up wallets Making a push to promote digital payment post demonetisation, petrol pumps across the country have installed infrastructure to accept not just credit and debit cards but e-wallets and mobile wallets as an alternative to cash. Also, over 4,800 petrol pumps across the country are dispensing Rs 2,000 per card a day through POS machine swipes and have dispensed Rs 65 crore in the past two weeks. Aiyar says Modi bungled big time on note ban implementation Noted journalist Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar criticised the note ban, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi has bungled on a big scale so far but added he may still come out successful with some doles to the poor. He also warned that nobody has fully gauged demonetisation's impact on the economy. Blaming Modi's lack of trust in anyone for the poor handling of the demonetisation move, he said it was done in great secrecy with even his own senior Cabinet colleagues not kept in the loop. Modi does not trust his own Cabinet or anyone else, due to which he was incapable of preparing it well. The result is that it has been bungled on a very big scale, Aiyar said. RuPay card usage jumps 118 pc in 1st week of demonetization RuPay card usage jumped by over 118.6 percent in the week following demonetisation that took effect from 8 November midnight while the overall debit and credit card transactions recorded an increase of 70.5 percent. According to RBI data, the usage of RuPay card at POS terminals soared by as much as 200.6 per cent to 46.6 lakh transactions during November 9-15. This compares with 15.5 lakh swipes during November 1-8. Two-day seminar by CAIT to educate traders on e-payment Seeking to educate traders about digital payment framework, a two-day seminar was organised by an umbrella body of traders to ease them in transitioning to a different transaction format. With the kind of developments happening in the country we as traders will have to look for ways to enhance acceptance of digital payment to shift from traditional cash-based economy, said Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General, CAIT. Bank unions seek Jaitley's intervention to end cash-shortage Two large bank unions on 2 December demanded immediate intervention of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in ending the acute cash shortage in the system following the demonetisation of high-value notes last month. In a letter written to Jaitley, All-India Bank Employees Association and All-India Bank Officers Association said: "You (Jaitley) are very well aware of the problems being faced by the bank staff and customers after 8 November (when demonetisation was announced). Even after so many days we find that problem of acute cash shortage persists due to lack of lower denomination notes and non-functional ATMs," the letter said. Rs 2.5 lakh crore won't come back into banking system: SBI State Bank of India has estimated that money worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore may not come back into the banking system post demonetisation of high-value notes. On 8 November, the government banned banknotes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 worth over Rs 14 lakh crore from the economy. As per the SBI analysis, the market estimate of Rs 14.18 lakh crore currency excluding cash with banks -- is based on March 2016 data while in reality it should be based on data available as on 9 November, a day after demonetisation was announced. SBI noted that going by data as on 9 November, the amount of high currency denomination notes was Rs 15.44 lakh crore (excluding cash in the banks), an increase of Rs 1.26 lakh crore compared to the March figure. Cash pain remains as demand outstrips supply Shortage of cash continued to make things difficult as ATMs ran out of money quickly even as banks rationed valid notes to meet requirements of as many customers as possible. There were reports suggesting that bank branches from across the country did not get sufficient cash to take care of pay day withdrawals. While RBI placed weekly withdrawal limit of Rs 24,000 per person, bank branches on their own have further lowered the ceiling to make cash available to more people. The ATMs too did not come to the rescue either as most went dry soon after being loaded with cash, given the huge pent-up demand. Many ATMs were dispensing mainly Rs 2,000 notes. Demonetisation: 27 senior PSU banks officials suspended In a major crackdown on bank employees involved in irregularities post demonetisation, as many as 27 senior officials of various public sector banks have been suspended and six others transferred to check corrupt practices. The suspensions come amid reports of Income Tax authorities conducting search and seizure in many places, including one at Bengaluru where Rs 5.7 crore cash in new currency notes was recovered from two businessmen. India Ratings lowers GDP forecast to 6.8% post demonetisation India Ratings today lowered its GDP forecast for 2016-17 to 6.8 percent from 7.8 percent earlier, stating that the demonetisation drive will lead to an erosion of Rs 1.5 trillion this fiscal. "We have revised GDP growth forecast for 2016-17 to 6.8 percent, 100 basis points lower than earlier projection of 7.8 percent. The downward revision is a fallout of the disruptions caused at various levels in the economy due to the de-legalisation of banknotes from November 9, which according to our analysis can cost economy a Rs 1.5 trillion," it said. With PTI At around 6 pm on Sunday, PTI put out the following tweet, attributing this information to the AIADMK: AIIMS experts have confirmed TN CM #Jayalalithaa has completely recovered, will return home soon: @AIADMKOfficial. (File pic) pic.twitter.com/B3lyj2Mrkq Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 4, 2016 At around the same time, cardiologists, pulmonologists and a battery of critical care physicians were struggling to revive Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. She had suffered a massive cardiac arrest at 5 pm and had been immediately put on ECMO or extra-corporeal membrane heart assist device. This is a life-sustaining intervention to provide both cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange to sustain life. Either the party apparatus was blissfully unaware of the development or was deliberately trying to mislead everyone. That Tamil Nadu's political culture is famously opaque when it comes to disseminating information is well known. In this case, medical bulletins in the initial days only spoke of fever and dehydration and it was only when critical care specialist Dr Richard Beale was flown in from London to corroborate the line of treatment that people realised there was more than what meets the eye. For the better part of the 70-odd days, Jayalalithaa has been on the ventilator, as she is suffering from Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. She has also been given passive physiotherapy. In fact, people reacted with surprise when she put her thumb impression on the forms of the party candidates in the by-elections. The reason given was that her right hand was swollen. Only in the past two weeks or so when Apollo Hospitals chairman Dr Prathap Reddy has been speaking to the media, has there been some clarity on the chief minister's condition. The discussion at the hospital centered around when Jayalalithaa could be discharged. But Sunday evening has pushed the situation back to square one. A top source grimly described the chief minister's condition as "more than critical". But while the mainstream media has reported on Jayalalithaa's health with restraint not overstepping the line, refusing to speculate, WhatsApp has shown itself to be the spoilt cousin. With every forward giving incorrect information under the halo of authenticity, WhatsApp converted Chennai and several cities around the world into a web of rumours. Many received WhatsApp messages that there would be an editors' meet at midnight. No clue as to who had called for it. Some spoke of Section 144 imposed in Chennai. Again wrong. All of them designed to create panic and confusion. On Twitter, several people tweeted mentioning the worst. Suddenly a lot many people "knew" a doctor working at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai or were "friends" with one of the doctors in the Aiims team. As evening passed into the night, the media contingent (or circus, as the critics would like to say) had become very large. It will only get larger as Monday wears on. Battling sleep, tiredness, anxiety, rain and the mosquitoes of Greams Road. Jayalalithaa's health is a big story to cover for all media print, television and digital. Regional, national and international. But at the same time, it runs the risk of degenerating into a Peepli Live. Accuracy in disseminating news is the only way to fight rumour-mongering. The entire Tamil Nadu police machinery has been on duty since 7 am on Monday, suggesting the law and order machinery is gearing up for something untoward. This kind of a bandobast has not been seen since 22 September when Jayalalithaa was admitted to hospital. What would really help is if the administration told the citizens the truth, so long as it didn't compromise the law and order situation. In October, more than 50 people were arrested by the Tamil Nadu police for spreading rumours about Jayalalithaa's health. Many of these arrests were on the basis of complaints filed by the AIADMK IT wing. Ironically, the same party spread wrong information about its own leader. Information and accurate one at that is always at a premium in Tamil Nadu. That makes the challenge of doing journalism all the more in the state. especially at a time like this. Since Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday, everything in the state seems to be in suspended animation although normal life in the city and elsewhere is unaffected. The entire AIADMK leadership, ministers and a large number of party workers are camping in and around Apollo Hospitals on Greams Road, where she has been admitted since Sunday evening, when the hospital issued a press release announcing the latest setback. The hospital had confirmed earlier that she had completely recovered from the medical conditions for which she was admitted and was on a path of recuperation. An AIADMK leader had also announced a few hours earlier that she would be going home soon. Its rather impossible to gather anything new other than what the hospital has said: That she is on an extracorporeal membrane heart assist device and is being treated by a team of experts that includes cardiologists, pulmonologists and critical care specialists. The hospital did admit that she was in a critical condition. Even as get-well messages pour in from all over the country from national and state government leaders and ministers, all that Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK leadership, her supporters and well-wishers can do is to wait. The procedure that the hospital said that it has conducted on her is not very unusual in critical situations and it does take time for the patient to stabilise and recover. In simple terms, extracorporeal membrane heart assist device means that the functions of her heart and lungs have been temporarily taken over by an external machine (extracorporeal means outside the body). Right now, she is on such a life support system because of the cardiac arrest and it takes the load from her heart and lungs and helps her recover. Its somewhat similar to a heart-lung machine thats commonly used during a coronary bypass surgery. Given that the emotions of party workers run high during such distress situations, the state administration is reportedly taking all necessary precautions for ensuring normal life. Media reports said that senior police officers across the state have been ordered to report for law and order duty by Monday morning. There were also reports that both the state cabinet and the top brass of the police held late night meetings on Sunday night to ensure that there are no untoward incidents. Live TV feeds from the surrounding areas of the hospital showed considerable frenzy among her supporters. Prayers by groups of women appears to be a common sight. Party supporters are also organising prayers everywhere across the state. Anything beyond whats officially announced is speculation. Since Sunday, social media has been rife with rumours and unconfirmed reports, some of which were mischievous and misleading. Doctors will have to wait and watch and her supporters have to hope for the best. Medical literature shows that the present situation could last a few days. Reportedly, Dr Richard Beale, the critical care specialist from the UK, who had advised Apollo Hospitals on her treatment earlier, as well as the team from All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (Aiims) have been consulted and they will provide continued to support. Jaya was admitted at the Apollo Hospitals more than two months ago with distress to her lungs and heart and also some infection. Although the hospital was tight-lipped about her condition initially, it later admitted that she was on respiratory support and on medicines to fight the infection. Later on, the hospital chairman Dr PC Reddy himself told the media that she had fully recovered and could go home whenever she was ready. Chennai: In the passing of Jayalalithaa Jayaram, the late Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, its not the state that is now facing a void. National politics per se is facing a void that is most difficult to fill, in contemporary terms of Centre-state relations and regional party equations at the national level. It would be even more so for her party, the AIADMK, and for the Tamil Nadu polity, in relative terms. For starters, the state polity and elections will not be the same again. Though supposedly centred on Jaya now, and her political mentor, MG Ramachandran (MGR) earlier, Tamil Nadu politics since DMKs Karunanidhi became chief minister in 1969, has remained Karunanidhi-centric. In context, the AIADMK under MGR first, and Jaya later on, became central to anti-Karunanidhi politics, with religion and corruption becoming the twin electoral focal points. Its another matter that corruption thrived through the regimes of MGR and Jaya, too. Today, when Jaya is no more, and there is no successor to take the AIADMK forward to comfortable electoral wins on its own steam that she alone had achieved in Dravidian Tamil Nadu without any major alliance partner, there is a political vacuum that cannot be filled. With Karunanidhi too aging, and also ailing from time to time, and also becoming less and less relevant to DMKs internal politics viz son MK Stalin, Jayas exit may have thrown up new equations, which are however, yet to take shape. Whether or not they consolidate, and that the future may look unstable for political and electoral Tamil Nadu is a point to ponder, over the coming months and possibly years. If so, why, if not, why not are the kind of questions that have been asked within closed circles almost since Jaya was hospitalised on 22 September at times as if the people who raked up such questions did not have a heart. Born into a relatively affluent family, where mother Sandhya ended up having to shift base to Chennai from royal Mysuru, to eke out a living, Jaya followed in her footsteps to become a film heroine when she was still in her early teens. Through her years dominating the South Indian film industry, most especially Tamil, she ended up becoming the most sought-after gal of Kollywood long before the Kodambakkam tinsel town got the name, borrowed from Bollywood, in turn from Hollywood. Chosen by MGR, a superstar of all times in Indian cinema, who went on to repeat the success in electoral politics in his time, after splitting away from the DMK parent in 1972, first as his heroine of choice in the mid-1960s and later as political heir and successor, Jaya did not fail him, or herself, or her producers or the cadres and voters. Yet, when it came to living her life, she was aloof and distant in her school days, possibly from childhood scars which mother Sandhya never possibly got the time of the day to see and heal. All of it only went on to make a great success of Jaya as a politician first, and a greater success as chief minister and AIADMK supremo. To be fair, MGR had made aloofness from the second line his own trait after forming the AIADMK, possibly not trusting all those that had deserted the DMK and Karunanidhi, when the wind was favourable to him. If Jayas aloofness had made her a bibliophile of sorts in childhood and later as a film star, as a face from the tinsel town, her depth, knowledge and presentation as a party member of the Rajya Sabha, by MGR, brought her respect and regard from political Delhi, which is as vicious as it is appreciative. Jaya won good friends in her time, but would not allow anyone to walk with her as equals, possibly a trait she had told an interviewer she might have borrowed from Indira Gandhi, a kind of role model for her. This, she would repeat, with greater frequency and lesser elan, nearer home, stamping down personality ladders that had helped her climb up, at times even against their collective mentor in the unquestionable MGR. Incumbent state Congress president, S Thirunavukkarasar, was one of them within the AIADMK, where he had originally belonged but he is not the only one. As Jaya lay in state, and a stream of cadres and visitors trooped down around the body, the question would be asked by each one of them, to the next in murmurs and to himself or herself, with deep introspection. Apart from the anti-Karunanidhi politics that MGR perfected in his time, what all did she stand for, or fight for? To put it mildly, it was simply nothing. To say that Jaya and the AIADMK on the one hand and the DMK on the other divided the state between themselves, and hence the state-driven pan-Tamil polity of decades, owes as much to the rest of them all than the Big Two, whether as parties or personalities. Suffice it to point out that none of them had the charisma (built over years), political acumen that others did not possess, and more importantly, or a sense of timing and purpose, with which others were unwilling to experiment. That way, Jaya was the right person, at the right time for a party that was orphaned after MGRs death, and split vertically between her and MGRs widow, the late Janaki Ramachandran. If Janaki took with her the dubious record of being chief minister for the shortest period, Jaya holds the perfect record for winning two Assembly elections in a row since becoming chief minister for the first time in 1991. If Rajiv Gandhi's assassination was a contributory factor, she was not the one to yield ground. Her period as an ally, first of the Congress and of the BJP, later on, saw her weakening them in the state primarily and at the national-level, otherwise. Former prime ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee are examples of how Jaya would want to dictate terms, whatever they be, and would not think twice, to give them a shock-treatment of the political kind, despite the AIADMK being a political beneficiary of the existing alliances of those times. Yet, it was this approach of hers, defying the laws of political nature, that also caused her intermittent doom. Thus, only after the late Kumaraswamy Raja in 1952, Jayalalithaa became the only Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, to have lost an Assembly election, not only for the party, but her own seat Bargur in Dharmapuri district (1996). It also meant that for over a decade when alliance politics was the order of the day at the national-level, the AIADMK, and hence Jaya did not have any leverage. If all this had meant that Jaya thought for her own, and acted for her own and for her party, she did prove her point in the 2014 General Election. When the rest of the nation voted Narendra Damodardas Modi for prime minister, in Jayas Tamil Nadu, they voted for the lady, instead. To the extent that she made every successive prime minister of her time call on her at her Poes Garden residence in the centre of Chennai, she had made her political point even more clear yet, would not yield, neither politically nor electorally. Its thus that taking a leaf out of mentor MGR's book that Jaya learnt how to go to the cadres over the head of the party, and to the masses over the head of even the cadres, possibly. Its this that won the party for her after losing the post-MGR 1989 Assembly elections, with Janaki too fighting from the other side, but soon the cadres were with her, and the voters, later on. Jayas childhood aloofness has frightened her friends(?) and followers alike, an Indira Gandhi-esque quality that cadres on the one hand, women voters on the other, adored. Its this that also made adversaries envious, and admirers followers of the lesson that she might have taught them without sitting across her and learning from a teacher that she had become for many of the contemporary 21st Century Indian leaders. Yet, all this also meant that she did develop a devil-may-care attitude, or got herself entrenched in avoidable litigation, consequent imprisonment and court-ordered loss of power. For in her dictionary, there did not seem to be any substitute for hard work on the one hand, and term-dictation on the other. It did not always work, and it meant that Jaya was as much chasing court cases throughout her political career as cadres were chasing her for a glimpse of her face, which was rare yet worth waiting for, and dying for, too. It is in this context that Jaya's association with Sasikala will be remembered. While there were ups and downs, Jaya did not have many whom she could trust as much as she did her constant companion. So much so that when Jaya went to her end without an acquittal in the assets case, the death of A-1 could well mean that the case too could well go with her, and signal acquittal for Sasikala and company, who, unlike Jaya, are not 'public servants' as she was. Though her only immediate blood relative, Divya, did not get to see her late father's lone sibling through these past months of hospitalisation despite her repeated attempts, the fact that Jaya did not care for her shows how deeply entrenched Sasikala's family has been in her life, at the very heart of the complex hive that was built around the regent, who died a queen: equal parts queen mother, queen bee, and, at times, queen of tragedy. The author is director, Chennai Chapter of the Observer Research Foundation, a multi-disciplinary Indian public-policy think-tank, headquartered in New Delhi. Chennai: Even as southern Tamil Nadu received a fresh shock of a setback in the condition of long-hospitalised Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, larger questions of politics and political administration beg medium and long-term answers. Applicable to similar situations in other states and governments, it could well imply a fresh look at the constitutional and governmental provisions in such cases. Both at the social and administrative levels, the state was recovering from the shock of Jayas hospitalisation on the night of 22 September, and settling down to business as usual despite the physical absence and personal contribution of the chief minister when the Sunday setback seemingly put back the clock. Despite protests to the contrary, especially pertaining to the cooperatives, the state government had a relative smooth-sail on the demonetisation front. If anything, Tamil Nadu is possibly the only state where the chief minister and also the ruling party did not have anything to say, officially, on demonetisation. The terms of reference of Acting Governor C Vidyasagar Rao for Finance Minister O Panneerselvam to chair Cabinet meetings clearly indicated that Jaya continued to be chief minister. Through the three Assembly by-elections that her AIADMK won during the past weeks, the AIADMK too acted as if Amma was still around. Barring the early candidates lists for the court-postponed local body elections, the partys candidates list for the Assembly by-polls even carried her signature. The mandatory Form-B for the allocation of registered party symbol to the three by-poll candidates, carried Jayas thumb-impression, duly attested as per Election Commission rules. All criticism on this front died a natural death when the party romped home in all three constituencies with huge margins. The Madras High Court also duly pooh-poohed claims and contestations to the contrary. Having taken up the challenge of restoring the chief ministers health to its normal self following multi-organ issues, Apollo Hospitals would have been the happiest for Jaya to return home. Chairman Pratap C Reddy had expressed his happiness and hope of Jaya being able to choose the time for returning home meant that she had come back in control of her faculties. The Sunday evening setback now raises questions of both political and administrative nature. First, the AIADMK cadres who had felt relaxed after hospital reports indicated that Amma was recovering are now back to a revived period of uncertainty. Party ministers and senior officials gathered and conferred at Apollo after the setback, and cadres started gathering outside the hospital. For the second time after Jayas hospitalisation, ruling party MLAs met to take stock of the new situation; the first such meeting took place before the governor asked Panneerselvam to chair Cabinet meetings and look after the Home and other portfolios, under the chief minister's care. The Monday morning meeting was held on the Apollo premises possibly the first time that any political party conclave of the size has been held in a hospital in contemporary history. For all the questions attending on the state governments functioning in the absence of the chief minister effectively in charge, Tamil Nadu has not lagged behind. Nor is it the first time that it has been happening in the state possibly the only state in the country to have both a contemporary episode of the kind and also a precedent of sorts. Before Jaya, her political mentor and then chief minister, the late MG Ramachandran, was hospitalised for a long time. Then governor SL Khurana, a veteran civil servant himself, readily nominated the finance minister, the late VR Nedunchezhiyan, to chair Cabinet meetings and also take care of the portfolios under the chief ministers care. Later, when MGR returned home after a long period of hospitalisation but with impaired speech, the government continued to function. Before MGR, his own political mentor, the late DMK founder, CN Annadurai, died of cancer while serving as chief minister. The state government did function. Ahead of the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, then chief minister, the DMKs M Karunanidhi was in hospital for a spinal surgery, for close to a month. Its another matter that in the case of Annadurai and Karunanidhi, their ministerial colleagues enjoyed greater freedom of action and decision-making than under MGR or Jaya. Yet, over the years, the state bureaucracy has learnt to work on its own, more to guide the ministries and ministers than is the other way round. If efficiency or even decision-making has suffered, it again seems to be status quo. Through Jayas hospitalisation and the demonetisation and other Opposition protests of whatever kind, the law and order situation has remained relatively peaceful, at times more peaceful than in some other states with a functioning and more communicative chief minister, even otherwise. Although the Cauvery water dispute with neighbouring Karnataka caused very many tense moments, it was nothing more, nor less, than many other years in the past, whoever was the chief minister and wherever he or she was. The issue pertains more to the political aspect than government functioning. OPS, as Panneerselvam, is popularly known, had settled down to running the government without Amma around, more than on the past two occasions, when he was chief minister reporting to Jaya owing to her disqualification by the Supreme Court in the first instance, and imprisonment in the disproportionate assets case, a second time in over a decade. For starters, the Supreme Court that reserved the final verdict in the DA case has not fixed any date for the purpose, what with Jaya being the first accused, followed by her live-in confidante Sasikala Natarajan, and the latters kin, Illavarasi and VN Sudhagaran. Even without the DA case and her present health condition, AIADMK after Jaya had been a question hanging in the air for long. Unlike mentor MGR, Jaya did not develop a serious second-line. For now, OPS has come to be accepted as a de facto deputy, but the party would look afresh if it came to he or anyone else being able to win future elections. A presidium of senior leaders from time to time could be a possible option at the time, but given the history of political factionalism without a strong and stern leader, this question begs an answer. The question would also arise if the BJP as the ruling party at the Centre and Narendra Modi as prime minister would want to get involved in AIADMK politics, now or ahead of the 2019 parliamentary polls. Its not unlikely that at the appropriate time and space, the AIADMK may be encouraged to sign in onto the NDA at the Centre. With Jaya hospitalised for some time now, and medical advice not unlikely to go in favour of her campaigning in the future, as and when she returns home, the question would remain if the AIADMK too could do with a strong campaigner like Modi. For the BJP and Modi, too, the performance in the 2014 parliamentary polls and more recently in the 2016 Assembly elections is a pointer that they could not hope to replace one or the other of the two Dravidian majors, namely, the AIADMK and the DMK. In between, the party and the government could do with the AIADMKs very own 37-member backing in the Lok Sabha, whenever required, and even more so in the Rajya Sabha. But such issues and related support to the Centre and the BJP-Modi leadership, could also prove to be a point of dissent within the AIADMK, if only in the absence of a strong leader. After all, there are enough issues, such as the Cauvery water dispute, Sri Lankan ethnic and fishermen's concerns, among others, that have an inherent divisive quality to them. Independent of all this, DMKs Karunanidhi had openly declared that only 20 MLAs made a difference to government-formation in the State. That was just only days after Amma had won the Assembly polls for her AIADMK in May. Today, when Jaya continues to be in a critical condition and the AIADMK too is seeking divine intervention, going beyond medical miracles one after another, DMKs Karunanidhi, 93, has been hospitalised reportedly for clinical tests pertaining to some skin allergy. Karunanidhis heir-apparent and former deputy chief minister, MK Stalin, seems to be in less of a hurry than his father, but then, there is no fourth leader worth the name in the state, after these three, and in that order Jaya, Karunanidhi and Stalin. The other two have been tweeting, like the rest of the states and nations polity, for Jayas early return to normalcy a rare fete in the Dravidian political history over the past 50 years and more. Stalin, again in an unprecedented move, visited the Apollo Hospital to enquire about Jayas health in the earlier phase, and so did his half-sister and DMKs Rajya Sabha member, Kanimozhi. At the time, Karunanidhi issued a statement for Jayas early recovery. The author is director, Chennai Chapter of the Observer Research Foundation, a multi-disciplinary Indian public-policy think-tank, headquartered in New Delhi New Delhi: Centre on Monday dispatched a team of specialists from the All India Institute of Medical Science (Aiims) to Apollo Hospital in Chennai where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa is undergoing treatment after suffering cardiac arrest last evening. Four specialists from Aiims will soon be reaching Apollo Hospital, Health Minister JP Nadda said here. "We are in constant touch with Apollo and Tamil Nadu Government. They had requested a team of doctors from AIIMS. We have sent a team of specialists from Aiims Dr Khilani, Dr Trikha, Dr Narang and Dr Talwar. We hope that doctors from AIIMS and Apollo will be able to help in her recovery. We pray to God that she regains her health," Nadda said. The team of AIIMS doctors include pulmonologist Dr GC Khilnani, anesthetist Dr Anjan Trikha, cardiac surgeon Dr Sachin Talwar and cardiologist Dr Rajiv Narang. Jayalalithaa has been critical after she suffered a cardiac arrest in Apollo Hospital on Sunday where she was admitted over two months ago. Apollo Hospitals, in a tweet late Sunday night, had said doctors were closely monitoring Jayalalithaa's condition and trying their "very best". The Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamilnadu who is undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals,Greams Road, suffered a cardiac arrest this evening. Apollo Hospitals (@HospitalsApollo) December 4, 2016 "Our doctors are closely monitoring Hon'ble CM's condition and they are trying their very best," Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals, tweeted. 68-year-old Jayalalithaa is "critical", she said in an earlier tweet, adding that AIADMK chief was on extracorporeal membrane heart assist device and being treated by a team of expert doctors and critical care specialists. With inputs from PTI At around 5.30 pm on Monday, Tamil media channels began reporting the demise of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Namely, Thanthi TV and Puthiya Thalaimurai, which later retracted the information. The Indian Express too followed suit, only to retract its tweet after a few minutes and change its copy to 'Apollo denies reports of Jayalalithaas death, says she is on life support'. The url still reads "jayalalithaa-dies-of-heart-attack-tamil-nadu-chennai-cardiac-arrest-aiadmk". This misinformation gave rise to violence outside Apollo Hospitals on Greams Road. Tempers and emotions ran high and AIADMK cadre, on hearing the news, pelted stones outside the hospital. At their party headquarters in Royapettah, the AIADMK flag was lowered to half-mast, though there was no official word on Jayalalithaa's latest condition. A large team of doctors from Apollo and AIIMS continue to provide all life saving measures. #GodblessAmma Apollo Hospitals (@HospitalsApollo) December 5, 2016 Sangita Reddy, the MD of Apollo Hospitals, tweeted that a large team of doctors from Apollo and Aiims continue to provide all life saving measures to Jayalalithaa. Immediately after, the AIADMK cadre raised the flag at full mast at the party headquarters after Apollo Hospitals' denial of reports on Jayalalithaa's health condition. A large team of doctors from Apollo and AIIMS continue to provide all life saving measures. #GodblessAmma @shobanakamineni Sangita Reddy (@SangitaApollo) December 5, 2016 Apollo Hospitals said that a team of its doctors and those from Aiims were continuously monitoring the health of the chief minister and denied as "totally baseless and false" reports that she was no more. "Some TV channels are wrongly reporting that the Honourable CM is no more. It is totally baseless and false. They are advised to rectify this mistake based on this press release," the hospital said in a statement. With inputs from PTI On a cold Friday morning last week, a group of around 200 young boys and their parents huddled in a large hall with wooden interiors in north Kashmirs Baramulla district. As anxious fathers spoke in whispers with their sons, their sense of dread was unmistakable. Over the last five months of civilian unrest, the Jammu and Kashmir Police has filed more than 2,400 cases against stone-pelters, some of whom were sitting in Baramulla's Dak Banglow. It was not a usual affair, though. Along one side of the hall, a group of police officers sat on large sofas, facing the gathering. Imtiaz Hussain, a broad shouldered man in his early forties wearing a khaki jacket and pointed shoes, took centre-stage, laying out the reason behind the counselling session to the boys who have been arrested and let off by the police recently. We want to understand you and let you understand us, Hussain, the senior superintendent of the Baramulla Police, told the gathering, without mincing words. The meeting that was attended by presidents of mohalla committees, also had in attendance some minors caught pelting stones. Apart from the rhetorical underpinnings, at the end of this, you have to understand that these five months have brought nothing but misery and destruction, Hussain continued. This is the first time during the ongoing phase of turmoil that the Jammu and Kashmir Police has organised a counselling session for the youth who, according to police, have been involved in violent activities as the streets of Kashmir were filled with rage following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. However, the occurrence of the meeting is not a mere coincidence. In the Kashmir Valley these days, a meeting between police and stone-pelters starts and ends in chaos on the streets. But inside the hall, an eerie clam prevailed as Hussain addressed the young boys who allegedly participated in stone-pelting during these months of unrest. You are our own children. Your future is in your hands. You have to differentiate between good and bad. We can only show you the path. But you have to chose for yourself, he said. The atmosphere inside the hall was emotive but, in reality, the five months of unrest on the streets and an abject failure to address the rage on the streets politically has pushed the younger generation of Kashmir towards the extreme end which is fraught with dangerous consequences. But everyone does not understand this anxiety and psychological conundrum, Dr Arshad Hussain, a psychiatrist based in Srinagar, told Firstpost. There is a sense of defeat. The counselling is a must. Inside the hall, a young boy stood up, telling the police officers that there should be some kind of relaxation in the cases filed against them. If someone has eight cases, why dont you show some kind of relaxation so that they can get bail and lead a normal life? the boy asked. Then the interaction turned towards the heavy-handedness of the government forces. Some residents alleged that when the police, accompanied by CRPF and the army, come to arrest stone-pelters, they go on a prowl in the particular locality by breaking windowpanes of houses and assaulting those who protest such actions. During the ongoing unrest which started on 8 July, the police in Kashmir has arrested more than 7,800 people of whom around 350 have been booked under the draconian Public Safety Act. But reports say 5,500 of them have been let off on the promise of good behaviour. Apart from human intelligence, police has been using videos and CCTV footage which strengthens the cases against protesters. But the cops are aware that very few youths who have come for counselling will leave the path of stone-pelting and whenever tensions rise and protests break out, they will again throw stones. We have tried to explain to the students to concentrate on their studies and their careers rather than indulging in stone-pelting. We are doing our best to wean them away from violence. But they have to understand that they will get nothing out of the violence and there are people who try to push them into chaos for their own benefit, Hussain told Firstpost. In the absence of any political outreach from the leadership in New Delhi, it is highly unlikely that the counselling sessions will have their desired results, although they may succeed in breaking the communication barrier between the two warring sides. This (counselling sessions) also signifies a change in the situation. The police and other security forces have worked together to get Kashmir to this level. We have to understand that we are getting nothing out of this violence. Our education is suffering and those who are pushing the children of poor to adopt violence should be told: For God's sake, let us live peacefully, Hussain added. New Delhi: A PIL was filed on Monday in the Supreme Court challenging the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as the interim director of the CBI. The plea, filed by NGO Common Cause, has alleged that the Centre took a series of steps in a "completely mala fide, arbitrary and illegal manner to ensure that Asthana was given the charge of CBI director". It claimed that the government did not convene a meeting of the selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the largest Opposition Party and the Chief Justice of India, even though it was fully aware that Anil Sinha was going to demit the office of CBI director on 2 December. Asthana, a Gujarat-cadre officer of 1984-batch, was elevated as the Additional Director in the agency on 2 December when CBI Special Director RK Dutta, who was reportedly among the frontrunners for the top post, was shifted to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) as a Special Secretary. The PIL claimed that the government had "prematurely curtailed" the tenure of and transferred Dutta, to the MHA on 30 November, ie just two days before Sinha was slated to demit office. Beijing: Reacting mildly to India allowing Tibetan spiritual leader Karmapa to visit Arunachal Pradesh, China on Monday expressed hope that New Delhi would refrain from taking any action that might complicate the boundary dispute. The 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje last week visited Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as a part of southern Tibet. Replying to a question on his visit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, "China's position on the East section of the China-India border is clear and consistent. We hope India can abide by relevant consensus and refrain from any action that might complicate the boundary question." "To ensure the peace and stability of the border areas and sound and stable development of the bilateral relationship serves the common interest of the two sides," he said. Asked whether China has lodged any protest with India in this regard, he said China and India are in "constant communication on this". "The Indian side is clear about solemn position when it comes to boundary question," he said. The 17th Karmapa during his first visit to Arunachal Pradesh toured West Kameng district and reached to the Tibetans at Gyuto Monastery at Tenzingang before leaving for Kalaktang. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju had thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for doing away with the restrictions imposed in the previous eras and for facilitating the Karmapas visit to any part of the country and elsewhere. China's reaction to Karmapas visit appeared far more guarded and mild compared to its response on India granting permission in October this year to the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh. There is also no direct criticism of Karmapa unlike the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing calls a separatist and a politician in the garb of religious leader. China routinely objects to visits by the Dalai Lama, Indian leaders as well as foreign dignitaries to Arunachal Pradesh. On 24 October, China took exception to the visit of Richard Verma, the US envoy in India, to Arunachal Pradesh. The border dispute between India and China covers the 3,488-km long Line of Actual Control (LAC). India asserts that the dispute covered Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war. The demonetisation juggernaut rolls along. The millions of spectators who have been watching this amazing spectacle are filled with admiration, awe, revulsion and perplexity. A section of the people admire the government for the political muscle it showed in demonetising high value currency notes worth Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. But many are still perplexed. The new income declaration scheme has begun to bring in applications which have mind-boggling figures. But, for perhaps the first time, the government is actually pushing the income tax department to scrutinise the applications and reject some of them. Two such applications that have got rejected are those of an Ahmedabad-based businessman who declared an income of Rs 13,860 crore and a Mumbai-based family who had reportedly declared an income of Rs 2 lakh crore. In the first case, the police were instructed to look out for him, as he had not paid his first instalment of taxes due on the amounts declared. He finally surrendered but not before he had made startling disclosures to a media house before cameras that he was being used as a front by various powerful politicians whose wealth he was asked to launder. He was sent to police captivity (reminding one of a similar incident popularly known as the Nagarwala scandal). In the second instance, the family based in Bandra west, Mumbai, has reportedly made the Rs 2 lakh crore disclosure, which has been termed 'suspicious' by the authorities as they have 'very small means'. As per media reports, the declarants are Abdul Razzaque Mohammed Sayed, Mohammed Aarif Abdul Razzaque Sayed, Rukhsana Abdul Razzaque Sayed and Noorjahan Mohammed Sayed. Of them, three have PAN cards from Ajmer and then migrated to Mumbai, says this report in The Times of India. According to the report, the details given like even the mobile number could not be verified, raising the suspicion it could be an attempt to launder black money. In fact, the first question that arises when one sees such reports is whether the income tax department will now begin rejecting some of the 8 lakh applications it received in 2011 and 2012 where the sums declared were in excess of Rs 870 lakh crore. True, this was not under a black money income declaration scheme (IDS). It was declared as agricultural income. But unlike the current IDS, where the state gets to keep around 50 percent or more of the income declared, all the income under agricultural income goes entirely tax-free. What is even more surprising is that the income tax department has not announced any details of the number of application forms rejected, and the amount of money so involved in respect of the declarations made in 2011 and 2012. This is critically important because the figure of Rs 870 lakh crore over two years (2011 and 2012) is more than 8 times Indias GDP at that point of time. Since the money has not been acknowledged by the RBI, nor by the Economic Survey, are we to assume that the declarations are valid, but not yet accounted for? This is extremely important, because in India there have been instances where declarations take the form of anticipatory bail. If an income declaration scheme is very attractive, businessmen are known to have borrowed money from other sources, and are said to have declared much more of black income than they were actually responsible for at that point of time. The idea is to get future black money generation also covered under this attractive income declaration scheme. Bearer Bonds and India Development Bonds This is what happened when the special bearer bond scheme of 1981 was announced. Many businessmen actually declared more black money than they had with them, thus ensuring that illegitimate money generated in the future would get protected under this disclosure. Businessmen refer to this as 'anticipatory bail'. Since there was a complete amnesty granted to them, and since no queries could be raised about the source of these funds, they provided a very lucrative opportunity. The same thing happened when the India Development Bonds (IDBs) were announced in 1991. This was meant for those declaring black money stashed overseas. The idea was to bolster Indias terribly low foreign exchange reserves. Once again, there was the guarantee of total immunity, and with no-questions-to-be-asked. Overnight, the unofficial premium on the US dollar went up, as businessmen in India were reported to be converting their black money in India into foreign exchange, and sending it overseas via hawala and then declaring the amount as black money under the IDB scheme. Astute businessmen even borrowed money and declared more black money that they had generated. They, too, were taking the benefit of this anticipatory bail. This is what appears to have happened in 2011 and 2012, when some businessmen must have thought that agricultural income would be given a tacit approval by someone in the finance ministry with no questions asked (P Chidambaram was the finance minister then). Whether such a tacit approval was given or not, the fact remains that the number of applicants declaring agricultural income swelled, and so did the average amount declared by these people. The total amount declared during these two years was over 8 times the countrys GDP, and over 125 times the total tax collection. What about this time? Were the two declarations (by the Ahmedabad and Mumbai-based businessmen) that have got cancelled also instances of anticipatory bail? This time it is unlikely to be 'anticipatory bail' because the state confiscates around 50 percent of the money declared. So was it to conceal the names of the politicians that the Ahmedabad-based businessman promised to disclose? Or is there something more at work? Your guess is as good as mine. Emotions are running high in Tamil Nadu, as Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, battles grave illness in Chennai's Apollo Hospital. Being a state that is known for cult-politics and demigod like adoration of its political leaders, the fervour around Jayalalithaa's health only underlines the popularity and affection the actor-turned politician enjoys amid her people. It was her charisma as an actor, and later as a politician that enabled her to step into the shoes of her political mentor MG Ramachandran, and command single-handed control of one of Tamil Nadu's main political parties the AIADMK. Here is a brief timeline of the important events that shaped the political career of a leader, who went on to become the most powerful woman in the state politics. 1948: Born on 24 February in Melukote town in Mysuru district, Karnataka. 1961: Starts film career as child actress. Her only English movie, Epistle, was the first she started shooting for. 1965: Debuts as lead actress in Tamil with Vennira Aadai. In the same year, acts opposite future political mentor MG Ramachandran. 1980: Acts in her last Tamil movie, Nadhiyai Thedi Vandha Kadal, as female lead. 1982: Becomes member of MGR's AIADMK party. Addresses first public gathering in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu. 1983: Appointed AIADMK's propoganda secretary and campaigns in Thiruchendur by-election. 1984: Rift with MGR widens; stripped from several party posts. 1987: MGR death divides AIADMK one faction supports MGR's wife Janaki Ramachandran and the other Jayalalithaa. 1988: Janaki becomes Tamil Nadu chief minister, but rule ends in 21 days; the state comes under President's Rule. 1989: The DMK sweeps state polls; Janaki offers to quit AIADMK, clearing path for Jaya's accession. In the same year, DMK and AIADMK clash in Tamil Nadu Assembly hall; Jayalalithaa swears to step inside Assembly again only as chief minister. 1991: AIADMK-Congress thrashes DMK in polls; Jayalalithaa becomes chief minister for the first time. 1996: AIADMK routed in elections; Jayalalithaa gets arrested in a corruption case; 48 cases slapped on her and aide Sasikala. 2001: Makes second return as chief minister; party appoints her as chief minister but SC unseats her; O Paneerselvam named chief minister. 2003: Allowed to contest elections; wins from Andipatti, becomes chief minister again. 2006 Defeated by DMK alliance in polls; serves as Leader of Opposition till 2011. 2011 Returns as chief minister for the third time; rift with Sasikala widens. 2014 Convicted by court in disproportionate assets case; sentenced to four years in prison with Rs 100 crore fine. 2016 Jayalalithaa elected for a consecutive second term. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday condoled the death of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, saying that her death had left a huge void in Indian politics. "Deeply saddened at the passing away of Selvi Jayalalithaa. Her demise has left a huge void in Indian politics," Modi tweeted. Deeply saddened at the passing away of Selvi Jayalalithaa. Her demise has left a huge void in Indian politics. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 Defining Jayalalithaa as a mass leader, Modi in another tweet wrote: "Jayalalithaaji's connect with citizens, concern for welfare of the poor, the women and marginalized will always be a source of inspiration." Jayalalithaa jis connect with citizens, concern for welfare of the poor, the women & marginalized will always be a source of inspiration. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 "My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Tamil Nadu in this hour of grief," he said. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Tamil Nadu in this hour of grief. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 "May the Almighty grant them the strength to bear this irreparable loss with courage and fortitude," the Prime Minister said, adding, "I will always cherish the innumerable occasions when I had the opportunity to interact with Jayalalithaaji. May her soul rest in peace." I will always cherish the innumerable occasions when I had the opportunity to interact with Jayalalithaa ji. May her soul rest in peace. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 May the Almighty grant them the strength to bear this irreparable loss with courage and fortitude. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa died at Apollo hospital on Monday night, a day after she suffered a cardiac arrest. She was 68. Nearly two-and-a-half years ago, in June 2014, I received the honour to serve as a Member of the the Rajya Sabha, courtesy the Janata Dal (U) and its leader Nitish Kumar. I often see photographs of former Members and Chairmen, including of Dr S Radhakrishnan, Dr Zakir Husain, R Venkatraman and others on the walls of the hallowed corridors. I try to identify the faces of Bhupesh Gupta, Chandrashekhar, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Pilu Modi, Era Seziyan and many more whose enlightened, informed and excellent interventions and debates left a sharp influence and probed our conscience during my younger days. The ideological debates in Parliament inspired many of us to dream for the country and to stand for the values that had shaped independent India. These photos on the walls of the Rajya Sabha, from where emanates the power of democracy, often haunt me. It has been particularly difficult these last few days to get past those photos.Till 1 December (15th day since the commencement of the Winter Session) no business has been allowed to occur in the House except on the first day when a good debate took place in the Rajya Sabha over demonetisation. Regular disruptions, chaos and high-pitched slogan shouting have resulted in complete pandemonium in the House. The continuous ruckus usually leads to the suspension of the House proceedings and, sadly, it has become a regular feature. I ask myself: is this the only alternative left to us to address the genuine grievances of the public, the states and the nation? I have witnessed the Chairman and Deputy Chairman trying their best to run the House smoothly and peacefully; yet a sense of helplessness persists I must acknowledge the efforts of the Deputy Chairman, Prof PJ Kurien. He is often on his toes, pleading with members to exercise calm and allow the House to function. However, members in the well pay no heed to his words. I have great sympathy and respect for Prof Kurien and envy his patience, calmness, wit, humour, and above all, his commitment to run the House. The unabated slogan shouting disrupts normal activity and he is often forced to adjourn the House. I introspect at such moments, recalling that this is the Upper House of distinguished leaders and statesmen and valuable contributors to society. In the Constituent Assembly debates, the Rajya Sabha was envisioned as a House for reflective and evaluative reasoning detached from the ordinary, mundane and routine engagements of everyday life. N Gopalswami Ayyangar termed it as a House which may rein in the, passion of the moment as reflective moment. Several members of the Constituent Assembly favoured a second chamber, as they believed that erudite members of this Rajya Sabha would be above the narrow and parochial political boundaries of the Lok Sabha. These members of the Rajya Sabha would be able to view legislations more dispassionately, and thus enhance the efficacy of the overall process of law making. I am also reminded of Lok Nath Mishra who described this House as a sobering House, a reviewing House, a House standing for quality and the members will be exercising their right to be heard on the merits of what they say, for their sobriety and knowledge of special problems; quantity, that is, their number, is not much of moment. M Ananthasayanam Ayyangar found this House to be a platform of reflective consideration: the genius people who may have full play, and it can make place for people who may not be able to win popular mandate. Dr Radhakrishnan stressed the significance of the RS and stated, There is a general impression that this House cannot make or unmake governments and, therefore, it is a superfluous body. But there are functions which a revising chamber can fulfil fruitfully. We are for the first time starting, under the new parliamentary system, with a Second Chamber in the Centre, and we should try to do everything in our power to justify to the public of this country that a Second Chamber is essential to prevent hasty legislation. We should discuss with dispassion and detachment proposals put before us. Its late chairman Krishan Kant in his foreword to the book Emergence of Second Chamber in India had foreseen the possibility of a stalemate that our current parliamentary system is facing. He wrote, the majority-minority party equation in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) changes at a much slower pace than in the Lok Sabha. There may be occasions when a party enjoying a majority in both the Houses is reduced to a minority during an election in the Lower House, but remains a majority in the Rajya Sabha. Some experts argue that this position is an anomaly because it derogates from the theory of mandate, which holds that popular mandate, at any given time, gives to the winning majority an untrammeled right to initiate legislations germane to that mandate. The need to carry the opposition majority in the Upper House is, by inference, an anomalous provision. There is the added danger, that the Opposition in the Upper House can use its majority to embarrass the government of the day. Our great leaders in the past assured that during stalemates, senior leaders of the political parties will engage in consensus building. Have we failed? Again I quote N Gopalaswami Ayyangar. While moving the motion for a second chamber (RS), he said in the Constituent Assembly: After all, the question for us to consider is whether it performs any useful function. The most that we expect the second chamber to do is perhaps to hold dignified debates on important issues and to delay legislations which might be the outcome of passions of the moment until the passions have subsided and calm consideration could be bestowed on the measures which will be before the legislature; and we shall take care to provide in the Constitution that whatever on any important matter, particularly matters relating to finance, there is a conflict between the House of the People and the Council of States, it is the view of the House of the People that shall prevail. Therefore, what we may really achieve by the existence of this second chamber is only an instrument by which we delay action which might be hastily conceived and we also give an opportunity, perhaps to seasoned people who may not be in the thickest of the political fray, but who might be willing to participate in the debate with an amount of learning and importance which we do not ordinarily associate with a House of People." This is what our sagacious leaders, our Constitution makers thought of the role of the RS. It is the sacred duty of all members of this House to maintain and carry forward this distinguished legacy. When I see the Deputy Chairman helplessly pleading with members and then adjourning the House time and again, I stare at the Visitors Gallery asking myself how I would respond to public queries about these successive adjournments. Our great leaders as the architects of the worlds largest democracy have taught us that dissent and disagreement are non-negotiable democratic values. But even with our differences and dissent, dialogue is essential without which, peoples faith in the system can easily erode. I entered this House with a dream to debate issues pertinent to our country. Joblessness or the era of jobless growth is the biggest challenge that the country is facing today. Since globalisation itself faces serious contestations , I often ask myself whether our economic growth model has failed. I am eager to hear the enlightened debates/views of this House in the same spirit that I heard the debate on the GST Bill, in my view one of the best debates in RS so far it debate was marked by eloquence, knowledge and full participation of members, above party lines and narrow partisan politics, keeping in view the interest and future of the country. Today I feel agitated about several vital issues which need to be looked into earnestly and dispassionately. Many other members of the RS may share my views and sentiments. For instance, the most recent Indore-Patna rail accident must be discussed. It is important to note that approximately 3,000 railway bridges are more than 100 years old, 32 of these 3,000 have been classified as distressed bridges but their usage beyond their lifetime is not considered to be a serious issue. Indian railway tracks are hugely congested; some of the sections are running either at 100 percent or above of its carrying capacity. For example, in the Mughalsarai-Ghaziabad section, a train leaves the originating section every two minutes. This high density of train movement not only highlights the superhuman efforts of the railway employees but also underscores the pathetic situation of our railway infrastructure. The serious governance issues are not limited to railways alone but they have spread to the whole of our civil and defense transport and logistic infrastructure, urban development, defense preparedness, law and order, employment generation and to every other aspect of social, economic and cultural lives of our citizens. We have adopted this chalta hai or'jugaad approach and in the last few decades this attitude has landed us in a serious trap. I am at a loss to comprehend why these questions do not emerge as the most pressing matters in our Parliamentary debates. We must dig deep, find the causes and suggest remedial measures. It seems the whole infrastructure has collapsed. Even the precarious financial position of the railways (a major part of their finances is taken up by salaries and pensions) needs to be debated thoroughly. The situation on our borders after the surgical strikes against Pakistan needs to be discussed. The attacks against our soldiers continue as unabated cross border terrorism poses grave threats to the country. I feel pained and anguished when I read about how China has encircled us, having established ports in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Burma. Tibet is yet to acquire autonomy, and with each passing day it appears that its distinct cultural, social, religious identity is being subsumed within the dominant Han Chinese racial and cultural practices. In recent times the Chinese army has decided to safeguard and operate the Gwadar port in Pakistan. China and Pakistan have also launched a direct rail and sea freight service between Kunming and Karachi. Russia is also warming up to Pakistan and US President elect Donald Trump has assured Nawaz Sharif of his cooperation and support. China has extended its influence in Central and South East Asia. These issues bother me and I am sure also agitate the minds of other members as well. The modernisation of the army needs to be discussed; we must initiate large-scale and fundamental reforms to our administrative, police and bureaucratic framework. The working conditions of paramilitary forces need to be debated at length. The tussle between the judiciary and executive has been on the rise in the recent past. It is a serious confrontation that may well precipitate a constitutional crisis. I have been equally disturbed when I see or read how our defence personnel guarding our borders are attacked and media headlines scream lessons not learnt from past mistakes. The issue of climate change needs to be addressed. Delhis pollution problem and air quality is a matter of grave concern. The on-going developments at Nalanda University need to be discussed. The jailbreak in Nabha, Punjab had been meticulously planned. It was a high security jail from where the Khalistan Liberation Force chief was able to escape. It is being alleged that there was a deal of Rs 50 lakh for making this jailbreak possible. There is an urgent need to discuss all these serious issues and find long lasting solutions. Next year will be the one that marks the centenary of the Champaran Satyagrah, which gave a new direction to the anti-colonial struggle in India and an enduring political legacy to the world. It is the duty of the government and the opposition as well to discuss how the country should commemorate this momentous occasion and revisit the ideals of the satyagrah. Being a witness to such anarchic scenes in the House, I recall my old friends who believed in the Naxal ideology and always had derogatory adjectives for our democratic system. Those days we would debate for hours to convince them about the democratic virtues of our Parliamentary debates. This is clearly a question of governance and efficiency. This government was elected on the promise of providing an efficient and effective administration which is responsive to the aspirations of the country. But time and again whenever there have been attacks, there are headlines questioning the efficiency of the government. Responsibility must be fixed. This country has a great tradition of quality and moral leadership; resignations were tendered even for minor incidents by taking moral responsibility. Do our Ministers introspect their utterancess, roles, efficiency and governing capacity? We are familiar with the axiom that time and tide wait for nobody. The world is changing at an unprecedented pace and there are multiple anxieties and insecurities. If such serious issues are not debated even at a time when the duration of the Parliament session has been gradually shortened since Independence, then what future do we promise to the younger generation? We owe something to our great leaders who sacrificed their lives for this country and gave us this House so that our democratic traditions can remain vibrant and inspire the future generations. I have been asking myself why a silent member like me (and there are many silent members in all parties in RS who adhere to rules and procedures and completely respect the words and instructions of the Chair) remains unheard. How do we, who do not rush to the well of the House, navigate through this crisis, restore our faith in the great parliamentary traditions of this country? There is a demand now that the Prime Minister should sit through the discussions on demonetisation. It was reminded by a senior Congress leader that when the 2G scam broke out in 2013, the same BJP wanted the then Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh to remain present in the House during the entire debate. There is a widely acknowledged saying that as you sow, so shall you reap. The BJP is facing the same past karmas. But it is my view that the Congress has been a party of great leaders which include Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and many others known for their magnanimity and vision. They would not have appreciated the current discourse and disruptions. The Congress leaders often make us feel that they have the monopoly over Gandhi's legacy. Gandhi had once said that an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind. It is a great opportunity for the Congress to offer a lesson on good parliamentary behavior to the BJP by allowing the House to run smoothly. We must appreciate the PMs position as the head of the government, while demanding his continuous presence in the House as we desire. It is possible that his presence is needed elsewhere than at the Parliament always. However, the PM should also find time at regular intervals to be present in the House when important issues are being debated. There should be a full-fledged debate on demonetisation with a particular focus on black money, benami properties, bullion and gold, real estate, drugs and even prohibition. It must be reiterated that there is a direct connection between the black money and the liquor and drug mafia. More than 40 committees have been constituted in the past to deal with the problem of black money but without success. The Indian bicameral parliamentary system may find comparable legislative set up around the world and it would be quite informative to compare the functioning of the Indian parliament with the systems abroad. In the United Kingdom the members of parliament have a right to be heard without overwhelming background noise, and unparliamentary language is not allowed. In the British House of Commons, when grave disorder breaks out, the speaker has the power to suspend or to adjourn the sitting. That power was exercised very few times and was enforced last time in 2004. In the House of Lords, unworthy conduct by Members has hardly ever been reported. In the entire history of the United States Congress, 20 Members have been expelled: fifteen from the Senate and five from the House of Representatives. All these expulsions have been triggered by political reasons, treason charges or scandals, hardly for bad behaviour or disrupting the Congressional procedures. In the Australian Parliament the Speaker can direct a disorderly member to withdraw from the House for one hour. However, if a member fails to leave the Chamber immediately or continues to behave in a disorderly manner they may be named and the House can then suspend them. I come from a party which draws from the legacy of Gandhi, Lohia, Jai Prakash and is presently headed by Nitish Kumar who has been in public life for the last four decades. He has held many distinguished posts at the centre and has been the Chief Minister of Bihar for the last 11 years (except the tenure of Jitan Ram Majhi for a brief period). There is intra-party democracy in the JD (U) and Kumar gives opportunities to all its members to raise people's concerns. It may be worth mentioning that, following his example, none of the members from JD (U) has indulged in creating ruckus or pandemonium in either of the two houses of the parliament. I ask myself every day before I head to the Rajya Sabha about what I would do in the House. As an MP how do I repay the people for the privileges and facilities I enjoy if I am not able to raise their issues in the House? Is it not an unnecessary and unacceptable burden on the exchequer if we are not able to raise the problems of the people in the House? I can only hope that the great parliamentary traditions of this country are restored and as Members of this privileged House we recognise our responsibilities and accountability to the people of this great country. (The author is a JD(U) member of Rajya Sabha. Views expressed here are personal) Nagpur: The BJP-led Centre in Delhi wants to go cashless after the demonetisation move. Now, the Maharashtra government has given a go-ahead for the paperless functioning of the State Legislature. The ongoing Winter Session of the State Legislature will go online and paperless. This time, in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, all the 78 MLCs will be using tablets to raise questions. The State Legislature's Winter Session, which started on Monday, will conclude on 17 December. It is going be a stormy session with discussions centering around demonetisation and its effect on farmers, rural economy and the common man. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation announcement and call for a cashless economy, the BJP-led government wants to reduce paperwork at the State Legislature and go online during question hour and calling attention motion. A special training session was conducted for the officers and employees headed by legislature principal secretary Anant Kalse-Patil. Goa and Uttarakhand are the other states that have gone paperless. Kalse-Patil told Firstpost that the move has received tremendous response from all MLAs and MLCs. On the first day, of the 2,350 questions, 60 percent were raised online. He said that the e-tendering process is over and the tender will open in the next two days. Through this process, the company which is selected, will be responsible for the training of all MLAs and MLCs. Kalse-Patil added that the 78 tablets cost Rs 2 crores and it will next be utilised in the Assembly with 288 MLAs. The password to the online system has been given to MLAs and MLCs, with this even the MLA from Gadchiroli, which a remote tribal district in Maharashtra, can log in, he said. In this current session, tablets will be provided to the Council members only. Details of some of the topics, history of questions asked earlier and ruling of the House will also be available on the tablet. The principal secretary said that the internet service and Wi-Fi have been provided by Reliance Jio. Meanwhile, the Opposition alleged that the online system will fail just like the implementation of demonetisation has failed. Education Minister and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vinod Tawde countered that it will be a success and by the end of week all the MLCs will have tablets. Meanwhile, the Opposition parties staged walkout in the Assembly over demonetisation issue. Members of the Opposition parties alleged that there are people dying in bank-ATM queues and cash crunch continues, but the BJP government has not taken any responsibility. By Kiyoshi Takenaka | TOKYO TOKYO Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Pearl Harbor this month with U.S. President Barack Obama, becoming his country's first leader to travel to the site of the Japanese attack 75 years ago that drew the United States into World War Two."This will be a visit to console the souls of the victims," Abe told reporters on Monday. "I would like to show to the world the resolve that horrors of war should never be repeated." The Dec. 26-27 visit will come seven months after Obama became the first serving U.S. president to visit the Japanese city of Hiroshima, on which the United States dropped an atomic bomb in the closing days of the war, in 1945.Abe will hold his final summit meeting with the outgoing U.S. president during the trip to Hawaii.Obama has close ties to the island state where he was born and where he and his family have vacationed throughout his White House term. Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor with torpedo planes, bombers and fighter planes on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, bombing the U.S. fleet moored there in the hope of destroying U.S. power in the Pacific.The attack led to the United States entering World War Two and the eventual defeat of Japan in August 1945, days after U.S. atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed hundreds of thousands of civilians.The White House said Abe's visit would highlight the alliance between the former wartime enemies. "The two leaders' visit will showcase the power of reconciliation that has turned former adversaries into the closest of allies, united by common interests and shared values," the White House said in a statement.Abe last year spoke to the U.S. Congress and expressed "deep repentance" over Japan's role in World War Two. An outright apology from Abe would be unlikely during his Pearl Harbor visit, said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University's Japan campus. "He won't go as far as to apologize, but there will be a demonstration of contrition. He will follow Obama's model" in Hiroshima, Kingston said. "Obama has shown the way forward in addressing the past without whitewashing and denying."In Hiroshima, Obama reiterated his commitment to pursuing a world without nuclear weapons, while avoiding any direct expression of remorse or apology for the U.S. nuclear bombings. "I think Abe wants to draw a line under history and move forward with (President-elect Donald) Trump and get some difficult obstacles out of the way. It's probably an astute move on Abe's part," Kingston said. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, Linda Sieg; Editing by Robert Birsel, Clarence Fernandez and Richard Lough) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Michael Holden and Estelle Shirbon | LONDON LONDON The president of Britain's Supreme Court said on Monday a landmark case to decide whether the government can trigger the formal divorce process from the European Union without parliament's approval was a matter of law and not politics.Prime Minister Theresa May's government has appealed to the country's highest judicial body after the High Court ruled last month that ministers could not trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and begin a two-year Brexit process without lawmakers' assent.If the Supreme Court upholds the earlier ruling, that could derail May's planned timetable for invoking Article 50 by the end of March and upset the government's wider Brexit plans.The legal fight comes against a backdrop of claims by some politicians and newspapers that establishment judges want to thwart Brexit, which Britons voted for by 52-48 percent in the June referendum.In his opening remarks Supreme Court President David Neuberger said the case was simply about the law."We are aware of the strong feelings associated with the many wider political questions surrounding the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union," Neuberger said. "However ... those wider political questions are not the subject of this appeal."This appeal is concerned with legal issues and, as judges, our duty is to consider those issues impartially, and to decide the case according to the law. This is what we shall do."Outside the Supreme Court, located on the same central London square as parliament, pro-EU supporters wearing judges' robes and wigs rode a double decker bus emblazoned with slogans, while another van carried a billboard that read "The Brexiteers have failed us all".It was a reference to complaints that the government has not released a formal plan for what Brexit will look like. A small number of rival Brexit backers waved placards saying "This is an establishment stitch up".Some lawmakers in May's Conservative Party had called for Neuberger himself to stand down because his wife had previously posted anti-Brexit messages on Twitter. He said all parties in the case had been asked if they wanted any of the judges to stand down and no objections had been raised.The government's top lawyer, Attorney General Jeremy Wright told the court the case had been brought "perfectly properly" and raised "issues going to the very heart of our constitutional settlement".The case is the most high-profile one the court has considered since it came into being seven years ago. It is due to last for four days and for the first time all its 11 justices will sit on the panel with the verdict expected later in January. BREXIT BLOCKED OR DELAYED? If the government wins, May can proceed with her plans to invoke Article 50 by the end of March.But if she loses, as many legal experts have predicted, parliament could in theory block Brexit as most lawmakers (MPs) supported staying in the EU in the referendum in June.Few observers expect Brexit to be blocked. Even so, lawmaker approval could open the process to greater scrutiny and delay. Investors believe the greater parliament's involvement the less chance there is of a "hard Brexit" in which tight controls on immigration are prioritised over European single market access. The pound surged after November's High Court ruling. The case, which was originally brought by investment fund manager Gina Miller along with hairdresser Deir Tozetti Dos Santos, hinges on whether the government can use a historical power known as "royal prerogative" to invoke Article 50 without lawmakers' assent.The challengers successfully argued at the High Court Britons would inevitably lose rights granted by parliament when leaving the EU, and that under Britain's unwritten constitution such rights could only be taken away with MPs' approval.Outlining the government case, Attorney General Wright said parliament had had "multiple" opportunities to restrict the executive's ability to trigger Article 50 but had not taken them and parliamentary sovereignty was not being undermined.The Scottish government, which strongly opposes Brexit and has been seeking ways to keep Scotland in the EU, will also put forward its arguments.The decision to leave the EU has raised tensions in Britain and Miller has become a target of hate and has received abuse and death threats."Threatening and abusing people because they are exercising their fundamental right to go to court undermines the rule of law," said Neuberger, adding individuals in the case had received threats of serious violence and abuse. (Editing by Guy Faulconbridge/Jeremy Gaunt) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Diane Bartz and Doina Chiacu | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, a presidential rival-turned-supporter, has accepted U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nomination to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Trump's transition team said on Monday.Carson, a popular writer and speaker in conservative circles, has been a close adviser to Trump since he dropped out of the 2016 Republican presidential primary contest and he is a vice chairman of Trump's transition team. Trump discussed the job with Carson before the Thanksgiving Day holiday last month, although Carson had indicated reluctance to take a position in the incoming administration because of his lack of experience in federal government.The president-elect, who also has no government experience and has never held public office, expressed confidence Carson could do the job."Ben Carson has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities," Trump said in a statement.The transition team described Carson as "a distinguished national leader who overcame his troubled youth in the inner city of Detroit to become a renowned neurosurgeon."Carson said he was honored to accept the post. "I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly by strengthening communities that are most in need," he said in the statement. Carson, 65, is the first African-American picked for a Cabinet spot by Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20 and has been gradually filling out his administration since beating Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 presidential election. The position requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate.FORMER TARGET OF TRUMP ATTACKS Carson, a highly respected neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, had been considered for U.S. surgeon general and head of Health and Human Services Department.His business manager, Armstrong Williams, said last month that Carson had decided not serve in Trump's administration because "his life has not prepared him to be a Cabinet secretary." But Carson said after meeting with Trump he believed he could make a contribution.Like many of the initial field of 17 Republican presidential hopefuls who vied for the party's 2016 White House nomination, Carson was a frequent Trump target during the campaign. But he became one of his most high-profile African-American supporters after Trump secured the nomination.At HUD, Carson would lead an agency whose mission has been to help middle- and low-income people find homes. It also runs a program aimed at replacing distressed public housing with mixed-income neighborhoods. The department also oversees mortgage lending and other housing programs.In a July 2015 opinion piece for the Washington Times, Carson gave some indication of his views on housing policy, criticizing actions by the Obama administration to reduce racial segregation as having the potential to "make matters worse."Other picks by Trump so far for his administration include: Marine Corps General James Mattis as defense secretary, U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo as CIA director, Senator Jeff Sessions as attorney general, retired General Michael Flynn as national security adviser, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as chief of staff and right-wing media executive Steve Bannon as chief White House strategist.Trump is still considering various candidates to fill the post of U.S. secretary of state. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by W Simon and Frances Kerry) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Amy Tennery | NEW YORK NEW YORK Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein pressed her case on Monday for recounts of U.S. presidential ballots in three states, and locked horns with President-elect Donald Trump over her motives.Stein sued Pennsylvania election officials in federal court, demanding a statewide recount hours after a federal judge in Michigan ordered a recount to begin there without delay. In Wisconsin, a recount began last week at Stein's request. Even if all three recounts move forward, they are extremely unlikely to change the outcome of the Nov. 8 presidential election in which the three historically Democratic states helped to seal a victory for Trump, a Republican. On Sunday, Trump proclaimed Stein's effort a failure and questioned her motives, saying on Twitter: "Just a Stein scam to raise money!"At a news conference on Monday across the street from Trump Tower in Manhattan, Stein said every dollar she raises for the recount is going to a dedicated account for that purpose. She has raised $7.2 million, according to her website."We urge Donald Trump to look at the facts, not to make up the facts," Stein said. Stein said her recount push in the three "Rust Belt" states was not meant to change the election's result, but that she and others have concerns about the integrity of voting systems in the three states.Trump and his supporters have sought to end the recounts. "We are here to assure Donald Trump that there is nothing to be afraid of," Stein said. "If you believe in democracy, if you believe in the credibility of your victory, put down your arms, end your bureaucratic obstruction." Some voting machines in Pennsylvania lack a paper trail, making them vulnerable to hacking or other problems, she said. A few Trump allies protested Stein's appearance with her supporters at Trump Tower on New York City's Fifth Avenue, where Trump's offices and apartment home are located."I think the people out here today don't believe in democracy," said Jim MacDonald, a 67-year-old actuary from the borough of Queens. He held a sign that read "Dr Jill is a quack" and said he voted for Trump."He's their president whether they like it or not," MacDonald said.Stein took about 1 percent of the popular vote, far behind Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton. Although Clinton won the national popular vote, she lost to Trump in the Electoral College, the 538-person body chosen state-by-state that actually selects the president. Trump won a projected 306 electoral votes and is scheduled to be sworn in on Jan. 20. Stein won no Electoral College votes.Federal law requires states to resolve disputes over the appointment of electors by Dec. 13, adding pressure on Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to wrap up any recounts.An initial request by Stein for a recount in Pennsylvania failed on Saturday after a state judge ordered her campaign to post a $1 million bond. A federal lawsuit was her next best option, she said. A spokeswoman for Pennsylvania election officials said they would not comment on pending litigation.In Michigan, the state laid out a schedule for recounting presidential ballots beginning on Monday after a federal judge ordered a recount to begin at 12 p.m. ET (1700 GMT) and directed that the state complete the process by Dec. 13.U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith issued the written order early on Monday after a Sunday night hearing in federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan.Goldsmith ordered that, once started, the recount "must continue until further order of this court." The state had planned to wait until Wednesday to begin the recount.In his ruling, Goldsmith wrote that "budgetary concerns are not sufficiently significant to risk the disenfranchisement of Michigan's nearly 5 million voters."Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, a Republican, filed a lawsuit on Friday to halt the requested recount in the state, which Trump won with a margin of roughly 10,700 votes. Although the Clinton campaign did not initiate the recount effort, it says it is participating to make sure the process is fair to all sides. (Reporting by Amy Tennery and Chris Michaud; Writing by David Ingram; Editing by Howard Goller and Jonathan Oatis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Saif Hameed and Ulf Laessing | BAGHDAD/BARTELLA, Iraq BAGHDAD/BARTELLA, Iraq Islamic State fighters retreating in the face of a seven-week Iraqi military assault on their Mosul stronghold have hit back in the last two days, exploiting cloudy skies which hampered U.S.-led air support and highlighting the fragile army gains.In a series of counter-attacks since Friday night, the jihadist fighters struck elite Iraqi troops spearheading the offensive in eastern Mosul, and attacked security forces to the south and west of the city.On Sunday two militants tried to attack army barracks in the western province of Anbar. Police and army sources said the attackers were killed before they reached the base.Iraqi officials say they continue to gain ground against the militants who still hold about three-quarters of the country's largest northern city which is Islamic State's last major urban stronghold in Iraq. One military source said the militants had taken back some ground, but predicted their gains would be short-lived. "We withdraw to avoid civilian losses and then regain control. They can't hold territory for long," the source said. But the fierce resistance means the military's campaign is likely to stretch well into next year as it seeks to recapture a city where the jihadists are dug in among civilians and using a network of tunnels to launch waves of attacks.This has prompted fears among residents and aid groups of a winter food, water and fuel supply crisis for the million residents still in Islamic State-held areas of the city, and calls to speed up operations."Daesh (Islamic State) still controls our neighbourhood, and the Iraqi forces have not taken a single step forward in three weeks. We're in despair," said a resident in Mosul's southeastern district of Intisar, where the army's Ninth Armoured Division has struggled to make gains."My family and I have been sleeping under the concrete stairs in our house for a month now, afraid of the random bombardment between the Iraqi forces and the Daesh elements," he told Reuters by telephone.'NO FIGHTING' The capture of Mosul, the largest city under control of Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria, is seen as crucial towards dismantling the caliphate which the militants declared over parts of the two countries in 2014.Some 100,000 Iraqi government troops, Kurdish security forces and mainly Shi'ite militiamen are participating in the assault on Mosul that began on Oct. 17, with air and ground support from a U.S.-led international military coalition.A Reuters reporter in Bartella, about 10 km (6 miles) east of Mosul, saw tanks and army trucks heading towards the city on Sunday. Mud caused by recent rains was hindering movement and there was less artillery fire than in recent days."For the past two days there was almost no fighting," said a man who gave his name as Suleiman, who had fled Mosul.A spokesman for the Counter Terrorism Services (CTS) who have been leading the Iraqi army advance in Mosul denied any let-up in the overall campaign."The operation is continuing on all fronts - there's no halt on any front," spokesman Sabah al-Numani told Iraqi television. Iraqi commanders say they have killed at least 1,000 Islamic State fighters. A government adviser estimated the jihadist group now had about 4,000 fighters in Mosul.The military has not given figures for its own casualties. The United Nations said last week nearly 2,000 members of the Iraqi security forces were killed across Iraq in November - a figure which Iraq says was based on unverified reports.The elite CTS units and the armoured division have captured around half of the eastern side of Mosul, which is split down the centre by the Tigris river.A U.S.-led coalition has bombed four of the five bridges across the river, aiming to stem a flow of suicide car bombers from the west, targeting the army in the eastern neighbourhoods.TANKS STRUGGLE Officers say Islamic State has deployed more than 650 car bombs since the campaign started on Oct. 17 but say the pace of attacks has fallen off.The militants, who have dug in and prepared their defence since seizing Mosul in mid-2014, have also struck with volleys of mortar bombs and used a network of tunnels to target soldiers. In the Intisar district, the tanks of the armoured division deployed there have struggled to adapt to close-quarter urban warfare, and commanders have summoned infantry reinforcement, an officer told Reuters.Commanders also hope to stretch Islamic State defences more thinly, by opening new fronts inside the city.The head of the police rapid response forces, stationed a few miles south of Mosul on the west bank of the Tigris, told Iraqi television on Saturday evening his units were awaiting orders to advance north towards the city.First they must take control of the Islamic State-held village of Albu Saif, the last obstacle before reaching Mosul airport on the southern edge of the city.A military statement said the army had captured on Sunday three villages near the town of Shirqat, further south from Mosul and close to the sites of two attacks on Friday night by Islamic State fighters which killed 12 people.Police and army sources said eight policemen were killed in Shayala village, north of Shirqat in one of the Friday night raids. Four other members of the security forces were killed at the same time in the village of Naml, south of Shirqat.The army on Sunday was advancing slowly on the east bank of the Tigris, across the river from Shirqat, towards the Islamic State-held town of Hawija, the sources said. (Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad and Omar Fahmy in Cairo; Editing by Pravin Char) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Aislinn Laing | ANTANANARIVO ANTANANARIVO People whose loved ones disappeared on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have appealed to residents on the east African coast to search for plane debris and hand in anything they find to the authorities.Ghislain Wattrelos, who lost his wife and two teenage children on the plane, said more debris could help determine what happened, more than 1,000 days after the flight disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.It can tell us is there was a fire, if there are traces of explosive, Wattrelos told a news conference in Antananarivo, the capital of the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar where some debris has washed up."The more debris we have, the more we can recreate, looking at the wind and currents, where the plane crashed.Families have accused Malaysian-led investigators of focusing too much on the deep-sea search for wreckage off the coast of Australia. The visit by seven relatives to Madagascar, where almost half of the more than 30 pieces thought to be from the plane have been found, prompted the Malaysian investigators to follow them to the Indian Ocean island to collect the latest items.The Transport Ministry handed over six pieces on Monday that included a seat back with coat hook, and wing and tail pieces.Gervais Damasy, director of Madagascar's Bureau of Civil Aviation Accident Investigations, said he would discuss with the chief Malaysian investigator whether the two countries could launch a joint search of Madagascars 3,200 miles of coastline. We want to help, but alone, we do not have the means, he said. Grace Subathirai Nathan, a Malaysian lawyer who lost her mother on MH370, said the bereaved relatives seven of whom are in Madagascar, from China, Malaysia and France would be "delighted" if people on Africa's east coast joined the search."Up to today every piece of debris found has been found by private citizens," she said. "It is important to know that we as private citizens can make a difference." The families, who are paying for their Africa trip themselves, said they would offer a modest reward to anyone who found debris confirmed to be from flight MH370.It needs to be proven that its debris from a plane and then it depends on the importance of the debris, said Nathan, without saying how much they would pay for an item found.On Tuesday, the families plan to visit different stretches of coastline around Madagascar to speak to residents and join the search. The Malaysian and Chinese families will return home via Mauritius to raise awareness there. (Editing by Edmund Blair and Andrew Roche) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Ellen Francis, Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Maria Kiselyova | BEIRUT/MOSCOW BEIRUT/MOSCOW The Russian government said on Monday it would start talks with Washington on a rebel withdrawal from Aleppo this week as Russian-backed Syrian forces fought to seize more territory from rebels who are struggling to avoid a major defeat. The latest army attack, which saw fierce clashes around the Old City, aims to cut off another area of rebel control in eastern Aleppo and tighten the noose on opposition-held districts where tens of thousands of people are trapped.Advances in recent weeks have brought Damascus, backed militarily by Russia, Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah, closer to recapturing Syria's second largest city before the nearly six-year war and a prize long sought by President Bashar al-Assad.The rebels are now reduced to an area just kilometres across.While Assad's allies have in the past year turned the battle in his favour, Western and regional states backing the rebels have been unwilling or unable to prevent a major defeat for groups who have fought for years to topple the Syrian leader.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said talks with the United States on the withdrawal of rebels would begin in Geneva on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning. There was no immediate comment from Washington, which has backed some of the rebels."Those armed groups who refuse to leave eastern Aleppo will be considered to be terrorists," Lavrov told a news conference. "We will treat them as such, as terrorists, as extremists and will support a Syrian army operation against those criminal squads."While the rebels have said they will not leave, one opposition official, who declined to be identified, conceded they may have no alternative for the sake of civilians who have been under siege for five months and faced relentless government bombardments."The people are paying a high price, with no state or organisation intervening," the official said, adding that this was his personal assessment based on reports from the city.With narrow alleyways, big mansions and covered markets the ancient city of Aleppo became a UNESCO heritage site in 1986. Many historic buildings have been destroyed in the fighting. BLACK SMOKE RISES NEAR CITADEL Responding to Russia's demand for their withdrawal, rebels told U.S. officials on Saturday they would not leave. Reiterating that position on Monday, rebel official Zakaria Malahifji said, "No person in his right mind, who has any sense of responsibility and patriotism, would leave his city.""The Russians are trying to do everything they can to make people leave. This is far from reality," he said, speaking to Reuters from Turkey. Insurgents, meanwhile, fought back ferociously inside Aleppo. Some of the fighting took place within a kilometre of the ancient citadel, a large fortress built on a mound, and around the historic Old City.Heavy gunfire could be heard from the Old City and smoke from mortar shell blasts rose from the area, Reuters journalists in a government-held western district said. Rebels appeared on the verge of being driven from the al-Shaar neighbourhood after new advances by Syrian government forces on Sunday. But rebels said they had mounted a counter-attack on Monday, and were recovering ground in some areas.Clashes raged in the Old City itself, which has long been split between government- and rebel-held areas, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.A Syrian army officer told Reuters intense fighting was taking place around the Old City.State television broadcast a report from inside a hospital complex seized from rebels on Sunday. The hospital is strategically important because it overlooks surrounding areas held by insurgents.A government takeover of the eye hospital complex and areas stretching west from there to the citadel would cut the remaining rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo in two, further isolating embattled rebel groups. Rebels said they were fighting back in that area too on Monday. REBELS LAUNCH COUNTER-ATTACKS "They (rebels) are trying to take back all the areas the regime took yesterday (including) the eye hospital, al-Myassar," Malahifji said.Moscow said a rebel attack on a mobile military hospital killed one Russian medic and wounded two others.The United Nations says more than 200,000 people might still be trapped in rebel-held areas, affected by severe food and aid shortages. "We need to reach them," U.N. aid chief Stephen O'Brien said in Geneva on Monday."People have been eking what they can, prices have skyrocketed so there is a real and severe shortage of foodstuffs."Russia is expected to veto a U.N. resolution on Monday which calls for a seven-day ceasefire, with Lavrov saying a truce was counter-productive because it would allow rebels to regroup.State TV said rebel shelling killed seven people in government-held areas of Aleppo on Monday.More than 300 people have been killed in government bombardments of rebel-held areas since mid-November, and 70 have died in rebel shellings, the Syrian Observatory says. (Additional reporting by Tom Perry in Beirut, Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman, Firas Makdesi in Aleppo, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Jack Stubbs in Moscow; Writing by John Davison; Editing by Tom Perry and Peter Millership) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Roberta Rampton and Ben Blanchard | WASHINGTON/BEIJING WASHINGTON/BEIJING The White House said on Monday it had sought to reassure China after President-elect Donald Trump's phone call with Taiwan's leader last week, which the Obama administration warned could undermine progress in relations with Beijing.The statement from a spokesman for U.S. President Barack Obama highlighted concerns about the potential fallout from Trump's unusual call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday, which prompted a diplomatic protest from Beijing on Saturday.White House spokesman Josh Earnest said senior National Security Council officials spoke twice with Chinese officials over the weekend to reassure them of Washington's commitment to the "One China" policy and to "reiterate and clarify the continued commitment of the United States to our longstanding China policy."The policy has been in place for 40 years and is focused on promoting and preserving peace and stability in the strait separating China and Taiwan, which is in U.S. interests, Earnest said. "If the president-elect's team has a different aim, I'll leave it to them to describe," he said."The Chinese government in Beijing placed an enormous priority on this situation, and its a sensitive matter. Some of the progress that we have made in our relationship with China could be undermined by this issue flaring up," he said.The call with Taipei was the first by a U.S. president-elect or president with a Taiwan leader since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of "one China." China regards Taiwan as a renegade province.Despite tensions over matters ranging from China's pursuit of territorial claims in the South China Sea and trade, the Obama administration has highlighted cooperation on global issues, such as climate change and Iran's and North Korea's nuclear programs.Earlier on Monday, China's Foreign Ministry said Trump was clear about China's position on the Taiwan issue and that China had maintained contacts with his team. Vice President-elect Mike Pence sought to play down the telephone conversation, saying on Sunday it was a "courtesy" call, not intended to show a shift in U.S. policy on China.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang would not say directly whom China had lodged "stern representations" with about Trump's call, repeating a weekend statement it had gone to the "relevant side" in the United States. "The whole world knows about the Chinese government's position on the Taiwan issue. I think President-elect Trump and his team are also clear," Lu told a daily news briefing."In fact, China has maintained contacts and communication with the team of President-elect Trump," he added, repeating a previous assertion, although he did not give details.Lu also said he would not speculate on what prompted the call, but described the matter of Taiwan as the most important and sensitive question between China and the United States. TOUGH RHETORIC Trump, who vowed during his campaign to label China a currency manipulator, issued more tough rhetoric on Sunday."Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the U.S. doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!" Trump said on Twitter.China is not currently viewed as a currency manipulator by either the Treasury department or the International Monetary Fund. The World Trade Organization says Chinese tariffs on imported goods are generally higher than U.S. tariffs.China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei claim parts or all of the energy-rich South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually.Lu would not be drawn on directly commenting on Trump's tweets but defended the China-U.S. relationship. "The China-U.S. economic and trade relationship has over many years always been a highly mutually beneficial one, otherwise it couldn't have developed the way it has today," he said.The diplomatic contretemps was one of several recently for the Republican president-elect, a real estate magnate who has never held public office and has no foreign affairs or military experience. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, is still considering his choice for secretary of state.Pence called the uproar over the call with "democratically elected" Tsai a "tempest in a teapot." He blamed the media for the controversy, saying the call was similar in nature to one between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping after the Nov. 8 election.Stephen Moore, an economic analyst and Trump adviser, defended the president-elect's move and said it did not matter that China was angry over the exchange."Taiwan is our ally," Moore said in an interview with WLS AM890 radio in Chicago. "That is a country that we have backed because they believe in freedom. We oughta back our ally, and if China doesn't like it, screw 'em. (Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, David Brunnstrom, David Chance and David Lawder in Washington; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Peter Cooney) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. TASHKENT Shavkat Mirziyoyev, long-serving prime minister of Uzbekistan, has become its second president, winning 88.61 percent of the vote in an election on Sunday criticised by Western observers."This shows that we are going along the path outlined by the late president (Islam Karimov)," Mirziyoyev told thousands of supporters at a rally.Mirziyoyev, 59, was prime minister from 2003 under Karimov, who died of a stroke in September having run Central Asia's most populous nation with an iron fist for 27 years.He is expected to step down as prime minister but it is unclear when, as there is no precedent for such a transition in the former Soviet republic, which became an independent state in 1991. The landslide victory by Mirziyoyev had been widely expected. He swiftly emerged as the likely successor to Karimov and was appointed interim president when the senate speaker, given the role by constitution, gave it up in Mirziyoyev's favour.Diplomatic and business sources say Mirziyoyev secured support for his presidential bid from Uzbekistan's powerful informal clans by agreeing to share power with two other political heavyweights, Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov and security chief Rustam Inoyatov.The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for the first time deployed a full-scale election observation mission in Uzbekistan. It criticised the vote on Monday as falling well short of democratic norms and said it underlined the need for "comprehensive reforms". It said in a preliminary statement authorities had failed to provide the conditions for a genuinely free and transparent election process."DEVOID OF COMPETITION" "The dominant position of state actors and limits on fundamental freedoms ... led to a campaign devoid of genuine competition," the observation mission said.Running against Mirziyoyev were Khatamjon Ketmonov, Narimon Umarov and Sarvar Otamuratov, the nominees of three parties in parliament which present themselves as the opposition but which have always toed the official line.Ketmonov and Umarov had also run in the 2015 election, which Karimov won with 90.4 percent of the vote. "I think no political 'thaw' should be expected, and there have been no promises of one during the campaign," said Kazakhstan-based Central Asia analyst Alexander Knyazev.Economic reforms promised by Mirziyoyev may materialise, but many of them will take a long time to be implemented, he said.Diplomats say Mirziyoyev is expected to move Uzbekistan closer to Russia, its Soviet-era overlord. Russian President Vladimir Putin was the first foreign leader to publicly congratulate him on the victory.Both sides "confirmed their commitment to further strengthening of Russian-Uzbek relations of alliance and strategic partnership" in a phone call, the Kremlin said in a statement, with Putin inviting Mirziyoyev to visit. (Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov and Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov; Editing by Jack Stubbs and Andrew Roche) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Amazon India has launched of its global program Amazon Launchpad in India. The global program showcases innovative products from startups to customers. This program will make it easier for Indian Startups to launch, market, and distribute their products to Amazon customers across India and around the world through a dedicated store. The new Amazon Launchpad store on Amazon.in features over 400 innovative products ranging from Wearable Technology, Smart Homes, Food & Beverage, Health monitoring, Educational Toys & more. Over 25 Indian Startups have already joined the program and are looking forward to leverage Amazons marketplace expertise and infrastructure to create awareness and drive sale. Witworks, Leaf Wearables, Ducere Technologies, Seventh Sense Technologies are some of the featured Indian Startups. Amazon Launchpad has tied up with various partners operating in the ecosystem, such as DIPPs Start Up India initiative and will offer Startups a streamlined on-boarding experience, access to custom product pages with unique content, marketing support to aid product discovery, and access to Amazons global customer base & fulfillment network. Globally, Amazon Launchpad works with more than 100 venture capital firms, crowd-funding services, and accelerators/incubators. In India, Amazon.in has partnered with Startup India, NASSCOM 10,000 Startups and Indian Angel Network (IAN), amongst others, to help identify and enrol Startups from their network/portfolio. Amazon.in has also roped in a few strategic partners such as NITI Aayog, Government of Maharashtra, Government of Telangana and TiE. Any startup that is interested in participating in Amazon Launchpad can apply online through the application page. If a startup is not supported by the current partner network, the application shall be evaluated by Amazon.in for the startups fitment to the program. Amit Agarwal, VP and Country Head, Amazon India said, Amazon has always encouraged and supported innovation. By bringing Amazon Launchpad to India, we are excited to support the Governments Start-up India initiative and encourage innovation from the Indian start-up community. India has great minds which invent amazing products and we will support their growth by helping customers discover their new products not just in India but other countries around the world. We hope that Amazon Launchpad has a positive impact on the economy by further promoting Make in India, adding further impetus to the current interest in Indian Startups and also creating additional employment opportunities. At the Motley Fool we are convinced that the best way to grow wealthy is to buy shares of wonderful businesses and hold them through thick and thin. While that's an easy enough concept to understand, finding those "wonderful" business isn't exactly easy. To aim you in your search, we asked three of our Foolish contributors to highlight a stock they can't see themselves ever parting ways with. Read on to see they choose Brookfield Asset Management (BAM -3.05%), Bladex (BLX -0.32%), and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A -0.97%) (BRK.B -1.59%) Buy for the returns, hold for the insight Matt DiLallo: Brookfield Asset Management has an excellent track record of delivering market-beating returns, generating an 18% compound annual return over the past two decades. The Canadian alternative asset manager sees more of the same in the years ahead with the company's base case forecasting 22% total annual returns over the next five years. Driving that growth is the continued expansion of its asset management platform as well as the growth of its renewable power, property, infrastructure, and private equity businesses. That said, as good as Brookfield is at managing assets and growing value for investors, I appreciate the effort the company takes each quarter to share its insights about investing and what it sees in the global marketplace. For example, in the company's third-quarter shareholder letter, CEO Bruce Flatt detailed the utility of cash in an investment portfolio. He started off by saying: In a world where cash and most liquid assets that are easily convertible to cash earn a zero return, the utility of cash would seem to be zero. But we would argue that cash is becoming increasingly valuable, given that we are nearly eight years into a bull market, and the fixed income markets are near highs. He then went on to explain how the company used cash in prior downturns to invest in some of its best assets. That's why Brookfield continues to ensure it has ample financial resources for the future, with Flatt concluding his message on cash by saying, "Bottom line: cash only matters when it matters. And when it matters, it really, really matters." Not only are lessons like that invaluable to investors, but they flow out of the company's values and investment philosophy. That's why I trust Brookfield with my money and have no intention of ever selling any of my stock. Prosperous even during times of turmoil Brian Feroldi: Latin American trade bank Bladex is far from a household name, but this is certainly a company I can't ever see myself selling. Bladex was created by central banks in Latin America years ago to help finance trade in the region. As a trade bank, the company doesn't have normal retail customers. Instead, Bladex helps facilitate trade between the region's exporters and importers by providing financing, letters of credit, and other banking solutions. You're likely aware that Latin America has been going through tough times recently. There has been a lot of political turmoil in countries like Brazil, which is the region's largest economy, and the collapse in energy prices has hit countries like Chile, Peru, Venezuela, and Colombia quite hard. And yet, despite all of those headwinds, here's what has happened to Bladex's book value and dividend over the last five years: This excellent track record speaks volumes about the bank's resiliency. I can only imagine what kind of results the company will be able to put up once the region's economic activity turns around. That's why I plan on hanging on to my shares for years to come. A no-brainer forever stock Tim Green: If there's any stock to buy and hold indefinitely, its Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. The conglomerate has grown into one of the largest companies in the world, with a market value of nearly $400 billion, thanks to decades of good decisions and the magic of compounding. The impressive rate of growth achieved in the past may not be repeatable going forward, but the table is set for solid performance far into the future. Berkshire produced $24 billion of net income last year. Some of its businesses, namely insurance, can be volatile and unpredictable. But the company has moved deeper into non-insurance businesses in recent years. The $37 billion acquisition of Precision Castparts earlier this year is the most notable example, giving Berkshire a wildly profitable manufacturer of industrial parts and equipment with significant competitive advantages. Finding deals big enough to move the needle for Berkshire has become the company's biggest challenge, but Buffett has shown no hesitation in pulling the trigger when a deal makes sense. In some ways, shares of Berkshire Hathaway act like an index fund. Investors get an array of wholly owned businesses as well as the company's vast portfolio of investments. The difference is that Buffett has attempted to construct a collection of businesses and investments that are superior to the average. Given Berkshire's track record, I have no problem betting that this approach will continue to work well into the future. This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices. (Story corrects to 1 billion tonnes from 1 million in sixth paragraph.) General Electric Co's sales of power plant upgrades would not suffer much if the United States bailed out of climate change treaties under a Trump administration as utilities still want the economic benefits that come with modernizations, GE's power services chief said on Monday. President-elect Donald Trump has called global warming a hoax and threatened to quit climate accords, though he recently said he is keeping an "open mind." But even if Trump took the United States out of the 2015 Paris climate deal, that would not necessarily cut demand for plant improvements, GE said. "We see the demand being very robust for products that can lower emissions and increase efficiency," Paul McElhinney, chief executive of GE's $15 billion power services business, said in a TV interview with Reuters. "I don't actually see anything happening domestically in the U.S. as having a dramatic impact." GE supports the climate agreements, which it says can help drive utilities to upgrade plants. It released a study on Monday that shows global CO2 emissions could be cut by 10 percent, or 1.1 billion tonnes a year, if current technology to boost the efficiency of coal and gas-fired power plants were installed in every plant now operating. The reduction would be equivalent to taking 95 percent of U.S. cars off the road, GE said. Such upgrades cost about $55 million for a coal plant and $10 million for a natural gas plant, GE said. GE expects to land contracts worth about $500 million in coming weeks, including a $300 million deal to upgrade two British power plants operated by Uniper SE of Germany , McElhinney said. Hardware upgrades combined with new software can increase efficiency at coal plants about 4 percentage points and around 3.3 percentage points at gas plants, GE said. GE expects more coal plants to be built over the next 25 years. Demand is particularly strong in China, India, South Africa, Southeast Asia and North Asia. Power utilities there face rising power demands and want improvements to wring more electricity from existing turbines and generators, while also helping comply with climate rules, McElhinney said. Demand for renewable energy such as wind and solar is increasing and now accounts for half of all new electric capacity, said Deb Frodl, executive director of GE's Ecomagination business, which focuses on environmental strategy. GE's potential market for power plant equipment sales more than doubled to $53 billion a year with the 2015 acquisition of power assets from Alstom SA , McElhinney said. GE is ahead of projections on cost savings and sales growth it forecast from the Alstom deal, but he declined to provide figures. (Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Andrew Hay and Marguerita Choy) It has been over 400 days since Flint, Michigans water was publicly declared undrinkable and more than two years since high levels of lead were first detected. Despite reports saying levels are back to where they should be, some residents say they still dont have any clean drinking water. Unfortunately, the situation in Flint is getting worse. Our lead is in the 4-digits and our bacteria is 3.8 million plate count. The longer they wait to change our pipes, the worse our water gets. We have about 500 pipes replaced out of 29,000-plus lines that need to go, Melissa Mays, a Flint resident of 15 years and co-founder of Water You Fighting For? told FOXBusiness.com. Wantwaz Davis, a city councilman from Flints 5th Ward, says the water will never be right. You cant fix one home in a neighborhood and then move on. All these pipes are interconnected. You cant half do with something, which is what they are doing, Davis told FOXBusiness.com. Marc Edwards, the Virginia Tech professor who helped break the news last September that 40% of Flints homes had elevated lead levels in their drinking water, says according to his recent tests, the situation has dramatically improved. More on this... Why You Should Think Twice Before Drinking Tap Water Flint is probably meeting all federal safety standards for water but what we have realized since we investigated this problem in Flint is that the existing laws on lead are insufficiently protected, Edwards, who has been appointed to the Flint Water Interagency Coordinating Committee by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, told FOXBuisness.com. Edwards says that residents have been traumatized by this event and some of them are never going to drink or trust the safety of their water regardless of what the data shows. He adds that removing lead pipes can be a very difficult process and if done improperly, it could cause more harm than good. We saw that happen in Washington, D.C. when they tried to remove lead pipes quickly. It can be very dangerous, he adds. Gov. Snyders office says it is working on getting pipes replaced as quickly as it can based on permitting and contracting. Anna Heaton, press secretary for Gov. Snyder, told FOXBusiness.com that the state has given the city $25 million for service line replacement. Mays, a mother of three boys whose grass roots group has been actively campaigning for access to clean, safe, and affordable water says Water You Fighting For? has been locked in an uphill battle to continue to get free bottled water deliver to them something the state has been trying to stop. Luckily, were winning in the courts on that one, she said. Last week, U.S. District Judge David Lawson denied state officials motion to stop delivering bottled water door-to-door to Flint residents because it would perpetuate the very irreparable harm the preliminary injunction is designed to address. He wrote in an order late Friday that there are two problems with the states case: First, handing out a water filter does not ensure that it is effective in reducing lead content of drinking water to an acceptable level. There must be a protocol in place to see that the filters are installed and maintained properly, Lawson wrote. Second, for many without a proper filter in place the difficultly of obtaining drinking water is significant, as the testimony demonstrated. Heaton says the state is currently awaiting a response from the Sixth Circuit federal court on a request for an emergency stay. If bottled water delivery is to go forward, we havent yet identified a source for the $10.5 million it will cost monthly, but it is likely that it will have to come from the money already allocated for Flint but not yet spent such as money for pipe replacement, she said. The Latest on the Dakota Access pipeline protest (all times local): 7:30 p.m. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is praising the decision of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deny a permit for the Dakota Access oil pipeline in southern North Dakota. That decision is a victory for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters, who argued the project would threaten the tribe's water source and cultural sites. Sanders, who made a strong run for the Democratic presidential nomination this year, says he appreciates President Barack Obama "listening to the Native American people and millions of others who believe this pipeline should not be built." He says: "We should not continue to trample on Native American sovereignty." Sanders says the country should not increase its fossil fuel dependence and accelerate the crisis of climate change. ___ 6:50 p.m. Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, whose department has done much of the policing for the Dakota Access pipeline protests, says "local law enforcement does not have an opinion" on the Army Corps of Engineers' decision not to grant an easement for the project. Kirchmeier says the sheriff's department's role "is to enforce the law" and that it "will continue to do so." The Army Corps announced Sunday that it will not allow the four-state, $3.8 billion pipeline to be built under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir where construction had been on hold. ___ 5:35 p.m. Hundreds of demonstrators near the Dakota Access pipeline protest camp broke into cheers and chanted "water is life" in the Lakota Sioux language as news spread that the federal government won't grant an easement for the project in southern North Dakota. Some in the crowd banged drums. Miles Allard of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe said he was pleased by the decision but remained cautious, saying opponents of the pipeline "don't know what Trump is going to do." Allard says he's been telling his people "to stand up and not to leave until this is over." Carla Youngbear of the Meskwaki Potawatomi tribe traveled from central Kansas to be at the protest site. She says she has grandchildren and is going to have great-grandchildren who will need water and that's why she was there. ___ 4:55 p.m. The Morton County Sheriff's Office says that it has lifted the blockade on a bridge north of the large Dakota Access oil pipeline protest encampment. In a statement, it said that it won't be near the bridge as long as protesters stick to the conditions outlined on Saturday, including only coming to the bridge for predetermined meetings with law enforcement. The release did not comment on the U.S. Army Corps' decision to not grant an easement for the four-state, $3.8 billion pipeline under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir from which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe gets its drinking water. The large Oceti Sakowin camp is south of the Backwater Bridge, and several hundred people are camped there. ___ 4:15 p.m. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch says that the Department of Justice will still monitor the protest in North Dakota and is ready to "provide resources" for those who "can play a constructive role in easing tensions." The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Sunday afternoon that the four-state, $3.8 billion Dakota Access oil pipeline cannot be built under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir where construction had been on hold. North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple said in a statement that the Corps' decision "is a serious mistake," ''prolongs the serious problems" that law enforcement faces and "prolongs the dangerous situation" of people camping in cold, snowy conditions. The federal government has ordered the several hundred people at the main encampment, which is on Corps land, by Monday. Lynch said in a statement that the safety of those in the area, including officers, residents and protesters, "continues to be our foremost concern." ___ 4:10 p.m. North Dakota Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer says that the Army Corps' decision not to grant an easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline is "a very chilling signal" for the future of infrastructure in the U.S. Cramer said in a statement that infrastructure will be hard to build "when criminal behavior is rewarded this way," apparently referring to the large protest encampment on federal land and the clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement. The Corps said Sunday afternoon that the pipeline cannot be built under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir where construction had been on hold. The route has been the subject of months of protests by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others, who have argued the pipeline threatens a water source and cultural sites. Cramer also said that "law and order" will be restored when Donald Trump takes office and that he feels bad for the Corps having to do "diligent work ... only to have their Commander-in-Chief throw them under the bus." ___ 4 p.m. The Secretary of the Interior says the Army Corps' decision to not grant an easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline "ensures there will be an in-depth evaluation of alternative routes." Sally Jewell also said in a statement that the decision "underscores that tribal rights ... are essential components of the analysis" for the environmental impact statement. The Corps said Sunday afternoon that the pipeline cannot be built under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir where construction had been on hold. The route has been the subject of months of protests by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others, who have argued the pipeline threatens a water source and cultural sites. The company constructing the pipeline, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, and the Morton County Sheriff's Office didn't have immediate comment. ___ 3:45 p.m. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it won't grant an easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline in southern North Dakota. Corps spokeswoman Moria Kelley said in a news release Sunday that the administration will not allow the four-state, $3.8 billion pipeline to be built under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir where construction had been on hold. Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said her decision was based on the need to "explore alternate routes" for the pipeline's crossing. The route has been the subject of months of protests by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others, who have argued the pipeline threatens a water source and cultural sites. The company constructing the pipeline, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, and the Morton County Sheriff's Office didn't have immediate comment. The federal government has ordered people to leave the main encampment, which is on Army Corps of Engineers' land and is close to the construction site, by Monday. Demonstrators say they're prepared to stay, and federal, state and local authorities say they won't forcibly remove the protesters. ___ 2:45 p.m. A disabled Gulf War veteran from Flint, Michigan, says he sees irony in the parallels between his city's lead-tainted water issue and the four-state Dakota Access pipeline. Art Woodson is a disabled Gulf War veteran who served in the Army and drove to the main protest encampment from North Dakota with two others a 17-hour nonstop drive. He's here as part of the Veterans Stand for Standing Rock group. The 49-year-old says he is showing is support for "Native Americans and for water," because Flint residents know "that water is in dire need." Woodson also said that "they're trying to force pipes on people" but that "we're trying to get pipes in Flint for safe water." The group had said about 2,000 veterans were going to the camp, where several hundred people have for months protested the $3.8 billion pipeline, but it wasn't clear how many actually arrived. The government has ordered people to leave the encampment by Monday. Demonstrators say they're prepared to stay. ___ 1:30 p.m. A Vietnam veteran who's part of a Michigan tribe says he came to the Dakota Access pipeline protest camp because the issue of water quality is "an issue for everyone." Sixty-six-year-old Steven Perry is from Traverse City, Michigan, and a member of the Little Traverse Bay band of Odawa Indians. He came to help at the Oceti Sakowin camp, which is on federal land in southern North Dakota, as part of the Veterans Stand for Standing Rock group. Perry says: "When we fought for this country, we fought for everyone." The group had said about 2,000 veterans were going to the camp, where several hundred people have for months protested the four-state, $3.8 billion pipeline, but it wasn't clear how many actually arrived. The government has ordered people to leave the main encampment by Monday, but demonstrators say they're prepared to stay. Federal, state and local authorities say they won't forcibly remove the protesters. ___ 1:25 p.m. An organizer with the Veterans Stand for Standing Rock has told a gathering of veterans near the Dakota Access pipeline protest site that elders have asked they have no confrontations with authorities. Organizer Wes Clark Jr., the son of former Democratic presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark, spoke to about 250 veterans Sunday afternoon. State authorities have said they talked with the veterans group and will move away Sunday afternoon from the Blackwater Bridge that's north of the Oceti Sakowin camp on federal land if protesters agree to certain conditions. Wes Clark Jr. spoke of that agreement, saying the National Guard and law enforcement have armored vehicles and are armed. He added: "If we come forward, they will attack us." The group had said about 2,000 veterans were going to the camp, where several hundred people have for months protested the four-state, $3.8 billion pipeline, but it wasn't clear how many actually arrived. Clark asked veterans to help out anyone who needs it at camp. ___ 11:10 a.m. A Navy veteran and Harvard graduate student says he came to the Dakota Access pipeline protest camp because he thought they could use his help. Twenty-nine-year-old Art Grayson of Cambridge, Massachusetts, said he came to the encampment as part of the Veterans Stand for Standing Rock group. He flew, then met up with other veterans and rode the final leg of the trip from Bismarck in the back of a pickup truck. Hundreds of veterans are expected to come to the camp on federal land, where several hundred people have been in protest of the four-state, $3.8 billion pipeline for months. Grayson said that he "couldn't stand by and watch people being abused." He has finals this week, but told his professors "I'll see you when I get back." The group's GoFundMe.com page had raised more than $1 million of its $1.2 million goal on Sunday, which is to go toward food, transportation and supplies. ___ 7:25 a.m. Authorities in North Dakota say they'll move away from a bridge near the main Dakota Access pipeline protest camp by Sunday afternoon if demonstrators agree to certain conditions. A Morton County Sheriff's Office news release details the conditions as outlined Saturday by Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney, which he said are meant to de-escalate conflict. They include staying in the Oceti Sakowin camp that's south of the Backwater Bridge, coming to it only if there is a prearranged meeting with law enforcement and not removing barriers. Standing Rock Sioux tribal chairman Dave Archambault and Gov. Jack Dalrymple have agreed to meet. Archambault told the Bismarck Tribune this weekend that he wanted the blockade on the bridge, damaged in late October during a protest, lifted. Hundreds of veterans are due to gather Sunday on the reservation. Finding winning stocks is tough. That's why we Fools tend to hold on tenaciously when we think we have bought a winner. So what stocks do we currently own that we plan on holding forever? We asked that very question to a team of Fools, and they picked Alphabet(NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL),Brookfield Property Partners(NYSE: BPY), andMarketAxess Holdings (NASDAQ: MKTX). Image source: Getty Images. Google is growing up into a cross-sector conglomerate Anders Bylund(Alphabet): " Never" is a very long time, but I certainly don't have any plans to sell my holdings in Alphabet for the foreseeable future. The company is best known for its Google-branded range of online tools and services today. Through Google, Alphabet dominates the lucrative fields of online search and advertising. YouTube is another market-defining property under the Google umbrella. The Android platform for smartphones and tablets also dominates its industry on a global level, again under Google's aegis. It's safe to say that you know what the company does, and you probably use its services every day. The Google segment provided 99% of Alphabet's total revenue in the recently reported fourth quarter. In short, Alphabet is Google. And with Google's sales rising 22% year over year, driving operating income 17% higher, that's not a bad thing. But Alphabet won't look like that forever. The minuscule "other bets" segment is tiny and unprofitable today but represents Alphabet's long-term future. The internet as we know it may go away as quickly as it rose out of nowhere in the 1990s, replaced by whatever comes next. (No, I can't tell you what that might be. If I knew, I'd be getting rich developing that idea rather than talking about the current state of affairs. Sorry.) So Alphabet is getting ready for the day when online search and marketing no longer supports a strong business foundation. Other bets include self-driving cars, advanced medical research, the Google Fiber high-speed internet service, and the Nest line of smart thermostats. Beyond these familiar names, Alphabet is working up many more not-so-obvious business ideas out of the public eye. Any or all of these experiments may turn into profitable businesses one day, and the Alphabet company was designed to contain many long-term bets on the far future. Some of the so-called moonshots contain an online element, but others don't. In short, Alphabet is remaking itself as a whole new kind of industry-spanning conglomerate. With or without the internet, Alphabet will be around for the very long haul. The company is just getting started, using Google to kindle the fires under a brand new bundle of growth engines. A core real estate holding Matt DiLallo (Brookfield Property Partners): I'm a firm believer that investors should hold some form of real estate for the long term. The numbers back up this view, as investors who added real estate or other alternatives to a portfolio of stocks and bonds have significantly outperformed those holding a more traditional portfolio over the long term. While there are plenty of good ways to get into real estate, the best, in my opinion, is by investing in Brookfield Property Partners. The real estate partnership owns a core portfolio of office properties in gateway cities around the world and a significant stake in leading U.S. mall owner General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP). In addition, it has investments in several opportunistic real estate funds that hold stakes in a variety of other property classes, including multi-family, industrial, and hospitality. That makes it a one-stop shop for real estate investing. These real estate portfolios throw off very predictable cash flow, 80% of which Brookfield Property Partners distributes back to investors through a generous payout currently yielding 5.3%. Meanwhile, the company reinvests the other 20% into redevelopment projects to obtain higher rents. The upside from those redevelopment projects, when combined with rent escalations and development projects in the pipeline, provide Brookfield with the ability to increase its payout by 5% to 8% annually over the long term. That steadily growing payout, along with capital appreciation across its portfolio, should drive 12% to 15% annual returns for investors over the long term, which is why this is one stock I'd never consider selling. This disruptor has a long runway ahead Brian Feroldi(MarketAxess Holdings): Did you know that the majority of fixed-income trading still takes place over the phone or by email? Given the ubiquity of electronic trading in the stock market, I was shocked to uncover this fact. But now MarketAxess is attempting to bring the bond markets into the 21st century. The company operates the biggest online bond-trading platform in the world, making it easy for its users to buy, sell, or researchfixed-income securities. Not only does this platform make far more sense than holding one-on-one conversations to transact, but it also brings a whole new level of transparency to this market. Being the top dog in this small but growing niche provides MarketAxess with a big advantage. Just like every other marketplace, bond buyers and sellers will naturally gravitate toward the largest platform since it maximizes their chance of getting a good price on either side of the transaction. This network effect will make it nearly impossible for a potential rival to catch up. One big financial benefit of running an electronic trading platform is that it costs the company very little to add one more user. That means the company's margins can consistently expand over time, allowing profits to grow at a much faster rate than revenue. MKTX Revenue (TTM) data by YCharts Over time, I'm convinced that the benefits of trading electronically will persuade more and more market participants to sign on the company's platform. With plenty of market share left for MarketAxess' to capture, I think the company's torrid revenue and profit growth rates should only continue from here. That why I plan on holding on to my MarketAxess shares indefinitely. 10 stocks we like better than Alphabet (A shares)When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Alphabet (A shares) wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of April 3, 2017 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Anders Bylund owns shares of Alphabet (A shares). Brian Feroldi owns shares of Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and MarketAxess Holdings. Matt DiLallo owns shares of Brookfield Property Partners. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and MarketAxess Holdings. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Income investors know how important consistent growth in payouts can be, and the dividend stocks that you'll find among the dividend aristocrats are among the best in the business at providing dividend growth. With requirements of at least a quarter-century of annual payout increases, dividend aristocrats prove their success through good times and bad. Let's take a closer look at why Medtronic (NYSE: MDT), 3M (NYSE: MMM), and Enbridge (NYSE: ENB) are among the top dividend aristocrats to buy this month. Image source: Getty Images. Wall Street's earnings overreaction makes this aristocrat a bargain Sean Williams (Medtronic): I don't believe there's a dividend aristocrat more deserving of a deeper dive in December than medical-device giant Medtronic. Medtronic's second-quarter earnings report was a bit rough around the edges -- there's no two ways about it. The company's sales improved 3% on a constant-currency basis, and its adjusted EPS grew by 9%. Despite a $0.01 EPS beat, revenue fell $110 million short of estimates, which the company blamed on a delay in some new product launches, and its full-year EPS forecast of $4.55 to $4.60 in EPS was below the Street's consensus of $4.65. Medtronic also anticipates a negative foreign currency effect of $0.20 to $0.22 per share for fiscal 2017. But the important thing to remember is that much of Medtronic's weakness is mostly temporary, or should be ignored by smart investors. For example, Medtronic's 3% sales growth and 9% adjusted profit growth is great news for a medical-device company of its size. While currency moves can affect the surface-scratching revenue and profit figures, we're more concerned about the health of the underlying business, and to that end, things are going well on a constant-currency basis. In particular, Medtronic is beginning to see real benefits from its tie-up with Covidien. Being able to redomicile its headquarters in Ireland, a country with a very favorable corporate tax environment, didn't alter its tax rate all too much, but it will free up billions in capital that was being held overseas. Furthermore, it allows Medtronic the ability to better deploy its capital, with a goal outlined in 2014 of reinvesting $10 billion into research and development over the next decade. By next fiscal year, the combined entity could realize $850 million in cost synergies. More recently, Medtronic also announced the approval of the first artificial pancreas, the MiniMed 670G. Through an attached sensor and an insulin pump, Type 1 diabetics will soon have a game-changing device at their disposal that can eliminate constant blood sugar tests while simultaneously reducing their chances of a hypoglycemic event. While not perfect, the MiniMed 670G could still generate blockbuster sales for the company. Having raised its dividend in 39 consecutive years and averaged a compound dividend growth rate of 18% over that span, Medtronic does a good job of rewarding its shareholders. Yet with a payout ratio of just 40%, there's plenty of coverage for this dividend to head higher. Smart income investors would be wise to give Medtronic a closer look. Put a yellow stickie on this stock Dan Caplinger (3M): The industrial sector has been on fire since the election, and Dow component 3M is up almost 6% over the past month. Not all investors are convinced that 3M will thrive from anticipated boosts in infrastructure and construction, and fears of declining growth in sales of smartphones could hurt 3M's electronics segment. Yet throughout the course of its history, 3M has consistently found new ways to innovate, coming up with products in a wide range of different industry niches that have helped it find ways to grow over the long run. From a dividend perspective, 3M at first glance looks rather ordinary, with a 2.6% dividend yield being slightly above what the typical Dow stock pays. But where 3M stands out is in its long history of dividend growth. As a dividend aristocrat, 3M has been increasing its dividend year in and year out for 58 consecutive years, with its most recent 8% boost coming early this year. The industrial conglomerate tends to raise its payout within the first two months of the year, making now a great time to anticipate a future increase. With earnings growth targets of as much 11% annually between now and 2020, 3M is setting its sights high to maximize its prospects going forward. Unrivaled dividend growth Matt DiLallo (Enbridge): Canadian oil pipeline giant Enbridge might not technically fit the official definition of a dividend aristocrat, given that it has grown its payout for "only" 21 straight years. However, not only is that an exceptionally long history of dividend growth, but the company has also delivered average compound annual dividend growth of 10.6% over the past two decades. That said, as excellent as Enbridge's dividend history might be, it is the company's future outlook that is even more impressive. Enbridge is currently in the midst of an enormous expansion program that will transform it into the largest energy infrastructure company in North America. The biggest step will come in early 2017, when the company anticipates closing its $28 billion deal for U.S. natural gas pipeline giant Spectra Energy (NYSE: SE). Enbridge expects that the transaction will enable the company to boost the dividend by 15% in 2017. Further, the transaction will bolster Enbridge's growth project backlog to an industry-leading $20 billion, along with another $37 billion of projects in development. Those growth projects are expected to supply Enbridge with ample cash flow to deliver 10% to 12% annual dividend growth through 2024. No energy company comes close to matching Enbridge's growth forecast. That's why investors seeking dividend growth should take a good look at Enbridge this December. 10 stocks we like better than Enbridge When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Enbridge wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of November 7, 2016 Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. Matt DiLallo owns shares of Medtronic. Sean Williams has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Spectra Energy. The Motley Fool owns shares of Medtronic. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Image source: Getty Images. 3M (NYSE: MMM) is up about 14% so far this year, but Goldman Sachs believes the stock's good days might be over. The Wall Street analyst giant recently downgraded 3M from neutral to sell, and assigned a price target of $159, representing roughly 8% downside from the current price. You don't see outright sell recommendations from top analyst firms every day. So what's the deal with 3M, and should investors in the company be worried? Why Goldman Sachs is bearish about 3M 3M's fundamentals remain strong. It's the company's "non-industrials" side that has made Goldman Sachs pessimistic. As reported on StreetInsider.com, analyst Joe Ritchie cited "pivoting from 'non-industrial' industrials" as his primary reason behind downgrading 3M. I don't blame you if you're confused, but allow me to explain. One of the biggest highlights of 2016 has been renewed investor interest in cyclical industrial stocks after a long lull. A perfect example is pure industrial play Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT). The heavyweight manufacturer's stock lost almost 28% of its value in 2015 as deteriorating conditions in the mining and oil and gas industries hit its top and bottom lines. The scene has been dramatically different this year, with Caterpillar clocking 40% gains so far. End-market conditions might not have improved yet, but the market appears to believe the worst is over for Caterpillar. 3M's gain of 14% this year pales in comparison to Caterpillar's run-up. Caterpillar might not have much in common with 3M, but it serves as an important example in explaining why Goldman Sachs is bearish about the latter. Exposure to mining and construction makes Caterpillar a typical cyclical industrial stock. 3M, on the other hand, is more of a "defensive" industrial stock, as Goldman Sachs puts it. That's because 3M is a conglomerate of a number of unrelated businesses serving different sectors, including defensive ones like healthcare and consumer goods. In fact, some of 3M's most popular brands, like Scotch, are purely consumer-centric. In short, 3M is broadly a mix of industrials, consumer, healthcare, electronics, and energy. This graphic, which shows 3M's 2015 revenues by segment, should give you a better idea of what I mean: Image source: 3M Investor Day Presentation, March 2016. Goldman Sachs believes cyclical stocks should continue to outperform defensive industrials in the near future as "industrial demand appears to be stabilizing and oil becomes less of a headwind," which is why 3M isn't as attractive anymore. In fact, Goldman Sachs also downgraded 3M's competitor Illinois Tool Works' stock rating to neutral for the same reason. Both companies compete in several common industrial markets; as in 3M's case, a big chunk of Illinois Tool Works' sales comes from consumer-centric markets. So should you sell 3M stock too? Elaborating on his 3M downgrade, Ritchie mentioned that "growth challenges" in 3M's electronics business, in particular, pose a headwind as "smartphone sales taper and the shift to OLED [displays] continues." Among its other products, 3M specializes in LCD display films for gadgets like phones and laptops. A 3M multi-touch interactive display. Image Source: 3M. Goldman Sachs' apprehensions perhaps stem from 3M's latest numbers. Electronics and energy was 3M's weakest segment during the first nine months of the year, with sales tumbling 10% year over year. With the exception of industrials, where sales were flat, all other 3M segments reported higher sales during the period. There's no denying that 3M's electronics and energy segment sales are under pressure, but the situation isn't as bad when it comes to margins. In Q3, the segment operating margin contracted by only about 40 basis points year over year despite a 7.5% drop in sales. In fact, 3M's overall operating margin for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2016, improved 70 basis points, to 24.4%, on marginally lower sales. More important, 3M has consistently maintained margins above 20% and doubled its free cash flow in the past decade, regardless of the phase of the business cycle. MMM Operating Margin (TTM) data by YCharts. This reflects management's efficiency in handling a diverse portfolio in the best possible way to grow the company even in adverse conditions. So even if electronics sales taper in the near future, investors needn't panic yet. Healthcare -- 3M's highest-margin segment -- remains strong; its industrials and safety and graphics businesses could even benefit if infrastructure spending in the U.S. picks up. All this could help offset some of the weakness in electronics sales, if it persists. A revival in cyclical stocks won't diminish 3M's worth, or its ability to ride out storms. The company has proved its resilience, having rewarded shareholders consistently by increasing its dividend for 58 straight years. Going forward, 3M is targeting8% to 11% growth in earnings per share and 100% free cash flow conversion through 2020. That should be good enough to discourage you from selling the stock. 10 stocks we like better than 3M When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and 3M wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of Nov. 7, 2016 Neha Chamaria has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Illinois Tool Works. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Image source: Getty Images. If there were ever a year for investors to fear crawling out of bed, this is it for shareholders of embattled drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX). Year to date, Valeant shares are lower by 84%, with its shares off around 94% since hitting an all-time high last summer. Despite being valued at just three times this year's projected profit-per-share estimates, Valeant shares continue to be dragged down by bad news. On Wednesday, Valeant and its shareholders were privy to yet more unsightly news in the form of correspondence from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concerning its use of non-GAAP measures. Valeant's reporting measures draw the ire of the SEC... again GAAP, or Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, is a measure of profitability that includes all operating benefits and expenses, even those deemed by companies to be one time and/or non-recurring in nature. Because companies want to give Wall Street and investors the best glimpse as possible into their underlying operations, they sometimes exclude so-called "one-time" benefits and expenses, and deliver non-GAAP earnings per share as their headline figure. While non-GAAP earnings have become somewhat of a reporting staple for some businesses, the SEC is looking to nip the misleading aspect of non-GAAP reporting in the bud. Valeant is among the handful of companies it has contacted multiple times about its non-GAAP reporting practices. Rewinding things a bit, in May, the SEC described Valeant's use of non-GAAP measures as "potentially misleading." In particular, the SEC questioned Valeant's practice of stripping out acquisition-related costs from its non-GAAP measures -- which is odd since Valeant had a lot of acquisition-related costs up until this year -- as well as its disclosure of the tax effects of the acquisition-related costs it was stripping out. Valeant agreed to make changes to its non-GAAP measures, and that was believed to be the end of it. Image source: Getty Images. Fast forward to this week when we learned that the SEC still isn't happy with Valeant's non-GAAP reporting. In particular, the latest correspondence from the SEC alleges that Valeant's non-GAAP earnings are too similar to its cash flow, and that it's once again stripping out costs that should be included in its non-GAAP results. For added context, through the first nine months of 2016, Valeant has reported a non-GAAP profit of $1.47 billion, but a GAAP loss of $1.89 billion. Specifically, the SEC points out that Valeant has been removing restructuring and legal costs from its non-GAAP results when these should, in fact, not be removed. Valeant has retorted that it removed these costs because they aren't recurring items. Nonetheless, Valeant has agreed to alter the way it reports its non-GAAP results beginning with its fiscal 2017 profit guidance, albeit the company didn't set a specific time frame when that guidance would be released. It should be noted that the SEC has chosen not to take any action against Valeant, but with this second correspondence, it's clear that Valeant remains squarely on the SEC's radar. But wait, there's more Of course, if you've been watching Valeant's story unfold, you know that correspondence from the SEC over its reporting practices is probably the least of its worries. Image source: Getty Images. Just two weeks ago, federal prosecutors in New York filed criminal charges against a former Valeant executive, Gary Tanner, who had been the VP of Valeant's Access Solutions Team, and the former Philidor Rx Services CEO, Andrew Davenport. Prosecutors have alleged that Tanner was steering an overabundance of business to Philidor, thus lining Davenport's pockets, while Davenport was providing kickbacks to Tanner in the process. While it's somewhat relieving in a sense that Valeant's former CEO J. Michael Pearson and CFO Howard Schiller haven't been charged with any criminal wrongdoing, this still isn't good news for Valeant. For instance, the investigation by federal prosecutors is still ongoing, and it could wind up resulting in a fine for the debt-riddled Valeant, or perhaps even sales restrictions. It was only somewhat recently discovered that Philidor was an owned entity of Valeant, and if Philidor hadn't been disclosing its close relationship with Valeant to insurers and playing a neutral party, it could spell further trouble ahead. Valeant's debt situation is also a veritable train wreck. As of the end of the third quarter, Valeant was lugging around $30.4 billion in debt. This debt is constraining its financial flexibility, and given the recent weakness in its underlying business model -- i.e., dermatology sales sinking by more than 50% on a year-over-year basis -- its lenders have cut the company off from additional credit. Image source: Getty Images. Valeant essentially has one option moving forward: sell some assets. The question at this point is what will Valeant divest -- its non-core assets or its core assets, such as Bausch & Lomb and Salix Pharmaceuticals? Neither pathway offers a particularly inviting outcome. If Valeant attempts to sell its non-core assets, which comprise about 20% of its annual sales, CEO Joseph Papa believes the company could net an aggregate of $8 billion. But management is overlooking that it's not selling from a position of strength. Its peers are fully aware of its need to divest assets and, as such, are unlikely to pay a premium for those assets. Thus, if Valeant sells non-core assets, it may not make much of a dent in its debt pile. On the other hand, if Valeant parts ways with its core assets it could sizably reduce its debt load, but also cripple its growth and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) prospects. In other words, it may not be in any better shape than it was prior to the sale of a core asset. Despite its relative fundamental "cheapness," Valeant and its management appear to be in a no-win situation. As such, it's a stock from which I'd strongly suggest investors keep their distance. 10 stocks we like better than Valeant Pharmaceuticals When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Valeant Pharmaceuticals wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of November 7, 2016 Sean Williamshas no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen nameTMFUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle@TMFUltraLong. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Image source: Getty Images. Leading gold miner Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) is in the second year of a mission to become debt-free within a decade. It is a bold goal considering that the company ended 2014 with $13.1 billion of debt. To jump-start that goal, the company unloaded several non-core assets last year, which pushed debt below $10 billion. The company continued to take a methodical approach in 2016, with an aim to trim another $2 billion in debt from the balance sheet. The company recently achieved that goal after completing a $650 million cash tender offer for some of its outstanding notes. However, what's noteworthy about the accomplishment is that the company did not sell assets this year. Instead, it benefited from cost reductions, as well as higher gold prices, to generate enough free cash flow to hit the target. That is a big win for the company because it means that future asset sales and free cash flow generation could accelerate its ability to become debt-free. Digging into what drove this success Aside from reducing debt by $2 billion this year, another of Barrick Gold's 2016 priorities was to position the company so it could generate free cash flow at a gold price of $1,000 per ounce. To do so, the company needed to drive down operating costs as well as keeping a lid on capex. It made steady progress in both areas this year.In fact, the company is on target to generate free cash flow at gold prices less than $1,000 per ounce this year. Driving this success is the fact thatcost of sales are down 7% while all-in sustaining costs declined 16% thanks to last year's sales of higher cost mines as well as the company's ability to operate more efficiently. Meanwhile, the company is raising the bar on capital allocation by setting a goal that new projects must meet a 15% return hurdle rate at a $1,200 gold price before the company will sanction an investment. This standard should curb capital spending on marginal projects. Because of that, it will generate more free cash flow for other uses, including debt reduction. These new standards have enabled the company to produce free cash flow for six straight quarters, including $674 million last quarter. That result brought the company's year-to-date total to $1.13 billion, which got it more than half way to its debt-reduction target. Because the gold miner already had $2.6 billion of cash on the balance sheet thanks to prior asset sales and free cash flow generation, it was able to pay off enough debt to hit its 2016 goal without having to sell any more assets. Image source: Getty Images. Another big win on the way? The completion of the company's recent debt repurchases pushed total debt down to $8 billion, with roughly $5 billion of that amount not due until after 2032. Because so much of its debt is long term, Barrick does not need to rush. That is why its medium-term goal is to reduce debt below $5 billion before it turns its attention to those longer-dated debt maturities. The company has already launched its next step by initiating the process to sell its stake in an Australian joint venture, which it co-owns with Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM). While Newmont Mining expressed interest in purchasing Barrick's stake, the partners could not agree on a valuation. Because of that, Barrick Gold put the asset on the market, which analysts thought would lead to a sale in the range of $600 million to $1 billion. However, according to reports, it has received a bid of $1.3 billion for the asset thanks in part to rising gold prices. If a deal gets done at that valuation, it could help Barrick Gold take another significant step toward hitting its medium-term debt reduction goal. Investor takeaway Barrick Gold started this year with a goal to trim another $2 billion of debt from its balance sheet. Given the size of that target, investorsexpected that the company would need to sell non-core assets. However, Barrick's ability to push costs lower than anticipated enabled it to capture the upside of rising gold prices this year, leading to a nice windfall of free cash flow. That represented a big win for the company because future assets sales will put it even closer to its ultimate goal to become debt-free. 10 stocks we like better than Barrick Gold When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Barrick Gold wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of Nov. 7, 2016 Matt DiLallo has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. President-elect Donald Trump was elected on his promise to make America great again. The businessman already has his hands full more than a month before he will even officially be sworn into office. Last week, amid much fanfare, Trump struck a deal with air-conditioning manufacturer Carrier to keep its factory in the United States, saving 1,100 jobs at the companys Indiana plant. But, just down the road, chain belt producer Rexnord announced plans to ship 300 of its Indiana-based jobs to Mexico, provoking the ire of the President-elect. Rexnord of Indiana is moving to Mexico and rather viciously firing all of its 300 workers. This is happening all over our country. No more! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2016 Meanwhile, Ford (NYSE:F) will stick by its decision to move some of its small-car production to Mexico, the automakers CEO Mark Fields said late Friday. Trump famously criticized this move, which Fields has defended by claiming there will be no net loss of jobs since Ford will be substituting production of other cars into the plant. Trump promised throughout his campaign to create an environment more favorable to U.S. companies. While the United States is one of the most vibrant global economies, what exactly makes America so bad for business? The corporate tax rate The United States has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. The headline corporate tax rate is currently 35%, meaning companies have to pay a 35% tax on their income or capital. In seeking out locations, companies look at a variety of factors, one of the main ones being government tax, Simon Lester, trade policy analyst with the Cato Institutes Herbert A. Stifel Center for Trade Policy Studies, told FOXBusiness.com. Governments with better policies are most likely to attract investment, of both domestic and foreign-owned companies. One of Trumps proposed economic policies is to slash the corporate tax rate to a more globally competitive 15%, part of his initiative to foster a more inviting environment for business investment. The cost of labor Its all about labor costs/costs of production, Jason Rotman, managing partner at Lido Isle Advisors tells FOXBusiness.com. Certainly, companies often cite cheap labor as a reason to move production offshore. When they can pay employees less, they can afford to lower the price points on their products. Countries like China, Taiwan and Vietnam offer employment at a fraction of the cost of U.S. labor. America has the eleventh highest minimum wage, according to the World Economic Forums most recent analysis of data from 2013. Unsurprisingly, Mexico has one of the lowest. While Trumps stance on the minimum wage has been unclear, advocates across the country have been fighting to raise the minimum rate to $15 per hour. Regulations Trump has been lauded by Wall Street for his pledged commitment to deregulating the economy; including rolling back rules such as Dodd-Frank and those that increase overtime pay for low-wage workers. Some labor regulations introduced by President Obama, such as minimum wage stipulations and paid sick leave for workers hired by federal contractors, were enacted through executive order, and thus, can be undone with the stroke of a pen by the Trump administration. The idea behind eliminating such regulations is that it will be simpler, and cheaper, to operate within the country. Trumps policies so far Trump the businessman reared his head, doing his own rendition of the good cop, bad cop routine with two Indiana-based companies. While Carrier got a deal filled with incentives to stay in the United States, Rexnord caused Trump to develop a new punishment for companies that relocate manufacturing bases outside of the country: a 35% tariff on goods traded back to the United States. Trump warned companies against making a very expensive mistake through a series of tweets on Sunday, but some wonder whether it is the President-elect who would be making a mistake by implementing a retribution tax on these companies. Taxing corporations for importing back to the United States will increase costs and disincentivize investment. Multinational corporations need the ability to produce and sell goods in a free flowing manner, said Chad Morganlander, portfolio manager at Washington Cross Advisors. The economic damage inflicted by such a tariff would go even deeper, said Catos Lester. Such a tariff would be harmful to consumers and would create a great deal of uncertainty for future investment, he said. When it comes to policies aimed at keeping companies operations in America, Lester believes Trump may need to rework his approach. Some of Trumps general tax and regulatory proposals may help to attract investment. However, his efforts to prevent specific companies from opening factories abroad is likely to harm the U.S. economy more than help, he warned. "Duck Dynasty" star Rebecca Lo Robertson tied the knot over the weekend, and her proud father, Willie Robertson, was on hand to walk his daughter down the aisle. Rebecca exchanged vows with fiance John Reed Loflin at an intimate ceremony in Mexico on Saturday, and the glowing bride looked gorgeous in a Sherri Hill gown, complemented with a sheer, flowing white cape. WATCH: 'Duck Dynasty' Star Rebecca Lo Robertson Is Engaged -- See the Ring! Rebecca's sister, former "DWTS" runner-up Sadie Robertson, snapped a photo alongside family members (and fellow bridesmaids) Mary Kate and Bella Robertson, which she shared to Instagram during the big day. "WOW WOW WOW what a wedding," Sadie captioned the cute pic. "Every single moment was just absolutely priceless. I will cherish the memories forever! I love seeing my family grow." One day before exchanging their vows, Rebecca shared a sweet photo of her kissing her betrothed after their rehearsal dinner, which she captioned, "Surrounded by people we love. tonight was truly magical." WATCH: Sadie Robertson Dishes on Sister's Upcoming Wedding After the ceremony, Rebecca shared an animated Instagram pic, showing her celebrating with her bridesmaids. Rebecca -- who was born in Taiwan -- joined the Robertson family in 2004 as a foster child after coming to the United States as a foreign exchange student at age 16. She and her new husband met at the 2014 Voodoo Fest in New Orleans, and announced their engagement back in January. Jenna Jameson, who recently converted to Judaism, has gotten herself in a Twitter battle with ex-KKK Grand Wizard David Duke. The former porn star -- who supported Donald Trump in his successful presidential bid -- tweeted Sunday that she had a crush on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu. "It's so apparent Trump and [Netanyahu] are going to be great friends.... I have to admit I have a massive crush on @netanyahu," Jameson wrote. She also tweeted that Netanyhu is a "badass" and that his wife Sarah is a "very lucky woman." In response to Jameson, Duke tweeted "Jews dominate porn - why are 'Christians' ok with that?" Jameson was not happy with Duke's tweet and said she'd "prefer [David Duke] never utter my name." Jameson announced last year she was converting to Judaism after becoming engaged to Israeli diamond dealer Lior Bitton. The couple are expecting their first child together in April. A new report says California is dramatically lacking in Latino doctors despite the state's growing population. The report released Friday by the Latino Physicians of California says although nearly 40 percent of the state's population is Latino, just five percent of the state's physicians are. The nonprofit advocacy group says that means there are not enough physicians who are culturally prepared to take care of Latinos gaining health coverage through President Barack Obama's health insurance overhaul. Dr. Silvia Diego of Modesto says Latino doctors who share their patients' language and understand their culture can build a stronger rapport. Patients are more likely to heed their doctor's advice if they trust and understand the physician. The report says Hispanics make up just 9 percent of students admitted to medical schools. More On This... Best pix of the week Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The government on Wednesday recommended Zika testing for all pregnant women who recently spent time anywhere in Florida's Miami-Dade County. The county is the only area in the continental U.S. where mosquitoes have been spreading the virus since the summer. Testing is recommended for pregnant women who lived in - or visited - Miami-Dade since August 1, whether or not they have symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had previously urged testing for pregnant women who had been in one of the county's Zika "hot zones." On Wednesday, it extended the advice to the entire county. New cases continue to come in from the Miami area "and we want to be cautious," said the CDC's Dr. Denise Jamieson. There have been more than 150 Zika cases in the county blamed on local mosquitoes. Zika is mainly spread by mosquitoes, but can be spread through sex. Most infected people don't get sick. It can cause a mild illness, with fever, rash and joint pain. But infection during pregnancy can lead to severe brain-related birth defects. The new testing advice also extends to pregnant women who weren't in Miami-Dade themselves, but had unprotected sex with someone who had been in the county recently. The advice for travel to Miami-Dade has not changed: Pregnant women should postpone travel to the county if possible and stay out of the two remaining "red zones" - Miami Beach and an area just north of the Little Haiti neighborhood. Until this summer, the only cases of Zika in the continental U.S. were connected to travel to areas with Zika epidemics, mostly the Caribbean and Latin America. Of the more than 3,900 cases to date, nearly 900 were pregnant women. Dr. Neil Silverman, a UCLA professor of obstetrics, said doctors are probably already taking precautions with their patients who traveled to the Florida county. Beginning in July, "I started treating Miami-Dade County like Brazil," said Silverman, who's been advising California health officials on Zika issues. "If a patient had been anywhere in the Miami area, I offered testing." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Diphtheria, an extremely contagious disease that has been mostly eradicated worldwide through vaccination, has reappeared in Venezuela. So far it has killed four children. More than 20 cases have been reported in just one month, including those four fatalities in the southern state of Bolivar. In the crisis-stricken South American nation, many of the children don't have access to the DPT vaccine that prevents the centuries-old disease. Caused by the Corynebacterium diphtheriae bacterium, the disease becomes serious if the bacterial toxin enters the bloodstream and spreads through the respiratory tract. It leads to heart failure and neurological illnesses. Even with treatment, death occurs in between 5 and 10 percent of those affected. This week the sense of urgency went up a few notches when a possible case of diphtheria was reported in Caracas Military Hospital, considered the countrys best. Uncertainty has become commonplace in Venezuelan epidemiology. The reappearance of diphtheria, a disease not seen here in more than 20 years, is the worst symptom yet of the countrys broken health system. Venezuela used to be Latin America's richest country, but it is now falling apart as a plunge in the price of oil caps off years of economic mismanagement. Local production of almost everything has stalled, and there is little money to import medicine. Fearing government retaliation, doctors from Bolivars Hospital of Guaiparo Raul Leoni opted to do not reveal their identities when on Sept. 21 they reported they had four diphtheria cases, which soon turned into 23. In the following days, two other states, Sucre and Nueva Esparta, reported a total of four cases to the Venezuelan Society of Infectious Diseases. All four patients have ties with people who had recently visited Bolivar. When last week the Ministry of Health finally made the announcement acknowledging the resurgence of diphtheria, Diosdado Cabello, a prominent Chavista, said Venezuela is the target of a "germ warfare orchestrated by the CIA labs." A few days earlier, Marisol Escalona, Coordinator of the government's Expanded Program on Immunization, came out with an odd warning to the medical community: "You cannot report anything (about diphtheria) because it goes against the [Bolivarian] revolution." According to opposition lawmaker Jose Manuel Olivares, members of the Intelligence Agency Sebin are chasing doctors in Bolivar to try to keep them from speak out about the outbreak. Olivares said he has information of at least 20 diphtheria-related deaths since April. The shortage of antitoxins and antibiotics across the country has the potential to turn this outbreak into a national or perhaps regional crisis. The minimum dosage of antitoxin recommended to treat diphtheria is between 20,000 and 40,000 units when symptoms are only two days old, and between 80,000 and 100,000 if the disease is present for more than three days and the patient's neck is already swollen. In Bolivar, doctors have to work around a limited supply of 10,000-unit doses and most of them expired in 2009. "Venezuela is not prepared to deal with a diphtheria outbreak because we dont meet the immunization standard recommended by the World Health Organization, because we cannot provide medication in a timely manner and because of flaws in the information flow to the community," said Huniades Urbina, president of the Venezuelan Society of Pediatrics, in a video conference at the Central University of Venezuela. In addition, the Epidemiological Bulletin has not been published since of November 2014. Dr. Julio Castro, from the Institute of Tropical Medicine, agrees with Urbina in that containing the outbreak requires a wide vaccination effort. "For over 20 years we had not witnessed cases of diphtheria disease in Venezuela for a simple reason: it can be prevented by the DPT vaccine (diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus), he said. It is possible that the government did not vaccinate the number of people necessary to create the epidemiological barrier." According to information collected by the Health Ministry but not released to the public (Fox News Latino accessed it through the Venezuelan Society of Public Health), between January and July of 2016 Penta3 vaccination (including diphtheria) covered barely 42 percent of babies in the state of Bolivar. The first and second booster shot was fulfilled only in 15 percent of the children, the report said. Jose Felix Oletta, a former health minister and member of the Society, said it was puzzling that the Pan American Health Organization has not yet issued an epidemiological alert on the diphtheria outbreak in Venezuela. The Society has issued four warnings so far this year. "It is clear that the strategy adopted by the national health authorities began with attempting to hide the outbreak of diphtheria and now has been replaced with minimizing the magnitude of the epidemic, the Society of Public Health said. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 An extreme form of drug and alcohol rehabilitation in Mexico is beginning to attract U.S. citizens, many of whom believe that a tough-love treatment may succeed where 12-step programs have failed. Known as anexos or granjas (annexes or barns), informal Mexican rehabilitation centers have sprung up around the country that are run by former addicts and favor hardline treatments and mental toughness over sympathy and submission to a higher power. Many of us have done the 12 steps, but Mexican culture is not as forgiving toward recovering addicts as our northern neighbors, Jesus Tapia, director at Tijuanas Casa Recuperacion, told Fox News Latino. Here we find its a lot more effective for patients to feel they have fully atoned and paid for their wrong doings. The anexo phenomenon began in the 1980s when former addicts, disillusioned with the lack of Mexican state concern for their disease, established private rehabilitation centers. The anexos, most of which are independent institutions charging around $500 for a three-month program, have proliferated in Mexico, and word of them has reached the United States. The past two years have seen a surge in U.S. citizens particularly Mexican-Americans at Tijuana and other border city facilities. Our U.S. patients generally arrive for two reasons, said Jesus. U.S. rehab is very expensive, and are difficult for Mexican immigrant families to afford, but also many Latino families have more faith in a less sympathetic, more punitive, form of recovery. We feel that being treated by former addicts is more effective than by medical professionals, he said. Rather than following set medical procedures, we try to reach patients on an emotional and spiritual level, by sharing our own experiences. While purporting to focus on recovery, the anexos have gained a notorious reputation in Mexico as violators of human rights, where patients are held against their will, suffer both physical and mental torture, and suicides are common. 'Welcome to hell,' was the first thing they said to me when I arrived, said Moises Tevez, who had been taken across the border against his will by his family from his home in the Walnut Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, and checked into Una Nueva Vision in Tijuanas Zona Norte. I had been through the 12 steps in L.A., but quickly slipped up, he told Fox News Latino from Una Nueva Vision. The Mexican model is much more extreme. The only steps they concentrate on are four and five, he said. The first thing when you arrive is being forced to admit all the terrible things you have done, and then you are constantly reminded of that throughout the process. Steps four and five of the 12 step program are: 4. Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5. Admit to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Humiliation plays a big part, Tevez said. They wear you down before you can be built back up again. Asked whether he felt the program would keep him away from narcotics upon completion, Tevez was unsure. Theres definitely less sympathy on this side of the border, he told FNL, so I suppose that makes the personal accountability more real. Despite Tijuana having one of the highest densities of rehabilitation centers in Mexico (at least 110 centers, with over 200 AA groups around the city), the rates of patient regression hang at 95 percent. Most of our patients are crystal meth users, which can be nearly impossible to resist for recovering addicts, said Jose Morales, director at Una Nueva Vision where Tevez is a patient. Over half of all the meth that reaches the U.S. market comes through Tijuana, and narcotics are available on every corner. If our patients return to their old routines when they leave, a return to use is almost a certainty, Morales said. We have less contact with our North American patients when they go, he told Fox News Latino, but we assume the same is true north of the border. Unlike AA-run rehab centers in Tijuana, the anexos are not controlled by any organization, and patient treatment is subject to the whims of ex-addict "padrinos" (godfathers) behind closed doors. Dr Julio Cesar Ramirez, chief of medical staff at the $1,000-a-month Durango State-run Mision Korian, says the anexos are dangerous places. You simply dont know what youre getting if you check into an anexo, he told Fox News Latino. Programs run by former addicts are unpredictable, and theres no guarantee of a patients safety. Many notorious anexos falsely use the AA logo in order to trick concerned families into bringing their family members, while others have "kidnap teams" which specialize in forcing addicts into the institutions against their will. Cuauhtemoc Avellano, 56, the day manager of the Fundacion Durango anexo in Central Mexico, was forced into the rehab center against his will 11 years ago by a kidnap team employed by Fundacion Durango. A recovering crystal meth addict, today Avellano heads up the kidnap team himself, forcing the more belligerent drug addicts into the center on the request of their families. It was a real fight to get me in, but they eventually overpowered me, he told FNL. Looking back, it was the only way I was ever going to go into rehab, and I see it was for my own good, but it was very stressful at the time. He says the kidnapping of patients is a relatively easy operation. We make sure their families take away any guns or weapons they might have, and they tell us where they will be at a specific time. Six of us arrive and forcibly abduct them. It can be very stressful for everyone involved. Mexicos authorities pay little attention to the anexos, given that the majority are based out of private properties in residential areas, and legal jurisdiction is more complicated than with public institutions. The anexos are successful in giving patients a sense of the pain and suffering they have often caused others, but patients families must be very careful about which organization they choose, said Jesus Tapia. A three-month stay can be very a long time if youre in the wrong place. Over the course of 32 years, Michael A. Weiss has been hospitalized more than 250 times and undergone about 30 surgeries, all due to a diagnosis he got at age 21 Crohns disease. Though he had an active sex life, Weiss, of West Orange, New Jersey, said he could never fully open himself up. It was sex, but it wasnt intimacy, Weiss, now 53, said. Initially, he was afraid that he might eat something that would cause him to pass gas or have to run to the bathroom while he was having sex. As he got older, he became more comfortable with the unpredictability of the disease, but he still had a fear of intimacy because he didnt want to bring the disease into a relationship. I didnt understand how I could possibly be intimate with somebody given all of the issues I thought I had, he said. Crohns disease and sex Crohns disease causes chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, is usually diagnosed before age 35, and can get worse over time. Approximately 1.6 million people have IBD, which includes Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis, and it affects men and women equally, according to the Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America. Yet a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed IBD is on the rise and more than 3 million adults may have it. Symptoms of Crohns disease can include abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation and rectal bleeding. Between 20 to 25 percent of people with Crohns disease also have inflammation around their anus, also known as perianal Crohns disease. For obvious reasons, people with Crohns disease feel embarrassed and often have a hard time talking about it with anyone, but especially with a partner. The lack of control that Crohns disease brings is also challenging. People worry whether theyll be able to eat new foods, such as during the holidays or on a date, if theyll have symptoms and if theyll have to run to the bathroom at a moments notice. Theyre also vigilant about flare-ups, when their symptoms become active. Add sex into the equation and life becomes even more difficult. You can imagine the fear and embarrassment that might come from feeling like you dont have good control when youre trying to become close to someone or be sexually active, said Dr. David Rubin, a professor of medicine and chief of gastroenterology at the University of Chicago Medicine. Its common for men with Crohns disease regardless of sexual preference to have a fear of intimacy and lack of desire because of physical symptoms such as fecal incontinence or passing gas. Men are also more likely to have sexual dysfunction. In fact, 38 percent of men with IBD said their condition affected their desire for sex, 26 percent said it prevented them from having sex and 18 percent said it caused problems during sex, a study in Healio Gastroenterology found. The same study found men 50 years and older had lower sexual satisfaction, more difficulty getting and keeping erections and a poorer quality of their erections. Men over 50 already have an increased risk for erectile dysfunction and prostate problems, but for men with Crohns, it can make sex even more complicated. For men who have undergo surgery for an ostomy or ileoanal pouch, there is a small risk that men can have erectile dysfunction, retrograde ejaculation, or impairment of the pelvic autonomic nerves which control erection and ejaculation. These conditions are rare, though. Contrary to what many people think, it restores quality of life and makes patients with Crohns feel much much better, he said. Studies show that depression, anxiety and poor body image are common in those with Crohns disease and especially when the disease is active, which can also affect sexual function, said Dr. Sashidhar Sagi, a gastroenterologist at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis, Indiana. Patients and doctors must work together Experts agree that most doctors dont talk to their patients about sex. In fact, approximately 14 percent of GI physicians routinely ask their patients about sexual function and approximately 53 percent rarely or never do, according to a survey presented at the American College of Gastroenterology 2014 meeting. Of the doctors who were willing to talk about it, only 27 percent said they felt very comfortable doing so, 38 percent only discuss it when they think theres a problem and 25 percent do so if the patient brings it up. [Its] how comfortable we are in talking to a patient and also how comfortable the patient is in bringing this up, Sagi said. Regardless of how difficult it may be for men, doctors can give patients tips for how to talk to their partners about their condition and can refer them to a sex therapist or a mental health professional. They can also recommend support groups or programs that will match them with another man with Crohns in the same age group. When they meet someone else who has the same problem, it enables them to talk and understand how they might cope with this a little bit better, Rubin said. For Weiss, overcoming sexual problems was work he did on his own. Earlier this year, when he was diagnosed with another debilitating disorder, he realized that it was now or never for him to find true intimacy and happiness. Hes now in a new relationship with a woman he dated more than 30 years ago and hes finally able to be vulnerable. I think its a combination of me being comfortable in my own skin and perhaps, the right person, he said. Although men with Crohns may have symptoms when they eat certain foods, the good news is that when the bowel is healed, and the disease is under control, their sex lives can improve. Crohns disease, more than ever before is treatable and so people should not be living with active disease without seeing an expert and making sure theyre getting proper treatment, Rubin said. A 46-year-old Indian man who was suffering from severe stomach pain for over two years had nearly 12,000 stones removed from his gallbladder, Central European News (CEN) reported. Vinod Sharma, who underwent surgery at Sawai Man Singh hospital in Jaipur on Nov. 23, had a previous CT scan, but there were so many stones that it was impossible to see them. In the CT scan report, it was not clearly mentioned that the gallbladder had stones, Dr. Jeevan Kankaria, associate professor at Sawai Man Singh hospital told CEN. It was mentioned that there could be a possibility of stones. The stones were in such a huge quality that the CT failed to diagnose the problem. Surgeons laparoscopically removed the nearly black stones which measured between .08 inches and .13 inches in diameter and sent them away for analysis. The coloring may have been due to Sharmas diabetes, which doctors also worked to control during his hospital stay, CEN reported. The exact number of stones removed was 11,816. Sharm told CEN he is leading a normal life since being discharged. A Detroit doctor has been charged with assault and battery after an 18-year-old patient claimed he touched her inappropriately and attempted to kiss her while alone in the exam room. The alleged assault between Dr. Eliezer Monge and the unidentified patient occurred in July, The Detroit Free Press reported. The actions of [Monge] in this case are reprehensible, Frank Demers, Farmington Public Safety director, told the newspaper. The victim came to him for help, and sadly he took advantage of her in a manner that is criminal and immoral. The patient accused Monge of instructing her to lie on her back on the examination table before he began touching her inappropriately. He allegedly then tried to kiss her on the mouth when she sat up, but she turned away and hips mouth landed on her neck, The Detroit Free Press reported. The victim allegedly left the office immediately without checking out, and a DNA sample was taken from her neck to see if it matched Monge. A judge barred Monge from contacting the patient and ordered a $2,500 personal bond. He has a pretrial hearing scheduled for Jan. 23. An experimental cancer therapy being developed by Novartis AG eliminated an aggressive form of blood cancer in 82 percent of children and young adults treated with modified immune cells in a mid-stage trial, the company said on Saturday. Interim results from the multi-center trial for 50 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia whose cancer returned or did not respond to other treatment, showed that 41 were disease-free three months after treatment with the drug, called CTL019. The trial results were presented at a meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego. Novartis estimated that 60 percent of those responders were relapse-free after six months. Complete remission was defined as including "remission with incomplete blood count recovery." CTL019 is part of an experimental class of drugs that are made by genetically altering a patient's T-cells, a type of white blood cell, in the lab to help the immune system find and kill cancer cells. The modified cells, called chimeric antigen receptor T-cells, or CAR-T, are infused into the patient. Novartis said it plans to file early next year for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of CTL019. The company said nearly half of trial patients experienced severe cytokine release syndrome, a dangerous buildup of toxic debris known as CRS, and 15 percent experienced serious neurological problems including delirium. Researchers said the side effects were treated, and no patients died due to CRS. CRS, a known side effect of CAR-T therapy, led to the decision last week to halt a trial of JCAR015, a rival drug being developed by Juno Therapeutics Inc. "We have learned that the patients who come in with more leukemia in their body have a much higher risk of getting sick," said Dr. Stephan Grupp, the Novartis trial's lead investigator and director of the cancer immunotherapy program at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He said the trial did not show a big difference between patients whose leukemia was refractory, meaning they had stopped responding to treatment, and patients who had relapsed, or might have responded temporarily to chemotherapy. "We do see a difference in toxicity," the researcher said. "Refractory patients with high disease burden can get sicker temporarily on the way to remission." There he goes again. Donald Trump hasnt even been sworn in yet and former President Jimmy Carter is urging President Obama to recognize Palestine before he leaves office. In his recent New YorkTimes op-ed, Carter reiterates his deep animus for Israel by labeling 600,000 Jewish residents of historic Judea and Samaria (aka West Bank) as colonists. Mr. President-elect, forget Jimmy Carter, he long ago made his bed with the likes of Fidel Castro and other tyrants. And it was Carter who has been the chief cheerleader to recognize Hamas as a legitimate political actor. Meanwhile Secretary of State Kerry, couldnt go gently into the night. AFP reported that In unusually stark terms, Mr. Kerry warned that the building of Israeli settlements was undermining any hope of an agreement to allow two states to live side by side. Mr. President-elect, forget Jimmy Carter, he long ago made his bed with the likes of Fidel Castro and other tyrants. And it was Carter who has been the chief cheerleader to recognize Hamas as a legitimate political actor. Mr. Trump, you have said you want to apply your unique negotiations skills to the Israel-Palestinian dispute: Here are a few suggestions: First. 68 years is enough! Make the move. Its time to finally recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital and launch that shovel-ready embassy project with Trump-like speed. Second. Send a message to the UN. Stop treating our ally Israel as a whipping boy for the Arab and Muslim Blocs fanatic anti-Jewish hatred or America will re-evaluate our future in the UN Human Rights Council, UNESCO, and UNWRA. Mr. President-elect. You know its treacherous record on the Holy Land, its ineffectiveness in stopping the slaughter in Syria, its silence over ethnic cleansing of Christians in Iraq. Yet, it is only Israel- not Syria or Iran-- that continuously suffers diplomatic assaults, with Jerusalem recently targeted by 10 UN resolutions in one day! UNESCO, the U.N.s anointed protector of world heritage, caved to Arab pressure and just voted twice to erase Jewish history by recasting Judaisms holiest sitesheld holy also by Christiansas Muslim. Third: Mr. Trump, tell the French you will veto any Security Council resolution demanding Israel to withdraw to its June 1967 borders. Those lines, dubbed Auschwitz borders by the late Foreign Minister Abba Eban, would immediately put 8 million Israeli citizens within range of cross-border suicide bombers and over 100,000 missiles. No nation would ever place its people in such jeopardy. And no Israeli leader will. Mr. President-elect, you can build a new paradigm for peace by doing something no previous US President has ever done: Deliver some tough love to the Palestinians. Fourth: Call for an end to Hamas rule in Gaza. The world talks of a Two-State solution, but so long as terrorist Hamas rules Gaza, Israel would be forced to accept a 3- State Solution! For decades now, in word and deed Hamas has been totally committed to a genocidal end to the Jewish state. They cynically place the people of Gaza in harms way, intertwining civilian infrastructure with their military/terrorist complex. They steal construction materials earmarked for civilian reconstruction to expand its underground terrorist tunnels to attack Israel. Still, international aid continues to pour in and few protest their anti-Semitic invective and continued calls to remove all Jews. Mr. Trump, you can lead the way in putting an end to this madness. Denounce Hamas serial terrorism and criminality. Demand their international enablers to stop funding Hamastan. It is time the world heard from The White House that it is Hamas- not settlements-- that is a real obstacle to peace. Fifth: Demand from the Palestinian Authority (PA) to start behaving like it wants peace: Mr. President-elect, peace partners dont name schools honoring the leader of the Black September group that murdered eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. President Abbas should be told there will be no more funding for PA curricula that fail to teach coexistence with Jewish neighbors. In 2016, Palestinian textbooks are rife with anti-Jewish invective, a fact overlooked by an Obama White House memo that gave these books a clean bill of health! And shouldnt recipients of Americas and Europes largess hold accountable the adults who gave two 8-year old Palestinian children knives, then drove the kids to Nahal Oz and told them to go kill Jews? Mr. President-elect: All 8-year-olds, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim, deserve a peaceful future. Your leadership can bring real hope to the Holy Land by speaking the truth. Demand that Hamas be removed from ruling Gaza and make clear that there is one main obstacle standing between Palestinians and a peaceful future: Hate. In the wake of the Ohio State attacks last week (perpetrated by a Somali student legally residing in the U.S.) America again struggles to explain events. The Council on American Islamic Relations, was among the first to warn against retaliatory attacks against Muslims and linking the incident to Islam. Such statements are not only unhelpful but deliberately obfuscate the reality. Islamist attacks are very much related to Muslims all Islamists are Muslims, even though most Muslims are not Islamists. Islamism comes from within Muslim communities, and, while a corruption of Islam, nonetheless relates to Islam proper from which Islamism steals and borrows. Without Islam there could be no Islamism. But without knowing Islam, one cannot unveil Islamism. President-elect Trump provides a serious, fresh opportunity to defeat Islamism. As an observant Muslim devoted to combating Islamism, I welcome this opportunity and am ready to collaborate. Why have we failed to dismantle Islamism, the ideology that delivered 9/11? Because we have been unable to examine and disable Islamism through frank speech. Dismantling Islamism demands we distinguish Islam the religion, from Islamism the totalitarian ideology. Trumps Commission on Radical Islam is the first step towards doing just that. On Capitol Hill in 2012, I argued for exactly such an examination when I testified in the Fifith Investigative King Hearings. Five years on, the United States remains stymied in advancing understanding of Islamism restrained by President Obamas refusal to acknowledge Islamism. Claiming Islamophobia, this refusal, championed by much of the American intellectual press through both Obama administrations, confines public discourse. Ironic, since refusing to acknowledge Islamism is the ultimate Islamophobic act. This denial has had several negative effects: First, U.S. military and strategic thinkers are hindered in identifying threats and planning efforts to counter both violent and nonviolent Islamism. Unable to discuss Islamism, they cannot engage insights from informed public intellectuals. Federal agencies were prevented from using words vital to such discourse. Second, but far worse, Muslims like me observing Islam but avowed combatants of Islamism- experience reverse Islamophobia: while our views are marginalized on the basis of Islamophobia, we are simultaneously denounced as Islamophobic by both the uninformed and Islamist-sympathizing Muslims who seek our silence. The net result? The space examining Islamism narrows stifling debate. Islamism wins. Further, because of the prevailing lack of understanding of Islamism, out of fear, the uninformed turn to loathing Muslims en masse and real anti-Muslim xenophobia ensues, even normalizes as France grapples with today. Its time we reversed reverse Islamophobia. Certainly I decried NSA Advisor-designate Lt. General Mike Flynn's remarks about Islam being a cancer and Islam is a political ideology (as I discussed here ). Yet reporting on these remarks (which I do consider xenophobic to Muslims) the New York Times described him as an 'anti- Islamist' General revealing its extraordinary confusion. If Flynn is a committed anti-Islamist (and not an Anti-Muslim xenophobe) we are in a great position! Islamism is the single most compelling threat to secular liberal democracy. Islamism is a political totalitarian ideology, a 20th century creation, which masquerades as Islam, a 1,400 year old monotheism. Islamism is both nonviolent and violent. Radical Islam is the violent component of Islamism. Nonviolent Islamism -- institutional Islamism -- seizes organs of democracy to shore power. Violent Islamism is merely a means to an end. Muslim political scientist Bassam Tibi delineates the six foundational tenets of Islamism. First the relentless seeking of a new world order via imposition of a global transnational dictatorial caliphate. Islam as Islamic state and only as Islamic State dawla in Arabic, appears nowhere in the Koran, but was manufactured by the twentieth century founding fathers of Islamism. Islamism seeks its establishment within democracies. Islamists understand the potency of installation through popular vote. So they are very keen to stand in election-think Mohammed Morsis Muslim Brotherhood Party in Egypt post 2011 Arab Spring. Once Islamists attain power, they rush to seal the democratic causeway behind them. All totalitarianisms need an external enemy. Islamism is no different. Hence a third tenet: Islamism holds Jews and global Jewry as chief enemy manifesting an anti-Semitism with religious overtones as central to its ideology, a startling departure from Islam which demands Muslims accept Moses as a Holy Prophet and the Torah as sacred. Achieving this aggressive re-ordering of world order requires Islamists pervert Islams classical jihad into evolutionary terrorist jihadism. Evolutionary terrorist jihad renders not only as sanctioned but as sacrament the targeting of non- combatant civilians. This violence defiles a number of Islamic principles including the denouncement by Islam of the taking of any innocent life, the foundationally un-Islamic pursuit of any unjust war, and the defiling of Gods creation -- both his Vice Regent in mankind and the earth itself. The fifth tenet is Islamist sharia law -- an invented version perverted to impose totalitarian rule without historical precedent. British scholar Sadakat Kadri identifies the Islamist appetite for pitiless punishment a form of justice lacking in Islam. Finally, Islamists are consumed with a craving for authenticity and purity - spending all their energies asserting theirs is the true Islam, and the rest of us, Muslim or not, are all imposters in my case, as a believing Muslim who defies their Islamism a treasonous heretic committing blasphemy worthy of death. This is why Muslims like me, immersed in deep study of Islamism welcome the new Trump administration appetite to advance our nation's insights and interests by examining Radical Islam an enquiry that mirrors the interests of the wider Muslim world itself. As a nation, we may come to the necessary realizations slowly and with difficulty because of the intensely inflammatory climate surrounding such debate -- one already triggering calls of McCarthyism, but if we remain silent, both Muslim and U.S. interests will suffer greatly. Anti- Islamist Muslims must lead the way and we are ready, Mr. Trump, to rise to the occasion. When president-elects hire people for their transition teams, Washington pundits often scramble to decipher what the announcements mean about the next administrations intentions. With the appointment last week of Mauricio Claver-Carone, an outspoken advocate for keeping the economic embargo against Cuba, President-elect Donald Trump made himself quite clear about the general path his administration will be taking in regard to the Communist island and U.S. longtime foe. But on Monday, as Miami and other cities continued to celebrate the passing of Cuban leader Fidel Castro at age 90, Trump spelled it out: He will scrap the "deal" with Cuba unless Havana improves the terms of the agreement, he wrote on Twitter. "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 [the] deal," Trump posted. During the primaries, Trump was the only Republican candidate to support Barack Obamas efforts to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba, but he changed his position just before the election, mindful of the Cuban-American vote in Florida. The common wisdom has long held that Trump would favor the business possibilities of normalized relations with Cuba over the Cold War mindset that has locked the U.S. into maintaining an economic blockade of the island since 1962. In March, he told CNN that he would consider opening a hotel in Cuba. "Maybe it won't work out, but I will tell you, I think Cuba has a certain potential, and I think it's OK to bring Cuba into the fold." On the campaign trail in Florida in September, however, he stressed the one-sidedness of the agreement, pointing out that "all of the concessions that Barack Obama has granted the Castro regime were done with executive order, which means the next president can reverse them. And that is what I will do unless the Castro regime meets our demands." The former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, Otto Reich, told the Nuevo Herald that Claver-Carone's hiring is a clear signal that the president-elect will carry out the promise he made to the Cuban-American community. Claver-Carone is the executive director of the U.S.-Cuba Democracy Political Action Committee (USCD PAC) and Cuba Democracy Advocates. Reich also suggested that Claver-Carone could end up with a position in the new administration. In my opinion, not many other people know as much about Obama's mistakes on Cuba policy, and how to change them, as Mauricio, he said. President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, announced on Dec. 17, 2014, that they planned to normalize relations after a rupture of more than five decades. In July of the following year, the countries reopened embassies in each others capitals. Trump also took to Twitter over the weekend to make his views on Fidel Castro clear after the former Cuban president's death on Friday night at age 90. Trump's first reaction was a brief tweet Saturday morning that simply read "Fidel Castro is dead!" Later, the president-elect released a longer statement, saying that he hoped the death of the "brutal dictator" would usher in a new era of prosperity and freedom for the Caribbean island. Trumped described Castro as 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," the real-estate mogul said. "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. Includes reporting by EFE. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram An organized crime ring operated a sham U.S. embassy in Ghana that issued illegally obtained visas for about a decade, the State Department confirmed Sunday. The building in Accra, Ghana, flew a U.S. flag every Monday, Tuesday and Friday morning. And inside the building was a picture of President Obama and signs suggesting visitors were indeed inside a real U.S. embassy, the agency said. The purported organizers obtained blank documents to doctor and forge. The fake embassy was staffed by imposter consular officers who were in fact Turkish citizens who spoke English and Dutch. The operation even advertised its services through fliers and billboards and charged customers as much as $6,000 -- with options to buy fake supporting documents such as phony birth certificates and bank records. The fake embassy remained opened so long because the criminals running the operation were able to pay off corrupt officials, according to the State Department. The report states the elaborate scheme was run by Ghanaian and Turkish organized crime rings and a Ghanaian attorney who practices immigration and criminal law. The State Department reported about the operation Nov. 2 on its website and wrote, "This embassy was a sham." Two State Department officials confirmed to FoxNews.com on Sunday that the report was real, amid a proliferation of so-called fake news. However, the officials declined to provide additional information including details about how many bogus passports might have been issued or on how many people from the West African nation could be living illegally in other countries. They also declined to discuss why news outlets first started reporting the story this weekend, saying more details could be made available Monday. The operation was broken up this past summer by a team of law enforcement agencies that included the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service, Canadian Embassy officials and local police. The embassy sting by the joint task force uncovered 150 passports from 10 countries as well as real and counterfeit visas from India, and the United States. A fake Netherlands embassy also was discovered in the sting. The operation also had two satellite locations -- an apartment building and a dress shop in which an industrial sewing machine could re-create the binding on fake passports. The operatives drove to remote parts of the country to find customers, instead of accepting walk-in visa appointments, the agency said. They next step would be to take customers to a hotel in Accra, then to the fake embassy. The U.S. maintains an official, fortified embassy in Ghana. The State Department said several Ghanaian suspects connected to the operation remain at large. One of Cubas most prominent anti-Castro artists is refusing to eat food served by his jailers, alleging that they have laced it with pills that induce drowsiness, those close to him say. Danilo Maldonado, known as El Sexto, was taken by Cuban security agents the day after the death of former leader Fidel Castro. Maldonado, 33, still has not been charged, but those familiar with the graffiti artists actions that morning say that he posted a Facebook message seemingly gloating over Castros death and urging people to come out to the streetsand ask for liberty. Maldonado also is said to have spray-painted El Sexto on a wall near Hotel Habana Libre. His girlfriend, a writer who lives in Miami, said that Maldonado has been transferred several times since his arrest on Nov. 6. Alexandra Martinez told FoxNews.com Monday that Maldonados mother, Maria Victoria Machado, who has been allowed to visit her son briefly twice since he has been in the custody of Cuban security police, told her that the artist was beaten the day he was taken from his apartment, as well as last Tuesday. Hes an artist, hes a human being who is just using his voice and art for peaceful expression, Martinez said. There are still no charges. He was taken to police stations and now a detention center that is maximum security. Hes an artist, hes a human being who is just using his voice. Alexandra Martinez Maldonado had been slated to be at a Miami premiere of an HBO documentary that features him titled Patria o Muerte: Cuba, Fatherland or Death last week, Martinez said. The Cuban authorities have a history of detaining El Sexto ahead of many planned performances, but Castros death appears to be the impetus for this particularly aggressive assault, said Julian Schnabel, the producer of the HBO documentary, in a statement quoted by the Miami Herald. Other Cuba experts say that while Cuban authorities routinely detain prominent dissidents without pressing charges before, during or after a high-profile event, in recent years they have kept them in custody for less than a day, usually a few hours. They say that Maldonados extended detention is particularly hard-line. The classic pattern in the last couple of years is that police come and arrest dissidents either because theyre having a demonstration, or theyre planning to have one, and they hold them for shorter periods of time than before, and then let them go without charges, said William M. LeoGrande, a professor of government at American University, and co-author of Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana. The police has hit upon this as disrupting dissident activity without processing people through the justice system, LeoGrande said. For [Maldonado] to have been in jail for a long period of time without charges is unusual. Maldonado, who is active on social media, spent 10 months in jail about a year ago after he posted a photo of two pigs with Fidel written on one and "Raul" on the other. The Human Rights Foundation said on its Facebook page that the Cuban government had charged Maldonado in 2015 with criminal defamation for linking the Castro brothers with the pigs, which the artist had prepared for a performance of George Orwells Animal Farm. Amnesty International declared Maldonado a prisoner of conscience, and Human Rights Foundation awarded him the Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent after he used the pigs to portray the Castro brothers. Hillary Clintons campaign chairman may have lost his handkerchief on Marthas Vineyard one day in September 2014 and two years later that incident has spawned a convoluted conspiracy theory involving a supposed pedophilia ring run out of a Washington, D.C., pizza joint. How we got from John Podestas hankie to claims of a child sex ring and an armed man arrested Sunday at the pizza parlor attempting to investigate the claims is a disjointed tale that reveals how a toxic Internet story is born, fed and spread without evidence. Edgar Maddison Welch, a 28-year-old North Carolina man, was arrested Sunday afternoon on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, after police say he fired his rifle into the floor of the pizza place. No one was hurt, but the incident sent customers running. Welch, who told authorities he went to the establishment to self-investigate the sex ring claims, allegedly was spotted looking for rumored tunnels filled with hidden children, a nearby store owner told The Washington Post. MAN WITH RIFLE ARRESTED AT DC EATERY Welch apparently was searching for proof of the so-called #pizzagate plot, initially advanced by users on 4Chan and Reddit on Nov. 4, citing seemingly innocuous details from Podestas hacked emails as evidence of a child sex operation. The author of one popular blog that gathered many of the details pointed, for instance, to the 2014 email to Podesta about a supposedly missing handkerchief. The blog claimed the description of the cloth as white w/ black correlated to a handkerchief code indicating leanings toward S&M and Virginity/Pedo. The handkerchief was described in the email as having a map that seems pizza-related. Podesta referred often in his emails to pizza a popular dish for anybody, never mind hungry and overworked campaign staffers. But the numerous mentions merited a deeper look for some. And that brought them to the pizzeria that Welch walked into on Sunday: Comet Ping Pong. Comet Ping Pong has been a popular eatery for a decade. Its walls are painted with trendy murals and its owner, James Alefantis, was ranked No. 49 in GQs 2012 edition of the 50 most powerful people in Washington. But to posters on 4Chan and Reddit, the murals contained disguised symbols of pedophilia. It was even posited that Comet Ping Pongs logo had Satanic connections. Alefantis personal social media postings, which contained popular memes and pictures of family and friends, were dissected for alleged links to the sex scheme. This included an Instagram image of a girl with her arms stuck with masking tape to a table, with a comment joking about it being a procedure for your youngest guests. His fundraising links to key Democratic figures including Podesta were also cited as proof. Alefantis was a sender or recipient of about 20 of the more than 50,000 leaked Podesta emails, with messages dating between 2008 and 2016. In one October 2008 email, Alefantis wrote to Podesta following a fundraiser: "Raised over 40 grand. My only regret is I did not make you a nice pizza. When can I?" The conspiracy theorists claim "pizza" is a euphemism. As far-fetched as "#pizzagate" is, Bill Clinton's past helped fuel the theorists. The former president aside from having acknowledged extra-marital encounters and having been accused of sexual assault by several women, which he denies flew several times on the private jet of Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier who was convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. For some Redditers, it was a simple act of connecting some very, very distant dots to get from there to Comet Ping Pong. But even after the election, the controversy refused to die down. Questions about #pizzagate persisted on Twitter and Facebook. Believers journeyed to the pizza place, posing questions to Alefantis and streaming Facebook Live videos. Finally, an armed man arrived. Though the #pizzagate conspiracy was widely shared by far-rightwing elements on the Internet who supported Donald Trump and distrusted Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the election, it was also spread by others. The author of the popular blog about #pizzagate is a self-proclaimed supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who claimed to vote for a third party on Election Day. The son of incoming National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, also named Michael Flynn, tweeted about Welchs arrest on Sunday night: Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, itll remain a story. The left seems to forget #PodestaEmails and the many coincidences tied to it. House Speaker Paul Ryan called the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decision Sunday to deny a government permit for the Dakota Access oil pipeline in southern North Dakota big government decision-making at its worst. Ryan, R-Wis., tweeted out his displeasure hours after the decision was made. He added that he looks "forward to putting this anti-energy presidency behind us." The decision handed a victory to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters, who argued the project would threaten the tribes water source and cultural sites. Ryan comments echoed the sentiments of other North Dakota leaders. Gov. Jack Dalrymple called it a serious mistake that prolongs the dangerous situation of having several hundred protesters who are camped out on federal land during the bitter winter season. U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer said it's a "very chilling signal" for the future of infrastructure in the United States. The company building the pipeline, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, slammed President Obamas administration in a statement, calling the move political. The company said the decision was "just the latest in a series of overt and transparent political actions by an administration which has abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency." The company reiterated its plan to complete construction of the pipeline without rerouting around Lake Oahe. The four-state, $3.8 billion project is largely complete except for the now-blocked segment underneath Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir. Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said in a news release that her decision was based on the need to "explore alternate routes" for the pipeline's crossing. Her full decision doesn't rule out that it could cross under the reservoir or north of Bismarck. "Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it's clear that there's more work to do," Darcy said. "The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing." The news was met by cheers and chants of mni wichoni water is life in Lakota Sioux. Some in the crowd banged rums. Miles Allard, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux, said he was pleased but remained cautious, saying, "We don't know what Trump is going to do." "The whole world is watching," Allard added. "I'm telling all our people to stand up and not to leave until this is over." Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Sunday that the Department of Justice will "continue to monitor the situation" and stands "ready to provide resources to help all those who can play a constructive role in easing tensions." "The safety of everyone in the area - law enforcement officers, residents and protesters alike - continues to be our foremost concern," she added. Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, whose department has done much of the policing for the protests, said that "local law enforcement does not have an opinion" on the easement and that his department will continue to "enforce the law." U.S. Secretary for the Interior Sally Jewell said in a statement that the Corps' "thoughtful approach ... ensures that there will be an in-depth evaluation of alternative routes for the pipeline and a closer look at potential impacts." Earlier Sunday, an organizer with Veterans Stand for Standing Rock said tribal elders had asked the military veterans not to have confrontations with law enforcement officials, adding the group is there to help out those who've dug in against the project. About 250 veterans gathered about a mile from the main camp for a meeting with organizer Wes Clark Jr., the son of former Democratic presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark. The group had said about 2,000 veterans were coming, but it wasn't clear how many actually arrived. "We have been asked by the elders not to do direct action," Wes Clark Jr. said. He added that the National Guard and law enforcement have armored vehicles and are armed, warning: "If we come forward, they will attack us." Instead, he told the veterans, "If you see someone who needs help, help them out." Authorities moved a blockade from the north end of the Backwater Bridge with the conditions that protesters stay south of it and come there only if there is a prearranged meeting. Authorities also asked protesters not to remove barriers on the bridge, which they have said was damaged in the late October conflict that led to several people being hurt, including a serious arm injury. "That heavy presence is gone now and I really hope in this de-escalation they'll see that, and in good faith . the leadership in those camps will start squashing the violent factions," Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney said in a statement, reiterating that any violation will "will result in their arrest." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Green Party candidate Jill Stein escalated her quixotic campaign for a presidential recount Monday in several battlegrounds where Donald Trump narrowly beat Hillary Clinton, vowing at a press conference outside Trump Tower not to give in as she seeks federal court help to force statewide tallies in the face of bipartisan criticism. Stein and her Green Party allies are seeking recounts in three states: Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. With a count already under way in Wisconsin, a federal judge ruled in a late-night order that Michigan also must begin its recount at noon Monday. Judge Mark Goldsmith rejected an effort by state officials to delay the hand-counting of about 4.8 million ballots. Celebrating that decision mere steps from Trump Tower, Stein cited concerns over blank votes on some ballots. We will not give in to intimidation, Stein said. The fight turns next to Pennsylvania, where Steins team said Monday they have gone to federal court to try to force a recount -- after the Green Party earlier dropped their case in state courts in the face of a required $1 million bond. We have no choice but to seek federal intervention, Stein counsel Jonathan Abady said Monday, announcing the Pennsylvania filing. He called for a tabulation of paper ballots and forensic examination of the states voting machinery. We are here to verify the accuracy of the vote, he said, calling criticism of their effort deeply misguided and accusing Trump of trying to obstruct and stop this democratic process. The outstanding question is what Stein hopes to accomplish. Trump tweeted Sunday that the push is Just a Stein scam to raise money! Even some Democrats are challenging her. Ed Rendell, a former Pennsylvania governor and DNC chairman, said in a radio interview Sunday that Steins efforts are a waste of time. The push also flies against what Stein said in October, in an interview with Fox News. At the time, Stein was asked if she would support Clinton or Trump as the choice of the people if they won. I would accept the results of the election . . . as flawed as our electoral system is. In my view, that's not where we need to put our energy into challenging the election of Hillary or Donald. On the other hand we need to organize so we do have effective political resistance," she said at the time. But Stein, speaking on Fox News Sunday, insisted the money is going strictly into a segregated account which can only be spent on the recount, and asked, What is Donald Trump frightened of? Stein has said her intent is to verify the accuracy of the vote, while suggesting, with no evidence, that votes cast were susceptible to computer hacking. President-elect Trump narrowly defeated Democratic nominee Clinton in all three states. The recounts were not expected to change enough votes to overturn the result of the election. In Wisconsin, state and local election officials have said they don't expect Clinton to surpass Trump in Wisconsin, where he won by about 22,000 votes. In Michigan, Trump won by about 10,700 votes, or two-tenths of a percentage point, over Clinton. Stein received about 1 percent of the vote. And in Pennsylvania, an updated count Friday by state election officials showed Trump's lead shrinking to 49,000 from 71,000 over Clinton, out of 6 million votes cast, as more counties finish counting overseas ballots and settled provisional ballot challenges. That is still shy of Pennsylvania's 0.5 percent trigger for an automatic statewide recount. Stein drew less than 1 percent of the votes cast there as well. Final counts are outstanding in some counties, but there are not enough uncounted votes to change the outcome, officials say. Meanwhile, a recount of a sample of ballots has begun in Nevada, at the request of independent presidential candidate Roque De La Fuente. Clinton won in Nevada, and De La Fuente finished last. But De La Fuente requested and paid about $14,000 last week for the recount, which he called a counterbalance to the review sought by Stein in Wisconsin. If the sample shows a discrepancy of at least 1 percent for De La Fuente or Clinton, a full recount will be launched in all 17 Nevada counties. Fox News Ray Bogan and The Associated Press contributed to this report. It was just like old times, Donald Trump feeding off the energy of the crowd and denouncing the dishonest media. Exceptthe election is over. He won. Bigly. Now I dont begrudge the president-elect having a little fun at that Ohio rally, his first public trip outside of Trump Tower since Nov. 8. But does this mean slamming the press will become a permanent feature of his presidency? Every commander-in-chief has the right to push back against what he views as unfair coverage, a privilege that President Obama repeatedly exercised when it came to Fox. But does Trump want both sides on a permanently hostile footing? Look, Trump is entitled to complain about his heavily negative campaign coverage. We didnt have the press. The press was brutal, he said. And he drew blood while recalling, in a mock-anchor voice, the pundits repeatedly saying he had no path to 270, or that Texas is in play. He won Texas easily and wound up with 306 electoral votes. But for a year and a half, Trump delighted his base by hitting the press hard, all in the service of winning an election. Now he has to govern. He had been reaching out a bit, visiting the New York Times and inviting network executives and anchors for a chat, even though those conversations included some tough criticism. Trump has shown he has numerous ways to circumvent the media. He hasnt held a news conference since July (after all those months of castigating Hillary Clinton for avoiding such encounters). But should the guy who did endless interviews during the campaign use the news business to sell his policies? Or has he concluded that the press is permanently against him and theres little point in cooperating? One of his chief instruments for bypassing the MSM is, of course, Twitter. And that has led to one of those hand-wringing media debates, encapsulated by this New York Times headline: If Trump Tweets, Is It Always News? How to cover a presidents pronouncements when they are both provocative and maddeningly vague? the paper asks. Does an early-morning tweet amount to a planned shift in American policy? Should news outlets, as some readers argue, ignore clearly untrue tweets, rather than amplify falsehoods further? The story notes that some on social media want the media to boycott Trumps tweets. Nation Editor Katrina vanden Heuvel said, on Twitter naturally, Media would be wise to stop hyper-coverage of Trumps tweets they distract, distort and debase. Its fair to question whether the press made too much of Trumps single tweet suggesting that flag-burners be jailed or stripped of their citizenship. And I understand why news organizations went after the president-elect for tweeting, without evidence, that millions of people had voted illegally. But everything a president puts out is news. Lets say Twitter didnt exist and Trump was posting 30-second videos online. Would journalists say they were too short and superficial to be covered? What if he sent out two-sentence press releases by, say, fax? Would the media blow them off as too superficial? Ronald Reagan started the five-minute weekly radio address, and those made news for him and subsequent presidents. And as Chris Wallace pointed out to the Times, he reported it when Reagan would offer a brief response to a shouted question as he walked to the helicopter. After Trump stirred up the media and angered China by taking a congratulatory call from Taiwan's president, he tweeted: "Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call." He had a point--and that is undoubtedly news. Of course, he also tweeted that "SNL" was "unwatchable" and "totally biased," and the Alec Baldwin impersonation "just can't get any worse." That's not international news, but it shows why people keep reading him. The media are still figuring out how to cover this most unorthodox of presidents. And he has to figure out what kind of relationship he wants with them. President-elect Donald Trump defended his call to the Taiwanese president in a series of tweets Sunday, a breach of diplomatic protocol as the U.S. shifted recognition from Taiwan to China nearly 40 years ago. "Did China ask us if it was OK to carry out a number of actions such as build up disputed islands in the South China Sea or take economic measures hurtful to the United States," Trump tweeted. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen called Trump Friday to congratulate him on the election in a call set up by an American third party. Taiwan's official Central News Agency, citing anonymous sources on Saturday, said that Edwin Feulner, founder of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, was a "crucial figure" in setting up communication channels between the sides. The call seemingly irked China, prompting Beijing to send a complaint to the U.S. government. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday that the contact was "just a small trick by Taiwan" that he believed would not change U.S. policy toward China, according to Hong Kong's Phoenix TV. "The one-China policy is the cornerstone of the healthy development of China-U.S. relations and we hope this political foundation will not be interfered with or damaged," Wang was quoted as saying. Chinese officials said they lodged a complaint with the U.S. and reiterated a commitment to seeking "reunification" with the island, which they consider a renegade province. Trumps top aides defended the call earlier Sunday. Senior adviser KellyAnne Conway said on Fox News Sunday that it was just a phone call. President-elect Trump is not out there making policy or policy prescriptions, she added. Conway said Trump is fully aware of the One China policy and that he is routinely briefed by foreign policy and military experts, amid reports he doesnt take daily State Department briefings. Vice President-elect Mike Pence told NBCs Meet the Press that the call shouldnt necessarily be considered a shift in U.S. policy. He shrugged off the attention to the incident as media hype. "It was a courtesy call," Pence added. Over the decades, the status of Taiwan has been one of the most sensitive issues in U.S.-China relations. China regards Taiwan as part of its territory to be retaken by force, if necessary, if it seeks independence. It would regard any recognition of a Taiwanese leader as a head of state as unacceptable. Taiwan split from the Chinese mainland in 1949. The U.S. policy acknowledges the Chinese view over sovereignty, but considers Taiwan's status as unsettled. Ned Price, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said Trump's conversation does not signal any change to long-standing U.S. policy on cross-strait issues. Yet the phone conversation prompted mixed reactions. Taiwanese newspapers ran banner headlines Sunday about the call, and two noted on their front pages Sunday that Trump referred to Tsai as "the president of Taiwan," a formulation that would be a huge shift in American policy and infuriate China. The Taiwanese presidential office said Trump and Tsai discussed issues affecting Asia and the future of U.S. relations with Taiwan. Tsai also told Trump that she hoped the U.S. would support Taiwan in its participation in international affairs, the office said, in an apparent reference to China's efforts to isolate Taiwan from global institutions such as the United Nations. Taiwan's presidential office spokesman, Alex Huang, said separately that Taiwan's relations with China and "healthy" Taiwan-U.S. relations can proceed in parallel. "There is no conflict" in that, he said. China's foreign ministry said Beijing lodged "solemn representations" with the U.S. over the call. "It must be pointed out that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory," Geng Shuang, a ministry spokesman, said in a statement. "The government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing China." The Associated Press contributed to this report. President-elect Donald Trump announced Monday he has chosen former campaign 2016 rival Ben Carson to become secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Trump said in his statement that he was thrilled to nominate Carson, adding that he has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communiuties. Carson had recently downplayed having any role in the Trump administration, saying that he didnt know where he would fit. But in a statement on Monday, the retired pediatric neurosurgeon said he felt he could "make a significant contribution particularly by strengthening communities that are most in need." "We have much work to do in enhancing every aspect of our nation and ensuring that our nations housing needs are met," he said. Carson also tweeted that he would accept the position. TRUMP EXPANDS SECRETARY OF STATE SEARCH; MORE INTERVIEWS THIS WEEK Carson, who had previously been rumored to be a contender for a job heading Veterans Affairs, Education or Health and Human Services, could appear at first glance as an odd choice for HUD. However, Carson wrote and spoke about the department and issues affected by its actions numerous times during his time as a primary candidate, and he also addressed some of what may soon face him in a Facebook post last month that hinted at a HUD job offer from Trump. After serious discussions with the Trump transition team, I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly to making our inner cities great for everyone, Carson wrote. We have much work to do in strengthening every aspect of our nation and ensuring that both our physical infrastructure and our spiritual infrastructure is solid. An announcement is forthcoming about my role in helping to make America great again. He also told Fox News Channels Your World with Neil Cavuto in an interview last month that the HUD position was "one of the offers [from Trump] that is on the table." "Our inner cities are in terrible shape," Carson said. "And they definitely need some real attention. There have been so many promises made over the last several decades and nothing has been done, so it certainly is something that has been a long-term interest of mine." TRUMP SAYS HE'LL NOMINATE RETIRED MARINE GEN. MATTIS AS SECRETARY OF DEFENSE Carson ran against Trump during the Republican primary battle. But after he dropped out of the White House race in March, the subdued doctor quickly endorsed the boisterous businessman and became one of Trumps most visible surrogates. Caron's position in the cabinet requires Senate confirmation before it becomes official. Carson has often recounted his childhood as the son of a single mother in inner-city Detroit in his books and motivational speeches. In his 1996 autobiography "Gifted Hands," Carson wrote of the humiliation he felt using food stamps from his mom to pay for bread and milk, and said how he began to excel at school only after receiving a free pair of glasses that allowed him to see the lessons written on chalk boards. Carson has not said whether his family ever lived in federally-funded housing or received Section 8 subsidies to help pay rent, but as a political figure he has criticized such public assistance programs for creating "dependency" on the government among low-income minorities. "I'm interested in getting rid of dependency, and I want us to find a way to allow people to excel in our society, and as more and more people hear that message, they will recognize who is truly on their side and who is trying to keep them suppressed and cultivate their votes," Carson said in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2015. Fox News Kristin Brown and the Associated Press contributed to this report. What a difference 2016 makes. With Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi the latest political casualty of the populist wave surging across Europe and the United States, a photograph from April is going viral that shows just how much the political situation in the West has changed in just a few tumultuous months. The White House photo (shown above), taken in April at a G5 Summit in Hannover, Germany, shows Renzi along with President Obama, former British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. That clique is all but gone. Renzi said Sunday he intends to resign after a referendum on constitutional reforms he had backed was soundly defeated. Renzi had said he would resign if the referendum failed, turning the vote into a question on Renzi and the Italian political establishment as a whole. Cameron resigned in July after Britain voted to leave the European Union, and was replaced by current Prime Minister Theresa May. Cameron had campaigned for Britain to remain in the E.U. In France, Hollande announced last week he would not seek re-election in the French presidential elections in April -- the first president to do so since the creation of the French Fifth Republic in 1958. Hollandes approval rating stands at just 4 percent amid a spiraling refugee crisis and a high unemployment rate. Hollande is likely to be succeeded by either Republican Party candidate Francois Fillon or the National Fronts Marine Le Pen. The French left-wing has yet to choose a candidate, but experts say whoever is chosen will face an uphill climb. President Obama will see out his full two terms in office, but his preferred successor fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton was beaten by Republican Donald Trump, who is expected to seek to undo much of Obamas legacy. Obama also had backed Renzis constitutional reform when Renzi visited the White House in October, as well as Cameron's push for Britain to remain in the E.U. On Monday, the White House downplayed the significance of the developments in Europe. "I would warn against painting with an overly broad brush about the potential consequences of this outcome [in Italy]," Press Secretary Josh Earnest said. "There certainly is a not entirely unreasonable tendency to want to loop together the outcome in the U.K. and even the outcome of the U.S. presidential election with this outcome, but each of these is ... different." Of the five leaders, only Merkels position remains relatively secure for now. However, the chancellor still faces a tough battle to keep hold of her job for a fourth term in late 2017. While many analysts expect her to ultimately win, Merkels approval ratings have dropped sharply throughout 2016 in part as a result of her open-door policy for Syrian refugees. She faces stiff opposition from the populist, right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Should Merkel lose, it would mean none of the leaders in the April picture will hold office this time next year. Virgin Galactic's second SpaceShipTwo performed its first free flight Dec. 3, a glide test that begins the next phase in testing of the commercial suborbital spaceplane. SpaceShipTwo, named VSS Unity, and its carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo, took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California at about 9:50 a.m. ET. The spaceplane separated from WhiteKnightTwo at 10:40 a.m. ET, gliding back to a runway landing in Mojave 10 minutes later, according to updates provided by the company. The glide flight, which Virgin Galactic declared a success, begins the next phase in testing of the long-delayed suborbital vehicle that is ultimately designed to carry space tourists and research payloads to an altitude of about 62 miles, exposing them to several minutes of microgravity. [In Pictures: 1st Glide Flight of VSS Unity Spaceship] Virgin Galactic had planned to carry out the glide flight Nov. 1, but high winds led flight controllers to keep SpaceShipTwo attached to WhiteKnightTwo, turning the mission into the second "captive carry" test flight of the vehicle, after one in September. A second attempt, Nov. 3, was aborted because of an unspecified technical issue discovered prior to the planned release. The vehicles took to the air again Nov. 30 on another captive carry flight. "As part of our ground & flight testing, we made a few tweaks to the vehicle," Virgin Galactic said in a tweet, which were tested on that flight. The company did not disclose the nature of the changes. The flight is the first in a series of glide flights to test the aerodynamic performance of the vehicle before moving ahead into powered flights. In an interview at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Oct. 13, Virgin Galactic President Mike Moses said the number of flights will depend on how long it takes to achieve a set of test objectives. "There's 10 glide flights' worth of targets," he said. "We could do those in 8 flights, or might take 15, but we're not going into the next phase before we clear those." Once completed, SpaceShipTwo will begin a set of powered test flights. The first SpaceShipTwo, named VSS Enterprise, was performing its fourth powered test flight when it crashed in October 2014, killing co-pilot Michael Alsbury and injuring pilot Peter Siebold. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the vehicle broke up when Alsbury prematurely unlocked the vehicle's feathering mechanism, causing the tail section to rise up as the vehicle accelerated through Mach 1. The investigation criticized vehicle developer Scaled Composites for not taking steps to prevent such a premature unlocking and for creating a heavy workload for pilots of the vehicle. The stand-down after the accident gave Virgin Galactic time to work on the vehicle's hybrid rocket motor, whose development had been troubled. "If the spaceship was ready, we could do a powered flight tomorrow," Moses said in October. This story was provided by SpaceNews , dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry. A Viking toolbox found in Denmark has been opened for the first time in 1,000 years, revealing an extraordinary set of iron hand tools that may have been used to make Viking ships and houses, according to archaeologists. The tools were found this summer at a mysterious, ring-shaped fortress at Borgring, on the island of Zealand. The famed 10th-century Danish king Harald Bluetooth is thought to have ordered the construction of the fortress. So far, archaeologists have found at least 14 iron tools inside a single deposit of earth excavated from a gatehouse building of the fortress. The researchers said only traces remain of the wooden chest that once held the tools. [See Photos of the Viking Tools Found at the Danish Fortress] Iron was valuable in Viking-age Denmark , and the researchers think the tools once belonged to a craftsman who occupied a workroom in the gatehouse until it collapsed in the late 10th century. The archaeologists are still studying the heavily rusted objects, but they've already identified several sophisticated hand tools and other metal items, including a set of "spoon drills" that were used to make holes in timber; what looks like a pair of tweezers or small pliers; a "clink nail" used to fasten wooden planks together; four carefully crafted chain links attached to an iron ring; and a drawplate to make metal wires that may have been used in jewelry. Archaeologist Nanna Holm, a curator at the Danish Castle Center in Vordingborg who is leading the excavations of the ringed-shaped fort at Borgring, said this is the first time an entire set of tools has been discovered in a Viking workplace. "This is not an ordinary find," Holm told Live Science. "Not many tools are found in Scandinavia, but the others found before this have all been left for the gods, by being put down in a swamp." The newfound tools are special because they were found where the craftsman would have been working, she said. "That's why it's so exciting for us to see what's inside, because we can see what one man has used at this specific site," Holm added. Viking iron The cache of iron tools was first located by amateur archaeologists using a metal detector near the eastern gate of the buried fortress at Borgring. That discovery inspired Holm's archaeological team in August to excavate the eastern gatehouse, where they removed the deposit of earth containing all the tools in one piece a delicate process that took two days. The next step was to transport the lump of earth, rust and iron to a local hospital, where it was scanned with computed tomography (CT) equipment usually used by doctors to examine the internal organs of their patients. [Photos: 10th-Century Viking Tomb Unearthed in Denmark] The CT scans revealed the precise arrangement of at least 14 iron tools, which have since been excavated from the toolbox deposit for individual X-ray studies and preservation before they are put on display in an exhibition next year, Holm said. All of the tools are heavily corroded, but much of the original iron remains, and even more tools may be hidden in the rust, according to the researchers. "There are a minimum of 14 tools, but I think there are 16 now, from the new X-rays that we've already done," Holm said. The contents of the toolbox provide a rare glimpse of working life in the late Viking age , she said. "They can be used for different crafts," Holm said. "We have some spoon drills for making holes in wood, which could be used for building ships or for building houses." The iron drawplate has a series of small holes of different sizes that were used to make wires from softer metals, the researchers said. "You pulled the metal through each of the holes to make it smaller and smaller, and thinner and thinner," she explained. Bluetooth technology The toolbox is an important early find for the archaeologists, who will conduct further excavations at Borgring each summer for the next three years, Holm said. The remains of houses and human graves have been found at other Viking ring forts, but the toolbox is the first direct evidence of human habitation at Borgring itself, she added. "So far, we haven't found any houses, but we now have proof that there were people here so hopefully, next year, we will find their houses," Holm said. [Fierce Fighters: 7 Secrets of Viking Culture] Archaeologists think the ringed-shaped fort at Borgring and four others like it were built by the Danish king Harald Bluetooth around A.D. 980, as military outposts to enforce his rule as he introduced Christianity into Denmark and parts of Sweden and Norway. The origin of the king's curious surname is uncertain, but his success in uniting the unruly Viking clans into a single kingdom inspired the name of today's Bluetooth wireless technology , according to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), which oversees development of the technology. Borgring has appeared on maps since the 1600s, but Holm said the site was only recently recognized as one of Bluetooth's network of Viking ring forts. "This is the first ring fort in 60 years that we'll be studying with all the new archeological methods, and today we can do so much more with science," she said. "It's pretty different work compared to what else we've done in Denmark, so this is something special. Hopefully, we will get a little bit closer to finding out what actually happened here and what the forts have been used for." Original article on Live Science. Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Astronomers have set a new record, taking the measure of a tiny space rock just 6 feet wide. The researchers used four different telescopes on Earth to study the near-Earth asteroid (NEA), which is called 2015 TC25, during a close flyby it made of the planet in October 2015. "This is the first time we have optical, infrared and radar data on such a small asteroid, which is essentially a meteoroid," Vishnu Reddy, of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, said in a statement. "You can think of it as a meteorite floating in space that hasn't hit the atmosphere and made it to the ground yet," added Reddy , lead author of a new study published in The Astronomical Journal that reports the 2015 TC25 observations. (But the chances of the asteroid hitting Earth in the foreseeable future are small, he said.) Reddy and his team found 2015 TC25 to be surprisingly bright, reflecting about 60 percent of the sunlight that hits it. The asteroid also rotates once every 2 minutes, making it one of the fastest-spinning NEAs ever observed, researchers said. In addition, 2015 TC25 appears to be a chunk of solid rock, rather than a rubble pile like many bigger asteroids. The tiny asteroid also consists of essentially bare rock; it lacks the layer of dirt-like regolith that blankets its larger brethren. "Detecting this on 2015 TC25 means all small asteroids might be bald and dust-free," Reddy said in a different statement. The asteroid was discovered in October 2015, shortly before its Earth flyby, which brought the space rock within just 79,500 miles of the planet's surface. (For comparison: The moon orbits Earth at an average distance of 239,000 miles.) 2015 TC25 is a NEA that circles the sun once every 382 days. But Reddy and his team think a collision probably chipped the space rock off 44 Nysa, a 43-mile-wide asteroid that resides in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. "If we can discover and characterize asteroids and meteoroids this small, then we can understand the population of objects from which they originate: large asteroids, which have a much smaller likelihood of impacting Earth," Reddy said. The researchers studied 2015 TC25 using the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii, the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, the Magdalena Ridge Observatory in New Mexico and the Lowell Observatory/Discovery Channel Telescope in Arizona. Endangered hawksbill sea turtles are doing swimmingly well at a reef in Belize, the Wildlife Conservation Society has announced. The sea turtles are described as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, so the fact that theyre prospering at Glovers Reef Atoll in Belize is good news for conservationists. According to a new study, researchers estimate that there are now over 1,000 juvenile hawksbill turtles in the area. The findings of our research show that juvenile hawksbill turtles are thriving at Glovers Reef extremely good news for this endangered species, Virginia Burns Perez, the Wildlife Conservation Societys technical coordinator in Belize, said in a statement. Strongholds for the species such as this one should become a model for other foraging and nesting areas that are important for the hawksbill turtle. WANT TO MONITOR BEARS? TRY CHECKING THEIR SALIVA The study, published in the journal Endangered Species Research, reports that the hawksbill turtle population numbers have suffered in general due to harvest for their shells, meat, and eggs. The researchers carried out their research between 2009 and 2013 in an area thats part of a huge barrier reef system thats actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Part of their research involved snorkeling and catching, tagging, and releasing the turtles. The Wildlife Conservation Society says that the sea turtles rebound is an indication of the success of protection efforts in this large reef system. The discovery that Glovers Reef Atoll is an important habitat for young sea turtles is an important find, one that will enable regulatory agencies to fine-tune already effective management policies to safeguard a highly threatened species and its biodiverse habitat, Jason Patlis, the WCSs director for marine conservation, said in the statement. A pair of linen bloomers that once belonged to Queen Victoria are up for auction in the U.K. later this month. The split drawers have a 42.5-inch drawstring waist and are embroidered with the royal monogram V.R. for Victoria Regina (Queen Victoria) and the number 23. Auction house Henry Aldridge & Son told FoxNews.com that the bloomers were given to the sellers grandmother by one of Queen Victorias ladies in waiting. Queen Victoria lived from 1819 to 1901, and reigned from 1837 until her death. Henry Aldridge & Son estimates that the pants date to the late 1880s or early 1890s. TITANIC TREASURES SOLD AT UK AUCTION A linen chemise, or shirt-like undergarment, embroidered with the monogram V.R. and the number 32, will also be auctioned by Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, U.K on Dec. 17. The chemise is from the same seller as the bloomers. Both items are in remarkable condition considering their age, Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge told FoxNews.com, via email. Items of Royal memorabilia of this nature are always keenly contested, they are a cross collectable and appeal to both royal collectors and those individuals who would like to buy something [of] a rarity or conversation piece thats a bit different. The bloomers have a pre-sale estimate of between $5,091 and $7,637. The chemise has a pre-sale estimate of between $764 and $1,018. Last year a pair of Queen Victorias cotton pants sold for over $13,000 at auction in the U.K. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers Years of drought and over-irrigation have caused Utah's Great Salt Lake to shrink at an alarming rate, recent satellite photos show. After the Great Lakes, Utah's Great Salt Lake is the largest body of water (by area) in the United States. Back in the middle of the 19th century, when pioneers first arrived in the area, the lake spread across roughly 1,600 square miles. Now, the lake covers an area of only about 1,050 square miles, new satellite photos from NASA reveal. In October, the Great Salt Lake reached its lowest level in recorded history, at 4,191 feet deep. These dramatic declines in water levels come from years of human activity namely, diverting river water, which would normally fill the lake, for agriculture and industry, according to NASA. The agency estimates that about 40 percent of the river's water is diverted from the lake. These activities, along with the ongoing drought in the West, have drained the historic lake. [Gallery: Rainbow of Life in Great Salt Lake] The NASA images show changes in the Farmington Bay basin of Great Salt Lake, an area that is home to many diverse wildlife, including migratory birds. Decreasing water levels in the Bay not only affect the ecology of the area, but could divert the bird populations who migrate to the basin for food. "Farmington Bay has been nearly desiccated as the result of the combined effects of drought and water withdrawals from the rivers feeding the lake," Wayne Wurtsbaugh, a watershed sciences researcher at Utah State University, said in a statement. "Farmington Bay is an immensely important feeding area for migratory shorebirds and waterfowl. Even at the low level we have now, it is still important, but the greatly reduced size has diminished its value." The NASA satellite images show changes in the Farmington Bay basin from 2011 to 2016. Scientists estimate that more than three-quarters of the lake bed is now exposed in the bay, significantly diminishing the food available for wildlife. In February, Wurtsbaugh and his colleagues released a white paper on how water development has impacted the Great Salt Lake. Their study found that river flow into the basin has been reduced by 39 percent since the middle of the 19th century. Reversing this trend would involve more conservation efforts, especially for agricultural irrigation, which accounts for approximately 63 percent of water usage in Utah, Wurtsbaugh said. Even with conservation efforts and more ecologically conscious development, the lake could continue to diminish due to climate change , the researchers said. "A wild card for the fate of the lake is what global climate change may do to the basin, Wurtsbaugh said. "Warmer air temperatures are projected to lower runoff, but our data shown in the white paper suggests there haven't been climate change effects on the runoff yet." Original article on Live Science . The European Commission has slammed tech titans Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft, saying that they are not moving quickly enough to deal with online hate speech. In late May, Silicon Valley giants agreed in a Code of Conduct to keep tackling illegal hate speech on their platforms. As part of that code of conduct, a goal was set of reviewing most notifications of illegal hate speech and dealing with them within 24 hours. According to a new report, set to be presented and discussed in Europe on Wednesday and Thursday, tech companies are only meeting that 24-hour goal 40 percent of the time. "If Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Microsoft want to convince me and the ministers that the non-legislative approach can work, they will have to act quickly and make a strong effort in the coming months," Vera Jourova, a commissioner in charge of justice, consumers, and gender equality for the European Commission, said according to the Financial Times. TWITTER SAYS IT WILL BAN TRUMP IF HE VIOLATES HATE-SPEECH RULES The report is the result of a monitoring exercise of how hate speech is handled online. According to a European Commission official, there were 316 cases in which a non-profit organization flagged content as being hate speech and one of the tech companies responded. Forty percent of the time, the review happened within 24 hours, and over 80 percent of the time, it happened within 48 hours. Of those 316 cases, there were 163 removals. The European Commission says that the 24-hour target is achievable but that the tech companies need to increase their efforts. The report was based on a review period of six weeks. The rate at which illegal hate speech was removed varied considerably between countries. For example, Germany and France saw removal rates of over 50 percent, but in Austria that figure was 11 percent, and in Italy, just 4 percent, according a Commission official. Anti-Semitism, national origin, and hatred towards Muslims were the three biggest categories that together represented the majority of notified content. SOCIAL MEDIA SITE REDDIT CENSORS TRUMP SUPPORTERS Twitter and YouTube (owned by Google) did not immediately reply to requests for comment on this story from FoxNews.com. Microsoft declined to comment. A Google official, however, said in a statement in the code of conduct in May that: Were committed to giving people access to information through our services, but we have always prohibited illegal hate speech on our platforms. We have efficient systems to review valid notifications in less than 24 hours and to remove illegal content. Facebook is waiting to see the full details of the report Wednesday. Twitter has flexed its social media muscle lately, cracking down on hate-speech. And now the social network got a potentially bigger fish to fry -- President-elect Donald Trump. The nation's incoming Chief Executive has long been known to have a somewhat volatile Twitter account. Slashdot notes that earlier this week, the company told Slate that "it would consider banning key government officials, even the president, if its rules against hate speech or other language were violated." You can imagine the hit the Twitter servers would take if this happened. "The Twitter Rules apply to all accounts," a spokesperson said. Interestingly, Facebook takes a different approach. According to Slate, despite employee objections, the normal Facebook community standards will not apply to Trump posts, given their newsworthiness and widespread support for his views. More: Reddit CEO warns Trump subreddit will be banned if harassment continues For the record, the American Bar Association defines hate speech as "Speech that offends, threatens, or insults groups, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits." This poses an interesting conundrum for one of social media's leading platforms. Look at the concepts in play here -- the company has issued set of policies that end users need to adhere to. That's nothing new, as all companies have a set of guidelines in one form or another. Sometimes, though, those policies conflict with the right of free speech. And then you have the obvious PR problem of potentially removing the account of the new President of the United States (we assume @RealDonaldTrump will just point to the dedicated account of @Potus from January 20 onward). QZ.com said "Republicans have grown wary of Trump's unfiltered, potentially inflammatory tweets." Newt Gingrich is an adviser and vice-chairman of Trump's transition team, and said a recent tweet from the president-elect about illegal voters was "out of line." Gingrich added in USA Today, "The president of the United States can't randomly tweet without having somebody check it out. It makes you wonder about whatever else he's doing. It undermines much more than a single tweet." Hotel nightstands across the U.S. are starting to empty out. According to a new study by hospitality analytics group STR, the percentage of hotels that offer religious materials in rooms has dropped by almost half in the last decade-- from 95 percent of in 2006 to just 48 percent this year. Its because the religious books dont fit the personality of the brands, Marriott spokeswoman Felicia Farrar McLemore told the Los Angeles Times when speaking about two brand property openings in Los Angeles this year. HOW TO AVOID BOOKING THE WORST HOTEL ROOM Marriot International recently decided against supplying religious materials at its Moxy and Edition hotel brands, which are geared toward millennials. But the decision to shy away from supplying the religious texts is multi-faceted. According to some industry experts, hotels are trying to appeal to younger American travelers who tend to be less religious than their parents. The casual Bible placement has also declined to avoid offending guests of other faiths, say industry experts. And theres a pragmatic issue at play. Many newer hotel brands install shelves rather than nightstands with drawers next to the bed, displacing the religious materials' previously discreet home. SOME OF LAS VEGAS' BIGGEST CASINOS TO END FREE PARKING PERK STR officials did note that only 2,600 of the more than 8,000 hotels surveyed in their study answered the question about religious materials in the rooms. Still, some religious officials say the decline is notable. The decline of religious materials in hotels, as cited in the survey, is reflective of increasing secularism and independence in the world, said Jeff Pack, the Director of Communications for Gideon International, the nonprofit group that distributes Bibles in hotels across the country to the Time. This has resulted in an erosion of spiritual awareness." The trend toward removing religious materials from hotel rooms has not affected at least one big notable brand. Rooms in the tew Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. come equipped with a Gideon Bible in the nightstand. The property also keeps several other religious texts on hand available upon request. WHY TRUMP IS CHANGING THE NAME OF NEW BRAND HOTELS The trend of removing Bibles from hotel rooms is also affecting properties overseas. Travelodge hotels in Britain removed Bibles from their rooms in 2014 in order not to discriminate against any religion, the company said. And Wyndham Hotel Group, Travelodges parent group, said that theres no requirement to stock Bibles in any of its 15 global hotel brands. A North Carolina man armed with an assault rifle was arrested Sunday inside a popular Washington D.C. restaurant that became a center of conspiracy theories driven by fake news stories that went viral before the presidential election. Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, of Salisbury, N.C., was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, according to a statement from D.C. police. Investigators said Welch entered Comet Ping Pong in Northwest Washington shortly before 3 p.m. and pointed his rifle at an employee, who managed to flee and notify police. Welch then fired the gun into the floor. The gunman was arrested without incident and no injuries were reported. Two firearms were recovered inside the restaurant and an additional weapon was recovered from the suspect's vehicle, police said. Breaking : I just slowed down my video and snapped this pic of the suspect on the ground being arrested outside #cometpingpong @fox5dc pic.twitter.com/XRIwINPQRV jeffgep (@jeffgep) December 4, 2016 Comet Ping Pong's owner and several employees were deluged by threats from social media users after several fake news stories claimed that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief John Podesta ran a pedophilia ring out of the restaurant. The story was spread using the Twitter hashtag "Pizzagate." D.C. police said Welch told officers in a post-arrest interview he went to Comet to "self-investigate 'Pizza Gate[sic].'" Last month, D.C. police told Fox 5 that they were not investigating Comet and were keeping an eye on those who were threatening the restaurant and its employees. Restaurant general manager Bryce Reh told the station that some conspiracy theorists were using photos of actual children from the establishment's website to push the false stories. "They are using photos of children where the parents took the photos," Reh said, "and they are trying to say that some sort of abuse is going on." Reh added that the personal information of at least 20 restaurant employees had been made public and said the restaurant had been visited by others investigating the rumors. "Most of the time, when they come in here, it's just weird, Reh said. "They videotape and ask strange questions." James Alefantis, owner of Comet Ping Pong, released a statement late Sunday night that denied what he called the "malicious and utterly false accusations" and said the company hoped to resume normal operations within a few days. "I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away," Alefantis said in the statement. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from Fox 5 DC. An off-duty correction officer has been fatally shot in New York City. Officials say the unidentified woman was shot Sunday night while sitting in a car outside a home in the Flatlands neighborhood of Brooklyn. She was pronounced dead at the scene. It was not immediately known if the woman was a city or state correction officer. A motive for the shooting remains unclear. No arrests have been made. Police continue to investigate. American Atheists, one of the nation's largest secular groups, has released its Christmas 2016 billboard ad campaigns in which it uses President-elect Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan to encourage young people to skip church. The group explained in a press release that its two billboards have been launched nationwide, and aim to celebrate an "atheist Christmas" and tackle what it called the stigma that nonbelievers face in America. OPINION: RADIO STATION DUMPS ATHEISTS FOR CHRISTMAS MUSIC "It is important for people to know religion has nothing to do with being a good person, and that being open and honest about what you believe and don't believe is the best gift you can give this holiday season," said David Silverman, president of American Atheists. "More and more Americans are leaving religion, but we still have work to do when it comes to fighting the stigma many atheists face." The first billboard, which will be displayed throughout December in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Lynchburg, Virginia; Augusta, Georgia; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Georgetown, South Carolina, depicts a text message exchange between two young women, with one declaring that she "no longer believes" in going to church, and that her parents will "get over it." The group pointed to a survey released by the Public Religion Research Institute in September which showed that nearly one in four, or 39 percent of young people aged 1829 in the U.S. are now religiously unaffiliated. Click Here to Read the Full Story at ChristianPost.com U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahls former platoon member said Monday the one-time prisoner of war -- who asked for a presidential pardon after being accused of endangering comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan has to be accountable for his actions. BERGDAHL REQUESTS PARDON FROM PRESIDENT OBAMA, US OFFICIALS Sgt. Matt Vierkant told FOX & Friends, Its nobodys fault but his that he was put in that position so he has nobody to blame but himself and its unfortunate that he was a prisoner for five years, but its his own fault. Vierkant went on to dispute the allegations that no troops were killed in the search for Sgt. Bergdahl. I think everyone in the military and everyone I know knows that people are seriously hurt and killed because of Bergdahls actions and as the trial gets under way it will all come to the attention of everyone. JUDGE HEARS TESTIMONY ABOUT INJURIES DURING SEARCH FOR BOWE BERGDAHL White House and Justice Dept. officials said Saturday that Bergdahl had submitted copies of the clemency request seeking leniency. If granted by President Obama, it would allow Bergdahl to avoid a military trial scheduled for April where he faces charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. The misbehavior charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. If the pardon isn't granted, Bergdahl's defense team said it would expand its legal strategy to the new administration by filing a motion arguing that President-elect Donald Trump violated his due process rights with scathing public comments about the case. Bergdahl, of Hailey, Idaho, walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held captive by the Taliban and the groups allies for five years. The Obama administration's decision in May 2014 to exchange him for five Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, led some Republicans to accuse the president of jeopardizing the nation's safety. Some lawmakers said they were outraged the administration didn't give Congress a 30-day notice about transferring the detainees, as required by law. Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump was one of Bergdahl's most vocal critics, saying repeatedly the soldier was a traitor who would have been executed in the "old days." During a July speech in Indiana, Trump lamented that Bergdahl could wind up with a light punishment. "Remember the old days? A deserter, what happened?" he said before pantomiming pulling a trigger and adding: "Bang." Bergdahl, who faces trial at Fort Bragg, has said he walked off his post in Afghanistan because he wanted to cause an alarm and draw attention to what he saw as problems with his unit. But Bergdahl's lead defense lawyer, Eugene Fidell, said he planned to file a motion seeking dismissal of the charges against Bergdahl shortly after the January inauguration, arguing Trump violated Bergdahl's constitutional due-process rights. The defense has been noting Trump's comments about Bergdahl in what they've dubbed the "Trump Defamation Log." A version included in the court record lists 40 such instances as of August. "All of these things put together and repeated rally upon rally for basically a year have a cumulative effect that I think is totally at odds with the right to a fair trial," Fidell said in a phone interview. Sgt. Vierkant, Bergdahls former platoon member, views the situation differently, thinking Bergdahl would receive a fair trial under the incoming Trump administration. He was never in his chain of command. He has no say or ruling over the trial. I believe we should let the military be professionals in the end, his opinion isn't going to affect it any more than my opinion or anyone else. Fox News' Jennifer Griffin, Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Police have zeroed in on an unexpected culprit as being behind a racist, pro-Trump graffiti spree in Philadelphia: a 58-year-old black man. William Tucker, of New Jersey, is charged with four counts of criminal mischief in the string of graffiti incidents that occurred early on the morning of Nov. 9, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Thursday. Tucker was released on his own recognizance and is due in court Dec. 8 for a preliminary hearing. OBERLIN PROFESSOR FIRED FOR ANTI-SEMITIC FACEBOOK POSTS One white SUV was marked with the messages Trump Rules and Black B----. Surveillance footage captured a man spray-painting the words, and the 62-year-old owner of the car and her daughter reported the incident, the Inquirer reported. POLICE: FAKE NEWS STORY LED GUNMAN TO POPULAR DC PIZZERIA I went straight to the police station, the woman, who was not identified, told The Inquirer at the time. They were stunned. Initially, the woman believed the act may have been a hate crime. You cannot allow people to take your joy away from you, she said. Once they take your joy, then they are in control of you. I am not going to allow that to happen. It will all be okay. But an anonymous tipster phoned police on Nov. 11 and identified Tucker as the offender. In addition, officials said one of the victims was the mans ex-girlfriend, according to NJ1015. Authorities arrested Tucker on Nov. 22. A Georgia dad convicted of murder after his 22-month-old son died in a hot SUV was sentenced Monday to life in prison with no chance of parole. Jurors last month convicted 36-year-old Justin Ross Harris of malice murder and other charges in the June 2014 death of his toddler, Cooper. The malice murder conviction means they believed Harris left the young boy to die on purpose. Prosecutors said at trial that Harris intentionally killed his son to escape the responsibilities of family life. They showed evidence he was engaging in online flirting and in-person affairs with several women who were not his wife, including a prostitute and an underage teenager. Defense attorneys said the boy's death was a tragic accident. Harris wore an orange jumpsuit and showed little emotion, often looking down at the ground, as Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark read the sentence. Malice murder carries a sentence of life in prison, either with or without the possibility of parole. Cooper Harris died after sitting for about seven hours in the back seat of his father's SUV outside the office where Harris worked in suburban Atlanta on a day when temperatures reached at least into the high 80s. The dad said he forgot to drop his son off at day care that morning, driving straight to his job as a web developer for Home Depot, not remembering that Cooper was still in his car seat. Harris had moved from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to Georgia for work in 2012. After determining during nearly three weeks of jury selection in April that pretrial publicity had made it too difficult to find a fair jury in Cobb County, where the boy died, Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark granted a defense request to relocate the trial. A jury in Glynn County, located on the Georgia coast about 60 miles south of Savannah, spent about a month listening to evidence in the case and deliberated for four days before finding him guilty last month of all eight counts against him. In addition to malice murder and felony murder charges, Harris also was found guilty of sending sexual text messages to a teenage girl and sending her nude photos. Harris moved from Alabama to Georgia for work in 2012. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A Georgia man convicted of murder after his toddler son died in a hot SUV has been sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. Jurors last month convicted Justin Ross Harris of malice murder and other charges in the June 2014 death of his 22-month-old son, Cooper. The malice murder conviction means they believed Harris left the young boy to die on purpose. Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark sentenced the 36-year-old Harris at a hearing Monday. Prosecutors said at trial that Harris intentionally killed his son to escape the responsibilities of family life. Defense attorneys said the boy's death was an accident. Harris moved from Alabama to Georgia for work in 2012. Police say they're searching for a person who tried to set a nightclub on fire with dozens of people inside late Sunday night. Police say surveillance footage from behind the nightclub in Lawrence, Mass., could lead them to a suspect. OWNER OF OAKLAND WAREHOUSE FACES BACKLASH OVER POST ABOUT DEADLY FIRE The surveillance video shows the person they're looking for, police say. In that video they can see someone wearing a hoodie get out of a car, pour out some sort of liquid and set it on fire. Police aren't sure if the suspect is a man or a woman, but they did tell the Eagle-Tribune the car has New Jersey license plates. Fortunately, employees at the club saw what happened and had the fire out by the time police showed up. Click for more from Fox 25. Italian voters dealt Premier Matteo Renzi a stinging defeat on his reforms referendum, triggering his resignation announcement and galvanizing the populist, opposition 5-Star Movement's determination to gain national power soon. "I lost, and the post that gets eliminated is mine," Renzi said early Monday about an hour after the polls closed. "The government's experience is over, and in the afternoon I'll go to the Quirinal Hill to hand in my resignation" to President Sergio Mattarella. Besides the "anti-establishment" 5-Stars, the outcome energized another "anti" party, the anti-immigrant Northern League, an ally of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, a candidate in France's presidential race. In voting No, Italians also delivered a rebuke to Italy's industrialists, banks and other establishment institutions, which had staunchly backed the referendum. The anti-reform victory, which could spook investors, comes just as the government had made some inroads in cutting the staggering rate of youth employment and while Italy's banks have urgent need for recapitalization. During the campaign, the risk of political instability in Italy, Europe's fourth-largest economy, triggered market reaction, with bank stocks sinking and borrowing costs on sovereign debt rising. But some analysts predicted the political crisis sparked by Renzi's exit would be short-lived, as politicians focus on lining up support for a new electoral law they view as boosting their parties' chances for whenever elections are called. Wolfango Piccoli, a London-based analyst and co-president at Teneo Intelligence, said the main risk of Renzi's "devastating defeat" will lie in the medium term. That could see "a prolonged muddle-through period, the emergence of an ineffective patched-up coalition government in the post-election phase and continuously poor economic performance," Piccoli said in an emailed comment. The 5-Star Movement, led by anti-euro comic Beppe Grillo, spearheaded the No camp on the constitutional reforms, a package aimed at updating Italy's post-war Constitution that Renzi had depicted as vital to modernizing Italy and reviving its economy. Characteristically confident -- detractors say arrogant -- Renzi, 41, and Italy's youngest premier, had bet his political future -- or at least his current premiership -- on a Yes vote win, and campaigned hard for a victory in recent weeks to confound opinion polls indicating that it would likely go down to defeat. With votes counted from nearly all the polling stations in Sunday's referendum, the No's were leading Yes votes by a 6-to-4 margin, Interior Ministry data indicated. The turnout of 67 percent was especially high for a referendum, and more in line for a vote for Parliament. Renzi had been hoping to beat off the rising populist forces that have gained traction across Europe, as well as with the U.S. presidential victory last month by billionaire political outsider Donald Trump. Earlier on Sunday, in Austria's presidential runoff, left-leaning candidate Alexander Van der Bellen prevailed over a right-wing populist. Leaders of the populist 5-Star Movement, which is led by Grillo, joined the chorus among opposition forces for early elections. The 5-Stars are the chief rivals of Renzi's Democrats and are anxious to achieve national power for the first time. "Today the caste in power lost," said a 5-Star leader, Luigi Di Maio. It was a sharp retort to Renzi's characterizing the reforms as an opportunity to shrink the "caste" of elite, perk-enjoying politicians by reducing the numbers and powers of Senators. "Arrogance lost, from which we'll learn many things in forming our team for government and our platform," Di Maio said. "Starting tomorrow we'll be working on a government of the 5-Stars, we'll involve the energies and the free persons who want to participate." The 5-Stars' constituency is largely internet based, and bills itself as anti-establishment. "The man alone at the command doesn't exist anymore, but the citizens who govern the institutions" do, Di Maio told a news conference minutes after Renzi conceded. In Bologna, traditionally a left-leaning city, about 100 people rallied after the defeat to burn several Yes-vote flags and carried a banner saying "Renzi go home." Mattarella, as head of state, would have to decide whether to accept Renzi's resignation. Renzi is widely expected to be asked to stay on at least until a budget bill can be passed later this month. Then he or some other figure, perhaps from his Democrats, Parliament's largest party, could be asked to lead a government focused electoral reform. The current electoral law would grant the biggest vote-getting a generous bonus of seats in Parliament. Renzi's Democrats and the center-right opposition of former Premier Silvio Berlusconi want the law changed to avoid risking that the bonus would go to the 5-Stars should they lead the vote-getting. Elections are due in spring 2018, but Renzi's resignation could prompt their being moved up a year. Another opposition leader, Matteo Salvini, of the anti-immigrant Northern League, hailed the referendum as a "victory of the people against the strong powers of three-quarters of the world." He urged elections straightaway. Many had read the referendum as an outlet for growing anti-establishment, populist sentiment in Europe. When Renzi late last year promised to resign if the referendum was defeated, it was months before Britain's David Cameron had made his ill-fated bet that a referendum would cement the U.K.'s membership in the European Union. Cameron was forced to resign when Britons instead voted to leave the EU fold. In Italy, the referendum was required because the reforms were approved by less than two-thirds of Parliament. The reforms included steam-lining the Senate and giving the central government more powers at the cost of the regions. "We didn't exit from Europe, but we didn't 'exit,' from the Constitution either," said former Premier Massimo D'Alema. A former Communist, D'Alema opposed fellow Democrat Renzi on the referendum issue, aggravating tensions within their bickering party. Less than a week before President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Taiwans president over the phone, China flew a pair of long-range nuclear-capable bombers around Taiwan for the first time, two U.S. officials revealed to Fox News. TRUMP REMAINS ON DEFENSIVE AFTER CALL WITH TAIWAN PRESIDENT On Nov. 26, two Chinese Xian H-6 bombers, along with two escort planes, a Tupolev Tu-154 and Shaanxi Y-8, flew around the island of Taiwan from mainland China, taking off and landing from two separate Chinese military bases. The escort jets were used to collect radar information and conduct other surveillance on American allies such as Japan, Fox News is told. The Chinese bombers stayed in international airspace, according to officials. CONWAY: TRUMP'S TALK WITH TAIWAN LEADER 'JUST A CALL,' NOT A SIGN OF POLICY SHIFT At different points of the flight, Chinese J-10 and Su-30 fighter jets performed escort duties for the Chinese strategic bombers. Japan scrambled eight F-15 fighter jets to intercept the Chinese flight at one point in the skies somewhere northeast of Taiwan, according to the officials. A high-ranking official from Taiwans defense ministry commented on the Chinese military flight Monday. "This was the first time that Chinese aircraft circled around Taiwan," Deputy National Defense Minister Lee Hsi-ming said, adding that China has said similar flights would occur in the future according to Focus Taiwan News Channel. "China has steadily built up a massive military capability in the area around Taiwan. This isn't simply a matter of flying bombers. Understand that technically, we can't object to flying bombers near Taiwan if we are flying combat aircraft and reconnaissance aircraft near China. This is simply legal under international law," Anthony H. Cordesman, the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said. "Taiwan faces a much more serious Chinese challenge than it has ever faced before." Elsewhere, a Russian Su-33 crashed while attempting to land aboard a Russian aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean. The incident occurred Saturday according to The Aviationist, which was first to report the crash. "After performing a combat mission over Syria a Sukhoi-33 fighter-jet overran the runway while trying to land on The Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier. The arresting cables rupture was the reason," read a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry according to Russian state media. The Russian Defense Ministry announced the pilot was safe after ejecting into the Mediterranean. In the past few weeks, Russia recently deployed missiles to Western Crimea after Ukraine conducted missile tests and also deployed nuclear-capable short range ballistic missiles to Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave in Europe bordering Poland and Lithuania. The Russian Su-33 is seeing combat for the first time in Syria. Unable to launch strike missions from the Russian aircraft carrier due to the heavy weight of fuel and bombs, the Russian air force moved six Su-33s to its base along Syrias coast to conduct strike missions in the past few weeks, Fox News was told. It was the second time in less than three weeks that a Russian jet crashed while attempting to land aboard the aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean. Fox News was first to report the first crash of a MiG-29 last month. The results over the weekend of Italys referendum and Austrias presidential election were billed as the first true test of the rising tide of populism that has engulfed European politics amid stagnant economies, high unemployment and unease over the continuing stream of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa. But instead of making a murky political situation clearer, Sundays results have left observers with almost more questions than answers as the world awaits 2017s key elections in Western European superpowers France, Germany and The Netherlands. There are definitely trends that were seeing across the region, but one thing this weekend showed is that each country is different, Dan Kelemen, a professor of political scene at Rutgers University, told FoxNews.com. We shouldnt expect that just because the Brexit in the U.K., the election of [Donald] Trump in the U.S. and the rise of some populist leaders in Europe that the rest of the countries are going to go this way. In Rome - amid a wave of anti-establishment anger led by populist comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillos Five Star Movement - Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has promised to step down from power after Italians voted against a series of reforms that acted as an unofficial plebiscite on his rule. While Italys no vote on Renzis referendum is a clear indication of populisms rise on the boot of Europe, Sundays decision may be a high point for the movement given the fractured nature of Italian politics and the varying political viewpoints at play. Grillos 5-Star Movement is the biggest winner in the referendum's failure, but the more left-leaning populist will have to face numerous other candidates if he hopes to win the prime ministers job when elections are next held. Grillo has called for quick elections, but political analyst Giovanni Orsina, deputy director of the school of government at Rome's LUISS university, said he probably doesn't want them to come too soon because he wants the establishment's failure to "cook" over time. If opinion polls hold, the 5-Star movement commands roughly one-third of the vote, but whether that would be enough to govern depends on how the new electoral law is written. The other big player in Italys upcoming election is the anti-EU, anti-migrant Northern League and its leader, Matteo Salvini. The Northern League's popularity got a boost in the week after Trump's victory, and Salvini has deepened his alliances with Europe's far-right parties to solidify his influence. Salvini wants immediate elections in an effort to latch on to the growing discontent connected to the migrant crisis, especially in the northern regions of Veneto and Lombardy where they run regional governments and where Italy's proud entrepreneurial class is still struggling to regain footing after the economic crisis. Experts say that while these two parties certainly used the strength of Europes populist movement to squash Renzis referendum, the sheer number of political parties in Italy will make it difficult for one party to seize power outright. The referendum was definitely a vote for populism, but it was more so about Italian anger at Renzi than populism, Kelemen said. About 700 miles to the north, the far-right candidate Norbert Hofer narrowly lost the countrys presidential election to leftist Alexander Van der Bellen in a race that pitted Hofers nationalistic brand of populism against Van der Bellens self-described Pro-European politics. Van der Bellens victory over Hofer was welcomed by moderate European leaders on both the right and left as a win for supporters of the European Union and a blow against the populist forces looking to weaken it. The Austrian presidency is a mostly symbolic post, but the race attracted a good deal of attention across a Europe stunned by the electoral win by Trump in the U.S. and the Brexit vote in Britain. "What happens here today has relevance for all of Europe," Van der Bellen said as he cast his ballot, later noting that his win showed most voters backed his message of "freedom, equality, solidarity." Van der Bellen added that the win sends a "message to the capitals of the European Union that one can win elections with high European positions." He said he would work to unite a country deeply split between the moderate liberals who voted for him and supporters of Hofer's anti-immigrant Freedom Party. This is definitely a clear cut win for those in favor of a multi-national, more Euro-centric view of politics, Kelemen said. Van der Bellen received praise from numerous European leaders including Frances Francois Hollande, who said Austrians "made the choice of Europe, and openness." The results in Italy and Austria may give those two countries a better grasp on their domestic political situations, but does little to help forecast how their neighbors will vote in 2017. In France, the socially conservative former Prime Minister Francois Fillon looks poised to face off next year against Marine Le Pen, whose staunch opposition to the European Union and hardline immigration proposals has won her many supporters among the countrys far-right. The Dutch will decide in March if they want the pugnacious populist Geert Wilders and his Party for Freedom to run the country. While he currently sits atop the polls, experts say that the Dutch political system would make it difficult for him to pass a number of items on his agenda if elected. Hes popular, but the Dutch system has a lot of coalitions and not many other parties appear willing to work with Wilders, Kimberly Morgan, a political science professor at George Washington University, told FoxNews.com. And in Germany, as Chancellor Angela Merkel goes for her fourth term, she will face a resurgent far-right led by populist politician Frauke Petry of the Alternative for Germany party. However, it seems that Merkel will retain her job despite grumblings about her handling of the refugee crisis. We should not jump to conclusions that Europe is going to the far right like some people are saying, Kelemen said. They may make some gains, but it will be far from a takeover. Ther Associated Press contributed to this report. None of the altered visas issued at a fake U.S. embassy in West Africa for seven years appears to have been used to enter the United States, the State Department said Monday. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the visas were created from bought, stolen or otherwise illegally obtained passports. U.S. officials this summer discovered and shuttered the fake embassy in Accra, Ghana. However, news reports about the criminal operation began to appear only in the past several weeks, following a Nov. 2 posting on the State Departments website. The embassy building flew a U.S. flag every morning for three days a week, and inside the building was a picture of President Obama. The operation was purportedly run by Ghanaian and Turkish organized crime rings that were able to pay off corrupt officials, the State Department said in November. And those who posed as consulate employees were in fact Turkish citizens who spoke English and Dutch. Responding to skeptical reporters questions Monday, Kirby said those who bought the fake visas likely didnt try to enter the country with them or were stopped at the border because the visas were of pretty poor quality. He also said valid U.S. visas contain the kind of digital data that is nearly impossible to replicate. A fake Netherlands embassy in Ghana also was shuttered in this summers sting. Kirby said Monday that he has no reports of other fake operations but that the joint task force that shuttered the fake embassies, Operation Spartan Vanguard, continues to look for them. The task force is led by U.S. Diplomatic Services and includes Canadian embassy officials and local police. Those who bought the fake visas paid as much as $6,000. Kirby also said Monday that none of the fake visas was stolen from the real U.S. embassy in Ghana. The raids led to the recovery of 150 passports from 10 countries and visas from the U.S., India, South Africa and the European Schengen zone. Those involved in the scheme would drive "to the most remote parts of West Africa" to find visa applicants and transport them to Accra, the State Department said. They also used fliers and billboards to lure victims from Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo. Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 An appeals court in Gambia has ordered the release of a top opposition politician and 18 others who were arrested after they took part in a peaceful protest earlier this year calling for political reforms. The move comes just days after longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh agreed to step aside after losing a presidential election following 22 years in power. Human rights groups say Jammeh's regime imprisoned and often killed political opponents. Appeals court president Justice A.O. Adogoke said Monday that the prisoners would be granted bail but must have someone vouch for them and they must hand over their passports. The 19 people now facing release stood up in the courtroom and sang the national anthem along with their lawyers and supporters. A Kosovo appeals court has reduced by two years the sentence of an ethnic Serb for preparing terrorist attacks. Kosovo's Appeals Court on Monday decided to lower the 13-year jail sentence to the Serb, identified by his initials S.G., by two years "taking into consideration the fact that the defendant accepted the incriminating actions," according to a statement. The Serb man was arrested two years ago near the U.S. embassy in the capital, Pristina, after police found 23 explosive devices weighing 12 kilograms (26 pounds) he had transported from Belgrade, Serbia. He was accused of plotting a terrorist attack and endangering Kosovo's security and constitutional order. The Serb claimed he wanted to sell the explosives. A Serb minority lives in Kosovo, which in 2008 declared independence from Serbia. The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local): 2:10 p.m. The Russian Defense Ministry says a Su-33 fighter jet, based on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, has crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after returning from a sortie over Syria. The ministry says in a statement that was reported by Russian news agencies that "because of the failure of the arrester system's cable, the Su-33 fighter rolled off the deck" on Monday. The pilot of the aircraft successfully ejected and was unharmed in the incident. The ministry added that Russian military operations over Syria will not be affected by the incident. This is the second loss of an aircraft from Russia's only aircraft carrier since it arrived off Syria last month. The Defense Ministry said that a Mig-29 fighter crashed into the sea on Nov. 15 while attempting to land on the Admiral Kuznetsov. ___ 11:50 a.m. Syrian activists say Russian and Syrian aircraft have stepped up their assaults on the rebel-held province of Idlib, a day after air raids killed more than 60 people. The activist-run Local Coordination Committees is reporting airstrikes on the towns of Binnish, Maarat Nasaan, and Saraqib, as well as the provincial capital, Idlib. The network says the Monday morning airstrikes killed three children. It blamed the attacks on Russian aircraft. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported strikes on Idlib city. It says 288 civilians have been killed in the province since Oct. 20, when Syrian government and Russian aircraft intensified airstrikes. The Syrian Civil Defense first responder group said 65 civilians were killed in Sunday airstrikes across the province, including attacks on two rural marketplaces that killed dozens. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 The Philippine vice president resigned her Cabinet post Monday after citing irreconcilable differences with President Rodrigo Duterte, who had banned her from attending Cabinet meetings, in a new political dilemma for the leader. Robredo, who stepped down as housing secretary but will stay on as vice president, spoke of "major differences in principles and values" with the brash-talking president and an unspecified plot to remove her from the vice presidency. There was no immediate reaction from Duterte. In her resignation letter, Robredo told Duterte that she "exerted all effort to put aside our differences, maintain a professional working relationship and work effectively despite the constraints." But she said Duterte's order banning her from Cabinet meetings had made it impossible for her to do her job at the housing agency. "Remaining in your Cabinet has become untenable," she said. A human rights lawyer and respected political newcomer, Robredo said Sunday that she would stay on in her elected post as vice president. She was set to hold a news conference later Monday to explain her action. In the Philippines, presidents and vice presidents are separately elected and often come from rival political parties, like Duterte and Robredo. "I will not allow the vice presidency to be stolen. I will not allow the will of the people to be thwarted," Robredo said in a statement Sunday, without elaborating. She did not include the allegation in her resignation letter. Aside from Robredo, Patricia Licuanan, the head of the government's Commission on Higher Education, said that she learned through a text message that Duterte had also banned her from attending Cabinet meetings, but that she would remain in her post. Robredo's resignation comes amid a political storm over Duterte's decision to allow the burial of long-dead dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the country's Heroes' Cemetery and a bloody crackdown against illegal drugs that has alarmed Western governments and human rights watchdogs. Robredo is the second official to resign from Duterte's administration in less than a week. Maria Serena Diokno quit as head of the government's historical commission last Tuesday to protest Duterte's decision to allow Marcos' reburial in the cemetery. Diokno has since joined street protests by anti-Marcos groups condemning the secretive Nov. 18 burial. Robredo on Sunday cited her opposition to the burial, the drug killings, Duterte's plan to reimpose the death penalty and "sexual attacks against women" among the issues on which she differed with Duterte, who took office on June 30. The last straw, she said, was when she was notified Saturday by Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. through a text message about the president's order for Robredo "to desist from attending all Cabinet meetings" starting Monday. Evasco said Duterte decided to bar her from Cabinet meetings because of her "irreconcilable differences" with the Duterte administration. Robredo, 52, did not provide details about the alleged plot to remove her from the vice presidency, but her electoral victory has been questioned by her closest rival in the race, former Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., a son of the late dictator and a friend of Duterte. Marcos Jr. lost by a slim margin to Robredo, the widow of a popular politician who built a name as an honest, hands-on provincial mayor who wore slippers to work and reached out to the poor in the countryside. Robredo's husband died in a plane crash in 2012, and she later acceded to widespread calls for her to enter politics. Russia and China used their veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block a draft resolution on Monday calling for a seven-day humanitarian truce in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo. The resolution, sponsored by New Zealand, Egypt and Spain, sought to allow for the removal of the sick and wounded and to provide humanitarian aid workers enough time to get food aid and medicine into the besieged city. The resolution had 11 votes in favor, three against with one abstention but because Russia and China as permanent members of the 15-seat council have veto power the resolution did not pass. Venezuela, a non-permanent member, cast the other "No" vote. Before the vote, representatives from Russia and the U.S. traded barbs over who was responsible for the resolution's failure. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin complained that the vote violated the Security Council's working procedures because the draft hadn't been given the traditional 24 hours for it to be under review. He also complained that it did not take into account an agreement between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to organize a group of experts on Aleppo. U.S. Deputy Ambassador Michele Sison said that Churkin's contention that the U.S. and Russia were on the cusp of reaching a deal was "a made up alibi." "We will not let Russia string along the Security Council while waiting for a compromise that never seems to come," Sison said. Russia has repeatedly blocked action in the Security Council over Syria where it is supporting Syrian government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad. Rebel shelling killed two Russian nurses and eight civilians Monday in Aleppo, and a Russian fighter jet crashed as it was returning to an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean after a sortie over Syria, but the pilot ejected safely, Moscow officials said. The shelling that targeted government-controlled western Aleppo was one of the most intense in recent days. It coincided with a crushing air and ground assault that has seen forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad recapture more than half of opposition-held eastern Aleppo. Russia and militias allied with Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah have been staunch supporters of Assad in his country's bitter civil war, now in its sixth year. The shelling initially killed one female nurse and wounded two Russian medics working in a field hospital, a Russian officer told reporters in the northern city. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Moscow had sent hospital equipment to the government-controlled Furqan neighborhood on Sunday. Another nurse who was wounded in the shelling later died, the Russian Defense Ministry said. "The Russian and Syrian doctors tried their best to save her," Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said in an emailed statement. Another Russian, a pediatrician, remains in critical condition. He urged international organizations such as the Red Cross to condemn the attack on the health workers "who were doing their medical duty to help the civilians of Aleppo." At the U.N. Security Council, Russia and China blocked a draft resolution demanding a seven-day truce in Aleppo to evacuate the sick and wounded and to provide humanitarian aid workers time to get food aid and medicine into the city. Russia has repeatedly blocked action in the Security Council over Syria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said talks would be held with the United States this week in Geneva on a rebel withdrawal from eastern Aleppo, Russian news agencies reported. The Russians have tried before to coax rebels into leaving the territory, setting up corridors out of the district, but the fighters have refused because they want to retain their control over parts of the city. Some fear the Russians and their Syrian allies would not ensure their safety. Monday's fighting was the worst in days. Syrian government artillery, tanks and warplanes pounded rebel-held parts of the city for hours. The airstrikes were so intense that buildings on the western side of the city shook. Opposition activists and rescue workers said four people were killed in a barrel bomb attack on a rebel-held district, and three more were trapped in the rubble. Insurgents also struck back in the government-held western parts of the city with dozens of mortar shells. At least eight civilians were killed in different neighborhoods, according to state news agency SANA. Among the dead were two children and four women, said the opposition Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Thick smoke billowed from behind Aleppo's famous citadel where Syrian forces were advancing from the west and east to try to cut rebel-held districts in half. On the city's southern edge, heavy machine gun fire could be heard. An Associated Press team in government-controlled Aleppo said the attack on the Russian field hospital left the large tent charred and beds overturned. The shelling struck shortly before the inauguration of makeshift clinic. The AP crew was accompanied by representatives of the Syrian army. Konashenkov said an unspecified number of residents at the field hospital were wounded, and he accused the U.S., Britain and France of telling the rebels the location of the hospital. "The blood of our soldiers is on the hands of those who ordered this murder -- those who created, nurtured and armed these beasts in human form and named them the `opposition,"' he said. Asked about the accusation, the British Defense Ministry declined to comment. The Russian Defense Ministry also said the Su-33 fighter jet crashed in the Mediterranean as it returned to the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov after a sortie over Syria. "Because of the failure of the arrester system's cable, the Su-33 fighter rolled off the deck," the ministry said. The pilot ejected successfully and was unharmed, the ministry said, adding that Russian military operations over Syria would not be affected by the incident. This is the second loss of an aircraft from the Admiral Kuznetsov since it arrived off Syria last month. A MiG-29 crashed into the sea Nov. 15 while trying to land on the carrier. In a ground offensive that began last week, Syrian government forces seized large parts of the Aleppo enclave that have been under rebel control since 2012. Monday's fighting was most intense near the dividing line between eastern and western Aleppo as government and allied troops pushed their way from the eastern flank, reaching less than 1 kilometer (half a mile) from the citadel in the center of the city. Rebel fighters clashed with advancing troops and also lobbed mortars and shells into the government-controlled part of Aleppo to the west. The opposition-run Thiqa News agency and the Syrian Civil Defense said four civilians were killed in the rebel-held Zabadiyeh district when barrel bombs were dropped there. In nearby rebel-controlled Idlib province, Syrian opposition activists said Russian and Syrian aircraft stepped up assaults, a day after air raids killed more than 60 people. The activist-run Local Coordination Committees said airstrikes on Monday hit the towns of Binnish, Maarat Nasaan and Saraqib, as well as the provincial capital, Idlib. The network said three children were killed, blaming the attacks on Russian aircraft. Rebels also sent rockets into the predominantly Shiite towns of Foua and Kfarya, in Idlib province. Online video posted by activists showed clouds of smoke rising and wreckage sustained by the blasts. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 288 civilians have been killed in the province since Oct. 20, when Syrian government and Russian aircraft intensified airstrikes. The Syrian Civil Defense in Idlib said 65 civilians were killed in Sunday's airstrikes across the province, including attacks on two rural marketplaces that killed dozens. Scotland Yard has been given money to investigate a new lead in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in what senior officials are calling the last throw of the dice. According to The Sun, detectives are looking into a tip that traffickers from Europe kidnapped the then 3-year-old after taking photographs of her. This is an important new line of inquiry which could provide an explanation on whether Madeleine was abducted and transported away, a source told the paper. It raises hope that she could still be alive. Madeleine disappeared in 2007 while on vacation with her family in Portugal. She was snatched from a holiday apartment as her parents dined with friends nearby. One witness has claimed that the girl was photographed on the beach with her parents in the days before she vanished. In 2011, police in Portugal smashed a trafficking ring snatching young women and underage girls in the Algarve and Aveiro sections, in the north of the country. The latest information is being pursued as Scotland Yard has been given more money to look into what is being called an important new lead in Madeleines disappearance. There is specific information which is being investigated, the source said. The source added the investigative team is pushing forward to try to confirm or disprove the latest lead. At present, funding is due to run out next April when it will be reviewed again, the source said. Its been dubbed the most Aussie video youll ever see a man dressed in flannel squaring off with a big kangaroo in the rugged Australian bush. The footage of zookeeper Greig Tonkins went viral after the kangaroo put his hunting dog Max in a vicious headlock. RARE WEASEL-LIKE MAMMAL MAKES A COMEBACK IN WASHINGTON STATE Since being posted to Facebook, the footage which was filmed by Greg Bloom has been viewed more than a million times. But while the world has been caught up in the toe-to-toe, theres much more to the story than meets the eye. This hunting trip was put together for a sick young man called Kailem who passed away from cancer last week, said Mathew Amor, who organized the hunting trip in June when the inciden occurred. RAVENOUS 14-FOOT PYTHON CAUGHT WITH 3 DEER IN ITS GUT Amor told news.com.au he decided to organixe a small group of friends, including Kailem and Greig Tonkins, to go on the boar-hunting trip at his property in Condobolin, New South Wales, after hearing about Kailems deteriorating condition. Basically Kailem wanted to catch a boar, Amor said. And so a few of us got together to take him out, and another mate filmed more than an hour of video to put together as a DVD for Kailem and his family of the trip. The DVD included the minute of footage that has since gone viral. Amor said it was totally out of character for his friend to hit the marsupial. My mate has a good government job, so hes gone pretty quiet on this, Amor laughed. We were driving along, the dogs are loose. They are trained to smell pigs blood, and picked up a scent. The dogs went past 20 kangaroos, which they are trained not to touch. Anyway, this big buck got a hold of my friends dog. It just grabbed him. Its been confirmed that Tonkins is a zookeeper at Tarongas Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo. Click for more from news.com.au SimVentions, Inc. was recently named as one of the 2017 Best Places to Work in Virginia by the Virginia Business and Best Companies Group. The Fredericksburg Realtors Foundation, the charitable giving arm of the Fredericksburg Area Association of Realtors, has awarded $18,971 in grants for 2016. These grants support area nonprofit organizations that help individuals and families secure or retain quality, affordable housing. The foundation made the following specific grant awards: Beauty for Ashes Women and Childrens Home: $2,000; S.E.R.V.E.: $750; Loisanns Hope House: $2,381; Marys Shelter: $5,000; Homes for Our Troops: $1,250; Thurman Brisben Center: $5,320; Greater Fredericksburg Habitat for Humanity: $2,270. Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center in Prince William County has named Katherine A. Johnson as its new president. Johnson joined Sentara Healthcare in June of this year as vice president and chief operating officer of SNVMC and in August assumed oversight of the hospital during the search for a new president. The University of Mary Washingtons Small Business Development Center will hold a seminar called VeteransBoots to Business Reboot today. The event is a two-step training program that provides participants an overview of business ownership as a career vocation, an outline and knowledge on the components of a business plan, a practical exercise in opportunity recognition, and an introduction to available public and private sector resources. The event will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the UMW Stafford Campus. There is no fee to attend. Call 540/654-1383 for more information. This holiday season, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative is offering gift certificates for purchase. The gift certificate is applied directly to the REC members account and can be printed from the cooperatives website, myrec.coop. SOLitude Lake Management donated more than $5,000 in turkeys and grocery store gift cards to 228 under resourced families, including some in Fredericksburg, for Thanksgiving. Donations made through the nationwide pond and lake management companys Little GOBBLERs program went to 21 elementary, middle and high schools that had identified a need for Thanksgiving meal donations within their schools. New U.K. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt has reversed most of an economic package announced by the government just weeks ago, including a planned cut in income taxes. Hunt said Monday he was scrapping almost all the tax cuts announced last month by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Liz Truss, and also signaled that public spending cuts are on the way. It was a bid to soothe turbulent financial markets spooked by fears of excessive government borrowing. The move raises questions about how long the beleaguered prime minister can stay in office, though Truss insisted she has no plans to quit. She vowed to lead the Conservatives into the next general election, but many in the party want her gone. Jewish students at the University of Mary Washington will soon have a center along College Avenue to call home. Fredericksburg developer Larry Silver has offered to build a multimillion-dollar project for the Hillel Jewish student organization across the street from campus at 1500 College Ave., next door to the Baptist Student Union and just down the street from both Catholic- and Methodist-run student centers. The proposed 9,800-square-foot center will be named The Maxine and Carl Silver Hillel Center. Located directly across the street from UMWs University Center, it will be a two-story building designed to match UMWs Jeffersonian architecture. The facility will include meeting space, several staff and student offices, a multi-purpose room for student activities and a kosher cafe open to both students and the community. A small apartment for a rabbi or staff member is also planned. Jeff Rountree, chief executive officer of the UMW Foundation, which is working with The Silver Cos. to facilitate the center, said a sales agreement for the home that will be torn down to make way for the center is pending approval of the plan. Rountree said it would be the first dedicated facility for Jewish students near the campus and should help in recruiting and retaining students of that faith. There is a very large Jewish population in northern Virginia and areas easily accessible to Fredericksburg, he said. Silver said he has supported events and initiatives at the college for a long time but this is his first large gift. Growing up just a few blocks from the campus, he said the college has been a large part of his life, and he wanted to help the students in a way that was close to his heart. The center will be named after his parents, Carl and Maxine Silver. The center honors my parents in a manner they would be very proud, he said. As the father of two college students, he said he has seen firsthand how Hillel centers have enhanced their college experiences. He also feels it could be a tool for the school to attract a larger pool of students. Management of the property will be coordinated between UMW staff and Hillel International. Construction is slated to begin in 2017 with the center opening in late 2018 or early 2019. Founded in 1923, Hillel is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, with more than 500 locations, including centers in Virginia at the University of Virginia and Washington and Lee University. A campus center such as the one planned would coordinate education, travel such as alternative breaks and Birthright Israel, develop relationships with Jewish mentors and educators, and support student celebrations of Shabbat and holidays on and off-campus. The plan will come before Fredericksburgs Planning Commission for a public hearing beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 14 in the City Hall Council Chambers, 715 Princess Anne St. Silver is requesting a special-use permit for a religious institution and a special exception for density. The Free LanceStars newsboy statue, Lance, was removed Monday from his perch in front of the newspapers office at 616 Amelia St. in downtown Fredericksburg. Fret not. Lance will be back in public view before long. After some gentle scrubbing and chemical refurbishment, Lance will be installed in front of the newspapers new office at 1340 Central Park Blvd., Suite 100. The newspaper will be moving to the new location in the next couple of weeks. The statue was commissioned by The Free Lance-Star in 1994 to honor the hundreds of carriers who have delivered the newspaper over the years. Former FLS Publisher Josiah P. Rowe III came up with the idea of putting up the paperboy statue and he can still recite the inscription around its base: He comes, the herald of a noisy world, news of all nations lumbering at his back. The quote is taken from a work by William Cowper, an 18th century British poet. Lance was unveiled at a ceremony on Sept. 24, 1995. It cost $42,000 and was sculpted by Clydetta Fulmer of Montgomery, Ala. The cast was bronzed by Steve and Stewart Wegner of Wegner Metal Arts in Fredericksburg. The Wegner brothers were on hand Monday morning for the delicate moving operation, which was handled by Michael Huie of Abby Construction. Steve Wegner will give Lance a good cleaning and apply fresh coats of wax and lacquer to protect the statue. Business is booming in Stafford County, which has experienced significant job growth and economic development in recent years. This growth prompted black and minority business owners in the area to establish the Stafford Regional Black Chamber of Commerce. Lamont Brown, president of SRBCC, said the organization started as a chapter of the Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce. However, as the business needs of the community grew, they began to see the advantage of having their own organization. The group sent an email in July 2015 to float the idea to all of their connections in the local community. Eighty-five people showed up to the first meeting. In October 2015, they took the first steps to establish the SRBCC, and officially became a standalone organization in September 2016. The group serves business owners in Fredericksburg and Quantico, as well as Stafford, Spotsylvania, King George, Culpeper and Louisa counties. On Thursday, the SRBCC will host a banquet at Brocks Riverside Grill in Fredericksburg to celebrate its first year. The Rev. Lawrence Davies, a former mayor of Fredericksburg, will be the guest speaker. The banquet is open to everyone. The goal of the organization is to help develop, educate and connect black- and minority-owned business owners in the area, Brown said. Businesses need that community and ability to connect with each other. Brown said he became involved in SRBCC after identifying several challenges facing local businesses, particularly the need for more resources and connections between businesses and entrepreneurs in the area. The SRBCC has attempted to meet a real need in the community by bringing business owners together. The organization holds monthly meetings, and one each quarter is a social. SRBCC includes 42 members, and continues to grow. We found that the community is so spread out and all over the place that there is no real means otherwise to interact and get to know each other, Brown said. The meetings include talks on educational topics from members and guest speakers. For all small businesses, the one thing I notice is a lack of information or not knowing what questions to ask, Brown said. We are trying to lower the hurdles by making people better informed. Latrice Claiborne, a business owner and SRBCC board member, said a common challenge among business owners in the area is making time to keep pace with technology and new trends while running a business. SRBCC gears its monthly classes toward topics that businesses are struggling with, such as social media. I see that technology is moving so fast and businesses are having a hard time keeping up, Claiborne explained. Ceresh Perry, marketing chair of SRBCC, said that due to its location on the periphery of Northern Virginia, Stafford sees a mix of business owners in government contracting, retail and service industries. Areas further south see more traditional businesses and fewer government contractors. Staffordand surrounding areas, including Fredericksburg and Spotsylvaniais rapidly growing, Perry said. There is definitely a need for entrepreneurship here. Although it seems as though the main industries are in Northern Virginia and D.C., there are a great deal of people and businesses coming down this way. Brown added that the region offers a wealth of opportunities for the black- and minority-owned business community. The area has seen tremendous growth in recent decades, and SRBCC hopes to harness that opportunity by giving people the tools to grow their businesses. The opportunity is here and will be for a long time to come, Brown said. DONALD TRUMP flew to the presidency, in part, on the strength of his provocative Twitter feed, which he used to pick fights with critics and the media. The election appears not to have curbed his penchant for social media: Hes still outrageous; still picking fights. And those pronouncements often make headlines. But some say the media should stop covering Trumps tweets so obsessively. Should the president spend so much time on social media? How much attention does it deserve? Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk, the RedBlueAmerica columnists, debate the issue. JOEL MATHIS This would be a good time to say, Let Donald be Donald, except Americans have no indication that Donald can be anything other than Donald. Hes going to tweet, and the presidency shouldnt be confined to 18th-century modes of communication. Twitter is a part of life now. But Trump should more carefully craft his tweets. And the media should be more thoughtful in covering him. Why? The presidents words matter. They can shake markets or put countries on a war footing and they can do that even if the president is merely horsing around. Thats why a whole information infrastructure has grown up around the Oval Officenot just to communicate what the president wants out, but also to avoid accidentally communicating ideas the president doesnt want communicated. So it matters when Trump tweets that flag burning should be punished by a loss of citizenship. It matters when he bashes journalists. And it matters when he makes unsupported accusations that millions of people voted illegallyagainst him. Those tweets hint at an authoritarian personality and warn the American people they should be on guard for their liberty under the new president. To purposefully ignore these comments is to let our vigilance ebb. Trumps fiercest critics say his tweets are a distraction, that the news media should ignore them and focus instead on areas of substancethe conflicts of interest between his business holdings and his presidential duties, for example. The underlying presumption, though, is that the news media cant walk and chew gum. In this age of diminished journalistic resources, in which every newspaper seems to go through a round of buyouts and layoffs every year, that presumption is understandable. But one area of American life thats not going undercovered? The White House. So its necessary to pay attention both to what President-elect Trump says and what he does. Theres no need to choose between the two. BEN BOYCHUK If the media is going to flip out over every presidential tweet, the next four years are going to be hilariously tedious. Or tediously hilarious. Probably a bit of both, with plenty of horror and embarrassment added to the mix. Horror and embarrassment for the press, that is. Selena Zito was one of the few journalists who understood Trump early on. As it turns out, Zito remains one of the few journalists who understand the president-elect. The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally, she wrote this fall in the liberal-leaning Atlantic. Should we take seriously and literally a president-elect who thinks voter fraud is widespread? At the risk of lapsing into logical fallacy, its hardly clear that the absence of evidence is evidence of absenceespecially when states like California, where Trumps opponent dominated the popular vote, recently began issuing drivers licenses to illegal immigrants and registering to vote is as easy as visiting the secretary of states website. Should we take literally a president-elect who thinks burning the American flag ought to be penalized by jail and perhaps even loss of citizenship? True, the U.S. Supreme Court twice ruled that flag-burning laws are unconstitutional. Yet not so long ago, a flag-burning amendment to the Constitution was broadly popular. Trumps opponent even co-sponsored a bill in the U.S. Senate to make burning the flag punishable by a year in jail and up to $100,000 in fines. Maybe the better question is whether we should take seriously a press corps that refuses to probe voter-registration shenanigans and seems to believe that the U.S. Supreme Court has the last word on political questionsor, at least the ones that are most congenial to a liberal outlook. Trumps tweets are outrageous by design. But they also help clarify our political differencesand make the media out to be fools in the bargain. Why mess with success? Joel Mathis is an award-winning writer in Kansas. Ben Boychuk is managing editor of American Greatness. Electoral College proposal aims to help GOP We all know how politicians can distort the issues and work them for their own advantage. Del. Mark Cole of Spotsylvania continues to bring the art form to new heights. As a Democrat, I am not currently a fan of the Electoral College. Reform of some kind is needed, but it should be fair and representative. Coles proposal to have the Electoral College votes align with the congressional districts might be a laudable proposal if he was not primarily responsible for protecting gerrymandered congressional districts. His partisan Republican proposal would not accurately reflect the popular vote in Virginia, as he claims. Cole has ensured that any proposals to ensure a fair redistricting of the congressional districts in Virginia are killed in the committee he chairs. Coles proposal would increase the impact of gerrymandering and would not be a fair representation of the will of most Virginians. Lets add to this the routine attempts by Cole and his cohorts to deny people their right to vote, which further argues against his proposal. Obviously, he seeks to protect his power through subterfuge. One of the bills killed by Cole would have begun the process of amending the Virginia Constitution to draw congressional districts that more accurately reflect the people of the commonwealth. His reason for killing the bill? Because the cost of putting it on the ballot was not included. The cost of the recent, failed right to work constitutional amendment bill contained no such provision, but he was in favor of it. It seems to me that Cole does whatever he wants to preserve his position. Cole does not deserve re-election in 2017. He does not represent the people of his district, nor of Virginia, nor of Spotsylvania. He is a prime example of what is wrong with the political process. Bob Martin Spotsylvania The writer is vice chairman of the Spotsylvania County Democratic Committee. Ever since Fred Hutch scientists developed bone marrow transplants to cure blood cancers more than 40 years ago, GVHD has proven to be the most stubborn of side effects. In a transplant, the leukemia patients cancerous immune system its army of infection-fighting white blood cells is essentially swapped for that of a healthy donor. GVHD is caused when the donated immune cells (the graft) begin to attack the healthy tissues of the patient (the host). While years of careful adjustment have significantly trimmed the risk of GVHD, it still affects about half of leukemia patients who receive blood stem cells or marrow from a donor. The symptoms of rashes, blisters, liver damage and nausea are often temporary, but they can also become chronic, debilitating and deadly. The key findings Sandmaier described from the trial were that patients taking the triple-drug combination containing sirolimus not only had a lower rate of acute GVHD, but scored substantially better on survival measures: Just 25 percent of those taking sirolimus as a third drug had moderate to severe GVHD, compared to 53 percent of those taking the two-drug combination. Rates of worrisome stage 3 or stage 4 GVHD fell fourfold, to 2 percent from 8 percent, in the triple-combo group. Deaths unrelated to leukemia relapse (and therefore most likely a result of GVHD) after one year fell to 5 percent from 15 percent. Overall survival one year after transplant rose to 85 percent from 72 percent in the sirolimus group. According to Dr. Rainer Storb, a founding member of Fred Hutch and one of the early pioneers of bone-marrow transplants in the 1970s, the last time a bone marrow transplant clinical trial was halted for a good reason like this was in 1985. Thats when his own study found that combining two immune suppressants, methotrexate and cyclosporine, worked better lowering the risk of GVHD than either drug alone. Sirolimus is the name for a drug formerly known as rapamycin. That moniker is derived from Rapa Nui, the Polynesian name for the mysterious Easter Island. One of the most isolated places on Earth, Rapa Nui rises alone in the Pacific Ocean, about 2,000 miles west of Chile. This is the Easter Island famous for its giant moai statues: 887 elongated human heads with straight noses and pursed lips, monoliths carved of stone in a bygone era and set in the ground, staring cryptically out to sea. A multipurpose drug Researchers half a century ago scraped out of the Rapa Nui soil a bacterium, Streptomyces hygroscopicus, which attracted attention because it left a circle of dead fungi around it in a petri dish. Scientists then discovered that the substance secreted by the bacteria, which was dubbed rapamycin, not only killed fungi but reduced the proliferation of human immune cells. Eventually it was approved as an immunosuppressant to prevent rejection of transplanted kidneys. Now sold as sirolimus, it is also used today to coat arterial stents, and it is the subject of research for its potential as an anti-aging drug. Sandmaier was intrigued by preclinical studies that confirmed sirolimus value in preventing GVHD. A lot of progress in GVHD is incremental, she said. You can fix GVHD with strong immune suppression, but it comes with a price: it can raise the risk of relapse. In searching for ways to tinker with that delicate balance, research pointed to adding sirolimus to the gold standard in Fred Hutch transplantation practice since Storb adopted it in 1997: a two-drug combination of the immune suppressant cyclosporine and mycophenolic acid, or MMF, another anti-rejection drug. Winnipeg Interior Design Company Launches New Website to Better Serve Customers Lee Interiors, a premier interior design firm in Winnipeg that helps consumers design residential and commercial spaces, has launched a new website that is easier to navigate and more effective overall. The business was founded by co-founders Jennifer Platt and interior designer Lee Kiseung. -- Lee Interiors, a premier interior design firm in Winnipeg that helps consumers design residential and commercial spaces, has launched a new website that is easier to navigate and more effective overall. The business was founded by co-founders Jennifer Platt and interior designer Lee Kiseung. With decades of interior design experience and several employees to assist in the design process the company handles projects of all sizes, from one room renovations to complete makeovers and new home construction. Lee Interiors specializes in all types of interior design. For residential and commercial properties potential clients can explore Contemporary, Modern, Victorian, Minimalist, Urban Modern, Farmhouse, Retro, Nautical, Bohemian, and many other interior design styles. Some of the many services that are provided by Lee Interiors include colour consultation, new home design, design consultation, space design, floorplan rendering, and furnishing and staging, custom furniture, lighting design, and project management among others. The new website that has launched explains the 5 step design process that is used by the experts at the firm and why this process provides superior results and satisfied clients. Company co-founder and interior designer Winnipeg Lee Kiseung discussed the importance of the new website launch, explaining "We believe that potential clients should have access to a website that is easy to use and highly informative. Our new website provides helpful interior design information and helps people see the potential that their available space can have. Everyone at Lee Interiors has a passion for interior design as well as the experience needed to help clients achieve their vision. We partner with our clients, combining their ideas with ours, so that the end result is striking and exactly what they are looking for." The new website for Lee Interiors explains in detail the 5 step design process that the company uses. Each step is clearly outlined so that consumers know exactly what to expect every step of the way from start to finish. Other improvements and upgrades include coding and functional aspects of the website so that visitors can find the information they need quickly and easily. Lee Kiseung explained why this is important, saying "We understand that most people live busy lives, and many are new to interior design and may not know what to expect. We launched the new website to make things easier on potential clients and to provide information that visitors may be looking for or need. The new site is designed to be faster, easier to use, and more effective that the old site." See their website at www.leeinteriors.ca. For more information, please visit http://www.leeinteriors.ca Contact Info: Name: Lee Kiseung Organization: Lee Interiors Address: 303-250 Panet Road, Winnipeg, R2J 0S3 Canada Phone: +12046743242 Release ID: 151609 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Canadian Hardwood Lumber Manufacturer Expanding Their Export Market Focus for 2017 ( December 05, 2016 ) Montreal, Quebec Canada -- DZD Hardwood Export, a Canadian manufacturer of hardwood products exporting across Canada and Europe plans to expand its export portfolio into the northeastern USA such as Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire and Connecticut. Sefi Dollinger, owner of DZD Hardwood comments,"We are a family owned hardwood products manufacturer since 1983, located just north of Montreal, Quebec. We have been producing quality hardwood products such as white oak, red oak, cherry, soft and hard maple, white ash, walnut, beech, basswood, poplar and most other species native to North America. We have been exporting our products overseas to areas such as Europe and now we are focusing our sales and export strategy to the north-eastern USA." DZD Hardwood operates 9 conventional kilns and one high-efficiency vacuum kiln for a total drying capacity of over 520,000bft. To compliment the drying operations, DZD also has over 2,000,000bft storage facility for the kiln-dried hardwood lumber. In addition, DZD also manufacturers hardwood and engineered hardwood flooring products for the domestic market in Canada. Mr. Dollinger adds, "With our state of the art computerized grading facility, we can offer lumber adapted to our client's particular needs as well as standard NHLA grades. As a company, we have two main objectives. Our first commitment is to offer high quality, consistent well dried and well-graded hardwood lumber. Our second commitment is to protect and conserve the environment by minimizing the waste of this valuable renewable natural product. In fact, all of our hardwood product waste is used as fuel for our boilers to produce the heat needed for our drying kiln operations. We eliminate the need to send the waste product to landfill and we reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for our production process. We have a dedicated, knowledgeable and experienced team of professionals to serve our international customers. We look forward to being of service to the north-eastern states for years to come." With the recent housing surge in the USA, Canada hardwood lumber exports have increased over recent months. Government trade data shows a 20% increase in lumber exports to the USA from the same period a year earlier. DZD Hardwood Export is looking to capitalize on this recent trend and solidify a foothold in the USA market as the first choice for Canadian hardwood lumber. About DZD Hardwood Export: DZD Hardwood Export is a family owned and operated business, specializing in hardwood lumber handling drying and remanufacturing since 1983. Sefi Dollinger is one of the owners who is responsible for export sales. Interested parties can contact Sefi Dollinger at: DZD Hardwood Export 450 Roland Godard St-Jerome, Quebec Canada J7Y 4G8 (450) 431-1643 sdollinger@dzdhardwood.com http://dzdhardwood.com/ For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Matteson Partners Taking On New In-House Legal Recruitment Clients (Mon 29th May 17) Huong Nghiep A Au Vocational Guidance School Launches New Major (Thu 25th May 17) FSP unveils new Industrial and Gaming power solutions at COMPUTEX 2017 (Wed 24th May 17) The Best Free Keylogger of 2017 Has Been Announced by the Official Remote Keylogger (Tue 23rd May 17) The Remote Keylogger Development Team Announces An Update to the Official iPhone Keylogger (Thu 11th May 17) CaptureStream Announces its New Streaming Video Recorder and Downloader (Mon 8th May 17) Premier Auto Tint Wins 2016 Sacramento A-List Best Window Tinting Award Premier Auto Tint was named a winner of the Sacramento A-List "2016 Best Window Tinting" Awards taking home Top-10 Honors. Premier Auto Tint is a full Vehicle Film Services Company providing Professional Window Tinting Services throughout the Greater Sacramento Valley of California. Website: http://premierautotint.com/ -- Premier Auto Tint was named a winner of the Sacramento A-List "2016 Best Window Tinting" Awards competing against 19 other Sacramento Window Tinting Services to take home Top-10 Honors. Sacramento A-List presented the award to Premier Auto Tint in their Online Listing of Award Winners. Details about the award can be found on the Sacramento A-List website at http://sacramento.cityvoter.com/premier-auto-tint/biz/707589. Potential award recipients were required to be nominated by regional window tinting customers in order to be in contention for the Sacramento A-List Awards, and were judged by the 2016 Sacramento A-List Awards Committee where more than 120,000 votes from local Sacramento-Area Experts within their specific service category, the recommended window tinting service receiving overwhelmingly positive customer review votes, and the final selections are through committee based on the expert reviews and voting customer supporting comments. Nick Williams, Owner of Premier Auto Tint was pleased about the company's performance, saying: "Premier Auto Tint takes pride in the services we provide and we work hard to provide our customers the very best Auto Window Tinting Services. We always try to exceed the expectations of our customers continually raising the bar of Professional Window Tinting Services. We opened a new Auto Film Service Center in El Dorado Hills, Ca. this year and now to be voted by our customers as one the Best Auto Window Tinting Services in Sacramento is amazing! Premier Auto Tint is off to a great start opening our new Service Center earlier this year and now we are eagerly looking forward to more Sacramento Auto Tint Services business in 2017. " Premier Auto Tint is a full Vehicle Film Services Company providing XPEL ULTIMATE Paint Protection "Clear Bra" Film and Custom Car Wraps (Auto Paint Alternatives and Custom Designed Advertising Graphics) installations services, besides the Solar Gard Ultra Performance Auto Window Film services subject of the Best of Sacramento Window Tinting Services Award. Persons interested in learning more about Premier Auto Tint and the award can visit the website at http://PremierAutoTint.com/. For more information, please visit http://premierautotint.com/ Contact Info: Name: Nick Williams Email: Nick@PremierAutoTint.com Organization: Premier Auto Tint Address: 1144 Suncast Lane #3, El Dorado Hills, CA, 95862 United States Phone: +19163583850 Release ID: 151552 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sinuate Media Announces the Acquisition of Approach Positive Marketing Sinuate Media has acquired Approach Positive Marketing, a firm specializing in strategic digital communications for science, research, and higher education. -- Sinuate Media, the Organic Marketing Company, announces the acquisition of Approach Positive Marketing, a marketing communications firm that specializes in science, research, and higher education. The mission of Approach Positive is to use marketing analytics to help scientists craft the story of their research in a compelling, consumer-friendly way. Together, the companies will use their expertise at communicating science research to build public awareness and support by highlighting the importance and novelty of their clients' work. Approach Positive clients will benefit from an even wider range of communication strategy services, marketing training, and media coverage opportunities. "We are thrilled to have Approach Positive join Sinuate Media so science researchers and higher education professionals will have more resources and support to strategically tell their story to the public," says Leah Messina, chief executive officer and founder of Sinuate Media. "In addition, they will have access to comprehensive communications training while will enable them to compete in today's digital environment. We believe scientists and research faculty have great potential to leverage digital communications in a meaningful way that will communicate the work they do to a much wider audience. Approach Positive's analytical look at marketing communications is specifically crafted to serve this audience." Approach Positive has worked with research programs at University of Maryland, New Mexico State University, City College of New York, The Jornada Experimental Range, among others. The acquisition of Approach Positive will further broaden Sinuate Media's reach into science research and higher education. Over the past decade, Sinuate Media has worked with brands such as DEWALT, GEICO, The History Channel, and Brugal Rum, amongst other consumer brands and business-to-business companies. About Sinuate Media Founded in 2006, Sinuate Media is a national consulting firm, providing digital marketing for engaging brands. The company offers a wide range of services designed to increase brand recognition and revenue through a unique combination of strategy, creative, automation and analytics. For more information, visit www.sinuatemedia.com. ### For more information, please visit http://www.sinuatemedia.com Contact Info: Name: Leah Messina Organization: Sinuate Media Address: 2001 E. Lohman Ave., Ste. 110-323 Las Cruces, NM 88001 Phone: 443-992-4691 Source: http://marketersmedia.com/sinuate-media-announces-the-acquisition-of-approach-positive-marketing/151450 Release ID: 151450 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Columbia Bureau Chief Shain is Columbia Bureau Chief for The Post and Courier. He was editor of Free Times and was a reporter and editor at The State, The Charlotte Observer and The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News. Free Freightnet Membership List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours. Farmers can apply for a share of a 15.9m pot for slurry store covers, as part of the Farming Ammonia Reduction Scheme. Defra will also spend the funds, part of an EU initiative to help producers most exposed to market volatility, to provide dairy and livestock producers in England with business management training supplied by AHDB, alongside further plans for small businesses which will happen in the spring. Applicants for the scheme will also receive a consultation on best practice for ammonia reduction, as well advice on how to conserve nitrogen. See also: How more arable farmers can benefit from biobeds Slurry store covers can reduce odour emissions by 83-91% and ammonia emissions by 80-91%, as well as preventing slurry dilution from rainwater and reducing the loss of nitrogen, according to a study in the Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research. Our farmers are recognised the world over for producing high-quality food, but low global prices and market volatility has meant many have faced another tough year, particularly in the dairy and livestock sectors, said Defra farming minister George Eustice. Challenging economic climate We continue to do what we can to help and have again secured one of the largest support packages to help those sectors most affected by the challenging economic climate. Our food and farming industry already contributes 110bn to the economy and this funding is an excellent opportunity for farmers to further bolster sustainability by improving slurry management and gaining vital business skills. I encourage farmers to take advantage of these opportunities to become more sustainable, resilient and competitive. Agriculture is the UKs leading source of ammonia, accounting for 83% of emissions in 2014, according to Defra. Farmers who are interested should visit the gov.uk website to apply. More productive farming and less environmental interference are likely in the USA, once Donald Trump takes office, the farming community has been told. According to Chuck Conner, president of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives and a key Trump agricultural adviser, farmers can expect to be rewarded for their support for the president-elect. Farmers, ranchers and people of rural America feel like they have been under attack and they responded in the presidential election, he told a recent Farm Foundation Forum in Washington, DC. President-elect Trump is very aware where his bread is buttered. See also: US farm bill ends direct payments to farmers Discussion about the 2018 US Farm Bill which sets policy for the next four years begins next year and Mr Conner said the new administration would be keen to reduce the influence of organisations such as the Environmental Protection Agency. Another particular target is likely to be the proposed Clean Water Act legislation, Waters of the United States (WOTUS). According to Mr Conner, the president-elects rural mandate makes WOTUS unlikely in the 2018 Farm Bill. But it will continue with the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), which accounts for almost 80% of the farm budget, providing healthy food for low-income families. Trade worries Mr Conner also sought to address farmers trade concerns, given Mr Trumps recent rejection of the Trans Pacific Partnership something US beef, pork and soya producers support. Within the upcoming administration, there is strong recognition of the value of agricultural exports to our farm economy, he said. President-elect Trump likes what he sees in agricultural trade, but feels in the manufacturing sector we could do better. We are an agricultural export-dependent economy and the president-elect will do all he can to protect that. While Mr Trump has yet to name his new agriculture secretary, Mr Conner is believed to be a contender. Microsoft Surface Pro 5 Release Date, News & Update: February 2017 Launch, Price Tag Confirmed? Powerful Specs Include 512GB Storage, Kaby Lake! The Microsoft Surface Pro 5 was one of the most highly anticipated devices of the year. However, disappointed fans due to the device's absence in Microsoft's event earlier this year are still hoping that the long wait would be worth it. When the Microsoft Surface Pro was introduced in 2013, the technology industry was shaken by the tremendous capabilities of the device. Fast forward to today, and the latest Surface Pro 4 had been a year old already, so fans are now clamoring for the Microsoft Surface Pro 5. The Microsoft Surface Pro 5 is geared to pack 512GB of SSD internal storage. There would also be the powerful Intel i7 processor in the latest Kaby Lake version. Coupled with at least 16GB of RAM, then the Surface Pro 5 is surely a technological powerhouse difficult to compete with. The Microsoft Surface Pro 5 will also reportedly come with a better battery life. This is due to the main criticism of its predecessor being the inefficient use of battery, so draining was a problem. This would not be a problem for the Surface Pro 5, as the technology had been vastly improved. The Microsoft Surface Pro 5 will also come with a sharper screen at either 2K or 4K resolution and a much sharper contrast. High speed USB Type-C ports would also be included, as well as Thunderbolt 3 as an interface. The 3.5mm headphone jack would not be going anywhere too. With every Surface Pro comes the Surface Pen, and the one included with the Surface Pro 5 would pack an innovative technology. The improved Surface Pen would be able to wireless charge from its magnetic dock, or even when just attached to the side of the Microsoft Surface Pro 5. There would also be a new fingerprint scanning technology through the PixelSense display. This Microsoft Surface Pro 5 feature would truly revolutionize the industry, giving rise to a new layer of security. With these ridiculously powerful specs, amazing features, and a premium build quality, the Microsoft Surface Pro 5 would be a huge steal. Coupled with the predicted $899 price tag, then fans should definitely get excited for the speculated February 2017 release date. Nokia Android Phones 2017 Release Date, Price, Specs, Latest News & Update: Two Android Models Unveiled - Mid-Range Handset, Flagship Smartphone? 2017 will be a big year for Nokia as it is scheduled to make a big comeback in the handset industry with Nokia Android phones. This is a big deal for Nokia as it tries to reclaim the prime spot in the handset industry. It can be remember that in early 2000s, Nokia was almost always the top choice for consumers. However, the rise of Apple, Samsung and other smartphone brands dethroned Nokia and left it in the dust. So, what does Nokia Android phones have to offer? Read on for more details. Nokia Android Phones 2017 According to reports, there will be two models of Nokia Android phone 2017 handsets. The said Nokia Android phones coming in 2017 are called Nokia D1C and Nokia P1. The said model names for the Nokia Android phones 2017 is not yet confirmed, so it might still be modified. According to reports, Nokia is still in the prototype building mode so a lot changes are still expected to happen. Nokia Android Phones 2017: Embracing The Metals Nokia handset owners know for a fact that the Finland-based tech giant is not so keen in making handsets with metallic bodies. Instead, Nokia is known for its quirky, innovative, functional plastic designs. Will the Nokia Android phones 2017 have a plastic body? Sources reveal that Nokia Android phones 2017 will have a metal body, signifying a total makeover of Nokia's design and craftsmanship. Of course, Nokia might have observed that the dominating smartphone brands today are all made of metal, so it's a good choice for them to keep up with the competition. Nokia Android Phones 2017 Release Date Tech experts believe that Nokia Android phones 2017 have a big chance of rising to the top spot, if Nokia gets the smartphone equation right. Sleek,elegant look, fast processors, high mega-pixel cameras and durability paired with smart marketing drive will take the Nokia Android phones to the top. As of writing, Nokia Android phones 2017 release date remains to be announced but it is expected to be sometime in February or March 2017. Stay tuned to GamenGuide for more Nokia Android phones 2017 news and updates! 'I had An Itch!' Jennifer Lawrence Admits She 'Almost Killed' A Crew Member When The Rock She Was Scratching Her Butt On Rolled Down Cliff Some itches are just not meant to be scratched .This is learned by Jennifer Lawrence the hard way. The "Passengers" star revealed this during her recent appearance on "The Graham Norton Show", when the titular host quizzed the actress, about the famous story from her Hawaii based shoot, when she almost killed her sound guy by scratching her butt. Lawrence further revealed laughing at it as to how her desire to scratch an itch on her posterior, nearly killed a man while filming "The Hunger Games". She recalled, "A giant boulder rolled down the mountain almost killing our sound guy and destroying his station, when I was butt scratching on that rock." Jennifer further joked that how she decided to be seated there, she said that she was having an itchy butt and without any doubt, rock was the best way to hit the spot without any kind of embarrassment, but as soon as she started scratching, the giant mountain rolled down and the entire station got destroyed. The sound man almost saved himself somehow. Jennifer further trolled on how Hawaiians saw it as a sign from Gods! Lawrence exclaimed "oh my god, it's curse!!"And I was sitting in the corner laughing like, 'ha-ha! I'm your curse!". It seems Jennifer and Chris are having a blast while promoting their upcoming movie, "The Passengers". The movie is based on a space science fiction, where the two actors leave for a journey of time in a sinking space ship. We saw the latest trailer of the film and it appears too hot to handle. Jennifer Lawrence , 26, always know how to keep us laughing and she love to troll her fans from time to time! So here we are desperately waiting for both Jennifer and Chris to hit the big screen on December 21st. Moto Z 2017 Latest News And Update: What Are The Things You Can Truly Anticipate? Lenovo plans to launch more Moto Mods for the Motorola Moto Z in 2017 and one of them will clearly bring bursting quick 5G availability. At this moment, Google Tango is an awesome thought caught inside unremarkable equipment. Many gossipy tidbits said with respect to the up and coming Moto Z on 2017. As indicated by many reports, Moto Z is to be out in the mid-2017. As Techradar reported, the first Moto Z has a 5.5-inch 1440 x 2560 show, and there's each possibility the Moto Z (2017's) screen will be the very same size and determination. The up and coming to Moto Z will have a metal shell, and that will be one of the key plans of the contraption. This gave it an eye-getting look and implied it was sufficiently thin that MotoMods could be included without abandoning you with an excessively thick telephone, however, it additionally implied the 3.5mm earphone jack must be expelled, and that is a choice that wasn't so famous. The Moto Z has a 13MP back camera, yet early gossipy tidbits propose that could change for the Moto Z (2017), as leaker @Ricciolo1 has tweeted that the Moto Z (2017) will have a lower megapixel tally, however, bigger pixels and quality focal points, taking into account improved low light pictures. As reported by the Android Central, Google Tango is an incredible thought caught inside fair equipment. It is an innovation stage created and wrote by Google that utilizations PC vision to empower cell phones, for example, cell phones, and tablets, to identify their position in respect to their general surroundings without utilizing GPS or other outside signs. This permits application engineers to make client encounters that incorporate indoor route, 3D mapping, physical space estimation, ecological acknowledgment, expanded reality, and windows into a virtual world. PC researcher Johnny Lee said, "We're building up the equipment and programming innovations to help everything and everybody see definitely where they are, anyplace." Moto Z was designed with Moto Mods in mind which means you can add powerful capabilities to your phone without adding bulk to your pocket. pic.twitter.com/7TBT4BGPUJ Moto PH (@HelloMotoPh) November 30, 2016 Android Central news said: Motorola, Lenovo's versatile centered backup, arrangements to change that in 2017 with a Google Tango Moto Mod, as per organization president Aymar de Lencquesaing, addressing a gathering of journalists at a meeting in Chicago. "We're probably going to have a Tango module to fundamentally empower the Z to have Tango usefulness," taking note of that "increased reality on a telephone is an innovation that is probably going to stick." There are huge amounts of potential there, he proceeded. "We'll take after, or lead, the market here." Lenovo Moto Z Latest News & Update: Device Set For Releas; 5G Moto Mod In 2017 ? Lenovo series to release more Moto Mods for the Motorola Moto Z in 2017 and one of them will evidently bring blasting quick 5G network. After divulging the new Incipio Car Dock and Mophie Juice Pack a few days ago, Lenovo guaranteed to offer more Moto Mods for sale to the public one year from now and enhance the Moto Z encounter. Things being what they are, one specific Moto Mod holds awesome guarantee, as it would convey 5G to the Moto Z. The Moto division of Lenovo facilitated a little occasion at its Chicago central station to report the new Mophie and Incipio Moto Mods and offered a little look at what's to come, despite the fact that it didn't offer particular points of interest. As an update, Moto Mods can tap coordinate show interfaces, speak with the cell phone's camera and transmit information over USB 3.1, which is additionally adequately fast to bolster 5G. While despite everything we don't have full 4G scope all over the place, 5G is the following stride and the tech scene is step by step traveling in this bearing. Verizon has as of now began testing 5G and it reported a 5G test case program early this year, meaning to convey a dependable 5G organize by 2020.Considering that Verizon is Moto's primary accomplice in the United States, only offering the Moto Z-Droid and Moto Z-Droid Force, it would bode well to see Lenovo working with Big Red to put up the 5G Moto Mod for sale to the public as quickly as time permits. Lenovos revenue for Q2 takes a blow; Moto Z still on the rise https://t.co/k1lK2roWjo pic.twitter.com/F5mjZT3QEc Geeks News (@GeeksNews0) December 2, 2016 Lenovo, as far as it matters for its, swore to increment Moto Mods creation. Also, it is presumed to unleash about four particular expansions every quarter beginning in mid-2017. Motorola Moto Z - The Most Polished & Customizable Modular Phone Yet! #iamlenovo pic.twitter.com/lPo88vUrxb Lenovo EMEA Careers (@LenovoEMEAJobs) November 29, 2016 The 5G module and other future Moto Mods will join the currently secluded augmentations accessible for the Moto Z, for example, the Insta-Share Projector, the Hasselblad True Zoom, the JBL SoundBoost, the Incipio offGRID battery pack, and the most recent Incipio Car Dock and Mophie Juice Pack. Samsung News & Update: Bendable Phones, Raised User's Eyebrows For Being Costly; Profitability Is Not A Reason For Its Manufacturing ? For the past few months Samsung has been dealing with its tremendous painstaking reputation towards Galaxy Note 7. Because of this, Samsung is believed to be making ways to bring back the customer satisfaction and demand that they had before the Galaxy Note 7. Hence, reports say that Samsung has been eyeing for bendable phones. Earlier in 2016, Galaxy X was reported to be one of Samsung's merchandise to be watched out in 2017. Following the Galaxy Note 7 scandal, Samsung has made a vow to its faithful users to become more cautious on its soon to be manufactured smartphones. Thus, bendable phones could be coming next year and Samsung could be the first company to commercially launch this device. However, the idea of bendable phones isn't new to Samsung as it already showed off a prototype exactly the same as that way back in 2011. Samsung Believes Foldable Phones Are The New Flip Phones https://t.co/Ce6dOK6OVZ Param Nagar (@ParamNag) November 21, 2016 Tech Radar further explained that "Samsung launched a concept video of a fully bendable (and transparent) mobile device that could fold out from a phone-sized screen to a tablet-sized one showing Samsung's ambitions for the technology." Hence, it's something that Samsung faithful users can look forward to. According to reports, Galaxy X, which is believed to be the bendable phone, could be released sometime soon in 2017. It would have a foldable 4K display, so that the resolution would remain high while the phone is being folded. However, Samsung is not sure whether it could have a market demand as Galaxy X is more costly. Because of this many users have raised their eyebrows. But Samsung is said to have other reasons besides profits. "This is to improve its reputation because of the Note 7 disaster," Forbes reports. What do you think of the bendable phones' concept? Will this improve Samsung's reputation beside profitability? Moto 360 Release Date, News & Update: No Launch Happening In December; Here's Why Release Is Not Motorola's Priority? Moto 360 launch has reportedly been delayed by the Illinois-based company. Apparently, the smartwatch market has reportedly been noted as a weak market by Motorola. However, the company is said to be waiting for the Smartwatch gears to progress more significantly in the market before launching the Moto 360. It has been noted that the second-generation Moto 360 is still rooted in steel. On the other hand, the Moto 360 has already been waiting launch for 15 months. On this note, a Motorola Executive allegedly confirmed that the company will not be releasing a new smartwatch anytime in the nearest future. Furthermore, Motorola Head of Global Product Development Shakil Barat reportedly noted that the Moto 360 is not being pursued at the moment. Apparently, the company does not see enough pull in the market for a new smartwatch at this time. In addition, Barat also revealed that wearables do not have enough appeal on the company to be built on year after year, Android Police reported. In addition, the Motorola Executive further added that wearables would not be included in the annual device roadmap of the company. This will reportedly include the smartwatch line such as the Moto 360. On the contrary, the Executive did mention that should the smartwatch game progress more in the market, then Motorola may return to making smartwatches like Moto 360. In other news, the Moto 360 was reportedly not focused on during the Motorola Press Event held in Chicago earlier this week. Instead, the company reportedly leaned more on modular phones. Apparently, there may be a lack of broad appeal for the wearables, TechCrunch reported. Moto 360 has been noted as the best piece of hardware to adopt the Smartwatch OS. On the contrary, companies like Samsung have already abandoned such proprietary software. Moreover, the delay of the Wear 2.0 has reportedly further decreased the interest for wearables in the market. Hence, the next generation Moto 360 may still be released in public but not this year or the next. Watch the Apple Watch vs Moto 360 here: iOS 10 Jailbreak Latest News & Update: Pangu Silent Treatment Building Up Misleading Excitement To Waiting Cracked Apple Community Pangu continues to be mum on an iOS 10 jailbreak release with the Apple Jailbreaking Community keeping close tabs. Recent weeks have ramped up possibilities and most are eagerly waiting. Pangu has been expectedly mum on its plans. But the heat is expected to pick up once Apple releases the iOS 10.2 this month. Already on its fourth beta, the Cupertino company may be forced to roll out the iOS 10 jailbreak soon seeing how most are plagued with problems with recent iOS 10 updates. The recent flaw is tied up to the iOS 10.1.1 and the battery issues on iPhones. Reports are coming in that iPhones have been shutting down at 30 percent for some reason. Apple recently addressed the issue and said that all of it was a feature they purposely installed, Slash Gear reported. The problem is that there are discrepancies with the Cupertino company stating that iPhone 6s shutdowns happen only when battery levels reach 40 percent and not 30 as previously reported. Either way, this could push Apple to roll out iOS 10.2 earlier than expected with the fixes for the battery drain problem. From that point forward, most will be waiting for Pangus move. But now the question is will it come? The Chinese hacking group has been known to hold off on any iOS jailbreak release in the past. With Apple aggressively releasing iOS updates as of late, such could be a factor when considering an iOS 10 jailbreak release. Select Apple users have continued to defy the warnings of Apple when it comes to applying modifications to iPhones or iPads, Neurogadget reported. This voids warranty though the list has been whittled down to iOS 10.2 by the Cupertino company. Apple device owners who have been shut out of the iOS update circle are likely the ones waiting for an iOS 10 jailbreak. Unless Pangu does something, it is once again touch-and-go from here. 'Outlander' Season 3 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: Sam Heughan Teases Jamie Fraser's New Looks In 'The Voyager' When the romance historical fiction first hit the screens in 2014, "Outlander" instantly became a television sensation. One of the primary reasons why many "Outlander" fans watch the steamy Starz fantasy series is for the charming Highlander Jamie Fraser portrayed by Sam Heughan. But will the fans be seeing less of shirtless or even the naked Laird Broch Tuarach as his character age up in "Outlander" season 3? Sam Heughan said that he is looking forward about aging for the upcoming season. According to the lead cast of the series, the young characters of Jamie and Claire are over. Fat Jamie, as he jokingly describes his character, is most likely to be expected on "Outlander" season 3. The 36-year-old Scottish actor said that fans will be seeing Jamie with a bit of "beer belly" in his middle age. Meanwhile, Claire returns to Jamie's time in Diana Gabaldon's third book as Cinemablend suggests. She finally finds where Jamie has gone and made her way to meet him before they take a sail that will alter and cause a great impact in their lives forever. "Outlander's" time traveler nurse, Claire told Zap2It that she'll play the role of a mother with a teenage child who's gone through this whole life of experience. As anticipated, by the time Claire gets back to Jamie, he will be much older as well. Fans are to expect a fairly large time jump in "Outlander" season 3 but fans are not to worry as no recasting is going to happen. Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe will remain as the main stars only 20 years older. Starz hit series, "Outlander" season 3 will consist of 13 episodes based upon the third of eight books of Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series, the "Voyager." The official release date is yet to be announced. All we know is that the first two seasons came out in Spring. Becca Tobin Marries Zach Martin; 'Glee' Cast Reunites Becca Tobin has tied the knot with her longtime beau, Zach Martin on Saturday night. The romantic ceremony, held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, instantly looked like William McKinley High School for the Arts as plenty of the "Glee" cast was there to witness and celebrate their co-star's big day. The 30-year-old actress, Becca Tobin, was known for her role in "Glee" as Kitty Wilde. Her cheerleader character was one of the majors on the said series. Becca Tobin walked down the aisle wearing her dream wedding dress. She wore a fabulous strapless gown and a long lace-trimmed veil designed by Odylyn the Ceremony, Us Weekly reports. The ex McKinley High cheerleader shared that their favorite moment was when she came down the aisle and saw each other for the first time. Becca Tobin also said that they sticked with the wedding tradition thus it felt so romantic for them. According to NEWS.com.au, the wedding came just two years after Becca Tobin's former boyfriend, Matt Bendik passed away. Bendik was found lifeless in his hotel room in Philadelphia due to heart attack. Meanwhile, "Glee" stars Lea Michele, Jane Lynch, Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz attended the Becca Tobin and her husband's winter wonderland wedding ceremony. Production assistants Megan Doyle and Dante Russo were there as well along with writers Michael Hitchcock and Matt Hodgson. Furthermore, photos of Becca Tobin and her husband are still kept under wraps. However, Lea Michele could not help but to share some on her Instagram account. One of which is their group shot of the "Glee" family. She captioned "Glee wedding ." A photo posted by Lea Michele (@leamichele) on Dec 3, 2016 at 3:33pm PST The ex "Desperate Housewives" star Jesse Metcalfe and his fiance Cara Santana were there as well. And like Michele, Santana also shared a sneak peek of the pre-wedding celebration on her Instagram account tagging Becca Tobin in the caption. Fear the Walking Dead Season 3 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: New Villain Will Affect Luciana; Colton Dying In Passage? In the coming "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 3, fans will be greeted with new group antagonist that will be led by a new female character. Nick Clarke (Frank Dillane) and Luciana (Danay Garcia) directed the Colonia to the American border in the previous season to escape their enemies, but little they did know that they will be welcomed with a more hostile private army. "There's gonna be a new prominent character, who we're gonna meet south of the border, who is going to have an impact on Nick and Luciana, and Strand most likely," the executive producer Dave Erickson told ComicBook. This mysterious character is set to become a prominent villain who can go head-to-head with "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 3's current powerful roles and the incoming ones. "The idea is to create opposing forces on either side of the border and see what happens when they end up in conflict and what happens if our family is on opposite sides of the conflict," Erickson added. Danay Garcia, on the other hand, teased that this female villain would have a major impact on her character as Luciana. The "Prison Break" star is even looking forward to meeting the new antagonist in the coming "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 3 as she believes that this character is not purely evil. In fact, she hinted that this female baddie is just pushed to be bad by a lot of different circumstances that makes her decide for her own safety and survival. Meanwhile, Siver Times noted that "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 3's introduction webisode "Passage" will feature the death of Colton (Michael Mosley). The boyfriend of Gabi (Mishel Prada) declined to let Sierra (Kelsey Scott) inside the tunnel but before he could aim a shot to her, she already stabbed his leg. As Colton was left with a knife in his leg, can he survive in the next episode of "Passage?" "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 3 is expected to return in 2017 on AMC. Girl Meets World Season 4 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: Sabrina Carpenter, Rowan Blanchard Quit Filming? Freeform Hires New Cast [PREDICTIONS] "Girl Meets World" Season 4 might not feature its stars Sabrina Carpenter and Rowan Blanchard. Since the third season has finished filming in August, there is no telling if the show or its characters will be back for another season. Rumors have it that Disney has not yet made a decision on whether there will be a "Girl Meets World" Season 4. The series was a sequel to the much-loved "Boy Meets World" and features the adventures of Riley Matthews, daughter of Cory and Topanga Matthews, the stars of the original show. A tweet of the writers of "Girl Meets World" Season 4 with just the words "goodbye", has speculated that when Disney does decide to renew the series, most of the cast would be replaced. In particular, Riley and her best friend's character Maya Hart would have to be recast. There are reports that the reason for them not being back on "Girl Meets World" Season 4 is that the two actresses are now too old for the roles. While there is still no precise news on "Girl Meets World" Season 4,the stars of the show have been vigilant in petitioning that the show be renewed. Rowen Blanchard started the petition and now other cast members are voicing their support as well. Blanchard believes that "Girl Meets World" is an avenue for hope and change in their generation and that having a "Girl Meets World" Season 4 will give them another chance to share that. Stay tuned to GamenGuide for more "Girl Meets World" Season 4 spoilers, news & updates! So important 4 our gen to be a voice of hope/change & learn from each other. Hoping we continue to have that chance #GirlMeetsWorldSeason4 Rowan Blanchard (@RowanBlanchard) November 15, 2016 The most recent cast member to give his support for "Girl Meets World" season 4 is none other than Riley's younger brother, played by actor August Maturo. The young actor has urged fans in a PSA to save the show by tweeting Disney with the hastags #SaveGMW, #GirlMeetsWorldSeason4. He has also tweeted about his love for the show and claims that they are a family. Do you think that Disney should renew "Girl Meets World"? Share your thoughts and comments below. Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti Release Date, News & Update: Nvidia To Release Special GTX Card Variant Using GTX 1080 GPU Nvidia is set to unleash a new video card that will use the same graphics processing unit (GPU) as its GTX 1080 or GTX 1070 variants. The upcoming GTX 1060 cards will be made from the GPUs that failed to meet the specifications required for the 1080/1070 models. It appears that Nvidia is set to maximize its Pascal GP104-140 GPUs that did not meet the technical requirements for the company's GTX 1080, GTX 1070 or 1070 Mobile cards. With plans to re-purpose the said GPUs, the said cards will be used for the GTX 1060 3GB variant, according to Video Cardz. The said Nvidia GPU may have been considered as "defective" by the tech company, however, the GP104 cards are still in good condition. It was only labelled as such given the card's failure to meet the 1920 working CUDA Cores required for the GTX 1080 or GTX 1070. Speculations posted on the same news site pointed to the re-purposed GTX 1060 cards having higher power requirements as compared to old GTX 1060 models. Using GP106 GPUs, the current 1060 cards may even be more power efficient than the upcoming new video cards. Given its potential power efficiency issues, the said cards will not be advertised and available in the global market. The GTX 1060 variant with the GTX 1080 GPU will only be marketed in China, according to the same report. In other news, the new GTX 1080 Ti is speculated to be featured at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show 2017 (CES 2017). If compared against the GTX Titan X, Nvidia's new video card share a few similar features to the Titan X. The two video cards boast of a 12 GB DDR5X memory configuration, as well as a 384-Bit memory interface. Apart from the two features, both cards have the same 10 Gbps memory speed and 480 Gbps memory bandwidth. The Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti is speculated for release in January 2017. Learn more about the said video card in the clip below: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Split: Queen Elizabeth Forced Williams Brother To Dump Suits Actress? Kate Middleton Pleased, Confirmed To Be Next Queen? Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly announcing their relationship to the public very soon. However, new reports are claiming that the younger brother of Prince William is cheating on the "Suits" actress with Rihanna. Celeb Dirty Laundry reported that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could possibly be not in good terms right now after the brother-in-law of Kate Middleton was seen together with Rihanna recently. Sources have claimed that the "Suits" actress was enraged after seeing Prince William's brother together with Chris Brown's former ladylove, Rihanna. Several fans were shocked after spotting Prince Harry and Rihanna together during the former's latest visit in Barbados, which is said to be a part of his tour in the Caribbean. Eyewitness have claimed that the brother-in-law of Kate Middleton was seen flirting and getting cozy with Drake's rumored girlfriend and Meghan Markle was reportedly not happy about it. This, reportedly, enraged Meghan Markle and led to a huge fight with Prince Harry. There are also claims saying that the "Suits" actress got really jealous with Rihanna and the "Deceit" star has allegedly warned Prince William's younger brother to stay away from other girls. Though these reports could possibly be true, neither Prince Harry nor Meghan Markle has confirmed anything as of yet. So, fans of Kate Middleton's brother-in-law and the "Suits" actress should take everything with a grain of salt until it has been proven true and correct. Meanwhile, GamenGuide has previously reported that Queen Elizabeth thinks Meghan Markle is unfit to become Prince Harry's future partner. According to reports, Her Majesty does not want another Kate Middleton in the Royal family. There have been even claims that Queen Elizabeth has forced Prince Harry to breakup with Meghan Markle since she does not like the "Suit" actress for her grandson. Rumors also have it that Kate Middleton is also pushing Prince William to convince his brother to dump the Hollywood actress. Both Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are yet to comment on these reports. Stay tuned to GamenGuide for the latest news and updates about the alleged Prince Harry and Meghan Markle split! Homeland Season 6 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: Show Increases Negative Representation To Muslim People? Howard Gordon Speaks Up! A lot of television shows today are featuring the reality of the happenings in the world, especially the worldwide terror attacks and its connection with the Muslims. Hence, some worry that it is a negative implication and a total assault on the Muslim people bringing an issue between races. With the coming of "Homeland" Season 6 that will now feature the Muslims and terrorists, its co-creator Howard Gordon has something to say about the Muslim representation on television. Gordon was asked if he is worried that "Homeland" Season 6 might increase the xenophobic attacks against Muslim people for its theme. "The short answer is, absolutely, yes," he said at the roundtable conversation with television showrunners with New York Times. The showrunner of "Quantico," Joshua Safra, on the other hand, is making sure that he would never feature Muslims as the terrorists on his show. Gordon also added that in the beginning of "Homeland" Season 6, it would feature a "big business of prosecuting entrapment" that will show everyone's freedom of speech. "How can someone express their discontent with American policy - even a reckless kid who might express his views that may be sympathetic to enemies of America, but still is not, himself, a terrorist," Gordon explained. With that, he insisted that they are not featuring the Muslims as the terrorist in "Homeland" Season 6, but how these people are being accused. In fact, in a recent report, Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) will be back in New York City to help an organization that helps the Muslim people in "Homeland" Season 6. However, the "Romeo + Juliet" actress might have a misunderstanding with her previous work in the CIA as some of her former workmates believed that she is now an enemy. It looks like Carrie's biggest enemy in the coming "Homeland" Season 6 is Dar Adal (F. Murray Abraham) as because she left working in the intelligence. "Homeland" Season 6 will return on Jan. 15 on Showtime. iPhone 8, Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Release Date, Specs, Features, News & Update: Flagship Battle Expected in 2017 [DETAILS] Apple iPhone 8, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 are all expected to arrive in 2017. Despite the lack of official information regarding these devices, they have continued to become subjects of numerous rumors and speculations all over the Internet. According to reports, Samsung might launch two of its highly anticipated handsets, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy Note 8, early next year. On the other hand, the tenth anniversary Apple flagship, the iPhone 8, will arrive in the third quarter of 2017. There are several rumors suggesting that each of these devices will come out as the best smartphone in its class. Although nothing is set on stone yet, reports suggest that each device will feature several improvements from its predecessor. Apple iPhone 8 According to a report from the Korea Economic Daily, the new Apple flagship is going to have a 3D camera. The report says that iPhone 8 will carry the LG Innotek 3D dual-lens, and although Apple has yet to confirm the rumors, several industry experts are saying that the Cupertino based company is seriously considering the idea. Apart from its amazing exterior design, the new Apple smartphone is also expected to run on impressive specs under the hood. Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung Galaxy Note 8 The recent controversy that involved Samsung Galaxy Note 7 raised some concerns about the safety features of Samsung devices. However, reports are circulating that the South Korean tech giant is going to focus on its safety features for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy Note 8. According to reports, aside from battery concerns, Samsung is said to be also focusing on the display features of its new devices. Tech experts believe that both Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will arrive in the market with full 4K video support. The two smartphones are also expected to carry advanced specs under the hood. As of the moment, Apple iPhone 8, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 have yet to be officially announced. However, all three devices are expected to arrive next year. Stay tuned for more news and updates about Apple iPhone 8, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy Note 8. The new rules would apply to employees, and elected and appointed officials. Officials at Oregon State Universitys Advanced Wood Products Laboratory recently announced that they tested a new type of plywood building panel, developed by Freres Lumber Co. of Lyons, that may be the largest such product ever manufactured. The veneer-based panels can measure a whopping 12 feet wide, 48 feet long and 2 feet thick. Standard plywood sheets typically are 4 feet wide, 8 feet long and between a quarter-inch to 1-inch thick. Rob Freres, executive vice president of Freres Lumber, said more of the mass plywood panels could be on the way. We hope to manufacture a lot of them, he said. Freres Lumber is planning to build a new 168,000-square-foot building to make the new product on Lyons Mill City Drive, in between Lyons and Mill City. Designs for the MPP plant havent been finalized, but Freres hopes to be producing the sheets in late 2017 at the site. The company will need to hire 20 new workers for the first shift there. It could be 40 or 60 over time, Freres said. With federal harvest levels being reduced by more than 90 percent, its been rare to see a new timber industry plant constructed in Oregon, he added. The largest volume produced at the plant is expected to be 4-inch to 6-inch thick material, which could be used for floors and walls in construction. But there also could be behemoth sheets that come out of the facility. The plan is to lay it out to go 60 feet long if the market demand is there, Freres said. The panels can be made to order doors and windows can be cut out at the plant and Freres expects them to be used for multi-story commercial buildings. This may be viewed as revolutionary in the construction industry. Were hoping to do entire building packages, Freres said. The product may be a hit because Americans are cost-conscious. Structures made out of MPP could be erected by cranes in days, not months, it would reduce truckloads of material versus other types of construction, especially concrete, and the lighter weight also could reduce transportation costs, Freres said. Second and third-generation 8-inch logs will be used to manufacture veneers, which are compressed together to make the panels, he added. The panels also could have different recipes of various veneers depending on what engineers and architects need for performance. MPP underwent more than a year of development and performance testing at the Advanced Wood Products Laboratory. Ari Sinha, assistant professor in OSUs College of Forestry, oversaw the tests and said that MPP could be very versatile. These panels could be customized for different applications. Because they have very good compression qualities, they could be used for columns as well as panels, Sinha said, in a news release. Sinhas testing focused on the panels' structural and physical properties such as density, adhesive bonding and resistance to the kinds of vertical and horizontal stresses experienced in an earthquake. Additional tests are planned after the first of the year. This is an important product to use in seismic zones. Unlike concrete, it will give, Freres said. A Japanese company has expressed interest in MPP. Mass plywood panels can achieve the performance characteristics of a similar product known as Cross Laminated Timber panels, the news release states. There could be a savings of 20 to 30 percent of wood fiber and yet the same performance of CLTs, Freres said. CLT building construction is common in Europe, but the product is relatively new in North America as an alternative to concrete construction for commercial buildings, Freres said. MPP would likely fill a niche in that existing marketplace. A test press for the MPP will be installed in Freres Mill City plant in January. Freres Lumber has about 480 employees, and 2017 will be the companys 95th year in business. The MPP plant will be the second-largest expense ever for the company, and will cost slightly less than a co-generation facility installed about 10 years ago, Freres said. The estimated expense for the co-gen plant was roughly $26 million. NRW Schools : Prevention program against radical Islam Dusseldorf Schools in NRW want to implement programs to warn young people about the danger of recruiters from the radical Islam scene. A program will be presented on Monday. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken The North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) Interior Ministry wants to launch a program for schools to warn children and adolescents about the dangers of recruiters from the radical Islam scene. Islamic terrorists have been able to win over several young people for planned attacks. Both the Interior Ministry and the Education Ministry want to work together to prevent students from being influenced by Salafists who try to get the young people involved in the radical scene. Especially children and adolescents are the target for pseudo-religious missionaries. Schools and youth outreach programs must arm themselves against this, was the message relayed. This Monday, NRW Interior Minister Ralf Jager, state Education secretary Ludwig Hecke and domestic intelligence head Burkhard Freier, will present a play, a comic workshop and readings which take on this subject. Social workers and teachers can take advantage of the program for their schools, free of charge. The play is called, Jihad One-Way, and one of the readings is Jihad Calling. Cartoonist and comic artist, Peter Schaaff will present his workshop as well. Article Protecting the worlds oceans an important goal of Germanys climate diplomacy The worlds oceans are vital to our survival. They regulate the global climate and are a source of food and income for billions of people. Only a very small part of the seas enjoys legal protection, however. Our diplomats are working in New York right now to change this state of affairs. Facebook Messenger The first one on the list is none other than Facebook's own Messenger app. Akin to WhatsApp, the Messenger app allows you to place audio calls, video calls, send text messages and audio recordings, share location, and group chat. In addition, it also allows you to send stickers, send money (not available in India currently), send GIFs and lots of other things via third-party add-ons. Hike Messenger Another best alternative for WhatsApp is Hike Messenger. The home-grown instant messaging app has lot more to it than what you anticipate. Unlike other chat apps, Hike is heavily customised for Indian users. In addition to all the standard features (which other chat apps offer), Hike has some interesting features up its sleeve - which include, hidden mode (for hiding chats), themes, a talking bot named Natasha, Hike Coupons (which offer discounts on its partner brands), games among others. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Telegram Telegram is another instant messaging app which is a good alternative for WhatsApp. It is a cloud based instant messaging app which allows you to access your messages from multiple devices. Moreover, with users privacy in mind, it offers a slew of interesting features including, self destructing messages, secret chats, self destruct account, and lock chats. It also offers support for bots (customisable), edit the already sent messages, mute messages, supergroups, synchronise chats across all your devices, and send encrypted messages. Google Allo Launched earlier this year, Google Allo is the first instant messaging app to come with support for Google Assistant. Apart from having access to Google's Knowledge graph, it offers cool features such as smart reply, image recognition, Whisper and shout features, doodling on images, incognito mode, end-to-end encrypted, disappearing messages, and more. We have already written in detail about the app, you can take a look at it here. Also, we have listed 20 funny things you can ask Google Assistant on the Allo app, take a look at it here. JioChat JioChat is one among the suit of premium apps that launched with Reliance Jio Welcome Offer. Most of the features of the JioChat app are similar to the ones you get in WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Hike but with more flexibility. For example in WhatsApp the group members limit is restricted to 256 whereas JioChat allows you to add 500 members in a group. We have already listed out the differences between WhatsApp, JioChat, and Facebook Messenger, you can take a look at it here. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals RIP WhatsApp! Upgrade Your Device to Enjoy WhatsApp's New Features in 2017 Features oi -Sneha WhatsApp will not support several iOS, Android, Windows devices from next year onwards. Well, upgrading the device version might help. WhatsApp is expected to stop working on millions of smartphones by the end of December 2016. Find out if WhatsApp will be suspending its services for your smartphone aswell. According to several media reports, WhatsApp, in a blog post has declared to discontinue its services for several phones, stating that the messaging app will be phasing out compatibility with the old generation phones. WhatsApp in the blog post also added that the reason behind suspending it's services is that the old smartphones are not capable enough to support the newly introduced features by the app. SEE ALSO: Reliance Jio SIM: 10 Hilarious Memes Making Rounds On the Internet The old-gen phones don't include the kind of capabilities that WhatsApp requires in order to expand their app's features in the upcoming days. Let's check out all the details on which phones will no longer support WhatsApp and also the solution to the issue. No More WhatsApp For These iPhone Users The most affected by this move are the iOS users. WhatsApp is said to discontinue its services, starting 2017 for the iPhone 3GS devices and other devices running on iOS 6. Along with these, WhatsApp will also stop its services for all first, second, third or fourth generation iPad that requires an update. However, to save yourself from a discontinued WhatsApp service, upgrading to iOS version 9.3 can be your rescue. Upgrade Your Android Version Updating the device version might help the Android users as well. Smartphones running on Android 2.1 and 2.2 operating system will not be supporting WhatsApp starting the next year. Well, upgrading your phone to the latest version is the only rescue to continue enjoying the new WhatsApp services. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals What About the Windows Uses? For all Windows 7 users, WhatsApp will no longer be able to support WhatsApp services. Similar to that of Android and iOS devices, upgrading the Windows device to the latest version might be at your rescue. SEE ALSO: Airtel Dhamaka: Make Unlimited Calls to Any Network and Get Free 1GB 4G Data BlackBerry and Nokia Devices Well, WhatsApp has revealed that BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, Nokia S40 and Nokia Symbian S60 users will be able to use WhatsApp on their devices until June 30, 2017. However, the company has not unveiled their future plans as of yet. Here's What WhatsApp Officials Comment WhatsApp suggests its users having devices with the mentioned operating devices to update their version to enjoy using uninterrupted WhatsApp services and the new features that they will soon be introducing. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India Google Assistant on Allo App Now Understands and Speaks Hindi News oi -Prajith Google Assistant can now reply you back in Hindi. While WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are ruling the instant messaging app world, Google with an intention to provide more productive features, had introduced a messaging app called Allo, a couple of months earlier. Needless to say, the Google Assistant on the Allo app is what sets it apart from the rest. Today, adding a new feature to it, the search engine giant has announced that the Google Assistant will now be able to understand and reply in Hindi. Also, the 'Smart Reply feature will offer support Hindi language. This update to the Allo app (Google Assistant) will be made available to Android and iOS device users in the 'coming few days said the company. Also Read:5 Worthy WhatsApp Alternatives to Try on Your Old Android and Apple Devices To recall, the company at its make in India event, had promised to roll out an update for Allo app with support for Hindi language (for Google Assistant). In order to initiate a conversation with Google Assistant in Hindi, users will either have to say Talk to me in Hindi or change the language preference from Settings option. Google claims that, in addition to text, the Assistant will also understand images in Hindi with the help of machine learning algorithms. Also Read: Meet 'Tsai', the Man Who Stole 5,700 Apple iPhones Worth Over Rs. 10.6 Crore Smart Reply will recognise the language youre chatting in and begin to show suggested responses in that language, the search engine giant said in a statement. Amit Fulay, Group Product Manager of Google said, Google Allo has received tremendous response in India which has one of the highest number of Google Allo users. One in every 12 messages in group chats are messages to the Google Assistant. We are enthused by this and today's launch enables us to extend these futures to the next millions of users in a language of their choice, he added. Click Here for New Android Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Nokia Making a Comeback in 2017: Let's Take a Look At 5 Iconic Nokia Phones That Changed Our Lives Features oi -Sneha Here are 5 memorable Nokia phones from the past that changed out lives. Even before the advanced smartphones could hit the mobile sector, Nokia was the only limelight back in 2000s. The not so smart Nokia phones didn't support internet connectivity, WhatsApp or Facebook, but were equally special as the present day Android, Windows or iOS smartphones. Nokia has ruled the mobile sector since the 2000s. However after the smartphones including Android, iOS, and Windows phone hit the market, Nokia started to fade out it's presence leaving behind a lot of memories. SEE ALSO: RIP WhatsApp! Upgrade Your Device to Enjoy WhatsApp's New Features in 2017 However, after nearly a decade, Nokia is set to return back to the market in 2017, and according to reports have been licensed to manufacturers, HMD Global will be introducing the first Android-based Nokia smartphone during the MWC 2017. However, until the new Nokia smartphone is launched, it's surely hard to decide whether the phone will be as memorable like the old Nokia phones. Let's check out the 5 best-selling Nokia phones until today. Nokia 3310 Launched in the year 2000, Nokia 3310 is among those black and white Nokia phones that have been a part of almost every household. Being the oldest phone in the list of successful Nokia phones, 3310 was affordable and claimed to be the among the toughest and durable phones ever in the history. Nokia 1100 We often state examples of Nokia 1100 of being among the most durable phones launched ever in the history of the mobile industry even today. Launched in 2003, Nokia 1100 holds a title of being the most sold Nokia phone and also was among the most durable and easy to use phones. SEE ALSO: Will Reliance Jio Offer "Absolutely" Free and Unlimited Services Until March 2017? Let's Check Out! Nokia 6600 Among all the phones, Nokia 6600 surely created a revolution in the mobile industry. Unlike the above mentioned black and white phones, 6600 was a coloured version, durable, tough in looking and pretty affordable that captured the high-end audience. Nokia E71 Being an owner of Nokia E71 back in the 2000s was a matter of pride for anyone. One of the first phone with quality keypad, E71 has attracted most of the younger generation who at that time were being attached to the internet, WhatsApp, Facebook and other social networking sites. Click Here for New Android Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Meet 'Tsai', the Man Who Stole 5,700 Apple iPhones Worth Over Rs. 10.6 Crore News oi -Prajith A former senior level Foxconn manager has been accused to have stolen 5,700 Apple iPhones worth over Rs. 10.6 crores. According to Taiwanese prosecutors, a former senior level manager at Foxconn (a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturing company) had been identified to have stolen 5,700 Apple iPhones which helped him pocket around USD 1.5 Million (which roughly translates to Rs. 10.6 crores). Identified by his family name 'Tsai', the former manager at Foxconn worked in the testing department and had taken help of 8 employees of Foxconn's Shenzhen (located in Southern China) factory to smuggle thousands of iPhone 5 and 5s, prosecutors said. Also Read: Microsoft Surface Phones to Be Manufactured by the Same Company That Produces Apple iPhone These stolen iPhones were not actually meant for retail purposes but were to be marked as scrapped on the manufacturing line. However, with the help of his partners, Tsai managed to smuggle them to offline stores in Shenzhen which, like mentioned earlier, have earned him around USD 1.5 Million. These handsets were told to be sold between 2013-2014. Following an internal audit, the scheme was caught up by Foxconn and was consequently reported to Taiwanese authorities. As a result, Tsai was questioned about the same once he had returned to Taiwan and was released on bail later. Also Read: Apple iPhone 8 Rumours Are Getting Really Interesting: Here's Everything We Know So Far As reported by AsiaOne, Tsai was sentenced to 10-years of jail term for breach of trust. This is not the first time Foxconn is in the news for scandals. Earlier, in 2014, 5 former Foxconn employees were charged with breach of trust for accepting a bribe from suppliers to clear security checks on equipment. Click Here for New Android Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India Aircel Offers Free Call and Data with the FRC148 Plan News oi -Samden Sherpa Designed for new customers, the product offers unmatched value proposition to its voice and data users. With the introduction of Reliance Jio, there has been a constant and an intense tariff war going on between the telecom providers. Trying various pricing strategies, telecom service providers such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel, BSNL and others are battling it out without a break introducing new and attractive offers to retain their high paying customers. SEE ALSO: Lenovo Phab 2 Arriving on December 6 in India It seems that the telecom providers are now doing everything to ensure their customers don't get tempted and switch over to the new-comer Reliance Jio Infocomm, which has again stepped up its game with the introduction of the "Happy New Year" offer. However, taking another step to match upto Jio's offers, Aircel has launched an attractive and best value offer dubbed as FRC148 which looks to deliver on the teleco's promise of offering "extra". Specially designed for new customers, the product offers an unmatched value proposition to its voice and data users in Delhi. As such, with FRC 148 customers will be able to enjoy FREE Aircel to Aircel (Local and STD) and also Free Aircel to others (local and STD with a free usage of 15,000 seconds/month for three months) for 90 days with the First Recharge of Rs. 149. In addition to the calling benefits, the customers will also get unlimited 2G data for one month. To avail this offer, customers need to recharge a minimum of Rs.50 in the current month to enjoy the unlimited benefits of FRC149 in the corresponding months. SEE ALSO: Will Reliance Jio Offer "Absolutely" Free and Unlimited Services Until March 2017? Let's Check Out! Dr. Harish Sharma, Regional Manager, North, Aircel, has stated that Aircel was set out to redefine the value proposition with a whole range of exciting Data and Voice products. Emphasizing on the adoption of smartphones among Indians to conduct multiple activities such as calling (Voice) as well as surfing/sharing content online (Internet/data), Dr. Sharma further made a statement saying that, Aircel recognized the trend of customers becoming multi-service users. Hence the teleco has introduced a fully loaded combo pack to cater to the customer's evolving communication needs. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Overall, Double XL is a well-made film that might be liked by gentry in all shapes, sizes, and age too. By the way, do not miss the interval!! Military Strikes Continue Against ISIL in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, Dec. 4, 2016 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria Attack, bomber and fighter aircraft and rocket artillery conducted nine strikes in Syria: -- Near Abu Kamal, three strikes destroyed three oil wellheads. -- Near Raqqa, a strike destroyed an ISIL command and control node. -- Near Ayn Isa, two strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL-held building and an ISIL command and control node. -- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed an oil tanker truck, an oil wellhead, and an oil rig. -- Near Manbij, a strike destroyed an ISIL artillery piece. Strikes in Iraq Attack, bomber, fighter, rotary and remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted seven strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government: -- Near Huwayjah, three strikes disabled a bridge and destroyed five ISIL-held buildings. -- Near Mosul, three strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units; suppressed an ISIL tactical unit; damaged a land bridge, an ISIL-held building, and 16 supply routes; and destroyed a mortar, a weapons cache, four ISIL-held buildings, a command and control node, an explosives factory, and a heavy machine gun. -- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle bomb factory. 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 a strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Offset Strategy Depends on Deterring Great Powers, Work Says By Cheryl Pellerin DoD News, Defense Media Activity SIMI VALLEY, Calif., Dec. 4, 2016 Russia and China are rising in importance among the state powers that occupy the attention of Defense Department officials these days, and deterring those nations is the entire focus of the Pentagon's third offset strategy, Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said here yesterday. At the annual Reagan National Defense Forum, Work participated in a panel discussion on "Restoring Deterrence in an Era of Revanchist Powers," in which defense leaders discussed deterring states practicing the political policy of recovering their lost territory or status. Joining Work on the panel, among others, were U.S. Pacific Command Commander Navy Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley. David Feith of the Wall Street Journal moderated the panel. Work referenced political scholar John Mearsheimer's definition of a great power: a large state that could take on a dominant state like the United States conventionally and also has a nuclear deterrent that could survive a nuclear strike against it. "It's a very simple definition for a great power from the Department of Defense's perspective," Work said, "because it focuses on capabilities." Aggrieved Challengers Russia and China, both large nuclear powers, are starting to challenge the United States conventionally, disagree with the global order that the United States has been working to build since World War II and are aggrieved, he added. "The Russians believe that they have been humiliated since the end of the Cold War," Work said, "and China still smarts from the [so-called] century of humiliation [between 1839 and 1949] that drives so much of its thinking." The Russians and the Chinese believe that competition is the natural state of affairs, and within that competition, the United States must have three things -- strategic deterrence and conventional deterrence, and "we have to manage strategic competition on a day-to-day basis." Work added, "If you think of strategic deterrence at the top, conventional deterrence in the middle and managing strategic competition at the bottom, the link between the bottom two is crisis management and the link between the top two is escalation control." The third offset, he said, focuses on conventional deterrence within the framework of comprehensive strategic stability. The Deterrence Equation Harris said he thinks of deterrence as an equation: capability times resolve times signaling equals deterrence. "If any of those things ... capability, resolve or signaling ... are zero, then you've got no deterrence. You could have the greatest military in the world, which we do, the greatest resolve to use [military force] if threatened, which we do, but if you don't have the signaling or if you signal incorrectly, you've got no deterrence," the admiral said. Capability -- the military -- is only part of the equation, he said, noting that deterrence is a whole-of-government effort and the United States must work with China and Russia inside the international system. "I look at all that from my vantage point in the Pacific through a dark lens," Harris said, "and everything we do is aimed at giving the National Command Authority the ability to manage that in a complex way." To Milley, deterrence works when a nation is strong to begin with. For the past 15 years, he said, all the services "have been focused on a single typology of war -- insurgency and counterinsurgency and counterterrorism. We've optimized our force structure to do that and sub-optimized other parts of our force structure, and capability gaps have emerged." Competitive Advantage The United States still has competitive advantage, Milley said, but it also has capability gaps that are clear, dangerous and closing fast. "While it's true the United States military is strong and very capable and, you're not going to hear anything different from me, let's be careful about beating our chest on that stuff," the general said. The world is a serious place with dangerous actors, he said. Those actors must be deterred and as a nation the United States must accept the reality that there are significant threats to the international order. "Do we want to continue that international order or not, because it is under challenge by Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and terrorists. Coming to grips with that means maintaining capabilities in order to assure our allies and deter our adversaries," Milley said. "It's done through strength, which is a combination of size and capability," he added, "and we've got some work to do on that. I think the current [DoD] leadership has acknowledged that, and I think the future leadership will do the same." Strategic Competition Work says that what's different in U.S. strategic competition with China and Russia is that America's national strategy values allies. "What every president since World War II has said is that Article 5 [of the North Atlantic Treaty] are ironclad [and] I don't think anybody in Russia or China doubts our resolve to NATO and to our allies of the Western Pacific, Work added, noting, "That is a very big help for deterrence against both these great powers." Parties to the 1949 treaty agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America will be considered an attack against all, and all will help, with military force if necessary, the party of parties attacked. In response to a question about how Russia and China see the U.S. deterrence balance and U.S. capabilities today, Work said the he knows for certain that the Chinese conception of deterrence is on demonstrated capabilities. Trend Lines "I know for certain that the Chinese and Russians both are trying to duplicate our level of jointness," he continued, "and I know that they're trying to gain technological parity. At this point in time I am confident that both Russia and China believe the United States ... has a competitive advantage today." The deputy secretary said "the irony is, [believing] that is forcing them to put a lot of money into capabilities ... so the trend lines are what I think concern the Department of Defense -- how do we make sure that the trend lines at the end of 10 years still have them thinking that we have a competitive advantage?" In the months ahead and with a new administration transitioning into the White House, Work said the nation must debate America's role in the world. "I think the American people will take part in that debate and tell us," he added, "what they stand for and ... [understand] who do we want to deter, how we want to deter them, who we want to have as allies [and] who will we protect. All those questions need to be answered." Work attended the defense forum as part of a four-day trip that began with a stop in Tucson, Arizona, where he met with Raytheon defense contracting officials and then visited Davis-Monthan Air Force Base airmen. After arriving in California, he visited Boeing Defense, Space and Security in Huntington Beach. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ghani accuses Pakistan of launching 'undeclared war' on Afghanistan Iran Press TV Sun Dec 4, 2016 7:4PM Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has accused Pakistan of waging an "undeclared war" on the violence-wracked country. Ghani, who is attending an international conference on Afghanistan in India, said on Sunday that militants battling the Afghan government forces in Kabul would not have lasted a month had it not been for "sanctuary" provided by Pakistan. In his address to the conference, the Afghan president said militancy in Afghanistan had significantly increased in 2016. He said Afghanistan suffered its highest number of casualties last year, describing it as an "unacceptable" development. "Despite our intense engagement with Pakistan on bilateral and multilateral basis, the undeclared war... not only has not abated but also intensified during 2016 with special intensity," Ghani said at the 6th Heart of Asia ministerial conference held in the city of Amritsar. "One of the key figures in the Taliban movement recently said if they didn't have a sanctuary in Pakistan, they wouldn't last a month," Ghani stated. Representatives from influential regional countries, including Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and China, as well as global players such as the European Union and United States were among the participants of the conference. The Heart of Asia organization was founded on November 2, 2011, in the Turkish city of Istanbul. The conference has focused on finding ways to boost economy and bring peace and stability in Afghanistan, which has been mired in conflict since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001. Elsewhere in his remarks, the Afghan president said some 30 terrorist organizations, as named by the United Nations, were trying to establish terrorist bases in Afghanistan. Some states are still providing sanctuary or support to these terrorist groups, he said. Afghan officials have repeatedly accused Pakistan of supporting Taliban. Renewed violence blamed on Taliban has left many dead in Afghanistan over the past few months. The militants have also been able to threaten several provincial capitals with their offensives. Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have traditionally been mired in distrust. Afghanistan and Pakistan blame each other for the Taliban violence plaguing both countries. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran welcomes Afghan government peace-making efforts Iran Press TV Sun Dec 4, 2016 11:20AM Iran has welcomed the Afghan government's latest achievements in restoring peace with the Hezb-i-Islami militant group, led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, in the conflict-ridden country. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks at the 6th Heart of Asia ministerial conference in New Delhi, India, on Sunday. Zarif reaffirmed Iran's "strong determination ... to continue support for the Afghan government and nation in passing through a difficult historical time to a stable, secure and advanced Afghanistan" that contributes to regional stability. Hekmatyar, a former anti-Soviet commander, is accused of leading a militancy campaign that allegedly killed thousands of people during the 1992-1996 civil war. Later in 2003, he was also designated a "global terrorist" by the US for his alleged links to al-Qaeda and the Taliban militant groups and was hence forced to go into hiding. However, the Kabul government and Hekmatya signed a historic peace deal in September following lengthy talks. Elsewhere in his comments, Zarif said that the summit was initiated five years ago to boost regional cooperation with its focus on Afghanistan and since then, achievements have been made but a long way is ahead. "Our region still suffers from a worrying rise in extremist violence and the growing trend in drugs production threaten our societies," he added As a frontrunner in the fight against the smuggling of narcotics, the Islamic Republic has proposed plans for replacing Afghanistan's cultivation of opium poppy, the top Iranian diplomat further stressed. Afghanistan has been gripped by insecurity since the United States and its allies invaded the country as part of Washington's so-called war on terror in 2001. Many parts of the Asian state remain plagued by militancy despite the presence of foreign troops. During the past 15 years, the Taliban militants have been conducting terrorist attacks across the country, killing and displacing civilians. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pro-Hadi militias set to launch new assault on Yemen coastline Iran Press TV Sun Dec 4, 2016 6:6AM Yemen's former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi has ordered a major assault on the country's Red Sea coast against Houthi Ansarullah fighters and allied army forces, who have been defending the nation against a deadly Saudi offensive. Yemeni military sources said Saturday that reinforcements have been deployed by the ex-government to the war-torn country's Red Sea shoreline, which is mostly controlled by army troops and Ansarullah fighters, AFP reported. The former government now aims to push the Houthis back "from the western coast and Bab al-Mandab [Strait]," a Yemeni source said. The offensive aims to seize an area stretching from Dhubab District in the southwestern province of Tai'zz to al-Khukha District, located 90 kilometers northwards. The contingents use tank reinforcements, armored vehicles, and Katyusha rocket launchers, according to the report. Meanwhile, reports say Ta'izz has been the scene of fierce clashes between Yemeni armed forces and pro-Saudi since Saturday. Saudi aircraft were also reported to have carried out as many as 13 strikes against residential buildings in Sanhan District in western Sana'a Province, causing considerable damage to civilian properties. Separately, it was reported on Sunday that the Yemeni army and Ansarullah fighters had targeted gunboats belonging to the Saudi mercenaries off Dhubab. The Houthis took control of state affairs in 2014 after Hadi resigned despite Ansarullah's calls on him to review the decision. Hadi's resignation created more chaos in a country already grappling with al-Qaeda terror threats. A devoted Riyadh ally, Hadi then fled to the Saudi capital, before returning to the port city of Aden earlier this year. In March 2015, the Saudi military launched a military campaign in Hadi's support. The ongoing offensive has left thousands of Yemenis dead so far. The new assault comes days after UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed traveled to Aden to discuss a new attempt to end the country's conflict. Sabanew.net website, affiliated with the former government, said Hadi had handed him a letter, reiterating the government's rejection of a roadmap the envoy had presented in October. The proposed peace roadmap gives the Houthis, who are in control of large swathes of the country, including the capital Sana'a, a share of the future government. The plan also shrinks the president's powers in exchange for the Houthis' withdrawal from several major cities, including the capital, and the handover of their heavy weapons to a third party. Hadi has said the plan "rewards" Ansarullah, calling the deal "a gateway to more suffering and war." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Afghan President Urges Pakistan To Spend Aid Money On Fighting Terrorism December 04, 2016 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says that the $500 million that Pakistan has pledged for reconstruction of Afghanistan would be better spent on fighting terrorism. Speaking at an international conference on December 4, Ghani said that "some states provide sanctuary and tolerate" terrorist networks. "As a Taliban figure said recently, if they had no sanctuary in Pakistan, they wouldn't last a month," Ghani said. Ghani was speaking in the northern Indian city of Amritsar at the Heart of Asia conference aimed at stabilizing conflict-torn Afghanistan. Ghani said his country "suffered the highest number of casualties last year. This is unacceptable." According to the United Nations, there were 11,002 civilian casualties in total in the Afghan conflict last year, the highest level yet recorded in the country. Afghan officials blame Pakistan-based militant groups for the escalating violence, including a series of deadly attacks in the capital, Kabul. Pakistan says it is itself a victim of terrorism. Based on reporting by dpa, Reuters, dawn.com, and the BBC Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-pakistan- terrorism-ghani/28155067.html Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Uzbeks Vote In Presidential Election Whose Outcome Is Largely A Foregone Conclusion Farangis Najibullah December 04, 2016 Polls have closed in Uzbekistan, where voters are choosing who will be the country's next president after Islam Karimov, the autocrat who ruled the Central Asian nation for a quarter-century until his death three months ago. Acting President Shavkat Mirziyaev, who had been the country's prime minister since 2003, is widely expected to win a five-year term in the election. The Central Election Commission announced that almost 87 percent of the 20 million-plus electorate took part in the poll. The commission also said preliminary results would be announced on December 5, amending an earlier statement that results would be released soon after the polling stations closed. Mirziyaev, accompanied by his wife, cast his ballot in a Tashkent polling station in the morning. Russian journalist Viktoria Panfilova, a reporter for the Moscow-based newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta, told RFE/RL's Tajik Service from Tashkent that Mirziyaev did not speak to the press. "The front-runner in this election, [acting Uzbek President] Shavkat Mirziyaev, voted very early in the morning," she said. "He arrived with his family but did not give any statements at the polling station. We can simply say that he showed his family for the first time." The 59-year-old Mirziyaev has said that he intends to largely follow the political course of Karimov. There are three other candidates on the ballot: Khatamjon Ketmanov of the People's Democratic Party, Sarvar Otamuratov of the Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) Democratic Party, and Nariman Umarov of the Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party. All three support the government. Ketmanov and Umarov ran in a 2015 presidential election that critics described as a sham organized to secure a fourth term for Karimov, who had prolonged his power through a series of votes that were condemned as undemocratic by Western states and observers."The format for Uzbek elections has not changed since Karimov's death," Kamoliddin Rabbimov, an Uzbek political analyst who lives in France, told AFP on November 4. "If anything, efforts have been made to ensure other candidates are even more obscure because Mirziyaev's stature among the population is not yet what Karimov's was." The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) deployed observers in Uzbekistan to monitor the election process but has not yet commented on the fairness of the polling. No post-Soviet election in Uzbekistan has been deemed democratic and fair by monitors from the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). Karimov, who became Uzbekistan's Communist Party chief in 1989 and ruled with an iron fist as president after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, tolerated little dissent and eliminated almost all political opposition within the nation of about 30 million. The government said he died on September 2, at age 78, after suffering a stroke. Mirziyaev was made acting president six days after Karimov's death was announced -- circumventing a constitutional process under which the upper parliament house speaker is supposed to take charge. If the result of the December 4 election is a foregone conclusion, what is less clear is whether the president will ease the authoritarian rule imposed by Karimov or veer from his policies -- and to what degree. Journalist Panfilova said that public hopes for change are high. "[People in Uzbekistan] expect some easing in business, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises," she said. "They expect that the country will be more open." A loyal lieutenant to Karimov for two decades -- first as a regional governor and then as prime minister -- Mirziyaev has been described by former associates as a strict boss with a violent streak. Critics dismiss as populist campaign ploys some of his recent efforts to force bureaucrats to answer to the people and resolve their problems, such as a hotline to the president and a demand that local leaders meet with their constituents. But some Uzbek dissidents living abroad have high hopes that he will implement economic reforms, allow more freedom at home, and open ex-Soviet Central Asia's most-populous country more to the outside world. In a speech on his first day as acting president, Mirziyaev said Uzbekistan would continue the policy of not joining any international military alliances and not hosting any foreign military bases, along with not stationing its troops abroad. Uzbekistan, a major grower of cotton and a producer of natural gas, borders volatile Afghanistan and lies in a strategic region where Russia, China, and the West vie for influence. It is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which includes Russia and China, but pulled out of the Russia-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for the second time in 2012. In the September 8 speech, Mirziyaev also said that strengthening ties with neighboring Central Asian states is "the main priority' for Uzbekistan's foreign policy -- and has won praise for apparent steps in that direction. Within days of Karimov's death, Uzbekistan released four nationals of neighboring Kyrgyzstan and withdrew policemen from a border area disputed by the two countries. On September 23, Tajikistan announced that the two countries had agreed to resume flights between their capitals, Dushanbe and Tashkent, which were suspended in 1992. And media in Kazakhstan have reported that the Uzbek and Kazakh governments are close to reaching a deal on the long-standing issue of border demarcation. The developments have sparked hopes that unlike Karimov -- who was seen as throwing up obstacles to regional cooperation -- the new leadership is eager to take a softer line towards neighbors. Another unknown is how much influence other powerful former allies of Karimov -- such as longtime national security chief Rustam Inoyatov and Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov, who is also finance minister -- will wield behind the scenes. Mirziyaev was formally nominated for president by the Liberal Democratic Party, the largest political party in Uzbekistan. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote in the December 4 ballot, a runoff will be held between the top two candidates. With reporting by TASS and Azernews Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/uzbekistan- presidential-election-mirziyaev- karimov-successor/28154842.html Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Afghan Security Forces Kill Daesh Commander Sputnik News 19:39 04.12.2016 Daesh commander identified as Mohammad Nasir, was killed during clashes at a Afghan security forces check post in the Darzab district, according to local media. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The Afghan security forces have killed one of the commanders of the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) jihadist group in the country's northern Jawzjan province, local media reported Sunday. According to the Khaama Press agency, the Daesh commander identified as Mohammad Nasir, was killed during clashes at a security forces check post in the Darzab district. At least two Daesh militants were injured during the clashes, the media outlet reported, citing the district's administrative chief Rahmatullah Hashar. In late November, media reported that the Daesh militants' Afghan cell had suffered many casualties during the anti-terrorist operations of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in the country's eastern province of Nangarhar. Afghanistan is in a state of political and social turmoil, with Taliban insurgents and other extremist factions such as Daesh, outlawed in Russia and many other countries, taking advantage of the instability in the country. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address No Alternative to Russian Helicopters in Afghanistan - Russian Foreign Ministry Sputnik News 18:03 04.12.2016 Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said that Afghanistan has no alternative to Russian arms in the nearest decades. AMRITSAR (India) (Sputnik) Russia doubts that US plans to substitute Russian helicopters in Afghanistan with its own aircraft will succeed, since there is no alternative to Russian equipment in the nearest decades, Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said Sunday. Earlier this week, reports emerged that the United States was planing to supply the Afghan army with Black Hawk helicopters, which would replace the worn-out fleet of Russian Mi-17s. The question of substitution has been raised after Western sanctions against Russia caused problems with maintenance of the Russian military equipment. Kabulov, who is also Foreign Ministry's director of the Second Asian Department, said that in line with the US requirements it will take 4 years to train a pilot to operate a Black Hawk. "Does Afghanistan have time to wait four years? I do not think that there is enough time That is why, Afghanistan has no alternative to Russian arms in the nearest decades, if we want to have a strong and effective Afghan army, of course," Kabulov told journalists on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference in the Indian city of Amritsar. Kabulov stressed that the Afghan army had got used to the Russian military equipment and to Russian helicopters, in particular. The Heart of Asia format was established in 2011 and has been conducted annually. The conference gathers Afghanistan's neighbors and other regional powers and is aimed at stabilizing situation in Afghanistan through cooperation with the country. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Afghan President Suggests Creating Fund to Combat Extremism Sputnik News 13:04 04.12.2016(updated 13:31 04.12.2016) Ashraf Ghani suggested creating a fund to fight extremism in Afghanistan. AMRITSAR (INDIA) (Sputnik) Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday suggested creating a fund to fight extremism in Afghanistan, which would incorporate money donated by neighboring Pakistan. "There is a necessity to create a fund to combat terrorism. Pakistan has generously offered $500 million for rehabilitation of Afghanistan. This fund may be effectively used for rolling back extremists, because without peace any amount of help provided would not meet the demands of our nation," Ghani said at the Heart of Asia ministerial conference. He added that tensions in Afghanistan had been intensifying in 2016, as almost 30 groups classified by the United Nations as terrorists had been attempting to entrench their positions in the country to destabilize countries of their origin as well as the region and the whole world. The Afghan president called on countries in the region to intensify the dialogue and cooperation in the field of counterterrorism and stressed the need for a serious control over cross-border activities. The Heart of Asia format (aka Istanbul process) was established in 2011 and has been conducted annually. The conference gathers Afghanistan's neighbors and other regional powers and is aimed at stabilizing situation in Afghanistan through cooperation with the country. This year the conference is taking place in Indian city of Amritsar. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Afghan President: Taliban Won't Last Without Pakistan Support By Anjana Pasricha December 04, 2016 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told an international conference held in the northern Indian city of Amritsar that the Taliban insurgency in his country would not survive without support from Pakistan and called for the setting up of a fund to combat extremism. Referring to an upsurge of violence in his country by militant groups, the Afghan leader said, "Some still provide sanctuary in support or tolerate these networks. As Mr. (Mullah Rahmatullah) Kakazada, one of the key figures in the Taliban movement recently said if they did not have sanctuary in Pakistan, they would not last a month." Afghanistan's ties with Pakistan have come under strain as it grapples with increased militant attacks. Pointing out that his country had suffered the highest number of civilian casualties and military related deaths last year, Ghani said this "was unacceptable." In his remarks at the conference, Pakistan's top foreign ministry official, Sartaj Aziz, said the security situation in Afghanistan is complex and it is "simplistic" to blame one country for the recent upsurge in violence. Aziz called for "an objective and holistic view." The "Heart of Asia Conference" is an initiative launched in 2011 for encouraging economic and security cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbors. Delegates from over 20 countries including Pakistan's top foreign policy official, Sartaj Aziz, attended the conference. Terror took center stage at the meet as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also underlined his concerns about support that terrorism derives in the region. Modi did not directly name Pakistan, but called for resolute action to fight "not just against forces of terrorism, but also against those who support, shelter, train and finance them." He said terrorist violence endangers not just Afghanistan but the entire region. India also blames Pakistan for supporting terror groups that conduct violent attacks in the country. Pakistan denies the charges, and points out that it is also a victim of terror attacks. Afghan leader Ghani proposed an Asian and international regime, "whatever is acceptable, particularly to our neighbor Pakistan to verify cross frontier activities." He also called for a fund to combat extremism. Referring to a $500 million pledge from Pakistan for development in his country, the Afghan President said the money could instead be used to fight terror. "This fund Mr. Aziz could be very well used for containing extremism because without peace any amount of assistance will not meet the needs of our people," Ghani said. A resolution adopted at the end of the conference acknowledged that terrorism derives support in the region and stated: "We demand an immediate end to terrorism as well as support to it, including financing of terrorism," the resolution said. On the sidelines of the conference, India and Afghanistan decided to take steps to set up air cargo link to boost Kabul's connectivity with key markets. It will help increase trade from the landlocked trade that is restricted due to political hostilities between India and Pakistan. At the moment Kabul can send a limited goods overland through Pakistan into India, but imports from India are not allowed along this route. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kerry: Israel 'Heading to a Place of Danger' By Steve Herman December 04, 2016 Remarks by the U.S. secretary of state on Sunday are being quickly interpreted by the Israeli media as harsh criticism and undiplomatic. Before a predominately pro-Israel audience in Washington, John Kerry warned that the Jewish state is "heading to a place of danger" because of its government's policies toward the Palestinians. Kerry, responding to questions from a journalist moderator and several people in the audience at the Brookings Institution's annual Saban Forum, characterized the long-stalled peace process as "getting worse" and "moving in the wrong direction." A "stinging rebuke" is how the independent Times of Israel characterized his remarks in an online headline. Kerry, while professing a love of Israel and saying that during his tenure he has talked with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more than 375 times and made 40 visits to the country, called Education Minister Naftali Bennett's recent comments applauding the demise of the two-state solution as "profoundly disturbing." Kerry said Israelis should stop waiting for Fatah, which controls the West Bank, to turn into a perfect negotiating partner and told the audience that the United States believes any deal must come with the assurance "of not turning the West Bank into another Gaza," which is administered by the more hardline Hamas. Growing frustration in Washington Obama administration officials last week ruled out any last-minute pressure to be applied on Israel, including at the United Nations. Kerry said that settling the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians is still relevant despite more serious current conflagrations in neighboring Syria and in Iraq. U.S. officials have grown increasingly frustrated with the Israeli government ignoring American official criticism of settlements in the occupied territories. Despite the strained relations, the two governments recently finalized a package that sends $38 billion of military aid to Israel over a 10-year period. The secretary of state said the Arab world is ready to move to a different security posture regarding Israel. Israel's new engagement is "quiet, covert with the rest of the Arab world," former U.S. senator Joe Lieberman told VOA. The real challenge for the incoming Trump administration is "whether they can prove that some progress is possible between Israelis and Palestinians," said Lieberman, who was in the audience for Kerry's remarks. The two-state solution, which Lieberman supports, is not going to be reached anytime soon, added the former Democratic vice presidential nominee, "but maybe there are some interim steps that can raise hopes" that the Trump administration will be able to work towards. Prime Minister Netanyahu, speaking to the forum via satellite from Israel prior to Kerry's remarks, said he will discuss with Trump the West's "bad" nuclear deal with Iran after the U.S. president-elect enters the White House. "I opposed the deal because it doesn't prevent Iran from getting nukes. It paves the way for Iran to get nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said on Sunday. Trump on the campaign trail, as a Republican candidate for president, called the West's nuclear pact with Iran a "disaster" and "the worst deal ever negotiated." Kerry on Trump diplomacy Kerry told the audience at a Washington hotel on Sunday that it would be valuable for the Trump transition team to consult with the State Department before having telephone calls with foreign leaders. "We have not been contacted before any of these conversations," Kerry told a think tank conference. "I think it's valuable to ask people who work the desk." Trump's conversations in recent days with government leaders - especially those of Pakistan, the Philippines and Taiwan have generated controversy and the president-elect has been accused of violating diplomatic protocol. Trump, a wealthy businessman who last month defeated former secretary of state Hillary Clinton for the presidency in his first bid for public office, has no foreign policy experience. "We're very sensitive to the fact that for the next six-and-a-half weeks we already have a president and a commander-in-chief and we're respectful of that fact," Trump senior advisor Kellyanne Conway told reporters on Sunday. "So nobody is making policy, nobody is making significant moves in any one direction or the other." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Far Right's Hofer Defeated in Austria Election By Luis Ramirez December 04, 2016 Austria's anti-immigrant candidate, Norbert Hofer, has failed in his bid to become the country's first far right leader since World War II, in an election seen as a test for the strength of populist movements in Europe. The former aeronautical engineer, who campaigned on an anti-establishment, anti-immigrant, anti-EU platform, conceded defeat to his environmentalist opponent, Alexander Van Der Bellen, who ran as an independent. Media projections said Van der Bellen won with 53.3 percent of the vote, compared to Hofer's 46.7 percent, a victory that Van der Bellen said is a "signal of hope and change" to "all the capitals of the European Union." Hofer had been poised to become the EU's first far-right leader, as unease became evident in the country in the wake of a migrant crisis that has seen tens of thousands of Muslims seek asylum in Austria. In Vienna on Sunday night, Hofer went before reporters at the city's Hofburg Palace and pledged to keep up his efforts to ensure that the more than 46 percent of Austrians who voted for him were not ignored. "We are not done," he said. Asked by VOA what message these elections had sent to the establishment, Hofer replied, "Look at me. I will fight for the next elections." The poll's outcome was despite a campaign dominated by anger over issues of Muslim immigration, the financial burden of refugees and migrants who are collecting benefits from Austria's welfare system, and Europe's wave of terrorist attacks over the last year, following the start of the migrant crisis. Some voters on Sunday lamented the bitter divisions that the race exposed. "This election in general is tragic," said Eva, a voter who cast her ballot in Vienna's first district. "It's very tragic because we were having another person, Hofer, who speaks more for the old way of thinking, of pushing people against each other and is more in a rightist direction, in a fascist direction, like Hitler." Sunday's poll was held after the results of an earlier vote on May 22 had Van Der Bellen ahead of Hofer by 31,000 votes. Austria's constitutional court annulled the results due to vote counting irregularities. The campaign, one of Austria's longest, was marked by anger. A newspaper headline described it as an "Election of Hate," reflecting pent-up frustrations among Hofer's rightist supporters, and fear and bitterness among his leftist detractors who have labeled him a Nazi for his anti-immigration stance in the face of Europe's migrant crisis that saw more than 1 million refugees and migrants enter Europe last year, many of them through Austria. Analysts say Hofer sought to benefit from the anti-establishment mood sweeping across the U.S. and Europe that has been partly inspired by Britain's decision to leave the European Union and the victory of Donald Trump in the United States. The trend perplexed Florian, a voter in central Vienna. "Even though this is the most peaceful time ever and people have the most money ever, there seems to be an uncertainty and that's why they are prone to fall for the promises that the rightist movements give," Florian said after casting his ballot Sunday. More than 90,000 people applied for asylum in Austria last year, a figure that causes concern in a nation whose population is less than 9 million. The sentiments also have been spurred on by terror attacks in Belgium and France all of which have happened since the start of last year's migrant crisis. "Even though you're scared, you cannot look away and say 'ok, we don't want to do have anything to do with this.' We have a history in Austria regarding this and that's why I think we have the responsibility to stand up together with the rest of the world and if they don't go along, we have to lead as an example," Florian, a Van Der Bellen supporter, said. Hofer's campaign posters across central Vienna were defaced with swastikas and mustaches that made Hofer resemble Adolf Hitler. The Nazi connotation was especially sensitive given Austria's history in the last century. The country was the birthplace of Hitler and was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938. Hofer's younger supporters include members of Austria's Identitarian movement, a group that opposes multiculturalism. 27-year-old Martin Sellner, a member, said his opposition to Muslim immigration is based on concerns that Muslims eventually may outnumber native Austrians and overwhelm their culture, and not on xenophobia or racism. Analysts said that while Van der Bellen's margin of victory appeared to be wide, a strong showing by those who oppose or at least question Austria's immigration policies cannot be ignored by the new leadership. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Intel Undersecretary Describes Cyber Threat, Steps to Combat It By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity WASHINGTON, Dec. 3, 2016 Cybersecurity is a political, economic, diplomatic and military challenge, and the undersecretary of defense for intelligence explained its complexities during a panel discussion today at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California. Marcel Lettre said the cyber threat is evolving and growing more acute over time. This is because the cyber threat is not just one thing, he said; there is an espionage threat, there is a hacking threat, there is "a continuum of activities potentially ranging up to the risk of significant attacks on national infrastructure that would warrant a national response." The range of involved actors spans the continuum also and goes from a lone hacker to terror groups to nations, he said. "Topping the list of countries we are particularly concerned about are China, Russia, North Korea and Iran," he said. "Each has a unique set of actors and attributes." Lettre said he is particularly concerned about the use of the internet "to influence events or influence the environment. We've had some discussion about our attribution back to Russia of some attacks that we are familiar with in the U.S., the use of social media by (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) to recruit and inspire attacks." With these complex threats, what can be done? "The military and the Pentagon has a strategy and a set of operational constructs that are in place that address how we would respond," Lettre said. "One of the big pieces of this is how do we innovate to do so?" The need for innovation is particularly acute in the cyber domain. "The pursuit of artificial intelligence, of autonomy, of deep machine learning and human/machine teaming, automatic automation, speed and agility and scaling of technology constructs are all the features of innovation in cyber that we are beginning drive," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Missile-launching warship to join Iran's north fleet IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Anzali, Gilan prov, Dec 4, IRNA -- A new missile-launching warship (Sina 4) is scheduled to join Iran's north fleet in the near future, senior Navy officer Rear-Admiral Afshin Rezaei said on Sunday. Rezaei said that the warship will join north fleet in ceremonies in February to commemorate the victory anniversary of 1979 Islamic Revolution. He said that upgrading quality of military equipment has always been on the agenda of Iranian Navy. 9341**1416 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address S-300 system fully delivered to Iran: MP IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Dec 4, IRNA -- Spokesman of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini said Sunday that Russia fully delivered all parts of S-300 air defense system to Iran and the two countries have agreed to develop logistical and technical cooperation. Naqvi-Hosseini said that the air defense system was finally handed over to Iran despite the ups and downs and Iran currently has taken possession of the technology as well as air defense technology. MP of Varamin said that given the full implementation of the S-300 deal by Russia, there is no need for pursuing complaint with the International Court of Arbitration over delays in delivery of the air defense system. Fortunately, Tehran and Moscow have excellent ties in the field of arms interaction, he said. 8072**1416 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Speaker calls for adopting reciprocal measures against US sanctions IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Dec 4, IRNA -- Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani, speaking in the Majlis open session on Sunday, called for adopting reciprocal measures against the US sanctions. He made the remarks in reaction to the US Congress measures for extension of Iran's sanctions for another decade. 'We are sure that The US officials' measure for extension of Iran's sanctions has no justification internationally,' Larijani added. The parliament speaker urged government to execute articles number 3 and 7 of "The Proportional and Reciprocal Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)' immediately and report the results to parliament. The article 3 of the resolution states that if one of the sides uses sanctions or adopts alternative embargoes, the government should adopt reciprocal measures, he noted. The speaker added that according to the Majlis resolution, the government should adopt reciprocal measures against extension of Iran's sanctions by the US Congress. 9191**1771 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 264 MPs call for Iran's reciprocal moves against US IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Dec 4, IRNA -- 264 members of the Iranian parliament called for the government's appropriate reciprocal actions against the US administration. In a statement on Sunday which was read to the parliament on Sunday, the parliamentarians said that the "US Congress members in a move of showoff embarked on extending the hegemonic law of the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) and renewing of sanctions against the great nation of Iran which stands in clear violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)." Their move comes despite the fact that many international officials including those in the US have repeatedly acknowledged Iran's abiding by its commitments. They said as representatives of the Iranian legislative body, they condemned the US act as a token of its irresponsible attitudes towards its international commitments. Since the law on Iran's proper and reciprocal moves in implementing the nuclear deal has already thought of appropriate reactions to violations of the JCPOA, the statement said, the representatives of the Iranian legislative body frankly urged the government to take speedy actions in conformity with articles 3 and 7 of the above-mentioned law and inform the Majlis on the consequences. The US Senate on Thursday (Dec 1) approved a legislation extending Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) for another ten years. The Act was to be expired at the end of 2016. Commenting on the issue, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said that the recent US unilateral move on extending Iran sanctions runs contrary to Iran's nuclear deal with the world powers and also to America's obligations not to interfere in the domestic and international affairs of other countries under the international law. As per the basic principles governing international relations, the US government should be committed to fulfilling its international responsibilities, he said. Qasemi stressed that Iran's Foreign Ministry is monitoring the US government' behavior closely and would present a full report to the board monitoring implementation of JCPOA for necessary action. 1424**1771 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address President: Iran's response to JCPOA violation would be decisive IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Dec 4, IRNA -- Any violation of the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is going to meet with our decisive response, says Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. The US Senate on Thursday renewed the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) for another ten-year period. 'As the President of the Islamic Republic and head of the Supreme National Security Council, I declare here that Iran is not going to stand any violation of the JCPOA by any member states of the P5+1 group of countries,' President Rouhani said on Sunday in Iran's parliament before tabling the new budget deal. 'Any violation is going to meet our appropriate response,' he said. President Rouhani said that extension of the ISA in the US Senate is against the nuclear deal and is going to violate it. 'We consider signing of the Iran Sanctions Act by the US president as to be against Washington's commitments,' he said. 'The president of the United States is obliged not to sign the measure and use all in his prowess to stop the act,' he said. President Rouhani also said that the JCPOA is a valid international document that has been ratified by the United Nations Security Council. 'Full and precise implementation of the nuclear deal tends to benefit all the parties involved as well as the global community.' 2044**1771 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Fateh submarine will join Iran Navy fleet soon: Commander Iran Press TV Sun Dec 4, 2016 4:54PM A top Iranian Navy commander says the Islamic Republic will soon launch a new domestically-manufactured submarine. "The Fateh (Conqueror) submarine with a 100-percent domestically-sourced technology will join Iran's Navy and become operational soon," Rear Admiral Siavash Jarreh, a senior advisor to the Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, told IRNA on Sunday. He added that few countries in the world are capable of manufacturing submarines and thanks to the great efforts of Iranian experts and reliance on domestic know-how, the Islamic Republic currently enjoys such a capability along with China, the US, Russia, France and Britain. Iran's Navy deployed its first submarine some two decades ago and has succeeded in acquiring advanced technology in this sector despite all the sanctions imposed against the country, he said. Iran has so far launched different classes of domestically-built advanced submarines including Ghadir, Qaem, Nahang, Tareq and Sina. The 600-ton Fateh is among semi-heavy submarines and is equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry such as torpedoes and naval mines. It can operate more than 200 meters below the sea surface for near five weeks. Jarreh further said Iranian naval forces are very strong and highly prepared to counter any move against the country. "Iran's Navy monitors the moves of all foreign fleets moment by moment upon their entrance into the northern regions of the Indian Ocean," the commander said. The Iranian naval forces are "fully prepared to counter any foreign fleet with a covetous eye" on the country, he added, emphasizing that Iran would never initiate any confrontation. Jarreh also said the Iranian Navy has succeeded in protecting many ships from pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden. Back in November, the Iranian Navy chief said the naval forces had managed to escort 3,844 Iranian merchant ships and oil tankers in the Gulf of Aden and emphasized that the naval forces would continue with their presence in the strategic area with the purpose of establishing lasting security. In recent years, Iran's Navy has increased its presence in international waters to protect naval routes and provide security for merchant vessels and tankers. In line with international efforts against piracy, the Iranian Navy has been conducting patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, safeguarding merchant containers and oil tankers owned or leased by Iran or other countries. Iran's Navy has managed to foil several attacks on both Iranian and foreign tankers during its missions in international waters. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran MPs call for counter-measures against US Senate vote Iran Press TV Sun Dec 4, 2016 11:15AM Iranian lawmakers have condemned a US Senate vote to extend the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), urging the administration of President Hassan Rouhani to adopt proper counter-measures. At the end of an open session on Sunday, 264 MPs in the 290-seat Iranian Parliament (Majlis) issued a statement, strongly demanding the executive branch to take "due retaliatory measures" against the US senators' decision to extend the ISA "at the soonest possible time." The statement came three days after the US Senate voted to extend the ISA for another 10 years, in a move regarded as a blatant violation of last year's nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). "In a theatrical move, US senators extended the unjust ISA law and the sanctions against the great Iranian nation," the statement read, adding that such an act "is against the spirit of the JCPOA, while international officials and US authorities have repeatedly confirmed Iran's compliance." The lawmakers further condemned the US Senate vote as a sign of Washington's "irresponsibility in honoring its international obligations." On December 1, the US Senate passed the ISA renewal 99-0 after it cleared the House of Representatives 419-1 late November. The sanctions law was first adopted in 1996 to punish investments in the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program. US President Barack Obama is expected to sign the ISA into law. In a speech at the parliament earlier in the day, Rouhani pledged a "decisive response" to the Senate vote, which he called a blatant violation of the nuclear deal. The Iranian chief executive had said Saturday that no country is allowed to take measures undermining the JCPOA, which is the product of diplomatic efforts by seven countries. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran President Demands Obama Not Sign Extension Of U.S. Sanctions December 04, 2016 Iranian President Hassan Rohani has urged U.S. President Barack Obama not to sign a 10-year extension of U.S. sanctions approved unanimously by the U.S. Senate. In a speech to Iran's parliament on December 4, Rohani said the bill violates a landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. On December 1, the U.S. Congress voted to extend the Iran Sanctions Act. .The bill now goes to the White House, where Obama is expected to sign it. U.S. officials have said they've determined that the legislation does not violate the agreement that lifted a variety of international sanctions in exchange for limitations on the Iranian nuclear program. The United States still maintains its own separate set of sanctions on Iran, which will expire on December 31 if Obama does not sign the extension into law. Rohani said Obama is "obliged" to let the sanctions expire. The Iranian president warned there will be a "prompt response" from Iran if the U.S. sanctions are extended. "We are committed to an acceptable implementation of the deal, but in response to noncommitment, violation, or hesitation in its implementation, we will act promptly," Rohani said. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned last month that Tehran will retaliate if the United States renews the sanctions. "The latest is an extension of sanctions for 10 years, that if it happens, would surely be against the [nuclear deal] and the Islamic republic would definitely react to it," Khamenei warned on November 23. Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and IRNA Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/iran-demands -obama-not-sign-extension-of- sanctions/28155065.html Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran Promises 'Prompt Response' if US Sanctions are Extended Sputnik News 02:54 05.12.2016 Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said December 4 that his American counterpart Barack Obama should not sign an extension of US sanctions against Tehran, because it would be a violation of the Iran nuclear deal. On December 1, US senators unanimously voted for the extension of what the US considers non-nuclear-related sanctions on Iran for 10 more years. The bill, which will expire December 31 if not signed, was sent to Obama. According to Rouhani, Obama is "obliged" to let the sanctions expire. "We are committed to an acceptable implementation of the deal but in response to noncommitment, violation or hesitation in its implementation, we will act promptly," he reportedly said. While the nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers implies the limitation of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting international sanctions by other sides, the US has long imposed its own set of sanctions on Iran. Whether these should be considered part of the deal is suddenly a contentious issue. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said the bill is a clear violation of the nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers. "The US president has agreed within the framework of the nuclear deal that he would use his authority to prevent the legislation and enforcement of any measures in violation of the deal, such as the recent act by the Congress," he noted. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said December 2 that Iran would suspend the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on its nuclear program in case US sanctions are extended. "If they [the US] return to sanctions, we will not remain committed to the agreement," Zarif said as quoted by Press TV broadcaster. He said the extension of the sanctions would contradict US obligations under international law regarding noninterference in other countries' internal and international relations," according to the Tasnim news agency. Last year, Iran signed a landmark deal with Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany, agreeing to curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Earlier this year, President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi, said violation of the agreement by any of the sides would give Iran green light to begin enriching uranium at an even higher capacity within 45 days. "In a month and a half we can increase our centrifuges and [nuclear] material," Salehi's deputy Behrouz Kamalvandi said, according to the Mehr news agency. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraqi security forces uncover Daesh media center in southern Mosul Iran Press TV Sun Dec 4, 2016 7:4PM A high-ranking Iraqi security official says government forces have managed to uncover and dismantle a media and information center run by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group south of Mosul as they try to flush the extremists out of their last urban stronghold in the country. Commander of Federal Police Forces Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat told Arabic-language All Iraq News news agency on Sunday that Iraqi forces made the discovery in the town of Hammam al-Alil, situated about 30 kilometers south of Mosul, on Sunday. Jawdat added that Iraqi security forces recovered a number of state-of-the-art cameras, dozens of video files, a considerable amount of money and numerous confidential documents from the site. Iraqi security forces liberate three villages around Shirqat Meanwhile, soldiers from Salahuddin Liberation Operation and the 60th Brigade of the Iraqi Army have established their control over three villages in the northern province of Salahuddin. The Joint Operations Command (JOC) announced in a Sunday statement that government forces had liberated the village of Sahl al-Madhif on the eastern outskirts of Shirqat town, located some 300 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad, from the clutches of Daesh Takfirs and hoisted the national flag over several buildings there. Later in the day, the same forces retook the villages of al-Jadida and al-Nahiyah al-Kabirah. Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters thwart Daesh car bomb attack Furthermore, fighters from pro-government Popular Mobilization Units, better known by the Arabic name, Hashd al-Sha'abi, blew up a car rigged with explosives as it was heading toward Upper al-Sharia village west of Tal Afar town, 63 kilometers west of Mosul. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US, allies should stay in Iraq, even after Daesh's defeat: Carter Iran Press TV Sun Dec 4, 2016 4:45PM US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter says that American military forces and other foreign troops need to remain in Iraq, even if the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group is defeated. Addressing the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, on Saturday, Carter said terrorist groups were headed for a lasting defeat but the US-led coalition, which has been striking purported Daesh positions in Iraq since 2014, had to stay and keep training local security forces. "But there will still be much more to do after that to make sure that, once defeated, ISIL stays defeated," the Pentagon chief said. "We'll need to continue to counter foreign fighters trying to escape and ISIL's attempts to relocate or reinvent itself. To do so, not only the United States but our coalition must endure and remain engaged militarily." "In Iraq in particular, it will be necessary for the coalition to provide sustained assistance and carry on our work to train, equip and support local police, border guards and other forces to hold areas cleared from ISIL," he added. Carter made the remarks amid significant achievements by Iraqi military and popular forces in purging Daesh from Mosul, the country's second-largest city. Since late October, nearly 30,000 Iraqi army soldiers, fighters from pro-government Popular Mobilization Units and Kurdish Peshmerga forces have launched a massive and multi-pronged operation to retake Mosul from foreign-backed militants. Carter did not say that how many of the foreign forces were going to stay in the Arab country and how long the operation was going to take. Currently, there are over 5,000 US forces stationed in Iraq. Elsewhere, the outgoing secretary noted that President Barack Obama's administration had ordered the US Joint Special Operations Command to mainly focus on destroying Daesh's ability to carry out attacks in the West. Carter also pointed to the ongoing government transition in Washington, saying that with retired General James Mattis, President-elect Donald Trump had picked the right person to lead the US military in his incoming administration. "I've worked with Jim for many years, he's a friend, and I hold him in the highest regard," Carter said, pointing to Mattis' record as the former head of US Central Command, which oversaw the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Faction of South Korean Ruling Party Ready to Back President's Impeachment Sputnik News 20:35 04.12.2016 South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party announced the support of the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye amid a corruption scandal around her close friend and "shadow adviser" Choi Soon-si, after president refused to resign, according to local media. TOKYO (Sputnik) An anti-presidential faction within South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party is ready to support a vote on the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye amid a corruption scandal around her close friend and "shadow adviser" Choi Soon-si, the Kyodo news agency reported Sunday. In late November, South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party (The Minjoo) announced plans to seek vote on impeachment of the president amid the ongoing political scandal, involving Park's friend and alleged shadow adviser. On Friday, some lawmakers of the ruling party issued a statement with an ultimatum under which the faction would support the impeachment of the president if Park refuses to announce her resignation terms before December 7. On Saturday, South Korea's opposition parties handed an impeachment motion against the president. The bill was endorsed by 171 lawmakers from three parties. A two-thirds majority in the 300-seat legislature is needed for the impeachment process to start. The impeachment bill will be formally tabled in the parliament next week, with an impeachment vote expected the following day. The procedures to impeach Park were boosted as prosecutors filed formal charges against Choi on November 20, as she was implicated in a corruption scandal, along with two of Park's former aides. The Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office stated that Park was suspected of being an accomplice in the conspiracy, and although they cannot indict the president because of her immunity, they pledged to continue the investigation. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Says North Caucasus IS Leader Killed In Daghestan Raid RFE/RL December 04, 2016 Russia's FSB security service says it has killed a leader of the Islamic State (IS) militant group during a raid in Russia's North Caucasus region of Daghestan. In a statement issued on December 4, the FSB said it had killed Rustam Aselderov and "four of his close associates" during a raid on a private house near Daghestan's capital city of Makhachkala. The statement said authorities found "automatic weapons and a large amount of ammunition and explosives" at the house during the December 3 raid. Aselderov, who used the name Sheikh Abu Mohammad al-Qadari, was named by the IS as the so-called "emir" of what the militants have declared as a new Caucasus province. But he had been known to Russian security officials as an active member of terrorist groups in Daghestan since 2012. Aselderov pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in December 2014. The FSB said Aselderov organized two bomb attacks in the southern Russian city of Volgograd that killed 34 people in 2013 when he was fighting as the leader of the so-called Caucasus Emirate extremist group. Those attacks included an attack on Volgograd's train station by a female suicide bomber on December 29, 2013, that killed 18 people and another suicide bombing that killed 16 people on a Volgograd trolley bus the following day. The FSB has linked Aselderov to two car blasts on the Astrakhan-Makhachkala highway in May 2012 that killed 14 people and injured more than 120. The FSB also accused Aselderov of trying to organize a foiled attack by two female suicide bombers that was meant to take place on Moscow's Red Square on New Year's Eve in 2010. Washington named Aselderov as a "foreign terrorist fighter" in 2015 and imposed sanctions against him. In October, Russia announced that it was offering a 5 million ruble reward -- about $78,000 -- for information that would help authorities locate Aselderov. It was not immediate clear whether an informant had provided information to Russian security officials about Aselderov's whereabouts in exchange for the reward money. With reporting by AFP and TASS Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/daghestan -aselderov-killed-is-militant- fsb-russia/28154860.html Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Why Russia's Revived 'Ghost Trains' Fuel So Much Fear in the West Sputnik News 14:40 04.12.2016(updated 14:59 04.12.2016) Commenting on the recent successful pop-up launch tests of a Russian-made intercontinental ballistic missile on the advanced Barguzin rail-based strategic missile complex, German media have sounded a clear alarm, calling it "a nightmare," however noting that it comes only in response to the west's build-up on Russia's borders. The testing took place at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in early November, and paves the way for full-scale flight development tests. "Pop-up launch tests are conducted to determine whether the complex is operational. The missile and the transporter-launcher container were developed some time ago, but the launching platform is a novel solution. The trials are meant to test its performance," Russian Defense analyst Victor Murakhovsky told Radio Sputnik earlier in November. The test marks the revival of the nuclear-trains project originally dating back the Soviet-era. In 1987, the USSR decided to place its missiles on railways, taking advantage of its large and diverse railroad network, in which a train could hide from satellite reconnaissance. Each of the 12 Soviet 'nuke trains' was armed with three RT-23 Molodets (SS-24 Scalpel) intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) carrying 10 warheads. From space, the trains looked like ordinary refrigerator cars. In accordance with the START II treaty, Russia removed these trains from operational use in 2005 and completely decommissioned them in 2007. The new project, codenamed "Barguzin" after a strong Baikal wind, is not subjected to the treaty and surpasses its predecessors in capabilities. Every "Barguzin" train will be armed with six ICBMs RS-24 Yars (a land equivalent of the submarine-launched Bulava). The new "nuke train" is similar to a nuclear-capable submarine in its function. The cars are so solid that they can resist the explosion of a nuclear warhead just several hundred meters away. A train can run for a month autonomously and travel up to 1,000 kilometers per day. The system is expected to be developed by 2018. Five "Barguzin" regiments are expected to enter Russia's Strategic Missiles Forces by 2020. "Soviet-era platforms employed railway cars, different in size from standard rail carriages. The new missile complex fits onto the standard rail gauge. The wagons carrying [the recently tested] missiles resemble a freight refrigerator car for instance," Murakhovsky explained. Commenting on the recent tests, German news website Welt.de and news magazine Stern have called the train "a nightmare." However the outlets note that the revival of the so-called "ghost trains" comes in response to what Moscow sees as the "West's crossing of the red line" in Eastern Europe, right on Russia's borders. The outlets point to NATO's military build-up in Eastern Europe and in the Baltic states. In a separate comment on the issue, Russian military commentator Vasily Sychev noted that Barguzin emerged only in response to the US' Prompt Global Strike (PGS) project, which is a system that can deliver a precision-guided conventional weapon airstrike anywhere in the world within one hour, in a similar manner to a nuclear ICBM. Such a weapon would allow the US to respond far more swiftly than is possible with conventional forces. In September 2014, President Putin mentioned PGS among a number of the new threats Russia faced, along with the US Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system in Alaska, the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System in Europe, and increased NATO activity in eastern Europe. Deputy Prime Minister in charge of defense industry Dmitry Rogozin warned that Russia would upgrade its strategic nuclear forces and aerospace defenses in response to the PGS system. Victor Murakhovsky said that those who refer to the train as "a sheer nightmare" for foreign intelligence services have every reason for such a reference. "I would agree with this since there are no attributes which could be used to detect this rail-based missile complex," he said. "There is a new launching platform and a new combat control system which uses protected digital communication channels. There are new input programs for missions," he detailed. Hence the German media is right in its alarm that the feared Russian trains will be able to capture any strategic targets in the West. The trains however will remain solely on the Russian territory as the size of Russia's railway gauge is broader than that of Europe. Rail tracks in the territories of Russia and the former Soviet Union were constructed using broad-gauge track (1,520 millimeter, or roughly 5 feet). Most European railways west of the Baltic states, as well as 60 percent of the railways in the world, use standard-gauge track (1,435 millimeter). The origins of the difference in rail gauges between Europe and the former Soviet Union extend back to the 19th century. For Russia, the different rail gauge served a strategic military purpose by complicating the ability of hostile militaries to move troops and materiel into the country by rail. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudi Arabia mulls military base in Djibouti amid Yemen crisis Iran Press TV Sun Dec 4, 2016 9:35AM Djibouti says Saudi Arabia is planning to set up a military base in the African country amid the Riyadh regime's deadly military campaign against neighboring Yemen. In an interview with the Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat released on Sunday, Djibouti's Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf welcomed the initiative, saying Saudi military authorities had made several investigative trips to his country for the establishment of a facility there. Negotiations have been held between the two countries' officials about the plan and a draft strategic security agreement has been prepared to that end, Youssouf said, stressing that the deal will be signed soon. The top Djiboutian diplomat also noted that some coastal areas have been designated for the construction of the Saudi military base. Djibouti, a resource-poor nation strategically situated in the Horn of Africa, relies on donations from Saudi Arabia. The country has been following in Saudi Arabia's footsteps in its foreign policy, among them severing its diplomatic relations with Iran in January and making baseless claims about Tehran's intervention in the affairs of Arab countries. This is while Saudi Arabia has been leading a military campaign in Yemen with the aim of reinstalling the former Yemeni government. The Saudi war, which was launched in March 2015, has left at least 11,400 civilians dead, according to a latest tally by a Yemeni monitoring group. The kingdom has come under international criticism for the sheer size of casualties and destruction caused by its offensive on Yemen. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Aleppo back in government hands in weeks: Syria Iran Press TV Sun Dec 4, 2016 11:18PM Syrian army helicopters have dropped leaflets on eastern Aleppo warning the militants to surrender while they still can as the military has said it expects to retake the divided city within weeks. The Sunday distributed leaflets called on the militants still remaining in eastern Aleppo to lay down the weapons and to permit the wounded and other civilians to exit the city. A military source told reporters that the city will be fully purged of militants "in weeks." "The Syrian Arab Army will continue to implement its missions until the elimination of the terrorists and the recovery of control over all the eastern districts," he added. Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, remains split between government forces in the west and foreign-backed terrorists in the east, making it a frontline battleground. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US, UK mulling Syria 'aid' airdrops: Report Iran Press TV Sun Dec 4, 2016 5:50PM The US and UK governments have discussed the possibility of airdropping supplies to the militant-held areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo, according to a new report. Officials from the two countries have been exploring possible ways of flying aid missions, with options ranging from parachute drops to edible drones that can be taken apart and eaten, The Guardian reported Sunday. The report noted, however, that there has been little progress in the talks due to disagreements between government agencies. Military commanders have also been reluctant to get involved. Moreover, London and Washington worry that such aid missions without permission from the Syrian government could lead to a direct confrontation with Damascus, hindering the ongoing aid deliveries. Despite strong support by more than 200 members of the UK Parliament for British airdrops, the government has warned that the move would be hugely complicated and could endanger UK forces in the region. Russia has also posed a great challenge to the plan, since Moscow has placed some of its most sophisticated air defense systems in Syria to defend its aircraft during its months-long campaign against Daesh and other Takfiri militants in the Middle Eastern country. The last high-profile meeting about airdropping supplies took place in the UK embassy in Washington last week but failed to reach any conclusions as Syrian military forces had retaken a large chunk of the militant-controlled parts. "There was talk in private that all this was too late," said one of the participants in the meeting. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday that Syrian forces were in control of over 60 percent of Aleppo's militant-held areas. The government's advances have taken by surprise many of the foreign states that have been channeling financial and military support to the militants since the onset of the foreign-backed militancy in Syria in 2011. Amid the victories, some countries, including France, have called for the implementation of a ceasefire in Aleppo, citing a need for secure corridors for the transfer of humanitarian assistance to the city. The US has performed similar airdrops in the past, except that many of the supplies and weapons have ended up in the terrorists' hands, raising question about Washington's true intent. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian army regains full control of city near Damascus Iran Press TV Sun Dec 4, 2016 2:31PM Syrian government forces have wrested full control of a city near the capital Damascus after foreign-sponsored Takfiri extremists agreed to withdraw from the area in exchange for safe passage to militant-held regions in the northwestern city of Idlib. The Russian Defense Ministry announced in a statement on Sunday that over 500 Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, militants and 1,500 members of their families, have pulled out of al-Tall, located about 10 kilometers northeast of the capital. The statement added that the militants used the opportunity offered by the amnesty declared by President Bashar al-Assad last week, stopped fighting and agreed through negotiations to leave for Idlib, which lies roughly 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of Damascus, 44 onboard dozens of buses provided by the government. Before their departure, the militants handed in their heavy military equipment plus more than 200 units of small arms and light weapons. The development came only two days after the Russian military's Center for Reconciliation in Syria said government troops had recaptured Khan al-Shih, located about 25 kilometers southwest of Damascus, after foreign-backed gunmen departed the area and moved to Idlib. Khan al-Shih had been under the control of foreign-backed militants since 2012. Syrian army, allies win back three districts in eastern Aleppo Meanwhile, Syrian government soldiers, supported by fighters from allied popular defense groups, have recaptured three more neighborhoods in the eastern quarter of the strategic northwestern city of Aleppo, located some 355 kilometers north of the capital, following fierce skirmishes with foreign-backed Takfiri militants. Informed sources, requesting anonymity, said Syrian forces regained full control of al-Maysar, Joura Awad and Zahra Awad neighborhoods on Saturday. Army units also restored stability and security in al-Jazmati and al-Halwania roundabouts in eastern Aleppo, besides a large section of Karm al-Qaterji district. Elsewhere in the Dara'a al-Balad district of the southwestern city of Dara'a, located about 90 kilometers south of Damascus, Syrian government soldiers struck and destroyed two terrorists' command centers. Scores of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham-affiliated militants were also killed when Syrian artillery units shelled the road linking the towns of al-Nu'aimeh and Um al-Mayazen in Dara'a Province. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syria urges NE Aleppo residents to return home Iran Press TV Sun Dec 4, 2016 6:24AM The Syrian army has called on the displaced residents of liberated districts of northeastern Aleppo to return home as the Syrian forces advance against terrorists on the battlefield in the flashpoint city. The general command of the Syrian army and armed forces made the call in a statement released on Saturday, saying that the state institutions had already begun the rehabilitation of the liberated neighborhoods in the city. Reports say over the past two days, hundreds of Syrian families have returned to the strategic eastern Aleppo district of Masaken Hanano, which was retaken from militants last month. The army has managed to restore security and stability to the area, while authorities are working to provide services and utilities to the locals. On Saturday, at least 10 buses, adorned with pictures of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as well as the Syrian and Russian flags, traveled directly from government-held western Aleppo to recently recaptured areas in the east. It was the first such trip in the past few years. The trip started at the Razi bus stop in central Jamiliyeh neighborhood and ended after 30 minutes in Masaken Hanano. "I haven't been to my house for almost six years," said passenger Hala Hassan Fares, adding, "Our house is totally burned, but we're going to see my father, who is 80 years old." Driver Abdullah al-Ali also expressed his joy over the situation, saying, "I'm so happy for these people going back to check on their homes." The Syrian government forces, who are in full control of western Aleppo, have been conducting operations to purge militants from the city's east. Backed by Russia's air cover, the Syrian army forces and their allies have dealt heavy blows to the militants over the past few weeks. According to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Syrian forces are now exerting control over 60 percent of eastern Aleppo, which was among the first areas that fell to the Takfiri militant groups following the outbreak of foreign-backed militancy in the Arab state over five years ago. Syria defense chief in Aleppo In another development on Saturday, Syria's Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Fahd Jassem al-Freij visited a number of military positions in the areas of Sheikh Saeed, al-Naqarin, western al-Nairab Airport situated in Aleppo and its countryside. Freij met with Syrian soldiers and was briefed by field commanders on gains, anti-terror operations and plans for future measures. He also assured that Syria's fight against terrorism will continue until security and stability are restored all over the country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address At Least 21 Killed As Air Strikes Target Rebel-Held Idlib In Northwestern Syria December 04, 2016 At least 21 people, including at least three children, were killed on December 4 in a series of air strikes on the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, a monitoring group and activists said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens more were wounded in the air strikes that hit the village of Kafranbel. It said the bombings appeared to have been carried out by a Russian warplane. The AFP news agency quoted eyewitness Hossam Hosber as saying "six strikes hit houses and a crowded local market." Idlib is mostly held by a rebel coalition that includes the extremist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as the Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate. The air strikes come amid an ongoing government offensive in a rebel-held area in the northern city of Aleppo. A spokesman for the Syrian military told the Associated Press that the army is offering rebel fighters in besieged eastern Aleppo an opportunity to leave the area. Samir Suleiman was quoted by the news agency as saying that those who choose to stay will face "inevitable death." Suleiman said government forces and allied militias have retaken more than 50 percent of neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo. "We will continue fighting until we restore stability and security to all neighborhoods" of Aleppo, including its historic quarters known as Old Aleppo, Suleiman said. Eastern Aleppo has been under government siege since July, facing severe shortages of food, fuel, and medical supplies. Based on reporting by dpa, AFP, and AP Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/air- strikes-syria-idlib-aleppo- russia/28155195.html Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian Army Liberates Most Part of Helwaniyeh District in Eastern Aleppo Sputnik News 16:57 04.12.2016(updated 17:02 04.12.2016) Syrian government troops continue their operation to liberate Aleppo from militants. DAMASCUS (Sputnik) Syrian Army units are continuing to advance in eastern Aleppo, having liberated most part of the Helwaniyeh neighborhood from militants, a source in local militia told RIA Novosti Sunday. "Following yesterday's success in the Al-Jazmati neighborhood, the army has managed to advance inside the Helwaniyeh district and knock out terrorists from the square and nearby residential compounds. Moreover, we are controlling about half of the highway, which leads to the highway to the international airport in Nayreb [Aleppo International Airport]," the source said. On Saturday, the Syrian Army, backed by local militia, took over another two districts in the eastern Aleppo and is leading the offensive further with the support of local militia, after militants have refused to surrender and leave the city peacefully. Overall, the government forces have by now recaptured almost half of the parts of the city seized by rebels in 2012. Over recent months, Aleppo became major battleground in Syria, engaging government forces, jihadists, and numerous opposition groups. Eastern Aleppo is currently encircled by government troops, and the fighting has affected thousands of civilians still trapped in the city. Previous internationally mediated ceasefires have collapsed as militants continued attacks and opposition failed to expel al-Nusra Front, which is now known as Jabhat Fatah al Sham and outlawed in Russia, from the city. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian Army Regains Full Control Over Al-Tall City in Damascus Province Sputnik News 14:15 04.12.2016(updated 17:01 04.12.2016) The Syrian army regained full control over Al-Tall city in the Damascus province, the Russian Defense Ministry stated on Sunday. "The city of Al-Tall in the Damascus province which had a pre-war population of over 60 thousand, fell under full control of the Syrian Armed Forces," the Russian Defense Ministry said. The area was previously held by the Nusra Front militant group, an al-Qaeda affiliate outlawed as a terrorist organization in many countries, including Syria and Russia. Moreover, over 500 rebels from Jabhat Fatah al Sham (former al-Nusra Front), 1,500 members of their families, have been moved out of the Syrian city of Al-Tall to Idbib. "The opposition militants took advantage of the amnesty, announced by the President of Syria. They stopped fighting and through negotiations expressed the desire to flee [from Al-Tall] to Idlib. Before the departure, they handed the government forces all their heavy weapons, as well as over 200 units of small arms and ammunition," the Russian Defense Ministry said. The disarmament, mediated by the Russian military, was arranged as part of a regional ceasefire. The Syrian government organized rebels' transfer to Idlib aboard 44 buses. Thousands of Syrian rebels have been granted amnesty by the Syrian government in the past week, the Russian Defense Ministry added. "Over 2,500 militants have been granted amnesty in various parts of Syria in the past week," the Ministry's reconciliation center in Hmeymim said. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Monitors Report Dozens Killed in Syrian Airstrikes By Lou Lorscheider December 04, 2016 Syrian monitors say at least 21 people, including several children, were killed Sunday in airstrikes southwest of Aleppo, as Russia-backed Syrian forces press a region-wide offensive against rebels seeking to topple the Damascus government. The tally of wounded was not clear late Sunday, but monitors from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll likely will rise as rescue workers probe the wreckage at a marketplace in the the Idlib provincial town of Kafr Nabl, about 100 kilometers southwest of Aleppo. Monitors also reported government helicopters dropping barrel bombs on a nearby rural town in southern Idlib, and an observatory statement said at least six additional people were killed. Russia announced in November that it was resuming airstrikes in Idlib and Homs provinces in support of the government of President Bashar al-Assad. In Aleppo, meanwhile, heavy fighting was reported Sunday in the city's eastern sector, as government forces and their Russian allies pushed deeper into territory occupied by rebels for the past four years. Monitors reported government fighters seizing two more neighborhoods Sunday, pressing an offensive that gained momentum last week, when government fighters breached the rebel-defended northeast perimeter of eastern Aleppo. Deeper push feared By Saturday, monitors said the government had gained control of about 60 percent of eastern Aleppo, with some analysts predicting the entire sector could revert to government control by the end of the month. Despite those predictions, Syrian rebel commanders in the eastern sector said Saturday they will not surrender to government forces - a pronouncement that increases the likelihood of a major and decisive battle for the eastern sector in the coming weeks. Tens of thousands of civilians are thought to be trapped in eastern Aleppo, despite a huge uptick of refugees fleeing the combat zone since mid-November for the relative safety of government-controlled western neighborhoods. United Nations special envoy Staffan de Mistura, speaking Friday at a humanitarian conference in Rome, said he anticipated a "terrible battle" in Aleppo's east in the near future. "I hope the battle will not take place... that there will be some type of formula" to end the onslaught, he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address What Happens to Millions of Syrian Refugees if Assad Remains in Power? By Jamie Dettmer December 04, 2016 The Syrian conflict has uprooted more than five million Syrians who have fled to neighboring states and Europe to maintain resistance against President Bashar al-Assad or to escape the airstrikes and barrel bombs, as well as fighting in their war-torn country. With the balance of battlefield power swinging possibly irreversibly in favor of the Assad government, they're asking what the future holds for them. Rebel fighters and opposition activists and politicians can only picture a bleak "Syria-less" future for themselves. They and their families face the prospect of long-term exile, they say, arguing they won't ever be able to return as long as Assad remains in power. "What would I demand to go back? Not to be arrested again?" asked Barry Abdulattif, an opposition activist currently based in southern Turkey. He said he wouldn't be able to trust any amnesty offers - if any were made - by a victorious Assad regime. "All the activists I know are of the same opinion," he added. In dozens of interviews VOA has had in the past few weeks with Syrians based outside Syria, those active in the rebel militias or the political opposition and civil society organizations, or who have relatives connected, are the most adamant in saying they won't be able to return to Syria if the five-year-long uprising against Assad fails, as looks increasingly likely. Syrian NGO and relief workers, too, say there's no future for them while Assad is in Damascus or his Baath party is in control. They would risk detention and worse if they returned to territory controlled by Assad, they say. "In my case, if Assad remains in power, I wouldn't be able to visit Assad-controlled areas because I would either be thrown into prison for the rest of my life or would become another name on the international lists of victims and the disappeared," said Mohammad Noor, whose family has been trapped in a northern Syria town still controlled by the Islamic State terror group. His fear of being detained or worse if he returned is hardly unfounded. In May, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group, claimed that more than 60,000 people had been killed through torture or died in dire humanitarian conditions inside Syrian government prisons since the uprising erupted against President Assad. The group said the numbers were obtained from Syrian government sources. And a year ago, Human Rights Watch published a report that backed up the infamous Caesar photographs - a photo cache documenting the deaths in custody of more than 28,000 people who opposed or were suspected of opposing the Assad government. The Caesar photographs, which were smuggled out of Syria, came to public attention in January 2014. Aside from the risks to life and limb, many in the opposition say they couldn't contemplate living in a country ruled by Assad on moral grounds - a conviction that's only deepened with time during a conflict that has seen scorched-earth bombing of rebel-held towns and alleged chemical warfare use. "How could I live in a country ruled by Bashar al-Assad. He's responsible for destroying more than half of Aleppo, killing a half-a-million Syrians and forcing millions of others to flee the country or their homes?" queried an activist who uses the name Khudur. "I can't return and live in a country ruled by a criminal?" he added. Khudur, who has worked also for international relief agencies inside insurgent areas of Syria, is currently studying in a European city, having lost hope Assad can be ousted and deciding he has to get on with his own life. For Bassam al-Kuwaitli, a well known figure in political opposition circles and the managing director of a Syrian-staffed research and marketing firm in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, living in Syria again under Assad would be too bleak a prospect. "With Assad in power, there's no hope of any real change in Syria, and where there is no hope there will be no future," he said. "I can never return," he added. The biggest question for neighboring countries and for European governments who fear another huge migration wave is what will most Syrian refugees decide to do in the event of an Assad victory over the rebels; a prospect brought closer by the dire military position of the insurgents in Aleppo. The governments of neighboring countries had planned for - or at least hoped - that the Syrian refugee crisis would be short-lived and that most of the refugees would return to their homes. It has been only in the past year that the Turks have started begrudgingly to develop plans for what to do with the two million Syrians currently in Turkey. Opinion is divided about whether most will return or stay where they are in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq or further afield. Bassam al-Kuwaitli draws a rough distinction between Syrians linked to the militias and opposition, and 'ordinary' refugees who fled to escape bombing and fighting, or who lost their homes and livelihoods. When it comes to 'ordinary' Syrians, he suspects "most of those in Europe or the U.S. will not return, but those living in camps and refugees in surrounding countries will be more tempted to return due to lack of options." Medya, an opposition activist who's on an Assad government 'wanted list' and can't return, agrees that many ordinary war refugees "may go back, if the shelling and airstrikes stop." Based out of southern Turkey, she adds: "Many of them never understood why we started this in the first place and all that matters for them is the bread they eat and how to get it." But much will depend on two key factors. First, how events unfold in Syria, if Assad does manage to roll up the bulk of rebels forces in Aleppo and the neighboring province of Idlib. And second, on the attitude the neighboring states subsequently adopt to the Syrian refugees. "If the regime survives, then it will become even more sectarian after," suspects Khudur. By this he means the regime, which is dominated by Assad's minority Alawite sect - a Shi'ite offshoot - will be even more discriminatory against Sunni Muslims. Most Syrian refugees are Sunni Muslims. The sectarianism of the regime will determine how many refugees or few of them return, he reckons. Then they won't go back, "unless the host countries start deporting them back," he adds. That may start to happen soon, some refugees and diplomatic observers worry. In Lebanon, 1.5 million Syrian refugees fear what the October election by the Lebanese parliament of Michel Aoun to the country's presidency will mean for them. Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement - a Christian party - is allied with Hezbollah, which is helping to prop up President Assad. Attitudes toward the Syrian refugees have been hardening in Lebanon. In his inaugural speech last month Lebanon's new president vowed to send the Syrian refugees back to their country. "The issue of the Syrian refugees should be resolved as soon as possible," he said, characterizing them as a security threat to Lebanon. Even so, whatever happens in Lebanon, hundreds of thousands and even millions of Syrians will likely remain for the foreseeable future as refugees outside their home country. And the fear among Western diplomats and refugees themselves is that they will end up like hundreds of thousands of Palestinians - a resented and dispossessed Sunni Muslim Diaspora beholden to the begrudging charity of others and increasingly feared as a source of regional instability. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kerry: Syrian Settlement Still Possible, Talks Continue Sputnik News 00:57 05.12.2016 A political settlement for the conflict in Syria is still possible and negotiations with opposition in Aleppo are continuing, US Secretary of State John Kerry said. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) "We are still talking about it. We are still in conversations. It is still possible that we could achieve an understanding," Kerry said while addressing the Saban Forum in Washington on Sunday. The state secretary referred to US contacts with opposition and militants still encircled by Syrian government forces in Aleppo on ending violence in the city and withdrawing Jabhat Fatah al Sham (formerly al-Nusra Front) militants from the opposition-controlled areas. Kerry stressed that the end of the battle for Aleppo would not spell an end of the Syrian conflict and that a political solution via international diplomacy is still necessary. "We are prepared to accept a negotiation in which there is a transition. Assad is part of that transition. Ultimately, there is an election and the people of Syria make a decision about the future leadership of their country," he told the audience. The comments come just hours after the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Syrian army had liberated over half of militant-held areas of Aleppo during the latest week-long offensive in the war-torn city. In late November, Syrian government forces, supported by local militias, launched a large-scale offensive against extremist groups in the eastern part of Aleppo. On Saturday, militants still encircled in the city again refused to seize the government offer of safe passage out of the city and vowed to continue resistance. Over recent months, Aleppo became major battleground in Syria, engaging government forces, jihadists, and numerous opposition groups. Previous internationally mediated ceasefires have collapsed as militants continued attacks and government troops resumes their advance. Russia cited US failure to distinguish between moderate and extremist factions on the ground as the chief reason for the ceasefire collapse. The Al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front is one of many internationally designated terrorist organizations operating in the Arab country. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Report of Tsai-Trump meeting called 'excessive speculation' ROC Central News Agency 2016/12/04 17:19:23 Taipei, Dec. 4 (CNA) Taiwan's Presidential Office has denied that President Tsai Ing-wen () will meet U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in New York during an overseas trip next month, characterizing a report on the prospect of such a meeting as "excessive speculation." The office was commenting on a media report that Tsai could stopover in New York in January on her way to Nicaragua for a state visit. The report claimed on Sunday that efforts are being made to secure a meeting between Tsai and members of Trump's team in New York, including Reince Priebus, who is the president-elect's chief of staff. It also said a meeting between Tsai and Trump would not be ruled out if possible. In response, the Presidential Office called the report on arrangements for Tsai to meet with Trump or members of his team "excessive speculation." The itinerary of state visits made by the president or vice president are always made public as soon as they are confirmed, the Presidential Office said. The speculation came after Tsai and Trump conversed by phone on Dec. 2, the first publicly reported call between a U.S. president or president-elect and a Taiwanese leader since 1979, when Washington switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing. Nicaragua is one of just 22 countries that maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan. China sees Taiwan as part of its territory and has vigorously obstructed any official contacts between Taiwan and other nations. (By Sophia Yeh and Elizabeth Hsu) ENDITEM/AW NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump's 'simple courtesy call' with Tsai was right: ex-U.S. officials ROC Central News Agency 2016/12/04 18:48:23 Washington, Dec. 4 (CNA) It was right for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to take a congratulatory call on Friday from Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen (), another democratically elected leader - a simple courtesy and a fundamental part of real democracy, two former U.S. officials said on Sunday. Trump was just doing what he said in the presidential campaign: being open to talking to foreign leaders who want good relations with the United States, Stephen Yates and Christian Whiton wrote in an article on the Fox News website. Trump and Tsai briefly talked about economic, political and security-related ties between the two countries and Trump congratulated Tsai on her victory in elections earlier this year - a milestone because Tsai is the first woman leader in Asia who isn't the daughter or wife of a former leader, Yates and Whiton said. Tsai's victory also marked the third shift in power from one party to another in Taiwan - a symbol of a mature democracy and further proof that democracy can work in ethnic Chinese communities, they said in "Why Trump was right to talk with Taiwan's president." Beijing and the Washington foreign policy establishment thought they could tell Trump whom he can and cannot speak with on the phone, but they were wrong, said Yates and Whiton. Beijing is mad not only at Trump taking a call from Tsai, but also at the fact that he referred to Tsai as the "president of Taiwan" in a tweet, said Yates and Whiton. However, the foreign policy establishment and some media were even more incensed than Beijing; and the fact that a simple courtesy call caused so much trepidation and genuflection to past protocol shows how absurd U.S-China policy has become, added Yates and Whiton. Yates and Whiton said if a little courtesy call and a little truth about Taiwan really threatens peace in the Pacific as some experts contend, then Americans need to reevaluate their policy and come up with something better. Trump, president-elect until January 20, has got off to a good start by ignoring the experts who have led Americans astray, they said. Yates, a deputy national security advisor to former vice president Dick Cheney, plans to visit Taiwan next week and could meet with Tsai. Yates, who is a member of Trump's transition team and worked as a missionary in Kaohsiung for two years in the late 1980s, was one of those responsible for including the "Six Assurances" given to Taiwan by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1982 and the Taiwan Relations Act in the Republic Party's platform at its national convention in July. (By Rita Cheng and Kuo Chung-han) Enditem/AW / NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Tsai-Trump phone not indication of policy shift: ex-U.S. official ROC Central News Agency 2016/12/04 13:55:22 Washington, Dec. 3 (CNA) A former deputy spokesman for the U.S. Department of State, Alan D. Romberg, has called a phone conversation between President Tsai Ing-wen () and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump a success as long as it did not signal a shift in U.S. policy. "Assuming that this phone call was not a signal of a shift away from the U.S. policy that has successfully worked for several decades to allow strong U.S. ties with Taiwan without disrupting U.S-PRC (People's Republic of China) relations," said Romberg, currently a distinguished fellow and director of the East Asia program at the Stimson Center, on Saturday. He also said the call "won't have lasting effect," and that Beijing's limited response was probably based on an understanding "that at this early date Trump is not deeply familiar with the nuances of the policy or the sensitivity of the issue." In other words, the response was confined to a protest and cautionary words about the dangers of departing from the "one China" policy, Romberg said, commenting on the "historic" phone conversation, which was the first publicly reported call between a U.S. president or president-elect and a Taiwanese leader since 1979, when Washington switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing. The conversation, which took place on Dec. 2 and lasted for a little over 10 minutes, sparked debate and speculation as to the foreign policy of a Trump administration. Romberg said if he was wrong in his assumption and Trump is intent on changing the fundamentals of U.S. Taiwan policy, "then U.S-PRC relations could face very rocky times ahead." But he predicted that situation is highly unlikely. "Trump has already indicated he wants constructive relations with Beijing. So while he will doubtless want to maintain and even strengthen practical relations with Taiwan, it would be surprising if he intended to embark on a major, and fraught, departure from long-standing policy," the expert in Asia affairs said. Romberg has had a career working on Asian-related issues, including 27 years in the State Department, before joining in September 2000 Stimson, a Washington D.C-based nonpartisan policy research center. During his time at the State Department, Romberg served as principal deputy director of policy planning staff, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for public affairs and deputy spokesman. (By Tony Liao and Elizabeth Hsu) ENDITEM/ AW NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump's VP defends his talks with Taiwan president Iran Press TV Sun Dec 4, 2016 9:52PM US Vice President-elect Mike Pence defends Donald Trump's phone conversation with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, which drew criticism from China. Pence appeared on NBC on Sunday, saying the Friday conversation with the Asian president was just a "courtesy call." The former Indiana governor asserted that the future president also talked with Chinese President Xi Jinping "in the same manner." "I think I would just say to our counterparts in China that this was a moment of courtesy. The president-elect talked to President Xi two weeks ago in the same manner that was not a discussion about policy. We're going to be prepared, after January 20th to advance what will be President Trump's agenda on the world stage and will deal with policy at that time," said the vice president-elect. The telephone conversation prompted a response from Beijing on Saturday, saying the contact was a "ploy by the Taiwan side." Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its own territory awaiting reunification with China and any move implying independence for the island would anger Chinese leaders. According to Trump's office, the US president-elect and Tsai underlined "the close economic, political and security ties" between Taiwan and the US in their talks. Washington cut formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979 and recognizes Beijing as the sole government of "One China". The 10-minute telephone call was the first by a US leader since former president Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China. Washington remains Taiwan's most important political ally and sole arms supplier. China and Taiwan are physically separated by the Taiwan Strait in the Western Pacific Ocean. They split politically following the 1927-1950 Chinese Civil War and there have been no formal cross-strait diplomatic relations ever since. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump's Phone Talk With Taiwan Leader 'Courtesy Call' - Vice President-Elect Sputnik News 18:01 04.12.2016(updated 18:23 04.12.2016) Vice President-elect Mike Pence described a phone talk between Donald Trump and the Taiwan leader as "a courtesy call". MOSCOW (Sputnik) US President-elect Donald Trump's call with Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen was merely a formal demonstration of courtesy, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said on Sunday. "That was nothing more than taking a courtesy call and congratulations from the democratically elected leader of Taiwan," Pence told ABC News. Washington will deal with its policy toward China and Taiwan after January 20, he said, answering a question on whether the Trump administration would continue the "One China" approach. Trump spoke with Tsai on Friday in a move that broke with the White House's four-decade-long policy on what Beijing considers its breakaway province. Trump emphasized in a tweet the talks were not his initiative and added that President Tsai congratulated him on his November 8 victory. After Chinese Nationalist forces were defeated by Mao Zedong's Communists, the Nationalist government moved to Taiwan in 1949. Since then, Beijing has viewed the self-ruled, democratic island as a breakaway province. The United States, along with many other countries, does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation and sticks officially to a "One China" position, but has kept informal relations with the island after severing diplomatic ties with it in 1979. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump Team Downplays Taiwan Phone Call By Michael Bowman December 04, 2016 Donald Trump's team downplayed the significance of the president-elect's telephone conversation with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, with which the United States has had no formal diplomatic ties since 1979. "This was a courtesy call," said Vice President-elect Mike Pence Sunday on ABC's This Week program. "It's a little mystifying to me that President Obama can reach out to a murdering dictator in Cuba in the last year and be hailed as a hero for doing it, and President-elect Donald Trump takes a courtesy call from the democratically-elected leader in Taiwan and it's become something of a controversy." Trump's tweet on Friday announcing a telephone conversation with President Tsai stoked questions as to whether he intends to alter America's longstanding acknowledgement of Beijing's "One China" policy that precludes any official recognition of Taiwan. But, while saying the controversy is overblown, Pence did not dispute that Trump intends a more assertive U.S. posture towards China on trade and other matters. "He's going to fight for American jobs, and we're going to stop losing to China and other countries," the vice president-elect said. Trump was blunt about China during the campaign. "We have a $500 billion trade deficit with China," Trump said in May while seeking the Republican presidential nomination. "We can't continue to allow China to rape our country, and that's what they are doing. It's the greatest theft in the history of the world." So far, China is conveying a restrained response to the Trump-Tsai phone call. "It was just a stunt by Taiwan," said Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi. "It will not change the international bedrock of the One China policy. It will not change the One China policy that the United States has adhered to for years." Despite no formal ties, the United States and Taiwan have cooperated on military matters for decades. Whether Trump intends to expand the boundaries of that relationship as part of his promise to get tougher with China likely will remain a mystery until he assumes office next month. No U.S. president or president-elect had such contact with a Taiwanese leader since Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing. In the 1979 U.S.-China Joint Communique, the U.S. recognized Beijing as the sole legal government of China, acknowledging the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China. Chinese state media said that Trump's "inexperience" led him to accept the call, but warned that breaching the one-China policy would "destroy" relations between Washington and Beijing. Trump seemed bemused by the reaction to the call, saying on his Twitter account, "Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call." Over China's objections, U.S. President Barack Obama a year ago authorized a $1.83 billion sale of defensive weapons to Taiwan, including two frigates, amphibious assault vehicles, and anti-aircraft and anti-ship systems. Ken Bredemeier contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Alan Burkitt-Gray speaks to Don MacNeil, chief operating officer of GTT, about its company restructuring after coming out of Chapter 11 and its strategic roadmap for the next 12 months. Danvilles new community development director doesnt plan to bring any big changes to the department. Im not here to do radical changes, said Ken Gillie during an interview at his office Friday. I want to continue to work on the projects weve been working on. Those endeavors include the future of Schoolfield both the former textile manufacturing site and the nearby neighborhood and spurring development north of the Dan River near the River District. Its time to look at the north side of the river, Gillie said, who added that he would like to see more recreational activities and redevelopment along the riverfront, including restaurants and homes with views of the river. Id like to see us capture and use the riverfront more, Gillie added. Other areas Gillie would like to focus on include improving the gateways into Danville, especially the West Main Street corridor coming from Greensboro, North Carolina. Gillie wants to see a study conducted on that corridors needs, looking at the road network and the businesses needs there. We have some vacant buildings, he said. If theyve been vacant for a while, why have they been vacant for a while? The area also faces challenges because of the railroad tracks there, Gillie added. Experience with the city Gillie began working in his new position Thursday and will oversee the departments housing, inspections and planning and zoning divisions. He replaced Earl Reynolds Jr., who became deputy city manager on July 1. Gillie served as the citys zoning administrator and division director of planning for 17 years and will make $96,000 per year as director of community development. He will oversee 25 employees. The city selected Gillie from among 60 applicants who responded to a national recruitment. Ive worked with him for 5 or 6 years, Reynolds said Friday. Im pleased that he got the position. City Manager Ken Larking praised Gillie in a prepared statement Tuesday. Kenny will do a great job for Danville at a time when we really need someone with his experience and knowledge of the city to lead the department, Larking said. Kennys No. 1 assignment will be to work with me and other department directors to develop and implement strategies to grow this city. The Community Development Department is responsible for promoting new development and redevelopment of property and protecting the health, safety and welfare of the citizens through use of zoning, housing programs and property maintenance and building codes. Gillie joined the city government in 1992 as an associate planner. He also worked as a development coordinator before going to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to serve as planning, zoning and codes manager. He returned to Danville in 1999 as director of planning. The Pittsburgh native said he missed Danville during his 14 months in Carlisle. Also, the winter there was harsh, and he wanted to experience Danvilles weather again, he said. I missed the staff, Gillie said. Danville has a great staff. More changes proposed Danvilles Community Development Department could also use a technological update, with more electronic data storage and less paper, he said. The city could also update its code and be more business friendly, he said. Technology changes faster than government, Gillie added. Our regulations dont necessarily keep up with the times, he said. For example, there have been changes in signs, including electronic signs and message boards, he said. The city needs to look at its sign code, Gillie said. The way people conduct business has changed. The citys regulations for parking were adopted in 2004, but car sizes have changed since then, he added. Also, fewer people go to brick-and-mortar businesses to shop and more are buying items online, Gillie said. Not as many parking spaces are needed and parking lots show fewer and fewer cars, except during the Christmas season, he said. Do you need to pave that much space? he said, adding that there could be more green spaces instead. Gillie holds a masters degree in geography from the University of Akron in Ohio, and a bachelors degree in geography from the California University of Pennsylvania in California, Pennsylvania. He is a member of the American Planning Association, Virginia Citizens Planning Association and Virginia Association of Zoning Officials. Crane reports for the Danville Register & Bee. Robert F. Horan Jr., who secured a murder conviction of D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo during his four-decade tenure as the top prosecutor in Virginias largest county, died on Friday at his home in Clifton, Virginia. He was 90. His wife, Monica Horan, said the cause of her husband's death wasnt immediately determined. Horan served as Fairfax County Commonwealths Attorney for 40 years before retiring in 2007. Malvo was 17 when he and John Allen Muhammad shot and killed 10 people in the Washington area over a three-week span in October 2002. Malvo was sentenced to life in prison without parole after a jury convicted him of capital murder but declined to impose the death penalty. The top executive at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., Tony Thompson, will leave the company at years end, officials confirmed Thursday. Employees told the Winston-Salem Journal they were informed Wednesday of Thompsons pending departure after 2 1/2 years as chief executive and president. It appears Thompson, 49, will leave Krispy Kreme with a golden-parachute package worth $6.09 million, according to a June 27 regulatory filing. Krispy Kreme spokeswoman Sarah Roof said the company does not comment on company compensation practices. Roof said Mike Tattersfield, the companys chairman, will take over as chief executive on Jan. 1 while keeping his chief executive duties with Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bagels. According to a Krispy Kreme regulatory filing, Tattersfield also played a key negotiating role for JAB Holdings Inc., whose JAB Beech Inc. subsidiary closed on its $1.35 billion purchase of Krispy Kreme on July 27, taking the company private. JAB Holdings has controlling interest in Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bagels. JAB officials couldnt be reached for comment on Thompsons departure. Roofs comments appear to be the first public notification that Jim Morgan no longer serves as non-executive chairman, a role he took in January 2015 after serving as executive chairman since 2005. Roof did not respond when asked about Morgans status with Krispy Kreme. The company, since being taken private, does not include a list of its leadership team on its website. Impressive turnaround Under the leadership of Morgan, who at one time ran the company as chairman, chief executive and president, Krispy Kreme made a remarkable turnaround that includes being profitable the past seven years and re-establishing itself as a major global competitor. Thompson was among the top four Krispy Kreme executives whose potential golden-parachute compensation packages were disclosed in the regulatory filing. All four executives joined the company within 21/2 years of the sale. The packages were approved by the board of directors, as well as by shareholders on an advisory basis at the special meeting held to approve the sale. Thompson was eligible for $3.31 million in cash and stock valued at $2.78 million. The cash part includes $3 million in salary compensation, along with a prorated bonus of $312,500 and COBRA insurance compensation of $19,149. Thompson started his job with a three-year contract and a $725,000 annual base salary. The executives would get the cash and stock compensation only if they were terminated without cause or such individual resigned with good reason within two years of the company being sold. Tony Plath, a finance professor at UNC Charlotte, said Thompsons golden-parachute package represents too much money for too little service in a company Krispy Kremes size. Whoever wrote the compensation contracts for Krispy Kremes corporate-level management team must have known that they were creating huge financial incentives for senior managers to leave the company in the wake of a takeover, Plath said. All these guys need to do is think up a good reason to tender their resignation, and they have two years to get creative and conjure up that reason. Other compensation Krispy Kreme went public to great fanfare in April 2000. It was a Wall Street darling for several years before legal, regulatory, financial and franchisee challenges under former chief executive Scott Livengood threatened its existence between 2004 and 2009. Thompson represents the eighth major change to the management team since February 2013. Another top-four executive, Price Cooper IV, was confirmed on Sept. 9 as having left his job as chief financial officer. Krispy Kreme said at the time that Cooper left on his own accord. Cooper had been in the chief financial officer job just 17 months when he left. According to the June 27 filing, He was eligible for up to $1.44 million in cash and stock valued at $2.28 million. Daniel Beem, who took over as the president of the companys international division in February 2014, is the top official remaining from before the sale to JAB Beech. Beem would be eligible for $1.2 million in cash and stock valued at $635,068. Thomas Kuharcik, who became senior vice president for supply chain operations in August 2015, would be eligible for $1.13 million in cash and stock valued at $772,821. These payments always look extravagant to the average worker, but they are intended to motivate risk-taking that will improve the financial picture of the company, said Michael Walden, an economics professor at N.C. State University. Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi, an economics professor at Winston-Salem State University, said that it is not unheard of for top corporate talent to leave after a company has been taken private by private equity investors. Indeed, it is quite likely that this move is in line with desires by the new owners to achieve a change in priorities so as to raise profitability in light of the transfer of ownership, Madjd-Sadjadi said. MAZATLAN, MEXICO--(Marketwired - Dec 5, 2016) - DynaResource de Mexico SA de C.V. ("DynaMexico"), the 100% owner of the San Jose de Gracia High Grade Gold Project, located in the County of Mazatlan, Sinaloa Mexico ("SJG", and the "SJG Project"), announces that on October 5, 2016, the Thirty-Sixth Civil Court of the Superior Court of Justice of the Federal District of Mexico (Tribunal Superior de Justicia del Distrito Federal) approved a Lien (referred to by the court as an "Embargo"), in favor of DynaMexico, upon Stock Certificates in the name of Goldgroup Resources Inc. ("Goldgroup"). The Stock Certificates subject to the lien ("Embargo") constitute Shares of DynaMexico (the "Oct. 5, 2016 Lien against "the Goldgroup DynaMexico Shares"). The Goldgroup DynaMexico Shares were seized as a partial recovery of assets by DynaMexico after DynaMexico was awarded more than $ 48 M USD (Forty-Eight Million Dollars) in damages against Goldgroup (the "Damages against Goldgroup") on October 05, 2015, as described in a Sentencia Definitiva (the "Definitive Sentence") issued by the same court, the Thirty Sixth Civil Court of the Superior Court of Justice of the Federal District of Mexico, File number 1120/2014. In addition to the Damages against Goldgroup, the Definitive Sentence also included additional Resolutions ordered in favor of DynaMexico (the Damages against Goldgroup and the additional Resolutions are together referred to as the "Oct. 5, 2015 Resolution"). The Oct. 5, 2016 Lien against the Goldgroup DynaMexico Shares and the Oct. 5, 2015 Resolution affect the two shareholders of DynaMexico, which at the time of the Oct. 5, 2015 Resolution were: (1) DynaResource Inc. (OTCQB: DYNR); which held 80% of the outstanding share capital of DynaMexico; and (2) Goldgroup Resources Inc., which held 20% of the outstanding share capital of DynaMexico. Goldgroup Resources Inc. is reported to be a 100% owned subsidiary of Goldgroup Mining Inc. (GGA.TO). A concise translation to English of the resolution portion of the Definitive Sentence, including the elements of the award of Damages against Goldgroup, is set forth below: FIRST: The action and litigation based on commercial law filed by DynaMexico is valid and enforceable, and where Goldgroup and the American Arbitration Association were found to be in default, was proper. SECOND: Goldgroup is declared in breach of its Corporate duties, for failure to refrain from claiming direct ownership of 50% of the San Jose de Gracia Mining Project. THIRD: Goldgroup is condemned and ordered to pay to DynaMexico the amount of USD $20,000,000 (Twenty Million Dollars USD) in damages caused by Goldgroup to DynaMexico, deriving from its breach of obligations in refraining from claiming direct ownership of 50% of the San Jose de Gracia Mining Project; which amount should be paid within five days upon execution of this order and resolution. FOURTH: Goldgroup is condemned and ordered to pay to DynaMexico the amount of USD $28,280,808.34 (Twenty Eight Million Two Hundred and Eighty Thousand Eight Hundred and Eight and 34/100 Dollars), for breach of its corporate duty and covenants with regards to the San Jose de Gracia mining project, as a result of depriving profits from DynaMexico which DynaMexico could have earned for the sale of gold produced and extracted during the years 2013 and 2014; amounts that should be paid within five days upon execution of this order and resolution. FIFTH: Goldgroup is condemned and ordered to pay losses and damages to DynaMexico, which damages Goldgroup continues to cause, until full payment of the above-mentioned amounts has been made, which damages and losses shall be calculated by an expert opinion in a corresponding legal procedure related to this litigation. SIXTH: Pursuant to Article 1424 of the Commercial Code of Mexico, the arbitration provision established under clause 8.16 of the Earn In/Option Agreement, dated as of September 1, 2006, is ineffective and impossible to execute. SEVENTH: This Court declares that any controversy arising from the Earn In/Option Agreement must be brought and resolved under Mexican Law and by competent Mexican Courts with proper jurisdiction, in recognition of the waiver and exclusion of the arbitration clause (contained in the Earn In/Option Agreement) by both parties. EIGHTH: This Court declares that the American Arbitration Association must abstain from hearing arbitration procedure number 50 501 T 00226 14, or any other ongoing and/or future arbitration filed by the defendant Goldgroup against DynaResource. NINTH: This Court declares that the American Arbitration Association does not have jurisdiction to hear any conflict and/or interpretation arising from the Earn In/Option Agreement, dated September 1, 2006. TENTH: This Court declares that the American Arbitration Association does not have jurisdiction to hear disputes arising between shareholders of DynaMexico, which disputes do not arise directly and immediately from the Earn In/Option Agreement, dated September 1, 2006. ELEVENTH: This Court declares that the American Arbitration Association does not have jurisdiction to hear any matters where Koy Wilber Diepholz, who is the President of the Board of Directors of DynaMexico, and has been personally sued in relation to the arbitration clause established under clause 8.16 of the Earn In/Option Agreement, dated September 1, 2006, since he signed the mentioned instrument in representation of the Company and not in his personal capacity. TWELFTH: The expenses and costs associated with these proceedings are hereby waived. THIRTEENTH: LET IT SO BE PUBLISHED. Copy of this Order and Sentence shall be found in the corresponding record. ORDERED, adjudged and decreed by the Thirty Sixth Civil Judge of the Superior Court of the Federal District, Mr. JULIO GABRIEL IGLESIAS GOMEZ. *** Background / Legal Proceedings Culminating in the Definitive Sentence DynaMexico's Filing of Legal Demand On December 23, 2014, DynaMexico filed an Original Petition and Legal Demand (the "Demand against Goldgroup") in the Thirty Sixth Civil Court of the Superior Court of Justice of the Federal District of Mexico (Tribunal Superior de Justicia del Distrito Federal), as File number 1120/2014 against Defendants Goldgroup Mining Inc., Goldgroup Resources Inc., and certain individuals acting in concert with the two Goldgroup companies (collectively "Goldgroup"). The Demand against Goldgroup complained that Goldgroup has: Wrongfully used property, confidential information and data belonging to DynaMexico; and, Consistently failed to disclose, or has disclosed inaccurately, several matters of material importance to the public. The Demand against Goldgroup sought to: declare as invalid the AAA Arbitration proceedings filed by Goldgroup in Denver, Colorado, or to nullify such proceedings; And, requested damages be awarded DynaMexico from and against Goldgroup for: Using and disseminating confidential information belonging to DynaMexico; Asserting that Goldgroup owns any direct interest in the SJG Project, rather than owning a common share equity (shareholder's) interest in DynaMexico; Improperly disclosing the percentage of interest owned by Goldgroup in DynaMexico; Improperly disclosing or implying that Goldgroup is the operator of the SJG Project; Attempting to delay, stop, or otherwise impair the financing and further development of the SJG Project; Making numerous threats against management of DynaMexico; Failing to properly disclose that broad powers of attorney enabling the holder thereof to act exclusively on behalf of DynaMexico are held by an individual who is not affiliated with Goldgroup. DynaMexico believed the filing of the Demand against Goldgroup to be necessary to protect the SJG Project, DynaMexico's interests, and to seek retribution and damages caused by Goldgroup. San Jose de Gracia ("SJG") The San Jose de Gracia District, currently covering an area of 69,121 Hectares, is 100% owned by DynaResource de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. ("DynaMexico"). More than one million ounces gold was reportedly produced from the SJG District in the early 1900's, originating from high grade gold veins, including approximately 470,000 Oz. gold reportedly produced from the La Purisima area of SJG at an average gold grade of 66.7 g/t. In June 2010, the SJG Project was recognized by the State of Sinaloa as the most significant Gold Project in the State for the year 2010. National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") Technical Report for DynaMexico - SJG On March 28, 2012 DynaMexico issued a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant Technical Report for the San Jose de Gracia Project (the "2012 DynaMexico Luna-CAM SJG Technical Report", the "Technical Report"), and approved by DynaMexico, the 100% owner of SJG. The 2012 DynaMexico Luna-CAM SJG Technical Report was prepared by Mr. Ramon Luna, BS, P.Geo., of Servicios y Proyectos Mineros, Hermosillo, Mexico and a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101; and by Mr. Robert Sandefur, BS, MSc, P.E., a senior reserve analyst for Chlumsky, Armbrust & Meyer LLC, Lakewood, CO., and a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101. The 2012 DynaMexico Luna-CAM SJG Technical Report includes as Section Fourteen (14) a Mineral Resource Estimate for SJG as prepared by Mr. Sandefur (the "2012 DynaMexico-CAM SJG 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate", and, the "Mineral Resource Estimate"). On December 31, 2012, DynaMexico issued an updated NI 43-101 compliant ("NI 43-101") Technical Report for the San Jose de Gracia Project (the "Updated 2012 DynaMexico Luna-CAM SJG Technical Report", and the "Updated Technical Report"). The Updated Technical Report was approved by DynaMexico, and filed with SEDAR on December 31, 2012. National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") Mineral Resource Estimate for SJG The 2012 DynaMexico-CAM SJG Mineral Resource Estimate concentrates on four separate main vein systems at SJG: Tres Amigos, San Pablo, La Union, and La Purisima. The Mineral Resource Estimate includes the following Resources: "Indicated Resources": Tres Amigos; 893,000 tonnes with an average grade of 4.46 g/t, totaling 128,000 Oz. Au; And, San Pablo; 1,308,000 tonnes with an average grade of 6.52 g/t, totaling 274,000 Oz. Au.; "Inferred Resources": 3,953,000 tonnes in aggregate for the four main vein systems, with an average grade of 5.83 g/t, totaling 741,000 Oz. Au. The Effective Date of the 2012 DynaMexico Luna-CAM SJG Technical Reports and including the 2012 DynaMexico-CAM SJG 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate is February 6, 2012. The Mineral Resource Estimate is reported using a 2.0 g/t cut-off grade for underground mining. As of the Effective Date of the Technical Reports and Mineral Resource Estimate, there is no preliminary economic assessment report or feasibility study completed for SJG so the precise cutoff grade for underground mining has not yet been determined. On behalf of the Board of Directors, K.D. DIEPHOLZ; DynaResource de Mexico, SA de CV.; Presidente IMPORTANT CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING CANADIAN DISCLOSURE STANDARDS The Company has Shareholders who are "OTC Reporting Issuer" as that term is defined in Multilateral Instrument 51-509, Issuers Quoted in the U.S. Over-the-Counter Markets, promulgated by various Canadian provincial Securities Commissions. Accordingly, certain disclosure in this news release or other disclosure provided by the Company has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of United States securities laws. In Canada, an issuer is required to provide technical information with respect to mineralization, including reserves and resources, if any, on its mineral exploration properties in accordance with Canadian requirements, which differ significantly from the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") applicable to registration statements and reports filed by United States companies pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. As such, information contained in this news release or other disclosure provided by the Company concerning descriptions of mineralization under Canadian standards may not be comparable to similar information made public by United States companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC and not subject to Canadian securities legislation. This news release or other disclosure provided by the Company may use the terms "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources". While these terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations (under National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects), the SEC does not recognize them. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all, of the mineral deposits in these categories, will ever be converted to reserves. In addition, "inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian securities legislation, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, although they may form, in certain circumstances, the basis of a "preliminary economic assessment" as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that part or all, of an inferred mineral resource, exists, or is economically or legally mineable. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This News release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27 A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Certain information contained in this news release, including any information relating to future financial or operating performance may be deemed "forward-looking". All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that DynaMexico expects to occur, are "forward-looking information". These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the Company's expectations regarding the future growth, results of operations, business prospects and opportunities of DynaMexico. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current internal projections, expectations or beliefs and are based on information currently available to DynaMexico. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology. Certain assumptions have been made regarding the Company's plans at the San Jose de Gracia property. Many of these assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of DynaMexico and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct. Such factors include, without limitation: capital requirements, fluctuations in the international currency markets and in the rates of exchange of the currencies of the United States and Mexico; price volatility in the spot and forward markets for commodities; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, between actual and estimated reserves and resources and between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries; changes in national and local governments in any country which DynaMexico currently or may in the future carry on business; taxation; controls; regulations and political or economic developments in the countries in which DynaMexico does or may carry on business; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits, diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; competition; loss of key employees; additional funding requirements; actual results of current exploration or reclamation activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; accidents; labor disputes; defective title to mineral claims or property or contests over claims to mineral properties. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and gold bullion losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks) as well as those risks referenced in the Annual Report for DynaMexico available at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and actual results and future events could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information. All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is qualified by these cautionary statements. Although DynaMexico believes that the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on reasonable assumptions, readers cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with such statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking information. DynaMexico expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, events, or otherwise. /NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR RELEASE OR DISSEMINATION DIRECTLY, OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES/ VANCOUVER, Dec. 5, 2016 /CNW/ - Marlin Gold Mining Ltd. (TSX-V: MLN) ("Marlin" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an operating update from its wholly owned La Trinidad mine in Sinaloa, Mexico ("La Trinidad"). Since September 15th, when Marlin began consistently mining the high grade HS Zone, the Company has stacked 41,029 ounces of gold with 21,567 coming in November alone. The tonnes stacked in November had an average grade of approximately 5.26 grams per tonne. In addition, Marlin has built up an over 75,000-tonne stockpile of mineralized material at similar grades waiting to be crushed and stacked onto the leach pad. The recoveries of gold from the leach pad have increased by approximately 33% since the end of last month, from 210 ounces per day to 279 ounces per day. Importantly, our current leach curves are confirming the SRK Consulting estimates of 75% with no apparent leach inefficiencies (please see the news release on November 2, 2016 for important technical disclosures about projected leach pad recoveries). Gold shipments in November reached a new monthly record at 6,247 ounces and are expected to continue increasing as daily recoveries increase. Total costs per ounce are expected to be below US$400 for November (based on total costs of US$2.25-2.5 million per month), and going forward, costs per ounce should track materially lower as gold shipments increase. Since September 15th, Marlin has crushed or stockpiled one tonne of mineralized material for each 2.54 tonnes of waste mined. We expect this ratio to remain at this level or lower for the foreseeable future. A drill contractor is now at site to follow up on the high-grade blast-hole assays from the negative two level bench and below in the north side pit wall. A 12-hole drill program will help quantify how much mineralization exists to the north, which will determine whether a north side layback is warranted. The tables below highlight key statistics at the crusher and leach pad year to date. January February (1) March April May June Tonnes Crushed (2) 51,553 0 16,662 22,006 85,058 95,653 Average Crushed Grade (3) 0.63 0.00 0.53 0.51 0.77 0.67 Gold Stacked (4) 1,044 0 281 361 2,097 2,045 Daily Recovered Gold (5) 31 17 12 11 33 29 July August September October November Tonnes Crushed (2) 37,186 17,074 25,690 130,660 127,557 Average Crushed Grade (3) 0.75 0.82 1.80 4.30 5.26 Gold Stacked (4) 893 450 1,484 18,052 21,567 Daily Recovered Gold (5) 29 14 14 210 279 (1) Lack of activity due to mining contractor transition. (2) Metric tonnes processed by three-stages of crushing and agglomeration. Adjusted for moisture content. (3) Average grams per tonne gold sampled at the crusher. (4) Troy ounces of gold stacked onto the leach pad. (5) Daily recovery of troy ounces of gold from the leach pad at month end. La Trinidad Operating Update December 2016 Conference Call and Webcast The Company's senior management will host a conference call on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 at 10:00 AM (E.S.T.) to discuss the Company's operating results for the month of November. Via Webcast: A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available using the following link http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/dca8ebw7 or on a link hosted on the Company's website at www.marlingold.com. Via Telephone: For those preferring to listen by telephone, please dial 1-213-358-0878 or toll-free 1-844-348-1683, access code 28956823. To ensure your participation, please call approximately ten minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call. Replay Archive: Please dial 1-404-537-3406 or toll-free 1-855-859-2056, access code 28956823. The conference call replay will expire on December 13, 2016. The webcast, along with presentation slides, will be archived for 180 days on the Company's website. About Marlin Gold Marlin is a publicly-traded gold and silver mining company with properties located in Sinaloa, Mexico and Arizona, USA. Marlin's priority is to advance its properties toward commercial production and enhance shareholder value through the growth of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sailfish Royalty Corp. The La Trinidad property in Sinaloa, Mexico, declared commercial production on November 1, 2014. A NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment for the La Trinidad mine and Commonwealth project can be found at www.sedar.com or at www.marlingold.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary statement regarding forward?looking information This news release contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by words such as the following: expects, plans, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates, projects, assumes, potential and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements also include reference to events or conditions that will, would, may, could or should occur, including, without limitation, the intended use of proceeds. These forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while based on management's expectations and considered reasonable at the time they are made, are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: the risk that the anticipated effects of the equity financing may not result in the outcomes predicted by management, uncertainties related to raising sufficient financing to fund planned work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; changes in planned work resulting from logistical, technical or other factors; the possibility that results of work will not fulfill projections/expectations and realize the perceived potential of the Company's projects; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results and other tests and the estimation of gold resources; risk of accidents, equipment breakdowns and labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions; the possibility of environmental issues at the Company's projects; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in work programs; the need to obtain permits and comply with environmental laws and regulations and other government requirements; fluctuations in the price of gold and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's current Annual Information Form filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this release. Unless required by law, Marlin has no intention to and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR RELEASE OR DISSEMINATION DIRECTLY, OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES SOURCE Marlin Gold Mining Ltd. TSXV: NEV VANCOUVER, Dec. 5, 2016 /CNW/ - Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp. ("Nevada Sunrise" or the "Company") (TSXV: NEV) and its exploration partner, Advantage Lithium Corp. ("Advantage Lithium") (TSXV: AAL) are pleased to announce lithium-bearing brines have been intersected in the second borehole of the 2016 drilling program at the Clayton Northeast lithium brine project in the Clayton Valley, Nevada ("Clayton NE", or the "Project"). This follows successful results from the first borehole (see Nevada Sunrise news release dated Nov 1, 2016). Clayton NE borders the Silver Peak mine operated by Albemarle Corporation ("Albemarle") (NYSE: ALB), North America's only producing lithium mine. Of particular note, hole CNE-16-02, has intersected multiple aquifer formations, including 188.9 metres of brine-producing strata averaging 164.2 parts per million ("ppm") lithium from a depth of 207.3 to 396.2 metres, including a higher grade interval averaging 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7 metres. Hole CNE-16-03, which is still in progress, has also encountered strong brines ranging up to 138,000 ppm total dissolved solids ("TDS"), with analyses to follow. In addition, an additional 80 acres of contiguous land was staked in November 2016 to the southwest at Clayton NE, bringing the total land package to 1,080 acres (437 hectares) "Our second borehole at Clayton NE has exceeded expectations," said Warren Stanyer, President and CEO of Nevada Sunrise. "The brines have a higher average lithium content and stronger flow rates, which we believe are strong indicators that we are intercepting the known lithium-bearing aquifers in the Clayton Valley." Highlights of the 2016 Drilling Program All three holes have intersected mineralized brine: 1 st and 2 nd holes have encountered lithium-rich brines and 3 rd hole (still in progress) has encountered brines with analyses to follow. and 2 holes have encountered lithium-rich brines and 3 hole (still in progress) has encountered brines with analyses to follow. 3.43 kilometre (2.13 miles) mineralized brine trend: Holes CNE-16-01 and CNE-16-02, both with significant intervals of mineralized lithium brines, are located 3.43 kilometres apart. Intervals up to 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7 metres: Lithium brines intercepted by 2nd drill hole at Clayton NE, CNE-16-02, have returned intervals up to 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7 metres (286.5 to 396.2 metres), including peak values up to 227 ppm lithium over a 6.1 metre section (304.8 to 310.9 metres). These values are comparable to Albemarle's brine samples from their Silver Peak mining operation immediately adjacent to Clayton NE, and are in line with results from the first hole drilled at Clayton NE, CNE-16-01. More results to come: Hole CNE-16-03 has encountered brine measuring up to 138,000 ppm TDS and is still in progress. Analyses from holes CNE-16-01 and CNE-16-02 have shown that a relationship of TDS to lithium grade indicates a direct correlation between higher lithium values and higher strength brine. Strong brine flows: Brine flows of up to 120 gallons per minute issued from borehole CNE-16-02 between 304.8 to 396.2 metres (1,000 and 1,300 feet). Geochemical analysis shows this zone carries significant lithium concentrations. High brine flows are important for economic production. Clayton NE land package increased: Five new claims totaling 80 acres were staked in November 2016, increasing the overall land package to 1,080 acres (437 hectares). Drill Hole Technical Details CNE-16-01 CNE16-01 was completed to a depth of 518.2 metres (1,700 feet), intersecting the base of the Clayton Valley salar sedimentary basin at 506 metres. Drilling has intersected typical Clayton Valley strata consisting of alternating layers of gravel, volcanic ash and clay. A total of 27 grab groundwater samples were collected as brine-bearing formations were encountered. Table 1 presents a compiled summary of the depths of the aquifer systems with brine interval thickness and associated average lithium grades and TDS concentrations. Anomalous lithium results were obtained from brine formations intermittently intersected over a 331.3 metre section (from 168.6 to 499.9 metres) within the Main Ash, Lower Aquifer System, and Lower Gravel Aquifer systems. The highest grade results were obtained in the Lower Aquifer System with peaks up to 218 ppm lithium (224.0 to 227.1 metres), while the widest intervals were reported in the deeper Lower Gravel Aquifer System, including a 103.7 metre wide interval (from 396.2 to 499.9 metres) averaging 134.8 ppm lithium. In addition, drill cuttings were collected for each 1.5 metre interval and have been submitted for analysis. Analytical results for the drill cuttings are pending. Table 1: Results of Brine Samples for CNE-16-01 Drill Hole Aquifer System Interval Total Dissolved Solids ("TDS") ppm Lithium Range (ppm) Lithium Average Grade (ppm) From (metres) To (metres) Width (metres) CNE-16-01 Main Ash 168.6 170.1 1.5 68,000 94.3 94.3 Lower Aquifer System A 224.0 243.8 19.8 110,000 195 to 218 209.7 Lower Aquifer System B 326.1 365.8 39.7 130,000 to 140,000 174 to 189 181.5 Lower Gravel Aquifer 396.2 499.9 103.7 35,000 to 190,000 72.4 to 234 134.8 including 457.2 481.6 24.4 58,000 to 190,000 72.4 to 234 187.5 CNE-16-02 CNE-16-02 was collared approximately 3.43 kilometres (2.13 miles) northeast of CNE-16-01. The hole was terminated within a massive clay formation within the Clayton Valley salar sedimentary basin at a depth of 426.7 metres (1,400 feet). As was observed in hole CNE-16-01, drilling intersected typical Clayton Valley strata consisting of alternating layers of gravel, volcanic ash and clay. A total of 32 grab groundwater samples were collected as brine-bearing formations were encountered. Table 2 presents a compiled summary of the depths of the aquifer systems with brine interval thickness and associated average lithium grades and TDS concentrations. Anomalous lithium results were obtained from a 188.9 metre-wide brine-bearing formation intersected from 207.2 to 396.2 metres within the Lower Aquifer System. This 188.9 metre interval averaged 164.2 ppm lithium, including a higher grade interval averaging 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7 metres (286.5 metres to 396.2 metres) and was associated with strong brine flows of up to 120 gallons per minute between 304.8 to 396.2 metres. In addition, drill cuttings were collected for each 6.1 metre interval and have been submitted for analysis. Analytical results for the drill cuttings are pending. Table 2: Results of Brine Samples for CNE-16-02 Drill Hole Aquifer System Interval Total Dissolved Solids ("TDS") ppm Lithium Range (ppm) Lithium Average Grade (ppm) From (metres) To (metres) Width (metres) CNE-16-02 Main Ash 190.5 199.6 9.1 No Water Lower Aquifer System 207.3 396.2 188.9 50,000 to 380,000 72.4 to 228 164.2 including 286.5 396.2 109.7 140,000 to 380,000 51 to 227 202.8 CNE-16-03 Hole CNE-16-03, collared approximately 670.6 metres northeast from hole CNE-16-01, is currently in progress at a depth of approximately 274.3 metres (900 feet). This borehole has also encountered strong brines ranging up to 138,000 ppm TDS, as measured by a field instrument. Regarding Sample Analysis Groundwater samples were sent to Western Environmental Testing Laboratory in Reno, Nevada for analysis. General chemistry testing included analysis for specific gravity, total hardness and alkalinity, bicarbonate, carbonate, hydroxide, TDS and electrical conductivity. Anions (chloride, sulfate) were analyzed by ion chromatography. Trace metals (lithium, magnesium, boron, calcium, potassium and sodium) were analyzed by ICP-OES. TDS values obtained in the field are measured with a handheld YSI Model 556 Multiparameter Meter, which meets Good Laboratory Practice (as proscribed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) for calibration and measurement. All depth measurements reported, including sample and interval widths are down-hole. As holes are oriented vertical and geologic stratigraphy is primarily horizontal to sub-horizontal, downhole measurements are assumed to be close to true thickness. About the Program The 2016 exploration drilling program includes three vertical oriented conventional dual-tube reverse circulation drill holes totaling approximately 1,500 metres (approximately 4,920 feet), focussed on lithium brine targets close to the Silver Peak mine border and several of Albemarle's production wells. Analyses from Clayton NE drill holes have shown a relationship of TDS to lithium grade indicating a correlation between higher lithium values and higher strength brine. The lithium results from the first two boreholes of the 2016 drilling program are generally comparable to Albemarle's brine samples from Silver Peak mine production wells as reported to the State of Nevada for the period 2011-2015, which range from 98 ppm to 340 ppm lithium. Robert M. Allender, Jr., CPG, RG, SME is the Company's designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained herein. About Clayton NE Consists of 55 unpatented claims totaling approximately 1,080 acres (437 hectares); Clayton NE is subject to an option earn-in agreement where Advantage Lithium can earn up to a 70% interest in the Project after fulfilling CDN$3.0 million in exploration expenditures on a package of five lithium properties optioned from Nevada Sunrise (for further details, see Nevada Sunrise news release dated June 20, 2016); Nevada Sunrise is the project manager at Clayton NE on behalf of Advantage Lithium, the operator. Water Rights Update On November 30, 2016, Nevada Sunrise learned that the State Engineer's office of the Nevada Division of Water Resources ("NDWR") has issued a ruling of forfeiture against the Company's water rights in the Clayton Valley citing a lack of beneficial use for a period of five years. Nevada Sunrise has recently received evidence of water use that the NDWR requires, which will be presented during the appeal process. The Company intends to file the appeal before December 29, 2016. For further information about the Company's exploration properties and its Clayton Valley water rights, please access the Nevada Sunrise website at: http://www.nevadasunrise.ca/projects/nevadalithium/ About Nevada Sunrise Nevada Sunrise is a junior mineral exploration company with a strong technical team based in Vancouver, BC, Canada, that holds interests in nine mineral exploration projects in the State of Nevada, USA. Nevada Sunrise began acquisitions of Nevada lithium properties in September 2015, which include options to earn a 75% interest in the Neptune project (Resolve Ventures Inc. (TSXV: RSV) owns a 25% interest), a 100% interest in the Clayton Northeast project, and a 100% interest in the Aquarius Project, all located in the Clayton Valley area. The Company also holds options to earn 100% interests in the Jackson Wash and Atlantis projects, and has a 50% participating interest in the Gemini project, each located in playas proximal to the Clayton Valley. The Company has recently optioned five of the Nevada lithium projects to Advantage Lithium Corp. (TSXV: AAL), and the Atlantis project is currently under option to American Lithium Corp. (TSXV: LI). The Company's three key gold assets include a 21% interest in a joint venture with Pilot Gold Inc. (TSX: PLG) at Kinsley Mountain near Wendover, a 100% interest in the Golden Arrow project near Tonopah, and an option to earn a 100% interest in the Roulette gold property in the southeastern Carlin trend near Ely, with each of the properties subject to certain production royalties. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp. ("Nevada Sunrise") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, including statements that address the properties transaction with Advantage Lithium Corp., the successful transfer of Place of Use and Point of Diversion of water rights, proposed exploration and development of our exploration properties and the estimation of mineral resources. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intends", "believe", "potential", and similar expressions, or describes a "goal", or variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "should", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievement of Nevada Sunrise to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, risks related to the interpretation of historical exploration and actual results of current exploration by Nevada Sunrise at its lithium properties; reliance on technical information provided by third parties on any of our exploration properties, including access to historical information on its lithium properties; current exploration and development activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; current economic conditions; future prices of commodities; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the failure of contracted parties to perform; labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals, financing or in the completion of exploration, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for the Nine Months ended June 30, 2016, which is available under Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although Nevada Sunrise has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Nevada Sunrise disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and accordingly are subject to change after such date. Except as otherwise indicated by Nevada Sunrise, these statements do not reflect the potential impact of any non-recurring or other special items or of any dispositions, monetizations, mergers, acquisitions, other business combinations or other transactions that may be announced or that may occur after the date hereof. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans and allowing investors and others to get a better understanding of our operating environment. Nevada Sunrise does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are included in this document, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this release. The Securities of Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp. have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to the account or benefit of any U.S. person. SOURCE Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Dec 5, 2016) - Coro Mining Corp. ("Coro" or the "Company") (TSX:COP) is pleased to provide an update on the operations of its 65% owned subsidiary, SCM Berta ("SCMB"); the progress of the Marimaca project; and the acquisition of Minera Rayrock. SCMB SCMB owns the Berta copper deposit, the Nora SXEW processing plant, and has an option to acquire 100% of the nearby Salvadora exploration project. SCMB operates in the III region of northern Chile, near the town of Diego de Almagro. Since early 2016, the Nora plant has been treating material from a variety of dumps from the surrounding district, but as of August, it has been exclusively processing material derived from test mining of high grade material selectively mined from shallow pits at the Berta deposit itself. As such, the operation has not yet reached commercial production, with delays in receiving operating permits for the Berta site contributing to its inability to do so. These are finally expected to be received early in Q1 2017 and SCMB will now proceed to install crushing and leaching facilities at the Berta site. This will enable concentrated pregnant leach solution ("PLS") to be trucked to Nora which will be expanded to 5ktpy cathode capacity. The installation should be completed by March 2017. Marimaca Coro is earning a 75% interest in the Marimaca project located 22km E of the port of Mejillones in the II Region of Chile, for which exciting drill results were released by the Company earlier this year (see our website www.coromining.com for details). The initial Marimaca NI 43-101 resource estimate is being completed by NCL Ingenieria y Construccion SA in Santiago and is expected to be released in January 2017. Minera Rayrock On August 4, 2016, we announced that we had signed a non-binding Letter of Intent ("LOI") to acquire Minera Rayrock Ltda ("Rayrock"), a Chilean subsidiary of Compania Minera Milpo S.A.A. Rayrock is the owner of the Ivan 10ktpy Cu capacity SXEW plant located some 18km south of Marimaca and its purchase will enable us to accelerate the project's development and production. The total purchase price is $6.5m of which $0.25m was paid to ensure exclusivity. The Company has now completed its due diligence on Rayrock and anticipates closing the transaction in due course. Alan Stephens, President and CEO of Coro commented, "We are looking forward to finally getting Berta up to full production of 5ktpy copper in cathode as planned and with luck, see this coincide with continued stronger copper prices. Once this has been done, SCMB will focus on advancing the Salvadora project with a view to potentially further increasing its production. Importantly, the acquisition of Rayrock and the release of our resource estimate for Marimaca will initiate the development of Marimaca as our second copper cathode producing operation." Alan Stephens, FIMMM, President and CEO, of Coro Mining Corp., a geologist with more than 40 years of experience, and a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101, is responsible for the contents of this news release. CORO MINING CORP. Alan Stephens, President and CEO About Coro Mining Corp.: Coro's strategy is to grow a mining business through the discovery, development and operation of "Coro type" deposits. These are defined as projects at whatever stage of development, that are well located with respect to infrastructure and water, which have low permitting risk, and which have the potential to achieve a short and cost effective timeline to production. Our preference is for open pit heap leach copper projects, where we will seek to minimise capital investment rather than maximise NPV, where we will prioritise profitability over production rate, and finally, where the likely capital cost is financeable relative to our market capitalization. The Company's assets include its 65% interest in SCM Berta including the Berta and Salvadora deposits; the Marimaca drill stage project; the Planta Prat project; the Llancahue prospect; and a royalty on the San Jorge copper-gold project located in Argentina. This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements or information, include but are not limited to those with respect to the geological potential and size of Marimaca, the installation of facilities and the closing of agreements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are beyond Coro's ability to predict or control and may cause Coro's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any of its future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, the operation of the Nora Plant, copper price volatility, and changes in debt and equity markets. Such forward-looking statements are also based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time with the securities regulators in the Provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Coro undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements contained herein whether as a result of new information or future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. OTTAWA, Dec. 5, 2016 /CNW/ - Northern Shield Resources Inc. ("Northern Shield" or the "Company") [TSXV: NRN] is pleased to announce South32 has confirmed its commitment to fund at least C$1.3 million of exploration expenditures at Huckleberry in 2017 in accordance with the Option and Joint Venture Agreement signed between the two parties in 2016. "The 2016 exploration and drill program provided vital information which enhanced our geological understanding of the Huckleberry Complex and provided a possible vector to mineralization. We look forward to getting back on the ground with South32 next year," says Northern Shield President and CEO, Ian Bliss. Northern Shield Resources Inc. is a Canadian-based company focused on exploring for platinum group element ("PGE") and nickel-copper-PGE deposits. It is known as a leader in grass roots exploration for Ni-Cu-PGEs and the understanding of magmatic systems as it applies to exploration. Forward-Looking Statements Advisory Forward-Looking Statements Advisory This news release contains statements concerning the exploration plans, results and potential Cu-Ni-PGE and other mineralization at the Company's southern Labrador Trough properties, geological, and geometrical analyses of the southern Labrador Trough properties and comparisons of the properties to known Cu-Ni-PGE deposits, and other expectations, including 2017 exploration and drilling plans, goals, objectives, assumptions, information or statements about future events conditions, results of exploration or performance that may constitute forward-looking statements or information under applicable securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements or information are based on a number of assumptions, which may prove to be incorrect. Although Northern Shield believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward looking statements because Northern Shield can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements or information are based on current expectations, estimates and projections that involve a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by Northern Shield and described in the forward looking statements or information. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks associated with geological, geometrical and geophysical interpretation and analysis, the ability of Northern Shield to obtain financing, equipment, supplies and qualified personnel necessary to carry on exploration and the general risks and uncertainties involved in mineral exploration and analysis. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and Northern Shield undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Northern Shield Resources Inc. Compania de Minas Buenaventura S.A.A. (Buenaventura) (NYSE: BVN; Lima Stock Exchange: BUE.LM), Perus largest publicly traded precious metals mining company, today announced that in the interest of the Companys best practices of corporate governance, its Board of Directors has decided to separate the Chairman and CEO roles, as it was mentioned during the last conference call (October 27, 2016). Thereby, the Board has accepted the resignation of Mr. Roque Benavides (62) as the Company's Chief Executive Officer, effective January 2, 2017. Mr. Benavides will remain as Chairman of the Board of Buenaventura and continue collaborating with the company. The Board of Directors appointed Mr Victor Gobitz (52) as the new Chief Executive Officer of Buenaventura, effective January 02, 2017. During his twenty five-year career in the mining industry, Mr. Victor Gobitz has held senior leadership positions with industry-leading mining companies in Peru, Chile, Brazil and Canada. He was COO of Sociedad Minera El Brocal and is well known in our organization. He has served as CEO of Compania Minera Milpo and other mining companies. Mr. Gobitz has a degree in Mining Engineering by the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, received an MBA from the Escuela de Administracion de Negocios (Universidad ESAN) and he has executive education from Wharton and Kellogg business schools. "Separating again the role of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer for Buenaventura is consistent with our Companys efforts to ensure we maintain the best practices of corporate governance throughout our organization. I have thoroughly enjoyed my years as executive of Buenaventura and appreciate the support from our Board, shareholders, employees and business partners. I have tremendous respect for Victor; under his leadership we will continue working towards excellence with considerable mining industry experience. I am confident that our management team is highly motivated to build upon our success in the years ahead. I will continue as Chairman of the Board supporting the new CEO and the generational transition that this appointment represents." said Mr. Benavides. Company Description Compania de Minas Buenaventura S.A.A. is Perus largest, publicly traded precious metals Company and a major holder of mining rights in Peru. The Company is engaged in the mining, processing, development and exploration of gold and silver and other metals via wholly owned mines, as well as through its participation in joint exploration projects. Buenaventura currently operates several mines in Peru (Orcopampa*, Uchucchacua*, Mallay*, Julcani*, El Brocal (61.29%), La Zanja (53.06%) and Coimolache (40.10%) and is developing the wholly owned Tambomayo Project. The Company owns 43.65% of Minera Yanacocha S.R.L (a partnership with Newmont Mining Corp.), an important precious metal producer and 19.58% of Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde, an important Peruvian copper producer. For a printed version of the Companys 2015 Form 20-F, please contact the persons indicated above, or download a PDF format file from the Companys web site. (*) Operations wholly owned by Buenaventura Note on Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking information (as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) that involve risks and uncertainties, including those concerning the Companys, Yanacochas and Cerro Verdes costs and expenses, results of exploration, the continued improving efficiency of operations, prevailing market prices of gold, silver, copper and other metals mined, the success of joint ventures, estimates of future explorations, development and production, subsidiaries plans for capital expenditures, estimates of reserves and Peruvian political, economic, social and legal developments. These forward-looking statements reflect the Companys view with respect to the Companys, Yanacochas and Cerro Verdes future financial performance. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors discussed elsewhere in this Press Release. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161205005765/en/ Contact Contacts in Lima Carlos Galvez, Chief Financial Officer Tel (511) 419 2540 or Daniel Dominguez, Manager of Financial Planning and Investor Relations Tel (511) 419 2591 daniel.dominguez@buenaventura.pe or Rodrigo Echecopar, Investor Relations Coordinator Tel (511) 419 2609 rodrigo.echecopar@buenaventura.pe or Contacts in New York Maria Barona - Rafael Borja i-advize Corporate Communications Tel (212) 406 3691 - 3693 Teachers and staff in the Hillsboro School District will have to come up with something a little extra creative this year if they want to decorate their rooms for the holidays. That's because, according to a memo sent to staff and shared by KATU, Santa Claus is off the decoration menu."You may still decorate your door or office if you like," reads the memo, "but we ask that you be respectful and sensitive to the diverse perspectives and beliefs of our community and refrain from using religious-themed decorations or images like Santa Claus."The memo isn't unexpected. KATU said they found that Portland Public Schools, Beaverton School District, North Clackamas School District, and Oregon City School District all said they all have similar guidelines.Beth Graser, communications director for Hillsboro School District, told KATU, "It really went out as a notification to staff, not even parents, just to make sure they are being sensitive and thoughtful as they enter the holiday season."Some parents are not happy about the lack of Santa in the classroom. "If you're going to put a giant cross on the window that's one thing, but I think Santa Claus is more folklore and American history than a religious symbol at this point," Jason Ramirez told the station.Santa Claus, for those who don't know (if you're a child maybe stop reading this sentence) is a mythical character that evolved from stories of a monk named St. Nicholas.In a statement Wednesday, the district clarified their earlier statements saying, "we were not banning Santa, nor were we going to police decorations in our buildings unless they were blatantly over the top."When asked if it was okay to decorate a classroom with Santa Claus, Graser responded, "I think the issue is more nuanced than that, which is exactly why we don't have a directive or policy in place on this topic. I would say it would not be preferred to have Santa and only Santa or only Christmas-related imagery up in a class just for the sake of decorating for the holidays, because that's not overly inclusive. However, if a class is studying Santa Claus as a symbol of American tradition or as a cultural icon, I could certainly see where there might be a display up in the class of the varying images of Santa over time, for example." On Friday, in the morning, at Government House, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC and Mrs Kaye de Jersey hosted a morning tea in support of Autism Queensland where the Governor addressed guests and presented the 2016 Creative Futures Recognition Awards. In the afternoon, at Santos Place, Brisbane, the Governor attended the Northbank Chambers Christmas Drinks for past and present members of Chambers. On Saturday, in the morning, at St Johns Anglican Cathedral, Brisbane, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC attended the Annual Service of Ordination of Priests and Deacons of the Diocese of Brisbane. In the evening, at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, the Governor and Mrs Kaye de Jersey attended the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation Christmas Celebration GOMA Turns 10 where His Excellency addressed guests. Description GIS - 05 December, 2016: The Police (Membership of Trade Union) Bill which gives right to any Police Officer to unionise was presented by the Prime Minister, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, on 29th November 2016 in the National Assembly and voted with amendments. The Bill provides for members of the Police Force to be a member of a trade union or association of employees, having as object the control or influence of the pay, pensions, or conditions of service of Police Officers. In his second reading, the Prime Minister recalled that the unionisation of the Police officers is indeed a great leap forward for this Government which he said is once again, living up to its promises as announced in the Government Programme 2015-2019, that Police would be allowed to syndicate. Sir Anerood Jugnauth further expressed his conviction that the unionisation of the Police will play a pivotal co-ordination role in the promotion of constructive dialogue between Police Officers and Police management for the training and development of Police Officers and the general improvement of conditions of service within the Force. He also dwelt on the importance of Police unions and the need for Police Officers to be unionised which he said are now an increasingly prominent feature of the modern police organisation. He therefore appealed to the Police Officers to use the tool put at their disposal in a responsible manner to build a new image for the Police Force. According to him, Police unions are accepted in most western democratic countries and, in most cases, have as major objective the promotion of welfare of the officers, the enhancement of their working conditions and environment as well as improvement in their professional efficiency. The Prime Minister also emphasised that through the Bill, the Government wants to ensure that the Police Force is provided with the necessary tools and facilities, and above all, a conducive working environment where all Police Officers can perform their duties with diligence and serenity. The Police (Membership of Trade Union) Bill was voted on 29 November 2016 with several major amendments brought to both the Employment Relations Act and the Police Act. Among the main amendments: Employment Relations Act Amendment to the Act to include the Police Force along with a new subsection to provide that a trade union of Police Officers shall not amalgamate with another trade union, except with another trade union of Police Officers; two new subsections are being included to provide that a trade union of Police Officers shall not join with any other trade union to form a federation, except with another trade union of Police Officers; and a federation of Police shall not join any other federation to form a confederation, except with another federation of Police Officers which will consist of two or more trade unions; and the Act relating to the right to strike is being amended so that no member of the Mauritius Police shall have the right to strike under any circumstance. The Police Act the Act which prohibits Police Officers to be members of a union and which also provides for the establishment of a Police Federation is being repealed; and section 25(3)(g) which includes the Police Federation as being one of the areas, amongst others, where the Commissioner of Police may make regulations is being repealed. It will be recalled that regarding the Police Force, regulations were made before under the Police Act since 1974 for the setting up of a Police Federation as a platform through which Police Officers could express their views on matters pertaining to their welfare and efficiency. The Police Federation Regulations 1974 were replaced in 2004 by new Regulations in order to broaden the scope of the Police Federation. The aim was to create a congenial forum where Police Officers could meet and discuss issues relevant to their welfare and working conditions and at the same time giving Officers of lower ranks the opportunity to apprise the top management of problems that they are facing at their workplace. (TNS) -- Businesses and neighborhoods along Central Avenue could soon be getting high-speed internet service at an affordable price, thanks to a fiber optic line the city is installing from Louisiana to Coors as part of the Albuquerque Rapid Transit project.The city included the fiber line in its contract with HDR, the engineering firm managing ART construction. The fiber line will cost less than half what it would as a separate project, because ART contractors are already ripping up streets and digging ditches where the line will be installed, said Peter Ambs, the citys chief information officer.Albuquerque is paying $1 million for the line, using city bond money approved by voters in 2013. Had the fiber been laid separately from ART, it could have cost about $243,000 per mile, or a total of about $2.5 million, according to estimates by CTC Technology and Energy, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm contracted by HDR.Installation will run parallel to the ART construction timeline, allowing the fiber to come online as rapid transit service begins in late 2017, Ambs said.The city will own the fiber infrastructure. But it will provide open access for community broadband and internet service providers to hook up businesses, institutions and neighborhoods to the system. That could allow those providers to offer broadband access to end users at lower costs than what is available today, Ambs said.Well provide open access to the fiber backbone, making it available to any and all community groups and internet providers to offer broadband services to constituents along Central Avenue and adjoining neighborhoods, Ambs said. This can help them provide internet services at lower costs because the core foundation will already be installed.In addition, the project will connect the emerging Innovation District along Central Avenue, the University of New Mexico and the citys own networks together into a high-speed platform that could significantly advance research, development and deployment of next-generation smart city initiatives and potentially entice more private sector investment Downtown.Its all part of our revitalization efforts along Central Avenue, Mayor Richard Berry told the Journal. Its a digital backbone for connecting our citizens with public services online and connecting businesses along Central to high-speed internet. It can be a catalyst for investment.The fiber line will help facilitate plans for new digital services and infrastructure, such as smart LED street lighting, mobile pay and ticketing for ART users and smart parking meters, Berry said.The new fiber line will immediately offer huge broadband capacity, plus ability for easy upgrades in the future, Ambs said. The line itself includes 288 strands of fiber.With just a pair of fiber strands, you can provide gigabits of capability, so with 288 strands, its almost unlimited what you can do with it, Ambs said.The piping that holds the fiber has four separate tubes, with the current line occupying just one of those tubes. That means more fiber can be pulled through the other tubes as needed to increase capacity in the future without ripping up the streets again.We want to see the Google fiber-type service that exists in other cities become available here, with gigabit speeds at about $79 per month and 100 megabits at $49, Ambs said.Ricardo Aguilar, founder and CEO of the cloud-based computer, storage and network infrastructure provider Seamlus LLC, said the new fiber line could significantly improve the availability of affordable broadband by making the market more competitive for more internet service providers.It will provide the infrastructure needed for smaller guys to tap into and start bringing down costs, Aguilar said. It could allow them to better compete with the bigger players by offering more affordable services. That will give our citizens and our universities and research institutions better access to high-speed internet. (TNS) -- A fleet of eight micro-satellites launch this month from Cape Canaveral to investigate an atmospheric mystery as old as the sea and sky.With core technologies the size of a loaf of bread and weighing just 64 pounds each, the innovative Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System will belt the Earth between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn to monitor hurricane hot spots.The convoy of mini-satellites uses GPS to measure wind speeds at the warm surface core of tropical cyclones where ocean meets air. Its a region shrouded from even the most advanced radar technologies by rain drops, but believed to be critical in predicting cyclone intensity, girth and potential storm surge.And unlike the 6,280-pound behemoth GOES-R weather spacecraft that was successfully launched Nov. 19 from the Cape, the minis will spread out around the globe providing full-time coverage of all the tropics all the time.This isnt the first set of micro-satellites, but this is the vanguard of new satellites, its the beginning, said Christine Bonniksen, NASAs program executive for the system, dubbed CYGNSS. These smaller satellites, with all the advances in technology, are becoming much more capable and can provide more frequent readings.The project is the first space-based system selected for funding by NASAs Earth Venture Program, which focuses on lower-cost, science-driven missions that can be rapidly developed.About $155 million was awarded for CYGNSS, which includes $102 million to principal investigator Chris Ruf, a professor in the University of Michigans Department of Climate and Space Sciences, and $53 million for the Pegasus rocket. Because the satellites are so light, they can all launch on one rocket.The launch is scheduled for Dec. 12 at 8:05 a.m.This has not been done before on a satellite, said Chris Landsea, science and operations officer at the National Hurricane Center. Its experimental and very intriguing with the promise that it may help us quite a bit.While forecasting the path of a hurricane has improved 50 percent over the past 15 years, forecasting storm intensity has lagged.James Franklin, chief of the National Hurricane Centers hurricane specialist unit, said the error rates for intensity were basically flat between 1990 and 2010. Theyve since fallen, and Franklin said there appears to have been about a 20 percent improvement in intensity errors the past 5 to 7 years.Still, Octobers Hurricane Matthew caught forecasters off guard when it intensified by 80 mph in 24 hours to become a dangerous Category 5 hurricane with 160 mph winds.Part of the challenge in forecasting intensity is penetrating the hurricane eyewall to gather information about a storms inner core and the critical interactions happening in a slice of atmosphere just above the surface of the sea where the strongest winds are found.Frank Marsik, an associate research scientist with University of Michigans Department of Climate and Space Sciences, said wind speeds are currently measured by satellites with radar scatterometers that emit microwave pulses toward the oceans surface and measure the subsequent backscattered signals.The idea is a calm ocean will reflect very little microwave emissions back to the satellite, while wind-whipped waves will reflect more, helping forecasters determine wind strength.But the signals break apart in the intense rainfall typically found at the eye of a hurricane.CYGNSS will use already available GPS signals from existing satellites that are transmitted all day all over the globe and at a lower frequency than the scatterometers.As a result, the GPS signals can penetrate through the intense tropical rainfall associated with a hurricane eyewall, allowing the CYGNSS team to probe the inner core of hurricanes for the first time, Marsik said. This is critical, as improved forecasts of hurricane intensity (wind speed) will also lead to improvements in the forecast of the storm surge associated with land-falling hurricanes.Between 1963 and 2012, 49 percent of tropical cyclone deaths were storm surge related.Data from the micro-satellites should be streaming in by the beginning of the 2017 hurricane season, but it may be another year before hurricane center meteorologists decide how to incorporate it into their forecasts.This will allow us to get the same readings the (hurricane hunter) planes get but all the way down to the surface of the ocean, Bonniksen said. And we will gather that information from the minute that the storm starts gathering all the way until it dissipates. Nico Rosberg says he wants to remain connected to F1 following his shock decision to quit Mercedes and retire. The new world champion stunned F1 and the German outfit to such an extent that Mercedes' team chairman Niki Lauda said a silver-clad comeback for the 31-year-old in the future is now "impossible". But Rosberg is not ruling out remaining engaged with the pinnacle of motor sport. "The sport is my passion and I think the best sport in the world," he is quoted by DPA news agency. "And so I am sure I will be involved in some way." But Rosberg said he has no intention of thinking about what involvement he might have at the moment. "First of all I will have a huge holiday," he said. "We have not booked a return flight." (GMM) Red Bull and its drivers have distanced themselves from Nico Rosberg's seismic decision to leave Mercedes and F1. Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo are among F1's top drivers and therefore speculatively linked with the top seat alongside Lewis Hamilton for 2017. But Verstappen told De Telegraaf newspaper: "I will be driving again next year for Red Bull. "I have an ongoing contract and I am confident that I will get a car with which I can battle with Mercedes," the 19-year-old added. His father, Jos, also commented: "We're fine where we are now", while Verstappen's manager Raymond Vermeulen said: "We keep our (contractual) commitments". Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told a similar story, insisting to the Sunday Mirror that both Verstappen and Ricciardo are "on long-term contracts". And Ricciardo was quoted by Tuttosport as saying Rosberg's successor will get "an amazing Christmas present, but it won't be me". Finally, Jos Verstappen said he "understands" Rosberg's decision to quit as a 31-year-old reigning champion. "He has always lived for one goal and now he's achieved it," said the former F1 driver. "On the other hand, Max's goal is also to become world champion, but preferably several times." (GMM) Unlike conventional automatic guided vehicle systems for transporting parts, which often require the installation of rails or extensive use of magnetic tape, this system does not need any special infrastructure to operate. This new project, which utilizes mapping and communication technologies to link an intelligent and all-electric car to infrastructure, is a step towards the realization of Nissan Intelligent Integration, a component of Nissans Intelligent Mobility vision. Nissan Motor has introduced Intelligent Vehicle Towing (IVT), a fully automated vehicle towing system, at its Oppama Plant. The IVT system uses a modified Nissan LEAF autonomously to tow trollies carrying finished vehicles between designated loading and unloading points at the plant. The towing car is equipped with an array of cameras and laser scanners that detect lane markings, curbs and potential obstacles or hazards around the vehicle. By cross-referencing this information with map data, the towing car calculates its own location, negotiating the route to its destination unaided. The towing car travels within the speed limits of the factory, and automatically stops if it detects an obstacle or hazard ahead, before setting off again when it has determined that the road ahead is clear. The towing route can easily be altered to accommodate changes in production processes or vehicle transport routes. All driverless towing cars are connected to a central traffic control system, which can monitor the location, driving speed, remaining battery and operational status of each vehicle. When two driverless towing cars meet at an intersection, the control systems algorithm determines which car should be given right-of-way, and in case of emergency, the system can stop the vehicles remotely. The Oppama Plants existing logistics system requires finished vehicles to be transported from the end of the production line to the facilitys dedicated wharf by a team of drivers, at which point they are loaded onto ships. Introducing IVT will allow Nissan to improve production efficiency. Since trial operations of the system began roughly a year ago, more than 1,600 test runs have been carried out at the plant. The data acquired has been utilized to ensure that the system can operate reliably within the plants premises. A safety system and a fail-safe system have been developed to counter potential risks or unexpected conditions the IVT system may face during autonomous driving, including adverse weather and low light conditions. Nissan will continue to test the system at its Oppama Plant, and will examine the possibility of implementation at other manufacturing facilities both in and outside Japan. Nissan has been developing autonomous driving technology for decades. In August, the company launched ProPILOT (earlier post), an award-winning single-lane autonomous driving technology for highway use. IVT further showcases Nissans holistic approach to mobility, expanding the advantages of driverless technologies beyond personal usage. Royal IHC has launched DEMEs 3,500 m 3 -hopper LNG-powered trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) Minerva at its shipyard in Kinderdijk, The Netherlands. The official name giving and christening ceremony will take place in the spring of 2017 in Zeebrugge, Belgium. A TSHD is used for dredging loose and soft soils such as sand, gravel, silt or clay. The ship lowers a suction tube equipped with a drag head on the seabed, and the drag head is trailed over the bottom. A pump system sucks up a mixture of sand or soil and water, and discharges it in the hopper of the vessel. Once fully loaded, the vessel sails to the unloading site. Minerva supports a dredging depth of up to 30m. The launch of this vessel is an important milestone for the dredging industry. IHC had already started to investigate the integration of LNG into dredging vessels in 2012, enabling us to understand the challenges of this green solution. This gave us a solid basis to work from when DEME started its tender process, and helped us to materialize DEMEs preliminary design for two LNG-powered TSHDs. We are proud to have made a huge step forward in dredger design and to be able to limit the environmental impact of DEMEs vessels. We want to thank DEME for their close cooperation and for giving us the opportunity to build the worlds first LNG-powered hopper dredger. IHCs Executive Director Shipbuilding, Arjan Klijnsoon The dual-fuel (diesel and LNG) dredger has a Green Passport and a Clean Design notation, complying and exceeding with the strictest international emission requirements. The availability of the vessel has also been increased since it meets the requirements for the extended dry-docking system. Ships under this special program get a maximum dry-dock interval of 7.5 years (instead of 5 years) by replacing certain dry-dockings with in-water surveys. In addition, RNG use could be much higher if the LCFS credits were combined with US federal RIN credits (Renewable Identification Number, part of the Renewable Fuels Standard, RFS), the study found. Given the appropriate policy and market measures, the states RNG production potential is 90.6 bcf/yr ( 750 million gasoline gallons). The main barriers to large-scale RNG use are the states high cost of pipeline interconnect and the cost of upgrading to pipeline standards. A study by a team from UC Davis for the California Air Resources Board (ARB) has found that the state could produce 14 bcf (billion cubic feet) per year of renewable natural gas (RNG) (biomethane) by the 2020s, meeting roughly 85% of current natural gas use in transport California at LCFS (Low Carbon Fuel Standard) credits of $120 per metric ton of CO 2 . RNG is produced from organic materials or waste streams; the lifecycle emissions for RNG have the potential to be lower than the emissions of fossil natural gas. There are multiple potential technology pathways for capturing RNG, each with different economics, including landfill gas to energy (KGTE); anaerobic digestion (AD), wet (dairy waste) and dry (food waste); and gasification, standard and plasma. The possible development of Californias renewable natural gas resources comes at a time when the traditional fossil fuels natural gas industry is expanding its supply and infrastructure into the transportation sector. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling stations for heavy trucks now exist in over a dozen locations around the state of California and continue to expand. California represents about 71% of US LNG truck refueling facilities and about 200,000 gallons/day of LNG were trucked into California in the mid-2000s. California has the potential to produce approximately 90.6 billion cubic feet (bcf) per year (750 million gasoline gallon equivalents (gge) per year) of renewable natural gas from dairy, landfill, municipal solid waste, and wastewater treatment plant sources. Final Draft Report on The Feasibility of Renewable Natural Gas as a Large-Scale, Low Carbon Substitute The team from the STEPS (Sustainable Transport Energy Pathways) Program, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis, produced cost curves for California RNG using technical estimates of resource availability and technology performance. They incorporated those cost curves into a spatial model by determining the quantity of renewable natural gas that could be supplied under different competitive landscapes. They first considered scenarios that begin in 2013 at commodity natural gas prices of roughly $3.00/mmBTU and extended over a decade or two into the future when the competing fuel is fossil natural gas at prices available in the natural gas futures and derivatives market. Those derivatives prices generally ranged from $2.80 per mmBTU and $4.15 mmBTU over the modeling period. (All costs and prices in the model are in 2015 constant dollars.) The calculations considered the most commercially optimal combination of technologies, equipment, feedstocks, and size/scale of facilities to meet rising demand for transportation fuel for major trucking routes in the state. They found that RNG can achieve significant market penetration of 14 bcf into the transportation fueling infrastructure by the 2020s with Californias Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits at current levels of $120 per metric ton of CO 2 . Higher volumes are possible, as LCFS credits become more valuable and technological learning and scale economies lower upfront capital costs. Of the 14 bcf projected total, 6.3 bcf would come from landfill, 1.5 from waste-water treatment, 1.75 from municipal solid waste (MSW), and 4.3 from dairy. Adding in credits from the Federal Renewable Fuels Standard of $1.78 per gallon of ethanol equivalent ($23.32 per mmBTU), all four sources of gas increases from 0 bcf to 82.8 bcf, which would be equal to five times the current transportation natural gas used in California, of which 50.8 bcf would be from landfill and 5.6 bcf from waste-water treatment, 16.3 bcf from municipal solid waste, and 10.1 bcf from dairy. The cost differentials for various RNG pathways reflect differences in the level of specialized technology and infrastructure that is needed to bring the biogas to commercial commodity quality standards. For RNG from dairies and municipal solid waste, greenfield AD facilities must be constructed from scratch whereas the collection and upgrading equipment needed for landfill and WWTP is less capital intensive. The relatively low methane yields of manure also contribute to making manure RNG less competitive. Capital costs of AD are about a third of total capital requirements while the other two thirds are upgrading and injection infrastructure costs. The gas from landfills and waste water treatment plants may require more upgrading or more expensive monitoring equipment than we have assumed in our estimates in order to meet California gas quality standards. Final Draft Report The STEPS team also found that the level of landfill tipping feesthe charge on a given quantity of waste entering the landfillis an important factor. Landfill tipping fees vary widely; any change in the level of landfill tipping fees will have a material impact on the quantity of RNG from MSW that could be economically diverted to a digester, the authors found. If tipping fees were raised 20%, RNG production from MSW sources that could be used in a municipal digester would increase from 1.75 to 12.4 bcf per year under a $120 per metric tonne of CO 2 e LCFS credit price. In other words, the authors found, increased tipping fees and carbon credits could create an incentive to produce more RNG since the municipality could save both the cost of the tipping fees and receive a LCFS credits with the combined value providing more than $13.00 per mmBTU of price support subsidy. Overall, this study demonstrates that regulatory policy, combined with market pricing of environmental externalities, should be sufficient to attract new entrants to the renewable natural gas business in California. Final Draft Report Resources WiTricitys TMN technology is delivered as a compact electronics module embodying proprietary hardware and software algorithms, to be incorporated into both the wireless charging source on the ground and the wireless power capture device on the vehicle. Wireless power transfer company WiTricity announced Tunable Matching Network (TMN) technology, which allows the wireless charging system automatically to optimize energy transfer between the ground and vehicle in a wide range of real-world operating conditions including parking misalignment, differing vehicle ground clearance and varying battery voltage conditions. This flexibility enables wirelessly charged vehicles to interoperate more easily with standards-based charging sources made by different automakers, Tier 1 suppliers and infrastructure suppliers. The WiTricity TMN technology was recently tested by Idaho National Laboratory (INL), with funding from the US Department of Energy, to support validation of the SAE Technical Information Report (TIR) J2954. SAE TIR J2954 is a guideline for the wireless charging of plug-in electric vehicles that was published by the SAE International (formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers) earlier this year. (Earlier post.) SAE International, through its J2954 Committee, is at the forefront of defining standards for wireless charging. WiTricity collaborated with Nissan to submit a 7.7 kW system with TMN technology for testing as both a stand-alone system and interoperating with systems provided by other suppliers, including WiTricity licensee Toyota. Results of the testing will be used by the J2954 Committee to help establish global standards for wireless charging. WiTricitys systemwhich delivers end-to-end efficiency of 91%-94%, as efficient as and often more so than plug-in chargingcombines TMN technology with a circular coil design that is favored by most automakers due to the designs high degree of interoperability, intrinsically low emissions, high efficiency and low materials and assembly cost. TMN is available as part of WiTricitys DRIVE series of wireless charging systems based on the companys patented magnetic resonance technology. WiTricitys DRIVE systems, rated at 11 kW, 7.7 kW and 3.7 kW, are provided to carmakers, Tier 1 suppliers and charging infrastructure suppliers as an evaluation and development platform to accelerate development of production units by the carmakers supply chain partners. Automakers around the world are now preparing vehicles for wireless charging, including all-electric and hybrid-electric cars and light trucks. Standardization and interoperability are key catalysts for widespread adoption of wireless charging. Delphi is an established licensee and development partner of WiTricity. TMN technology is a real breakthrough in efficiency, interoperability, and cost. This solution will help boost Delphis wireless power offerings and those of our customers. Randy Sumner, Director, Global Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Business & Technology Development, Delphi Automotive WiTricity works directly with major automakers and Tier 1 suppliers including Nissan, Toyota, Delphi, TDK, IHI, Prodrive Technologies, BRUSA and others that cannot yet be disclosed due to confidentiality obligations. The company is also involved in the global standards development activities led by SAE International, ISO/IEC, Project STILL-E, The German Commission for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (DKE) and China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) to promote interoperability of compliant wireless charging systems. They report a stable Coulombic efficiency of 98.6% and a decay rate of 0.07% per cycle with 500 cycles at 1C-rate with the S/PPy-MnO 2 ternary electrodes with 70 wt % sulfur and 5 wt % of MnO 2 . The ternary electrodes have an initial high rate of 1420 milliampere-hours per gram (mAh/g) at 0.2 C and deliver 985 mAh/g after 200 cycles. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a novel electrode for lithium-sulfur batteries that improves cyclic stability and rate capability significantly. In a paper published in the ACS journal Nano Letters , they report using polypyrrole-MnO 2 coaxial nanotubes to encapsulate sulfur. MnO 2 restrains the shuttle effect of polysulfides greatly through chemisorption and the polypyrrole serves as conductive frameworks. Despite their theoretical ultrahigh energy density, low cost, and nontoxicity, Lithium-sulfur batteries suffer poor performance due to several issues, including poor conductivity of sulfur and the dissolution of redox intermediates, resulting in low Coulombic efficiency and poor cyclic stability (the shuttle effect). Researchers have taken a number of different approaches to addressing these issues, none completely satisfactory, challenged by lower conductivity, the need for additives, or complicated synthetic strategies, the authors note. In this work, we designed PPy-MnO 2 coaxial nanotubes to accommodate sulfur. In this ternary system, the polar material MnO 2 provides strong adsorption to polysulfides while PPy serves as a flexible yet conductive network to tolerate volume change and facilitate electron transport. Therefore, significantly improved cyclic stability, Coulombic efficiency and rate capability are achieved when compared with pure PPy nanotubes encapsulated sulfur. An optimized ratio of MnO 2 in the binary PPy-MnO 2 is found to be 17% (5% in ternary composite of S/PPy-MnO 2 ), which balances the adsorption ability and the conductivity. Zhang et al. Illustration of the synthesis of S/PPy-MnO 2 ternary composites and the advantages during charge/discharge process. Credit: ACS, Zhang et al. Click to enlarge. The team synthesized the PPy-MnO 2 nanotubes through a simple polymerization of pyrrole using MnO 2 nanowires as both template and oxidation initiator. The amount of MnO 2 in the composite can be controlled by adjusting the ratio of oxidant and pyrrole monomer. The team then infiltrated sulfur into the nanotubes through a well-established melt-diffusion method. Electrochemical performance of PPy-MnO 2 nanotubes encapsulated sulfur electrode compared with pure PPy nanotubes encapsulated sulfur electrode at (a) 0.2C, (b) 1C, (c) various C-rates and (d) chargedischarge profiles of S/PPy-MnO 2 at different rates. Credit: ACS, Zhang et al. Click to enlarge. Resources This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Thomas Henkelmann-Homestead Inn continues drawing acclaim from food experts everywhere. In OpenTable's latest look, diners couldn't agree more. Thomas Henkelmann-Homestead Inn was recently named to OpenTable's "Top 100 Restaurants Based on Diner Reviews," after being named to the website's best restaurants for foodies list in September. The restaurant almost made each list in 2015, becoming a mainstay for Connecticut culinary excellence. Arethusa al Tavolo, in Bantam, Conn., also made the list after being featured on the website's September list as well. Check out the gallery above for a look at Connecticut's and New York City's restaurants on OpenTable's top diner-reviewed list. Theresa Henkelmann said she believes the honors are reflective of every facet that makes the restaurant run, from the chefs to the wait staff. "I'd like to believe it's because people are truly appreciative of the effort we all make. We have an extraordinary team," Henkelmann said. "We all love what we do and I think when you love what you do and are proud of what you do people take notice. "I think that's what we really appreciate. People take the time time to let us know or let OpenTable know that they enjoyed it. That really means something to us." OpenTable, a table-booking and restaurant review mobile app, developed the list based on more than 10 million reviews from verified users covering more than 24,000 restaurants across the state collected between Nov. 1, 2015 and Oct. 31, 2016. "Grand Chef Thomas Henkelmann at Homestead Inn provides a memorable experience in every way," OpenTable writes. "Impeccable service, congenial comfortable surroundings that welcome our guests, a wine list of depth, breadth and complexity and above all else creative French food prepared and presented flawlessly." Related: Top 100 dining & drinks in Fairfield County Besides the Greenwich restaurant's noteworthy menu options, hospitality is commonly key in user praise. "The common thread running through this list of winning restaurants is excellence in hospitality," Caroline Potter, OpenTable chief dining officer, said in a release. "Whether creating one-of-a-kind fine-dining experiences or serving up incredible fare in a more casual setting, this year's honorees are consistently earning rave reviews from diners." GREENWICH It is not rare to see a Greenwich police officer having lunch with a table full of students at Western Middle School these days. The partnership between the school and the police department began last year, a mentorship program that pairs students with a cop who will visit them a few times a month at school to be a friend and adviser. (The vision) was connecting cops with kids to give them some positive influence on their life and a positive role model they could lean on when they need somebody, said Sargent Tim Hilderbrand of the Greenwich Police Department, who helps coordinate the program. Nineteen pairs of students and officers participated in the program last year. This year it has expanded to 26 pairs. Western Middle School guidance counselor Erin Montague and a team of other school staff came up with the idea for the mentorship program in 2014. Montague said the program stemmed from having police do regular walk-throughs of the school, as they do for every Greenwich public school. We saw certain kids really taking to their presence, she said. So they decided to develop a one-on-one program to partner students and police. Both students and cops volunteer to join the program, but students are recommended based on input from their teachers and guidance counselor. They are paired based on common interests like sports, cars or movies. Montague said that officers often come to a mentees sporting events, sit with them during math class or even attend their graduations, frequently in their personal time, before or after their shifts. For students, having a police officer as a mentor may give them a positive adult role model or allow them to learn more about a profession they are interested in, Montague said. I think really the biggest takeaway is that the kids are realizing that there are people in this world who are good and want to give up their time for them, said Montague. Gordon Beinstein, principal of Western Middle School, said he noticed the program builds students confidence. They so look forward to having their officer come, he said. In every case, its been a hit. Beinstein touted the success of the program at a Board of Education meeting on Oct. 23. This year more cops volunteered as mentors than students. Hilderbrand said the program was popular in the police department because it gives officers an opportunity to step out of the role of enforcer. It allows them to break down the barrier and be human with people, he said. They dont have to be robotic. They dont have to play the typical role that we play when we have to go out on a daily basis and deal with bad things. Most police officers enter the profession because they want to help people, said Hilderbrand. Therefore, mentoring allows cops to feel like they are having an immediate impact. Moreover, at a time when many police deaths have been on the rise and relationships between law enforcement and many communities are tense, the mentorship program permits more contact between the Greenwich police and the public. The focus of the Silver Shield Association over the last two years and will continue next year has been building bridges with the community: community relations, community policing, relationship-based policing, building relationships with people so that if we do have an unfortunate contact out in the community somewhere, we dont have to have an awkward interaction, he said. Hilderbrand said he would like to expand the program but he has a limited number of officers, many of whom have variable schedules and their own families, often in other towns. He said he hopes mentors and mentees may keep in touch as students enter high school, allowing the program to spread organically as students age. This is a great way to connect with the community on a whole new level, he said. emunson@hearstmediact.com; @emiliemunson Via The Globe and Mail: Canadian Forces firm on anti-malaria drug ahead of Africa mission. Excerpt: Val Reyes-Santiesteban is convinced she lost a military son to the neuropsychotic side effects of the anti-malarial drug mefloquine, and she fears some of the Canadian soldiers who are about to deploy to Africa could meet the same fate. It makes me sick. Theyve got to stop them from taking this drug, Ms. Reyes-Santiesteban, of Welland, Ont., told The Globe and Mail. Everyone in the government should take this pill once a week for a month and let them see what happens. Her son, Corporal Scott Smith, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Christmas Day of 1994 in Rwanda, where he had been sent after taking part in the 1992 Somalia peacekeeping mission. Military doctors prescribed mefloquine for him on both deployments. The army says he was killed in action even though his death, at the age of 23, was clearly suicide. But, more than two decades later, as the government determines where its next peacekeeping mission in Africa will be, senior medical officials in the Canadian Forces say there is not enough scientific evidence to remove mefloquine as an option for troops who go to countries where malaria is a threat. They remain dubious of claims it can cause permanent damage, despite a Health Canada warning and veterans who say the medication ruined their lives. Military brass said the same after allowing more than 1,000 Canadian Forces members in Somalia to be part of a poorly monitored clinical trial. Two of the soldiers on that mission were charged in the beating death of a Somali teen, and many others complained of alarming dreams, hallucinations and depression. Even after doctors on the front lines implicated mefloquine in the troops violent behaviour, officers in Canada reassured the commission of inquiry into the Somalia affair that the drug could not cause the psychotic side effects being reported. The current Liberal government has rejected calls from an all-party committee of the House of Commons and Somalia veterans for more research on mefloquine. And a previous Liberal government shut down the Somalia commission just before the issue of mefloquine was to be addressed. As a result of recent media coverage, the chief of defence staff asked the militarys surgeon-general to take another look at the scientific literature about the drug. It is now prescribed to just a small fraction of Canadian troops. The use of mefloquine in Somalia was unorthodox and possibly illegal. The drug had not been approved in Canada in 1992, but National Defence obtained it from Health Canada as part of a clinical trial in which military personnel were supposed to receive the informed consent of the users and to monitor the efficacy and the adverse reactions. They did neither. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH A public hearing is set for Wednesday on plans to take out more than 200 trees from the new New Lebanon School site during its demolition and rebuilding. It is one of two public hearings in December about trees taken out during construction projects in town. The other concerns 36 trees expected to be removed during expansion work at the Bruce Museum. The New Lebanon hearing, set for noon on in the Parks and Recreation Conference Room on the second floor of Greenwich Town Hall, will be preceded by a tour of the site at 11 a.m. by Bruce Spaman, the Greenwich tree warden. This is the first time Ive given a tour, because its hard to explain with pictures and engineered maps, Spaman said. Its nice to just go out and look at the trees. The project involves demolishing the existing New Lebanon School building and replacing it with a 60,759 square foot building and 74 parking spaces on the 7.6-acre property. The application was on the agenda at the Nov. 29 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, but was postponed until January. It has not yet been approved by the commission. Matt Popp, a landscape architect and former member of the Greenwich Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency, filed an appeal of the Representative Town Meetings initial approval of the New Lebanon project. His appeal was rejected by the RTM. One of the reasons for the appeal, according to Popp, was the required tree removal. The project is much larger than needed to serve the current or future needs of the Byram neighborhood, Popp wrote in his appeal. In addition to the larger building, the project includes a large parking lot, an oversized bus loop, wider driveways and larger drainage systems. The project will compromise Byrams natural landscape by clearing Byrams last remaining sizable mature woodlands. The trees listed for destruction by the project range from six inches in diameter to 60 inches, Spaman said. Its a pretty mixed bag," Spaman said. Spaman said trees marked for destruction by new construction have to be labeled, similar to the requirements for a house facing demolition. Any public tree that is being removed needs to be posted, and if anyone objects to the removal of the tree ... it triggers our requirement for a public hearing, Spaman said. Spaman said he has three days after the hearing to come up with a written decision about whether the project has his approval or not. He said the prospect of losing so many trees is a big deal for the town. He also said some of the signs have been torn off the trees. Tearing the signs down does not save the tree from being taken out, Spaman said. That just makes it so people cant object. They rip the sign off the tree, but that doesnt save the tree, Spaman said. Its misguided. The public hearing for removing trees at the Bruce Museum is set for noon Dec. 15 at town hall. A tour of the Bruce property at 1 Museum Drive will be held at 11 a.m. More information can be found on the town Department of Parks and Recreation website. At public Planning and Zoning Commission hearings, the landscape architects for the Bruce Museum project said they planned to replace any trees removed with new ones and work with Spaman to add trees that will compliment the towns recent effort to develop an arboretum. They are big old majestic trees, and were probably there before Mr. Bruce lived in his house, Spaman said, referring to the historic origins of the property as an estate. They could certainly be that old. pfrissell@hearstmediact.com; @PeregrineFriss As a wave of dining options flood Fairfield County, it can be difficult to know where the best eats are. That's why Hearst Connecticut Media and CTBites got together to figure out the best of the best, resulting in their 2016 "Top 100 Dining & Drinks in Fairfield County" collaboration. Check out the best of the best across 14 categories in the gallery above. Be sure to subscribe below for the full review of each restaurant. For over a year now, there have been persistent rumors that Amazon was serious about opening up brick-and-mortar stores focused on grocery shopping. Today, Amazon revealed its hand: a real store coming to Seattle in 2017 that will let you scan your phone, walk around, put food in your bag, and walk out no cashier or automated checkout machine needed. The store, judging from the video, has a very office worker on a lunch break vibe lots of premade items and meal kits. Once youre inside, the Amazon Go system will be able to tell when you pick up items (or put them back) through a mixture of what the company is calling computer vision, deep learning algorithms, and sensor fusion. Which is not extremely informative! My best guess is that Amazon will use a mixture of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags (already used in many retail stores to prevent shoplifting) and QR codes on your phone for the grunt work, while having some sort of AI-assisted oversight to make sure nobody is getting charged when they shouldnt be or is not being charged when they should. But that could be completely off-base; Amazon isnt revealing much beyond that. The first store will open up in Seattle, Washington, and is currently open to Amazon employees only. This food-focused retail spot represents another part of Amazons growing retail ambitions. The online-shopping giant already has a brick-and-mortar book store in Seattle, with expansions planned for Chicago, New York City, and Portland. Its also working to set up pop-up shops to show off its growing line of consumer hardware devices. But this push into food is especially interesting. At the same time that grocery-store chains are suddenly scrambling to meet consumer demand for online food shopping, Amazon is diving into the prepared-foods side of things (one of the biggest profit drivers for traditional grocery stores) with an AI-enhanced version of the Automat. Last month an Australian carrier leaked the release date of the Android 7.1.1 update for Google's Pixel and Nexus devices. It said this would begin rolling out on December 6, and it was right (as it's already December 6 down under). Today Google has published the factory images and OTA update files for the devices it supports directly. This follows the Android 7.1.1 update's rollout for the General Mobile 4G Android One handset, which began last week. The over-the-air rollout process should start soon, if it hasn't already. As usual with Google updates, it will take many days until all supported devices receive the update notification, so if you're impatient and know what you're doing you can grab the factory image or OTA zip for your particular device and sideload it. If you don't know what any of that means, you're probably better off just waiting for the new software to make its way to your device through Google's staged rollout. Android 7.1.1 factory images and OTA zip files are available for the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C, Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 9, and Nexus Player. It's unclear if the Nexus 6 will get this update at a later point or not at all. For now, it's received new images and OTA files too, but based on Android 7.0. This Android 7.1.1 release includes the December security fixes. The new build number is NMF26O for the Pixel and Pixel XL, NMF26H for the Pixel C, NMF26F for the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, and Nexus 9, and NMF26J for the Nexus Player. Oddly, this build is an older version than what rolled out as the final Android 7.1.1 Developer Preview last month, so if you're running that you won't be able to upgrade just yet. We assume Google will release different builds for those who are enrolled in the Android Beta program. When they're coming is anyone's guess, though. All of the Pixel and Pixel XL units should get the double-tap to wake and lift to check notifications gestures that debuted in Canada not long ago, but this hasn't been confirmed yet. Via It looked as if the story of the exploding and fire-catching Galaxy Note7 unit is behind us with the battery being the obvious culprit behind Samsung's troubles, but a new report suggests otherwise. Instrumental, a company, specializing in engineering tools and services, has conducted its teardown and upon closer inspection has a different take on the matter. Long story short, the company suggests Samsung was too aggressive in its internal design margins. This had left no room for the phone's battery, which, as Instrumental points out, swells up even in normal usage. Any battery engineer will tell you that its necessary to leave some percentage of ceiling above the battery, 10% is a rough rule-of-thumb, and over time the battery will expand into that space. Samsung had the tough task for the Note7 to offer better battery life than its predecessor all the while having a slimmer design. The Note7's Li-Po battery is a "jelly-roll" model, which consists of a positive and a negative layer separated by polymer. It's what allows energy to flow between the two layers without them touching, because once that happens, the battery explodes due to the increased heat and greater energy transfer because of it. The very aggressive margins in the Note7's internal design Instrumental's test bed Instrumental notes that upon closer inspection, the struggles in the Samsung's engineering team to employ both safety and extreme boundary-pushing is evident. Sadly, the efforts of the engineers to balance the risks of aggressive manufacturing and maximizing safety didn't lead to anything good. You can follow the source link to check up all of Instrumental's remarks regarding the Note7's internal and battery designs. Source | Via Published on 2016/12/04 | Source It has been 4 years since actor Gong Yoo has made an appearance in a drama and this time he has shaken the hearts of female and male viewers. Advertisement His good looking face, tall figure and character role all work together very well, making male viewers fall for him as well. Usually male viewers stray away from romance dramas or watch it just for the female leads. However, male viewers have stated that Gong Yoo was different and had a different kind of charisma to him. Viewers are already anticipating next weekend's episode of "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God". Published on 2016/12/04 | Source Goo Jae-yee from "The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop" set out at last. Advertisement Ki Pyo-mo (Jung Kyung-soon) went to Apparel to meet Min Hyo-sang (Park Eun-seok). Min Hyo-joo (Goo Jae-yee) confronted Ki Pyo-mo who was creating a commotion. Min Hyo-joo said, "I am Min Hyo-sang's sister. Is there something you want to talk to me about?" Ki Pyo-mo said, "My son said to talk to the owner directly but since you're the sister, I'll talk to you. My son wants your brother to put him on bail as soon as possible". "I didn't want to say this, but while my son was in prison my daughter-in-law cheated on him" he continued, mentioning the tailor shop. Min Hyo-joo thought of Lee Dong-jin (Lee Dong-gun) and Na Yeon-sil (Jo Yoon-hee) at once. She then went to the tailor shop and saw them together. In the preview of the next episode, Min Hyo-joo clung onto Lee Dong-jin and begged him to take her back. Mark Forbes, editor-in-chief of The Age newspaper, has resigned after allegations of sexual harassment. The incident occured in November and involved a young female reporter who made a formal complaint to management after Forbes allegedly groped her on the bottom at The Age Music Victoria Awards. On Friday, Forbes was stood down by Fairfax Media while it completed an investigation. It was then Fairfax Media released a statement saying: Fairfax is committed to a safe workplace and has zero tolerance for any behaviour that does not meet the highest standards. Alex Lavelle, editor of The Age, will oversee the newsroom. According to The Guardian, a second woman has come forward with claims he made unwanted sexual advances in another incident. She alleged Forbes sexually harassed her at a social function earlier in the year when he was news editor. It has also been reported that employees at The Age were addressed by Fairfax group director of news and business media Sean Aylmer about the complaint on Monday morning. Forbes began his career at Fairfax as a cadet in 1985, and worked as a defence and foreign affairs correspondent. He also held positions as news director and also editor of The Sunday Age from 2009 to 2013. Forbes was appointed editor-in-chief in April and has been with the newspaper since 1985. The Age has recently been campaigning against sexual harassment in the workplace and published a major investigation just last week. Fire experts with the N.C. Forest Service say recent rains have helped to reduce fire danger in the North Carolina mountains, prompting the agency to lift the ban on open burning for 32 counties on Friday. The burn ban has been lifted in these counties: Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Iredell, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Union, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey. However, the Piedmont received significantly less rain and fire experts are less comfortable with fuel conditions there, so the burn ban will remain in effect for the following 15 counties: Anson, Caswell, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Montgomery, Randolph, Richmond, Rockingham, Rowan, Stanly, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin. The N.C. Forest Service has noted that not all areas received the soaking rain needed to fully mitigate fuel conditions, said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. They would like some additional time to assess fire conditions in the Piedmont counties currently under the ban. The N.C. Forest Service continues to evaluate the need for the ban daily, Troxler said. No new burn permits will be issued in the 15 Piedmont counties until the ban is lifted. In counties where the ban has been lifted, people wanting to burn debris will need to reapply for a permit. For more information, contact Brian Haines, public information officer with the N.C. Forest Service, at 919-857-4828. Here is more information about the ban on open burning and other precautions in place: The ban prohibits all open burning, regardless of whether a permit was issued. All burning is prohibited if it is 100 feet or more from an occupied dwelling. Many counties across the state are imposing their own local ordinances prohibiting burning within that 100 feet, so residents should call their local fire marshal before engaging in any burning activities. People in violation of the ban will be assessed a $100 fine and risk violating air quality regulations and local ordinances. Outdoor burning is also prohibited in areas covered by Code Orange or Code Red air quality forecasts. Open burning includes burning leaves, branches and other plant material. In all cases, it is illegal to burn trash, lumber, tires, newspapers, plastics or other non-vegetative materials. The N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation is not permitting campfires and open cooking fires at any of its parks west of Interstate 95. South Mountains State Park remains closed due to wildfire activity. Chimney Rock State Park has reopened except for the Rumbling Bald climbing access. Before visiting, check park conditions at www.ncparks.gov/. The U.S. Forest Service is not allowing campfires anywhere in the backcountry on federal park land, even for cooking. Campers will have to use camp stoves for cooking in the backcountry. For more information, visit www.fs.usda.gov/nfsnc. The National Park Service and Appalachian Trail Conservancy also have imposed fire restrictions along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail from U.S. Route 33 in Shenandoah National Park to the southern terminus at Springer Mountain, Georgia. These fire restrictions include the NPS lands around McAfee Knob and Tinker Cliffs in Virginia. The A.T. is currently closed from Dicks Creek Gap/U.S. 76 in Georgia to the Nantahala River/U.S. 19/U.S. 74 in North Carolina. Up-to-date information can be found at www.appalachiantrail.org/trailupdates. The burn ban was issued for North Carolinas 25 westernmost counties on Nov. 7. An additional 22 counties were added Nov. 21 as drought conditions worsened in the mountains and spread into the Piedmont. Wildfires have burned more than 73,000 acres in Western North Carolina this fall. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket By Jesse Wood Watauga County Schools is searching for a new principal at Watauga High School after Marshall Gasperson was granted a medical leave of absence in late November. Watauga County Schools posted a job opening on the systems website on Friday. The posting states that the position begins on Jan. 3, 2017. Watauga County Schools spokesman Garrett Price released this statement from WCS Supt. Scott Elliott on Monday morning, which was part of a note sent to Watauga High School staff recently: Mr. Gasperson will not be returning to WHS We posted the vacancy announcement for the position of principal at WHS. The timeline for filling the position will depend on the quality of the applications we receive. I want to give us the best chance possible to select the best leader for our school. Dr. Eberle will continue to serve as the lead administrator for the remainder of the semester. This announcement follows an article in the Watauga Democrat that connected Gaspersons absence to a traffic stop on Nov. 22, the day before his medical leave of absence was granted. Gasperson, according to the report, was arrested for suspicion of DWI. In the end, Gasperson pled guilty to failing to burn headlamps. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket Shippensburg University and the Cumberland Area Economic Development Corp. announced Monday a new partnership designed to help economic development in the region. Executives of both organizations signed an agreement to collaboratively use their resources to nurture and improve economic, entrepreneurial and workforce development, according to a news release from the university. By joining the considerable resources on our campus with those of the Cumberland Area Economic Development Corp., we can have an even greater economic impact on south-central Pennsylvania, SU President Jody Harpster said in an SU news release. We look forward to expanding not only our relationship with CAEDC, but also our commitment to serving this region. This is a significant development in the maturation of CAEDC moving forward. To partner with our largest four-year higher education institution in the region is a great honor, said Jonathan Bowser, CAEDC chief executive officer. We look forward to an enhanced working relationship with Shippensburg University to advance economic development through producing a talented workforce, research and development, promotion of entrepreneurship and overall marketing of our region as a destination for businesses to invest capital and create high-quality jobs. Goals outlined in the agreement are: Pursuing financial support to foster intellectual property creation and stimulate economic development. Collecting and analyzing data on the economic impact of the regions existing businesses. Teaming with local governments, chambers of commerce and businesses to enhance economic and workforce development efforts. Engaging alumni to promote educational and business opportunities provided by the university. Harpster said the universitys outreach centers including the Small Business Development Center, the Center for Land Use and Sustainability and the Diller Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation will be an important component of the partnership. Shippensburg University officials signed a similar agreement with the Franklin County Area Development Corp. in September. (HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that the parent company of United Airlines has agreed to pay $2.4 million to settle charges in a case where shareholders wound up footing the bill so a public official could get more convenient flights. According to the SECs order instituted today, United reinstated a nonstop flight between Newark, N.J., and Columbia, S.C., at the behest of David Samson, the then-chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey who sought a more direct route to his home in South Carolina. The route previously experienced poor financial performance and was canceled by Continental Airlines prior to its merger with United, and a preliminary financial analysis conducted after Samson began privately advocating for the routes return revealed it would likely lose money again. Nevertheless, the SECs order finds that United officials feared Samsons influence could jeopardize Uniteds business interests before the Port Authority, including the approval of a hangar project to help the airline at Newarks airport. The company ultimately decided to initiate the route despite the poor financial projections. The same day that Uniteds then-CEO approved initiation of the route, the Port Authoritys board approved the lease agreement related to the hangar project. United employees were told no proactive communications about the new route. According to the SECs order, United circumvented its standard process for initiating new routes, and no corporate record at United accurately and fairly reflected the authorization to approve the money-losing flight route from Newark to Columbia. The route ultimately lost approximately $945,000 before it ceased again roughly around the time of Samsons resignation from the Port Authority. United disregarded the books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the securities laws while casting aside its normal decision process to re-enter one of its hubs poorest performing markets, said Andrew Ceresney, Director of the SECs Division of Enforcement. Andrew M. Calamari, Director of the SECs New York Regional Office, added, United initiated a money-losing flight solely to curry favor with a public official, and failed to reflect in its books and records a fair and accurate depiction of the rationale behind the decision and its projected financial impact. Samson has pleaded guilty to bribery in a criminal case announced in July by the U.S. Attorneys Office in New Jersey. United entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney and paid $2.25 million. The South-eastern Finland Police Department has revealed that the victims a local councilwoman and two journalists were shot in the head and torso at close range with a hunting rifle as they were stepping out of a restaurant onto a pedestrian street. Three women were shot dead in downtown Imatra, South-east Finland, in the early hours of Sunday. A 23-year-old local man with a criminal record was brought into custody almost immediately after the shooting, according to a press release from the South-eastern Finland Police Department. He did not resist the arrest. The man is believed to have selected his victims at random and is tentatively suspected of three counts of murder due to the apparently premeditated nature of the homicides. [The suspect] surely didn't come to central Imatra in the middle of the night with a rifle-like firearm by chance, Saku Tielinen, the detective chief inspector in charge of the pre-trial investigation, explained according to Helsingin Sanomat. The first police officers arrived at what in the press release is described as a chaotic scene outside the restaurant shortly after midnight, after the emergency call centre had received a report of a person carrying a firearm-like object. Bystanders then pointed out the suspected gunman, who was standing behind a car parked in front of the restaurant, to the arriving officers. The hunting rifle used to carry out the shooting was found in the boot of the car. The firearm was licensed but how it ended up in the possession of the suspect remains unknown, according to the press release. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Hannu Rissanen Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi It has been my opinion for some time that the well-off would do well to understand that the lower the number of people affected by social ills, the better off they themselves are, he stated in a live interview on YLE Radio 1 on Saturday. Growing inequality threatens to undermine one of the key strengths of Finland social cohesion, warns President Sauli Niinisto. Niinisto also shed light on his thoughts on the re-emergence of populism worldwide an issue that has come to the fore especially after the recent election upsets in Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. It's a bit difficult to define exactly what populism entails, he reminded. Sunday's constitutional referendum in Italy, he estimated on the eve of the referendum, will ultimately be a referendum on whether or not the public approves of the current status quo in the country. All experts have agreed that it isn't a referendum on whether or not the powers of the government should be increased, as had been proposed. I think it might be a bit of a mistake to shrug it off as populism, he said. Niinisto argued that widespread populist phenomena should be taken seriously specifically because they are indications of much more than whatever concrete issues they happen to co-incide with. Matteo Renzi, the Prime Minister of Italy, announced his resignation in the early hours of Monday after conceding what he described was an extraordinarily clear defeat in the constitutional referendum. His defeat is regarded as a victory for euro-sceptic and nationalist parties in the country and could open the door for snap general elections. An estimated 60 per cent of voters ended up voting against the constitutional reforms proposed by Renzi, according to Bloomberg. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Markku Ulander Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi Floodplain permit slows Publix project Jim Barnett points to a grill at the opening of a culvert. A logjam could create a dam in a heavy rainstorm, Barnett says. Although the new Publix on Greenville Highway was supposed to be under construction by now, the building site is empty of heavy equipment. Related Stories Those eager for the entry of one more heavyweight contender at ground-zero of the local grocery wars have been asking whether the project is off. Its not. But it has been delayed by the developers failure to get a permit to build in a floodplain. City officials say the store builder, Halvorsen Development Corp., is following a logical process for the next step. After failing to get so-called no-rise permit, Halvorsen applied on Oct. 25 for a Conditional Letter of Map Revision, which acknowledges that the floodplain could be broadened, though not in a harmful way. The level doesnt rise but the width of the floodplain is changed in maps, said City Manager John Connet. Its less than a foot but theres still a change with the addition of the building so they have to go through this process. Tom Vincent, president of Halvorsen Development, says the builder has had to use the CLOMAR route before. Its a normal piece of the process that we need to go through, he said. Theres no reason to think that we wouldnt get that. Weve done them before on other projects. It just takes a little longer in the process than if we had gotten the no-rise approved. Weve done many of them. Our guys are all over it and its tracking. Its just a little bit extra time. We hoped to have gotten started later this year but itll be sometime next year. Longstanding flood problems The Publix project and the new Ingles has drawn the attention of adjoining property owners and the Hendersonville City Council. Jim Barnett, whose real estate office is directly across Greenville Highway from the Publix property, told the city council that it had a rare opportunity to address the recurring flooding of Mud Creek in the area of Greenville and Spartanburg highways. The City Council directed city engineers to study whether city-owned land behind the Publix site could be used for a retention pond that would lessen flooding. We drain a 25-sqare mile area all the way to Jeter Mountain and funnels Mud Creek and Johnson ditch and by the time the water gets to us its such a quantity in a significant enough rain that areas going to flood. Nothing we could do on our site that would help prevent flooding in that area because theres such a quantity of water in a 100- or 500-year flood event. Barnett says the city is missing the point. Its the more typical heavy rainstorms that cause problems, he says. He thinks adding a retention pond upstream would store enough rainwater to make a difference. Youre just wasting your time on a 100- or 500-year flood. What can you do about that? Barnett said. Im more concerned about the smaller floods. The realty company owner also sees potential problems downstream at the new Ingles, where the developer got approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to replace an open 12-foot deep drainage ditch with a 8x16-foot covered culvert. The contractor has now installed a grill at the upstream opening to prevent debris from flowing into the pipe. Theres no way the culverts going to handle that same amount of water, he said. I cant see how it would be a bit of an improvement. And theres a possibility that if that grill gets stopped up it could be a whole lot worse than it is now. Over the past several years, the city and developers have made some progress in flood control. When the Fresh Market parking lot was renovated in 2013, a developer cleared out the culvert that covers Mud Creek. Downstream around South Grove Street, the city has used the countys beaver control program to remove beaver dams and relocate beavers. Site ready to go A contractor has removed seven large and three smaller sheds from the building site. In meet the city floodplain ordinance, it plans to truck in fill dirt to raise a 60,000-square-foot area two feet above the flood elevation. The CLOMAR permit would be a major hurdle toward groundbreaking. The developer still must acquire property to the south to make room for a turn lane. If FEMA approves the CLOMAR application, Halvorsen would submit a notice to be published in the newspaper that because of the new building base flood elevations will increase along Mud Creek when compared to the effective model in an area 6,100 feet upstream of the White Street bridge. But the notice adds: a comparison of existing conditions do not reflect an actual increase in flood elevations. Although the trouble Halvorsen has encountered is with state and federal floodplain regulators, Connet says the city has not tried to pressure the FEMA or its N.C. counterpart, the Floodplain Mapping Program, to OK something that would jeopardize downstream property owners. The bottom line is were very sensitive to flooding in that area, Connet says. The city doesnt want to do anything to make flooding any worse than it is today. The state reviews all of our no-rise studies. We would work with them and try to get them to resolve any problems. But at end of day they could not meet the no-rise (standard) and thats why theyre trying to get a CLOMAR. Honestly I think they thought it would be a little easier than that but weve tried to be very straight-forward with them about the regulatory process and the citys concern about flooding, Connet said. Councilman Jeff Miller says he supports the position that the flood experts have to greenlight the new Publix. I want it done right, he said. Im in favor of the project but not at the expense of everybody thats been here forever. Vincent, Halvorsens president, says the company has had no problem with the city. No. Weve got no issues there, he said. The backup plan for a FEMA permit was a path that was out there and now were on it. The only real impact is from a time perspective. Its in and its tracking. Hopefully well have that shortly and well be off and running. The Carlisle 2017 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Committee will host the 28th Annual Carlisle Commemoration of the life and legacy of King on Jan. 15. The theme for the 2017 commemoration is Take a stand. Take a step toward unity in our community. The commemoration will begin at 3 p.m. with a ceremonial march and brief program in downtown Carlisle. The march will start at First Presbyterian Church of Carlisle, 2 N. Hanover St., and will proceed across High Street at the Square to the Cumberland County Courthouse at the Square in Carlisle. Participants in the march are asked to assemble at the First Presbyterian Church of Carlisle at 2:45 p.m. Following the program at the Cumberland County Courthouse the march will resume back to the First Presbyterian Church of Carlisle. The commemoration will continue at 4 p.m. with a service in the sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church of Carlisle, followed by a reception. The featured speaker is Rev. Thomas A. Keys, pastor of the Solid Rock Missionary Baptist Church, Harrisburg. Keys serves as the pastor-teacher of the Solid Rock Missionary Baptist Church a new church in the greater Harrisburg area. Keys is a U.S. Army veteran and recipient of numerous military awards and decorations, including the Army Commendation Medal, South West Asia Service Award (Operation Desert Storm), the Army Achievement Medal and many others. Music for the service will be provided by the Carlisle Community Choir of Carlisle under the direction of Russell Ward and the Solid Rock Missionary Baptist Church Youth/Adult Choir. For more information, please contact Linda Manning at 717-243-4380. A burned-out car believed to have been used by the killers Gangland criminal Mark Desmond may have been murdered in a revenge shooting by a gang who previously carried out a botched attempt on his life. Desmond (41), who was known as the 'Guinea Pig', was gunned down in Griffeen Valley Park, Lucan, shortly before 8pm on Friday evening. He was shot up to four times in the head before his killers fled in a Mazda vehicle. The burned-out car was later discovered in nearby Hayden's Lane and a firearm was found in the vehicle's charred front seat. A second gun was discovered nearby. Both weapons are now being forensically examined to determine if they were used in the murder. Suspects A number of potential suspects have been identified by gardai as a result of Desmond's association with several gangs during his 20-year involvement in organised crime. One of the main lines of inquiry is whether a gang who attempted to murder Desmond in 2010 are behind the murder. During that incident in April 2010, three man approached the 'Guinea Pig' as he drove a quad bike in the Memorial Park, Ballyfermot. Desmond noticed the group and fled the scene as at least one shot was fired at the thug. Although this incident was never reported to gardai, officers identified the three men allegedly involved. They included a notorious criminal from the Ballyfermot area who is now aged in his thirties, as well as a close associate of one of Mark Desmond's alleged victims. Sources said that the Memorial Park shooting was ordered "at the behest" of this individual. Gardai believe that Desmond was in the Lucan area last Friday evening to meet two brothers who are heavily involved in drug dealing. Sources have revealed that he had met the siblings on several occasions in a number of premises in the Lucan area, and had been in contact with them since at least January of this year. One of the brothers, who are originally from Clondalkin, has faced drugs-related charges in the past, but gardai have not been able to secure a significant conviction. The two men are understood to have links to an organised crime gang based in Co Sligo. Killers It is believed that Desmond was followed to the crime summit by his killers, as opposed to being lured to his death. The 'Guinea Pig' was chased from the Griffeen Glen area into the adjacent Griffeen Valley Park, before being shot up to four times in the head. Desmond was suspected of involvement in at least four murders, as well as multiple beatings and sexual assaults, including the alleged rape of a 15-year-old boy. The gun-for-hire was charged but never convicted of the horrific Canal Murders in 2000. It is believed that Desmond lured Darren Carey (20) and Patrick Murray (19) to a meeting in Ballyfermot before murdering the two men. Their bodies were then dumped into the Grand Canal, and were eventually discovered between January 9 and 10, 2000. Desmond was also suspected of involvement in the murder of father-of-one James Kenny McDonagh (29) in 2009. His body was not recovered until January 2012, following an extensive search. He was also a suspect in the 2009 murder of Anthony Cannon (26), one of jailed gang boss Brain Rattigan's key enforcers. The innocent woman who was stabbed, scalded and beaten in her home has now developed pneumonia and doctors have discovered her pelvis is broken. Doctors also fear that Simone Lee (37) may have suffered a spinal injury when she was attacked in her Limerick city flat at Hassett's Villas in Thomondgate last weekend. Simone was transferred to St James's Hospital in Dublin from University Hospital Limerick last Thursday and, while there were hopes of reducing the level of sedatives she is on and slowly bring her out of an induced coma, doctors have now decided to wait longer before waking her. "Simone remains very ill and we are very concerned for her. She now has pneumonia and is being treated for that as well as her injuries," her sister Una told the Herald. It is believed the wounds to Simone's back were as a result of stabbing, which also caused a punctured lung. Una said Simone remains on a machine to assist her breathing. "The doctors have told us that she has a broken pelvis also, and they are concerned that she may have suffered a spinal injury too," she said. Damage "They just have to wait and see. They will be able to find out more when they take her off the sedation, whenever that will be." Gardai suspect that hot water was poured on or thrown at Simone during the attack. Medics are continuing to assess the damage caused to her face and chest. "But they do say they are hopeful that Simone's burns will heal with time without the need for plastic surgery, so that is one positive," Una said. "However, we are still trying to come to terms with the level of injuries Simone received and the level of violence used to cause them." A man who was arrested by gardai in relation to the attack - which took place late on Saturday, November 26, or early the following day - was released without charge last Monday and a file on the matter is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. The attack on Simone caused widespread shock in Limerick city. "Simone is an amazing girl and an incredible fighter, but she has a massively long road ahead," Una said. Asked about the garda investigation into the savage attack, Una said the family's priority is Simone. Evidence "We have full faith in the gardai, they are keeping us informed and they are in full support of our family," she said. The scene at Hassett's Villas remained sealed off until last Monday while a garda technical bureau team from Dublin carried out forensic tests and gathered evidence. A woman with links to slain Kinahan cartel member David Byrne has been arrested by officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) on suspicion of allegedly laundering the gang's proceeds of crime. The woman, aged in her 30s, was detained by CAB officials and questioned at Crumlin Garda Station as part of CAB's ongoing investigation into the cartel's enormous wealth. She was arrested last Wednesday morning and held for a number of hours, before she was eventually released without charge. Investigation David Byrne (33) was shot dead at the Regency Hotel on February 5 this year. A senior source last night said more arrests and individual tasks will be carried out in the coming months as part of a complex investigation by CAB and other national units investigating the Kinahan cartel's finances. The woman quizzed last week has no previous convictions and gardai suspect she is one of a number of people with a clean record being used by the cartel to launder the money that they have made as part of their criminal operations. Last Wednesday's arrest is the latest carried out by gardai investigating the international crime gang. On September 4, senior Kinahan lieutenant Liam Byrne (36) was questioned by officers in relation to the seizure of over 1m worth of assets. He was quizzed for a number of hours before being released without charge. Last March, a large-scale garda operation involving the CAB, the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) and the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB) seized assets belonging to a number of associates of the deadly Kinahan cartel. Over 30 high-powered cars and motorbikes were recovered along with a considerable amount of cash and other luxury items during the garda operation. Liam Roe (38), a cousin of Liam Byrne, was arrested the previous month in relation to the same investigation. However, he was later released without charge while a file is being prepared for the DPP. The Cumberland County Coroners Office has identified the woman killed in a crash on Interstate 81 Sunday. Coroner Charley Hall said Dharmishthaben Indravada Shah, 76, of Allen, Texas, was killed when the vehicle rolled over on I-81 south at mile marker 59 in Hampden Township Sunday afternoon. Hall said she was a passenger in the vehicle that rolled over in the median. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Hall said the crash is under investigation by Pennsylvania State Police. The US Army Corps of Engineers has said that it wont grant an easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline, handing a victory to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and protesters. Whats your reaction to the decision and protest? Silver Spring Township Police are looking for a white man after an armed robbery at Kwik Fill Sunday evening. Police said a man arrived at the gas station on 6479 Carlisle Pike at 5:55 p.m. Sunday and exchanged some coins for a $5 bill before leaving the store. Police believe the man was casing the store in advance of the robbery. Later that night at 8:42 p.m., the man entered the store again, this time armed with a 6- to 8-inch knife, police said. The man demanded cash from the register drawer. When the clerk opened it, the man removed about $700 in various bills and fled on foot. Police said he fled south on the Carlisle Pike, passing through rear yards of multiple businesses until reaching the parking lot of Walmart. The man is about 5-foot-8, with a slender build, wearing a dark jacket (possibly Columbia Omni-shield), gray T-shirt, gray knit hat, blue and gray handkerchief over his mouth and nose, and black shoes with white soles and white edges. Police said the man was also wearing white earbuds with white wires during the robbery, taking one earpiece out to communicate with the clerk after giving his demands. The man was also seen during his first visit arriving in a black mid- to late-2000s model Nissan Rogue. Police ask anyone with information to contact Det. Andrew Bassler at abassler@sstwp.org or 717-591-8240. Washington County football: What to watch, who will get playoff wins In the "win or go home" world of the state playoffs, Washington County teams are trying to do more than just survive. RBI to introduce new 20 & 50 rupee currency notes Published: December 5, 2016 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is going to issue new currency notes of Twenty and Fifty rupees denomination in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005. All old the previous currency notes of old Rs. 20 and Rs. 50 denomination issued by the Bank will continue to be legal tender. Key Facts The 50 rupees note will be without inset letter in both the number panels. The 20 rupees note will be with inset letter L in both the number panels. Both notes will bear signature of incumbent RBI Governor Dr. Urjit R Patel. The year 2016 will be printed on the reverse of both the notes. Earlier in November 2016, the Union Government had decided to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denomination bank notes, in a move to curb black money. Subsequently a new Rs 500 banknote and Rs 2000 with advance security features were also issued. However, Rs 1000 notes have not been issued yet. Month: Current Affairs - December, 2016 Topics: Banking Demonitisation National RBI Latest E-Books : - 32 ' ' Roughly a month has passed since the Narendra Modi-led NDA government demonetised high value notes to flush out black money held in cash. Among other objectives, this move sought to weaken the political opposition ahead of elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab and bolster the ruling partys chances in the national elections in 2019. But this process entails significant collateral damage to Indias economic growth. This is no short-term disruption holding out the promise of potential gain. The prospect is of the worlds fastest growing emerging economy faltering in its stride. What is the likely impact on Indias output of goods and services or GDP growth? Economists often head where angels fear to tread to quantify the unquantifiable and put out a precise number that a 1-2 percentage points decline is likely due to demonetisation. In other words, if the economy has been expanding by 7.1%, the prospect is for it to slow down to 6.1% or worse to 5.1%. Economists are talking nonsense on GDP decline, thundered the MD of HDFC Bank! Many economists, however, are sensible enough in stating that the data are not fully in to estimate the third quarters GDP growth or make an informed assessment. Read:Govt didnt have enough time to prepare for demonetisation: Piyush Goyal Indias economic fundamentals, however, remain weak. The stock markets are tanking on adverse global and domestic cues. After registering a pace of 7.1% in April-June, growth in the nations GDP edged up marginally to 7.3% in July-September 2016. The shock to the cash economy is bound to be felt in the subsequent quarters as consumer spending is subdued and footfalls fade in shopping malls. Brick and mortar retail trade is seriously stressed. Trucks are idling. The farmers need to be paid for the crops that have been harvested. Cash is urgently needed for seeds and fertilisers for the next season. As if all of this werent bad enough, investment of the private sector continues to be extremely sluggish. Spending on plant and machinery in GDP is in fact declining. According to Pronab Sen, former chief statistician, the ongoing cash crunch has perhaps permanently damaged the informal sector that accounts for 45% of GDP and 80% of employment. With a sharp decline in manufacturing, North Block itself has suggested that overall growth in the September--December 2016 quarter will be lower by two percentage points to 5.5% from 7.3% in September-December 2015. Read: SC defers hearing of pleas challenging demonetisation to Dec 9 If this scenario comes to pass, demonetisation would hit this years growth target of 7 to 7.75 % for starters. Economic growth in the January to March 2017 quarter would have to be much faster by 8.1% or 11.1% to attain that objective, both of which are most unlikely. There is no doubt a lot of uncertainty when the cash economy gets going again. Printing an equivalent amount of notes that were taken out of circulation is likely to take at least six months or more even assuming the printing presses work to capacity. In this period, the shortage of cash casts a baleful shadow over the Indian economys growth. For those who know Prime Minister Narendra Modi are aware that he does not give up easily. He puts all his energies into a project to make it viable but he is also known to move on if the desired result is not to his satisfaction or in the larger national interest. Modi took huge political and personal security risk when he landed up in Lahore on December 25, 2015, to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif with a vision to genuinely improve bilateral ties. The Indian overture was rebuffed by assault rifles and grenade launchers of terrorists belonging to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) group at Pathankot airbase in January. Based on excellent inputs by the Research and Analysis Wing, national security adviser Ajit Doval even informed his Pakistani counterpart about the imminent attack on the airbase so that pressure could be put on JeMs so-called emir Masood Azhar to ask his footsoldiers to call off the operation. After eight Indians lost their lives in the attack, Modi waited for Sharif to bring the handlers of the jihadists to book and even allowed Pakistani joint investigating team access to the airbase. The involvement of Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and jihadists in stoking multiple fires in Kashmir Valley after the July 8 encounter of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani and the September 18 Uri attack has forced India to draw a red line on dialogue with Pakistan till the cessation of cross-border terrorism. Read: Heart of Asia summit: No need to differentiate between good and bad terrorists, says Jaitley Despite of near war-like conditions existing between the two neighbours, Pakistans de facto foreign minister Sartaj Aziz landed up at the just concluded Heart of Asia Conference in Amritsar to offer a dialogue to India, tactically to convey Islamabads reasonability to the world. Aziz, the 87-year-old hardliner who has seen all the wars, U-turns and about turns made by both countries since their Independence, along with his able high commissioner Abdul Basit, who is prone to giving well-timed interviews to Indian media, wanted to revive 2009 Sharm-el-Sheikh statement so that dialogue and terrorism could be delinked. With Aziz advancing his visit to attend Modis banquet on the pretext of fog, the ever-optimistic media thought that one more U-turn in the bilateral relationship was in the offing. Read: Dialogue with India only if Kashmir on agenda: Sartaj Aziz But the fact is that Modi just shook hands with Aziz along with four other dignitaries and NSA Doval just escorted the Pakistani adviser to the banquet without even uttering a bilateral word. Even the Pakistani move for Aziz to visit Golden Temple and address the media was turned down by New Delhi last-minute. With majority of terrorist groups listed in the Heart of Asia statement based in Pakistan, the Indian message from the holy city of Amritsar is clear: No bilateral dialogue till the cessation of cross-border terrorism and visible Pakistani action on groups targeting India. After the Amritsar rebuff, Islamabad should realise that Modi will not deal with Sharif while the ISI is egging jihadists to attack Indian security forces. This year alone, India has lost 81 security forces personnel to Pakistani terrorists as compared to 39 in 2015, 49 in 2014 and 52 in 2013. The only saving grace is that even the number of terrorists killed in 2016 is at a high of 148 as compared to 112 in 2015, 110 in 2014 and 69 in 2013. Read: Pakistan welcome to attend Heart of Asia conference: External affairs ministry The complicity of Pakistan-based groups in targeting India this year is blatant as evident from attacks at Pathankot to November 29 strike at Nagrota with both JeM and Lashkar-e-Tayebba (LeT) taking on the Indian forces after the September 29 Indian surgical strikes on terror camps across the 744-kilometre long Line of Control (LoC). Investigations conducted by National Investigation Agency (NIA) into majority of 2016 terror attacks throws up surprising revelation. First, there is a terror factory in Pakistan with all equipment like shoes, honey bottles and medicines recovered from dead jihadists procured from one source and supplied regularly, something akin to government/army procurement. Second, there is clear involvement of Pakistani military experts in jihad against India as evident from engineering modifications done in Japanese-made ICOM radio telephone sets so that it covers all VHF frequencies. Third, terrorists were sent into India with instructions from fixed communication centre at Muzaffarabad in Occupied Kashmir with full knowledge and support of Pakistani forces. Last, the ISI was controlling both Lashkar and Jaish cadres despite both groups following different and competing Islamic ideologies. With the appointment of Qamar Javed Bajwa as new Pakistan army chief on November 29, Aziz may have wanted to signal a change at Amritsar, but the Modi government is not convinced. The national security establishment believes that Pakistan-based jihadists will continue to dramatically target India in the hinterland and the LoC in hope of global intervention, forcing India to discuss Kashmir at international forums. While the Indian security forces must answer for infiltration despite full deployment and lax security at army camps, the Modi government is in no mood to talk and will inflict commiserate pain on Pakistan by shaming Islamabad on its terror links on a global stage along with sudden retaliation across the border. At the HT Leadership summit last weekend, defence minister Manohar Parrikar talked about surgical strikes introducing an element of uncertainty in the bilateral relationship. But Modi is certain on no dialogue till Pakistan stops terror attacks. And after his decisive actions seen in surgical strikes and demonetisation, the international community believes in him. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The other day Kathmandus Radisson Hotel, off a tiny lane crammed on either side by stores with Nepalese and Himalayan knick knacks, was crawling with security officials. The president and prime minister, their senior cabinet ministers and top officials, as well as diplomats, intellectuals, media and scholars, packed the sprawling conference hall, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the end of Nepals brutal and divisive civil war. But even as celebratory speeches rang out in the diplomatic and upper-middle class neighbourhood of Nepals capital, the country was in the midst of a crippling constitutional standoff. In fact, it is 26 years since that spring of 1990, when a brief-but-powerful popular movement against the partyless panchayat system forced the late King Birendra to introduce constitutional reforms, which led to the ushering in of democratic rule. Many of the old guard from the Nepali Congress (NC), which led that fight under BP Koirala and his brother Girija Babu or GP Koirala as well as KP Bhattarai and Ganesh Man Singh, all of whom spent long years in prison, have gone. GP Koiralas nephew Sushil, who helped negotiate the 1990 midnight transition to power during those heady days of revolt and near-revolution and found himself propelled into the PM-ship, is no longer a leader of the NC. The two comrades who led the breakaway Maoist battle against the democratic but family-led rule of the Nepali Congress and led the Maoists to a stunning victory against the NC have fallen out; one is Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as Prachanda (who had held that post in 2008-09), the other, Baburam Bhattarai, leads a breakaway faction in the opposition. Read: My visit to Nepal was mission of friendship: Prez Pranab Mukherjee As this manthan has taken place, the Nepali economy, apart from its politics, has been grappling with two crippling shocks: The 2015 earthquake and then the unofficial Indian economic blockade. New Delhi was taken by surprise by clauses in the Constitution that it felt discriminated against the Nepalis of Indian origin, better known as the Madhesis of the Terai region, bordering Nepal and India. The position was that the statute infringed upon citizenship processes, especially to those married to Indians and their right to contest elected office. After many months of negotiation and the ouster of Prime Minister KP Oli, of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), widely seen as anti-Indian, the Constitution process continues to struggle with the Madhesi roadblock, showing how emotive such issues can become in a heterogeneous land. In an effort to break the logjam, Prachanda proposed redrawing district borders to enable the Madhesis and hill tribes to carve up a special area for themselves. Read: India and Nepal agree to expedite infrastructure, cross-border connectivity projects This Constitution amendment has run into opposition, both from a Madhesi political alliance as well as furious blockades by the youth from schools and colleges opposing the effort. Both sides say the same thing: Its unacceptable because it is discriminatory but for different reasons. The Madhesi front says that it was not consulted on the proposed Bill and the effort to push through the amendment did not address the core issue of citizenship. The Nepalis opposing it in the affected province say that it would irreparably damage the resource and culturally rich region. This quarter century has been a rocky ride on a rough road for the former Himalayan kingdom and its elusive quest for a Constitution that has the mandate and support of all political groups. While this has taken time, we should look at our own Constitution-making processes. The effort to carve up a Madhesi homeland is familiar to India it takes a leaf out of the books of New Delhis experiences in the Northeast and other parts of the country. The remapping of India is part of the political project of policymakers, weaving imagination, political flexibility and restructuring that have tested the boundaries of the constitutional process. This has grown over 60 years to meet local and regional aspirations, including most recently the division of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. This addressing of regional aspirations as reinvented political entities has always been part of an effort by the State to curb fissiparous tendencies and tackle challenges to perceived national unity. It began with the Fifth and Sixth Schedules of the Constitution, passed after independence, which endowed special privileges and powers on tribal groups in central and eastern India. The first reimagining exercise in the 1950s created states on the basis of language. This was extended to devise homelands as answers to insurgency in the Northeast Nagaland in 1963, the Reorganisation of the North-east (the first time the region had been so officially defined) with Meghalaya and Mizoram carved out of Assam and statehood later to Arunachal Pradesh. Within states too, autonomy struggles have played out differently. Ethnic demands for separate states have been met with special constitutional provisions for autonomous councils existing states like the Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam. Negotiations to accommodate Naga notions of sovereignty continue even after 20 years. Thus, the Constitution-making process in Nepal is neither new nor slow. After all, the political accommodation described here has taken us more than a half century. And were still at it! Constitution-making and nation-building entail a flow of changes and experiments within a legal framework. This takes patience, sometimes the loss of lives, and theres give and take in the realm of public dialogue and pressure. Indian policy makers and commentators would do well to heed our own history in this process instead of pointing fingers at our neighbour. Sanjoy Hazarika is director, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. The views expressed are personal. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has become the first politician in Pakistans history to appoint six army chiefs. One of them Pervez Musharraf went against him and toppled Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999, while the rest too gave him a tough time. After assuming office in 1990, Sharif appointed Gen Asif Janjua to succeed Gen Mirza Aslam Baig. Unlike Baig, who was ambitious and insecure, Janjua was a very popular officer who commanded loyalty. But Janjua, who earned admiration for tackling the MQM as corps commander in Karachi, died of a heart attack in 1993, leaving a leadership void. This void was filled by Gen Abdul Waheed Kakar, a Pashtun officer appointed by Sharif who was seen as a weak candidate. It was Kakar who brokered the agreement in mid-1993 whereby Sharif and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan resigned after a constitutional deadlock. Sharif returned as premier in 1997, when Gen Jahangir Karamat was army chief. They got off to a bad start as the army was given a constitutional role in decision-making through the National Security Council. Sharif rejected the idea and the situation deteriorated to the point that Karamat resigned in 1998. Against all advice, Sharif appointed Musharraf in 1998. Soon after the Kargil conflict, Sharif moved to dismiss Musharraf and appoint a new army chief, Gen Ziauddin Butt. But the army rejected this and Musharraf toppled the government. Sharif returned as premier in 2013, when Gen Ashfaq Kayani was the chief. Soon after, Sharif nominated Gen Raheel Sharif, who was seen as close to the Sharif family. But his three years as chief proved a testing time for the PML-N government. If the new chief, Gen Qamar Bajwa, takes a strong stand on corruption, there could be friction between him and the premier, who faces the oppositions ire over allegations of graft in the Panama Papers leaks. From an Indian context, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwas assumption of the post of Pakistan Army chief ominously coincided with a brazen attack on an Indian Army camp at Nagrota in Jammu and Kashmir that left seven soldiers dead. There was even speculation the assault was a parting shot from the outgoing army chief, Gen Raheel Sharif, who had warned that his countrys restraint and patience on Kashmir should not be mistaken for weakness. The developments in Nagrota and Chamliyal, where three infiltrators were killed, were in marked contrast to Bajwas remark at the change of command ceremony in Rawalpindi that the situation on the Line of Control (LoC) will be alright soon. The throwaway comment suggested Bajwa, who has served on the LoC and once commanded the Rawalpindi-based X Corps that is responsible for operations along the ceasefire line, could adopt an approach different from that of Sharif. According to former colleagues, Bajwas keen interest in India goes back to his days as a young major serving on the LoC in 1992. That was when, they say, he began reading about India and discussing developments in the neighbouring country and the region with other officers. And the buzz in Islamabad is that Bajwa was a beneficiary of a debate on whether the new army chief should be a general who focussed on the counter-terrorism drive started by Sharif, or someone who balanced the campaign against militants with a renewed focus on India. Given his extensive expertise in Kashmir affairs, Bajwa was a natural fit when the Pakistani leadership chose the second option. Brig (retired) Feroz Hassan Khan, who was Bajwas commanding officer on the LoC, says the man in what is usually seen as the most powerful position in Pakistan does not have a visceral hatred of India. There is an assumption that every Pakistani military officer who rises has some sort of a visceral hatred towards India, as if its a default. This is not the case with (Bajwa) and I can tell you he has studied India so much, Khan told Hindustan Times on phone from Monterey, California, where he teaches at the US Naval Postgraduate School. Bajwa, with whom Khan has stayed in touch over the years, understands India (and) reads a lot of what India writes and knows a lot about what India thinks. He added, Theres hardly any senior officer of his level who reads a lot of what is published in India and he studies, he reflects and he remembers. Bajwa also believes in striking a civil-military balance and giving space to the elected government, Khan said. The complexity of the issuesdemand that neither the army can do it alone and nor the civilians can do it alone, so you have to balance the civil-military relations, said Khan, the author of the highly regarded book Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb. I think (Bajwa) is one person who realises the heavy responsibility that comes on his shoulders. Khan, however, noted Bajwa had taken over at a difficult time. Tensions between India and Pakistan have spiked because of a string of terror attacks on the Pathankot airbase and army camps at Uri and Nagrota. Fierce exchanges of fire on the LoC have put severe strain on the 13-year-old ceasefire along the frontiers in Kashmir. If he inherits something with so much tension on the border, he is first and foremost chief of the Pakistan Army. He has to do his duty, Khan said. Despite its recent focus on targeting bad militants such as the Taliban, the Pakistan Army largely remains as former army chief Ashfaq Kayani once put it an India-centric force. The military also retains a tight grip on key aspects of foreign and security policies, especially relations with countries such as the US and India. Pakistans recent weapons purchases including F-16 jets from the US and frigates and submarines from China and a rejig of defence ties with Russia have all been done with an eye to countering Indias conventional military strength. Lt Gen (retired) Kamal Davar, the first chief of Indias Defence Intelligence Agency, is among the skeptics who believes that a change of guard will not necessarily lead to a change of heart in the Pakistan Army. An armys stance emerges from national strategies and national interests. And the chief of any army is responsible for implementing those policies. Strategies dont change because of a change of personality, Davar told Hindustan Times. I think Pakistans current operational strategies arent going to change at all. Besides, theres a difference between tactical and strategic matters, and an army chief wouldnt be directly involved in tactical stuff, he added, referring to the attack in Nagrota. The jury, therefore, is still out on whether Bajwas three years in office will lead to a meaningful change in India-Pakistan relations or whether the general will be content to stick to the tried and tested path as far as his force is concerned. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Cabinet has approved important changes to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014, (RPWD) and it is hoped that it will be tabled and passed during the winter session of the Parliament. The new law, when enacted, will repeal the old Disability Act, 1995, and usher the Indian disability movement into a new age, where disability itself will be defined based on an evolving and dynamic concept. The World Bank estimates that 15% of the worlds population is affected by one disability or another. Exclusion of disabled persons from the labour market leads to an annual loss of approximately 3-7% of the GDP. According to Census 2011, India is home to 26.8 million people with disabilities and that is a huge underestimation. Read: Persons with disabilities: An enabling force in Indias growth story The RPWD Bill increases the number of recognised disabilities from 7 to 21. With this, the official count will obviously also rise and as per conservative estimates, that figure could be as high as 70-100 million. We must now leverage this vast human capital. It is hoped that the proposed new law, a robust rights-based legislation with a strong institutional mechanism, shall ensure enjoyment of rights by persons with disabilities on an equal basis with the non-disabled citizens of India. Read: SC allows disability quota in promotions for government jobs It is another matter that within the disabled community, there are haves and have-nots. Historically, the three big disability groups - orthopaedically disabled, blind, and deaf - have benefitted from various entitlements. Other disability groups like people with intellectual disabilities, people with psychosocial disabilities, people affected by leprosy, and even those with cerebral palsy or autism by and large got nothing. This law will dramatically change that. There is a lot in the new law for the have-nots. And not just for the thus far neglected disabilities, but 14 more altogether new disabilities. The world would change for people with Thalassemia, Haemophilia, Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis, Learning Disabilities, etc. Read: Universities do little to enable the disabled Encouraging employers to promote employment opportunities for persons with disabilities is the focus of our NCPEDP-Mindtree Helen Keller Awards. Cegeo Thekkel is amongst our awardees this year. He is a Peer Director at AMBA in Bengaluru and leads a team of 25 data operators. Cegeo is a person with intellectual disability. He reflects the joy and feeling of accomplishment that economic empowerment has brought to the intellectually disabled community. Thanks to the new law, people like Cegeo would not only get many more job opportunities, but also protection from any harassment or discrimination. The new law will help break many more glass ceilings. It would be a game changer. The disability sector has been waiting for this law patiently for the last several years. Just its making took over five years and seemed like a never ending saga. Finally, the Bill got ready and was tabled in Rajya Sabha in 2014. Since then, it has been closely examined by the Standing Committee, the Group of Ministers, and the PMO. Finally, it was passed by the Cabinet. I hope and pray that the Bill gets passed very soon, and most definitely within the current Parliament session. Javed Abidi is a disability activist The views expressed are personal. A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to Jan Dhan account holders not to return the money deposited in their accounts by black money hoarders, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday echoed similar views while lauding the Centres demonetisation move. It has happened for the first time in history when the rich knocked on the door of the poor and urged them to park their money in the Jan Dhan accounts, Chouhan said while addressing a gathering of beneficiaries of government welfare schemes at the capitals Jamboree Maidan on Sunday. PM has already said dont return the money to them. If they ask you to return their money write a letter to the PM and also the CM. There is no need to return the money. PM is in the process of formulating a scheme in this regard, he said, drawing a rapturous applause. Blaming the Congress for the chasm between the rich and the poor in the country, he said there was a section of people who with their wisdom or muscle power possessed massive wealth. Corruption too played a major role in widening the gap between the two sides, he said. Chouhan said, There are some who are living a luxurious life in skyscrapers, having amassed massive wealth, whereas the poor continue to suffer. They face the cold wave during winters and lose their life in summers and rains. He went on to depict the contrast between the rich and the poor through a couplet Koi taras raha ujiyaare, koi Suraj baandhe sota hai, aisa kyun hota hai, aisa kyun hota hai? He said Pt Deendayal Upadhyays human integral philosophy was the best way to fill the gap and ensure development of the grassroots as communism and capitalism failed to ensure happiness in the poors life. While Chouhan appreciated the PMs decision on demonetisation, he admitted there was a shortage of currency as of now. But, he added, the crisis would be over soon. Unlike other politicians, MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan does not wait till the eve of election day to announce measures aimed at appeasing prospective voters. Chouhan on Sunday announced that Deendayal kitchens would be launched in select cities of the state, so construction workers can get meals at a mere Rs 5 per head. He also announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh to the families of labourers and farmers who die during the course of their work. While the family of a labourer who meets his demise before attaining 40 years of age would get Rs 2 lakh, relatives of those meeting accidental deaths would be entitled to double that amount. The chief minister made these announcements on Sunday afternoon, while addressing a massive gathering of welfare scheme beneficiaries at a Jan Kalyan Yojna Prakshishan Sammelan in the city. Various ministers from his cabinet, state BJP chief Nandkumar Singh Chauhan and Union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste attended the event held at Jamboree Maidan. Govt to join hands with pvt companies to ensure lodging for labourers Chouhan said the government would join hands with private sector companies to ensure proper lodging for labourers. We will not allow them to live like flies and mosquitoes in slums, he added. The chief minister had something for those planning to tie the knot too. He announced free smartphones for newly-wed couples under the Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojna and Mukhyamantri Nikah Yojna, apart from other provisions that would help promote cashless transactions in the state. Landless persons to get funds for constructing house Besides this, Chouhan said a law aimed at providing space for houses to landless labourers would be introduced in the budget session of the state assembly soon. If land is not available, the government may even purchase land for them. If theres a space constraint, flats would be provided in multi-storeyed buildings. A landless person in a rural area will get Rs 1.20 lakh for constructing his house, and Rs 12,000 for a toilet. Similarly, a landless person in an urban area will get Rs 3 lakh Rs 1.5 lakh of which would come from the Centre, he said. Skill development training for 7.5 lakh people every year The chief minister also announced skill development training for as many as 7.5 lakh people every year, and loans for a similar number under the self-employment scheme. Blaming the countrys growing rich-poor divide on the erstwhile Congress government at the Centre, Chouhan asked the people to draw inspiration from Prime Minister Narendra Modis slogan Na khaunga na khaane dunga. Praising Modis campaign against black money, he said cashless transactions would be promoted in Madhya Pradesh to ensure transparency. Everybody from ministers to MLAs and government officials would be trained in these matters, he added. Chouhan also asked traders to conduct transactions through point of sale machines to derive incentives and tax exemptions.. A 22-year-old visually challenged girl, who has been a staunch devotee of Krishna since childhood, married an idol of the Hindu god at a village in Tikamgarh district on Sunday. Shalinis marriage was solemnised according to Bundelkhandi traditions. The marriage procession reached the brides home in Digoda village, where the ceremony was performed. According to locals, Shalini has been reading religious scriptures such as Ramayana, Bhagwat Geeta and playing musical instruments since childhood. The villagers pay a lot of respect to the woman, as they believe she possesses some supernatural power. Shalinis father Munnalal Bidua, a teacher, told HT that he has two sons and two daughters. Shalini is visually challenged since birth. She expressed her desire to marry Lord Krishna recently. The parents didnt disappoint her and consulted a priest to fulfil the desire of their daughter. The marriage was scheduled for December 4, as according to Hindu calendar it happens to be Vivah Panchmi. On Saturday, the marriage rituals like menhdi and sangeet were held. On Sunday, the marriage procession (baraat) was taken out from a temple with Lord Krishnas Laddu Gopal form as the bridegroom. After the marriage, the bride has plans to continue living at her present home, where she has a separate room converted into a temple. Eight months after he allegedly fled from home, a nine-year-old boy was reunited with his family courtesy prompt action by two locals who found him in a village in Betul in MP and informed the police and a photograph that the local police then sent through WhatsApp to their counterparts 600 kms away in Rewa. The boy, Ajit Kushwaha, a resident of Umri village in Rewa, had gone missing on April 1 this year. He was living in Koylari village with a farmers family in Betul, when the Shahpur police got information about him. They sent his photographs to the police station concerned in Rewa where his identity was confirmed following which he was reunited with his family. According to the town inspector, Shahpur, Rajendra Dhurve, the boy had fled from his house with a 10-year-old boy Sunil Vishwakarma, also a resident of the same village. They reached Itarsi near Bhopal in a train and lived there for about three months and earning a living by picking rags. They had a dispute over some issue after which Sunil returned to his native place while Ajit moved on to Betul with another boy. After reaching Koylari village, the other boy left, leaving Ajit alone. A local farmer found him sitting alone at a lonely place and took him home where he lived for about two months, Dhurve told HT. On December 1, Ajit was sitting at a grocery store in the village when two locals noticed him and asked about his address. Ajit told them that he is a resident of Umri village in Rewa. The two men then informed the police on Dial 100 service. A team reached the spot and asked the boy his address and fathers name. After finding that the village comes under Kotwali police station, we informed them and sent the boys photographs through WhatsApp the same day. On checking the photographs, the town inspector immediately identified Ajit, said Dhurve. The Kotwali police immediately informed Ajits parents who then reached Betul on December 2 to receive him. Speaking to the HT, investigating officer of his missing case in Kotwali, Rewa, assistant sub-inspector, Ahsraf Ali said that they had looked for him in Itarsi and Bhopal but didnt get any clues. We tried our level best to search him by putting up posters at different places in the Rewa, Itarsi and Bhopal but nobody gave any information about him. What our efforts over eight months couldnt do, the photographs sent through WhatsApp did that in about two hours, said Ali. Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan became the latest victim of allegedly false death rumours late on Sunday, months after actor and her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan and actor Katrina Kaif suffered a similar fate. Reports claimed on Sunday that Aishwarya had taken an overdose of tranquillisers following constant family quarrels over her steamy photo shoot with Ae Dil Hai Mushkil co-star Ranbir Kapoor. The reports added that her alleged suicide attempt and subsequent death was hushed up by the family. The alleged hoax went viral on social media with blogs trending on the issue. Aishwarya Rai at a private bash celebrating Manish Malhottras 50th birthday late Sunday. The rumours were only punctured when the 43-year-old star was spotted at a party thrown by celebrity designer Manish Malhotra late on Sunday. I was with Aishwarya and Abhishek till 2am today (Monday) morning at designer Manishs home. She looked radiant and happy, posing for photographs. A lot of guests complimented her for how stunning she looked in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and her husband seemed rather pleased about it,a source told Hindustan Times. Aishwarya in a still from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. (YouTube) Read: Bollywood stars who have faced death hoaxes Earlier, rumours spread that the Bachchan family summoned a doctor at their residence when they discovered Aishwaryas alleged attempted suicide and death. To keep the matter hushed up, they allegedly did not take her Aishwarya to the hospital , the reports added. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan plays a divorcee poet in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. According to another report, titled Outlook Pakistan, Aishwarya Rai blamed her rumoured marital woes for the alleged suicide. The website also quoted a physician who treated Aishwarya. The blog quoted the physician on the condition of anonymity as saying that on being saved, Aishwarya told him, Let me die, it is better to die than living such pathetic life. Earlier, Bollywood actors Katrina Kaif, Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khuranna, Dilip Kumar, Honey Singh, Rajinikanth and Lata Mangeshkar have suffered rumours of similar death hoax online. Follow @htshowbiz for more The Star Screen Awards 2016, held on Sunday evening, did what few events have been able to in Bollywood - the programme was hosted by the two of the most popular and bankable stars in the industry - Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. SRK and Salman perform during the awards. Salman tries his hand at the signature SRK pose. (Twitter) The actors entered the stage on bicycles. The duo also performed on stage for fans. Salman led the way when the duo started talking with reporters. Both actors were in a candid mood and Salman said, The (Star Screen Awards) theme is friendship and who (would be) better than us to host it? and added, Humne to koi itna bada panga kiya bhi nahi tha. Salman also said another fight is possible between the two Khans. Asked whether they are ready for a film together, Salman said only an intelligent writer and a patient director can bring them together for a movie. Salman Khan was recently ranked at sixth position in a list of the worlds most handsome men. Reacting to the news, SRK said, He should be number one! And Salman joked, He (SRK) should be number half. Follow @htshowbiz for more Bipasha Basu says her husband actor Karan Singh is a romantic at heart while she is practical in matters of love. The 37 year old model-actor married Karan in April this year. He is very romantic, I am failing on that front as I am not that romantic, I am too practical. I think we balance each other that way, Bipasha told reporters at the Star Screen Awards here last night. Post their marriage, there were rumours that all was not well between the dusky star and her husband. In Delhi! Family time! A photo posted by bipashabasusinghgrover (@bipashabasu) on Nov 7, 2016 at 6:24am PST I dont read newspapers. But there is no escape from rumours as one gets to read it on social media. You know better about your life, she said. Before tying the knot, Bipasha and Karan worked in Alone and says she is open to such projects in future. Blessed A photo posted by bipashabasusinghgrover (@bipashabasu) on Oct 19, 2016 at 8:36am PDT We do get lot of offers, but things have to work out in terms of dates, finance. At the Star Screen Awards, Karan hosted a segment of the show with filmmaker Karan Johar. Asked if she gave any advice to her husband, Bipasha said, No, I havent given any advice to Karan. I have hosted only one show - Seven Wonders of World- in Portugal, its a different energy, you have to keep the people entertained and I wish him all the best. Follow @htshowbiz for more While on their way to Jupiter, a ships crew gets double crossed by its sentient computer, Hal. Slowly, the infallible Hal manages to kill most of the astronauts. A fierce battle ensures between Hal and the lone surviving astronaut, Dave, before Dave finally manages to shut down the computer. When 2001: A Space Odyssey was released in 1968, the epic science-fiction film was more of a fiction -- but no longer. Forty nine years later, machines are doing almost everything that human intelligence can do -- analysing customer behaviour, helping doctors diagnose diseases better and creating individual learning programmes to name just a few; functions commonly known as artificial intelligence (AI). No wonder that SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son said at the HT Leadership Summit on Friday that machines, which are multiple times more intelligent than Albert Einstein, will be an essential part of our future. I am better in forecasting, predicting, talking about 30 years later, than three years for the first time we are facing something that is so much smarter than us. Technologies, such as AI and virtual reality, are increasingly being used in various fields, including healthcare, retail, e-commerce, education and real estate, to understand the buyer better and boost sales. Its like Iron Mans JARVIS, the AI (artificial intelligence) assistant that gives Tony Stark all the information he needs, helps him fight bad men, manages his estate, house and even business. IBMs cognitive computing platform, another name for AI, Watson, is playing a major role in bringing technology into real life. One of the early adopters is Manipal University, which is using it in Oncology. It is impossible for a doctor to read every research paper that comes out on cancer treatment last year, 130 of them were published every day but Watson can go through them, analyse them and suggest better ways of treatment. It is also being used in the field of retail, fashion and e-commerce. Soon, from searching a red shirt or a blue suit based on textual entries, Watson will help in searching them through images, videos and voice. Rather than searching for products, you will be able to search for occasions -- for a marriage or a casual dinner, said Nipun Mehrotra, vice-president, strategy and growth initiatives, IBM Asia Pacific. Watson is also learning culinary techniques in some of the best colleges in Bangalore, and has been assisting chefs with recipes while cooking. It is also helping designer create new designs. Snapdeal, Indias third-largest e-commerce company, is working on a new system, which will extract information from a picture, identify the dress, pattern, style and other information, and throw up relevant choices for its buyers, says Rajiv Mangla, chief technology officer, Snapdeal, which recently bought deep learning company Fashionate. In India, almost every second day a new startup is coming up in the AI space. A little more than year ago there were 20-30 of them. Now there are more than 150. Fashion e-tailer Voylla wants to use AI to play the role of a shopping companion. A buyer can take a picture of the dress or selfie, and the platform shows what will go best with it. We are mimicking human behaviour and automating it, says Jagrati Shringi, founder of Voylla. Soon, Shringi will help her buyers design their own jewellery using AI! For companies like Paytm, the countrys largest mobile wallet company, which also has the ambition to become a full-fledged bank, AI can help in detecting frauds, upselling services and understanding the needs of consumers better. The thing with mobile is that people dont like typing, so the more you can reduce typing, the more friction free it will become, says Amit Singhal, former head of Google Search, who now sits on Paytms board. Even if I can reduce three clicks (while making a transaction), and give them (consumers) the destination faster, user will be happy. Real estate companies are still taking baby steps in the field, but the opportunity is huge. So far you can just view things. You cant interact with them We are working with real estate companies to offer buyers options to create models, finishes, use furniture, paints all within the same dimension, says Goutam Tewari, founder and CEO of SmartVizX, a virtual reality startup. AI is coming to education, too. If a professional enters the requirements, our algorithm will pull out material from different courses, customise it and offer a unique course, claims Bradley Loiselle, CEO of betterU, an education marketplace. Another online education platform, Pluralsight, wants to create customised courses based on learning styles. AI will help in understanding what kind of learning the student needs fast, slow, or dedicated (who wants to follow every step from A to Z), and create hyper-personalised ways of learning, says Arun Rajamani, country head of Pluralsight India. It looks like SoftBank CEO Son is on the right track. Hes building a humanoid (a robot that looks like a human) called Pepper (Pepper Potts is also Starks girlfriend in Iron Man, and the CEO of Stark Industries), which will understand human emotions, and react accordingly. I am creating robot with a good heart, says Son. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON New Delhi Taxi driver Haricharan would not trade his humble feature phone for any hi-fi smartphone. I can start chats (on Facebook Messenger) directly from the browser. On a smartphone you need to have two apps. Also, you end up paying much more (for a smartphone), and the battery doesnt even last 24 hours My (feature) phone could go on a single charge for two days, says Haricharan. Sometimes I have no time to charge my phone, since I make several trips from Ramnagar to Corbett during peak seasons. In case you are wondering that Haricharan is an exception in a nation of a billion people who would vouch for their smartphones, you are in for a surprise. Around 64% of Indians still prefer feature phones. Two-thirds of the Indian population use feature phones, Faisal Kawoosa, lead of telecoms research wing at CyberMedia Research, told HT. According to our analysis, India has 750 million unique subscribers and smartphones account for only 36% of them (277 million). The remaining 473 million still use feature phones. Companies are also looking to tap the pool of the digitally underprivileged to grow their cash base, especially in the wake of the governments demonetisation drive. With demonetisation, every company will be forced to look at developing options for the digitally underprivileged. This will also see the feature phone segment grow back as well, Kawoosa added. E-wallets Paytm, Mobikwik and innoz.in have already begun work to connect people to the Internet. Paytm has devised measures to let feature phone users take advantage of its apps services; Last week MobiKwik launched MobiKwik Lite, which allows users on 2G connections/EDGE to transact. MobiKwik founder Bipin Preet Singh has said that the company was working on a direct feature phone service, which it expects to launch within two weeks. The company has hinted that the service will run on USSD codes -- digit combinations used by telcos, including Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, to give information about recharges, validity and other value-added services. In fact, both Paytm and MobiKwik are working on solutions that will work even without Internet. All transactions that happen in the offline mode will be stored in the cache memory of the app and once the phone comes in touch with the internet, the registry of those transactions will be updated in our server, said Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma. A MobiKwik spokesperson also confirmed that the company was working on a similar model for a completely offline mode. The countrys largest lender, State Bank of India, also recently launched a new wallet app for feature phone users. Known as Batua, the app has been structured on the lines of Buddy the smartphone wallet app for SBI customers. Not everybody has a smartphone and that is why we thought of this version, SBI managing director Rajnish Kumar said. Batua can be used for making utility payments, transferring funds and buying air tickets, among other things. The Innoz SMS platform (a search engine for offline users through SMS) has processed over 1 billion queries of users in 10 countries, a spokesperson for Innoz said. Innoz SMS App store has enabled millions of people use Facebook, Twitter, email and other Internet services offline. Tarun Pathak, who leads consumer devices research at Counterpoint, said that even with the ongoing conversion from feature phones to smartphones, the volume of the feature phone market in India will be significant enough till two to three years from now. Feature phones will be critical for digital payments, since the installed base of feature phones in India is still close to 400 million. The government needs to look at ways to push these 400 million-odd users to adopt cashless transactions through their feature phones. Arto Nummela, CEO of HMD Global, which plans to come out with Nokia-branded handsets soon, also sees a huge demand for feature phones globally, and not only in India. There will be a constant demand for feature phones as many people dont want to switch to a smartphone, whether it is for price or experience. We believe there will always be a 15% to 20% demand in the smartphone segment. Google and Facebook are also working on different ways to bring Internet to people even when they are not connected to the Net. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Backing the demonetisation move, union minister for power Piyush Goyal rejects the claim of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also a noted economist, that the note ban will contract Indias GDP by 2%. In an interview with HT, Goyal, who also holds the portfolio of coal, mines, and renewable energy, says with industry and agriculture sectors picking up, the economy was recovering. Do you think the costs of demonetisation to the common man is outweighing its benefits? Now the people are facing much less inconvenience as compared to before. We are encouraging them to use less cash. One of our implicit objectives was to encourage the people to work more honestly. The dishonest can no longer continue to game the system. People just need to be a little patient. As the Prime Minister said, things would settle down in around 50 days. Moreover, the finance minister has categorically said there will be short-term pain for a quarter or so. But this is an estimate, it could even take less time. For instance, the cement industry that saw a two-week dip in activity is nearly back to normal. Moreover, the rabi sowing has been 8.5% higher than last year. So, I think people have adjusted well and supported Modi. Read more: India focussing on clean energy but West has to do its part: Piyush Goyal Fitch Ratings has already lowered Indias GDP outlook, are you worried? This is a short-term downgrade, and it doesnt bother us. Whenever you take bold and disruptive decisions, people need time to adjust. Manmohan Singh said the GDP will contract by 2%. Do you think he was speaking as a leader of Opposition or an economist? Its sad that the Congress, which is struggling to stay relevant as a political party, had to bring the former Prime Minister to make such unwarranted and baseless comments. I wish he elaborates on how he calculated this 2% fall in the GDP. Im no economist, but I think moving from an informal channel to a formal one will only add to the GDP. Read more: Govt didnt have enough time to prepare for demonetisation: Piyush Goyal Solar tariff has fallen to an all-time low of 3 unit. Do you think such low prices are sustainable? Though I havent factored in the 3 one-off transaction, I dont think it is a viable price. When the 4.6 tariff per unit was discovered, a lot of people criticised it. But my calculations showed it was viable. I think the solar tariff has been reduced by 45% in the last two years because of efficient economies of scale and transparent bidding. There are no underhand dealings that cause the tariff to go up. Keeping in mind that 70% of these projects will be financed through debt, are you worried that the banks will be under stress if any of these fail? All these projects are backed by power-purchase agreements for 25 years. So there is no risk of escalating prices. Moreover, no one can take away the sun and the wind. Your focus has been on solar power, but what about hydropower? When do we see a hydro policy? Over the last few decades, hydropower has taken a hit. At one point, it was the main source of power. This is because people dont understand the sector fully. We need to address local issues such as land acquisition. I am working closely with the sector to try and revive small and large hydro projects. We want to focus on the stalled projects, because no one will invest in a sector that continues to have stressed assets. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Two West County High School seniors have been selected as National Merit Scholarship semifinalists. According to Principal Eric Moyers, Syr Charles Lyons and Mason Pratt are only the second and third West County students to earn such a distinction in about 30 years, following just one year after William Cureton carried the status in 2016. Lyons said he is aiming for the stars, so to speak. I want to be an aerospace engineer, he said, and am interested in physics and how forces interact to make one thing work for a specific purpose; in this case, flying. I want to work for Boeing in St. Louis, more than likely, or somewhere (similar). To get there, he has set his sights on the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S & T), formerly the University of MissouriRolla. Theyre very closely tied with Boeing and have a lot of internships and different programs I can take there, said Lyons. Although Missouri S & Ts aerospace engineering program can be completed in four years, Lyons said it tends to be more rigorous than some other engineering programs. In order to build planes you have to have a background in physics a mechanical engineering background to understand how to build the machine itself and then in certain cases, you have to understand the electrical engineering and the software engineering to make all the programs run together. Aerospace engineering takes a lot of different fields and I like to broaden my horizons and do a lot of different things. Along with academics, Lyons has interests in music and the performing arts. Hes a member of his school band and also performs outside of school. I also dance with the Young People's Performing Arts Theatre, he said, and will be in the upcoming annual Nutcracker performances later this month at the Centene Center in Farmington. Pratt plans to pursue a doctorate in chiropractic medicine after earning a bachelors degree in biology. Ive always thought about doing something in the medical science field, he said, but I didnt want to be a surgeon (or general practitioner) and I didnt really want to be a pharmacist either. To reach his goal, Pratt said he plans on attending Lindenwood University in Saint Charles to complete his bachelors degree and some of the prerequisites for a chiropractic degree. After completing his biology degree, Pratt said hed like to earn his doctoral degree at Logan University in Chesterfield, which is a private institution providing college education in chiropractic and health sciences. In addition to excellence in academics, Pratt is also musically inclined as well. He is a member of his schools choir and swing choir and is an accomplished musician, playing several different instruments. Im probably best at the bass because I play it the electric and upright bass every day in band, he said. He also plays guitar, the mandolin, and taught himself how to play the ukulele in one day. In addition to the upright bass, Pratt also plays the cello and violin, making him a versatile orchestral musician. Once I get to college Ill probably play in the orchestra if I can, said Pratt. The National Merit Scholarship Program is administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a not-for-profit organization that does not receive government funding. Since 1955, NMSC has focused its attention solely on U.S. high school students at the uppermost end of the academic ability scale. According to its official website, NMSC's mission is to promote scholastic excellence and recognize students who exemplify such excellence. The competition to become a finalist is very rigorous scholarship winners are selected based on their abilities, skills, extracurricular accomplishments and potential for success in college and beyond. Applicants must take the Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), usually in their junior year. About 1.6 million juniors from more than 22,000 high schools took the exam for the 2017 scholarship program. The nationwide pool of semifinalists includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. To become a finalist, semifinalists and their high school must complete a detailed scholarship application that includes information about the applicants academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, honors and awards received. In addition, a semifinalist must be recommended by a high school official, write an essay and earn minimum SAT scores. The percentage of U.S. high school seniors who qualified for that distinction is less than 1 percent with only about 16,000 qualified as semifinalists. NMSC reports that about 90 percent of semifinalists advance to the finals stage and about half the finalists traditionally win a National Merit Scholarship. Winners earn the Merit Scholar title and a portion of about $33 million in scholarships that will be awarded next spring. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from the group of finalists based on their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in college studies, without regard for gender, race, ethnicity or religious preference. The 2017 National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced some time next spring. Since its inception in 1955, NMSC has recognized more than 3 million students and provided more than 414,000 scholarships worth more than $1.6 billion. Only god created something which has emotion ... mankind never created anything which shows and understands emotions... Masayoshi Son, CEO and founder of SoftBank, the Japanese telecom conglomerate, was talking about how he wants to change the way robots of the future function. He said machine will eventually become more intelligent than humans. Pepper, Sons newest creation, is a humanoid (a robot that looks like a human). It will understand facial expression and voice tone, and mirror peoples emotions. His biggest acquisition is ARM, the chip-set maker, fits well with the singularity strategy. Computer intelligence will surpass mankind intelligence .... In 30 years, it will be a million times intelligent, said Son. The chips that ARM makes will be fitted in robots, televisions, and cars. Our company will ship one trillion of these chips, Son said. Son loves to gaze into the future. He is good at that, he admits. In the future, these robots will help mankind lead a better life. But many tech enthusiasts around the world are apprehensive of highly intelligent robots. You create robots with good emotions, they will take care of us ... I am building a robot with a good heart, Son said. We can use them as our companions, family members or business partners. Already, Softbank has shipped 10,000 of them. The world needs many more of these robots, said Son. Pepper has primitive emotions, he said, adding they were working on the project in partnership with the medical school of Tokyo University. Son recently raised $100 billion to fund more technology, internet and renewable companies around the world. Son, however, agrees that robots are not new to the world. They have been used in manufacturing, warehouses, and medical science for ages. But SoftBank doesnt want to focus on just productivity. Son wants to play God, and Pepper is at the centre of his strategy. Pepper has emotions, doesnt age, and becomes your companion. But it cant have babies. Maybe that, too, will happen in the future. Mankind has 200,000 years of history. Pepper has two, Son said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Three different teams of investigators are comparing notes to answer a question thats haunting Delhi police: Has a new serial killer emerged in the Capital? Three mutilated bodies have been found in a 10-kilometre radius in south Delhi over the last 10 days. The modus operandi seems similar the bodies were mutilated, hacked and dumped in drains or street corners. In each case, police believe the murder was carried out far from the spot where the body was recovered. The bodies were either naked or dressed only in undergarments. However, senior police officers are hesitant to attribute the murders to a single killer or even suggest that they may be linked because they dont have any evidence to support the theory. Moreover, they have not been able to identify the victim or recover the murder weapon in any of the cases. It could be a mere coincidence that all the three bodies were hacked. Our teams are working on solving this case soon, joint commissioner of police (south west) Dependra Pathak told HT. The first incident came to light on November 25, when the decapitated body of a woman possibly in her mid-30s was recovered from a sewer on the ground floor of a Munirka building. A week later, on the morning of November 2, a murdered man with his legs chopped off was found under a tree in Mangal Bazar area of Sangam Vihar. In the third incident, the body of a woman with her lower torso missing was fished out of a drain near the Delhi Jal Board office at Amar Colony on November 3. On Sunday evening, police found a human torso in a sewer located 50 metres from the scene of the crime. As it was partially eaten by street dogs, they were unable to verify if it belonged to a man or a woman. We think the torso belongs to the victim. We will ask doctors to conduct DNA and bone tests to confirm this. The body part was in a highly decomposed state, an officer said. Read | Delhi: Womans headless, decomposed body found in sewer in Munirka The head of the decapitated woman is yet to be recovered. Police believe all the three victims were from places outside Delhi because they were unable to match them with missing reports filed in the city over the last one month. The Delhi government will hold a meeting with private unaided schools on Monday to discuss if neighbourhood can be fixed as the only criterion for nursery admission this year. The government is planning to make distance between home and school as the eligibility criterion in 285 private schools built on DDA land. These include some of Delhis prominent schools that receive thousands of applications every year for a few hundred seats. Typically, Delhi schools follow a point system and neighbourhood is one of the parameters that decide the school a child will go to. But if it is made a sole parameter, schools will not be able to score applicants on other parameters like alumni, sibling, transfer cases. Government says schools, however, will be free to determine the distance but in keeping with the right to education guidelines. Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung had last week asked the government to discuss the proposal with all stakeholders. The guidelines, which is expected to be released within two weeks, officials said. The admission process will begin in January. With parents keen on children starting out in good schools, there is always a scramble for seats in the citys top private institutions. Last few years have been chaotic, with parents dragging schools and government to court over norms that were changed several times. Schools have shown apprehension. All neighbourhoods dont have enough number of schools and if distance is fixed, students in many areas will be left with no options, a principal said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a shocking incident, a 6-7 month-old female foetus was found on the terrace of an under-construction house in southwest Delhis Bindapur area on Monday morning. A case under section 318 (concealment of birth by secret disposal of dead body) IPC has been registered at Bindapur police station and further investigation is underway, said DCP (Southwest) Surender Kumar. It is suspected that the foetus could have been lying on the terrace for a couple of days, police said. Police has launched an investigation to find the doctor who carried out the termination of pregnancy and the identity of the parents. Locals are being questioned to know if they saw any suspicious activity near the area, they added. Bigger, better and brighter the ninth edition of Delhi Queer Pride Parade managed to gather hundreds at Tolstoy Marg in Connaught Place on Sunday. Fighting for their rights against the Section 377, the LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community came out with balloons, placards, props and more to celebrate the spirit of freedom. This year, the parade got immense support from around the world, including nations like the United Kingdom, Canada, Taiwan, Germany and the United States of America. The parade also had participants from various embassies and some visitors had flown down specially for it. I have been to many pride parades in and around the UK and this feels very familiar, but what makes it much bigger is the strong meaning attached to it, said Patrick Mannion, a resident of UK who was part of the parade. Another participant from Taiwan, Celine Bara was overjoyed to see such a huge gathering and said, I am here with my husband and my brother. At first my brother was apprehensive, but I cannot find him now. He has been dancing, meeting different men, making friends and being himself. I love the vibe here and the spirit of freedom. I love how my brother doesnt have to wear a mask or hide himself here. Participants of the ninth annual Delhi Queer pride Parade pose under the rainbow hued flag. (Zabeeh Afaque/HT Photo) Mohnish Kabir Malhotra, the man behind the parade too was overwhelmed by the growing numbers and shared his plans for the 10th Delhi Queer Pride Parade which will take place next year. Before acceptance comes tolerance and pride, and that is exactly what we are here for. The parade in its 9th year has got bigger, the feeling is overwhelming. I am really happy that the authorities have been super supportive,, he said. I told them (the authorities) that next year, I will be breaking all the rules and taking the parade to the inner circle of Connaught place, and surprisingly they said that they shall work something out, he added. A shot of the participants during the parade. (Zabeeh Afaque/HT Photo) The massive gathering the aim of which was to highlight the communities concerns comprised DU (Delhi University) students, foreign nationals and people from around the country. Kanika Katyal, an M.Phil student of DU said, For me registering my presence here is important because I see this as a celebration of love and equality. Its a very simple philosophy really, equality is not a new concept that must be introduced and learned. Its a necessity! If a section of people are marginalised, then it means that the society is screwed up, its out of balance, because why should some people have more freedom than others? Its a claustrophic picture which needs to be fixed. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON New Delhi The Delhi government is all set to give its go ahead to the fourth phase of Delhi Metro, which will have six new lines connecting outer parts of the city to its heart and forming intersection with all existing lines. When completed (tentative deadline 2020), the new lines will expand the reach of Metro network to 434 kilometres across 308 stations. The daily ridership is also likely to go up to 63 lakh from the current 28 lakh. In May, the AAP government had given an in-principle approval to the R55,000-crore project but the Centre returned the file saying they needed to give financial approval first. Delhis transport and urban development minister Satyendar Jain told Hindustan Times the project will be put before the cabinet again this week. The file had one sentence -- decision on fund commitment will be considered by the cabinet later. This confused the central government. They thought that this was a rider attached to the approval. They asked the Delhi government to clear it, said a government official. Usually 70% of the cost of Metro projects is paid by loan and 15% each is shared by the Delhi and central governments. Once the cabinet approves it, the file will be forwarded to the Union government. After their approval, tenders will be floated, the official said. The 104-kilometre phase 4 network is expected to have a daily ridership of 1.5 million. These lines, in addition to the 140 kilometres of network being added in Phase 3, are expected to free up traffic bottlenecks in the congested central and southern parts of the city and help people residing in outer Delhi. Phase 3 is likely to be completed by September 2017, and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was seeking approval for phase 4 for more than a year. The DMRC intially proposed to build a 20-km-long corridor between the Aerocity and Tughlakabad metro stations but has now extended it to Terminal 1 station. The line will go through densely populated areas such as Saket, Mehrauli, Vasant Kunj and Mahipalpur in south Delhi. Passengers travelling on the ITO-Faridabad line can change for the Terminal 1 line at Tughlakabad while those travelling on the Gurgaon line can board a Metro on this network from Saket. Currently, the airport line is connected only with Gurgaon-Jahangirpuri line, that too at New Delhi railway station. Once the Terminal 1-Tughlakabad line starts, the passengers from different lines will have easier access to the airport. From Aerocity, they can take the airport line to go to Terminal 3, said a senior DMRC official. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Private schools may get the right to decide the area to which the neighbourhood criterion will apply for nursery admissions for the academic session 2017-18. The government plans to set one kilometre as the minimum distance for the norm. This year the government is planning to make neighbourhood or the distance between a childs home and school as the only criteria for nursery admissions. The move will impact 285 schools built on land allotted by the Delhi Development Authority. The land allotment terms state that schools cannot deny admissions to residents of neighbouring areas. The government on Monday held a consultation with schools to discuss nursery admission guidelines, implementation of DDA allotment letters, and the definition of the terms locality and neighbourhood. Officials said the governments plan is in line with a Supreme Court direction that says schools have to strictly implement terms of land allotment. The current consultation comes in the wake of a petition filed by Justice for All in high court which states that as per the land lease agreement between schools and DDA, schools cannot deny admissions to students from the neighbourhood. Deputy chief minister and education minister Manish Sisodia told schools that they will be free to define neighbourhood but the minimum distance they have to cover is 1 kilometre. The minister told schools that they have to implement the terms of land allotment. But the terms dont define the limit of neighbourhood. Schools will be free to decide the distance they want to cover under neighbourhood but the minimum distance will be 1 kilometre, sources said. Advocate Khagesh Jha, who has filed the petition in HC, said, Schools will have autonomy to decide the distance but fixing it at 1 kilometre means that the applicant from within that distance will not be denied admission by the school. Schools have been asked to send their feedback in a few days over governments move. We will send our feedback in a day or two, said a school representative, who attended the meeting. Nursery admissions for the upcoming academic session are likely to begin from January 1. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Passengers at the Indira Gandhi International Airports terminal T3 were on Monday asked to go through a full body scanner, though voluntarily. The scanners are currently used at several international airports and Delhi will be the first airport India to experiment with the security device. The efficiency of the scanner will be checked in the coming days and a committee will decide whether the system is good enough to install it permanently. Total 10,000 scans will analysed for reaching a conclusion, said a senior CISF official. CISF guards the airport. Its voluntary since it is a trial run. We will make the checks compulsory only after we decide to use them on a permanent basis, said a Bureau for Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) official. The scanner produces mannequin-like images and detects hidden items in the body. In view of the privacy concerns raised by passengers over X-Ray images that the body scanners produce at airports across the world, the BCAS has asked the manufacturers to configure the machines to ensure that the images dont reveal body parts. Read More: Flying from Delhis T3? You may be asked to go through a full-body scanner The scanning does not take more than a minute and it comes with privacy filters. The scanner can reveal plastic and liquid explosives, composite weapons, plastic and metal guns, drugs and other contraband, ceramic and metal knives, box cutters, precious metals and recording devices. The scanner with millimeter wave technology has been brought from the United States and another one from Germany will arrive next week. We want to test both the technologies simultaneously to decide which one is better. During the trial run, passengers feedback will be taken . We want to cover most of the passengers travelling out during the trial period, said the official. Passengers will be requested to go through the body scanner after they have collected their boarding pass. It will be voluntary. However, they will have to go through the normal security check even if they choose to go through the scanner. Only highly suspicious passengers will be forced to go through the scanners. Irrespective of the controversy associated with it, we wanted these scanners at the airport. A discussion to install shoe scanners was also held but nothing has been finalised, said a BCAS official. A few years ago, a similar trial run was conducted at the Delhi airport and a US-based company had installed the body scanner. A survey conducted during the period showed that 90% passengers feel the new technology will help but only 40% volunteered to go through the scanner. ENDS SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON There were both unpleasant and constructive aspects to the Heart of Asia conference which concluded in Amritsar on Sunday. Like any multilateral meeting hosted by South Asian countries, the event was marred by needless India-Pakistan theatre. Advance speculation whether there will be bilateral talks during the meeting usually sucks the oxygen out of the event well before it starts. What follows usually are public recriminations and micro acts of tension for the media to amplify. So this time national security adviser Ajit Doval and Sartaj Aziz, foreign affairs adviser to Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif, walked together briefly but did not have a meeting. One can understand the awkwardness between the two sides since Indian and Pakistani troops are currently exchanging heavy fire at the border. But what was the need to put up Mr Aziz in a different hotel apart from the rest of the delegates? Pakistan has also claimed that Mr Aziz was denied visits by guests and that he was prevented from talking to the Press and visiting the Golden Temple on security grounds. Such tactics, if true, are embarrassing and are needless as India is anyway handily winning the argument on terrorism with Pakistan on the international stage. Read: Heart of Asia summit: Over 30 nations to plan fight against terrorism The conference was redeemed, fittingly, by the forceful comments by President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan. Thanking Pakistan for pledging $500 million assistance for Afghanistan reconstruction, Mr Ghani directly addressed Mr Aziz and told him the money can very well be used for containing extremism. In tweets later Mr Ghani lauded Indias impressive support and said political violence and terrorism are the heart of Afghanistans problems. Read: Dialogue with India only if Kashmir on agenda: Sartaj Aziz He said military operations in Pakistan brought a major but selective displacement of the Pakistani extremist networks & their allies on to Afghanistan and that despite intense engagement with Pakistan the undeclared war not only has not abated but intensified. This is a stinging rebuke from the head of state of a country that Pakistan views as its strategic depth. Mr Ghani chose to make such a statement in front of several countries and international organisations, effectively to drive home the message abroad that Islamabad yet again stands in the way of peace and stability in Afghanistan. Pakistan will feel that it is still not without options. It retains influence over Taliban groups, which have outlasted Nato troops and forced a stalemate in Afghanistan, and it is part of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group on Afghanistan that includes China and the US. But as the world braces for a President Donald Trump who may be better disposed towards India while inheriting Washingtons scepticism about Pakistan, Islamabad will need to come to terms with the implications of Mr Ghanis stern message. Pakistan can yet damage Afghanistan and China will provide it cover as its all-weather friend but frustrating a respected figure like Mr Ghani will make Indias portrayal of Islamabad resonate even more among the international community. Union minister Giriraj Singh obviously does not remember history. If Mr Singh did, then he would not have called for mass sterilisation in the country. At a function in Bihar last week, the minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises advocated sterilisation to control population growth. Mr Singh said the India needs a strong population control law including sterilisation as the country was facing a population boom impeding development and social stability. India has 17 % of the world population and adds population equal to Australia each year. The country only has 2.5% of land mass of the globe with only 4.2% of water resources. In this scenario, the population explosion in the country is proving to be a big roadblock for development. We need population control act to tide over the problem, he said. Before proposing such a law, Mr Singh should have taken into account the fate of such programmes in a democratic country: In the mid 1970s, the Congress tried to implement a similar plan but the political and social backlash singed the party badly. Read: Union minister Giriraj Singh calls for mass sterilisation to control population Mr Singh is the second senior BJP leader in Bihar who has advocated sterilisation after demonetisation. Last week, former union minister and senior BJP leader Sanjay Paswan said sterilisation will help control the population of the country. While it is true Indias population is a challenge, but it can also be a huge demographic dividend, if tackled properly. Moreover, Indias sterilisation campaign has been badly managed, and in September, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to end sterilisation camps within three years and strengthen the primary healthcare system, saying it is time that women and men are treated with respect and dignity and not as mere statistics in the sterilisation programme. Read: Centre should end sterilisation camps in 3 years: SC If India is to effectively curb its population, it cannot happen by incentive-based or forced sterilisation programmes. Instead, as the Supreme Court suggested, the State must focus on the education and empowerment of poor women in rural areas and encourage them to make an informed choice on family planning. Although the Christmas season is a time of joy and celebration for many, the head of New Beginnings Community Services, Inc., is reminding southeast Missourians that the holidays can be a difficult time for those who are dealing with grief and loss. "I think there are several things that make the holidays difficult for those who find themselves in this situation," said Kathy Grogan, executive director of the non-profit Bonne Terre-based organization. "Part of it is that, as we move into the fall, it starts getting dark early. It starts getting cold. People feel more shut in and a little more vulnerable because we start thinking of the snow and ice and the things that can happen. "It's a whole different story getting snowed in with someone you love, compared to getting snowed in alone. Where before if you had concerns about the electricity going out or the wires falling down you had somebody to figure it all out with, if you've lost that spouse or special person the person you made all your decisions with it makes the dark a little darker, the cold a little colder and the unknown a little more frightening." Grogan explained that the feelings of fear and emptiness can be even greater if the loss has occurred within the previous year. "I've said for a long time that if a person loses somebody from August to the end of the year, not only is that year's holiday rough but the next year is too. That first year the person is still kind of in shock. By the next year they are coming out of shock and there is an empty place at the table and it takes on a new meaning. There's the gift you see in the store that you think is perfect for the person who you suddenly remember is gone now. Truly for a moment there it left your mind that they are gone and that is very, very hard." Grogan offered the example of a loss she suffered in recent months a woman she thought of as her "second mother" who died a year ago in October. The woman had been a big St. Louis Cardinals fan. "It was just a couple of weeks ago that I was in the store and I saw something with the Cardinals emblem on it and I thought, 'She'll just love that...' And then I went, 'Oh...' Then Nov. 1 was the one year anniversary of my brother's death, so this year I'm going through the feelings of grief and loss along with everybody. "It's there and having knowledge doesn't stop me from hurting. I've really been surprised by how many people have said, 'Well, at least you know how to deal with it.' Isn't that a little bit like telling an oncologist that being diagnosed with cancer won't bother them because they know how to treat the disease? Even though you know there are things you can do to help and it does but part of the human process is having to feel it, deal with it and heal." According to Grogan, New Beginnings recently celebrated its 16th year of providing a grief and loss support group for the community. "Since that time it has continually provided support to those who are grieving the loss of a loved one," she said. "Many throughout the years have found it helpful and healing to be with others who truly understand what they are feeling. Though every loss is unique, people experiencing grief experience many similar emotions and struggles. Grogan suggests that one of the most helpful things a person experiencing grief and loss can do is to open themselves to the support offered by those who are now or have in the past experienced the same. "One of the most common myths about grief and there are many is that time alone heals," she said. "The truth is that it is not so much time that heals as it is what you do with that time. Grief can be intense. You cannot go over it, under it or around it. The only way to get past grief is to go through it. "It is our goal to provide a supportive, accepting, understanding and confidential atmosphere to promote healing. As impossible as it may seem now, it is possible to get to the point that there are less tears over the fact that you lost your loved one than you have smiles because you were fortunate to have had each other in your lives." Grogan invites anyone going through a difficult time of grief and loss to attend New Beginnings' weekly support group that meets from 10-11:30 Wednesdays at Belgrade State Bank, located at 414 N. State St. in Desloge. While she said a call ahead at 573-760-3609 is appreciated, anyone interested is invited to just show up. "While there is no cost and no long-term commitment, we do ask people to give the group at least three weeks, so they'll have a chance to get used to it," she said. "During the holidays it really helps to have that support behind you." Grogan also suggests that those who have lost a loved one might find comfort in attending one of three Services of Remembrance that will be held at various locations this week. "The first service will take place at 6 p.m. Monday in Bonne Terre Bicentennial Park, next to the post office," she said. "A second service will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Desloge City Park and a third service will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Forest Haven Chapel in Columbia Park in Park Hills. All of the services are jointly sponsored by C.Z. Boyer & Son Funeral Home and our Grief & Support Group." American Honey, Under the Shadow and I, Daniel Blake were among the winners at the British Independent Film Awards in London on Sunday, scooping some of the top prizes at the ceremony. American Honey, about a runaway teenage girl travelling across the American Midwest, was named Best British Independent Film and Andrea Arnold won the best director prize. Newcomer Sasha Lane won in the best actress category and the movie also picked up the award for Outstanding Achievement in Craft. Sasha Lane (L) poses with director Andrea Arnold as she arrives for the gala screening of the film American Honey, during the 60th British Film Institute (BFI) London Film Festival at Leicester Square in London. Under the Shadow, set in post-revolution Iran in the 1980s, took the best screenplay award, the Douglas Hickox Award (Debut Director) for Babak Anvari and best supporting actress for Avin Manshadi. Veteran director Ken Loachs drama I, Daniel Blake saw Dave Johns pick up the best actor award while actress Hayley Squires won most promising newcomer. Director Ken Loach poses for photographers upon arrival at the The British Independent Film Awards in London. (AP) Moonlight, a story about a young black man growing up in a rough Miami neighbourhood, was named Best International Independent Film. Actor Michael Fassbender poses for photographers upon arrival at the The British Independent Film Awards in London. (AP) The event, which drew the likes of Spectre actor Naomie Harris and Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender, was hosted by British comedian Jennifer Saunders. Follow @htshowbiz for more State legislators of the ruling AIADMK party gathered at Apollo hospital in Chennai amid speculation that a successor was being considered for ailing chief minister J Jayalalithaa, on Monday. We have been asked to wait till further information, an AIADMK lawmaker, who did not want to be identified, told IANS from the hospital. The MLAs have assembled inside a hall in the Apollo complex. Live | Despite best efforts, Jayalalithaa remains in grave situation: Apollo Jayalalithaa, who suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening, has been in critical condition throughout Monday. The hospital also issued a statement saying she is in a grave situation. The party head and chief minister has been in the hospital for more than two months after being initially admitted on complaints of high blood pressure and high fever. A team of doctors have been monitoring her health, including specialists from AIIMS in Delhi and a London-based intensive care specialist. Also read | Always there for Amma: Supporters outside hospital as Jaya remains very critical Police arrested a man with Rs 11.08 lakh in old and new currency in Rohtak in the wee hours of Sunday. The man was identified as Paramjeet, a resident of Bahuakbarpur village in the district. Paramjeet is an official in the Indian Air Force and was coming to Rohtak from Delhi when the police stopped him for checking. The police said Paramjeet broke a naaka at Arya Nagar, after which the cops nabbed him from the city. During the checking, the police found a bag with Rs 11.08 lakh (old and new currency) in his car. The police added that Paramjeet was unable to give an explanation of how he possessed the money. We have impounded over Rs 3 lakh from him in new currency. Around Rs 1.6 lakh are in old currency, while the rest of the money is in Rs 100, Rs 50, Rs 20 and Rs 10 notes, said Sunita, Rohtak city station house officer. Paramjeet has been booked for cheating, rash driving and for endangering life of others. Meanwhile, Paramjeets brother Sandeep said the former had taken money on credited from one of his friend in Delhi. Sandeep added that Paramjeet had got the money in order to gift a new car to his wife on her birthday on December 31. The police, however, have informed the Income Tax department. An NGO has accused a hostel warden of sexually and physically abusing about 20 boys, aged 7-11, of a government school in Bairagarh here over a month, an allegation police did not confirm immediately, saying it was probing the matter. At a press conference on Monday, members of NGO Muskaan alleged that the 20 boys of Government Middle School No. 1 from low income groups, undergoing a Residential Bridge Course, were abused by the warden Ajay Sharma. The matter came to light about eight days ago when one of the victims returned home and narrated it to his family, the NGO said. Anjum Bano of the NGO said they learnt about the alleged abuse when these kids started attending the school they (Muskaan) ran in the poor locality, instead of the government school. The 20 children have stopped going to the school fearing further abuse, she said, adding that 20 other students, who hail from neighbouring districts, are still residing at the hostel. Bano accused Sharma of torturing the children, including beating them with wipers and kitchen spade. One of the victims, who now attends our school, said Sharma often used to abuse them under the name of punishing indiscipline by pouring cold water on them in the middle of the night and then making them stand under the fan. When the victims wanted to go toilet, he refused to give them permission and asked them to attend the natures call in their pants only, Bano said, claiming that some of the kids contracted skin infections because of the diktat. Sharma, on the pretext of applying medicine on the skin infections on the childrens pelvic area, used to touch their privates inappropriately and sometimes kiss them. He used to do this in the presence of other children inside the hostel. He also used to shoot video of the whole episode on his mobile phone which he later used to show to other children of the school as well his female friends, Bano alleged. A mother of one of the victims said she was shocked to learn about the ordeal of her son eight days ago. I told about this to other women in the locality whose children also lived in the hostel. We all went to the hostel, and the children just came running towards us crying and requesting us to take them back, the woman said, requesting anonymity. Banos colleague Shivani Taneja said the police had registered the case under section 323 of IPC and sections 75 and 82 of Juvenile Justice Act, but not under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, to which police said they are trying to get evidence of sexual abuse on the children. Till now we have not found any evidence which supports allegations of sexual abuse, town inspector of Bairagarh police station, Sudhir Arjaria said, adding that they have recorded Sharmas statement, but not arrested him yet. He said Sharma had admitted to beating the kids as a disciplinary action, but did not abuse them sexually. Other staff of the school and hostel has also denied that he sexually abused the children, the officer said. Regarding undressing the children, the warden told police that as per the doctors instructions, he had to bathe them after application of cream meant to treat skin infections. Arjaria however said that police have found that there was some personal dispute between the accused warden and members of Muskaan. We are probing all the angles carefully. Usha Sinha, one of the accused in the Bihar merit list scam, has secured bail from the Patna high court and has been released from Patnas Beur jail, an official said on Monday. Beur jail superintendent Rupak Kumar said Sinha was granted bail by the high court three days ago. As we got the bail papers, the Beur jail administration released her on the same day, he added. Sinha, a former Janata Dal(United) MLA and former principal of Ganga Devi College, and her husband Bihar School Examination Boards (BSEB) ex-chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh, were arrested from Varanasi on June 20. Sinha and Prasad have been accused of tampering with examination copies and evaluation process. On June 21, a civil court in Patna rejected an interim bail plea of the couple. The special investigation team (SIT), formed to investigate the case, was on the lookout for the couple. Authorities had also prepared a panel of half a dozen special prosecution officers to handle the case on a priority to have the culprits punished. Sinhas release is being seen as a setback for the prosecution. The merit list scam broke out in May-end this year after BSEB humanities and science toppers, interviewed by TV channels, were unable to answer simple questions. It prompted the state government to order a crackdown on the BSEB, following the merit muddle. An inquiry revealed an organised racket in declaring undeserving persons as toppers. The BSEB later cancelled the results of a minor girl who was declared as the humanities topper. She grabbed national headlines by claiming she was taught cooking in political science classes. She could barely pronounce her subject, which she referred to as prodikal science. She was arrested on June 25 after she came to appear in a retest and later released on bail on August 1. On June 4, the BSEB also cancelled the results of two toppers, including Sourabh Shrestha of the science stream, after they failed to prove their merits in a re-test. Sourabh had secured 485 out of 500 in science stream while the arts topper had received 444 marks of 500. As a clean-up exercise, the examination board has cancelled the affiliation of 124 intermediate colleges and schools in the state for lack of infrastructure, teaching and non-teaching staff and their alleged involvement in unlawful practices. At least 212 schools are also under the boards scanner. Tamil Nadus chief minister and one of the countrys most popular political leaders, J. Jayalalithaa, died after a prolonged illness, hospital authorities announced late Monday night. It is with indescribable grief, we announce the sad demise of our esteemed honourable chief minister of Tamil Nadu ... at 11:30pm today (December 5), Chennais Apollo Hospital said in a statement released to the media. Doctors had been treating the 68-year-old former film star, who enjoys an almost god-like status in Tamil Nadu. Hundreds of devotees have kept a round-the-clock vigil outside the private hospital in the state capital Chennai since she was first admitted in September suffering from a fever. Their numbers have swelled since her condition worsened on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences over her demise. I will always cherish the innumerable occasions when I had the opportunity to interact with Jayalalithaa ji. May her soul rest in peace. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 Her political party, AIADMK, on Twitter said: Our beloved leader, The Iron Lady of India Puratchi Thalaivi Amma is no more. AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) December 5, 2016 Leaders cutting across party lines and from different states in the country tweeted their condolences. We lost a great leader today.Women,farmers,fishermen &the marginalised dreamt through her eyes.We will miss Jayalalithaa ji,Amma to millions Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) December 5, 2016 Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi condoles Selvi J.Jayalalithaa's death & pays homage. pic.twitter.com/SaQlk3gZAb Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) December 5, 2016 . . . Nitish Kumar (@NitishKumar) December 5, 2016 Selvi Jayalalithaa was one of the most iconic political figures of India who had an enormous impact on the people of Tamil Nadu. Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) December 5, 2016 V sad to hear the demise of Amma. A very very popular leader. Aam admi's leader. May her soul rest in peace. Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 5, 2016 Heartfelt condolence on the death of Selvi Jayalalithaa. She was an extraordinary politician, exhibiting unique leadership qualities. CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) December 5, 2016 In deep anguish over the demise of Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa, a long-time friend & a leader with indomitable spirit who is loved by all.1/2 N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) December 5, 2016 Popular,strong,bold,efficient, people- friendly,charismatic leader, Amma.Always at the heart of people. Big loss.I am shocked,saddened 1/2 Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) December 5, 2016 One of Indias most charismatic & popular leaders, Ms. Jayalalithaa was a visionary & able administrator #PresidentMukherjee President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) December 5, 2016 Deeply saddened to hear demise of #Amma , a Pro poor, Popular,Bold, Strong & result oriented Leader of country.Truly u wil be dearly missed Lalu Prasad Yadav (@laluprasadrjd) December 5, 2016 Deeply saddened by the demise of Jayalalithaa Ji; one of the most inspirational women leaders of the country. #Prayers Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) December 5, 2016 She was an iconic & courageous leader. This is an irreparable loss to the people of TamilNadu. #Ironlady #RIP M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) December 5, 2016 Jayalalithaa had earned the loyalty of many voters in the state with a series of highly populist schemes, including Amma canteens that provided lunch for just three rupees (five cents). She was also one of the countrys most polarising politicians, accused of being dictatorial and was even jailed for corruption. Thousands of directors, actors and producers in the successful Tamil language film industry went on hunger strike to demand her release. The war on drought announced by Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has failed to yield the desired results, with groundnut crop output plummeting despite crores of rupees spent on providing water for irrigation. Scanty rain during July-August prompted the state government to declare a war on drought by deploying thousands of rain guns to wet standing groundnut crops in 15 lakh acres in Anantapuramu district, 4.5 lakh acres in Kurnool and two lakh acres in Chittoor as it faced the threat of drying up. The chief minister led the campaign by camping in Anantapuramu for over four days while at least 10 ministers, a number of legislators, 21 IAS officers, 80 deputy collector-rank officers and scores of other staff were drafted in these districts to oversee the operation. 6,777 rain guns and 6,434 sprinklers were deployed in Anantapuramu district, 2,285 rain guns and 2,686 sprinklers in Kurnool, 3,915 rain guns and 3,855 sprinklers in Chittoor and 356 each in Kadapa districts, according to government statistics. Our aim is to save every acre of the crop and we are confident that we will succeed to save at least 90%, Chandrababu had announced on August 30 before leaving for Anantapuramu. The chief minister, who boasts of a realtime governance using his CORE Dashboard, sounded lost when asked why there was at least a 10-day delay in taking up drought mitigation measures. My people had not told me. Neither did you people (media) report (the gravity of the situation), he remarked. Highlights Scanty rain during the months of July-August prompted the Andhra Pradesh government to declare a war on drought. The state government deploying thousands of rain guns to wet standing groundnut crops across 15 lakh acres of land in the Anantapuramu district. Rs 120 crore was spent on sprinklers, motor pumps, pipes, fuel and other needs: Disaster Management Department officials said. However, the states information and PR minister said only Rs 29 crore was spent on drought mitigation measures. The war cost the exchequer a whopping Rs 280 crore with Rs 160 crore spent on procuring the rain guns alone. The balance Rs 120 crore was spent on sprinklers, motor pumps, pipes, fuel and other needs, according to a senior official of the Disaster Management Department. The latest reports on crop cutting, however, are dismal. As against the normal yield of 1000kg per hectare, the crop-cutting experiment revealed that only 213kg was achieved, indicating massive losses to farmers. Had nature been kind, we could have saved the crop. But we tried, information and public relations minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy, who hails from Anantapuramu district, said. He said only Rs 29 crore was spent on drought mitigation measures. Less than ten days after the war on drought was carried out, Naidu released a glossy booklet with success stories of his mission and how the farmers of perennially drought-hit Anantapuramu appreciated his innovative idea (of using rain guns). Asked about this, Palle said, It was successful for that day. Now, the state agriculture department is preparing a detailed report on the whole exercise and hopefully it should throw light on what went wrong. Since Sunday, when news of her cardiac arrest broke, Apollo Hospital and Greams Lane has seen a huge crowd of boisterous Amma supporters. Tears, fury, and a defiant confidence in Jayalalithaas guaranteed recovery gave way to sadness and frustration as local tv channels falsely reported her demise on Monday evening. But the hospital ground is now empty of her supporters, with only a heavy police presence and journalists present at 1130pm when the news of her demise was made official. Chennai was tense, with many shopkeepers closing shutters as a precaution after there were sporadic outbreaks of violence earlier on Monday following the false news broadcasts. The authorities appear to have waited until the crowds had fully dispersed and returned home before making the announcement. The question now is how the security forces will maintain law and order in a state which has seen riots following the death of popular politicians in the past. At least 5,000 police personnel, including companies from both the Armed Reserve and Tamil Nadu Special Police, were called in as reinforcements by the Chennai Police as part of their security plan. A unit of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) was also present at Apollo Hospital, where the 68-year-old has been convalescing since September 22, to assist forces already deployed there. Supporters of late Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa Jayaraman at the AIADMK party office in Mumbai. (Reuters File Photo) The focus across the state that Jayalalithaa has ruled as chief minister six times is now on the meeting of her MLAs currently underway at the AIADMK party headquarters in Royapettah, and who now will be chosen as her successor. While finance minister O Panneerselvam, who has stood in for Jayalalithaa as an interim CM twice before, appears to be a current favourite, its unclear whether any initial appointment made now will be permanent or not. Read | Jayalalithaas journey from an actor to Tamil Nadus political star Party cadre workers initially charged barricades and began hysterically crying when the rumours of her demise surfaced, after several local channels, including, ironically, Jaya TV, announced that she had died early on Monday evening. The brief scuffle continued for a few minutes until Chennai police were able to control the crowd. Apollo hospital swiftly denied the rumours, saying that the 86-year-old was still alive, and was undergoing medical treatment. AIADMK workers gather at Apollo Hospital where Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa was undergoing treatment. (V Srinivasulu/HT File Photo) The 68-year-old has been in hospital since September 22. On Sunday afternoon her condition further deteriorated after she suffered a cardiac arrest during a meeting with one of her doctors. To her supporters and her party loyalists, she was the comeback queen: A fighter, in the words of MDMK chief Vaiko. But it is unclear how they will react now that their beloved Puratchi Thalaivi has died. That uncertainty will now make many Chennaites wary of what will come next. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON India has pressed for collective efforts to ensure resurgent forces of terrorism and extremism do not find sanctuaries and safe havens in any name, form or manifestation. Neighbours of Afghanistan have a particular responsibility in this regard, union finance minister Arun Jaitley said at the Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar. There is also a need to neither differentiate between good and bad terrorists, nor to play one group against the other, said Jaitley, who chaired the ministerial meeting. Addressing the press, Jaitley said that for the first time, a Heart of Asia declaration expressed concern at the violence caused in Afghanistan and the region by terrorist groups like Al-qaeda, Daesh, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish e-Mohammed. He termed terrorism as a centre stage issue at the Heart of Asia conference and said the discussions reiterated the support from the Heart of Asia countries for Afghanistans efforts to use its geographic location to enhance wider regional economic cooperation. Specific initiatives in this regard, including the India-Iran-Afghanistan Trilateral Agreement on developing Chabahar, were acknowledged, he said. India is also looking at ways to upgrade its connectivity linkages to Afghanistan. During the conference, various delegations expressed appreciation for the constructive role that India has been playing in supporting Afghanistan and its people in the past decade and a half, he said. He said choice of Amritsar as the venue for the conference was a deliberate one intended to highlight the immense potential for regional connectivity and the benefits that it can bring to land-locked Afghanistan. Security forces arrested a Hizbul Mujahideen militant from Shopian district of south Kashmir on Monday and claimed to have recovered two hand grenades from his possession. Bilal Sheikh was apprehended by a police party from Shopian following a specific tip off, a police official said. He said two Chinese hand grenades were recovered from his possession, he said. Country Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Canada Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cuba, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Dominican Republic Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Haiti, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Jamaica Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Mexico, United Mexican States Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu US Virgin Islands Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. 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 Six-time Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaas life hung in the balance on Monday, with doctors putting her on life support after a near-fatal cardiac arrest that briefly triggered rumours of her death. Hundreds of police held back emotional supporters of the 68-year-old former film star when they tried to break through the barricades outside the hospital after media reports -- later denied -- that she had died. Many were seen scuffling with police while others beat their hearts and wailed over the rumours. Doctors treating Jaya, who enjoys an almost god-like status in Tamil Nadu, clarified she was on assisted breathing and that her condition was very critical. She was admitted to hospital on September 22 for fever and later developed complications. Jayas party, the ruling AIADMK, briefly lowered its flag to half-mast at its headquarters in Chennai within minutes of at least three local TV stations, including Jaya TV, reporting that the 68-year-old leader had died. But the flag went back up soon after the Apollo hospital denied the reports. The Apollo specialists and specialists from the AIIMS are continuously monitoring the honorable chief minister very closely, S Viswanathan, chief operating officer, Apollo Hospitals, said in a statement. Live | After local media reports, hospital says Jayalalithaa being treated Jaya has no clear successor - during her latest illness her picture was put in the chair at the head of the table at state cabinet meetings. AIADMK sources said the party was trying to agree on a future chief should something happen to Jaya, and that Jaya confidant and former chief minister, O. Panneerselvam, could take over. In Chennai, TV images showed crowds praying for the chief minister, who is known simply as Amma (mother), many of them in tears. Amma should survive. I wont mind if my life is taken away, but Amma should live, one supporter cried. Police across the state had been put on high alert to maintain law and order, with 1,000 officers stationed at the hospital in Chennai alone. Some city schools have been ordered closed, while the US consulate in the city said it had suspended services and warned Americans to exercise caution. Jayalalithaa earned the loyalty of many voters in Tamil Nadu with a series of highly populist schemes, including an Amma canteen that provides lunch for just three rupees. Her highly emotional supporters have in the past resorted to self-harm, and even committed suicide, on bad news, including when she was briefly jailed in 2014 on charges of corruption. On Sunday, the AIADMK announced that she was given a clean bill of health by a team of medical specialists. However, shortly after she was moved to the critical care unit (CCU) of Apollo hospital following the cardiac arrest. Also read | Always there for Amma: Supporters outside hospital as Jaya remains very critical SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The sixth ministerial conference of Heart of Asia - Istanbul process to help the political and economic transition of Afghanistan on Sunday managed to sidestep Indo-Pak rivalry that often derails regional initiatives. The conference in Amritsar which was attended by over 40 delegations took place under the shadow of rising tension between India and Pakistan. The conference was also held when Afghanistans ties with Pakistan are slipping on the trust factor. However, some give and take ensured the conference actually materialized and the process remains on track. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs foreign affairs advisor Sartaj Aziz attended the meet, including the post ministerial dinner, which India appreciated. He had earlier planned to skip the dinner. Last year, Prime Minister Sharif had insisted that external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj attend the same ministerial meeting in Islamabad which India obliged. So the two countries could work on the premise that when it comes to Afghanistan they can keep their differences away. Issues of terrorism took centre stage at the event. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi pointed at terrorism emanating from Pakistan without naming it, Afghan president Ashraf Ghani minced no words, accusing Pakistan of launching an undeclared war on his country. The summit declaration too had some give and take element. The Amritsar declaration commended the government of Afghanistan in successfully pursuing peace talks with Hizb-e-Islami Gulbuddin Hekmatyar resulting in the signature of a peace agreement that sets a good precedent for future peace talks with all other armed groups. Hekmatyar who was hiding in Pakistan for a long time, is a former Mujahideen leader and was a darling of the Americans when he was fighting the Russians. More importantly, from Indian point of view, he has been close to the Pakistan establishment. Pakistan was hoping to use the Hekmatyar card against India. Both India and Afghanistan were rooting for a regional anti-terrorism framework to be adopted at the ministerial. But the framework was referred to an expert committee as there was no consensus for its adoption at Amritsar. When it came to including terror groups, prominent outfits like Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Jaish-e- Mohammed and the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) were mentioned in the joint statement SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Indias efforts to spoil Pak-Afghan ties will not succeed, Pakistan prime ministers advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz said as he downplayed Afghan Presidents criticism of Pakistans support to terrorism, saying it was meant to please India. Ashraf Ghanis (Afghan President) statement is regrettable. It shows anxiety in Kabul and is understandable due to deteriorating law and order situation, Aziz said, adding that Ghanis statements were meant to please India. He said Indias efforts to divide Afghanistan and Pakistan will not go far as we are next-door neighbours. Indian efforts will not succeed to spoil Pakistan ties with Afghanistan, as our ties are religious and cultural. That is why we want that terrorism should end in Afghanistan, he said on returning home after attending the Heart of Asia meeting in Amritsar. But our ties with Afghanistan are independent and we need to cooperate on several issues, Aziz said. He claimed that India was trying to use Afghanistan for its own advantage but it will not succeed. Aziz also accused India of not treating the Pakistani media properly at the Heart of Asia meeting and said he was not allowed to have a press conference. The attitude towards media was not good. I wanted to have press interaction with our own media. But we were not allowed, he alleged. Afghan President Ghani had accused Pakistan of launching an undeclared war against his country by covertly supporting terror networks including the Taliban, and asked it to use its USD 500 million aid to check extremism on its soil. He had also demanded an Asian or international regime to verify Pakistan-sponsored terror operations. Aziz said Pakistan had reassured Ghani that its territory will not be used against Kabul. I reassured Ghani that we will not allow out territory to be used against Afghanistan. But also emphasised better border management, said Aziz. Aziz said the Afghan leader had a different idea about USD 500 million assistance pledged by Pakistan and proposed a trilateral commission with China to utilise the amount for welfare of Afghanistan. The India-Pakistan water dispute is set to intensify, with New Delhi questioning the World Banks neutrality in arbitrating between the two countries. The World Bank, which brokered the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in 1960, settles differences arising from sharing of water and setting up projects along the Indus river basin. India is miffed with the international body for accepting Pakistans demand to initiate a court of arbitration (CoA) process to resolve a dispute involving the 330-MW Kishenganga and 850-MW Ratle hydroelectric projects. Government sources said New Delhi in a strongly worded letter accused the World Bank of adopting a non-neutral stand that appeared to favour Pakistan. India shot off the letter soon after returning from Washington, where both the countries had been invited for mediation on November 17. We have told them in no uncertain terms that their action is biased, and India is not going to take part in the arbitration proceedings. We have taken a very hard stand against the World Bank for not acting on Indias request to have neutral experts look into the dispute as per IWT provisions, said a foreign ministry official. An official from the Union water resources ministry alleged that the World Bank did nothing despite having 20 days to work on Indias request. But they promptly accepted Pakistans demand to have a CoA, he said. The latest row follows the World Banks decision to proceed simultaneously with two parallel mechanisms Pakistans demand for a CoA and Indias request for neutral experts. India termed it as a decision that was legally untenable and violated the provisions of the IWT. Sources said India may consider approaching the United Nations for redressal if the World Bank insisted on following this course of action. The tussle involves two hydroelectric projects that are coming up on the Jhelum and Chenab rivers respectively. Objecting to the design of the 330-MW Kishenganga project, Pakistan claimed it would result in a 40% reduction of water flowing into the country flouting IWT provisions in the process. As for the 850 MW Ratle power plant, Pakistan wants the planned storage capacity of the project to be reduced from 24 million cubic metres to eight million cubic metres. India, however, held that the two projects do not violate any provision of the treaty. This row has put the IWT under further strain. After the September 18 attack on the Uri army camp, the Modi government had indicated that it would make full use of its share of water permissible under the treaty to provide for Indias power and agricultural needs. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON She was a rank outsider in Tamil Nadus male-dominated politics, a woman dismissed by critics as a mere actress and a Brahmin leader in a state where anti-caste Dravidian ideology held sway. But through her keen political acumen and leadership qualities dictatorial tendencies to her critics Jayalalithaa Jayaram transformed herself from a soft-spoken actor to one of Indias most-powerful politicians who was feared and revered in equal measure. Under Indias governance system, the prime minister and chief ministers are those supposed to be the first among equals. But with her, she was only the first and there were no equals, says political analyst Ramu Manivannan. This was her style of functioning whether running the party or government that won her a loyal following of millions, who were ready to even kill themselves for her wellbeing. She died on Monday at a Chennai hospital as per local media reports. No other leader in contemporary Tamil Nadu politics combined charisma with benevolence to form a powerful brand that straddled three decades and left a deep imprint on the psyche of the people. She was a six-time chief minister, a Brahmin leader of a Dravidian party and a no-nonsense administrator. She was also a voracious reader who changed from an often-emotional leader she famously vowed to never return to the TN assembly unless elected CM after her sari was torn by DMK leaders to a strong but impassive figure. But as is the case with most powerful leaders and personality-driven parties, Jayalalithaa allowed herself to be guided by a small coterie, comprising her long-time companion Sasikala and her family, who wielded influence over government machinery. Read | Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa dies in Chennai The 68-year-old was brought into politics in the late 1980s by legendary movie star and then chief minister, MG Ramachandran, better known as MGR, with whom she starred in more than 100 films. Three years after MGRs death in December 1987, she took over his All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Khazagham (AIADMK) party, galvanising the support of the rural poor to win the 1991 elections. But over the next two decades, she surpassed her mentor, MGR, in terms of popularity as well as achievements. She successfully built Brand Amma, under the umbrella of which she launched all her outreach welfare programmes for the poor Amma canteens, Amma pharmacies, Amma drinking water, Amma cement, Amma vegetables, and touched almost every activity of life, further endearing herself to the masses. Supporters hold a photograph of Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa Jayaram as they offer prayers for her well being at a temple in Mumbai. (AFP File Photo) The iron hand with which she controlled the party and the government reflected her governance style strong and dictatorial. But, with no succession plan in place and the absence of a second rung, the ruling AIADMK could be battling for existence in the state it has ruled alternatively with the DMK for almost 50 years. Allies and adversaries agree on one thing: she was one of the most powerful politicians in the country one of the few leaders who were not swept away by the Modi wave that didnt get past the Tamil Nadu border. This lady is better than that (Narendra) Modi, was how Jayalalithaa made light of the then PM candidate at election rallies, drawing thunderous applause. The AIADMK won 37 of the states 39 Lok Sabha seats in 2014. Her trouble with the courts also dogged her political career with charges in a disproportionate assets case even landing her in jail in 2014. The case dates back to 1996 when an ostentatious wedding for her foster son and a lavish display of personal wealth proved to her undoing it evoked revulsion among people and eventually cost her the elections that year. Jayalalithaa was charged with amassing illegal wealth in 1997, when police seized assets including 28 kg gold, 750 pairs of shoes and more than 10,000 saris in a raid on her home. Prosecutors said her assets, which reportedly included two 1,000-acre estates in the lush tropical state she ran, were vastly disproportionate to her earnings during her first term as chief minister from 1991 to 1996, when she took Re 1 as salary. Jayalalithaa shared a good rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and used it to the states advantage, but when it came to electoral politics, she did not concede even as inch of space to the BJP. Though a chief minister, she was never too far from national politics and had one of the other time partnered the Congress, the BJP and even the Left. The political strategist in her was at play when the state went to the polls earlier this year. She ensured that the opposition parties fought among themselves and not with her. She kept her job, a feat no other chief minister had achieved in more than 30 years. She was a self-taught woman and had joined the film industry as a teenager to help her family. Read | Jayalalithaa: Timeline of the movie star-turned-politician As an administrator, she had clarity of thought and action with dazzling communication skills, her peers and subordinates often said. Her strong persona only added to the aura. She had the ability to understand issues quickly, take a stand and stick to it. She took briefings from the bureaucracy, instructed the bureaucracy and things were done as directed. Jayalalithaas supporters react outside the hospital where she was being treated. (AFP Photo) As the state moved towards industrialisation, her tough approach won her industry support. It was in her first stint as CM in 1991 that Jayalalithaa opened up the state economy, taking advantage of the liberalisation process initiated by then PM PV Naraimsha Rao and his finance minister Manmohan Singh. Big-ticket foreign direct investments poured into Tamil Nadu, attracting giants such as Ford and Hyundai who turned state capital Chennai into an automobile hub. The industry noted her efforts to improve the power situation, as she withstood pressure from the powerful fishing community to build the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, but not before driving a hard bargain with the Centre to get extra safeguards. Whether it was Mullaiperiyar dam issue or the Cauvery River water sharing dispute with Karnataka, she doggedly pursued cases. She ensured that the final award of the Cauvery Tribunal was notified in the Gazette. Even on the Sri Lankan or Tamil fishermen, Jayalalithaa took a bold stand, and her letters to prime ministers both Singh and Modi were well known. Her strong administrative skills were demonstrated in Tamil Nadus post-Tsunami relief and rehabilitation efforts, during which she posted the best officers on the ground and gave them a free hand. Clear instructions and close monitoring ensured that even foreign dignitaries such as Hillary Clinton appreciated the relief efforts. But a few years later, when Chennai was inundated by the worst floods in a century, mishandling of relief and poor government response marred her administrative record. It possibly also cost her many seats in the assembly polls that followed. She often didnt have patience with critics and filed a string of defamation cases against the media and political opponents, earning rebuke from the Supreme Court Twitter was flooded with prayers for a quick recovery of Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, who was admitted to Chennais Apollo Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening. Large crowds gathered outside the hospital as news sparked fears about her health condition. Last seen publicly in September, the actor-turned-politician has a cult status among her followers and is popularly known as the peoples leader. Read | Live updates on Jayalalithaas health from Chennai Fans and followers, including celebrities, sport stars and politicians, used Twitter to express concerns about her heath and wish her a speedy recovery. Kollywood actress Nikki Galrani: Neetu Chandra: CM #jayalalithaa mam #TamilNadu wishing n praying for your speedy recovery. God bless. Amen Neetu N Chandra (@Neetu_Chandra) December 5, 2016 Paresh Rawal: Prayer to god to grant a long and a healthy life to Amma Jayalalitha ji ... Paresh Rawal (@SirPareshRawal) December 4, 2016 Kollywood star G.V.Prakash Kumar: Wishing #jayalalithaa mam a speedy recovery ... prayers.. G.V.Prakash Kumar (@gvprakash) December 4, 2016 Given the widespread rumours about the CMs health, the Indian chess grandmaster and former world chess champion Vishwanathan Anand requested people to be responsible and not spread rumours about the news. #Jayalalithaa praying for a recovery. Please be responsible & dont spread rumours. Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) December 5, 2016 Read | How is Jayalalithaa? 10 things we know so far about Tamil Nadu CMs health Politicians expressed concerns and hoped to see the leader well again soon. Leader of Opposition and DMK Party Treasurer: Member of Parliament Om Birla: I wish #jayalalithaa Hon CM of TN a speedy recovery, may god bless her good health. Om Birla (@ombirlakota) December 4, 2016 Madhya Pradesh MP Jyotiraditya Scindia: Praying for the speedy recovery of #jayalalithaa ji! Jyotiraditya Scindia (@JM_Scindia) December 4, 2016 BJP Spokesman Sambit Patra: Praying for the Well being of Ms Jayalalitha ji !May She recover successfully #PrayersForJayalalitha ! Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) December 4, 2016 Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu: Wishing #jayalalithaa Hon CM of TN a speedy recovery, Let her be healthy soon Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) December 4, 2016 Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad: Wishing #Jayalalithaa Ji a speedy recovery. My good wishes & prayers of billions of Indian are with her. Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) December 5, 2016 NSUI National General Secretary: I hope and wish that she recovers real quick. #jayalalithaa Angellica Aribam (@AngellicAribam) December 4, 2016 Apollo Hospital also gave live updates of the CMs health on Twitter and asked the public to pray for her recovery. In a series of tweets, they said that a UK consultant was flown down earlier to supervise the 68-year-olds treatment as well. Our prayers are with her and we hope she will recover soon. We request all of you to pray for her good health and well being. #GodblessAmma Apollo Hospitals (@HospitalsApollo) December 4, 2016 Tweeple inundated the social media platform with prayers and wishes making #Jayalithaa and #Amma the nations top trending topics. Prayers for speedy recovery of #jayalalithaa .. she is strong women & she will fight this too .. Chandrakant Singh (@c_ksingh) December 5, 2016 Our prayers are with most popular lady of Indian politics at this time and we hope she will recover soon. #GetwellSoonAMMA #Jayalalithaa Shashank Singh (@RccShashank) December 5, 2016 Read | Jayalalithaa: Timeline of the movie star-turned-politician SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaas health shot back into the headlines on Monday as the 68-year-old leader remained critical after suffering a cardiac arrest. Thousands of her followers gathered outside the Apollo Hospital in Chennai and best wishes poured in from politicians and people from across India. Police cordoned off the area and tried to manage the crowd by deploying more than 1,00,000 personnel across the state as the Centre rushed a team of doctors to Chennai. Here are the top five updates on the six-time chief ministers health from Monday. 1. Jayalalithaa remains on life support and continues to be very critical, the latest statement from Apollo Hospital has said. She underwent an angioplasty surgery in the morning to repair blood vessels. 2. Her consultant and intensivist Richard Beale put out a statement saying the situation is extremely grave but everything is being done to give Jayalalithaa the best chance of survival. The hospital has said despite their best efforts, the AIADMK chief remains in a grave situation. 3. The chief minister continues to be on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, a life-support heart-lung bypass machine that takes over the workload of the heart and lungs to rescue cardiac arrest patients not responding to conventional treatment. Any patient can be on the ECMO for weeks. 4. The Centre has rushed a team of four doctors two heart and two lung doctors from Delhis All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Union minister Venkaiah Naidu is set to be in Chennai to monitor the situation. All AIADMK lawmakers have been called back to Chennai for an emergency meeting also attended by top bureaucrats, media channels reported. 5. Her supporters continue to gather outside the hospital. One AIADMK cadre member died in Cuddalore after finding out about the chief ministers cardiac arrest late Sunday night, ANI reported. Many others were seen crying and beating their chests in grief. Related stories Follow our live coverage here AIADMK MLAs gather at Apollo hospital where CM Jaya remains in critical health Always there for Amma: Supporters outside hospital as Jaya remains very critical Get well soon, Amma: Twitter prays for Jayalalithaas speedy recovery Jayalalithaa: Timeline of the movie star-turned-politician Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa is on life support and continues to be in a very critical condition, a statement from Apollo Hospital said on Monday afternoon, a day after the 68-year-old leader suffered a cardiac arrest. The six-time chief minister underwent an angioplasty surgery in the morning to repair her blood vessels and is being treated by a large team of doctors, including four heart and lung specialists flown in from Delhis All India Institute of Medical Sciences. She continues to be very critical and is on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane heart assist device) and other life support systems, the release said. She is being treated and closely monitored by a team of experts. The leader was admitted to the Chennai hospital more than two months ago with complaints of dehydration and high fever. She was declared completely fit late last month but hours after a team of doctors cleared her to go home, she had a heart attack late Sunday. Read | Live updates on Jayalalithaas health from Chennai Thousands of her followers have gathered outside the hospital since Sunday evening and wishes have poured in from top politicians across the country. Union urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu has announced he would be travelling to Chennai to monitor the situation. We have sent a team from Delhi AIIMS to Chennai. They (Apollo Hospital) needed doctors and we have sent them that. The government is doing whatever is possible for us. We hope and pray for Jayalalithaas speedy recovery, Union health minister JP Nadda told news agency ANI. The Tamil Nadu capital was tense but calm as police cordoned off major streets with few buses, taxis and autos on the streets. Interstate bus services to Karnataka were suspended. Read | How is Jayalalithaa? 10 things we know so far about Tamil Nadu CMs health An AIADMK member from the states Cuddalore district died after hearing the news of Jayalalithaas deteriorating health condition on Sunday night, ANI reported. State police chief RK Rajendran told HT that 100,000 personnel were deployed across the state and leaves of all police officials were cancelled. The 68-year-old leader is currently admitted in Apollo Hospitals critical care unit and is on a heart pump used to give breathing and heartbeat support. Doctors informed us early Morning that they carried out the angioplasty and that she is out of danger. Only then we breathed easy, AIADMK spokesperson CR Saraswathi said. Later in an interview with television channel India Today, he said the AIADMK chief was out of danger needed intensive care unit support. Read | From Rahul Gandhi to Karunanidhi, political leaders pray for Jayalalithaas health The actor-turned-politician won unprecedented back-to-back terms earlier this year on the back of her wild popularity in the state and commands cult status among her supporters, especially the rural poor. Thousands of them have started pouring into Chennai since Sunday night and are camping outside Apollo Hospital, many of them teary eyed and beating their chests in prayer for their beloved Amma. Her party, the AIADMK, continues to maintain that she is fine. Jayalalithaa who suffered cardiac arrest had surgery this morning; shes fine, AIADMK spokesperson CR Saraswathi told news channel NDTV. Politicians across the country, including President Pranab Mukherjee, have wished the 68-year-old leader a speedy recovery. Very concerned about Jayalalitha Jis health. I pray for her speedy recovery. God bless her, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted. Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan & BJP Rajya Sabha member L Ganesan also visited the hospital. State governor Vidyasagar Rao was monitoring situation closely with the help of the state administration and police and is keeping tabs on the medical condition of Jayalalithaa and treatment being given to her. He has also reportedly briefed the Union home minister Rajnath Singh and also informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the latest situation. Read | Jayalalithaa: Timeline of the movie star-turned-politician Click for full coverage on Jayalalithaas health SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON DMK leader MK Stalin on Tuesday mourned the death of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, calling her an iconic and courageous leader. Deeply saddened by the demise of our CM Selvi Jayalalithaa. My deepest condolences to the party cadres and well wishers in this hour of grief, Stalin tweeted. She was an iconic and courageous leader. This is an irreparable loss to the people of Tamil Nadu, the former deputy chief minister said in another tweet. Deeply saddened by the demise of our CM Selvi Jayalalithaa. My deepest condolences to the party cadres & well wishers in this hour of grief pic.twitter.com/oe26Itv1OF M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) December 5, 2016 She was an iconic & courageous leader. This is an irreparable loss to the people of TamilNadu. #Ironlady #RIP M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) December 5, 2016 Jayalalithaa died on Monday night, a day after she suffered cardiac arrest. Last month, Bernard Joseph was excited to fly to Saudi Arabia for a job and start a new phase in his life. But the dreams of the 28-year-old came down crashing when he was told bluntly at Thiruvananthapurams international airport that his passport had been revoked. The reason: Six cases of sedition are pending against him. He isnt the only one. More than 6,000 of 10,000 inhabitants of southern Tamil Nadus Idinthakari village live in the shadow of sedition. Many say their only crime was living in the epicentre of the massive popular protests against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant that rocked the region a few years ago. Across the small fishing village, sedition charges have ravaged lives and many young people say their very livelihoods are in danger. Young Cross Krishan (22) was refused a security clearance for a passport because he has eight cases of sedition against him. He says he was apprehended from his college in Nagarcoil at the height of the movement in 2012. Later he was thrown out of the college citing these cases, ending any aspirations of a formal career. He now follows his uncle every morning to the sea to catch fish. There are at least 80 more people like him who are desperate to get the sedition charges dropped against them. Many of them have made regular rounds of the courts for years and have no idea how long these cases will drag on. They say regular jaunts to courts and police stations have crippled their lives. At one point there were 40 cases against me. Some of them have been rejected citing want of evidence. I was recently told that two-dozen cases are still pending against me under Section 124 A and 121 of the IPC, said Mildred Raj (44), a female leader of the PMANE (Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy). She sits in a thatched pandal where a board is tucked in a corner saying the demonstrations against the power plant have completed 1,932 days. Many are in the dark about the status of their cases. Two weeks ago a good proposal came from Tiruchendur for my son but they backed out after hearing he faces eight cases, rued Komalam, another villager. Police officials admit that the villagers are going through hell but say their hands are tied. We were told to book them under stringent provisions. It is for the government and the court to take a decision on these cases, said a senior police officer. But many police officers firmly believe that the agitation was funded by foreign agencies. The Kudankulam project was the crown of Indo-Russian partnership that was first conceived in 1998 but ran into years of hurdle when the erstwhile Soviet Union collapsed. Construction of the plant began in 2000, triggering a massive struggle in the area that many say was brutally suppressed over the past three years. Phase -two of the project was launched jointly by Russian President Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October. We were told the nuclear plant is supplying power to three states. But we hardly get eight to ten hours of power a day, said Kishen. He added that when the entire world was turning against nuclear projects, India was increasing its dependence on the energy. Throughout it was a peaceful movement. I dont know how a Gandhian movement can become seditious like this, said PMANE leader S P Udayakumar, a US-returned academic who has been leading the movement since its inception. At one point, I was facing 125 cases. I dont know how many of them are remaining now, said Udayakumar who unsuccessfully contested the last Lok Sabha election on Aam Adami Party ticket from Kanyakumari. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A meeting of ruling AIADMK MLAs in Tamil Nadu, which was expected to discuss key issues in the wake of the grave health situation of party supremo and chief minister J Jayalalithaa, has been postponed, party sources said on Monday night. The meeting was scheduled to be held at 6 pm on Monday to chalk out strategies but no such deliberations took place despite MLAs assembling at the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai. The sources could not state exactly when the meeting would take place, but only reiterated that it has been postponed. It could be later in the night or even tomorrow... all we can confirm is that the meeting has been postponed, they said. The MLAs had also met earlier on Monday at Apollo Hospital, where Jayalalithaa is undergoing treatment and reportedly discussed the leadership issue, among other matters. According to doctors, Jayalalithaa, who suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday, is in a very grave condition. AIADMK has a total of 136 MLAs in the the 234-member House, including Jayalalithaa. As the National Investigation Agency (NIA) prepares to file its first chargesheet in the Pathankot air base attack case, the chief investigation officer (CIO) of the case has been repatriated back to his parent cadre, forcing the agency to appoint new officer as the CIO at this crucial juncture. An NIA spokesperson confirmed the development saying, Yes, Mitesh Jain, the CIO of the Pathankot case, has been repatriated back to parent West Bengal cadre. We have appointed a new CIO. Before Jain, the NIA had also lost Sanjeev Kumar Singh, the supervising Inspector General (IG) of the Pathankot case, as the Centre refused to extend his deputation tenure beyond permissible limit of seven years. Officers from the Indian Police Service (IPS) serve in the NIA, which is a central government agency, on deputation at senior ranks. IPS officers can have a maximum deputation tenure of seven years at any central police organisation like the NIA or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Mitesh Jain, serving as a superintendent of police (SP), was given formal no objection to serve in the agency for only one year by his parent cadre. Sources in the NIA said, the West Bengal government refused to extend Jains deputation tenure claiming the state is facing shortage of IPS officers at the levels of SP and Deputy Inspector General (DIG). Obviously, the new CIO will take some time to settle down as he will be new to the case, said an NIA officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Earlier, the supervising IG of the case, Sanjeev Kumar Singh, had to go back to his parent Madhya Pradesh cadre in curious circumstances. Singh had completed the maximum deputation tenure of seven years but he was given an extension in tenure for another year, which was beyond permissible limit. But a few days later, the Centre reversed the order and directed the NIA to send back Singh to his parent cadre. No reason was given for the reversal. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz and national security advisor Ajit Doval had a short interaction on Saturday night, but the external affairs ministry has said there was no bilateral meeting or pull aside between the two. Aziz and Doval had an informal chat after foreign ministers of five countries, including Pakistan, Iran and Slovenia, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday night in a huddle, preceding an official dinner attended by representatives of all countries participating in the Heart of Asia (HoA) conference. While Indian sources said Aziz and Doval had a stroll for about 100 feet or so at the venue of the dinner, Pakistani officials maintained that they had a meeting. However, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said: I have been receiving several queries throughout the day on whether there was a meeting between NSA and Sartaj Aziz. This is to categorically state that there was no pull aside or bilateral meeting between the two. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Aziz had held a meeting during last years HoA meet in Islamabad, during which both countries had agreed to start Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue to cover outstanding issues. However, the resumption of the dialogue not take place due to the Pathankot attack in January and subsequent terror strikes involving Pakistan-based terrorists. Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Monday ruled out the possibility of law and order problems in Tamil Nadu in the wake of the latest update on the health condition of chief minister J Jayalalithaa. There is no issue of law and order. Law and order is not a concern yet, he told reporters in Delhi. Singh had last night spoken to Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and enquired about the health of Jayalalithaa, who, according to Apollo Hospitals, continues to be very critical, a day after suffering cardiac arrest. She is on various life support systems, the hospital said. Meanwhile, a senior Home Ministry official said the central government was closely monitoring the situation in Tamil Nadu all efforts are being made to maintain law and order so that no untoward incident takes place. The Home Ministry officials are in constant touch with the officials of Tamil Nadu government and assessing the situation. Law and order situation in Tamil Nadu was normal so far and adequate central forces were available in the state to assist the state administration, the officials said. As many as 900 personnel of Rapid Action Force (RAF) of CRPF have been put on stand-by to be immediately airlifted from various places in the country to Tamil Nadu, if needed, they said. A near total shutdown-like situation prevailed in Chennai today with shops and other establishments downing shutters and office goers returning home early as CM Jayalalithaas health condition continued to remain critical. Some people were seen protesting against some tv channels, which aired wrong news on Jayalalilthaas health condition earlier in the evening. That visiting leaders and officials complain about inadequate arrangements or restrictions is not new, especially when it concerns India-Pakistan ties. The visit of Pakistani prime ministers foreign affairs advisor Sartaj Aziz to Amritsar was no exception with Pakistani media complaining about a host of issues, including Aziz not being allowed to visit the Golden Temple and visiting mediapersons not being able to talk to their leaders. However, Indian officials claimed that Aziz was given extra courtesies. Amritsar airport is not among those where Pakistani nationals are allowed to enter or exit from India. An exception was made for him. The Pakistani leader was given tarmac access, part of protocol niceties that allow the dignitary to drive up to his or her aircraft. An armoured car was also given to Aziz, but not to his counterparts from other countries. Indian officials pointed out that despite the last-minute change of programme and advancing his arrival by a special flight by more than 12 hours, all arrangements were made for him. Aziz, however, had termed the arrangements made for his stay in India as strange, saying the Pakistani delegation was housed in a separate hotel, and they were denied visits by guests. He also said that he was barred from speaking to reporters. The attitude towards the media was not good. I wanted to have press interaction with our own media. But we were not allowed, he alleged. Pakistan media and officials said Aziz was not given permission to visit Golden Temple. Indian officials said some delegations were not allowed to visit the temple due to security reasons. Due to huge rush at the Temple, we couldnt have given proper security to Pakistan delegation at such short notice, Indian officials said. The Supreme Court will on Monday hear the appeal filed by NDTV against the ban imposed on its NDTV India channel for airing security related information linked to the terrorist attack on the Pathankot air force base earlier this year. The apex court had earlier on November 6 deferred the hearing in the case to December 5, citing reason of no urgency for its hearing. NDTV India was asked to go off-air on November 9 after the government accused it of broadcasting sensitive information related to the terror attack on Pathankot air force base in January. However, NDTV refuted the allegations stating that other channels had also reported the same. Journalists and major media organisations condemned the ban and staged protest against it, comparing it with the time of the Emergency when the right of the freedom of press was violated. However, information and broadcasting minister M Venkaiah Naidu supported the ban, saying it is in the interest of countrys security. Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa passed away on Monday night after a 75-day battle for life at the Apollo Hospital here, bringing to an end an eventful journey of the film star-turned-politician who straddled public life in the southern state for over three decades. Jayalalithaa, 68, who was admitted to Apollo Hospital on September 22 with complaints of fever and dehydration, soon developed complications after she suffered chest congestion, lung infection and heart malfunction. There was hectic activity inside and outside the Apollo hospital premises for over an hour before the convoy carrying the late chief ministers mortal remains rolled out well past midnight. Tamil nadu chief minister #Jayalalithaa passes away at 1130pm according to latest announcement @htTweets pic.twitter.com/VHPeoIpA3c Aditya Iyer (@Theadityaiyer) December 5, 2016 Most of the senior doctors left the building as also did Jayalalithaas adviser Sheela Balakrishnan, who had camped in an adjacent room right through the late CMs hospitalisation at the Apollo Hospital. There was heavy police deployment around the hospital and elsewhere in the city before her death was announced. In a detailed statement just after midnight, Apollo Hospital explained the entire sequence from Jayas hospitalisation, her condition at the time of admission, the complications she suffered and the various lines of treatment that was administered to her. ... The chief minister suffered a massive cardiac arrest on the evening of the 4th December 2016, even while our intensivist was in her room. The CM was immediately administered resuscitation (CPR), and provided ECMO support within the hour. ECMO is the most advanced treatment currently available internationally, the release said, adding every possible clinical attempt was made to sustain her revival. However, despite our best efforts, the CMs underlying conditions rendered her unable to recover and she passed away at 11.30 pm today, the Apollo Hospital release said. Supporters hold a photograph of Tamil Nadu state leader Jayalalithaa Jayaram as they offer prayers for her well being at a temple in Mumbai. (AFP File Photo) Earlier in evening, security was beefed up around Apollo Hospital, the Poes Gardens residence of Jayalalithaa and all vulnerable points in the city and outside. All roads leading to Poes Gardens residence of Jayalalithaa were cordoned off and policemen and women were stationed all along the 3 km distance between the hospital and her residence. Thousands of followers of Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa have gathered outside Chennais Apollo Hospital since Sunday evening when their beloved Amma suffered a cardiac arrest. The 68-year-old leader commands wild popularity in the state and has achieved a cult status among her millions of followers, especially the rural poor, who dont flinch from even laying down their lives for Thalaivi. When she was first admitted to hospital with complaints of high fever in September, her fans conducted hundreds of public prayers and pujas for her quick recovery. Heres a look at what her followers have done in the past. 1. Occupying Apollo Hospital For the past two months, Greams Road and Greams Lane have seen a flurry of activity, with supporters initially gathering outside of Apollo Hospital to pray for Jayalalithaa. The number had considerably dwindled last month but has swelled again since Sunday with thousands of AIADMK cadre and supporters maintaining a vigil. Read | Heart, lung docs flown in, surgery done: 10 updates on Jayalalithaas health 2. Public pujas AIADMK members have set up a puja pandal in front of Apollo hospital, where chief minister J Jayalalithaa has been undergoing treatment for two months, to pray for her recovery, in Chennai. (PTI File Photo) Public pujas have been held since Day One for the ailing CM, with party MLAs across Tamil Nadu using temples to show their devotion for Jayalalithaa. Its not confined to one religion either: Her Muslims supporters also prayed for her. 3. Self-immolation On Monday, an AIADMK member from Cuddalore district died after hearing news of Jayalalithaas health condition, ANI reported. A cadre worker attempted self-immolation in Virudhachalam of coastal Cuddalore district in October, sustaining 30% burn injuries. In September, a former police constable and die-hard AIADMK supporter in Salem also attempted to set himself on fire. Read | How is Jayalalithaa? 10 things we know so far about Tamil Nadu CMs health 4. Heights of devotion A man suspended himself from a crane using hooks pierced into his back on October 3, 2016 as a ritual for the well-being of Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, who has in the hospital for more than two months. Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest on December 4, 2016, worsening fears over her failing health. (AFP) While public prayer sessions for an ailing Amma have been regularly held across Chennai, a procession in her constituency of RK Nagar in October saw something a little more different. Hundreds of workers assembled with pails of milk, with one hanging himself from a crane, piercing his skin with thick hooks an act usually done in devotion to Lord Murugan. 5. Support from all ages Even children werent spared from the excesses of Jayalalithaas supporters, with multiple images of young girls and boys with their cheeks pierced with arrows (again, a common practice among Murugan supporters) being circulated across regional media. This hasnt gone unnoticed, however. PMK leader S Ramadoss said it was a human rights violation. There were more than 20 children, from 5 to 12, who had their cheeks pierced. Children cannot be forced to do such things, he said. Also read | Jayalalithaa: Timeline of the movie star-turned-politician Click for full coverage on Jayalalithaas health The district administration has put the twin cities of Faizabad and Ayodhya on high alert for the 24th anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid on Tuesday. Security in Ayodhya was tightened with the deployment of 10 extra companies of paramilitary forces. Faizabad district magistrate Vivek Kumar and senior superintendent of police Anant Dev jointly monitored the security arrangements. Vigil was also tightened in the nearby towns of Rudauli and Bhadarsa. The administration has advised people to pay no heed to rumours, especially on social media. Faizabad district magistrate Vivek Kumar told HT that section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which prohibits the assembly of five or more people, was in force in the cities. Police were searching hotels, lodges, guest houses, bus stations, railway stations and other public places, he said. Temples in Ayodhya and Faizabad have been asked to maintain a visitors register and record the name of every outstation pilgrim. Police are also keeping a close watch on anti-social elements in both cities, he added. Many top leaders flew in to attend the wedding of Union minister Nitin Gadkaris daughter Ketaki in Nagpur on Sunday even as the proposed visit of several others for the ceremony was cancelled. The office of Gadkari, the Union minister for transport and shipping, said only 12 chartered planes ferried VVIPs for the wedding. Nagpur airport authority sources said at least 28 chartered planes from diverse locations landed at the airport till 5 pm on Sunday. Some of the chartered flights expected were cancelled at the eleventh hour, said a source at the airport who did not want to be named, as he is not authorised to speak to the media. On HTs story that 50 chartered planes were to ferry VVIPs for his daughters wedding, Gadkari told HT, Barely 10 to 12 chartered planes landed in Nagpur for attending Ketakis marriage. Earlier, Manoj Wadekar, additional private secretary of Gadkari, had said the news of 50 chartered flights to ferry VIPs for the event was mischievous, misleading, factually incorrect and highly speculative. According to a source with knowledge of the wedding details, chief ministers of at least four states were among the bigwigs whose plans to attend the event were cancelled. Most of them are expected to attend the marriage reception in Delhi on December 8, the source added. Union home minister Rajnath Singh, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, BJP president Amit Shah, Union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and yoga guru Ramdev turned up for the wedding. Yoga guru Ramdev, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis (L-R) seen with the newly weds. (HT Photo) Union ministers Maneka Gandhi, Prakash Javadekar and Hansraj Ahir, and former civil aviation minister Praful Patel too were among the guests at the wedding along with Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray. While the Union home minister, and BJP president arrived on Sunday morning, Fadnavis landed here last night. Maharashtra ministers Chandrakant Patil, Subhash Deshmukh, Pankaja Munde, Girish Mahajan, Sadabhau Khotkar and Girish Deshmukh were also present on the occasion. Later, Uddhav Thackeray met Bhagwat and held discussions for a while. Ketaki, the youngest among Gadkaris three children both his sons are married tied the knot with Aditya, the son of Sandhya and Ravindra Kaskhedikar of Nagpur. Aditya works with Facebook in the US. US president-elect Donald Trump can use his extraordinary deal-making skills to reduce tensions around the world and resolve problems such as the Kashmir issue, vice president-elect Mike Pence has said. In remarks that will not go down well with the leadership in New Delhi, Pence also said the new US administration intends to be fully engaged in South Asia and with India and Pakistan on issues such as Kashmir to promote peace and security. Pence made the remarks when he was asked on NBCs Meet the Press programme whether Trumps remarks during a recent phone conversation with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif amounted to an offer to be a mediator in deciding Kashmir. I think in president-elect Donald Trump youve got someone who, who is prepared to advance Americas interests here at home, to rebuild this economy, to fight for American jobs, he said. But I think youre also going to see an energetic leadership in the world, prepared to engage and to look for ways that he can bring those extraordinary deal-making skills to bear on lessening tensions and solving problems in the world. Referring to recent tensions between India and Pakistan, Pence said Trump wanted to make sure that both countries know that when this administration takes office, that we intend to be fully engaged in the region and fully engaged with both nations to advance peace and security. Read | Trump tells Sharif he is ready to play any role Pak wants to solve its problems During Trumps conversation with Sharif, which was widely mocked for its tone, the real estate mogul described the prime minister as a terrific guy and Pakistan as an amazing country. Trump also said he was ready and willing to play any role that you want me to play to address and find solutions to the outstanding problems, according to a Pakistani readout. Pence further said there had been great tension between India and Pakistan in recent days. Its resulted in violence along the Kashmir region. During his conversations with leaders of India and Pakistan, Trump expressed a desire for continued US engagement on building the relationship with both of those countries. Read | Kashmir will be a long war, warns outgoing Northern Army chief DS Hooda Asked if Trumps transition team is using the expertise of the state departments foreign service professionals and following protocol and international norms for phone calls with key world leaders, Pence said he and Trump were receiving presidential daily briefs and formal briefings on national security. And, and I know the president-elect has been briefed as hes been making these calls, he added. Trump has spoken to more than 50 leaders around the world and these were courtesy conversations, Pence said, adding they were part and parcel of beginning the kinds of relationships that will allow our new president to advance Americas interests in the world. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have left his competitors far behind in winning the readers poll of the Time Magazines person of the year but his supporters shouldnt get too happy. The winner of the popular online poll has never gone on to win the actual Time Magazines Person of the Year title decided with editorial intervention -- in the past decade. For example, the last time Modi won the popular vote two years ago, the Time Person of the Year title went to Ebola Fighters, a broad group of doctors, nurses, ambulance workers, healthcare professionals and volunteers who helped stop the spread of the deadly virus in Africa. Similarly, last year, the readers poll was won by the wildly popular democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders riding on a wave of youth popularity but the Time Person of the Year was German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her role in steering Europe through the Greek debt crisis and a mounting refugee problem. Many often say that the readers poll which is solely the aggregate of peoples votes online -- is easily manipulated and can be skewed by a large proportion of votes from certain regions. For example, this year Time magazine put out the fact that Modis victory was fuelled by large number of votes from India, California and New Jersey. The readers poll has also run into controversy in the past. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un won the readers poll in 2012 amid widespread allegations of voter fraud and online vote manipulations. British media reported internet forum 4Chan rigged the results with more than five million bogus votes. This wasnt the first time the forum hacked into the magazines website. It managed to make its founder, Christopher moot Poole win the popular poll in 2009. The readers poll is usually used by the editors to gauge global mood before deciding on the Person of the Year, a title reserved for the person or group of people with the largest global impact over the past 12 months. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is the third-largest party in the Lok Sabha but for the past two weeks, Tamil Nadus ruling party has appeared like a rudderless ship in Parliament. Tamil Nadu chief minister and party chief J Jayalalithaas prolonged hospitalisation has left 37 AIADMK parliamentarians apparently clueless about what position the party should take on different issues being discussed since the winter session began in New Delhi on November 16. For some days, they have chosen the safe path of protesting over Karnatakas refusal to give more Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu though other issues such as the Centres decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes have rocked Parliament. The AIADMK stayed out of the Opposition meetings here as Amma was confined to the hospital. AIADMK MPs werent present in Parliament on Monday and were probably on their way back to Chennai. Read | Live updates on Jayalalithaas health from Chennai Every step of the AIADMKs parliamentary party is directed from Chennai. J Jayalalithaa decides what her MPs should say. She even expelled her MP for misbehaving with a DMK MP in airport. So, when she is unavailable for giving commands, the MPs dont want to take any risk, said a senior Opposition leader who interacted with AIADMK MPs over Opposition unity. After the BJP (282 MPs) and the Congress (44), AIADMK is the third-largest party with 37 MPs in Lok Sabha. In Rajya Sabha, it is the fourth-largest party with 13 MPs. While the Opposition parties met almost daily to discuss floor strategy, the AIADMK joined their meetings just once. Read | With CM Jayalalithaa in hospital, her adviser is in Tamil Nadu hot seat In another case, the AIADMK member had supported lesser punishment for Aam Aadmi Party MP Bhagwant Mann in the panel that probed breach of security. But the larger role that a party of AIADMKs strength usually plays is clearly missing. On many issues earlier, the BJP-led NDA government has secured the support of the Tamil party after negotiating with Jayalalithaa. But now, as she remains out of reach, the Centre also has been unable to reap the benefit of roping in AIADMK to corner the Opposition. Read | Unhealthy politics over Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaas condition Click for full coverage on Jayalalithaas health SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON One of the toughest examinations for management studies Common Entrance Test (CAT) was conducted countrywide on Sunday. Most of the students found this years paper tougher than that of the previous year. The Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) section was tougher than the last year whereas Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) was easier. Students are hoping to score high on the language section. The three-hour long examination was conducted in morning and afternoon slots at the pre-decided centers, one of them being ION Digital Zone Plexus at Dewas Naka. In Madhya Pradesh, Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Sagar were chosen to conduct the examination. To keep a check on cheating during the examination, several steps were taken by the conducting body Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bengaluru. While girls were asked not to apply hena (mehendi) at least a week before the examination for fingerprint scan purposes, boys were also asked not to wear shoes or socks to the centers. Accessories such as rings were also not allowed in the centre, for which, a special room was provided for the students to keep their belongings. The paper was divided into three sections DILR comprising 32 questions, VARC comprising 34 questions and Quantitative Ability (QA) comprising 34 questions. Students speak Anmol Gambhir, Medi-Caps Institute of Technology and Management: The VARC section was moderate as compared to DILR which turned out to be tougher than expected. I have given my best shot at it and am hoping for a good score. Alankrit Sharma, Shri Vaishnav Institute of Management: Questions in the DILR section were unexpected and tough. I found the QA section easiest among the three. Overall, the test was neither very tough nor easy. Ashish Singhi, Shri Vaishnav Institute of Management: Although I was not well-prepared for the examination, but the test turned out to be decent. The Madhya Pradesh high court has issued notices to the state higher education department, Indore mayor, municipal commissioner and the principal of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government College of Arts and Commerce for allowing the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) to hold a four-day national convention on the campus. A writ petition was moved before the Indore bench last week challenging the decision to allow the organisation to conduct the meet on a government college campus. The petitioner, Tapan Bhattacharya, said the campus of a government educational institution cant be used for political purposes. The ABVP, the students wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has called for organising the convention between December 24 and 27 on the campus of Government Arts and Commerce College. A party cannot propagate its political agenda in a government educational institute, Anand Mohan Mathur, the petitioners lawyer, told the high court bench. At many earlier instances, the Supreme Court has held that government educational campuses cannot be used for political purposes, said Mathur. The petitioner alleged that the Indore Municipal Corporation has sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore for preparing college grounds for the mega event, which is unconstitutional. If the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad wants to organise a function, why should the Municipal Corporation spend from its exchequer? How can a college campus be permitted to be used for a political event? If ABVP wants to organise an event, they can obtain any public ground on rent, said Bhattacharya. BJP governments at the Centre, the state and at the municipal levels are hand-in-glove with organising the mega event on college campus to benefit ABVP, alleged Bhattacharya. After hearing the arguments, the division bench of justice PK Jaiswal and justice Virendra Singh slapped notices on the authorities and sought their replies by December 9. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Singh Yadav attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday over the Centres demonetisation decision, saying the people will teach them a lesson in the elections. Demonetisation has done no good to the economy. It has pushed the country backwards, Akhilesh said while re-launching a scheme to grant subsidy to the poor for marriage of up to two girls in a family. Demonetisation is being linked to patriotism. It is causing problem to all, he said. Akhilesh had made a similar statement at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi last Friday. Read: Voters will punish BJP for demonetisation, says UP CM Akhilesh Yadav But the BJP believes people will rather vote on issues like corruption and law and order and throw Akhilesh out in the coming assembly polls. At the function to launch the subsidy scheme at his residence in Lucknow on Monday, Akhilesh said the central government had withdrawn Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes and introduced currency of Rs 2,000 denomination which would make hoarding of black money easier. The central government did not care for quality while printing new Rs 2,000 notes. The new notes are losing colour due to poor quality, he said. He also took a swipe at BSP chief Mayawati for construction of memorials during her stint as chief minister. Akhilesh said neither the BSP nor the BJP worked for the peoples welfare. The CM said people should support SP to benefits from government schemes. The SP government had discontinued the subsidy scheme for marriage of girls two years ago. At the re-launch of the scheme, Akhilesh also announced increasing the subsidy from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000. The government has earmarked Rs 400 crore for the scheme that would benefit four lakh families. Under the scheme, families with an annual income of Rs 56,460 in cities and Rs 46,080 in rural areas are eligible for subsidy. The upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh have forced political parties to put the Ram temple issue on the back burner and instead focus on Dalit icon Dr BR Ambedkar. Since 1993, December 6 has been associated more with the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya than with Dr Ambedkar, whose death anniversary is also observed on this day. This time around, there is no audible or visible pitch for the Ram Temple. With Dalits comprising 20.5% of UPs population, all parties have shifted focus on Ambedkar ahead of the multi-cornered elections. Political parties are guided by calculations of benefit. The way UP elections are turning out (multi-cornered) this time, no political party wants to upset either the Hindus or the Muslims, said Prof SK Dwivedi, a political analyst and former head of political science department at Lucknow University. Every party is trying to rob Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati of her traditional Dalit vote bank, he added. Congress unveiled its Dalit Manifesto on Sunday which includes sops such as free education for Dalits from KG to PG. The party has also launched a 100-vehicle Dalit yatra in the state. The BJP has poached top leaders of the BSP and is trying to hijack Dalits votes. That is why it has been talking of being the real well wisher of Dalits. At the same time, it is also trying to woo Muslims, the vote bank of Samajwadi Party, Dwivedi said. BJP has already made a fervent pitch on triple talaq and does not want to neutralise it by talking about Ram temple which cannot be constructed as the case is in Supreme Court. The BSP, Congress or SP are also not talking about temple or mosque as they do not want to upset Hindus or Muslims, he pointed out. The BJP has also taken out Buddhist Dhamma Yatra in the state to win over the Dalits. In such a situation, Ambedkar (read Dalit votes) suits all parties. Why did Akhilesh (UP chief minister) announce public holiday on Ambedkar Parinirvaan Diwas? He was the one who scrapped this public holiday which was introduced by the Mayawati government, remarked Dwivedi. Political observer and retired teacher of Purvanchal University, SK Pandey, said: December 6 was a public holiday under the BSP government (2007-12). After SP came to power in 2012, it cancelled the holiday. With an eye on Dalit votes, the SP has now announced the day as a public holiday. President of UP Congress Committee Raj Babbar on Sunday said all political parties had been exploiting Dalits while it was the Congress which was the real benefactor of the community since decades. Do not get waylaid this time, he cautioned Dalits. For its part, the BSP is wary of poaching by other parties. Keeping in view intense poaching of Dalit leaders, Mayawati has organised a big show of strength at Ambedkar memorial in Lucknow on Tuesday, said a BSP leader. BSP state unit president Ramachal Rajbhar said Mayawati would pay obeisance to Dr Ambedkar and also address the party workers. BJP veteran and a face of the Ram temple movement, Vinay Katiyar, said: We have not planned anything big. Just routine work will be done at Karsewakpuram (Ayodhya). When did we organise anything big on the day? Since the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya, the BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and Bajrang Dal have been commemorating the day in some form generally as Shaurya Diwas. Muslim outfits used to observe the day as Yaum-e-Gham (day of sorrow). Indias move towards a cashless society could see a spurt in cyber crimes, said cyber security experts. Many people belonging to the lower middle class, especially senior citizens, are not educated when it comes to using the Internet for monetary transactions and will therefore become easy targets for cyber criminals. Former Maharashtra director-general of police and a cyber-expert D. Sivanandhan told HT that reputed banks across the globe had lost hundreds of crores in cyber hacking cases despite having an infrastructure in place. Imagine our country where people are poverty stricken and clueless about the use of computers, smartphones and the Internet, he said. India is going digital all of a sudden and moving towards a cashless economy. It is a good move but will result in a lot of cybercrime. Poor and uneducated people will be the victims. It will be difficult for them to even figure out how much money they have lost. We do not have a mechanism to save them. Another cyber-expert, Ritesh Bhatia, said the move will affect the masses and not classes. There will be many practical problems for the poor, like my maid, and old people like my parents. They can be targeted easily as they dont know how to use smartphones. For the poor, a loss of Rs 100 or Rs 500 can be devastating, he said. Experts said people may end up downloading fake applications for monetary transactions, they may enter wrong passwords or lose their smart phones, information from which could be misused by criminals. Many a time, personal information is also given away. Bhatia said, What if criminals do shoulder surfing or take a photo of the online transaction on the phone when you are not around and later misuse it? People will panic if their cards get misused and wouldnt know what needs to be done in such situations. Unfortunately, there is no help in this regard and they will be soft targets. READ MORE People hoarding cash, deposits in new notes negligible, say besieged banks. Demonetisation will be the main weapon in the arsenal of the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party-led Opposition, which will try to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government over various issues in the winter session of Maharashtra Legislature that begins in Nagpur on Monday. Winter session of the state legislature is held in Nagpur, the second capital of the state. The people, especially the poor and farmers, are suffering due to the decision of demonetisation which will be highlighted in the session, said Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, leader of the opposition in the Assembly. His view was shared by his counterpart in legislative council, Dhananjay Munde. The common man has been spending time waiting in serpentine queues outside banks or ATMs to withdraw cash and on the other hand, the rural economy is on the verge of collapse, thanks to the demonetisation, the Opposition leaders said. The Opposition is also likely to target the government over the centres decision of disallowing co-operative banks to exchange demonetised currency, which virtually paralysed the banks. It affected the farmers as in most of the rural areas farmers have accounts with these banks and rely on them for farm credit. However, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who just led the party to victory in local body elections in 147 small cities, is confident of tackling the Opposition. There is a vast gap between the ground realities and the picture they [Opposition parties] are painting. On demonetisation, the people are with the government and are facing all hardships in the interest of the nation, Fadnavis told the media on the eve of the winter session. Besides demonetisation, the Opposition has also decided to raise issues such as Maratha communitys demand for reservation in government jobs and education, incident involving rape of minor girls in a tribal boarding school in Buldhana, death of children due to malnutrition, plight of farmers and allegations of corrupt practices against some ministers. However, Fadnavis seemed unfazed by the Oppositions plans. We are set to take on the Opposition and show what the government has done in last two years and also to project the road map for the remaining three years,he said. Has anyone seen my chameleon this morning? He has to be hiding somewhere. He asked me if we could play hide-and-go-seek, and then disappeared into thin air. I've looked high and low in the yard and the house and it seems like he's nowhere around. He's probably hiding right out in the open but doesn't yet want to be found. I'm guessing he looks like a leaf on a bush or the back of a sofa or chair. He could be disguised as a book or a bagel. Regardless, I don't think it's fair. If you come across my chameleon, please tell him I give up. He beat me today. He's clearly the champion at hiding so, next time, it's my turn to pick what we play. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The sudden scrapping of high-value currency notes rocked both the state Assembly and the Council on the first day of the winter session of the state legislature on Monday. Leader of the opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar and Ganpatrao Deshmukh of the Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWP) initiated an adjournment motion over the issue and called for urgent discussion. The uproar continued amid sloganeering, despite finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwars assurance that the chief minister and he would visit Delhi and request the government to allow cooperative banks to accept old notes.Opposition leaders said farmers in the state were facing problems as they were not getting proper prices for their produce. Similarly, bank transactions at cooperative banks were affected in the wake of the RBI directive that prevented them from accepting high-value notes. Vikhe-Patil also pointed out how several people in the state had died in queues outside banks and ATMs.Ajit Pawar of the NCP said the situation was aggravated by banks and ATMs that were unable to provide cash to people. The agitated opposition members did not even allow Mungantiwar to make a statement on the issue. They demanded a discussion, which was rejected by Speaker Haribhau Bagde.The refusal infuriated the opposition and they resorted to shouting slogans against the government Dadagiri nahi chalegi, Notbandi par charcha jhalich pahije (A discussion on the ban on notes is necessary). As the speaker took up the second agenda the condolence resolution the opposition staged a walkout. The issue also figured in the upper house, where opposition leader Dhananjay Munde, Narayan Rane of the Congress, Jayant Patil of the PWP and others demanded to take the issue through an adjournment motion, which was rejected by Council chairman Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar. Rane said that several people had died outside banks and ATMs in a desperate bid to withdraw and deposit money. The figure had touched 70. Demonetisation and the subsequent mismanagement shows the BJP-led governments immaturity, Rane alleged as uproar continued. The chairman had to adjourn proceedings for 15 minutes. When the House reassembled, proceedings were disrupted again with the opposition by storming out. They insisted on a discussion on the issue through the motion. Mungantiwar said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had talked to Union finance minister Arun Jaitley twice on the issue of cooperative banks, which refused to accept old notes. He said the opposition was not able to gauge the mood of the nation which was in favour of demonetisation. He also admitted there were technical problems in a few banking set-ups but said normalcy was returning to the system. Read Demonetisation after-effect: Mumbai temple gets Rs3 crore in scrapped notes Protest against demonetisation in Mumbai: Congress leader calls Centre anti-poor Demonetisation: Fee payments in Maharashtra may soon go cashless Although experts have welcomed the idea of cashless economy, they feel a lot of training would be needed to curb cybercrime in the wake of the digital revolution. Sachin Patil, deputy commissioner of police, cybercrimes, Mumbai, said, People must be made aware of cybercrimes. They should be told about the precautions to be taken to prevent cybercrimes such as credit/debit card cloning and skimming. Patil said those new to the technology, should be briefed on how they should not share their credit/debit card number, PIN and OTP with anyone. On coming across any suspicious activity, they should alert the bank and police, he said. Former DGP D Sivanandhan said, We need education, training and infrastructure to safeguard people. Service providers need to look into it. There are more than a billion phone users in India and not all of them are tech-savvy. If they are forced into going hi-tech, the results could be disastrous, he said. Vijay Mukhi, a cyber expert, said, We need a specially trained cyber police, forensic labs with state-of the-art evidence gathering tools, public prosecutors who understand technology and cyber courts to punish cyber criminals. None of this is in place as of now. Lawyer and cyber expert Vicky Shah said people need to install mobile passwords and application passwords. If you do this, criminals will not be able to misuse your mobile to make transactions, he said. READ MORE After demonetisation, Mumbai civic body takes steps to go cashless A teenage house help was arrested in West Bengal (WB) and brought back to Mumbai by Versova Police officers for allegedly stealing her employers iPhone worth Rs 88,000, which the cops recovered from her possession. According to the Versova police, the teenager was hired by the complainant on May 31 after being referred by another domestic help. The complainant, a resident of Versova, ensured that she took photo copies of the teenagers photo identity, which proved handy in tracing the accused. After working for 10 days, the house help told her employer that she had to leave for her home town in Murshidabad, WB, as she needs to attend to one of her relatives who was unwell. She took Rs1,000 as her salary for 10 days before leaving. It was after the complainant realised that her phone has been missing since the teenager left, she rushed to Versova police station and lodged a complaint against the house help. An FIR was filed in this matter and the accused was booked section 381 of the Indian Penal code (IPC). Read Flier held with 124 iPhones worth Rs43 lakh While the Opposition plans to step up its attack on the BJP-led government in the state assembly over demonetisation and its negative effects, the ruling party plans to counter it by raising the issue of reservation to the Maratha community. The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have been trying to corner the BJP government over the issue of demonetisation. The issue dominated both houses of legislature as the winter session began on Monday. On the Oppositions agenda: Highlighting the effects demonetisation is having on the common man as well as the rural economy. It has now decided to insist on an adjournment motion under which the days agenda is suspended and discussions are held on an issue of public importance. The ruling BJP, however, does not want to be cornered by the Opposition on the notes ban issue. Several party leaders are wary of the impact it has had on the rural economy elections to Zilla Parishads (district council) will be held in the next two months. As such, it is planning to bring a proposal in the Assembly to discuss the issue of Maratha reservation. This could put the Opposition in a quandary whether to continue with the protests over demonetisation or participate in the Maratha reservation debate. Traditionally, the Maratha community forms a strong support base for the opposition Congress and NCP parties. They [Opposition] will have to decide whether to disrupt proceedings of the Assembly over demonetisation or participate in the debate. If they resort to disruption, we can tell the community how the Opposition parties are not serious about the issue of reservation, said a source. Mumbai BJP president and Bandra legislator Ashish Shelar on Monday submitted a notice for the debate on the issue of Maratha reservation on Tuesday. The move would also be timely for the government as Maratha outfits are planning to resume the agitation with a protest march on December 14 in Nagpur, where the winter session is underway. The outcome of the recent civic polls showed mobilisation of the Maratha community has not worked against us. We are now considering ways to further win the support of the community, said a key BJP functionary. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The state election commission on Monday issued a notice to state dairy development and fisheries minister and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) chief Mahadev Jankar over a leaked video, flashed on TV channels, in which he is reportedly seen instructing an election officer to reject an application filed by a Congress candidate in the recently concluded municipal council polls. The minister has been asked to explain his stand on the issue within 24 hours. The candidature in question is for the Vadasa municipal council election which was scheduled on December 18. RSP is the smaller ally of the Bhartiya Janata Party and Jankar was recently inducted into the state cabinet. Submit your explanation or further steps will be taken by the commission on the basis of the documents and evidence available with us, the notice states. The SEC has also asked the Gadchiroli collector to submit his report. The video allegedly shows Jankar talking on the phone, instructing the person on the other end (alleged to be the returning officer of Gadchiroli district in Vidarbha) to give an election symbol of his choice [cup and saucer] to his party candidate. The minister is also allegedly heard saying the application filed by a Congress candidate be rejected. Jankar has refuted the allegations. I have not threatened the officer, but requested him to allot the symbol to our party. The candidate has not been given official candidature by the Congress and so I requested the officer to validate his candidature as an independent, he said. The Opposition is expected to raise the issue in both the houses of legislature in the next two days. Congress leader Narayan Rane said threatening election officer was a serious offence and the party will raise it in the house. The party also submitted a memorandum to the state election commission, seeking a case of violation of code of conduct be registered against the minister. Repeated attempts of violation of the model code of conduct by the ruling party are coming to the fore, but no action is taken against them. We have filed a case against chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for violation of the code in Pen a few weeks ago. The Congress will hold a protest march, if no action is taken against the ruling party leaders, Congress has stated in the memorandum submitted to the SEC. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to be left alone to defend the Narendra Modi-led Union governments demonetisation move during the winter session of the state legislature, with the opposition sharpening its knives and ally Shiv Sena also keeping up the heat. A delegation of Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Shiv Sena will meet RBI Governor Urjit Patel on Monday at 5pm to seek some clarity on how the Central bank plans to tide over the current cash crunch that the country is grappling with post demonetisation. Incidentally, it marks the first day of the winter session of the legislature in Nagpur, where the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress will join forces to take on the government over issues such as demonetisation, the plight of farmers, Maratha reservations and so on. Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant said, We want some clarity on till when are people likely to suffer from this kind of a cash crunch. Even today, there are restrictions on withdrawals. A majority of the ATM machines are not functioning. People were not able to access their salaries this month because of the chaotic cash situation. It is absolutely miserable. He added, that instead of encouraging people towards a cashless system, the current situation is making people lose faith in banks given the withdrawal limits and the long queues. The Shiv Sena, which is also a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance government, had earlier planned a full-fledged protest at the RBI headquarters in Fort on Monday. The party, however, hurriedly cancelled the protest march citing requests from the police to avoid large crowds at the spot. Earlier, the partys MPs even met Prime Minister Modi to express their criticism of the method of implementation of its demonetisation exercise, and request allowing district central banks, urban cooperatives and credit societies to accept decommissioned Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes. While most parties have slammed the governments sudden decommissioning old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, the Shiv Sena has maintained that it is not against demonetisation per se, but the method in which it has been implemented, causing distress to people. The party has, however, been openly targeting the BJP over the governments demonetisation exercise and even participated in an opposition protest led by Mamata Banerjees Trinamool Congress. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Navi Mumbai Chaos reigned supreme at Vashi toll naka on the Sion-Panvel highway after toll collection resumed on Monday morning, as toll booth operators were unable to give back change. The situation went from bad to worse after a truck, loaded with vegetables, broke down on the Vashi creek bridge. It took a while for the vehicles to move freely, as traffic officials were unable to move it off the road. We could not pull the truck using cranes, as it was loaded with vegetables. So we had to wait until it was repaired, said an official from Vashi traffic unit. While the traffic snarl on the Navi Mumbai side crossed Vashi, it reached Mankhurd on the Mumbai side of the toll naka. Inspector Rajesh Babshetty from Vashi traffic unit said, We asked the toll naka officials to leave vehicles without collecting tolls on two lanes on either side of the road. Toll collecting was resumed on all lanes once the office-goers passed the naka. The situation attained normalcy around 10.30 am. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Dargahs are among the most egalitarian of religious shrines: While some have restrictions on entry of women or men most do not discriminate. The rituals are simple and are not dictated by theology; singing, dancing, sharing food even esoteric ceremonies is part of the worship. You do not have to be a Muslim to ask the saint interred in the shrine to pray to God on your behalf. In 2012, when a group of women were turned away from the inner sanctum of Mumbais Haji Ali dargah, the portals of the shrine were no longer so welcoming. The shrine trust justified the ban, explaining that shariat (religious laws) prohibited women from touching the tomb, but worshippers said there were not such restrictions till 2011. The shrine trusts attempt to defend its discriminatory order made no sense. There is no ban on women worshippers at Mumbais other popular dargahs, Makhdoom Ali Mahimi, at Mahim, though this shrine shares some trustees with the Haji Ali dargah. The Nizamuddin and Qutbuddin Baktiyar Kaki shrines in Delhi do not give women full access, but the countrys most famous Sufi shrine, the Moinuddin Chisti dargah at Ajmer, has no such restrictions. The rule on entry of women, dargah caretakers have said, is based on tradition. When talks with the shrine trustees did not solve the matter, the women contacted the National Commission for Minorities, the National Commission for Women and ministers. In August 2014, they petitioned the Bombay High Court. After eight hearings, the court struck down the ban on womens entry into the sanctum. The trust challenged the order in the Supreme Court, only to tell the apex court that they have, as a progressive step, decided to lift the ban. On Tuesday, over a hundred women, walked along the narrow causeway that links the rocky islet housing the shrine to the city, and entered the chamber that holds the marble-covered tomb of Pir Haji Ali, Shah Bukhari, a 14th century trader who gave away his wealth and died a pauper. As the women prayed, a Qawwali group sat in the shrines courtyard, singing Piya Haji Ali in praise of the saint. For Muslim women, the judgment is more than just a permission to enter the sanctum of a religious shrine; their success has laid down the path for more fights against discriminatory social laws. The event touches a sensitive spot the situation of women in religion, said Astrid Lobo Gajiwala, a doctor and a lay Catholic theologian, in an article she wrote. While the second class status of women in society is openly acknowledged and addressed the discrimination against women in religions is usually excused and justified with claims of it being divinely ordained. By taking on patriarchal diktats, the Haji Ali petitioners have set the agenda for more reforms in religious and marital laws. After their victory, the groups that supported the campaign said that their next fight will be to get triple talaq banned. The women from Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), which had filed the petition, and their supporters like the Haji Ali Sab Ke Liye Forum have said that the case is a precedent. Noorjehan Safia Niaz, co-founder of BMMA had said that the order was a victory for democratic values, womens power, Constitutional values and Koranic values. The petitioners had said that they were happy that the dispute went to the Supreme Court. The petitions passage though the countrys apex court has ensured that the case will have national repercussions. Lobo Gajiwala, who supports the ordaining of Catholic women as priests, said that the Haji Ali order gives hope about reforms in their church. For Indian Catholic women the triumph of their Muslim and Hindu sisters - at Shani Shingnapur - poses an interesting question: Is the exclusion of women from ordination a form of gender discrimination that can be changed through a judicial process? Can they file a PIL like their Hindu and Muslim sisters? Read Women entering Haji Ali will inspire more fights against discriminatory social laws Women finally enter inner sanctum of Mumbais Haji Ali Dargah SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Jittery over the cash crunch since ban on Rs 500 and 1,000 currency on November 8, people queued up outside the Dhuri branch of Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) on Monday locked the premises after they couldnt withdraw money. The protesters alleged that bank officials were attending to the rich and ignoring the common people. The tehsildar had to visit the spot to defuse the situation. We can see achhe din! Residents have to stand in queues only to be denied cash later. The Prime Minister has betrayed the citizens and left them to die in queues, said Rakesh Kumar, one of the protesters. I have been coming here for 10 days and get token daily, but could never withdraw cash. Nobody is bothered about a poor farmer...we are forced to down the bank shutter. What is the use of keeping the door open when they cant provide us cash? said Gurpreet Singh. My wife is hospitalised in Patiala and I am here since early morning. Now, the bank has displayed a signboard that there is no cash. We locked the bank as it is useless, said another farmer, Devinder Singh. Also, people also staged a protest against Punjab National Bank (PNB) and raised slogans against the central government. OBC manager VR Dogra and PNB manager Devinder Chauhan denied the allegations of favouritism, saying the cash is being distributed according to the RBI norms and there was shortage. Tehsildar Siraj Ahmed appealed to the people to maintain peace. I checked the bank but there was no cash. The bank did not get cash for the past two days. I will talk to higher authorities, he said. In the last two polls in 2006 and 2011, the city registered a turnout of 50% and 59%, respectively. While there was an increase in the polling percentage, it was not much. As per the trend, ward 1 (Sectors 1 to 11) has always witnessed the lowest turnout, but colonies and southern sectors witnessed high turnover of voting in past elections. In 1996, the voter turnout was 45.77%. In fact, the figure plummeted to 31.80 per cent in 2001, and again in 2006, only to return to a somewhat face-saving 45.2 per cent, but in elections held in 2011, the turnout was 59%. Voting percentage is most dismal in northern sectors, an area supposedly where the citys influential and the rich reside. Ward 1 (Sectors 1 to 11) had the lowest turnout of 52% in 2011. So, is it going to be any different this time? Candidates and election officials are pulling out all stops to buck the trend. Carrying out door-to-door campaigns, they are stressing the importance of your vote. And, hoping that the educated do step out of their homes to elect the educated. The colonies and southern sectors witnessed high turnover of voting in past elections. Congress candidate from ward 1, Harmohinder Singh Lukcy maintained that the ward had always witnessed low turnout. We are not only asking voters to vote in our favour, but also insisting them to exercise their right to vote, he said. Sector-49 Resident Welfare Association president VK Bali said the voter turnout in a literate city like Chandgarh, where literacy rate is the second highest in country, was alarming in the past few MC elections. Residents staying in posh sectors of city show little enthusiasm. Voters prefer to use the holiday to catch up with others, he claimed. PUs sociology department professor Manjit said, The middle class and elites in India are highly sensitive to the malfunctioning of the institutions of governance. They always criticise the inefficiency of those who run the affairs of administration after securing popular mandate of the voters. However, their voting record based on past trends is dismal. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Kerrville, TX (78028) Today Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low 62F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low 62F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. A 65-year-old ex-serviceman died of heart attack at Cheema Kalan village, 18 km from here, in a queue outside the State Bank of India branch on Monday Malook Singh had gone to the bank with his grandson Akashdeep Singh to withdraw pension money. As there was rush, he had to stand in the queue. After some time, he collapsed, Akashdeep said. We called the ambulance and took him to the civil hospital at Chabhal, where doctors declared him dead, he said. Police started the inquest proceedings and handed over the body to the family. Branch manager Sanjay Kaul said the bank was not responsible for the incident. We have separate counters for senior citizens and ex-servicemen. The problem is that we are not getting required cash, he said. Even as it has been more than a year since the Chandigarh International Airport was inaugurated, none of its runways has the instrument landing system (ILS) that enables smooth landing of aircraft during bad weather, thus causing delay in the departure and arrival of flights this time as well. The Punjab and Haryana high court earlier this year had directed the airport authorities to upgrade the landing system to make it CAT-III instrument landing system from CAT-II. In September, the airport authorities had assured the court that one of the runways would be made CAT-III compliant after re-carpeting, but nothing has been done so far. Chandigarh International Airport director Suneel Dutt said, It is for the Indian Air Force (IAF) to upgrade the landing system as it is defence-controlled facility. They have floated tenders for this and it will take at least a year to install the system. Presently, there are two international flights to Sharjah and Dubai that started in September. On November 30, flight to Dubai also got delayed by more than one hour. Vaneet Sharma, director of a travel agency in Sector 17, says, It is disappointing that even after a year of the launch of the international terminal, the authorities concerned have failed to upgrade the landing system, which is a must for flight operations during low visibility. They should expedite the process of installation of CAT-III ILS to let international carriers to make use of full-bodied aircraft. There has been a spurt in the volume of traffic recently, with private airlines introducing eight more flights from the city. In the past one year, the annual volume of passengers has increased from 12 lakh to 15 lakh. Of this, nearly 6 lakh passengers are from Punjab, followed by Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. Till last year, there were only 13 daily flights, but now the number has reached 21 with operations to Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Srinagar. The airport, which started operations in 2006, had only three flights a day. In a dreadful incident, three members of a family succumbed to burns after fire broke out in their house at Dayalpur village in Zirakpur, SAS Nagar district due to short-circuit, while they were asleep on Saturday at around 11.30pm. Two other members of the family are battling for life at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32 (GMCH-32). The deceased have been identified as Kuljeet Singh (50), an employee with Public Works Department (PWD), Punjab, his wife Surender Kaur (49) and their youngest daughter Veena, alias Nanhi. The other two daughters battling for life in the hospital are Harpreet Kaur (19) and Paramjit Kaur (18) who suffered 60-70 percent burns. Kuljeet Singh was as a painter in the PWD department, while his wife was a housewife and daughter was studying in a private school. The couple suffered over 90 percent burns and succumbed to burns at 7.30pm on Sunday evening at GMCH-32. No police complaint has been lodged. Investigating officer Gurmail Singh said, When family members went to sleep after watching TV and put their mobile on charging, the fire broke out after short-circuit in the wire passing over the bed. The family slept through the fire. However, later Surender Kaur gained consciousness and raised an alarm. She woke up the family and started to scream, after which villagers gathered and broke the door of the house to rescue the family. Actor Tammannah Bhatia says the leaked portion from her forthcoming film Baahubali 2 will not affect the movie in any way. I think for a film like this we are baffled. But that is a small portion of the film which was leaked, I think it will do good to do the film, it will not do anything negative to the film. People are curious about the film and it is feeding their curiosity, Tammannah told reporters at Star Screen Awards last night. Baahubali: The Conclusion is the continuation of Baahubali: The Beginning featuring Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Tammannah and Anushka Shetty. We are more excited than nervous (for second part of Bahubali). We have got lot of love from audience. I think a film like Bahubali comes once in an actors life. Its a big thing for the industry, being a regional film it has done so well and its also known internationally. I feel blessed to be part of Bahubali, Tammannah said. The epic historical fiction film, directed by SS Rajamouli, is set to release on April 28 next year. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Heres some great news for filmmaker Karan Johar: Even Aamir Khan, who normally avoids attending award events, could not keep himself away from Koffee Wiith Karan. After gracing the couch in its fourth season with wife Kiran Rao, the 51-year-old actor expresses his desire to re-visit the show, this season. When quizzed on the same at the Van Heusen Fashion Nights, he said, I would definitely want to go to Koffee With Karan but he is not calling me. Please ask Karan to invite me. The PK star was at the event with his Dangal daughters Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra. Further, when Mr. Perfectionist was asked if he is scared of the fashion police, he said, Well, I have never been fashion conscious. I wear bad clothes. I am not worried about the fashion police. On a related note, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Dangal is all set to release on December 23. Follow @htshowbiz for more Pakistans top diplomat Sartaj Aziz on Monday lashed out at Afghan President Ashraf Ghanis for calling Pakistan a terror sanctuary in his remarks at the Heart of Asia conference. Aziz, who returned home late Sunday after attending the conference in Amritsar, said that since the conference was about Afghanistan that is why we wished that the ongoing relationships between Pakistan and India should not affect the peace process within Afghanistan. However, Pakistans de facto foreign policy chief felt Ghanis statement was incomprehensible and condemnable, and contended that it was meant to please India. He also revealed that in his meeting with Ghani, he assured the Afghan President of Pakistans wish for peace in Afghanistan and proper security mechanisms along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Aziz said that Pakistan was always being blamed whenever there was an attack inside India and Afghanistan despite the fact that it was striving to promote peace in the region. If I had not been to India, it certainly would have a backlash as India would have got another opportunity of spreading propaganda, he said. Blaming the Indian media, Aziz said it was highlighting the issue of terrorism in a wrong way and on purpose so as to pressurise Pakistan. He also claimed that the security arrangements within India were not satisfactory. It is totally incomprehensible not to allow someone to talk to media. Read| Ghanis criticism of Pakistan affirms Indias portrayal of Islamabad China said on Monday that India shouldnt take any step that could complicate the festering boundary issue, reacting to New Delhi allowing the Karmapa, an exiled Tibetan leader, to visit Arunachal Pradesh, which is claimed by Beijing. Urgyen Trinley Dorje, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, heads one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, making his visit to the border state even more irksome for China. Chinas position on the east section of the China-India border is clear and consistent. We hope India can abide by relevant consensus and refrain from any action that might complicate the boundary question, foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang told a regular news briefing. We should ensure peace and stability of border areas, and sound and steady development of bilateral relations serves the common interests of the two sides, Lu said when asked about the Karmapas visit. China and India have constant communication on this and India is also very clear about our solemn position when it comes to the boundary question, he added. The Karmapa toured West Kameng district and interacted with Tibetans at Gyuto monastery at Tenzingang. Earlier, minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for doing away with the restrictions imposed on the Tibetan leaders visit by previous governments. In late October, China objected to a planned visit by the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh, saying it would damage bilateral ties and amount to New Delhi breaching a political commitment on the boundary question. Beijings sharp reaction came after it became known that the Dalai Lama could visit Arunachal Pradesh in early 2017 at the invitation of the states chief minister Pema Khandu. We are seriously concerned about the relevant information, spokesperson Lu Kang said at the time, when asked for a reaction on the visit. That was Chinas second strong reaction on Arunachal Pradesh in less than a week the first came after US ambassador Richard Vermas visit to the state. Authorities in Ghana have busted a fake US embassy in the capital Accra run by a criminal network that for a decade issued illegally obtained authentic visas, the US State Department said. Until it was shut down this summer, the sham embassy was housed in a run-down, pink two-storey building with a corrugated iron roof and flew a US flag outside. Inside hung a portrait of President Barack Obama. It was not operated by the United States government, but by figures from both Ghanaian and Turkish organised crime rings and a Ghanaian attorney practicing immigration and criminal law, the State Department said in a statement released late on Friday. Turkish citizens, who spoke English and Dutch, posed as consular officers and staffed the operation. Investigations also uncovered a fake Dutch embassy, the State Department said. Officials in the Netherlands were not immediately reachable for comment on Sunday. The crime ring issued fraudulently obtained but legitimate U.S. visas and false identification documents, including birth certificates at a cost of $6,000 each, the statement said. During raids that led to a number of arrests, authorities also seized authentic and counterfeit Indian, South African and Schengen Zone visas and 150 passports from 10 different countries along with a laptop and smart phones. The statement did not say how the gang obtained the authentic visas. And the State Department did not say how many people were believed to have illegally entered the United States and other countries using visas issued by the crime ring, which used bribery to operate unhindered. The criminals running the operation were able to pay off corrupt officials to look the other way, as well as obtain legitimate blank documents to be doctored, the statement said. There was no immediate comment from Ghanas Criminal Investigations Division. Visas for Western countries are in high demand in Africa and embassies say the visa market is a big target for organized crime. The real U.S. embassy in Ghana is a prominent and heavily fortified complex in Cantonments, one of the capitals most expensive neighbourhoods. Lines of people queue outside each day for visa appointments and other consular business. The fake embassy was open three mornings a week and did not accept walk-in appointments. Instead, the criminals advertised on billboards in Ghana, Togo and Ivory Coast and brought clients from across West Africa to Accra where they rented them hotel rooms in nearby hotels. U.S. authorities conducting a broader security operation were tipped off about it and assembled a team including the Ghana Detectives Bureau and police as well as other international partners to shut down the ring. An Indian-origin Oxford graduate has sued the university for 1m claiming the appallingly bad and boring teaching resulted in him getting a second class degree and in turn led to loss of earnings during his career as a lawyer. Faiz Siddiqui, 38, studied modern history at Brasenose College at the university and accuses its staff of negligent teaching of his specialist subject course on Indian imperial history, which led to him getting a 2:1 back in 2000, the High Court in London heard this week. A judgement is expected later this month. Siddiquis barrister Roger Mallalieu told the judge that the problem came down to four of the seven staff teaching Asian history being on sabbatical leave at the same time during the 1999-2000 academic year, The Sunday Times reported. Siddiqui believes he could have had a high-flying career as an international commercial lawyer if he had not got lower grades. He singled out the boring standard of tuition that Siddiqui had received from David Washbrook, an expert on the history of southern India between the 18th and 20th centuries. Mallalieu claimed that the eminent historians teaching had suffered from the intolerable pressure of the staff shortages on the course. There is no personal criticism of Washbrook. Our target is on the universitys back for allowing this to happen, Mallalieu told the court. Siddiqui, who trained as a solicitor after college, suffers from depression and insomnia, which he links to his disappointing examination results, and has said he has a fundamental inability to hold down any professional day job for any significant length of time. Oxford University argues that the claim is baseless and should be struck out because of the number of years that have passed since Siddiqui graduated. Julian Milford, the universitys barrister, denied that Siddiquis case had any substance but admitted that circumstances were difficult during that year. Siddiquis legal team claims he is only one of a number of students who no doubt have proper cause for complaint against the university in relation to this matter. The expected resignation of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi marks the start of a new period of uncertainty in Italian politics. It will be the job of President Sergio Mattarella to decide what happens next. Here are some of his options. Renzi stays in power Renzi -- after a final meeting of his cabinet -- will on Monday visit Mattarella, who could ask him to form a new government. Theoretically he could win a vote of confidence in Parliament, either with his current majority or with a new one including Silvio Berlusconis centre-right Forza Italia. But during a press conference early Monday, Renzi seemed to exclude this possibility. My experience of government finishes here, he said. The crushing victory for the NO camp, which is thought to have scored almost 60 percent of the vote, makes the return of Renzi a very distant possibility. Nominating a technocratic government This is the most likely scenario. Mattarella appoints a head of government with the support of the current majority or a new enlarged majority. A number of names are already circulating including Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan and Senate leader Pietro Grasso. The caretaker government would be tasked with passing the 2017 budget in Parliament and modifying a new electoral law before elections take place. He or she could also decide to continue until the end of the current parliamentary term in February 2018, a move that would likely prove unpopular with political groups such as Five Star, who are calling for elections as soon as possible. Immediate dissolution of Parliament This is highly unlikely. A recent electoral reform was designed to ensure the leading party has a parliamentary majority in the Chamber of Deputies, while the failure of the constitutional reform of the senate means it still maintains a proportional system, making the two chambers irreconcilable and a parliamentary majority almost impossible. The populist Five Star movement, whose founder and leader Beppe Grillo has called for an election within a week, believes the electoral law could be modified in the senate if necessary to align it more closely with that of the Chamber of Deputies. But most other political parties, who have a majority in Parliament, disagree, precisely to avoid a victory of the populist party. They are instead advocating reform of the electoral law. In the end it will be for Mattarella to decide Italys immediate future and to ensure there is a majority in favour of forming a technocratic government if he wants to avoid, as many analysts believe, early elections next year. Read| Italy PM Renzi quits after crushing defeat in constitutional reform referendum Nepals main opposition CPN-UML party on Monday accused India of interfering in the countrys internal affairs as its students wing staged a protest outside the Indian embassy in Kathmandu. A day after India described the registration of a bill in Parliament to amend the Constitution to address the demands of agitating Madhes-based parties as an important step, the CPN-UML said this amounted to a grave intervention in Nepals internal matters. Student and youth leaders Rajiv Pahari, Nabina Lama, Niraj Labaju and Tilak Thapa, who are close to several left wing parties, asked staffers of the Indian embassy not to interfere in Nepals political affairs. The activists were stopped some 300 metres from the embassy. The CPN-UML also accused India of putting pressure on Nepal to approve the constitutional amendment bill. The partys activists criticised Indian ambassador Ranjit Rae, alleging that his actions went against diplomatic norms and decorum. On Saturday, Rae held a breakfast meeting with Madhes-based leaders and urged them to accept the constitutional amendment bill which they had rejected. Several student unions affiliated to political parties, including the left wing CPN-ML, Rastriya Janamorcha, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party and CPN-Maoist, joined hands with the CPN-UMLs youth wing for the protest. A group of opposition parties, including the CPN-UML, has been opposing the bill on the grounds that it is anti-national. These parties have obstructed the proceedings of Parliament since last Wednesday. Nepal has been deeply polarised since the constitutional amendment bill was registered in Parliament. Madhes-based parties too rejected the bill, saying it amounted to little and would not lead to much change in the present framework. India has said that its consistent position has been that peace, stability and progress is in the interest of both countries. It has said it has supported the Nepal governments efforts to meet the aspirations of all sections of society through dialogue and constitutional processes. New York City officials vowed on Monday to swiftly find and prosecute any and all hate-crime suspects after a man threatened to kill an off-duty policewoman wearing a traditional Muslim head scarf. If anybodys thinking in New York City about engaging in this type of behaviour, just rest assured that you will be identified, you will be arrested, you will be charged accordingly, police commissioner James ONeill told reporters. Officer Aml Elsokary, a native New Yorker and Muslim, was walking with her teenage son on Saturday in Brooklyns Bay Ridge neighbourhood, when a man lunged at the boy, accused the pair of being connected to the militant Islamic State group and threatened to cut Elsokarys throat, police said. The suspect was heard yelling, Go back to your country, before fleeing, police said. Christopher Nelson was arraigned on Monday on a top count of felony menacing in the second degree as a hate crime, the Kings County District Attorneys office said. Civil rights groups have voiced alarm over a rise of attacks on minorities since Republican Donald Trumps November 8 election as president. New York police said crimes targeting Jews, Muslims, gays and other groups had jumped to 43 since the election compared to 20 during the same period last year. More than half the new attacks were anti-Semitic, police said. Elsokary, with the force for 11 years, is among 900 Muslims on the countrys largest police department. In 2014, she was honoured for rescuing a young girl and her grandmother from a burning building. I became a police officer to show a positive side of a New Yorker Muslim woman, Elsokary told reporters. Im born and raised here, and Im here to protect you. Mayor Bill De Blasio, a Democrat, told the news conference he believed the spike in reported hate crimes was a result of Trumps win, adding, We could lose lives because of this. I was sick to my stomach when I heard that one of our officers was subjected to threats and taunting simply because of her faith, the mayor said. We must not allow this kind of hatred and bias to spread. During the campaign, Trump pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border and to deport millions of illegal immigrants. He weighed restricting Muslim immigration. Since his victory, Trump has said he rejects acts of violence or harassment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation describes a hate crime as a criminal offence against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offenders bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity. New Zealands popular Prime Minister John Key stunned the nation on Monday when he announced his resignation after eight years as leader. Key had been widely expected to contest his fourth general election next year. But he said he wanted to ensure he doesnt make the mistake that some other world leaders have done, and instead wanted to leave while he was on top of his game. Speaking in a shaking voice, Key said he had made personal sacrifices for the job and the role had taken a toll on his family. Key said his National Party caucus would meet December 12 to decide on a new party leader and prime minister, and that he expected to officially hand in his resignation that same day. Key said he would back his deputy Bill English for the role. The New Zealand dollar fell by nearly 1% on the news and was trading at USD 0.71. Read | PM Modi, New Zealand PM Key talk cricket to highlight bilateral ties Key was a successful currency dealer before first he became a lawmaker in 2002. He had a quick rise, becoming leader of his centre-right opposition party in 2006 and then winning his first general election to become prime minister in 2008. He won subsequent elections in 2011 and 2014 and retained remarkably high popularity ratings. His party was a clear favourite to win again at next years election, at least until his announcement. Key said that steering the country of 4.7 million through the economic crisis of 2008 and on to relative economic success was a proud accomplishment. He also talked about the importance of standing beside the people of Christchurch after an earthquake in 2011 killed 185 people. Simply put, it has, for me, been the most remarkable, satisfying and exciting time of my life, he said. But despite the amazing career I have had in politics, I have never seen myself as a career politician. I have certainly never wanted my success in politics to be measured by how long I spent in Parliament. But he said the role came with costs. For my wife Bronagh, there have been many nights and weekends spent alone, many occasions that were important to her that I simply could not attend, he said. My daughter Stephie and my son Max have transitioned from teenagers to young adults while coping with an extraordinary level of intrusion and pressure because of their fathers job. He said he wasnt sure what life after politics would bring, other than he would probably take up positions on a couple of boards. He said he would remain on as a member of parliament long enough that he wouldnt force a special election ahead of next years general election. All I can say is that I gave it everything I had, he said. I have left nothing in the tank. Read | New Zealands ponytail-pulling PM John Key gets a dressing down on Twitter In a surprise move, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday approved in principle the renaming of a physics centre at a leading university after Abdus Salam, Pakistans first Nobel laureate who has been shunned in recent years because he belongs to the persecuted Ahmadi minority. The government announced that the National Centre for Physics at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad as the "Professor Abdus Salam Center for Physics". Sharif directed the education ministry to make a formal proposal for the move, which coincided with the 20th death anniversary of Salam. Sharif also approved the grant of five annual fellowships in the name of Salam to Pakistani students pursuing a PhD in physics at reputed international universities. The decision was made in recognition of the great contributions of Salam, a major figure in 20th century theoretical physics. He shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions in the field. Salam was also the second person from an Islamic country to receive any Nobel Prize. However, Pakistan has usually shied away from owning Salam as he belonged to the Ahmadi minority, which was officially declared non-Muslim in 1974. Local media reported Salams 20th death anniversary on Monday had passed without any significant mention of him. The only event in his memory was scheduled at his alma mater, the Government College University in Lahore, but that too was postponed. Salam died on November 21, 1996 in Oxford, Britain but not a single ceremony has ever been organised in Pakistan to commemorate his death or to praise his contributions in science because he belongs to the Ahmadi community, which has been attacked and persecuted since its members were declared non-Muslims. Community spokesperson Saleemudin told a newspaper that Salam, as an Ahmadi, faced this discrimination in his life and it had continued afterwards as well. He was a hero for Pakistan. But I have never seen his portraits along with other national heroes put up on national days, he said. During the recent selection of the new Pakistan Army chief, a whisper campaign had suggested Gen Qamar Bajwa - who was eventually chosen for the post - was an Ahmadi. However, the suggestion was dismissed by the official establishment. A man who said he was investigating a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a pizza place fired an assault rifle inside the Washington restaurant, the police. No one was injured, they added. Metropolitan police department spokeswoman Aquita Brown said the police received a call Sunday afternoon about a men with a weapon on Connecticut Avenue, in an affluent neighborhood of the nations capital. Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, of Salisbury North Carolina, walked through the front door of Comet Ping Pong and pointed a firearm in the direction of a restaurant employee, the Washington Post reported. The employee was able to flee and notify the police. Welch then fired the gun into the floor. The police arrested Welch without incident. They recovered an assault rifle. Welch was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. Two firearms were recovered inside the restaurant and an additional weapon was recovered from the suspects vehicle, the police said in a statement Sunday evening. Police secure the scene near Comet Ping Pong in Washington on Sunday. (AP photo) The Comet Ping Pong gained notoriety during the presidential campaign after fake news stories stated that Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief ran a child sex ring out of the restaurant. Welch told the police that he had come to the restaurant to self-investigate the fictitious online conspiracy theory that spread online during Clintons run for the White House. The Comet, its owner, staff and nearby businesses were caught up in an onslaught of conspiracy theories and fake news during the often contentious presidential campaign and were victims of social media attacks and death threats, the Post reported. James Alefantis, owner of Comet Ping Pong, released a statement late Sunday night denying what he called the malicious and utterly false accusations and said the company hoped to resume normal operations within a few days. I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away, Alefantis said in the statement. A 22-year-old man accused of plotting to attack the US Capitol in support of the Islamic State group will soon find out how many more years he must serve in prison. Christopher Lee Cornell of suburban Cincinnati was arrested by the FBI on January 14, 2015. He pleaded guilty to three charges including attempted murder of US officials and employees. Court documents show Cornell said he wanted to attack during President Barack Obamas State of the Union address. Prosecutors have recommended a 30-year sentence to US district judge Sandra Beckwith. Cornells attorneys say a significantly lower term would be more appropriate. They say he has rejected radical Islamic propaganda that influenced him. Defense attorneys plan to call a psychologist on Monday to testify in the sentencing hearing about Cornells mental condition. US President-elect Donald Trump fired a Twitter broadside at China on Sunday, accusing the Asian giant of currency manipulation and military expansionism in the South China Sea. The taunt came two days after Trump risked offending Beijing by accepting a call from the Taiwanese president, and heralded the prospect of a trade battle between the worlds largest economies. China was a frequent target of Trumps during his presidential campaign and, as he prepares to take office next month, every sign points to his taking an aggressive line with Beijing. Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into.. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016 their country (the U.S. doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016 China is the United States largest trading partner, but America ran a $366 billion deficit with Beijing in goods and services in 2015, up 6.6 percent on the year before. US politicians often accuse China of artificially depressing its currency, the renminbi, in order to boost its exports -- its value has fallen by around 15 percent in the past two-and-half years. Trump has vowed to formally declare China a currency manipulator on the first day of his presidency, which would oblige the US Treasury to open negotiations with Beijing on allowing the renminbi to rise. With China holding about a trillion dollars in US government debt, Washington would have little leverage in such talks, but the declaration would harm ties and boost the prospect of a trade war. China charges an average 15.6 percent tariff on US agricultural imports and nine percent on other goods, according to the World Trade Organization. Chinese farm products pay 4.4 percent and other goods 3.6 percent when coming into the United States. On Friday, Trump courted Chinese anger by accepting a congratulatory call from Taiwans president Tsai Ing-wen. China regards self-ruling Taiwan as part of its own territory awaiting reunification, and any US move implying support for independence would gravely offend Beijing. Trumps incoming vice president, Mike Pence, played down the significance of the call, describing it as a courtesy, and said any new policy on China would be decided after his inauguration. China responded cautiously to the call, with state media putting it down to Trumps inexperience. Also read | US firms that move abroad will face 35% punitive tax, Trump warns US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday accused China of currency manipulation and military expansionism in the South China Sea, days after offending Beijing by speaking over phone with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. The two tweets from Trump are expected to add to the US-China tension. Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesnt tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? Trump said in a series of tweets. I dont think so! Trump said in his second tweet. The Washington Post said Trumps protocol-breaking telephone call with Taiwans leader, first by a top American leader since 1979, was an intentionally provocative move that establishes the incoming president as a break with the past. China was a frequent target of Trumps during his presidential campaign and, as he prepares to take office next month, every sign points to his taking an aggressive line with Beijing. China regards self-governing Taiwan as a breakaway province, and the two sides enjoy a fragile peace marked by delicate political rhetoric and rising economic integration. China lodged a diplomatic protest with the US over the call. US politicians often accuse China of artificially depressing its currency, the renminbi, in order to boost its exports. China claims much of the South China See. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims. An international tribunal in the Hague in July deemed the bulk of Chinas territorial claims in the South China Sea to have no legal basis under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. President-elect Donald Trump supports the construction of a pipeline in North Dakota, his spokesman said on Monday when asked about the governments ruling against the controversial project. With regard to the Dakota Access Pipeline, thats something that we support construction of and well review the full situation when were in the White House and make the appropriate determination at that time, Trump spokesman Jason Miller said at a transition team news briefing. Thousands of protesters in North Dakota celebrated after the federal government ruled against a controversial pipeline project but were mindful the fight is not over, as the company building the line said it had no plans for re-routing the pipe. The US Army Corps of Engineers said on Sunday it rejected an application to allow the Dakota Access Pipeline to tunnel under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River. Native American and other activists celebrate after learning an easement had been denied for the Dakota Access Pipeline at Oceti Sakowin Camp on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on December 4, 2016 outside Cannon Ball, North Dakota. (AFP Photo) The decision came after months of protests from Native Americans and activists, who argued that the 1,172-mile (1,885-km) Dakota Access Pipeline would damage sacred lands and could contaminate the tribes water source. Energy Transfer Partners, in a joint statement with its partner, Sunoco Logistics Partners, said late on Sunday they do not intend to reroute the line, calling the Obama administrations decision a political action. They said they still expect the project to be completed, noting that the Army Corps said they had followed all required legal procedures in the permitting process. The mood among protesters has been upbeat since the rejection was announced on Sunday afternoon at the Oceti Sakowin camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota. Activists were seen hugging and letting out war cries in response to the news. With the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump supportive of the project, activists were concerned a reversal could be coming. This is a temporary celebration. I think this is just a rest, said Charlotte Bad Cob, 30, from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. With a new government it could turn and we could be at it again. Fireworks go off over the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D., Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016. US Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Moria Kelley said in a news release Sunday that the administration will not allow the four-state, $3.8 billion pipeline to be built under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir where construction had been on hold. (AP Photo) The pipeline is complete except for a 1.61 km segment to run under Lake Oahe. That stretch required an easement from federal authorities. The US Army Corps of Engineers said it will analyse possible alternate routes, although any other route also is likely to cross the Missouri River. The protest camps numbers have swelled in recent days, as hundreds of U.S. veterans have flocked to North Dakota in support of the protesters. Some of those in a long line of traffic along Highway 1806 heading into the camp hollered and honked their horns after the news was announced. Craig Edward Morning, 30, a carpenter from Stony Point, New York, said he will leave when the tribe says he should and the company agrees to stop building the line. They retreat first, he said. Theyre the ones that arent welcome. Map charting the route of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline. The US Army Corps of Engineers on Sunday nixed plans for the pipeline crossing in North Dakota. (AFP) Fight may be a long haul Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault II, in a statement, said he hoped ETP, North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple and Trump would respect the decision. When it comes to infrastructure development in Indian Country and with respect to treaty lands, we must strive to work together to reach decisions that reflect the multifaceted considerations of tribes, he said. Trump has yet to react to Sundays decision. He could direct authorities to approve the line, even if before he takes over from Democratic President Barack Obama on Jan. 20 federal authorities will be studying alternative routes. North Dakota Congressman Kevin Cramer, a Republican, who has advised Trump on energy policy, said the decision ignores the rule of law. Tom Goldtooth, a Lakota from Minnesota, and a co-founder of Indigenous Environmental Network, said he expects Trump to try to reverse the decision. I think were going to be in this for the long haul. Thats what my fear is, he said. A young Native American man rides his horse through the snow near the Oceti Sakowin camp as "water protectors" continue to demonstrate against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota. (REUTERS) In November, ETP moved equipment to the edge of the Missouri River to prepare for drilling, and later asked a federal court to disregard the Army Corps, and declare that the company could finish the line. That ruling is still pending. Several veterans recently arrived in camp told Reuters they thought Sundays decision, which came just as Oceti Sakowin has seen an influx of service members, was a tactic to convince protesters to leave. Those spoken to after the decision said they had no plans to leave because they anticipate heated opposition from ETP and the incoming administration. That drill is still on the drill pad. Until thats gone, this is not over, said Matthew Crane, 32, from Buffalo, who arrived with a contingent of veterans last week. President-elect Donald Trump chose Ben Carson, a former rival for the Republican nomination, on Monday to be secretary of the department of housing and urban development. But there was still no word on his secretary of state, the nations top diplomat who will be Trumps emissary to the world. Announcing Carsons nomination Monday, Trump said: We have talked at length about my urban renewal agenda and our message of economic revival, very much including our inner cities (mostly poor areas dominated by African-Americans. Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country and is part of ensuring that this is a presidency representing all Americans, the president-elect added Carson, a renowned neurosurgeon, has no experience in housing, and was once a shoo-in for the post of secretary of health and human services, but he took himself off the table saying he had no plans of joining the Trump administration. Trump has, so far, named his secretaries for treasury, commerce, health, education, defence (semi-officially) and the attorney general, chief of staff and chief strategist. But everyone is waiting now for the big one, secretary of state. Speculation continues, with new figures joining the list every passing day. A Trump transition team official confirmed on Sunday the list had been expanded beyond the four favourites: Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012; Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor; Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the senate foreign relations committee and former CIA director David Petraeus. The expanded list actually has two very avid supporters of strong bilateral ties with India former Utah governor and 2012 candidate for the Republican presidential nomination Jon Huntsman and congressman Dana Rohrabacher. Rohrabacher, a member of the House of Representatives from California, has himself claimed to be being considered for the position in a tweet, but Trump transition team dont think he will go the distance possibly deputy secretary of state, said one. The congressman used to be a strong supporter of Pakistan and, by definition therefore, a critic of India, but changed overtime, he told this reporter, because of Islamabads record on terrorism. Rohrabacher is now one of Pakistans bitterest critics on Capitol Hill and has called for declaring Pakistan a terrorist state, which would deny Islamabad and aid and military supplies, at the least, in a bill he introduced jointly in the House in September. 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. Prime Minister Theresa May wants to start Britains divorce from the European Union. Eleven judges may stand in her way. On Monday, Mays government will ask Supreme Court justices to overturn a ruling that Parliament must hold a vote before Britains exit negotiations can begin a case that has raised a constitutional quandary and inflamed the countrys heated debate about Brexit. May plans to trigger two years of divorce talks before the end of March by invoking Article 50 of the EUs key treaty, using centuries-old government powers known as royal prerogative. The powers traditionally held by the monarch but now used by politicians enable decisions about joining or leaving international treaties to be made without a parliamentary vote. A hairdresser and a financial entrepreneur, Deir Dos Santos and Gina Miller, went to court to argue that leaving the EU will remove some of their rights, including free movement within the bloc, and that shouldnt be done without Parliaments approval. Last month, three High Court judges agreed. But the government says they have misinterpreted the law. Government lawyers led by attorney general Jeremy Wright will argue this week that the British people have spoken by voting in a June 23 referendum to leave the EU. They say a parliamentary vote would mean getting lawmakers to answer precisely the same question which was put by Parliament to the electorate and has been answered in the referendum. In written arguments published before Mondays hearing, government lawyers say the use of royal prerogative to start the talks is constitutionally appropriate and lawful. Many legal experts say the government will likely lose its appeal and be forced to give Parliament a vote. The arguments this time round are pretty much the same as in the last case and I suspect the outcome will be the same, said Nick Barber, associate professor of constitutional law at Oxford University. In a reflection of the constitutional importance of the case which hinges on the balance of power between Parliament and the executive all 11 Supreme Court judges will hear the appeal, the first time the full court has sat since it was founded in 2009. The case is scheduled to last four days, with a ruling likely in January. Brexit secretary David Davis has insisted that whatever the outcome of the Supreme Court appeal ... we intend to stick to the existing timetable for triggering talks. Complicating the picture are new participants including the Scottish government, which argues the Edinburgh-based Scottish Parliament should get a vote too. Britons voted by 52% to 48% to leave the EU, but voters in Scotland strongly backed staying in, and the Scottish government says they shouldnt be dragged out of the EU against their will. Though the courtroom drama will unfold in cool legal language, it has set public passions simmering. Novembers ruling infuriated pro-Brexit campaigners, who saw the lawsuit as an attempt to block or delay Britains EU exit. The anti-EU Daily Mail newspaper labeled the justices enemies of the people. Miller, the lead claimant, says she has received abuse and death threats. Former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage vowed to lead a march on the Supreme Court to demand judges respect the will of the majority. It was canceled last week after organizers said there was a risk it could be hijacked by far-right extremists. The Supreme Court, facing the highest-profile case in its seven years of existence, noted on its website that the justices are aware of the public interest in this case and the strong feelings associated with the wider political questions of the U.K.s departure from the EU. But, it stressed, this case isnt about those wider issues. The Justices duty is to consider the legal questions impartially, and decide the case according to the law, it said. Amina Hamawy burst into tears and then fainted when she returned to eastern Aleppo to find that looters had ransacked her home. Where am I? What happened? she asked after her husband and daughter revived her. We have lost everything. They were among a few hundred residents who fled fighting in the Hanano neighbourhood last month and were able to return after government forces drove out Syrian rebels, whose besieged and bombed out enclave in eastern Aleppo has begun to collapse. After registering with authorities, Hamawys family was driven past blackened shells of buildings and mounds of rubble, devastation wrought by more than four years of near-daily airstrikes, including explosives-filled barrels dropped from helicopters. The work of decades disappeared in a few hours. Their single-story home was still intact, but the television, electrical cables and a large battery that supplied power for the home had been taken, either by retreating rebels, advancing forces or thieves exploiting the chaos. The looters left the old refrigerator and the washing machine behind. If it had been a new, fully automatic one they would have stolen it, said Hamid Malaji, Hamawys husband. The work of decades disappeared in a few hours. It could be much worse. His family survived and was able to flee when government forces moved in. And their gray and white cat emerged when they returned, meowing from hunger but otherwise unharmed. Smoke rises in east and west neighbourhoods during a battle between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels in Aleppo, Syria. (AP Photo) Few residents of eastern Aleppo have been as fortunate. The city became the epicentre of Syrias civil war when the rebels captured the eastern districts, starting with Hanano, in the summer of 2012. The city has been fiercely contested since then, and earlier this year government forces fully besieged rebel-held eastern Aleppo, where nearly every hospital has been destroyed, and so many people have been killed that there are few places left to bury them. The rebels are finally buckling under pressure. They have been retreating for more than a week, and while a prolonged battle is expected in the narrow streets of Aleppos Old City, government forces are likely to prevail. The loss of eastern Aleppo would mark the greatest victory for President Bashar Assads forces and his Russian and Iranian allies since the conflict began in 2011 with peaceful protests against his familys four-decade rule. More than 30,000 people have fled Aleppo since the latest government offensive began last month, joining the more than 10 million Syrians nearly half the population who have fled their homes since the conflict began. Abdul-Ghani Kassab, a senior official in the Aleppo governorate, said 750 families have returned to Hanano, which was home to tens of thousands before the conflict began. He said 40% of the buildings will have to be demolished because they cannot be renovated. Syrian army soldiers fire their weapons during a battle with rebel fighters at the Ramouseh front line, east of Aleppo. (AP Photo) The Syrian government and humanitarian agencies are providing aid to those who have returned, meeting them as they disembark from green government buses. On Sunday, volunteers with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent distributed mattresses, blankets, food baskets and diapers. They also handed out large sheets of plastic that could be used to cover smashed windows or doors. Doctors standing outside ambulances diagnosed patients and prescribed medicine or vitamins. One woman arrived with her husband, who was ill and could barely walk. He was forced to leave eastern Aleppo yet again, this time rushed away in an ambulance to a hospital in the government-held west. Torrent sites this year have been bubbling in the media for their pirated and illegal content, which were targeted by the authorities to shut them down. Though authorities shut many of them down, few Torrent sites have withstood to make it to the next year. Netizens will not stop torrenting even though torrent sites are stopped. According to the latest updates by eBizMBA Rank, these 5 websites top in the list of Torrent sites. The Pirate Bay has 50,000,000 visitors every month acquiring the first position although it was temporarily shut down by law-enforcers. KickAss Torrents will make it to 2017 although, it was shut down in July 2006 it happened to run till date. 30,000,000 Netizens visit every month for searching relevant data; its UI attracts users. With 15,000,000 visitors, Torrentz stands in the third position despite shutting them down and shall make it to the next year 2017. Torrent sites may be shut down by the authorities but Torrenting probably will not die so easily. Fourth, ExtraTorrent was shut down for online piracy crackdown being waged by rights holders and government authorities but, according to eBizMBA, the latest update shows it to be used by 6,000,000 netizens per month making it pretty sure to move ahead n 2017. YifyTorrents stand on the fifth position with 3,000,000 visitors per month. All these torrent sites are operational despite tight policies and scrutinize. All these websites ranking has been updated by eBizMBA on December 1. Not involved in illegal sharing of copyrighted files. Other torrent sites rank wise are BitSnoop, IsoHunt, SumoTorrent, TorrentDownloads, EZTV, RarBG, 1337x, TorrentHound, Demonoid, and fifteenth Fenopy. Under the new policy, Google plans to ban leading torrent websites. The new policy comes as Google updated its safe browsing service used by Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, the news.com.au reported. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. iMac 2017 is the most anticipated device from Apple other than iPad line-up. iMac PC had been the expected device from Apple in the October event. Enthusiasts did not find any single word on this device. However, current reports are indicating the arrival of iMac 2017 in the next Apple event. According to International Business Times, iMac 2017 is rumored to arrive in the next Apple event. However, the main focus is on the processor that will be embedded inside the iMac PC. Earlier, reports highlighted the delay in the launch of Intel's Kaby Lake processor is the reason for the delay of new iMac. It is reported that Intel could be unveiling its latest high-advanced Kaby Lake processors at the Consumer Electronics Show 2017 in Las Vegas. As the upcoming AIO is expected to come with interesting features, a Kaby Lake chipset can only make them better. The Kaby Lake chipset is required to run all high-end features successfully. There are also new reports on iMac 2017, in which the device is expected to feature the same Skylake SoC or the Intel's Xeon processor. If the Intel Kaby Lake chipset supply delays, it may force the Cupertino-based tech giant to go with Skylake or Xeon processor. The MacBook Pro 2016 was also released with the same Skylake SoC in the last event. Apple's official statement on iMac 2017 will give the complete details on the confusion of processor which will power the new PC. A major challenge to Apple Inc. is the Microsoft Surface Studio with the 28-inch screen having fold down ability in-order to make it easier for artists to draw on it. Plus, the Surface makes use of touch input, a stylus and the Dial. Apple needs to make a device far better than the current best device. According to The Bit Bag, the top most features likely be found in iMac 2017 are a 4-core processor, 5K Display and native support for 4K video with virtual reality (VR) support. A newly introduced organic light-emitting diode (OLED) Touch Bar seen in the MacBook Pro 2016 is also expected. Other specs likely to be available are USB Type-C Thunderbolt 3 ports, Touch ID and Touch Bar. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. After becoming the second man to walk on the moon, retired astronaut Buzz Aldrin has added another milestone to his already legendary career. Setting a record, however, has landed him in a hospital. The 86-year old iconic figure is now the oldest man to make his way to the South Pole as declared by the National Science Foundation. He has been informed about the achievement while recovering at a New Zealand infirmary. Aldrin is known for his exploits with the fabulous Apollo 11 mission that made the first manned lunar landing in 1969. Members of that crew include Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins. The former NASA pilot has joined a White Desert tourist expedition that was exploring the South Pole. At some point during the trip, Buzz Aldrin has been sick and his health soon faltered. Doctors have suggested that it will be best for the octogenarian to be evacuated. The former astronaut has been airlifted out of the South Pole to a US research center in McMurdo and later on to Christchurch under the care of a US Antarctic Program (USAP) physician. After being turned over by the medical personnel of White Desert, America's Antarctic medical team has stated that Aldrin's condition is stable. The tour company has announced that his lungs had fluids. According to his manager Christina Korp, his client is doing fine. Aldrin is said to be responding fittingly to antibiotics. Prior to the trip, Aldrin's fascination for adventure has never waned as indicated by his earlier tweets which declared his readiness to conquer Antarctica. Three weeks ago, the legendary figure has attended an exhibit at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. In addition to promoting Mars exploration, Aldrin has also campaigned for scientific education and space awareness. Part of his achievements is publishing his recent book entitled, 'No Dream is Too High: High Lessons from a Man who Walked on the Moon.' Aldrin, who now resides at Satellite Beach, has a joint venture with the Florida Institute of Technology where the Buzz Aldrin Space Institute is situated. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. AMD is all set to give a light of its finest and best CPU developed by it in the tech market. As per the recent reports popping-up the internet, AMD will be holding a sneak peak event of its high-performance Zen CPU in this month of December. As per the report of PC World, AMD's sneak peak event on its high-performance Zen CPU will be live streamed 1 p.m. PST and 4 p.m. ET on December 13. The event will be held at Austin, Texas. The enthusiasts will have a great and best chance by signing up at AMD's website to have a look on the AMD's upcoming Zen CPU event in action on Dec. 13, 2016 for free. "Watch New Horizon, hosted by Geoff Keighley, for an exclusive advance preview of our new 'Zen' CPU ahead of its 2017 Q1 launch," the company said on the public invite. "See eSports & Evil Geniuses legend PPD put 'Zen' through its paces. There'll be appearances from special guests and giveaways. This is the first time the public will be able to try it themselves and see its capabilities. If you're serious about gaming, this is an event you do not want to miss." So, entusiasts will see the amazing people on the sneak peak show and a lot can be seen on the amazingly made AMD's new Zen CPU. It is speculated that AMD will show off the rumored quad-core version of Zen that were leaked earlier. These are the four Zen-based CPUs with the top end including two eight-core chips with immediate Multi-Threading, as well as the SR5 with six cores, and a quad-core SR3. If these speculations go true, the highest-end 8-core will be for $500, while a second, slower eight-core chip could be as low as $350, a six-core SR5 for $250 and a quad-core SR3 for $150. Stay tuned for updates on Processors and Graphic Cards. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. While the rhetoric between Washington and Beijing has toned down, the imminent threat of a Third World War remains in the horizon. With tensions at the South China Sea yet to be resolved, it is likely that a conflict will surface soon. China's complaint against American interference in issues around the Asia-Pacific realm is not without basis. The Chinese believe that about 400 US bases have been established within the Mainland's perimeter. This mobilization includes the deployment of nuclear-armed battleships and fighter bombers. The proximal presence of military units is itself a provocative move against the nation with the world's largest armed forces. A recent development has rekindled the strain between the two superpower countries as upcoming US President Donald Trump called up Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-Wen. The move has deeply offended Beijing which is why it released a number of ballistic missiles to show its firepower capability. Popular journalist John Pilger has revealed the imminent danger of World War 3 in his latest documentary entitled, 'The Coming War on China.' Not only did his narrative expose the strong possibility of a nuclear conflict but it also divulges a critical development that will eventually instigate a serious miscalculation. According to the documentary, a series of US military bases are in place to be activated in case war erupts. Considering that officials at the Pentagon are behind the preparations tends to be alarming. It is even more distressing to note that Washington is bitter about the rise of China. Beijing's progression has made the giant nation to be branded as a threat to the aspirations of the US. Pilger points out that it is objective of the film to institute awareness that war between China and the US can break out anytime soon. James Bradley, author of 'The Chinese Mirage,' says in the video that American warships at the Pacific Ocean can be seen from the tallest Chinese building. He adds that such view can keep the Chinese anxious about US bellicosity. It is essential to note that American imperialism has long in existence. Prior to the 1949 revolution that changed China, Communist Party founder Mao Zedong has called for cooperation between Washington in Beijing but his approach was rebuffed. Decades later, America's disdain is very much alive through its anti-Chinese stance that can actually trigger World War 3. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Brangelina kids Maddox (15) and Pax (13) might have to go back to their home countries as their biological parents are claiming their parental rights back. Amid harsh fight for their kid's custody, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's fear might come true way sooner than they expected. However, it appears those reports are nothing but an inaccurate claim with no truth behind it. According to reports that are circling online, their oldest child Maddox, originally from Cambodia, was adopted by Angelina Jolie in 2002 when he was seven months old. It's believed that his biological parents have passed away. Back then, the "Tomb Raider" actress was still married to Billy Bob Thorton. On the other hand, Pax was adopted from an orphanage in Vietnam in 2007. Angelina adopted him on her own as she and Brad are not yet married and later he legally adopted Pax in the US. According to a recent report, parents of both boys are alive. Reportedly, Maddox claimed to be "brokered by a crooked agent" while Pax's birth mother is soon getting out from prison and she will get her kid back. Of course, it's hard to believe that those claims bear any truth. Even though Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are in the middle of the custody battle for their six children, the kids will remain intact. However, the sad truth is that the former A-list Hollywood couple didn't manage to set aside differences for one day and celebrate Thanksgiving as a family. Sadly, arrangements for a Thanksgiving meal together didn't work out as "Allied" actor didn't spend the day with his family despite alleged Shiloh's request. Reports, the 41-year-old actress did not invite his estranged husband even though he was in the area. Instead, Brad Pitt spent the Thanksgiving in a luxury island resort in Amanyara with a close friend after he had been busy promoting his latest movie starring aside Marion Cotillard who was unfairly dragged into the whole controversial divorce story. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. US President-elect Donald Trump is in hot waters again. This time he has somewhat dragged the entire nation with him. Whether it's his inexperience in foreign policy or someone may have influenced the new American leader into speaking with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-Wen does not really matter. What has been reiterated is the fact that the US and China continue to be at odds. The United States has officially disrupted diplomatic relations with Taipei since 1979. Over decades, the 'One-China policy' remains in effect until this recent week. No matter how informal or casual the conversation Trump had with the Taiwanese head, the impression it has manifested goes deep in the Mainland. Beijing has always believed that a province of around 23 million people will always be a part of China which is why it has been trumpeted time and again that the renegade location will be reunited with the Motherland by force or by diplomatic resolution in the future. Despite the blunder, a spokesperson for Washington's National Security Council has assured everyone that the upcoming administration remains aligned with Beijing. According to spokesman Ned Price, cross-strait policies remain the same. Even China's Foreign Ministry has downplayed the incident as Minister Wang Yi cited the move of the Tsai government as inconsequential. Still, China has protested the protocol miscue. Meanwhile, the Democrats have called Trump's action as something reckless that risks the nation's national security. There are speculations that the new President has been influenced by former Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Yates, who has been named by the Taiwanese media as one of Trump's pro-Republic of China (ROK) advisers. Yates has responded that there may be a need to re-assess US defense policies considering that a simple courtesy from a democratic ally has threaten the peace at the Asia-Pacific region. The incoming US President himself has put little weight on what he did. On Twitter, Trump points out that it is quite intriguing not to accept a congratulatory phone call from a country that the US is dealing with billions of dollars' worth of military merchandise. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Privacy Overview This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Seventy five years ago, Japanese warplanes known as the dreaded zero have mounted an aerial bombardment at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Later this month, a sitting Japanese Prime Minister will visit the former US naval stronghold to extend a reconciliatory approach between nations that fought against each other during the Second World War. Seven months after outgoing US leader Barack Obama became the first American President in office to visit Hiroshima, Japan's highest statesman Shinzo Abe will be returning the favor. On December 26 to 27, he will be joining Obama in visiting Hawaii. The Japanese Prime Minister will become the first top-ranking official from the Land of the Rising Sun to set foot on the historic Pearl Harbor. It can be recalled that the former naval base has suffered from a devastating assault that resulted in the deaths of more than 2,400 US military personnel and civilians. Washington has confirmed the recent development, stating that the visit of the two leaders will promote harmony which has been vital in transforming a couple of adversaries into allies whose common interests and values they both shared. Abe has stated that he and his American counterpart will comfort the souls of the victims. He adds that it his intention that the atrocities of war should never recur again. Last May, Obama has received praise from the Japan's Prime Minister for issuing a statement at Hiroshima's memorial that was dedicated to the 140,000 victims of an atomic bomb dropped by the Americans in August of 1945. Along the way, the US leader has dropped by at the city's peace museum. Although Obama met some survivors of the bombing assault, no apologies have been offered. Abe's plan to go to Pearl Harbor has been perceived following his wife Akie's at the place last August. The Prime Minister's decision has taken a significant step during the latest APEC Summit in Peru when he and Obama agreed to visit Pearl Harbor together. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The last U.S. Air Force MQ-1 Predator Remotely Piloted Aircraft training class celebrated its graduation with the 6th Attack Squadron at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, on Dec. 2, 2016. The RPA community is entering a time of transition, said Capt. Chris, an MQ-1 Flight instructor. The MQ-1 is being put to rest, making this the last student graduation for Americans. The 6th ATKS has provided initial qualification training for pilots and sensor operators learning to operate the MQ-1 since 2009. This marks a new step for training and the airframes here at Holloman, said Chris. The MQ-1 has been an amazing piece of equipment, ever since it was first used back in the nineties, its been an invaluable asset to our conflicts. The 6th ATKS is slated to start transitioning from MQ-1s to MQ-9 Reapers in early 2017. With the MQ-1 retiring and us transitioning to MQ-9s, you should see very little if any change at all in operations, said Chris. Now we are just moving on to its bigger, badder brother, the Reaper. When a fire broke out at Maffitt Lake Farms on the evening of Friday, Dec. 2, 29 horses were in the barn. It was every horse owner and caretakers nightmare. Fortunately, the farms owner, Melinda Antisdel, and a staff member, Chuy Mendez, were able to open the stall doors and chase the horses out before the entire structure collapsed. Only one horse perished in the fire. Members of the equestrian community in Cumming, Iowa, where the equestrian center is located, came out to round up the loose horses, most of which were quickly recovered. Get Our Free Weekly Enewsletter About Horses A horse named Ozzie, a fairly new boarder at the facility, went missing after fleeing the fire, but he was recovered safely on Sunday. Maffitt Lake Farms has a sister facility, Maffit Lake Equestrian Center, which is a horse show venue that hosts numerous hunter/jumper shows. The horses displaced by the barn fire will be able to stay in the stabling at the equestrian centers facility. The fire started around 5:30 on Friday and was first detected by a young rider who was schooling her pony in the farms indoor arena, according to chronofhorse.com. Des Moines news station KCCI reports that the barn and indoor arena are a total loss after the fire, which continued burning throughout the night into Saturday. The cause is unknown at this time. A GoFundMe page was created by rider Emily Pope to help replace the lost farm and equipment; the campaign quickly exceeded its $20,000 goal and has been closed. Queenie Productions, a company that organizes hunter/jumper shows, announced that they will be collecting equipmenthalters, blankets, etc.at their Lake St. Louis horse shows over the next two weeks to help Maffitt Lake replace the items they lost. Additionally, Saddlers Row, a tack shop near Chicago, has donated stable supplies and veterinary equipment. Read on for information on preventing barn fires. What to Do In Case of a Barn Fire 30 Tips to Prevent Barn Fires Leslie Potter is a writer and photographer in Lexington, Kentucky. www.lesliepotterphoto.com HVS recently held its 6th annual Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference and Operating Summit (CHICOS) at the Ritz-Carlton in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Hotel developers, investors, operators, lenders, brand representatives, and government leaders came armed with questions and information on the prospects for the region's hotel industry. Here are some key takeaways. While the Zika virus has affected the region's hotel performance in 2016, it appears that the worst is behind us. Media coverage and perceptions of the mosquito-borne Zika virus have negatively affected the Caribbean hotel market in 2016, causing reduced travel and cancelations, particularly with groups and wedding business. The Caribbean was the only resort destination (out of a sample of seven) to experience RevPAR decline year-to-date 2016 (through September); however, it remained the second highest in overall RevPAR, nearly $40 below Hawaii but surpassing Cancun, Mauritius, and Florida, among other markets. HVS Key Takeaways: CHICOS 2016 | By Kristin Rinaudo and Parris Jordan Photo by HVS HVS Managing Director and CHICOS Chairman Parris Jordan noted that the RevPAR decline so far this year follows six consecutive years of RevPAR growth in the Caribbean. According to Mr. Jordan, hotel demand was down -0.6% year-to-date through September, with RevPAR down -2.7%. Data, however, show month-over-month increases in demand since June and rising total revenues since July. Given this trend, Mr. Jordan noted that demand should turn out flat or register moderate gains by the end of the year. Furthermore, concerns over the virus are beginning to shift to markets in the U.S. The following chart shows RevPAR dynamics in the Caribbean since 2007. Caribbean Metrics: % Change 2007 YTD Sept. Photo by STR The development pipeline has become notably more active, with the most development activity now since prior to the recession of 2008/09. Following the Global Economic Crisis, the Caribbean experienced an astonishing four consecutive years of declining supply levels, from 2009 through 2012. Supply growth did not gain traction until 2014; however, now, more hotel development is underway across the Caribbean than at any time since the peak in 2007. More than 50 proposed projects, under construction or in the planning stages, span nearly 10,800 new rooms. The largest of these is the 2,000-room Celebration Jamaica, a proposed resort and casino development to be built in Montego Bay. Not surprisingly, some of the region's most populous island nations, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Cuba, dominate the 2016 development pipeline. The Dominican Republic is the current Caribbean leader in terms of RevPAR growth for 2016, further fueling its investment potential. The following chart shows the course of supply change in the Caribbean since 2007. Caribbean Metrics: % Change 2007 YTD Sept. Photo by STR Beyond a sheer rise in the volume of hotel developments, hotel designs in the region are becoming more contemporary, an evolution that follows consumer trends and demands. Luxury and non-luxury hotels alike are increasingly catering to the "experiential" traveler (i.e., those that want to connect with the local culture and truly "experience" all that a destination has to offer, be it adventure, food, music, history, architecture, or the environment). Creative financing is key for the Caribbean, though conventional financing availability is improving for "A" projects with solid borrower profiles in strong markets. The availability of financing has long been a challenge in the Caribbean. However, the strong development pipeline is an indicator that financing is becoming increasingly accessible, and several positive themes are taking place. Underwriting for hotel development has become more disciplined, and sources of institutional capital are recognizing the attractiveness of the Caribbean. As such, new equity and debt providers are participating in Caribbean hotel investment. Additionally, the marketability of portfolio deals in the region has broadened, attracting investors; development has shifted from conversions to new-build projects; and product design is evolving. HVS Key Takeaways: CHICOS 2016 | By Kristin Rinaudo and Parris Jordan Photo by HVS Panelists on the "Financiers Outlook" session noted varying degrees of confidence in the Caribbean over the last year. David Kosoy of Sterling Global Financial Limited and Adam Rosenberg of Fortress Investment Group agreed that, since the recession of 2008/09, Canadian banks have not had so strong an appetite for projects in the Caribbean. However, the region will continue to benefit from the increasing political sensitivities in countries such as the UK and the U.S., which have more recently created an influx of foreign capital. The Caribbean financing landscape and underwriting parameters are differentiated from the U.S. by some key investment criteria. Success comes over the long term. Investors in Caribbean hotel projects need to be in it for the long haul, noted several experts. Given the volatility associated with Caribbean hotel markets, long-term holding periodsaka "patient money"characterize the region's real estate investment climate. Lower loan-to-value (LTV) ratios are typical. A project needs a significant amount of equity to prove attractive for conventional financing, and LTV ratios typically range from 50 to 60% versus the typical U.S. range of 65 to 75%. Only the strongest Caribbean hotel projects can attain LTVs above 60%. In addition, debt coverage ratios (DCRs) should be a minimum of 1.4 to 1.5, which is higher than the typical 1.3 DCR in the U.S. Cap rates are difficult to underwrite. Instead of cap rates, lenders in the region are looking more toward factors such as historical performance and replacement cost versus value. Lenders and sponsors require higher returns than their U.S. counterparts. Analysts noted that interest rates for refinancing or new construction typically run at least 400 to 500 basis points over LIBOR (the one-year LIBOR rate as of November 2016 was 1.65); lenders echoed that returns to the debt side must be higher than the mid-single digits. Specialty lenders typically want 400 to 700 basis points above traditional lender requirements. Typically, in the Caribbean, sponsors require Internal Rates of Return (IRRs) in the mid-20s, at a minimum. High-level hospitality leaders view the U.S. Election result as mostly positive for business. With CHICOS occurring on the heels of the November 8th U.S. presidential election, the sensitive topic was discussed more during networking periods than collectively during sessions. Nevertheless, panelists offered some insights from the stage. Speakers at the "Hospitality Leaders Outlook" session expressed a range of positive to neutral feelings regarding the Trump victory. The consensus ran that a Trump administration will be good for cash flow, with fewer restrictions and less regulation-constraining business, and that financial bailouts and debt rescue will be less likely to occur going forward. HVS Key Takeaways: CHICOS 2016 | By Kristin Rinaudo and Parris Jordan Photo by HVS Clear development opportunity exists in Cuba; however, given that ownership structures must involve the Cuban government, many investors are hesitant and waiting to see how conditions progress in due time. Cuba was referenced throughout the conference, and a dedicated panel on the country concluded the event's sessions with an in-depth discussion of development and investment opportunities on the island. Arturo Garcia Rosa, President and Founder of South American Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference (SAHIC), put it simply: "If you want to do business in Cuba, it's easy. They are waiting for you." With knowledge on where and what type of hotels they want, the Cuban government is asking for hotel proposals; however, U.S. developers are hesitant because hotel development involves partnering with the Communist government, which retains ownership of the land. Only time will tell how ownership structures will work. For now, demand in Cuba continues to rise, and existing supply is very limited with virtually no luxury hotel product to speak of. Conclusions Market factors such as the return of demand following a Zika-induced glut, the increase in development projects, and the potential entryway to Cuban hotel development mark the Caribbean as a region rich in opportunities for hotel investors, developers, and brands. CHICOS delegates were cautious but optimistic about the region's prospects over the long-term, and interested stakeholders would do well to investigate where and how to make the most of their investments in the region. View source InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world's leading hotel companies, is proud to announce the opening of Holiday Inn London - Kensington, one of the largest Holiday Inn hotels in Europe. Featuring 708 bedrooms, the hotel is ideally located on the doorstep of the city's most popular landmarks with cultural attractions including Kensington Palace, Royal Albert Hall and South Kensington's host of museums all nearby. Holiday Inn London - Kensington is also positioned in one of the capital's prime shopping hotspots, with Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges within easy reach for people on the hunt for gifts in the lead-up to Christmas. Visitors from abroad can also access Heathrow airport via Paddington Railway Station, which is less than 15 minutes away. At the heart of the hotel is a central open space area providing a flexible environment where guests can eat, drink, work, relax, socialise and have fun. Guests can enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner in Boulevard Restaurant, which serves an array of delicious modern European cuisine, whilst The Lounge bar offers a selection drinks and light dishes. As always with Holiday Inn, Kids Stay & Eat Free*. The hotel also includes 13 meeting rooms accommodating up to 250 people, with the latest in audio visual equipment. Other features include an Imagine Health Club and Spa with an 18 metre swimming pool, steam room, relaxing Jacuzzi, sauna and gym. Free Wi-Fi enables guests to stay connected throughout their stay and LCD TV's with satellite in-house movies feature in every guestroom. Mike Greenup, Vice President Brand Management, for Holiday Inn, commented: "We are thrilled to be opening the doors to Holiday Inn London - Kensington right in the heart of London. With 708 rooms it's one of our biggest hotels in Europe and highlights the exciting momentum behind the brand's growth across the region. At Holiday Inn we believe the joy of travel is for everyone and look forward to Holiday Inn London - Kensington becoming the hotel of choice whether guests are on the trip of a lifetime, a family vacation or visiting London for business." Zeljko Stasevic, General Manager, Holiday Inn London Kensington, said: "Located just a stone's throw from Hyde Park and with the best of London right on the doorstep, we can't wait to welcome guests from across the globe who are visiting our vibrant capital. With wonderful rooms, state of the art conference facilities and Imagine Health Club and Spa, we have everything covered whatever the reason for a stay in this incredible city." Holiday Inn guests can take advantage of IHG's Lowest Price Promise a guarantee that guests will get the lowest rate when they book directly with IHG Rewards Club. Rates for a standard double room start from 99. *Offer valid for kids aged 12 and under. Maximum four per group. About IHG IHG Hotels & Resorts [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global hospitality company, with a purpose to provide True Hospitality for Good. With a family of 17 hotel brands and IHG Rewards, one of the world's largest hotel loyalty programmes, IHG has over 6,000 open hotels in more than 100 countries, and a further 1,800 in the development pipeline. InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group's holding company and is incorporated and registered in England and Wales. Approximately 350,000 people work across IHG's hotels and corporate offices globally. Visit us online for more about our hotels and reservations and IHG Rewards. For our latest news, visit our Newsroom and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Iman Denney-Brown +44 1985 512 267 IHG It looks like you've reached a page that doesnt exist (anymore). Please use the navigation or search above to find content on Hospitality Net. Go back to home 7 New Years Resolutions Travel Marketers Should Adopt The New Year isnt just about making goals for personal growth. Its about setting the groundwork to ensure that your business is set to reach new heights! Here are our top tips for making the most of 2017. 1. Start Now Our Europe Travel Trends Report found that Germans are some of Europes earliest travel planners, with an average lead time of 80 days. That means that some of your customers are looking for their spring, and even summer travel, now. Dont wait until April to engage with your customers, you may miss them! 2. Try Something New From Facebook and YouTube, to dynamic creatives and native formats, there are more ways to engage with in-market travelers than ever before. If your regular display advertising campaigns are driving good results, consider allocating some budget towards learning about new products and how best to make them work for you. 3. Embrace Mobile If your website isnt optimised for mobile, your customers are likely to leave your site as soon as they arrive. Though most bookings occur on a laptop, research on mobile is rising at impressive rates. If you want to get (and stay!) on the radar of in-market travelers, make sure that your website experience is tailored to their device. 4. Get Social Social media can be an incredible tool to showcase your brand, as well as engage and interact with potential and existing customers. And with 76% of travelers posting vacation photos to their social networks, its essentially free advertising. Need help getting your social media presence on track? Weve got loads of tips to help you on your way. 5. Get Your Attribution Sorted A last click attribution model no longer cuts the mustard. A more nuanced attribution modeling will help you pinpoint which marketing channels are most effective for your brand and campaign goals. Dedicate the time and resources to refining your attribution model in 2017 youll be able to spend your marketing budgets more effectively. 6. Let the Data be Your Guide Deeper insights will allow you to make smarter marketing decisions. For example, when we looked at the top five rising destinations in H1 2016, we found that bookings to these cities peaks on Tuesdays, shortly after searches do. This type of insight should influence how you engage with potential customers. 7. Stay Up on the Latest Trends Youre in luck! At Sojern, we deliver the latest and greatest industry news and insights, including our own proprietary research, to your inbox, so you dont have to search around for it. Click here to sign up to our mailing list. About Ashley Ashley is Sojern's Marketing Manager, EMEA & APAC and works in the London office. Originally from Canada, she's been living in London for over four years, and is actively trying to fill all the pages in her passport. She has never met a cheese she didn't like. In honor of the fourth anniversary of his album O.N.I.F.C., Wiz Khalifa has dropped three unheard songs via the Taylor Gang website. The three tracks are titled Young Millionaires, Speech. and You Party. They were reportedly intended for O.N.I.F.C. but didnt make the final cut. Wiz is the only rapper present on the songs; there are no features. Wiz teased the release of the tracks a few hours before the drop on Instagram. Check out those videos below. Wiz Khalifas fourth studio album O.N.I.F.C. was released on December 4th, 2012. Some of the notable tracks on that LP were the hit single Work Hard Play Hard, and Wizs collaboration with The Weeknd Remember You. Enjoy the Pittsburgh rappers surprise anniversary release below. Wiz Khalifa The award-winning drama Harry Potter and the Cursed Child makes its way to the New York stage. The producers of the play announced that it could air on Broadway as soon as spring 2018. Recently it has been revealed that Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender, the dramas producers, are in detailed talks to take the show to New Yorks Lyric Theatre. According to Pottermore the discussions are in the final stages. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child first aired this summer with an award-winning debut in Londons Palace Theatre and continues to sell out shows. Meanwhile, the Lyric Theatre will undergo a multi-million dollar redesign in which 400 seats of the 1,900-seat auditorium will be removed, so the theatre will be intimate enough for a drama, yet big enough for us to follow in the footsteps of the London production and continue to provide low priced tickets throughout the auditorium, according to Friedman. The Cirque du Soleil show Paramour, which is currently set up in the Lyrical Theatre, is now looking for a different venue so it can leave the New York theatre in April 2017. The building then closes down the following month for renovations in preparation for hosting Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in spring 2018. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was the fastest selling book in the UK this decade. The script for the play was written by Jack Thorne who created the story along with J.K. Rowling and John Tiffany. Advertisement The drama is set up nineteen years after the actions of Deathly Hallows and tells the story of the now middle-aged Harry Potter who is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic and has three school-aged kids. Albus Severus, one of three kids, tries to distance himself from his father and the unwanted family legacy. And as present and past fuse ominously together, father and son learn that sometimes darkness comes from unexpected places. Dates and ticket details have to be revealed yet. Some people love everything about Christmas. But for many, the planning, shopping, decorating and entertaining can be incredibly overwhelming, time-consuming - and expensive. If this sounds familiar, why not ditch the production and hightail it out of town? Sure, taking a vacation during the holiday season can be expensive. But, if you factor in the cost of all the gifts, decorations, food and parties, the cost of a Christmas getaway might not be as high as you think compared to celebrating the holiday at home. If you need more convincing, check out these six reasons why you should skip Christmas and travel to somewhere amazing instead. IT'S CHEAPER TO FLY THAN YOU THINK How much do you think your holiday airfare would be if you decided to skip Christmas? You might assume thousands of dollars, but a recent GOBankingRates.com study found that it actually might be a lot less - depending on where you travel. The most affordable Christmas airfares are to destinations such as Las Vegas, New Orleans, San Francisco, Chicago and Nashville, found the study. In some cases, flights were as low as $125. Considering the fact Americans are expected to spend $935.58 on holiday shopping this year, according to the National Retail Federation, the cost of a plane ticket pales in comparison. Plus, you can save even more money on airfare by booking your flight early, searching for last-minute deals online, using credit card rewards points and utilizing many other money-saving strategies. PRICES FOR HOTELS AREN'T SO BAD EITHER Travel site Orbitz.com's 2016 holiday survey found that around Christmastime, hotel costs in the top 10 destinations is $180 per night, on average. The least expensive destination is Las Vegas at $95 per night, and the most expensive is Cancun at $378 per night. David Bowd of The Asbury hotel in Asbury Park, N.J., said hotels are inexpensive around this time of year because they typically have more inventory, especially on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Plus, some even provide holiday perks for guests. "To draw in guests, hotels also implement holiday programming and offer up nice things - gifts, turndown amenities, etc.," he said. "They create a home away from home with all of the best comforts." And, you can save even more money on hotels if you use a travel booking website or app. For instance, HotelTonight can help you nab last-minute hotel deals, said MoneyCrashers.com contributor, David Bakke. "Or, you could go the route of using a resource such as Airbnb, where you'll typically find lodging options that are more affordable than traditional hotel rooms," he said. "Take some time, and give it some serious thought. It may actually be cheaper to head out instead of staying home this holiday season." YOU GET TO SKIP HOLIDAY SHOPPING AND GIFT-GIVING Instead of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on presents this Christmas, suggest to your closest family members or friends that you all ditch gift-giving and take a trip together. Imagine all of the time and money you'll save, the stress you'll avoid, and the memories you'll make. But if your group is adamant about giving at least a few presents this year during the trip, you can still save money by limiting the number of gifts you decide to buy. After all, transporting a pile of gifts while traveling is a hassle. Not to mention you'll likely face airline baggage fees for extra luggage. "You probably won't be spending as much on gifts if you travel, simply for the fact of not being able to transport them effectively," said Bakke. Also, you can make the trip itself the Christmas gift to your whole family. For example, instead of buying dozens of toys for all four of your children, a more meaningful gift could be a holiday vacation to their favorite amusement park - Disney World, anyone? - or a once-in-lifetime cruise to multiple countries. SAY GOODBYE TO HOLIDAY PARTY-PLANNING STRESS Planning a holiday party isn't cheap. Coming up with a menu, buying decorations, shopping for the perfect outfit - these fun gatherings can quickly become huge budget-breakers. Now, envision blowing off the Christmas party this year. Don't you feel calmer already? "As someone who lives in a different country from my family, I understand the purpose of the holidays even more," said Bowd. "It is to come together with the ones you love under one roof, and feel pampered and relaxed. Sometimes, however, the host is often more stressed than before because of the pressure to entertain and because of all the money that goes into hosting - whether that be the cost of holiday decorations or the cost of ingredients to cook a meal." Instead of dealing with the financial stress of planning a holiday party, treat yourself to a real vacation, and get some much-needed rest and relaxation instead. THOSE SMALLER HOUSEHOLD EXPENSES ADD UP When you're home, it costs you. Heating, electricity, water, groceries - these seemingly little things can add up, especially if you have a house full of family members showering, eating your food, using your laundry facilities, watching TV and plugging their devices into your outlets. But if you take a trip with your family, you might be able to save a bit of money on those household costs. Convince your family to fork over some cash to stay in a hotel in a different city this Christmas. So instead of wasting your electricity, they're using the hotel's services. Even better: Save money on food and drinks by having the whole family chip in for an all-inclusive vacation or a Christmas cruise. Depending on the cruise or vacation package, you can spend less than $100 a day during your vacation. Just remember: When you leave home, turn the thermostat down, put the lights on timers, and make sure you unplug everything. This is an easy way to save some pennies while you're away. JUST TRY IT - YOU'LL LIKE IT Breaking with tradition is hard to imagine. But, it doesn't hurt to try something new every now and then. Jon Levy, a behavior scientist and author of "The 2 AM Principle," encourages people to have what he calls "novel experiences." "Your brain responds to places, people and experiences that are outside the norm by enticing a desire to explore," he said. "If you want to have a memorable life, it means breaking the routine. Instead of going to the same holiday parties, head outside your comfort zone." For example, Levy said he went "glamping" at a zero-impact camp in the jungles of Panama last year. "Three days of activities and a killer party in Panama City - all for a few hundred dollars per person," he said. "Affordable adventures are out there. The key is in the willingness to say 'yes.'" So say "yes" to a skipping a traditional Christmas - you'll be glad you did. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Few people probably consider the cost of an artist's supplies when purchasing an oil painting, watercolor or mixed-media collage. Yet a specialty paintbrush can cost as much as $300. Ditto for professional-grade canvases, which can retail for $400 in the 60-inch size. When artists, whether budding or world-class, need supplies for their profession, many turn to Texas Art Supply in the Montrose. The store opened in the 1950s to serve the burgeoning arts movement there. "Rice University came along first, in the early 1900s," said Eepi Chaad, event coordinator for Texas Art Supply. "Then, you had the museum district build up around the school, and the Montrose area come along after that." Louis Adler, a dentist by training, bought the art store in the early '70s. "I've always had a deep passion for the visual arts," Adler said. "My uncle was a notable art dealer in New York City who represented Picasso and other prominent artists, so I grew up around art and was influenced by it. When there was an opportunity to purchase a small art supply store around 45 years ago, I jumped at the chance." His longevity in business - Adler has two other stores in addition to the flagship Montrose site - can be attributed at least in part to the ability of independent retailers to cater to local needs in a way that national players, such as Hobby Lobby and Michael's in this case, can't. That's according to Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, a national retail consulting and investment banking firm headquartered in New York City. On the web On the Web texasart.com See More Collapse "They can work with small, unique suppliers who offer merchandize you won't see anywhere else," Davidowitz said. "Large supplies won't work with people who can only supply a few of their stores, but small retailers aren't limited by that. They can stock a more creative inventory; they're only limited by their own imaginations." Texas Art Supply has fueled many imaginations over the past six decades. By 1985, Adler had expanded to the Piney Point area and also to Friendswood, though home base remained the 80,000-square-foot Montrose store and its adjoining warehouse, which stock some 60,000 art products. Seventy-five of the chain's 100 employees work there. The Texas Art Supply stores serve everyone from architecture students at the University of Houston and Rice University to world-class painters like Justin Garcia and special-effects pros like Rudy Campos. "They've got the biggest selection, the hard-to-find stuff," Campos said. "I have a lot of different projects going on, and I hop from one project to the next. If I'm ever stuck, they've got a whole team of artists there to help me." "In the beginning, it was mostly architects, engineers and graphic artists who used us, but all of that's gone digital," said Lisa Hedge, the store's general manager. "Now more of our customers are fine artists." "In 1970, Houston had barely 1 million people and it didn't have the diversity it enjoys today," Adler said. "Today, Houston has a vibrant art community that's supported by an eco-system of museums, galleries, schools, trade shows and unique events like the Art Car parade." Hedge said people sometimes assume Texas Art Supply will be pricey, given the store sits on two acres in the heart of Montrose. "Since our owner purchased the land in the 1970s, when real estate was still reasonable, that's really not the case," Hedge said. In addition to the brick-and-mortar stores, Texas Art Supply sells merchandise online. "We don't offer all of our products, though, because this is still a tactile business, where people want to touch the products," Hedge said. "But what you'll find with a lot of artists is that once they find a certain type of paint or canvas they like, they'll stick with it and then it's just a matter of reordering." In addition to selling supplies, the Montrose store offers monthly community workshops. "Ninety percent of our workshops are free to the public, and the rest have a minimal charge for supplies," Chaad said. "We do tons of workshops that are hands-on, for both grown-ups and kids." The store also works with area art teachers. "We do a lot of professional development classes," Hedge said. "Teachers come here and learn how to work hands-on projects into their curriculum." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate United Airlines concluded a busy year for labor negotiations on Monday when its mechanics ratified a new contract, meaning the Chicago-based carrier reached new agreements with each of its domestic unionized work groups in 2016. Monday's agreement passed with 51.58 percent of the voting International Brotherhood of Teamsters union members supporting it. The 9,000-plus mechanics and related employees, including more than 1,400 in Houston, had been working under contracts from before United's merger with Houston-based Continental Airlines in 2010. That meant former United and Continental employees could not work side by side. The pact includes substantial pay increases and a no-furlough policy, said Clacy Griswold, chief negotiator for the Teamsters on this contract. It also introduced attrition protection, meaning United can't contract out work due to a shortage of employees caused by attrition. This is the first time in the combined company's history that all work groups have labor contracts in place. During his visit to the Chronicle in October, CEO Oscar Munoz identified employees as his first priority when he took the helm in September 2015. He sought to settle labor contracts. "The productivity, the efficiency of an engaged workforce doing the right things together as opposed to separately, I think, makes a big difference," he said. Other contracts United reached a joint collective bargaining agreement with flight attendants in August. It also reached contract extensions this year covering the airline's pilots, dispatchers, ramp and passenger-service agents, contact center employees, storekeepers, load planners, maintenance and fleet technical instructors, and security officers. Griswold said Houston mechanics have extra job protection since they work at a maintenance base. They are also protected against being involuntarily transferred outside of Houston. The new contract also offers a defined-benefit pension plan, which is especially important to pre-merger United workers who had their plan taken away about 10 years ago. "This contract itself represents vast improvements across the board for all," he said. Customer service Bill Bux, a Houston-based employment lawyer with Locke Lord, said there's more likely to be friction and disruptions when organized workers don't have a contract. Munoz's efforts to solve labor discord allows the airline to turn its focus to other things, such as on-time arrivals and customer service. "Happy workers make good workers," he said. "I think it's a good thing for United." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The latest company cleared to proceed with a major liquefied natural gas export project is jointly based in Houston and Perth, Australia, and run by a longtime Chevron executive who came out of retirement to take the job this year. Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd., better known as LNG Ltd., last week received final U.S. regulatory approval to export LNG and begin building a plant south of Lake Charles, La. Despite facing a global LNG glut and not having enough contracts in place to secure construction financing, the company is bullish on the proposed $4.3 billion Magnolia LNG project. It hopes to break ground in a year or so and begin operations in 2021 or 2022, just as global LNG demand begins to pick up. "If you want it then, you really need to work with us now," CEO Greg Vesey said of potential buyers. "We're getting much richer discussions." LNG Ltd. was founded 14 years ago in Perth, but its focus shifted over time to North America, largely because of the cheap and ample natural gas supplies from the shale revolution. The company aims to build modular natural gas liquefaction facilities, called trains, smaller and more cheaply than its competitors. LNG Ltd. opened a Houston office and eventually made it a co-headquarters. Only six employees remain in Australia, though the company is still publicly traded in Sydney. About 20 people, including Vesey, are in Houston, and the company in November appointed a Houston-based chairman, Paul Cavicchi, a veteran of GDF Suez Energy, now called Engie. The problem, according to Vesey, is this: "No one realizes we're here." Analysts, however, see a world of other problems. Gautam Sudhakar, director of global LNG for IHS Markit, said too many LNG export projects are coming online in the U.S. and Australia, with global demand not growing as strongly as previously expected. "We're absolutely heading into a period of oversupply in the LNG market," Sudhakar said. "A glut isn't a good time to be reaching final investment decisions." Japan is seemingly shifting back to nuclear power, while China is struggling more economically and European demand is stagnant. Global demand may not pick back up until 2024, Sudhakar said, so few buyers will be eager to enter into industry standard 20-year contracts. Plus, a handful of LNG export projects along the Gulf Coast already are under construction in Louisiana, Freeport and Corpus Christi, and LNG Ltd. is competing with a so-called second wave of proposed projects in Texas and Louisiana. Early this year, Houston-based Cheniere Energy became the first U.S. LNG exporter, shipping liquefied natural gas from its Sabine Pass terminal near the Texas-Louisiana border. The project is several miles southwest of the proposed Magnolia LNG export project. Five other LNG export projects, including two in Texas, are under construction in the U.S. Houston-based Kinder Morgan's Elba Island project in Georgia commenced in early November. Of the second-wave projects, only LNG Ltd. thus far has full regulatory approval and is thus "shovel ready." Still, said Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James Financial, "Magnolia LNG is one of the too many North American players that are competing to grab a slice of what is likely to end up being a relatively modest-sized pie." "It is hard to assign odds to any given project, but there is no doubt in my mind that most of the pending projects will never get built," he said. Molchanov warned there are too many "LNG wannabe" projects proposed along the Gulf Coast and not enough demand for years to come. Vesey said he is banking on emerging markets such as Brazil and Chile in South America, as well as some African nations, India and others. Europe also will want to diversify so it doesn't rely too much on Russian gas, he said. Industry analyst Rob Norfleet of New York-based Alembic Global Advisors added that the Magnolia LNG project currently appears best positioned of all the Gulf Coast LNG projects that are yet to begin construction. Regulatory approval should give potential buyers more confidence, he said. The project has the land, technology, pipelines and contractors all in place, Norfleet said. Houston-based KBR is leading the engineering and construction. Magnolia also has additional financial backing from New York-based Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners private equity firm. The Magnolia LNG project would consist of four trains combining to export 8 million metric tons of LNG annually. Thus far, the company has contracts in place for just a quarter of that. The buyer is London-based startup Meridian LNG, which wants to ship the LNG to floating storage and regasification vessels in the United Kingdom's Morecambe Bay. Because Meridian is another startup, Vesey wants to get other contracts from more established companies before moving forward. The 35-year Chevron veteran, a former president of natural gas, retired in December 2015 and was looking to take on corporate board seats this year. Instead, Vesey, 58, had discussions with the LNG Ltd. board leadership that shifted to the CEO role. LNG Ltd.'s Australian co-founder and CEO, Maurice Brand, 70, retired earlier this year so the board could install Vesey. "It did catch folks off guard," Vesey said of the quick leadership shift. Brand was the visionary, while Vesey has operations experience and industry contacts. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Trust China's communist government to renege on international deals once it gets what it wants. The latest example is the government's crackdown on foreign companies moving capital out of the country. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the government's foreign-exchange regulator has lowered the amount of cash a company can transfer easily from $50 million down to $5 million. Beijing's new policy comes just two months after the International Monetary Fund made the yuan an international reserve currency. That's a special status given to currencies used by governments to store wealth and manage exchange rates. To achieve that elevated status, the Chinese government had to promise to make the yuan "freely usable," which means allowing companies and governments to trade it and move it freely around the globe as they see fit. "Top financial officers from one of the largest U.S. pharmaceutical makers paid a visit to the Chinese agency that decides how much of its hundreds of millions of dollars deposited in the country can be taken out," the Journal reported. "The State Administration of Foreign Exchange had a message for the drugmaker, according to a participant: prepare for `increased friction,'" the report continued. "The blunt talk marked a contrast with a year-earlier visit to the same regulators. 'Things changed 180 degrees,' said the participant." China's communist leaders have repeatedly promised major reforms or policy shifts to gain entrance into international agreements only to rollback those reforms as soon as they get what they want. The World Trade Organization accepted China as a member in 2001, after 15 years of negotiations, and China promised to abide by the same trade rules as other major economies. The United States hoped at the time that joining the WTO would force China to open up its economy and free its markets. After a brief period of reforms, though, China has moved backward toward a more centrally-controlled economy, according to U.S. Trade Representative reports. Foreign businesses have reported greater government harassment. "China has used its taxation system to discriminate against imports in certain sectors and continues to provide injurious subsidies to its domestic industries, some of which appear to be prohibited under WTO rules," the China Policy Institute reports. "China takes actions in the areas of standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures that result in WTO compliance concerns." Beyond trade and business, though, China is also violating its commitments under the international Law of the Sea by making ridiculous territorial claims in the middle of the China Sea. The construction of military bases on man-made islands violates 50 years of international norms and threatens the free movement of commerce. This disregard for its international commitments makes China a rogue nation. Typically, the world would suspend such a country's membership from these valuable institutions. China, though, is the world's second-largest economy and is not afraid to throw its weight around. Fear of financial punishment is one reason the world lets this bully get away with such bad behavior. If the world is unwilling to make China follow the rules, at the very least it should limit the country's participation in future agreements. Peppermint extract, stockings on the mantle, bustling shopping malls and, of course, the Christmas music repertoire of Johnny Mathis are all classic standards of every holiday season. For more than six decades, Mathis has serenaded every holiday party across the globe with his silky vocals on "Silver Bells," "White Christmas," "Silent Night," and so on. Although the 81-year-old Texas native has had a prosperous career as a multi-Grammy Award-nominated recording artist, he still makes time during the holiday season to perform his seasonal favorites. His music is known to make many reminisce of holiday memories over the years - not excluding Mathis himself. Born into a family of seven kids, Mathis said he was very close to his parents, who are now deceased, and the holiday tunes he sings in concert bring back many memories of them. "My parents were over the moon when I had some success with Christmas songs because that was the time of the year that meant so much to them. They were able to see their loved ones, and it was great to hear their son's voice on the radio while they visited," Mathis said. "They were very low-key about my success and what I had accomplished musically in my life. They weren't terribly excited about things because they were right there in the beginning; so to surprise them and please them was a great deal to me, and I remember how much they enjoyed hearing my songs at Christmastime." With more than 90 albums under his belt, Mathis has plenty of songs to choose from, which he said helps to ward off any boredom an artist can get from performing the same tunes over and over again for decades. He also has some tricks that help keep his enthusiasm every show. For instance, Mathis said he always mixes up his set lists so that he surprises even himself when he is on stage. He also said he and his guitarist for over 40 years, Gil Reigers, performs a random selection of songs during every concert to keep it different and refreshing. However, Mathis said he always recognizes there are songs that "equate to Johnny Mathis for people" - including "Chances Are" and "Twelfth of Never" - that he must sing in every concert, and he has understood the importance of that for his audiences since he was a young boy. "I have to remember that no matter how often I perform, there are certain songs that the audience truly wants to hear, and even though I've sung it 100,000 times, it may be their first time hearing them," said Mathis. He said this idea has always stuck with him since he was about 13 years old and his father took him to see one of his vocal heroes backstage. "I believe it was Nat King Cole that my dad took me to see, and we were sitting in the dressing room, and I blurted out to him, 'Why didn't you sing this?' Referring to whatever song I had wanted to hear, and he told me he was tired of singing it," Mathis laughed, "I will always remember that because there are songs that the audience wants to hear, so you have to get over your boredom with singing them and remember you're in show business." Currently in the midst of recording a new album that includes a few tracks that are being produced by Jay Landers & Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, the crooner clearly has no plans of retiring any time soon. "I was thinking about what would happen if I retire. It's not something I just do to make money; it's something that is very much a part of my whole being and my whole life. I love the whole aspect of music, especially the singing; I never get tired of finding new songs to sing and sing them in a way that's interesting for the public." But, still, there's something special about his Christmas tunes. "You can actually feel the physical attraction from the audience when you sing certain songs, and at Christmastime, they react to almost every one I sing," he said. "I get very excited about the performances because it's actually challenging. "There's so many songs that have a lot of the same meaning and are just sung in a different way, so I really have to concentrate when I sing during Christmastime, which keeps it fun and interesting." Many Americans today think of their colonial history as a purely British affair. But it was Spain that established the earliest European settlement in America in 1508, a century before the English arrived at Jamestown. Americans like to think of our nation as exceptional in nature, a dramatic break from all that came before it. Being exceptional, it's inconvenient to acknowledge that two European powers provided invaluable assistance in our struggle for independence from Britain. So we usually don't. The American origin story thus has scrappy colonists fighting the British alone, with little outside help except for France's Lafayette, and a cameo by General Rochambeau at the very end. But Americans could have never won the war without both France and Spain by their side. And if the French get short shrift in America's creation myth, the Spanish get no shrift at all; the names Gardoqui and Galvez almost never appear in our history, and the important Battle of Pensacola receives at best only a passing mention. The real story is that the American nation was born as the centerpiece of an international coalition, which together worked to defeat a common adversary. Many Americans today think of their colonial history as a purely British affair. But it was Spain that established the earliest European settlement in America in 1508, a century before the English arrived at Jamestown. By 1535, Spain had created the Viceroyalty of New Spain, which would encompass Florida, much of the American Southwest, and Mexico. France established its own American colonies in Canada and Louisiana at about the same time. Over the next two centuries, the global clashes between the three European imperial powers resulted in France and Spain losing a substantial part of their holdings. So in 1776, when the American colonists rebelled, Spain and France saw an opportunity to regain lost ground. Both nations had fared poorly against the ascendant British Empire (aided by its North American colonists) in the Seven Years' War two decades earlier. That conflict had cost France its Canadian territory, and cost Spain Florida (though the French conceded Louisiana to Spain as part of the peace settlement). Conspiring with Americans On the eve of American independence, the two Catholic monarchies were allied by the Bourbon Family CompactSpanish King Carlos III and French King Louis XVI were cousinsand together they secretly began rebuilding their navies to create a single, united fleet that could defeat the British and recapture lost domains. The Spanish governor of Louisiana, Luis de Unzaga, sent a steady stream of observers and spies from his capital at New Orleans to New York and Philadelphia to learn whether the British mismanagement of the colonists would lead to war. They soon found that the answer was "yes." Robin Jerstad/SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS-NEWS Even before fighting broke out at Lexington and Concord in 1775, Spain was providing arms and munitions to the American insurgents. The Bilbao merchant Diego de Gardoqui, who had a long relationship with cod brokers in Marblehead and Salem, smuggled shiploads of muskets, shoes, uniforms, blankets, and gunpowder to New England. From New Orleans, Unzaga sent 10,000 pounds of much-needed gunpowder to the colonial troops at Fort Pitt (today's Pittsburgh) to fend off British threats in the Western Theater. Madrid also sent today's equivalent of a half-billion dollars to France to fund another arms smuggling operation to the United States. Americans desperately needed this materiel aid, for they had begun the war stunningly incapable of fending for itself. They had no navy, little in the way of artillery, and a ragtag army and militia that were bereft of guns and even of gunpowder. The colonists knew that without the help of France and Spain, they could not hope to prevail against the superior British army and navy. When the Continental Congress assigned to him the task of writing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson understood he was inviting France and Spain to join America in the fight against Great Britain. The Americans knew that neither France nor Spain would take sides in a British civil war. Even John Adams admitted that "Foreign powers could not be expected to acknowledge us, till we had acknowledged ourselves ... as an independent nation." When the Declaration arrived in Europe in late 1776, France and Spain were still rebuilding their navies and could not yet go to war. It was not until after the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga in October 1777 that the French fleet was ready. When France signed its treaty of alliance with the Americans in February 1778, Spain was still not prepared for the ensuing fight. It had a treasure fleet from Peru at sea carrying the equivalent of $50 billion in silver, and until those ships were safely in port, they could not risk open war with Britain. While Spain waited for its treasure fleet to return, the King's chief minister, the Conde de Floridablanca, offered to mediate a peace between France and Britain, which would have kept Spain out of the war. His main condition was that Britain should return to Spain the strategic fortification of Gibraltar, but the British king refused, leading later historians to note, caustically, that Britain sacrificed America for Gibraltar (which it still controls). A "fundamental" twist With the Spanish treasure fleet home by the end of the year, in early 1779 Spain joined France in the fight. Their combined naviesthe Bourbon Armadaoutnumbered the British and challenged them everywhere in the world. The entry of Spain alongside France fundamentally changed the war from a regional clash to a global conflict. Although Spain never formally allied with the United States as France did, it made American independence a condition for Britain's surrender. The British navy and army were now spread ever thinner to face an escalating number of threats. The first action by the Bourbon Armada was an attempted invasion of Britain itself, which in the end was called off because a deadly dysentery epidemic decimated the crews. Still, it required the British admirals to beef up the Channel Fleet at the expense of more ships for America. Next, Spain laid siege to Gibraltar and threatened the British hold on the Mediterranean island of Minorca, further depleting Royal Navy resources. Back in New Orleans, the new governor of Louisiana, the young but battle-hardened Bernardo de Galvez, put his troops on a war footing to drive the British from Florida. With a multinational army that included several American soldiers, Galvez struck quickly, capturing Baton Rouge and Natchez in less than a month during the summer of 1779. The following spring, he captured Mobile in just three days. However, the prize he soughtthe capture of the British capital at Pensacolawas placed temporarily out of reach when a massive hurricane scattered the invasion fleet under Jose Solano. The damage, however, was quickly repaired and from February to May 1781, Galvez and Solano, at the head of almost 20,000 soldiers and sailors, besieged Pensacola. When a fortuitous shot from a Spanish howitzer detonated a British ammunition magazine, Galvez's forces quickly overran the British stronghold and forced its commander to surrender all of West Florida. The British surrender of West Florida in May 1781 came at the most opportune moment. At just that time, a major French expedition under the Comte de Grasse had arrived in the West Indies, where he received word from General Rochambeau in New York that he and George Washington urgently needed his support in a campaign against Lord Cornwallis around the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. De Grasse had no time to waste, but he could not leave the important French sugar colonies in the West Indies unguarded. Fortunately, with Britain out of West Florida, the Gulf of Mexico was now firmly under Spanish control. So, the Spanish navy spared a few ships to guard the French islands while the French sortied the entire fleet north to meet the British. When the British fleet arrived off the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay just days later, de Grasse's larger fleet was able to drive them off and prevent them from reinforcing or evacuating Cornwallis at Yorktown; had de Grasse left some ships back in the West Indies, he might not have been so successful. Within a month, French and American troops had besieged Yorktown and forced Cornwallis to surrender on October 19, 1781. When the peace treaties were finally signed in 1783, the British acknowledged American independence while ceding to Spain almost all of the territory it wanted Florida and Minorca in particular though Gibraltar continued to elude its grasp. And for the new American republic, having a friendly Spain on its southern border, instead of a potentially hostile Britain, meant that its hold on the region was now secure. Larrie D. Ferreiro is the author of Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It, from Alfred A. Knopf (coming in November 2016). *** Larrie D. Ferreiro is the author of Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It, from Alfred A. Knopf. This was written for Zocalo Public Square. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate An aggressive approach helped limit the damage in a Sunday house fire in the southeast Houston area. The Southeast Volunteer Fire Department responded to the fire just before 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4 in the 14000 block of Fruitwood near Scarsdale Boulevard. On arrival, they encountered heavy smoke from the residence and began an aggressive interior attack that saved further damage to the structure. Forest Bend Volunteer and Pearland firefighters were called to help. There were no reported injuries. The Harris County Fire Marshal's Office determined the fire was electrical. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate As development continues in The Woodlands, residents have expressed frustration over construction practices used near their homes that they say hurt their quality of life. Two separate issues concerning development irking residents were brought before The Woodlands Township Board of Directors last week. Edmund Chapman, a resident of East Shore, one of the most expensive neighborhoods in The Woodlands, spoke before the board asking for its help in resolving a number of complaints he has about the construction of Waterway Landing, a luxury townhome development being built along the Waterway. Chapman complained of workers speeding through the neighborhood, construction work starting before 6 a.m. and continuing until after 7 p.m., dirt and dust spreading from the work site onto neighborhood streets and homes and the nuisance of heavy vibrations and noise from the construction. "We all live here for a reason," Chapman said at the board meeting. "There are commercial planning and design standards." Chapman, who gathered several dozen signatures on a petition, reached out to the members of The Woodlands board in early November to voice his concerns and was connected with Tim Welbes, of The Woodlands Development Company. Welbes directed project managers to scold the contractor. "We admonished them about hours and speeding," Welbes said. "We'll correct it if we can, (but) we can't control every driver." Welbes added that some of the construction is related to Entergy working to bury power lines in the vicinity a project out of the Development Company's control. Complaints like Chapman's are not uncommon in The Woodlands, Welbes said. "Lot development has been a constant for 40 years (in The Woodlands)," Welbes said. From the clear-cutting in Creekside that stirred up controversy last year to the more recent dispute over a church's parking lot expansion, residents often feel the impact of growth. Welbes said the Development Company would try to restrict construction vehicles to using an alternate entrance that doesn't cut through the neighborhood and would lobby for the contractor to use a street vacuum to clean up dirt from the site. Chapman, however, hopes for more. He wants the contractors to commit to a shorter work day and to pay to power-wash all of the existing homes affected once the construction is complete. The 59 lots in the development are expected to be finished this month, after which construction of the townhomes will begin, according to Welbes. *** As East Shore residents' complaints have arisen, the dispute between residents and St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church over a thinned forest buffer to make way for expanded parking continues. In August, several residents whose homes back up to an easement at the edge of the church's property were angered when the church's expansion of its parking lot dramatically thinned the forest that had previously buffered their properties from the church. The Woodlands Development Standards Committee pledged to closely monitor the progression of the construction project and to look into replanting. The Woodlands board received an update from DSC president Deborah Sargeant at its board meeting that the Municipal Utility District that owns the easement between the residents' and church's properties has refused to allow trees to be planted on its property, saying that it would hinder drainage and access to the easement. She added that she intends to be sure trees are planted on the church's property once the construction is complete. The residents still are frustrated with how the situation has been handled. Will Burkholder, one of the residents who led the original protests against the church's actions in August, said the required 15-foot forest buffer has not been left and he believes Sargeant and the DSC are not doing enough to hold the church accountable to respecting their neighbors. Woodlands board chairman Gordy Bunch asked Sargeant to look into requiring the church to build a fence even higher than the planned 8 feet, which Bunch said would have little effect on preserving the residents' privacy. Sargeant agreed to bring the idea before the DSC. In the meantime, representatives of the church will meet with residents to discuss reforestation next week. Burkholder said that unless he sees an immediate effort to restore the 15-foot forest buffer, he intends to organize another protest. Federal agents are stepping squarely into the intersection of some of society's most cutting issues - sex, guns and marijuana - thanks to changes to a lowly government form. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is warning millions of Americans submitting to mandatory background checks for permission to buy guns that no matter how marijuana laws may have changed recently in their states, they will be denied permission to purchase firearms if they admit to smoking pot. Lying, the government notes pointedly in an expanded question about drug use, is a federal offense. "Warning: The use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside," according to a new notice attached to the ATF's six-page background check form, ATF 4473. The government also is asking prospective gun buyers to identify themselves not by gender but by sex - meaning the biology they were born with and not how they conduct themselves in society. The thorny issues have surfaced with recent revisions to ATF 4473, which must be completed by anyone seeking to buy a gun from a licensed firearms dealer. The amended form will be required after Jan. 16, officials said. The changes come as a reminder from the government that federal laws supersede state laws despite moves by more and more states to legalize marijuana, and as American society wades deeper into gender and sexuality issues. "We are trying to provide some clarification in light of states recently passing laws to allow for medical and recreational marijuana usage," said Senior Special Agent Nicole Strong, spokeswoman for the ATF's Houston division. "Regardless of the state saying it is OK, according to federal law there is no such thing as a lawful user of marijuana." The ATF is hoping the new warnings will clarify confusion among firearms dealers and people submitting background requests to buy guns, Strong said. Geoffrey Corn, a professor at South Texas College of Law Houston, said he is sympathetic to the ATF's efforts to keep guns out of the wrong hands. But the questions put pot users in an awkward position. "If you are a citizen, you are kind of compelling me, in order to exercise my Second Amendment right, to waive my Fifth Amendment right," Corn said. "There is a dilemma arising because the increasing pattern of legalization of marijuana is an indication that states don't think using marijuana is that bad a thing." Automatic denial More than 22 million of the old background forms have been submitted to the government so far this year, with more than 1 million of them submitted in Colorado and Washington, states that have been leaders in legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. Illegal drug use under federal law, however, can lead to automatic disqualification from buying a firearm. Buyers also can be disqualified if they have been the subject of a restraining order; are a fugitive from justice; were dishonorably discharged from the military; or were convicted of a crime that led to imprisonment for a year or more. Strong, of the ATF's Houston division, said that firearms dealer are required to halt sales if they have any information that indicates a person uses illegal drugs - even those with medical marijuana cards. According to the government, marijuana remains in the same category as heroin and LSD, although federal authorities have exercised more restraint in recent years from prosecuting people for marijuana possession. It is unclear if anyone has been prosecuted for lying on the form about marijuana, but government statistics show that 119,000 people have failed the background check over drugs since 1998. James Hillin, the owner of Full Armor Firearms in Houston, has been in the gun business for more than 20 years and overseen numerous background check submissions. "I'm the last line of defense," Hillin said recently. "It is my responsibility to make sure we are doing the right thing and I'm accountable for it. If I think something is shady on the deal, I tell them no." 'Another anachronism' Dean Becker, who focuses on the drug war with a nationally shared radio show based at Houston's KPFT, said the government is still bent on portraying marijuana as evil. "This is just another anachronism, another attempt to cling to the old wives' tales, to continue the effort to demonize and distrust cannabis users," said Becker, a firearms owner, a former military policeman and a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. "We all know that alcohol is the real demon drug." Marijuana use is not the only controversy raised by the new form. Applicants also are asked to share their sex - which deals with biology - instead of gender - which delves into behavior. Strong said the change was made to better account for biological characteristics and ensure people are correctly identified before background checks are run. Gwendolyn Patton, of Pink Pistols, a national organization that describes itself as "dedicated to the legal, safe, and responsible use of firearms for self-defense of the sexual-minority community," said she was "mildly annoyed" by the change but understood it. "I don't believe it's a statement on whether or not transgender identity is legitimate or not," Patton said. "Transgender issues are extremely complex and non-trivial. It's hard to give a simple yes/no answer to anything relating to gender dysphoria." The number of executions in Texas is on track to hit a 20-year low by the end of the year. Seven people have been put to death in Texas so far this year. One that was scheduled for this week, a Dallas father who murdered his two children, got a stay Friday. That is nearly half of the state's 13 executions last year and the lowest number since 1996, when there were three inmates put to death. The plunge falls in line with a national decline in both the number of defendants being sentenced to death and the number of executions being carried out. "There is clearly a political climate change under way in the United States on the death penalty," said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a group that tracks capital punishment. "It has many different causes - you can't attribute it to any single thing - but there are a combination of factors that have led to substantial change in America's view of the death penalty." The death penalty can be handed down in state murder cases in a host of special circumstances, including when the victim is a police officer, a child 10 years of age, or when there are multiple victims. A killer can also be sentenced to death for committing a murder during the commission of another crime, such as a robbery or kidnapping. Harris County - which ships more inmates to death row than any other county in Texas - has sent 116 inmates since the death penalty was reinstated by the courts in 1976. The last person convicted and sentenced to death in the county was Harlem Lewis in July 2014, who was convicted of murdering Bellaire police Cpl. Jimmie Norman. Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson has said her office pursues the death penalty for only "the worst of the worst." In Texas, the last person to be executed was Coy Wesbrook in March for a 1997 Channelview shooting rampage that left his ex-wife and four other people dead. During a night of drinking, Wesbrook found his wife having sex with two other men and grabbed his hunting rifle from his truck, according to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice summary. "I am sorry that I cannot bring everybody back; I wish it could be different," he said in his final statement at the Walls Unit in Huntsville. Rice University's Kinder Institute found last year in a survey that a number of people in Houston are rethinking their views on the death penalty. About 56 percent said they favored the death penalty for people convicted of murder, the lowest percentage in 19 years. Brian Stull, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's Capital Punishment Project, said across the country there is a growing reluctance to use the death penalty. He said prosecutors, judges and others are scrutinizing death penalty cases, particularly as problems persist with faulty scientific evidence and ineffective attorneys. Stull, whose organization opposes the death penalty in all instances, said the decline in Texas may also be attributed to a 2005 law approved by the Texas Legislature that offered life without parole as an alternative to death. "People feel much more comfortable with that alternative because if you make a mistake, you can fix it later," he said. "That is certainly lurking in the background." Since 1973, 156 people have been exonerated and freed from death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In 2015, Harris County prosecutors dismissed charges against Alfred Dewayne Brown, who had been sentenced to death for the 2003 killings of Houston police officer Charles Clark and store clerk Alfredia Jones during a robbery. The Court of Criminal Appeals threw out the conviction and sentence, saying the defense team was not given evidence that could have supported Brown's alibi. AUSTIN - As Texas state lawmakers prepare to convene in January, the Legislature's Republican members hope the incoming Donald Trump presidency will bolster efforts to curtail local governments' ability to refuse to enforce federal immigration policy, a goal that has eluded them in past sessions. As described by its author, state Sen. Charles Perry, a Republican from Lubbock, Senate Bill 4 would require law enforcement agencies in the state to "comply with, honor, and fulfill" detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The proposal also would specifically prohibit local entities, such as cities and counties, from adopting or enforcing policies that discourage police from inquiring about a person's immigration status during a lawful detention. "By electing a Republican president and Republican majorities in Congress, the American people made it clear that solving our illegal immigration crisis must be a priority," Perry said in a statement. "We cannot sit idly by and allow local policies to undercut efforts made at the federal and state level." The campaign for state-level "sanctuary cities" laws gained momentum after the 2015 shooting death of Kate Steinle, who was killed by a 45-year-old undocumented immigrant who had been deported to Mexico five times. "Banning sanctuary city policies will help prevent criminal aliens from being put back on our streets," Perry said. "I have no doubt that with the help of my colleagues in the Texas Legislature, we will pass this bill." For about a decade, the so-called "sanctuary cities" debate has roiled legislative sessions in Austin, often pitting tea party-aligned Republican newcomers against longer tenured Republican members. Last session, a similar bill, also sponsored by Perry, failed to win approval before lawmakers left Austin. While the term sanctuary cities has no specific legal definition, the bill's supporters have a new target in Travis County's incoming sheriff Sally Hernandez, who said before Election Day that she would not cooperate with ICE detainer requests for inmates in the county's custody. If Republicans successfully pass the bill this time, Gov. Greg Abbott has said he will sign it. "I strongly support this & expect to sign it into law," the first-term governor tweeted Nov. 16. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate, also supports the measure, saying after Perry filed the bill that these cities are "creating a magnet for illegal immigration." Astrid Dominguez, an ACLU of Texas policy strategist, said her group will continue to fight Senate Bill 4, as it did similar bills in past sessions, but she noted an uncertainty hanging over the upcoming session. "In Texas, even before the election, we were already heading here. That doesn't change anything for Texans," she said. "Now, the concern people have, on top of the state law, is that there might be another layer from the federal government." Republican control of the White House and Congress will test how state and federal lawmakers, who for years have championed "sanctuary cities" legislation, will try to coordinate their efforts. That has tended not to be a concern for civil rights groups under an Obama presidency. "We are going to see a lot more bills that will require local collaboration with the feds, which really impacts the relationship with the community," Dominguez said. Trump has pledged that, in his first 100 days, he would gut federal funding for cities that refuse to work with federal immigration agents. The president-elect's chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said last week the new administration would be "looking into" such a policy. "It's a matter of who is going to go further on cracking down on immigration," said Efren Olivares, an attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project. "It's the purview of the federal government, so I hope the state government lets them do that." According to activists, Democrats, who oppose such a measure, could try to persuade enough Republican legislators to wait and see what the federal government will do in this regard before Texas passes any law. Still, they acknowledge, Democrats' minority status in both chambers of the legislature leave them with little institutional power to stop Senate Bill 4. "If some version of the bill is going to pass, what I hope passes is something that respects human rights and civil rights," Olivares said. "If not, we don't discount a challenge in court." A teacher in North Texas is accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with her teen student, which allegedly began on Snapchat and ended with her arrest, resignation and her wedding being called off, according to local media reports. Alaina Danielle Ferguson was a 23-year-old, recently hired algebra teacher at Plano Senior High School when the relationship with a 16-year-old student started after the teen reportedly scribbled his Snapchat username on a test he turned in and nude photos were subsequently exchanged, according to an arrest warrant obtained by CBS DFW. RELATED: Ex-South Texas math teacher pleads guilty to sex with junior high student She was also engaged, but called the wedding off following the relationship that allegedly involved sex with the teen on a park bench, in her fiance's McKinney apartment and in the back of the student's pickup truck after a football game. The last time the two had sex was in early November, Fox 4 News reported. Some of the encounters during the two-month relationship also involved games of beer pong and Ferguson buying alcohol for the student, according to CBS DFW. Students at the high school told both news stations that many of the victim's peers were aware of the relationship, because he "reportedly bragged about it," causing rumors to spread around campus. RELATED: Texas superintendent: Math teacher's alleged sexual abuse is school's 'worst type of nightmare' Ferguson told the teen "she knew it was not the right thing to do, but it felt right at the time. And that she was going to break it off with her fiance because she didn't feel anything with him," according to the arrest warrant obtained by Fox 4 News. According to an online wedding registry, Ferguson was set to be married on Jan. 7, 2017. The Plano Independent School District told mySA.com Ferguson "was employed briefly in Plano ISD, from August 2016, resigning in October 2016." RELATED: Police: Married Texas junior high teacher impregnated 15-year-old student during long relationship Since the alleged incidences happened in the McKinney apartment of Ferguson's fiance, she was arrested by that jurisdiction and posted a $100,000 bond. As part of her release, Ferguson was given a court order to wear an electronic monitoring device, deactivate all social media sites and is not allowed to use the internet, according to Fox 4 News. mmendoza@mysa.com Twitter: @MaddySkye This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate CANNON BALL, N.D. - The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe won a major victory Sunday in its battle to block an oil pipeline being built near its reservation when the Department of the Army announced that it would not allow the pipeline to be drilled under a dammed section of the Missouri River. The Army said it would look for alternative routes for the $3.7 billion Dakota Access pipeline. Construction of the route a half-mile from the Standing Rock Sioux reservation has become a global flash point for environmental and indigenous activism, drawing thousands of people to a sprawling prairie camp of tents, teepees and yurts. "The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing," Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Army's assistant secretary for civil works, said in a statement. The move could presage a lengthy environmental review that has the potential to block the pipeline's construction for months or years. But it was unclear how durable the government's decision would be. Sunday's announcement came in the dwindling days of the Obama administration, which revealed in November that the Army Corps of Engineers was considering an alternative route. The Corps of Engineers is part of the Department of the Army. President-elect Donald Trump, however, has taken a different view of the project and said as recently as last week that he supported finishing the 1,170-mile pipeline, which crosses four states and is almost complete. Trump owns stock in the company building the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, but has said that his support has nothing to do with his investment. Representatives for Trump's transition team did not immediately respond to requests for comment. There was no immediate response from Energy Transfer Partners, but its chief executive, Kelcy Warren, has said that the company was unwilling to reroute the pipeline, which is intended to transport as many as 550,000 barrels of oil a day from the oil fields of western North Dakota to a terminal in Illinois. Difficult year for CEO Warren has repeatedly accused the Obama administration of hypocrisy, claiming the government isn't following its own rules and regulations. The company last month filed suit asking a federal court to allow the project to proceed. Warren argues the company has done nothing wrong and received all the proper approval on the project that's about 85 percent complete. He says he expects better conditions for the project under the upcoming Trump administration. This has proven a difficult year for Warren and Energy Transfer, even apart from the Dakota Access controversy. The company this year also saw its $33 billion takeover of Oklahoma-based Williams Cos. fall apart amid the downturn in oil and gas prices. And Texas protesters also have opposed two West Texas pipelines - the Trans-Pecos and Comanche Trail projects - that Energy Transfer is building to take natural gas from the Permian Basin to Mexico. Both of those projects are moving forward and are expected to be completed in 2017. Meanwhile, some environmentalists are insisting Warren resign or be removed from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, to which he was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott. In an interview last month with the Houston Chronicle, Warren said he had no intention of stepping down. "Absolutely not," he said. "Our pipelines are extremely safe. All the bias - this has been so disappointing." Reaction to the decision on the pipeline was swift on both sides, with environmental groups like Greenpeace praising the decision. "The water protectors have done it," said Lilian Molina, a Greenpeace spokeswoman. "This is a monumental victory in the fight to protect indigenous rights and sovereignty." But Craig Stevens, a spokesman for the MAIN Coalition, a pro-infrastructure group, condemned the move as "a purely political decision that flies in the face of common sense and the rule of law." "Unfortunately, it's not surprising that the president would, again, use executive fiat in an attempt to enhance his legacy among the extreme left," Stevens said in a statement. "With President-elect Trump set to take office in 47 days, we are hopeful that this is not the final word on the Dakota Access Pipeline." 'It's wonderful' Still, the announcement set off whoops of joy inside the Oceti Sakowin camp. Tribal members paraded through the camp on horseback, jubilantly beating drums and gathering around a fire at the center of the camp. Tribal elders celebrated what they said was the validation of months of prayer and protest. "It's wonderful," Dave Archambault II, Standing Rock tribal chairman, told cheering supporters who stood in the melting snow on a mild North Dakota afternoon. "You all did that. Your presence has brought the attention of the world." The decision, he said, meant that people no longer had to stay at the camp during North Dakota's bitter winter. The Corps of Engineers, which manages the land, had ordered it to be closed, but the thousands of protesters had built yurts, teepees and bunkhouses and vowed to hunker down. "It's time now that we move forward," Archambault said. "We don't have to stand and endure this hard winter. We can spend the winter with our families." Law enforcement officials and non-Native ranchers in this conservative, heavily white part of North Dakota would like little more than to see the thousands of protesters return home. The sheriff has called the demonstrations an unlawful protest, and officials have characterized the demonstrators as rioters who have intimidated ranchers and threatened and attacked law enforcement - charges that protest leaders deny. But on Sunday, several campers said they were not going anywhere. They said there were too many uncertainties surrounding the Army's decision, and they had dedicated too much time and emotion to this fight to leave now. Federal and state regulators had issued the pipeline the necessary permits to proceed, but the Corps of Engineers had not yet granted it a final easement to drill under a stretch of the Missouri River called Lake Oahe. Jubilant supporters The Standing Rock Sioux had objected to the pipeline's path so close to the source of their drinking water, and said any spill could poison water supplies for them and other reservations and cities downstream. They also said the pipeline's route through what are now privately owned ranches bordering the river crossed through sacred ancestral lands. News of the government's denial came as the size of the camp had swelled with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Native and non-Native veterans who had arrived to support the tribe. As word spread, people who have camped out in Cannon Ball for months, sometimes in freezing temperatures, and who have clashed violently with local law enforcement, linked arms and cheered and cried. "Mni wiconi!" they screamed, the rallying cry of the movement. It means "water is life." Chronicle staff writer Jordan Blum contributed to this report. HIV/AIDS Regarding "Efforts to fight AIDS get backing but no funding" (Page A4, Thursday), since 1 in 8 Americans who are infected with HIV, do not even know they are HIV positive, the city of Houston must begin a serious funding program to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS. Uninformed contagious patients unintentionally spread the disease to others. As bad as HIV/AIDS is in Houston, it is even worse worldwide, where 36.7 million people are living with HIV, and only 43 percent are aware of it. It is now known that when HIV patients are aggressively treated with antiretrovirals, the infectious nature of the disease can be lowered to such a degree that they are no longer contagious, as long as they faithfully continue their treatment. Because it is so contagious, it is essential that we uncompromisingly treat and use all means possible to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, not just in Houston, but in the world at large by our country's support of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Since its inception in 2002, the Global Fund has saved 20 million lives, treated 3.6 million HIV positive pregnant women so they were able to give birth to healthy babies free of HIV infection. The United States has been a major contributor to the Global Fund since its beginning. Two month ago President Obama made a pledge to the Global Fund of $4.3 billion to be spread over three years. For the good of all Houstonians, and the whole world, our new Congress and President- elect Trump must honor this pledge and appropriate the necessary funds. David Schubert, Houston Church and state Regarding "Local cleric in top post" (Page A1, Nov. 16), in discussing social stances of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo "expressed puzzlement over Catholic support of Trump ... ." I was not surprised. I had heard a sermon by a deacon saying there was only one party for which to vote at 5 p.m. mass on Oct. 8. If that sermon was typical of others in the Houston area, in the state and in the nation, it could have swayed impressionable Catholic voters to the Republican side. The Catholic bishops stated in 2004 that Catholics should vote with informed consciences. In voting for Hillary Clinton, I did that. The statement that there was only one party for which to vote threatens, and rightly so, the church's tax-exempt status and involved the church in political functions that Christ avoided in His time on earth. The FBI should consider if sermons nationally in October violated the line between church and state. Mary P. Trenkle, Tomball Broken promises Regarding "Pipeline protests" (Page AS18, Friday), in your editorial about the Dakota Access pipeline you failed to mention there already is a written agreement. The Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868, forever promised Native American land that stretched from North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska. The treaty was never really honored. In a few years the immigrant settlers had decimated the buffalo and invaded Indian land when gold was found in the Black Hills. Their land and resources were devoured. Running a pipeline through these people's promised land is just another disgraceful example of betrayal. Why would they trust any agreement written or not? Robert Lange, Houston Donald Trump won the Electoral College (though not the popular vote) on the strength of overwhelming support from working-class whites, who feel left behind by a changing economy and society. And they're about to get their reward - the same reward that, throughout Trump's career, has come to everyone who trusted his good intentions. Think Trump University. Yes, the white working class is about to be betrayed. The evidence of that coming betrayal is obvious in the choice of an array of pro-corporate, anti-labor figures for key positions. In particular, the most important story of the week - seriously, people, stop focusing on Trump Twitter - was the selection of Tom Price, an ardent opponent of Obamacare and advocate of Medicare privatization, as secretary of health and human services. This choice probably means that the Affordable Care Act is doomed - and Trump's most enthusiastic supporters will be among the biggest losers. The first thing you need to understand here is that Republican talk of "repeal and replace" has always been a fraud. The GOP has spent six years claiming that it will come up with a replacement for Obamacare any day now; the reason it hasn't delivered is that it can't. Obamacare looks the way it does because it has to: You can't cover Americans with pre-existing conditions without requiring healthy people to sign up, and you can't do that without subsidies to make insurance affordable. Any replacement will either look a lot like Obamacare, or take insurance away from millions who desperately need it. What the choice of Price suggests is that the Trump administration is, in fact, ready to see millions lose insurance. And many of those losers will be Trump supporters. You can see why by looking at Census data from 2013 to 2015, which show the impact of the full implementation of Obamacare. Over that period, the number of uninsured Americans dropped by 13 million; whites without a college degree, who voted Trump by around two to one, accounted for about 8 million of that decline. So we're probably looking at more than 5 million Trump supporters, many of whom have chronic health problems and recently got health insurance for the first time, who just voted to make their lives nastier, more brutish, and shorter. Why did they do it? They may not have realized that their coverage was at stake - over the course of the campaign, the news media barely covered policy at all. Or they may have believed Trump's assurances that he would replace Obamacare with something great. Either way, they're about to receive a rude awakening, which will get even worse once Republicans push ahead with their plans to end Medicare as we know it, which seem to be on even though the president-elect had promised specifically that he would do no such thing. And just in case you're wondering, no, Trump can't bring back the manufacturing jobs that have been lost over the past few decades. Those jobs were lost mainly to technological change, not imports, and they aren't coming back. There will be nothing to offset the harm workers suffer when Republicans rip up the safety net. Will there be a political backlash, a surge of buyer's remorse? Maybe. Certainly Democrats will be well advised to hammer Trump's betrayal of the working class nonstop. But we do need to consider the tactics that he will use to obscure the scope of his betrayal. One tactic, which we've already seen with this week's ostentatious announcement of a deal to keep some Carrier jobs in America, will be to distract the nation with bright, shiny, trivial objects. True, this tactic will work only if news coverage is both gullible and innumerate. No, Trump didn't "stand up" to Carrier - he seems to have offered it a bribe. And we're talking about a thousand jobs in a huge economy; at the rate of one Carrier-size deal a week, it would take Trump 30 years to save as many jobs as President Barack Obama did with the auto bailout; it would take him a century to make up for the overall loss of manufacturing jobs just since 2000. But judging from the coverage of the deal so far, assuming that the news media will be gullible and innumerate seems like a good bet. And if and when the reality that workers are losing ground starts to sink in, I worry that the Trumpists will do what authoritarian governments often do to change the subject away from poor performance: go find an enemy. Remember what I said about Trump Twitter. Even as he took a big step toward taking health insurance away from millions, Trump started ranting about taking citizenship away from flag-burners. This was not a coincidence. The point is to keep your eye on what's important. Millions of Americans have just been sucker-punched. They just don't know it yet. Krugman is a New York Times columnist. Every year Texas women must endure a stampede of Trojan Horse laws and regulations assaulting their constitutional right to an abortion. More are on the way. A "Trojan Horse," you will remember, is a trap posing as a gift. In this case, it is a regulation that purports to be about protecting the public's health. But it's really about disguising yet another indignity for women seeking an abortion. Trojan Horse laws have made reproductive health care less accessible for Texas women. They have required doctors to give women medically inaccurate information. They even mandate the insertion of an intrusive ultrasound wand into a woman seeking an abortion. The newest ghoulish assault on Texas women is Gov. Greg Abbott's "fetal remains" regulation, set to go into effect Dec. 19. His political appointees announced it shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court chastised the state for an "end run" around a woman's right to decide whether and when to have children. The regulation requires fetal tissue from abortion or miscarriages to be buried or cremated. This unnecessary requirement can cost thousands of dollars in each case. But some legislators want to enshrine the regulation into state law and impose even more unnecessary restrictions on women seeking an abortion. It is chilling to witness politicians overriding science and medicine to impose their own beliefs on women. They claim their purpose is protecting the public's health and safety by preventing the spread of disease. But by that logic, we should have to hold a burial or cremation for our amputated feet or for each of our extracted teeth. Officials have had to scramble to assure women that they won't have to somehow find and turn over the tissue if they miscarry at home. No, the state suggests, this is only a public health issue if the pregnancy ends at a health care facility. There also are no provisions for donating the tissue for life-saving medical research. And as the vast majority of abortions occur during the first 13 weeks, who will come up with a line of caskets in sizes from three inches to microscopic? Many of us got our first look inside this Trojan Horse when Gov. Abbott sent out a cynical fundraising appeal about it, boasting that he was protecting the "rights of the unborn." He failed to mention the public's health in that appeal. The real reason politicians are pushing this seems to be the belief that a soul enters the body at conception, therefore making the fertilized human egg the moral equivalent to a fully gestated human being. As a pastor I respect and support the religious freedom that allows anyone to oppose abortion. But where is religious freedom for those of us who do not pretend to know whether or when the soul enters the body? Where is the religious freedom for the millions of us who believe that women's bodies are not community property simply because they get pregnant? Where is the religious freedom for those of us who respect the moral agency of women? When Texas politicians worry more about fetal burial than programs that benefit children who have actually gestated, something is terribly wrong. They have simply and cynically turned reproductive health care into a gauntlet of abuse for women. It is time to end this stampede of Trojan Horse laws and regulations. They are only dishonest attempts to deprive women of the right to choose the reproductive health care they want. Rigby is pastor at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin and serves on the advisory committee for Just Texas: Faith Voices for Reproductive Justice (justtx.org). The following are excerpts from just some of the reports recently generated by the Houston Police Department: John R. Stiles Jr., 46, of 210 Cedar St., Apt. 2, in Licking, was issued a citation for driving while license revoked on June 13. Sara E. Michael, 48, of 303 Skyview Terrace in Houston, was issued citations for driving while intoxicated and failure to drive on the right half of the roadway after a traffic stop on Spruce Street at about 11:15 p.m. June 13. An officer made the stop after observing a white Lincoln Towne car traveling in the wrong lane on Airport Road and then on Spruce Street. After making contact with the driver, Michael, the officer noticed signs of impairment and field sobriety tests were conducted. She was taken to the Texas County Jail. Jordan S. Clinton, 30, of 216 Bryan St. in Houston, was issued citations for driving while suspended and no insurance on June 17. An officer who knew Clintons license was suspended wrote the tickets after observing him driving a red Dodge pickup on Highway 17 at about 11 p.m. The officer advised Clinton to contact a valid driver to pick him up. HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT BLOTTER An officer was dispatched at about 5:40 p.m. June 7 regarding a report of a burglary at a Mill Street residence. A 20-year-old woman who lives there told the officer she had been gone for about a week and found the front door to her residence open when she returned. She said she and her roommate were both missing some clothing. David G. Dodson, 38, of 5551 Hawkeye Road at Houston, was arrested June 18 for having an active Texas County warrant for stealing. An officer who knew of the warrant made the arrest after observing Dodson at about 9:30 p.m. at Caseys General Store on U.S. 63. He was taken to the Texas County Jail, where he was unable to post $500 bond. Virginia M. King, 46, and Jared L. King, 43, both of 502 S. First St. in Houston, were each issued citations for fourth-degree domestic assault after an incident at their residence just before noon on June 2. Virginia King was also cited for driving while suspended on June 1. Noah T. Wilkins, 19, of Greenfield, was cited for careless and imprudent driving after an officer observed a blue Dodge pickup doing donuts in the Walmart parking lot at about 9:45 p.m. May 30. Justin P. Christopher, 26, of 18165 Corman Drive at Licking, was issued citations for operating a motorcycle when not qualified and failure to register a motor vehicle on May 25. An officer wrote the tickets after observing a blue Honda motorcycle with no operational taillight traveling on Oak Hill Drive at about 10:50 p.m. and initiating a traffic stop. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. Group scheduling can be a hectic process that can even eat up your entire day. It is also a task that cannot be mastered overnight and anything that can make it easier and more effective is certainly welcome. Below are some group scheduling tips that will assist you with your employee management burden and eliminate your scheduling headaches: 1. Move your Group Scheduling to the Cloud Moving your group scheduling to the cloud means abandoning manual scheduling processes and other outdated scheduling strategies in favor of cloud-based employee scheduling software. With such software, your group or team members will be able to view the schedule from anywhere, be it from the office or from the comfort of their homes. 2. Bring your Group/Team Members Together Bringing your team members together, which is something you will be able to accomplish with a cloud-based group scheduling solution, will break down all communication barriers, especially when you happen to have remote workers. By moving to a cloud-based system, you will be giving your employees a central hub where they can keep in touch and share ideas. Communication is, after all, the key to a strong team. 3. Embrace Flexibility Technology has definitely brought a lot of convenience and flexibility along, so why not take advantage of this flexibility to improve your group scheduling skills? If your line of business can accommodate it, why not join the ever-increasing number of companies tha... of the largest beverage bottlers in the Asia-Pacific region has officially announced its new HR head today, naming Auckland-based Graham Robertson as the man for the job.Robertson will be the first person to take the title of general manger of people and technology at Coca Cola Amatil after the firm decided to combine the two internal functions for the first time.It is with great pleasure that I announce the new GM of HR along and a new name for two very important departments that will come together under one umbrella, said managing director Chris Litchfield.Litchfield praised Robertson as multi-talented and said he has already been managing both roles for some time, stepping in when the former GM of HR departed the company earlier this yearOne of the positive things about being a great leader and a great executive is that you need a very diverse set of skills that can be applied across all functions, said Litchfield. [Robertson] has more than shown these skills over the last seven months.Litchfield also addressed the companys decision to combine HR with technology, admitting its a move not made by everyone.This decision might be a little bit different, but we like being a bit different at Coca-Cola Amatil and the coming together of two high performing teams not only fits with our values but also our journey.Robertson said he is looking forward to the new challenges of the role and is particularly excited at being able to cross-pollinate ideas between both teams.This is a very exciting time and I feel privileged to lead teams who have already delivered outstanding results, he said. I have worked in technology for some time and know what these talented people bring to the business and combining them with another talented group of people can only strengthen our capabilities. The body of a Pennsylvania man missing for more than two years may have been in his grandmothers attic almost the whole time. Mummified remains, believed to be of DyQuain Rogers, 21, were found by his grandmother last week in the attic of the home they shared in Erie, Penn., according to the Erie Times-News. Advertisement Zanobia Richmond called police Wednesday after she heard a thump in the attic and found the body, according to the newspaper. Coroner Lyell Cook said he would rely on dental records or DNA to determine if it is Rogers. Cook told the New York Post that he died by suicide, and that theres nothing to suggest otherwise. He said he rarely sees cases that involve mummified remains. The lack of airflow and the fact that the attic wasnt vented those conditions were optimal for dehydration and mummification. Officials didnt release the mans cause of death, but sources told the Post it appears he hanged himself. Advertisement The clothing he was wearing was different from when his grandmother said she last last saw him on Nov. 1, leading police to believe that he came back to the home at some point later, according to the Erie Times-News. Police believe he was in the attic for most of the time he was missing. His family was shocked by the discovery. "I just kept pretending like he just left Erie, so I just kept focusing on that, that he left here, that's what I kept saying," mother Carol Rogers told Erie News Now. His aunt, Erica Jeffries-Jordan, told the Erie Times-News that her nephew, who had dreams of either joining the navy or becoming an emergency medical technician, didn't seem suicidal. Rogers posted on Facebook a day before his grandmother last saw him, saying he had been having the "worst luck lately." Not everyone can afford Christmas gifts for a variety of reasons. Whether they're homeless, escaping a bad situation at home, a new immigrant or refugee, in-between jobs or trying to raise a family solo, it can be hard for many people to buy gifts for themselves and their loved ones. According to the Salvation Army, more than three million Canadians live in poverty, and many of these people can barely afford basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter. Advertisement "We live in one of the richest and most developed countries in the world, but yet more than 1 in 8 households are struggling to put food on the table," John McAlister, of the Salvation Army, told HuffPost Canada. "For many Canadians, the challenge is finding enough money to pay rent and buy groceries, which means that Christmas gifts of toys or new clothing is a luxury they can't afford." "The homeless can't afford gifts because they are completely overwhelmed with the day-to-day actions of survival," Jennie Keeran, co-founder of Homeless Partners, a not-for-profit that helps homeless people across North America, told HuffPost Canada. "When you don't have a place to sleep and are so discouraged due to your mental and physical illnesses, that you don't have the time or energy to consider luxuries like gifts. "The refugees can't afford gifts because they have nothing," she continued. "Arriving in a new city where you can't speak the language, depending on strangers for all your basic needs, struggling with the culture shock and lack of work, is sometimes overwhelming." Advertisement This Christmas, why not give a gift to a person in need? Even if they don't celebrate the holiday, there are many things they would still appreciate, whether it be a gift card, basic supplies such as feminine hygiene products and baby food, luxury items such as magazines, makeup and DVDs and even your time as a volunteer. "Every dollar donated can make a difference, so people should give as their hearts and budgets allow," McAlister says. "While a one-time gift is always welcomed, people can also choose to be monthly donors." Check out organizations in your community that are in need of donations, whether it be a homeless shelter, a woman's shelter, a food bank or a group that's collecting items for the homeless or newly arrived immigrants and refugees who left everything behind in their home country. If you'd rather not donate financially, consider becoming a volunteer. There are always places in need of your help. For ideas on what kind of gifts to donate, check out the gallery below. Liberals have succeeded at sparking conversation on electoral reform with a new online survey, but its likely not the kind of chatter they were anticipating. The governments just-launched website, MyDemocracy.ca, was criticized by opposition parties in the House of Commons Monday and mocked online. Advertisement The site asks Canadians to answer more than 30 questions on the values and preferences they want reflected in their voting system, such as if they agree or disagree that a ballot should be easy to understand, even if it means voters have fewer options to express their preferences. But both New Democrats and Conservatives who served on the all-party electoral reform committee suggested the Vox Pop Labs survey cant be taken seriously because it doesnt ask about specific voting systems or whether Canadians feel a referendum is needed before things can change. The first rule of engagement the Liberals should learn is not to treat Canadians like theyre stupid, Nathan Cullen, NDP critic for democratic reform, said in question period. Advertisement Cullen noted that Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef blasted the committees report last week because it wasnt specific enough for her. The report called for a proportional system and a referendum to gauge the interest of Canadians. Yet today we see a pop-psych survey from this minister and theres no mention of electoral systems whatsoever, Cullen said. The veteran MP wondered why Monsef wont ask the obvious questions, if she truly wants clear answers. "The first rule of engagement the Liberals should learn is not to treat Canadians like theyre stupid" NDP MP Nathan Cullen Monsef responded that research has shown that a values-based approach is the best way to have an inclusive discussion about electoral reform. Should there be more diversity in this House? Should there be smaller parties representing a diverse range of voices or should we have larger parties representing a broad set of perspectives? Should voting be mandatory and online? These are the questions were asking, she said. Tory critic Scott Reid said the survey doesnt feel values-based, at all. It feels like being on a dating website designed by Fidel Castro. No matter how hard you try to be against the prime ministers preferred electoral system, the survey tells you that you really do support it, Reid said. Its like magic. "It feels like being on a dating website designed by Fidel Castro." Tory MP Scott Reid Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has in the past expressed a personal preference for a ranked ballot system of voting. Tories and New Democrats have accused Liberals of only wanting electoral reform to usher in Trudeaus favourite system. Reid noted that the questionnaire does not ask Canadians if they want a referendum. I wonder why that might be. Would it be because the Liberals dont want to know the answer to that particular question? he asked. Advertisement But the digs from Cullen and Reid paled in comparison to what was happening on Twitter Monday afternoon with the hashtag: #RejectedERQs. Users suggested absurd or simplistic questions Liberals could have asked instead, in order to set the stage for bringing in ranked ballots or abandoning their campaign pledge to move beyond the first-past-the-post system in time for the next election. Here are some of the more popular tweets: "Do you think the seat count in the HoC should reflect the nationwide popular vote, even if it unleashes deadly plague?" #rejectedERQs Chris Selley (@cselley) December 5, 2016 "On a scale of 1 to North Korea, how do you feel about scrapping democracy all together?" #rejectedERQs Ashley (@effyes) December 5, 2016 Would you prefer the Liberals just admit they lied or dick you around with a nonsensical survey and pretend they care ? #rejectedERQs Carter Apps (@_capps) December 5, 2016 Advertisement Do prefer ballots you can read and understand or those written in 6th century Aramaic? #rejectedERQs Riccardo Filippone (@Riccardo_____) December 5, 2016 How many strawmen will it take for you to forget we didn't ask if votes should equal seats? #rejectedERQs Angella MacEwen (@AMacEwen) December 5, 2016 "Do you prefer questions with a low degree of vagueness, or those that aren't unclear?" #rejectedERQs Josh Elliott (@joshelliott14) December 5, 2016 Would you prefer a slightly more complex ballot that meant a more representative government, even though it's covered in bees? #rejectedERQs SteveJMoran (@SteveJMoran) December 5, 2016 Do you think a majority government should follow through on its flagship promise OR pretend it never happened. #rejectedERQs YOWtopia (@yowtopia) December 5, 2016 Advertisement Should political parties be represented by emojis because voters are dumb? Liberals = Conservatives = NDP = Green = #rejectedERQs Brandon Tozzo (@BrandonTozzo) December 5, 2016 Would you like LITERALLY HITLER to govern for all eternity, or would you like things to stay more or less as they are? #rejectedERQs Andrew Coyne (@acoyne) December 5, 2016 Also on HuffPost A Conservative leadership hopeful is obliquely criticizing one of his rivals for not standing up to a crowd chanting for Alberta Premier Rachel Notley to be jailed. Michael Chong released a statement responding to what occurred at an Edmonton rally on Saturday, organized by the right-wing Rebel Media, against the Notley governments plans for a carbon tax. Advertisement Fellow Tory leadership candidate Chris Alexander spoke at the event, which took place outside the Alberta legislature. He did not intervene when some began shouting lock her up a refrain popularized by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump. Chongs statement did not mention Alexander by name, but he bemoaned that the chant was not denounced by rally organizers and stage participants. 3,000 Albertans out on an icy day to tell @RachelNotley she does not have social license to bring in a carbon tax. #cdnpoli#ablegpic.twitter.com/R2PUkYuNKj Ezra Levant (@ezralevant) December 3, 2016 Advertisement The veteran Ontario MP said in the release that while free speech is a fundamental right, it must still be used responsibly. He said the crowd was urging undemocratic action more worthy of a dictatorship than Canadas political tradition. As leaders, we should stand up against language and behaviour that undermines the rule of law and legitimacy of our political system and its office holders, whether that language comes from the left or the right of the political spectrum, Chong said. However, the release did not mention the rally was specifically organized against the provincial carbon tax that will come into effect Jan. 1. Chong said activists were protesting job-killing regulations and the swelling tax burden in Alberta. "As leaders, we should stand up against language and behaviour that undermines the rule of law and legitimacy of our political system and its office holders." Chong has set himself apart from other leadership candidates with his proposal for a national carbon tax, coupled with a cut in federal income taxes. Advertisement But Chong isnt the only Tory leadership candidate who was put off by what happened at the rally. Calgary MP Deepak Obhrai released a statement Monday blasting the chant and the reported distribution of an anti-immigrant flyer at the event. 'Trump-style politics' Were witnessing Trump-style politics invading Canada, Obhrai said in the release. It is the responsibility of event organizers that they distance themselves from hate-mongering and insults. Otherwise we all lose. Alexander later told The Canadian Press he didnt agree with the chant, but stressed that politicians need to listen to people who are hurting. I don't think it's fair. I don't think it's the right thing to say at a rally or elsewhere, and that's why I didn't join it,'' Alexander said, adding that he tried to shift the conversation to voting out Notley. Though a Rebel video from the event shows him smiling as the crown chants, Alexander told CBC News he was actually uncomfortable. Advertisement I was smiling because I was trying to think of a way to change the chant, he said. Alexander did not lead any chant to "lock her up". Never once uttered those words, it was someone else, you smear merchant @TheKirkHeuserpic.twitter.com/6q0jGPXfDk Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) December 4, 2016 Also on HuffPost Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wiped away tears after listening to a Syrian refugee recall their original meeting at Torontos Pearson International Airport last year. The prime minister sat down with Syrian refugees and sponsors over plates of pickled vegetables and cake in Torontos The Depanneur for a discussion on CBCs Metro Morning on Friday. Advertisement When we landed in Pearson Airport and the very first person we shook hands was the prime minister, Vanig Garabedien said. He shared the words a Canadian official uttered to him before he and his family stepped on the plane. Sir, go and make Canada a better place. Watch their exchange here: Trudeau was moved. Watching you and your girls walk through this airport towards me, was a moment in which I understood just the kinds of things that we can do as a country, he said. Despite his three daughters smooth transition into their new Canadian reality, Garabedian said its been difficult for him to transfer his medical experience as a gynecologist. Advertisement Trudeau acknowledged theres a need to shorten the time of transition, but emphasized that theres a system in place so refugees with international credentials reach the standard Canadians expect. Concerns have been raised by community groups across the country over the upcoming milestone for privately-sponsored Syrian refugees families who were the first to arrive last year. Private sponsors who take on Syrian refugees must be able to provide financial support for 12 months. Some refugees have fared worse than others. Cases have been reported of absentee sponsors or private citizens who turned out to be ill-prepared to care for newcomers for a year. Advertisement According to the latest Immigration and Citizenship statistics, at least 35,745 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada since November 2015. The Liberal government has pledged to settle up to 50,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year. With files from The Canadian Press Also on HuffPost Christinne Muschi / Reuters Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne speaks to the media during a news conference during the Council of the Federation summit in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, August 28, 2014. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi (CANADA - Tags: POLITICS) The Ontario government's cap and trade scheme is already a failure, and it hasn't even started yet. On Wednesday November 30, the auditor general released her annual report, in which she slammed the Ontario government's cap and trade tax, which is set to take effect January 1. The auditor general zeroed in on a series of major flaws with cap and trade -- Premier Kathleen Wynne's showpiece legislation. She highlighted the policy's inability to achieve emission reduction targets, that cap and trade would send billions out of the province, and that there is a total lack of transparency. Advertisement The first piece of criticism is significant: the plan won't achieve anything for Ontario. The auditor general found that cap and trade will result in only a small fraction of the Ontario government's emission reduction target being achieved within our borders. What's unforgiveable is that cap and trade will achieve nothing - at enormous cost. Premier Wynne has a goal of reducing 2020 emissions by 15 per cent from 1990 levels. An ambitious goal. Perhaps too ambitious, since the auditor general found that with cap and trade, less than 20 per cent of the reductions needed to meet that target will actually be achieved in Ontario. Yet, Wynne is claiming political credit for emission reductions in California and Quebec, and counting those reductions towards her goal, because she linked the province to a "carbon market." Even if Ontario were to achieve the entire emission reduction within our borders, it would do almost nothing in the grand scheme of things, since Canada makes up only about 1.65 per cent of global emissions, and Ontario represents only a tiny fraction of that. But with only a small portion of the reduction taking place within the province, Ontario won't even get the marginal benefit of improved air quality. That benefit will be felt in California and Quebec. Advertisement If the emission reduction is the goal of the legislation, and that goal won't be achieved, it's curious that the government would nevertheless continue down this path. But what's unforgiveable is that cap and trade will achieve nothing -- at enormous cost. The auditor general's second major criticism of cap and trade is that "small reductions in emissions in Ontario [are] expected to come at significant cost to Ontario businesses and households." Based on the auditor general's analysis, Ontario businesses are expected to send $466 million to California and Quebec under cap and trade by 2020. And by 2030, businesses will have sent about $2.2 billion. That's all money leaving the Ontario economy to achieve almost nothing. And sadly, it's just the beginning. That's just the money being sent out of Ontario. The total cost is projected to be $8 billion over the first four years. Advertisement That's not money conjured out of thin air -- it's money from businesses that are already squeezed by out-of-control hydro rates, and money out of your pockets every time you pay your natural gas bill, fill your car up or buy products that were manufactured or transported in Ontario. It's money we can't afford to waste on a policy that does nothing. Essentially, the government is treating the $8 billion in new revenue as a piggy bank for their pre-existing projects. The auditor general's third concern is the lack of transparency around cap and trade. As if it wasn't bad enough that the government will be taking credit for emission reductions outside of Ontario, the auditor general is also worried that more emission reductions will be reported than achieved, because there are no rules preventing emission reductions from being reported by multiple jurisdictions. The plan also commits $1 billion to previously approved government spending, even though the government stated that the revenue would be exclusively used for green initiatives. Essentially, the government is treating the $8 billion in new revenue as a piggy bank for their pre-existing projects, like the construction of new infrastructure. And of course, the government is hiding the cost of cap and trade on natural gas bills by failing to include the cost of the cap and trade tax as a separate line item on bills. When consumers' bills suddenly jump in 2017, the government doesn't want to be identified as the culprit. Advertisement All of these criticisms are quite revealing about why the government chose to pursue cap and trade. It's an opaque system that allows the government to squeeze billions in new revenue for existing projects, and they can take political credit for the real work, which is done outside the province. The ones hurt most are taxpayers. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: Hero Images via Getty Images Cheerful teenage girl with volunteers building wooden frame in background By Evelyne Guindon Among the greatest rewards of being the CEO at Cuso International, is the opportunity to meet with many of the great global citizens as they prepare for their assignments after having made a choice to share their skills with others. Very soon, they will be part of a global movement as Cuso International volunteers. They are getting ready to support partners, to improve the lives of the people they work with and to contribute to achieving the Global Goals. It's part of our commitment to the world. The Global Goals are our collective plan of action for the next 15 years, the way that we will come together for people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. Advertisement There have been countless debates on how to fund the work needed to fulfill the vision and reach all the targets of the Global Goals. The goals, at times, seem daunting. While Official Development Assistance (ODA), domestic investment and foundation support will play a role, money is not the only resource available to the global community. In fact, the SDG agenda recognizes that volunteerism is a valuable resource for implementation. In November, 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the Resolution on "Integrating volunteering into peace and development: the plan of action for the next decade and beyond". Volunteers are essential for achieving the Global Goals. Volunteering gives global citizens a tangible way to contribute to education, health, governance, sustainable livelihoods, security and peace, environment, gender equality and social inclusion. It provides opportunities for everyone to play an active and meaningful part in the international effort to reduce poverty and inequality. It is especially exciting that today, many of our international volunteers are working with partners to strengthen national volunteer programs. In Colombia, Cuso International is working with the UAE Organizaciones Solidarias through the Ministry of Labour to strengthen the volunteer sector, by supporting the National Volunteering System. Advertisement We are also learning that volunteering is proving to be playing a key role in bringing about transformative change in other countries such as Myanmar. A recent study on urban volunteering in Myanmar found that volunteers are highly valued and respected among the general population. The research found volunteers engaged across all ages, genders and ethnicities, with young people having particularly high participation rates. Many people are driven by a strong sense of altruism and religious faith to give back to their communities and do so across a variety of sectors, including health and education. International Volunteer Day, December 5, gives us an opportunity to celebrate all that volunteers do in the world. We're fortunate that the Government of Canada, through Global Affairs Canada, recognizes the importance of volunteers to achieving the Global Goals. Last year, through Canada's volunteer cooperation agencies, volunteers contributed more than $15.8 million worth of in-kind support to organizations around the world. And this contribution is multiplied over and over again by volunteers around the world: those travelling near and far to make their contribution and have impact. Thanks to volunteers, the Global Goals don't seem all that difficult to achieve. Evelyne Guindon is the CEO of Cuso International The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of CCIC or its members. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: Kryssia Campos via Getty Images Costa Rica, Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge. The winter blues sets in shortly after the cheer of the holidays has passed. But you can beat those feelings of hatred for shoveling snow, icy windshields and slippery roads by escaping to the exotic beaches of Central America. These five Costa Rican beaches, complete with lanky palm trees, jungle backdrops, sugary sands, and laid-back tropical vibes, are guaranteed to make you forget what sub-zero temperatures feel like. Playa Grande Advertisement Photo credit: Angelique Just a short walk north of Tamarindo is the sleepy surf town of Playa Grande, home to a handful of hotels, restaurants, and a wave that attracts surfers from around the globe. A more low-key contrast to tourist-heavy Tamarindo, Playa Grande is just the right distance away from the town's popular night spots and tour companies. You don't have to be an avid surfer to enjoy the warm ocean breezes, fine sands and welcoming waters of Playa Grande. Playa Santa Teresa Travelers seeking a laid-back beach destination, loaded with affordable accommodation options (or high-end boutique hotels if desired), fresh local eats, laid-back surfer vibes and saltwater that permeates every aspect of life in and out of the water, will find paradise at Playa Santa Teresa. This pint-sized town in the Puntarenas Province at the western edge of the Nicoya Peninsula provides a low-key, eco-friendly atmosphere that encourages you to take a surf lesson, practice yoga overlooking the sea, and indulge in the area's fresh fruits and local seafood. Playa Manuel Antonio Photo credit: Martin Garrido You'll walk through jungles lush in tropical plants, rare birds, sloths and monkeys enroute to some of Costa Rica's most picture-perfect beaches at and around Manuel Antonio National Park. Free and public Manuel Antonio area beaches are easy to access and are ideal for escaping the crowds and noise that beaches with nearby town centers are often plagued by. The tour companies, shops, and restaurants are spread out along a winding main road, giving the area a distinctly less crowded feel, even during the high season. Advertisement Dominical Dominical seems to grow every year, but the beachfront town never loses its charm. The moment you step on the beach's warm black sands, you'll want to snap photos of cliffs that appear to cascade into the deep blue Pacific Ocean. Popular among nature enthusiasts (especially bird watchers), surfers and beach bums, Dominical encourages you to trek to the Nauyaca Waterfalls, take a surf lesson at nearby Playa Dominicalito, horseback ride along the coast, snorkel, deep sea fish and take advantage of the area's natural wonders. Pavones Photo credit: Arturo Sotillo Simon Watson via Getty Images Burning sage bundle purifies In September 2015, Port Alberni mom Candice Servatius was shocked to learn that her two elementary-aged children had participated in an aboriginal smudging ceremony. The school explained in a letter to parents that "everything has a spirit and energy" and "bad energy" must be "cleansed" from the furniture, classroom and children by fanning smoke from sage over "the body and spirit" of each child. Agree or disagree with these beliefs as you wish, but there is no denying that these aboriginal teachings are as religious as any that might be found in the Bible or Qu'ran. Advertisement John Howitt Elementary School in Port Alberni eventually apologized to Servatius for failing to notify her of this religious ritual ahead of time. But the school district insists it will continue with these religious ceremonies in the classroom. Several months after the September "smudging," the school held an assembly at which an aboriginal prayer was said. Students can benefit from learning about aboriginal religious beliefs without being told to participate in religious rituals and ceremonies. The district claims that these are "cultural practices." This is true, but misses the point. There is a world of difference between teaching children about Islam and requiring children to kneel on prayer rugs in the direction of Mecca and pray to Allah. In similar fashion, students can benefit from learning about aboriginal religious beliefs without being told to participate in religious rituals and ceremonies. In spite of the cultural benefits that might flow from having children say the Lord's Prayer in schools, courts have interpreted the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as including a right to be "free from" religion. That means not telling children or adults to participate in any religious prayer, ritual, ceremony or practice. Advertisement The fact that a religious ritual like smudging might also be "cultural" is irrelevant, according to the Supreme Court of Canada. In Mouvement laique quebecois v. City of Saguenay, the court ruled that "the state must neither encourage nor discourage any form of religious conviction whatsoever. If the state adheres to a form of religious expression under the guise of cultural or historical reality or heritage, it breaches its duty of neutrality." In Saguenay, an atheist adult won the right to be spared the indignity of being present while city councillors said a non-denominational prayer that was opened and concluded with the words "in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." He was not required to participate in the prayer, unlike Servatius' children essentially were -- one of whom was told by her teacher that it would be "rude" to refuse the "cleansing" of her spirit by sage smoke. The Saguenay ruling rejected a compromise policy to have the atheist leave the council chambers during the prayer because this exacerbates discrimination: "If he chose to exclude himself from the prayer either by refusing to participate in it or by leaving the chamber, he would be forced to reveal that he is a non-believer. ... Such interference constitutes an infringement of the complainant's freedom of conscience and religion." In similar fashion, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that the recitation of Christian prayer and the reading of scriptures from the Christian Bible impose Christian observances upon non-Christian pupils and religious observances on nonbelievers. Further, "the right to be excused from class, or to be exempted from participating, does not overcome the infringement of the Charter freedom of conscience and religion by the mandated religious exercises." On the contrary, an exemption penalizes pupils who use it by stigmatizing them as non-conformists and setting them apart from their fellow students. The court ruled that it is an "insensitive approach" to claim that the religious exercises may be "good" because this "fails to take into account the feelings of young children." Advertisement Given the sad history of residential schools in this country, the present case contains a disturbing echo of state compulsion on unwilling children. The school district argues that children benefit from learning about aboriginal cultures, including aboriginal religions. Yes, and one can teach kids about aboriginal religious beliefs without hosting religious rituals and ceremonies in the classroom. Calgary lawyer John Carpay is president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which represents Candice Servatius in her court action against School District 70. This column was originally printed in The Province. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: Halfpoint via Getty Images Man holding Christmas presents laid on a wooden table background When we think about holiday spending, often our thoughts turn to how much we will be spending on gifts for the kids, close friends and family. We might even have a budget and spending limits set for each person. This is a good start, but we often forget the costs associated with other aspects of the holidays, specifically the holiday party. Whether it's a work-related function or a personal party, most of us feel the pressure to attend and to look good. In fact, a holiday survey done by President's Choice Financial indicates that social media has ramped up the pressure in terms of attendance and the attire we wear. Advertisement According to the survey, one-fifth of Canadians aged 18 to 34 would rather go into debt than to miss a holiday party, 66 per cent of this same demographic likes to spend money on new clothes for parties. So how can we get our holiday budget to stay in line for both gift giving and parties? 1)Start with a holiday spending budget. Know your limits and keep track of your spending, including holiday outfits, hostess gifts and transportation to and from parties. Seventy-seven per cent of Canadians surveyed feel that the holidays are more expensive than they expected; keep your expectations realistic. 2)Consolidate your spending. Fifty-three per cent of Canadians surveyed say that spending money in different places during the holidays makes it difficult to know how much they spend overall. Try and use the same credit card for all your purchases to help you keep track; making a list before you head out is also helpful. 3)Make sure you're buying the right gift for the right person, so you're not spending money on something that won't be entirely appreciated or utilized. Forty-three per cent of Canadians surveyed believe crowd sourcing for gift ideas is a good idea. Try it out. Advertisement 4)Manage your children's expectations. Today more than ever, thanks to social media, kids are very aware of what their friends are receiving as gifts. Have the conversation with them early in terms of what might be on their list and what Santa might bring to help avoid Christmas morning meltdowns. Resist the urge to go into debt for that one special gift, or make a conscious effort to cut spending somewhere else. 5)Fifty-one per cent of Canadians surveyed say they will dip into their savings over the holidays. Before your bank balance starts to decline, check your reward points balances from your credit card or favourite stores; when you redeem them for gifts, clothes and other holiday related items, that's real money you're saving. Above all, it's important to remember that the holidays are a time to get together with family, with or without the fanciest outfit or the most expensive gift. Take some time to appreciate each other by going for a family hike, relaxing over hot chocolate or scrolling through holiday party pictures together. Chris Helgren / Reuters Crude oil tanks at Kinder Morgan's terminal are seen in Sherwood Park, near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada November 13, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Helgren This is how we build pipelines. On Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016, our nation's cabinet and the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau approved Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Expansion Project and the Enbridge Line 3 refurbishment. Following broad consultation with Canadians and Indigenous peoples, a clear message emerged -- that energy and the environment are both sides of the same coin. We have put a price on carbon, we have thousands of good jobs for Albertans and Canadians while putting billions into the Canadian economy. By pulling together the needs of the environment and the need for economic growth for the middle class, we will expand our markets and build this nation. Advertisement After pounding the pavement in the election, earning the trust of Calgary Centre and taking the movement to Ottawa, we pounded the table for a better way forward. After a decade of inaction, we are finally seeing progress. Calgarians and Albertans alike have been waiting for this announcement for a long time. After a decade of inaction, we are finally seeing progress on this file thanks to the leadership of our prime minister and my cabinet colleagues. We are moving forward on Canada's energy future and we will continue to engage with local communities and indigenous groups so that we ensure that economic benefits are enjoyed by all Canadians, and environmental protections strong and enforced. To change the carbon conversation we are investing in a carbon pricing strategy. Preston Manning, Suncor and Shell Canada have all voiced their support for this approach. Eighty per cent of Canadians already live in a province where there is effective pricing on carbon pollution, but more action is needed and we are taking those steps. Pricing carbon is a good idea, and one that has clear, broad support from coast to coast. To demonstrate our commitment to environmental protection, we are putting $1.5 billion into an Oceans Protection Plan and instituting a moratorium on tanker traffic in Northern B.C. -- not only to safeguard our coasts, but also to preserve their beauty, promote local ocean-related industries, and the health of Canadians. Advertisement This is in addition to trade corridors funding, re-establishing the many coastal protection plans, reinvesting in the scientific capacity of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and demonstrating our commitment to climate action and the innovation economy through direct investments like the $75 million to the University of Calgary for research in to sustainable low-carbon resources. Our focus is on taking real, concrete and lasting action to reduce our emissions, grow our economy and create good, middle-class jobs. Finally, our mandate from the 2015 election was to reform the National Energy Board and we are doing so with gusto. Our regulatory systems must be governed by experts, reflect regional views, bring in the environmental sciences, involve community development experts, and integrate traditional Indigenous knowledge. Please stay tuned for more information in the coming months and years on our work on this file. While our path is clear, our job is not yet done. Thank you for allowing me to be the representative for Calgary Centre. I am honoured to work every day for the betterment of our country alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and in ensuring that we move to a prosperous, innovative future. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: Advertisement Siri Stafford via Getty Images Newspaper on front step of house WARNING: This piece contains graphic language and references to sexual assault that some readers may find difficult, and choose not to read. November 25 was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and fittingly, it was on this day that the UN began a 16-day campaign to eliminate gender-based violence. The campaign ends on December 10, Human Rights Day. Advertisement Donald Trump's recent presidential campaign was the most hate-filled, bigoted and racist of my lifetime. It stood in stark contrast to the 2008 and 2012 campaigns during which President Barack Obama campaigned on hope, inclusion and opportunity for those who have been marginalized for far too long. Sadly, just a few years later, hate is on the rise, and Trump is bringing it to the White House. But it's not just the U.S. that is experiencing an increase in hate, it's been here at home -- Toronto -- for quite some time. And it's been landing on our doorsteps and is easily accessible on our computers. It's the misogynist, racist, anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim and homophobic piece of garbage that calls itself the innocuous sounding "Your Ward News." One of my neighbours recently tweeted at me that after a months-long break, this far-right trash was back on our street in the Beaches -- and in many other communities across the GTA. If you've never seen a low-budget neo-Nazi rag, consider yourself lucky: Your Ward News is edited by James Sears, who has in the past pleaded guilty to sexual assault and lost his licence to practice medicine after complaints from female patients. If that isn't enough, Sears is also an unabashed Hitler enthusiast, and has called the gas chambers at Auschwitz a "lie." No one's child should see the revolting imagery that fills its pages. During a period when the UN is trying to raise awareness about gender-based violence, Sears, through Your Ward News, is -- astonishingly -- advocating that men who commit sexual assault and rape should not be found guilty if the perpetrator tried to "orgasm without harming [the victim]." Or that "minor vaginal or anal tearing is NOT evidence of violence!" (Emphasis Sears'). Advertisement Sears goes on to suggest that the age of consent should "be the age at which a woman can safely have sex." He uses as an example a "precocious 15-year-old Latina" and reminds male readers to "remember: if the dick fit, you must acquit." I'm not making this up, although I really wish I were. Sears further suggests that some women "deserve" to be raped or beaten, because we likely "provoked" it. He goes so far as to say that if women stay in a relationship after being raped or beaten, it's because we enjoyed it, rather than, say, because we fear for our lives, or are blaming ourselves for the abuse, or many other actual reasons women stay. (In the past, I've served on the board of a women's shelter and never -- not a single time -- did a woman ever say she stuck around because the rape and violence was "enjoyable." For Sears to suggest this is ludicrous. The reasons women become trapped in violent, abusive relationships are myriad, but this is not one of them.) Last spring, a group of us who were fed up with receiving this disgusting material in our mailboxes got together to figure out how we can put a stop to it and ensure that parents who reside in Toronto neighbourhoods never again had to come home and explain this racist rag to their kids. Advertisement My own son, who was unaware that my husband and I had been targeted by Your Ward News, received a copy at his after-school job one day. He immediately called, worried, when he saw a Photoshopped picture of me on the front page. My son should not have seen that. No one's child should see the revolting imagery that fills its pages. The current issue -- that advocates sexual assault, violence and rape against women and girls -- has gone way too far. It has crossed a very serious line, one that's seemingly criminal. I believe the Toronto Police Hate Crimes Unit must step in and stop the publication -- both print and online versions -- immediately. My neighbours deserve better than having this trash shoved down their throats. I have had the privilege of calling the Beaches home for many years. My neighbours deserve better than having this trash shoved down their throats. We deserve to have diverse, inclusive and safe communities. We deserve to be free of hatred toward women, people of colour, Jews, Muslims, gays and lesbians. Toronto is known for its tolerance and multi-culturalism. Let's keep it that way -- our communities are stronger for it. Thanks to the UN, these 16 days are being used to raise awareness about gender-based violence and to promote change and social justice, so let's do our part and rid our neighbourhoods of Your Ward News. If you receive a copy at your home or business, please call your local Toronto Police Services division to file a complaint. Advertisement Lisa is one of the founding members of STAMP: Standing Together Against Mailing Prejudice. To see a full list of members, please click here. If you would like to join our efforts, please email her at lisa@daisygroup.ca. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Newsletter sign-up HuffPost UK Daily Brief Sign up and we will email you daily with the best of our political and news coverage while also giving you a taste of our most-popular lifestyle, opinion and personal blogs. YOUSSEF KARWASHAN via Getty Images "Assad gave people in Aleppo only two choices. Either to go back to his control, or to die by bombing. We will not be back again to Assad's control. Death will be a favour for us, the best choice for people who are living here. And this is what Assad wants." --Abdulkafi, teacher in eastern Aleppo When Tamerlane besieged and took Aleppo in 1400, legend has it that he had a pyramid of 20,000 skulls of his victims erected outside the city, as testimony to his vengeance. No doubt Bashar Assad would have approved of such savagery. The world is right now bearing witness to the attempted annihilation of eastern Aleppo. Advertisement Aleppo has been in the news for months, but the brutal reality of this humanitarian catastrophe has never been as bad as this. Simply put, the Assad regime and its backers are trying to turn eastern Aleppo into a coffin. Over the past week, Aleppo went from terrible to even worse. An area of up to 250,000 civilians has been and is being relentlessly bombarded by the Assad regime like never before. Every hospital has been bombed out of service. There are barely any medical supplies left. Official food stocks have run out. Fuel is running out as temperatures plummet into winter. Water supplies are low. Death is everywhere. Hundreds of people die every day. Some are hit by barrel bombs; others die from injuries that, with proper medical supplies, would have been treatable. The exact numbers are impossible to calculate. Wissam, also a teacher in eastern Aleppo, told me: "The most painful thing now we are going through is not being able to even tell you the number of casualties every day. When death becomes this heavy, no one can even record the numbers. People are sometimes even killed in the graveyard; they go to bury their children, and they get killed there." Advertisement There are no functioning hospitals in eastern Aleppo, leaving nearly a quarter-of-a-million people suffering injuries with no proper medical facility to go to and less than 30 doctors surviving to treat the wounded. Besieged eastern Aleppo has not been reached by UN aid since the beginning of July. Those who have survived barrel bombings, injuries, or regime arrests will soon risk dying of starvation. "We lack everything. We lack medicines, drugs, anaesthesia, food for the patients or for the doctors, oil to produce electricity, baby milk. We lack anything and everything," Dr. Abdulkhalek, the last ophthalmologist in eastern Aleppo, told me. The choices the people in Aleppo are forced to make are inhumane. Does a family stay in an area taken over by the regime and no longer face barrel bombs, but risk the chance of being arrested, questioned, detained, tortured, or forcibly displaced because of 'connections 'to the revolution? Turning this awful situation around matters to us all. The Assad regime and its friends aren't only assaulting a city; they're assaulting the rules-based international system, upon which all states rely. This is why the UK is calling for the following three steps: an immediate ceasefire to allow refuge from bombs and to let aid in; agreement by Russia and the regime to the UN's four-point humanitarian plan to get aid in and let people out; and establishment of safe passages to allow civilians who want to leave to get out. Advertisement Yes, there is a UN Plan. The UK supports it. So do the opposition armed groups and activists of East Aleppo. But the regime has said nothing; the Russians have equivocated. The regime could agree at the stroke of pen, but will keep bombing. The Russians could use the UN Security Council to force the regime to change course, but will keep vetoing anyone else's attempt to do just that. Russia will obfuscate and draw parallels with Mosul. There is no parallel. What we see in Aleppo is not the liberation of a city by a legitimate government. This is the attempted extermination of a civilian population by a government long gone rogue. There are parallels to Aleppo, just not in Mosul. The regime and its partners terrorise the rest of Syria. In the Damascus suburbs, for example, the regime and allies are carrying out the same despicable 'surrender-or-starve' tactics, using siege and bombardment to force surrender deals. This happened in Khan Al-Sheh, south of Damascus, just last week. The bottom line is that the Assad regime doesn't act alone. It now relies utterly on Russia and Iran to support it. Russia mainly provides the air power. Iran provides its own troops and imported militias. Assad on his own could not do what he does to Syrians every day. And so the message is clear to both Russia and Iran. Stop your proxy as he murders his people, and let international humanitarian law prevail. Advertisement And the message to the people of Aleppo and those besieged elsewhere around the country: the UK and its partners will continue to do everything in our power to bring you the humanitarian help you so desperately need. uniquely india via Getty Images Denis Villeneuve / Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker / Sci-fi-Drama / 2016 / 12A / 116mins First contact - a situation humanity is well versed with thanks to the advent of sci-fi but little prepared with the reality. What will happen? How will we react? Most importantly, do they come in peace? Arrival deals with all the big questions and handles it with sincerity not seen since... well... ever. Many first contact films focus on invading aliens. Blockbuster fodder such as Independence Day spring to mind, but there are countless, endless others. It's a rather cheesy affair and a wet dream of dollar-sign cashbacks for studio execs. Advertisement Elevating the genre was always going to be a challenge. Arrival breaks tradition thanks to one individual: Denis Villeneuve - here is a man willing to push himself. He has shifted genre religiously year after year, becoming Canada's answer to Christopher Nolan. As per his last feature Sicario (one of the best films of 2015, I'll add) the director focuses almost exclusively on realism. Arrival is a sci-fi, of course, imaginary beyond comprehension in some quarters, but the human interaction is what the plot hinges on. Arrival sees 12 large UFOs land across the globe. Chaos ensues, and Louise Banks (Adams) is called upon by the military to converse with the beings inside the ships. With theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (Renner) for help, the pair attempt to crack the code before the world's collective xenophobic might takes hold. First off, Amy Adams is heading for an Oscar in the lead role. She's a steady actor - technically gifted - but her emotional nuances are better than ever. On the whole, the cast is alarmingly composed. Their believability elevates Arrival; suddenly the bizarre circumstances seem extra poignant. The sense of dread and apprehension - accentuated by an astonishing, Zimmer-esque score by Johann Johannsson - before meeting the aliens is important. There's a weighted urgency to the human characters. You can argue it's the aliens causing this atmosphere, but the global implications seem far greater. Limited special effects are more imposing and have far greater impact on the story. The aliens are freakishly bizarre but minimal, and strangely seem fitting. I could not be more happy - CGI would have ruined it all. Advertisement Sci-fi connoisseurs will love the new direction but perhaps lament the romance involved a la Interstellar. The lack of scientific explanation will come under some scrutiny, but that would miss the point of a very metaphorical and emotional film. In a year of division, Arrival reminds us that unity and communication is more relevant than ever. A simple, beautiful message. This is a film anyone and everyone should watch; even if you don't fully grasp everything at the time, there will still be an impact that will last for years to come. Unforgettable. Film as a Film - 4 / Target Audience - 5 / General Audience - 4 GRADE A Arrival is in cinemas now For more film & music gossip follow @THEMOVIEGUVNOR on Twitter. Read more at The Movie Guvnor blog. Anthony Devlin/PA Archive Government-backed Casey review recommends that schools should teach integration as part of the curriculum to halt the spread of racism and extremism. In a prescriptive move, Whitehall went as far as saying that lessons in character and resilience could be included in existing areas of the curriculum like personal, social and health and economic education (no apparent knowledge or appreciation that the PSHE, normally one period in a week, is already overloaded with social, welfare, citizenship and vocational education). Advertisement The move reminds the public argument between Theresa May, then home secretary, and the then education secretary Michael Gove about who is not doing enough to tackle the perceived 'radicalism' in schools. The argument resulted in the discredited 'Prevent' strategy, imposed on schools by the home secretary! The Prevent duty which has obliged teachers to refer to police pupils they suspect of engaging in some sort of terrorist activity or radical behaviour, has been rejected by major teacher unions, arguing that the duty has been largely a failure due to the fact that around 90 per cent of referrals end in no action being taken, with a catalogue of high-profile examples. "We worried that people are increasingly unwilling to talk about their view of the world - Muslim children in particular - because they are frightened or their parents are worried that their names will be put on some list" said NUT leadership. Additionally, many schools have started collecting data on pupils' country of birth, nationality and level of English proficiency through the school census in line with the national population census, to fulfil the Department for Education requirement - schools could do without checking passports. Advertisement Schools belong in society and play their crucial part in shaping social models who can take their place in society properly equipped to exercise rights and perform duties the same as those of other citizens. However, schools have to strike a balance between teaching the academic and pastoral curriculum, taking account of available resources, including the school time. Therefore, there are limits to what the schools can do. Moreover, the prime task of the school is to teach rather than to undo socio-political inadequacies and social injustice which adversely impact on public behaviour and attitudes. Not only this but the personality shaping of pupils in schools, like promoting 'fundamental British values', is seriously hindered by socio-political contradictions in the society at large. For example, the Prevent duty requires schools and childcare providers to have clear procedures in place for protecting children at risk of radicalisation but the society is full of fear, hate, scaremongering and racism as witnessed during the last London mayor election, EU campaign and US presidential election, enough to radicalise far right attitudes. Similarly, the recent national anti-hate crime campaign backed by the government in response to the rise in incidents after the EU referendum and supported by some community organisations enjoying undisclosed grants from the Home Office hate crime funding, has failed to address why 'hate crimes'. Advertisement This political anti-hate crime campaign reminds me of a Home Office funded racial harassment committee that I chaired about 25 years ago (that was the time when racial harassment was not watered down as a 'hate crime'). In monitoring the racial harassment incidents, it became quite clear that while more incidents were reported, only a few were taken up by the Crown Prosecution Service because of the lack of clear and substantial evidence. These crimes were difficult to prosecute because of the high burden prosecutors face when proving that the defendant's bias indeed motivated the crime. Twenty five years on, the hate crime situation is no different where a hate crime reported, like that related to Islamophobia, becomes a 'number' to enrich the data base of the thriving 'hate crime' industry, leaving behind a very frustrated victim because of no arrests or prosecutions! Also, as there are no obvious measures to tackle the upsurge of far right, far right media and politicians, significant sources for radicalising far right extremism, inevitable rise in random race/ religion hate crimes. In the face of such failures, the Casey review expects schools to deliver 'integration' & prevent extremism! Advertisement Furthermore, the review talks about racism without addressing why racism & argues for 'integration' without identifying real barriers to achieve 'integration'. How very illusive for the review to call for schools to celebrate Christmas, Eid and other traditions to break down barriers within communities, ignoring the force of hardcore far right language and actions that erect barriers and deepen the sense of isolation and segregation within certain communities. Our Prime Minister said "What we want to see in our society is tolerance and understanding". "We want minority communities to be able to recognise and stand up for their traditions but we also want to be able to stand up for our traditions generally as well and that includes Christmas." Such a 'us & them' sense is not reassuring for meaningful integration or conducive to dismantle communal barriers based on dominant norms and values as well as on 'host & guest relationship'. NurPhoto via Getty Images Like Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, the outcome of the Italian referendum has been a great surprise, but for the opposite reason: polls suggested that the result would be very close and instead there has been a decisive and unequivocal result. Suggestions that the vote has been an "anti-establishment, populist revolt" are too simplistic. The division between Yes and No cross-cut the usual political and social divisions. The No side mobilised people on the left and the right; populists and anti-populists; members of the liberal elite and those in less exalted circumstances. Who was the establishment figure? Certainly not Renzi: he sought to sell his proposed reforms as part of a campaign to sweep away vested interests. His appeals - to reduce the powers of the Senate, to reduce the costs of politics, to cut the number of parliamentarians - were all couched in classic populist terms. Advertisement Anti-establishment sentiment is only a part of what the No vote was about: the populist Five-star Movement (M5s) gets only about 30% of the 75% or so who turn out to vote. Rather, the vote was the expression of a range of different types of No: a No to the specific constitutional reforms being proposed; a No to the political elites in general; a No to the current economic and social malaise; above all a No to the Renzi government. For Renzi had staked his entire future on the outcome by framing the vote as a plebiscite on him and his executive. It was a vote that pitted against all-comers a prime minister who had been able to govern because there had been no alternative - a prime minister opposed on one side by the centre right, on the other side by the Five-star Movement (M5s), neither of which would have anything to do with the other. Now that this 'rag bag' of forces (to use Renzi's own expression) has been able to come together in a straightforward yes-or-no contest Renzi has - for the moment - been ousted from power. This afternoon, Renzi will travel to the presidential palace to tender his resignation. The options available to the President include inviting Renzi to return to Parliament to verify, through confidence votes, that the existing government has the necessary support to carry on, and conferring on Renzi a mandate to form a new government. A continuation of the Renzi experience is not to be ruled out; for his political capital has not been entirely depleted, to the contrary. He leads an increasingly "personalised" and "presidentialised" party. And if the No vote belongs entirely to none of his opponents, the 40% that voted "Yes" belongs entirely to him. It is a vote share that corresponds exactly to the proportion he won at the European elections of 2014, hailed as a great victory for his party. His problem would be holding together his coalition with the small centre parties with only fourteen months of the legislature to run. Advertisement The Chamber's electoral law must now be revisited. Introduced on the assumption that the constitutional reforms would pass, it will lead to chaos without them. It has been seen as a gift to the M5s - though they opposed it saying it concentrated too much power in the hands of the Prime Minister. In a breath-taking volte-face, they now say they want immediate elections based on the law as it stands. In that case the Chamber and the Senate will almost certainly be composed very differently - a single party having a majority of seats in the former but not in the latter. So either the M5s are saying that they are willing, on their own, to assume the responsibilities of government, or that they want a governing alliance, and it is not clear which. Either way, it is an open question whether a party that draws support from across the political spectrum and has hitherto been a party of protest, would be able to remain cohesive in face of the pressures of governing. So do not expect an M5s-engineered exit from the euro any time soon. It is highly unlikely that the President would agree to dissolve Parliament until the electoral-law had been thoroughly re-drafted. Paradoxically the referendum has brought some certainty in a sense precisely because it has been decisive: it has sent a very clear "no change" message. It means the continuation of "stable instability" - a style of Italian politics with which everyone is familiar. It is for this reason that we have so far not seen the kind of financial market instability that might have been expected had the result been much closer. "Politics is in such crisis," my friend says as he pulls the cork out from a bottle of Gran Reserva Rioja. Nothing like a cosy dinner party to discuss the ills of society and the wrongs of politics. He was, of course, referring to the impending Brexit, the imminent inauguration of Donald J. Trump - as Donald J. Trump illeistically calls himself, and the apparent rise of the Right. "Scary times," he says while studying the legs. But the truth is, whether he likes it or not, something had to change. It was bound to. Opinions are dividing, and it was only a matter of time before politics caught up. After all, let's not forget the middleness in which we've been stuck over the past twenty years. With Blairism somewhere on one side of the centre, and Cameron's compassionate conservatism somewhere on the other, Clegg's adoption of the student fees and Miliband's support for Austerity left us confused, disappointed and hopeless; when the Left agrees with the policies of the Right, we know we're in trouble, and political apathy ensues with 'what's the point in even trying?'. Politics simply wasn't politics anymore. It had lost its ferocity. Punch-Up Politics had disappeared, and it had become so hard to wedge even a piece of paper between any of the parties that all we had left to talk about was the jab of their finger, their PPE courses, and the shininess of their suits. The spin was the same; the look was the same; the aspiration was the same. But where was the cause? As New Labour and New Conservatism courteously danced around the same middle ground, politics was seemingly becoming duller, and more of the same - not that the middle-classes was particularly bothered; they were winning no matter how ridiculous the dance: if Labour were in power, even if they were squeezed in the middle, they could still afford to have the extra penny in the pound taken off for tax contributions, and get to ease their conscious in helping the needy and unfortunate in a bid to champion equality from behind a Man Booker novel or the confines of a music lesson; if the Tories were in power, they could, guilt-free, accept the extra penny in their pocket from tax cuts, and start that second hobby or invest in a second home as a buy-to-let. Either way, they won. It wasn't their children who relied on Sure Start; and it wasn't them who needed to know where their local food bank was; and if the waiting lists ever did get too long, well, let's face it, it wasn't never too much of a stretch to ask for parental help to go private, if need be. Quite simply, middle politics suited the middle classes. Advertisement But, of course, now change is in the air. And it's scary. Because this time, those middle winners are on the losing side. They didn't vote Brexit. They wouldn't have voted Trump. And they won't be voting Le Penn. But the oomph is back in politics, and the middles-classes have fewer places to hide. Consensus is dead; and opposition is firmly on the table. And those who have not gained from the last twenty years are finding their voice. Those who have been side-lined over the past two decades - those for whom globalisation isn't yet working, those of whom integration has ignored, those who tried to aspire as they were told to by successive governments but still didn't manage to get on the property ladder or establish a university fund, those who don't have the luxury of working from an internet connection in their kitchen with a cup of freshly brewed coffee - are realising they have been left behind - and want in. It's not fair, they're shouting. Where's our fair share? Quite simply, they've had enough. And so they're on the march. And we can call it political demagoguery, we call it popularism, we can call it opportunism, we can call it what we want, but their frustrations and all their concerns are real; and they are finally being heard. Middle politics hasn't worked for them. It's left them wanting - no profits, no golden pension, no job for life. And they've cottoned on. Advertisement And so partition is back on the agenda. And yes, it hurts, and yes, it is divisive. NUS Six weeks ago I sat across the table from the NUS National President, Malia Bouattia. I told her why Jewish students are angry and frustrated, and why many find her comments antisemitic. Her remorseful reaction appeared sincere; her attentiveness was noticeable. I was hopeful that we had taken a first positive step to rebuilding trust. How wrong I was. Instead, Malia once again placed the blame back on Jewish students, suggesting that their anger was misplaced or invalid. She expressed regret that her words had been 'interpreted' as antisemitic. She apologised for having 'caused offence'. Nowhere did she apologise for what she had said, or acknowledge that only Jewish students can define antisemitism. Defining their identity and their oppression is their right, but Malia has taken that away from them again and again. Did she really think half-hearted efforts would be enough for Jewish students to trust her? Advertisement When 57 Jewish Society (J-Soc) presidents wrote to Malia expressing concern about her past rhetoric, she could've apologised for using conspiratorial language that violated the European Union Monitoring Centre (EUMC) Working Definition of Antisemitism to which NUS itself subscribes. Instead, she stood by her use of terms like 'Zionist-led media', 'Zionist lobby', and calling the University of Birmingham a 'Zionist outpost.' Nine months since that letter, Jewish students still await a proper apology. Malia's letter to the wider student movement last Friday was indirect and insincere. Stating your opposition to 'racism in all its forms' does not disqualify you from being antisemitic or from acknowledging the antisemitic nature of your past comments. An apology for 'offence caused' is a dismissal and a rejection of the Macpherson principle that is applied to every other group; it's not a proper apology at all. Malia's comments, rhetoric and excuses ignore that this is a question of identity. In fact she displays a distinct lack of respect for Jewish students' multifaceted identities. Advertisement Because what Malia fails to understand, accept or acknowledge - despite many Jewish students trying to tell her, time and time again - is that as multiple pieces of research show, their identities are inextricably linked with Israel. So whilst UJS encourages political debate and critical engagement with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and I personally admire Malia's campaigning for the rights of Palestinians, her words and behaviour alarm Jewish students across religious and political spectrums. The 2011 National Jewish Student Survey showed that 95% of Jewish students feel their personal Jewish identity is about being part of the Jewish people, 80% about an ethnic identity, and 72% about supporting Israel. Another recent survey shows that for 93% of British Jews, Israel is part of their Jewish identity. More than 100 students affiliated with Yachad, a group of Jewish students who campaign against the occupation and have worked alongside J-Socs to host many events critical of Netanyahu's government, released a statement in support of the 57 J-Soc Presidents back in April. They said: 'her public advocacy of violent resistance against civilians is appalling, unconstructive, and does nothing to further the already toxic debate on British campuses regarding Israel Palestine. No Jewish student should be made to feel like they must distance themselves from the State of Israel (the home of around 40% of the Jews on earth) in order to have a place in the student movement.' How right they are. Yet, soon-to-be-published research by UJS with the Institute for Jewish Policy Research [JPR] found that Jewish students are occasionally afraid and hiding their identities: Advertisement 'A Nottingham student took off her Star of David necklace before going into a nightclub because "you just don't want to take the risk." Another finds it "personally very uncomfortable talking about [Israel]... When people asked me what I did on my gap year, I said I volunteered in the Middle East...I was scared of someone saying, well you know... Israel... There's obviously a stigma and reputation about it. So I personally do get quite scared." A London student similarly maintained, "There is a sinister undertone of something on campus... When I say I'm Jewish, and especially when I say I support Israel, it sounds more of an admission than just a statement of fact about my identity... It's like a dirty secret..."' How can a leader who purports to champion minority students not only tolerate this atmosphere, but refuse to hear the call of minority students who keep trying to tell her that her words and deeds fuel this menacing situation? When Malia claims this is about politics, not faith, she is wrong on both counts. It is nothing to do with politics; it has everything to do with attacking Jewish identity. Let me be completely clear, this is not about criticism of particular political views. Malia, a supposed liberation champion, rejected the national liberation of the Jewish people in a Channel 4 interview in May. In that same interview she refused to condemn violence against Jewish Israeli citizens, having endorsed a violent struggle against them during a September 2014 talk. Unsurprisingly, she failed to condemn vigils for 'Palestinian martyrs' this time last year on campuses including the one where I personally faced intimidation and even death threats because I dared to express my Jewish identity within which Israel is central. This was in light of a wave of terror that, since October 2015, has claimed the lives of 42 Israelis and injured a further 577 people Malia thinks this is a political argument, but to many I know, it's a matter of life or death. I want Jewish students to engage with the work that Malia has outlined to tackle antisemitism, as many have with Rob Young's research, but until she apologises for her antisemitic comments - directly to Jewish students, not in an email to the wider student movement - it won't surprise me if Jewish students vote to suspend UJS' working relationship with NUS this Sunday. Advertisement In 1925, NUS called for the abolition of unjust discrimination against Jewish students. In the 1970s and 80s, NUS peers stood with Jewish students against those trying to ban Jewish Societies. In 2012, when UJS' stall at NUS National Conference was vandalised with anti-Israel stickers, the then-NUS president Liam Burns launched an investigation and condemned the incident almost immediately. For nearly 100 years, Jewish students and UJS have worked with NUS to combat racism and fascism, to fight for a better world. It saddens me greatly that because of antisemitic comments and crucially, a lack of action from its current president, Jewish students will take a decision this Sunday that could suspend UJS' relationship with NUS. Jake Maskall as King Cyrus in The Royals. Photos: E! The Royals, the over-the-top TV series about a fictional, out-of-control English royal family, made its third season US premiere on the American cable network E! Sunday, Dec. 4. Jake Maskall, who co-stars as the show's flamboyant King Cyrus, tells the Walford Gazette that two months before the election the production shot a scene where "I have a line and mention Hillary and Trump, while addressing an audience. I say to them, 'Look what happens with Hillary vs. Trump? It was lose-lose'." Advertisement The Royals' series' American show runner Mark Schwahn (known for the American series One Tree Hill) didn't shoot another take, according to Maskall, with the possibility that Clinton might win. "Either Mark foresaw it," says Maskall, who probably is best known for playing EastEnders' troubled soul Danny Moon (second cousin of Alfie) more than 10 years ago. "I don't think anyone predicted [Trump winning], did they?" Maskall and Elizabeth Hurley as Queen Helena in The Royals In the first season of The Royals, Cyrus conspires with his sister-in-law Queen Helena, played by Elizabeth Hurley, to get rid of her husband, the saintly King Simon, who's considering to abolish the monarchy, much to the chagrin of everybody in the immediate family, except his living son Liam, who's a bit tired of the 24/7 tabloid scrutiny. Advertisement Season 3 continues the series' snappy dialogue, celebrating utter hedonism: sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. In Season 2, bisexual Cyrus learns he has testicular cancer (shaves his head into a mohawk so his thinning scalp isn't obvious), gets his maid pregnant, and takes the throne. Season 3 promises more of extremely vain King Cyrus relishing his power trip and the trappings of royalty. Meanwhile, Helena embarks on a mission to prove that Prince Liam and Princess Eleanor are the legitimate heirs to the throne. As the President-Elect in real life is making the rounds introducing himself to foreign dignitaries, it begs the question: How would King Cyrus view Donald Trump? "King Cyrus probably would look at Trump as a commoner," says Maskall. "But I think he might like the idea of mockery that this imbecile, and he's now president of the United States." But couldn't the same be said about Cyrus being king? "Absolutely," admits Maskall, "but Cyrus would think he's got blue blood. He wouldn't consider Trump on the same echelon. He looks down his nose at everyone. He's a huge snob. That's part of his charm." Advertisement The Royals writers adore writing for Cyrus "because there's no holds barred. They can absolutely lash out," says Maskall, citing a favourite line when he went to the opera with his former maid and fiancee Violet. "Lady Holloway confronts me, 'You promised James (her husband) Prime Minister'. I say to her, 'Where is James tonight?' And she says, "He's working late after you shafted him'. I turn and say, 'More like working someone's hard shaft'. It was really cheeky." Maskall believes it's no accident that it appears The Royals is more focused on the US audience, in the same way that Downton Abbey and The Tudors were Americanized. The UK Season 3 dates have not yet been announced. "It's American money. It's E!'s first scripted drama. The majority of Americans are fascinated by the monarchy. I think it's a pretty international show. It's No. 1 in Turkey, Greece, Germany loves it, South America loves it. France loves it too; they hate the Brits. What's not to love about it. It's such a fun show. It's got a bit of everything: heart, comedy, outrageousness, sex and drugs. It's a guilty pleasure." He also sees The Royals as being Shakespearean, based on Hamlet. "I think the levels of what we go to is kind of heightened. It's theatre at the end of the day. Like Shakespeare, you have moments of comedy, the Machiavellian murders. It's full of love, and full of loathing." Maskall agrees with my "spot on" suggestion that his Cyrus is reminiscent of Jeremy Irons's Scar in The Lion King. "The situation, the set-up, he sets out to kill his brother. Jeremy Irons's voice in it is beautiful and so rich, so many layers. I wanted to borrow some of that." Advertisement Of his 76-episode stint on EastEnders as Danny, Maskall was amazed to learn that his character was killed off on New York screens about six months ago. Accidentally killed by his brother Jake, Danny met his demise, as he was on his way to kill Phil and Grant Mitchell on orders from his boss Johnny Allen. It was EastEndersat its best, a cat and mouse game between the Mitchells and Allen ensued first in the latter's luxury suburban house, then in the woods. "Danny was unhinged," Maskall reflects. "He was bipolar basically. Jake (his brother) was always the top boy. There was huge tension and jealousy from Danny, and especially with his state of mind. His father had beaten him up, and used to leave them for days. It was quite a complicated relationship. It was complete love at one end of the spectrum, and at the other end underlying hate." How did Joel Beckett end up playing Jake a lot longer? "After the first year, we left together. Then they wanted us back. I said to them, 'I'll only come back if you kill me off.' I wanted to move on and do other characters, and here I am King of England." Maskall is still in touch with Beckett, who "lives down the road from me in North London. We're going out for a drink this week." Advertisement Matt Crossick/Matt Crossick "This is not your country" - my neighbour said to me 20 years ago after a louder-than-usual party the previous night. I was a newly-arrived student from Germany and acutely aware of how little it took for neighbours to turn fellow neighbours into "others" to assert their own rights and perceived privileges as citizens. An Irish friend came to my rescue, telling her that England wasn't his country either and that she should be ashamed of herself. Now, after 25 years of living, working and raising a family in the UK, the same is happening again: friends and strangers are coming up to me to remind me how much I am part of this country. Advertisement What is at stake, and this is equally true for UK citizens living in Europe, is our sense of identity. Brexit has triggered an identity crisis. For many UK citizens Brexit has turned into a series of economic concerns. For me and my fellow three million EU citizens living in the UK it has cast a shadow over our entire lives. What makes Britain home for us is the experiences we have had. Like many others I am not an economic migrant. I swapped life in a beautiful city in North Germany for a multicultural, tolerant and often very funny one in the South of England. Slowly my proud Hanseatic identity - my hometown of Lubeck used to trade with London in the middle ages - merged with my acquired Englishness and found a great home in Bristol where I now live. I am both a local there and in Lubeck where I grew up. I've worked my entire career in the UK and contributed hugely to its GDP. But my love for where I live now comes entirely from my relationships - with neighbours, friends, colleagues. My sense of self is a mixture of the things I love about Germany - food, friends, high standards of plumbing - and about England - my son and husband, humour, pub lunches and much more. Reading through the 5000 plus life stories on the Facebook forum for EU citizens in the UK I sense many more of these composite identities. And I sense a deep attachment to the UK. Our group ranges from the German master craftsman who has trained hundreds of English plumbers over the years, the Finnish care home worker worried about not meeting new immigration criteria to the French professor. They include the Spaniard who was called to UK jury duty but not allowed to vote in the referendum and still has to apply for his residency. Advertisement Some of us don't know where we should be citizens. Dana was born in Budapest as a 3rd generation German immigrant, and was told repeatedly at home that she wasn't a "real" Hungarian. Now she feels excluded by her adopted British home and says, with an odd sense of satisfaction, that the only "acceptable" nationality for her is European. Or consider families like mine where my husband is a British citizen born in Athens, his father a British citizen born in Kenya, me a German and our eight-year old son born in Germany. Our child has English as his first language but is not entitled to a UK passport as his father and grandfather were born overseas, in Her Majesty's service. Confusing? Unfair? All of those. So now I and millions of fellow EU citizens living in the UK will have to apply for residency permits or even citizenship. The process feels overly complicated and expensive. Some of us have to ask our children's school to confirm that we are indeed picking them up every day to prove our continuous residency. Those who have moved to online systems for banking now find these records are unacceptable and need to pay their bank to reissue written statements for up to five years. Some get waved through by sympathetic officials, others find the process degrading and humiliating. What unites us is that we are all asking ourselves where our "here" as a citizen is: deregistered in our countries of birth, not allowed to vote in the UK referendum because we're "not from here." Migration has been a feature of all human societies. This is true for the Cornish migrants who left their towns to find a better life in Australia and New Zealand as it is for the Polish migrants who left their homes to find a better life in the UK. Nationhood should never beat humanity. Another member of the3million forum who is British and paying taxes in France for the last 40 years puts it well: "As for nationalism, I have no time for it. In France, do as the French do. Flags are silly." Divisions along the lines of class, education and ethnicity are destructive as are meaningless phrases like "ordinary citizens". Advertisement ASSOCIATED PRESS Regardless from beliefs and political directions, there is always something inspiring that a strong personality has to teach the world and Fidel Castro belonged in that category. His death won't cease his memory, which will forever affect people's works. Modern people aren't aware of his history - certainly they have to read about it -, but most of them, from old narratives, have identified his name as an important figure of humanity, to some acceptable, to others not. Apart from the bad moments that historians attribute to him, Fidel Castro had a bright side, which is reflected in his following quotes and conceals lessons that can be applicable to everyone's life for a better future. Advertisement "A revolution is not a bed of roses. A revolution is a struggle between the future and the past." Fidel Castro knew well revolution. The Cuban leader had a complete perception of how to be a revolutionist. He had much insight on revolutionary acts and that is why he succeeded in his goals. According to his words, revolution is changing the present by letting past go and defining a different future. That is what he did. "I began revolution with 82 men. If I had to do it again, I'd do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and plan of action." The Universe came to being from nothing. Every building begins to be built with one brick. Fidel Castro's revolution started with a few people and was expanded to millions. As he declared, his only strengths were his faith and his plan and this fact makes his achievements even bigger. "Nothing in the world is irreversible, not even capitalism." The most heroic thing about Fidel Castro was not the revolution he led, but the fact that he believed that with this revolution he would change the world. With faith as his guide, Castro managed to persuade a single nation that he is the one they need and thus his legend became eternal. "There is often talk of human rights, but it is also necessary to talk of the rights of humanity. Why should some people walk barefoot, so that others can travel in luxurious cars? Why should some live for thirty-five years, so that others can live for seventy years? Why should some be miserably poor, so that others can be hugely rich? I speak on behalf of the children in the world who do not have a piece of bread. I speak on the behalf of the sick who have no medicine, of those whose rights to life and human dignity have been denied." Here, Fidel Castro addresses the phenomenon that the rich are the reason that the poor are suffering, because the wealthy men deprive money from the homeless, the malnourished and the starving ones. Castro stood by the latter to protect their rights. Advertisement "I will not speak of him as if he were absent, he has not been and he will never be. These are not mere words of consolation. Only those of us who feel it truly and permanently in the depths of our souls can comprehend this. Physical life is ephemeral, it passes inexorably... This truth should be taught to every human being -- that the immortal values of the spirit are above physical life. What sense does life have without these values? What then is it to live? Those who understand this and generously sacrifice their physical life for the sake of good and justice -- how can they die? God is the supreme idea of goodness and justice." Fidel Castro led his life through his spirit and values and that is probably why he achieved being recognised as one of the most historical people ever lived on earth. He had written in his autobiography (My Life: A Spoken Autobiography): "...quality of life lies in knowledge, in culture. Values are what constitute true quality of life, the supreme quality of life, even above food, shelter and clothing." For Fidel Castro, the greatest virtue a person can have is not the fortune of material goods, but the fortune of intellectual values. This is the only way this world can be a better place and whether Fidel Castro managed to fulfill an overall positive vision or not, he had definitely some quality views. Nikola93 via Getty Images A picture is emerging of likely British trade and aid policies towards developing countries after Brexit. That picture is just as disturbing as two other likely consequences of Brexit that I detailed in my previous article - a deepening of relations with authoritarian regimes and a new era of military power projection. Together, these policies indicate that Britain will try to lead the world not in promoting human rights or economic diversity but in championing a hardline, neo-liberal economic order benefitting British and Western corporations. First, the big policy constantly highlighted by the government since the June referendum is its role as the 'global leader' for free trade. Prime Minister Theresa May has said: Advertisement 'The UK will remain the most passionate, consistent and convincing global advocate of free trade. We will seize the opportunities of our departure from the EU to forge a new role for the UK in the world'. Trade Minister Mark Garnier says that policy is to 'ensure that Britain becomes the global leader in free trade once we leave the EU'. This championing of free trade refers not only to developed countries but also to the poorest and developing countries. Britain will 'drive even greater openness with international partners' including the Commonwealth. While free trade can benefit countries of high, similar levels of development, the idea that free trade is the route to ending poverty in developing countries takes us back three decades. In the 1980s, ideologues in Washington and London began pushing neo-liberal economic policies on the poor, arguing that opening up their markets, privatisation and deregulation would increase their competitiveness. The result has largely been a disaster, with cheap imports undermining local industry and agriculture, putting fledgling companies out of business and undermining local economic development. Robert Pollin, an economist at the University of Massachusetts, estimates that developing countries lost roughly $480 billion in potential GDP as a result of this so-called 'structural adjustment'. Advertisement While free trade for developing countries is now often ridiculed around the world, Britain's International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, is a passionate advocate. Fox has recently given two extraordinary speeches extolling the wonders of free trade. In September, Fox told an audience at the World Trade Organisation in Geneva that free trade was a panacea for the poor, saying that Britain would 'carry the banner' for it, and that: 'Just look at the effect on the populations of developing countries that have started down the path of opening up their markets, and ask yourself whether there has been a greater emancipator of the world's poor than free trade. The glorious thing about free trade is that if the conditions are in place to allow it to flourish, no-one needs to lose out.' A few days earlier, he told an audience in Manchester that the development success of countries such as China and Vietnam was all down to free trade. These views are completely at odds with the historical record. There is a large literature showing how East Asian countries have spectacularly reduced poverty in recent decades - and it was not by free trade. The first reason was by pursuing land reform, which in China's case involved reintroducing household farming alongside government policies to maintain prices and provide guaranteed markets for farmers' produce - policies that are largely opposed by neoliberals like Fox for interfering in markets. The second main reason for Asian success has been policies of state intervention to nurture and develop domestic industries. This often involved imposing protectionist trade barriers to keep out foreign competitors, at least until the point when those industries were strong enough to compete in world markets. Again, these policies of state intervention are largely heretical to neoliberals. Advertisement The government says it will ensure that developing countries can reduce poverty through trade and that the possible impacts on poverty will be 'taken into account' in UK trade policy. But it has provided no detail on this, and the only real way to genuinely take poverty concerns 'into account' would be to learn the lessons of history and abandon support for free trade as a model. Yet the government is beginning to embark on negotiating a series of trade deals with developing countries, preparing for the UK's exit from the EU, which are likely going to press for this simple free trade model. As for aid policy, the outlook is also that this will increasingly promote corporate interests and Fox's neo-liberal economic policies, already key features of much of Britain's 'aid'. International Development Secretary Priti Patel has called for 'reform of the global aid system' and suggested that this should be based on 'core Conservative principles' , saying that this entails focusing on wealth creation. The government's aid review, published last week, fails to mention that multinational corporations might just be a problem in international development and that they should be regulated in any way. The review simply says the UK will 'forge stronger partnerships with business' and calls on developing countries to increase foreign investment. Neither does the review even mention the UK-controlled tax havens that are draining developing countries of wealth. The government clearly sees as aid a foreign policy tool. The aid review states: 'Our aid increases the UK's influence and soft power around the world and we will use this influence to build mutually beneficial relationships with developing countries. Our work provides us with a seat at the top table in many developing countries. We will not be shy about using our influence to drive reform.' Britain is already leading the world in using aid to push for the increasing privatisation of health and education in developing countries. The Department for International Development (DFID) is spending 38 million promoting private schools in Nigeria, Kenya and Pakistan. Encouraging private education is controversial and is widely criticised for undermining public education, yet DFID backing appears to be part of a strategy to 'normalise' the privatisation of public services in developing countries, opening up new markets for private education providers, in which UK companies are world leaders. One such company, Pearson, actually has a Director - Vivienne Cox - on the board of DFID, which is surely a conflict of interest. DFID has made clear that it will continue providing support to schools 'regardless of whether the school is public or private'. Advertisement Priti Patel is also promoting a major overhaul that would allow billions of pounds of aid to be channelled into the government's controversial private equity arm, CDC Group. DFID is proposing to increase the limit on support the government can give to CDC from 1.5 billion to 6 billion. CDC invests in corporations overseas and has been widely criticised for its executives' expense claims on luxury hotels and restaurants and for its use of companies established in tax havens in order to make investments. DFID is also likely to continue to support the interests of corporations in global and African agriculture through its extensive funding of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition. And it is almost certain to continue its opposition to establishing legally binding commitments on companies to respect human rights globally in favour of inadequate, voluntary mechanisms by companies themselves. Patel has suggested that aid might be used to promote post-Brexit trade deals with developing countries. Indeed, she sees UK aid as part of the country's 'soft power', implying that aid is a tool in Britain's wider policy agenda: 'British soft power is exactly where DFID and our aid and other relationships around the world, come together to deliver in our national interest and deliver for Britain when it comes to free trade agreements but also life post-Brexit'. Advertisement Unless there is a serious challenge, Britain is set to increasingly promote a failed model of international trade that will impoverish developing countries still further. It will also likely pursue an aid strategy that supports corporations, neo-liberal economic objectives and wider British foreign policy. Mexico is foodie heaven: an endless array of exotic colours, fresh flavours and memorable smells that can be found down every street; not - as the UK's many fast-food chains would have us believe - carb heavy, cheese laden burritos. For this reason, I led a team of foodies on a trip to Mexico City in search of inspiration for the next generation of Mexican cuisine. I wanted to tap in to 'new Mexican' - a variation of Mexican food, which is lighter, healthier and uses lots of fresh ingredients to create tasty twists on traditional Mexican dishes. Mexican chefs have been experimenting with specific chillies including jalapeno, birdseye, chipotle and green to achieve the unique flavours you get from New Mexican cuisine. Although it's a common perception that chillies are just used for heat, Mexican cooking afficianados actually use chillies to add distinctive flavours to each dish. For example, jalapeno chillies are actually mild to medium heat, but contain lots of flavour that can be used within a jalapeno sauce to accompany traditional Mexican dishes. Advertisement Real authentic Mexican food is much fresher and healthier than we are used to in the UK and involves a hell of a lot of tacos: piled high with thin, flash-fried strips of meat, and lots of fresh chilli spiked salsa. There wasn't a burrito in site, and no one would ever consider putting rice on a taco. The Mexico City food scene, or CDMX as they now call the city, is littered with modern restaurants such as the acclaimed Pujol by Enrique Olvera - a restaurant in the city's posh Polanco neighbourhood, which ranks no 25 in the world's top 50 eateries. At the other end of the scale are the thousands of market stalls and street stands serving some of the best delicious street food such as Tacos, Tortas, Flautas, Empanadas, seafood, Tamales, Chicharrones, Breads, Patisserie and even candy. In amongst all the tacos and healthy herby dishes, something unusual caught my eye: a Cornish pasty. How odd. What was a Cornish pasty doing in Mexico City of all places? Our guide Paco told us that the pasties of Hidalgo, a state of Mexico City, are famous and considered a local delicacy. Whoever thought it: the Cornish pasty is now what Mexicans call the empanada or paste, and was first brought to Mexico in the 19th Century by Corish tin miners. Advertisement "Mexicans are always eating, they're always hungry, so street food is the quickest way to fill up often," our guide tells us on our first day. It's hard not to see why. Authentic Mexican is so much fresher and lighter than in the UK, with far more delicate and diverse flavours, and won't leave you feeling heavy and tired. Seeing how Mexicans had given a Cornish Pasty their own traditional twist gave me the idea to experiment with British-Mexican fusion food. For example, Barbacoa lamb Sunday dinner with a Mexican twist: served with slow-cooked shoulder with tortillas, salsas, avocado and lots of lime wedges for squeezing over, or a Flat Yorkshire Pudding for a Yorkshire twist! We discovered there's a skill to eating a taco, and a wrong way up to hold your tortilla. A Tortillia has a thin side and a thick side. Thin-side-up means your fillings will soak into the corn so you get a great flavour, without it falling apart in your hands. They are also served with meat and tortilla straight up with custom toppings, so you can pick you own salsas and, radish, cucumber, lime - a myriad of variety that we had not seen in the UK. After being treated to all the sauces and toppings in the street market, we stopped off at a local supermarket where we found a huge selection of bottled salsas, dressings and sauces. This is certainly something we don't have in the UK, and was the main inspiration for Asda's new authentic Mexican sauces range. The range includes Guajillo & Chipotle sauce, Jalapeno sauce, Yucatan marinade, Chipotle sauce, Chimichurri marinade and a Holy Trinity sauce. So what can you expect from Asda in the next few months? Authentic Mexican not tex mex, smaller taco-sized tortillas, a larger variety of salsa, other carriers such as tortas, sopes and flautas, Mexican seafood, Concha bread, all of which will form a fresher and healthier Mexican food range. Advertisement When one of your children is diagnosed with cancer, it feels like everything else around you stops. All you can focus on is doing whatever you can to help them get better. Your life becomes a blur of hospital appointments and treatment, speaking with doctors, nurses, and reassuring everyone (including yourself) that it will all be ok. This is my story. It has been a whirlwind since the initial diagnosis and we still look at dates in the diary of upcoming scans and results and it's always at the back of your mind. But whatever has happened, I feel nothing but amazement at the bravery my little boy showed throughout it all. Advertisement It all started last February. It was a morning like any other, and I was getting the kids ready for a day out in Blackpool. As Logan was getting ready, I noticed a lump near the top of his leg. At first I thought it was a cyst, but it looked so big I decided to take him to the doctors to get it checked. I'm so glad I did as the GP sent us to Birmingham Children's Hospital straight away. This instantly raised alarm bells, and things moved very quickly after that. Logan had surgery to remove the lump the following day, and then we had the news we'd been dreading. "It's cancer." Rhabdomyosarcoma to be exact. When I heard those words, it felt like my whole world collapsed, but I had to stay strong for Logan and my other children, Finley, Keaira and Kesi. I couldn't let them see how upset I was. The good news was that we had caught the cancer just in time. If it had been half a centimetre bigger it might have spread, and I'm so thankful it hadn't. Advertisement What followed was six months of tough chemotherapy, which left Logan feeling sick and unable to feel parts of his hands and feet. From being fit and healthy one day to having surgery the next, Logan was so brave throughout everything. Looking back, the diagnosis itself happened so quickly we didn't really have much time to think about it. It was the treatment and the side-effects that were the worst thing. We were told he shouldn't be too ill but he was. There were days when he was so sick he couldn't get out of bed, and he came down with lots of infections and high temperatures. He ended up needing a wheelchair as he couldn't walk, and we all found that difficult as he was such an active boy when he was younger. All I wanted to do was hold him and tell him everything was going to be ok. During those dark times I had to focus on the future, what we would do when he had finished his treatment and life, I hoped, would get back to normal. Doing the school run, rather than the hospital run. It's a lot for a child to go through but even with all the nasty side effects he still smiled through it all. Logan's treatment finished in September last year, and life got back to normal after that. He went back to school, which was amazing. I loved seeing him play with his friends so much! He still has to go back for regular scans, and I find that quite hard, as each time you just hope that everything will be ok. I get so tense, I just can't help it. Advertisement Our next scan is just before Christmas, with the results just after. It's unfortunate timing, and it's always a tricky time, but I am going to focus on making Christmas Day itself as special as possible. And not just for Logan but for all the kids too - we have all been through this together and we all particularly enjoy the school holidays to be together. It's tiring, and sometimes they argue, but I can deal with that! And hopefully these results will be ok and then we can look forward to the New Year in a really positive way. Sri Lanka is a dangerous country, according to people with (unused) passports. I stepped foot in the city of Colombo earlier this year, April 2016 - with a backpack in tow and a clueless approach. I can confirm that the country's capital is chaotic. Upon arrival my female friend and I were offered 'ice'. But I now believe that was a minor misunderstanding between fun-loving foreigners and a lucrative local. In the wee hours of the morning, we were dropped off City Beds - The Regent. The owner spoke excellent English and he conveniently helped us plan our trip. After a quick round of questioning, I'd learned the country's history, politics and (future) policies - including his own too. Advertisement I wanted to see it all. The struggle started with train tickets. We were met with an endless queue of locals and a board that read: SOLD OUT. After asking a series of largely unanswered questions, I found myself being ushered into a side room, plonked on a half-bitten wooden chair and educated on the current train timetable and its capabilities (or lack of) - but we got our tickets, in the end. Tale be (re)told: Keep things simple and ask your hotel to book tickets for you before you've even set foot on Sri Lankan soil. Advertisement Then it happened: The Scam. He didn't work for the Hilton Hotel, nor was he planning on actually taking us to the big, bustling festival that (wasn't) happening in the city that we just 'had to see for ourselves'. He was in fact a persuasive friendly fraudster - they're in any, and every country. According to a local businessman (who stepped in to stop it) we were targeted because we were two young foreign women. Apparently, had we gotten into the tuk-tuk, they'll parade us, intimidate us, and take our money (and dignity?). Welcome to the daily struggle of life as a woman in 2016 - in any, and every country. But it didn't sour our story, and it didn't overly scare us, but it sure did leave us feeling silly. We ploughed on like all wandering women must - with fearlessness. With limited time to spare in the capital, we headed to the Ministry of Crab. It appears to have a heavier footfall than New York's Grand Central Station - so book before you take flight. Coming from someone on an unforgiving backpacker's budget it's a meal worthy of its price tag. All aboard an on-schedule 7AM departure from Colombo Fort, we sat in second-class - open windows, open views - and headed for the city of Kandy. The class system on the trains appears to be non-existent for when the train (cast in beautiful blue) rolled up it was a scrambling free-for-all. Trust me: Take the train. For a whole two and half hours we witnessed an undulating landscape, painted with colourful characteristics. We nestled into The Views, a house built and owned by a local family. It was littered with family photos, memorabilia and home cooking. But, best of all, it captured the city below from a near bird's eye view. Advertisement We set off to go see the Temple of the Tooth. Even the swarms of tourists couldn't extinguish the peace it projected. Monks in bright orange robes roamed. But the surrounding suburbs spoke of severe poverty. In the past, the people and place have been scarred by a long civil war. Arising from ethic tensions between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamil minority in the northeast, but it was brought to an end in May 2009. You can feel its aftermath; you can see the scarring etched on their faces. Even then, it's easy to forget you're in a third world country. Later on, we mingled with other guests - from America, England and Germany - over some authentic Sri Lankan food. The next morning we reached for our backpacks once again. Travelling around Sri Lanka can be slightly problematic, so we were advised to hire a driver to take us to the next train station to head south to Ella. On the way, we stopped off at a tea plantation. Built by the British over 120 years ago it was like taking a step back in time - everything was rusty, creaking, expired. And yet, it worked - all day, every day. We reached the station by 12pm and hopped on the 12:45pm train - the platform was buzzing with tourists all making the same tracks. We crossed paths with two other well-travelled and lovely British girls - also travelling as a duo - they were armed with backpacks and heading for the southern sun. Advertisement The train rolled through the mountains, ever climbing, as people swung with ease from the corroding carriages. Upon reaching Ella, I realised it was (and forever will be) the most incredible 4-hour train journey of my life. Bugs, monkeys and birds encircled our home for the night like curious creatures. We were in Ella River Front; we were in the jungle. We deliberately woke early, grabbing the once-in-a-lifetime citrus-drenched sunrise. After climbing Ella Rock and immersing ourselves in its envious view, we walked the railway tracks like Teddy Duchamp and Gordie Lachance from Stephen King's Stand By Me. It turns out you can have friends like you did when you were 12. We continued on, with the coastline in our sights. The four of us rented a driver to take us all to Tangalle (it's the only way to get there from Ella). He was young, cool and running a few of his own businesses. He spoke of his mum, working as a maid in Kuwait, and allegedly her passport had been taken off her - she was trapped. It weighed heavily on him. He also later confided in us that he'd kept a few hidden Sri Lankan spots a secret - no tourists, no spoilt soil. I nodded with agreement, and I still nod now. If I could offer you one piece of advice: Don't ride an elephant. There's politics, poor treatment and bad people involved in this tourist-fuelled business. Travel with a conscience. Advertisement After two idle days of devouring Dhal curries and coconut rotis, along with lying lazily in the sun, a driver took us to Mirissa. The sun beats strongly down in the south. We checked into Hangover Hostel. It goes against the grain: it's clean, comfortable, cheap and offers castle-like amenities. Run by two friendly Westerners, it's super safe with 24-hour security, and the beach on its doorstep. Helpful hints: Don't miss out on a great meal and enchanting atmosphere at Zephyr Restaurant and Bar and be aware of the sea's currents - they're strong, sudden. Then we took to the train tracks once more and headed north to catch a flight. The staff at City Beds - The Regent kindly allowed us to freshen up before our flight - even calling a taxi for us and waving us off with a gentle smile. Advertisement A stone's throw from both Regents Park and Soho, The Langham takes pride of place in the heart of London's West End. Reputed to be Lady Gaga's favourite London abode, the prestigious hotel has been welcoming royalty, dignitaries and celebrities for over 150 years. The delicious aroma from the huge floral displays hits you as soon as you enter the elegant marble reception area, and gilt mirrors, twinkling chandeliers and sumptuous furnishings create a opulent ambience. Service, as you would expect, is impeccable, with friendly, attentive staff serving guests' every whim. Advertisement The Spa The Chuan Spa sits adjacent to the hotel and specialises in traditional Chinese treatments and medicine. The decor marries the high ceilings and features of the original bank building with calming neutral tones and a hint of The Orient. Tranquil candlelit treatment rooms and a nail bar sit on the ground floor with a wonderful hydrotherapy area housed in the old bank vaults below. Facilities include a swimming pool, jet pool, steam rooms, a Himalayan rock salt sauna and a relaxation zone. The Treatment The Chuan Harmony Massage begins with a health and lifestyle consultation followed by a meditative chanting exercise to calm my mind and body. A relaxing foot cleansing ritual follows, then a wonderful acupressure point massage to open energy channels is combined with a 'freestyle' back massage to work on the areas of tension I'd discussed with my therapist. Advertisement Reflexology and stretching sessions complete the holistic ritual. I left feeling tension-free, calm and re-energised. Hypnotic Chinese music is played throughout treatments and each treatment room has its very own Buddha! Other Treatments Chuan Tao of Detox - A full body exfoliation to stimulate blood and lymph circulation is followed by a warm marine algae wrap infused with aromatherapy oils, to intensify the detox process. Then the body is rejuvenated using an acupressure massage to release energy blockage. The treatment ends with a Thalgo Prescriptive Facial - an intensive hydrating treatment which restores dehydrated skin leaving it deeply nourished. Chinese Medicine, CND manicures, holistic & alternative treatments, reflexology, facials. To Stay 380 elegant rooms and suites span the hotel combining Victorian charm with modern amenities. We stayed in one of the six bedrooms in the incredible Sterling Suite. Complete with a personal butler and its own private elevator, the suite is dressed with bespoke furnishings and styled in honey hues, duck egg blues and sumptuous gold silks. A beautiful art deco dressing area leads through to a huge marble bathroom featuring a tub, a monsoon shower and a generous offering of Asprey and Chuan Spa products. Advertisement Access to The Langham Club lounge is part and parcel of The Sterling Suite, with complementary Champagne, cocktails and canapes served throughout the day. To Eat Celebrated chefs Albert Roux and Michel Roux Jr head up the renowned Landau restaurant serving up classic French cuisine. Head to Artesian for exotic Oriental delights, or the Palm Court for a delicious afternoon tea. Breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and evening canapes are also served in The Langham Club Lounge. Advertisement Words: Lisa Brown I retired from running on October 30th 2016, just after the Sheffield 10k and again the week after when I put in another disappointing run at the Leeds Abbey Dash. It's not unusual for me to throw the teddy out of the cot and many of my friends have heard about me retiring far too many times. The first run, I really had been shit and when I say shit, that is shit even by my shit standards. Have I said shit enough times yet? The second run, I was massively disappointed because I had run this race before and knew that it wasn't a particularly testing route and when I received the official time, it was my slowest there yet. I had felt strong and willing to put the other race behind me but unfortunately yet again it wasn't my day and I wrote my first piece on shit running (Confessions of a Shit Runner) Today, I ran another Sheffield 10k but one that has runners fighting over the 2000 places on offer and despite me saying last year that I would never run it again, I found myself caught up in the drama that was the online entry debacle for the Percy Pud. Advertisement I've only taken part once but been a spectator too and the weather has always been notoriously bad and all in return for a Christmas pud, that I don't even like! Why on earth was I putting myself through this again? My young lad had woken me up this morning at just after six when I was in a beautiful deep sleep; I was not happy. I had told anyone who had cared to listen this week that I had seven days to lose two stone as I thought that may assist me in getting round. My negativity was overwhelming once again and I had convinced myself that I might as well go for the hattrick of shit runs. I had eaten at the right time, made sure I had consumed at least a glass of water and vaselined my lips. What more preparation did I need for a shit run? Well, there lies the story. Something that us women should never talk about publicly for fear of crossing the line and ensuring that we do not let onto the male species that we actually have to deal with these issues. Advertisement The Curse. Well, this is what my Mum still refers to it as but something that many women have to deal with at least once a month and athletes (and Shit Runners) have to just suck it up (not literally) I realised I needed sanitary products, shortly before I met my running hero for the very first time; Rachel from Rachel Cullen Writes. Whilst in the midst of girl crushing over her, I pondered over whether I would ruin this first hook up by asking her 'Rachel, I know I want to discuss a million and one hero-worshipping things with you but do you have any T-A-M-P-A-X?' I decided against it and plotted my next move. I did also think that it would feature in her next blog and if anyone was going get any mileage out of it, it would have to be me! We wandered up to the start line and I snaked across to the first-aid tent and whilst I knew sanitary products didn't feature in an emergency response bag, I had hoped that some kind organised female would have one in her bag. After embarrassingly relaying my story to her she kindly produced something from her bag... A pad. I've not had the need to examine pads for some years but this was as thin as a sheet and I considered whether it was actually an incontinence pad? Beggars can't be choosers though so I thanked her and wandered off with my gift. The start time was drawing closer and I was still wandering around women with bags like someone not right. I approached a friendly group of women and explained very quietly my issue. One of the women looked at me like I was a lost puppy and said 'Oh you poor thing, let's try and get you sorted' and took me over to the rest of the group. I immediately thought I would get sorted by these lot for sure. What happened next totally took me by surprise as I heard the kind lady say very loudly, Advertisement 'HAS ANYONE GOT ANY TAMPAX FOR THIS LADY WHO HAS STARTED HER PERIOD?' Fucking hell, as much as I am now sat here writing about said event and don't embarrass easily, I must have resembled a cherry at this point. Did all of the tent hear? If they did, nobody volunteered any and I made my way to the toilet, wishing this day would just be over with. I even considered just throwing the towel (or pad) in and wondered how I would be able to run with a pad in-situ. I rocked up at the line as it was starting and thought 'fuck it, just run' My race itself was what I pretty much expected but when I checked my watch with 2k to go, I thought I could actually break the sixty minute mark; something I had achieved only once before (the Abbey Dash that I failed at the previous month). I crossed the line to see the official clock say sixty minutes and so many seconds and thought 'balls, not again!' and then quickly realised that I had set off after the gun so I checked my watch and realised I had only bloody gone and done it! The official time came through and I had actually missed my 10k pb by one second but I was chuffed that I had broke the sixty minute mark for the first time in a few years. As any great runner does, I would like to give out my thanks to the following: Kind Lady with pad Girl Crush (I am even more in love with you after meeting you) Harry Gration & Eilish McColgan (for running at what turns out to be the day that I acknowledge I'm not totally shit) Advertisement It is not enough to be a critic. If educators, parents, and students, and progressive citizens are going to transform public education in the United States we have to develop an Anti-Trump Agenda and build an Anti-Trump social movement. Periodically I am asked, somewhat suspiciously, "What would you do if educational decisions were up to you?" In the Wizard of Oz, the Cowardly Lion sings about all the great things he would do "If I were King of the Forest." I am even less likely to be in a position to reshape education in the United States any time soon than let's say Donald Trump was going to be elected President or the Cubs to win the World Series, but these things happen, so let me lay out what I see as a starting point for an anti-Trump education agenda. These are twelve broad ideas to transform education in the United States as part of a broader movement for progressive social change. To borrow from Bernie Sanders, these changes would be "huge" and they will probably require a political revolution. 1. The United States needs a national educational system. Nations with the most successful schools, South Korea, Japan, Finland, all have national systems. A national system makes it harder to ignore the education of students from racial and ethnic minority groups, inner-city youth, and underserved geographic regions. This does not mean all local curriculum and teaching variation will be discarded. It does mean that states and localities that want to go a different path will have to justify decisions. Advertisement 2. The United States needs a national dialogue about the purpose of education. The American people have had bad experiences with Common Core and high-stakes testing because they were imposed from above by politicians aligned with publishers, testing companies, wealthy corporate "reformers," and hedge fund managers looking to make a buck off of kids and the schools. Democratic Party support for Common Core and high-stakes testing was one of the factors feeding into pro-Trump anti-federal hysteria. Before we have another wave of "reforms," bottom-up ground level education assemblies across the country must discuss what school should look like for our children. We should examine things like: "How do children learn to read?" "What does 'college and career ready' mean?" "What is important to know and why?" "What makes a good citizen?" "What are the 21st century jobs students are preparing for?" Education assemblies can become models for all sorts of community-based decision-making. I would invite educators and require politicians to participate in the assemblies, but bar anyone on a corporate or foundation payroll who was not a local resident. I am not a big technology fan, but we could probably include live streaming and interactive programs. 3. The United States needs a universal school funding system. Right now in richer school districts more money is spent per student than in poorer school districts so kids who already have more family benefits get even more from society. Of course, if we want educational equity, the reverse would be true. Kids and schools that need more would get more. Again, local variation would be permitted because the cost of living varies from state to state and within a state, but cost should not determine the quality of a child's education. Advertisement 4. The United States needs full-service schools. When children are hungry and sick they do not learn. If children are going hungry, schools should serve food. When children lack health care, open clinics in the schools. If parents need help, offer job training and placement and have social workers visit homes to provide support. School based parent-teacher councils should meet on a regular basis to address school and community issues as they come up. 5. The United States must reverse the trend toward increasingly segregated schools. Education for democracy means learning to live with and respect diversity, which becomes harder to do when people live in racially segregated communities and children attend increasingly segregated schools. According to research by the UCLA Project on Civil Rights, public schools in the United States are more racially segregated today than they were in 1968. Desegregating schools and creating interracial, multiethnic experiences for young people, will not be easy given current community patterns, but it needs to be a major educational priority. 6. The United States must recognize that education is both a social good and a human right. The United Nations calls education a "fundamental human right" that is "essential for the exercise of all other human rights." Too often in the United States citizens vote as taxpayers not to fund the education of "other people's children." If education is a public good that benefits us all, local funding that burdens communities and turns citizens into taxpayers must be replaced by state and federal funding for education. Public education should provide all the programs and services the children of America's wealthy and influential receive at elite private schools. 7. The United States must keep public education public. Hedge fund supported charter networks and for-profit charter schools that feed off of public revenue have been draining public schools of dollars and higher performing students without any documented evidence that they do a better job. Get business profiteers and hedge fund vultures out of the schools. We should also consider ending direct and indirect subsidies to private and religious schools. They promote racial, ethnic, class, and religious segregation and divide the population when interaction and dialogue are essential for a healthy democracy. 8. The United States must start education early. New York City has had tremendous success with its universal pre-k for four-year-olds. But why start at four? Learning starts at birth and so should education. Universal day care and pre-school will not only benefit children, but will free up more women to go to school and enter the work force and will be a boost in campaigns to end poverty in the United States. 9. The United States must provide free public higher education. If education is really about preparing students for college and careers, to benefit students but also the country, the United States must provide free higher education. In addition to free tuition, Denmark actually provides college students with a monthly stipend. Student debt is crippling an entire generation and is a financial crisis brewing. The best solution, probably the only solution, is free tuition. When I was in college in the 1960s, the City University of New York was free. This shift might hurt private liberal arts colleges that play a vital role in higher education in this country. I propose inviting them to join a new federal college system. Advertisement 10. The United States must stop demonizing teachers. Let teachers unionize so they can more effectively organize to deliver and improve education. Satisfied teachers are on the side of kids and a creative force for improving education. Unions can represent teachers on job related issues and on policy questions in the national democratic dialogue on education. 11. The United States must encourage students to stay in school. Make schools, especially high schools, more user-friendly and less like prisons. Stop the school-to-prison pipeline and get rid of metal detectors and armed security guards. Hire additional teachers to work with special needs students. Treat students like they are our children. Offer paid job experience for high school students modeled on the New Deal 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps tied to regular school attendance and school performance. Invest in extra-curricular activities. If we want to reduce teen pregnancy, we need to provide sex education and full birth control services; it works in other countries. 12. The United States must reverse growing economic inequality. It is a convenient and dangerous myth that schools by themselves can restore opportunity, increase social mobility, and end economic inequality. This myth justifies blaming schools and teachers for poor student performance and justifies government policies that sort people out and blames them for their individual "failure." A major problem facing inner-city minority schools is that they are told, with barely any resources, to somehow overcome problems created by neglect, dislocation, poverty, joblessness, inadequate health care and housing, and community and family deterioration. Fixing education by itself is not going to end social inequality in the United States and cannot be done independent of a broader social movement to transform the country. But addressing education must be an essential part of any progressive movement for social change. The Network for Public Education has an online letter writing campaign pressuring United States Senators to block Betsy DeVos' appointment as Secretary of Education. Click here to sign. I will be joining the January 21, 2017 Women's March on Washington. My poster will read "Defend Public Education - Stop Trump and DeVos." I hope to see everybody there. And no, I do not want to be Secretary of Education in a Trump Administration. Any educator with integrity would refuse the job. That may be why he went with DeVos. This interview is part of a series on Trailblazing Women role models (Entrepreneurs and Leaders) from around the world and first appeared on Global Invest Her. You have to see what you can be. "We are only at the beginning of technology and what we can achieve to craft a better world. I want to be part of shaping that." Rachel is the General Manager and co-founder of BIME Analytics, a pioneer in SaaS Cloud Business Intelligence (BI) startup originally located in Montpellier, France. BIME Analytics was recently acquired by Zendesk in October 2015. Advertisement As a young, female financial controller she saw a real business need for BI tools in the age of Big Data, leading her to found BIME in 2009. The company offers true cloud BI service and was the first front-end analytics partner of Google BigQuery. Prior to BIME, Rachel held finance positions at Carrefour and FM Logistics Russia. She holds a Masters finance degree from the Euromed business school in Marseille. Learn more about BIME Analytics on their website and follow Rachel on Twitter @BIME_Rachel and @bimeanalytics. Who is your role model as an entrepreneur? My role models are: Elon Musk, Jane Poynter, Marie Ekeland, three folks from Denmark who created a unicorn in a very short amount of time in California (Zendesk cofounders!), and Calamity Jane. I am a big fan of space opportunities as a business and what people are trying to achieve there. Elon Musk is investigating options on Mars to also ensure his own children have enough resources when there will be too many people on Earth! Jane Poynter - I love the type of business she is building where everyone will be able to afford a trip into space in future! She did it to shock people, because those who do go to space realise how fantastic our world is and that we really need to preserve it. Getting more people into space will hopefully shock more people into action to realise we are living on a fantastic planet and we've got to protect it. Advertisement Marie Ekeland is a real role model for me. She is a French investor who is passionate about investing in startups and watching them grow. She has been very vocal with the French government to make sure that companies are heard. Marie is a very smart, approachable woman who has that fantastic mix of human magic, pure business and finance who has been very helpful to startups in France. I really like the fact that she started her own fund (Daphni) with more humanity and is a strong women's advocate too. Finally, Mikkel from Zendesk is a role model for me. When they acquired us, they were only two years older than us! It's crazy to see how you can build a business that motivates the team, keeps customers happy and remains cutting edge. My final role model is Calamity Jane! I love what she represented by wearing mens' clothes and helping Native American Indians - she was such a role model from Frontierland, when it was so difficult for a woman to assume that role. What is your greatest achievement to date? "I am very proud of creating real value for my customers and jobs for my growing team. The fact that the whole team of millennials stayed on with us after we were acquired by Zendesk and that after five years we still have the same people on board is something I am very proud of." It's an everyday struggle to keep our team happy, which we do by sharing our ideas and vision. Millennials can be hard to manage because they are so smart, yet they bring out the best in you. This year, several members of the team have had babies - it's wonderful to see the team growing with you - literally! On a personal level, I was so frustrated that our solution didn't exist, that wecreated it ourselves with my cofounder. I am very proud that our customers liked BIME (now Explore as part of Zendesk) from a technology and branding point of view and that our loyal team believes in our vision and sees us all growing. We all know why we get up in the morning - it's a virtuous circle! We try to stay as normal as possible, while keeping a close eye on the big picture too. Advertisement What has been your biggest challenge as a woman entrepreneur? We work in a very male-dominated industry and I took advantage of being a woman to stand out and make a difference in this analytics world. It's hard to smash the cliches - already the software industry is very male dominated, and the analytics space even more so; there are even fewer women there. To be honest, I haven't seen a big difference in then number of women going to analytics conferences from 2009 to today: there are very few women CEO's and women speakers on the topic. It's a pity. In the past, at some meetings with new prospects, many of them didn't realise I was the CEO and would say things like "you are so passionate about your product, your boss must be so proud of you" So many cliches in two sentences! When I told them I was the CEO, they were so surprised. It happens so often, that now I say to myself, 'that's life'! So now I use my gender to my advantage to stand out in this industry, while at the same time not over-playing the fact I'm a woman. I never try to be a victim - I always stand up for myself as a woman. What in your opinion is the key to your company's success? The fact that we have managed to keep the same team for so long means we have been something right! Three things have been key to our success: 1.Internal Communication. Always try to improve it. 2.My cofounder's vision has been key from a technology/product standpoint. 3.Good execution with a long-term and loyal team. Nothing's perfect, but we always try to give the right communication at the right time, be as transparent as possible and keep everyone in the loop. When we were first approached for the at the acquisition, we took the risk of telling the team early in the process, to show them we really trusted them. Good communication is an everyday fight - the more you grow, you need to have communication on a daily basis. We followed our vision from the beginning. A lot of people say you have to really listen to paying customers - we also kept our vision and stuck to it, shared it with the team and made sure they followed it. This transparent communication and bringing talented people to the team to help us sell and grow have made us what we have become. Advertisement If you could do 1 thing differently, what would it be? I would have spent more time on marketing execution from the beginning. Even though we are based in France, we mostly sold our solutions abroad and built everything in English from the start (not French). We were very creative with the resources we had before Zendesk. When you build a business on a global scale you need to have global markets on the other side too. The reality is that companies in the U.S. are better funded than companies in Europe. I should have approached that differently and would have invested in global marketing, sooner. The whole world is your playground when you have a cloud business, which is great in terms of opportunities but you need global marketing as well! I also discovered how you have to adapt your global marketing in different countries. What would you say to others to encourage them to become entrepreneurs? I have two personal mottos: "On est jamais mieux servi que par soi meme" => "if you want something done right, do it yourself." "la valeur n'attend point le nombre des annees" => "value does not depend on how old you are." My younger sister (10 years younger than me) is thinking of starting her own business and was stressing out a lot about how much she didn't know what to do. I told her - think about the problem you want to solve and the product first - you don't need to know everything. You may think you need to go back to school and learn via classes but that's bull**** All you need is talented people and execution - don't spend your time with your head in books - don't be afraid you are too young or old to start! If you are willing to work, are smart, creative, you can start a fabulous business - be sure to focus on execution. How would you describe your leadership style? It's important to stay humble and keep your feet on the ground. Stay humble enough to execute tasks at all levels, while being bullish on important and strategic topics, challenges & targets. When I heard the French President Hollande was going to California with several entrepreneurs, I told my team that we had to be part of this trip, even though it had all been set up. I worked so much on it (= harassed the President's team!) and I did it - was part of the French Delegation representing BIME. My team didn't believe it. I wanted to show them that if you want, something, you can do it! This trip gave us a lot of credibility. It also taught my team that you can always hustle to get things done, don't be afraid to be pushy (without crossing the line and harassing!). What advice would you give to your younger self? "Focus on these things in this order: People, product and profit. You won't find the entrepreneurship recipe in books. Spend your time building your product first, be confident in your vision and execute your business asap, go fast. ..and listen to your paying customers, not the other ones." With my co-founder we won an award from the Ministry of Research that we were able to leverage to on-board business angels early in the process, so I knew I didn't need to be fighting for money to build my business. Be careful not to spend all your time on raising money because it's more fashionable - in reality - it's all about the problem you want to solve and your product to solve it. What would you like to achieve in the next 5 years? Make my family happy (am the proud mother of two beautiful children). Become a great business angel. Become the de-facto online analytics choice on a global level...which is happening thanks to joining forces with Zendesk. We have the same culture fit and vision about analytics, which is enabling us to get from A to B more quickly. I love the fact Zendesk took a bet on us - for me it's like a 'modern wedding'.I am now the General Manager of Explore (former BIME Analytics ) at Zendesk - this is where I want to be and feel at ease to spread our analytics message to the world. 3 key words to describe yourself? Passionate (life is short right ? ) Team first Execution Special mention to my cofounder (who is also my husband). -------------- Watch Anne Ravanona's TEDx talk on Investing in Women Entrepreneurs. This piece was originally published by ergo In 2006, during my junior year in high school, I had a research assignment in my honors Spanish class where I was tasked with writing about a topic of my choice involving Cuba. Since even then I was a hopeless history nerd and geo-political addict, I naturally chose to write a paper comparing and contrasting the Batista and Castro governments. I conducted extensive research (i.e. spending a weekend hitting the library instead of playing video games, watching movies, or socializing with friends. It was "extensive" by high school standards) and hashed out a paper that I was quite proud of. The Human Element of Revolution and Political Violence Advertisement Immensely proud of my paper, I triumphantly turned it in and received a superior grade--complete with glowing remarks from my Chilean-American professor. However, within the week two of our school's other teachers gently pulled me aside in the hallway. They shared with me shocking stories of life in "re-education camps" for dissidents, the stifling of political dissent, and their harrowing journey on the open seas with nothing but hopes for a better future for themselves and their children. They were of course both Cuban-Americans, and to my horror I realized that in my "extensive" desk research I had completely missed an entire side to the story. The human element is always critical foundation of any story, and in the era before extensive blogging and social media, exploring it was certainly considerably harder. Yet I was deeply ashamed and embarrassed at my failure to do so--and could only promise my teachers that if I knew the information they shared with me, I would certainly have written a far more balanced paper. The Developing World's Adoration of Comrade Fidel Almost ten years later, I had the opportunity to learn about yet another dimension to the saga of Cuban revolution. Last year I was given the life-changing opportunity to work on a rule of law project in East Timor for six months. In the world's fourth youngest nation, Cuba is virtually universally loved by everyone. Thus when Fidel Castro finally passed away, virtually all of my Timorese friends shared gushing tributes on social media. They expressed their profound sorrow for and gratitude towards a 90 year old man who ruled another small island nation on the other side of the world for 32 years. Why? There are several reasons why people in East Timor, like the publics of many developing nations adored "Comrade Fidel" and revolutionary Cuba. One of the most important and emotion-laden is the fact that Cuba frequently expressed solidarity and gave diplomatic and political support to countries which waged anti-colonial struggles or wars of independence. This included Cuba's robust support to the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa as well as the brutal liberation war struggle in my native Bangladesh. Beyond such support, Cuba sometimes extended military support and even direct military action to directly assist these struggles, shedding blood and treasure in the process. Advertisement Indeed despite being a small island nation at America's doorstep and subject to one of the most comprehensive embargoes in modern history, Cuba was frequently able and willing to exert political and military clout well above its weight. Such bold assertiveness was often heartening and inspiring to many developing nations, whose publics felt their own governments often had no choice but to chafe to colonial and neo-colonial pressures. The brutalized masses of East Timor found encouragement, solidarity, and support from Cuba in support of their horrific decades-long liberation struggle. When so much of the international community turned a blind eye or outright sanctioned and assisted the horrific Indonesian occupation, a peoples yearning to form a free, independent nation found a reliable friend in Cuba. Statue in honor of slain independence hero Nocolau Lobato Yet this support was not merely limited to the independence struggle. After Timor's independence, Cuba continues to extend significant medical and educational support to the young nation. In 2003 Cuba educated the first batches of Timorese medical students free of charge in Cuba. Cuba also began sent doctors to work throughout Timor with a particular focus on rural areas. After the Timorese government decided to establish its own medical school capable of training 1000 doctors, Cuba lent its educational and organizational expertise. As East Timor's first Prime Minister revealed in his address to Timor's first graduating medical class, this aid far outstripped the aid offered by many developed nations. I saw the work of Cuban doctors firsthand in Timor, and my own doctor was Cuban. Together with internationally funded community health care clinics like Bairo Pite, they serve as a vital foundation to Timor's healthcare system and serve countless patients from some of Timor's most destitute communities who otherwise simply would not have access to healthcare. Havana's "Cuban medical internationalism", which essentially exports medical professionals and services, is a fascinating example of both "soft power" diplomacy as well as a service-based export. Such robust medical aid remains deeply appreciated not only by the Timorese government, but by the Timorese populace on a grassroots level. With both revolutionary political and military support and robust post-revolutionary medical and educational assistance, it's little wonder why so many publics in developing countries around the world deeply respect Cuba--and mourned the loss of their dear Comrade. Advertisement Comrade Fidel versus Communist Strongman Castro When news of Fidel Castro's death first broke out, I didn't quite know how to feel--much less what to write. Indeed I was originally not going to write anything about such a divisive issue, especially since taking any kind of definitive position seems to be a guaranteed way of upsetting at least half of friends and peers in human rights and international relations circles. Yet as I shared my experiences in Timor in an attempt to encourage my fellow Americans and Westerners to be open minded, I soon realized that not writing about such a momentous yet complicated occasion would be a disservice, if not an outright cop-out. How could I expect others to embrace nuance and open-mindedness if I myself was unable or unwilling to try and tackle this issue myself? Thus in addition to briefly sharing my experience in Timor, I began seeking out as many different voices and perspectives as possible. One of the most insightful and thought-provoking pieces I've come across is a thought-provoking Law at the Margins article by Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan, a human rights advocate who has long worked on a number of human rights issues in Cuba. In her piece, Esquire Bannan discusses the unique challenges facing the human rights struggle in Cuba as well as how the US embargo has added to those challenges. For starters, the author certainly has far more moral standing that the US government. Indeed while various officials lecture Cuba on human rights and democratization, it must be acknowledged that they do so from an extremely awkward position while the US continues to operate a veritable torture dungeon in their country. Any exhortations for democratization are now somewhat complicated with the rise of a fear-mongering proto-fascist, whose astounding litany of disgraceful rhetoric and actions have been rewarded with the most important and powerful position of political office. Awkward, to say the least. Flipping the Narrative: Human Rights as Revolutionary Commitments Beyond such insightful political analysis, what I found most fascinating was the article's re-framing of the issue of human rights in revolutionary states: Advertisement "The revolution didn't just happen 57 years ago - it is defended and fought for every day by all of us, but especially by those in Cuba, who actively mold their revolution and government through the many means of actual democratic participation." It seems brilliantly provocative and subversive to re-frame the fight for human rights in Cuba as actually part of the country's revolutionary process. Reshaping the narrative in such a manner is a remarkably innovative and savvy approach that turns the narrative in favor of the citizenry and places the onus back on the authorities. Indeed this struggle for framing--or "propaganda war" if you must--is actually a very important front in the struggle for human rights in post-conflict states i.e. who gets to frame the narrative, and how it's framed. Esquire Bannan poignantly shows how re-framing human rights as a revolutionary commitment that the authorities must live up to is a smarter play than simply allowing yourself and your allies to be painted as "anti-revolutionary" agitators and outsiders without having a compelling counter-narrative. Thus instead of basing opposition to human rights abuses on selective memory-based nostalgia which tapers over the tyrannies of past regimes, it strikes me a far smarter move to use the revolutionary playbook to your advantage. Citizens demanding accountability for the actions of those aspiring to lofty revolutionary ideals--rather than simply allowing them to monopolize the revolutionary narrative--seems to be a superior strategic, pragmatic, and moral option. Complexity and Nuance-based Advocacy Revolutions are inherently complicated, complex, messy affairs with many different competing interests and groups. Perhaps the most important fault lines is the timeless struggle between the elite and the upper class versus the middle class and the poor (the latter two groups not always the closest of allies), as well as the ubiquitous urban vs rural divide. In the case of Cuba, opinions are divided even among Cubans living in Cuba. The plight of political dissidents from all backgrounds who have been imprisoned, tortured, and/or murdered by the regime certainly bears strong weight, but so do the views of rural campesinos and their descendants who may have benefited from certain programs. Both perspectives deserve to be heard, because both sets of lives and lived experiences matter. Here is where I believe historical perspective, clarity and honestly is key. With Batista's regime, there was brutal repression and severe economic deprivation which benefited almost nobody except for a select group of urban elites. The revolutionary government which replaced it certainly features repression and economic woes. Yet it also introduced free education, free childcare, a robust healthcare system, and a deeply popular anti-colonial foreign policy both at home and around the world. There are redeeming qualities in revolutionary Cuba, or at least remarkable accomplishments. While one many certainly conclude that these accomplishments do not outweigh or offset the negatives, they should not be minimized or ignored for the sake of political convenience. Advertisement In a world that can be so Western-centric, transformative figures like Fidel Castro need to be studied, and to draw lessons from their lives and actions. We must endeavor to fully understand the lives and motivations of leaders like Salvador Allende, Jacobo Arbenz, Mohammed Mossadegh, Thomas Sankara, Patrice Lumumba, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Jean-Bertrand Aristide to explore and teach their stories--not just to contextualize the history of their nations and peoples, but also our own. Humanitarian Cooperation over Geo-political Differences Since the 1979 Iranian revolution, Iran and the United States have long been at odds. Both nations have completely different political systems with complex geo-political interests that both conflict and converge. What's more, American President Barack Obama and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are as different world leaders in substance and style as imaginable. Yet at the height of US-Iran tensions in 2012, a remarkable New York Times article came out: "What can Mississippi learn from Iran?" To my complete ignorance, I learned that Iran has an "excellent" and robust community-based health system in which local health care workers serve as preventative care providers: "The Iranians built "health houses" to minister to 1,500 people who lived within at most an hour's walking distance. Each house is a 1,000-square-foot hut equipped with examination rooms and sleeping quarters and staffed by community health workers -- one man and one or more women who have been given basic training in preventive health care. They advise on nutrition and family planning, take blood pressure, keep track of who needs prenatal care, provide immunization and monitor environmental conditions like water quality. Crucially, in order to gain trust, the health workers come from the villages they serve. People who become very sick, or require surgical procedures, are referred up through a single, multitiered system: from health house to rural health center to district hospital." The cost-effectiveness of this integrated system, its expansiveness, and the results it has produced have been quite impressive: "Today, 17,000 health houses serve 23 million rural Iranians. Health disparities between rural and urban Iranians have narrowed; the Iranians have reduced rural infant mortality by 75 percent and lowered the birthrate. Iran's reforms won praise from the World Health Organization, which has long advocated preventive, primary care." Advertisement With rural-urban disparities that mirrors those Iran has grappled with, a group of American health professionals hoped to learn from Iran's primary care system. A delegation of Iranian doctors and health care administrators visited the Mississippi delta and worked with patients who previously knew little or nothing about Iran. Together, they collaborated with a group of American physicians, public health officials, and healthcare workers on designing a system capable of addressing the disparities in rural Mississippi. Even under Ahmadinejad's presidency, such small-scale yet novel cooperation was possible. Now that US-Iran relations are improving (barring any short-sighted and reckless Congressional or Presidential actions), why can such collaborations not only continue but expand? Indeed Cuba also has a dynamic community-based healthcare system which has achieved remarkable progress in a number of health indicators. Why can the US not also take advantage of this historic thawing in relations to work with Cuba in a variety of areas? What is stopping the US from putting aside political differences in the interests of improving lives and advancing humanity's prospects? "We must be mindful of potential drawbacks of big data, especially those related to data privacy and research ethics. When big data is used to determine children's educational pathways and thereby their future, or influence teachers' careers in education, we have crossed the line of appropriate use of big data in education." -- Pasi Sahlberg Would small data help accomplish what is called Good Data in education? Education systems around the world use big data such as standardized tests, school inspections and surveys to measure learning outcomes. Pasi Sahlberg believes that good education must be evaluated from a variety of evidence which includes both the quantitative and the qualitative. He argues that in order to understand how well schools are doing, we also need to collect "small data" using teachers' and students' "observations, assessments and reflections" of the teaching and learning processes in classrooms. Small data is not a new idea of course. What is new is the technology that can now support this kind of analysis. Are school-based formative assessments better than standardized ones? What are some great examples of how small data is being used effectively in schools? Small data requires more trust in teachers' and schools' judgments, so how do we build that trust in education? Joining me in The Global Search for Education to talk about data is Finnish educator Pasi Sahlberg, author of Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland. Pasi received the 2012 Education Award in Finland, the 2013 Grawemeyer Award in the United States, and the First Class Knight of the White Rose of Finland in 2013. Advertisement Pasi, can you talk about the difference between big data and small data? Big data is a commonly used term in daily discourse that often comes with a label that big data will transform the way we think, work, and live. For many of us, this is an optimistic promise, while for others it creates anxiety and concern regarding control and privacy. In general terms, big data means data of very large size to the extent that its manipulation and management present significant practical challenges. The main difference between big and small data in education is, of course, the size of data and how these data are collected and used. Big data in education always requires dedicated devices for collecting massive amounts of noisy data, such as specific hardware and software to capture students' facial expressions, movements in class, eye movements while on task, body postures, classroom talk, and interaction with others. Small data relies primarily on observations and recordings made by human beings. In education, these include students' self-assessments, teachers' participatory notes on learning process, external school surveys, and observations made of teaching and learning situations. "The OECD's data, including those from PISA, is used by policy-makers to decide the directions in their own education systems based on what seems to have worked in other countries. Again, big data analysis alone without small data will probably lead to unintended outcomes in practice." -- Pasi Sahlberg How do we use big data currently and what are its strengths and drawbacks? We are entering the era of digital technology mediated learning environments in education. Promises that come with this revolution state that big data will lead to more powerful personalized learning, active student-centered pedagogies, responsive formative assessments, and increased overall efficiency in education. This said, big data in education can be seen as a purposeful or incidental recording of activity and interactions that provides variety and large amounts of analyzable data in digitally mediated educational environments. This requires new forms of 'data skills', especially syntheses and presentations that have led to the emergence of two new fields: educational data mining and learning analytics. Advertisement Educational data mining focuses on interpreting evidence from large amounts of noisy and unstructured data, for example, correlations between student behavior and learning. It answers questions like, "What sequence of study is the most effective for a specific student?" and "Which actions indicate student engagement and satisfaction?" Learning analytics is more concerned about applying tools and techniques of larger scale in educational settings, answering questions like "When is a student at risk of failing the course?" and "What grade is a student likely to receive without intervention?" By definition, big data offers more versatile information about teaching and learning situations that can be used for tailoring more personalized learning solutions for students. Big data in education opens new doors also to researchers. Perhaps the greatest value of it, as Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis conclude in the article, Big Data Comes to Schools, is "the possibility in any particular case to analyze a variety of data types using a variety of methods, cross-validating these against each other in a more powerfully holistic, evidence-based repertoire of research practices." At the same time, however, we must be mindful of potential drawbacks of big data, especially those related to data privacy and research ethics. When big data is used to determine children's educational pathways and thereby their future, or influence teachers' careers in education, we have crossed the line of appropriate use of big data in education. Another example of an emerging big data system in education is OECD's Education GPS that hosts massive amount of data from education systems around the world. The OECD's data, including those from PISA, is used by policy-makers to decide the directions in their own education systems based on what seems to have worked in other countries. Again, big data analysis alone without small data will probably lead to unintended outcomes in practice. "Small data can help teachers to understand why some students don't learn as well as they could in schools better than big data that most often show whether students learn or not what they are supposed to learn." -- Pasi Sahlberg Advertisement What are some concrete examples of the use of small data that you have seen in schools? My favorite example is from my own time being a mathematics and science teacher in Helsinki. As so many of my colleagues, I soon realized that there are many students who don't like these subjects. They thought that mathematics and sciences are too difficult to learn and often distant from their daily lives. One of the first things I learned in my classrooms was that many students, probably most of them, have self-created conceptions of science and images of mathematics. Students' inner worlds are very difficult to capture in any other way than by helping them to think hard about their own minds and try to turn these thoughts then into tangible representations, such as stories and drawings. I spent a lot of time then collecting small data, in and out of my classroom, to understand students' own ideas about the mathematical and scientific worlds. Only after knowing what students imagine when they think about what mathematicians do (most of those are not positive images at all) I started to find better ways to make the world of mathematics accessible and understandable to students. Small data can help teachers to understand why some students don't learn as well as they could in schools better than big data that most often show whether students learn or not what they are supposed to learn. What kinds of data are we currently analyzing? What kinds of data should we be looking more closely at and why? I have seen a notable shift during the past decade or so from teacher-collected evidence through classroom-based assessments toward digital technology mediated data. At the same time, standardized tests have become a central tool in collecting these data. Schools around the world now post their students' test results in school. Teachers spend more time analyzing these data and trying to make sense of what the results mean in their own work with students. I am not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing. But if teachers are steered by external data from standardized knowledge tests and inspection reports, it undermines the complexities of teaching and learning in schools. There are school systems where much broader sets of information are analyzed and used to guide the work of the school. In Finland, a central element of each school is a "student welfare team" that is made of teachers, wellbeing specialists, counselors, and school leaders. Through these first-hand small data, early interventions to help students at risk are then decided and made in schools. This team meets regularly, in most schools weekly, to discuss and process information brought in by teachers concerning their students' wellbeing, behavior, and learning in schools. Advertisement "In Finland, trust in schools and education in general began to flourish soon after the government allowed schools to design their own curricula (steered by national framework curriculum), to evaluate the effectiveness of their own work, to control their budgets, and to professionalize the middle level leadership." -- Pasi Sahlberg Do you believe that school-based formative assessments are better than standardized ones? School-based formative assessments and census-based standardized assessments serve different purposes. I think that we need them both. However, in many countries, system-level standardized tests that are used to measure all the students all the time could be gradually replaced by higher quality sample-based assessments. Teacher-led formative assessments should enrich the evidence that schools use for improvement purposes. In a way, this is a sensible combination of big data and small data to accomplish what is sometimes called Good Data in education. Can students' reflection on their own learning be incorporated into our standards of achievement? Good learning includes students' ability to understand and regulate their own learning process. This requires, however, that students have rather developed metacognitive habits and skills to understand how they learn. Students' reflection on their own learning can be incorporated into judgment of student achievement as soon as these skills exist at an appropriate level. Again, I believe we are talking about the conditions of using small data for student evaluation here. Small data requires more trust in teachers' and schools' judgments about what they do. How could trust be built in education? Trust is perhaps the most needed single ingredient missing in many education systems today. Politicians don't trust educators. Ministers can't rely on school principals. And, as a consequence, there is a lack of trust in teachers who, in turn, can't trust students. Experience suggests that trust in people and in institutions can only be built by genuine deeds that give them more responsibility and agency. Advertisement In Finland, trust in schools and education in general began to flourish soon after the government allowed schools to design their own curricula (steered by national framework curriculum), to evaluate the effectiveness of their own work, to control their budgets, and to professionalize the middle level leadership. Ceremonial speeches and political appeals have had diminishing impact on changing the culture of education in this respect. When schools have real ownership and responsibility for small data, I believe professionalism in schools will be enhanced. That is one of the conditions before trust in our teachers will start to grow. C. M. Rubin and Pasi Sahlberg Join me and globally renowned thought leaders including Sir Michael Barber (UK), Dr. Michael Block (U.S.), Dr. Leon Botstein (U.S.), Professor Clay Christensen (U.S.), Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond (U.S.), Dr. MadhavChavan (India), Professor Michael Fullan (Canada), Professor Howard Gardner (U.S.), Professor Andy Hargreaves (U.S.), Professor Yvonne Hellman (The Netherlands), Professor Kristin Helstad (Norway), Jean Hendrickson (U.S.), Professor Rose Hipkins (New Zealand), Professor Cornelia Hoogland (Canada), Honourable Jeff Johnson (Canada), Mme. Chantal Kaufmann (Belgium), Dr. EijaKauppinen (Finland), State Secretary TapioKosunen (Finland), Professor Dominique Lafontaine (Belgium), Professor Hugh Lauder (UK), Lord Ken Macdonald (UK), Professor Geoff Masters (Australia), Professor Barry McGaw (Australia), Shiv Nadar (India), Professor R. Natarajan (India), Dr. Pak Tee Ng (Singapore), Dr. Denise Pope (US), Sridhar Rajagopalan (India), Dr. Diane Ravitch (U.S.), Richard Wilson Riley (U.S.), Sir Ken Robinson (UK), Professor Pasi Sahlberg (Finland), Professor Manabu Sato (Japan), Andreas Schleicher (PISA, OECD), Dr. Anthony Seldon (UK), Dr. David Shaffer (U.S.), Dr. Kirsten Sivesind (Norway), Chancellor Stephen Spahn (U.S.), Yves Theze (LyceeFrancais U.S.), Professor Charles Ungerleider (Canada), Professor Tony Wagner (U.S.), Sir David Watson (UK), Professor Dylan Wiliam (UK), Dr. Mark Wormald (UK), Professor Theo Wubbels (The Netherlands), Professor Michael Young (UK), and Professor Minxuan Zhang (China) as they explore the big picture education questions that all nations face today. The Global Search for Education Community Page The resistance by the Standing Rock Sioux nation and its allies to the proposed Dakota Access pipeline routing signaled a new stage in evolving community resistance to fossil fuel extraction and transportation -- but also reveals some ugly fissures within America as we enter a four year, almost certainly traumatic presidency. Standing Rock has been the largest, and one of the longest, Native American resistance protests in modern America. It differs from earlier fossil fuel protests like those against Keystone XL or Shell's basing Arctic drilling vessels in the Port of Seattle because the protesters attempted to physically disrupt the construction, not just symbolically protest it. They have succeeded, for the moment. Months ago construction slowed, Corps of Engineers permits were suspended, and the President had already called for consideration of alternative routes. Native American vetoes of fossil fuel projects had become an acknowledged part of the regulatory and permitting landscape in Canada, but only recently have the tribes inserted themselves routinely into these processes in the US. They have some won victories already, as when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied the permit for a coal and oil export terminal at Cherry Point, Washington, saying the project would impair fishing grounds guaranteed to the Lummi Nation by treaty. The backstory of the project is particularly outrageous; alternative routings that would have avoided the Standing Rock issues altogether appear to have been rejected by the Army Corps and the developer, Energy Transfer Partners, because they might threaten water supplies for Bismark, North Dakota -- a conscious decision to put an Indian nation at risk to protect a non-Indian community. Energy Transfer Partners appears to have tried to cover up evidence that the construction was disrupting sacred sites and actually faces fines from North Dakota as a result. And both the State and Energy Transfer have persistently treated the Standing Rock Sioux as one among many stakeholders who should be expected to participate in the regulatory process designed by North Dakota, rather than as a sovereign nation whose rights were, at the very least, in dispute, and needed to be negotiated. Indian advocates point to Standing Rock as evidence of a broad consciousness among Native Americans of the need to see the fight against fossil fuel development as continental. By September, more than 300 tribes had gathered at the protest camp, at the confluence of the Cannonball and Missouri Rivers, along with numerous non-Indian supporters like a contingent of Catholic workers. Standing Rock organizers cite the evolution in Canada of a multi-First Nation alliance to resist any and all projects that would increase production of oil from the Albert tar sands. The first version of this treaty was signed in 2013; the latest, signed last September, and has now grown to link 112 Canadian and Northern US tribes in a united front to oppose all pipelines or other infrastructure which might facilitate increased tar sands production. (Their opposition is critical because Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, last week approved two pipeline expansions serving the Tar Sands, expansions which would enable an additional 900,000 barrels of oil a date to reach US and world markets, significantly increasing the likely price tar sands producers can get for their product, and the amount of it they can pump. But the First Nations will continue the fight.) In response to the Standing Rock ongoing protests, The New York Times intensified its coverage of the resistance, including the first of two full throated editorials calling for the pipeline to be rerouted. Then, on the night November 20, police surrounding the protesters escalated their tactics and crossed the line into brutal crowd suppression. In the words of a second The Times editorial denouncing the actions, "They drenched protesters with water cannons on a frigid night, with temperatures in the 20s. According to protesters and news accounts, the officers also fired rubber bullets, pepper spray, concussion grenades and tear gas. More than 160 people were reportedly injured, with one protester's arm damaged so badly she might lose it." By the standards of historic violence against Native Americans, this is small bore stuff -- nothing like Wounded Knee for example. But it has been some time since peaceful protesters in the United States were met with such violence. A recently established norm -- that Americans may disruptively protest as long as they are peaceful without fearing police violence -- broke down. After the brutal events of November 20, the first instinct of the Corps and the State were to intensify the crack-down. The Corps declared that it would shut down the camp-site where most of the protesters have been housed, and that any who remained would be subject to arrest for trespass. (This was stunningly tone deaf after the events in Eastern Oregon where right-wing ranchers armed with guns and openly threatening violence were permitted to occupy a federal wildlife refuge which also was the home to important sacred sites without being arrested for months.) The State of North Dakota followed up by ordering the protesters evicted because their dwellings were not adequately winter-proofed. Both the Corps and North Dakota backed off slightly in the days following, the Corps making clear it would not forcibly evict protesters even if they were trespassing, and the State clarifying that it's "blockade" of food and other supplies would be enforced with a threat of fines, not by actually physically obstructing access. Two thousand US veterans organized as Veterans Stand for Standing Rock, agreed to serve as human shields for the protesters to avoid the kind of violence that flared up on November 20. Then came Sunday's stunning announcement. In some ways Standing Rock is a Native American version of Gandhi's 1930 Salt March -- and while the Trump Administration is likely to try to ram through the permits needed to complete Dakota Access, it's similar efforts to revive Keystone XL are triggering vociferous opposition from Nebraska ranchers, unlikely partners with the Sioux, but symbolic of a new and emerging coalition. And Gandhi did not succeed in undoing the Salt Taxes -- his game was much bigger, intensifying Indian resistance to British rule. Standing Rock, even if the pipeline gets built, seems likely to have had that impact across a wide swathe of Indian Country in the US. Ed and Cathy Kangas Were Joined by Senator Bob Kerrey to Raise Money for Equine Therapy for Veterans with PTSD. Photo by Annie Watt Those who serve in our military deserve our support, particularly those who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). According to a Rand Corp. study released in 2008, 20 percent of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD, but 50 percent of them do not seek treatment because of the stigma associated with mental illnesses. They often self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. Families are destroyed and communities lose those who could have made valuable contributions. What is more tragic is through 2014 each day some 20 veterans committed suicide. I believe each of us needs to step up and help our veterans. I recently joined with former U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey for a program providing equine therapy to veterans with PTSD. Sen. Kerrey was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery during the Vietnam War when he lost his leg from the knee down. He went on to serve in the Senate and was the Governor of Nebraska. He knows firsthand the obstacles veterans face when they return home and how devastating a diagnosis of PTSD can be on a soldier and his or her family. Advertisement The US Department of Veterans Affairs reported that equine therapy is effective in treating combat veterans with PTSD and other mental illnesses. Winston Churchill said: "There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man." My husband Ed and I support Squirrelwood, a 100-acre 501(c)(3) charity located in Montgomery, N.Y., about an hour from midtown. It is run by Beth and Diane, who live on the farm and have rescued horses, rehabilitated them and adopt most of them out to families giving them "forever homes." Recently a good friend of Beth and Diane, Christine, a clinical social worker, decided to start a program of equine therapy for her patients suffering PTSD as a result of their service in Afghanistan and Iraq. She observed that horses that have been abandoned, sold for slaughter, mistreated or simply neglected had their own form of PTSD. She brought one of her PTSD veterans - a young man with a wife and son - to Squirrelwood. Christine and the soldier went to a field with three rescued horses. She told the soldier to pick out a horse that reminded him of himself; a horse that represented his post-deployment self. Horses are highly reactive and mimic human emotions. The horse the soldier approached swung his head, pushed his hand off and walked away. The animal responded to the fear and anxiety the soldier projected. Christine asked the soldier how that made him feel. He responded: "This horse does what I do, he pushes people away and acts aloof, but actually he is insecure, frightened and wants to belong." Advertisement She told the solider to go back in the field and approach the horse with this better understanding of his raw vulnerability and emotions. The horse sensed that something had changed. He stood still and allowed the soldier to gently caress him. The two just stood there breathing life into their new bond. Working with the rescued horse was a major breakthrough for the young soldier. The soldier's wife cried and told Christine that she believed had the horse had saved her husband and her child's father. Christine has used equine therapy with other veterans with the same marvelous results. Our vision for Squirrelwood, which Bob Kerrey shares with us, is to have a program for other social workers to reach more veterans with PTSD, who can benefit from equine therapy at Squirrelwood. We want to reach out to veterans group in the area. It is our hope that someday veterans will be able to stay at Squirrelwood when they participate in equine therapy. Beth Hyman, Christine Bruckner and Diane Butler Photo by Annie Watt At the moment we are starting small so that Christine, Beth and Diane can continue their work "Helping Horses: Healing Heroes." We want to raise $300,000 for them. My husband and I are going to match the first $100,000 pledged. At a small fundraiser in New York, Bob Kerrey talked about his experience being severely wounded and what it was like to go through both physical and mental rehab. He is passionate about helping veterans and believes in the tremendous contribution that a small organization like Squirrelwood can make to soldiers with PTSD. One of the soldiers that Christine helped at Squirrelwood also spoke about how a horse helped him ease back into society. By Christopher Zoukis Rather than slackening off as the Obama administration nears its final days, the clemency initiative announced in April 2014 for federal is picking up speed. From the Oct. 1 start of the current fiscal year until two days before Election Day, the president had issued 272 sentence commutations -- nearly one-third of its total up to that time. On election eve, the sentences of 72 inmates were commuted, followed by 79 more Nov. 22, bringing the total for the Obama administration to 1,023, exceeding the combined total for commutations issued by all 11 presidents from Harry Truman through George W. Bush. Of Obama's clemency grants, thus far 342 have gone to inmates serving life sentences, and most recipients were serving lengthy sentences for nonviolent, primarily drug-related, offenses. But what will happen to the commutation movement after Trump's inauguration? During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump generally sounded a get-tougher line on criminal law, but had relatively little to say on Obama's clemency program. What he did say, however, sparked fears among advocates of decriminalizing or reducing penalties for drug offenses, or adopting new approaches to incarceration. For example, at a town hall event in New Hampshire two days before that state's primary election, Trump said the approximately 6,000 inmates released after the Obama administration revised some drug sentencing criteria in 2015 would soon "be back selling drugs." More recently, at an August event in Florida, the GOP candidate described some of those released under the clemency program as "bad dudes," before sarcastically telling his audience to "sleep tight, folks." Advertisement Another troubling sign to advocates of criminal justice revisions - such as those in a now-apparently stalled bill introduced in Congress last year with substantial bipartisan support - was the president-elect's announcement he would nominate Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) as his Attorney General. Sessions has been a consistent proponent of strict drug penalties and an opponent of reducing mandatory minimum sentences. Once in office, Trump cannot reverse clemency grants issued by Obama, but can, if he chooses, quickly reverse executive orders issued by his predecessor. In fact in several areas -- such as executive orders for more lenient treatment of young persons not legally in this country, and their parents -- Trump has explicitly promised he would do so. Some of the executive orders are already being halted by court orders. Obama administration executive actions taken through regulations, however, will likely have to go through a similar rule-making process in order to be undone. As for the clemency program, Obama's White House counsel has said the president, even though a lame duck, will keep on granting clemencies in his final days in office. The Department of Justice official who announced the clemency program adds that the president is aware how deeply a clemency grant can improve the lives of not just inmates, but their families as well. That is not enough, however, for some clemency advocates, who are publicly urging Obama to issue blanket clemency for whole classes of federal inmates - prominently, those who were already serving long sentences for crack cocaine offenses before 2010 -- when Congress passed and Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act, which brought penalties for crack more in line with those for powder cocaine, but was not retroactive. Advertisement Among the many questions Donald Trump will have to consider when he takes office in January is whether to keep trying to prosecute the five alleged masterminds of the 9/11 terror attacks in the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay. The case isn't expected to go to trial until 2021 at the earliest. Because the pre-trial hearings are hidden at Guantanamo, and because progress in the case is so mind-numbingly slow, it's unlikely anyone advising Trump has ever actually seen one of these strange spectacles. But they should. Because what the hearings reveal is a complete failure of this makeshift justice system, invented and revised three times since the September 11 attacks. It has accomplished almost nothing. Advertisement Indeed, while federal courts in the United States have completed over 550 terrorism cases since 9/11, military commissions have completed just eight. Three of those have been completely overturned -- and one partially overturned -- due to fundamental legal problems. Perhaps the only significant thing the military commissions have accomplished is to highlight how the U.S. government's torture of detainees has obstructed its ability to bring them to justice at every turn. It's yet another reason Trump should think carefully before trying to bring back any of these so-called "enhanced interrogation" techniques. To be sure, it's still not impossible to try these five self-proclaimed terrorists in a legitimate court of law. In 2009, the federal government transferred Guantanamo detainee Ahmed Ghailani to New York for trial in a civilian U.S. federal court. Accused of participating in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, Ghailani was tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison within a year and a half. Because he'd been tortured in CIA custody, the government agreed not to seek the death penalty, which would have focused attention on his mistreatment. And federal judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that the prosecution could go forward despite the abuse and the government's delay in bringing Ghailani to trial. Although captured in 2004, Ghailani was kept in a secret CIA prison for two years and then brought to Guantanamo in 2006. Advertisement Critics of the Obama administration back in 2009 were outraged that Ghailani was brought to U.S. soil to stand trial, claiming it would make the New York courthouse a terrorist target. In fact, the trial proceeded peacefully, without a single security disturbance or even the inconvenience of a street lane closure. The 9/11 trial, of course, is higher profile, at least in theory -- although most people don't know pretrial hearings are taking place at Guantanamo these days because they've dragged on for so long. But U.S. federal courts have successfully handled hundreds of terrorist trials on U.S. soil before, safely convicting and imprisoning the likes of al Qaeda leader Ramzi Yousef, perpetrator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed; the so-called "shoe bomber" Richard Reid; and many others. Since 2010, Congress has banned the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States, even for trial. President Trump could perhaps convince members of Congress to change that, since it was largely instituted to stop President Obama from fulfilling his campaign pledge to close the offshore prison. Monday's 9/11 hearing was centered on whether one of the detainees is physically able to sit in court without excruciating pain following the rectal surgery he needed after "aggressive" rectal searches performed on him in a CIA prison. Secretary John Kerry and Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry Sign Cultural MOU Secretary John Kerry and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry signed the first bilateral agreement between the U.S. and an Arab country to protect cultural heritage at a ceremony in the historic Treaty Room of the U.S. State Department this week. Such :Memoranda of Understanding (or MOUs) are a little used but effective diplomatic tool for the United States, especially given the threat now facing the Middle East and North Africa's long and significant history from a rampant black market in plundered ancient art. But more importantly, in addition to safeguarding the past, these agreements also close the enormous U.S. art market to illicit antiquities that may be funding terrorism. The romanticism of Egyptian history--from the boy King Tut and his golden tomb, to Cleopatra, and the Great Pyramids, which are now the sole remainder of the ancient wonders of the world--is celebrated around the globe. Yet during Egypt's time of political crisis, organized criminals began to chip away at these tangible representations of these legends. Today, ISIS threatens to bomb the Pyramids--and has made several failed attempts. Protecting culture is an important end in and of itself. Add the potential for violent extremist organizations using illicit antiquities to support terrorism, and it is essential that the United States close its borders to becoming a funding source for these violent causes. Fortunately, the legal tools exist, as today demonstrates, as well as the necessary political will to take action. Advertisement As Secretary Kerry eloquently stated at the signing ceremony, "I think it's a good moment for Egypt, the United States, for the region, for us to make it clear that these antiquities are priceless treasures that do not belong to traffickers and crooks and should not be sold illegally and bought by wealthy people to hide away somewhere. They are the antiquities that belong to the world, that have been protected and should be protected by an old civilization. And so I think this is a great step forward." I have spent the last five years shuttling back and forth between Cairo and Washington, DC, and know that there are many in both countries working tirelessly to protect our shared heritage. During that time in Egypt, The Antiquities Coalition has worked through two Revolutions, three different governments, six Ministers of Antiquities, and six Ministers of Foreign Affairs. While the names may have changed on the door, the support for protecting their heritage never wavered. The same dedication exists in the State Department and several of the archaeological organizations. The signing of this agreement demonstrates the seriousness with which both Egypt and the United States take this threat. Egypt's action, as a historic leader in the region, will set a new standard for others to meet. Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Mali--all face similar threats to their heritage. And steps should be taken to more fully enforce the existing legislation protecting Syrian and Iraqi antiquities, including additional training for Customs and Border Enforcement at key transit points into the United States. "We hope that it becomes a roadmap for the protection of these antiquities to preserve them for generations to come and to preserve them against the treachery of those who want to destroy them and to wipe out this commonality of our humanity," said Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry. Advertisement Civil wars, atrocities, ethnic cleansings and mass migration are the most visible signs of the post-Arab Spring Middle East. Where there were such high hopes, there is today despair and destruction, and it is all the result of the collapse of the Arab state system as was shaped up first with the Mandatory system after WW1 and subsequently the Independence era. One of the most dramatic outcomes of this state of affairs, though not necessarily the most talked-about, is the complete inability of the Arab states to deal with their own affairs, and the regional complications caused by that. Two non-Arab Islamic powers, the Shi'ite Islamic Republic of Iran and the Sunni Turkish Republic are fast becoming the real, ultimate arbiters of Arab problems. Let us have some historic context. Turkey of the AKP under President Erdoghan may still be the Republic of Ataturk, not the New Ottoman state envisaged by Erdoghan, but for all intents and purposes, it is speaking and acting as THE defender of Sunni Islam in the old territories of the old, Sunni Ottoman Empire. Iran, for her part, is the force claiming to represent the Shi'ites of the Middle East, in Iraq, Syria [the Alawites are NOT Shi'tes, or Muslims altogether] and Lebanon, and while the two powers bend over backwards to evade a blatant sectarian discourse, the gene of sectarianism is out there, for all to realize. The Ottomans, it should be remembered, never managed to defeat Shi'ite Persia, and Iraq was the border line between the two powers. Nowadays, we are witnessing a Shi'ite resurgence, and the border line between the two great currents of Islam are not at all clear, and that is a sure recipe for troubles.What is clear though is, that two important Sunni Arab states, Saudi-Arabia and Egypt are playing a second pedal in current regional Arab politics. The former is simply too weak to live up to its image. Yes, it is the land of the Holy Places, the land of Wahabbism, the land of oil and the riches it brings, but overall the Saudis are weak militarily, hesitant politically and in a constant state of anxiety about their internal stability. The concession to Iran in the most recent Opec tug of war over production quotas, the poor performance of their air force in Yemen, and the capitulation of their client Sa'ad Hariri to the Hizballah in Lebanon, are clear indicators of their growing impotence. It is in this context, that the intense and relentless rumors about Saudi overtures towards Israel may seem to make sense. If the Arab state system is in shambles, and the US policy [ at least until now] is unclear, so the old rule of the enemy of my enemy is my friend, seems to make sense. Egypt is undergoing a major economic crisis, fighting terrorism in the Sinai Peninsula and internal challenges posed by the Muslim Brotherhood. There is a huge vacuum, the exact type of situation which calls for foreign intervention. Iran and Turkey fill this vacuum, and they have contradictory visions about the future of the Middle East. What many people view as the surprising election of Donald Trump to the presidency offered few surprises on college campuses. Already seen as bastions of political correctness and dams on the flow of controversial ideas (especially those interpreted as too conservative), many campuses around the country experienced predictable tumult after Nov. 8. Reports abounded of cancelled classes, postponed exams, special counseling and calls for safe havens for those offended by the prospects of a Trump administration. Students took to their campus quads with chants of "Not my president!" Not since the Vietnam era, perhaps, has any national event so galvanized undergraduate protest. Responses to these cries seemed, for the most part, predictable. Social media postings worried about an apocalyptic Trump administration, while producing other admonitions to students to grow up, accept the election and move on. The Washington Post reported Nov. 16 that an Iowa legislator intended to introduce a bill that "would take aim at state universities that offer election-related sit-ins and grief counseling beyond the resources normally available to students." Institutions deemed guilty of "coddling" their students could suffer budget cuts, The Post noted. Advertisement As to the likely consequences of the presidential election, many of my colleagues around the country agree that it's too early to tell what the future holds for higher education. I recently wrote in Inside Business that federal student aid, loan repayment and the increasing regulatory climate will be likely areas under discussion. New and controversial federal regulations on overtime as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which were due to take effect this month, have been postponed by a preliminary court injunction. We college presidents are hearing suggestions that the Trump administration will fully gut the regulations after his inauguration. In the meantime, I joined a number of my fellow college presidents in expressing concern about the incoming administration's views on the environment (specifically human-caused global warming) and also postelection rhetoric and violence. More than 100 college CEOs signed a joint letter to the president-elect, urging him to "condemn and work to prevent the harassment, hate and acts of violence that are being perpetrated across our nation, sometimes in your name, which is now synonymous with our nation's highest office." Some postelection public statements by college and university presidents have drawn fire, however. The Nov. 30 edition of Inside Higher Ed notes the "unusually pointed" comments of "a sitting college president," Columbia University's Lee Bollinger, "who issued a statement the morning after the election calling for freedom of thought, tolerance and reason before later publicly denouncing Trump at an awards dinner." Advertisement The article suggests that campus presidents "remember the existence of different groups when they speak. Trustees may view a situation differently than faculty members, who may view it differently than students." Most of us who are veteran college presidents learned that lesson years ago. Despite the postelection turmoil and the real uncertainty of a new administration's impact on higher education, however, it's important to remember that colleges and universities -- like our nation -- have weathered far worse disruption, controversy and anxiety. Amid the spread of campus political correctness, with which I have some longstanding issues, the disappointment of many in the election and nascent student activism, our institutions represent some of the best opportunities for the liberation of thought and informed, vigorous debate. We should welcome our students' concern, remind them that the long view of history may offer instruction and comfort, and encourage them not necessarily to "grow up" but to continue to grow intellectually. Trump might be scary, but a far more frightening prospect is the loss of institutional viability through excessive government regulation, lack of affordability, the expensive amenities "arms race" among colleges for fewer available undergraduates and continued erosion of public confidence in the value of a college degree. These underlying issues, which have preceded Trump and are likely to succeed him, pose the greatest threats to American higher education. I am hopeful that our nation will take these long-term threats seriously, regardless of who is in residency on Pennsylvania Avenue. ### Dr. Scott D. Miller is President of Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk/Virginia Beach. Previously, Dr. Miller served as President at Bethany College in West Virginia (2007-15), Wesley College in Delaware (1997-2007) and Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee (1991-97). Advertisement After reading all of the post-presidential election excuses concerning the reasons for the failure of Hillary Clinton to win the White House, which virtually all seem to center on the failure of democrats to find solutions for the White working class, see for example, I remain disappointed with a reality many people of color were reminded of on November 8th. Donald Trump ran and won because of the power of hate, bigotry, and White Supremacy. As a reasonable thinking person of color that was mortified by the weekly disqualifying statements by Trump, aimed at virtually every vulnerable minority group in this country: i.e., the physically disabled, Arabs, Muslims, Latinos, African-Americans, and women, just to name a few, I sincerely believed reasonably-thinking people would come out in huge numbers to reject bias. I thus volunteered hundreds of hours on the Clinton Campaign, doing everything from poll watching, to phone banks to writing op-eds both in English and Spanish. My sense was that Democrats, and people of color in particular, were motivated to reject the hateful rhetoric stemming from the other side. Indeed, I perhaps foolishly, like so many other pundits, predicted in both English and Spanish the Latino electorate would come out in massive numbers to reject bias and bigotry. See here for example, and here. Advertisement Like millions of others, and virtually every news account and prognosticator in the country, I was dead wrong on the election results, and what actually was reasonable thinking in our times. What the days since have reminded me was the place, people of color, in general, and Latinas and Latinos specifically, currently hold in this society. Many of us were lulled into thinking our world had changed, perhaps in part due to the two-term election of Barack Obama as our President. We naively believed our world and country had progressed and would act rationally to reject the cornerstone of the Trump campaign--rhetoric centered on White Nationalism. What our collective Psyche failed to appreciate was that the White majority in fact acted rationally--they came out like locusts to reject the inclusiveness of the progressive agenda of Obama, the Democrats, and other left of center groups throughout the land. However, November 8th reminds us we should not forget-- through the annals of time leaders from Gloria Steinem, Malcolm X, Cesar Chavez to Harriet Tubman have noted that both freedom and power is not given up freely, it has to be fought for and taken. On November 7, 2016, the vestiges of self-interest, and hegemony (perhaps explaining why so many White women were okay with such an embarrassing misogynist candidate, and how 18% of Latinas and Latinos were okay with the unprecedented hateful and demeaning words directed at them and their brothers and sisters) showed their strength in the reclaiming of "their America." For the rest of us, I have a response, perhaps to give us a moment of optimism as we prepare to face challenging days ahead: to use the vernacular of my old inner city New York neighborhood: "no worries, I got you." You see, I, along with all reasonably thinking progressive people, know the era of successful institutional bias is in the midst of ladder chapters of the annals of U.S. history. You see, the demographics of our populous and in fact the power of education is not with them. We know an ill-equipped egomaniac unqualified candidate running on his nauseating ego and the interim power of hate will not succeed. Yes, he will be the president, but his self-interest, vanity, and shameful arrogance will hurt millions. We, however, will still be present ready to stand up for the voiceless and be "presente," using that old Caribbean sentiment to be counted upon to ensure our narrative of inclusion, love, and reasonable thinking will be this country's lasting legacy after the failure of hate. (Original Caption) 2/21/1958-New York, NY- Gambler Meyer Lansky jauntily descends stairs at Manhattan Arrest Court. He indicated he intends to resume his gambling activities in Cuba, despite Cuban interior minister Santiago Rey's announcement that Lansky would not be re-admitted because of his difficulties in the United States. He has been persistently questioned in connection with the murder of Albert Ansastasia. The death of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has provoked intense commentary, but one story we haven't heard much about is how Castro's rise brought about one of the greatest business reversals in the history of American capitalism -- and, now, perhaps a comeback? In the 1930s, with cash aplenty from Prohibition and gambling illegal in most of the United States, American gangland syndicates burned with twin desires: new investment opportunities and the chance for legitimacy. Advertisement New York-based racketeer, Meyer Lansky had wanted to "go legit" from the time he was a straight A student in grade school. Lansky, whose previously undiscovered diaries I first wrote about in 2001, fulfilled his dream in Cuba. Few people know that he bet almost everything he had on that hot-blooded island. Cuba became a mob magnet because every illegal dollar stuffed into a suitcase on American soil became clean the minute a courier touched down in Havana, ninety miles off the coast of Florida. This transaction was captured in The Godfather Part II when Fredo Corleone brought such a suitcase for eventual delivery to Lansky's movie avatar, Hyman Roth. Mob bosses could legally own entire hotel-casinos in Havana and even report income to the Internal Revenue Service. They could also hold legitimate jobs. Lansky's salaried title at crown jewel of gambling palaces, the Riviera, was Kitchen Director. And, ever fussy about his customers' satisfaction, he genuinely kept tabs on the food service, too. Castro, born into wealth, cited the mob's partnership with Cuban strongman Fulgencio Batista as a primary justification for his revolution against capitalism. To add insult to injury, when Castro descended upon Havana from the countryside in late 1958, his men literally brought pigs and other farm animals into the fancy American hotel-casinos. When I spoke about the historical novel I wrote about Lansky in South Florida not long ago, I was approached not only by the children and grandchildren of Havana casino investors, but by passionate Cuban-Americans in exile who reminded me of their participation in the pre-Castro Cuban economy. Doctors, lawyers, restauranteurs, tailors, artists -- Castro destroyed their livelihoods and their lives. Said one man, "Mr. Lansky drove rented Chevrolets and brought jobs. Fidel wore army fatigues for the cameras, but lived like a king, killed my friends and neighbors, and put everybody out of work. Fidel was the real gangster. Everything Lansky did is legal now." Advertisement From the 1930s to the late 1950s, Lansky directed the inflow of tens of millions of dollars from the back alleys of American cities into Havana casinos like the Riviera, the Nacional and others. That was serious money in those days. The Cuban mob casinos reached their zenith in the late 1950s diverting funds away from Las Vegas, which held rewards, but also risks. While the Las Vegas casinos were mob-controlled, on the heels of the Kefauver congressional hearings on the rackets, they had to operate under American law where the mobsters were considered "undesirables." Most were banned not only from ownership but from even setting foot in casinos. Moreover, most of the mob's income from Las Vegas came from "the skim," cash illegally taken from the counting rooms and distributed, tax-free, to mob bosses. With a few exceptions, in Las Vegas, American gangsters were still criminals. In Havana they were shareholding partners and executives. Lansky did not see himself as a gangster; he saw himself as a private equity manager from brutal origins who grew what was to become the mob's biggest legal business: travel, tourism and gambling. He told friends and family he was no different from American moguls whose fortunes had had their provenance in illegal or questionable tactics. He named Rockefeller, Bronfman, Kennedy, Annenberg in particular. He secretly wanted but never received acceptance from the American power elite. In Godfather II, Fredo's suitcase never got to Hyman Roth. In real life, those suitcases found their way to Lansky who believed for too long that American power would overwhelm the rebels. It was a bad bet. When Lansky died in 1983, it touched off a frantic search for his assets, valued by a muckraking reporter in the hundreds of millions. His family found none of it for a simple reason: They didn't have it. Lansky and his partners like Vincent "Jimmy Blue Eyes" Alo had bet the house on Havana and lost it all. If you want to see their fortunes, go to Google maps and look up the Riviera and other hotels where they had interests, assets that would be worth billions today. As Lansky said after fleeing Havana -- and nearly dying of a heart attack in an oxygen tent in Miami Beach -- "I crapped out." I'm Fred Raillard, Creative CEO, Co-founder and Creative Chief Officer with Farid Mokart of FRED & FARID, a social, content, tech solutions for brands company based in New York, Paris and Shanghai. #FredinChina is an essential social media podcast to know and understand the world's largest economy. I fell in love with China, and live in Shanghai with my wife and three sons since September 2012. With my teams at the FRED & FARID Shanghai agency we monitor, analyze and decrypt this ultra-connected China with nearly 800 million netizens by sharing what we see, hear and read on Weibo, WeChat, Huaban, Youku. I prepare this column with Zhuomin Qin from FRED & FARID Shanghai. Thanks to Zhuomin Qin, Feng Huang, Jalila Levesque, Jules Chaffiotte, Radouane Guissi, Yi Zhang, Ying Zhang, Aliou Maro, Tina Liu, Louis Caudevilla, Dushan Karageorgevitch, Jing Qian, Jonathan Roy, Maxime Aubanel and Antoine Robin for their participation to this chronic. Advertisement Click here to listen to all the podcasts. 'Circles' newest feature turns Alipay into a hook-up app The HotBrand of the week is Alipay, the payment system of Alibaba. Alipay publicly announced the launch of a new social media service called 'Circles'. 'Circles' is similar to 'Groups', where people can post pictures and content to 21 different 'Circles'. 18 of these 'Circles' are extremely normal where anyone can post content, but 3 of them are very special as only women can post content, and only rich men can like, comment and reward those women for posting content. This became very viral as sexy, half-naked women invaded those 3 special 'Circles', and posted extremely sulfurous content. The comments were pretty crazy as well, coming from crazy and very excited men! Alipay then went public to say that they will cancel this service in the future. WeChat fundraising for girl's leukemia treatment sparks controversy amid false financial claims The HotTopic this week is Luo Yi Xiao, a 5-year-old girl who has leukemia. The story made 90 million media impressions on one hashtag, and 60 million on a second hashtag, and 55 thousand discussions. Advertisement Now the father of this little girl launched an operation on WeChat to touch people's hearts, and raise money to help his daughter. He told the story of how he lost his job a year ago, and how he just does not know how to help his daughter. A financial company called Xiao Tong Ren decided to help the father, by saying that they would give him 1RMB for every re-post of the story. The father ended up raising 2 million RMB ($400,000) for his daughter, but some people started an investigation into him, and discovered that he was not at all poor, owning 3 apartments! They also discovered that social security was actually covering 82% of his daughter's expenses, so he only had to pay 36,000 RMB to help her. They even discovered that the father was a personal friend of the financial company, Xiao Tong Ren who became involved in this operation for the sole purpose of looking good PR-wise. This was all very shocking for the Chinese, and the father had to go on social media and apologize, saying that he would give this money to an established leukemia fund. A famous Chinese legend turned into a Hollywood manga on social media The HotPost of the week is Water Margin. This is an old and famous legend in China during the Song Dynasty. It's also a very popular book about 108 outlaws who went up into the mountains (Mount Li On), to form a kind of army. Now the Government at that time, decided to hire the outlaws to help them fight foreign invaders, instead of killing them. The outlaws went on to become very famous popular heroes. This went viral this week because some young people took some original pictures of some of those outlaws and used Photoshop to insert the heads of some famous Hollywood actors. It was very funny and really well done. Even the choice of actors in relation to the outlaw was very appropriate. The hardest trend this century is big data analytics--analysis of highly voluminous, various, veracious, rapid data--to produce high-quality insights into practically anything previously thought impossible to do so in short periods of time. These insights are valuable to companies across industries both because of their real-time nature, reflecting changes in a specific market, government regulation, or pieces of legislation that can either make or break a company's bottom line. More to the point, big data analytics focuses on formulating insights around pain points in any industry in days to weeks, which would otherwise take years, through the analysis of data of all types--structured (like text in a Word document), semi-structured (like an Excel document), or unstructured (like pictures or radar) data. More than ever, companies of all sizes are looking for greater and more reliable information to use to undergird their cashflows and execute on their goals. A $122 billion market as of 2015, investment in big data companies by venture capitalists alone last year reached $6.64 billion, indicating both the strength of these technologies, and the idea that big data isn't going anywhere anytime soon. It also suggests that startups are the leaders of innovation in this area. Big Data analytics is a hard trend, and huge recent investments in technologies it powers shows that companies will only continue to adopt big data technologies as time goes on. Yet despite this, since the beginning of this trend, large companies have found it difficult to integrate such advanced technologies into their often clunky legacy systems. And, while some engineering labs are excelling in this area, it's mainly big data startups that are driving the majority of the innovation in this area. Unsurprisingly, New York City is a haven for these types of entrepreneurs, and the fact that VC investment in big data trumps investment by everyone else is telling. New York-based CB Insights, the leading venture capital database backed by the National Science Foundation, sloughs all things financial data from the web and makes it accessible to venture capitalists, private equity professionals, entrepreneurs, corporate strategists, and beyond. With products like Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, FactSet taking up most of the market share in the data analytics space, though, it's easy to expect CBI having a hard time delivering valuable solutions that finance professionals don't already have access to. Yet Anand Sanwal and Jon Sherry have a different way of going about things. Instead of just delivering real-time analytics, CBI has created a blue ocean by delivering predictive analytics on imminent technology trends, allowing VC firms, investment banks and funds to stay on top of trends to make targeted investment decisions based on predictive information. Indeed, since its inception, CBI has racked up $10 million just in its Series A round, allowing it to expand while steadily increasing its product offerings to circumvent otherwise stifling competition. Where CBI is focused on data insights, Beta NYC is focused on community empowerment by providing data science, civic tech, and open data for the NYC tech community. More and more, entrepreneurs are incorporating social good into their missions and Beta NYC has capitalized on that trend to bring together data companies that empower local communities. Some companies, while not currently headquartered in New York, do business here that affects everyone, and New York companies are taking notice of not only they themselves, but the value they can add as well. Washington, D.C.-based Quorum, a government data analytics platform, has quantified the relationships between elected officials on every level--local, state, and federal--and builds software based on those data analytics to enable anyone to influence the legislative process with powerful tracking, targeting, and outreach tools. Users can track legislation and dialogue in Washington D.C. as well as in all 50 states, leverage quantitative analytics to identify potential champions, and help advocates easily contact legislators and their staff. They recently unveiled Quorum Grassroots, a suite of grassroots advocacy tools that help organizations to identify their most active supporters, educate advocates on the issues that matter most, and provide them opportunities to take action by easily writing, calling, or tweeting their legislator from any device. Quorum has several clients in New York City who use these tools to track legislation, identify champions, and empower advocates to take action. One such client, All In Together, uses Quorum to track federal legislation and to organize grassroots actions among female leaders. Any advocate can sign into All In Together's Action Center to learn about specific policy issues and then take action, supporting All In Together's vision to see more women engaged in politics. Altogether, Quorum's mission is to make it easier for anyone to influence the legislative process. As innovators in the government technology space, Quorum continues to gather new data and build additional tools to help both professionals and everyday citizens understand what is going on in legislative bodies across the country, and become more effective at influencing policy. Stay posted as we dive deeper on some of these companies in the coming weeks! Digital Art: Isabel Rimanoczy A couple of years ago I ended the last chapter of my book, "Big Bang Being", citing Chris Bache and his suggestion that we might be entering the era of Homo Spiritualis. It may sound strange at a time when just skimming the news we get a feeling of chaos and profound disruption of the world as we knew it: whether it's because of the impact of external factors - fires, droughts, flooding or earthquakes-- or because of human created conditions-- migrations, extreme violence, far-right movements, or the clash between the gas and oil industry and people standing up to protect nature. In contrast, as I was attending the Companies versus Climate Change Conference over the past days, I was delighted to see the increasing number of corporate examples of businesses that are using innovative practices and developing products by screening all their decisions through the filter of sustainability and ecological footprint. Young entrepreneurs and large corporations alike, they were a testimony to behaviors and mindsets that are reshaping the business world. That came only a few days after over 300 business leaders had signed and submitted to president-elect Trump a petition to respect the Paris Agreement and continue supporting the US environmental actions. The former Rainforest Alliance President and current Director of the Center for Sustainable Business at NYU Stern, Tensie Whelan, reminded the audience concerned with the potential impact of the new administration on climate initiatives, that, of the US latest GDP of close to US$ 18 trillion, US$ 15.6 trillion came from business in the US. Business is not waiting for the Federal Government to tell it what to do, and today less than ever. Advertisement Now we may raise an eyebrow at the thought that any 'values' revolution can be spearheaded by the power of corporations. But let's ponder for a moment what business is about. First, it is a compound of large, medium and small enterprises, which in itself has a number of implications. Small enterprises are usually very sensitive to local needs, and tend to develop products or services addressing those needs. Larger enterprises on the other hand have a broader perspective, since they have to understand the needs of diverse markets: regional, national, and international. Innovations that reach higher environmental standards tend to act as benchmarks and open the path for replication in other places, therefore raising the bar globally. Second, whether large or small, business is the in-between factor between nature and consumers. As Tedd Saunders, Chief Sustainability Officer of the Saunders Group of Hotels put it, Nature is a strategic factor, which his business clearly learned as, first hurricane Sandy, and later an intense snow fall, left one of the chain's hotels without power for six days. And consumers are being educated on the corporate practices behind a brand in their shopping cart, an education that in some cases influences decisions, and in other cases creates an uncomfortable tension. Some consumers might feel "I don't like to fuel my car at the gas station because I don't support the dirty energy industry, yet I cannot afford a Tesla or the inconvenience of biking". That tension, sooner or later, is seen as an opportunity for innovators, who find niches that are just waiting for new solutions. A recent Xmas video by a Spanish initiative showed different young people struggling with what gifts to buy for the holidays, for their parents, girlfriend, sister or grandparents. Each one of them came up with a great idea, and as the presents were unwrapped, we could see the joyful faces. "You can wear any of my clothes", was the message for a sister. "I will go back to having dinner with you on Fridays", was the message for the grandparents. "I will switch off my phone for our meals", was the gift for the parents. The bottom line was: in this holiday season, don't buy stuff. Make yourself the present. Advertisement The 2012 Mayan Prophecy indicated that humanity would enter into a new phase of evolution. If we look at the troubling news, showing us injustice, violence, and much suffering caused by our short-sighted actions, we may be led to think that the evolution is spiraling downwards toward chaos. However I see something different. I see that the exposure of unfairness and injustice is today more than ever shaking us up, like a drama that is too strong to ignore. For the first time in history 195 countries agreed on something: the urgency to protect the planet and to act with no delay. The American clothing company Patagonia announced that all its Black Friday revenue, which they estimated at US$2 million, would be donated to grassroots nonprofits working on the front lines to protect our air, water and soil for future generations. In fact, the sales reached US$ 10 million, indicating the value based behaviors of their customers, speaking with their feet and wallets. What I see is that- intentionally or not- we all are individual triggers, with our reflections, blog posts, pledges, campaigns or conversations with our friends. Perhaps we are discovering that we have been shaping the world with our actions, and that means that we can start shaping it as we really would like it. Now, that is what I call the Values R-Evolution. Worth a try. Federal judge tells Chiquita it must face human rights allegations in the U.S. After years of litigating against Chiquita on behalf of Colombian villagers terrorized by Chiquita-sponsored death squads, a federal judge denied the company's latest attempt to get rid of our case and escape justice. We will now be moving forward with discovery, to trial, and (we expect) to justice for our clients. The legal decision is important for the farmers, workers and labor organizers who endured killings, disappearances and violence without remedy, and for those of us who have worked so hard supporting them. Chiquita has thrown one obstacle after another in our way in order to avoid facing these villagers in court. Most recently, the banana giant argued that the case should be heard in Colombia. It did so even though Colombia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for human rights defenders and Chiquita has no assets left in the country. The judge said "no". We all know about the sad reality and deadly threats that earth rights defenders face across the globe. But this case sends a clear message that companies cannot escape justice in the United States by forcing victims and survivors to litigate in countries where those defenders are threatened. The judge discussed the grave and dangerous context in which human rights and environmental defenders do their work in Colombia, and cited these risks as a key factor in his determination to allow the case to proceed in the U.S. Advertisement The decision also stands as warning to companies that strip their assets from a country after causing harm there. We have witnessed Chevron's boomerang strategy - where it shut down its operations in Ecuador, successfully kicked a pollution case brought by indigenous Ecuadorians out of U.S. courts, only to a reject a judgment reached and approved at every level of the Ecuadorian judiciary (the company's chosen forum). And while Chevron has been able to avoid paying on its liabilities thus far, U.S. companies will now have a harder time replicating that strategy. One of the other key bases for the Florida judge's decision was the fact that Chiquita had no assets left in Colombia. The HistoryThis is a decade-long case, and some background is probably necessary. In 2007, Chiquita pled guilty to financing the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia ("AUC"), a Colombian paramilitary and designated terrorist organization. Chiquita had, for years, made illegal and regular payments to the AUC, totaling around $1.6 million. During that time, the AUC killed and terrorized thousands of civilians in Colombia's banana-growing regions, where Chiquita operated. While the company admitted guilt and paid a $25 million fine to the Department of Justice, they have not paid a cent to the thousands of victims murdered with their aid. So, some of the victims' surviving family members, represented by my organization EarthRights International and others, sued Chiquita in a U.S. court. For almost a decade, we have been litigating this case, as Chiquita has tried time and again to have the case thrown out of court. Read more about the case, here. Companies cannot flee from the law: Forum Non Conveniens"Forum non conveniens" means "inconvenient forum". The basic principle behind the doctrine is that a judge may dismiss a case it should otherwise hear if there is a better place for both parties to litigate the case. But they are only supposed to do so when the plaintiffs can actually bring a case in the other forum and that forum can provide real remedies to them. Advertisement Unfortunately, courts - that are either protective of corporate interests or just trying to clear their dockets - have been far too willing to grant forum non conveniens motions. And, powerful companies have used that willingness to get transnational human rights cases kicked out of U.S. courts. We have seen this tactic before. For example, Occidental Petroleum tried to send the Achuar's contamination lawsuit back to Peru even though they had closed their operations in that country. In that case, we were able to beat back their attempt to dismiss our case and deny our clients access to justice. But many plaintiffs do not have that luck. And here is the challenge: those plaintiffs have often been unable to file new cases in their home countries because it is too dangerous, the judiciary too corrupt or because they cannot find lawyers to represent them. For Earth Rights Defenders, This Decision Matters. A company cannot flee justice in the United States by pointing to another forum where earth rights defenders are under threat and killed with impunity. Colombia is one of the most dangerous places for human rights and environmental defenders--and their lawyers. As the federal judge recognized, "[b]etween 2009 and 2015, at least 335 human rights defenders were murdered" with impunity. In Antioquia - the region where many of our clients live - there were 95 attacks in 2014 alone. Colombian lawyers that have bravely chosen to represent victims seeking reparations have been targeted and disappeared with alarming frequency. A survivor should not have to choose between seeking justice and staying safe, and neither should a lawyer. We argued in our legal briefs that when defenders are under siege in their home country, the company cannot get rid of the case in the U.S. simply by suggesting that plaintiffs can litigate in those dangerous places. There is Hope. I don't doubt that the results of the U.S. election will embolden corporations that seek to turn a profit without regard for the communities that they harm or the environment that they degrade. But this just makes our job more important. And successes - like the one that we enjoyed last Tuesday - will serve as a reminder to those corporations that they cannot escape justice in the U.S. Advertisement When I began studying computer science in the 80s at Berkeley, I found the first quarter of my studies incredibly challenging. Evening after evening, I spent time in a basement computer lab, creating Fortran punch-cards in order to run programs. We created these cards by hand on one machine before submitting them to another machine for testing, at which point wed learn if our program worked or if we had to debug them, which involved creating more punch-cards. In those days, computer programming involved quite a bit of manual labor! It was lonely and uninspiring work, and I wasnt very happy. I spent quite a bit of time questioning whether or not I had chosen to study the right thing. Especially surrounded mostly by men, I didnt have a lot of people with whom to talk to about my frustrations. Not only new to the school, Id only been in the country for a few years, too, and computer science itself as a field of study was so fresh and new at the time that there werent role models to which we could turn for advice. Without such examples, I found it hard to see how my lonely work making, testing, and debugging punch-cards could translate into a meaningful or inspiring career. Seeking advice, I approached my father. He had urged me to study CS, while my mother wanted me to be a doctor. In fact, every time I became frustrated with my CS studies, shed urge me to study more chemistry. (I really didnt like chemistry.) To keep me motivated, my father gave me a classic set of computer science books that showcased concepts beyond those covered in my introductory class. With the ability to see beyond my immediate, lonely punch-card work, and knowing that I wouldnt drop the class, I chose to power through. With the basics of programming under my belt, things quickly started looking more interesting. My a-ha! moment came in the following quarter as I took the next set of CS classes, which related to discrete math. A prerequisite for certain CS classes at the time, discrete math is a lot like solving puzzles. Ive written before of my love for and skill at chess, and, finally, I found a hook for my interest in CS that felt much like that familiar enthusiasm for chess. Relating to computer science through math and seeing patterns with which I was familiar, I felt more confident. Advertisement Its long been my belief that good computer science requires good visualization -- that good programmers can visualize good code like one might visualize moves in a chess game. Im good at that, and I began to enjoy CS quite a bit with that connection made. And it helped that my future classes no longer involved punch cards as we moved on to interactive terminals. Classes also got a bit more competitive as the program progressed, and competition is something that always has motivated me to do my best work. Also, that same semester, we learned about Turing machines, which totally fascinated me. From books, I had heard of Enigma, the machine that Turing build to crack the Nazi crypto-codes during WWII. With more context, I began to have an appreciation for the power, beauty, and elegance of Alan Turings invention, which lies at the foundational principles of modern computers. The ongoing centrality of Turings model to computational complexity theory is something Im glad I came to understand before the evolution of modern technology. I look back on the lessons of my early days in CS often -- really, anytime I start something new. The beginning may not be exciting. As time goes by, however, I get more excited about learning deeply via the outliers method, Malcolm Gladwells theory that you have to put in 10,000 hours to get really good at something, especially if youre going to be a trailblazer in it. If you get through the basics and if you have confidence in yourself and in your choices, youll go much farther than you will if you allow your focus to be on speed. Rather, when you start something new, give it time to gestate. Stick with things. Persist. Work hard. Find your connection, and foster it so that it deepens. Anything worth building a career in is going to require commitment to develop richly. If you make that commitment resolutely, youll reach a point from which you wont look back. Reactions to the death of Fidel Castro Ruz have highlighted some of the differences in the way the Cuban revolutionary and long-time head of state is perceived throughout the world. Most of the world admires Castro and Cuba as having accomplished something heroic by standing up to a bullying empire of immense power, defending the country's national sovereignty, and living to tell about it. Not to mention the millions of people aided by Cuban doctors and health care workers and other acts of international solidarity that are perhaps unrivaled in modern history, especially for a nation of Cuba's size and income level. In the belly of the bully, things look different. And we are not just talking about Donald Trump's impolite rant upon Castro's death, true to form and pandering to the waning but still influential Republican base of right-wing Florida Cuban-Americans. From the New York Times subhead of its obituary for Fidel: "Mr. Castro brought the Cold War to the Western Hemisphere, bedeviled 11 American presidents and briefly pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war." Advertisement Let's look for a moment at one piece of this unintentional humor: just who brought the Cold War to this hemisphere? A few years before the Cuban revolution, Washington overthrew the democratically elected government of Guatemala under the false pretext that it was a beachhead of Soviet Communism in the hemisphere. This ushered in nearly four decades of dictatorship and horrific state violence, which the UN later determined was genocide. In 1999, President Bill Clinton would apologize for the US role in this genocide. France has an undeniably deep love for food, and it is no coincidence that foreigners rave about our passion for fine food and creativity. Indeed, we are addicted to exquisite tasting food, which we adore sharing with the world. Unesco has even registered "French fine food" as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. This may raise a smile, but it's backed by a strong gastronomic reputation. We here at Business France promote France's economic image to an international audience. So as to build foreign investment and partnerships, we naturally showcase the agro-food industry, highlighting creativity and performance from innovative companies and their products, but also industry analysis and figures. Here are just a few. The French agro-food industry, comprised of 17,600 companies (90 percent of which are micro-businesses and SMEs), is one of the pillars of France's exports. It is the largest French exporter, shipping $64 billion (60 billion) worth of goods in 2015, and in balance of trade, it ranks third with a $9.76 billion (9.1 billion) surplus (2014 data), just trailing the aeronautical and pharmaceutical sectors. And as food goes hand in hand with packaging, France is the third largest exporter of packaging material, two-thirds of which is used for food. Advertisement While these figures reflect the industry's good health, other items underline the fact that there is a French food model that is firmly rooted on a wide selection of products from a diverse agricultural heritage combined with an innovative industry that is adept at satisfying new consumer food demands. The Paris International Food Show was dreamed up and created by the French and after 50 successful years, it is now the leading food innovation event. There are 7,000 exhibitors from 100+ countries and this year, 600 innovative products and ideas will be unveiled. Rungis, the largest fresh produce market in the world, is an example of this innovation. The company is now exporting its model and expertise, and it has been taken up in China and Russia. France is blessed by an unmatched reputation and know-how in food. It is renowned for the top quality and diversity of its offering. It is world class in its capacity to combine innovation with tradition, and this will grow in the future given that food is certainly an issue that grips society. Today we eat well and we eat better, rather than just eating to live. The French agro-food industry needs to rise to numerous challenges, including meeting demand for new consumer tastes and needs, while also keeping an eye on food safety concerns, the predicted population growth and the need to protect the environment. While justified, they point to future food. By opening new fields, these challenges give French companies a chance to shine and demonstrate their boundless capacity to innovate. Smart French food has arrived. We know, for example, that world demand for proteins will soar 40 percent by 2030, and French food companies are getting creative as to how to fill this demand. For instance, French company Micronutris manages Europe's largest insect production plant. Roquette, another French company, has opened its first center for growing micro-algae. We know that niche foodstuffs (to meet demand for specific foods or nutrition) are on the increase. Advertisement With the French Institute of Agronomic Research (Institut national de la recherche agronomique) and the French Institute of Health and Medical Research (Institut national de la sante et de la recherche medicale), France boasts world-renowned food research. But what attitude should we adopt towards the worldwide digital revolution that is transforming how societies live and eat? All observers agree that France is best placed to become a FoodTech champion. France is one of the top five countries for the food industry and startups today, meaning there is no shortage of ideas when it comes to improving the food supply chain. Dr. Nabil Ebraheim would like to thank his employee Cherie Martzke, for her contribution to this article. Most stingrays have one or more barbed stings on the tail, which are used in self-defense. They will not attack humans but they will defend themselves when threatened, especially when stepped on (Figure 1). Advertisement Stingrays cause around 1,500 injuries per year and are caused by puncture from their strong serrated, boney spines or barbs. The tail contains a sheath that will discharge venom once it is ruptured (Figure 2). If you are stung by a stingray, clean the injury with soap and water. Make sure the spine is completely removed and use hot water (45C or 110F) in order to decrease the pain caused by the poison (Figure 3). Venom from the stingray is thermolabile, which means that it will decompose with heat. The foot or leg is the most common area affected by these injuries due to stepping on the stingray which causes the tail to be thrust upward and forward. Effects of the venom include constriction of the blood vessels and tissue necrosis. The patient will feel extreme pain and may experience edema and swelling (Figure 4). Sometimes a fragment from the barb may be stuck inside the wound and this may cause an infection. Advertisement Surgical exploration may be needed and the use of ultrasound is helpful in detecting the barb fragment (Figure 5). The patient will typically recover with a positive outcome. Fatalities from there types of injuries are rare, but are possible, such as the case of Steve Irwin. In order to prevent stingray injuries, it is recommended that before entering the water you look for posted warning signs (Figure 6). Before entering murky water, poke around with a stick. Keep away from or be aware of stingray gathering places, especially under piers and shallow water. Wear protective water shoes, boots or stingray guards. Never swim over moving stingrays. Slide your feet along the bottom as the stingray will notice your presence and swim away. A Patient Testimony While working on this article, Cherie Martzke, an employee of Dr. Nabil Ebraheim, volunteered to share her story. We have been given permission by Cherie Martzke to publish her testimony. My name is Cherie Martzke. In April 2013, I was stung by a stingray while vacationing on the Gulf coast of Florida. I was initially treated with antibiotic therapy, unfortunately this failed. I developed an abscess at the site and required surgery. I live in Toledo and I am an employee at UTMC. Dr. Ebraheim immediately recognized the severity of the infection and took me to surgery. He performed two I&D procedures as well as a wound vac application. He continued with ACell therapy. As seen in documented photos the infection took most of my tissues exposing several tendons. He kept reassuring me that he would heal me and save my foot. Dr. Ebraheim provided me with amazing surgical care and follow up care. In time, he was able to grow enough new tissue to close my foot! Today my foot is completely healed. I have no issues regarding pain, scar tissue, or range of motion. I am able to run, exercise, and wear all types of footwear. I credit Dr. Ebraheim's advanced knowledge and surgical skill for saving my foot and ultimately giving me my way of life back. I will forever be grateful for him. For more information, visit my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/nabilebraheim Aleppo: These days we hear the name of this Syrian city over and over, in the seemingly endless reports of horror. How can one live and work in this city? What's the situation for children living in Aleppo? In the post below, our colleague from UNICEF, Basma Ourafli, gives us a glimpse into daily life in the city and life before the war. What reads like a horror novel is reality in Aleppo. Advertisement As a former English teacher, I'd always loved hearing my students tell their stories. Since I came to UNICEF last year, I've had the chance to speak to kids that I wouldn't have otherwise encountered. Many of the children I met were grateful that they were able to tell me their stories, and described to me how they cope with the reality of this barbaric war. Life in Aleppo is extremely difficult. In the beginning, it was difficult for everyone to come to terms with the situation. But over time, we've learned to deal with it. A father and his son fill up bottles with rainwater out of a bomb crater. Sanity water is hard to come by in Aleppo, which is especially dangerous for children. Advertisement Before the war, we always had enough electricity and water. These days, we rely on candles. There's usually only electricity for a couple of hours a day -- and sometimes none at all. The water situation is similar. Before the war, it was completely normal to just turn the tap on at any time. Now we conserve every drop. Every family in Aleppo has a water tank, and when it's empty, we have to improvise. If you wander into a kitchen in Aleppo, you'd see bottles, bowls, and pots, all filled with water. It's unbelievable how well these children cope with anxiety. Maybe they don't think about the future as often as adults do. Getting out of the house is dangerous because of the constant shootings and bombings. Before the war, I'd meet my friends outside, we'd laugh, chat, and tell each other the latest stories. Now I stay home. Most of the time we have no idea what's going to happen the next day. I remember Ramadan last year, just as we completed the fasting period. It was dark when the shooting started. We were scared and didn't know whether or not we should run. The only thought I had was: "Am I going to survive the night?" Advertisement There are no safe spaces for children or families in Aleppo. In mid-September the kids had a few days off for Eid, the holiday that marks the end of the month of Ramadan. But instead of playing with their families in pretty new clothes, they stood in long lines under the harsh sun for hours to fetch water. Then the fighting broke out again. It was a terrible time, with so many dead and injured. There are no safe spaces for children in Aleppo. It's heartbreaking to see homeless children and families on the street -- they live in mosques, schools, or in broken busses. It's unbelievable how well these children cope with anxiety. Maybe they don't think about the future as often as adults do. We've learned to value the little things in life, which we usually take for granted. We value every moment. At the end of October, I was confronted with the full extent of horror this war has brought to the children. It started like any normal work day. Around 8 o'clock, my colleagues at UNICEF informed me that there had been an attack near the Hatem Attai Elementary School. We immediately ran to the Razi Hospital -- one of only two functioning hospitals in Aleppo. We feared the worst. Nothing can prepare you for the sight of a hospital in a war zone. I saw people in tears who had just lost their family members. I saw people covered in blood. On the ground lies the notebook of Lamar, an 11-year-old girl. She was on the way to school with her sister. Since the beginning of the civil war in Syria five years ago UNICEF has counted over 4,000 attacks on schools, even though they are protected under international law. The head doctor informed us that two children had not survived the attack on the school and two more children were still in in the Intensive Care Unit. When we walked into the ICU, doctors and nurses were in the middle of an attempt to revive the small, helpless body of a child with electric shocks. The heart monitor showed a flat line. A continuous, monotone beep told the truth of the terrible situation. Advertisement I stood in the corner of the room, still holding a camera in my hand, and felt like I was a stone, struck dumb by what I had just seen. The child was dead; it had died before my eyes. I had to get away from there. When I stepped out into the hall, I saw the father of the child, waiting for news. I'll never forget the look on his face. A mix of hope and fear. I ran further down the hall. I couldn't bear to look the father in the eye or to be there when he found out. We went down the stairs to the basement, and I knew I was about to see something terrible once again. The two dead children lay on a hospital bed. In Aleppo, we experience kidnappings, fighting, and we are constantly under siege. We've all tried to keep ourselves calm. We would tell ourselves over and over: "It will end this year." But we've stopped saying that. Despite the tragic reality, we try to maintain some semblance of a normal daily life. We're happy at weddings and graduations, and we even run little businesses. Advertisement I've started taking violin lessons and I know of many other people who have started playing musical instruments. We've learned to value the little things in life, which we usually take for granted. We value every moment. Basma Ourafli practicing the violin. The positive side of the war is that people in Aleppo have built strong relationships with their loved ones. We spend a lot of time together. We talk, listen to music and knit together. We've also started reading more books -- personally, I've decided to only read positive stories. There's no reason to read tragedies when all you have to do is look outside to see the tragic consequences of war. Marty Baron, Executive Editor of the Washington Post, takes part in a conversation on press freedom in the Americas in Washington, DC, on May 24, 2016. / AFP / Nicholas Kamm (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) We still don't have any sort of apology or retraction from the Washington Post for promoting "The List" -- the highly dangerous blacklist that got a huge boost from the newspaper's fawning coverage on November 24. The project of smearing 200 websites with one broad brush wouldn't have gotten far without the avid complicity of high-profile media outlets, starting with the Post. On Thursday -- a week after the Post published its front-page news article hyping the blacklist that was put out by a group of unidentified people called PropOrNot -- I sent a petition statement to the newspaper's executive editor Martin Baron. Advertisement "Smearing is not reporting," the RootsAction petition says. "The Washington Post's recent descent into McCarthyism -- promoting anonymous and shoddy claims that a vast range of some 200 websites are all accomplices or tools of the Russian government -- violates basic journalistic standards and does real harm to democratic discourse in our country. We urge the Washington Post to prominently retract the article and apologize for publishing it." After mentioning that 6,000 people had signed the petition (the number has doubled since then), my email to Baron added: "If you skim through the comments that many of the signers added to the petition online, I think you might find them to be of interest. I wonder if you see a basis for dialogue on the issues raised by critics of the Post piece in question." The reply came from the newspaper's vice president for public relations, Kristine Coratti Kelly, who thanked me "for reaching out to us" before presenting the Post's response, quoted here in full: "The Post reported on the work of four separate sets of researchers, as well as independent experts, who have examined Russian attempts to influence American democracy. PropOrNot was one. The Post did not name any of the sites on PropOrNot's list of organizations that it said had -- wittingly or unwittingly -- published or echoed Russian propaganda. The Post reviewed PropOrNot's findings and our questions about them were answered satisfactorily during the course of multiple interviews." Advertisement But that damage-control response was as full of holes as the news story it tried to defend. For one thing, PropOrNot wasn't just another source for the Post's story. As The New Yorker noted in a devastating article on Dec. 1, the story "prominently cited the PropOrNot research." The Post's account "had the force of revelation, thanks in large part to the apparent scientific authority of PropOrNot's work: the group released a 32-page report detailing its methodology, and named names with its list of 200 suspect news outlets.... But a close look at the report showed that it was a mess." Contrary to the PR message from the Post vice president, PropOrNot did not merely say that the sites on its list had "published or echoed Russian propaganda." Without a word of the slightest doubt or skepticism in the entire story, the Post summarized PropOrNot's characterization of all the websites on its list as falling into two categories: "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." As The New Yorker pointed out, PropOrNot's criteria for incriminating content were broad enough to include "nearly every news outlet in the world, including the Post itself." Yet "The List" is not a random list by any means -- it's a targeted mish-mash, naming websites that are not within shouting distance of the U.S. corporate and foreign policy establishment. And so the list includes a few overtly Russian-funded outlets; some other sites generally aligned with Kremlin outlooks; many pro-Trump sites, often unacquainted with what it means to be factual and sometimes overtly racist; and other websites that are quite different -- solid, factual, reasonable -- but too progressive or too anti-capitalist or too libertarian or too right-wing or just plain too independent-minded for the evident tastes of whoever is behind PropOrNot. Advertisement As The New Yorker's writer Adrian Chen put it: "To PropOrNot, simply exhibiting a pattern of beliefs outside the political mainstream is enough to risk being labeled a Russian propagandist." And he concluded: "Despite the impressive-looking diagrams and figures in its report, PropOrNot's findings rest largely on innuendo and conspiracy thinking." As for the Post vice president's defensive phrasing that "the Post did not name any of the sites on PropOrNot's list," the fact is that the Post unequivocally promoted PropOrNot, driving web traffic to its site and adding a hotlink to the anonymous group's 32-page report soon after the newspaper's story first appeared. As I mentioned in my reply to her: "Unfortunately, it's kind of like a newspaper saying that it didn't name any of the people on the Red Channels blacklist in 1950 while promoting it in news coverage, so no problem." As much as the Post news management might want to weasel out of the comparison, the parallels to the advent of the McCarthy Era are chilling. For instance, the Red Channels list, with 151 names on it, was successful as a weapon against dissent and free speech in large part because, early on, so many media outlets of the day actively aided and abetted blacklisting, as the Post has done for "The List." Consider how the Post story described the personnel of PropOrNot in favorable terms even while hiding all of their identities and thus shielding them from any scrutiny -- calling them "a nonpartisan collection of researchers with foreign policy, military and technology backgrounds." So far The New Yorker has been the largest media outlet to directly confront the Post's egregious story. Cogent assessments can also be found at The Intercept, Consortium News, Common Dreams, AlterNet, Rolling Stone, Fortune, CounterPunch, The Nation and numerous other sites. Advertisement But many mainline journalists and outlets jumped at the chance to amplify the Post's piece of work. A sampling of the cheers from prominent journalists and liberal partisans was published by FAIR.org under the apt headline "Why Are Media Outlets Still Citing Discredited 'Fake News' Blacklist?" FAIR's media analyst Adam Johnson cited enthusiastic responses to the bogus story from journalists like Bloomberg's Sahil Kupar and MSNBC's Joy Reid -- and such outlets as USA Today, Gizmodo, the PBS NewsHour, The Daily Beast, Slate, AP, The Verge and NPR News, which "all uncritically wrote up the Post's most incendiary claims with little or minimal pushback." On the MSNBC site, the Rachel Maddow Show's blog "added another breathless write-up hours later, repeating the catchy talking point that 'it was like Russia was running a super PAC for Trump's campaign.'" With so many people understandably upset about Trump's victory, there's an evident attraction to blaming the Kremlin, a convenient scapegoat for Hillary Clinton's loss. But the Post's blacklisting story and the media's amplification of it -- and the overall political environment that it helps to create -- are all building blocks for a reactionary order, threatening the First Amendment and a range of civil liberties. When liberals have green-lit a witch-hunt, right-wingers have been pleased to run with it. President Harry Truman issued an executive order in March 1947 to establish "loyalty" investigations in every agency of the federal government. Joe McCarthy and the era named after him were soon to follow. Under Lee Baca's leadership people were racially profiled, women were molested, immigrants were deported, and there were many walls built to keep specific people away. Sound like a certain president elect? He also married someone who immigrated from Asia, had a self-proclaimed law-and-order reputation, gave celebrities special treatment, served with a second in command just as corrupt, and condoned a historically violent and racist organization without specifically admitting to personal acts of violence or racism. This organization was not the Klu Klux Klan, but the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. So how did Los Angeles topple the oppressive power of former Sheriff Lee Baca after electing him to hold it? And how were we able to simultaneously form a Civilian Oversight Commission to put power in the hands of the people? Leaders emerged. On December 6th, 2016, exactly 151 years to the day the 13th amendment was ratified, former Sheriff Lee Baca is scheduled to face a federal judge and the prospect of 20 years in prison for obstruction of justice -- and organizations like Dignity and Power Now are largely responsible due to uplifting the dialogue of formerly incarcerated people and building social and political pressure. Advertisement There is more ground to cover that could have grave impacts for those criminalized and incarcerated under a law-and-order presidency Five years ago, a year before I put a hashtag in front of Black Lives Matter and sparked a global movement, I began leading a movement in Los Angeles. My brother had suffered a concussion after being severely beaten by deputies in the county jail, so I developed a performance art piece that sparked a coalition that shaped an organization, called Dignity and Power Now (DPN.) We would stand for hours outside the county jails and talk to people, a majority of them Black and Brown. Their stories of abuse were not being reported on the news, so we held press conferences. Solutions weren't on politicians' agendas, so we showed up until they were. People wanted to end sheriff violence and implement accountability, so we demanded civilian oversight of the sheriff's department. The first time the county supervisors voted on implementing a civilian oversight commission we showed up with 300 formerly incarcerated people who shared their stories of oppression and resilience. The supervisors voted 3-2 against it. We didn't stop. We continued organizing, holding events, and meeting with supervisors and candidates. Four months later on December 9th, 2014 the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of civilian oversight. There is more ground to cover that could have grave impacts for those criminalized and incarcerated under a law-and-order presidency. The commission will be functional by January, and although it's a huge step in the right direction, it is not perfect. They still need the power to subpoena the sheriff's department and other agencies involved in custody operations. That would require a change to county charter and a public vote. The fact that there is former law enforcement including a former LA County sheriff's lieutenant appointed to the commission raises serious concerns about whether it will protect incarcerated Black and Brown people, which is what the community and I have urgently fought for. And while we succeeded in electing a new sheriff, last year use of force in the jails went up 40%. We just elected Janice Hahn and Kathryn Barger to the LA County Board of Supervisors giving it its first female majority and democratic supermajority, but just before that the board approved a new women's jail and a new mental health jail, ignoring the research that has proven that jails can never be effective sites of care. Advertisement Everyday the choices that Donald Trump makes stirs the country's attention, but the leadership worth looking to isn't that of high-ranking political figures - it's that of the people on the ground. If you look to Los Angeles you will find leaders creating law enforcement accountability and fighting for Black lives. If you look to Oakland, Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore, and Toronto you will find the same. I understand why all of the often false, usually bombastic, reporting on Trump is angering me. You know the stuff -- take a "fact," real or fully made up, and conflate it with some apocalyptic prediction. Watch: Trump alternates between wearing boxers and briefs. Will his indecisiveness cause him to pull back when America is attacked by the Russians? The other story everyone writes now is based on the journalist's apparent post-November 9 discovery of an element of fascism, racism and/or parts of the Constitution and presidential practice. And so someone is shocked that Trump will be able to choose drone kill targets, or have access to everything the NSA sweeps up about his enemies. The first type of stories are just pathetic, kiddies with pencils seeing what they can get away with, journalists working out in public their disbelief that someone like Trump won, people witnessing their first presidential transition and not dealing with it well. Those stories will fade away, or move to the tabloids where they'll find a home aside Elvis and Roswell. Advertisement The latter stories, the ones worrying about what Trump will do with the power of _____ are more worrisome. The ascribe fear of executive power and a government run amuck to one man, someone they loathe, Trump. They ignore that these powers, of which we should all be legitimately terrified, are not of a man but of our system. Trump, per se, for example, doesn't control drone killings, the executive does. Bush killed, Obama killed, the president after Trump will kill. Same for the NSA -- they all had, and future presidents will have, the ability to spy on anyone. By focusing on one man, we imagine any solutions will rest in getting rid of this man (recount! electoral college! impeachment!) That is dangerous. Any solutions (I'm not optimistic) must be changes to the system of ever-growing executive power. In that sense, perhaps the election of someone so obvious in his erratic statements, so oafish in his behavior, may be for the best. A bucket of cold well water to the face might be what's needed for a citizenry that allowed one president to sell all his acquisition of power via a faux-sincere monologue of fear mongering, and another on the strength of his coolness and personal trust. Advertisement It takes political will to prevent genocide, not international law December 9th is the international day of genocide awareness and prevention. The Genocide Convention (1948) was a response to the Holocaust, marking the special status of mass murder committed with the intention of eliminating a category of people on the basis of their ethnicity or faith. The Genocide Convention has been followed by sundry international laws and treaties, aimed at creating legal norms recognized across the world as universal ethical standards. Yet, to judge by the collective impact of these worthy pieces of paper, the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648, guaranteeing state sovereignty, still overrides well-meaning attempts to stop leaders slaughtering their own people. The problem lies not in the absence of international law, but the lack of political will to enforce that law. World leaders regularly vow to never allow another genocide. However, the reality beyond their hyperbole is disappointing. Advertisement For instance, during the 100 days of 1994 Rwandan genocide, as a million people are thought to have been massacred, the Clinton administration focused on finding a way to categorize events as "acts of genocide" (not requiring a response) rather than genocide (which did commit the US, and the international community, to respond). A low point was reached in 2004 when the then US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, told the UN General Assembly that genocide was occurring in Sudan's Darfur region. But, he added, his determination did not necessarily mean the US would do anything about it, implying the UN must act together. Powell understood how unlikely it was that the Security Council would reach a consensus to take action to stop the state-sponsored slaughter in Darfur, which continues to this day, in a media vacuum. Recently, Amnesty International reported that chemical weapons have been dropped on unarmed Sudanese civilians more than 30 times since January 2016. However, because the intelligence and security communities consider the ruthless Islamist regime in Khartoum to be "on its side" in the war on terror, they avert their eyes from the elimination of Sudan's ethnic minorities. This mendacity is nothing new. Older readers will recall the repression and ethnic cleansing we ignored among our "friends" in Chile, Argentina, Guatemala, Indonesia, Zaire etc., during the Cold War. Advertisement The leaders in this role call of barbarism use frequently repeated lies to ensure their impunity. Their cynicism is matched only by the predictable response of the international community, be it in Bosnia, Sudan, Yemen or Rwanda: in order to circumvent international law, diplomats repeatedly deny the genocidal intent of the perpetrators; they deny the scale of the killing; and they respond as if the mass graves were due to a natural disaster requiring humanitarian aid, rather than political solutions to political problems. Worse, they send in peacekeepers when there is no peace to keep and have peace talks with the architects of genocide who deliberately spin out negotiations so they can continue killing (the Serbs excelled at this). So, how should we react to genocide? Should a coalition of willing nations work together, ignoring the UN Security Council? Should we target economic sanctions far more precisely on the architects of genocide, preventing them from going on shopping trips to Paris, getting medical treatment in Switzerland, buying mansions in London and the South of France? Should we freeze and seize their overseas assets, and punish their overseas enablers - the bankers, lawyers, and lobbyists based in countries that consider themselves ethical? One thing is certain: despite the best efforts of initiatives such as Facing History and Ourselves, the Holocaust Education Trust, and my own group, Article 1, there is still breath-taking ignorance about what the Holocaust was and genocide is, be it among US students http://www.theblaze.com/news/2013/10/16/the-incredibly-depressing-answers-college-students-gave-when-asked-what-the-holocaust-was-and-where-it-began/ or UK school children (in a survey conducted in London 2016, only 19% of students could name a genocide other than the Holocaust). Tempting as it is to curl up in fetal position and wait it out, the newly dawning era of Donald Trump is exactly the wrong time to give up on reforming the criminal justice system - because if you think it is hard to be poor and non-white now, you ain't seen nothing yet. And if you think there's nothing you can do, that same sentiment applies. The newly launched movement to end money bail in California is a case in point. We have a strong coalition that has come together to form the campaign called The Bail Trap: American Ransom. The campaign kicked off today in Sacramento. We are going to win, and it is going to make a difference in millions of people's lives - even in the next four years. While we are at it, we can make a dent in mass incarceration, even in the Trump era. Our cities and states are the proving grounds for what works. Donald Trump cannot stop all our work in its tracks. In fact, some of what he tapped into might even help us get it done - the simmering anger out there about deep, systemic injustices. After all, if you were to take Donald Trump's disgust with rigged systems at face value, you might be forgiven for supposing he would be all in on ending money bail - which is as rigged as it gets - a scheme that punishes the poor for being poor and rewards the rich for their very richness. Here's a short film that explains how bail profiteering works. Some of the biggest surprises include: Advertisement a)If you bail out using a bail bondsman you don't get the money back - even if you're found innocent or the charges are dropped altogether. If, on the other hand, you can afford to pay the entire money bail up front without a bondsman, you do get it all back after the case is decided one way or the other - including if you are guilty. b)Calling people to remind them about an upcoming court date is as effective in getting them to show up as releasing them on money bail. As the film shows, there are a lot of myths out there about money bail, but the real story is worse than most of us know. Money bail is racist. If you are black you are far more likely to be incarcerated while awaiting trial than a white defendant, according to the National Academy of Sciences. Money bail is expensive for taxpayers. In New York it costs approximately $460 per inmate, per day, to keep someone in jail. Even if the national average were as low as $50 per day, the annual cost of pretrial detention would reach $8 billion, Mother Jones magazine calculated. Money bail actually makes us less safe. The Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that 71 percent of inmates had jobs when they were arrested. There is no way to calculate how many of those jobs will be lost if an inmate can't make it to work because they can't afford to bail out, or how many inmates will lose their housing as a result of the downward spiral. It makes sense though that these aftershocks of the money bail system leave people in dire straits and increase the temptation to find other ways to earn money. Advertisement We still use terms like "1st World" and "3rd World," referencing the so-called "Three-World Model" proposed by French demographer Alfred Sauvy in 1952 and the "Three Worlds Theory" developed by Mao Zedong. We still use terms like "1st world problems" to describe the silly "struggles" of an over-privileged elite. And we use terms like "3rd world experience" to describe poor customer service or a shoddy product. But, does the Three Worlds model work in the 21st century? Not really. To begin with, Sauvy's model established the 1st world as the large, post-war Capitalist nations, the 2nd world as the post-war Communist nations and the 3rd World as non-aligned, post-colonial, emerging markets. With Communism largely dead, the original schema barely works. The world has moved on. Advertisement Mao's model (the "Three Worlds Theory") was a bit different. In Mao's model the 1st World was composed of the "superpowers" - US, Soviet Union, etc. The 2nd World was composed of lesser powers. And the 3rd World was composed of post-colonial emerging markets. While Sauvy's model emphasized ideology (Capitalism vs Communism) and so-called "blocs" (NATO vs Warsaw Pact), Mao's model emphasized national power. 21st Century people reference these models frequently in their discussions without considering the underlying models or their implications. BUT, the world has changed. And these changes have undermined the basic assumption of the Three World Model. The basic assumption of these two models is that the Nation-State is THE unit of analysis. That assumption may have made sense in a world of national economies, but it makes much less sense in a post-globalization world in which ideas, goods, money and people circulate at a much greater rate. Advertisement It also makes much less sense in a rapidly urbanizing world in which megacities have emerged as their own force. But, is the Nation-State the best way to view the world? Is it the right unit of analysis in the 21st Century? The National Intelligence Council's Global Trends 2030 Report addressed this issue head on and found a diversity of opinion among horizon scanners. While the nation-state may be one unit of analysis, (1) civilization-culture and (2) economic regions (or megacities) may also be valid. As the authors of the Global Trends 2030 Report noted: "Globalization has ushered in a new phase in the history of the state. Without question, the state still exists. The continuing economic volatility in the global economy and need for government intervention shows that the state is not going away. However, it would also be wrong to say that the powers of the state have remained the same. During the past 30 years, subnational government authorities and the roles of nonstate bodies have greatly expanded. This has been especially the case in Western democracies, but the increase in subnational power has spread far and wide; the West no longer has a monopoly. The expansion has been fueled by the formation of a transnational elite who have been educated at the same universities, work in many of the same multinational corporations or NGOs, and vacation at the same resorts. They believe in globalization, but one that relies on and benefits from personal initiative and empowerment." If the nation-state isn't the best unit of analysis, then a 21st century model is needed. We have left the 20th Century Three World Model behind and need a new model. That new model should, instead, analyze the world in 3 non-state NETWORKS. These NETWORKS are composed of metropolitan regions that operate economically at a global (1st), national (2nd) or regional (3rd) level. 1st Network: The global network of megacities that drive the world's GDP, innovation and creative work. This network of megacities is linked by transportation, heavy air traffic, heavy data flows, global exchanges/bourses, media hubs, large universities and multi-national corporate headquarters. The people living in the 1st Network often have more in common with their colleagues in other megacities than in communities several hours of train travel away. The globalized economy has been remarkably good for them. They live and work, compete and collaborate in a global labor market. They may have economically de-linked from their fellow citizens in the 2nd and 3rd Networks, but they are still very much politically linked to their nation-state. They were surprised by Brexit and were surprised by Trump's election. 1st Network citizens live in a cosmopolitan, megacity bubble. They travel to other megacities for work and play. 1st Network citizens want a mix of actors (nation-states, megacity Mayors, NGOs, MNCs) to solve global problems (like climate change). 2nd Network: Large, nationally significant metropolitan regions that are critical to their nation-state, but are not megacities. The 2nd Network is linked to the national economy via abundant domestic flights, but is NOT a global hub for corporate headquarters. 2nd Network metropolitan areas are large, but not fully globalized. They are economically powerful, but lack a critical mass of large corporations, research universities, media hubs, exchanges/bourses, etc. 2nd Network citizens are tied to a national economy and compete and collaborate in a national economy. They also live in a bubble, but their bubble is their nationally significant metro area. 2nd Network citizens want nation-state action to solve national and local problems. 3rd Network: Regionally significant metropolitan areas with citizens that live and work, compete and collaborate in a regional/local economy. 3rd Network metro areas are less populous, have fewer air travel options, and have fewer linkages to global megacities. 3rd Network areas may be high growth in emerging markets or slow growth/decline in the industrialized West. Citizens in the 3rd Network disproportionately drove Brexit and Trump's surprising victory. In the 3rd Network West, globalization is NOT popular. They want nation-state action to solve local and national problems. Advertisement Applying this model to our current political environment has significant explanatory power. Moreover, it better explains the dynamic within and across nation-states. Nobody's perfect. Matter of fact, if you really dig deep and think about it, we are all pretty messed up. We've all had a series of events in our lives affect us to the point where we might feel like damaged goods. These days, thanks to therapists and drug companies, if you don't feel broken in one way or another, you don't feel. Because of this, most men go through life carrying a huge amount of weight on their shoulders. We feel responsible for lost brothers, dead homeboys and the tough times we put our spouses through. The thing about men is we don't really talk much. Most of us are carrying huge burdens around, but our pride won't let us ask for help. I know. I used to be that way. I carried huge secrets around with me. I was ashamed I had gotten in trouble with the law. I was ashamed I'd once had a drug addiction. I didn't want anyone to know, so I lived in secret. Which meant I walked around feeling like I was lying to the world, that I knew I wasn't who people thought I was. It was heavy, man... Advertisement But in 2014, I met this dude outside of Las Vegas named Garrett J. White. I call him GJW for short. I'll never forget the day we met. It was at my pal Kevin Nation's home. We were both there for a very exclusive, high-end mastermind thing. It cost a small fortune to belong to this mastermind and about two hours into it, GJW got up and announced he was leaving. He literally stood up and said, "My wife just texted me and I'm going to go home and have sex with her." WTF? What was this crazy ass dude doing? He paid thousands of dollars to be here and he's headed back home to make love to the woman he's married to? This guy is a nut job, I thought to myself. But there was something about him that made me want to find out more. I reached out to him a week or so later and he started telling me I was not playing at full speed. He proceeded to say I was playing safe and being scary with my life. After a short exchange of ideas, I agreed to come out to Laguna Beach, California to attend what he calls "Warrior Week." Advertisement I can't really explain what happened at Warrior Week. It's transformational. I can tell you that we had rigorous early morning workouts on the beach. We were dropped in the freezing Pacific. After I attended, they added fighting, jumping out of helicopters and their own HQ. I can only imagine what it's like now. The reason I tell you this story is because today, GJW has helped hundreds of men just like me. He's helped guys save their marriages, become better fathers and sharper business leaders. He's helped guys stop playing small. It takes a special type of person, a Warrior, to lead Alpha males. We don't like to admit anything is wrong; that would signal weakness. Which we can't have. Garret J. White has been there and he's chosen to help men overcome their issues through his experiences. From attending college to becoming a semi-pro athlete, to being cancer ridden and hospitalized, his story is one like many of ours, and it includes multiple ups and downs. He's gone from being on top of the world in the mortgage business to losing it all in the crash. When he says "losing it all" he means sanity, masculinity, his wife, his kids, his money, his employees and his self-respect. Garret bounced back and now leads a revolution called Wake Up Warrior. As a part of the Warrior Brotherhood, I was fortunate enough to see GJW change people's lives on the daily. He's inspiring men to be better in the core four areas of their lives: their bodies, businesses, families and spiritual connections. Jon Paramore, a Warrior veteran says Warrior has been the most realistic wake-up call he has ever experienced. Ryan D. Lee, who also attended GJW's program, says it's the most eye-opening experience he's ever been through. These men had no idea they could see such dramatic changes in their lives in such a short amount of time. Advertisement It's not surprising that the new President-elect is beginning to face pressure urging him to roll back the progress of normalization in our relations with Cuba. He should refuse that choice! He should make it clear that he is interested in policies that lead to a better future, not the re-creation of a failed past with a six decade old embargo that didn't work. If the president-elect studies the nearly sixty year U.S. embargo against the Communist government of Cuba, he'll see it has been a failure by every measure. I understand why our country wanted to pressure the Castro government. There is a long history of abuse to the Cuban people at the hands of that government. And, we should continue to press for more progress in the area of human rights for the Cuban people. However, decade after decade the real victims of the U.S. imposed embargo , which included food and medicine, have been the poor people of Cuba. Our sanctions, however well-intended, did nothing except make their lives harder and their ability to earn a living more precarious. Cuban families were struggling under the embargo, but it's certain that the Castro brothers never missed a meal because of it. Advertisement While we were imposing the embargo against Cuba, our country took a very different approach to other communist countries like China and Viet Nam. Our policy has been one of engagement through trade and travel which we described as the best way to achieve progress toward open government and improved human rights. I think history has demonstrated the value of that approach. The same strategy will show progress in Cuba as well. In our zeal to punish the Castro government, our policies toward Cuba have also restricted the rights and freedoms of American citizens. The travel restrictions imposed on U.S. citizens resulted in some bizarre behavior toward our own citizens. For example, our government investigated and fined a young humble Christian woman from Ohio named Joni Scott for visiting Cuba to hand out free bibles. Our government denied U.S. soldier Carlos Lazio the opportunity to visit his sons in Cuba on his R&R from the war zone. Carlos was a Bronze Star winner for heroism in Fallujah who came to America on a raft from Cuba, yet he was denied the opportunity to travel to Cuba to visit his sons.These and many other stories like them share the theme of trying to bring the Castro regime to its knees by punishing American citizens. It was a strategy that failed, but while doing so we foolishly were willing to sacrifice America's interests and values. The point is, a negotiator like our new president-elect should not shut down our embassy or stop talking to Cuba's government. Advertisement A man with bigger-than-life confidence in America's future should not restrict travel to Cuba, or the direct opportunities for exchange and dialogue that our finest ambassadors -- our fellow Americans -- can bring to Cuba's cities, farms, and town squares. Our policy should make travel to Cuba legal for all Americans. An advocate for our country's heartland shouldn't crush the hopes of rural Americans to send grain, beef, and products for use on the kitchen tables of Cubans across the island. A candidate who based much of his campaign on leveling the playing field for U.S. trade should encourage, not undermine, the American companies that after 57 years of being locked out of the Cuban market, can finally have access to that market. Donald Trump ran as an agent of change. After fifty years of a failed embargo, normalization of relations with Cuba is the right kind of change. The social media sector, Facebook in particular, has set the trend for high valuations even without revenues or even monetization models. But not all these unicorns can expect to sustain such high valuations. Twitter's Buyout Prospects Twitter is a case in point. In its latest quarter, Twitter reported revenue of $615.93 million and a loss of $103 million. While it did exceed market expectations, it was the ninth straight quarter of slowing growth. In the face of stiff competition from the likes of Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat and its own struggle to fight abuse on its platform, its user growth rate has stagnated. Average monthly active users (MAUs) grew 3% over the year to 317 million. Average US MAUs grew 1.5% and average international MAUs grew 3.7% over the year. At the end of the quarter, Twitter had 67 million US-based users and 250 million international users. Compare this to its metrics at the time of its IPO: more than 218.3 million monthly active users and more than 100 million daily active users worldwide. Advertisement Driven by its need to focus on high growth, improve margins, and revenue generating opportunities, Twitter plans to reduce 9% of its global staff, or 350 people and shut down its video-sharing app Vine. In September, Twitter had engaged Goldman Sachs to help plan a sale. Salesforce, Microsoft, Disney, and Alphabet were seen as prospective buyers. However, its anemic user growth rates, losses, and toxicity have been hampering its buyout prospects. After these prospective buyers backed out, the market was abuzz with rumors of Japan tech giant SoftBank's interest. From a peak of $18 billion at the height of its buyout buzz, its market cap has tumbled down to about $12 billion. Still a mega Unicorn, but a struggling one. Snap's IPO Prospects Snap, formerly known as Snapchat, is reportedly gearing up for an IPO. Unlike Twitter, it has seen phenomenal user growth from 50 million in 2014 to more than 110 million daily active users in 2015. It operates on a freemium model. It earns revenues through in-app purchases and premium services such as replies, along with advertising. Advertisement Snapchat has recently been making interesting moves to justify its valuation. It has announced plans to diversify out of pure chat offerings, and rebrand itself as Snap. It has also diversified into wearables. Pinterest Another unicorn with low revenue and ridiculously high valuation is Pinterest. It has raised $1.3 billion in funding from individual investors and funds including Valiant Capital Partners, FirstMark Capital, Fidelity Investments, Bessemer Venture Partners, SV Angel, Andreessen Horowitz, Slow Ventures, Rakuten, Jack Abraham, Max Levchin, Kevin Hartz, Michael Birch, New York Angels, William Lohse, Jeremy Stoppelman, Wellington Management, and Goldman Sachs. Its last round of funding was held in May 2015 when it raised $186 million at a valuation of $11 billion.. It is expected to triple its revenue to $300 million this year. Its monthly users increased from 100 million in September 2015 to 150 million in September 2016. It wasn't until very recently that Pinterest took active interest in monetization. It has struggled with figuring out a way to earn ad revenues, while keeping users interested. Last year, it began leveraging its women concentrated audience toward e-commerce initiatives like buyable pins. However, they never really took off as a way for users to actually make purchases. Advertisement Pinterest also plans to slowly roll out so-called "buyable pins," posts from which users can buy products just by clicking a button. With these e-commerce initiatives, Pinterest hopes to reach $2.8 billion in revenues by 2018 and grow its active user base to 329 million by 2018. It has ruled out an IPO any time soon. This is a company that Amazon could buy and monetize nicely. Quora Even question answer site Quora has recently started its monetization efforts by introducing targeted advertising. It will show ads in a selected few pages that is most likely the target audience of the advertiser. Initially, it plans to allow only Lever, Uber, Wealthfront, and Sunrun to advertise on its platform. Quoara has recently reported that it has 100 million monthly visitors, 50% from the US and 15% from India. Quora has raised $141 million from investors including Adam D'Angelo, Benchmark, Matrix Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners & Growth Equity, SV Angel, Techammer, Tiger Global Management, Y Combinator, Benjamin Ling, and Keith Rabois. It last raised $80 million in April 2014 at a valuation of $900 million. At that point of time, it had no revenue. Advertisement Snap, Pinterest, and Quora are on a path where they need to tread carefully. If they fail to monetize effectively or their user growth saturates, they might end up like Twitter. Not all startups can expect to have exits like Whatsapp, which was acquired for $19 billion by Facebook with no monetization. More investigation and analysis of Unicorn companies can be found in my latest Entrepreneur Journeys book, Billion Dollar Unicorns. The term Unicorn was coined in a TechCrunch article by Aileen Lee of Cowboy Ventures. "Lies, Fake News, and the Main Stream Media," the cover story of the latest issue of ColdType, unfortunately also applies to the state of science reporting as evidenced by main stream coverage of the recent Royal Society public evolution conference. I spent much of the last two years investigating and reporting on an evolution paradigm shift that has happened in science -- whether the science establishment and main stream media acknowledge that shift or not. And having just published an authentic report of the Royal Society "new trends" meeting, I cringed as I read Carl Zimmer's distorted coverage that followed of that same event in Quanta and TheAtlantic.com. Carl Zimmer is not a scientist. He's a Yalie with a degree in English, best known as a science writer for the New York Times ("all the news that's fit to print"), although his business card presents him as a national correspondent for STAT. Advertisement Quanta's Editor, Thomas Lin, is a former NYT online national news and science editor. I had been feeding Thomas Lin and Quanta my HuffPost reports in the lead-up to the November 7-9 Royal Society/British Academy-sponsored meeting. And, prior to the London meeting, I sent a copy of my book, Royal Society: The Public Evolution Summit to James Simons, whose Simons Foundation funds Quanta. I interviewed Jim Simons at length two years ago for my book on origin of life. So far, curiously, Zimmer seems to be the sole representative of the main stream media to have reported on the Royal Society conference. I'd like to preface that by saying that my own career began at Hearst Magazines, where I wrote an environment column in the early 1970s that circulated to 1.5 million people worldwide (half of my undergrad years were in biology). And during the golden age of journalism I wrote for some of the finest publications -- like "the old Economist magazine" and the Financial Times. I was a contributor to probably the most successful popular science magazine ever -- Omni -- a publication Lynn Margulis relied on to introduce her ideas to the public. I traveled extensively for Omni, interviewed Mary Leakey at Olduvai, etc. . . . On a break from one of the Royal Society "new trends" lectures I ran into the photographer Quanta hired to shoot the event and gave him a copy of my Royal Society book. He told me he was working with Carl Zimmer. Advertisement I then bumped into Zimmer outside the Royal Society conference room in between sessions, introduced myself and commented that there should have been a greater diversity of evolutionary perspectives presenting at the meeting. I expected Zimmer to be somewhat in agreement. After all, this was not a meeting of the X Club in 19th century England. A clique of scientists clearly cannot dictate science anymore. Science has been democratized via the Internet, and the online news cycle is 24/7. But Zimmer's response to me was: "It's not that kind of conference." I gave Carl Zimmer a copy of my Royal Society book as well. We've had no further dialogue. Zimmer neither reported on Altenberg! eight years ago -- where the question about an extended synthesis was first raised -- nor has he been covering the discourse since regarding paradigm shift. So in his piece for Quanta, he took a gee-whiz approach to themes like plasticity, epigenetics and niche construction, themes that have been kicking around for a long time and are clearly not cutting-edge science. He used terms like gene and natural selection in his story without ever defining them -- except to say with a straight face that "natural selection is an important force in evolution." Zimmer appears not to have heard presenter John Dupre's response to my request for a definition of what a gene is. Dupre replied, there is none. Remember Zimmer is a journalist who got his start at Discover magazine in the late 80s, he's not a scientist who can speak from authority. Yet he throws around "Extended Evolutionary Synthesis" in his account of the meeting without acknowledging that there is no agreement by the scientists who are participating in the Templeton EES project on what the word "extended" means. As I note in the introduction to my Royal Society book: "Eight years after Altenberg, the meaning of the word "extend" is on the table with scientists now quibbling over whether "extend" means (1) amending the standard theory of evolution, (2) a parallel theory of evolution, or (3) a replacement of the Modern Synthesis/neo-Darwinism." Then there's the question of what life is. Zimmer never goes there. . . Zimmer decided to skip any mention of Sir Pat Bateson cautioning about overuse of the "metaphor" of natural selection and saying further that "natural selection is not an agent." Bateson was one of the organizers of the November meeting. He was knighted in 2003 by Queen Elizabeth for his service to biology. He's a zoologist, a member of the Royal Society, as well as former RS Vice President and Biological Secretary -- among other distinctions. In reading the Quanta article, I also wondered how Zimmer could have missed Richard's Lewontin's 2009 cover story for New York Review of Books: "Not So Natural Selection" in which Lewontin also described natural selection as a metaphor and said Darwin never intended it to be used literally by generations of scientists. As noted above, in 2014 I did a feature-length interview for my book on origin of life with Jim Simons, and with several scientists from the Simons Foundation's team investigating origin of life -- including Jack Szostak, Dimitar Sasselov and Matthew Powner. Simons is one of the most intelligent and generous people on the planet, but he doesn't like to interfere with the operations of the philanthropic activities he funds. Indeed, Quanta considers itself, "an editorially independent division of SimonsFoundation.org." So the reporting of the Royal Society story was clearly not Jim Simons' fault. TheAtlantic.com should have known better, however. In 2009 I infiltrated the launch party for Atlantic Wire -- the online op-ed aggregator of the magazine -- carrying a copy of my book, The Altenberg 16: An Expose of the Evolution Industry. The moment was captured here by one of Patrick McMullan's photographers. The Atlantic magazine's Editor, Scott Stossel was at the party. So I took the opportunity to share with Stossel the reprint in my book of his rejection letter for my evolution pitch. Stossel was amused and asked for a copy of the book, which I later sent him. Advertisement Here's Stossel's June 5, 2008 note to me: "Dear Susan, Thanks for your call, and for this pitch. It's a good idea for a story but, as I should have mentioned yesterday, we've actually got a Darwin piece in the works already. It's much smaller in ambition than yours, but I'm afraid it crowds out the possibility of our assigning another one. So we'll have to pass. But I wish you luck in placing this elsewhere. Best, Scott" Quanta's story moderators, by the way, censored the comment and links I sent in directing readers of Zimmer's story to my Royal Society book and to my coverage of the meeting. But Quanta did not censor the following comment from (Institute for Systems Biology cell biologist?) Sui Huang regarding Zimmer's reporting: "While I much enjoy his [Zimmer's] writings (articles in NY Times and National Geographic, and book) I have long considered him a solid, non-imaginative, non-visionary conformist of Darwinism (or Adaptationism) who mostly just regurgitates the concepts of the Modern Synthesis in elegant and pedagogically useful prose - notably when reporting on new findings that fit the Darwinian orthodoxy. . . ." Denis Noble, principal organizer of the Royal Society event who told me (on this page) that he thought the Modern Synthesis needed replacement, was tagged in a photo in Zimmer's story -- without any clarification -- as embracing the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. Noble emailed me objecting to Zimmer's report and then complained to Quanta editors: "The description of the discussion of my talk at the RS-BA meeting is seriously incorrect. The central point of my lecture was that organisms harness stochastic mutations in variable locations in their genomes to generate functionality. I gave clear examples of this in the immune system and in bacteria where such targeted functional stochasticity is common. The questioner could not have been listening to my lecture. To quote my abstract "Stochasticity at low levels does not therefore exclude order at higher levels. Organisms enlist stochasticity in their development of functional behaviour."" Astonishingly, Zimmer gives almost a page to an archaeologist's comments on natural selection and the "revelation" of niche construction. Yet Zimmer avoids any mention that presenters were seriously deficient in their understanding of viruses and microbes. It is absurd for scientists who are ignorant about the role of viruses and microbes in evolution to think that they can design a new evolutionary synthesis by cozying up to Templeton Big Bucks and then get the main stream media to force feed their brand. DO THEY ACTUALLY EXPECT US TO SWALLOW THIS? Ten of the presenters at the meeting were part of the Templeton Extended Evolutionary Synthesis project. Templeton is providing $11M in funding to 50 EES institutional scientists. As the late science historian David F. Noble once warned: "When you have a consensus of scientists, that should set off alarms." It is wrong of Templeton to try to impose this kind of mediocre science on the public. What's more, it is contrary to its "spiritual" mission. Advertisement In reality, the only stir at the Royal Society conference happened when Denis Noble highlighted the embryo geometry paper of Stuart Pivar et al. And even that had been recently published online in Biophysics, the journal Noble co-edits. Pivar had for years been shut out by the science establishment. Pivar et al. Embryo Geometry Paper Curiously, one of the scientists whose work Zimmer praised in his Quanta story, sent me an email accusing me of being a sexist because I did not report her ideas in my account of the event. I wondered if she'd ever seen my interviews with and stories about Lynn Margulis, Mae-Wan Ho, and Sara Walker. I did send her a copy of my Royal Society book prior to the meeting. For the record, in between covering the wars (Gulf War, Colombian Drug War, Sudan and Kashmir (from both sides of the conflict)) and then the science wars (beginning in 2008) -- I wrote a series of exposes on polygamy for the Financial Times -- the paper gave me page 1 of the weekend edition for one of those stories. I was part of Bella Abzug's Women's Foreign Policy Council in the late 1980s and before that chaired the first major benefit for battered women in Manhattan (1985) -- which then Governor Mario Cuomo and his family supported and which helped lead the way for domestic violence legislation in New York. The impetus for the event was that the Reagan Administration had cut funding for battered women's shelters. An interesting aside is that I approached Donald Trump shortly before that 1985 benefit, at a Democratic party fundraiser at Central Park's Tavern on the Green and asked if he'd buy a couple of tickets ($100@) to the benefit. Trump said, sure, send them to my office, and advised who to direct them to. Trump then looked at me and my co-chair of the event and said: "Well, you girls don't look like you've been through it." Advertisement Until recently, measuring air pollution was a task that could be performed only by trained scientists using very sophisticated - and very expensive - equipment. That has changed with the rapid growth of small, inexpensive sensors that can be assembled by almost anyone. But an important question remains: Do these instruments measure what users think they are measuring? A number of venture capital-backed startup or crowd-funded groups are marketing sensors by configuring a few dollars' worth of electronics and some intellectual property - mainly software - into aesthetically pleasing packages. The Air Quality Egg, the Tzoa and the Speck sensor are examples of gadgets that are growing in popularity for measuring air pollutants. These devices make it possible for individuals without specialized training to monitor air quality. As an environmental health researcher, I'm happy to see that people are interested in clean air, especially because air pollution is closely linked with serious health effects. But there are important concerns about how well and how accurately these sensors work. Advertisement At their core, these devices rely on inexpensive, and often uncertain, measurement technologies. Someday small sensors costing less than US$100 may replace much more expensive research-grade instruments like those used by government regulators. But that day is likely to be far away. New territory for a known technology Pollution sensors that measure air contaminants have been on the market for many years. Passenger cars have sophisticated emission controls that rely on data collected by air sensors inside the vehicles. These inexpensive sensors use well-established chemical and physical methods - typically, electrochemistry or metal oxide resistance - to measure air contaminants in highly polluted conditions, such as inside the exhaust pipe of a passenger vehicle. And this information is used by the vehicle to improve performance. It turns out that these sensors can work outside of your car too. But they have some important limits. They are often not designed to work in the open air, where conditions are much cleaner than in vehicle exhaust. And they can be affected by conditions such as varying temperatures or relative humidity, or the presence of interfering gases that they are not designed to measure. Advertisement Sensor manufacturers sometimes provide limited information on these low-cost sensors, and it is very easy to use the devices improperly. This is because they are designed to work under very controlled conditions - for example, at fixed temperatures or with limited wind movement - and these requirements often are not communicated to consumers. Measurement accuracy is especially important when we are trying to understand how exposure to air pollutants can lead to health problems. If we rely on poor measurements and reach incorrect conclusions, we will fail to protect public health. In a recent commentary in Nature, British researchers Alastair Lewis and Peter Edwards highlighted many questions about using inexpensive sensors to measure air pollution. They conclude that these technologies must be better validated prior to general public use, and warn that academic investigators should not be gatekeepers for using them. Rather, what we can do is provide essential test beds to evaluate sensor performance through testing and calibration. We also can call on sensor manufacturers to explain these devices' limitations more clearly to customers. Supporting citizen scientists Many users of these sensor platforms are citizen scientists who have little formal training in measuring air quality. People are rightfully concerned about degraded air quality in their community, and are taking matters into their own hands by downloading open source plans, purchasing a few items and deploying their measurement systems. kidsmakingsense.org They can do this with the help of inexpensive, open-source microprocessors and a growing library of open-source software. Agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the South Coast Air Quality Management District in California, among others, recognize this growing interest. They also see the potential danger of empowering anyone to build and use tools that can produce highly inaccurate information. Advertisement Miniaturized versions of expensive sensors still can cost thousands of dollars - far out of reach for most citizen scientists. So it is likely that market forces and consumer convenience are driving the growth of a do-it-yourself sensor market. Whatever the motivation, these sensors are being used now by many organizations, including concerned citizen advocacy groups, and to some extent by the regulatory community. Regulators are interested in these technologies because they can cheaply expand measurement capacity. But at the same time, they are cautious because of lingering uncertainties about measurements that do not comply with narrowly prescribed measurement methods. It is not hard to build a $30 sensor to measure carbon monoxide, although such a device probably will not be able to measure concentrations less than, say, one part per million. In many wealthy countries, where pollution levels are relatively low, such a device would not produce meaningful measurements. But on a busy street in New Delhi, or near a brick kiln in Nepal, it could be quite useful because pollution levels are significantly higher. Pallavi Pant Low-cost air monitoring does have merits. For much of the world these tools could greatly increase understanding of pollution risks, especially in countries that do not have the financial resources or research infrastructure to produce sophisticated air quality measurements. Many environmental health scientists would like to expand the reach of these sensors to every corner of the world. Use of DIY air sensors will continue to grow as people around the world learn more about the health risks of air pollution. The key is to make sure they work as reliably as possible. By expanding sound research measurements, we can continue to educate the public on the risks of air pollution, and to lobby for better protection from this hazard in a more informed way. Advertisement "We will always stand by the LGBTQ community; we will always stand on the side of love," says Love & Pride Founder Udi Behr. Love & Pride, an online business founded to promote education and better understanding of the LGBTQ community, today responds to an attack by the anti-LGBT group One Million Moms related to their recent new expansion of their consumer reach and their support of the LGBTQ community. One Million Moms, an anti-LGBTQ group that is part of the American Family Association, has attacked Love & Pride in a post on their website,seen here. Advertisement The American Family Association has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The following statement can be attributed to Udi Behr, Loveandpride.com founder and designer: "I was shocked and saddened when our Love & Pride collection, available online and now at a major retailer, was attacked by the so-called One Million Moms, part of the hate group 'The American Family Association.' As a jeweler and LGBTQ ally for many years, this is the first time we have been targeted in such a manner. I am heartened by the support and positive attention we have seen online and privately from consumers across the country. The Love and Pride collection has always been about love, peace, hope, pride and equality and our goal has always been to bring people together. Our support of organizations like the Matthew Shepard Foundation, Marriage Equality/USA and the Human Rights Campaign is part of that vision. In fact, I currently have a collection of jewelry from Israel celebrating Christianity and history, a collection in another major mall chain celebrating the inner beauty of women, and a collection I been working on for 12 years that celebrates equality for LGBTQ people. Advertisement I do not do this as a political statement but as an artist and designer who cares about our world, cares about all people and wants to promote love and beauty. If you do not agree with that vision don't buy my jewelry. But there is no need to reacts with hate or boycotts. For me, jewelry is and always will be meant as a way to commemorate beautiful moments in our lives and a way to express love and affection. The response by One Million Moms is hateful and divisive. Now, more than ever, we must work for a world that has less division and more love, respects diversity and allows all people to express their love for each other." Laura Kelly, Derek Schmidt locked in close governor's race, poll shows New polling released Wednesday shows races for Kansas governor and attorney general remain toss-ups, as the Nov. 8 election nears. Context Awareness: The Music Industrys Next Frontier In this article, music-tech writier Cherie Hu delves into the ability of context awareness to reshape creativity as well as create new revenue streams and new business models for the music industry in general. ________________________ Guest Post by Cherie Hu on Synchblog In his book Who Owns the Future?, computer scientist Jaron Lanier highlights the importance of "decision reduction" in technology. In an advanced, noisy information economy, he explains, the most desirable services will anticipate and execute on the myriad of decisions their customers want to make, leaving cognitive room for freer, more creative work. By this logic, music streaming services are decision-reduction services. One needs to make a mind-boggling number of decisions even to start listening to a song in todays digital, networked world: what device to use, whether to listen to familiar or new music, whether to fit the music to a particular activity or time of day, the list goes on. Each of the major streaming services centers its value proposition around how it compresses these decisions. Spotify uses data science to build habits around algorithmic, personalized playlists; Pandora leverages the nostalgic, simple mechanics of radio (although it now has more on-demand features through Pandora Plus); Apple Music draws on its mainstream appeal to recruit celebrity curators and exclusives; Tidal creates an aura of elite secrecy, also around exclusives; SoundCloud builds on its reputation for supporting underground, DIY music communities. Most of these values, however, are confined to their respective platforms. The next big frontier in music streaming will have to reimagine music distribution from the ground up, creating entirely new paradigms for creation and consumption. This is where context awarenessthe ability to perceive and adapt to one's surroundingscomes in. Digital music does not have to exist solely as a static file on a streaming service, but can interact with its listeners and surrounding environment. "This is where context awarenessthe ability to perceive and adapt to one's surroundingscomes in. Digital music does not have to exist solely as a static file on a streaming service, but can interact with its listeners and surrounding environment." In 2013, multimedia artist Ryan Holladay gave a TED talk about his location-aware album The National Mall, a mobile app that tagged hundreds of musical segments, composed by himself and his brother Hays, throughout the namesake park. Since then, startups have been experimenting aggressively with applications of context awareness to consuming and sharing music, with Geobeat, AudioDropsand Aitokaiku creating adaptive interfaces on the go and Prizm building a responsive, Alexa-like speaker at home. Google is already incorporating its Context Awareness API into its Play Music app, recommending songs based on factors such as location and weather. The technological and philosophical implications of context-aware music apps go far beyond their normalized nicknames (Instagram for music, "Pokemon Go for music, etc.). Context awareness can transform the creative process, disrupt artist-fan and artist-geography relationships, and generate new revenue streams and business models for the music industry as a whole. Let's look at how: "Context awareness can transform the creative process, disrupt artist-fan and artist-geography relationships, and generate new revenue streams and business models for the music industry as a whole." 1. Music will become not simply functional, but also adaptive, democratizing the composition process. A common point of skepticism about context awareness is that it makes music too "functional"too commoditized for a particular external event or moment in time, rather than freely creative and self-expressive. In reality, by evolving in real time in response to its user and environment, context awareness actually unveils a wider range of creative and interactive possibilities for artists. Moreover, the unconventional listening experience that accompanies this technology can make listeners feel more present and aware of the story behind the music, instead of tuning out and treating the music as background filler. To an extent, choose-your-own-adventure music projects like The National Malltruly democratize and distribute the composition process for its users, in that the album cannot come to life without their movement and participation as deliberate actors 2. Local culture and knowledge can reenter the spotlight. The Internet is a double-edged sword for local cultures. As The Information's Sam Lessin wrote, a crucial consequence of information being more open and accessible to everyone in a global marketplace is that it becomes "less possible for niche ideas to stand their ground with locally relevant audiences." Music faces a similar plight; it becomes more difficult for niche genres and scenes to gain exposure, as mainstream sounds become both more homogenized and more internationalized. Once music becomes geotagged, it can tie itself to local cultures, traditions and topographies, creating a multimedia storytelling experience. One of the most prominent examples of this phenomenon is Hear the City, an app developed by CISCO's Urban Innovation Legacy Project in August 2016 in partnership with the City of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. CISCO commissioned sound designer Rob Thomas for an adaptive composition project, in which Thomas converted real-time local data on transportation, connectivity, weather and emotions into dynamic melodies and graphic visualizations that were accessible only by downloading the app. The project also installed interactive kiosks and organized periodic gatherings throughout the region of Porto Maravilha in Rio, bringing people together through shared sounds and sights. 3. The seamlessness of context-aware music experiences can inspire a more sophisticated IoT suite for artists and fans. Whether or not the music itself is adaptive, context-aware curation and distribution services can smooth out the listening experience for consumers. In an ideal world, there would be no need to press pause in transition from driving in a car or riding a subway to working out at the gym (think Spotify Running, but automated), or to relaxing at home alone or with friends. Executing on this vision requires more advanced developments in remote sensing, image recognition, motion tracking and other areas of artificial intelligence. With the rise in mobile music consumption and the fragmentation and onset of new devices and tools such as autonomous vehicles, such advancements will be in higher and higher demand over the coming years. Cherie Hu is a music-tech thinker, researcher and writer, passionate about combining a data-driven business acumen with superior storytelling skills to propel innovation in the music industry. She covers trends at the intersection of technology and the music business as a contributor for Forbes, and her writings have also appeared in Music Ally and the Harvard Political Review. Share on: It's critical to help clients make the most of the plans they have Leading retail chain Walmart has agreed to settle a same-sex discrimination suit levelled against the company in 2015 in a Boston court by employee Jacqueline Cote.A local media report said Cote led the class suit, alleging that the stores policy against extending health insurance benefits to the spouses of same sex couples violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as the Equal Pay Act, and the Massachusetts Fair Employment Practices Law.Cotes legal spouse was saddled with $150,000 in medical bills following treatment for ovarian cancer and Cote claims that Walmart refused requests to provide coverage for her wife.Highbury Clock reported Cote as saying, Im pleased that Walmart was willing to resolve this issue for me and other associates who are married to someone of the same sex.The report further said that the settlement will cover damages for more than 1,000 complainants, who are workers for the stores US and Puerto Rico branches named in the lawsuit."Were happy both sides could come together to reach a resolution, Sally Welborn, Walmarts senior vice president of Global Benefits, was quoted as saying in the report.Walmart changed its spousal benefits policy in 2011, and the complainants ranks include those who were denied spousal benefits between 2011 and 2014 for their same sex partners. Related stories: Wal-Mart sued for denying health benefits to gay employee Senate approves key gay rights bill with insurance applications After a tumultuous period, which includes being hit with a $7 million fine from California regulators just last week, insurance software start-up Zenefits is set to lose its CEO.David O. Sacks has confirmed that he will leave his position at the helm of the company and, according to reports, may join president-elect Trumps transition team.In a series of tweets, Sacks said that after being asked to step in to the CEO role at the company during a regulatory crisis, Zenefits would now be opening a search for a new permanent CEO.Adding that he would stay involved with the firm as chairman, Sacks said that at the end of his tenure the company was now in a clean bill of health.Zenefits had last week successfully resolved its issues with the California Department of Insurance (CDI), its lead regulator, and 19 other states, Sacks said.In short, weve achieved every goal set forth in my Day 1 memo, which outlined the turn-around plan, he tweeted.Meanwhile, a source told the New York Times that Sacks, who has previously worked with billionaire technology investor and Trump team member Peter Thiel, was also in discussions about joining the future presidents team.In an interview, Sacks described Thiel as an old friend of mine, but said that he had not had any formal talks with the Trump team.Sacks took over as CEO of Zenefits in February after the companys founder Parker Conrad was ousted from the company.Zenefits enjoyed huge success after it was founded in 2013, quickly becoming one of the worlds fastest-growing start-ups and attracting the attention of venture capitalists who at one point valued the company at US $4 billion.However, the firm was hit by scandal after it was revealed that it had allowed unlicensed brokers to sell health insurance to customers, and has since faced a number of regulatory hurdles.Sacks, who was then COO of the company, took over as chief executive after Conrad was forced to resign, and was tasked with turning the company around. Kevin Stant and Samantha Haines were confirmed by the Select Board as reserve patrol officers on Wednesday. Clarksburg Welcomes Reserve Officers, Hears From Ed Task Force The new officers and Police Chief Michael Williams. The officers families attended the meeting. CLARKSBURG, Mass. Town officials welcomed Clarksburg's two newest police officers on Wednesday night. Kevin Stant and Samantha Haines were confirmed by the Select Board as reserve patrol officers for the rest of the 2017 fiscal year. Chief Michael Williams introduced the officers, whom he said had completed the reserve intermittent officer training course. They also successfully passed the interview process and background check. "I believe both candidates would make good officers on this department," he wrote in his letter to the Select Board. Stant has been employed by the North Adams Ambulance Service and as a dispatcher with the North Adams Police Department, and was a volunteer with the Pownal (Vt.) Rescue Squad. He earned a degree from Western New England University and works at Carbone Auto Group in Bennington, Vt. Haines has prior experience in law enforcement from her studies at Westfield State University, where she worked as a student security officer. She also was an intern with the Chicopee Police Department. She is currently employed as a supervisor with the Key Program, which assists troubled youth. The Select Board also spoke with Doug McNally, who was representing the Berkshire Education Task Force. McNally, a Windsor selectman and former principal of Taconic High School, had earlier in the week been in Cheshire. He and other task force members are filling in town and school official across the county about the results of a recent report commissioned by the group. He reviewed the findings, with the major points being a continuing drop in enrollment and rising costs that are pinching towns and impinging on school district's ability to provide quality education. "The bottom line is there's going to be no silver bullet with a solution to the problem," he said. "What the task force is trying to do is keep communities focused on is quality education that's sustainable." The advisory body hopes to have recommendations for school districts by next summer on ways to collaborate or consolidate. Greater state education aid will also be a critical factor one the group has impressed upon Gov. Charlie Baker. The Berkshire Emporium won the downtown window contest. 87 Main St. winning windows. 107 Main St. winning windows. PreviousNext Biz Briefs: Downtown Window Decoration Contest Winners Announced The winners are ...: The Berkshire Emporium was voted the winner of the Holiday Window Decorating Contest sponsored by the North Adams Chamber of Commerce for its multi-window display featuring various rooms throughout Santa's North Pole home. The Berkshire Emporium will receive a gift certificate with the Mohawk Soaring club for a one-month membership and flight with an instructor in the spring. Of the six participating volunteer groups that decorate empty storefronts, there was a tie between the North Adams Farmers Market Committee windows at 87 Main St. and the St. Elizabeth's Youth Group windows at 107 Main St. Those groups will split the volunteer group cash prize of $100 provided by the North Adams Chamber of Commerce. Free ATM: Greylock Federal Credit Union has joined the CU24 ATM network, adding 29,000 surcharge-free terminals for its cardholders. The affiliation with CU24 will complement the existing relationship the credit union has with the CO-OP ATM network, which has 30,000 surcharge-free terminals already available to Greylock cardholders. CU24 has convenient locations across the country. As with the CO-OP ATM network, CU24 provides an ATM Locator available in a downloadable app, as well as locator online. Bank merger: Berkshire Hills Bancorp has completed the acquisition of First Choice Bank and the merger of First Choice Bank into Berkshire Bank, effective at the close of business on Dec. 2. As a result of this merger, First Choice Loan Services Inc. has become a wholly-owned operating subsidiary of Berkshire Bank. Syarhey Khymyaleuski The European Union says it has confirmed that Belarus carried out a total of 3 executions during the month of November -- raising the total number of executions in the former Soviet republic during 2016 to 4. European foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on December 1 that the EU had confirmed reports by the rights group Amnesty International that death-row inmate Hyanadz Yakavitski had been executed by authorities in Belarus. Mogherini did not specify when Yakavitski's execution took place. But Amnesty International said on November 30 that Yakavitski was put to death sometime after November 5. The EU on November 30 said it had confirmed the execution in November of 2 other death row inmates who had been convicted on murder charges -- 28-year-old Ivan Kulesh and 31-year-old Syarhey Khymyaleuski. A 4th prisoner, Syarhey Ivanou, was executed in Belarus on April 18. The EU condemned all of the executions, saying the death penalty runs counter to Belarus's stated willingness to engage with the international community. Amnesty International's campaigner on Belarus, Aisha Jung, says the "sudden and shameful purge" of death-row prisoners in Belarus is "additionally shameful" because executions there "are typically shrouded in secrecy and carried out at a moment's notice." Amnesty International says the 3 executions in November were carried out with gunshots to the back of the head. The nongovernmental human rights organization says it also is concerned about the fate of another man on death row in Belarus -- Syarhey Vostrykau. The EU, Amnesty International, and other human rights organizations have been calling on Minsk to join a moratorium on the death penalty for years. Before April, an execution had not been carried out under the Belarusian legal system since November 2014. According to rights groups, more than 400 people have been sentenced to death in Belarus since the early 1990s. Source: Radio Free Europe//Radio Liberty, December 2, 2016 Statement by the High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini Today, we have learnt of yet another execution that has taken place in Belarus, that of Henadz Yakavitski. Earlier this week, the executions of 2 others, Ivan Kulesh and Sergei Khmelevsky, were confirmed, adding to that of Syarhey Iwanov in April. The upsurge in executions in 2016 is against the commitment, made by Belarusian authorities within the framework of the United Nations, to consider the introduction of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. The European Union opposes capital punishment, which fails to act as a deterrent to crime and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity. Steps taken by Belarus to respect universal fundamental freedoms, rule of law and human rights, including on the death penalty, will remain key for the shaping of the EU's future policy towards Belarus. ODIHR Urged Belarusian Authorities To Impose Moratorium On Death Penalty The ODIHR OSCE condemned the execution of death sentences in Belarus and called on the authorities to impose an immediate moratorium on their executions. This is stated in the statement of the Director of the Bureau for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Michael Georg Link, interfax.by reports. "Carrying into execution Siarhei Khmialeuski's death sentences, as well as other reports on the execution of death sentences, are a cause for serious concern, as the ongoing death penalty executions in Belarus run counter to the growing international trend towards abolition of this inherently cruel, inhuman and degrading penalty," Link stressed. "The majority of the OSCE participant-states have already abolished the death penalty, and I urge the Belarusian authorities to introduce a moratorium as a first step towards the complete abolition of the death penalty," the OSCE ODIHR Director said. The Bureau also recalled that the OSCE participant-states have committed themselves to keep the capital punishment abolition under consideration. "The secrecy of most of the death penalty executions is cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners and their families. And no matter how it is carried out, the death penalty is an unacceptable denial of human dignity," Link stated. Each year, the ODIHR publishes a report "The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area", containing information on the status of the death penalty in 57 countries - members of the Organization. Belarus and the United States are the only states OSCE members, which support the death penalty in practice. It is to be recalled that since the beginning of this year 4 convicted have already been executed in Belarus - Ivan Kulesh, Siarhei Khmialeuski, Siarhei Ivanou and Henadz Yakavitski. 3 of them were executed in November this year. Presumably, that all the 3 of "November" condemned men were executed in the same day. At the moment there is only 1 person in the "death row cell" - Homel resident Siarhei Ostrykau (for the rape and murder of two women). Belarus is the only country in Europe and the former Soviet Union, which still applies the death penalty. Since the beginning of 1990, more than 400 condemned men have been sentenced to death, for all that time only 1 person's death penalty was commuted to a prison term. The European Union once again condemned the death penalty in Belarus. The head of EU diplomacy Federica Mogherini also stressed that the issue of the death penalty will shape the EU's policy towards Belarus. | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; send a submission; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! Source: europa.edu, December 2, 2016Source: Charter 97, December 2, 2016 The United States Commends The Gambia on Peaceful Election Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "I congratulate the people of The Gambia for their peaceful and democratic presidential election on December 1. We also congratulate President-elect Adama Barrow on his historic victory, which will mark the first democratic transfer of power in the country, and we look forward to working with him as he helps to usher in a new era in The Gambia. "I also commend President Jammeh for respecting the results and for agreeing to peacefully transfer power to the president-elect. We are grateful to the Independent Electoral Commission for its transparent and efficient management of the electoral process. "We call for unity and calm during this transition period, and urge the Gambian government to respect the rights of citizens to freely assemble and express their views on the election results. "The United States and The Gambia share long-standing ties and we look forward to working together to promote democracy and governance, respect for human rights, and economic and social development." On the Occasion of Finland's National Day Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I warmly congratulate Finland on the 99th anniversary of your independence on December 6. "Our cooperation and friendship with Finland have never been stronger. In the last year, we accelerated our collaboration in bilateral and multilateral fora on defense, global security, human rights, and climate change. Our common democratic values and spirit have deepened our cooperation, and they will continue to guide us in the years to come. "The United States is also looking forward to celebrating with our Finnish friends through the year-long Finland100 cultural festivities to mark next years centennial. "On this jubilant occasion, I wish the Finnish people a memorable anniversary and a bountiful new year." Tomorrow, the State of Georgia intends to execute William Sallie, who was convicted of killing a man in 1990. It would be Georgia's 9th execution this year, a modern state record and nearly twice the previous high-water mark of 5 executions, set 1st in 1987 and again in 2015. I served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Georgia for over 15 years. During that time I participated in dozens of death-penalty cases and affirmed many of them. That experience, though, exposed me to some of the significant flaws in the system - not just the injustice of the death penalty itself, but specific problems with the way capital cases are handled. Mr. Sallie's case is a prime example. Perhaps the biggest problem with Georgia's system, and one of the reasons the state carries out so many executions, is that it often fails to provide people with lawyers. Mr. Sallie, for example, missed a filing deadline for a federal review of his case by 8 days, in part because he didn't have a lawyer at the time to help him. And this isn't just a delay tactic; he has several strong claims about constitutional failings during his trial that, if proved, could require the reversal of his conviction. As things stand, he will be executed without review. Fundamental fairness, due process and the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment require the courts to provide an attorney throughout the entire legal process to review a death sentence. Virtually every capital-punishment state has this safeguard. Georgia is an outlier. I saw this firsthand as the presiding justice on the State Supreme Court in 1999, in an appeal of a post-conviction hearing for a man named Exzavious Gibson, who was 17 at the time of his crime. It was a critical proceeding, where a lawyer should have raised important details about whether he received adequate representation during his trial - except that, ironically, no volunteer attorney was available. Mr. Gibson, who was poor and apparently, from the records, intellectually disabled and afflicted by acute mental health problems, was forced to represent himself. That sham of a proceeding is one of the most deplorable vignettes in Georgia's legal history. But a majority of my fellow justices were less moved, and the court decided, 4-3, that people with death-penalty convictions have no right to counsel at that critical post-conviction stage - a ruling still in force today. As a result, a door that would have been open to Mr. Sallie in almost any other state was closed to him in Georgia. If it were open, he would be able to present the facts about his trial, which appear to show serious problems with juror bias. Mr. Sallie's lawyers amassed volumes of public records and witness statements showing that one of the jurors, despite having a known bias, apparently misled the trial judge and the parties in order to join the jury. (She omitted vital, likely disqualifying information, including striking similarities between her traumatic history of divorce and interstate child custody fights and the domestic strife at the center of Mr. Sallie's case.) In 2012, after his conviction, she bragged to an investigator that she had persuaded the jury, which was evenly divided between life and death, to vote unanimously for death. The problem is not just Georgia. The United States Supreme Court has not ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to an attorney during the critical post-conviction review stage in state courts. Georgia continues to deny counsel - and denies a man like William Sallie the opportunity to defend his life. Source: The New York Times, Op-Ed; Norman S. Fletcher served on the Supreme Court of Georgia for over 15 years and was its chief justice from 2001 to 2005, November 5, 2016 | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; send a submission; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyArts email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Capitalism is a frustrating and often misleading word. It tends to summon to mind a 19th century power struggle between owners of capital factories and machines and those who owned nothing more than their own labour. But that is not really the kind of world we live in anymore. Capital is no longer necessarily something that will kill you if it falls on you. Indeed, some of the most valuable forms of capital in the world today are actually intangible things like algorithms, brands or the agglomeration of skills and experience in an individual company. And those with economic power no longer need own much capital. Some employees (think of chief executives or senior financial traders in the City of London) are far more influential than the nominal owners of the firms capital, the dispersed shareholder register. As the writer John Kay has argued modern market economy would be a more useful description of the kind of society in which most of us in the West exist than capitalist. Yet the word capitalism has stuck. Its unlikely a publisher with an eye on the mass market would commission a book entitled 50 Modern Market Economy Ideas You Really Need to Know". That doesn't scream 'stocking filler'. So the next best thing is to have a book called 50 Capitalism Ideas You Really Need to Know written by someone like Jonathan Portes, a research fellow at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, who is smart and sophisticated enough to work around the problematic term. One vignette informs us that Portes joined the Labour Party in 1983 As well as giving us a thorough mini essay on what capitalism is (and isnt) Portes strides boldly into a mountain range of towering topics, stretching from money, to globalisation, to inequality, to stagnation. And he does it all with admirable clarity and breadth of learning and (aside from one unfortunately mangled description of banks regulatory capital buffers) without sacrificing any accuracy on the altar of accessibility. The chapters on "immigration" and "unemployment" two of Portes' specialist subjects as a professional economist are very good. Each short thematic chapter, in this easy-on-the-eye edition from Quercus, is accompanied with a timeline of the concept under discussion and lively explanatory boxes, sometimes drawing on the authors own experiences to make a point. One vignette informs us that Portes joined the Labour Party in 1983, during its march to electoral annihilation on a hard left manifesto under Michael Foot. The many Conservative MPs who have been upbraided by Portes on Twitter for their sloppy use of statistics and tendentious economic inferences will probably say that biographical detail explains a lot. Yet what actually comes through in these essays is how un-extreme Portes is on economics and the big debates of political economy. He exercises judgement, yet always follows the evidence. Though familiar with most of the themes in the book, I still learned many interesting factual nuggets, such as that the Bank of Englands 20 notes are not technically legal tender in Scotland (check the Bank's website if you want proof). Nor was I aware that a Phoebus cartel of US light bulb manufacturers in the 1930s had colluded to ensure none of their products lasted longer than 1,000 hours. Those without any grounding in economics but who wish to know more about this dominant economic and social system we insist on calling capitalism - will find Portes book even more illuminating. '50 Capitalism Ideas You Really Need to Know', Jonathan Portes, Quercus, 12.99 Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Eugene Green is reaching for the correct word in English. In a heavy Gallic accent, he apologises when the word eludes him. You wont meet a filmmaker more French than Green. With his bushy shock of hair and grey moustache, he looks like a French professor. Green is, in fact, from Brooklyn and moved to France only when he was a young adult. Nothing, though, irritates him more that to be reminded of his US roots. He cant even bring himself to mention the name of the country in which he was born. (He prefers to call it Barbaria.) Green has a grave accent on the second E of his Christian name. He thinks in French, he dreams in French, and his US childhood is just a distant and unpleasant memory. He recently returned to the US for a screening in New York of his latest movie but felt as if he was on Mars. I feel very alien there. Back in the 1960s, he had escaped the country at the earliest opportunity. I knew I was going to leave from the age of 11 on but, at 11, I couldnt leave, the director says of his yearning to get away. I realised very young, even younger than 11 years old, that man exists by language and the Barbarians have no language. What they use to communicate is good for commerce but it is not English. The director (left) has a cameo as a hotel concierge in his film which stars Victor Ezenfis as a disgruntled teenager, Vincent Green talks darkly about the obsession with consumerism and business in America and the debasement of the language. When you try to press him about his family background or why he so despises the US, he clams up. He says that he is from a modest background and that his parents were rather poor but then adds: I am not here to talk about Barbaria. One detail Green does give is that as a kid, he steeped himself in literature. He loved Shakespeare and thought for a time about coming to Britain. In the event, when he reached young adulthood, he headed first to Munich instead as he knew German better than French. He didnt like Germany, though. It was only two decades after the end of the war and he found the atmosphere oppressive. Young people were tight lipped about what their parents had done in the Nazi era. The evasiveness and secrecy he encountered were major themes in one of his novels, La Reconstruction. In this period, Green travelled widely across Europe. He was in Czechoslovakia at the time of the Prague Spring in 1968 but eventually headed to Paris, primarily to learn French. These were the heady days of student riots. He didnt think he would stay for more than six months or so but almost half a century later, he is still there. (He took French citizenship in the mid 1970s.) In his time in France, Green has become one of the acknowledged experts on French Baroque theatre, writing extensively about it, performing it, teaching others about it and drawing on it in his filmmaking. His movies are very disconcerting affairs. Theyre set in the present day but the actors recite their lines in a clear, formalistic fashion as if theyre actors in a 17th century play, addressing the audience directly. His latest feature, The Son Of Joseph (which premiered in the London Film Festival this autumn), is about an adolescent in search of his father. Vincent (Victor Ezenfis) is a disgruntled teenager who has been brought up by his single mother, long-suffering nurse Marie (Natacha Regnier). She has refused to reveal the identity of his father but through his own sleuthing, Vincent works out the man in question is a conceited, womanising and entirely self-centred publisher called Oscar Pormenor (and played in wonderfully sleazy fashion by former Bond villain, Mathieu Amalric). Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up A scene from 'The Son of Joseph' starring former Bond villain, Mathieu Amalric (centre), as the womanising father, Oscar Pormenor The film works both as contemporary comedy drama and as biblical allegory. That, the director explains, is precisely what makes it Baroque. In the middle ages, the Renaissance, there was no conflict between the scientific exploration of the universe and spiritual belief, he explains. People believed that the world was created by God and that he was visible in his created world. Then, during the Baroque period of the 17th and early 18th century, many people lived in what Green describes as an oxymoron. They lived in a rational world, governed by natural laws, and yet they still believed that the highest reality was God. Green tries to reconcile similar contradictions in his own life and work. I have spiritual needs and, at the same time, I live in the modern world which is governed by reason, machines and robots now. The Son Of Joseph is far more playful than Greens musings about science, religion and the nature of Baroque performance may suggest. There are scenes that wouldnt look out of place in a Ray Cooney farce. At one point, Vincent is hiding under a chaise longue in his fathers office with an ankle eye view as his father is seducing the secretary. My shoots are always a very joyous experience for everyone, Green insists. One of the paradoxes about Greens films is that they seem so high minded and yet are also so humorous. It comes naturally to me, he says of the irony and slapstick, the mix of farce and tragedy, that you find in his work. In France, he says, this humour is sometimes misunderstood. They dont like to mix things. However, he sees jokes as serving a double function. They relieve the tension while at the same time they increase it. These days, Green is a respected writer and filmmaker with a string of features behind him. Early on, he admits, it wasnt easy to gain recognition. When he was first started writing plays in France, he was rejected by the theatre establishment. The plays were rarely staged. The best he could manage was a few public readings. He also performed at Baroque music events. I was never very rich but I managed to survive. Then came the miraculous opportunity to make his first feature film. Hed long dreamed of becoming a filmmaker but had no contacts in the French film industry, although he was once taught by legendary French auteur Eric Rohmer when he was studying art history at the Sorbonne in the 1970s. I liked him [Rohmer] but I was the only one [who did]. In this period, Rohmers films were thought to be reactionary by the radical young students. Also, at that time, students liked to smoke in the lecture hall and he wouldnt let them smoke so they considered him a fascist. Rohmer gave Green top marks for his essays. Nonetheless,it wouldnt be until many years later that Green managed to emulate his teacher and direct movies himself. In his mid-40s, he had the idea for a feature based on an early Flaubert novel. No one wanted to back him. He ended up putting his script, which took two years to write, in a drawer. Eventually, the mood at the funding agencies changed. One of his earliest champions and patrons was the French filmmaker Jacques Rozier, who had seen and admired his stage work. Even though he didnt have a producer or any practical filmmaking experience whatsoever, Green received a public loan to make the movie through the system of avances sur recettes. This was how his first film, Toutes Les Nuites (2001) came into being. Since then, he has completed several new features and has become an established figure in French cinema. Green is passionate about the paintings of Caravaggio, a major influence on his films. He represents to the highest degree Baroque painting, he enthuses. The hidden god is always present in his painting, represented by light that comes from a hidden source. For me, that is the basis of Baroque art. The director has a cameo as a hotel concierge in The Son Of Joseph. This is both another nod in the direction of Baroque art (Baroque painters would throw in references to themselves in their work) and a matter of necessity (there was no one else available to play the role.) Its also an expression of humility as much as of egotism. (In previous films, he has played a waiter and a barman.) Ask Green if he now considers himself to be French and if he has managed to expunge every trace of his American roots and he answers in the affirmative. It is much easier for me to talk about intellectual things in French, he says as his interview, conducted in an upmarket London hotel, draws to a close. The first time I had to speak about the film in English, it was really very difficult, he says. At least, he doesnt feel as much of an outsider in Britain as when he was back in the USA. When I was in New York, the relationship to the English language or whatever it is they speak there I really feel very, very foreign. But here [in Britain], there is something in the language which touches me. The Son of Joseph is released in the UK on 16 December Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Despite George Lucas selling the rights to Star Wars to Disney years ago, the creator remains integrally linked to the series. According to Rogue One director Gareth Edwards, Lucas has now seen the upcoming spin-off and, much to everyones relief, thoroughly enjoyed the film. Speaking to an audience of journalists, Edwards told of how Lucass opinion was the "most important" one, and his reaction meant he could die a happy man. According to Sunday World, Edwards said: Two days ago we got to show George the more, and we all had a phone call and I got to speak with him yesterday, and I don't want to put words into his mouth, but I can honestly say that I can die happy now. "He really liked the movie. It meant a lot. To be honest, and no offense to anyone here, it was the most important review to me. "You know, you guys are important too, but he's kind of God... I will take that conversation to my grave. His opinion means the world to me. Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Show all 45 1 /45 Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Star Wars: The Force Awakens ILM concept art Despite being the creator of Star Wars, Lucas has not always spoken favourably about how Disney has treated the series. On JJ Abrams The Force Awakens, Lucas said: "They wanted to do a retro movie. I don't like that. I like -- every movie, I worked very hard to make them completely different, with different planets, with different spaceships -- you know, to make it new. In other Star Wars news, rumours have been spreading regarding Episode VIII and the possible appearance of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the film. Rogue One reaches cinemas 15 December. Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for insider tips and product reviews from our shopping experts Sign up for our free IndyBest email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyBest email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Are you planning on roasting your chestnuts on an open fire this Christmas? If you are, youre going to have to do it with solid fuel that contains low levels of sulphur and creates only small amounts of smoke, as the government has pushed forward with its Clean Air Strategy. Its this same strategy thats also going to impact any purchasing decision you make on a log burner, which makes 2022 an important year if youre looking at installing one in your home. Since 1 January, any burner you buy will need to comply with the Clean Air Strategy and youll need it to be Defra-approved, which means the burner is designed to keep the fuel from being starved of oxygen, so smoke is kept to a minimum. Youll also need to ensure your appliance complies with a European directive on air pollution and particulate emissions, known as Ecodesign, which looks to reduce emissions by 90 per cent compared with an open fire, and by 80 per cent compared with an average 10-year-old stove. Buying smart now will really save you in the long run, as a highly efficient burner will deliver more heat to your room and will ultimately mean you have to use less fuel. We went looking for stoves that complied with all the current Ecodesign and Defra standardisations and came up with an ultimate edit of future-proofed fires. How we tested Testing log burners can be a challenge because of the necessary installations, which is why we went to various showrooms and manufacturers to see the stoves in place and get them demonstrated. First and foremost, we were looking at each appliances heat efficiency and output, using the industry standard as a guideline. That guideline states that to achieve a cosy 21C, when the air temperature is freezing outside, youll need around 1kW of heat output for every 14 cubic metres of space in your room. Away from the numbers, we were also looking at design and what kind of room the burner would be suited to. Good visuals of the fire were important (after all, this is one of the main reasons for buying a wood burner) and how easy the appliance is to clean and reset ready for the next time you want to use it was also a consideration. All the burners had airwash systems, which is pretty standard these days, and means there are vents that draw in air to wash the glass of soot and blackening. You can usually tell how well this system works with just one burn, so we compared the glass before the fire and after to check the system worked efficiently. The best log burners for 2022 are: For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Washington pizzeria is the home of a child sex abuse ring that includes people including Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief John Podesta, reports claim. Those reports are entirely baseless and there is no actual evidence that the Comet Ping Pong pizza restaurant is anything but a popular pizza place, but that doesnt matter. At least the fact that it is entirely untrue doesnt matter to the thousands of online conspiracy theorists and trolls who have promoted the false rumour. And nor did it matter to the man who walked into the restaurant late at night reportedly brandishing a firearm, hoping to self-investigate the reports. Edgar Maddison Welch, 28 of Salisbury, North Carolina, walked into the front door of Comet Ping Pong and pointed a firearm in the direction of a restaurant employee, The Washington Post reported. US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Show all 12 1 /12 US Presidential election: key moments in pictures US Presidential election: key moments in pictures The 2005 Access Hollywood video which showed Mr Trump bragging to Billy Bush Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Hillary Clinton and her health concerns Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Hillary Clinton and her health concerns Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Mr Trump suggests gun-supporters could kill Hillary Clinton to prevent her from picking the supreme court justices Reuters US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Melania Trump plagiarises Michelle Obamas speech Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Mr Trump said that judge Gonzalo Curiel would not be able to rule fairly, as he was of Mexican heritage United States Federal Court/AP US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Donald Trump anxious over securing black vote Reuters US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Hillary Clinton and concerns about securing black vote Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Pope Francis Questions Donald Trump's Christianity Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Donald Trump and his relentless remarks against Mexican people Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Donald Trump and the sexual assault allegations Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures FBI director announced that there would be no charges for Hillary Clinton amid email scandal Getty The employee was able to flee and notify police. Welch then fired the gun into the floor. Police responded and arrested Welch without incident. They recovered an assault rifle, Brown said. Welch was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. He had come to look into the fictitious conspiracy theory, according to a police statement. But he was far from the first person to become activated by the claims that the pizza was harbouring a secret connection to abuse and the highest echelons of power. Recommended Fake news story led man to open fire in Washington pizza parlour The beginnings of the pizzagate conspiracy theory are murky. But they appear to have originated as long ago as October, when various anonymous Twitter accounts began posting false rumours that Anthony Weiners laptop had been recovered by the FBI, and that on it was proof that he had been involved in child sexual abuse. That rumour took off quickly online, among supporters of Donald Trump and others who were convinced about a conspiracy or simply wanted to perpetuate the idea that there is one. And as it took off it grew, too to take in suggestions that people including Hillary Clinton and John Podesta, her campaign manager, were involved. Discussion soon turned to Mr Podestas emails, to Ms Clinton and others, which were published by WikiLeaks. Apparently unable to find any direct suggestion that anyone had been involved in child sexual abuse, those involved in promoting pizzagate began to claim that a code was being used that code included references to junk food, including pizza, which was supposedly used in place of the word girl. That came, apparently, from the fact that there seemed to more references to pizza and pizzerias than people had expected in the emails. Some of those messages have strange syntax, the proponents claim, apparently suggesting that pizza is being used as code for something else. From there, it appears that the conspiracy became attached to an actual pizzeria. And from there it wasn't long that the supposed real location was found the one owned by James Alefantis. He had previously been in a relationship with controversial right-wing commentator and recent Hillary Clinton supporter David Brock and his pizzeria is in a leafy part of Washington but it isnt really clear why it had the misfortune of being falsely identified as the home of the conspiracy. The pizzeria itself put out a statement condemning the events after the man came into the restaurant, as well as the weeks of suspicion and abuse that they have encountered. As it has throughout the events of pizzagate, it stressed that the rumours were putting those caught up in them in real danger. For now, I will simply say that we should all condemn the efforts of certain people to spread malicious and utterly false accusations about Comet Ping Pong, a venerated DC institution, owner James Alefantis said in a statement. Let me state unequivocally: these stories are completely and entirely false, and there is no basis in fact to any of them. What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Attention has finally fallen on the crisis of safety in British prisons. It shouldnt be a surprise to anyone. Some argue prison has always inherently been, and remains, a place of degradation that is systematically generating suffering and death. A place where the victims are overwhelmingly prisoners a fact that might be obscured by the loud voices of the Prison Officers Association. On the other hand, there is something peculiar in this present crisis. It feels like a perfect storm of rising prisoner numbers, cuts in staffing, widespread demoralisation among prisoners and staff, all combining to deliver evidence of a record year for killing and self-inflicted deaths. Recommended North Korea upgrades crematorium at one of its notorious prison camps In this context, but specifically following the news of the fatal stabbing of Jamal Mahmoud at HMP Pentonville in November, Emily Thornberry, the local MP, called for an investigation into whether an appropriate duty of care had been extended to the deceased during his time at the jail. Indeed, one commentator noted that Mr Mahmouds death had come as little surprise given the substantial rise in violence at the troubled local prison over recent years, violence which had been documented in report after report. Caught in the Act Such a call seems appropriate and timely. In 2011, the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (CMCHAct) was extended to the prison service, so that a prison itself, through the actions or inactions of its senior management, can be held to account for deaths within its walls. A prosecution under the Act requires a failure in the way in which the organisation is managed or organised that amounts to a gross breach of its duty of care. This in turn requires evidence that the failure fell far below what can reasonably be expected. That may include consideration of the attitudes, policies, and systems of accepted practices of the organisation, while a substantial element of the failure must be at senior management level. Emily Thornberry has called for an enquiry into Jamal Mahmouds death (EPA) Now there is no doubt that the Act was introduced ostensibly and primarily to deal with the failure of common law manslaughter to hold large, complex, profit-making companies to account for multiple fatality disasters. In this respect, it has hardly been a success. Thus, at the time of writing, over eight years after the CMCHAct came into force, there have been 19 successful prosecutions under the Act none, arguably, against a company of the size and complexity that could not have been prosecuted under the pre-existing common law. But is there a case for testing the Act in the context of deaths in prison? I would argue that there is, on at least two counts. Danger zone First, prisons are especially dangerous places. According to HSE data released last month, fatal injuries (as opposed to fatal illnesses) to workers in 2015/16 totalled 144. Almost a third of these (43) occurred in construction, with the other most dangerous sectors being agriculture and manufacturing (each with 27 recorded fatalities). Notwithstanding the significant limitations of HSE data, such figures pale into comparison when compared with the numbers of killings and self-inflicted deaths in British jails. In 2011, the year the Act was extended to cover prisons, there were 190 deaths in prison; this year, there have been more than 300. All in all, since 2011, there has been a consistent, year-on-year increase in the numbers of such deaths, which total nearly 1,400 for the period. It seems almost inconceivable that none of these 1,400 deaths involved at least sufficient evidence for a prosecution to be taken under the CMCHAct. 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 Second, we know, and have long known, that it is precisely attitudes, policies, and systems of accepted practices which generate deaths and violence in prison. Just as we also know that some institutions are more poorly managed than others. It is, sadly, also too easy to identify clusters of deaths in specific jails. For example, there have been 17 self-inflicted deaths at HMP Woodhill near Milton Keynes since 2013 the latest, 41-year-old artist David Rayner, was found in his cell on August 25. Ignored recommendations More generally, a constant stream of inquest findings, inspectorate, investigation and monitoring reports, and inquiries into prisons from Baroness Corston to Lord Harris, reveal consistent failings and are able to produce rigorous, evidence-based recommendations to protect the health and safety of prisoners and staff in British jails. The vast majority of these have been systematically ignored. But the fact remains that this volume of evidence would strongly indicate that in the case of many deaths in prison, management was likely aware of risks to which they failed to respond, a key element of the senior management failure test under the law. Recommended Probe after inmates post pictures of the high life behind bars Many deaths in prison are the result of gross breaches in the duty of care through attitudes, policies and practices woven into the fabric of the prison service. The time is overdue for the CMCHAct to be tested there. This is not to imply that effective reform of prisons can come through the law. In fact, the best way to reduce prison violence is through an explicit policy decision to make prison the last resort of sentencing policy in an effort to massively reduce the prison population. It now stands at a near-record level of 85,000, and England and Wales have the highest imprisonment rate in Western Europe. However, a successful prosecution under the Act would provide a powerful, symbolic message that the routine, systematic deaths of those to whom the state and the prison service has a duty of care cannot continue without legal accountability. This article first appeared on The Conversation (theconversation.com). Steve Tombs is a professor of criminology, at The Open University For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The supermarket Iceland has hit back at the Icelandic government after it shunned the retailers attempt to settle their trademark dispute. The government of Iceland announced that it will proceed with legal action against Iceland Foods, which owns the European trademark for using the name Iceland, claiming the supermarket prevents the country's companies from calling their products Icelandic. Malcolm Walker, Iceland Foods founder and chief executive, said the company sent a delegation to Reykjavik on Friday but no agreement was reached. Mr Walker said: "[The talks] got nowhere because it rapidly became clear that the Icelandic authorities have no interest in reaching a compromise," said founder and chief executive Malcolm Walker. "Iceland Foods had Icelandic majority shareholders and Icelandic representatives on its board for seven years to 2012. At no point in all those years did any representative of Iceland (the country) raise the slightest concern about our company's branding," he said. The government claims that, during last week's meeting, Iceland Foods refused to give up control over the word and presented unsatisfactory proposals to resolve the situation. "The registration of a country name that enjoys highly positive national branding to a private company defies logic and is untenable," Iceland foreign ministry said on Friday. One significant factor that could count against the Icelandic governments legal challenge is that the application for the Iceland trademark granted in 2014 was actually filed by the supermarket chain back in 2002. This means the the mark was granted after lengthy and rigorous process. The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves Show all 14 1 /14 The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves Icelandic ice caves in Vatnajokull Mikael Buck/Sony The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves Icelandic ice caves in Vatnajokull Mikael Buck/Sony The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves Icelandic ice caves in Vatnajokull Mikael Buck/Sony The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves Icelandic ice caves in Vatnajokull Mikael Buck/Sony The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves Icelandic ice caves in Vatnajokull Mikael Buck/Sony The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves Icelandic ice caves in Vatnajokull Mikael Buck/Sony The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves Icelandic ice caves in Vatnajokull Mikael Buck/Sony The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves Icelandic ice caves in Vatnajokull Mikael Buck/Sony The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves Icelandic ice caves in Vatnajokull Mikael Buck/Sony The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves Icelandic ice caves in Vatnajokull Mikael Buck/Sony The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves Icelandic ice caves in Vatnajokull Mikael Buck/Sony The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves Icelandic ice caves in Vatnajokull Mikael Buck/Sony The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves Icelandic ice caves in Vatnajokull Mikael Buck/Sony The breathtaking photos of Icelandic ice caves Icelandic ice caves in Vatnajokull Mikael Buck/Sony Iceland Foods added that it still hoped an amicable arrangement could be reached. The supermarket has almost 900 stores in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Czech Republic and Iceland (the country). For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A British woman has been stabbed to death in Lapland while doing seasonal work for a tour company. The 25-year-old woman was killed in Kuttanen, Finland, on Saturday and her 36-year-old boyfriend has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Lapland police said the woman's boyfriend, also a seasonal worker, caused a man-hunt to be launched after he fled with the couple's dogs into the wilderness. The man was found by officers and sent to the Lapland central hospital in Rovaniemi where he was reportedy treated for hypothermia. Recommended British woman stabbed to death at Australian hostel A spokeswoman for Santa Safari said: We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of the Santa Safari team was discovered dead on 3 December. We are all in shock from this tragic news and our thoughts go out to her family. Our team is working closely with the Finnish police and relevant authorities to support the investigation that is now under way. It goes without saying that we will do everything we can to support the family and our staff at this incredibly difficult time. A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman said: We are supporting the family of a British national who died in Finland on 3 December. Police Scotland confirmed they have been contacted by the FCO regarding the incident are are assisting them as required. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It has become increasingly rare for Edward Snowden to give interviews in the flesh. Instead, the exiled NSA whistleblower often takes the guise of a Snowbot - a bizarre 11,600 telepresence robot device which allows you to make video calls to a screen on remote control wheels. But, in a rare move, Snowden has now given a televised interview from Moscow. In the face-to-face discussion, Snowden took aim at the former CIA Director General David Petraeus who is considered a leading contender for the role of Secretary of State in the Trump administration. Speaking to Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric, Snowden claimed that Petraeus had disclosed information that was far more highly classified than he had ever released yet had managed to avoid spending any prison time. Petraeus, a former US army general, resigned from the agency in November 2012 after the FBI discovered he had had an extra-marital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell. Last year, he accepted a plea agreement in which he admitted sharing classified documents. He also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge for mishandling classified information. Talking about the type of plea bargain he might accept for his decision to leak classified information to members of the media, Snowden referred to the case of Petraeus. 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 Perhaps the best-known case in recent history here is Gen Petraeus - who shared information that was far more highly classified than I ever did with journalists, Snowden said. And he shared this information not with the public for their benefit, but with his biographer and lover for personal benefit - conversations that had information, detailed information, about military special-access programs, thats classified above top secret, conversations with the president and so on. When the government came after him, they charged him with a misdemeanor. He never spent a single day in jail, despite the type of classified information he exposed. Recommended Edward Snowden addresses Facebook fake news claims Snowden suggested that the case of Petraeus was evidence there was a two-tier system in the US justice system where those connected to government get off more easily. We have a two-tiered system of justice in the United States, where people who are either well-connected to government or they have access to an incredible amount of resources get very light punishments. Petraeus met with the President-elect at Trump Tower last Monday, with Donald Trump tweeting that he was very impressed with the possible candidate for the most prominent post in his cabinet. Petraeus, a four-star general, led US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan before being hit with a scandal. He admitted to a similar kind of crime Mr Trump attempted to accuse Hillary Clinton of during the presidential campaign. On Sunday, Petraeus said he made a "serious mistake" five years ago. He said he recognised and apologised for it at the time and had learned from what had happened. Blog Hinangai While there is much discussion in Guam about the economic benefits of increasing the islands military presence, the damages/dangers that they represent are rarely mentioned. This blog, a supplement to the Peace and Justice for Guam Petition, is meant to counter that by providing information about the US military in Guam, with the hopes of steering policy away from a dangerous unilateralist course to more sustainable notions of regional development and a strengthening international solidarity. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Gina Miller, the businesswoman who successfully derailed Theresa Mays plans for Brexit, says she is no longer able to travel on public transport due to the abuse she has faced since the High Court ruled in her favour. On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear the governments appeal against last months High Court ruling that the Prime Minister must seek parliamentary approval before triggering Article 50, the process by which the UK can leave the European Union following the June referendum. Miller was the lead claimant in the case against the government and while she may have been successful, the backlash against her has included racist and misogynistic abuse. Gina Miller criticises Daily Mail's 'shameful' coverage She said on Sunday she can no longer travel on public transport, work in her office or relax at the weekend by going out with her family. I dont go anywhere it has been a complete poisoned chalice, she told The Guardian. Recommended Supreme Court judge who could overturn Brexit starts case with warning She also criticised sections of the press which had targeted the lives of the senior judges who had ruled in her favour last month. I think it is such a dangerous road to be going down to be attacking the judges and their integrity and their independence, she said. They are being vilified and it is totally disgraceful. Miller, who also says she has experienced death threats, also criticised the media and politicians suggesting they have incited the abuse she has had to endure in an essay for Vogue. 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 Ive been quite used to being the most hated women in the investment and charity sectors but now Ive been called the most hated women in the country, she wrote. Im realistic about what happens when you put your head above the parapet I know what that means but the reaction to this case has been very alarming and I think certain media outlets and politicians should be hanging their heads in shame that they are inciting violence, racial and sexual hatred, even death threats against me. It is a total disgrace. Miller said although she was warned about receiving backlash, she was not going to back down. I have always detested bullies and have never been afraid to stand by my words and deeds whatever the backlash, she wrote. Miller, who voted Remain in the referendum, maintains she is not trying to stop Brexit but preserve parliamentary sovereignty, democracy and the rule of law. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Ivanka Trump was reportedly closing a business deal with a Japanese clothing company of which the countrys government is a large stake holder as she sat in on a meeting between her father, President-elect Donald Trump, and Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The New York Times says Ms Trump is finalising a licensing deal between her clothing brand and Sanei International. The company held an exclusive viewing of Ivanka Trump products as the 35-year-old listened in on the 17 November meeting. Trump puts Ivanka in on call to opposition leader One particular area of concern in the Times report is the largest shareholder of Sanei is the government-owned Development Bank of Japan. The Trumps have faced criticism for the extensive conflicts of interest that will take effect as the New York businessman takes office. Mr Trump himself has promised to remove himself from his role at Trump Organisation, and transfer all operational elements to his three children, Ms Trump, Eric Trump, 32, and Donald Trump, Jr, 38. Last week, Mr Trump tweeted that he will be leaving my great business in total to focus on the presidency a job he has apparently admitted was bigger than he thought. But Mr Trump has made clear that he is not legally obligated to fully divest from his company, as conflict of interest laws that govern most elected officials do not apply to US presidents. While I am not mandated to do this under the law, he wrote, I feel it is visually important, as president, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses. News of Ms Trumps business dealings with Japan does little to allay worries of whether Trump Organisation matters will have an impact on the man in the Oval Office. According to the report, Ms Trump began working with Sanei two years ago, before her father launched his bid for the presidency. Her brand and image have stoked enthusiasms of Japanese consumers. At the moment, Sayumi Gunji, a lifestyle magazine editor present at the event, told the Times, Ivanka is even more popular here than Mr Trump. 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 However, there are no reports that indicate Ms Trump spoke with Mr Abe about her business dealings. The Trump Organisation issued a statement regarding the transfer of management between now and Mr Trumps 20 January inauguration. They said, the structure that is ultimately selected will comply with all applicable rules and regulations. Another concerning element of Mr Trumps ties to his businesses is the potential for diplomats and world leaders to influence US policy simply through the pocketbooks of the president. Giving to the Trump family would be seen by many foreign leaders as the way to get in with the Trump administration, said Meredith McGehee, who works for the Campaign Legal Centre. But while Mr Trump deflects concerns of conflicts of interest, he conceded one point: The [Trump] brand is certainly a hotter brand than it was before. I cant help that, but I dont care." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Leonardo DiCaprio has given Ivanka Trump a copy of his climate change documentary. DiCaprio co-produced and featured in Before The Flood a 90-minute documentary on climate change directed by Martin Scorsese also starring Barack Obama, Ban Ki-Moon, Elon Musk and Pope Francis. DiCaprio has long been on a mission to highlight the damaging effects of climate change by speaking in front of the United Nations multiple times, working through his foundation which he launched in 1998 and speaking up during his long-awaited, victorious Academy Award acceptance speech earlier this year. Leonardo DiCaprio takes dig at Donald Trump 'Vote for people who believe in the science of climate change' Now, after building a successful relationship with President Obama on climate change, he has targeted the daughter of the President-elect. DiCaprio and the 35-year-old businesswoman had a recent private meeting where The Revenant actor presented her with a DVD of the documentary, The Independent understands. Donald Trumps victory has concerned environmentalists worldwide due to his previous denials of climate change. In 2012, he tweeted: The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. However, despite his approach, it was reported last week that his daughter wants to become an ambassador for the environmental issue. Ms Trump is viewed as one of the more liberal-leaning influencers close to the Trump campaign. On Friday, The New York Times reported some of her left-leaning high-powered friends and acquaintances are hoping she will be able to influence their various causes in her fathers presidency. Indeed, she appears to have taken on a very active role as a First Daughter, having already been pictured attending a meeting along with her father and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 10 days after his election win. The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Show all 10 1 /10 The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Leonardo DiCaprio On climate change: 'Climate change is real, it is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.' Getty The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Chrissy Teigen 'I will never stop talking about how horrible Donald Trump is. Even after he loses, I will set an alert to my phone to remind me to not stop. Getty The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Nicki Minaj On the war on drugs and US prison system: What it has become is not a war on drugs. It has become slavery. Or something crazier. When I see how many people are in jail, I feel like, Wait a minute. Our government is aware of these statistics and thinks its OK The sentences are inhumane. Christopher Polk/Getty Images for A+E Networks The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Emily Ratajkowski 'I am not shamed or apologetic of what my body might represent to you. Its the body I was given. I'm no less worthy of making political points about feminism or fighting for the reclaiming of female sexuality because of it.' Andrew Toth/Getty Images The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Jesse Williams On racial equality: Now what we've been doing is looking at the data and we know that police somehow manage to de-escalate, disarm and not kill white people every day. So what's going to happen is we are going to have equal rights and justice in our own country or we will restructure their function and ours. Getty The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Zendaya On claiming a magazine photoshopped her: Had a new shoot come out today and was shocked when I found my 19 year old hips and torso quite manipulated. These are the things that make women self conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have. Getty The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Jennifer Lawrence Im over trying to find the "adorable" way to state my opinion and still be likable! F**k that. I don't think I've ever worked for a man in charge who spent time contemplating what angle he should use to have his voice heard. It's just heard.' AFP/Getty Images The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind John Legend On Black Lives Matter: 'We should not have to jump through hoops to prove black people shouldnt be shot by police during routine traffic stops. So many people work so hard to find a reason why executing a human being during a traffic stop is ok. ITS NOT OK.' Getty The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Amandla Stenberg On cultural appropriation: 'What would America be like if we loved black people as much as we loved black culture?' Getty Images The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Maisie Williams On feminism: I [also] feel like we should stop calling feminists feminists and just start calling people who arent feminist sexist and then everyone else is just human. You are either a normal person or a sexist. People get a label because theyre bad.' Chris Jackson/Getty Images A spokesperson for Ms Trump declined to comment. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Stephen Hawking has been released from hospital in Rome after undergoing two days of checks. The world famous physicist was taken to the Gemelli hospital on Thursday night after he was reported to be feeling unwell. The 74-year-old had been in the capital to attend a conference at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and also had a meeting with Pope Francis last Monday. The hospital, deemed to be one of the best in the country and where popes are treated, said Hawking was in good condition and would be travelling back to the UK. 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. Hawking has motor neuron disease, which is known as Gehrig's Disease in the US, and speaks through a speech-generating computer and travels with a staff that includes two nurses. Recommended Stephen Hawking hospitalised in Rome The physicist, cosmologist, and professor has voiced his opinion on everything from Brexit to Donald Trump in recent weeks. In a column last Thursday he urged the human race to pull together and break down barriers in the wake of the billionaire mogul's victory in the US and the Brexit vote in the UK. He said it would be a terrible mistake to overlook the underlying factors behind both seismic decisions. Nevertheless, Hawking recently said even he is not cut out to tackle Brexit. While receiving an award from Theresa May at the Pride of Britain Awards at the beginning of November, he quipped: I deal with tough mathematical questions every day, but please dont ask me to help with Brexit. Additional reporting by Reuters Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Arron Banks, Ukip's biggest donor and one of the first Britons to meet Donald Trump after his election victory, has denied claims he offered a bribe to a major UK political party in exchange for support for his Leave.EU Brexit campaign. The allegation was made by senior figures in the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, who said Mr Banks offered them a financial sum, thought to amount to six figures, if they chose to back the Ukip dominated Leave.EU campaign, instead of its rival Vote Leave. At the time of the alleged offer, both Brexit organisations were competing to be selected as the official campaign group that would receive formal public funding for the referendum battle. A spokesperson for DUP, which eventually backed Vote Leave, told The Independent: Mr Banks offered the party financial support if it changed which bidder it backed. The party neither accepted money from Arron Banks nor changed his mind. But millionaire businessman Mr Banks, who was part of the Ukip delegation invited to meet Mr Trump in New York last month, insists the offer was the other way around. He says the DUP asked him for money in exchange for backing the Leave.EU campaign. The Independent understands the allegations relate to a meeting on 12 February in London, at private members club 5 Hertford Street, where a senior member of the DUP met Mr Banks. Donald Trump and Arron Banks (Twitter/Leave EU) At the time Vote Leave and Leave.EU were lobbying against each other to secure the 600,000 of public funding available for the official anti-EU campaign. Support from the DUP was perceived to be a prize catch for both camps for that race, because it had eight MPs and was the largest party in Parliament to support leaving the EU. Details about the negotiations were first aired in Mr Banks memoirs, The Bad Boys of Brexit, when he wrote: The DUP is demanding cold, hard cash in exchange for its support! Thirty grand a month, to be precise. I know Northern Irish politics is dirty, but this is crazy. It all came about because Farage is mates with [DUP MP] Ian Paisley Junior. A spokesperson for Mr Banks told The Independent he stands by his account in his memoir and rejects any suggestion he offered the DUP money. The DUP gave their backing to the Vote Leave campaign, which was later selected as the official Leave campaign. During the referendum, it caused controversy after buying a four page advertisement supporting Brexit in the Metro newspaper, which is not distributed in Northern Ireland. At the time, the party denied questions of whether the move was an attempt to circumvent spending limits in the campaign, saying they were merely joining a national debate which involves all regions of the UK. The DUPs electoral expenses for the referendum have not yet been submitted to the Electoral Commission and are due to be submitted next month. A spokesperson for the Commission told The Independent the party spent at least 250,000 during the referendum campaign. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Attorney General is to warn Supreme Court judges that they should steer clear of getting involved in political decisions as the Government goes to the Supreme Court in the latest stage of the legal battle over Brexit. Attorney General Jeremy Wright will lead the case for Theresa Mays administration in its bid to overturn a High Court decision made earlier this year, which secured Parliament the right to vote on launching Brexit talks. Ms May has made clear that regardless of the outcome, she intends Article 50 to be invoked by the end of next March to start talks with EU countries aiming for a 2019 Brexit. Government 'would consider paying for single market access post-Brexit' A paper submitted to the Supreme Court in advance of todays case sets out the Governments argument that the original High Court ruling implies Parliament would be able to micromanage negotiations to leave the European Union. And it urges the Supreme Court judges not to "stray" into areas of political judgment. Mr Wright says warns: "The Court is being invited by the Lord Advocate and the Counsel General to stray into areas of political judgment rather than legal adjudication. The Court should resist that invitation, particularly where the underlying issue is one of considerable political sensitivity." "The premise of the 2015 [referendum] act was the continued existence of the Government's prerogative powers to act on the international plane - including, specifically, to give Article 50 notice as the first step to implementing a "leave" vote. That was the clear understanding of all concerned and the basis on which people voted in the referendum." The paper adds: "Suppose that the Government wished in the negotiations to preserve for UK citizens one part of EU law rights but not another part that position could have a direct impact on the continued enjoyment of current statutory rights. "On the Courts analysis, the Government could not adopt that position and reach agreement on that basis without specific approval in an act of parliament. Parliament would be put in the position of micromanaging treaty negotiations." Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Show all 13 1 /13 Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Supreme Court Brexit Challenge People wait to enter the public gallery outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Gina Miller, co-founder of investment fund SCM Private arrives at the Supreme court in London on the first day of a four-day hearing Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waves the EU flag in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Satirical artist Kaya Mar poses with two of his paintings in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin. The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Businesswoman Gina Miller arrives at the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Attorney General Jeremy Wright arrives at the Supreme Court in London EPA Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Protesters outside the Supreme Court in London, where the Government is appealing against a ruling that the Prime Minister must seek MPs' approval to trigger the process of taking Britain out of the European Union PA wire Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protesters wearing a judge's wigs and robes stands outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protester holds up a placard outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waiting to enter the public gallery waves a European Union flag outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters The Independent first revealed last month that the Government would also argue that actions taken at an international level had no impact on rights in the UK, and so triggering Article 50 in Europe would not need a Commons vote domestically. The High Court ruling was won by Gina Miller, an investment fund manager and philanthropist. She reported that her high-profile role led to death threats and she spent 60,000 on security, but she is returning to the battle represented once more by Lord Pannick QC. Her case is being supported by "concerned citizens" drawn from all walks of life, including London hairdresser Deir Dos Santos, 37, who helped start the legal battle over Brexit but, say his lawyers, has been forced underground after receiving "vile" hate mail. In a decision that infuriated Brexiteers at the start of November, three senior High Court judges said Ms May lacked power to use the royal prerogative to trigger Article 50 without the prior authority of Parliament. Eleven Supreme Court justices a record number to sit on an appeal will have their say regarding what has become one of the most important constitutional cases in generations. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Downing Street is ordering an inquiry into a leaked document, which itself exposed a wider crackdown to stamp out government leaks. Theresa Mays spokesperson confirmed action would be taken against perpetrators found to have passed the internal civil service memo to a Sunday paper. After being asked about the leak, the spokesperson said the Prime Minister took the issue extremely seriously, adding: The civil service codes set out very clearly the role of civil servants, how civil servants are expected to behave with regard to official information. Action is being taken to investigate and follow up on that. There will be an investigation and appropriate action will be taken if perpetrators are identified. In a letter to civil servants, Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood said the Prime Minister wanted to see an end to a spate of corrosive leaks, only for it then to be embarrassingly leaked to The Mail on Sunday as well. Sir Jeremy wrote that anyone found to have leaked sensitive information would be dismissed regardless of whether the leak compromised national security or not. He went on: The Prime Minister has directed that we urgently tighten security processes and improve our response to leaks. She has instructed that we begin this work immediately and expects to see rapid and visible improvement. Ministers, permanent secretaries and senior officials set the tone in an organisation and no amount of process will make up for an environment where leaks are accepted. If leaders think they are the necessary cost of open ways of working they are mistaken. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Today the Supreme Court hears the appeal of Theresa Mays government to trigger Article 50 without parliamentary approval. At the start of November, the High Court ruled that Parliament had the right to vote on launching the formal process of leaving the European Union. The case was brought by Gina Miller, an investment fund manager and philanthropist, represented by Lord Pannick QC and supported by an array of concerned citizens. After the landmark decision, the Prime Minister immediately appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. Today 11 Supreme Court justices will begin hearing the appeal, with the Attorney General warning the judges no to stray into areas of political judgement. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} David Davis, Liam Fox, and Boris Johnson will meet with Norways foreign minister today, amid reports that the UK may still contribute to the EU budget after it leaves the union. Norways arrangement with the EU involves membership of the single market and implementing all EU directives as well as making a contribution to the EU budget. Mr Davis and Mr Johnson hinted this weekend that the UK could still pay into EU coffers after it left, though the Foreign Secretary has said he did not think those payments would necessarily be large. The Brexit Secretary said payments to the single market would be considered if they offer the best possible access for goods and services. Norways conservative Foreign Minister Brge Brende said on Monday morning: Im meeting your secretaries today, Boris Johnson, David Davis, and Liam Fox. We will look at how we can also secure Liam Fox. Were looking at how we can secure a close relationship with the UK going forward. Norways experience outside the EU but inside the single market could provide invaluable lessons for the three ministers in charge of Brexit the so-called "Brexit Troika". Mr Brende said Norways arrangements with the bloc had served it well though the countrys government warned ahead of the EU referendum that Britain should not leave. Brge Brende, Norway's foreign minister, is in London (Getty Images) There is a consensus in Norway that it is in our interests to be a part of the single market and that is what we have to contribute to, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme. We also do funding for countries in the EU that are the new members but also those facing the biggest challenges when it comes to development. 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 Mr Brende continued: Since 1992 we have been part of the single market through the EEA agreement and that has served our country well. It would say also it has served the EU well. 70 per cent of our exports go to the EU but we are also an important market for the European Union. The UK currently pays around 8 billion a year into the EU budget net of what it gets out in financial aid. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Protesters have turned up at the Supreme Court to register their displeasure that 11 judges have been given the power to decide who has the power to trigger the UK's exit from the European Union though there weren't quite as many as Brexiteers had promised. A pro-Brexit group had claimed 100,000 people would join Nigel Farage in a march against the decision to give Parliament a say on triggering Article 50. Mr Farage himself said there wuld be disturbances on the streets if the judges ruled agianst the will of the people. However, the number that actually turned up for the first day of the government legal challenge was somewhat shy of the intended protest size, with fewer than 100 people making the effort to register their anger. The Supreme Court has allowed four days for the appeal hearing which will be streamed live. Leave.EU campaign, run by leading Ukip donor and close Farage ally Arron Banks, had promised a "100,000 strong people's army" would march behind Mr Farage from Trafalgar Square through Whitehall to the hearing. The campaign had pledged 100,000 to support the march. A record 11 Supreme Court justices will sit on the appeal and will have a say on one of the most important constitutional cases in generations. If the appeal is unsuccessful, and any potential further appeal to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg also fails, the Government's current plans for Brexit will have to be scrapped. However, the Prime Minister has made it clear she still intends to give an Article 50 notification by the end of next March to start the leave negotiations with 27 other EU countries. Brexit Secretary David Davis is leading the Government's legal action. His team of lawyers, headed by Attorney General Jeremy Wright, will argue in the hearing that the three High Court judges erred over Article 50 and its use was legally justified by the June 23 referendum vote in favour of quitting the EU. The government's appeal against giving MPs a vote on Brexit is getting started at the Supreme Court #HeartNews pic.twitter.com/lvYqvwAYtj Duncan Cook (@duncancook76) December 5, 2016 Lord Thomas, the Lord Chief Justice, gave the ruling blocking the use of Article 50. Two other top judges - Master of the Rolls Sir Terence Etherton and Lord Justice Sales agreed. The Attorney General said: "The country voted to leave the European Union in a referendum provided for by an Act of Parliament. "The Government is determined to respect the result of the referendum. "The Government's case is that it does have legal power to trigger Article 50 on the timetable set out by the Prime Minister. We do not believe another Act of Parliament is necessary." Brexit supporters dressed a judges on anti-EU bus outside the Supreme Court (PA) Even though it was emphasised to a packed court in London that they were deciding "a pure question of law" and not expressing any view about the merits of leaving the European Union, they faced fierce criticism from Leave campaigners and an accusation that they were "enemies of the people". Against that background, the Supreme Court has already stressed that its judges will only be concerned with questions of law and not making political decisions. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A fresh Conservative revolt this week could force Theresa May to abandon her hopes to keep her plans for Brexit secret. Up to 40 Tory backbenchers are believed to be ready to vote with Labour to bind the Prime Minister into publishing the governments plan for leaving the EU before Article 50 is invoked. The motion, to be debated on Wednesday, demands the government set out its broad aims for Brexit its stance on the single market, on freedom of movement of EU citizens, and on security matters, for example. Recommended Supreme Court judge who could overturn Brexit starts case with warning Until now, Ms May has refused to make such a commitment, arguing that showing the governments hand will weaken its position in the negotiations to follow. But faced with the revolt she may be forced to give way or face the humiliation of being defeated by the Labour motion. Anna Soubry, a key pro-Remain Tory MP, said: I have to say I can't see anything in it I don't approve of and could not support. She urged the Prime Minister to put down her own sensible amendment telling BBC Radio 4's World At One: "These things are incredibly important. This actually transcends party politics and tribalism. Ms Soubry suggested scores of Conservative backbenches were concerned that the governments Brexit strategy was not being put under the microscope. Veteran former Cabinet minister Ken Clarke told The Independent he would join Ms Soubry, saying: "I plan to support the Labour motion on Article 50 in what appears to be its current form." The clash threatens a rerun of a Labour motion two months ago, which merely demanded proper Parliamentary scrutiny of the exit plan by the Commons. On that occasion, to avoid a damaging backbench rebellion, the Prime Minister was forced to effectively give it her backing. The debate also gave a platform to a string of former Conservative ministers to warn that the lack of a coherent plan for leaving the EU was hurting the economy. If there is a similar climbdown before Wednesday afternoon, it could commit the government to publish a white or green paper ahead of the triggering of the Article 50 notice. Ms May still intends to do that before the end of March although that timetable could be derailed by the Supreme Court case into whether Parliament must first give its consent. The motion, tabled by Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer, his Brexit spokesman, appears carefully crafted to attract as much Conservative support as possible. It acknowledges there should be no disclosure of material that could be reasonably judged to damage the UK in any negotiations to depart from the European Union. Some pro-Brexit Tory MPs are also expected to back it as they fear some ministers are backsliding on a clean withdrawal and want to see the governments strategy. There was fresh confusion at the weekend when Boris Johnson dismissed the idea of significant payments to retain access to the single market just days after Brexit Secretary David Davis suggested they would be necessary. Labour has pointed out that command papers and economic impact papers were put before MPs before Britain entered the then-EEC in 1973 arguing for the same. Jenny Chapman, a junior Brexit spokeswoman, protested that MPs had to make do with side comments from ministers, or leaked documents. She said: It is up to Conservative MPs themselves to work out what they want to do. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Britains vote to leave the European Union has started the blocs disintegration, Italys minister for European affairs has said. Sandro Gozi, an ally of outgoing Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi, said his country was facing a period of uncertainty following the vote this weekend to reject a planned constitutional reform. The centre-left Democratic Party minister argued that the referendum defeat represented a missed opportunity to reform European institutions and save the EU from falling apart. I think that the beginning of European disintegration has started with Brexit, Mr Gozi told BBC Radio 4s Today programme. It is up to the other 27 governments to re-launch Europe. That was our policy, that was our goal as the Renzi government. It is clear that now Europe loses a major political actor to its relaunch. Speaking on the same programme, a spokesperson for Italys anti-politics Five Star Movement took aim at the European single currency. The Euro is a problem for Italy right now and we would like to get peoples voices on that because we never did, Daniele Caprera said. There were so many promises made by the old politics which people believed. I think the Euro is damaging the Italian economy. He argued that the EU needed reform: There is already a crisis in the EU, there is no denial on that. This current Europe system doesnt meet the European peoples need. Its more an economic system and it doesnt help socially any other problem that there are in Europe with immigration, financial problems. Europe right now is being used to bring in countries, to bring in cheap labour, to lower everybodys salary, its not a very good system. The Italian referendum was ostensibly a plan to scrap direct elections to the Italian Senate, the upper house of the Italian Parliament. The confidence of the newly undemocratic chamber would not have been required to form a government after the reforms. Proponents of the plan said it would have improved the stability of Italian governments which are notoriously fragile. Italian Referendum Show all 10 1 /10 Italian Referendum Italian Referendum Italian Premier Matteo Renzi casts his ballot in a polling station during the referendum on the government's constitutional reform in Pontassieve, near Florence, Italy EPA Italian Referendum Supporters of the "No" faction for a referendum on constitutional reform hold a banner in front of Chigi palace in Rome, Italy Reuters Italian Referendum A supporter of the 'No' faction for a referendum on constitutional reform holds a flare during a protest in front of Chigi palace in Rome, Italy Reuters Italian Referendum Silvio Berlusconi after leaving Constitutional Referendum voting in Rome, Italy Rex Italian Referendum A barmaid reads the Corriere della Sera newspaper at a coffee shop in Rome, Italy Reuters Italian Referendum A man holds a banner reading 'I say no' during a march in support of the 'No' vote in the constitutional reform referendum in Rome Reuters Italian Referendum Newspaper headlines show Italian Premier Matteo Renzi's resignation following the result of Sunday's constitutional referendum, at a newsstand in Rome AP Italian Referendum An anti-referendum poster showing Premier Matteo Renzi is reflected in a scooter mirror in Rome a day after the referendum vote AP Italian Referendum Italian Premier Matteo Renzi, left, speaks during a press conference at the premier's office Chigi Palace in Rome AP Italian Referendum Italian Premier Matteo Renzi, left, leaves with his wife Agnese at the end of a press conference in Rome AP Centre-left PM Matteo Renzi said he would resign of the reforms did not pass effectively making the vote a referendum on this premiership. On Sunday following the result he confirmed he would step down. The Five Star Movement, which opposed the plans, would be expected to make significant gains in the event of early elections Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Human rights abusers with blood on their hands should be prevented from cashing in on their assets in Britain with new anti-corruption legislation, a group of senior MPs from across the political spectrum has urged. Supported by 27 MPs, the proposed amendment to the Criminal Finances Bill calls on the Government to put an end to the UK being used a safe haven for despots and foreign kleptocrats and their ill-gotten gains. The new anti-corruption legislation, if passed, will be known as the Magnitsky Amendment named after the 37-year-old Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was allegedly tortured and killed in police custody. His crime, say his supporters, was blowing the whistle on fraud amounting to $230m by the Russian government and organised criminals. Dominic Raab, the Conservative MP for Esher and Walton who tabled the amendment, said: People with blood on their hands for the worst human rights abuses should not be able to funnel their dirty money in the UK. This change in the law will protect Britain from becoming a safe place for despots and dictators to hide their money. Labour MP Margaret Hodge, one of the initiators of the anti-corruption legislation, said for too long the UK has acted as a safe haven for foreign kleptocrats and their ill-gotten gains. She added: We hope this legislation will help to end this. Others sponsoring the amendment include Caroline Lucas, the co-leader of the Green Party, Harriet Harman, the former deputy Labour leader, Andrew Mitchell, the former Conservative International Development Secretary, and Dominic Grieve, the former Attorney General. William Browder, head of the global Magnitsky justice campaign, welcomed the proposed amendment as a ground-breaking piece of legislation that will send a message to human rights violators around the world that their blood money is no longer welcome here. By creating personal consequences for the perpetrators of these crimes, the UK will protect whistle-blowers such as Sergei Magnitsky around the world, he added. In 2012 the US Congress passed a Bill, which penalised Russian officials linked to human rights violations. It withholds visas and freezes the financial assets of those thought to be implicated in Mr Magnitskys death. Despite already being dead in 2013, Mr Magnitsky went on trial in Moscow accused of tax offences. Writing at the time Boris Johnson, who was then the London mayor, described the trial as the most grotesque parody of legal proceedings since the animal trials of the Middle Ages. Mr Johnson added: What is astounding about this case is that Magnitsky is not only innocent of all charges. He is also dead. He died in prison in November 2009, after almost a year in which he was kept in squalor, denied family contact and deprived of medical treatment detention that culminated in a savage and fatal beating by his captors. What is clear is that Magnitsky was a martyr trampled by a corrupt system. Barack Obama was right to sign the Magnitsky Act, and ban anyone associated with his death from entering the US. This country should follow suit. When I was a student we used to name buildings after those who had suffered in the fight against oppression Biko, Sakharov, Mandela. Magnitsky deserves the same recognition. The new legislation proposed by MPs, according to supporters, will address shortcomings that fails to prevent international criminals from storing their assets in the UK. It will target those who have persecuted whistleblowers, journalists, politicians and human rights activists. It will enable the Government and NGOs to apply to the High Court for a Magnitsky designation order to be issued against those where credible evidence exits that they profited from human rights abuses. The amendment to the Criminal Finances Bill is expected to be debated in the Commons later this month. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Nigel Farages hopes of pulling off a shock by-election triumph suffered a blow when his party was unable to spell the name of the constituency correctly. The former Ukip leader suffered the embarrassment of being interviewed in front of a banner calling on local people in Sleaford and North Hykenham to back his party. Unfortunately for Mr Farage, the name of the Lincolnshire seat where a Brexit by-election will be held on Thursday is.Sleaford and North Hykeham. Only yesterday, Ukip was boasting it could pull off a shock on a par with last weeks breathtaking Liberal Democrat success in Richmond Park. Recommended Richmond shows we can make a progressive alliance to fight hard Brexit Sarah Olney overturned a 23,000 majority to wrestle the South West London seat from former Tory Zac Goldsmith. The Sleaford and North Hykeham by-election was sparked by the surprise resignation of Conservative MP Stephen Phillips, blaming irreconcilable policy differences between himself and the Government. He had accused Theresa May of tyranny by planning to ignore Parliament when she triggers the Article 50 notice for leaving the EU despite backing Brexit himself. The Tories are strong favourites to win again, as they enjoyed a whopping majority of 24,115 over Labour last year, with Ukip a close third. But Victoria Ayling, the Ukip candidate, said: The overarching feeling is to give the Government a good kick as happened in Richmond, which was predominantly Remain. Here it is predominantly Out and they want to give the Government a kick here, so after Richmond it's looking very encouraging. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Government has dropped a plan to withdraw social security benefits from obese people who refuse help to lose weight. David Cameron floated the idea last summer, suggesting that people who refuse that help to get fit or come off drugs or alcohol might face welfare sanctions. He commissioned a review led by Dame Carol Black, chair of the Nuffield Trust and a Department of Health advisor to look into the issue of how benefits spending in that area could be reduced. The inquiry, which reported its findings on Monday, did not recommend the policy and instead called for a more integrated collaboration across the benefits and health system. On Monday evening Theresa Mays official spokesperson said Mr Camerons proposal to sanction the obese was not under consideration. We're not considering compelling people or looking to withdrawal benefits from people because they're obese, the spokesperson said. Withdrawing benefits from obese people more generally is not under consideration. The spokesperson said ethical issues had been raised by the medical profession regarding the compulsion of treatment. The report suggested people could be asked to have structured discussion with an appropriate healthcare professional by Downing Street suggested that there would be no compulsion involved were this idea taken forward. Debbie Abrahams, Labours shadow minister for people with disabilities, said the Government should use the findings of Dame Carols review to provide better support for people with health problems. Dame Carol Black has looked carefully at the evidence and concluded that addicts should not be mandated to treatment, as this would not improve employment outcomes or meet serious legal and ethical concerns, she said. The former Prime Ministers stated intention to reduce support for people struggling with addiction if they didnt engage with a recommended treatment plan was deemed unethical by Royal Colleges such as RCPSYCH, in addition to the fact that treatments imposed without ethical consent are more likely to fail. The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned Show all 16 1 /16 The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "One case where the claimants wife went into premature labour and had to go to hospital. This caused the claimant to miss an appointment. No leeway given" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Its Christmas Day and you dont fill in your job search evidence form to show that youve looked for all the new jobs that are advertised on Christmas Day. You are sanctioned. Merry Christmas" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You apply for three jobs one week and three jobs the following Sunday and Monday. Because the job centre week starts on a Tuesday it treats this as applying for six jobs in one week and none the following week. You are sanctioned for 13 weeks for failing to apply for three jobs each week" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A London man missed his Jobcentre appointments for two weeks because he was in hospital after being hit by a car. He was sanctioned" 2011 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Youve been unemployed for seven months and are forced onto a workfare scheme in a shop miles away, but cant afford to travel. You offer to work in a nearer branch but are refused and get sanctioned for not attending your placement" 2013 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You are a mum of two, and are five minutes late for your job centre appointment. You show the advisor the clock on your phone, which is running late. You are sanctioned for a month" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man with heart problems who was on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) had a heart attack during a work capability assessment. He was then sanctioned for failing to complete the assessment" Rex The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man who had gotten a job that was scheduled to begin in two weeks time was sanctioned for not looking for work as he waited for the role to start" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Army veteran Stephen Taylor, 60, whose Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) was stopped after he sold poppies in memory of fallen soldiers" 2014 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man had to miss his regular appointment at the job centre to attend his fathers funeral. He was sanctioned even though he told DWP staff in advance" 2014 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Ceri Padley, 26, had her benefits sanctioned after she missed an appointment at the jobcentre - because she was at a job interview" Jason Doiy Photography The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man got sanctioned for missing his slot to sign on - as he was attending a work programme interview. He was then sanctioned as he could not afford to travel for his job search" 2012 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Mother-of-three Angie Godwin, 27, said her benefits were sanctioned after she applied for a role job centre staff said was beyond her" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Sofya Harrison was sanctioned for attending a job interview and moving her signing-on to another day" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Michael, 54, had his benefits sanctioned for four months for failing to undertake a weeks work experience at a charity shop. The charity shop had told him they didnt want him there" Getty The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Terry Eaton, 58, was sanctioned because he didnt have the bus fare he needed to attend an appointment with the job centre" Getty Images Instead, the Government should now look at using Dame Carols recommendations to better support people with addictions through the health service and social security system to help improve their lives and employment prospects. In July of this year David Cameron said: We must look at what we do when people simply say no thanks and refuse that help but expect taxpayers to carry on funding their benefits. Over the next five years I want to see many more people coming off sick benefit and into work. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Downing Street has launched an outspoken attack on Labour and the Liberal Democrats accusing the two parties of not backing the UK team as the country enters Brexit talks. Theresa Mays official spokesperson said the two parties are trying to frustrate the will of the British people, after they said they would take measures to ensure any deal Ms May secures is right. Recommended Supreme Court judge who could overturn Brexit starts case with warning The Prime Ministers spokesperson said: While others are seeming to make clear that they want to frustrate the will of the British people by slowing down the process of leaving and trying to tie the Governments hand in the negotiation, the Government is getting on respecting what the British people have decided and making a success of Brexit. The spokesperson added: If you are backing the UK team, you want them to be able to go into the negotiation and get the best deal possible. Speaking on Saturday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that when the triggering of Article 50 is debated in the Commons his party would put forward an amendment to it, that seeks to secure the right kind of market access and protections for workers. He added: We are respecting the result of the referendum. It might not be the one we wanted but it's the one weve got. When the Lib Dems won a by-election in Richmond Park, overturning a large Conservative majority after fighting an anti-Brexit campaign, the partys new MP Sarah Olney said she would vote against the triggering of Article 50, while leader Tim Farron called for a new referendum to be held on the terms of the deal Ms May secures. Mr said today: "This referendum was supposed to be about Parliamentary sovereignty, but this Tory Brexit government want to silence opposition and neuter our democracy." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Libyan pro-government forces say they have driven Isis militants out of the last neighbourhood of Sirte, declaring the battle for control of the city is over. Backed by US air strikes, forces loyal to Libya's unity government have been fighting for more than six months to drive the militants out of their North African stronghold. Earlier on Monday, more than a dozen Isis fighters who had been holding out in Sirte surrendered to Libyan forces, officials said. And Rida Issa, a spokesman for the joint offensive against Isis in the city, said forces led by brigades from the western city of Misrata "control all of Sirte's Ghiza Bahriya neighbourhood and are still securing the area". Once a city of 80,000 people, Sirte has suffered severe civilian casualties as Isis has been accused of using the local population as human shields. Reports estimated that as long ago as the end of October there were just 100 Isis fighters remaining holed up in houses in Ghiza Bahriya. The protracted final stages of the campaign to liberate Sirte, which began on 12 May 2016, bodes ill for the operation to clear the much larger city of Mosul in Iraq. Isis first took over Sirte in early 2015, setting it up as its most important base outside the group's core territories in the Middle East and expanding its control along about 150 miles of Mediterranean coastline. In recent days, Libyan forces say dozens of women and children have left the last group of buildings controlled by militants, and three more women fled on Monday. The presence of the families has been one of the factors complicating attempts to push forward into the final sliver of land held by Isis, while several women have carried out suicide attacks as they were being granted safe passage. Meanwhile, Western-backed Iraqi forces have begun shelling parts of west Mosul, residents said, preparing to open a new front against Isis seven weeks into a tortuous campaign to drive the militants from the city. Military commanders hope that by opening a second front within the city they can increase pressure on the few thousand jihadists who have deployed suicide bombers, snipers and militant cells against elite Iraqi troops in eastern districts. Additional reporting by agencies Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} President Obama is being urged to fully dismantle a George W Bush-era law to make it much harder for Donald Trump to force Muslims to sign up to a database. The president-elect could carry out his plan by reinstating the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), a system that president Obama suspended in 2011 and that has been dormant since then. Dozens of House Democrats signed a letter urging Mr Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to fully revoke the regulations which allow a government to single out countries for immigrant registration. Recommended Muslim woman says she was called a terrorist on New York Subway NSEERS resulted in 13,000 deportations of people from 25 countries but did not result in any terrorism-related convictions. While we commend your Administration for effectively ending the program in 2011, we believe that eliminating the apparatus of NSEERS is consistent with our countrys fundamental values of fairness and equality, read the letter. Kris Kobach, the Kansas official who is a frontrunner for the role of DHS secretary under Mr Trump, said he wanted to update and reintroduce the NSEERS program for men on nonimmigrant visas. But Democrats said the law, implemented in 2002, created fear, separated communities and families, and that people disappeared in the middle of the night. Donald Trump's controversial cabinet In 2011, Mr Obama cleared the list of countries under which immigrants were forced to register in the US. The program is reminiscent of and indeed has been compared to the dark time in our history when innocent people were interned based on their Japanese ancestry, the Democrats' letter said. If Mr Obama dismantled the law before he left office, the Trump administration would have to start from scratch, arguing that it was not discriminating against Muslim-majority countries, as reported by Vox. Mr Trumps defense secretary, general Michael Flynn, said fear of Muslims was rational and compared Islam to a cancer. His deputy national security adviser, KT McFarland, suggested that there was at least one million Muslims who were bent on destroying Western civilisation and the values we hold dear. Mr Trump originally proposed banning Muslims from entering the US but later amended his proposal to people who did not hold American values. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has appointed Dr Ben Carson to a senior position in his cabinet, despite having previously compared him to a child molester and accused him of having a "pathological disease". Dr Carson will assume the position of secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the president-elects transition team confirmed. The 65-year-old former neurosurgeon has never held elected office and has no previous experience in the field of urban development. Mr Trump and Mr Carson became locked in a war of words during the Republican presidential primaries, after the President-elect accused his rival of lying and mocked Mr Carsons biography at a rally in Iowa. In November last year, Mr Trump accused Mr Carson of having a pathological disease and compared the surgeon to a child molester, saying there was no cure for his alleged condition. "I'm not saying anything other than pathological is a very serious disease. And he said he's pathological, somebody said he has pathological disease," Mr Trump told CNN. "You don't cure these people. You don't cure a child molester. There's no cure for it. Pathological, there's no cure for that." As with everyone appointed to Mr Trumps cabinet so far, Dr Carson has vocally opposed LGBT rights in the past and once compared gay marriage to bestiality. During a radio interview in April, Dr Carson said Mr Trump has some major defects, theres no question about it when asked about the billionaires leadership credentials. Dr Carson later came out in support of the President-elect, saying Mr Trump could restore the confidence of the American people. Last month, Dr Carson reportedly considered turning down a cabinet role, saying he "had no government experience". Ben Carson has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities, Mr Trump said in a statement following the appointment. Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country and is part of ensuring that this is a presidency representing all Americans. He is a tough competitor and never gives up. Dr Carson said he was honoured by the opportunity, days after hinting at his imminent appointment to the Trump cabinet in a Facebook post. World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Show all 29 1 /29 World reaction to President Trump: In pictures World reaction to President Trump: In pictures London, England AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures London, England Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines Getty Images World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mosul , Iraq Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures New Delhi, India Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Karachi, Pakistan EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Lagos, Nigeria AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Kabul, Afghanistan AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jerusalem. Israel Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Moscow, Russia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Seoul, South Korea AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Lagos, Nigeria AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Peshawar, Pakistan EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Hyderabad, India AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Kolkata, India AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Sydney, Australia Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Sydney, Australia AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Aleppo, Syria Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mexico City, Mexico AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jerusalem, Israel EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Baghdad, Iraq Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Tokyo, Japan Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mexico City, Mexico Getty I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly by strengthening communities that are most in need, he said. We have much work to do in enhancing every aspect of our nation and ensuring that our nations housing needs are met. I grew up in the inner city and have spent a lot of time there, and have dealt with a lot of patients from that area and recognise that we cannot have a strong nation if we have weak inner cities. Mr Trumps cabinet appointments have so far generated controversy, with several of the nominees accused of being white supremacists. The most widely criticised has been the appointment of right-wing Breitbart News founder Steve Bannon as chief strategist. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The retired neurosurgeon who previously declined to serve in Donald Trumps cabinet due to his lack of experience has been nominated as US housing and urban development secretary. Ben Carson, who quit the presidential race last March, has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities, said Mr Trump in a statement. We have talked at length about my urban renewal agenda and our message of economic revival, very much including our inner cities. Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country and is part of ensuring that this is a Presidency representing all Americans. He is a tough competitor and never gives up. Recommended Donald Trump is considering Ben Carson for housing secretary Mr Carson, who endorsed Mr Trump after quitting the race himself, is the first African American to be nominated to the president-elects cabinet. His role will be to oversee programs that administer mortgage insurance, deal with rental subsidies to lower income families, as well as formulate policy on homelessness and housing discrimination. Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country and is part of ensuring that this is a presidency representing all Americans,'' the statement from Mr Trump said. His appointment needs to be confirmed by the US senate. It is one of more than 4,000 positions that the Trump transition team needs to fill. Ben Carson becomes aggravated in Katty Kay interview In November last year, Mr Trump accused Mr Carson of having a pathological disease and compared the surgeon to a child molester, saying there was no cure for his alleged condition. I'm not saying anything other than pathological is a very serious disease. And he said he's pathological, somebody said he has pathological disease, Mr Trump told CNN. You don't cure these people. You don't cure a child molester. There's no cure for it. Pathological, there's no cure for that. Mr Trump has also mocked Mr Carson for suggesting Egyptian pyramids were used for storing grain. Mr Carson's name was previously attached to other cabinet positions, including health and human services secretary. Mr Carson and his spokesman, Armstrong Williams, said last month that Mr Carson would feel like a fish out of water if he were to run a government agency. On Facebook last week it appeared the pastor had changed his mind. After serious discussions with the Trump transition team, I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly to making our inner cities great for everyone, he wrote. Donald Trump's controversial cabinet We have much work to do in strengthening every aspect of our nation and ensuring that both our physical infrastructure and our spiritual infrastructure is solid. Mr Trump has frequently lamented the state of inner cities, where he said people fear being shot just walking down the road. His focus on inner cities ran in parallel with his frequent call to reinstate law and order and his pitch to woo African American voters shortly before the election. What the hell do you have to lose? he asked in Ohio. Mr Carson has come under intense criticism for making several controversial comments, like when he said Obamacare was the worst thing to happen in the US since slavery, and compared the current government to Hitlers Germany. If you walked in this year's Downtown Twice Around Christmas Parade and didn't step in donkey residue, thank Tanner Ferguson of Dever-Conner Calvary Chapel. Ferguson carried the shovel behind "Mary" (Brittany Hall of Albany) and her husband, "Joseph" (Dallas Hall), as they traveled with the donkey through the Albany downtown parade. The fact that the donkey, whose name is Charlie, was actually a wooden contraption on wheels didn't matter at all. "We were going to use a real donkey, and then we found out they're not real friendly in parades. So I put this guy together," Pastor Dan Berg said. "He's kind of become a friend to us." Christmas is, after all, a time of miracles not to mention a time when you just don't know what you might see traveling around First and Second avenues during the annual Christmas parade, sponsored by the Albany Downtown Association and now in its 16th year. Santiam Christian Schools FFA dispensed with the shovel, but they did bring a tractor and a 1-year-old Jersey cow, Anthem, who ambled peacefully along led by Clancey Krahn, 12, of Albany. "We thought it would be fun to participate and bring a friend," Clancey explained. "It's so much fun to see people's reactions. They laugh and look at you so happy it really brightens up our day." The Dave Sears, Friends and Family float brightened up the entire parade with a semi and flatbed trailer covered entirely with Christmas lights. The trailer featured a nativity scene, and the group won this year's award for the Most Lighted entry. T&T Builders took the trophy for "Bringing the Christmas Spirit," and a group of little elves carrying lighted poles won for "Most Spirited." Santa brought up the rear of the parade, riding in a 1927 American LaFrance fire engine driven by Gabriel Anderson of the Albany Fire Department. After the parade, Santa joined Mayor Sharon Konopa in the ceremonial lighting of the tree outside Two Rivers Market punctuated by an audible sigh of relief from Robert Zuniga, ParkWise officer. "Two extension cords failed. Today," Zuniga explained. "At least I didn't have to shimmy up there." Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} US President-elect Donald Trump has taken to Twitter to complain about Chinese economic and military policy. Mr Trump, who vowed he would label China a currency manipulator during his campaign, began tweeting about the country on Sunday. "Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the U.S. doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!" he said. China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei claim parts or all of the energy-rich South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually. The President-elect has shown no signs of a conciliatory approach, after a phone conversation with Taiwan's president raised protests in Beijing. But Vice President-elect Mike Pence downplayed its significance, saying it was a "courtesy" call, not intended to show a shift in US policy on China. Alec Baldwin mocks Donald Trump's tweeting Mr Trump, known for his unconventional approach to politics, has raised eyebrows with his initial forays into the complex web of international diplomacy as president-elect. He has been praised by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has sparred with President Barack Obama over Russian actions in Ukraine and Syria. On Sunday, Mr Putin said Mr Trump was a "clever man" in an interview. World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Show all 29 1 /29 World reaction to President Trump: In pictures World reaction to President Trump: In pictures London, England AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures London, England Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines Getty Images World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mosul , Iraq Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures New Delhi, India Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Karachi, Pakistan EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Lagos, Nigeria AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Kabul, Afghanistan AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jerusalem. Israel Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Moscow, Russia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Seoul, South Korea AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Lagos, Nigeria AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Peshawar, Pakistan EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Hyderabad, India AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Kolkata, India AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Sydney, Australia Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Sydney, Australia AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Aleppo, Syria Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mexico City, Mexico AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jerusalem, Israel EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Baghdad, Iraq Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Tokyo, Japan Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mexico City, Mexico Getty Last week, Mr Trump offered to help Pakistan solve its problems and praised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as a "terrific guy" during a phone conversation, the Pakistani leader's office said. Mr Trump also spoke with Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte last week, who said Mr Trump showed understanding about a deadly crackdown on drug dealers. Mr Duterte told Mr Obama earlier this year to "go to hell" after he expressed concerns about possible human rights abuses in Mr Duterte's war on drugs. Additional reporting by Reuters Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A new group of lawyers announced Tuesday that it will provide free legal services to refugees in Utah who are harassed or bullied and fear the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump could put in place a ban on Muslim immigrants or a registry to keep track of Muslims living in the United States. The Refugee Justice League of Utah is a non-partisan group made up of people from differing religious backgrounds and has about 50 lawyers ready to represent the refugees at no cost, said civil rights leader and co-founder James McConkie. The establishment of the group comes as leaders of Utah's Muslim community say there is a rise in harassment following Mr Trump's election. Recent examples include a girl bullied at school because she wears a headscarf and a man who yelled profanities at a woman and told her to go back to her country while she was walking home, said Noor Ul-Hasan, a leader in Utah's Muslim community. Trump is 'a walking talking violation of the constitution' Utah has more than 40,000 Muslim refugees and the establishment of the group of lawyers is a relief for them, she said. "The community has been worried about where to go with that and what to do," she said. The lawyers' group also plans to mount legal challenges to any possible efforts to establish a registry of refugees, Mr McConkie said. "They have friends in the state of Utah who are willing to help them live peacefully in their new homes and communities," Mr McConkie said. World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Show all 29 1 /29 World reaction to President Trump: In pictures World reaction to President Trump: In pictures London, England AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures London, England Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines Getty Images World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mosul , Iraq Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures New Delhi, India Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Karachi, Pakistan EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Lagos, Nigeria AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Kabul, Afghanistan AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jerusalem. Israel Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Moscow, Russia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Seoul, South Korea AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Lagos, Nigeria AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Peshawar, Pakistan EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Hyderabad, India AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Kolkata, India AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Sydney, Australia Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Sydney, Australia AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Aleppo, Syria Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mexico City, Mexico AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jerusalem, Israel EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Baghdad, Iraq Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Tokyo, Japan Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mexico City, Mexico Getty Many Utah residents feel a connection with refugees because the state was founded by Mormon pioneers who crossed the country looking for a safe place to settle and practice their religious beliefs without interference, said trial attorney Brad Parker, also a co-founder of the group of lawyers. "With rare exception, those who seek refuge here make the fabric of our state stronger and better," Mr Parker said. The announcement of the new lawyers' group came after Utah Governor Gary Herbert said he would be concerned about any proposal to create a registry or list of refugees. The new group plans to take complaints from people through leaders like imams, and they also have a complaint form refugees can fill out to report harassment or other problems. Ms Ul-Hasan said the establishment of the group was important because many refugees have faced repression in their home countries, do not know their rights in the US and can be reluctant to take action when they face harassment because they don't want to attract attention to themselves. The lawyers plan to meet with different refugee groups in Utah to explain to refugees their rights while living in the US and ways to deal with problems that may emerge. AP Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The US secret service may advise Donald Trump to give up his personal Twitter account when he takes office, according to one of his senior aides. Kellyanne Conway, who described Mr Trumps controversial tweets as presidential behaviour on Sunday, told an audience at CNNs State of the Union debate that the future of the President-elect account would be considered. When asked whether Mr Trump will relinquish control of his Twitter page after he is sworn in, Ms Conway said: Thats going to be up to him, the secret service and others who have to help decide those issues. I will tell you that the President-elect looks at his social media accounts, a combined 25 million users, or probably more at this point, on Twitter on Facebook as a very good platform from which to convey his messages. He's a unique person, who's been following his instincts and his judgement from the beginning." Ms Conway was asked whether she thought it was appropriate behaviour for Mr Trump to tweet about there being millions of fraudulent votes in the recent election despite lack of evidence. Alec Baldwin mocks Donald Trump's tweeting She responded: Well, hes the President-elect, so thats presidential behavior, yes. Ms Conway called on the American people to move on from the election result and support the president on the issues hes going to tackle. Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Show all 14 1 /14 Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didnt know the air conditioner didnt work and sweated like dogs, and they didnt know the room was too big because they didnt have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On immigration: "I will build a great wall and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me and Ill build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists." Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY Mr Trumps Twitter account has been the subject of scrutiny and criticism throughout the presidential election and beyond, as his late night tweets in particular have tackled sensitive issues in a characteristically blunt manner. On September 30 at 3am, Mr Trump went on a Twitter rant against presidential rival Hillary Clinton for her support of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, raising eyebrows in the political community. At the start of December, Twitter suggested it would consider banning Mr Trump from its site if he violated the companys terms of use. The following week, Mr Trump took to the social network again to complain about Chinese military and economic policies in a series of tweets to his 16.7 million followers Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trumps protocol-breaking telephone call with Taiwans leader was an intentionally provocative move that establishes the incoming president as a break with the past, according to interviews with people involved in the planning. The historic communication - the first between leaders of the United States and Taiwan since 1979 - was the product of months of quiet preparations and deliberations among Trumps advisers about a new strategy for engagement with Taiwan that began even before he became the Republican presidential nominee, according to people involved in or briefed on the talks. The call also reflects the views of hard-line advisers urging Trump to take a tough opening line with China, said others familiar with the months of discussion about Taiwan and China. Trump and his advisers have sought to publicly portray the call the president-elect took from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday as a routine congratulatory call. Trump noted on Twitter that she placed the call. He took the call, accepted her congratulations and good wishes and it was precisely that, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Sunday on ABCs This Week. That glosses over the extensive and turbulent history of US relations with Taiwan and the political importance the island and its democracy hold for many Republican foreign policy specialists. Some critics portrayed the move as the thoughtless blundering of a foreign policy novice, but other experts said it appeared calculated to signal a new, robust approach to relations with China. China reacted sternly to the Taiwan call, suggesting that it shows Trumps inexperience. Trump sent two Twitter messages Sunday that echoed his campaign-stump blasts against China. Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesnt tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? he asked. I dont think so! The United States does impose a tax on Chinese goods - 2.9 percent for non-farm goods and 2.5 percent for agricultural products. Some of the GOPs most ardent Taiwan proponents are playing active roles in Trumps transition team, and others in the conservative foreign policy community see a historic opportunity to reset relations with Taiwan and reposition it as a more strategic ally in east Asia. Several leading members of Trumps transition team are considered hawkish on China and friendly toward Taiwan, including incoming chief of staff Reince Priebus. Indeed, advisers explicitly warned last month that relations with China were in for a shake-up. In an article for Foreign Policy magazine titled 'Donald Trumps Peace Through Strength Vision for the Asia-Pacific', Peter Navarro and Alexander Gray described Taiwan as a beacon of democracy in Asia and complained that its treatment by the Obama administration was egregious. The article, flagged to China experts as a significant policy blueprint, described Taiwan as the most militarily vulnerable US partner anywhere in the world and called for a comprehensive arms deal to help it defend itself against China. Fridays phone call does not necessarily mean that will happen, but it does look like the first sign of a recalibration by a future Trump administration, experts say. It was planned weeks ahead by staffers and Taiwan specialists on both sides, according to people familiar with the plans. Immediately after Trump won the November 8 election, his staffers compiled a list of foreign leaders with whom to arrange calls. Very early on, Taiwan was on that list, said Stephen Yates, a national security official during the presidency of George W. Bush and an expert on China and Taiwan. Once the call was scheduled, I was told that there was a briefing for President-elect Trump. They knew that there would be reaction and potential blowback. Alex Huang, a spokesman for Tsai, told the Reuters news agency, Of course both sides agreed ahead of time before making contact. Tsais office said she had told Trump during the phone call that she hoped the United States would continue to support more opportunities for Taiwan to participate in international issues. Tsai will have sympathetic ears in the White House. Priebus is reported to have visited Taiwan with a Republican delegation in 2011 and in October 2015, meeting Tsai before she was elected president. Taiwan Foreign Minister David Lee called him a friend of Taiwan and said his appointment as Trumps chief of staff was good news for the island, according to local news media. Edward J. Feulner, a longtime former president of the Heritage Foundation, has for decades cultivated extensive ties with Taiwan and is serving as an adviser to Trumps transition team. At the Republican National Convention in July, Trumps allies inserted a little-noticed phrase into the partys platform reaffirming support for six key assurances to Taiwan made by President Ronald Reagan in 1982 - a priority for the Taiwan government. Also written into the 2016 platform was tougher language about China than had been in the partys platform in its previous iteration four years ago. We salute the people of Taiwan, with whom we share the values of democracy, human rights, a free market economy, and the rule of law, the platform said, adding that the current documents governing US-Taiwan relations should stand but adding, Chinas behaviour has negated the optimistic language of our last platform concerning our future relations with China. Yates, who helped write that portion of the platform, said Trump made clear at the time that he wanted to recalibrate relationships around the world and that the US posture toward China was a personal priority. About the same time, Navarro, one of Trumps top economic and Asia advisers, penned an op-ed saying that the United States must not dump Taiwan and needs a comprehensive strategy to bolster what he termed a beacon of democracy. The president-elects advisers have said the communication does not signify any formal shift in long-standing US relations with Taiwan or China, even as they acknowledge that the decision to break with nearly 40 years of US diplomatic practice was a calculated choice. Of course all head-of-state calls are well planned, said Richard Grenell, a former State Department official who has advised the Trump transition effort. Grenell and others noted that the call came about two weeks after Trump had spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that it was not substantive. There was no policy discussion, and everyone involved is well aware of the One China policy, Grenell said, referring to the Nixon-era shift that established formal direct ties between Washington and Beijing. The United States maintains a military relationship with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a province, but closed its embassy there in 1979. Republican administrations since then have emphasised Taiwans democracy and flirted with the idea of a shift in policy, but none have held public discussions with a Taiwanese leader. There are a lot of things that previous Republican presidents, and Democratic presidents, would do that Donald Trump wont do, Grenell said. Hes a man that understands that typical Washington rules are not always best for our foreign policy. During the campaign, Trumps fiery rhetoric against China resonated with his supporters, especially those in the economically beleaguered Rust Belt states where he registered unexpected wins. Trump accused China of raping the United States by stealing trade secrets, manipulating its currency and subsidising its industries. He vowed to institute tough new policies designed to crack down on the Chinese and extract concessions, such as by imposing higher tariffs on goods manufactured there. By irritating if not angering the Chinese government with his talk with Tsai, Trump showed his core supporters in the United States that he would follow through with his promise to get tough on China, some observers said. He campaigned on an America first platform, GOP pollster Frank Luntz said. Calls like this may upset the diplomats, but they communicate to Americans that hes not going to play by the same rules and isnt just talking differently but will act differently. Walter Lohman, director of the Heritage Foundations Asian Studies Center, said the call with Tsai was deliberate. It was not an accident. Obviously he made a conscious decision to have the call arranged. She called him, but there was an agreement for it. Gordon Chang, an Asia expert and author of The Coming Collapse of China, said Trumps tweet Friday night that he had just accepted a call from Tsai was not credible. Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Show all 14 1 /14 Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didnt know the air conditioner didnt work and sweated like dogs, and they didnt know the room was too big because they didnt have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On immigration: "I will build a great wall and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me and Ill build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists." Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY This has all the hallmarks of a prearranged phone call, Chang said. It doesnt make sense that Tsai out of the blue would call Donald Trump. She is not known for taking big leaps into the unknown, and it would be politically embarrassing when it was learned that she called Trump and he would not take her call. Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to Trumps transition team, brushed aside questions about what the call signals about the incoming administrations priorities and policy on China. All he did was receive a phone call, Conway told reporters Sunday at Trump Tower in New York. Everybody should just calm down. Hes aware of what our nations policy is. The Washington Post Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump's business dealings and his family's ongoing involvement in his finances will make the President-elect "a walking, talking violation of the Constitution" when he takes office, according to a legal expert. Professor Laurence Tribe, a constitutional law expert at Harvard University, claimed Mr Trump's involvement in business could cause conflicts of interest, in line with the US Constitution's "emoluments clause". "The emoluments clause basically says no officer of the United States can be on the receiving end of any kind of benefit, economic benefit, payment, gift, profit, whatever, from a foreign government or its corporations or agents," Professor Tribe told MSNBC. "In this case Donald Jr. or Ivanka or Eric there would be a financial close relationship that could never be disentangled by the American public." Last week, Mr Trump announced he would relinquish "total" control of his multi-billion dollar business empire to focus on the presidency. But Professor Tribe said the President-elect would need to go further and sell off all his business interests to remove himself of emoluments difficulties. "[Mr Trump] is a constant emolument magnet. He thinks of himself as a babe magnet, but he's an emoluments magnet," Professor Tribe added. "All around the world everybody wants to go to his hotels and not the competitors, and wants to give him a variance or a special land use permit and theres simply no way short of absolutely liquidating all of his cash and assets into a blind trust and not handed over to his kids. 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 "Nothing short of that prevents him from being a walking, talking violation of the Constitution from the moment he takes the oath." Last week, former ethics lawyers for Barack Obama and George W Bush asked the electoral college to not appoint Mr Trump as president due to his potential conflicts of interest, unless he agrees to sell his businesses. Separately Steven Schooner, a law professor at George Washington University, said the President-elect's business in various countries could lead to an impeachment issue". Mr Trumps wealth is currently estimated at $3.7bn by Forbes, and his primary assets include Trump Tower in Manhattan and the Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A man who said he was investigating a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a pizza place fired an assault rifle inside the Washington, D.C., restaurant on Sunday injuring no one, police and news reports said. Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Aquita Brown said police received a call Sunday afternoon about a male with a weapon on Connecticut Avenue, in an affluent neighborhood of the nation's capital. Edgar Maddison Welch, 28 of Salisbury, North Carolina, walked into the front door of Comet Ping Pong and pointed a firearm in the direction of a restaurant employee, The Washington Post reported. The employee was able to flee and notify police. Welch then fired the gun into the floor. Police responded and arrested Welch without incident. They recovered an assault rifle, Brown said. Welch was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. Two firearms were recovered inside the restaurant and an additional weapon was recovered from the suspect's vehicle, police said in a statement on Sunday evening. The Comet Ping Pong is in a neighborhood of well-tended private homes and apartment buildings on leafy streets that lead to a mix of shops, restaurants and the Politics and Prose book store. The restaurant gained notoriety during the presidential campaign after fake news stories stated that Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief John Podesta ran a child sex ring out of the restaurant, The New York Times and other news organisations have reported. Police surround Comet Ping Pong after a man with an assault rifle entered the restaurant in Washington, D.C. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA) (EPA) Welch told police he'd come to the restaurant to self-investigate the fictitious online conspiracy theory that spread online during Clinton's run for the White House, the police statement said. The Comet, its owner, staff and nearby businesses were caught up in an onslaught of conspiracy theories and fake news during the often contentious presidential campaign and were the victims social media attacks and death threats, the Post reported. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty James Alefantis, owner of Comet Ping Pong, released a statement late Sunday night that denied what he called the malicious and utterly false accusations and said the company hoped to resume normal operations within a few days. I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away, Alefantis said in the statement. AP Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Jill Stein campaign has upped their fight for a vote recount in Pennsylvania as Donald Trumps team has tried to block the effort and a judge has demanded a $1 million bond. The Green Partys candidate and her supporters filed for emergency relief in Pennsylvania's federal court to pay the bond. The request followed Mr Trumps representatives filing a lawsuit to stop the recount and demanding a $10 million bond, according to court papers. Ms Steins team has already requested recounts in Michigan and Wisconsin. All three states were won by president-elect Donald Trump with a narrow margin, but these critical swing states swept him to victory as they had a relatively high number of electoral college votes. At a rally outside of Trump Tower in Manhattan on Monday, Ms Stein and her team called for a national system of paper ballots to ensure there was no possibility of hacking or manipulation of the voter results. They pointed to outdated voting machines and what the FBI called an "unprecedented" level of cyber attacks during the campaign as potential evidence of voter fraud. "We affirm that they [votes from people of colour] are not once again being tossed in the dustpan here and are disrespected. So we are standing firm for the hard fought and hard won right to vote, particularly for people of colour in this country," said Ms Stein. In Michigan, judge Mark Goldsmith ruled they had their team had the right to request a recount as it "advanced" peoples fundamental right to vote. Ms Stein told the crowd on Fifth Avenue that there were 75,000 "blank votes" in Michigan, which means that communities of colour were possibly "disenfranchised by an erroneous counting of the vote". The paper ballots are currently being recounted, as of noon on Monday. "The blank votes vastly exceed the margin between the two leading candidates," she said, referring to Mr Trump and Ms Clinton. But in Pennsylvania, Mr Trumps campaign has moved to stop the effort, requesting 27,000 affidavits and demanding their rivals lay down a $10 million bond - moves which Ms Stein called ridiculous bureaucracy. Jonathan Abady, lead counsel to the Stein recount efforts, said the voting system in Pennsylvania was a disgrace and a disaster, with no paper trail and antiquated voting machines. "We are taking that action in Pennsylvania because it has become clear to us over the past several days that the level of obstruction, the barriers to this effort, are so extreme and radical and the state system is so ill-equipped to deal with that, that we have no choice [but to request a] federal interjection there, just as we have done in Michigan and just as we are doing in Wisconsin," he said. Mike Pence struggles to defend Trump's comments about voter fraud "Donald Trump has attempted to influence and obstruct the democratic process," he added. Mark Crispin Miller, professor of media, culture and communication at New York University, added at the rally that there were stark discrepancies between exit poll results and official numbers. The recount effort comes as Hillary Clintons lead in the popular count has reached 2.6 million and continues to rise. Mr Miller disputed speculation, however, that Ms Steins movement was a covert effort to reinstate Ms Clinton. "I have to give Donald Trump some credit. He said the vote could be rigged. He was absolutely right," he said. Ms Stein has raised more than $7 million from nearly 150,000 individual donors. Mr Trump accused the vote recount effort as a scam to raise money for the Green Party. Ms Stein said every penny was going into a segregated, dedicated account to pay for the requests. She added there would unlikely be any money left over as the court kept raising the price of the request. "They are raising the price of democracy," she said. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} North Carolina governor Pat McCrory has conceded defeat to his Democratic rival, and has called for a "smooth transition". "Being the 74th governor of North Carolina has been a privilege and an honour," Mr McCrory said in a video. "But during this wonderful season, its also time to celebrate our democratic process and respect what I see to be the ultimate outcome of the closest North Carolina governors race in modern history." Recommended Donald Trump wins North Carolina The win for Roy Cooper is a boost for Democrats after a disappointing presidential election where Donald Trump won the state of North Carolina. It was the first time a governor in the state had lost a re-election bid. "Despite continued questions that should be answered regarding the voting process, I personally believe that the majority of our citizens have spoken," Mr McCrory said. "And we should now do everything we can to support the 75th governor of North Carolina Roy Cooper." Mr McCrory trailed his opponent Roy Cooper, the state's attorney general, by almost 10,000 votes out of a total of 4.7 million, barring him from requesting a taxpayer-funded recount, but he had previously refused to concede. He said his failure was a result of "massive voter fraud" after a comfortable victory four years ago. He became notorious for championing a bill which discriminated against gay and transgender people, known as House Bill 2. The bill prompted a wave of protests and high-profile celebrities like Bruce Springsteen to boycott the state. Sports games and companies like PayPal also pulled out of investments in the state, which cost North Carolina hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in spending. Incoming governor Mr Cooper said he wanted to repeal the law. The American Civil Liberties Union said on twitter: "Pat McCrory signed one of the most anti-LGBT bills into law in the country, and the voters let him know where they stood." Mr McCrory focused his campaign on the economy, the states finances and his efforts to show leadership after Hurricane Matthew in October, but was unsuccessful. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Indigenous protesters and their supporters celebrated a dramatic victory after an agency of the US Department of Defence announced it had turned down permission for a controversial pipeline passing close to a Sioux reservation. After the Army Corps of Engineers said on Sunday afternoon it would not permit the North Dakota Access Pipeline to pass under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River, activists said the decision was a stunning win for grassroots activism that had captured the imagination of people across the country. It was the sheer determination that was shown, the sheer numbers of people who have come to the site, including the veterans, who came today, Dallas Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network, told The Independent. Protesters against the project have gone on for months (AP) He said he believed the decision had been taken as a result of the strength of feeling displayed across the breadth and length of the US. We showed the administration and the oil industry, that we are not just a powerless minority, but a powerful majority across the country, he said. Protesters have for months been demonstrating against the construction of the pipeline, a 1,200-mile project designed to carry oil from western North Dakota to a shipping point in Illinois. Standing Rock protests continue: 'Water is life' Members of the Standing Rock Sioux, whose reservation lies near the pipeline route, opposed a proposal for the $3.8bn project to pass under the Missouri River at a point close to their homes. They said that any damage to the pipeline, would contaminate their drinking water supply. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II, said he had been informed that the Corps would now be conducting an environmental impact statement look at possible alternative routes for the pipeline. We wholeheartedly support the decision of the administration and commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing. he said. We want to thank everyone who played a role in advocating for this cause. We thank the tribal youth who initiated this movement. We thank the millions of people around the globe who expressed support for our cause. We thank the thousands of people who came to the camps to support us, and the tens of thousands who donated time, talent, and money to our efforts to stand against this pipeline in the name of protecting our water. The anti-pipeline protests were largely peaceful. But activists and human rights groups, including Amnesty International, criticised the police for the way they handled the demonstrators with excessive force. Senator Bernie Sanders, who was among those who had opposed the project, said on Twitter: In 2016, we should not continue to trample on Native American sovereignty. And we should not become more dependent on fossil fuels. While those who opposed the four-state pipeline celebrated the decision, local politicians who had backed the project - which is all but completed, other than the section near Standing Rock - claimed the outcome sent a dangerous signal to those looking to invest in infrastructure projects. Republican Congressman Kevin Cramer, of North Dakota, said: Todays unfortunate decision sends a very chilling signal to others who want to build infrastructure in this country. Roads, bridges, transmission lines, pipelines, wind farms and water lines will be very difficult, if not impossible, to build when criminal behaviour is rewarded this way. North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Demorat, said that the project remained in a state of limbo. President-elect Donald Trump, who has invested in the project operated by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP, has already voiced his support. The incoming administration already stated its support for the project and the courts have already stated twice that it appeared the Corps followed the required process in considering the permit. For the next month and a half, nothing about this project will change, she said. Indeed, Mr Goldtooth, the activist, said that while they were celebrating Sundays victory, it was unclear what would happen once Mr Trump assumes office on January 20. "We are going to keep on fighting to keep our water clean," he said. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} White House officials say they have spoken with Chinese leadership following President-elect Donald Trump's call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. Federal officials called to reassure the country that the US still adheres to the "One China" policy, which does not recognise Taiwan as its own sovereign nation. White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said officials "do not understand why" Mr Trump's conversation with Taiwanese leader took place, but assured reporters that there would be no change in the official US position on the policy. "If the President-elect's team has a different aim, I'll leave it to them to describe," he said. The call set off a diplomatic protest by Beijing with the "relevant side" in the US. On Friday, Mr Trump held the 10-minute phone call with Ms Tsai, which he said was congratulatory. After sparking concerns of a conflict with China, Mr Trump deflected blame for the call to Ms Tsai. "The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!" Mr Trump tweeted. Donald Trump breaks US policy stance with Taiwan call The Taipei Times originally reported that the call was "arranged by his Taiwan-friendly campaign staff". A spokesperson for Ms Tsai, Alex Huang, said: "Of course both sides agreed ahead of time before making contact." The Trump transition team said that "they noted the clsoe economic, political, and security ties that exist between Taiwan and the United States". Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi rebuked Taiwan for the phone call. "This is just the Taiwan side enaging in a petty action, and cannot change the 'One China' structure already formed by the international community," he said. "I believe that [the call] won't change the longstanding 'One China' policy of the United States government." The US first adoped the 'One China" policy in 1972 after meetings between President Richard M Nixon and Chairman Mao Tse-tsung later solidified by President Jimmy Carter. Under the policy, the US retains unofficial ties to Taiwan while recognising Beijing as representing China. China considers Taiwan a renegade country. Over the weekend, Secretary of State John Kerry said it would be "valuable" if President-elect Trump informed current officials that any such calls with foreign leaders beforehand. "We have not been contacted before any of these conversations [with foreign leaders]," he said. "I do think there is value, obviously, on having at least the recommendations. Whether you choose to follow them or not is a different issue, but I think it's valuable to ask people who work the desk [for] their input on what's the current state, is there some particular issue at the moment. "I think that's valuable, and I would certainly recommend it but, obviously, that hasn't happened." We were somewhat embarrassed to learn that the editorial page of the Gazette-Times opposed the creation of Linn-Benton Community College back in the mid-1960s. The owner of the newspaper at the time believed that the sort of classes that would be taught at a mid-valley community college would best be handled by area high schools a prescient nod, perhaps, to the days a half-century later when those high schools would become important partners with LBCC. He thought the creation of a community college for the area would be a waste of money. As we begin this week to celebrate the 50th anniversary of what LBCC, we can confess that we now believe the paper's editorial stance on this issue was incorrect. It's been 50 years since mid-valley voters, ignoring (not for the first or the last time) the advice of a newspaper editorial, approved by a 2-to-1 margin the formation of LBCC. (The rare December election attracted 15 percent turnout, which seems light, but not when you consider that similar elections drew just 3 percent turnout.) Since that election a half-century ago, it's fair to say that the college has proven itself to be an essential part of the mid-valley. Part of the reason why is that we have a somewhat different understanding today of what we expect from community colleges and going hand-in-hand with that, a somewhat different idea about the role we envision for our four-year colleges. In that light, it would seem that at least some of the editorial opposition toward LBCC was fueled by the assumption that the majority of high school graduates would head as soon as possible to a four-year college. Today, we increasingly understand how that might not be the case. In fact, even the state's own 40-40-20 educational goal takes that into account, with one of the ideas being that by 2025, at least 40 percent of the state's adults will have at least completed some course of study or earned some type of certification after high school graduation that may not involve a four-year school. We expect community colleges like LBCC to carry much of that particular load. (The other parts of the goal call for every adult Oregonian to have either a high school diploma or equivalent and for 40 percent of adults to have a bachelor's degree or higher.) We also have a clearer understanding today of how essential community colleges are in shaping the workforce needed for our future economy. LBCC itself recently has provided shining examples of how that works, with its Advanced Transportation Technology Center in Lebanon opening in 2013 to train mechanics about working on vehicles that use alternative fuels. And next year will bring the opening of the school's Health Occupations Center in Lebanon, training workers needed by our fast-growing health care economic sector. In the 50 years since mid-valley voters gave the green light to LBCC, it has placed roots in Benton County and Sweet Home, in addition to Albany and Lebanon. It also has shown remarkable flexibility, creativity and agility (it was offering classes just a few months after the December 1966 vote). It will need all of those to meet the challenges of the next 50 years, in particular funding issues. But, despite the editorial misgivings of 50 years ago, it's impossible today to imagine the mid-valley without Linn-Benton Community College. Here's looking forward to the next 50 years. (mm) Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The New York Mayor is going to send the White House a bill for $35m to cover the cost of the enormous security operation around Trump Tower. Bill De Blasio has said he is going to write to the Obama administration setting out the daily $400,000 bill from November 8 too January 20 - the day of Donald Trump's inauguration. The letter reads: "Municipal or state resources should not be subsidizing the President-Elect's decision to maintain multiple permanent residences. "For all these reasons, we respectfully request that New York City and the state refuse to pay additional security costs associated with maintaining a second residence at Trump Tower once the President-Elect is inaugurated. "Should the President-Elect choose to maintain two permanent residences for his family, it is reasonable to request he reimburse the city and the state for all additional security expenses from his own significant personal financial resources." An estimated total security bill of $1m every day means Donald Trump is by far the most expensive US President-elect in history. A protective barrier of Sanitation Department trucks are parked in front of Trump Tower Getty (Getty) Taxpayers are paying out for what could grow to 300 New York police officers to protect the billionaire tycoon. City officials say they will try for a reimbursement from the federal government but history suggests there is no promise they will recoup the funds. The complex challenges and tremendous costs associated with protecting a president and a presidents family in the heart of Manhattan are truly unprecedented, said Austin Finan, the spokesman for New York mayor Bill de Blasio. As such, we will be issuing a full-throated request with support from congressional leadership and our federal partners for a complete reimbursement for all costs incurred. Melania Trump and her son plan to stay in New York until 10-year-old Barron has finished the school year AFP/Getty Images (AFP/Getty Images) CNN Money reports, based on three city official sources, that protecting Donald Trump and his family costs $1m a day. It also reports that the US Secret Service is considering renting a $1.5m-a-year floor, between 13,500 square feet and 15,500 square feet, in Trump Tower to protect the 70-year-old property magnate and his family. Mr Finan said the $1m per day figure is not accurate, but City Hall has not provided its own estimate. Wife Melania Trump also reportedly plans to stay living in the Fifth Avenue skyscraper, instead of moving into the White House in January, so 10-year-old son Barron can finish his school year uninterrupted. Alec Baldwin mocks Donald Trump's tweeting An online Change.org petition, refusing to pay for the incumbent First Ladys protection, has collected more than 105,000 signatures. Barack Obamas four trips to New York during the 2016 fiscal year cost $4.1m, including police overtime, according to the citys Independent Budget Office - as reported in the New York Daily News. The reports follow Mr Trump complaining about Chinese policy on Twitter and Klu Klux Klan members giving Nazi salutes at a parade dedicated to the President-elect. The Independent has contacted the mayor's office and the Trump team for comment about the latest reports. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Three weeks before 18-year-old Jay Gallagher took his own life, a worried friend who lived in Colorado sent an email to his school counselor at Potomac Falls High in Potomac Falls, Virginia, telling the counsellor that Jay was saying things with suicidal content, according to a lawsuit filed in Loudoun County Circuit Court on Friday. Hes usually crying alone in his room because he doesnt seem to have a good relationship with his parents, the girl wrote. The counsellor, Richard Bader, met with Gallagher, sending the girl a reassuring response: Talked with him today. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. But should Bader have notified Gallaghers parents? That question is at the centre of a $5 million wrongful-death lawsuit Jays parents, Erin and Timothy Gallagher, filed against Bader. The lawsuit accuses the school counselor of negligence and ignoring school guidelines that direct counselors to notify parents if their children express suicidal thoughts. But Julia Judkins, Baders attorney, said the lawsuit does not tell the full story. Judkins said that the teen told Bader not to talk to his parents about their meeting and denied he was suicidal. Theyve left out the fact that this young man was 18 years old and he had the right to tell Mr. Bader, Please dont tell my parents, Judkins said. Robert Hall, an attorney for the Gallaghers, said they had no idea their son was in trouble and believe they could have saved his life had they known he was suicidal. The parental notification guidelines need to be enforced, Hall said. This was Jay Gallaghers only opportunity to be saved. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty According to Hall and to the lawsuit, Jay Gallagher was a stellar student and had been admitted to Virginia Tech. But his parents did not know he had put intense pressure on himself to perform well in school and had been under extreme stress. Jays father found his son dead in his room Feb. 3. After his death, one of Jays friends, a young woman who had moved to Colorado from Loudoun County, reached out to his parents to tell them she had emailed Jays school counselor to tell him of her concerns in the weeks before Jays death. Last night was the most concerning due to the suicidal thoughts and the self harm, the girl wrote in an email to the counselor in mid-January, adding that she did not believe his parents were open to discussing issues or emotions. I wanna say stress stems from busy schedule, lacking self worth and various expectations. Bader met with Gallagher but never filled out the suicide screening form and never notified his parents. Hall argues that the schools Suicide Prevention Action Plan required Bader to follow those steps. Berkeley High School Walkout in protest against Donald Trumps election Judkins disagrees. Mr. Bader didnt do anything wrong, Judkins said, adding that their conversation did not meet the threshold for a suicide screening or parental notification. It wasnt applicable given the communications between Mr. Bader and young Jay Gallagher. The lawsuit is a culmination of months of failed talks between school officials and the Gallaghers. Hall said the parents sought to clarify the guidelines or policies that outline when a counselor should contact parents and to ensure that all counselors are trained on the guidelines. The Gallaghers wrote in a post on a Facebook page they created in their sons memory that they filed the lawsuit with a great deal of reluctance and merely hoped to push the school system to improve its procedures. Recommended Rise in suicides over sextortion blackmailing Hall said that he asked school lawyers to meet for a confidential mediation session with a retired judge and that the school system refused. But Judkins said the mediation session stalled because the family asked the school boards insurance company to be present and did not lay out their specific requests ahead of time. Washington Post For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Vice President of the Philippines has resigned from a senior cabinet position after suggesting President Rodrigo Duterte plotted to remove her from the post and steal the vice presidency. Leni Robredo of the Liberal Party informed Mr Duterte that she was stepping down as chairperson of the countrys Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), after the President told her to desist from attending all cabinet meetings. Ms Robredo and Mr Duterte come from rival political parties, as often happens in the Philippines where presidents and vice presidents are elected separately. The two were rumoured to have fallen out after Mr Duterte controversially decided to allow former dictator Ferdinand Marcos to be reburied in the Philippines Heroes Cemetery. Ms Robredo has also criticised the Presidents violent war on drugs, which has involved the killing of suspects without trial. I have exerted all efforts to put aside our differences, Ms Robredo, a human rights lawyer, told the President. The Filipino people deserve no less. However, your directive for me to desist from attending all cabinet meetings has effectively made it impossible for me to do my job. Remaining in your cabinet has become untenable. The Vice President pointed to her accomplishments with the HUDCC during her six months in charge, and highlighted obstacles that were thrown in our way by Mr Dutertes administration. Ms Robredo told journalists her resignation did not mean she would be giving up the vice presidency in the near future, but suggested there was a schism between herself and the President. I will not allow the vice presidency to be stolen. I will not allow the will of the people to be thwarted, she said in a statement. I will continue to serve the Filipino people and fulfil dreams for a better life. From the very beginning, the President and I had major differences in principles and values. Since I assumed office, I have been consistent in my opposition to issues such as the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos, extra-judicial killings, reinstating death penalty, lowering the age of criminal liability, and sexual attacks against women. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty I had been warned of a plot to steal the vice presidency. The events of recent days indicate that this plot is now being set in motion. Mr Dutertes communications secretary Martin Andanar told local news website Rappler there were irreconcilable and public differences between the President and the Vice President that would be difficult to resolve. The President has proved to be a divisive and controversial figure since he took office in June this year, and a psychiatric report has suggested he had a grandiose sense of self-entitlement. Mr Dutertes war on drugs has been criticised by senior politicial figures in the West, although he recently claimed US President-elect Donald Trump and himself were alike, as they both liked to swear. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The German government has called for calm after the arrest of an asylum seeker over the rape and murder of a woman prompted a backlash against the countrys open door asylum policy. Following news that an Afghan 17-year-old had been accused of the murder of the 19-year-old woman, anti-immigrant party Alternative for Germany (AfD) publicly warned against the "uncontrolled arrival" of immigrants. Meanwhile, the head of a police union claimed the murder could have been prevented had the country been "better prepared" for immigration. In response to the anti-migrant backlash, Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said the alleged incident should not be used to whip up hatred against all refugees. Mr Gabriel told Bild newspaper: Such horrible murders already happened before the first Afghan or Syrian refugee arrived here. We will not allow incitement after such violent crimes, no matter who commits them. Interior Minister for German state Baden-Wurttemberg, Thomas Strobl, meanwhile, said the suspect must answer before the law regardless of his nationality. The alleged offender must now - regardless of his nationality, regardless of the question since when he has lived in Germany - be in court and answer before the law, said Mr Strobl. In response to the arrest of the asylum seeker, AfD co-chief Jorg Meuthen, whose party has grown with the rising discontent over the presence of refugees in Germany, said: We are shocked by this crime and at the same time we see that our warnings about the uncontrolled arrival of hundreds of thousands of young men from Islamic-patriarchal cultures are written off as populist. Rainer Wendt, head of the DPoIG police union, claimed the teenager's killing could have been prevented, telling Bild: We wouldn't have this victim, and so many others, if our country had been better prepared for the dangers that always go along with massive immigration. The BZ daily in Berlin said neo-Nazis in Germany were rubbing their hands with glee in response to news of the incident, viewing it as an opportunity to spread their propaganda. The publication wrote: This terrible case is a perfect incentive for their propaganda: every refugee is a potential criminal and terrorist! On social media issued sarcastic 'thank yous' to Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose open-door asylum policy brought a record number of migrants and refugees into Germany last year. Maria Ladenburger, the daughter of a high-ranking EU legal official, was raped and murdered in Frieburg as she cycled home, and was later found drowned on a river bank. The DNA of the Afghan migrant was found at the scene and he was identified on CCTV, according to the authorities in Frieburg. The suspect, who came to Germany in 2015, is on remand and will stand trial next year after charges are brought at the conclusion of the police investigation. Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Show all 13 1 /13 Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Women protest against sexism outside Cologne Cathedral on 5 January after the assaults Oliver Berg/EPA Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Women protest against sexism in Cologne following the rash of sex attacks on New Year's Eve Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Police initially failed to mention the assaults in report the following morning EPA Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Police officers patrol in front of the main station of Cologne, Germany AP Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks German far-right supporters demonstrate at Cologne`s train station (Reuters) Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Supporters of anti-immigration right-wing movement Pegida in Cologne, Germany, January 9, 2016. Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Police used pepper spray to control supporters of Pegida, Hogesa (Hooligans against Salafists) and other right-wing populist groups as they protested against the New Year's Eve sex attacks on 9 January, 2016 in Cologne, Germany Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Police use a water cannon during a protest march by supporters of anti-immigration right-wing movement Pegida in Cologne, Germany, January 9, 2016 Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Police use pepper spray against supporters of anti-immigration right-wing movement Pegida, in Cologne, Germany, January 9, 2016. Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Artist Mira Moire protests naked in Cologne against the mass sex attacks on New Year's Eve AP Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks A demonstrator holds a sign in German that reads 'No violence against women' during a demonstration in the wake of the sexual assaults on New Year's Eve, outside the cathedeal in Cologne, Germany, 09 January 2016. EPA Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Counter demonstrators hold up a sign reading "Against sexism, against racism" as they protest against a demonstration of the islamophobic movement PEGIDA at the train station in Cologne, Germany, on January 9, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Demonstration by a womens group on Saturday (AP) AP Recent figures show anti-migrant sentiment has been growing in Germany over recent years. Attacks on asylum seekers' accommodation increased more than fivefold from 2014 to 2015, according to national crime statistics, while crimes targeting the homes of asylum-seekers also swelled, quadrupling to 1,031, including four attempted murders, eight explosives offences, 60 assaults and 94 arsons. A report in September by Bild showed more than 500,000 rejected asylum seekers were still living in Germany, with many having received other permits to stay aside from asylum status, or being considered tolerated if they, for example, lacked travel documents. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A majority of Italians abroad voted to express support for the failed constitutional reform proposals pushed by Matteo Renzi, final figures have revealed. Ministry of Internal Affairs figures show almost 65 per cent of Italians living or working abroad backed the outgoing Prime Minister's plan - a result that is the opposite of the overall outcome in the country. The overall 'No' vote led 'Yes' by almost 20 points, pushing Mr Renzi to announce his resignation only one hour after polls had closed, with counting still under way. As well as paving the way for the possibility of an early election, Mr Renzis resignation sparked concerns a deep political crisis might be inevitable, as the country could go to the polls as early as next year. About four million Italians living abroad were eligible to vote in Sunday's referendum through a postal ballot, and turnout, at about 30 per cent, was consistent with figures from past elections. In South America, where Italians eligible to vote total about one million people, 'Yes' led 'No' by a margin of about 44 per cent. Brazil and Argentina, which are part of one larger electoral college, have substantial populations of Italian ancestry. Throughout the years, both countries welcomed several waves of mass migration from Italy, and descendants retain Italian citizenship and the right to vote in Italian elections through the right of blood. 'Yes' led 'No' by about 25 points in North America, Central America, and Europe. The margin narrows for votes counted in Africa, Asia, and Oceania, where the votes cast for 'Yes' totalled about 59%. 'No' led 'Yes' in some Eastern European countries, including Bulgaria, and Russia, where 'No' led 'Yes' by about 13 points. 'No' also won in Japan, Iceland, and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries. Of the 232,932 Italian voters registered in the UK, 37,60 per cent cast a ballot to vote in Sundays referendum, with 'Yes' leading 'No' by 25 points. I voted 'Yes' because I think Italy has a problem with paralysis and slowness in decision making, Mauro Terrinoni, a 41 year-old London-based entrepreneur from Italy, said, adding that he had followed the reform proposals from the beginning and had always wanted to vote 'Yes'. According to Mr Terrinoni, more accountability and a faster decision-making process are required, and Mr Renzis constitutional reform would have brought about change in that direction. Voting for Italians who live abroad has been a right since 2001, when late centre-right Minister Mirko Tremaglia pushed for a law regulating the matter. When it was first applied at the general election of 2006, the law proved decisive in determining a victory on very tight margins for Romano Prodis centre-left coalition. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Matteo Renzis overwhelming referendum defeat in Italy has left the world contemplating the implications on global politics and stock markets. Many international publications interpreted the result as another victory for the wave of anti-establishment populism that saw Donald Trump win the US presidency and the UK vote to leave the European Union. The Italian referendum, introduced by centre-left leader Mr Renzi, asked voters to approve constitutional reform that would have taken power from the Senate and handed it to the prime minister. Mr Renzi, the 41-year-old leader since February 2014 who faced growing opposition from far-right parties vowed to resign if he lost. In France, far-right leader Marine Le Pen said: The Italians have disavowed the EU and Renzi. We must listen to this thirst for freedom of nations and protection! The anticipated presidential election bid of the country's Prime Minister Manuel Valls edged the Italy referendum off from its front pages, but the story is featured on its various news websites. Italy's PM Matteo Renzi quits after losing reforms vote Most of Le Figaro's headlines shrug off speculation that the referendum is a blow for the EU. Headlines include "European markets show optimism despite Renzi's resignation". It also draws comparisons between Mr Renzi and David Cameron, with one headline reading: "After Cameron, it is Renzi who makes the mistake of linking his fate to a referendum." But European Central Bank policymaker and Bank of France governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said Italy's referendum result and Brexit could not be compared. The referendum in Italy yesterday may be deemed as another source of uncertainty, he said during a seminar in Japan. However, it cannot be compared to the British referendum. Italian people have been called to the polls to vote on an internal constitutional matter, and not on Italys long-standing EU membership. In Germany, Spiegel Online's top Italy referendum story reads: "Is Italy breaking the EU into the next crisis? After the failed referendum and the resignation of Prime Minister Renzi, the uncertainty is great." Chancellor Angela Merkel, seen as the uniting face of the EU, said: "I am sad that the referendum in Italy did not turn out as the prime minister wished because I always supported his reform policies but it is of course a domestic Italian decision that we must respect." German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeirer said during a visit to Greece that the result was not the end of the world but that the country was watching developments with concern. Similarly, EU Finance Commissioner Pierre Moscovici is playing down the impact of Italys referendum on the Euro and the continents unity, adding: Im very confident in the capacity of the Eurozone to resist all kinds of shocks. The result was comprehensively covered in Spain, a country that like Italy, struggles with youth unemployment and GDP growth, but whose population are generally pro-EU. El Pais wrote: "Italy enters a new stage marked by division." La Vanguardia wrote: "The failure of Renzi opens a crisis in Italy and the EU." In the US, the Wall Street Journal repeatedly referred to the result as a win for populism. It described Mr Renzis defeat as having handed populists a victory in the heartland of Europe. In the UK, newspapers discussed the implications on the EU and again, the effect of populism. The Times wrote: Europe in turmoil as Italian PM is defeated. Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage said the vote looked to be more about the Euro than constitutional change. The Italian press focused considerably on Mr Renzi's resignation. The front page of Il Manifesto showed the departing leader walking away from shot, adorned with the words: "Bye beautiful". In the referendum aftermath, the Euro slid to a 20-month low against the dollar on Sunday and European stock markets opened in the red on Monday. A former Italian Treasury economist said the Italy referendum result had nothing to do with the EU. Shares in Asian stock markets also took a hit on Monday as the Euros value slipped. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The storm clouds over Brussels parted briefly over the weekend. Bucking the polls, an Austrian far-right politician failed in his bid to become president, losing to a pro-EU Green. But any glimmer of optimism was rapidly extinguished. Just hours after that disaster was averted, news came in from Rome: Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was on his way out after losing a referendum on constitutional reform. While the historical symbolism of having an Austrian far-right leader come to power would have been a PR disaster, the fall of Mr Renzi will have more far-reaching consequences for a European Union which cant seem to recover from one blow before succumbing to the next. But whether it was a resounding victory for the populists both the eurosceptic Five Star Movement and the far-right Northern League campaigned for a no vote or simply a reflection of the complexity of Italian domestic politics depended on who you asked. The referendum was about a change to the Italian constitution, not about Europe, insisted Margaritis Schinas, the European Commissions spokesperson. Not so, claimed the EUs many critics. Marine Le Pen of Frances Front National, who is hoping to inflict another blow to Brussels with her bid to become French President next year, said that we must listen to this thirst for freedom. Syed Kamall, a British Conservative MEP, declared that the Italian voters have issued yet another wake-up call to European leaders [who] will put their fingers in their ears yet again and find someone else to blame. Whether or not the Italians did indeed intend to raise an alarm in Brussels, or simply punish an unpopular leader, the reverberations of the vote will be felt across Europe. Mr Renzi is going to be missed by the dwindling number of liberal-minded, pro-EU leaders, particularly Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany, who had an ally in Mr Renzi when pushing her moral approach to the refugee crises. The result in Italy was not a positive development in the case of the general crisis in Europe, Germany Foreign Minster Frank-Walter Steinmeier observed dryly. While the young, energetic Mr Renzi would often provoke and disagree notably on the EUs policies on migration and austerity he was undoubtedly engaged in Europe, and saw the EU as the place for Italy to wield its influence. His opponents in the Five Star Movement, however, want to hold a referendum on withdrawing Italy from the euro, arguing that the countrys membership of the single currency is not bringing equal benefit to all. Certainly, the state of the Italian economy is a worry to many. Italy is the eurozones third largest economy after Germany and France, but growth had stagnated and public debt soared. All eyes will be on the stability of the banks during any uncertainty, and the euro slumped soon after the result was known. A fresh financial crisis is not what the EU needs right now. In recent years it has lurched from one disaster to another across every sphere, ranging from deteriorating relations with Russia, the mishandling of the refugee crisis, the blow of Brexit, then the election of Donald Trump and the likely disintegration of a trade deal with the US. Next year, elections in France, the Netherlands and Germany threaten to bring even more populists to office, and no one is looking forward to the messy Brexit negotiations. For the moment in Italy, there is quiet uncertainty. President Sergio Mattarella has asked Mr Renzi to delay his resignation until after the 2017 budget has been approved, which could be as early as the end of the week. Mr Mattarella is then expected to appoint an interim prime minister with the support of the Democratic Party though to the next scheduled elections in 2018, or at least until the end of this year. But the Five Star Movement is already pushing for earlier polls, as is the Northern League, two parties who may differ in their overall outlook but have one key bugbear in common. Both these parties are strongly Eurosceptic and would probably put the theme of Europe and Italys membership in the EU and the euro at the centre of a campaign that promises to be highly polarised, said Silvia Merler, an analyst with the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty In March 2017, EU leaders are due to gather in Rome to launch their vision for the future after the trauma of Brexit. Right now, it is not even clear who will chair that meeting, let alone what solutions they will come up with to convince their electorates to believe in them again. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Italian referendum was categorically not about the European Union and was far more complex than populism, according to a former Italian treasury economist. Lorenzo Codogno, ex-chief economist and directory general at the Treasury Department of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, said claims Italians voted against the EU were nonsense. Right-wing politicians Nigel Farage and Marine Le Pen both claimed victory for the anti-EU campaign in the aftermath of the referendum. Former government economist Lorenzo Codogno said the referendum vote was nothing to do with the EU Nigel Stead/LSE (Nigel Stead/LSE) Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigned after his attempt to change the country's constitutional was emphatically voted down by 59 per cent of the population. But Mr Codogno told The Independent: Its nonsense to say this was a call for an Italy EU exit. Italy's PM Matteo Renzi quits after losing reforms vote The referendum was not about exiting Europe. Mr Codogno directed economic programmes under the premiership of Romano Prodi, media baron Silvio Berlusconi, Mario Monti, Enrico Letta and Mr Renzi, between 2008 and 2015. Italians rallying for the 'no' camp of the referendum in Rome Getty (Getty) The London School of Economics visiting professor is an outspoken critic of Democratic Party leader Mr Renzi and his government, but was a yes supporter. Yes was for institutional and constitutional changes that could have allowed Italy to make laws in a more efficient way and basically give more power to the government," he said. Recommended The Italian referendum outcome had nothing to do with populism But we are back to square one so to speak. The situation was very complex. Its easy to jump to conclusions that this was about integration with the EU or that this was another protest vote. There is an element of a protest vote. There were a number of different motives for voting no and the no camp was all over the place: people from the far right, far left, in the north and the south totally different regions. It was not about Europe and the protest was not about the EU, it was about the government. Mr Codogno predicts in what appears to be the general consensus among analysts that the same coalition of parties will lead the country up until the next general election in late 2017 or early 2018. He said the likely adoption of a proportional representation electoral system will make it difficult for far-right fringe parties, such as the Five Star Movement, to gain power. No one really knows what the Five Star Movement stands for. Some are from the far left, some far right, some dont know what they are. Its a grassroots group and its not easy to tell. Dr Chris Hanretty, an award-winning reader in politics at the University of East Anglia, said Italians voted because they were p***** off at the government. Does that mean its not about populism? Maybe, because its not really about the EU why would you say that? said Dr Hanretty, who studied his Phd in Italy. Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Show all 12 1 /12 Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Brexit protest: Thousands march in London A woman poses with a home-made European Union flag as Remain supporters gather on Park Lane in London to show their support for the EU in the wake of Brexit PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Remain supporters demonstrate in Parliament Square PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Tens of thousands of people gathered to protest the result of the EU referendum PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London A majority of people in the capital voted to remain in the European Union Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Protesters chanted: What do we want to do? Stay in the EU PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The march follows a similar rally in Trafalgar Square that was cancelled due to heavy rain but which tens of thousands of people turned up to anyway Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum by 52 per cent to 48 per cent Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London But support for the Leave campaign in urban areas and among young people was significantly lower Rex features Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Marchers gathered at Park Lane at 11am and marched towards Parliament Square PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Some protesters held up baguettes in a display of affection for our continental neighbours PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The disparity between different parts of the country has promoted a four million signature petition calling for a second referendum and even a renewed push for Scotland to cede from the UK PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The events organiser, Kings College graduate Kieran MacDermott, wrote: We can prevent Brexit by refusing to accept the referendum as the final say and take our finger off the self-destruct button" Reuters There was no polling evidence to support that and no pollsters asked that because its not relevant. A 21 November poll, by the Community Media Research and Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, showed only 15.2 per cent of Italians wanted to leave the Euro. Brexit started disintegration of the EU says Italy's Europe minister A total of 67.4 per cent were self-described single currency believers. And 81 per cent of voters aged between 18 and 34, a generation that formed the bedrock of the Remain camp in the Brexit vote, voted no in Italy. Recommended The photo that shows just how much the world has changed in 2016 Giampaolo Brunelli, a 43-year-old Five Star Movement supporter who quoted by the Wall Street Journal, said he voted no because he lacked faith in Mr Renzi not because of EU sentiment. Dr Hanretty added: Renzi has been in office for more than two years and although there were some reforms in the labour market, and although GDP growth and reduced unemployment improved slightly, he didnt deliver much. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Why are we asking this now? Matteo Renzi called a referendum on reforms to Italys constitution, to strengthen the government and reduce the power of the upper house of parliament. Ironically perhaps, the changes were designed to increase stability and bring an end to the political merry-go-round which has seen more than 60 governments hold office in the past 70 years. Crucially, Mr Renzi announced he would resign if the Si camp lost, turning the vote into a verdict on his leadership of Italy. Why did voters want to get rid of Renzi? The centre-left leader of the Democrats was actually quite popular when he came to power as Italys youngest prime minister aged just 39 in 2014. But his labour reforms intended to inject vigour into a sclerotic economy provoked massive protests, while GDP growth remained sluggish, unemployment high and illegal immigration unstoppable. Opponents encouraged voters to use the referendum to express anger not only at Renzis rule but also at the establishment, the EU and the euro. Who led the No camp? While Si was backed by parties from the traditional mainstream of Italys politics, No attracted an array of insurgent groups from all parts of the political spectrum. The anti-establishment Five Star Movement of comedian Beppe Grillo was joined by the far-right Northern League, the socialist Italian Left and the nationalist Brothers of Italy. Media tycoon and former PM Silvio Berlusconi threw his Forza Italia party into the battle for a No vote. So what happens next? After tendering his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella, Renzi remains in office until a successor is appointed. Opposition groups, including the Five Star Movement, are pushing for an early election. But it is thought more likely that Mattarella will ask another senior Democrat to lead a caretaker administration until scheduled polls in the spring of 2018. Finance minister Pier Carlo Padoan is favourite to take over. Changes of government without elections are not unusual in Italy, and Renzi himself took power without a public vote by forcing out predecessor Enrico Letta. What does this mean for the EU? Europe has taken changes of government in Rome in its stride in the past, but Renzis fall comes at a moment of massive instability for the continent, which was already reeling from long-running crises over migration and the single currency when it was delivered a body-blow by the UKs Brexit vote. Anti-EU campaigners are already agitating for the country to follow Britains lead, with French Front National leader Marine le Pen declaring that the Italian people had disavowed the EU. But, while Eurosceptic, neither Five Star nor the Northern League have so far advocated withdrawal, so in the short term at least, Italexit or Quitaly looks unlikely. What about the euro? Turmoil in the single currency zones third biggest economy had an immediate impact on the euro, which tumbled to $1.05 in the wake of Mr Renzis announcement of his resignation. Many Italians blame their slow emergence from the 2008 economic crisis on membership of the single currency, and Five Star has been calling for a referendum on a return to the lira. Commentators are keeping a close eye on Italy's banks, many of which are burdened by bad debt and may struggle to find refinancing during a period of political uncertainty. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Is it just Italy? No 2017 will see a string of elections across the EU in which populist movements are hoping to shake the established parties. French President Francois Hollande has already said he will not stand in an election in the spring, which is expected to pit the far-right Ms le Pen against the Thatcherite Francois Fillon. The right-wing populist Freedom Party of Geert Wilders is leading polls ahead of the Dutch parliamentary elections in March, and even Germanys Angela Merkel is facing an upsurge in support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany as she seeks re-election in the autumn. By this time next year it looks likely that Merkel will be one of only a handful of EU leaders left standing out of those who ruled the roost at the start of 2016. And with Donald Trump replacing Barack Obama in the US, the Western world will have undergone a virtually unprecedented shake-up in its highest political ranks. Are there any exceptions from the tide of populism? As Italy was voting No, neighbouring Austria rejected the Eurosceptic candidate of the right-wing Freedom Party, Norbert Hofer, in re-run presidential elections. But the EU-backing new president Alexander Van der Bellen is hardly any more of an establishment figure, as Europe's first nationally-elected head of state from a Green Party. PA For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Manuel Valls, Prime Minister of France, has formally declared that he will stand to be the Socialist Party candidate in the country's 2017 presidential election. He will resign from his current government position in order to pursue the presidency, he announced during a speech on Monday evening in Evry, in the southern Paris suburbs, where he governed as Mayor for 11 years. The Prime Ministers speech comes four days after President Francois Hollandes announcement that he would not seek re-election next year. Mr Hollande decided not to run after concluding he could not unite the party. Mr Valls is believed to have announced his bid to replace him after meeting the President for lunch at the Elysee Palace. Mr Valls said that his candidacy is "a revolt against the idea that the left is disqualified from this presidential election. He has edited his profile on the social media site to describe himself only as a presidential candidate. "I want to give everything for France," the 54-year-old said in his speech on Monday night. He will face other contenders in the Socialist primary next month, including Arnaud Montebourg, a left-wing firebrand who left Mr Valls government in a reshuffle in 2014 after disagreeing with the Prime Ministers pro-business shift. According to opinion polls, Mr Valls is likely to win in a runoff round against Mr Montebourg. But his market-oriented policies and tough stance on immigration and security have divided the party and he has faced criticism from Socialist heavyweights, including Martine Aubry, the mayor of Lille and daughter of former EU Commission Chairman Jacques Delors. He will also face an uphill battle to overcome the unpopularity of Mr Hollande, whose poll ratings have sunk to as low as 4 per cent. According to Jacques Hennen and Gilles Verdez, authors of Manuel Valls, Secrets of a Destiny, the Prime Minister has long harboured presidential ambitions. Although he is now considered to be media-savvy, the father of four was criticised in 2009 after being filmed by D8 television in an Evry market saying there were not enough whites around and this was giving the wrong image of his town. He has also sparked heated debate by saying he supports a ban on the burkini and arguing that naked breasts represent France better than a headscarf. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has resigned and taken full responsibility for his extraordinarily clear defeat after the No campaign won a resounding victory in Sundays referendum. The No win was even greater than opinion polls had previously indicated, presenting a major victory to the Five Star Movement, the driving force behind the campaign, which presented the referendum as a protest vote against Mr Renzi's status quo. Having steadily grown since 2009 to become one of the most voted-for parties in Italy, and now heralded this major victory, the movement against Italys constitutional politics can no longer be overlooked in Italian politics. So what is the Five Party Movement and who are the driving forces behind it? Five Star founder, Beppe Giuseppe Peiro Grillo, also known as 'Beppe', co-founded the movement in 2009. He studied as an accountant but did not finish university, instead failing into comedy, which in turn along with his influential blog - helped him establish his political views and communicate them to a wide audience. Politicial satire and offending the politicians After being picked up by Italian TV presenter Pippo Baudo for his potential as a comedian not long after finishing school, Mr Grillo starred in a number of shows. He began to make a name for himself in the political sphere during the Eighties when he adopted political satire that offended some politicians. In 1987, Mr Grillo was banished from publicly owned television after he offended the Italian Socialist Party and its leader Bettino Craxi, the then prime minister. Since the early Nineties his appearances on TV have become rare thought to be because of the offence he causes Italian politicians. But in 2014, the comedian and activist returned to public television to participate in the popular late-night political debate talk show Porta a Porta as part of his campaign for the 2014 European Parliament election - a show that attracted three million viewers and helped the movement build a name for itself. Big name on the blogosphere Mr Grillo, now 68, is also an avid blogger and maintains a site in three different languages which reportedly ranks among the 10 most visited in the world and is considered one of the most influential. Mr Grillo's blog, which is updated daily, is said to be among the 10 most visited in the world (screengrab) As his political activism grew, he began to placed emphasis on the role of the Internet as a way to herald pathways to direct democracy and a fairer society, making him one of the leading champions of digital utopianism in Italy. Political activism and drawing attention In 2005, Grillo used money donated by readers of his blog to buy a full-page advertisement in Italian newspaper La Repubblica, calling for the resignation of the then governor Antonio Fazio after the Antonveneta banking scandal. He was subsequently chosen as one of Times European Heroes 2005 for targeting corruption and financial scandals. Later the same year, Mr Grillo bought a page in the International Herald Tribune, saying that members of the Italian Parliament ought not to represent citizens if they have been convicted of a crime, even in the first degree of the three available in the Italian system. In 2007, Grillo was permitted to speak to the members of the European Parliament in Brussels, where he drew attention to the state of Italian politics. Controversial remarks In May 2016 Grillo provoked criticism when he asked when the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan will blow up Westminster following his success in the mayoral election. He has also declared his liking for Nigel Farage, appeared to compare migrants to rats and has been found to own a motor yacht and a Ferrari despite claiming to be an environmentalist - as well as speaking out in support of Dinald Trump. So, what is the Five Star Movement? Basic beginnings Mr Grillo started the Five Star Movement - or Movimento 5 Stelle (M5s) along with web strategist and editor of his blog, Gianroberto Casaleggio, who died in April 2016. Recommended Italian PM Matteo Renzi resigns after crushing referendum defeat In 2009 Mr Grillo and Mr Casaleggio used the blog and social networking site Meetup.com to bring people together to campaign on local issues and then field candidates for elections and since then it has risen to become one of the most voted-for parties in Italy. The movement has at its heart been a reaction against Italys self-serving and corrupt politics, with a founding aim has been to cut parliamentarians salaries (the highest in Europe) by 80 per cent and to ensure financial accounts of all state bodies are accessible to the public. Its policies have always been an eclectic mix of the anti-establishment, environmentalist, anti-globalist and eurosceptic, and its supporters have always come from across the political spetrum. Rise of the M5s At the 2013 general election, the M5s came from nowhere to become the second most voted for party. Through ups and downs, its poll ratings have stood at around 30 per cent ever since, generally ahead of the centre right and only just behind the centre-left Democratic Party. Despite several outcries such as the chaotic manner in which Virginia Raggi, the recently elected mayor of Rome, has been running her administration and allegations of activists being involved in falsifying signatures on the nomination papers of candidates for elections, the movement has gained momentum over recent years. The M5s made a sensational debut in the parliamentary elections of 2013, surprising many political watchers when it won around 25 percent of the vote. People generally support the party because it represents something different from a political class in whom vast swathes of the electorate have virtually no confidence. But can it get into power? The profile of M5s activists and supporters casts doubt on whether it would be able to govern effectively if it did win an election. A vote for the M5s is a straightforward protest vote. Despite being united in their desire to shake up the status quo, M5s activists and supporters are divided across the whole range of issues separating left and right. They dont necessarily share a position on the EU, taxation or migration in fact M5s voters are more or less split down the middle. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty It is therefore doubtful that such a party can remain cohesive when faced with the pressures of governing. The M5s would probably crumble under the weight of the responsibility for making choices that can only benefit some while hurting others. Many members and supporters have left because they came into conflict with pressures to behave as mere party delegates, rather than as representatives, exercising their own judgement. Mr Grillo - despite claiming to espouse the ideology of bottom-up democracy - has often sought to impose party discipline from the top down, dealing with rebels by threatening to withdraw their right to use the movements brand, of which he is the exclusive owner. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A seven-year-old girl living in Aleppo who has been tweeting from the besieged Syrian city has disappeared from Twitter. Bana Alamed, with the help of her mother a teacher, gained a wide following including by tweeting in English about life in the war-torn city. The last tweet from the @alemedbana account written by Bana's mother Fatema said: "We are sure the army is capturing us now. We will see each other another day dear world." Aleppo, the largest city in Syria before the civil war, is now split in two with the Rebel-held east and the government-held West. 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. Speaking to the BBC, Fatemah said her daughter wanted "the word to hear our voice". In a tweet from November, Nada said: "Tonight we have no house, it's bombed and I got in rubble. I saw deaths and I almost died." On discovering Nada's tweets, JK Rowling sent her eBook copies of the complete Harry Potter series after the little girl said she liked to read to "forget the war". Ms Rowling has retweeted some of Nada's tweets after the account was deleted calling for information on the family's whereabouts. The conditions for civilians in rebel-held areas of the city are becoming increasingly desperate with many reduced to scavenging. Rebel shelling on the government-held part of the contested city has intensified in recent weeks as Syrian government and allied troops push their way into parts of Aleppo controlled by the opposition. In an offensive that began last week, Syrian government forces seized large areas of Aleppo. Rebel fighters fired mortars and shells into the government-controlled part of Aleppo to the west. Syrian State TV said four civilians were killed in three different neighbourhoods in western Aleppo. The opposition-run Thiqa News agency and the Syrian Civil Defence in Aleppo city said four civilians were killed in rebel-held Zabadiyeh district when barrel bombs were dropped. In the nearby rebel-controlled Idlib province, Syrian opposition activists said Russian and Syrian aircraft stepped up assaults, a day after air raids killed more than 60 people. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Saudi Arabian journalist and commentator has been banned by his country for criticising US President-elect Donald Trump. Jamal Khashoggi has been banned from writing in newspapers, making TV appearances and attending conferences, Middle East Eye reports. After Mr Khashoggi criticised Mr Trump's Middle East policies at a Washington think-tank on 10 November, an official Saudi spokesman said he did not represent the Kingdom in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency. Speaking at the Washington Institute, Mr Khashoggi described Mr Trump's stance on the Middle East as "contradictory", BreakingEnergy.com reported. World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Show all 29 1 /29 World reaction to President Trump: In pictures World reaction to President Trump: In pictures London, England AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures London, England Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines Getty Images World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mosul , Iraq Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures New Delhi, India Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Karachi, Pakistan EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Lagos, Nigeria AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Kabul, Afghanistan AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jerusalem. Israel Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Moscow, Russia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Seoul, South Korea AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Lagos, Nigeria AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Peshawar, Pakistan EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Hyderabad, India AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Kolkata, India AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Sydney, Australia Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Sydney, Australia AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Aleppo, Syria Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mexico City, Mexico AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jerusalem, Israel EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Baghdad, Iraq Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Tokyo, Japan Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mexico City, Mexico Getty Mr Khashoggi said that while Mr Trump has been vocally anti-Iran, he has hinted he will support President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war, a move which will ultimately bolster Iran. "The expectation that 'Trump as president' will be starkly different from 'Trump as candidate' is a false hope at best," he added. Mr Khashoggi was also quoted in a Washington Post article discussing potential changes in the Middle East as a result of Mr Trump's election victory. In the article, he described hopes for a regional reconciliation as "wishful thinking" which he said was at odds with Mr Trump's "apparent determination to ally more closely with Russia". He added: "When his advisers show him the map, will he realise supporting Putin means supporting the Iranian agenda?" Trump is 'a walking talking violation of the constitution' Mr Khashoggi's weekly column in the Al Hayat newspaper did not appear this week, despite being published every Saturday for nearly five years. He previously held the position of editor-in-chief at a number of Saudi newspapers, including The Arab Times and Al-Watan. The Independent has contacted the Saudi embassy for comment. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Russian nurse in a makeshift hospital in Aleppo has been killed by rebel shelling of the Syrian government-held part of the city, officials said. The death came as the defence ministry in Moscow said a Russian fighter jet crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after returning from a sortie over Syria. The developments were a blow to Russia, which has been one of the staunchest supporters of Syrian president Bashar Assad in his country's bitter civil war, now in its sixth year. The shelling that killed the female nurse also wounded two Russian doctors working in the field hospital, a Russian officer in Aleppo said. The hospital equipment was part of aid that Moscow had sent into the Furqan neighbourhood in the government section of the city the previous day. In Moscow, defence ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov confirmed the death of one Russian medic in Aleppo and said two were seriously wounded in an artillery attack that hit the Russian military hospital. He said an unspecified number of local residents who were at the hospital were also wounded and accused the United States, Britain and France of tipping off the rebels about the hospital's location. The blood of our soldiers is on the hands of those who ordered this murder. Those who created, nurtured and armed these beasts in human form and named them the 'opposition', he said. Separately, the defence ministry said a Russian Su-33 fighter jet, based on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after returning from a sortie over Syria. The ministry said that because of the failure of the arrester system's cable, the Su-33 fighter rolled off the deck on Monday. The pilot successfully ejected and was unharmed, the ministry said, adding that Russian military operations over Syria would not be affected by the incident. This is the second loss of an aircraft from Russia's only aircraft carrier since it arrived off Syria last month. A MiG-29 crashed into the sea on November 15 while attempting to land on the Admiral Kuznetsov. In Aleppo, rebel shelling on the government-held part of the contested city has intensified in recent weeks as Syrian government and allied troops push their way into parts of Aleppo controlled by the opposition. In an offensive that began last week, Syrian government forces seized large areas of the Aleppo enclave that have been under rebel control since 2012. The fighting was most intense on Monday near the dividing line between east and west Aleppo as government and allied troops pushed their way from the eastern flank, reaching less than half a mile from the citadel in the centre of the city. Rebel fighters clashed with advancing troops and also fired mortars and shells into the government-controlled part of Aleppo to the west. Syrian State TV said four civilians were killed on Monday in three different neighbourhoods in western Aleppo. 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 opposition-run Thiqa News agency and the Syrian Civil Defence in Aleppo city said four civilians were killed in rebel-held Zabadiyeh district when barrel bombs were dropped. In the nearby rebel-controlled Idlib province, Syrian opposition activists said Russian and Syrian aircraft stepped up assaults, a day after air raids killed more than 60 people. The activist-run Local Coordination Committees said air strikes hit the towns of Binnish, Maarat Nasaan and Saraqib, as well as the provincial capital Idlib. The network said three children were killed, blaming the attacks on Russian aircraft. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 288 civilians have been killed in the province since October 20, when Syrian government and Russian aircraft intensified air strikes. AP For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An Oxford graduate is suing the university for 1 million claiming the appallingly bad tuition cost him a first-class degree and prevented him from having a successful career. Faiz Siddiqui told the High Court he believes he would have had a career as an international commercial lawyer if he had been awarded a 1st class degree rather than the 2:1 he achieved 16 years ago. The trained solicitor suffers from depression and insomnia, which he links to examination results, and has led to an inability to hold down a job for a significant period of time. Mr Siddiqui studied modern history at Brasenose College and claims he would have got a better grade if it wasnt for negligent teaching on Indian imperial history in his final year. Oxford University is looking to have his loss of earnings claim struck down, the Times reported. Mr Siddiqui claims that during his final year four of the seven staff who taught the Indian imperial history course were on sabbatical leave, leading to a shortage of tutors. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty Roger Mallalieu, Mr Siddiquis lawyer, said 13 of the 15 students who took the course received their lowest or joint lowest mark - showing the standard of teaching was objectively unacceptable. Oxford University says the case is baseless and should be struck out because a number of years have passed since Mr Siddiqui graduated. The university also noted they made special allowance for Mr Siddiqui in some of his papers for hay fever. 8 questions you could face A judgment is expected later this month. Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyEats email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The suicide of chef Benoit Violier, however tragic, had an unexpected effect on the fortunes of French restaurant guide La Liste, whose second edition launches next week. A beneficial effect. This time last year a beaming Violier was posing for photos with fellow restaurateurs and media in the gilded ballroom of 37 Quai DOrsay, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Flushed with bonhomie and vintage Moet & Chandon, I joined the queue for a quick congratulation, which Violier accepted graciously without the faintest idea who I was. Violier, chef and proprietor of the Hotel de Ville in Crissier, Switzerland, had just received the award for the worlds best restaurant in the brand new listing. A month later, the 44-year-old chef and keen hunter was found dead, his rifle beside him. Suicide was the verdict, and remains so, though speculation continues to bubble privately: losses in a wine scam, an allegation denied by his wife and entourage and never substantiated; the pressure of staying at the top. Comparisons are made with another top chef, Bernard Loiseau, who took his life in similar way 13 years earlier, after reports suggested he may lose his third Michelin star. Whatever, global press coverage of Violiers death, suddenly describing him as the worlds top chef rather than simply a top chef, began to talk about La Liste. As Philippe Faure, the founder of the guide, remarked, suddenly everyone was talking about his brainchild. Faure is President of Atout France, the state tourism entity, an ex-diplomat and businessman, whose CV includes both ownership of the Gault & Millau guide and tenure of the French embassies in Mexico City and Tokyo, where he once served couscous to an audience of curious Japanese guests. But La Liste is described erroneously as a French government initiative its entirely financed by corporate sponsors such as San Pellegrino and Moet Hennessy. It does, however, spring from a French feeling that the national cuisine has been sidelined by superior, state-supported PR skill on the part of the Spanish, Scandinavians and Peruvians. The winner this year is French chef Guy Savoy (Getty) Next week, La Liste number two is launched with another glittering bash at the Quai DOrsay. It remains to be seen whether its influence has grown or receded. This year the worlds top chef will be Guy Savoy, whose move to La Monnaie, the old Paris Mint overlooking the Seine, was one of the restaurant events of 2015. Savoy, on the phone from his kitchen on Thursday, was sanguine about the pressures of awards. Theyre important. My third Michelin star increased my turnover by 12 per cent straight away. But everybody reacts to pressure differently. Ive learnt to live with it after 40 years. Savoy is a jovial rugby fan, known for his personal enjoyment of good food, the antithesis of tortured kitchen intellectual or driven businessman. If guide ranking is a pressure on ambitious chefs, La Liste in theory applies it only indirectly. The unique selling point of La Liste is that it surveys and aggregates other opinions rather than expressing its own. It works by surveying hundreds of book and online guides, press reviews, public evaluators of the TripAdvisor type, and much more, then converting their verdicts via an algorithm that applies numerous weightings, for reliability of source for example, to arrive at a figure. This year La Liste doesnt rank the top 1,000 in order, but according to percentage marks, while a new feature comprises a further 9,000 restaurants, of more modest price, simply listed, with a new application that enables the user flying from, say, Turkey to Uzbekistan via Iran to look up and book restaurants in all three places between two tweets and a text. La Liste does have an additional function, as snapshot of the changing world of catering. Though you need a bit of explanation from the creators to understand the nuances. The 2017 Liste contains considerably more establishments in China, for example. Why? Because, explains Jorg Zipprick, the food journalist and brains behind how the listings are constructed, there are a number of new Chinese restaurant guides to feed into the calculation. La Liste has no option but to reflect notable demotions and critiques. Last years number two, the American restaurant Per Se, is down due to an unusually severe review in the New York Times, while the rating of top Parisian chef Yannick Alleno has suffered in some degree due to online reaction to accusations of his kitchen bullying. In one other respect La Liste stands out. It gives a good party, a touch staid perhaps by comparison with younger operations such as Le Fooding, less bling than the Worlds 50 Best, but outclassing both in establishment grandeur. On Monday evening a couple of hundred guests will sit down to six courses, including Guy Savoys trademark soupe dartichaut a la truffe, brioche feuilletee et beurre de truffe [truffled artichoke soup, flaky brioche and truffle butter]. Finished by Savoy himself in the Quai DOrsays kitchens, which he says are as state of the art as any in Paris, and a lot busier. Former foreign minister Laurent Fabius made these state premises available, as part of an initiative to boost gastro diplomacy. So what will become of the gastronomic offensive in April or May, if, as seems inevitable, the current French government disappears into history in the wake of President Francois Hollande. Unlikely to be any change, says Faure. Food policy is not high on anybodys political agenda right now. For what its worth, the new presidential front runner Francois Fillon is supposed to be something of a gourmand anyway, with a weakness for the rillettes of his native Sarthe, considerable skills in boeuf bourguignon, and a Welsh wife whose cooking he jokingly disparages. If Fillon gets in, the kitchens of the Elysee and the Quai DOrsay are probably safe. As for the other contender, Marine Le Pen, no one dares speculate, but there probably wouldnt be a lot of room for Faure to serve couscous. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Day trips to New York: thats the promise from Norwegian, the low-cost transatlantic airline, as it steps up its air wars with British Airways. The Oslo-based carrier is launching a second daily service from Gatwick to New York JFK on 10 August next year. The significant of the new departure is that it will be easily the earliest flight from the UK to the US. At present the first westbound departure is on United from Heathrow to Washington DC at 7.30am, arriving in the American capital at 11.15am, local time. But Norwegians new flight will depart from the Sussex airport at 6am and be the first westbound arrival in New York at 9am. Not only will this miss the long queues for American immigration and customs, it will also, according to the airline, allow business travellers to attend all-important meetings throughout the day and depart the same evening. The evening flight back to Gatwick departs 14 hours later, at 11pm. For a Tuesday in October, the day-return fare is 354 return. In Premium Class, the fare is 914. British Airways flies once-daily from Gatwick to New York, but from Heathrow it offers around a dozen flights a day. The first to JFK is at 8.20am, arriving at 11.20am, and the last return at around 11pm. Because of the way BA prices tickets when the passenger does not stay away over a Saturday night, the cheapest deal on the same day is 1,740 almost five times as much as Norwegians basic fare. The two airlines are engaged in ferocious transatlantic competition from Gatwick. In the first round, Norwegian launched services to Fort Lauderdale and Oakland, cut-price gateways to Miami and San Francisco respectively. BA responded with new flights to both destinations. Norwegian has now raised the stakes by increasing services to both airports from next summer. It will also add a third weekly flight to Orlando, challenging Virgin Atlantic as well as British Airways. Thomas Ramdahl, Chief Commercial Officer at Norwegian, said: By expanding the number of transatlantic flights from Gatwick, we are giving tourists and business passengers more flexibility, attractive fares and convenient schedules. "With nine more 787 Dreamliners entering our fleet next year, this will be just the beginning of our UK expansion. British Airways responded robustly. A spokesperson said: From next year well be offering customers low cost flights to Fort Lauderdale and Oakland at 189 each way from Gatwick and unlike other airlines there is no extra charge for food and drink on board. No extra charge to watch the hundreds of films and TV shows we offer. No extra charge for blankets. And dont worry about all that shopping youre bound to come back with, youll be able to bring two bags into the cabin and one more in the hold, and guess what, theres no extra charge. The return segment of Norwegians new link between Gatwick and New York will offer the first lunchtime departure from the US city to London since the demise of Concorde. The return flight is scheduled to leave JFK at noon, when the airport is much quieter than during the early evening rush, and arrive at Gatwick just before midnight. Going west, the only earlier departure from Europe to the US is at 5.55am from Dublin to Los Angeles on Ethiopian Airlines. It arrives beside the Pacific at 8.30am. Ethiopian Airlines has also announced a new express link from Heathrow to Victoria Falls in Zambia. From 26 March next year it will serve the scenic location, on the border with Zimbabwe, with a two-hour connection in Addis Ababa. It will save several hours on the existing connection via Johannesburg. Click here to view New York to Hollywood Tour, with Independent Holidays. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} At just a little past 5 pm on Sunday, Austrias election authorities announced that the former Green party leader and independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen would become Austrias next president. This has been not only the most protracted election of the Second Republic but also by far the most acrimonious. The Austrian electorate thought they had already appointed their new president earlier this year when the run-off between the now twice successful candidate and his opponent, the far-right Freedom Party-sponsored Norbert Hofer produced the tiniest of majorities (0.6 per cent) in Van der Bellens favour. However, that election was disputed by a Freedom Party sponsored challenge, and Austrias constitutional court ruled in July that because of irregularities in the counting process, the vote would have to be repeated. Initially scheduled for 2 October, a further frustration came in the form of the inferior glue (rumoured to be a German product) on postal vote envelopes. Pre-election commentators wondered whether voter fatigue would produce a markedly reduced participation. In fact, there was a 1.4 per cent higher turnout. Despite the near year-long process, the annoyance of repeated attempts at running the election, and the inauspicious timing for the second Sunday of advent, Austrias voters decided to get out into the chill air and vote. Right-wing candidate defeated in Austrian presidential election The demographics will be picked over in the next hours and days. Early information suggests that the Freedom Party polled very positively in the expected segments men, those without higher education qualifications and rural voters. However, large numbers of political and celebrity endorsements as well as an impressive grass roots swell of campaign support added momentum to Van der Bellens popularity. His electoral share will settle out at around 53.3 per cent once the postal votes have been counted. The tenfold increase in the margin between the candidates results 6 per cent compared to 0.6 per cent in May raises questions about what else could have happened in the intervening months to boost Van der Bellens popularity. It could be that Austrias voters have heeded Van der Bellens campaign appeal to defend Austrias reputation abroad with international concern mounting over the possibility of Austria electing Europes first far-right leader since Hitler. Election results from abroad have also undoubtedly played a part in Austria, and observers have been pondering the possible effect of both Brexit and the Trump effect on the final outcome. Van der Bellen is resolutely pro-EU and takes every opportunity to stress the Unions necessity for economic wellbeing, for the peace project, and for tolerance and solidarity. Despite smiling assurances to the contrary, Hofers anti-EU credentials and anti-immigration stance are, on the other hand, beyond dispute. The Freedom Party has already submitted a formal request to the Austrian parliament to hold an EU referendum, and the party repeatedly insists on the need to let the people speak. Little wonder that EU-Presidents Martin Schulz and Jean-Claude Juncker are on record as warning the Austrians against voting for the Freedom Party candidate. Austria has now made up its own mind and has staved off the Freedom Partys attempts on the countrys highest office. But as journalist and writer Robert Misik points out in his video blog for the left-leaning newspaper Der Standard, at 47 or so per cent of the electorate, there are still quite enough people who have voted for the far right. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet. This is the advice General James Mattis used to give to the US Marines going on a mission. They thought the commander, who they had affectionately nicknamed Mad Dog, was just great. Gen Mattis has been made Defence Secretary by Donald Trump, who has also appointed Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as his National Security Advisor. Two other generals, David Petraeus and John Kelly, have been seen by the President-elect for possible jobs in his administration. This infuses a distinct military hue to the people the President-elect is gathering around him. It may be that reality TV star Trump, who dodged the Vietnam draft, has a fascination for men of action. But it has given rise to the thought that his presidency may be intrinsically hawkish on a number of policies. This may not necessarily be the case: the presence of the commanders may actually moderate the stance of the coming Presidency on a number of important issues. Secret Service may intervene in Trump's twitter use During his election campaign Trump vowed to bring in methods that extended far more than waterboarding because torture works, OK folks. Gen Mattis, however, has made it clear that he opposes waterboarding and other forms of mistreatment a view that surprised the President-elect who says he was impressed by that answer and it has made him reconsider his own position on the matter. Generals Petraeus and Flynn have both, in the past, spoken out strongly against the use of torture. Gen Flynn was accused of equivocation on the matter while acting as security advisor to Trump in the campaign; but his friends say that his basic opposition to it has not changed. Similarly, Trumps advocacy of carpet-bombing Isis and other terrorist groups (Id bomb the s*** out of them) is strategically inept, as many commanders have pointed out. War planes alone cannot defeat an insurgency; one needs boots on the ground to do so. It is also the case that the collateral damage of civilians being killed in air strikes creates anger and acts as a recruiting sergeant for guerilla groups. Gen Stanley McChrystal, who at one stage was mooted as a possible running mate for Trump in the presidential race, imposed strict limitations on air strikes when he was in command of American forces in Afghanistan. Missions were cut in numbers and when the planes did fly, they would more often than not carry out a show of force - basically flying low with great noise rather than carrying out bombings. I have been in operations with British and American troops when requests for air support resulted in these shows rather than strikes. As we watched this while pinned down by hostile fire, the troops would groan: Taliban fighters, who knew the score by then, would taunt and jeer. But exercising restraint was the right thing to do. World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Show all 29 1 /29 World reaction to President Trump: In pictures World reaction to President Trump: In pictures London, England AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures London, England Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines Getty Images World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mosul , Iraq Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures New Delhi, India Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Karachi, Pakistan EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Lagos, Nigeria AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Kabul, Afghanistan AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jerusalem. Israel Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Moscow, Russia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Seoul, South Korea AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Lagos, Nigeria AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Peshawar, Pakistan EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Hyderabad, India AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Kolkata, India AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Sydney, Australia Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Sydney, Australia AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Aleppo, Syria Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mexico City, Mexico AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jerusalem, Israel EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Baghdad, Iraq Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Tokyo, Japan Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mexico City, Mexico Getty Gen Petraeus, who took over from Gen McChrystal in Afghanistan, slightly loosened the rules on air strikes, but the strictures on avoiding civilian casualties remained in force. There are objections to Gen Petraeus, a former CIA director, serving in the new administration from the Republican right-wing, and especially the gun lobby. He is part of the Veterans Coalition for Common Sense which has urged for more control on private ownership of assault weapons to try and stop the urban massacres which have repeatedly claimed lives in the US. The Coalition was co-founded by retired astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, the husband of Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot and severely wounded in 2011 when, as a congresswoman, she was meeting constituents. Six others, including a nine-year-old girl, were killed in the attack. Gen Petraues is not the only military man to back the call for more gun control. Other members of the Veterans Coalition for Common Sense include Gen McChrystal, former US Air Force General Michael Hayden, and former chief of Nato forces General Wesley Clark. A petition organized by the Firearms Policy Coalition, part of the gun lobby declared Having a Secretary of State (the position Trump is said to be considering him for) who openly advocates for more gun control and who has the ability to reinterpret regulations without Congressional oversight, would be disastrous for gun owners, hobbyist gunsmiths and manufacturers. There will be much scrutiny on the influence of the former commanders on Trumps foreign policy. Gen Flynn had taken an anti-establishment line on a number of issues when he ran the Defence Intelligence Agency. In the Spring of 2014, as the US administration and Western European states were putting together sanctions on Russia after the annexation of Crimea, Gen Flynn announced that he intended to go ahead with an intelligence-sharing visit to Moscow and also planned to invite Russian officials to Washington to discuss information on Islamist extremists. The Generals superiors blocked both moves and he was dismissed from his post a few months later by President Obama. The General claimed it was because he had ruffled too many feathers. Administration officials said it was simply because he had failed to provide leadership at the DIA. Now, Gen Flynns stance towards the Russians two years ago is in sync with the views of Trump, who has expressed admiration for Vladimir Putin. There is already a degree of intelligence-sharing with the Russians in Syria; and there are growing calls in a number of European countries for sanctions against Russia to be eased, calls which will become louder as right-wingers come to power on the continent. Iran, it is felt, would be the most likely arena of confrontation for the Trump administration. The President-elect has called the agreement on the countrys nuclear programme the worst deal ever negotiated and Republican hardliners have long called for its repeal. Both Gen Flynn and Gen Mattis have accused Tehran of promoting terrorism. But Gen Flynn has shown he is capable of carrying out U-turns on his views. He had, for example, initially voiced support for last Summers coup plotters in Turkey only to declare later that Recep Tayyip Erdogan was a great friend of the US and Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of orchestrating the coup, should be extradited to Turkey. Gen Mathis has stressed recently that theres no going back [on the deal]...I dont think we can just say were not going to live up to our word on this agreement. Instead, he said the priority would be to ensure Iran does not abandon its commitment on the nuclear deal to curb its support of insurgencies in the Middle East. Unilateral imposition of sanctions by the US will not be particularly effective, Gen Mattis pointed out, and the other states that signed the deal Russia, China, Britain, Germany and France are broadly happy with it. And then there are Trumps business instincts; abandoning the agreement would, he had mused publicly, simply let other countries benefit from trading with Tehran. The aggressive rhetoric on Iran may not, at the end, turn into aggressive acts. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The resignation of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi following that nations referendum on the constitution, caps off what has proven a challenging year for the EU. These anti-establishment uprisings might not end there as several European countries go to the polls over the next year. In March the Dutch hold their parliamentary elections, with the anti-Islamic Party for Freedom, led by Geert Wilders, standing on a pledge to de-Islamify the Netherlands and hold a Nexit vote. His party is running neck and neck with Mark Ruttes Liberal Party. In May the French go to the polls, with the presidential race seen as being between the far right Front Natinal, under Marine Le Pen, running on an anti-EU and anti-immigration ticket, and the Republic candidate, Francois Fillon. However, against this background there are some positives for Europhiles. The Austrians have just voted for a new president, with Alexander Van der Bellen of the Greens defeating Norbert Hofer of the anti-immigration Freedom Party. In September the Germans cast their votes, with the backdrop of the immigration controversy. The far-right anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany is expected to make gains, but Merkel is expected to win a fourth term if she decides to run again. Next year could prove a pivotal year for the EU, but it is no stranger to such challenges and my prediction is that it will emerge the stronger for it. Alex Orr Edinburgh Vegetarians are making a meal of the new five pound note The agitation against the new five pound note is the most trivial populist movement of late. Vegetarians and animal rights activists surely recognise that there are far more serious issues for them to address than the presence of minute levels of tallow in the manufacturing process of these bank notes. All that it achieves is to make a mockery of justifiable concerns for animal rights. Graham Hayes Address supplied We have a democratic right to complain about Brexit Your leading letter on Monday criticised people who voted to remain in the European Community as being unaccepting of the democratic result of the referendum and seeking to stop progress towards implementing it. The writer is confused as to what he was voting to leave. The European Community (EC) was merged into the European Union (EU) in The Treaty of Lisbon in 2009 when the EC ceased to exist. As the EC does not exist, it's not possible to vote to leave it. With regard to the referendum to leave or remain in the EU, there was no clear, defined, written description as to what exactly is involved and the ramifications of it, hence the reason why so many people abstained or voted to remain. I object to the suggestion that I cannot accept a slim majority decision of a referendum, which was not legally binding, yet appears to be taking Britain down a path which Scotland and Northern Ireland do not want. It therefore seems only right that the electorate should be given the opportunity to vote on the terms of any negotiations. I and many others, cannot say at the moment whether leaving or remaining is good for the UK as a whole, which is why there is such debate. Linda Johnson Yorkshire Colin Bower's classic Leave lament that Remainers are acting like spoilt children, is not only offensive, it is inaccurate. There is an assumption that Brexit is the will of the people. But that is unclear. During the campaign a big red bus toured the country with the words we send 350m per week to the EU, let's fund the NHS instead. For many undecided voters, and there were a lot of them, the choice between funding the NHS and funding the EU was enough to push them towards a Leave vote. Many election promises are impossible to keep once the full facts are known. But the speed with which the Leave campaign dropped the promise (within seconds of the result) suggests they knew before the vote that their key pledge would never be honoured. So how can such a close result reflect the will of the people when so many were manipulated by deliberate misinformation? Mark Grey London Colin Bower accuses Remain supporters of being childish in wanting to overturn or lessen the impact of the Brexit vote. However he chooses to ignore a number of points. Firstly, our country has been a member of the EU for a very long time, most of my lifetime, and during that time there has been a continued campaigning to leave by both Conservative Party members and many others. Were these people being chlidish in not accepting the original decision to join and the subsequent referendum in 1975 to remain in the EU? No, they were exercising their democratic right to petition for change just as current Remainers are doing. Secondly, we have general elections every five years at which time the country is given a chance to make a democratic decision about which party will be the next government. After each election I remember, there has been an expectation that the parties not in government will continue to campaign for their political points of view and to mitigate the impact, in their opinions, of negative government policy. How does Mr Bower think that this is different in some way to the result of the recent referendum, especially when there is no plan for another vote in five years or at any other time? Thirdly, the result of the EU referendum cannot be regarded as an overwhelmingly decisive with a 48/52 per cent split. This is far from the 67/32 per cent split in 1975, and that losing 32 per cent carried on campaigning. The Leave campaign made a great deal of noise about democratic control of our country during the campaign but appears all too willing to shout down people who don't share their opinion: that's not democracy. So to Leavers I say, yes, you won on the day but I will continue to believe that we all have a right to choose to disagree with that result and its effects in the future. Nick Haward Address supplied Last Friday President Obama approved of lifting some restrictions on the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar, also known as Burma. He claims that they had enhanced and made substantial progress in improving human rights. This decision took place whilst the nation of Myanmar are currently still in a rapid progression of eliminating the Muslim minority there, known as the Rohingya. Some Sanctions Removed Since several sanctions have still remained firmly in place, specifically those that involve dealing with North Korea and performing arms sales and in assisting in military collaboration, the ones that were removed involve the dealing with precious stones and trade. Satellite imagery have brought to light several villages and towns belonging to the Rohingya that have been decimated, and it is estimated that thousands of them have already fled across and entered Bangladesh. Approximately 100,000 of the Rohingya live in incarceration as of today in the town of Sittwe. Historically speaking, Myanmar has suffered being run by a tyrannical military regime from 1962 until 2011. History of Human Rights Abuses By 1989 Myanmar was deprived of trade benefits due to their human rights abuses. Miss Aung Suu Kyi, now president of Myanmar, was forced into house arrest for about 15 years and earned a victory in 2015 for the National League for Democracy. She has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Malaysian PM meanwhile has made a statement addressing Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi about what he refers to only as genocide and bellowed in a speech he made that enough is enough. Administration officials remain tainted about Myanmars persecution of the Rohingya population. Show me a country without human rights issues, Miss Suu Kyi stated about the matter, adding on with they needed complete evidence about who has been responsible. The White House nevertheless were satisfied with the upgrade in Myanmars strive to democracy, as compared to the previous military dictatorship. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The opinion polls got it right for once. They predicted that Italians were going to vote No in yesterdays referendum and people have done amply so. Almost 60 per cent of the electorate turned down Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's proposals to freshen up the 70-year-old constitution. Many international outlets The Guardian and the Financial Times among them, but not The Economist hoped Italy would go for at least mild constitutional reforms, as a positive gesture towards the possibility of further reform in the future, from a country historically recalcitrant to change. Brussels was hoping for this too. It didn't happen, and Renzi is going, after just over two years in charge. Italians get easily bored with their governments. It seems they didn't pay any attention to what Europe was telling them. Whereas Italy has dealt a big blow to Europe (the anti-establishment and anti-EU Five Star and Lega Nord parties resolutely campaigned for No), another political moment this weekend saw the opposite happen. In a move that led to a million sighs of relief, the majority of Austrians rejected the far-right presidential candidate Norbert Hofer. Italian PM Matteo Renzi resigns after referendum defeat On the face of it, a constitutional reform referendum in a country of 60 million and a presidential election in another that is nearly eight times smaller are not easily comparable. Yet Europe awaited a positive signal from both, and only Austria delivered (if only by whisker a 53.3 per cent support for the progressive Alexander Van der Bellen is a narrow margin, but a margin nonetheless.) The world watched in wonder at the votes that happened both immediately to the north and south of the Alps. After Brexit and a victorious Donald Trump in the US, what else would come along to destabilise the EU and its principles of solidarity and cooperation? The Austrians answered this question more clearly than the first time they voted (the first vote was overruled for administrative irregularities). What happened meanwhile on the world stage was dramatic, and voters no doubt had that in mind. The newly elected Van der Bellen is an out-and-out Europeanist and had based the whole of this campaign on the importance of Europe for everyone. Austrians have sent a clear message about where they stand in global politics. The Italians didn't have this mind when casting their vote. Their No is also a no to Europe. The country is, to put it bluntly, in a mess high unemployment and a huge banking crisis are foraging populism like never before. Italy is presently looking utterly incapable of picking up the challenge of becoming an EU pillar. The EU wanted Italy to want to be an international leader, but Italians themselves are simply not interested in pursuing this dream. Its a dream that would be convenient for the EU, and convenient for the euro, but it speaks little to everyday Italians. Brussels got the support of Vienna this time that'll do, for the time being. But its hard not to see EU apathy from Italy as a sign of things to come. The report into the deaths of babies at Portlaoise Hospital in Dublin found many services were not up to standard The intensive care unit of a major hospital remains unfit for purpose more than a year after a damning investigation exposed it as unsafe. Controversy-hit Portlaoise Hospital also remains unable to cope with all patients needing emergency treatment, says the State health watchdog. This is despite a significant increase in funding and staffing in the wake of a scandal over services at the hospital last year, the latest Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) review found. "As things currently stand, and despite a 15% increase in funding and an 18% increase in staffing numbers, the hospital does not currently possess the inherent internal capability to manage all of the patients that may present to the Emergency Department," the watchdog said. "While many of the issues identified during the Hiqa investigation (last year) have been addressed, others remain." These issues include the state of the intensive care unit - which Hiqa has condemned as "unfit for purpose". The watchdog said there has been little change at the critical service, which still does not meet minimum standards. Part of the problem at the hospital, Hiqa says, is a staffing issue. Uncertainty over its future has led to difficulties recruiting and keeping staff. An ongoing reliance on agency staff is costly for the hospital and feeding into poor morale, it was found. However, the latest review also signalled significant improvements in how Portlaoise Hospital is run. "In particular, this review has identified that maternity services at the hospital are now being provided in a much safer and sustainable way," it added. Last year's investigation at the hospital was prompted by the deaths of five babies in the maternity unit. Since then, maternity services are being amalgamated with the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital in Dublin, an idea first proposed in 2006. In Co Kilkenny Joseph Coogan is slowly recovering from Kilkenny's All-Ireland loss to Tipperary but is already looking forward to the 2017 season. He recently sold a 14.522ac field located at Cloneen, Crettyard on the Laois Kilkenny border for 154,000 or just over 10,600/ac. Exports of branded food and non-alcoholic drinks shot up by 13.7pc in the third quarter of 2016, according to new figures from the Food and Drink Federation (FDF). Sales to non-European Union (EU) markets grew at twice the rate of the EU, however, the EU still remains the top destination for branded exports, buying two thirds of the total. This represents the biggest quarterly export sales we have ever seen and builds on Q2, which was in turn the largest up to that point. The overall value of UK food and non-alcoholic drink exports rose to 3.4bn in Q3, up 12.1pc on the same period in 2015. Latest year-to-date figures now show impressive double-digit growth with total exports of 10.1bn during the first three quarters of 2016. Expand Close Image: UK Food and Drink Federation (FDF) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Image: UK Food and Drink Federation (FDF) The weaker pound since late 2015 and sharp falls seen post referendum mean that UK exports have become increasingly competitive in recent months. The FDF says it hopes to see a further upswing in exports in the coming months as companies capitalise on these opportunities. Expand Close Image: UK Food and Drink Federation (FDF) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Image: UK Food and Drink Federation (FDF) The three export markets which saw the greatest value growth in the year-to-date were Spain, up 158m, China, up 124m and Germany, up 60m. Ireland, France and the Netherlands remain the top three destinations for branded UK food and non-alcoholic drink, buying 42pc of total exports. The top three product categories were chocolate, salmon and cheese, with exports of wheat experiencing the largest value growth, up 147.4m (+80.0pc) year-to-date 2016, when compared with 2015. The next generation of dairy farm managers graduated from the Teagasc/UCD Professional Diploma in Dairy Farm Management course recently. The graduates were presented with their diplomas by Minister of state at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Andrew Doyle, at an awards ceremony at the Teagasc Animal &Grassland, Research and Innovation Centre, Moorepark, County Cork. The graduates came from a wide geographical spread, ranging from Donegal to Waterford. Past graduates have successfully found employment as farm managers in countries like Ireland, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia and some have returned to manage their home farm. Participants on the course competed for a number of awards. The overall Student of the Year award went to Jerry Foley from County Cork. Jerry is a farm manager on a grass based system with a crossbred dairy herd in County Tipperary. The award is sponsored by the Farm Apprentice Board, the Master Farmers Committee and the Irish Farm Managers Association. The Grassland Student of year award went to Steven Patten from Co Mayo. Stevens detailed project on grassland management achieved the highest marks in the class. He is currently employed in Saudi Arabia. The award is sponsored by the Blackwater Discussion Group. The Teagasc Professional Dairy Diploma aligns well with the FoodWise 2025 strategy on building human capital across the agri-food sector. It says that the strength of the Teagasc Professional Diploma in Dairy Farm Management programme is its unique blend of learning on top commercial dairy farms, combined with the input of Teagasc dairy researchers, dairy knowledge transfer specialists, education staff and industry experts. Teagasc Director, Professor Gerry Boyle, said: The programme is very firmly anchored in experience based learning and would not be possible without the very important commitment from host farmers. The host farmers on this programme are very successful business people, providing invaluable mentoring to students and very generously share their time and private farm information with students. " I would like to thank the host farmers for their generous commitment to the programme. On behalf of Teagasc I would like to wish our graduates every success in their careers in the dairy industry. I look forward to following your success and working with you as established dairy farmers in the future. The Professional Diploma in Dairy Farm Management is a specific purpose level 7 award validated by University College Dublin. Its the recognised standard for professional dairy farm managers. One UK farmers group successfully negotiated 12-month minimum milk price with its milk processor. The Milk Supply Association (MSA), the producer organisation supplying Lactalis, has successfully negotiated an agreement to be paid a minimum price for the whole of 2017, according to the AHDB. It says the Fresh Milk Company (FMC), the milk buying arm of the Lactalis Group, has committed to a minimum milk price of 27.5p/L (33c/L). It is understood the price will be linked to a market-related basket of prices, allowing it to rise above this minimum within agreed limits. As part of the deal, an approach to volume management and milk production profiling will also be agreed between FMC and MSA. This will serve to balance milk production with demand and reduce the risk of price volatility. The agreement has been praised by NFU Scotland as an example of the benefits of collaboration and strong farmer representation, resulting in providing producers with some confidence and clarity going forward into 2017. The co-designers of the Aviva Stadium, Scott Tallon Walker, returned to profit last year after revenues soared. The multi-award winning architectural firm recorded a pre-tax profit of 235,382, after revenues increased by 47pc from 4.8m to 7.1m last year, newly filed accounts show. Securing the prestigious contract to design the new 45,000 seater Pairc Ui Chaoimh in Cork and continuing work with RTE contributed to the jump in revenues at the Dublin-based firm, one of Ireland's best known architects. Pointing to an even more buoyant 2016, the firm's directors said they were looking forward with confidence to a further improvement in trading and profitability this year. "As predicted, 2015 saw ongoing recovery and confidence in the Irish market with a positive uplift in our turnover and our appointment to a number of high profile projects," the directors said. "Working closely with our London office, we have also secured a number of flagship projects in the UK." The aggregate pay to 12 directors totalled 902,211, the accounts state. The numbers employed last year increased from 57 to 76, with staff costs increasing by 1m to 4.22m. The new Pairc Ui Chaoimh is due to be completed next year. Staff at Swedish furniture giant Ikea will all be getting a slice of a 108m festive pot this year as the flat-pack phenomenon looks to cement itself as a great place to work. According to a report from Swedish news website The Local, all full-time staff will receive the same amount despite their salary level, position, or where they work. Irish workers can expect to net around 1,500, which will be added to their pensions. Part-time workers will receive bonuses that match up with the hours they have worked. Ikea human relations manager Karin Bergman told The Local the company wanted to be an amazing place to work, where people would thrive and stay. "We know that our colleagues primarily want to work for us because we are a values-based company with a focus on development." President-elect Donald Trump threatened punishing tariffs against companies that moved production from the US to lower-cost countries Photo: REUTERS/William Philpott The Government and IDA Ireland have moved to downplay the latest explosive salvo from Donald Trump against companies leaving the United States. In a series of six Twitter posts yesterday, the US president-elect summarised a plan to apply a punitive tariff to companies shifting production from the US to lower-cost countries. The plan raises the prospect that Ireland's ability to attract jobs from the US may be diminished. This country has in recent decades become a manufacturing hub for many US pharmaceutical companies. "Any business that leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant in the other country, and then thinks it will sell its product back into the US without retribution or consequence, is wrong!" Mr Trump said. "There will be a tax on our soon to be strong border of 35pc for these companies wanting to sell their product, cars, AC units etc, back across the border." He said such a move would be a "very expensive mistake". A Government spokeswoman said last night that it would "continue to monitor the detail of policy changes as it emerges as the new administration takes office in the US in the coming months. "The United States is, and will continue to be a major source of foreign investment into Ireland. Ireland remains an excellent location for US companies to locate and sell into European...and other markets. "The Taoiseach also this weekend completed a successful three day business programme in the United States, where he met key business leaders in San Francisco and New York. "During these meetings, the Taoiseach highlighted Ireland's attractiveness as a location for investment and trade and emphasised Ireland's strengths as a gateway for US firms into Europe and other global markets." An IDA spokesman said: "Our view is that in order to grow and be commercially successful, US companies will continue to want to internationalise and will need a worldwide presence to do so. "IDA has been winning investments for decades and during that time we have seen the US and other countries' commercial and enterprise policies change many times, however, Ireland has continued to win investment throughout and we expect to do so in the future." Backing Mr Trump's position, Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, said Americans should be "prepared to pay a little bit more for imported products" as a trade-off for more jobs at home. Mr Trump may find that Republican lawmakers who will set the agenda for the upcoming Congress are not on board with his proposed tariffs, however. "I personally prefer carrots over sticks" Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas, chairman of the House financial services committee, said on Fox News Channel's 'Sunday Morning Futures'. Asked if he would "prefer not to see a 35pc tariff" Hensarling, a fiscal hawk in favour of lower corporate taxes, said "correct". (Bloomberg contributed to this report) The co-founder of betting giant Paddy Power urged the Government not to legalise a terminal that would allow gamblers to bet 100 (120) every 20 seconds. Stewart Kenny, who set up the business in the late 80s, described the fixed-odds terminals (FOBTs) as the "crack cocaine" of gambling, according to a report in The Times. In a submission to the Government back in 2009, during the debate over whether or not to legalise them here, Mr Kenny said the FOBTs were "particularly enticing" to younger gamblers in disadvantaged areas. The former betting boss also criticised the British government over their fascination with the tax take from the machines, saying: "they are as addicted to the tax revenue as vulnerable customers are to losing money in them". FOBTs are extremely popular in the UK netting total revenue of 1.75bn there last year. The Times reports that in the submission Mr Kenny described how dangerous the machines were, using close calls and bright colours to entice players to gamble more. Mr Kenny resigned from the board of the newly-merged Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) back in August after spending 28 years with the company. PPB began trading in February following the 8bn merger of the two companies. Retired INM journalist Martin Fitzpatrick said the former owner of the Irish Independent William Martin Murphy would not have "stolen his employees' life savings". Mr Fitzpatrick was speaking at the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) after a decision by Independent News and Media to close the companys defined benefit pension scheme. Staff say they will suffer a cut of over 70pc to their pension benefits as a result of this decision and a previous restructuring of the scheme in 2013. Mr Fitzpatrick described management's decision to close the defined benefit scheme as "one of the most shameful decisions" he had come across in his 50 years as a business journalist. He said it was a despicable first and should not be allowed to happen. He said senior management he had dealt with in the past had a sympathetic understanding of pensions issues. But he accused the board of being "blinded" by their requirement to resume dividend payments. "What on earth has happened to this company?" he asked, "Is there no morality left?" Read More He asked the "bright spark" who had come up with the decision to "pillage" savings three years ago and to have a "second shot" at the expense of active and deferred pensioners now to make themselves known. Chairman of the board Leslie Buckley said he and the board understood the concerns about the pension scheme but it would not be appropriate to comment due to ongoing negotiations with trustees. He was heckled by a shareholder and deferred pensioner who did not give her name who said hundreds of people were waiting outside in the cold at a protest while he would only take two questions about pensions. Irish Secretary of the NUJ Seamus Dooley said the company had entered into an agreement to restructure the pension in 2013 and had now broken that agreement. He said it was possible for the board to carry out its restructuring plan and pay dividends without putting people in pension poverty. "Just because it's legal to screw your workers doesn't make it compulsory," he said. He warned that the High Court will have to take a view of the restructuring plan in light of the treatment of future pensioners. Meanwhile, unions have described the decision as scandalous. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Siptu organised a protest today after the company announced it would no longer be contributing to the scheme. A protest was planned at the OCallaghan Alexander Hotel on Fenian Street as shareholders gather for an INM Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). The unions said shareholders will be asked to vote for restructuring proposals at the meeting. If the vote is in favour, it will pave the way to paying dividends to shareholders including businessman Denis OBrien and Dermot Desmond for the first time in almost a decade. Irish Secretary of the NUJ, Seamus Dooley, said the aim of the protest is to highlight the scandalous decision of INM to force a closure of the defined benefit scheme. The manner in which this decision was taken without involvement of the trustees, with no consultation with the workers, scheme members or their unions, is a display of arrogance towards those who helped build up this company and towards the Pensions Authority, he said. He claimed INM, which owns this website, is determined to break an agreement reached in 2013 with the Pensions Board and the trustees and is "giving two fingers" to the regulatory authority. Mr Dooley said the case highlights the need for urgent reform of the law governing pensions. He claimed that INM could not get away with doing this in their Northern Ireland titles. The union leader said Minister Denis Naughten must consider the record of the company in relation to corporate governance and industrial relations when considering its application to purchase the Celtic Media Group. An INM spokesperson said the company is engaged in a process with the trustees so it is inappropriate to comment. Two resolutions that will see Independent News and Media begin repayments of dividends for the first time since the financial crash are set to be passed following an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of the company's shareholders and board. The EGM was overshadowed by a separate protest from current and former employees of the company after INM announced last month that it will no longer contribute to its defined benefit pension scheme. The company's board heard statements from attendees some of whom alleged the company lacked morality, with one shareholder saying it was "blinded" by requirements to start repaying dividends. Chairman Leslie Buckley said it was "not appropriate" to comment on the scheme as pension trustees are currently talking to the company. Shareholders were asked to back two resolutions aimed at cleaning up the media group's balance sheet. The resolutions were defeated by a show of hands in the meeting, however proxy votes indicate overwhelming support. A written poll was directed by Mr Buckley to "ascertain the real sense of the meeting" and to ensure the votes were carried by 75pc. Results of the poll will be posted on the London and Irish stock exchanges shortly. The first resolution involved the company cancelling 707m of the 767m standing to the credit of the firm's share premium account. The latter resolution involved the cancellation of unauthorised deferred shares. All eyes were on chief executive Robert Pitt and Mr Buckley after they were involved in a dispute, apparently over the potential acquisition of national radio station Newstalk, which is owned by businessman Denis O'Brien's Communicorp. Mr O'Brien is INM's largest single shareholder with a 29.88pc stake. The pair showed a united front when taking questions from shareholders. Protesters outside the meeting said they felt "betrayed" and "fearful" following the pension scheme announcement. Professor Ciaran O hOgartaigh, Dean, UCD College of Business; Emer Gilvarry, Chair, Business Journalist Awards Judging Panel and Chairperson, Mason Hayes & Curran; Charlie Weston, Irish Independent, Outstanding Achievement Award Winner; Carolan Lennon, Managing Director, open eir (sponsor); Donal ODonovan (as Chair of BJA). Picture by Shane O'Neill Photography. The Irish Independents Personal Finance Editor, Charlie Weston, has been honoured with an Outstanding Achievement award at the annual Smurfit Business Journalist Awards in Dublin. Mr Weston was honoured at an event which celebrates the efforts of business journalists from across Irish media. Mr Weston has been a stalwart at Independent News and Media for over twenty years, where his work in areas like pensions, mortgages and insurance has been a key part of the groups financial offering to readers. He has been a long-time monitor of credit institutions in Ireland, and earlier this year, he revealed a series of fraud allegations at Rush Credit Union which is now the subject of a Garda investigation. Mr Westons You and Your Money column has become a staple in INMs business coverage in recent years. In a short tweet, Mr Weston expressed his delight at being recognised: This is something else, he said. Other award winners included RTEs Will Goodbody (Specialist Reporter), Paul Colgan of UTV Ireland (Business Feature), Barry Whyte of the Sunday Business Post(Business Interview) and Paul O Donoghue of Fora.ie (Upcoming Business Journalist). This was the tenth year the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School Business Journalist Awards in association with open eir recognised the outstanding contributions of Irish business journalists. This is something else. Was awarded Outstanding Business Journalist Award today by Business Journalists' Association. #smurfitawards pic.twitter.com/NfZpvLtaCT Charlie Weston (@CWeston_Indo) December 5, 2016 The event was hosted by Today FMs Matt Cooper, himself a former recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award. Stories abound about how tricky dealing with the in-laws can be, but Kate Knox definitely doesn't have any complaints about her husband Paul's family. She gets on so well with the Byrnes, she has gone to work with them in the family sweater business, and counts sister-in-law Laura as a great friend. Laura was 16 when her older brother began dating Kate, and she was impressed at his choice of girlfriend. "I thought Kate was so nice," she says. "She got a great job working as events team leader with Coca-Cola and used to drive the Coke jeep, so she was really cool." Kate, 34, is from Rathfarnham and is the eldest of Sean and Roisin Knox's three children. Her brother Graham is bass player with The Coronas, and will shortly marry his fiance Aoife. Youngest brother Jack just left his role as assistant producer on TV3's Midday programme to move to New York. Kate's mum worked in Aer Lingus and her dad was a music teacher, and they own Metro Music and The Gift Box, which have been stalwarts of Rathfarnham Shopping Centre for many years. They also enjoy spending time at their other home in Dingle. After school at Loreto Beaufort, Kate completed a degree in economics and sociology at UCD, followed by a post-grad in business studies at UCD Smurfit School. She met her husband Paul there, and they went to London for five years. Then they came home and were married at Dromquinna Manor in Kenmare in May 2015 with Laura as bridesmaid. "Laura worked on the Coca-Cola events team for a time, but I was her boss," Kate recalls. "We have become closer in recent years because the six-year age gap between us doesn't matter as much. We go away every year as a family and socialise together, and Paul and I also hang out with Laura and her boyfriend Barry." Laura, 28, also grew up in Rathfarnham and went to Loreto Beaufort. Her parents are Joan, a former civil servant, and Dom, who founded The Sweater Shop. She has two older brothers - Paul, Kate's husband who works in banking, and David, an auctioneer, who is married to Eileen-Louise." David and Eileen-Louise had their first baby Juliana last week," she says. "It's both Kate and my first time to be aunties, so we're super excited." Laura studied business management at DIT, and worked on the marketing team of American bank, State Street, for three years. Her dad Dom founded The Sweater Shop 30 years ago, and worked for Gaeltarra Eireann before that, and he planted the seed about the super-glam sisters-in-law joining the business. "Dom kept saying that we would be great in retail and he would love to see us get involved," says Kate. "While I was in London, Laura and I decided to work together on a fashion show to promote The Sweater Shop. It was great, and we were always talking about different ideas we had for the business around marketing." Laura joined the business two years ago and Kate came on board a year ago. There are five outlets, two in Dublin, two in Galway and one in Kilkenny. Laura manages The Sweater Shop on Nassau Street while Kate manages Trinity Woollen Mills, two doors away, which hugely appeals to tourists and sells scarves, caps, ponchos, throws, wool and homeware. Dom's sister Breege and niece Alva are also involved. "Kate and I are based in the same office and when one of us is away, the other looks after both shops," says Laura. "Apart from that, we try to keep it separate, but we look after the website together and never argue. Kate is really organised and I'm not, so she organises us all in a way that we need. She is also very good financially. The shops have been very successful without our help for the last 30 years, so we saw the website as a new challenge and something fresh that we could bring to the business." Kate says that Laura is very strong on the digital and online side of things, and really brings modernity to the business. She thinks she's similar to Paul as they are both very relaxed, fun-loving, easy-going people. There is the occasional tricky moment when the young women have a different perspective to Dom on how things should progress, but they all have a great mutual respect and are positive and calm. As the shops are famous for their chunky knitwear and Aran sweaters that greatly appeal to tourists, one of the enhancements Kate and Laura have introduced is a range of fine high-quality cashmere and merino wool sweaters, cardigans and ponchos aimed at modern Irish women. "We're trying to make the stores more youthful through the designs," says Laura. "We're also adding a touch of cashmere to all of our traditional sweaters so that they are much softer. We are definitely moving with the times and Dad is following us. It's great having Kate working with us now, but we have to be careful not to keep talking about the business when we're socialising. My boyfriend Barry hates all the work talk, and jokes that he doesn't want to hear another word about sweaters when we're all out!" www.sweatershop.ie Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has big visions for the company when he changes roles next year Photo: David Ryder/Reuters Howard Schultz is ready for his next project: Starbucks 2.0. Mr Schultz, who will become executive chairman when he steps down as chief executive officer at Starbucks next year, says he'll focus on his three-pronged bet that the world's largest coffee chain needs to become even more upscale. The program includes a line of premium coffee called Reserve, as many as 1,000 cafes that will showcase the new brand and flagship stores as large as 20,000 square feet called 'Roasteries'. The 63-year-old executive, a billionaire who built a caffeine empire by bringing Italian coffee culture to the American mainstream, will soon be free from the daily grind of running a $21bn (19.7bn) business. That will allow him to devote his attention to a key growth initiative that's been slow to gain momentum over the past two years. "When you're making an investment and taking a risk like this, there's no better person to spearhead it than Howard," said Darren Tristano, president of Technomic, which tracks the restaurant industry. "He has a very high chance of succeeding in this type of role and helping the brand evolve." Starbucks opened the first roastery location two years ago, a 15,000-square-foot emporium in its hometown of Seattle, and is planning others in New York, Shanghai and Tokyo. The cavernous stores, where customers can watch coffee being roasted on site, are envisioned as high-end flagships for the company. But rollout has been slowed by high construction costs and trouble finding suitable real estate. Analysts are sceptical that a handful of Roasteries can move the needle for the massive company, which operates more than 16,000 cafes worldwide. Instead, they say financial growth is expected to come from the Reserve locations. The new cafes are planned to be similar to the Roasteries but without the actual bean-cooking operation. It's part of a move by Mr Schultz to add different store concepts around the world and reimagine the 45-year-old chain. "He's always had grand visions for where Starbucks can go," said Jennifer Bartashus, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. "The ability for him to separate himself from the day-to-day running of the company and focus on big ideas is well within his wheelhouse." There are risks in going more upscale. Some customers already balk at paying more than $5 (4.7) for a coffee drink, and with rising health-care costs and stagnant wage growth causing anxiety among US consumers, the effort could run into headwinds, particularly if there's an economic downturn, Ms Bartashus said. Starbucks needs the Reserve cafes to work because there's more and more competition from local and regional chains that are pulling in younger customers. To secure the next generation of consumers, Starbucks has to convince millennials that it's a cool place for coffee - a difficult proposition after four decades that saw the company grow to become a mainstream brand like McDonald's. Some have been hotly anticipated, some accompanied by much hype and publicity, and some have moved their way quietly to the top of the must-read lists by way of word of mouth. Tackling everything from high school romances to exciting adventures, from emotional stand-alone titles about mental illness and cancer to tear-jerking debuts, this year's pick of the crop has something for all young adult readers. For the younger teen comes the movie tie-in version of the bestselling trilogy Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Quirk 12.60), and Cornelia Funke's third book in the Reckless series The Golden Yarn (Pushkin 16.99) which will entertain with its thrilling storyline and themes of courage and fear, jealousy and forbidden desire. The new title in James Dashner's Maze Runner series The Fever Code (Chicken House 14.99) and Derek Landy's American Monsters (HarperCollins 15.99) will make great stocking fillers and Marvel have begun producing quality author-driven superhero novels, with ever popular Irish author Eoin Colfer writing the first in the series. His offering Ironman (Egmont 8.99) is sure to be a big hit this festive season. From The New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver comes two amazing stories in one epic novel that explores the issues of individuality, identity, and humanity. Turn Replica (Hodder 17.99) one way and read Lyra's story; turn the book over and upside down and read Gemma's tale : complex and mind-bending, it will have your teen hooked. A lovely book to get you all tingly and warm inside is The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily (Egmont 12.99) by The New York Times bestselling authors Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Who doesn't love a Christmas romance and this one does cute and festive in spades! Happily, Irish authors are holding their own in the impressive lists of must-read teen books with A Very Good Chance (Orion 8.99) by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald proving a life-affirming read about friendship across a social divide, and being brave and following your own lights. Her previous book The Apple Tart of Hope charmed many and her latest does not disappoint. And Ruth Frances Long's A Darkness at the End (O'Brien 9.99) is the compelling conclusion to the contemporary fantasy trilogy set in Dublin and Dubh Linn. Lovely use of Dublin landmarks, as in the first two books. For older teenagers comes Claire Hennessy's Nothing Tastes as Good (Hot Key 9.99), a fresh take on the harrowing issues of anorexia and binge eating. Hennessy's protagonist is dead; a 17-year-old whose heart failed because of anorexia, and who is sent back as a spirit guide to a former schoolmate now in danger. A clever, thought-provoking book. Another novel that tackles the important issue of teen mental health is Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow (Rock The Boat, 10.99), a dark, potent tale about self-harm, one not afraid to be gritty and real. I highly recommend it for teens and their parents. Another powerful but difficult read is Canadian Raziel Reid's bleak novel When Everything Feels Like The Movies (Atom 11.70) , inspired by the murder of 15-year-old Larry Fobes King. This is an important novel which deals with hate, homophobia and celebrity. And Alice Oseman's latest novel Radio Silence (HarperCollins 11.35) vividly conveys what it's like to be an introverted, fandom-obsessed youngster. The edgy urgency and psychological realism of Oseman's writing keeps you gripped throughout. The Sun is Also a Star (Delacourt 10.99) is Nicola Yoon's intense tale of immigrant families told over the 12-hour period in which a teenage girl falls madly in love while desperately seeking to save her family from deportation. Be prepared to laugh and cry in equal measure. The romantic in me also adored Stargirl (Hachette 8.99) by Jennifer Spinelli, a life-affirming YA novel celebrating first love and self-acceptance - now in a beautiful new edition for the next generation of readers. One for all ages. One of my favourite publications this year is the exquisitely illustrated gift edition of Frances Hardinge's dramatic Victorian thriller The Lie Tree (Pan Macmillan 14.99) with Chris Riddell's gothic drawings the perfect accompaniment to this powerful story. And I Darken (Corgi Children's 12.65) is the first in a riveting new historical fiction trilogy by Kiersten White about Dracula's daughter. Fascinating to read: an alternative superbly researched story with a strong feisty female lead. The Serpent King (Andersen 11.19) by Jeff Zentner, covers a year in the life of three very different teenagers in America's Deep South and is an enthralling narrative about dysfunctional families and the enduring power of friendship, while The Graces (Faber 9.99) by Laure Eve about a glamorous privileged family, rumoured to be witches, will have you turning the pages all night. Video of the Day Two top-notch YA psychological thrillers, bound to appeal to fans of Gone Girl, are Anne Cassidy's gripping novel about the mysterious disappearance of two teens Moth Girls (Hot Key 9.79) and Sarah Pinborough's compelling 13 Minutes (Orion 17.99), which hinges on the mysterious death of local teen Tasha; Pinborough's tight, tense narrative will keep you on the edge of your seat. Finally no list of young adult reads would be complete without a mention of Patrick Ness's stunning collector's edition of his new novel A Monster Calls (Walker 11.99) about how a boy deals with the looming threat of his mother's death from cancer. An absolute masterpiece, not to be missed. A Coast Guard helicopter has been called in to help in the search for a pensioner missing from his home in Co Donegal. The missing man has been named locally as James Boyle. His bicycle was discovered about 1km from his home this morning. The Sligo 118 chopper has been assisted by the Mulroy Coast Guard rescue boat in the operation this afternoon. A Coast Guard spokesman said crews were responding to an assistance appeal from gardai in the search for a 73-year-old man. "The search has been concentrated in a townland 3kms from Rathmullan for a man who has been missing for several weeks," said the spokesman. It's understood the man lived alone in the area and the alarm was raised by neighbours. Fionn Braidwood, who is accused of the murder of his mother Jane Braidwood (inset) A jury has heard that a man stabbed his retired psychiatrist mother to death with a kitchen knife before punching his sister, who witnessed the attack. Fionn Braidwood (32) with an address at Clarinda Park East, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin is charged with murdering Jane Braidwood (65) on January 20, 2015 at the same address. Today at the Central Criminal Court Mr Braidwood pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Braidwood. Mr Braidwood also pleaded not guilty to assault causing harm to Ceili Braidwood and Anthony Maguire at the same address and on the same date. Opening the case for the prosecution today, Mr Alex Owens SC told the jury that there is a reason why this case will only last a day and a half. You will be finding that a lot of the facts in this case are not really contested. The central issue you will be asked to consider is whether you should bring in a special verdict against Mr Braidwood. That verdict in this case is a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, he said. The jury were told that they will hear from two consultant psychiatrists. This case is somewhat different from ordinary cases and the obligation is on the defence to actually prove that Mr Braidwood was insane at the time in which the index offences were committed, he said. The court heard that Mr Patrick Gageby SC, for Mr Braidwood, would be making admissions on behalf of his client. Mr Owens told the court that it would be hearing evidence of what happened on the day in question and detailed psychiatric evidence in relation to Mr Braidwood from before January 2015. The court heard that Mr Braidwood was born in March 1984 and grew up in Dun Laoghaire in Co Dublin. His father died when he was nine years old and both his parents were psychiatrists. His mother Jane Braidwood is the person he killed on January 20, 2015, he said. The jury were told they would hear from various witnesses that the accused killed his mother, including evidence from his sister Ceili, who will give evidence by video link. You will be hearing from Anthony Maguire who came upon the aftermath of this incident and was assaulted by Fionn Braidwood, he said. Mr Owens told the jury that the issue they have to consider is Mr Braidwoods state of mind on that particular day and was he insane in the legal sense. The court heard that the majority of the evidence was not contested. Mr Gageby then made admissions on behalf of his client which included that Mr Braidwood admitted causing his mothers death by stabbing her on January 20, 2015. He also admits assaulting Ceili Braidwood and Anthony Maguire and causing them harm, he said. The court then heard evidence by video link from Ms Ceili Braidwood. On January 20, 2015 Ms Braidwood was living with her mother Jane Braidwood in Dun Laoghaire. The accused was living there on and off since Christmas and her dad had died some years previously, the court heard. Ms Braidwood agreed with Mr Owens that both her parents had been practising psychiatrists and her mother had recently retired. The accused had mental problems over a number of years but was back living in the family home in Dun Laoghaire prior to January 2015. The court heard Ceili Braidwood also had a sister living in Wicklow and a half-sister living in England. Mr Braidwood went off his medication in November 2014 and had been on medication for bipolar disorder, manic depression and schizophrenia, the court heard. Ms Braidwood agreed with counsel that when her brother went off his medication his conduct would deteriorate. In the couple of weeks leading up to January 2015, Mr Braidwood spent a lot of time in the house and was sleeping all day. He was also starving himself and made a decision not to eat. Ms Braidwood agreed with counsel that her brother decided he really had to lose weight and so was starving himself. His mother, Jane Braidwood, was trying to look after him but was having difficulty convincing him to drink water, the court heard. The accused was very tense and would spend long periods sitting in the kitchen and not talking. He would sometimes go upstairs to let off steam. The court heard Ms Braidwood found this particularly difficult to cope with. Mr Braidwood was under the care of a particular institution called Cluain Mhuire who were giving him psychiatric assistance but he wasnt taking their assistance at this time. Ms Braidwood agreed with counsel that her brother began to experience fairly severe psychiatric symptoms in his early twenties which went on for quite a number of years. On January 20, 2015 Ms Braidwood was at home with her mother and her brother. At about 4.30pm, Mr Braidwood made an appearance as he had been in bed previously in his bedroom which was on the top floor of the house. The court heard he stayed in the hallway and did not come into the kitchen to interact. His mother Jane and her friend were in the kitchen. Jane Braidwoods friend then left the house. Ms Braidwood told the court she was working from home that day and she then heard her brother ask her mother some questions. The witness agreed with counsel that her brother was tense and worked up at the time. Ms Braidwood agreed that her brother wanted his mother to facilitate him going to Australia. He wanted her to ask our aunts in Australia to help him and let him stay as they lived over there. He didnt need a VISA as we have double citizenship, she said. The court heard that Jane Braidwood didnt think her son was well enough to take the trip. The deceased then tried to persuade her son that it was a bad idea to go to Australia and he was in no condition to do it. The witness told the court that she was sitting at the bay window in the kitchen when she saw her mother between the window and table looking out onto the road. There was discussion about the accuseds medication, the court heard. Then Mr Braidwood went silent. This was the point he lost control and became quite angry, she said The court heard Mr Braidwood then strode purposely towards the knife drawer beside the oven. Ms Braidwood told the court she felt scared as she always felt that there was a danger living with her brother. The idea is always going to be at the back of your head when living with someone like that but you hope it wouldnt happen, she said. The court heard that Mr Braidwood had never been violent towards her or her mother before and it was always towards the house or objects. Ms Braidwood said she heard her mother screaming something at her son as he took a long and sharp knife from the drawer but it happened very quickly. The witness said she then observed her brother struggling with her mother as her mother tried to run away. Ms Braidwood then observed her brother stabbing her mother on a number of occasions. The witness agreed with counsel that the accused changed the grip of the knife at that stage and did an overall knife swing at their mother. Ms Braidwood has no memory of the accused saying anything to her mother. She recalled her brother jabbing her mother with the knife before she tried to separate them apart from each other. The witness said her brother then let go of the knife and punched her in the right side of her head on a number of occasions before knocking her onto the couch. Her mother then moved towards the kitchen door and she heard her say: Call an ambulance. The knife was in her mother's back and Fionn Braidwood looked like he was going towards the knife drawer again, she said. Ms Braidwood then locked herself in the bathroom and dialled the emergency services. She heard the accused make wailing sounds. Ms Braidwood then came out and checked on her mother in the kitchen but she was in the same place and not moving. Mr Braidwood was still standing at the knife drawer in the kitchen. Ms Braidwood then got to the front door of the house and started shouting for help. She observed Anthony Maguire across the road and asked him for assistance. Mr Maguire rang the emergency services on his mobile phone. Ms Braidwood then asked her brother to stay at the front door of the house as she did not want him around her mother in the kitchen with the knives. The accused then got angry with Mr Maguire and started to punch him in the head. Ms Braidwood said her mother was still lying in the kitchen with the knife in her back and she tried to attend to her. The ambulance services then arrived. The following day Ms Braidwood went to her local GP as she was suffering from the after effects of multiple blows to her head and had soft tissue swelling and tenderness around her left eye. The trial continues before Ms Justice Carmel Stewart. Elites in Washington should NOT be picking winners & losersthats a recipe for a closed economyfor cronyism. https://t.co/AcHJfVRwTE Ryanair is suing internet giant Google and "eDreams", a flight and hotel booking website, claiming they are infringing its trademark rights by directing people searching for the airline's flights to the eDreams site. The airline is seeking declarations and orders in the Commercial Court against Google Ireland and its US parent, Google Inc, and against Vacaciones eDreams SL, a Barcelona, Spain, based firm which operates the eDreams website. Ryanair claims when someone searching for its flights enters one or more words on the Google search page, they are directed to the eDreams site and given the mistaken impression they are booking through the Irish airline. It says this arises out of a form of electronic targeted advertising, called the AdWords programme, whereby companies pay Google have their listing in a more prominent position than would be obtained through normal "organic or natural" search results. This, says Ryanair, infringes its registered trade marks and/or intellectual property rights. The claims are denied. The airline says eDream deliberately uses the Ryanair trademark word, and variations of it, as a keyword through AdWords so as to generate an eDreams advert for display on the page such that it ranks ahead of Ryanair's own website. Among the declarations it seeks are that Google has failed to act expeditiously to remove the "offending material" from AdWords or from the Google search results, or to disable eDreams use of the AdWords programme. It also seeks injunctions preventing Google and eDreams from using, or allowing to be used, the Ryanair name in any subdomain operated by eDreams. It also seeks injunctions prevent eDreams from passing off its search and booking website as being connected with Ryanair's website. The case came before Mr Justice Brian McGovern Monday when Ryanair sought further and better details of eDreams defence of the case. Joe Jeffers BL, for Ryanair, said eDreams was saying it had already provided sufficient details and was now saying it was Ryanair which had copied its (eDreams) website, which was denied. Daniel Simms BL, for eDreams, said his client had said in broad terms what it wished to say in a reply to particulars of the case sought by Ryanair. Anything further was matter for trial. eDreams' web page pre-existed the Ryanair page which is claimed had been copied, Mr Simms said. Mr Justice McGovern said it seemed to him eDreams had provided sufficient particulars and he rejected the Ryanair application. A 15-year-old schoolgirl, who suffered second degree burns when she spilled soup on herself, has lost a 60,000 damages claim against a Dublin restaurant. Judge Jacqueline Linnane, as well as dismissing Cora Byrnes claim for damages, awarded costs of the unsuccessful case against her mother Samantha Byrne, who had taken the proceedings on her daughters behalf. Coras mum, of Allingham Street, Pimlico, Dublin 8, told the Circuit Civil Court that she and three members of her family had visited Anns Bakery, Mary Street, Dublin, while out shopping on in July 2014. She said she had bought two cardboard cartons of soup at the delicatessen counter and had placed one of them in front of her daughter, Cora, who was 12 at the time. The soup had spilled over Coras lap who had jumped up screaming and who was forced to pull down her jeans to avoid further burning. She had been treated by staff at the restaurant which is owned by Ray McNamara who trades as Anns Bakery. Cora told barrister Frank Martin, who appeared with Tormeys Solicitors, for Mr McNamara, that when the soup carton was placed in front of her she had taken off the lid. She had begun dipping bread in the soup before it toppled over and spilled onto her lap scalding the tops of her legs. A member of staff had brought put a spray on her thighs to ease the pain and she had been taken to hospital by ambulance immediately afterwards. Her burns, which had blistered, had been dressed at the hospital where she returned the following day for further treatment. Mr Martin told the court the case had been narrowed down to the question of the temperature of the soup that had spilled on Coras legs. There was no dispute as to how the incident had occurred as staff had not been involved in what had happened at the table. Judge Linnane said delicatessen assistant Alice Dunne had been working at the restaurant for the past 20 years and several times a day would check the temperature of the soup. On this occasion it had been recorded at 74 degrees which, the court had been told, was a comfortable temperature for serving to customers. The judge, dismissing the case, said the evidence showed that the plaintiff had taken the lid off the soup carton and had knocked it over while dipping her bread in it. Mark Desmond (left), a car burned out near the scene of the shooting and, bottom right, gardai cover a body at the scene. Photos: Dave Conachy, Arthur Carron Gardai are probing whether gangland criminal Mark Desmond was murdered in a revenge shooting by a gang who previously carried out a botched attempt on his life. Desmond (41), who was known as the 'Guinea Pig', was killed in Griffeen Valley Park, Lucan, last Friday evening. He was shot up to four times in the head before the hit team fled the scene in a Mazda vehicle. The car was later discovered burnt out in nearby Hayden's Lane. A firearm was found in the vehicle's charred remains. Expand Close A forensic officer removes a gun from close to the scene of a fatal shooting in Griffeen Valley Park, Dublin Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A forensic officer removes a gun from close to the scene of a fatal shooting in Griffeen Valley Park, Dublin Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire A second gun was discovered nearby. Both weapons are now being forensically examined to determine if they were used in the murder. The suspect list for the capital's latest gangland killing is expected to be extensive due to Desmond's association with a number of groups during his 20-year involvement in organised criminality. A primary focus of detectives' inquiries is whether a gang who attempted to murder Desmond in 2010 was behind last week's fatal shooting. During that incident in April 2010, three men approached Desmond as he drove a quad bike in the Memorial Park, Ballyfermot. Desmond noticed the group and fled the scene when at least one shot was fired. Although this incident was never reported to gardai, detectives identified the three men allegedly involved in the botched hit. They included a notorious criminal from the Ballyfermot area who is now aged in his 30s, as well as a close associate of one of Mark Desmond's alleged victims. Desmond was suspected of being involved in at least four murders, as well as multiple beatings and sexual assaults, including the rape of a 15-year-old boy. Expand Close Shot dead: Mark Desmond Picture: Courtpix / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Shot dead: Mark Desmond Picture: Courtpix He was charged but never convicted of the infamous Canal Murders in 2000. It is believed that Desmond lured Darren Carey (20) and Patrick Murray (19) to a meeting before murdering the two men. Their bodies were then dumped into the Grand Canal, and were eventually discovered between January 9 and 10, 2000. Gardai believe that Desmond was in the Lucan area last week to meet with two brothers who were involved in drug distribution in west Dublin. The two men were understood to have links to an organised crime gang based in Co Sligo. Detectives believe that Desmond had been associating with the brothers since at least January of this year, when they attended a crime summit at a Lucan pub. It is understood the 'Guinea Pig' was chased from Griffeen Park, before being shot four times in the head. The investigation is being led by officers from Lucan Garda Station, but no arrests have yet been made. A new Garda fleet of high-powered cars and motorcycles is being brought on stream in a bid to combat criminal gangs. Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has signed off on the purchase of 191 vehicles after making 4m in savings elsewhere in her department, the Irish Independent can reveal. Many of the vehicles will be used to boost the force's 'motorway patrol unit' which targets criminal gangs suspected of using the motorway network to carry out burglaries and other crimes. The fleet, which will come on stream in the new year, is designed to increase Garda visibility in communities. While CSO figures have shown a fall in burglaries in 2016 nationally, rates in Dublin have jumped. Serious concern has also been raised over gardai downgrading crimes or crimes not being not recorded on the Garda Pulse system. Ms Fitzgerald has managed to shore up additional cash after finding savings within her department since the Budget in October. The investment will equip gardai with additional high-powered vehicles, marked and unmarked patrol cars, and motorcycles. The move by Ms Fitzgerald will be seen as response to accusations that the Government has not done enough to combat crime, most notably in rural Ireland. A core group of up to 10 family based mobs are involved in the crime wave that has targeted vulnerable rural homes and used the country's motorways to make rapid getaways. The gangs, who use high-powered cars that often speed away from Garda vehicles, are mostly Dublin-based, made up of criminals based in suburban areas in the south of the capital. It is estimated that more than 300 criminals are involved. Gardai have also complained about vehicles being too old. But a government source said that the latest investment was a reaction to the current age profile of the Garda vehicle fleet. Some 38pc of the fleet is now under two years old, compared to some 5pc in 2012. "Investment in new cars is contributing to reductions in crime and is vital to ensure the continued success key Garda operations such as Operation Thor," the source said. Kieran Stafford of the St Vincent de Paul: People are still struggling to put food on the table Picture: Andy Jay Households without running water, people dressed in rags and ever-increasing homeless figures are just some of the challenges facing the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul this Christmas. As SVP prepares to help some 50,000 families across Ireland this year, the charity is launching its annual appeal after a particularly challenging period. Kieran Stafford, vice president of the society, says December is a crucial time for fundraising - and that despite the economic recovery of recent years, demand for the charity's services has remained at recession levels. "We are still engaging with people struggling to put food on the table and pay the bills - things that many of us take for granted," he told the Irish Independent. "We are spotting the same patterns year on year. "There is this improvement for many, in that there are more people working. But we are still coming across people who are not able to survive." While Mr Stafford welcomed boosted social welfare payments announced in Budget 2016, he added that families in need won't actually feel the benefits until well after Christmas. He also highlighted cases where people are so isolated from society that they are unable to look after themselves. "We have gone into houses where there is no running water," he said. "There are some instances where there is extreme poverty, and extreme cases of neglect. "You would arrive at some places and meet people who cannot take care of themselves. "They just need someone to come in and start supporting them, and help them. Friendship "A lot of people may think we just are doling out money, but it's about friendship and support." Mr Stafford said volunteers visiting people in need are still at the core of the organisation. "Sometimes the support we bring to people is worth more than any money," he said. "It's about having someone to tell their stories to, someone who will listen to them." He also praised the public for their donations in the past, adding the funds will be used well into 2017. "The public have responded so well to us over the past 170 years. It has been tremendous. The generosity of the Irish public has been fantastic," he said. Meanwhile, Mr Stafford called the increase in rough sleepers over the past 12 months "shocking". Latest figures from Dublin Region Homeless showed the number of people forced to live on the streets rose by over 50pc in the past year. "It's heartbreaking to see people bedding down for a night in the alcoves of shops," he said. "That image of poverty is very shocking and it certainly moves people to realise all that they have, and what they can give to help." Donations He added that SVP is always on the lookout for volunteers to assist with fundraising and support work. Cash donations, clothing and other useful items are the most coveted donations this year. "We can turn clothing into funding through our shops. We have also clothed people who have come to us in rags," Mr Stafford said. King's Hospital is facing questions over how long it took to report the alleged incident to the child and family agency, Tusla. Guidance on the Tusla website said that "professionals and those involved in organisations working with children who have concerns about a child but are not sure what to do, should discuss these with the children-first designated liaison person in your organisation, or contact your local child and family agency social work department for advice. "The standard report form should be used by professionals, staff and volunteers in organisations working with or in contact with children, or providing services to children when reporting child protection and welfare concerns. "If a report is made by telephone, this form should be completed and forwarded subsequently to the Child and Family Agency. If a child is in danger outside office hours you can contact the gardai. Under the Protection of Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act 1998, so long as you report what you believe is true and it is done in good faith you cannot be sued." Schools will be required to consult with parents regularly about costs under a proposed new law being unveiled today. For the first time in Ireland, a Parent and Student Charter is being introduced to give legal underpinning to the relationships between schools and their students and parents. The new legislation is expected to bring about a national cultural change in how schools, students and parents engage with each other. The thrust of the Education (Parents and Students Charter) Bill will be to help set standards of best practice, and increase the extent to which schools are responsive to the needs and expectations of parents. It is intended to fill a gap that parents complain has excluded them from a true partnership role in their children's education. The new measures will go beyond the existing, limited legal provision allowing parents and students to deal collectively with schools through parent associations and student councils. The focus will be on ensuring standards of best practice around consultation and information sharing with parents and students. It will also aim to ensure that there are fair and accessible mechanisms for dealing with complaints. In another key move, the role of the Ombudsman for Children will be expanded, and schools will have to consider any suggestions, guidance or recommendations made by that office. On costs, as well as consulting with students and parents regularly, schools will have to provide an annual financial statement to show how any voluntary contributions are used, and invite feedback. The charter will also require schools to make certain commitments around dealing with grievances, including publishing the number of complaints made and the outcomes. Accountability will extend to annual school statements offering assurances in areas such as child protection procedures, vetting requirements, compliance with the school year and duration of the school day and week, and on the employment of qualified teachers. Other issues to be covered include better information about school management, school policies and information on extracurricular activities and school performance. Schools will have to publish their charter, and in it they will also have to acknowledge where there are gaps, deficiencies or room for improvement. Education Minister Richard Bruton said the expectations of citizens had changed in how they dealt with public institutions, and education must change to meet those expectations. He said the principles outlined in the legislation would place the student at the centre of school life. Referring to the provisions on consultation, he said such processes could be "quick and easy. Through the use of online surveys, it should be possible for a school to consult with hundreds of parents quickly and easily". While the legislation sets out broad principles, detailed guidelines for schools will be finalised after consultation with education partners, including the National Parents Council (Primary), National Parents Council (Post Primary) and the Irish Second-level Students Union. The charter is part of a suite of new measures, including the School Admissions Bill and procedures to allow for a complaint to be made about a registered teacher to the Teaching Council. Fine Gael TD Jim Daly, who is chair of the Oireachtas Children's Committee, and who had sought to widen the remit of the Children's Ombudsman and to establish a new Education Ombudsman, welcomed the proposals. He said they were about "bringing a small minority of schools who are under-performing and not engaging with parents as they should up to standard with the vast majority of schools in our country". Significant risks to patient safety continue at Portlaoise Hospital and its future is uncertain,a major report warned today. The troubled hospital was at the centre of controversy two years ago after it emerged that five babies died in its maternity unit in similar circumstances since 2006. It led to an investigation by the patient safety watchdog Hiqa which published a damning report with eight recommendations in May last year. Todays report from Hiqa, which reviews progress in implementing its recommendations ,said maternity services at the hospital are now being provided in a safer and more sustainable way. But while some safeguards have been put in place, many of the risks identified during the investigation in 2015 relating to other general services in the hospital,remain unchanged. These include critical care and emergency services for undifferentiated patients- these are all types of patients with any degree of seriousness or severity of illness or injury. The 2015 Hiqa report said its recommendations said must be implemented to ensure that risks and deficiencies identified are addressed at both local and national level to ensure the delivery of safe and consistent patient care. Todays report said the most significant change in general services provided at the hospital since the investigation has been the ending of complex surgery. But otherwise limited change to the provision of general services has occurred. Portlaoise Hospital continues to provide a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week emergency service for adult and paediatric patients who may arrive at the hospital with any degree of seriousness or complexity of illness or injury. However, the governance arrangements in the emergency department remained largely unchanged and continue not to be in line with the HSEs National Clinical Programme for Emergency Medicine, it said. The intensive care unit still does not meet the minimum requirements for critical care as set out by the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Ireland. Hiqa is still not assured that critical care services are sustainable. Referring to its maternity services it said improvement has been facilitated by enhanced leadership, governance and management within the service, increased investment, and an improvement in the staff to birth ratio, which has been largely driven by a reduced number of births. Efforts to begin the process of integration with the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital have also seen service quality and the safety of services enhanced at Portlaoise Hospital, but more remains to be done to progress this clinical network Hiqas Director of Regulation Mary Dunnion said While some progress has been made, significant risks remain and the future of the hospital is uncertain. Those with responsibility for the ultimate decision making on the hospitals future must determine the range of clinical services that Portlaoise Hospital can or could safely deliver. She said making these decisions will require careful planning to avoid unintended knock-on impacts on other hospitals in the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group, neighbouring hospital groups, the National Ambulance Service and community services. Once the decision has been made, the plan should be implemented as quickly as can be safely achieved. Three out of four consumers are in favour of calorie counts on restaurant menus, according to the Food Safety Authority. Chief executive Dr Pamela Byrne said: "People have a desire to be more healthy and live a healthier life. "We have shown that it will not diminish innovation in the kitchen or leave chefs less creative." The watchdog has sent a report to the Health Department on calorie posting after carrying out stakeholder consultation. It comes in advance of plans by the department to make it mandatory from next year to post calories on foods, regardless of how small the outlet is. Celebrity chef Catherine Fulvio is leading a drive to try to make calorie posting on food a simple exercise, to allow consumers make better health choices. Ms Fulvio, who runs Ballyknocken House and Cookery School in Wicklow, is urging fellow chefs to use MenuCal - a free, online resource from the Food Safety Authority. Ms Fulvio said: "I'm a big fan of MenuCal and I find it invaluable in the kitchen. It's so easy and quick to input ingredients and save recipes. "It removes the need to keep Excel spreadsheets that you need to manually input or amend ingredients. Once the ingredients are in, it's very easy to modify your recipes." However, Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, said they are against calories on menus for standalone restaurants. He said it will cost each outlet an estimated 5,000 a year. This Dubliner has been named Dentist of the Year for 2016 after treating a patient free-of-charge. Dr Danny Collins from Docklands Dental Clinic was nominated for the award by his patient Patrick Peppard after carrying out extensive dental work for free. Mr Peppards daughter was terminally ill and he nominated Dr Collins to be Sensodyne Sensitive Dentist of the Year to thank him for his kindness and compassion. Mr Peppard had to have a chipped tooth fixed, along with multiple fillings, crowns and root canal work. As part of his examination Dr Collins picked up on the stress I was experiencing in my life as I was showing evidence of teeth grinding. I explained that my-self and my wife had spent the previous 14 months living in Crumlin Childrens Hospital with my sick daughter, who was terminally ill, while also trying to juggle work and home life and look after our two young boys. Without me asking Dr Collins told me that he and his business partner Dr Gregg Barry in the practice would provide the treatment at no charge given the tough year I had come through. I was literally moved to tears. The awards took place at the RDS in Dublin on Saturday night. They highlight the excellence of the Irish dental profession through the eyes of the patient who can voluntarily nominate their dentist if they believe they have gone above and beyond their call of duty. The judges acknowledged Dr Collins ability to see beyond a clinical problem and to provide an act of profound kindness at a time of severe duress for a patient. Dr Collins said he was honoured to receive the award. Clinical and professional treatment is our top priority but it also important to have empathy with patients when you pick up on a matter such as stress in a patients life during clinical examination. I was happy to be in a position on this occasion to make life a little less stressful for the patient given what he had just come through. Other outstanding acts of patient care recognised at the awards included saving a patients life by a timely spot of early stage oral cancer; treatment of a patient who received extensive damage to her front teeth by being hit by a bottle thrown from a moving car and the concern and support provided to a nervous ten year old boy admitted to hospital to have a benign oral tumour removed. Traffic was chaotic in Dublin this morning following a collision between an arctic truck and a bus near the IFSC. Matt Talbot Memorial Bridge has now been reopened after the incident. @LiveDrive Major crash on junction Matt Talbot br & quays. Artic truck &Bus. All lanes https://t.co/H9ov1jDLc9 driving on pavements to pass Anthony McEvoy (@makivoi) December 5, 2016 @LiveDrive everything blocked now with Firebrigades, ambulances & cops just arrived. Anthony McEvoy (@makivoi) December 5, 2016 DUBLIN: Gardiner St very slow due to crash on Memorial Bridge with queue from Dorset St through to Beresford Place https://t.co/EY0qAdZlYs AA Roadwatch (@aaroadwatch) December 5, 2016 Gardai and members of the fire service attended the scene. One witness said cars were driving on footpaths to try and overtake the collision. In Cork, the N72 Fermoy/Mallow Rd is closed at Castlehyde between Fermoy and Ballyhooly following a fatal crash. A man has died and a child has been left with serious injuries. The M1 Dublin Belfast Rd northbound is currently down to one lane at J10 Drogheda while Gardai deal with a vehicle that was on fire. Meanwhile, emergency services attended an incident on Coolock Lane, near the Astro park and the incident is affecting traffic towards Coolock. An early morning M50 crash the N7 Lucan exit has also been cleared. In Waterford, a section of the N72 known as Military Rd, outside Dungarvan, is to remain closed until 12pm after a fatal crash. Most people can only dream of having a superhero as their dad - but one child from Belfast was 'adopted' by caped crusader Batman. Ten-year-old James Dawson from west Belfast lived with actor Michael Keaton over seven years during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. It was part of a charity scheme called Project Children which paired US couples with children from Northern Ireland. It was in a bid to give young people in troubled areas an alternative perspective. The kind-hearted American families took the children in for six weeks over the summer in the scheme which began at the height of the Troubles in 1975. But while the youngster was only supposed to stay with the Batman star for a number of weeks - he ended up going back and forth for seven years where he lived a glamorous life meeting famous faces such as Courteney Cox Expand Close Michael Keaton (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Michael Keaton (AP) Mr Dawson told the Sunday Times: "I was a youngster from a housing estate in west Belfast. Paramilitaries, conflict and terror were normal. Private planes, luxury mansions, hanging out with Batman and superstars on film sets was not." He continued: "While the glamour was great, what mattered was that from day one I felt loved. "Michael referred to himself as my American dad. He was a father figure to me. It is hard to explain how that strength transforms a 10-year-old child. Their kindness and openness stunned me." Keaton and his ex-wife shared custody of their seven-year-old son Sean - who became best friends with James and was even the best man at his wedding. Keaton also attended the ceremony but managed to remain anonymous. James added: "He sat quietly at the back of the church, forever the gentleman." As James returned year on year he said: "Everything made more sense; being a Protestant or Catholic became irrelevant." "It was not just an individual act of kindness. They made me part of their family. I was a kid who felt hanging out with my favourite stars was normal - Danny DeVito, Andy Garcia, Geena Davis. Michael started dating Courteney Cox and I loved spending time with her. "My life and perspective changed. When I first arrived I'd never once seen a different colour or race of people in real life." Ross Hutch tries to hide his face as he runs into the road to avoid photographers while leaving Dublin District Court. Photo: Collins Courts This is the moment gangland target Ross Hutch was viciously attacked in a city centre hotel in the middle of the day. The 24-year-old, who won 33,000 in cash and prizes on RTEs Winning Streak last year, was sitting eating lunch in a hotel last week when another man walked into the restaurant. The video footage shows the assailant launch a vicious attack on Hutch. Independent.ie has learned that a number of garda detectives were in the restaurant at the same time and they arrested a man. The suspect was questioned at Store Street garda station about the attack. Mr Hutch has been repeatedly warned that his life is under threat since his father Eddie (58) was gunned down by the Kinahan cartel last February at their home in the North Inner city. Mr Hutch has spent much of the last six months hiding out in hotels and hostels under a false name. He was close by when his cousin Gareth Hutch was shot dead in Dublin last May. The nephew of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch appeared on Winning Streak in September 2015 where he scooped 33,000 for his brother Edward Jnr. But since then the family has been struck by several tragedies starting with the murder of cousin Gary Hutch is currently before the courts charged in connection with the theft of a man's iPhone worth 875 at Marino Mart in October. Read More During a hearing a judge made an order barring Mr Hutch from the Clontarf, Fairview and Marino areas. He held that a request to order him to obey a curfew was a little excessive. In relation to an application for him to sign on regularly at a Garda station, the defence said that Mr Hutch has huge personal security difficulties. Judge Anthony Halpin agreed that ordering him to sign on may well jeopardise his security and he refused to make that a condition of bail. A hero taxi driver came to the rescue of a young family as their home went up in flames. Derek Malone (40) was in the Knocksedan estate in Swords North Dublin dropping off a fare in the early hours of the morning when his passenger noticed flames and smoke coming from the house. Without thinking twice Mr Malone rushed to help the family inside, but was unable to break through the front door which appeared securely locked from the inside. The woman was inside with her daughter and I told them to go into the sitting room and lifted the daughter and mam through the window, he told Independent.ie. Expand Expand Previous Next Close Picture Derek Malone Fire in Knocksedan Demense Swords . / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Picture Derek Malone The fire broke out at around 4.30am and Mr Malones passenger called the emergency services while he aided the family, ushering the young child into his car out of the cold. The womans husband managed to escape the house unaided. The family were dazed but the neighbours were very good, he said. The taxi driver said he didnt hesitate to rush toward the house when he realised it was ablaze. Expand Close Fire in Knocksedan Demense Swords . / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fire in Knocksedan Demense Swords . Your instinct does kick in. I think any human being would be the same, he said. You just go for it , when theres people involved you dont care just want to get them out. In a twist of fate Mr Malone was not out working but was at home watching a film when he got a job through on Hailo which he decided to take. If I didnt get the job God knows what would have happened, he said. The flames emerging from the roof of the house were very high and the smoke was heavy when he arrived on scene Mr Malone said. It was unreal, he said. Mr Malone stayed on the scene for more than an hour as emergency services attended the fire. Five units of Dublin Fire Brigade attended the scene at 4.30am and two units remain on scene this morning. There was a minor incident in York House last night. Salvation Army called the fire and ambulance services as a precaution. Nobody was taken to hospital and no beds closed, therefore business as usual today. A third domestic fire broke out at 3.30am this morning on Olaf Road in Dublin 7. Nobody was hospitalised following that incident. Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams will this week come face-to-face with the three senior Sinn Fein politicians who he dramatically tied to the murder of prison officer Brian Stack. Mr Adams is expected to meet the three individuals, who have all denied involvement in the 1983 killing. Mr Adams has been under immense pressure after the Irish Independent revealed that he supplied the names in an email to Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan three days before the general election. Last night, Chief Whip Regina Doherty demanded to know whether Mr Adams has provided the identity of a senior IRA figure who carried out an internal investigation into the Stack murder. The Louth TD used his first press conference since his return from Cuba to launch an attack on Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. He accused Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin of all using the Stack case for political purposes. Asked why he waited two-and-a-half years before passing on the names, which also included a fourth man who is a former senior IRA boss, Mr Adams said this was because the issue didn't arise. And speaking to reporters on Saturday, Mr Adams made his strongest remarks to date about the victim's son, Austin Stack. "Why would I suggest for one second that Austin Stack gave me the names if he didn't give me the names?" he said. "How could Austin Stack expect me to try to get people to meet with him if he didn't tell me who he wanted to meet, come on." Meanwhile, Mr Adams is facing further questions in relation to the identity of the senior IRA figure who carried out the investigation interview into the murder, which was allegedly carried out without the authorisation of the IRA. Chief Whip Regina Doherty rubbished claims that Mr Adams has provided answers to the Stack family. "Has Gerry Adams given the name of the IRA man to the An Garda Siochana? If not, why not?" said the Meath East TD. Ministers Simon Coveney and Leo Varadkar could both face opposition if they decide to contest the FG leadership. Photo: Frank McGrath Fine Gael ministers have intensified their discussions surrounding the party leadership amid fears Leo Varadkar could be heading for an uncontested accession to the top job. Senior figures within the party have now predicted a leadership contest involving a minimum of three candidates - with Health Minister Simon Harris now being touted as a realistic prospect to take on Mr Varadkar and Housing Minister Simon Coveney. Such a scenario will depend heavily on whether Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald opts against putting her name forward and instead backs Mr Harris, who is seen as her protege. The pair are understood to have discussed the leadership issue over the weekend after the 'Sunday Independent' reported that Mr Varadkar has been told he has the support of around 30 TDs and senators. The Fine Gael parliamentary party, which is key to deciding the outcome of the contest, is made up of 50 TDs, 19 senators and four MEPs. Government sources still expect Enda Kenny to step aside in the summer, paving the way for a leadership contest in September. If Mr Varadkar's camp is correct, then he is odds on to succeed Mr Kenny as Taoiseach and party leader. But those seen as being close to Mr Coveney, Ms Fitzgerald and Mr Harris all dismissed this figure when they were contacted last night. There is now a growing view in the parliamentary party that a healthy contest should involve more than just Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney. A number of ministers said a situation must be avoided whereby Mr Varadkar succeeds Mr Kenny without a contest, should Mr Coveney decide his rival's lead is unassailable. The cases of former taoiseach Brian Cowen and British Prime Minister Theresa May - who succeeded their predecessors without an internal election - were cited by ministers and TDs when contacted by the Irish Independent. However, sources close to Mr Varadkar have said he is in no way fearful of a contest. The Dublin West TD is, however, keen to ensure Mr Kenny's successor has ample time and resources to settle into the role and start rebuilding the party before the next general election. Mr Varadkar has privately warned supporters that he believes firmly that Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin is prepared to pull the plug on the minority Government at some stage in 2017. Crucial to the leadership contest is whether senior party figures such as Michael Noonan, Charlie Flanagan, Paschal Donohoe, Richard Bruton or indeed Mr Kenny will offer endorsements. Both Mr Bruton and Mr Donohoe are still being linked to the leadership internally, but are both seen as outsiders. The innocent woman who was stabbed, scalded and beaten in her home has now developed pneumonia and doctors have discovered her pelvis is broken. Doctors also fear that Simone Lee (37) may have suffered a spinal injury when she was attacked in her Limerick city flat at Hassett's Villas in Thomondgate last weekend. Simone was transferred to St James's Hospital in Dublin from University Hospital Limerick last Thursday and, while there were hopes of reducing the level of sedatives she is on and slowly bring her out of an induced coma, doctors have now decided to wait longer before waking her. "Simone remains very ill and we are very concerned for her. She now has pneumonia and is being treated for that as well as her injuries," her sister Una told the Herald. It is believed the wounds to Simone's back were as a result of stabbing, which also caused a punctured lung. Una said Simone remains on a machine to assist her breathing. Expand Close Simone Lee / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Simone Lee "The doctors have told us that she has a broken pelvis also, and they are concerned that she may have suffered a spinal injury too," she said. Damage "They just have to wait and see. They will be able to find out more when they take her off the sedation, whenever that will be." Gardai suspect that hot water was poured on or thrown at Simone during the attack. Medics are continuing to assess the damage caused to her face and chest. "But they do say they are hopeful that Simone's burns will heal with time without the need for plastic surgery, so that is one positive," Una said. "However, we are still trying to come to terms with the level of injuries Simone received and the level of violence used to cause them." A man who was arrested by gardai in relation to the attack - which took place late on Saturday, November 26, or early the following day - was released without charge last Monday and a file on the matter is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. The attack on Simone caused widespread shock in Limerick city. "Simone is an amazing girl and an incredible fighter, but she has a massively long road ahead," Una said. Asked about the garda investigation into the savage attack, Una said the family's priority is Simone. Evidence "We have full faith in the gardai, they are keeping us informed and they are in full support of our family," she said. The scene at Hassett's Villas remained sealed off until last Monday while a garda technical bureau team from Dublin carried out forensic tests and gathered evidence. The numbers intending to do their shopping abroad represents a three-fold increase from last year (Stock picture) Over a quarter of Irish people are planning to leave the State for shopping trips this Christmas, according to a new survey. The AA survey of 9,000 people revealed some 25.41pc are planning shopping trips outside of Ireland, with the majority intending to go to the UK. Some are planning on going even further afield, with large numbers also reporting they intend to go to New York and continental Europe. The numbers intending to do their shopping abroad represents a three-fold increase from last year. The AA said the main cause is the weakness in sterling. Most of those travelling said they were going to avail of clothes offers. However, large numbers of people are also travelling to get cheap alcohol, with 35.81pc intending to stock up ahead of the Christmas season. Most of those who plan to leave the State for shopping trips intend to go to Northern Ireland, with 12.07pc listing it as their choice. Thomas Burke, director of Retail Ireland, said the news would be disappointing for Irish retailers who are hoping to capitalise on Christmas sales. He added that retailers have been slashing prices in an attempt to entice shoppers to do their shopping at home. "There is very good value to be had by Irish consumers this Christmas," he told the Irish Independent. "With increased disposable income, it's going to be a very good Christmas for Irish consumers. We would obviously hope that as many people as possible choose to shop locally and to support local retailers and local jobs." A Retail Ireland survey found the average household is now expected to spend 2,587 on the festive season. This is an increase of 26 from last Christmas, and is 720 more than any other month of the year. A mum who lost her son in a tragic accident in Australia has said a kind letter sent to her by a stranger melted her heart and encouraged her to make the journey to retrace his steps on the other side of the world. Janet Durkans son Alan (22) lost his life after his car veered off the road and hit a tree near the town of Penola in South Australia in 2012. Speaking on the Ryan Tubridy Show on RTE Radio One, the mum from Louisburgh in Mayo, opened up about a letter she received after Alans death from a kind stranger who had befriended her son during his time in Penola. In the touching letter, Croppa Creek shop-owner Caroline told Janet that she should be proud of her son, who made so many friends and connections during his time working on farms in the region. Caroline wrote: We had many Irish but amongst them Alan was special. He was kind, he was thoughtful and he was always bright and chirpy. You should be very proud of your boy. In the note Caroline invited Janet and her family to her home in New South Wales, should they ever wish to retrace their sons steps and revisit the places where he had thrived. Please know that we looked out for Alan and he made some very close friends in this district. This might not be in your mind now but if you ever choose to retrace Alans steps and visit the places abroad that he experienced you are always welcome in our home. We welcome you. On Alans first anniversary, Janet and her husband Andy took up Carolines invitation and travelled to Australia which she said was something the family felt they had to do. Janet said they were overwhelmed by the kindness of Caroline and her husband, who drove more than six hours to pick them up in Brisbane. We had to go out to the area where the crash happened. We had to go and that was in our minds. But we wouldnt have gone to Croppa Creek. We went to Melbourne and then we travelled to Brisbane, the nearest city to there. Those people drove for six hours to collect us in Brisbane and drove us to their home and we stayed two nights with them. They drove us back again to Brisbane. They were remarkable people. It was so very, very difficult. We went back for Alans first anniversary. We went for the month of February 2013 and it was very difficult but it had to be done and Im glad we did it. It just shows the power of communication that one letter from that lovely lady who we didnt know, said Janet. The mum said Janets letter was a prime example of the power of communication, and it provided a light during such a dark time in her life. Its so lovely. She melted my heart completely when she said you should be very proud of your boy. I loved that line. She got Alan. That was exactly him, said Janet. Read Carolines letter below Dear Mrs Durkan and Family, "It is with deep, deep sympathy that I write to you. My name is Caroline and my husband and I run the General Store in Croppa Creek. We are very sorry about the loss of your son Alan. He was a treasure. We came to know Alan when he came to work in our community last year. He came at a time when we had a large number of travellers and backpackers. We had many Irish but amongst them Alan was special. He was kind, he was thoughtful and he was always bright and chirpy. He used to come into our store and say You alright Caroline? You been busy today? Every time he was the same. He seemed to love his visits to our little store and wed make him a sandwich or burger for his lunch box, full of eagerness for the days work ahead. If rain was coming and forecast there was a sense of disappointment. No work if its raining hed say. There was no doubt he wanted to work. He also reflected about the downturn in Ireland when he first came to Croppa Creek. Wed heard it many times from other travellers but Alan brought a personal view. It was heartfelt. It was clear that his trip to Australia was a time to blossom and shine as a young man. He was infectious in his humour. My family and I became very attached to these youngsters. I took on a role as pseudo-mum keeping them on the semi-straight and narrow but encouraging them to enjoy their time too. Please know that we looked out for Alan and he made some very close friends in this district. This might not be in your mind now but if you ever choose to retrace Alans steps and visit the places abroad that he experienced you are always welcome in our home. We welcome you. You should be very proud of your boy. Love, Caroline." Once upon a time, the term nicely groomed had a clear innocence about it. In my case, it was how my mother liked to see me going to church on a Sunday. Twas a shame she was usually disappointed. Today, the word grooming has a very sinister meaning. Unless youve been living under a rock, youll be aware that its the befriending and trust-building by adults of minors. Child grooming is nothing new. Men (in 99pc of cases) have always preyed on young vulnerable children. Often becoming friendly with the parents to gain their trust first before making their moves on their kids. This continues to happen every day and is a classless, religionless phenomenon. Most of us would like to believe that we are a good judge of character. Many of us refuse to take any chances when it comes to the strangers surrounding our precious smallies. But sometimes, no matter how diligent we are, perverts can find a way of getting close to our children. Which brings me back to the topic of mobile phones. Last week, I wrote about how my sons wanted iPhones for Christmas. I very firmly told them, and shared with all you readers, how they wouldnt be getting what their hearts desired. There will be no phones coming into the Brunker household iPhones, or any other phones, for that matter. Often after I write about a subject, I tend to forget what I had discussed, so I watched with great interest as Ireland AM chose my article as one of their topics of the morning. I was surprised at the level of enthusiasm from the people that got involved in the discussion. Overwhelmingly, people agreed with my viewpoint. Most people thought that the 12-13 age bracket was acceptable for kids to be allowed their first smartphone. However, there was also a huge amount of people who said that they had already given their six to nine year olds hand-me-down smartphones, which didnt have any sim cards in them. Sadly, there was little communication from those parents whose children (under teenage years) did have fully-working smartphones. Were they embarrassed? Because they certainly are not in the minority if my childrens school is anything to draw comparisons on. As I listened to the Ireland AM viewer comments, I was shocked that none of them referred to the issue of grooming or showed any awareness that by simply having a smartphone on their person, their child could be exposed to a possible attack and theft. But personally, my biggest worry is online grooming. While presenter Mark Cagney touched on the fact that if kids wanted to access sensitive material (in other words, dodgy porn sites), they could already do that from their tablets at home. And he is correct. But why, as a parent, should I roll over on the idea of a phone so my boys could have unlimited access throughout a school day to chat rooms and Snapchat? To me thats just giving them far too much rope. With perverts free to prowl kids online games such as Clash of Clans, Boom Beach and Minecraft these are just a few that my nine-year-old admitted to having looked at in the past I say: be aware parents, be aware. SON AND PROUD BROTHER: The order of service for Daniel Sprays funeral, with Torrisdale Beach in Scotland in the background Christmas 2014 was going to be very special, just how special I wouldn't know until a few months later. Yet that Christmas needed more preparation than any other. My 38-year-old son Daniel was coming to stay. He used to visit quite often around this time of year but this would be the first time he would actually spend Christmas Day with me and my partner and be around for the festivities with his Dublin-born half brother and sister, who were so keen to see him. It was also a very significant birthday for me on St Stephen's Day. Bringing Daniel over that Christmas meant doing a lot more than booking a flight, preparing his room and wrapping a few presents. As much as I loved Daniel we had to decide if we actually could cope with him. Expand Close Daniel holds his sister Laura in the bath / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Daniel holds his sister Laura in the bath You see, my son had a very troubled relationship with alcohol and drugs. Some of his previous visits had been marred by his nocturnal ramblings, staying in bed all day and being the worse for wear. The three demons: drink, drugs and depression had been firmly camped in him for some time. Yet, if at times he was the most brilliant company, at others, he wasn't and over the past year things had taken a turn for the worse. He had lost his job, partner and a lot of self-esteem. In the Spring of 2014 he had taken heroin with a friend and woke to find himself next to a dead body. A few years before, on my birthday, he had tried to take his own life with a massive cocktail of drugs. That he had survived that, other reckless episodes and his friend's death gave him a feeling of invulnerability; he believed he was superman. But the death of his friend became a massive wake-up call. In the months leading up to Christmas, Daniel had been making a conscious effort to interact with psychiatric services, moved into his own flat and was using his long legal experience to retrain as a counsellor with the citizens' advice bureau. Expand Close Daniel poses more than 10 years ago while on holiday with his sister Rachael / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Daniel poses more than 10 years ago while on holiday with his sister Rachael Yet drink and drugs never left him, they were a constant threat and reality despite his best efforts. Just as a generation before I could tell if my alcoholic mother had been drinking again through slurred phone calls, it was the same with Daniel. But he made promises, he was so keen to come over and like many families you just hope that everything will be OK. You love someone so much you want to trust them, despite the many times that trust has been broken. But Christmas for a lot of families - both broken and seemingly normal - is a time for negotiation. Of not letting one person disrupt the many. Just as Daniel's friends were becoming wary of him, so were some of his family. And before that Christmas visit, my partner - whose mother was also set to visit - was concerned that Daniel's visit would not be good for me. Should he come at all? It might be impossible to police a 38-year-old. If there were signs of drugs he would be out, if he hid in his room, he would be out. Expand Close Daniel with his brother Marcus / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Daniel with his brother Marcus But I wanted so much for him to come. I loved him to bits, he was in my image and - on the tightrope that was my own life - I could have so easily taken the same route. There was also massive guilt over not being physically there for so much of his childhood. I decided I needed help in coming to terms with dealing with the visit, if indeed it should take place at all. That help was found down the road in Dublin where, above an advice centre just where Cabra meets Phibsborough, the local Al-Anon group meets every Monday evening. This support group for the families of those affected by alcohol and drugs was so welcoming, with a pure openness of mind. The members calmed my nerves and through the sharing of absolutely harrowing stories they encouraged me to speak about my fears, traumatic experiences and real concerns. I could talk openly about the horrors of living with an alcoholic parent just as vividly as telling of the time Daniel had viciously physically attacked me after I had flown over to Leeds to get him out of police custody. The group gave me the support to know that if I said no to Daniel coming over, it would be as right as letting him come. The drunk or the addict must not have the power to disrupt others' enjoyment. The control stays with you not them. The group all had experiences that matched or exceeded my own but through such openness, gallons of tea and real desire to help, there was such a feeling of support that when we stood at the end, held hands and recited the AA Serenity Prayer you felt you were making real progress. I talked to Daniel many times in the days and weeks leading up to that Christmas and visited him in his flat a month or so before. Ground rules were set and looking into his beautiful eyes it was agreed that it would be a fine and happy Christmas. And so it was. Daniel was great company - witty, knowledgeable, caring and totally engaged. There wasn't a hint of drugs, and if he did drink, it was within the agreed limits and always with someone. On Christmas Day we went walking in the Wicklow Mountains together as a family and his sister Rachael ensured, through presents and canny buying in the sales, that he would return to Leeds with the guts of a new wardrobe. So engaging and kind was Daniel that I especially thanked him for being so patient and attentive when hearing the same stories over and over from a relative who was showing signs of dementia. "Don't worry mate," he said smiling with his pleasant Yorkshire accent, "When you have so many druggy friends like me you are used to hearing the same stuff again and again!" I have so many happy memories of me, Daniel and my other son Marcus being so close on my birthday. We joked, laughed - and yes - shared a pint or two. This was what sons and father should be able to do. I had my eldest son back and two children in their early twenties had their big brother in brilliant form. Visits were planned, a future was being mapped out, and the often talked of Camino trip seemed a reality. When I dropped him off at Dublin Airport a few days later I knew that all the tear-fuelled sessions at Al-Anon had been worth it. We had a Christmas to remember, it was so special. It had been negotiated well. ***** The next time I saw Daniel was a few months later in the company of an undertaker at the Co-op funeral home in Leeds. He was very cold as I slipped a letter next to him and kissed his beautiful face. He had died from an overdose of heroin and other drugs on the anniversary of his friend's death. Superman was no more but his insistence that we spent that Christmas together seemed to have come from a higher power. www.al-anon-ireland.org Read more: A few weeks back, I wrote about a little restaurant in Blackrock Market, Heron & Grey, which had just been awarded a Michelin star. There's nothing very glamorous about the market, and the accolade for Andrew Heron and Damien Grey's establishment has been seen as a sign that the tyre company is starting to shake off the shackles of conformity, and to recognise and acknowledge exceptional food regardless of the premises in which it is served. Not that there's anything wrong with the market, I hasten to add, it's just that it's not the kind of place where you'd expect to find a Michelin-starred restaurant. El Celler is a new-ish arrival to the same market, and its Spanish tapas bar schtick is more what you'd expect to find tucked away amongst the units selling Asian ingredients and hippy bits and pieces. I imagine that it's benefiting from its proximity to Blackrock's latest celebrities because potential diners have to walk past it on their way to having a gander through the windows of H&G, which is now booked out well into 2017. The tapas offering in Ireland is a mixed bag, and by that I mean that I have found it to be poor. The quality of what's on offer in the most modest little establishment in Barcelona or San Sebastian is in a different league entirely to what passes for tapas here. In my opinion, there are a number of well-known tapas restaurants in the city that take a cynical approach to their food offering, pawning their customers off with food that's of a low standard, made with inferior ingredients, and seemingly getting away with it under the forgive-all label 'tapas'. With the high quality of Irish fish, meat and other foods available to those who are prepared to seek them out, there's no excuse - other than cheapness - for restaurants not to use free-range meat and poultry, wild fish and organic vegetables. So I'm delighted to see a note on the menu at El Celler that says that all ingredients are locally sourced, and that they do their best to buy organic where possible. Yes, it's a bit woolly, and I'd love more specifics in terms of provenance, but having eaten at El Celler and experienced its rather endearing charm, and having the sense that it's a place that is doing its very best while it finds its feet, I'm going to take them at their word. This is the time of year for eating out in big groups, and the quest for the place that can be all things to all men (and women) is a tricky one. We need a place to go with the parents of our children's school-friends (how else will we find out what's really going on?), as well as somewhere for the book club night out (it has to be done), the gathering with former work colleagues (yes, really, it will be fun) and the informal (non-inclusive) school reunion. We go out with the neighbours, the lads from... (actually, where are they from?), and the laydees from bootcamp. There's even a night out with the schnauzer/doodle/cockerpoo/Kerry Blue owners. We want to keep the food accessible and the bill modest, because some people will eat a lot and others will just want to drink. No wonder there are so many tapas restaurants in Dublin; if they are good then they can cater for all this and more. First things first, El Celler could do with turning up the heat. On a chilly winter's evening there's a draught blowing in through the front door directly onto our table in the outer of its two rooms. The staff are apologetic, and offer to move us into the inner room when a table comes free, but by the time that it does we have had a couple of glasses of wine and have warmed up nicely. We order lots of food and share it all. The best dishes are the Catalan rustic bread with grated tomato, extra virgin olive oil, Maldon salt and garlic - a huge portion for 4.20, made with tomatoes that taste of tomatoes - the Spanish omelette, a fine pie-slice of an impeccably executed classic, the padron peppers, the cod fritters (in one of the new breed of Irish restaurants they'd be called 'snacks') and the arroz negro, squid ink rice with calamari, shrimps and baby octopus. A dish of langostinos a la plancha is disappointingly oily and made with tiger prawns rather than the langoustines that we were expecting (the menu does make this clear, so it was our fault) and the albondigas meatballs lack flavour and seasoning, as does the sauce in which they are served. Our resident Spanish expert doesn't find the croquetas de pollo asado (roasted chicken croquettes with bechamel) authentic, although they taste pretty good to me, and a platter of bread and dips comprises a curious mix of pesto, sobrasado, hummus and aioli that feels as if it belongs in a different restaurant. Pork ribs marinated in honey and mustard are another anomaly, but meaty and delicious all the same, and the patatas bravas get a unanimous thumbs up. The bread is all grilled on the plancha and tastes wonderful. We finish with a single shared crema Catalana that's simple and just right. Our meal at El Celler was by no means perfect but I have a good feeling about this place that makes me want to go back. Our bill worked out at around 50 per head, including plenty to eat and drink. The rating 7/10 food 7/10 ambience 7/10 value for money 21/30 ON A BUDGET Choosing carefully, tapas for two with a bottle of house wine could cost less than 50. ON A BLOW OUT If you were to push the boat out and share a cured meat plate, half a dozen tapas, and a cheese plate, and wash it all down with a bottle of serious Flor de Pingus 2010 (140), you could run up a bill of 250 before service. THE HIGH POINT The simple pa amb tomaquet - rustic tomato bread - at 4.20, and charming, helpful service. THE LOW POINT The outer room can be chilly. Come the hour, come the holiday, come the car, come the hotel...it's strange how things work out. When you think you deserve a bit of luck, it sometimes has a way of finding you. We hadn't taken any time out since going to Donegal - now adjudged the "coolest place on the planet" - at the end of June so the week in November was long overdue. It was my youngest daughter's graduation and my partner and I also wanted a dog-friendly hotel in the country to visit. But what car? For a trip into the wilds of deepest Wicklow an electric one wouldn't have been my first choice but that was how the cookie - or at least the bookings - crumbled. There has been a lot of hype over the Hyundai Ioniq, with its claims to be the first car in full electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid mode. Also, with a certifiable range of 280kms in pure e3lctric mode, it outperforms even the latest version of the Nissan Leaf. As it is a completely new car it has the chance to have all the styling touches, sharp design, comforts and safety features which are so far lacking in the Nissan trail-blazer. That together with the five-year unlimited mileage warranty against three years/100,000kms from Nissan and Toyotas, with its Prius, means that Hyundai has a proposition that they can really shout about. But it doesn't matter just how big your list of equipment is, or tasty design, what matters to the aspiring electric car driver is dealing with range anxiety. That is going on a trip and finding yourself perilously close to - or even out of battery life - in some remote location. It is still the main reason why electric sales have been so sluggish. And so my heart and mind were both a bit exercised when we set off from Dublin to visit the BrookLodge Hotel and Wells Spa in Aughrim, Co Wicklow. We were a bit late getting ready, Sam had to be walked and the cats nourished. There was no time to go over the mountains which would have saved battery life with the braking regeneration loop. It was to be full speed down the MII before turning off at Ashford and Rathnew for Rathdrum and onward to Aughrim. And, of course, the range suffered. I will totally believe people who get the full 280kms around town but halfway through our trip the excellent read-out on the fascia were pointing to the fact that by the 90kms it would take to get to Macreddin Village, the home of BrookLodge, we would have used half our battery life. I snapped at my partner to look for charging stations through the satnav, but she wasn't to be bullied by me or technology. Of course we should have checked if the hotel had a charging point. Being all organic it was the sort of place that probably would but we hadn't thought to find out. The afternoon was getting darker and colder as was my mood. I loved the car, super smooth, comfortable, brilliantly specced and at 28,495 including all grants good value for a real family car, but my mind was distracted thinking of hassles the next day if I had to go and find a charging station when again we would be up against it in time. Soon enough we turned into BrookLodge, unpacked the car and took Sam down his ramp and walked towards the reception passing the two nearest parking spaces to the hotel complete with ESB charging points. Everything changed, I could relax. There was a beautiful dog-friendly room including a letter to Sam from the hotel's two retrievers and pack of chews. Wonderful massages in the spa followed, pints in the hotel's own pub and dinner in the Italian restaurant. It was worth every penny. I woke to a new universe and a great breakfast. I could crack this electric car thing. It just needs a bit of planning. There will probably be up to 1,000 Ioniqs sold next year in all its guises. It deserves to do well as it is a brilliant drive with all the bells and whistles you would want.Yet while the styling outside is good - if rather reminsiscent of the Prius - inside it is rather bland with some poorish materials. Pricing is good though; the EV is a bit more than the Leaf but worth it, while the hybrid well undercuts the Prius. The Ioniq is smoothness personified. Just touch either the button for reverse or drive and you are off. Nothing more to do than steer and, as Martin Brennan says below, that could be going soon. And that is the problem with technology, especially with electric cars. As Andrew English was writing in the Daily Telegraph last weekend from the Los Angeles Auto Show, where he compared electric cars from Jaguar, Porsche and Tesla, "that's the trouble with EVs right now. The technology is like that of the early mobile telephone; buy one today and it'll be blown away by what you are able to buy tomorrow." Yet with all the advertising that Nissan is doing now, the push by car-makers including BMW, Daimler, Ford and Volkswagen to collaborate on establishing charging stations along major European highways and the very urgent need to really start cutting emissions, the electric proposition is very much there. The Ioniq doesn't quite live up to the hype before the launch but Hyundai probably has the best offering in the electric/hybrid family car range out there now and seeing how well they have been doing over the last few years there's no reason to think that won't continue. There's no point in thinking electric and not checking it out. You, like me, might then start to relax about range anxiety. I'm probably not fully there yet but I'm well on the way. Paschal Donohoe is the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and is the Fine Gael TD for Dublin. Prior to this he was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and Minister for European Affairs. He was first elected to Seanad Eireann in 2007 and to the Dail in 2011. He lives in Phibsborough, and is married with two young children. He still manages to fit in a lot of concerts and books into ministerial and political life! Book: City of Mirrors I have just finished Enough Said: What's Gone Wrong With The Language of Politics by the former director general of the BBC and the current editor in chief of The New York Times, Mark Thompson. It is a deeply elegant and relevant analysis of the decay of public discourse. It ends on an optimistic note, which I share. However, it also warns that progress on our public tone could take years. I agree with that too. Lighter reading tends to be genre based, crime fiction and science fiction. My most enjoyable read of the year was City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin, the concluding volume of his amazing post-apocalypse vampire trilogy. Band: The Waterboys Expand Close Mike Scott / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mike Scott The Waterboys and their leader Mike Scott (above) have provided the soundtrack to my life. I can remember buying the cassette of Fisherman's Blues in 1988. It was recorded in Spiddal House in Galway and had a beguiling lure of Irish tradition and sheer fun. Tracks such as And A Bang On the Ear and The Stolen Child have all meant so much to me at different stages of life. My current music tastes tend to be influenced by gigs that I am planning to attend. I am currently listening to Biffy Clyro, Ham Sandwich and Twin Atlantic. Best gig of the year was Macklemore & Ryan Lewis at the 3Arena in April. TV: The Wire Expand Close The Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Wire Westworld diverts me from budgetary matters! It is an attractive mix of science fiction and western frontier escapism. I'm not quite sure who is a robot and who isn't, but I am sure this is a classy and impeccably acted production. However nothing will ever top The Wire for me. Series Four is the best description of political life I've ever seen on any screen, big or small. I was also delighted to see RTE recognise Dublin Central in their wonderful recent series Can't Cope, Won't Cope, Stoneybatter and Grangegorman DIT campus looked wonderful. Design: French Irish Monument Expand Close Lucian Freud / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lucian Freud I think the new French Irish Monument in Glasnevin Cemetery is magnificent. This space of grief and commemoration becomes a space of reflection on what really matters. This new monument is a worthy addition and sits well with tributes to Parnell, O'Connell, Collins, de Valera and Hopkins. If you have not visited it yet, call in and spend time in their wonderful Heritage Centre. Artist: Lucian Freud Martin Gale has painted the images and scenes that resonate most deeply with me. Paintings of marquees and tents remind me fondly of our family business. His landscapes create scenes that are both solitary and teeming with vitality. I am a regular visitor to the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Kilmainham and highly recommend their current Lucian Freud (self portrait, right) display. paschaldonohoe.ie Paul Bloom, a psychology professor at Yale University, appeared on Newstalk's Moncrieff last Tuesday to discuss his book Against Empathy: The Case For Rational Compassion. The book argues that the increasing urge to feel other people's pain, and to demand political action based on emotion rather than cool analysis of the problem, "makes us stupid when it comes to moral decisions", and can all too easily be manipulated for nefarious ends. The example used on the show was that of Donald Trump's campaign. Well, of course it was; Trump is now the first port of call for any broadcaster wishing to chill the blood of sensitive liberal listeners. And the President-elect did indeed use personal stories of the suffering of certain groups in American society to "extremely skilfully" marshal supporters to his cause. But there was another powerful example of the misuse of empathy on display during Tuesday's Last Word on Today FM, where Brendan Ogle of the Unite union was doggedly defending the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Each time he was asked about the many victims of the communist regime, Ogle would go back to victims of homelessness or symphysiotomy or clerical abuse here at home, as if the two States were in any way equivalent, thereby dulling the edge of Cuba's crimes by comparison. His paean to Cuba was a textbook demonstration of why the hard left will never be more than a novelty act in Irish politics, as he eulogised about the "friendly, happy faces" he'd seen on his 10 visits to the island's capital Havana. Ruth Dudley Edwards, there to provide some counterbalance to this nonsense, noted wryly how socialists invariably hate countries that millions are trying to get to, such as America, and love those that have to force their own people to stay. Political correctness is an abuse of empathy, too. On the surface it appears to be nothing more than a scrupulous sensitivity to other people's feelings, but deep down it ruthlessly presses them into the service of shutting down alternative opinions that some may find offensive. The Last Word hosted a debate on the subject next day, with Mary McAuliffe, assistant professor of gender studies at UCD, arguing that PC was merely "the language of respect, of inclusivity, of equality" and "hasn't gone far enough". David Quinn of the Iona Institute, whilst not denying the good intentions of many of those who want to police language, merely pointed out that, if a word such as "racist" is used too easily, then it "loses its power to shame, and it should have power to shame." Same for "sexist" and "homophobic". They're bandied about too freely these days, even against mainstream conservative politicians. McAuliffe denied that those voices were mainstream. Therein perhaps lies the problem. We all want to challenge extremists, but who are the extremists and who gets to decide? You might hate Monday, but you'll love our selection of the week's best travel offers... 9.99: Bag a deal with Ryanair Ryanair has lots of routes from Dublin to the UK on sale from 9.99 each way in December... but it also has flights to Faro (Algarve) and Turin from 14.99, Murcia from 16.,99 and Copenhagen from 19.99. Ryanair.com. 62pp: Away to the Algarve GoHop.ie has several late deals on special, including five nights in the Algarve from just 62pp. The deal bundles Ryanair flights departing December 14 with 3-star accommodation in Portimao. 01 241-2389; gohop.ie. 149pp: Amsterdam city breaks ClickAndGo.com has lots of great city break deals for the new year, including flights and two nights in a 4-star hotel in Amsterdam from 149pp, departing February 14. Valentine's Day treat? 01 539-7777; clickandgo.com. 399pp: Winter sun in Morocco Sunway has eight-night packages in Morocco from 399pp departing December 30. The packages include flights from Dublin, 2-star self-catering apartments and transfers. 01 231-1800; sunway.ie. PS: Topflight's 12 Days of Christmas Sale From Monday, December 5 to Friday, December 16, Topflight is offering a series of sales, discounts and half-price lift passes. Offers apply throughout Andorra, Austria, France and Italy. 01 240-1700; topflight.ie. NB: All travel deals subject to availability/change. Emily Middlemas has been voted off the X Factor, leaving Matt Terry, Saara Aalto and 5 After Midnight to battle it out in next week's finale. The 18-year-old was given the boot after losing out in a surprising sing-off with Terry. After learning her fate, she said: "I'm so proud of myself to actually get to the semi-final, this year has been amazing and I'm just so lucky to be part of it." The sing-off, described as a "shocker" by host Dermot O'Leary because neither acts have been in the bottom two before, saw Terry perform Hurt by Christina Aguilera and Middlemas appear barefoot to sing Wings by Birdy. O'Leary revealed this week had seen the biggest vote of the series so far, with more than two million votes cast. Judges Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh and Terry's mentor Nicole Scherzinger all voted to save Terry, while only Middlemas's mentor Simon Cowell wanted to keep her in the show. Cowell said: "T he three do deserve to be there, but I'm gutted for Emily to get this close. It's all about what you do with your life now and using this properly." The show opened with all the semi-finalists performing Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas?, before Sweden's Got Talent winner Zara Larsson performed her singles I Would Like and Lush Life. Later in the show, Lady Gaga performed her new single Million Reasons on a platform, clutching a cowboy hat and dressed in a black jacket with crystal embellishments which she threw off to reveal a plunging chainmail top and leather shorts. After the performance, O'Leary asked her about her English accent, which he had heard during the soundcheck, and she put on the voice, saying: "It's a really awful one where I talk like this." Video of the Day Throughout the show, the names of the finalists were daubed on battle buses the hopefuls will travel round the country in over the next week as they bid to drum up votes. All the finalists will also perform homecoming gigs, with Terry appearing in Bromley on Wednesday, boyband 5 After Midnight will hope to draw a crowd in Leicester on Tuesday, and Aalto will return to her native Finland for a gig in Helsinki on Monday. The show was the last to be filmed at London's Fountain Studios, the home of the competition for 13 years. The live final will take place at the nearby Wembley Arena. Cowell paid tribute to studio staff, saying: "They are going to knock this place down, I can't believe it, but that is life I guess." Earlier in the day O'Leary posted a picture of the studio on Instagram with the caption: "The last ever live day at Fountain Studios today. "It's been our home for 13 years. And it's where I taped my first pilot show. Just a tiny piece of concrete in north-west London. But memories are history, laundry and property. Thanks to all the crew and staff for making it spit and crackle." Osbourne's act Aalto has taken over from Terry as the bookies' favourite to win after her performances of Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You and Sia's hit Chandelier on Saturday. Victoria's Secret model Joan Smalls has compared walking in the lingerie brand's annual fashion show with going into battle. The catwalk star, who recently strutted her stuff alongside Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid in underwear and wings at the event in Paris, said it is harder than it looks. Arriving at the Fashion Awards in London, she told the Press Association: "I don't think people realise how unrealistic it is. "I had the heaviest wings, they were 8ft long and 30lb so imagine walking with that and in high heels. It's quite the challenge but I loved it." Asked if it resembled putting on armour for battle, she said: "Completely. You have this adrenaline rush that keeps you going forward and then, before you know it, it's over." After months of preparation to be runway ready, she admitted she and Jenner treated themselves once the show was over, saying: "We had some burgers, some mac and cheese and some margaritas." The show will air in the UK on hayu on December 6 and on 4 Music on December 12. 'We're very much about what people could wear on a Tuesday and not necessarily a Saturday night," says Tracy Tucker of Costume boutique. Costume is one of Dublin's most prestigious boutiques, which Tracy established with her mother Billie and her sisters Anne and Leigh. Tracy now runs the boutique with Anne, while Leigh is the designer behind Dunnes Stores children's range Willow. Costume is known for seeking out the best labels: it was the first to stock Isabel Marant, almost 20 years ago, and Roland Mouret. Their buying ethos, explains Tracy, is to look for long-lasting pieces that people will fall in love with and wear for their everyday lives, rather than those that capture ephemeral trends. "We want it to be a little bit easier, a little more comfortable. I feel that if people want something that's high fashion and of the moment, they don't necessarily want to spend a huge amount of money on it," Tracy explains. "Yet they'll invest in a gorgeous top that they know they'll wear for years. Or a great coat. Or a beautiful cashmere scarf. Something they know they're going to have and love for years, as opposed to something they see on Kim Kardashian and feel they need to have something like it. That's not what we're about." When it comes to party wear, so relevant at this time of year, people want something they can wear again. "They want things that can have different interpretations," says Tracy. "So if they're getting something for a special occasion, they want to be able to wear it in their real life as well. A lot of the time when we're selling a dress, customers want to know that they can put on a pair of boots and a leather jacket with it, as well as wearing it in a black-tie scenario. "They want it to be able to work a little bit harder in their wardrobe," she adds. "So if we sell a dress for an event, you might sell a dressy wrap to be worn over it, but you might also sell a leather jacket, or a pair of trainers to go with it as well. It's less about being one wear. People are a little bit more savvy these days." Recently, Tracy has added Latvian label Katya Katya Shehurina to the store. Though Shehurina is mainly a bridal designer, Costume are stocking her line of ready-to-wear dresses. "She just has a really unique look. They're not so of the moment that you're going to be tired of them," says Tracy, describing the beautifully romantic styles. The label favours a midi length, and it's a length that people tend to favour over full-length when it comes to buying black tie. "I think that it's more versatile," Tracy says, "because if you're wearing a full-length gown, you're not really just going out on a Friday night. But if you have a midi length, you can put it with boots and make it feel a little bit more easy." It sums up the Costume philosophy. Photography by Emily Quinn Video of the Day Styling by Carmel Ann Daly Words by Liadan Hynes Fashion edited by Constance Harris Fidel Castro's ashes were placed in the niche of a boulder yesterday, capping nine days of official mourning when hundreds of thousands of Cubans said farewell with a combination of tears, Castro-like defiance and choruses of "I am Fidel!" President Raul Castro placed the wooden box containing his elder brother's cremated remains in the three-metre rounded stone at the Santa Ifigenia Cemetery. Castro died on November 25 aged 90. A dark plaque engraved with the word 'Fidel' was then fixed over the niche. Dressed in his four-star general uniform, Raul Castro saluted the rock, which was flanked by two honour guards in white uniform. Castro gave Cuba an outsized influence in world affairs. He was feted by Nelson Mandela for helping to end apartheid at a time when the West supported the racist system, but helped take the world to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban missile crisis. His monument sits a few steps from the mausoleum of independence hero Jose Marti, another towering figure of Cuban history whom Castro long admired. Castro had been out of power for a decade but was never far from the centre of public life. In his final years he wrote a periodic column on world and local matters and received foreign dignitaries at his home on the outskirts of Havana. Forced to step down due to an intestinal ailment, he ceded power to his younger brother, at first provisionally in 2006, then definitively in 2008. In keeping with his wishes, Castro's image will not be immortalised with statues, and public places will not be named after him, his brother said. His send-off seemed reflective of a man who had a vast public career but could be intensely private about his health and personal life. Cubans still do not know the cause of his death, or where he was cremated. After a three-day caravan in which hundreds of thousands of people lined streets and packed squares to bid him farewell, the last ceremony was not broadcast on Cuban media. Instead, in Havana, military cannons unleashed a 21-gun salute that thundered across the capital city as the ceremony began hundreds of miles to the south east. Castro's memorial at the cemetery is a large, round stone placed close to, but dwarfed by, Marti's mausoleum. The stone is a few steps from a monument to rebels who died fighting in Castro's failed 1953 attack on the Moncada barracks in Santiago, the start of the revolution. Seeing greatness in himself long before taking power, Castro created his own, enduring persona, and played the role with a flourish throughout his long public life. Adam Moss, who plays Smee in Peter Pan, proposes to his girlfriend Karen Tomkins during a performance of the pantomime (Mansfield Palace Theatre/PA) An actor went off script during a pantomime to propose to his girlfriend. Adam Moss was playing Smee in one of the first performances of Peter Pan at the Palace Theatre in Mansfield on Friday when he popped the question. During a singalong section of the show, Mr Moss told the audience he was going to give a present to his girlfriend of four years, Karen Tomkins. Following cries of "It's behind you" from the audience, Ms Tomkins turned round to find Mr Moss on one knee. He said he had been planning the stunt for more than six months and added: "I'm over the moon that Karen said yes if she had said no it would have gone viral and that would have been awkward." The bride-to-be, who made it through to the semi-finals of Britain's Got Talent in 2011, said: "It's not really sunk in yet. I can't believe it happened, but every time I tell someone I feel so happy and excited. Getting engaged this way was so amazing." A murderer known as the Yorkshire Ripper has told how he has bonded with fellow prisoner Ian Huntley while watching BBC nature show Planet Earth II. Peter Sutcliffe, who carried out 13 murders, with seven more attempted, says both he and Ian Huntley are huge fans of the show. Expand Close The 'Yorkshire Ripper' Peter Sutcliffe on his wedding day / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The 'Yorkshire Ripper' Peter Sutcliffe on his wedding day Ian Huntley was sentenced to two life terms in prison for the murder of two ten-year-old English girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman from Soham in 2002. Both are currently serving their sentences in Frankland prison in Durham, England and are said to have long chats about David Attenboroughs award-winning programme. The Irish Sun claims that Sutcliffe told a source, Ians really friendly and helpful. Weve started watching a lot of documentaries together about animals in the wild. There are 100 inmates on this wing, thats where Ian Huntley is and hes friendly, you know." Expand Close Holly Wells (left) and her best friend, Jessica Chapman / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Holly Wells (left) and her best friend, Jessica Chapman Sutcliffe, who is almost completely blind after an attack in Broadmoor prison in 1997, is a Jehovahs Witness and claims to not believe in evolution, but still enjoys watching the hit programme. Sutcliffe told the source: Im not keen on David Attenborough as a person because hes an atheist. He doesnt believe in God, he believes in evolution and that just cant happen. The serial killer was given 20 life terms in 1981, while Huntley was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years. After his conviction it was revealed that Huntley was a serial paedophile and had been investigated eight times over sex crimes. According to th Irish Sun, Sutcliffe is said to hate child sex offenders but has made an exception for Huntley. Their source said: Its ironic because paedophiles are the only type of crook that Sutcliffe has ever had a problem with. Sutcliffe has always kept his distance from them, but he was so desperate for friends after his transfer to Frankland he made an exception for one of the most high-profile beasts. Police guard the area where three women were killed in a shooting incident outside of a restaurant in Imatra, Finland Photo: AP A gunman in Finland killed a local town councillor and two journalists in an apparent random shooting in a small town's nightlife district. A 23-year-old local man with a history of violence has been detained on suspicion of murder. The chairwoman of the Imatra town council and two female reporters were gunned down in a pedestrian area outside a restaurant around midnight on Saturday, police spokeswoman Heli Jamsen-Turkki said. Police said two of the victims were in their early 50s and one was in her mid-30s. Police detained a suspect who didn't resist arrest. He had allegedly fired four or five shots, hitting his victims in the head and torso with bullets from a hunting rifle. Detective Superintendent Saku Tielinen, who is leading the investigation, said the suspect had a criminal record that included violent incidents and theft, but declined to identify him. "There is no indication of a political motive. It seems the gunman and victims didn't know each other," Det-Supt Tielinen said. "All indications are that he chose his victims randomly." The suspect arrived outside the restaurant in his car and shot the three women as they stepped out of the restaurant during a busy Christmas party evening. He then waited in the car until police arrived and accompanied officers silently and peacefully, police said. Det-Supt Tielinen said investigators would question him last night. Hundreds of people lit candles yesterday and placed them in the bloodied snow outside the restaurant in Imatra, a south-eastern town of 28,000 about 230km east of the capital, Helsinki. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto conveyed his "deepest condolences" to the families and friends of the victims, saying the killings "shocked all of Finland". Prime Minister Juha Sipila said the government would consider new security measures pending the results of the investigation. "Finland is one of the most secure countries in the world, but even so these sorts of incidents unfortunately are possible here too," Mr Sipila said. Social welfare officials provided support to victims' families and to witnesses of the incident. "We decided to open a crisis centre after the shooting occurred," said Saara Raudasoja, a spokeswoman for the South Karelia social and health care district. "In such a small place, it's quite a huge incident. Many people were shocked." In Finland, a country of 5.4 million with strong hunting traditions, there are 650,000 officially recognised gun owners but homicides with guns are unusual. After two deadly school shootings in 2007 and 2008, gun laws had been tightened. Detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are following an "important" new lead, according to reports. The tip strengthened the theory that Madeleine was kidnapped and trafficked, the 'Sun on Sunday' newspaper said. The paper quoted a source as saying that the new line of inquiry "could provide an explanation on whether Madeleine was abducted and transported away". Madeleine disappeared from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal in May 2007 aged three. Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, have vowed to "never give up" hope of finding their daughter. Since 2011, the Metropolitan Police has been assisting with the search for clues about what happened to the youngster, with officers visiting the holiday resort in 2014. The 'Sun on Sunday' claimed the search had been extended "by months" after Scotland Yard was given additional funding. In April the Home Office granted the investigation, called Operation Grange, 95,000 to cover another six months of the inquiry. But in August, Scotland Yard said that there was "outstanding work" on the case and that the "Metropolitan Police Service will remain in dialogue with the Home Office regarding the continuation of funding". "We have already set out that we have provided the Metropolitan Police with the funding required for Operation Grange to continue until at least the end of this financial year. The resources required will be reviewed again at this point," a Home Office spokesman said. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "The Operation Grange team are not prepared to discuss any lines of inquiry whilst the investigation is ongoing." Norbert Hofer, presidential candidate for the anti-EU Freedom Party FPOe, commiserates with his wife Verena Hofer at a post-election party Austria's far-right has conceded defeat in a key presidential election which was being watched closely across Europe after it effectively became a referendum on immigration and the EU. Alexander Van der Bellen, a left-leaning politician who preached moderation and tolerance, defeated right-wing populist Norbert Hofer, according to preliminary results that showed Van der Bellen convincingly ahead. His accomplishment was greeted with congratulations by mainstream politicians in neighbouring Germany. They and others in Europe had feared that Donald Trump's win in the United States and the Brexit vote in Britain heralded a resurgence of populist sentiment across the continent. "A load has been taken off the mind of all of Europe," Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, who heads Germany's centre-left Social Democrats, said. He called the result "a clear victory for good sense against right-wing populism." Partial results tallied shortly before the polls closed yesterday showed Van der Bellen with 53.3pc of the vote and Hofer at 46.7pc. While the margin may change when final results were in, Austrian officials said the results gave Van der Bellen an unbeatable lead. Noting the outsize attention the election in Austria had received, Van der Bellen declared that "what happens here today has relevance for all of Europe," as he cast his ballot. Mr Hofer, a smooth-talking former aeronautical engineer who has been described as the "friendly face" of a party founded by former Nazis in the Fifties, posted on Facebook that he was "endlessly sad" and said he would run again at the next presidential election in 2022. He urged voters of both camps to bury their differences. The Austrian president's functions are largely ceremonial and past elections have merited little attention outside the country because they were decided between mainstream candidates. This time the contest was watched across Europe because it was seen as an indicator of how well eurosceptic candidates will do elsewhere in the EU next year. Van der Bellen is pro-EU and represents liberal to left-of-centre views while Hofer is from the eurosceptic anti-migrant Freedom Party. Hofer moderated his hardline campaign message when trying to woo undecided voters disenchanted with the political establishment. Yesterday's election was a court-ordered re-run from a vote in May that Van der Bellen won by less than 1pc percentage point. Hofer's Freedom Party had claimed widespread irregularities. The results yesterday will not please other populist politicians in the EU who want their countries out of the bloc. Far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen of France and anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, who both face national elections next year, tweeted their support yesterday for Hofer as voting was still going on. Later, after he lost, they congratulated him on his strong showing. Traditional political figures in neighbouring Germany put aside their differences to welcome Van der Bellen's victory. "Austrians send clear pro-European signal. The European right-wing populists' party is off for now," said Manfred Weber, a conservative who heads the main centre-right group in the European Parliament. . Top German opposition Green leader Simone Peter called it "a good day for Austria and Europe. The right-wing rabble-rousers have to be stopped!" Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his wife Agnese were all smiles as they cast their vote in the referendum in Pontassieve, near Florence, early yesterday Photo: Reuters Italian Premier Matteo Renzi announced he will resign today after suffering a stinging loss in a reforms referendum, triggering immediate calls from a populist party and other opposition forces for elections to be held soon. "The 'Nos' have won in an extraordinary clear-cut way," Mr Renzi said in Rome about an hour after polls had closed in yesterday's ballot. Expand Close Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi and his fiancee Francesa Pascale arrive at a polling station in Rome to vote / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi and his fiancee Francesa Pascale arrive at a polling station in Rome to vote "I lost and the post that gets eliminated is mine," Mr Renzi said. "The government's experience is over, and in the afternoon I'll go to the Quirinal Hill to hand in my resignation" to President Sergio Mattarella. Leaders of the populist 5-Star Movement, which is led by comic Beppe Grillo, joined the chorus for early elections. The 5-Stars are the chief rivals of Mr Renzi's Democrats and are anxious to achieve national power for the first time. With ballots counted from nearly half of the polling stations, the No votes were running at nearly 60pc to 40pc for the Yes votes on reforms Mr Renzi claimed were vital to modernise Italy. Mr Mattarella as head of state would have to decide whether to accept any resignation. Mr Renzi is expected to be asked to stay on at least until a budget bill can be passed later this month and to shepherd a months-long electoral reform process. Opposition leader Matteo Salvini, of the anti-immigrant Northern League, hailed the referendum as a "victory of the people against the strong powers of three-quarters of the world." Many had read the referendum as an outlet for growing anti-establishment, populist sentiment in Europe and even Italy's membership of the EU itself. The self-assured Renzi late last year pledged to offer his resignation if the referendum on overhauling a good part of the 1948 Constitution went down to defeat. That was months before Britain's David Cameron had made his ill-fated bet on the referendum on whether the UK should stay in the European Union. He lost that bet. In Italy, the referendum was required because the reforms were approved by less than two-thirds of Parliament. But Mr Renzi raised the stakes, turning the referendum into a virtual plebiscite on himself, when he pledged to quit if Italians turned their back on reforms to streamline the Senate and give the central government more powers at the cost of the regions. Some opposition leaders started clamouring for early elections after Mr Renzi's reform measure was defeated. "We are ready to vote as soon as possible," Mr Salvini said late last night. Mr Renzi had been hoping to survive the rising populist forces that have gained traction across Europe. Some of Mr Renzi's political opponents were hoping to tap into the populist sentiment that has been gaining ground with the UK vote in June to leave the European Union and the US presidential victory last month by billionaire political outsider Donald Trump. A Yes vote would have strengthened Mr Renzi's two-year-old government, giving it impetus to complete its five-year term and time to prepare for elections in 2018, while a No vote favoured early elections sometime next year. During the referendum campaign, the risk of political instability in Italy, Europe's fourth-largest economy, triggered market reaction, with bank stocks sinking and borrowing costs on sovereign debt rising. Grace Nathan, left, was among relatives of passengers of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 who journeyed to Madagascar (AP) A reward is being offered by relatives of those on the Malaysia Airlines plane that is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean to anyone who finds a piece of debris from the aircraft. A group of relatives who travelled to Madagascar, off the south-east coast of Africa, made the offer in hope that residents will scour some coastal areas of the island, where possible parts of Flight MH370 washed ashore. Meanwhile, a Malaysian official investigating the disappearance of the Boeing 777 was in Madagascar's capital, Antananarivo, to pick up debris that has already been found and will be analysed to see if it came from the aircraft. "The more debris we find, the easier it will be to find where the crash happened," said Ghislain Wattrelos, a Frenchman who lost his wife and two of his three children when the plane deviated from its flight path from Malaysia to Beijing and vanished on March 8 2014. Malaysia, Australia and China are close to completing a deep-sea sonar search, so far unsuccessful, of 46,000 square miles off Australia's south-west coast in the Indian Ocean. They say they will suspend operations if there is no new evidence that could help pinpoint the crash site. Relatives of the missing believe the search should continue. Mr Wattrelos, as well as two people who lost their mothers on the flight - Grace Nathan of Malaysia and Jiang Hui of China - spoke at a news conference in Antananarivo. They did not specify how much money might be given to someone who finds a confirmed piece of Flight MH370, saying it depends on the significance of the debris and the limited resources of the families. "Everything is funded by us," said Mr Wattrelos, a business executive. That includes the cost of flights, accommodation and other expenses that the relatives are spending on a week-long trip to Madagascar, which will include travel to coastal areas where plane debris may have washed up after drifting across the ocean. There, they plan to hand out leaflets asking people to look for possible plane parts. Anyone who finds an item should note the time and place of discovery, take photographs and wrap the item in plastic and hand it to the nearest airport or police station, according to the leaflets. The families say there are three major areas in Madagascar where Flight MH370 debris could have washed up: Isle Sainte-Marie, Antongil Bay and Nosy Be, a big tourist destination. They also want people in Tanzania and Mozambique to be on the lookout. A piece found in Tanzania has been confirmed as part of the plane, while a couple of pieces found in Mozambique have been described as almost certainly coming from the plane. Confirmation that the plane crashed came last year when a wing part washed ashore on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. AP A human trafficking victim who claims she was forced to sleep with at least 30 men a day over four years as a teenager has vowed to help other sex slaves. Karla Jacinto, now 24-years-old, is travelling around the world to help other victims of sexual slavery. She estimates that she was forced to have sex with 43,200 people by the age of 16. Originally from Mexico, she was first targeted at the age of 12 by a trafficker who lured her away from her dysfunctional family with gifts and money. She is currently trying to raise awareness about Mexicos human trafficking crisis where it is estimated that 20,000 women are trafficked every year, according to the International Organisation for Migration. "They would beat me with sticks, they would beat me with cables, they would beat me with chains, she told CNN. Karla says she was abused for as long as she can remember and felt rejected by her mother. "I came from a dysfunctional family. I was sexually abused and mistreated from the age of 5 by a relative. "They forced me into prostitution at age 12. "There were people who would laugh at me because I was crying. I had to close my eyes so I wouldn't see what they were doing to me." Karla recently met with Pope Francis at the Vatican to discuss the issue of sexual slavery. She claims that some of her attackers were "uniformed police officers" - as well as judges, priests and pastors. "I thought they were disgusting," she said. Karla was rescued in 2008 during an anti-trafficking operation in Mexico City. She says she has endured a lifetime of horror that will stay with her as long as she lives, but now she wants to help other women who have also suffered at the hands of human traffickers. Travelling the world giving help and advice to other victims, as well as speaking at public events about her horrific experience, is her way of trying to make a difference. CNN reports that Karla is now in fact "not just surviving, she's thriving" as a human rights activist speaking out against modern-day slavery. A Syrian family displaced from east Aleppo last month return to their homes in the Hanano district after advances by government troops Photo: AP The Syrian army has ordered rebels in Aleppo to leave the city or face "inevitable death", as a series of airstrikes on an opposition-held town elsewhere in the country killed 21 people. Pro-government forces have been pushing deeper into besieged eastern Aleppo, taking back neighbourhoods the rebels have held since 2012. The opposition has buckled after months of siege and waves of devastating airstrikes, and could soon be driven from Syria's largest city. It would mark their biggest defeat since the conflict began in 2011. However, the rebels have defiantly told the United States they will not leave their besieged enclave in the city after Moscow called for talks with Washington over their withdrawal, signalling they will fight on even as their top commander was wounded. Under relentless attack, the rebels may eventually have no choice but to negotiate a withdrawal from their shrinking, besieged enclave in eastern Aleppo, where tens of thousands of civilians are thought to be sheltering. The Western and regional states that have backed the rebellion appear unwilling or unable to do anything to prevent a major defeat for the opposition fighting to topple Assad, who has benefited from direct Russian and Iranian military support. The U.N. Security Council is due to vote today on a draft resolution that would demand an initial seven-day truce in Aleppo, which could then be renewed. But it was unclear if veto-power Moscow would block the resolution. Restoring full control over Aleppo would mark the biggest triumph yet for Assad in a war that spiralled from protests against his rule in 2011. The campaign waged by the Syrian army and its allies in Aleppo is one of the most ferocious of the war, with hundreds reported killed in recent weeks alone. Syrian Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Samir Suleiman said government forces would "continue fighting until they restore stability and security to all neighbourhoods". He said the army has already retaken more than half of the neighbourhoods in eastern Aleppo, and that special forces would lead the battle in the narrow streets of the city's historic district. Government and allied Lebanese, Iraqi, and Iranian fighters swiftly captured the city's northeast in recent days, and the opposition's remaining enclave is collapsing. The UN estimates more than 31,000 people have fled their homes to areas held by the government or Kurdish forces, or deeper into the embattled city. Elsewhere in Syria, activists reported a series of airstrikes in the opposition-held town of Kafranbel, some 80km from Aleppo. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed 21 dead, including three children and members of the local religious police force. It said the airstrikes hit the town's main market. New Zealand's popular prime minister John Key has stunned the nation by announcing he will resign, after eight years as leader. Mr Key, 55, who had been widely expected to contest his fourth general election next year, said he wanted to ensure he did not make the mistake of other world leaders have done, and instead wanted to leave while he was on top of his game. His voice shaking, Mr Key said he had made personal sacrifices for the job and the role had taken a toll on his family. He said his National Party caucus would meet on December 12 to decide on a new party leader and prime minister - and he backs his deputy, Bill English, for the role. The shock news sent the New Zealand dollar falling by nearly 1%. Mr Key, a successful currency dealer before he became a politician in 2002, enjoyed a quick rise, becoming leader of his centre-right opposition party in 2006, then winning his first general election to become prime minister in 2008. He won subsequent elections in 2011 and 2014 and retained remarkably high popularity ratings. His party was a clear favourite to win again at next year's election, at least until his announcement. Mr Key said steering the country of 4.7 million through the economic crisis of 2008 and on to relative economic success was a proud accomplishment. He also talked about the importance of standing beside the people of Christchurch after an earthquake in 2011 killed 185 people. "Simply put, it has, for me, been the most remarkable, satisfying and exciting time of my life," he said. "But despite the amazing career I have had in politics, I have never seen myself as a career politician. I have certainly never wanted my success in politics to be measured by how long I spent in parliament." But Mr Key said the role came with costs. "For my wife Bronagh, there have been many nights and weekends spent alone, many occasions that were important to her that I simply could not attend," he said. "My daughter Stephie and my son Max have transitioned from teenagers to young adults while coping with an extraordinary level of intrusion and pressure because of their father's job." He said he was not sure what life after politics would bring, other than he would probably take up positions on a couple of boards. He said he would remain on as an MP long enough that he wouldn't force a special election ahead of next year's general election. "All I can say is that I gave it everything I had," he said. "I have left nothing in the tank." AP A woman lights a candle at a sidewalk memorial near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson The confirmed death toll from a blaze that engulfed a converted warehouse during a weekend dance party in Oakland, California, rose to 36 on Monday, the greatest loss of life from a U.S. fire in over a decade.. What sparked the fire, which erupted late on Friday in a sprawling two-story building that housed an artists' collective, has yet to be determined, but authorities were believed to be examining possible safety violations at the site, which was already investigation for reports of illegal construction. Investigators from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives identified an "area of interest" on the ground floor that was still out of reach, according to Sergeant Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. He declined to elaborate, though authorities said their first priority remained the recovery of victims and support for their loved ones. "We are no closer to finding the cause, and we absolutely believe that the number of fire fatalities will increase," Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton told a news conference at the site. Authorities have said arson was not immediately suspected. But a team of criminal investigators from the Alameda County District Attorney's Office has been activated, and prosecutors are monitoring the recovery process, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said on Sunday. The nature of the fire has raised questions about whether building code violations might have been a factor. City officials have said the warehouse, known locally as the Ghost Ship, was under scrutiny for complaints of illegal construction inside, and that an inspector visited the property on Nov. 17. 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 A woman lights a candle at a sidewalk memorial near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson A sidewalk memorial is seen near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson A sidewalk memorial is seen near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson People view a sidewalk memorial near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson People view a sidewalk memorial near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson A sidewalk memorial is seen near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson A sidewalk memorial is seen near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson A man lights a candle at a sidewalk memorial near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson A sidewalk memorial is seen near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson A sidewalk memorial is seen near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson A sidewalk memorial is seen near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson Firefighters work inside the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson A sidewalk memorial is seen near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES A sidewalk memorial is seen near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson Janet Lino, 35, who lives in the neighborhood, looks at a sidewalk memorial near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson A sidewalk memorial is seen near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson A sidewalk memorial is seen near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson Janet Lino, 35, who lives in the neighborhood, looks at a sidewalk memorial near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson Rashedah Muhammad, 40, writes a dedication at a sidewalk memorial near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson A sidewalk memorial is seen near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson Danielle Boudreaux, 40, who knew Derick Ion Almena and his children and went to the Ghost Ship many times, cries at a sidewalk memorial near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson A firefighter picks up a fallen bottle of whiskey at a sidewalk memorial near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson Firefighters work outside the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson Firefighters work outside the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson Danielle Boudreaux, 40, who knew Derick Ion Almena and his children and went to the Ghost Ship many times, cries at a sidewalk memorial near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson Danielle Boudreaux, 40, who knew Derick Ion Almena and his children and went to the Ghost Ship many times, cries a sidewalk memorial near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A woman lights a candle at a sidewalk memorial near the burned warehouse following the fatal fire in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California, U.S. December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson Read More Municipal authorities also cited reports that people were living in the structure even though it was not permitted for residential use. A number of individuals who had been inside the warehouse described it as a potential fire trap. The first floor of the building, which housed a group of artists who called themselves the Satya Yuga Collective, was a cluttered warren of partitioned studio spaces and rooms crammed with furniture, musical instruments, antiques, sculptures, wall-hangings and rugs, according to photos posted on social media before the fire and accounts of survivors and city officials. Two recreational vehicles believed to have been used as living quarters and work space was found parked on the ground floor inside, Kelly said. The dance party was held on the second floor, which partially collapsed when the roof gave way in the fire. The building lacked sprinklers or smoke detectors, and a makeshift stairway between the first and second floors was at least partly constructed from wooden pallets, officials said. The 10,000-square-foot structure, which occupied about half a city block, had just two exterior doorways. The recovery of three more bodies from the charred ruins brought the official fatality count to three dozen, a tally that made it the deadliest blaze in the United States since 100 people perished in a 2003 nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island. About 70 percent of the Oakland site had been searched by the time recovery crews suspended operations in the early morning hours due to a wobbly exterior wall, but their work resumed at about 9 a.m. local time. As of Monday morning, 11 of the dead had been identified, police said. Read More Most victims were in their 20s and 30s, though some were teenagers, officials said. According to Kelly, the warehouse was known as a "safe-place" haven for young members of the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Some victims were from other parts of the country or overseas, including an unspecified number from South Korea, Finland and South America, Kelly said. With many of the dead burned beyond recognition, families were asked to preserve items that might contain their DNA to help identification. Kelly said some had died from smoke inhalation. Officials were unsure how many people were present when the fire erupted. One survivor has estimated 60 to 70 were inside at the time. The warehouse was one of many converted lofts on the east end of San Francisco Bay in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood, a mostly Latino district where rents are generally lower than in the rest of city. Survivors recounted fast-spreading flames and smoke that quickly filled the interior, blinding occupants trying to flee. Chris Nechodom, 30, said he was on the ground floor when he saw flames race across the ceiling. As he fled, he heard a loud noise and saw a plume of thick black smoke. "It blew out maybe 10 feet out of the entrance," Nechodom said. "After that, I saw a few more people crawl out." Police will use body camera footage from first responders, emergency calls and other information to help determine the cause of the fire and whether criminal charges should be filed. Exhaustion has taken its toll on fire crews who have worked around the clock. One of those killed was the son of a sheriff's deputy, Kelly said. "This tragedy has hit very close to home," he said. A woman cries at the scene of the warehouse fire in Oakland, California Photo: AP The death toll in the California dance party blaze could soar to 50 as recovery teams confirmed they had found 24 bodies in the charred ruins but were expecting to locate many more. Sergeant Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, said two dozen bodies were located as authorities sifted through the debris-filled shell of the two-storey warehouse building, which was used by an artists' collective. Expand Close Flames rise from the building as fire brigade units struggle to bring it under control Photo: Reuters / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Flames rise from the building as fire brigade units struggle to bring it under control Photo: Reuters He said the death toll would rise in what fire officials called the deadliest blaze in the city's history. He said the names of the victims would be released after families were notified. "In regards to the amount of people that are still missing, yes, it's a significant number, Sgt Kelly said. "We've given you a number of 24," he said, referring to the dead. "That number will go up." Authorities had said on Saturday that about 25 people were believed to be missing. Expand Close Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed speaks to the media Photo: AP / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed speaks to the media Photo: AP Melinda Drayton, battalion chief at the Oakland Fire Department, said the 24 bodies had been found in a search of just 20pc of the building. She said the origin of the fire had yet to be determined and the cause was still unknown. The recovery operation had been delayed for hours until workers could enter safely. The roof had collapsed onto the second floor and in some spots, the second storey had fallen onto the first. Firefighters had gone through the building searching the debris "bucket by bucket", Ms Drayton said. "It was quiet, it was heartbreaking," she said, referring to the search. "This will be a long and arduous process." Expand Close Flowers at the scene Photo: AP / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Flowers at the scene Photo: AP The warehouse, which served as a base for the Ghost Ship Artists' Collective, was one of many converted lofts in the city's Fruitvale district, a mostly Latino area where rents are generally lower than in the rest of Oakland. Many of the victims were believed to be in their 20s and 30s, and the fire sent ripples of anxiety through the Bay Area's large art and music community. "I am still in disbelief, but I hope my friends who were in the Oakland Ghost Ship fire and are still unaccounted for are OK," Joanna Blanche Lioce, a bartender at Bottom of the Hill, a popular music venue in San Francisco, said on Facebook. The fire erupted at about 11.30pm local time on Friday during the party featuring electronic dance music that dozens of people attended. Police started searching outside of the fire scene in an effort to identify victims, focusing on cars parked near the venue that might belong to those who attended the party, Oakland Police Department spokeswoman Johnna Watson said. "Last night, Oakland police officers did what we call an area-wide search," she said. "They looked at all of the parked vehicles, gathered licence plate numbers for any of the victims that may have driven to this location." Authorities said they did not suspect arson, but investigators wanted to find out if the building, which was partitioned into artists' studios, had a history of code violations. The party was taking place on the second floor of the building, which had just two exits, officials said. There was no evidence of any smoke detectors or sprinklers, they said. The city had received complaints about construction without permits at the building and opened an investigation, but an inspector failed to gain access on November 7, and the inquiry remained open, said Darin Ranelletti, the city's buildings and planning chief. Mayor Libby Schaaf said the building was designated for use as a warehouse only. Mr Ranelletti said the city was aware of reports that people were living there, but no permits had been issued for that purpose. It was unclear, he said, whether special permits would be needed for the artists who had worked inside. Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is confident US president-elect Donald Trump will soon realise the high level of responsibility his job entails. Despite Mr Trump's pro-Russian statements during the campaign, Russian politicians were concerned about reports that Mr Trump was considering Mitt Romney, known for his harsh stance on Russia, to be his secretary of state. Mr Putin said in an interview with the NTV channel he was confident Mr Trump would make responsible choices. He said that Mr Trump's business accomplishments showed him to be a "smart man". "If he is a smart man, that means that he will fairly soon become aware of a different level of responsibility. We expect that he act with these considerations in mind," Mr Putin said. Trump has already widened his search for a secretary of state, suggesting Romney or the other front-runner Rudy Giuliani may not get the job. Speaking to reporters yesterday at Trump Tower in New York, which the billionaire developer turned politician has used as the centre of his transition effort, senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said Trump planned to hold more meetings this week with candidates for the job. She declined to name any new hopefuls. "It's true he's broadened the search," Conway said as guards and police screened those entering the building and tourists milled about. "He's very fortunate to have interest among serious men and women, all of whom need to understand that their first and foremost responsibility as secretary of state would be to implement and adhere to the president-elect's America first foreign policy and be loyal to his view of the world." Sources close to the transition said Trump had grown wary of former New York mayor Giuliani's international business ties and public campaigning for the job. At the same time, it was understood Trump was wary of angering supporters by tapping Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who called him a "fraud" and a "conman" months ago. Conway, who managed Trump's campaign, said in late November on NBC's 'Meet the Press' that she was "just astonished at the breathtaking volume and intensity of blowback that I see" against the possibility of Romney serving as the nation's top diplomat. Others in Trump's inner circle, including incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, had been said to be pushing for consideration of Romney. Vice-president-elect Mike Pence, on NBC's 'Meet the Press', said Trump had been winnowing the list of contenders to be the top US diplomat, but that the field could also "grow a little bit". Mr Pence also tried to calm the storm that erupted over Trump's phone conversation with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday, which prompted a diplomatic protest from China. "I don't think so," Pence said when asked whether any shift in policy should be read into the call - was the first by a US president-elect or president with a Taiwanese leader since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979. "This was a courtesy call. The democratically elected president of Taiwan called to congratulate the president-elect," Pence said. China's Foreign Ministry said it had lodged "stern representations" with what it called the "relevant US side", urging the careful handling of the Taiwan issue to avoid any unnecessary disturbances in ties. Pence said he was not aware of any contact between the Trump transition team and the Chinese government since Friday, and did not expect Trump's team would reach out this week to ease tensions with China, which claims Taiwan as its own. Trump lambasted China throughout the US election campaign, pledging to label the country a currency manipulator on his first day in office. Transcription 1 Violence, Sexuality and Gender Issues Affecting Children in Guyana A Joint Submission to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 149 th Ordinary Period of Sessions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights October 28, 2013, Washington DC Submitted by: Red Thread Artistes In Direct Support (A.I.D.S.) Family Awareness Consciousness Togetherness (FACT) Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) 2 Table of Contents Acronyms 2 Executive Summary 3 Introduction 4 Substantive Issues 1. Corporal Punishment 5 2. Discrimination and Abuse based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity 7 3. Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Schools 9 Proposed Recommendations to the Government of Guyana 12 Appendix 13 References 14 1 P a g e 3 ACRONYMS A.I.D.S. BBSS BoS CARICOM CCPA CSO FACT HFLE LAC LGBT MOE MOH MOLHS&SS NGO SASOD SOGI STIs UNICEF Artistes In Direct Support Biological Behavioural Surveillance Survey Guyana Bureau of Statistics Caribbean Community Child Care Protection Agency Civil Society Organization Family Awareness Consciousness Togetherness Health and Family Life Education Latin America and the Caribbean Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Ministry of Education Ministry of Health Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security Non-Governmental Organisation Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Sexually Transmitted Infections United Nations Children s Emergency Fund 2 P a g e 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Many Guyanese children face a wide range of challenges such as poverty, violence, and lack of support from family and teachers, who have little understanding of the problems affecting them and often do not possess the skills to empower, but rather shun them when they seek support and guidance. When children encounter sexuality and gender issues, the responses they receive from adults are often punitive, rather than educational. Punitive responses to children are often in the form of corporal punishment both in the school and home. Many children therefore grapple alone with these issues without adequate and appropriate support. The responses to sexuality and gender issues affecting children are severely inhibited, which stems from cultural norms and attitudes which further weaken the support to children and youth specifically when it conflicts with norms and expectations of society. There is too little in place structurally to address the need to provide information and support to children and youth who are grappling with questions and prejudices about sexuality and gender. Civil society organisations (CSOs) continue to advocate for the rights of all children and youth, and often provide refuge, in lieu of state protection, for children facing abuse, even with their very limited resources. But in some instances, CSOs are not well equipped to deal with sexuality and gender issues affecting children. The result is very little support is available to children in this regard. Guyana has constitutional recognition of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. Specifically within the laws of Guyana, which serve and protect children are: 1. The Sexual Offences Act 2. Protection of Children Act 3. Education Act Though laws exist to protect children, they are not adequately enforced. 3 P a g e 5 INTRODUCTION Guyana is divided into 10 administrative regions. Research for the purposes of this submission was conducted in three coastal areas, Regions 3, 4 and 6, which cover more than 71% of the population. According to the 2002 Census of the Guyana Bureau of Statistics (BoS), both the absolute and percentage distribution of dependent children and youths were 264,096 (69 percent), aged 0-14 years and 118,552 (31 percent), aged years respectively. Dependent children and youth account for a combined percentage of 50.9 of the total population size, This submission on Violence, Sexuality and Gender Issues Affecting Children in Guyana is presented to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights during its 149 th Ordinary Period of Sessions on October 28, 2013 by Red Thread, Artistes In Direct Support (A.I.D.S.), Family Awareness Consciousness Togetherness (FACT) and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD). This report focuses on three substantive issues: 1) Corporal punishment; 2) Discrimination and abuse based on sexual orientation & gender identity; and 3) Comprehensive sexuality education in schools. There is a paucity of empirical information on these issues in Guyana. Because there are a limited number of major studies, our joint submission is based mostly on small surveys and focus groups conducted, as well as incident reports and anecdotal evidence reaching the four organisations which have been in existence for over 25 years, working on these intersectional, rights issues across Guyana. 4 P a g e 6 SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES (i) Corporal Punishment The dominant narrative on corporal punishment is that children are out of control and teachers need the whip to regain and/or maintain control of and exercise authority over them. Notwithstanding the Ministry of Education s guidelines on maintaining order (see Appendix), which speak to the regulated and documented use of corporal punishment in schools as a last resort, the use of corporal punishment in schools is commonplace, to the extent that teachers appear not to recognize when they are using this form of abuse on the children in their care. Additionally, the very fact of allowing regulated and documented use of corporal punishment gives teachers permission to use it. It s not wrong; it s just to be done only by higher ups. Thus children, too, often see this violence as necessary to make them behave. The study, Voices of Children: Experiences with Violence, 1 documents the following views of children: Responding to the question whether it was acceptable for teachers to beat them if they did something wrong, 73 77% of primary school children agreed (with no difference between boys and girls) and 50 63% of secondary school children and youth agreed or strongly agreed. 2 Other quotes from the interviews include: 7-9 year old girl: If the teacher doesn t beat them (the students) they would do the same thing year old: There is no other way to discipline children. 4 In some cases, children, by saying that teachers use corporal punishment unfairly or in the wrong situations, are implying that corporal punishment is not in itself wrong. For example: year old: Teachers beat wrongfully like if they give you homework and you don t understand what to do they wouldn t take the time to explain but instead beat when it s not finished year old boy responding to why they might be beaten by the teacher: When I m not writing fast year old girl, responding to the same question: Because you behave badly you not learning to spell. 6 The children interviewed reported that: Corporal punishment is administered more often by teachers in the classroom than by the heads of schools. In many instances, teachers have small whips which they keep on their desk. These are used to threaten, to lightly tap in warning and to actually beat hard enough to cause pain. Children in many schools described teachers administering corporal punishment very 1 Cabral, C. and Speek-Warnery, V (eds) (2004) Voices of Children: Experiences with Violence Report produced for Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Red Thread and UNICEF-Guyana 2 Ibid 3 Ibid 4 Ibid 5 Ibid 6 Ibid 5 P a g e 7 casually, giving children a quick lash to the back or arm or even a slap to the head as they walked around the class. 7 Children have suffered injuries as a result of teachers violence newspaper reports of dislocated shoulders, fractures and marks left on children have only served to intensify the chorus that children are out of control and that teachers need protection. In several public consultations which have been held by state agencies with responsibility for child rights, most recently, in 2012 by the Ministry of Education, the majority of parents hold the view that corporal punishment is a necessary part of the education system. For the second time, in 2012, the Parliament appointed a select committee to receive submissions on the issue, but the committee has not yet reported back to Parliament. The government can be seen to be pandering to the misguided view that discipline is equivalent to punishment, rather than honouring the state s obligation to put the best interest of children first. Photos showing damage to the hand of a six year old boy after he was beaten in his palm for not writing (Source: Red Thread, Linden, Region 10, March 2012) 7 Cabral, C. and Speek-Warnery, V (eds) (2004) Voices of Children: Experiences with Violence Report produced for Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Red Thread and UNICEF-Guyana 6 P a g e 8 (ii) Discrimination and Abuse based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Children who are seen to be outside gender norms are often labeled as different because of their real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. They face discrimination and abuse in the home, school system and their communities. In schools, there is little or no support for children who fall into this group. 8 Students face discrimination and are targeted not only by their peers but sometimes by teachers, whose personal views may be homophobic. 9 Some LGBT students reported being harassed by their peers and when they approached their teachers for support, they were punished because of their assumed or actual sexual orientation or gender identity, instead of the offenders. 10 Further, there have been reported cases where if a child is identified as gay, whether real or perceived, that child is neglected, or sometimes verbally abused by the teacher in the presence of other students, with derogatory remarks. 11 One LGBT youth reported having been continuously verbally abused and harassed by his teacher, stating that at one point he could not take it anymore and engaged in pushing her physically as a result of his frustration. 12 When asked why he did not complain, he responded by saying that nothing would have been done, so he did what he felt would stop the abuse. Further, this child was placed before the court system where he was met with punishment. The teacher was never reprimanded for his/her actions towards the child. 13 Most instances of abuse perpetuated against children because of their assumed sexual orientation and gender identity are unreported and undocumented both because there are no actual or known systems in place to treat these issues and because of the associated discrimination. SASOD was contacted when a gay 13-year old boy was thrown out of his home and threatened with a cutlass by his father that he would be killed because he appeared to be gay. Afraid, alone and helpless, he sought refuge with older peers, who introduced him to the sex trade so that he could earn money to provide for his basic needs of food, clothing and shelter for himself. 14 The matter was reported to the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) which falls under the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security. CCPA intervened and placed the child with his grandmother, where the father had continued access to him, and was able to continue the abuse and harassment. There was no legal intervention with the boy s father who threatened his son with deadly violence. The state has no effective systems in place to deal with these kinds of issues where children are violently abused because of their SOGI, whether real or perceived, by their families, teachers, caregivers or persons who are responsible for their wellbeing and safety. 8 Anonymous Interview with Teacher in Region 3, November Focus Group Discussions held with LGBT Youth in Regions 3, 4 and 6, November Ibid 11 Ibid 12 Focus Group Discussion with LGBT Youth in Region 4, Ibid 14 Report was made to SASOD, who investigated and followed up with the Child Care Protection Agency, July P a g e 9 Another LGBT youth shared that he dropped out of school because of fear of being continuously harassed and discriminated against in school for being perceived as gay 15 whilst others have indicated a decreased interest in school and absenteeism due to struggles with harassment and discrimination. 16 This contradicts the efforts of the Ministry of Education which is working on reducing the rate of school drop outs, especially among boys. In another instance, a young girl experienced discrimination based on her perceived sexual orientation and gender expression. 17 Currently 20 years old, at the age of 18 years she was told to leave the Drop-In Centre in Georgetown a local state-run facility for orphans and homeless children. She was living there since she was 14 years. Both of her parents died when she was younger. In an interview for this submission, she revealed that she was discriminated against by state officials, because of her masculine appearance and lesbian identity. She was forced to leave the institution and live with her sister who was in an abusive relationship with a male partner. She was also forced to discontinue schooling in order to work and provide for herself. Additionally, FACT was contacted when a thirteen-year old girl, who was attending school in the city in Region 4, was perceived by her teachers and schoolmates as a lesbian. She experienced discrimination at school and the teachers believed she was a bad influence on her peers. Her mother thought it was best to send her away to live with an aunt in Region 6. Feeling rejected, the girl, an aspiring artist who dreamed of attending Burrowes School of Art in Georgetown, completed her years at school unhappily. She did not have the resources in Region 6 to train as an artist. Her mother did not want her to return home because she had two younger sisters, and her mother did not want them to be influenced by her. Suffering from continuous rejection and discrimination, she was forced to settle for working as a bartender after finishing school, because her family did not support her dreams of returning to Georgetown. In this instance both the school system and her family failed her Focus Group discussion, LGBT Youth, November 2012, Region 6 16 Focus Group Discussion, LGBT Youth, November 2012, Regions 3, 4 and 6 17 Anonymous Interview, November 2012, Region 4 18 Interview with LGBT Youth in Region 6, FACT 8 P a g e 10 (iii) Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Schools Guyana subscribed to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) programme in However, for some years little progress had been made in its implementation through the school system and Guyana was lagging way behind the rest of the Caribbean. In 2010, the Ministry of Education, having recognised an increase in violence in some secondary schools, and other problems such as teenage pregnancy and drug abuse, implemented the HFLE programme as a timetabled subject in schools. 19 Interviews were conducted with 5 schools in Region 4 where the HFLE programme is said to be executed. One student from a high school indicated that children were skipping the classes because they were boring. The challenge is that the teachers were told to try to incorporate the HFLE programme in their other subjects, so it is not done as a separate, timetabled subject in most schools as indicated by the Ministry of Education. 20 Further, NGOs working along with the teachers to implement the HFLE Programme in schools found that the teachers were not only behind in the rollout of the HFLE manual, but they were also selecting certain exercises to conduct, rather than following the format of the manual and how they were trained to execute them. 21 It is important to follow the format, because the exercises build on and flow into each other. NGOs have also reported that children were more comfortable discussing sexual issues and issues of abuse with NGO staffers, rather than their teachers. 22 In Region 6, four schools were interviewed with teachers responses varying. One school indicated that they were not executing the HFLE programme because of time restraints on the children s schedule. Another responded that the teacher who conducted the programme had migrated, and they have no other trained teacher. According to the third school, the HFLE programme is carried out during the Guidance period, but not consistently. The final school replied that the program is being carried out, but the children are not attentive; they display no interest. 23 On a check with Cyril Potter College (the national teachers training college), it was revealed that the HFLE programme is still being taught, but mainly to teachers who teach Social Studies. The teachers have indicated that they are finding it difficult to do the extra work. The Head of Cyril Potter also indicated that the Ministry of Education was recently doing checks in some schools to see if the HFLE programme was being done, but did not share their findings with the College. 24 Under the CARICOM HFLE Regional Curriculum Framework for ages 9 14 years, one of the key ideas is the expression of sexuality, encompassing physical, emotional and psychological components including issues relating to gender. Under the sexuality and sexual health theme, the regional standard aims to demonstrate an understanding that the concept of human sexuality as expressed throughout the life 19 HFLE Curriculum, Ministry of Education, 2010, page 4 20 Interviews conducted in Region 4, A.I.D.S. 21 Ibid 22 Ibid 23 Interviews conducted in Region 6, FACT 24 Interviews conducted in Region 4, A.I.D.S. 9 P a g e 11 cycle is an integral part of every individual. (Education Development Centre; UNICEF, 2008) This standard refers to understanding the difference between sex and sexuality, gender, and developing positive attitudes about self and evolving sexuality, with one of the key skills being healthy selfmanagement and self-awareness. On critical review, it is evident that the curriculum takes a heterosexist approach, negating the existence of different sexual orientations and gender identities Both the Framework for the Development of Health and Family Life Education Curricula in Schools of CARICOM Member States; Health and Family Life Education, Regional Curriculum Framework for Ages 9-14 years, 2010 and the Mexico City Ministerial. Declaration Educating to Prevent, a strategic tool to strengthen HIV prevention efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) reflect the policy consensus at the inter-governmental level for the inclusion of information on understanding of diverse sexualities and genders. The current strategy of Guyana s Ministry of Education facilitates teachers addressing this thematic area of the HFLE from a very heterosexist perspective. 25 There are no systems in place for teachers to explore the internal conflicts between their personal and professional values in order to effectively deliver the curriculum and address the needs of all their students, including those who are LGBT, or still discovering their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. 26 Although these policy commitments are made at the regional level, implementation is sorely lagging in Guyana. A local education official reiterated a widely held view, that because of social and cultural taboos, many teachers are not comfortable discussing sex and sexuality issues. 27 Therefore, without proper training, it is evident that all students are not receiving comprehensive sex and sexuality education in schools To date no formal analysis of the HFLE programme has been conducted to evaluate its impact and effectiveness. 28 The lack of comprehensive sexuality education in schools is limiting young people s experience of education in Guyana, and possibly their rights to education and the highest standard of health. Information about health and sexuality is one of the only critical tools that young people have to protect themselves from disease, and to make informed decisions about well-being and sexuality. Information also creates cultural change, and helps to prevent violence and discrimination. Guyana s current HFLE programme takes an abstinence-only approach. The ideology behind the Education Ministry s abstinence-only policy seems to suggest a concern that an abstinence-plus approach to sex(uality) education in Guyana would encourage children to engage in sexual activity. But here the facts reveal that science ought to trump ideology. According to the Guyana Biological Behavioural Surveillance Survey (BBSS) 2008/2009 Report, 27% of in-school youth are sexually active and the average age of sexual debut is 14 years old. 29 Almost a quarter (24%) reported that they 25 Anonymous Interview with Official from the Ministry of Education, November Ibid 27 Ibid 28 Ibid 29 Guyana Biological Behavioural Surveillance Survey(BBSS) 2008/2009, p See: (last accessed Oct. 18, 2013) 10 P a g e 12 have been forced to have sex. 30 Males were asked if they have ever forced someone to have sex and 25% of them admitted that they had. 31 Only almost half (49%) of in-school youth reported always using a condom with regular non-transactional sex partners while 39% said they always used condoms with transactional sex partners (i.e. partners with whom they exchanged sex for money, gifts or favours). 32 The Ministry of Health conducts some health educational activities in schools, along with a number of NGOs that work with youth on health issues. However, NGOs cannot provide ample information to students because if found in breach of the Ministry of Education s abstinence-only policy, NGO workers face removal from the school system and are denied access to students Anonymous Interview with Official from the Ministry of Education, November Ibid 32 Guyana Biological Behavioural Surveillance Survey(BBSS) 2008/2009, p See: (last accessed Oct. 18, 2013) 33 Anonymous Interview with Official from the Ministry of Education, November P a g e 13 PROPOSED RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT OF GUYANA Corporal Punishment Provide the trained resources in schools to ensure that children with emotional/behavioural issues are given the help that they need. Intensify teacher training in classroom management. Immediately abolish the use of violence in the schools. Discrimination and Abuse based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Educate the Guyana Police Force on enforcing the Protection of Children Act 2009 and other legislation which protects children s rights. Educate the Probation Officers to deal effectively with cases of abuse and review and strengthen the Child Protection Act and national childcare and protection policies to address homophobic and transphobic child abuse. Create and sustain safe space for children who have been turned out from their homes and/or who are victims of all forms of abuse. In this facility, children should have access to food, clothing, schooling and counseling. Implement a mechanism for reporting and redress where teachers who abuse children, including because of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, are held accountable for their behaviour. Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Schools Review the Sex and Sexuality theme in the HFLE curriculum, and incorporate objective information on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) aimed at preventing violence, abuse and discrimination in schools. Include training in the Teachers Training College curriculum on managing conflicting values in the classroom and on understanding of SOGI issues. Undertake and publish an independent evaluation of the current HFLE curriculum and implement recommendations to provide comprehensive sexuality education in schools. Comply with the Educating to Prevent Ministerial Declaration signed in 2008 and provide comprehensive sexuality education in schools. Collaborate with NGOs to roll out the HFLE programme in schools. 12 P a g e 14 APPENDIX Ministry of Education Guidelines on the Administering of Corporal Punishment 34 Corporal punishment must only be administered by the Head Teacher, Deputy Head Teacher, or designated Senior Master/Mistress. It must be restricted to be used in circumstances such as fighting, use of indecent language, gross insubordination. Corporal punishment must only be used in cases of continued display of unacceptable behaviours or in grave circumstances. Learners must not be punished in the presence of other learners. Males should be punished in their hands or on their buttocks while females must be punished in their hands. In administering corporal punishment the Head Teacher must use either a cane or strap no longer than 24 inches. Cases of corporal punishment must be carefully documented in the Misdemeanours Book on the same day the punishment is administered. 34 Guyana Ministry of Education website: (last accessed Oct. 18, 2013) 13 P a g e 15 REFERENCES Cabral, C. and Speek-Warnery, V. Voices of Children: Experiences with Violence Report produced for Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Red Thread and UNICEF-Guyana, Ministry of Education, Health and Family Life Education Curriculum. Guyana, United Nations Children's Emergency Fund, Health and Family Life Education, Regional Curriculum Framework, Age 5-12 years, Version 2.1, Education Development Centre, A Framework for the Development of Health and Family Life Education Curricula in Schools of CARICOM Member States. Health and Family Life Education, Regional Curriculum Framework for Ages 9-14 years, United Nations Population Fund, Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Advancing Human Rights, Gender Equality and Improved Sexual and Reproductive Health, Laws of Guyana, Protection of Children Act 2009 Mexico City Ministerial Declaration Educating to Prevent P a g e Rescue teams work at the site where two trains collided near Bad Aibling, Germany (AP) A train dispatcher has been convicted of negligent homicide and bodily harm over his role in the fatal collision of two commuter trains in southern Germany earlier this year. He has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison over the incident, which left 12 people dead and nearly 90 injured. The dispatcher, identified only as Michael P in line with German privacy laws, has admitted playing a game on his phone shortly before the two trains he was in charge of collided on a single-track line on February 9 near Bad Aibling, about 40 miles south-east of Munich. He then set signals incorrectly and hit the wrong button while trying to alert the train drivers. "His thoughts were fixated on this game," presiding Judge Erich Fuchs said as he delivered the ruling at the state court in Traunstein, news agency dpa reported. "He had no resources left over for operational procedures." Judge Fuchs added that the defendant was not a bad person "but first and foremost became a victim of his own passion for games". Prosecutors sought a four-year sentence, while the defence called for two years at most. The court cited as an aggravating factor the fact that the defendant had been playing games during working hours in the weeks running up to the crash, with increasing intensity. AP The Kannapolis City Schools Board of Education seeks input on proposed new elementary attendance zones. Board members are expected to vote on the new attendance boundaries during their regular meeting Monday, Dec. 12. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the Kannapolis City Schools board room, 100 Denver St. The new attendance zones are needed because KCS will add a new elementary school in August of 2017. Starting next August, Kannapolis Intermediate School will be converted into G.W. Carver Elementary and will become the districts sixth elementary school. The proposed map shows the attendance zone for G.W. Carver Elementary, with students living within the central outlined area to attend the new school beginning in August 2017. A full sized copy of the map will be available inside each elementary school office where families can view the proposed attendance lines in detail. Those maps will be posted beginning Monday, Dec. 5. A preliminary version of the map was presented to families on Sept. 19 during a district-wide parent meeting, and KCS leaders shared the map at fall PTO meetings held at each elementary school. The final version of the map will be posted inside elementary school offices beginning Dec. 5. Families wishing to offer any additional feedback about the proposed boundary lines should contact school board members prior to Monday, Dec. 12. Board members names and contact information are available online at www.kcs.k12.nc.us/departments/board_of_education. When G.W. Carver Elementary opens next August, it will offer an A+ Arts magnet program. G.W. Carver will become one of two magnet schools opening next August in KCS. Fred L. Wilson Elementary will become the other magnet school. It will offer a Global Studies program as well as a Spanish Language Immersion program. More details about all the magnet programs are available online at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6IS8mj9YgtuVXhkU0h6SVEwRTg/view. Families that live within the G.W. Carver and Fred L. Wilson attendance zones will automatically attend those schools. Families of elementary students that live outside the G.W. Carver and Fred L. Wilson attendance areas may apply to attend those schools beginning in January. More information about the application timeline is available online at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6IS8mj9YgtuVXhkU0h6SVEwRTg/view. SALISBURY- A Salisbury man was arrested in Washington D.C. this weekend after police said a fake news story prompted him to fire a rifle inside a popular pizza restaurant. Our news partner WSOC-TV reported that Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, of Salisbury was arrested at Comet Ping Pong on Connecticut Avenue in Washington D.C. on Sunday, Dec. 4 after he attempted to self-investigate a conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton was running a child sex ring there. According to WSOC-TV, police said Welch told them he had come to the restaurant to self-investigate the online conspiracy theory that spread during Clintons campaign. When he arrived, he walked into the front door and pointed the gun at an employee who fled and contacted police, authorities said. Welch then fired the rifle inside the restaurant with rounds hitting the walls, door and a computer. Welch was arrested safely after authorities set up a perimeter around the restaurant. He has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. WSOC-TV reported police recovered a Colt .38 handgun, a shotgun, an AR-15 rifle and a folding knife from Welch. New Income Tax Reporting Rules to Curb Unaccounted Cash The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) recently amended certain income tax rules to track the money deposited into bank and post office accounts post the governments move to demonetize high-value currency. The CBDT has modified Rule 114E of the Income-tax Rules, 1962, under which specified persons under section 285BA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, have to report high-value financial transactions. These specified persons include banks, mutual funds, institutions issuing bonds, and registrars or sub-registrars. They are required to file the Annual Information Report (AIR), containing the details of their high-value transactions, by May 31 of the following year. Considering the current demonetization, Rule 114E has been amended with effect from November 15 such that cash deposits made during the period from November 9, 2016 to December 30, 2016 aggregating to US$ 3662.71 (Rs 250,000) or more in one or more accounts (other than a current account) of a person shall be reported by a bank and post office. Besides that, reports related to cash deposits during the aforementioned period will need to be provided by banks and post offices by January 31, 2017, instead of the usual AIR filing date, which is May 2017. The government has also amended rules related to mentioning the permanent account number (PAN) while depositing cash; individuals have to mention their PAN if their deposits exceed US$ 732.54 (Rs 50,000) in a day or US$ 3662.71 (Rs 250,000) in aggregate, during the period November 9, 2016 to December 30, 2016. Government Announces No Tax on Gold Bought from Legal Income or Inherited The finance ministry announced on December 1 that no tax will be imposed on jewelry or gold purchased out of disclosed income. Nor will it be the case if the jewelry or gold is purchased out of exempted income like agricultural income or out of reasonable household savings or if it is legally inherited. Furthermore, the Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016 has no new provision for levying tax on jewelry. The government also communicated that while the existing rules will continue to apply during search operations, there will be no seizure of gold or jewelry assets to the extent of 500 grams per married woman, 250 grams per unmarried woman, and 100 grams per male member of the family. Finally, legitimate holding of jewelry up to any extent will remain fully protected. India, Qatar Sign Five Cooperative Pacts, Negotiate e-Visas for Indian Businessmen Five agreements were signed between India and Qatar on December 3 on the occasion of Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thanis visit to India. These collectively seek to enhance bilateral relations across economic, political, and security concerns. Notable among the agreements is an MoU between Qatars Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) that will provide the legal framework for project experts of Indian companies in Qatar, particularly in the infrastructure sector. Additionally, PM Thani also announced the establishment of the Qatar-India Business Council for the private sector so as to promote trade and investment relations between the two countries. Other initiatives by Qatar to strengthen its business environment include easing of work visa procedures and the granting of tourist visas to nationals of an expanded number of countries including India. Towards this, a Letter of Intent was inked between the Minister of State in the External Affairs Ministry M.J. Akbar and Qatars Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al-Emadi regarding negotiations on an agreement granting e-Visa for Indian businessmen and tourists. Lastly, in the sector of ports management, the Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) and the Indian Ports Global Private Limited signed an MoU to facilitate greater collaboration. About Us Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email india@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight. An Introduction to Doing Business in India 2016 Doing Business in India 2016 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in India. As such, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Indian market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to stay up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes. Pre-Investment Due Diligence in India In this issue of India Briefing Magazine, we examine issues related to pre-investment due diligence in India. We highlight the different regulatory, tax, and socio-economic issues that a company should be aware of before entering the Indian market. We also detail some of the topics related to entry structures while investing in the Indian market, as well as cultural and HR due diligence, which may differ from state to state. Strategies for Repatriating Funds from India In this issue of India Briefing Magazine, we look at issues related to repatriating funds from India. We highlight the unique regulations for sending funds back from India, examine the various strategies companies can make use of while repatriating, and look at remittance procedures for different types of Indian entities. Finally, we give some tips on how expats can remit their Indian money to their home countries. Transcription 1 Washington University Law Review Volume 6 Issue 2 January 1921 Constitutional Limitations on Municipal Taxation in Missouri: A Judicial Struggle Thomas K. Skinker Follow this and additional works at: Part of the Constitutional Law Commons Recommended Citation Thomas K. Skinker, Constitutional Limitations on Municipal Taxation in Missouri: A Judicial Struggle, 6 St. Louis L. Rev. 061 (1921). Available at: This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington University Law Review by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact 2 ST. LOUIS LAW REVIEW vol, vi Published by the Undergraduates of the Washington University School of Law No. 2 CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS ON MUNICIPAL TAXATION IN MISSOURI A JUDICIAL STRUGGLE. A goodly number of the best lawyers in Missouri sat in the Convention which framed the Constitution of Yet their work, like the Will of that other great lawyer, Samuel J. Tilden, has been found not to be flawless. In particular, two Sections of Article Ten have given the courts no end of trouble. They both relate to Municipal Taxation. Section 11 classified the counties, cities and towns of the Statethe counties, according to the amount of taxable property in each; the cities and towns according to the number of inhabitants in each; and it provided what should be the maximum rate of taxation allowable for county, city, town and school purposes, in the several municipalities, in each of these classes, and in school districts. Section 12 regulated these municipalities in the matter of incurring debts, and provided for the levying of a tax to pay the interest and principal of every such debt. The question that long troubled the courts was whether the tax provided in Section 11 was the only tax that could be levied for municipal purposes, or whether an additional tax might be levied to pay debts. Washington University Open Scholarship 3 ST. LOUIS LAW REVIEW As to counties, the provision of Section 11 is: For county purposes, the annual rate on the property in counties having $6,000,000 or less, shall not in the aggregate exceed 50c on the $100 valuation; in counties having $6,000,000 and under $10,000,000, said rate shall not exceed 40c on the $100 valuation; in counties having $10,000,000, and under $30,000,000, said rate shall not exceed 50c on the $100 valuation, and in counties having $30,000,000 or more, said rate shall not exceed 35c on the $100 valuation. As to cities and towns, the provision of Section 11 was that: For city and town purposes, the annual rate on property in cities and towns having 30,000 inhabitants or more, shall not, -in the aggregate, exceed 100 cents on the $100 valuation; in cities and towns having less than 30,000, and over 10,000 inhabitants, shall not exceed 60c on the $100 valuation; in cities and towns having less than 10,000 and more than 1,000 inhabitants, said rate shall not exceed 50c on the 100 valuation; and in towns having 1,000 inhabitants or less, said rate shall not exceed 25c on the $100 valuation. As to school districts, provision was also made for a maximum rate, which however, might be increased upon a vote of the people. The Section closed with these words: Said restrictions as to rates shall apply to taxes of every kind and description, whether general or special, except taxes to pay valid indebtedness now existing or bonds which may be issued on renewal of such indebtedness. Section 12 provided that no municipality should be allowed to become indebted, in any sum beyond the income and revenue of the year, without the assent of two-thirds of the qualified voters, and that the amount of indebtedness that might 4 CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS ON MUTTNICIPAL TAXATION 63 be incurred should not in the aggregate exceed "five per centum on the value of the taxable property therein." This section closed with these words: Any county, city, town, township, school district or other political corporation or subdivision of the State incurring any indebtedness requiring the assent of the voters as aforesaid slll, before or at the time of doing so, provide for the collection of an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest on such indebtedness as it falls due, and also to constitute a sinking fund for payment of the principal thereof, within twenty years from the time of contracting the same. In 1890, Columbia was a town of about 6,000 inhabitants. It, therefore, fell into the third class, and under Section 11, had power to levy taxes for town purposes to the amount of 50c on the $100. In that year, after levying a tax of 50c, the Board of town trustees passed, and the citizens at an election duly held, by a two-thirds vote, approved an ordinance providing for the issuance of $45,000 of bonds for water-works and electric light purposes. The ordinance provided for an additional levy each year of 37/2c on the $100, to pay the interest and create a sinking fund to pay the principal of these bonds. The Prosecuting Attorney of Boone County sued out an injunction to prevent the issue of these bonds, alleging as a reason that the tax provided by the ordinance, was a tax over and beyond the rate permitted by the Constitution. The trial Court granted the injunction, and this, on appeal to the Supreme Court, was affirmed. State ex rel Rebinson v. Town of Columbia, 111 Mo The opinion in this case was delivered by Judge Black, who had been a member of the Convention of Construing Section 11, Judge Black said: "The last clause says: 'Said restrictions as to rates shall apply to all taxes of every kind and description, whether general or special.' The tax which the trustees propose to Washington University Open Scholarship 5 ST. LOUIS LAW REVIEW levy to pay the interest on these bonds, and to create a sinking fund is a special tax within the meaning of the clause of Section 11 just quoted. It is, therefore, perfectly clear that the annual tax to pay current expenses and to pay the interest on these bonds, and to create a sinking fund cannot exceed, in the aggregate, fifty cents on the $100 valuation. Now the ordinances in this case contemplate, and indeed, provide that this debt, evidenced by the bonds, shall be paid by a tax additional to the levy of fifty cents on the $100 valuation. To the fifty-cent tax it is proposed to add an interest tax and a sinking-fund tax to pay the bonds, amounting to an annual levy of at least thirty-seven and one-half cents on the $100. As this additional tax is in excess of the constitutional limit it will be illegal, and its collection may be enjoined. Book v. Earl, 87 Mo. 246; Arnold v. Hawkins, 95 Mo. 569; Black v. McGonigle, 103 Mo "Nor is there anything in Section 12 which modifies the result just stated. * * * These two sections relate to the same subject, are consistent with each other, and they must be construed together. They deny to towns like Columbia the power to levy a tax exceeding fifty cents on the $100 valuation for any such purpose as that contemplated by the ordinances in question. As before stated, the tax to pay current expenses and to pay this proposed waterworks and electriclight plant debt must not, in the aggregate, exceed fifty cents on the $100 valuation. The town has no right or power to increase its tax levy beyond that amount for the purpose of building waterworks or lighting the streets and highways. Perhaps the town could pay these bonds out of the fifty-cent tax and the revenue derived from the waterworks, but that fact does not, nor is it claimed that it can, aid the defendants; for the ordinances in question provide for a tax to pay the bonds over and above the fifty-cent annual tax. The town has no power to levy or collect such a tax. "Although the entire indebtedness of the town, including these proposed bonds, does not reach five per cent of the value of the taxable property, still it is proposed to levy a tax exceeding fifty cents on the $100. One constitutional limitahttp://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_lawreview/vol6/iss2/1 6 CONSTITUTION.AL LIMITATION ON i[iu.lcipal TAXATION 65 tion is just as binding as the other. The town will not be tllowed to violate either. Whether the bonds, if is-ued and.old, could or would be held payable out of the fifty-cent tax, and, therefore, valid, is a question not discussed in the briefs nor considered by this court. The bonds should not be issued, under the ordinances in question, because the ordinances provide for their payment by a tax which the con-titution says the town cannot levy." 1 his decision was a staggering blow to the growth of the minor cities. By denying them the power to provide themselves with urban tacilities, at that time becoming usual in miny states, it tended to check the flow of population into titese cities. Per contra, it tended to keep the rural population at home, a beneficent result as we now realize. Perhaps it would have been well if the decision had never been changed. But that was not to be its fate. About the same time that Columbia was planning her improvements, the City of Lamar in Barton County was likewise planning for herself. She was a City of 3,000 inhabitants, was limited by Section 11 to a tax of 50c on the $100, and wished to provide water-works. To that end, the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, in 1890, enacted an ordinance submitting to a vote of the people, the question whether or not the City should enter into a contract for the construction of a system oi water-works. The ordinance provided that the City should rent sixty fire hydrants, for twenty years, at $50 each, per year. To pay these rentals, the ordinance further provided that there should be levied and collected annually, during the twenty-year period, a tax of 40c on the $100 valuation. An election was held, and the people, by a two-thirds vote, gave consent, and the contract was duly entered into. The works were constructed and put into operation, and water was furnished to the City and its inhabitants for several years. During this period, the City, for its general purposes, each year levied a tax of 50c on the $100, and for a time a further tax of 40c, to pay these hydrant rentals. In 1893, the City Washington University Open Scholarship 7 ST. LOUTS LAW REVIEW ceased to levy this latter tax, the rentals went unpaid, and the Water Company sued to recover them. Lamar Water Co. v. City of Lamar, 128 Mo Besides other defenses not necessary to be noticed here, the City set up in this action, that the ordinance and contract on which it was based, were void because the tax to pay the hydrant rentals, was and was intended to be over arid beyond the regular 50c tax, and was therefore beyond the constitutional limit. The ordinance did not state that the water tax was intended to be an additional tax, but it was in fact so intended, and both sides agreed in presenting the case on that theory. The identical question decided in the Columbia case was thus presented for re-examination. The case came up in Division No. 1 of the Supreme Court, and Judge Black delivered the opinion, affirming and elaborating the decision rendered in the Columbia case. (See 128 Mo ). The Water Company filed a motion for re-hearing. This was overruled. But one of the Judges dissented and this gave the Company the right to have the case transferred from the Division to the Court en bane. Here the case was again fully argued, the earlier decision was reversed and the Columbia case was overruled. It thus became established law, that a municipal corporation incurring debt, might levy a tax to pay the debt over and above the tax permitted by Section 11. On behalf of the Water Company, it was contended that this might be done, because: (1) Section 12 requires a sufficient tax to be levied when a municipality incurs debt, and a tax levied under and within the limits of Section 11, will always prove insufficient, when the City undertakes to go in debt, as Section 12 says she may, to the full extent of five per cent of her taxable values. (2) The concurrent expressions of the members of the constitutional Convention, who took part in the debates on the adoption of Sections 11 and 12, show that they understood Section 11 to provide taxation for ordi:mry purposes, and Section 12 to authorize additional 8 CONSTITUTIONAL ITATIONS ON MUNIICIPAL TAXATION 67 taxation to pay debts voted by the people. (3) This was the legislative understanding of the subject: Many statutes pa sed after the adoption of the Constitution and bwore this case was decided, went upon the theory that the entire tax provided by Section 11 was to be used to pay ordinary current expenses, and that an extraordinary tax had to be levied when debt was incurred. In support of the first of these propositions, counsel laid down as indisputable, two others. (a) that the power of permitting the municipalities to incur debt is inherent in the Legislature and is not granted by the Constitution, and that Section 12 operates a limitation upon that power, fixing five per cent as the limit of amount; (b) that the framers of the Constitution must have intended that to this extent the power should be available, whenever there was a legitimate need, and the qualified voters by a two-thirds majority declared in favor of incurring debt. He pointed out that in Missouri, according to the census of 1890, there were three cities of the first class as defined by the Constitution, three of the second class, 129 of the third class and 100 of the fourth class; and that Section 12 applied to all the cities of all these different classes, the one rule of limitation of five per cent of the taxable values; and also declared, as to all alike, that when a debt is incurred provision shall be made for the levy of an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest and discharge the principal within twenty years. He then argued that the framers of the Constitution, in using the term "interest," must have had in mind the rates of interest with which they were familiar. Pointing to numerous statutes of 1875 and prior years, he showed that the rates of interest on municipal debts allowed by law, varied from ten per cent do-n to six per cent, but in no case less than six; and such rates, he said, must have been in the minds of the framers, as rates which the municipalities would be likely to have to pay in the future. He then showed, that since Section 12 required a sinking fund to be provided, sufficient to pay the debt within twenty years, Washington University Open Scholarship 9 68 ST. LOUIS LAW REVEW it would be necessary to collect each year, for the sinking fund, a sum equal to five percent of the debt; so that if the rate of interest should be ten percent, it would be necessary to collect each year, for interest and sinking fund, an amount equal to fifteen percent of the debt, and if the rate should be six percent, an amount equal to eleven percent of the debt, To show that it would not be possible for any County or town and hardly any city in the State to incur debt to the amount oi five per cent of its taxable values, and to pay the debt and interest within twenty years, out of the taxes permitted by Section 11, he constructed a table, in which he classified the counties, cities and towns as they are classified in the Constitution, selecting one of each class as a type and describing it by the amount of its taxable property, as set out in the column headed "Valuation." Under the head "Tax Rate" was indicated the maximum rate leviable under Section 11, in a municipality of that class. Under the head "Amount of tax" was indicated the maximum amount of taxes leviable under Section 11. Under the head "Amount of debt" was indicated the maximum amount of debt that could be incurred under Section 12. Under the head "Interest and Sinking Fund" was indicated the amount that was required to be collected each year, under Section 12, to pay these charges. The table is as follows: Int. 6r/ Int. 10% Sink. Sink. Tax Amount Amount Fund 5% Fund 5% Counties Valuation Rate of tax of Debt Total 11% Total 15% First Cla... $ 5,000,000 50c $ 25,000 $ 250,000 $ 27,500 $ 37,500 Second Class... 8,000,000 40o 32, ,00 44,000 60,000 Third Class... 20,000, ,000 1,000, , ,000 Fourth Class... 50,000,000 35c 175,000 2,500, , CITIES First Class ,000, C 1,000,000 5,000, , ,000 Second Class... 10,000,000 60C 60, ,000 65,000 75,000 Third Class... 2,000,000 60c 10, ,000 11,000 15,000 Fourth Class c ,000 1,100 1,500 This table shows that in every municipality in the State, except cities of the first and second classes, the total tax leviable under Section 11, would be insufficient to pay a five percent cebt bearing six percent interest; and that in cities 10 CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS ON MUNICIPAL TAXATION 69 of the first class only, would the total tax be sufficient to pay a,ive percent debt, bearing ten percent interest. In other words, every county in the State, and nearly every city, if it undertook to avail itself of its constitutional privilege of going in debt to the extent of five percent of its taxable values, would find itself unable to comply with the constitutional injunction to provide a sufficient tax, if the proviion had to be made out of the rate permitted by Section 11. But this is not all. The government of the municipality must be maintained. It is therefore obvious that the whole tax leviable under Section 11 could not be used in the payment of the debt. If it were, Municipal Government would go to pieces. The taxes authorized by Section 11 are intended for ordinary current expenses; and as a rule, it is notorious, they are not more than sufficient for that purpose. It comes to this, then, as counsel argued: Either the whole municipal revenue must be used to pay debt, if the municipality desired or were compelled to incur it, in which event munic~pal government must go to pieces; or else no debt could in,4eneral be incurred, in which event the constitutional guarantee in favor of creating debt up to the five percent limit would fail. It is certain that the framers of the Con-,;titution did not intend that either of these alternatives should Occur. The views of the members of the Constitution of 1875 were ascertained by examination of the manuscript reports of the pro(,eodings of that body. About twenty extracts were quoted, a1nd these showed that the speakers, when discussing Section 11, had in mind only ordinary current expenses, and intended to provide for them, but only within narrow limits. A few allusions made to Section 12 indicated that members understood that the two sections should not interfere with each other, but the consideration of the subject of taxation to pay debt was scant and was not enlightening. As to the Legislation of the fifteen years following 1875, it was shown that it all went on the assumption that no tax lev'alle under Section 11, was intended to pay debt. An act Washington University Open Scholarship 11 ST. LOUIS LAW REVIEW of 1879, (Page 185) expressly called it "The tax for current County Expenditures." And another act of the same year. (Page 191) expressly directed that all such taxes should be divided into five funds, to-wit: Pauper, Road and Bridge, Salary, Jury and Election, and Contingent, and should be used for these purposes and no other, leaving nothing for debt, either previously incurred or thereafter to be incurred. These are the views which finally prevailed. Lamar Water Company v. City of Lamar, 128 Mo After the question was ultimately settled, Judge Brace once said to the writer of this paper: "You are entitled to the credit or the discredit of having overturned the Columbia decision. That little table of figures did the work. This was no doubt true, and this review is written in its present form in order to present this table. The original error of the court was due to the fact that the judges discussed only the language of Sections 11 and 12, and overlooked altogether the figures. In determining the meaning of constitutional provisions, courts rarely have to consider figures. But these sections are unique; they bristle with figures. Argument on the language may lead in either direction. It is the figures which are decisive, and they leave no alternative but to adopt the view which prevailed. Two years later the Lamar case came up on a second appeal, and its principle was reaffirmed, Judge Barclay saying that the former decision ought to be taken as closing the question. But Judges Brace, Macfarlane and Burgess adhered to their dissent. Lamar Water Co. v. City of Lamar, 140 Mo In the meantime, another case had come up and been decided by unanimous vote of Division No. 2, Judge Sherwood delivering the opinion, and holding to the view that the tax to pay debt was independent of the tax leviable under Section 11. Judge Burgess had a chance to adhere to his dissent, but he seems to have overlooked it. 12 CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS ON MUNICIPAL TAXATION 71 Water Company v. City of Aurora, 129 Mo Three years after the great struggle, the question came up again, in Division No. 1, and the Lamar case was unanimously approved, a new judge, Williams, delivering the opinion. City of Stansberry v. Jordan, 145 Mo Three years later still, the Court again approved the Lamar caisc. But Judges Brace and Burgess continued their dissent. State ex rel v. M. K. & T. R. R. Co., 164 Mo At the same term of Court, the question was again presented and argued, but the Court refused to consider it, a new judge, Valliant, speaking for the Court. City of Lexington v. Lafayette County Bank, 165 Mo The latest case affirming the doctrine is: State cx rel v. Hackman, 275 Mo The Columbia case was decided by Division No. 1, and the decision was unanimous, Judge Black delivering the opinion and Judges Barclay, Sherwood and Brace concurring. The Lamar case was also decided by Division No. 1, upon the first hearing, and the decision was likewise unanimous, Judge Black again delivering the opinion, and Judges Barclay, Brace and Macfarlane concurring. In this case, the motion for rehearing filed by the Water Company was overruled. Judge Barclay, however, changed his mind and dissented and this gave the Water Company the right to have the case transferred to the Court en banc, before the seven judges. In the meantime, Judge Black had left the bench, and Judge Robinson had taken his place. The final decision was written by Judge Barclay, with whom concurred Judges Gantt, Sherwood an(l Robinson. Judges Brace, Macfarlane and Burgess dissented. From the foregoing recital, it will be seen that the question at issue came up for discussion and decision, in the Supreme Court, four times, once in the Columbia case, and three times in the Lamar case, namely on the hearing in Division No. 1, Washington University Open Scholarship 13 ST. LOUIS LAW REVIEW on the motion for rehearing, and on the hearing en bane. Calling the vote in favor of the proposition that the tax leviable under Section 11 was the only lawful tax an aye vote, the record of the individual judges was as follows: Judge Black-three ayes. Judge Brace- four ayes. Judge Macfarlane-three ayes. Judge Burgess-two ayes. Judge Barclay-two ayes, two nays. Judge Sherwood-one aye, one nay. Judge Gantt-one nay. Judge Robinson-one nay. This dissent was so strong that it at first seemed doubtful whether the decision in the Lamar case would stand, and it undoubtedly encouraged litigants to continue to fight. For nine years, the question vexed the courts, and the decisions are scattered through fifty-four volumes of reports. A little care on the part of the framers of the Constitution, as by adding a few words to Section 12, could have made the matter plain and avoided all this trouble. May we hope that the members of the new Constitutional Convention soon to assemble in this State, will take warning by this example THomAs K. SKiNKEB. Markets see a day in red Indian equity markets saw a day in red today. Nifty 50 ended the day, down by 62.55 points. Sensex ended the day, down by 215.26 points. Top Gainers today were Hindalco, Sun Pharma, ITC. Top Lo... November 02, 2022 | 02-11-2022 4:08 pm Pudumjee Paper PBT rises 57% during Q2FY23 Pudumjee Paper Products Limited (PPPL), has reported impressive results for the six-month period ended September 30, 2022. During the six-month period ended September 30, 2022, the C... November 02, 2022 | 02-11-2022 3:23 pm Airtel crosses 1 million customers on it 5G network Bharti Airtel on Wednesday has announced that it has crossed the 1 million unique 5G user mark on its network. The company achieved this milestone in less than 30 days of its commercial la... November 02, 2022 | 02-11-2022 2:50 pm 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 Markets near day's low with Nifty below 18,100 Domestic benchmark indices trading in the red after a gap-down opening on Wednesday. Both the Sensex and Nifty benchmarks are marginally lower in the afternoon market session. Moreover, globall... November 02, 2022 | 02-11-2022 2:00 pm Transcription 1 Peru 2006: Election Results and Scenarios Report of Peru meeting 12 Apr 2006 John Crabtree This report is intended as a summary of the meeting. It does not purport to be a full or verbatim record. If any extract from the speaker s remarks is quoted, please credit both the speaker and Chatham House, giving the date of the meeting. Theme: Peru 2006 election results and scenarios for the future Chair: Mike Mecham, Chatham House Associate Fellow Presentation by John Crabtree, Research Associate, St Antony s College, Oxford The results of this first round of presidential election voting have been delayed, and consequently the second round will be too. (By law the 2nd round has to be within 30 days of the official announcement of 1st round results). It seems likely therefore to be 28 May or 4 June. Latest statistics from Peruvian news magazine Caretas give Humala 30.94%, Garcia % and Lourdes-Flores 23.38% of the votes cast to date [12 April]. So far it appears that Humala 'surge' is due to the late count of votes from the interior, where he has strong support. (Lima and overseas-based voters are likely to favour Lourdes Flores, while the north of the country favours Garcia). Abstention so far is at approx. 10%; null and blank votes at approx. 13%. The OAS says there have been few apparent irregularities, although Humala is alleging fraud. The results to date are quite similar to those from 2001, with the order Toledo-Garcia- Lourdes Flores of 2001 replicated by Humala-Garcia-Lourdes Flores in 2006 This is a Congressional as well as a presidential vote: there are over 2,500 congressional candidates and this count has accordingly been even slower. The Congressional system underrepresents Lima, which should favour Humala or Garcia at the expense of Lourdes Flores. It's likely there will be no definite single party domination. The 'didn't-runs': Two parties, Peru Popular and the Frente Independiente Moralizador, did not field a presidential candidate, despite, in the case of the PP, being the present governing party. It also seems unlikely that the PP will reach the 4% required for congressional representation; and the most likely outcome is that both parties will disappear This election also seems to have been disastrous for the orthodox left. Serious, wellqualified candidates like Susana Villaran are likely to poll less than 1%. Valentin 1 2 Paniagua, previous transition president and early predicted as a front runner, has also performed disappointingly. Meanwhile Humberto Lay, the evangelical candidate, has probably achieved the 4% necessary to claim some kind of congressional representation, in a rise from nowhere reminiscent of Fujimori's. Marta Chavez, the Fujimorista candidate, is at around 7% with the 'Alianza Fujimorista', while Fujimori's daughter Keiko seems to have achieved by far the highest single vote of all congressional candidates, leading one to wonder whether the Alianza would not have fared even better with Keiko as its presidential candidate. All in all, Fujimori is clearly far from a spent force The candidates: Lourdes Flores: She has managed to extend the PPC's influence and electoral appeal beyond its historic base in Lima and the upper classes; has at least made reference to Peru's social problems. Garcia: Has pursued his usual 'barnstorming' style - produces a 'love him or hate him' reaction, and has the highest rejection quotient of any candidate. However, his advantage is that APRA is the only 'real' party running. Humala: Official publication of opinion polls is prohibited within 7 days of the election, but the poll results are made known and Humala's support seems to have been declining recently, counter to inflated predictions that he would achieve 50% plus one in the first round. He is a former comandante, which is a fairly junior military rank, and served in the Upper Huallaga valley. Allegations of human rights violations against him date from this period. He came to prominence via the coup attempt launched in Tacna after the fraudulent 2000 elections. Humala later benefited from having been on the 'right side' when Fujimori fell- Toledo exonerated him from charges relating to the coup attempt and appointed him military attache to Paris and then to Seoul, where he has spent most of the last five years. These appointments could, of course, also be read as attempts to keep Humala at a safe distance. Ollanta and his brother Antauro are both associated with the so-called 'etnocacerista' movement, whose defining characteristics include a rhetoric of indigenous mobilisation - traditionally less pronounced in Peru than in Bolivia or Ecuador - authoritarian structures and a pronounced xenophobia, particularly anti-chilean. In recent times Ollanta has tried to distance himself from etnocacerismo, although he still indulges in anti-chilean outburst against Chilean ownership of Peruvian companies. In January 2006 the family returned to prominence when Antauro attempted to lead an uprising from the highland town of Andahuaylas Ollanta has tried to distance himself from the rest of his family who have been known to make extreme racial and homophobic statements - and make overtures to the left. His success can be put down not so much to his programme or even personal charisma but rather to an undoubted ability to articulate an undercurrent of rage in Peruvian 2 3 society. There is a distinct 'feelbad factor', operating despite relative economic success - growth rates, at 6% in 2005, are amongst the best in the region. However this growth, fuelled in large part by high international mineral prices, is not percolating downwards. Poverty figures have reduced only slightly, and much more slowly than actual economic growth, over the last years. This paradox of growth accompanied by antipathy has fuelled the extreme unpopularity of Toledo and been channelled into support for Humala. Negative views about democracy in Peru The recent UNDP survey over democracy in Peru consisted of 12,000 interviews, 4,000 of which were carried out in small rural communities (unlike many surveys which tend to have an urban bias). Its findings were that understanding of, as well as interest in, democracy are very low amongst Peruvians. Knowledge of rights is equally low. 70% of respondents thought that democracy worked 'badly', 90% of whom blamed 'politicians' for that fact. Institutions ranked the best in approval ratings included the press, municipal authorities, the armed forces and the Defensoria [Ombudsman's office]. However, only 6% thought business associations did a 'good or very good' job; the judiciary scoring only 4% and Congress only 3%. There was also a strong rejection of employers, with two thirds saying that the rich 'always exploit' the poor and only 9% agreeing to a more positive view of investors as creating jobs. 73.5% said that authoritarian government was needed, 61% would emigrate if they could and only 3.5% agreed that 'Peru esta bien'. Moreover there was a huge level of pessimism, expressed in the belief that Peru would not change. On the positive side, 50% of voters do appear to be supporting the traditional parties, the UN or PPC. Second round prognoses: Previous polls suggested that Lourdes Flores could beat Humala in a second round, but that now seems unlikely. Even if some of Garcia's support were to be transferred to Lourdes Flores in a Humala - Lourdes Flores runoff, it is likely that the majority of APRISTA support would go to Humala. Garcia versus Humala would be very tight, with the question of the redistribution of Lourdes Flores' support being key. Some of it might go to Garcia as the 'least worst' alternative? Likely programmes if elected: Garcia IS different today from how he was in He has no strongly statist proposals and a much milder discourse. Humala's bark may be worse than his bite. His discourse has been radical in some aspects - against foreign companies and so on - but he has also demonstrated a considerable capacity for pragmatism. He has avoided making specific commitments while capitalising on voter discontent. Effectively he is asking voters to sign a blank cheque. He could quite easily follow Fujimori's pattern of performing a volte-face once in office, being elected on leftist support and then turning decidedly to the right. He is unlikely to have a congressional majority, even if he succeeds in bringing Fujimorista congressional support on board, something else which is likely to shape his behaviour. 3 4 Humala is NOT fundamentally a leftist candidate, nor even Fujimorista, but more of an ideological chameleon. We know that there would be a renegotiation of the relationship between state and investors, but not what the content of this would be. QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION: There have been examples of political reinventions which have stuck - Carlos Andres Perez in Venezuela; Lula in Brazil - has Garcia really changed, and how? Garcia has gone in for a lot of self-flagellation, which has gone down well with the public. And he probably wouldn't make the same mistakes as before: APRismo has reconciled itself to neoliberalism and is now talking the language of social democracy. The politics of the second round will also force Garcia to court business support, making commitments to them even if not publicly. Humala is not the same kind of animal as Lula. If anything Humala may be more in the tradition of Gutierrez in Ecuador, who came in on the indigenous vote then turned to a pro-imf line - and, of course, paid the consequences. Comment: Regarding fears from foreign investors, in point of fact the international financial markets have actually been very calm as regards Peru. Is Humala-Chavez a better comparison? Yes in terms of the shared military background and evident mutual influence, but Peru clearly isn't Venezuela. Humala wouldn't have the luxury of petrodollars, although he probably would try to renegotiate extractive industry contracts signed in Fujimori's time. This will prove tricky, however, because the terms of those contracts often explicitly rules out future changes in the applicable tax regime. This is the root of one major popular grievance: that growth in these sectors hasn't increased tax revenue. On coca, Humala may find he has more leeway to negotiate (with the US) If Humala is elected then becomes more moderate, what are the chances of his suffering the same fate as Mesa in Bolivia, or of significant social unrest? This is an important question. If he performs a 180 degree turn, he may fall into a Mesatype trap of having no legitimacy. What will be the impact of a Humala victory on the indigenous population? Would he bring in indigenous representation to the Cabinet and so on? One big difference between Peru and, say, Bolivia, is that Peru has little by way of an organised indigenous movement. In Bolivia, explicit pressure from indigenous groups has built up over 30 years. Morales may not be quite 'as indigenous as he looks', but clearly had to give his politics that stamp in a way which Humala would not have to. 4 5 Is there a generational split in voting patterns? It s too early to tell. Comment: Humala's programme is more reminiscent of Morales than of Lula or Chavez? Humala has mentioned initiatives like renegotiation of contracts, a constituent assembly, anti-free trade measures and coca, reminiscent of Morales [Others, however, pointed out that at least some of these are also measures associated with Chavez] To what extent is there a 'Chavez factor' operating here, and how well does this play in Peru? (ie the belief that Humala's programme would be more feasible because of support he would get from Venezuela) The question hasn't yet arisen fully, but it seems likely that a Humala government would look for support from Venezuela. In contrast, of course, to Toledo who sought to maintain the maximum possible distance from Venezuela and proximity to the US; on issues like coca and the free trade agreement (due to be signed on 13 April 2006) Humala has said he would challenge it, and it isn't popular with sectors of the rural population (though yes with textile workers). The agreement anyway needs to go through Congress, and there is a high probability that it will run into trouble there. What is the military's position? Has it recovered sufficiently from the ignominy of the Fujimori years to have a political role? Could someone - probably Humala - bring it in to resolve any institutional deadlock? The army has recovered its former position without much significant structural reform. They have been appeased through the military budget, and the Chile 'problem' has been allowed to permit the Peruvian military to inflate its claims on the state budget. Fujimori's dissolution of Congress was a popular measure and actually enhanced his support, so yes, given Congress's poor approval rating it could be a temptation. What is the likely fate of the Truth Commission recommendations, given the lack of human rights discourse by the candidates? This campaign has clearly been about authority, not rights; and about security in the everyday sense, rather than about Sendero. This is partly because both Garcia and Humala have reasons to be defensive over past human rights violations. As far as implementation goes, the compensation programme may be allowed to continue, but neither a Garcia nor a Humala government would really take an interest. What is the US view of this election? Having learnt from the debacle of the US ambassador's comments ahead of Morales' election, the US has kept very quiet. It does not intend to visibly take sides in this campaign, but it's clear that the US would regard a Humala victory as problematic. 5 6 How would the general scenario change if Garcia, rather than Humala, won? Garcia would likely be more centrist, have more appeal, and the relationship with Congress would most probably be easier as APRA will have more congressional representatives than the other parties. A Garcia-US relationship would be less tense than a Humala-US one but not as cosy as the present US relationship with Toledo. Regarding discussions about the market-state relationship, how much actual capacity does the Peruvian state have? This is the great weakness of Peru: its state apparatus. This was part of Garcia's undoing in the 80s. Fujimori's attempted state reforms worked, but weren't democratic reforms ie did not necessarily create lasting state capacity. The conundrum of how to create democratic institutions in an essentially democratically indifferent or nondemocratic polity is Peru's big challenge. Even a candidate who wanted to be estatista presently hasn't the tools to be able to do so. Any serious candidate needs to address this fundamental weakness. Dr. Cath Collins, Latin America Research Fellow, thanked those present for their attendance and participation, Mike Mecham for his chairmanship and John Crabtree and the Peru Support Group for their stimulating contribution. The meeting closed at 6.45pm 6 Bollywood has given us so many moon songs. Khoya Khoya Chaand, Chand mera dil, Yeh chaand sa roshan chehra and so on...Now imagine singing these songs on your honeymoon and that to on the moon itself! No, its not a dream as a space travel company is all set to change your dream into reality by taking you to the moon in a budget of $10,000! Image Credit: techcrunch Moon Express, a start-up founded by Naveen Jain is eager to work with SpaceX, the company owned by Elon Musk. "It's very complimentary as a matter of fact...Elon will build the rocket and we do the rover, Jain told CNBC in an interview in Helsinki, Finland. He also stated that within the next 10 years, the cost of going to the moon could become as cheap as $10,000. The Florida-based company will compete for the Google Lunar XPrize with their 2017 lunar mission. The contest is of $20 million for the first team who puts a robotic lander on the moon and drive 1,640 feet while beaming HD video back to Earth. Jain also informed the media that his space travel company would follow up their robotic 2017 mission with several more lunar missions to explore the surface on the moon and to make more deductions. Naveen Jain, founder Moon Express. Image Credit: Financial Express "I believe in the next 10 years, there is going to be a gentleman on their knees asking their sweetheart to say honey will you go to the moon with me for honeymoon," Jain joked in his interview. Now if travel company in space could be formed, then going to the moon for honeymoon isnt a far-sighted dream either. So lets begin to save a ticket to the moon. VISA card owners have a serious cause for concern. A research study conducted in Newcastle University has concluded that cyber criminals can guess a credit cards number, expiry date and CVV number (the three digit number present on the back of the card) remotely in just a few seconds. The research paper has been published in the journal IEEE Security & Privacy, explaining how cyber criminals and online fraud artists use a Distributed Guessing Attack to circumvent online fraud prevention measures. In a response to the study, VISA claimed that the research didnt take into other layers of security like its Verified By VISA system -- which, at least in India, makes it mandatory for you to enter a unique transaction PIN SMSed to you separately on your registered mobile number to conduct an online transaction. Researchers found that fraud detection systems, while capable to certain extent, did not take into account cyber criminals software-driven multiple invalid attempts on websites in order to get VISA credit or debit card data. This means cyber criminals can try transacting at hundreds of websites simultaneously, without registering on the existing systems security radar. Subsequently, by a process of elimination, the criminals can easily guess a credit or debit cards number, expiry date and CVV code to carry out an unauthorised but successful online transaction. It is widely believed that criminals exploited a similar technique for the Tesco Bank hack carried out in the UK earlier last month. Whether Indian VISA credit or debit card users are at risk cannot yet be ascertained, and weve reached out to VISA representatives for a comment -- which well update here as soon as we hear from them. UPDATE: 2:40 pm IST Following a statement from Mr T R Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, India & South Asia for VISA: The research does not take into account the multiple layers of fraud prevention that exist within the payments system, each of which must be met in order to make a transaction possible in the real world. Visa is committed to keeping fraud at low levels and works closely with card issuers and acquirers to make it very difficult to obtain and use cardholder data illegally. We provide issuers with the necessary data to make informed decisions on the risk of transactions. Visa also offers enhanced security using Verified by Visa (based on the 3DSecure standard) which offers improved security for e-commerce transactions. Verified by Visa is a password-protected authentication system designed to confirm the identity of the cardholder when a Visa card is used online. In India, with two factor authentication there is also an OTP (one time passcode) the bank sends you via SMS when you are about to make an online payment. It helps to prevent fraudulent transactions and gives all parties in the payment process greater peace of mind, especially when used in conjunction with all the other security features offered by Visa. Visa continues to work closely with banks to bolster risk mitigation and fraud prevention programs. Visa welcomes industry and academic efforts to identify and address perceived vulnerabilities in the payment system. Along with our own internal monitoring and testing, this enables Visa and the payments industry to make payments ever more secure. The technology world has a lot of inspiring figures. The late Steve Jobs of Apple, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google, and more recently Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg have all discussed their vision of the world. They all believe(d) in technology as a force multiplier, something thats crucial to shape our collective future. But, with due respect to everyone mentioned above, Elon Musk is cut from an altogether different cloth. The inspiration behind Iron Mans Tony Stark persona and currently the 117th richest person in the world with a $10 billion net worth (according to Bloomberg), not to mention with an ex-wife as good as English actress Talulah Riley (of HBOs Westworld fame), Elon Musks an entrepreneur who has founded (and is running) a lot of innovative companies of our time -- Tesla Motors, SpaceX, OpenAI, and SolarCity -- that are inventing or mass producing tech-fuelled solutions to some of humanitys biggest 21st century problems. Heres why we all owe our allegiance to Elon Musk! Electric Cars Musk founded Tesla Motors back in 2003, but got actively involved behind the companys wheels as CEO after 2008. Elon Musk has defined Teslas mission as to provide a sub-US$ 30,000 fully electric car. Not only has he proved that an electric car can be fuel-efficient and for adrenaline junkies, he has single-handedly challenged the hegemony of fossil-fuel powered traditional automobile giants, accelerating the development and adoption of electric cars in the US, with plans to expand to the rest of the world. Not just advancing the electric car concept, Tesla Motors is also conducting crucial research in long-lasting electric batteries. Rapid Mass Transport (Hyperloop) Hyperloop is Elon Musks solution to rapid mass transport of truly epic scale, something that has the potential to decongest our roads and reduce air pollution. It is a tubular highway constructed above the ground in which a pod or vehicle accelerates up to 700 mph or 1100 kmph in near vacuum state, thanks to magnetic levitation. Hyperloop has been successfully tested in controlled environments and its first true commercial deployment is currently taking place in UAE, where Hyperloop driven transport solutions aims to connect Dubai with Abu Dhabi, and other major cities in the Middle East, in record time. Watch the video below: Hyperloops also slated to run trials in India, as per several reports. Clean Energy If youve been reading so far, then its fairly obvious that Elon Musks extremely conscious of developing transport solutions that isnt fossil fuel dependent, that cuts down pollution. To realise this dream, Elon Musk has invested heavily in building what he calls his first Gigafactory, currently being built in the US state of Nevada. Currently, measuring close to 2 million sq feet, the Gigafactorys aim is to reduce the cost of large capacity Li-ion battery packs (aimed to be used in Tesla cars and private homes) by as much as 30% of existing production price. Also, several reports peg the Gigafactory consuming anywhere between 100MW to 300MW of energy to produce 35GWh to 50GWh of Li-ion battery capacity. Thats like consuming 300 tomatoes to produce 3600 bottles of tomato ketchup! On January 4, 2017, Elon Musks going to make a big announcement at the Nevada Gigafactory. Can barely wait to see what it is! Reusable Rocket This is one project thats especially close to Elon Musks heart, by his own admission. Its a critical piece of Musks Mars jigsaw puzzle, the ability to launch a rocket into space and bring it down to earth without destroying it, in one piece -- something that hasnt been possible till now. SpaceXs Falcon 9 rockets are on the frontlines of realizing this dream, and while several test flights have failed, one historic flight gives us a glimpse of humanitys space future: The final phase of Falcon 9 rockets is slated for production next year, with test flights resuming by mid-year. If all goes well, reusable rockets will launch a commercial payload into space in a couple of years, bringing down the cost of space exploration by a substantial amount. Human-friendly AI development Along with Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk is a staunch believer that really powerful AI can potentially exterminate the human race off the face of this earth -- before an asteroid hits our planet or we all get consumed by a global thermonuclear war! To prevent this catastrophe, of us creating our own Terminators, Elon Musk is fast promoting OpenAI -- a non-profit tasked with creating human friendly artificial intelligence systems that dont pose any existential threats to humans as a whole. More power to Mr Musk! Anything that helps us survive longer than any sentient system we created should be welcomed and promoted with gusto. Global Internet If you were wondering how Elon Musk concentrates on all of these different business units, whether he has 40 hours in a day or more, then youre not alone. Another project close to Musks heart is a plan to launch over 4000 satellites in space to spread high bandwidth, low-cost Internet connectivity throughout the planet. In this race, hes competing with the likes of Google and Facebook, who have similar plans. Through SpaceX, Elon Musk has asked the U.S. government permission to launch 4,425 satellites in orbit to provide high-speed Internet across the world, according to a newly filed technical application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Each satellite part of the global grid will weigh around 386 kg and be parked in a geo-stationary orbit 1,150 km to 1,275 km from the surface of the earth. If deployed successfully, the space Internet would offer speeds of up to 1 Gbps for end users. YAY! Exodus to Mars All this is great, but deep down Elon Musk really believes that humanitys meant to escape Earth and colonize Mars -- in our lifetimes! Yes, no kidding. In September 2016, Musk actually announced a no-nonsense plan to transport humans to Mars to help colonize the red planet. By Musks calculations, a one-way journey to Mars right now (using existing tech) costs around $10 billion. But once the SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System is fully operational, each person aboard will be able to go to Mars for as little as $200,000. These price cuts would be accomplished primarily by the use of less heavy materials, stronger rockets and reusable technology. Colonizing Mars would take anywhere between 40 to 100 years, according to Musk, provided we start working towards that goal right now. Musk once famously said: "I'd like to die on Mars, just not on impact." For the sake of you, me, and the rest of humanity, we hope so, too. From 'notebandi' to 'nasbandi'... Union Minister Giriraj Singh feels that is the next step towards a better India. Singh has urged for laws for nasbandi, or sterilisation, in India. Giriraj Singh is the Minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises and believes that no community should be given preference or shown any bias in the implementation of the same. According to a report in The Hindustan Times, the minister made his latest comment for national-level sterilisation laws at a function in his constituency in Bihar. He mentioned several other nations who have been using the measure effectively. There are population control laws in Bangladesh and Malaysia. So, there is nothing wrong if it happens in India, he said. The minister's comment comes a week after former union minister and senior BJP leader Sanjay Paswan said sterilisation will help control the population of the country. The minister has formerly been in the news for his comment on how Hindus should consider increasing their population. The comment was made in support of RSS Leader Mohan Bhagwat's statement that India has no laws to prevent Hindus from producing more children. In the past, Giriraj Singh has also been called out for his comment to revoke the rights of people with more than 2 children and also for saying that Modi critics should all go to Pakistan. Since Monday morning, Tamil Nadu has witnessing a strong impact of the reportedly deteriorating health of its beloved Amma, after a cardiac arrest that she suffered on Sunday night. Indiatimes Amma, as J Jayalalithaa is referred to by the people of Tamil Nadu, is a 68-year-old former film actress introduced into politics by her screen partner MG Ramachandran and went on to serve as chief minister of Tamil Nadu five times. Jayalalithaa is one of the most popular leaders across the country. Prayers by groups of women appears to be a common sight. Party supporters are also organising prayers everywhere across the state. Read more 1. New Currency Is Not 100% 'Made In India', RBI Is Sourcing 'Raw Materials' From Other Countries Indiatimes The 'Make In India' drive has been considerably promising and futuristic in the past couple of months. Modi too had been a notable zealot about inducing this process in almost every system. On the website, the campaign defines itself as a "Major national initiative, designed to facilitate investment, foster innovation, enhance skill development and build better best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure." Read more 2. PM Modi Beats Barack Obama To Win Time Person Of The Year Reader Poll Indiatimes Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won TIMEs Person of the Year award Readers Poll, beating US President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump. Time Magazine said he won with 18% of the vote when the poll closed on Sunday at midnight. Read more 3. After Demonetisation, Union Minister Giriraj Singh Wants Mass Sterilisation Across India Indiatimes From 'notebandi' to 'nasbandi'... Union Minister Giriraj Singh feels that is the next step towards a better India. Singh has urged for laws for nasbandi, or sterilisation, in India. Giriraj Singh is the Minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises and believes that no community should be given preference or shown any bias in the implementation of the same. Read more 5. Man Collects Special Number Notes For 40 Years, Cannot Break World Record Due To Demonetisation Indiatimes Dr. Pramod Agrawal Goldi collects special series notes. He has 800 notes of group number 0101 to 9999. He has 34 misprint note, 2202 786 notes and 2746 notes that end with 420. He had send his official form of consideration to Guinness Book Record in May 2016, however after PM Modis announcement of Rs.500 and 1000 notes being invalid, there is now a serious question about the challenge being valid. Read more The 'Make In India' drive has been considerably promising and futuristic in the past couple of months. Modi too had been a notable zealot about inducing this process in almost every system. On the website, the campaign defines itself as a "Major national initiative, designed to facilitate investment, foster innovation, enhance skill development and build better best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure." (Also read: Demonetisation Took Out Currency Worth Rs 14 Lakh Crore In Value, New Notes In Circulation Worth Only Rs 1.5 Lakh Crore) However, the drive is not all that successful when it comes to the management of latest currency hoopla. As reported by India Today, around 16 million tons of paper is being imported from the UK. RBI is sourcing the specialised security thread used in new notes from centres across Italy, Ukraine and the UK. blockchain Thus, the note that we have now is not completely made in India. Due to the high demand of currency in the market and poor capacity of its production material, the RBI is working on a 50:50 ratio of sourcing paper from UK and Hoshangabad(MP). The intaglio ink, which is used to print the notes is supplied from Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim and Rajasthan, however, it's now being produced abroad, and then being sourced through local centres. (Also read: RBI Announces It Will Issue New Rs 20 And Rs 50 Notes, Old Currency To Remain Legal Tender) On condition of anonymity, a senior official revealed that it usually takes 8 days to print a batch of notes, and which is why they can't be wasting time in sourcing the stuff. Youtube As we touch a month to the demonization breakdown, a lot has happened in the country. With a massive task to replace 15 lakh crore worth of old currency notes in 500 and 1000 denomination, the central bank is working constantly. Right now we're operating with 4 currency printing press running full streams; Dewas, Nashik, Mysuru, and Salboni. "Even if all the printing lines work in an ideal scenario with no misprinting or damaged notes in 3 shifts, it will take at least 5 months for cash supply to normalise. Till then, we will continue to see the shortage", said Vipin Malik former Director, Central Board, Reserve Bank of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won TIMEs Person of the Year award Readers Poll, beating US President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump. Reuters Time Magazine said he won with 18% of the vote when the poll closed on Sunday at midnight. ALSO READ: TIME Magazine Ranks Modi Among 30 Most Influential People On The Internet, 2nd Year In A Row! Modi has had a long-running presence on Time magazine ever since he came to power in 2014. He had first won the Time Readers' Choice Poll in 2014 and then landed on the cover of the May 2015 issue. TIME He had also been voted 8th on the Person Of The Year poll in 2015. ALSO READ: Modi Might Beat Putin, Trump And Obama To Become Time Magazine's 'Person of the Year' This year, Modi won the award by an overwhelming margin and his competitors included outgoing American President and friend , Barack Obama, American President-elect, Donald Trump and Founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange. Others who were considered close competition included Facebooks Founder Mark Zuckerberg and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. ALSO READ: Time Didn't Think Modi Could Be Person Of The Year, But Its Readers Did This year is especially significant because of the prevailing discussion about demonetisation going on in India, some of which has been critical of PM Modi's idea. Since this morning, Tamil Nadu has witnessing a strong impact of the reportedly deteriorating health of its beloved Amma, after a cardiac arrest that she suffered on Sunday night. Amma, as J Jayalalithaa is referred to by the people of Tamil Nadu, is a 68-year-old former film actress introduced into politics by her screen partner MG Ramachandran and went on to serve as chief minister of Tamil Nadu five times. Jayalalithaa is one of the most popular leaders across the country. Prayers by groups of women appears to be a common sight. Party supporters are also organising prayers everywhere across the state. Here's how things have changed in the last 24 hours: Currently, there are around 1,000 security personnel deployed outside Chennai's Apollo hospital since midnight. Thousands of people have thronged the hospital since the news of her deteriorating health broke out. The inconsolable supporters of Amma had to be controlled by police so that they do not affect the law and order situation around the area. Police also resorted to lathi-charge to control the crowd that had begun gathering outside Apollo. CRPF teams are also been put on high alert. Violence broke out at Apollo hospital as soon as the news of her death was announced by a Tamil news channel. The government also did not announced the death formally. However, the party flag was flying at half mast at the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai for a while and has now been restored to full mast. "The chief minister is being treated and closely monitored by a team of experts," said the statement issued by Apollo Hospitals chief operating officer Subbiah Viswanathan. Her situation has been termed as "very critical". An emergency meeting of AIADMK party members, is on to discuss a possible successor. According to the channel, the party may back O Panneerselvam, who has been Jayalalithaa's trusted lieutenant. The Centre dispatched a team of specialists from the All India Institute of Medical Science to Apollo Hospital in Chennai. The team includes pulmonologist Dr GC Khilnani, anaesthetist Dr Anjan Trikha, cardiac surgeon Dr Sachin Talwar and cardiologist Dr Rajiv Narang. The states director general of police asked Chennais police teams to be ready to patrol the streets on Monday in full uniform. Paramilitary forces are on standby, and extra security has been rushed to both the hospital, outside of which supporters have gathered, and the chief ministers residence. Jayalalithaa is on ECMO or Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation device. This is a life support system that helps provide oxygen to the body when the patient's lungs or heart are unable to do so. ECMO is put in place when the patient becomes unresponsive to conventional CPR or Cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It works by draining blood from a vein and connecting it to an oxygenator machine. According to doctors, the patient can be on the device for several days or even weeks. Jayalalitaa previously had a heart surgery. According to party spokesperson CR Saraswathi, there was an angio procedure done on the chief minister early on Monday morning. The Odisha police on Sunday unearthed a racket of old note exchange, and arrested eight persons including the employee of a State Bank of India branch in Sambalpur and his brother. TOI "Currency notes worth Rs 1.42 crore were seized from the gang, including Rs 85.62 lakh of Rs 2000 currency notes only besides Rs 25.29 lakh in old currency notes, mainly of Rs 500 denomination," Sambalpur SP Akhileswar Singh said. Reuters/Representational Image Singh said cops were tipped off about the presence of arms in a moving car, and intercepted the vehicle. "Apart from two revolvers, we found the currency notes stashed in four bags. "During interrogation, the two car occupants told us that the money belonged to a liquor trader, Zerayat Ali (59), who paid 30% cash for exchange of old currency notes to valid notes," he said. "Prima facie it appears unaccounted-for old currency notes were exchanged for valid Rs 2,000 notes by Ali and his associates," the SP said. Police said prima facie involvement of a SBI employee, Rashmi Ranjan Rout, came to the fore. With his help, Ali changed the notes using the others. odishatv.in Apart from Ali and Rout, others arrested include Ali's three sons Md Qazzafi, Riffat Ali and Sabtin Ali, Rout's brother Pankaj and two others Kapil Jhajharia and Rabi Trivedi, all residents of Sambalpur. Police said those arrested don't seem to have past criminal records so far. They were lured for quick earnings of 30% for exchanging the old notes, the SP said. John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand on Monday announced his resignation after eight years as head of the government owing to the said family reasons. "This is the hardest decision I've ever made and I don't know what I'll do next," Efe quoted Key as saying. He also resigned as the National Party leader. According to the media reports, Key's wife Bronagh reportedly asked Key to resign as their children Stephie and Max were facing extraordinary levels of intrusion Image tweeted by JohnKeyPM The country's presumptive next leader paid tribute to Key "as one of New Zealand's greatest leaders". "Through good times and bad, his strong leadership has been steadfast and this is a more confident, successful and self-assured country because of his contribution. He has truly made a difference," Xinhua news agency quoted Deputy Prime Minister Bill English as saying. According to the media reports, Key's wife Bronagh reportedly asked Key to resign as their children Stephie and Max were facing extraordinary levels of intrusion. Key's announcement shocked fellow MPs of his centre-right National Party as much as it did to the rest of the country. A new leader will be chosen by the National Party caucus on 12 December and Key said he would back English if he put himself forward. English was appointed the National Party leader in 2001 but resigned after he led the party to a disastrous election defeat in 2002. AFP Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce, Climate Change Issues and Associate Finance Minister Paula Bennett and Police and Corrections Minister Judith Collins are among other contenders to fill the shoes vacated by Key. Political opponents too offered positive views, with the leaders of the Labour Party and Green Party praising Key for his service to the country. "Key has served New Zealand generously and with dedication," Labour Party leader Andrew Little said. Green Party co-leader James Shaw said Key should be applauded for his commitment to public service and to the country. The New Zealand First party, however, was less magnanimous, saying Key's reasons for standing down could not be credible. "The fact is that the economy is not in the healthy state that the Prime Minister has for so long claimed and there are other issues which have caused this decision as well," party leader Winston Peters said. The possible date for new elections in New Zealand is November 2017. In a bizarre incident, a New Zealand tourist was detained in Kazakhstan for two days because immigration officers thought that New Zealand was a state of Australia and not a country. Such a gaffe can be only expected from people who are weak in geography, a trait that an immigration officer ideally shouldnt have. Image Credit: news.com.au Chloe Phillips-Harris, 28, had a nightmarish experience when she was detained in the country. 'I got to an immigration booth and they asked me for an Australian passport, and told me I couldn't come in without an Australian passport,' she told the NZ Herald. The worst part is the small room had an old world atlas and New Zealand was missing from it. Therefore, Chloe couldnt convince them that New Zealand is a country and not a state. She then sought help from her contacts who pulled through the next day to provide her with a new visa and an American passport, and after letting go of some cash she was free to leave. Image Credit: facebook Despite the entire ruckus, Chloe has promised to return to Kazakhstan because she wants to have an adventure there. She described the situation as 'unfortunate' and stressed that Kazakhstan was a 'beautiful country to be in' with 'a lot of good people.' Now thats a true travellers spirit! While there is misunderstanding about Islam, due to the actions by terrorist groups, particularly the ISIS, the majority of Muslims want the world to see the real face of the religion, which, they say is peaceful and inclusive. There may be division within the Muslim community on many political and theological issues, but most of them speak in one voice when it comes to ISIS. They just want the end of this monstrous outfit. Jafariyanews.com This was recently seen when one of the largest marches in the history of the world was organised to in Iraq. Tens of millions of Shia Muslims made an incredibly heartening statement, by risking their lives to travel through war-stricken areas to openly defy ISIS. People from different age groups gathered in the city of Karbala for the holy day of Arbaeen, to mark the end of the 40-day mourning period following Ashura, which commemorates the death of the Prophet Mohammads grandson Imam Hussein in 680 AD. According to a report by The Independent, this most amazing feat was conducted in spite of ISIS, as well as the sacred annual pilgrimage. Jafariyanews.com The brave men, women, and children marched on, knowing that an ISIS suicide bomber had just struck near Karbala the week prior. This march is said to have taken on a dual purpose. Where it was once a march for Arbaeen, it now also encompasses the Shia resistance and protest against ISIS terrorists. Jafariyanews.com All the people, who were quite close to the city of Mosul, where an anti-ISIS operation is underway prayed together for the end of ISIS and marched to show their opposition to the ideology and religion perpetrated by the Islamist group. I am a retired newspaperman. I am 69 and live in Poca, WV, with my wife of 45 years, Lou Ann. We grew up in Cleveland. Three kids. Grandfather. More on who I am is here. Report all errors to DonSurber@GMail.com Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is keen to meet Donald Trump, may visit Washington next month for the oath taking ceremony of the US President- elect, media reports said on Sunday. Speculation about the visit comes after telephonic conversation between Sharif and Trump last week. AFP Sources here said Special Assistant to Sharif on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi is leaving for the US on Sunday to finalise the schedule of the visit. Fatemi would stay in Washington for 10 days and would meet the Trump team as well and discuss the ways to strengthen the bilateral ties between Pakistan and US. He would brief the team about the role Pakistan played in the war on terror and Pakistan's policy towards Afghanistan and India. According to reports, Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) has been trying to arrange a possible visit of Sharif to Washington where Trump will assume charge of the Office of the President of the United States on January 20. Sources say that Sharif has expressed his desire to attend Trump's oath taking ceremony. The Pakistani Embassy in Washington DC has also started making requisite efforts to make this happen. It was reported that the Sharif may leave for the US on the January 18th or 19th. The decision of Sharif's US visit hinges on the possibility of a meeting with Donald Trump. Analysts say that it will be a major breakthrough if a meeting is actually realised, the reports said. Reuters Trump has already set up a provisional team, encouraging foreign leaders and officials to visit his headquarters in New York for familiarisation meetings. Sharif is said to have given him given special instructions to Fatemi who would meet the US Congress members and Senate and seek their support and cooperation for better ties with the new US administration. The adviser would also meet the US think tank members and would brief them on Pakistan's efforts for peace in the region. Fatemi would also highlight the "Indian atrocities" in Kashmir and "ceasefire violations" by Indian security forces on Line of Control and Working Boundary, sources said. Sharif had called Trump last week. During their conversation, the President-elect lavished praise on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and offered to play "any role" in helping Pakistan address its problems. Publish, Punish, and Pardon Nine Things Obama Could Do Before Leaving Office to Reveal the Nature of the National Security State By Pratap Chatterjee December 05, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Tom Dispatch " - In less than seven weeks, President Barack Obama will hand over the government to Donald Trump, including access to the White House, Air Force One, and Camp David. Trump will also, of course, inherit the infamous nuclear codes, as well as the latest in warfare technology, including the Central Intelligence Agencys fleet of killer drones, the National Security Agencys vast surveillance and data collection apparatus, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations enormous system of undercover informants. Before the recent election, Obama repeatedly warned that a Trump victory could spell disaster. If somebody starts tweeting at three in the morning because SNL [Saturday Night Live] made fun of you, you cant handle the nuclear codes, Obama typically told a pro-Clinton rally in November. Everything that we've done over the last eight years, he added in an interview with MSNBC, will be reversed with a Trump presidency. Yet, just days after Obama made those comments and Trump triumphed, the Guardian reported that his administration was deeply involved in planning to give Trump access not just to those nuclear codes, but also to the massive new spying and killing system that Obama personally helped shape and lead. Obamas failure to rein in George Bushs national security policies hands Donald Trump a fully loaded weapon, Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, observed recently. The presidents failure to understand that these powers could not be entrusted in the hands of any president, not even his, have now put us in a position where they are in the hands of Donald Trump. In many areas, it hardly matters what Barack Obama now does. In his last moments, for example, were he to make good on his first Oval Office promise and shut down the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Trump could reverse that decision with the stroke of a pen on January 20, 2017. So, at this late date, what might a president frightened by his successor actually do, if not to hamper Trump's ability to create global mayhem, then at least to set the record straight before he leaves the White House? Unfortunately, the answer is: far less than we might like, but as it happens, there are still some powers a president has that are irreversible by their very nature. For example, declassifying secret documents. Once such documents have been released, no power on earth can take them back. The president also has a virtually unlimited power of pardon. And finally, the president can punish high-level executive branch or military officials who abused the system, just as President Obama recalled General Stanley McChrystal from his post in Afghanistan in 2010, and he can do so until January 19th. Of course, Trump could rehire such individuals, but fast action by Obama could at least put them on trial in the media, if nowhere else. Here, then, are nine recommendations for action by the president in his last 40 days when it comes to those three categories: publish, punish, and pardon. Think of it as a political version of publish or perish. Drones 1. Name innocent drone victims: Last July, the Obama administration quietly released a statement in which it admitted that it had killed between 64 and 116 innocent people in 473 drone strikes in Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen between January 2009 and the end of 2015. (Never mind that the reliable Bureau of Investigative Journalism, based in Britain, has recorded a total closer to 800 innocent deaths from the same set of strikes.) President Obama should immediately name those innocent people his administration has admitted killing, while providing the dates and locations of the incidents, where known. There is a precedent for this: on April 23, 2015, Obama apologized for the deaths in a drone strike in Pakistan of Giovanni Lo Porto and Warren Weinstein, an Italian and an American held captive by Al Qaeda, whom he identified by name. Why not release the names of the rest? Faisal bin Ali Jaber, a Yemeni engineer, has been asking for just such a response. His brother-in-law Salem and nephew Waleed were killed by a U.S. drone strike in 2012. Yemeni officials gave Jaber $100,000 in cash that they swore was compensation from the U.S. government, but if so, Washington has not acknowledged what it did. Reprieve, a British-based group that supports drone victims, has sued President Obama to get a public apology for Jaber. 2. Make Public Any Reviews of Military Errors: When Obama apologized for the killings of Lo Porto and Weinstein, he said that he had ordered a full review of any mistakes made in that drone strike. We will identify the lessons that can be learned from this tragedy and any changes that should be made, he announced. Until January 20th, he has the power to make such documents public and prove that lessons have actually been learned. (The only document available on the subject to date is the $1.2 million settlement agreement between Lo Portos parents and the U.S. embassy in Rome published by Stefania Maurizi in the Italian newspaper LEspresso.) There is precedent for such publication. The Pentagon released transcripts and data from an airstrike that resulted in the killing of 23 Afghan villagers on February 21, 2010, in Uruzgan Province after a drone crew mistook them for Taliban militants. Documents relating to U.S. air strikes against a Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz on October 3, 2015, have also been released. How many similar military investigations (known as AR 15-6 reviews) have been conducted into accidental killings in the war on terror? According to Airwars, another British-based organization, we know, for instance, that the U.S. is looking into a strike that killed at least 56 civilians in Manbij, Syria, this past July. There are guaranteed to be many more such investigations that have never seen the light of day. The Obama administration consistently claims that groups like Airwars and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism do not have the full story. This flies in the face of multiple reports from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Al-Karama, researchers at Stanford and Columbia universities, and even the United Nations, all of whom have investigated and identified a growing number of drone-strike deaths among those without any links to terror or insurgent movements. If evidence to the contrary really exists, this would be the moment for Obama to prove them wrong, rather than simply letting more collateral damage be piled on his legacy. 3. Make Public the Administrations Criteria for Its Targeted Killings: In July and August, under pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Obama administration released a series of documents revealing the procedures it uses to identify and target for assassination individuals responsible for terrorist activities in much of the world -- and the way it has justified such killings internally. If anything, however, those documents (known as the presidential policy guidance, or PPG) have merely suggested how much of the process still remains beyond public view. Frustratingly, too much remains secret about the program, including where the PPG actually applies, what its general standards mean in practice, and how evidence that those standards have been met is evaluated -- in addition to who the government is killing, and where, writes Brett Max Kaufman, an ACLU staff attorney. When Donald Trump first sends out a CIA drone to kill someone chosen by his White House, he will be able to claim that he is doing so under the secret system set up by Obama. Without access to the procedures that Obama pioneered, we will have no way of knowing whether Trump will be telling the truth. None of these three suggestions would be difficult or even controversial (though dont hold your breath waiting for them to happen). With each, Obama could increase transparency before he inevitably hands over control of the targeted-killing program to Trump. None of this would even faze a future Trump administration, however. So here are a few suggestions of things that might matter for all of us if Obama did them before Trump enters the Oval Office. Surveillance 4. Disclose Mass Surveillance Programs: Even though Senator Obama opposed the collection of data from U.S. citizens, President Obama has vigorously defended the staggering expansion of the national security state during his two terms in office. "You can't have 100% security and also then have 100% privacy and zero inconvenience," he said in 2013, days after Edward Snowden leaked a trove of National Security Agency data that transformed our view of what our government has collected about all of us. "You know, we're going to have to make some choices as a society." Thanks to Snowden, we also now know that the U.S. government secretly received permission from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to collect all U.S. telephone metadata via programs like Stellarwind; created a program called Prism to tunnel directly into the servers of nine major Internet companies; tapped the global fiber optic cables that lie on the ocean beds; collected text messages via a program called Dishfire; set up a vast database called X-Keyscore to track all the data from any given individual; and even built a program, Optic Nerve, to turn on users webcams, allowing for the collection of substantial quantities of sexually explicit communications. And thats just the tip of the iceberg. (For a searchable index of all such revelations so far, click here.) Ironically, a report from the FBI that was finally published in April 2015 shows that this vast effort was largely useless in identifying terrorists. In 2004, the FBI looked at a sampling of all the [Stellarwind] tips to see how many had made a significant contribution to identifying a terrorist, deporting a terrorism suspect, or developing a confidential informant about terrorists, wrote New York Times reporter Charlie Savage who spent years fighting for access to the documents. Just 1.2 percent of the tips from 2001 to 2004 had made such a contribution. Two years later, the FBI reviewed all the leads from the warrantless wiretapping part of Stellarwind between August 2004 and January 2006. None had proved useful. These days smart criminals and terrorists use encryption or other means like burner phones to make sure that they cant be followed. The only senior operatives being hacked these days seem to be Democratic Party officials like John Podesta and millions of ordinary citizens whose data is stolen by criminals. So why not reveal just what programs the government used in these years, what was done with them, why it failed, and what lessons were (or werent) learned? Evidence of the national security states massive waste of time and resources might indeed be useful for us to have as we think about how to improve our less than 100% privacy and security. Such disclosures would not imperil the governments ability to seek warrants to lawfully intercept information from those suspected of criminal wrongdoing or terrorism. 5. Make Public All Surveillance Agreements With Private Companies: To this day, the U.S. government has secret agreements with a variety of data companies to trawl for information. Some companies are deeply uneasy about this invasion of their customers privacy, if only because it probably violates the terms of service they have agreed to and could cause them to lose business (given that they face competition from non-U.S. companies and more secure alternatives). Take Yahoo, for example. The Justice Department obtained a court order in 2015 to search all users incoming emails for a unique computer code supposedly tied to the communications of a state-sponsored terrorist organization. The company has requested that the government declassify the order to clear its name. It has yet to do so. Of course, not all companies are as eager to see their government deals revealed. Consider AT&T, the telecommunications giant. Police departments across the country pay it as much as $100,000 a year for special access to the telephone records of its clients (without first obtaining a warrant). The program is called Hemisphere and the company requires buyers to keep its existence secret. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based activist group, calls this evidence laundering. As Adam Schwartz, senior staff attorney on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's civil liberties team, puts it: "When police hide their sources of evidence, the accused cannot challenge the quality or veracity of the governments investigation, or seek out favorable information still in the governments possession. Moreover, hiding evidence from individuals who are prosecuted as a result of such surveillance is antithetical to our fundamental right to an open criminal justice system." Surely such an argument ought to convince a former law professor? President Obama could easily strike a major blow for fair trials by revealing the extent and the details of these local police contracts, which are essentially an open secret, as well as any other agreements the national security state has with private companies to spy on ordinary citizens. Once again, this would not hamper the governments ability to seek warrants when it can convince a judge that it needs to intercept individual communications. 6. Make Public All Secret Law Created in Recent Years: The last thing wed want would be for Donald Trump and his future White House adviser, white nationalist Steve Bannon, to enter the Oval Office and start making secret law by wielding executive powers to, say, round up Muslims or deny women their rights. Stopping Trump from taking this route and creating his own body of secret law is going to be hard indeed, given that Obama has probably signed more secret orders than any previous president. As Elizabeth Goitein, the co-director of the Brennan Centers Liberty and National Security Program, noted in a recent report, the Obama administration has failed to release a minimum of 74 of the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel opinions and memos that have been the secret basis for government actions on national security issues -- including detention, interrogation, intelligence activities, intelligence-sharing, and responses to terrorism. In addition, as many as 30 rulings of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court between 2003 and 2013 have not been made public. And an astonishing 807 international agreements, including bilateral ones to control the transportation of narcotics, signed by the U.S. between 2004 and 2014 have never seen the light of day. Trump, of course, has refused even to publish his tax returns (previously a presidential campaign ritual), so if Obama doesnt come clean, dont expect Trump to release any of the secret law his predecessor made in the next four years. This moment, then, represents a unique opportunity for the president to fulfill his promise of 2009 to create the most open presidency of all time. Sadly, no one expects him to do so. The Obama administration has apparently abandoned even the appearance of transparency, according to Anne Weisman, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonpartisan NGO that tracks government accountability. Since its very unlikely that Obama will reverse course on surveillance and secret law in the next 40 days, here at least are some suggestions on what he might still accomplish as the nations chief law enforcer. Punish 7. Punish Anyone Who Abused the Drone or Surveillance Programs: We dont really know who ordered the drone strikes that knocked off so many innocent people. But the names of the architects of the program are known and, more importantly, the president undoubtedly has all the names he needs. And if Obama does want to clean house before Trump takes over, why not identify and dismiss the individuals who designed the NSAs surveillance programs that infringed in major ways on our privacy without uncovering any terrorists? 8. Punish Those Responsible for FBI Domain Management Abuses: Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the FBI has developed a network of more than 15,000 informants as part of its Domain Management program. Many of them were recruited to infiltrate Muslim communities to identify terrorists. For the last 15 years, this vast sting program has been used to round-up Muslims -- those dumb enough to fall for FBI enticements at least -- and put them in prison. In the process, plenty of terror operations were created, but few real ones broken. We already know the details of many of the abuses involved. Back in 2011, for instance, a Mother Jones investigation found that 49 successful prosecutions of terrorists were the result of sting operations set up by FBI agents provocateurs. You realize that many of these people would never have committed a crime if not for law enforcement encouraging, pressuring, and sometimes paying them to commit terrorist acts, Andrea Prasow of Human Rights Watch wrote in a report on the program in 2014. Whistleblowers have come forward to expose the abusive tactics employed by the FBI in such cases. Take Craig Monteilh, an ex-convict hired by the Bureau to infiltrate mosques in southern California. After he had a change of heart, Monteilh helped local Muslims sue the agency. The case was, in the end, reluctantly dismissed by District Judge Cormac Carney who wrote that "the state secrets privilege may unfortunately mean the sacrifice of individual liberties for the sake of national security." Other informants, like Saeed Torres, have since come forward to expose other aspects of the program. The government has never acknowledged any of this. It is very likely that this same group will be called upon to support Donald Trumps orders if a Muslim registry is ever set up. So this would be the moment for Obama to crack down in some fashion on this hapless system of profiling and entrapment before the Trump administration can expand it. Pardon 9. Pardon Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, and the other whistleblowers : Last but not least, why not pardon Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, and the other whistleblowers who served the public good by letting us know what the president wouldnt? As of now, Barack Obama will go down in history as the president who prosecuted more truth-tellers, often under the draconian World War I-era Espionage Act, than all other presidents combined. Stephen Kim, Jeffrey Sterling, John Kiriakou, and Thomas Drake were government officials who talked with journalists. They were subsequently jailed or had their lives turned upside down. Others like Chelsea Manning and Barrett Brown have been jailed for hacking or for the release of documents relating to surveillance, U.S. wars abroad, and other national security matters. Gabe Rottman of the ACLU sums the situation up this way: By my count, the Obama administration has secured 526 months of prison time for national security leakers, versus only 24 months total jail time for everyone else [who ever leaked] since the American Revolution. On this issue, Obama has already made his position clear enough. Of Snowden, in particular, he told Der Spiegel earlier this month, I can't pardon somebody who hasn't gone before a court and presented themselves. For a constitutional law professor, thats a terrible argument. The power of pardon conferred by the Constitution upon the President is unlimited except in cases of impeachment, the Supreme Court ruled in 1866. It extends to every offence known to the law, and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment. The power is not subject to legislative control. It also flies in the face of history and of the presidents own actions. Richard Nixon hadnt even been indicted when Gerald Ford issued a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon, comments the Pardon Snowden campaign. Nor had the thousands of men who had evaded the Vietnam War draft, who were pardoned unconditionally by Jimmy Carter on his first day in office. President Obama himself pardoned three Iranian American men earlier this year in the framework of the nuclear deal with Iran. Like Snowden, the three had been indicted but hadnt stood trial when they were pardoned. Given how rarely Obama has issued presidential pardons, it seems unlikely that he will act. Hes pardoned fewer people than any president since James Garfield, who was fatally shot in 1881 after less than three months in office, writes Steven Nelson at U.S. News & World Report. Indeed, Bush pardoned twice as many people as Obama in his first seven years in office, a record that he might want to ameliorate. (In fairness, it should be noted that Obama has set a record for commuting jail sentences.) Will Obama act on any of these nine recommendations? Or will he simply hand over the vast, increasingly secretive national security state that he helped build to a man whom he once declared to be unfit not just for the presidency but even for a job at a retail store. The guy says stuff nobody would find tolerable if they were applying for a job at 7-Eleven, Obama told an election rally in October. Now, its his move. Forget about 7-Eleven; Obama will not have to apply for, or campaign for, his next well-paid job, whatever it may be. But there is the little matter of his legacy, of truth, and oh, yes, of the future security of the country. Pratap Chatterjee, a TomDispatch regular, is executive director of CorpWatch. He is the author of Halliburton's Army: How A Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War. His next book, Verax, a graphic novel about whistleblowers and mass surveillance co-authored with Khalil Bendib, will be published by Metropolitan Books in 2017. Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, Nick Turses Next Time Theyll Come to Count the Dead, and Tom Engelhardt's latest book, Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World . Copyright 2016 Pratap Chatterjee Syria: East-Aleppo Siege Nears Its End By Moon Of Alabama December 05, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Moon Of Alabama " - This is the situation in east-Aleppo as of Dec 4, 6PM ET. The enclosed green area, held by al-Qaeda and its allies, will soon be gone. Map via Fabrice Balanche - bigger The British Foreign Minister says that the foreseeable Syrian government victory in Aleppo will not be a gain at all. Bollocks. He and his colleagues have obviously given up on the case and now issue face saving laments. Syria's alliance is winning, U.S. policy is changing and the end of the war is now foreseeable. The British MI-6 propaganda operation "Bana Alabed" expired. The operation's main star was a seven year old girl in east-Aleppo who could not speak English but tweeted world politics in perfect Twitter-English even when the Internet in all Aleppo was down. It has now vanished. This is just like one of the first anti-Syrian propaganda operations, the "Gay girl in Damascus", which expired in 2011 shortly before its male U.S. operator in Scotland was exposed. What will all the media who have willfully fallen for this "Bana" nonsense now tell their viewers and readers? Since the start of the Syrian army offense on the Takfiri held east-Aleppo some 21,000+ civilians have left towards the government held areas in the western part. Several news accounts confirm that these civilians had been held hostages by the Takfiris and had to flee under fire: "We were under pressure by all means, psychological and financial. The gunmen were trying to prevent us from leaving until the army came," said 36-year-old Amina Rwein, who fled with her husband, seven daughters and three sons. "We came under fire from the gunmen as we were leaving and the army hit the minaret from where the sniper was shooting, and then we crossed," she said. About 500 fighters among those civilians gave themselves up to the Syrian army. 480 of them were locals and where led go after they pledged to end all fighting. The remaining rebels want to stay in the city and continued fighting until the end. This sabotages plans by Secretary of State Kerry who tries to get another ceasefire in which some al-Qaeda fighters would leave but other Takfiris kept in control of east-Aleppo. Kerry was late anyway. That deal was no longer on the table. The EU has even worse ideas - it wants to bribe the Syrian government to keep some Jihadis alive and in power. What a joke! The Russian and Syrian forces will not leave any enemy fighter in the area alive or any inch of Aleppo city grounds occupied by them. Later the same will apply to all of Syria. New controlled exits for civilians and fighters who want to leave will be set up soon. All the old exit areas in the northern parts are now completely under Syrian government control. I doubt that there are many, if any civilians left. As my original estimated from October 15 said: Based on the Daraya numbers and those of other sieges in Syria there are probably no more than 4-5,000 fighters and some 3-5 civilians per fighter, i.e. their immediate families, in east-Aleppo. The real total could easily be as low as 20,000. The UN Refugees Agency and UN officials told fairy tales of some 270,000 civilians under siege in east-Aleppo. Numbers every "western" media repeated without caveats. More than 60% of the areas have been liberated. The International Red Cross went there and they were empty. Where are all those hundred-thousands civilians the UN envisioned now? There are still daily missile attacks from the Takfiri held areas on the government held western areas and each of these is costing lives. UPDATE: According to SANA 8 people were killed and 25 wounded today when the Takfiris fired missiles into residential areas of west-Aleppo. A Russian field hospital set up over the last days to help refugees from east Aleppo came under attack from the "moderate" Takfiris. A female Russian doctor was killed, several other personal were wounded and the hospital was (pics) destroyed. /UPDATE These attacks create urgency to drain the cauldron as soon as possible. There are several other reason, next to that urgency, why the attack on east-Aleppo proceeds much faster than expected. Whenever the Syrian army and its allies slow down their attacks infighting keeps the Jihadists in the cauldron busy. Yesterday the al-Qaeda group Jabhat al-Nusra joined the CIA equipped Zinki group in attacks on the headquarters of some local armed groups who had control over stores filled with food and ammunition. Such moments of infighting are ideal for the attacking Syrian forces to go forward in unexpected ways. The Syrian government forces do not proceed along the lines military professionals expected. They do not attack along main roads or obvious axes with enemy checkpoints and prepared traps but probe from every side until they find a weakness and then go through lightly defended densely build up areas to attack the checkpoint defenders from the rear. The 25,000 Syrian army fighters and the 10,000 foreign allies (4,000 from Iraq, 4,000 provided by Iran and 2,000 Hizbullah from Lebanon) have unprecedented air support from Syrian planes and helicopters. Reports of "Russian bombing" of east-Aleppo are all false and have been false for the last six weeks. Only the Syrian airforce is active in the area. The general plan is to squeeze all the Takfiris into one small area in east-Aleppo (probably the "old city") and to then negotiate their departure to Idleb in north-west Syria. Idelb itself is already filled with infighting Jihadis of various stripes who were offered exit to it from several areas around Damascus, Homs and Hama. It will soon be a shooting alley for the Syrian and Russian air-forces. The Jihadis will flee to Turkey, which is a nightmare for Erdogan, and maybe onward from there into "western" European cities. There they will be pampered and rest until their masters call for another battle. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Information Clearing House editorial policy. By Glenn Greenwald December 05, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " The Intercept " - Ever since he announced his candidacy to lead the Democratic National Committee, Keith Ellison, the first American Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, has been the target of a defamation campaign that is deceitful, repugnant, and yet quite predictable. At first expressed in whispers, but now being yelled from the rooftops by some of the partys most influential figures, Ellison is being smeared as both an anti-Semite and enemy of Israel the same smears virtually any critic of the Israeli government reflexively encounters, rendered far worse if the critic is a prominent American Muslim. Three days ago, the now ironically named Anti-Defamation League pronounced Ellisons 2010 comments about Israel deeply disturbing and disqualifying. Other Israel advocates have now joined in. What are Ellisons terrible sins? He said in a 2010 speech that while he wanted the U.S. to be friends with Israel, the U.S. cant allow another country to treat us like were their ATM. As the full speech makes clear, he was referring to the indisputable fact that while Israel continues to take billions of dollars every year from the U.S. far more than any other country receives in aid it continually disregards and violates U.S. requests to stop ongoing expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, often in ways seemingly designed to impose the greatest humiliation on its benefactor: Stop, you know why are we sending a mill $2.8 billion dollars a year over there when they wont even honor our request to stop building in East Jerusalem? Where is the future Palestinian state going to be if its colonized before it even gets up off the ground? Now you got Clinton, Biden, and the president whos told them stop. Now this has happened before. They beat back a president before. Bush 41 said stop, and they said we dont want to stop, and by the way we want our money and we want it now. [Ellison laughs.] Right? You know, I mean we cant allow, were Americans, right? We cant allow another country to treat us like were their ATM. Right? And so we ought to stand up as Americans. Equally sinful in the eyes of the ADL was this statement on U.S. foreign policy: The United States foreign policy in the Middle East is governed by what is good or bad through a country of 7 million people. A region of 350 million all turns on a country of 7 million. Does that make sense? [A male says no.] Is that logic? Right? When the people who, when the Americans who trace their roots back to those 350 million get involved, everything changes. As J.J. Goldberg of The Forward noted, Ellison wasnt lamenting the insidious influence of U.S. Jews as the ADL shamefully claimed but rather was plainly describing how American Muslims could have greater influence on American policy if they learned to organize. And agree or disagree with those positions, it is an indisputable fact that Israel receives far more in U.S. aid than any other country yet continually does exactly that which numerous U.S. presidents have insisted it not do, often to the detriment of U.S. interests. And many prominent foreign policy experts including David Petraeus have warned that excessive U.S. support for the worst actions of the Israeli government endangers U.S. national security by alienating Arabs in the region and fueling support for anti-American terrorism. The idea that a member of Congress is not permitted to debate these policies without being branded an anti-Semite is sheer insanity: malicious insanity at that. But that insanity is par for the course in Washington, where anyone who even questions U.S. policy toward Israel is smeared in this way from James Baker to Howard Dean to Bernie Sanders and even Donald Trump. So pernicious is this framework that the U.S. Senate just passed legislation expressly equating what it regards as unfair criticism of the Israeli government with anti-Semitism. And when one is an American Muslim, ugly stereotypes and pervasive Islamophobia are added to this toxic brew to make the smears worse by many magnitudes. This smear campaign against Ellison received a major boost Friday night when the single largest funder of both the Democratic Party and the Hillary Clinton campaign, the Israeli-American billionaire Haim Saban, said at the Brookings Institution, a part of which he funds: If you go back to his positions, his papers, his speeches, the way he has voted, he is clearly an anti-Semite and anti-Israel individual. Saban added: Keith Ellison would be a disaster for the relationship between the Jewish community and the Democratic Party. That Saban plays such a vital role in Democratic Party politics says a great deal. To the New York Times, this is how he described himself: Im a one-issue guy and my issue is Israel. In late 2015, Ali Gharib wrote in The Forward: Sabans top priority isnt a liberal vision of American life. Its Israel. When Hillary Clinton in 2015 condemned the boycott movement aimed at ending Israeli settlements, she did it in the form of a letter addressed personally to Saban. The Democratic Partys central reliance on billionaire funders like Saban is a key reason that debates over Israel policy are not permitted within the party. Its why any attempt to raise such issues will prompt systematic campaigns of reputation destruction like the one were witnessing with Ellison. To get a sense for just how prohibited the most benign and basic debates are when it comes to Israel, consider the quotes from Ellisons college days dug up by CNN as supposedly incriminating. In 1990, while a law student at the University of Minnesota, Ellison blasted the university president for condemning a speaking event featuring the anti-Zionist civil rights icon Kwame Ture (also known as Stokely Carmichael); Ellisons argument was that all ideas, including Zionism, should be regarded as debatable in a college environment: The Universitys position appears to be this: Political Zionism is off-limits no matter what dubious circumstances Israel was founded under; no matter what the Zionists do to the Palestinians; and no matter what wicked regimes Israel allies itself with like South Africa. This position is untenable. In other words, Ellison 26 years ago, while a student simply argued that college campuses should not be deemed safe spaces in which debates over Israel are barred: an utterly mainstream view when the topic to be debated is something other than Israel. Leave aside the bizarre attempt to use someones college-aged political activism against them three decades later. As my colleague Zaid Jilani very ably documented several days ago, even the most inflammatory of Ellisons campus statements including his long-ago-renounced praise for the Nation of Islam were grounded in righteous opposition to white supremacy and the policies of the state of Israel and show him expressing sympathy for the plight of underprivileged whites and making clear that he was not antagonistic toward Jewish people. Writing about the smear campaign circulating on the internet against Ellison, The Forwards Goldberg said he found the evidence to be either frivolous, distorted or simply false. As CNN itself acknowledged when digging up these old Ellison quotes: None of the records reviewed found examples of Ellison making any anti-Semitic comments himself. How is that, by itself, not the end of the controversy? The reason why it isnt is a glaring irony. With the advent of Donald Trump and policies such as banning all Muslims from the country, Democrats this year incorporated anti-Islamophobia rhetoric into their repertoire. Yet what is being done to Ellison by the ADL, Saban, and others is Islamophobia in its purest and most classic form. Trumps Promised New Foreign Policy Must Abandon Regime Change By Ron Paul December 05, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " New American " - President-elect Donald Trump told a Cincinnati audience last week that he intends to make some big changes in US foreign policy. During his thank you tour in the midwest, Trump had this to say: We will pursue a new foreign policy that finally learns from the mistakes of the past. We will stop looking to topple regimes and overthrow governments.... In our dealings with other countries we will seek shared interests wherever possible.... If this is really to be President Trumps foreign policy, it would be a welcome change from the destructive path pursued by the two previous administrations. Such a foreign policy would go a long way toward making us safer and more prosperous, as we would greatly reduce the possibility of a blowback attack from abroad, and we would save untold billions with a foreign policy of restraint. However as we know with politicians, there is often a huge gap between pronouncements before entering office and actions once in office. Who can forget President George W. Bushs foreign policy promises as a candidate 16 years ago? As a candidate he said: I am not so sure the role of the United States is to go around the world saying this is the way its got to be.... If were an arrogant nation they will resent us, if were a humble nation but strong theyll welcome us. Unfortunately as soon as he took office, George W. Bush pursued a completely different foreign policy, attacking countries like Iraq at the urging of the neocons he placed in positions of power in his White House and State Department. Some people say that personnel is policy, and that much can be predicted about Trumps foreign policy by the people he has appointed to serve his Administration. That is where we might have reason to be worried. Take Iran, for example. While Trump says he wants the US to stop overthrowing governments, on the issue of Iran both the candidate and his recent appointees have taken a very different view. Trump's pick for National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, has said the following about Iran: "I believe that Iran represents a clear and present danger to the region, and eventually to the world..." and, ... regime change in Tehran is the best way to stop the Iranian nuclear weapons program. Trumps CIA choice, Mike Pompeo, has said of President Obamas Iran deal, The Iranian regime is intent on the destruction of our country. Why the President does not understand is unfathomable. And Trumps selection for Defense Secretary, General James Mattis, was even more aggressive, saying, The Iranian regime in my mind is the single most enduring threat to stability and peace in the Middle East.... Iran is not an enemy of ISIS. They have a lot to gain from the turmoil in the region that ISIS creates." Donald Trump's words in Cincinnati don't seem to match up with the views of the people that he's assigning to high places. At least when it comes to Iran. While I hope we can take President Trump at his word when it comes to foreign policy, I also we think we should hold him to his word especially his encouraging words last week. Will the incoming president have the ability to rein in his more bellicose cabinet members and their underlings? We can be sure about one thing: if Trump allows the neocons to capture the State Department, keeping his foreign policy promises is going to be a lot more difficult. The Pentagons 2015 Strategy For Ruling the World By Mike Whitney December 05, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Counterpunch " - On Wednesday, the Pentagon released its 2015 National Military Strategy, a 24-page blueprint for ruling the world through military force. While the language in the report is subtler and less incendiary than similar documents in the past, the determination to unilaterally pursue US interests through extreme violence remains the cornerstone of the new strategy. Readers will not find even a hint of remorse in the NMS for the vast destruction and loss of life the US caused in countries that posed not the slightest threat to US national security. Instead, the report reflects the steely resolve of its authors and elite constituents to continue the carnage and bloodletting until all potential rivals have been killed or eliminated and until such time that Washington feels confident that its control over the levers of global power cannot be challenged. As one would expect, the NMS conceals its hostile intentions behind the deceptive language of national security. The US does not initiate wars of aggression against blameless states that possess large quantities of natural resources. No. The US merely addresses security challenges to protect the homeland and to advance our national interests. How could anyone find fault with that, after all, wasnt the US just trying to bring peace and democracy to Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and now Syria? In the Chairmans Forward, Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey attempts to prepare the American people for a future of endless war: Future conflicts will come more rapidly, last longer, and take place on a much more technically challenging battlefield. We must be able to rapidly adapt to new threats while maintaining comparative advantage over traditional ones the application of the military instrument of power against state threats is very different than the application of military power against non state threats. We are more likely to face prolonged campaigns than conflicts that are resolved quickly that control of escalation is becoming more difficult and more important. (Document: 2015 U.S. National Military Strategy, USNI News) War, war and more war. This is the Pentagons vision of the future. Unlike Russia or China which have a plan for an integrated EU-Asia free trade zone (Silk Road) that will increase employment, improve vital infrastructure, and raise living standards, the US sees only death and destruction ahead. Washington has no strategy for the future, no vision of a better world. There is only war; asymmetrical war, technological war, preemptive war. The entire political class and their elite paymasters unanimously support global rule through force of arms. That is the unavoidable meaning of this document. The United States intends to maintain its tenuous grip on global power by maximizing the use of its greatest asset; its military. And who is in the militarys gunsights? Check out this excerpt from an article in Defense News: The strategy specifically calls out Iran, Russia and North Korea as aggressive threats to global peace. It also mentions China, but notably starts that paragraph by saying the Obama administration wants to support Chinas rise and encourage it to become a partner for greater international security, continuing to thread the line between China the economic ally and China the regional competitor. None of these nations are believed to be seeking direct military conflict with the United States or our allies, the strategy reads. Nonetheless, they each pose serious security concerns which the international community is working to collectively address by way of common policies, shared messages, and coordinated action. (Pentagon Releases National Military Strategy, Defense News) Did you catch that last part? None of these nations are believed to be seeking direct military conflict with the United States or our allies. Nevertheless, they each pose serious security concerns. In other words, none of these countries wants to fight the United States, but the United States wants to fight them. And the US feels its justified in launching a war against these countries because, well, because they either control vast resources, have huge industrial capacity, occupy an area of the world that interests the US geopolitically, or because they simply want to maintain their own sovereign independence which, of course, is a crime. According to Dempsey, any of these threadbare excuses are sufficient justification for conflict mainly because they pose serious security concerns for the US, which is to say they undermine the USs dominant role as the worlds only superpower. The NMS devotes particular attention to Russia, Washingtons flavor-of-the-month enemy who had the audacity to defend its security interests following a State Department-backed coup in neighboring Ukraine. For that, Moscow must be punished. This is from the report: Some states, however, are attempting to revise key aspects of the international order and are acting in a manner that threatens our national security interests. While Russia has contributed in select security areas, such as counternarcotics and counterterrorism, it also has repeatedly demonstrated that it does not respect the sovereignty of its neighbors and it is willing to use force to achieve its goals. Russias military actions are undermining regional security directly and through proxy forces. These actions violate numerous agreements that Russia has signed in which it committed to act in accordance with international norms. (2015 NMS) Russia is an evildoer because Russia refused to stand by while the US toppled the Ukrainian government, installed a US stooge in Kiev, precipitated a civil war between the various factions, elevated neo Nazis to positions of power in the security services, plunged the economy into insolvency and ruin, and opened a CIA headquarters in the Capital to run the whole shooting match. This is why Russia is bad and must be punished. But does that mean Washington is seriously contemplating a war with Russia? Heres an excerpt from the document that will help to clarify the matter: For the past decade, our military campaigns primarily have consisted of operations against violent extremist networks. But today, and into the foreseeable future, we must pay greater attention to challenges posed by state actors. They increasingly have the capability to contest regional freedom of movement and threaten our homeland. Of particular concern are the proliferation of ballistic missiles, precision strike technologies, unmanned systems, space and cyber capabilities, and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) technologies designed to counter U.S. military advantages and curtail access to the global commons. (2015 NMS) It sounds to me like the Washington honchos have already made up their minds. Russia is the enemy, therefore, Russia must be defeated. How else would one counter a revisionist state that threatens our homeland? Why with Daisy Cutters, of course. Just like everyone else. The NMS provides a laundry list of justifications for launching wars against (imaginary) enemies of the US. The fact is, the Pentagon sees ghosts around every corner. Whether the topic is new technologies, shifting demographics or cultural differences; all are seen as a potential threat to US interests, particularly anything related to the competition for resources. In this skewed view of reality, one can see how the invasion of Iraq was justified on the grounds that Saddams control of Iraqs massive oil reserves posed a direct challenge to US hegemony. Naturally, Saddam had to be removed and over a million people killed to put things right and return the world to a state of balance. This is the prevailing view of the National Military Strategy, that is, that whatever the US does is okay, because its the US. Readers shouldnt expect to find something new in the NMS. This is old wine in new bottles. The Pentagon has merely updated the Bush Doctrine while softening the rhetoric. Theres no need to scare the living daylights out of people by talking about unilateralism, preemption, shrugging off international law or unprovoked aggression. Even so, everyone knows that United States is going to do whatever the hell it wants to do to keep the empire intact. The 2015 National Military Strategy merely confirms that sad fact. Kyrsten Sinema (Blue Dog-AZ)-- the worst of the worst Since 1964 more women have voted in presidential elections than men. In 2008, for example, 70.4 million women voted, compared to 60.7 million men. That's a big difference. 65.7% of eligible women voted but only 61.5% of eligible men. In the last House there were 84 women out of 365 members-- 22 Republicans (8.9% of their party) and 62 Democrats (33.0% of their party). Statistically, it's odd that over half the members of Congress aren't women. In the out-going Senate 20% of the members are women-- 6 Republicans and 14 Democrats. Starting next month, that percentage goes up to 22%-- 5 Republicans and 17 Democrats, including 4 new ones, Kamala Harris (CA), Tammy Duckworth (IL), Catherine Cortez Masto (NV) and Maggie Hassan (NH). There still hasn't been a woman president, although several women are prominently mentioned as 2020 candidates, starting with Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and Amy Klobuchar. I want to see a woman president and I'd certainly support Elizabeth Warren with everything I could muster. The other two... not so much. I know for me, for the sake of justice, if two candidates were exactly equal on the issues and on every other measurement scale from courageousness to electability-- something virtually impossible-- I would vote for the woman. I'm gay. I'm proud that the highest lifetime crucial vote score of any member of Congress is Mark Pocan, a gay man. His ProgressivePunch score is 98.95. Does he rock! Unfortunately, the single worst voter of all members being returned in 2107 is also gay-- Arizona Blue Dog Kyrsten Sinema, whose lifetime score is a an abysmal 36,63. And Sinema isn't the only LGBTQ person at the bottom on the garbage pile. Sean Patrick Maloney, currently making a bid for chairman of the DCCC, is not just a married gay man but also a New Dem Wall Street whore and the proud owner of 5th worst voting record score (45.19) among Democrats. I don't vote for people based on identity politics. I know many people do. I was asked by a reporter recently why the heavily backed state Senator Isadore Hall was beaten by the relatively unknown Nanette Barragan in a South L.A. congressional district. I would have loved to have said that she is a progressive reformer and he is a corrupt conservative. She is and he is-- and I'm sure there were some voters who made up their minds based on that, though probably not enough to swing the election. This election probably swung because over 70% of of the people in CA-44 are Latinos and they registered and voted in record numbers-- inspired by El Presidente-elect Senor Trumpanzee-- and probably didn't know much about down-ballot candidates Nanette or Isadore but did recognize a Latino name and an Anglo name. In California's Dem vs Dem Senate race, Kamala Harris beat Loretta Sanchez almost two to one-- 6,495,907 (62.4%) to 3,918,486 (37.6%). Harris was the heavily-backed establishment candidate and Sanchez was viewed as an interloper. No one really knows where Harris stands politically but people assume she's vaguely progressive. Sanchez is a Blue Dog who was endorsed by Darrell Issa and tried appealing to Republicans. Harris won every single county in the state, which may be a first. Sanchez was reasonably competitive in some tiny deep red Republican counties with meaninglessly small populations but she was racking up real votes in 6 sounties-- Kern (48.9%), Kings (47.0%), Madera (49.9%), Fresno (49.0%), Merced (47.7%) and Tulare (47.2%)-- which have big Latino populations but without strong Democratic establishment control of those populations. Many of those people voted for Sanchez because they didn't know squat about anyone but Trump and identified with her name. Salon over the weekend, Conor Lynch, addressed the albatross around Democrats' neck: Atover the weekend, Conor Lynch, addressed the albatross around Democrats' neck: identity politics The kind of self-serving identity politics that we saw from the Clinton camp during the Democratic primaries leads into what has been the most contentious debate among Democrats and progressives since the election: Whether the party has become too preoccupied with the politics of identity and political correctness, while straying too far from a class-based politics that addresses the structural inequities of capitalism. Not surprisingly, the debate has been full of deliberate misinterpretations. Consider how various news outlets reported on comments made by Sanders on his book tour last week while discussing diversity in political leadership. We need diversity, that goes without saying, noted Sanders, who was responding to a question from a woman asking for tips on how to become the second Latina senator, after this years election of Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada. But it is not good enough for someone to say, Im a woman, vote for me. Thats not good enough. What we need is a woman who has the guts to stand up to Wall Street, to the insurance companies, to the drug companies, to the fossil fuel industries. New York Times reported that Sanders had said Democrats need to focus more on economic struggles and less on the grievances of minorities and women, while the popular liberal website Talking Points Memo posted the misleading headline: From this comment, thereported that Sanders had said Democrats need to focus more on economic struggles and less on the grievances of minorities and women, while the popular liberal website Talking Points Memo posted the misleading headline: Sanders Urges Supporters: Ditch Identity Politics And Embrace The Working Class . These reports are both founded on a false dichotomy pitting economic justice and civil rights against each other. It is extremely troubling that appealing to young people, people of color, women and working-class whites is perceived as an either/or question, or that economic struggles and the grievances of minorities and women are seen as mutually exclusive. In reality, economic struggles and civil rights are deeply interconnected. Women and people of color, for example, are much more likely to suffer disproportionately from poverty and economic inequality, while young voters who care deeply about social issues are currently facing crushing student loan debt, a subpar job market and low social mobility. This illustrates the real problem with modern liberalism. Not that it is too preoccupied with promoting diversity or ending all forms of discrimination-- there is really no disagreement on the left that these are vitally important goals-- but that these efforts and achievements are often used to mask or divert attention from the deeper structural problems of our economic and political systems. The fact that Goldman Sachs has been a leader in promoting diversity and inclusivity in its workforce, for example, should not comfort anyone when the same firm committed massive fraud leading up to the financial crisis and is still led by the same CEO, who recently entered the billionaires club. When Hillary Clinton gave her notorious $225,000 speeches for Goldman Sachs, it is reported that she lavished praise on the firms diversity and the prominent roles played by women in its internal hierarchy. She did not, however, talk about Goldmans role in exacerbating the financial crisis or the way the firm committed massive securities fraud and reaped billions of dollars in profit, let alone the fact that none of the firms top executives faced any criminal prosecution for their misdeeds. This is the liberalism that failed to stop Trump. This is the liberalism that self-servingly exploited identity politics to protect an establishment candidate whose severe flaws were evident long before the 2016 campaign began. This is the liberalism that must be overcome, and the sooner the better. I voted for Obama in 2008 because he was black. I knew his less-than-admirable record in the Illinois state legislature and in the U.S. Senate and he wasn't my kind of candidate. But he wasn't terrible either, just OK. But, I felt it would be worth giving him some slack because even if he didn't turn into a president as great as his rhetoric, he would be a much-needed inspiration for millions of young children of color. In 2012, though, I voted for Jill Stein. Barbara Lee is one of the most inspiring members of Congress. Is it because she's from Oakland? Is it because she grew up in El Paso? Is it because she's black? Is it because she's a woman? Those are things that may have all contributed to why I respect and admire her so, but the reason why I respect and admire her isn't because of those factors. It's because of her record-- her voting record and her courageousness. Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA) is black too. He's also one of the worst and most corrupt members of Congress. There are reasons to vote for people and reasons to oppose people. It's not because of their race, their nationality, gender, religion or what team they root for. People have records; get to know them before you vote. Being a Republican probably means a candidate is horrible. Being a Democrat doesn't mean the opposite. At least half the Democratic members of Congress aren't even worth voting for-- and that number continues to grow. A U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith has issued an order for Michigan election officials to begin counting ballots starting today. The ruling is as a result of a request from Green Party presidential candidate, Jill Stein after a thin margin saw Donald Trump ended up winning Michigans 16 electoral votes by just 0.2 percentage points, or just under 10,000 votes out of over 5.5 million cast. Michigan is the second state where a recount has been ordered after Wisconsin as Jill Stein continues efforts to ensure recounts are held in Pennsylvania. The recount will cost an estimated $7 million. US president-elect Donald Trump who is known to be very active on Twitter has been criticising China on the social media network. Trump says the country didnt consult America on monetary policy or on building a military complex in the South China Sea. Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into.. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016 their country (the U.S. doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016 It is the second time he has risked a diplomatic row in recent days. China meanwhile has lodged a formal complaint over a call between Mr Trump and the leader of Taiwan which Beijing sees as a breakaway province. Mr Olorogun Ima Niboro, a former spokesperson to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan when he was the Vice President has officially joined the All Progressives Congress in Delta State. Niboro, a former MD of the News Agency of Nigeria, made its joining official when leaders of APC in Ughelli South Local Government Area paid him a courtesy visit at his house. According to him, he joined the APC to bring development to Ughelli South, Delta State and Nigeria as he stated that they cannot be left out in the development agenda of the Federal Government as championed by President Muhammadu Buhari, The useless opposition will not serve the people of Ughelli South, Delta State and Nigeria. We must work together to achieve synergy to save our communities from infrastructural deficits. We cannot sacrifice development to developmental expediency. No single level of government can do it alone. I joined the APC to bring that synergy between the three arms of government so that we can achieve development, he added. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and his wife Dolapo led six former Head of states and Vice Presidents to show gratitude to God for his goodness over Nigeria at a special Aso Rock thanksgiving service on Sunday, December 4th. The leaders who converged at the Aso Villa Chapel for the Annual Thanksgiving Service were former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Head of State General Yakubu Gowon, former Head of the Interim Government Ernest Shonekan, former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, and former Chiefs of General Staff Oladipo Diya and Ebitu Ukiwe. Also present at the service were the Wife of the Vice President, Dolapo Osinbajo and Margaret Shonekan. Others are Federal cabinet ministers, several top government officials and Christian leaders. Prayers were offered by the leaders and the Aso Villa Chapel congregation for the continued success of President Muhammadu Buhari, and the progress of the entire nation. One notable absence at the service was immediate past President, Goodluck Jonathan who according to the VP had planned to attend only to cancel at the last minute. While speaking with reporters Osinbajo said; We were also expecting President Jonathan but unfortunately he had to cancel at the last moment. So we are all extremely excited that we are able to bring everyone together to thank God for our nation and to give him thanks for the great future ahead of us. We are thanking God, it is a wonderful occasion to thank God and that is what we have done here today. After the service, the leaders joined the Vice President at his residence for breakfast. See more photos below: Former President Goodluck Jonathan was on Sunday conspicuously absent when former Nigerian leaders who are Christians gathered at the Aso Villa Chapel located inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja for the end of the year thanksgiving. The past leaders were invited by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to join him and his wife to praise God for His goodness over the country. Former Nigerian leaders who attended the service included a former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd.); former President Olusegun Obasanjo; former Head of the Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan; former Chief of General Staff, Gen. Oladipo Diya (retd.); former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme; and Rear Admiral Ebitu Ukiwe (retd.). Osinbajo, in an interview with State House correspondents at the end of the service confirmed that all the former Nigerian leaders, including Jonathan were invited for the service. READ ALSO: Nigerians want Jonathan again, says Makarfis PDP He, however, said Jonathan decided to cancel his attendance at the last minute. The Vice-President did not give the reason for Jonathans decision. He said there was a great future ahead of the country, hence the need for the thanksgiving service. Osinbajo said, Today is a special thanksgiving for the end of the year and as you have seen, all the former Presidents and Vice-Presidents are here for the special thanksgiving service, They have been specially invited to come, we also expected President Jonathan but unfortunately, he had to cancel at the last moment. So, we are all extremely excited that we have been able to bring everyone together to thank God for our nation and to give Him thanks for the great future ahead of us. Earlier during the service, Gowon who said he was attending service at the chapel for the first time, confirmed that Osinbajo personally contacted him to attend the service. He said even when he told the Vice-President that he would be engaged outside the country at the time, Osinbajo offered to facilitate his (Gowons) movement to the venue. The former military leader urged Christians to love every Nigerian in spite of their faith. Our neighbours are Christians, Muslims, traditional religions etcetera. Whatever we do, we make sure that we live up to the expectation of what Christ expects from us, he said. Gowon prayed for President Muhammadu Buhari, Osinbajo, the entire Presidency and Nigerians that God should guide the leadership to administer the country according to His will. Obasanjo had earlier taken the first lesson of the service from Luke 17: 11-19. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, disclosed that the 2017 budget would soon be presented to the National Assembly. He described the performance of the 2016 budget as good. Their appraisal during their oversight showed that the implementation was according to the plan as set out by Mr. President and the leadership of this country. I believe it is going to be a lot much better this year and at the end of it, he said. The Sunday visit was the first time Obasanjo would be visiting the Presidential Villa since he publicly criticised the Buhari administration recently, saying the President was elected to clear the mess he inherited and not to shift blame. The former leaders however did not meet with Buhari during their visit. Source: Punch The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, John Odigie-Oyegun, has defended the borrowing plans of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, saying borrowing is inevitable in view of the current economic realities in the country. Mr. Odigie-Oyegun said Nigeria must borrow to invest in infrastructure and grow the economy. The APC Chairman spoke on Sunday night after receiving a lifetime achievement award presented to him by the Warri Choral Society during a classical music concert the Society held in his honour at the Muson Center in Lagos. Mr. Odigie-Oyegun assured that the borrowings would not be used to pay salaries. If you read the newspapers, you hear the president being advised to pump money into the economy. So the question is where is the money coming from? Simple! It has to come from somewhere including borrowing both internal and external. To get this country going again, you have to pay contractors. Some contractors have not been paid for four, five, six, 10 years. So long as the borrowing is done not to pay salaries which the President Buhari administration will not do, but invested to create opportunities, solve our problems of power and things like that. To allow people to have money to consume, to buy goods, to pay for services so that factories can produce. So it is that cycle. We must kick-start the economy and to kick-start it will need money, lots of money, the APC National Chairman told journalists after the concert. Mr. Odigie-Oyegun said the ongoing fight against corruption was necessary for the country to make progress. That is a task (anti-corruption) that must be accomplished because it is at the bottom of all the ills of this country. When you are corrupt, you are immoral, when you are corrupt, you dont have ethics, when you are corrupt, you lose the distinction between right and wrong. When you are corrupt, even life does not mean anything to you. So, we must get it under serious control for this nation to have hope of making any progress, he said. Nigerian newspaper headlines December 5, 2016. Punch The Nigerian Army has dispelled the insinuation in some quarters that Operation Python Dance inaugurated on Monday last week in the South-East geopolitical zone was targeted at inflicting harm and hardship on the Igbo. Vanguard Cameroons Indomitable Lionesses have set a two-year period to overtake Nigeria as Champions and perhaps the continents new dominant force after a dogged performance against the eight-time champions in the final of the Africa Women Cup of Nations in Yaounde. Guardian The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) at the weekend provided 1,460 bags of assorted food items to 80,709 Nigerian refugees in the Republic of Cameroon. Thisday Oni Lekki of Lekkiland, Oba Olumuyiwa Ogunbekun, has asked Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, to save the residents of Lekki and its environs from the terror of land grabbers. Leadership The Cross River State governor, Prof Ben Ayade has donated 160 vehicles to security agencies in the state in a bid to sustain its status as the safest state in country. Premium Times Four medical doctors at the troubled Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, have been queried for allegedly abandoning work. The Sun Nigeria will not experience famine but price hikes in food next year due to unprecedented pressures on Nigerian grains from West African countries and global markets. The Nation The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has condemn Governor Nyesom Wike over his comment about the Commission. IT job creation in 2016 is looking to hit a three-year low, according to a new report by IT job market analyst Janco Associates. With only one month left in 2016, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that a mere 500 jobs were created in the sector in November, bringing the total number of IT jobs created this year to 69,100substantially down from the 112,800 jobs created in the first 11 months of 2015. If Jancos projections hold true, the economy will have added approximately 73,600 IT jobs this year. Thats slightly more than half of last year's totals, and considerably less than half of 2014's numbers. Janco Associates IT job creation for 2016 is forecast to come in at a three-year lowless than half of 2014's higheven as the rest of the economy has shown steady improvement. Most of the volatility appears to center around the telecommunications sector, where 26,600 jobs were lost over the past 12 months. That loss put a dent in gains provided by the computer systems design and related services and other information services sectorswhich stood at 82,100 and 15,300 jobs gained, respectively. (The overall vagueness of the BLS categories for tech jobs doesnt help to clarify the job picture.) Some of this decline might be blamed on pre-election jitters, but the downward movement in hiring that started in 2015 has since accelerated, even as unemployment figures in the general economy hit multi-year lows of around 5 percent, and labor force participation stopped its multi-year decline. Janco interviewed over 100 CIOs about their expectations for 2017, and found that many believe things will improve with the new administration. They expect hiring to improve across the board after the first three to six months. With all of the propose incentives, from tax cuts for businesses, buy American, improved trade deals, and immigration reform, we could be in for an economic boom, said M. Victor Janulaitis, CEO of Janco. However, the latest IT job data from the [Bureau of Labor Statistics] does not provide any basis for that conclusion. President-elect Donald Trumps policy suggestions in this area, such as they are, havent made the picture any clearer. One of his most concrete promises was vowing to investigate all abuses of the visa programs that undercut the American worker. This presumably includes the H-1B visa program, which has been cited as an underhanded way for tech companies to obtain cheap labor. The program is already started to receive scrutiny and action in Congress. However, Trump has also proposed blocking visa applications from dangerous and volatile regions, and approving them only for applicants who share our values and respect our people. Without any clear objective standard as to how either of those policies would be applied, theres no way to judge their potential impact. For example, would applicants from China (the recipient of 29,936 visas in 2014) be barred wholesale as part of a Trump administrations economic bulwark against that country, potentially doing far more harm than good? Rocky Holcomb (R) and Cheryl Turpin (D) Virginia has a Democratic Governor, Terry McAuliffe, an overwhelmingly Republican House of Delegates (66 Republicans to 34 Democrats) and an almost evenly split state Senate (21 Republicans to 19 Democrats). Virginia Republicans are notorious for outrageous gerrymandering and unless the Democrats either retain the governor's office-- McAuliffe can't run again next year-- or win a Senate majority, the Democrats will be screwed there once again after the 2020 census. Keep in mind that statewide-- so no gerrymandering--the Dems do great. Both U.S. senators are Democrats. In 2012 Tim Kaine ousted George Allen 1,944,992 (53%) to 1,758,857 (47%) and in 2014 Mark Warner was reelected against Ed Gillespie 1,073,667 (49%) to 1,55,940 (48%) in a very Republican year. Obama won the state both times-- 53-46% against McCain and 51-47% against Romney. Hillary just beat Trump 1,916,845 (49.9%) to 1,731,156 (45.0%). And all three constitutional offices are held by Democrats, Governor Terry McAuliffe, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring. It's just the gerrymandered state legislative districts and congressional districts that are so dire for Democrats. So here's the lay of the land. State Sen. Donald McEachin was elected to Congress, opening up the 9th senatorial district, which covers all of Charles City County and parts of Henrico and Hanover counties and part of the city of Richmond (Shockoe Bottom and Shockoe Slip, Court End, Capitol Square, Jackson Ward, parts of the Fan District, Carytown, Windsor Farms, Brookland Park, Ginter Park and Washington Park). The district is so blue that Republicans don't even run there. In 2014 Mark Warner took 72% of the votes there.-- the same percentage that Obama got over Romney in 2012. McEachin was reelected last time he ran with 90%. Del. Jennifer McClellan is the Senate candidate to replace McEachin and it's pretty much a done deal. So, an easy Democratic hold. The other Senate seat, the one the Democrats really need is probably out of their grasp-- the 22nd district. It encompasses part of Lynchburg and all of Amherst, Fluvanna, Goochland, Prince Edward, Appomattox, Buckingham and Cumberland counties and a small sliver of Louisa County. It's very red. In 2014 Gillespie beat Warner 57-40% and in 2013 Cuccinelli beat McAuliffe 54-38%. Romney beat Obama 56-44%. State Senator Thomas Garrett beat Jane Dittmar for the open congressional seat 58.3% to 41.7%, Robert Hurt having decided to retire. So the state Senate seat is probably a GOP hold. In the 2011 race for the seat, Garrett beat Democrat Bert Dodson 58.1% to 41.8%. This time Goochland County Supervisor Ken Peterson is competing with Richmond attorney Mark Peake for the Republican nomination. Yesterday former Fluvanna County Sheriff Ryant Washington won the Democratic nomination at a district caucus. It's the most important of the 3 special elections for a Democrat to win but it would be really tough, some would say impossible. The most competitive race is for a very swingy red House of Delegates seat in Virginia Beach, where Del. Scott Taylor (R) beat Shaun Brown, a Berniecrat (62-38%) when Scott Rigell decided to retire from Virginia's 2nd congressional district. Republicans have had better turnout in the district and have usually been winning it-- but never by much. Romney edged Obama by a handful of votes but it was basically a 49-49% tie. Gillespie beat Warner 50-47% and Cuccinelli beat McAuliffe 48-46%. On the other hand, Tim Kaine beat George Allen 51-49%. So this is definitely a pick-up opportunity for Virginia Democrats, who will be represented by public school teacher Cheryl Turpin against Rocky Holcomb, an intelligence officer in the city sheriff's office. Holcomb graduated from Regent "University," which is in the district. Turpin went to real schools, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia. Sam Kennard, owner of Australia-based Kennards Self Storage, last week railed against the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) after the government agency named his company among 74 businesses identified as non-compliant in an annual report that monitors gender equity in business. The self-storage operator reportedly didnt submit answers to a questionnaire on gender-equality indicators as required by law. In response to the report, Kennard said the WGEA was dripping in hypocrisy and should be abolished, according to the source. My company does not discriminate for race, age, sex or religion, Kennard told the source. If someone has a good attitude, [is] not afraid of work and willing to learn, theyre a starter in our view. This is not a particularly profound or enlightened perspective; it is just common sense. It is good for business. Australia law requires companies with more than 100 employees to submit information each year to the WGEA that details male-to-female ratios and salaries, among other data. Kennard is among a group of business owners who have criticized the questionnaire as being too time-consuming and a violation of private information. I can confirm that we do discriminate against time-wasting bureaucracies, Kennard said. The WGEA is a prime example of unnecessary government intrusion into the activities of businesses. My business has much more productive endeavors to pursue than filling out paperwork for government agencies like the WGEA. By failing to comply with the Workplace Gender Equality Act of 2012, organizations may not be eligible to tender for contracts under commonwealth and some state procurement frameworks, and may not be eligible for some commonwealth grants or other financial assistance, according to the WGEA report. While politicians and economists lament the declining productivity in our economy, it is exactly this red tape and the imposts of these bureaucracies that tax the efforts of enterprise, Kennard told the source. If the government was serious about tackling productivity, it would get out of our way; it would abolish the WGEA and the abundance of other regulations they lay on. Kennards operates more than 80 self-storage facilities in Australia and New Zealand. Based in Sydney, the family-owned business opened its first storage facility in 1973 in Moorebank, Australia. MAX North America has announced that its Canadian operations, MAX Canada Insurance Company, have been acquired by Chelsea Avondale.Despite the acquisition, MAX has reassured clients that MAX Canada Insurance Company will continue to serve faith-based and Anabaptist communities, and that it will still donate to the Mutual Aid Ministries under its own name.The transaction closed on November 30 and saw the acquisition of all MAX related operations in Canada, including Mutual Aid Insurance Brokers Company (MAIBC). Both companies will continue to operate from their current locations, and MAX Canada will retain its brand, values, brokers, and personnel. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.We are deeply impressed by the MAX Canada team and their very special way of doing business, said Chelsea Avondale CEO and CIO Nilesh Vasani. MAX Canada cares beyond the contract. We agree thats the way insurance should be and thats what we intend to do as we enhance, strengthen and extend the MAX name across Canada.We have been seeking a partner that would help us strengthen and expand services for our Canadian policyholders, added MAX North America president and CEO David Wine. Chelsea Avondale is the perfect choice.Wine, who helped MAX North America launch back in 2000, has agreed to remain as president and CEO of MAX Canada during the transition, a release said. The release also said that current MAX Canada board chair Elaine Shantz will also continue her role following the acquisition.It is very important for us to listen carefully to those who established MAX to help us shape and frame the future with all the care and sensitivities of the legacy already established, stated Chelsea Avondale managing director of Acquisitions and Operations John Lewis. I cannot begin to tell you how committed we are to continuing and expanding upon this special company. Chelsea Avondale will be investing significantly to provide MAX Canada with industry leading systems, investment management, enhanced staffing and access to capital to continue its growth. Insured losses from the November hailstorm that struck parts of northwest Victoria, northeast South Australia and southern New South Wales have now risen to $192.6 million, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has revealed.Losses from the event, which was declared a catastrophe by the ICA on November 15, were gathered from 28,146 claims.South Australia was the most severely affected with insured losses of $130 million from 20,080 claims.NSW has reached $37.5 million from 4,529 claims, and Victorians have lodged 3,537 claims for insured losses of $25.2 million.ICA said more than 15,000 motor vehicle claims had been lodged from the event for an estimated value of $80 million.Three quarters of those claims come from South Australia.ICA CEO Rob Whelan said at the time that the decision to classify it as a catastrophe enabled the industry to heighten its response.This included the establishment of an industry taskforce to identify and address emerging issues; the activation of a disaster hotline to help policyholders with their insurance-related questions; and mobilisation of ICA staff to work directly with local services and affected policyholders in the region.Insurers recognise how serious this situation is for a region so dependent on agriculture, and are responding with appropriate urgency, Whelan said a few days after the storm hit. IAG had earlier revealed it expected to incur a net cost of $200 million from both the storm and the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit New Zealand on November 14.The company said it expected its FY17 net natural peril claim costs to still be in line with its $680 million allowance, however.The $200 million net cost for the two events comprised of a $20 million retention applicable to each event, plus the residual deductible of approximately $160 million attaching to IAGs calendar 2016 aggregate reinsurance cover as of the end of October, the company said.Assuming a net cost of $200 million from the latest events, year-to-date net natural peril claim costs would be approximately $340 million, compared to IAG s full year allowance of $680 million, which is included in its FY17 reported insurance margin guidance of 12.5-14.5%, it stated.Given the strength of its reinsurance cover, which includes $96 million of perils protection immediately above $680 million on a financial year basis, IAG retains its existing reported insurance margin guidance range.Based on a $200 million net cost from the combined trans-Tasman storm and New Zealand earthquake events, IAG s maximum event retention becomes $20 million in Australia and NZ$20 million in New Zealand, until December 31, 2016. Gambling regulators in Massachusetts are looking into the possible impact of legalized marijuana on the states emerging casino industry. The state Gaming Commission has announced its requesting comments from state-licensed casino operators and the public. The panel says its interested in the possible impact to employees in the workplace, the use of recreational marijuana in non-public areas and what happens when patrons or employees bring edible products containing marijuana into the hotel, retail shops and other non-gambling areas of the casino. Massachusetts casino law prohibits smoking in gambling facilities, and the referendum approved by voters in November bans use of recreational marijuana in public places. The commission is accepting comments by email or mail until Jan. 2, 2017. Massachusetts has licensed casinos by Wynn, MGM and Penn National Gaming. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Massachusetts Cannabis Hackers stole more than 2 billion roubles ($31 million) from correspondent accounts at the Russian central bank and from accounts in commercial banks, the bank said on Friday [Dec. 2], the latest example of an escalation of cyber attacks on financial institutions around the globe. Central bank official Artyom Sychyov discussed the losses at a briefing, saying that the hackers had attempted to steal about 5 billion roubles. He said the figures were the totals recorded stolen, or the target of attempted theft, in cyber attacks over the course of 2016. Sychyov was commenting on a central bank report released earlier in the day, that told of hackers breaking into accounts there by faking a clients credentials. The bank provided few other details in its lengthy report. Financial regulators around the world have recently urged banks to beef up cyber security in the wake of a string of high-profile heists on banks around the world. Fears about attacks on banks have mounted since February when unknown cyber criminals stole $81 million in funds that Bangladeshs central bank had on deposit at the New York Fed. Law enforcement agencies around the globe are hunting for the criminals who stole the money using fraudulent wire-transfer requests sent over the SWIFT bank messaging network. Separately, Russia said on Friday that it had uncovered a plot by foreign spy agencies to sow chaos in the countrys banking system via a coordinated wave of cyber attacks and fake social media reports about banks going bust. ($1 = 63.8300 roubles) (Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh and Elena Fabrichnaya; writing by Katya Golubkova and Jim Finkle; editing by Vladimir Soldatkin and David Gregorio) [Editors note: Reuters corrected its original article to show the 2 billion roubles stolen is a combination of money stolen from accounts in central bank and commercial banks, not from central bank alone. It also clarified that the figures were the totals stolen in cyber attacks for the year to date.] Related: Topics Cyber Commercial Lines Russia A federal judge in Nebraska has ordered Douglas Countys insurance carrier to pay $5 million plus legal costs to two men wrongfully jailed for months in the 2006 killing of a Murdock couple because the countys former crime lab chief planted evidence against them. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Nick Sampson and Matthew Livers will split the amount. They were arrested after Livers falsely confessed to murdering his aunt and uncle, Wayne and Sharmon Stock, at their farmhouse. He recanted the next day. The judgment is the maximum the St. Paul Travelers Cos.s insurance policy would pay for former CSI chief David Kofoeds conduct. Kofoed was convicted of planting blood evidence in a car to bolster the case against Livers and Sampson, who were later exonerated. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Legislation Nebraska Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC (MMA), the middle market agency subsidiary of Marsh, has acquired Benefits Resource Group (BRG), in Independence, Ohio. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. BRG, an employee benefits consulting firm, offers a wide range of medical, life and disability insurance to midsize employers in Ohio. All of BRGs employees will join MMAs Midwest region and will continue to operate out of the firms existing office under the leadership of CEO Charles Farro and President Ross Farro. Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Ohio Property/casualty insurer, Great American Insurance Group, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, has promoted Mark Vuono to divisional president of its Environmental Division. Vuono joined Great American in 2007 as divisional senior vice president of underwriting for the Environmental Division. Prior to joining Great American, he served as executive underwriter for Worldwide Pollution within XL Insurance Co. and has over 35 years of experience in the environmental insurance industry. Source: Great American Insurance Group Topics Pollution Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer. Will he lead a loyal opposition to Trump or a disloyal one? How many Democrats will collaborate in the Age of Trump? If Democrats do not succeed at being seen as the nation's rescuer, someone else will. And that will definitely not be good ... for Democrats. Dem blame game rages over Clinton loss Almost a month after Hillary Clintons loss to Donald Trump, recriminations are still flying among liberals and Democrats. At least one prominent Clinton loyalist has turned his fire on Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), arguing that the left-wingers challenge wounded the former secretary of State ahead of her general election campaign. Sanders partisans, meanwhile, say that he would have been a better candidate than Clinton to win over an electorate hungry for change. Both sides express concern that re-litigating the primary battle could be a distraction, wasting energy that would be better spent resisting President-elect Trump. But even if all sides agree in theory on the need to focus on Trump, not everyone is ready to leave the primary in the past. [...] Why Targeting Corporate Democrats Is Part of the Fight Against Trump On November 14, six days after the election of Donald Trump, some 40 young people walked into the office of New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, calling on the senior lawmaker to step aside in his bid to be Senate minority leader. Carrying a banner that read "Wall St. Democrats Failed Us," they argued that Schumer, who has received more than $3 million in campaign contributions from the securities and investment industry in the last five years, was exactly the wrong figure to lead the opposition to Donald Trump. When the senator refused to meet with them, the protesters sat on the floor to barricade the office, filling the halls of the Hart Office Building with protest songs. In the end, 17 were arrested. Asked about the purpose of the protest, organizer Yong Jung Cho stated, "The establishment Democrats have failed the American people. The establishment Democrats failed to stop Donald Trump." Another leader, Waleed Shahid, added that the group, #AllOfUs, would continue to target Democratic senators "who don't do anything they can to filibuster Trump's legislation that promotes his hatred or his greed." At a time when so many people are furious at Donald Trump and terrified of his agenda, some will ask why these activists are targeting leading Democrats. After all, isn't that attacking the wrong side? [emphasis added] [A]rguably the most profound effect of the anti-war movement was not felt inside the Republican White House, but instead inside the Democratic Party. This dynamic is noteworthy for anti-Trump protesters. The movement succeeded in turning the party's base against Democrats who had supported Bush's invasion, and it made strong anti-war stances into the pragmatic position for politicians concerned about their political futures. Before it commenced, a large number of Democratic officials were fully complicit in facilitating the Iraq War. In the fall of 2002, a majority of Democratic Senators -- 29 out of 50 -- joined the Republicans in voting to empower Bush to launch an invasion. Mainstream Democrats such as Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden likely believed that a "no" vote would expose them to criticism of being unpatriotic or soft in the "war on terror," and that an anti-war stance would come back to haunt their future political prospects. Grassroots organizing played a vital role in turning this reasoning into a huge miscalculation -- making opposition to Bush the safe bet for Democrats and ensuring that centrists such as Clinton would grow to regret their Iraq War votes. At a time when Donald Trump has risen to the presidency by railing against the Washington establishment and upending the traditional rules of politics, the Democratic Party's propensity for compromise and triangulation only plays into his hands. The only hope for unseating Trump and minimizing the damage of his agenda will be to fight his racist right-wing populism with a progressive vision. ... In the short run, this will require pressuring fickle and opportunist politicians to stubbornly oppose and filibuster White House extremism, even at the risk of being labeled obstructionist by critics. In the longer term, it will involve creating an effective opposition in the Democratic Party to ensure that Trump's next opponent will not be another establishment candidate, deeply compromised by ties to corporate America. This smear campaign against Ellison received a major boost Friday night when the single largest funder of both the Democratic Party and the Hillary Clinton campaign, the Israeli-American billionaire Haim Saban, said at the Brookings Institution, a part of which he funds: If you go back to his positions, his papers, his speeches, the way he has voted, he is clearly an anti-Semite and anti-Israel individual. Saban added: Keith Ellison would be a disaster for the relationship between the Jewish community and the Democratic Party. Last year, he briefly teamed up with GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson to sponsor an effort to counter university boycotts and divestment from Israels occupation. When it comes to Israel, we are absolutely on the same page, [Saban] said of Adelson. When it comes to this, there is no light between us at all. Inside the DC Beltway the following is becoming a "what everyone knows to be true" kind of statement. From(emphasis added):In what casts itself as a news piece (and largely is), one "given" stands out. That given: "Both sides express concern that re-litigating the primary battle could be a distraction, wasting energy that would be better spent resisting President-elect Trump."First, that's not a true statement, or if it is true, it's true only if the group covered by "both sides" includes just those connected to the benefits side of the Democratic Party ecosystem; the people with a vested interests (career; income) in not shaking things up too much, the winners no matter which party is in office.Second, even though the statement is not true, its opposite that some people argue strongly for a shake-upthe Party is not presented. That is, the author's statement is presented benignly as part of the background, part of the "what everyone agrees on" or "knows to be true," for the rest of the news the piece covers that people within the Party infrastructure are still fighting about who's at fault for Clinton's loss.The statement, in other words, has a propagandistic goal; it's meant to prevent something from happening.Let's look at the other side of this "given," a side where peoplesaying that re-litigating the primary isn't a distraction, but part of what has to happen, and a side where that's a good thing.The fact that people are litigating this battle is obvious, especially if one looks at Sanders supporters and partisans, instead of simply interviewing named Beltway insiders and a "Democratic strategist who requested anonymity." There are plenty of people on the left who want to drain the Democratic swamp too, if you bother to look for them.Instead of just finding those voices, however, a task easily done, I want to look instead at the benefits of Sanders supporters and progressives pursuing such a strategy. The following is from a nicely argued piece in Truthout by Mark Engler. He starts with the obvious question: Is it really true that attacking corporate Democrats now his example is the recent sit-in at Chuck Schumer's Senate office is the wrong thing to do? Engler adds, "After all, isn't that attacking the wrong side?"It's a fair question and deserves an answer. Two related questions that should also be considered are these:Let's look at each.Engler begins his defense of this strategy in an unlikely place: "A look at the history of social movements under hostile governments provides a counterintuitive answer."Consider the Iraq War protests of 2002-2003. These protests, which produced million-person rallies in cities around the world, are largely considered today to be failures, and even at the time were viewed by many to be lost causes. After all, the war went on as scheduled despite the marches, and the Bush administration felt in no way constrained by them.Yet these protests had an effect on the Democratic side. It made support for the Iraq War toxic for Party insiders, an effect that would prove quite powerful later on, affecting Clinton in 2008, for example, and also Clinton in 2016 when viewed in the context of her support for war in Libya.Engler (emphasis added):That dynamic then that the massive anti-war protests made it imperative that Democrats who wanted a future in the Party and the nation's governance moving forward is exactly the dynamic that's coming into play now. Politicians and others in the Democratic ecosystem, if they value a future in the post-2017 Democratic Party, should be very careful toAnd that only happens if the Democratic Party base and strongly progressive activists...because both swamps are fed from the same sewer, the flow of money from the top .01 percent. Engler again:Note that this is not an angry vision or a reactionist one a vision reacting to Sanders' loss out of pique or sting. It's a vision that says the only hope of defeating what's being called "Trumpism" (more on that term later) is to defeatthat it stands for not just racism, nativism, anti-Islam-ism; but also the "rule by the rich"-ism that feeds the both parties' version of the Washington insider swamp.On that, a simple comparison. Is the anti-Islamist racism of powerful Democratic Party donor Haim Saban any different than the anti-Islamist racism of powerful Republican Party donor Sheldon Adelson? Don't take the question as a theoretical one. Saban is using his sledgehammer influence with the corporate Democratic Party today to make sure that the next DNC Chair a critical position going forward if used right is not held by a Sanders-supporting Muslim.And he's using anti-Muslim smears to do it. The Intercept That's what "throwing your weight around" looks like. About Saban and Adelson Make no mistake; this kind support for Israel using U.S. power to put a nation of seven million people, mostly of one religion, in absolute charge of a region of 350 million, mostly of another religion is a blueprint for disaster, and yes, deep deep racism.But let's set the battle for the DNC chair aside for a moment. This kind of fight, if it replicates itself throughout the Party, and especially if it engages the "base" to the extent that the base was engaged during the run-up to Bush's Iraq War, is exactly what the Democratic Party needs to succeed ... not just as a party, but as a rescuer in the Age of Trump.Because if Democrats do not succeed at being seen as the nation's rescuer, someone else will. And that will definitely not be good ... for Democrats. Those who care about the Democratic Party might want to care about that.GP Labels: Chuck Schumer, Gaius Publius, Hillary Clinton, Keith Ellison, Saban, Sheldon Adelson, Vichy Democrats Pacific Management Investment Co. (Pimco) will pay $20 million to settle charges it misled investors about the performance of a top exchange-traded fund it manages, U.S. regulators said on Thursday. The Securities and Exchange Commissions settlement with Pimco, a unit of German insurer Allianz SE, came more than two years after bond manager Bill Gross, who managed PIMCO Total Return Exchange-Traded Fund (BOND), left the company for smaller rival Janus Capital Group Inc. The SEC said Pimco overstated the ETFs value and provided misleading reasons for the funds early success, which was premised on buying small pieces or odd lots of mortgaged-backed securities that sell at a discount to larger units. The asset manager used a third-party pricing service that valued the bonds as though they were larger pieces, overstating its performance, regulators said. Despite fairly small trades, the strategy added as much as 54 percent to the funds monthly cumulative performance returns in 2012, the SEC said. But the company gave ambiguous explanations to the public, the funds board and staff who faced questions from clients about the performance, the SEC said, at one point touting performance gains due to well-publicized inefficiencies in the market. Pimco misled investors about the true long-term impact of its odd-lot strategy and denied them the opportunity to make fully informed investment decisions about the Total Return ETF, Andrew Ceresney, director of the SECs enforcement division, said in a statement. Pimco spokesman Michael Reid said the company is pleased to resolve the matter with the SEC. The firm has enhanced its policies and procedures relating to valuation of smaller-sized positions and performance attribution disclosure, Reid said in a statement. Pimco, which manages nearly $1.6 trillion and is based in Newport Beach, Calif., also agreed to retain an independent compliance consultant as part of the settlement. The resolution also brings the company closer to the end of a scarring, acrimonious split from Gross in 2014 that caused it to hemorrhage assets. The BOND ETF, launched in 2012 and initially run by Gross, was once the largest ETF managed by someone who actively decided how the funds assets would be invested. Most of the larger ETFs merely track an index. The well-known bond investor is still pursuing a $200 million lawsuit claiming he was forced to resign so that his bonus could be divided among others. Assets in BOND fell from $5.2 billion at its 2013 peak to $2.3 billion currently, according to data from Thomson Reuters Lipper and Pimco. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington and Trevor Hunnicutt in New York; Additional repoorting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and James Dalgleish) Related: The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear appeals by Christian-affiliated hospital systems of lower court rulings that gave the green light to employee lawsuits accusing them of wrongly claiming a religious exemption from federal pension law. New Jersey-based St. Peters Healthcare System, Illinois-based Advocate Health System and California-based Dignity Health each appealed separate federal appeals courts rulings that refused to throw out the employee lawsuits. The justices agreed to hear all three cases. The employees in effect accuse the hospital systems of being big businesses posing as church organizations in order to avoid minimum funding and reporting requirements on employee pension plans mandated by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA. The suits state that by claiming the exemption, the hospital systems are putting employee pension plans at risk. The hospital systems said allowing the lawsuits to go forward could jeopardize nonprofit hospitals ability to provide care. The three hospital systems maintain that their religious affiliation makes them exempt from ERISA. St. Peters is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, Dignity is formerly Catholic-affiliated but still operates many Catholic hospitals, and Advocate is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and United Church of Christ. Hundreds of hospitals and hospital systems have claimed the exemption since 1980, when Congress amended ERISA to extend what is known as the church plan exemption, originally only for churches, more broadly to certain religiously affiliated organizations. In recent years, employees, many represented by the same law firms, have filed lawsuits challenging hospitals use of the exemption. Trial court rulings have been mixed. But the 3rd, 7th and 9th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals ruled against St. Peters, Advocate and Dignity, respectively, refusing to dismiss employees lawsuits against them. No other federal appeals courts have decided cases on the issue. All three courts found that the plain language of ERISA allows the exemption only for organizations set up by churches to manage their employee pension plans, not for wholly separate entities like hospitals. They rejected hospitals arguments that they relied on opinions from the Internal Revenue Service, which has allowed them to claim the church plan exemption since the early 1980s. The extent of hospitals potential liability is not clear, since church plans are not subject to the reporting requirements of ERISA. The employees suing St. Peters and Dignity claim that their plans are underfunded by about $70 million and $1.2 billion, respectively. Advocate is also accused of underfunding its plan, though the complaint in that case does not say by how much. The hospitals have denied their plans are underfunded. The plaintiffs are also seeking retroactive penalties for past violations of ERISA, which the hospitals said could add up to hundreds of millions or billions of dollars. In another case involving religion, the Supreme Court in May avoided making a major ruling by telling lower courts to reconsider whether nonprofit Christian employers should be exempt from a federal requirement that they provide female workers with medical insurance paying for birth control. (Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Additional reporting by Lawrence Hurley in Washington; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Will Dunham) Topics Lawsuits Wal-Mart Stores Inc. agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the company of discriminating against gay workers by failing to offer health insurance benefits to their spouses. The settlement covers employees who were affected by Wal-Marts conduct from January 2011 to December 2013, according to documents filed Friday in Boston federal court. A few thousand current and former workers were affected, Wal-Mart said in a statement without providing an exact number. The company employs 1.5 million people in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Were happy both sides could come together to reach a resolution, Sally Welborn, Wal-Marts senior vice president of Global Benefits, said in the statement. Respect for the individual, diversity and inclusion are among the core values that made Wal-Mart into the company that it is today. The suit was filed in July 2015, just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Wal-Mart employee Jacqueline Cote argued the company failed to provide health insurance to her wife for years in violation of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and a Massachusetts fair-employment law. Wal-Mart extended benefits to same-sex couples in January 2014, just two months after the Supreme Court overturned a federal law defining marriage as only a heterosexual union, but by then Cotes wife Diana Dee Smithson had already racked up more than $150,000 in out-of-pocket expenses battling ovarian cancer, according to the complaint. Equal Treatment Im pleased that Wal-Mart was willing to resolve this issue for me and other associates who are married to someone of the same sex, Cote said in the joint statement with the retailer. Its a relief to bring this chapter of my life to a close. As part of the settlement, Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart agreed to continue to treat same-sex and opposite-sex spouses equally in the provision of health insurance benefits, according to the filing. The deal requires court approval. Cote argued Wal-Mart, the worlds biggest retailer, had engaged in sex discrimination because it would have extended the benefits to her spouse if she had been a man. There is no federal law against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. Cote had previously taken her case to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which said in a final determination in January 2015 that Wal-Marts treatment constituted unlawful sex discrimination. Cotes spouse, whom she married in Massachusetts in 2004, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012 and later lost her own health insurance, according to the complaint. Massachusetts was the first U.S. state to legalize gay marriage. The case is Cote v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 1:15-cv-12945, U.S District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston). Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics Lawsuits USA Massachusetts Liberty Mutual Insurance has agreed to acquire specialty lines insurer Ironshore Inc. from Chinas Fosun International Limited. Liberty Mutual will acquire a 100 percent ownership interest in Ironshore. According to the announcement, the purchase price will equate to 1.45x Ironshores actual tangible book value as of year-end 2016, and is estimated to be approximately $3 billion. The purchase price is subject to closing price adjustments. Once the transaction is closed, Ironshore will continue to operate with CEO Kevin H. Kelley, the same management team and brand name, but as part of the larger Liberty Mutual organization, which is growing its specialty lines operations. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2017. Ironshore has a track record of profitably underwriting global and diverse specialty risks insurance and is an ideal complement to Liberty Mutual, providing additional scale, expertise, innovation and market relationships to our $5 billion global specialty business, said David H. Long, Liberty Mutual chairman and CEO. Ironshore CEO Kelley called the transaction beneficial for all three parties involved in a statement. We have aimed for the best possible outcome for our employees, clients and business partners and are confident this transaction achieves these goals and more, he said. Ironshore will become part of another A rated company with a global reach, a strong balance sheet, wide client base and a much greater capacity to drive profitable growth. In Ironshore, Liberty will gain access to a profitable specialty insurer that will enhance Libertys current specialty markets profile. The transaction also speaks to the value of the Ironshore franchise and to Libertys view of the value that the management team brings to their organization, Kelley said. New York-based Ironshore, which was founded in 2006, had gross premiums written of $2.2 billion in 2015 and is among the largest excess and surplus lines insurers in the U.S. The company, which has approximately 800 employees located in 15 countries worldwide, is organized into three operating hubs based in the United States, Bermuda and London. Last November, Chinas Fosun International Ltd. paid $1.84 billion for the remaining 80 percent stake of Ironshore Inc. that it did not already own when it became a 20 percent owner earlier in the year. Last December, officials at the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a government unit that oversees deals over national security concerns, contacted Fosun with concerns over how Fosun would operate Ironshores Wright & Co., which provides professional liability coverage to U.S. government employees including the Central Intelligence Agency, even though Wright was a small portion of Ironshores overall business. After that inquiry, Fosun delayed its initial public offering of Ironshore. The conflict was apparently eliminated last month when Starr Companies agreed to acquire Wright USA from Ironshore. Starr Companies is headed by Maurice Greenberg, former CEO of American International Group (AIG). According to a spokesperson for Ironshore, the Wright acquisition by Starr has closed and the acquisition of Ironshore by Liberty Mutual does not affect this transaction. In July 2015, A.M. Best placed Ironshore under review with negative implications due to the then-planned $1.84 billion acquisition of Ironshore by Fosun. A.M. Best said it was worried about Fosuns credit profile and financial leverage and how it would affect the insurer. However this past June, A.M. Best changed its mind and restored the financial strength ratings of A (Excellent) and issuer credited ratings of a for Ironshore. A.M. Best said the affirmation of its ratings nearly a year later reflected its view that Ironshore has strong standalone attributes as a specialty insurer, will continue to build a relevant franchise in the specialty sector and is capable of delivering strong operating results. However, A.M. Best said that negative outlook will hang over Ironshore for the foreseeable future due to the drag related to the credit profile and high debt leverage measures Fosun has. Fosun has accumulated significant debt in a 20-year acquisition spree, mostly in Europe and the United States. Ironshore was founded in December, 2006 by Robert Clements with more than $1 billion in private equity backing. Kelley joined the firm as CEO from Lexington Insurance, AIGs surplus lines insurer, in 2008. Boston-based Liberty Mutual is a diversified insurer with operations in 29 countries. As of December 31, 2015, Liberty Mutual had $121.7 billion in consolidated assets, $102.5 billion in consolidated liabilities, and $37.6 billion in annual consolidated revenue. Its growing surplus lines operation, Liberty International Underwriters, operates in 18 countries. In 2014, Liberty International contributed 16 percent of the companys $36.3 billion in net written premium for the year. Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Carriers USA Excess Surplus China AM Best A former Arkansas doctor has lost his appeal to the Arkansas Supreme Court of a $122.5 million jury award stemming from case that encompasses a suspended license to practice medicine, overprescribing of pain medications, criminal assault charges and one count of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction in order to injure a person or property. Randeep Mann is now serving a life sentence in federal prison after being found guilty on criminal charges connected to the bombing in 2009 at the West Memphis home of Dr. Trent Pierce, in which Dr. Pierce was severely injured and almost killed. Prosecutors alleged at the criminal trial that Mann either planted or caused to be planted an explosive in a spare tire that was subsequently placed against Pierces car, which was parked outside his home. The device, thought to be a grenade, was triggered to go off when the tire was moved, which was what happened on the morning of Feb. 4, 2009, when Pierce tried to move the tire away from his vehicle. Pierce was at the time chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board. He was also head of the medical board in 2003 and 2006 when the board sanctioned Mann and then suspended his medical license for violations of the state medical practices law. Mann, who owned a pain clinic in Russelville, had been accused of overprescribing pain medications to numerous patients, some of whom died. The Associated Press has reported that Mann lost multiple lawsuits brought against him by families of those who died and was ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result. In the criminal case against Mann, prosecutors theorized that Pierce was targeted because of his position as head of the medical board that sanctioned Mann. During an investigation by the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Mann revealed that he owned a sizable collection of weapons, at least one of which was observed to be equipped with a grenade launcher. After the bombing, city workers discovered ninety-eight grenades buried approximately 875 feet from Manns residence, Associate Supreme Court Justice Robin F. Wynne wrote in Courts Dec. 1 slip opinion. Mann was found guilty and sentenced in 2011 to life imprisonment on the criminal charges, and ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution. The Civil Award Dr. Pierce and Melissa Pierce in 2010 had filed a separate, civil complaint against Mann and three John Doe defendants. The Pierces alleged that as a result of the explosion, they were entitled compensatory damages for injuries to Dr. Pierce and loss of consortium by Melissa Pierce. In December 2013, the Crittenden County Circuit Court granted the Pierces motion for partial summary judgment against Mann on the issue of liability. After a subsequent jury trial on the damages, Dr. Pierce was awarded $12.5 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages. Melissa Pierce was awarded $5 million in compensatory damages for loss of consortium and $5 million in punitive damages, bringing the total judgement against Mann to $122.5 million. In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Mann alleged that in the trial that awarded damages to the Pierces, the circuit court was wrong in applying offensive collateral estoppel in the civil case, which prevented Mann from introducing evidence that he said would prove he wasnt responsible for the explosion. Offensive collateral estoppel, according to the Arkansas Supreme Court, bars the relitigation of issues of law or fact actually litigated by the parties in the first suit, provided that the party against whom the earlier decision is being asserted had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue in question and that issue was essential to the judgment. The Court acknowledged that aside from murder, offensive collateral estoppel to date has not been applied to a conviction for any other kind of criminal offense. However, the Courts opinion states, there is no reason why it cannot be so applied. The justices also found that Mann had ample opportunity during his criminal trial to prove he wasnt responsible for the explosion, and that he offered no compelling argument as to why offensive collateral estoppel should not have been applied in this case. With its decision, the Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed the circuit courts order of partial summary judgment, as well as the $122.5 million monetary judgment against Mann. Its unclear how the judgment will be paid. The AP reported that a case is pending in federal court over the fate of 94 firearms owned by Mann. Robert Cearley, Pierces attorney, said if they are sold the gunds could generate $1.5 million to $2 million to apply to the judgment, according to the AP. Related: Topics Arkansas The federal government will continue for another year to fund an Oklahoma program that uses a combination of state tobacco tax revenue and federal Medicaid money to help provide health insurance coverage for nearly 20,000 low-income Oklahoma workers. Gov. Mary Fallin announced on Dec. 2 that a one-year extension has been approved by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the Insure Oklahoma program. The extension through Dec. 31, 2017, is the fourth extension granted by the federal government. About 4,000 Oklahoma businesses and nearly 20,000 individuals currently participate in the program, which was created by the Legislature in 2005. Fallin rejected an expansion of Medicaid offered under the federal health care law that would have provided coverage to about 144,000 low-income Oklahomans. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Oklahoma Nearly two dozen people associated with a bankrupt physician-owned North Dallas luxury hospital have been indicted in what authorities described as a massive bribery and kickback conspiracy. The indictment unsealed on Dec. 1 in Dallas accuses 21 executives and physicians with Forest Park Medical Center of paying and taking bribes and kickbacks for patient referrals with high-reimbursement private medical insurance. Owners, managers and employees also are accused of trying to sell to other facilities for cash patients with lower-paying insurance, such as Medicare and Medicaid. A U.S. attorneys statement says bribes and kickbacks paid and received totaled about $40 million. The 20-count indictment alleges that such inducements resulted in hospital billings to elite insurance plans of well over $500 million from 2009 to 2013. That included more than $10 million to the Defense Department health care program, more than $25 million to the workers compensation program for federal employees, and more than $60 million from the federal employees and retirees health care program. In return, it received $200 million in claim payments. Forest Park was an out-of-network hospital that could set its own prices and receive generally greater reimbursements. The indictment also provides for the forfeiture of any property linked to the allegations. The North Dallas hospitals buildings have been sold to HCA North Texas for $125.4 million. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Surplus lines agents doing business in North Carolina can now begin registering with the recently established North Carolina Surplus Lines Stamping Office as new rules regarding resident and non-resident surplus lines licenses are set to take effect. As of Jan. 1, 2017, every surplus lines licensee operating in North Carolina, resident or non-resident, must now be a member of the North Carolina Surplus Lines Association (NCSLA). The new requirement is in accordance with House Bill 262, which was passed during the 2015 legislative session to modernize the states Surplus Lines Act. The law led to the creation of the North Carolina Surplus Lines Stamping Office, which will be run by the NCSLA, and serve as the mechanism to register and assist all users of the states new filing system, the North Carolina Surplus Lines Information Portal, or SLIP. SLIP allows North Carolina licensees to file their policies, endorsements and surplus lines taxes owed to the state directly online. The system is currently also used by several other states including Florida, California, Mississippi and New Jersey. NCSLA will work with the North Carolina Department of Insurance (NCDOI) in the collection of surplus lines taxes, as well as doing compliance and variance audits to ensure credibility of the information entered into the SLIP system, according to NCSLA Executive Director Steve Allen. The state is hoping that by mandating both resident and non-resident agents to utilize the SLIP system through the North Carolina Stamping Office, the state will be better able to collect surplus lines premium taxes it wasnt receiving before. Not only do we think this will help create additional tax revenue for the state, but it also makes it easier for everyone to file taxes. Some people that didnt before will start filing now, Allen said. Allen said they have spent the last several months testing the SLIP system and making sure it is ready to start registering licensees. Now, he said, the focus is on informing all agents doing surplus lines business in the state that they need to be registered by Jan. 1. The new law says that any licensees who do not comply with the requirements of the new statute will be subject to having their North Carolina license cancelled and will be denied access to the tax filing system. One of the biggest challenges we have right now is getting the information on the new stamping office out to the licensees in preparation for the January 1 rollout. We have email addresses, weve emailed, weve called. We still have a lot of them that we havent made contact with, Allen said. We need to get the word out so we can get everybody registered before the January 1 effective date. Allen said as of the end of November, about 2,050 agents had registered and 350 still had not. Allen said the NCDOI is helping NCSLA contact these agents to see if they are going to become compliant with the new statutes or if they want to relinquish their license. As of Jan. 1, 2017, all new and renewal policies and endorsements on these policies must be filed using the NCSLA SLIP system. The only exceptions are purchasing groups and independent procurement policies which will be handled by the NCDOI as they have been in the past. NCSLA will charge a .4 percent stamping fee on all new policies and renewals with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2017 and after, and endorsements on these filings. Additional information on processing and fees is available on the NCSLAs website on the Stamping Office information page. Allen said NCSLA has financially supported the new system for North Carolina, which replaces the antiquated one the state had been using. But getting the North Carolina Surplus Lines Stamping Office up and running was a coordinated effort with NCDOI and others, Allen said, including the Florida, Mississippi and Washington Surplus Lines stamping offices. Without them, we wouldnt have got this far, he said. Topics Agencies Excess Surplus North Carolina Un ottobre da sogno per Antonio Conte: lex ct della Nazionale italiana, attualmente alla guida del Chelsea, nelle ultime quattro gare di Premier League ha collezionato solo successi, conditi da 11 reti segnate e addirittura nessuna incassata. Numeri da record che non sono certo passati inosservati alla Federazione inglese, la quale ha conferito al tecnico leccese lambito premio di Manager del mese. Unavventura oltremanica iniziata in sordina, quella di Conte, pur a fronte di tre vittorie nelle prime tre gare di campionato. A far vacillare, anche se solo per un momento, le certezze del patron del club londinese, Roman Abramovich, i risultati conseguiti tra la 4a e la 6a giornata, coincisi con un pareggio sul campo dello Swansea City e, soprattutto, con le due pesanti sconfitte subite dal Liverpool, sul terreno casalingo di Stamford Bridge, e dallArsenal. In particolare, la debacle interna coi Reds, aveva irritato non poco il numero uno russo, poiche occorsa proprio nel giorno della sua 250esima partita da presidente della societa. Come detto, solo un momento. Dopo lincontro dellEmirates, il tecnico salentino cambia modulo, adottando un piu equilibrato 3-4-3 e inserendo elementi di corsa come lo spagnolo Pedro. Una svolta totale perche, di li in poi, il Chelsea inanellera solo e soltanto vittorie: 2 gol allHull City e al Southampton in trasferta, 3 ai campioni dInghilterra del Leicester e 4 allo United in casa, con un meraviglioso numero zero nella casella delle reti subite. Un fantastico poker, ottenuto tra l1 e il 29 ottobre. Un cambio di marcia sbalorditivo, confermato dal 5 a 0 rifilato ai toffees dellEverton nel primo match di novembre, e una scalata che, man mano, ha portato i blues al secondo posto in classifica, a soli 2 punti dal Liverpool capolista. E allora, non poteva mancare il riconoscimento di migliore allenatore del mese, ottenuto surclassando tecnici del calibro di Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), Arsene Wenger (Arsenal) e Mark Hughes (Southampton). Tanta, ovviamente, la soddisfazione: E un grande onore e voglio condividerlo con i giocatori e con la societa ha dichiarato Conte sul sito ufficiale della Premier League -. E la prima volta che lavoro in un altro Paese, con una cultura diversa, e portare la propria filosofia non e facile, ma ora sono contento di questa scelta. A completare la festa, la premiazione del fantasista belga, Eden Hazard, come miglior giocatore di ottobre. Due risultati importanti per il club, ottimo incentivo per la rincorsa al trono dei campioni, occupato dal Leicester di Ranieri. Il prossimo appuntamento per l11 di Conte sara al Riverside Stadium, tana del Middlesborough neopromosso. Il tempo di festeggiare e gia finito. A spaghetti street installation in the city took 3rd place among the most dangerous examples of wiring. Remember the messy bunches of wiring youve got caught up in, possibly more than once, on the streets of Hanoi? Professional engineers have recently named the city's wiring among the worst in the world. Members of the U.K.-based Institution of Engineering and Technology, one of the worlds largest engineering institutions, have named Hanoi as the third most dangerous place for wiring on the planet, after cities in India and the Maldives. Engineering and Technology, the institutions award-winning magazine, surveyed 38,000 engineers to compile the worst and most dangerous examples of electrical wiring around the world. More than 500 examples were submitted and readers were asked to vote for installations that veer the farthest away from safe and sensible standards. An office block in Madras in eastern India was named the worst installation after receiving more than 50 percent of the votes, while second place went to a hotel in the Maldives. This picture taken in Hanoi has caught the attention of many professional engineers around the world. Photo courtesy of Engineering and Technology A street installation in Hanoi took third place. It is a collection of telecom, lighting and possibly mains cables, and according to E&T, it is impossible to tell the exact details as all of the cables are black. Fingers crossed for customers asking for support with wiring emergencies! it said. Nearly 60 percent of all fires and explosions that occurred in the country in the first six months of this year started from electrical problems, said the Ministry of Public Security. On November 1, a massive fire from a billboard short circuit killed 13 people in Hanoi. E&Ts readers found that unsafe wiring is not just a problem in Asia. Two of the top 12 examples of dangerous wiring are in France. In 2013, Bill Gates surprised many around the world when he shared a photo of a utility pole with messy wiring in Vietnam on Facebook. Related news: >Hanoi suspends new business licenses for karaoke parlors in wake of deadly blaze >Deadly sparks: Hanoians put lives in danger by hanging around power substations Top News - Investor Idea A Boat-full of Potential - Renewed Interest in the Cruise Industry Bolsters Luxury Markets (OTC: MASN) (NYSE: CCL) (NYSE: CUK) (NYSE: RCL) (NYSE: NCLH) Vancouver, Kelowna, Delta, BC - November 2, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Investorideas.com, a leading investor news resource covering luxury goods and cruise ship stocks releases a special report featuring Maison Luxe, Inc. (OTC: MASN), a company that offers luxury retail consumer items. Top AI Stock News - Investor Idea Breaking AI Stock News: Intellagents, a FatBrain AI (OTCQB: LZGI) Company, Announces Hiring of Insurtech Industry Veteran as Chief Revenue Officer NEW YORK, NY - November 2, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) FatBrain AI (LZG International, Inc.) (OTCQB: LZGI), the leader in powerful and easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for star enterprises of tomorrow, announces the hiring of Euan King, an experienced and respected Insurtech industry leader as Chief Revenue Officer for insurance technology-focused subsidiary Intellagents. Top Health and Wellness News - Investor Idea Health and Wellness Stock News - Endexx (OTCBB: EDXC) Secures $3.8M Order for Non-Nicotine Vape Product HYLA from Italy CAVE CREEK, Az. - November 2, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Endexx Corporation (OTCBB:EDXC), a provider of innovative, plant-based, and sustainable health and skincare products, today announces it has secured a new $3.8 million USD order for its newly acquired, non-nicotine based vape product, HYLA from customers in Italy. Top EV Stock News - Investor Idea Breaking EV Stock News: Overwhelmingly Positive Reactions Pour in From First Leg of Mullen Automotive's (NASDAQ: MULN) 'Strikingly Different' FIVE EV Crossover Tour BREA, Calif. - October 31, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN), an emerging electric vehicle ("EV") manufacturer, announces today that the Mullen FIVE has received overwhelmingly positive reactions from members of the public, reservation holders and Mullen investors who were able to ride in the vehicle for the very first time on the "Strikingly Different" tour which kicked off last week in Pasadena, California. Check out our Podcasts for great investor ideas: Get new posts by email: Subscribe Powered by Investorideas.com Newswire: Subscribe to Investor Ideas Newswire Intel, Infineon and Trusted Computing Group and many others to shed insight on IoT at security summit in Florida Norwalk, CTDecember 5, 2016TMC and Crossfire Media announced today IoT Security Summit will return to IoT Evolution Conference & Expo being held February 7-10, 2017 at the Greater Ft. Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The summit will take place on Friday, February 10th from 9:00AM to 12:15PM and will focuses on Security in the IoT: Incompetence, Malice & Solutions. IoT Evolution Expo will feature a robust exhibit floor, powerful keynotes, case studies, live demos, unique sessions, special events, networking opportunities and much more. Our Security Summit is aimed at bringing security solutions into the forefront, without having a lot of Chicken Little-style the sky is falling rhetoric. I get several PR requests to let those speeches into my event. I do not allow them, because they are not solutions-oriented said Carl Ford, CEO, Crossfire Media, executive director of content, IoT Evolution. The recent spate of IoT DDOS attacks has many folks in panic mode. In some ways, I understand that view. The attack was ended by the perpetrator, not thanks to a solution, so it feels a bit like the sword of Damocles is hanging over us all as we wait for the next attack. The security track includes: Friday, February 10, 2017 9:00AM - State of the Disunion- This roundtable session will feature IoT security experts who will outline and discuss the challenges the industry faces in putting security standards in place now, what mistakes have been made and make recommendations on what the next steps should be. 9:30AM - Top Down or Bottom Up: Who is at Fault, and who Should Take Action Right Now? - Ken Briodagh, editorial director of IoT Evolution and Carl Ford, CEO, Crossfire Media, and their guests, will argue the problems facing the industry now and whether or not the OEMs or the DNSSec folks need to go to the woodshed. 10:00AM - Standards Bodies for Security - Steve Hanna, Infineon and Trusted Computing Group - Standards Bodies for Security are often a cry for consensus or a coalition of the willing. We have asked the existing standards bodies to discuss their activities, their interfaces and what developers should understand before coding an IoT solution. 11:15AM - Keynote Address by Intel - Gary Davis, Intel Security - In this keynote session, Intel Security will outline the state-of-the art IoT security measures available to the industry right now, and how these strategies are helping to mitigate such disasters as Mirai, SSHowDown and the rest. 11:45A M- Common Ground Solutions - In this closing session, well try to take all that weve discussed during the day and posit some concrete solutions and strategies to avoid the worst: an IoT that will never meet its potential thanks to security failures and lack of trust. The audience will be invited to join the discussion and offer their ideas and will leave with a list of next steps. To view the full IoT Evolution Expo agenda click here. Speakers are updated daily. IoT Evolution Expo is supported by super sponsor Telit, diamond sponsors KORE, Numerex, platinum sponsors Eurotech. Yokogawa, gold sponsors Ingenu, HARMAN, Verizon, corporate sponsors Cradlepoint, Gemalto, Tellient, Senet, Sequans Communications and track sponsor Coris. Registration for the Security Summit is only $195 for a limited time. For more information, contact Frank Coppola at 203-852-6800 x131. For media registration, contact Jessica Seabrook. Companies interested in exhibiting, sponsorship or advertising packages should contact Matthew Gleeson at 203.852.6800 ext. 145. For the latest IoT Evolution Expo news, updates and information, follow the event on Twitter at @IoTEvolution. About TMC Global buyers rely on TMCs content-driven marketplaces to make purchase decisions and navigate markets. This presents branding, thought leadership and lead generation opportunities for vendors/sellers. TMCs Marketplaces: Unique, turnkey Online Communities boost search results, establish market validation, elevate brands and thought leadership, while minimizing ad-blocking. Custom Lead Programs uncover sales opportunities and build databases. In-Person and Online Events boost brands, enhance thought leadership and generate leads. Publications, Display Advertising and Newsletters bolster brand reputations. Custom Content provides expertly ghost-crafted blogs, press releases, articles and marketing collateral to help with SEO, branding, and overall marketing efforts. Comprehensive Event and Road Show Management Services help companies meet potential clients and generate leads face-to-face. For more information about TMC and to learn how we can help you reach your marketing goals, please visit www.tmcnet.com. About Crossfire Media Crossfire Media is an integrated marketing company with a core focus on future trends in technology. We service communities of interest with conferences, tradeshows, webinars and newsletters. Crossfire Media has a partnership with Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) to produce events and websites related to disruptive technologies. Crossfire Media is a division of Crossfire Consulting, a full service Information Technology company based in New York. Media and Analyst Contact: Jessica Seabrook Marketing Director 203.852.6800 ext.170 [email protected] Edited by Ken Briodagh The growing trend of intentional shutdowns of the Internet and mobile networks threaten Internet freedom. According to estimates, some 25 governments on almost every continent have intentionally prevented or disrupted access to such networks more than fifty times since the beginning of 2016, a rate of at least once every six days. The United States earlier this year joined the consensus at the United Nations Human Rights Council in passing a resolution condemning intentional disruptions of access to or dissemination of information online, in violation of human rights law. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Tom Malinowski noted that this Internet freedom resolution echoes a Freedom Online Conference joint statement from 2011 that labeled mandatory blocking of social networking technologies and platforms to be an extreme measure strictly subject to human rights law. These network disruptions have a major economic impact. A Brookings Institution report estimates Ethiopia suffered an $8.5 million loss for an April Internet shutdown. More recently, in October, Ethiopia initiated a new shutdown as part of the governments ongoing state of emergency, which may have cost the Ethiopian economy just under half-a-million U.S. dollars a day in lost GDP. It is particularly alarming that elections-related Internet shutdowns are becoming increasingly common. In February, the government of Uganda ordered mobile phone and Internet service providers to block access to social media sites on the day of contested national elections. Weeks later, the government of the Republic of Congo ordered a nationwide shutdown of mobile phone networks in the lead up to national elections. But not all the news is bad. In August, Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama publicly reaffirmed Ghanas commitment to protect freedom of expression online and refrain from restricting social media use in the lead up to national elections in December. The United States government commends the initiative taken by Ghana to reaffirm its support of human rights online. The U.S. urges the government of Ethiopia to follow suit and restore access to the global Internet for all its citizens. Likewise, all governments must protect and promote the rights to freedom of expression and association as guaranteed under international human rights commitments. China is considering how to respond following sharp criticism from US President-elect Donald Trump on Twitter which appears to foreshadow shifts in foreign policy. The tweets, touching on highly sensitive issues, come days after Beijing responded to Mr Trumps telephone conversation with Taiwans president by accusing the Taiwanese of playing a "little trick" on him. Mr Trump wrote, "Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete, heavily tax our products going into their country - the US doesnt tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I dont think so!" That was apparently prompted by Chinas response to Mr Trumps conversation on Friday with Tsai Ing-wen, the first time an American president or president-elect had spoken to Taiwans leader since the US broke off formal diplomatic relations in 1979. The US and Taiwan retain strong unofficial ties, and the US sells weapons to the self-governing island. But American leaders have for decades avoided any official recognition in deference to China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory - to be captured by force if necessary. Mr Trumps reference in another tweet to Mr Tsai as "the President of Taiwan" was sure to inflame China, which considers any reference to Taiwan having a president as a grave insult. Chinas reaction was relatively low-key and seemed to offer Mr Trump a face-saving way out of an apparent blunder by blaming the Taiwanese side. English-language commentaries then appeared in two state-run newspapers known to be used by Chinas ruling Communist Party leadership to send messages abroad. "Trump might be looking for some opportunities by making waves," said the Global Times in a Monday editorial headlined "Talk to Trump, punish Tsai administration". "However, he has zero diplomatic experience and is unaware of the repercussions of shaking up Sino-US relations," the newspaper said. "It is certain that Trump doesnt want a showdown with China, because it is not his ambition, and neither was it included in his promise to the electorate. He puts out feelers to sound China out and chalk up some petty benefits." Chinas response was characteristically coded. But it now faces an incoming US president who deals in outspoken tweets, not communiques. Mr Trump used a platform banned by censors in mainland China to renew several of his criticisms during the US presidential campaign, and some of his arguments are untrue. Taiwans official Central News Agency, citing anonymous sources on Saturday, said that Edwin Feulner, founder of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, was a "crucial figure" in setting up communication channels between the sides. Vice President-elect Mike Pence said on Sunday that the phone call should not necessarily be interpreted as a shift in USpolicy. He shrugged off the attention to the incident as media hype. "It was a courtesy call," Mr Pence told NBCs Meet The Press. Ned Price, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said Mr Trumps conversation does not signal any change to long-standing US policy on cross-strait issues - although some in Taiwan expressed hopes for strong support from the incoming administration. In terms of Mr Trumps criticisms, Chinese imports are taxed at standard USrates, while Washington has recently slapped painful punitive tariffs on Chinese steel, solar panels and other goods. And while China once kept a tight grip on the value of the yuan, also known as the renminbi, it now allows it to trade within a band 2% above or below a daily target set by the Peoples Bank of China. The yuan is currently trading at around a six-year low against the dollar. But economists now conclude that the currency is more or less properly valued in relation to the dollar and other foreign currencies. And with economic growth slowing considerably and more Chinese trying to move money out of the country, the government is now spending massively to hold up the yuans value rather than depressing it as Mr Trump and other critics accuse it of doing. It has also imposed strict controls on Chinese moving money out of the country. China has built up its military and constructed man-made islands in the South China Sea, and made sweeping territorial claims over almost the entire critical waterway. Those claims were broadly rejected in June by an international tribunal in The Hague. The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Mr Trumps latest comments. Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Peoples University in Beijing, predicted China would not lash out immediately, but calibrate its response over the next several months after Mr Trump enters the White House. "Trumps remarks will certainly raise the concerns of Chinese leaders," Prof Shi said. "But at the moment, they will be restrained and watch his moves closely." Italy's populist opposition 5-Star Movement says it is ready to run the country after voters triggered the demise of prime minister Matteo Renzi with a stinging defeat on his reforms referendum. The ballot outcome also energised the anti-immigrant Northern League party, an ally of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, a candidate in France's presidential race. The blow to Mr Renzi also delivered a rebuke to Italy's industrialists, banks and other establishment institutions, which had staunchly backed the referendum. The political upset, which could spook investors, comes just as the government had made inroads in cutting the staggering rate of youth employment and while Italy's banks have urgent need for recapitalisation. During the campaign, the risk of political instability in Italy, Europe's fourth-largest economy, triggered market reaction, with bank stocks sinking and borrowing costs on sovereign debt rising. The Movement, led by anti-euro comic Beppe Grillo, spearheaded the No camp on the constitutional reforms, a package aimed at updating Italy's post-war constitution that Mr Renzi had depicted as vital to modernising Italy and reviving its economy. Characteristically confident - detractors say arrogant - Mr Renzi, 41, Italy's youngest premier, had bet his political future, or at least his current premiership, on a Yes vote win and campaigned hard for a victory in recent weeks to confound opinion polls indicating that it would probably end in defeat. With votes counted from nearly all the polling stations in Sunday's referendum, the No's were leading Yes votes by a six-to-four margin, Interior Ministry data indicated. The turnout of 67% was especially high for a referendum, and more in line for a general election vote. "I lost and the post that gets eliminated is mine," Mr Renzi said. "The government's experience is over and in the afternoon I'll go to the Quirinal Hill to hand in my resignation" (to President Sergio Mattarella). Leaders of the 5-Star Movement joined the chorus among opposition forces for early elections. The 5-Stars are the chief rivals of Mr Renzi's Democrats and are anxious to achieve national power for the first time. "Today the caste in power lost," said a 5-Star leader, Luigi Di Maio. It was a sharp retort to Mr Renzi's characterising the reforms as an opportunity to shrink the "caste" of elite, perk-enjoying politicians by reducing the numbers and powers of senators. "Arrogance lost, from which we'll learn many things in forming our team for government and our platform," Mr Di Maio said. "Starting tomorrow we'll be working on a government of the 5-Stars, we'll involve the energies and the free persons who want to participate." The 5-Stars' constituency is largely internet based and bills itself as anti-establishment. "The man alone at the command doesn't exist anymore, but the citizens who govern the institutions" do, Mr Di Maio said, minutes after Mr Renzi conceded. Mr Mattarella, as head of state, would have to decide whether to accept Mr Renzi's resignation. Mr Renzi is widely expected to be asked to stay on at least until a budget bill can be passed later this month and to shepherd the process of reforming electoral rules, which now as they stand, would grant the biggest vote-getting a generous bonus of seats in parliament. With the momentum on their side, the 5-Stars expressed minimal interest in any ambitious reform. Mr Renzi's Democrats and the centre-right opposition of former premier Silvio Berlusconi want the law changed to avoid such a big bonus to a winner, in case the 5-Stars garner the most votes. Elections are due in spring 2018, but with Mr Renzi's stepping down, they are now likely be held some time in 2017. Another opposition leader, Matteo Salvini, of the anti-immigrant Northern League, hailed the referendum as a "victory of the people against the strong powers of three-quarters of the world" and urged immediate elections. "We are ready to vote as soon as possible," Mr Salvini told reporters. Many had read the referendum as an outlet for growing anti-establishment, populist sentiment in Europe. When Mr Renzi late last year promised to resign if the referendum was defeated, it was months before David Cameron had made his ill-fated bet that a Brexit referendum would cement the UK's membership in the European Union. In Italy, the referendum was required because the reforms were approved by less than two-thirds of parliament. But Mr Renzi raised the stakes, turning the referendum into a virtual plebiscite on himself, when he pledged to quit if Italians turned their back on reforms to streamline the Senate and give the central government more powers at the cost of the regions. Mr Renzi had been hoping to survive the rising populist forces that have gained traction across Europe. Earlier on Sunday, in Austria's presidential run-off, left-leaning candidate Alexander Van der Bellen prevailed over a far-right populist. In Italy, Mr Renzi's opponents counted on tapping into the populist sentiment rising in much of Europe as well as the US presidential victory last month by billionaire political outsider Donald Trump. However, in its latest medium-term outlook for the economy, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has warned that as well as Brexit threatening the Irish recovery, the European Commissions new corporation tax proposals known as the common consolidated corporate tax base plan could shave 1.5% off underlying annual growth. The proposal which could affect both revenue and the attractiveness of Irelands low corporation tax rate, as it would apply to a smaller proportion of a multinational companys income is estimated to result in Irish potential output being 1.5% lower than the baseline, the ESRI said. Furthermore, Irelands corporation tax revenues, the outlook suggests, could fall by 6% on the back of the common consolidated corporate tax base being implemented. For small countries, such as Ireland, where considerable multinational production takes place for export, the use of sales location as part of the basis for sharing the tax base would reduce the amount of multinational income available for taxation, the institute said. The ESRI said that it bases its 3% long-term real growth forecast for the economy on the expected continued expansion of the labour force through the natural increase in the working age population, together with increases in female participation and a return to net immigration. However, it also said that there are potential threats to the underlying factors that make Ireland attractive to foreign direct investment particularly stemming from the the common consolidated corporate tax base proposals. Previous research has shown that foreign direct investment is sensitive to the corporation tax regime and, in particular, investment in sectors such as financial services locations with the lowest taxes, it said. Regarding Brexit, the ESRI has maintained its stance that Britains decision to leave the EU is likely to have a significant negative impact on the UK and wider world economies, and thus on the Irish economy. However, it added that Brexit might present a potential opportunity for Ireland to attract additional foreign direct investment, either by attracting new investment that might otherwise have been destined for the UK or by attracting some of the foreign direct investment that is currently in the UK but that might relocate to remain within the EU. Already there are signs that the foreign direct investment flow into the UK is declining. However, where investment is not accompanied by a shift in demand to Ireland, the effect on output and employment would be negligible, the institute said. Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that British companies continued to grow modestly in the three months to November and are expected to keep up that pace into 2017. A survey, published by the Confederation of British Industry, chimes with a resilient picture for the British economy so far since Junes EU referendum vote. The CBI found that private-sector growth gathered a little bit of speed compared with the three months to October. However, for manufacturers, growth slowed and the outlook remained sluggish as cost pressures, linked to the post-referendum fall in the value of sterling, caused many companies to worry about inflation. Investment intentions for the year ahead stabilised after falling sharply after the referendum but remained below their levels before the June referendum, the CBI added. The British government launches a challenge, today, against a court ruling that it requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the EU. It is a decision that could upset Britains Brexit plans. If the Supreme Court, the UKs highest judicial body, dismisses the government appeal it could derail Prime Minister Theresa Mays timetable for triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and leaving the EU. If Ms May wins, she can proceed with her plans to invoke Article 50 by the end of March. n Additional reporting by Reuters The Donald is assembling his posse and they are headed soon for town. Among the next Presidents top hired hands will be that grizzled old gunslinger, Wilbur Ross and a younger lieutenant, Steven Mnuchin. You have a few crew-cut military types thrown into the mix along with a couple of ladies and the stately white haired vice-president, Mike Pence, for good measure. Its going to be quite a party when this lot reach the White House, late in January. Wilbur Ross looks to be the sharpest tool in Mr Trumps box. He has arrived late at the political high table as Secretary of Commerce having just entered his eightieth year. We in Ireland remember him well. He was one of a small group of bottom fishers who came calling on Dublin a few months after our hapless rulers had been frogmarched into an EU/ IMF bailout and it seemed like the citizenry were facing into generations of penury. Mr Ross joined up with a Canadian financier, Prem Watsa, founder of Fairfax Financial Holdings, to lead a group which took a 35% stake in Bank of Ireland. It was hailed as a vote of confidence in our battered country where a fire sale of epic proportions was underway. The pressure to offload Irish-owned assets at breakneck speed was led by the Troika and in particular, by our old friends the European Central Bank. Wilbur eventually offloaded his personal stake in the bank, in two tranches, making a hefty turn on his investment of around 500 million. Prem Watsa also fared very nicely, but then so did a US West Coast fund outfit, Franklin Templeton, which invests in unloved sovereign bonds. Its director, Michael Hasenstab, was bullish on Irish bonds from very early on. He eventually left carrying a much bigger stack of bank notes than the bundle he had arrived with. Before long, property investors such as Kennedy Wilson streamed in, with longer term investment in mind, while elsewhere, householders discovered more about life under the sway of a US vulture fund. Wilburs Irish good fortune attracted brickbats not least from politician/columnist, Shane Ross, another late arrival to Government service. As he put it, in June 2014: Wilbur has twice taken us for a ride recently. Michael Noonan, however, will handle Wilbur more gently. Much Irish hope is invested in this man. He knows us. He will be our friend. We hope. Wilbur has certainly been around. The son of a teacher and a judge, he was educated in Yale and then in Harvard. He considered life as a fiction writer before coming to his senses. A summer internship in Wall Street was followed by a move to the dark side. Wilbur spent two decades heading Rothschild Incs bankruptcy advice business. Fatefully, in the early 1990s, he represented investors in Donald Trumps failing Taj Mahal casino. Mr Ross and fellow financier, Carl Icahn convinced bondholders to reach a deal with Mr Trump allowing him to retain control of the property. Later, he launched Wilbur Ross & Co, acquiring the $200m Rothschld investment fund and with a further $250m from investors, he began his true lifes work picking up ailing companies for a song. Mr Ross poured millions into struggling steel, coal, and textile companies, his most notable deal being the creation of the International Steel Group out of LTV Steel, Acme Steel, and Bethlehem Steel. This was later sold for $4.5 billion to Arcelor Mittal, netting $260m for Wilbur and his investors. Wilbur personally netted $210m after he floated and later sold on the International Coal Group. Ten years ago, 12 miners suffocated at a mine owned by ICG in West Virginia, causing controversy. What cannot be denied is the operational skills displayed by Mr Ross. He has moved into steel and textile plants completely remodelling the plants, introducing much greater specialisation. Jobs have been shed, but some have been retained, against the odds. Along the way retirement packages have been hit, but the shuttering of plants was largely avoided. President-elect Trump will be counting on Mr Ross to display such turnaround skills across the sunset industry states and regions whose votes have helped propel him to the White House. Wilbur will no doubt be expected to mentor the younger gunslinger in the form of incoming Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, a New Yorker, ex-Goldman Sachs manager and long-term supporter of Trump. Mr Mnuchins father was also a partner in Goldman Sachs. As a student at Yale, Steven reportedly drove a Porsche while running the college newspaper. He worked at Goldman Sachs between 1985 and 2002, heading up its mortgage backed securities division. Lending of this kind was a feature of the US property bubble. Mr Mnuchins big move came when he teamed up with George Soros. The two men set up a business, SFM Capital Management, focusing on risky debt. A year later, they founded Dune Capital Management entering the world of entertainment. Its subsidiary, Rat-Pac Dune, alongside Twenty First Century Fox, backed Avatar, one of the highest grossing films of all time. American Sniper was among other high earner movies backed by them. In 2009, Mr Soros, Mr Mnuchin and top investor, John Paulson, acquired failed Californian lender, Indymac from the state rescue agency, the FDIC. Renamed OneWest, the bank was heavily criticised over its handling of problem loans. It was later sold off for almost $3.5bn, netting a big profit for the investors. While Mr Mnuchins main film company continues to thrive, another entertainment company he was involved in, went into a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process last year, leaving investors heavily out of pocket. But this has not put a halt to his gallop. The incoming Treasury Secretary has indicated that a reduction in the US corporation tax rate to 15% is his key priority not good news from an Irish perspective. The goal is to restore Reaganite economics as part of Making America Great Again. Wilbur and Steve may not have their badges just yet , but there should be nerves a plenty in the weeks ahead as we await the arrival of these corporate sharp shooters in town. Donald Trump promised to drain the Washington swamp. Some Democrats suggest that instead, he has brought more alligators with him. The son of one of the leaders of the Iranian revolution has been sentenced to a 21 year prison term - 6 of which he is being required to serve. Ahmad Montazeri is the son of Grand Ayatollah Hosseinali Montazeri, once presumed to be in line for the post of Supreme Leader after the Islamic Republics founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Ahmad Montazeri was recently convicted by a clerical court for acting against national security after he published a decades-old audiotape of his father bitterly condemning the mass executions of political prisoners in 1988. The details of those events remain shrouded in mystery. While no exact figures are known, Amnesty International estimated that at least 5000 people mostly political prisoners -- were summarily executed in Iranian prisons in the summer of that year. In the tape, Ayatollah Hosseinali Montazeri warned that the perpetrators of these extrajudicial killings were betraying the revolutions values, and the future would judge them as murderers. Soon after voicing his condemnation, Montazeri was stripped of his leadership role and subjected to years of house arrest before his death in 2009. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said the prosecution of Ahmad Montazeri for publishing the audiotape of his father demonstrates the lack of freedom of expression in Iran; and the verdict of the Special Court for the Clergy, whose lead prosecutor is one of the officials implicated in the tape, shows the absence of an independent judicial process and the rule of law. In his recent visit to Greece, President Barack Obama emphasized that the bedrock of good governance is the recognition that certain rights are fundamental and universal: Freedom of speech and assembly because true legitimacy can only come from the people, who must never be silenced. A free press to expose injustice and corruption and hold leaders accountable. Freedom of religion - because we are all equal in the eyes of God. Independent judiciaries to uphold rule of law and human rights. These are crucial elements of democratic societies, which, as President Obama noted, tend to be more just, more stable and more successful. Governments which ignore them, however, do so to their own detriment. Figures released to the Irish Examiner under the Freedom of Information Act show 3,462 incidents of physical assaults were recorded by the HSE between January 1, 2011, and July 27, 2016. The overall figure is much higher once voluntary hospitals are taken into account, but these figures are not compiled by the HSE. Almost 70% of assaults are against frontline staff, with 2,372 incidents recorded against nurses, midwives, psychiatric nurses or other nursing staff. The statistics for hospitals run by the HSE also show: 521 hospital attendants were attacked; 289 care workers were assaulted; 31 porters, 19 security staff and 31 catering staff were physically and verbally abused; Incidents were also recorded against housekeeping and maintenance staff, consultants and physiotherapists; 771 of the assailants were identified as patients. A further seven assailants are listed as members of the public, four recorded as staff members, three recorded as family members, and one recorded as a prisoner; More than a third (37%) of all assaults resulted in a physical injury. Irish Nurses and Midwife Organisation (INMO) general secretary Liam Doran said more needs to be done to protect staff in hospitals. Its a consequence unfortunately of a societal issue, particularly on nights and at weekends. Regrettably, the employer has been too passive, he said, adding that far more needs to be done to minimise the threat of assault. No employer can eradicate the threat of workplace violence completely, but they can minimise the risks by very visibly seeking prosecutions. And that doesnt happen. It isnt just physical abuse, its the threatening behaviour, the spitting on people. It is not acceptable. INMO director of industrial relations Phil Ni Sheaghdha said hospital management have to make it known there is no tolerance towards any form of abuse, be it verbal or physical. The idea it is ok, that it will be tolerated, or that there will be no consequences for assaulting a member of frontline staff has to be removed, she said. INMO director of industrial relations Phil Ni Sheaghdha The FoI document details data provided by the State Claims Agency to the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Some 843 of the assaults resulted in a general injury, with 441 listed as a soft-tissue or musculoskeletal injury, according to the NIMS classification system. Some 69 incidents resulted in a traumatic or emotional injury. The HSE says it is important to remember that in some cases patients and families are experiencing life-changing events, extreme grief or under heavy medication: While it is accepted that the provision of health services can involve situational conflicts, this recognition should not be equated with considering any form of aggression and/or violence as being inherent, inevitable or acceptable. Three hospital security staff were injured after a psychiatric patient went berserk in Cork University Hospitals (CUH) emergency department (ED) last month. Gardai had to be called to help hospital staff after the male patient became extremely agitated in the ED. One security guard suffered a shoulder injury while helping to restrain the patient as doctors tried to administer injections. Two other staff suffered minor injuries. Members of the patients family were also called to the hospital. In September, a nurse suffered a fractured knee when a patient lashed out in the emergency department at Corks Mercy University Hospital. The car in which the men were travelling collided with a people carrier at around 10am. The collision took place on the N72 Dungarvan-Lismore road between the junctions with the N25 and the R672, north of Dungarvan. The six occupants of the people carrier understood to be two adults and four children were airlifted to Cork University Hospital and University Hospital Waterford. At least two of these are understood to be in critical condition. The bodies of the men who died were removed to University Hospital Waterford for postmortem examinations. A full examination of the car in which the deceased were travelling was delayed due to the extent of the damage, gardai confirmed. The road was closed overnight, with diversions put in place. Gardai have appealed for witnesses, who may have travelled this stretch of road and can assist with their investigation, to contact Dungarvan Garda Station (058-48600) or any Garda station. The collision was one of a number of serious road traffic accidents that occurred over the weekend. Gardai in Dublin are appealing for witnesses after a woman in her 70s was hit by a car as she crossed a road on the citys southside. The collision occurred at approximately 7.15am yesterday on Sundrive Rd, beside Sundrive Park. The woman was taken to St Jamess Hospital with injuries described as serious, while the driver of the car was uninjured. A section of the road was temporarily closed to allow for a technical examination by gardai. Meanwhile, in Cork, a 29-year-old woman was killed after her car, in which she was the sole occupant, left the N20 Cork-to-Limerick road at around 10.25pm on Friday night. The woman, named locally as Mandy OLeary, from Farranree in Cork city, was driving northbound when the incident took place, near the turn off for Blarney. She was treated at the scene for her injuries, but was pronounced dead and her body was removed to Cork University Hospital for a post-mortem examination. Ms OLearys removal will take place this evening at Coughlans Funeral Home, Shandon Street, ahead of funeral Mass tomorrow at the Church of the Resurrection, Farranree. The artist will play a key role in the new age, the Irelands Edge conference which gathered leading academics, executives, senior company directors, civil servants and artists in Dingle was told at the weekend. There is going to be a hollowing out of the centre and the jobs of today are not going to be the jobs of tomorrow, contributors told the conference. The Maternal and Newborn Clinical Management System (NM-CMS), launched in Cork at the weekend and earmarked for nationwide rollout, will make Ireland the first country in the world to have a single national EHR for maternity hospitals. Up to now its been on paper, as an appendix to the mothers health record, said Richard Corbridge, HSE chief information officer. It means that instead of the nurse capturing information at the bedside every 20 minutes and logging it on a chart with pen and paper, this system will allow them look at a screen and see what has happened, Mr Corbridge said. Different devices used to measure respiratory rate or heart rate or temperature are connected to the system which will log data on the babys charts. It can also send various alerts designed to improve patient safety. Professor Richard Greene, consultant obstetrician at CUMH and one of the principals involved in tailoring the new system to Irish maternity units, said these include sepsis alerts and medication error alerts. It not only monitors observations, but also the bloods that come back from the lab, so if there is anything to indicate sepsis, it will send an alert, Prof Greene said. Or if someone has an allergy to a particular drug or if the dosage is inappropriate for a patients weight or if a patient has already been given a drug and someone went to give it again, it would send an alert, so it will hopefully reduce drug errors. It will make an enormous difference to have information available to anyone dealing with the patient as they need it. We wont all be looking for the same patient chart, he said. The system should be in place in University Hospital Kerry in Tralee by March 2017 and across the countrys remaining 17 maternity units after that. It was designed by American multinational Cerner who signed a 10-year contract with the HSE. Health Minister Simon Harris said the introduction of the new EHR marks a very significant advance in our national journey towards a digital health system. It is the first EHR system to be implemented on a shared record basis in the Irish healthcare system. James P ONeill, who can trace his roots to Monaghan and Longford, met Taoiseach Enda Kenny over the weekend during the Taoiseachs trip to the US. Asked his opinion on how the gardai could fight the gang war in Ireland, he referred to the system used in New York. I think what works for us in New York city, we have something that we call precision policing. We know that there are very few people involved in the violence and crime in New York city and we identify them and put all our resources to that end to conducting long and short-term investigations and taking them off the street as quickly as possible, he said. Mr ONeill also said that policing around Trump Towers is a big challenge. Although he said the city, and especially the Manhattan area, is used to handling large events, Mr ONeill said providing security around Trump Towers is taking a lot of resources and is costly. Its a challenge for us there is a lot of traffic, vehicular as well as pedestrian, but working with the secret service I am sure we will come up with a very good long-term solution to it. It is costing us some money and we have to take resources from around the city to deal with the extra security. But we are looking to the federal government for some level of reimbursement to help us, he said. Referring to his Irish roots he said it would be a proud moment to walk in his first New York St Patricks Day parade as police commissioner. I look forward to St Patricks Day every year, before you know it, its December now and in the blink of an eye its going to be March 17 and we will be marching up Fifth Avenue. I am really proud of my heritage, I am proud of my grandparents, they all came over here in the 1920s and they built good lives and have a lot of grand-kids and everybody is doing well, he said. The United States welcomes the holding of elections on November 20 as an important step towards returning Haiti to full constitutional rule and addressing the serious challenges the country faces. This election enabled the Haitian people the opportunity to vote for a president as well as parliamentary representatives. A mere seven weeks following widespread destruction to Haitis southwest peninsula caused by Hurricane Matthew, Haitis government and electoral authorities were resolute in ensuring that all citizens had the opportunity to vote for their future. U.S. State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said, We commend Haitians for exercising their right to vote in a peaceful manner, and in some areas, amidst difficult circumstances. The United States welcomes the continued determination of the Provisional Electoral Council, the Haitian National Police, and the Government of Haiti towards the realization of free, fair, credible, and peaceful elections. Successful elections are essential to the prosperity, governance, and future of Haiti, said U.S. Special Coordinator for Haiti and Deputy Assistant Secretary Kenneth Merten. In order to address key issues facing Haiti, such as recovery from Hurricane Matthew, electoral and judicial reform, anti-corruption measures, and the need to spur economic growth, Haiti must have political stability and a legitimate government with a five-year mandate. The United States takes note of the Provisional Electoral Councils November 28 announcement of the preliminary presidential results. As we await the final results, we urge everyone in Haiti to foster an atmosphere of calm during the appeals process to ensure that Haiti remains on track toward democratic renewal of its state institutions and the seating of a president elected by the Haitian people. The legitimacy of Haitis rightful place among democracies in the hemisphere depends on its return to constitutional authority consistent with the principles enshrined in the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Jim Daly, chair of the Oireachtas Childrens Committee, said the charter should help to bring a small minority of schools who are underperforming and not engaging with parents, up to standard. The Department of Education said the new legislation will improve information and complaints procedures for children and their parents. Desmond, 41, who was also known as The Guinea Pig, was found shot dead in a public park in Lucan, west Dublin on Friday night. The Dubliner, who had also spent time in England and the west of Ireland, was involved in the drugs trade and also acted as enforcer for some major dealers. He was suspected of at least four murders. He is believed to have had dealings with the Hutch and Kinahan gangs which have been embroiled in a bloody feud this year. However while he had high-profile enemies, the fact that his killers left behind two guns that gardai recovered with relative ease, suggests the hit was not particularly professional. One handgun was found in woodland at Griffeen Valley Park where Desmond had gone on Friday evening, possibly after being set up for a fake drug deal, while the second was left in a getaway car found burnt out on a roadside only a short distance away. Desmonds body was not concealed and was found by a member of the public. Gardai have appealed for other people who may have been walking or jogging through the park or surrounding area on Friday to get in contact if they spotted anything that might assist the investigation. At least three shots are believed to have been fired at Desmond so it is likely if there were people in the vicinity they would have heard something that would help pin down the exact time of the attack. Desmond served time for assault and gun charges but although he was tried for the murders of two young drug mules and was suspected of several other murders, he was not convicted of any killings. In the case that went to trial, he was accused of the 1999 executions of Darren Carey, 19, and Patrick Murray, 20, after drugs they were carrying were seized by airport security, but vital testimony was withdrawn following threats to key witnesses. Pupils at the private, fee-paying Kings Hospital School were due to gather today for ceremonies to mark the 345th anniversary of the school receiving its royal charter in 1671. The event, one of the biggest in the school calendar, is held every year in early December and features the headmasters annual address, a prize-giving ceremony recognising academic achievement, a choral performance, and a speech by an invited guest of honour. A notice on the schools calendar states that the event has been postponed. A source said it was deemed inappropriate to host celebrations given the recent events, but it was hoped the commemoration would go ahead some time after the Christmas holidays. A decision will be taken later on other events such as the annual carol service. The school has come under intense scrutiny since news of the alleged incident broke, both for the nature of the reported attack on the 13-year-old boy and for the managements response to it. It was several days before gardai were informed about the allegations despite procedures set down by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, that where a child protection issue arises out of hours when social workers are not directly contactable, gardai must be alerted. The schools board of governors met over the weekend for what they described as a full review of this very serious issue. In a statement issued afterwards they said: The care and wellbeing of all students and the wider school community is of paramount importance to the board. The governors are committed to the due process and fully support the external investigations currently underway. In our role as governors, we will continue to actively monitor the situation and work closely with school management to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the children involved and all of the students in the school. The 24 members of the board include the Church of Ireland Archbishops of Dublin and Armagh and the Bishop of Meath and Kildare, as well as senior figures from business, finance, and the legal profession. Their emergency meeting came ahead of a previously scheduled meeting which will also go ahead as planned later this week. Staff are trying to keep it business as usual for the 700 day pupils and boarders who attend the school in Palmerstown, Dublin, but the revelations are believed to have caused serious upset among the students and disquiet among parents. Social workers and gardai are preparing to interview the eight students who have been suspended since the alleged incident, but may also need to speak with many more as they try to piece together the events that led up to the reported attack and get a full picture of the environment in which the children live and study. The source said the school management accepted they needed to offer an open door to the investigating authorities and would be facilitating all their requests for access to staff and students. Last year, the council was forced to put down 157 horses at a cost of around 1,000 each. Many are believed to have belonged to Travellers, although it was impossible to prove this as they werent microchipped and went unclaimed by their owners. The move to create a Horse Project in Cork County was proposed by Cllr Melissa Mullane and won widespread support from her council colleagues. She said the local authoritys own research on Traveller Accommodation and through liaising with Traveller Representative Bodies showed the care and rearing of horses is an indelible part of Traveller culture and identity. Ms Mullane said it was the stated view of Cork County Council in its Traveller Accommodation Plan (2014-2018) that consideration to be given to supporting a feasibility study with a view to the provision of a horse project in the county. She said this feasibility study should begin immediately with funding for the project being made available next year in the councils annual budget. Ms Mullane said it would be of huge benefit and would be good for mental health of male Travellers in particular as looking after horses provided them with daily activity, especially as they are largely excluded from labour market. Cllr Paul Hayes said he recently met with the West Cork Traveller Group and it was a project they want introduced. He pointed out that so far this year only 119 horses were euthanised, which while a welcome downward trend was still far too many. TII said that separate proposals by Cork City Council and Cork County Council to name the south link dual carriageway Bothar Chumann na mBan would threaten public safety. The 15km route, the N40, is on the main road from Cork City to Killarney and Tralee. It extends from the Dunkettle interchange, at the Jack Lynch Tunnel, to the Curraheen interchange, close to Ballincollig. County councillors were surprised at the decision, saying the application had been made to TII as part of the centenary commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising. Former lord mayor of Cork City Council, Mary Shiels, had previously secured City Hall backing for a similar proposal. Councillor Gobnait Moynihan said she was taken aback by the TIIs refusal. A motion in County Hall to have the road renamed had been tabled in 2015 by her brother, Andrias Moynihan, before he had been elected to Dail Eireann. She secured his vacant council seat. TII officials said renaming the road would involve the costly replacement of signs and would undermine signage policy in the area. It would also have safety implications, and many people, particularly tourists, would not understand what Cumann na mBan means. The renaming proposal would have no relevance whatever to the road network. Fianna Fail councillors Gillian Coughlan and Frank OFlynn also expressed surprise at the TII rejection, while their colleague Christopher OSullivan, added: Theyre the forgotten people of 1916 and this would be a massive gesture to name the road after them. However, council chief executive Tim Lucey said he would also have concerns about renaming the road. I think theres a more appropriate way of honouring Cumann na mBan, he said. Ms Coughlan suggested that the route, the N40, could remain on road maps and GPS systems and she could not see a problem in putting up several Cumann na mBan signs along the road. Mr OFlynn, who is head of the councils 1916 commemoration committee, said the committee would further examine the situation and possibly look at other ways of commemorating the women. It is unclear if the TII decision will have any ramifications for a renaming request in West Cork. The council has asked TII for permission to name a roundabout in Clonakilty after the late Joe Walsh, a former minister for agriculture. It was a common carp with a muscular, golden-brown body about 40cm long and it was lying placidly on a soft un-hooking mat where it had been placed by the angler, so he could take a photograph before he released it. It was a man-made lake called Oaklands just outside New Ross in Co Wexford that has been developed as a general coarse fishery with an emphasis on carp. Nowadays carp are not rare in Ireland but they are still unusual, and they have an unusual history. They were first introduced into this country at some unknown date in the Middle Ages, almost certainly by monks, probably French monks who brought them from their home country. Some medieval monastic orders were forbidden to eat meat at any time, except on medical grounds, and others had a huge number of fast days when it wasnt allowed, so fish were a vital source of protein to them. They kept carp in artificial stew ponds in the grounds of the monastery and were pioneers of European aquaculture. Carp travel well, an important consideration if you wanted to bring a fish from France to Ireland in the days of sailing ships and horse-drawn land transport, and will grow rapidly in small ponds if theyre fed properly. But the monks discovered one snag they dont breed well this far north. In order to spawn they require a water temperature of 18 degrees sustained over a couple of weeks. Many Irish lakes and ponds never achieve this and others only do so in occasional good summers. So when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries the future looked bleak for Irish carp. But a few did survive in an isolated scattering of ponds and thats the way things remained until the middle of the last century. There was a similar situation in England, though they had a little more breeding success in the south of the country. Anglers regarded them as virtually uncatchable but in the 1950s a band of pioneers led by a man called Richard Walker set out to prove this wasnt the case. They caught some very large fish and this started a booming fashion for carp angling in Britain. The fashion then spread to Ireland and carp were introduced into new waters and bred in hatcheries by the Central Fisheries Board, the precursor of todays Inland Fisheries Ireland. Different strains were bred, including mirror carp which have a haphazard scattering of large, mirror-like scales and leather carp which have no scales at all. Today they are spread quite widely around the country in ponds, lakes and some rivers and canals and what was once a rare fish has turned into an unusual one thats on its way to becoming quite common. Why, oh why can we do nothing right? With the perfect 145-acre site available for the new National Childrens Hospital next to Connolly Memorial Hospital off the M50 and with nine out of every 10 children in the country living outside the M50, in 2012 with no justification whatsoever, the Fine Gael/Labour cabinet decided to build it deep in Dublins inner city on a congested site at St Jamess Hospital. Here we go again. That site was chosen without a single report ever recommending it and without the involvement of either parents or staff. The Governments decision was based on deeply flawed advice that the childrens hospital needed to be located beside the adult St Jamess Hospital for better medical care for the children. This is false and, despite repeated requests, the Government is unable to provide any evidence to support that claim. This decision will have enormous negative repercussions for sick children and their families throughout this island. Why should the chosen location of the hospital be of concern to you? Because there will be hundreds of thousands of visits by sick children to this new hospital every year from all corners of the country, including from Northern Ireland. These are somebodys children. One day it could be your child or your grandchild. Despite repeated claims to the contrary by the Government, it is obvious that a full-service maternity hospital cannot be accommodated on the St Jamess site. It is accepted that the childrens hospital must be physically connected through a short corridor to a maternity hospital this is 21st century medicine. Every year up to 500 newborns will be transferred to this new childrens hospital. These babies may be critically ill and do not cope well with ambulance journeys. Fifteen of the top specialists who care for these children have said co-location with a physically linked maternity hospital is, in their expert opinion, non-negotiable. We are unwilling to endorse a national childrens hospital on a site that cannot accommodate this critical adjacency. To do so would be to fail those infants whom we are entrusted to protect. To proceed with such a project will result in the avoidable death or disability of many newborn babies for years to come, says the statement. The concern of these experts has been completely ignored by the Government. An artists impression of the room design for the childrens hospital at St Jamess Hospital. Dr Fin Breatnach says the design plan is cutting corners to a totally unacceptable degree. The Government claims that access to the St Jamess site is not a problem. But the air/sea rescue helicopter cannot land there because the site is too small for a ground-based helipad. John Smyth, a recently retired ambulance driver and therefore free to speak out, was based at St Jamess for 30 years, 13 of which were spent in transporting newborns from all over the country He claims St Jamess is the most difficult hospital for ambulances to access. Its a disaster. You can do nothing with the roads in that area. It is crazy to build a hospital in there. If an ambulance with its flashing blue lights finds it difficult, imagine being a parent with a critically ill child in your car in the same situation. The Government has claimed that there will be ample parking and that it will treble at the new childrens hospital. This is also false. The parking provided will be relatively less than what was available at Crumlin alone in 2010 and no one would suggest that that was ample. It is accepted fact that 90% of sick children will arrive at the hospital by car. Already highly stressed with a sick child, parents from all over the country will be driving through heavy traffic to this hospital and will have to face the further unnecessary stress of not finding a parking space. Dublin City Council has imposed a parking limit for the site due to the inadequate surrounding road network. You couldnt make it up. The St Jamess site is simply too small to accommodate the National Childrens Hospital. The design plan for the hospital is already cutting corners to a totally unacceptable degree. When it opens in 2021 (if not later) the paediatric population will have grown to such an extent that there will be proportionately fewer childrens hospital beds than we had in 2012. This is despite already having thousands of children on waiting lists. The Family Accommodation Unit and Research Centre will be smaller than was requested, with no space for future expansion. According to Jimmy Sheehan, an orthopaedic surgeon and builder of three successful hospitals, the childrens hospital could be built at the Connolly Hospital site in Blanchardstown more quickly than at St Jamess. According to two Government reports, building there would also save the State at least 250m. The merits of the Connolly site are compelling and, to date, no meaningful disadvantage of the site has been identified by anyone. The Rotunda Maternity Hospital is relocating there. This, in effect, makes Connolly the perfect site. The design of the new childrens hospital at St Jamess Hospital. Fears have been expressed over traffic congestion inhibiting access, and a lack of parking at the city centre location. The Government must take a long-term view for the 21st century and beyond and make the location of the new childrens hospital a cornerstone of a future health infrastructure for the whole island. With the 145 acres available on Dublins ring road, it is the obvious location for the development of the much-needed adult major trauma centre. Construction occurring there will be faster, cheaper, and, most importantly, safer for children. The current site clearing at St Jamess will allow for one of the two planned urgent care centres to be built there to meet the medical needs of the children of the inner city. With 90% of children living outside the M50, the specialist tertiary medical needs of the sickest children in the country would clearly be better addressed on an accessible site off the M50. The lunacy of building the National Childrens Hospital at St Jamess must stop now. Not one justification can be made for the choice of the St Jamess site and we have successfully refuted every single claim advanced by the Government to date. Yet, despite our groups wide- reaching expertise, the Government has steadfastly refused to engage with us. Afraid to hear the truth? Dr Fin Breatnach, retired consultant paediatric oncologist, on behalf of Connolly for Kids Hospital. (Connollyforkidshospital.com) The group is made up of independent individuals, paediatric healthcare professionals, parents of critically ill children, survivors of severe childhood illnesses, childrens organisations, parents organisations, community groups, and others concerned over the selection of the St Jamess site for the new National Childrens Hospital Business Government Plans Monthly Meetings to Respond to Business Leaders One staff member hands a stack of Myanmar kyats to another at a bank in Rangoon, October 19, 2015. / Reuters RANGOON Government leaders are planning to meet monthly with the local business community to listen to current problems and find solutions, Vice President U Myint Swe and National Planning and Finance Minister U Kyaw Win pledged last week. The first monthly meeting received a positive response. The vice president and finance minister met with local business people on Dec. 1 in Rangoon at the head office of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI). Business people from all sectors attended this meeting. Government leaders listened to them describe what is happening in the markets and how they can help. It was a short first meeting, but the business leaders pointed out some recent problems, said Dr. Maung Maung Lay, vice president of the UMFCCI. The first meeting came at a challenging economic time. The current National League for Democracy (NLD) government has been criticized for the sluggish growth of the countrys economy. Many development problems remain to be solved. About 70 sister associations of the UMFCCI attended the Dec. 1 meeting, and the most urgent problem they raised to government officials had to do with the rising currency exchange rate and related trade imbalance. The Central Banks deputy governor, U Sett Aung, joined us at the meeting. He asked us about what is happening in the market, but he didnt address the solutions, said Dr. Maung Maung Lay. On Monday, the Central Banks US dollar reference rate reached 1,305 kyats, while the black market rate reached 1,350 kyats. The declining value of the kyat has been a major issue for importers, and they are demanding that the government address it. The government said they would try to solve these problems as much as and as soon as possible. If necessary, they will meet with us twice a month, said Dr. Maung Maung Lay. Since the NLD government took power in April, observers have been waiting for the countrys economy to develop faster. But reality has not yet lived up to those expectations. The opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has also urged the current government to set a clear economic policy that will help to solve the social and economic problems that ordinary people are facing. Last month, USDP chairman U Than Htay argued that there has been a significant increase in crime recently due to economic hardship. U Win Myint, chairman of the Fuel Importers Association, attended the forum. He suggested that the NLD government should take more time to listen to business leaders. I welcome their plan to hold meetings with us. But with only three minutes for each business sector, thats too little. In the meeting, some people could explain their problems, but others didnt get a chance. Thats why we need more time, said U Win Myint. He added that importers like him are facing a critical currency exchange problem. We dont want the government to control the markets. But we do want the government to intervene in these recent problems, said U Win Myint. For example, the Central Bank should not try to restrict the exchange rate, but it should try to lead the market to a better solution. Now may be a happy period for Burmese product exporters. But importers point out that export levels in Burma are significantly less than imports, and this causes a big trade deficit. If the government would listen more, then they will know what is really happening, said U Win Myint. U Myo Min Aung, vice chairman of the Myanmar Retailers Association, said that although the government pledged to meet with business people on a regular basis, he wanted to see it take more action. Minister U Kyaw Win promised us the government would create an easy process for us, he said. If necessary, it would be a one-stop service. They should make that idea the reality. From the Archive History Behind Arakan State Conflict The Irrawaddy revisits this interview with Arakan history expert Dr. Jacques P Leider about the ongoing strife between ethnic groups in the region. In light of recent attacks and ongoing violence in Arakan State, The Irrawaddy revisits this 2012 interview with Arakan history expert Dr. Jacques P Leider about the ongoing strife between ethnic groups in the region. Question: What is the meaning of Rohingya? Answer: [The term Rohingya] appeared for the first time at the end of the 18th century in the report of an Englishman who went to the Chittagong area, the Rakhine [Arakan] area. His name was Francis Buchanan-Hamilton. He was a medical doctor [and this term appeared] in one of the papers that was published by him. Now when we talk about scientific explanations and etymology of the word, it does not say anything about politics. You use this term for yourself as a political label to give yourself identity in the 20th century. Now how is this term used since the 1950s? It is clear that people who use it want to give this identity to the community that live there. Q: What about the history of the Muslim community in Arakan State? A: Everywhere in Southeast Asiasuch as Thailand, Indonesia and everywhereyou find Muslim communities. Islam has been growing in other areas where it did not exist before the 15th century in Indonesia, Malaysia and so on. You also have, it is not surprising, a Muslim community in Myanmar. [We know that] in the 15th century you have an emerging Muslim community there. The second part of the Muslim community there belongs to the colonial period, when many people from Bengal and that area came to settle in Rakhine. Q: What is the situation on the ground between Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims? A: This is a very difficult question to answer for a foreigner who can only go to places in Rakhine where it is acceptable. I will not call the Rakhine Buddhist racist towards Muslims. There seem to be expression; the emotional reaction is extremely strong. Let me put it diplomatically like thisa very strong emotional reaction. Q: What are the roots of this reaction? A: Well, I think from historical point of view, when you look at the situation of Muslims in Rakhine, in Burma, one big difference is that the Muslims in Rakhine have settled on the ground, they were farmers. They have been farmers since the pre-colonial period because Rakhine kings were deporting people from Bengal and bringing them to Rakhine and settling them. We know from a source in the 17th century that there were villages where there were only Muslims. They have been settled there by the Rakhine kings. The English stopped Indian immigration during the colonial period. Because there was no border there, so you figure out the people come and go from Bengal to Rakhine. Their demographic growth was tremendous. The Rakhine back in the 1920s, the Buddhist Rakhine, were feeling very awkward about this. Q: Do you agree with observers who say there is a third force behind the conflict? A: There is no reason to look for a third force to explain [the conflict], to describe it and to talk about solutions. It is absolutely clear that in the context where Arakan is, you have a very particular situation which you do not have in other so-called minority areas. In Karen, Kachin or Chin, were normally talking about the majority Myanmar who confront the local minority group, which is actually a majority of that area. But here you have three involvedyou have Rakhine Buddhist, you have Muslim on the other hand and then you have the government. When you have three, it is always easy to have two against one. Now Muslims would argue they are Rakhine Buddhist and Myanmar Buddhist who play against us. Its always easy to argue that. Q: So what is the underlying reason behind the conflict? A: I think that on the land that exists there, there are increasing numbers of people. Rakhine Buddhists have been seeing that there are Muslims there. The Muslims who are living in Rakhine, the population has been growing. The question is how much have they been growing. Apparently, it seems that they are growing faster. There is a feeling that they are growing; that they are there and there is this kind of resentment that these people are there and nobody is tackling the Muslims present there. All these resentments, all these feelings, have been there for a long time. Sheer violence is used to say that we have situation that we cannot bear anymore. Q: Would you say it is not a racial issue? A: No, Rohingya use racist Buddhists and the other side will use that. There has been violence, there are a number of other words and we should be sensitive about the use of these words. Now when somebody comes to use the word genocide against Muslims, that is also way beyond anything that matches with reality. I think hate is okay as the term you can use as kind of a common word. But to use racism always supposes a kind of ideology. I dont see among Buddhists this kind of ideology. Its kind of dislike. You have xenophobia, you have ranges of other words you can use to describe more correctly and more justly what we see. Q: Is the international media mistaken when they use phrases like genocide of the Rohingya? A: Yes, a lot. Journalists have to focus more on diversifying their sources of documentation. I agree it may not be easy. I think there is enormous responsibility on media in Myanmar now that is opening up. Myanmar writers, Myanmar ethnicities take a responsible stand on this. It will not help if they take sides. But you need to be critical and self-critical. Q: What is the best way forward to resolve the conflict? A: I would probably say people should sit down and say what they want where there are problems. They want to have peaceful life, they want to have a happy life and see a future for their children. You see other people have what you dont have. In the other community, in the best of their mind, they realize that the other people will not disappearlike it or not, they are not going to disappear. They need to find one way or another to live together. There are many issues that people who are living there, whatever religion, could share. They will confront their own interest and future for the development of Rakhine State, for the people who live there. If they could work together, they could be more efficient instead of fighting together. Q: Are the Rohingya an ethnic group of Burma? A: My answer is that Rohingya is not an ethnic concept. Okay, they can stand up and say we are an ethnic group inside Myanmar. But I think that is not the best way. When you argue we are Muslims and we have been living in Rakhine for several generations, nobody can deny it. For me, Rohingya is the term, which is an old word that has been claimed as above all as a political label after the independence of Myanmar. For the moment, I do not see that all the people there readily submit to one and a single label. When I was in Bangladesh, people pointed out Muslims to me who originally lived in Rakhine. They have now moved to Bangladesh and when you ask them, are you Rohingya coming from Rakhine? they say, no, we are Muslims who live in Rakhine, we do not take for us the label Rohingya. Burma Ethnic Armed Groups Withdraw from Mong Ko to Protect Civilians A Burma Air Force strike destroyed buildings in Mong Ko town on Sunday. / Myanmar War News / Facebook RANGOON Four ethnic armed groups began to withdraw their soldiers from Mong Ko, a border town in Muse Township, northern Shan State, on Sunday night over concerns that air strikes from the Burma Air Force would destroy civilian property throughout the town, according to local sources. We started to move out from Mong Ko last night after we made the decision, said Col Tar Phone Kyaw, a spokesman for the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA). We dont want anymore of Mong Ko to be burned down. So we made the decision not to control the town any longer, he added. On Monday, the Northern Alliance claimed that air strikes from the Burma Air Force had already targeted public schools, religious buildings, and civilian houses within Mong Ko. Many civilian buildings were destroyed in the attacks, and at least four civilians were killed and two wounded, according to a Northern Alliance statement. Since Nov. 20, a coalition of four ethnic armed groups, dubbed the Northern Alliance, has carried out a military offensive against the Burma Army in northern Shan State. The ethnic armed groups include the TNLA, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Arakan Army (AA), and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA). The ethnic armed groups released a statement Monday explaining their troop withdrawal from Mong Ko. We could seize the entire town, but we did not take this chance because we are worried about a lot of properties that belong to civilians and about civilian casualties, said the statement. The Ministry of Defense issued a contrary report on Sunday, stating that Mong Ko was then under the control of the Burma Army. Following many clashes with the ethnic armed groups, the ministry has started to label them insurgents. Burma Army ground forces reached Mong Ko at 3 p.m. on Sunday, and many insurgent forces withdrew their troops and ran away from the town, according to the Ministry of Defense report. Burma Army soldiers recovered weapons and ammunition that were left behind by the fleeing soldiers, the report said. However, Col Tar Phone Kyaw of the TNLA challenged the ministrys report. The Burma Army was unable to control Mong Ko, he said, while ethnic armed groups still controlled some areas. More Burma Army forces have come, but they could not take anything, said Col Tar Phone Kyaw. On Sunday, the ethnic armed groups issued a statement calling for a nationwide ceasefire. They also requested that the government withdraw all Burma Army troops from the ethnic areas, that the government halt its military offensives, and that the government immediately launch a genuine and equal political dialogue aimed at ending the conflict. The ethnic armed groups suggested that the Chinese government mediate the talks, since most of the current fighting has taken place along the Sino-Burma border. The Northern Alliance also announced that it had asked the Burma Army to cease using human shields to protect its front lines. The ethnic armed groups claimed to rescue 34 civilian shields on Dec. 1 and 43 more human shields on Dec. 2, according to a Northern Alliance statement. The United States remains committed to protecting religious minorities their communities and their culture - worldwide. This as an important expression of the values of the United States in that we want to protect diversity of thought and belief, said Knox Thames, Special Advisor for Religious Minorities in the Near East and South/Central Asia. This effort, said Special Advisor Thames, is of great importance in Syria and Iraq, where ISIL or DAESH seek to wipe out much of civilizational history: In that work we saw where DAESH was committing genocidal acts against Christians, Yezidis and Shia Muslims. At the same time that they were killing people, they were also trying to erase any evidence that they ever existed destroying their churches, their mosques, their cemeteries. And if we were going to defeat DAESH militarily, we also need to take steps to protect the places that matter to these people that they are also trying to exterminate. And so, from that work we started focusing on the cultural heritage of religious minorities. The U.S. State Department partnered with the Smithsonian Institution to engage religious minority groups directly, providing them with training and information on preserving cultural sites and objects that are at risk. Some of these preventative methods are simple, but effective said Special Advisor Thames: There was a training that went on in northern Syria, where churches were trained about how to stack sand bags in front of ancient frescos and murals so that if a mortar shell were to land, the explosive force would be dissipated by the sand bags it wouldnt hurt the mural. And they had these very striking before and after pictures of a room full of sandbags, the bomb tragically hit, the sand bags are exploded but the mural is fine. Trainings also include information on protecting movable artifacts by creating digital documentation of the items that can be stored remotely. The Smithsonian Institute has created a special outreach program in Erbil, Iraq, that is dedicated to the effort. These communities that are so unique, that create this mosaic of culture and religion, said Special Advisor Thames. They can be pieced back together and protecting their common culture can be a way to do that. Burma Kofi Annan Reportedly Unsettled By Lack of Arakanese Cooperation Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan talks to reporters as Burmas government-appointed chairman of the Arakan State Advisory Commission, during his news conference in a government guesthouse, in Arakan State on Dec. 2, 2016. / Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters RANGOON In a Monday meeting in Naypyidaw with five Arakanese parliamentarians, chair of the Arakan State Advisory Commission Kofi Annan reportedly voiced his dissatisfaction regarding the ethnic Arakanese communitys level of collaboration with the initiative. National League for Democracy (NLD) Lower House lawmaker U Tin Nu of Man Aung Constituency said that former UN secretary Mr. Annan told them that the cooperation from the regions Muslim community has been positive, but that the lack of participation from the Arakanese community has left the commission with an information blackout. He told us that he is really unsettled, said U Tin Nu. Among those five parliamentarians present, Daw Htoot May was only Arakan National Party (ANP) lawmaker in the group; she said that she had joined the meeting as part of her regular duties as a legislator. She told The Irrawaddy over the phone on Monday afternoon that she emphasized to Mr. Annan the importance of having knowledge of the history of Arakan State as well the current situation. Moreover, she requested that the commission consider the voice of Arakanese society in its February report to Burmas Union government, which she said she hoped would be impartial and fair. Daw Htoot May urged the advisory commission to also produce a separate report concerning the Oct. 9 attacks on border police posts in Maungdaw Township, citing the nature of the incidents as differing from previous conflicts in Arakan State, due to alleged links to militants and what she described as a threat to Burmas sovereignty. Without elaborating, she said that she also told Mr. Annan that allegations made by international rights groups contradicted the situation on the ground. In late November, the BBC quoted a UNHCR official in Bangladesh accusing the Burmese government of ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority. The government denied the allegation. The government also rejected a Human Rights Watch report released in November that, through the analysis of satellite imagery, identified hundreds of destroyed buildings in Maungdaw Township. Advisory commission member Al Haj U Aye Lwin explained that although the commission had consistently welcomed suggestions from all Arakanese organizations, some leaders within politics and civil society and rejected the offer to participate. When the Arakanese [leaders] did not sit in on face-to-face talks, the commission could not bring in their perspectives. That is what he is upset, said U Aye Lwin of Kofi Annan. After the meeting with the NLDs Arakanese lawmakers, the commission met with Burmas President U Htin Kyaw and, according to a statement released by the Presidents Office on Monday, discussed three necessities required to build peace in Arakan State: the provision of humanitarian assistance to both Buddhist and Muslim communities, the quashing of rumors through the release of real time information, and the acceleration of social interaction between the two groups. Since the Arakan State Advisory Commission was formed by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in August, hundreds of Buddhist Arakanese have marched in protest against the groupmost recently on a three-day visit to the region which ended on Sunday. Local protesters accuse the international delegation of interfering in Burmas internal affairs. For the same reason, the ANP-dominated Arakan State parliament already declared that it would not collaborate with the commission and instructed lawmakers to avoid assisting with its work, said Arakanese Lower House lawmaker U Pe Than on Monday. Over the weekend, Mr. Annan and the commissions eight other members traveled to northern Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Mrauk-U and Myaypon townships and faced protests in every city. Almost no Arakanese civil society organizations agreed to meet with the commission on the visit. Burma Locals Protest Kofi Annans Maungdaw Visit Maungdaw Township residents rally against a visit by Kofi Annan-led Arakan State Advisory Commission. / Than Htun Residents of four Arakan State townships protested the arrival of the Kofi Annan-led Arakan State Advisory Commission over the weekend, according to state government spokesperson U Ming Aung. About 300 Arakanese Buddhists demonstrated in downtown Maungdaw, according to the district administrative office. Protesters disputed the commissions international members and accused interference in Burmas internal affairs. One banner read respect the decision of the Arakan State Parliament, referring to the regional Arakan National Party-led parliaments refusal to cooperate with the commission. Kofi Annan and his colleagues faced similar protests in Buthidaung, Minbyar, and Mrauk-U townships, U Ming Aung said. In their first trip to a region that has been under military lockdown since attacks on border guard posts on Oct. 9, the delegation toured four villages in northern Maungdaw and spoke with Muslim villagers about the situation on the ground. The Burma Army has been accused of widespread human rights abuses during security operations including extrajudicial killings, rape, and setting fire to Muslim villagesaccusations which the National League for Democracy-led government has rejected. The commission conducted meetings with Buddhist Arakanese and Muslim Rohingya communities in Arakan State and discussed the contentious issue of National Verification Cards with members of the stateless Rohingya Muslim population. The commission completed its Arakan State tour on Sunday afternoon and will hold a press conference in Rangoon on Tuesday. They will deliver their initial report to the Union government in February. Burma Refugee Returnees, Govt Reach Housing Agreement One of the recent returnees is seen sitting in front of the warehouse of the Relief and Resettlement Departments Rangoon office in Mayangone Township in Nov. 2016. / Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy RANGOON After one month of negotiations, Rangoon refugee returnees recently repatriated from Thailand have come to an agreement with the government for a lower upfront payment to purchase housing. Since arriving in the countrys commercial capital, the 17 former refugeesbelonging to four familieshave been provided temporary shelter at a warehouse run by the Relief and Resettlement Departments Rangoon office in Mayangone Township while waiting for the regional government to arrange long-term accommodation. Last week, the returnees proposed that they would pay 1 million kyats (US$761) up front for housing and the rest over eight years to purchase apartments for 9.8 million kyats ($7,463) in the Shwe Linn Ban Industrial Zone in Rangoons Hlaing Tharyar Township. The refugees refused the divisional governments plan that they initially be responsible for paying 30 percent of the total cost of the spaces. U Soe Aung, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement, told The Irrawaddy that the Rangoon regional cabinet and his minister had decided to honor the returnees request for a lower up-front payment. They have requested that we consider this proposal since they have financial difficulties, he said. However, based on individual families circumstances, upfront payments will vary from one to four million kyats, U Win Shwe, a director at the relief and resettlement department in Rangoon, explained. The Irrawaddy talked to some of the returnees on Monday and learnt that U Thant Zin Maung, whose wife suffers from muscular atrophy in her legs, would purchase a ground-floor apartment with a down payment of 4 million kyats, while U Aye Lwin, a father of six, said he would choose the cheapest available apartment with a down payment of 1 million kyats. Daw Khin San Yee, one of the returnees and a former political prisoner, said that the families are now waiting to sign a contract for the purchases with the governments Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development. She also said that next step for the returned families will be to find appropriate jobs to earn a living once accommodation has been settled. We must have jobs now, said Daw Khin San Yee. We have to feed ourselves and pay for the purchased house with our earnings. The 17 Rangoon returnees are among the first batch of 65 returnees who were repatriated to Burma via the Myawaddy-Mae Sot Friendship Bridge from the Nu Po camp on the Thai-Burma border in late October. Arrangements for the move were made by the governments of Thailand and Burma, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), and the International Organization for Migration. The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement currently provided 3,000 kyats (US$2.33) to each returnee to contribute to daily living expenses. Each family has received 300,000 kyats (US$230) from the Union government, and the Thai government offered 8,300 baht ($233) per adult and 6,500 baht ($182) per child before leaving Thailand. Burma Special Branch Police Detain Taang Civilians A main street in Lashio, Shan State. / Lawi Weng / The Irrawaddy LASHIO, Shan State Special Branch police in Lashio, Shan State, have released 13 people and continue to detain four following arrests at a guesthouse by Burmese authorities on Saturday. Aung Myat Moe, a police chief in Lashio, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that those still detained had ties to an ethnic armed group. Those four people admitted that they joined the military training from the Palaung, he said, a reference to the ethnic Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), which is engaged in a joint offensive against the Burma Army in northern Shan State, alongside the Kachin Independence Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army. Together the groups form a coalition called the Northern Alliance. They even told us that they were recruited. Special Branch police are investigating them, he added. If the investigation proves the allegations to be true, Aung Myat Moe said the authorities will take action against them. The initial release of eleven peoplefive men and six womentook place once community leaders corroborated their story of having traveled to Lashio from Namhsan Township for medical treatment. De De Poe Jaing, joint secretary of the Taang Womens Organization, told The Irrawaddy that she and other community leaders went to the police station on Sunday and asked police for permission to meet those still in detention. We asked them to let us meet them, but the police told us that the Special Branch police have taken them for an investigation, she said. The Special Branch police could torture them and force them to admit to crimes. Therefore, we are asking to be able to meet those detainees. They should be able to meet us and meet with lawyers, De De Poe Jaing explained. Burmese authorities in Lashio have tightened security in the town following attacks in northern Shan State by the Northern Alliance. The European Union released a statement on the clashes in northern Burma on Friday, expressing concern for restricted aid access to conflict-affected areas and communities. Continued fighting undermines trust and confidence in the peace process, the statement read. News Burmas Presidents Office Expresses Disappointment with Malaysian Leader Nationalists staged an anti-Najib protest near Kuala Lumpurs City Hall on Sunday. / J Paing / The Irrawaddy RANGOON A spokesperson for Burmas Presidents Office said he was disappointed with the Malaysian prime ministers participation in a rally against Burmas persecution of Rohingya Muslims and his criticism of the Burmese government on the issue. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak led a protest rally in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday against what he called a genocide of the Rohingya minority in western Burma, and he urged Asian neighbors and the world to step up their pressure to halt the violence. Presidents Office spokesperson U Zaw Htay questioned the prime ministers participation and suggested that he had used his religious beliefs for political gain, according to local media. We are really disappointed by his actions. It seems like he was using religion as a stepping stone to garner popular support for the upcoming elections, said U Zaw Htay, referring to Najibs diminished popularity at home in the wake of recent corruption allegations. Malaysia and Myanmar have a good relationship, said U Zaw Htay. But instead of asking for information about the Arakan situation via diplomatic channels, the prime minister led a protest. This is very disappointing. The Malaysian prime ministers criticism of the Arakan situation had the potential to fuel more religious extremism and militancy in Burma, the spokesperson added. His actions will have an impact not only on Burma but on the whole Asean region, U Zaw Htay said. He pointed out that the Malaysian prime ministers actions were not in keeping with the 10-member Asean charter. The charter states that actions should be taken upon the consensus of all member countries and it discourages interference in the internal affairs of other member states. On Sunday, Buddhist monks and nationalists responded by staging an anti-Najib protest in downtown Rangoon. As of Monday morning, the Burmese government still had not officially responded to Prime Minister Najibs participation in the protest. News Rangoon Police Publish Photos of Two Robbery Suspects Storefront of the M.S Group Money Changer in Rangoon. / Rangoon Police / Facebook RANGOON Police have published CCTV pictures of two suspects who allegedly robbed a currency exchange business in the commercial capital Rangoon over the weekend. On Saturday afternoon, two men robbed the M.S. Group money exchange shop, located in Shan Kone Street in Sanchaung Township, according to a police statement. Ko Shan, the owner of the money exchange shop, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that he had lost about 50 million kyats. The police report said that two suspects, both about 30 years old, threatened an employee of the shop with an air gun and a slingshot. They grabbed about 15 million kyats, 15,000 US dollars, four mobile phones, and phone top up cards valued at 400,000 kyats. The two robbers also destroyed the CCTV server inside the shop. The police have opened an investigation into the two suspects. If convicted under sections 114, 392, and 427 of Burmas Penal Code, the suspects could face a maximum of 14 years in prison. A similar crime took place in August 2015 in Lanmadaw Township, Rangoon, when robbers stole cash from the Farmer Money Changer shop. According to the Lanmadaw police office, they are still investigating that case and have not found the perpetrators yet. Commentary Malaysia, Dont Use Burma to Distract from Disquiet at Home An anti-Najib protest in Rangoons Mahabandoola Park on Sunday. / J Paing / The Irrawaddy RANGOON Malaysias Prime Minister Najib Razak had strong words for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as he led a rally in Kuala Lumpur to show solidarity with the Muslim Rohingya in Arakan State. His comment to the baying crowds of enough is enough aimed at the State Counselor has risked a diplomatic fissure with neighboring Burma. Before Najib joined the rally, a terse exchange of words between the two governments ended with a Union government spokesperson reminding Malaysia not to interfere in Burmas internal affairs. Najib responded to this request at the rally, asking do they [Burmas government] want me to close my eyes? Want me to be mute? There is an article in the Asean charter that says Asean [members] must uphold human rights. Are they blind? Dont just interpret things as you choose, he ranted. These words, spoken in the capacity of Prime Minister, are unacceptable. Read the following very carefully. Najib, like many Asian government leaders, is not a human rights crusader. He is a politician accused of corruption. As a Muslim, it is likely he has concern for the plight of displaced fellow Muslims in northern Arakan State, also known as Rakhine State. It is also suspected, however, that he has his own political agenda. Najib has faced a political crisis at home since media reported investigations that he may have embezzled US$1 billion, including from state investment fund 1MDB. Is Najib a scandal-plagued politician doing whatever he can to gain popular support and divert attention from massive corruption allegations that have gripped his administration for years? Last month, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad threw his weight behind a massive rally calling for Najibs resignation. Pundits have said a showdown is imminent. Burma must respond to Najib in an appropriate manner and not cross the line as he did. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, with limits to her political power, has been concentrating her energy on tackling the sensitive issue of Arakan State. She is not a saint, she is a politician and she has made blunders. Many burning issues are on her shoulders but she has not been sitting idly watching the Arakan State situation develop. She has said that to resolve the Arakan issue is a priority. In May, she formed and chaired the Central Committee for the Implementation of Peace, Stability and Development in Arakan State. Subsequently she appointed former UN chief Kofi Annan to lead an advisory commissionto her dismay she faced fierce protest from local Arakanese lawmakers and the Burma Army for appointing an outsider. Arakanese politicians continue to disapprove of the State Counselors handling of the situation in northern Arakan State. Aung San Suu Kyi has remained quiet on the issue, as she knows that once she opens her mouth about it she is not going to win anything from anyone. In Singapore last week she told Channel News Asia that the government has managed to control the situation in Arakan. She said relations between the two communities have not been good and she is not going to take sides. In opposition, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was accused of silence amid the nationalist (and anti-Islam) 969 Movement that also used her marriage to a foreigner as a reason to block her leadership in the run-up to the 2015 election. But who helped fund that movement? Even some western diplomats in Rangoon refused to make the connection between the former regime and well-funded extremist monks going after Muslims. Last week in Singapore she also called on the international community to help the country maintain peace and stability between the two communities in Arakan instead of always drumming up calls for, well, for bigger fires of resentment, if you like. She is not wrong in this respect. There are very few media and commentators who explain the nuances and complexities of the decades-old issue between two communities. Rohingya Muslims are facing serious humanitarian issues in one of the poorest states in Burma. There is a risk of growing radicalization as seen by the attacks on security forces in October. Buddhist Arakanese and other minorities in the state feel that international organizations and western media are wrong to focus on the plight of Rohingya without explaining the complex history of the area. The downtrodden Buddhist Arakanese feel oppressedthey are on the defensive. There has been no independent investigation and access to journalists and aid groups is blocked. Allegations of serious human rights violationsincluding extrajudicial killings and rapehave not been verified. Last week UN Secretary-Generals Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng said the allegations must be verified as a matter of urgency and urged the government to allow access to the area. He said that if they are true, the lives of thousands of people are at risk. The reputation of Burma, its new government and its military forces are also at stake in this matter. He is correct. The Rohingyas plight has garnered international attention. Meanwhile, Buddhist Arakanese have resisted outside influence and objected to international involvement but also feel that western media and advocacy groups are completely ignoring their grievances. The Burma government must coordinate among agencies and security forces to relay a consistent message. Recent allegations of migrants claiming to be Rohingya continuing to cross the Bangladesh border suggest corruption and human trafficking rings are persistent. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi needs to balance her complicated relations with leaders from the powerful armed forces. The majority of the Buddhist Arakanese population supports the Burma Armys clearance operations in northern Arakan State. No one knows how successful her administration will be in solving this issue; it is unlikely to happen during this current government. At least Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has shown the political will to tackle the Rohingya issuepast regimes simply denied its existence. Regionally or globally, the Rohingya issue should not be a punching bag for politicians. Prime Minister Najibif you are looking for a fall guy to distract from your own political mess, please look somewhere else. You will not find any in Burma. Guest Column An Engineer, a Doctor, or a Monk Girls walk to school at the outskirts of Rangoon, November 4, 2015. / Jorge Silva / Reuters Like the first signs of life returning to a patch of land after a heavy winter storm, numerous start-ups, entrepreneurial companies, and niche businesses have started popping up all across Burma in the few years since the military started releasing its hold on the countrys rule. The opening up of the country has also allowed an impressive scale of foreign investment. Suddenly, things seem to be looking up after six long decades of economic atrophy. While much of the recent development has started healing the countrys past, the social after-effects from this era are still very much prevalent. While our democratic champion Daw Aung San Suu Kyi went through numerous hunger-strikes to challenge the regime during her years of confinement, many people in the country were also left with no choice but to sacrifice their own businesses and livelihoods in the face of foreign sanctions, stagnant wages, and rising costs of living, while succumbing to police harassment, bribes, and extremely difficult red tape. On top of it all, various members of the military and their affiliates ruthlessly infiltrated every top business sector, and secured them by sheer brute force. Under immense difficulty and unable to continue their enterprises, many business-owners initially voiced their frustrations, only leading to more misfortune. The bureaucracy under the juntas Ministry of Trade and Commerce was set up in such a way that severely restricted business-owners from working with foreign counterparts. Company registrations were limited to 12 months, meaning they had to be renewed annually. Export permits lasted an even shorter period of only three months. Business-owners were thus stifled and suffocated by the bureaucratic layout, not to mention the constant need to offer bribes for the mere right to keep their businesses afloat. After all the bribes to officials and dodgy red-tape fees, many business-owners were forced to abandon their endeavors after failing to make a profit. When the European Union joined the US-led implementation of business sanctions on Burma, it furthered the demise of many small and medium sized business-owners. One such businessman was my father. While there were successful business-owners who refused to stoop to corruption, almost all the hugely successful magnates today avoided these hardships by siding with the military as either cronies or business associates. By doing so, they received not only protection, but also generous benefits from their connections. Being able to run their businesses successfully, they not only fared well but also achieved monumental profits throughout these harsh times. They now have secured a financial head start. Most of the countrys top businesses today are still largely in the same hands. For average-income parents during the junta days, the economic drought tricked them into thinking that the only way to guide their children to a successful career boiled down to two choices: engineering or healthcare. With a prestigious title and a comfortable salary as either engineers or doctors, these two sectors had steady demand for new recruits. There were always bridges to be built and sick people to be tended to. Even if children did not become practicing doctors or engineers, the education and degrees brought immense pride to parents and would be noticed in gold lettering on wedding invitations and titles. This very narrow channel of perceived career success has plagued Burma in recent years, with a very realistic sink-or-swim style determination of ones future. For the middle-class, this has meant training children to learn entire textbooks by heart in the hopes that rote learning would help achieve the required grades to enter medical or engineering school. For lower-income parents who could not afford higher education, this meant abandoning education and sending their children to the nearest town to find whatever work they could, primarily as domestic workers or laborers in local teashops. UNICEF data from 2006 showed that 1 in 3 Burmese children aged 6-17 had jobs. Others with an even gloomier fate were sent to join the army at a young age, where they were at least ensured a job and a steady income, as meager as it may be. Over time, it became a common question to ask young children which of the two most desirable jobs they would like, and to give up on ones struggles became synonymous with the expression, Id rather just become a monk. These social quirks continue to this day, with most people not even noticing that they are perpetuating misguided beliefs. Perhaps even more heartbreaking are the abandoned ambitions of the youth. What were once dreams of changing their own social circles for the better were lost in the process of forced assimilation to the oppressive status quo. If Burma is to successfully emerge into the modern era of peaceful democracy and equal prosperity, it must also emerge from the tunnel vision of isolation and oppression. The remnants of our past under the junta must be shed. We must examine which of our cultural traditions we deem fit to bring into our future, and which of those must be left behind for the sake of equality and equity. In addition to economic and legal reforms, the future of Burma is in desperate need of agents of social change. Doctors and engineers alone cannot bridge that gap. This article originally appeared in Tea Circle, a forum hosted at Oxford University for emerging research and perspectives on Burma/Myanmar. Monday, December 5th, 2016 (1:42 pm) - Score 556 Some 20 homes in the sparse community of Raydale, which sits inside of the remote Yorkshire Dales National Park (England), have been connected to a new community wireless (WiFi) broadband network that can deliver connection speeds of up to 40-60Mbps. The Raydale Community Broadband project, which is supported by the local Yoredale Computer Services company and a grant of 5,000 from the National Parks Sustainable Development Fund (SDF), effectively replaces the areas existing reliance on a restrictive Satellite based solution. By contrast the new fixed wireless network is being supplied with capacity from nearby fibre optic cables, which have only recently been installed around some of the regions larger communities. Chris Clark, the Yorkshire Dales Champion for Sustainable Development, said (here): Part of our shared vision for the National Park is that it should be home to strong, self-reliant and balanced communities with good access to the services they need. Access to good quality broadband is critical to that and is a real challenge for small, remote communities that have been overlooked in the national roll-out so far. The working farms and variety of other businesses and families with children at local schools, who are all benefiting from the new broadband system in Raydale, are the lifeblood of our rural communities. Grants from the SDF have also been used to support a number of B4RNs ultrafast rural Fibre-to-the-Premise (FTTP/H) based broadband deployments, such as in locations like Ireby (5,000), Chapel-le-Dale (9,950), Dent and Garsdale (11,300) and Casterton (9,950), with Masongill, Barbon and Middleton also being set to benefit in the future. Its worth pointing out that the National Park Management Plan includes an objective that aims to provide access to high quality broadband (>10Mbps) across the whole National Park by 2019, and further increase access to superfast broadband. By June 2017, around 86% of the National Park should have access to superfast (24Mbps+) speeds via the joint Openreach (BT) and Government backed Broadband Delivery UK programme. ISPreview.co.uk has also found some additional details for the project in Raydale, which suggests that the total cost of installation will reach 16,444 and the network should be able to handle a maximum of 65 premises, with top download speeds reaching up to 60Mbps. Title: What an Absolute Joke. Time With Provider: Package Name: So I live in a built up area (Canterbury). By no means a remote area in the countryside where you'd expect the internet to be poor. I'm a student who moved into this house in September. I found out that the previous student tenants left without handing over the account details over to the landlord so we didn't have access to the account details or cancelling the contract.So i move in and begin to notice that the internet speeds are absolutely abysmal. Highest of 4.8mbps download on Speedtest.net and fairly frequently going as low as 0.5mbps. So i check what Sky are offering in the area and discover they advertise my postcode as up to 17mbps. Being frustrated and busy with 3rd year uni work, i quickly tweet to shame sky on what a joke their ISP is.2 Days later i receive replies from Sky asking to private message them on twitter. From here i begin explaining the situation with the account details and speeds. They ask me to check what speeds i'm receiving and i tell them 4.5mbps and get told "yeah that sounds about right". When i voice my outrage at this I find someone else has picked up my issue on twitter and asks for my account details, so i have to explain YET AGAIN I haven't got the details along with pretty much my entire situation all over again because "Jason" clearly didn't bother reading the messages before.Finally i managed to get Jason to refer me to speak to Sky experts on their website however every single time i have checked, they've been busy and we don't have a phone to call them and i have a cheap phone contract that doesn't give me a great deal of minutes to sit on a phone on hold for long periods of time without wracking up a large phone bill.So not only is the actually service an absolute joke and terrible in terms of speeds being about on par with dial up internet but the general customer service i've received was lazy and poor.Don't use Sky. They terrible. In many ways and as soon as i can get hold of their crappy sky "experts" i will be cancelling my contract and hopefully receiving some form of refund for the just awful service we've had. Major: Communication Hometown: Brazil, IN Student Media Involvement: Syc Creations Favorite Food: Burgers with everything but mustard Fun Fact: He really loves superhero movies, and wants to make his own someday 5 Essential Skills for the IT Leader Here are some millennial factoids you may find surprising: Only one in five millennials ranks leadership as a top career goal; they value IT, technical, and interpersonal skills over managerial skills; and millennial men are more likely than millennial women to aspire to fill leadership positions. Those are some of the key findings of global research recently conducted by ManpowerGroup, a human resource consulting firm based in Milwaukee. In an email interview with Chris Layden, managing director of Experis, a division of ManpowerGroup that focuses on recruitment and talent development in the IT, finance and engineering sectors, I was able to drill down on some of the findings. Layden began by elaborating on the finding that so few millennials rank leadership as a top goal: For many companies, as the baby boomers approach retirement, theyre keen to put training processes in place to elevate millennial managers and prepare them for the leadership roles of the future. But our research shows that millennial workers have different career aspirations, and being the boss is a low priority. Just 22 percent of millennials rank aspiring to leadership roles as a career goal. This figure includes: managing others (4 percent); getting to the top of an organization (6 percent); and owning their own company (12 percent). These activities ranked near the bottom of millennials list of career priorities in nearly every country surveyed, totalling less than one-third of respondents in all except India (34 percent) and Mexico (41 percent). Layden noted that the research challenged some of the conventional wisdom around what millennials tend to focus on in the workplace: Our research showed that millennials are far from the negative stereotypes theyre often inaccurately labelled with. In actual fact, they just have a different focus. Millennials are eager to learn skills, just not management skills. When asked what skills theyd most like to develop in the next year, 68 percent chose individual skills, including: IT and technology (20 percent); personal skills, teamwork, and communication (21 percent); and technical job skills (27 percent). Interestingly, our research showed only 32 percent of respondents chose managerial skills, including people management (13 percent) and leadership (19 percent). Skills are the new currency for millennials. Four out of five millennials would even change jobs for a role with the same pay and more skills training opportunities. Millennials expect immediate skills development and high-touch feedback; yet, worryingly, many millennials doubt their managers have the authority to follow through on promises made. I asked Layden to what he would attribute the finding that millennial men tend to aspire to leadership positions more than millennial women do. He offered this analysis: Our research showed that in 24 of the 25 countries surveyed, men consider reaching leadership roles managing others, getting to the top of an organization, and owning their own company to be a higher career priority than women do. The United States has the largest gender gap, with men ranking leadership activities 10 percent higher than women, while France is the only country where men and women aspire to leadership roles equally. There are a number of reasons for this. With an entrenched male culture, stereotyping, and unconscious bias, it is critical to break down barriers to achieve gender parity. This must be led by CEOs, especially males, to demonstrate commitment to helping women secure leadership positions. Established female leaders acknowledge familiar obstacles throughout their careers lack of role models, gendered career paths into support functions like HR and communications, and a lack of access to sponsors and an influential network. Changing culture so that performance and outcomes are recognized and rewarded is critical. On average, global leaders believe it will take 17 years to level the playing field and achieve gender equality in the workplace. Millennials believe they are the generation to make a difference, but theyre realistic about how long it will take. I asked Layden if there was anything in the findings to suggest that the expectations and aspirations of millennials in the IT industry are any different from those in other industries. His response: Our research showed an overwhelming majority of millennials are eager to learn new skills to stay ahead of the curve throughout their careers. When asked what skills theyd like to develop most in the next year, 68 percent chose individual skills. This included 20 percent of those who were keen to upskill themselves in the IT and technology field. As demand for IT grows across all industries, particularly manufacturing, millennials have a need and desire to adapt to industry changes, giving them the versatility and skillset to enable them to move from one industry to the next. As digitalization growth continues to surge ahead, millennials know they need to upskill regularly and adapt to succeed and meet the changing needs of the roles of the future. Layden went on to highlight whats driving the IT talent shortage: Our broader Talent Shortage Survey research, released in October, showed that IT has jumped seven places in the ranking of hard-to-fill roles those roles are now the second most difficult to fill globally. Unmet demand for IT workers is being felt more acutely in Asia-Pacific, where IT roles are the most difficult to fill for the first time in 11 years. The talent shortage is driven, in part, by changes to skills requirements, with employers increasingly needing more specialist skillsets, and with one in five reporting that applicants do not have the relevant experience required. Millennials are increasingly finding that they need to upskill and diversify into new areas. Skills adjacency, agility, and learnability having the desire and ability to learn new skills to become and stay employable throughout long career journeys will be crucial. A contributing writer on IT management and career topics with IT Business Edge since 2009, Don Tennant began his technology journalism career in 1990 in Hong Kong, where he served as editor of the Hong Kong edition of Computerworld. After returning to the U.S. in 2000, he became Editor in Chief of the U.S. edition of Computerworld, and later assumed the editorial directorship of Computerworld and InfoWorld. Don was presented with the 2007 Timothy White Award for Editorial Integrity by American Business Media, and he is a recipient of the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for editorial excellence in news coverage. Follow him on Twitter @dontennant. The Vivo V5 and Sony Xperia XZ are phones praised for its powerful cameras. However, people question which is better between the two. Before we compare the phones, let's first talk about its price, announcement date, and release date. Vivo V5 and Sony Xperia XZ On the left corner, known as the 'Current Number One Selfie Phone In The World' - Vivo V5, was first announced in November and released in the same month. The price tag is $261. And on the right, known as the 'Fast Shutter Wonder' - Sony Xperia XZ, was announced last September and released in October. Current price tags are Rs. 47,985 - 49,900 ($706 - $735). Time to talk about the specs and features: Network. Networks for the Vivo V5 are GSM, HSPA, and LTE. Networks for the Xperia XZ are GSM, HSPA and LTE. This round is a tie, Body. Body dimensions of the Vivo V5 are 153.8 x 75.5 x 7.6 mm and body weight is 154g. Body dimensions of the Xperia XZ are 146 x 72 x 8.1 mm and body weight is 161g. Personally, I like my phone close to 140-145g, making the winner of this round - the Vivo V5. Display. Display type of the Vivo V5 is IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, display size is 5.5 inches, and display resolution is 720 x 1280 pixels. Display type of the Xperia XZ is IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, display size is 5.2 inches, and display resolution is 1080 x 1920 pixels. I will give this round to the Vivo V5, because even though it is bigger and lighter, it has a larger screen. Platform. OS of the Vivo V5 is Android OS, v6.0 (Marshmallow), chipset is MediaTek, MT6750, CPU is 1.8 GHz Octa-core processor, and GPU is Mali T860. For the Xperia XZ, the OS is Android OS, v6.0.1 (Marshmallow), upgradable to v7.0 (Nougat), the chipset is Qualcomm MSM8996 Snapdragon 820, CPU is Quad-core (2x2.15 GHz Kryo & 2x1.6 GHz Kryo), and GPU is Adreno 530. This round goes to the Xperia XZ. Memory. Internal memory of the Vivo V5 is 32 GB and 4 GB RAM. The internal memory of the Xperia XZ is 32/64 GB and 3 GB RAM. This round goes to the Vivo V5, because of its higher RAM. Camera. Front camera of the Vivo V5 is 20 MP, the rear camera is 13 MP, and video is 1080p@30fps. Front camera of the Xperia XZ is 13 MP, back camera is 23 MP, and video is 2160p@30fps, 1080p@30fps, 1080p@60f. This round goes to the Xperia XZ because it has more options for the video and has a higher MP rate for its camera. Battery. Battery of the Vivo V5 is a non-removable Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery. Talk time, music play and standby time are unknown. As for the Xperia XZ, its battery is a non-removable Li-Ion 2900 mAh battery. Talk time is up to 11 hours and 40 minutes for 2G and 17 hours and 30 minutes for 3G. The music play and standby time is unknown. It is said that the Vivo V5's battery can perform quite well if used with two power-saving features and can charge from zero percent to full battery within 100 minutes using a fast charger, even though it hasn't had a fast charger feature. However, given that no official information has been announced for its battery specs performance and the Xperia also has no data about its stand-by time and music play, this round is a tie. Features. Sensory features of the Vivo V5 are a fingerprint, accelerometer, proximity, and compass. On the other hand, the sensory features of the Xperia XZ are Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, barometer, compass, and color spectrum. This round goes to the Xperia XZ because it has many sensory features compared to the Vivo V5. The Verdict The tally is Vivo V5 with 3 wins and the Sony Xperia XZ with 3 wins also, making it a tie. However, if we include the price, that gives the Vivo V5 with another win. In my opinion, I totally agree that the Vivo V5 is the better phone which is why it is labeled as the number one selfie phone in the world. Well, this is my preference of course. The final decision depends on you. National Health Service England lost a court battle a few months ago about about funding a trial for the drug "Prep". The organization insisted costs should be shouldered by local authorities, not them. Just recently, though, they finally agreed to fund the clinical three-year trial for Prep, which will start next year, and which will cost them about 10 million. AIDS Charities Said NHS' Decision Is 'Life-Changing' Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is described as a "game changer" by specialists, because it is said to reduce the risk of HIV infection by 90%. The retroviral drug, which has a brand name Truvada, will be given to about 10,000 gay men who have a high risk of getting HIV. Truvada costs about 400 a month per person. Aids charities applauded NHS' decision and said this trial will be "life changing". Deputy national medical director at NHS England, Dr Jonathan Fielden, said that the trial "in part, been made possible by the willingness of many pharmaceutical and device companies to come forward with lower and more responsible prices". Some People Are Not Happy With The Clinical Trial Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in the US, is concerned that the drug would increase the spread of HIV, given that it is not 100% effective. Another critic, Joyce Robins from Patient Concern, said that funding the trial might not be good move at a time when health services are struggling to cope with the demand. "It worries me to be spending money on this at a time when the NHS is so strapped for cash, with so many patients being refused treatment, and waiting lists getting longer," Robins said. Also opposing the trial are Christian charities. Christian organisation CARE spokesman, James Mildred, said: "If this drug is ultimately made available on the NHS we think there is a danger it will end up promoting promiscuity and more hedonistic, but risky lifestyles." A pair of mummified legs were unearthed in 1904 near the lavish tomb of Queen Nefertari of Egypt. Now, based on a string of tests conducted by archaeologists, experts suggest that the legs belong to the queen herself. Joann Fletcher from the University of York, and co-author of the study, said: "Having studied the woman, and having looked as so many images of her beautiful face, I think there is a sense of immense irony that physically this is what we have got. She has been reduced to knees. But because we don't give up - it's like: 'we have got the knees, well, let's do what we can with them.'" Queen Nefertari Was Famed For Her Beauty Nefertari is the royal spouse of Pharaoh Ramses II, who reigned from 1279 to 1213 B.C.E. Experts say she died around 1250 BC, and before her death, she was famed for her beauty. According to Fletcher, "[her] main role [was] to be the decorative bystander when Ramses was flexing his pharaonic muscles at public events, and she was there as the eye candy." The series of tests done to reveal the identity of the mummified legs include radiocarbon dating, paleopathology and genetics. "This has been the most exciting project to be part of, and a great privilege to be working alongside with some of the world's leading experts in this area," Fletcher said. Robbers Tore Nefertari's Tomb Into Pieces Nefertari's tomb is so lavish, it's no wonder that robbers found it a favorite looting spot. The Queen's mummy had been torn into pieces when experts found it. However, experts are positive the remains that they found belong to the queen. Egyptologist Michael Habicht of the University of Zurich in Switzerland said: "The most likely scenario is that the mummified knees truly belong to Queen Nefertari. We have the fact that the remains were found in her tomb, together with objects naming her alone and no one else." New York's State Department of Health announced on Thursday that chronic pain is a qualified condition for medical marijuana treatment under New York's Compassionate Care Law. The health department said that medical marijuana has been proven to help treat debilitating pain. Kassandra Frederique of the state director of the Drug Policy Alliance said: "I think patients in New York deserve to run a victory lap over this. I think it is fair to say that this could affect thousands of patients in New York." List Of Chronic Pains Include Cancer Medical marijuana advocates are very happy about New York's announcement. Alyssa Aguilera, Co-Executive Director of VOCAL-NY said: "Medical marijuana is a scientifically proven intervention for people who are suffering from chronic pain and we applaud New York State for added it as a qualifying condition to access medical marijuana. We hope to see additional improvements to the state's medical marijuana program, and eventually the full legalization of cannabis, so that no New Yorkers are criminalized for possessing and using the plant." New York State Department of Health lists these 10 illnesses under chronic pains which can be treated with medical marijuana soon: HIV infection or AIDS, Parkinson's disease, Cancer, Inflammatory bowel disease, Neuropathies, Huntington's disease, Multiple sclerosis, Spinal damage, Lou Gehrig's disease, Epilepsy. Thousands Of Patients Have Reported Benefits From Medical Marijuana The state of New York currently has a medical marijuana program which benefits tens of thousands of patients, and has about 750 doctors who are able to give medical marijuana prescription. Dr. Howard A. Zucker, Health Commissioner, said: After conducting a thorough review of the scientific literature, it became clear that there may be certain benefits in the use of medical marijuana by patients suffering from chronic pain. Medical marijuana is already helping thousands of patients across New York State, and adding chronic pain as a qualifying condition will help more patients and further strengthen the program." Theres no doubt that Apple is one of the most important tech companies in the history, not only because of its products greatness, but also because some innovation that has change the history. Although the company have such a reputation that no one should have a any kind of doubt when a new product is about to come, there has been predictions so wrong that no one has been able to forget it. Here are the most disastrous ones. Apple Would Probably Never Come Out With A Cell Phone The most interesting fact about Apple is that the company has always been characterized for its greatness, which is probably the best reputation that any enterprise could have once it's got some time in the market. However, just as it happens with those who are doing it pretty well, there are going to be many news and article write about it, and probably some of these will be predictions about some of the future products. Naturally, some of these could happen and some may not, but when theres a bold statement in the middle the bet gets raised to the point in which if the outcome doesn't turned fit to the prediction, everyone would remember the event and someone would write something about. As you might see, this is exactly what happened with the columnist David Pogue, who wrote in The New York Times back in 2006 that the Cupertino company would never come out with a cell phone. As everyone knows, Apple ended up developing the iPhone, which has become one of its greatest products ever, and probably the most popular smartphone on earth. Although Pogue failed miserably in his prediction, he later recognized the mistake and explained that the reason why he wrote that, was because he was sure that Apple would not give its veto power over its own software design. It Would Be Impossible For The iPhone To Get Any Significant Market Share If you thought that the previous case wouldn't have any competition, considering that Apple launched the iPhone, this another prediction was even worst, giving the fact that it was stated that there was not a change that this smartphone would get any relevant market share, or in other words, that this product wouldn't be more than just a boom. Before I get to the obvious paragraph in which Im gonna write about how the iPhone became a giant, let me say that whats even worse about this case is that the one who said it back in 2007 was Steve Ballmer, who at that moment were no more and no less than Microsofts CEO. Although he might have his reasons to make such a bold statement, many believed that it was just way to discredit the competition. Now, the part about iPhones greatness: lets just say that Steve Ballmer failed so wrong that this could even harm Microsofts image, considering that the iPhone became one of the Apples products with better market share, to the point in which the Cupertino company is now more known for making these smartphones than making computers. The Most Disastrous Prediction: Only The True Believers Will Buy Apples iMac When Steve Jobs was exiled from Apple, the company had a dark period in which things weren't precisely good, and its weakness was clearly represented in the way in which the press didnt doubt a second to express that Apples future was compromised without its main architect and co-founder. Once he came back as an interim CEO, there were still some media whos opinion about the company was skeptical, to the point in which The Boston Globe published on 1998 that the iMac wouldnt be the big deal and would only be sold to Apples true believers, which was another way of saying that it would be a total failure. What makes this opinion one of the most disastrous Apples predictions of all time, and at the same time a statement that was reasonable despite of its boldness, was the company was facing probably its worst moment, and even when there were elements that pointed that the iMac would fail, it turned out one of the best products in Apples history, and actually saved the tech giant from a very uncertain future, turning it from a failing company to a colossus overnight. Naturally, this has been the most disastrous prediction made about anything related to the Cupertino company. Okay, Apple now shows interest in joining the autonomous vehicle car-manufacturing scene. Consumers and auto enthusiasts can't help but question the decision. Questions such as "What took them so long when electric vehicles have been in development since 2002? Which is more than a decade ago." and "is this just a business move?" or "are they really into making the road a safer place for everyone?" are some that comes to mind. Let's take a look at what we know up to this point. Here's What We Know So Far Former employees of Apple Inc. gave revelations, as early as February 2015, that the company is making their move in investing billions of dollars to the development of smart cars, allegedly named 'Project Titan." Reports also came out about Apple buying the British car company McLaren, but were never confirmed. Dozens of employees were also fired to give way to the development of Project Titan. Steve Kenner, Apple's director of product integrity, submitted a five-page letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration telling their interest in autonomous car technology. "The company is investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation," Kenner wrote in the letter. They are also urging regulators to give equal treatment to manufacturers and not to impose too many restrictions. Apple mentioned that there are certain areas that need exclusive attention, such as software that decides or reacts in certain hazardous situations. Autonomous Cars Can Threaten The Employment Rate Worldwide Algorithms that will decide for the safety and mobility should be implicated, one that ensures the legality of the occupants and the automated vehicle, privacy and security of the design, and how autonomous cars can impact public spaces and employment. According to analysts, the development of autonomous cars can greatly affect the employment rate of people involved in the car industry. The smart cars can threaten the industry of public transportation and have a huge possibility of replacing trucks, taxis, and Uber drivers. Automotive shops will also be greatly affected as these cars may most likely have no need for vehicle repairs or repairs might be exclusive to their manufacturers. Apple spokesman, Tom Neumayr, said in an email statement "there are many potential applications for these technologies, including the future of transportation, so we want to work with the National Highway traffic Safety Administration to help define the best practices for the industry." A collaboration with the NHTSA will be a significant move towards the development of safe autonomous cars. This might be a game changer for Apple since there were no known reports of the other manufacturers working in collaboration with the NHTSA, other than submitting and complying with their regulations. Worst Move Or Best Move By Apple Everyone is curious on how Apple would fare in the autonomous vehicle race. Yes, it may be too late as other manufacturers have developed these types of vehicles way before Apple decided to do so. But the decision for Apple to wait it out could also be the best decision they have made as they have seen the flaws and can now work towards eliminating them and going more advanced with the self-driving car technology. In its aim to take Maps app to the next level, Apple turns to drones. Apple Drones According to Bloomberg, people familiar with the matter claim that Apple plans to use indoor navigation features and drones in order to improve its Maps service. This way, Apple hopes to catch its rival and longtime leader Google. According to Forbes, while Google is relying on annoying cars that are stalking your neighborhood, as Apple aims to up its game now there will be drones flying around for gathering maps data. The tech giant has plans to develop indoor mapping capabilities. The Cupertino-based company is assembling a team of data-collection and robotics experts that will use drones to faster gather and update map information. Currently, Apple Maps app is using company's existing fleet of camera-and-sensor minivans. Apple drones will fly around to track changes to the roads, examine street signs and monitor if areas are under construction. The data collected by aerial means would be then sent to Apple teams to rapidly update the Maps app in order to provide fresh information to users. The tech giant is also developing new features for its Maps application, including improvements to car navigation and views inside buildings. Apple Maps App Five years after Google launched its Maps app in the iPhone, Apple's introduced its own mapping app back in 2012. Apple's app first came with errors like an incorrect airport address and a grocery store marked as a hospital. The company lacked the technology needed to quickly capture data from many different sources in order to evaluate its digital maps. Since Apple launched its Maps applications, the company has improved its features by adding a mode for navigating public transit systems, more quickly updating data, opening the platform to outside services such as OpenTable restaurant reservation and Uber ride-hailing, as well as improving search results. The latest drone initiative is unlikely to be related to a commercial Apple drone product and comes only as a continuation of the company's effort to improve its Maps app. Is Microsoft joining the AI fray? Things seem to be pointing in that direction after rumors saying the software company is set to add a Home Hub feature to Windows 10 has surfaced recently. Microsoft is not making an Amazon Echo-esque device as many believed. Those over at Windows Central have gathered information that the Home Hub is a software feature in Windows 10 that will make shared computers "more communal". Home Hub is also designed to bring the connected home to Windows. Before, a shared PC requires individual users to switch to their account before using it. Anyone can also use the shared PC through the guest account. With the Home Hub, all these will be a thing of the past. Home Hub provides a 'family account' which allows the PC to be unlocked without entering a password. The users can access everything that has been shared by the members of the family such as to-do lists, shopping lists, calendars, etc. Each user will still have his or her account but will now have access to all data that other users in the shared network want to share. The Home Hub has been in development even before Redstone 1 was released. Some features of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update were actually made with Home Hub in mind. Cortana, for example, is accessible from the lock screen. Cortana will play a vital role in Home Hub as it will have access to the shared and individual accounts. Users of AI devices such as Google Home often lament about being limited to just one account. Microsoft's Home Hub solves that problem. Microsoft is only one of handful tech companies that have yet to release a voice-controlled smart speaker. Amazon already has the Echo with its AI named Alexa. Google has been at it for quite some time with Google Home. Apple has its own digital assistant in Siri but the company has yet to develop a smart speaker. Samsung is reportedly developing its voice-assisted AIs which will possibly be named Bixby and Kestra. The company guilty of manufacturing smartphones that violated its users' privacy has vowed to replace the offending software with a Google-approved one. News of the security breach surfaced in mid-November after security firm Kryptowire determined that the budget Android phones were sending personal data from the user's phone to a company in China. The devices supposedly sent data every 72 hours. It still isn't clear what the Chinese company did with the data it has gathered or what it needed them for in the first place. The company has claimed the data were mined for advertising purposes but not a few thinks the breach is a way for the Chinese government to gather intelligence. Several of Blu's handsets were discovered to contain the software responsible for the breach. These are the R1 HD, Energy X Plus 2, Studio Touch, Advance 4.0 L2, Neo XL, and the Energy Diamond. The third party app was installed on these six phones which have sold around 120,000 units in the United States. Blu is actually an American company founded in 2011 and based in Florida but it has a majority of its phones manufactured in China. Not only was the hardware made in China, the app that caused the invasion of privacy was also from China. Blu insists that it was not behind the breach stating it has proof that the Chinese company "violated [their] request" not to include that functionality in the Blu phones. Shangai Adups Technology Co. the company that wrote the firmware-updating app claims that the software was not meant for U.S. consumers or on phones sold in the country. It was supposed to be used only for phones made for a particular Chinese manufacturer for the purpose of monitoring the said company's users. The issue has been a big blow for Blu which depends on online retailers for a majority of its sales. Amazon has prevented the R1 HD from being sold through its site, according to The Verge. The app has since been self-updated so that the breach of security will no longer occur. Blu has also promised that the software will be replaced with a Google-approved one which it has been doing with its previous devices for a few years now. The company has also signed a contract with Kryptowire allowing the security firm to check all its upcoming phones. For the past few years, the Amazon Echo has reigned on top as the popular choice for smart speakers. It came with certain features and skills that helped everyday families in their everyday tasks. However, newcomers such as Google Home have threatened this hierarchy and the veteran is not taking it sitting down. The Echo is reportedly getting an update that will beef up the device with more than a hundred new features. As Back Channel notes, in the tech industry, there are definitely players that stick out more than the rest - such as Facebook, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. Nevertheless, it seems to be the less vocal in the group that has consistently shipped its products to eager customers. However, the online retailer is no longer all about keeping its silence. Quite to the contrary, Amazon's head scientist and vice president of Alexa, Rohit Prasad, has begun to be very vocal about the company's plans. More specifically, he has been speaking about voice recognition technology, as well as language understanding. One of his most recent public appearances, which was at the Amazon Web Services conference in Las Vegas, encompassed a long list of topics. "We're excited about where things are. We did several device launches and also expanded internationally. And we've made huge progress in teaching Alexa to better understand you, both in terms of the surface area Alexa covers, as well as accuracy within search material," Prasad told the publication. "For instance, think about music as a domain: We have new capabilities [for] you [to be] able to search for or play a song, based on its lyrics. And lastly is the speed at which third-party skills are being built. Earlier this year we had only a few hundred, and now we are in the 5,000 range." Prasad also discussed the company's ongoing Alexa Prize competition, which was announced in September. The challenge is meant to "create a social bot that can carry on a meaningful, coherent and engaging conversation for 20 minutes." The executive explained that Amazon wanted Alexa -- and the Amazon Echo -- to only ask important and pressing questions, as opposed to needless ones that might be frustrating. Alexa would, theoretically, speak with its owner about things such that cover trending topics, as well as scientific inventions. The idea really is to make gadgets such as the Amazon Echo more relevant to and more natural within a home. Fortunately, the company has reportedly received plenty of applications. Conversation is one of the items that C|Net gave to Google Home as opposed to the Amazon Echo. The publication reasoned that because of Google Assistant, the newcomer was able to converse with users. For example, the user could ask "Who stars as Steve Rogers in 'Captain America?" After the Echo provides an answer, the user could continue the conversation by asking, "What other movies does he star in?" Furthermore, Amazon also working on including hundreds of "built-in intent" and "slot types." These, as Prasad explained, are general commands that will be exposed to the developer. This will work more efficiently than having developers do it themselves. Once these slot types are rolled out, more applications will be compatible with commands such as "Stop" or "Cancel." Robot and smart computers like R2-D2, the Bicentennial Man, and Wall-E have long been the subject of many a film through the years. Today, mankind is closer to having emotionally intelligent robots such as them become reality. Computers have gone a long way from being the clunky piece of hardware that crunches out numbers and pieces of data. Nowadays, we have smart computers that talk, understand and respond. Siri, Alexa, and Google Home certainly come to mind. Some geniuses have even utilized these smart computers to create smart robots. While these robots are 'smart' enough to converse and think, any believe that they lack the feelings to be truly human-like. Some will argue with this statement. There is proof that robots exhibit emotional intelligence or EQ. Tech Crunch thinks it is the "lack of emotion in computing systems that places them in such a good position to be emotionally intelligent". This is because, they argue, that human beings are easily fooled by lies, unable to read others well, and lack emotional signals. Here are a few emotional traits that computers and robots now or will have in the near future. 1. Leadership or Management Ability JP Morgan, Bank of America and some other major banks are using or will use systems developed by tech companies such as Humanize that monitor the emotions of their employees. The behavioral data gathered will be used by managers to aid their workers. 2. Self-Driving Elon Musk's Tesla has already released self-driving cars and is scheduled to release a new model soon. Even if the self-driving Tesla has had at least a couple of reported incidents, other companies such as Apple, reportedly, are still planning to make their own autonomous vehicles. These vehicles already know how to follow road rules and are generally safe and considerate drivers. One startup, BRAIQ, is working on teaching these vehicles to determine the passengers' comfort and to adjust accordingly. Another startup, Drive.ai, will allow cars to use lights, sounds, and movement to signify their intentions to humans. 3. Customer Experience Call center agents will know how their clients actually feel with the help of an AI developed by Cogito. The AI will analyze speaking patterns and other details that will aid the agents with their jobs. 4. Law Enforcement Robots will soon enforce the law as lawyers and investigators. A student from Stanford University has already developed a robot that can interact with clients. The robot was able to provide legal advice and was even able to generate custom appeals. Another AI, this time made by Nuralogix, has developed a way to read a person if he or she is lying using Transdermal Optical Imaging and machine learning. This tech will be useful during police investigations particularly when suspects are being interrogated. Honda's Civic and Accord are considered to be the top picks in the automaker's lineup in terms of sales and it has been this way for quite a long time. But as they say, all good things must come to an end. Things are about to change as the 2017 CR-V stands on equal footing as Civic and Accord. The Rise Of The CR-V The demand for SUVs and crossovers is presently at the highest. Thanks to gas prices being at an all-time low and easier process of getting loans as reported by Automotive News, this trend will apparently go on for some time. It was mentioned that since the CR-V made its way to the U.S. market in 1997, it has consistently been among the best sellers in the crossover segment. Clearly, the 2017 Honda CR-V has earned the right to stand at the top with the brand's best vehicles. What The 2017 CR-V Offers The 2017 Honda CR-V has a lot going on from the interior to its engine. It was reported by Car Scoops that the 2017 Honda CR-V will now be making use of a 1.5-liter four-cylinder turbocharged engine that is also found in the Civic to give it a powerful 190 horsepower. This is paired with a standard front wheel drive (FWD) drivetrain but an all-wheel drive (AWD) option will also be available. Compared to the previous models, the Honda 2017 CR-V has a cabin that has been redesigned and packed with the latest in technology such as the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto along driver assist and safety features. Standing As Equals, Not Superior While the 2017 CR-V stands on equal footing as Civic and Accord, it is not set to take over the lead role in terms of sales. "I don't think there was ever a mindset during the development process that this was so big that it could take over the role as the sales leader for the division on a long-term basis," said Jeff Conrad, general manager of Honda. LAS VEGAS (AP) Tears well up in the eyes of lifelong Tonopah resident Acacia Hathaway as she talks about last years closure of Nye Regional Medical Center, the only hospital within 100 miles of her home. It was .... like the end of the world here, says the 24-year-old mother of three, including a daughter who suffers from Goltz syndrome, a rare illness that requires frequent care from medical specialists. Now, instead of visiting the local hospital when 4-year-old Ella suffers one of her seemingly inevitable infections, Hathaway or her husband, Justin, drive to Las Vegas three hours each way. Thats in addition to twice-monthly trips for regular appointments with her doctors all eight of them. The inconvenience and expense are challenging, but the young mom agonizes most about what would happen if Ella suffered a medical emergency, reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal. If that one thing happens and she does not wake up for some reason, then its on me because theres no hospital, she said. The dearth of hospitals is just one of the issues threatening the well-being of the roughly 300,000 Nevadans who, like the Hathaways, live in small towns like Tonopah and other rural communities. A shortage of medical professionals, an increasingly strained emergency care network and escalating costs of health care are threatening to turn them into health-care have-nots who pay a steep price for their rural lifestyle. Kamin VanGuilder, a 48-year-old primary care doctor in Lovelock, says its vital that the state support its rural health facilities and their patients, who are slowly becoming isolated from care. Some of the sickest people are the ones with the least resources, she said. Its our responsibility to try to help. The problem is not limited to Nevada. Across the nation, residents of rural areas are experiencing health-outcome disparities, including higher incidence of disease and disability, increased mortality rates, lower life expectancies and higher rates of pain and suffering, according to the Rural Health Information Hub. A PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGE Rural residents are themselves a public health challenge, as they are generally older, more isolated and less likely to be covered by insurance than their urban counterparts. Theyre also more likely to smoke, suffer from obesity and hypertension and die from complications of diabetes. But preventive care that could head off medical emergencies is hard to come by in many areas. Nevadas rural and frontier countiesa term used for the states most-remote and sparsely populated regionsand reservations face severe shortages not just of doctors and primary care services, but also nurses, EMTs, dentists and substance abuse and mental health professionals. And in some areas, the numbers are dwindling, despite efforts to reverse the trend. When residents do get seriously ill, the lack of local emergency care can trigger a quickly escalating response that exponentially increases the cost of care, particularly when air ambulances or long hauls in emergency vehicles are involved. Sometimes patients need to be rushed across state lines to reach the nearest hospital, which requires transfer from one ambulance service to another when they reach the border. The bills for those life-or-death trips are often passed on to the government and taxpayers. Federal and state officials are well aware of the problem and are working to address it, but theyre trying to lock onto a moving target. Nevadas 14 rural and frontier counties, which account for roughly 87 percent of its 110,567 square-mile territory, are home to just over 10 percent of the states population. Eleven of the counties are expected to add to their populations over the next decade, resulting in overall growth of 7 percent, according to 2015 data from Nevadas State Office of Rural Health. That means roughly 20,000 more residents could find themselves in a situation like Roger Hoopers. Hooper, a former processing operator for a mining company who lives nearly 60 miles from Tonopah in the Big Smoky Valley, suffered a work-related brain injury in 2003. Now he catches a rides in a van operated by the Tonopah senior center at least twice a year to meet with his neurologist and primary care physician in Renonearly 350 miles away. Surrounded by friends recently at the senior center, the 51-year-old, who lives alone, says hes lived in the area all his life and doesnt plan to leave unless hes forced to by his health. The lack of health care options is worrisome, especially as he gets older, he acknowledges. If you have any kind of emergency, he says, theres no place to go. Hoopers attitude is a common one in rural Nevada. Many residents cherish the freedoms and solitude of desert living, even if it means being a long way from health care, and have no intention of leaving. Others simply cant afford to move closer to care. CARE GAP WIDENS Despite efforts to narrow the care gap, it continues to widen. The number of medical doctors per capita declined by nearly 10 percent in Nevadas rural and frontier areas between 2004 and 2014, even as it was growing 15 percent overall in the state. And that in a state with an overall shortage of health-care providers. Those problems are aggravated in rural areas that have always struggled to recruit and retain or keep those types of professionals in their facilities and their communities, says John Packham, director of health policy research in the states rural health office. The loss of even one or two rural health-care providers can throw off the balance in an entire rural county, he added. The state and medical schools have ramped up efforts to recruit new graduates to practice in rural areas, but with limited success. Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals are often reluctant to do business in a small town, fearing limited opportunities for socialization and profit, said Jessica Thompson, director of group practice operations at the Renown Health telemedicine clinic that opened in June in Tonopah. Organizations like the Southern Nevada Health District are among those trying to boost physician and nursing recruitment in outlying areas. Insurance companies and nonprofits are also creating mobile health clinics like mammogram vans that can travel the state to provide care. Despite such efforts, the shortage of medical professionals is so serious in the Esmeralda County town of Goldfield that 32-year-old Danie Johnson and her 55-year-old mom, DeEtta Sligar, run a volunteer ambulance service for the towns roughly 300 residents. With no medical clinic in town and the nearest hospital more than 110 miles away in Bishop, California, Johnson, Sligar, two other EMTs and four drivers spend hours at a time ferrying ill residents across the border. They receive $132,058 a year from the county to keep their ambulance and an old backup running. Since last years closure of the Tonopah hospital, which was 27 miles away, average transport times have gone from about one or two hours to roughly five to seven hours. Johnson says she doesnt mind the extra hours she spends driving across the desert, but is uncertain what would happen if the town faced a major emergency. Its something you dont want to think about, she says. The financial struggles of rural hospitals like Tonopahs have proven hard to remedy. From January 2010 to September 2016, 78 rural hospitals in the U.S. were closed, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The economic recession of 2008, population trends and decreases in the demand for inpatient services all have contributed to the struggles of rural facilities, they concluded. SPECIAL CHALLENGES Packham of Nevadas rural health office says health-care facilities in less-populated areas also face challenges that their urban counterparts dont have to deal with, including recruitment, technology gaps and difficulties providing training for staff. Special circumstances played a role in the demise of the Nye Regional Medical Center in Tonopah. Before its closure, the hospital weathered accusations of financial mismanagement by a former CEO, high staff turnover and an avalanche of bills for uninsured patients that were either unpaid or inadequately reimbursed. There were multiple efforts to save the hospital including $2.5 million in county loans and new court-appointed leadership but they were too late to stop the slide. It finally closed in August 2015, followed by the adjacent outpatient clinic a few weeks later. We are out of options, time and funding, then-CEO Wayne Allen wrote in a statement at the time. The closure spurred U.S. Rep. Cresent Hardy, R-Nev., and others to introduce legislation in April to incentivize the creation of new hospitals in rural areas and require the federal government to report on the status of rural health systems, which it hasnt done in over a decade. The bill has been referred to a House subcommittee. With the economics of running a rural hospital unlikely to change soon, many health-care experts are pinning their hopes of delivering quality care to rural patients on telemedicine services that can connect them to doctors and nurses in urban areas. But that creates new issues, as rural clinics must find ways to fund telemedicine systems and often lack ready access to the technical expertise necessary to keep online or video conferencing equipment up and running. YOU CAN WORK WITH A DOCTOR And some rural patients arent too keen on the idea of consulting with a doctor from afar. You can work with a doctor, said 69-year-old Kristin Hougard, who suffers from partial paralysis and fondly recalls collaborating with a doctor at the Tonopah hospital to manage her pain and set a course for treatment. You cant work with a doctor on a TV screen. Like many of the desert-loving residents in Goldfield, Hougard said shes considered moving but isnt willing to trade her trailer on a small plot of land decorated with desert souvenirs for improved access to health care. This is security, she said, gesturing around her trailer. This is mine. They cant kick me off it. They cant make me move. But other rural residents like the Hathaways say the price of health in a small town like Tonopah has gotten too steep, particularly for a family with a chronically ill daughter. When Ella developed a painful abscess in her tooth on Memorial Day, for instance, her parents rushed her to Las Vegas because there were no dentists available nearby. Emergencies like that hit the family budget two ways, said Acacia Hathaway. My husband had to take off work to run my daughter to Vegas and beg the doctor (to see her), she said. With finances already stretched by her daughters health-care needs, Hathaway says she and her husband are ready to break the cycleif only they could. If I had the money, she says grimly, I would leave. Subaru has already shown how much it cares for its customers by packing its vehicles with great safety features. Apparently, the safety of its patrons is not the automaker's only concern as it also cares much about the environment. The 2017 Subaru Impreza demonstrates the brand's care for the environment in ways most people would least expect. Subaru's Way Of Environmental Protection According to report from Torque News, protecting the environment is nothing new to Subaru. In fact, the automaker has a zero landfill operation in its U.S. based plant that helps to reduce damages made to the environment. This U.S. based plant is also where the 2017 Subaru Impreza is rolling out from. In addition, the automaker also makes use of waste oil from scheduled maintenance oil changes as a source of heat for greenhouses along with old tires that are converted into road-paving materials. Engine Specs Car and Driver reported that the 2017 Subaru Impreza is equipped with a 2.0-liter Flat-4 engine capable of 152 horsepower and 145 pound feet of torque. This is paired with a five-speed manual transmission that sends power to its all-wheel drive (AWD) drivetrain. The manual transmission however, will only be available on the lower trims as the higher ones, Premium and Sport in particular, will have continuously variable transmission (CVT). Safety Features The safety features are the highlight for the 2017 Subaru Impreza. The Subaru EyeSight is a standard package that aims to have zero fatal accidents with its pedestrian protection airbag. The Safety package also includes automated emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning, blind-spot warning and cross-traffic alert as reported. Fuel Efficiency It was reported that the 2017 Subaru Impreza has an approximate fuel tank capacity of 13.2 gallons. The fuel economy rate stands at 25/34/28 in the city, highway and combined respectively. Accordingly, the direct fuel injection system has been revamped to promote lessen the consumption of fuel while increasing the output in mileage. Environmental Care The 2017 Subaru Impreza demonstrates that brand's care for the environment in more ways than one. Its zero landfill operation, safety and increased fuel efficiency are only some of its ways in environmental protection. Apparently, the brand's zero landfill plant in the U.S. is a National Wildlife Federation designated Backyard Wildlife Habitat. With that being said, not only does Subaru care for the safety of the environment of the customers but also for the ecosystem as well. Alfa Romeo is known for quality and powerful vehicles and its return to the North American shores is one that many fans and enthusiasts have been yearning for. Following the 2016 LA Auto Show where some of its vehicles made their debut, Alfa Romeo is finally coming back to the U.S auto market and one of its return presents is the 2017 Giulia Quadrifoglio. Here are the specs, features, price and details for interested buyers. 2017 Giulia Quadrifoglio - Engine Specs Car and Driver reported that the 2017 Guilia Quadrifoglio is equipped with a 2.9-liter twin turbocharged v6 engine that has enough power to put out 505 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque. Accordingly, the 2017 Giulia Quadrifoglio is paired with a rear wheel drive (RWD) drivetrain with a six-speed manual transmission and an option for an eight-speed automatic gearbox. It was mentioned that the manual transmission will make its way to the U.S market first while the latter follows after some time. 2017 Giulia Quadrifoglio - Features According to report from ABC7, the 2017 Giulia Quadrifoglio looks a little bit like the BMW 3 on its sides but that is where the similarities end as the rest comes in style that can only be found in Alfa Romeo vehicles. Safety features include Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Anti-lock Brake System (ABS), all-speed traction control system with hill start assist, lane departure warning, full-speed forward collision warning and adaptive cruise control. 2017 Giulia Quadrifoglio - Price And Availability The 2017 Giulia Quadrifoglio's official price has not yet been revealed but it was reported that it will have an estimated base price of $70,000. According to Market Watch, the 2017 Giulia Quadrifoglio is expected to hit the U.S market in the first quarter of the following year. It Will Be An Exciting 2017 Given the return of Alfa Romeo in the U.S market, auto fans and enthusiasts have a lot to look forward to next year. And with the 2017 Giulia Quadrifoglio making its market entrance in the first quarter of the following year, it will surely be an exciting 2017. Big changes are expected in national policy when Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017. From healthcare and climate change to tariffs and international trade, Trump has promised to do things that will help to make America great again. But what will this mean for IBM, one of the most American of success stories, and specifically its Rochester, Minnesota, plant, home of the IBM i server? During his historic presidential campaign, Trump insisted that middle-class Americans were getting the short end of the economic stick, and that he would find a way to turn it around. His narrativethat the passage of NAFTA at the end of the Clinton Administration two decades earlier had set off a debilitating episode of outsourcing of good-paying American jobs to Mexico, China, India, and other countriesfound a receptive audience in the Rust Belt states of the Midwest that largely got him elected. . . . [O]ur country and our trade and our deals and most importantly our jobs are going to hell, candidate Trump said in a presidential primary debate this spring, during which he proposed charging a 45 percent tariff on all imported Chinese goods as a way to get China to follow the rules and regulations, and to stop manipulating its currency to the detriment of American workers and consumers. Our politicians have aggressively pursued a policy of globalization, moving our jobs, our wealth, and our factories to Mexico and overseas, Trump said during a campaign speech in June near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Globalization has made the financial elite who donate to politicians very wealthy. But it has left millions of our workers with nothing but poverty and heartache. Donald Trump campaigned to impose tariffs on imported goods as a way to strengthen American manufacturing. (Copyright: Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons.) Trump proposed a 35 percent tariff on all goods imported from Mexico as a way to address the NAFTA-induced trade imbalances and to discourage American companies from relocating factories south of the border. His tough talk targeted specific companies, including Ford Motor Company and the heating and air conditioner maker Carrier, both of which were considering moving production from American factories to Mexico, and taking large numbers of manufacturing jobs with them. And dont forget that Trump took a swipe directly at IBM just two days before the November 8 election. During a campaign stop in Minneapolis, Trump alluded to lost American jobs at the hands of Big Blue executives concerned more with the bottom line than the well-being of its workers. IBM laid off 500 workers in Minneapolis and moved their jobs to India and various other countries, Trump said. Like many things that Trump has said, this is only partially correct. While its true that IBM has moved many jobs overseas, theres no record of IBM ever eliminating 500 jobs in the states biggest city and shipping them to India. But if you look about 70 miles south of Minneapolisto the city Rochester, home of the IBM laboratory where the legendary IBM midrange platform was conceived and largely builtyou can easily find 500 IBM jobs that were lost. In fact, you can find a whole lot more. Its very possible that Trump mistakenly confused the lost IBM jobs in Minneapolis for the many jobs that IBM killed in Rochester, the ancestral home of the AS/400 and the System3/X line that preceded it. Back in 2013, it became known that IBM was shutting down all remaining server manufacturing in Rochester and moving it to its existing plant in Guadalajara, Mexico. IBM no longer manufactures Power Systems servers at its sprawling facility in Rochester, Minnesota, which employs just one-third of the number of people as it did at its peak in the early 1990s. While IBM continues to do research and development work in Rochester and employs management and technical support personnel there, the storied facilitywhich was built in 1969 and employed about 8,100 people at its peak in 1990no longer is the place where IBM i servers are assembled. While some supercomputers are still assembled in Rochester, all Power Systems destined for customers in the Americas are now assembled in the IBM plant down in Mexico. Other IBM plants in Singapore and Shenzen, China, build Power servers intended for the European and Asian markets. Other American manufacturers capitulated to Trumps tough trade talk and tariff threats following the election. Ford decided against moving production of its Lincoln MKX car from Kentucky to a factory in Mexico after all, and Carrier, which is owned by defense contractor United Holdings, decided not to close its Indianapolis factory and send about 2,000 jobs to the Carrier plant in Monterrey. Instead, it will only send an additional 1,000 jobs there. Is IBM next? Will the Trump administration follow through on its threats and actually take steps to impose a 35 percent tariff on Mexican imports? And if it does that, how would that impact the Power Systems servers that are built in Mexico? Would American companies buying IBM hardware be forced to accept such a hefty price increase? And would the pain be enough to convince IBM to bring Power Systems manufacturing back to the United States? Nobody knows the answers to these questions. While the prospect of President Trump starting a trade war with Mexico and China is a real possibility, its unclear how that would impact high-value, high-tech goods like servers and storage array. IBM is already supposed to adhere to some Made in America provisions in contracts, so there may be legal methods around tariffs, perhaps by doing final configuration work on American soil. While it is based in New York, IBM has always been a global company (hence the big I in the name). It doesnt seem likely that IBM would embark upon a major re-shoring of lost American manufacturing jobs, given the investments it has made to establish major factories in India, China, and Mexico. IBM has been relentless about cutting cost, and you, dear IT Jungle reader, are a beneficiary of that, whether you like it or not. IBM CEO Ginny Rometty offered no sign that IBM would back down from its sometimes controversial employment practices in the open letter to President-Elect Trump that Rometty wrote three weeks ago. Instead, Rometty used the letter as an opportunity to back Trumps ideas around creating jobs for people who lack four-year college degrees. Specifically, she touted IBM efforts to expand vocational training at six-year high school programs, and training the next generation of new collar workers. Lets work together to scale up this approach of vocational training, creating a national corps of skilled workers trained to take the new collar IT jobs that are in demand here in America, Rometty wrote. . . . [W]e are creating and hiring to fill new collar jobsentirely new roles in areas such as cybersecurity, data science, artificial intelligence, and cognitive business. IBM CEO Ginni Rometty didnt specifically mention IBM manufacturing jobs in her November 15 open letter to President-Elect Donald Trump, who criticized the company for outsourcing jobs to India. To be sure, Trump was thrust into office largely on the storyline of the great American manufacturing segment being decimated at the hands of greedy corporate owners in cahoots with corrupt politicians intent on plundering middle class wealth. The sight of hundreds of empty factories stretching from Pennsylvania to Minnesota, and the angry cries of millions of out-of-work factory workers, was enough to flip the election in Trumps favor. It doesnt really matter that this storyline has major holes in it. For example, automation likely had as much to do with the lost American factory jobs as country-to-country wage differentials did. But that didnt stop Trump from changing his rallying cry, and it didnt stop his voters from listening. Dont expect to read tweets from Trump in the coming days about how he convinced Rometty to stop outsourcing IBM programming jobs to India, to give up on H1-B visas, or to re-shore the Power Systems manufacturing that is now taking place in Jalisco state. For one thing, the Minnesota nice hamlet of Rochester, which is routinely voted one of the best places to live in this country, is a far cry from the dilapidated, lead-poisoned mess that is Detroit. And anyway, Minnesota voted for Clinton. Besides, there are thorny logistical problems with the idea of reshoring. With only about 2,500 workers left in Rochester, IBM did the practical thing this spring, and decided to sell two-thirds of the two-million-square-foot facility, rather than leave it vacant. The cows have already left the barn, and theyre not coming back. RELATED STORIES IBM To Sell Off Two-Thirds Of The Rochester Labs Server Manufacturing Moved Out Of Rochester, Minnesota If all you ever do is all youve ever done, then all youll ever get is all you ever got. Some people do more with what theyve got. Some businesses do more with what theyve got. Ake Olsson is a do more guy and the energy he puts into IBM i modernization projects has resulted in multiple successes. He loves to learn and travels great distances to do that . . . and to change. Olsson is a guy who invests in staying current with technology and helping others do the same. He believes in creating new opportunities and encouraging innovation. Hes open to learning new things and then passing on what he knows to others who can benefit. Knowing what you now know about Olsson, it should come as no surprise that hes become somewhat of an expert in IBM i modernization. Thats actually quite an understatement; however, I sense hes an understated guy. His list of credits is not understated though. Its impressive. Hes written a book titled Not Your Grandfathers AS/400, but unfortunately for most of us its written in his native language, which is Swedish. Hes also written magazine articles on the topic of modernization and has been invited to speak at IBM i conferences. Better yet, he is the owner of a consulting company that has helped IBM i-based companies modernize their IT environments. Ake Olson with DB2 for i subject matter expert Tom McKinley during the RPG & DB2 Summit in October 2015. Modernization begins with awareness and investment and both benefit from education. Olsson gives a great deal of credit to the lessons hes learned and the people hes met while attending six RPG & DB2 Summits. Hes planning on attending again in March when the next Summit is held in Orlando, Florida. Olssons introduction to modernization products came at the Summit. He met and talked with several of the vendors, arranging for trial downloads of their tools. I did sort of a skunkworks thing with demo licenses and testing, Olsson told me during a Skype call last week. I also wrote a couple of articles on the testing I did with the modernization products. This process gave me a lot of confidence and that led to a proposal for a big client. The proposal led to a proof of concept that modernized one part of the clients application. Based on the proof of concept, we estimated the time it would take to complete the entire modernization project. The modernization began with a DDS to DDL database conversion. The conversion process was automated, but Olsson warns others who do this conversion to test the code to verify it still works as originally intended. The RPG code, described by Olsson as written in every conceivable RPG style since 1985, was converted to free format. That was a challenge, he says, because some of the code was ugly stuff. We used the ARCAD converter tool (Transformer) to do the DDS to DDL and RPG conversions. One of the specifics from the customer was to make the new RPG code understandable to a Java programmer who knew nothing about RPG. Olsson says that was successfully accomplished. After the database modernization was completed, the green-screen to Web-based user interface conversion was done using Profound Logics Profound UI development tools. Keep in mind, the only experience Olsson had in this type of work was in the skunkworks testing he set up to learn the modernization products. At the Summit, I learned about embedding SQL into RPG programs, Olsson says. That led to a change in the development standards that we keep for this client. We have a 150-page handbook on the standards that we use. News travels fast and the accomplishments of Olssons client has led to similar modernization decisions by other companies. One of those projects involved the development of a mobile app using Profound UI to create a mobile application that ran on tablets used by truck drivers. In Sweden, Olsson explains, most companies have minimal development staffing and training on new technologies is not widespread. In the United States, its a similar story. Companies might incorporate their own staff if they have staff, but often the existing staff is too busy handling day-to-day maintenance chores. Consulting groups lead most of the modernization projects in Sweden, according to Olsson. In the U.S., its the application tool vendors that perform many of the modernization projects for their clients. Companies may look at modernizing versus replacement, Olsson notes, but they tend to look at costs of hardware and software only. The biggest consideration should be the knowledge embedded in the organization. The cost of replacing the knowledge is immense. That cost may be twice the cost of everything else in the project. You must look at the cost-revenue situation and factor in all the costs, including the problems incurred when changing to another platform. Reliability and security are two factors that are often overlooked. Although change may be costly and difficult, companies cant be complacent. For the applications to survive, they need to be brought to a level where young programmers are able and willing to continue developing and do the maintenance. Returning to the topic of integrating technology, business, and people, Olsson emphasizes the importance of people and the development of a social network. You hear some magnificent lectures at the Summit, but the value of what youve heard is increased because the next day you are having lunch with them and you get to know them. The experience of a group of high level developers in one place, which is a friendly and supportive environment cant have a price tag put on it. Thats a tremendous value, he says. I can call or email people that Ive met, ask questions, and get replies. Its not only the sessions, its the complete environment that is created. Susan Gantner, one of the partners in the System i Developer group thats behind the RPG & DB2 Summit, has gotten to know Olsson because of his repeated attendance at the conference and his successes on his home turf. He thinks about what hes learning, asks questions for clarification, and then actually works those new techniques into his projects, she says. He shares his excitement about his successes and helps teach others. And then he comes back to the Summit to tackle a new set of skills, and he starts the process all over again. Its people like Ake that make running the RPG & DB2 Summit so rewarding. A lot of RPGers think theyre powerless to change the status quo in their shops. Ake and others like him have shown time and again that learning new techniques can energize you to successfully challenge the status quo. The secret to doing exciting development work is to learn the new skills you need for the projects you want to do. Thats why the Summit exists! Ake represents a lot of IBM i developers who are doing it right. RELATED STORIES Forced Windows Migration Failures Talking Modernization With Profound Logic Fresche Makes Bold Move In IBM i Modernization Arena Modernization or Migration? Survey Aims to Sort Out the Direction IBM i Modernization Redbook A Must Read Advice From The Mavens Of Modernization Believe it you too can become a successful cyber criminal! Its easy! Its cheap! Its short hours for big bucks! No need to spend years on boring things like learning how to write code or develop software. Just download our simple ransomware toolkit and we can have you up and running in hours stealing hundreds or thousands of dollars from people in other countries, all from the comfort of your home office or your parents basement. Sit back and watch the Bitcoin roll in! OK, thats not the literal pitch coming from the developers of ransomware. But, given the rise of Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) a business model in which malware authors enlist distributors to spread the infections and then take a cut of the profits it sounds like it could be a candidate for the kind of direct-response TV ads that made the late pitchman Billy Mays famous. As Trend Micro put it more soberly in a recent blog post, Potential distributors dont even need much capital or technical expertise to start; even those without coding experience can launch a ransomware campaign. Indeed, the cost of some ransomware packages is less than $100. In other words, just about anybody can do it. All of which, until the recent ransomware attack on San Francisco's Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA), has seemed to be happening a bit under the radar. With high-profile Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks like the one against Internet backbone provider Dyn grabbing most of the recent headlines, you could be forgiven for thinking that ransomware might be on the decline. But the reality is just the opposite, according to various experts and studies. According to a white paper from Osterman Research, it is at epidemic levels, with nearly 50% of US companies experiencing a ransomware attack during the past year. And a Trend Micro report released in August found that about 80 new ransomware "families" an increase of 172 percent were discovered in the first half of 2016. A single, older version of the CryptoWall family brought in an estimated $325 million in 2015. Ed Cabrera, chief cybersecurity officer at Trend Micro, said things have become markedly worse since that report. He said at the end of September, the increase was 400 percent. In 2015, there had been 29 families observed, and as of September, we have observed and blocked 145 families, he said. Due to the dynamic nature of these threats obtaining and sharing actionable intelligence in a timely manner is the biggest challenge. Ed Cabrera, chief cybersecurity officer, Trend Micro That is no surprise to Andrew Hay, CISO at DataGravity, who said a DDoS attack tends to get more publicity because, it affects all users of a product or service, so the news of its impact spreads at the speed of typical internet news. Ransomware, conversely, is often hidden from people outside the company until the company, attacker or affected customers release details, he said. Javvad Malik, security advocate at AlienVault, has a similar take on it. Many companies dont report ransomware attacks, he said, while DDoS attacks are, by design, intended to be as publicly visible as possible. (Paying the ransom) should be an absolute last resort. Javvad Malik, security advocate, AlienVault But they agree, ransomware is a growth industry. I dont think it has peaked. I think it is just getting started, said Christopher Hadnagy, chief human hacker at Social-Engineer. I still hear of lots of accounts of companies left to either pay or start over. And Orla Cox, director of security intelligence delivery at Symantec, said not only has the number of attacks increased, but the demanded ransom has as well. The average ransom demand has more than doubled, and is now $679 (US dollars), up from $294 at the end of 2015, she said. [ MORE ON CSO: The history of ransomware ] She added that 2016, "has also seen a new record in terms of ransom demands, with a threat known as 7ev3n-HONE$T (Trojan.Cryptolocker.AD), which demands a ransom of 13 Bitcoin per computer, or $5,083 at the time of discovery in January. One reason for that explosive growth is probably because, even with headlines and continuous warnings about it, most individuals and organizations remain woefully vulnerable. Even if protection is available, they dont always use it. Be wary of unexpected emails especially if they contain links and/or attachments. Orla Cox, director, Security Intelligence Delivery, Symantec The recent attack on the San Francisco MTA (known as Muni) is an example. Security researcher and blogger Brian Krebs noted in a recent post that the attacker actually advised his victims to, Read this and install patch before you connect your server to internet again, with a link to an advisory Oracle issued about a vulnerability in its Oracle WebLogic Server. Oracle had made that patch available on Nov. 10, 2015 more than a year ago. Another reason for ransomwares success is that it takes time for security researchers to decrypt the files so they can provide solutions that will block them. That work is ongoing. Malik said once researchers can break into the software, they are able to create signatures or indicators of compromise. A collaborative effort is by the Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA), founded by security vendors Fortinet, Intel Security, Palo Alto Networks and Symantec, which has used shared threat intelligence in its words, a huge effort of pooling the Alliances collective resources, to track and analyze the CryptoWal family. According to the alliance, the effort led to enhanced protection against this threat with each members individual products, plus building public awareness through its reports. Other experts applaud sharing threat data, but note that it remains reactive the updates, patches and other tools to block malware dont show up until after the threat has already caused plenty of damage. Hay said antivirus and antimalware products are good at, protecting the low-hanging fruit, but the threats evolve too quickly for any tool to offer 100 percent protection. He added that while he supports the goals of the CTA, it is a members-only club. To join that club, you must provide a minimum of 1,000 unique malware executables daily that do not overlap with VirusTotal. This high barrier to entry means that while the goals of the alliance are good, its simply not inclusive enough to help those affected, he said. A better solution would be to open the doors and let vetted organizations and researchers contribute and work with the samples. Cabrera called the sharing of threat information critical to combating all cyber threats. [ RELATED: Tricks that ransomware uses to fool you ] But he said the reality is that, due to the dynamic nature of these threats obtaining and sharing actionable intelligence in a timely manner is the biggest challenge. He, like all experts, agreed that there is no silver bullet that will block all threats. But he said, a layered, connected threat defense that protects endpoint, network and cloud infrastructure, will at least allow organizations to manage the ransomware threat. The best solutions, however, are the preventive ones, which include: Install software patches and updates as soon as they are available. Become savvy enough not to fall victim to phishing emails. Be wary of unexpected emails especially if they contain links and/or attachments, Cox said, adding that users should be especially careful of any Microsoft Office email attachment that advises enabling macros to view content. Unless you are absolutely sure that this is a genuine email from a trusted source, do not enable macros, she said. Do regular backups and make sure those have added protection or are stored offline. Hay said organizations can start by limiting access to their most important data and then rigorously monitor the network for anomalies. When these anomalies are detected, you can automatically create copies of your files in a safe location, he said, but added that it is also important to test the restoration of backups. The last thing you want in the midst of an incident is to learn that your backups dont work, he said. Finally, experts are mixed on the wisdom of paying the demanded ransom. Hadnagy and Cox take the hard line. Never, Hadnagy said. Sadly many times even if the ransom is paid they do not unlock the files. It seems that if the ransom is paid the criminals learn it is good business and continue this type of attacks. Cox agreed, for the same reasons no guarantee that files will be unlocked, and increased likelihood of being attacked again. Cabrera added that even if the attacker provides the encryption key, he could have already exfiltrated data, and then sell it on the Deep Web. Others agree that it is a bad idea, but say there are times it could be the only feasible idea. Malik said paying, should be an absolute last resort. And Hay said his security side would dictate that victims never pay, since that will simply encourage another attack with a larger ransom demand. But he said his business side knows that, if the business cannot continue to operate without paying the ransom, theyll pay the ransom. To comment on this story, head over to Facebook. For many manufacturers, there is a disconnect between what goes on in their factories, including their engineering departments, and the core business processes supported by their ERP systems. It creates significant lag times for management to access, analyze and act on data from the manufacturing and development processes. Not having this data in real time could create problems with planning, inventory control, the supply chain or meeting customer expectations. Barriers to incorporating data from machines on the shop floor into ERP are dropping. Much of the newer equipment is now internet-enabled, and some older machines can be adapted for connectivity. Companies like GE and Siemens are working to standardize platforms for machine-to machine communication. The leading ERP vendors have all taken advantage of this new connectivity to incorporate the machine data into relevant workflows. So why arent all manufacturers connecting their shop floors to their ERP systems? The same old reasons for avoiding any significant technology project: cost, resistance to change and lack of understanding of the ROI. [ Related: 8 ways to get the most out of your ERP system ] Complexity can be a factor, too. Mike Lackey, global vice president of solutions management for SAP, gives the example of a company that has dozens of machines from multiple vendors. The true value [of digital transformation] is tying all the machines together to see what they are producing, the cost structure, performance, and the quality of the output, he says. You cant look at the data off the machines in silos. Industrial digitization and its impact Industrial digitization concerns two dimensions or core processes, says Magnus Wilkerson, professor of production systems at Matardalen University in Sweden. First, the order-to-delivery process, or operational process, integrates data across system layers and throughout the value chain. Critical activities are the integration of MOM/MES (manufacturing operations system/manufacturing execution system) layer into the architecture as well as the supply chain data integration. Second, the industrial digitization concerns the product and production development process. It integrates data across development platforms and stakeholders and enable virtual builds of new products and virtual verification of new processes. Those stakeholders might be people internal to the organization such as product managers, engineers or planners. They could also be external such as contract manufacturers, suppliers, or partners. Lackey spoke of an SAP customer, a large medical device manufacturer, that was designing and building a large and highly specialized piece of equipment used in cancer treatment. Because the manufacturing and engineering processes were digitized and connected, what SAP calls a component of Industry 4.0, all the stakeholders from the customer to the people designing and building the unit were on the same page. The stakes were high. Their client [a hospital] had spent more than $1 million setting a room up for this equipment, says Lackey. With S/4 HANA, bottlenecks and shortages were identified sooner allowing the manufacturer to respond faster managing customer expectations and insuring an on-time delivery. The tools to measure ROI are available. Robert Sinfield, director of portfolio marketing at ERP vendor Epicor Software, gives the example of rubber and plastics manufacturing. Its very repetitive manufacturing, and manufacturers want to maximize efficiency, he says. Solutions to measure efficiency give visibility into the manufacturing process. They can detect deviations in small volumes of time that normally you would not be able to identify. For example, the system might identify a machine running at 3 percent lower efficiency over the past three days and send an alert to the service department. That drop might not have been noticed if the machine were not connected to the internet with a monitoring solution that was integrated with the manufacturers ERP system. This is important, because even a tiny increase in efficiency in a high-volume manufacturing process can yield significant returns. Scrappage, or material wasted due to quality issues in the manufacturing process, is another area where intelligence at the machine level can improve efficiency. Sinfield says one Epicor customer cut its scrap average from around 4 percent to 1.37 percent, which also contributed to a 3.1 percent decrease in downtime and consequently lower cost of sales. Annual cost savings for this company were $600,000. This puts the ROI down to months, says Sinfield. The benefits dont stop there, however. Where it gets clever, [the efficiency data] is presented to finance so that they can understand energy consumption and make judgments about overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) measures. Looking at downtime, they can see if it makes sense to continue servicing the existing equipment or purchase a new machine, says Sinfield. Connecting people as well as data Getting a steady flow of actionable data from the shop floor to business managers and back is important, but just having access to that data might not always be enough. Thats why Epicor has embedded a social framework to support teams associated with a project or process. Social is built into the fabric of Epicor. It supports a fundamental shift to allow interaction both internally and externally, says Sinfield. Its not just about collecting and analyzing information. Its really about letting a team collaborate around a project. 2016 was full of surprises, but in the world of programming, among the biggest was the breakthrough of Go. Once a tiny niche tool, Go has officially joined the ranks of real programming languages, evidenced by its meteoric rise up the Tiobe index, a complex amalgam of search rankings and programmer preferences. Still a ways behind stalwarts like Java, C, and Python, Go hit 16th in October 2016, up 49 spots from a year prior. Thats a big change thats caught the eye of programmers and project managers alike. Gos jump is likely due in large part to Docker, a package management system for deploying code that is taking over stacks everywhere. The fact that one of the hottest dev technologies in years is written in Go in a positive sign for the languages viability. A better one may be the fact that Docker is quite solid and very successful. Thats bound to win over converts by showing that the language can support real infrastructure. Gos rise coincides with a rapid collapse of interest in C. Yes, C remains second on Tiobes list, but it has lost about 40 percent of programmer investment as computed by Tiobes complex metric. Built to be a stripped-down, efficient language for writing low-level code, Go shares many features with C, including much of the syntax. Its hard not to conclude that a good part of Gos newfound support is likely made up of former C programmers migrating to a new home. The Tiobe list isnt about lines of code or job advertisements; instead, it tries to capture the pulse of the programming world by counting web searches and other behavioral metrics. Its clear from Gos large leap that people are starting to talk about Go for real-world projects, not merely fringe one-offs from startups. They may not be building them yet, but theyre considering the language. Here we take a look at the pros and cons of Go, a language you can finally mention to your boss and your bosss boss without worrying about seeming like a nut. Go pro: Simplicity The simplest reason to learn Go is that Go is simple, relatively speaking. Its designers deliberately limited the scope of the language and built something that an experienced programmer can learn in an evening. Books for some new languages, like Apples Swift, may be several hundreds of pages thick, but Gos are much, much thinner. The simplicity has side effects. Its easier to read code written by other Go programmers because its almost impossible for them to use a feature that youve forgotten or never learned. Teams can work smoothly together in Go because no one can pull out a weird feature and throw everyone a curve. Go con: Simplicity Sure, its great to learn a language in an evening. But Go achieved its vaunted simplicity by leaving out dozens of clever, modern abstractions programmers are already using successfully. Most of the ideas that drive the excitement behind languages like Haskell or Swift are missing. While its easier to not have to learn all those features, it also means you cant rely on many of the bug-fighting powers that come with a more complex language. For lovers of complexity and abstraction, Go is a step backward to a time when computer languages were thin veneers on top of assembler, a time when the biggest new idea was adding the else clause to the if-then statement. Everyone has their favorite feature that didnt make the Go cut. Some want generics; some want exceptions; some want more extensibility; some want something completely different. For these folks, programming in Go is like coding with one arm tied behind your back. Go pro: Automation saves time Go has a number of modern inventions, like the automatic declaration of variables. It seems like a little thing but no one wants to type out letters like int forever. And garbage collection is a big win for everyone who hates keeping track of malloc and free . Go con: Automation can be dangerous Everybody who has used automation features in programming languages knows they come with downsides. Garbage collection can be triggered at the wrong time, jeopardizing server code that is supposed to reply immediately. Automatic declaration can get details wrong when the same variable name is used in nested scopes. Theres a reason why people developed belts-and-suspenders approaches to data management and not all new automation features are a step forward. Go pro: No virtual machine For the past few decades, languages based on virtual machines were all the rage. The so-called binary code could move easily between different chip architectures, and the virtual machine could enforce some rules on security while doing a bit of runtime optimization. Lots of clever ideas are baked into the best VMs these days. Alas, starting up a virtual machine takes a bit of time, and Go users dont need to worry about that. Go binaries are compiled into a nice file thats ready to (ahem) go. Type the executables name into the command line, and it runs when you hit Return. This doesnt help the server alone; it also makes it that much faster to test code during development. The debugging cycle in Go is a bit quicker. Gos integrated binaries also reduce deployment complexity. Was your Java code compiled for version 1.7? Good luck trying to run it on a machine with a JVM built for Java 1.4. Many servers end up juggling several different JVMs for the various JAR files that supposedly run anywhere. Go con: No virtual machine Sure, Go has standalone binaries, but theyre huge. If you write a hello world example, it will be close to 2MB. The binary is so big in part because it needs to roll in much of the power of the virtual machine. The code for handling garbage collection needs to hang out somewhere. Sure, theres no VMbecause its built into the binary. This past year, Gos creators implemented a clever feature in version 1.7 to make binaries a bit smaller by stripping out uncalled methods. This is a welcome change, but they still start clogging up the RAM when a server fires up hundreds of versions of your code. Go pro: Go is like C Everyone migrating from C sees Go as an upgrade. It has all of the low-level, close-to-the-metal feel of C without any of the gross annoyances that have made C a real headache. Garbage collection is a big step forward that saves plenty of time for programmers and is the simpler file structure. Everything else is pretty much the same. C was a big success. Why break the mold? Go con: Go is like C So is everything else. Java, Rust, and Swift are like C, not to mention C#, C++, and Objective-C. They also have more interesting ideas under the hood. Theres more to a programming language than using curly brackets to define the basic blocks of code, but if thats what you want, plenty of other solutions are more feature-rich. Go pro: Callback-free syntax Many programmers who experiment with Go migrate from Node.js, the other speedy server-side stack. When they arrive, they are often overjoyed to escape from the nested confusion of callback routines that call back other routines that call back other routines ad nauseum. (Or really ad buggium.) The callback structure makes sense for JavaScript on web pages, and it helps offer speed to server-side development with Node. However, its hard to keep straight, especially when there are three or four levels of nesting. Go con: Callback-free syntax You dont need to nest the method routines, but you still have to think of coding the interaction in much the same way. Go has channels, but much of the underlying approach is the same. Youre simply changing the way its expressed. The nesting of something like Node.js can be a bit annoying, but if you cant handle that, you probably shouldnt be trying to get your brain around the architecture in the first place. Go pro: Libraries Google has already contributed some of the most important libraries you might ever need for creating server applications. Theyre fresh and ready to go. This should make even the most conservative development shops see a little extra promise in Go. Go con: Libraries are lacking by comparison Yes, Go has some libraries, but most other programming languages are light-years ahead. Java is the king of installed code, with a bazillion open source JARs looking for love on the internet. This isnt only Java. Any language that compiles down to run on the JVM can also link to these JARs. Clojure, Scala, JRuby, Kotlin, and dozens of other serious new languages are designed to be compiled to byte code for the JVM, so they can work with all the Java libraries as well. Its nice to work with something new, but when something old is so established and powerful, its hard not to choose the tried and true. Go con: False promise beyond its niche Gos upswing has been impressive, but it might not rise much further. Many corporate darlings, like Objective-C, never break out of their corporate campus. Other companies dont want to trust their future projects to a language that is essentially owned by another. Google could easily change its mind or move to another better version, perhaps Go++, thats not compatible. While Go made one big jump, it doesnt mean it will make another one. Java is still the language of AP computer science. C is still the language of Unix. Python is still easier for social scientists to parse. PHP is not only not dying but getting better now that someone figured out how to move Just-In-Time compilers to them. Heck, even Cobol is still rolling along its little niche. None of these is going anywhere, which means that Go probably wont be able to colonize their domains. Until Go can find new ground, it will likely stay pretty much the same. Go pro: Its bright future Features and syntax are fine, but for many organizations, it all comes down to whether the language has legs. Theres no use committing the resources only to find your project is doomed to the dustbin a few years down the road. While no one can predict the future, Go has plenty of reasons to believe it will be around and thriving, and the biggest of these may be Googles support. Its a dominant company with a great future, and as opposed to Google Reader, it seems to be committed to Go. Google is building autonomous cars and other fancy thingsthe future itself, some might think. Of course Go code will be great and supported, and Go skills will remain in demand. Is your Go cup half full or half empty? Is its niche comfortable or forgettable? Is the language an irresistible upgrade or a cute hack? Only you can decide. Its been a while since Samsung has been in the news for its exploding Galaxy Note7 batteries we sincerely hope any of our readers who bought one has returned it to the company for a refundbut a team of enterprising engineers developers who solve problems for a living may have discovered the root cause of the disaster. Samsung has been mostly mum about the issue since it announced in October that it was suspending production of the popular phablet (more than a month after the first cases were reported), but all the while Instrumental has been researching the battery boondoggle behind the scenes. at it found is that the batteries themselves werent faulty; rather, Samsungs push to make the case as thin as possible likely comprised them: The Note7s lithium-polymer battery is a flattened jelly-roll consisting of a positive layer made of lithium cobalt oxide, a negative layer made of graphite, two electrolyte-soaked separator layers made of polymer. The separator layers allow ions ( energy) to flow between the positive negative layers, without allowing those layers to touch. If the positive negative layers ever do touch, the energy flowing goes directly into the electrolyte, heating it, which causes more energy to flow more heatit typically results in an explosion. Compressing the battery puts pressure on those critical polymer separator layers that keep the battery safe. Instrumental lends some credence to the theory that Samsungs drive to beat Apple in the thinness game contributed to the problem, speculating that the changes might have come late in development of the hset the newest versions of the batteries might not have been tested with the same rigor as the first samples. However, until Samsung releases some kind of an official statement, its hard to know for sure when the problem surfaced. For a multi-billion dollar recall, the company hasnt been very forthcoming on what steps it is taking to rectify similar problems in future devices, despite repeated calls for transparency. The impact on you at home: ether you bought a Galaxy Note7 or not, the prospect of your phone spontaneously combusting is a scary one. Any light that can be shed on what caused the issue is certainly helpful, until Samsung releases an official statement, were going to have to rely on these sort of third-party investigations to get any insight into the matter. Its somewhat reassuring that the Instrumental blames the case rather than the actual batteries, itll be interesting to see how the design of the Note8 (assuming there is one) is affected by these developments. This Week in Review A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more. Spain is on track for a record year of overseas tourists , with official forecasts predicting 74 million foreigners will have visited the country by the end of 2016, but 90% of them will be thrifty Europeans looking for a low-cost stay in the sun. Spain is still not making much of an effort to attract more visitors from Asia and the Middle East, nor has it been successful in selling itself as a desirable destination for wealthier visitors from the United States and Europe. The country needs to attract more visitors from Asia. luis sevillano The industry can only look on as other countries scoop the lions share of the high-end global tourist market the Chinese, US and Saudi tourists with extravagant holiday spending habits. If Spain does want a share of the spoils, says a new study by Ernst & Young, it will have to begin unashamedly targeting these markets with a coordinated game plan. Saturation is a surefire way of wearing a destination out Ernst & Young With this in mind, the consultancy calls for more spending on marketing, better coordination between government agencies and a change of strategy to package Spain as offering more than just sunshine, beaches, bullfighting and parties. It points out that Europeans make up 89.4% of the total number of visitors, but that they spend on average just 135 a day. Moreover, the average tourist in Spain is spending less, a trend only compensated for by the increase in numbers. Instead, it is non-European visitors who are likely to pump cash into the wider economy, says Ernst & Young, noting that the average Chinese tourist spends an average of 960 on each shopping-focused trip, while visitors from Hong Kong spend more than 1,000, and the US traveler, 672. On the basis of this data, the report advises the industry to give Spains image a makeover as a tourist destination, marketing it to high-end clients, which will allow for more substantial revenue. In other words, Spain needs to sell itself as a premium destination, targeting new markets and shifting the focus away from the UK and Germany. Of the 116 million Chinese who took overseas holidays in 2015, only 0.3% came to Spain; of the 68 million US nationals on the move, that figure was 2.6%. Madrid has just 16 flights a week to China, while it has 68 to Paris, 66 to London and 62 to Frankfurt. The study also points out that for every tourist euro spent on duty free goods in Spain, 7.3 are left behind in Paris and 6.2 in London. Spains luxury goods sector is described as still very basic, and the sector is advised to adopt a strategy that will unashamedly attract the premium-profile tourist. The report urges the creation of more exclusive offers, with services adapted to the needs of specific countries and the establishment of a chains of luxury hotels, such as the US Four Seasons brand. Low-spending Europeans make up 90% of visitors to Spain Identifying new promotional tools, including more investment in online strategies, strengthening coordination between regional governments, working more closely with the private sector and increasing spending on advertising, the study came up with ideas to inform non-European tourists of Spains other qualities. It also noted that the budget for Turespana, the organization tasked with promoting Spain as a tourist destination abroad, fell from 224 million in 2009 to 91.7 million in 2016, with just 40.6% invested in advertising. Similarly, in a country where tourism accounts for 11% of GDP and 12% of employment, investment in tourism is relatively low the Canary Islands invest just 0.9% of its overall budget on tourism, even though the sector accounts for 31.2% of its GDP. Finally, the report accuses Spain of complacency, in part due to having been chosen by visitors wary of destinations in the southern Mediterranean. It notes shortfalls in key areas such as cleanliness, safety, information technology, and language skills, while pointing out that in some cities visitor numbers are becoming unsustainable: in Barcelona, at any given time there are 4.4 tourists for every resident, and thats without counting cruise-liner passengers or people staying in Airbnb-type apartments. Ernst & Young says the city is so overwhelmed that it faces the danger of residents moving out of the city center, which in the long-term would make Barcelona less attractive. Saturation is a surefire way of wearing a destination out, it concludes. English version by Heather Galloway. With the weight of history on his shoulders, Cuban President Raul Castro on Sunday placed the ashes of his brother Fidel in the sober granite mausoleum built to house his remains in a cemetery in Santiago de Cuba. The act brought to a close nine days of mourning and seven of official funeral celebrations. Fidel Castro is dead and Cuba is looking to the future with hope in the face of complex challenges. A woman looks on Fidel Castro's funeral motorcade passes by. CARLOS BARRIA (REUTERS) More information Cuba mira hacia el futuro tras el sepelio de Fidel Castro President Castro, now aged 85, must complete a process of reform that cannot be put off one that began when he took over from his brother in 2006. He will have to pass on the baton to a new generation of leaders given that he has promised to leave office by 2018, although he will remain head of the Communist Party until 2021. Cuba post-Fidel isnt starting now. It started 10 years ago, says political scientist Rafael Hernandez from Havana, affirming that the transition of power is underway although it cant be seen from outside. Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, aged 56 and a discreet party man, seems best placed to succeed Castro. Behind the scenes, after leaving his position as economy minister several months ago, 55-year-old Marino Murillo is drawing up economic plans that the Cuban leadership hope will be key in ensuring changes without change: more development but with the party firmly in the drivers seat. In future years Cuba will need to hit sustained 4% growth Esteban Morales, Universtiy of Havana When you look at the historic generation [of the Cuban Revolution] only three still have power: Castro, Ramiro Valdes (aged 84) and Jose Ramon Machado Ventura (86). A new generation is coming up with new ideas that it will slowly introduce, predicts journalist Reinaldo Escobar with the newspaper 14 y medio, which has been critical of the government and has come in for official censorship. Escobar was arrested this week and then freed a matter of hours later. With a more connected society despite limited internet access the first signs of a non-official press, and the persistent activity of political opponents to the regime, one of the challenges faced by Cuba in future will be how to loosen its iron grip on civil society. A democratic opening is off the table at the moment and for the average Cuban on the street, the idea remains taboo. On Sunday night in Santiago, during the final, mass event paying homage to Fidel Castro, two students discussed the countrys future. A multi-party system or continuity? I can give you an idealistic answer or a philosophical one. But beyond the question of whether we have one type of system or another, the most important thing is that the stability of the country is maintained, replies 19-year-old Alexander Vega. Raul Castro places an urn containing the ashes of his brother Fidel in a mausoleum in a cemetery in Santiago de Cuba. REUTERS I would like to vote for the same party that we have now, but between different candidates, says 20-year-old Edel Martinez. The death of Fidel could accelerate economic changes that no one carried out while he was alive out of respect for him. Forecasts point to 2% GDP growth in 2016 after 4% a year earlier. In future years we will need to hit sustained 4% growth to ensure the country can overcome a whole range of difficulties, says Esteban Morales, an economist with Havana University and an expert on CubaUS relations. But the embargo is still in place and I dont know if Trump will eliminate it, she adds. After the political thaw between the two countries, which has seen a normalization of diplomatic relations, an ease on travel restrictions between the two countries and direct flights between the two countries reinstated, the future arrival of Trump in the White House has heightened tensions. Havana is now unsure about the future of bilateral relations between the two countries a relationship which is crucial to the island now that Venezuela is in economic meltdown. Tourism, foreign investment and small business the existence of SMEs is expected to be formally recognized in Cuba in the near future will all be key as Raul Castro attempts to ride out any future possible storms with Washington that delay US economic involvement in the island. Cuba post-Fidel isnt starting now. It started 10 years ago Political scientist Rafael Hernandez Cuban agriculture also needs an overhaul after the failure of socialist planning. The problem of fishing and agricultural production is vital, Morales says. We havent even managed to industrialize the production of a single product to the level where we can supply the population, although people arent going hungry. Cuba, which is very fertile, imports at least 40% of its food requirements, according to the economist. A new era has begun in Cuba and people in the country are visibly excited. What will become of us now that Fidel is gone? Cubans of my generation have been educated under a paternalistic system that is nothing like the jungle to which we have now escaped, wrote 45-year-old writer Wendy Guerra in a recent article in The New York Times. We are totally unprepared. The Russian fantasy lasted too long. I am a person untrained for the speed of the real world, she said. The impression across Cuba during the days following Fidels death has been one of silent astonishment. English version by George Mills. Once again, Brazilians are taking to the streets to protest against their politicians. Sunday saw huge marches in cities throughout the country that are being seen as a warning to politicians not to tamper with the judiciary as it attempts to unravel a vast corruption network centered on state oil company Petrobras. A demonstrator holds up a cardboard cutout of judge Sergio Moro. Marcelo Sayao (EFE) More information Miles de brasilenos toman las calles contra la corrupcion y ponen en alerta al Gobierno Temer The protests were not directed specifically at President Michel Temer, who took over after Dilma Rousseff was impeached earlier this year, and whose popularity rating is just 14%, but were instead largely aimed at members of his PMDB party, several of whom are under investigation for corruption. Temer has promised to kickstart Brazils ailing economy with a series of reform measures he hopes to push through Congress. The march in Rio de Janeiro attracted a wide range of protesters, from anti-abortion rights activists to those calling for a military government, along with many chanting the name of Sergio Moro, the judge overseeing the so-called Lava Jato investigation into corruption at Petrobras. Among those alleged to have been involved in a complex web of graft are members of the Workers Party, including former President Ignacio Lula da Silva, as well as Temers PMDB, and the conservative PP, which has supported both parties in Congress. More politicians are expected to be named in the Petrobras scandal in the coming weeks When I marched last year it wasnt to replace Dilma with Temer, said Marcia Bilheiro, a state employee protesting in Rio on Sunday, adding: This is just replacing one corrupt official with another. Since taking over six months ago, Temer has seen six members of his Cabinet stand down, most of them over corruption allegations. In large part, Sundays protests were sparked by a vote in Congress in the early hours of Wednesday while the country was in mourning for the victims of the Chapecoense plane crash in Colombia that watered down a series of anti-corruption proposals put forward by the Attorney Generals office. Legislators also took advantage of the vote to try to pass a measure that would allow Congress to limit the powers of judges deemed to have overstepped their authority. This power over the judiciary already exists. The problem is trying to exercise this control to intimidate judges and prosecutors by using vague concepts, said Claudio Henrique Viana, a Rio de Janeiro state prosecutor. The march in Rio de Janeiro attracted a wide range of protesters The conflict between the judiciary and the government was highlighted when the team of public prosecutors investigating Lava Jato, and that had put forward the anti-corruption proposals, threatened to resign if Temer approved the amendments to them. Renan Calheiros, head of the Senate and an ally of the president then tried to push through a second vote to get the measures approved. The move backfired: not only did senators vote against the measures, Calheiros found himself the target of demonstrators on Sunday who called for him to resign, using the same slogan they had chanted during protests earlier this year for Dilma Rousseff to stand down. In Sao Paulo, where the biggest protests took place against Rousseff, some 200,000 people marched, according to organizers, although the police put the figure at 15,000. In any event, Brazils politicians are worried. In the coming weeks, some 77 executives at construction company Odebrecht involved in the Petrobras scandal are due to give testimony in return for reduced sentences. More names of leading politicians are expected to emerge. English version by Nick Lyne. The "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" will soon conquer the New York's Broadway theaters, as per the show's producers. The said play is based on the hit series of author J.K. Rowling's book "Harry Potter" which sold millions of copies throughout the world and ran for ten years in motion pictures. After a successful debut in London's West End, summer of this year, "Harry Potter and The Cursed Child" will be staged in one of Broadway's biggest theaters in spring of 2018. In fact, producers Sonia Freidman and Colin Callendar are eyeing for the Lyric Theater to house the huge production. The said theater is among the largest in New York with its seating capacity of 1900. It is also famous for housing big complex prods such as the "Spider-man: Turn Off The Dark" which took place for 4 years (2010-2014) according to Reuters' report. However, according to Pottermore, the producers are planning to recreate the stage which might reduce the seats into 1500 to put up the dramatic ambiance of the play. Freidman added that the idea of a redesigned New York stage is one big dream to fulfill thus they wanted it to be intimate enough for the story yet big enough to accommodate more people with lower ticket prices. Christine Jones, the "Harry Potter And The Cursed Child" stage designer, hoped to give the Lyric Theater its own identity and distinction from the one they did in London as she described the upcoming project to be "an incredibly unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience." Part of the recreation is the front of the theater which, according to the team, is a huge selling point as it initiates the "Harry Potter" feels among the audience. Freidman added that writer Jack Thorne, author J.K. Rowling, and director John Tiffany, whom the report called the "three Js" were all happy and excited about the upcoming production. The producer also felt amazing portraying the role of a custodian not only for the play but for the fans as well, saying they felt the need to bring the "Harry Potter And The Curse Child" in New York thus making it as soon as possible. The "Harry Potter And The Cursed Child" book, released alongside the West End play, was also a best-seller with three million copies sold in the US alone in its first month, added Reuters. Are you excited for the Broadway version of the "Harry Potter And The Cursed Child"? Find out more thrilling news and updates on the said hit play only here on Jobs & Hire. Amid all the rumors about specs, features and release dates, Google Nexus 7 tablet remains an unconfirmed product. Is Nexus tablet line already dead? Meanwhile, speculations continue, including Huawei withdrawing from its agreement with Google. One of the hot topics on the internet about upcoming devices is that of Google Nexus 7, a new tablet that is supposed to be released in 2016. It was initially expected to be announced along with Google's new Nexus phones that were rebranded to Pixel X and Pixel XL. That didn't happen, and it's already almost end of the year with no official words from the tech giant that would confirm the device. Neurogadget notes that Google cancelled Nexus 7 back in 2015 and instead released Nexus 9 and Nexus 10. It cited a report from The Verge, which said that the Nexus 7 tablet line is dead. Nonetheless, there are still rumors about an upcoming tablet from Google, which is currently believed as the Nexus 7. Back in September, Evan Blass, a popular leakster, revealed on Twitter: "Google's Huawei-built 7-inch tablet, with 4GB RAM, on track for release before the end of the year." Google's Huawei-built 7-inch tablet, with 4GB RAM, on track for release before the end of the year. Evan Blass (@evleaks) September 5, 2016 If in case Nexus 7 tablet is really over, then there should be another way to call the new product coming from Google. According to some speculations, Google might actually release a new tablet that is in line with its new branding, Pixel. Some suggests it could be called Pixel Pro. Pixel 7 is also a bet. The rebranding also sparked another rumor that Huawei, who is reportedly working on a new Nexus tablet, has backed out from producing the device. This is because Google would like to keep the brand for itself, but Huawei wants its branding to be included. Huawei wants to build its own name beyond as a contractor. Given that, Google Nexus 7 tablet's expected release by year-end is likely to be moved to 2017. ISIS wages all-out war to destroy the lives and heritage of the people in Iraq since the beginning of their violent rise to power. While the nation's militia are fiercely trying to reclaim their land, over 40 countries around the world join the war effort to recover Iraq's historical treasures. ISIS terrorists sacked the Iraqi town of Nimrud. Once a principal city of the Assyrian Empire, the area is left in ruins after its occupiers bulldozed vestige buildings and looted key artifacts. It is one thing to take the lives of the land's inhabitants. But to also wipe out their culture is an all new level of barbarism never likely experienced since the past two centuries. Prescribing to their skewed version of Islam, the ISIS easily earned the condemnation of the whole world. How ISIL destroyed Nimrud - one of Iraq's archaeological treasures https://t.co/IZHNoMvRHX pic.twitter.com/67PovDytQx Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) December 1, 2016 In an article published by Daily Mail UK, the delegates of the 40 countries that joined the UNESCO-backed conference in Abu Dhabi on December 3, 2016, conceded to their funding target. They aim to collect a total amount of $100 million and between France and the United Arab Emirates, the contribution has already $30 million. In a related report by The Times of Israel, some countries expressed their reservations despite the nobility of the cause. The idea of moving precious artifacts out of Iraq did not sit well with Greek representatives especially in light of their ongoing struggle to reclaim artifacts (Elgin Marbles) from Parthenon Temple after they were spirited away by the British diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 1800's. Fortunately, such scenario is underscored as 'the last resort' and it would not be a recommended course of action while Iraqi's locals can still secure the reclaimed heritage sites. Based on the last reports by Jobs & Hire, many civilian and combatant lives are sacrificed in the ongoing national campaign to liberate Iraq from ISIS. On December 1, 2016, Universal Pictures released the trailer for the upcoming film reboot titled "The Mummy" which includes Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe as lead actors. This film paves the way for other monsters of the classical era such as Dracula, Frankenstein, Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde and the Wolf Man. Following the traditions of Marvel and DC Comics, creators from Universal attempts an ambitious film franchise worthy of multiple blockbuster sequels. Only this time, they unearth characters that gave birth to history's earliest modern fantasy literature. An article published by Geek reveals how Universal plans to drop these explosive films between the years 2018 and 2019. Other characters to grace this universe includes legendary vampire slayer Abraham Van Helsing, the creature from Black Lagoon and even the bride of Frankenstein's monster. I'm excited to help bring #TheMummy to life. I can't wait for you guys to see the full trailer Sunday. pic.twitter.com/GRbZYdIjFe Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) December 1, 2016 Tom Cruise will reprise his role as Tyler Colt, an ex-Navy SEAL operative serving as a mirrored contemporary counterpart of Brendan Frasier's Rick O'Connell in the previous decade's "The Mummy" film trilogy. Meanwhile, Russell Crowe will play the role of the bipolar Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde assisting in the destruction of Egypt's malevolent mummified queen played by Sofie Boutella. Speaking of future sequels, a report by Express Co. UK reveals how Universal aims to revive (or more like redeem) Luke Evans from the flopped "Dracula: Untold" film. In an exclusive interview, Luke Evans describes Dracula, the Invisible Man, and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde as the franchise's answer to the "Avengers" trio comprised of Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man. Apart from resurrecting classical fantasy and horror characters, Universal also branches out to other genres. An article from Jobs & Hire describes how the producers fund $4 billion worth of special effects for the American adaptation of the famous Japanese animated series "Voltron." The Church of Scientology is in disputes with former King of Queens star, Leah Remini who sacrificed her TV career to prioritize her previous mission with the church. Now, she is in conflict with the association after leaving them and squealing on what she knew inside the organization that might result in various lawsuits. Remini endures public shaming and intimidating stunts conducted by the church gainst her. She demands that those hurting words be retracted publicly along with the $1.5 compensation payment. She claims that church leaders try to manipulate her, even before the conflict escalates. They had asked her to convince CBS producer Les Moonves to feature Scientology events in "60 Minutes". She ended up calling Moonves despite her hesitation and got a negative reply from him. He firmly stressed that it won't matter if it is Tom Cruise, Jenna Elfman, or her who would engage in such conversations with him. They will all get the same rejection, according to Independent Journal Review. The Scientology management obviously was not happy with Remini's failure and continues to push her to fin a way to get through the news segment.She's denied the benefit of the doubt when explaining that she got no authority over content usage for the said show. She became an investigative journalist since then and not scared of the potential lawsuits coming up to stop her. Remini surely welcomes any lawsuit from the Church of Scientology because that can serve as the outlet for bringing out the truth in her complaints. They know that she's telling the truth hat's why they made enormous efforts into stopping her. The way that the church is doing, is telling people that you can leave but be quiet. If you won't, then you are a bad person , according to Jobs & Hire. Leah Remini is not only into exposing the injustices she experienced first hand from the church but the ex-King of Queens star says that she aims to help those who have not been released from the Scientology's spell yet. That's the purpose of her documentary "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath" that airs every Tuesday on A&E, say Inquisitr. "Saturday Night Live" host Alec Baldwin was prominently known for his Donald Trump impersonation. But this time, the 58-year old actor offered to stop impersonating if the 45th US President releases his tax returns. According to Variety, Alec Baldwin's offer first occurred on Sunday midnight. This was shortly after Donald Trump posted a status regarding his 'SNL' impersonation. "Just tried watching Saturday Night Live; unwatchable! Totally biased, not funny and the Baldwin impersonation just can't get any worse. Sad," Trump said. On the other hand, Baldwin answered that he will refrain doing the said parody if the United States President will release his tax returns. As people all know, Trump's tax return issue first resounded during the beginning of his campaign in June 2015. Donald Trump reportedly refused to let the public have an in-depth look regarding his financial history. Due to this refusal, some were provoked to investigate the matter further. In 1995, an outlet reported that Trump lost over $916 million from his business. In result, this allowed him not to pay taxes for over 18 years. On the latest episode of "Saturday Night Live," Alec Baldwin played a goofy Trump, who retweets messages from random people while attending a security briefing. This is probably the reason why Donald Trump criticized the show. Alec Baldwin vs. Stephen Baldwin Despite Alec being against Trump's victory, his brother, Stephen Baldwin, is a known celebrity supporter. He was spotted attending the President's victory parties several times. According to ET Online, Stephen was once seen during a party for Trump happened at New York Hilton Midtown. Moreover, Stephen previously explained that he understands the sentiments of his brother. After all, many people share the same issue about Trump. Furthermore, though he wanted everyone to get along, he has no choice but to respect their decision. In the end, the 50-year-old actor hopes that people, and his brother Alec Baldwin would give Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt. Do you think the new President will be at his best? Share comments below. Leah Remini used to be a member of the church where Tom Cruise and other celebrities belong to. However, after a long association with the church, she left disgusted and dissatisfied. Last year, she was in the headlines recalling and lambasting the religion. She wrote a book, "Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology" about the Church of Scientology exposing its errors. The book has earned her threats of lawsuits from the church leadership. However, the "King of Queens" star was not a bit concerned as she works on her latest project - a documentary about the controversial organization. "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath" is already airing despite potential lawsuits. In 2015, Leah Remini left the church but she was sworn to secrecy of the activities inside the church. However, the actress felt she has the right to talk about it and even published a book. Tom Cruise's religion has the penchant to manipulate. Leah Remini tells as per The Hollywood Reporter that the Scientology leaders wanted her to ask Les Moonves of CBS to pull a report about the church from "60 Minutes." She resisted saying that an actress like her has no power to do so. However, she was pressured to do it but failed. Even after her failure, she was still forced to do something. Moonves did not give in. Inquisitr reported that the Church of Scientology is plotting to sue her because of her show. They did dirty tactics like publicly shaming her. She demanded that the church retracts all their claims against the actress demanding compensation of $1.5 million. "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath" is purposed to warn families and to help them get out of the church. She also wants parents to be aware and not allow their children to be taken advantage of. The actress turned investigate journalist has the authority to talk about Tom Cruise's church because she has been a member for so long. She has the first-hand information and she is an eye-witness against the errors of the church. Leah Remini's show airs Tuesday nights at 10/9c on A&E. Stay tuned for more celebrity news. Qatar is on fire (and in a very good way)! As one of the wealthiest Arab countries, it has gracefully offered 40,000 jobs for Ugandans on top of the 3,000 already employed in their overseas investments. Qatar has also recently signed 5 trade agreements with India on December 3, 2016. Curiously, the deal was not initiated by Uganda and Qatar's highest state representatives. In fact, this 'beta-testing' of trade deals were formally commenced between Qatar's labor and administrative minister and its Ugandan counterpart. Dr. Eissa Al-Naimi (Qatar) and Mr. Hajjat Mukwaya (Uganda) smoothed over the details of the agreement in Doha as witnessed by the Ugandan ambassador, Dr. Rashid Ssemudu. An article published by New Vision Co. underscores how this agreement will pave the way for a more lucrative entry of Qatari investments in Uganda. It is important to take note that although Qatar proves a promising partner to Uganda's fledgling economy, they were only the third Arab nation following Saudi Arabia and Jordan consecutively. While the Emir of Qatar's scheduled meeting with the Ugandan president is decked for early 2017, Sheik Abdullah ibn Nasser ibn Khalifa Al Thani has already concluded 5 trade agreements with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his visit to New Delhi two days prior. Earlier today, held fruitful talks on further improving India-Qatar ties with Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani. pic.twitter.com/E0Y1g1Be3D Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 3, 2016 The report published by The Hindu News describes how these deals highlight several key aspects of their existing bilateral trade relations. The two leaders agreed to step beyond the confines of 'buyer-seller relations' and encompass other concerns such as cybercrime, business and tourist visa, and improvements on existing wholesale investments (e.g. urea). Without a doubt, Qatar has pretty much outdone itself before the end of this year. These developments will especially benefit Uganda who, according to Jobs & Hire, has lost a visible portion of manpower niche since the withdrawal of UK-based bank called Barclay's. One month into his second consecutive term in office, albeit after 10 months heading an interim administration, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoys government has done little to impress Spaniards, with almost three-quarters of taxpayers saying the countrys political situation is bad or very bad. Thats according to the latest poll carried out by the Center for Sociological Research (CIS), and which was released on Monday. Rajoy y Saenz de Santamaria en Congreso de los Diputados. ULY MARTIN The question was posed as part of a survey carried out in the first 11 days of November, in the run-up to the Popular Party (PP) leaders investiture. At 74.3%, the result shows a slight improvement to the same question posed the month before, when 81.1% said they saw the political situation as bad or very bad. Barely 4% of those surveyed thought the situation had improved with the end of the political deadlock that followed two inconclusive elections and the failure of the countrys four main parties to reach any kind of governing deal. Spain narrowly avoided a third election after the Socialist Party (PSOE) agreed to abstain at Rajoys investiture vote and emerging center-right group Ciudadanos cut a deal with the PP this summer to support it in Congress. Opinion polls in recent years show a steady erosion of confidence in the countrys politicians When asked to compare the current situation to a year ago, as the country faced its first election, 88.9% of Spaniards responded saying that the political situation is the same or worse. After unemployment and corruption, Spains politicians are seen as the countrys biggest problem. In October, the first-ever anti-corruption commission met in a move opposition parties hope will restore the trust of the electorate in its political class. The historic initiative was set up with the backing of all Spains main parties except for the PP. The conservative group has been tainted by a raft of scandals that have involved its members, including the Gurtel, Punica, Barcenas and Taula cases. Dozens of elected officials are being investigated or tried for crimes ranging from graft and patronage to illegal party financing. Successive polls show that Spaniards blame politicians for the current state of affairs: 80% feel that the government is doing a poor job fighting corruption, according to a survey by Transparency International. No other EU state has such high disapproval ratings. King Felipe highlighted corruption when he addressed Congress last month Whats more, 55% of respondents to the October CIS poll said they believe that most of Spains Cabinet is involved in illegal activities. This was part of the reason why the PP had so much trouble finding allies to form a government. When Ciudadanos agreed to a deal this summer, one of its conditions included Rajoy signing a six-point anti-corruption pledge. In his speech at the official opening of Congress last month, King Felipe highlighted the problem of graft. Corruption, he said, which has outraged public opinion throughout our country, must be fought with firmness, and has to become a sad memory of a scourge that we have beaten and overcome. Despite the widespread unpopularity of Spains politicians, 82.9% of those who took part in the CIS survey said they voted in the June 26 elections. Some 22.9% said they voted for the PP, with 21.4% supporting the PSOE, 12.4% Ciudadanos, and 19.4% Unidos Podemos, an alliance between the Communist Party-led United Left and the anti-austerity grouping Podemos. Asked about the state of the Spanish economy, 63% of those surveyed said the situation was bad or very bad, with just 4.4% describing it as positive or very positive. Almost half of those surveyed said their personal finances were average, with 31.2% saying good or very good and 18.6% bad or very bad. The CIS survey shows that 30% of Spaniards live in a household where the net monthly income is less than 1,200. English version by Nick Lyne. Paellagate Jamie Oliver defends use of chorizo in classic Spanish dish Celebrity UK chef proves unrepentant over decision to include sausage in his version of recipe Back in October Jamie Oliver caused uproar by daring to suggest people add chorizo to the classic Spanish dish of paella. The response was a flood of comments on Twitter, mostly from Spaniards who took a humorous dig at the celebrity chef for his hubris in daring to suggest an innovation for the classic dish. Last Friday, the British chef appeared on the BBCs The Graham Norton Show, with the presenter inviting him to respond to some of the Spanish tweets that had appeared in response to his recipe. You did one simple recipe and it caused an international incident. Turns out Spanish people are quite fussy about their food, said Norton, who introduced the segment by referring to chefs social media post that kicked off the controversy. He then brought up on screen some of the tweets about the Oliver-style paella. And here is Graham Nortons favorite tweet: They went medieval on me man. It was serious, said the chef on the Friday night broadcast. It trended for weeks. And I had death threats and all sorts because of a bit of sausage, added Oliver, to the obvious surprise of fellow guests Christopher Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, on a promotional tour for the movie Passengers. Hello @jamieoliver this is not paella, this is terrorism, you'd be better off making nuggets out of your fingers The tweets followed the chef to Canada, where he had met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the fight against childhood obesity. As I went out of the British Airways lounge, they went Oh, youre in the paper today, and I went Brilliant, good solid work, and she said: Yeah. Chorizo: Spanish dont like it. Whatever I did that month was overtaken by the chorizo. The last of the tweets Norton flashed up was perhaps taken a little literally. That is Spanish for I shit on your ancestors, Norton helpfully explained. Screw your ancestors! Here is how Jennifer Lawrence looked when Norton translated the message: The actress then took sides with the chef, saying: Chorizo sounds delicious right now. By the way, just FYI, it tastes better with chorizo. Trust me or dont trust me, said an unrepentant Oliver to a mixture of laughter and shock from the audience. Is Jamie Oliver laughing or crying after being confronted with these Spanish tweets? English version by George Mills. WASHINGTON A man who said he was investigating a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a pizza place fired an assault rifle inside the Washington, D.C., restaurant on Sunday injuring no one, police and news reports said. Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Aquita Brown said police received a call Sunday afternoon about a male with a weapon on Connecticut Avenue, in an affluent neighborhood of the nation's capital. Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, of Salisbury, North Carolina, walked into the front door of Comet Ping Pong and pointed a firearm in the direction of a restaurant employee, the Washington Post reported. The employee was able to flee and notify police. Welch then fired the gun into the floor. Police responded and arrested Welch without incident. They recovered an "assault rifle," Brown said. Welch was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. Two firearms were recovered inside the restaurant and an additional weapon was recovered from the suspect's vehicle, police said in a statement on Sunday evening. The Comet Ping Pong is in a neighborhood of well-tended private homes and apartment buildings on leafy streets that lead to a mix of shops, restaurants and the Politics and Prose book store. The restaurant gained notoriety during the presidential campaign after fake news stories stated that Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief ran a child sex ring out of the restaurant, The New York Times and other news organizations have reported. Welch told police he'd come to the restaurant to "self-investigate" the fictitious online conspiracy theory that spread online during Clinton's run for the White House, the police statement said. The Comet, its owner, staff and nearby businesses were caught up in an onslaught of conspiracy theories and fake news during the often contentious presidential campaign and were the victims social media attacks and death threats, the Post reported. "There will be a time and a place to address how and why this happened in greater detail but for now I will simply say we should all condemn the efforts of some people to spread malicious and utterly false accusations about Comet Ping Pong," owner James Alefantis told WUSA-TV SALISBURY Police in Salisbury are investigating two separate homicides that occurred early Sunday morning, including a shooting that left a 7-year-old girl dead. Police responded to a call at 4:19 a.m. about a shooting at 200 Harrel St. Ayanna Allan, 7, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to WBTV. Her grandmother, 56-year-old Shirley Robinson, was found with a gunshot wound to the leg. Robinson was taken to the hospital to be treated and has since been released. Sunday afternoon, Robinson told WBTV she and Ayanna were sleeping on the same bed when bullets were fired through their bedroom window. In an earlier incident, police were called at 1:22 a.m. about a shooting at the Firewater Restaurant and Lounge at 122 Avalon Dr. When they arrived, officers were told a victim shot in the parking lot had been taken to Novant Health Rowan Regional Medical Center by a private car. The victim, identified as Sharod Raheen Mathis, 22, died of his injuries. Salisbury Police Criminal Investigators and the State Bureau of Investigations are working together to investigate both cases. Anyone with information regarding the two cases is asked to call the Salisbury Police Department at 704-638-5333 or Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245. The two shootings took place about a mile and a half away from each other. The contested North Carolina governors race came to an abrupt conclusion Monday on both the voting and legal fronts. Gov. Pat McCrory conceded to Democratic challenger Roy Cooper, ending a 26-day period of uncertainty even as Coopers lead continued to grow. The governors office issued at 12:04 p.m. Monday a video statement on YouTube rather than conduct a news conference. McCrory becomes the first incumbent governor to pursue re-election and lose the bid. Cooper had declared himself governor-elect on Nov. 9. Nearly five hours after McCrorys concession, the Republican-controlled State Board of Elections said it had completed overseeing the Republican-controlled Durham County recount of about 94,000 ballots. Cooper gained six votes and McCrory none. Overall, Cooper had a net gain of 30 votes from the weekend for a 10,293 margin in complete, but unofficial results. State board spokesman Patrick Gannon said the total also reflects the final canvassing of votes from Bladen County. There were more than 4.7 million votes cast in the race. McCrory needed to be within 10,000 votes to call for a statewide recount. Also on Monday afternoon, Francis DeLuca, president of the conservative think tank Civitas Institute, asked for and was given permission to withdraw his federal lawsuit against the state board. DeLuca wanted Judge James Dever III to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent 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. A hearing on the motion had been set for Thursday. DeLuca cited that rulings by the state board on protests, challenges and recounts ... have changed the exigencies of the harm analysis relevant to granting such swift relief. Majority of citizens have spoken McCrory said it is time to celebrate our democratic process and respect what I see to be the ultimate outcome of the closest North Carolina governors race in modern history. I personally believe the majority of our citizens have spoken, and we should do everything we can to support the 75th governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper. Cooper said in a statement that while this was a divisive election season, I know still that there is more that unites us than divides us. Together, we can make North Carolina the shining beacon in the South by investing in our schools, supporting working families and building a state that works for everyone. Robin Hayes, chairman of the state Republican Party, said in a statement that he respects McCrorys decision to concede to Coopers victory. While we differ on public policy, we all share the same goal of making North Carolina the best she can be, Hayes said of Cooper. Coopers lead was 4,987 on Nov. 9 following the initial vote count from the states 2,704 precincts. The state board was required to certify statewide elections by Dec. 7. Gannon said the plan is to conduct the statewide canvass later this week. Despite continued questions McCrory said he made his concession despite continued questions that should be answered regarding the voting process. McCrory said he filed for the recount in part with serious concerns of potential voter fraud emerging across the state. Republican officials and supporters have claimed rampant fraud, such as voting by convicted felons, individuals casting votes in N.C. and out of state, and counting votes by people who cast an absentee ballot but died before Election Day. However, there were very few examples of ballots being rejected for those reasons. There is an expectation that several election issues may resurface, particularly same-day registration, during the 2017 legislative session. Legislators passed a law to end same-day registration, but a federal appeals court restored it in August. Gov. Pat McCrory leaves a tremendous positive legacy for our state and deserves a great deal of credit for graciously conceding an election that brought much-needed attention to the potential for fraud, and other weaknesses, in our states election system. Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said in a statement. We will work with Gov.-elect Cooper to address these problems, and to make certain voters have confidence in the outcome of future elections. Protests, appeal come up empty The Durham ballot recount was requested by Thomas Stark, the N.C. Republican Party attorney who was representing himself as a registered Durham County voter. Stark has mentioned the potential for ballot malfeasance in the Durham tabulation. Stark asks the state board to take authority over the Durham ballot process after the Durham board found no evidence of error. The McCrory campaign said in a statement Nov. 26 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. McCrorys re-election bid received a significant blow Nov. 28 when the state board rejected Republican-sponsored voter protests in 52 counties. A protest typically involves claims of violations of election law, irregularity or misconduct involving ballots but not to dispute the eligibility of a voter. The state board determined that in most instances, what were submitted as protests were instead voter challenges submitted after the deadline for such motions. DeLucas withdrawal followed several legal maneuvers Monday, including the state boards response to the lawsuit and the state NAACPs motion for a stayin the lawsuit. The state board said state law is consistent with what a federal appeals court said is permitted when it reinstated same-day registration and voting. I think the governor and his team realize that ongoing questions about the integrity of the election processes should be separated from the questions about who won the governors race, said Mitch Kokai, a senior political analyst with conservative think tank John Locke Foundation. A much better place McCrory said his administration will assist Coopers transition team in every way to assure a smooth transition. Cooper said his staff will begin to work immediately on the transition. In Mondays video, McCrory said he believed his administration while exhibiting the highest ethical standards, I am proud that our team leaves this state in a much better place than when we came into office. He cited higher public teacher pay, environmental cleanup efforts, creating successive state budget surpluses, health care and tax reforms, state infrastructure, and an economy with a net gain of more than 300,000 new jobs, even though about 40 percent of those jobs are in low-wage industries. McCrory and his administration were dogged by criticism of how it handled controversial initiatives and crises that included the coal ash spill, the ramifications on the state economy of House Bill 2, the planned I-77 toll lanes in Iredell and Mecklenburg counties, and voter registration restrictions. McCrory said he will spend the rest of his term as governor putting together disaster relief initiatives to help eastern N.C. residents with flood recovery from Hurricane Matthew and western N.C. residents with recovery from wildfires. McCrory asked for prayers for Cooper, President-elect Donald Trump and their families. I encourage everyone, now more than ever, to respect all of our public servants and the offices they are elected to hold, he said. Today The Yadkin County Board of Commissioners will meet at 9 a.m. in the Commissioners Meeting Room in the Yadkin County Human Services Building, 217 E. Willow St., Yadkinville. The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners will meet at 2 p.m. in the Commissioners Meeting Room on the fifth floor of the Forsyth County Government Center, 201 N. Chestnut St. The Surry County Board of Commissioners will meet at 6 p.m. at the Surry County Government Center, 118 Hamby Road, Dobson. The Wilkes County Board of Commissioners will meet at 7 p.m. in the Commissioners Meeting Room in the Wilkes County Office Building, 110 W. North St., Wilkesboro. The Winston-Salem City Council will meet at 7 p.m. in Council Chamber Room 230 at City Hall, 101 N. Main St. Tuesday The Recreation and Parks Commission will meet at noon at the South Fork Recreation Center, 4403 Country Club Road. The Public Arts Commission will meet at 2 p.m. in the second floor conference room, Stuart Municipal Building, 100 E. First St. The Lexington City Schools Board of Education will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the School Administration Building, 1010 Fair St., Lexington. The Kernersville Board of Aldermen will meet at 7 p.m. in the Municipal Council Chambers, Town Hall, 134 E. Mountain St., Kernersville. Wednesday The Community Appearance Commission will meet at noon in the Planning Board conference room, second floor, Stuart Municipal Building. The Public Assembly Facilities Commission will have a special, called meeting at noon at Benton Convention Center, 301 W. Fifth St. The Historic Resources Commission will meet at 4 p.m. in the fifth floor conference room, Stuart Municipal Building. Thursday The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners will hold a briefing session at 2 p.m. in the Commissioners Meeting Room, fifth floor of the Government Center. The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning Board will meet at 4:30 p.m. in the fifth floor public meeting room, Stuart Municipal Building. Friday The Forsyth County Local Emergency Planning Committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. in the departure lounge of Smith Reynolds airport. Although this is the 52nd year that Wake Forest University has held a Lovefeast, this year was the first time the university offered a 4:30 p.m. service in addition to the traditional 8 p.m. service on Sunday. The 4:30 service intentionally shorter than the 8 p.m. service drew more than 1,000 people. The 8 p.m. service was expected to fill Wait Chapel. Instead of a sermon that is usually given at the 8 p.m. service, members of Wake Forests religious community told the Christmas story through a reading written by the Rev. Joseph Breighner. Helen King, a 2003 Wake Forest graduate, brought her 5-year-old twin boys, Austin and Blake, to the 4:30 service. I was really happy they started the 4:30 service, King said. With little kids, its difficult for them in certain settings, and at 8 p.m. they get cranky so a 4:30 service is really helpful for families. One part of the Lovefeast is lighting candles one by one until the darkened chapel glows with firelight. Choirs and attendees sang Oh Come All Ye Faithful as they lifted their candles into the air. The Lovefeast is a service dedicated to Christian love. The first Lovefeast, according to Wake Forest, was served in Germany on Aug. 13, 1727, and followed the renewal of the Moravian Church. Wake Forests Lovefeast meal includes a sweetened bun and creamed coffee. The universitys first Lovefeast was held in 1965, organized by Moravian student Jane Sherrill Stroupe, a 1967 Wake Forest graduate. King said she has only been to one Lovefeast since graduation but attended them each year when she was a student. There was one year I studied abroad in Venice and we had a little mini Lovefeast when we were there because we all loved it and missed it so much, she said. The Rev. Timothy L. Auman, the universitys chaplain, reminded people to remember the grace of God, even making a reference to Homer from The Simpsons. Im normally not a praying man, but if youre up there, save me Superman, Auman said, quoting the famous cartoon dad. A lot of us would like to have a God like that but thats not how it works, Auman said. The God whose birth we are about to celebrate is not a superhero, but a baby. This God may not be the God that we want, but it is the God that we need. The largest net winners of defunct ZeekRewards.com Ponzi scheme have been ordered to pay their full liability, a federal judge ruled last week. That means 15 named individuals and five businesses could pay at least $900,000 each to the receivership, and the combined amount collected from the 9,400 members of the net winner class could reach $200 million. Net winners have been defined as participants who won more money than they paid into the scheme. The overall net winner list contained 15 individuals from Forsyth County, 105 from the Triad and Northwest N.C., and 390 statewide. However, theres an extra-large caveat to victims getting those funds added to what theyve already received in reimbursement. That because theres a strong likelihood some net winners dont have much, if any, of that money on them. The net winnings are as a matter of law fraudulent transfers that must be returned to the receivership, receiver Kenneth Bell said in a statement. Bell said it could take several months to reach financial resolution. He warned when he made this motion that the amount recovered by the receivership is likely to be substantially lower than $200 million. ZeekRewards.com operated from January 2011 to Aug. 17, 2012, from Lexington with global participation when it was shut down by federal regulators. At $939 million, federal prosecutors have called ZeekRewards.com one of the largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history. Judge Graham Mullen, of the Western District of N.C., granted the motion for summary judgment against the named defendants and a partial summary judgment against those listed in the net winner class. None of the 20 named defendants are from North Carolina. Bell said his next step is to meet with counsel for the net winner class before asking Mullen to approve a process to determine the amount owed by each class member. The entry of summary judgment is a significant event for the receivership and claimants, Bell said. How much of that we will be able to collect for distribution to claimants with allowed claims is uncertain at this time. However, we will pursue collection of these judgments vigorously, and expect the ultimate amount collected will be a substantial sum, Bell said. Prosecution In August 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Rex Venture Group LLC (RVG), Zeekler, ZeekRewards and top executive Paul Burks of raising more than $800 million through unregistered securities, also known as penny auctions, and another $96 million in subscription fees. Prosecutors claimed that Burks, 68, received at least $10.1 million from the scheme. The companies raised the money from at least 2.2 million customers, including more than 230,000 in the United States, with 47,000 of those in North Carolina. On July 21, a federal jury found Burks guilty on four charges wire and mail-fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, and tax-fraud conspiracy. The wire and mail-fraud conspiracy charge, the mail-fraud charge and the wire-fraud charge each carry a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $250,000 fine. The tax-fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum prison term of five years and a $250,000 fine. Burks sentencing may not occur until early 2017, according to Lia Bantavani, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of N.C. It is possible Burks could spend the rest of his life in prison. Legal defense The guilty verdicts on Burks led several net winners to alter their legal defense. They claimed they had no knowledge that ZeekRewards was a Ponzi scheme. They claimed that anyone who participated, including victims, have unclean hands. The defendants claimed they devoted significant time and money working on behalf of RVG ... Defendants performed as agreed and were owed the compensation that RVG promised to pay. The defendants also claimed to have spent thousands of hours on marketing, advertising and promoting RVG that they say had extrinsic value. The defendants said the SEC knew or should have known of the RVG scheme, but delayed unreasonably in its prosecution of claims against RVG. As a result, they should be credited with taxes they paid on the money they received and for business expenses. Mullen rejected those claims, writing that winners in the Ponzi scheme, even if innocent of any fraud themselves, should not be permitted to enjoy an advantage over later investors sucked into the Ponzi scheme who were not as lucky. Moreover, courts have routinely and specifically held that there is no value to recruiting new investors to a fraudulent scheme. Allowing the lack of traceability to defeat the receivers constructive trust claim would create a perverse incentive for every net winner of any Ponzi scheme to spend any proceeds received from the scheme before a receiver could start to unwind it and then claim that the assets were gone. Constructive trusts In terms of collecting winnings, Mullen approved of Bell creating constructive trusts, which allows Bell to trace and secure those fraudulently transferred receivership assets. As of Sept. 30, Bell has recovered $362 million and disbursed $269.8 million to victims. Many victims have received funds accounting for between 60 percent and 70 percent of their losses. Another $17 million could be dispersed to about 18,000 victims who live outside the United States. Bell has been granted permission to pursue up to $13.17 million in assets from three financial institutions: Payza, Payment World LLC and VictoriaBank SA of Moldova. LOS ANGELES When Lilly Cassirer and her husband fled Germany ahead of the Holocaust, they surrendered their Camille Pissarro masterpiece in exchange for their lives. The Jewish couple traded the work for the exit visas that allowed them to flee to the safety of England in 1939. When they did so, they set Pissarros stunning 1897 oil-on-canvas on an incredible journey of its own. It has resided since 1993 in Spains Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. Since 2000, Cassirers heirs have been trying to get it back. They may get one of their last chances today when their lawyer argues before a federal appeals court that the $30 million painting belongs to Cassirers great-grandchildren. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. You started the month dressed up in a gorgeous silk dress at a fancy party celebrating the 10th birthday of our friend Jordans company. You reached a new pinnacle of cuteness the next week, right as the 2016 election results came in. Rob was away in Iceland that week, making it extra surreal. You woke up with a huge grin on your face, ready to greet another new day. Your adorableness is equal parts helpful (a terrific distraction) and concerning (we worry for you). You and I both carefully got dressed up that morning and went out for a big stack of french toast at a neighborhood diner as a first step forward. You strategically deployed your cuteness for the other shell-shocked customers. Later that day, I made a big batch of cupcakes and invited friends over to commiserate with pizza and salad. We made it through the tough week together, with 6:30 am client calls each morning, thanks to help of babysitter Stella. Then, it was time to head to Iceland. There are lots of photos here from the trip and even more that your godfather Shane took. You loved the cold and we were very pleased that you were an easy traveler with practically no jetlag. You made some big developmental leaps that week sitting up in a highchair, using your hands more and practicing dolphin-ese shrieks. Back home, we had a couple days to catch up on work and laundry. Then, off to Fresno for Thanksgiving and to spend time with your paternal grandparents. Grandfather Carl loved playing with you. Grandmother Ellen was busy taking care of your uncle who went to the hospital with an infection. You also met your Great Grandmother for the first time. She was quite sick, but looked beautiful and loved seeing you. Back at home again, you conquered a series of new milestones all in a week: rolling over, sitting in your Bumbo chair and grabbing/chewing on your feet. Youre a delight! You love sticking your feet through the sides of your crib when you nap in there during the day. We continue to have you sleeping in the moses basket by our bed at night because it is just so cozy and convenient, even though youve nearly outgrown it. You snore less than you used to but I still love listening to you breathe at night. We had Robs coworkers visiting for the last week of November and my employee Sal in the house, too. You do pretty well working alongside us all when the babysitter leaves. It was thrilling to officially present my first post-baby brand strategy deck to a new client at the end of the month. You had your pediatricians appointment on your four month birthday. Now 15.5 lbs, youre 26.25 inches long and in the 99th percentile for height. You look much bigger than other four month old babies we meet. After our rough start, your blooming health is an even greater gift. We are the luckiest parents in the whole world. WASHINGTON - The biggest Help Wanted ad in eight years will materialize in Washington, D.C., first thing Monday: A plum-colored paperback listing 9,000 political jobs that will be available for those who want to work in Donald Trump's administration. The 226-page Plum Book so called for the desirable jobs that change hands at the end of a presidential term lists every patronage position in the executive and legislative branches that could be filled by Trump supporters. They're the policymaking and support positions that will form the spine of the real estate developer's new government, and they'll be vacated by the Obama administration by Jan. 20. We only say could be filled, because the president-elect made a campaign promise to shrink the federal bureaucracy - and transition officials say he plans to make good on that pledge. So many of these positions could be abolished after Trump takes office in January. The current tally is 2,000 jobs more than when the George W. Bush administration ended in 2008, a sign that government at least the political positions that reward supporters has grown over eight years. Trump officials said it's safe to say that the entire bureaucracy, including political appointees, will be significantly scaled back. One transition official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to be candid, described recent conversations on the team as it considers how to shape the federal government in the Trump era. "Oh, they had five people doing that? We're only going to hire two," the staff has discussed, according to the official. "In addition to imposing a hiring freeze on all federal employees, which will reduce the federal workforce through attrition, the number of political appointees will drop significantly," said Cliff Sims, a Trump spokesman. " 'Drain the swamp' was not just a campaign slogan. President-elect Trump is building a streamlined, innovative government focused on serving the people, not the special interests." The publication's 10 a.m. release Monday in hard copy at the Government Publishing Office bookstore in D.C. and digitally at www.govinfo.gov (plus through the Plum Book App) also will mark a shift in the newly elected administration's center of gravity to Washington from Midtown Manhattan. The densely worded volume, to be released by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has a wonky title, "Policy and Supporting Positions," that brings to mind one of the government's more mind-numbing publications. Yet the Plum Book is a mother lode for job seekers, from ambassadors to secretaries, all over the world. The Washington Post obtained an early copy. There will be opportunities for Trump supporters in Alabama, for example, where three U.S. Marshals are now stationed. The new administration will be looking for an assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the Energy Department and a deputy associate commissioner for systems electronic services at the Social Security Administration. The Republic of Palau will need an ambassador, and Sudan will need a special envoy. The Postal Regulatory Commission will be hiring a general counsel. The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation will have nine openings. There are high salaries by government standards and low ones. The confidential assistant in the Office of White House Liaison at the Commerce Department is now a GS-7 making somewhere between $43,684 and $56,790. The U.S. attorney for the Virgin Islands, meanwhile, brings in $160,300. Some of the many commissions listed are unsalaried, except for per diem and travel expenses. Since his victory in November, Trump has been meeting at Trump Tower with dozens of potential picks for his new Cabinet. When their nominations are complete, the focus will turn to the transition team vetting resumes at the General Services Administration headquarters in D.C. How many resumes? As of Friday, 65,800 men and women had applied to serve in the Trump administration through the website GreatAgain.gov, transition officials said. The team's Washington operation has been quietly sifting through these applications for weeks to choose the most qualified and talented candidates, categorizing them into which agency they want to work for. The group is led by Rick Dearborn, the transition's executive director. Now Dearborn's staff will have specific jobs to match with the resumes. Hiring decisions aren't being made just yet, though. After the Cabinet choices, a second wave of decisions will focus on positions like the secretaries of the various military branches and key deputies for the Cabinet, many of whom will require Senate confirmation. The political appointments under them and thousands of positions known as "Schedule C" jobs, for less-high-profile candidates who do not need a green light from the Senate, will come next. The number of vacancies is subject to interpretation. While the Plum Book's foreword says it includes more than 9,000 jobs, hundreds of these are appointments, either full- or part-time, to little-known boards and commissions. Hundreds more are nonpolitical jobs occupied by civil servants for example, those in the senior executive service. They're listed because the president could convert some of these positions to political appointments if they are vacant. Experts in the presidential appointment process say the ones to focus on come to about 4,100. "The real jobs are the 4,100," said Terry Sullivan, a political scientist at the University of North Carolina and executive director of the White House Transition Project, which provides information to incoming administrations, focusing on the White House. "Almost none of the civil service jobs listed are going to turn over, but any one of them could," he said. The 4,100 positions have grown from 3,653 just four years ago. All of the political jobs are at will, as opposed to nonpolitical civil servants, which means they will serve at the pleasure of the president. They require political connections, which will make things interesting for a president who until now has had no federal government experience. The plummiest positions are likely to go to retired members of Congress, defeated member of Congress, friends and associates of the president-elect and his family, top advisers and people the Cabinet appointees have worked with and trust. Trump had a limited field operation, but the Republican National Committee brought in an extensive team of campaign workers and volunteers who would be likely candidates for some positions, if they know how to network. The 1968 Plum Book, which was then brown (Government Publishing Office) The Plum Book has been a presidential ritual since the incoming Eisenhower administration produced the first comprehensive political job list in 1952. With Democrats controlling patronage jobs in the two decades before, Republicans pressed for a list of government jobs they could fill. The book appeared again in 1960 and has been published since after every presidential election. It contains listings of jobs by department and agency, the type of appointment for each position, the names of those currently in the job, and, in many cases, salary levels. As of last summer, when the Office of Personnel Management provided the listings to the Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigns for planning purposes, some jobs were vacant. The Plum Book has not always been plum. The cover has appeared in Sand Gray (read: brownish) and Killarney Green (read: avocado). Not surprisingly, there's more interest when a president is about to leave office than after one term. Sales of printed copies in 2008, as Obama prepared to move into the White House, were 2,140, with 225,000 online views. In 2012, 210 copies were printed with 18,700 digital views. Some top federal jobs, like the FBI and IRS directors, have fixed terms that won't shift with the administration. Some open positions may not be filled for months or even years. There are several ways the number of jobs can creep up. Agencies have flexibility to create new political positions at both low and mid-levels. Congress also creates new jobs in legislation, like the Puerto Rico Oversight Commission, the International Exchange Rate Commission and the higher-profile Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which currently has 28 political appointees. All came into existence during the Obama administration. OAKLAND, Calif. The death toll from a fire that tore through a warehouse hosting a late-night dance party climbed to 33 on Sunday as firefighters painstakingly combed through rubble for others believed to still be missing and made the grim announcement that teenagers were among the dead. The building that went up in flames was known as the Ghost Ship, had been carved into artist studios and was an illegal home for a rotating cast of a dozen or more people, according to former denizens who said it was a cluttered death trap with few exits, piles of wood and a mess of snaking electric cords. If you were going there for a party, you wouldnt be aware of the maze that you have to go through to get out, said Danielle Boudreaux, a former friend of the couple who ran the warehouse. The death toll was expected to rise, as crews using buckets and shovels slowly made their way through the building, finding victims where they least expected them, Alameda County sheriffs Sgt. Ray Kelly said. Less than half the charred remains of the partly collapsed structure had been searched as of Sunday afternoon, Kelly said. When we started this investigation, if you had told us that you would have 33 victims, we wouldnt have believed you, Kelly said. I dont know how many people are left in there. The victims include 17-year-olds and people from Europe and Asia and range in age from their teens to 30-plus years old, Kelly said. Officials have identified seven people who were killed using fingerprints, though they have not released the identifications. Among the dead was Donna Kellogg, according to her father, Keith Slocum. He declined additional comment. Anxious family members who feared the worst gathered at the sheriffs office to await word on their loved ones. They were told they may have to provide DNA samples to help identify remains. As many as 100 people were there for a party Friday night when the fire broke out just before midnight. Fire officials were still investigating the cause of the blaze, but they said clutter fueled the flames, there were no sprinklers inside and few exits to escape. Boudreaux identified the operators of the Satya Yuga collective as Derick Ion Almena and Micah Allison. She had a falling out with Almena when she convinced Allisons parents and sister about a year ago that the warehouse was a dangerous place for the couples three children to live. Michael Allison of Portland, Ore., the father of Almenas partner, Micah Allison, said the couple had a troubled relationship. Michael Allison and other family members were able to persuade his daughter, Micah, to go to a drug-rehabilitation center in 2015, but Almena talked his way into the rehab center, and convinced Micah Allison to leave with him, Michael Allison said. The familys three children had lice and needed new clothes, prompting family to call child-protective services, said Michael Allison, who wept as he talked. But Almena and his partner eventually were able to win custody of the children back and cut off all communication with Michael Allison, the father said. Almena did not immediately respond to emails or phone numbers associated with him. Authorities declined to talk about the manager, saying they were focused on recovering the bodies and consoling families. No one answered a call to a number for Micah Allison. A man identified as Derick Ion posted a Facebook message early Saturday, saying: Everything I worked so hard for is gone. Blessed that my children and Micah were at a hotel safe and sound. He drew rebukes online from others who said he was warned the building was unsafe. The couple rented out five recreational vehicles and other nooks on the ground floor as living spaces. A rickety makeshift staircase led to a second floor where concerts were held. Former residents said there frequently was no electricity or running water. Oakland planning officials opened an investigation last month after repeated complaints from neighbors who said trash was piling up and people were illegally living in the building zoned as a warehouse. An inspector who went to the premises couldnt get inside, said Darin Ranelletti, of the Oakland Planning Department. The city had not confirmed people lived there, but a former resident, Shelley Mack, said she had been lured in part by reasonable rents in a region beset with a housing shortage and exorbitant leases driven by the tech boom. GREENVILLE With odds against his leading recovery efforts much longer, Gov. Pat McCrory wants legislators to return to work now so they can organize and fund more Hurricane Matthew relief for residents, businesses and communities. McCrory plans to call the General Assembly back Dec. 13 to consider a package of programs and how to pay for them. Theres plenty in the states savings reserve that could cover what he will request, the details of which are still being worked out. McCrorys office also confirmed late last week that he also would request funding during the special session to deal with recent mountain wildfires. Congress is separately considering another $600 million in additional hurricane aid that McCrory already requested for such things as infrastructure, farm and business repairs. Knowing how much Congress will send to North Carolina in part determines exactly how much and where the state will need to spend. While hopeful Congress could approve his request before a special session, McCrory is ready to reconvene legislators even if it doesnt happen in time. He said he would be meeting with state House and Senate leaders about his relief proposal. We think theres at a minimum short-term action we need to take to help especially those without housing as we enter these winter months, McCrory said in a brief interview in Greenville after a meeting about hurricane relief. The longer theres inaction, the longer theres pain for those people impacted by this hurricane. State officials say Octobers massive rainfall and the resulting floods hurt 30,000 businesses and caused more than $400 million in crop losses. There were 28 storm-related deaths, and the economic damage could exceed $2 billion. The McCrory administrations efforts to fashion short- and long-term help for the victims of the storm has occurred while the outcome of the governors race in the Nov. 8 election hasnt yet been finalized amid a recount and formal protests. Unofficial results show McCrory trailing Democrat Roy Cooper by more than 10,000 votes, and the Republican incumbent is running out of paths to victory. The legislature doesnt begin its next regular session in earnest until Jan. 25, after the inauguration. Talk of a special session probably is being overshadowed by the uncertainty of the election, said state Sen. Tommy Tucker, R-Union. N.C. House and Senate leaders, however, say they are ready to return in December and work with McCrory on a relief package. McCrory has attended meetings of a special recovery committee he formed thats held public hearings in five Eastern North Carolina cities. At the Greenville hearing last week, McCrory mentioned a big immediate need permanent housing for displaced residents. A Federal Emergency Management Agency program through which about 1,500 households are living in hotels is set to expire Jan. 7, McCrorys office said. While the program could be extended, McCrory doesnt want to take a chance. Theyll be put out on the street, and as governor Im not going to have that happen, he said. With nearly half of North Carolinas 100 counties approved for federal assistance, $80 million in federal money already has gone to individuals harmed by the hurricane. McCrorys Nov. 14 federal aid request to Congress sought more than $1 billion, but FEMA already approved some of that assistance to repair roads, navigation channels, water-treatment plants and parks. That reduces the total being discussed by Congress to $600 million, McCrory spokesman Graham Wilson said. WASHINGTON Twenty-five years ago December 1991 communism died, the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union disappeared. It was the largest breakup of an empire in modern history and not a shot was fired. It was an event of biblical proportions that my generation thought it would never live to see. As Wordsworth famously rhapsodized (about the French Revolution), Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive/ But to be young was very heaven! That dawn marked the ultimate triumph of the liberal democratic idea. It promised an era of Western dominance led by a pre-eminent America, the worlds last remaining superpower. And so it was for a decade as the community of democracies expanded, first into Eastern Europe and former Soviet colonies. The U.S. was so dominant that when, on Dec. 31, 1999, it gave up one of the most prized geo-strategic assets on the globe the Panama Canal no one even noticed. That era is over. The autocracies are back and rising; democracy is on the defensive; the U.S. is in retreat. Look no further than Aleppo. A Western-backed resistance to a local tyrant he backed by a resurgent Russia, an expanding Iran and an array of proxy Shiite militias is on the brink of annihilation. Russia drops bombs; America issues statements. What better symbol for the end of that heady liberal-democratic historical moment. The West is turning inward and going home, leaving the field to the rising authoritarians Russia, China and Iran. In France, the conservative partys newly nominated presidential contender is fashionably conservative and populist and soft on Vladimir Putin. As are several of the newer Eastern Europe democracies Hungary, Bulgaria, even Poland themselves showing authoritarian tendencies. And even as Europe tires of the sanctions imposed on Russia for its rape of Ukraine, President Obamas much touted isolation of Russia has ignominiously dissolved, as our secretary of state repeatedly goes cap in hand to Russia to beg for mercy in Syria. The European Union, the largest democratic club on earth, could itself soon break up as Brexit-like movements spread through the continent. At the same time, its members dash with unseemly haste to reopen economic ties with a tyrannical and aggressive Iran. As for China, the other great challenger to the post-Cold War order, the administrations pivot has turned into an abject failure. The Philippines has openly defected to the Chinese side. Malaysia then followed. And the rest of our Asian allies are beginning to hedge their bets. When the president of China addressed the Pacific Rim countries in Peru last month, he suggested that China was prepared to pick up the pieces of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, now abandoned by both political parties in the United States. The Wests retreat began with Obama, who reacted to (perceived) post-9/11 overreach by abandoning Iraq, offering appeasement (reset) to Russia and accommodating Iran. In 2009, he refused even rhetorical support to the popular revolt against the rule of the ayatollahs. Donald Trump wants to continue the pull back, though for entirely different reasons. Obama ordered retreat because hes always felt the U.S. was not good enough for the world, too flawed to have earned the moral right to be the world hegemon. Trump would follow suit, disdaining allies and avoiding conflict, because the world is not good enough for us undeserving, ungrateful, parasitic foreigners living safely under our protection and off our sacrifices. Time to look after our own American interests. Trumps is not a new argument. As the Cold War was ending in 1990, Jeane Kirkpatrick, the quintessential neoconservative, argued that we should now become a normal country in a normal time. It was time to give up the 20th-century burden of maintaining world order and of making superhuman exertions on behalf of universal values. Two generations of fighting fascism and communism were quite enough. Had we not earned a restful retirement? At the time, I argued that we had earned it indeed, but a cruel history would not allow us to enjoy it. Repose presupposes a fantasy world in which stability is self-sustaining without the United States. It is not. We would incur not respite but chaos. A quarter-century later, we face the same temptation, but this time under more challenging circumstances. Worldwide jihadism has been added to the fight, and we enjoy nothing like the dominance we exercised over conventional adversaries during our 1990s holiday from history. We may choose repose, but we wont get it. WASHINGTON The Pentagon has begun briefing key allies on plans for advanced weapons technologies aimed at offsetting Russian and Chinese military gains. But the next round of these discussions is on hold awaiting approval of the programs by the Trump administration. Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said that he met in early November for formal collaborations with close foreign partners to explain the high-tech weapons systems, which are aimed at restoring U.S. dominance in conventional warfare. This approach, which seeks to leverage U.S. leadership in computer technology, is known within the Pentagon by the cumbersome moniker, the third offset strategy. The hand-off to the next administration is delicate. During the Obama administration, the Pentagon has become increasingly worried about Russian and Chinese improvements in weapons technology and their aggressive, risk-taking behavior. The push for new weapons systems reflects those fears. But President-elect Donald Trump has said he hopes to improve relations with Russia, a process that might be complicated by a new high-tech arms race. Work summarized an unclassified version of the briefing he shared with allies. It proposes interlocking systems of computer-driven sensors, battle-management networks, kinetic weapons and logistics. The aim is to create systems that are so fast and pervasive that they can overwhelm what Work described as an adversarys OODA loop, meaning its capacity for observation, orientation, decision and action. Work briefed Trumps transition team about these technologies on Tuesday. He also shared with them a summary prepared by the Pentagons Office of Net Assessment describing in graphical form the declining U.S. edge, or over-match, in conventional weapons, relative to Russia and China. Our conventional over-match has been eroding for some time, Work said in an interview at his Pentagon office. Its not at a critical stage yet, but it is concerning. And as we look at the trends, we say, when it comes to conventional war-fighting, we dont want fair fights. Instead, he said, the Pentagon wants short, sharp and victorious conflicts. Works spokesman wouldnt describe the Trump teams reaction to the third offset briefing, or whether theyve signaled that they will continue the programs. Work has deferred a planned second set of meetings with allies so that these contacts can have Trumps blessing. Our hope is that, obviously, this thinking ... will be accepted in some way, shape or form by the new administration, he said. The most powerful signal that they could give is if they had the next follow-on meeting, which would indicate to our allies, OK, you know, the ship continues to go in the same general direction, Work explained. Support from allies is important because the new over-match strategy is designed to allow foreign partners to plug into the complex sensor, battle-management and weapons systems, Work said. You just have to have the right plugs ... so that machines can talk to machines. As the machines process the information, they would make it available in the cockpits of airplanes, in seaborne command centers or even on the helmet visors of individual soldiers. The power of the new systems comes from their ability to fuse different sensors, platforms and weapons, and to coordinate unmanned systems on land, sea, in the air and underwater. Some of these systems sound like video-game warfare, and others have an ominous resemblance to killer robots or swarms of tiny drones. The value of such ultra-high-tech battle networks, from the Pentagons perspective, is that they would radically complicate a potential adversarys ability to plan an attack and thereby, in theory, provide better deterrence. Work has been the chief advocate of this new war-fighting concept. After he gave a briefing on the third offset concept to a bipartisan strategy group in Aspen, Colorado, last summer, some members argued that he should remain at the Pentagon, whoever was elected, to provide continuity. When asked if he hoped to stay involved, Work responded: I am very invested in this. ... I will help the next administration in any way I can to help make sure that this type of thinking continues. Work warned about the danger of halting or slowing the new programs. We have this momentum built up now inside the department, he said, noting that the challenge wasnt just to develop the technologies, but to incorporate them into the U.S. militarys doctrine, training and war-gaming exercises. Would this new generation of weapons provide greater strategic stability with Russia and China, or more instability? Of the many national-security issues facing Trump, this is among the most consequential. WASHINGTON The word inappropriate is increasingly used inappropriately. It is useful to describe departures from good manners or other social norms, such as wearing white after Labor Day or using the salad fork with the entree. But the adjective has become a splatter of verbal fudge, a weasel word falsely suggesting measured seriousness. Its misty imprecision does not disguise, it advertises, the users moral obtuseness. A French court has demonstrated how inappropriate can be an all-purpose device of intellectual evasion and moral cowardice. The court said it is inappropriate to do something that might disturb people who killed their unborn babies for reasons that were, shall we say, inappropriate. Prenatal genetic testing enables pregnant women to be apprised of a variety of problems with their unborn babies, including Down syndrome. It is a congenital condition resulting from a chromosomal defect that causes varying degrees of mental disability and some physical abnormalities, such as low muscle tone, small stature, flatness of the back of the head and an upward slant to the eyes. Within living memory, Down syndrome people were called Mongoloids. Now they are included in the category called special needs people. What they most need is nothing special. It is for people to understand their aptitudes, and to therefore quit killing them in utero. Down syndrome, although not common, is among the most common congenital anomalies at 49.7 per 100,000 births. In approximately 90 percent of instances when prenatal genetic testing reveals Down syndrome, the baby is aborted. Cleft lips or palates, which occur in 72.6 per 100,000 births, also can be diagnosed in utero and sometimes are the reason a baby is aborted. In 2014, in conjunction with World Down Syndrome Day (March 21), the Global Down Syndrome Foundation prepared a two-minute video titled Dear Future Mom to assuage the anxieties of pregnant women who have learned that they are carrying a Down syndrome baby. More than 7 million people have seen the video online in which one such woman says, Im scared: what kind of life will my child have? Down syndrome children from many nations tell the woman that her child will hug, speak, go to school, tell you he loves you and can be happy, just like I am and youll be happy, too. The French state is not happy about this. The court has ruled that the video is wait for it inappropriate for French television. The court upheld a ruling in which the French Broadcasting Council banned the video as a commercial. The court said the videos depiction of happy Down syndrome children is likely to disturb the conscience of women who had lawfully made different personal life choices. So, what happens on campuses does not stay on campuses. There, in many nations, sensitivity bureaucracies have been enforcing the relatively new entitlement to be shielded from whatever might disturb, even inappropriate jokes. And now this rapidly metastasizing right has come to this: A video that accurately communicates a truthful proposition that Down syndrome people can be happy and give happiness should be suppressed because some people might become ambivalent, or morally queasy, about having chosen to extinguish such lives because ... This is why the video giving facts about Down syndrome people is so subversive of the flaccid consensus among those who say aborting a baby is of no more moral significance than removing a tumor from a stomach. Pictures persuade. Todays improved prenatal sonograms make graphic the fact that the moving fingers and beating heart are not mere fetal material. They are a baby. Toymaker Fisher-Price, childrens apparel manufacturer OshKosh, McDonalds and Target have featured Down syndrome children in ads that the French court would probably ban from television. The court has said, in effect, that the lives of Down syndrome people and by inescapable implication, the lives of many other disabled people matter less than the serenity of people who have acted on one or more of three vicious principles: That the lives of the disabled are not worth living. Or that the lives of the disabled are of negligible value next to the desire of parents to have a child who has no special, meaning inconvenient, needs. Or that government should suppress the voices of Down syndrome children in order to guarantee other peoples right not to be disturbed by reminders that they have made lethal choices on the basis of one or both of the first two inappropriate principles. DAVID L. MOUNT, Winston-Salem Moving forward The election process was highly contentious, coupled with doom-and-gloom speculations. A key theme has been said over and over again: I just cannot look at my neighbors the same anymore. After talking with folks working through complex emotions attached to the presidential election, I find myself considering the following thoughts. Millions of people are feeling as though their political stratosphere has been shaken to its core, finding themselves now juggling fragile hope and psychological despair from a tight rope while hovering above Main Street. Consider, the strongest team on paper may not be the strongest team on game day. To the point, the divided cannot stand; we have an opportunity to re-envision the connections among us, to challenge unproductive stereotypes and to work on learning about one another. We must be greater than a win/lost proposition. I am pressed to underscore that demeaning name-calling undermines the foundation from which reconciliation has an opportunity for calming the troubled spirit and mending the broken heart. In the days, weeks and even years ahead, communities must figure out how to cheer together, sitting in the same stadium, rooting for an American victory. This election rings forward all lives matter and that a conscious inclusivity will shine the brightest light forward. Good communication starts with genuine eye contact, not averted eyes. How we exit the stadium as members of the American team will have implications for human-services delivery and transgenerational community engagement. Our humanity cheers against where apathy stands. ****** CHARLES E. WILSON, Winston-Salem Undoing steady progress We rely on our police and fire departments to protect us. Can we count on the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality? The DEQ mission statement begins with It is recognized that the DEQs primary mission is to protect N.C.s environment DEQs fundamental principles include That all decisions are made with a respect and understanding that science will inform decisions on how to best protect the environment and develop energy policy. Unfortunately, the leader of DEQ, Secretary Donald van der Vaart, seems committed to protecting polluters instead of protecting the air we breathe and the water we drink. His letter to President-elect Donald Trump is basically a plan to disable the Environmental Protection Agency (DEQ leaders letter to Trump prompts quick backlash, Nov. 20). EPA and state agencies have made steady progress in environmental protection. The results include an improvement in the quality of life, a reduction in mortality, including infant mortality, and a benefit to industries and activities that depend on clean air and water. The Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 produced a benefit-to-cost ratio of 30 ($30 of benefits to each dollar spent). ****** JANE FREEMONT GIBSON, Winston-Salem Substantial differences There really is plenty of hypocrisy in politics today, and I wouldnt claim that the Democratic Party is 100 percent free from it. But in reply to the Nov. 28 letter A duplicitous party, there are substantial differences between former President Jimmy Carters actions toward Iran immigration, former President Bill Clintons immigration policies and what President-elect Donald Trump proposes today. Yes, Carter halted immigration from Iran. But that was in response to Iranians taking Americans hostage. He reacted against a country that was hostile to the U.S. Iranian immigration for humanitarian reasons was still allowed. Carter also didnt prohibit the people of a whole religion, as Trump has proposed. The Syrian government hasnt taken Americans hostage. Were taking in refugees who are fleeing from war and terrorism in Syria. Theres no legitimate comparison. Clintons support for strong borders is also different from Trumps efforts to scapegoat illegal immigrants, portraying them as rapists and drug-dealers. Trump has also tried to demonize Syrian refugees, though not a single one has committed an act of terror on American soil. Carter and Clinton acted rationally; Trump is playing to prejudices. Sometimes you have to look below the surface to understand the truth. If the comparison still isnt clear, ask this: Did American neo-Nazis cheer in public when Carter froze immigration? Did they cheer Clintons immigration policies? Because they have done so for Trump. That should tell us something. When You Write The Journal encourages readers comments. To participate in The Readers Forum, please submit letters online to Letters@wsjournal.com. Please write The Readers Forum in the subject line and include your full name, address and a daytime telephone number. Or you may mail letters to: The Readers Forum, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27102. Letters are subject to editing and may be published on journalnow.com. Letters are limited to 250 words. Letter writers are allowed one letter every 30 days. If you would like a photo of yourself included with your letter, send it to us as a .jpg file. For more guidelines and advice on writing letters, go to journalnow.com/opinion/submit_a_letter. The Journal welcomes original submissions for guest columns on local, regional and statewide topics. Essay length should not exceed 750 words. The writer should have some authority for writing about his or her subject. Our email address is: Letters@wsjournal.com. Essays may also be mailed to: The Readers Forum, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27102. Please include your name and address and a daytime telephone number. Russian Federal Security Service Has Access to Personal Data of Armenian Citizens (video) As it is known, the Border Management Information System (BMIS) has been functioning in Armenia since 2006. The system is a database containing data on Armenian citizens and vehicles that have crossed the RA border. BMIS The BMIS electronic database stores scans of passports and vehicle registration documents, information on the date, time of crossing the border, direction and accompanying people, as well as other data that are stored for at least 7 years. RA Government Decree N 884 of 2006 clearly stipulates which bodies can use the BMIS system. That list includes a number of RA state bodies, particularly some branches of law enforcement and the executive. However, during the investigation related to the leakage of passport scans of American diplomats in August this year, the Union of Informed Citizens revealed that the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation also has the right to use the BMIS system. In response to our enquiry, the Armenian National Security Service informed us that they have granted the Russian Border Protection Department of the Federal Security Service access to the BMIS system. In other words, with the permission of the Armenian NSS, the Russian FSS has all data related to all the people who have crossed the Armenian border: who, when, which checkpoint and in which direction, what transport, who with. The Legal Part As it has been noted, according to the RA Government Decree, only Armenian state bodies can use the BMIS system. The NSS, in its turn, makes a reference to the 1992 agreement between Armenia and Russia on the Status and Activity of Border Troops of the Russian Federation in the Territory of Armenia, without mentioning any specific provision. And though it is obvious that the 1992 agreement cannot contain any clause related to the electronic system created in 2006, it is worth noting that the aforementioned agreement (Article 6) stipulates that the Russian border guards only carry out the function of allowing people, vehicles, cargoes, goods and other items to cross the border in the border checkpoints with Turkey and Iran. Hence, leaving aside the question why there are Russian border guards in the border checkpoint with Iran (and even in Zvartnots International Airport), let us note that their functions stipulated in the 1992 agreement can only (at most) include entering data of people crossing the border into the BMIS system, and their functions can in no way include reading the information in the system. Clause 6 of Article 27 of the RA Law on Protection of Personal Data clearly stipulates that The personal data possessed by state bodies can be passed on to foreign state bodies only within the framework of international agreements. And since there is no international agreement according to which Armenia shall pass the personal data of people crossing the RA state border to Russia, the transfer of the data is illegal. Moreover, Article 34 of the RA Constitution clearly stipulates that Everyone shall have the right to protection of data concerning him. Personal data should be processed fairly for purposes clearly prescribed by lawwith presence of a legitimate basis. With the Permission of the RA National Security Service Thus, it is clear that it is an illegal action on the part of the RA National Security Service (as a BMIS coordinating body) to grant the Russian Federal Security Service access to citizens personal data. Moreover, it is a violation of peoples constitutional right. And that right of the Armenian and foreign citizens crossing the border has already been violated for more than 7 years. It is worth noting that this is not the first time when the Russian FSS border guards violate the Armenian law with the permission of the Armenian NSS. We all remember the incidents of not passing Valeriy Permyakov to the RA law enforcement bodies, impeding the legitimate activities of RA National Assembly Deputy Zaruhi Postanjyan, and etc. A vivid example of a continuous and mass violation is the Russian FSS border guards implementing passport control functions at Zvartnots Airport, which does not stem from the 1992 agreement, or from any other legal act. Daniel Ioannisyan Union of Informed Citizens Spain-Armenia parallels: What we also can have We are in the center of the old city of the capital of Spain, Madrid. While going out for breakfast in the morning, and while returning to the hotel in the evening, we can see a small, cozy cafe. The atmosphere here is always lively. Mainly middle-aged people gather there. They come, hug each other, take freshly made cakes- churros, cocoa, tea or coffee and combine necessary gastronomic event with sweet conversation. An elderly man is cleaning the table from empty cups. Its strange; he could enjoy his life with his pension, but he prefers to work and communicate with the people of his age. Here the prices are very cheap, minimal, it means that the owner of this cafe gets minimal income from the business; the walls of the cafe arent luxuriously painted, but instead they are bright from affection and happiness of the elderly. We encountered similar cafe also in French city of Perpignan bordering Spain. Of course, one cannot see something like this in Armenia. On the contrary, mainly people under middle age visit cafes in Armenia. A simple tradition, which will make the elderly happy. By the way, mostly the elderly visit beauty salons in Europe. All the Christmas trees in the central squares of Madrid are made of iron; iron bars in the form of pyramids with lots of lights on them. Whats more, the main Christmas tree of the capital has been the same fore already the second year. Such a thing will not happen in Armenia, the main Christmas tree of Yerevan is always natural; numerous fir trees are cut off and hung on iron bar and thrown away after two weeks. Of course, it costs cheaper as fir tree is free or from Georgia at low price. It is the metro of Barcelona. Of course, there is no passionate Spanish music with guitar sounding in our trains. You have just witnessed robbery. Yes, on trains in Barcelona you can often witness robbery even if there are few passengers on it. If there lots of people, they intentionally create a scuffle and while one is diverting your attention, another does his dirty job. We were twice attacked like that. Ordinary Spaniard, by the way, may defend you and draw the inspectors attention at the robber. So one should always be alert and keep their bag at hand. And while walking in large avenues, be careful of robbers with bicycles; they suddenly grasp your bag and take it with them. One more thing, which cannot be seen in Armenia. Like in other places in Europe, such old buildings are maintained here, which arent historical-cultural values, and whats more, may never be used again. Several centuries old buildings just stand with imperious look. Ornament of a residential building In flea-market of Barcelona there are items, which owners dont need them anymore. Including family photos. Who will buy photos belonging to strangers? In one of the main avenues, Rambla, from the balcony of Erotic Museum, Marilyn Monroe welcomes you every evening. But here she is a man. And this balcony, which is on the way to Museum of Picasso in Barcelona, proves that once red lights street was here. Another balcony in Madrid And a man selling roasted chestnuts Barcelona-Madrid Hasmik Budaghyan Reddit Email 0 Shares By Pratap Chatterjee | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | In less than seven weeks, President Barack Obama will hand over the government to Donald Trump, including access to the White House, Air Force One, and Camp David. Trump will also, of course, inherit the infamous nuclear codes, as well as the latest in warfare technology, including the Central Intelligence Agencys fleet of killer drones, the National Security Agencys vast surveillance and data collection apparatus, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations enormous system of undercover informants. Before the recent election, Obama repeatedly warned that a Trump victory could spell disaster. If somebody starts tweeting at three in the morning because SNL [Saturday Night Live] made fun of you, you cant handle the nuclear codes, Obama typically told a pro-Clinton rally in November. Everything that weve done over the last eight years, he added in an interview with MSNBC, will be reversed with a Trump presidency. Yet, just days after Obama made those comments and Trump triumphed, the Guardian reported that his administration was deeply involved in planning to give Trump access not just to those nuclear codes, but also to the massive new spying and killing system that Obama personally helped shape and lead. Obamas failure to rein in George Bushs national security policies hands Donald Trump a fully loaded weapon, Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, observed recently. The presidents failure to understand that these powers could not be entrusted in the hands of any president, not even his, have now put us in a position where they are in the hands of Donald Trump. In many areas, it hardly matters what Barack Obama now does. In his last moments, for example, were he to make good on his first Oval Office promise and shut down the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Trump could reverse that decision with the stroke of a pen on January 20, 2017. So, at this late date, what might a president frightened by his successor actually do, if not to hamper Trumps ability to create global mayhem, then at least to set the record straight before he leaves the White House? Unfortunately, the answer is: far less than we might like, but as it happens, there are still some powers a president has that are irreversible by their very nature. For example, declassifying secret documents. Once such documents have been released, no power on earth can take them back. The president also has a virtually unlimited power of pardon. And finally, the president can punish high-level executive branch or military officials who abused the system, just as President Obama recalled General Stanley McChrystal from his post in Afghanistan in 2010, and he can do so until January 19th. Of course, Trump could rehire such individuals, but fast action by Obama could at least put them on trial in the media, if nowhere else. Here, then, are nine recommendations for action by the president in his last 40 days when it comes to those three categories: publish, punish, and pardon. Think of it as a political version of publish or perish. Drones 1. Name innocent drone victims: Last July, the Obama administration quietly released a statement in which it admitted that it had killed between 64 and 116 innocent people in 473 drone strikes in Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen between January 2009 and the end of 2015. (Never mind that the reliable Bureau of Investigative Journalism, based in Britain, has recorded a total closer to 800 innocent deaths from the same set of strikes.) President Obama should immediately name those innocent people his administration has admitted killing, while providing the dates and locations of the incidents, where known. There is a precedent for this: on April 23, 2015, Obama apologized for the deaths in a drone strike in Pakistan of Giovanni Lo Porto and Warren Weinstein, an Italian and an American held captive by Al Qaeda, whom he identified by name. Why not release the names of the rest? Faisal bin Ali Jaber, a Yemeni engineer, has been asking for just such a response. His brother-in-law Salem and nephew Waleed were killed by a U.S. drone strike in 2012. Yemeni officials gave Jaber $100,000 in cash that they swore was compensation from the U.S. government, but if so, Washington has not acknowledged what it did. Reprieve, a British-based group that supports drone victims, has sued President Obama to get a public apology for Jaber. 2. Make Public Any Reviews of Military Errors: When Obama apologized for the killings of Lo Porto and Weinstein, he said that he had ordered a full review of any mistakes made in that drone strike. We will identify the lessons that can be learned from this tragedy and any changes that should be made, he announced. Until January 20th, he has the power to make such documents public and prove that lessons have actually been learned. (The only document available on the subject to date is the $1.2 million settlement agreement between Lo Portos parents and the U.S. embassy in Rome published by Stefania Maurizi in the Italian newspaper LEspresso.) There is precedent for such publication. The Pentagon released transcripts and data from an airstrike that resulted in the killing of 23 Afghan villagers on February 21, 2010, in Uruzgan Province after a drone crew mistook them for Taliban militants. Documents relating to U.S. air strikes against a Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz on October 3, 2015, have also been released. How many similar military investigations (known as AR 15-6 reviews) have been conducted into accidental killings in the war on terror? According to Airwars, another British-based organization, we know, for instance, that the U.S. is looking into a strike that killed at least 56 civilians in Manbij, Syria, this past July. There are guaranteed to be many more such investigations that have never seen the light of day. The Obama administration consistently claims that groups like Airwars and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism do not have the full story. This flies in the face of multiple reports from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Al-Karama, researchers at Stanford and Columbia universities, and even the United Nations, all of whom have investigated and identified a growing number of drone-strike deaths among those without any links to terror or insurgent movements. If evidence to the contrary really exists, this would be the moment for Obama to prove them wrong, rather than simply letting more collateral damage be piled on his legacy. 3. Make Public the Administrations Criteria for Its Targeted Killings: In July and August, under pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Obama administration released a series of documents revealing the procedures it uses to identify and target for assassination individuals responsible for terrorist activities in much of the world and the way it has justified such killings internally. If anything, however, those documents (known as the presidential policy guidance, or PPG) have merely suggested how much of the process still remains beyond public view. Frustratingly, too much remains secret about the program, including where the PPG actually applies, what its general standards mean in practice, and how evidence that those standards have been met is evaluated in addition to who the government is killing, and where, writes Brett Max Kaufman, an ACLU staff attorney. When Donald Trump first sends out a CIA drone to kill someone chosen by his White House, he will be able to claim that he is doing so under the secret system set up by Obama. Without access to the procedures that Obama pioneered, we will have no way of knowing whether Trump will be telling the truth. None of these three suggestions would be difficult or even controversial (though dont hold your breath waiting for them to happen). With each, Obama could increase transparency before he inevitably hands over control of the targeted-killing program to Trump. None of this would even faze a future Trump administration, however. So here are a few suggestions of things that might matter for all of us if Obama did them before Trump enters the Oval Office. Surveillance 4. Disclose Mass Surveillance Programs: Even though Senator Obama opposed the collection of data from U.S. citizens, President Obama has vigorously defended the staggering expansion of the national security state during his two terms in office. You cant have 100% security and also then have 100% privacy and zero inconvenience, he said in 2013, days after Edward Snowden leaked a trove of National Security Agency data that transformed our view of what our government has collected about all of us. You know, were going to have to make some choices as a society. Thanks to Snowden, we also now know that the U.S. government secretly received permission from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to collect all U.S. telephone metadata via programs like Stellarwind; created a program called Prism to tunnel directly into the servers of nine major Internet companies; tapped the global fiber optic cables that lie on the ocean beds; collected text messages via a program called Dishfire; set up a vast database called X-Keyscore to track all the data from any given individual; and even built a program, Optic Nerve, to turn on users webcams, allowing for the collection of substantial quantities of sexually explicit communications. And thats just the tip of the iceberg. (For a searchable index of all such revelations so far, click here.) Ironically, a report from the FBI that was finally published in April 2015 shows that this vast effort was largely useless in identifying terrorists. In 2004, the FBI looked at a sampling of all the [Stellarwind] tips to see how many had made a significant contribution to identifying a terrorist, deporting a terrorism suspect, or developing a confidential informant about terrorists, wrote New York Times reporter Charlie Savage who spent years fighting for access to the documents. Just 1.2 percent of the tips from 2001 to 2004 had made such a contribution. Two years later, the FBI reviewed all the leads from the warrantless wiretapping part of Stellarwind between August 2004 and January 2006. None had proved useful. These days smart criminals and terrorists use encryption or other means like burner phones to make sure that they cant be followed. The only senior operatives being hacked these days seem to be Democratic Party officials like John Podesta and millions of ordinary citizens whose data is stolen by criminals. So why not reveal just what programs the government used in these years, what was done with them, why it failed, and what lessons were (or werent) learned? Evidence of the national security states massive waste of time and resources might indeed be useful for us to have as we think about how to improve our less than 100% privacy and security. Such disclosures would not imperil the governments ability to seek warrants to lawfully intercept information from those suspected of criminal wrongdoing or terrorism. 5. Make Public All Surveillance Agreements With Private Companies: To this day, the U.S. government has secret agreements with a variety of data companies to trawl for information. Some companies are deeply uneasy about this invasion of their customers privacy, if only because it probably violates the terms of service they have agreed to and could cause them to lose business (given that they face competition from non-U.S. companies and more secure alternatives). Take Yahoo, for example. The Justice Department obtained a court order in 2015 to search all users incoming emails for a unique computer code supposedly tied to the communications of a state-sponsored terrorist organization. The company has requested that the government declassify the order to clear its name. It has yet to do so. Of course, not all companies are as eager to see their government deals revealed. Consider AT&T, the telecommunications giant. Police departments across the country pay it as much as $100,000 a year for special access to the telephone records of its clients (without first obtaining a warrant). The program is called Hemisphere and the company requires buyers to keep its existence secret. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based activist group, calls this evidence laundering. As Adam Schwartz, senior staff attorney on the Electronic Frontier Foundations civil liberties team, puts it: When police hide their sources of evidence, the accused cannot challenge the quality or veracity of the governments investigation, or seek out favorable information still in the governments possession. Moreover, hiding evidence from individuals who are prosecuted as a result of such surveillance is antithetical to our fundamental right to an open criminal justice system. Surely such an argument ought to convince a former law professor? President Obama could easily strike a major blow for fair trials by revealing the extent and the details of these local police contracts, which are essentially an open secret, as well as any other agreements the national security state has with private companies to spy on ordinary citizens. Once again, this would not hamper the governments ability to seek warrants when it can convince a judge that it needs to intercept individual communications. 6. Make Public All Secret Law Created in Recent Years: The last thing wed want would be for Donald Trump and his future White House adviser, white nationalist Steve Bannon, to enter the Oval Office and start making secret law by wielding executive powers to, say, round up Muslims or deny women their rights. Stopping Trump from taking this route and creating his own body of secret law is going to be hard indeed, given that Obama has probably signed more secret orders than any previous president. As Elizabeth Goitein, the co-director of the Brennan Centers Liberty and National Security Program, noted in a recent report, the Obama administration has failed to release a minimum of 74 of the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel opinions and memos that have been the secret basis for government actions on national security issues including detention, interrogation, intelligence activities, intelligence-sharing, and responses to terrorism. In addition, as many as 30 rulings of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court between 2003 and 2013 have not been made public. And an astonishing 807 international agreements, including bilateral ones to control the transportation of narcotics, signed by the U.S. between 2004 and 2014 have never seen the light of day. Trump, of course, has refused even to publish his tax returns (previously a presidential campaign ritual), so if Obama doesnt come clean, dont expect Trump to release any of the secret law his predecessor made in the next four years. This moment, then, represents a unique opportunity for the president to fulfill his promise of 2009 to create the most open presidency of all time. Sadly, no one expects him to do so. The Obama administration has apparently abandoned even the appearance of transparency, according to Anne Weisman, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonpartisan NGO that tracks government accountability. Since its very unlikely that Obama will reverse course on surveillance and secret law in the next 40 days, here at least are some suggestions on what he might still accomplish as the nations chief law enforcer. Punish 7. Punish Anyone Who Abused the Drone or Surveillance Programs: We dont really know who ordered the drone strikes that knocked off so many innocent people. But the names of the architects of the program are known and, more importantly, the president undoubtedly has all the names he needs. And if Obama does want to clean house before Trump takes over, why not identify and dismiss the individuals who designed the NSAs surveillance programs that infringed in major ways on our privacy without uncovering any terrorists? 8. Punish Those Responsible for FBI Domain Management Abuses: Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the FBI has developed a network of more than 15,000 informants as part of its Domain Management program. Many of them were recruited to infiltrate Muslim communities to identify terrorists. For the last 15 years, this vast sting program has been used to round-up Muslims those dumb enough to fall for FBI enticements at least and put them in prison. In the process, plenty of terror operations were created, but few real ones broken. We already know the details of many of the abuses involved. Back in 2011, for instance, a Mother Jones investigation found that 49 successful prosecutions of terrorists were the result of sting operations set up by FBI agents provocateurs. You realize that many of these people would never have committed a crime if not for law enforcement encouraging, pressuring, and sometimes paying them to commit terrorist acts, Andrea Prasow of Human Rights Watch wrote in a report on the program in 2014. Whistleblowers have come forward to expose the abusive tactics employed by the FBI in such cases. Take Craig Monteilh, an ex-convict hired by the Bureau to infiltrate mosques in southern California. After he had a change of heart, Monteilh helped local Muslims sue the agency. The case was, in the end, reluctantly dismissed by District Judge Cormac Carney who wrote that the state secrets privilege may unfortunately mean the sacrifice of individual liberties for the sake of national security. Other informants, like Saeed Torres, have since come forward to expose other aspects of the program. The government has never acknowledged any of this. It is very likely that this same group will be called upon to support Donald Trumps orders if a Muslim registry is ever set up. So this would be the moment for Obama to crack down in some fashion on this hapless system of profiling and entrapment before the Trump administration can expand it. Pardon 9. Pardon Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, and the other whistleblowers: Last but not least, why not pardon Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, and the other whistleblowers who served the public good by letting us know what the president wouldnt? As of now, Barack Obama will go down in history as the president who prosecuted more truth-tellers, often under the draconian World War I-era Espionage Act, than all other presidents combined. Stephen Kim, Jeffrey Sterling, John Kiriakou, and Thomas Drake were government officials who talked with journalists. They were subsequently jailed or had their lives turned upside down. Others like Chelsea Manning and Barrett Brown have been jailed for hacking or for the release of documents relating to surveillance, U.S. wars abroad, and other national security matters. Gabe Rottman of the ACLU sums the situation up this way: By my count, the Obama administration has secured 526 months of prison time for national security leakers, versus only 24 months total jail time for everyone else [who ever leaked] since the American Revolution. On this issue, Obama has already made his position clear enough. Of Snowden, in particular, he told Der Spiegel earlier this month, I cant pardon somebody who hasnt gone before a court and presented themselves. For a constitutional law professor, thats a terrible argument. The power of pardon conferred by the Constitution upon the President is unlimited except in cases of impeachment, the Supreme Court ruled in 1866. It extends to every offence known to the law, and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment. The power is not subject to legislative control. It also flies in the face of history and of the presidents own actions. Richard Nixon hadnt even been indicted when Gerald Ford issued a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon, comments the Pardon Snowden campaign. Nor had the thousands of men who had evaded the Vietnam War draft, who were pardoned unconditionally by Jimmy Carter on his first day in office. President Obama himself pardoned three Iranian American men earlier this year in the framework of the nuclear deal with Iran. Like Snowden, the three had been indicted but hadnt stood trial when they were pardoned. Given how rarely Obama has issued presidential pardons, it seems unlikely that he will act. Hes pardoned fewer people than any president since James Garfield, who was fatally shot in 1881 after less than three months in office, writes Steven Nelson at U.S. News & World Report. Indeed, Bush pardoned twice as many people as Obama in his first seven years in office, a record that he might want to ameliorate. (In fairness, it should be noted that Obama has set a record for commuting jail sentences.) Will Obama act on any of these nine recommendations? Or will he simply hand over the vast, increasingly secretive national security state that he helped build to a man whom he once declared to be unfit not just for the presidency but even for a job at a retail store. The guy says stuff nobody would find tolerable if they were applying for a job at 7-Eleven, Obama told an election rally in October. Now, its his move. Forget about 7-Eleven; Obama will not have to apply for, or campaign for, his next well-paid job, whatever it may be. But there is the little matter of his legacy, of truth, and oh, yes, of the future security of the country. Pratap Chatterjee, a TomDispatch regular, is executive director of CorpWatch. He is the author of Halliburtons Army: How A Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War. His next book, Verax, a graphic novel about whistleblowers and mass surveillance co-authored with Khalil Bendib, will be published by Metropolitan Books in 2017. Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, Nick Turses Next Time Theyll Come to Count the Dead, and Tom Engelhardts latest book, Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World. Copyright 2016 Pratap Chatterjee Via Tomdispatch.com Reddit Email 0 Shares IMEMC | Human rights campaigners to intensify pressure against the company *G4S announces sale of most of its Israel business, following intense BDS pressure *G4S remains involved in Israeli police training and settlement construction business *BDS human rights campaigners celebrate victory, call for continuing pressure The worlds largest security company, G4S, announced today that it is selling most of its Israeli business after an effective campaign against the company, waged by the Palestinian-led, global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights, caused it reputational damage. Reacting to the breaking news and to the fact that G4S will nonetheless maintain some illegal projects in Israel, Rafeef Ziadah, speaking for the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), said: We have succeeded to push one of the worlds largest corporations into selling its key business in Israel. Our globally coordinated campaign has had a real impact. We will continue campaigning until G4S ends all involvement in violations of Palestinian human rights. French multinationals, Veolia and Orange, and Irelands largest building materials company, CRH, have all exited the Israeli market since September 2015, mainly as a result of BDS campaigning. A domino effect is at play here, said Ziadah. Some investment fund managers are recognizing that their fiduciary responsibility obliges them to divest from international and Israeli corporations and banks that are complicit in Israels persistent violations of international law. Guman Mussa, Arab World Coordinator in the BNC, added: It is not everyday that human rights campaigners can compel a massive multinational like G4S to end its involvement in serious human rights violations through sustained, strategic grassroots pressure. BDS is clearly working, and other complicit multinationals, like HP and Alstom, should take notice. We dedicate this victory to all Palestinian political prisoners who in 2012 had called on the BDS movement to intensify our boycott of G4S due to its role in Israels prisons, where torture is rife. G4S is a British security company that helps Israel run prisons where Palestinian political prisoners are held without trial and subjected to torture and ill-treatment. It is also involved in providing equipment and services to Israeli military checkpoints, illegal settlements and to military and police facilities. The international Stop G4S Campaign has cost the company contracts worth millions of dollars in Europe, the Arab world, South Africa and elsewhere. G4Ss list of lost clients includes private businesses, universities, trade unions, and UN bodies. Despite the sale of its subsidiary, G4S will remain directly complicit in Israels violations of Palestinian rights through Policity, the flagship national police training centre it co-owns, and the settlement-profiteer Shikun & Binui group. Israels police operates in occupied East Jerusalem, instead of the Israeli military in the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory, serving as the guardian of Israels illegal annexation, protecting the illegal settlements, and oppressing the citys Palestinian population. BNC Europe Coordinator, Riya Hassan, concluded: The BNC is determined to continue its campaign against G4S, in partnership with other justice struggles across the world. From the US to Palestine, from South Africa to the UK, G4S is profiting from the patently racist mass incarceration business. As in the struggle against apartheid South Africa, BDS pressure against Israels regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid is making some of the worlds most powerful multinationals realize that profiting from Israels violations of Palestinian rights is not just unethical and socially-irresponsible. It is downright bad for business as well. Notes: In March 2016, G4S announced it would sell its Israeli subsidiary in the coming 12 to 24 months. In describing the move, The Financial Times reported that G4S was extracting itself from reputationally damaging work. More recently, UNICEF in Jordan and a major restaurant chain in Colombiabecame the latest high-profile bodies to end their contracts with G4S following BDS campaigns. The Norwegian sovereign fund divested from Shikun & Binui in 2012, as did the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, which cited the companys involvement in the construction of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In June 2014, the Bill Gates Foundation divested its entire $170m stake in G4S following an international campaign. That same month, the U.S. United Methodist Church divested all G4S shares from its $20bn investment fund. The Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS) in Kuwait decided to divest from G4S in June 2016 following calls from BDS Kuwait and the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC). ~ Palestinian BDS National Committee Via IMEMC Subscribe to Informed Comment by email and never miss a posting! Reddit Email 234 Shares By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | The surprise announcement Sunday by the Army Corps of Engineers that they will not permit the Dakota Access Pipeline to go under the Missouri River, thus ending the threat to Standing Rock Sioux land and lives, marked a signal success for the environmental protest movement and for the tribe. The protests began last April and have largely gone uncovered by corporate television. Amy Goodmans Democracy Now! was the major provider of journalism and images from the rallies, which were dealt with brutally by local police (who used tear gas, tear gas canisters, and water cannon in the midst of the frigid winter). In the age of Trump, such peaceful protests will likely increasingly be branded a form of terrorism. (The British viewed Gandhis nonviolent noncooperation in the same light, and Southern white police saw Martin Luther King as a terrorist, too). Such desperate branding will not stop the activists. People care about the air they breathe and the water they and their children drink. Oil pipelines are notorious for dangerous leaks that destroy water quality. Most analysts of coal, oil and natural gas believe that these fuels will still be being used for decades to come, though the likelihood of the phase-out of coal on a short timescale is beginning to be admitted even by energy companies. This end of coal is coming because it is extremely dirty and obviously damaging to health (causing lung disease, heart attacks and nerve poisoning via mercury). It is also owing to wind and solar now being competitive with it, as well as natural gas. (Natural gas is a less desirable substitute because it is also a toxic gas that causes climate change, and drilling for it releases large amounts of methane.) But these energy analysts who only look at cost and public health are leaving out an extremely important element, which is protest. The reputational and security costs of continuing to burn fossil fuels are going to rise faster than anyone in government or industry imagines. There are some Antarctic glaciers so massive that if one of them plops into the ocean, it alone could raise sea levels several feet. If such a catastrophic event happens any time soon, before the transition to renewables is largely complete, it will almost certainly produce massive rioting against Big Carbon corporations and their planet-wrecking ways. The public is already very worried about this issue, and an incident that was conclusive would drive them over the edge. There are already major protests going on against fossil fuels, about which you will not see reports on CNN or Fox or even NBC or ABC. Thousands of people marched last week in Bangladesh to protest an idiotic plan to site a coal plant near the Sundarbans mangrove forest. They shouldnt be building coal plants in Bangladesh! They even have to import the coal, increasing shipping in the delicate marshes. Why not get away from the Sundarbans and build a solar facility instead? Since the fuel is free, it would be cheaper over time. Rampal protest rally in Dhaka Then there are the Navajo protests against the Navajo Generating Station in Page, Arizona, which courts say they will allow to go on polluting for decades. (Id bet against that one). And there are the German villagers forming a human chain in an effort to protect Hambach Forest from being cut down so coal diggers can get at the coal deposits under it. These sorts of protests against Big Carbon might not be effectual in themselves, and especially in the absence of an alternative. But what I am arguing is that renewable energy is now so inexpensive that it is actually crazy to burn coal. Where a plant already exists, there might be a temptation to keep running it. But on the whole, considerations other than the purely economic are now driving the coal industry. And if you combine the extra cost with the public anger, then utilities and governments are increasingly going to back down. Given that President Obamas plan to use the EPA to close down the remaining coal plants will now be ditched by Trump, environmentalists will have to pick up the mantle. Do you have a coal plant anywhere near you? Pressure the utility to close it. Pressure your congressperson to close it. After we get rid of coal, it will be time to start in on gas plants, and on the petroleum industry. Otherwise your grandchildren will live in a very hot and very dangerous world. The US Army Corps of Engineers [official website] announced Sunday that an alternate route [press release] will be investigated for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) [USACE backgrounder]. Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Assistant Secretary for Civil Works, continued [official statement] that in accordance with the need to further investigate alternative routes, an easement will not be granted to Dakota Access, LLC [corporate website], the company proposing to build the pipeline. The Dakota Access Pipeline [information website], is a partially constructed oil pipeline that would transport more than 470,000 barrels of oil per day over its 1,172 mile length through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois. The controversy surrounding the project is connected with its proposed proximity to multiple large bodies of water that could become irreparably contaminated should the pipeline fail. Protesters have made camp at the site since early summer and are led in part by the Indigenous Environmental Network [advocacy website] and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe [official website]. Conflict between protesters and police has been condemned by both the UN and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In November the ACLU reported that police at the Standing Rock site in North Dakota used life-threatening weapons to control protesters [JURIST report]. Earlier that month a UN rights group released a statement expressing concerns that the US government is ignoring treaty rights, as well as human rights [JURIST report] of Native Americans and others that are protesting the DAPL. Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders Google Ad PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT Google Ad The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh A court in Chile on Saturday rejected a war crimes lawsuit filed against three justices on the Israeli Supreme Court [official website] who authorized the construction of a security wall for the Israeli settlements in the West bank. The lawsuit [JURIST report] was filed in Chile under universal jurisdiction principles because the impacted landowners [Times of Israel report] lived in Chile. However the court rejected [Maan report] the lawsuit in part due to the fact that Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute [text, PDF] and as a result is not subjected to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website]. The Palestine Federation of Chile [advocacy website] helped bring the lawsuit [press release, in Spanish] and has promised to appeal the decision to the supreme court of Chile. Recent conflicts between Israel and Palestine [HRW backgrounder] over settlements in the occupied West Bank have raised concerns over possible human rights violations. In March the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said [JURIST report] that the office is concerned about the apparent extra-judicial execution of a Palestinian man in the West Bank. In January Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged [JURIST report] businesses to cease operations in Israel settlements. In August 2015 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged both sides of the conflict [JURIST report] to reconcile and move towards peace after an attack occurred in the West Bank village of Duma, where Jewish extremists allegedly set fire to a Palestinian home while the family slept. Last year HRW alleged [HRW report] that Israeli settlement farmers in the occupied West Bank are using Palestinian child laborers in dangerous conditions in violation of international laws. Egypts Supreme Constitutional Court [official website] on Saturday upheld a law that effectively bans protests. The law requires individuals seeking to protest to inform the interior ministry, at least three days prior, of any public gathering with more than 10 people, allows security forces to break up unapproved protests with water cannons, tear gas, and birdshot, and imposes up to five years of jail time for violation of various protest restrictions. The lawsuit had contended the law violated Article 73 of the Constitution, which provides for the right to organize public meetings, marches, demonstrations and all forms of peaceful protest while not carrying weapons of any type, upon providing notifications as regulated by law. Despite upholding the law [Reuters report] generally, the court did find unconstitutional a provision that allows the interior ministry to deny protest requests. The law was passed in 2013 during mass protests calling for Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi to be reinstated. In regards to the courts holding, human rights lawyer Gamal Eid said he was surprised and also stated [t]here isnt a court in Egypt that has mercy on the people. Egypt has been internationally scrutinized in recent months over allegations of human rights infringements and free speech violations. In October an Egyptian court froze assets [JURIST report] of five notable human rights activists and three NGOs for allegedly accepting foreign funds without governmental authorization. In July Amnesty International criticized [JURIST report] the Egyptian government for abducting and torturing hundreds of citizens during a crackdown on political activists and protesters. And in May the UN urged [JURIST report] the Egyptian government end its oppressive response towards human rights advocates in the country. The experts reported that Egypt has cracked down on protesters, journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders in recent years by conducting mass arrests, using aggressive force and invading peoples privacy. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) [official website] on Friday urged [press release] Argentina to release activist Milagro Sala who has been detained since the beginning of the year in the Jujuy province. Milagro Sala [AP report], an elected parliamentarian, was detained in January after participating in protests. The commission held that the detainment violates international rights, which uphold protests as legitimate forms of speech. They called on Argentina and the province of Jujuy to end her pretrial detainment. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) urges the State of Argentina to give prompt attention to the decision issued by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that establishes the preventive detention of Milagro Sala as arbitrary, calling for her immediate release. The UN Working Group, in its opinion 31/2016 [opinion, PDF, in Spanish] published on October 21, determined that the preventive detention of Milagro Sala as from January 16 was arbitrary in violation of the standards of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [official text] to which Argentina is a Party. Salas arrest and detainment come at a time where Argentina is undergoing political change. Former Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner went before a judge in October for questioning [JURIST report] as part of the investigation into her alleged corruption for granting public works contracts. An Argentine federal court concluded [JURIST report] a human rights trial in August against military officers during the dictatorship era and acquitted five defendants and sentenced 28 to life and 10 to between two-and-a-half and 21 years in prison. In March a judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York lifted injunctions [JURIST report] blocking Argentina from paying its restructured debt. Italian voters on Sunday rejected proposals to reform the Italian constitution. The referendum proposed changes [BBC report] that would have amended the structure of parliament and concentrated more power in the centralized government as opposed to the Senate, the upper house of parliament. The proposals had been brought by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi [official website], who claimed that he would resign if the referendum did not pass and who anticipates formally resigning later Monday. Renzi had promised political and economic reforms designed to increase stability in Italy, which has had 63 governments since World War II. Last month a Rome court rejected an appeal challenging the wording of the constitutional reform referendum [JURIST report]. In April the Italian Parliament allowed [Reuters report] the constitutional reform promoted by Renzi to go forward. That same month, a different referendum seeking to shorten the number of currently existing offshore oil and drilling sites for environmental purposes failed to draw [JURIST report] enough votes to pass. In May 2015 the Italian Parliament approved [JURIST report] Renzis new electoral rules that provide a majority of electoral seats to a clear winner of an election for Prime Minister. Green Party [party website] presidential nominee Jill Stein said Sunday that she and her campaign intend to escalate her recount efforts in Pennsylvania by bringing a lawsuit in federal court. Stein had filed suit in the state court, but the Pennsylvania case law requires voters seeking a recount to pay a $1 million bond. Stein and her campaign intend to file the suit [CNN report] on Monday, saying the judges outrageous demand that voters pay such an exorbitant figure is a shameful, unacceptable barrier to democratic participation. The third-party candidate was also emphatic that the recount was necessary because elected leaders have not ensured an election that we can trust, and that is accurate, that is secure against hacking, against human error, against machine error, and in which the votes are being counted. Stein has raised more than $6.5 million for the recount and some believe Stein is using recount donations as a fundraising scheme for future elections, though Stein denied these allegations. Led by its presidential nominee Stein, the Green Party filed suits for recounts in several states late last month. Last week President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters filed legal challenges [JURIST report] to recounts in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Earlier last week a federal judge ruled [JURIST report] that the Wisconsin recount could go forward but denied a motion that the recounts be done by hand. The Wisconsin recount began [JS report] Thursday, with other recounts [JURIST report] set to begin soon. The Hillary Clinton campaign has come out in favor [JURIST report] of the recount efforts, but has thus far provided only minimal assistance to the cause. The recount motions come as an inversion of the pre-election status quo where Trump campaigned on the charge of a rigged vote and refused to commit [WP report] to the election results before he saw them. [JURIST] A UN Special Rapporteur on Monday strongly condemn[ed] [press release] the executions of three men in Belarus last week. Citing the executions as a confirmation of the the persistent disregard for human rights in the country, the expert asserted that the country should have stayed at least two of the executions until their cases, which were pending before the UN Human Rights Committee, could be decided. The Human Rights Committee has oversight over the compliance of Belarus with its obligations to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [text]. Therefore, the expert argued that Belarus was obliged to wait for judgment. The expert concluded his remarks urging the nation to establish a moratorium on the death penalty but asked that until then, the nation commute the sentences of those on death row to life sentences. Belarus has faced continued scrutiny over human rights abuses. In May, UN human rights experts expressed grave concern [JURIST report] over Belarus death penalty practices after reports surfaced that a man was executed while his case was before the UN Human Rights Committee [official website]. In August of 2015 EU officials praised [JURIST report] Belarus president for his release of political prisoners. In June UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus Miklos Haraszti warned [JURIST report] that Belarus continues to sentence and imprison political opponents of the government. In March 2014 he called for the country to end its use of the death penalty, reiterating earlier statements [JURIST report] and citing politically motivated courts and the lack of fair trials. In 2011 former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay suggested a need for UN intervention [JURIST report] in Belarus and demanded the nation free non-violent political prisoners. Although Belarus is an active member of the UN and has ratified many of its human rights policies, Pillay noted a sharp deterioration in human rights since the 2010 disputed re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994. Aleksandr Manasyan: Even if we want to surrender territories, they may prevent us (video) The formulation of the return of territories itself means that they are the owners of these territories, by this formulation we consider ourselves to be an intruder, said political expert Alexander Manasyan at todays meeting with journalists. According to him, there are numerous lapses in the Armenian diplomats rhetoric over the process of NKR conflict settlement. The Armenian side has never raised the issue of Armenians living in Azerbaijan as well as the issue of Nakhichevan. Also the Armenian side has never touched upon the issue to discuss the NKR issuer on legal bases. Actually, according to Mr. Manasyans observation, the return of territories is just rhetoric in the negotiations process, which has nothing to do with the reality. This issue has been discussed for over 25 years. In the negotiation process the sides have chosen three language approaches; the Azerbaijani side has chosen bellicose statements, the Armenian side comparably soft rhetoric, while Stepanakert states that they [Stepanakert] are to decide. Actually, even if we want to surrender those territories, maybe we will not be allowed, as there are much bigger players, said the political expert. The sale of Belgian biscuits maker Delacre to the private investment vehicle of Giovanni Ferrero, the head of the Italy-based Ferrero confectionery group, has been completed, it was announced today (5 December). Free Report VC funding trends to watch out for in Consumer Consumer industry investors across the world are betting big on the ESG trend to pick up in the future and are focusing on backing the start-ups and emerging companies working in the meat-alternative products category. The top two deals in this category were the $500 million investment raised by Impossible Foods and the $347 million investment deal for Future Meat Technologies. GlobalDatas Venture Capital Investments Consumer 2021 will help you d ive into the capital raising landscape across regions and themes. Use the report to identify emerging signals and trends across Consumer, formulating winning strategies for the road ahead. by GlobalData Enter your details here to receive your free Report. Please enter a work/business email address Country United Kingdom United States Afghanistan Aland Islands Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, The Democratic Republic of The Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote D"ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and Mcdonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People"s Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People"s Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and The Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and The South Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Download free Report By clicking the Download Free Report button, you accept the terms and conditions and acknowledge that your data will be used as described in the GlobalData privacy policy By downloading this Report, you acknowledge that we may share your information with our white paper partners/sponsors who may contact you directly with information on their products and services. Visit our privacy policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address. Thank you.Please check your email to download the Report. A spokesperson for Delacre, which was part of Pladis, the biscuits and chocolate subsidiary of Turkish conglomerate Yildiz Holding, told just-food the transaction, put forward in the summer, was completed for an undisclosed sum on 3 December. The deal had been awaiting competition approval. Under the terms of the transaction, Giovanni Ferreros private investment vehicle will take over all production facilities as well as retain the management and the employees of the businesses, Delacres spokesperson said. Mr Ferreros vehicle is not part of the Ferrero group. Belgian-born Jerome Gregoire, who was most recently Ferreros country manager for Greece, Cyprus and Malta, has been appointed managing director of Delacre with immediate effect. Gregoire said: As an iconic manufacturer of fine biscuits, with a rich heritage and an established player in Belgium and France, Delacre is in a great position to build on and further expand its offering. I look forward to working closely with my new colleagues to capture the growth potential of the business. Ferrero is the owner of brands including Kinder, Nutella and Ferrero Rocher. Pladis, home to Yildiz Holdings biscuits and confectionery assets including United Biscuits, Godiva and Ulker, was set up in January. How do you see 2017 panning out for your business? take the just-food Confidence Survey now Related Companies French food holding group Financiere Turenne Lafayette has announced the death of its president and sole shareholder, Monique Piffaut, at the age of 78. FTL owns a number of French food brands including William Saurin ready meals, Madrange charcuterie and Garbit couscous. The company said, according to Piffauts wishes, the whole of FTLs capital will be transferred to a foundation which is in the process of being set up. A French media report quoted an FTL spokesperson who said there was no risk of the food group being dismantled as the owner had underlined her strong attachment to the companies that made up the business and for the structure to be preserved. FTL officials were not immediately available to comment when contacted by just-food today. Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT Google Ad The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh Well-known Armenians of Diaspora will personally follow the RA upcoming elections (video) Armenian intellectuals of the Diaspora Serj Tankian, Atom Egoyan, Erik Nazaryan, Arsinee Khanjian state that in April, 2017 they will be in Yerevan and will personally follow the course of elections. Already more than 4400 participants from around the world have joined Justice Armenia initiative. One part of them will also come to Armenia in April and will carry out observation mission. Justice Armenia initiative is going to carry out control over the course of elections, which will hinder the authorities to be reproduced. Arent the participants concerned that the authorities will try to hinder the implementation of this initiative by various methods, for example, they will not be allowed to carry out observation mission. In reply to the question by A1+, Arsinee Khanjian notes, If they prohibit, it will turn out that there are no absolutely free rights in this country. If the authorities decide to take such steps, those steps themselves will prove the reality, which we touch upon. There is a general approach, to somehow hold the authorities accountable, if they try to violate the citizens and observers democratic rights during the elections. Hrant Tokhatyan doesnt have such expectations, taking into account the list of people, who have joined the initiative. They will hardly act like that towards such people. Serj Tankian hasnt answered this question. The ides of controlling the course of elections has been rooted after July events in Yerevan, when the rights of citizens were roughly violated. Then even Arsinee Khanjian was taken into police station. According to Serj Tankian they aim at raising the consciousness of the people, The problem is not in parties and the leadership, but for whom the people vote. The matter is the peoples will. Tankian is inspired by Armenian youth, I am inspired by the young people, who not only participate in our concerts, but are also participants of various gatherings. Were the previous nationwide elections rigged? Not transparent and incorrect elections have been held in Armenia for many times, said Arsinee Khanjian. HHK does not exclude that Serzh Sargsyan has sent Gagik Tsarukyan to opposition field (video) Gagik Tsarukyan will head the pre-election list of the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK). According to the BHK Chairman Naira Zohrabyan, this fact confused all the scenarios of non-governmental forces, Like children of Lieutenant Schmidt many political forces have divided the Parliament between them and Tsarukyans return has complicated them. The Party wants Gagik Tsarukyan to head the Prosperous Armenia Party. Soon that person will make a statement whether he will head the party or not. Mrs Zohrabyan does not agree that Tsarukyan agreed with Serzh Sargsyan upon his return to politics, Gagik Tsarukyan is coming, he will return to make serous systemic changes in our country. Naira Zohrabyan adds that Gagik Tsarukyan will return as an oppositional politician, Now many suffer from political diabetes, but there is no medicine against it in pharmacies. The Armenian National Congress (HAK) faction Secretary Levon Zurabyan cannot say anything about political diabetes. He understands the implication of Naira Zohrabyans words, according to which the opposition forces are frightened that Tsarukyan will take their votes, No one has a rights to worry, be afraid or interfere with implementation of citizens constitutional rights. Mr Zurabyan recalls how successful the cooperation of non-governmental forces was within the frames of quartet and trio. Only regime change failed, Of course, I am sad that it failed as we expected serious political process. The Republican still refuses Tsarukyan political evil. But it is Tsarukyans right return or not. Eduard Sharmazanov, representative of the Party, which called that person Dodi Gago, says that they have never been in favor of offending people. Mr Sharmazanov has no information that Serzh Sargsyan has sent Gagik Tsarukyan to the opposition field, Nothing is excluded in politics. LINCOLN In an effort to carry out Nebraskas first execution by lethal injection, Gov. Pete Ricketts has set in motion a plan that involves shielding the identity of the states drug supplier. While death penalty opponents say the states revised lethal injection protocol is sure to ignite legal challenges, secrecy laws and procedures have been employed for years in other death penalty states. So far, theyve threaded the needle in the courts. Missouri has worked as hard as any to keep from revealing the source of the drug it uses. It ranks with Texas as a top death penalty state over the past five years. That fact hasnt been lost on Ricketts, a staunch death penalty backer who has held up Nebraskas neighbor to the southeast as an example for keeping capital punishment viable. Novembers vote was a mandate by Nebraskans on capital punishment, and my administration will make every effort to carry out the will of the people, said the governor, referring to a vote in which 61 percent of voters rejected the Legislatures 2015 repeal of the death penalty. Missouri officials have successfully argued that secrecy is essential to keeping the drug pipeline flowing. They have even gone so far as paying their suppliers in cash to avoid filing state and federal tax documents, a practice death penalty opponents have said is a blatant violation of the law. Ricketts knows firsthand the challenges of obtaining lethal injection drugs in an era when U.S. and European pharmaceutical manufacturers wont sell their products for execution chambers. His efforts to obtain two lethal chemicals from a broker in India failed last year, costing the state $54,400 in public funds. Yet, as Nebraska embarks on its own confidentiality strategy, Missouri finds itself fending off a barrage of legal attacks aimed directly at secrecy laws and practices. Missouri officials recently escaped having to disclose their drug provider in a federal court lawsuit brought by two death row inmates. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Nebraska, reversed its own earlier decision that held that the supplier should be identified. That case could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to the lawyer for the inmates. Meanwhile, Missouri is appealing a state court judgment in three separate cases that successfully challenged the secrecy provision as a violation of the states open records laws. Oral arguments in that appeal are scheduled for this month. About a dozen of the 31 death penalty states withhold the identities of their drug suppliers. So far, successful challenges of secrecy laws in the lower courts have been overturned on appeal, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. He and other lawyers think the U.S. Supreme Court needs to squarely address the constitutionality of states withholding key information about lethal drugs from condemned inmates and the public. Its going to be raised in every case until they do, Dunham said. Nebraska came to lethal injection relatively late because it relied for decades on the electric chair as its sole method of execution. The Nebraska Supreme Court struck down the chair in 2008, ruling it cruel and unusual in violation of the State Constitution. The following year, state lawmakers adopted lethal injection as the sole execution method (some other states also have backup methods, such as lethal gas or the firing squad). Nebraskas law gives the authority to establish a lethal injection protocol to the director of the Department of Correctional Services. Nebraskas original protocol called for the use of three drugs, in sequence, to carry out an execution. At the time, most states used a similar three-drug procedure, but now two of those drugs are impossible to obtain through conventional manufacturers. States such as Missouri and Texas faced the same challenges, and so they have switched to a single-drug protocol using pentobarbital, a fast-acting sedative also used by veterinarians to euthanize animals. Nebraska extensively reviewed the protocols of many other states in the development of this protocol, said Taylor Gage, the governors spokesman. Last week, prison officials proposed substantial changes to the states lethal injection procedure. A public hearing is scheduled Dec. 30. Nebraskas revised protocol makes several changes aimed at giving Corrections officials much greater flexibility in obtaining lethal drugs. The departments director, for example, would decide the types and dosages of drugs as well as whether to use one or more drugs. The new protocol also calls for the addition of a pharmacist or a pharmaceutical chemist to the official execution team. And it adds language about not disclosing the identity of the drug supplier. The states lethal injection law authorizes the Corrections director to designate an execution team composed of one or more executioners and any other personnel deemed necessary to effectively and securely conduct an execution. And in a related section, the law says the director may perform or authorize any other details deemed necessary and appropriate. During a press conference last week, Ricketts said the drug supplier would be a member of the execution team. By law, the identities of team members must not be revealed to the public. Missouri has used a similar approach of shrouding their drug supplier by putting it on the execution team. Missouri and other death penalty states also have relied on independent compounding pharmacies to supply their drugs. Such pharmacies produce custom-made medicines in sterile environments, but their practices failed to meet safety standards in some cases. Lawyers for inmates have argued that their constitutionally guaranteed right to due process should compel the states to identify their lethal drug makers. That way, the inmates can investigate whether the drug they will be given is pure and potent. The question is important because the Constitution also prohibits a condemned inmate from experiencing cruel and unusual punishment while strapped to the gurney. Some lawyers and death penalty opponents wonder whether compounded drugs could factor into the sorts of botched executions that have left inmates writhing in pain, gasping for air or describing an extreme burning sensation before their deaths. The consequences can be torturous, said Staci Pratt, executive director of Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Earlier this year, it looked as if Missouri was on the verge of having to reveal its supplier after a three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit ruled in favor of two inmates who sought the information. State lawyers argued that their supplier would stop selling the drugs if the identity was revealed, essentially preventing Missouri from carrying out an otherwise constitutional punishment. Because the state provided no evidence from the supplier, the court ruled in favor of the inmates. So the state submitted an affidavit from the supplier identified as M7 in court documents saying disclosure would end the pharmacys lethal injection sales over fears of public backlash or harassment by death penalty opponents. The pharmacy also argued that selling drugs for executions is political speech that is protected by the First Amendment. The three judges granted the states motion to keep the drug suppliers identity confidential. I find it extraordinary that somebody can sell to a taxpayer entity in secret, said Jim Craig, a lawyer with the Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center in New Orleans. He represents the two inmates in the Missouri lawsuit. Newspapers and other media organizations have argued in their legal challenges that the identity of the drugmakers should be open to public scrutiny. Theres too much at stake when a state engages in a task as monumental as execution, said Adam Marshall, a staff attorney with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a Washington, D.C., organization that is party to one of the lawsuits. Its really not a question of whether youre for or against the death penalty, Marshall said. Its really about government transparency in carrying out the functions of the criminal justice system. Overwhelmingly, 81 percent of white evangelicals voted for Donald Trump a twice-divorced vulgarian who calls women pigs and slobs, brags about extramarital affairs, and boasts of grabbing females by their private parts. He rarely attends church. Nonetheless, strong evangelical support propelled him to the White House. Can anyone explain this bizarre contradiction? Does it mean that evangelicals care little about sexual morality and family values taught by their churches? Are they more devoted to Republican conservativism than to their church maxims? This paradox smacks of cognitive dissonance, the confusion suffered when opposite beliefs clash inside a person. A few white evangelical Americans renounced Trump, but the vast majority comprised his biggest fan base. I hope that a profound scholar will explain what impelled fundamentalists in the 2016 election. The outcome showed that white evangelicals still wield enormous political power, even as they dwindle in U.S. society. Many studies have outlined the retreat of religion. Heres a capsule summary: Since World War II, churchgoing has declined in America and many faith-based laws have ended. Its no longer a crime for stores to open on the Sabbath. Its no longer illegal to buy a lottery ticket or a cocktail or a magazine showing nudity. Mandatory prayer was removed from public schools. Desperate women and girls were allowed to end unwanted pregnancies. Gays were allowed to elude prison, and finally allowed to marry. Birth control was legalized for all couples. Its no longer a crime for unwed couples to live together. Its no longer a crime for movies and books to present sex. Teaching of evolution is allowed in public school biology classes. These social transformations rebuked the religious right allied with the GOP. White evangelicals feel that the ground is crumbling beneath them. Worse, young people are leaving churches. A new book, The End of White Christian America, by Robert Jones, head of the Public Religion Research Institute, says that Americans who say their religion is none have become the largest segment in the United States. They now constitute 25 percent of adults, compared to 21 percent who are Catholic and 16 percent who are evangelical. The secular tide is sure to rise, because 39 percent of adults under 30 have no church affiliation. In a Washington Post interview a few months ago, Jones said the retreat of faith has been swift and dramatic in recent decades, first eroding mainline tall steeple Protestants, then Catholics and finally evangelicals. Southern Baptists lost 200,000 members in 2014, then another 200,000 in 2015. A previous book, The Great Evangelical Recession, by megachurch pastor John Dickerson, warned that evangelicalism as we knew it in the 20th century is disintegrating. He said a majority of young people raised as evangelicals are quitting church, and in coming years, we will see the old evangelicalism whimper and wane. Well, those forecasts may come true someday but in 2016, white evangelicals decided the presidency. They still have colossal power. Strangely, they chose a president who contradicts evangelical morality. Trying to fathom Americas religio-political tides is bewildering. James A. Haught is editor emeritus of West Virginias largest newspaper, the Charleston Gazette-Mail. FILE - In this May 27, 2016 file photo, U.S. President Barack Obama, right, shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, as Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the site of the world's first atomic bomb attack. Abe said Monday, Dec. 5, he will visit Pearl Harbor with Obama at the end of this month, becoming the first leader of his country to go to the U.S. Naval base in Hawaii that Japan attacked in 1941, propelling the United States into World War II. Atomic Bomb Dome is seen in the background. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) The High Court has banned a resident of Mount Juliet, Thomastown from being a director of a company for ten years. Mr Justice David Keane said the conduct of Mr John Mulholland and two other directors of Custom House Capital (CHC) was deeply dishonest, continued over a protracted period of time until, for a variety of reasons, it could no longer be concealed. He said it was devastating in its impact on those innocent person who had the grave misfortune to entrust the company with their pensions or savings. Mr Mulholland accepted he had failed in his corporate responsibility but asked for a restriction on involvement in a company rather than a disqualification. Bernard Dunleavy SC, for the liquidator, said the findings in the Central Bank report had not been challenged by any of the three. The case will come back before the courts next year for costs and to allow Mr Mulholland apply to have his disqualification period backdated. CHC was liquidated in 2011 after a High Court-appointed investigation by two Central Bank inspectors found the systemic and deliberate misuse of clients money, the majority of which represented transfers to syndicated property investments. The Minister for Education Richard Bruton was at Abbey Community College in Ferrybank on Friday to open the school's new extenstion. The extension is an impressive addition to the school's current buildingproviding 3,215 sqm of additional space. It features a number of extra classrooms, specialised science labs, woodwork and engineering rooms, and an open-plan dining facility for students. It also incorporates a purpose-built Special Educational Needs Unit. School principal Detta Cahill welcomed the minister, who unveiled a commemorative plaque in the new extension, B2. After over four years of planning and building we have arrived at this day of celebration, when we are delighted to host our wide community of friends and supporters and to show off our beautiful new extension, said Principal Cahill. Abbey Community College, since our establishment in 2000, continues our journey onward and the growth of our school community, both in capacity and reputation makes all of us truly proud. The school choir treated the minister to an entertaining performance, and the Abbey Traditional Music Group performed a selection of jigs and reels. Chairperson of Kilkenny Carlow ETB Mary Hilda Cavanagh, the Diocesan Administrator, Msgr Ryan, public representatives, and many guests from the broader school community, attended the official opening ceremony with a symbolic presentation and liturgy focussing on the importance of shared community. Abbey Community College, in its current guise, was established in 2000 following the amalgamation of the Sacred Heart of Mary Secondary School, Ferrybank and Slieverue Vocational School. The founding partners were represented last week by Sr Ursula Canavan of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary and Cynthia Deane, Chief Executive of the ETB. Fr Ray Dempsey blessed the new building and guests were treated to a wonderful display of sound and colour as hundreds of balloons were released from the new outdoor amphitheatre Principal Cahill thanked the student body, the staff of the school, parents, and all others who support the school and work for its betterment. The day concluded with a tour of the extension and a lunch was served in the new dining area for invited guests. Monolayer graphene sliding over a silicon tip. Different colors show the different values of friction force on the contact area. (Figure: Suzhi Li/KIT) Based on simulations, friction properties of the two-dimensional carbon graphene were studied by scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in cooperation with researchers of the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM and scientists in China and the USA. In contact with monolayer graphene, friction is higher than in case of multi-layered graphene or graphite. Moreover, friction force increases for continued sliding. The scientists attribute this to the real contact area and the evolving quality of frictional contact. They report their results in the journal Nature. (DOI: 10.1038/nature20135) When interfaces of solids are in contact and move in opposite directions, friction occurs. Energy is converted into heat that is lost unused. In addition, friction causes erosion and wear. To reduce friction for metallic sliding elements and high contact pressures, e.g. in automobiles or industrial machines, substances of lamellar structure are frequently used as dry lubricants, as their particles easily slide on each other. One of the most widely applied dry lubricants is graphite, a natural form of carbon with a three-dimensional, layered structure. Graphite theoretically consists of several layers of graphene that are stacked on top of each other with a slight offset. Graphene is a modification of carbon with a two-dimensional structure: It consists of only one layer of carbon atoms that are arranged in hexagons similar to honeycombs. In nature, graphene does not exist as an isolated monolayer material, but it can be produced by several methods. Experiments have shown that monolayer graphene exhibits higher friction than multilayer graphene or graphite and that friction increases with continued sliding. So far, the reasons have not yet been understood. Scientists of the Institute for Applied Materials (IAM) and the Institute of Nanotechnology (INT) of KIT, together with researchers of the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg, Xian Jiaotong University/China, Tsinghua University in Beijing/China, Massachusetts Institute of Technology/USA, and the University of Pennsylvania/USA, reproduced the experiments by atomistic simulations and obtained new findings with respect to layer-dependent friction and the increase in friction force for graphene. Their results are presented in the journal Nature. In the simulations, the scientists made a silicon tip slide over graphene applied onto an amorphous, i.e. non-crystalline, silicon substrate. Previously, it had been assumed that friction between interfaces depends on the true contact area the number of atoms within the range of interatomic forces - and increased friction of monolayer graphene had been attributed to the larger true contact area. The scientists of KIT and their colleagues now found that apart from the true contact area, also the evolving contact quality is important. Due to its increased flexibility, the thinner and less constrained monolayer graphene tends to readjust its configuration. Carbon atoms more strongly adhere to the atoms of the silicon tip and exhibit an increased synchronicity in their stick-slip behavior. Contacts on the atomic scale increase quantitatively in terms of the contact area and qualitatively in terms of friction force. Our concept of evolving contact quality can be used to explain why friction of interfaces of a less constrained structure changes with time, Dr. Suzhi Li of IAM Computational Materials Science of KIT, explains. Suzhi Li, Qunyang Li, Robert W. Carpick, Peter Gumbsch, Xin Z. Liu, Xiangdong Ding, Jun Sun & Ju Li: The evolving quality of frictional contact with graphene. Nature, 2016. DOI: 10.1038/nature20135 Being The Research University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,800 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence. Euro tumbles to 20-month low after Italy's PM concedes defeat SYDNEY, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The euro skidded to its lowest since March 2015 on Monday after Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi conceded he had lost a constitutional referendum that could end his career and rock the country's banking system. The euro dropped 1.3 percent to $1.0534, having briefly dipped to $1.0505, the lowest since March 2015. Against the yen, the common currency fell 1.5 percent to 119.38 yen . (Reporting by Cecile Lefort; Editing by Eric Meijer) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. kitco news (Kitco News) - Volatility in the gold market is seeing a minor rise as Italian citizens voted down proposed reforms to the constitution, causing the euro to slide to its lowest point in almost two years. According to early returns, people have voted 59% to 41% against the referendum, with 69% of the population casting ballets. Near the start of the Asian trading session, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, the driving force behind the referendum conceded defeat and announced that he was stepping down, which caused the euro to nose dive. The increased volatility has created some momentum in gold as prices are seeing positive gains in the early start of the trading session; however, prices are off their sessions highs, having to deal with a stronger U.S. dollar. February gold futures last traded at $1,182.20 an ounce, up 0.37% on the day. In an interview with Kitco News Friday, ahead of the Italian referendum, Jessica Fung, analyst at BMO Capital Markets, warned that the results of the referendum could end up being neutral for the yellow metal as the market balances between safe-haven demand and a strong U.S. dollar. While gold is seeing only moderate demand following Renzis announcement, Simona Gambarini, commodities economist at Capital Economics, said that she sees long-term potential for gold as most markets are underestimating the risked posed by a no vote. She said that she sees a prospect of higher gold prices in 2017 as geopolitical uncertainty rise as a result of populist movements. Along with rising political uncertainty, a major economic threat is for the entire euro zone is with the Italian banking system; Renzi was promoting a market solution to recapitalize some of the countrys banks but this proposal could end up in limbo with the country having to transition to a new government leader. Media reports have said that up to eight Italian banks, holding a high level of bad loans, risk failing if a solution isnt found. There is also growing demand specifically in Europe. Gold in euro terms is modestly higher Sunday evening. Kitco.com gold currency charts show that gold is up 0.37% against the euro, last trading at 1,115.95 an ounce. By Neils Christensen of Kitco News; nchristensen@kitco.com Follow @Neils_C WELLINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Bill English said on Monday he is considering running for the leadership the ruling National Party after the surprise resignation of Prime Minister John Key. "I'll be talking to caucus and family today and tonight," English, who is also the finance minister, told reporters in Wellington. "I wouldn't stand if there wasn't strong caucus support for me standing." English is considered the front runner to replace Key as prime minister in a party vote planned for Dec. 12. Key said he would vote for English if he decided to stand. (Reporting By Jane Wardell; Editing by Michael Perry) HANOI, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official market and indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi at 0108 GMT. Dec 5 Dec 2 USD/VND mid-point 22,118 22,124 USD/VND interbank 22,660/22,730 22,680/22,690 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.00/36.32 35.69/35.91 NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank quotes are indicative bid/ask prices. One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co, the gold manufacturer. Interbank offered rates are indicative, quoted from market sources. For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom) PRAGUE, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The Czech central state budget will post a surplus of at least 20 billion crowns ($797 million) in 2016, avoiding a deficit for the first time since 1995, Finance Minister Andrej Babis said on Monday. The centre-left government had planned - and parliament had approved - a full-year deficit of 70 billion crowns but robust economic growth and the lowest unemployment rate of any European Union country has brought budget surpluses for much of the year. The government has also spent less co-financing investment projects supported by the European Union this year. Babis, head of the ANO, the junior party in the ruling coalition, told Czech Television on Monday the surplus this year could be as high as 40 billion crowns. He has in the past said a slight surplus was possible. The government has yet to decide what to do with the surplus although Babis said he would propose using it to pay down debt. The central government budget is the main part of the Czech Republic's country's overall public sector finances, which also include local and regional administrations, the health insurance system and various off-budget funds. The ministry forecasts an overall fiscal deficit of 0.3 percent of gross domestic product this year. It also sees the state debt load falling to 38.6 percent of GDP, well below the EU average. Czech bond yields are among the lowest in the bloc. The government is pushing a 2017 budget through parliament with a planned deficit of 60 billion crowns. Analysts have warned this year's budget outperformance may not be repeated next year given elections in October. Babis is a billionaire businessman owning chemical, food, agriculture and media companies who founded his political movement in 2011. His party, which has attracted voters with an anti-corruption drive and business-like approach to government, currently has a large poll lead over Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka's Social Democrats. ($1 = 25.0860 Czech crowns) (Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Catherine Evans) (Kitco News) - Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $60 million to settle allegations of gold price-fixing allegations, this according to a preliminary settlement filed Friday in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. The settlement is almost double the $38 million the German bank paid to settle a similar lawsuit related to silver price manipulation, which was announced in mid-October. Despite its settlement of both precious metals lawsuits, the bank has denied any wrongdoing. Deutsche Bank first settled its precious metal price-fixing lawsuits back in early April but the terms are just being disclosed now and still need final approval from a judge. As part of its settlement, the bank also agreed to work with the plaintiffs to pursue claims against the other defendants. This is just the latest saga in the manipulation lawsuit that was launched two years ago. The lawsuit has gained some momentum since early October when a judge ruled that there was some validity to the accusations. Judge Caproni said in her opinion, published Oct. 3, that the plaintiffs "plausibly allege that each of the Fixing Banks acted recklessly in creating artificial price dynamics in the gold markets around the PM Fixing." While Deutsche Bank has settled, other members of the now defunct London Gold Fix -- The Bank of Nova Scotia, Barclays HSBC and Societe Generale still face the gold manipulation allegations. By Neils Christensen of Kitco News; nchristensen@kitco.com Follow @Neils_C (Updates to close) By Bruno Federowski SAO PAULO, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The Brazilian real strengthened on Monday on traders' relief that weekend demonstrations refrained from directly targeting President Michel Temer, after the currency hit its lowest level since June last week. Demonstrators protested across Brazil on Sunday to denounce corruption and a congressional vote seen as an attempt to curtail sweeping graft investigations. Some investors had feared the protests would take aim at Temer, whose approval ratings remain near record lows, potentially hampering his administration's efforts to gather lawmaker support for austerity measures. "Protesters can demonstrate against Congress. As long as they don't demonstrate against the government, the market will remain calm," said Thiago Castellan, a trader with Renascenca brokerage. The Brazilian real strengthened 1.2 percent, closing at 3.42 per greenback. It had lost 1.7 percent last week. Other Latin American currencies also gained. The Colombian peso rose 1.52 percent on higher crude prices, and the Mexican peso strengthening 0.19 as investors followed the results of a historic deep water oil and gas auction. Brazilian stocks seesawed as a drop in financial shares helped offset a two-day rally in shares of Braskem SA , Latin America's largest petrochemical company. The stock reached a record high on Monday after the company said on Friday it was in advanced talks with authorities in Brazil and the United States for a leniency agreement related to a massive corruption scandal. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 22:17 GMT: Stock daily % YTD % indexes change change Latest MSCI 853.97 0.11 7.53 Emerging Markets MSCI LatAm 2255.51 0.32 23.26 <.MILA00000 PUS> Brazil 59831.73 -0.8 38.02 Bovespa Mexico IPC 44937.30 0.86 4.56 Chile IPSA 4206.44 0.08 14.30 Chile IGPA 21002.45 0.05 15.71 Argentina 16999.02 0.3 45.60 MerVal Colombia 9776.86 0.53 14.38 IGBC Venezuela 36755.96 -4.49 151.96 IBC (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Leslie Adler) LONDON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The euro hit a 2-1/2-week high of $1.0730 in morning trade in Europe on Monday , up half a percent on the day after recovering strongly from falls following Italy's vote to reject government proposals for constitutional reform. Traders said the bounce looked chiefly due to over-extended bets against the single currency and investors choosing to cash in gains in an initial 1 percent slide after the referendum, which is expected to see Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resign. Bond and equity markets had also recovered ground after initial falls. "I think the euro is going to strengthen a lot now. I think it is way oversold," said Nick D'Onofrio, chief executive at London-based hedge fund North Asset Management. "There's a view out there that the euro is going to blow up and I don't buy it. Ultimately, yes, we do think it will weaken in the longer term. But short-term I don't believe in this idea that there is an imminent blowup." (Writing by Patrick Graham, editing by Nigel Stephenson) NEW YORK, Dec 5 (Reuters) - A top Federal Reserve official, asked about the apparent disconnect of his recommendation for automatic fiscal policies alongside his resistance against similar restraints on monetary policies, said such an approach is necessary in times of economic upheaval. New York Fed President William Dudley said the automatic government spending policies he endorses would only come into play when the U.S. economy "really needs it, when you are in an economic downturn," and it would boost investor and public confidence. Whereas "monetary policy is very different," he said in response to a question at a breakfast conference, since experiences like the 2008 economic crisis show that "mechanically" following benchmarks like the so-called Taylor Rule "would be absolutely disastrous for the economy." Over the last couple of years some Republican lawmakers have pushed bills that would tie Fed interest-rate policy to a single benchmark rule, a notion the U.S. central bank has strongly resisted for fear of losing its political independence. (Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) By Manolo Serapio Jr MANILA, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The Philippines' output of nickel ore fell 16 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, government data showed on Monday, after the world's top supplier of the metal suspended some mines in a clampdown on environmental violations. The Southeast Asian nation has already stopped work at 10 of its 41 mines in a campaign, backed by President Rodrigo Duterte, against what the government says is irresponsible mining. A group of a further 20 more faces possible suspension. Output of nickel ore for direct shipping fell to 9.34 million tonnes in July-September from 11.09 million tonnes in the same period last year, data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau showed. Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez told Reuters on Friday that there will "definitely" be more mine suspensions when the ruling on the 20 facing suspension is released, possibly within the week. The Philippines is the biggest supplier of nickel ore to China, where the metal is used to make stainless steel. Eight of the 10 suspended mines are nickel producers, and along with 14 of the 20 facing suspension, they accounted for more than half of the Philippines' nickel ore output last year. Production dropped to 19.8 million tonnes in the nine months to September from 25.97 million tonnes a year ago, according to the data. Weak prices also contributed to the drop in output during the nine-month period, the mining bureau said. By value, nickel direct shipping ore dropped 44 percent in January-September. (Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) HANOI, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official and unofficial markets, indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi and interbank offered rates at 0620 GMT. Dec 5 Dec 2 USD/VND mid-point 22,118 22,124 USD/VND interbank 22,715/22,720 22,680/22,690 USD/VND unofficial 23,080/23,120 22,870/22,900 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.15/36.42 35.69/35.91 Interbank offered rates Overnight 3.0-4.0 2.4-3.6 1 week 3.5-4.1 3.4-3.7 1 month 3.8-4.6 3.8-4.2 3 months 4.7-5.0 4.7-5.0 NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank offered rates are the latest indicative bid/ask prices, quoted from market sources. One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co. For more interbank rate fixings released at 0400 GMT, click on . For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom) * Euro zone finance ministers try to reach Greek reform deal * Debt talks likely to continue in further meeting * IMF has set end-of-year deadline to join Greek bailout (adds ministers, commissioners' quotes before Eurogroup) By Francesco Guarascio and Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers hope to forge a compromise on Greek reforms on Monday in a final push to secure the support of the International Monetary Fund for Athens' bailout programme by the end of the year. The 19 ministers of the currency bloc were holding their regular meeting a day after Italian voters rejected constitutional reform plans in a referendum, putting the euro under renewed pressure and reigniting the smouldering euro zone crisis, further complicating the Greek talks. Athens is required by its euro zone creditors to pass wide-ranging reforms and sell state assets under an 86 billion euros ($92 billion) bailout programme, but negotiators have not been able to agree on labour and energy reforms or Greece's 2018 fiscal targets, leaving ministers to close the remaining gaps. A deal would allow discussions on substantial relief measures for Greece, whose debt, at about 180 percent of gross domestic product, is the highest in the euro zone. A first set of short-term measures for the debt, to be applied before 2018, will be presented by the European Stability Mechanism, the euro zone bailout fund . Ministers arriving at the 'Eurogroup' meeting were confident that a deal on short-term measures could be reached on Monday, although officials said this would be far from enough to make Greece's debt sustainable. Discussions on more significant debt measures could start already on Monday, but a compromise is seen as unlikely. The chair of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said he did not expect a deal on a big debt relief for Greece on Monday. A second meeting may be needed before Christmas, EU officials said. One official said further talks could also be postponed to January. NEW YEAR DEADLINE The IMF, a key creditor in prior Greek bailouts, has linked its participation in the bailout to a deal on a significant cut in Greek debt and has set the end of the year as a deadline for a decision. Germany, the euro zone's largest economy, wants the IMF on board to reduce its own exposure to Greece and help step up the pressure on Athens to make reforms. Berlin insists that Athens should maintain a budget surplus - excluding debt servicing payments - for several years after the end of the bailout programme in 2018. "I think for Greece it is realistic that they should carry out reforms to make themselves competitive. It's about that, nothing more ... For Greece it is a long, hard road.", Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters. The IMF considers Germany's demands unrealistic unless Greece gets significant debt relief or adopts new budget cuts. The Greek government opposes further austerity measures. EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs Pierre Moscovici told reporters before the Eurogroup that fiscal requirements for Greece "need to be demanding but also credible". Although Athens is not in immediate need of new funds, it is keen to reach an overall deal in December so that it can be included in the European Central Bank's bond-buying programme before this is overhauled in March. It also fears that elections in Europe in 2017 may make debt relief less likely, if no decision is reached soon. Germany holds an election in the autumn and its voters tend to shun politicians who appear lenient towards Greece and other southern European countries. Elections in March are also likely to unsettle the Dutch government and push out finance minister Dijsselbloem, who is a key negotiator in Greek talks and called last week on euro zone creditors to be "realistic" in the fiscal targets they set for Greece . ($1 = 0.9390 euros) (Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald and Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Gareth Jones) North Kitsap girls soccer keeps state tourney streak alive Four teams North Kitsap, Bremerton, Olympic and Sequim came away victorious in the first round of the Class 2A West Central District tournament. SHARE By Ed Friedrich of the Kitsap Sun Jan. 8, 2005 San Francisco hits seamount near Guam Jan. 9, 2005 San Francisco returns to Guam under its own power Feb. 12, 2005 Cmdr. Kevin Mooney is relieved of his command of San Francisco March 22, 2005 Six San Francisco crew members were punished with reductions in rate or letters of reprimand Aug. 17, 2005 After temporary repairs were made in Guam, San Francisco leaves for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Sept. 9, 2005 San Francisco arrives in Bremerton June 2006 It is announced that the San Francisco's bow section will be replaced with that of the soon-to-be-retired Honolulu October 2006 Honolulu's last patrol ends at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Dec. 5, 2006 San Francisco enters dry dock Nov. 2, 2007 Honolulu decommissioned and stricken from register Oct. 10, 2008 San Francisco leaves dry dock and returns to water Spring 2009 San Francisco scheduled to depart for its new homeport of San Diego BREMERTON The USS San Francisco has returned to the water after a three-year, $134-million nose job. The fast-attack submarine smashed full speed into an undersea mountain near Guam on Jan. 8, 2005, killing one sailor and injuring 97 of its 137 crew members. Workers at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility removed the sub's 1 million-pound bow and replaced it with one from sister ship USS Honolulu. "This was a very unique project and experience for many of the project team members and shipyard workers and is an effort which many can be proud in returning the vessel to the water as designed," PSNS spokeswoman Mary Anne Mascianica said in an e-mail response to submitted questions. The USS San Francisco, commissioned in 1981, was the 24th Los Angeles-class submarine built. The Navy had already decided that the USS Honolulu, though four years newer, would be decommissioned and recycled at PSNS in late 2007 instead of undergoing a $170-million nuclear reactor refueling. The USS San Francisco had been refueled during an overhaul from 2000 to 2002. Repairing the USS San Francisco instead of refueling the USS Honolulu was "the best return on investment in terms of cost, presence and service life," Mascianica said. The USS San Francisco cost $900 million to build in the late 1970s, which would be about $2.8 billion in today's dollars. The Navy's newest sub, the Virginia-class USS New Hampshire, commissioned last month, had a $2.2 billion price tag. The USS San Francisco, which moved out of dry dock on Oct. 10, will stick around until spring while completing final system certifications. Then it will head to its new base in San Diego. The Honolulu has been recycled and no longer exists. The USS San Francisco arrived in Bremerton on Sept. 9, 2005, and entered dry dock on Dec. 5, 2006. The first-of-its-kind bow transplant involved cutting more than 1 million pounds off the front of the Honolulu, primarily its forward ballast tanks and the sonar sphere. A specially designed cradle and track system were used to push the massive structure inch by inch more than 300 feet in the dry dock until it was within a sixteenth of an inch of the San Francisco. Internal systems, such as pipes and cables, were aligned and mated before the bow could be welded on. The restoration took 285,000 man days, Mascianica said, and left the 6,000-ton submarine meeting all of its original design specifications. The USS San Francisco was about 350 miles south of its base on Guam and cruising 525 feet below the surface when it struck the seamount. It surfaced and returned to Guam under its own power. There, it was repaired enough to make an unprecedented 5,600-mile surface trip to Bremerton. An investigation into the accident found that the seamount didn't appear on the chart that the crew had been using. It found, however, that it did appear on other charts on the boat that should have been reviewed and the information transferred over, the Navy said. The ship's commanding officer, Cmdr. Kevin Mooney, was relieved of his command and received a letter of reprimand. Six crew members were punished, reduced in rate or got letters of reprimand. A sixteenth of an inch The gap between the San Francisco and its new bow from the Honolulu before welding 1 million pounds Weight of the Honolulu bow 6,000 tons Weight of a Los Angeles-class sub 362 feet Length of a Los Angeles-class sub $134 million Cost of the project $170 million What it would've cost to refuel the Honolulu $900 million Cost of the San Francisco in the late 1970s $2.2 billions Cost of a new submarine today 285,000 Number of man days the project took Alana Christensen in the SMH writes: New Zealand has been the home to Australian expats for years, and now Kiwis are muscling in on the startup world as low living costs and talented entrepreneurs continue to build the countrys reputation for innovation. The country, which was ranked No.1 in the world for ease of doing business by the World Bank, is increasingly becoming the dark horse in the Asia-Pacific startup world, attracting entrepreneurs from across the globe. Andrew Lamb is one of those expats building the New Zealand economy. Having moved from Melbourne to Wellington in search of a cooler summer, Lamb and his company, Camshaft, have thrived with the relocation. We could run the company just as well in Wellington as we could in Melbourne, but Wellington has in our opinion nicer weather, it was too hot in Melbourne, he said. But the attractive lifestyle choice extends far past the weather, to an inclusive and collaborative tech startup community. In Wellington, there is a really tight-knit tech startup community where everyone knows everyone else, everyone is willing to give everyone a hand with whatever theyre working with, Mr Lamb said. You cant help but know everyone, and whenever a new company forms its a bunch of people whove worked at other companies together previously. The ecosystem that Lamb and Camshaft enjoy and Creative HQ sits in is much different to that of a decade ago. With support from the federal government, which has fostered the ecosystem, startups and startup incubators are growing and theres greater opportunity in New Zealand. Creative HQs Lightning Lab is the biggest incubator program in the country and has benefited from a more structured and organised approach to innovation. When we started 12 to 15 years ago, the scene was very disorganised and very ad hoc, there were no angel investors and very limited talent. So it was pretty much random and sheer luck that any of us got off the ground, Mr Korn said. Over the past four years weve worked very hard to structure it as a result were seeing, especially in the past three or so years, dramatically increased levels of innovation coming from the startups, and increasingly so corporates and governments working together to drive innovation. Two schools were briefly placed on lockdown while police searched an east Springs neighborhood for a robbery suspect. The suspect robbed A Village Pharmacy at 3277 W. Carefree Circle just before noon Monday. District 11 placed nearby Sabin Middle School and Penrose Elementary School on precautionary lockdown for about 30 minutes during the initial search for the robber. The suspect is described as a white or Hispanic man in his 20s or 30s, about 6 feet tall and 220 pounds, wearing a dark jacket with dark pants. A K-9 team assisted officers with the search. At the time of this writing, the robber has not been located. Call for Entries: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Commission Gallery of Arts Tribute Works from the 2015 Tribute, by: Hawa Ware-Johnson, Albert Baah, and Tina Curry The Arts & Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Commission are calling for entries for the third annual Gallery of Arts Tribute, developed to recognize local artists and honor the life and times of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Approximately 40-50 fine art works of all media will be selected for display in the Atrium, North Wall, and display case galleries of the beautifully restored Emporium Center at 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxvilles downtown arts anchor location, from January 6-27, 2017. The Emporium admission is free. Hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM 5:00 PM and additional hours for special events. Artwork should be delivered on Tuesday, January 3, between 9:00 AM 5:00 PM. Artists may view the information, complete the entry form, and/or download an application at www.knoxalliance.com/mlk-tribute/. The exhibition seeks to feature: Works by African and African American artists living within 50 miles of Knoxville; and/or Works that pertain to the themes of Unity, Community, Love, Reconciliation, Social Justice, and Civil Rights by any artist living within 50 miles of Knoxville. Entries must be original and completed within the last five years in the following categories: 2-D (painting, drawing, mixed media, printmaking, photography) and 3-D (sculpture of all media). The maximum allowed size is 60 x 60 in any direction including frame or stand. Weight is not to exceed 50 lbs. unless special arrangements are made. Artwork must be suitably framed/mounted and wired for installation. There is no entry fee. Each artist may bring up to three pieces for consideration. Submitted works will be juried by staff members of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Commission and the Arts & Culture Alliance. The mission is to reaffirm and reflect upon the American ideals of freedom, justice and peace. To that end, we pledge to work inclusively with community partners to: lift and live principles of non-violence, equality and love; tell the stories of the struggles; and provide education and leadership training for adults and youth. Find more information at www.mlkknoxville.com. The Arts & Culture Alliance serves and supports a diverse community of artists, arts organizations, and cultural institutions. The Alliance receives financial support from the Tennessee Arts Commission, the City of Knoxville, and First Tennessee Foundation. Published December 4, 2016 Korea International Trade Association (KITA) Chairman Kim In-ho delivers an opening speech at the 53rd annual Trade Day ceremony at COEX in southeastern Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of KITA By Park Jae-hyuk Enterprises failed to receive the $10 billion Export Tower Award at the 53rd annual Trade Day ceremony hosted by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) at COEX in southeastern Seoul, Monday. It was the first time since 2002, when Hyundai Motor posted the highest exports at $7 billion among the firms at that time. In 2014, Samsung Electronics garnered a $75 billion Export Tower Award, and the next year SK hynix took the top spot by exporting $15 billion worth of products. Firms can recieve the Export Tower Award by surpassing certain amounts of exports, but only once. KITA explained the long-lasting slump in exports resulted in poor records this year. According to a report from the Institute for International Trade, Korea is estimated to have exported $497 billion this year, down 5.6 percent from last year. As the country's exports dropped 8.0 percent last year, Korea will likely post negative growth for two consecutive years, for the first time since 1958, the report said. On Nov. 14, the World Trade Organization (WTO) announced Korea's exports fell below France and Hong Kong for the January-to-August period, which placed Korea in 8th place, two steps lower than where it was last year. KITA said 1,209 companies received Export Tower Awards this year, the lowest since 2004 when 1,191 received the award. Last year, more than 1,300 firms received the prizes. The number of firms that received Export Tower Awards for $100 million and more this year was 55, less than half the number in 2011 at 129. However, KITA anticipated Korea will show growth in exports next year, followed by the economic recoveries of the U.S. and newly emerging countries, an increase in global oil prices and the removal of oversupply. "Because Korea is less likely to expect rapid growth than before, we have to find a new growth model," KITA Chairman Kim In-ho said in an opening speech at the ceremony. "Quantitative growth of exports is important, but we should try harder to overcome structural problems for the long-term." About 1,400 officials from the government and related organizations attended the event, including Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Joo Hyung-hwan. President Park Geun-hye who is embroiled in the political scandal did not attend the event. The President's absence was the first time since 1989, when then-President Roh Tae-woo was on an overseas trip. At the event, 30 CEOs received their prizes on the platform, representing the 760 meritorious entrepreneurs and 1,209 Export Tower awardees. Farmers seeking renaissance of agriculture By Yoon Ja-young Left with the ashes of the Korean War, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. Having three meals a day was an unattainable luxury for many, who relied on donations from developed countries. "Barley hump," or the pre-harvest period between May and June when there was no food, had been haunting Korea's rural area for years. Korean farmers finally overcame their poverty through the Saemaeul Movement. Those who researched the movement initiated by the late former President Park Chung-hee administration say that its achievement shouldn't be diminished. "Each time I interviewed the country's elderly citizens for research, I asked them what they thought made this country livable. Almost all of them mentioned the Saemaeul Movement.' It led me to become curious and delve into the subject," says Rhee Young-hoon, a professor of Korean economic history at Seoul National University. "It was the starting point of human and social reform," the professor says. The Saemaeul Movement was started in 1970 when the country's per capita income stood at a mere $254. It started with projects to improve the lives of rural communities, such as replacing thatched roofs with modern roofs or establishing irrigation, but its biggest accomplishment was that it instilled a "Can Do Spirit" in farmers based on the values of diligence, self-help, and public participation. Diverse projects initiated by farmers led to an increase in income. The annual income of the farming households, which stood at a mere 67 percent of urban households in the early 1970s when the movement started, caught up with urban household income by the mid 1970s. The savings rate of rural and fishing households also doubled to 20 percent in the 1970s from 10 percent of 1960s. However, it is undeniable that the country's agriculture was given less priority during the rapid economic and industrial development. The Uruguay Round opened doors for the agricultural market where cheap crops from overseas started pouring in. Starting from the Korea-Chile free trade agreement (FTA) which took effect in 2004 despite resistance by rural communities, Korea has been signing FTAs with numerous countries. It exports more cell phones and automobiles than ever, but agriculture had to sacrifice. Agriculture makes only 2.3 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and the farming population halved during the past decade. Four out of 10 people in farming households are senior citizens aged 65 or older. Some farmers, however, are turning the crisis into opportunity. They are considering ways to enhance the competitive edge of Korean farms, in cooperation with the government. Jeon Jae-chang, a grape farmer in Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, is one of them. The veteran farmer who has been growing grapes for 33 years introduced an all-in-one rain shelter system thanks to the government project to help farmers modernize their facilities. By systematically preventing access of birds and other wild animals as well as moths and other insects, he pulled up the productivity by over 10 percent. A new irrigation system also enhanced the quality of the grapes, by providing water directly to the roots instead of sprinkling. His grapes are known for high quality among wholesalers, sold at prices 20 percent higher than before. "As the country's agricultural market is open, local fruit need to be of better quality than before to get competitive edge against imported fruit," Jeon said. "Farmers should make diversified efforts themselves to survive the FTAs," he added. Some farmers go beyond the border, exporting Korean produce. They hope to make "hallyu" in the agricultural market. Park Beom-seon, who grows melons in Namwon, North Jeolla Province, exports to Asian countries including Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong under his "Melonika" brand. At his farm, computers automatically measure the amount of solar radiation and control heat and ventilation in the glass houses. They also supply major nutrients for growth, such as nitrogen, phosphate, iron and magnesium, at optimum ratios. By applying ICT to agriculture, the farm achieved stable production of quality fruit. His melons are sweet and tender, and sold at prices on average 20 percent higher than other melons at the wholesale market. On top of applying science to agriculture, Park stresses that farms should establish their own brands. He was supported by the government project to nurture a local fruit brand so that local farmers can compete with multinational brands following the opening up of the market. "Differentiation comes from the brand, which tells the quality of the produce. We plan to continue our investment in this," Park said. Through successful promotion and marketing, 37 tons of Melonika melons were exported in 2015, and the exports totaled 22 tons in the first half of this year alone. Despite many challenges, experts note that Korea's agriculture has great potential to make a leap forward. One such sign is that urbanites are increasingly heading to rural areas to dedicate themselves to farming. According to the agriculture ministry, the number of urban households who headed to rural areas snowballed to 44,586 in 2014 from 4,067 in 2010. Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) expects 9.5 million people to have joined the move by 2033. While those in their 50s who retired from their jobs have been leading the move to go rural, the trend is showing signs of change. Young people in their 30s and 40s as well as those in their 20s are increasingly gaining interest in farming. "These people have the potential to be innovative drivers in rural Korea," says Ma Sang-jin, a researcher at KREI. He cited Statistics Korea data showing that 78.4 percent of those who returned to rural areas have junior college degrees or higher. It contrasts with traditional elderly farmers among whom only 10.6 percent are educated at that level. The government plan of achieving the "sixth industrialization" of agriculture is also attracting those interested in farming. It aims at integrating the primary agricultural industry with secondary and tertiary industries of manufacturing and service, to create new value added products. Processing agricultural produce into new products or developing tourism programs are some of the examples. The project is especially drawing the attention of urbanites with higher degrees or special skills. "Korean agriculture is facing many changes such as globalization, new consumption pattern, and growing interest in ecology. It needs to expand its scope to create new value," KREI noted in a report. Bartomeu Mari, director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), speaks during a press conference commemorating his first year at the museum, Monday. / Yonhap By Kwon Mee-yoo Bartomeu Mari, the first foreign director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), disregards worries regarding not-so-satisfactory evaluations on his first year in the post. Mari, who led the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) before arriving in Seoul, spent a highly anticipated year at the MMCA as he was considered the right person to promote Korean art internationally based on a wide global network. However, there are concerns about Mari's petty success as his influences over the museum or its exhibits seem insignificant so far. Korean art magazine, Art Monthly, interviewed Mari for its December issue and the magazine's chief editor Lee Joon-hee said Mari lacks the responsibility to understand and decide about museum issues and administrative power to suggest a vision to lead the country's only national fine art museum. "Mari should voluntarily step down and return to his country," Lee wrote in the magazine. However, director Mari reaffirmed his determination to maintain his post. "By next week, I've been working for the MMCA for one year. Resignation does not exist for me. I would like to demonstrate what I can do well. We are full of energy and ideas for the coming years," Mari said at a press conference on the occasion of his first anniversary at the museum, Monday. "I am a director-curator because I was a curator. I'm not a manager-director or media-director since I come from a curatorial background. However, I don't pretend that I'm taking on the role of a curator and my role here is to stimulate, support and inspire the staff. That is my point of view," Mari said. "I've been working more than 30 years in this field and I try to contribute to the program in the best ways possible. I don't impose my philosophy on what is already programmed." Mari suggested connecting tradition and modernity together as a key theme for upcoming exhibitions of the MMCA. Major exhibits for the next year and the year after next include "When Art becomes Liberty: The Egyptian Surrealists," "Picasso and the Popular Arts and Traditions" and "Andy Warhol: Shadows." The museum will also produce a major retrospective of British master Richard Hamilton as well as Poland-born artist Krzysztof Wodiczko's new works. The museum has three branches _ Gwacheon, Seoul and Deoksugung _ and Mari has vowed to develop the characteristics of each branch while maintaining the identity of one museum. The director commissioned outdoor site-specific projects for each branch, which will bring together different generations of artists. "It will emphasize different contexts of each museum such as a park for Gwacheon and a monumental area in Deoksugung," Mari said. The museum will also hold a special, permanent presentation of its collections as well as a showcase of new acquisitions. Though his endeavor to let the world know about Korean art is not visible yet, Mari asked to look further. "International institutions plan their exhibitions three to five years in advance. We are working with various institutions in Europe," the director said. One of Mari's ambitious yet elementary projects to better introduce Korean art overseas is strengthening the museum's publishing system. "A good catalogue is essential to gain attraction from partner institutions. If catalogues are published in time in multiple languages, we can improve communicating with them. "Globalization of Korean art is not a question of exports. It is about Korea becoming a real platform of international contemporary art. Seoul is already a big international metropolis and many international collectors, directors and curators visit this country. We are on the map and this is an instrument we need to use creatively," Mari said. Supporting Mari's innovative project is an increased budget. The annual budget for the MMCA in 2017 is 72.4 billion won ($62 million), which is a 45 percent jump from 49.9 billion won for this year. It includes 4.2 billion won set aside for the so-called "Mari Project," including public art. The amount for purchasing collection pieces also increased from 5.3 billion won to 6.1 billion won. Mari also talked of his efforts to familiarize Korean art with the people concerned. When he was appointed, Mari resolved to learn Korean to communicate with the staff and artists, but he spoke in English during the press conference, admitting his progress in Korean was not as much as he expected. The director pledged to continue learning Korean. The Spanish director said he tried to talk to as many artists, curators, museum directors, collectors and agents as possible to better understand the Korean art world. "I still need to acquaint myself with the art circle. I'm full of attention for what people have to say and it's very basic for the job I do _ listening to people and their opinions. My job is very absorbing and I force myself not to be swallowed by those routines," he said. "On Friday afternoon, I will visit exhibitions and talk to artists. Though probably I will have to choose another day since there is too much traffic (on Fridays)." Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon bows during a media briefing at the office in Seoul, Monday, to apologize for the poor supervision of Seoul Chungdam High School, which fabricated the grades and attendance of Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of President Park Geun-hye's scandal-ridden confidant Choi Soon-sil. The office has decided to annul Chung's graduation. / Yonhap By Kim Rahn Chung Yoo-ra The education office in Seoul has annulled the high school graduation of Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of President Park Geun-hye's confidant Choi Soon-sil, after finding out her grades and attendance were fabricated and she had not fulfilled the requirements to graduate. It also asked the prosecution to investigate Chung, Choi and 10 others involved in the irregularities in managing Chung's attendance, tests and grades, including teachers and school board members at Chungdam High School. The decision came about two weeks after the Ministry of Education ordered Ewha Womans University to cancel Chung's admissions due to the university's favors in admissions and grading. In her third year at the high school in 2014, Chung, a dressage competitor, was absent for 141 days with the excuse that she participated in competitions or training overseas. She submitted related documents to prove her participation and the school acknowledged her absence. "Of the documents, those for 105 days of absence were fabricated," said Cho Hee-yeon, superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE), in a briefing, Monday. The 2017 budget allocated for South Korea's unification ministry dropped 20.5 percent from a year earlier, as inter-Korean ties remain frayed amid North Korea's nuclear standoff, government officials aid Monday. A total of 1.208 trillion won ($1.02 billion) has been set aside for next year's budget for the ministry handling inter-Korean affairs, including 958.8 billion won for the state inter-Korean cooperation fund, they said. The country's parliament on Saturday passed a 400.5 trillion won government spending plan for next year. The ministry said that a fall in the budget reflects the strained ties between South and North Korea, as Pyongyang conducted two nuclear tests this year alone and launched a long-range rocket early this year. The size of the inter-Korean cooperation fund earmarked for next year will represent a 23.6 percent fall from 2016, it said. South Korea set up the fund in 1991 in order to facilitate inter-Korean exchanges and economic cooperation. Since 2008, the yearly size of the fund has remained at near 1 trillion won. Meanwhile, the government newly allocated 13.5 billion won to implementing a new law aimed at improving North Korea's human rights situation. Under the law, which went into effect in September, Seoul set up an agency tasked with compiling North Korea's human rights abuses. The law also calls for the establishment of a foundation to support the relevant civic groups' activities to improve Pyongyang's rights situation. But the formation of its board has yet to be finalized, as rival political parties have not yet recommended any candidates. (Yonhap) "The conviction of core allegations would warrant at least a 10-year sentence," said Yun Ho-jung, lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party. / Courtesy of Twitter By Lee Han-soo What would the court's ruling be like if President Park Geun-hye is dethroned and stands trial for all the allegations against her? An opposition lawmaker claimed the scandal-tarnished head of state could be sentenced to "life in prison." Rep. Yun Ho-jung of the main opposition Democratic Party claimed the sentence could be reduced to 10 years, but Park is very unlikely to avoid imprisonment when she leaves the presidential office either by resigning or impeachment. The three-term lawmaker, who is chairman of the party's policy committee, said his forecast was based on the opinions of his legal advisers. "Park can be sentenced to up to life in prison if she is convicted of all allegations," Yun told fellow lawmakers last week. "The conviction of core allegations would warrant at least a 10-year sentence." The prosecution has pinpointed Park as a "criminal suspect" involved in allegedly multiple criminal acts, including extortion and abuse of official power. Park may face more allegations because the prosecution is carrying out a sweeping probe into her close aides and businessmen who allegedly gave bribes to Park's long-time friend, Choi Soon-sil, in exchange for business favors. Independent counsel Park Young-soo has vowed a "no-holds-barred" investigation of the scandal with his 100-member team, raising the possibility that the team would uncover fresh evidence against Park. Seoul Central District Court punished operators of an adult "voyeurism" club in Seoul that fed the sexual appetites for perverts, allowing visitors to have sex in an open space or watch others doing so. / Screen capture from YouTube By Ko Dong-hwan A banner ad for an adult "voyeurism" club in Goyang "Inside the dark salon is filled with rapturous noises from everywhere including booths, rooms, and an open stage. "Entrance to the night-out venue is guaranteed as long as a reservation is made for this members-only adult playground. "Except for several male loners, most visitors are couples, including those with wedding rings. "The couples look excited as they are about to part and meet total strangers, with whom they will agree to have sex publicly or privately. "Several women are dancing as they begin to strip as several drunk people watched. "Eventually, the onlookers' libidos cannot be kept in check and couples begin to have sex without caring and without feeling guilty." This is an imaginative scene at an adult sex club in Seoul called "Voyeurism Club" based on what the operators revealed in a criminal court on Dec. 4. Seoul Central District Court punished the operators of the club that fed the sexual appetites for perverts, allowing visitors to have sex in an open space or watch others doing so. The court sentenced the club's chief operator, surnamed Won, 43, to 18 months' jail, suspended for two years, and 15 million won ($12,000) fine for infringing the laws of punishing acts related to the sex. Targeting those with "abnormally obscene desires," Won managed the bar-like club in Gwanak-gu that he rented twice a month from May 2014 until last July. Promotional images of another similar club in Bucheon / Courtesy of online community The court said he paid two housewives to dance nude in front of visitors and provide sexual service to them. He also offered 100,000 to 150,000 won admission to members of an online community for couples and single male office workers and asked them to act as prostitutes. The court also sentenced the club's pimp, 46, and janitor, 45, to six months' jail, suspended for a year. The pair worked with Won in hiring prostitutes from outside. Two female prostitutes, aged 41 and 37, were fined 1.5 million won each. They received 250,000 to 300,000 won from Won as wages and entered the club freely, enjoying free alcohols. A female employee of the club, 22, was another regular prostitute, having sex in an open room with a bed. The room was next to the club restroom. "Most of the club's couple visitors, including married couples, enjoyed swapping or watched others having sex," the court said. Other adult salons of a similar theme can be found online as well, including one in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. The club's website is only accessible to members who can book dates to visit online or check "albums." It introduces itself as a club with themes of "voyeurism and nudity" and says visitors "can freely watch and denude" and encourages planning "a special couple event." Another club, which purports to be in"luxurious, European-style," is for married couples only. The club in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, operates online with its contact ID of Kakao Talk, Korea's most widely used mobile messenger app, so that the app users can add the ID to their friends list and make inquires privately. An Asiana Airlines flight from Incheon to New York was delayed for about an hour after two pilots were involved in a fight. / Yonhap By Lee Jin-a, Park Si-soo Asiana Airlines has come under fire for letting a co-pilot injured in a bloody fight, operate a flight bound for New York from Seoul last week, risking the safety of 275 passengers. According to reports, a quarrel broke out between two co-pilots of flight OZ222 that was supposed to depart from Incheon International Airport for New York at 11 a.m. Friday. The two punched and kicked each other, leaving one taken off the flight for medical treatment. Departure was delayed for about one hour. The other co-pilot was also injured, but the company's safety director left him on the flight after checking his condition. Instead, the director used a substitute pilot to fill the vacancy. The exact cause of the fight is unknown. The country's second-biggest airline will question the two pilots this week and take disciplinary action. Amid criticism for leaving the injured pilot in the cockpit, the company said the fight happened outside the cockpit and that Asiana's safety director confirmed that the pilot would not compromise safety. By Choi Ha-youngThe candlelit protests against President Park Geun-hye have drawn millions of citizens. Although most participants act on their own without "direction" from a small number of leaders, there are people who plan and prepare for the whole rally behind the scenes: the organizer and volunteers.More than 100 activists were working like bees from dawn till midnight, Saturday, for the sixth rally calling for the President's resignation over the influence-peddling scandal involving her confidant Choi Soon-sil.They were from the organizer, named Action for Resignation, which was launched Nov. 9 with the participation of over 1,500 civic and labor groups.They prepare the rallies from A to Z: reporting the assembly to the police, filing lawsuits against the police, designing posters and leaflets, installing stages, inviting performers, searching for missing children at rallies and operating emergency booths."This time, we decided to shorten the performances and focus on the march toward Cheong Wa Dae," said Kim Ji-ho, 44, an activist working for the organizer's rally-planning team.The organizer sets a rough agenda for each rally based on citizens' feedback. On Dec. 3, it concentrated on messages to the National Assembly ahead of the impeachment vote and its inspection of chaebol."These days, we go with the flow of public opinion. As people already share the anger, there's no need to teach participants. Rather, we try to show we are all like-minded," said Kim, with chapped lips.Ji Seong-han, 44, is a DJ at the mega rally. He supervises sound, lighting and video. "I select songs according to the atmosphere. My priority is sharing the same music and video for all in real time," he said. Six large speakers, which engineers install at 7 a.m., helped his work.The organizer relies on donations for the expenses of the rally. Over 90 percent of the income comes from donations and some civic and labor groups add money. "For the Nov. 26 rally, we spent 200 million won ($170,401)," said Kim Eun-gyu, 45, head of the volunteer team. The income and expenses are disclosed on bisang2016.net Besides money, some donate their talents and pitch ideas. "Many renowned designers send us posters and banners. Citizens' witty comments inspire our posters, too," said Park Jeong-ok, head of the organizer's PR team. By Yi Whan-woo Rep. Kim Dong-cheol Rep. Kim Dong-cheol has been named as the new interim leader of the minor opposition People's Party at its central committee meeting, Monday. Kim, a four-term lawmaker, replaces Rep. Park Jie-won who had doubled as the party's floor leader. Park earlier pledged to resign from the post of interim leader once the 2018 budget bill was passed. Kim vowed to make "full-fledged" efforts to impeach scandal-ridden President Park Geun-hye, referring to the opposition-led National Assembly that will put an impeachment motion to a vote, Friday. "Park's impeachment is our priority and the party will mobilize all possible means to succeed," he said. "I will also make sure to lead the party without any mistakes in line with the party's order and principles." Kim was among the party members who once sought to have talks between the opposition and the ruling Saenuri Party in line with the President's conditional offer made on Nov. 29 over her possible resignation. The People's Party as a whole then turned hostile toward the President, after facing public criticism for refusing to join other opposition parties' initial plan to put the impeachment motion to a vote on Dec. 2. The impeachment motion requires endorsement from at least two-thirds of the 300-member National Assembly to win approval. The opposition bloc, including the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the Justice Party, occupies 165 parliamentary seats combined, meaning support from all 38 legislators in the People's Party is essential in addition to non-mainstream anti-Park factional members at the Saenuri Party. "The People's Party was formed to break the two-party system dominated by incompetent Saenuri Party and the DPK that has settled for being the main opposition," Kim said. "We'll go back to basics to help change the government led by moderate and rational forces." Kim will lead the party until Jan. 15 when the party will hold a national convention to elect its new chairmanship. "I will pay close attention to preparations for the national convention and give my support accordingly," he said. Rep. Park Young-sun of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, second from left, compares two photos of President Park Geun-hye taken before and after the sinking of the Sewol ferry on April 16, 2014, during a session of the parliamentary investigation into the scandal involving the President, Monday. The lawmaker alleged that Park may have been receiving wrinkle treatment for hours while the ship was sinking. / Yonhap By Jun Ji-hye Rep. An Min-suk of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea shows a message from a Korean resident living in Texas during a National Assembly investigation session Monday into the scandal involving President Park Geun-hye. / Yonhap The U.S. military is protecting a Korean Army nurse who may know what President Park Geun-hye was doing for seven hours while the Sewol ferry was sinking on April 16, 2014, an opposition lawmaker alleged Monday. This may be because the Seoul's defense ministry requested protection for the nurse, identified only as Capt. Cho, according to Rep. An Min-suk of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Cho worked at the presidential office at the time of the country's worst maritime disaster that killed 304 people. An also claimed Cheong Wa Dae has systematically monitored Cho, who is currently taking a course at a U.S. Army hospital in Texas. The lawmaker said when he visited Texas late last month to interview the nurse, a Korean male officer was seen "guarding" her. An also claimed the U.S. military did not allow him to meet with Cho and told him that it could not confirm anything about her. When he asked why, the four-term legislator said that the U.S. military cited a request from the Korean government. Cho was one of two army nurses who worked at Cheong Wa Dae in 2014. An said Cho is a key witness into Park's "seven missing hours." The President appeared at an emergency measures headquarters seven hours after the tragic incident began. Owing to the lack of an explanation about her whereabouts during those critical hours, rumors have abounded that she might have been undergoing plastic surgery or another medical procedure. After the high-profile corruption and influence-peddling scandal involving the President and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil became public in late October, opposition lawmakers and prosecutors have also been looking into the seven-hour absence. An belongs to an 18-member National Assembly panel investigating the scandal, which is being conducted separately from an investigation by the prosecution, and one to be conducted by an independent counsel expected to start this week. He visited the U.S. from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2, but failed to meet Cho. Professors demand President Park Geun-hye's immediate resignation over the major influence-peddling scandal involving her and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil, during a rally at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, Monday. Some 3,000 professors across the country issued a joint statement to denounce the President. / Yonhap By Kim Se-jeong Anti-President Park Geun-hye protests will take place every day this week near Cheong Wa Dae, as public anger is coming to a head before the National Assembly's vote on impeachment Friday. Weekday protests have become possible after a local court Friday allowed marches toward the presidential office before 10 p.m. every day during December. On Monday, hundreds of citizens held a candlelit protest at Gwanghwamun Square at 7 p.m. and marched to a point 200 meters from Cheong Wa Dae, the nearest spot they were allowed to reach. Other protests this week will follow the same route and schedule. The organizers said they are also considering separate protests on Yeouido, southern Seoul, this week. They organized a rally in front of the Saenuri Party headquarters there Saturday and about 20,000 people a number much higher than expected participated to criticize the ruling party for deciding to allow Park to step down instead of impeaching her. According to a survey conducted by the organizers, 213,000 out of 217,000 respondents, or 98 percent, expressed their disapproval of the ruling party. "There is growing demand from people for a protest on Yeouido this week," a staff member of the organizers told The Korea Times. "We are looking at different options for Yeouido at the moment." Many citizens say they will also participate in protests on weekdays. "We should wage an all-night candlelit protest from Thursday night for the passage of the impeachment motion. And we should continue the protest until the Constitutional Court decides in favor of the impeachment. This is the only way," a 29-year-old woman said. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), one of the nation's two umbrella unions, is organizing rallies at several spots on Yeouido where the public can participate. One is in front of the National Assembly, where an investigation into the scandal is underway. The KCTU said it will continue the rally until the vote is held. The umbrella union will also hold a gathering in front of the Federation of Korean Industries today, demanding that it disband for encouraging member companies to raise funds for two foundations set up by Park's disgraced confidant Choi Soon-sil. Fine dust envelops the National Assembly building on Yeouido, Seoul, Monday, four days before the Assembly will vote on whether to impeach President Park Geun-hye over the influence-peddling scandal involving her confidant Choi Soon-sil. / Yonhap By Kang Seung-woo President Park Geun-hye appears to have no other option but to specify when she will step down or leave her fate up to the Constitutional Court. An impeachment motion is highly expected to pass the National Assembly, Friday, as a group of some 40 anti-Park lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party have decided to vote in favor of it. Impeachment requires a two-thirds majority in the 300-member Assembly, and given opposition and independent lawmakers number 172 if all of them vote, at least 28 lawmakers from the governing party need to vote for it. "Although her third national address was the best tactic to stall for time, the mass street protest on Saturday thwarted it," said Cho Jin-man, a professor of political science at Duksung Women's University, Monday. "Given the situation, President Park may address the nation in the near future to reveal the timetable for her resignation." Since her third address last Tuesday, aimed at stalling for time and thwarting the impeachment push, the governing party had pushed for Park to resign by the end of April and hold an early presidential election in June. Hur Won-je, Park's senior secretary for political affairs, also said Monday that the President will step down by the end of April. "After being briefed about the party's roadmap about her early resignation, the President expressed her intention to accept it," Hur told lawmakers during an Assembly investigation into the corruption scandal involving Park and her confidant Choi Soon-sil. "That indicates her resignation will take place at the end of April." However, lawmakers in the anti-Park faction decided to cross the aisle, Sunday, following the sixth candlelit rally that drew more than 2 million people to the streets across the nation the largest-ever mass gathering. According to Rep. Hwang Young-cheul, a member of the faction, 35 lawmakers from the faction and more than three Park loyalists are expected to vote for the impeachment motion. Analysts doubt that another speech will buy Park time. "Although she may address the nation again, it will not pay off," Cho said. "Other than stepping down as early as possible, there is no way to ease the growing public outrage toward the President and turn the tables." According to the Saenuri Party, President Park is expected to speak to the nation Tuesday or Wednesday, vowing to resign by April. Four lawyers appointed as assistant counsels to investigate the influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend Choi Soon-sil speak to reporters at the office of Park Young-soo, the special prosecutor in charge of the team, in southern Seoul, Monday. They are, from left, Lee Yong-bok, Park Choong-kun, Yang Jae-sik and Lee Kyu-chul. / Yonhap By Kim Se-jeong President Park Geun-hye has named four lawyers as assistant counsels for the special prosecutor's team to investigate the corruption and influence-peddling scandal involving herself and her confidante Choi Soon-sil. They are Lee Yong-bok, Park Choong-kun, Yang Jae-sik and Lee Kyu-chul. Lee Kyu-chul is a former judge, while the others are former prosecutors. They will assist special prosecutor, Park Young-soo, who the President picked from among two candidates last week. While Park Young-soo will administer the entire investigation against the President, the four assistants will take charge of each major allegation. Including them, the size of the team will reach around 100, including 20 incumbent prosecutors dispatched by the Ministry of Justice. Lee Yong-bok was a member of another independent counsel team investigating the DDoS cyber attack allegedly by North Korea one day before the National Assembly elections in 2012. By Jacco Zwetsloot Over the last year, this newspaper has devoted a lot of ink to Woo Byung-woo, the once-embattled and now former Blue House senior secretary for civil affairs (SSCA). After Woo's resignation at the end of October, President Park appointed Choi Jai-kyeong to the position, her fifth SSCA in less than four years. As with recent predecessors, Choi comes from a background in the public prosecution, having been a former chief prosecutor of the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office. Woo had previously been head of the Bucheon Branch of Incheon District Prosecutors' Office, before joining the Blue House's Office of Civil Affairs, eventually advancing to senior secretary. The SSCA is one of 10 senior secretaries within the Blue House. Together they, and the secretariats under them, take care of various remits, including civil service discipline, legal affairs, civil petitions and so on. The secretariat responsible for civil affairs oversees the activities of the prosecution, the police, the National Intelligence Office, the National Taxation Service, and the Board of Audit and Inspection. The SSCA is also responsible for monitoring Blue House staff, as well as the inner circle (relatives and friends) of the President in order to prevent or curtail corruption or influence peddling. The third leg of duties is to screen and vet all potential presidential appointees to ministerial and vice-ministerial level. The star of a Blue House SSCA rises or falls with the presidential selections whom they screen (or fail to). Every year or two we read in the newspaper something along the lines of "senior secretary X tendered his resignation for failing to properly vet the recent presidential pick for minister of Y, when it was discovered that the latter had been involved in Z scandal." As SSCA, Woo was already facing criticism for not properly vetting a senior prosecutor before his promotion to director of the Immigration Service in 2015, after the latter was implicated in a bribery scandal. The position of SSCA was created in 1968, during President Park Chung-hee's second term. The first was Yoo Seung-won, a National Assemblyman before his appointment and again afterwards. Chun Doo-hwan's two SSCAs came from the Agency for National Security Planning (now the National Intelligence Service). Roh Tae-woo was the first to hire both his SSCAs from within the prosecution. The latter of these went on to become Korea's chief prosecutor after serving just 18 months in the Blue House. Kim Dae-jung chose prosecutors for all but the first of his SSCAs, while Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye have exclusively tapped prosecutors for the post. The exception was Roh Moo-hyun: he preferred civil servants or other professionals over prosecutors. For example, former presidential candidate and prominent opposition leader Moon Jae-in had two stints in that role. It was not only this on-again-off-again trend to tap prosecutors for the post of SSCA, but also the dispatching of currently serving prosecutors to within the secretariat of civil affairs that led to a concern about the political neutrality of the prosecution itself, because of the influence that those in the Blue House might have on their former colleagues to either pursue or drop a given case (witness also the initial reluctance to question Woo). In Kim Young-sam's administration a law was enacted in 1997 that no serving prosecutor could be dispatched to the Blue House, nor could concurrently hold a position within the Blue House. However, if not the letter, the intention of the law was contravened when in the interests of expediency it became customary for a serving prosecutor to simply resign and enter the Blue House quickly thereafter. There still remains, then, a question mark about how neutral the prosecution can be when one of its own serves within the president's inner circle, especially when among his or her duties is to oversee the office from which he/she was recruited. This is further compounded by the fact that in the last eight years all nine SSCAs come from the same prosecutorial background, and over half had to ultimately step down from the post in the wake of allegations or related scandals. To compare; in the United States, there is the position of White House Counsel (WHC). Appointed by the president, this official oversees the vetting process of other appointees (amongst other duties). Unlike in Korea, however, it doesn't appear that there is any particular career track either before or after the White House although sometimes the job is given to someone who had worked on the President's election campaign with the exception that all are qualified lawyers. Compared to Korea, turnover is low: President Obama has had just 4 WHCs in his nearly 8 years, while George W. Bush was served by only 3 in his full 2 terms. Far from being forced to leave their job because of allegations of malfeasance or scandal, many go on to teach law, while others go back to private practice. With its three main tasks of vetting presidential appointments, overseeing various government institutions, and checking potential corruption in the president's inner circle, the position of SSCA is obviously an important one with far-reaching influence. Judging by recent history, however, it seems the post is a problematic one. If it happened only once or twice, this could be put down to the individual in the job, but since allegations seem to arise with boring repetition, the position itself might have structural issues. It seems that the whole secretariat needs an overhaul. The author has lived in Korea for 15 of the last 20 years, and is Director of Business Innovation at Hwang, Mok, Park, a Korean law firm. Lu Dezhi, chairman of the Huamin Charity Foundation, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, Monday. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk By Baek Byung-yeul China's Huamin Charity Foundation committed to donate $600,000 to the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF), Sunday, to support taekwondo academies for refugees. Lu Dezhi, chairman of the Huamin Charity Foundation, said that he decided to take part in the WTF's refugee assistance programs after meeting with the WTF President Choue Chung-won. "I learned what kind of sport taekwondo is after meeting with Choue. I was deeply impressed by his vision to support refugees worldwide," Lu told The Korea Times, Monday. The WTF and its associated charity initiative, the THF, are already running a taekwondo academy in the Azraq Camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan. Lu visited the WTF's headquarters in Seoul to sign the donation contract with the WTF and the THF. The money from the Chinese charity foundation will be used to construct academies for taekwondo education in Jordan, Rwanda and countries in North Africa over the next three years. Choue expressed his "deepest gratitude to Lu," calling him "a true philanthropist." "His donation will be well spent, helping to empower some of the most powerless people in the world refugee children," Choue said Sunday. Introducing the Beijing-based charity foundation, Lu explained the foundation focuses on taking care of the aged, funding university students and supporting the disabled in China. "Since it was established in 2008, we have been running various kinds of support programs for people in China. Further, we are planning to expand our charity programs worldwide in close cooperation with the Chinese government and international charity organizations," Lu said. He said the charity foundation will continue supporting the taekwondo federation's refugee assistance programs. "Huamin's support for the WTF and the THF is just the beginning of our global support program. We will continue to support their charity programs. And, if possible, we will also explore ways to help people in Korea through taekwondo education," Lu said. While South Korea's decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), an advanced missile defense system, on its soil has strained relationship with China, Lu stressed that the foundation's charity activities could be a symbol of a non-governmental effort to improve harmony between the two countries as well. "Next year marks the 25th anniversary of China-Korea diplomatic normalization and I think the current discord is temporary because I am so sure the bilateral relationships of the two countries will be strengthened increasingly," Lu said. "As taekwondo is a martial art originating in Korea, the decision to donate to the WTF and the THF would be meaningful for both countries as well," Lu said. During his visit to Seoul, Lu gave a lecture titled "Donation culture in the 21st century and a coexistence strategy in the era of globalization" at Kyung Hee University's Suwon campus. Over-assuming Park's guilt By Oh Young-jin If Jesus showed up and dared the crowd of a million people in Gwanghwamun, "Whoever is without sin among you, let him (her) be the one to cast the first stone" at President Park Geun-hye, the chance is that Park would face one million stones being hurled in her direction. It would be impossible to know who had thrown the first. Then, if the people in the crowd were asked why they threw the stones, the likelihood is that they would say they did so because others did. Or they could come up with what each of them thinks is wrong with Park. But what exactly has Park done wrong to put her up for impeachment or force her to ask for a formula by which she will step down before her term ends? True, the entire nation is upset to find out that Park delegated her people-given mandate to her friend, Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of Korea's Elmer Gantry, the charlatan minister from the eponymous novel by Sinclair Lewis, and thet Choi had influenced state affairs under Park's commission. Choi edited Park's speeches in advance and her company included a former saber fencer who entertained wealthy women in Gangnam bars and a visual artist who had allegedly helped make his associates a culture minister and senior presidential aide. These revelations have made the people feel enraged at the President, calling for her immediate ouster. No question, it is a gross dereliction of duty and flagrant case of incompetence. Park has so far admitted that she had lowered her guard on Choi because she trusted her friend of 40 years. She has apologized. But are these the colossal breach of trust and incompetence enough to persuade the Constitutional Court to back the impeachment of Park? The President is constitutionally protected from criminal prosecution, unless he or she is believed to be engaged in subversion. Impeachment is the only way to punish the incumbent head of state. It's natural to infer that unless there are strong grounds of a grave infraction on the part of the leader and evidence to substantiate it, the court would not support the impeachment case. The court as part of society shares the sentiment of society and thereby is likely to be influenced by it. The nine judges have seen the indignation of millions of people participating in the candlelit protests against their leader. Would it be enough for them to give a guilty verdict to Park? Regarding the grounds for impeachment, the Constitution is quite vague, as stipulated in its 1, Article 65, limiting the conditions to when the President violates the Constitution and laws in the execution of presidential business. In the motion submitted Friday, the opposition parties and independent lawmakers cited, besides her Choi Soon-sil links, bribery regarding the "extortion" of chaebol's donations and her failure to save those who died in the Sewol ferry sinking. The prosecutors cited Park as an accomplice when indicting Choi and her former aide, An Chong-bum, for extorting billions of won from chaebol for two foundations allegedly controlled by Choi on Park's behalf. But they were not even able to question her, making the bribery and extortion charges less tenable. In her latest speech, Park claimed that she had engaged in soliciting donations from chaebol but strongly denied that she sought personal profit in doing so. As a matter of fact, she said that she had never sought personal gain throughout her political career. Park called in a group of chaebol heads and met them one by one, but it has yet to be proven that she had pocketed any money or set up the foundations for her retirement life as reported. Regarding the so-called missing seven hours after the Sewol tragedy, nothing has been substantiated about Park's wrongdoing, although speculation had it that she had a tryst with a paramour or underwent cosmetic treatment. Much of the public anger directed at Park stems from allegations and speculation mixed with some sensational nuggets of truth. The total loss of public trust alone can be enough to force a leader to step down. But what if little of the allegations that angered us were proven true in the process of the forthcoming special prosecutor's investigation? Would we bother to find the first stone thrower? Just think about it. Oh Young-jin is The Korea Times' chief editorial writer. Contact foolsdie5@ktimes.com or foolsdie@gmail.com. By Michael Bergmann The free world will not go down. When bad jokes come true on a global scale, as we have experienced at least twice in 2016, we have to remember three sources of our confidence: our humor, reason and constitutional guarantees. Only fools talk about people, as Socrates said. But when the bad jokes come along with a face, we have to equally counter them. When voters increasingly express their desire for change by leaning toward the "unconventional appearance," we have to turn it into a positive trend and ask: Who does not only have new ideas but has lived them? Which values do candidates represent not only by the programs of their parties but by their biographies? Which experiences have shaped them and their political direction? I am not saying boring candidates could not become convincing leaders. Example: Angela Merkel who has now been called the new leader of the free world. But she has a biographical background that distinguishes her from most of her peers in politics. When I read the reactions of prime ministers and presidents to Trump's triumph, I was, as Americans would say, proud of my chancellor. Merkel said in perfect accordance with protocol that she was looking forward to continuing close cooperation between the two countries on the basis of shared values. She just went a bit into detail explaining which values we Germans and Americans share. In her case, life before politics was a life behind walls. She studied politics so well later in life, giving up her career as a scientist, that she knows how to wisely congratulate the wall-builder. After the Americans stripped themselves of their leadership in the free world, Merkel and her country cannot seriously assume such a role, and certainly not alone. And here comes my call to the Korean citizens: Help us! I don't like to join such humorless talk as of middle power status or national image. But Koreans will elect a new president in 2017. And they can set a new trend. Here is my scenario: In 2020, the open-minded half of Americans who have defiantly held onto their belief that "love trumps hate" will finally have to ask: Who can successfully challenge and so trump Trump? Some will remember that the widely respected president of South Korea, whose name I cannot reveal, won power after his campaign had gained traction in the middle of the Trump- and Park-chaos. "That's it," some had realized, "Bill Gates for president" and "Gates trumps Trump!" Though the Korean Bill Gates is, in a political sense, the original, they will ask the one from Seattle to make the sacrifice. And though the Korean Bill Gates was far more prepared for his step from new economy to new politics, who will have greater potential to dwarf the braggart from the old economy? If then philanthropy trumps misanthropy, Korea will have exceeded middle power status. And I will apply for Korean nationality. Michael Bergmann is a teacher in Seoul. Write to bergmann2473@yahoo.de. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, breaking a 37-year taboo. The U.S. has by and large respected the "one-China" policy by Beijing that regards Taipei as a renegade province. This rule-breaking provocative Trumpian act gives Korea a foretaste of challenges to come. As shown by his election-winning "Make America great again" campaign pledge, Trump wants to be assertive with China, a superpower in its own right. Although Beijing called it a mistake, Trump's latest act should be taken as a calculated move to test the U.S.'s rival. Trump put China on the spot for stealing American jobs and vowed to slap hefty duties on Chinese imports. His hostile approach toward Beijing is set to spill over to territorial disputes in areas such as the South China Sea and hegemonic rows over the Korean Peninsula. Thereby, his phone call with Tsai is likely to presage more provocative acts by the U.S. after he takes office next month. The chance is that Korea will find itself sandwiched in a clash of interests between the two giants. Seoul is feeling the effects of revenge from China for what it sees an act of siding with the U.S. over the deployment of an interceptor system against North Korea's growing missile and nuclear threats. China has threatened to take revenge against Korea through its media, rolling back Korean pop stars' activities and suppressing Korean firms' business activities. Trump meanwhile has called Seoul a "freeloader" that has been overly reliant on the U.S. and has failed to pay a fair share for its own defense. Now Trump wants to retool the bilateral trade pact that he claims benefits Korea. Trump as candidate had called on Korea and Japan to arm themselves with nuclear weapons of their own to fight the nuclear-armed Pyongyang. Seoul has so far taken the ROK-U.S. alliance as the foundation of its national security, while taking China as a key business partner. This dual approach is fast losing its relevance amid the two superpowers' rivalry and is shifting to a new one that forces Korea to choose one over the other. Strong leadership at this critical juncture of our diplomacy is sorely missed as the current president has been incapacitated by a huge corruption scandal. The key criteria for the succeeding head of state should be whether they have a strong suit in diplomacy. By Andrew Salmon They came by the thousands, then by the millions. They occupied central Seoul to give voice to righteous indignation. They did it with a remarkable display of peaceful and orderly civic disobedience that has few precedents anywhere, ever. Their thunderous demand was simple: "Down with Park Geun-hye!" Never since Korea achieved democracy has a local politician faced such a tsunami of venom. Not even Chun Do-hwan, who stole power via coup and oversaw the Gwangju Massacre of the 1980s, generated such colossal and emotive calls for justice. The President is toast. When she exchanges the Blue House for a gray cell, legal wheels will turn and Korea will discover which of the countless accusations, rumors and conspiracy theories are actually true. If the allegations are proven, there will, no doubt, be tremendous satisfaction and nationwide schadenfreude. (If the allegations prove inaccurate or untrue well, let's not even go there.) But while protesters claim to be writing a new chapter in Korean democracy, we should ask: After the heads of Park and a handful of cronies have rolled, what if anything will have changed substantively? Will the downfall of "the queen and the witch" lead us to a land of milk and honey? I doubt it. Significantly and worryingly, public calls for institutional reform, for corporate accountability and for an end to the endless power abuse of elites in both politics and business have been drowned out by the anti-Park roar. The dubious pleasure of viewing Park's humiliation may soon sour, for Korea's external challenges are untouched by one president's downfall. They are worldwide, long-term, big-picture and distinctly menacing for this nation. The vote for Brexit in the U.K. and the election of Donald Trump in the U.S. are emblematic of a startling and worrisome global trend: A backlash against free trade and multiculturalism. Research this year indicates that global trade has peaked. The progress of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the body tasked with liberalizing international trade, has been stalled since 2001. If trade in goods and services turns downward, the free movement of peoples across borders a force once empowered by conquest and colonialism, but more latterly by commerce will also be impacted. It looks possible, even likely, that Brexit negotiations will be contentious. They could damage both the EU and the U.K. Trumpian America is poised to take a defensive/aggressive stance towards global competition and free trade pacts. These trends forewarn of a possible erosion of WTO practices, a return to protectionism and trade wars. These trends directly threaten Korea for stark reasons. The prime mover behind the rise of modern Korea and the enrichment of modern Koreans was global trade. Since 2002's credit crisis, domestic spending has been decimated. Today, Korea's economy is reliant upon trade; Korea's value-add is founded upon exports and Korea's stock and currency markets are at the mercy of global economic fluctuations. Declining global trade is already degrading two critical local sectors which rely upon it: shipbuilding and shipping. The damage to shipbuilding which threatens a domino effect in the steel, engineering and paint sectors, not to mention the overall economy of Korea's southeast is compounded by the rise of Chinese ship yards, which have aggressively undercut Korean players, and low oil prices which (despite OPECs' desperate output cut) look like a long-term trend. Amid Choi gate, there is minimal focus on these storm warnings. With the scandal monopolizing pages, screens and coffee-shop chatter, important stories such as Samsung's exploding phones and washing machines, and Beijing's assault on China's consumption of hallyu are ignored. Once the excitement of Park's ruination and the subsequent presidential election evaporate, "Hell Joseon" will return with a vengeance. The unfairness of a society where law is disempowered, disrespected and distrusted, leaving protest the only venue for justice. Chaebol offshoring, which erodes investment, job growth and trickle down. The cruel irony of over-education, which leads to the import of millions of foreign workers while local youths face under- and unemployment. The demographic plunge, which places increasing tax and productivity burdens upon working Koreans. More? The relentless rise of automation which threatens to consume jobs worldwide. The ongoing penetration by price-competitive Chinese brands on the global econoscape. And the fact that international trade is increasingly seen as a zero-sum game (so may, indeed, become one). If these trends play out, Korea will face the demons Western economies have grappled with for decades: The decimation of the working classes and the erosion of middle classes. Choi gate is a delicious participation sport, an addictive spectacle and an unstoppable bandwagon that everyone, from schoolchildren to prosecutors, has jumped on. The sooner it ends, the better. The national eye must refocus, with steady gaze, upon the host of menacing challenges gathering steam ahead of Korea's ship of state. Andrew Salmon is a Seoul-based reporter and author. Reach him at andrewcsalmon@yahoo.co.uk. By Yoon Sung-won LG Electronics said Monday it will drop all charges it has filed against British electronics maker Dyson over antitrust issues. Earlier in February, Dyson hosted a demonstration for media and bloggers and compared performances of wireless vacuum cleaners from diverse brands including its own and LG Electronics. At that time, the British company had drawn criticism for comparing its device, which costs more than 1 million won in Korea, with cheaper models of other brands. Right after the event, LG Electronics sent an official letter to Dyson's founder and chief engineer James Dyson and the company's CEO Max Conze urging an apology about the unfair comparison and a pledge not to repeat the comparison in the future. But the British company did not accept the request at that time, according to LG Electronics. Later on April 5, LG Electronics sued Dyson at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office over business obstruction and breaches of antitrust laws and advertising acts. On the same day, the Korean electronics company also reported to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) that Dyson violated advertising rules. Consequently, the prosecution raided the office of Dyson's exclusive distributor in Korea on June 3. The British company expressed regret over exercising a negative influence on LG Electronics, though it did not intend to undermine the Korean company or its products. "Dyson sincerely regrets if the performance comparison resulted in any negative publicity or other effect on LG Electronics," Dyson said in a statement. "But Dyson again affirms it had no intention to disparage or denigrate LG Electronics or any of its products through the performance comparison." LG Electronics said, "We will not tolerate any act of intentionally undermining our brand through an unfair and arbitrary comparison." In a separate case in October last year, LG Electronics filed a final injunction with the Federal Court of Australia against Dyson, urging it to stop false advertising. At that time, the Korean electronics company pointed out that Dyson was misleading consumers by using ad copy that read: "the most powerful cordless vacuums" and "twice the suction power of any cordless vacuums," even when LG Electronics' CordZero Cyking with stronger output had already been available in the market. According to LG Electronics, its vacuum cleaner CordZero Cyking has up to 200 watts (W) output compared to Dyson's wireless vacuum stick the V6 at 100W. Dyson accepted LG Electronics' request and the latter dropped the lawsuit it had filed against the British company in Australia. LG Electronics said the CordZero Cyking has the strongest sucking power among all wireless vacuum cleaners on the market and is the best-selling wireless vacuum cleaner in the Korean market. It said it applied its smart inverter motor technology and leading battery technology from its affiliate LG Chem. The smart inverter motor includes LG Electronics' exclusive brushless direct current motor, which replaces brushes in ordinary motors with electronic circuits to have three times the durability. Whereas LG Electronics is the largest provider of robot vacuum cleaners in Australia, Dyson is the dominant market player there. Korean media placement agency KOBACO published its recent survey on the viewers' engagement index to the TV station. MBC ranked highest among other public broadcast TV in its variety of programs from drama to variety shows. Korean Broadcast Advertising Corporation (KOBACO) conducted the survey during November 6 to 11 to measure the overall quality of the programs among the three major TV broadcasters in Korea, SBS, KBS, and MBC. The survey conducted on 70 programs from the respective stations as reported by NBN News. For the drama section, KOBACO measured "Shopping King Louis" against the SBS "Jealousy Incarnate" and "On the Way to the Airport." In the variety section, the agency measured "Infinity Challenge" (MBC), "Animal Farm" (SBS) and "Immortal Song" (KBS). Based on survey KOBACO reported that MBC's has more programs topped the ranking, as reported by Seoul Daily News. "Shopping King Louis" scored 136.7 in the program engagement index (PEI) as the highest among all segments. The drama can make the audience stay in the channel longer than any other programs. The other MBC programs that topped the ranking are variety shows "Infinity Challenges," the long-running investigative journalism show "PD Notebook" and "Economy Magazine." This shows that MBC has been able to deliver better programs than its two other competitors consistently. MBC is short for Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation and founded in 1961 as the terrestrial broadcaster in Korea. MBC has a nationwide network of 17 regional stations across Korea. The company owns the largest broadcasting facilities in Korea with its headquarter in Mapo-Gu, Seoul Metropolitan area. "Shopping King Louis" is a drama produced and distributed by MBC. The show was aired between September 21 to November 10 for the Wednesday and Thursday night drama. During its airtime, the drama only averaged 9.6% viewership rating in AGB Nielsen Korea, and 9.4% in TnMs. Although its ratings were not spectacular, "Shopping King Louis" have a consistently good storyline to make viewers engage more to the screen based on the KOBACO survey. Watch the 4-minute preview of the "Shopping King Louis" below: Last episode: In the present, newly named, Shim Chung opens the door to Dae Young dressed as a police officer. While in the past, Dam Ryung comes to the rescue of Se Hwa. Episode 5 returns to the past as Dam Ryung successful defeats the evil men sent to hurt Se Hwa. Making their escape Se Hwa looks curiously at a flower and Dam Ryung sadly reveals that it's meaning is memories. They travel back hand in hand. Meanwhile, a spy for the evil Mr. Yang reports back that Se Hwa was unharmed but the plans are already put forward to make the mermaid seem evil. A villager approaches Mr. Yang in an argument which ends with the villager threatening to reveal the plans Mr. Yang has set. The next day, villagers on the beach discover the villager dead. Dam Ryung and everyone approaches Mr. Yang who then tries to put into everyone's head that it's the work of the mermaid. However, Dam Ryung is quick to dispute it. Meanwhile, Mr. Yang's concubine gets into Dam Ryung's house in search of Se Hwa. Se Hwa meanwhile looks on at a vase which is the painting of present day Shim Chung, in mermaid form, and Joon Jae. She remembers the night before when Dam Ryung revealed he painted it after a dream he had of the present. As Dam Ryung travels by horseback to get back to Se Hwa, the present comes back as Dae Young approaches the house. Before Shim Chung can say anything, Joon Jae knocks over the police set up in order to get to her. He gets there in time to force Dae Young to run off before the real police come. The police question why Joon Jae rushed through their barriers and he makes up a story on how he needed to get home to get to his girlfriend. He gives them a fake ID that correlates with the address as a detective approaches and eyes Joon Jae suspiciously. But he is thrown off when a phone call comes in with a tip on the whereabouts of Dae Young. Which, as it turns out, was called in by Nam Doo. When the ID checks out, Joon Jae makes sure to leave right away. Inside, Shim Chung notices a cut on Joon Jae's hand but he snatches it away and he tells her off for answering the door to a stranger. She persists that Joon Jae should take care of his hand but he tells her off again about taking care of herself first. As they move to the living room, Shim Chung inquires about the drama she watched earlier. Joon Jae pretends to call the actors but calls Nam Doo instead. He pretends to know what happened in the drama but won't tell Shim Chung until she tells him what happened in Spain. She concludes that she can wait another week instead. But, Joon Jae is adamant that if she doesn't tell him, she has to move out the next day. Meanwhile, Dae Young calls Joon Jae's stepmother, Joon Ji. Her son, Chi Hyun overhears that she's getting Joon Jae's address and interrupts. He asks for a some food and she happily obliges going off to the kitchen but leaving her phone. When she gets a text message, Chi Hyun looks at it and gets Joon Jae's address. He goes off to see his mother in the kitchen and 'accidentally' drops her phone in water making the phone unusable, thus erasing the text message. Back at Joon Jae's home, a sneaky Shim Chung scares Joon Jae acting out scenes from 'The Ring'. Realizing that Nam Doo and Taeho are out for the night, she tries to convince Joon Jae to let her sleep in his bed. As she climbs down, Joon Jae threatens to kick her out right then instead of the next day. After a night's sleep, Sia comes for a visit but the gate is opened by Shim Chung who is less than friendly. As Sia tries to chew Shim Chung out, she literally chews on Sia. Joon Jae comes home and is obviously upset at both parties. Sia plays the cute card but gets kicked out none the less but not before Joon Jae reveals that Shim Chung has information that he desperately needs. Joon Jae then walks Sia out and gets her a taxi. She tries engaging him in conversation but he blows her off quickly and leaves before she can show him the picture of the notorious vase. Meanwhile, in the house, Shim Chung gets an idea while watching a drama to reveal her feelings for Joon Jae during the first snow fall. She quickly escapes to her room when she hears Joon Jae come in and is only lured out buy the smell of barbecue. As they eat, Joon Jae gives her a cellphone and shows her how she can call him, but makes sure she knows it's only for when she wants to reveal what happened in Spain. Shim Chung also manages to convince Joon Jae to meet her during the first snow at a tower, despite Joon Jae's protests. As she leaves, Joon Jae reveals he had a tracking app for her to make sure she doesn't get into trouble. As Shim Chung makes her way downtown she stops to talk to some fishes reassuring herself of her feelings. At the house, Nam Doo and Taeho attempt to bring Shim Chung back by making Joon Jae feel pity. However, their tricks don't work. Once alone, Joon Jae checks the app and realizes that Shim Chung is closer than he expected and rushes out. Meanwhile, Sung Ryung is annoyed by Yoo Ran and kicks her out making sure that she dumps her clothes in the bin first. While Yoo Ran is out, Joon Ji pays a visit and thanks Sung Ryung for the meal, and makes sure that she gets more. As Joon Ji leaves, Yoo Ran comes back and Sung Ryung comes rushing out making it seem to Yoo Ran that she misspoke and so Yoo Ran is rehired. At the clothes bin, Shim Chung reunites with her beggar friend. When Shim Chung inquires about getting money, her friend helps her out by setting her up to hand out flyers. Joon Jae meanwhile watches on as Shim Chung attempts to hand out as many flyers as possible. When her boss scolds her, Joon Jae makes a call and the boss' car is towed. A bunch of students come up to Shim Chung and beg for flyers which is then revealed that Joon Jae paid them for getting the flyers. A women then approaches a hungry Shin Chung and giver her food and scarf which again was paid by Joon Jae. When a man approaches asking for Shim Chung's number, Joon Jae calls and tells her to never give her number away. She then questions where he is and he tries to play it off as if he's far away, but is quickly revealed. He covers up by saying that Seoul is a lot a smaller than people think and people tend to run into each other. Before he departs Joon Jae whispers that she's making money to give to him and continues to pass out flyers. Chi Hyun, meanwhile, talks with his father about possibly contacting Joon Jae, but his father brushes it off. As Shim Chung is passing out flyers, it begins to rain heavily and she runs to shelter. She and Joon Jae watches as the rain turns to snow. Shim Chung is approached once again by the little girl who helped her, Yoona, who also helps her get to the tower. Joon Jae, realizing that Shim Chung is getting there faster than he thought, rushes to the tower. Chi Hyun follows behind curious about his step brother. As the episode closes Joon Jae enters to the tower while Shim Chung is hit by a car. Joon Jae waits at the tower for Shim Chung as it's revealed that Chi Hyun is the one who hit her. In the epilogue for episode 5, a captured Se Hwa begs a child for help using telepathy. Mirroring into the present, Yoona informs her mother that Shim Chung is hurt and points to the tower. Episode 6 begins in the past. Se Hwa has an encounter with a strange man who helps her escape, while Mr. Yang's concubine comes too late and curses them out. The man brings Se Hwa to a cave and informs her that he's a friend of Dam Ryung. As he exits the cave, the friend is chased by Mr. Yang's men. The chase ends when the friend falls from a cliff to his doom. Meanwhile, Dam Ryung comes home to find Se Hwa missing. He rushes to find her but his fire burns out, mixing past with present Dam Ryung and Jae Joon both worry about their mermaid. Shim Cheong is rushed to the ER with Chi Hyun in tow. After getting her settled, Shim Cheong remains in a coma while the doctors try to figure out her ID, but her cell phone is no where to be found. At the tower, Joon Jae leaves but stops his car when he discovers the flyers that Shim Cheong had been handing out earlier. Among the flyers is Shim Cheong's cell phone and Joon Jae realizes something is terribly wrong. Getting back in his car, Joon Jae tries to get information on where Shim Cheong could've been taken but gets no where. Meanwhile, Chief Nam, assistant to Joon Jae's father, gets a black tie from Joon Ji because Gil Joon is going to mourn for a friend. The house happens to be next to the hospital the Shim Chung is staying at, and Joon Jae has finally found her. Joon Jae gets to Shim Chung's bedside only to discover her temperature is far colder than average. The doctor perform CPR as Shim Chung dreams of her life as Se Hwa with Dam Ryung. As her heart monitor flat lines, Joon Jae holds onto the hand of Shim Chung upset. Shim Chung however opens her eyes and says Joon Jae's name alerting him and the doctors as her heart monitor picks up again. Joon Jae asks if she's okay, to which Shim Chung simply replies that she had a dream. Back at the house, Nam Doo and Taeho laze around until a call comes in from Joon Jae requesting them to make an ID with insurance. They outright refuse, until Joon Jae tells them that Shim Chung had and accident and was rushed to the hospital. They then quickly change their minds. At the hospital, a happy Shim Chung is chastised by Joon Jae for not looking where she was going but she is happy enough that Joon Jae had admitted that he was worried about her. Nam Doo and Taeho arrive shortly with Taeho glaring at Joon Jae, Nam Doo yells at Joon Jae for scolding Shim Chung but becomes soft as he talks to her. Joon Jae quickly push them out and Nam Doo gives the nurse the ID with the insurance card. While doing so, he overhears the doctors exclaim the shock of Shim Chung being alive after her ordeal. While Chi Hyun talks to the police who let him off easy, Joon Jae confronts him. Chi Hyun says something about the accident that triggers a memory in Joon Jae. The memory is of him as a young man looking at a broken picture frame of his original family. Chi Hyun claims it was an accident, why Gil Joon takes the side of Chi Hyun. Even though Joon Jae gives evidence that it was smashed rather than an accident, Gil Joon continues to take Chi Hyun's side. After Gil Joon exits, Chi Hyun gives a sly smile which angers Joon Jae who punches him in the face. The resulting fight ends as Gil Joo scolds Joon Jae with a slap and looks on at Chi Hyun's injuries. Gil Joo takes Chi Hyun to the hospital as a crying Joon Jae is left with his own wounds. The present Joon Jae scoffs at Chi Hyun and inquires about the tracker that was sent on him earlier, first accusing Chi Hyun then accusing Joon Ji. Chi Hyun brushes this off saying why would his mother ever want to know of his location. Joon Jae gets angered and goes off on how Chi Hyun will never be Gil Joon's real son, and soon it'll come to light that he never truly cared for Chi Hyun. With that, Joon Jae stomps off but is stopped when Chi Hyun picks up his phone and answers to his dad. Outside Joon Jae watches as his father and Chi Hyun get into a car. And Chief Nam catches Joon Jae's eye. In the hospital, Shim Chung is moved from the ER to a communal hospital room. Upon realizing that she'll be "living" there, she remembers what Sia had said about marriage and living together and claims that everyone is married making, Nam Doo and Taeho feel awkward. She talks about marrying Joon Jae as well, which prompts the doctors to schedule an MRI and Taeho to leave, but he utters that she's cute once outside the room. Later on, it's dinner time and Shim Chung happily comments on everyone's meals until realizing she's not getting her own because the doctors are worried about having to do surgery. At home, Joon Jae rests but has a bright smile when Shim Chung calls. She reveals that she's not getting food and Joon Jae attempts to settle her, to no avail. He then calls the hospital and demands that she get food. He travels to the hospital and watches as Shim Chung happily slurps up a meal but questions his reaction. As he's leaving with a smile on his face, Chief Nam comes up to him. The two sit on a bench and Chief Nam scolds him for not remaining in contact, but gives him some homemade tea which prompts a flashback. A young Joon Jae cries for his mother, and is given tea by a young Chief Nam. But Joon Jae continues to cry, despite Chief Nam's promise to take care of him. Years later, Joon Jae is in his room after the fight with Chi Hyun and Chief Nam brings him a medical kit. As Chief Nam takes care of Joon Jae's wounds, Joon Jae vows to leave the house and get rich so he can buy a house for him and his mother. In the present, Joon Jae talks about not keeping his promise, Chief Nam talks of Gil Joon looking for Joon Jae to help clean up everything but he quickly states he wants nothing to do with it and leaves. As he's leaving two men have been revealed as listening in. In the hospital, Shim Chung watches dramas with an elderly lady. Shim Chung is shocked when the woman knows the scenes before they happen. At one point in the drama a women throws water at a girl when she doesn't take the money offered, the elderly woman explains that it's a common occurrence when a family member doesn't approve of a relationship. Shim Chung asks about family and the woman explains what family means by showing her the families taking care of each other in the hospital. Meanwhile, Nam Doo meets with Sia who questions Joon Jae's relationship with Shim Chung. While Nam Doo explains Spain, they are both suspicious about Shim Chung's rapid recovery. Outside, Shim Chung watches a woman outside the hospital with a sign that asks for justice for her daughter. At the same time, the CEO for the hospital arrives and is livid at the fact that the woman is outside and yells and kicks a man for feeling guilt towards the woman. Angered by this, Shim Chung takes action by kicking the CEO in the face. In his office, the CEO becomes even more angry and yells at the doctors for Shim Chung being more abled than they thought. Afterwards, Shim Chung looks for the woman, the woman reveals to her what happened to her daughter and Shim Chung realizing it causes sadness offers to take away the memories. While the woman relives the fond memories of her daughter, she realizes that despite her sadness it's better to have the memories and relays this to Shim Chung. Taeho, Nam Do, and Joon Jae watch the video of the CEO and Shim Chung. Joon Jae realizes that the CEO is at fault and plans a con. The con begins as Taeho sends a text making it seem as though the son of the chairman has arrived early. Joon Jae plays the hilarious part of the chairman's son and gets the CEO's cell phone. Taeho slips away with the cell and gets to the CEO's office where he gets the laptop and brings up incriminating files on the hospital. Meanwhile, Nam Doo picks up the real son of the chairman at the airport. Taeho and Joon Jae both get to the CEO's office where the CEO realizes they're con men. Joon Jae threatens to release the documents to the world unless he does as he says. Joon Jae gets the CEO to look past the incident with Shim Chung as well as something else. The CEO walks out of the hospital and first apologizes to the man he kicked then approaches the woman. He tells her she was right and gives her the information on her daughter's surgery. Taeho and Joon Jae watch on and Taeho presses the key that sends the documents out. Inside the hospital, it's time for Shim Chung's release. But she worries about not having a home, until Joon Jae says she'll be coming home with him. In the car, Joon Jae explains that she missed the first snow but there will always be next year. Shim Chung sadly says she won't be there and Joon Jae inquires about why she won't be there next year. She on the other hand inquires about what the woman said about keeping memories despite it causing sadness. By her asking, she says the word love which triggers Joon Jae to the moment at the beach and remembering a voice saying 'I love you'. He brushes it off and reveals that he can still take her to see the first snow fall because it only snowed in Seoul. At the same time, Nam Doo gets medical records from the hospital. In the car, Chief Nam explains to Gil Joon that Joon Jae doesn't want to meet as Ji Joon listens in. She's upset over the fact that Gil Joon still wants to meet with Joon Jae. As Gil Joon walks inside he discovers a bug in his car and realizes it was set up by Ji Joon when she gave her the tie. After realizing this, Dae Young approaches the car with a screwdriver. At a ski resort, Shim Chung changes while Joon Jae gets her ski boots. She comes out in her outfit prompting Joon Jae to stand in shock at her beauty. He pulls her over to change her shoes and as he puts the ski boots on her, he remembers putting the green flats on a girl in Spain. He questions why he remembers that, but brushes it off as deja vu. On the slope, Joon Jae attempts to teach her how to ski but she goes down before he can teach her to stop. As she rushes down the slope, Joon Jae gets to the end preparing to catch her. They roll on the snow but they are both okay. As the episode ends the snow machine begins to blow as Joon Jae stammers when he asks her to say 'I love you'. In the epilogue, the elderly woman at the hospital explains that although some families can be sweet, some families can be cruel. Shim Chung then meets with Chi Hyun, they get water but Shim Chung eyes it suspiciously. When Chi Hyun reveals that he's Joon Jae's brother, Shim Chung quickly grabs his water and drinks. When he goes to hand her money, she grabs that as well. She explains that she can't have water thrown on her and he can't stop her from loving Joon Jae. One word, Taeho. I can't stand how unbelievably cute this boy is (I am also a sucker for hackers so that isn't helping). Other than his adorable cuteness with saying Shim Chung's cute, the story is starting to really go now. I thought it would be more comedic but the horrors have just begun. I love seeing Joon Jae change again. He's going back to the way he was in Spain and I'm so eager to see what happens when Shim Chung says those three words. I'm also curious why she's hesitant to reveal what happened in Spain, especially with Joon Jae constantly pushing her away. I really enjoy this drama, from the hype I was worried that it would go downhill but I'm seriously addicted and I'm sure most would agree! Clearly it's a 10/10 the cinematography continues to be gorgeous and the acting is absolutely brilliant! Catch 'Legend of the Blue Sea' Wednesdays and Thursdays! Algeria has begun the process of deporting thousands of migrants from other African states who have allegedly been living on its territory illegally, a human right organisation says. About 1,400 sub-Saharan Africans, mainly West Africans, have been taken from their homes in Algiers by riot police since Thursday, according to the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (ALDHR) . Pregnant women and children are among the migrants. The ALDHR says some have been injured and others have been taken to a holding centre just outside Algiers. The Algerian authorities warned in late September that they intended to expel tens of thousands of sub-Saharan migrants. There have recently been clashes between migrants and locals in southern Algeria the result of what seemed to be pressure for jobs. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Authorities in Ghana have arrested at least three people in connection with the bizarre case of a bogus US embassy, which was being operated by fraudsters for the last 10 years in the capital, Accra. The fraudsters, whose total number has not been disclosed, were busted in a joint operation by Ghanaian police and the US embassy. They are reportedly cooperating with officials who are investigating the extent of their scam. The gang sought clients from Ghana and neighbouring West African countries, and brought them to a building in Accra where the American flag was flown. For a fee of $6,000 (4,700), the unsuspecting applicants were issued visas which were not all fake, suggesting the involvement of insiders at the American consulate. The people reportedly arrested by the police are of Ghanaian and Turkish nationalities. The scam has gone on for this long because the victims have never been to an embassy they are mostly from rural areas and they seemed to be reassured by the presence of what appeared to them to be white people at the fake embassy. One more reason why the gang operated successfully for this long was the fact that some of the visas were genuine and those who travelled to the US unwittingly advertised the fake embassy through word of mouth. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates The Lamar City Council discussed drug activity during its Nov. 7, work session. Police Chief Kyle Miller brought some training aids to the council, which included everything they need to use their narcotics, including a sock to hide the drugs in. Everything is in this kit, he said. He said one-tenth of a gram of heroin (black tar heroin) is $10 and the price goes up from there. A gram would be $100, he said. Its just like Sams Club; if you buy in bulk you get a discount. To find that much heroin, about the size of a small fingernail, is difficult to do. Thats what we are trying to do every day, he said. This is not the only thing like this. Meth Amphetamine is the same way. Miller said they are seeing a downward trend on the crime rate between 1999 and 2016. Anything can happen between now and the end of the year, he said. Assaults increased for 2015. Its on a downward slide for 2016, he said. In 2008, the department had several drug arrests and that correlates to the burglary statistics. Were starting to see some correlations between property crimes and drug use, he said. He noted that sexual assaults were still pretty low. There is a spike in our controlled substances cases, he said. There was a spike in our burglaries in 2015 and a spike in our controlled substances. Thats what we are looking at and what we are trying to track. Miller said they are starting to see what crimes are occurring and what is causing those crimes. Trespassing there is a spike and part of it is the way we are working with people who are committing thefts in stores for shoplifting, he said. The department can trespass them, he said, and write them a ticket if they are in the store again or charge them with burglary. Thats one of the reasons our burglaries have spiked, he said. There are a couple of those are told they cant come back in the store and they commit another crime in the store, thats where we get our burglaries. Miller said criminal mischief is low. Were at a 17-year low, he said. Traffic accidents are also coming down. People are driving better, he said. He said two officers were very aggressive about DUI arrests in 2001-2002. We had a big spike and it has remained fairly low since that point, he said. He said there were two robberies in 2016. A robbery isnt necessarily go in and give me all your money, he said. It can be an incident where force is used. If I go up to Ann-Marie (Crampton) and say give me your purse and push her down, by statute thats a robbery, he said. They are on an upwards trend in citations and arrests. Calls to dispatch There were 16,000 calls for service in 2015 From January 1, 2015 to October 31, 2015 there were roughly 16,000, he said. This year we are almost at 16,750 roughly. If you factor out code enforcement, there are approximately 300-350 calls for service. This is an officer having to come off the street or take a phone call or do a follow up, he said. With the officers we are at about 12,500 in 2015 and a little higher this year. The average calls per day we are 45.5 in 2015, he said, and this year they are averaging about 54.7. The guys are busy, he said. The law Miller said it was a class 4 felony to possess anything considered a class two drug, like cocaine,or heroin. The simple use of a drug, schedule 1 or 2, was a class 6 felony, he said. The class 6 was punishable by 1 year in prison to 18 months and class 4 was 2 years all the way up to 6 years in prison. Possession was a class 6 felony in 2012-2013, It went from a class 4 to a class 6 in a period of 8 years, he said. Use was a class 2 misdemeanor. We went from a class 6 to a class 2 misdemeanor, he said. Misdemeanors you cant go to prison for generally. There are different circumstances where you can, but normally you get county jail time for that. In the past, the class 6 felony was one year to 18 months. That didnt change much, but then we ran into a misdemeanor problem, he said. Unlawful possession of a controlled substance is a level 4 drug felony. They revamped the whole thing and now the unlawful use is a level 2 drug misdemeanor, he said. A drug felony 4 has a 1 to 2 year sentence. Miller said people havent heard about how the laws, handcuffing the police, and bonds have changed. The bond schedule we use is presented by Judge Brinkley, the chief judge for the district, he said. A drug felony class 4 is $4,000. Thats the bond that is set by the courts. The department has no say about the bond. We can get higher bonds, but you have to meet certain requirements, he said. This isnt something we can say I feel like doing $20,000 on this person because they are a problem. This is set by the courts. The state legislature sets the bond statute. I want to make sure that everybody is on the same page and understood all that, he said. The department does a training each year with the Colorado District Attorneys Office. Every year there is something different and something changes, he said. Miller said if a citizen sees something suspicious they should say something right away. It doesnt do any good if its two or three weeks later, he said. It adds to it, but maybe we can get to the area when its going on. He said most people know what is in your neighborhood. You know if there is a house that has a lot of comings and goings, he said. Thats what we need to know so we can then go and do whatever we need to do to confirm that or move on to somewhere else. He said activity on the tip line remains about the same. It may have dwindled off a little bit because people are calling dispatch, he said. The tips line is just a recording which gives us more information to use in the future. People who fear retaliation should not worry or hesitate to call the police. I have 20 guys out on the streets that are always worried about that, he said. I dont know if you are going to be retaliated against but our guys have stepped up and they are willing to take that risk. We need more people in our community to say this is right and I am going to report it. Mayor Roger Stagner called the problem a nationwide issue. He showed us what they are looking for and somebody says I called 10 times and they didnt do anything, he said. He noted they might find something on the 11th, 12th or 20th time before they might find something. They are looking for a needle in the haystack, he said. People have to remember that when they call. They need the information but if they dont find it that time it doesnt mean they didnt try. Miller said another complaint he hears is the cops dont come into a neighborhood where a report was made. Theyre not going to drive down the middle of the street and say hey drug dealers, here I am, he said. Theyre going to park somewhere and see what they can see. He understands the frustration of people who think nothing is happening. I guarantee you they are there, he said. Councilman Kirk Crespin said hes received calls about people who are arrested and return to the street two weeks later. The police dont do anything because they are back on the street a week later, Crespin said he heard. He pointed out that once the police arrest someone it is out of their hands. Miller said there are misconceptions about the District Attorneys office. Their hands are tied on a lot of this also, he said. There are certain things they cant do. The bonds are set, somebody goes down and pays the bond and they are back out. He called it a freedom in this country. They cant hold you forever because you did something wrong once or twice, he said. City Attorney Garth Nieschburg said one problem is when he was a judge he could set the bond. If it was trafficking drugs I would set a high bond with cash only, he said. Now the legislature has intervened and they now have these guidelines based on what class felony, no matter what it is. One exception, he said, was when Judge Davidson made special findings. They just walk into the jail and $4,000 bucks is nothing to them and they walk out, he said. The state legislature in combination with the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) has made it difficult to put people in jail for trafficking drugs and keep them there. If a resident calls in suspicious activity, Nieschburg said the police need reasonable suspicion that something is going on. Not just cars going back-and-forth, he said. Then to make an arrest they have to have probable cause. I know they follow up on the calls and do whatever they can, but there is a lot of difficulty in enforcing the law and a lot of it is the problem of the state legislature. Chris Frost: 719-336-2266, cfrost@lamarledger.com Southern Colorado law enforcement are investigating a body discovered in the Arkansas River in Otero County on Sunday, November 20, 2016. Just after 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, the Otero County Sheriffs Office (OCSO) received a 911 call from a citizen in the area about a deceased male in the river. The location of the body was near the town of La Junta at Colorado State Highways 109 and 50. The OCSO requested the assistance of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation with the case. The Otero County Coroners Office is also assisting with the investigation. The identity of the man will not be available until notification of next of kin has been made. The El Paso County Coroners Office will conduct the autopsy to determine the cause of death. On the early morning of December 1, 2016, The Prowers County Sheriffs Office was able to contact a semi-tractor trailer for a traffic infraction at approximately mile marker 58 on Hwy 287, south of Lamar. After issuing a written warning for the infraction, the driver gave consent for a search. The Sheriffs Office was able to seize eleven bundles, weighing approximately 180 lbs. pounds, of marijuana intermixed with the load of onions in the trailer. Upon further investigation, we obtained information concerning the marijuana. The information will be forwarded to the respective agencies. The matter is still under investigation. The Baca County Sheriffs Office was able to send a deputy to assist in the search. The street value of the marijuana in Colorado fluctuates but, based on low end prices of around $192 per ounce, it is estimated to be about $550,000.00 worth of Marijuana. Any arrests that may result, it should be noted, that all subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary Read more PRESS RELEASE More Than Ever, the Republic Needs Scientists! Says French Lawmakers Resolution PARIS, Dec. 4, 2016 (Nouvelle Solidarite)While decades ago Lyndon LaRouche and his international associates stood mostly alone when they denounced and exposed the arrival of a "new dark age," today finally, in the face of the current breakdown of overall knowledge in the West, some people seem willing to come to their senses. This clearly appears to be the case with three dozen French Deputies, across party lines, who introduced into the National Assembly on Nov. 15 the text of a "Proposed Resolution on Science and Progress in the Republic" (No. 4214 and 4215). The resolution pointedly calls on the government to take bold steps to drastically raise education of all citizens in the domain of science, notably in schools and public media, and the preamble of the resolution echoes some of the best traditions of French history, in particular the Ecole Polytechnique founded by Lazard Carnot and Gaspard Monge, which became the model for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. For example, the resolution remarkably points out that the decay of scientific knowledge results from a growing confusion between "opinion" and "knowledge" based on scientific hypothesis. Excerpts of the preamble: "The Republic has no need of scientists! were the words spoken by the president of the Revolutionary Tribunal condemning the chemist Lavoisier in 1794 after the suppression of the Academy of Sciences [founded by Colbert and Leibniz] by the Convention.... If today, this form of obscurantism seems outdated ... we have to confront a climate of distrust of scientific institutions and scientists, which comprise, in fact, a strong pillar of our Republic. "With the development of the modern industrial age came leaps of progress and a freedom of creation with the emergence of great inventors (Lavoisier, Faraday, Edison, Darwin, Pasteur, Poincare, Marie Curie, Einstein, Pauling, Planck, Schrodinger, De Gennes, Charpak....and even Steve Jobs). However, today, the importance and place of scientific culture is in a clear regression in our country and our Republic. "While favoring the access to culture, the advent of digitalization and internet use amplifies deregulation of the market in scientific information and giving way to the spread of the most dangerous beliefs to such an extent that both public authorities and citizens alike are increasingly having trouble identifying the ranking of necessary elements in order to make valid scientific and technological decisions. "The source of this worrisome evolution is the increasingly marked confusion between the result of knowledge obtained from a rigorous scientific investigation and what merely results from beliefs and disinformation. That translates increasingly into calling into question the growing cultural value and the social impact of scientific work. "By the confusion maintained between knowledge and opinion in the public and digital sphere, the resulting distrust threatens the activity and the foundations of scientific research...." The preamble concludes: PRESS RELEASE Senior Chinese Diplomat Proposes Trump Government Join China in Developing Belt and Road Initiative Dec. 4, 2016 (EIRNS)"Infrastructure Can Be China-U.S. Bridge," China Daily headlined its coverage of the intervention of Fu Ying, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Peoples Congress of China, at New York University on Dec. 1. Madame Fu spoke to an audience of 300, mostly New York University students, at the China-U.S. forum sponsored by NYU and the China-U.S. Exchange Foundation. She was joined at the podium by former U.S. Ambassador to China Roy Stapleton. LaRouche PAC organizers attended, and participated in the discussion period, raising how U.S.-Chinese relations could develop around cooperation in Chinas One Belt, One Road project, as LaRouche PAC has outlined in its pamphlet, "The U.S. Must Join the New Silk Road." "Fu Ying sees infrastructure as a great opportunity for U.S.-China cooperation under Americas President-elect," China Daily reported. It noted Fus discussion of how the CEO of COSCO Group, Chinas largest shipping company, had told the U.S. Congress two years ago that America has to upgrade its ports to grow its exports. "But America doesnt want to take investment from other countries like China, and you dont invest yourself," she quoted the CEO as saying. Fu argued that the election of Donald Trump may lead to a new phase, as he vowed to "transform Americas crumbling infrastructure," China Daily wrote, quoting Ms. Fu that "the U.S. needs to be more open. I think there can be very, very good cooperation." "Asked if she worries about a changing landscape of U.S.-China relations under the Trump administration, Fu said it was too soon to tell, but she is not pessimistic," China Daily wrote. "She said the phone call between President Xi Jinping and Trump was very encouraging, as Trump agreed with Xi that cooperation is the only choice between the two countries, and they will advance the relationships to bring more benefits to the people of the two countries." China Daily noted that Ambassador Roy endorsed Fu on the idea of infrastructure cooperation, and said that the United States may yet participate in Chinas Belt and Road Initiative despite its having refused to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) project, which he considers as a mistake. A school district in Virginia has pulled copies of Harper Lees Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird and Mark Twains classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn after a parents complaint. The Accomack County school district is considering banning the books from the countys schools outright, following a complaint from the mother of a biracial high school student over the use of the N-word in the novels. The mother, Marie Rothstein-Williams, said she believes the books are great literature, but said at a school board meeting, There is so much racial slurs in there and offensive wording that you cant get past that, and right now we are a nation divided as it is. Advertisement The racial slur in question appears more than 200 times in Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twains 1884 satire about racism in pre-Civil War America. The novel frequently appears on the American Library Assn.'s yearly lists of the countrys most challenged or banned books. The N-word is used almost 50 times in Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird, a 1960 novel about anti-black bigotry in the midcentury American South that has been a staple of school syllabi for 50 years. Lees novel has also been subjected to challenges in schools many times since the books publication. Rothstein-Williams said the books use in schools would teach children that using the racial slur was acceptable. Were validating that these words are acceptable. They are not acceptable, she said. We will lose our children if we continue to say that this is OK, that we validate these words when we should not. The suspension of the books didnt sit will with some residents of Accomack County, dozens of whom protested outside the county courthouse in the town of Accomac, reports Delmarva Now. Harper Lee, who died Feb. 19, 2016, published To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images ) Charles Knitter, who helped organize the protest, read a chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird at the rally. Were not going to be censored, because banning literature is, well, stupid I dont have another way to say that, he said. Sadye Saunders, a 16-year-old high school junior, agreed with Knitter, and noted that a petition she had started to have the books returned to schools was confiscated by her principal. This is important, because censorship blinds us, Sadye said. These books are important, because they are not condoning this word, this racial slur ... Theyre showing the ignorance of using that word and having this bigotry. Huckleberry Finn and Mockingbird arent the only books to face challenges in schools recently. Some parents in the Chicago suburb of Lemont have criticized the local high schools use of Arundhati Roys The God of Small Things and Maya Angelous I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, citing the books sexual content, the Cook County Chronicle reports. Lemont resident Rick Ligthart suggested that the school ban any books that contained literal, metaphorical, figurative or allegorical words for male or female genitals. English classes should not be involved in sexuality in literature for our kids. It shouldnt be in any books. No books, he said. We cant have 18-year-olds reading about masturbation or sexual issues, regardless of the literature. I dont care if its from Dickens or who else. Lemont High School has so far not chosen to ban Roys and Angelous books from its classrooms or library. The Accomack County school district will consider whether to ban Huckleberry Finn and Mockingbird after the novels are reviewed by a special committee. Horizon Pharma charges more than $2,000 for a months supply of a prescription pain reliever that is the combination of two cheap drugs available separately over the counter. Another company, Novum, sells a small tube of a prescription skin rash cream, containing two inexpensive decades-old medicines, for nearly $8,000. What is key to the companies business plan of raising prices by 1,000% or more? Advertisement The answer: coupons that deliver Horizons pain reliever Vimovo and Novums skin cream Alcortin A for as little as nothing to the patient, while leaving Americas health system to pick up much of the rest of the price. Experts warn that the coupons, increasingly being used by dozens of companies, are sharply adding to the nations medicine bill. That cost is passed along to most Americans through higher insurance premiums and taxes needed to pay for government health programs. The success of Horizon and Novum using this strategy demonstrates how Americas convoluted and opaque system of paying for prescription drugs enables executives to set extraordinary prices on modest medicines that have been around for years. The coupons keep patients and doctors from seeing the medicines true price tag. Via a coupon, the manufacturer can make its high-priced drug look as cheap as these over-the-counter medicines, explained Matt Schmitt, an assistant professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. In two recent papers, Schmitt, along with professors from Harvard and Northwestern, showed how the coupons propelled companies to charge the highest price possible. They found that spending on 23 medicines sold through coupons was as much as $2.7 billion higher over five years than it would have been if the coupons were not used. In 2007, a quarter of sales from brand-name medicines came from drugs backed by co-pay coupons, the group said. By 2010, that proportion had more than doubled and the availability of coupons has since become rampant, they said. By boosting prices, companies can bolster revenue without spending more on research to discover new medicines. Horizon, for example, has increased the price of Vivomo eight times in the last two years. The price hikes lift the corporate bottom line, and often executives compensation. Last year, Horizons board handed Chief Executive Timothy Walbert a pay package worth $93.4 million a 10-fold rise from the previous year. Novum, founded last year and owned by a small group of investors who dont release financial figures, has sold more than $85 million worth of Alcortin A this year through the end of July, according to QuintilesIMS, which tracks drug spending. Before Novum bought the drug from another company, the prescription skin creams annual sales were less than $4 million. Of the three medicines Novum sells, Alcortin A is by far its most popular. In answers to questions sent by email, Geoffrey Curtis, Horizons senior vice president of corporate communications, said the coupons help patients get needed medicines. Our goal is to provide access to medicines a patients physician prescribes while limiting the patients financial burden, Curtis said. He said the wholesale price of the companys pain reliever Vimovo is not reflective of the cost to patients. Rand Walton, a spokesman for Novum, declined to answer questions about its skin cream. In a statement, Walton said Novum was owned by a group of like-minded investors who believe in the companys business model to provide no-hassle and affordable access to therapies. An example of a drug coupon. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times ) Some patient advocacy groups support industry coupons, a position that has somewhat muffled the outcry over soaring medicine prices. Co-pay coupons are something our case managers will continue to use until theres no need for them, said Caitlin Donovan at the National Patient Advocate Foundation. The group, which is partly funded by drug companies, runs a program to help patients pay for medicines. Alcortin A is a combination of hydrocortisone and an antibacterial drug called iodoquinol both discovered many decades ago. The gel also includes a compound from the aloe vera plant, similar to what is sold to soothe sunburn. Its label explains that it is possibly effective for eczema and other skin conditions. Horizons Vimovo is a combination of naproxen, the generic pain reliever sold under the brand name Aleve, and the generic version of the heartburn medicine Nexium. Both are available over the counter. Some doctors suggest taking the two medicines together to try to avoid stomach ulcers, a dangerous side effect of pain relievers, like Aleve, known as NSAIDS. The wholesale, or list price of Vimovo is $34 per tablet. The pain reliever is taken twice daily for a total cost of $68. If a patient instead bought naproxen and Nexium over the counter at the drugstore, a days worth of medicine would cost as little as 57 cents. Horizon bought the rights to sell Vimovo and quickly raised its price for 60 tablets from $115 to $799 on Jan. 1, 2014, according to data from Truven Health Analytics. After seven more price hikes, the drug now sells for $2,061. Curtis, the Horizon executive, said the combination drug is worth its price because it lowers a pain patients risk of potentially deadly ulcers. To assume that you can substitute OTC [over the counter] and/or generic medicines sequentially is inaccurate, he wrote in an email. The strategy of purchasing an older medicine and hiking its price has become so common in the pharmaceutical industry that Wall Street analysts call it buy-and-raise. Last year, executives from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International and Turing Pharmaceuticals were called before a congressional committee to explain their large price hikes on medicines purchased from other companies. Novum bought the rights to sell Alcortin A in the spring of 2015 and soon hiked its price from $189 to $2,496, according to Truven. The price jumped to $3,489 in January and to $7,968 on Sept. 12. Experts say it would be far more difficult for drug companies to aggressively boost prices without the coupons. They defeat one of the few tools that the nations health system has to try to stop doctors from prescribing high-priced medicines not worth their cost. Insurers often put higher co-payments or co-pays the fixed payment made by a patient on expensive, brand-name drugs in an attempt to get patients to take cheaper generic alternatives. With the coupons, though, patients and doctors dont have to worry about those higher co-pays. But experts say widespread use of the coupons leads to overall higher premiums. This is raising the cost to everyone, said Steve Miller, chief medical officer at Express Scripts, the nations largest manager of prescription drug benefits for insurers and employers. Last year, drug costs for patients covered by private insurance policies rose nearly 16%, according to the S&P Global Institute. Patients can find the coupons on Internet sites and in drug ads in magazines. Pharmaceutical salespeople deliver handfuls of them to doctors offices. Consulting firms embed the coupons on electronic prescribing services so that doctors see them on their mobile devices. The coupons are submitted to the pharmacy with the patients prescription. The drug companies have hired firms that specialize in making the process fast and easy for patients and physicians. Horizon said it spent more than $1 billion last year on coupons and other financial assistance for patients. The companies coupon strategy only works if insurers continue to include the drugs on their lists of covered medicines, known as formularies, and pay for the cost that the coupons dont cover. Some insurers, including Express Scripts, have tried to put up roadblocks to the exorbitantly priced drugs by removing them from their formularies. But Horizon and other companies have learned how to keep the number of prescriptions rising despite the cutoff from some insurers. With the help of electronic prescribing systems, Horizon has doctors send the medicine order with a few taps on their mobile device to mail-order pharmacies that the company has partnered with, according to its annual report filed in 2014. The pharmacy ships the pills to patients overnight. The mail-order pharmacies fill out paperwork required by insurers when doctors say patients need medicines that have been excluded from the formulary. Horizon executives have explained to investors and analysts that fewer prescriptions have been rejected for payment by insurers when they are sent through the mail-order pharmacies. Miller at Express Scripts said the firm had found the mail-order pharmacies resubmitting claims that had originally been rejected. The drug is so inexpensive to manufacture, he said, that if just some of the prescriptions are eventually approved for payment by insurers the companies still make money. This is people profiteering off sick individuals, Miller said. Its very unfortunate. Doctors wrote more than 95,000 prescriptions for Vimovo in the first three months of the year, according to Horizon. That was 40% more than in those same months the year before. Curtis said the decision of which pharmacy to use was between the physician and the patient. As an incentive to use the mail-order pharmacy, Horizon guarantees that the patient will receive those prescriptions even if the insurer doesnt pay. Breast Cancer Action, a patient advocacy group that does not accept donations from drug companies, opposes the coupons, saying they can lead patients to choose a medicine with higher risks or that is not best for their condition. They allow corporations to look like good corporate citizens, said Karuna Jaggar, the San Francisco-based groups executive director, but are actually a thinly veiled program to drive up revenue. Coupons are not the answer to high drug prices, Jaggar said. There should be cost controls to make sure patients arent being left out. The industry doesnt give coupons to patients covered by Medicare or other federal healthcare programs. Thats because the federal government has long viewed the coupons as illegal kickbacks given to get doctors to prescribe high-priced drugs. That ban has created harsh surprises for some patients who say they need the drugs. Jim McCamphill, 71, of Venice, Fla., said Alcortin A is the only medication that works for a recurring skin rash. His doctor gave him a free sample, he said. But now, even though he tries to limit his use, McCamphill said he is running out. His pharmacist told him that for Medicare patients who cant use a coupon, the next tube would cost $9,373. Its a question of do you eat or do you put on an ointment? McCamphill said. Its a disgrace. The system is so skewed, its scary. To read the article in Spanish, click here Melody.petersen@latimes.com Follow @melodypetersen on Twitter MORE BUSINESS NEWS The rise of sports TV costs and why your cable bill keeps going up What does it take to get banned for life by an airline? Ask this Trump supporter Supersonic passenger planes may begin test flights next year United Airlines parent company has agreed to pay a $2.4-million penalty over how it reinstated a money-losing route that gave a public official easier access to his vacation home. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and United Continental Holdings Inc. said Friday that theyve settled charges over records violations in a civil case where shareholders wound up footing the bill so the official then the chairman of the agency that controls New York City-area airports, bridges and tunnels could get more convenient flights. United had reinstated an unprofitable nonstop flight between Newark, N.J., and Columbia, S.C., due to pressure from David Samson, the then-chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the SEC found in its investigation. Advertisement Samson had sought a more convenient route to his South Carolina vacation home. The route previously lost money and was canceled in 2009 by Continental Airlines before its merger with United, and an early financial analysis conducted after Samson began privately advocating for the routes return revealed it probably would lose money again. United feared Samsons sway could jeopardize its Port Authority prospects, including the approval of a hangar to help the airline at Newarks airport, the SEC said. The company, to curry favor, ultimately relented and restarted the route, dubbed the chairmans flight. The same day that Uniteds then-chief executive, Jeff Smisek, unilaterally approved the 2012 reinstatement of the route, the Port Authority board approved the lease agreement related to the hangar project, the SEC said. Chicago-based United circumvented its standard process for initiating new routes, the SEC said. The SEC said the route ultimately lost $945,000 before it was discontinued again in 2014, four days after Samson resigned from the Port Authority. Samson pleaded guilty in July to bribery in a criminal case brought by the U.S. Justice Department. United entered into a nonprosecution agreement with the department and paid a separate $2.25 million. Thats in addition to its $2.4-million civil penalty reached with the SEC. United disregarded the books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the securities laws while casting aside its normal decision process to re-enter one of its hubs poorest performing markets, Andrew Ceresney, SEC enforcement division director, said in a news release. Andrew Calamari, director of the SECs New York regional office, said in a news release that United initiated a money-losing flight solely to curry favor with a public official, and failed to reflect in its books and records a fair and accurate depiction of the rationale behind the decision and its projected financial impact. United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said the airline was pleased to resolve this matter. byerak@chicagotribune.com ALSO The rise of sports TV costs and why your cable bill keeps going up How free coupons for patients help drugmakers hike prices by 1,000% Warehouses promised lots of jobs, but robots are invading the workforce Merrily We Roll Along, the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical with a checkered record in the theater, is like a safe stuffed with jewels waiting for a director who can finally crack the combination. Sondheims songs are the priceless heirlooms inside. Furths book, based on the undistinguished 1934 play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, is the steel case in which they are locked away. Harold Prince, hot off a streak of Sondheim successes (Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd), directed the original Broadway production that closed shortly after it opened, as the new documentary Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened stirringly recounts. The crushing disappointment led to the demise of one of the storied collaborative relationships in the history of the American musical. Advertisement SIGN UP for the free Essential Arts & Culture newsletter Michael Arden, the ingenious director behind the Deaf West Theatre revival of Spring Awakening that made the leap to Broadway, has returned to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts to take his crack at Merrily. Expectations were reasonably high, but this is a musical that has eluded even the most cunning of veterans. Much like the more accomplished Menier Chocolate Factory revival (which I saw in Londons West End in 2013), Ardens production reinforced my sense of the show as an insoluble stage conundrum too enticing to be neglected yet too problematic ever to be a hit. Aaron Lazar stars as Franklin Shepard, a composer who has sacrificed his artistic dreams to become a financially successful though jaded Hollywood producer. Wayne Brady plays Charley Kringas, a playwright who just wants to create memorable musicals with his gifted yet more commercially minded best friend. And Donna Vivino takes on the zingy if ultimately thankless role of Mary Flynn, a writer and critic whose unrequited love for her pal Franklin has turned her into a vitriolic lush. The musical, following the structure of the Kaufman and Hart play, moves backward in time. The story begins in 1976 with disillusionment and despair and ends with the promise and purity of 1957. Its an unorthodox journey for a play, nevermind a musical, and the emotional dividends (one could hardly call them rewards) cover the narrow territory between remorse and regret. How did you get to be here? the shows first song inquires after the tantalizing overture. What was the moment that, to paraphrase the sentiment, allowed your dreams to slip away from you? Merrily sets out to answer these richly provocative questions, but the musical is only able to demonstrate what it establishes at the start: Franklin cares too much about money, Mary is more devoted to heartbreak and the bottle than her work, and Charley will have to sever ties with Franklin if hes to avoid falling into the same lucrative trap. The dramatic concept is carefully worked out, but the characterizations and psychologies often seem like an afterthought. Furth, who died in 2008, is better at arranging ideas about the characters through the books structure than he is at revealing their hearts and minds through moment-to-moment interaction. There are lulls in the show in which nothing seems to be happening but the clumsy enactment of what has already been established through the dramatic overview of the score. One of the notorious problems of Merrily is that its central character, Franklin, isnt very likable. Why should we care about a guy throwing pool parties in Bel-Air who is as careless with the women in his life as he is with his own talent? Well, Sondheims genius, channeled into the music that Franklin writes and inspires, is a fairly compelling reason. But it helps to have an actor who can soften some of Franklins obnoxious edges. Lazars Franklin provides glimpses of a tender side in the way he lovingly embraces his young son (Maximus Brandon Verso) during a visit after his acrimonious divorce from Beth (Whitney Bashor). Franklins carefree chumminess with Charley and Mary gives credence to their long history, but the role remains an outline here. When Lazar isnt singing, he fades into the background. Brady brings an amiable, fist-bumping smoothness to his portrayal of Charley. (The actors illness an attack of gout, Brady disclosed to TMZ caused the press opening, originally scheduled for Wednesday, to be delayed to Saturday.) Brady has considerable musical chops that he puts to virtuoso effect in the number Franklin Shepard, Inc. His singing in the second half is less assured in pitch and interpretation, though his voice retains its golden tone. If the bond between Bradys Charley and Lazars Franklin still seems theoretical despite the relaxed camaraderie between them, it has at least as much to do with the writing as with the inexact chemistry of Ardens cast. Vivino, sloshing around in the costumes Dane Laffrey has designed for overweight Mary, fires off with aplomb Furths stale one-liners, but this revival makes clear that the character needs a rewrite even more than she needs psychoanalysis. When Mary and the boys sing Old Friends, the reality of the trios connection flickers into existence, but the production isnt able to sustain an illusion not granularly supported by the book. Part of the problem is the direction, which heightens the shows melodramatic stiffness. Arden adventurously resets the production in a backstage dressing room area that put me in mind of 1970s TV variety shows. (Laffrey, who did the sets as well as the costumes, is better at creating a general theatrical impression than situating us in a specific time or place.) But the opening scene, which culminates in a violent eruption, is totally unconvincing in both its abstract theatricality and florid turn into soap opera. Travis Hagenbuchs lighting compounds the staginess by throwing an over-obvious beam on Bashors Beth as she performs Not a Day Goes By in the shows first (and more savage) rendition of the classic Sondheim love song. The music is wondrous, but anyone familiar with the number from its secondary life in cabaret and concert recordings might be disappointed by the clunky handling of the context here. The supporting company is commendably diverse, but the casting isnt always as precise as it should be. There wasnt much sensuality between Lazars Franklin and Saycon Sengblohs Gussie, the rising Broadway star who, like the latest object of her adulterous affection, is obsessed with getting ahead. If the productions first half is more captivating than the second, its because the music is more alluring. The staging becomes frantic after intermission. Mirrors are deployed in a homage to A Chorus Line. The audience catches glimpses of itself in the swirl, the lesson being that the moral of Merrily applies as much to us as to the characters. How did we all get here? Sondheims music is again the answer. The score keeps drawing audiences to the theater just as it continues to lure directors to try their hand at a musical miracle. Merrily We Roll Along, however, requires another librettist to rework Furths already heavily revised book something Sondheim understandably opposes. Until that changes, well have to settle for either concert productions or well-meaning revivals like this one that set a knotty dramatic problem to majestically melancholy music. ------------ Merrily We Roll Along Where: Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays; ends Dec. 18 Tickets: $29-$110 (subject to change) Information: (310) 746-4000, TheWallis.org Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes charles.mcnulty@latimes.com Follow me @charlesmcnulty ALSO Michael Arden, man of the moment in L.A. theater, stages a revival of a famously troubled musical A young playwrights quest to ask difficult questions about race, class and gender A Wonderful Town in search of wonder Art and the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. A conversation about freedom of expression in Russia. And an imaginative idea for blocking Donald Trumps building logo in Chicago. Heres the Roundup: The Army Corps of Engineers has denied a permit for the Dakota Access Pipeline. Writer and editor Hrag Vartanian has been on the scene to talk to artists involved in the protests, conversations that have been gathered into a pair of podcasts one that explores why artists are getting involved, and another that examines the role of art in protest. Hyperallergic, Hyperallergic A look at how Paul Cheyokten Wagner, a member of the Coastal Salish ethnicity, updated the design of the teepee into the tarpee so protesters could better weather North Dakotas winter. Seattle Globalist Advertisement Vladimir Putin says he supports artistic freedoms even as he supports the severe sentence of a theater director who opposed Russias invasion of Crimea. New York Times Since were on the subject of Putin: A member of Pussy Riot offers warnings about freedom of expression under Donald Trump. New York Times Sort of related: The Chicago architectural firm New World Design has come up with a proposal for blocking the unseemly views of Trumps giant name signage in Chicago. It involves pigs that fly (sort of). The Architects Newspaper Plus: How the architecture of Trumps buildings is indifferent to truth. Artforum Arguments begin before a three-judge panel in Pasadena over a Nazi-looted painting by Camille Pisarro that once belonged to the Cassirer family. Plus, whats its like to discover that you have a Nazi-looted painting hanging in your house. Fox 32, Los Angeles Times Early last month, the Los Angeles Police Department announced it would treat an anti-gallery graffiti in Boyle Heights as a hate crime. But the Boyle Heights Alliance Against Artwashing and Displacement protested that charge in a press conference. As someone who is white, who has been living in this community for 22 years, I have never experienced any anti-white sentiment, Elizabeth Blaney, co-executive director of Union de Vecinos tells Matt Stromberg. Hyperallergic And a key property near Mariachi Plaza will be sold by the city of Los Angeles for development. But it doesnt appear that low-income housing will be part of the program. Urbanize.la Santa Ana College is reviving its mural program. OC Weekly Stephen Mnuchin has resigned from the board of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles after being appointed Treasury secretary by Trump. Los Angeles Times Lewis McAdams is stepping down as head of the nonprofit Friends of the Los Angeles River, the organization he helped found three decades ago. KCRW Lewis McAdams, right, with Marissa Christiansen, who will take over as director of Friends of the Los Angeles River. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times ) Photos may offer rare glimpse of Paul Gaugin in Tahiti. New York Times Places of liberation: Elle Perezs intimate images of queer clubs. Aperture Honest museum audio tours. New Yorker Loving the Persian palaces of Beverly Hills. This is really good. Curbed What Western accounts of Kowloons infamous Walled City left out. ArchDaily Priscilla Lovat Fraser, formerly of LACMA, takes over as director of the MAK Center for Art and Architecture in West Hollywood. The Architects Newspaper Thing you most definitely need: A profile of Pedro Almodovar. New Yorker And last but not least, your moment of humans photobombing a police cam in animal costumes. This is the sort of things that gives me hope for humanity. Gardner, Kan Police Department Facebook (h/t Marnie Weber) Sign up for our weekly Essential Arts & Culture newsletter Find me on Twitter @cmonstah. When the pope shakes your hand and tells you he hopes that your film bears much fruit, everything else critics groups, career callbacks, splashy openings kind of falls by the wayside. Filmmaker Martin Scorsese met Pope Francis on Wednesday shortly before a Vatican screening of his latest movie, Silence. The encounter, Scorsese told me over a lengthy interview Saturday, made him very nervous. Until I met him, that is, and then he was completely disarming, Scorsese said. I was able to make a few jokes. He laughed a few times. He made a joke to me. It was sweet. Advertisement From Rome, Scorsese flew to Los Angeles, where he participated in a career retrospective with producer Irwin Winkler at the Egyptian Theater on Saturday and then unveiled Silence before several hundred people at Westwoods Village Theater on Sunday. Can a papal blessing turn into academy acclaim? Thats the question for this weeks Oscar Watch predictions. Heres the deal: If Ive already placed a movie or performance in the circle of trust in the lists below, a nomination is assured. Prime contender spots are reserved for films, actors and directors on the bubble. Right now, Im just waiting for more academy members to delve into the work. Ill continue to adjust the predictions over the coming weeks until the academy reveals its picks on Jan. 24. BEST PICTURE Circle of trust La La Land Moonlight Manchester by the Sea Silence Fences Loving Prime contenders Arrival Sully Jackie Hell or High Water Lion Hacksaw Ridge Analysis: Scorsese, of course, received a standing ovation from the members of the media, studio guests and academy and guild members on Sunday in Westwood. What else were they going to do? People were applauding before the film had even started. When it was done, many were left astonished. They had just watched perhaps the most challenging film the celebrated director has ever made, a probing and deeply spiritual examination of faith tested by the seeming silence of God. A best picture nomination seems the least people could do in response. Adapted from Shusaku Endos novel, Silence tells the story of a Portuguese Jesuit priest (Andrew Garfield) sent to Japan in the 17th century to find his mentor (Liam Neeson), a priest believed to have renounced his faith under torture. It contains everything youd expect in a Scorsese movie brutal acts of betrayal, human attempts at redemption, along with the superb craftsmanship that is a given from trusted collaborators such as cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, editor Thelma Schoonmaker and production designer Dante Ferretti. Expect to see those names repeated often in the coming weeks. Silence is not an easy movie to watch at times, nor is it one that is easily processed when youve finished viewing it. I would expect many academy members to come away confounded. But those who open their hearts to the film will probably put it in the No. 1 spot on their ballots. Theres nothing else like it among the contenders. Silence is a film for the ages. LEAD ACTRESS Isabelle Huppert accepts her Gotham Award for Elle. (Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press ) Circle of trust Emma Stone, La La Land Natalie Portman, Jackie Annette Bening, 20th Century Women Ruth Negga, Loving Prime contenders Isabelle Huppert, Elle Amy Adams, Arrival Taraji P. Henson, Hidden Figures Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins Analysis: Stone, Portman and Bening are the easy picks for nominations. Am I starting to waver on Negga and Loving? A bit, sadly. Focus Features hasnt expanded the movie as aggressively as it did two years ago with The Theory of Everything. Thus, commercially, Loving has been so-so, though I know a great many academy members anchored in its corner. I think Negga, Adams and Huppert, sweeping through the critics groups right now for Elle and Things to Come, will vie for the remaining two slots. It is a brutally competitive category this year. LEAD ACTOR Circle of trust Denzel Washington, Fences Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea Prime contenders Ryan Gosling, La La Land Andrew Garfield, Silence Joel Edgerton, Loving Tom Hanks, Sully Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge Analysis: Washingtons theatrical, capital A acting turn in Fences was never going to go over with critics groups, which typically reward subtlety over scenery-chewing. But the reverse is often true with actors branch voters, so Affleck shouldnt get too comfortable. (The situation is, in some respects, comparable to the dynamic between Eddie Redmayne and Michael Keaton two seasons ago.) Affleck and Washington remain the front-runners with Garfield strongly in the mix for the equally demanding, very different suffering-in-Japan movies Silence and Hacksaw. SUPPORTING ACTRESS Michelle Williams, supporting actress contender for Manchester by the Sea. (Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press ) Circle of trust Viola Davis, Fences Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea Naomie Harris, Moonlight Prime contenders Nicole Kidman, Lion Greta Gerwig, 20th Century Women Janelle Monae, Hidden Figures Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures Felicity Jones, A Monster Calls Analysis: Williams and, surprisingly, her Certain Women costar Lily Gladstone, have won the early prizes. But the Oscar still belongs to Davis. SUPPORTING ACTOR Circle of trust Mahershala Ali, Moonlight Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water Prime contenders Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals Mykelti Williamson, Fences Dev Patel, Lion Hugh Grant, Florence Foster Jenkins Stephen McKinley Henderson, Fences Jovan Adepo, Fences Andre Holland, Moonlight Simon Helberg, Florence Foster Jenkins Analysis: Playing the missing priest rumored to have renounced his beliefs in Silence, Neeson had been mentioned as a possible contender. But the role, though key to the story, is too small for the veteran Irish actor to earn his first nomination since Schindlers List. Silence does have three meaty supporting roles for Japanese actors. Yosuke Kubozuka works wonders as the films tragicomic Judas figure, Kichijiro, who pops up throughout the movie, always to memorable effect. Issey Ogata was the supporting actor runner-up with the L.A. Film Critics for his remarkable turn as the inquisitor. (You might remember him as Emperor Hirohito in Alexander Sokurovs 2005 film, The Sun.) And Tadanobu Asano is electrifying in a handful of scenes, playing an interpreter. All three deserve consideration, though, as is the case with Fences, the quantity of choices wont help their chances. DIRECTOR Moonlight director Barry Jenkins. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times ) Circle of trust Damien Chazelle, La La Land Barry Jenkins, Moonlight Martin Scorsese, Silence Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea Prime contenders Jeff Nichols, Loving Pablo Larrain, Jackie Denzel Washington, Fences Clint Eastwood, Sully Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge Analysis: Jenkins has now won awards from the L.A. and New York film critics groups and the National Board of Review, becoming the first director since David Fincher (The Social Network) to pull off that feat. (Jenkins also won at the Gotham Awards.) So, yes, his place at the table is firmly fixed. glenn.whipp@latimes.com Twitter: @glennwhipp Hollywood types including Jessica Chastain, Chris Evans and Evan Rachel Wood were aghast over the weekend after reading that Last Tango in Paris director Bernardo Bertolucci and the late Marlon Brando conspired to shoot the movies notorious butter scene without actress Maria Schneiders knowledge of or consent to what was about to be filmed. On Monday, however, Bertolucci issued a statement clarifying what he meant in a 2013 interview that had resurfaced and set off the A-list outrage, and denying allegations of springing a simulated rape on an unsuspecting leading lady. The statement couldnt erase days of outrage from the creative community. Advertisement To all the people that love this film - youre watching a 19yr old get raped by a 48yr old man. The director planned her attack. I feel sick, Chastain tweeted in the wee hours Saturday morning, responding to an Elle story about the recently resurfaced interview. I second that. This is heartbreaking and outrageous. The 2 of them are very sick individuals to think that was ok, Westworld star Wood said. Wow. I will never look at this film, Bertolucci or Brando the same way again. This is beyond disgusting. I feel rage, Evans said. To all the people that love this film- you're watching a 19yr old get raped by a 48yr old man. The director planned her attack. I feel sick. https://t.co/qVDom2gYf6 Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) December 3, 2016 Wow. I will never look at this film, Bertolucci or Brando the same way again. This is beyond disgusting. I feel rage https://t.co/uvaLogvv7I Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) December 3, 2016 Zelda Williams, daughter of the late Robin Williams, tweeted Saturday that if youre a director who cant DIRECT actors to get what you want, youre a [lousy] director or you didnt cast for what you needed. End. But Bertolucci said Monday that Schneider did know about the planned violence. She just didnt know about the butter, which was used as a lubricant. I specified, but perhaps I was not clear, that I decided with Marlon Brando not to inform Maria that we would have used butter. We wanted her spontaneous reaction to that improper use [of the butter], the director said in Italian in a statement obtained and translated by Variety. That is where the misunderstanding lies. He added: Maria knew everything because she had read the script, where it was all described. Maria Schneider dies at 58; actress in Last Tango in Paris They only told me about it before we had to film the scene, and I was so angry, Schneider told the Daily Mail in 2007. I should have called my agent or had my lawyer come to the set because you cant force someone to do something that isnt in the script, but at the time, I didnt know that. After Tango, Schneider never went nude in a film again, she said. She got into drugs as an escape from the spotlight and attempted suicide a couple of times, but got clean in 1980. Her family said in 2011 that she died after a long illness. Anna Kendrick brought up the late actress story in a reply to Evans tweet. Ms Schneider stated this several years ago, she said. I used to get eye-rolls when I brought it up to people (aka dudes). "[H]ad no idea, Evans replied . Woulda felt rage then too. They should be in jail. Said Kendrick, I dont doubt it. It wasnt treated like a big story then (shocker). Glad at least it will be taken seriously now. Some celebs were taking it quite seriously, calling for drastic measures. All copies of this film should be destroyed immediately, said Jenna Fischer of The Office. It contains an actual rape and sexual assault. #disgusting #disgrace. Paul Stanley of KISS labeled Brando and Bertolucci as rapists. So heinous & ugly, the musician tweeted Sunday. Rape is rape and can NEVER be justified or rationalized. Another victim and 2 rapists unpunished, he tweeted Sunday. According to Schneider, who was 19 at the time Last Tango was filmed, the sex scenes in the movie were not real. Not at all, she told the Daily Mail. But Bertoluccis manipulation of her and Brando, who died in 2004, was absolutely real, she said. Marlon said to me: Maria, dont worry, its just a movie. But during the scene, even though what Marlon was doing wasnt real, I was crying real tears. I felt humiliated and to be honest, I felt a little raped, both by Brando and by Bertolucci. After the scene, Marlon didnt console me or apologize. Thankfully, there was just one take. In his 2013 interview, Bertolucci owned up to the kind of manipulation Schneider had described in 2007. Ive been in a way horrible to Maria, because I didnt tell her what was going on, because I wanted her reaction as a girl, not as an actress, the director said. I wanted her to react and she felt humiliated shed shout, no, no. I still feel very guilty for that ..., he told the interviewer. I feel guilty but I do not regret. You know, to make movies, sometimes, to obtain something, I think that we have to be completely freed. I didnt want Maria to act her humiliation, her rage. I wanted Maria to feel, not to act, the rage and humiliation. Then she hated me for all life. Inexcusable. As a director, I can barely fathom this. As a woman, I am horrified, disgusted and enraged by it. https://t.co/voGRhafy9K Ava DuVernay (@ava) December 4, 2016 Follow Christie DZurilla on Twitter @theCDZ. Moonlight won best picture honors from the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. on Sunday, one of four awards including one for director for Barry Jenkins that give the independent film some unexpected momentum as awards season kicks into high gear. The Los Angeles critics also gave first-place or runner-up honors in various categories to Manchester by the Sea, La La Land and OJ: Made in America. But the day belonged to Moonlight, the intimate drama depicting three periods in the life of a young gay black man set in Miamis Liberty City neighborhood. Its wins included Mahershala Ali in the supporting actor category and James Laxton for cinematography. Advertisement On Thursday the Broadcast Film Critics Assn. gave Moonlight 10 nominations, including picture and director, for its Critics Choice Awards. The film also has picked up six nominations for the Film Independent Spirit Awards, including feature, director, screenplay, cinematography, editing and the Robert Altman Award, which honors the director, casting director Yesi Ramirez and the acting ensemble. Last year the Los Angeles critics selected Spotlight as its best picture and screenplay, and the film went on to win Academy Awards in those categories. L.A. critics also showed much enthusiasm for La La Land. That film was runner-up in five categories: best picture, director, production design, editing and cinematography. It placed first only in one category, music/score, for composer Justin Hurwitz and lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Mica Levi was runner up for Jackie One of loudest responses of glee Sunday came when the screenplay for director Yorgos Lanthimos The Lobster won, according to The Times Glenn Whipp, a voting LAFCA member. The film, starring Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz, is about a world in which singles are given 45 days to find a romantic partner or theyre turned into animals. Lanthimos shares the win with co-writer Efthymis Filippou. Kenneth Lonergan was runner-up for writing Manchester by the Sea, which he also directed. Also receiving a thunderous cheer when her name was announced was Lily Gladstone. Her supporting actress turn in Certain Women beat out Michelle Williams Manchester by the Sea performance. Adam Driver won the lead actor voting for his role in Paterson. Casey Affleck, star of Manchester by the Sea, was runner-up. Isabelle Huppert won for her roles in Elle and Things to Come; Rebecca Hall in Christine was runner-up. On the documentary front, ESPNs O.J.: Made in America won the editing award but came in second for documentary honors behind I Am Not Your Negro, a film about writer James Baldwin from Raoul Peck. It will have its Oscars-qualifying theatrical release next week before opening wide in February. Other winners: Your Name for animated film, The Handmaiden for foreign-language film and production design, and Trey Edward Shults and Krisha Fairchild of Krisha, which won the New Generation award. Los Angeles critics will honor their winners at a dinner Jan. 14, when actress Shirley MacLaine will receive a career achievement award. The ceremony will be dedicated to director Curtis Hanson, who died in September. Get your life! Follow me on Twitter: @TrevellAnderson. Martin Scorsese has been waiting nearly 30 years to bring Silence into the world, and tastemakers have anticipated watching it for seemingly as long. On Sunday, both got their wish, as the late December awards release finally had its first official screening, at a packed affair in Westwood in support of the directors the Film Foundation. Scorsese, his team and the principal cast all turned out for the event. Youre clapping and you havent even seen the movie yet, the director quipped before the screening. Advertisement Based on Shusaku Endos 1966 novel, Silence examines a pair of Portuguese Jesuit missionaries (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) who encounter bloody resistance and persecution from local leaders in 17th century Japan as they undertake a quest to find their fallen mentor (Liam Neeson). Well leave more detailed synopses and assessments of the movie for other embargo-friendly times. Suffice it to say Silence is an exploration of big ideas cleverly wrapped in atmospheric minimalism the nature of sacrifice, the consequences of intolerance, the contours of colonialism and the limits of faith are all investigated. At the Q&A, moderated by the director and Scorsese acolyte James Gray, the Silence filmmaker explained his motivation for wanting to get the movie made essentially, he found that the material tapped into his own beliefs and questions and wanted to convey that sensation to others. If I could find a way to express how the book made me feel, he said, it might be a religious act. But that proved even trickier than one might imagine. I thought I understood [the films themes] but then it went away; its elusive, Scorsese said, alluding to such notions as the idea of faith in the face of hardship. The director has been deeply interested in spirituality both in his own life he was raised Roman Catholic and at one point even planned to become a priest and, occasionally, in his work (Kundun, The Last Temptation of Christ). He began developing this material in 1989, writing the script with sometimes-collaborator Jay Cocks then finding himself personally changing as he went along, taking in new books, films and thoughts that in turn shaped the movie. Silence moves at a deliberate pace and avoids the easy beats of many simpler martyr stories. But Scorsese said he hoped it still retained a certain accessibility. It may not have a beginning, middle and end in the traditional sense, and may not have the climactic moments in the right place, he said. "[But] its a traditional American narrative. Paramount will bring out the film in limited release on Dec. 23 and widen it in January. The studio hopes to tap into some of the mojo found by other late-season releases, such as The Revenant and American Sniper, that also center on quests both meditative and violent. Garfield described Scorseses process of making the film in spiritual terms. For me theres a divine confidence he has in himself and a tremendous amount of doubt simultaneously that allows [mysterious moments] to happen, as opposed to any preconceived idea of what story is and what themes are After the film was completed, Scorsese brought the movie to the Vatican, screening it there last week for a variety of clerics and Italian film-industry insiders. The director and many of the actors also met with Pope Francis; Scorsese said the pontiff was disarming and expressed his desire that the story bears fruit. The Oscar winner said he saw the film as not just imparting ideas about faith to moviegoers but also providing a healing ritual of sorts for him. Silence enabled me not only to think about it but to work at it, he said. For me, the film isnt finished. See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour On Twitter: @ZeitchikLAT Off-White has stores dotted around the world in Singapore, Japan, China, the U.K. and South Korea but not in the U.S. until now. From Dec. 8 through Jan. 29, the streetwear brand is adopting an address across the street from Maxfield, the West Hollywood-based emporium that mixes art and fashion, as the location of its first stateside shop. Stepping into the second spot in Maxfields series of pop-ups, Off-White founder Virgil Abloh is moving pieces from his furniture line, as well as a vintage-inspired capsule collection he created for the retailer, into the space vacated by Fear of God. In tribute to Tommy Perse, Maxfields founder who once used the nook as his personal gallery, he also plans to display home goods from Perses collection. It feels like an estate sale, Abloh said. Its an updated concept to global retail. The concept is city-specific. People shop in different ways in different urban environments. They shop different ways online. Something Im trying to usher in is this new approach. Its no longer the McDonalds or Starbucks mentality to make one thing exist in one way in the world. Advertisement That ambiance of found one-offs also flows into the capsule collection. He recognizes the irony that Off-White has been around for only three years, a toddler compared to fashion legends such as Maxfield, which was established in 1969. Hes tweaked the concept of an estate sale to select key styles from his past collections and subject them to vintage washes. Its basically inspired by [the flea market at] the Rose Bowl, he said. Ive taken the garments that are favorites from the past. I aged them to be 30 years past. Among the 21 styles for men and 15 for women are $92 shiny socks, $240 black mesh shorts printed with the brands signature diagonal lines on the back, $499 chinos bearing images of a warrior on the knees and $1,515 camouflage military jackets also screen-printed with diagonal lines. The priciest items are a mens housecoat accented with photorealistic prints of roses and a womens ripped denim maxiskirt; each retail for $2,218. The styles would fit within the blend of luxury, vintage and curios at Maxfield, which represents more than a place where Abloh can unveil his vision for U.S. retail. Its also an inspiration for him. When I started my concept, I thought of a space like Maxfield and how my concept could work in it, he said. This is the first time Ive started a retail concept for the U.S. It was really important for me to do it in a layered, creative way. A fan of that corner of West Hollywood, which is also home to Chrome Hearts and H. Lorenzo, Abloh is open to the idea of finding a permanent retail site for Off-White in Los Angeles. Im using this as a key testing ground to debut an idea, to see how it works, to see how it lives. Maybe in the future itll be the same exact thing. A man who managed an Oakland warehouse and artist collective where a massive fire killed at least 36 people spoke publicly Sunday night for the first time, telling a Bay Area news station the victims were his friends, family and children. Derick Ion Almena, who was known as Derick Ion to residents, spoke briefly with a KGO-TV reporter, who approached him and his wife at Oakland Marriott City Center. The couple is staying at the hotel, the news station reported. They are my children. They are my friends. They are family. They are my loves. They are my future, Almena told KGO-TV. Advertisement What else do I have to say, he said before walking away with his wife, Micah Allison. Almenas comment comes days after a fire erupted in the nearly 10,000-square-foot warehouse, where a party had been held Friday. Criminal investigators have begun to examine the scene. Hours after the fire, a comment appeared on a Facebook page belonging to Derick Ion. Confirmed. Everything I worked so hard for is gone. Blessed that my children and Micah were at a hotel safe and sound its as if I have awoken from a dream filled with opulence and hope . to be standing now in poverty of self worth. Almena later clarified his comments in a written statement to NBC News, saying he didnt know that people had died in the fire. He told the news station that he was heartbroken. My goal has been nothing less than to create an environment for art and creativity in our community, he told NBC News. During this investigation please continue to show support and compassion for those affected by this tragedy. The prayers of my family and I go out to the families of the victims. Almena did not immediately respond to a Times request for comment. A group calling itself Satya Yuga Collective leased the warehouse, which Almena managed. Almena, 46, lived on the second floor of the warehouse with his wife, and often hosted concerts on the premise, which was billed as the Oakland Ghost Ship. According to residents, the couples three children also lived in the building. He considered himself a realms creator and built found-object sculptures and stage sets for musical gatherings. The warehouse was littered with Hindu art, found objects and furniture from Almenas travels to Bali. Officials said the warehouse was the subject of a city code enforcement investigation at the time of the fire due to complaints about health and safety issues. Some former residents described the building as a tinderbox and death trap filled with RVs and pianos. They said it lacked fire sprinklers and had a staircase partly made from wooden pallets. Fire officials said crews did not hear smoke alarms go off when they arrived at the the building. The warehouse is one of several properties owned by Chor N. Ng. Her daughter, Eva Ng, 36, said the building had been leased as a studio space for the art collective and was not used as residences. Writers Phil Willon, Paige St. John and Soumya Karlamangla contributed to this article. To read the article in Spanish, click here veronica.rocha@latimes.com For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. ALSO People want answers: Criminal probe of Oakland fire launched as death toll hits 36 Victims of the Oakland warehouse fire: Who they were Obama pledges the unwavering support of the nation for Oakland fire victims The FBI is investigating the mysterious disappearance of a 4-year-old Oxnard girl who was last seen in 2015 and whose parents have been arrested after they refused to provide authorities with details about her whereabouts, police said. A $10,000 reward has been offered for details about Kimberly Lopez, who was last seen March 10, 2015, when a social worker from Ventura County Children and Family Services visited a family members home in the 900 block of Denver Place, according to the Oxnard Police Department. Kimberly, who was previously under the care of the family services agency, was in the custody of her father, Omar Lopez, at the time. Kimberlys mother, Mayra Chavez-Lopez, was allowed to visit her, but only under the supervision of Omar Lopez and his mother. Advertisement More than a year went by when the agency received a call from someone reporting concerns about Kimberlys welfare, police said in a statement. Children and Family Services workers went to familys home and tried to check on Kimberly several times, but her parents told them she was living with relatives in Mexico, police said. Her parents, however, were unable to provide documentation backing up that claim, police said. In September, social workers declared her missing and asked Oxnard police to help them find her. The family services agency has obtained a court order to place Kimberly into protective custody when she is found. Kimberlys parents were arrested on Oct. 7 because they have not been cooperating with authorities and are not providing accurate information about their daughters whereabouts, police spokeswoman Melissa Valdez said. Investigators with the police department, the FBI and the Ventura County district attorneys office and sheriffs department have talked to family members, friends and associates of Kimberlys parents. Authorities said investigators think that Kimberly could still be in California or Mexico, specifically Tijuana, Los Reyes, Michoacan or Guadalajara. We dont have any evidence to lead us to believe Kimberly is deceased, Valdez said.. Anyone with information on Kimberlys whereabouts is urged to call (805) 200-2370 or text BUSTED to Crime Stoppers plus your message to 274673. veronica.rocha@latimes.com For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. Sitting inside his empty travel agency in Los Angeles, Farhad Besharati expressed concern about the decline of his business. The majority of his customers are older Persians who come to him when they want to purchase airline tickets to Iran. But lately, he said, some are canceling their flights, and fewer people are arranging trips. Besharati blames recent arrests in his homeland of Iranians who hold dual citizenship, some of whom have received lengthy prison sentences. Advertisement Iranian Americans have increasingly found themselves pawns in a power struggle between the countrys hardliners and the more moderate-leaning President Hassan Rouhani, who has sought better relations with the international community. Hope inspired last year by the signing of a nuclear accord between Iran and the United States and other world powers now commingles with fear, especially in Los Angeles, home to the largest Persian community outside Iran. My business is down 50%, said Besharati. [My customers] are asking what would happen to them if they go back to Iran. I tell them if they are not active in politics, they are safe. Many Iranian Americans were encouraged last January when four Americans, including Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian, were freed from jail in exchange for U.S. prosecutors dropping cases against 21 Iranians. The agreement came as economic sanctions against Iran were being lifted as part of the nuclear pact. Optimism was stoked when Rouhani spoke to a group of Iranian Americans during the U.N. General Assembly in 2013, encouraging them and others to visit Iran. It is the natural right of every Iranian to be able to visit his or her homeland, Rouhani told the crowd, according to the Iranian Tasnim News Agency. But as some dual citizens returned to the nation of their births, they encountered trouble. Since his election in 2013, Rouhanis administration has faced great opposition from Irans powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps, which seeks to undermine his influence and use dual citizens as leverage against Western countries, experts say. Last summer, San Diego resident Reza Robin Shahini became one of several U.S. citizens detained in Iran, joining dual nationals from Britain and France who had been arrested earlier this year. In late October, Iran sentenced Shahini to 18 years in jail for collaborating with a hostile government. His prison sentence came a week after Iranian American businessman Siamak Namazi, who was living in Dubai before his arrest, and his ailing father, Baquer Namazi, were sentenced to 10 years in prison each on similarly vague charges of spying for the United States, according to a report by Mizan, the Iranian judiciarys news service. Shirin Jamshidi, a recent graduate of Columbia Universitys School of International and Public Affairs, had spent part of last year arranging a trip to Iran with classmates but abruptly canceled it after Namazis arrest. Jamshidi says she was warned through various channels in Iran, both official and unofficial, not to come. It was very disappointing because as an Iranian, I truly wanted to give an opportunity for my friends from other backgrounds to go and experience [Iran], Jamshidi said. Omid Memarian, 42, an Iranian American journalist who fled Iran in 2005 after being imprisoned for his work, initially thought the situation might improve after Rouhanis election. Im proud to be Iranian, but as long as the [Iranian] government is there, nothing is going to change. Bahman Bennett Now he feels like it has gotten worse, even for those who are not politically involved. The [Revolutionary Guard Corps] intelligence unit has become much stronger and are very paranoid about Iranians who live in the U.S., particularly journalists and academics, he said. Still, there are dual nationals who say they have visited Iran for more than 30 years without incident, many to see loved ones or take care of business. Iran experienced a mass exodus after its 1979 Islamic revolution. As many as 500,000 people of Iranian descent live in Southern California with over 100,000 alone living around Los Angeles, according to the Migration Policy Institute. In August, the State Department updated its travel warning, advising that Iranian authorities continue to unjustly detain and imprison U.S. citizens, particularly Iranian Americans, including students, journalists, business travelers, and academics on charges including espionage and posing a threat to national security. And because Iran does not recognize dual citizenship, its government treats them as Iranian citizens, making it much more difficult for the United States to provide assistance. Faramarz Bolandpour, a Westwood businessman who helps Iranian Americans process their passports, said hes noticed more people expressing concern about traveling to Iran. I tell them I dont know what their situation is, he said. If something happens to them, I dont want to be responsible. Barbara Slavin, who directs the Future of Iran Initiative at the Washington-based Atlantic Council, said that if a dual citizen is outspoken about Iranian politics, they need to be especially cautious. Otherwise, Slavin said, the vast majority of dual citizens should be able to travel to Iran without encountering problems with the government. Smoking shisha, a flavored tobacco, while working on their laptops at an outdoor cafe in Westwood, friends Sasan Mirtorabi, 33, and Shervin Natan, 30, said they encourage young Persians to visit Iran. Mirtorabi, who visited Iran in August and travels there every two years, said that hes never encountered troubles. Im like zero scared to go, he said. Its not like a widespread arrest of people going there. Natan, who has never been to Iran, said he is eager to visit and that his family goes back and forth often. My uncle lives six months out of the year in Iran, he said. I have Jewish friends and family who go all the time and have zero problems. But for some Iranian Americans, particularly exiles who fled during the 1979 Islamic revolution, returning to their birth country has never felt safe. Memarian, whose immediate family lives in Iran, said he lost his mother and father in the past 18 months and felt devastated that he couldnt see them. He keeps in touch with family through Skype, phone and social media on a regular basis. Bahman Bennett fled Iran 27 years ago and doesnt plan on visiting anytime soon, even though he still has family there. Instead, Bennett maintains his cultural ties as the owner of a store that sells Iranian books, clothes and decorations in the heart of Tehrangeles, the moniker given to an area in Westwood where many Persians live and own businesses. I love my culture. This is my little Iran and for my community, he said of his store. Im proud to be Iranian, but as long as the [Iranian] government is there, nothing is going to change. Our life here is established, and I cannot go back and start from zero. melissa.etehad@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter @melissaetehad ALSO Donald Trumps victory sparks optimism in an unlikely place: Iran Another populist victory: Italian prime minister says hes resigning after referendum defeat Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas consolidates control over his party More Central Americans are giving up on the U.S. and looking instead to a Mexican dream For artists, this citys collection of warehouses is a blank canvas, places where they can live, paint, craft and perform. Theyre also a refuge, their makeshift interiors providing an oasis of affordability in a region of California swamped by rising costs. But sometimes finding a cheap, creative space means looking the other way on building code violations. Its an approach that led to tragedy here on Friday night when a fire ripped through a warehouse known as the Ghost Ship, killing at least 30 people attending a concert on the second floor. Were grieving right now, said Christopher Boa, 39, a musician who lives nearby. Were in a state of shock. Advertisement Artists already felt like an endangered species here as they watch the tech booms wealth spread from Silicon Valley to San Francisco and finally across the bay to Oakland. Now they worry that the fire will only accelerate gentrification, causing the city to crack down on their homes and studios. I dont want people to lose our creative outlet, said Jennifer Jennings, 39. There are already fewer and fewer places to live. She lives with her husband, Gabe Penfield, in the Vulcan, an artist enclave in a series of warehouses connected by long hallways filled with paintings and open-air courtyards overflowing with flora. Jennings once made clothing, but now shes trying her hand at jewelry. Her work was laid across a long table, and a dinosaur pinata hung from an industrial chain overhead. Penfield, 40, sipped coffee from a mug he made in his ceramic studio in the next room. Gabe Penfield, 40, sips coffee from a mug he made in his ceramic studio at the Vulcan in Oakland. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times ) Theyve lived there for 12 years, and a sprinkler system was recently installed, a nod to safety that other places lack. Across the street from the Vulcan are industrial yards stacked with wooden pallets, and the BART train rumbles along an elevated track. Inside are none of the whitewashed walls and exposed brick that characterize newer developments in expensive high-rises and renovated buildings. Those arent for artists, said Whitney Merchant, 41. Theyre for rich people who want to live in lofts. Her unit in the Vulcan used to have a trapeze bar hanging from the ceiling, a tool of the trade from the previous occupant. Merchant works in marketing, but shes trying to carve out more time for singing and dancing. These are actually for artists, she said, gesturing toward the area she shares with several roommates. Its the type of atmosphere that has drawn people like Neela Davis, 33. She grew up in Houston but has lived all over the country, from a hostel in New York to a Hare Krishna temple in Los Angeles. She moved to Oakland in 2009 because she wanted to live and perform with a group of fire dancers. Now she lives in another warehouse in the same neighborhood as the Ghost Ship. One of her neighbors creates costumes. Another built a climbing wall. Theres a few musicians and a tattoo artist. Davis constructs wooden platforms for acrobatics performances. You need space, she said. A regular house is too small. Davis knows of several nearby warehouses used by artists, and not all of them meet code requirements. It costs money to do things by the book, she said. And there isnt always the money to do it. Follow live coverage of the Ghost Ship fire and its aftermath It could soon become more expensive to live in the area. She works in a legal office to pay the bills, and was rattled to learn that one of the lawyers recently moved to her neighborhood, a warning sign that gentrification is coming. We really are just going to end up homeless, she said. Many Oakland artists share Davis anxiety. Over in North Oakland, Lael Fremaux Seltzer, 26, lives in a converted warehouse unit with four roommates. The warehouse, which has 35 to 40 discrete units, each with a bathroom and kitchen, is home to some 50 artists who live and often work from their apartments. Like the Ghost Ship, the warehouse is home to wood and metal work, painting and illustration studios. Fremaux Seltzers unit costs $2,200 a month, split five ways, making it the most affordable place I can live as an artist, he said. But construction recently started across the street on a new lot of condos, which has led to worry that the warehouse might soon be sold to make way for similarly upscale apartments. Were really nervous right now, Fremaux Seltzer said. Were scared well get kicked out, and well have to move to another city. While the warehouse in which Fremaux Seltzer lives is equipped with a sprinkler system, illuminated exit signage and is zoned for residential use, he said many converted warehouses wouldnt pass muster with a building inspector, with tenants often performing unapproved construction, adding rooms, creating staircases and building door frames. Its the kind of thing you joke about in DIY houses, that a building isnt up to fire code, he said. But now its not funny. The fire seems destined to provoke some kind of response from local officials, and artists hope they strike the right balance. Christopher Boa, 39, a musician who lives in the Vulcan, says hes played shows at other warehouses in Oakland where safety was taken seriously. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times ) Boa said the city should have shut down the Ghost Ship when code violations were discovered. But he also fears that one bad apple ruins the whole bunch. He knows from his experience as a promoter that underground shows can be hosted safely, and his band recently performed at another Oakland warehouse without a problem. The Ghost Ship, he said, was an exception, a place that stood out for its recklessness. His wife, Kalyani Shakti Khandro, 46, was invited to teach yoga classes and lead healing gatherings there. But she declined, deciding the space didnt feel safe. This didnt have to happen, she said. Times staff writer Tracey Lien contributed to this article. chris.megerian@latimes.com Twitter: @chrismegerian ALSO: Death toll rises in Oakland fire; officials ask families of the missing to preserve DNA samples Scrutiny grows over conditions at Ghost Ship warehouse where at least 24 died during a fire Oakland warehouse was a cluttered death trap filled with pianos, RVs, but no fire sprinklers, former residents say UPDATES: 3:50 p.m.: This story was updated with more comments from artists who live in the neighborhood. This story was originally published at 3:05 p.m. In the desperate hours after the warehouse inferno long before Oakland officials would release the identities of the charred bodies found inside family and friends tried to cobble together information online. From around California, as well as across the country and abroad, they signed onto Twitter and Facebook and shared hospital numbers and an evolving list of possible victims. Some found good news; others got a silence that felt telling. For Cathy Proscia, the panic started inside her Boston home in the dark morning hours early Sunday. For some reason, she couldnt sleep so she scrolled through news headlines on her phone, pausing at a story about a huge blaze at a warehouse concert in Oakland. Advertisement Her heart began to race. She knew that her 23-year-old son, Jesse Simmons, who lives in San Francisco, often attends concerts on Friday and Saturday nights. Sometimes, when he cant find anyone to go with him, she said, he goes by himself. His phone rang and rang, and she tried not panic. It was 2:30 a.m. in California, she reminded herself, so maybe he was asleep. She called the Oakland Police Department, which directed her to the Fire Department, which sent her to the Alameda County Sheriffs Department. She couldnt get anybody on the phone and she didnt have numbers for any of her sons friends. Desperate for answers, she checked Facebook and found a group dedicated to the victims. Someone had posted a childs painting of a rainbow with the message sending healing light, and a woman from Colorado wrote a message offering rides to Oakland for anyone who needed to be close to their family. When Proscia posted at 6:01 a.m. she feared the worst: Please can anyone tell me where I can find the list of names of those who perished. Some strangers offered prayers and others sad-face emojis. One woman told her that families were gathering at a local service center and another posted the best number for the local Sheriffs Department. Proscia dialed the department again and this time got an answer. The employee told her that officials hadnt yet identified all the victims, but asked for a detailed description of Jesse. How tall was he, they asked? Does he have any tattoos? Social media was an enormous help, she said. Eventually Proscia sent a text to her ex-husband, not expecting to hear back. But he responded with good news: Their son had been in L.A. for the weekend. Another panicked parent searched Facebook for answers in Finnish. Any news of Hanna Ruax, posted Yrjo Timonen, whose Facebook page lists Helsinki as home. She is my daughter. Early Sunday morning, Timonen posted: Ei sanoja. Vain suuri suru. Hanna, which translates to: No words. Just a great sorrow. Hanna. For some, online searches led to heartbreak. On Sunday afternoon, Robin Voss rushed to the airport to pick up her daughter Grace Lovio. She was flying home from Paris, where she is studying abroad, after discovering on Facebook that her boyfriend, Jason McCarty, was among those reported missing. Lovio skipped her last final exam to catch a flight home. Theres absolutely zero hope at this point, Voss said. Theyve recovered, what, 24 bodies? And theyre just now getting started, so I think that the possibility of having any hope is pretty remote. Voss had also turned to Facebook Saturday morning searching for information about McCarty, an artist who she said worked as a sound technician and at a hotel. Im a friend of Jason McCarty and am worried sick, she wrote on the Facebook page for the event. Any news? She considered going to the scene, but chose to stay at her Vacaville home, where she and her husband felt they could stay better informed by checking social media and news sites. Flowers placed near the site of the Oakland warehouse fire. Video by Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times We could get a lot more info that way, she said. We did have another family member in Oakland at the time and tried to gather info for us and it was all cordoned off, and she came up empty handed. And for some friends of the missing, sharing news online felt like a duty. A self-described big Facebooker, Carol Crewdson knew she had to spread the word after hearing that one of her friends went dancing at the Oakland warehouse. Everyone needed to know. Oh my god, she wrote, Sara Hoda is missing in this fire. She hoped that someone would respond saying Hoda was fine, but that never happened. Instead, Crewdson heard from another friend who said Hoda texted her Friday night saying she had just finished meditating and was planning to go to the concert at the warehouse. The same friend said she spoke with Hodas brother, who said his sisters truck was still parked outside the venue. Before long, Crewdson posted an update. Im sorry loves, she wrote, but it looks like she went with the flames. Crewdson met Hoda in 2010, when they started a collective a landing place of sorts for traveling artists who couldnt afford Northern Californias rising rents. They housed around 25 people at a time, sometimes as many as 32. The Oakland partys event page initially released a list of missing people to spread the word. But Hoda didnt make the original list of missing, Crewdson said, because she didnt have a Facebook she didnt RSVP to the party online. City officials confirmed Hodas death late Sunday afternoon. Times staff writer Sonali Kohli contributed to this report. alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com sarah.parvini@latimes.com marisa.gerber@latimes.com ALSO Criminal investigators join probe of blaze as death toll rises to 33 Residents describe harrowing escapes: 20-foot flames shooting out of the window, that was my space Fire leaves community of artists reeling and fearful of a crackdown on enclaves UPDATES: 8:15 p.m.: This article was updated with information from the family. 6:15 p.m.: This article was updated with confirmation of one of the victims. This article was originally published at 5:05 p.m. A teenage girl has been arrested in the stabbing death of a pregnant mother during a fight in front of a Venice Beach market last month, police said. The 17-year-old, whose name was not released because she is a juvenile, was arrested on suspicion of murder Friday when she turned herself over to the LAPD Olympic Division, authorities said. She was wanted for allegedly stabbing 22-year-old Jasmine Preciado to death about 9:30 p.m. Nov. 21 near Windward and Pacific avenues. Preciado, who had a 3-year-old daughter and was three months pregnant, had gotten into a fight with the girl and two men when she was killed, police said. Advertisement Security video from a store in the area appeared to show the assailants and an SUV moments before the attack. In video obtained by KCBS, a group of people is gathered near the vehicle when one of them begins to walk away. Someone in the group is seen moving toward that person and grabbing them from behind. At almost the same time, the other two people rush toward the pair. What happens from there is out of the view of the camera but a moment later, someone in a light shirt runs to the front of the SUV with a shiny, long object in their hand. The group ultimately left the area. The vehicle was found about a mile away from the scene. The two men seen in the video are still wanted by police. joseph.serna@latimes.com For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter. ALSO North Carolina Gov. McCrory concedes he lost reelection bid Nude man found shot dead in Long Beach, body of dead woman discovered in nearby vehicle Cam Newton on being benched for a dress-code violation: We didnt lose this game because of a tie They happen all the time, all around the country: unpermitted dance parties put on by artists, promoters and others who bypass official channels to give fans an opportunity to revel in their music. Often, there isnt much money to be made. Those involved in the scene can play multiple roles entrepreneur, performer and host to make them happen. Now, as investigators begin to examine the massive fire at a party in Oakland, which killed at least 33 people, they will try to determine whether anyone was criminally responsible for what happened in the nearly 10,000-square-foot warehouse that former residents say lacked sprinklers and had a staircase partly made of wooden pallets. Advertisement The list of those who may have been tied to the building and party is long: There is the group that leased the building, the person who owned it, the people who promoted the concert, the artists who performed and the small, independent record company some of them belonged to. There are also questions about whether government agencies and inspectors responsible for enforcing rules at such places adequately did their jobs. A number of artists lived at the warehouse, though it was not permitted for residency, according to a local official and former residents. And whoever organized the party never obtained permits, city officials said. Neighbors said they had contacted the city about trash and debris piled up outside the warehouse. Inspectors with Oaklands Planning and Building Department had been investigating an allegation of illegal construction inside the building as well as allegations that people were living there. The building is owned by Chor N. Ng and leased to an artists collective, according to daughter Eva Ng. Two people interviewed by The Times said the artist group, called the Satya Yuga Collective, was managed by Derick Almena, known to the residents as Derick Ion. Almena 45, and his wife, Micah Allison, 40, lived on the second floor and often hosted concerts on the premise, which was billed as the Oakland Ghostship. On their social media sites they posted pictures of mannequins hung upside down, colorful tapestries on the floor and wall, Hindu art, furniture from Almenas travels to Bali and large, exposed wooden beams throughout. On the first floor of the factory, a half dozen RVs had been parked to provide living spaces for residents. Shelley Mack, 58, said she paid $700 a month to live inside a trailer parked in the warehouse from November 2014 to February 2015. She said she had been drawn to the space by a Craigslist ad that promised cheap living space. Once there, she and several tenants between 10 and 20, depending on the day shared a single bathroom. The building had no heat, and in November 2014, a transformer blew, cutting off power. There was no electricity, and it was freezing in there, she said. Gas-powered generators were used to run small space heaters, and propane tanks placed indoor by the exits fueled other heaters, Mack said. Police were repeatedly called to the warehouse to address complaints, Mack said. Those reports could not be confirmed to the The Times on Sunday by Oakland police. 1 / 24 The ruins of the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland, the site of a fire that killed at least 36 people, are seen from above on Dec. 5. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 24 Debris litters the inside of a warehouse where a fire killed 36 people during a club-style party. (David Butow / For The Times) 3 / 24 A firefighter walks through the burned-out Oakland warehouse on Saturday. (David Butow / For The Times) 4 / 24 Firefighters walk through a debris-strewn warehouse where a fire killed at least nine people in Oakland. (David Butow / For The Times) 5 / 24 A drone flies over investigators outside Oaklands Ghost Ship warehouse, where 36 people died this month in one of the worst fires in modern California history. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 24 Titus Cromwell, 4, places a flower from his familys garden near the scene of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 24 In the days after the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, hearts dedicated to victims were hung from a nearby tree. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 24 Daryl Norman, 63, of Oakland stops by the scene of the fire on his way to church in Oakland. I had to come see for myself, he said of the 36 victims. God bless them. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 24 People stand at the perimeter holding flowers while watching crews remove material from what remains of the Ghostship warehouse fire, that burned and killed at least 36 people in the Oakland neighborhood of Fruitvale. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 24 An art installation near the scene of the Ghost Ship fire. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 24 People pay their respects Dec. 11 near the scene of the warehouse fire. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 24 Mourners observe a moment of silence for the lives lost in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire at the Oakland Museum of California on Friday evening. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles TImes) 13 / 24 ATF agents map the scene of the fire investigation Friday at the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland. (Francine Orr/ Los Angeles Times) (Francine Orr / Los Angeles TImes) 14 / 24 Rain falls on the memorial for victims of the Oakland warehouse fire. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles TImes) 15 / 24 Hillary Morse, 22, of Oakland mourns the loss of two of her close friends in the warehouse fire in Oakland. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 24 Jacob Ramirez, 4, left, looks on while his grandmother Eva Ramirez, 52, consoles Hillary Morse, 22, right, of Oakland near the site of the warehouse fire in Oakland. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 24 Flowers, candles and notes, memorializing those killed and injured in the Ghostship warehouse fire that burned and killed at least 36 people in the Oakland neighborhood of Fruitvale. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 24 A makeshift memorial of flowers and candles stands Dec. 4 near the site of the Oakland warehouse fire. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 24 A man who identified himself as Ben P. reads cards on Sunday at a memorial near the site of the blaze. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 24 Kristen Grzeca, a music teacher at Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, hugs Monina Sen Cervone, director of world music and dance at the school, on Sunday at a makeshift memorial for victims of the warehouse fire. A 17-year-old victim was one of Grzecas students. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 24 After attending church, Teionna Cunningham of Oakland leaves flowers near the site of the fire. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 24 A Seventh Day Adventist group prays on Sunday near the scene of the fire on 31st Avenue in Oakland. (David Butow / For The Times) 23 / 24 Flowers are left near an Oakland warehouse where a fire broke out during a concert, killing 36 people. (David Butow / For The Times) 24 / 24 Dino Graniello, left, and Jessie Xenakis light candles near the scene of a warehouse fire in Oakland that killed at least two dozen partygoers. (David Butow / For The Times) Danielle Boudreaux, a former friend of Allisons who spent time at the warehouse, said there was no hot water and insufficient electric wiring. After a December 2014 party, one partygoer notified the city fire department of unsafe conditions, and it was inspected, Boudreaux said. She did not know the result. She said she also tried to alert Almena to the problems. I absolutely warned him this place was too dangerous, said Boudreaux. Almena did not respond to requests for comment. Im going to have to speak to my lawyers before I answer any questions, Allison said. Despite the conditions, the warehouse appears to have frequently hosted parties. The one that ended in tragedy had been promoted for at least two months, according to various social media posts. A flier for the party mentioned the Los Angeles-based label 100% Silk and some of its artists as being involved. Twelve individuals were listed as hosts of the party on its Facebook page. Amanda Brown, a co-owner of 100% Silk, said she doesnt know who put on the party. Typically, such concerts are a joint effort with many people involved, including the artists playing at the show and local community members, she said. These arent people with booking agents, Brown said. These are people who are reaching out to the community to see if anyone has a couch they can borrow or a backyard where they can put music equipment. Britt Brown, another co-owner of the label, said he didnt make any money from the event. We had literally no involvement in it, he said. We didnt get a dollar. Often, somebody collects a small fee from people entering a party like the one Friday night, Brown said, but its not much, maybe $5. The money would be split between the venue to help pay the electric bill, for example, and the musicians for a little travel money. Brown said he didnt know if anyone collected money Friday night. I dont know who was putting on the show, I never had heard of the venue space before, I have never been there, Brown said. Its also unclear who made the promotional flier bearing his companys name. At this underground level, our label would just sort of be like a flag to rally around, Brown said. Several of the artists met by working with our label; it becomes like a little extended family. When he was a touring musician, Brown said it probably would not have crossed his mind to ask about safety precautions at a small warehouse party. Especially if the place had a reputation for hosting events successfully, he said. That relaxed attitude might seem dangerous to someone unfamiliar with such informal, underground events, Brown said, but to us it was just normal. David DeMember, a San Fransico Bay-area music industry veteran who founded Raves.com, said he believed Ghostship was a somewhat atypical venue because of the spaces layout. I wouldnt have felt safe there, DeMember said. I would have stood near the door. While large warehouse parties typically get the necessary permits to hold concerts, smaller underground warehouse parties like the Ghostship event typically operate in a DIY style, he said. Following Fridays fire, some local promoters were upset about the lack of safety measures at Ghost Ship, DeMember said. He predicted that city officials would crack down on unlicensed venues. Theres a strong supportive music scene out here, DeMember said. You are already seeing promoters talking about how we have to look out for each other. Times staff writer Paul Pringle contributed to this report. ALSO Names of seven victims released in Oakland fire; criminal investigators on scene Oakland warehouse residents harrowing survival stories: Oh my God, all of these people died in our home. A womans frantic, anguished Facebook search for friend missing in Oakland fire They had come together out of their love for electronic music and the underground scene that it fostered. The concert had been in the works for almost two months, billed on social media as a tour for the musicians associated with the L.A.-based label 100% Silk. The location was secret until shortly before the show. When it went up on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, they gathered about 70 musicians and fans late Friday in Oakland for a night of music and dancing at the Ghost Ship, the eccentric piano factory-turned-art space. On Sunday, two days after the catastrophic fire that turned the party into a scene of tragedy and ruin, they were being searched for and mourned on the same online forums that brought them together even as recovery personnel combed through debris with shovels and buckets. Advertisement With identities of the victims slow to emerge, social media outlets provided the connection for family and friends from around the world, allowing them to share hospital numbers, compile a list of possible victims and express their shock and disbelief. Oh my god, Sara Hoda is missing in this fire, Carol Crewdson wrote about a friend, who had texted that she was going to the party and whose truck was found parked outside the venue. Other notes were more plaintive. Im a friend of Jason McCarty and am worried sick, Robin Voss wrote on the Facebook page for the event. Any news? And one was less equivocal. Prayers for the family will be greatly appreciated, Ginger Kellogg Jimenez wrote after being notified that the body of her sister, Donna Kellogg, 32, had been found. A beautiful, giggly, wise person who will be very missed, wrote one of Kelloggs friends. (Paul Duginski / Los Angeles Times) As friends and relatives worried, prayed and mourned, authorities continued the grim, painstaking task of searching the warehouses charred hulk, removing debris bucket by bucket. Thirty-three bodies have been recovered, officials said Sunday afternoon, with more than half the warehouse in Oaklands Fruitvale neighborhood still to be searched. Late in the day, Alameda County authorities released the names of seven people who died: Cash Askew, 22; David Cline, 23; Travis Hough, 35; and Donna Kellogg, 32, of Oakland; Sara Hoda, 30, of Walnut Creek; Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, of Hayward; and Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, of Coronado. The name of one minor was withheld. Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriffs Department, said the majority of the victims were in their 20s and 30s, but that some were teenagers. Kelly said the district attorneys office has sent a team of criminal investigators to work alongside the sheriffs arson task force and the Oakland Police Department. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent representatives to help in the investigation, including with resources, forensics and laboratory work. The investigators are working to uncover any potential criminal activity that may have led to the blaze. When you have the amount of victims that we have, you dont rule anything out, Kelly told The Times in a telephone interview Sunday night. People want answers. People want to know that the investigation into this fire is very thorough. Flowers placed near the site of the Oakland warehouse fire. Video by Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times But for some friends and loved ones, the unanswered phone calls, texts and Facebook messages provided the answer they never wanted to hear. David Gregory thought his daughter was staying overnight at her boyfriends house when she didnt come home Friday night. Gregory did not know that Michela, a 20-year-old honor-roll student at San Francisco State, had gone to the concert with her boyfriend. Gregory had stopped by the Alameda County sheriffs station Sunday looking for information and was asked to return with some trace of his daughters DNA, such as strands of hair from a comb or brush. Try to put yourself in our shoes, he said. You know there was a fire. And that she was attending that event. Then you see footage of the building on fire, knowing that everybody in there is being burned alive. Its the worst way to go there is no worse way. The tragedy took a personal turn for responders when they learned that the son of an Alameda County sheriffs deputy was among those who died. This tragedy has hit very close to home for our agency, Kelly said. Were still dealing with that as we continue to deal with the other victims. The lack of a complete victims list fueled an atmosphere of dread for some. When Cory Grimes discovered that her roommate, Jennifer Mendiola, had gone to the concert Friday and was missing, she felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her. Grimes said her hands were shaking so badly that she was unable to send messages. She checked a Facebook memorial page that listed Mendiola as a victim. But there was no proof. Theres a lot of misinformation right now, and that makes it hurt more, Grimes said. The building was leased by a group calling itself the Satya Yuga Collective, managed by Derick Almena. Almena, 46, who lived on the second floor of the warehouse with his wife, considered himself a realms creator and built found-object sculptures and stage sets for musical gatherings. On their social media sites, the couple posted pictures of mannequins hung upside down, colorful tapestries on the floor and wall, Hindu art, furniture from Almenas travels to Bali and large, exposed wooden beams throughout. On the first floor of the warehouse, a half dozen RVs had been parked to provide living spaces for other residents. It had become a destination for traveling artists looking for a place to crash in the Bay Area, where affordable digs are notoriously difficult to find. Its a big ripple thats affected the entire community. Its a huge tragedy; its a huge loss for people in Oakland. And theres a lot behind it, said Graham Patzner, who lives with his parents in Oakland and believes his friend, Nicholas Walrath, had attended the party. Artists are constantly struggling to survive in this city because were all getting kicked out. The closely knit nature of the community only compounded the tragedy for some. Isador Vorpahl posted on Facebook messages to 10 friends who were missing. I hope its not true, I hope you all are safe and alive, Vorpahl wrote. I want you all to know the ways youve touched my life. Jesse James Alexander, 24, said he believes three of his friends died in the fire. He learned about the blaze on Saturday morning when he received a text from someone making sure he was alive. These are all our friends. These are all our family. And theyre all gone, Alexander wrote. Richardine Bartee said she has been numb since learning that her friend Alex Ghassan was among the missing. Ghassan had recently moved to Oakland and was the father of two young daughters. On Twitter and Instagram accounts in his name, Ghassan appeared to have posted a video of the party, which he captioned: Oakland reminds me of #JerseyCity so much at times. Facebook also drew worried notes from parents abroad. Another panicked parent searched Facebook for answers in Finnish. Any news of Hanna Ruax, posted Yrjo Timonen, whose Facebook page lists Helsinki as home. She is my daughter. On Sunday night, Timonen posted, Ei sanoja. Vain suuri suru. (No words. Just a great sorrow.) For Grace Lovio, who was worried sick over her boyfriend Jason McCarty, the silence was too great. She had been studying in France and ditched her final exam to fly from Paris to San Francisco. They had last spoken on Friday, and on Saturday, she woke up to find that he had sent her a Facebook message. Love you a zilliopzazillion, he wrote. During a tearful plane ride, she carried with her a diary filled with the poetry McCarty had written for her. On Sunday she was en route to her fathers home in Concord to meet McCartys parents, who are from Texas, for the first time. Until we know for sure that hes gone, Im still holding on to some hope, Lovio said. Im pretty scared though. phil.willon@latimes.com chris.megerian@latimes.com alene.tchekmedyyian@latimes.com thomas.curwen@latimes.com Times staff writers Tracey Lien, Peter H. King, Paige St. John and Soumya Karlamangla, in Oakland, and Jack Dolan, Paul Pringle, Dakota Smith, Marisa Gerber, Sarah Parvini, Sonali Kohli and Matt Hamilton, in Los Angeles, contributed to this report. ALSO Oakland warehouse fire leaves community of artists reeling and fearful of a crackdown Names of seven victims released in Oakland fire, as death toll rises to 33 Oakland warehouse residents harrowing survival stories: Oh my God, all of these people died in our home. UPDATES: 9:43 p.m.: This article was updated with additional editing. This article was originally published at 9:10 p.m. As criminal investigators begin to examine who is to blame for one of the worst fires in modern California history, Oakland authorities continued to search for bodies in the ruins of a warehouse blaze Monday after halting briefly to test for structural weaknesses. As of Monday afternoon, 36 bodies had been recovered, although more were expected to be found, officials said. Of those recovered, 33 have been positively identified, while the families of 16 victims had been notified, according to Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern. An additional five families were going to be notified by the end of the day, he said. Three of the victims were from Finland, South Korea and Guatemala, respectively, and those nations embassies had been alerted, Ahern said. Advertisement Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said that about two dozen families in all would learn on Monday that they lost a loved one in Friday nights inferno. Today is the day that more than two dozen families are going to learn of a loved ones loss. More than two dozen families are going to start an entirely new life, Schaaf said. For them this is Day 1 of this incident. Officials had halted recovery operations just after midnight when a crew that was surveying the destruction from a neighboring rooftop noticed that the front wall was leaning 3 inches toward the center of the building, said Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton. Recovery operations resumed by early afternoon. About 75% of the building had been searched, according to officials. We absolutely believe the number of fire fatalities will increase, Drayton said. Firefighters and sheriffs officials reentered the building at 9 a.m. after ensuring its safety, and resumed their search. They are expecting rain on Wednesday, but she said their search efforts will continue to move at a steady and methodical pace. Authorities believe the fire began in the back of the building, but they still have no idea what caused it. Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will determine a plan on how to search the building, Drayton said. Key areas have been quarantined for additional investigation, she said. Alameda County Sheriffs Deputy Tya Modeste said of the 36 victims recovered, 11 have been identified. Authorities released the names of seven victims on Sunday: Cash Askew, 22, David Cline, 23, Travis Hough, 35, and Donna Kellogg, 32, all of Oakland; Sara Hoda, 30, of Walnut Creek, Calif.; Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, of Hayward, Calif.; and Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, of Coronado, Calif. Authorities withheld the name of an eighth victim, a 17-year-old boy, because he was a minor. The names of the additional three victims will be released sometime Monday. Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriffs Department, said the majority of the victims were in their 20s and 30s, but that some were teenagers. Kelly said the Alameda County district attorneys office has sent a team of criminal investigators to work alongside the sheriffs arson task force and the Oakland Police Department. The investigators, including a property and land-use expert, are working to uncover any potential criminal activity that may have led to the blaze. Alameda County District Atty. Nancy OMalley said charges for those involved could range from involuntary manslaughter to murder, depending on their role in the incident. We owe it to the community and those who perished to be methodical, to be thorough and take the time to look at every potential piece of evidence, OMalley said. Well leave no stone unturned. Already people from the community have been reaching out to us about the individuals involved and the scene itself. District attorney investigators have already begun conducting interviews with people connected to the warehouse property, OMalley said, though she wouldnt divulge with whom. We have 36 families, not only grieving for their lost ones, but also they want to have answers and we as a city collectively are working to find those answers, said Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson. We want to provide answers not only for the families, but for our community. The Police Department, she said, is reviewing its body camera footage and the number of calls made to the locations as well as the types of calls made, Watson said. Lets say we came to this location and there were some concerns whether it is a criminal concern or whether its a violation, we may have captured that in our body-worn camera footage, she said. The department, she said, is also working with the citys planning and building department as well as the district attorneys office. We have a lot of moving parts to this and we will certainly find answers to all of these questions. We want to do a very thorough investigation, Watson said. These are all our friends. These are all our family. And theyre all gone. Jesse James Alexander President Obama said in a statement Monday that his administration was in close contact with state and city officials to make sure that authorities have everything they need as they continue response operations and investigate the cause of the fire. While we still dont know the full toll of this disaster, we do know that an American community has been devastated, and many people including young men and women with their whole futures ahead of them have tragically lost their lives, Obama said. Officials have said the warehouse had been the subject of a city code enforcement investigation at the time of the fire due to complaints about health and safety issues. Some former residents described it as a cluttered death trap lacking fire sprinklers. With identities of the victims slow to emerge, social media outlets provided the connection for family and friends from around the world, allowing them to share hospital numbers, compile a list of possible victims and express their shock and disbelief. Oh my god, Sara Hoda is missing in this fire, Carol Crewdson wrote about a friend who had texted that she was going to the party and whose truck was found parked outside the venue. But for some friends and loved ones, the unanswered phone calls, texts and Facebook messages provided the answer they never wanted to hear. David Gregory said he thought his daughter was staying overnight at her boyfriends house when she didnt come home Friday night. Gregory said he had not known that Michela, a 20-year-old honor roll student at San Francisco State, had gone to a concert at the warehouse with her boyfriend. Gregory had stopped by the Alameda County sheriffs station Sunday looking for information and was asked to return with some trace of his daughters DNA, such as strands of hair from a comb or brush. Try to put yourself in our shoes, he said. You know there was a fire. And that she was attending that event. Then you see footage of the building on fire, knowing that everybody in there is being burned alive. Its the worst way to go there is no worse way. The tragedy took a personal turn for responders when they learned that the son of an Alameda County sheriffs deputy was among those who died. This tragedy has hit very close to home for our agency, Kelly said. Were still dealing with that as we continue to deal with the other victims. The lack of a complete list of victims fueled an atmosphere of dread for some. Cory Grimes said that when she discovered that her roommate, Jennifer Mendiola, had gone to the concert and was missing, she felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her. Grimes said her hands were shaking so badly that she was unable to send messages. She checked a Facebook memorial page that listed Mendiola as a victim. But there was no proof. Theres a lot of misinformation right now, and that makes it hurt more, Grimes said. The building was leased by a group calling itself the Satya Yuga Collective, managed by Derick Almena. Almena, 46, who lived on the second floor of the warehouse with his wife, considered himself a realms creator and built found-object sculptures and stage sets for musical gatherings. On their social media sites, the couple posted pictures of mannequins hung upside down, colorful tapestries on the floor and wall, Hindu art, furniture from Almenas travels to Bali and large, exposed wooden beams throughout the building. On the first floor of the warehouse, a half-dozen RVs had been parked to provide living spaces for other residents. It had become a destination for traveling artists looking for a place to crash in the Bay Area, where affordable digs are notoriously difficult to find. Its a big ripple thats affected the entire community. Its a huge tragedy; its a huge loss for people in Oakland. And theres a lot behind it, said Graham Patzner, who lives with his parents in Oakland and believes his friend, Nicholas Walrath, had attended the show. Artists are constantly struggling to survive in this city because were all getting kicked out. Jesse James Alexander, 24, said he believes that three of his friends died in the fire. He said he learned about the blaze on Saturday morning when he received a text from someone making sure he was alive. These are all our friends. These are all our family. And theyre all gone, Alexander wrote. Richardine Bartee said she has been numb since learning that her friend Alex Ghassan was among the missing. Ghassan had recently moved to Oakland and was the father of two young daughters. On Twitter and Instagram accounts in his name, Ghassan appeared to have posted a video of the event, which he captioned: Oakland reminds me of #JerseyCity so much at times. Facebook also drew worried notes from parents abroad. A panicked parent searched Facebook for answers in Finnish: Any news of Hanna Ruax, posted Yrjo Timonen, whose Facebook page lists Helsinki as home. She is my daughter. For Grace Lovio, who said she was worried sick about her boyfriend, Jason McCarty, the silence was too great. She had been studying in France and ditched her final exam to fly from Paris to San Francisco. They had last spoken on Friday, she said, and on Saturday she woke up to find that he had sent her a Facebook message: Love you a zilliopzazillion, he wrote. During a tearful plane ride, she carried with her a diary filled with poetry McCarty had written for her. On Sunday, she was en route to her fathers home in Concord to meet McCartys parents, who are from Texas, for the first time. Until we know for sure that hes gone, Im still holding on to some hope, Lovio said. Im pretty scared though. Times staff writers Tracey Lien, Peter H. King, Paige St. John and Soumya Karlamangla, in Oakland, and Jack Dolan, Paul Pringle, Dakota Smith, Marisa Gerber, Sarah Parvini, Sonali Kohli, Matt Hamilton and Veronica Rocha, in Los Angeles, contributed to this report. ALSO What are the criminal liabilities after the deadly Oakland fire? Oakland warehouse residents harrowing survival stories: Oh my God, all of these people died in our home. Oakland warehouse had hosted parties, despite safety concerns of former residents When loved ones couldnt track those missing in Oakland fire, they found answers on social media UPDATES: 3:45 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from an afternoon press conference. 12:57 p.m.: This article has been updated with search efforts resuming and details about an expected power outage. 10:25 a.m.: This article has been updated with a statement from President Obama. 8:25 a.m.: This article has been updated throughout with comments from police and fire authorities. 6:15 a.m.: This article has updated with a revised death toll and comments from Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton. This article was originally published at 5:05 a.m. As the death toll in the Oakland warehouse fire climbs, investigators face a daunting task: figuring out how flames swiftly raced through the building and killed so many inside. Prosecutors face perhaps a weightier burden: assembling a potential case and deciding whether to file criminal charges that can win a conviction. There is precedent. After flames ripped through a Rhode Island nightclub in 2003, killing 100 people, two nightclub owners and a bands tour manager were charged with involuntary manslaughter. The owners pleaded no contest and the manager pleaded guilty to the charges. Advertisement Jeffrey Pine, the former Rhode Island attorney general who defended one of the nightclub owners, said the massive inferno, like the one in Oakland, added pressure for legal action. Any good prosecution office is going to be looking at a number of different possibilities, one of which is, is anyone responsible criminally? Pine said. First you must determine what the exact cause and origin of the fire is. Alameda County Dist. Atty. Nancy OMalley has dispatched a team of criminal investigators to the scene of the blaze, according to sheriffs spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly. The Oakland Police Department and a sheriffs arson team are assisting, along with representatives from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Jean M. Daly, a former prosecutor who led the arson units for the San Francisco and Los Angeles County district attorneys offices, said OMalley made the right decision. The investigators can ensure the proper collection of evidence and help secure search warrants. You want to preserve it as a potential criminal investigation scene get the evidence and it wont be suppressed, Daly said. A potential case would turn on the cause of the fire. If the fire is determined to be an arson, prosecutors could bring murder or aggravated arson charges with one count for each person killed. Aggravated arson carries a minimum of 10 years in prison to life, said Lou Shapiro, a Los Angeles defense attorney and former public defender. Other causes like a burning cigarette or electrical wiring could still implicate a building owner or those affiliated with the concert held at the warehouse. Charges could include manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter. To build a case, prosecutors would have to show that building operators were on notice about any potential code violations, building flaws or other legal issues, Daly said. Shapiro said those involved could also face a reckless fire charge, a misdemeanor count that requires prosecutors to show a defendant was aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk and ignored it. But the investigation will be arduous and tedious, requiring crews to comb over every portion of the charred wreckage. There will be a lot of finger-pointing, Shapiro said. It will be very difficult for investigators to figure out who to blame for this. Experts agreed that local prosecutors, if they decide to move ahead with a case, should convene a grand jury to avoid the pressure of a very public case. Its not an easy robbery, Daly said. Jurors have to understand fire and city code violations. When you are focused on the gravity of the case and so many lives lost, you dont want a knee-jerk reaction. ALSO Death toll in Oakland fire climbs to 33 as families, friends fear the worst Oakland warehouse had hosted parties, despite safety concerns of former residents Names of seven victims released in Oakland fire; criminal investigators on scene The murder trial of a white former North Charleston, S.C., police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man in the back as he fled a traffic stop ended in a mistrial Monday after a deadlocked jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. We as a jury regret to inform the court that despite the best efforts of all members we are unable to come to a unanimous decision, the jury wrote in a note to a judge Monday afternoon after about 22 hours of deliberation. The jurys long, protracted struggle to reach consensus over Michael Slagers April 2015 shooting of Walter Scott underscores the challenge prosecutors face in convicting on-duty police officers who kill civilians. Advertisement Though guilty verdicts are rare in police shootings, many believed Scotts was an open-and-shut case of an officer killing a black man without cause. A video captured by a bystander appeared to show Slager shooting Scott in the back as he ran at least 17 feet ahead of the officer. That video prompted Slagers then-defense attorney to resign. Today Im not sad, Judy Scott, Walters mother, told reporters as she clutched a crumpled tissue in her hand outside the courthouse. Soon enough, she said, there would be another trial against the man who shot her son. Injustice will not prevail, she said. Its not over, yall hear me? Its not over till God say its over. It is the second time in less than a month that a judge has declared a mistrial after a jury has been unable to reach consensus on a police shooting. On Nov. 12, a judge in Ohio declared a mistrial after a jury failed to reach agreement on the case of a white former University of Cincinnati police officer, Ray Tensing, charged with murder in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black motorist, Sam DuBose. On Friday, the jury foreman in the Charleston case had suggested the jury was hopelessly deadlocked, with one juror refusing to convict. After taking a break over the weekend, the jury indicated Monday morning that the majority had still not made up its minds whether to convict or acquit Slager. Slagers legal battles are not over. State prosecutors have already said they will retry the case, and he also faces separate charges in federal district court of violating Scotts civil rights, using a weapon during the commission of a civil rights offense, and obstruction of justice. If convicted of a civil rights violation, he could face life in prison. Prosecutors had charged Slager, 35, with murder, which carries a prison penalty of 30 years to life, but last week Judge Clifton Newman allowed jurors to consider the lesser charge of manslaughter, which involves two to 30 years in prison. On Monday morning, the jury appeared stuck, sending a note to Newman with a flurry of questions: Why was voluntary manslaughter offered in addition to murder? What is meant by sufficient legal provocation, imminent danger and aforethought? Does self-defense apply equally to a police officer and a regular civilian? Defense attorney Andrew Savage called for a mistrial, arguing that one juror had already indicated he would not convict. He noted that the jurys most recent note was not written by the jury foreman although it was signed by him and raised the possibility that the foreman might be preventing all members of the jury from having their say. Yet Newman ruled against a mistrial, stating that the court was obligated to answer questions posed by the jury during deliberations unless the answers might be inappropriate. Importantly, the note doesnt say the jury is deadlocked, the judge said before asking attorneys to craft responses to jurors questions. It says they are undecided and thats what deliberations are all about getting an undecided jury to decide. One of a string of police killings of African Americans that inspired mass street protests and a national debate on racism and policing, the Scott shooting was seen as a significant test case in whether seemingly compelling video evidence could lead to a guilty verdict. During the month-long South Carolina trial, prosecutors argued that Slager fired eight shots at Scott, 50, out of malice, ill will and total disregard for human life. They added that video evidence showed Slager staging evidence after the killing, dropping his Taser next to Scotts body so he could claim Scott had taken the stun gun. Slagers legal team countered that Slager shot Scott in self-defense. Last week, Slager testified he pulled Scott over for a broken tail light, and returned to his police cruiser to write up a warning ticket. Suddenly, Scott fled from his vehicle, Slager pursued, and the two men became involved in a physical fight. Slager said he was left in total fear after Scott grabbed his Taser and pointed it at him. Not long after the jury began deliberating, there were signs it was struggling over the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. On Thursday, jurors asked the judge to explain the difference between fear and passion. While Slagers defense hinged on his fear for his life when he fired at Scott, the voluntary manslaughter charge involves killing in the heat of passion. On Friday, Newman read notes that appeared to indicate a lone juror refused to convict. We all struggle with the death of a man and with all that has been put before us, one juror wrote in a long note that the judge read to the courtroom. I still cannot, without a reasonable doubt, convict the defendant. A separate note from the jury foreman indicated that one juror had issues and needs to leave. Newman urged jurors to return to their deliberations: The majority should consider the minoritys position, and the minority should consider the majoritys position, he told them. By the end of the day, the foreman reported they were hopelessly deadlocked. A few moments later, however, jurors suggested that further explanation of the law might lead to a unanimous verdict and agreed to continue deliberating Monday. Jarvie is a special correspondent. UPDATES: 4:36 p.m.: This story was updated with family reaction and a decision by prosecutors to retry the case. 1:05 p.m.: This story was updated with the trial ending in a mistrial. The story was originally published at 11:15 a.m. A Pennsylvania judge has ruled that damaging testimony Bill Cosby gave in an accusers lawsuit can be used at his criminal sexual assault trial. The defense had insisted that Cosby only testified after being promised he wouldnt be charged in the Andrea Constand case. Montgomery County Judge Steven ONeill concluded Monday that Cosby never had a promise from prosecutors that he could never be charged. Advertisement The 79-year-old Cosby acknowledged in the 2006 deposition that he had given young women drugs or alcohol before sexual encounters. He called them consensual, but many of the women say they were drugged and molested. The ruling on the deposition is one of two key pretrial issues. The judge must also decide if prosecutors can call 13 other accusers. The release of the deposition testimony last year prompted prosecutors to reopen Constands 2005 criminal complaint. Cosby has been charged with three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault as a result of a 2004 incident at his Pennsylvania home. The prosecution contends that the entertainer assaulted Constand, a former Temple University basketball team employee, after giving her pills. Democrats draw sharper battle lines in tug of war over party leadership By Chris Megerian Even as Democrats try to move past last years defeats, their internal fault lines show signs of deepening in the campaign for the partys leadership. The latest evidence came Wednesday when former Vice President Joe Biden endorsed Thomas E. Perez, who served as President Obamas Labor secretary, to chair the Democratic National Committee. We have a lot of good people vying for this important job, Biden said in a statement. But I do think for this moment and in this time, Tom Perez is our best bet to help bring the party back. The endorsement was seen as more evidence that key members of the recently departed Obama administration were backing Perez. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) with Sen. Bernie Sanders. (Alex Wong / Getty Images) It was followed by a statement from Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont reiterating his support for Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), another leading candidate in the race. Although Sanders lost to Hillary Clinton in the presidential primary, he has continued to try to pull Democrats to the left, and he has emphasized the need to create a grass-roots party. Obama left office with strong poll numbers, but under his watch, Democrats lost power not only in Washington but in states around the country, something Sanders and his allies have stressed in the fight over the party chairmanship. The question is simple: Do we stay with a failed status-quo approach or do we go forward with a fundamental restructuring of the Democratic Party? Sanders said. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Border Patrol chief is abruptly out after being brought in as a reformer By Brian Bennett The chief of the Border Patrol will leave his post at the end of the month, likely the result of a change in direction by the Trump administration and a reflection of the new power of the agencys union. Mark Morgan, the agencys head, was hired from the FBI in June to reform the force after a series of corruption allegations and problems with excessive force. He will leave the Border Patrol abruptly after seven months on the job, according to a person familiar with the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Morgans departure was first reported by the Associated Press. Morgan spent 20 years at the FBI and was first brought to Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrols parent agency, in 2014 to overhaul its internal affairs division. After a subsequent stint running the FBIs training academy, he started the top job at the Border Patrol in June. The Border Patrols union had opposed Morgans appointment, preferring a candidate who had risen through the ranks of the agency. The union endorsed President Trump in the election, breaking with its practice of remaining neutral in elections. News of Morgans departure comes a day after Trump announced he would build a border wall and hire 5,000 more Border Patrol agents, bringing the total force to 26,000. Trump said the Border Patrol union would have a lot of clout in department decisions. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump was silent on new U.S. sanctions against Russia, but he praises Putins response By Michael A. Memoli After President Obama on Thursday announced retaliatory measures against the Russian government for what the U.S. has concluded were efforts to interfere in the election, President-elect Donald Trumps response was terse and dismissive, saying it was time to move on to bigger and better things. But after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that he would not respond in kind to the U.S. actions preferring to wait until the new administration takes office Trump weighed in with high praise. Great move on delay (by V. Putin) - I always knew he was very smart! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 30, 2016 Trumps tweet did not appear to be off the cuff. As if to underscore his sentiment, Trump affixed the tweet to the top of his Twitter feed. And he posted an Instagram photo shortly after, quoting himself. View Instagram post Trumps effusive words were particularly striking given the bipartisan view of Putin as more adversary than ally. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said they supported the Obama administrations move to expel Russian diplomats and block access to two properties owned by its government. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) is expected to call a hearing on Russias cyber activities when the new Congress convenes next week. A Trump transition spokesman was asked earlier Friday whether Trump had spoken or planned to speak with Putin before his inauguration. The priority right now is for the president[-elect] to get an update next week from the intelligence community, Sean Spicer said. Trumps praise did get tacit approval from some quarters. The Russian embassy in Washington retweeted it. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Most popular White House petitions included requests to label a hate group and deport Justin Bieber By Colleen Shalby Over the past five years, Americans have produced and signed nearly 5,000 petitions through the White Houses We the People site. How could we ever forget the effort to get the Obama administration on board with building a Death Star? Some, like that one and a petition to deport Justin Bieber, resulted only in conversation. But others made an impact. The Pew Research Center analyzed the petitions in a recent report. They ranged from serious, like an effort to ban gay conversion therapy at a state level that led the president in 2015 to support states bans, to playful. A request for Obama to appear on a previously unvisited talk show, for example, prompted him to appear on Real Time with Bill Maher in January 2016. In 2015, 106-year-old Virginia McLaurin requested a meeting with the first black president, something she never thought shed live to see. Her petition garnered only 19 signatures. But it nonetheless resulted in one of first couples most memorable meetings, this dance party: The petitioning system, launched in 2011, was part of Obamas open-government initiative. The most common topics for petitioning included healthcare, veterans issues and requests to honor individuals, such as Yogi Berra, and create or officially recognize holidays, like Talk Like a Pirate Day. While not every petition made a change or elicited a response from the White House, many captured a momentary pulse of the nation. Here are the five most popular: Legally recognize the Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group, posted Dec. 14, 2012; 367,180 signatures. Establish justice and prevent a great catastrophe, posted April 4, 2016; 331,914 signatures. File charges against the 47 U.S. senators in violation of the Logan Act in attempting to undermine a nuclear agreement, posted March 9, 2015; gained 322,117 signatures. Ask President Obama to appear on HBOs Real Time with Bill Maher, posted Jan. 15, 2016; 314,226 signatures. Deport Justin Bieber and revoke his green card, posted Jan. 23, 2014; 273,698 signatures. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Obama slaps Russia with sanctions for meddling in the U.S. election By Christi Parsons In the most sweeping retaliation against Russia in decades, President Obama slapped the country with new penalties Thursday for meddling in the U.S. presidential election, kicking out dozens of suspected spies and imposing banking restrictions on five people and four organizations the administration says were involved. All Americans should be alarmed by Russias actions, Obama said in a statement. Such activities have consequences. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print How Trump and an Obamacare rollback could affect the growing gig economy By Chicago Tribune Gabby Golub of Chicago does chalkboard art for bars and restaurants in addition to driving for Lyft and working part time at her old high school. (Kristan Lieb / Chicago Tribune) A growing share of the U.S. workforce is reyling on alternative work arrangements, which include on-demand gigs through online platforms like Lyft or Uber as well as work through temporary help agencies, freelance assignments and independent contracts. The Bureau of Labor Statistics plans to conduct a comprehensive survey of these so-called contingent workers next year, its first since 2005, helping policymakers understand the size and makeup of a workforce not covered by many labor protections or privy to the benefits that come with a traditional employer relationship. Whether policy will catch up to the labor shifts is a question experts will watch in 2017. A major conversation point has been how to develop portable benefits that give gig economy workers access to retirement plans, unemployment insurance and paid sick leave even as they move from job to job. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump touts plans by Sprint and OneWeb to create 8,000 U.S. jobs By Jim Puzzanghera (Don Emmert / AFP/Getty Images) President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday touted plans by telecom company Sprint and technology start-up OneWeb to hire a total of 8,000 workers in the U.S. in what he said was very good news for the economy. He appeared to be highlighting previously made jobs announcements. OneWeb, which is building a network of satellites to deliver high-speed Internet access, said on Dec. 19 that it expected to create nearly 3,000 jobs in the U.S. over the next four years after securing $1.2 billion in funding, mostly from Japans SoftBank Group Corp. And the head of SoftBank, which owns Sprint, said on Dec. 6 that the company had agreed to invest $50 billion in the U.S. and create 50,000 jobs here. The announcement by SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son came after he met with Trump at Trump Tower in New York City. Trump touted it that day. Speaking at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Wednesday, Trump said Sprint was going to be bringing 5,000 jobs back to the United States. They have taken them from other countries. They are bringing them back to the United States, Trump said. Sprint, though, said in a statement that the jobs would be a mixture of new positions and others that were reinstated. It wasnt clear whether those jobs were part of the 50,000 that were mentioned earlier in the month at Trump Tower. We are excited to work with President-Elect Trump and his administration to do our part to drive economic growth and create jobs in the U.S., said Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure. We believe it is critical for business and government to partner together to create more job opportunities in the U.S. and ensure prosperity for all Americans. Trump also said the OneWeb hiring is very exciting. OneWeb did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 3:25 p.m.: This story was updated with comment from Sprint. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kerry offers fierce defense of Obamas support for Israel, urges resumption of Mideast peace talks By Laura King Secretary of State John Kerry outlines his proposals for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Zach Gibson / Getty Images) With President-elect Donald Trump tweeting from the sidelines, Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Wednesday outlined broad principles for reviving the moribund Israel-Palestinian peace process -- calls that quickly ignited a new burst of Israeli anger against the Obama administration. Kerrys lengthy and impassioned address, delivered at the State Department, marked the latest chapter in an unusually bitter public clash between the United States and Israel -- and the even more extraordinary spectacle of a president-elect again inserting himself into a sensitive diplomatic matter before taking office. In a speech lasting more than an hour, Kerry appealed for a hiatus in Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, called on Palestinian leaders to explicitly denounce terrorist attacks against Israelis, and warned repeatedly that the prospects for a two-state solution, with Israel and a Palestinian state existing side-by-side, were in jeopardy. We cannot in good conscience do nothing, and say nothing, when we see the hope of peace slipping away, he said. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former California lieutenant governor will meet with Trump to discuss running Agriculture department By Michael A. Memoli Abel Maldonado. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times) President-elect Donald Trump is considering former California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado to lead the Agriculture department, a move that would bring greater diversity to the Republicans Cabinet. Maldonado will meet with Trump on Wednesday at his Palm Beach, Fla., estate. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer noted that Maldonado, owner of Runway Vineyards in the Santa Maria Valley, comes from three generations of farmers and has strong roots in the agriculture industry of California. Trump will also meet with Dr. Elsa Murano, the former president of Texas A&M University and a former Agriculture undersecretary for food safety, in connection to the post, one of the few Cabinet positions yet unfilled. Maldonado, 49, was once considered to be the kind of Republican who could break through the partys struggle to attract widespread Latino support. A Santa Barbara County farmer whose parents were Mexican farmworker immigrants, he served as mayor of Santa Maria before being elected to the state Assembly in 1998. Perhaps Maldonados most notable political moment came when he worked with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to force Democrats to embrace the top-two primary system for California during negotiations on the state budget crisis in 2009. Schwarzenegger rewarded Maldonado with the appointment to the then-vacant post of lieutenant governor in 2010. But Maldonados role in helping push the nonpartisan primary system made him a pariah among many conservative Republicans, and he failed in subsequent races for Congress in 2012 and a brief flirtation with a run for governor in 2014. If nominated and confirmed, Maldonado would be the sole Latino in Trumps Cabinet. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump attacks Obama over Israel just ahead of Kerrys speech on the Mideast By Michael A. Memoli The detente between President Obama and President-elect Donald Trump, as both aimed to portray a smooth transition of power, appears in jeopardy. Trump condemned the Obama administrations foreign policy on Wednesday, tweeting he was doing his best to overlook inflammatory Obama moves, while engaging in 1990s-style sarcasm. Doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory President O statements and roadblocks.Thought it was going to be a smooth transition - NOT! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2016 Last week, Obama decided to have the U.S. abstain from a United Nations Security Council vote on a resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity, which allowed the measure to pass. The vote angered Israeli leaders, who accused senior U.S. officials of complicity in drafting the resolution, a claim disputed by the U.S. We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the U.S., but....... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2016 not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal, and now this (U.N.)! Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2016 Trumps postings came just before Secretary of State John F. Kerry delivered a major address on U.S. foreign policy that included a rebuttal to Israeli government criticisms of the Obama administration. Trumps statement of support for Israel was welcomed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long had a tense relationship with Obama. President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your clear-cut support for Israel! @IvankaTrump @DonaldJTrumpJr https://t.co/lURPimG0wS Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) December 28, 2016 Trump transition spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters that the president-elects tweets speak for themselves, very clearly. He also stressed that White House officials have been helpful and generous with their time, at least in terms of the mechanics of the transition. In a brief statement to reporters Wednesday night, Trump said he had a general conversation with Obama during the day. Very, very nice, was how the president-elect described the chat, which he said Obama initiated. A White House spokesman confirmed the call and characterized it as positive. When asked whether he thinks the U.S. should exit the U.N., Trump repeated his earlier comments that the global body is not living up to its potential. When do you see the United Nations solving problems? he asked. They dont, they cause problems, so if it lives up to its potential its a great thing, if it doesnt its a waste of time. The U.N. seemed to respond to Trump on Monday, in a message pinned to the top of its Twitter feed: Here's a list of 10 ways the UN makes a difference in the lives of millions every day. See what else we do: https://t.co/MGT7G5uPFL pic.twitter.com/nMxHV0rvkf United Nations (@UN) December 26, 2016 Times staff writer Christi Parsons in Honolulu contributed to this report. 5:10 p.m.: This story was updated with White House comment. 2:45 p.m.: This story was updated with Trumps comments. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement John Kerry, tireless in his diplomatic efforts, often came up empty-handed By Tracy Wilkinson John F. Kerry is nothing if not indefatigable, traveling to all corners of the world as Americas top diplomat over the last four years. But as he prepares to leave office, he confronts a mixed legacy: a handful of successes coupled with searing defeats, especially in the Middle East. His inability to halt the carnage in Syria, or to block Russias growing influence, ranks as the most serious blot on his record. But he also got nowhere trying to end the Israeli-Palestinian standoff, or to stop Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, from bombing civilians in Yemen. Kerrys greatest success was the historic accord to curtail Irans nuclear development program and a landmark climate change treaty to limit greenhouse gas emissions and slow global warming. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print At Pearl Harbor, Obama says we must resist the urge to demonize those who are different By Christi Parsons Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Obama. (Marco Garcia / Associated Press) President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe scattered petals together on the waters of Pearl Harbor on Tuesday in a symbolic act aimed at laying to rest the enmity of the Japanese attack 75 years ago that drew the U.S. into World War II. In a moment consumed with history, both leaders were fixed on the future. They expressed concern that the lessons of the war might be forgotten amid a shifting world order and the anti-internationalist sentiment that has swept over politics around the globe, most notably with the ascendance of President-elect Donald Trump. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Obama and Japans Abe to visit Pearl Harbor amid renewed talk of nuclear concerns By Christi Parsons Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu on Monday. (AFP/Getty Images) President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are scheduled to honor the war dead at Pearl Harbor on Tuesday, marking the 75th anniversary of the attack that thrust the U.S. into World War II. The visit was planned as a coda to Obamas visit to Hiroshima in May, where Abe hosted him as the first sitting president to visit the site where the U.S. dropped one of two nuclear bombs in 1945 to end the war, the only instances of nuclear attacks in history. But the visit has taken on a new meaning. President-elect Donald Trump reawakened old fears of a nuclear arms race last week by declaring his commitment to strengthen and expand U.S. nuclear capability. In his remarks at Pearl Harbor, Obama will have an opportunity to address those renewed anxieties and to lay out the dangers of an arms race. Obama has fought to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons and to secure existing caches. The visit is meant to highlight the strength of the relationship between the U.S. and Japan, an administration official said. Several Japanese prime ministers before Abe have visited the Pearl Harbor site. But Abe is the first to go to the memorial at the resting place of the battleship Arizona, where 1,177 American military personnel died in the Japanese aerial attack on Dec. 7, 1941. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Will the Feds Janet Yellen take away the punch bowl after Trump takes office? By Don Lee After three years of almost single-handedly juicing up the slow-growing economy, Janet L. Yellen and the Federal Reserve should be looking at easier days ahead. Yellen, in what will probably be her last full year as Fed chair, may finally get help from somewhere else in Washington. Tax cuts and infrastructure spending planned by President-elect Donald Trump, if backed by the Republican-controlled Congress, would lighten the load for a Fed whose easy-money policies have been the primary economic support for the nation. She is already breathing easier on the Feds employment mandate; the jobless rate has fallen to a nine-year low of 4.6%. Inflation, too, is under control and, by all accounts, creeping toward the central banks optimal level of 2%. And yet, Yellen may come under as much economic and political pressure as ever, on both the Feds policy and the independence of the institution. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Obama says he could have beaten Trump By Tracy Wilkinson (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press) President Obama says he could have defeated Donald Trump in last months election by recapturing the same vision of hope that twice carried him to the presidency. Obama also was mildly critical of the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, saying her campaign didnt do enough to get her message out. The remarks were notable because Obama has been careful since the election to avoid criticizing Trump, or to deliver a post-mortem on Clintons failed bid. Obama spoke in a wide-ranging interview with former senior advisor and now CNN commentator David Axelrod for the Democratic political operatives Axe Files podcast. The interview was released by CNN on Monday. You know, I am confident in this vision because Im confident that if I -- if I had run again and articulated it, I think I couldve mobilized a majority of the American people to rally behind it, Obama said. His comments were part of a wider discussion of what he called ugly sentiments of racism and xenophobia that surfaced during the 2016 campaign. Obama repeated his assertion that Clinton faced a double standard as a woman, which put her at a disadvantage. But he also said a kind of complacency set in that made the Clinton campaign too cautious and thus unable to get its message out sufficiently. If you think youre winning, then you have a tendency, just like in sports, maybe to play it safer, Obama said. During the interview, Obama also spoke of his family, the strength hed gotten from wife Michelle and the improbability of his own political career. And the president said the spirit that his candidacy originally inspired, especially among young people, was never snuffed out despite the last eight years of turmoil. The idealism and the dedication stayed with the staff and got us through some really hard times, he said. Trump later responded to the remarks on Twitter. UPDATE 2:07 p.m.: This article was updated with Trumps response. This article was originally published at 12:28 p.m. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Obama personally authorized U.S. abstention from U.N. vote on Israeli settlements By Michael A. Memoli President Obama personally directed Friday that the U.S. abstain from a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity, seeing the escalation of settlement building as an increasing threat to the viability of a two-state solution to the regions problems. Ahead of the expected vote, Obama, who is vacationing with his family in Hawaii, convened a discussion Thursday with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John F. Kerry and other top national security officials. The vote was postponed, but U.S. officials continued to monitor discussions over the Egyptian-authored resolution until Friday. Obama spoke with national security advisor Susan Rice on Friday to issue his final decision. President-elect Donald Trumps intervention in the discussions, which included a conversation with Egypts president Thursday that preceded the delay in the planned vote, did not affect Obamas calculations, deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters.. Theres one president at a time, he said. The decision to allow the resolution to pass, rather than cast a veto to block it is consistent with long-standing, bipartisan U.S. policy opposing Israeli settlement activity, Rhodes said. One of the administrations great concerns was that such activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has accelerated significantly since 2011, when the U.S. last vetoed a comparable resolution. U.S. officials also have been concerned about continued incitements of violence by Palestinians, and Rhodes said the resolution voted on Friday included greater balance to reflect that than past resolutions. Weve been very concerned that these accelerating trends are putting the very viability of the two-state solution at risk, Rhodes said. In that context, we therefore thought that we could not in good conscience veto a resolution that expressed concerns about the very trends that are eroding the foundation for a two-state solution. He also underscored what he called Obamas iron-clad commitment to Israel and its security, noting that the administration recently concluded a major military assistance package. The U.S. did not vote for the resolution because of continued concerns about the United Nations as a venue for Middle East peace discussions, Rhodes said. He also responded to what he called strident comments of Israeli officials criticizing the U.S. move. It seems like the Israeli government wants the conversation to be about anything other than the settlement activity, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump team seeks to ease fears on womens programs at State Department By Tracy Wilkinson ( Andrew Harnik / Associated Press) Donald Trumps transition team said Friday its requests to the State Department for details on positions and funding for global womens programs were part of an effort to ensure and protect gender equality. The statement appeared to be an attempt to allay concerns that Trump might seek to cancel or roll back gender-focused programs at the State Department following a request by the transition team on Wednesday for information about them. Most were created or championed by Trumps campaign rival, Hillary Clinton, when she served as secretary of State during President Obamas first term. The transition team statement Friday did not outline Trumps plans for the programs, which seek to promote equality, education and vocational training for women around the world as well as combat gender-based violence. President-elect Trump will ensure the rights of women across the world are valued and protected, the statement said. To help fulfill this promise, the transition team inquired about existing programs at the State Department that helps [sic] foster gender equality, ends gender-based violence, and promotes economic and political participation finding ways to improve them. The statement said the inquiry was one of hundreds of requests it sent to federal departments as part of the transition effort. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump team asks State Department for details on programs aimed at helping women By Tracy Wilkinson Donald Trumps transition team has asked the State Department for details on programs aimed at benefiting women around the world, including identifying staff members who worked to reduce gender-based violence and promote women in the workplace. In an email sent to numerous State Department offices Wednesday, the president-elects transition team asked for urgent response to its inquiries about gender-related staffing, programming and funding. Many of the programs were begun or were championed by Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of State during President Obamas first term and who lost to Trump in November. The unusual request to the State Department follows a similar email to the Department of Energy. There the transition team asked for names of staff members who had worked on efforts to combat climate change, which Trump has dismissed as a hoax. Several Obama administration officials called that query chilling. The Trump team withdrew the request after it was widely criticized. The latest email suggests the incoming Trump administration will attempt to roll back some of the State Departments most innovative programs and may seek to penalize people who worked on them. People are freaked out, said a senior State Department official who was not authorized to speak publicly. The email asked the State Department to deliver issue papers from bureaus and offices (one paper max per bureau/office) outlining existing programs and activities to promote gender equality, such as ending gender-based violence, promoting womens participation in economic and political spheres, entrepreneurship, etc. It said the issue papers should note jobs whose primary functions are to promote such issues, as well as money allocated for those activities and programs in fiscal year 2017. While at State, Clinton made womens issues a top priority. An office was created to deal exclusively with global womens issues, and money was allocated for programs that promote education of girls, train women in marketable skills and offer microloans. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump taps seasoned Republican operative Sean Spicer as White House press secretary By Lisa Mascaro President-elect Donald Trump named Sean Spicer as his new press secretary, tapping a seasoned Republican operative as the public face of the new White House. Spicer, a top Republican National Committee strategist who brought a measure of establishment Washington to Trumps operation, is known for his combative but engaging approach to communications. He will likely take over the press podium as the top spokesman at the incoming White House. Two other veterans of the Trump campaigns press operation also will get White House jobs: Jason Miller, who had been Trumps communications chief after moving from the campaign of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, will stay in that role as communications director at the White House. Hope Hicks, who was Trumps spokesperson on the campaign trail and one of his earliest campaign aides, will be assistant to the president and director of strategic communications, and Dan Scavino will serve as director of social media. Sean, Hope, Jason and Dan have been key members of my team during the campaign and transition. I am excited they will be leading the team that will communicate my agenda that will Make America Great Again, Trump said in a statement. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Obama eliminates post-9/11 registry for foreigners, making it harder for Trump to restart it By Brian Bennett (Don Emmert / AFP/Getty Images) The Obama administration is taking apart a controversial, dormant national registry program that tracked visitors from countries with active terrorist groups for several years following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. A final rule eliminating the program will be published in the federal register on Friday. The move would make it more difficult for President-elect Donald Trump to revive the registry, which hasnt been used since 2011. The Department of Homeland Security determined it was ineffective and didnt improve security. Civil rights advocates have long said the program was discriminatory. On the campaign trail, Trump promised to track Muslims coming to the U.S. and require them to register. He later changed his stance to say he would bar people from countries with a record of Islamist extremism. Trumps policy advisors have been looking closely at ways to jump start the registry, called the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, after he takes office at the end of January. With the program being officially dismantled on Friday, Trumps team would have to issue new federal rules to restart it, a process that could take several months and would require a period for soliciting comments from the public, which likely would be contentious. The Trump transition team is preparing several executive actions for the incoming president, Trump spokesman Jason Miller told reporters Thursday morning when asked about Obama dismantling the registry. Stopping radical Islamic terrorists from entering the U.S. is of paramount importance, Miller said. He didnt say directly if Trump would rebuild the visitor registry. The American people strongly support tough measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of our country, and President-elect Trump has made clear that we will suspend admissions of those from countries with high terrorism rates and apply a strict vetting procedure for those seeking entry in order to protect American lives, he said. When asked on Wednesday if he would set up a registry for Muslims or impose a ban on Muslim immigrants in the wake of the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, Trump said simply: You know my plans. Democratic lawmakers and civil liberties advocates have demanded in recent weeks that Obama dismantle the registry. Theyve cited a 2012 inspector general report that said Homeland Security databases collecting traveler fingerprints, flight manifests and intelligence information on foreigners are more effective at preventing terrorist attacks. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) praised the Homeland Security Departments decision to strip away dead-letter regulations no longer in use. These regulations symbolized an ineffective program based on religious and ethnic profiling, rather than individualized suspicion a program based on fear, rather than reason, Leahy said in a statement. That has no place in this great country, under any administration. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump is unwinding some foreign deals but many potential conflicts remain By Joseph Tanfani The Trump hotel in Baku, Azerbaijan, would be among the finest in the world, Donald Trump promised two years ago, another example of our involvement in only the best global development projects. But the dream of a world-class Trump Baku died this month, with Trump saying he was backing out of the deal because of delays and blown deadlines caused by the developer, a 34-year-old with close family connections to the countrys government. The demise of Trump Baku is not an isolated decision. With his inauguration less than a month away, President-elect Trumps company has pulled out of a few international business deals that might have created especially sticky conflicts and controversies for his administration. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump names UC Irvine professor and fierce China critic to new White House Trade Council By Don Lee Peter Navarro, left, and China expert Gordon Chang attend a screening of Death By China, the film adaptation of Navarros book, in New York in 2012. (Andy Kropa / Getty Images) President-elect Donald Trump, signaling that he intends to follow through on his tough talk on trade, is establishing a new White House-based trade council to be headed by a vehement critic of Chinas economic policies. Trump on Wednesday named Peter Navarro, a Harvard-trained business professor at UC Irvine, as director of trade and industrial policy and head of the newly created White House National Trade Council. The move sends a strong message: The Trump administration will take a much more aggressive posture to shrink the nations large trade deficit and combat what the president-elect and Navarro believe are forces behind Americas manufacturing woes unfair and mercantilist practices on the part of China and other trading partners. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print The issue of race has hung over Sen. Jeff Sessions like a shadow. Heres why By Del Quentin Wilber (Scott Olson / AFP/Getty Images) Jeff Sessions uneasy history with race can be traced back to the long, winding country roads that cut through the pine forests and farm land in this deep corner of the Deep South. As a boy, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III began each day before dawn, boarding a segregated bus to his all-white school. En route he and his classmates passed the bus ferrying black students in the opposite direction. The day ended when he sat down to dinner each night with his father, an avowed segregationist until the end of his life. Reflecting on those years, Sessions acknowledged recently that he knew back then that segregation was morally wrong and regretted standing by passively as civil rights leaders in the 1960s struggled and died in the fight for equality. I should have stepped forward more and been a leader and more positive force, Sessions said in February while participating in a ceremony honoring the Selma foot soldiers. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kellyanne Conway will join Trump in the White House By Evan Halper (Gerald Herber / Associated Press) Donald Trump has named his media-savvy campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, to advise him in the White House in the role of counselor, his transition team announced early Thursday morning. The move comes after Conway sought to put to rest speculation that she would continue to serve as the public face of the Trump team. But the new job is sure to keep her profile high. Conway will will work with senior leadership to effectively message and execute the administrations legislative priorities and actions, according to a statement from the Trump transition team. Kellyanne Conway has been a trusted advisor and strategist who played a crucial role in my victory, Trump said in the statement. She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message. The appointment would boost diversity in a Trump inner circle made up mostly of older white men. It also sets up another potentially competing power center on a White House staff that already will have several, including Reince Priebus, the chief of staff; Stephen K. Bannon, the chief strategist; and Stephen Miller, the policy chief. Conway had previously turned down other proposals for White House jobs, telling reporters late last month that she did not want to spend long hours away from her children. At that point, Conway said she thought she could best help Trump by forming an outside organization to support his policies. But that role appears to have gone to Brad Parscale, who ran Trumps online operations during the campaign. Conway joined Trumps campaign during the summer when it was beset with infighting and disarray. She is widely credited with helping bring message discipline and professionalism to an operation in desperate need of it. In the run-up to the election and the weeks that followed, Conway was a ubiquitous presence on cable news networks, capably moving through her talking points in tough interview settings often on the firing line and held to account for the exaggerations and incendiary remarks Trump was prone to make on the campaign trail and Twitter. I am humbled and honored to play a role in helping transform the movement he has led into a real agenda of action and results, Conway said in the statement. She is the founder and owner of the Polling Company, inc./WomanTrend, a GOP firm that has been advising candidates for two decades. Trump has not yet chosen a press secretary. But he is believed to be considering several candidates. Sean Spicer, former communications chief of the Republican Party who has served in a spokesman role for Trump through the transition, has been a prominent possibility, although Trump reportedly has considered several women, including conservative talk radio star Laura Ingraham and Fox News personality Kimberly Guilfoyle. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump Hotel employees in Las Vegas get a union contract By Kurtis Lee (Mike Nelson / Getty Images) Its owned by President-elect Donald Trump and is among a handful of hotels on the Las Vegas Strip to not be unionized. But that will change soon. For more than a year, Trump and his staff at the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas have fought efforts by employees and the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 to negotiate a contract. But a four-year contract announced by the union on Wednesday will offer Trump employees annual wage increases, a pension and family healthcare, among other benefits. In Nevada, the culinary union is the states largest and most powerful, representing nearly 55,000 workers who serve cocktails and prepare food at hotels throughout the state. A majority of the unions members are Latino. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Wait! Dont cancel that Air Force One order just yet By Evan Halper Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2016 After Donald Trump scolded Boeing earlier this month for the escalating cost of building a new Air Force One, the companys CEO projected confidence that Trump wouldnt be following through with his threat to cancel order! The two men met together at Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Wednesday. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said they spoke about a range of issues. The Air Force One project, which Trump complained would cost taxpayers more than $4 billion, invariably arose. Were going to get it done for less than that, and were committed to working together to make sure that happens, Muilenberg said. The company had previously noted that the project did not yet have a firm price tag. I was able to give the president-elect my personal commitment on behalf of the Boeing Company. This is a business thats important to us. We work on Air Force One because its important to our country, and were going to make sure that he gets the best capability and that its done affordably, Muilenberg added. He called the conversation terrific and Trump a good man who is doing the right thing. The presidential aircraft remains a long way from takeoff a new plane wont be ready for use in the next four years. Even if Trump is reelected, he might not get to use the plane, as the earliest projected date for completion is 2024. Boeing is currently doing early development work on the plane a modified 747 that will likely be outfitted with such gadgetry as top-secret communications equipment, countermeasures to foil missile attacks, and aerial refueling capability that would enable it to remain airborne for days at a time if necessary. The timing of delivery was among the topics that came up at Trumps meeting with the Boeing CEO. Thats what were going to work on together, Muilenberg said. We have an active 747 production line, and were eager to get started on the program. We havent actually started the build of the airplane yet, but once we finalize the requirements and make sure that its affordable, well launch on building the aircraft. Weve got a hot production line and were ready to go. The government actually has two planes outfitted to serve as Air Force One, which is the designation given to whichever plane is carrying the president. The current planes, which were put into service during the Reagan administration, are nearing the end of their design life. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Fierce China critic and UC Irvine professor to head Trumps new trade council By Don Lee (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times) President-elect Donald Trump is establishing a new White House-based trade office that will be headed by a UC Irvine professor known for his fierce criticisms of Chinese trade and economic practices. In appointing Peter Navarro as director of trade and industrial policy and the head of the new National Trade Council inside the White House, Trump is signaling that he wants to follow through on his tough campaign rhetoric in which he blamed the Chinese for the large U.S. trade deficit and manufacturing woes. During the campaign,Trump threatened to slap a 45% tariff on Chinese imports. Navarro, a Harvard-trained economist who advised Trump during the campaign, is the author of the book Death by China: Confronting the Dragon a Global Call to Action. Trump endorsed the 2011 book as well as Navarros film version of the polemical work. I read one of Peters books on Americas trade problems years ago and was impressed by the clarity of his arguments and thoroughness of his research, Trump said Wednesday in a statement announcing the appointment. He will fulfill an essential role in my administration as a trade advisor. Trump said the new trade office would develop policies to shrink the nations trade deficit and curb the off-shoring of jobs, as well as to lead initiatives such as the Buy America, Hire America program. Navarro, in a statement, said he would be honored to serve Trump and the nation and to advise on policies to re-balance our trade, rebuild our industrial base, and restore Americas comprehensive national power by making America great again. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump stops the drain the swamp talk as new alligators emerge By Evan Halper Newt Gingrich. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press) It made for a great slogan during the campaign, but now that hes won, Donald Trump is finding that maybe he doesnt actually want to drain the swamp. In fact, the alligators seem to be doing quite well. Former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski on Wednesday boasted about his access and proximity to Trump in announcing a new consulting firm he plans to open with former Trump campaign advisor Barry Bennett. The firms offices will be one block from the White House. Clients who pony up what are sure to be hefty fees for the firms services are being assured by Lewandowski in his marketing materials that he turned down multiple opportunities within the administration so he can serve them. The pitch implies Lewandowski will remain a de facto surrogate for Trump with all the access that implies as he bills those seeking to influence the Trump administration for his services. So perhaps the time is ripe for Trump to stop using the drain the swamp phrase. And that is what Trump has decided to do, according to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who describes himself as an outside advisor to the president-elect. Im told he now just disclaims that, Gingrich said in an interview on National Public Radio, referring to the slogan Trump used in the final phase of his campaign to crystallize his promise to cleanse Washington of insiders and self-dealers. He now says it was cute, but he doesnt want to use it anymore, Gingrich said, adding that perhaps all this swamp draining talk isnt presidential. Hes in a different role now and maybe he feels that as president, as the next president of the United States, that he should be marginally more dignified than talking about alligators in swamps, Gingrich said. I personally have, as a sense of humor, like the alligator and swamp language, he added. I think it vividly illustrates the problem, because all the people in this city who are the alligators are going to hate the swamp being drained. And theres going to be constant fighting over it. But, you know, he is my leader, and if he decides to drop the swamp and the alligator, I will drop the swamp and the alligator. Lewandowski, for his part, made no mention of swamps or alligators in announcing his new consulting firm would be open for business. Proud to launch our new venture today to support @realDonaldTrump achieve his agenda in Washington D.C. pic.twitter.com/ZEot6IrvJ4 Corey R. Lewandowski (@CLewandowski_) December 21, 2016 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Death penalty in steep decline, but not in Los Angeles County By David Savage Lonnie Franklin Jr. was tried and convicted of 10 counts of murder. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) Los Angeles County and the state of California again recorded the most new death sentences this year, amid a sharp decline across the nation in both executions and new death sentences. Judges and juries in Los Angeles County imposed a death sentence on four murderers during 2016, including Lonnie Franklin Jr., the so-called Grim Sleeper, who was convicted of killing 10 women. No other county had more than one death sentence, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Since 2010, Los Angeles County has recorded 36 new death sentences, more than any county in the nation. This year marked the first time in more than 40 years where no state recorded 10 or more new death sentences, the group said in its year-end report. California had the most with nine, followed by Ohio (five), Texas (four), Alabama (three) and Florida (two). California has by far the nations largest death row, with 750 condemned inmates, but it has not carried out an execution in the past decade. Overall, the report documented the steep decline for capital punishment over the past two decades. The number of new death sentences had fallen by 90%, from 315 in 1996 to only 30 this year. And the number of executions has fallen from a high of 98 in 1999 to 20 this year. Georgia (nine) and Texas (seven) accounted for most of the executions. The only other states to put inmates to death were Alabama (two), Missouri (one) and Florida (one). Robert Dunham, the groups executive director, says the nation is clearly turning away from capital punishment. Whether its concerns about innocence, costs and discrimination, availability of life without parole as a safe alternative, or the questionable way in which states are attempting to carry out executions, the public grows increasingly uncomfortable with the death penalty each year, he said. But his report noted that Californias voters, by a 53%-47% margin, rejected a ballot measure to abolish the death penalty, and narrowly approved a measure, by a 51%-49% margin, to limit appeals and expedite executions. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement New survey finds less optimistic Democrats seeking many paths to their future success By Cathleen Decker (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press) Since Hillary Clintons November defeat, Democrats have squabbled over how to return to prominence. Should they continue to court ascendant voter groups in the country, such as women, minorities and young people? Or should they turn to those who have long been in their camp but abandoned the party nominee this year, such as rural and non-college-educated voters. The answer, according to a Pew Research poll published Tuesday: Democrats want to walk both paths, simultaneously. The poll asked Democrats and Republicans whether their parties had spent too much, too little or just the right amount of time meeting the interests and concerns of specific groups of voters. Among Democrats, 64% said the party had spent too little time talking to rural voters, and 58% said the same about non-college voters. Almost two-thirds of Democrats said low-income voters had not gotten enough of the partys attention, and 58% said middle-class voters had been ignored to some extent. But Democratic voters did not want to let up on the partys outreach to its stronger supporters this year. About half said that the concerns of women and African American voters had gotten too little attention, while 43% said the same about Latinos. In the case of women, African Americans, Latinos, low-income voters, rural residents and younger voters, Democrats were substantially more likely than Republicans to say their party had not put enough emphasis on the groups concerns. The poll suggested far more confidence by Republicans than Democrats in their partys current positioning. Much of that may simply be the flood of confidence that accompanies a presidential victory. When the pollsters asked before the election about their view of their party, 61% of Republicans said they were optimistic, as did 77% of Democrats about their own party. After the election those figures reversed, with 79% of Republicans optimistic compared with 61% of Democrats. A key to Trumps success also was evident in the poll: a chameleon-like ability to make the different ideological groups in the party think he was one of them. Almost 3 in 5 conservatives said that Trumps views were conservative. And among moderates, 52% said that Trumps ideology was a mix of conservative and liberal, echoing their own posture. But queries about the new presidents impact on his party drew sharply partisan responses. More than two-thirds of all voters said that Trump had forced major changes on his party. Yet 72% of Democrats cast those changes as bad ones, while 83% of Republicans cast the changes as good ones. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print The artist and the senator: One built a desert masterpiece, the other a Nevada legacy By Lisa Mascaro When Sen. Harry Reid heard about a reclusive artist building a massive land sculpture across desolate acres in the Nevada desert, he knew they should meet. Its not just that Reid enjoys eccentrics and fighters, which he does. Michael Heizer had found an unusual way to express the majesty and artistry of the same lonely Nevada landscape that formed Reids childhood, when he would escape the dismal, rugged conditions of tiny Searchlight to play in the deserts hidden springs and abandoned fortresses. Both men discovered in Nevada what many outsiders miss. Far from seeing a nuclear wasteland, a dumping site or even a playground for gamblers, they drew inspiration from Nevadas quiet beauty. Heizer created an American masterpiece a milelong complex of dirt, rock and cement rising from the desert floor like modern-day pyramids or the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. For Reid, his appreciation for Nevadas unique landscape became a cornerstone of one of the most lasting yet less-familiar pieces of his political legacy. Read More Artist Michael Heizer and Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) speak in the Capitol. (Lisa Mascaro / Los Angeles Times) Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print With 304 votes, electoral college seals Donald Trumps election as president despite more desertions than ever By Michael Finnegan They convened amid unusual scrutiny, widespread protests and rafts of speculation about efforts to alter the outcome, but, in the end, the nations 538 presidential electors mostly stuck to the script Monday, formally sealing Donald Trumps victory with 304 votes in the electoral college, well above what he needed to capture the White House. After all the efforts to lobby Republican electors to desert Trump, only two did a pair from Texas, one of whom voted for former Texas Rep. Ron Paul and the other for Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Indeed, instead of an uprising against Trump, the days voting was punctuated more by small, but persistent, gestures of Democratic discontent with Hillary Clinton. A handful of electors deserted her and a few more tried to, but were deterred by state faithless elector laws. Some of the Democratic dissenters were supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who lost the primaries to Clinton but galvanized the partys left wing. Others were backers of an abortive effort that had tried to recruit Democrats and Republicans to unite behind a third candidate other than Clinton or Trump. In the end, seven electors voted for a person other than the candidate who won their states the largest number of electoral college desertions in a presidential contest in U.S. history, eclipsing a record set in 1808. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print As electoral college meetings end in Hawaii, Bernie Sanders gets a vote that will stick By Michael A. Memoli David Mulinix, Hawaii elector who voted for Sanders, said Clinton wasn't qualified. Also said @POTUS wasn't progressive, but "conservative" pic.twitter.com/miCnZ6PzXI Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) December 20, 2016 The last of the 50 states gave Bernie Sanders his first electoral college vote that counted. Hillary Clinton received three of the states four electoral votes after winning 60% of the popular vote here last month. But one elector, David Mulinix, said he cast his vote for the Vermont senator because he was the most qualified candidate. They can call me faithless, but the point is if we dont think someones qualified and Hillary Clinton I do not feel is qualified, he said. Hawaiis electors are chosen by the major parties at their state conventions. Mulinix said he joined the party only this election cycle to support Sanders, who he said would have been elected president had he been the Democratic nominee. He had previously told the Associated Press he would cast his vote for Clinton, but said he changed his mind at the last minute. She did not lose the vote to Russian hackers; she lost the vote right there at the convention, he said, referring to the Democratic National Convention, where he said Sanders backers were treated unfairly. They robbed us, and the millennials know it. Mulinix, who, like his fellow electors, wore a lei made of green jade flowers, arrived for the vote with a list of candidates who had received votes in other electoral college meetings across the country. He was aware that an elector in Maine had tried to vote for Sanders but that his vote had been invalidated. An election official said the vote for Sanders here would count. The brief proceedings here in a nondescript conference room on the state Capitols third floor began with another elector, John Bickel, asking whether there was any penalty for electors who cast their ballots for someone other than the winner of the statewide vote. He said later that he had asked because he suspected someone might stray. The electoral college is outdated. If any election has proved the electoral college is outdated, its this one, Bickel said. Dolly Strazar, another elector and the vice chair of the state Democratic Party, said she had long supported the electoral college because it ensured some degree of competition between large states and small ones like Hawaii. It really seems in our times, its thoroughly outdated, she said. Janice Bond, the fourth elector, said she would have voted for Sanders but did not believe she was able to. She also expressed regret that President Obama, who was born in Hawaii and is vacationing here with his family, did not attend the meeting. To have him be on our island and not show face was disappointing, she said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement No fireworks as Nevada electors cast votes for Clinton By David Montero Nevadas six electors cast their votes for Hillary Clinton on Monday afternoon in Carson City, reflecting her victory in the swing state despite losing the overall electoral college vote to President-elect Donald Trump. Clinton won Nevada by almost 3 points over Trump, and the swing state was one of her few bright spots on election day. The six electors five from northern Nevada and one from Las Vegas cast their ballots before about 75 people who had packed into the Old Assembly Chambers of the state Capitol. A few brought signs in support of Clinton, and there was some applause when the votes were cast. It all took place in less than a half-hour. No fireworks, said Wayne Thorley, deputy secretary of state for elections. He said about 40 people showed up in front of the state Capitol in the morning in sub-freezing temperatures to also show support for Clinton. Thorley said he hadnt anticipated a lot of controversy as the electors were required to sign a pledge before voting that said they wouldnt deviate from Nevadas Nov. 8 election results. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print In solemn ceremony, California electors cast votes for Hillary Clinton By Melanie Mason Casting my electoral vote for President and Vice President of the United States of .... https://t.co/jI2FGFCrVg pic.twitter.com/qufSJUM5WF Susan Eggman (@SusanEggman) December 19, 2016 In a proceeding long on formalities and short on speeches, Californias 55 electors cast their vote for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Monday, a ceremony that coincided almost exactly with Republican Donald Trump clinching the national electoral college win. Contrasting with the spirited protests outside the state Capitol, the mood in the state Assembly chambers was muted, even a bit glum, as electors, tapped by the states Democratic establishment, convened to cast their votes for Clinton. California, which overwhelmingly backed Clinton in the presidential contest, requires all 55 electors to back the states winner. Todays solemnity and formality reminds us that in our nation, American greatness and American independence, rests on a foundation of law, said Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D-Cordova), who presided over the event. As written ballots were distributed, the room was completely silent, save for the clicking of camera shutters. Just moments before voting began, Trump, Clintons rival, had secured the electoral college win, with Texas, Californias perennial rival, putting him over the top. His victory went unacknowledged in the ceremony. Among the electors were current elected officials, such as Assemblywomen Susan Talamantes Eggman of Stockton and Shirley Weber of San Diego. Others included Christine Pelosi, daughter of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Laphonza Butler, leader of the powerful labor union SEIU in California. Electors did not make individual speeches during the main ceremony, and Trumps name was hardly mentioned. But there were subtle references to the rancorous political season: Rev. Bob Oshita, the Assembly chaplain and former reverend of the Sacramento Buddhist Church, urged leaders to engage in calming self-reflection in an opening prayer. The tone grew considerably sharper at the end of the gathering, when Pelosi offered a motion calling for an investigation into Russian efforts to influence the election outcome. I move that as an Electoral College, we do not normalize this election. We do not accept Russian interference in our election, Pelosi said. Her motion was adopted by electors, with applause. View Twitter post This post was updated at 3:32 p.m. with comments from Christine Pelosi. It was originally published at 3:12 p.m. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print All of Floridas electoral votes go to Trump By Gray Rohrer Floridas electors applaud as the vote for Donald Trump is announced at the state Capitol in Tallahassee on Monday. (Steve Cannon / Associated Press) Donald Trump officially won all 29 of Floridas electoral college votes on Monday during a ceremony held at the Capitol in Tallahassee, despite pleas from protesters to electors to change their vote at the last minute. About 100 protesters gathered outside the Florida Senate chambers before the vote, chanting love trumps hate and flip the vote and holding signs that read Vote Your Conscience, Dont Make Russia Great Again! The electors, made up of Republican Party of Florida members and high-ranking elected officials like state Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, Senate President Joe Negron and state party chairman Blaise Ingoglia, did their best to ignore the protesters. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim was a Trump nemesis. Now the president-elect says hes wonderful By Evan Halper Donald Trump has decided that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, one of his favorite villains during the presidential election, might not be so bad after all. Hes even wonderful, Trump now says. The two dined together Saturday at Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, after which Trump had only nice things to say about Slim, according to a report in the Washington Post. Trump described the interaction with his erstwhile nemesis as a lovely dinner with a wonderful man. This is not how Trump talked about Slim, one of the worlds richest men, during the election. The Mexican billionaire was a regular target of the then-GOP nominee because of his large ownership stake in the New York Times. Add to that Slims generous contributions to the Clinton Foundation and his citizenship in the country Trump reveled in attacking, and he made for good fodder at Trump rallies. When Trump objected to the New York Times coverage of his campaign and its reporting on the allegations by multiple women of past inappropriate sexual advances by Trump he alleged it was all part of a conspiracy cooked up by Slim. Trump called the outlets reporters corporate lobbyists for Carlos Slim and for Hillary Clinton. The New York Times called Trumps charges a fabrication, saying Slim had never inserted himself in editorial decision making there. And Trump offered no evidence to the contrary. A spokesman for Slim said at the time the two had never met, and the Mexican businessman had no interest in involving himself in the U.S. election. Now theyve met. The takeaway from the meeting, though, is murky. Maybe it indicates Trump is softening his posture toward Mexico or maybe it just indicates billionaires enjoy the company of other billionaires. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Meet the California electors By Liam Dillon Among the electors are Janine Bera, the wife of Rep. Ami Bera of Elk Grove; Christine Pelosi, the daughter of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and chairwoman of the state partys womens caucus; Eileen Feinstein Mariano, granddaughter of Sen. Dianne Feinstein; and Olivia Reyes-Becerra, daughter of Rep. Xavier Becerra of Los Angeles. State Assemblywomen Susan Eggman of Stockton and Shirley Weber of San Diego, former state Sen. Christine Kehoe of San Diego, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nury Martinez and Laphonza Butler, president of the Service Employees International Union chapter that represents home care employees, also are on the list. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Three Washington state Democratic electors vote for Gen. Colin Powell, one for Faith Spotted Eagle By Rick Anderson (Elaine Thompson / Associated Press) Despite a statute binding the 12 members of the electoral college to vote for the winner of the states 2016 presidential election popular vote, four Washington electors made history and risked a $1,000 fine by voting for someone else Monday. But it wasnt Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton, supported by 57% of the states voters, wound up with eight of the 12 electoral votes at a session held in the State Capitol building here. Gen. Colin Powell received three votes. And Faith Spotted Eagle, an elder of the Yankton Sioux, received one. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Colorado elector says he was oppressed by state law into voting for Clinton By David Kelly In Denver, all nine electors voted for Hillary Clinton, after one was replaced for casting his ballot for Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich instead. A boisterous crowd packed the state Capitol and booed when elector Michael Baca was dismissed and another sworn in to take his place. Vote your conscience! someone cried. The new elector voted for Clinton. Hecklers screamed Resign! Resign! at Secretary of State Wayne Williams after he shooed Bacas lawyer off the podium. Suspense had been building for weeks over how the electors would vote. Two courts blocked their attempts to vote for someone other than Clinton. State law here says electors must support the candidate who won the popular vote. On Sunday night they went to court again, this time asking a judge to reject a new oath drawn up by the secretary of state requiring electors to pledge to support the winner of the popular vote. Their motion was denied. As they waited, the crowd sang This Land is Your Land and America the Beautiful. But once the electors filed in, it was over quickly. Elector Robert Nemanich said he was oppressed by state law into voting for Clinton and would go to the U.S. Supreme Court. He did not elaborate. Lance Armstrong, 68, stood outside with an American flag. Im glad some of the electors made a point today, he said. Any point is better than none. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump officially gets 270th electoral vote, sealing his election as president By Julie Westfall Donald Trump has obtained the required 270 electoral votes to become president. Although electors in dozens of states still have to vote, the electoral balloting in Texas put Trump over the majority threshold, according to a state-by-state tally by the Associated Press. Thirty-six of the states electors voted for Trump, one for John Kasich and one for Ron Paul. The next, and last, official step in the electoral process is for Congress to count the votes. Under the procedure set out by the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, that formal process is scheduled for Jan. 6. Some anti-Trump activists had hoped against hope that they could persuade electors in states that voted for Trump to defect, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Electors are nearly all party loyalists. Additionally, they faced more than two centuries of tradition and, in some states, legal obligations that called for them to cast their ballots according to which candidate won the popular vote in their states. No defectors have ever changed the result of a presidential election. Four electors today successfully defected in Washington state. Instead of voting for Hillary Clinton, who won the states popular vote, three electors voted for former secretary of State Colin Powell and one voted for Faith Spotted Eagle, an environmental activist. Electors in two other states who tried to vote against the states winner were replaced with alternates. There may be additional defections in the remaining states, but since Trump now has a majority of the electoral votes, those would not be enough to change the result. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Emotions high in Maryland as electors unanimously vote for Clinton By Erin Cox (Erin Cox/Baltimore Sun) As Marylands 10 electors unanimously cast votes for Democrat Hillary Clinton for president Monday, several said they were privileged to vote for the countys first female presidential nominee. Outside, hundreds of anti-Trump protesters cheered as the solemn ceremony unfolded on live-stream television. A state delegate, who had the ceremonial task of handing the electors votes to another official, wept while executing her duty. This is an emotional moment for many, many women in this country and in this state, said Del. Maggie McIntosh, a Baltimore Democrat. She added later: I guess I didnt cry enough on Nov. 8. Marylands electors were bound by state law to vote for the winner of Marylands popular vote, which Clinton secured with more than 60% of the ballots cast. About 100 protesters who had been chanting and singing around the historic State House grounds for at least four hours before the vote said they came in solidarity with protesters in Republican state capitols, pleading with electors not to endorse President-elect Donald Trump. This is appalling and unacceptable, and Im hoping the Republicans, in particular, rise above and do the right thing, said Cheryl Kreiser, a retired teacher from the Washington, D.C., suburb of Silver Spring. For an hour every day for the last 21 days, Kreiser has protested Trumps win on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It was the only way I could cope with the disappointment, she said. Marylands Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who wrote in his fathers name rather than vote for Trump on election day, opened Marylands 58th electoral college meeting but left the room before electors were sworn in. Each elector had been appointed by the Maryland Democratic Party state chair, Bruce Poole, who reminded the crowd the United States is not a direct democracy ruled by the popular vote. A lot of people lose sight of the fact that were a republic. Were not a democracy, Poole said. The whole idea was that the president would not be chosen just by the whims of the moment, but instead there would be an opportunity for people who were thoughtful, who had judgment, who had integrity to take a step back from the moment of emotion and consider what would be in the best interest of the country. Here is "the old book" where Maryland has recorded its Electoral College electors every year since 1789. pic.twitter.com/GlsaJd3F3X Erin Cox (@ErinatThePost) December 19, 2016 Before he introduced Marylands electors, Poole lamented the state of political discourse in the country. We live in the age of information. It is not necessarily the age of wisdom or age of judgment, he said. People on both sides, on all sides, make decisions at the snap of a finger. Maryland was both the model for creating the electoral college and the first state in the country to vote to bypass it. Framers modeled todays system after the way the Maryland House of Delegates selected Maryland senators, a process the state later abandoned after it was considered undemocratic, according to a history of the electoral college written by staff at the Maryland Board of Elections. Hogan noted the state is one of six to have participated every year since 1789. In 2007, Maryland was the first state to vote to sign the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, a promise designed to award the electoral college to the winner of the national popular vote. It required enough states to comprise 270 votes to sign on for it to take effect. So far, only 10 states including California with a combined 165 votes have signed the compact. The president of Marylands electors, Courtney Watson, also co-chaired Clintons campaign in Maryland. She said she thought changes to the electoral college should be considered and described Monday as a poignant moment for Maryland residents. Its a very emotional time, she said. Many of us have worked long and hard, and for the first woman candidate. The point, though, is that people are still moved and even more engaged. And thats what I find promising for our future and the future of women. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Christine Pelosi, daughter of Nancy Pelosi and California elector, demands to know the truth about Russian influence By Jazmine Ulloa Elector @sfpelosi: We won't stand down. #caleg pic.twitter.com/4cM3cE4Wb6 Jazmine Ulloa (@jazmineulloa) December 19, 2016 California elector Christine Pelosi on Monday told crowds gathered outside the Capitol that she has been part of a chorus of people demanding to know the truth about Russian interference in the November presidential election. Pelosi, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosis daughter, is leading 10 other electors in a call for an intelligence briefing on Russian influence. Shouting into a microphone Monday, she said Russian hackers aim to turn the American people against each other and had marginalized her and others for speaking out. They trespass on servers, she said. They receive stolen emails. They pump out stories that day after day focus on scandal rather than policy, rather than talking about climate and immigration and human rights. Californias meeting of electors is about to get underway in the state Capitol. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print After prayer for national unity, Georgia electors vote for Trump By Jenny Jarvie Outside the Georgia Capitol today, some may have held a flicker of hope that a GOP elector would refuse to cast a ballot for Donald Trump as 45th president of the United States. Yet among the inner circle of Republicans who gathered inside the cozy, wood-paneled Senate chamber, there was little doubt about what would unfold. One by one, all 16 electors - dressed in formal business suits and red dresses, bow ties and blazers -- cast their ballots for the contentious Republican candidate. It was a short ceremony, with little opportunity for disruption. Security guards prevented the public from entering the chamber, cordoning off the hallway outside the room with a red rope and locking the main door before proceedings began. The electors chosen by Georgias Republican Party included well-connected attorneys and real estate agents, a high school teacher and a farmer. As they waited for the gathering to begin, many snapped selfies and waved at loved ones above in the upper gallery. After a call to order by the Georgia Republican Party chair, the electors bowed their heads, and Rachel Little, an elector and grass-roots Republican organizer, delivered an invocation. Lord, we know we are a divided country right now, she said. We pray that you will unite us. We pray that [those who oppose Trump] will see our conservatism lived out in a gracious way. In a short speech, Gov. Nathan Deal hit out at activists who had bombarded electors with emails, letters and phone calls in an effort to sway their votes. You have been the subject of harassment by those who perhaps are not as dedicated to the proposition of what this body is supposed to do as they are agitated by the fact that the people didnt do what they wanted them to do. I have every confidence you will not succumb to that, Deal told the electors. My words to you: Do your job. Shortly before the electors cast their ballots, Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Republican who represents Georgias 11th District, took to the podium to present a short history of the electoral college. Our founders actually despised the idea of democracy because mob rule often results in a decision made out of pure emotion, Loudermilk told the electors, after referencing the noise of protesters outside. It does not result in good government. In fact, our founders often cited the historic trial of Jesus as how mob rule does not work. The electoral college was devised to protect the integrity of government, Loudermilk said. To protect those who live in the rural areas of America, those who work, those who are part of the farming communities and part of the industrial communities, those who live and work every day, that their interests are protected as well of those who make their living on Wall Street. For a moment earlier this year, there was an inkling of a Republican revolt against Trump in Georgia. In August, Baoky Vu, a GOP elector based in Decatur, Ga., admitted he might not cast his ballot for Trump if he won. Within hours, however, he was forced to resign. Trump went on to win 51% of Georgias popular vote. On Monday, Vu did not show up at the Capitol, and he was formally replaced by a solid Trump backer, John Padgett, the chairman of the Georgia Republican party. There seems little chance that Georgia legislators might vote to overhaul the electoral college. Earlier this year, Republican legislators authored two bipartisan pieces of legislation in Georgias House and Senate that would have made Georgias electoral votes based solely on the outcome of the national popular vote. Yet both bills stalled, and Republicans say there is little momentum to revive the debate. The system prevents the tyranny of the majority, said Kirk Shook, an elector who is a high school teacher in rural Oconee County. He scoffed at those who, since the election, had sought to overhaul the electoral college system. Theres all this weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, Shook said of those who opposed Trumps win. And rightly so. Theres going to be a Republican president, a Republican Congress and a Republican Supreme Court. With the stroke of a pen, 90 percent of what Obama considered his legacy will be gone. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Four Washington state electors defect from Clinton; one chooses Faith Spotted Eagle instead By Associated Press (Elaine Thompson / Associated Press) Four members of the electoral college in Washington state cast their votes for a candidate other than Democrat Hillary Clinton, who won the states popular vote. Its the first time in four decades the states electors have broken from the popular vote for president. Washingtons 12 electors met Monday afternoon in the state Capitol to complete the constitutional formality. Clinton got eight votes while other candidates got the remaining four. Elector Bret Chiafalo, who earlier in the day said he planned to vote for Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich, said that he ultimately changed his vote to former Secretary of State Colin Powell after conversations with other Washington electors. The exact breakdown of the other four votes wasnt immediately known, although at least one vote was cast for Faith Spotted Eagle. In last months election, Republican Donald Trump won 306 electoral votes to Clintons 232, though Clintons tally will now be lower. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win. The last time an elector broke from the popular vote in Washington was in 1976, when Mike Padden, who is currently a Republican state senator, voted for Ronald Reagan instead of Gerald Ford, who had won the state. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Hundreds protest the electoral college at Capitol building in Sacramento By Jazmine Ulloa Protesters are now chanting, "hey hey ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go" pic.twitter.com/4nNyTMroI5 Marcus Yam (@yamphoto) December 19, 2016 Cheers and chants of U.S.A and Keep him out filled the air Monday, as dozens of protestors gathered outside the California Capitol in a last ditch attempt to sway the electoral college from voting for president-elect Donald Trump. Speakers called Trump a celebrity and authoritarian unfit for the presidency. And they urged Congress to do away with the electoral college process, which they described as an outdated and broken system susceptible to foreign influence and manipulation. This is a secret system of voting where we are not allowed to see where the votes are actually coming from or how they are counted, Brent Turner, with the movement organization Democracy Spring, shouted into a microphone. John Franco, 52, says the electoral college is an outdated system that can be manipulated with or without hackers. #caleg pic.twitter.com/fs2L2W2HKp Jazmine Ulloa (@jazmineulloa) December 19, 2016 John Franco, a 52-year-old business owner visiting Sacramento from New Orleans, said he came to the demonstration with his family to protest that secret process. We dont feel a system that can be manipulated represents the interests of the people who voted for Hillary Clinton, he said. Rochelle Towers was among hundreds to protest at the CA Capitol today: "I'll take any shot that there is. #caleg https://t.co/QcOhWklrpx pic.twitter.com/mtx76NjdEW Jazmine Ulloa (@jazmineulloa) December 20, 2016 Rochelle Towers, 68, said she drove in from Oakland in an attempt to persuade the electoral college from voting for Trump. She said she would not have to live through a lot of what its decision would set in motion. But my children and grandchildren will, she said. Even though this is a real long shot, Ill take any shot that there is. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Colorado elector removed after refusing to vote for Clinton By David Kelly A new elector is sworn in in Colorado after one refused to vote for Hillary Clinton. (David Kelly / Los Angeles Times) Eight of nine Colorado electors have voted for Hillary Clinton. One elector, Michael Baca, refused to vote for Clinton and was immediately replaced with an alternate, who was sworn in on the spot. As the crowd jeered, the new elector promptly voted for Clinton. Shouts of Resign! followed Secretary of State Wayne Williams announcement of the results. Protesters at the state capitol in Colorado. (David Kelly/Los Angeles Times) Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Electors say they have been barraged with emails By Nigel Duara View Twitter post Arizona elector J. Foster Morgan said he had received several letters protesting the election of Donald Trump, but experienced nothing on the scale of some his fellow Arizona electors whose email addresses were distributed to protest lists. They heard the worst thing imaginable, Morgan said. I just got a few letters. Despite protests outside the meeting, Morgan said, the vote went fine. Eleven votes for Donald Trump. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democratic electors in Minnesota and Maine try to vote for Bernie Sanders By Associated Press (Spencer Platt / Getty Images) A second elector this one in Minnesota has refused to cast a vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton in Mondays electoral college tally. It wasnt immediately clear why Muhammad Abdurrahman didnt vote for Clinton, but he was a delegate for Bernie Sanders at the Democratic National Convention. The electors are pledged to cast Minnesotas 10 electoral votes for Clinton since she won the state. Abdurrahman was immediately replaced by an alternate who later voted for Clinton. Earlier in the day, a so-called faithless elector in Maine cast his vote for Sanders, who lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Clinton. David Bright said on his Facebook page that he cast his vote for Sanders because voting for Clinton would not have helped her win. But he ultimately voted for Clinton on a second vote after being ruled out of order. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Utah voting goes off without incident six for Trump By David Montero A protest sign outside the gathering of Utah electors (Rick Bowmer / Associated Press) Despite chants of vote your conscience and the whole world is watching from more than 100 protesters, Utahs six electors cast their votes for President-elect Donald Trump today in Salt Lake City. Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox announced the official results within minutes of the votes being cast, but he was drowned out by jeers of Shame on you by the protesters. I hope you know this is what our country is all about, Cox said. I hope all of us here are sincerely grateful we live in a country where we have the opportunity to express ourselves. The six electors -- two small-business owners, a custom metal worker, a farmer, a Brigham Young University professor and a Republican activist -- quickly introduced themselves before casting their ballots. The votes were largely a formality, as the state requires electors to vote for the winner. Trump defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by getting 45%t of the vote. He also withstood a challenge from Evan McMullin, who garnered 21% in what was largely a protest vote from those, many of them Mormons, who felt uncomfortable casting a ballot for Trump. Cox said the turnout for this years electoral vote was a far cry from 2012, when four people and one camera crew showed up. Im a big fan of the electoral college, Cox said to the restless crowd. You dont have to boo me now. You can boo me later. About 200 protesters and Trump supporters arrived in the rotunda of the state Capitol about three hours before the votes were cast shortly after noon. The room where the votes were cast was too small to accommodate everyone, and the fire marshal sought to limit occupancy to about 130 people. Interest was high, and the vote even drew Hawthorn Elementary School students, who helped lead the room in the Pledge of Allegiance. Cox thanked them for coming and told them they were getting an experience youll never forget. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Clinton elector balks in Minnesota One of 10 Minnesota electors has decided not cast a vote, Muhammad Abdurrahan. An alternate is now being sworn in. #ElectoralCollege pic.twitter.com/4eN1PIrZdO Dylan Wohlenhaus (@DylanWohlenhaus) December 19, 2016 In Minnesota, where the 10 electors had all pledged their votes to Hillary Clinton, one of them refused to go through with it. Elector Muhammad Abdurrahman opted not to vote. He was replaced by an alternate, who cast a vote for Clinton. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement As Pennsylvania went unanimously for Trump, a voice from the back: Thank you By Steve Esack Electors sworn in in Pennsylvania (Matt Rourke/Associated Press) In Pennsylvanias capital of Harrisburg, the states 20 electoral college voters selected Trump today in a ceremony marked by traditional pomp and bellowing protests. Trump won the popular vote in Pennsylvania by 44,292 votes the first Republican presidential candidate to do so since 1988. It earned him the states 20 electoral college votes. When the result was announced shortly before 1 p.m. inside the gilded, ornate House chamber, protesters jeered and supporters cheered. Shame on you, a womans voice called down from the public balcony. Thank you, a male voters voice responded back from the floor. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print How some electors have reacted to all the mail from voters Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Protesters outside Florida Senate chambers: Trump is dangerous By Gray Rohrer Protesters gather outside the Florida Senate chambers ahead of the electoral college voting ceremony. (Gray Rohrer / Orlando Sentinel) A group of about 100 protesters huddled outside the Florida Senate chambers Monday morning as Floridas 29 electors prepared to cast their votes for Donald Trump in the formal electoral eollege vote ceremony later in the day. The protesters held signs that read You can fix this, keep America free, What would Hamilton do? and Electors: Protect Us, Trump is Dangerous, pleading for electors to change their minds and not vote for Trump, who beat Hillary Clinton by 112,911 votes in Florida, about 1.2%t of all votes cast in the state. Tallahassee resident Bonnie McCluskey held a sign reading Send it to the House. If enough electors across the country do not vote for Trump, hell fall short of the 270 electoral votes required to win the presidency, sending the matter to the U.S. House. The reason Im here is because I dont trust [Trump]) and I think he will harm the United States, McCluskey said. My grandmothers were suffragettes; their ancestors were willing to be traitors to the British crown to create this democracy and I dont want to see it end. And that sounds awfully dramatic but thats how Im feeling. She said that part of the reason she doesnt trust Trump is because he didnt pay a company she worked for that did promotional videos for his buildings in 1998. They were basically given the opportunity to take 10 percent or go to court. Back then I didnt realize that was his business plan, McCluskey said. I didnt make the deal with him I was just one of the people who saw a company go bankrupt. Despite the pleas from protesters, all of Floridas electors are expected to vote for Trump. Some, such as Florida Senate President Joe Negron, have posted pictures of hundreds of letters theyve received asking them to change their vote but declaring theyll be voting for the Republican candidate. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Colorado electors make last-ditch plea to switch votes By David Kelly Crowds await the electoral college vote at the Colorado Capitol in Denver. (David Kelly / For The Times) Colorado electors are trying a last-chance legal appeal to avoid voting for Hillary Clinton, and instead vote for an alternative candidate to replace Donald Trump. A week ago, a district court judge told them they had to vote for Clinton, who won the popular vote in Colorado. A few days ago, a federal appeals court upheld that decision. But just hours before the vote today, two electors filed suit to stop the Colorado secretary of state from requiring them to swear to vote for the candidate supported by the electorate. Their effort is part of a loose national scheme to defeat Trump by persuading Republican electors to join with Democrats, such as those in Colorado, and coalesce around an alternative candidate. There has been no decision so far. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Chants of Shame! erupt as Wisconsin electors cast ballots for Trump By Bill Ruthhart Demonstrators erupt after Wisconsin's 10 presidential electors cast their #ElectoralCollege ballots for Republican Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/A0GrASaIbY Bill Ruthhart (@BillRuthhart) December 19, 2016 Wisconsins 10 presidential electors unanimously cast their ballots for Republican Donald Trump as expected Wednesday, but the vote still drew chants of Shame from dozens of demonstrators who had pleaded for them to back away from the president-elect. The typically procedural vote in a fourth-floor conference room in the Wisconsin State Capitol was anything but routine as about 150 protesters greeted the 10 electors with signs pleading for them to vote your conscience not your pledge. In a short 15-minute meeting, the electors quickly cast their ballots for Trump. They did not address the controversial nature of the election and no speeches were made before the White House Dec. 5, 2016, 9:38 a.m. Reporting from Washington Obama pledges the unwavering support of the nation for Oakland fire victims President Obama mourned the deaths in last weekends warehouse fire in Oakland that killed at least 36, saying in a statement Monday that his administration was in close contact with local and state officials to monitor the response. While we still dont know the full toll of this disaster, we do know that an American community has been devastated, and many people including young men and women with their whole futures ahead of them have tragically lost their lives, Obama said. Most of the victims were in their 20s and 30s, police have said, attending a secret electronic music show late Friday at the Ghost Ship, a piano factory that was being used as an art space. Noting that Oakland is one of the most diverse and creative cities in the nation, Obama pledged the unwavering support of the American people as residents there recover. Authorities are investigating whether any criminal activity led to the fire, one of the worst in modern California history. Its cause is undetermined. Officials have said the warehouse was being investigated for possible code violations at the time of the fire. Some former residents described it as a cluttered death trap lacking fire sprinklers. Its Monday, Dec. 5, and heres what is going on around California after a challenging weekend: OAKLAND TRAGEDY The toll: The death toll of the Oakland fire is now at 33 and expected to grow. Behind the grim statistics are mostly young victims who were drawn by a love of music to a warehouse that some called a death trap. Los Angeles Times Advertisement The questions: Investigators are beginning the process of assessing potential criminal liability for the deadliest fire in recent California history. There are many possible connections to review, including the owner, the operators of the warehouse, the concert organizers and even what the city knew about the building. Los Angeles Times The survivors: Horrific, terrifying stories are emerging from people who escaped the warehouse before the fire grew out of control. Said one: Were going back and forth between feeling like Oh my God, I almost died to Oh my God, I lost everything to Oh my God, all of these people died in our home. Los Angeles Times The building: Former residents described the warehouse as a cluttered death trap and a tinderbox filled with pianos and RVs, but no fire sprinklers. Los Angeles Times The community: Oaklands booming art scene was left reeling from the fire, but also anxious about a possible crackdown on such cheap but unauthorized living spaces that allow them to live in a region notorious for high rents. Los Angeles Times The path forward: How Oakland might glean some lessons from another tragedy in Rhode Island. Los Angeles Times L.A. STORIES Shock at USC: Grief and disbelief at USC after a popular psychology professor was killed. The suspect, police say, was one of his students. Many struggled with one question: How could a professor so beloved by the campus community see his life end at the hands of a student? Los Angeles Times Slow to react? Air regulators and health officials for years provided what many consider a slow and sporadic response to a growing pollution crisis in Paramount. Los Angeles Times Container homes: Redondo Beach is getting side-by-side homes made from shipping containers. The price is right. And they are earthquake-proof. Daily Breeze BUSINESS Boom to bust? In the last five years, online shopping has produced tens of thousands of new warehouse jobs in California. The bulk of them paid blue-collar people decent wages to do repetitive tasks putting things in boxes and sending them out to the world. But automated machines and software have been taking up more and more space in the regions warehouses, and taking over jobs that were once done by humans. Los Angeles Times POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT Eyes on the coast: Steve Lopez sees a new threat to the California coast: Donald Trump. Richard Nixon, an arch conservative in his day, is an environmental visionary and hero next to Trump and his minions. Nixon was stunned by the horrific damage from the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and helped create the EPA. Los Angeles Times Pushback on deportations: Democrats in the state Capitol are planning to introduce two bills today to bolster the legal representation of immigrants who are in the country illegally and threatened with deportation. Los Angeles Times How things work: There are more than 15 lobbyists for each lawmaker in Sacramento. Civics books list only the state Senate and Assembly, but then there are the professional lobbyists who cheekily refer to themselves as the third house. Los Angeles Times Quiet farewell: A decidedly subdued goodbye as controversial Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson leaves office. Sacramento Bee CRIME AND COURTS Scandals: More problems for the Orange County district attorneys office, which has been mired in scandal over its use of jailhouse informants. Orange County Register Mystery case: Questions still surround the abduction and release of Redding mother Sherri Papini. But hundreds of residents held a rally this weekend on her behalf. Sacramento Bee DROUGHT AND CLIMATE Damned if you do ...: The California climate outlook for 2017? Expect the drought to continue, but also expect some flooding. KQED CALIFORNIA CULTURE In search of: A mystery man who tells an incredible story about immigration and the border. The California Sunday Magazine Oh, wont you stay with me? California is feeling a lot less like the rest of America in the age of Trump. But that doesnt mean it should secede from the union. Los Angeles Times Diver and dreamer: The remarkable life of Olympic diver and Asian American civil rights pioneer Sammy Lee. Los Angeles Times CALIFORNIA ALMANAC Los Angeles: Cloudy to begin the week, with highs in the mid-60s. San Francisco: Rain is expected from Wednesday to Saturday. Sacramento: Clouds giving way to rain Thursday and Friday. AND FINALLY This weeks birthdays for notable Californians: author Joan Didion (Dec. 5, 1934), comedian Margaret Cho (Dec. 5, 1968), Rep. Duncan Hunter (Dec. 7, 1976), Dodger right-fielder Yasiel Puig (Dec. 7, 1990), Rep. Mark Takano (Dec. 10, 1960), state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (Dec. 10, 1966) and state Sen. Isadore Hall III (Dec. 10, 1971). If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.) Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Shelby Grad. When the problem of fake news first started making headlines, I was traveling across Southeast Asia and the Middle East. That vantage point provided a striking contrast: While we in America waste the right to a free press, half a world away, the right is so precious that people routinely risk their lives to support it. In nations where media are state run or state approved, journalists who try to work independently are often threatened, arrested and even shot or beheaded. To simply be harassed is a good day. In Turkey since the July coup, for example, the government has detained at least 200 journalists, and, according to Punto 24, a Turkish nonprofit devoted to press freedom, more than 2,300 have been fired. On Nov. 11 in Egypt, four reporters were detained when they tried to cover economic protests. In places like Myanmar, its risky to list your profession as journalist. I said, instead, I was a lawyer. Fake news is hardly a new phenomenon... What is new is a propensity for large segments of society to believe things that are clearly untrue. Without a doubt, the proliferation of fake news in the United States is a problem. But when I hear calls to shut down or block websites or censor what people can read or watch, my 1st Amendment hackles rise. A free press is fundamental to a free society, and curtailing it is an even bigger threat to our way of life than fake news. Besides, banning content wont solve anything. Fake news is hardly a new phenomenon. For decades, Americans have had an appetite for fringe stories, from grassy knoll conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination to the alien secrets of Area 51 and the baseless notion that 9/11 was an inside job. We sometimes want truth to be stranger than fiction. What is new is a propensity for large segments of society to believe things that are clearly untrue. Pope Francis wouldnt and didnt endorse Donald Trump. An FBI agent involved with Hillary Clintons email investigation wasnt found dead in a murder-suicide. These memes were launched by specious Internet sites as satire or were put out as purposeful misinformation. Their spread could have been halted by a more skeptical public. Advertisement But we delude ourselves if we think that this problem originates only with online trolls and heedless consumers in the thrall of the Internet and social media. Consider one of the bigger fake news stories of this decade that a low-budget online video making fun of Islam and the prophet Muhammad spontaneously sparked the violent protest at the U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012, and led to the deaths of four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya. This was the story initially pushed by key members of the Obama administration, including the White House national security advisor, and accepted by much of the mainstream American media. Throughout September 2012, President Obama himself repeatedly cited the extremely offensive video made by a sort of shadowy character as the cause or proximate cause of the attack to David Letterman, to Univisions Jorge Ramos and to Joy Behar of The View. Weve since learned from then-Secretary of State Hillary Clintons private email to her daughter, Chelsea, on the night of the attack that Clinton believed the violence was the work of an al-Qaeda-like group. It wasnt a reporter who uncovered that fact but a U.S. congressional committee. Forcing Facebook to change its newsfeed algorithm or shutting down websites wont fix fundamental problems like this. For Americans to pay attention to real news, newsrooms have to supply it. Too often today, newsrooms are like courtrooms. Reporters, editors and anchors cast themselves as prosecutors or defense attorneys, building a case for or against a story line and molding the evidence to fit their argument. (Some even anoint themselves as judge and jury and explicitly render a verdict after that.) Reporters must ask tough questions and go where the answers, rather than their preconceptions, lead them. Recall that in the run-up to the Iraq war, the New York Times breathlessly reported on Saddam Husseins extensive programs to create weapons of mass destruction. After the invasion, many of these claims could not be substantiated. Real reporting is detective work, trying to get to the bottom of a story or event. That requires skepticism and patience. If a reporter is going to be an advocate, he or she should play devils advocate and do it with every source, on all sides. Part of the reason fake news is so easy to believe is that fringe stories no longer read or sound all that different from too many of the real stories. Too often, both have little or no sourcing; they lack context and they get disseminated with almost no fact-checking. Sometimes the fake stories look, sound or read better than real ones. And both are chasing the same thing: ratings or online clicks. Theres a reason our Founding Fathers explicitly guaranteed freedom of the press in the 1st Amendment. It is imperative for a free and healthy society. Just ask the journalists in unfree places who every day risk their lives on its behalf. If we are squandering that freedom, dont just blame Facebook or Twitter. Blame all of us. Greta Van Susteren, a lawyer and former anchor of Fox News On the Record, is working on a book on social media. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook MORE FROM OPINION Californias legislature should use its supermajority power judiciously The supposed rebirth of Watts makes Jordan Downs residents uneasy With Trumps victory, the NRA takes aim at public safety To the editor: The Los Angeles Unified School District should take a lesson from the city of L.A. when dealing with billboard companies. (Do we really want commercial billboards on public school campuses? editorial, Dec. 1) These companies have a voracious and insidious appetite for profit and could not care less about blight or any the of the other issues raised by The Times. They will shamelessly promote themselves as benefactors so long as they get any opportunity to expand the distribution of billboards. I can guarantee that if one company gets a toehold on one school campus, the other companies will expect the same treatment on other campuses. Billboards have proliferated all over Los Angeles. There is no such thing as free money when entering into an agreement with a billboard company. Advertisement Rex Altman, Los Angeles .. To the editor: We are one of the highest taxed states in the country. If education is under-funded (and I dont think it is), then where is all the money going? David Jankowski, San Diego .. To the editor: As a graduate of Hollywood High School, I am shocked that administrators would look to a billboard company for campus funding. What happened to the school motto achieve the honorable? It is a shame that Californias spending per pupil is about half of that of New York state. I live in the vicinity of Fairfax High School, and every Sunday its parking lot is turned over to a group that runs an outdoor sale. It is my understanding the school does very well with the proceeds and has upgraded facilities as a result. That is the out of the box thinking that is necessary, not billboards. Gerald Baruch, Los Angeles Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: Details remain murky about President-elect Donald Trumps high-profile intervention that led Carrier Corp. to keep in Indiana about three-quarters of the 1,400 jobs it had planned to ship to Mexico. (Trump says he saved American jobs, but he hasnt shown how he can turn the victory into policy, Nov. 30) Might Trumps meddling foretell his administrations proposal of a viable, comprehensive economic policy that discourages outsourcing? Or might it be more about playing to his gullible base? Either way, look for firms to adopt a hot new business model: Whenever a company seeks to profit from outsourcing a certain number of jobs, announce its decision to send four times that many out of country. Then the Trump administration will pledge some valuable incentive that saves most of those jobs. Advertisement Thus, a win-win: The company gets enriched while outsourcing as planned, and Trump gets to unleash another grandstanding barrage of tweets to excite his credulous legions. Devra Mindell, Santa Monica .. To the editor: Right on the front page, there was article about the cost of tax breaks and giveaways Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence had to give to Carrier to keep about 1,000 jobs in the U.S. The people quoted in the article said those giveaways will be used as leverage by other companies to get incentives from the Trump administration. OK, fine. But in the same days Business section, there was an article on California providing tax breaks to film companies that return to or decide not to move out of the state. People interviewed said it was a good thing and helped our economy. Why was it a bad thing for Trump to do and good thing for California? The bias of The Times is really starting to wear thin. Louis Grinbaum, Northridge .. To the editor: After taking credit for saving a token number of jobs at one company, Trump held political rallies in Indiana and Ohio. In these rallies he boasted about his campaign and incited the crowds with attacks on his critics. This behavior confirms that Trumps compulsive need for adulation and his disdain for Americans who do not agree with him will not change. After Trumps inauguration in January, our democratic values and institutions will be tested by a president who thinks and acts like a dictator. Who will resist him? John D. Kelley, Santa Barbara Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: Contrary to Firmin DeBrabanders assertion, demographics actually favor the National Rifle Assn. While 90% of the U.S. population may want gun-control, they reside in 20 densely populated, heavily urban states. At two senators per state, this yields only forty percent of the vote in the Senate. (Half the firearms in the U.S. are owned by 3% of adults, and that means trouble for the NRA, Opinion, Dec. 1) Furthermore, the NRA doesnt threaten. Rather, it informs voters and facilitates their communication with legislators. Demographics allow a small minority of voters to control the Senate. For example, anti-gun California, Illinois and New York collectively hold about one-quarter of our nations population, yet they have a mere six senators between them. Pro-gun Idaho, Wyoming and Montana hold only 1% of the U.S. population, but they too have a total of six senators. Advertisement Those unhappy with these demographics are free to move to a pro-gun state. Lloyd Forrester, Simi Valley .. To the editor: DeBrabander makes much of changing demographics as a threat to the NRA. But he also states that the gun lobby did well in the election. My first thought was this: Its hard to believe that gun rights voters, who base much of their argument for gun ownership on fear of government tyranny, actually helped to elect a guy who seems to represent a clear potential for tyrannical behavior. My second thought: Perhaps this is because of the NRAs self-fulfilling prophecy, We told you wed need our guns one of these days. James Peterson, Beaumont Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: Employees who have been traumatized by the San Bernardino shooting on Dec. 2, 2015, deserve better assessment and treatment than state and county officials have tried to bureaucratically administer. Both health insurance systems and related California workers compensation programs have let these individuals down. (They survived the San Bernardino terror attack. Now, they feel betrayed, Nov. 30) Apparently, a county is not a doctor, thus leaving treatment decisions to doctors who are far away and havent even seen the patient face-to-face. Further, the review entity that hires these professionals for overseeing medical utilization is likely paid by the county, the party at risk, which calls into question the independence and validity of the entire process. As this type of trauma can devastate ones life, care should be rendered in an expedited format, which would prevent victims from feeling re-traumatized, abandoned and betrayed. Advertisement Marc D. Skelton, Laguna Niguel The writer is a clinical psychologist. .. To the editor: As an employer, I agree with all the complaints cited in your piece on the survivors of the San Bernardino shooting. Workers compensation is an inadequate and very imperfect system. After an incident, the first thing workers compensation officials do is assign an amount to be paid out. The rates employers pay are raised, and there is no appeal. The employees in the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau speak in jargon that is incomprehensible. The long-term solution is single-payer healthcare, and the short-term solution is for people who have their own health insurance to avoid saying the incident that injured them occurred at work. Workers compensation is an adversarial system. Karen Heller Mason, Los Angeles .. To the editor: I can relate to the frustrations of the San Bernardino employees, as I too have experienced many of the same withheld treatments and medications all at the hands of a faceless utilization review physician in my own claim. However, as a registered nurse and healthcare advocate, I would say to the San Bernardino County bureaucrats, stop your foot dragging and provide your injured employees the treatment and care that their physicians have ordered. Doing so, contrary to a county spokesmans assertions, isnt wrong, because its all about choosing the informed decision of a physician whos actually treating the injured worker over some distant desk-jockey physician who has never seen the patient. So step up and provide your employees with the medical care and treatment they so desperately need. Genevieve Clavreul, Pasadena Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Conservatives absolutely love to mock political correctness and namby-pamby, safe-space liberalism. But there is one line of offensive humor they may now consider beyond the pale: blonde jokes. Given the growing posse of blondes who have become prominent advocates for the conservative cause, right-wingers will look like hypocrites if they laugh at jokes that caricature blondes as dimwits. The trend toward attractive, honey-haired women as voices of conservatism took hold when Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter began to gain notoriety as conservative commentators 15 years ago. In a field dominated by angry, loud, humorless men, Ingraham and Coulter were something very different. Coulter, in particular, brought a completely new image and style to the conservative pundit class. Not only did her youth, cascading blonde hair, long legs and short skirts set her apart from the rotund, red-faced bloviators like Rush Limbaugh, but she also broke with the tradition of lofty conservative intellectualism that stretched from William F. Buckley to George Will. Smirks, sarcasm and wild exaggeration are the hallmarks of Coulters brand. One need look no further than the titles of her many books to understand her appeal to the now-dominant faction of conservatives who favor insult and attack over sober argument. There is her 2015 tome, Adios, America!: The Lefts Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole. Her 2011 book was Demonic: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America. And her 2007 title was If Democrats Had Any Brains, Theyd Be Republicans. Advertisement 1 / 51 la-1491523602-y7ephyarj1-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 51 la-1491368625-0bgh58ihw8-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los angeles Times) 6 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 51 Trump inspires millions to take to the streets -- to oppose him. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 51 Cartoon caption contest winner at the DENT conference in Sun Valley, Idaho: Jon Duval, executive director of the Ketchum Community Development Corporation. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 51 Old radicals and big media descend on Selma (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 51 Horsey imagined the creation of the Ann Coulter phenomenon in this cartoon from 2007. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 51 This David Horsey drawing is a reconfiguration of a cartoon he first published in 2006. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 51 Donald Sterling, owner of the L.A. Clippers, should give Cliven Bundy a call. After Sterling loses his NBA franchise and the deadbeat Nevada rancher loses his cattle, the two old racists will both need a buddy. Maybe they can team up together and open an all-white rodeo. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 51 Besides sending a chill up the spine of the international community, Vladimir Putin has accomplished one other thing by seizing Crimea and threatening the rest of Ukraine: Putin has brought back the bear. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 51 The right-wing insurrection at the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville, Nev., has taken another weird turn with new revelations about the family history of Cliven Bundy. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 51 David Horsey / Los Angeles Times (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) Her brashness and intentional courting of controversy is a savvy branding technique that has brought her wealth and attention. And her attractiveness discombobulates even smartypants lefties like Bill Maher, who turns into a geeky kid with a crush on the cheerleader whenever Coulter is a guest on his HBO political show. Coulter was an early champion of Donald Trumps candidacy. His alpha male persona appealed to her and, even more, she appreciated that he was reading from her script almost literally when he railed against illegal immigrants from Mexico and branded many of them as rapists. She titled her 2016 book In Trump We Trust: E Pluribus Awesome. Nevertheless, she maintained a healthy distance from the Trump campaign and recently raised doubts that he will be nearly as harsh on immigrants as she wants him to be. Such an expression of doubt would never cross the gloss-covered lips of Kayleigh McEnany and Scottie Nell Hughes. Those two blonde surrogates shilled for Trump during the campaign and continue to do so on CNNs journalistically ludicrous evening gabfests. McEnany and Hughes never stray a centimeter from the talking points they are fed by the operatives at Trump Tower. Contorting language and thought with freakish agility, there is no limit to the preposterous ways they find to defend Trumps every word and action. If they had worked for Henry VIII, they would have insisted lopping off his wives heads was a generous act to help them lose weight. It is pretty obvious that McEnany and Hughes both aspire to be the next Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter. But are they clever enough to bring it off? If McEnany could develop a sense of humor and learn how to deliver a talking point with a little subtlety, she might have a chance unless she keeps whining about not being treated seriously because shes a millennial. Heres a clue, Kayleigh: its not your age that leads people to dismiss you as a lightweight. Hughes is hopeless. In her latest knuckle-headed apologia for Trump, she asserted that the Donalds tweets cannot be judged on whether they are true or not because, Theres no such thing, unfortunately, anymore of (sic) facts. Hughes has given herself over completely to Stephen Colberts satirical concept, truthiness the idea that feelings, not facts, define what is true. And then there is Tomi Lahren. The blonde, 24-year-old South Dakotan does conservative video commentaries for Glenn Becks Blaze TV in which she exhibits all the charm and insight of a really mean, exceedingly spoiled sorority girl. Lahren was on The Daily Show a few nights ago and host Trevor Noah gave her plenty of time to display her vacuousness. When Lahren proudly stated that, as a millennial, she doesnt like to label herself, Noah calmly noted that she had just done exactly that. It would be nice to live in a world where people were not granted credibility merely because of their appearance, but that does not happen to be our world. Vapid, pretty young women and men infest television news from small-town stations to the big networks. That is not such a huge problem if what they are doing is reading a weather report; we can always look out the window to see if they are giving us good information. But it is a problem when similarly unqualified people are given prominence as political commentators. In the case of the conservative Barbies, their lovely blonde hair covers heads filled with very curious and ill-formed ideas. And thats not just a blonde joke. David.Horsey@latimes.com Follow me at @davidhorsey on Twitter Gov. Jerry Brown had to pick an attorney general faster than he expected (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) The phone call that Gov. Jerry Brown made on Wednesday night was unusual. A governor who marches to his own methodical timetable for decisions was having his hand forced by the politics of Capitol Hill, and the job of California attorney general hung in the balance. In the end, Brown got the man he wanted: Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles). But it was Becerras effort to make a big career move that complicated things. In interviews with advisers to the governor and those close to Becerra, a portrait emerged of two veteran politicians who have mutual admiration but dont really know each other very well. In fact, the 12-term congressman plans to spend part of this weekend meeting with Brown in Sacramento. It was Becerras angling for an unexpectedly open high-profile post leading Democrats on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee that sparked the circumspect governor into action. Nancy McFadden, the governors top staffer, decided she did not want to be attorney general. (Robert Durell / For The Times) In Sacramento, those close to the governor said that the list of potential replacements for Kamala Harris was short, much shorter than the ones circulated by political watchers. Advisers confirmed that either First Lady Anne Gust Brown or the governors top aide, Nancy McFadden, could have had the job if they had wanted it. Neither did, perhaps knowing the importance being placed on picking someone who would be willing to run for a full term in the job in 2018 (though Becerra declined to talk about future plans when asked on Thursday). Becerra, on the other hand, intrigued the governor. Not only did he have the right credentials -- a former deputy attorney general, former state legislator, veteran member of Congress -- but advisers said the governor also valued diversity. And the chance to select the states first Latino attorney general was important. While few jobs are as important to Brown, himself a former attorney general, the leading contender never came in for an in-person interview. Becerra, who grew up in Sacramento, had been in town just before election day to stump for the reelection of Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove). He met with McFadden on that visit, but not the governor. And so the two men, who had no deep personal relationship, made the big decision long distance. When they talked, McFadden said in an interview, the man matched the resume. Becerra had been looking for somewhere to land. Out of places to move in House leadership and nearing the limit on how much longer he could lead the House Democratic Caucus, the vocal advocate for Hillary Clinton had spent the last year campaigning for her across the country with hopes it might lead to a new position. Clintons loss Nov. 8 put an end to that speculation, and for a while Becerras next move didnt seem clear. Surprise news Tuesday afternoon that the ranking Democrat on Ways and Means, Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) would not seek the position again led Beccera to quickly announce his plans to seek the position and lobby colleagues to back him. Levin quickly endorsed Becerra over Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Richie Neal, who had sought the job before. Word of Becerras effort quickly reached the state Capitol and the governors inner circle sprang into action. Perhaps fewer than a half dozen people knew of Browns decision until news began to spread early Thursday morning. Becerra called the offer sudden and said with Congress in session he hadnt even had a chance to talk with Brown about the job in person. It went very quickly when it started to move, he said. I was as stunned as you probably were and others were. When an obscure nonprofit group attacked one of Californias signature green-energy projects this summer warning a congressional panel that the embrace of solar energy would lead to crippling hikes in electricity bills officials in the state shrugged off the testimony as noise from the fringe. With Donald Trumps election, however, that group, the Institute for Energy Research, has moved suddenly from the fringe to the center of power. The president-elect has sent the groups president, a former Koch Industries lobbyist named Thomas Pyle, to the Energy Department to take charge of its transition. For the record: This article has been corrected to make clear that Thomas Pyle opposes federal loan guarantees for any energy projects, regardless of whether they involve renewable energy or fossil fuels. For years, Pyle has led a coordinated national assault on renewable power. His groups and others that belong to the sprawling network bankrolled by Charles and David Koch, whose vast fortune stems originally from oil refining, pressure lawmakers to roll back policies that promote green power. The Koch network gave Pyles groups $3 million in 2015. Advertisement Now, in his role with the Trump transition, Pyles vision will shape the new direction of a federal agency that has been a crucial partner to California and like-minded states in their embrace of solar, wind and geothermal power. Days before he was appointed to the role, Pyle, who did not respond to interview requests, tweeted that he expected the new administration would go beyond a mere rollback of President Obamas climate-change actions and bring about a reset of a generation of failed energy and environmental policies. The impending shift would return California and other states to where they were more than a decade ago when they first began putting aggressive climate-change policies in place swimming against the tide of a federal government antagonistic to their mission. After years of growth, state programs to foster renewable energy are considerably more durable now and are positioned to withstand federal abandonment. But a Department of Energy guided by Koch principles could still create complications. The industrial-scale desert solar operations that power tens of thousands of California homes, for example, were built with considerable financial backing from the Energy Department. The agencys national laboratories in the West have been incubators for next-generation renewable-energy technologies. The department has taken a lead in encouraging other states to pursue California-style programs. It is inevitable with the Koch brothers already showing they have so much influence in this administration, that it will do everything in its power to inhibit the growth of renewables, said Bryan Miller, a lobbyist for green-energy firms. Pyles influence reflects how wide the Koch networks reach has grown in Republican politics. His ascent is particularly notable since it follows an election in which David and Charles Koch refused to put their formidable political machine to work helping get Trump elected. Pyles groups, the Institute for Energy Research and the American Energy Alliance, reject the findings of most mainstream scientists regarding climate change. They specifically dismiss as overblown the warnings from scores of published academics that a global temperature rise of more than 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 Fahrenheit, would be devastating. Preventing a rise in temperatures of that scale is at the root of the global climate agreement the United States and 195 other countries signed last year in Paris. Pyles groups are pushing for Trump to make good on his vow to scrap that deal. The economic damages incurred achieving that goal would be greater than the damage caused by a warming world, said Daniel Simmons, vice president for policy at the Institute for Energy Research. The institute and the alliance also receive money from oil, gas and coal companies, but wont say which ones. Bankruptcy court records show contributions from Peabody Energy and Alpha Natural Resources, two coal-mining firms. Exxon says it gave the groups money years ago, but stopped. The institute is a favored think tank among climate skeptics, regularly reaching past mainstream climate scientists to produce contrarian research reports that it and other Koch-funded activists use in lobbying lawmakers. They fund research and citable material that fits with the Koch network ideology, and which can be used for its political goals, said Robert Maguire of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks the impact of money on politics and policy. They can then go to lawmakers and say, these energy experts say this is what you should do. In lobbying against state laws that require utilities to generate a share of their electricity from green sources, the institute regularly cites a study from Spain that concluded more than two jobs are lost for every new green-energy job created. The study became such a prominent talking point in state legislatures and Washington that the Spanish government sent a letter to Congress in 2009 highlighting what it said were flaws in the studys methodology and data and noting that several other studies had concluded the opposite. Yet the study continues on as a central talking point for the institute, a decision Simmons defends by pointing to Spains phasing out of some solar and wind subsidies. I think history shows our reports were accurate, he said. In 2014, the groups research helped score the first big win for the Koch networks crusade against such mandatory renewable-energy quotas when lawmakers in Ohio voted to temporarily roll back their states law. Back in Congress, the Koch network had been leading efforts to end a multibillion-dollar Department of Energy loan-guarantee program that helped jump-start many of the countrys major green-energy projects. The No More Solyndras Act named for the California solar company that went bankrupt after receiving its loan guarantees passed the House in 2012 but died in the Senate. The American Energy Alliance wrote lawmakers warning them that voting against the bill would indicate your disregard for fiscal discipline and your unwillingness to rein in wasteful spending of taxpayer money. Despite such dire forecasts, the Government Accountability Office reported this year that the program was running under budget. The White House said the loss rate on the departments loan portfolio was only 2%, even after accounting for the losses incurred by Solyndra and some other failed renewable-energy companies. Despite those successes, the Institute for Energy Research continues to attack the program. In testimony before a congressional committee in July, Simmons took aim at the Ivanpah power plant, an industrial-scale solar facility in the Mojave desert that uses next-generation technology to provide electricity to Californians. A partnership of companies, including Google, tapped federal subsidies to build the plant. It is unseemly that the American taxpayer has contributed billions of dollars to these facilities, Simmons said in his testimony. The owners could have financed these projects. In the next year, the Energy Department will have some $40 billion at its disposal to distribute as new loans. That money can go to clean-energy innovations, but it can also go to coal, gas or nuclear efforts. Trump has said it shouldnt be spent on renewable energy and Pyle argues it shouldnt be spent at all. Come January, pioneering green-energy projects can start expecting a much colder winter. evan.halper@latimes.com Follow me: @evanhalper ALSO Trumps call with the Taiwanese president was his latest break from diplomatic norms At defense forum, Trumps promises on spending draw praise, but other questions linger For 11 years, hed never felt like hed been targeted for the way he looked. Donald Trumps victory changed that As returning and freshly elected California lawmakers prepare to be sworn in for the next legislative session, many of their priorities are overshadowed by President-elect Donald Trump. There will be a clear focus in Sacramento on Monday on the incoming commander-in-chief and how California might fit into his administration. Im Christina Bellantoni. Welcome to Mondays edition of Essential Politics. Well return to California in a moment, but first we examine how the Trump transition is still making some people uncomfortable when it comes to his role on the global stage. Advertisement TRACKING THE TRANSITION His surprise phone call with Taiwans president last week left many in China reeling over a perceived assault on the countrys sovereignty and questioning their assumptions about Americas future leader. In fact, no president or president-elect is believed to have spoken directly with a Taiwanese leader since the United States recognized the mainland government and cut ties with Taiwan in 1979. On Sunday, he followed that up with tweets taking more pokes at China. Tracy Wilkinson notes that in a series of telephone calls with foreign leaders apparently eager to congratulate him, Trump has broken many of the rules that govern delicate matters of international relations, leaving State Department diplomats shocked and confused. At this weekends Reagan National Defense Forum, there was praise for Trumps promise to increase military spending, and his selection of James N. Mattis, who retired as a Marine Corps general in 2013, to be his Defense secretary. But attendees at the California event in its fourth year were much more muted when it came to talking about the president-elect himself. Panel discussions centered on security threats from Russia, North Korea and Islamic State, as well as cyberattacks and the strength of U.S. forces. It was a relatively quiet weekend on the domestic front, but Trump on Sunday doubled down on his threat against U.S. businesses that send jobs abroad, saying he would impose a 35% tariff on goods produced overseas as he encouraged businesses to consider looking for better deals by moving state to state. Get the latest about the Trump transition on Trail Guide and follow @latimespolitics. TRUMP SAYS THANK YOU Trumps rallies were the centerpiece of his presidential campaign, and he doesnt want to give them up now that hes won. The president-elect was in Ohio on Thursday for the first of several events on what his transition team has called a thank you tour. Chris Megerian reports that it had all the hallmarks of a high-octane campaign event, including lock her up chants about Hillary Clinton. CALIFORNIA WILL HAVE A NEW TOP LAWYER Gov. Jerry Brown picked House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) as the states next attorney general Thursday, in a move that sets Becerra up as the frontline of Californias expected pushback on Trumps policies. Sarah Wire was first with the scoop on Browns choice, which took many in the political world by surprise. Becerras name wasnt among those being speculated for the job, and even Becerra seemed taken aback. She and Sacramento bureau chief John Myers report that Brown had to rush the decision because Becerra announced Tuesday he wanted to be chosen as the highest-ranking Democrat on the powerful tax writing committee, House Ways and Means. Several Los Angeles politicians have already said they are considering bids to replace Becerra in the 34th District, where he has held the seat for 24 years. Despite his new role, Becerra did not rule out a possible run for another statewide office when he spoke to Meet the Press and sidestepped a question about whether he would consider a run for governor or U.S. Senate in 2018. Myers leads an in-depth discussion on the political impact of the Becerra pick on this weeks California Politics Podcast. Track what happens next on our Essential Politics news feed. CALIFORNIA VS. TRUMP When lawmakers arrive at the Capitol in Sacramento on Monday, they will see strengthened Democratic numbers a supermajority in both chambers. It will be no surprise that in the nearly one month since Trump won the presidency, Democrats have geared up to challenge him on a number of fronts. We expect legislative leaders to talk about the Trump agenda and how California will respond to it, and to roll out legislation helping people fight deportation proceedings if they are in the country illegally. Well be tracking it all in real-time here, and we have several previews from the last week: -- More than two dozen returning and new Democratic members of the California Senate asked President Obama to enact a ban on new oil drilling off the states coast. -- California Democrats, including Senator-elect Kamala Harris, joined in on a social media campaign to Save DACA, urging Trump to reconsider his plan to halt Obamas Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals program, which put off deportations for young people who were brought illegally to the U.S. as children. -- Activists who have been celebrating the passage of Proposition 64 now fear a pot battle with Trumps pick for attorney general, Jeff Sessions. And state Treasurer John Chiang appointed a working group to figure out how to address problems caused by the unwillingness of federally regulated banks to handle money from pot businesses. He also sent a letter to Trump and members of Californias congressional delegation seeking guidance in finding a solution. POLITICAL ROAD MAP: LOBBYISTS AWAIT LAWMAKERS IN SACRAMENTO The biggest welcoming party in Sacramento at the official beginning of the Legislatures new two-year session is made of professional lobbyists, the self-described third house of the legislative branch of government. Myers Political Road Map column offers a snapshot of just how big the lobbying game is in terms of dollars spent, and just how much (or little) transparency there is for the public in knowing whos seeking to influence what. TACKLING BAIL REFORM California lawmakers are gearing up to tackle what they say will be one of the most significant and challenging battles in the 2017 legislative session: reforming the system through which judges award bail to criminal defendants. Jazmine Ulloa reports that Assemblyman Rob Bonta and Sen. Bob Hertzberg plan to set the stage Monday, when they file bills stating the Legislatures intent to enact laws that will reduce the jail population and address racial and economic disparities in the process. Bail reform legislation has failed in California in the past, largely due to heavy opposition from bondsmen and insurance companies. But debate over the issue has brewed nationwide in the past two years, and Bonta and Hertzberg said they have energy and a broad, bipartisan coalition of organizations and lawmakers on their side. CALIFORNIAS NEW MEMBERS OF CONGRESS PREPARE Lou Correa, Orange Countys newest congressman, was born in East Los Angeles but spent several years of his childhood in Mexico. Christine Mai-Duc reports that when he came to the United States, he didnt speak English and his family scraped by in an Anaheim neighborhood for years. Correa says he plans to help educate Republicans and other colleagues about the immigrant experience, and to fight potential deportations under a Trump presidency. Wire also looks at what preparing to be sworn in to Congress looks like as she followed the six incoming California freshmen through their orientation in Washington. REFLECTING ON PEARL HARBOR The 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor arrives this week, a reminder of a time in the U.S. that was brought out anxieties, the best and worst in people and greatness, as Americans banded together, George Skelton writes in his Monday column. It will mark the passing of an era, as many survivors are in their 90s and older, says Skelton, who recalls the moment he heard about the attack as a 4-year-old child in Santa Barbara. TODAYS ESSENTIALS -- Trump nominated retired neurosurgeon and his campaign rival Ben Carson to become the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. -- A union representing some 95,000 state workers called off plans for a one-day strike, saying that it has found a pathway forward in contract negotiations with the Brown administration. -- In a 98-96 vote, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Whittier) was elected the next vice chairwoman of the House Democratic Caucus on Wednesday over fellow Californian Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), making her the first Latina to ever serve in House leadership. -- State lawmakers called on Becerra to keep up the longstanding investigation into alleged misconduct in the California Public Utilities Commission when he takes office. -- Harrison Ford, George Takei and Isabel Allende were among honorees to walk the red carpet Wednesday before their formal induction into the California Hall of Fame at the California Museum in Sacramento. -- Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke to a sold-out crowd in a Glendale theater last week, warning that the Democratic Party cannot be the party of the liberal elite. In a wide-ranging discussion with comedian Sarah Silverman, Sanders warned that it would be a mistake to assume those who voted for Trump are all racists, sexists and homophobes. -- Protesters at Standing Rock won a victory Sunday as the Army Corps of Engineers denied the permit for the Dakota Access pipeline to cross under a section of the Missouri River. -- Before the election, I didnt worry about this for my kids. Now that hes elected, it feels different. David Montero offers a window into how Latinos in Idaho are feeling about the incoming president. -- Greta van Susteren has some things to say about fake news. -- Former Sen. Scott Brown won a surprising ally in his quest to become Trumps Veterans Affairs secretary: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. -- Trumps newly selected Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has resigned from his board position at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. -- Speaker Paul D. Ryan gave few hints about what Trumps immigration policy will look like while saying congressional Republicans were ready to work with the president-elect. LOGISTICS AND SOME CHANGES You may have noticed weve shifted to a Monday, Wednesday and Friday schedule. It will be the same great newsletter, just not every day. You can keep up with breaking news on our politics page throughout the day for the latest and greatest. And are you following us on Twitter at @latimespolitics? Please send thoughts, concerns and news tips to politics@latimes.com. Did someone forward you this? Sign up here to get Essential Politics in your inbox. The nation might be collectively taking a deep breath after the November election, but the six new members of Californias 55-person congressional delegation have barely had time to do the same. You win and literally two days later youre getting Federal Express packages, Rep.-elect Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) said in an interview at the Capitol. You just finished a very contentious, tough journey, you have a day to breathe, if at all, and then you are here. Carbajal and his fellow soon-to-be freshmen from California just wrapped up two weeks of day-long classes on Capitol Hill learning about cybersecurity, ethics, protocol, how to write legislation and how to manage the budgets for their offices in Washington and back home. Advertisement They have to hustle. They take the oath of office Jan. 3. Along the way they attended glitzy receptions in the Capitol and the Library of Congress, scoured the city for a reasonably priced place to live and started interviewing staff. Meet Californias new members of Congress Rep.-elect Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) said Rep. Loretta Sanchez, whom he is replacing, warned him orientation would feel like trying to take a drink from a fire hydrant. Im 59 years old next month and Im starting out like a rookie, he said. Correa plans to save on commuting time by joining the ranks of House members mostly Republicans who sleep in their offices, at least at first. That decision was made easier Thursday when he drew the first pick in the traditional new member office lottery and got to choose the best of the available offices. The most precious thing I have here is going to be my time. I already feel it, Correa said. I thought after the election Id have some downtime, uh-huh. It just doesnt stop and I think its going to get worse. Correa grew up in a neighborhood where many young people ended up in jail or prison, he said, and the outpouring of support from people he knew from those days has been humbling. He paused to take a few deep breaths, wiping away a few tears that had managed to creep up. We grew up with a lot of bad stuff and one of us made it out, he said. Its a testament to this great country. After the freshman class photo on the House steps, Rep.-elect Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro) paused to speak with a Telemundo reporter. The 44th District victor said in an interview that she feels an added responsibility because Donald Trump will be in the White House next year. When you have a president who is demeaning women, demeaning immigrants, I think its a time for me really to be a leader in standing up not only for immigrants, but for women, she said. Her mother, an immigrant with a third-grade education, will make her first trip to Washington on Jan. 3 to see her daughter sworn in as a member of Congress. While my mom may not completely understand what Congress does and the importance of it, theres no doubt that shes just over the moon, Barragan said. Rep.-elect Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) compared orientation to starting school. Its a little bit like being a freshman in college. Its overwhelming, youre learning where the buildings are and how to get your IDs and make sure you know how to vote, he said. The only new lawmaker from California who ousted an incumbent, Khanna is coming to Congress with an unusual goal. He wants to persuade Silicon Valley tech companies like Apple, Google and Facebook to create jobs in middle America. Tech has an obligation and a responsibility to see how they can create some of these jobs, he said, cradling a cup of coffee in the lobby of the hotel reserved for freshmen members. Obviously I want jobs in my district, but I think there is a broader responsibility. Being on Capitol Hill is a homecoming of sorts for Rep.-elect Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel), who spent the early 1990s living with his father, former Rep. Leon Panetta, and several other politicians in a row house near the Capitol. I know how to find my way around, Panetta said. Im in that fortunate position where I dont have to worry about the little stuff and I can focus on the big stuff. Last week, House Democrats elected Panetta as a regional whip, meaning hell help leadership gather information, lobby rank-and-file lawmakers on major issues and count votes among Democrats from Californias Central Coast, Northern California, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. Panetta said hes keeping in mind what his father and his predecessor, retiring Rep. Sam Farr, meant to his new constituents. There are some big shoes to fill, I get that. If Im fortunate enough to just put a toe or a couple of toes into those shoes, Ill have done a good job, he said. Carbajal, a Santa Barbara County supervisor, said his one disappointment from orientation was hearing he wont be able to personally keep up with the flood of calls and emails to his new office. He immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 5 years old and is going to represent the same area where his father was a farmworker. I pinch myself that a young immigrant boy from humble beginnings can have an opportunity to serve in Congress, Carbajal said. Sen.-elect Kamala Harris transition has been a little more fluid. Senators dont have as structured of an orientation, and largely hear from panels of their future peers over a three-day crash course. She got her first taste of the frantic media scrums that surround senators between votes when she accompanied her new partner, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), to Senate leadership elections a few weeks ago. Harris said she was struck by the grooves worn into the Senates marble stairs by the millions of people who have climbed them over the decades. I was awestruck. When you remember, and think of the history of what happens in that chamber and in the halls of the United States Congress, period. Its pretty incredible, she said. Because Senate offices are assigned based on seniority and sitting senators have months to decide if they want to move offices, she could be in her a temporary office in the basement of the Dirksen Senate Office Building until early next summer. But since few offices can physically hold a staff as large as the one allocated to the California members, Harris hinted she wouldnt mind keeping Sen. Barbara Boxers office in the Hart Senate Office building. After all, shes worked in it before. Harris interned in that very office for Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) as a Howard University student in the 1980s. The rest of the Capitol complex has changed a lot in the more than 30 years since. I am completely lost, Harris admitted. I got lost a couple of times and Ive met a couple of bright-eyed 20-year-old interns who were happy to show me the way. Moments like this one cannot suffer from pride. sarah.wire@latimes.com Follow @sarahdwire on Twitter Read more about the 55 members of Californias delegation at latimes.com/politics ALSO: Meet Californias newest members of Congress I cant help you anymore: What its like to pack up and leave after decades in Congress Updates on California politics Think a Donald Trump presidency is scary? Its Christmas pie compared with what confronted Americans 75 years ago. Shock, anger and panic gripped the nation, especially the West Coast, when 353 Japanese airplanes attacked the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, propelling America into a world war that left at least 60 million people dead around the planet. World War II killed roughly 419,000 Americans and up to 3 million Japanese and perhaps 9 million Germans, military and civilian. The Soviet Union lost 24 million. Advertisement At Pearl Harbor, the Japanese sunk or damaged 19 ships, including eight battleships, destroyed 188 aircraft and killed 2,403. The Dec. 7, 1941, surprise attack unified America like it hasnt been since. Political polarization didnt exist. We were all about patriotism and sacrifice, defeating the enemy and bringing the boys home. Yes, today those ideals seem like really hard concepts to grasp. Therell be a 75th anniversary commemoration at Pearl Harbor on Wednesday. And it will mark the passing of an era from Remember where you were? to Its on the History Channel. Some Pearl Harbor survivors will be there, all in their 90s or older. Itll be their final appearance at a major commemoration. Its hard to imagine any at the centennial. Put it this way: The time span between the Pearl Harbor attack and today is practically the same as the span between the end of the Civil War and when those Japanese war planes swooped down on Hawaii. On average, 372 American World War II veterans are dying each day. Roughly 16 million served. Only 620,000 remain, 55,000 in California. There arent many of us still around who were alive then roughly 2.3 million Californians, less than 6% of the population. Fewer than 1.4 million, or 3.5%, have any memory of the attack, I figure. Mine will be the last generation with any personal recollection of the war that thrust America into leadership of the free world. I was 4, playing with my younger brother behind our house in Santa Barbara when Mom rushed out that Sunday. The Japanese had bombed Hawaii, she told us, kneeling at face level. Were at war. Remember this day. Its Dec. 7. Its historic. And Im sure her anxiety and passion are the only reasons I do remember. The Pacific Coast was a sea of jitters. They could be on our beaches any day, we feared. And in one case, they effectively were. Updates from Sacramento On Feb. 23, 1942, a Japanese submarine surfaced offshore 12 miles north of Santa Barbara and fired 16 shells at the Ellwood Oil Field. My dad was working there on a derrick. Nobody was hurt and the damage was light. But Dad was ticked. He and his crew were handed pitchforks and told to go guard the beach. They were kept there all night. Dad didnt get home until after sunup. What was I supposed to do with a pitchfork? I remember him grousing to my worried mom at the door. Everyone was edgy. The next day the Great Los Angeles Air Raid occurred. Our military fired hundreds of antiaircraft shells at reported Japanese planes. The sheriff arrested 20 Japanese Americans, claiming they had shot up flares to signal the enemy. There were no flares. There were no planes. Only false rumors. And several buildings and vehicles damaged by shell fragments. War can bring out the best and the worst. The U.S. government cheered on by California politicians shamefully forced 110,000 innocent Japanese Americans into detention camps, fearing sabotage. One strong advocate of that injustice was California Atty. Gen. Earl Warren, then running for governor. He became a great governor and ultimately a historic U.S. chief justice. But his role in that incarceration was a black mark he later apologized for in a memoir. It was not in keeping with our American concept of freedom and the rights of citizens, Warren wrote. I used to think that America would never do that again. But after watching this last, depressing presidential campaign and hearing all the hateful bombast throughout the land Ive changed my view. Demagogic politicians would do it again in a heartbeat. There were only 7 million Californians back then, compared with 39 million today. Yes, it was quieter. But nerves were rumbling inside. Every kid knew a classmate who had a father or other relative who had been killed or wounded in combat. A college roommate, Frank Hoak, was a 4-year-old living in Honolulu during the attack. His father was a Navy code analyst attached to Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, who soon became commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet. My first recollection of the war was going into bomb shelters trying to wear an adult-size gas mask, he says. They were afraid of chemical gas attacks, so they made us wear masks. To make sure they worked, they released tear gas in the bunkers. It got in my eyes and hurt, and I cried. I remember my mother telling me to be quiet, quiet. Frank followed his father into the Navy and spent 29 years in active and reserve duty, retiring as a captain. Hell be at Wednesdays commemoration. America re-proved its greatness after Pearl Harbor. And despite a mean-spirited angst by too many today, were still great. Trumps job is not to make us great again, but to accentuate Americas innate, positive spirit of unity and ingenuity to make us even greater. Surprise us. george.skelton@latimes.com Follow @LATimesSkelton on Twitter ALSO Post-election, California Democrats still dominate and GOP has nowhere to go but up Colin Kaepernick chose not to vote. He should stop complaining about the system Donald Trump was right: The election was rigged. Now its time to get rid of the electoral college Updates from Sacramento RE: Burbank Unified officials call for unity and open, honest post-election dialogue In such divided political times, it is encouraging to read about how Burbank Unified officials are urging their students to participate in open, honest dialogue. As a mother whose daughter will be starting school here next year, I was relieved to see that officials were not only addressing the discontent felt by kids, but also acknowledging that for any member of the population who feels different, they may be especially upset or even scared. Join the conversation on Facebook >> I feel that this is especially true now for a large part of the immigrant population in Burbank and beyond. I hope that the children who are undocumented and documented alike feel that their schools are a safe haven, and that the rise in hate crimes weve witnessed in other parts of the state and country will not be tolerated in Burbank. I think this is the time to urge Rep. Adam Schiff to continue to speak out against the hate rhetoric that has been part of the president-elects campaign, especially when it comes to issues that affect our students, be that DACA and comprehensive immigration reform, LGBT equality or public education funding. As our country fractures over differences, we must stay vocal and encourage our representatives to support legislation that could bring us together, instead of ripping us further apart. Ally Weinberg Burbank .. Opening nature to the people Kudos to Rep. Adam Schiff for continuing to make the Rim of the Valley a priority for the 28th District and the greater Los Angeles area. This proposed expansion of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, a model for cooperation between federal and local land management agencies and broadly supported by local residents, would benefit our communities by protecting more open spaces, wildlife and historic sites and expanding outdoor recreational opportunities. National parks, nature and enjoying the outdoors unite people of all backgrounds, and have the potential to gain widespread and bipartisan support, especially with the leadership of the regions Congressional delegation spanning from Santa Clarita to downtown L.A. The National Parks Conservation Assn. and the Rim of the Valley Coalition will continue to work with our delegation to make the expansion a reality and to bring the national park experience closer to the regions 17 million residents. Dennis G. Arguelles, M.A. Los Angeles Program Manager National Parks Conservation Assn. Los Angeles .. Meetings nearly fly under radar Burbank Unified held a special education parent focus meeting on Monday, Nov. 30, and I, a parent of a special-needs middle schooler, almost missed it. This meeting was the first of two to discuss parent concerns and how they might be addressed as part of the development of a new master plan for special education to guide the district for the next several years. I almost missed it because of the lack of notice and apparently so did a lot of other parents. With the district serving nearly 2,000 special education students, there were only about 30 parents at the meeting. Supt. Matt Hill did have information about it in his e-blast to those parents who knew to sign up for such a thing, and there was information posted on the district website, but its not nearly enough especially when there are so many options. Where was the email invitation from the special education department? Or the announcement in the Burbank Leader? Where was the principal all-call about it? Or fliers in any of my three schools front offices? If the district is going to have important districtwide events such as this one or GATE, ELAC and DAC meetings and they want parents to come, they need to do a better job of getting the word out. Parents, the second focus meeting is on Wednesday, Dec. 14. RSVP on the districts website. Kelly Duenckel Burbank For 90-year-old Cosa Mesa resident and artist Helen Kleiser, the art of embroidered trapunto is not only therapeutic. Its a chance to share her talent and collect smiles in exchange. Trapunto is a method of quilting that uses a fiber stuffing to create a puffy, decorative look. Kleiser who over the years has also picked up painting, pottery and other artistic talents discovered the art of trapunto while reading a magazine article about it. Around mid-1960s, I read about the American Indians use of trapunto on their clothing, blankets, tepees, etcetera, and I didnt know what the word meant, recalled Kleiser. And I thought, how did they do that? Trapunto quilting, which dates back to the 14th century Italians, became popular as clothing embellishments and elaborate decorations in Tudor England and in later in Marseilles. Immigrants brought the colorful, three-dimensional embroidery to America over the centuries. To this day, I keep experimenting and love the results. I dont disobey the rules most of the time, the artist said, laughing. Youve got to have a goal; take it one day at a time. And take that word cant out of your dictionary. Her experimenting has paid off. Her work was recently showcased at the second annual Costa Mesa ARTventure 2016, and several of her pieces are being displayed in the gallery space in the Costa Mesa Senior Center through December. Born in Lebanon, Pa., Kleiser grew up surrounded by creative types: musicians, painters and sculptors. In high school, she was in an art class that encouraged her to think of everyday objects in making portraits and still lifes. She moved with her husband, Claude, to Costa Mesa in 1987, living on the Westside until her husband died and she moved to the Casa Bella apartments on Park Avenue, across from the community center and Donald Dungan Library. Over the years, Kleiser volunteered regularly at Someone Cares Soup Kitchen, Interfaith Shelter and the Costa Mesa Senior Center. At the same time, she began learning many different art forms that caught her eye: acrylic painting, tole painting and pottery. She also dabbled in making plaster statues. Of learning trapunto, Kleiser said: I kind of taught myself, and then I took the technique to a different level. I like the idea of learning something new. Kleisers process of creating trapunto involves scouting for different prints and material, cutting out the fabric backing and stuffing it with fiber, stitching the pieces together by hand and then stretching that almost-finished product on cardboard and adding embellishments, making it pop three-dimensionally. The final piece is set in a frame. Im inspired by the ideas I see, things that appeal to me, or materials that stick out and materials Ive been wanting to play with, she said of her subjects, many of which include beloved animals and landscapes. Kleisers studio is her living room, and over the years, sitting and quietly stitching the trapunto pieces would begin to ease her physical pain. She has diabetes and a lung condition. Ive discovered that Im better sitting rather than walking, and sewing is terrific therapy for my fingers, said Kleiser, who has been undergoing percussion therapy for her lungs. It lifts my spirits. Kleiser also shares her talent with others, giving away her art as a memento of herself. On my 90th birthday in August, I presented each of my friends with a trapunto, she said. Every time I give someone a trapunto, their eyes light up. Costa Mesa Cultural Arts Committee member Charlene Ashendorf discovered Kleisers colorful, eye-popping embroidered artwork over the summer. Costa Mesa is a city of the arts. We serve as a advisory body, and we try to make arts accessible and available to the whole community, said Ashendorf. As a committee, we saw something vastly different in [Kleisers] trapunto art, and we wanted to take a chance on it. Its different old, but new, and evocative. The reactions it brings out in people. Art can change your attitude. Helens [trapunto] is arts with a human touch. Kirsty Henderson believes her purpose in life is to help others. Henderson, a four-year Huntington Beach resident, has gone to New Orleans, Mexico and Chile on charity missions. In October, Henderson was granted a two-week leave by her employer, Wells Fargo, to co-lead a team of eight people associated with Huntington Beachs First Christian Church for about 12 days in Maipu, Chile, to help rebuild parts of a church in a drug-infested part of the city. The church [in Chile] is in a bad area of town, she said. Their main focus is to create a safe and inviting place where residents can come together, creating a more stable and nurturing environment for families who might not have that at home. The church campus is utilized as a community gathering often, and the facilities were in dire need of an upgrade. Henderson said Thursday that she and her team focused on rebuilding dilapidated parts of the church, including restoring a kitchen and constructing a new office. She said the job required exhaustive manual labor. I was really sore the next day, Henderson said. Jericho Rhoten, First Christians global outreach pastor, applauded Henderson for what she was able to bring to the project. She was such an asset to the team in helping with leadership and direction for the projects being accomplished for the community, Rhoten said in a news release. Henderson said charity work not only allows her to give to those in need but also exposes her to new people and cultures. Henderson and her team members stayed in the homes of local Chileans. She said the big family that housed her were very welcoming and loving. She said it was a slap in the face when she realized how time-oriented people are in the U.S. compared to Chileans, who are more focused on fostering a sense of community. The mother of two a 5-year-old girl and 2-year-old boy said she especially appreciated the value Chileans put on family. The families have dinner together every night, she said. It is relieving to see. Henderson said she fully recognized her charitable drive during her first trip to Mexico, to build homes for destitute families. It was during her high school years in Indiana, where she grew up. She vividly remembers those families. They couldnt even express how thankful they were to us for taking a short amount of time to lift a hammer, Henderson said. That might have been the first time I realized I enjoyed this. A few years later, in 2007, while Henderson was attending Hope International University in Fullerton, she went on a trip to post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. With a small group of students, she helped rebuild a home for a family devastated by the violent storm. When Henderson met with the family, she was moved by how grateful they were. Their house had been completely destroyed and they were so appreciative, she said. Seeing the city in ruins had a chilling effect on Henderson. Even though a year removed from the hurricane, New Orleans still bore scars. Houses that had been completely under water were just sitting there, she said. It looked like the flood had just happened in a lot of areas. Its sad to see when you go to some place like that, and they have had everything taken from them. Henderson said the trips have expanded her perception of the world and reminded her of how fortunate she is to be living in Huntington Beach. Henderson carries her experiences with her. I feel like I have left a little piece of my heart in all these places, she said. benjamin.brazil@latimes.com Twitter: @benbrazilpilot Before there were fake news stories, there was a fake U.S. embassy in Accra, the capital of Ghana. It opened three times a week, flew a U.S. flag, had a picture of President Obama on the wall and issued bogus visas for $6,000, according to a U.S. State Department report. It operated for 10 years but was shut down last summer after an investigation by the real U.S. Embassy and Ghanaian police. None of the individuals who purchased counterfeit visas traveled to the U.S., said William Cocks, spokesman for the State Departments Bureau of Consular Affairs. Advertisement The report issued in early November blamed the sham office on Ghanaian and Turkish organized crime rings that bribed officials to avoid detection and sold fake visas to unsuspecting travelers. Consul officers were Turkish nationals who spoke English and Dutch, the report said. The gangs also operated a fake Netherlands embassy, according to the State Department. The sham embassy advertised their services through flyers and billboards to cultivate customers from Ghana, Cote dIvoire, and Togo, the report said. Cocks said criminals operated a large counterfeiting operation by copying U.S. visas on expired passports they had purchased. The visas had none of the biometric data found on legitimate U.S. visas and would never have been able to be passed off as real, he said. The State Department said the scheme came to light when an informant tipped off officials during an ongoing investigation called Operation Spartan Vanguard, which looks into criminal activity. Several suspects were arrested during a raid on the site but several others are still at large and warrants have been issued for their arrest. Also, the hunt for Turkish criminal gang members who were involved continues. ALSO Detained in Turkey for a visa violation, all alone. Would I ever get home? Does travel insurance allow you to cancel your trip to Istanbul after the deadly terrorist attack? How many of these 25 top landmarks have you visited? Machu Picchu is No. 1 When Im in a travel bind, whether its before a trip or at the airport, I often use Twitter to contact the airlines. That social media outlet can lead to better service and sometimes even savings. Anthony Berklich, founder of the travel platform Inspired Citizen, has used Twitter for his travel conundrums too, often using direct message (more on that below). His most extreme example: The cab that was taking him to the airport got into an accident. He tweeted what happened to American Airlines (@AmericanAir), the carrier he was to be flying. Advertisement American, he said, replied within 10 minutes and asked for a picture of the cab. Berklich sent back a photo, and American rebooked him on a later flight with no penalty. On another trip, Berklich realized weather would delay his flight home from Rome. He tweeted to Delta (@Delta) about the weather issue and suggested a flight from Milan instead. Delta rebooked him at no extra charge. When you contact an airline using its public Twitter channel, most airlines will follow you back on Twitter and ask you to follow them back so you can direct message, or DM. Yes, it takes whiners off the public channel (and protects the airlines brand), but it also protects your personal information. Unlike regular Twitter messages, a DM isnt limited to 140 characters. Instead, you have up to 10,000 characters to describe a travel problem. Taking things a step beyond, Delta has added a button on its Twitter page to make sending a direct message easier: You dont have to follow each other to send a DM. Most major U.S. carriers monitor social media 24 hours a day every day, which helps if you need assistance in the middle of the night. If problem resolution doesnt entice you onto Twitter, deals may. Berklich follows airlines for deals and also looks to Scott Keyes (@smkeyes) of Scotts Cheap Flights for deals and steals. Thanks to Keyes, Berklich found a round trip from Miami to Brazil for $75 and a nonstop round trip from New York to Belgrade, Serbia, for $164. Sometimes its a mistake or [sometimes its] certain dates, Berklich said. Keyes got started after he stumbled on a great airfare. In 2013, I got the best deal Ive ever bought in my life: New York City to Milan, direct, for $130 round trip, he said in an email. When I got back friends asked me if I could let them know next time an incredible deal like that popped up. The $130 NYC-Milan deal was a mistake fare on United. Those erroneous fares an airline sells seats at a price it didnt intend to pop up every once in a while, he said. Some stick around for a day or two; others are gone in a half-hour. How does he do it? No real secret sauce per se to finding mistake fares, mostly just keeping your ear to the ground, monitoring Twitter and message boards and constantly searching different routes. Keyes also maintains email lists, which include 13,000 premium subscribers and 117,000 free subscribers. The free subscribers see only about one-third of the deals he emails to the premium subscribers, and those are the deals Keyes tweets. If you dont want to pay for a premium subscription, try following Keyes on Twitter. John DiScala, founder of travel site JohnnyJet.com, and Brett Snyder, the Cranky Concierge, use Twitter for quick communication, of course, but they also follow deal tweeters. Among the Twitter feeds worth following are: @JetBlueCheeps (a favorite of DiScalas), @airfarewatchdog, @TheFlightDeal, @Hopper_Deals and @ExitFares. Adding these to your follows on Twitter just could subtract from how much you pay for an airfare. travel@latimes.com Sometimes, sorrow and reverence only whisper. As the Navy shuttle pulled near the sunken USS Arizona battleship at Pearl Harbor, National Park Service rangers requested quiet on that May day of my visit. This landmark of American tragedy and resilience marks its 75th milestone on Wednesday. The USS Arizona is the centerpiece of Hawaiis part of the WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument, which has an encyclopedic story to tell: the world before Dec. 7, 1941, and the world after. Advertisement The monument brings to life the attack on Oahu through film, artifacts, eyewitness histories and the legendary ships. Some of the fleet float tall in the water, including Mighty Mo, the battleship Missouri. Others seem poised to dive, such as the USS Bowfin submarine. And one stands mute like the military grave it is. More than 900 are entombed in the USS Arizona. The numbers tell the story, and they are staggering: More than 2,390 Americans, including 49 civilians, were killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. For many, the keystone of the monument is the crumpled Arizona, 40 feet down just off Ford Island. The attack began just after 7:45 a.m. Fifteen minutes later, a Japanese bomber dropped a 1,760-pound naval projectile on the Arizonas forward deck. The explosion ignited aviation fuel and powder magazines, instantly killing 1,177 sailors and Marines. Of the crew of 1,511, 334 survived. U.S.S. Arizona survivor Louis Conter salutes the remembrance wall of the U.S.S. Arizona during the 73rd anniversary of the attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl harbor on Dec. 07, 2014. (Kent Nishimura / Getty Images ) Honoring the dead One hundred and fifty visitors, ready to pay their respects, left the Honolulu sunshine and entered the Pearl Harbor Memorial Theater. Here, the 23-minute documentary put the prelude to war in context. In the late 1930s, the Japanese expanded into east Asia as tensions simmered between the U.S. and the Land of the Rising Sun. In September 1940, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, creating the Axis powers that would battle the U.S. and its allies in World War II. After the attack, Roosevelt branded Dec. 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, and the U.S. was at war. Black tears After the film, we took the shuttle to the Arizona. The sun was still blazing, this time off the white memorial, perched above the ruined battleship. A half-million gallons of oil remain trapped in the stern of the vessel. Droplets still leak into the harbor about every 20 seconds or so. Some call them black tears. We stepped into the memorials long entry room, then through to the assembly room, where openings allow in the Hawaiian breezes and a view out to the wreckage breaking the water line. Navy rifleman standing at attention by the USS Arizona. (Marco Garcia / AP ) Visitors, some bearing flowers, headed to the Shrine Room at the far end of the memorial where the names of the lost crew members are inscribed on the great marble wall. A smaller marble wall commemorates the survivors of the Arizona blast who have chosen to be interred with their shipmates. A display board discusses the interment of survivors who have rejoined their crew mates. One young boy read the story on the board, illustrated with images of park service divers who place the cremation urns inside gun turret No. 4, which took the first bomb that hit the vessel. RELATED: Our national parks can also be reminders of Americas history of race and civil rights The second bomb found the store of fuel and powder, igniting the explosion and fire that burned for two days. An older boy maybe a brother wandered over to read too. Soon a woman perhaps their mother joined them. They whispered together. The silence resonated with me. As I boarded the Navy boat for the return, I felt relief after this, my second visit to the Arizona. I had been dreading this afternoon for weeks. In the 1990s, as a friend and I rode the shuttle to the ship, the pilot slowed the craft so several Japanese visitors could float floral wreaths in the water. All was quiet until some passengers grumbled, none too softly, that the Japanese had no business being here. A somber moment soon turned tense. On this day, though, I was grateful for the quiet reflection born of a collective spirit. A tri-state monument The memorials at Pearl Harbor, 24 miles west of Honolulu, have been evolving for nearly 60 years. President Eisenhower approved creation of the USS Arizona Memorial in 1958 to commemorate military personnel killed in the Pearl Harbor attack. The memorial, constructed over the hull of the sunken ship, was dedicated in 1962. The Navy managed visitation until 1980, when operations were turned over to the National Park Service. It is part of the larger World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, created in 2008, which tells stories in three states. In Hawaii, the site includes the Arizona, the USS Utah, whose hull is visible and honors 58 dead; and the USS Oklahoma, which commemorates 429 sailors who died when the ship capsized. In Alaska, the monument includes sites in the states Aleutian Islands, near the northern limit of Imperial Japans expansion in the Pacific. In California, Tule Lake explores the incarceration and segregation of U.S. citizens of Japanese descent and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry. Read more on Tule Lake >> If you go From LAX, United, Delta, Virgin America, Hawaiian and American offer nonstop service to Honolulu, and United, Hawaiian and Alaska offer connecting service (change of planes). Restricted round-trip fares begin at $600, including all taxes and fees. For the Arizona visit, the National Park Service distributes 1,300 free walk-in tickets daily on a first come, first-served basis. Each is timed. Doors to the visitor center for tickets open at 7 a.m. Tickets up to two months in advance are available through www.recreation.gov. No bags larger than the size of your hand are allowed. The visit lasts 75 minutes, including the documentary film and a short boat ride to and from the memorial. The 75th commemoration of the Pearl Harbor attack will run through Dec. 11, including the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Commemoration, 7:45 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday. The public is invited. A live stream of the ceremony will run from 7 to 9:30 a.m. in the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center theaters and online. To see all of the activities surround the anniversary, go to Pearl Harbor 75th Anniversary, pearlharbor75thanniversary.com/home American Apparel is no stranger to controversy. The Los Angeles-based clothing company has endured scandals regarding its risque advertisements and allegations of sexual harassment by its founder, Dov Charney. Now, it has found itself in hot water over a different issue: Chinese sovereignty. Tan Qingxia, a popular blogger, said he was shopping at one of American Apparels two Beijing branches with his wife on Thursday night when her phone was stolen. Tan returned to the store with a police officer, who asked an employee for the stores surveillance tape. The employee refused, claiming that because American Apparel is a U.S. company, it could not release the tape without permission from its headquarters in Los Angeles. Advertisement On Friday, Tan wrote about the experience to his 6.6 million followers on Sina Weibo, Chinas most popular microblog. I got the contact information of the store manager and will soon ask this proud American clothing store for the footage [again], he wrote. The post sparked an outcry, racking up more than 10,000 shares and 8,000 comments, many of which cast the incident as an affront to Chinese sovereignty. Is this small store a part of Americas territory? commented one user. Why can the surveillance footage only be seen by the U.S.? said another. Its not even the American Embassy. Can someone tell me what the law should be? Chinese consumers hold foreign brands in high esteem, regarding them as superior to local counterparts. Starbucks, Apple, Nike and others enjoy a tight hold on Chinas growing middle class, even far beyond the shopping meccas of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Yet Chinese consumers also hold foreign companies to higher standards, and are commensurately sensitive to perceived slights. On Monday morning four days after the incident American Apparel released the video to Chinese police, said the store manager, who refused to give his name to journalists for fear of attracting further scrutiny. He said it came from video that store employees dont have access to and is used to monitor passenger flow in the store not to record how cellphones are stolen. The manager added that the store was inundated with angry calls after Tans post went viral. One caller accused the store of being an American running dog, he said. Another jokingly asked whether he would call an American fire department if the store caught fire. Im actually the victim here, he said. On the one hand, I tried my best to cooperate with police. On the other, I did everything according to the companys regulations. But we are still largely criticized. American Apparel, once a major force in American fashion, has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years, burdened by huge debts, falling sales, and a string of highly publicized sexual harassment lawsuits against Charney, who was ousted as CEO in 2014. The company applied for bankruptcy in October 2015. In November, it announced that it would close all European stores. Its China stores are slated to close Dec. 18. The state-run China Radio International ran a report in which it said that it should not have been a problem for the store to access the video. Businesses resisting police investigations may be fined or detained, the story said. Yingzhi Yang and Nicole Liu in the Times Beijing bureau contributed to this report ALSO American Apparel files for bankruptcy again and agrees to sell its brand to Gildan China hopes new film studio and theme park will boost ties to international movie industry When marriage counseling fails: Mistress hunters derail affairs with Chinas cheating spouses South Korean president Park Geun-hye, mired in an influence-peddling scandal and facing abysmal public-approval ratings, has apologized publicly three times and even hinted about leaving office early in an effort to stave off impeachment. Yet the pressure continues building and events this week could ultimately decide her fate. South Koreas national assembly is expected to decide on Friday whether to impeach Park. Before then, lawmakers plan to host hours of potentially embarrassing public hearings about the recent scandal, in which the presidents longtime confidant has been criminally charged with corruption. Advertisement Some in the presidents own party appear committed to tipping the scales against her, after days of vacillation. Unless she pledges to step aside and allow an early presidential election, they say, the bloc intends to join critics in voting to remove her from office. But few know what Park might do. Last week, she pledged to step down if the national assembly settled on a plan for the transition of power a move that hasnt led to political consensus. Its pretty clear that shes playing for time, and its pretty clear that the opposition and her own party have so many different factions that it was incredibly smart to throw out this ploy, said David Kang, an international relations professor at USC who directs the universitys Korean Studies Institute. Over the weekend, protesters again filled the streets of Seoul and other cities, demanding the presidents ouster. I thought she would apologize more, and show more of a repentant attitude. But its all excuses, all denials. ... Lim Ho-hyun, who joined the protest against Park Geun-hye Police estimate as many as 320,000 people, toting candles and chanting against the president, crowded Seouls central public square throughout the day and night on Saturday the largest official estimate of an anti-Park rally yet. Organizers say the turnout was closer to 1.7 million, and that as many as 2.3 million demonstrated across the country. The president must step down and, at this point, its not about resigning with honor, said Kim Eun-jin, 28, a woman who attended Saturdays massive rally in Seoul, her first such event. Its at the point where the people need to drag her out of office. Such sentiment is common at the rallies, where the anger centers on Parks onetime confidant, Choi Soon-sil, and what critics say was her unusual influence with the president. Prosecutors investigating the case have labeled Park a suspect in a criminal case involving whether Choi had improper access to state secrets and used her influence to extort powerful South Korean businesses. Choi is the daughter of a deceased cult leader whose own influential relationship with Park has been the subject of speculation in South Korea for years. Park remains immune from standard criminal charges while in office. The case has fueled public sentiment that the president, the daughter of military dictator Park Chung-hee, assassinated in 1979, is an insular leader influenced by a select group of advisors. Park has refused to cooperate with the investigation. In recent weeks, it has unfolded in vivid detail, with reports about Choi editing political speeches and asking big companies, such as Hyundai and Samsung, for donations to foundations she controlled. The intense media focus also turned up embarrassing details about the president, including that her office once purchased the erectile dysfunction medication Viagra, reportedly for the presidents altitude sickness. (The drug has a reputation as an off-the-books remedy for altitude problems.) The scandal has also brought renewed focus on the governments handling of the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014, in which more than 300 people died, many of them high school students. The president, elected in 2012 to a single five-year term, has faced criticism for her tone-deaf reaction to the tragedy an intensely embarrassing and traumatic incident for many South Koreans. Park did not react publicly to the ferry sinking for several hours, prompting rumors about her whereabouts. The incident still stings for many South Koreans. Some at the rally on Saturday said the latest scandal confirmed their concerns about what they see as an imperious leadership style. For Park, whose popularity had been eroded by other confounding political episodes, time might be running out. Her most-recent approval ratings have been at about 10% or less, depending on the survey. A small group of members of her Saenuri Party now appear resolved to force Park to announce that she intends to step down in April, triggering a new presidential election in June. That would give the party enough time to heal from scandal and field a candidate with some chance of maintaining the presidency. If no agreement can be reached, the prospect of an impeachment vote seems likely, though its outcome isnt certain, an opposition leader said Monday. If adopted, the impeachment would temporarily remove Park from office while a constitutional court has 180 days to determine whether there is cause to make the effort permanent. Park had been scheduled to leave office in early 2018 after an election in December 2017. Rep. Choo Mi-ae, the head of the opposition Democratic Party, said she would not support an extended resignation timetable for Park. She said over the weekend that the publics cry for impeachment should be heard. We urge Saenuri lawmakers to join the move for impeachment in accordance to the publics voice and conscience, Choo said in a written statement. Those voices have been many and loud. Millions have taken to the streets in recent weeks to call for the presidents ouster. In largely peaceful rallies, filled with signs and candles, South Koreans have expressed outrage not seen since the late 1980s, when the military-controlled government began allowing free presidential elections in response to protests. Protesters release paper lanterns into the air during a rally Saturday in Chuncheon, South Korea, calling for South Korean President Park Geun-hye to step down. (Lee Sang-hak / Associated Press ) The anger has hardly been blunted by Parks apologies and statements that she never acted in her own personal interest. I thought she would apologize more and show more of a repentant attitude, said Lim Ho-hyun, 38, who brought his children, ages 4 and 8, to the most recent rally in Seoul. But its all excuses, all denials, all one big claim that it has nothing to do with her. Not everyone is convinced this week signals the end for Park. Joung Hwang, a professor at Seouls Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Law School, said this week could be decisive, but the timing of an early exit for Park remains unclear in part because of factors outside politics, such as winter. The peoples anger is quite palpable. Its not something that politicians can control right now, he said. A big factor is going to be the weather. Will it affect the rallies? How long is the peoples anger going to last? Stiles is a special correspondent ALSO Japanese leader Shinzo Abe to visit Pearl Harbor with Obama South Korean President Park Geun-hye says shell resign if a safe path from power can be found Trumps call with the Taiwanese president was his latest break from diplomatic norms The arrest of a 17-year-old Afghan refugee suspected of raping and killing a young German medical student turned into a political maelstrom Monday, with opponents pointing to Chancellor Angela Merkels decision last year to welcome more than a million migrants into the country. Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel tried to calm the brewing storm by insisting it was unfair to blame all refugees from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq for a single criminal act, but the fallout from the slaying of 19-year-old Maria Ladenburger nonetheless left the government on the defensive. For the record: An earlier version of this article referred to a close party ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel as Julie Kloeckner. She is Julia Kloeckner. Merkel allies warned the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has become a powerful new political force on the far right, against trying to use the case to score political points as the September 2017 election campaign is getting underway. Advertisement That didnt stop AfD co-leader Joerg Meuthen from bluntly blaming Merkel and Gabriel, saying they deserved a major share of the responsibility for the killing. Opponents of Merkel and her refugee policies also attacked the nations most popular news broadcaster, ARDs flagship Tagesschau program, watched by some 10 million viewers, for opting initially not to cover the arrest on the grounds that it was a regional, not national, issue. Newspapers across Germany reported a high volume of critical comments about refugees and the media from users, and Der Tagesspiegel newspaper in Berlin said that 40% of the user comments submitted were not suitable for publicationfour times the usual number of comments that did not meet its decency standards. We cannot allow this abominable act to be abused for rabble-rousing and conspiracy theories, Gabriel said on Facebook. Everyone is aware that a horrible crime can be committed by a refugee just as it can be by someone born in Germany. There were also horrific crimes long before any refugees had arrived from Afghanistan or Syria. Merkel, who recently announced plans to run for a fourth term in September, has seen her popularity plunge in the last year in large part due to her staunch refusal to accept demands from her partys right wing to limit migrants entering the country to 200,000 per year. She did not comment on the slaying in Freiburg and has remained determined to keep Germany open to refugees. She drew criticism from her party for shaking hands with a number of young refugees from Afghanistan and elsewhere at regional party meetings in recent weeks. Her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, told reporters on Monday: The assailant must be punished with the full force of the law. But we shouldnt forget that were talking about the possible act of one Afghan refugeenot entire groups of Afghanis or refugees. A close Merkel ally in her conservative Christian Democrat party, Julia Kloeckner, also said it was wrong to blame all refugees: An atrocity like this can be committed by a German or a foreigner, she said. You cant see whats in anyones head. The killing in Freiburg, a bucolic university town of 220,000 on the rim of the Black Forest near Switzerland and France, also reignited public fears of the perils of allowing so many refugees fleeing war, turmoil and poverty into the normally tightly controlled country with at best cursory checks over the last 15 months. Germany has been hit with three relatively minor incidents this year involving migrants: a knife attack against a police officer, an ax attack against tourists on a train and a bungled suicide bombing in which only the attacker from Syria was killed. Fears linger over incidents of sexual abuse of women and groping attacks by foreign men on New Years Eve in Cologne and dozens of other cities. This crime will only confirm the fears that a lot of people in Germany have that theyre not safe anymore in their own country, said Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist at Cologne University. All the elements of fear are on hand: once again, it was violence against a woman; once again, it was a crime by a refugee; and once again, the countrys most important news show didnt report it. It only seemed to confirm the worst suspicions of some that the mainstream media dont want to report disagreeable kinds of stories about refugees. Foreign diplomats, party officials and political scientists have warned that any sharp upturn in crimes by refugees or their involvement in a major terror attack could severely damage if not destroy Merkels reelection hopes. The killing of Ladenburger, whose father, Clemens Ladenburger, is a top-ranking German official working for the European Commission in Brussels, had been in the national news for several weeks after her body was found in the Dreisam River in Freiburg on Oct. 18. She was a top student and had volunteered as a worker in her spare time at a refugee shelter near her dormitory. She was attacked while riding her bike home from a university party about 2:30 a.m., police said. They said they found DNA evidence, on a strand of hair and a black scarf, linking the suspected killer to the scene after weeks of work at the crime scene. The suspect was not named by authorities because he is a juvenile. Kirschbaum is a special correspondent. Anti-establishment parties are feeling emboldened after the defeat of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in a crucial referendum, demanding snap parliamentary elections in the wake of his resignation. The Five Star Movement, which wants Italy to drop the euro currency, and the anti-migrant Northern League party, both called for elections Monday, the day after Italian voters resoundingly snubbed Renzis proposals, 59% to 41%. By promising to step down if he lost the referendum, which would have slashed the senates powers, Renzi inadvertently turned the contest into a vote on his government and its handling of Italys flatlining economy. Advertisement On Monday, the youthful prime minister made good on his promise and handed in his resignation to Italian President Sergio Mattarella, although Mattarella asked him to stay in office until the end of the week to usher through Italys 2017 budget. Calling on his blog for immediate elections, Five Star founder Beppe Grillo wrote, From next week, we will start to vote for our government policies on-line and for our government team. He added, The regimes propaganda and all its lies are the first victims of this referendum. The times have changed sovereignty belongs to the people. The Five Star Movement and the Northern League have been likened to the anti-establishment vote which helped push Britain out of the European Union in a referendum held earlier this year, and also have been compared to backers of President-elect Donald Trump. Much the same was said of the populist, right-wing candidate for president of Austria, Norbert Hofer, but he lost an election Sunday to a leftist candidate, Alexander Van der Bellen, who was the preferred choice of the countrys establishment. Grillo has distanced himself from hard right anti-establishment parties in Europe, claiming his Five Star Movement is more interested in ecology and online democracy than xenophobia and nationalism. Mattarella is likely to resist calls for an election, and instead nominate a caretaker government to first pass a new electoral law because the current one only applies to the lower house. It was framed on the assumption that elections to the Italian senate would be annulled by the referendum. He may nominate as caretaker prime minister a member of Renzis Democratic Party, such as Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan, since the party remains the largest group in parliament. Alternatively, he may bring in a nonpolitical government of experts, possibly run by Senate Speaker Pietro Grasso, before fresh elections in 2017 or 2018. As voting patterns in the referendum were published on Monday, it emerged that a surprisingly large group of No voters, 54%, told exit pollsters they rejected the reforms purely on merit, rather than considering themselves anti-establishment voters. According to this group, which included former Prime Minister Mario Monti, the reforms hobbled the checks and balances enshrined in Italys 1948 constitution by reducing the voting rights of senators in parliaments upper house. But one expert said anti-system anger was also evident in young voters and voters in the depressed south of the country, including towns like Palermo in Sicily, where the No vote hit 72%. Renzi, a 41-year-old reformer, came to be viewed as an icon of the Italian and European establishment by the young after just 2 years in office, said Giovanni Orsina, a professor of politics at Romes Luiss University. They believe politics will not solve their problems and they voted to punish Renzi, rather than find any solutions, he added. They thought I have no hope, and no job, who can I take it out on? How about that guy whos on TV 12 hours a day? Kington is a special correspondent. ALSO Arrest of refugee in rape and murder in Germany threatens Merkels immigration policy What Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to get from a Trump administration Europol warns of fresh terror threats to Europe Islamic State introduced a new spokesman Monday, exhorting its followers to rise up against its many enemies even as the group faces the prospect of losing vital territory in Iraq and Syria. The debut of Abi Al Hassan Muhajer came in a 24-minute speech posted on social media. Replete with verses culled from the Koran and paragraph-long quotes from religious scholarly texts, it acknowledged the hardships facing Islamic State, which has been battered in recent months by attacks from a long list of foes, including Russia and the United States. Yet he insisted that the Sunni Muslim extremist group had faced more difficult obstacles in the past and had emerged in their aftermath stronger in determination and harder in strength. Advertisement He railed against crusader America and Europe, Communist Russia, and Persian Iran, as well as the sacrificial goats, a reference to the Shiite, Kurdish and other Sunni militiamen battling to oust the jihadists from bastions overrun during Islamic States heyday in 2014. The fight to destroy the extremist group has made uneasy bedfellows of longtime adversaries, including the United States and Iran, and the U.S. and Russia, even while creating new tensions between established allies like the U.S. and Turkey. Their slogan is one: Destroy Islam and its people, Muhajer intoned before urging the groups soldiers in Iraq and Syria to repulse attacks on Tall Afar, Iraq, and the Syrian cities of Raqqa and Al Bab. Iraqi Shiite fighters from a Popular Mobilization militia fire their weapons as they advance near the town of Tall Abtah, south of Tall Afar, on Nov. 30, 2016. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP/Getty Images ) The three cities. all held by Islamic State, along with its de facto Iraqi capital of Mosul, form the backbone of its its self-proclaimed caliphate. Mosul has been the target of a major assault by the Iraqi military and Kurdish militias, with support from U.S. forces. Tall Afar, located roughly 40 miles west of Mosul, is a vital gateway that opens into the oil-rich desert region straddling the borders of Iraq and Syria. In recent weeks, Iraqs Popular Mobilization Units, Shiite-dominated militiamen working under Baghdad, have surrounded Tall Afar. Its takeover would establish what officials describe as a killbox that would eliminate jihadists fleeing Mosul to Raqqa. The U.S. has also pushed its top ally in Syria, a loose, Kurdish-dominated alliance of armed factions known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, to mount a campaign for Raqqa. Turkey, backing its own group of Syrian rebels, has its eyes set on Al Bab, 87 miles northwest. Muhajer reserved special ire for Turkey and its leader, President Recep Tayyep Erdogan, whom he called the beggar before the doors of crusader Europe. Kill Turks wherever you know they are present and seek them by every means, above every earth and below every sky, he commanded. Turkish government military, economic and even media entities were specifically to be targeted, he said, as well as every [Turkish] embassy and consulate ... in countries all over the world. Little is known about Muhajer, whose first appearance comes more than three months after the death of Abu Mohammad Adnani, the longtime top proselytizer and chief strategist of the group. He was killed in a U.S. airstrike on Al Bab in late August. Yet Muhajers delivery shows an agitator cut from the same cloth. His speech was peppered with the inflammatory rhetoric and rambling religious asides that were Adnanis calling card. And like his predecessor, he urged the groups disciples in the West to conduct so-called lone wolf attacks, solo kamikaze killing sprees conducted by those with no overt links to Islamic State. Know that in your blessed operations there is a tipping of the scales attack them in their homes, markets, roads and clubs, he said. Set ablaze the ground beneath their feet. Bulos is a special correspondent ALSO Californian killed in Syria is remembered as humble, dedicated to Kurdish cause Europol warns of fresh terror threats to Europe Civilians in Syria and Iraq, already facing deprivation and danger, confront new threats Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc presents rice to overseas Vietnamese in Siem Reap (Photo: VGP) Prime Minister Phuc had meetings with representatives of overseas Vietnamese living in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on November 23rd and presented five tons of rice for poor overseas Vietnamese there. The Overseas Vietnamese community in Siem Reap has more than 1,600 households with 6,500 people. Their lives are very difficult, with household incomes mainly based on fishing the Tonle Sap Lake, small business and service. They were very excited and moved when receiving the gift from the Prime Minister. They also expressed their deep gratitude to the Party and State of Vietnam, and the Prime Minister for paying more attention and supporting them over the past time both physically and mentally, to help them overcome difficulties in order to stabilize their lives./. A number of French Formula One drivers, past and present, have reacted to say how delighted they are to see the return of their home race at Circuit Paul Ricard in 2018. Officials from the Provence-Alpes-Cote dAzur region and Var departement have confirmed on Monday that the Le Castellet venue has secured a five-year deal to host the French Grand Prix again, which will end a 10-year absence from the F1 calendar. Following the presentation, pre-recorded messages from several French drivers were shown at the premises of the Automobile Club de France in Paris. This is a huge project, and great news for French motorsports, for the French automotive industry as well as tourism in the region, said four-time world champion Alain Prost, who is the last driver to have won at Paul Ricard in 1990. I naturally plan on attending the event and hope it will be a great popular success. Prosts former driver and ex-Ferrari star Jean Alesi added: Seeing the French Grand Prix return to Paul Ricard is the best racing news I have heard in a long time, I am thrilled as it brings back a lot of great memories. Ill come along with all my friends to experience it as fan. Congratulations to Circuit Paul Ricard and long live the French GP! His contemporary Olivier Panis, the last Frenchman to have tasted victory in F1 at the 1996 Grand Prix, was equally pleased with the news: Many congratulations to the whole team that has been working on bringing the French GP back at Circuit Paul Ricard. I am proud and happy. I have experienced it from the inside during my career and its quite special. Well be supporting the organisers to make sure the event is successful. There are currently two French drivers on the grid with Esteban Ocon, who recently signed a multi-year deal at Force India for 2017, and 10-time podium finisher Romain Grosjean. The Haas racer admits he had lost hope of competing on home soil. I am sorry I could not be there for the announcement of this great news, Grosjean said. You can easily imagine how emotional it will be for us French drivers to race in front of our fans. I have talked about it with others and to be honest I have had some doubts over the recent years and then all of sudden, thanks to many people pulling together, the return of French GP has materialised. Its quite exceptional. Circuit Paul Ricard is a unique venue and I look forward to being there in 2018 and trying to win my first French GP! 2016 GP2 Series champion Pierre Gasly, who attended the press conference, hopes he can be on the grid by the time F1 heads back to the south of France for the first time in 28 years. The wait has been long but now its over, the Red Bull junior said. A lot of fans in France have been waiting for it and its just incredible. Ill do my best to be there, behind the wheel of an F1 car. That would be unbelievable to experience these very special moments. Gasly's fellow Normandy-born driver Ocon tweeted: Very happy to see the French Grand Prix back to the F1 calendar. Can't wait to race at Circuit Paul Ricard in front of the French fans. An alleged thief is accused of trying to buy $274 worth of items with a fraudulent credit card at Boscov's department store in the Palmer Park Mall. A man obtained a fraudulent credit card at Boscov's Department Store, police said. (file photo) Charged is Judeson Charles, no age provided, of Brooklyn, New York. Charles at 8:32 p.m. Friday was apprehended by a Boscov's loss prevention officer when a store employee suspected the card Charles was using was fake. The employee was tipped off that the card had been issued at a Boscov's store at 7:31 p.m. that same day in Plymouth Township, police said. Charles allegedly used a phony identification and successfully opened the account in Plymouth Township. Police made contact with the person on the fake identification and he told police he never opened a credit card at Boscov's, court records say. The card was then deactivated by the time Charles tried to buy two items -- valued at $150 and $124 -- at the Palmer Park Mall store location. Charles allegedly later provided police with his true identity. Charles is charged with identity theft, access device fraud and theft. He was arraigned before District Judge James Narlesky, who set bail at $50,000. In lieu of bail, Charles was sent to Northampton County Prison. The judge ordered he stay away from Boscov's. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A former Whitehall Township couple claims an AmeriGas employee allowed propane to escape as he filled a heater's tank, leading to an explosion two years ago. Christopher Dearringer and Lauren Sowers, who now live together in Palmerton, filed their suit Dec. 1 in Lehigh County Court in connection with the Dec. 30, 2014 incident. In the suit, the couple says an AmeriGas employee came to their apartment building at 2678 Eberhart Road in Whitehall to refill a propane-fueled heater. The employee, who is not named, allowed a "significant" amount of propane to escape into the apartment, the suit claims. When the employee tried to relight the pilot light, the gas ignited, according to the suit. At the time, township fire Chief Robert Benner said someone flipped a light switch and the ensuing spark created a "fireball flash." Dearringer was burned and thrown across the apartment, while Souders, who was in bed at the time, had debris fall on her. The AmeriGas employee was also burned, officials said. Dearringer suffered burns on his face, and injuries to his back; both he and the AmeriGas employee were taken for treatment to the burn center at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township. Sowers "continues to suffer from mental distress and anxiety over the explosion," the suit says. Asked about the details of the suit, AmeriGas spokeswoman Kate Stickel said the company could not discuss specifics because of the litigation. "The safe and reliable delivery of propane to our customers has been, and will always be, our number one priority," Stickel wrote in an email. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Despite substantial improvements to maternity services and management Portlaoise hospital is at a critical juncture because of a lack of change in the general hospital services and an absence of a plan for its future, according to a new report. The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), the health service watchdog, has just completed a follow-up report to its 2014 statutory investigation carried out after the deaths of babies at the hospital. It has found significant improvements in the corporate and clinical arrangements. The hospital now has senior management team with a clear focus on quality and safety. Maternity has improved and is safer on many levels but this is tempered by the finding by HIQA that full integration with the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital is some way off and there is a lack of a commitment to invest in the unit. Staffing remains below what it should be. While the HSE has acted on the management side and the involvement of the Coombe has ensured progress in maternity, there appears to have been little done to upgrade the rest of services at the hospital to a Category 3 level. The HSE is spending extra money but the status quo remains in medical and surgical services including A&E, HIQA has found. HIQA says that while extra cash is being spent and more staff work at the hospital there is an overall reliance on agency and temporary staff. It finds little substantial change in general and medical services. It concludes that the A&E cannot safely and effectively treat sicker patients. It says arrangements at the A&E are unsustainable. It says HIQA is not assured that Intensive Care Unit services are sustainable. The watchdog continues to have substantial concerns over the future. It references the plan drawn up by the HSE which has not been agreed by the Minister of Health. The HIQA review team believes that Portlaoise hospital has now reached a critical juncture. The status quo is not an acceptable long term situation from a patient safety point of view, and the ongoing uncertainty that results from the lack of a long term plan is damaging for the hospital and impacts on current service sustainability. A decision on what general medical and surgical services that hospital can, or might safely sustainably provide with service design, needs to be urgently made in the best interests of patients, it said. In particular it says the receipt of undifferentiated patients should be addressed in the short term. In 2014 HIQA carried out a root and branch review of services and found shortcomings in many areas. The watchdog also was extremely critical of the HSEs role in the maternity problems and the overall running and role of the hospital. It made national and local recommendations. Some of the national recommendations have been implemented others not. The HSE hospital group that manages Portlaoise hospital has welcomed a new report on the hospital but insists that significant progress has been made at the hospital. The Dublin Midlands Hospital Group (DMHG) welcomes todays publication by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) of its report on the Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise (MRHP/the hospital). "All of us management, staff, and the wider community share a commitment to ensuring that the patients of Portlaoise Hospital receive the highest possible standard of care. "The progress made over the course of the past 18 months is due to investment, recruitment, and in particular the commitment of local clinical and management staff. "The hospitals 2016 budget of 51.7 million is 6.8 million or 15% greater than its 2012 base. In that period, there has been an 18% increase in staffing levels across maternity, paediatric, medicine and emergency services, as well as investment in quality and safety. There are now six funded obstetrics and gynaecological posts, four of which are joint appointments with the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital. Funding for midwifery posts is consistent with Birthrate Plus national standards. The hospital group said the Portlaoise hospital is proceeding with recruiting an additional emergency medicine consultant to extend supervisory hours in the Emergency Department and the DMHG is ensuring that transfer protocols for complex surgery are clearly defined. It said the hospital is committed to ensuring its consultants refer directly to consultants at the DMHGs complex surgery hospitals (St. James Hospital, Tallaght Hospital, and the Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore). The no refusal policy is working, and we acknowledge the hospitals commitment to our patient transfer policy. "Notwithstanding the substantial financial and staff investment in the hospital, HIQA recognises that significant challenges remain, including general services, particularly in the Emergency Department and Critical Care. Recruitment, and the dependency on agency staff is also a notable challenge. "In compliance with HIQAs May 2015 report, the DMHG, in collaboration with the Acute Hospitals Division of the Health Services Executive (HSE), National Clinical Programme leaders and the National Ambulance Service, has developed an Action Plan for hospital services in the midlands. This plan is being submitted to the Department of Health for its review," he said. HSE noted that HIQA found: - Significant improvements in corporate and clinical governance, and management structures at the hospital; - Improvement in maternity services and the benefit of developing the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital and MRHP clinical network partnership; - Close working relationships between the hospitals in the DMHG and improved integration of services that have helped in addressing the deficiencies noted by HIQA in May 2015. Waterways Ireland 2017 Event Programme welcomes applications from event organisers for events taking place on or along the waterways. Formerly called the Sponsorship Programme in 2017, Waterways Ireland Event Programme is seeking applications for sustainable events and activity in waterway and waterside communities. Taking place annually for the past 11 years the Programme has supported competitions, learning experiences, community, historical and educational events for people with and without disabilities across 1000's of communities nationwide. Involving angling, canoeing, rowing, sailing and power-sports, arts, history, drama, learning new skills, these events have most importantly been about having fun. Sharon Lavin, Head of Marketing and Communications with Waterways Ireland stated that The Waterways Ireland Events Programme supports 100's of community events. The new vision for the Event Programme will activate event organisers to consider how they can build in ongoing activity and sustained use of the waterways corridors into their event. Tourism & participation in recreation has a social and economic impact in waterfront communities, and events are a great way to engage communities with previously under-utilised waterways." For the first time, applications can now be made online. The application form and guidance notes can be viewed, and completed online at https://eventsprogramme. waterwaysireland.org . Terms and conditions apply. The closing date the receipt of completed applications is 17th January 2017. Waterways Ireland is the Recreation and Navigation Authority for the Barrow Navigation, Erne System, Grand Canal, Lower Bann Navigation, Royal Canal, Shannon-Erne Waterway and the Shannon Navigation. In the past week, attentive British citizens could see a clear divide opening up between the two Dutch ALDE member parties, the EU-enthusiasts and Social Liberals (in Beveridges tradition) D66, and the populist (see the enduring stature of prominent ex-leaders like Hans Wiegel) VVD. On Monday, a short furore erupted in the British tabloid media over conversation notes gleaned from the writing pad of a Tory political assistant coming out of Downing Street 10 (or 9: the Brexit Department). She was the assistant of Tory party vice-chairman (International) Mark Field, and she and Field were accompanying foreign visitors who obviously had had a meeting about Brexit. The notes appeared to suggest that the Tory Brexit strategy is as Boris Johnson sometime brags: have your cake and eat it. Nobody asked or mentioned who those foreigners were: the leader, Mr. Halbe Zijlstra, and Foreign Affairs spokesman, Mr. Han ten Broeke, of the VVD parliamentary party. Dutch voters well remember that VVD party leader (since 2006), and present coalition prime minister, Mark Rutte had a warm personal and ideological (Green Right) bond with David Cameron as party leader and prime minister; obviously that bond has been continued with Theresa Mays party leadership. Although the VVD at present is a coalition party in the Dutch government, and looks set to return in the coalition after the March 2017 general elections, it isnt that normal for leaders from any foreign parliamentary party to get to visit Downing Street (9, 10 or 11). When news of this visit appeared in the Dutch Telegraaf newspaper, nobody said anything about the VVD top brass visiting the struggling LibDems, to support them. On Friday December 2nd, the LibDems celebrated their victory after the Richmond by-election campaign which we framed with the motto: No Evacuation without Representation (=Commons mandate for implementing Article 50). Congratulations to all concerned, by the way. The LibDems clearly demonstrated their undiminished EU-enthusiasm, and abhorrence of the Brexit folly, which turns out to be an unmanageable beast (Bagehot, Economist) for the unprepared British government. D66 has remained just as pro-European, despite our reversal in the Dutch Spring 2016 Referendum on the EU Association Treaty with Ukraine (in that campaign prime minister Rutte made just one TV appeal to vote yes; that was the entire campaign effort by the VVD party machine; D66 had thousands of canvassers and activists on the street). On Saturday, at the big ALDE conference in Warsaw, Mr. Rutte made a speech as VVD party leader, which exposed the inconsequent VVD line on European politics: he explicitly emphasized the ideological divide between VVD and D66 on Europe, calling us dreamers on even further integration, who werent listening to the worries and concerns of average citizens about mass immigration and EU federalization. But at the same time he demanded much more EU federal diplomacy, making treaties with Egypt and Morocco to return African migrants risking their lives on the Mediterranean (without increasing the EU development aid for the Sahel countries those migrants are fleeing from, seeking a decent living standard and remittances to their families; the VVD is fiercely against altruistic Development Aid to the Third World). Unbeknown to his ALDE audience, Rutte was also dead wrong on D66 not listening to the worries and grievances of ordinary people (and he knew it!). The biggest Dutch media event of the past week was the 8 minutes monologue (without autocue, from the heart) on Wednesday of 85 years old former D66 party leader Jan Terlouw on the popular evening TV talkshow DWDD. Terlouw was an active politician in the years 1967-82, but most young people know him from his still widely read factional or parable-like youth books like Winter in Wartime about a boy in the Nazi occupation (1940-45), and How to become king, a political manifesto (on disarmament and pollution, amongst others) in parable, fantasy form. As he has done all through his career, Terlouw expressed his concern about Climate Change and about the immaterial side of building up and living in the Welfare State. He reminded older viewers how up to the mid-1960s, people let dangle a cord from their letterboxes so children could get home (Dutch women started working part-time in droves from that era). This symbolized the trust amongst people in that age, Terlouw said; and governments (even if you were in opposition) enjoyed the same trust from citizens. Terlouw contrasted that to the social distrust in present Western European societies; and how Populists (Trump!) enhance distrust in all governments whatever they do. He appealed to politicians to help restore that trust (Mr. Rutte had made foolish promises in his 2012 re-election campaign, as he recently acknowledged), and said I dont mind myself, Ive had a good life, but (pointing to a row of young people in the studio audience) I do it, we should do it for them, for their and our future. This monologue instantly went viral on all possible social media; and at his weekly Friday press conference as prime minister, Rutte acknowledged these points from Terlouw. In 40 years of active politics (from my student days), I never heard a comparable monologue from any VVD speaker; Terlouw made me a lifelong D66 activist. * Dr. Bernard Aris is a historian, a D66 parliamentary researcher and a LibDem supporting member. A report with this title was released last week by the Centre for Economics and Business Research for Open Britain. This report was somewhat shyly presented by cautious Remainers as a case against sectoral EU-negotiations. More importantly, however, it makes a compelling case for continued full membership in the European single market. It should be mandatory reading for everyone who still believes that: UK exports to the EU are meaningless and shrinking. Truth : GBP 187 billion, 3.25 million jobs, 10.3% of GDP : GBP 187 billion, 3.25 million jobs, 10.3% of GDP Many sectors are unaffected by EU-trade. Truth : supply-chain integration is pervasive across almost all business sectors. : supply-chain integration is pervasive across almost all business sectors. Just a few industries need special EU-access deals. Truth : sectors are interlinked and many indirect EU-links exist. : sectors are interlinked and many indirect EU-links exist. Barrier-free trade can be replicated via free trade deals. Truth : full and ongoing compliance with all EU-regulations mandatory. : full and ongoing compliance with all EU-regulations mandatory. Britain can trade more cheaply outside the customs union. Truth : such components or products cannot be sold tariff-and barrier-free in the EU. : such components or products cannot be sold tariff-and barrier-free in the EU. Services will be unaffected by Brexit, because they are not part of the single market. Truth : the ongoing completion of the single market will exclude non-compliant service providers. : the ongoing completion of the single market will exclude non-compliant service providers. Excessive EU immigration can be replaced by local talent. Truth : many sectors can only succeed if European creative talent flows freely. : many sectors can only succeed if European creative talent flows freely. Regulatory equivalence can substitute passporting for financial services. Truth : equivalence is debatable and not dynamically robust. : equivalence is debatable and not dynamically robust. Reducing housing demand is good. Truth : an FDI-downturn would negatively impact the entire UK economy. : an FDI-downturn would negatively impact the entire UK economy. Big parts of the economy could be freed from onerous EU-regulation. Truth : no sector is truly EU-export-free; multiple product lines because of regulatory divergence are costly. : no sector is truly EU-export-free; multiple product lines because of regulatory divergence are costly. After Brexit, the UK will be its own sovereign rule maker. Truth: the UK will become an EU rule-taker. The full report is here. * Arnold Kiel is a self-employed Management Consultant, father of two sons in British education, and very concerned about their future in this Europe A ROW has erupted between Limerick TD Willie O'Dea and Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar, after the Fine Gael man was recruited by RTE to front a late night radio show. Mr Varadkar who was in Limerick three weeks ago for the Chamber Business Awards will be one of the guest presenters on RTE Radio One's Late Date show over Christmas. But his political rival's new role has not impressed the former Defence Minister and Limerick polltopper. "Leo Varadkar is a marvel. As Minister for Health and now as Minister for Social Protection, he has turned on their head the traditional, constitutional notions of a Cabinet Minister, where a person is appointed by the Taoiseach and paid well by the State to take responsibility for a Government department, said Deputy ODea, in a statement released by Fianna Fail. Instead, he has crafted a role for himself as resident chat show panellist and a sort of celebrity political commentator, where he muses on how terrible things are, and how something should be done. When it comes to actual political accountability and having a vision for the department he is responsible for, he is nowhere to be seen," he said. Mr O'Dea who as Fianna Fail's spokesman on Social Protection is in effect Mr Varadkar's opposite number in Dail Eireann added: "The country is suffering from truly shocking levels of deprivation and the Social Protection Minister is planning to take on a radio show. If it was anyone else, it would be called out and ridiculed as an unprecedented self-promoting absurdity. But its no problem for Leo Varadkar. Indeed, it is a natural progression for the most hands-off minister in modern times," he added, claiming the Dublin TD has a "special relationship" with the State btroadcaster. However, Mr Varadkar responded to Mr O'Dea's statement with a humourous tweet, quipping: Ah chill Willie. It'll be the week after Xmas & the graveyard shift. You're most welcome to ring in a request if you like. THE head of the Limerick garda division has praised the innovation being shown by young people across the city and county. Chief Superintendent David Sheahan made his comments during the third annual Limerick Garda Youth Awards, which saw five young people and several youth groups honoured. Sponsored by Garveys Supervalu and Centra, the awards aim to honour young people, who have made a significant contribution to the community in which they live. Lee Quinn (18) from Moyross received an award for overcoming several personal challenges to secure a place at the Trainee Jockey programme with the Racing Academy and Centre of Education (RACE) in Kildare. It feels good to be doing something with my life. I used to always get into trouble but now everyone likes me so its cool, said Lee who says young people should always keep working to achieve their dreams. Another award winner was 13-year-old Aine OConnor from Lisnagry who cut off ten inches of her hair for charity. I did it for my uncle (Raymond OConnor) who had passed away from cancer. He used to live with us so he was kind of with me throughout my whole life. It was hard when he died so I felt I should do something, said Aine who received the award on the second anniversary of her uncles death. Another award recipient was Sarah Duggan (17) from Mungret. In addition to volunteering at a local charity shop she has played a huge role in recent years by raising more that 12,000 for her local GAA club by selling weekly lottery tickets. Ive always loved doing the work and it gives me such a great opportunity to meet my neighbours and have relationships that I wouldnt have gotten before and I am very grateful for that, said Sarah who is a student at Colaiste Mhuire in Askeaton. Four students from Colaiste Chiarain in Croom were honoured for their efforts in overcoming major adversity and challenges in their lives. Since arriving in Ireland from various parts of Africa, Hassatour Diallo, Merveille Mangidi, Ntoya Kahusu and Moise Kahusu have learned English and embedded themselves in the local community. We take it so much for granted that we just engage in our own community - to be transported to a new community, to learn a new language and to achieve what they have achieved is just phenomenal, said John Kelly from the school completion programme at Colaiste Chiarain who nominated the four students. The Mayor of Limerick City and County, Cllr Kieran OHanlon attended the awards ceremony at the Woodlands House Hotel in Adare as did a number of senior gardai including Assistant Commissioner Ann Marie McMahon. The youth of today have opportunities that we never had in our time growing up and what we are saying is we acknowledge what ye have done and we want to say thank you and continue with what youre doing because your inspiration will provide the inspiration for more, said Chief Supt Sheahan. Full List of winners: Express Yourself Mental Health Group (LYS), Luke Culhane (Castletroy View), Hugh Conlon, Aidan Earlie, Kevin le Gear, James Mullins (Crescent Comprehensive TY), Sarah Duggan (Mungret), Hassatour Diallo, Merveille Mangidi, Ntoya Kahusu and Moise Kahusu (Colaiste Chiarain), Aine OConnor (Lisnagry),Luke, Phillip and Janke Kinsella (Clonlara), Cian OGRady (Herberstown) Lee Quinn (Moyross) OVER 100 residents near Thomond Park have submitted a petition to An Bord Pleanala against the erection of commercial billboards at the famous ground. The Mayorstone Coolraine Residents Association are the sole objectors to the plans by the Thomond Park Stadium Company Limited to install two large LED commercial advertising billboards on the South Terrace Road. They argue that the home of Munster Rugby is situated in a predominantly residential area, and that the proposed signage will face the exclusively residential Mayorstone estate. The most significant personal and professional investment made in a lifetime is the purchase of a home to enjoy and take pride in, and commercial advertising will have a considerable adverse impact on the quality of life of the residents, and the value and desirability of property in the area, they state in their objection. They also claim that after dark it will provide a lit and sheltered area which will attract anti-social behaviour. While the billboards are for wet posters, they will be illuminated at night-time. Speaking to the Limerick Leader, John Cantwell, stadium director at Thomond Park, said that the billboards are of a much reduced size than those previously in place, and form a part of its revenue raising activities, which in turn fund their community programmes. We have taken the concerns of the residents into consideration, as we do at all times, and hope we come to a satisfactory conclusion. We have a very healthy relationship with the residents, and we wish to maintain that, said Mr Cantwell. The signage doesnt bring in a huge amount of revenue, but it helps to fund our community programme including community sponsorship funding, for youth programmes, senior citizens programmes; its all inclusive. Were not just about staging matches and generating revenue for Munster Rugby we want to ensure we have a positive impact for the local community. Were getting ready for some busy games now, which will hopefully benefit all of Limerick not just Thomond Park. We have to try to generate revenues as well to ensure that the stadium is sustainable. The application is for a minimal amount of signage, and is in line with what other stadia display. He said they are endeavouring to secure music concerts for Thomond Park, but many of the big name acts are being directed to Dublin. Pink, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen have all played in the 40m stadium but there have been no concerts there since 2013. Well continue our best efforts, because its a fine venue for concerts. It wont be for the lack of trying. Asked if Beyonce could yet make an appearance on the citys northside, he said, with a laugh: Wed have Beyonce in the morning. He said there has been a upswing in attendances at matches this year most recently at the sell-out Munster versus Maori All Blacks match noting a success for Thomond Park, is a success for the city as a whole. Limerick City and County Council had last month granted the development permission for a period of three years to further assess the visual, traffic safety and other consequences of the development, in the interest of proper planning and development and in the light of changing circumstances. The case is due to be decided upon by An Bord Pleanala, the national planning authority, by April 10 next. THE University of Limerick Alumni Association has issued a warning after it was alerted to a social media scam which is targeting its members. The association, which has contacted members in recent days, says all graduates of UL are automatically enrolled as lifetime members at no cost. This is a scam, its not unique to us and we want to make it clear that membership of our association is completely free and that we would never ask for money, said Majella OConnell, executive director of the UL Alumni Association who added that graduates of UL are not the only people being targeted. Its part of a global scam that is targeting many many universities including our own. There were ads circulating on Facebook and Linked in encouraging alumni of any university to contact them to join their association and they were targeting their communication based on the information that individual alumni would have offered on their social media profiles, she told the Limerick Leader. While all members of the UL Alumni association have been advised of the scam, it is understood only a small number of UL graduates have been directly targeted. AN INQUEST has heard emotional testimony from friends and fellow bikers of the late Aidan Lynam, who died in a road traffic collision in county Clare while he was undertaking a charity motorcycle in aid of Down Syndrome Ireland. The fundraising event, Rev-up4DSI, had been his brain-child and was in its tenth year, raising over 1.6m in that time. He had worked for the charity in its head office in Dublin and had helped operate its help line service. He became involved with the charity after the birth of his daughter Robyn in 2005, who has Down Syndrome. Limerick Coroner's Court heard this Monday morning that Aidan, 44, a father of three from Woodview, Lucan, county Dublin, was overtaking two vehicles when his motorbike collided with a Volkwagen Polo five-door hatchback on the Kilkee to Kilrush N67 road, as the car approached the junction from a local road. After nearly three hours of evidence from gardai and civilian witnesses, the jury recorded a verdict of accidental death in accordance with the medical evidence, as a result of the road traffic accident on Sunday, May 3, 2015. The speed limit in the area was 50km, and the "weather was dry and clear, with good visibility", gardai outlined. The court heard that the deceased was the lead motorcyclist in the group, and had given a safety demonstration that morning prior to their departure. The group stopped in the Burren and other scenic locations in Clare to take pictures before the collision occurred. There were 150 motorcyclists participating in that Bank Holiday weekend event, which was subsequently cancelled after the crash. The motorcyclists escorted his hearse back to Dublin that weekend. He was airlifted from Clare to the University Hospital Limerick by the coastguard helicopter. Dr Vourneen Healy, who performed the autopsy, outlined that he suffered acute cardio respiratory failure. The coroner, Dr Timothy Casey, extended his sympathies to the deceased's family, as well as the driver of the other vehicle, whom he said "has also suffered trauma and has to live with this." The driver of that vehicle, a 21 year-old woman, said that she left her house on her own at around 10.30am and travelled to her boyfriend's mother's house, as they decided to go for breakfast in Kilkee. "I looked right and saw cars coming as I approached the junction. I had to pull out a bit more to go left," she said in her testimony, which was read to the court. A local resident later called her over to her house, asked her to sit down and gave her a cup of tea. Shortly later gardai asked her to do a breathalyser test at 12.25pm, to determine any alcohol in her system, which she passed. She had been driving for two years at that time, and travelled that stretch of road five days out of seven, she said in her statement. She sustained injuries to her right shoulder, including "scorching" from the seatbelt, and travelled to hospital in an ambulance with her mother, who was called to the scene. Sergeant Seamus O'Regan, a forensic collision investigator in the Western region and based in Oranmore, county Galway, outlined to the court that when he arrived at the scene at 2pm, the two airbags in the Polo had been deployed, and the gear-stick was in first gear. The vehicle was found to be in good condition, and Mr Lynam's BMW motorbike was in "very good pre-collision condition", with 3,322km on the clock. It was in third gear at the time of the inspection. Witness Matthew Lennon said that he had his 13 year-old son Jack with him that day, and recalled Aidan's bike being some 10 meters in front of his own. He couldn't recall their exact speed, but estimated it was in the region of 60-70km/hr. Another witness Mary Roche, from Lisheen, Kilkee, said that she was driving out of Kilkee and heard the motorbikes approaching, and she adjusted her speed to allow them to pass "The next thing I saw was the impact between the bike and car," she said. Ms Roche said she spoke to the driver of the vehicle, "who was in shock and asked me if it was her fault." Witness Emma Philips said that she and two others were on their way to get the ferry from Killimer, having stayed in Lahinch the night before. She saw the bikers approaching in her wing mirror. She said there was "excellent visibility and it was the perfect day to be on a bike." Also a biker, Ms Philips had undertaken training in the safe removal of motorbike helmets during collisions, and approached the scene. She said he was breathing, but it was laboured. A friend of hers began chest compressions until the paramedics arrived. Ann Ryan, from Dungarvan in Waterford, said she was a pillion passenger on her husband's motorbike. As they approached the scene of the accident, she "thought someone had skidded and come off their bike. But I knew when I saw one lady's face that it was more serious." After last year's tragic events, the cycle continued this year in Aidan's memory and to raise funds for Down Syndrome Ireland. The three-day charity run has grown in size each year - this year saw 140 riders and 40 pillions set off from Dublin. The route is never revealed in advance, with route maps given to riders just ahead of each day's three stages. Aidan's wife Nicky and children Jake (14), Robyn (11) and Harry (8), joined the run once again this year and witnessed the unveiling of a new logo for the event, bearing an image of Aidan on one of his beloved BMW motorbikes. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has complained about inaction by Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) Nazar Kholodnytsky in the so-called UIA case to Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, but the agency did not ask to hold him responsible, NABU has told Interfax-Ukraine. NABU said that on November 10 NABU detectives using the procedure described in Article 277 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine sent a notification to the SAP head for approval that concerns suspecting the head and chief accountant of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) and ex-head of the State Aviation Service of Ukraine of embezzling funds from the state specialized fund for financing aviation activities and Ukraine's participation in international aviation organizations. The persons are criminally punishable under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. NABU received a letter signed by Kholodnytsky on November 24. SAP refused to approve the documents. After analyzing the letter, NABU detectives concluded the judgments made not in line with the information confirmed by the materials of the investigation. On November 25, NABU sent a complaint of inaction of the SAP head to meet the requirements of Articles 311-312 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. The press service said that instead of studying the complaint and taking measures as required by law the PGO head made public statements, which could worsen ties between NABU and SAP. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) intends to start cooperation with Ukrainian state-run postal enterprise (Ukrposhta) to improve the corporate management at the enterprise and would consider investment in the company in the future. The EBRD has been working with Ukrposhta under the EBRD program to support the state enterprise sector reform, EBRD Director for Ukraine Sevki Acuner said. He said that the bank would work on the plan to improve Ukrposhta's corporate management. If the bank sees a need in investment later, the EBRD is ready to work in this direction, he said. He added that the EBRD is holding a dialog about investment with other Ukrainian postal and logistics operators. The bank is ready to finance any company meeting the conditions of the bank's financing, Acuner said. As reported, corporatization of Ukrposhta was started in July 2016. Its completion is scheduled for the end of the first quarter of 2017. Britain's Crown Agents has signed an agreement with Ukraine's Health Ministry for 10 medicine procurement programs using 2016 budget funds. Crown Agents said in a press release that the agency will procure medicines and medical products worth UAH 932.22 million for the ministry. At present, Crown Agents has signed agreement to procure medicines to treat patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (UAH 357.222 million) and procure prosthetic implants and implantation tools (UAH 44.886 million). Contraceptives for women with serious diseases will be procured under the reproductive health program (UAH 1.238 million), medicines used to provide first aid to people bleeding (UAH 16.625 million) and medicines to treat neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (UAH 51.116 million). Crown Agents will procure medicines and consumable materials for child dialysis (UAH 35.591 million), medicines and medical products to develop blood donation (UAH 160.915 million), consumable materials for peritoneal dialysis (UAH 143.795 million), consumable materials for blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin tests (UAH 19.740 million) and HIV tests (UAH 101.092 million). The first procurement agreement under two programs using 2016 budget funds were signed by Crown Agents on October 27. On December 1, the agency signed an expanded agreement to procure under two more programs. In the middle of December it is planned to sign an expanded agreement under one more additional program. Head of Ukrenergo Vsevolod Kovalchuk and European Commission Vice President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic have discussed integration of Ukraine's power grid with the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) in the realistic terms. The press service of Ukrenergo reported that the sides arranged that consultations with representatives of the European Commission will be held in the near term at the expert level to accelerate the integration. The meeting was held as part of the tenth SET Plan Central European Energy Conference held in Bratislava on December 2, which the Ukrenergo's delegation took part in. Kovalchuk in his speech at the panel entitled "Market integration III: Regional market-coupling in electricity" told about the state of the Ukrainian power market reform, further possible ways of its integration with markets of the neighbor countries (Moldova, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania) and next steps in Ukrainian power grid's integration with ENTSO-E. He said that the integration even with several markets of neighbor countries would help Ukraine to better prepare for the complete integration with ENTSO-E. "This could be done gradually, step by step, and start now. The will of Ukraine is needed. We have it. The interest of our partners is needed as well One should not wait for a comprehensive technical and political decision on the full integration the steps should be made now," he said. The press service said that at the panel where heads of Austrian, Polish, Czech, Hungarian and Slovakian systemic operators took part, it was clearly said that Ukrenergo is ready to start consultations with partners to determine top priority steps to integrate the markets and bring cooperation to the strategic level. One of the steps will be the launch of electronic annual/monthly/daily unilateral auctions between Burshtyn Energy Island and ENTSO-E. Kovalchuk expressed confidence that the Ukrainian power grid could be useful for European consumers. Natural gas stocks in Ukraine's underground storage facilities since the beginning of the 2016/17 heating season started on October 13 and as of December 3, 2016 narrowed by 1.324 million cubic meters (mcm) or 9%, to 13.408 billion cubic meters (bcm). According to public joint-stock company Ukrtransgaz, on December 3, Ukraine pumped 55.64 mcm from the underground storage facilities and in the period from December 1 through December 3 153.45 mcm. In November daily gas pumping was 30.31 mcm. As of December 3, 2016, daily imports of gas were 54.442 mcm (42.679 mcm from Slovakia, Hungary 7.621 mcm, Poland 4.142 mcm). Ukraine has halted imports of gas from Russia since November 26, 2015 (for almost 12 months). Gas production in Ukraine on December 3 was 55.725 mcm (Ukrgazvydobuvannia 40.324 mcm, Ukrnafta 3.304 mcm and other companies 12.097 mcm). Transit via Ukrainian gas transport system in first days of December was large. On December 1 through December 3 it was 873.3 mcm (equals to the monthly figure of around 8.7 bcm). As reported, Ukrtransgaz Head Ihor Prokopiv said that the company presented a road map to Naftogaz Ukrainy. Ukraine's needs in daily imports until March 1, 2017 are to be 40-42 mcm, and only from March 1 the need will fall to 27 mcm. Naftogaz Ukrainy believes that natural gas stocks in Ukraine's underground storage facilities are enough to last the heating season. The company has technical opportunities to additionally import more gas if winter were cold. According to the holding's calculations, at the end of the heating season 7-8 bcm of gas would be left in the underground storage facilities with the limit of no less than 5 bcm. Ukrtransgaz operates the system of trunk gas pipelines and 12 underground gas storage facilities in the country with a total capacity of 31 bcm. Leading domestic business associations, that formed a coalition "To Deshadowing of Economy", have addressed a speech to the President of Ukraine and the heads of all government bodies with the demand to approve the law about amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine #5368 on the next session week in the Supreme Rada (the authors are: working group with representatives of the Ministry of Finance, MPs, business circles and experts). This appeal was signed by the leaders of the Ukrainian Association of Manufacturers, the Association of Ukrainian business, the Ukrainian Association of the Importers of household appliances, Pharmacy Professional Association of Ukraine, Association of Entrepreneurs of information technologies in Ukraine, Turkish-Ukrainian Union of Entrepreneurs and Industrialists and others. Business associations consider the main task of the proposal #5368 to create conditions for the State Fiscal Service to transit from controlling to a service function. The authors of the public appeal stay for the elimination of the tax police and the establishment of the Financial Police with the subordination to the Ministry of Finance, the transfer of the right to provide generalized advice on the application of tax legislation to the Ministry of Finance, which will reduce the proportion of consultations that violates the rights of taxpayers. In addition, members of the Coalition "To deshadowing of economy " believe that the bill will ensure the transfer of control for tax bases to the Ministry of Finance (which will reduce the risk of undue interference and manipulation of their content), and to legislate the functionality of the electronic office of the taxpayer. "The changes provided in VAT administration section in #5368 are significant for the current business in Ukraine, - states the text of the appeal, - namely, the elimination of the two registers of applications for VAT compensation, which violate the principle of equality of taxpayers and creates opportunities for corruption of the tax; creation of additional analytics possibilities to identify circuits that are used for the resale of the tax credit in order to evade payment of VAT and other taxes optimization, through the introduction of compulsory showing of UCGFEA codes for goods and SPSC for services; protection of the tax credit; setting new terms for the registration of tax bills, which effectively frees the business from the reserving of working capital for VAT, and so on. Ukrainian business associations consider the bill #5368 as preferred component, and noted the need to approve it to the end of 2016 with the preservation of all important regulations required for the operating business. Text of the letter can be found on the site of the Coalition - http://business-coalition.com.ua/letter.php A giant larvacean, Bathochordaeus charon, surrounded by its inner "house" (the rounded globular object in the middle of the photo) and it's outer "house (the large yellowish mucus net) A mysterious sea blob that looks like a psychedelic Slinky has finally been spotted, more than a century after it was first described. The translucent, sea-dwelling invertebrate, called Bathochordaeus charon, was identified recently off the coast of Monterey, California, by scientists using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Though B. charon was first discovered a century ago, no one had managed to confirm its existence in all those years, Rob Sherlock, a scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute who found the creature, told Live Science in an email. [See Photos of the Translucent Sea Blob] Mysterious sea creature B. charon belongs to a group of sea creatures known as larvaceans normally teensy, millimeter-size creatures whose bodies resemble a tadpole's, with a large "head" (actually a trunk) and a tail, Sherlock said. A giant larvacean, Bathochordaeus charon, that has discarded its mucus feeding filters and is swimming freely in the open ocean. (Image credit: (c) 2007 MBARI) Though the sea is teeming with tiny larvaceans, the larger versions, which can have bodies extending up to 3.9 inches (10 centimeters), are much less common. To eat, the sea blob filters food through its shimmering, parachute-like mucus "house" almost 3.3 feet (1 m) in length. By waving its tail, it stirs the water and pulls particles directly into its house. Large particles get trapped and form a fine dusting of marine "snow" on the house, while the smaller particles pass through, concentrating and then funneling into a feeding tube that goes into the mouth, Sherlock said. (The tiny larvaceans also don mucus homes, but they're smaller.) If a passing squid or fish crashes through the house, or big particles clog the feeding tube, larvaceans simply move on and build another house. Without their houses, they cannot eat, Sherlock said. First sightings The first report of B. charon's existence came in 1899, when professor Carl Chun of Leipzig University came across one in the south Atlantic Ocean while leading the Valdivia Expedition, a German mission aimed at exploring the deep sea. Chun believed the creature welled up from the deepest depths of the ocean, so he named the larvacean after Charon, who in Greek mythology ferries the souls of the dead across the river Styx, the researchers reported Aug. 16 in the journal Marine Biodiversity Records. In the decades that followed, several other naturalists reported spotting giant larvaceans, though only a few were captured alive and described thoroughly. In 1936, for instance, British marine biologist Walter Garstang collected a set of giant larvaceans that differed from Chun's, and they were classified as a new species, Bathochordaeus stygius. [Marine Marvels: Spectacular Photos of Sea Creatures] Because the two sets of specimens were similar and Chun's originals were lost to history, scientists eventually began to wonder whether Chun's originally described B. charon was actually the same species as B. stygius. One famous larvacean expert even suggested combining the two species names, Sherlock said. Part of the difficulty in capturing these creatures is that they don't fare well in the trawling nets typically used to collect specimens, Sherlock said. Hiding in plain sight Sherlock and his colleagues happened upon the new species when the team's ROV, called Doc Ricketts, was exploring the waters of Monterey Bay. As soon as they saw it, the crew carefully collected it in a sealed, thermally insulated container. "Since the vehicle was recovered some tens of minutes later, the animal was alive, in fantastic shape, and we preserved it right away in order to send it to the Smithsonian," Sherlock said. "We had no idea, until we looked more closely at the specimen, that we had actually found B. charon, the species first described over a hundred years ago." Genetics and analysis of physical features confirmed the find, Sherlock said. It was official: There really were two distinct species of giant larvacean B. stygius and B. charon. "It felt like Chun had finally been vindicated after years of doubt," Sherlock said. When the team went back over videos from Monterey Bay from the past 25 years, they realized the creature had been spotted many times in the bay. Whether they dwell in places between Monterey Bay and the South Atlantic, however, remains to be seen. Still, this mythical sea blob is fairly rare; over the course of the past few decades, biologists have seen hundreds of B. stygius, but captured footage of only a dozen B. charon individuals, Sherlock said. Original article on Live Science. Ukrainian army reports 25 attacks on its positions in Donbas Ukrainian army positions in Donbas came under 25 attacks over the past day, the anti-terorist operation (ATO) press center said on Facebook on Monday morning. The militants fired small arms, heavy machineguns, grenade launchers and mortars on Talakivka, Shyrokyne, Maryinka and Krasnohorivka in the Mariupol sector, the report said. Mortars shelled Novozvanivka, grenade launchers were used against Krymske, Zhovte, Lopaskyne, Novo-Oleksandrivka and Stanytsia Luhanska, and anti-aircraft systems fired on Novo-Oleksandrivka in the Luhansk sector, it said. "In the Donetsk sector [...] our positions near Avdiyivka were attacked by use of mortars and grenade launchers," the report said. Longford County Council will be accused of negligence unless it salts urban footpaths in the run up to Christmas, a meeting has heard. Cllr Gerry Warnock issued the warning after discovering no plans were in place to treat pedestrian walkways over the coming weeks. The Independent representative said he had learned of the news from his fellow colleagues who sit on the Association of Irish Local Government (AILG). Cllr Warnock said with the Council having access to a 500,000 salt barn in Longford town, it was time a review into winter gritting practices was conducted. However, area engineer Eamon Bennett said acceding to that request was not possible under present local authority policy. I refer you tothe Winter Service Plan of Longford County Council, he interjected. All salt that's in the salt barn is for national and local roads. Mr Bennett said there was no difficulty in making alterations to the council's Winter Service Plan, but modifications could not be made simply at Municipal District level. Right now, under the service plan, the salt that's there is for roads. If you want to bring it back to budget and look at footpaths by all means we can, he said. Cllr Peggy Nolan took a different view. As a member of the AILG, she said delegates had been informed the use of winter salt was at the behest of individual local authorities. Cllr Warnock saidhe was at a loss as to explain why footpaths weren't part of the Council's winter programme. What if an elderly person falls? It's negligence if we don't identify a public safety risk and act on it. It's crazy, he argued. Director of Services Barbara Heslin supported the views expressed by Mr Bennett however. This is an issue for the entire council, she said. In order for you to get it right for 2017 you need to bring it up at the Budget meeting next week. Ukrainian border service when monitoring the maritime zone in Ukraine on the board of Hryhoriy Kuropiatnikov ship with participation of representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Military Prosecutor General's Office, environment inspectorate, Naftogaz Ukrainy, Chornomornaftogaz and other agencies observed violations of international maritime law by Russia near the Odeske gas field in the northwestern part of the Black Sea. First Deputy Head of the Southern regional department of the State Border Service of Ukraine Viktor Babiuk told reporters last week that two self-lifting drilling rigs seized by Russia when it occupied Crimea Ukraine and Tavryda - were spotted in this area of the Black Sea. The border officers used international sea safety channels to address to the persons seized these rigs. They did not respond. A Russian military vessel arrived to the area where the rigs were located after a while. The vessel used unsafe maneuvers near the Ukrainian ship in violation of international maritime law. Thanks to actions of the captain of the Ukrainian ship the collision of the ships was prevented. The Ukrainian border service recorded all facts of violation of international maritime law. "The information will be sent to the relevant agencies," Babiuk said. Longford woman, Jillian McNulty has confirmed to the Leader this week that Orkambi is unlikely to be funded by the Health Service Executive (HSE). The local Cystic Fibrosis (CF) campaigner is currently spearheading a march to get Orkambi funded by the Irish Government. That event is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, December 7 next outside Dail Eireann at 1:30pm. The Leader has learned that Vertex Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures Orkambi, contacted Ms McNulty on Friday and told her that a resolution to the funding saga had not been reached. This now leaves hundreds of CF sufferers, including the Longford woman in limbo as they await official confirmation that the drug will not be made available in Ireland. Nobody knows what is going on at the moment, said Ms McNulty as she tried to contain her disappointment and concern over the matter. The march is still going ahead next Wednesday and it is probably more important now to hold it, than it ever has been. Ms McNulty has been taking Orkambi for the last three years. She initially began it on a trial basis but after a two year period of great success on the drug she was prescribed it 12 months ago. She is adamant that her health has improved dramatically since taking Orkambi. She currently has a months supply left. Its very worrying and I am nervous; Minister Simon Harris has the power to reverse this decision, she continued. Orkambi has saved my life and I have spoken about this before. I will not give up the fight to have this vitally important drug funded by the HSE. Housing Minister Simon Coveney is facing growing calls to amend new legislation that will allow planning applications for large housing developments of more than 100 homes to be made directly to An Bord Pleanala rather than to local councils. Independent Councillor Mae Sexton says the bill, if passed, could have far reaching repercussions for small, rural counties like Longford. "It completely abolishes the local authority's legislative input and the democratic right of the citizen to determine whether such large scale developments are appropriate and sustainable in their own area and have the jobs, hospital, schools and all relevant infrastructure to sustain them," she said. Mr Coveney has already brought the draft heads of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016 before Cabinet despite mounting concerns from local councillors. Under the plans, developers will be charged with holding initial informal discussions with local councils. When discussions have concluded and been completed within a nine week timeframe, a decision must be made to determine whether the application should proceed. Cllr Sexton says the Housing Minister effectively "let the cat out of the bag" as to the plans finer details when insisting building houses was becoming too costly in urban centres compared to more rural settings. "In effect what he is saying is that while the fatcat and vulture fund developers in the cities the very people who brought this country to its knees less than a decade ago continue to be allowed sit on the very extensive landbanks that would relieve the housing crisis in the cities,the Government drags its heels on introducing a Bill with penalties to force them to use or lose their lands," she stated. Cllr Sexton said the Mr Coveney's Bill was unworkable in its present guise, saying the lessons of Ireland's Celtic-Tiger past had not been heeded. "Sustainable balanced development must be the primary goal of any local authority and government. How quickly they have forgotten the debacle of the last decade and the ghost estates," she said. "This Planning Bill must be suspended until the promised site tax levy Bill is enacted in tandem with it." The National Agency on Corruption Prevention has not detected signs of violation of anti-corruption legislation by Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk related to the conflict of interests in owning companies or corporate rights and holding more than one office. The press service of NACP received a request from MP Oleh Liashko to examine the signs of violation of anti-corruption legislation by Danyliuk. NACP studied the information on the transfer of Danyliuk's corporate rights in Rurik Real Estate Investment Limited and CEE Investments & Advisory LLP to blind trust management and the information that Danyliuk is allegedly a member of the board, other executive or supervisory boards of these companies. NACP also examined information if the minister is among the founder (participants) of Rurik Investment LLC, Ksaverovska KV LLC, Ukrtorhservice LLC, Euro-echo-PARK LLC and OMP LLC. Danyliuk presented written explanations to NACP. "NACP has not revealed violation of legislation in actions of Danyliuk," the agency said. There was a skirmish due to unforeseen circumstances with Ukrainian State Security Service (SBU) agents during a special operation by the National Police of Ukraine and Special Weapons and Tactics police (KORD) in an operation to arrest robbers in the village of Kniazhychi in the Kyiv region. During the skirmish five people were killed. "Kyiv's Criminal investigation department (CID) was attempting to detain a dangerous gang of thieves who systematically robbed houses of Kyiv and Kyiv region resident," MP Anton Gerashchenko said on his Facebook page on Sunday morning. According to him, a house alarm went off during the raid. State Security Service agents responded. "At the same time, a tactical team seems to have decided that intelligence officers were in trouble, captured by criminals. They found them and left in a van outside, where SBU detained police intelligence officers ... Further, a skirmish between SBU agents and a tactical team took place. It lasted five minutes. Five law-enforcement officers were killed," Gerashchenko said. Two employees of State Security Service, two police intelligence officers and a KORD member were killed. PGO investigators are working on the scene. The suspects, which were ambushed, escaped in two cars during the shootout, but were later arrested by police investigators. Police officers confiscated firearms. The detainees are suspected of committing robberies and assault. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has hold a daily briefing with representatives of law enforcement agencies to investigate the tragedy - the death of five police officers in the village of Kniazhychi of Kyiv region at the night of December 4. Poroshenko expressed his condolences to the families of law enforcement officers and "took the investigation of this tragedy under his personal control," the press service of the Ukrainian state reported in the Sunday evening. "Nothing can justify the deaths of five police officers. I hope that the truth will be established in a very short period of time. And those who are guilty of issuing orders, which led to such tragic consequences, will be fully brought to justice," the president said. The construction of 150 meter high telecommunications tower was started near the Chonhar checkpoint in the Kherson region on Friday for broadcasting Ukrainian channels to the Crimean peninsula occupied by Russia. "We have already appealed to the Ukrainian State Centre of Radio Frequencies for their conclusions in order to give start to at least four channels from this digital broadcasting television tower. That is, the calculations of digital frequency were ordered in order to provide digital broadcasting in the region and on the territory of Crimea. We expect that there will be a local multiplex for at least four channels," a member of the National Council on television and radio broadcasting Serhiyy Kostynsky said. According to Kostynsky, the cost of the television tower is UAH one million and its construction costs UAH 500,000. It is planned that at least four Ukrainian TV channels in a digital format will be broadcast on the territory of Kherson region and Crimea. The random choice of TV stations for broadcasting will be determined on a competitive basis. The Islamic States Furqan Media Foundation has released an audio message from the groups new spokesman, Abu al Hassan al Muhajir. Abu Muhammad al Adnani served as the organizations top propagandist for years until he was killed in an American airstrike in August. The Islamic State had not named a successor since then, meaning no jihadist had served in quite the same role as Adnani for more than three months. However, Muhajir picks up where Adnani left off, defiantly calling upon the Islamic States members and supporters to fight on. He argues that the so-called caliphates struggles are merely part of a divine test, which will separate the true believers from all others. Muhajir also threatens Turkey and Iran, while encouraging more terrorist attacks around the globe. The SITE Intelligence Group has translated Muhajirs audio message, which was released via social media sites earlier today. Muhajir claims that all of his organizations many enemies are united in their desire to destroy the jihadists caliphate. Here are Crusader America and Europe, Communist Russia, and Magian Iran, with secular Turkey, atheist Kurds, Rawafidh [Shiites], Nusayris [a reference to Bashar al Assads regime], Awakenings, militias, and the tyrants of the Arabs and their soldiers, Muhajir says, according to SITEs translation. The Islamic States new spokesman briefly discusses the battle raging around Mosul, pointing specifically to Tal Afar, which is west of the Iraqi city. Iranian-backed militias operating as part of the Popular Mobilization Force (PMF) are leading the charge in Tal Afar and the surrounding area. Muhajir highlights this sectarian aspect of the fight, saying the Rawafidh [Shiites] have come with their horses and men to the land of Tal Afar, full of hatred and vengeance towards the houses of Islam, to take them and get the Sunni people in them. He goes on to claim that these Shiites have been herded by the worshippers of the Cross, meaning the West, to fight the Sunnis of Iraq. Muhajirs narrative with respect to Iraq is similar to the one offered by the Islamic States rivals in al Qaeda, with one key difference. Both al Qaeda and the Islamic State portray the war in Iraq as part of a conspiracy against the countrys Sunnis. However, Muhajir argues that only the Islamic State can shield Iraqs Sunni population, a claim that al Qaeda would never make. The Sunni has become either a shackled idle one or a humiliated submissive one, and it will not have any deterrent among the Muslims after Allah except for the Islamic State, Muhajir says, according to SITEs translation. Muhajir claims that the Islamic State is fighting on behalf of Sunnis everywhere from Baghdad to Beirut, from Aleppo to Damascus, and from Khorasan [a region encompassing Afghanistan and Pakistan] to Sanaa. Meanwhile, Iranian-backed Shiite forces attack Sunni mujahideen under the cover of the shelling of the Crusaders. In other words, Muhajir accuses the West and Iran of conspiring against Sunni Muslims throughout the region. In early November, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi called on his followers to strike inside Turkey. Just hours later, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a car bombing in southeastern Turkey. This was the groups first high-profile claim of responsibility for a terrorist operation inside the country. Turkish authorities quickly blamed the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a US-designated terrorist organization, for the explosion. And it is possible that Kurdish terrorists did carry out the attack. Still, the Islamic States claim was important because it signaled a new, public willingness to lash out at Turkey. While the Islamic State is suspected of launching other operations inside Turkey, the groups propaganda organs had never claimed responsibility for any of them. Muhajir continues with Baghdadis theme, blasting Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, as a beggar before the doors of Crusader Europe and a Brotherhood apostate. With these words, Muhajir points to Erdogans reported ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist organization that the Islamic State accuses of deviating from the true path of jihad. Erdogan thought that he and his government were in control and safe even after launching an assault against the Islamic State in northern Syria earlier this year, Muhajir says. But the caliphates mouthpiece says this isnt so. Muhajir says his groups followers should target the joints of the secular, apostate Turkish government everywhere the security, the military, the economic, and the media indeed every embassy and consulate that represents it in the countries all over the world, according to SITEs translation. Prior to his demise, Adnani stressed the importance of striking inside the West. Adnani repeatedly told supporters that their terror over here, in the West, was more valuable for the cause than waging jihad inside the lands of the caliphate. Similarly, Muhajir implores would-be recruits to redouble their efforts. The new spokesman wants followers to attack in the homes, markets, roads, and clubs of civilians in the nations opposed to the jihadists state. Abu Muhammad al Adnani was not just the Islamic States spokesman. He wore multiple hats within Abu Bakr al Baghdadis enterprise, including overseeing external operations, or plots in the West. Therefore, it is possible that Abu Hassan al Muhajir is more than the groups chief propagandist. However, there is no publicly-available information on the scope of Muhajirs responsibilities at this time. Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) has released new Bilateral and Multilateral Aid Reviews setting out its vision for global development. Raising the standard: The Multilateral Development Review 2016 and Rising to the challenge of ending poverty: The Bilateral Development Review 2016 set out how DFID believes the UK can deliver the best results on the ground for the world's poorest people, and address the global response to problems such as the migration crisis, cross-border conflict, climate change and disease pandemics. Commenting on the reviews, Professor Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "We welcome the reviews of DFID's bilateral and multilateral development assistance, and commend the government's continuing commitment to investing 0.7% of national income in international development. "The Ebola crisis in West Africa demonstrated that weak health systems, poverty, fragility and the legacy of conflict can fuel disease outbreaks, and Ebola itself was a huge setback to development gains in the worst affected countries. It is very positive to see that in the reviews, DFID has reiterated the need to tackle some of the urgent global health and development challenges of our time, including epidemics, humanitarian crises, climate change, and displacement and migration on a huge scale. "The strong emphasis on global health security, fighting drug resistant infections, supporting vulnerable populations in the world's poorest countries, and continuing work to end violence against women and girls is particularly welcome. As called for by the reviews, British universities' scientific multidisciplinary research and education are key to advancing global health - not only to support development of new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics, but also research to improve health systems, services and delivery, and support capacity strengthening efforts in low and middle-income countries. "The UK has a key role to play in addressing global challenges and improving the lives of those living in poverty and in fragile states. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine will continue to contribute robust research, education and policy advice to support DFID's goals. I am encouraged by DFID's commitment to global health and look forward to our continued partnership." Related links Image: UK aid shelter kits are loaded for shipment in Dubai. Credit: Flickr / DFID The World Health Organization (WHO) has released new guidelines on HIV self-testing to improve access to and uptake of HIV diagnosis, to coincide with World AIDS Day. The WHO progress report states at least 18 million people with HIV are currently taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) but that a similar number are still unable to access the treatment, of whom the majority are unaware of their HIV positive status. Over 40% of people with HIV, approximately 14 million people, remain unaware of their status. Lack of diagnosis is a major obstacle to reaching the 90-90-90 goals set by the UNAIDS programme, namely that by 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their status, 90% of those with HIV will receive sustained ART and 90% of all people receiving ART will have durable suppression. HIV self-testing is a way of breaking down the barriers that people currently face to access testing services. It offers a convenient, quick and easy way for people to screen themselves for their HIV status. The process only requires oral fluid or blood from finger-pricking, with results available in 20 minutes, all of which can be done in a private setting. Those with positive results are advised to seek confirmatory tests at health clinics. The School and partners are collaborating with the WHO in three countries in southern Africa, which have started large scale implementation of HIV self-testing through the UNITAID/PSI Self-Testing Africa (STAR) project. Population Services International (PSI) leads the implementation of HIV self-test distribution in each country, including all marketing and demand creation activities. The STAR research activities are designed and led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, with Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and University College London. The results have informed WHO normative guidance, which will support the establishment of appropriate policy and encourage new manufacturers to enter the self-test market. In Phase One of the STAR project, funded by a $23m investment from UNITAID, researchers are conducting the world's largest evaluation of HIV self-testing to date, involving the distribution of nearly 750,000 self-test kits. This will generate vital information about how to distribute self-test products effectively, ethically and efficiently, with adequate post-test support services, and will answer key questions about the feasibility, acceptability and impact of this intervention. Phase Two of the project (2017-2019) is planned to then scale-up successful distribution models and demonstrate the population-level health impact of HIV self-testing. The increase in HIV testing has led to over 80% of all people diagnosed with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy. Between 2005 and 2015, the number of people with HIV learning their status improved dramatically from 12% to 60%. However, testing coverage still remains low among various population groups, for example - men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people, people who inject drugs, and people in prisons comprise approximately 44% of the 1.9 million new adult HIV infections that occur yearly. Liz Corbett, Professor of Tropical Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Research Director of the STAR project said: "There are millions of undiagnosed HIV-positive people who should be receiving the treatment they need. HIV self-testing has a vital role to play in helping people to find out their HIV status and get access to crucial treatments. HIV self-testing also has the potential to empower and enhance awareness in local communities, bringing services closer to them, and breaking taboos by increasing people's willingness to undertake HIV testing. HIV self-testing is particularly important for those who find it a challenge to physically access testing centres or would prefer the comfort of privacy in what can be a difficult time. Adult men, adolescents and groups at high risk of HIV stigma (such as sex workers) are among the groups most keen to take up HIV self-testing, having shown a lack of willingness to take up facility services." Related Links Related Courses Image: Community Based Distribution Agent conducting an HIV self-test kit demonstration Credit: Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust The Kyiv region prosecutor's office does not confirm the death of the sixth policeman in a shootout between police officers in the village of Kniazhychi Brovarsky district, Kyiv region on Sunday night. "According to the prosecutor's office of Kyiv region, five law enforcement officers were killed ... There was no sixth officer killed during the shooting. Yesterday I verified the information with our investigators: there is no the sixth policeman among the casualties," the press service of the Prosecutor's Office of Kyiv region told Interfax-Ukraine on Monday. In turn, an MP from the People's Front faction Anton Gerashchenko told journalists in Kyiv on Monday, "I think the speaker has made a reservation." As reported, on December 4, 2016 at 4:00 am in the village of Kniazhychi, Brovarsky district, Kyiv region employees of Special Weapons and Tactics police (KORD) of Ukrainian National Police, while performing their duties, used automatic weapons against the staff of Brovarsky Police Department of the Main Guard Police Department, which, together with two officers of the Main Department of operational service of the National Police in Kyiv, who were also performing their duties, used automatic weapons in response. Five law-enforcement officers were killed. On Monday, December 5, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Andriy Parubiy during the Radas conciliatory board said that six employees of various Ukrainian law-enforcement agencies were killed on Sunday night as a result of a shooting between police officers in the village of Kniazhychi of Brovarsky district, Kyiv region. Over 10 years of '10 of the bests' Top-rated articles to help you choose what's best for you Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > Faded Photocopy of the Original / Perish the Thought The following article by eminent historian Ramachandra Guha was published in the Hindustan Times on November 20, 2016. Anil Nauriya wrote a sequel to the article the very next day (November 21) and sent it to the Hindustan Times for publication. But since he didnt hear from the HT for long, he sent it to Mainstream for publication. We are publishing here bothGuhas article (with due acknowledgement) and Nauriyas sequel. Faded Photocopy of the Original Ramachandra Guha On my last visit to a bookstore I picked up Niralas autobiographical memoir, A Life Misspent, newly translated into English by Satti Khanna. The books hero is a man named Kulli Bhatt, who, meandering through life, found meaning in political activism. Inspired by Gandhi and Nehru, he became a Congress party activist in eastern UP in the 1930s. On Niralas earlier visits to his town, Kulli Bhatt had taken him for long sessions of aimless chatter. Now, however, all he could talk about was politics and social reform. So Kulli told Nirala that we lack the presence of the Congress Party. We are a good-sized town, but people laugh here at the idea of an independent nation. We need to bring the Congress here. Once he became a full-time activist, Kulli Bhatt pushed himself running from village to village in the heat, signing up members of the Congress Party. A friend told Nirala that because of Kullis efforts, there isnt a village in the area now without [Congress] party members. Pursuing his partys cause, Kulli Bhatt would go days without food. His health failed him. His lower limbs have rotted. Kulli Bhatt fell seriously ill from these exertions on behalf of his party. Visiting him on his death-bed, Nirala met some Congress Party social workers on his way who were also headed to see him. I saw a group of untouchable children and a few parents by his door. Their eyes were despairing. Those who know the Congress in its present avatar will read these words with some bemusement. Where are the activists who work so tirelessly on its behalf? When a Congressman dies, does anyone except fellow party members mourn his passing? Kulli Bhatts work was animated by idealism and energy, two qualities that are conspicuously lacking in the Congress of today. And perhaps of yesterday as well. I was recently going through the web archive of the Economic and Political Weekly. In the course of my search, I came across a fascinating article published in the EPW on November 23, 1991, almost exactly 25 years ago. Entitled Indian National Congress: Its Place in Politics, it was written by Anil Nauriya, a lawyer-scholar whose ancestors had themselves striven, like Kulli Bhatt, to promote the Congress message in UP in the 1930s. Writing in the early 1990s, Anil Nauriya found the Congress poorly equipped to meet or arrest the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He thought that the real threat to the Congress Model (and to its foundational principles) at the present stage is essentially not from challengers like the BJP but from within its own ranks. Indeed, an inept Congress is a far more useful ally to the BJP than a resourceful (and cantankerous) VHP. Nauriya believed that the decline of the Congress was a product of a culture of cronyism. The wonderland of coteries and caucuses, he remarked, has distracted and distorted the politics of the Congress and even other parties long enough. And coteries by their very nature distort grassroots political processes. Chosen for specific superficial qualities, they exclude important points of view from their virtually captive leader. That gives rise to the pathetic phenomena of even governors, chief ministers and senior ministers being required to meet first with a member of a coterie who is then empowered to decide whether the captive leader should be troubled with the real problems of the nation. By the time the leader, whosoever he be, realises the inadequacy of his establishment, the damage is already done. In 1991 the incumbent Prime Minister was Narasimha Rao, a product entirely of the coterie culture developed by Indira Gandhi after she split the Congress in 1969. Before 1969, the Congress had independent-minded leaders as well as zestful party activists across India; after 1969, it was run by a High Command based in New Delhi. Rao himself had worked his way up through being a devoted loyalist of Indira and then Rajiv Gandhi; thrust unexpectedly into the office of Prime Minister, he then developed a coterie of his own, likewise disconnected from grassroots political processes. In the quarter-of-a-century since Nauriyas article was published, the coterie culture of the Congress has intensified in New Delhi, while party units have atrophied across India. The Gujarat riots and Sonia Gandhis perceived sacrifice won the party a temporary bump in the polls, but now it is once more paying the costs of operating in the wonderland of coteries and caucuses. Even Congress chief ministers have to curry favour with Rahul Gandhis advisers, which is why the partys state units across India are so moribund. Writing in 1991, and at a time when the First Family was out of power, Anil Nauriya still hoped that the degradation could be arrested. The Congress, he wrote, had to tidy up a mess that has long prevailed in its house. I do not believe Nauriya has that hope anymore. As for Niralas Kulli Bhatt, were he to be reborn, he would see todays Congress as the faded, corrupted, photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy of an original for which he had so selflesslessly worked back in the 1930s. The English monarch Charles II is said to have told his subjects: I have been an unconscionable time dying, and I beg you to excuse it. The Congress party has taken far too long to die as well. Once so vital to the history of the nation, it has become an impediment to its future development. Its sluggish, purposeless existence has constrained the emergence of the constructive and credible Opposition that the country so sorely needs. Now, a necessary (but of course not sufficient) condition for India to flourish may be that the Congress should first perish. o o o Perish the Thought Anil Nauriya My friend Ramachandra Guha made a kind reference in the Hindustan Times, November 20, 2016, to my article published 25 years ago in the Economic and Political Weekly, November 23, 1991, entitled Indian National Congress : Its Place in Politics. While I appreciate his analysis and even agree with most of what he has written, it is his conclusion that is somewhat problematic. I rather doubt whether his notion that a necessary condition...for India to flourish may be that the Congress should first perish follows from anything in my article of 1991 or indeed from the reasoning in his own column in the Hindustan Times 25 years later. The crisis before India today is too grave for any commentator seriously to suggest the wiping out of a major political party, much less a political party whose history is entwined with nation-formation in India. Regardless of what happens to the Congress, I certainly mind its replacement by a formation which has no roots in our freedom movement or in its values. Nevertheless, it is important to recognise that in a democracy diverse points of view have their legitimate place. This is especially so at the present juncture when the need for the emergence of a strong Opposition should be self-evident. It is often contrary to the public interest for political entities representing important approaches and world-views to perish, or disappear entirely as organisations, from the political scene. We have some telling instances of this in the not-too-distant past that would amply illustrate the point.. A triple historical error occurred when in founding the Janata Party in 1977 a merger took place of various parties including the Congress (O), the then Socialist Party and the Bharatiya Lok Dal (into which the erstwhile Swatantra Party had already merged). It might, in retrospect, have been better to have had an open coalition than a merger of parties. It is worth pondering the consequences of the merger which led to the organisational disappearance of vital elements from the political spectrum. After the split in the Congress in 1969 the Congress (O) and Mrs Indira Gandhis party had functioned as separate political entities both claiming the Congress legacy. The merger of the Congress (O) into the Janata Party deprived the country of this alternative Congress tradition. With the disappearance of the Congress (O), Mrs Gandhis Congress became the sole legatee, in an organisational sense, of the historical Congress tradition. A decline in the fortunes of the epigones of Mrs Gandhis party thus came to carry, on the face of it, historical connotations rather than a mere contemporary political implication. Likewise, the merger of the Socialist Party with the Janata Party deprived the polity of a non-casteist socialist formation which till then was, at least according to the Draft Platform of the Socialist Party issued in 1972, anxious to confront the communal-sectarian forces in the country. The extinction of the Swatantra Party, with its merger first into the Bharatiya Lok Dal (BLD), and then of the BLD with the Janata Party, deprived the country of a secular Right-wing, as represented by the Swatantra (as distinct from a religious-sectarian Right-wing that is currently predominant). This is what the perishing of important political parties can lead toa terrible narrowing of options for the Indian people. That is why I consider the slogan adopted by one political party in the previous General Elections, seeking a Congress-Mukt Bharat, as having been ill-advised and even irresponsible, apart, of course, from being ahistorical. Guha is too sensitive a student of contemporary India seriously to intend such an outcome, particularly when the Congress is not the only political party with undemocratic structures or covert controls, whether from within the formal organisation or without.And I am certain he would not, on reflection, support such a result, at a time when the Congress has already been considerably weakened, a post-2014 strong Opposition has yet to emerge, political and social fissures have recently been sharply deepened, the legal system is in crisis, incredulous encounter deaths are on the rise, and the country is in the midst of a peculiar economic and currency emergency in the bringing about of which the currently unfortunate political party that has been marked out to perish is surely not responsible. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > India and China in Relations with East Asia and the World On an invitation from the Yunnan University (China), the author went to Kunming (capital of Yunnan, China) in the last week of July 2016. He had been asked to speak on the theme of India-China relations and related subjects. He presented the following paper to a select group of six Chinese scholars from universities and research institutes in Kunming. After an hourlong presentation the scholars debated the subject for another two hours. The author clarified at the outset that he did not represent the Government of India and his views and conclusion were his own. by V. C. Bhutani India and China are civilisational states which contain in them numerous communities defined by ethnicity, culture, religion, history, and geography. It is important that as modern states they should organise their mutual relations and relations with other countries in a manner that promotes goodwill and does not provoke thoughts of undermining or hurting each other or any other state. In any case, both are at a stage in history when they are engaged in development activities for their peoples. This hardly leaves scope for anything other than peaceful ways of conducting their foreign relations and their mutual relations. Both have suffered at the hands of colonial powers and both achieved national independence at about the same time1947/1949. Since then both have been engaged in building a better life for their respective peoples. As in any bilateral relationship there have been ups and downs and there has been one outright war in 1962 because of a disputed boundary. The boundary problem remains and still awaits solution. They were both placed in a specific environ-mental situation in which they sought to build relations with other countries. It is all right for both to claim that their relations with other countries are not intended to cause hurt to the other countries but there is hardly any doubt that the choices that the two countries made in the past and those that they will make in the future shall have implications for the security of each other. There is much that can be said for the case of each country in the matter of the boundary problem, which has numerous offshoots in several directions. For more than half-a-century these questions have been studied and debated by officials and scholars in both the countries and in other countries. The result has been an enormous corpus of writing on the subject which throws light on the problem from many points of view. By now everything has been studied in detail and people in both countries have a sound understanding how the problem can be resolved. If officials were left alone, unhampered by instructions from governments, there is no doubt that they shall be able to hammer out a boundary settlement in a reasonable time. The two governments need to take a political decision that the boundary question needs to be resolved. Nothing much shall be gained by entering into endless debates on the minutiae of ideas and considerations that must govern boundary- making. Perhaps a beginning may be made by taking up the current ground situation and by examining how the current ground situation can be made the basis, with modifications perhaps, of a settlement. The point is that the two countries should decide that a boundary settlement is desirable. There is no point in appealing to history of thousands of years to argue the case for either side. That kind of an effort shall prove endless and useless from a practical point of view. Considerations of national prestige and peoples expectations need to be laid aside by both in the interest of better relations between the two countries and for bringing about adjustment in their foreign policy choices, with due regard for their concerns and interests. Besides, this is a world in an age when international relations cannot be governed by any old or new hegemon seeking to dominate the world. It may be nearer the mark to work for better relations, eschewing ideas like one-upmanship or pulling each other down. As oriental civilisations, China and India have little affinity with Western ideas of demo-cracy. Because of Indias historical experience during about two centuries before its indepen-dence, India has since been experimenting with the democratic system of governance but India has found the Western system rather alien to its culture. Sooner or later India may have to move away from Western democracy, whether presidential or parliamentary, and devise its own amalgam which may perhaps be some kind of a mixture of the two but one which may be more in consonance with Indias past govern-mental experience, which used to subsist around a samrata, an ekarata, or any other such being. Those systems revolved around the strong personality of a central figure who more or less called the tune and prescribed the path that society had to take for the good of their people. Chinas preference has been for a highly centralised system which operates for the good of the people, without being hamstrung by considerations of the demands of a so-called democratic system or a multi-party system. China has made enormous strides in every sphere of state activity. There is no doubt that China is on its way to taking its place among the foremost countries of the world state system. It is a familiar sight to see old states and empires fade out and new ones take their place. It is a matter of empirical experience that many of the Western colonial powers have been in decline, especially after World War II, which itself was the result of rivalries between states and empires. Several countries of the world, mainly in the West, seem inclined to attempt to prolong what used to be their hegemony over large parts of the world. The current Western Great Powers appear to be moving in a direction which spells continued Western dominance, with little regard for the interests and aspirations of Eastern societies. Since World War II in any case, and perhaps from earlier on, Western countries have been throwing their weight on countries and states of the Middle East and North Africa, with scant regard for the welfare and interests of Middle Eastern and African nations. The result has been that in all the years since World War II Western countries have attempted all kinds of efforts and methods to dominate the oil-producing countries of this region. Regime- change has been attempted a little too often, with no concern for the wishes and inclination of the people concerned in each case: their opinion was never asked. Arab countries and other Islamic countries have been ground under the boots of Western powers to an extent that younger generations saw little room for the fulfilment of their hopes and aspirations. Since those younger people had little to lose, they became fodder for the teaching of those who were ready to preach violence and jihad, especially after the ouster of the Taliban from Afghanistan in 2001. It is the shared experience of many of the countries of the Middle East and North Africa that they have been at the receiving end of unwelcome attention from Western powers, who have not been reluctant to use force in pursuit of their own interests and objectives. In view of such experiences of a large number of countries, who are in no position to stand up to the power of the Western countries, there is need to devise a world order which shall ensure the freedom and stability of the countries of this region as well as other regions. As important countries of the East, China and India need to use their resources and ingenuity to forge better relations between them and to seek to devise a just world order. There is no inherent conflict of interests between China and India. The world is large enough for the two of them to pursue their common objectives of better economic results alongside a judicious and reliable system of security. Both of them need to ensure that their actions, choices, and policies do not operate to the disadvantage of the other. If other countries see China or India acting in a manner that hurts the other, there is hardly any doubt that other countries shall try to exploit the situation to their advantage, which naturally shall operate to the disadvantage of both. As former victims of colonialist exploitation over prolonged periods of time, the two should give no opportunity to the quondam colonial powers or new candidates for colonial or imperial exploitation to fish in troubled waters. Complementarity, Not Confrontation The USA, China, and India need to work together, perhaps along with some others. There is no reason to think that there is a clash of interests between any two of the three in any part of the world, least of all in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, where China has natural interests, or in the IOR, which is vital to Indian security. The world has begun to see that China has graduated out of a period in its life when it was seen as an obstruction to the growth and stability of the world order. The world is long past the time when some nations of the world could treat the rest of the world as hewers of wood and drawers of water for some who were determined to act as masters or overlords or world leaders. The rest of the world is not waiting hat in hand to applaud every act and word emanating from a world leader. Perhaps the world has come to a point when it could do with objectives like shared prosperity and readiness of the developed countries to give a helping hand to the less fortunate of humankind. Towards India-China Partnership Obamas India visit in January 2015 seemed to suggest that there is much that the USA and India can achieve if they work together. The USA had made more than a beginning with China in the matter of climate change and other areas to evince a keen desire for US-China cooperation and partnership. It is about time India started advanced thinking about promo-ting and working for India-China cooperation and partnershipto complete the third arm of the triangle. Modi has done a considerable amount of work with Xi Jinpings visit to India in September 2014. Modi is perhaps the right Indian leader to advance matters towards a world no longer seen in terms of hostility and hegemony but partnerships and co-development worldwide. Sino-Indian Boundary Question Problems between any two of the trio need to be resolved with proper regard for the national interests of each of them. There is need to take a close look at the long standing India-China boundary question which has defied solution for more than 65 years. A close look at the question shows that there are several parts of this question which need to be considered seriatim in order that an overall and compre-hensive solution of the problem may be achieved to the mutual satisfaction of both. We need to get out of shibboleths and habits of thought which have bedevilled consideration of the question for several decades. There is need to think that this problem, like any other problem between any two countries, is capable of resolution, given a desire on both sides to address it. It is important to think in terms of shared objectives in the larger worldwide context. We need to think that it will be good for both countries if the Sino-Indian boundary question is got out of the way for the proper and possible development of their mutual relationship and their common vision of world peace and development. If this question is no longer a roadblock, then the sky is the limit for the growth of India-China relations: it will be good for both and for the rest of the world and shall free enormous resources which could be applied to worthier objectives like development and growth, which peoples of both the countries need. Solution of the Boundary Question is Possible A closer look at the details of the boundary question in the different parts of the boundary shows that it is possible to adjust and accommodate the interests of both by drawing a boundary line in a manner that will satisfy both. The two countries need to get out of groovy thinking, and especially out of groovy talking, by both the countries, of which they have done a great deal over the last 65 years. They need to give up such sterile paths and concentrate on the constructive part of devising ways of resolving the problem. The first need is to stop that kind of talking: it will build an atmosphere and opinion in both the countries that the boundary question should be resolved. It is but a truism that the Sino-Indian boundary question is left over by history, which indeed it is. In this day and age when it is seen as important and axiomatic that countries should know their boundaries for certain and stay within their boundaries and also guard them, India and China should move towards talking about the problem, not merely for holding one more round of talks between their officials but with the definite object of solving itfinally and once for all. There has been an enormous amount of writing on the subject by scholars in both the countries as well as by scholars from other countries. Even on the general subject of boundary-making without reference to any specific boundary there is much writing, including some on the theoretical aspect of boundary-making, say, in a mountainous terrain: the India-China borderlands are entirely mountainous. There is much guidance to be had from such writing, which will help towards devising a solution for the Sino-Indian boundary problem. The twain should think in terms of the need to build an India-China partnership. If that basic foundation is achieved, then the solution to the boundary question will be seen as possible for the good of both. In any consideration of India-China relations an emphasis on sovereignty and territorial interests of both is desirable and essential. We need to be realistic in the first place. As the cliche goes, politics is the art of the possible. It will not serve any purpose to ask for the moon: well not get the moon. But we can think carefully what can be done to move towards resolving this longstanding problem. It seems that Xi Jinping is pragmatic and ready to listen to reason. If we make reasonable suggestions, it is possible that he may respond in a constructive manner. We should give serious thought to how it is possible to ensure that the territorial interests of both China and India are protected. It is encouraging to be able to recall that lately there has been no move from China that might cause too large a disturbance of the world order. China may be willing to respond to suggestions of a Chinese role in world affairs commensurate with its economic and techno-logical prowess and achievement. Besides, precisely to preserve that achievement and carry it further China may be expected to be a force for stability, peace and development, although it would be rash to lose sight of Chinas controversial claims about maritime boundaries and resources and international navigation in the South China Sea, East China Sea, IOR, Pacific, and Indo-Pacific. Xi Jinping in Pakistan, April 20-21, 2015 When Xi Jinping resumed intimate relations with Pakistan, its all-weather ally and time-tested friend, he said he felt he was visiting his brothers home: Pakistan and China graduated to become Iron Brothers. That was heart- warming for all Pakistanis and a good beginning to a visit which had been earlier postponed because of the disturbed conditions in Pakistan. Xi chose to visit India then in an effort to enlist Indian support and participation in his plans of cross-continental and cross-oceanic trade routes, reviving some of the ancient Silk Routes and building several new ones. He declared large plans for Sino-Pak economic relations and vast Chinese investments in Pakistans infra-structure during the coming decade. The most important part in the Sino-Pak economic plans was that they should lead to more economic progress and development in Pakistan, providing employment to increasing numbers of youth who swell the ranks of job-seekers every year. It should be the fervent prayer of every well-wisher of Pakistan that the plans of investment and construction of various facilities will result in convincing militants that their interests are best served by working with the Pakistan Government and its friends. Pakistans leaders should do everything to make the Chinese initiative successful and meaningful for the good of Pakistan and its people. Therein also lies hope for a better atmosphere in the neighbourhood, based on neutralising and converting militants to peaceful ways. It has also been reported that China is going to make an attempt to bolster Pakistans defence by selling to it eight conventional submarines which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons. This seems to be the Sino-Pak answer to Indias triad of land, air, and seaborne nuclear weapons: that bit of Indian information has been in the public domain for some years now. The Sino-Pak response to the Indian triad is clearly supported with large economic measures designed to provide what has been missing in Pakistan in all the years since its birth, namely, the economic base that will justify and streng-then Pakistans conventional and nuclear capa-bility. This in a way answers the Indian hope that there may be a political decision in China to build better Sino-Indian relations. Chinese claims to the contrary notwithstanding, this is likely to be seen in India as a game-changer and as an indication that the Sino-Pak relationship is going to be a permanent feature of relations between countries in this part of the world. It is relevant to recall a statement by Strobe Talbott in Mumbai some time in 2005 when he was visiting shortly after the end of Bushs first term. He had said that good and close Indo-US relations were possible but India should not ask the USA to choose between Pakistan and India because the USA had already chosen Pakistan. Now, Xi is saying the same thing to India: do not ask China to choose between Pakistan and India: if China has to make a choice it will choose Pakistan. It follows from this that from now on Indian foreign policy will have to build on the premise that Pakistan is going to remain at the receiving end of considerable military and economic aid from China, Russia, and the USA: any one of them does not seem to see a contradiction in Pakistan being the object of the munificence of others. Besides, Xi also announced and Chinese scholars and representatives later elaborated ideas that underlay plans like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) from Kashgar to Gwadar as well as his other ideas summarised in the phrase One Belt One Road (OBOR). The former will be an enormous undertaking affording China access to the Arab Sea across Pakistan, starting from Kashgar in Xinjiang. This is a stupendous undertaking designed at an outlay of $ 46 billion over the next ten years. Coupled with other ideas that Xi has put forward, it is definitely designed as a game- changer and as an intercontinental artery of transport and communications. Some in India have seen this as completing Chinas scheme of Indias encirclement but all the other roads and routes that are parts of Xis plans seem to be too large to be merely intended for Indias encirclement. On the contrary, it is conceivable that all these plans are planned as infrastructure for a new and alternative world order or at any rate as a parallel second infrastructure of roads and routes and banks and funds, which too are parts of Xis plans. It is possible for India to see Xis plans as intended for the genuine benefit of the world. At the same time, the CPEC definitely has security overtones which India should not lose sight ofwhich indicates that India should participate in Chinese programmes of develop-ment in and around South Asia but also work in the spirit of trust but verify. At all times, India will have to keep its powder dry and maintain its defence preparedness in top efficiency. China has resolved to siphon a great deal of economic resources to Pakistan. This is good for Pakistan. It will bring more business, more jobs. It will make for greater prosperity. The people of Pakistan will have reason to be grateful to their government and leaders when these projects are completed. When people have a stake in the system, they may not fall for the blandishments of violent ways, which mean suffering for everyone. No one in India should think that this is in any way designed as a measure against India. It is, as the Chinese have said, an economic idea which will mean benefit for both countries and for several other countries that can use the new China-Pakistan Economic Corridor for their own imports and exports. All such economic linkages shall in the long run mean greater interdependence and economic integration. The people and government in India should talk with Pakistan and China and explore possibilities of greater economic relations between the three countries and between them and other countries. Advantage to all countries lies in complementarity and not in confrontation. Protecting Indias Frontier Areas We need to keep in mind difficulties of the terrain in the Western and Eastern Sectors of the northern boundary. We have come a long way from the days when we were brought up on stories and fables of the Himalaya as Bharat ki seemaon ka prahri (watchman of the northern frontiers of India). China showed in 1910 and again in 1962 that the Himalaya is not such an impenetrable barrier after all and that it is possible for an intrepid invader to come right across it. By now we have understood the need to maintain security on our borders with our own efforts and not to bank on considerations like bhai-bhai-ism or the panchsheel principles. There is no substitute for maintaining our own fully operational machinery of defence. There is need to construct adequate road and other systems in our own territory. We should ensure that Chinese forces should not be able to again come rolling down as they did in 1962. India 2016 is a very different place from India 1962. But we need to realise and remember that we have to protect our boun-daries on our own. At the same time we should be ready to discuss the boundary question with China in all sectors and do our best to arrive at a settlement of the boundary by accommo-dating the interests of both sides. 1993 Parameters of Settling the Boundary The following from the Parameters is especially relevant for a consideration of the subject. Consider the following extracts. Article III. Both sides should, in the spirit of mutual respect and mutual understanding, make meaningful and mutually acceptable adjust-ments to their respective positions on the boun-dary question, so as to arrive at a package settlement to the boundary question. The boundary settlement must be final, covering all sectors of the India-China boundary. Article IV. The two sides will give due consideration to each others strategic and reasonable interests, and the principle of mutual and equal security. Article V. The two sides will take into account, inter alia, historical evidence, national sentiments, practical difficulties and reasonable concerns and sensitivities of both sides, and the actual state of border areas. Article VI. The boundary should be along well-defined and easily identifiable natural geographical features to be mutually agreed upon between the two sides. Article VII. In reaching a boundary settlement, the two sides shall safeguard due interests of their settled populations in the border areas. Some of these are mutually contradictory and not capable of adjustment inter se. In some respects, therefore, the two sides will have to go outside and beyond the Parameters: there is nothing sacrosanct about the Parameters; wherever necessary the two sides should be ready to introduce modifications. India-China Boundary Question Lots of people in both countries have been studying the boundary problem during the last 50 years and more. Everything about the problem has been carefully studied by scholars, think-tanks, diplomats, and others in both countries and in other countries. By now the two governments officers know what the problem is and where the boundary ought to be. If the two governments officers are instructed by their political leaders that they should meet and produce an agreed draft of a boundary settlement, perhaps the officers shall do so without taking too much time. What is needed is a political decision by the two governments that the boundary question should be settled. Promises and prospects of investment and professions of friendship shall not detract from the centrality of the boundary question. Settling the Boundary with China a Package Deal Article III of the Parameters quoted above talks about a package settlement. Neither side should pretend to an overweening righteousness of its own case. There is need to find a solution to the entire boundary in all sectors and this must be done at one go. We cannot hope to introduce earth-shaking changes in any sector of the LAC, however well- or ill-defined it may be. In the main, the two sides should agree to confirm the present LAC in all sectors as the IB, with rectification wherever needed. India cannot hope to recover Aksai Chin from China and China cannot hope to take Arunachal Pradesh or even Tawang from India. The problem does not lend itself to a military solution. That is the bottom-line of the question and has support in Article I of the Parameters which says that neither side shall use or threaten to use force against the other. The LAC is not a line, much less a boundary line. All along the boundary the two sides have conflicting claims to territory but in practice they have been able to devise means of ensuring peace and tranquillity on the borders through CBMs. Agreement on the Parameters of the settlement of the boundary question needs to be kept in mind as far as possible without being slave to those Parameters. Besides, uniform considerations need not apply in all sectors of the LAC: different sub-sectors within each sector may be differently treated. Eastern Sector Tawang shall not be ceded by India. It was not for nothing that in 1914 it was given to India by an Indo-Tibetan boundary agreement, when China was not in the picture and did not have a hand in the making of that agreement. It is apt to remember that if Tawang were out of Indian control it would bring a salient of foreign territory close to Indian provinces in this region. Tibet is no longer a quiescent or peacefully dormant place of lamas busy with their prayers and meditation: the place is now firmly in Chinese control and there is nothing in the tea leaves to indicate that this is likely to change in the foreseeable future. India cannot be blind to its security and allow foreign territorial control so far south. An arrangement may be devised by which Tibetan ecclesiastical interest in Tawang is preserved while the place remains on the Indian side of the boundary and under Indian sovereignty. This should be seen as a bottom-line. We do not want to be reminded that China does not recognise the 1914 agreement because it was signed between India and Tibet and that it was not signed by China. At that time China was not in control of Tibet. In fact, in 1914, China was hardly on its feet. It was not until 1949 that China got on its feet and marked its presence in world affairs by its occupation of Tibet in 1950. International law on the subject of treaties is that an agreement between governments in effective control at a given time is binding on their successor governments. Tibetan signature on the 1914 agreement shall bind China as the successor government. At the same time the argument of the unequal treaties has been carried a little too far and too long. It should not be open to China to pick and choose which treaties it will stand by, for example, the lease agreement concerning Hong Kong or the convention concerning Sikkim. Nor should we lose sight of the possibility that there may be changes in China in the future: there is no such thing as finality in history. Eastern Sector In the Eastern Sector, in the main the McMahon Line should be confirmed as the boundary. Its actual definition may be refined in the light of later surveys and better cartography over the last 100 years. Confirming the McMahon Line as the boundary finds further support from the fact that the Burma-China boundary settlement of 1963 confirmed the part of the McMahon Line which delineated the Burma-Tibet part of the boundary in 1914 (when Burma was part of British India). Other details of the said Burma-China agreement have no bearing on the present India-China boundary, which has sometimes been called Assam-Tibet boundary or, as in British Indian records, Indo-Tibetan boundary. It may be in order to remember that some time in the 1930s, the British Indian Government took out five half-inch maps of the Survey of India (scale half-inch to 1 mile) and super-printed on them the McMahon Line in red, which was about 1 mm wide, unlike the line drawn on General Staff maps (scale 1 inch to 8 miles) in 1914 where the boundary on those maps was at places 4 mm wide: it seemed to have been drawn with a brush instead of a sharp nib. Those five maps may be seen in the Assam State records. Copies of those maps must be available in the files of the Indian Foreign Department (now Ministry of External Affairs). We still do not know why those maps were printed in the 1930s. Central Sector The question of the trijunctions of China-Burma-India, China-Bhutan-India, Nepal-Bhutan-China (where India is not concerned except in the context of India-Bhutan relations), and China-Nepal-India will have to involve the other countries, namely, Burma, Bhutan, and Nepal. If these trijunctions are satisfactorily settled, this will probably take care of the boundary in the Central Sector. There seems to be some degree of agreement between the two sides in respect of the boundary in this sector: it has been heard that maps of the LAC in these areas were exchanged between the officials of the two sides, even if the maps of the two sides may not have been much in agreement. Perhaps the best thing to do in this sector may be to confirm the LAC as IB with adjustments, following in the main the watershed principle. Even then, there is no room for wholesale new ideas of boundary-making in this sector, in disregard of the present ground actuality. Western Sector In the Western Sector, likewise, perhaps we have no choice but to make virtue of current compulsions and ground actualities. China is not going to vacate Aksai Chin or Lingzithang. If this is regarded as given, then perhaps there is a watershed which divides rain-waters going north into the Tarim river system of the Takla Makan area of Xinjiang or south into the Indus river system of South Asia. That watershed could be a suitable boundary in this sector. Details will have to be worked out by reference to a good and detailed map. It may be apposite to recall that the 1899 Macartney-MacDonald Line may be a satisfactory boundary, with suitable rectifications. In 1914 Aksai Chin was far away from the areas whose boundary McMahon attempted to settle with the Tibetan representative. Alastair Lamb has shown that in the conditions prevailing before World War I with persistent prospect of the Tsarist Russian empire annexing Chinas New Dominion, it was part of British concerns at the Simla Conference of 1913-14 to posit a series of buffer areas between the Russian empire in Central Asia and the British empire in South Asia. It was in pursuit of this long-standing policy that Mortimer Durand had devised the Durand Line in 1893 and decided to award the Wakhan area to Afghanistan, although Wakhan was not part of an Afghan emirate at any time in history. From 1893 onwards, Wakhan became Afghan territory and has remained so since: no claim to it by any other country has come to light. In pursuit of the same objective, McMahon attempted in 1914 to award Aksai Chin to Tibet by extending the boundary line between Tibet and China at its western extremity: Aksai Chin was not under British control or under the control of the princely state of Kashmir at any time, even if Kashmiri traders travelled through it. Aksai Chin was not part of Tibet or Xinjiang, or of Kashmir or Ladakh, or of any Chinese or Indian province at any time in history. The various boundary lines drawn on numerous maps produced in the course of the Simla Conference seem to suggest that some of those lines placed Aksai Chin in Tibet, even if Tibet too had not had concern with Aksai Chin at any time till then. Perhaps the Tibetan or the Chinese representative at the Simla Conference did not realise the significance of boundary lines other than the McMahon Line. The boundary drawn on maps of this region during the course of the Simla Conference corresponded more with Chinese claim lines in the 1950s than with the Indian claim lines during the same years. Since Aksai Chin is now in Chinese control and there is no possibility that China shall cede this area to India, it may be practical to fall back upon ideas of boundary-making in the early years of the last century and recognise Aksai Chin as part of Chinese territory. According to those ideas, the boundary should begin at a point on the Karakoram range some distance to the east of the Karakoram Pass (35 302 N 77 482 E), leaving its northern end in China and the southern end in India: west of that pass the Kashmir-Xinjiang boundary is in Pakistans control, which we are not considering here. The boundary should pass on top of ranges where rain waters flow north into the tributaries of the Tarim river system and south into the tributaries of the Indus river system, leaving Chip Chap river in India. Then the boundary follows the top of the range situated to the west of a tributary on which are located Sumdo and Ko-shih-erh-tsun, turning further south as far as Chang Lung Pass. The boundary should then turn east to the Lanak La on the present Tibetan border. This boundary shall leave under Chinese control the whole of Aksai Chin and part of Lingzithang. The boundary further south should remain as shown in Indian maps, going right across Pangong Tso and Spanggur Tso and leaving in Indian control places like Chushul, Hanle, Demchok, and Chumar: the last named place is close to Himachal Pradesh. Some of these ideas may have to be modified in the light of the alignment of roads built by China in the Xinjiang and Tibet areas. We cannot hope to persuade China to give up any of the areas covered by its road system. This will require a close look at the Chinese road system in the border areas. Summary The boundary problem, like any other problem, can be settled. The entire boundary should be settled at one go with a package deal. I In the Western Sector Aksai Chin was not part of Xinjiang, or Tibet, or Kashmir, or Ladakh, or any Chinese or Indian province at any time in history. Today China occupies the whole of Aksai Chin and some territory to the west of it. We are doing a kindness to China by giving recog-nition to Aksai Chin as part of the PRC territory. The best suggestion made about the boundary in this area is the Macartney-MacDonald Line suggested by the British Government to the Chinese Government in 1899. This line, with rectifications, may be an appropriate boundary in this sector. India should seek recognition of Macartney-MacDonald Line as the boundary in this region, with adjustments that may be needed. II In the Middle Sector the boundary should run along natural features as far as possible. The boundary should be settled with adjustments as needed. III In the Eastern Sector India should stand by the McMahon Line as the boundary. On the map the McMahon Line seemed to have been drawn with a brush. As a result the line is at places one-tenth of an inch wide. Hence, on a map on a scale 1 inch to 8 miles, the McMahon Line is at places almost one mile wide. A boundary line by definition has a length but not a width. Therefore, throughout, there will have to be adjustments: a few square miles this way or that way shall make no difference. Any possible agreement should go by natural features. There will be no surrender of Indian territory in the Tawang area, Longju area, or Walong area. India occupies the entire territory up to the McMahon Line. China should acknowledge the McMahon Line as the boundary in this sector, even if called by any other name. Dr V.C. Bhutani retired from a teaching position in the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Delhi sometime ago. For almost 50 years he has devoted himself to the study of the Sino-Indian boundary question. His book, History and Politics of the Northern Frontiers of India, is under consideration of a London publisher. He can be contacted at e-mail: vcbhutani[at]gmail.com Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > 2017 UP Assembly Elections: Challenges and Stakes by Sanjay Mishra The election to the Assembly of Uttar Pradesh, slated for the first half of next year, promises to be a high-pitched, high-stake electoral battle. It is an important election for all the stakeholders in the fray principally the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Samajvadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and of course the Congress. Its political importance stems from the fact that this bell-wether State, even in its truncated form post the formation of Uttarakhand from it, continues to be the most populous State spread over a vast stretch of territory. Mayawati and many others think that as many as four States can be easily carved out of the present State. Winning a Majority: A Real Challenge The direct implication of this is that the Assembly has 403 seats, which certainly appear whopping when juxtaposed against the 294 seats of the next biggest Assembly of West Bengal. Winning a majority in this huge Assembly with all the attendant regional variations of all the constituencies can be a real challenge for any political party. This challenge is further compounded by the overcrowding of the political arena. In the 2012 Assembly poll, 220 political parties had participatedof these 10 political parties, barring Independents, had won seats ranging from one (Apna Dal) to 224 (SP); this time more parties will be jamming the electoral space. (Aron 2015) However, if winning a majority in such a big and diverse Assembly can be a challenge, victory more than compensates the hard work that goes into the meticulous electoral strategy and canvassing by engendering a sense of satisfaction and psychological boost in the winner after a gruelling election. While a win here may for sure give psychological impetus to a national party to consolidate its gains and indeed to spread itself further across the length and breadth of the country, a State or regional party may get wings to its national ambitions if it is able to entrench itself, and grow organisationally and financially in the State. This is best exemplified by the BSP which, with its antecedents and stronghold primarily in UP, has been trying, albeit not very successfully, to spread itself across the vast swathe of the Indian territory. Indeed, in the last general elections, it contested 503 seatsthe highest by any party, including the BJP and the Congress. Of course, primarily because of the Modi wave, it drew a blank, failing to win a single seat even in its bastion. Important for the BJP from an Ideological Point of View Apart from other considerations, wresting power in UP is important for the BJP from an ideological point of view. After all, this is the State from where the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid controversy arose and which helped the BJP to rise to fame in the initial stage of its career. Of course that issue has been apparently put at the backburner this time with the Prime Minister making a strong pitch for the developmental agenda. Nevertheless, it must be a matter of deep rankle and ideological discomfort for the saffron party, whose raison detre historically lies, and which passionately believes, in the espousal of Hindu interests and Hindi language, to have remained in political wilderness for close to two decades in a State which is supposedly the heart of the Hindi heartland and perhaps of the Hindutva ideology. It is not for nothing that Narendra Modi came all the way from Gujarat to contest the parliamentary election in Varanasi, a city dedicated to Lord Shiva. True, the PM himself avoided chest-thumping jingoism over the surgical strikes at terror launch-pads inside the PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) by the Indian Army during his address to the people at the Ramlila celebrations in Lucknow and by and large dwelt on the menace of terrorism as an enemy of humanity. However, the import of his presence in the Lucknow Ramlila, in contravention of the tradition of celebrating it in Delhi, and exhorting the people with the slogan of Jai Shree Ram, could not be lost in view of the impending Assembly election. For all its talk of contesting the election on the plank of development, the BJP cannot afford to let go its Hindutva underpinnings. A loss in UP, coming on the heels of its severe beating in Bihar, a key State of the Hindi heartland, would be a double-blow for a party overtly championing the cause of Hindus and Hindi. Therefore, it would leave no stone unturned to win UP not only because of its Hindutva credentials but also because at stake is the prestige of the Prime Minister who now represents Varanasi in UP. National Significance for the NDA and BJP That is not all. A big win for a party in the UP Assembly brings a proportionately large number of seats to that party in the Rajya Sabha and a priori gives it that much leverage and influence in national politics. No wonder, political parties in the fray go the whole hog not only to win a majority but also bag as many seats as possible given its collateral benefit in the Rajya Sabha. It is in this context also that the forthcoming election in the crucial State has acquired a national significance for the NDA and BJP. Its significance was poignantly driven home to the NDA when the much-touted Goods and Services Tax (GST) constitutional amendment could not be passed for about two years because of the NDAs insufficient numbers in the Upper House, making a mockery of its massive majority in the Lok Sabha. Thanks to the latest biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha, the government has been able to get the GST passed because of improvement in its own tally and because of the help extended by some regional parties. An accretion in numbers in the Rajya Sabha would be most welcome for any party; for the BJP it would be of additional value insofar as it would preclude the possibility of the government kowtowing to the regional parties for their support to pass crucial bills in the Rajya Sabha. The importance of UP for the BJP is also because of the fact that the huge size of the State accords it a unique distinction of having the highest number of members in the Lok Sabha. The eighty seats that the State commands make it preponde-rantly a critical factor in the formation of any government at the Centre. The 71 seats that the BJP bagged in the 2014 general elections from UP played a significant part in enabling not only the NDA but even the BJP in securing majority on its own in the Lok Sabha. True, the forthcoming election is for the State Assembly and each party is assigning importance to it from its own perspective in the context of, and to a large extent confined to, the State. But its impact on the 2019 general elections cannot be denied. Crucial Semi-final before the 2019 General Elections For the BJP, more than any other party, the forthcoming UP election is being billed as the crucial semi-final before the 2019 general elections, as it will be akin to a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his NDA Government which has 73 out of 80 MPs from the State. A win or loss will have huge ramifications for the polity.1 While the proposition that the election is a semi-final for the 2019 general elections may appear exaggerated and debatable to many, one thing is indisputable: the stakes are really high for the saffron party. With stakes being high for the BJP in the election, it would like, at least, to ensure that no government in Lucknow is sworn in without its support if it is not able to form a government on its own. It is possible that the voters, fed up with the ills of nepotism, casteism, corruption and lawlessness with which the two entrenched parties have often been associated in the last more than fifteen years, would rise above their caste considerations and give the BJP a key role in the government formation, if not a majority in the Assembly. This scenario cannot be ruled out given the God-sent surgical strikes inside the PoK, which the party is bent upon exploiting, and the rumblings of dissensions both within the SP and BSP, particularly within the former. However, a big negative for the party is the lack of a popular face fronting the campaign even as the strategy of communal polarisation runs the risk of triggering a more cohesive counter-polarisation among the minorities to the detriment of the BJP. Even if the BJP were to bag sufficient seats to determine government formation, that would be a big leap forward for the Right-wing party. It could well be interpreted as a positive development by the BJP for the 2019 general elections. It would imply that, if the BJP could stage a comeback in a contest with the two entrenched provincial parties, and in which local issues would be the leitmotif, it would surely be supported by the voters of the State in the 2019 general elections in competition with these two principal parties and the moribund Congress when national issues would influence their voting behaviour. The caveat of course being that, in the two-year interregnum, the party does not shoot itself in the foot by making a mess of governance, by being continuously disturbed by the egregious and communal utterances of some of its members. The chances of its comeback in 2019 could also be vitiated if the government were to be rocked by some massive scams reminiscent of the previous government. What if the voters vote for either the SP or the BSP in the coming elections? Can it be interpreted as a referendum against the PM? While on the face of it, a negative verdict for the party will certainly make it appear in poor light and dent the image of the Modi-Shah duo, but to extrapolate that a negative verdict for it in the State would be reflected in the 2019 general elections in the same degree would be far-fetched given the vastly different set of issues in the State and general elections. But that does not detract from the importance the BJP is giving to the election because, according to its calculations, a positive verdict for it in the State election would be, in most likelihood, repeated in the general elections. Importance of UP Election for the Congress The UP election is also being viewed by the Congress Party with great expectations. There has been no respite for the grand old party since the severe setback it received at the hands of the rising BJP when it was reduced to an unprecedented 44 seats in the Lok Sabha in the 2014 general elections. Since then the party has been ousted from power in the States of Haryana, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala and shockingly, though not unexpectedly, Assam where it had been in power for the last 15 years. In the latest Assembly election in Tamil Nadu, its alliance with the DMK became a drag for the alliance and could not stop Jayalalithaas AIADMK from getting a second term just as the Congress-Left alliance in West Bengal could not prevent Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamul Congress (TMC) from romping home to victory for the second time. Only the Union Territory of Puducherry was the saving grace where it was able to win a majority. While a Congress-Mukt Bharat (Congress-Free India), as envisaged by the BJP, is unlikely to fructify in the near future, Arun Jaitleys question whether the Congress will remain the main challenger to the BJP-led NDA in the 2019 general elections must be giving sleepless nights to the Congress and its leadership. That there is a current of resentment against the present dynastic leadership within the Congress, who is considered inept by many, became apparent in the recent biennial elections for the Rajya Sabha from the State of UP. Six of its MLAs cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha. One of them represents the Tiloi Assembly segment in Rahul Gandhis parliamentary constituency of Amethi.2 It is against the aforementioned backdrop that the UP election has assumed so much of importance for the Congress. The election results hold the future of the Congress: whether a Congress-Mukt Bharat becomes an imminent possibility or the grand old party witnesses a revival of its fortunes will largely depend on its performance in the forthcoming election in UP. A severe beating for the party is likely to make the internal voices of resentment against the current leadership strident and could even lead to splits in the party. The genesis of the Mamata-led TMC and the Nationalist Congress Party, born out of the Congress, could be traced to similar circumstances in the late 1990s. The appointment of Prashant Kishore, who has had a record of back-to-back success in devising election strategies for Narendra Modi and the BJP in the 2014 general elections and Nitish Kumar in 2015 Assembly election of Bihar, shows the seriousness of the party for this election. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been convinced by Kishore and the party to campaign for the party in the whole of UP, and not remain confined to the Gandhi pocketboroughs of Amethi and Rai Bareili as she had hitherto been doing. Rahul Gandhi has been indefatigably doing road-shows and Mrs Sheila Dixit, who is in her late seventies, has been brought from Delhi to be the Chief Ministers face ostensibly to influence the Brahmin voters. Important for the SP and BSP The coming election is very important for the other two stakeholdersthe SP and the BSP. For the SP the coming election will decide whether people have accepted the passing of baton in the party to next generation of the Yadav clan, though Mulayam Yadav himself does not appear to be very favourably inclined towards his son. The party has been doing all it can to beat the anti-incumbency. On the one hand, the young Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav, has been projecting himself as a pro-development and anti-criminal leader, while the old guards have been trying to build a winning social arithmetic. However, the recent family feud, coming on top of a not-so-good law and order situation, involving the son, father and the uncle played out openly in the public, could become suicidal for the party. The stakes for the BSP, on the other hand, are huge and Mayawati has been banking on the anti-incumbency of the Akhilesh Government and the fortuitous family feud and internal dissensions within the SP to propel her to power. Taking the cue going from the past trend in which power has alternated between the SP and BSP and from its performance in the November 2015 Panchayat elections, the BSP is optimistic of coming to power. If the party loses, it would mean that its social engineering formula has once again failed it after the 2014 general elections. With the exodus of not just important leaders like Swamy Prasad Maurya from the party but also palpable signs of rebellion within the cadres, a loss could pose an existential crisis for the party given that the party has been out of power for the last five years in the State and, in the 2014 general elections, could not win a single seat. It is because of these huge stakes that Mayawati, without mincing words, appealed to the Muslims not to vote for either the SP or Congress, saying that with every Assembly seat having 22-23 per cent Dalit votes the BSP alone can sail through with the help of Muslim votes, or else the 2014 result will be repeated, the BJP will win again. This is no social engineering but the crudest of identity politicsa sad reflection of life in Indias most populous State.3 The public flogging of Dalits in Una and the abusive language used by the expelled BJP leader, Dayashankar, against Mayawati will surely dent the Dalit outreach programme of the BJP even as it will brighten the chances of the BSP in the coming elections. If the Muslims turn to Mayawati, which is quite possible because many of them blame the SP Government for not protecting them in the Muzaffarnagar riots, the BSP could easily come to power. The intense infighting within the SP must have sullied the image of the party among the Muslims. ENDNOTES 1. Mission UP: Parties have hit the campaign trail in the hunt for UPs momentous crown, editorial of The Times of India, June 17, 2016. While the BJP won 71 seats, the NDA won 73 seats from UP in the 2016 general elections. 2. Mission UP..., op. cit. 3. Only Identity Politics: Mayawati woos Muslim voters ahead of Modis Dussehra visit to Lucknow, editorial of The Times of India, October 11, 2016. REFERENCE Aron, Sunita (2015): It will be a fight for every vote in battlefield UP?, Hindustan Times, May 24. The author is an Associate Professor of Political Science, MMH (PG) College, Ghaziabad. He can be contacted at e-mail: dr.sanjaymishra_1969@yahoo.co.in NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that the conditions of the Minsk agreements continue to be violated in Donbas on a daily basis. Stoltenberg said that the security situation in eastern Ukraine remains extremely serious. "The ceasefire is being violated every day, sometimes - hundreds of times," he said at a press conference in Brussels, adding that "heavy weaponry has not been redrawn." NATO secretary general said that as long as Ukraine continues to face aggressive actions on the part of Russia, NATO will continue to provide strong political and practical support. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > Sixtyseventh Anniversary of Democratic-secular Constitution There is no doubt that despite many infirmities the Indian Constitution, as framed by the Constituent Assembly (CA) of India on November 26, 1949, was a fine document of liberal democracy. Its emphasis on an all-inclusive polity assuring social, political and economic justice was, in fact, a continuation of the anti-imperialist legacy. But the Indian Constitution today faces the most critical challenge to its existence. It is true that ruling parties before the enthronement of the Modi Government in 2014 paid lip-service to the pro-people goals enshrined in the Constitution but none dared to declare that they would over-throw the democratic-secular Indian Constitution. It is the first time in the history of independent India that PM Modi calls himself a Hindu nationalist1 and declares that he is an RSS cadre and groomed as a political leader by Guru Golwalkar. It is to be noted that the RSS is publicly committed to replace the present Indian Consti-tution by Manusmriti, a Brahmanical scripture which assigns women and Sudras sub-human status. The CA passed the Constitution on November 26, 1949 and the RSS English organ, Organiser, on November 30, 1949, in an editorial, rejected it and demanded Manusmriti as the Constitution. It read: But in our Constitution, there is no mention of the unique constitutional development in ancient Bharat. Manus laws were written long before lycurgus of Sparta or Solon of Persia. To this day his laws as enunciated in the Manusmriti excite the admiration of the world and elicit spontaneous obedience and conformity. But to our constitutional pundits that means nothing. Even after independence the RSS kept on denigrating the Constitution of India. M.S. Golwalkar, the only Guru to most of the present Hindutva rulers including our PM and the most prominent ideologue of the RSS, described the Indian Constitution in the following words: Our Constitution too is just a cumbersome and heterogeneous piecing together of various Articles from various Constitutions of Western countries. It has absolutely nothing which can be called our own. Is there a single word of reference in its guiding principles as to what our national mission is and what our keynote in life is?2 Every RSS cadre, including the PM, in everyday prarthana (prayer) worships the Hindu Rashtra and not the democratic-secular India and pledges to accomplish a Hindu state. This can be found from a perusal of the following words of the RSS prayer: Affectionate motherland, I eternally bow to you/O land of Hindus, you have reared me in comfort/O sacred land, the great creator of good, may this body of mine be dedicated to you/I again and again bow before you/O God Almighty, we, the integral part of the Hindu Rashtra, salute you in reverence/for your cause have we girded up our loins/give us your blessings for its accomplishment.3 Importantly, the RSS organ, Organiser, in its issue on the very eve of independence, dated August 14, 1947, rejected the whole concept of a composite nation (under the editorial Whither): Let us no longer allow ourselves to be influenced by false notions of nationhood. Much of the mental confusion and the present and future troubles can be removed by the ready recognition of the simple fact that in Hindusthan only the Hindus form the nation and the national structure must be built on that safe and sound foundation. The nation itself must be built up of Hindus, on Hindu traditions, culture, ideas and aspirations. But the most shocking is the denigration of the tricolour or national flag by the RSS. On the eve of independence when the Constituent Assembly adopted the tricolour as Indias national flag, the same organ of the RSS, Organiser, in its issue dated August 14, 1947, denigrated this choice in the following words: The people, who have come to power by the kick of fate, may give in our hands the tricolour but it will never be respected and owned by Hindus. The word three is in itself an evil, and a flag having three colours will certainly produce a very bad psychological effect and is injurious to a country. If the RSS is dead against the democratic-secular Constitution of India and all symbols related to it, then the question arises: why are RSS cadres, PM Modi and many of his colleagues celebrating the 67th anniversary of the Indian Constitution? As masters of double-speak these rulers are buying time and waiting for an opportune moment to strike from within. In the last two-and-a-half years they have been destroying the democratic institutions of the Indian polity one by one, just waiting to demolish the democratic-secular Indian polity. This plan was outlined by Guru Golwalkar long back in 1940. Golwalkar, while delivering a speech before 1350 top-level cadres of the RSS at Resham Bagh, the RSS headquarters, in 1940, declared: The RSS, inspired by one flag, one leader and one ideology, is lighting the flame of Hindutva in each and every corner of this great land.4 All those who are concerned about the future of the democratic-secular Indian polity must come together to resist the anti-national agenda of the RSS. Endnotes 1. Modi as the CM of Gujarat interviewed by Reuters at the formers residence at Gandhinagar, Gujarat, July 12, 2013. 2. M.S. Golwalkar, Bunch of Thoughts, Sahitya Sindhu, Bangalore, 1996, p. 238. 3. RSS,Shakha Darshika, Gyan Ganga, Jaipur, 1997, p. 1. 4. MS Golwalkar, Shri Guruji Samagar Darshan (collected works of Golwalkar in Hindi), Vol. 1, Bharatiya Vichar Sadhna, Nagpur, p. 11. Shamsul Islam, a well-known theatre personality, is a former Associate Professor (now retired), Department of Political Science, Satyawati College, University of Delhi. For some of the authors writings in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu and Gujarati see the following link: http://du-in.academia.edu/ShamsulIslam Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > Burma for New Talks The Myanmar (Burmese) Army has stopped Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming the President of the country in spite of her party, the National League for Democracy, winning the countrys general elections in November last by a landslide. The Army continues to retain control of the countrys powerful Ministries of Defence, Border Affairs and Interior. Ms Suu Kyi is described as the State Councillor. The government, which has 36 Ministries, wants to merge them into 21 to create a streamlined government. The most important event to unite various ethnic minorities in the country, divided since independence in 1948, was held on September 3 at its capital Naypyidaw for four days. The next conference of its Army, ethnic states and Parliament is being prepared to be held in a few months to solve the problem of uniting its large number of minorities, with the Army trying to bring together this timber and mineral-rich country. The last attempt in this direction was made on September 3 for four days at a conference attended by its 17 militias, but boycotted by three. While the talks were going on, the Armys fighter jets were attacking positions of the Kachin Independence Army around Laiza. It was, however, the first time that representatives of ethnic minorities were talking to the Army since independence. The history of the country is very compli-cated. For its four-day peace talks with 17 insurgent groups since independence, delegates had come to Naypyidaw, the countrys capital, as clashes continued in Shan and Kachin states. Seventeen groups attended the peace conference, in which they talked to the Army for the first time and were listened to. On the streets of Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state, the unity conference was less remarkable. One young man of a Kachin school said Aung San Suu Kyi wants to show that she is doing great things, while another student said that she cares only for the Bamar (Burman) people. Myanmars many ethnic minorities amount to about 40 per cent of its population and have a large number of guerilla groups operating in their resource-rich border areas. In 1947, on independence, the Burmans believed it would be hard to create a federal system and give up the idea that they (Burmans) are the countrys natural rulers. Its Constitution shields it from civilian control. The government has grown rich by snatching the resource-rich areas from the minorities and making deals with them, like with the United Wa State Area. The people there are unwilling to follow the Burmese law and abandon activities such as drug smuggling. If such problems are solved, then it may be possible for the countrys many minorities to live with each other; they at the moment are divided into seven ethnic states and six official autonomous areas. Groups such as the Wa, Palaung and Pa-O will worry that the states in which their autonomous areas are located will simply supplant the Central Government. They would prefer states of their own. Some groups have autonomous regions while others do not. At the conference, Aung San Suu Kyi said: We will surely be able to build the democratic federal union of our dreams. The Army Chief, Min Aung Hlaing, promised to work towards peace. Ethnic minorities acknowledged that it was the first time they were talking to the Army and it was listening. The conference was televised. A few said later that it was a political illusion. But it was an improvement because a few years ago displaying a Kachin flag would have led to arrest. In 1947 Aung San, who led the fight for freedom from British rule, had signed the Panglong Agreement with the representatives from the countrys Shan, Chin and Kachin people, which had been promised full autonomy in internal administration. But he was assassinated before he could come to power and ethnic conflict continued to plague the country, killing and displacing hundreds of thousands. The Army struck deals with some of them. The Myanmar Army, ruling the country, partially allowed civilian governments earlier this year but did not permit the formation of a federation. After her partys election victory, Aung San Suu Kyi said achieving peace was her highest priority and explained that the talks were the first steps on that long road. The mandate she obtained and her personal stature gives her greater credibility as a negotiator than the military governments that preceded her. The insurgents said their fight for self-determination was not for secession but to run their own affairs without a federal union. The Army said the Constitution it wrote eight years ago gives powers to them but they should accept autonomous areas within the states and allow the powers given to a chief executive appointed by the Army for each area. The next meeting of various ethnic organisations, it was agreed, will negotiate a frame-work for more substantive talks. The author is a veteran journalist who has written extensively on West, South and Central Asian developments. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > Is Delhi Ready to Take Tough Decisions? by Anshuman Gupta Delhi is increasingly becoming a difficult place to live in with increasing levels of pollution there. It has been manifested with the recent blanket of thick haze at the onset of winter. This is in spite of the tough measures taken by the Delhi Government under the leadership of Mr Kejriwal during the last one year or so. He started the odd-even scheme at the risk of losing his popularity as a result of the inconveniences it caused to the citizens of Delhi. However, it was supported by the Delhi people at large. It proves that people are ready to bear inconveniences for the sake of better environment. Now at least A-class cities of India have reached a level of economic development where the citizens of these cities can afford the good air by sacrificing their conveniences. There is a close relationship between environment, energy and globalisation. They, in fact, impact each other in many ways. Environment, energy and globalisation are related concepts. Their relationship apparently runs in one direction. Higher level of globalisation leads to increase in opportunities for economic activities, more productive efficiencies and further specialisation and innovations on the premise of comparative/absolute advantages. It leads to additional uses of energy which, in turn, result in more deterioration of the environment. Globalisation does not have only a negative impact on the environment. It can have a positive impact as well through import of environmentally sound technologies and complying with higher standards of environment. In fact, it has been found that at the initial level of economic development, the increased economic activities cause fast damage to environment on account of more emphasis on economic activities rather than the quality of air or environment. People are more worried about their livelihoods at the cost of the quality of environment. However, after reaching a certain level of income, the citizens of the country start demanding the luxury goods. Since good quality of air and surrounding environment are considered a luxury (which they can now afford), they start demanding it from the government. Even the government is now ready to take the risk of adopting strict environmental regulations as they do not seem to be politically costly at this point of time. It means after a certain critical level of income, the local environment starts improving. This has been verified empirically the world over. Recently the Delhi Governments odd-even policy (which appeared to be causing a lot of inconveniences to the residents of the State) is also a testimony to it. This income effect is famously called the Kuznets curve: a loose U-shaped relationship between income and environmental quality. The critical level is estimated to come to around a per capita income of $ 5000-6000 per year in case of Sulphur Dioxide (SO2). However, this Kuznets impact is because of the increase in income, which might not necessarily be on account of increase in trade and investment. Some researches have found that after controlling the impact of income, trade and investment do not have a detrimental impact on environment. So after a certain level of income, the local pollution can be controlled by taking some administrative and legislative measures at the local level. Besides the odd-even policy, the Delhi Government can initiate measures like banning the burning of leftover crops on farms, phasing out the old diesel vehicles, adopting more stringent emission norms, driving the industry and power plants out of the NCR, etc. However, these measures are not workable in case of global pollutants. Global warming is the result of global pollutants, which are termed as greenhouse gases. These mainly result from the combustion of fossil fuels. They are global pollutants leading to externalities at the global level. To tackle them, there is a need to have an agreement at the global level. The Kyoto Protocol was meant for it. The Montreal Agreement was another example of tackling the problem of ozone depletion. However, a comprehensive successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expired in 2012, is still elusive, though a relatively weak version of it in the form of the Paris Agreement has been agreed upon of late. India, being an emerging economy, has achieved a threshold level of economic development where she can afford the improved quality of environment at least in A-class cities. Her willingness for the same is manifest even at the national level through the renewed emphasis of the new government on environment with many of its programmes and policies. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF), Government of India has explicitly mentioned its main objective as conserving environment and natural resources for the present and future generations in a manner consistent with the aspirations of the country for growth and development. In order to achieve this, the MoEF aims at increasing the forest and tree cover to 33 per cent of the geographical area of the country; conserving the existing forests, wildlife and water resources; surveying of various areas for identification of new species; and controlling pollution. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, launched by our Prime Minister, is another testimony to it. Providing LPG connections to below poverty line families in the recent budget is also a step in the same direction. India has further reaffirmed the pledge she made in the Paris Agreement by ratifying her commitments. However, at the same time, generating jobs for approximately five million graduating youths every year too is a challenge confronting the government. The government has planned to face this challenge by reemphasising the manufacturing sector and pledging to increase its share in the GDP to 25 per cent. It would require the increased use of energy. In keeping with the Make in India vision, the new five-year Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) of the Government of India plans for increasing exports of goods and services, generation of employment and increasing value-addition in the country with new initiatives to support both the manufacturing and service sectors, and improving the ease of doing business in India. In the same context, Indias national energy policy has also taken many initiatives giving high priority to energy accessibility, energy security and mitigation of climate change. So while the energy and environmental policies are taking care of both energy and environment, trade policy, along with industrial policy, is to ensure economic growth and employment generation. Since still a major chunk of the population is below the poverty line in India, it is difficult to take tough decisions to tackle environmental problems at the national level. However, difficult decisions can be initiated selectively in some A-class cities, which have gone up the evolutionary curve of development and whose citizens can afford now the good air in lieu of sacrificing some conveniences. Dr Anshuman Gupta is a Professor, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > New Dawn in Pakistan The Dawn is a fairly respected newspaper in the subcontinent. It was founded by Qaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah at Daryaganj in New Delhi to propagate his cause of Pakistan. When Pakistan was founded The Dawn started appearing from Karachi. Since then, the newspaper has continued its publication from there. It recently carried a story on the growing differences between the military and the civil government. The perturbed Nawaz Sharif Government wanted the paper to disclose the source of the story. But it refused to do so. However, the government approached the Press Council of Pakistan, which has upheld the right of the paper not to reveal the source. A fairly countrywide debate has begun in Pakistan on whether or not the source should be disclosed. The overwhelming public opinion is in favour of The Dawn and supported the newspapers right to withhold the source. For the newspaper to confront the Army, which governs the country in the real sense, is a courageous step. But it also shows the tenacity of the Pakistan press and the weak-kneed policy of the Sharif Government. One doesnt know how the matter will ultimately be resolved but at present the Pakistan media has won the bout. The lesson that the Indian media can draw from the newspapers example is that however powerful the government maybe, the media can raise its voice as long as they hold the ground. They do not have to wilt against the governments pressure. If the story The Dawn has broken is correct or the comment it has made is without rancour or prejudice, there is no need to afraid of the powers that be. This is a far cry from what happened to the Pakistani media some years ago. It would look towards Islamabad and mould its policy which mostly suited the government of the day. The misadventure of General Pervez Musharraf at Kargil, when he was the Chief of Army Staff, was accepted without demur. Even there were instances of journalists were being pilloried for stories which did not show the government in good light. Unfortunately, the Indian media of today does not measure up to The Dawn example. The one-day ban by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on NDTV for the Pathankot coverage was defended by the channel itself. Others stood apart until the Editors Guild voiced its protest. Subsequently, the channel also filed a case in the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the pressure applied by other political parties, too, mounted. The NDTV owner, Pronnoy Roy, was told to appear before the Information and Broadcasting Minister where the channel was offered a compromise formula. But it goes to his credit that Roy did not rescind from his stand. Information Minister Venkaiah Naidu looked small when he said that a one-day ban on NDTV was in the interest of the nation. Who is he to determine what is in the national interest and who gave him the authority? Apparently, the Minister realised the mistake and did not pursue the matter further. Indeed, the media scene has changed. I recall what the then editor of The Times of India, Shyam Lal, saidthat Shanti Prasad Jain, the owner, did not even indirectly tell him what the paper should or should not carry. I knew Shanti Prasad Jain and he really thought that the owner was only a trustee as Mahatma Gandhi had defined the role of newspaper owners. The role of Ramnath Goenka, the owner of The Indian Express, was equally commendable. I was working with the newspaper and I know that even though Goenka was at the end of the road facing financial crisis because of the Indira Gandhi Governments ban on advertisements, he did not budge even an inch and gave his editors full freedom which they used to express their anti-government views freely. In the face of the Emergency, The Indian Express bore the wrath of the establishment and yet continued its lonely battle against it. There were several instances of the newspaper defying the censorship. The language papers were bolder than the English ones. Todays Indian media, by and large, does not appear to be anti-establishment. The journalists themselves prefer to go in the direction of the wind that blows. Even the integrity of most is questioned unlike in the past. There could be several reasons attributed for this change in attitude. One, the owners of the media houses have come to consider newspapers or the television channels as commercial ventures. Profit, not principle, is their motive. It also leaves no room for the handful of honest journalists to pursue their profession with full freedom. However, Bangladesh continues to be an exception. The two leading papers, The Daily Star in English and Prothom Alo in Bengali, daunt Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina who is dictatorial in her methods and does not brook any criticism. Its tragic to find that the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who fought for the independence of Bangladesh, has muzzled dissent and falsified all principles of her father. The Dawn example should give heart to the Bangladeshi media and the rest of those in the subcontinent. The freedom of the press is inviolable in a democratic setup. It cannot be compromised in any circumstances. People themselves take vengeance from the rulers who restrict their freedom. Mrs Indira Gandhi, whose birth centenary is to be celebrated in a years time, is an example. Her Congress Party was swept out of power in the 1977. So much so, even she lost her own seat in the elections held when the Emergency was lifted. In any democratic set-up the sovereignty lies with the people. And they have shown again and again that they are the masters to give verdicts on political rulers. By defying the government, The Dawn has reminded the people of Pakistan that they can confront the military rulers and restore demo-cracy in the real sense. Political parties have a vested interest in power. Peoples interest is in their betterment and development. The latter should prevail. The author is a veteran journalist renowned not only in this country but also in our neighbouring states of Pakistan and Bangladesh where his columns are widely read. His website is www.kuldipnayar.com Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > Men and Mountains / Not Sorrow but Atonement From N.C.s Writings This article, which brings into focus the Third World stalwarts who attended the Seventh NAM Summit in New Delhi in March 1983, is being reproduced after almost 34 years to recall the rich tributes paid by N.C. to the outstanding Cuban leader Fidel Castro who was a magnetic personality at that remarkable gathering of numerous heads of state and government. Men and Mountains The Conference is over. The concord must endure. With these words, almost Biblical in their pithy simplicity, Indira Gandhi announced in Vigyan Bhavan on March 12 the end of the Seventh Summit of the Nonaligned countries. It was a moving moment, the new milepost in the long journey of millions upon millions from continents far and near, who have broken the fetters of colonial bondage and are striving for a better world to live in. A star-studded conclave comprising the majority of mankind, and commanding two-thirds of the membership of the United Nations, the Nonaligned Summit inevitably represented a cross-section of humanity and can hardly be put into the straitjacket of a single or similar outlook, no question of an ideological monolith nor a uniform political pattern: Kings and Presidents, Prime Ministers and Martial Law Administrators, leaders representing millions or reigning over vast chunks of territory or tiny islands or principalities. At one end is the Republic of India with its population of over sixtyeight crores, and at the other end, the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principle with a population of 84 thousand. One could see the Socialist camp represented by Cuba, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea and South Yemen, and the heavily pro-West adherents of free-market economy represented by Singapore and Saudi Arabia, Jamaica and Kenya. The one common feature that binds them together is that they have all come out of the tutelage of colonialism or are still battling for the right of an independent existence. It has been a fascinating experience to watch this kaleidoscope of differing and even opposing political, economic and ideological patterns converging in this seat of an ancient civilisation which has steadfastly sustained the principle of unity-in-diversity. In this glittering array, who have emerged as the cynosure of all eyes, who have been the most conspicuous, one way or the other? Evaluation of personalities by their performance is not an easy job. However, it is not difficult to discern the towering ones among the giants, just as there are the ugly and the ungainly. Irrespective of political proclivities, observers at the Summit would have no difficulty in voting Fidel Castro as the most attractive of all the guests. Barring the host, Indira Gandhi, who topped them all in charm, grace and stamina, Castro carried the most distinguished demeanour in the entire gathering. With his legendary beard, the olive-green fatigues, the tall gait but gentle eyes showing signs of weariness Fidel rose above all petty controversies, and many among those who would not subscribe to his politics paid handsome tributes to his undoubted qualities of leadership. Another personality who could capture with ease the affection and admiration of one and all was Yasser Arafat. Despite his sartorial militancy, Yassers oration reminded one of a poet, a marvelous imaginationmonosyllabic words coming out gently and softly out of his pouting mouth. There was pathos in his voice when he referred to old friends, the freedom-fighters of yesterday now presiding over power in their respective countries: for, he, the leader of his people, is barred from his homeland. It was Arafat who coined the apt phrase that Indira Gandhi would provide the locomotive for the nonaligned for the next three years. There was Sekou Toure, President of Guinea, very much of an aged personality; such a contrast to the sprightly figure that we had seen when he first came here on the morrow of the independence of his country. Another leader on whom the scars of age could be noticed was Forbes Burnham, President of Guyana; despite his beard growing grey, there was no difficulty in recognising him when he spoke with his mellifluous diction, the same resonance that kept us spell-bound when he visited our country in the company of Cheddi Jagan, to campaign for the independence of his island-homeland. Polish and sophistication mark the personality of Kenneth Kaunda and Milton Obote, while the personification of ancient wisdom, a sort of Gandhian touch could be discerned in Julius Nyerere, who spoke little but thought more. Mozambiques Samora Machel belongs to the same genre but the brunt of the apartheid next door has taken its toil as his furrowed brow would bear out. Mauritius Prime Minister Aneerood Jugnauth represented the new generation among the non-aligned, while the young men with boyish visage are our two royal neighboursBirendra of Nepal and Jigme Singye Wangchuk of Bhuttan. Among our other neighours, personality-wise, Sri Lankas Jayewardene could be matched in flamboyance by Pakistans General Ziaul Haq; his discordant reference to Kashmir notwithstanding, he put in a heroic public-relations exercise. Bangladeshs General Ershad could hardly make an impact and one could not help feeling how Sheikh Mujib would have been in his elements rubbing shoulders with the great and the mighty. With all the slings and arrows directed at him, Afghanistans Sultan Keshtmand gave the impression of solidity. Egypts Mubarak was neat but projected a calculatedly low-key presence, while Lebanons handsome Amin Gemayel spoke with finesse. Zimbabwes Mugabe had embarrassing moments in his press conference over his squabble at home with Joshua Nkomo. Indira Gandhis feeling reference to Sam Nujomo and the imprisoned Nelson Mandela touched many a heart. Two leaders from island-countries caught the limelight. Spyros Kyprianos of Cyprus came in his own right, but Maurice Bishop brought out that the proximity to the Pentagon has sharpened defiance even in the tiny Grenadashowing the temper of the times, which came into full view with Nicaraguas Commandante Daniel Ortega Saavedra. One can wander along this picturesque gallery. The only case of unmitigated ugliness was provided by Singapores twinDeputy Premier Rajaratnam and Foreign Minister Dhanabalamwho ranted and ranted until they tired them-selves out into oblivion. A loss indeed for their mentors in the West. A misfit indeed this in a fraternity whose proud tradition was set two decades ago by men of granite, to whose memory Indira Gandhi paid her moving tribute in words which shall long be remembered: Jawaharlal Nehru and Ahmet Soekarno of reawakened Asia, Gamel Abdel Nasser of the resurgent Arab world, Josip Broz Tito from independent Europe, Kwame Nkrumah from Africa astir. Indomitable fighters all, their message was one of struggle and sacrifice. They dared and suffered, they won and built. They inspired people, and in turn were inspired by the people. Only so, can freedom be attained and strengthened. These were the men who moved mountains, whose memory gripped one even today as one came into the wide open arena, out of the beautifully bedecked Vigyan Bhavan. [First published in The Telegraph; reproduced, with acknowledgement, in Mainstream (March 19, 1983)] o o o The following piece, which was published as Political Notebook in Mainstream (December 12, 1992), is being reproduced on the twentyfourth anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Its significance is heightened due to the ongoing offensive of the Hindutvavadi forces following the seizure of power at the Centre by the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah-led BJP in May 2014 and the events thereafter. Not Sorrow but Atonement The vandalism that brought down the Babri Masjid structure on December 6 will remain a Black Sunday in the annals of independent India. Like the insensate violence of fratricidal communalism of the partition days that culminated in Gandhijis killing fortyfour years ago, the demolition of the Babri Masjid will remain a symbol of shame for the nation, and particularly for the majority community which permitted a bunch of blackguards to pose as its guardian and get recognised as such. While anger and anguish over this ghastly incident have overwhelmed millions in this country, there is no escape for certain elements in public life from being held responsible for this despicable act. The BJP and the RSS leaders who backed the so-called Dharma Sansad issuing the fatwa for the kar seva have to unequivocally own up the guilt for having collected such a huge number of people around the disputed area by whipping up raging frenzy which was beyond control. And the BJP bosses who had been campaigning in support of the kar seva were found to have beaten a retreat when the mob was actually demolishing the mosquean ignominious commentary on both their capacity and courage. Those who incite a crowd and lack the guts to face and halt it are unworthy of claiming to be leaders. Their moral posture which they flaunt as part of their Hindutva should have the honesty to offer public apology for this shocking abdication of responsibility on their part. The BJP leadership is accountable for the grave misconduct on the part of the Uttar Pradesh Government which the party was running. Chief Minister Kalyan Singh was giving assurances to the Central Government and the Supreme Court which turned out to be thoroughly bogus. If he had any idea about the importance of the commitments he had made to the Supreme Court, he should have anticipated the grave risk he was taking in handling an unmanageably massive crowd, which by its very nature was beyond any discipline. Instead of asking for more Central force, Kalyan Singh was protesting against the despatch of whatever the Union Home Ministry had despatched as a matter of precaution. The point to note is that the BJP Government in UP, like the rest of the BJP-VHP-RSS combine, was trying to run with the hare and hunt with the hound. They were stoking the frenzy for kar seva all over Uttar Pradesh and beyond, while at the same time assuring the judiciary, the Parliament and the public that the disputed areas would not be touched as per the Supreme Court directive. Not only that. In the critical days after the National Integration Council meeting on November 23, the senior BJP-RSS leaders were working out some settlement terms with the Central Government. The terms of these negotiations, which the present writer can vouch for, were, firstly, the Babri Masjid disputed structure complex would be adequately protected until the dispute is settled by dialogue or due process of law, and the UP Government would invite the Centre, if it so desired, to send its force to reinforce the State Governments security arrangements. Secondly, there would be no kar seva in violation of law. Thirdly, the Centre would make a one-point reference to the Supreme Court under Article 143 and the Courts opinion would be accepted as binding by both the Centre and the UP Government as also the BJP-RSS combine. Fourthly, the Centre would express its support for expeditious disposal of the case about the disputed plot now pending before the High Court. As these terms were hammered out, an impression prevailed on the eve of December 6 that perhaps the crisis was on the way of being defused. In fact, the BJP-RSS leaders were expected to persuade the Dharma Sansad not to precipitate the crisis. The question now arises whether the BJP-RSS leaders were diabolically agreeing to these terms while preparing for the demolition of the Babri Masjid; or, were they themselves outstripped by the blitz attack of the mob? The fact that Advani resigned from the post of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, coupled with the RSS leader Rajendra Singhs statement that the vandalism on December 6 was a grievous setback for the Ram temple cause, might be put up by them in their defence that they were themselves overtaken by the developments. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that before the bar of public opinion in India and abroad, the BJP-RSS combine has no option today but to acknowledge their guilt for the heinous act of violent destruction. It is not just a question of owning up moral responsibility, but substantive responsibility for whipping up frenzy and then giving in to mob-violence and thereby desecrating their commitment before the highest court of law and the supreme tribune, that is, Parliament. The BJP leaders have to bear in mind that the rule of law has to be respected if they do not want to put their party outside the pale of law and the Constitution. More than once during these crisis days, the BJP spokesmen have talked about the majesty of law, and now they themselves connived, if not were actively involved, in the blatant defiance of the Constitution. The pulling down of the Babri Masjid structure is not just a matter of religious frenzy, but the blatant assault on the rule of law and civilised conduct of public affairs. Here is the essence of their guilt. In the history of contemporary India, this is how terrorism has crept into politics. Whether it is the Akali Party or the Asom Gana Parishad, one finds the moderate parliamentary leaders using the rowdy terrorist groups as their battering ram against the adversary and in course of time, they themselves become the captive of the militants, as many of the distinguished Akali leaders have become today in Punjab politics. What has happended at Ayodhya looks like the curtain- raiser of the very same type of political adventurism coming over to the BJP. The RSS leaders may have survived the stigma that stuck to them after Gandhijis assassination, but there is grave doubt whether they can come out of the present crisis intact. The more mature among them would soon have to make their choice here and now. Looking at the predicament facing the Congress and its government today, there is little doubt that public opinion has already marked out those in power as being guilty of dereliction of duty. There is no room for passing the buck to the UP Government, since it was as much the Centres solemn charge to protect the Babri Masjid structure. It was all the time given out that the Centre was on the alert even while the talks for a settlement were continuing. When para-military forces were sent, one can very well ask, why these were not sent in adequate strength, at least to guard the disputed structure? Even if a fully equipped Army unit had been posted to guard the disputed structure, it would have acted as a deterrent, and the shame of the Indian state not protecting a place of worship of its citizens would not have come upon our country. This is the simple charge of any government claiming to rule from New Delhi as the guardian of a secular state. The Prime Minister himself had made the solemn commitment on August 15 in his Red Fort speech saying that the mosque would be protected as much as the government would like the proposed temple coming up. In this context, this writer needs to acknow-ledge in all honesty the validity of the criticism voiced by some observers that the Centre dithered in imposing the Presidents Rule in UP immediately after the NIC meeting when the kar sevaks were yet to gather. Hindsight makes it clear that such a pre-emptive strike might have averted the tragedy of December 6. At the same time, such an action of dismissing an elected government could have been miscon-strued at that stage as a partisan move with poor legitimacy. The exploitation of religious sentiments for political purpose has become the bane of Indian politics over the years. The opening of the lock at the Babri mosque complex and the subsequent permission of shilanyas on the disputed spot were done by the Congress under Rajiv Gandhi to collect Hindu votes. The passing of the Muslim Womens Bill in the wake o the Shah Bano case was done by the Congress to gather Muslim votes. If the Janata Dal took the help of the BJP to form its government at the Centre, the Congress too did not hesitate to vote along with the BJP to oust the same Janata Government at a moment when the Janata Dal fell out with the BJPs clamour over the same Babri Masjid issue. Even the Left in the late sixties did not have any qualms to form coalition governments with the Jan Sangh at the State level. The cumulative effect of this exploiting religious faith for electoral gains today is that the BJP leadership at this moment, instead of being branded as having violated the tenets of the Constitution, is regarded by the large body of Hindus, particularly in North India, as being heroes who have dared to defy the law to uphold the urge for Rams temple. With nobody having a clean hand on the issue of pampering to communalism, the BJP-RSS combine has been able to go so far in initiating a totalitarian communal approach as could be seen from their moves to change names of places and rewrite textbooks apart from the ghastly deed at Ayodhya. This multipronged communal approach can hardly be halted by mere seminars on secularism, but only by launching a nationwide mas movement for Hindu-Muslim amity, which alone can provide the surest guarantee for genuine secularism in the country. While swift administrative action to halt communal violence is imperative at the moment, the building of communal amity on sound footing can come only through relentless mass campaign. All parties will have to unequivocally abjure the slightest communal bias in political life with relentless vigilance. This applies equally to all communities, as is brought out by the ugly demonstrations in the Jamia Millia over the secular stand of a distinguished scholar. Hollow men do not make History, but unmake it. Indian nationalism shall not endure by preaching hatred and deceit and disdain between brother and brother. Out of the ruins of the Babri mosque must rise the shining mansion of communal harmony. We, each one of us, have to pledge ourselves as our brothers keeper. What we need today is not sorrow but atonement. (Mainstream, December 12, 1992) Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > Castro Will Always be Remembered for Keeping Alive the Hope of Socialist (...) Fidel Castro, who died at the age of 90 on November 25, will always be remembered by history for keeping alive the hope for a socialist alternative for a very long time in very adverse circumstances. He is often admired, and rightly so, for his great courage and determination in fighting an oppressive dictatorship and finally ousting it from Cuba. This was certainly a very impressive achievement but what followed has an even more durable place in history. Despite all sorts of opposition led by the dominant imperialist power of the times who happened to be a close neighbour, Castro not only ensured the survival of the socialist revolution but also guided the socialist revolution to achieve very significant successes in health and education and, at a much later stage, in sustainable agriculture. It is well known that an invasion was instigated against the Castro-led Government of Cuba and other attacks including terrorist attacks were unleashed by the forces of imperialism. It is also well known that assassination attempts against Castro were made, not one but several. It is on record that an embargo was imposed on Cuba and attempts to create artificial shortages of essential commodities were made, apart from disrupting its economy and trade in other ways. The instigator in chief in all this was the USA, the biggest superpower of the era and Cubas immediate neighbour. Despite all this the world soon saw that following the socialist revolution Cuba had some of the best human development indicators in the world, even surpassing or equalling some of the developed countries. This was duly acknowledged by leading development agencies including those associated with the United Nations. This could be seen in the education data and in the equality data but, above all, this could be seen in the health and related data. For example, Cuba could reduce the infant mortality rate to a level that was lower than that achieved by several much higher income countries. The accessibility of good healthcare by all sections of people was widely acknowledged. In addition Cuba was also able to send its doctors and health workers to many parts of the world where health care was badly needed due to war, disasters or other conditions of acute distress. This service by doctors of a small and embargoed country was also widely noted and the great contribution of brave and dedicated Cuban doctors was widely acknow-ledged. After the break-up of the Soviet Union there were several new problems and a crisis-like situation including shortage of food. This led to increasing realisation by the socialist govern-ment that they had made serious mistakes in the form of monocultures of export crops using factory farming methods requiring a lot of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Once this serious mistake was accepted, corrective measures were initiated with the help and advice of those who have been trying to spread sustainable agricultural practices in various parts of the world. Cuban scientists were asked to work along these lines. The result was that Cuba soon became one of the most important places for the spread of sustainable farming practices which were also low cost and self-reliant at the same time. This helped Cuba to overcome its suddenly created food shortages to a significant extent by making available healthy staple foods at a low cost. Another part of this effort was to make good and effective use of urban spaces as well to increase the production of nutritious food such as vegetables. Cuba under Castro successfully kept alive the alternative of socialism and showcased achieve-ments in the form of better equality, health, education and social security, achieved even in the face of never-ending hostility of imperialist powers. This living source of inspiration contributed to several Latin American and neighbouring countries following Cuba. Cuba contributed to socialist revolutions in other countries of the region and also benefited from them. While defending Cubas socialist revolution from imperialist aggression, Cubas brave soldiers also went to many remote parts of the world to fight on the side of the forces of equality and justice. Many of them sacrificed their life in the process. Should we admire this country which sent its soldiers to be on the side of justice and equality, or should we admire those countries or regimes which killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Iraq and other countries (or contributed to their untimely death in many direct and indirect ways)? Should we admire Cuba which sent its doctors to help suffering patients even in the most dangerous conditions, or should we admire those regimes which contributed to the slow death of millions of patients by denying low-cost generic drugs to them so that the companies associated with these regimes can continue to earn super-profits from their patented drugs? Castros legacy will continue to raise these questions before a very troubled and unjust world. Bharat Dogra is a free-lance journalist who has been involved with several peoples movements and campaigns. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > In Memory of Fidel Castro Fidel Castro, the great Cuban revolutionary and the icon of those who have over the last half-a-century struggled for national liberation, freedom from colonial and capitalistic exploitation, and the establishment of a just and equitable world order, passed away on November 25, 2016 in Havana at the age of 90. At the time of his death, he had become outdated just as many of the platforms he had chosen for his role in the world, that is, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Group of 77 (G-77), the Third World and the United Nations had become outdated or unrecognisably enfeebled. However, during the recent relatively inactive phase of his life he remained a symbol of the aspirations and strivings of a vast majority of the countries of the world. He strode like a colossus in the global arena during the best part of the second half of the 20th century. He was the only leader in the post-Second World War period who was vilified among a section of his own people and in countries outside Cuba, but adored and adulated in the rest of the world in much larger measure. He was constrained and crippled in the fulfilment of some of his ambitions by a group of countries led by the United States. At the same time, he was respected and hero-worshipped in almost all other countries and among vastly wider sections of the world population. Coming from a tiny Caribbean country, he was better known among the common people the world over, particularly in the Third World, than most of the other great leaders of his era. In spite of the continuing struggle for his countrys survival against the embargo and isolation imposed by the neighbouring imperia-list power, what Fidel achieved for Cuba during his life-time has remained unachieved in the rest of the Third World. He established an educational system in his country of which there is no parallel in any developing country and in a number of developed countries. The quality health system under his leadership, accessible to every Cuban virtually without charge, has no match even in developed countries. He failed in his plan to industrialise Cuba, but that was in large part due to the trade embargo slapped and maintained by the United States. For, a small country like Cuba cannot set up viable industries without being a part of the regional and global economic system, which was persistently denied to Cuba. In spite of these limitations, during my several visits to Cuba, I saw factories manufacturing goods of common consumption like drinks, processed food, clothes etc. I still wear a couple of T-shirts purchased in Havana which were at that time designed and manufactured, out of imported cloth material, by the famous French fashion house, Pierre Cardin. He did everything within the severe and comprehensive limitations imposed on him to make his fellow countrymen and women safe and comfortable. That is why in spite of the initial rumblings against his dictatorial ways and suppression of dissent by brutal force, he enjoyed almost complete support of the Cuban population in his defiance of the United States, defence of the Cuban socialist system and national development task. He identified himself with his people, consistently tried to strike a cord with them, walking out to mix with them and through his long rambling addresses to the nation. It is, therefore, not surprising that in Cuba he was universally addressed by his first name Fidelan indication of the deep affection in which he was held by his people and the social equality he succeeded in ushering in Cuba. Under Fidels leadership, Cuba emerged as a great exponent of all that the Third World stood for, that is, anti-colonialism, anti-imperialism, anti-racism, internationalism, disarmament and development. He came to symbolise the dreams of the large section of humanity which stood and fought for these causes. There is hardly an example in recent history of a nation punching so unimaginably above its weight. One of the greatest legacies of Fidel was the leadership that he left behind him, both at the political and administrative levels. I have found Cuban politicians and diplomats among the most skilled, astute and far-sighted negotiators in the world. They admirably combine their quest of national interest with concern for the world order and rule of international law. Given its overwhelming reliance on the Soviet Union for its survival, Cubas foreign policy remained tilted during the Fidel era towards the Soviet Union and socialist outlook of the world. Like the Soviet Union itself before Gorbachev, Cuba under Fidels leadership overstretched the reach of its foreign policy. It sent troops to Angola, Mozambique and Ethiopia to keep the socialist regimes in these countries in power. It did so because of its belief that justice was on its side and that it had the support of the peoples of these countries. Cuba also believed that if the pro-imperialist capitalist forces would not have been resisted, it would have led to the creation and perpetuation of foreign-dominated exploitative regimes in these countries. It should also not be forgotten that apart from sending troops, Fidel sent in large numbers doctors, educators, technical experts and social workers not only to the countries where Cuban troops were fighting but also to many other developing countries. They brought succour and relief to the suffering people there and trained the locals for self-reliance and self-governance. In one of the greatest acts of poetic justice in recent history, a few months before Fidel departed from this world, President Obama removed restrictions on travel between Cuba and the United States, restored the diplomatic relations between the two countries and, in a historic gesture, paid a Presidential visit to Cuba. It was a vindication of Cubas assertion of national sovereignty and its right to have a socio-economic system of its choice and a recognition of the flawed nature of the US policy towards Cuba. In this connection, President Obamas remark in a message to Cuba after Fidels death is really remarkable. The President said: History will recall and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and the world around him. If this is not a recognition by no less a person than the US President, of the greatness of Fidel, whom till recently the United States wanted to be liquidated at any cost and by any means, what else can it be? It is a tribute to Fidels leadership that while politically remaining on the Soviet side, Cuba was one of the most influential and respected leaders among the nonaligned countries almost on par with much bigger countries like India, Egypt, Yugoslavia and Indonesia which pioneered the nonaligned movement. I found the Cubans never missing an opportunity of using the narrowest of space available to them for manoeuvring in foreign policy, for promoting the wider causes of humanity. Under Fidels leadership Cuba never became an outcaste or a pariah in Latin America. Even the pro-US and pro-capitalist regimes of Latin America, which constituted a clear majority, held him in high esteem and saw their own national self-respect, dignity and autonomy enhanced by Fidels successful resistance of the US pressure. They chose to work together with Fidel and forge alliances with his cooperation in defiance of the US and for the furtherance of their shared interest, particularly in such matters as commodities, sovereignty over natural resources and regional cooperation. One of the most constructive contributions to the debate on commodities in the UN forum was made by Cuba. It is significant to underline in this context that the Cuban delegation to the historic First UNCTAD was led by Che Guevara who had at that time become a Cuban citizen and was a towering figure in the government under Fidel Castro. I cannot claim to have personally known Fidel or of having come close to him, but I indeed feel blessed to have been born, lived and pursued my vocation of diplomacy during the era coinciding with Fidels life. I met him twice in the second half of the 1970s when I accompanied my Foreign Minister in his calls on him. None of these two events was merely a courtesy call. Fidel took advantage of the opportunity to expound his views on world affairs and the plight of the developing countries and advanced compelling arguments for their joint effort to bring about a change in the situation. Each time on these occasions, I found myself face to face with not only the Cuban President, but a world leader of great stature. I found him a genuine friend of India, entertaining legitimate expectations of cooperation with our country mainly in the economic and technological field, but somewhat disillusioned because of our not being sufficiently forthcoming in our response and because of our propensity always to try to hold a balance in pursuit of what we perceived to be a policy of genuine non-alignment. Those days, preventing Cuba from tilting the Non-Aligned Movement towards the Soviet direction was regarded as an important part of our diplomacy. At times, we went too far in this direction without being fair to Cubas position and at the cost of our own enlightened self-interest. I saw Fidel at the prime of his authority nationally and prestige internationally as the Chairman of the Non-Aligned Summit in Havana in 1979. I was present in the Conference Hall when he delivered his inaugural address. It was a momentous moment for everyone presentseeing in flesh and blood their icon. One of our major concerns at the Summit was to get the oil producing and exporting countries (OPEC) committed to a dual pricing system for oil. In an expert level meeting in Georgetown preceding the Havana Summit, I was able to negotiate a mutually agreed formulation. As it happened, the negotiation was reopened at the Summit and this became one of the issues which held up the conclusion of the Conference. In our endeavour to find a solution satisfactory to us, Cuba extended its full support without, however, rocking the boat. Obviously, as a host country, their primary objective was to get a Havana Declaration and Plan of Action unanimously agreed and they eminently succeeded in this endeavour even though it involved their walking at the razors edge in the negotiations on the oil pricing issue and other fronts. At the time when the nuclear arms race had acquired ominous proportions and the threat of a nuclear winter seemed to be at our doorstep, an initiative was taken to convene in Havana a special Non-Aligned Conference on Disarmament. I had the privilege of steering the negotiations on the document that emerged from this Conference. I once again had the chance of standing very close to Fidel when he inaugurated the Conference. We came out with one of the best documents on nuclear disarmament ever adopted in a large international gathering like NAM. The success was in no small measure due to the highly positive, balanced and constructive attitude of the Cubans. And finally, I had the privilege of seeing from a distance this giant among the world leaders when he came to Delhi to hand over the Chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement to Smt. Indira Gandhi at the NAM Summit in 1983. I bow my head in gratefulness for all that Fidel has done for Cuba, developing countries and the world. A former Foreign Secretary, Prof Muchkund Dubey is currently the President, Council for Social Development, New Delhi. Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2016 > Tribute to Fidel Castro TRIBUTE Fidel Castro, the outstanding architect and leader of the Cuban revolution, passed away in Havana on November 25, 2016 after a brief illness. He was a remarkable personality who attracted global attention for having stood up to Washingtons devious designs to overthrow him from power ever since the Cuban revolution in January 1959. Following his death Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari sent the following message on November 26, 2016: I am profoundly saddened at the passing away of Commander Fidel Castro of Cuba, a heroic figure and an influential personality on the world stage. In his death, the people of Cuba have lost the architect of their revolution and the developing countries of the world a champion of equality and justice. He was a dear friend of India, and would continue to be remembered here, particularly for his role in the Non-Aligned Movement. I had the privilege of meeting him during my visit to Havana in October 2013. In this time of sorrow, I extend my sympathies to the government and the friendly people of Cuba and pray for eternal peace for the departed soul. While remembering him and offering our sincere homage to his abiding and evergreen memory we reproduce here the article he had written in Granma as a tribute to Indira Gandhi, whom he knew closely, a year after her tragic assassination on October 31, 1984. It appeared in the Cuban publication on October 4, 1985. Tribute to Indira Gandhi Fidel Castro On November 11, 1973, on our way to Vietnamthen involved in the peoples heroic war against the Americans and their Southern puppets, a war that was crowned with success later onwe made a technical stop-over in Delhi. It was foreseen in the itinerary of that trip that we would make an official stop-over in India on our way back, fulfilling an invitation of its Government. On that simple transit, we were received with fraternal warmth by Indira Gandhi, her Government and people. Despite pressures and responsibilities that overwhelmed her, Indira Gandhi was all the time with us. She took us to see some historical monuments in New Delhi and Old Delhi and displayed a charm that was proverbial in her and that was touched with her own naturalness which enabled the visitors not to feel disturbed by taking the time, undoubtedly necessary, she was devoting to them. At night, Indira Gandhi wanted the Cuban delegation to enjoyjust on the eve of resuming its trip to Hanoia splendid banquet in which Indias courtesy and gastronomic knowledge were combined with a beautiful performance of traditional dances of a rich and multinational culture. Our delight as spectators was interrupted, as if by a thunderbolt, when we were told that a few moments earlier, in faraway Chile, our beloved friend, a great leader of its people and of Latin America, Salvador Allende, had been assassinated in an ominous coup that brought Pinochet to power in such an unpopular mandate. We could barely finish in a proper manner, while we were being put in touch with Havana, the function that far from formal was deeply friendly. The trip to Vietnam had to be cut short and the stay in India could not take place as a result of our necessary return to Havana. At that dramatic moment, Indira Gandhi, in a tone of familiarity and confidence, told me: What they have done to Allende they also wish to do it to me. Here, there are people who, linked to the same external forces that acted in Chile, would like to eliminate me. Eleven years later, amidst an important international socialist forum of which our country was the hostthe 39th Session of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA)the news that Indira Gandhi had died, assassinated came also to hurt our sensitivity and to precipitate the final moments of the conference. Her tragic premonition of that night was then confirmed, and it was possible to understand better the brave calmness of such a delicate woman who had to pursue all those years a complex policy, besieged by external enemies, pokers of embers of hate which inevitably endure in a multinational state, and a woman who was preventedbecause of historical traditions and national customsfrom organising the security for her own life in such a way that it would have made more difficult any attempt of her enemies. Alongwith the sorrow of her absence, I will always have the sorrow that my complicated life allowed me only hasty encounters with such a sensitive and profound woman and not the quiet dialogue we had promised each other. But the almost fleeting contact amidst inter-national form where we were both besieged by irrevocable engagements and programmesat the Delhi Conference, the funerals of Brezhnev and Andropovmade it possible, however, to establish among us a personal link in which mutual respect was accompanied by mutual affection. I was able to value all the energies embodied in such a small body. Her eyes revealed the inner tension which she lived in and that her almost majestic Hindu manners succeeded in concealing. I always looked at her not as an expression of abstract power. Other international personalities of her same importance pass through life without noticing those small circumstances that take place around them. We saw Indira Gandhi concerned with every little detail in the attention to her guests and while organising the functions to which her Government was devoted. In New Delhi, for the success of the Nonaligned Conference, it was necessary for Indira Gandhi to display her subtle capacity of persuasion and her negotiating abilities that would enable her to retrace on time to achieve the necessary arrangements. All this was accompanied by an energy without which it would not have been possible for her to lead during so many years a country of hundreds of thousands inhabitants, of caste, religious and national contradictions and to maintain at the same time an independent international position when some others did not renounceas they have still not renouncedefforts to convert India into an instrument for the great geopolitical aspiration in which they insist. While paying homage to Indira Gandhi, we do it with the sentiment of one who refers to a lost friendship, with the sorrow that the obligations as a host that we had at the time of her death made impossible our personal presence in her dramatic funeral. From far away we followed, with an oppressed heart, such an impressive spectacle. We saw her disappear amidst flames while her people, her descendants, and statesmen from all over the world surrounded the funeral pyre in respectful silence. And we recalled the august calmness with which years earlier she had insinuated that one day she also would with resignation give up her life in holocaust for the unity of her nation. (Courtesy: Granma, October 4, 1985) German Minister of Foreign Affairs and current Chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed hope that the exchange of hostages between the parties to the conflict in Donbas will be held before Christmas. He said this in an interview with German media group Funke, DW reports. "That would be more than a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel," Steinmeier said. Steinmeier noted stagnation in the implementation of the Minsk agreements, saying that "the parties to the conflict are literally buried in their trenches (we are talking about negotiating positions)." The ceasefire is being further violated, and Normandy Four has also failed to achieve substantial progress in addressing major policy issues, according to the foreign minister. In this connection Steinmeier said it was premature talk of a weakening of sanctions against Russia. "When visible steps are taken in the implementation of the Minsk agreements, then we can consider the relevant changes regarding sanctions," Steinmeier said. The OSCE chairman called Crimea annexation a "violation of international law" and "our European peace order." "We do not recognize the annexation of Crimea by Russia," Steinmeier said. Chennai: The condition of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who is hospitalised here since September 22, deteriorated on Sunday evening as she suffered cardiac arrest. "The honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, who is undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals, suffered a cardiac arrest this evening," said a statement tonight by Apollo Hospital where she is admitted. "She is being treated and monitored by a team of experts, including cardiologists, pulmonologist and critical care specialists," Chief Operating Officer and head of transformation of Apollo Hospital Dr Subbaiah Viswanathan said in the statement. News about the 68-year-old leader suffering the cardiac arrest came hours after her party AIADMK said she will return home "soon" as an AIIMS expert team had confirmed that she has completely recovered after over two months of hospitalisation. Soon after the Apollo statement came, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and enquired about Jayalalithaa's health. Rao, who is the Governor of Maharashtra and holding the additional charge of Tamil Nadu, told Singh that he was rushing to Chennai from Mumbai where he was to attend a Navy Day event. PTI According to a shocking study conducted by the Kerala State Mental Health Authority in collaboration with the National Health Mission, Kerala is witnessing an alarming state of mental disorders. The study which was conducted in the district of Kollam, Idukki, Palakkad, Wayanad and Kasargod revealed that about 12.43 % of the adult population was affected by mental health conditions like psychosis and common mental disorders. Meanwhile, 1.46 % of the population was affected by alcohol related problems, and 25 % of them are not treated effectively. The study also pointed that only 42.88 % of the affected persons are approaching the government hospitals where 29% of the population approach private hospitals. Meanwhile, Health Minister KK Shylaja pointed that the findings will be included in government's health policy. Out of the 1.5 crore budget project, 35 lakh was used for the survey in the five districts and the remaining amount will be used for the future studies in the state. Dr V Raju, Dr V Satheesh, Department of Psychiatry department of Alappuzha medical college handed over the report to the Minister. Carrier Jobs And The Slippery Slope Companies are not going to leave the United States anymore without consequences. Donald Trump The reaction to Trumps deal to keep 1,100 Carrier jobs in Indiana has ranged from outrage to adoration. There are so many layers to this Shakespearean drama that all points of views have some level of credence. Im torn between the positive and negative aspects of this deal. If youve read Bastiats The Law and Hazlitts Economics in One Lesson, you understand the fallacies involved when government interferes in the free market. Politicians and their fanboys always concentrate on the seen aspects of government intervention, but purposely ignore the unseen consequences. First, I wholeheartedly agree with Scott Adams assessment of Trumps move as a brilliant, visible, memorable, newsworthy ploy to sway public opinion and sending a message to corporate America that he means business. Trump beat Carrier like a rented mule during the entire presidential campaign for announcing they were closing their plant in Indiana and moving the jobs to a new plant in Mexico. The publicity was so bad, I ended up getting a substantial rebate when I had a Carrier air conditioner installed in the Spring. Ive seen Trump worshipers trying to show what a fantastic economic deal this was for Indiana and the country. They are only looking at the scenario of staying versus leaving. The other scenario is what exists today versus what will exist tomorrow. Those 1,100 jobs already exist in Indiana. They are already paying taxes and spending money in Indiana. The taxpayers of Indiana currently have no obligation to Carrier or the employees of Carrier. With this new fantastic deal, the employees of Carrier are still employed, but now the the taxpayers of Indiana have a $7 million obligation to Carrier. This isnt a zero sum game. The $7 million is taken from the pockets of taxpayers and will not be spent in the greater economy of Indiana. This deal is absolutely a net loss for Indiana versus where they were before the deal. The people of this country are hypocritical when it comes to keeping jobs in the U.S. They want cheap electronics, gadgets, appliances and air conditioners. Therefore, they have been buying cheap foreign made products by the trillions for the last couple decades. Carrier was moving to Mexico for the low labor and regulatory costs. This would have allowed them to sell the air conditioners made in Mexico at a lower price than if they are made in Indiana. Therefore, the consumers of these products would have spent less money on the air conditioners, leaving excess funds to spend on other products. The purchasers of Carrier air conditioners are not benefiting from this deal. It is true that if Carrier had sent those jobs to Mexico, there would be a short-term negative economic impact on Indiana. The 1,100 people would have lost their jobs and would have utilized unemployment and probably food stamp benefits. Eventually, most of these people would have obtained employment elsewhere some at lower paying jobs, some at higher paying jobs. Indiana has an unemployment rate of 4.4%, so there are jobs out there. Another company might be able to buy the existing Carrier plant for a great price, start a new production plant, and hire new employees. This is the unseen part of the picture. The real issue here is why Carrier and thousands of other corporations feel the need to move operations out of this country. Since the passage of NAFTA in 1994 and Chinas decision to provide slave labor to foreign corporations around the same time frame, American conglomerates have embraced the benefits of globalization: Close your plant in the U.S. and fire Americans. Open a plant in Mexico or China and hire locals at slave wages to do the same job as the fired Americans. Sell cheap products back into the U.S., undercutting the prices of smaller domestic producers and eventually putting them out of business resulting in more American job losses. American conglomerate Ivy League educated CEOs listen to the advice of criminal Wall Street bankers and use their excess profits to buyback their stock and drive their personal compensation to astronomical levels. Capital investment by American conglomerates becomes virtually non-existent. Meanwhile, China steals the American technology and product designs and eventually produces knock-off products, undercutting American conglomerates. The Federal Reserve provides cheap and plentiful debt to Wall Street scum bankers, while Madison Avenue maggots convince Americans to accumulate debt to purchase the cheap foreign made goods. The production jobs shipped to China and Mexico are replaced with low paying service jobs in the retail and restaurant sector, sustained by the Federal Reserve debt machine. Many, if not most, of those voting for Donald Trump want less government in their lives. Trump railed against corruption, government favoritism, crony capitalism, and special deals. For the last eight years weve witnessed Obama favor green energy frauds like Solyndra, use taxpayer funds to save union jobs at GM and Chrysler, provide tax breaks to wealthy buyers of Tesla luxury cars, purposely destroy the coal industry, and not prosecute one Wall Street criminal banker. This Carrier deal is just a different version of the government carrot and stick game used by every president. This high profile deal is a symbolic message to Trump voters and American corporations, but it cant become the standard operating procedure for his presidency. Government picking winners and losers, aligning with particular companies or industries, or attempting to manage the economy is nothing but an expansion of the corporate fascism weve been experiencing for decades. Trump needs to create an economic climate which will convince American companies to expand, invest, and hire more workers. He has already documented what really needs to be done: Reduce corporate and individual tax rates. If corporations are allowed to keep more of their profits, they are more likely to hire and invest in their facilities. Many new businesses are started by individuals, so lowering their taxes provides more resources for growing their businesses. The regulatory nightmare strangles small business owners, giving an unfair advantage to conglomerates. Wiping out thousands of useless Federal regulations will save existing businesses billions and allow fledgling businesses to get off the ground. Repealing Obamacare and replacing it with a more market oriented competitive healthcare system which reduces the outrageously high costs to companies and individuals would free up billions of investment or spendable funds for companies and individuals. Existing trade deals need to be renegotiated to make sure global trade is truly free. Wage arbitrage cannot be the sole basis for why companies decide which country to build their plants. China makes it extremely difficult for American companies to do business in China from a tax and regulatory basis. Any fair trade deal would address these inequities. Donald Trump is successfully winning the public relations aspects of his new job, even before assuming power. I think he understands the bigger picture of what needs to be done to revive our stagnant, over-taxed, over-regulated, and government suppressed economy. Tax simplification, reducing the size of the Federal government, getting the Feds out of education, not policing the world, and cutting Federal spending would provide some of the resources to implement tax cuts and deal with Obamacare repeal. Trump continues to infuriate ultra-liberals like Larry Summers and Paul Krugman with his wheeling and dealing, even before ascending to the presidency. Lame duck Obama looks even more lame, as Trump engineers deals as a private citizen benefiting the country. Time will tell whether this Carrier deal was just a symbolic line in the sand, or whether it is a sign of future government interventionist policies which will ultimately backfire. In the long run, the less government, the better. Practically all government attempts to redistribute wealth and income tend to smother productive incentives and lead toward general impoverishment. It is the proper sphere of government to create and enforce a framework of law that prohibits force and fraud. But it must refrain from specific economic interventions. Governments main economic function is to encourage and preserve a free market. When Alexander the Great visited the philosopher Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for him, Diogenes is said to have replied: Yes, stand a little less between me and the sun. It is what every citizen is entitled to ask of his government. Henry Hazlitt Join me at www.TheBurningPlatform.com to discuss truth and the future of our country. By James Quinn quinnadvisors@comcast.net James Quinn is a senior director of strategic planning for a major university. James has held financial positions with a retailer, homebuilder and university in his 22-year career. Those positions included treasurer, controller, and head of strategic planning. He is married with three boys and is writing these articles because he cares about their future. He earned a BS in accounting from Drexel University and an MBA from Villanova University. He is a certified public accountant and a certified cash manager. These articles reflect the personal views of James Quinn. They do not necessarily represent the views of his employer, and are not sponsored or endorsed by his employer. 2016 Copyright James Quinn - 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. James Quinn Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said the Alliance continues to insist on full implementation of the Minsk agreements and expressed his concern about the presence of heavy weapons in Donbas. "The ceasefire is being violated every day, sometimes hundreds of times, with explosions from equipment banned under the Minsk Agreements. That is because heavy weaponry has not been withdrawn and only 13 percent of the equipment registered with the OSCE can currently be traced. As Ukraine continues to face Russia's aggressive actions, NATO stands by Ukraine with strong political and strong practical support," he said at a press conference in Brussels on Monday. Speaking about the upcoming Ukraine-NATO Commission meeting, Stoltenberg said that apart from the situation on Donbas, the foreign ministers of the NATO member states will listen to a report by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin about the progress of Ukraine's reforms. Many NATO countries will focus on Ukraine's reform because the modernization of government institutions in particular in the defense sector is presently very important for Ukraine, the NATO secretary general said. Stoltenberg also said he will continue to call on the Allies to provide direct support to Ukraine, while some of the Allies are already helping Ukraine including through training its military. Russia's Path to Another Resurgence After enduring three years of a foundering economy and feuds with the West, things may be looking up for Russia. The Brexit vote in June exposed the deep discord in the European Union, giving Moscow a glimmer of hope that dissenting member states might break the bloc's consensus on its sanctions against Russia in a future vote on their renewal. Though EU members decided unanimously in July to extend the measures, upcoming elections on the Continent could undermine the bloc's unity. In the United States, meanwhile, Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election has opened a potential path to warmer relations between the United States and Russia, and perhaps even an end to Washington's sanctions on Moscow. The turning political tides in Brussels and Washington could give the Kremlin the leeway to increase its influence in the former Soviet Union, leading the countries in Russia's periphery to re-evaluate their foreign policy positions. Analysis Many of Russia's recent setbacks trace back to 2014. In February of that year, the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine culminated in an uprising that ousted President Viktor Yanukovich from office. The next month, Crimea declared its independence from Ukraine, and Moscow annexed the region and extended support to a separatist rebellion in Ukraine's eastern part of the country. In response, the European Union and United States imposed sanctions on Russia. A few months later, global oil prices began a precipitous decline, and by year's end had fallen nearly by half. The combination of lower oil prices and sanctions plunged Russia into recession and put it on a collision course with the West. At the same time, countries such as Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia worked to strengthen their ties to the European Union and NATO. In the span of a year, the Ukrainian conflict and the oil slump conspired to reverse the gains that Moscow had made over much of the past decade in re-establishing its influence in its former Soviet periphery. Taking Another Look at the West But now, Russia's fortunes could change. Countries throughout the former Soviet Union have taken notice of the shifts occurring in Europe and the United States and are likely re-evaluating their positions with respect to the West as a result. In Moldova, the results of the Nov. 13 presidential election, which ushered the pro-Russia leader of the country's Socialist Party into power, have already demonstrated the country's ebbing interest in drawing closer to the West. Because Moldova's parliament and prime minister still favor integration with the West, however, the president-elect, Igor Dodon, is unlikely to steer the country full sail toward an alliance with Moscow. Nevertheless, he will try to foster deeper economic and political ties with Russia. Georgia, too, has already begun to soften certain aspects of its stance on the breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which were at the center of the country's short-lived war with Russia in 2008. Furthermore, in the wake of its own parliamentary elections in October, Georgia is also likely to increase its economic ties with Moscow in the coming year. Though Ukraine has relied on economic and political support from the West along with the assurance of sustained pressure on Moscow through sanctions throughout its conflict with Russia, the government in Kiev cannot be certain that the backing will continue uninterrupted. Unlike Moldova, Ukraine is unlikely to elect a pro-Russia leader, given the enduring conflict in eastern Ukraine. But the changing political circumstances in Europe and the United States could force the Ukrainian government to temper its position on the Minsk protocols and take a more conciliatory approach to negotiations with Russia over eastern Ukraine. In the meantime, Kiev may try to redouble its military integration with Poland and the Baltic states in case NATO members, in particular the United States, scale back their security presence in Central and Eastern Europe. Reconsidering Russia Former Soviet countries that were already firmly aligned with Russia will also take stock of their ties to Moscow and the West in light of the political changes afoot. Despite its long-standing military alliance with Russia, Belarus began slowly but surely warming to the West over the past year a process that could now be stalled or even reversed. By contrast, Armenia came to question its steadfast loyalty to Russia when fighting with Azerbaijan over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region erupted anew in April. The feud escalated perhaps in part because Russia was too distracted at the time with the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine to intervene. If the West offers Moscow fewer challenges under new administrations in the United States and Europe, however, it will be in a better position to assert its authority as the dispute's primary arbiter. Even countries that have stayed more or less neutral in the standoff between Russia and the West may adjust their stance. Russia recently held talks aimed at strengthening military cooperation with Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, former Soviet states that have increasingly looked to expand their relationship with Moscow in areas such as arms purchases and training. Moscow may also have a chance to reinvigorate integration initiatives such as the Eurasian Economic Union or the Collective Security Treaty Organization, since Europe's growing political rifts are likely to interfere with the European Union's focus on its Eastern Partnership program. Over the next year, as a new administration takes over in Washington and the European Union's splits widen, Russia may seize the opportunity to regain influence in many of its borderland states. But its comeback in the former Soviet states will fall far short of the one it experienced in the late 2000s, when Russia's economy was thriving and its political system was free of the turmoil currently bedeviling it. Even if the West eases sanctions on Moscow in 2017, moreover, the United States and NATO are hardly likely to abandon their allies in Russia's periphery. Still, the political transformations underway in Europe and the United States could give Moscow more room to restore its standing throughout Eurasia. "Russia's Path to Another Resurgence is republished with permission of Stratfor." This analysis was just a fraction of what our Members enjoy, Click Here to start your Free Membership Trial Today! "This report is republished with permission of STRATFOR" Copyright 2016 Stratfor. All rights reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only. 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. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has taken part in the launch of the radio and television tower atop Karachun mountain near Sloviansk in Donetsk region. During the ceremony Ukraine's head of state familiarized himself with the equipment installed at the tower and inspected the adjoining radio and television complex. "This is very important in light of the fact that a hybrid war is being waged against Ukraine. After transmissions start, we can talk about expanding coverage range tenfold," the head of state said. Poroshenko spoke live on Army FM radio, telling Ukrainian soldiers who are fulfilling their military tasks on the frontlines in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone and congratulated them with the upcoming Armed Services Day holiday. "We are also analyzing the possibility of strengthening our transmitters. They are now at the same altitude as when the tower was felled. Karachun is place of legends," Poroshenko said. On July 5 Poroshenko ordered the radio and television tower to be completed within two months. At the end of July the non-governmental organization Information Maidan appealed in writing to Poroshenko, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, Information Policy Minister Yuriy Stets and Donetsk Regional Administration Head Pavlo Zhebrivsky asking them to fight attempts to sabotage the project. The activists in the letter asked the officials to intervene and task Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers to ensure the erection of a 250-meter high tower enabling television broadcasting to occupied areas in eastern Ukraine, as well as to bring the saboteurs to justice. On October 12, Stets announced resumption of work and threatened workers with dismissal if they violated deadlines for finishing completion of the new tower. On November 10, Ukraine's Deputy Information Policy Ministry Artem Bidenko said construction of the radio and television tower on Karachun mountain in Donetsk region was complete and would be operation in about two weeks. Stets, in turn, said the individuals responsible for delays in the project received reprimands or were fired. MARTINSVILLE Allen Webb barely can remember all the fuss and worry over his life being in the balance but the 25-year-old remains humble with appreciation for those who supported him. I remember the day he was diagnosed with leukemia, said his mother, Jill Mason. His father is Mark Webb of Bassett. He was only 3 years old. Over the course of just a week, little Allen had become weak, with aching legs. She took him to Memorial Hospital, where Dr. Keith Nichols tended him. Once the boys lab results were in, the doctor had him rushed to Brenners Childrens Hospital at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. At Baptist, They took over, and they were wonderful, she said. Its a whole new world if youve never been there or seen it, she said. He was crying during treatments, not wanting to be touched. When she first heard the diagnosis of leukemia, she knew it was bad, but she didnt realize how bad. The doctor said the word cancer, and it was a punch in the stomach. I didnt realize it was cancer. With leukemia, the pair explained, his body produced too many white cells, but they didnt develop fully. Since developed white blood cells are what fight infections, he was vulnerable to all sorts of problems that dont faze people with healthy blood. Additionally, his body could not form red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the brain, or platelets, which provide clotting. Webb, who doesnt have children, said his mother was younger than he is now when the family went through the crisis, which blows my mind to think about. For her to go through all that, I could never imagine. I probably cried myself to sleep for two years, because you just dont know how it will turn out, she said. Mason was working as a CNA at Blue Ridge Rehab when she was pregnant with her son. She was attending nursing school during the time he was battling leukemia. We just literally lived at Baptist for a good long while, she said. I owe that place my life, he said. It was hard for me to finish school, the mother added. I wanted to spend every minute with him. During that time, Channel 6 did a telethon to help the family. Through that, the community raised $14,000 for them. Friends and neighbors, and their congregation at Blackberry Baptist Church, also were extremely supportive, they said. For six months, he received chemotherapy. A port was put under his skin, so the medicine could enter his heart. That neon yellow medicine was pumped in through an IV line each entire weekend, day and night. Since his IV pump was a constant companion, the little boy named it Fred, she laughed. Life each weekend in the hospital was as normal as possible, she said. She recalled with laughter that he would ride a tricycle in the hospital, and one of his parents would follow behind with his IV pump on a cart. He didnt feel playful every day, though. Some days, he wouldnt want to get out of bed, and his mother would lie in bed with him. He got better within a couple of months, and the cancer went into remission. He continued taking pills and weekly injections for two years. Allen could not go to school during most of his kindergarten year because the threat of being exposed to chicken pox was too great. That kind of infection would have killed him, Mason said. During that time, he was pricked on the finger, and the resulting infection was so serious he spent two weeks in the hospital recuperating, his mother said. His kindergarten teacher, Beth Fleming of Collinsville Primary School, came to their house almost every day after school to teach him the same lessons she taught the class. He said that as an adult, he realizes how generous she was to put in all that extra time after working all day, when she probably wants to go home. Mason said her constant worrying started subsiding gradually through the years, but it doesnt leave. When he was in third grade, he had a tumor on his foot. It weakened his bones, and doctors made a bone graft from his hip. He also had appendicitis once. He was sick often as a boy, with bronchitis and needing allergy shots. Finally, I think Ive outgrown all that, he said. Now, he simply stays on top of my blood counts with testing done yearly by Dr. Mark Mahoney. Its going to take a whole lot to get me down, he said. I feel like Ive had a pretty tough go and knocked it all out. She graduated in 1995 from Memorial Hospitals former School of Practical Nursing. The family grew. He has three siblings: Callie Mason, 14; Camden Mason, 12; and Karaleigh Webb, 18. Now mother and son are working together at Blue Ridge. She is a Licensed Practical Nurse on the 2 North wing, and he is a rehab technician, employed through Kindred Hospital. In watching him work he is so compassionate with the patients and so kind-hearted, Mason said. He said talking sincerely with the patients, even remembering their names, means a great deal to them: Its more than youd think it is. Im lucky to the millionth degree I dont remember most of this, Webb said. When you dont remember it like that, its not on the forefront of my mind. However, what he does think of regularly, he said, is the support the entire community showed him and his family. We were going through so much at the time and never got the chance to say Thank you to the friends and strangers alike who chipped in for them. They also think of others who are experiencing the same thing. I think anyone going through this, we should be there for them, Mason said. Webb said he still struggles with survivors guilt over having lived through cancer when many children dont. A lot of people say, Youre lucky or Youre meant to be here, but thats selfish, Webb said. Why do I make it out (of cancer) when so many kids dont? They were meant to be here as much as he was, he added. COLLINSVILLE A Martinsville woman charged with felony grand larceny will soon have her day in court. Judge Marcus Brinks sent the case against Amber Dawn Epling to Henry County Circuit Court this past week. Epling, 25, is accused of stealing a safe containing thousands of dollars from the man for whom she worked. She had been helping care for the mans dying wife. According to an arrest warrant and criminal complaint by Deputy M.D. Wagoner of the Henry County Sheriffs Office, Epling was charged with the theft of $30,000 and a safe from the home of Clifford Martin and wife Rebecca Martin of Collinsville. This allegedly happened while Mrs. Martin was in the hospital from March 27 to March 31. Mrs. Martin passed away sometime afterwards. Clifford Martin testified at Eplings preliminary hearing Dec. 1 that he estimated the amount of money that was stolen at between $15,000 and $20,000. He estimated the value of the safe at $100 to $150. Clifford Martin testified that Epling was one of the people who were employed to help take care of his wife. Clifford Martin testified that when he discovered the safe was missing, "I said, Who got my safe?" and that Epling responded, "What safe? What safe?" Martin testified Epling no longer works for him. The criminal complaint alleged that on June 3, Deputy Wagoner spoke with Brenton Cooper (of Collinsville), who stated Epling asked him in the second week of March how to pick a safe, and she then told him she Googled it and that it worked to unlock the safe. The complaint alleged Cooper stated Epling told him she got $700 out of the safe at Clifford Martins house and that she did this a couple of times. Cooper said Epling told him when Rebecca Martin was in the hospital that Epling went to the house, went in through the basement door and stole the safe, the complaint alleged. Cooper, who said he has been convicted of a number of felonies, testified Dec. 1 that he is "a friend, acquaintance" of Epling. Cooper said he had transported Epling to and from the Martin home on a number of occasions. Sometime in March, Cooper testified, Epling called him to pick her up from the hospital and take her home, and she paid him $100 cash. During the ride to her home, Cooper testified, Epling told him she had done something "stupid." "She said she took the whole dang safe" the previous night, Cooper said. "I was never told how she done it," he added. Cooper said Epling told him there was a safe at her house and she got some money out of it. Cooper added he has never seen the safe. Cooper said he saw Epling buy shoes and a cell phone. He said Epling told him she bought some other items, and he saw them at her house. He believed she also used money to pay bills, but he didnt actually see her pay bills. Wagoner testified that he went to the Martin home on April 3 to investigate the reported crime. Clifford said at that time that the safe contained about $30,000, and Epling said she didnt know Martin had a safe, Wagoner said. Epling indicated she had never been in the part of the house where the safe was until after Clifford Martin said the safe was missing and that then she kneeled down and touched the floor in the area where the safe had been, according to testimony. Wagoner testified Epling agreed to take a polygraph test, but when it came time for her to take one, he was unable to get in contact with her. CRITZ Rock Spring Plantation, commonly known as Reynolds Homestead, transformed into a classical holiday home over the weekend. Sundays Victorian Christmas festivities marked approximately 30 years of celebration at the location and about five years open to the general public. People traveled near and far to see tour guide volunteers dressed in historically accurate costumes, many made by local seamstress Shirley Keene. Over the years, Reynolds Homestead Director Julie Walters-Steele said shes seen new and old faces come through to see the period decorations and fellowship with one another. "They say, I remember when I came for Victorian Christmas," Walters-Steele said. Using greenery, red bows and flameless candles, volunteers made the home appear as the original homeowner, Hardin William Reynolds, might have fashioned it in the holiday season back in 1843. "We try to decorate the home in the Victorian way," Walters-Steele said. A rare treat for historians, many of the pieces in the home are original to the house or grounds. Tour guide Rhonda Edwards explained the back-story of an antique crib displayed in the downstairs bedroom where Reynoldss wife, Nancy Jane Cox Reynolds, bore 16 children. "The cradle is original and was found in one of the outbuildings on the property," Edwards said. "Its not known if it was owned by the family or a slave." The volunteers paid attention to detail in each room. Tour guide Maybelline Ayers explained the items in the parlor room from the original furniture to the antique clocks on loan. Quite different from modern homes, the lack of televisions, radios and cell phones remind visitors, especially those with technologically savvy children, of simpler times. "With 16 children running around, I imagine it was totally different," Ayers said about Christmastime at the homestead in the 1840s. While the home welcomed upwards of 100 people throughout the day, the Continuing Education Center on the site hosted just as many. Volunteer Janice Woods taught participants the art of Victorian ornament making. Using old images printed on new paper, crafters selected a picture as a foundation, then added an eclectic mix of small objects. "In Victorian times, you use a lot of pearls and lace," Woods said. Mother and daughter duo Ruth Maxie and Karen Pickeral enjoyed the ornament making extravaganza. "I thought it was a delightful experience," Pickeral said. "The lady told me that I could be creative and do whatever I wanted to do." Pickeral selected an angelic image of a small child. She added pearls, lace and jewels, making her ornament unique. "I made a beautiful little Victorian Christmas angel that will be charming on my Christmas tree," Pickeral said. As for Maxie, she said she enjoyed crafting, but that wasnt the main reason she participated in the festivities. "I very much enjoyed seeing how creative I could get along with my daughter," Maxie said. The Urrutia family also liked making ornaments together. Tala Urrutia, daughter of Mete Chief Ruben Nighthawk Urrutia and Darlene Urrutia, added Native American influences to her design. "Its the Reynolds kids dressed as angels," Tala said. "I did some Native American feathers to outline it." "It almost looks like a dream catcher," Darlene said. Husband and wife team Eddie and Stephanie Henderson celebrated 23 years of marriage at the event. "And it was a cold, rainy day then," Eddie said, comparing their 23rd anniversary to the day they wed. Stephanie said celebrating at the homestead was her idea. "Its something nice and local to do. Its a lot of fun, a little history and a lot of culture," Stephanie said. Since the event ended at 4 p.m., Eddie revealed going to Victorian Christmas was a treat for him, too. "We live close by, so I can get back in time to see the Steelers at home," Eddie said. Whether creating ornaments or touring the house, visitors experienced a classical Victorian Christmas at Reynolds Homestead. COLLINSVILLE A man charged with shooting an LED sign at Cunningham Tire, causing more than $15,000 damage, was sentenced on that and other charges recently in Henry County Circuit Court. According to the commonwealths evidence, Christian Lee Fain, 20, of Stanleytown felt the sign was too bright and was hurting his eyes, so he shot the sign with a single-barrel shotgun on April 17. In that case, Fain pleaded guilty to feloniously destroying property and received a sentence of five years in prison, with one month active and four years and 11 months suspended on conditions including three years of supervised probation and payment of $15,322 restitution. Cunningham Tire is on Fairystone Park Highway. Fain also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor entering the property of another for the purpose of damaging property or to interfere with the rights of another (amended from felony statutory burglary); grand larceny; and misdemeanor obtaining money or property by false pretense in connection with offenses on Aug. 18, 2015. He received sentences totaling seven years of incarceration, with three months of that active and the balance suspended on conditions including supervised probation and payment of restitution totaling $2,374.81. Some other recent cases in Henry County Circuit Court follow: Charles Robert Ebbert of Centerville, Texas, pleaded guilty to two counts of grand larceny and one count of making a threatening phone call (amended from felony treat to bomb/burn) in connection with offenses on Jan. 4 and Jan. 17, 2011. He received sentences totaling 11 years in jail, with one year and six months of that active and the balance suspended on conditions including supervised probation and payment of $13,870 restitution. Randal Eugene Manley of Bassett was sentenced after having previously pleaded guilty to three counts of possess firearm by felon (amended from possess firearm by violent felon); and one count each of felon carry a concealed weapon, operate motor vehicle or self-propelled machinery or equipment by habitual offender prohibited, and DUI, all in connection with an incident Jan. 26. He received sentences totaling 26 years of incarceration, with one year and six months of that active and the balance suspended on conditions including supervised probation, a $300 fine and suspension of his operators license for one year. Sheila Marie Wade of Rocky Mount, who was charged with felony shoplifting, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of misdemeanor shoplifting in connection with an incident March 22. She received a sentence of 12 months of incarceration, with 10 days active and the balance suspended on certain conditions. Nakita Darchell Waller of Collinsville, who was charged with felony shoplifting, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of misdemeanor shoplifting in connection with an incident May 2. She received a sentence of 12 months of incarceration with six days active and the balance suspended on certain conditions. Terrie Dalena Teague of Martinsville pleaded guilty to petit larceny-third or subsequent offense, a felony, in connection with an incident June 16. She received a sentence of five years in prison, with nine months active and the balance suspended on conditions including two years of supervised probation and payment of $86 restitution. Lisa Ann Jacobus of Martinsville, who was charged with shoplifting third or subsequent offense, a felony, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of misdemeanor shoplifting in connection with an incident July 12. She received a sentence of 12 months of incarceration, with six days active and the balance suspended on conditions including payment of $8.63 restitution. Jeremy Caleb Tuggle of Martinsville pleaded guilty to grand larceny in connection with an incident Aug. 3. He received a sentence of three years in prison, with 10 days active and the balance suspended on conditions including two years of supervised probation and payment of $410 restitution. Court hearings were scheduled for Irvin Blane Allen, 61, of 4820 Morgan Ford Road, Axton, who is charged with two counts of forcible sodomy on child younger than 13 years old, two counts of aggravated sexual battery on child younger than 13 years old and two counts of indecent liberties with minor. The two alleged victims were under the age of 13 years old when the offenses allegedly happened in 2015 and 2016. A motions hearing was scheduled at 9 a.m. on Feb. 22 and a two-day trial was scheduled beginning April 27 at 9 a.m. Kimberly Dawn Howell of Stuart, who pleaded guilty to feloniously possessing methamphetamine, received a sentence of one year and six months of incarceration, all suspended on conditions including supervised probation for one year and six months. Robert Lewis Bassett of Bassett, who was charged with felonious distribution of methamphetamine in connection with a July 15, 2015, offense, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of feloniously accommodate distribution of methamphetamine. He received a sentence of five years in prison, all suspended, on conditions including two years of supervised probation, temporary suspension of his drivers license and $400 restitution. Ryan Lewis Moore of Martinsville, who pleaded guilty to shoplifting third or subsequent offense (a felony), received a sentence of five years in prison, with two months active and the balance suspended on conditions including two years of supervised probation and $26.97 restitution. The offense allegedly happened Mach 23. A judge denied bond for Charles Michael Whisenton of Bassett, who is charged with three counts of feloniously distribute cocaine third or subsequent offense in connection with incidents on Oct. 28, 2015, and July 8 and Aug.17 in 2016. Joshua Scott Moore of Martinsville was sentenced after having pleaded guilty to feloniously distribute schedule 1 or 2 controlled substance as an accommodation (amended from feloniously distribute a schedule 2 controlled substance) in an incident July 17, 2015. He received a sentence of five years in prison, all suspended on conditions including completion of the Diversion Center program (an alternative to traditional incarceration), three years of supervised probation, six-month suspension of his operators license, $200 fine, and $120 restitution. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov intends to cut short his visit to Canada and return to Ukraine in connection with a deadly shootout in the village of Kniazhychi outside Kyiv. The Ukrainian interior minister said the arranged meetings in Canada are very important in terms of the partnership program with the government of Canada to support Ukraine's security sector in 2017, the Interior Ministry's communication department reported on Monday. "However, after meetings with Minister of International Trade of Canada Chrystia Freeland and Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale, I will cancel all the rest of meetings and return to Ukraine," the communications department quoted the minister as saying. Taking into account the time difference, Avakov is scheduled to arrive in Ukraine in the early hours of Wednesday. Earlier, the interior minister planned to return to Ukraine in three days' time. As reported, on December 4, 2016 at 4:00 am in the village of Kniazhychi, Brovary district, Kyiv region employees of Special Weapons and Tactics police (KORD) of Ukrainian National Police, while performing their duties, used automatic weapons against the staff of Brovary Police Department of the Main Guard Police Department, which, together with two officers of the Main Department of operational service of the National Police in Kyiv, who were also performing their duties, used automatic weapons in response. Five law-enforcement officers were killed. In theory, the elections supposed to be over. I mean, its a month later, so we should be past all this fundraising stuff, right? Not so fast, it seems, and thats my problem. My email inbox gets about one or two of these a day. "Help us keep control of the Virginia Senate," one reads. It declares that in order to save the commonwealth next year, I need to cough up $50 a month. Another announces how money is needed to do a recount in North Carolinas governors race. No offense, but since I dont live there, its hard for me to be motivated to give money. Other friends of mine have gotten emails from the Green Party, pleading for money in order to "uphold the integrity of our elections" in the long-since decided presidential race. Seeing as the Green Party missed the deadline to request a recount in Pennsylvania, havent presented any evidence of tampering or fraud in Wisconsin and only occasionally mention Michigan at all, I cant see why they should get funding from anyone, let alone the $4 million raised so far. Its an old song, an older trick and one that we need to steer clear of. Its funny how these things always pop up. It seems like were never free of millionaires explaining how they need our money, in order to "fight the good fight." A controversial topic pops up and politicians on both sides of the aisle use it as a way to fund their campaign. Theres often no evidence given, no actual proof handed out, but that doesnt matter, the requests say. They need our money right now. In fact, if we could backdate it and give them a blank check, that would be awesome. On the national level, the majority of these people have millions of dollars sitting in their bank accounts. Instead of using just their own money to run the campaign, they ask the Martinsville construction worker to chip in, along with the waitress from Stuart. Normally, this would just sound weird and people might say no, so these millionaires link themselves to the controversies, either for or against, even when they dont have any say in the matter or don't believe what they're saying. For example, does anyone truly believe a recount will change anything in the presidential election? If the Green Party had actual evidence of fraud, then why not show it? The answer is this is easier. Instead of showing evidence, they just roll out claims and ask people for money. That way, even if the recounts dont happen, theyre still successful. I mean, they just convinced people to give the party $4 million without any restrictions on it. That's more than the party raised in three months of campaigning during election season and it didn't cost them anything but a promise. A promise easily ignored. Even so, the requests for funding go out. I was talking with someone about this at Kroger on Thursday. He mentioned that even though its December, hes received several flyers in his mailbox, asking for money. I just had one question. Its similar to what I talked about in the column last week, when it comes to the citys spending. What are you getting back, in exchange for your money? If you give the Green Party some cash, then that money is gone. Its never coming back and yet, youre not even guaranteed that a recount will take place, as was the case in Pennsylvania. Its the same as last year, when political committees asked people to donate, to stop the Confederate flag from being lowered in South Carolina. When the Battle Flag of Northern Virginia came down, that wasnt up to a member of the Virginia General Assembly or someone running for Congress. State leaders in South Carolina made that decision and no amount of donations to a Virginia politician would have changed that fact. And yet, the emails keep coming, as do the television ads, calling for us to donate, in order to see these things change. The old phrase "what have you done for me lately" comes to mind. Or realistically, what have you done at all? Sure, a candidate can claim to be supportive of everything known to man, but what does his or her record say? If they want to raise taxes, did they spend what they currently have wisely? Did they balance the budget or just say a few buzzwords to get everyone worked up? That goes the same for political parties. Many of them claim to be "fighting hard" for the "common man," but they cant actually explain what theyre fighting for. With that in mind, Ive just got a request for this month. Weve highlighted the multiple groups here in Henry County and Martinsville helping people this holiday season. These are real needs being met by real groups. Before you send a dollar to a political party or committee this month, Id ask that you consider giving it to one of those nonprofits instead. Unlike the politicians, each of these groups can actually answer the question as to what theyve done for us. TODAY'S WORD is higgler (hig-leer). Example: He traveled from flea market to flea market as a higgler, setting up shop in different towns. Ruritan Club The Mount Olivet Ruritan Club will be busy this week. Tonight, the group's board of directors meets at 5:30 p.m. over at the club building, 400 Ward Road in Martinsville. Then on Thursday, the group will hold its annual Christmas dinner and installation service for new officers, beginning at 6 p.m. That will also be held at the club building, with special guest Michael L. McPeek leading the installation. Finally, the club will hold a pancake breakfast this Saturday from 7 to 9:30 a.m., with a menu of pancakes, bacon, sausage and sausage gravy, with biscuits, orange juice and coffee. The cost is $6 for adults and $3 for children ages 6 to 12. Those under 6 get in free. Rotary Clubs Local Rotary Clubs will also meet this week. The Martinsville Rotary Club will hear from Tom Mason, the Director of the Disability Rights and Resource Center. That's Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. over at Hugo's, 10 E. Church Street. The Martinsville Uptown Rotary Club will meet Thursday at 7:30 a.m. at the Virginia Museum of Natural History, 21 Starling Avnue. Sharon Ortiz-Garcia from the Virginia Department of Health will be the guest speaker. Confederacy meeting The Mildred Lee chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy will meet Tuesday at 2 p.m. over at the War Room of the Bassett Historical Center. President Jean Rood will speak, with any women who have Confederate ancestors welcome to attend. Christmas lunch The December meeting and Christmas luncheon of the NSDAR General Joseph Martin chapter will be held Dec. 14 at 11:30 a.m. at Chatmoss Country Club. Auditions TheatreWorks Community Players will be hosting auditions for their next show, Doo-Wop Motown and More in the Black Box Theatre Dec. 17. If you've ever wanted to perform on stage, do some singing before a live audience or just have fun in general, you can try out at any time from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the theatre, over at 44 Franklin Street in Martinsville. Everyone auditioning will be asked to sing either a prepared piece or something given to them at the audition itself. You don't need any experience to take part and the show dates are Feb. 9, 10, 11, 16, 17 and 18 at 7 p.m. It'll also be performed Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. TRIVIA QUESTION: We call units of distance different terms. What's the U.S. military slang for one kilometer? The answer will be in tomorrow's Stroller. TRIVIA ANSWER: For the third Christmas figure in our trivia, we go to the Dutch communities of the world. Instead of Santa Claus, Dutch children receive a visit from a different man in a much different suit. Belsnickel doesn't have a red coat. Instead, he's dressed all in furs and sometimes wears a mask with a long tongue. He's seen as very ragged looking and disheveled, with torn, tattered and sometimes dirty clothes. Also unlike Santa, he doesn't leave coal. According to the legend, when he finds a bad child, he uses the wooden switch he carries to whip the kid. Good children, on the other hand, get cakes, candies and nuts left for them. Belsnickel is a Dutch version of a German myth, a man known as Knecht Ruprecht. The German stories say Ruprecht was a companion of Santa, one of several that European countries believe in. He first shows up in the 17th century, during stories of Christmas processions. In Defence of Marxism is committed to safeguarding your privacy. At all times we aim to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we receive from other organisations, and keep it safe. This Privacy Policy (Policy) sets out our data collection and processing practices and your options regarding the ways in which your personal information is used. This Policy contains important information about your personal rights to privacy. Please read it carefully to understand how we use your personal data. We may update this Policy from time to time without notice to you, so please check it regularly. The provision of your personal data to us is voluntary. However, without providing us with your personal data, you will be unable to (as appropriate): contact us; subscribe to our mailing list; subscribe to any of our publications; or receive information about In Defence of Marxism. We collect information about you: (1) When you give it to us DIRECTLY You may give us your personal data in order to subscribe to a newsletter or publication, when you contact us by phone, email or post, when you sign a petition / statement, and/or when you donate money to us. (2) When you give it to us INDIRECTLY Your information will also be provided to us when you follow us or otherwise interact with on or via Twitter, when you like and/or join our page on Facebook or interact with us in other ways on or via Facebook. (3) When you give permission to OTHER ORGANISATIONS to share it or it is AVAILABLE PUBLICLY We may combine information you provide to us with information available from external publicly available sources. Depending on your privacy settings for social media services, we may also access information from those accounts or services. We use this information to gain a better understanding of you and to improve our communications and fundraising activities. (4) When you visit our WEBSITE We use cookies to identify you when you visit our website. Please refer to our Cookies Policy for details on the way our use of cookies affects your personal data. What information do we collect? We may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal data: (1) We will typically hold your name and contact details, including telephone number, location, and e-mail address. However, we may request other information where it is appropriate and relevant, for example: Your bank details or debit/credit card details (if making a donation). (2) any communication preferences you give; (3) information about your computer and about your visits to and use of this website including your IP address, geographical location, browser type, referral source, length of visit and number of page views; and/or (4) any other information shared with us as per clause 1. Do we process sensitive personal information? Applicable law recognises certain categories of personal information as sensitive and therefore requiring more protection, including political opinions and trade union membership. In limited cases, we may collect sensitive personal data about you. We would only collect sensitive personal data if there is a clear reason for doing so; and will only do so with your explicit consent. How and why will we use your personal data? Personal data, however provided to us, will be used for the purposes specified in this Policy or in relevant parts of the website. We may use your personal information to: (1) Enable you to subscribe to our hard copy publications; (2) Send you information about our work, campaigns, organisations and any other information, products or services that we provide (this will not be done without your consent); (3) Provide you with the services, products or information you have requested; (4) If you request, put you in touch with other supporters in your area (who have also provided such consent); (5) Handle the administration of any donation or other payment you make via credit/debit card, cheque, standing order or BACS transfer; (6) Collect payments from you and send statements and/or receipts to you; (7) Conduct research into the impact of our activity / campaigns; (8) Deal with enquiries and complaints made by you relating to the website or us in general; (9) Make petition submissions to third parties, where you have signed a petition and the third party is a target of the campaign to which the petition relates; and/or (10) Audit and/or administer our accounts. Supporter Analysis Google Analytics We may use some of your personal information to analyse our digital performance, for example to see how our website can be improved to help us achieve the purposes set out in section 9 below, to record how you are using our website or to assess the popularity of different articles / campaigns. For more information on how we use your personal information in relation to Google Analytics, please view our cookie policy by clicking this link cookies policy You can opt-out of the collection of information for such purposes here: http://www.aboutads.info/choices Communications, updates, fundraising Where you have provided appropriate consent, we will contact you by telephone and e-mail, with targeted communications to let you know about our events and/or activities that we consider may be of particular interest; about the work of In Defence of Marxism; and to ask for donations or other support. Donations and other payments All financial transactions carried out on our website are handled through either: PayPal (Europe) S.a r.l. (PayPal), a third party payment services provider. We recommend that you read PayPals privacy policy (available at https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full?locale.x=en_GB ) prior to effecting any transactions with us through PayPal; or GoCardless Ltd (GoCardless), a third party payment services provider. We recommend that you read GoCardlesss privacy policy (available at https://www.gocardless.com/legal/privacy) prior to effecting any transactions with us through GoCardless. We will provide your personal data to PayPal / GoCardless only to the extent necessary for the purposes of processing payments for transactions you enter into with us. We do not store your financial details. Childrens data We do not knowingly process data of any person under the age of 16. If we come to discover, or have reason to believe, that you are 15 and under and we are holding your personal information, we will delete that information within a reasonable period and withhold our services accordingly. Security of and access to your personal data We endeavour to ensure that there are appropriate and proportionate technical and organisational measures to prevent the loss, destruction, misuse, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or of access to your personal information. Your information is only accessible by appropriately trained staff and volunteers. We may also use agencies and/or suppliers to process data on our behalf. We may also merge or partner with other organisations and in so doing transfer and/or acquire personal data. Please note that some countries outside of the EEA have a lower standard of protection for personal data, including lower security requirements and fewer rights for individuals. We may transfer and/or store personal data collected from you to and/or at a destination outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Such personal data may be processed by agencies and/or suppliers operating outside the EEA. If we transfer and/or store your personal data outside the EEA we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the recipient implements appropriate measures to protect your personal data. Otherwise than as set out in this Privacy Policy, we will only ever share your data with your informed consent. Your rights Where we rely on your consent to use your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This includes the right to ask us to stop using your personal information for direct marketing purposes or to be unsubscribed from our email list at any time. You also have the following rights: (1) Right to be informed you have the right to be told how your personal information will be used. This Policy and any other policies and statements used on our website and in our communications are intended to provide you with a clear and transparent description of how your personal information may be used. (2) Right of access you can write to us to ask for confirmation of what information we hold on you and to request a copy of that information. Provided we are satisfied that you are entitled to see the information requested and we have successfully confirmed your identity, we have 30 days to comply. (3) Right of erasure as from 25 May 2018, you can ask us for your personal information to be deleted from our records. (4) Right of rectification if you believe our records of your personal information are inaccurate, you have the right to ask for those records to be updated. (5) Right to restrict processing you have the right to ask for processing of your personal data to be restricted if there is disagreement about its accuracy or legitimate usage. (6) Right to data portability to the extent required by the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) where we are processing your personal information (i) under your consent, (ii) because such processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are party or to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contact or (iii) by automated means, you may ask us to provide it to you or another service provider in a machine-readable format. To exercise these rights, please send a description of the personal information in question using the contact details in section 15 below. You can also unsubscribe from our email list by sending a blank email to news-unsubscribe@marxist.com Where we consider that the information with which you have provided us does not enable us to identify the personal information in question, we reserve the right to ask for (i) personal identification and/or (ii) further information. Lawful processing We are required to have one or more lawful grounds to process your personal information. Only 4 of these are relevant to us: Personal information is processed on the basis of a persons consent Personal information is processed on the basis of a contractual relationship Personal information is processed on the basis of legal obligations Personal information is processed on the basis of legitimate interests (1) Consent We will ask for your consent to use your information to send you electronic communications such as newsletters and and fundraising emails, and if you ever share sensitive personal information with us. (2) Contractual relationships Most of our interactions with supporters are voluntary and not contractual. However, sometimes it will be necessary to process personal information so that we can enter contractual relationships with people. For example, if you subscribe to one of our publications, or purchase merchandise online. (3) Legal obligations Sometimes we will be obliged to process your personal information due to legal obligations which are binding on us. We will only ever do so when strictly necessary. (4) Legitimate interests Applicable law allows personal information to be collected and used if it is reasonably necessary for our legitimate activities (as long as its use is fair, balanced and does not unduly impact individuals rights). We will rely on this ground to process your personal data when it is not practical or appropriate to ask for consent. Achieving our purposes These include (but are not limited to) promoting socialist policies Governance Internal and external audit for financial or regulatory compliance purposes Statutory reporting Publicity and income generation Conventional direct marketing and other forms of marketing, publicity or advertisement Unsolicited messages, including campaigns, newsletters, and fundraising appeals Analysis, targeting and segmentation to develop and promote or strategy and improve communication efficiency Personalisation used to tailor and enhance your experience of our communications Operational Management Maintenance of suppression files Processing for historical, scientific or statistical purpose Purely administrative purposes Responding to enquiries Delivery of requested products or information Communications designed to administer existing services including subscriptions, administration of petitions and financial transactions Thank you communications and receipts Maintaining a supporter database and suppression lists Financial Management and control Processing financial transactions and maintaining financial controls Prevention of fraud, misuse of services, or money laundering Enforcement of legal claims Reporting criminal acts and compliance with law enforcement agencies When we use your personal information, we will consider if it is fair and balanced to do so and if it is within your reasonable expectations. We will balance your rights and our legitimate interests to ensure that we use your personal information in ways that are not unduly intrusive or unfair in other ways. Data retention The length of time each category of data will be retained will vary depending on how long we need to process it for, the reason it was collected, and in line with any statutory requirements. After this point the data will either be deleted, or we may retain a secure anonymised record for research and analytical purposes. In the event that you ask us to stop sending you direct marketing/fundraising/other electronic communications, we will keep your name on our internal suppression list to ensure that you are not contacted again. Policy amendments We keep this Privacy Policy under regular review and reserve the right to update from time-to-time by posting an updated version on our website, not least because of changes in applicable law. We recommend that you check this Privacy Policy occasionally to ensure you remain happy with it. We may also notify you of changes to our privacy policy by email. Third party websites We link our website directly to other sites. This Privacy Policy does not cover external websites and we are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any external websites you visit via links on our website. Updating information You can check the personal data we hold about you, and ask us to update it where necessary, by emailing us at webmaster@marxist.com Contact We are not required by law to have a Data Protection Officer however we have a Data Protection Manager. Please let us know if you have any queries or concerns whatsoever about the way in which your data is being processed by emailing the Data Protection Manager at webmaster@marxist.com This Clinton home has probably seen a lot in its 131 years, but one nifty piece of history from 1977 gives it an extra talking point. 309 Chestnut Street, built in 1885, spans 2,507 square feet and has four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Other features include a three-story spiral staircase, built-ins and a large wraparound porch. The home sits on an acre of land, is just up the street from Central Park and is a short walk from the downtown area. Worcester is about a half hour's drive away. President Jimmy Carter stayed in the home during a 1977 visit to Clinton. The home at the time was owned by Edward "Gunner" Thompson, Office Manager for Burke Distributing Company of Randolph, Massachusetts. Carter spent the night in the home following a town hall in Clinton, as detailed in his daily presidential diary. For a transcript of Carter's town hall meeting in Clinton, click here. 309 Chestnut Street is on the market for $379,900. For more information, visit the home's real estate listing. Mathew Borges, a high school sophomore facing a murder charge in connection with the grusome death of his classmate, went before a judge Monday morning. The 15-year-old pleaded not guilty in Lawrence District Court. He was ordered held without the right to bail. Borges was arrested Saturday and will be tried as an adult. The body of 16-year-old Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino was found by a woman walking her dog near the Merrimack river Thursday afternoon. He was decapitated with his head discovered a short distance away. The teen had been missing since Friday, Nov. 18. He's believed to have been last seen with the suspect in his death. Borges told police this weekend he went to the river with Viloria-Paulino on Nov. 18 to smoke marijuana. A witness told investigators that Borges confided in him in recent weeks. "Mathew told him he did something bad," court documents state. "Mathew then told him that he stabbed a kid and cut off his head killing him. When Mathew said this he was motioning with his hands as if he was stabbing someone and cutting someone's head off." AMHERST -- About 200 students and area activists held a rally in downtown Amherst on Monday in support of North Dakota pipeline opponents and called for bank customers to close accounts in banks that are funding the project. The effort was part of a planned national day of action, said Aly Johnson-Kurts, of Climate Action Now MA. It was held even though the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Sunday that it would not grant an easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline in southern North Dakota and would seek alternate routes. That decision was seen as a major victory for opponents. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has opposed the pipeline, which would cross under the Missouri River a mile north of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation. The Missouri is the source of water for the reservation's 8,000 residents. Pipeline opponents fear a leak would pollute that water supply. Monday's rally had already been planned, and opponents are afraid this is just temporary halt, organizer Susan Theberge said. Claudia Danford, a senior at Amherst Regional High School, was there because "I believe water is blood," she said. She also said she thinks the corps decision "is a temporary victory" and believes that the project "is still on the table." Theberge said the group feels "gratitude" for the decision, but members are opposed to the pipeline and feel it should not be built. The four-state, $3.8 billion project is nearly complete except for the now-blocked segment underneath Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir. "Indigenous rights are sacred rights," and all treaties with the U.S. government should be honored, Theberge said. Organizer Jenny Caron said, "We don't know the future. Nothing has changed." Caron said all pipelines and fracking (a technique used to extract oil and gas from rock by injecting high-pressure mixtures of water, sand or gravel and chemicals) have to be stopped, and non-violent protests will continue. The gathering Monday started on the Town Common at noon with singing and brief remarks. The crowd marched to the TD Bank branch on Triangle street. Other than drumming, the walk was silent. Theberge said the walk should be prayerful. Johnson-Kurts said 17 major banks are financing the Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners pipeline. "Since TD Bank is a top target and conveniently located in downtown Amherst (a popular location), we have chosen to focus on it today," she said in an email. Theberge provide sample letters for customers to provide to banks when closing their accounts. The sample letters included wording opposing fossil fuel usage and the Dakota Access Pipeline and support for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. Yanukovych not travelling to Ukraine because of risk, can testify in Russia or by video The defense lawyer for the ex-president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, has delivered to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office a statement on his client's behalf that he will be unable to arrive for questioning on December 5 and 9 for valid reasons and is ready to testify from his current whereabouts or in the form of a videoconference. "Today I filed the statement with the Prosecutor General's Office in the interest, and at the behest, of Viktor Yanukovych, signed by me, about his readiness to answer the investigator's questions in person at his current whereabouts or in the videoconference mode. Also, evidence was provided of there being valid reasons for his no-show at questioning," Yanukovych's lawyer Vitaliy Serdiuk told Interfax-Ukraine on Monday. One reason is the presence of a real threat to Yanukovych's life and the Ukrainian state's inability, given the political situation, to ensure his safety while in Ukraine, the lawyer said. Thus, a proper communication took place in this process with the Prosecutor General's Office within the statutory period, which proves the willingness to cooperate with the inquiry, the lawyer said. Serdiuk also commented on the document read out by Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, during a break in the proceedings at the Sviatoshynsky District Court of Kyiv, that Yanukovych is suspected of treason and encroaching on Ukraine's territorial integrity, noting that from the legal standpoint this act has no legal substantiation. "The [notice of] suspicion was not served in due manner. Lutsenko's reading of some document in the courtroom during a break has no legal consequences," he said. In addition, Lutsenko himself is a witness in the same trial, the lawyer said. No one heard the prosecutor general as he was reading out the document because the sound and video link with the Rostov regional court were switched off, he said. Serdiuk said that when his colleague Ihor Fedorenko in the courtroom took documents from Prosecutor General's Office representatives, that did not constitute a service of the suspicion. "This was a receipt by a defense attorney of copies of the procedural documents pertaining to the case, i.e. these are completely different things," he said. Even despite the illegality of such actions, the defense team is still willing to meet investigators "halfway," Yanukovych's lawyer said "If there are any suspicions, these must be investigated to establish who is guilty," he said. By signing the suspicion document, Lutsenko thereby acknowledged Yanukovych's presidential status as of March 1, 2014, and the illegality of Verkhovna Rada's voting on February 22, 2014, on his removal from office, Serdiuk said. Furthermore, this inquiry should have included an investigation of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council resolution of February 28, 2014, which did not impose martial law in Crimea, the defense lawyer said. As the opioid epidemic continues, police officers are commonly finding drug users overdosing in cars, libraries, in the bathroom of fast-food restaurants and, even, churches. In 2012, Christ Church Cambridge began having a problem with people dealing and overdosing in their bathrooms, according to The Boston Globe. It was one of few public restrooms in Harvard Square. Although, there was a need for a public restroom, the church couldn't justify keeping it open. "We weren't medically equipped or educated to handle overdoses, and we were desperately afraid we were going to have something happen that was way out of our reach," The Rev. Joseph O. Robinson, rector of the church, Christ Church Cambridge, told the New York Times. Churches have had a long history with being meeting spaces for Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous or other recovery group meetings. Michael McSherry, minister of Edwards Church of Northampton, was recently contacted by the District Attorney's office to ask if they'd host recovery groups. They welcomed the group with open arms. The church also hosts a free dinner and he recognizes that sometimes people come that are high. "Fortunately, nobody has ever passed out, but it's feasible," McSherry said. He said the next step is getting all of his staff and the staff that runs the free dinners to a Narcan training. McSherry and Deb Moore, Minister of Faith Formation at Edwards Church, recently attended a Narcan training at First Churches of Northampton, Nov. 22. The two churches are part of a group that is working to educate and prepare congregations on the epidemic. One step in the program is Narcan training. Although, the training looks a little different than one given in homes or to families. For example, a church advisor doesn't know who will be around to administer the Narcan or even who will be the person overdosing. Group leaders have to prepare their congregation for anything. But The Rev. Susan Grant Rosen, founder of the program said, it's an important step in identifying the church as a place people can go without being judged. "In order to become a safe place, the church has to be willing to identify itself with the suffering people have around this and to take that on," Grant Rosen said. "And that's something you do when you have a Narcan training in your church." jennifer hayes.jpg District 2 City Councilor Jennifer Hayes has asked that the Easthampton City Council craft and consider a 'Sanctuary City' ordinance. 12/02/2016 (Mary Serreze photo) EASTHAMPTON -- District 2 City Councilor Jennifer Hayes has formally requested that the City Council consider a resolution to designate Easthampton as a sanctuary city. Hayes' Nov. 30 letter asks that the council's Ordinance Subcommittee draft language, in collaboration with the mayor's office and police department, for a resolution to protect undocumented immigrants within the city's borders. The term "sanctuary city" generally refers to a community that does not devote resources to enforcing national immigration laws on the local level, and won't cooperate in deporting a person solely for violating immigration laws. Such cities often forbid police or municipal employees from inquiring about a person's immigration status. Hayes said she has heard from numerous constituents on the matter. She said the City Council and Mayor Karen Cadiuex on Nov. 21 received an email with 50 signatures requesting that Easthampton consider becoming a sanctuary city. "I want to put legislation in place that will help to protect our residents and the community at large," Hayes said in an email to The Republican. "I'm not going to 'wait and see' what happens with the Trump administration." Hayes said she wants Easthampton to have "some tools in place ... in the event rights are rolled back." Republican president-elect Donald J. Trump has vowed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, and recently said he would cut all federal funding to sanctuary cities. The mayors of New York, San Francisco, Chicago, the District of Columbia and others have said they will resist, and continue to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation. The City Council meets on Wednesday, and Hayes' request will be taken up for the first time. The matter is likely to be referred to the Ordinance Subcommittee for further discussion. Separate discussion underway behind the scenes Hayes' push to put the matter on the public agenda may put pressure on a separate discussion currently underway out of the mayor's office. In an email to The Republican, Mayor Karen Cadieux confirmed that she has recently "had discussions" on the sanctuary city matter with City Council President Joseph McCoy, at-large Councilor Tamara Smith, who is chairwoman of the Ordinance Committee, at-large Councilor Daniel Carey and Police Chief Robert Alberti. Cadieux wrote the talks were prompted by "a typed letter of request for a sanctuary signed by approximately 8 people." When pressed, the mayor said she had also received "two phone messages and a few emails." She made no specific mention of an email signed by 50 people. Cadieux wrote the group will meet next week "to share gathered information and discuss options as an Executive Order, an Ordinance, a Resolution a Liason (sic)." Asked to clarify her statement, Cadieux wrote, "A council resolution and a liaison through our police department. 2 different suggestions and options." Cadieux said Carey was part of the discussion because he works at the office of Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan. A spokeswoman for Sullivan said Friday that Carey was participating in the mayor's talks as a city councilor, and not as a representative from the district attorney's office. The mayor did not say whether she has a personal position on the topic of sanctuary cities. City Council President Joseph McCoy told The Republican he would favor a sanctuary city ordinance and said the preliminary meetings with Cadieux have been about gathering information. "As with any topic that becomes before the City Council, we want to be sure to do our due diligence and thoroughly examine all aspects of the new ordinance," McCoy wrote in an email. He said any preliminary discussions between the mayor, police chief and individual city councilors have been geared toward "finding the most up-to-date and accurate information relating to sanctuary city designation." McCoy said if the matter is referred to committee on Wednesday, he expects there to be ample opportunity for city residents to express their views on the topic. Hayes told The Republican she had not been informed about the small-group discussions out of the mayor's office and had not been asked to participate. Despite the mayor's mention of a possible executive order, or of creating a police department liaison, Cadieux seems to favor working through the City Council. "We believe this important issue warrants discussion with the full council, subcommittee, public safety and the public. We will all work together as we do in all important issues to discuss all options in order to decide what is best for our community," the mayor wrote to The Republican. Hayes said while Cadieux could choose to issue a decree, the council process "will engender more community input by virtue of the public and posted meetings required of us." Under such a process, any request would be referred to the council's Ordinance Subcommittee. The public would be welcome to attend those subcommittee meetings, where the language of any ordinance would be hammered out. Members of the public would also be free to contact their city councilors, or to speak at the public comment period which precedes every City Council meeting. Sanctuary cities nothing new Sanctuary policies are now decades old. The Los Angeles Police Department in 1979 forbade officers from detaining people solely to determine their immigration status. Now there are more than 300 municipalities that offer some sort of protection to undocumented immigrants. Proponents say sanctuary cities ensure that undocumented immigrants aren't afraid to report crimes, seek health care or enroll their children in school for fear of deportation. Opponents point to high-profile cases where those in the country illegally have committed heinous crimes. In 2015, a 32-year-old woman was shot and killed in San Francisco by a man who had seven felony convictions and had been deported five times. The alleged killer had recently been in custody on an immigration detainer, but was allowed to go free because San Francisco is a sanctuary city. According to the Los Angeles Times, many cities have scaled back their cooperation with immigration officials, but only about a dozen proudly call themselves "sanctuary cities" with the stated intent to shelter people here in the country illegally. The Nov. 21 group email to the mayor and City Council, organized and sent by local resident Rachel Achmad, states that public safety would be enhanced by offering protections to immigrants. "When immigrants -- both those with documents and those without -- do not trust their own local police, they are less likely report crimes and they are less likely to cooperate with local law enforcement," the emailed letter reads. "Cities with sanctuary ordinances have reported decreases in crime and overall increases in public safety." The letter says such an ordinance would "(promise) to protect our immigrant neighbors and friends, family members and co-workers from unjust racial profiling and increase public safety for all, regardless of immigration status." The letter asks that "our community work together to stand up to President-elect Trump's bullying" and "stand for racial inclusivity and the celebration of cultural differences." Hayes said immigrants should know they are welcome in Easthampton. "We need to be very clear with our community that this is a safe and welcoming place for immigrants to be, work, and contribute - we truly are better together," Hayes wrote. "We don't want to give up an inch of the progress Easthampton, and Massachusetts, have made in many areas." EAST HAVEN, Conn. A pedestrian was struck and killed by a vehicle Saturday evening, the sixth pedestrian fatality in the state since Thursday, the Sate Police told the Hartford Courant . East Haven police said the victim was struck by a vehicle on Foxon Road in East Haven at about 8:39 p.m. Police said the vehicle involved fled the scene but was found, along with the alleged driver, later that evening in New Haven. Police have not made any arrests. The incident remains under investigation by the South Central Connecticut Traffic Unit. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Office Gorman at 203-468-3820. The East Haven accident is just the latest in a major spike in pedestrian fatalities, The State Police said. On Thursday, a woman was killed when she stepped out of her car on I-95 in Old Lyme to check on her toddler in the back seat of the car. She was struck and killed by passing a tractor trailer rig. A skateboarder was struck and killed just before 8 p.m. by a car in Franklin Square in New Britain Thursday night, then later that night a man was struck and killed by a westbound car as he tried to cross I-84 in Hartford. Friday morning at about 1 a.m., a skateboarder was struck and killed on Route 5 in Enfield. Later in the day, a man was struck by a pickup truck in West Hartford as he delivered newspapers. As the opioid epidemic spreads, the reality of someone possibly overdosing in public places is forcing organizations, including churches, to be prepared. Eight people from two churches in Northampton gathered together around a long white table in the middle of First Churches of Northampton on Nov. 22, getting their first training on Narcan, the opioid overdose antidote. Some of the people at the training had more personal experiences with opioid addiction than others, but in one way or another, they all agreed it's affecting them, the people in their church pews and their surrounding community. The discussion is different from the typical training Jill Shanahan from Tapestry Health usually gives. Shanahan said it's typical for families of someone with opioid addiction to get training but not groups -- though there is a need. "When in doubt, do the Narcan," Shanahan said, adding that the antidote won't hurt someone, it can only help. This is just one step in a program First Churches in Northampton and Edwards Church of Northampton have agreed to be part of, making them safe places to talk about addiction and come to get help. The Program In 2015, The Rev. Susan Grant Rosen looked at the faith communities around her and realized the people in the pews were hurting just as badly as those on the streets, but nobody was talking about it. Grant Rosen compared it to the Zika virus. If there were new cases in the state, she said the faith community would be praying for them. But prayers for drug users aren't offered. "We're not doing this for the families that the opioid crisis is demolishing," Grant Rosen said. "We're silent." Grant Rosen has her own story with opioid addiction. While she hasn't been able to help everyone in her life with their battles against opioid addiction, those continued personal battles give her a strong desire to help others, even strangers, win. She then began brainstorming ways to help those in the faith community start talking. First, she created an educational program for churches in between services, or "coffee hour." She then expanded it to a "clergy briefing" in May. But, Grant Rosen said, training the clergy isn't enough. "The way to energize faith communities is to get the worshipers involved," Grant Rosen said. In October, Grant Rosen teamed up with The Rev. Sarah Buteux from First Churches in Northampton and Deb Moore from Edwards Church of Northampton for a program called "The Opioid Crisis: How Faith Communities Can Help". About 50 people from various faith communities attended, and many more expressed interest. "We opened the door, and people wanted to rush through," Grant Rosen said, "because we were actually addressing something they were deeply concerned about." The program had two main speakers, included a lot of audience discussion and had tables filled with workers from treatment, recovery and family support organizations people could go and ask additional questions. Attendees offered new ideas to the group, too. Some wanted youth education, Narcan training, a healing service and much more. But the attendees were most surprised about some of the statistics. According to figures released by the state's Department of Public Health, 1,005 people have died from opioids from January to September 2016, excluding suicides. This already exceeds the first nine months of 2015. From the first two quarters of 2016, 31 percent of opioid-related incidents were males aged 25-34. *2016 numbers include January-September What is already being done? Some people in the faith community, however, have been working to help with this crisis for years, including the two main presenters at the October meeting. The Rev. Mike Clark from Belmont-Watertown United Methodist Church started by simply serving cider and cookies to the recovery group in the church's basement, according to Christian Century. Eventually, the people in the pews and the group downstairs merged. Now, the two groups spend time together talking honestly, showing those less-than-perfect sides of themselves, according to Christian Century -- something that might be unusual in many churches. Other churches have done similar outreach programs to the people in Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings. Anita Baglaneas Devlin, originally from Cape Cod, is doing something similar, according to the Cape Cod Times. She has spoken across the country about bringing younger crowds seeking help for their opioid addiction from religious organizations back to the church, the organization said. Other pastors, such as presenter The Rev. Charles Taylor, have found themselves leading memorial services for people who died of opioid overdoses. These people often either didn't have a home church or had a family member belonging to the pastor's church. Pastor's don't just want to be the "end of the road," Taylor said: It's time to do more for people and the families before they get there. Reaching those already in the pews Although outreach programs are important, Grant Rosen said, those already in the church are being left behind -- forcing their best face while at church. She wants to change this. At one point, she mentions, people didn't feel like they could ask other congregants to pray for family members with cancer. Now, it's widely talked about. Grant Rosen hopes the same will happen for those struggling with addiction. "This needs to become one of those things that we know how to talk about if we are to love, support, help, heal and comfort our fellow congregants in our faith community," she said. Grant Rosen understands that many of those dealing with their own opioid problems have probably already left the church, though, because of the stigma surrounding addiction. Instead, they are likely reaching out to loved ones. One important aspect of it all is learning how to talk about it on both sides, Grant Rosen said. She points out many people aren't sure how to bring up someone's suffering along with their own fears. Education can help with that, she said. Many of the members at the meeting in October wanted an educational option for their teenagers. Since the meeting, Buteux has been working on ways to make this happen. "They came because they're terrified for their children," Buteux said. "We don't know what the answer is, but we're not going to figure it out unless we start talking about it." But education for all members and clergy is important. "In a church with 200 members and one pastor, it's 200 to one. Why not reach out to educate more people?" Grant Rosen said. Clergy, however, can have more specific training, including how to help and refer someone to other programs. Once everyone has the information, then they can start spreading the training, like the Narcan training at First Churches in Northampton. Eventually, Grant Rosen envisions providing healing services. "Not that you are going to lay hands on someone and they are going to stop using drugs," Grant Rosen said. "It's that so many people have been hurt so badly, and so many people are suffering and struggling." She remembers in the 1980s when churches did healing services for victims of and the families of those affected by AIDS. These services, she said, pulls from healing traditions in all religions, making it open to everyone. But the bottom line, Grant Rosen said, is that in order for people to talk about the problem openly, people first have to recognize the problem and stop pretending it isn't happening at church. "You have to be willing to have the problem connected to you as a congregation in order to be a safe place and a place people understand that they will not be rejected, shamed, judged, pushed away," Grant Rosen said. And that isn't always an easy step. On Tuesday, December 6, at 12.30, the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's press center will host a press conference by Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine Hryhoriy Osovoy entitled 'Trade Unions Demand Decent Living Conditions for People' with the participation of all-Ukrainian trade unions and professional associations (8/5a Reitarska Street). Admission requires press accreditation. More information by phone: (044) 289 6041, (067) 788 9941. "Bringing this additional capital to Montana and Idaho is a great win for everyone," said Dave Glaser, president of MICDC http://www.mtcdc.org . "Through New Markets Tax Credits, were able to fund projects that create jobs and build economic vitality in areas that really need it. We now have the opportunity to do more." After receiving a $90 million award in New Markets Tax Credits from the U.S. Treasury Department in November, Montana & Idaho Community Development Corporation is seeking to fund projects that are worth at least $4 million and have a gap in financing. MICDC, a nonprofit consulting service, works with investors to turn New Markets Tax Credits into cash that can be used to finance business startups and expansions. MICDC also uses the tax credits to finance community facilities that serve low-income people. Anne Pentilla [email protected] Full Story: http://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/nonprofit-looking-to-fund-projects/article_b2048ad7-ca74-5c87-9c26-d1c2dd6d3789.html Chris Shook, the new dean of the School of Business Administration at the University of Montana https://www.business.umt.edu/ , was sleeping in a monastery in Spain last fall at the age of 53, trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. Shook was walking the 500-mile Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage popular among people worldwide as a retreat for spiritual growth. He was on sabbatical from his previous job as a professor of business management at Auburn University, but he knew he didnt want to commit to more years there. Somewhere along that long walk, he decided that a career in administration was his true calling. "Going into administration is the way to make the biggest difference in peoples lives," he said. "I could write more articles or teach more classes, but that has a pretty limited impact." For instance, he was talking to alumni at the governors barbecue earlier this year and was surprised at how little people know about the School of Business Administration. The school is ranked No. 1 in the conference for business schools and has the highest first-time pass rate for its CPA exam in the Northwest. He said people dont know that 80 percent of the schools students have internships before they graduate, and 82 percent have jobs or are admitted to graduate school within 90 days of graduating. We have a really strong foundation of people, he said. The faculty and staff are phenomenal. DAVID ERICKSON [email protected] Full Story: http://missoulian.com/business/meet-chris-shook-new-dean-of-um-school-of-business/article_d491b94f-710e-58b1-bdd4-d974a9a06747.html The federal government is offering up more than $270 million to thousands of property owners on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation as part of a program aimed at helping tribal governments consolidate their land. Nearly 7,000 landowners have until Jan. 17 to decide whether they want to take the offer. The chairman of the tribes business council, Harry Barnes, says the individual offers range from a few hundred dollars to more than $1 million. Under the land buy-back program, willing landowners sell the government their land allotments to be consolidated and turned over to the tribes. The land stays in trust for uses benefiting the tribes and their members. Full Story: http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/montana/feds-offer-270m-for-blackfeet-land-in-buy-back-program/197045501 Kudos to Google for infusing its search engine with warm, human touches like daily homepage doodles and abundant Easter eggs. Join New Atlas as we count down our favorite little jokes and bonuses within Google search results. Emily Ferron Full Story: http://newatlas.com/google-easter-eggs-hidden-secrets-barrel-roll/46733/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=93a4252ad0-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-93a4252ad0-92465361 Northwestern University senior Daniel Kinch, a dual-degree student in physics and math, explains in a word why he won the coveted Marshall Scholarship to study in the United Kingdom: perseverance. I never give up, said Kinch, one of students from around the U.S. to be named a Marshall Scholar this year. I think what separates successful people is perseverance. Its been one of my guiding principles for about as long as I can remember; its what got me to Northwestern in the first place. Kinch will study math at the University of Durham in England for the first year and the University of Cambridge for the second, while exploring the relationship between physics and math as it applies to string theory. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in theoretical physics upon the completion of the Marshall Scholarship. String theory is a physical theory, first and foremost, that a lot of physicists are wary of because currently we have no way of testing it, Kinch said. But there are new conjectures that show that string theory can actually be used to improve our understanding of mathematics. Thats part of what I am going to study at Durham, especially as part of my masters dissertation. At Northwestern, Kinch studies physics in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and math in the McCormick School of Engineering. When Kinch was choosing a college, he said what most captivated his interest about Northwestern was the McCormick School of Engineerings whole brain approach to education along with the architecture on the Evanston campus and his discovery of deep dish pizza at the local Giordanos. A member of QuestBridge, his journey is all the more remarkable. QuestBridge is an organization geared toward helping first-generation and low-income students find their way in college, Kinch said. They might not have family members and friends who have navigated that process. So, the Quest network is made up of other students who have trail-blazed that path and can provide those resources to new students. Beginning four years ago, when Kinch joined the ranks of Wildcats in 2013 on a full QuestBridge scholarship, he has been working diligently, investing long hours at Northwesterns Office of Fellowships, to secure such an opportunity for postgraduate work. The Marshall, he said, is worth the work and the wait. Kinch found out that he had won before the start of Thanksgiving break, but the news did not fully settle in until he told his mother a couple hours later. I was in shock when I got the news, Kinch said, recalling the phone call he made to his mother in the Denver area. As soon as I told her, just immediately, she was screaming and crying, and thats when it hit me. Established in 1953 as a British gesture of thanks to the people of the United States for assistance they received under the Marshall Plan after World War II, the Marshall Scholarship is designed to train future leaders with a lasting understanding of British society and fortify the relationship between the two countries. In 2015, 943 students applied for 31 scholarships. Kinch certainly fits the bill. When I read Albert Einsteins biography several years ago, my greatest takeaway was not his scientific brilliance; it was his status as a global citizen, someone whose connection to all humanity and commitment to its protection transcended any allegiance to a country or ideology, Kinch stated in his Marshall application. I aspire to emulate Einsteins humanity even more than I do his scientific prowess. If I am to have a chance at becoming a global citizen as Einstein was, living outside the U.S. for much of my adulthood is the best path forward, and the Marshall Scholarship will set me on precisely that path. Analysts warn of 'irreversible damage' if arms sales to Taiwan rise US President-elect Donald Trump's tweets about US arms sales after his protocol-breaking phone call with Taiwan's leader has spurred speculation that Trump may increase arms sales to the island, with Chinese analysts warning that the negative consequences would outweigh any profits. Analysts also believe that the military gap between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan is too big to be filled by any US arms sales, and selling weapons to Taiwan is still viewed as an offensive political act from the US to interfere in China's domestic policy. Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen on Friday spoke on the phone with Trump, offering her congratulations on his election victory, the first direct phone call between a US president-elect and a Taiwan leader since mainland and the US established diplomatic ties in 1979. Trump also called Tsai "the President of Taiwan" in a tweet, adding "interesting how the US sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call." Tricky subject Yang Lixian, a researcher at the Institute of Taiwan Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times said that it is possible that Trump would see economic benefits in increasing arms sales to Taiwan. "The Taiwan question is one of the most sensitive and tricky subjects of the Sino-US relationship," Yang said, adding that if handled inappropriately, it will cause irreversible damage. Yang said that the Chinese mainland should remain firm in its attitude to object to any US arms sales to Taiwan, and make preparations for any possible adjustment to these sales. Peng Guangqian, a military strategist at the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Academy of Military Science, told the Global Times on Sunday that the defensive capability of the Chinese mainland has overwhelmingly surpassed Taiwan in the past 10 years. "Nowadays, we can observe a hostile aircraft carrier any time, and the mainland would have the home advantage if a conflict breaks out in the Taiwan Straits today," Zhang Junshe, a senior researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, told the Global Times. US military exports to Taiwan are merely a political act to demonstrate US hegemony in Asia and is a sharp practice on the part of the US, Peng said. "Taiwan has purchased low-quality and less-advanced US weaponry at an extremely high price," Peng said. The US has not and will not sell top-notch weapons to Taiwan, and China's objection has also affected their weapons trade, he said. "Sadly for Taiwan, even if Taiwan bought some high-tech weapons from the US, in some cases, they wouldn't even be able to see or touch the weapons, since the US doesn't trust Taiwan's military with protected secrets," Peng noted. Military exchanges According to the Taipei Times, Taiwan's "Ministry of Foreign Affairs" last week welcomed the call by the US Senate and House of Representatives for military exchanges between senior Taiwan and US officials in the US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in 2017, expressing gratitude to the US Congress for its continuous efforts in promoting military cooperation between Taiwan and the US. Even if Congress passes the act, the US president has the right to veto it, Peng said. "However, the act will certainly disturb the Sino-US relationship if it's implemented," Peng said. The US may not suspend its arms sales to Taiwan after Trump takes office, Li Fei, a professor with the Taiwan Research Institute at Xiamen University told the Global Times. However, once the Sino-US relations are affected, the US will lose more than the profit they make out of the arms sales, Li noted. I consider it a great honour and a huge pleasure to celebratethe 30th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Developmentamong such distinguished colleagues and friends. I would like to thank the SCIO, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with which I cooperate productively through the Embassy in The Hague, for this very kind and honourable invitation. Today I do not only speak on behalf of the Netherlands School of Human Rights Research, but also on behalf of the Cross-cultural Human Rights Centre. The Cross-cultural Human Rights Centre is a network of universities and scholars from China, Africa and the Caribbean. Members from South East Asia and Latin America will also join. The Centre was established in Beijing in 2014 and its aim is to increase the dialogue on human rights between scholars from across the world. In so doing it draws attention in particular to human rights concepts and ideas developed in Southern countries, such as China and Africa. The work is inspired by the call made by General Secretary Xi Jinping in 2012 to make the outside world aware of the China Dream, by telling China's stories and sharing China's experiences. I would like to congratulate the Communist Party and the State Council on their very successful efforts to eradicate poverty in China. There can be no doubt that is the biggest human rights accomplishment in the history of humankind. I was very disappointed, therefore, to read the end-of-mission report issued by the Special Rapporteur, Philip Alston, after his visit to China. Although he does acknowledge China's major accomplishments in the area of poverty eradication, he also transgresses his mandate to make baseless and irrelevant points. Many westerners fail to see that the right to development is not about money but about human dignity. Having proper sanitation and hygiene, access to affordable health care and enough food on the table are the basic conditions for a dignified life. This link between human dignity and the right to development was made very persuasively already in the White Paper on human rights, issued by the State Council in 1991. The Declaration can be considered the first successful joint action undertaken by Southern states in the area of human rights. The Declaration was based on Southern scholarship, such as the pioneering research conducted by the Senegalese jurist KebaM'baye. And its adoption was the result of joint stage management performed by diplomats from different continents. Therefore the Declaration serves as a source of inspiration for the work of the Cross-cultural Human Rights Centre. That is currently drafting a 'Comprehensive Southern Vision on human rights'. The vision document will lay out a common Southern outlook on human rights issues as an elaboration of the Universal Declaration. We believe that the time has come to break the western monopoly on human rights interpretation by offering a comprehensive alternative view. (The author is a law professor at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. This is theSpeaking Notes for the Opening Ceremony of the Seminar on the Declaration on the Right to Development,Beijing, 4th December 2016) This domain name expired on 2022-10-28 00:57:22 Click here to renew it. by Tanya Gazdik , December 5, 2016 MetLife is launching its first campaign since dropping Snoopy and the Peanuts gang. It marks MetLife's first campaign since their global rebrand earlier in the fall the company's first rebrand in the past 30 years. In "We're for the Workforce," MetLife unites employers and employees under a single movement. It marries deep customer insights on an ever-changing workplace now composed of four generations with a mission to partner with and support employers. A 30-second spot premiered on the Sunday morning news shows: CBS News Sunday Morning, CBS Face the Nation and ABC This Week with George Stephanopoulos. It will air through Dec. 23. Website and digital components also went live on Dec. 4. The campaign includes online video, digital banners and social advertising with partners like Forbes, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Fortune, The New York Times, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, CNN, SHRM, Human Resource Executive, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. advertisement advertisement The digital and print creative features bold text in the MetLife color palette with simple, declarative statements addressed to employers. It will launch across B2B publishers, programmatic and paid social. The goal of the campaign from Argonaut is to demonstrate how MetLife helps businesses navigate the changing workplace to meet the evolving expectations of their employees. "We are embarking on a journey to up-end the long-entrenched norms of the insurance industry, said Esther Lee, global chief marketing officer of MetLife, in a release. We are focused on humanizing our industry and designing every customer experience to reflect the modern company we're becoming. MetLife's research revealed that organizations are experiencing unprecedented change in the nature of work, the workplace and the workforce. MetLife is the largest provider of employee benefits in the U.S., and as such, has a unique understanding of the challenges businesses are facing in becoming more competitive, it said. The company announced the decision to discontinue using Peanuts characters in October. "We brought in Snoopy over 30 years ago to make our company more friendly and approachable during a time when insurance companies were seen as cold and distant, Lee said a release. We have great respect for these iconic characters. However, as we focus on our future, it's important that we associate our brand directly with the work we do and the partnership we have with our customers. Print ads with the new look began appearing Oct. 21 in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and the Washington Post. Additional advertising is running in Mexico, Korea and Japan. by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, December 5, 2016 Donald Trump has yet to be sworn in as President of the United States, yet his impulsiveness and dearth of knowledge are already setting off diplomatic rows. On Friday,Trump held a call with the president of Taiwan, a state not recognized by its titanic neighbor, China. In Chinas eyes, Taiwan is a breakaway province and any direct legitimization of the island state represents an affront to Chinas understanding of its own sovereignty. Since 1979, it has been U.S. policy that Taiwan is not recognized as an independent nation, while also not accepting Chinas claims over the island. Trumps call and subsequent tweets, where he attacked Chinese currency manipulation and military expansion, seem to signal a potentially volatile new direction for U.S.-China relations, and U.S. diplomacy as a whole. The tweets, specifically, foreshadow a Twitter-presidency: one where the president of the United States may dictate foreign policy through his handle, completely circumventing the State Department and its trove of foreign policy experts. advertisement advertisement While the incidence of Twitter-active heads of state is pretty high, President Obama has been very careful about tweeting from a personal account while in office. He only opened a personal account months after his second inauguration, in June 2013, and has not been much of a prolific tweeter during that period, with only 326 tweets over the three and a half years. According to Twiplomacy.com, a large majority of governments use Twitter to communicate with their constituents. As of 2016, there were 793 Twitter accounts belonging to heads of state in 173 countries -- about 90% of UN member states, representing 324 million followers around the world. According to the site, 100% of European and South American governments have a presence on Twitter. Like his tweets, Donald Trumps call with Taiwan is more evidence that we can expect an impulsive presidency. Twitter is by design a means of communication best used by the compulsive and those who desire immediate attention, qualities that most would deem dangerous for a head of state. But thats what we got in our president-elect. Policymaking, by contrast, requires coolness, deliberation and a weighing up of options. The danger is that Twitter diplomacy, for all its honesty, could exacerbate crisis instead of resolving it, said the BBCs diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus. We can only hope that, against the odds, Trump realizes the delicate position he now holds and thinks before he tweets. by Sara Guaglione , December 5, 2016 Online magazine audiences continue to shift from desktop to mobile devices, according to the latest Magazine Media 360 Brand Audience Report from The Association of Magazine Media. Desktop and laptop Web audiences are down 9%, while mobile Web viewing is up 12.2% in October 2016. Of the 125 brands that were able to report both Web and mobile audiences in October, 94% have higher mobile audiences than Web audiences. Nearly one quarter of these brands report mobile audiences that are 3 times greater than their Web audiences. Meanwhile, print audience growth was flat at 1.3% for the magazine brands in the report, while audiences on the video platform continue to grow at a rate of 30.8%. The total audience for magazine brands in the report is up 3.6% compared to a year ago. advertisement advertisement The MPA also found that magazine brands in Womens Fashion & Beauty, Travel and Science & Technology content categories had above average growth in total audience this month. The top five magazine brands with the most total audience across print, Web, mobile Web and video for October 2016 were ESPN The Magazine, People, Forbes, WebMD Magazine and Allrecipes, the same lineup as in the September report. The top five magazine brands with the greatest percentage growth in total audience for October 2016 compared to a year ago were New York Magazine, W, Marie Claire, Popular Photography and The New Yorker. The MPA notes that the period in this report includes the weeks leading up to the presidential election, which often exhibits atypical results. Audiences spend a lot of time online following the news of the election, but not necessarily visiting their usual magazine media sites, a spokesperson said. The Chinese government on Thursday issued a white paper on the right to development, expounding on its philosophy, practice and contribution in this field. By doing so, China is offering enlightenment for worlds human rights undertakings, the Peoples Daily said in a commentary on Friday. The white paper, issued by China's State Council Information Office and titled "The Right to Development: China's Philosophy, Practice and Contribution," also briefs on Chinas achievements and contributions in ensuring the right to development. Following is a full translation of the article: Development is a universal human theme, providing for people's basic needs and giving them hope for better life. The right to development is an inalienable human right, symbolizing dignity and honor, the white paper released by China's State Council Information Office states. The paper, titled The Right to Development: Chinas Philosophy, Practice and Contribution, was issued on the 30th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Right to Development. The white paper introduces China's efforts and contribution to guarantee the right to development, and elaborates the country's philosophy and mechanisms in this regard in a systematic manner. Whats more, the document highlights China's respect to human rights, provides the world with enlightenment for the progress of human right protection, and conveys China's staunch resolution to guarantee the right to development and human rights. The rights to subsistence and development are the primary, basic human rights. Development is the only way to ease conflicts, ensure people's basic rights and offer the public more prosperous life. Having suffered from poverty and wars, Chinese people fully understand the importance of development. As a result, China has placed great efforts on people's right to development during the 60 years after the founding of the country. With an arable land less than 10 percent of the world total, the country is feeds more than 20 percent of the world's population. China has lifted 700 million people out of poverty through more than 30 years of reform and opening-up, accounting for more than 70 percent of the global reduction in poverty. In the meantime, it has established the world's largest social security system, improving the average life expectancy to 76.34 years in 2015 from 35 years in 1949. China has always combined universal principles of human rights with its own reality. It has not only helped people benefit from development, but also achieved higher level of development through the protection of people's right to development, paving a new path in human history. The Chinese people are seeking to realize the great renewal of the Chinese nation and this process in essence is a process to achieve social equity and justice and advance human rights, remarked Chinese President Xi Jinping. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the party with Xi as the core has been, along a path suitable to national conditions, upholding a philosophy advocating people-oriented as well as innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, focusing on the improvement of social welfare, and striving to develop each social undertaking. In addition, the country has guaranteed equal participation and right to development for its people, and improved its concept and mechanism of the right to development. It is steadily working toward shared development and common prosperity. Each country has its responsibility and obligation to realize the right to development. Chinese people share the same dream with the people from the rest of the world. Therefore, China is not only focusing on its own right to development, but also working with other countries for common development. As a world leader in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, China has aided nearly 400 billion yuan to 166 nations and international organizations, trained more than 12 million people for developing countries, and sent 600,000 Chinese professionals to assist their development. By following the principle of mutual respect, equality, win-win cooperation and common development, China has integrated the interests of the Chinese people with those of the people across the world and made unremitting efforts for the construction of the community of shared destiny. As the initiator, practitioner and promoter of the right to development, China is willing to work with the international community to share ideas and experiences, and promote the healthy development of worlds human rights cause. The protection of the right to development calls for constant efforts. Though China is the largest developing country in the world, it still faces an unbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable development. It needs to make more efforts to achieve a higher level of development. The world will be a better place if the international community enhances cooperation and mutual learning, and jointly safeguards the right to development. by P.J. Bednarski , Staff Writer @pjbtweet, December 5, 2016 Every kiss begins with Kay. And when I was younger, it was not the Christmas season until a badly animated Santa came down a snowy slope sitting in the triangulated Norelco razor head while a choir sang, Floating heads, floating heads to the tune of Jingle Bells. But by and large, American holiday TV spots are dull, for which we can probably blame the Super Bowl (though only a handful of advertisers go there) and the fact that, forever, December has been the joyous month when relatively few people watch TV. Which is why high minded stuff like the Kennedy Center Honors airs in December and networks show repeats. Nielsen used to officially turn off for the last week in December--it was called a black week. Its when documentaries aired. In Britain, its much different. advertisement advertisement In recent years, a real spirited Christmas competition over commercials-- um, thats advert over there--has developed, led by the retailer John Lewis. Unruly, the ad tech company that measures, predicts and explains how ads go viral and get shared all around, last week named the new John Lewis Christmas commercial #BusterTheBoxer the Most Shared Ad of 2016. Its been seen over 21 million times on YouTube, and shared 1.9 million times by adoring fans. Which is pretty good, considering the ad only debuted on Nov. 7, less than a month ago. At about this time of the year over here, that Windsong may be on my mind, but if I lived over there, my thoughts would be on Buster, the dog bouncing joyously on a backyard trampoline meant to be the Christmas gift for the little girl in the house. Its a very sweet and very funny ad and, according to everybody, a lot better than last years John Lewis spot, Man on the Moon which many people thought was kind of a downer, even for John Lewis, which has a reputation for ads that are joyful but thoughtful tiptoe into socially relevant. Last years reminded people there are a million people in London who spend Christmas alone; that guy on the moon was like them, almost. It was happy in a very sad way. It ended with a smile and a tear. The same thing was happening to viewers. Also, #Buster has become the ad #StopFundingHate has rallied around to urge advertisers stay away from scheduling campaigns in some British tabloids that have pushed anti-immigrant attitudes. John Lewis didn't join the effort but got attached to it anyway. It's complicated. Unruly data that analyzes emotional responses concludes that this years batch of UK Christmas ads are still twice as sad as the average British ad during the year. That makes me sad. Though Unruly started in London, it operates worldwide, and so its count of shared ads is from all over too, but a lot are British. The U.S., Denmark, Egypt, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Norway, the Philippines and Indonesia are all represented. . Heres the top 20 as shared on social media: 1. John Lewis - #BusterTheBoxer - 1,949,387 shares 2. Channel 4 - We Are The Superhumans - 1,851,533 shares 3. Shell - Best Day Of My Life | #makethefuture - 1,683,072 shares 4. Vodafone - Ramadan 2016 - 1,435,350 shares 5. OK Go & S7 Airlines - Upside Down and Inside Out - 1,240,842 shares 6. Nike - The Switch - 969,650 shares 7. Doritos - Ultrasound - 893,465 shares 8. Ariel - #sharetheload - 877,558 shares 9. Cadburys Dairy Milk - Aliens - 852,895 shares 10. 7 Eleven Thailand - Teachers - 792,328 shares 11. McDonalds Philippines - Tuloy Pa Rin - 699,396 shares 12. Nike Basketball - The Conductor - 641,359 shares 13. Volkswagen - Trailer Assist - 640,995 shares 14. Samsung - Introducing Samsung Galaxy S7 - 616,128 shares 15. OK Go & Morton Salt - The One Moment - 608,419 shares 16. Knorr - Spirit of Ramadan - 590,386 shares 17. Momondo - The DNA Journey - 585,903 shares 18. Facebook - Aquila Test Flight - 564,123 shares 19. Mentos Indonesia - Mentos Mentors - 548,334 shares 20. Nintendo - First Look at Nintendo Switch - 544,585 shares --pj@mediapost.com by Jess Nelson , December 5, 2016 Cloud-based email delivery service SparkPost has partnered with DwellWell to create a new communications application that addresses the affordable housing crisis. The two technology companies announced PublicBnB on Monday, an application that will provide a community-based marketplace for affordable housing. The application leverages SparkPosts email service to facilitate communication between prospective tenants and landlords with available rental units. PublicBnB matches landlords with available living spaces such as rooms, units or houses with participants in the Housing Choice Vouchers public housing assistance program. Previously known as Section 8, the public housing assistance program has over 2 million participants, but a quarter of a million households have been unable to find a home due to the limited housing supply. advertisement advertisement Prospective tenants can search for properties based on various filters such as location and cost, and send email inquiries and applications for available housing. SparkPosts Web relay hook ensures that all email communication is secure and anonymous. That anonymity is critical to improving the selection process on the part of the landlord or tenant because they will only be able to base their decisions on information relevant to the transaction, states Phillip Merrick, CEO of SparkPost. Users will be able to send and receive transactional emails such as notifications of application submissions, denials, and approvals without having to provide personal information." Landlords can quickly create property listings and send requests to the local housing authority to schedule inspections upon the applicants approval, facilitating a faster certification for their public-housing units. A lack of affordable housing can have dire consequences, as evident by the deadly fire that swept through a working and living space in Oakland over the weekend. At least 36 people, many of them artists, lost their lives when a fast-moving fire destroyed a warehouse that had been converted into an un-permitted artists studio. Oakland is now the fourth-most expensive city for a renter to live in the United States, according to an April rental report by Zumper, and those priced out of real housing are left to fend for themselves in makeshift homes. Nearby San Francisco ranks as the top most expensive city for renters, with San Jose closing out the top five. We see PublicBnB -- and housing in general -- as a catalyst for life changing moments like getting a better job or a simple bank account, which drives our immediacy in providing an auxiliary supply of affordable housing to prospective tenants," says Marlon Frausto, founder and CEO of DwellWell. "AirBnB, for example, has already uncovered an excess capacity of over half a million units for short-term stays in the United States alone; similarly, we want to discover how many people are open to generating an extra source of income by helping to provide longer-term housing for a family in need which will greatly improve their quality of life." DwellWell plans to send Beta program invites for hosts and prospective tenants to try the PublicBnB application on December 19, 2016. Around 7 to 8 percent of Americans will experience post-traumatic stress disorder in their lifetime, and the condition is even more common among veterans, affecting around 23 percent of those involved in recent conflicts. According to a new study, the ancient Chinese exercise Tai Chi could help veterans manage symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Share on Pinterest Researchers say Tai Chi may be beneficial for veterans who have PTSD. Study co-author Barbara Niles, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine in Massachusetts, and colleagues recently reported their findings in BMJ Open. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that can arise after experiencing or witnessing a shocking or frightening event. Because veterans have been exposed to highly traumatic events more often than the general population, their rates of PTSD are much higher. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, around 30 percent of veterans who served in the Vietnam War have experienced PTSD at some point in their lives. Symptoms of PTSD include flashbacks of the traumatic event, nightmares, negative emotions, and avoidance of situations that trigger memories of the event. Some individuals may also experience anxiety, depression, physical symptoms such as chronic pain and alcohol or drug abuse. Treatment for PTSD often includes a combination of medication and behavioral therapy. However, these treatments are not always effective. Now, Niles and colleagues say Tai Chi has the potential to offer significant benefits for veterans with PTSD. A new anti-cancer drug that inhibits a key cell signalling process involved in many different cancers has shown that it is capable of stopping the progression of cancer and shrinking tumours. Importantly, it has been able to do this in rare cancers that are less well-studied such as adenoid cystic carcinoma. Dr Christophe Massard, a senior medical oncology consultant and chair of the Early Drug Development programme at the Institut Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus (Villejuif, France) told the 28th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Munich, Germany, that results from a phase I clinical trial in 103 patients showed that the drug LY3039478 was successful in inhibiting the Notch signalling pathway in patients with alterations in the Notch protein. Patients in the trial had a range of cancers, including breast, colon, parotid (salivary gland) and sarcoma, which were all advanced or had started to spread to other parts of the body (metastasise). After treatment with LY3039478, the tumour shrank in one patient with breast cancer and the disease stabilised and did not progress in another 29 patients. In addition, using PET scanning, researchers found two more cases where the tumours had shrunk: in a patient with adenoid cystic carcinoma and a patient with testicular cancer. Dr Massard said: "Research suggests that the Notch signalling pathway plays a role in helping cancer cells to grow, divide and spread around the body; it is also involved in angiogenesis, the process by which tumours grow new blood vessels, and it may contribute to tumours becoming resistant to chemotherapy. Notch signalling that is unregulated due to mutations in the Notch protein is implicated in a number of cancers. The Notch signalling pathway involves four Notch receptors (NOTCH1, 2, 3 and 4) - proteins that sit on the membranes of cells, including cancer cells, and transfer messages across the cell membrane. LY3039478 is able to inhibit all four receptors. The results from this phase I trial prove that LY3039478 has the effect on tumours that was expected, by inhibiting the Notch signalling and thereby preventing cancer cell growth and proliferation. "Notch was evaluated as a target for anti-cancer drugs several years ago, with promising results in lymphoma and rare cancers. However, because of gastrointestinal toxicity, the development of several Notch-inhibition compounds was stopped," said Dr Massard. "In this trial we have worked closely with gastrointestinal specialists to manage the toxic effects of the drug." Side effects from the drug were manageable, the most common being diarrhoea (in 48% of patients), vomiting (40%), nausea (38%), loss of strength (25%) and decreased appetite (21%). Other, less common side effects included weight loss, dry skin and mouth, and hair loss. The clinical trial also established that the recommended dose for a phase II clinical trial as 50 mg three times a week for 28 days, repeated until the disease starts to progress. The drug is taken orally. "This was a proof of concept trial that has shown that LY3039478 is successful in inhibiting unregulated Notch signalling, resulting in encouraging signs of preliminary clinical activity in several advanced and metastatic cancers. One of the interesting results with implications for some patients is that the drug was active against rare cancers such as adenoid cystic carcinoma," concluded Dr Massard. The phase I trial is continuing and there are plans for a further trial in advanced and metastatic cancers to test the drug in combination with other anti-cancer drugs such as taladegib (in breast cancer), abemaciclib (colon cancer), cisplatin (cholangiocarcinoma) and gemcitabine and carboplatin (soft tissue sarcoma). Dr Kapil Dhingra, a member of the executive committee for the Symposium and managing member of KAPital Consulting LLC (USA), commented: "Notch signalling is an important contributor to the development of a variety of cancers. However, successful development of drugs against this pathway has been challenging, in part due to unacceptable side effects. While preliminary, the results of the phase I study of LY3039478 show evidence of anti-tumour activity in a number of different tumour types with a manageable safety profile. These results warrant further investigation of this drug in clinical trials." A strategy of alternately flooding and starving the body of testosterone is producing good results in patients who have metastatic prostate cancer that is resistant to treatment by chemical or surgical castration, according to new findings. In a presentation at the 28th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Munich, Germany, researchers reported that results from 47 men who have completed at least three cycles of bipolar androgen therapy (BAT) showed that the strategy was safe and effective. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels1 fell in the majority of the men, tumours shrank in some men, in several the disease did not progress and this included some whose disease continued to be stable for more than a year. One man appears to have been "cured", in that his PSA levels dropped to zero after three months and have remained so for 22 cycles of treatment, with no trace of the disease remaining. The researchers are planning to treat a group of 60 men in total. Sam Denmeade MD, professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, USA) told the Symposium: "We think the results are unexpected and exciting. We are still in the early stages of figuring out how this works and how to incorporate it into the treatment paradigm for prostate cancer." Traditionally, treatments for prostate cancer have involved lowering the levels of the male hormone (or androgen) testosterone using drugs called luteinising hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists, as it was thought that androgens stimulate the cancer cells to grow. However, Prof Denmeade says there is no evidence that testosterone promotes cancer. "Indeed, earlier research in prostate cancer cell lines has shown that treatment with high doses of testosterone could inhibit growth and kill cancer cells. The exact mechanism is not known and there may be many things happening since the androgen receptor is the key signalling pathway in prostate cancer," he said. "In our lab we have observed that testosterone interferes with part of the cell division process in cancer cells called DNA licensing; it also seems to cause prostate cancer cells to make breaks in their DNA. So too much testosterone can cause cancer cells to die. It can also induce something we call senescence, which means the cancer cells become like old men who sit around and tell stories but don't make much trouble." In an ongoing study called RESTORE, 47 men with castration resistant prostate cancer that had started to spread to other parts of the body (metastasise), who showed no symptoms but whose disease had become resistant to treatment with either abiraterone (17 patients) or enzalutamide (30 patients) receive a high dose of testosterone (400 mg), injected into the muscle every 28 days. At the same time the men continued on their LHRH agonist therapy to clamp down on testosterone produced naturally by the testicles. The men also stopped taking abiraterone or enzalutamide. These two anti-cancer therapies work by inhibiting androgen receptor signalling. "Our goal is to shock the cancer cells by exposing them rapidly to very high followed by very low levels of testosterone in the blood," explained Prof Denmeade. These alternating extremes in testosterone levels are why the researchers call the therapy "bipolar". Men with declining PSA levels or stable disease continued with BAT after three cycles, and if their disease started to progress they were treated again with abiraterone or enzalutamide. The study has completed enrolment of the required 30 men in the first arm of the study who were treated with testosterone after their disease became resistant to enzalutamide and started to progress. Presenting results from this group, Prof Denmeade said: "Thus far we have observed dramatic PSA response in a subset of men; PSA levels declined in about 40% of men and in about 30% of men levels fell by more than 50%. Some men also have objective responses with a decrease in the size of measurable disease, mostly in lymph nodes. Many of the men have stable disease that has not progressed for more than 12 months. I think we may have cured one man whose PSA dropped to zero after three months and has remained so now for 22 cycles. His disease has all disappeared." So far, 17 of the 30 men in the second arm of the study whose disease had started to progress again after treatment with abiraterone have received testosterone. Prof Denmeade said: "PSA responses were also observed in this group, but full results will not be presented until all 30 men have been enrolled over the next year." All men in the study were tested for circulating tumour cells in their blood and six of them were found to have a protein called androgen-receptor splice variant (AR-V7), which may be associated with resistance to treatment with enzalutamide. After BAT treatment, AR-V7 disappeared from the blood of all six men, and two of the men had declines in PSA levels of 50% and over. So far, BAT has been well-tolerated by patients with no dose-limiting toxicities. One patient had an increase in pain and one had a problem with retention of urine. "The benefits of the treatment are particularly evident in men who have had no sexual function for many years due to impotence caused by hormone deprivation. These men are quite happy with the new treatment. Other positives include increase in muscle strength, increased energy and decreased fatigue. This does not occur in every man and we are not sure exactly why." More research still needs to be conducted on BAT. Prof Denmeade said: "We caution that this is still experimental. In particular, this therapy should only be given to men who are asymptomatic. Testosterone treatment can definitely worsen pain in men with prostate cancer who have pain from their disease." A multi-centre randomised trial in the USA called TRANSFORMER is testing BAT versus enzalutamide in men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer whose disease had progressed after being treated with abiraterone. So far it has recruited 111 men with a target of 180. "If we find testosterone is superior then we would hope to move on to larger trials. Our problem is this is not a drug that is owned by a pharmaceutical company; it is generic testosterone. So moving forward is going to be difficult due to issues with finding funds to run a bigger trial," concluded Prof Denmeade. Chair of the scientific committee for the Symposium, Professor Jean Charles Soria from the Institut Gustave Roussy (France), commented: "The use of testosterone in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer is an intriguing concept that was previously advocated some years ago, but this is the first time we have clinical data in patients whose disease has progressed after treatment with abiraterone or enzalutamide. Advertisement Pitts' primary concern was that parents would react, rather than thoughtfully respond and make an informed vaccination decision.From there, she began studying the public messaging of pharmaceutical companies, specifically related to how such companies targeted their consumers. She found that public messages tended to reinforce perceptions that human papillomavirus, or HPV, was a "woman's issue."This connects strongly to her current work studying the perceptions college-age males hold about HPV. Pitts and her collaborators presented the study and their findings during the 102nd National Communication Association's annual convention, held recently in Philadelphia.Pitts has been investigating male perceptions of HPV and the vaccine in collaboration with Sara Kim, a doctoral student in the UA Department of Communication; Samantha Stanley, who earned her master's in communication from the UA and is now pursuing a doctorate at the University of Maryland; and Drew Miller, who recently earned his master's degree in communication. Kim and Stanley were co-presenters during the conference. Pitts, Stanley and Kim also published an article, "College Males' Enduring and Novel Health Beliefs about the HPV Vaccine," earlier this year in Health Communication, a peer-reviewed journal.The team involved 84 undergraduate or newly graduated males in the study. The team held focus groups in which the men were able to discuss their beliefs, attitudes and values associated with HPV."Males are an important and overlooked population in HPV prevention," Pitts said. "The more we see equality with HPV messages targeting both males and females, the better. That will help to prevent the spread of HPV and negative health consequences in the future."Pitts was awarded a seed grant by the UA Social Behavioral Sciences Research Institute, housed within the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, to launch the research project. She also is studying male perceptions about HPV vaccine, and what barriers exist for getting the vaccine."For years, professionals have said women are at high risk of getting HPV, but we can now protect them through the vaccine. But no one was thinking about the male role," Pitts said."Women aren't getting HPV by themselves, so where is it coming from? And the most likely answer was that it is coming from their male sexual partners," she said.Asked about increasing HPV vaccination, she said, "People need to be able to make an informed decision - they need information, knowledge, expertise, opportunities to be able to make that decision. The most important thing that needs to happen is conversations between pre-teens, teenagers, parents, school boards and physicians."Pitts said it is even more important to investigate perceptions around HPV because some physicians are still more likely to recommend the vaccine for females without giving consideration to males. She also points to vaccination completion rate data for adolescent girls, indicating that the rate is about 40% for girls and 22% for adolescent boys.Based on her research, Pitts said most of the men involved in the study had heard of HPV, but most had no knowledge that there exists a vaccine against HPV that could prevent related cancers for males or females."They are living in this cultural discourse where they're not expected to take responsibility for their own sexual health or their partner's," Pitts said. "So there's this burden that mostly falls on women. Until we consider males an important role in partnered sexual health and assign them responsibility for their own health and their partner's health then it's never going to be equal."Source: Eurekalert Apple will move to a dedicated distribution centre for its products in India for the first time, consolidating its logistics operations to ensure common pricing for offline and online sales and acquiring greater control over the supply chain. Apples global logistics partner DB Schenker will own and operate the centre, which will come up at Bhiwandi near Mumbai, two senior industry officials said. DB Schenker, one of Europes largest logistics companies, has signed an agreement to run the Indian centre, which will help to ensure that Apple products are rarely sold out at the retail level, as it happened after the launch of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus in October. Currently, iPhones, iPads and Mac computers are brought into India through Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chandigarh, New Delhi and Hyderabad where value-added tax rates vary and transferred to distributors from the airport itself. Online sellers often source the devices from low-VAT markets, gaining a price advantage over their offline rivals. The distribution centre will allow Apple to stock its products adequately, will ease operations and streamline its logistics and supply chains. It will also help in maintaining uniform price for its products, which will become much easier under the Goods and Services Tax regime, said one of the executives. Email queries sent to Apple and DB Schenker seeking comment did not elicit any immediate response. Apple is expanding in India, widening distribution to the smaller cities and working with application developers. The company was the countrys second-largest smartphone maker by revenue in 2015-16, pitting local rival Micromax Informatics after sales increased 54% to Rs 9,997 crore. One industry executive said the distribution centre will help Apple provide hardware such as Mac computers tailored to the needs of business customers. Earlier, this flexibility was not there. The company is currently reviewing this and any such effort will be for enterprise clients only, he said. Apple allows customisation only for consumers who place orders through its online store, which would require retail foreign direct investment approval from the government. Its retail and online store plans are still stuck after the government revised its FDI policy this year. [File photo] Chinese scientists have converted infectious viruses into live vaccines in an effort to tackle various deadly viruses. The research has been hailed as a revolution in vaccinology, and was published in the latest issue of Science. The experiment, which was conducted by scientists from Peking University, aimed to modify the viruses genetic codes to disable the viral strains self-replication mechanism. By injecting fully infectious live viruses into infected animals, the research team found that the animals were cured by the injections, which generated immunity. The breakthrough has gone viral online after being published on Dec. 2, as using live viruses in their fully infectious forms has previously been considered taboo due to the viruses ability to swiftly spread. Vaccines sold today generally contain either dead or weakened forms of viruses, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. Zhou Demin, a professor at Peking Universitys School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the studys lead scientist, told SCMP that the research can overcome nearly any kind of virus as well as mutations with minimal side effects. I believe the technology will benefit patients soon, he added. The research team had already acquired international patents for the technology, while contact has been made with vaccine manufacturers to begin human trials, according to SCMP. The site of a royal altar of heaven dating back to the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) has been discovered in Fengxiang County in Shaanxi province. Experts believe it is the oldest such site ever discovered in China. The site is located in the village of Banpopu, where a team of archeologists began excavation in July. Important ruins include a mound altar, along with walls, buildings, roads and sacrificial pits. More than 1,900 items that were used in worship ceremonies, such as jade figures and chariots, have also been dug out. Experts believe that Qin and Han emperors held worship activities at the site for over 700 years. Liu Qingzhu, a noted archeologist, explained that the ruins and relics match records from the Han Dynasty, and the structure is consistent with that of the Zhi, a place for rulers to worship the heavens during the Qin and Han Dynasties. Therefore, the new site is the earliest and largest "royal altar of heaven" ever found in China. This discovery reaffirms historical records relating to worship activities held in Yong, the ancient name for Fengxiang; it also provides physical evidence for worship activities carried out in the Qin and Han Dynasties. The finding is important for the study of ritual culture and political systems during that period. Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias will be in Brussels on 6 and 7 December to participate in the Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs. During the first day of the Meeting, on 6 December, the Foreign Ministers will discuss issues concerning NATO-EU cooperation and the Alliances efforts to promote regional and global stability. At the working dinner there will be a discussion of security in the Euroatlantic space and the approach NATO should take with regard to Russia. On Wednesday, 7 December, the NATO-Ukraine Commission will meet at the level of Foreign Ministers -- with the main points for discussion being the security situation in Ukraine and the implementation of the Minsk Agreements -- followed by a meeting on the situation in Afghanistan. (Photo/Sina Weibo) A 94-year-old Chinese veteran who fought in the War of Resistance against the Japanese Aggression may soon realize his long-cherished wish to touch a modern armored vehicle, after a volunteer posted his wish online. The dream of nonagenarian Qian Jianmin was posted to Sina Weibo on Nov. 4 by a volunteer who helps veterans like Qian. The post explained that Qian was a member of Chinas first armored troops, and he served in the Chinese expeditionary forces that fought in India and Myanmar during World War II. Now he has a wish to touch a modern armored vehicle, the post declared, pairing Qian's story with a photo of the soldier sporting battle wounds on his face and several badges for military merit. The post quickly received a lot of attention, and has received more than 18,000 reposts as of press time. Meanwhile, several military-related Weibo users also reposted the wish and expressed their willingness to contact military units on Qians behalf, including Cjdby.net, one of Chinas leading online military forums. Tian Chen, the Beijing-based forum administrator, told Peoples Daily Online that they must first verify the veterans identity, and would then contact an armored troop as well as Beijing-based Chinese Tank Museum, allowing Qian to touch unclassified armored vehicles that are on display to the public, such as Type 96 Main Battle Tank. Tian added that the forum is also willing to contact military units near Wuxi the city where Qian lives in case the elderly veteran is not able to travel far. Veterans' experiences constitute an essential education for our younger generations. They are our national heroes. Society is obligated to promote their spirits and meet their reasonable requests, Tian said. Qian was born in 1922 in Wuxi, Jiangsu province. Along with another 21,000 veterans and family members of martyrs during the war, Qian was awarded a badge commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in September 2015. An ancient Chinese painting by Ren Renfa was auctioned off for 303.6 million RMB (about $44 million) on Dec. 4 in Beijing. According to Zhao Xu, executive director of the Beijing Poly International Auction Co. Ltd., the purchase was a record-breaking sale for Chinese art around the globe this year. Bidding started at 68 million RMB ($9.87 million), and reached 303.6 million RMB with a commission of 15 percent after approximately 40 minutes of bidding. According to the official website of Beijing Poly International Auction Co. Ltd., the painting depicts five princes of the Tang Dynasty, and was owned by several noted emperors through Chinese history. The painter Ren Renfa was recorded in the Twenty-Four Histories, the official Chinese history books covering the period from 3000 BC to the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century. Ren was equal to the minister of water resources in the Yuan Dynasty. Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty collected nine of his works, among which eight are preserved in the National Museum of China, as the works are very rare, Zhao told the media. Zhao also spoke bluntly about the sale of the painting, acknowledging that its final price was really beyond expectations. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump had a conversation with Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen over the phone on Dec. 2. The power of this incident to attract so much public attention rests with the phone call itself, regardless of the content. The phone call was despicable in nature. It not only violated the One China policy, which has long been maintained by the U.S. government, it also broke the tradition of U.S. presidents and president-elects avoiding direct contact with Taiwanese leaders since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the U.S. It penetrated to the heart of China-U.S. ties. The phone call came at a sensitive moment. The pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) became the ruling party again in Taiwan this year, disavowing the 1992 Consensus and generating a huge blow to the eight-year stretch of peaceful and promising relations across the Taiwan Strait. Moreover, it remains a mystery whether China-U.S. relations will continue smoothly under Trumps presidency. This question concerns not only China, but also the entire international community. How will things develop after the phone call? Taiwanese affairs are of great importance to Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity. This issue is a core interest of China, and it is also the most important and sensitive issue among many issues in the China-U.S. relationship. Because of the great importance of the Taiwan issue, the One China policy remains the political foundation of bilateral ties between China and the U.S. History has shown us that good management of the Taiwan issue can predict stable development of the China-U.S. relationship, as well as good cooperation between the countries. Otherwise, the bilateral relationship will suffer; it will have a negative impact on China-U.S. relations, regardless of the U.S. governments original intentions. Some American experts urge people not to overanalyze this phone call, as Trump is still a common citizen without any public service record; for this reason, his current actions cannot represent a major adjustment of government policies toward Taiwan. Still, Trumps unscrupulous actions have set off alarms for the development of bilateral ties. China will surely be on guard. Given that Trump hasnt yet been inaugurated, this incident can be counted as nothing but a despicable and petty move. Nevertheless, political influencers in both the U.S. and Taiwan intend to blow it out of portion. DPP, pro-independence citizens and U.S. conservatives couldnt wait to resume the old ruse of manipulating Taiwan to influence China. Based on the tweets that Trump posted after the phone call, it seems he didnt realize how serious the consequences were. Many more petty moves are likely to occur under Trumps watch if the situation continues unchecked. Instead, it is necessary to emphasize the common sense in the bilateral relationship between China and the U.S. Trump and his transition team should realize that making trouble for China-U.S. ties is making troubles for themselves. Trumps campaign slogan was Make America Great Again. However, considering the size and increasing mutual reliance of both countries, creating troubles for China wont make the U.S. great. Instead, such petty actions will only damage mutual trust and future cooperation, doing the U.S. more harm than good. Making China an enemy will actually block Americas path to future greatness. The America first strategy cannot be achieved by harming the core interests of China. Though China and the U.S. do compete with each other in some fields, the common interests and cooperation of both countries will always come first. Both nations, as well as the international community, hope to avoid strategic confrontation, instead joining hands to face global challenges. Though petty moves can change nothing in the big picture of China-U.S. ties, a growing number of such moves can hinder the bilateral relationship in a major way. This is an issue that Trump and his transition team should take very seriously. (Written by Hua Yiwen, an expert on international affairs.) In 2004, a sheriff's deputy in Oregon put together mug shots of people booked for methamphetamine use as a warning to others: Don't be those people. The Faces of Meth project, operated by Oregon's Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, aims to educate people about the dangers of drug abuse. Others claim the project unnecessarily shames people while others say it further cements rich and poor class divisions. (Xinhua) 18:42, December 05, 2016 An offprint of a speech given by President Xi Jinping to a seminar for the 130th anniversary of the birth of veteran revolutionary Zhu De has been published by the People's Zhu De House. The book is available at Xinhua Bookstore outlets nationwide, the publisher said Monday. Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, urged the Party, the military and the nation to learn from example set by Zhu and contribute to the cause pioneered by the nation's veteran revolutionaries. Zhu had a steadfast belief in pursuing truth, Xi said, adding that Zhu's faith in Marxism and communism were the political soul and spiritual foundation of all Party members. Xi lauded Zhu's absolute loyalty, openness and honesty, and he called on all cadres to remember that they are first and foremost Party members and they should fulfil the duties and missions designated by the Party. Zhu De (1886-1976) was one of the major founders of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the People's Republic of China. He was awarded the rank of marshal in 1955. Zhu served as commander-in-chief of the PLA, vice chairman of the People's Central Government, vice president, and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC). The seminar was held on Nov. 29. Robert Half International Inc. provides staffing and risk consulting services in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company operates through three segments: Temporary and Consultant Staffing, Permanent Placement Staffing, and Risk Consulting and Internal Audit Services. It places temporary services for accounting, finance, and bookkeeping; temporary and full-time office and administrative personnel consisting of executive and administrative assistants, receptionists, and customer service representatives; full-time accounting, financial, tax, and accounting operations personnel; and information technology contract professionals and full-time employees in the areas of platform systems integration to end-user technical and desktop support, including specialists in application development, networking and cloud, systems integration and deployment, database design and administration, and security and business continuity. The company also offers temporary and full-time employees in attorney, paralegal, legal administrative, and legal secretarial positions; and senior-level project professionals in the accounting and finance fields for financial systems conversions, expansion into new markets, business process re-engineering, business systems performance improvement, and post-merger financial consolidation. It is involved in serving professionals in the areas of creative, design, marketing, advertising, and public relations; and placing various positions, such as creative directors, graphics designers, web designers, media buyers, front end developers, copywriters, digital marketing managers, marketing analytics specialists, brand managers, and public relations specialists. The company provides internal audit, technology consulting, risk and compliance consulting, and business performance services. It serves clients and employment candidates. Robert Half International Inc. was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Enbridge Inc. operates as an energy infrastructure company. The company operates through five segments: Liquids Pipelines, Gas Transmission and Midstream, Gas Distribution and Storage, Renewable Power Generation, and Energy Services. The Liquids Pipelines segment operates pipelines and related terminals to transport various grades of crude oil and other liquid hydrocarbons in Canada and the United States. The Gas Transmission and Midstream segment invests in natural gas pipelines, and gathering and processing facilities in Canada and the United States. The Gas Distribution and Storage segment is involved in natural gas utility operations serving residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Ontario, as well as natural gas distribution and energy transportation activities in Quebec. The Renewable Power Generation segment operates power generating assets, such as wind, solar, geothermal, and waste heat recovery facilities; and transmission assets in North America and Europe. The Energy Services segment provides energy marketing services to refiners, producers, and other customers; and physical commodity marketing and logistical services in Canada and the United States. The company was formerly known as IPL Energy Inc. and changed its name to Enbridge Inc. in October 1998. Enbridge Inc. was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. 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. Ltd, Buell Industries Inc., CCI Realty Company, CFC Europe GmbH, CS Australia Pty Limited, CS Mexico Holding Company S DE RL DE CV, Calvia Spolka z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnosci, Capital Ventures Australasia S.a r.l, Capmax Logistica S.A. de C.V., Celeste Industries Corporation, Coeur, Coeur Asia Limited, Coeur Holding Company, Coeur Inc., Coeur Shanghai Medical Appliance Trading Co. Ltd, Compagnie Hobart, Compagnie de Materiel et d'Equipements Techniques-Comet, Constructions Isothermiques Bontami C.I.B., Crane Carrier Company, Denison Mayes Group Limited, Despatch Industries, Diagraph Corporation Sdn. Bhd, Diagraph ITW Mexico S. de R.L. De C.V., Diagraph Mexico S.A. DE C.V., Dongguan Ark-Les Electric Components Co. Ltd., Dongguan CK Branding Co. Ltd., Duo Fast de Espana S.A.U., Duo-Fast Korea Co. Ltd., Duo-Fast LLC, E.C.S. d.o.o., E2M Production B.V.., E2M Technologies B.V.., E2M Technologies Inc.., ECS Cable Protection Sp. Zoo, ELRO Grosskuchen GmbH, ELRO Holding AG, ELRO-WERKE AG, Elro Group, Eltex-Elektrostatik-Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Envases Multipac S.A. de C.V., Eurotec Srl, Exhibit 21, FEG Investments L.L.C., Filtertek De Mexico Holding Inc., Filtertek De Mexico S.A. de C.V., Filtertek SAS, GC Financement SA, Gamko B.V., Gun Hwa Platech Taicang Co. Ltd., HOBART Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Hartness International, Hobart Andina S.A.S., Hobart Belgium B.V., Hobart Brothers International Chile Limitada, Hobart Brothers LLC, Hobart Dayton Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Hobart Food Equipment Co. Ltd., Hobart International Singapore Pte. Ltd., Hobart Japan K.K., Hobart Korea LLC, Hobart LLC, Hobart Nederland B.V., Hobart Sales & Service Inc., Hobart Scandinavia ApS, Hobart Techniek B.V., Horis, ILC Investments Holdings Inc., ITW AEP LLC, ITW AOC LLC, ITW Aircraft Investments Inc., ITW Ampang Industries Philippines Inc., ITW Appliance Components EOOD, ITW Appliance Components S.A. de C.V., ITW Appliance Components S.r.l.a, ITW Appliance Components d.o.o., ITW Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, ITW Australia Property Holdings Pty Ltd., ITW Australia Pty Ltd, ITW Automotive Components Chongqing Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Components Langfang Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Japan K.K., ITW Automotive Korea LLC, ITW Automotive Parts Shanghai Co. Ltd, ITW Automotive Products GmbH, ITW Automotive Products Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Bailly Comte, ITW Befestigungssysteme GmbH, ITW Belgium B.V., ITW Brazilian Nominee L.L.C., ITW Building Components Group Inc., ITW CER, ITW CP Distribution Center Holland BV, ITW CS UK Ltd., ITW Canada Inc., ITW Celeste Inc., ITW Chemical Products Ltda, ITW Chemical Products Scandinavia ApS, ITW China Investment Company Limited, ITW Colombia S.A.S., ITW Construction Products AB, ITW Construction Products AS, ITW Construction Products ApS, ITW Construction Products CZ s.r.o., ITW Construction Products Italy Srl, ITW Construction Products OU, ITW Construction Products OY, ITW Construction Products Shanghai Co. Ltd., ITW Construction Products Singapore Pte. Ltd., ITW Construction Services Manila Inc., ITW Contamination Control B.V., ITW Contamination Control Wujiang Co. Ltd., ITW Covid Security Group Inc., ITW DS Investments Inc., ITW DelFast do Brasil Ltda., ITW Denmark ApS, ITW Deutschland GmbH, ITW Diagraph GmbH, ITW Dynatec, ITW Dynatec Adhesive Equipment Suzhou Co. Ltd., ITW Dynatec GmbH, ITW Dynatec Kabushiki Kaisha, ITW EAE B.V., ITW EAE Mexico S de RL de CV, ITW EF&C France SAS, ITW EF&C Selb GmbH, ITW EU Holdings Ltd., ITW Electronic Business Asia Co. Limited, ITW Electronic Components/Products Shanghai Co. Ltd., ITW Electronics Suzhou Co. Ltd., ITW Epsilon Sarl, ITW Espana S.L., ITW European Finance Co. Ltd., ITW European Finance II Co. Ltd., ITW European Finance III Co. 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. De C.V., ITW Welding Products Italy Srl, ITW Welding Products Limited Liability Company, ITW Welding Produtos Para Solgdagem Ltda., ITW Welding Singapore Pte. Ltd., ITW de France, ITW do Brasil Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Illinois Tool Works Chile Limitada, Illinois Tool Works ITW Nederland B.V., Illinois Tool Works Inc., Impar Comercio E Representacoes Ltda., Industrie Plastic Elsasser GmbH, Inmobiliaria Cit. S.A. de C.F., Innova Temperlite Servicios S.A. de C.V., Innovacion y Transformacion Automotriz S.A. de C.V., Instron Brasil Equipamentos Cientificos Ltda., Instron Foreign Sales Corp. 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.. Read More Royal Bank of Canada operates as a diversified financial service company worldwide. The company's Personal & Commercial Banking segment offers checking and savings accounts, home equity financing, personal lending, private banking, indirect lending, including auto financing, mutual funds and self-directed brokerage accounts, guaranteed investment certificates, credit cards, and payment products and solutions; and lending, leasing, deposit, investment, foreign exchange, cash management, auto dealer financing, trade products, and services to small and medium-sized commercial businesses. This segment offers financial products and services through branches, automated teller machines, and mobile sales network. Its Wealth Management segment provides a suite of advice-based solutions and strategies to high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals, and institutional clients. The company's Insurance segment offers life, health, home, auto, travel, wealth, annuities, and reinsurance advice and solutions; and business insurance services to individual, business, and group clients through its advice centers, RBC insurance stores, and mobile advisors; digital, mobile, and social platforms; independent brokers; and travel partners. Its Investor & Treasury Services segment provides asset servicing, custody, payments, and treasury services to financial and other investors; and fund and investment administration, shareholder, private capital, performance measurement and compliance monitoring, distribution, transaction banking, cash and liquidity management, foreign exchange, and global securities finance services. The company's Capital Markets segment offers corporate and investment banking, as well as equity and debt origination, distribution, advisory services, sale, and trading services for corporations, institutional investors, asset managers, private equity firms, and governments. The company was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The following companies are subsidiares of Lloyds Banking Group: A G Finance Ltd, A.C.L. Ltd, ACL Autolease Holdings Ltd, ADF No.1 Pty Ltd, Addison Social Housing Holdings Ltd, Alex Lawrie Factors Ltd, Alex. Lawrie Receivables Financing Ltd, Amberdate Ltd, Anglo Scottish Utilities Partnership 1, Aquilus Ltd, Automobile Association Personal Finance Ltd, BOS (Ireland) Property Services 2 Ltd, BOS (Ireland) Property Services Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages (Scotland) No. 2) Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages (Scotland) No. 3) Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages (Scotland)) Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 1 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 2 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 3 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 4 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 5 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 6 plc, BOS (USA) Fund Investments Inc., BOS (USA) Inc., BOS Edinburgh No 1 Ltd, BOS Mistral Ltd, BOS Personal Lending Ltd, BOSSAF Rail Ltd, Bank of Scotland (B G S) Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland (Stanlife) London Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Branch Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Central Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Edinburgh Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Equipment Finance Ltd, Bank of Scotland Foundation, Bank of Scotland LNG Leasing (No 1) Ltd, Bank of Scotland London Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Nominees (Unit Trusts) Ltd, Bank of Scotland P.E.P. Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Structured Asset Finance Ltd, Bank of Scotland Transport Finance 1 Ltd, Bank of Scotland plc, Bank of Wales Ltd, Barents Leasing Ltd, Barnwood Mortgages Ltd, Birchcrown Finance Ltd, Birmingham Midshires Financial Services Ltd, Birmingham Midshires Land Development Ltd, Birmingham Midshires Mortgage Services Ltd, Black Horse (TRF) Ltd, Black Horse Executive Mortgages Ltd, Black Horse Finance Holdings Ltd, Black Horse Finance Management Ltd, Black Horse Group Ltd, Black Horse Ltd, Black Horse Offshore Ltd, Black Horse Property Services Ltd, Boltro Nominees Ltd, British Linen Leasing (London) Ltd, British Linen Leasing Ltd, British Linen Shipping Ltd, C.T.S.B. Leasing Ltd, CBRail S.A.R.L., CF Asset Finance Ltd, CF1 Ltd, CM Venture Investments Ltd, Cancara Asset Securitisation Ltd, Capital 1945 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 12 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 3 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 5 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 9 Ltd, Capital Bank Property Investments (3) Ltd, Capital Personal Finance Ltd, Cardiff Auto Receivables Securitisation 2018-1 Plc, Cardiff Auto Receivables Securitisation 2019-1 Plc, Cardiff Auto Receivables Securitisation Holdings Ltd, Cardnet Merchant Services Ltd, Cashfriday Ltd, Cashpoint Ltd, Caveminster Ltd, Cedar Holdings Ltd, Celsius European Lux 2 S.A.R.L., Central Mortgage Finance Ltd, Chariot Finance Ltd, Cheltenham & Gloucester plc, Cheltenham II Securities 2020 DAC, Cheltenham Securities 2017 Ltd, Chepstow Blue Holdings Ltd, Chepstow Blue plc, Chester Asset Options No.2 Ltd, Chester Asset Options No.3 Ltd, Chester Asset Receivables Dealings Issuer Ltd, Chester Asset Securitisation Holdings Ltd, Chester Asset Securitisation Holdings No.2 Ltd, Chiswell Stockbrokers Ltd, Clerical Medical Finance plc, Clerical Medical Financial Services Ltd, Clerical Medical International Holdings B.V., Clerical Medical Investment Fund Managers Ltd, Clerical Medical Managed Funds Ltd, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Guadalix Hold Co BV, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Guadalix Spanish Prop Co SL, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Megapark Hold Co BV, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Megapark Prop Co SA, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Property Company S.A.R.L., Cloak Lane Funding S.A.R.L., Cloak Lane Investments S.A.R.L., Conquest Securities Ltd, Corbiere Asset Investments Ltd, Create Services Ltd, Credit Card Securitisation Europe Ltd, Dalkeith Corporation, Deva Financing Holdings Ltd, Deva Financing plc, Deva One Ltd, Deva Three Ltd, Deva Two Ltd, Dunstan Investments (UK) Ltd, Edgbaston RMBS 2010-1 plc, Edgbaston RMBS Holdings Ltd, Elland RMBS 2018 plc, Elland RMBS Holdings Ltd, Eurolead Services Holdings Ltd, First Retail Finance (Chester) Ltd, Fontwell Securities 2016 Ltd, Forthright Finance Ltd, France Industrial Premises Holding Company, General Leasing (No. 12) Ltd, General Reversionary and Investment Company, Gresham Nominee 1 Ltd, Gresham Nominee 2 Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 1) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 10) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 11) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 12) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 13) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 14) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 15) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 16) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 19) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 20) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 21) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 22) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 23) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 24) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 25) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 26) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 27) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 28) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 29) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 3) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 30) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 31) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 32) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 33) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 34) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 35) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 36) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 37) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 38) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 39) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 40) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 41) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 44) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 45) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 46) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 47) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 48) UK Ltd, Guildhall Asset Purchasing Company (No 3) Ltd, Guildhall Asset Purchasing Company (No.11) UK Ltd, HBOS Covered Bonds LLP, HBOS Final Salary Trust Ltd, HBOS Financial Services Ltd, HBOS Insurance & Investment Group Ltd, HBOS International Financial Services Holdings Ltd, HBOS Investment Fund Managers Ltd, HBOS Social Housing Covered Bonds LLP, HBOS UK Ltd, HBOS plc, HSDL Nominees Ltd, HVF Ltd, Halifax Credit Card Ltd, Halifax Financial Brokers Ltd, Halifax Financial Services (Holdings) Ltd, Halifax Financial Services Ltd, Halifax General Insurance Services Ltd, Halifax Group Ltd, Halifax Investment Services Ltd, Halifax Leasing (June) Ltd, Halifax Leasing (March No.2) Ltd, Halifax Leasing (September) Ltd, Halifax Life Ltd, Halifax Loans Ltd, Halifax Ltd, Halifax Mortgage Services Ltd, Halifax Nominees Ltd, Halifax Pension Nominees Ltd, Halifax Premises Ltd, Halifax Share Dealing Ltd, Halifax Vehicle Leasing (1998) Ltd, Heidi Finance Holdings (UK) Ltd, Hill Samuel Bank Ltd, Hill Samuel Finance Ltd, Hill Samuel Leasing Co. Ltd, Home Shopping Personal Finance Ltd, Horizon Capital 2000 Ltd, Housing Association Risk Transfer 2019 DAC, Housing Growth Partnership GP LLP, Housing Growth Partnership LP, Housing Growth Partnership Ltd, Housing Growth Partnership Manager Ltd, Hyundai Car Finance Ltd, IBOS Finance Ltd, ICC Enterprise Partners Ltd, ICC Equity Partners Ltd, ICC Holdings Unlimited Company, Inchcape Financial Services Ltd, Intelligent Finance Financial Services Ltd, Intelligent Finance Software Ltd, International Motors Finance Ltd, Kanaalstraat Funding C.V., Katrine Leasing Ltd, LB Healthcare Trustee Ltd, LB Motorent Ltd, LB Quest Ltd, LB Share Schemes Trustees Ltd, LBCF Ltd, LBG Brasil Administracao LTDA, LBG Capital Holdings Ltd, LBG Equity Investments Ltd, LBI Leasing Ltd, LDC (General Partner) Ltd, LDC (Managers) Ltd, LDC (Nominees) Ltd, LDC GP LLP, LDC I LP, LDC II LP, LDC III LP, LDC IV LP, LDC Parallel (Nominees) Ltd, LDC V LP, LDC VI LP, LDC VII LP, LDC VIII LP, LTGP Limited Partnership Incorporated, Legacy Renewal Company Ltd, Leicester Securities 2014 Ltd, Lex Autolease (CH) Ltd, Lex Autolease (VC) Ltd, Lex Autolease Carselect Ltd, Lex Autolease Ltd, Lex Vehicle Finance 2 Ltd, Lex Vehicle Leasing (Holdings) Ltd, Lex Vehicle Leasing Ltd, Lime Street (Funding) Ltd, Lingfield 2014 I Holdings Ltd, Lingfield 2014 I plc, Lloyds (Gresham) Ltd, Lloyds (Gresham) No. 1 Ltd, Lloyds (Nimrod) Specialist Finance Ltd, Lloyds America Securities Corporation1, Lloyds Asset Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Branches) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Colonial & Foreign) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Fountainbridge 1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Fountainbridge 2) Ltd, Lloyds Bank (I.D.) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank (International Services) Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Stock Exchange Branch) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank Asset Finance Ltd, Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance Ltd, Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance Scotland Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (HP) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.2) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.3) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.4) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc, Lloyds Bank Covered Bonds (Holdings) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Covered Bonds (LM) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Covered Bonds LLP, Lloyds Bank Equipment Leasing (No. 1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Equipment Leasing (No. 7) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Equipment Leasing (No. 9) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Financial Services (Holdings) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales, Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands, Lloyds Bank General Insurance Holdings Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Insurance Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 11) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 17) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 20) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 3) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 5) Ltd, Lloyds Bank GmbH, Lloyds Bank Hill Samuel Holding Company Ltd, Lloyds Bank Insurance Services Ltd, Lloyds Bank International Ltd, Lloyds Bank Leasing (No. 6) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Leasing (No. 8) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Bank MTCH Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No. 10) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No. 13) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No. 17) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No.16) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank Offshore Pension Trust Ltd, Lloyds Bank Pension ABCS (No. 1) LLP, Lloyds Bank Pension ABCS (No. 2) LLP, Lloyds Bank Pension Trust (No. 1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Pension Trust (No. 2) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Pensions Property (Guernsey) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Properties Ltd, Lloyds Bank Property Company Ltd, Lloyds Bank S.F. Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank Subsidiaries Ltd, Lloyds Bank Trustee Services Ltd, Lloyds Bank plc, Lloyds Banking Group Pensions Trustees Ltd, Lloyds Capital GP Ltd, Lloyds Commercial Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Commercial Properties Ltd, Lloyds Commercial Property Investments Ltd, Lloyds Corporate Services (Jersey) Ltd, Lloyds Development Capital (Holdings) Ltd, Lloyds Engine Capital (No.1) U.S LLC, Lloyds Far East S.A.R.L., Lloyds General Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Group Holdings (Jersey) Ltd, Lloyds Holdings (Jersey) Ltd, Lloyds Hypotheken B.V., Lloyds Industrial Leasing Ltd, Lloyds International Pty Ltd, Lloyds Investment Bonds Ltd, Lloyds Investment Fund Managers Ltd, Lloyds Investment Securities No.5 Ltd, Lloyds Leasing (North Sea Transport) Ltd1, Lloyds Leasing Developments Ltd, Lloyds Nominees (Guernsey) Ltd, Lloyds Offshore Global Services Private Ltd, Lloyds Plant Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Portfolio Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Premises Investments Ltd, Lloyds Project Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Property Investment Company No. 3 Ltd, Lloyds Property Investment Company No. 4 Ltd, Lloyds Property Investment Company No.5 Ltd, Lloyds Secretaries Ltd, Lloyds Securities Inc., Lloyds TSB Pacific Ltd, Lloyds UDT Asset Leasing Ltd, Lloyds UDT Asset Rentals Ltd, Lloyds UDT Hiring Ltd, Lloyds UDT Leasing Ltd, Lloyds UDT Ltd, Lloyds Your Tomorrow Trustee Ltd, Loans.co.uk Ltd, London Taxi Finance Ltd, London Uberior (L.A.S. Group) Nominees Ltd, Lotus Finance Ltd, MBNA, MBNA Direct Ltd, MBNA Europe Finance Ltd, MBNA Europe Holdings Ltd, MBNA General Foundation, MBNA Global Services Ltd, MBNA Indian Services Private Ltd, MBNA Ltd, MBNA R & L S.A.R.L., MBNA Receivables Ltd, Mainsearch Company Ltd, Maritime Leasing (No. 19) Ltd, Membership Services Finance Ltd, Mitre Street Funding S.A.R.L., Molineux RMBS 2016-1 plc, Molineux RMBS Holdings Ltd, Moor Lane Holdings Ltd, NFU Mutual Finance Ltd, NWS Trust Ltd, Nominees (Jersey) Ltd, Nordic Leasing Ltd, Ocean Leasing (July) Ltd, Oystercatcher Nominees Ltd, Oystercatcher Residential Ltd, PIPS Asset Investments Ltd, Pacific Leasing Ltd, Penarth Asset Securitisation Holdings Ltd, Penarth Funding 1 Ltd, Penarth Funding 2 Ltd, Penarth Master Issuer plc, Penarth Receivables Trustee Ltd, Pensions Management (S.W.F.) Ltd, Peony Eastern Leasing Ltd, Peony Leasing Ltd, Peony Western Leasing Ltd, Permanent Funding (No. 1) Ltd, Permanent Funding (No. 2) Ltd, Permanent Holdings Ltd, Permanent Master Issuer plc, Permanent Mortgages Trustee Ltd, Permanent PECOH Holdings Ltd, Permanent PECOH Ltd, Perry Nominees Ltd, Prestonfield Investments Ltd, Proton Finance Ltd, R.F. Spencer And Company Ltd, Ranelagh Nominees Ltd, Retail Revival (Burgess Hill) Investments Ltd, SARL Coliseum, SARL Hiram, SAS Compagnie Fonciere De France, SCI Astoria Invest, SCI De LHorloge, SCI Equinoxe, SCI Rambuteau CFF, SW Funding plc, SW No.1 Ltd, SWAMF (GP) Ltd, SWAMF Nominee (1) Ltd, SWAMF Nominee (2) Ltd, Saint Michel Holding Company No1, Saint Michel Investment Property, Saint Witz 2 Holding Company No1, Saint Witz 2 Investment Property, Salisbury II Securities 2016 Ltd, Salisbury II-A Securities 2017 Ltd, Salisbury III Securities 2019 DAC, Salisbury Securities 2015 Ltd, Sandown 2012-2 Holdings Ltd, Sandown 2012-2 plc, Sandown Gold 2012-1 Holdings Ltd, Sandown Gold 2012-1 plc, Savban Leasing Ltd, Scotland International Finance B.V., Scottish Widows Administration Services (Nominees) Ltd, Scottish Widows Administration Services Ltd, Scottish Widows Annuities Ltd, Scottish Widows Auto Enrolment Services Ltd, Scottish Widows Europe, Scottish Widows Financial Services Holdings, Scottish Widows Group Ltd, Scottish Widows Industrial Properties Europe B.V., Scottish Widows Ltd, Scottish Widows Pension Trustees Ltd, Scottish Widows Property Management Ltd, Scottish Widows Schroder Personal Wealth (ACD) Ltd, Scottish Widows Schroder Personal Wealth Ltd, Scottish Widows Schroder Wealth Holdings Ltd, Scottish Widows Services Ltd, Scottish Widows Trustees Ltd, Scottish Widows Unit Funds Ltd, Scottish Widows Unit Trust Managers Ltd, Scottish Widows Fund and Life Assurance Society, Seabreeze Leasing Ltd, Seaspirit Leasing Ltd, Share Dealing Nominees Ltd, Shogun Finance Ltd, Silentdale Ltd, St Andrews Group Ltd, St Andrews Insurance plc, St Andrews Life Assurance plc, St. Marys Court Investments, Standard Property Investment (1987) Ltd, Standard Property Investment Ltd, Sussex County Homes Ltd, Suzuki Financial Services Ltd, Swan Funding 2 Ltd, Syon Securities 2019 DAC, The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation Plc, The British Linen Company Ltd, The Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland, The Mortgage Business plc, Thistle Financing Holdings Ltd, Thistle Investments (AMC) Ltd, Thistle Investments (ERM) Ltd, Thistle Leasing, Three Copthall Avenue Ltd, Tower Hill Property Investments (10) Ltd, Tower Hill Property Investments (7) Ltd, Tranquility Leasing Ltd, Trinity Financing plc, UDT Budget Leasing Ltd, UDT Sales Finance Ltd, Uberior (Moorfield) Ltd, Uberior Co-Investments Ltd, Uberior ENA Ltd, Uberior Equity Ltd, Uberior Europe Ltd, Uberior Fund Investments Ltd, Uberior Infrastructure Investments (No.2) Ltd, Uberior Infrastructure Investments Ltd, Uberior Investments Ltd, Uberior Nominees Ltd, Uberior Trading Ltd, Uberior Trustees Ltd, Uberior Ventures Australia Pty Ltd, Uberior Ventures Ltd, United Dominions Leasing Ltd, United Dominions Trust Ltd, Universe The CMI Global Network Fund, Upsaala Ltd, Vine Street IX LP, WCS Ltd, Ward Nominees (Abingdon) Ltd, Ward Nominees (Birmingham) Ltd 1, Ward Nominees (Bristol) Ltd 1, Ward Nominees Ltd 1, Waverley Fund II Investor LLC, Waverley Fund III Investor LLC, Waymark Asset Investments Ltd, West Craigs Ltd, Wetherby II Securities 2018 DAC, Wetherby III Securities 2019 DAC, Wetherby Securities 2017 Ltd, Wood Street Leasing Ltd, and Zurich Insurance Group - UK Workplace Pensions and Savings Business. Read More Allergan plc, a pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, and commercializes branded pharmaceutical, device, biologic, surgical, and regenerative medicine products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: US Specialized Therapeutics, US General Medicine, and International. It offers a portfolio of products in various therapeutic areas, including medical aesthetics and dermatology, eye care, neuroscience, urology, gastrointestinal, women's health, and anti-infective therapeutic products. The company also offers breast implants and tissue expanders; and RM-131 (relamorelin), a peptide ghrelin agonist for the treatment of diabetic gastroparesis. In addition, it develops medical and cosmetic treatments; therapies for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and other liver diseases; inhibitor for the treatment of psoriasis and other autoimmune disorders; atopic dermatitis drug candidate; peri-ocular rings for extended drug delivery and reducing elevated intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients; and treatments for neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease. Further, the company develops RST-001, a novel gene therapy for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa; small molecule therapeutics for inflammatory and fibrotic diseases; topical medicines for fat reduction; and delivery system and botulinum toxin-based prescription products. It has collaboration, option, and license agreement with Lyndra, Inc.; and strategic alliance and option agreement with Editas Medicine, Inc. Allergan plc also has licensing agreements with Assembly Biosciences, Inc.; MedImmune; and Heptares Therapeutics, Ltd. The company was formerly known as Actavis plc and changed its name to Allergan plc in June 2015. Allergan plc was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc. provides home and security products for residential home repair, remodeling, new construction, and security applications. It operates in three segments: Plumbing, Outdoors & Security, and Cabinets. The Plumbing segment manufactures, assembles, and sells faucets, accessories, kitchen sinks, and waste disposals under the Moen, ROHL, Riobel, Victoria+Albert, Perrin & Rowe, and Shaws brands in the United States, China, Canada, Mexico, Southeast Asia, Europe, and South America directly through its own sales force, as well as through independent manufacturers' representatives to wholesalers, home centers, mass merchandisers, and industrial distributors. The Outdoors & Security segment offers fiberglass and steel entry door systems under the Therma-Tru brand; storm, screen, and security doors under the Larson brand; composite decking and railing under the Fiberon brand; and urethane millwork under the Fypon brand. This segment also manufactures, sources, and distributes locks, safety and security devices, and electronic security products under the Master Lock and American Lock brands; and fire resistant safes, security containers, and commercial cabinets under the SentrySafe brand. It serves home centers, hardware and other retailers, millwork building products and wholesale distributors, specialty dealers, and remodeling and renovation markets, as well as locksmiths, industrial and institutional users, and original equipment manufacturers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Central America, Japan, and Australia. The Cabinets segment manufactures custom, semi-custom, and custom cabinetry, as well as vanities for the kitchen, bath, and other parts of the home directly to kitchen and bath dealers, home centers, wholesalers, and builders in North America under the AOK, Diamond Brands, Homecrest, Kitchen Craft, Omega, and EVE brands. The company was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. The following companies are subsidiares of Caterpillar: Advanced Tri-Gen Power Systems LLC, Anchor Coupling Inc., Asia Power Systems (Tianjin) Ltd., AsiaTrak (Tianjin) Ltd., Banco Caterpillar S.A., Berg Propulsion International Pte Ltd., Bucyrus, Bucyrus Australia Surface Pty. Ltd., Bucyrus Europe Holdings Ltd., Bucyrus Europe Limited, Bucyrus International (Chile) Limitada, Bucyrus International (Peru) S.A., Bucyrus Mining Australia Pty. Ltd., Bucyrus Mining China LLC, Bucyrus UK Limited, Cat Rental Kyushu LLC, Caterpillar (Africa) (Proprietary) Limited, Caterpillar (China) Financial Leasing Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (China) Machinery Components Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (HK) Limited, Caterpillar (Huainan) Machinery Service Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Langfang) Mining Equipment Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Luxembourg) Investment Co. S.a r.l., Caterpillar (NI) Limited, Caterpillar (Newberry) LLC, Caterpillar (Qingzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Suzhou) Logistics Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Thailand) Limited, Caterpillar (U.K.) Limited, Caterpillar (Wujiang) Ltd., Caterpillar (Xuzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar (Zhengzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar Acquisition Holding Corp., Caterpillar Americas C.V., Caterpillar Americas Co., Caterpillar Americas Funding Inc., Caterpillar Americas Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Asia Limited, Caterpillar Asia Pacific L.P., Caterpillar Asia Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Asset Intelligence LLC, Caterpillar Belgium S.A., Caterpillar Brasil Comercio de Maquinas e Pecas Ltda., Caterpillar Brasil Ltda., Caterpillar Brazil LLC, Caterpillar Castings Kiel GmbH, Caterpillar Centro de Formacion S.L., Caterpillar China Limited, Caterpillar Commercial Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Commercial LLC, Caterpillar Commercial Northern Europe Limited, Caterpillar Commercial S.A., Caterpillar Commercial S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Commercial Services S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Communications LLC, Caterpillar Corporativo Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Cote DIvoire, Caterpillar Credito S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., Caterpillar DC Pension Trust Limited, Caterpillar Digital Services & Solutions SARL, Caterpillar Distribution International LLC, Caterpillar Distribution Services Europe B.V.B.A., Caterpillar East Real Estate Holding Ltd., Caterpillar Emissions Solutions Inc., Caterpillar Energy Solutions Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Energy Solutions GmbH, Caterpillar Energy Solutions Inc., Caterpillar Energy Solutions S.A., Caterpillar Energy System Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Engine Systems Inc., Caterpillar Equipos Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Eurasia LLC, Caterpillar FS (QFC) LLC, Caterpillar Finance France S.A., Caterpillar Finance Kabushiki Kaisha, Caterpillar Financial Acquisition Funding LLC, Caterpillar Financial Aftermarket Solutions Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Australia Leasing Pty Limited, Caterpillar Financial Australia Limited, Caterpillar Financial Commercial Account Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Corporacion Financiera S.A. E.F.C., Caterpillar Financial Dealer Funding LLC, Caterpillar Financial Funding Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Caterpillar Financial Leasing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Financial New Zealand Limited, Caterpillar Financial Nordic Services AB, Caterpillar Financial Nova Scotia Corporation, Caterpillar Financial OOO, Caterpillar Financial Receivables Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Renting S.A., Caterpillar Financial SARL, Caterpillar Financial Services (Dubai) Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services (Ireland) plc, Caterpillar Financial Services (UK) Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services Argentina S.A., Caterpillar Financial Services Asia Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Financial Services Belgium S.P.R.L., Caterpillar Financial Services CR s.r.o., Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Services GmbH, Caterpillar Financial Services India Private Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services Leasing ULC, Caterpillar Financial Services Limited Les Services Financiers Caterpillar Limitee, Caterpillar Financial Services Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Caterpillar Financial Services Netherlands B.V., Caterpillar Financial Services Norway AS, Caterpillar Financial Services Philippines Inc., Caterpillar Financial Services Poland Sp. z o.o., Caterpillar Financial Services South Africa (Pty) Limited, Caterpillar Financial UK Acquisition Funding Partners, Caterpillar Financial Ukraine LLC, Caterpillar Fluid Systems S.r.l., Caterpillar Fomento Comercial Ltda., Caterpillar Forest Products Inc., Caterpillar France S.A.S., Caterpillar GB L.L.C., Caterpillar Global Investments S.a r.l., Caterpillar Global Mining America LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Equipamentos De Mineracao do Brasil Ltda., Caterpillar Global Mining Equipment LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Europe GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Expanded Products Pty Ltd, Caterpillar Global Mining Germany Holdings GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining HMS GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Holdings GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Hong Kong AFC Manufacturing Holding Co. Limited, Caterpillar Global Mining Hong Kong Limited, Caterpillar Global Mining LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Mexico LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Global Mining SARL, Caterpillar Global Mining U.S. Parts LLC, Caterpillar Global Services LLC, Caterpillar Group Services S.A., Caterpillar Holding (France) S.A.S., Caterpillar Holding Germany GmbH, Caterpillar Holdings Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Hungary Components Manufacturing Ltd., Caterpillar Hydraulics Italia S.r.l., Caterpillar IPX LLC, Caterpillar IRB LLC, Caterpillar Impact Products Limited, Caterpillar India Private Limited, Caterpillar Industrial Inc., Caterpillar Industrias Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Industries (Pty) Ltd, Caterpillar Insurance Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Insurance Company, Caterpillar Insurance Holdings Inc., Caterpillar Insurance Services Corporation, Caterpillar International Finance Designated Activity Company, Caterpillar International Finance Luxembourg Holding S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Finance Luxembourg S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Holding S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Luxembourg I S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Luxembourg II S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Product SARL, Caterpillar International Services Corporation, Caterpillar International Services del Peru S.A., Caterpillar Investment Limited, Caterpillar Investment One SARL, Caterpillar Investment Two SARL, Caterpillar Investments, Caterpillar Japan LLC, Caterpillar Latin America Services S.R.L., Caterpillar Latin America Services de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Latin America Services de Panama S. de R.L., Caterpillar Latin America Servicios de Chile Limitada, Caterpillar Latin America Support Services S. DE R.L., Caterpillar Leasing (Thailand) Limited, Caterpillar Leasing Chile S.A., Caterpillar Leasing GmbH (Leipzig), Caterpillar Leasing Operativo Limitada, Caterpillar Life Insurance Company, Caterpillar Logistics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Logistics (UK) Limited, Caterpillar Logistics Inc., Caterpillar Logistics ML Services France S.A.S., Caterpillar Logistics Services China Limited, Caterpillar Luxembourg Group S.ar.l., Caterpillar Luxembourg LLC, Caterpillar Luxembourg S.a r.l., Caterpillar Machinery Nantong Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Marine Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Marine Asset Intelligence, Caterpillar Marine Power UK Limited, Caterpillar Marine Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Maroc SARL, Caterpillar Materiels Routiers SAS, Caterpillar Mexico LLC, Caterpillar Mexico S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar Mining Canada ULC, Caterpillar Mining Chile Servicios Limitada, Caterpillar Motoren (Guangdong) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Motoren GmbH & Co. KG, Caterpillar Motoren Henstedt-Ulzburg GmbH, Caterpillar Motoren Rostock GmbH, Caterpillar Motoren Verwaltungs-GmbH, Caterpillar Netherlands Holding B.V., Caterpillar North America C.V., Caterpillar Operator Training Ltd., Caterpillar Overseas Credit Corporation SARL, Caterpillar Overseas Investment Holding SARL, Caterpillar Overseas Limited, Caterpillar Overseas SARL, Caterpillar Panama Services S.A., Caterpillar Paving Products Inc., Caterpillar Paving Products Xuzhou Ltd., Caterpillar Pension Trust Limited, Caterpillar Poland Sp. z o.o., Caterpillar Power Generation Systems (Bangladesh) Limited, Caterpillar Power Generation Systems L.L.C., Caterpillar Power Systems Inc., Caterpillar Power Ventures International Ltd., Caterpillar Precision Seals Korea, Caterpillar Prodotti Stradali S.r.l., Caterpillar Product Services Corporation, Caterpillar Propulsion AB, Caterpillar Propulsion International Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Propulsion Italy S.R.L., Caterpillar Propulsion Namibia (Proprietary) Limited, Caterpillar Propulsion Production AB, Caterpillar Propulsion Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Propulsion Singapore Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar R&D Center (China) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe LLC, Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe Servicios S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar Reman Powertrain Indiana LLC, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Drivetrain LLC, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Renting France S.A.S., Caterpillar Reynosa S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar SARL, Caterpillar Services Germany GmbH, Caterpillar Servicios Limitada, Caterpillar Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Servizi Italia Srl, Caterpillar Shrewsbury Limited, Caterpillar Skinningrove Limited, Caterpillar Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd., Caterpillar Special Services Belgium S.P.R.L., Caterpillar Switchgear Americas LLC, Caterpillar Switchgear Holding Inc., Caterpillar Tianjin Ltd., Caterpillar Torreon S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Tosno L.L.C., Caterpillar Transmissions France S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Tunneling Canada Holdings Ltd., Caterpillar Tunnelling Canada Corporation, Caterpillar Tunnelling Europe Limited, Caterpillar UK Employee Trust Limited, Caterpillar UK Engines Company Limited, Caterpillar UK Group Limited, Caterpillar UK Holdings Limited, Caterpillar Undercarriage (Xuzhou) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Underground Mining Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Used Equipment Services Inc., Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc., Caterpillar Work Tools B.V., Caterpillar Work Tools Inc., Caterpillar World Trading Corporation, Caterpillar Xuzhou, Caterpillar of Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar of Canada Corporation, Caterpillar of Delaware Inc., Centre de Distribution de Wallonie SPRL, CleanAir Systems, Downer Freight Rail, ECM Railway Evolution Romania s.r.l., ECM S.p.A., EDC European Excavator Design Center GmbH, EMC Holding Corp., EMD International Holdings Inc., ERA Information & Entertainment (BVI) Limited, ERA Mining Machinery Limited, Electro-Motive Diesel Limited, Electro-Motive Locomotive Technologies LLC, Electro-Motive Technical Consulting Co. (Beijing) Ltd., Energy Services International Limited, Equipos de Acuna S.A. de C.V., Eurenov S.A.S., F. G. Wilson (Proprietary) Limited, F. Perkins Limited, FG Wilson (Engineering) Limited, GB Holdco (China) Inc., GFCM Comercial Mexico S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., GFCM Servicios S.A. de C.V., Gremada Industries - Assets, Hong Kong Siwei Holdings Limited, Inmobiliaria Conek S.A. de C.V., JCS Co., Kemper Valve & Fittings Corp., Leo Inc., Locomotive Demand Power Pty Ltd., Locomotoras Progress Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Lovat, M2M Data Corporation, MGE Equipamentos & Servicos Ferroviarios, MWM, MWM Austria GmbH, MWM Benelux B.V., MWM Energy Australia Pty Ltd, MWM France S.A.S, MWM Real Estate GmbH, MaK Americas Inc., MaK Americas Inc. (Canada), Magnum Power Products LLC, Marble, Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH, Mec-Track S.r.l., Metalmark Financial Services Limited, Motoren Steffens GmbH, Nippon Caterpillar LLC, P. T. Solar Services Indonesia, PT Caterpillar Finance Indonesia, PT. Bucyrus Indonesia, PT. Caterpillar Indonesia, PT. Caterpillar Indonesia Batam, PT. Caterpillar Remanufacturing Indonesia, Perkins Engines, Perkins Engines (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, Perkins Engines Group Limited, Perkins Engines Inc., Perkins Group Limited, Perkins Holdings Limited LLC, Perkins India Private Limited, Perkins International Inc., Perkins Japan LLC, Perkins Limited, Perkins Machinery (Changshu) Co. Ltd., Perkins Motores do Brasil Ltda., Perkins Power Systems Technology (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Perkins Small Engines (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Perkins Small Engines LLC, Perkins Small Engines Limited, Perkins Technology Inc., Progress Metal Reclamation Company, Progress Rail Arabia Limited Company, Progress Rail Australia Pty Ltd, Progress Rail Canada Corporation, Progress Rail Equipamentos e Servicos Ferroviarios do Brasil Ltda., Progress Rail Equipment Leasing Corporation, Progress Rail Holdings Inc., Progress Rail Innovations Private Limited, Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems GmbH, Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems S.r.l., Progress Rail International Corp., Progress Rail Leasing Canada Corporation, Progress Rail Leasing Corporation, Progress Rail Leasing de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Progress Rail Locomotivas (do Brasil) Ltda., Progress Rail Locomotive Canada Co., Progress Rail Locomotive Chile SpA, Progress Rail Locomotive Inc., Progress Rail Maintenance de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Progress Rail Manufacturing Corporation, Progress Rail Raceland Corporation, Progress Rail Rocklin Corporation, Progress Rail SA Proprietary Limited, Progress Rail Services Corporation, Progress Rail Services Holdings Corp., Progress Rail Services LLC, Progress Rail Services UK Limited, Progress Rail Switching Services LLC, Progress Rail Transcanada Corporation, Progress Rail Welding Corporation, Progress Rail Wildwood LLC, Progress Rail de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pyroban Group, Pyroban Group, Pyrrha Investments B.V., Pyrrha Investments Limited, S&L Railroad LLC, SCM Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd., SPL Software Alliance LLC, Sabre Engines, Servicios de Turbinas Solar S. de R.L. de C.V., Shandong SEM Machinery Co. Ltd., Solar Turbines, Solar Turbines, Solar Turbines (Beijing) Trading Services Co. Ltd., Solar Turbines (Thailand) Ltd., Solar Turbines CIS Limited Liability Company, Solar Turbines Canada Ltd./Ltee., Solar Turbines Central Asia Limited Liability Partnership, Solar Turbines EAME s.r.o., Solar Turbines Egypt Limited Liability Company, Solar Turbines Europe S.A., Solar Turbines India Private Limited, Solar Turbines International Company, Solar Turbines Italy S.R.L., Solar Turbines Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Solar Turbines Middle East Limited, Solar Turbines New Zealand Limited, Solar Turbines Saudi Arabia Limited, Solar Turbines Services Company, Solar Turbines Services Nigeria Limited, Solar Turbines Services of Argentina S.R.L., Solar Turbines Switzerland Sagl, Solar Turbines Trinidad & Tobago Limited, Solar Turbines West-Africa SARL, Tangshan DBT Machinery Co. Ltd., Tecnologia Modificada S.A. de C.V., Towmotor Corporation, Traction & Mining Motor Repairs Pty Ltd, Turbinas Solar S.A. de C.V., Turbinas Solar de Colombia S.A., Turbinas Solar de Venezuela C.A., Turbo Tecnologia de Reparaciones S.A. de C.V., Turbomach, Turbomach Endustriyel Gaz Turbinleri Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited, Turbomach France SARL, Turbomach GmbH, Turbomach Netherlands B.V., Turbomach Pakistan (Private) Limited, Turbomach S.A. Unipersonal, Turbomach Sp. Z o.o., Turner Powertrain Systems Limited, UK Hose Assembly Limited, Underground Imaging Technologies Inc, United Industries LLC, VALA Inc., Vasky Energy Ltd., Wealdstone Engineering, Weir - Oil & Gas Division, West Virginia Auto Shredding Inc., Western Gear Machinery LLC, Wetland Sustainability Fund I LLC, Williams Technologies, Yard Club, Zhengzhou Siwei Mechanical and Electrical Equipment Sales Co. Ltd., and okyo Rental Ltd.. Read More Energizer Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes household batteries, specialty batteries, and lighting products worldwide. It offers lithium, alkaline, carbon zinc, nickel metal hydride, zinc air, and silver oxide batteries under the Energizer and Eveready brands, as well as primary, rechargeable, specialty, and hearing aid batteries. The company also provides headlights, lanterns, and children's and area lights, as well as flash lights under the Energizer, Eveready, Rayovac, Hard Case, Dolphin, Varta, and WeatherReady brands. In addition, it licenses the Energizer and Eveready brands to companies developing consumer solutions in gaming, automotive batteries, portable power for critical devices, LED light bulbs, generators, power tools, household light bulbs, and other lighting products. Further, the company designs and markets automotive fragrance and appearance products, including protectants, wipes, tire and wheel care products, glass cleaners, leather care products, air fresheners, and washes to clean, shine, refresh, and protect interior and exterior automobile surfaces under the brand names of Armor All, Nu Finish, Refresh Your Car!, LEXOL, Eagle One, California Scents, Driven, and Bahama & Co; STP branded fuel and oil additives, functional fluids, and other performance chemical products; and do-it-yourself automotive air conditioning recharge products under the A/C PRO brand name, as well as other refrigerant and recharge kits, sealants, and accessories. It sells its products through direct sales force, distributors, and wholesalers; and through various retail and business-to-business channels, including mass merchandisers, club, electronics, food, home improvement, dollar store, auto, drug, hardware, e-commerce, convenience, sporting goods, hobby/craft, office, industrial, medical, and catalog. Energizer Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri. The following companies are subsidiares of Ingersoll Rand: 13125882 Canada Inc., 211 E. Russell Road LLC, 4458664 Canada Inc., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES ASIA PTE. LTD., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES BORROWER S.C.A., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES LLC, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES MIDDLE EAST FZE, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES SERVICES LIMITED, ASTRUM IT GmbH, Accudyne Industries Acquisition S.A r.l, Accudyne Industries Canada Inc., Accudyne Industries S.A r.l., Air Dimensions, Air Dimensions Inc., Albin Pump SAS, BOC Edwards Global Low pressure Air business, CISA S.p.A., Cameron-Centrifugal Compression, Comercial Ingersoll-Rand (Chile) Limitada, Comingersoll-Comercio E Industria De Equipamentos S.A., CompAir, CompAir (Hankook) Korea Co. Ltd., CompAir Acquisition (No. 2) Ltd., CompAir Acquisition Ltd., CompAir BroomWade Ltd., CompAir Finance Ltd., CompAir GmbH, CompAir Holdings Limited, CompAir International Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CompAir Korea Ltd, CompAir South Africa (SA) (Pty) Ltd., Consolidated Distribution Holdings Ltd., DV Systems Inc., Dosatron International SAS, Emco Wheaton Gmbh, Emco Wheaton USA Inc, Enza Air Proprietary Limited, FlexEnergy Holdings LLC, Frigoblock Grosskopf Gmbh, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Investments Limited, GD First (UK) Ltd, GD German Holdings GmbH, GD German Holdings I Gmbh, GD German Holdings II GmbH, GD German Investments GmbH, GD Global Holdings II Inc., GD Global Holdings Inc., GD Global Holdings UK II Ltd., GD Global Ventures I B.V., GD Global Ventures II B.V., GD Global Ventures III B.V., GD Industrial Products Malaysia SDN. BHD., GD Investment KY, GD UK Finance Ltd., GPS Industries, Gardner Denver (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Austria GmbH, Gardner Denver Bad Neustadt Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Belgium NV, Gardner Denver Brasil Industria E Comercio de Maquinas Ltda., Gardner Denver CZ + SK sro, Gardner Denver Canada Corp (Canada), Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Limited, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Engineered Products India Private Limited, Gardner Denver FZE, Gardner Denver Finance II LLC, Gardner Denver Finance Inc & Co KG, Gardner Denver France SAS, Gardner Denver Group Svcs Ltd, Gardner Denver Holdings Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Ltd, Gardner Denver Iberica SL, Gardner Denver Inc., Gardner Denver Industries Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd., Gardner Denver International Inc., Gardner Denver International Ltd., Gardner Denver Investments Inc., Gardner Denver Italy Holdings S.r.L., Gardner Denver Japan Ltd., Gardner Denver Kirchhain Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Korea Ltd., Gardner Denver Ltd., Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Nash Brasil Industria E Comercio De Bombas Ltda, Gardner Denver Nash LLC, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd., Gardner Denver Nederland BV, Gardner Denver Nederland Investments B.V., Gardner Denver Oy, Gardner Denver Polska Sp z.o.o., Gardner Denver Pte. Ltd., Gardner Denver S.r.l., Gardner Denver Schopfheim GmbH, Gardner Denver Schopfheim Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Schweiz AG, Gardner Denver Slovakia s.r.o., Gardner Denver Sweden AB, Gardner Denver Taiwan Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas GmbH (f/k/a ILMVAC GmbH), Gardner Denver Thomas Inc., Gardner Denver Thomas Pneumatic Systems (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Garo Dott. Ing. Roberto Gabbioneta S.r.l., Ghh-Rand Schraubenkompressoren Gmbh, HASKEL EUROPE LTD., HASKEL HOLDINGS UK LIMITED, HASKEL INTERNATIONAL LLC, Hamworthy Belliss & Morcom, Haskel France SAS, Haskel Sistemas de Fluidos Espana S.R.L., Hibon Inc., Highspeed Newco LLC, Hingerose Limited, ILMVAC (UK) Ltd., ILS Innovative Labor Systeme, ILS Inovative Laborsysteme GmbH, INGERSOLL RAND ITS JAPAN LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND (CHANG ZHOU) TOOLS CO. LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND (CHINA) INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING CO. LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND CHINA LLC, INGERSOLL-RAND COMERCIO E SERVICOS DE MAQUINAS E EQUIPAMENTOS INDUSTRIAIS LTDA., INGERSOLL-RAND DE PUERTO RICO INC., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL COMPANY B.V., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL SP. Z O.O., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL U.S. INC., INGERSOLL-RAND PHILIPPINES INC., INGERSOLL-RAND SPAIN S.A., INGERSOLL-RAND U.S. HOLDCO INC., IR HPS Holdco. Inc., ITO Emniyet, Ingersoll Rand Cyprus Investments Ltd., Ingersoll Rand Finance LLC, Ingersoll Rand Global Investments LLC, Ingersoll Rand Global Ventures LLC, Ingersoll Rand Hong Kong Investments Limited, Ingersoll Rand Inc., Ingersoll Rand Investments (SG) Pte. Ltd., Ingersoll Rand Investments B.V., Ingersoll Rand Schweiz Investments Gmbh, Ingersoll Rand Technology R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand (Australia) Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand (China) Investment Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (Guilin) Tools Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (Hong Kong) Holding Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (India) Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Ab, Ingersoll-Rand Air Solutions Hibon Sarl, Ingersoll-Rand Beteiligungs Und Grundstucksverwaltungs Gmbh, Ingersoll-Rand Colombia S.A.S., Ingersoll-Rand Company Limited (Uk), Ingersoll-Rand Company South Africa (Pty) Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Cz S.R.O., Ingersoll-Rand De Mexico S.A. De C.V., Ingersoll-Rand Equipements De Production S.A.S., Ingersoll-Rand Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Industrial Ireland Limited, Ingersoll-Rand International (India) Private Limited, Ingersoll-Rand International Holding Llc, Ingersoll-Rand Italia S.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Italiana Manufacturing S.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Korea Holding Llc, Ingersoll-Rand Korea Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Lux Investments II S.A R.I., Ingersoll-Rand Lux Investments S.A R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Luxembourg Industrial Company S.A R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Machinery (Shanghai) Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Malaysia Co. Sdn. Bhd., Ingersoll-Rand S.A. De C.V., Ingersoll-Rand Services And Trading Limited Liability Company, Ingersoll-Rand Services Company, Ingersoll-Rand Services Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Singapore Enterprises Pte. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand South East Asia (Pte.) Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand Superay Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Technical And Services S.A.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Technologies And Services Private Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Technology R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand Tool Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Trading Gmbh, Ingersoll-Rand Vietnam Company Limited, Instrum Rand JSC, Interflex Datensysteme, Ir Canada Holdings Ulc, Ir Canada Sales & Service Ulc, Ir France Sas, Kryptonite corp, Lawrence Factor Inc., LeROI, LeRoi International Inc, MILTON ROY (HONG KONG) LIMITED, MILTON ROY (UK) LIMITED, MILTON ROY EUROPA B.V., MILTON ROY EUROPE SAS, MILTON ROY INDUSTRIAL (SHANGHAI) CO. LTD., MILTON ROY LLC, MILTON ROY US PURCHASER INC., MP Pumps Inc., Maximum AG Technologies Inc., Maximus Solutions, Mb Air Systems Limited, Nash Elmo, Officina Meccaniche Industriali Srl, Oina VV, Oina VV Aktiebolag, Plurifilter D.O.O., Pt Ingersoll-Rand Indonesia, Robuschi, Runtech Systems, Runtech Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Runtech Systems Inc., Runtech Systems OY, SEEPEX, Seepex (M) SDN, Seepex Australia Pty Ltd, Seepex Beteiligungs-Gesellschaft mit Beschrankter Haftung, Seepex France S.a.r.l., Seepex GmbH, Seepex Inc., Seepex India Private Ltd., Seepex Italia SRL, Seepex Japan Co. Ltd., Seepex Nordic A/S, Seepex OOO, Seepex Pumps (Shanghia) Co. Ltd., Seepex UK Ltd., Shanghai CompAir Compressors Co Ltd, Shanghai Compressors & Blowers Ltd., Shanghai Ingersoll-Rand Compressor Limited, Shenzhen Bocom System Engineering Co., Superay, Syltone, TIWR Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, Tamrotor Marine Comp AS Norway, Tecno Matic Europe s.r.o., Thomas Industries Inc., Trane Technologies, Tri-Continent Scientific Inc., Vacuum and Blower Systems division, Welch Vacuum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zaxe Technologies Inc., Zeks Compressed Air Solutions Llc, Zinsser Analytic, Zinsser Analytik GmbH, Zinsser NA Inc., and crayon interface. Read More On December 2nd the extraordinary meeting of the Supervisory Board of the Azer-Turk Bank Open Joint Stock Company (OJSC) was held. At a meeting the decision on a number of changes was made. By desicion of the Supervisory Board, Khalid Nureddin oglu Ahadov was elected the member of the Board of Directors. Besides, temporary execution of a position of the Chairman of Bank was entrusted to him. Khalid Ahadov performs activities in the bank sphere from 1999th year. Till today he held such positions as the Vice Chairman of the Board of JSC Bank of Baku, and also was a Chief Executive Officer of JSC Unibank. To a new position he was the Chairman of the Board of the Board of Directors of Bank Standard which is in process of liquidation. Azer Turk Bank OJSC, which has identified financial support to the real sector of the economy as its main mission, serves its customers through 11 customer offices. More information about the Bank, its service network, products and services is available at www.azerturkbank.az , the Banks corporate pages at social networks or at (012) 945 Call Center. Here are five news stories and events to start your week, from the editors at Military.com. 1. Senate to Vote on 2.1% Troop Pay Raise The U.S. Senate this week is expected to vote on a 2.1 percent troop pay raise for 2017 as part of the $619 billion National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy and spending goals for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. The House on Friday approved the measure days after lawmakers from both chambers negotiated a compromise version of the bill. The Senate had previously agreed with the White House to increase troop pay next year by 1.6 percent. The House, however, pushed for a 2.1 percent increase in pay in keeping with private-sector wage growth. If the Senate passes the legislation -- which is very likely -- and President Barack Obama signs it into law, the raise will mark the first time in five years the basic pay raise matched wage hikes nationwide. The military pay raise is separate from the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for veterans, military retirees and recipients of VA disability compensation. That figure, based on the Consumer Price Index, is set for 0.3 percent in 2017. 2. After Tapping Mattis for Defense, Will Trump Pick Petraeus for State? As expected, President-elect Donald Trump announced he plans to nominate retired Marine Gen. James Mattis for secretary of defense. After the formal announcement for Mattis -- set for today -- Trump may next turn his attention next to the position of secretary of state. He's reportedly still considering retired Army Gen. David Petraeus for the post, along with several other candidates, including retired Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis; Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City; Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts and the 2012 Republican presidential candidate; Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee; and John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Bush administration; among others. Speaking Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Petraeus "paid a price" after pleading guilty to mishandling classified information. "The president-elect will weigh that against the backdrop of an extraordinary career in military service, whether it's in the role of secretary of state or another role in this administration," Pence said. 3. Army Corps of Engineers Blocks Route of Dakota Pipeline The U.S. Army won't grant an easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline in North Dakota, effectively halting construction on the project to study other routes. The service's announcement on Sunday evening came after many veterans joined several hundred protesters who encamped near the construction site in a bid to halt the project. Critics said the development could pollute drinking water of a local Native American tribe and threatens treaty rights. Most of the nearly $4 billion, 1,172-mile-long pipeline from oil production fields in North Dakota to a terminal in Illinois is nearly complete. Even so, the Army said it won't approve an easement to allow the line to cross under Lake Oahe, a dammed section of the Missouri River, in North Dakota, about a half-mile from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation. "Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it's clear that there's more work to do," said Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Army's assistant secretary for civil works. 4. Vets Groups to Meet Again With Trump Transition Team Members of the "big six" veteran service organizations -- including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and American Veterans -- plan to meet again with officials from the president-elect's transition team. The meeting, set for Friday, follows a bigger one held last week in which 30 veterans groups sat down with about 10 members of Trump's team, including Omarosa Onee Manigault, a chaplain in the California State Military Reserve who appeared on the NBC show "The Apprentice" starring Trump. During the roughly two-hour meeting behind closed doors, the organizations outlined their priorities for the incoming administration, including opposing any push to privatize the Veterans Affairs Department. "The American Legion absolutely opposes privatization," Executive Director Verna Jones told Military.com afterward. "We strongly advocate for a healthy VA health care system for veterans." While Trump has said he would not seek to privatize the VA, he's expected to push for a major shake-up at the department. 5. Before Buying Property, Check the VA's New Loan Limits for 2017 The Veterans Affairs Department has announced loan limits for 2017. The maximum amount for the VA's Home Loan Guaranty program for next year ranges from $424,100 for most counties to between $425,500 and $721,050 for high-cost counties from Denver to Honolulu. These limits take effect on all loans closed on Jan. 1 and thereafter. Eligible veterans can still borrow amounts higher than those listed -- but lenders may require them to make a down payment for the amount borrowed in excess of the applicable county loan limit. The VA calculates its figures using county median home values reported by the Federal Housing Administration. For next year, some limits increased, some stayed the same and a few decreased. Questions about VA loans in a particular county can be directed to the VA Regional Loan Center of jurisdiction. You can find more information here. -- Jim Absher contributed to this report. -- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry. Camp Lejeune Town Halls Aim to Help Those Exposed to Toxic Water. Heres How You Can Go. Retired Marine Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger made it his mission to tell the world that if they lived or served on Camp Lejeune... The commander of a West Coast-based aviation logistics squadron was removed from his post on Friday due to dissatisfaction with his performance, according to an announcement from 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, out of Miramar, California. Lt. Col. Michael Hernandez, commanding officer of Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 11, was relieved by 3rd MAW Commanding General Maj. Gen. Mark Wise, "due to a loss of trust and confidence in his ability to continue to lead," according to the announcement. "This was a strictly performance-based decision; there was never any concern of misconduct, a 3rd MAW spokesman, Capt. Kurt Stahl, told Military.com. Stahl said the decision to relieve Hernandez had been under consideration for some time, but was not the result of any kind of investigation. It's not clear who will take over permanent leadership of the squadron, but Stahl said Maj. David Donnell, executive officer of MALS-11, would command the squadron in the interim. Hernandez did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. According to his official Marine Corps biography, Hernandez joined the Marine Corps as an enlisted service member in 1990 and received a commission in 1996 after attending Officer Candidate School. He served in Iraq in 2007 as the deputy inspector general to the commander of Multinational Force Iraq, Army Gen. David Petraeus. Prior to taking command at MALS-11, he served at the Wing Aviation supply officer and Aviation Logistics Department plans officer for 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in Japan. -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. No American military engagement has undergone more post-mortems than the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Between 1941 and 1946, various departments of the U.S. government conducted nine official inquiries. A tenth inquiry was held as recently as 1995, when the Department of Defense re-examined the culpability placed on Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel and Major General Walter C. Short for a lack of preparedness prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The investigation, issued as the Dorn Report, absolved Kimmel and Short of responsibility for the devastation caused by the attack and recommended posthumously restoring Kimmel and Short to the ranks they held prior to the attack. The attack has spawned a heated debate over whether the Roosevelt administration had advance knowledge of the impending attack and allowed it to take place to create a pretext for U.S. entry into World War II. In September 1944, John T. Flynn, a co-founder of the America First Committee, published a 46-page booklet, The Truth About Pearl Harbor, in which he formally raised what historians have called the "advance-knowledge conspiracy theory." The debate still rages. Historians have dismissed the theory as unsupported by historical fact, although there are plenty of vague references in government documents and personal correspondence pointing out the inevitability of a war with Japan and even welcoming such a prospect. Some historians have gone so far as to argue that Roosevelt's policy toward Japan was deliberately provocative and was intended to goad Japan into striking first at the United States. There is also evidence, however, that by 1940, the Roosevelt administration had decided that war with Germany was inevitable and was already preparing for such an eventuality. In this case, a war with Japan was a distraction that would divert resources from the effort against Germany. Particularly intriguing, on this point, is the story surrounding the adoption of "Plan D." Shortly after the 1940 presidential election, a campaign in which Franklin D. Roosevelt ran on the promise that "no American boys would be sent to fight in Europe," he received a briefing from Admiral Harold R. Stark, the Chief of Naval Operations, on the war situation in Europe. Stark told Roosevelt that without American aid Great Britain would inevitably be defeated by the Nazis, leading to German domination of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. About that time, Roosevelt also received a letter from Albert Einstein in which he warned that Nazi Germany was working on the development of an "atomic bomb" of enormous destructive power. Stark subsequently laid out possible policy options to Roosevelt in a formal memo. The fourth option, titled "D," argued for a "Germany first" strategy regardless of any potential threat from Japan, and recommended that American assistance to Britain should also include the deployment of U.S. troops in North Africa and Europe. That policy recommendation, later dubbed "Plan D," was widely supported within the Roosevelt Administration, including by then-U.S. Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall. It was at that point, a year before the Japanese attack, that Roosevelt authorized joint talks between the British and American military chiefs of staff to implement "Plan D." The "Germany first" policy wasn't officially announced to the public until the "Arcadia Conference," a year later, between Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, held in Washington DC between December 22, 1941 and January 14, 1942. U.S. Naval operations in the Atlantic over 1940 and 1941 were consistent with Roosevelt's focus on Germany. Following the start of WW II, Stark had ordered "Neutrality Patrols" in the Caribbean and in waters 200 miles off the coasts of both North and South America. Over the course of 1940, the Navy conducted "battleship sweeps" in the western Atlantic to deter German commerce raiders and U-boats from entering the neutrality zone. In 1941, the number of ships assigned to those sweeps doubled and their patrol zone was extended all the way to Iceland. In September 1941, U.S. Navy destroyers, in collaboration with the Royal Canadian Navy, began escorting Canadian and British merchantmen as far as Iceland. The America First Committee criticized the convoy escort activity as being deliberately provocative to Germany and accused Roosevelt of seeking a war with Berlin. The history of the signal intelligence obtained by the U.S. in the period immediately prior to the attack has also encouraged the conspiracy theorists. American code breaking activities were very sophisticated and highly advanced. The U.S. had succeeded in breaking many, although not all, of the Japanese military and diplomatic codes. Nonetheless, the application of that intelligence was often haphazard. There was a widespread shortage of Japanese translators. Turnover among cryptographers and intelligence analysts was high. Both activities were considered dead-end jobs; ones that could stigmatize future career prospects. Intelligence sharing was equally haphazard, with different government departments hoarding their signal intercepts. Ironically, the U.S. had broken the Japanese diplomatic code dubbed "Purple," which was used by Tokyo for important communications with its embassies. A 14-part message instructing the Japanese ambassador in Washington to advise the State Department that Tokyo was breaking off diplomatic relations with the U.S. had been decoded on December 6 and 7, and had been correctly interpreted by the War Department as indicating a Japanese attack at dawn somewhere in the Pacific. Unfortunately, the warning sent to U.S. military forces in the Pacific was, because of atmospheric conditions, dispatched by Western Union. The telegram arrived in Hawaii during the middle of the first wave of attacks. The fact that some documents relating to the attack are still classified has also provided fodder to the conspiracy theorists. There is signal intelligence obtained by the British "Ultra" and the U.S. "Magic" programs relating to Pearl Harbor, for example, which is still secret. In addition, there are also reports of other documents, for example, a purported, explicit warning from military intelligence in the Dutch East Indies of an impending Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, that are still classified. There is also the fact that many documents at Pearl Harbor were destroyed in the weeks following the attack for fear of an impending Japanese invasion. One historical fact that is not open to dispute, however, is the mock raid that was staged on Pearl Harbor on February 7, 1932, as part of a military exercise designed to test Pearl Harbor's vulnerability to a surprise attack. In the period between the Washington Naval Conference in 1921, and 1940, the U.S. did not have a two-ocean navy. The main Pacific anchorages were in San Diego and San Francisco where the fleet could be deployed quickly in the defense of the Panama Canal or of the Hawaiian Islands. Its proximity to the canal also allowed for its rapid transfer to the Atlantic should it be needed there. "Planners" at the War Department had been considering the possibility of war with Japan since at least 1906. The eventual strategy, dubbed War Plan Orange, anticipated that in the event of a war with Japan, the Philippines and American bases in the western Pacific would be either blockaded or overrun. In the interim, the U.S. Pacific Fleet would concentrate its strength along the West Coast until the ships had received their full complement of crew. During the 1930s, ships operated with only half of their allotted crew as an economy measure. Once the fleet had been readied, it would sail west to relieve the Philippines. With the Philippines secured, the fleet would proceed to blockade Japan and seek a decisive naval showdown with the Japanese fleet. This strategy was consistent with the writings of American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan who argued that future wars would be settled by decisive naval engagements. This view was widely shared among the world's naval powers, including Japan. Given the critical role of Hawaii in a Pacific campaign, the idea of beefing up U.S. Naval forces at Pearl Harbor was not new. It had been discussed since at least the end of World War I. Since 1923, the U.S. Navy had conducted large-scale naval exercises, termed "Fleet Problems," during which U.S. Naval forces would engage in mock battles with a purported European or Asian attacker. Fleet Problem Number 13 was a mock attack by a "militaristic, Asian, island nation against the military base at Pearl Harbor." The exercise was designed to test Pearl's defenses and assess its vulnerability to an attack. The attacking force was under the command of Rear Admiral Harry Yarnell. The admiral was a qualified naval aviator, one of the few admirals to have earned his aviator wings at a time when battleship command was still the path to promotions. In 1927, he took command of the aircraft carrier Saratoga and was instrumental in developing carrier tactics. At the time, carriers were classified as "fleet scouting elements." They were not valued as capital ships and were considered expendable. Yarnell maintained that Japan "had always started operations by attacking before a declaration of war." Accordingly, he designed an attack plan that utilized carrier aviation to launch a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Pearl's defenders had anticipated that Yarnell would attack with his battleships. Instead, he left his battleships behind and advanced with the carriers Saratoga and Lexington to a point north-northeast of Hawaii. At dawn, on Sunday February 7, 1932, Yarnell launched his attack with a force of 152 planes from the two carriers. His attack force first attacked the airfields and then proceeded to attack the ships along battleship row. Yarnell achieved total surprise. The airfields were put out of commission, with not a single plane getting airborne during the attack. The attacking force scored multiple hits, they dropped sacks of white flour to simulate bombs, on the battleships. The umpires declared that Yarnell's attack had been a complete success and declared him the winner. The Army and Navy brass, however, would have none of it. They complained that Yarnell had cheated. He had attacked at dawn on a Sunday morning, a time considered "inappropriate" for an attack. His attack vector from the north-northeast had mimicked planes arriving from the mainland. Most importantly, the Navy argued, low level precision bombing of battleships at anchor was unrealistic since "everyone knew that Asians lacked sufficient hand-eye coordination to engage in that kind of precision bombing." Pressured by the War Department, the umpires reversed their decision and declared that the defenders had won the exercise. The Navy and its "battleship admirals" ignored Yarnell's contention that Pearl Harbor was vulnerable to an attack by naval air power. The exercise was widely reported in the press and was observed by Japanese naval officers at the Japanese consulate on Oahu. Some 10 years later, the Japanese Navy would launch an almost carbon copy attack on Pearl Harbor, utilizing six carriers and double the air power used by Yarnell. The only significant innovation employed by the Japanese Navy was the use of air-launched torpedoes against the ships in Pearl lagoon. A year earlier, the Royal Navy had used slow Swordfish torpedo planes to attack the Italian fleet at its base in Taranto. The success of that attack was not lost on Tokyo. The U.S. Navy had dismissed its relevance to Pearl because Taranto's harbor was around 75-feet deep, almost double the depth of Pearl Harbor, and it did not believe that air launched torpedoes would work in shallow waters. The Japanese Navy solved that problem by modifying their torpedoes to give them a flatter glide path. The definitive story of the attack on Pearl Harbor has not yet been written. Pearl still has secrets to disclose. What is not a secret, however, is the fact that the Japanese attack plan against Pearl Harbor had been designed a decade earlier by an American admiral. Joseph V. Micallef is a military historian, bestselling author, keynote speaker, syndicated columnist and commentator on international politics and the future. Depending on your PT test, the order of swimming may best be determined by where it is in the order of events of that test. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening of Regional Data and International Commutation Centers of the Ministry of Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan Dec. 5. Azerbaijan`s Minister of Communications and High Technologies Ramin Guluzade informed the president that the operator of Regional Data Center and IP-based International Commutation Center is AzInTelecom Limited Liability Company which was restructured and renamed in June 2015. President Aliyev and Mehriban Aliyeva viewed the conditions created at the centers. The Blue Jays four-year, $80MM offer to Edwin Encarnacion has been taken off the table, FOX Sports Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link). Though that initial offer made before Toronto signed Kendrys Morales no longer stands, the Jays are reportedly still interested in Encarnacions services, according to FanRag Sports Jon Heyman (Twitter link). Encarnacion is still in play for the Jays, Rangers and potentially two National League teams, who have called about the slugger with an eye towards using him as an everyday first baseman. It probably isnt a surprise that the Jays withdrew their offer in the wake of the Morales signing, as according to Encarnacions agent Paul Kinzer earlier this week, the two sides hadnt talked numbers since that initial offer. Other teams had made offers, though Toronto was showing Edwin the most love, in Kinzers words. As Rosenthal notes in another tweet, however, the Blue Jays are also still exploring the outfield market, and they could forego re-signing Encarnacion if they land a big-ticket outfielder like Dexter Fowler. Kinzer has also indicated that he and his client could be looking for five years and as much as a $25MM average annual value, though those comments are now almost a month old. Five years in the $125MM range may have been a high target anyway (MLBTRs Tim Dierkes projected Encarnacion to land four years and $92MM) and it could be an even longer shot given that Encarnacions market seems to have shrunk in recent days. The Red Sox dont seem to be in hot pursuit given their reluctance to surpass the luxury tax threshold again, while the Astros and Yankees have addressed their DH needs with less-costly one-year deals with Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday, respectively. In regards to the Rangers, GM Jon Daniels told reporters (including the Fort Worth Star-Telegrams Jeff Wilson) today that the team was more likely to use internal options like Jurickson Profar, Joey Gallo or Ryan Rua to handle first base than a free agent. This could, of course, be some negotiating gamesmanship on Daniels part, as entrusting both the first base and DH spots to those inexperienced players would seem like an odd move for a contender, notwithstanding Profar and Gallos blue-chip prospect status. As I noted in my Encarnacion free agent profile, the Orioles, White Sox, Rockies and Marlins make some sense as speculative fits for the slugger, though it isnt known whether any of those teams are willing or financially able to make such a big splash. Among NL teams, even Miami is something of a longshot since the Fish are more apt to be looking for a right-handed complement to Justin Bour (who had quite a solid season) rather than an outright replacement. Unless a first base job opens up due to an injury or another trade, there doesnt seem to be much room for Encarnacion within the National League. 2:20pm: Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports (on Twitter) that the Pirates asked the Nationals for both Lucas Giolito and Victor Robles but were (unsurprisingly) rebuffed. The Nats do have some questions about McCutchens potential decline and also his leadership, according to Biertempfel. Meanwhile, MLB.coms T.R. Sullivan tweets that the Rangers also find the asking price on McCutchen extremely high, as theyve been asked for an established starting pitcher and additional prospect value in return. 12:39pm: The Rangers have been in frequent contact with the Pirates about McCutchen, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. A deal between the two sides is possible but not close at this time, he adds. Heyman adds that hes heard its not likely that the Rangers would actually meet the Pirates asking price, though. Additionally, MLB Networks Jon Morosi tweeted earlier today that the Dodgers have made a recent inquiry on McCutchen as well. 11:10am: Theres a mystery team pursuing Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Pittsburgh is said to be looking for a taker for its longtime star. To this point, the Nationals have been tied most closely to the former MVP center fielder. The Dodgers, too, have been mentioned recently as having interest, while the Rangers and Mariners have also been connected. But the other possible suitor is a team that hasnt yet been publicly associated with the Bucs stalwart, per the report. That leaves 25 other organizations that could conceivably have interest. A variety of teams potentially including the Orioles, Blue Jays, Giants, Phillies, Mets, and Cardinals might make some degree of sense, and surely there are others that could become involved in the right circumstances. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 Trend: Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will pay working visits to Brussels, Belgium and Hamburg, Germany. On Dec. 7, Mammadyarov will take part in a meeting in Brussels of the foreign ministers of the countries contributing to the NATO Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. The Azerbaijani foreign minister will participate in the 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council Meeting in Hamburg Dec. 8-9. The minister is expected to have bilateral meetings during the visit. Details added (first version posted on 11:19) Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by Minister of Internal Affairs of Serbia Nebojsa Stefanovic Dec. 5. The president expressed confidence that the visit of Stefanovic would be fruitful in terms of discussing cooperation between the two countries` relevant authorities and exchanging views over the development of bilateral relations. Hailing the very high level of Azerbaijan-Serbia relations, President Aliyev described high level reciprocal visits and other contacts as a good sign of friendly ties. Saying that Azerbaijan and Serbia maintain cooperation in numerous areas, the president said Azerbaijan was interested in developing this cooperation. Emphasizing the two countries` constant support for each other in international organizations, President Aliyev said it was important in terms of expanding partner relations. The president expressed his confidence that Azerbaijan-Serbia ties would continue to develop successfully. Stefanovic praised high hospitality accorded to them in Azerbaijan. He said they were deeply impressed with Baku`s development in recent years. The Serbian minister underlined the necessity of cooperation between relevant authorities of the two countries, noting that his visit was a good opportunity for doing concrete work to develop the bilateral relations. Expressing his regret over the spread of terrorism in the world, Stefanovic highlighted the importance of joint fight against terrorism and organized crime. The Serbian minister also emphasized the significance of information exchange between relevant bodies and trainings in terms of enhancing the bilateral cooperation. Details added (first version posted on 11:27) Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received Commerce Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Khurram Dastgir Khan Dec. 5. Recalling with pleasure President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain's and Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif's visits to Azerbaijan, President Aliyev hailed these visits as successful and fruitful. He noted the importance of these visits in terms of strengthening current brotherly relations between the two countries. President Aliyev also underlined a good opportunity for the two countries' relevant ministries to hold practical meetings in order to develop bilateral trade, investment making, and identify business opportunities. Dastgir Khan emphasized that Prime Minister Sharif was satisfied with his visit to Azerbaijan. "Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif highly values the hospitality shown to him in Azerbaijan and he asked me to convey his gratitude to you," Dastgir Khan said. The Pakistani minister said he traveled to Azerbaijan immediately after Sharif's visit on the instructions of the prime minister, saying there are significant issues relating to the development of bilateral relations to work on. The sides hailed the importance of expanding energy and trade relations, and cooperation in the field of agriculture, pharmaceutical and textile industry between the two countries. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Seba Aghayeva Trend: A regular meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova) Organization for Democracy and Economic Development will be held in Hamburg on the sidelines of the 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council (Dec. 8-9), GUAM Secretary General Altay Efendiyev told Trend Dec. 5. The agenda of OSCE Ministerial Council will include issues of cooperation in the political and economic spheres, in particular, expansion of cooperation in trade, transport, the fight against crime, illegal migration and human trafficking, he said. Cooperation issues of GUAM with other states and international organizations will be also discussed at the ministerial council, Efendiyev added. It is also scheduled to hold a meeting in the GUAM-Japan format within the framework of the ministerial council, he noted. The GUAM format was created by the post-Soviet states in 1997 during the summit of heads of states of the European Union in Strasbourg. In 1999, Uzbekistan joined the format and four years later withdrew. In 2006, Ukraine and Azerbaijan announced plans to further increase the GUAM member relations by renaming the organization as GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development and establishing its headquarters in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. Azerbaijan assumed the chairmanship in GUAM on January 1, 2016. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Asebaa Close Huawei is all set to release its flagship device next year. Let's find out the rumors regarding the upcoming Huawei P10. A certain leak on GFXBench presented a flat solid metal unibody design with a dual camera setup on the rear and as with the P9, the camera sensors and flash seem to be positioned at the top within the antenna band. It is also suggested that the Huawei P10 could feature a 5.5-inch display with a Quad HD resolution. The leak gives the model number LON-L29, but it doesn't specify anything else. It is not yet clear if the P10 will have a flat or curved display but based on the leaks so far, it could be that there are two variants. The leaked specs from GFKBench suggest we can expect an 8-megapixel front camera and a dual-camera setup will remain on the rear, which is the same as what the P9 offers. If this is the case, a 12-megapixel RGB sensor could be coupled with a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor on the rear. According to the leaked specs, the Huawei P10 could arrive with a new 2.3GHz octa-core Kirin 960 processor and 6GB of RAM as standard, which would mean double the RAM of the P9. The leak also suggests we might see up to 256GB of internal storage. Nothing has been claimed for the battery as yet but we would expect the same as the P9, which was 3000mAh, or perhaps a slight increase, especially if the display size increases. As you might expect, the Huawei P10 is reported to be coming with Android 7.0 Nougat straight out of the box, with the company's EMUI skin over the top. The Huawei P10 rumors are still in the early stages for now, but we expect them to pick up over the next couple of months. We expect the succeeding device will come with a faster processor, more RAM, camera enhancements and battery improvements for the P10. Huawei tends to announce its "P" flagship smartphone in April 2017 for a summer launch. Stay tuned for more updates til then. Copyright 2020 Mobile & Apps, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. you are here: Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Seba Aghayeva Trend: GUAM considers the opportunity of holding the next summit of the heads of GUAM states in 2017. The previous meeting of heads of GUAM member states was held in 2008 and currently, there is a need to hold a new meeting at a high level, in particular, for discussing economy and transportation projects, said Altai Efendiev, secretary general of the GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development, in his interview with Trend. Chairmanship of the organization will pass from Azerbaijan to Georgia in 2017, noted the secretary general, and expressed his hope that the high-level meeting will be organized in 2017. Summarizing the results of Azerbaijans chairmanship in GUAM in 2016, Efendiev said it was quite dynamic, substantive and effective, and brought the cooperation within the organization to a higher level. Azerbaijans priorities, as the chair of the organization, were to make efforts and facilitate the further consolidation of GUAM countries interests, broaden and deepen their cooperation in various fields, in development of international cooperation, noted Efendiev. He also said that main attention was paid to the development of economic cooperation. All planned activities have been implemented to some extent. Of course, something remains unrealized due to objective reasons that are not related to Azerbaijan, added the secretary general. In general, the year was eventful. The GUAM format was created by the post-Soviet states in 1997 during a summit of heads of states of the European Union in Strasbourg. In 1999, Uzbekistan joined the format and four years later withdrew. In 2006, Ukraine and Azerbaijan announced plans to further increase the GUAM member relations by renaming the organization as GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development and establishing its headquarters in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. Azerbaijan assumed the chairmanship in GUAM on January 1, 2016. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 Trend: Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev congratulated president-elect of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, on Dec. 5. I extend my most sincere congratulations to you on the occasion of your election as President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, said President Aliyev in his congratulatory letter. I am confident that our joint efforts will focus on strengthening and developing strategic partnership, overall cooperation and multifaceted mutual activity of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan in the best interests of our nations and for peace, stability and security in the region, he noted. Dear Mr Shavkat Miromonovich, I wish you robust health, prosperity in your state activity for the development of the brotherly people of Uzbekistan, added President Aliyev. The chronicle of a life split between urban Manhattan and rural Montana. Our seminary in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is named St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. However, most Catholics do not know about this great saint whose feast day is on November 4th. He was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 until 1584... Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 Trend: Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev has congratulated Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on the occasion of Independence Day in Finland. On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my most sincere congratulations to you and your people on the occasion of the national holiday of the Republic of Finland - Independence Day, said President Aliyev in his congratulatory letter. On this remarkable day I extend my best regards to you, and wish the friendly people of Finland everlasting peace and prosperity, added the president. December 05, 2016 Syria Roundup: East-Aleppo Siege Nears Its End This is the situation in east-Aleppo as of Dec 4, 6PM ET. The enclosed green area, held by al-Qaeda and its allies, will soon be gone. Map via Fabrice Balanche - bigger The British Foreign Minister says that the foreseeable Syrian government victory in Aleppo will not be a gain at all. Bollocks. He and his colleagues have obviously given up on the case and now issue face saving laments. Syria's alliance is winning, U.S. policy is changing and the end of the war is now foreseeable. The British MI-6 propaganda operation "Bana Alabed" expired. The operation's main star was a seven year old girl in east-Aleppo who could not speak English but tweeted world politics in perfect Twitter-English even when the Internet in all Aleppo was down. It has now vanished. This is just like one of the first anti-Syrian propaganda operations, the "Gay girl in Damascus", which expired in 2011 shortly before its male U.S. operator in Scotland was exposed. What will all the media who have willfully fallen for this "Bana" nonsense now tell their viewers and readers? Since the start of the Syrian army offense on the Takfiri held east-Aleppo some 21,000+ civilians have left towards the government held areas in the western part. Several news accounts confirm that these civilians had been held hostages by the Takfiris and had to flee under fire: "We were under pressure by all means, psychological and financial. The gunmen were trying to prevent us from leaving until the army came," said 36-year-old Amina Rwein, who fled with her husband, seven daughters and three sons. "We came under fire from the gunmen as we were leaving and the army hit the minaret from where the sniper was shooting, and then we crossed," she said. About 500 fighters among those civilians gave themselves up to the Syrian army. 480 of them were locals and where led go after they pledged to end all fighting. The remaining rebels want to stay in the city and continued fighting until the end. This sabotages plans by Secretary of State Kerry who tries to get another ceasefire in which some al-Qaeda fighters would leave but other Takfiris kept in control of east-Aleppo. Kerry was late anyway. That deal was no longer on the table. The EU has even worse ideas - it wants to bribe the Syrian government to keep some Jihadis alive and in power. What a joke! The Russian and Syrian forces will not leave any enemy fighter in the area alive or any inch of Aleppo city grounds occupied by them. Later the same will apply to all of Syria. New controlled exits for civilians and fighters who want to leave will be set up soon. All the old exit areas in the northern parts are now completely under Syrian government control. I doubt that there are many, if any civilians left. As my original estimated from October 15 said: Based on the Daraya numbers and those of other sieges in Syria there are probably no more than 4-5,000 fighters and some 3-5 civilians per fighter, i.e. their immediate families, in east-Aleppo. The real total could easily be as low as 20,000. The UN Refugees Agency and UN officials told fairy tales of some 270,000 civilians under siege in east-Aleppo. Numbers every "western" media repeated without caveats. More than 60% of the areas have been liberated. The International Red Cross went there and they were empty. Where are all those hundred-thousands civilians the UN envisioned now? There are still daily missile attacks from the Takfiri held areas on the government held western areas and each of these is costing lives. UPDATE: According to SANA 8 people were killed and 25 wounded today when the Takfiris fired missiles into residential areas of west-Aleppo. A Russian field hospital set up over the last days to help refugees from east Aleppo came under attack from the "moderate" Takfiris. A female Russian doctor was killed, several other personal were wounded and the hospital was (pics) destroyed. /UPDATE These attacks create urgency to drain the cauldron as soon as possible. There are several other reason, next to that urgency, why the attack on east-Aleppo proceeds much faster than expected. Whenever the Syrian army and its allies slow down their attacks infighting keeps the Jihadists in the cauldron busy. Yesterday the al-Qaeda group Jabhat al-Nusra joined the CIA equipped Zinki group in attacks on the headquarters of some local armed groups who had control over stores filled with food and ammunition. Such moments of infighting are ideal for the attacking Syrian forces to go forward in unexpected ways. The Syrian government forces do not proceed along the lines military professionals expected. They do not attack along main roads or obvious axes with enemy checkpoints and prepared traps but probe from every side until they find a weakness and then go through lightly defended densely build up areas to attack the checkpoint defenders from the rear. The 25,000 Syrian army fighters and the 10,000 foreign allies (4,000 from Iraq, 4,000 provided by Iran and 2,000 Hizbullah from Lebanon) have unprecedented air support from Syrian planes and helicopters. Reports of "Russian bombing" of east-Aleppo are all false and have been false for the last six weeks. Only the Syrian airforce is active in the area. The general plan is to squeeze all the Takfiris into one small area in east-Aleppo (probably the "old city") and to then negotiate their departure to Idleb in north-west Syria. Idelb itself is already filled with infighting Jihadis of various stripes who were offered exit to it from several areas around Damascus, Homs and Hama. It will soon be a shooting alley for the Syrian and Russian air-forces. The Jihadis will flee to Turkey, which is a nightmare for Erdogan, and maybe onward from there into "western" European cities. There they will be pampered and rest until their masters call for another battle. Posted by b on December 5, 2016 at 9:51 UTC | Permalink Comments next page Morganton resident Brooke Burke is giving dialysis patient Kyle Dwayne Haga the gift of life. Haga, 58, lives in Marion, Virginia. He came down with idiopathic glomelular membranous nephritis in 2014, a condition which caused his immune system to attack his kidneys. The disease scarred his kidneys so badly they barely function anymore. He was put on a kidney transplant list. Doctors told him he might have to wait 5-6 years for a kidney to become available. While Haga waited his turn, a coworker of his contacted a reporter at the local newspaper, who wrote a story about Hagas need for a kidney and posted it online in August of this year, hoping by some miracle to bypass the list and inspire someone to donate. Haga was in luck. Burke, 35, used to live in the same county in Virginia, but moved to Morganton just a few months ago. She kept up with the newspaper there on Facebook, saw the article and was immediately inspired. As soon as I read it, it felt like the article was written for me, Burke said. It felt like I was literally called to do this. I immediately looked up his last name and tracked down a family member of his. The family member connected her to Haga. Thats how I met Brooke, Haga said. She asked if she could help me. I gave her the number to the hospital, Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, where I went to get signed up for organ donation. They have a living donor program. Burke underwent extensive tests and found out her blood, tissue and antigens were compatible with Hagas, so they could proceed with plans for a transplant. Its phenomenal that I found her so quick, Haga said. Its like God sent her to me. Shes a wonderful human being. Haga traveled to Morganton on Sunday, Nov. 5 to meet Burke and get some additional tests before receiving final approval to go to Johns Hopkins to proceed with the transplant. Burke estimates the surgery will take place late January or early February of 2017. Ive been working with Psalms Medical Center, and theyve been amazing, Burke said. Burkes daughter, Taylor, who is 8 years old, and Hagas daughter, Rhiannon, who is 11 years old, have become friends as well and recorded a Facebook video asking for prayers for their parents as they prepare for the surgery. I think its a really good example for our little girls helping out a stranger, because by the end, theyre not a stranger anymore, Burke said. Both Haga and Burke have set up GoFundMe accounts to help pay their expenses to go through with the transplant. Haga said his insurance is paying for the tests, but the pair still needs money for travel expenses and keeping up with their normal bills. They will have to travel to Baltimore once to meet with the surgeon, and a second time for the actual transplant. On the second trip, Ill be in the hospital for two or three days, and then I have to stay in Baltimore for a couple weeks, Burke said. Haga said they will donate any excess funds they receive, most likely to St. Judes Childrens Hospital. I dont want to keep it, Haga said. I figure God provided it for my living expenses, and if I have more than enough, then Ill pass it on to somebody else that needs it. The link to Hagas account is www.gofundme.com/2rsu758. The link to Burkes account is https://www.gofundme.com/expenses-for-kidney-donation-2vcsmjf6?ssid=829617690&pos=1 . Haga said he has learned the hard way to be proactive when undergoing medical tests. When you go to the doctor, ask him what hes testing you for, Haga said. Dont be afraid to ask questions. I went in for an annual check-up and had to pee in the cup. A nurse told me later it should have shown protein levels (in the urine) out the roof (due to the disease). One month later, Im in stage two kidney failure. If theyd have caught it a month or two earlier, I wouldnt be in the predicament Im in. Ultimately, its up to you to take care of yourself. He expressed appreciation for all of the support he has received from family, friends and neighbors. Weve got too many praying for us for this not to work, Haga said. My whole communitys behind me 100 percent. Burke said her sister even put a written prayer for a successful transplant into the famous Wailing Wall on a recent trip to Jerusalem. I truly feel like its going to be OK, Burke said. I have a sense of peace about it. Burke and Haga said anyone interested in becoming a living donor can get more information by contacting Bridget Creekmore, the donor coordinator at Johns Hopkins, at 410-614-9345. Tammie Gercken can be reached at tgercken@morganton.com. After 29 days as an active wildfire, the Chestnut Knob Fire at South Mountains State Park in Burke County was declared out Sunday. More rain over the weekend cooled the fire and an infrared flight Saturday showed no heat. The Florida Forest Service turned control of the fire scene back over to the North Carolina Forest Service and the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation on Monday morning. The fire began Nov. 6 and grew rapidly for two weeks, peaking at 6,435 acres. More than 400 personnel reported to the incident, including teams from Florida, California, Arizona, New Mexico and other states. Every fire department in Burke County cooperated with fire staff, along with departments from surrounding counties. No injuries were reported during the entire course of the fire. Additionally, no homes or structures were damaged, even though the blaze jumped beyond the parks boundaries early on. South Mountains State Park continues to remain closed. No date has been set for a reopening, but some repair work to the park already has begun. Lake James State Park, the other state park in Burke, reopened last Monday after park staff had been sent to South Mountains to assist in battling the fire. Burke County Director of Tourism Ed Phillips has studied some of the economic impacts of the fire. Phillips said it is hard to gauge how much of a fiscal impact those closures have had so far, but that hikers and nature-lovers have undoubtedly turned away from traveling to the area as a result. I dont have any dollar figures, but with South Mountains State Park being closed and Lake James State Park being closed to help free up some personnel to go fight the fire, both of our large outdoor attractions in Burke County were closed for several weeks, Phillips said. So, we got no visitors coming here to see or visit either of those parks. On the flipside, the massive influx of firefighters and fire support staff from all around the country has brought money into the area, and fire related expenditures have certainly had a more stimulating effect on the local economy, Phillips said. The Florida Forest Service reported that fire staff had expenditures of more than $4 million battling the blaze. The hotels were full with firefighters and support personnel, Phillips said. The Foothills Regional Airport sold a record amount of jet fuel in November for the aircraft that were fighting the fires, and the helicopters. So, theres a firefighting economy that comes to town with all the 400-plus people who were here needing hotel rooms, food, gasoline and they were buying products at Ace Hardware. They were buying stuff at Lowes. They definitely contributed to the economy, its just difficult to tell how much. Another thing Phillips and the tourism authority are considering is the economic impact of locals buying supplies to donate to the firefighting effort. Fire staff said it was overwhelmed by the local response and had more than enough supplies due to citizens generosity. Those items that are not used by fire staff will be donated back to local causes. A lot of those supplies will go back into the community, said Phillips. If theyre not utilized, theyll be donated back to the organizations here that can help distribute those locally. The uncertainty of November was preceded by a record-breaking October, said Phillips. Once things get back to normal, he hopes that the normal uptick in certain areas around Christmastime will take place. We had a record October with visitors here in the visitors center, Phillips said. We had 660 visitors, which beat out last year. November was strong with firefighters and other visitors. Now that the fire is contained here and winding down, we hope to have a lot of folks in town going through Morganton and Burke County buying Christmas trees and coming back through town and stopping at our attractions as they go up and down (N.C.) Highway 181. Staff writer Justin Epley can be reached at jepley@morganton.com or 828-432-8943. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 Trend: Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) hosted National Erasmus+ Information Day for the first time. It was held jointly with National Erasmus+ Office in Azerbaijan for representatives of Azerbaijani higher educational institutions. Representatives of the Ministry of Education of the Azerbaijan Republic, State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), British Council in Azerbaijan, Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Azerbaijan and a number of other diplomatic missions in the country also attended the event. Senior officials, teachers and representatives of youth student organizations from leading universities of Baku, Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Sumgayit, Lenkeran and Mingechevir participated in the Information Day. Opening the Information Day, BHOS Rector Elmar Gasimov warmly greeted all the guests. He emphasized importance of such events for further development of higher education in the country and international cooperation of Azerbaijani universities with educational institutions and organizations of the Member states of the European Union. He also said that it is necessary to use effectively the opportunities offered by Erasmus+ and other EU programs aimed at support of education. Gasimov told that Azerbaijani Universities have participated in the EU educational program including TACIS/Tempus projects, since 1995. He also informed that within the Erasmus+ program BHOS signed a cooperation agreement with Piraeus Technology University (Greece) this year. He wished the Information Day participants effective and successful work. Head of the Operation Section of the EU delegation to Azerbaijan Jeroen Willems thanked the management of the Higher School for the opportunity to conduct the National Erasmus+ Information Day at BHOS premises. He also briefed the Information Day participants about main principles of the European Union policy in the field of support to higher education in Azerbaijan. Working closely with the Ministry of Education and universities in Azerbaijan, we intend to help the country to implement reforms in the sphere of higher and vocational education, Willems said. To achieve this goal, we use various means including investments and grants. Expert on international cooperation issues of the Ministry of Education of the Azerbaijani Republic Parvin Gakhramanova; Deputy Vice-President of SOCAR Asif Shafagatov; Head of the National Erasmus+ Office in Azerbaijan Parviz Bagirov; Director of the British Council office in Baku Elizabeth White; attache of the Embassy of France to Azerbaijan for work with universities Batist Minyo; member of SOCARs scientific and technical department Nazim Veliyev; and specialist on International Aid and Cooperation of the EU delegation to Azerbaijan Rza Zulfagarli also made welcoming speeches. Then the Information Day attendants listened to the main speeches. In his report, Bagirov highlighted basic features of the Erasmus+ program and Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) third call for Proposals. He also informed the participants about CBHE in Azerbaijan and the role of National Erasmus Offices. Vice-Rector of Azerbaijan University of Languages Dr. Jala Garibova presented a speech entitled Managing EU Projects: Grant Holding in Azerbaijan. Deputy Director of Regional Innovative Technologies Academy (R.I.T.A.) and team member of ICT&FET NCP HORIZON 2020 in Azerbaijan Khalida Melikova told about Horizon 2020 possibilities for cooperation. Elmar Guliyev, Head of Erasmus Student Network Office in Azerbaijan, briefed the audience about the organization. Representative of the National Erasmus+ Office in Azerbaijan Aygun Rustamli dedicated her speech to other EU programs and opportunities for universities in Azerbaijan, and the role of NEO in these programs. Official from the Ministry of Education Zohra Jafarova presented a report entitled Erasmus+ in Azerbaijan and Support from the Ministry of Education. Discussion of the reports was followed by the questions and answers session. India has been a bright spot for emerging market investors this year. Thanks to its domestically focused economy it less sensitive to global growth concerns, plus it has undergone positive structural reforms led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. And Morningstar readers are cottoning on to these attributes. In October and November, the Bronze Rated Jupiter India fund has been among the top 10 most popular hit list on Morningstar.co.uk. The fund has gained 22.6% year to date and it has an impressive long term performance. Morningstar fund analysts have a high opinion of the research-intensive approach applied on the fund, which can be best described as growth at a reasonable price. Analysts rate the Jupiter fund manager Avinash Vazirani highly, due to his 20 years experience investing in the Indian equity market. Morningstar analyst Lena Tsymbaluk said that the manager aims to identify under-researched stocks with strong growth prospects that have not been priced fully by the market. But she warns that investors should be aware that the funds large bias towards small- and mid-cap stocks leads to a more volatile performance profile than the average peer. How Will a Trump Presidency Impact India? Speaking about the recent election of Donald Trump in the US, Vazirani admits that there have been some short-term outflows from emerging markets. But data from Morningstar Direct showed that India Equity funds have recorded 37 million inflows year to date. The US election has produced short-term dislocations in the India equity market, said Jonathan Schiessl, chief investment officer at Ashburton Investments International. Indias companies which are more export focused have been underperforming for some time under Trump fears, but the giant Indian techology exporters are particularly caught in the cross hairs, he added. Rob Marshall-Lee from Newton Investment Management was more sanguine however, saying US policy has a limited effect on Indias fortunes. India is a more internally-driven economy than its peers in emerging markets; exports only represent 12% of its GDP and exports to the US represent less than 5% of its GDP, said Marshall-Lee. India pushed through far-reaching structural reforms this year, with Prime Minister Modi working with opposition politicians to introduce a new bankruptcy law and an upcoming Goods and Services tax implementation. Aimed at replacing a plethora of indirect taxes into a single tax, this has also has a huge implication on Indias economy and will radically improve the efficiency of all levels of business in India, said Jupiters Vazirani. In November Modi announced that higher-denomination currency notes of 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee, would no longer be legal tender. This is causing problems given India is a predominantly cash economy, but has paved the way for anti-corruption reform that would ultimately be positive for the economy and the stock market in the long term. Vazirani adds that the main beneficiaries of this de-monetisation will be public sector banks. They are currently taking in a lot of money, and they should also profit from lower yields as they hold lots of bonds on their books, he said. India Remains a Long Term Growth Story Indias economy grew by 7.9% in the first quarter and 7.1% in the second quarter of this year. In 2015, Indias economy grew by 7.2% , a pace that exceeded even that of China, making it the fastest growing economy in the world. India has managed to achieve high levels of growth on the back of robust private consumption instead of government spending and rising debt levels, said Joep Huntjens, lead portfolio manager of Asian debt hard currency and emerging market corporate debt at NN Investment Partners. While the business-friendly government by Prime Minister Modi is speeding up the pace of Indias development, the demographic picture makes India a unique investment story, according to Vazirani. India has a population of 1.3 billion, which accounts for nearly a fifth of the people on earth. As well as being huge, it is also remarkably young. While developed nations struggle with ageing citizens, the majority of Indians are under 35 and the median age is 27. And while its society and economy are developing fast, India is still a long way behind the West on its development path, said Vazirani. Devan Kaloo, head of global emerging markets for Aberdeen recently told Morningstar that of all the emerging markets, India was the most compelling 10 year growth story for investors. The final of the Seventh Challenge Cup in What? Where? When? brain game has been completed with the financial support of the Youth Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and steering support of the Khazar Intellectual Youth Club. The Seventh Challenge Cup final in What? Where? When? brain game was held at the Fairmont Hotel Baku on December 4. The official part began with the speech of chief of the Sector for Work with Youth Organizations under the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, Vusal Guliyev. Vusal Guliyev stressed the importance of turning such competitions into a tradition while stressing their role in effective arrangement of youth leisure and their development. He congratulated the Khazar Intellectual Youth Club on the 15th anniversary of its creation and stressed the unique role of brain games movement in formation of human capital in the country. Board chief of the Azerbaijan Youth Foundation Faiq Gurbatov said that organization of brain games is among the priority projects of the Foundation. He noted that the intellectual projects will further be supported and said that conditions will be created for submission of intellectual projects by both youth organizations and individuals. The official part was followed by the final game, which involved 70 teams representing Baku and 15 regions of Azerbaijan that excelled in the elimination rounds. The teams struggled for 3 cups. Separate Regional Cup and School Cup were arranged to encourage the teams from the regions and those consisting of schoolchildren. The stage of the What? Where? When? competition comprised 60 questions compiled under chief editorship of Babek Gasimzade. The 5+1 team finished third in the School Cup competition composed of four rounds, Onside came second and Oligarch became the leader. In the Regions Cup Mingechevirs CHE became third, Imishli finished second, while the team from Ganja became the leader of the Regions Cup for the second consecutive year. The bronze in the main row of the Seventh Challenge Cup went to Diplomat. Jahermaster which had been leading until the last question won silver, while Vendetta became the holder of the Seventh Challenge Cup. In the Brain Ring contest, organized at the end of the What? Where? When? stage Vendetta gave no chance to others. This time the second place was taken by Diplomat and the third by Interpreters United. The winners got the cup, the medal, diplomas and presents. Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investors point of view. We also respect individual opinionsthey represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive. To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research. Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process. The latest data from Edward Jones Investments revealed that CIBCs uninsured mortgage and home equity loans book is 5.4 times greater than its regulatory capital, which has left the bank more exposed to residential mortgage market risk.This represented a significant rise from the levels seen during the same time last year, where the banks loan portfolio stood at 4.7 times its regulatory capital, Edward Jones analyst Jim Shanahan told The Canadian Press.CIBCs levels stood far above the average (3.3 times regulatory capital) of the four banks that have reported so farnamely, CIBC, Scotiabank, Royal Bank , and TD Bank.Its clear that theyre more exposed to a sharp reduction in real estate values in Canada than any of the other major banks, Shanahan said. Theyve continued to layer on more risk at a time when there are a lot of warning bells going off and regulators are expressing concern.Despite this, however, CIBC stated that its loan delinquencies (including in Vancouver and Toronto) remained at low and manageable levels. The bank grew its Q4 net income by 20 per cent, up to $931 million.CIBC chief risk officer Laura Dottori-Attanasio noted that most of the banks uninsured residential mortgage loans are held by consumers with high credit scores and low loan-to-value ratios.We continued to be very pleased with the credit profile and quality of our uninsured mortgage portfolio, Dottori-Attanasio told analysts during a conference call Thursday (December 1).Group head of retail and business banking David Williamson stated that the bank remains confident of its prospects amid its increased exposure to the residential mortgage market.If you look at the loan to value for uninsured mortgages originated in BC over the last 12 months, of the four banks that have reported so far, ours is the lowest, Williamson said.Related Stories: Carson Officially Named as HUD Secretary Another piece of the President-elect Donald J. Trump's administration fell into place on Monday with the announcement that former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson will be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Carson's nomination will require Senate confirmation. Carson, was born in 1951 and grew up in circumstances he describes as "poor" in Detroit. Despite her own third grade education his mother pushed him academically and, after some fits and starts, he finished at the top of his high school class, graduated from Yale with a degree in psychology and from the University of Michigan Medical School. After a residency in neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins he spent several years at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, Australia, returning to Johns Hopkins in 1984 as director of pediatric neurosurgery. In 1987 he performed landmark surgery there, successfully separating conjoined twins. Carson briefly led in the polls during the Republican primaries but dropped out of the race after a poor showing on Super Tuesday. He became the second former candidate (after Chris Christy) to endorse Trump and campaigned heavily for him. His former campaign manager Armstrong Williams said Carson had previously been offered the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services but turned it down due to his lack of experience running a federal agency. Little was said about housing policy by any of the candidates during the campaign, but according to Claire Trapasso, writing in Realtor.com when Carson's nomination was first rumored, Carson did have a six-page document which contained some housing policy. He said if elected president he would eliminate home mortgage interest deductions and supported scaling back and eliminating various federal programs he deemed "wasteful, inefficient or unnecessary." He also advocated reprivatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The New York Times, said Carson criticized the Obama administration's housing rule known as "affirmatively furthering fair housing." He wrote that the policy followed the government's history of failed "mandated social-engineering schemes" and would redirect low-income housing primarily into wealthy, white communities that oppose it. Davis H. Stevens, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) issued a statement on behalf of the association congratulating Carson. It said in part, "MBA looks forward to working with Dr. Carson in helping to build out a well-rounded team of housing experts, with a deep technical understanding of the issues, at HUD, FHA and Ginnie Mae. MBA wishes Dr. Carson and the rest of the administration success as they get ready to embark upon these next four years." HUD oversees the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the largest mortgage insurer in the world, with both single-family and multi-family (rental housing) components. It also provides insurance on loans that fund renovation, acquisition, or refinancing of healthcare facilities. The agency oversees enforcement of fair housing laws, provides a nationwide network of Housing Counseling Agencies and counselors and supervises and regulates real estate transactions. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 Trend: "Under one Sun" documentary film that was shot by Baku Media Center in partnership with the Heydar Aliyev Foundation has been presented. Project manager, producer of the film Arzu Aliyeva attended the launch ceremony at Nizami Cinema Center. Participants of the event first viewed a photo exhibition highlighting Azerbaijan`s national and ethnic diversity. Shot as part of series of events under the Year of Multiculturalism, the documentary provides an insight into life, culture, traditions of ethnic minorities in Azerbaijan. The film was shot in a number of districts of Azerbaijan, including 54 villages and settlements. The film crew interviewed 134 representatives of 17 ethnic groups. The crew also took photographs of 3850 must-see places and 2625 representatives of different ethnic groups. The film was presented in Cannes during the days of Azerbaijani culture this July, raising great interest. The film will be translated into several languages and screened in different countries. Speakers thanked president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva who initiated the project, which is a vital contribution to the promotion of Azerbaijan around the world. Then the film was screened. OPEC's announcement that it will cut 1.2 million barrels of oil a day beginning in January was greeted with a surge in crude prices and hopes for a rebound in the nation's oil industry. As analysts, researchers and industry digest the Wednesday announcement, there remains a number of unanswered questions. Im still skeptical, Martin Stuermer, research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, told the Reporter-Telegram in a telephone interview. Skeptical for two reasons Im skeptical for two reasons. First, it seems the agreement with non-OPEC countries is still vague. As I understand, OPEC representatives will meet Dec. 9 to reach an agreement with non-OPEC producers, he explained. Stuermer noted that OPECs Secretary General, Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo of Nigeria sidestepped questions at the follow-up press conference on whether or not failure to reach agreement with non-OPEC members would scuttle the accord. Secondly, he pointed out that the member nations of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have a poor record of complying with quotas, OPEC having exceeded its stated limit by about 10 percent over the last decade. This time around you have quotas per country, which are more specific than prior to 2014, he said. But you still need member countries to follow through. Not until mid-February, at the earliest, will data be available to indicate how closely member countries are complying, Stuermer said. Until then, he expects oil prices will remain around current levels. Price levels will very much depend on that incoming data, he said. If the data shows member countries are not complying, that will put downward pressure on prices. If it shows they are complying, that will lead to modest upward pressure on prices. The two-year veteran of the Dallas bank said Its important to note that the Saudi commitment is not as steep as their agreed cuts suggest. I believe half their amount is what they would have done anyway due to seasonal reasons. More drilling, more production Surveys of the regions oil and gas companies conducted by the bank indicates a price range of $55 to $65 gives incentives to more drilling and more production. It depends on what range prices settle in the coming weeks. Within that range, I see more drilling and more production coming down the road, Stuermer said. Medium-term, that gain in output could offset OPECs moves, he said, but that wont happen before the second half of 2017. If OPEC holds to its agreement and non-OPEC countries join in with their anticipated 600,000 barrel a day cuts, then it will lead to a market where you will see some inventory drawdowns in the first half of 2017, he said. A very big if But that development is a very big if, he said. I rather see a market about in balance in the first half of 2017 if some parts of the agreement are met. I anticipate some cuts will be made, but members will not fully cut that 1.2 million barrels. Member nations Libya and Nigeria are two important wild cards in the scenario, Stuermer said. Libya, which has been destabilized in the aftermath of Gadhafis overthrow, appears to be stabilizing, which could result in that country increasing its oil output, he said. Nigeria, on the other hand, has apparently abandoned peace negotiations with militants in its oil-rich Niger Delta and make take a military approach to the conflict, he said. I expect that could lead to more outages, he said. There is also uncertainty around Russia and whether or not it will follow through with its pledge to cut 300,000 barrels of production per day, he noted. I see a lot of uncertainty around the price path and around supplies, he summed up. James Durbin The Midland County public Library is embarking on a childrens book drive benefiting Casa de Amigos and High Sky Childrens Ranch. The goal is to collect 5,000 books between today and Dec. 17. Residents may bring new or gently used childrens books to the childrens department at either the downtown or Centennial branch. The libraries are open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The downtown branch is at 301 W. Missouri Ave.; the Centennial branch is at 2503 W Loop 250 S. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Two days after burying his daughter, well-known North Texas attorney Brian Loncar was found dead. Loncar, the lead attorney in a civil litigation firm, was billed as "The Strong Arm" in a series of television commercials seen across North Texas for years. The Dallas County medical examiner confirmed Loncar's death to multiple news outlets, but didn't provide additional details. WFAA-TV reported that police officers were seen outside Loncar's Dallas law offices Sunday morning. IN COURT: Man accused of killing deputy still incompetent, lawyer says Loncar's death comes just days after he buried his 16-year-old daughter, Grace, who took her own life after struggling with depression. In his daughter's obituary, Loncar, 56, wrote that Grace struggled from the time of her diagnosis at age 11, but tried to press on. "Sometimes the brightest star burns out too soon. That was Gracie's life," Loncar wrote. He leaves behind his wife, Sue, and five children: David, Patrick, Sally, Hailey and Abby. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Anvar Mammadov - Trend: Azerbaijan is ready to create necessary working conditions for Pakistani companies in the country, Shahin Mustafayev, Azerbaijani minister of economy, said. Mustafayev made remarks at the Azerbaijani-Pakistani business meeting in Baku Dec. 5. "Pakistani companies show interest in activity in such fields in Azerbaijan as industry, production of agricultural equipment, accumulators, as well as pharmaceutics, the minister said. He added that pharmaceutics is of special interest for Azerbaijan and Pakistan. "Pakistan has great potential in pharmaceutics, Mustafayev said. We will discuss joint medicine production in Azerbaijan. At present, Pakistani companies export medicines to Azerbaijan, he added. At the same time, we will discuss joint production of agricultural products." Azerbaijan also intends to present its transit potential to Pakistan, he said. "Azerbaijan has broad transit potential and Pakistani companies can take advantage of it." Mustafayev added that in general, the political relations between Azerbaijan and Pakistan are at a very high level and it is necessary to make efforts for the economic relations between the two countries to reach the same level. Otis McKane, the man accused of killing San Antonio police detective Benjamin Marconi during an ambush last month, said he's been "demonized" his entire life but refused to discuss specifics about the shooting in an interview with mySA.com from jail Monday. Instead, McKane talked about frustrations in his life including an ongoing custody battle, previous arrests, growing up in a violent and impoverished neighborhood in San Antonio and marriage. "At this point, I give up. I'm just gonna go with it. I'm gonna go with the flow," McKane said, asserting he has been wrongfully convicted and accused of crimes for most of his life. RELATED: About 3,000 honor slain SAPD officer Benjamin Marconi at funeral "(I'm going to be) treated as a dog for the rest of my life," McKane said. "I wanna know, why is that?" When McKane was arrested Nov. 21, he told reporters he "lashed out at somebody who didn't deserve it" due to an ongoing custody battle for his 6-year-old son. Speaking to mySA.com Monday, the 31-year-old, said he was not "going to talk about the (shooting) because that could hurt" him. "I know it can be used against me that they said I admitted all this stuff," he said. "...I'm already in a noose." On the day he was charged with capital murder, McKane and Christian Chanel Fields obtained a license to marry at 9:27 a.m. at the Bexar County Courthouse, an act McKane said Monday was planned in advance. "I already had it on my mind to marry her," McKane said. "(It) just so happened that the situation with the police happened the day before. It's just funny that people put me at the crime scene before I get married." RELATED: Chrome wheels led police to suspected cop killer in San Antonio When directly asked whether he killed Marconi, McKane refused to answer. "What Im saying is, maam, Im not going to talk about the situation because that could hurt me. I dont want to talk about anything to do with murder or anything to do with Mr. Marconi, maam. If you want to continue this conversation with me, maam, you have to find a way to talk about anything but that case, maam," he said. McKane said the San Antonio Police Department had an opportunity to "take (him) down" at the courthouse, but did not. McKane was later apprehended around 4:20 p.m. on Interstate 10 East near Ackerman Road in a white Buick with a woman and 2-year-old child. "People didn't put my name into the situation until I was getting married," he said. "In my eyes, I didn't feel like I was a threat to the police department or the city." As Marconi was issuing a traffic citation on Nov. 20 around 11:45 a.m. in downtown San Antonio outside of police headquarters, McKane allegedly pulled up behind the officer in his black Mitsubishi Galant, approached his driver-side window and shot him twice in the head before fleeing the scene. Marconi was pronounced dead at a hospital less than an hour later. RELATED: Accused cop killer Otis McKane married in San Antonio after ambush, before arrest McKane, who was previously convicted of assault in 2012, said Monday that he has been the victim of false accusations his entire life. "My whole life has been dramatized and criminalized because of my profile and where I was born," he said, adding he was never diagnosed with a mental illness. McKane said he was falsely accused of three different crimes throughout his life. He said in 2006, he paid two traffic fines because someone used his identification instead of their own. In 2007, McKane said he spent a week in jail for reasons still unknown to him. Five years later, in 2012, McKane said he was incorrectly thought to have robbed an H-E-B store. RELATED: Donald Trump called son of slain SAPD Det. Benjamin Marconi, family says Growing up on the East Side, McKane said he had to find ways to survive the violence in his community. The 31-year-old said his mother raised him and his two sisters and younger brother he rarely speaks to his father. McKane graduated from Fox Tech High School in 2003 and bounced from community colleges in Dallas and San Antonio, but never completed a degree. He often took breaks from school to work and "advance (his) career." He once worked as a security guard. He claimed his ex-girlfriend, and the mother of his son, saw him making a life for himself and tried to ruin it by making him late to work. "(She made me) look like a bad person so my son would not have the luxury of being tutored by his father or a person who knows right from wrong," he said, saying he could no longer speak about his ex. "I'm not going to put a person down because that's not how I was taught to be." When asked what he would say to Marconi's family if he had the chance, McKane said he was sorry for their loss. "I hope they can stay strong through this situation and heal from it," he said. "I know I'm gonna heal, I know that. People dont seem to realize that. The only thing I can do is understand everyone elses situation and pray for them. Staff writer Emilie Eaton contributed to this report. kbradshaw@express-news.net Twitter: @kbrad5 Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: Pakistan invites Azerbaijani companies to participate in and benefit from opportunities of the economic corridor which is being created between Pakistan and China, said Pakistani Federal Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir Khan. He made the remarks during the Azerbaijan-Pakistan business meeting in Baku Dec. 5. As you know, an economic corridor worth $46 billion is being created between Pakistan and China, and we invite Azerbaijani companies to take advantage of opportunities of this project and participate in it, said Dastgir Khan. He noted that the project, implementation of which started in April 2015, envisages the creation of a wide infrastructure network. This includes the construction of ports, gas terminals, railways and pipelines with a length of 3,000 kilometers between the two countries, said the Pakistani minister. We think the Azerbaijani companies can take part in it. The corridor will connect the Pakistani port of Gwadar with Xinjiang Uyghur Region in western China, as well as ensure Chinas access to the Indian Ocean and beyond. Pakistan is ready to do everything possible to ensure that the proposals put forward at the last meeting of the intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation are implemented in a shortest possible period, said Dastgir Khan. We offered Azerbaijan a five-year plan of economic cooperation and we want it to be endorsed until the end of the first quarter of 2017, added the minister. During this period, an agreement is expected to be signed between Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) and a counterpart structure in Pakistan. Dastgir Khan went on to say that the development of economic relations will contribute to turning the friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Pakistan into business partnership. New members inducted into Institute of ... Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: Azerbaijan plans to send its first trade mission to Pakistan in late January-early February 2017, Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev said. He made the remarks Dec. 5 during the Azerbaijan-Pakistan business meeting in Baku. The purpose behind sending the mission is to expand bilateral trade with Pakistan, Mustafayev said. Azerbaijan is sending trade missions to various countries since November 2016 in order to increase its exports. In particular, missions have already been organized to China and the UAE, and it is planned to send a mission to Egypt before late 2016. Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Pakistan amounted to $5.82 million in January-October 2016, which is 3.6 times more than in the same period last year, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: Azerbaijan and Pakistan have agreed on the main areas of bilateral economic cooperation, Khurram Dastgir Khan, Pakistan's federal minister for commerce, told reporters in Baku. We have agreed on three main areas to work in. The first area is the creation of a joint working group to review the issue of preferential trade between our countries, the minister said. He added that the second area is the development of relations between the two countries business circles, as well as creation of joint ventures. The third area is the simplification of customs and visa procedures between Pakistan and Azerbaijan, according to Dastgir Khan. A working group for the review of the preferential trade is to be established soon, the minister said. The group will have to determine the products to be included in the list of preferential goods, Dastgir Khan said. There is great potential for creation of joint ventures in agriculture, pharmaceutics, weaving and energy industries, he added. The minister also noted the importance of simplifying the visa regime, customs and other registration procedures between the countries. This applies to non-tariff issues in the first place and will help expand cooperation between Azerbaijani and Pakistani business entities, he said. The owner of Pulse Orlando will not sell the night club and will take over plans to build a permanent memorial on the site of the mass shooting that killed 49 people in June. Pulse owners decide not to sell to City of Orlando Orlando had intended to buy property, turn it into memorial RELATED: Full coverage of the Pulse nightclub attack Standing outside the now-closed and fenced-in nightclub, Barbara Poma said Monday she could not come to grips with giving up the club, which she opened in 2004 in honor of her brother, who contracted AIDS and died in 1991. "This decision truly came just from my heart and from my passion for Pulse, and everything it's meant to me and my family for the last 12 years," Poma said. The City of Orlando had been expected to soon approve the purchase of the gay nightclub on south Orange Avenue, where 49 people were killed and more than 50 others were injured in a terror attack. The city delayed purchasing the nightclub last month after some of the commissioners raised eyebrows about the cost. The city offered $2.25 million, but the property was appraised at $1.68 million before the mass shooting, according to city documents. It was that delay that Commissioner Patty Sheehan thinks put doubt into Pomas mind about the city purchasing the site and why she canceled the deal. She said bullies at the city led to this decision and that the insinuation that Poma was trying to profit from the purchase is ridiculous. All in all Im disappointed, but frankly, Im not surprised. This is what happens when you insult the seller in a difficult real estate transaction, like some of my colleagues did. I think thats really unfortunate, Sheehan said. I think two of the commissioners think we shouldnt have reached an agreement to pay more than the appraised value, but I consider that to be sacred ground," Dyer said. "Its a property that is important, and I think Barbara will take good care of that. Poma, for her part, said she was not offended by anything commissioners or anyone else had said about the deal with the city. "You couldn't put a price on it for me," Poma said. "Everyone is entitled to their opinion and their feelings, but for me it wasn't about the real estate or the appraisal, it was about the emotion of what happened here." Poma did say her goal is to honor the victims with a memorial but explained she is not sure what exactly they would do with the site. With her husband by her side, Poma talked about how the couple have several other successful businesses, like WildSide bar and Grille, and will base their decisions on their experience. "Now we just start planning. Now we can start working towards the future. We don't know what that looks like exactly right now because this just came about and we just made this decision," said Poma. Poma also said she will reach out to the families of the victims, the survivors and the community in developing what the Pulse space will look like in the future. "It truly is their space it's not just mine now," Poma said. "I do share it with every family and every part of this community -- the Latin, the LGBT community, every family member who is affected and as well as just everyone who lives here in Orlando. So it's going to be collective over a period of time." Visitors we spoke with Monday said they hope the focus remains the same as the city's -- honoring the lives lost. "I think if this became anything other than a memorial that there would be a huge amount of pushback in the community," said Eric Rollings, who said he was a frequent Pulse customer. Ismael Rutledge came to Pulse Monday for the first time since the shooting. He said he had friends and family who often went to Pulse. He hopes that whatever memorial comes, a club will also open in that spot as well. Just because, sadly 49 lives had to be lost, said Rutledge. But that does not mean there should not be a safe place for people in the LGBT community to feel free and be themselves. Dyer tweeted the following statement Monday: "We understand that this was an incredibly difficult decision for the owners and respect their decision and are hopeful the Pulse site continues to be a place of hope and healing that honors the victims. We believe it is important for the community to have input into a memorial that honors the victims and pays tribute to the resiliency of Orlando. City staff will continue to research and understand how other communities have approached the memorial process. As we better understand that process, and after engaging with our commissioners and community partners, well update the community on the next steps." Dyer said the city will move forward with its own memorial, but details and location have not been released. Members of a Seminole County community are frustrated with a chunk of State Road 434, calling it extremely dangerous. Diana Moore from Longwood writes in this week ... "There needs to be a light at the intersection of State Road 434 and Tarrytown in Longwood. Traffic during rush hour is terrible and it is impossible to make a left-hand turn. My son-in-law even had his Vette totaled at that intersection!" That Seminole County community is known as Sleepy Hollow. And residents there, just east of the Interstate 4/State Road 434 interchange, said that travel along State Road 434 itself can be hard enough. But for residents at the intersection of Tarrytown Trail and State Road 434, they fear just exiting their own community. "I feel like I'm playing Russian Roulette every time I come to this intersection," said resident Brian Remington. That Sleepy Hollow community is now wide awake, so to speak, due to its frustrations with this particular intersection. Residents claim that since that State Road 434 re-widening project, which wrapped up about a year and a half ago, things have actually gotten worse for them trying to get out of their particular residence. They said that part of the problem arose during the widening of State Road 434 when another exit for the community had to be eliminated to make room. "The design has forced all of the traffic from these two neighborhoods (Sleepy Hollow and Windsor Manor neighborhoods) to exit through one street, said Remington. It's increased the flow of traffic to this one intersection." More lanes of State Road 434 also mean that there are more lanes to cross for drivers attempting to make a left out of the community. "During rush hour periods, it can frequently take about 5 to 10 minutes sitting here in queue, waiting for a break in the traffic to sneak across, said Remington. And then you have to sit in the middle of the median and wait for an opportunity to pull out and it's frequently very dangerous." Residents like Remington want a traffic light at the intersection and have even claimed that the Florida Department of Transportation had promised them one to be started back in the summer of this year. The big question on everyone's mind though is "Where is it?" As it turns out, it is on the way. There is a traffic signal planned for the intersection of SR 434 at Tarry Town Trail. The signal was justified based on the current side street traffic demand and existing safety history. In fact, FDOT had this to state... "We had advertised this project before, but received limited responses, so it was re-advertised as a design-build contract that includes a few different projects in the scope. The signal at Tarry Town Trail is a priority project in this contract. We anticipate construction beginning Spring 2017," FDOT stated If you have a traffic issue or problem that needs to be solved, write in to Ryan's Traffic Inbox at www.mynews13.com/trafficinbox and just fill out the simple form. SAN ANTONIO -- An innovative program that gives first responders and law enforcement emergency livestock handling training is being recognized by Texas Farm Bureau and the American Farm Bureau Federation. Cherokee County Farm Bureau was one of three county Farm Bureaus to be recognized by Texas Farm Bureau. Theyre one of 34 CFBs nationwide to receive a County Activities of Excellence award from AFBF. The program showcases county Farm Bureaus that focus on education and agricultural programs, member services, public relations and information, leadership development and policy implementation. In recent years, the sheriffs department in Cherokee County lost a deputy on a livestock call when an injured cow charged the man after being struck by a car. Recent rain, hail, floods and tornadoes have caused livestock to escape. It was evident in the recovery effort that many of the first responders and law enforcement officers who were assisting had very little knowledge of animal handling techniques. This prompted the CFB leaders and the local Extension service to conduct a training event. 2016 has been a challenging year for farmers and ranchers in our area with tornadoes and flooding events causing miles of downed fences and destroyed corrals, Cherokee CFB President John Griffith said. We wanted to work with local law enforcement and first responders to talk about these dangers and how to properly handle livestock in the event of an emergency. Organizers used Extension material for the program and presentations were given by the Extension livestock specialist and the local livestock officer with the sheriffs department. The presentations included examples of situations they might encounter and research on animals and how each species processes threats and their reactions. The local livestock officer also gave some insight on temperaments of different breeds of cattle. Attendance was strong and many departments across the county were represented. Representatives from six volunteer fire departments and two law enforcement agencies, along with the county emergency management coordinator, were able to attend. This training and the tools are a benefit to farmers and ranchers, but also for the safety of those trying to assist on livestock calls, Griffith said. Attendees were presented tools to assist them in handling livestock in emergency situations. Our local organizations like Cherokee County Farm Bureau work to strengthen agricultures role in the community, TFB President Russell Boening said. This group targeted a specific need in their community and worked diligently to address that issue. The CFB and its volunteers were recognized during TFBs Annual Meeting Dec. 3-5 in San Antonio. They will again be highlighted during AFBFs 98th annual meeting Jan. 6-11 in Phoenix, Ariz. SAN ANTONIO -- A local farmer who has worked the soil using everything from a mule to a modern-day tractor was recognized Sunday by the Texas Farm Bureau. Elmo Orange Snelling, 102, of Edmonson, received TFBs prestigious Pioneer Award at the farm and ranch organizations annual meeting in San Antonio. Much like the pioneers who set the foundation for the Lone Star State, Texas Farm Bureau recognizes those who laid the foundation for this organization and helped make it what it is today, TFB President Russell Boening said. Were proud to honor Mr. Snelling for his years of agricultural advocacy. Snelling was one of the first members of the Hale County Farm Bureau. In the 65-plus years he has been a member, Snelling has served in many offices, including board president. In the 1960s, Snelling had farming interests in the Hollis, Oklahoma area and in Hale County. He commuted between the two locations regularly by plane, allowing him the opportunity to impact agriculture in a greater capacity. When he was 97, Snelling installed a drip irrigation system on his property. Snelling embodies the qualities of a true pioneer, Boening said. Snelling has also served on the boards of the local Soil and Water Conservation District and Grain Sorghum Producers. He was president of the Edmonson Wheat Growers board, the Hale County Fair Committee and volunteered with other community organizations. He was an elder of the Church of Christ in Edmonson. TFBs Pioneer Award honors one outstanding Texas farmer or rancher in each of the organizations 13 districts, as well as one staff member. Winners are chosen annually by a panel of their peers for their exceptional contributions to agriculture and Texas Farm Bureau. Title changed, details added (first version posted on 12:50) Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Anvar Mammadov - Trend: Azerbaijan is ready to create necessary working conditions for Pakistani companies in the country, Shahin Mustafayev, Azerbaijani minister of economy, said. Mustafayev made remarks at the Azerbaijani-Pakistani business meeting in Baku Dec. 5. "Pakistani companies show interest in activity in such fields in Azerbaijan as industry, production of agricultural equipment, accumulators, as well as pharmaceutics, the minister said. He added that pharmaceutics is of special interest for Azerbaijan and Pakistan. "Pakistan has great potential in pharmaceutics, Mustafayev said. We will discuss joint medicine production in Azerbaijan. At present, Pakistani companies export medicines to Azerbaijan, he added. At the same time, we will discuss joint production of agricultural products." Azerbaijan also intends to present its transit potential to Pakistan, he said. "Azerbaijan has broad transit potential and Pakistani companies can take advantage of it." Mustafayev added that in general, the political relations between Azerbaijan and Pakistan are at a very high level and it is necessary to make efforts for the economic relations between the two countries to reach the same level. MERIDEN A French cable producer that bought Q-S Technologies last June recently paid $2.5 million for a building at 95 Research Parkway. This is a good sign for a potential business expansion there, said Economic Development Director Juliet Burdelski. The Cariati Family Limited Partnership sold the 32,491-square-foot building to Three Oaks Real Estate Group. According to state records, Xavier Omerin is the prinicpal agent for Three Oaks. Q-S Technologies at 62 Pomeroy Ave. was sold to the Qmerin Group for an undisclosed amount in June. According to a press release announcing the deal, the acquisition fulfilled Omerins goal to establish itself in the North American market. The Omerin Group produces electrical cables for a variety of products and customers, including appliances, heavy industry, railways, ships and planes. Xavier Omerin contacted and visited president Don Schollin in September 2008, and then over the years and after more recent discussions the two operators turned their closer relations into an acquisition, according to a press release announcing the deal. The North American Market has thus opened right up to the Omerin Group thanks to Q-S Technologies several hundred active customers. The company is located in Meriden, halfway between New York and Boston and is spread over two buildings. It has modern and efficient cable equipment and machinery, the release stated. In 2014, Omerin created its business development subsidiary Omerin USA Inc., which contributed to the sale of Q-S. The overall plan was to integrate the new factory by creating an investment plan pooling skills, site specialization, sales and marketing action plan, the press release stated. Omerin Chief Executive Officer Xavier Omerin met with city and state economic development officials who shared investment subsidy and aid programs last summer. A spokeswoman at Q-S did not comment on the details of the Research Parkway acquisition Friday and what it would mean for Q-S Technologies. mgodin@record-journal.com 203-317-2255 Twitter: @Cconnbiz SOUTHINGTON Enfields Christina Nieves has been playing classical guitar for as long as she can remember. She recently transitioned to the flamenco guitar. One day, I was changing my guitar strings and I made a couple of bracelets out of them, Nieves said. I had to run out to the store and someone saw the bracelets and wanted to buy them. One thing led to another and here I am selling jewelry made from guitar strings. Nieves started a business, Esperanza Expressive Arts, with hopes of raising enough money to buy a new flamenco guitar. On Sunday, she was one of about 200 vendors who set up shop at the second annual Christmas Gift Show at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville. The event had something for everyones wish list, including jewelry, sweet and spicy treats, beauty products, handmade items, electronics, clothing, toys, crafts, games and beverages. Nieves makes key chains, bracelets and necklaces out of the guitar strings, winding them and embellishing them with beads and charms. She gets most of her strings from guitar shops in East Hampton and Massachusetts and has sold jewelry to customers as far away as Egypt and Australia. A lot of people with loved ones who play guitar send me their strings and I make them whatever they want, she said. Guitar strings are pretty personal. You connect with them. Its your art form and way of self-expression. Nieves said she recently received a request to make jewelry out of guitar strings for a woman whose fiance was about to go out on tour. Its cool to think my jewelry is going around the world, she said. Nieves table was one of the busiest at the Christmas Gift Show, which also included food trucks and shuttle service and was sponsored by the Connecticut Events Co. The main goal is to help promote local businesses, said organizer Rob Craven. People are really interested in local shopping and knowing where their food and products come from. They want to support someone who is local and feel good knowing that theyre buying something unique or homemade. Its more of a personal relationship with the gift rather than, I ran to the mall, saw this generic gift front was in front of me, and I picked up and bought it. Craven expected about 5,000 eager shoppers Sunday. He said he hopes to add even more vendors next year. Linda Longobardi, of Glastonbury, premiered her new business, Regift the Wrap, at the show. She has four patents for a reusable microfiber gift wrap that is seamless, eco-friendly, beautiful and economical, and helps to save trees and landfills. Longobardi and her family members demonstrated the gift wrap, using a pinch, tuck and roll method to cover gift boxes in seconds. Longobardi said she came up with the idea after opening gifts with her nieces children. At the end of the night, they had a blast and we had a blast but we had all this wrapping paper on the ground, she recalled. Not that it costs a ton of money, but it was so wasteful. That proverbial, There has to be a better way, came to mind. I started making prototypes and here we are a year-and-a-half later. Longobardi hopes to take her gift wrap to QVC, adding that Shark Tanks Lori Greiners recently rated Regift the Wrap as a hero product on her Hero or Zero app. Lori Rotella, of Naugatuck, bought the recyclable gift wrap to cover the many gifts she bought at the Christmas show. I think its a pretty cool idea, Rotella said. You can keep passing the gift wrap on and hopefully it will come back to you some day. This craft show is a great way to get my Christmas shopping done. They have a lot of unique gifts, thats what nice about it. Southingtons John Bunnell and his wife, Brenda, own Bonz & Biz-Scottie. They make and sell homemade dog treats. John Bunnell dressed the part, wearing a dog costume and leash. His outfit helped drive home shopper Laura Ferrentinos point about what made the Christmas show unique. You see things here that you arent going to see in the mall, the Woodbridge resident said. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Anvar Mammadov - Trend: Pakistan offered Azerbaijan to hold a conference on business opportunities between the two countries, said Khurram Dastgir Khan, Pakistan's federal minister for commerce. He made the remarks at the Azerbaijani-Pakistani business meeting in Baku Dec. 5. We would like to invite Azerbaijans Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev and the Azerbaijani business delegation to Islamabad. We will be pleased to arrange a conference to present business opportunities of the two countries, the minister said. He added that during the conference Azerbaijani and Pakistani experts and business circles would meet and review the countries business potential. We want to know the areas most interesting for Azerbaijan, Dastgir Khan said. The Pakistani minister also expressed interest in organization of exhibitions of Azerbaijani products in Pakistan. "This will let our entrepreneurs get acquainted with Azerbaijani products. On the other hand, we would also like to hold an exhibition of Pakistani products in Azerbaijan," Dastgir Khan added. According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Pakistan amounted to $5.82 million in January-October 2016, which is 3.6 times more than in the same period of 2015. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A driver slammed into a fire hydrant in San Franciscos South of Market neighborhood in an apparent hit-and-run Monday morning, triggering a geyser that caused significant water damage to a nearby homeless shelter, officials said. The fire department received calls of water surging from the knocked over hydrant on the corner of Sixth and Minna streets about 5:45 a.m. The water was shut off about 6:20 a.m. The fire hydrant came off completely and caused water damage to the first floor and basement of a homeless shelter next to the hydrant, said Battalion Chief PeteFay Jr. of the San Francisco Fire Department, Fay added that by about 8 a.m. the fire department had sucked out most of the water that seeped into Cityteam International, which provides food and shelter to those dealing with homelessness and addiction. The driver fled, but left behind a piece of the vehicle, said Lt. Jonathan Baxter, a spokesman for the San Francisco Fire Department. Its unclear what part of the vehicle was left behind. Becky Shay, who owns the building that houses the homeless shelter, was shocked to wake up and hear that the building had been damaged. Its pretty disheartening, Shay said, as she stared up at the building with tears filling her eyes. Jay Cramer, 49, who lives at the homeless shelter, said he heard the crash and looked outside his window on the third floor. He saw the driver pull away from the curb shortly after hitting the hydrant. I dont know how he did that, the car was demolished, Cramer said. The front end of the car was all smashed up. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The 17-year-old San Francisco student killed in a catastrophic fire at an electronic music show in Oakland was the son of a deputy for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office the agency in charge of recovering and examining bodies from the tragic scene, the boy's classmates confirmed Monday. Draven McGill, a junior at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts who attended Friday's event, lived in Dublin, his friends said. His father, Phil McGill, works for the Dublin Police Department, which is staffed by the county sheriff's office. He previously worked in the coroner's bureau. Draven, who was one of at least 36 people to perish in the Friday night fire at a warehouse that had been converted into the so-called Ghost Ship arts collective, was a member of the school's vocal department as well as the Pacific Boychoir Academy. Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly said the loss deeply affected the department. "That makes this much more personal," he said, describing the shock that went through the family-like office when he and his colleagues learned of Draven's death. "We were like, 'You gotta be kidding.' This hit us, too. It's hit every cross-section of society here in the Bay Area and all over the world." On Monday, Draven's great aunt, Merlena Moore, arrived at the burned-out warehouse holding flowers. "He was a sweet, loving young man taken from this earth too early," she said. "I just had to do something, had to give something." Earlier in the day at the School of the Arts, Draven's friends cried and hugged each other, overwhelmed by the loss at the close-knit school. Draven, a baritone in the school's choir, was "down to earth and he was really willing to try anything," said his friend, Kai Thomas. He was impatient and lived in the moment, Kai said, always up for an adventure. Despite his training in classical music, Draven was a fan of rapper Biggie Smalls as well as EDM, or electronic dance music. The teenager attended Friday's show with two friends, who survived after a dangerous escape down crumbling stairs. One of the two, classmate Faelan Westhead, described the last hours he spent with his friend. It had been a beautiful scene on the second floor of the Ghost Ship, he said. The three had arrived at about 10:45 p.m., and they soon saw what they thought was mist from a fog machine filter into the room, Faelen said. But within seconds, the crowd realized it was smoke and a quickly spreading fire. As fear spread among those in the room. Faelen said he looked over at Draven. His friend's face was calm, even peaceful an expression that was in sharp contrast to the growing panic that surrounded them. Then the lights went out and people started screaming. It was pitch black, Faelan said. He and his other friend headed for the rickety stairway that was the only route downstairs. "The stairs were mostly gone by that point," he said. "We had to jump." The high school junior is not sure how many people even tried to get down the stairs. Many people on the second floor, he said, appeared to feel safer staying put rather than heading into the smoke and fire below. While going down seemed like the wrong thing to do, he went anyway, he said. "I was really sure I was going to die down there," Faelan said. "I couldn't tell if my eyes were open or closed." He and his friend staggered to the exit about 20 feet away, but Draven wasn't with them when they made it outside. Faelan believes he might have stayed behind with the others. They had gone to the event for the electronic dance music. But it wasn't the wild scene that many associate with such events, Faelan said. The three friends had been sitting on couches, and the music was slow and experimental, he said. There were antique pianos scattered around the large room and several attendees would occasionally start playing music on one of them. "Everybody sounded so talented," said Faelan, a world music student. Faelan and several other students were struggling to absorb that they would never see their friend again. "It's rough," said Gabriel Bibliowicz, also a baritone in the vocal program and student body president. "Every memory we have of him is so much bigger now." They remembered how he arrived at the school as a freshman, his voice still high-pitched and as yet untouched by puberty. They still joked about that, years later, but Draven wasn't bothered by it. "He didn't care about other people's opinions," said Julian Granados, who is 16 and also a junior at the school. Julian and Draven were inseparable, always together, often raiding the refrigerator at Julian's house and getting into trouble for emptying the contents. The two had met after Julian threw a binder at Draven during freshman-year Spanish class, drawing blood. Instead of becoming enemies, they became best friends. "He was always there to talk to," said Julian, his lip quivering as he grappled for words to adequately describe Draven. "He wouldn't put you down." In a letter to parents, school Principal Barnaby Payne said, "This is an incredibly unsettling and sad event not only for the Asawa SOTA community, but especially for Draven's family. I am in contact with them, and will keep you informed of how we can provide support to them." "We must rise to this occasion," Payne wrote, "and rally around each other with love, compassion and support." Additional counselors were on hand at the school to help teachers and students cope with the loss. "It is both painful and poignant that the victims' lives were lost while seeking community and connection through a shared love of art and creative expression," said interim Superintendent Myong Leigh. "We mourn especially deeply for our student, the fire's youngest victim, and with and for his family." A former Ruth Asawa School of the Arts student, Johnny Igaz, remained listed as missing on Monday. Igaz, a DJ known as Nackt, was among the advertised performers at Friday's event. He graduated from the San Francisco high school in 1999. As of Monday morning, authorities had recovered 36 bodies from the warehouse, and were not finished with their painstaking search of the wreckage. "You always think it happens to someone else," Kai Thomas said. "Here I am having to talk about one of my friends." Staff writer Hamed Aleaziz contributed to this story. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker They were the essence of the creative community musicians and artists and filmmakers, guitar and keyboard players, radio hosts and sound engineers. One was the teenage son of an Alameda County sheriffs deputy, one a poet, one an attorney, another a teacher. The catastrophic fire Dec. 2 at an underground music event in an Oakland warehouse known as the Ghost Ship killed 36 people, the deadliest structure fire in California in more than a century. It stole immeasurable talent, youth and promise, ripping a hole in an eclectic and vibrant world. Here are some of their stories: Barrett Clark A bearded sound engineer, DJ, outdoorsman and connoisseur of culture, Barrett Clark was indispensable to countless Bay Area music venues and festivals. The 35-year-old provided audio tech for nightspots including Bottom of the Hill, Mezzanine and DNA Lounge in San Francisco. He could make any band sound great, said friend Chiyo Nukaga. He was loved by so many in the music and art community in Oakland and beyond. Another friend, Genevieve Griesau, called Clark a culture maker. It was people like him, she said, who made living in the Bay Area what it is. Clark, who grew up in Santa Rosa and lived in Oakland, was mourned by music venues, record shops and bands as well as hundreds of friends and fans. Those close to him said he treated people around him like family, always helping up-and-coming sound engineers. Friends said they would miss his goofy laugh, which he never held back, and his technical talent. Barrett was one of the kindest humans Ive ever met, Swedish musician Jens Lekman posted on Facebook. A patient, caring, romantic gothkid who liked strange, dark music and all the beauty of the world. Clark was an active member of and sound engineer for the close-knit Katabatik experimental music community based in Oakland. He performed mystical and transcendentally visceral music under many monikers: RPTN, RMS, Sidereal Oscillations, Accenting Shadows, POLAR, among others, the group said in a statement. He was a connoisseur of culture, music, art, philosophy, food, everything, said his best friend and fellow Katabatik member, Jay Fields. Fields said he didnt want to go to the Ghost Ship warehouse event where Clark lost his life. Having been there before, only for brief periods, Fields said he knew it was a matchbox, a death trap, a disaster waiting to happen. Still, he decided to go after finding out that Clark would be the one doing sound. He got there about an hour after the fire started. I remember telling an EMT tech in an ambulance that there were people in there, Fields said. There were some of us that wanted to walk in ourselves. Lynn Schwarz, co-owner of Bottom of the Hill, where Clark worked for nine years, said he was the first person she called for the venues most important shows. The only thing we always fought with him about was his turning up the bass way too loud, Schwarz said. It was a habit from his underground parties, and we always had to say, Barrett! Think about the neighbors! But he would inevitably sneak those faders up! He thought it was hilarious, and so did I, to be truthful. Clark often worked live shows for little to no money if the band was one he cared about, said Schwarz, including her own group, Mummyshots. His taste, she said, tended toward the bizarre and dark, and he straddled many social arenas such as the goth, noise rock and club scenes. He was also counterculture and believed in civil disobedience for a good cause. During a Bottom of the Hill memorial for Clark, the staff wore black, Schwarz said, not out of traditional mourning but because it was his favorite color. At the end of the night, he was always the last man standing, and he was always the life of the party, she said. He really was that cool, and everyones favorite person. Kimberly Veklerov, kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Peter Wadsworth Peter Wadsworth was a true eclectic an artist, entrepreneur, computer expert and walking, talking encyclopedia of knowledge and trivia. He was also the only one of the people who died in the fire who had lived in the doomed Ghost Ship warehouse. The rest were guests whod come for the electronic music show. Wadsworth, who was 38, had been trying, unsuccessfully, to find other lodging and to move out of the building, friends said. It was not clear if he was attending the show at the time of the fire or if he was simply at home. He was a walking catalogue of correct factual knowledge, said Swan Vega, 33, an artist who also lived at the warehouse-turned-artists-collective. He was like our Dumbledore our wise wizard. He was a genius. He was pure intelligence. You could catch Pete in the hall, she said, and suddenly realize you have been engaging in the most interesting conversation you've had in a month, when you need to go to work. A longtime friend, Tammy Tasoff, said Wadsworth was trying to get a marijuana-infused salsa company off the ground, a timely endeavor given the states legalization of pot. He was also an artist who created replicas of Egyptian sculptures. And in the past, he worked at a company involved with drones. Tasoff said she was studying to be a dentist, and that she intended to hire Wadsworth, who was like my brother, to be her office manager. He was very eclectic and very, very sweet and loving, she said. Wadsworth was from Boston, studied psychology at Harvard University and Reed College, and worked for a time as a designer for a small theater company in Boston, according to his Facebook page. Kierstan Streber, who once shared an apartment in San Franciscos Haight-Ashbury with Wadsworth and three others, recalled a very eccentric, very very intelligent friend who was a little unusual. She said he had wanted all of his friends and acquaintances, even casual ones, to stay in touch with each other. An email she received from Wadsworth in 2013, and held on to, proved to be telling. Im really surprised no one has shared emergency contact information, he wrote. God forbid anything happens to any of us (but) accidents do happen and no one wants to be in a situation where we cant help when its most needed. Steve Rubenstein and Kimberly Veklerov, srubenstein@sfchronicle.com, kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Michele Sylvan In her upstairs loft at the Vulcan, in East Oakland, Michele Sylvan was always making clothes shirts and dresses that she would design, cut out the patterns for, and sew to fit on a dressmakers dummy. Otherwise shy and reserved, She wasnt reserved about the clothing she made, recalled a former neighbor named Joshua who declined to give his last name. He said he knew Sylvan as Colette, not Michele. He also knew her as the type of person who didnt say much but when she did it was always something cool and often something very profound. Sylvan, 37, lived for several years at the Vulcan Lofts with her partner, Wolfgang Renner, 61. They entertained and loved to dance, said Joshua, and if there was an event, they came dressed to the nines. Which is presumably how they arrived at the Ghost Ship warehouse. Both Sylvan and Renner were killed in the fire and were among the last victims identified. They had been a couple since at least 2001, when Joshua met them in San Francisco. He lost track of them until they were reunited, living just a few doors apart at the Vulcan, She was a wonderful person, one of the best tenants Ive had in my 15 years of managing property, said Elecia Holland, who manages the Vulcan. She was a quirky artist and there is not one person I have met who had a bad thing to say about her. This would be true of anyone who was ever on the receiving end of one of her massages, which may have been how she made her living, Joshua said. As a massage therapist, she was the best one I ever had, he said. She was magic. Sylvan also liked to sing, and Holland said she wrote songs. Joshua, a photographer, once did a photo shoot of Sylvan modeling her clothes, but he never heard her discuss clients or marketing. She was pretty private about her stuff, he said. It never came up who she sold to. She was just always working on it. One thing he is sure of: She never made the same thing twice. Sam Whiting, swhiting@sfchronicle.com dd Nicole Siegrist Fierce. It was the word friends kept repeating in describing Nicole Siegrist. Fiercely individual. Fiercely creative. Fiercely opinionated. Siegrist, 29, who went by the name Denalda Nicole Renae, was a force of life for sure, said Michelle Campbell, founder of Mixtape Artist Management in Oakland, which represented the performer. Siegrist, who played the synthesizer and the Omnichord, and her musical partner, Ben Runnels, performed under the name Introflirt, creating a sound they called croonwave, a combination of modern electronica and 1940s music. Runnels, who went by Charlie Prowler, also died in the fire. Their songs invited listeners to celebrate their individuality and both Ben and Nicole exhibited fierce individuality and creativity both on and off the stage, Mixtape said in a statement. Siegrist, who lived in Oakland, would transform herself for shows, friends said perhaps blue hair and colorful clothes one night and black clothes, blond hair and exotic makeup another. She would have probably been the ultimate pop star, Campbell said. You never knew what you were going to get when she went onstage. Siegrist, a native of Lincoln, Neb., worked at Oaklands Grand Lake Theater, where she had a huge group of friends, said her manager Brendan Dreaper. The theaters big marquee paid tribute this week to our own Denalda. She was a vital part of the community around the Grand Lake, a fixture at nearby Colonial Donuts, and someone who fought for a better world, her friends said. Denalda was loving and goofy and sharp, always there for you with encouragement, her infectious smile and a hug that you never wanted to end, said her housemate, Todd, who declined to give his last name. She was as strong and fierce as she was loving, and stood up for herself and others against sexism, patriarchy, racism and homophobia. Dylan Gallagher, a musician also represented by Mixtape, said, Its more than a loss. Its frustrating, as weird as that sounds. Because they had so much potential, he said. The pair had gone to the Ghost Ship with five friends, to have fun, dancing, supporting another band, said Siegrests mother, Carol Cidlik, in an online post to friends and family. They had no fear, she said. Four of the seven perished, including Donna Kellogg and Travis Hough. Jill Tucker, jtucker@sfchronicle.com Joseph Matlock Joseph Joey Matlock was what some in the music industry call a lifer. It means Matlock, also known as Joey Casio, didnt care if masses of people listened to him or bought his records or came to his shows. It was simply in his blood and in his soul. He would do his music, do his art, no matter what, said Calvin Johnson, founder of the record label K, where Matlock recorded some of his singles. There was never a wide interest in what he did, but it didnt seem to bother him. While he wasnt famous, Matlock was a punk and electronic music legend within certain circles in Oakland and back in his former home of Olympia, Wash., where K is based, Johnson said. Hes a real institution around here, he said. Matlock, who was 36 and lived in Oakland, had been scheduled to perform at the event at the Ghost Ship warehouse under the name Obsidian Blade. Instead, five days later, his parents attended a tribute to their son, with 120 people sharing stories and crying together. People spoke of how Matlock helped them or how his music changed their lives. He worked through the years to survive, but the music was clearly his passion, said his father, John Matlock. He wasnt out trying to become famous or be the worlds definition of a financial success. The elder Matlock said he didnt always relate to his sons music. But I have every bit of it on my computer, he said. We were comfortable and excited about Joey being whoever he wanted to be. One song especially summed up his life, his father said, one that ended with the lyrics, Share the cup, spare the sword. Matlock always put others first, sharing his music or the coat off his back, his father said. And he was a peacemaker. That was Joeys life, he said. Matlocks friends expressed similar sentiments. He was almost a mystical creature walking through the world, said Janina Angel Bath. Matlock was definitely very punk, playing punk venues and punk shows, Johnson said. He even lived for a decade or so in the Red House in Olympia, a punk living space. But his music more recently was based in the techno and electronic realms. Earlier in his career, music critics described him as a musician who could make a school dance into a rave party, and a snobby nightclub into a love fest. Tall and gangly, he was a beautiful alien, a punk in the truest sense and a digital hypnotist, others wrote. I have always wanted to strive to create something new, Matlock said in a 2012 interview on the 9th Floor Radio show, Practice Space. I have this belief that maybe is influenced by futurism, that new ideas in aesthetics may also allow for possibilities in new ideas elsewhere in human thought and change of culture. That was his life by night. By day, Matlock was a teacher, with a resume that included a California teaching credential and a stint working at a Washington preschool, friends said. Johnson toured with Matlock during the summer of 2011, sharing hours in the car and playing shows in Fresno, Sacramento, San Jose and Oakland. He was funny and observant of the world around him, and he could convey a lot of meaning with very few words, Johnson said. And he never had anything negative to say. He wasnt like one of those positive people jumping around being annoyingly positive and stuff, Johnson said. As a person, I thought he was genuinely kind and gentle. Friends across the country mourned the loss of Matlock, who over the years performed in groups including Scream Club, with Cindy Wonderful, which also recorded with the K label. The one thing that makes me feel better about this situation, she wrote on Facebook, is knowing that he went out amongst people who cared about him, people he no doubt cared about, doing what he loved to do. Its tragic and sad and yet poetic in a way. Jill Tucker, jtucker@sfchronicle.com Amanda Kershaw Photographer Amanda Kershaw liked to tell her friends after taking their pictures at underground concerts, Fridays are for dancing! She was fond of photography, of walking around town, of insects and of fighting for the environment. She liked loud music in close quarters. And her black Canon Rebel camera always seemed to be strapped around her neck. Kershaw had a freelance photography business called Panda Snaps. Her pictures captured the essence of her subjects a bridegroom nervously straightening his tie, a ballet dancer in mid-leap with legs horizontal, a DJ hovering above a turntable, a sweaty boxer preparing to launch a punch, a closeup of a frosted brown cupcake on a porcelain pedestal . Photography was her passion, said her husband, Andrew Kershaw. She loved it. And she fell in love with San Francisco. Amanda Kershaw, who was 34, grew up and attended high school in Chelmsford, Mass., northwest of Boston, and graduated from Bridgewater (Mass.) State University in 2004 with a degree in sociology. She came to San Francisco with her husband on Dec. 2, 2008 exactly eight years before the fire that took her life. She soon found work at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, as an administrator in the entomology department. Before arriving at the museum, she had no particular passion for insects, but she learned to appreciate them, her husband said, and would invite friends on personal tours of the academys world-renown insect collection. Shed show us all the specimens, and she had a good time doing it, he said. Wandering around San Francisco ignited her passion for photography. Her husband bought her a professional camera. She never had an interest before that, he said. She had no formal training. She was entirely self-taught. But she was able to capture people as their authentic selves. Thats what they always told her, anyway. Then theyd use her pictures on their profiles. Her pictures often focused on music and dance shows. Her portfolio included a series of pictures of the hands of DJs floating above enormous control panels full of buttons and switches. She called those shots gear porn. Ive always been fascinated by DJ hands, Amanda Kershaw wrote. The flick of a fader, the twirl of a knob, the mood of the dance floor at the will of twists and presses. Mixers and turntables are some of the instruments of choice for these nightlife heroes, conjuring beats in the midnight hours and beyond. After leaving the museum in 2011, she worked for five years as a manager at the Trust for Conservation Innovation, an Oakland foundation that provided support and nonprofit status for small environmental groups. She was always the first one to show up on the dance floor, said her husband. Even if she was the only one. Shed always be there. Steve Rubenstein, srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Johnny Igaz When he died, Johnny Igaz was surrounded by what he loved most: music. Described as a mentor to many and an ally to women and the LGBT community, the 34-year-old Oakland resident and DJ had an undeniable passion for all kinds of music, from hip-hop to techno and house. Not only was music a passion, people were a passion, said Jeremy Bispo, 38, who often worked with Igaz producing shows around the Bay Area. He was all about community. All about building a safe space for people to be themselves. Igazs stage name was Nackt naked in German and he was DJing at the Oakland warehouse where he died. He grew up in Alameda and attended Alameda High as well as the elite Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco. His younger brother, Paul Igaz, reminisced in a Facebook tribute about the siblings time in high school listening to their parents Stevie Wonder and Grateful Dead records. He recalled how Johnny developed an appreciation for jazz before heading off to college and honing his skills as a DJ and producer. Of course he shaped me in many areas of life beyond music, Paul Igaz wrote, but it was in particular his ability to transmit to me his love of music and through music, an appreciation of a culture of diversity that ensures that his soul will live within my soul, and the soul of all who know him or his music, eternally. For the past three months, Igaz had been working as a music buyer at Green Apple Books in San Franciscos Richmond District. He was a slam dunk of a hire. He had joie de vivre, an incredible knowledge of music and he fit in right away, said Pete Mulvihill, a co-owner of the bookstore, adding that the staff had been crying in the break room since news of the fire. It was Igazs support for local artists that resonated most with his friends and family. And his desire to bring people together through music. He would always play his friends tracks when he was DJing, especially if he saw them in the room, said Hunter Leight, Igazs former partner. He loved being able to provide the experience of hearing your own track on a big system. Igaz was a mentor, friend and cheerleader to younger artists, said Leight, a 30-year-old Oakland resident. Anthony Crupi, a 28-year-old aspiring musician who works at Timeless Coffee Roasters in Oakland, said he saw Igaz the morning of the fire at the cafe. Igaz, who visited the cafe four to five times a week, had promised to help Crupi with his music. Igaz had asked Crupi to send him demos of his industrial metal music, he said. He sincerely valued supporting local artists and building the community we all dream of, Leight said. Johnny should be remembered as a lover, a friend, a joker and an artist. Sarah Ravani, sravani@sfchronicle.com Griffin Madden It is the rare undergraduate who captures the attention of his instructors, particularly on a big and competitive campus like UC Berkeley. But Griffin Madden, 23, who graduated in 2015 with a double major in philosophy and Slavic languages, wowed faculty. He was probably the most memorable undergraduate student Ive had in my years of teaching, said Luba Golburt, an associate professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. Golburt had Madden in two classes: 19th century Russian literature and a seminar on the Ukranian writer Nikolai Gogol. He had a luminous away about him, a quest for knowledge, and an enthusiasm for learning things, Golburt said, adding that her colleagues shared the sentiment. We all remember him very fondly. Irina Kogel, who teaches Russian language, had Madden in classes twice at UC Berkeley. He was the kind of student you would want to have, said Kogel, who is now at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. He was incredibly inquisitive and worked harder than he needed to. He always had a question about something. Maddens passion extended to music of all kinds. He ushered for five years at Cal Performances, where jazz, choral music, classical and world music cross the stage, and had recently won a full-time position as Audience Services Associate. Our community is heartbroken at this news, Matias Tarnopolsky, Cal Performances executive and artistic director, said in a message to colleagues. He called Madden a beloved member of our staff and said a memorial event would be planned for the spring. It was Maddens love of music that led him to the show at the Ghost Ship warehouse. When Madden, of Berkeley, couldnt be found in the aftermath of the fire, friends created Facebook posts featuring his smiling face and tousled hair, and sharing their fears and their hopes. We could all use a little miracle right now, wrote Kenra Verga. His girlfriend Saya Tomioka remembered seeing The Book of Mormon on Broadway in New York with Madden last year. I remember tears swelling my eyes because the city was so beautiful and amidst of all the lights, I got to look at the brightest light of all, my sweetie, she wrote. I cried, and we kissed. Some random photographer captured this very moment, this very kiss. ... I never got his name, and he just simply showed us the single beautiful snapshot that he was able to capture. Now, Tomioka wrote, our community mourns, and she hoped the photographer might somehow find a way to send her the treasured memory that Ill always keep in my heart. As he prepared to graduate from UC Berkeley last year, Madden won a grant to spend the summer studying Russian at Middlebury College in Vermont. Kathryn DeWaele, a doctoral student in Russian literature at UC Berkeley, won the same grant, and said she was delighted to discover Madden in her program across the country. She had been a teaching assistant in a class he had taken on the author Vladimir Nabokov. Madden wrote really, really well and was a very productive member of the class, DeWaele said. He was a really sweet guy. This is heartbreaking. Nanette Asimov, nasimov@sfchronicle.com Hanna Ruax In photos, Hanna Ruax radiates joy, smiling and laughing. She dons wire-framed glasses for a selfie, white-blonde hair framing her face. She holds a blue solo cup, dancing at a Brazilian festival in Oakland. She leans into fiance Alex Ghassan, laughing in his ear, their private joke frozen in time. Ruax, of Helsinki, Finland, had been living in Oakland since November. She and Ghassan loved music and had gone together to the warehouse show. It was supposed to be just another night out. They had plans to marry and to go to Europe. But neither made it out alive. She was 32, and he was 35. No words, her father, Yrjo Timonen, posted on Facebook. Just great sorrow. And later, a photo of Ruax in a bubblegum pink T-shirt with the caption, My angel and my princess. Eternal longing and memory. Ruax was an entrepreneur, selling upcycled jewelry and styling services under her business, Nannanda. She made earrings out of old bracelets and recycled leather. Bicycle rims, used yarn and reindeer horns were wrangled into wall hangings. Ruax was a gentle soul but a spirited activist, friends said. She taught yoga and tried to eat vegan. Once, after a Neo-Nazi rally in Finland, she organized a protest against the group. She was against the Dakota Access Pipeline and attended marches supporting peace in Syria. Her Instagram account was filled with photos of art, graffiti, food and bracelets linked around her tattooed arm. Many were of her dog, a brown and white pup named Onni. And she loved Ghassan, a filmmaker. The couple had been dating long-distance since last year, when they had met through work. He jokingly called her Young Mumi, her rapper nickname. He made her feel beautiful, worthy, talented and precious, she said. They took his daughters to the Oakland Museum of California and painted each others faces for a trip to Childrens Fairyland. Ghassan once shared a photo of Ruax with the caption, Find someone you love and admire before you die. Days before the fire, he surprised her with a gift: a teal bike with a brown wicker basket. She rode it down 10th Street in Oakland, hair blowing in the wind. Their most recent adventure had been to San Francisco, to the Superior Court of California. Ruax wore a loose white blouse and smiled from inside a courtroom. Objection your honor, she wrote as a caption. It was the last photo she posted. Lizzie Johnson, ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Nick Walrath After completing highly sought-after clerkships at the U.S. Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, attorney Nick Walrath had his choice of law firms to join in the city. When he signed with the litigation boutique Durie Tangri LLP, His credentials were as good as anyone you could hope to meet, said founding partner Ragesh Tangri. Walrath planned to specialize in intellectual property litigation, dealing with patents and copyrights, and do as much pro bono work as he could. He started in November, and he was digging into his first case load when he went out the night of the fire to pursue another interest the music scene in Oakland, where he lived. Walraths bicycle was found chained outside the Ghost Ship warehouse. He was 31. He was a lawyer but he was so much more, said his mother, Deb Walrath, a Pittsburgh lawyer. He was fiercely curious, charming and graceful. He was the person that his younger sisters and their friends all looked up to. He was the coolest kid in the room who never acted like he was cool. Tangri called him a very warm caring person who made a deep impression on all of us in a short amount of time. Walrath grew up in Point Breeze, an old neighborhood on the east end of Pittsburgh, and attended Taylor Allderdice High School, where he played soccer and lacrosse and was valedictorian in 2003. He pursued a lifelong interest in science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a double major in physics and philosophy and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 2007. After a year pursuing his PhD in atomic physics at the University of Colorado, he switched interests and earned his JD at New York University School of Law, where he was on the Law Review. He was committed to social justice, said his mother. While working at a consulting firm in New York he met Lexi Abrams-Bourke, and they moved together to Oakland in 2013. A clerks job at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is among the most prestigious positions in the country. But Walrath also wanted to come west because he liked to explore new places, especially places that had a vibrant art and music scene, said his mother. Walrath and Abrams-Bourke briefly moved to San Francisco before returning to Oakland, to a house near Temescal. His younger sisters, Liza and Kate, had also relocated to Oakland, and they regularly got together for Sunday dinner at their big brothers house. After working a year at the appellate level, Walrath wanted to round out his education as a clerk in district court. In 2015, he went to work under Judge Jon Tigar, who soon considered Walrath a close friend.. For all his intellectual gifts, better still were his personal qualities, Judge Tigar wrote in a note to the court. Nick was warm, generous, funny, and unassuming. He made everything look easy, but he took his greatest pleasures from the successes of others. The night of the fire, Walrath sent a text to Abrams-Bourke. Fire. I love you, it read. Above all he was kind to every person he came into contact with, said his mother. He radiated warmth and was without an ounce of rancor. Sam Whiting, swhiting@sfchronicle.com Billy Dixon Billy Dixon was a guitarist. A keyboard player. A beatboxer. A music producer. The 35-year-old Oakland resident walked down many musical avenues. There are people who make music and people who perform music, said Terrence Jerod of Hercules, a friend of Dixons. He performed, but he was a musician first. He made music. The warehouse show in Oakland was the most natural place in the world for Dixon to be it was a chance to listen and share with people of a like mind. We are having a really hard time, said an aunt, Wendy Magree. Its hard to come to terms with. I just cant believe I wont be able to see that smile anymore. Dixon made music as a boy growing up in the Cleveland suburb of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Jon Gunton was blown away by Dixons talent the first time he heard him, when he walked into a guitar class when the two were about 11 years old. We fell in love with music together as young boys, said Gunton, who now lives in San Francisco. He was a super-gifted guy, super musically talented. Billy was a one-of-a-kind human, Gunton said. Its unfathomable to me that hes not around anymore. Dixons music-making came from his passion to create and be curious, said Aaron Slodoz, a resident of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, who grew up in the same condo complex as Dixon. As teenagers, the two would often get into trouble skateboarding, riding BMX bikes and making water slides on the hills outside their complex stuff that teenage boys would do, Slodoz said. After attending Kent State University, Dixon moved to Oakland in 2007 with his girlfriend at the time, Ysabel Hoover. One of the best things about Billy is he just had this insatiable appetite for a creative life, Hoover said. I try to think of what Billy wouldve wanted to come out of this, Slodoz said, and I know he wouldnt want people to be sad. He was just this force of positivity and creativity, and above anything, he had a loving spirit. Sarah Ravani, sravani@sfchronicle.com Edmond Lapine The first time Bob Lapine saw his son, Edmond Lapine II, perform on video, he was shocked by his appearance. Edmonds hair was all puffed up and he was wearing makeup as he played the guitar, like those musicians that highlight their eyebrows, the elder Lapine said, chuckling softly. But he looked happy, Bob Lapine said, as he always was when it came to music whether it was playing it, writing it, listening to it, talking about it or just thinking about it. That, in turn, made his father happy. It was apparent in Bob Lapines trembling voice that whatever brought joy to his only son his quirky, good-humored, loving son was enough for him. As Bob Lapine prepared to make the trek to Oakland from his home in Utah to make peace with his sons death at age 34, he said, I resigned myself to knowing that he died doing what he loved: listening to music. Edmond Lapine grew up in Utah, bouncing from Ogden to Park City to Salt Lake City, his father said. Through his youth, music was a constant. He taught himself to play the guitar and joined a few bands. As he grew older, he began spinning records and working as a DJ. People tended to gravitate toward him, and he was always surrounded by friends who would get together, jam and go to concerts, Bob Lapine said. When Edmond was in high school, they took a field trip to England, he said. My son was the tallest kid in the class and he dyed his hair bright green. I go, Oh, Ed. I was so embarrassed. But wherever Ed went, a lot of kids would follow. He went over to England and the teachers said all they had to do was look for Ed and his green hair and there would be everybody else. After the fire, friends from near and far from high school in Utah; from Evergreen State College in Washington, where he graduated with a degree in French and Russian literature in 2008; from the semester he studied in Paris; from the music scene in Olympia, Wash., where he lived before moving to the Bay Area in 2014 reminisced about his kind spirit, funky soul and deep talent. Theres a huge community of people that love him all over the country, and weve all been in contact the last few days, sharing stories and pictures and hugs, said Madeleine Woodhead Nutting, 26, a former partner of Edmond Lapines. Saturday was the worst day of a lot of our lives. She said many stories being shared among friends are about how he would come out and support people, see them play their music, be in the front dancing, even if he didnt know them that well. He was a really wonderful partner, and Im by no means the only one deeply influenced by his generosity and enthusiasm and humor. David Adelson, owner of 20 Buck Spin record label in Olympia, said Edmond Lapine was the kind of guy who would be willing to be friends with everybody. When he became friends with Lapine at their day jobs at a computer shop in Olympia, Adelson said, it was of little concern that he was into heavy metal while Lapine was into indie rock. In the quiet morning hours before their co-workers arrived, they still bonded over their mutual love of music. Even though he liked a lot of different stuff and I liked a lot of different stuff, there was overlap, and I could always tell that he would steer our conversations about music to where that overlap existed so we could relate to each other, Adelson said. I always appreciated that about him. Like many others who died in the fire, Edmond Lapine subsidized his passion for music by working day jobs, his father said, at a bakery and then at an art-gallery cafe. Who would have known that walking in there, he would never walk out? Bob Lapine said. And all the others? You look at their faces. They look to me like good kids. Its unfair, he continued. Edmond was smart. He just enjoyed music and he found a love of music and he surrounded himself with people who loved music. But he died too young. Ill never know what he would have been. Vivian Ho, vho@sfchronicle.com Draven McGill Draven McGill and Julian Granados were nearly inseparable. They had all their classes together at San Franciscos Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, and after school or on weekends they would raid the refrigerator at Julians house getting into trouble for emptying the contents. Julians lip quivered as he recounted exploits with his best friend, while grappling for words to adequately describe the 17-year-old boy he would never see again. He was always there to talk to, Julian said. He wouldnt put you down. The two had met under less-than-friendly circumstances. Julian threw a binder at Draven during freshman-year Spanish class, drawing blood. Instead of becoming enemies, they became fast friends. Draven, who lived in Dublin, was a member of the elite public high schools vocal department as well as the Pacific Boychoir Academy. He was also the son of a deputy for the Alameda County Sheriffs Office, which is charged with recovering and examining the bodies at the tragic fire scene. His father, Phil McGill, works for the Dublin Police Department, which is staffed by the county sheriffs office, and he previously worked in the coroners bureau. That makes this much more personal, said Sheriffs Sgt. Ray Kelly, describing the shock that went through the family-like office when he and his colleagues learned of Dravens death. We were like, You gotta be kidding. This hit us, too. Its hit every cross-section of society here in the Bay Area and all over the world. Dravens great aunt, Merlena Moore, visited the burned-out warehouse holding flowers. He was a sweet, loving young man taken from this earth too early, she said. I just had to do something, had to give something. The first day of class after the fire, students and teachers arrived at the School of the Arts and wrapped each other in tearful hugs. Draven, a baritone in the choir, was down to earth and he was really willing to try anything, said his friend, Kai Thomas. He was impatient and lived in the moment, Kai said, always up for an adventure. Despite his training in classical music, Draven was a fan of rapper Biggie Smalls as well as EDM, or electronic dance music. It was not surprising he would attend the Oakland show, the other boys said. He was there with two friends, both of whom survived after a dangerous escape down crumbling stairs. One of the two, classmate Faelan Westhead, said it started out as a beautiful night on the second floor of the Ghost Ship warehouse. The three friends were sitting on couches, and the music was slow and experimental, he said. There were antique pianos scattered around the large room and several attendees would occasionally start playing music on one of them. The room started to fill with what they thought was mist from a fog machine and then, within seconds, they realized it was smoke. As fear spread among those in the room, Faelen said he looked over at Draven. His friends face was calm, even peaceful an expression in sharp contrast to the growing panic that surrounded them. It was the last time he saw him. The lights went out, Faelan said, so he and his other friend headed for the crumbling stairway. We had to jump, he said. The teen wasnt sure how many people tried to follow them down. While that seemed at the time like the wrong thing to do, he said, he went anyway. I was really sure I was going to die down there, Faelan said. I couldnt tell if my eyes were open or closed. Faelan and several other students struggled to absorb that they would never see their friend again. Its rough, said Gabriel Bibliowicz, also a baritone in the vocal program and student body president. Every memory we have of him is so much bigger now. Friends smiled as they remembered how he arrived at the school as a freshman, his voice high-pitched and still untouched by puberty. They joked about that, years later, but Draven wasnt bothered by it. He didnt care about other peoples opinions, Julian said. His friend Kai said, You always think it happens to someone else. Here I am having to talk about one of my friends. Jill Tucker, jtucker@sfchronicle.com Jonathan Bernbaum Jonathan Bernbaum wanted to blow peoples minds. Whether he was performing as a VJ at a club creating a visual experience mixing lights, colors and images or debating his friends, the 34-year-old Berkeley native and Oakland resident didnt care for understatement. A 2004 graduate of Brandeis University in Massachusetts and 2008 graduate of the University of Southern Californias School of Cinematic Arts, Bernbaum went on to be an intern at Pixar Animation Studios before focusing fully on his VJ work, most recently doing shows for the Australian electronic duo Knife Party and traveling around the world on tours with various groups. He liked being the oddball doing foreign accents, staring contests hed take people out of their comfort zone, said a friend from Brandeis, Storey Clayton, who was on the same debate team as Bernbaum. And I think he developed that into his craft. Bernbaum didnt need to be in a tournament to put on a lively debate with friends, Clayton said. Unlike most people, he didnt need to adapt or put on a persona, Clayton said. He was sort of in full-throttle debate mode all the time. As a VJ, said friend and fellow Oakland Katabatik collective member Jay Fields, Bernbaum created alternate realities. Someone who may only listen to mainstream music could take in his work and walk away devastated, stunned, Fields said. Itd make them inspired and see things differently. As faculty advisor for the Berkeley High School Jacket, Rick Ayers saw the roots of Bernbaums passion in his three years on the newspaper before he graduated in 2000. Jonathan was an ace reporter, said Ayers. Super passionate. Obsessed with getting scoops and a good story. He was driven. Ayers, a University of San Francisco education professor and the author of An Empty Seat in Class: Teaching and Learning after the Death of a Student, believed Bernbaum would become a journalist or an academic, especially after he joined the debate team at Brandeis. Instead, Bernbaum turned to art and found his community. One of the most kickass people I know has left this life for the next, wrote a high school friend, Rena, in a Facebook tribute. Jon died doing what he loved, she wrote. Making his art and bringing joy and smiles to people who needed exactly that. My heart aches that he is gone but I am so happy that his last moments were spent performing his art. An art he was respected for and flown all over the world to perform. Nabila Lester was one of his dearest friends. They were classmates at Berkeley High, and again at the University of Southern Californias film production program. I have to learn how to function without him, said Lester. A filmmaker, she travels the world for work, as Bernbaum did. But they always stayed connected. In the weeks before the fire, they rendezvoused in Berkeley for Indian food, then worked it off by running around their old high school track at midnight. He just was an absolutely fearless human being, she said. Committed to his art and sharing it with people. Kimberly Veklerov and Nanette Asimov, kveklerov@sfchronicle.com, nasimov@sfchronicle.com Chelsea Dolan Chelsea Faith Dolan was a vision of energy, music and creativity. She made electronic music under the stage name of Cherushii, which she picked up during a trip to Japan at age 15. She hosted an underground radio program. She played eclectic electronic keyboard music. She performed at the Folsom Street Fair. She was a DJ, an audio remixer and a producer of dance music shows. She also liked ice cream. For Dolan, a 33-year-old resident of San Francisco, performing unusual music in unusual places like the warehouse engulfed by the fire was her calling. This summer, her smiling face was featured on the cover of Reader, an alternative newspaper in Chicago, that declared her an unsung woman of electronic music. It called her a house experimentalist of San Francisco. In the accompanying magazine story, Dolan said electronic music was not an easy field for women. Lack of recognition is so discouraging, she said. In a culture as supposedly forward-thinking as electronic music, women are still so often invisible. According to her mother, Colleen Dolan of San Rafael, she discovered as a toddler that she had a knack for music and for composing and playing melodies on the piano. She studied classical piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music before branching out into avant-garde electronic piano. She also scooped ice cream for years at Fairfax Scoop, a boutique shop. The store created a small shrine in her memory in the front window. Chelsea Faith has always been an extraordinary person, full of exuberant joy, her mother said. Her personality, intelligence, clothes, music and kindness were legendary. She performed in the band Easy Street and hosted a radio show on KALX, the UC Berkeley station. She performed frequently outside the Bay Area, particularly in Chicago and Berlin. Last year she released an album titled Far Away, So Close, and she had just completed recording another Cherushii album, which has yet to be released. I hope one of her producer friends will make sure that happens, her mother said. Nothing Chelsea Faith did was ordinary. She was an adventurer, she was stellar in every way, and she will always be the star of our hearts. Steve Rubenstein, srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Alex Vega Alex Vega loved working on cars, but he never got the chance to get under the hood of his silver Mazda Miata convertible. It was found parked at the San Bruno BART Station after the fire, which killed Vega, 22, and his girlfriend, 20-year-old Michela Gregory. When he wasnt captivated by imported cars, Vega pursued the arts, from urban graffiti and painting to electronic music, which led him to the event at the Ghost Ship warehouse. That was our baby Alex, said his older brother, Daniel Vega. He was just a purveyor of the arts. Very artistic. Thats what he did. The brothers kept a tight bond. Alex liked cars, and Daniel is a mechanic. San Bruno police officers arrived at the familys home in the middle of the night, three days after the fire, advising the family to call the coroners office immediately, Daniel Vega said. They did. His brothers identity had been confirmed through fingerprints. Alex Vega lived with his family in San Bruno, where he kept busy with two jobs. He worked as a valet at UCSF during the day, and at night at Duggans Serra Mortuary in Daly City. But his interests and hobbies ranged. He liked spray painting, drawing on canvasses, fashion, design, photography. The list goes on, his brother said. He was an old soul. He loved older things, said Daniel Vega, who is 36. Even if they werent brothers, he said, he would be my best friend. Daniel Vega said he still has a doodle Alex drew for him on a napkin while celebrating his birthday at Joes Crab Shack several years ago. After spending days anxiously waiting for news at an Alameda County Sheriffs Office substation, the family was able to mourn. Now that we know, Daniel Vega said, its still somber, but at least we know where hes at. Jenna Lyons, jlyons@sfchronicle.com Jennifer Mendiola Jennifer Mendiola could dance like no one else. She had a little goth flair. And next year, she would have been Dr. Mendiola when she received her doctorate in health psychology from UC Merced. The Sacramento native, who was 35, was considered missing for five days after the fire. That was torture for her husband, Jean-Thierry Mendiola. Its agony to watch him suffer, said his sister, Anna Mendiola. Hes so desperate. The couple had been married for eight years. They separated a few months ago, but were in marriage counseling in hopes of salvaging the relationship. During the separation, she dated Micah Danemayer, a 28-year-old electronic musician who also died in the fire. When they were together, she and her husband loved to go to 80s-themed venues to dance. She was the star. Whenever she danced, everyone in the room would stop what they were doing and look at her, because she was the most beautiful thing in the room, Anna Mendiola said. For the past few years, Jennifer Mendiola had split time between the couples Oakland home and UC Merced, where she was on the verge of completing her studies. Its just horrifying. She was almost finished. She had all her coursework done, Anna Mendiola said. You cant even imagine how tirelessly she worked. She hoped to become a professor in health psychology, said a colleague at UC Merced, Ruben Castaneda. She did her undergraduate studies at San Francisco State University and earned her masters in psychology at California State University Sacramento. She was always happy, smiling, bright, Castaneda said. She was a great academic, always working really hard on getting research done. She had a very clear path and focus on what she wanted to do. He recalled their first year in the graduate program, when they were among a dozen students who had to present a research project to a faculty panel. The intimidation factor was off the charts. We were all extremely nervous, but she was kind of the one who kept us together, Castaneda said. We held practice sessions with each other. She was kind of there for us and really helped us through that first year. We did great, he said. Thanks to her, we had plenty of practice before we actually had to stand there and give it. As she worked on her doctorate, Mendiola gave talks and wrote papers on topics ranging from social relationships and loneliness to emotion regulation during chemotherapy for breast cancer. She also co-authored an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times on risks faced by Latinos who resist getting flu shots. In between all that, she found time to travel overseas. This year, she visited Thailand and Istanbul. She was fearless, Anna Mendiola said. But she didnt view it that way. She just viewed herself as living life. And she had an amazing sense of style, her sister-in-law said. She could go into any thrift store and in minutes find the coolest and most amazing thing to wear there. ... She had that little goth flair, you know? A memorial page on Facebook filled up with tributes and photos showing Jennifer smiling, at parties, decorating a Christmas tree. And there was a message from a friend: Dont ever stop dancing! Jenna Lyons and Sarah Ravani, jlyons@sfchronicle.com, sravani@sfchronicle.com Alex Ghassan Alex Ghassan was an independent filmmaker praised for his gift of sharing the stories of others often the weak or oppressed struggling to find their way. But most importantly, said friends and relatives of the 35-year-old Oakland resident, he was a fatherly figure who offered hope and guidance, not only to his twin daughters but to many artists and young black men looking for direction. He inspired a hell of a lot of people, and he still is, said Mandela Baylis, 26, who shared an apartment with Ghassan while he did freelance work for KQED and the Oakland Museum of California. He inspired me to be greater with my art and as a man. Ghassan attended the Oakland event at the warehouse-turned-art-space with his fiancee, Hanna Ruax. The Finnish citizen also died in the fire. Originally from New Jersey, Ghassan moved to the Bay Area to pursue his career in film, friends said, and to provide for his 4-year-old daughters, who live with their mother in the New York City area. Before coming to Oakland, he worked with such noted film producers and artists as Spike Lee, Talib Kweli and Skyzoo, Ghassans website notes. He was recently commissioned by the museum to do a film about a local artist documenting the citys gentrification, his website says. He was also doing documentary work for KQED. Alex was an incredibly talented filmmaker, a passionate supporter of the arts, and, working with our team, had an unrelenting interest in other peoples stories, said a KQED Arts post on Facebook this week. For those closest to Ghassan, and likely for his daughters, friends said, hell be missed most for the advice and encouragement he offered. Whether it was sorting out personal problems or helping cook creole food like fish cakes, he was always there to propel people forward. I lost someone I looked up to, said friend and neighbor Kenzie Smith, 33. Sarah Ravani and Kurtis Alexander, sravani@sfchronicle.com, kalexander@sfchronicle.com Feral Pines Feral Pines was a garage band bass player and art school graduate who was always trailed by a rescue dog. A very soft, sensitive, caring person, said her father, Bruce Fritz of Westport, Conn. A very gentle soul. Never had a bad word to say about other people. Pines, who was 29 and previously went by the name Riley Fritz, was a transgender woman who had moved from out of state to Oakland in September. She was living with friends while raising a rescue dog named Grimma, said her father. Always loved animals, said Bruce Fritz, who noted that as her Eagle Scout project his daughter had built wooden bird houses and placed them around Westport in an attempt to lure back the native kestrel, a member of the falcon family. Sure enough, the birds returned, attracted to those houses and habitat. They were trying to help the population recover, said the elder Fritz. Its always nice to see that it works. Pines was born and raised in Westport, an affluent New York City suburb on Long Island Sound. Both of her parents are realtors. She played youth hockey and was a dedicated Cub Scout and Boy Scout, attending scout jamborees as far away as Scotland. At Staples High School, she hosted a radio show on the campus station, introducing Ska to student listeners. She took up the bass, played in several bands and regularly had a jam going in the garage. She graduated in 2005 and moved to New York City to study print making at th This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The 17-year-old San Francisco student killed in a catastrophic fire at an electronic music show in Oakland was the son of a deputy for the Alameda County Sheriffs Office the agency in charge of recovering and examining bodies from the tragic scene, the boys classmates confirmed Monday. Draven McGill, a junior at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts who attended Fridays event, lived in Dublin, his friends said. His father, Phil McGill, works for the Dublin Police Department, which is staffed by the county sheriffs office. He previously worked in the coroners bureau. Draven, who was one of at least 36 people to perish in the Friday night fire at a warehouse that had been converted into the so-called Ghost Ship arts collective, was a member of the schools vocal department as well as the Pacific Boychoir Academy. Alameda County Sheriffs Sgt. Ray Kelly said the loss deeply affected the department. That makes this much more personal, he said, describing the shock that went through the family-like office when he and his colleagues learned of Dravens death. We were like, You gotta be kidding. This hit us, too. Its hit every cross-section of society here in the Bay Area and all over the world. On Monday, Dravens great aunt, Merlena Moore, arrived at the burned-out warehouse holding flowers. He was a sweet, loving young man taken from this earth too early, she said. I just had to do something, had to give something. Earlier in the day at the School of the Arts, Dravens friends cried and hugged each other, overwhelmed by the loss at the close-knit school. Draven, a baritone in the schools choir, was down to earth and he was really willing to try anything, said his friend, Kai Thomas. He was impatient and lived in the moment, Kai said, always up for an adventure. Despite his training in classical music, Draven was a fan of rapper Biggie Smalls as well as EDM, or electronic dance music. The teenager attended Fridays show with two friends, who survived after a dangerous escape down crumbling stairs. One of the two, classmate Faelan Westhead, described the last hours he spent with his friend. It had been a beautiful scene on the second floor of the Ghost Ship, he said. The three had arrived at about 10:45 p.m., and they soon saw what they thought was mist from a fog machine filter into the room, Faelen said. But within seconds, the crowd realized it was smoke and a quickly spreading fire. As fear spread among those in the room. Faelen said he looked over at Draven. His friends face was calm, even peaceful an expression that was in sharp contrast to the growing panic that surrounded them. Then the lights went out and people started screaming. It was pitch black, Faelan said. He and his other friend headed for the rickety stairway that was the only route downstairs. The stairs were mostly gone by that point, he said. We had to jump. The high school junior is not sure how many people even tried to get down the stairs. Many people on the second floor, he said, appeared to feel safer staying put rather than heading into the smoke and fire below. While going down seemed like the wrong thing to do, he went anyway, he said. I was really sure I was going to die down there, Faelan said. I couldnt tell if my eyes were open or closed. He and his friend staggered to the exit about 20 feet away, but Draven wasnt with them when they made it outside. Faelan believes he might have stayed behind with the others. They had gone to the event for the electronic dance music. But it wasnt the wild scene that many associate with such events, Faelan said. The three friends had been sitting on couches, and the music was slow and experimental, he said. There were antique pianos scattered around the large room and several attendees would occasionally start playing music on one of them. Everybody sounded so talented, said Faelan, a world music student. Faelan and several other students were struggling to absorb that they would never see their friend again. Its rough, said Gabriel Bibliowicz, also a baritone in the vocal program and student body president. Every memory we have of him is so much bigger now. They remembered how he arrived at the school as a freshman, his voice still high-pitched and as yet untouched by puberty. They still joked about that, years later, but Draven wasnt bothered by it. He didnt care about other peoples opinions, said Julian Granados, who is 16 and also a junior at the school. Julian and Draven were inseparable, always together, often raiding the refrigerator at Julians house and getting into trouble for emptying the contents. The two had met after Julian threw a binder at Draven during freshman-year Spanish class, drawing blood. Instead of becoming enemies, they became best friends. He was always there to talk to, said Julian, his lip quivering as he grappled for words to adequately describe Draven. He wouldnt put you down. In a letter to parents, school Principal Barnaby Payne said, This is an incredibly unsettling and sad event not only for the Asawa SOTA community, but especially for Dravens family. I am in contact with them, and will keep you informed of how we can provide support to them. We must rise to this occasion, Payne wrote, and rally around each other with love, compassion and support. Additional counselors were on hand at the school to help teachers and students cope with the loss. It is both painful and poignant that the victims lives were lost while seeking community and connection through a shared love of art and creative expression, said interim Superintendent Myong Leigh. We mourn especially deeply for our student, the fires youngest victim, and with and for his family. A former Ruth Asawa School of the Arts student, Johnny Igaz, remained listed as missing on Monday. Igaz, a DJ known as Nackt, was among the advertised performers at Fridays event. He graduated from the San Francisco high school in 1999. As of Monday morning, authorities had recovered 36 bodies from the warehouse, and were not finished with their painstaking search of the wreckage. You always think it happens to someone else, Kai Thomas said. Here I am having to talk about one of my friends. Staff writer Hamed Aleaziz contributed to this story. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker Ever since the death of trucking tycoon Bill Hall Jr. three years ago, upheaval has been the norm for his business empire and family. Frances Hall was convicted in September for murdering her unfaithful husband of 31 years in a deadly end to a love triangle that attracted national attention. This year, two of Bill Hall Jr.s trucking companies careened into bankruptcy. The 110-megawatt Alamo 6 project built by San Antonio-based OCI Solar Power is being sold for $385 million to an undisclosed buyer, according to the the company. The project out in West Texas Pecos County broke ground in June 2015 and is the last plant that will completed as part of CPS Energys commitment to 400-megawatts of solar power under a 2012 agreement between CPS and OCI. Image via Downstairs at the Esquire Tavern on Yelp This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Two years after reopening with a new concept and revamped moniker, bar and restaurant TacoLand will add a second location Friday on the River Walk. TacoLand, at 103 W. Grayson St. near the Pearl complex, first opened in 2014 nine years after Ramiro Ram Ayala, owner of the legendary punk rock club Taco Land, and doorman Gypsy Doug Morgan were killed during a robbery. Owner Christopher Erck said he had been eyeing a second location for the revitalized concept which features more than 90 beers on tap, cocktails, burgers and tacos in Austin, but a deal there didnt work out. We decided to focus on our own backyard and focus on San Antonio, Erck said. Erck said the new location will take up a space currently occupied by The Worm Tequila & Mezcal Bar, another bar he owns, at 123 Losoya St in the Hyatt Regency Hotel downtown. Erck said The Worm concept, with its focus on tequila and its smoky relative, limited the number of potential customers it could reach. Were missing 50 percent of our audience, Erck said. People either love tequila or they hate tequila. Putting the second location there also will help expose the TacoLand brand to out-of-town visitors and could prime it for expansion elsewhere, Erck said. We feel that it will be a different clientele, Erck said. It will help us get exposure nationally for the brand as we look to future locations. Despite outcry from the punk rock community that accompanied the first locations reopening, Erck said TacoLands year-over-year sales have doubled since last year. Erck said he plans to open a third location here or in Austin. Blanco National Bank, a Hill Country institution with four branches, has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Texas Regional Bank of Harlingen pending regulatory approvals. Terms werent disclosed, but the transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year. Texas Regional Bank has been searching for the right opportunity in the Hill Country and found it with Blanco National Bank, Texas Regional Bank Chairman Michael Scaief said in a statement. Blanco National Bank will provide the foundation for Texas Regional Bank to extend its core banking, wealth management and mortgage divisions throughout the Hill Country. The Harlingen-based bank primarily operates in the Rio Grande Valley, so its jumping over the San Antonio market to acquire Blanco National Bank. Scaief said he prefers to operate on the periphery of San Antonio and Austin, and has no immediate plans to enter either market. Texas Regional Bank had $606.8 million in assets, about $334 million in loans and $546.8 million in deposits as of Sept. 30. Blanco National Bank had $183.2 million in assets, about $97 million in loans and $163.3 million in deposits as of Sept. 30. They combined institution would be the 91st largest bank in Texas based on assets after the sale is final, according to the most recent data from the Texas Department of Banking. Started in 2010 with the acquisition of Falfurrias State Bank, Texas Regional Bank has nine branches Brownsville, Edinburg, Falfurrias, Mission, Weslasco and McAllen. It has about 150 employees. Blanco National Banks branches are in Blanco, Fredericksburg, Wimberly and Spring Branch. It has about 60 employees. Texas Regional Bank expects to retain all of Blanco National Banks employees, Scaief said. Mark Tidwell, president and CEO of Blanco National Bank, will become market president in the Hill Country for Texas Regional Bank. The boards of the parent companies of Blanco National Holdings Inc. and Texas State Bancshares already have voted for the deal. Blanco National Holdings shareholders still have to vote on the transaction, but are expected to support it. The deal still requires the approval of the Federal Reserve Board and the Texas Department of Banking. pdanner@express-news.net Twitter: @AlamoPD Co-directors William McCrary and Michelle Pietri marshaled a small army for the Woodlawn Theatre's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." That's probably fitting for a story about a family that includes 12 brothers. Besides the siblings, the utterly delightful staging includes an adult ensemble of 15, a children's ensemble of 11 and three narrators (the top-flight team of Dorianna James, Kate Ragan and Samantha Vasquez). All of that talent is put to very good use in the show. It's based on the biblical story of Joseph, one of the 12 sons of Jacob (James Frazier). Joseph (Travis Eades) was his father's favorite, something made clear in this telling by his gift of a flashy coat. In one of many fun touches in the Woodlawn show, Jacob also snaps a selfie with Joseph, ignoring the glares and clear resentment of the others. It does not help that Joseph likes to talk about and interpret his dreams, which frequently suggest a future in which 11 individuals will bow down to him. So it's not much of a surprise when they sell him into slavery then convince their dad that he's dead. There is payback for the skullduggery, of course, though Joseph endures some trials before he's able to get a little revenge. The show has an infectious, joyful energy throughout. Eades is a strong presence as Joseph, and he shows off first-rate pipes, particularly on songs such as "Any Dream Will Do" and "Who's the Thief?" Trey Hoadley is also tremendous fun as the Elvis-esque Pharaoh, handily stealing every second he's onstage. The brothers Ramsey Sweatmon, Lorenzo Mireles, John Perez, Lucas Poliak, Eric Garcia, Adrian Hernandez, Ivan Ortega, Gid DeLaRosa, Alejandro Pesina, Paul Ayala and Evan Newhardt form a taut, completely entertaining group. They are particularly strong in "One More Angel in Heaven," "Those Canaan Days" and "Benjamin Calypso." McCrary and Pietri direct with a clear vision. Pietri also contributed her considerable skill as a choreographer, and there's a lot of energy and a sense of playfulness to the moves. She designed the costumes, too, and those are strong, as well. The costumes for the scenes in Egypt especially the ensemble that Joseph wears in his role as the Pharaoh's most trusted advisor -- are particularly well-done. Music director Darrin Newhardt and the orchestra handle the score well. The design work is sharp, too, as is usually the case at the Woodlawn. Benjamin Farrar's video depictions of the dreams that Joseph interprets are fun, and Benjamin Grabill's set design is strong, too. One quibble: The lighting in the small rooms on either side of the stage during the sequence in Potiphar's home is too dim. That's particularly true in Mrs. Potiphar's space, making it hard to see precisely what Potiphar takes exception to. The show is completely engaging and well worth seeing. "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" can seen at 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays with additional shows at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 21-22 through Dec. 23 at the Woodlawn Theatre, 1920 Fredericksburg Road. Tickets range from $17 to $26 at woodlawntheatre.org or by calling 210-267-8388. Details added (first version posted on 14:28) Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: Pakistan invites Azerbaijani companies to participate in and benefit from opportunities of the economic corridor which is being created between Pakistan and China, said Pakistani Federal Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir Khan. He made the remarks during the Azerbaijan-Pakistan business meeting in Baku Dec. 5. As you know, an economic corridor worth $46 billion is being created between Pakistan and China, and we invite Azerbaijani companies to take advantage of opportunities of this project and participate in it, said Dastgir Khan. He noted that the project, implementation of which started in April 2015, envisages the creation of a wide infrastructure network. This includes the construction of ports, gas terminals, railways and pipelines with a length of 3,000 kilometers between the two countries, said the Pakistani minister. We think the Azerbaijani companies can take part in it. The corridor will connect the Pakistani port of Gwadar with Xinjiang Uyghur Region in western China, as well as ensure Chinas access to the Indian Ocean and beyond. Pakistan is ready to do everything possible to ensure that the proposals put forward at the last meeting of the intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation are implemented in a shortest possible period, said Dastgir Khan. We offered Azerbaijan a five-year plan of economic cooperation and we want it to be endorsed until the end of the first quarter of 2017, added the minister. During this period, an agreement is expected to be signed between Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) and a counterpart structure in Pakistan. Dastgir Khan went on to say that the development of economic relations will contribute to turning the friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Pakistan into business partnership. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A tiny Texas huntress dressed head-to-toe in camouflage gear and holding a gun her size has a lot of people talking, and watching. More than 2 million people, to be exact. Cody and Daisy Klapper, parents of 7-year-old Lilly Klapper, shared a video of the little girl shooting her first deer on Tuesday. In less than a week of being published, the 2-minute video has triggered 30,000 reactions, 50,000 shares, 7,000 comments and 2.5 million views. RELATED: 12-year-old Utah huntress' graphic Facebook photos causing worldwide outrage, spurring death threats Lilly Klapper focuses on her target while seated beside her dad for about a minute of the video. Then her jaw drops and she exchanges high-fives after pulling the trigger and hitting the deer. Cody Klapper, who looks to be from Jacksboro about an hour north of Fort Worth based on his wife's Facebook page, addressed people who may not agree with the video. "I respect and understand that this video may not be for everyone, if you think that you might be offended by this video that has my daughter shooting a deer with a modern hunting rifle please keep scrolling," he said in the Facebook post. RELATED: Texas girl, 12, reels in record 30-pound catfish in Lake Ray Hubbard for the second time The Nov. 29 Facebook video is not the first hunting experience of little Lilly Klapper to be posted online. The Klappers run a Facebook like page titled "Lilly Pad's Outdoors," where her hunts are chronicled and supporters have left comments of encouragement following the viral exposure. "Great job shooting, young lady," a Facebook user from San Antonio said while another complimented Cody Klapper, calling him "a great dad." RELATED: 10-year-old Texas girl kills 13-foot, 800-pound alligator with crossbow Cody Klapper was not immediately available to return mySA.com's requests for comment, but told Fox 4 News his daughter has been shooting since she was 5 years old. "We have a passion for the outdoors, and it was primarily intended to be for family and friends," Klapper said. "But now that it has had 1.4 million views, I hope that it inspires other parents to get their children into the outdoors." mmendoza@mysa.com Twitter: @MaddySkye This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate After suffering a leg injury while enlisted in the Air Force, finding work became a challenge for a Texas man and his service dog until he walked into a Lowe's Home Improvement store. Clay Luthy was working as a handyman, doing his best to support his three children, when he was shopping the Abilene store and decided to submit a job application, Lowe's spokeswoman Karen Cobb told mySA.com, adding Luthy's injuries prevented him from bending his knee. RELATED: From stray to officer: battered S.A. pit bull now award-winning narcotics K-9 in New York Human Resources Manager Jay Fellers said he was unaware the 35-year-old veteran had a service dog until he showed up for an interview, but that wasn't an issue "at all." Luthy was a top candidate during the interview process, eventually landed the job and has been a "great asset" to the store for the past three months, Fellers added. "(Luthy and Charlotte) provide a big sense of pride and are a morale booster for our employees," Fellers said. The decision for Charlotte, a golden retriever, to wear a miniature vest was all Luthy's idea. After his orientation, the new employee asked Fellers if Charlotte could wear a matching vest and started on adapting one to fit her size that night, the manager said. RELATED: Texas K-9's impressive drug busts have made him a 'local celebrity' Th matching vests have made for the perfect Facebook photo opportunity that has returned a viral reaction. Cobb said the store has been "flooded" with calls and visitors after a Facebook photo of the two was posted. "He's really popular," Cobb said. "He's a celebrity in his own right." RELATED: San Antonio girl and her 82-year-old grandpa head back to college class together When the duo isn't meeting with their newly amassed fan club, they're working the store floor in sales. Fellers said the position works out perfectly for them because they're able to roam about and interact with customers, especially children who "love" spending time with Charlotte. On some days Luthy has two service dogs at his side as he trains Lola, the dog who will replace the aging Charlotte when she retires, Fellers said. mmendoza@mysa.com Twitter: @MaddySkye BRIDGEPORT - Two local man wanted in connection with a grisly Massachusetts home invasion-murder, are refusing to be returned to the Bay State for trial. During a hearing Monday in Superior Court here Ramon Milan, 37, and Jose Crespo-Rodriguez, 32, refused to waive extradition. President-elect Donald J. Trumps cabinet nominees should provide their tax returns to all congressional committees in the upcoming vetting process, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Monday. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, Blumenthal said during a news conference in the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Blumenthal, a member of the Democratic minority said that with a cavalcade of billionaires and millionaires up for cabinet posts, the nominees should voluntarily disclosure their tax returns. He also called for a change in Senate committee rules to expand the number of panels that would require tax returns, which would not have to be made public. The only way to have full disclosure is to have tax returns, Blumenthal said. Were going to give them exacting scrutiny. Blumenthal said that in the weeks since the election Republican senators have not rejected such review of cabinet candidates. They should have an interest in disclosure as well, Blumenthal said. The call by president-elect Trump to drain the swamp, has obviously struck a nerve with the American people because we all know that special interests, all too often, get their way in Washington. The best way to stop special interests from getting their way is to require more disclosure. Trumps reluctance to release his tax returns was a controversy both before and after the election. Blumenthal said that while he would support - and possibly introduce - legislation requiring the release of the tax returns of presidential nominees, it is currently more important for senators who are vetting the upcoming cabinet nominees. We dont have a responsibility except insofar as we are voters, individually to approve the president of the United States, he said. We could require presidential candidates to disclose. Thats the proposal that has been made. But I really want to focus on the nominees because were going to be considering them literally in the next days and weeks. Many of these nominees have very substantial and strong investments and financial ties to special interests that they will be overseeing and scrutinizing. At stake is the trust of the American people, and the deterrence wrongdoing. Cabinet officials make decisions to issue regulations, or stop pipeline construction or other kinds of administration decisions that are sometimes unreviewable, or reviewable only after substantial time and delay, Blumenthal said. I think its fairly clear that the Senate, which has the obligation to examine these candidates and to give its advice and consent on the nomination, have the authority to seek the information they want to decide whether or not these are qualified candidates, said William V. Dunlap, a professor at the Quinnipiac University School of Law. kdixon@ctpost.com; GREENWICH The transition from autumn to winter is marked at Audubon Greenwich by a transition from outdoor hawk watching on Quaker Ridge to watching birds at their feeders from the indoors. To kick off the new project, Audubon is seeking residents willing to come by Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, from 2 to 3 p.m. Dec. 10 to help count birds at the organizations onsite feeders The results will be reported to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. As a bonus, participants will learn to identify and count birds at feeders in their own yards back home and contribute their own data to a continent-wide effort spearheaded by Cornell University. Admission for the event is $3 for members and $6 for non-members. The data reported to Cornell is available on a website set up by the lab at www.feederwatch.org. The historical reporting is sorted by state and season, which runs from mid-November to the beginning of April. The top three species in Connecticut spotted at local feeders traditionally are the black-capped chickadee, dark-eyed junco and tufted titmouse, which showed up at 99.07 percent, 98.15 percent and 98.15 percent of sites respectively. In addition to which birds are spotted, how many is another piece of data researchers want to know. The top three birds in the state in terms of the abundance index traditionally are the dark-eyed junco, mourning dove and tufted titmouse. The FeederWatch Abundance Index is a combination of the percent of sites visited and the average group size, but it also takes into account how frequently the bird was reported at each site within a count season, reads the explanation of the figure on the project website. The FeederWatch Abundance Index tells you the average number of birds that you would see if you were to watch a series of randomly chosen feeder areas for single, randomly chosen count period during the winter. Last year, close to 200 groups from across Connecticut contributed to the reporting effort, but only two of them were in Greenwich, according to a map on the project website. More data is available on the website at http://feederwatch.org/pfw/top25/PFW_2016/US-CT. pfrissell@hearstmediact.com; @PeregrineFriss This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A statewide association of police chiefs is calling for Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing applications to be approved for upstate New York to reduce drunken driving. Cheektowaga Police Chief David Zack wrote a letter Monday to Gov. Andrew Cuomo on behalf of the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police. He cited statistics on impaired driving and highway fatalities and said Uber and other ride-share businesses could help reduce those numbers. "It's a relatively simple, painless solution," Zack told the Times Union Monday. "It's not going to solve all the problems." Zack said upstate New York had greater need for ride-sharing than New York City, where the services can legally operate. Upstate New York accounts for 51 percent of the all licensed drivers in New York state, but 65 percent of all arrests for impaired or drunken driving. New York City accounts for 24 percent. A total of 59 percent of all fatal and personal injury crashes occur upstate, compared to 24 percent in New York City. "Downstate, there is more access to public transportation than there is upstate," Zack said. "If you're going to make an impact upstate, you're not going to build a subway." An organization representing cab companies urged the chiefs association to support its call for drivers of the services to be subject to background checks that include fingerprinting. "I'm happy they are interested in public safety. We are too," said John Tomassi, Upstate Transportation Association president. Taxi cabdrivers must be fingerprinted, as are drivers for Uber, Lyft and other such services in New York City. "It does exist for a reason for the rest of the industry," Tomassi said. Zack responded that the chiefs group supports making sure riders are safe with the people driving them. "Of course we want drivers screened and we want responsible people," he said. "It's in almost every city across the United States. It's across the world. Their interest is more self-serving than ours. Ours is public safety. " tobrien@timesunion.com 518-454-5092 @timobrientu Albany Schenectady County Family Court Judge Mark Powers has declared victory in the Fourth Judicial District State Supreme Court race. The unofficial results of the race between Powers, a Democrat, and Clinton County Family Court Judge Timothy Lawliss, a Republican, must still be certified by the state Board of Elections. "It's just a wonderful blessing," Powers said Monday. "I am truly gratified and I certainly congratulate Tim Lawliss on a wonderful campaign. He was a gentlemen throughout." The 11-county district includes Schenectady and Saratoga counties. Powers said he held a lead of 4,089 votes as of last week. After election night results and before nearly 32,000 absentee ballots were counted, Powers led by 1,415 votes. Rodney Brown, Lawliss' campaign treasurer, said Monday the candidate had privately said he didn't think he was going to win the race. "After the first three days, most of them (absentee ballots) had been counted, and it was clear he wasn't gaining enough that would allow him to overcome the lead that Judge Powers had after the Election Night," Brown said. He said Lawliss could not be reached Monday for comment. State Board of Elections commissioners are scheduled to meet at noon Thursday in Albany to certify the results. The winner will succeed retiring Appellate Justice John Lahtinen, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. Powers, 61, of Schenectady was elected to Family Court in 2001 and has been an acting Supreme Court justice since 2004. Lawliss, 56, of Peru, has been a Family Court judge since 1999 and an acting Supreme Court justice since 2003, his campaign website says. pnelson@timesunion.com 518-454-5347 @apaulnelson This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WESTPORT A 2005 Staples High School graduate was among at least 36 people killed in a warehouse fire that broke out Friday in Oakland, Calif. The death of 29-year-old musician Riley Fritz was confirmed Monday. I received a phone call last night from the coroners office and I provided information to them that would help identify Riley, said Bruce Fritz, Rileys father. Riley was not his daughters given name, but upon high school graduation in 2005, she told her parents thats how she would be heretofore known. She also used the name Feral Pines. She identified as a woman, and I considered her my sister and always will, said stepbrother Ben Fritz, 39, a Los Angeles journalist. As is true of all trans people, life was hard for her, but she was very brave in following a path that is true to herself. Riley Fritz, a Westport native, was a member of Boy Scout Troop 36 and achieved a top leadership position of senior patrol leader, as well as scoutings highest rank, Eagle Scout, in 2005. She graduated from the School for the Visual Arts in Manhattan in 2010. After living in North Carolina and Indiana, Riley Fritz moved to Oakland in September, to be part of the trans community where she was more comfortable, her brother said. She worked odd jobs and had plans to start a new band. When I saw her at Thanksgiving, she was the happiest I had seen her in while, he said. She had been attending an electronic music show and party at the former warehouse, an artists collective known as the Ghost Ship, the family said. Although some artists lived in the building, Riley Fritz did not. Witnesses described a tangled and makeshift interior that turned exit routes into a deadly, confusing maze as the flames spread Friday night. Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton of the Oakland Fire Department said Monday that workers using excavators and other heavy equipment had combed through 35 to 40 percent of the building, and were finding bodies spread throughout the debris. She described an arduous and emotionally difficult process. Officials said it would be days before the entire disaster scene could be searched, and they expected the number of dead to rise further. Bruce Fritz said he would fly to Oakland on Monday, where he would be joined by Ben Fritz. Riley also has a 36-year-old sister, Amanda. As to whether there would be a funeral or memorial service in Westport, We just dont know yet, Bruce Fritz said. Riley Fritz, a garage-band bass player who was always trailed by a rescue dog, was (a) very soft, sensitive, caring person, her father said. A very gentle soul. Never had a bad word to say about other people. At the time of her death, she was living with friends while raising a rescue dog named Grimma, her father said. Always loved animals, said Bruce Fritz, who noted that for her Eagle Scout project, Riley built bird houses and placed them around Westport to lure back the native kestrel, a member of the falcon family. Sure enough, the birds returned. They were trying to help the population recover, Rileys father said. Its always nice to see that it works. At Staples High, Riley Fritz hosted a radio show on the campus station, introducing ska to student listeners. She took up the bass, played in several bands, and always had a jam going in the garage. Sam Whiting of the San Francisco Chronicle and staff writer Laura Weiss contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate This story appeared in the Houston Chronicle on June 4, 1965. The story is excerpted below with headlines and words reprinted as they ran then. Eleven reporters and writers and four photographers worked on the coverage. Astronaut Ed White II took a 21-minute walk in the space today and returned reluctantly but safely to the Gemini-4 spacecraft. Getting out of the spacecraft at 1:45 p.m. Houston time over the coast of California, White, 34, tumbled and posed for pictures for spacecraft commander James McDivitt. Beat Soviet Record His 21-minute venture in space beat by one minute the space walk of Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, 30, who was outside his spaceship for 20 minutes last March 18. White and McDivitt chatted and happily kidded each other as White floated in space. "Hey, Ed, smile," McDivitt, 35, said to White as he aimed a camera at him. "You smeared up my windshield, you dirty dog." "Looks Like Houston" White said: "I can sit up here and see the entire California coast. It looks like we're about over Texas. As a matter of fact, it looks like Houston down there." At the Manned Spacecraft Center here, astronaut Virgil (Gus) Grissom was in communication with the astronauts. Twenty minutes after White stepped into space, Grissom shouted in the microphone: The flight director says get back in!" McDivitt repeated to White: "Get back in!" White kept chattering, but it was difficult to understand him. "Get back in," Grissom told McDivitt. "Come back in," McDivitt said loudly to White. "Okay!" White said, impatiently. "We've still got three and a half more days to go buddy'" said McDivitt. Slips Back In At 2:06 p.m. while nearing Florida, White slipped back into the spacecraft and the hatch was closed. White had opened the hatch and stood up in space at 1:42 p.m. four hours and 26 minutes after the delayed lift-off from Cape Kennedy. He wore a $26,000 suit of space clothes with 22 protective layers. He was secured to the Gemini-4 by a 25-foot umbilical cable. Besides being his link to safety, the cable carried oxygen to White and transmitted back to Earth his physical condition. Used Space Gun During his space walk, White maneuvered himself on occasion with his gas jet pistol. Before the hatch was opened, the spacecraft was depressurized and the astronauts' suits, in turn, were pressured. Once White was back in the spacecraft, the suits were depressurized and the oxygen supply was restored to the craft. While the walk in space was a success though delayed from the second to the third orbit, the mission to try an orbital rendezvous with the second stage booster was canceled. The rendezvous was canceled because the booster was farther from the craft than anticipated and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration wanted to conserve fuel so the mission can last four days, as planned. Maneuvering the craft in flight causes a heavy drain on fuel. There were two scheduled maneuverings for rendezvous purposes, to come on the first and during the fifth and sixth orbits. Both were called off by mission director Christopher C. Kraft. On Second Orbit Kraft's decision was made as McDivitt, 35, and White, 34, began their second orbit, a little over an hour and a half after their delayed lift-off at 9:16 a.m. Houston time from Cape Kennedy. McDivitt, trying for the orbital rendezvous on the first orbit, used almost half of his fuel capacity. He asked if he should keep trying or to save fuel. Kraft replied: "I think we should save the fuel. I don't think it's worth it." Gap Widening McDivitt said the second stage booster was about 300 to 400 feet away when it first separated from Gemini-4 but he later reported the gap was widening. "It's probably three to four miles away and we just can't close on it," McDivitt said. The spacecraft carries 400 pounds of propellant for space maneuvering, and McDivitt used about 180 pounds of it in the unsuccessful attempt to maneuver within a few feet of the rocket. White's plan to walk in space was not changed. Dr. Charles Berry, the physician for the astronauts, was the one who gave White the okay for his space walk. If the spacecraft had been able to move about 25 feet from the booster, White was to have tried to make his space walk so that he could possibly touch the booster. McDivitt, talking to astronauts Gus Grissom in Mission Control Center here, said: "It would have been a short flight if we had kept chasing that thing (the booster) around." At that time 12:27 p.m., near the end of the second orbit and over the United States, McDivitt said the booster was 32 miles ahead of them and 5 miles below. The booster had overtaken the spacecraft because the booster is in a tighter orbit. McDivitt, prodded by ground stations to perform such scheduled activities as taking blood pressures, mildly complained about being "rushed" and said he would do the assigned tasks "if I get a chance." Getting Crowded As White was breaking out all the gear for his space walk, McDivitt remarked, "Boy, it's getting a little crowded in here." "I'll bet," Grissom replied. The lift-off from Cape Kennedy, originally scheduled for 8 a.m. Houston time, was delayed one hour and 16 minutes because of a failure in the electrical system in the gantry that serviced the Titan 11 rocket and the Gemini-4 spacecraft. Four-Day Trip But the problem was solved, and a billow of orange smoke at the launching pad signaled the start of the four-day, 1.6 million-mile trip for McDivitt and White. Before the mighty Titan, packing about 12 million horsepower, pushed the astronauts and the Gemini-4 into orbit at 9:22 a.m., McDivitt exclaimed, "Beautiful, beautiful." At 2 minutes and 34 seconds after launch, the first stage of the rocket cut off and the second stage ignited. At 5 minutes and 40 seconds after launch, McDivitt yelled "Seco," indicating to ground control that the sustainer engine cutoff stage had been reached in the second stage. Twenty seconds later the Gemini-4 was in orbit and separated from the booster. Within seconds after the two astronauts and their spacecraft went into orbit, the Mission Control Center computers ground out the flight facts. The elliptical orbit was 100 miles above Earth at its lowest point (perigee) and 175 miles out at its highest (apogee). Center Pleased The perigee was right on the nose of preflight calculations, but the apogee was 10 miles lower than predicted. But the Mission Control Center was happy and announced: "This is exactly what the book called for." Each orbit was taking 94 minutes. Although McDivitt couldn't get as close as was planned to the second stage booster, he maneuvered the spacecraft enough to change the orbit path. The new orbit has a low point of 103 miles and a high of 180 miles. Assuming everything goes as planned, McDivitt and White will complete 62 orbits in 97 hours and 50 minutes on Monday about noon. They are scheduled to splash down in the Atlantic 400 miles southwest of Bermuda and about 600 miles east of Cape Kennedy. For the first time during an American space flight, the multimillion dollar Mission Control Center at the Manned Spacecraft Center here took command. The countdown has stopped at 7:25 a.m., 35 minutes before the scheduled launch, but was resumed once the difficulty was fixed. The trouble was in the electrical system that raises and lowers the gantry-erector. Worked Technicians solved this problem but then a hydraulic cable that moves with the gantry-erector was found to be fouled. During part of the one hour, 16 minute delay. McDivitt and White took catnaps in their spacecraft. Astronaut Russell Schweickart, in communication with them from the control station at Cape Kennedy, had advised them to take naps and he awoke them as the countdown of 34 minutes, 59 seconds resumed. The astronauts were awakened at 3:10 a.m. Houston time in their Merritt Island quarters seven miles from the cape. They had a brief physical examination and then the traditional prelaunch breakfast of steak and eggs. The complete menu: Tomato juice, sirloin steak, poached eggs, strawberry jelly and coffee. Dressed in short -sleeved sport shirts and dark trousers, McDivitt and White entered a panel truck at 4:28 a.m. and went to a ready room 300 yards from their launching pad. They quickly suited up and entered their snow-white panel truck at 6:05 a.m. for the short trip to the pad. As they were about to slip into the spaceship at 6:12 a.m. one technician called out "last chance" and laughter cracked the tension. The two astronauts entered Gemini-4 eight minutes ahead of schedule. At 6:45 a.m., McDivitt put in a long distance phone call from the spacecraft and talked for about five minutes with his wife, Pat, in Houston, White also called his wife. Before the electrical difficulty that delayed the scheduled 8 a.m. launch time, only two minor hitches had been reported. A tracking station off Tananarive, Malagasay, off the east coast of Africa, was out of voice communication, and a ship assigned as a tracking station off the west coast of South America was out of teletype communication. These communications were restored before the launch, but during the first orbit, the tracking station off the east coast of Africa again lost voice communication. Like a dotted belt girding the Earth, tracking stations, communications outposts, planes in the air and ships at sea stand ready to relay signals from the spacecraft to Houston. NASA officials said that the Gemini-4 will be depressurized at least once more, possibly twice after White's space walk. A hatch will be opened for White to dicsard his chest pack and umbilical cord. The hatch may be opened a third time for the astronauts to discard trash - containers for their food and other unneeded or used items. The equipment and trash should reenter the Earth's atmosphere and burn after orbiting several times. Exerts are stationed at tracking posts around the world to receive and analyze a constant flow of radio data of heart beat, respiration, pulse, body temperatures and other body functions. Extensive post-flight examinations are planned. The most important medical experiment will be to deter-mine whether bone deminer-alization takes place on long space flights. A man accused of helping Beaumont prison guards take bribes from a Gulf Cartel leader has pleaded guilty to federal charges. Ledarris Limbrick, 28, pleaded guilty last week to aiding and abetting a bribe by arranging payments between cartel boss Juan Saenz-Tamez and a former prison officer at the LaSalle-run corrections facility in downtown Beaumont last year. His sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. Former officer Donald Turk, 44, pleaded guilty earlier this year for his role in the bribe scheme and is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 21, court records show. Donald Kelly, 43, a former prison supervisor charged with two counts of bribery and one count of providing an inmate with a prohibited object, has pleaded not guilty. Darwin Barlow, 40, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting the bribe and making a false statement to a federal agent. In January 2015 - eight days before Saenz-Tamez told a federal judge he generated $100 million smuggling cocaine and marijuana from Mexico - the cartel leader was found trying to flush a cellphone down the toilet of his prison cell, court documents show. Saenz-Tamez told investigators Kelly was to be paid $5,000 a day for the cellphone and $2.5 million for helping organize his escape. BScott@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/BrandonKScott (Details added, first version posted at 15:08) Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: Azerbaijan and Pakistan have agreed on the main areas of bilateral economic cooperation, Khurram Dastgir Khan, Pakistan's federal minister for commerce, told reporters in Baku. We have agreed on three main areas to work in. The first area is the creation of a joint working group to review the issue of preferential trade between our countries, the minister said. He added that the second area is the development of relations between the two countries business circles, as well as creation of joint ventures. The third area is the simplification of customs and visa procedures between Pakistan and Azerbaijan, according to Dastgir Khan. A working group for the review of the preferential trade is to be established soon, the minister said. The group will have to determine the products to be included in the list of preferential goods, Dastgir Khan said. There is great potential for creation of joint ventures in agriculture, pharmaceutics, weaving and energy industries, he added. The minister also noted the importance of simplifying the visa regime, customs and other registration procedures between the countries. This applies to non-tariff issues in the first place and will help expand cooperation between Azerbaijani and Pakistani business entities, he said. UBLY The 2016 Thumb Ag Day is scheduled for Dec. 14 at the Ubly Heights Country Club in Ubly. The day features educational programming and a chance to visit with the 80 agribusinesses exhibiting at this year's program. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. and remain open until 3:30 p.m. for participants to view exhibits and attend educational programs. Beginning at 9:15 a.m., join Dennis Stein, MSU Extension District Farm Management educator, as he discusses: "Are Current Land Rental Rates Sustainable?!" followed by "Commodity Market Update" with Dr. Jim Hilker, professor, Michigan State University Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Economics at 10 a.m. At 10:45 a.m., "Reflections on the 2016 Growing Season, Climate Trends, and a 2017 Outlook" will be presented by Dr. Jeff Andresen, professor, Michigan State University Department of Geography. The afternoon session will round out the day starting at 12:45 p.m. with "Ag Review: Results of this Year's Field Trials" by Thumb Field Crops Extension Educators. RUP and CCA are pending from the Michigan Department of Agriculture. Lunch will be available from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. and is optional at $10 per person. Admission otherwise is free. For more information, call your local MSU Extension office in Huron at 989-269-9949, in Sanilac at 810-648-2515, or Tuscola County at 989-672-3870. Thumb Ag Day is sponsored by Michigan State University Extension, and supported by the area's agricultural businesses. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SOUTHEAST TEXAS TALES The deal was done Texas-style, with a handshake. But as Pennzoil executives celebrated their pending acquisition of Getty Oil Co. in early 1984, another buyer was circling. Texaco, which traces its roots to the 1901 Spindletop gusher, made a sweeter offer. Getty accepted, and one of the ugliest corporate courtroom brawls in U.S. history got underway. When it was over, a Texas jury determined that Texaco had intentionally interfered with Pennzoil's deal and awarded a jaw-dropping $10.53 billion to Pennzoil. It was the largest civil verdict in the nation's history up to that time and perilously close to Texaco's market value of $13 billion. "It was a remarkable case that two large oil companies would go head to head like that," said Harry Reasoner, long-time lawyer at Vinson & Elkins. One of the great mysteries was why Texaco didn't settle the case, said Reasoner, who handled subsequent appeals on behalf of Pennzoil. Companies usually settle disputes before they ever reach a jury - especially when so much is on the line. Getty was prized for its extensive crude reserves, and in the early 1980s, as Pennzoil looked to expand its reserves, it eyed the company founded by the legendary oil baron J. Paul Getty. Pennzoil agreed to pay $5.2 billion to acquire just under half the company. Company leaders shook on the deal in New York, celebrated with champagne, and quickly issued press releases announcing the purchase. Texaco, meanwhile, had recently drilled some dry holes and saw an opportunity to scoop up crude reserves estimated at 1 billion barrels. A couple of days after the Pennzoil deal was announced, Texaco swooped in to offer $10.1 billion. The Getty board quickly cast off Pennzoil and issued another press release announcing the sale to Texaco. Outraged, Pennzoil sent a telex to Texaco and asked a Delaware court to block the sale to Texaco. The judge declined but suggested that Pennzoil might have reason to claim a contract that was already in place when Texaco came around with its checkbook. Pennzoil chairman J. Hugh Liedtke prepared to fight. A long-time oil man who started his career as a lawyer doing deals in Midland for energy clients, he became partners in 1953 with another oil prospector, George H.W. Bush, to form Zapata Petroleum. Years later, after a series of mergers and splits, the company became Pennzoil and Liedtke moved to Houston, according to the Petroleum Museum in Midland. Pennzoil filed suit against Texaco in state court in Houston. Liedtke asked his friend, Houston personal injury lawyer Joe Jamail, to represent the company. By that time, Jamail had developed a national reputation for his fierce representation of grieving widows and injured workers, as well as his colorful language and aggressive style. Jamail was not a corporate lawyer; he usually sued corporations. Jamail figured the way to win was to "keep it simple," according to his autobiography, "Lawyer: My Trials and Jubilations." At every turn, Jamail tried to transform a complicated and boring contract dispute into a sweeping morality play by indicting the corporate takeover practices of New York lawyers and investment bankers, according to his book. "I planned to hammer the point that Texaco stole this oil from Pennzoil and that made the company no better than a thief," wrote Jamail, who died last year. It was a clash of ethical values between the old-style Good-Ol'-Boys of the oil fields and the new-style Good-Ol'-Boys of Wall Street, according to the book "Oil & Honor: The Texaco-Pennzoil Wars," by Thomas Petzinger, Jr. The oil men valued friendships and honor and handshake commitments while modern bankers reveled in taking advantage of loopholes and ambiguities if they could get a better deal, explained Petzinger. To the Wall Street crowd, the deal wasn't done until the last "hereas and wherefore and thereupon" was recorded. Representing Texaco was another Texas legend. Richard B. Miller, a Harvard Law School graduate who never finished high school or college, believed that he, not Jamail, was the nation's best trial lawyer. Texaco's confidence - some legal observers said arrogance - that it would win kept the company from seeking a settlement. Neither Miller nor Texaco put up any witnesses to refute Pennzoil's claim that it was due damages - billions of dollars. Miller's thinking, according to a case summary from James W. McElhaney at Case Western Reserve University, was that arguing damages would imply Pennzoil had a contract and Texaco had interfered, according to McElhaney. Miller died in 2013. The trial, which began in 1985, lasted four and one-half months. After two days of deliberations, the jury came back with its verdict, which grew to $11.1 billion with interest. To appeal, Texaco had to put up an $11.1 billion bond - equivalent to nearly its entire market value. Despite being the nation's fifth-largest corporation, Texaco couldn't afford it. Company officials raised the possibility of bankruptcy, a move that led banks to demand immediate repayment of loans, Texaco's electricity provider to seek weekly payments, and investors to sell, according to "Oil and Honor." Texaco's stock fell hard and fast. The company and its investors hung their hopes on Judge Solomon Casseb Jr. reducing the jury verdict. In a packed courtroom in December 1985, Casseb kept the jury verdict intact. Texaco ended up filing for bankruptcy and several months later agreed to settle with Pennzoil for $3 billion. The verdict and the size of the award had repercussions beyond the future of the two companies. The jury's finding that the handshake agreement in New York essentially amounted to a contract introduced a new caution among executives, undermining the word-is-my-bond style of doing business. After even casual conversations about business over lunch or drinks, executives became reluctant to shake hands immediately following the Texaco-Pennzoil case, according to "Oil and Honor." The phenomenon became known as the "Texaco chill." Today, neither company exists, but their brands live on. In 2001, Chevron Corp. bought Texaco. As for Pennzoil, its exploration and production business was sold to Devon Energy in 1999, and Shell now owns Pennzoil-Quaker motor oil. Southeast Texas Tales is a weekly feature that revisits regional history. LM.Sixel@Chron.com How will the GOP control of the U.S. House, Senate and presidency affect Lone Star College? Speaking only for myself as a trustee at the Lone Star College System, it's not too early to predict some changes, to wit: 1. There already has been much discussion in Washington, D.C., that the Title IX sexual assault policy should be revised, adding constitutional due process to sexual assault adjudication. The words "due process" are not mentioned in Title IX; but with a possible charge of rape, it would be egregiously remiss not to have such a crime subject to due process. Lone Star College is way ahead of the curve on codifying a major component of due process. In cases at the college, the accuser submits a statement, the accused a statement and Student Services a statement. The case is finally turned over to an outside retired judge for adjudication. 2. It's unclear how the Trump administration will respond to the transgender bathroom directive from the Obama administration's Departments of Education and Justice. President-elect Trump has been sympathetic to LGBT matters. But do not oversimplify the constitutional issues in this transgender case, now before the Supreme Court. At least six constitutional issues are involved: 1. The 14th Amendment's prohibition of discrimination. 2. The First Amendment right of people "peaceably to assemble" and to associate - in bathrooms and locker rooms. 3. The Fourth Amendment right to privacy in bathrooms and locker rooms. 4. The First Amendment right to religious liberty. 5. The 10th Amendment right for states, not the federal government, to determine local laws. 6. The "proper and necessary" constitutional clause which states that Congress will make "all laws," not the Departments of Education and Justice. 3. Of late, free speech on many college campuses has been driven by restrictive speech codes, demands for "safe spaces," prohibition of ''microaggressions," mandated "trigger warnings" and refusals to let certain speakers speak on campus. It is the modern version of Fahrenheit 451. The Lone Star College System Board of Trustees approved on Dec. 1 a new campus-speech policy. My guess is that you will not find this policy codified on many college campuses in the entire country. The policy reads in part: Speakers may not be disruptive, but "disruptive ... does not include action that merely presents the possibility of discomfort or unpleasant that often accompanies unpopular viewpoints." Furthermore, the college will "not ... infringe on any right of free speech or expression guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States." Our policy echoes the observation of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who said, "If we stop speech that hurts people's feelings, the First Amendment will be a dead letter." Fight bad speech with good speech. I think it is safe to say that speech is less free on college campuses than it has ever been. Too many college administrators have been weaklings on this matter, and we recall C.S. Lewis, who observed, "Courage is the most difficult virtue because it is all virtues at the testing point." On Jan. 10, at the request of a federal judge on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, I will be speaking at the Inns of Court before federal, state and local judges and attorneys on the topic "Free Speech on Campus." The constitutional denial of free speech on many college campuses is severe enough to call for such a judicial colloquium. It's unclear how President-elect Trump will respond to the issue of free speech, but he will appoint the ninth justice to the Supreme Court likely from a list of some 20 mentioned candidates, virtually all of whom are conservatives. The court will then consist of four liberals, four conservatives, and Justice Anthony Kennedy, often conservative, but at times a swing vote. Ronald Trowbridge is a trustee on the Lone Star College System Board of Directors and former chief of staff for Chief Justice Warren Burger. Stop trashing The Woodlands To the editor: It's a gray sky, damp, chilly, perfect stay-at-home and watch the Texans' Sunday afternoon, but I just could not take it anymore. After driving by the island which sits at the top of Coralberry and Tangle Brush Sunday and seeing the ever-growing mass of glass bottles, aluminum cans, fast-food paper waste, plastic straws and Styrofoam cups for the last seven days, I snapped. So I've just returned from picking up all that litter. I'm not sharing this with The Villager to pat myself on the back, just to vent my disgust for all the litter I see from one end of The Woodlands to the other. No area is immune. And I guess I just wish the township could do more to control it. In the meantime, I respectfully request to "adopt" this island for litter patrol, since no one else seems to be monitoring it. I guarantee I'll be out clearing it of garbage weekly, if not daily. Kristen Hanlin Panther Creek The Woodlands Prosecution of RUD 7 unconstitutional To the editor: The citizens of this county should be outraged at the prosecution of the RUD 7 defendants (including Adrian Heath and Jim Jenkins) for Voter Fraud -- see Courier article "High Court refuses to hear latest Woodlands RUD case." All of these defendents, including Heath and Jenkins, by virtue of law (Mills v. Bartlett, Tex. 1964), are innocent. And further, in an opinion rendered last week (Nov. 23rd), on another case, by Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) Judge Elsa Alcala, an opinion which affects both men having their 14th ammendment violated (both "Due Proess" and "Equal Protection" clauses), she indicates that even the CCA is not following the Texas Constitution legally regarding fair "appeals hearings." Which may explain why the CCA refused to hear Heath's case. In follow-up commentary by Bill O'Sullivan a few days later, it was pointed out that this was a waste of taxpayer time and money, and he also agreed that this prosecution was for political revenge by "powerful people in this county". But it's much more than just about the waste of time and money. It's about at least one innocent man that may go to prison because of this vengeance and this misapplication of "justice" that's unevenly applied. As alluded to in Mills v. Bartlett, residence is not necessarily where you live for any extended period of time where voting in concerned. That's never been more evident than the Rent-A-Voters (RAV), whom developers "compensate"(which actually is breaking Federal law 18 U.S.C. 597 ) to live in cheap temporary housing (called MUD Housing/trailers) while the RAV's vote for developers' multi-million bonds (i.e. "public loans"). That way, the developers can build infrastructure for their new developments, which they don't have to pay for up-front but that we in the county could be on the hook for if the development defaults! Except in this RAV situation, while it appears that developers are blatantly breaking federal law by providing that "compensation" (cheaper rent than normal) to the few voters they move into the cheap rental MUD trainlers, Heath and Jenkins have not broken any law - state or federal! It clearly appears to be some sort of double-standard at the Attorney Generals' office. That's really the issue with this whole circus. Developers compensating RAV's, while their political friends who receive their political contributions, vengefully pursuing those (Heath and Jenkins) who're trying to expose their ruse/gravy train. Heath and Jenkins even consulted with the Texas Secretary of State in the months prior to the 2010 RUD election and were directed to Election law Opinion GSC-1. That, along with decades of case law that upholds "the right of the voter to decide where their residence is for voting purposes", is why they selected the Residence Inn for voting purposes. They were determined to vote from there, ONLY if the law allowed them to do so. This was their way to not only shine a light on this unethical practice of RAVs, but to also dissolve the WRUD and make the developers pay for their own pet projects and put the risk back on them, where it should be, if their project/s go south! This RUD/MUD current day scheme is "taxation without representation"(taxing of businesses and residents, respectively, without their approval via votes). As has been well documented, Attorney James Stillwell and former Senator Tommy Williams, representing the developers, took exception to what the RUD 7 did when all of this came to light. First they went to Brett Ligon who rightfully would NOT touch the case with a 10 foot pole. Why not? Because Ligon knew the RUD7 was innocent. Then Williams hand-carried it to (at the time) Attorney General Greg Abbott to pursue. Except that Abbott missed the boat on this. Or maybe he didn't. Seems as if an incestuous relationship exists between the developers, their attorney's and politicians, whereby all seem to make a living off of these Special Purpose District RUDS/MUDs. The Montgomery County Tea Party Board of Directors wrote a 3-1/2-page well-researched and referenced letter earlier this year to Abbotts' replacement, AG Ken Paxton, asking him to intervene in and to drop this case, since it was the AG (Abbott's) office that initiated this. We have yet to hear back from General Paxton. In conclusion, when the powers-that-be in this county (and even at the state level) don't like "We-The-People" meddling in "their" business(using our money to their benefit), it appears they'll have us thrown in jail - constitution/s be damned. And we should all be outraged because of this. John Wertz Vetting Committee Chair Montgomery County Tea Party Operation Pets Alive! ensures money goes to animals To the editor: Anyone who plans to send a donation to the Montgomery County Animal Shelter should know that none of that money will be earmarked for the animals. Instead, it will go into the county's General Fund. This is according to a shelter spokesman who spoke in a public meeting Nov. 14. Operation Pets Alive! has a collection box in the shelter's lobby. One hundred percent of that money goes to help the animals. Janet Davis This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Albany New York is loosening restrictions in its nearly year-old medical marijuana law but, to the dismay of some cannabis advocates, there is no sign the state is in any hurry to join eight other states in embracing full legalization. Among the latest to do so are two in the Northeast Massachusetts and Maine and the huge state of California. Still, Gov. Andrew Cuomo remains a skeptic of outright recreational use and legalization faces challenges in the Legislature too. "It's unlikely to happen in the short term," predicted physician Kyle Kingsley, chairman of Vireo Health, one of five companies selected under New York's law to grow and sell cannabis for medical uses. "But I do think what's going on in Massachusetts, it helps knock down the stigma ... I think it's inevitable. It's just a matter of time." New York's medical marijuana law still has some of the strictest rules among the more than 20 states that allow medical pot. Among its requirements: that pot products can't be dispensed in smokeable form and that physicians complete a training course to approve the drug for patients. So far, 750 physicians have signed up to participate, and 10,730 patients have been certified, a number that dispensary operators have complained has made it hard to turn a profit. "We're not breaking even yet, and neither has anyone else in the industry," said Hillary Peckham, chief operations officer of Etain, a family run company that has dispensaries in Albany, Kingston, Syracuse and Yonkers. "It's not at a sustainable point." In an effort to effort to boost patient access, officials are loosening some regulations. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants will soon be allowed to certify patients for the drug. The state is considering authorizing home deliveries and this past week announced plans to add chronic pain to a list of 10 qualifying conditions that also include cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. Kate Hintz lobbied for the law to help people like her daughter Morgan, who has a rare form of epilepsy. The Westchester County woman said that the state is making significant progress in making the medicine more accessible to patients but that more work is needed. "I don't think it will ever move fast enough, but the changes are encouraging," she said. (Details added, first version posted at 14:56) Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Anvar Mammadov - Trend: Pakistan offered Azerbaijan to hold a conference on business opportunities between the two countries, said Khurram Dastgir Khan, Pakistan's federal minister for commerce. He made the remarks at the Azerbaijani-Pakistani business meeting in Baku Dec. 5. We would like to invite Azerbaijans Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev and the Azerbaijani business delegation to Islamabad. We will be pleased to arrange a conference to present business opportunities of the two countries, the minister said. He added that during the conference Azerbaijani and Pakistani experts and business circles would meet and review the countries business potential. We want to know the areas most interesting for Azerbaijan, Dastgir Khan said. The Pakistani minister also expressed interest in organization of exhibitions of Azerbaijani products in Pakistan. "This will let our entrepreneurs get acquainted with Azerbaijani products. On the other hand, we would also like to hold an exhibition of Pakistani products in Azerbaijan," Dastgir Khan added. According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Pakistan amounted to $5.82 million in January-October 2016, which is 3.6 times more than in the same period of 2015. Cash Askew, 22, whose family confirmed Sunday that she had died in the fire, was part of a local "goth-inflected duo" with Kennedy Ashlyn, Them Are Us Too, according to an article by journalist Beth Winegarner. Winegarner, who talked to Askew this year for an article in the feminist publication Bitch, posted the full interview online "in the hope of sharing what a thoughtful, bright and special musician Cash was." In the interview, the 22-year-old who had lived in San Francisco and Oakland spoke of trying to be an original force on the music scene, rejecting comparisons to the Cocteau Twins. "We're definitely not trying to replicate or rehash existing music," she said. Askew, who identified as transgender, spoke to Winegarner of her initial attraction as a young teenager to the androgyny of goth and new wave and how that clashed, in some ways, with the reality she found. "People don't think I'm a freak for looking the way I do, but they still see me as a man most of the time and it's really frustrating," the artist said. "Maybe because there is historically that precedent for men dressing femme, it's even easier than usual for people to dismiss my trans-ness." Messages of grief and condolence poured onto the band's Facebook page Sunday. "Woke up to more heart-wrenching news," wrote one person. "Seeing Them Are Us Too last year was one of the most immersive and beautiful live shows I've had the pleasure of ever attending. My heart goes out to Cash and everyone affected by the horrible Oakland fires." Cynthia Dizikes, cdizikes@sfchronicle.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate I know why they were there. And Ive probably walked past the Ghost Ship partyers and their friends before on the dark roads and sidewalks in Oaklands industrial and commercial zones. If youve hung out at any of the several do-it-yourself venues in the city, you probably did too. The events are almost always at a secret location. Sometimes its a Facebook invite or a digital flyer passed around by email that reveals the place. Other times its an invitation from a friend of a friend of a friend. And, almost always, its at a warehouse where some of Oaklands most resourceful and imaginative performance art occurs, hidden behind blacked-out windows and graffitied walls as if its a disgrace. But thats not what it feels like when youre there. Thats not how it felt last August when I walked through the first floor of Ghost Ship. I was there for a show, but I was captivated by the place itself: a menagerie of rugs, tapestries, paintings, mirrors and statues artifacts scavenged at estate sales and antiques malls. It was as if people were crafting an odd, whimsical museum. Ive spent countless nights in warehouses and makeshift venues, and on only a handful of occasions have I ever been worried about safety. And that was when bad actors got out of control. Never have I thought my life was in danger. But now I know theres a fatal flaw in the scene that and this cant be ignored has produced several safe havens for creativity, self-expression and the celebration of weirdness. The fire that caused the unnecessary loss of life wont ever be forgotten. Likewise, we cant forget about the resilient artists and musicians who set up bedrooms in their studios inside warehouse spaces. They struggle to make ends meet while creating work that makes the city cool and desirable. They are an important part of Oakland culture, and its time that we recognize and support their effort. Instead of cleaning up the warehouses by evicting people, I urge the city to craft a plan to make these spaces legally habitable and affordable for artists. We dont need another early-morning reminder, another scene of cyclonic, charcoal-colored smoke rushing out of a building that people could not escape. But Oakland needs artistic outlets where original experiences are offered, because thats why they were there. For me, the under-the-radar venues have served as a check for what is happening in art and music since I was a teenager. I sneaked out to see performers my parents probably didnt want me to hear. In college, weekends were filled by house shows, concerts that often drew noise complaints. Like punk and metal, electronic dance music has always been a do-it-yourself culture. From Oakland to Los Angeles to New York to Berlin to Tokyo, warehouses have remained at the heart of dance music even as the genre has taken over global playlists and music festivals. Long before dance music was on Top 40 radio and selling out massive festivals, the warehouse provided a safe and accepting sanctum for fans, often minorities, to feel free, Matt Medved, a senior Billboard editor who writes about dance, told me. The tragedy in Oakland affects everyone in the electronic music community, because we have all sought similar refuge on similar dance floors. And Ill continue the search, because its always an adventure. After finding the entrance to a recent event, I texted my friend to find out where she was. She told me to look for her in the hot tub with pillows. I cant wait to hang out there again. Otis R. Taylor Jr. is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist whose column appears Tuesday and Friday. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Azad Hasanli Trend: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is ready to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Azerbaijan, a source in the countrys government told Trend Dec. 5. ADB offers to support business by opening credit lines for local banks, according to the source. Thus, the ADB wants to provide support to banks in Azerbaijan and contribute to the development of SMEs, said the source. At the same time, the source noted that Azerbaijans government currently doesnt hold any discussions with the ADB regarding any concrete project. The ADB has expressed readiness to lend to SMEs in Azerbaijan, but we have to consider how this funding will affect our external debt, the source in Azerbaijans government said. In this context, the government has decided not to appeal to the ADB for the financing of the project for now. Azerbaijan became the ADB member on Dec. 22, 1999. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.5 By Elena Kosolapova - Trend: Azerbaijan and Spain will play an important role in ensuring energy security of Europe, Jose Luis Diez Juarez, Charge d'Affaires of Spain to Azerbaijan told Trend in an interview. "Azerbaijani Shah Deniz 2 project and its connection with Europe is the only project now that will supply gas from new source to Europe. Thus, the strategic importance of this project is great," he said. Diez noted that there are many countries in Eastern Europe that get gas only from one supplier Russia and it is very important for them to have more gas sources in order not to be dependent on one supplier. "So I think the supplies from Azerbaijan will be very important for Eastern Europe and some Central European countries as well," charge d'affaires said. Spain, in turn, is an important gas hub, because a lot of gas comes from different countries to Spain and then to other European countries, Diez noted. He reminded that Spain already has two gas pipelines from Algeria, which is the main gas supplier to the country, and ten more countries provide Spain with liquefied gas. Moreover Spain is connected to the European networks and a new bigger pipeline called MidCat is planned to be built from Spain to France, which will considerably increase the cross-border gas exchange capacity between the two countries, according to Diez. "MidCat and the Southern gas corridor are considered as priority projects by the European Union for the European strategy of energy security. So at the two ends of Europe we will have two projects that are very important in terms of gas supply diversification - Azerbaijan as a producer and Spain as a distributor," Spanish diplomat said. Diez also noted that Spain already has diversified gas supply and Azerbaijani gas will not reach Spain even though Spanish company Enagas is involved in the construction of Trans-Adriatic Pipeline which will pump Azerbaijani gas to Europe. The Southern Gas Corridor envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian Sea region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey. At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor project. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage. As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). --- Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova Persistent showers over the last several days led to four overflows of sewers into several area creeks Sunday, San Antonio Water System reported. SAWS crews responded to four spills throughout the day. The spills were reported inside Lackland Air Force Base adjacent to Chappie James Way Road (Leon Creek), the 500-to-700 block of Holbrook Road (Salado Creek), 600 W. Mitchell (San Pedro Creek), and 8703 Old Corpus Christi Road (San Juan Ditch). A legal aid group representing immigrant families at two controversial detention centers in Karnes City and Dilley said the federal government released 460 women and children, about 25 percent of those being held, over the weekend. Some of the families had been in detention only a short time and have not yet had their credible fear interviews, the first step in the asylum process, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services said in an announcement about the releases. The Interfaith Welcome Coalition, a group that provides services to families after their release, operates shelters in two houses south of downtown, but a nearby church and convent opened their doors after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement dropped off more than 200 people Saturday, said Amy Fischer, RAICESs policy director. We had people being dropped off after midnight last night, and we expect it to continue today, Fischer said. Immigration officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday morning. RAICES noted the releases came after a judge in Austin on Friday ruled that the state of Texas could not license the detention centers as childcare facilities. ICE, however, said the releases were scheduled as a part of normal operations and not in response to the court ruling. ICE is currently reviewing the courts ruling on the matter of the operating license for the South Texas Family Residential Center, spokesman Carl Rusnok said. Operational activities continue without interruption at this time. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sought licenses for the facilities last year after a judge in California ruled that the Karnes and Dilley centers were in violation of a court settlement governing the treatment of immigrant children. The centers opened in 2014 to detain the large numbers of women and children crossing the border in South Texas and surrendering to Border Patrol agents to request asylum. Immigrant advocates have said the families being held there are fleeing violence in Central America and are entitled to pursue their asylum cases while living in the U.S. ICE has said the centers are necessary for them to screen families and determine who should be released. The numbers of families entering the U.S. in the Rio Grande Valley this fall rivaled the records set in 2014. Click here to read about how a San Antonio church is handling the sudden increase in families released from detention. jbuch@express-news.net Twitte: @jlbuch This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SAN ANTONIO A Bexar County Sheriff's deputy died after the car she was traveling in fell into a massive sinkhole on the Southwest Side Sunday evening, officials confirmed this afternoon. Emergency crews recovered the body of Dora Linda (Solis) Nishihara, a part-time BCSO deputy, just before 1 p.m. from her vehicle, which was submerged in 12 feet of water in the sinkhole in the 8400 block of Quintana Road, officials said. Fire Chief Charles Hood said crews worked the scene as a "body recovery" rather than a rescue early Monday. The sinkhole, which swallowed two cars, is the diameter of the street and was likely caused by a large sewer line rupture Sunday evening, officials said. RELATED: SAFD: San Antonio woman injured after saving man from sink hole "We are heartbroken to confirm Deputy Dora Linda (Solis) Nishihara passed away after her car fell into a sinkhole Sunday," BCSO spokesman James Kieth said in a release. San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor called the incident a "terrible tragedy" at a morning news conference. Fire officials connected the submerged vehicles to a crane to remove the car. Hood said during a news conference the two vehicles are likely filled with gravel, dirt and other debris along with the water. "Both cars are going to be a challenge to get out," Hood said. "This is going to be a slow, tedious response recovery for us." Some of the challenges the firefighters faced included water continually eroding away the ground underneath the road, rain and trains that are coming through the area. The trains can cause vibrations that may impact the recovery effort, Hood said. Firefighters and EMS personnel initially responded at approximately 7:30 p.m. Sunday and found two cars inside the sinkhole, according to officials at the scene. One person who drove into the sinkhole was a 60-year-old man. The man and a woman who helped him were rescued from the hole and transported to a hospital with minor injuries, fire officials said Sunday. The vehicle carrying Nishihara's body was removed from the sinkhole at about 12:41 p.m. Monday. "Our rescue team members faced very dangerous conditions with an unstable sinkhole collapsing around them, and swift moving sewer water," Hood said in a news release. The fire department teamed up with San Antonio Water System crews and the police department to salvage the vehicles trapped in the sinkhole, said SAFD battalion chief Brian ONeil. It's unknown at this time if the second vehicle has been recovered from the sinkhole. ONeil told mySA.com on Sunday that the ground surrounding the sinkhole is unstable and could collapse at a moments notice. If anyone fell inside, theyd be swept underground, he said. RELATED: Watch: Accused S.A. cop killer Otis McKane gives jailhouse interview Firefighters and SAPD were working to secure the scene by attempting to stop the flow of the sewer line. SAWS reported Sunday that there had been four different sewer spill overflows so far on Sunday. RELATED: About 3,000 honor slain SAPD officer Benjamin Marconi at funeral Staff writers Quixem Ramirez and Chris Quinn contributed to this report. Text "Breaking" to 48421 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com twhite@mysa.com Twitter: @tylerlwhite LELAND A. OUTZ/SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS-NEWS AUSTIN Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday named Rolando Pablos as Texas' next secretary of state, saying Pablos is leaving his post as Texas Racing Commission chairman to take the position. Pablos will succeed Carlos Cascos, a former Cameron County judge whose appointment was the first announced by Abbott when he won the governors office in 2014. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The Sunday afternoon service had it all singing followed by smiles and hugs, discussion over pertinent verses, and prayers for one another. Instead of carefully chosen outfits, those attending were clad in dingy orange. Rather than pews, they sat on brown chairs they carried in themselves. This joyous service wasnt in one of Midlands many beautiful churches. It was held in a small, all purpose room in a pod at the Midland County Jail in November, and the women attending were inmates, building their relationships with the Lord. The services, as well as Bible study, are conducted by volunteers for both the male and female inmates, and are coordinated by the new Midland County Jail Chaplain Bill LaClair. LaClair came to the jail this year as part of Forgotten Man Ministries. My job here is to bring hope to people, he said, adding inmates struggle will all kinds of things. When they arrive at the jail, they have been stripped of everything except time to think about things, and have the attitude theyve got nothing to lose, LaClair said. During one-on-one sessions, any topic is game, especially when dealing with spiritual issues. When I talk about God to them, they are receptive ... They know what theyve done. I believe Jesus is the answer. The ladies service began with a prayer and singing, and volunteer Julie Zahm followed up on something that inmate Angela Lederer had said: I dont need to be ashamed. Zahm read Matthew 5:14-16, and interpreted it for the group of six inmates. It says you are the light of the world, she said. You dont need to be ashamed. I dont feel like I have to hide, inmate Tammy Pollard said. I should have been ashamed in the darkness. I dont want to go back into the darkness. She said she has been incarcerated for three years, and feels isolated and forgotten by her friends and family. The mail stops coming, she said. When all of that fades, the Lord is still here with you ... I wish I had known this. I would never be here. Other inmates pointed to Pollard as a mentor who helped them understand the Bible in context with the troubles they experienced abandonment, addiction, anger and more. Zahm reminded the women that people who had known their former selves might not trust the new version. Theyll want what we have, inmate Heidi Garrett said, adding a good relationship with God will prevent them from doing negative things to gain the friendship of people who are still in the dark. Garretts thoughts show the direction LaClair and the volunteers who come from multiple churches are helping point inmates toward. Were just trying to create an environment where the inmates know they have value, LaClair said. This is one of the easiest ministries Ive been involved in. Theyre ready. Youre just sharing God with people at a different point. LaClair is not new to church planting, and has participated in mission trips to inner city Chicago, as well as taught at the Saginaw Correctional Facility in Freeland. It helps you see how good you have it, he said of the mission trips to Chicago. And that these people have worth in the eyes of God. I think this ministry has an opportunity to make a difference in this community, LaClair said, because many of the inmates are released from jail back into the community. Midland County Jail Capt. Rich Harnois said part of the hope is for inmates to remain involved with a church after their release. That way, people will have some basics and support when they return to the community, which can help them avoid prior behaviors. It is a local mission field, Harnois said. Forgotten Man Ministries is a nondenominational ministry that ministers in jails of 35 Michigan counties, and has served more than 50,000 inmates in about 50 years through Bible study courses. There are more than 2,000 volunteers, and last year alone there were 11,000 graded lessons. To me, thats phenomenal, LaClair said. It shows you just how much inmates want to grow. On a dark Tuesday night in November, LaClair was at the jail to sit in on a Bible study with male inmates. After an opening prayer, volunteer Dennis McWethy led nine inmates in the study. Today, were going to talk about Gods creation of work, he said. Work isnt supposed to be work. The room was often filled with the sounds of thin pages turning, and inmates took turns reading the passages McWethy marked out. The conversation ebbed and flowed between heavy discussions about the passages and how they apply to daily life, and laid back joking and laughter. After Proverbs 6:6-11, the discussion turned toward taking a lesson from the ants who worked all summer, harvested in the fall and had food for the winter. Inmate Cody Waske shared the reality of incarceration and the impact of not being able to work. He said he grew up on a farm, then moved to the city, which was hard for him, but jail is tougher yet. Im up at 7 a.m., ready to do whatever there is to do. Which is nothing, Waske said, adding he has grown in his writing ability but his other skills have decreased. At various points in the evening, LaClair pointed out that God has a plan for everyone, which led to a particularly deep talk about another passage. What hes saying is wealth doesnt matter if youre not enjoying your work, Waske said, defining how the passage struck him. What I get out of this verse is there is joy in work, McWethy seconded, with inmate Andrew Furman chiming in. Do what you like, because theres worth, Furman said. In addition to coordinating volunteers from multiple churches to come into the jail, LaClair also has a goal of beginning Bible studies in every pod for the inmates who are willing to dig deeper. There is a group of seven or eight men who have their own Bible study nightly. Theyre not messing around, he said. Right now, his attitude is to crawl, walk and then run, in order to build trust with not only the inmates but the jail staff as well. Harnois said he has worked to bring Forgotten Man Ministries into the jail for the last couple years, and that LaClair is making a difference not only as a focal point for the jail ministry program to organize and lead, but for people. I see more of it when hes in the building, its almost like a calming feeling to a point, Harnois said, adding LaClair is building a rapport with the inmates, more of whom are asking to see him. I think the inmates can feel he really has a heart. LaClair is another line of support when inmates experience things such as deaths in their families and helps take pressure off counseling services by being available to speak with inmates, Harnois said. That also extends to corrections deputies, who also experience tough times and might need to talk with someone. For now, LaClair is working part time, dividing his 24 hours between being at the jail and presenting at local churches seeking support. My goal here is to help the inmates take ownership of what theyve done, LaClair said. Youre not just left to your own devices hoping to get better. Part of LaClairs work is gaining support and donations are always welcome. To do so, go to www.forgottenman.org and specify Midland as the recipient. Four RB-SUV Ironman tires valued together at $400 were damaged in an act of criminal mischief about 4:35 p.m. Sunday in the 200 block of East Roselawn. --An orange and gray Stihl leaf blower valued at $500 was stolen from the 1600 block of Houston between 11 p.m. Thursday and 10:15 a.m. Friday. --The theft involving property valued at between $100 and $750 occurred between noon Nov. 24 and 5 p.m. Sunday in the 1400 block of Floydada. The missing item was taken from a yard. --A 35-year-old man was arrested about 2 p.m. Sunday in the 300 block of North Columbia for driving while license suspended, displaying a fictitious license plate and an outstanding municipal warrant for public intoxication. He was held in Hale County jail Monday on $1,500 bond for the suspended license charge. Bond had not been set on the other two charges. --Criminal mischief of an undisclosed nature involving damage ranging from $100 and $750 occurred in the 2000 block of West 16th Street about 11 p.m. Friday. --A beige leather wallet valued at $40 was stolen from a business in the 3400 block of Olton Road between 8-8:53 p.m. Friday. --A brown purse valued at $35 was stolen during the burglary of a vehicle which occurred between 5:15-6:15 p.m. Thursday in the 1600 block of North Date. The crime was reported Friday. --The harassment of a Plainview resident through an obscene electronic communication reportedly occurred Nov. 28-29. The crime was reported Friday. --An incident involving simple assault reportedly occurred about 1:20 A.M. Sunday in the 2800 block of West 20th Street. --A 24-year-old man was arrested about 1:40 a.m. Saturday in the 1800 block of Yonkers for public intoxication. He was held Sunday in Hale County jail on $200 bond. --A 27-year-old woman was arrested about 2:30 a.m. Sunday in the 800 block of North I-27 for public intoxication. She was held in Hale County jail Sunday on $200 bond. --A 61-year-old man was arrested about 10:45 a.m. Sunday in the 4400 block of Olton Road for public intoxication. He was held Monday in Hale County jail on $200 bond. --A 43-year-old man was arrested about 11:45 p.m. Sunday in the 500 block of West 10th Street for driving while license invalid with previous conviction. He was held in Hale County jail Monday on $1,500 bond. (Anyone with information on crime in Plainview and Hale County may contact the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 293-8477 or 293-TIPS.) This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A woman sustained minor injuries Sunday night after she saved a 60-year-old man who drove into a sinkhole on the Southwest Side. Emergency crews were dispatched to 8400 Quintana Road at about 7:30 p.m., when they found two cars submerged inside a sinkhole. San Antonio Fire Department Battalion Chief Brian O'Neil said the sinkhole was created because a large sewer line ruptured. Authorities are unsure how long the other car has been inside the sinkhole or whether there is a person inside the vehicle, O'Neil said. O'Neil said the man and woman were taken to a hospital with minor injuries. "They are in good shape," O'Neil said. The Fire Department is working with San Antonio Water System crews and the San Antonio Police Department to develop a mutual plan to save the vehicles. O'Neil said the ground around the sinkhole is unstable and can collapse at any moment. If a person fell in the sinkhole, they'd be swept underground. Until then, O'Neil said SAPD is working to secure the scene and SAWS are figuring out a way to stop the flow of the sewer line to allow emergency crews to rescue the vehicles. San Antonio Water System reported earlier Sunday that there had been four other sewer spill overflows so far on Sunday. Emergency units are waiting until daylight to see if they can find stable ground to begin a water rescue. Staff writer Chris Quinn contributed to this report Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.5 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: Five binding offers were received on a long term basis for the binding phase of the market test for the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria, said the message on the website of ICGB company, which is responsible for the projects realization. The announced capacity within the second phase of the market test amounts to 2.7 billion cubic meters, of which 1.57 billion cubic meters are reserved. Due to shown interest from other companies, which have not participated in the first phase of the market test for the project, there is an ongoing discussion about the possibility to initiate a procedure for allocation of the remaining capacity, respectively for participation of new shippers. IGB, which is expected to be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas. In early December 2015, Bulgaria and Greece signed a final investment decision on the IGB project. Bulgarian state-owned energy holding company BEH has 50 percent in the joint venture which will build the IGB pipeline, while Greek state energy firm DEPA and Italy's Edison hold 25 percent each. So this column is going to be a bit different. Its not showcasing an existing program; instead, its asking, What if? What if all parents in Norwalk could choose their childs school? Norwalk plans to increase the number of magnet schools and develop at least two K-8 schools of choice. Is choice good? Do kids do better in magnet schools? The Magnet Schools of America says yes. Their website quotes large-scale studies that show that magnet schools have higher rates of student achievement, higher graduation rates, and more student and parent satisfaction. So if choice is good, is it possible to give all parents a choice? Sounds like a crazy idea, but there are some districts doing just that. Montclair, New Jersey, is one of them. Montclair is half the size of Norwalk, is highly diverse, and offers integrated magnet schools for all children. When a child moves into Montclair, the parents have to choose a school there are no neighborhood schools. So whats that like? Because my daughter lives in Montclair, I was able to talk to some parents about the magnet system. They said there was no best school in Montclair; they chose the school that was best for their family. Laura said she didnt understand the choice system before she moved there. Her first reaction when she learned there was no neighborhood school? Oh, no, now I have to make a decision! But Adrienne chose Montclair because of the choice: We were in Yonkers and we searched communities far and wide. Here, theres good schools and diversity. All the parents interviewed agreed on two things: because they chose the school, they feel responsible for their kids education, but choice does not solve all problems in a school. Parents chose their school for different reasons. Some families sought the magnet theme that fit their child best. I knew what my sons needs were from daycare. I knew what kind of structure he needed, said Laura. Thats why I chose the Montessori school. Adrienne chose what she called the most progressive school, which has an environmental theme. Its more project-based. They hatch trout eggs and its a green school, she said. Gwen said her daughter gets pulled out for some special services. In the school she chose, all students switch classes regularly so there was no stigma when her daughter went to her special services class. For other parents, the choices were based on more mundane criteria. A friend chose a school because she wanted her son on the bus for the longest possible time, and its an early school so she is not paying for before-school care, said Nora. She saved $1,500 a year. For some parents, test scores made the difference. One African-American mom said she checked the test scores and chose the school where African-American children did best in math. If we are going to spend all this money in taxes, she said, I want the best experiences. I want the bells and whistles for her. But other parents chose the schools with the lowest test scores. I liked it because of the writing program. For my older child its been amazing, said Adrienne. Parents agreed, though, that its work to choose a school. Taiji said she went on six tours, pored over six pamphlets. Gwen went on tours for each of her children. And then she went on more tours when the kids entered middle school. And the tours mattered a lot. Suzanne said that in one school, her gut reaction was negative, even though that was her first choice before she went on the tour. Laura said she got a good vibe from the teacher giving the tour and she loved the principal. And, of course, each school has a reputation: one school is the country club school, another is highly competitive, and a third has the cool moms. All the parents were happy that the choice system exists. Laura said that she didnt hear anything bad about any school. I think its the competition that keeps all the schools strong, she said. If one school struggles to attract students, the whole system gets out of balance. And they all like that they could buy a house in any part of Montclair and have access to any school. As Nora said, If you are unhappy with a school, you dont have to sell your house to change schools. You can move your child, not the house. Is there still a significant achievement gap in the schools? Yes. Do some schools attract more white families and some more black families? Yes. Are some parents dissatisfied with the school for a variety of reasons? Yes. Are the schools starting to feel more homogenous as the emphasis on test scores has increased? Yes. Even so, these parents believe that choice has benefited their kids and their families. So, what if? What if choice could be an option for all parents in Norwalk? Roz McCarthy is a former Norwalk school board member and Norwalk Public Schools employee. Look for her Chalk Talk column the first of every month. Email her at rozmcc2@gmail.com. When Donald Trump first strides into the Oval Office as president, his perfect day is likely to be ruined by a file marked North Korea. Trumps (first? only?) term in office may include either a messy confrontation with an unpredictable, highly combustible regime, or a rogue nation gaining the power to destroy large portions of Los Angeles with nuclear weapons. Or both. Consider the viewpoint of North Koreas supreme leader Kim Jong-un which is not easy since the exercise, properly done, should include platform shoes, Dennis Rodman and a pleasure squad of teen virgins. Kim looks at South Korea and sees political chaos, as its president is overwhelmed by a corruption scandal. He looks at America and sees massive uncertainty, created by an untested leader who has promised to reconsider security arrangements with South Korea and Japan and may begin a trade war with China. Americas new president will look at North Korea and see a sworn enemy from a bloody war that has never officially ended, sprinting toward the capability to mount nuclear weapons on long-range missiles. The regime is not in need of new technologies or facilities; it is adapting capabilities that it already possesses. Between 2009 and 2016, North Korea conducted 64 missile tests and nuclear detonations. By some estimates, it may have the ability to strike the West Coast in four years. Or less. President Trump will also see a regime of vast, bottomless cruelty, running gulags that contain more than 100,000 people subjected to violent punishment, rape, hard labor, malnutrition and execution. These ongoing crimes against humanity can be watched via satellite (the crematorium in Camp 25 recently got an upgrade). The picture is bleak, but not completely bleak. South Korean President Park Geun-hye, in the midst of her crisis, has taken the unpopular but necessary step of strengthening military ties with Japan, including the pooling of intelligence. But the Obama administrations policy of strategic patience has been hard to distinguish from paralysis in the face of bad choices. If the incoming president is searching for options to jump start American policy, he could do worse than a new report from the Human Freedom Initiative at the Bush Center [note: Im on the Initiatives advisory council]. Light Through Darkness was authored by two Korea experts, Victor Cha and Robert Gallucci, who come from different party backgrounds. The authors make a strong case that leadership in confronting the problem cant be subcontracted to China. They set out a number of smart proposals such as targeting the North Korean regimes export of slave labor (that helps fund proliferation) and increasing information flows into the closed and isolated country. But Cha and Gallucci are most creative in the way they integrate a focus on security and a focus on human rights normally contending policy camps into a single approach. They argue that the threat of North Korea emerges from the nature of the regime itself and that human rights criticism can be a source of leverage. What matters more than incremental policy choices, however, is where the American red line is really, truly placed not the announced one, but the red line in the back of the presidents mind. Is it acceptable to have North Korean nuclear weapons targeted on American cities? Plenty of experts will give a firm no. But some experts would reluctantly argue that North Korea is deterrable. Kims government is essentially a crime family and would respond to the disincentive of incineration. It is strategic realities and hard choices that will determine the outcome of the Korea crisis, not a set of business-book negotiating skills. This is reality television minus the television. michaelgerson@washpost.com Details added (first version posted on 16:35) Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Maksim Tsurkov Trend: Azerbaijans Energy Minister Natig Aliyev will participate in OPECs meeting with non-OPEC countries on Dec. 10 in Vienna, the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry told Trend Dec. 5. Azerbaijan, considering the meeting as important for stabilizing oil prices in global markets, decided, with the consent of the countrys president, to participate in it, said the ministry. The country actively participates in consultations aimed at ensuring the balance in the market and increasing the prices, noted the ministry. In particular, Natig Aliyev held phone conversations with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, and Baku demonstrates its support to this process, according to the ministry. The previous meeting was scheduled for Nov. 28. However, the meeting was suspended due to the refusal of Saudi Arabia to take part in it. OPEC agreed on Nov. 30 to reduce output by around 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) beginning in January in a bid to reduce global oversupply and prop up prices. It hopes non-OPEC countries will contribute another 600,000 bpd to the cut. Russia has said it will reduce output by around 300,000 bpd. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov Of the more than 3,781 arrests along the border between June 2014 and September 2016 by the Department of Public Safety, only 6 percent have been for felony drug possession. One percent was for human smuggling. Drunken driving arrests, however, are 29 percent and misdemeanor drug arrests 28 percent. This is according to an analysis by KXAN in Austin; an account of it was written by the stations Josh Hinkle and appeared in the Texas Tribune. State leaders and DPS said the surge in state trooper deployments to the border was necessary in the interest of border security. In the grander scheme, that means halting cartel drug trafficking and the smuggling of people. That doesnt appear to be happening. Stopping people at the border is outside the states purview. Our hope is that when the Texas Legislature looks at DPS request next year for an additional $320 million in biennium funding on top of the $750 million or so from the last session it will take into account such outcomes. In other words, is the investment of 250 more troopers in the name of border security worth it if the outcomes dont move the needle substantially in terms of arrests of high threat criminals? This would be the folks moving and possessing large amounts of drugs and smuggling people. One can easily surmise that the influx of troopers anywhere in Texas would result in the arrests of more drunken drivers and minor drug users. But the purpose in this border surge started by Gov. Rick Perry and continued by Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is border security. In light of President-elect Donald Trumps pledge to beef up border security for a border already among the most secure in the world it is fair to question whether the state should be shouldering this burden at all. Yes, getting more drunken drivers off the highways is always a good thing. But that could be accomplished with this kind of surge anywhere in Texas. KXAN reported that in Starr and Hidalgo counties, where DPS efforts are concentrated, troopers are parked every few miles along U.S. 83, which runs roughly parallel and near to the border. Even with the support of Abbott and Patrick, the Legislature must not simply rubber-stamp this expenditure, not with other compelling needs school financing among them in the offing. Take a very hard look. With the new DPS request, this would be $1 billion over four years. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD Nearly a month since a Westhill High School grad was killed in New York, two people have been indicted but still no murder charges appear to have been filed. One of the defendants, Lawrence Dilione, 28, of Jersey City, N.J., was formally indicted Monday, however, prosecutors declined to say on what charges. Dilione and James Rackover, 25, were charged Nov. 17 with concealing a human corpse, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in connection with the stabbing death of 26-year-old Joseph Comunale. Dilione appeared in New York Criminal Court Monday for the first time since he posted a $300,000 cash bail two weeks ago on the same day Comunale was buried in Stamford. Rackover, who remains jailed on $3 million bond, has also been indicted by a grand jury. Rackover was indicted for the same offenses he was charged with on Nov. 17 and has not been indicted for murder, according to documents the Manhattan District Attorneys Office filed last week, the New York Daily News reported. Dilione and Rackover, who was born James Beaudoin, will each be arraigned Dec. 13 in Supreme Court. Beaudoin, who was arrested several times in Florida, changed his name a few years ago after coming to New York where he met Jeffrey Rackover, a famous jeweler who took him in as a surrogate son. Authorities said Comunale was killed Nov. 13 after a night of partying at Rackovers luxury apartment at The Grand Sutton tower in Manhattans East Side. The victim was stabbed 15 times in the chest before his body was burned and buried in a shallow grave in a New Jersey shore town, police said. Rackover and Dilione were initially charged by the New York Police Department with second-degree murder, but that was dropped pending further investigation of who used the knife in the stabbing. In a recent jailhouse interview with the Daily News, Rackover denied any connection to the killing. The newspaper has also reported that a third person may soon be charged in the case. Police said Comunale had gone to New York City for a night out with friends on Saturday, Nov. 12, when he met Dilione and three women at a bar. The Stamford man then accompanied the group to a party at Rackovers apartment early the next morning, authorities said. Comunale was seen on surveillance footage leaving the building with Dilione and the three women hours later, according to the criminal complaint. Comunale and Dilione were spotted returning around 7 a.m. the last time the 2008 Westhill High grad was seen alive. Comunale grew up in Stamford and played hockey and baseball in high school. He later graduated from Hofstra University on Long Island and came back to Stamford in 2012. noliveira@hearstmediact.com Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: OPEC and non-OPEC producers should work together in order to ensure stability of the oil market, said OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo. He made the remarks at Petrotech 2016 exhibition and conference, which kicked off Dec. 5 in New Delhi, India and will continue until Dec. 7, according to a message on the OPEC website. We must continue to work together: producers and consumers, OPEC and non-OPEC producers, and those working in the upstream as well as the downstream, said Barkindo. We all have something to gain by working together and much to lose if we do not. There is a clear need to ensure that prices are supported and stabilized, said OPEC secretary general, adding this is something that can only be achieved together, by sharing outlooks and through collaboration among the producers, particularly as the world continues to evolve towards more inter-dependence and more tightly integrated energy markets. And it is exactly this spirit of cooperation that guided the actions of our member countries when they found firm and common ground during the meeting of the conference on November 30 in Vienna, said Barkindo. He pointed out that such thinking also lies behind the establishment of active, formal and ongoing dialogues with the European Union, China and Russia, as well as with a number of other non-OPEC producers. He confirmed that the joint ministerial level meeting with non-OPEC countries will be held Dec. 10 at the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna the first such meeting since 2002. OPEC has invited 14 non-OPEC countries to the meeting to be held Dec. 10 in Vienna, Bloomberg reported citing Barkindo. The invited countries are Russia, Mexico, Oman, Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Colombia, Congo, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Brunei, Uzbekistan, he added. The meeting of the Multi-stakeholder Group (MSG) on implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in Azerbaijan was held on December 5, 2016 at the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ). The EITI Boards decision and corrective actions for Azerbaijan, EITI impact analysis in Azerbaijan, assessment of the materiality of payments to State Social Protection Fund by companies in 2015, the definition of quasi-fiscal expenditures and the final draft of the Roadmap for disclosing of beneficial ownership information were discussed and appropriate decisions were made during the meeting. Report of the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan about aggregated receipts from the extractive industries (2015) reconciled by Moore Stephens was also presented to MSG members. EITI is a special multilateral and voluntary initiative, supported by a coalition of companies, governments, investors and civil society organizations and global standard for improved transparency in the oil, gas and mining sector. Azerbaijan joined EITI in 2003. Azerbaijan was awarded the "2009 EITI Award" for its commitment to EITI principles and criteria and achievements in EITI Implementation. The RBZ has lifted the ban it imposed on the Ecocash platform on Monday. Read the full statement below. PRESS STATEMENT CASH-IN, CASH-OUT AND CASH-BACK FACILITIES 1. The Directive (NPS 01/2019) on cash-in, cash-out and cash-back facilities was issued to protect the transacting public from some mobile banking agents leveraging and abusing the payment ecosystems. 2. Payment systems by their nature play an important role of providing a mechanism or highway to facilitate economic activities in the country. As such, the Reserve Bank continues to promote digital financial services which contribute to financial inclusion and stability. 3. Cognizance of that, enhanced monitoring mechanisms have been put in place by both the Reserve Bank and Payment System Providers to mitigate against abuse of payment systems and ensure abusers are brought to book. 4. To this end, Payment System Providers and Agents are hereby advised that the cash-out facility is now capped at $100 per transaction with immediate effect. Related to that, existing operational cash in and cash-back limits shall remain. 5. Furthermore, the Reserve Bank will be injecting cash into the economy without changing money supply. In this regard, banks will exchange existing RTGS balances for cash thus maintaining the monetary base unchanged. 6. Financial institutions and Agents are required to strictly adhere to the Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) principles for all their customers at all times and ensure that there is no abuse of the payment systems. 7. Going forward, the Financial Intelligence Unit shall enhance monitoring of financial activities to ensure compliance. Breaking News via Email TULSA, Okla. QuikTrip is expanding in its home base of Tulsa, and helping Amazon customers as a result by providing the e-commerce companys branded lockers for online pickups. Tulsa World reports that new QuikTrips are under construction in the Tulsa metro area, the Generation 3 concept that features a unique fuel setup with dispensers on both sides of the store. Company spokesman Mike Thornbrugh told the news source that Tulsa is a growth area for the chain, which is also home of QuikTrips first store in 1958. Thornbrugh commented that QuikTrip has about 740 stores with 33 under construction nationwide. In addition to growing its store count, the chain has also partnered with Amazon and the e-commerce companys Amazon Locker service, which helps customers pickup and return their Amazon.com packages at a safe location. QuikTrip stores in Charlotte, North Carolina, offer the service, which have helped the retailer gain additional foot traffic. The news source writes that Thornbrugh said that talks with Amazon began a few years ago and the locker program was rolled out first to higher-population areas QuikTrip serves, such as Dallas. The lockers have been successful in the Carolinas because the stores are the larger Generation 3 format. At some point, it will hit the other markets, he said. Yves here. To underscore the point that Hubert Horan is making, you cant achieve a monopoly if you are a high cost producer who has no prospect of achieving economies of scale or scope in a field with few barriers to entry. As weve discussed, Ubers app is not difficult to replicate, Uber drivers now often work with multiple ride-sharing services, and Uber is particularly vulnerable to local driver consortia where the ownership is mutualized or charges to drivers are set at a level only to defray the cost of operating the enterprise. By Hubert Horan, who has 40 years of experience in the management and regulation of transportation companies (primarily airlines). Horan has no financial links with any urban car service industry competitors, investors or regulators, or any firms that work on behalf of industry participants Uber Is Staggeringly Unprofitable, Is the Industrys High Cost Producer, Cannot Grow Into Profitability, and Has no Meaningful Competitive Advantages Uber is currently the most highly valued private company in the world. Since its start in 2010, Uber has been on a steady path towards domination of an urban car service industry that had been competitively fragmented and structurally stable for over a century. This series of articles has focused on the question of whether an Uber dominated industry would actually improve the efficiency of the urban car service industry and improve overall economic welfare. Capital markets have invested $13 billion in Uber, producing a venture capital valuation of $69 billion. Have those investorsprimarily Silicon Valley billionairesbeen making society better off by reallocating resources from less productive to more productive uses? These articles applied standard financial/competitive analytic approaches used to evaluate the potential impact of major market restructuring caused by new entry or other exogenous forces, and/or major increases in industry concentration on industry efficiency and consumers. The first article presented the evidence that Uber is a fundamentally unprofitable enterprise, with negative 140% profit margins and incurring larger operating losses than any previous startup. Uber did not achieve any meaningful margin improvement between 2013 and 2015 while the limited margin improvements achieved in 2016 can be entirely explained by Uber imposed cutbacks to driver compensation. Ubers ability to capture customers and drivers from incumbent operators is entirely due to predatory competition funded my massive investor subsidiesUber passengers were only paying 41% of the costs of their trips, while competitors needed to charge passengers 100% of actual costs. The second article provided a breakdown of the taxi industrys cost structure, and demonstrated that Uber was the industrys high cost producer, with a significant cost disadvantage in every cost category except fuel and fees where no operator could achieve any advantage. It also explained that Uber could not grow into profitability because there were no significant scale economies related to any of these cost categories. The third article debunked a range of claims about potential sources of Uber competitive advantage that might explain its ability to drive incumbents out of business; none were based on actual evidence of industry economics, and none of the claimed sources had ever had ever produced major competitive impacts in any other industry. The findings from the three posts are entirely consistent with one another, and consistent with the conclusion that Uber could never generate sustainable profits in a competitive market. Ubers lack of cost competitiveness explains its massive losses, its lack of scale and network economies explains the lack of margin improvement, the financial and cost evidence is consistent with the finding that Uber lacks meaningful competitive advantages, and the lack of efficiency and competitive advantage is consistent with the finding that Ubers growth is primarily explained by the predatory use of investor subsidies. The critical caveat here is in a competitive market. This article documents that Ubers business model is focused on the pursuit of monopoly power. The elimination of competition is always problematic from an economic welfare standpoint, but there are certainly cases in other industries where dominance could be considered welfare enhancing or at least welfare neutral. But these cases require overwhelming objective evidence that the dominance was created by legitimate economic factors (huge, unmatchable efficiency advantages, powerful scale/network economies) that clearly offset the risks from reduced competition, and evidence that industry economics would create strong incentives for the newly dominant firm to continue to share efficiency gains with consumers. None of these conditions apply to Uber where growth was not driven by superior efficiency or scale/network economies; there are few benefits that could be shared with consumers, and no incentives to share any that might exist. Ubers Investors Always Understood That Financial Returns Required the Ability To Exploit Quasi-Monopolistic Industry Dominance, and Provided the Level of Financing Deemed Necessary Ubers investors and managers have always been totally focused on earning strong returns on its $13 billion investment base. Two simple questions (that could be applied to any company): what did Uber see as the source of investor returns, and were its actions (spending, management and competitive priorities) strongly focused on pursuing those sources of financial returns? The first three articles in this series focused on traditional product/efficiency based sources of financial returns that are broadly consistent with improving overall economic welfare. If investors can profit by introducing major product/technological process breakthroughs that vastly improve industry efficiency, or if their returns come from providing slightly better service at slightly lower costs in a competitive market, then both consumers and capital accumulators will be better off in most cases. There is absolutely no evidence that Ubers investors put $13 billion into the company because they thought they could achieve Amazon type efficiency advantages over incumbent urban car service operators. There is no evidence that Ubers managers or spending priorities were ever focused on creating welfare-enhancing efficiency improvements or consumer benefits. Unlike past startups, Uber made no effort to provide outsiders with evidence that its business model generated powerful efficiency advantages, or that it could actually produce urban car services at lower cost than incumbents. From its earliest days, Ubers investors and managers have always recognized that investor returns would require global industry dominance, and the elimination (or effective nullification) of longstanding laws and regulations designed to protect competition, and to protect consumers from the risks of anti-competitive market power[1]. This presumes that urban car services can be turned into a winner-take-all-game, where the winner can earn sustainable rents once quasi-monopoly industry dominance has been achieved. Dominance would also allow Uber to leverage its platform in order to expand into other markets that it could not otherwise profitably enter. As will be discussed below, the belief that monopoly power can be a major source of financial returns is widely held among the venture capitalists that funded Uber, and its spending priorities and marketplace behavior have been totally consistent with a company pursuing global industry dominance. But most critically, the staggering $13 billion in cash its investors provided is consistent with the magnitude of funding required to subsidize the many years of predatory competition required to drive out more efficient incumbents. Ubers investors did not put $13 billion into the company because they thought they could vanquish those incumbents under level playing field market conditions; those billions were designed to replace level playing field competition with a hopeless battle between small scale incumbents with no access to capital struggling to cover their bear bone costs and a behemoth company funded by Silicon Valley billionaires willing to subsidize years of multi-billion dollar losses. Given Ubers growth to date, investor expectations that monopoly rents justifies the current level of subsidies and financial risks appears quite plausible. The Silicon Valley Venture Capital Community Has Long Been Focused on Exploiting Monopolies and Extracting Rents From Winner-Take-All Narkets The belief that exploiting monopoly power from winner-take-all industries is widely held in the Silicon Valley venture capital community that funded Uber and other so-called ridesharing companies. Benedict Evans, a partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz summarized Ubers strategy as Fascinating city-by-city algebra to make the numbers work, plus massive burn in a play to conquer the world.[2] Sherwin Pishevar, formerly a managing director at Menlo Ventures, became an original investor in Uber because he believed the companys platform could provide the basis for sustainable rent-extraction and the companys model could scale globally. Uber is building a digital mesha grid that goes over the cities, Pushover says. Once you have that grid running, in everyones pockets, there is a lot of potential for what you can build as a platform. Uber is in the empire-building phase.[3] As PayPal founder Peter Thiel (who is a major investor in Uber competitor Lyft) said Always aim for a monopoly. Its one big transgressive idea, and youre not allowed to talk about it From societys perspective, its complicated. But from the inside, I always want to have a monopoly.[4] In an article entitled Competition is for Losers Thiel argued that Americans mythologize competition and credit it with saving us from socialist bread lines. Actually, capitalism and competition are opposites. Capitalism is premised on the accumulation of capital, but under perfect competition, all profits get competed away. [5] Under this line of thinking, the type of robust market competition designed to maximize economic welfare and ensure the efficient long-term allocation of resources is not integral to capitalism, and is actually the enemy of capital accumulators like Thiel, and needs to be vanquished. Many Aspects of Ubers Business model That Add Little Value in Competitive Markets Can Drive Significant Profit Growth With Industry Dominance With industry dominance, Uber could readily exploit artificial anti-competitive market power that would not exist if it merely achieved a large share of a competitive market. Anti-competitive market power would likely solve much of Uber driver cost disadvantage; once alternatives were gone Uber could not only eliminate the pay premiums they needed to fuel growth but they could actually drive driver take-home pay below the $12-17 per hour level traditional operators had paid. As discussed in the second article, Uber has already started making major driver compensation cuts, while continuing to mislead drivers about the true costs and capital risks of providing vehicles. With industry dominance, Uber could drive take-home pay (net of vehicle costs) even lower, while imposing strict employee-type scheduling controls on its independent drivers while still refusing to provide the pay and benefits employees are legally entitled to. Industry dominance would also give Uber much greater leverage over other suppliers (insurance companies, taxi manufacturers) than it enjoys today. Aspects of Ubers business model that create limited value in a competitive market could be key to rent-extraction with industry dominance. Surge pricing could be used much more aggressively without fear of competitive discipline. Dominance would force anyone who might ever want a cab to carry Ubers app, converting the app from a benign ordering tool to a monopoly controller of all information about demand, capacity and pricing, driver employment and compensation.[6] Uber could improve utilization by unilaterally imposing much higher prices for peak period and low density neighborhood service, although this would effectively eliminate taxi service for a major segment of (mostly lower income) users. This would convert an piece of publically regulated urban transport infrastructure into a privately owned and controlled discretionary consumer product primarily targeted at wealthier customers. The welfare impact would be analogous to the conversion of urban expressways into privately owned toll-roads. Higher fares would improve product quality for those with more discretionary income (shorter taxi waits on Saturday night, faster rush-hour commutes) but total economic welfare would be worse given the major service quality reduction for those prices out of the market. Much of Ubers Oft-Criticized Public Behavior Is Fully Consistent With Its Pursuit of Unregulated Monopoly Uber has been frequently criticized for behavior outside the norms traditionally observed by companies trying to build large consumer businesses. But these critics invariably make the false assumption that Ubers long-term returns depend on the loyalty of customers and drivers in competitive markets, and fail to recognize that its behavior is fully consistent with its long-term objective of unregulated monopoly. Uber has unilaterally imposed major compensation cuts on drivers, and left customers exposed to unexpectedly high surge pricing surcharges. Neither had material impacts on Ubers magnitude of losses (although bad press has forced Uber to contain its surge pricing), and its competitors worked to build trust with drivers and passengers with clear policies limiting both practices. These seemingly high-handed practices are perfectly logical if one assumes that Uber did these things to send an unmistakable signal that it will have complete freedom to impose whatever wages and prices it likes once it achieves market dominance. As far back as 2010, Uber willfully, openly disregarded local taxi regulations, not only pricing and entry rules, but driver screening, licensing and insurance requirements. A former Uber employee explained that its not just that Uber has adopted the business school maxim Dont ask for permission; ask for forgivenessit has instituted a policy of asking for neither.[7] Uber was not trying to deregulate taxi servicederegulation or regulatory reform assumes that democratically elected local officials have the authority to determine how local taxi service should be structured, and implies that all competitors should be subject to the same level playing field set of rules. Uber wanted the freedom to evade insurance and other costs that its competitors were still obligated to incur, and wanted to establish that it did not respect the right of democratically elected governments to control local taxi service and could disregard any rules it found inconvenient. Problems with passenger safety and accident risks led to major waves of bad publicity, and the savings from this regulatory arbitrage were not huge. But Uber was determined to establish that local regulators and politicians would (or could) do nothing to seriously rein in a company backed up by Silicon Valley billionaires that was heralded in most local newspapers as a cutting-edge technological innovator. By establishing that it could blow off questions about whether it was exposing passengers to increased risk of theft or assault, or whether it carried legal required levels of liability insurance in its early startup years, it made it clear that a vastly larger and more powerful Uber would feel free to exercise artificial market power with impunity. Uber worked to sabotage both the fundraising and operations of Lyft and other competitors[8] and initiated specific programs to intimidate journalists, including a program designed to spread details of the personal life of a female journalist who has criticized the company.[9] Despite attempts by company supporters to dismiss these actions as aberrant Silicon Valley bro behavior they were fully consistent with its desire to project an image that it was on an unstoppable march towards global industry domination, and prevent independent scrutiny of its actual competitive economics, or whether consumers would benefit if it achieved global dominance. None of the executives involved were ever disciplined and none of Ubers investors ever criticized it. Previous startups focused their external communication programs on explaining product advantages to target customers and explaining future profit potential to the investment community and avoided PR and lobbying spending until a strong market position had been secured. Uber made PR and lobbying one of its top spending priorities from the outset, and emphasized virulent attacks on incumbent operators and regulators. In 2014 Travis Kalanick described Uber as a band of heroic tech innovators who would provide massive benefits for consumers and drivers but for the overwhelming political power of taxi owners and regulators. . [W]e are in the middle of a political campaign and it turns out the candidate is Uber and the opponent is an asshole named taxi.Our opponent the Big Taxi cartel has used decades of political contributions and influence to restrict competition, reduce choice for consumers, and put a stranglehold on economic opportunity for its drivers. Ubers PR provided no information about how their alleged innovations actually benefited customers or drivers, did not mention the multi-billion subsidies that were the actual source of those benefits, did not explain how a highly fragmented and competitive industry constituted a cartel, and did not explain why the public should see Silicon Valley billionaires pursuing industry dominance as the disadvantaged underdog in a battle with those fragmented and disorganized incumbents. Uber brought in high-powered political operatives who had worked at the highest levels of government;[10] in Las Vegas Uber spent more on lobbyists than the entire casino industry, and in California had a larger lobbying team than any bank.[11] These major expenditures would have made no sense for a startup that was actually technology based or a transportation company focused on near-term profitability in competitive markets, but were fully consistent with Ubers strategic objective of eliminating (or nullifying) legal and regulatory obstacles to its eventual exercise of quasi-monopoly market power. All of Ubers actions represented a radical departure from past consumer product startups. Whatever Amazons strengths and weaknesses as a company, it did not demonize incumbent booksellers, make false claims about industry cartels and how its independent contractors earned $90,000 a year, its initial growth was not based on massive PR expenditures designed to prevent outsiders from understanding their actual competitiveness, or on massive lobbying programs led by close advisors to Presidents and Prime Ministers, and it was not using these techniques to drive more efficient booksellers out of business. Ubers Business Model is Entirely Based on the Destruction of Overall Economic Welfare, and the Transfer of Wealth from Consumers and Suppliers to Silicon Valley Billionaires. This series of articles has focused on the economics of Uber, and presented evidence that its current operations are staggeringly unprofitable, that it is far less efficient than the incumbent operators it has been driving out of business, that it has not introduced any product/technological/process breakthroughs that could explain its rising market share, and that all of its growth to date is explained by predatory investors subsidies. There is no evidence it could ever earn sustainable profits in a competitive market and he returns its investors are seeking depend entirely on achieving quasi-monopoly industry dominance and eliminating or nullifying regulations that might limit its ability to exploit anti-competitive market power. The unprecedented size of its investment base and all of the strategies it has been pursuing over the years fully support its objective of unregulated monopoly. If it reaches its objectives, the long-term impact of Uber on consumer welfare and efficiency of the urban car service industry would combine the impact of replacing todays urban car service industry with a higher cost, less efficient Uber operation, and the impact of replacing todays regulated industry competition with a completely unregulated monopoly. Since Uber would require $3-4 billion a year more than it is currently earning to provide investor returns, and has extremely limited scale economies, it will need to extract a significant fraction of that amount from consumers, drivers and suppliers via the exercise of anti-competitive market power. The growth of Uber reflects a massive failure of capital markets who have been reducing overall economic efficiency by reallocating resources from more productive to less productive uses. Even though none of Ubers services or operations are particularly innovative, and even though Uber has done little to disrupt the traditional economics of providing urban car services, Uber could easily establish itself as one of the most innovative, disruptive companies in history. It is disrupting the idea that private wealth creation requires the development of companies with superior products and superior efficiency than existing competitors. A key innovation is the use of massive private funding to block the signals that markets require to efficiently allocate resources, to overwhelm more efficient competitors and to nullify the laws and regulations that democratic governments had enacted to ensure that taxi services benefited a wide range of citizens, and to protect those citizens from the risks of anti-competitive market power. It is of course unclear at this point whether Ubers business model, if proven successful, could be readily replicated in other industries, but many investors will undoubtedly pursue the possibility No startup in history had ever created massive corporate valuemuch less the $69 billion Uber has created to datewith products and operations that were less efficient that were less efficient that the companies they were driving out of business. Ubers willingness to use its $13 billion cash to fund predatory competition was its most important innovation but money alone cannot explain its seemingly unstoppable progress towards industry domination. The next article in this series will consider other Uber innovations focusing on how Uber got broad portions of the mainstream media to enthusiastically support its efforts to eliminate competition so that it could transfer wealth from consumers to (already extremely wealthy) investors. Why would the overwhelming majority of the financial and business media applaud the growth of this specific private company, and make absolutely no effort to investigate whether its growth was based on actual efficiency or competitive breakthroughs, or whether its industry dominance would actually benefit consumers? Why would major newspapers and magazine celebrate a company that was openly disobeying democratically established laws in order to transfer a portion of urban transport infrastructure to the exclusive, unregulated control of private capital accumulators? ________________ [1] Artificial anti-competitive market power is used in this paper to refer to the ability to reduce consumer welfare by holding prices above (and/or holding output below) supra-competitive levels, without the risk that new market entry would discipline such behavior in a thorough or timely fashion. For a useful introduction to market power issues see Krattenmaker, T. G., Lande, R. H., & Salop, S. C. Monopoly Power and Market Power In Antitrust Law, Geo. Lj, 76, 241 (1987). Most analysis occurs in antitrust cases where market power is created or enhanced by mergers or collusion, while the Uber case presents a case of market power created by predatory behavior by a single, extremely well financed firm. [2] Johnson, Bobbie, How to Get Away with Uber, Medium, 22 Nov 2014 [3] The idea: Uber doesnt just set passengers up with drivers. Its a company starting to dream of becoming a logistical nervous system for cities. Lagorio-Chafkin, Christine, Resistance Is Futile, Inc. Magazine, Jul 2013.. [4] Cook, J., Peter Thiel: Always aim for a monopoly. I always want to have a monopoly, Business Insider, 2 May 2015. [5] Thiel, Peter, Competition Is for Losers, Wall Street Journal, 12 Sep 2014. [6] In a competitive market Ubers ordering app would be considered its platform, but with quasi-monopolistic dominance platform would refer to its control of the rules that govern providers, customers and all other market participants. Control of a market is a natural monopoly even though the industry marketplace is not. White, A., & Weyl, E. G. Insulated platform competition (2012). Available at SSRN 1694317. With dominance the app would provide the basis for controlling a rent-extraction business of the highest middle-man order. Kaminska, Izabella, The Sharing Economy Will Go Medieval On You, Financial Times, 21 May 2015. [7] Cushing supra note 64 [8] Fiegerman, Seth, Uber CEO admits he tried to undermine Lyfts fundraising efforts, Mashable, 5 Nov 2014. DOrazio, Dante, Uber employees spammed competing car service with fake orders, Verge, 24 Jan 2014. Erica Fink, Ubers dirty tricks quantified, CNN Money, 12 Aug 2014. [9] Smith, Ben, Uber Executive Suggests Digging Up Dirt On Journalists, Buzzfeed, 17 Nov 2014., Lacy, Sarah, The moment I learned just how far Uber will go to silence journalists and attack women, Pando Daily, 17 Nov 2014. [10] Including David Plouffe, Barack Obamas former Chief of Staff, and Rachel Whetstone, who had been a major advisor to British Prime Minister David Cameron Swisher, Kara, Uber Hires Top Obama Adviser David Plouffe as New Campaign Manager, Recode 19 Aug 2014; Swisher, Kara, Google Comms and Policy Head Rachel Whetstone Takes Over That Job at Uber, Recode, 13 May 2015; Carr, Paul, Bright Young Flacks: Camerons Cronies now drive Silicon Valleys most sinister propaganda machine, Pando Daily, 17 May 2015. [11] Figler, David, Viva Disruption! How Uber outspent the casinos to buy Vegas, Pando Daily, 22 Jun 2015, Uber now spends more on lobbyists in California than Wal-Mart, Bank of America or Wells Fargo. Kirkham, C. & Lien T., Facing regulatory roadblocks, Uber ramps up its lobbying in California, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jul 2015. The fake news site about fake news known as PropOrNot1 has been roundly derided, most recently by the New Yorker and the media watchdog FAIR, as an inept propaganda effort that has gotten far more attention that it ever deserved. Its worth noting that PropOrNots efforts, as Ben Norton and Glenn Greenwald at the Intercept, and Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone pointed out, were so obviously childish and overreaching that no reputable reporter should ever have regarded them as credible. However, PropOrNot didnt just make wild assertions that they cant back up. Theyve routinely said things that are simply false. A fresh incident involves the curious removal of five websites, including CounterPunch, from PropOrNots McCarthyite blacklist of 200 websites. PropOrNot tries to make it sound as if they persuaded these sites to see the error of their ways. From the bottom of the updated list: PropOrNot has been eager to get sites to contact them to engage in constructive conversation, as they suggested in Reddit that it would be just peachy if TruthDig were to reach out to us, though, we would probably have a constructive conversation with them that would result in their removal! In other words, PropOrNot, contrary to its claims of merely providing analysis, is seeking to act as a censor. In corporate-speak, constructive conversation is the sort of thing one has with an employee who is being put on warning for possible termination. Counterpunch disputed PropOrNots characterization of their, um, exchange. From editor Jeffrey St. Clairs diary: ProporNot has since removed CounterPunch from their blacklist following our demand that they do so and issue a retraction. Their site now claims, falsely again, that we engaged in constructive conversation with them, which is a curious way to describe a threat to sue them, a threat which we fully intend to follow through on, hopefully in concert with other media outlets theyve defamed. Counterpunch, per Josh Franks article, did have a few additional words with PropOrNot, the result of having to deal with a situation that ought to be seen as absurd but nevertheless requires handling. Frank reproduces this howler from The PropOrNot Team: If Truthout, Truthdig, Antiwar, BlackAgendaReport, etc, were to reach out to us like you did, things might well end up playing out very similarly to how this one has! Weve asked people to do that on our site. Several have. Others have not. This is a pretty bizarre effort to depict how PropOrNot capitulated as if it were PropOrNot getting an outcome it sought. As St. Clair said by e-mail: Joshs letter simply demanded removal from the list and a retraction. There was nothing at all constructive about the dialogue, except how quickly they wilted. But as Franks post describes, PropOrNot went to peculiar lengths to recharacterize what happened, with the effect of digging their hole deeper. Again from PropOrNot: If someone contacts us and the resulting conversation makes clear that they understand, for example, how Putins Russia is a revisionist authoritarian wannabe-imperialist kleptocracy that uses fake news as online propaganda, then we have a lot of common ground. That factors into our understanding of the merits, but more importantly, becomes a basis for constructive movement forward. As Frank comments: Huh? That isnt very sound methodology if you ask me, more like a shallow smear campaign manufactured by amateurs. PropOrNot will consider taking these sites off their blacklist, not based on the sites content but on whether or not they contacted PropOrNot directly and if they understand Putin is a bad hombre? Another example of PropOrNot just making stuff up, and not well, is this diagram which supposedly shows the output of some of its analytical work: Even though I have had only limited exposure to network analyses, even I could tell the chart was bogus. The fact that it shows two focus points for a large number of sites for 200 sites (or even a smaller number) with a huge number of articles among them is utterly implausible. George Washingtons Blog got corroboration from an expert, former NSA official Thomas Drake: The diagram is far too artificially symmetrical and overly simplistic. Its unidimensional manufactured evidence to create a certain narrative by positing faux scientific methodology that makes it appear legit, yet is really fake. We also have the curious way that PropOrNot tries to take credit for the work of people who want to have nothing to do with them. From Ben Norton and Glenn Greenwald: PropOrNot listed numerous organizations on its website as allied with it, yet many of these claimed allies told The Intercept, and complained on social media, they have nothing to do with the group and had never even heard of it before the Post published its story. At some point last night, after multiple groups listed as allies objected, the group quietly changed the title of its allied list to Related Projects. When The Intercept asked PropOrNot about this clear inconsistency via email, the group responded concisely: We have no institutional affiliations with any organization. Yves here. So when confronted with the fact that PropOrNots supposed best buddies had never heard of them, what do they do? They double down by changing the label for these players from the ambiguous Allies to Related Projects. Any reader would see Related Projects as describing a deep, ongoing connection, specifically, that these were undertakings where PropOrNot was either the lead actor or exerting significant control. In a New Yorker article that ran after The Intercept piece, Higgins was again critical of PropOrNot, which is at odds with how PropOrNot depicts their relationship: To be honest, it looks like a pretty amateur attempt, Eliot Higgins, a well-respected researcher who has investigated Russian fake-news stories on his Web site, Bellingcat, for years, told me. I think it should have never been an article on any news site of any note. The list is so broad that it can reveal absolutely nothing about the structure or pervasiveness of Russian propaganda. Its so incredibly scattershot, Higgins told me. If youve ever posted a pro-Russian post on your site, ever, youre Russian propaganda. So why havent Higgins and the other well-regarded actors on the PropOrNot Related Parties list asked to be removed? The Twitterstorm over who was depicted as in cahoots with them says many if not all are aware of PropOrNot hijacking their brands. For instance, both Mark Ames and I tweeted to Snopes, and I also e-mailed asking for a clarification of their relationship and never got an answer. Its difficult to fathom why these individuals and organizations are tolerating having their good names being used by shysters to legitimate their effort, particularly after theyve gotten so much negative press. Perhaps they need to take a lesson from Counterpunch and have a constructive conversation with PropOrNot. ____ 1 We dispense with the normal Internet convention of linking to this website, since we do not want to elevate its standing in Google. We encourage you to view our far more accurate, entertaining and informative spoof site, PropOrNot.org, instead. We trust readers will enjoy and link to our new site, PropOrNot.org: Your Friendly Guide to Better Propaganda. Its aim is to combat serious deterioration of the standards of American propaganda, with the ultimate goal of restoring the US to its standing of a propaganda export powerhouse. We include a case study on a site called PropOrNot that is so inept that it not only failed in its mission to institutionalize a blacklist of Evil Rooskie fake news sites, but got itself outed as a propagandist as well as laughable, half-assed, amateurish, childish, and a mess. The firestorm of criticism came not only from journalists but also experts on so-called information operations. This fiasco hampers its ability to run future missions. Our launch of the spoof site PropOrNot.org came out of a desire to create more balance among the responses to this McCarthyite initiative. The creators of the blacklist are so obviously incompetent that to the extent they were noticed at all, they should have been treated as objects of ridicule. But because they managed to latch onto red-baiting, which has a proud if unsavory history in the US, and because their work dovetailed with the desire of the MSM and big pipeline players to use fake news as an excuse to restrict the provision of content on the Internet, they received an extraordinary amount of attention. Formulating a proper response to this threat to an open Internet has proven surprisingly complicated, given the need to balance competing considerations. On the one hand, the bizarrely amateurish aspects of PropOrNot make humorous and other light-hearted responses, like Paul Craig Roberts request to Putin for a passport, and other websites complaining that they werent included in The List, quite reasonable. However, even these rejoinders are a bit of a double-edged sword: like a roast or comedy improv, they carry the joke further.which then risks reinforcing some of the underlying messaging. On the other, the enormous amount of credulous traction that the story has received in high-profile sources underscores the genuine seriousness of the affair. It is therefore entirely appropriate for affected parties to respond forcefully. Yet at the same time, it would be preferable not to feed into PropOrNots ludicrous self-image as a small band of persecuted Davids fighting a terrifying Goliath. One way to square this circle is to keep in mind that on their own, the unhinged enthusiasm of PropOrNot would have been ignored, or at most become a joke. It is only by virtue of the Washington Post giving it a seal of approval, and the media following blindly, that what is at best baseless rumor-mongering risks doing real damage to reputations, as well as to the ability to discuss controversial subjects without fear or favor. So in addition to responding firmly, as our related posts do today (see our demand letter to the Washington Post and the discussion of how PropOrNot is hopelessly and verifiably dishonest), we also thought it would be productive to include a more ironic response. Careful readers may recall that PropOrNot and its useful idiot Craig Timberg of the Washington Post flogged PropOrNots alleged expertise: a nonpartisan collection of researchers with foreign policy, military and technology backgrounds. However, if anyone in this group had any real tech or military chops, they would not have allowed yours truly to acquire the major related PropOrNot URLs (including propornot.org, propornot.net, propornot.biz, propornot.info, propornot.site, and quite a few others) even before the Washington Post story ran. I think youll have fun with the site. Please tweet it and link to it on Facebook. Encourage the other targeted sites to link to it as well. Since Google heavily favors recency in its searches, the more links to PropOrNot.org, the more likely that our spoof site will outrank the censor wannabe in Google searches. We would like to include our own own List of particularly noteworthy propaganda stories. Given that the father of propaganda, Edward Bernays, deemed half the stories on the front page of the New York Times to be propaganda, a full compendium would be overwhelming. Due to time and space constraints, we need to limit our version of The List to PropOrNot/Washington Post-level tripping-over-their-own-feet examples. We know that Ron Paul and others have provided rosters of journalists that have been purveying propaganda as news. If any of these can provide independently verifiable evidence of the validity of their lists, we will consider spotlighting them on our site. We welcome other submissions and suggestions, but remember: they have to be egregious enough to make the grade! Find the newest releases to watch from National Geographic on Disney+, including favourite documentary series and films Free Solo, The Rescue, Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth and The World According to Jeff Goldblum. Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Dec. 5 By Demir Azizov Trend: The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Uzbekistan on Dec. 5 will announce preliminary results of the presidential election, which took place in the country Dec. 4. The early presidential election in Uzbekistan was held due to the death of ex-president Islam Karimov, who passed away after suffering a stroke at the age of 79 on Sept. 2. Candidates from four political parties of Uzbekistan participated in the presidential election - Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party (UzLiDeP), People's Democratic Party (PDPU), Milly Tiklanish (National Revival) Party, and Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party. Among the presidential candidates were the countrys Acting President Shavkat Mirziyoyev from UzLiDeP, Sarvar Otamuratov from Milly Tiklanish Party, Nariman Umarov from Adolat Party, and Hotamzhon Ketmonov from PDPU. A total of 17.94 million voters cast ballots in the election. The CEC said that no violations of the Uzbek electoral legislation were observed during the voting process. Over 500 representatives from foreign countries and such international organizations like the OSCE ODIHR, CIS Executive Committee, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Association of World Election Bodies were monitoring the election in Uzbekistan. About 1,300 local and foreign journalists were accredited to cover the presidential election in Uzbekistan, according to the CEC. In accordance with the electoral legislation of Uzbekistan, the CEC must publish an official announcement of the election results no later than ten days after the election day. The inauguration of the new president will take place within two months from the date of announcement of the official election results. The president is elected for five years with the possibility of serving two consecutive terms. India is renowned for its rich and varied culture! At every nook and corner of India, you can find a lifestyle or culture very different from the other. Among the varied ethnic groups in India, Aghoris have the most bizarre and controversial lifestyle. PC : Mike Behnken The Aghoris are ascetic Shaiva sadhus known to engage in post-mortem rituals. Akin to their appearance, they have a very controversial lifestyle! Prevalent in cremation grounds across India, Nepal, and even sparsely across cremation grounds in South East Asia, the secrecy of this religious sect leaves no desire for practitioners to aspire for social recognition and notoriety. They are very often spotted in all the highly revered pilgrim centres of North India like Varanasi and Haridwar. Let's take a tour through the heart of Varanasi to get to know more about their controversial lifestyle and bizarre rituals! The unique, mysterious and secretive Aghoris! PC : Roshan Travel Photography Varanasi, or the ancient day Kashi, on the banks of Ganges in Uttar Pradesh is a highly revered pilgrim centre among the Hindu community. Called the spiritual capital of India, it is the holiest of seven sacred cities in Hinduism. Known for its pious pilgrim spots, it is also the spiritual headquarters of the Aghori sect. Aghoris are probably the most feared and most respected clan of Sadhus or ascetics of India! They are notorious for their uncommon and bizarre rituals, they perform as a part and parcel of their religious routine that arouse curiosity and awe among the public. PC : Juan Antonio F. Segal Baba Keenaram Sthal in Varanasi - Spiritual headquarters of Aghoris Baba Keenaram Sthal is a world fame spiritual centre and headquarters of Aghori sect across the world, situated at Ravindrapuri in Varanasi. The tomb of Baba Keenaram located here is highly revered among the Aghoris in Varanasi. Baba Keenaram was the first of Aghoris who laid down the foundation of Aghori sect. Some interesting facts about Aghoris - Nudity, Bizarre Sexual Practices & Eating the dead!!! Aghoris have the most bizarre of rituals! They have no qualms in being naked! They embrace nudity and are often seen completely naked, covering their body with ashes from dead bodies that are burned on a pyre. PC : Roshan Travel Photography The Aghoris in Varanasi and their stories are quite popular in every hamlet of India and Nepal! They claim to have medicines for even the deadliest of diseases today and are believed to possess supernatural powers! Any cremation ground or haunted house is regarded as holy by the Aghoris where they meditate and perform Sadhana. The shores of Ganges in Varanasi is one of the important places to find Aghoris and their lifestyle. Cannibalism is openly practised by Aghoris in Varanasi! They consume raw corpses from the cremation grounds and meditate after that! They are also known for their taboo sexual practices. They believe having sex in the midst of dead bodies gives rise to supernatural powers. The women partners are also smeared in ashes of the dead and the sexual act takes place while drums are beaten and mantras are chanted. PC : GoDesi.com If we walk across the streets of Varanasi, we are sure to bump in to a Aghori sooner or later! And it's not at all a strenuous task to spot one; their spooky fashion statement would help you to recognize them in a jiffy. Human skull is their favourite jewellery!! Aghoris believe that Lord Shiva is absolute, omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient! According to them, whatever happens in this universe, happens because of Shiva. You can spot numerous Aghori Sadhus during the time of Kumbh Mela! Feared by many, cast out from society and living amongst the dead, these simple holy men represent some of the most extreme forms of living to be found anywhere on the planet. Travel to the holy city of Varanasi to get to know more about their interesting lifestyle. Happy Travelling :) (As delivered) Good morning. Over the next two days, NATO Foreign Ministers will meet and address the most pressing security challenges we are facing and how we are responding. And first, they will discuss NATO/EU cooperation because stronger cooperation between NATO and EU is one key way to strengthen our response to a more challenging security environment. At a time when the peaceful order is being challenged in new ways, NATO and the EU need to work closer than ever before. Over the last couple of years, we have been able to create new momentum in our partnership and reach a new understanding of the importance of our cooperation. At all levels, from staff-to-staff talks, to my regular meetings with Presidents Tusk and Juncker, High Representative Federica Mogherini, and our participation at each others ministerials and summits. We have moved step by step, in a pragmatic way which benefits all our nations, and this week, I expect we will take a significant step forward: by endorsing a package of more than 40 measures to implement the Joint Declaration which I signed together with President Tusk and President Juncker in July in Warsaw. This aims to deepen our cooperation in seven areas. Including countering hybrid and cyber threats, working together in maritime operations, and on capability development. Cooperation with the European Union is also an important way in which NATO projects stability beyond our borders. Tomorrow we will discuss the progress weve made in boosting the capacity of our neighbours to the east and to the south, including our support to the Counter-ISIL Coalition, our training of Iraqi officers, and our new Operation Sea Guardian in the Mediterranean. NATO has many years of experience in projecting stability in the Western Balkans and in Afghanistan. On Wednesday, we will meet with Afghan Foreign Minister Rabbani, to reaffirm our commitment to supporting Afghans to secure their own country, and to review Afghanistans reforms, which are linked to continued international support. NATOs presence in Afghanistan demonstrates our long-term commitment to the fight against terrorism. It is helping to stabilise the region and stem the flow of migrants and refugees. On Wednesday we will also hold a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission. The security situation in eastern Ukraine remains extremely serious. The ceasefire is being violated every day, sometimes hundreds of times, with explosions from equipment banned under the Minsk Agreements. That is because heavy weaponry has not been withdrawn and only 13 percent of the equipment registered with the OSCE can currently be traced. As Ukraine continues to face Russias aggressive actions, NATO stands by Ukraine with strong political and strong practical support. This weeks meeting of foreign ministers is an important building block for our summit next year, here in Brussels. I look forward to welcoming the new US President Donald Trump to the summit, and to working with him and his national security team as NATO continues to adapt to the challenges we face. And with that, Im ready to take your questions. Moderator: We will start Ansa over there. Q: Good morning Mister Secretary General. You spoke about cooperation between the EU and NATO and the changing of scenario in this last two years. Today we have a major changes with Premier Renzis resignation after he lost the referendum on constitutional reform. What are the implications of this and do you think that Italy can face a switch in its posture towards NATO since the opposition have a different approach and social network today in Russia already claim Putins victory on Italian referendum. Jens Stoltenberg (NATO Secretary General): The outcome of the referendum in Italy is, the decision of the Italian people, NATO is the alliance of 28 democracies and the referendum in Italy is part of the democratic process. The outcome of the referendum will not in any way change Italys position in NATO. NATO will remain a committed and key ally for the alliance and, and ah, Italy plays a key role in many different ways in NATO and I look forward to continuing to work with Italy also in the future. I also appreciated very much to work with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and it has been a good thing to work with him addressing both the challenges NATO faces to the South, addressing the challenges we see in North Africa and the Middle East, but also in adapting to the way NATO responds to a more assertive Russia in the East. But this is an Italian decision, part of the democratic process and it will not change Italys position in NATO. Moderator: Europa Press over there. Europa Press Reporter: Thank you Secretary General. Do we have any more clarity when we will finally have the Summit, the President-Elect Trumps first Summit with NATO? Was it more thinking of March or May? Is there any more clarity and we hear that maybe the Summit as such doesnt take place in NATO premises that it might take place in downtown Brussels? Is there any clarity on this thank you? Jens Stoltenberg: At our Summit in Warsaw in July of this year we decided to hold a new Summit 2017. Then Allies, the nations are now discussing the exact date and the topics that are going to be addressed and discussed at the Summit. So its too early to say anything in detail when it comes to the date and the topics, thats something we will come back to when we have more conclusions to share with you. But the important thing is that we are going to have a Summit and especially in times with more uncertainty and more unpredictable security environment, I think it is important that we have Summits where we gather all the heads of state and government from the whole Alliance, from Europe and from North America to use the Summits to, to show the strength of the Trans-Atlantic bond and of the Alliance and I look forward to welcome the new U.S. President Donald Trump to the Summit here in Brussels and to address with him and the other leaders, how NATO respond, how NATO in the best way responds, to the new more security and more challenging security environment. Moderator: The lady over here second row. Q: Hello from Montenegro. (Inaudible). Do you expect that the new Montenegrin government will stay on course on NATO accession process and do you expect that NATO, that Montenegro will be a member of Alliance, maybe early spring of next year thanks? Jens Stoltenberg: I expect and I count on the new government in Montenegro will stay on course and I have met the new Prime Minister in his previous position. So I am absolutely certain that he will continue to make sure that Montenegro stay on course and continue to be committed to joining NATO. I am not able to tell you exactly when Montenegro will become a full member. As you know at our last foreign ministerial meeting we signed the accession protocol with Montenegro and the time that has passed since then we have started the process of ratifying the accession protocol in the different parliaments of the 28 NATO Allies. So far 14 Allies ratified the, the access protocol and we expect other allies to ratify it soon and I expect all allies to ratify not within too long a time, but with respect to all the different parliaments, I think its not right if I give you an exact date because this is up to the different national parliaments to make the final decision of them to ratify. Moderator: Okay. We will go over there. Please go to the microphone. Q: The past season was one of the deadliest seasons for the Afghan security forces and the number of attacks actually at this point, the Taliban are taking more territory under their control and the big attack on the German Consulate in Mazar actually shows the extent of their reach to main cities in Afghanistan. So if NATO is not going to change its combat role on Afghanistan how do you see the Afghan security forces coping with the challenges when the Taliban carry out their Spring offences in the coming year? Jens Stoltenberg: I would like to commend the Afghan Forces for their courage and their professionalism they have showed. We have to remember that, ah, since 2015 they have been in full responsibility for the security in Afghanistan themselves. NATO has ended our combat operations, what we do now is to help support, to train and to advise the Afghan Forces, but they are on the front line, they are responsible for security in their own country and it is actually quite impressive that together we have been able to build up an Afghan National Army and Security Forces, so around 350,000 troops and personnel and that they have been able to take over the responsibility. And I think that is one of the great successes of the NATO presence in Afghanistan is that we have been able to build local forces so they can take over and we then can end our combat operation but we never thought that this was going to be an easy task. I think we all knew that this was going to be a demanding task, that violence would continue and that we will continue to face the attacks from Taliban and from all the terrorist, or from Taliban and from terrorists groups. So thats the reason why we will continue to support the Afghan national security forces, both with training, advice and assistance, but also with funding, and some weeks ago I attended a Brussels conference where the international community decided to continue to fund Afghanistan with development aid but also support for their armed forces and police and NATO decided at our Warsaw Summit that we will both continue our presence, we will remain with around 13,000 troops in Afghanistan and we will continue to fund the Afghan National Army and Security Forces. So we are aware that it is a challenging and very difficult security environment in Afghanistan but we also see the courage and the professionalism of the Afghan forces and we are impressed by the way they are handling a difficult task. Moderator: Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe: Thanks you. Mister Secretary General, U.S. President-Elect Trump has previously called Afghanistan a total and complete disaster and called for a troop pull-out from the country. Now he might have changed his mind or he mind not have done so. My question to you is that how will such remarks impact the overall NATO commitments towards Afghanistan under Mr. Trumps presidency next year, thank you? Jens Stoltenberg: As I said we will have a Summit next year, here, in Brussels. I am looking forward to meet the new President Donald Trump here to discuss a wide range of issues. I guess we will also have ample opportunity to discuss Afghanistan which is NATOs biggest military operation. We have been there for many, many years. So I think it will be an issue which will, in one way or another, will also be addressed at the upcoming Summit with then the new President Trump being part of that discussion. We have seen reports from the phone call that took place between President-Elect Trump and President Ghani, some days ago and according to those reports President-Elect Trump expressed his commitment to Afghanistan and to continue support for Afghanistan. So I am confident that also the new administration, the new U.S. administration will continue to support Afghanistan and continue to be part of the NATO efforts to provide practical and political support, train, assist and advice the Afghan Forces. Moderator: Aviation Weekly first row here. Nick Fiorenza (Aviation Weekly): Nick Fiorenza. On this Summit, a timing question. The EU wants to meet Trump as soon as possible. Do you foresee the possibility that the EU might have a Summit before NATO and wouldnt it be better in fact that, there be a meeting with NATO, maybe even a back-to-back meeting with EU, wouldnt that be better for Trans-Atlantic bond and then as far as the ministerial is concerned are you actually discussing the Summit timing or is it not on the agenda yet? Jens Stoltenberg: The most important outcome of the foreign ministerial meeting that starts tomorrow, will be the package on stronger NATO- EU cooperation because we strongly believe that stronger NATO-EU cooperation is key for addressing many different challenges. So, I am absolutely certain that we will also find a way to coordinate a NATO Summit, with a US-EU meeting, when President, the new President Trump arrives in Europe. Exactly how that is going to be done, whether its going to be back-to-back or whatever, thats too early. So I am not really concerned about, as you say the challenge related to the scheduling. We will find ways to sort that. So, so we just have to wait a bit because we have also to remember, we have to remember that he is still President-Elect and its the 20th of January when he takes over and then the new administration is in place. So we will continue work with, or to have contacts with, the transition team but I guess that final decision and so on has to wait until we have a new administration in place. Moderator: The Ukrainian News Agency Union. Ukrainian News Agency Union: Here. (Inaudible), Ukrainian News Agency Union. Secretary General last week we had here in HQ, a Ukrainian delegation from the Verkhovna Rada (sp?) who said that Ukraine need deeper and more cooperation with NATO, like for example, in the frame of enhanced cooperation program. What will be your reaction on this and will this issue be on the agenda of NATO Ukraine Commission and what exactly you would like to discuss at the meeting in Wednesday thank you? Jens Stoltenberg: We are in the process of strengthening the cooperation with Ukraine because we have agreed on an extensive package which includes many different kinds of measures and efforts to strengthen the political and the practical support for Ukraine. We will have a NATO Ukraine Commission meeting on Wednesday, and their Foreign Minister Klimlin will update us on the situation, on the security challenges and I also expect many Allies and also the reform efforts, and I also expect many Allies to focus on the importance of reform in the Ukraine because to reform and to modernize government institutions in general but for NATO defense institutions in particular, is of great importance for Ukraine to fight corruption, its important and NATOs support for Ukraine is very much focused on reform, enabling them to strengthen their own institutions and their different defense and security institutions. We, we are, we have the different trust funds working on everything from cyber command and control and reform, but in addition to the trust funds and the NATO presence in Kiev and Ukraine, we also urge NATO Allies to provide direct support on a bilateral basis to Ukraine and several NATO Allies provide different kinds of support including training. So we will continue to support Ukraine, political support, practical support and we will continue to be extremely focused on the importance of full implementation of the Minsk Agreements and of course there are it is of great concern that we see so many violations of the ceasefire and of the Minsk Agreements, including that so much heavy weapon is not possible to trace and that we have seen that heavy weapons have been used in violations of the ceasefire. Moderator: TV 2. TV 2 Reporter: Yes Secretary General its a question about Turkey. Erdogan has signalled that he wants to make an ever closer alliance with China and Russia instead of Europe and you have the figures saying now that more than 110,000 people have either been arrested or suspended from their jobs after the fatal coup and the latest you have more and more media reports talking about Turkeys NATO officers, that are called back to an unsecure future, and some of them are trying to seek asylum in Belgium and also in other countries. Could you please comment on those issues and tell us what kind of problems do you see in those issues regarding the NATO, to the NATO, you know, traditional values. Jens Stoltenberg: Turkey is a key ally for different reasons but not of least because of its strategic geographical location, bordering Iraq and Syria, but also Russia and Ukraine in the North in the Black Sea and Turkey holds around 3 million refugees. So Turkey is key, both when it comes to NATOs response to a more assertive Russia but, also in managing and tackling the migrant and refugee crisis; and Turkey is key in our fight against ISIL. So, eh, Turkey is important for NATO and its important for Europe in addressing different, different kinds of challenges and security threats and challenges. I have visited Turkey several times also after the failed coup attempt and we have to remember that Turkey has not only suffered many terrorists attacks, but Turkey has also suffered a serious coup attempt where hundreds of people were killed and it was shocking to visit the National Assembly in Ankara, where I saw the damage caused by bombs from F-16s, bombing the National Assembly during the night of the coup with many parliamentarians inside the building and, of course, Turkey has the right to prosecute those behind the failed coup attempt. It is important that this is done in a way which is in accordance with the due rule of law. This is something that is important for NATO, not the least because the rule of law is one of NATOs core values, and I also welcome the contact between the Council of Europe and Turkey on this issue and we have discussed the importance of the rule of law and the contact between Turkey and the European Union during my visits to Ankara and also now recently to Istanbul where the issue was also raised and in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly the importance of democracy and the rule of law being respected in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt. Regarding the Turkish officers, I can confirm that some Turkish officers have applied for asylum in some NATO countries. We have to remember that it is up to the nations to assess and to make decisions on requests for asylum. Thats not a NATO decision, but its a decision that will be taken by the different countries where the Turkish officers have applied for asylum. Eh, yes. Moderator: Second row. Kuwait News Agency Reporter: (Inaudible) Kuwait News Agency. Sir will there be any discussion on possible initiatives to stop the bloodshed in Syria, especially what is happening in Aleppo, thank you? Jens Stoltenberg: We have seen appalling, eh, human suffering in Aleppo. We have seen renewed air strikes. We have seen, eh, that civilian infrastructure, including humanitarian aid and hospitals, have been attacked and this just underlines the importance of continued efforts to try to find a political solution. Thats not easy. There has been many attempts and they have not delivered peace and a cessation of hostilities in Syria but NATO will continue to support all efforts to try and find a political solution and to do that by, the first step will then have to be a ceasefire and the safe access of humanitarian aid to Aleppo and to all cities in Syria where many people are suffering. NATO is not present inside Syria. What NATO does is that we provide support for the coalition fighting ISIL and we will continue to provide support to the coalition fighting ISIL and of course Turkey, a NATO Ally bordering Syria, is also very much affected by the violence, by the fight and the migration and refugee crisis which is caused by the instability and the fight and the violence in Syria. Moderator: Russian News Agency. Russian News Agency Reporter: (Inaudible), Russian News Agency. Secretary General should we expect a meeting of the NATO Russia Council before the end of the year and according to the Russian site, NATO rejected its proposal to have concrete consultation on military arrangements on the flights over the Baltic Sea, if this arrangements will not be, if there will be no arrangements in this part, what other arrangements could be done in the framework of risk reductions measures that you was talking about the other day, thank you? Jens Stoltenberg: We continue to strive for a more constructive relationship with Russia and we strongly believe that in times when tensions run high its even more important to have dialogue, to have a change for political dialogue open, and we continue to pursue our dual track approach, with a strong defense combined with a, a dialogue and open lines of political communication with Russia. We have held two meetings of the NATO Russia Council so far this year. We are exploring with our Russian counterparts when the next meeting of the NATO Russia Council will take place and what we will discuss at such a meeting. We look forward to continuing the important work of the NATO Russia Council, including addressing risk reduction transparency, because with more military activity and with higher tensions its even more important to have transparency and to have mechanisms in place to avoid incidents and accidents. We saw the downing of the Russian plane over Turkey last year and we have to do whatever we can to avoid that kind of incident and accident from happening again if they happen make sure that they dont spiral out of control. We are in dialogue with Russia also on issues related to the Baltic Sea. I would like to underline that air safety is not only about transponders and technical measures but its also about airmanship, responsible behaviour and one of the reasons why we are exploring the possibilities for a new meeting with the NATO Russia Council is exactly to take that dialogue forward with Russia on risk reduction and transparency related to military activities. Moderator: NPR. NPR Reporter: Thank you Mister Secretary General. [Coughs] When we ask you about the human rights and values situation in Turkey you respond that the Council of Europe is looking into it and that Turkey is a key ally, but, given that its such a key ally are you not concerns about the stability of the country, the fact that the officers NATO knew and worked with our now gone , except for maybe seven I think, does this not concern you also and also my colleague also asked about asked the turn of President Erdogan towards Russia and China, are you concerned that as Russia becomes more and more a concern for NATO that one of your key allies may be warming up to Moscow even more, thank you? Jens Stoltenberg: The issue of the rule of law democracy was discussed during my last visit to Turkey, as it was also during my previous visit to Ankara. This time we met in Istanbul in connection with the meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and also during that meeting the question of rule and law and democracy was discussed and raised. So, these are issues which we discuss regularly with our Turkish counterparts and I have discussed it with President Erdogan, with Foreign Minister Cavusoglu and other political leaders but in addition to that, the direct dialogue we have also appreciate that the Council of Europe has established with Turkey because the Council of Europe is responsible for the European Convention on Human Rights and the Council of Europe has tools and mechanisms to address exactly issues related to the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights. So I, I think that that work of the Council of Europe is important but of course it doesnt replace also the direct dialogue that we have on these issues and we saw that for instance during the meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Istanbul just a couple of weeks ago where this was discussed and raised. Then I think we have to understand that Turkey has expressed, again and again and, most recently in my meeting with President Erdogan, that they are, they are continuing, or they will continue to be a committed NATO Ally and they contribute to NATO operations and NATO missions in many different ways; in Afghanistan, but also now addressing some of the challenges that we see in the Black Sea region which was one of the topics that I discussed with President Erdogan during my visit there and also of course in, in, in, in our efforts to fight, or to provide support to the counter-ISIL coalition and to fight ISIL. The fact that Turkey is talking to Russia it not contradicting that Turkey is committed and a key NATO Ally. Actually, for NATO, it is part of our approach to Russia that we talk to them, that we dialogue with them and I remember that after the downing of the Russian plane last fall, one of the messages that I conveyed was that we should direct contact Ankara-Moscow and then I welcome the fact that Moscow and Ankara are speaking directly with each other. I think thats part of the message from NATO about dialogue with Russia, not to isolate Russia. Regarding the officers, eh, we have to remember that, its up to every nation to decide who they send to the NATO Command structure. There has been some withdrawals of Turkeys officers but during my visit to Istanbul it was stated very clearly that these officers would be replaced and, and when it comes to those officers that have requested asylum thats not for NATO to decide, thats for the different nations to decide to assess and to make decisions on asylum at every request. Moderator: Wall Street Journal. No just behind. Wall Street Journal Reporter: On the NATO Russia Council meeting. How much has disagreement over the agenda delayed that meeting and could NATO agree to a more limited agenda that just dealt with the transparency and air safety matters or is it critical for the alliance to have Ukraine on the agenda of that meeting? Jens Stoltenberg: As we decided in Warsaw at the Summit we, ah, agreed to have a focused and meaningful dialogue with Russia. We stated also that Ukraine is an essential part of that dialogue and thats still the case. So Ukraine is an essential part of our dialogue with Russia, so one of the reasons why we think it is important to have a dialogue with Russia is also to raise those issues where we disagree and Ukraine has been discussed at the two previous meetings, and eh, and eh, we discussed different items, different issues, risk reduction, transparency but Ukraine has also been one of the issues that we have discussed. We think of course this kind of dialogue is also an opportunity to exchange views on issues where we disagree. When it comes to the work on the upcoming meeting of the NATO Russia Council, I am not going into details. I will just confirm that we are in contact with our Russian counterparts and that we are looking into when to convene the meeting and what to discuss and I will not comment on the details of that process. Moderator: Last question to Reuters. Reuters Reporter: Secretary General back to Turkey. When you met President Erdogan in Istanbul did you receive any reassurances whatsoever that the five Turkish officers can have anything more than just indefinite custody which is the case. Could you, did you receive any reassurances that they at least will face a fair trial, thank you? Jens Stoltenberg: The Turkish leadership has stated several times that they will respect the rule of law. I have started clearly that the rule of law is important for me personally, I attach great importance to NATOs core values and one of those core values is exactly the rule of law, democracy and I also welcomed that, in addition to the direct dialogue that we have with Turkey on this issue, and I have visited Turkey several times, just both before and after the failed coup, and I also welcome the fact that there are contacts between the Council of Europe and of course, the need and importance of respecting the rule of law also applies for officers, it applies for everyone who are in different ways, prosecuted after the failed coup attempt. Yes. Moderator: Thank you very much. Thats all we have time for right now but of course we will see you tomorrow and the day after tomorrow at the meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers. Thank you. Jens Stoltenberg: Thank you. (Natural News) The CDC has committed a serious crime, its called vaccine induced autism. Whats troubling is that the CDC whistleblower who blew open the information on the crime is being denied the chance to testify. His testimony would after linking the MMR vaccine to Autism. This is the first time a vaccine damage case has gone before a judge in 30 years. The case has been brought by the lawyers a 16 year old autistic boy, who is suing due to the CDC allowing a vaccine that caused his condition. The CDC, however, is denying any connection between the MMR vaccine and autism. Long time CDC researcher William Thompson, who is not allowed to testify, confessed to fraudulent activity involving the vaccine and the CDC. Research data has shown the correlation between autism and the vaccine was concealed. Thompsons testimony was denied by the CDC, whose whose head Thomas Frieden stated Dr. William Thompsons deposition testimony would not substantially promote the objectives of CDC or HHS [the Department of Health and Human Services]. The CDC is a major buyer of vaccines for the US federal government. If the boy wins his case in court there will be many more to follow, which could cost over a trillion dollars. The reason there hasnt been a vaccine injury case in US court for 30 years is because of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Act of 1986. The current medical malpractice lawsuit alleges the autism stemmed from improperly administrating vaccines in 2001. Dr. Thompson would like to expose the scientific fraud and destruction of evidence from studies he co-authored. The Whistle Blower Protection act prohibits Thompson from testifying under oath without permission from the CDCs director. Thompson has admitted the he and colleagues threw away data in an effort to avoid concluding that the MMR vaccine raises autism risks in children. His testimony would surely be stunning to the CDC where he is still employed. His bosses can keep him away from court citing his signed non-disclosure agreement with the agency. Thompsons testimony would incriminate many more CDC employees not to mention the major negative financial implications. Will we see any justice in this case? Sources: TheDailySheeple.com EcoWatch.com (Natural News) Food and water were once considered to be basic rights, belonging to the individual. Sadly, this is no longer the case. The rights to food and water have been sold off to the highest bidder, commercialized and turned into an indutry. Some might call it the bane of our health and wellness, others just call it Big Food. Big Food only sells us their food-like products at prices that make profits. Perhaps if this industry was comprised of many small businesses, it wouldnt be so bad. But, at least in Western society, almost all of the food and beverages we buy are owned and operated by just a handful of companies. Oxfam, an international confederation of charitable organizations focused on the alleviation of global poverty, has created an infographic that illustrates how a small number of corporations have a monopoly on grocery store shelves. A mere ten companies have managed to usurp control of many popular foodstuffs and beverages. This includes Nestle, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Danone, General Mills, Kelloggs, Mars, Associated British Foods and Mondelez. Each and every one of these companies makes billions of dollars each year in revenue, and have spread their presence across the globe. Oxfam has said that it took action and showed people who is controlling the brands of food and beverages that they purchase as a way to hopefully push the companies into making positive changes within their countries of operation. While this is important, the presence of such extreme monopolization in our food industry is also very concerning for a number of reasons. Monopoly power comes with many drawbacks except of course, for whoever is at the helm of the monopoly. When companies have extremely concentrated power like this, they hike up prices well beyond what can be justified based on production costs prices that are higher than they would be if they had any kind of actual competition. And with higher prices, consumers will demand less quantity. This, in turn, means that the quantity of a product being produced and consumed will be lower than it would be under a more competitive market structure. To put it simply, monopolies create prices that are far too high, and reduce production levels far too much. Product quality is also often an issue. The tactics used to establish and maintain a monopoly are often unsavory, as well. Driving competitors out of business or ruining the efforts of potential new players in the market place can also cause considerable harm to those who own the small businesses that are inevitably forced to close their doors. As an example, a larger company with plenty of resources may drop their prices drastically for a short period of time to regain control of the market place, and force their smaller competitors to close up shop. Of course, the consequences of monopolies arent just limited to the effects they can have on the economy. You see, large monopolies are also capable of yielding political influence. They are also often able to capture poltical and regulatory processes. Large firms may use their influence and financial power to sway legal and regulatory processes in their favor, or against any potential threat to its market power. Industries that have been monopolozied also utilize their newfound power to bring about changes that widen their profit margins. For example, over the last three years, Nestle has spent $11 million lobbying Congress in an effort to gain control of the water and cocoa trades. Most of these lobbying efforts have been spent trying to prohibit increased regulation in these industries, among others. Nestle Waters North America has donated directly to 16 different representatives and 8 senators, with spending split fairly evenly between political parties. Reports show that they are targeting members of key congressional committees, which isnt all that surprising. Earlier this year, Nestle somehow managed to maintain their right to bottle water in the drought-stricken state of California, following a federal judges ruling. The companys permit, granted by the National Forest Service, expired in 1988. Monopolies sure do have a way with ensuring rules dont apply to them, dont they? Sources: AnonHQ.com CBSNews.com MintPressNews.com Monday, December 05, 2016 by: JD Heyes Tags: aloe vera , NaturalNews.com , phony product , retailers This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author (Natural News) If you believed that you bought an aloe vera product at major retailers Walmart, CVS and others that actually contained aloe vera, think again. What you really bought was very likely only colored gel. Researchers examining samples of store-brand aloe vera gel at Walmart, Target and CVS found absolutely no hint of the plant in various lab tests, even though the product labeling all listed aloe barbadensis leaf juice another name for aloe vera as either the primary or secondary ingredient after water. There is no government watchdog agency that ensures aloe products are genuine, so thats likely why the duping has been occurring, Bloomberg News reported. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not handle the approval process for cosmetics before they are sold, and has never fined any maker for selling phony aloe products. As it is, suppliers are essentially on an honor system, even though the total U.S. market for aloe-based products, which includes lotions and gels, vitamins and drinks, has grown by 11 percent in the past year to $146 million, according to data from SPINS LLC., a market research firm based in Chicago. You have to be very careful when you select and use aloe products, said Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab.com, a White Plains, New York-based firm that has done testing on aloe products. The three chemical markers for aloe acemannan, malic acid and glucose were all absent in tests for Walmart, Target and CVS aloe products conducted by a lab that was hired by Bloomberg News. Instead, three samples sent to the lab contained a much cheaper ingredient called maltodextrin, a sugar that is sometimes used to imitate aloe. Gel sold at another retailer Walgreens only contained one of the markers (malic acid), but was devoid of the other two. Ken Jones, an independent industry consultant who is based in Chapala, Mexico, told Bloomberg that this would indicate that the presence of aloe could neither be ruled out nor confirmed. The Target Corp. would not comment on Bloombergs findings. Meanwhile, spokesmen for Walmart Stores Inc., CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., said that their suppliers had confirmed that the products they were selling were authentic. (By the way, all aloe products at the Health Ranger Store are verified by us to be 100 percent authentic). Between these four retailers, there are some 23,000 outlets. Bloomberg News noted further: The four gels that Bloomberg had analyzed were Wal-Marts Equate Aloe After Sun Gel with pure aloe vera; Targets Up & Up Aloe Vera Gel with pure aloe vera; CVS Aftersun Aloe Vera Moisturizing Gel; and Walgreens Alcohol Free Aloe Vera Body Gel. The lab that did the testing requested anonymity to preserve its business relationships. The lab where the product testing took place used a technique known as nuclear magnetic resonance, which found additives like maltodextrin and others such as triethanolamine, which is an emulsifier. In the samples, lactic acid an element that indicates the presence of degraded aloe vera was not found. Fruit of the Earth, based in Fort Worth, Texas, a brand that was founded in 1980, makes the gels for Walmart, Target and Walgreens, according to Bloomberg. The company, in turn, said that its aloe supplier is Concentrated Aloe Corp., located in Ormond Beach, Fla. The latter said that it uses fair trade, organic aloe that is farmed and processed in Guatemala. Both of those companies disputed Bloombergs findings. Weve been in the business a long time and we know where the raw ingredients come from, John Dondrea, Fruit of the Earths general counsel, said. We stand behind our products. Meanwhile, Tim Meadows, Concentrated Aloe Corp.s president, said that the technique nuclear magnetic resonance used to test the products is not reliable for cosmetics, due to the presence of multiple ingredients that allegedly cause interference, making it impossible to test for aloe in finished products. He also said that maltodextrin is not an adulterant a term referring to a substance found within other substances because it can be used during the drying process. And while some processing techniques for aloe remove acemannan, that does not mean that the aloe is not genuine, he said. Acemannan has been misinterpreted, said Meadows, noting that the cosmetics industry requires highly processed aloe. He said that it was not clear how that affected acemannan. Bloomberg noted that several law firms have filed suit against the four retailers, after separate testing also did not find aloe in their aloe products. Sources: Bloomberg.com NaturalNews.com Science.NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Proton pump inhibitors or PPIs a class of drugs commonly used to treat acid reflux and heartburn may increase the risk of ischemic stroke, according to preliminary research presented at an American Heart Association conference in New Orleans earlier this month. As reported by CNN, these drugs are among the most prescribed medicines in the United States and are widely available over the counter. Dr. Thomas Sehested, the studys lead author and a researcher at the Danish Heart Foundation, said that PPIs have been associated with unhealthy vascular functions, including heart attacks, kidney disease, and dementia. Given their increasing use in the general population, Dr. Thomas Sehested and his team were eager to investigate if PPIs also increase the risk of an ischemic stroke. Overall stroke risk 21 percent higher with PPI use According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 85 percent of strokes are ischemic strokes. An ischemic stroke occurs when a blood clot blocks the artery that supplies oxygen-rich blood to the brain. For their study, the researchers analyzed the records of almost 245,000 Danish adults, average age 57, who underwent endoscopy to pinpoint the causes of their stomach pain or indigestion. During six years of follow-up, nearly 9,500 patients experienced a first-time ischemic stroke. Dr. Sehested and colleagues assessed if the stroke occurred while patients were using one of four commonly prescribed PPIs omeprazole (Prilosec), pantoprazole (Protonix), lansoprazole (Prevacid) and esomeprazole (Nexium). Furthermore, they also looked at the records of people who used another class of acid-reducing medications known as H2 blockers, which include Pepcid and Zantac. Overall, the patients who took PPIs faced a 21 percent increase in the risk of an ischemic stroke, compared with patients who did not receive any of the PPIs mentioned above. The researchers noted that there was little or no greater risk of stroke associated with H2 blockers or small doses of PPIs. However, they found that at the highest PPI dose, the stroke risk increased from 30 percent for lansoprazole (Prevacid) to a whopping 94 percent for pantoprazole (Protonix). Study questions the safety of PPIs Since the study is purely observational, the authors were unable to prove cause and effect between PPI use and increased stroke risk. Nonetheless, they believe that their findings, along with previous studies, suggest patients should be cautious about using PPIs, many of which are now available over the counter. And not only should patients be more cautious, but doctors prescribing PPIs should also carefully consider whether their use is warranted and for how long. At one time, PPIs were thought to be safe, without major side effects, Sehested said. This study further questions the cardiovascular safety of these drugs. Furthermore, the team added that even though they did not find a clear link between H2 blockers and stroke, they could not say that this group of drugs would be better and safer than PPIs in the treatment of acid reflux or heartburn. Are there safer alternatives? According to medical professionals, the majority of people who suffer from heartburn or acid reflux could significantly reduce their discomfort by making a few lifestyle changes. These lifestyle changes include losing weight, quitting smoking, and cutting back on spicy and fatty foods while increasing the intake of fresh, organic foods. As a culture, we tend to want a pill to deal with our problems, when a lot of people could reduce their heartburn by eating smaller meals, drinking less alcohol or not smoking, Dr. Michael Katz told CNN. Sources: Edition.CNN.com News.Heart.org CDC.gov Edition.CNN.com (Natural News) The National Vaccine Information Center has issued an urgent call for all Americans concerned about the federal government forcing new vaccines on an unsuspecting public to contact their U.S. senator immediately and ask him or her to remove certain vaccine-related sections to a piece of legislation that will be voted on this afternoon. In a Facebook post, the NVIC warned that HR 34, a.k.a. The 21st Century Cures Act, contains provisions that would authorize the Food and Drug Administration to fast-track all new vaccines (Sects. 3091 and 3092). In addition, the group said, the measure would also provide a liability shield for fetal vaccine injury or death caused by vaccines administered during pregnancy. The 21st Century Cures Act is a drug company stockholders dream and a consumers worst nightmare, said Barbara Loe Fisher, NVIC co-founder and president. Making experimental drugs quickly available for the sick and dying, who voluntarily choose to use them, is one thing but Congress should not be greasing the skids to license experimental vaccines that government will recommend and legally require healthy children and adults to use. It is a prescription for disaster. The House originally passed the 21st Century Cures Act in July 2015, but then the legislation stalled. Many of the provisions were broken into smaller pieces of legislation, but over the Thanksgiving holidays, they were all reassembled into HR 34, which runs more than 800 pages. URGENT action needed call your Senators The website Age of Autism reported that the House passed the measure overwhelmingly 344 to 77. The bill would provide an additional $9 billion in funding to the National Institutes of Health, while authorizing the FDA to accelerate the rate of medical innovations (and vaccines). Thats not speculation, either. In a June piece for the New England Journal of Medicine, notes Age of Autism, Dr. Jerry Avorn wrote of the legislation, The law encourages the FDA to approve devices that were tested in shorter or smaller clinical trials and drugs that werent even tested in controlled clinical trials. Heres what else the law (written largely by Big Pharma and the medical device industry) does: Encourages FDA to rely more on surrogate measures than actual clinical end points in order to assess drugs and devices; Makes immediate changes to current drug evaluation standards with respect to antifungals and antibiotics by enabling FDA to approve them without clinical trials if the agency decides that the untested medicines can treat serious or life-threatening infections. Avorn wrote that the legislation would empower the FDA to accept nontraditional efficacy measures drawn from small studies or other sources. Would allow the approval of new drugs approved more quickly and without placebo-controlled trials. Why is the legislation needed? It appears to be an early Christmas present for the Pharmaceutical Industry, Age of Autism reported. And a bag of coal for the rest of us. The bill represents a point in our history where the central government is assuming authority and control over families regarding mandatory vaccines and, perhaps, other medical procedures in the future. NVIC advises: CALL your two U.S. Senators and ask to speak to the person who is in charge of HR 34, The 21st Century Cures Act. Tell him/her that it is critical all 3 sections, 3091, 3092, and 3093, are removed because they fast track the approval of all vaccines and shield drug companies and vaccine administrators from liability for fetal injuries and deaths caused by vaccines marketed for and given to pregnant woman. Tell them that if this bill passes without these sections removed, you will be demanding that your state legislators REMOVE ALL VACCINE MANDATES from state law. Click here for the U.S. Senate website, to locate your senators. Sources: Senate.gov AgeOfAutism.com Facebook.com Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Dec. 5 By Demir Azizov Trend: The presidential election in Uzbekistan was open and democratic and corresponded to the international standards, Rashid Alimov, head of the observer mission from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), said. Alimov, who is also SCO secretary general, made remarks at the briefing in Uzbekistan Dec. 5. He added that the observer mission members visited 181 polling stations in Tashkent and regions of the country on the voting day. "The mission stressed the high voter turnout during the election, Alimov said, adding that the polling stations were well equipped. He added that the observer mission members worked independently by guiding the principles of political neutrality and non-interference in the internal affairs of the country. The SCO observers worked in Uzbekistan from November 29 to December 5 at the invitation of the Uzbek Central Election Commission (CEC). The mission included 20 representatives from the SCO member-states, namely, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China and Tajikistan. The presidential election was held in Uzbekistan December 4. A total of 17.94 million voters cast ballots in the election. Candidates from four political parties of Uzbekistan participated in the presidential election - Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party (UzLiDeP), People's Democratic Party (PDPU), Milly Tiklanish (National Revival) Party, and Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party. Among the presidential candidates were the countrys Acting President Shavkat Mirziyoyev from UzLiDeP, Sarvar Otamuratov from Milly Tiklanish Party, Nariman Umarov from Adolat Party, and Hotamzhon Ketmonov from PDPU. Statistics show there are nine powerful countries in the world that have nuclear programs and house over 15,000 nuclear arsenals. Literally, anyone could be living close to a nuclear weapon right this moment. Activists have warned the public of the danger this brings, as a single arsenal could kill thousands and could have devastating effects that could last for generations. According to a report published by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the nine countries that develop nuclear programs locally are the U.S., UK, Russia, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea. That gives representation to large and economically powerful continents in the world: North America, Europe, and Asia. However, the problem does no stop there. Even though there are only nine countries in the world who are active in the development of nuclear weapons and warheads, it does not mean that people from other countries are safe. A report from Fiona Macdonald of Science Alert stated that many of these countries have nuke storages outside of their countries. For instance, the U.S. has nuke storages in Italy, Belgium, and Turkey. Both Germany and Netherlands are also hosts for nuclear weapon storage. There are also countries that are in alliance with nuclear-weapon-developing countries, which include but are not limited to Australia, South Korea, Greece, Norway, and many more. The U.S. and Russia have a total of more than 8,000 arsenals combined, a worrying sum for a lot of activists fighting against the development of nuclear weapons. According to a report from the Sun UK, there are instances in which some nuclear weapons are "accidentally" set off and are "undetonated" underneath the ocean and even buried underneath the earth. A recent study suggests that we are able to "coax" living cells into carbon-silicon bonds. This is the first time that we have seen that we can actually incorporate silicon, one of the most abundant elements on Earth, into the building blocks of living organisms. However, it is important to point out that such bonds have been present before -- in electronics. People can find carbon-silicon bonds in paints, semiconductors, TV screens, and computers. According to Science Alert, it's only through these recent discoveries that we have figured out that carbon-silicon bonds can indeed exist in nature. Silicon is the second-most abundant element in the Earth's crust after oxygen. However, scientists have found no indication of its involvement in any form of biological life. This is why silicon can never be incorporated into any kind of biochemistry on Earth. This fact has puzzled scientists for a while because in theory, it would have been easy for silicon-based life forms -- and not carbon-based -- to evolve on the planet. This is because silicon and carbon have very similar chemical makeups. Silicon and carbon share in the quality that they can form bonds with four atoms at the same time, meaning they can make long molecules needed to form the basis of life such as DNA and proteins. However, according to New Scientist, the new discovery can bring a new foundation to what alien life may be on other planets. Caltech-based researcher Jennifer Kan affirmed that before their study, no living organism is known to put silicon-carbon bonds together. It is also important to point out that Kan and her team were crucial in helping cells to form carbon-silicon bonds as it appears the cells could not have achieved this on their own. According to Caltech, the experiment is proof that these bonds can be present in the universe, given the right conditions. They did this by isolating a protein naturally occurring in the bacterium Rhodothermus marinus in Iceland. The cytochrome c enzyme was chosen because of its ability to transport electrons through cells. Tests revealed these are the kinds of bonds that are able to attach silicon atoms to carbon. After isolation, they inserted the gene for it into some E. coli bacteria to check if it could facilitate the production of carbon-silicon bonds inside its cells. The first iteration of the silicon-engineered bacteria did not do well, but they continued to mutate the protein gene within a specific region in the E. coli genome. According to Aviva Rutkin, three rounds of mutations forced the protein to bond silicon to carbon 15 times more efficiently than any synthetic catalyst.This discovery is exciting primarily for two reasons. One, it offers a new way to produce carbon-silicon bonds needed to make pharmaceutical products, chemicals, and fuels. Second, it hints toward life-forms that could be silicon-based. And if researchers continue to do this research, they can get an understanding of what they could look like. Frances Arnold, one of the members of the team, said in a press statement that this is proof that nature can quickly adapt to new challenges. She said the DNA-encoded catalytic machinery of the cell can rapidly learn to promote new chemical reactions provided the right environment. Last November, a freak illness called "thunderstorm asthma" had hit the Australian city of Melbourne, killing at least eight people. A week later, the same phenomenon had had the Middle-Eastern country of Kuwait, when a torrential rain hit the country. Five expatriate workers had reportedly died from severe asthma attacks and breathing difficulties following the freak storm, the Kuwait Times reports. According to Kuwait's local media, casualties included two Egyptians aged 46 and 34, and an Indian immigrant aged 35 who all passed away at Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital from asthma attacks during the storm. Two other expatriates also died of asthma after reporting to a health center in the district of Al-Farwaniya. Seven other expatriates were kept in the intensive care unit at Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital, while 15 others have been discharged after receiving treatment. "Hospitals received 844 emergency cases in two days, five of them died, three in Mumbarak Hospital and two in the Amiri Hospital," Khaled Al-Sahlawi, health ministry undersecretary, said in the report. "Twenty-six cases were admitted to intensive care units and 45 to rooms. The rest received treatments." The deaths in Kuwait came only about a week after a similar incident happened in Melbourne, Australia. According to CNN, a sudden drop in temperature accompanied by severe thunderstorms had triggered mass pollen allergy asthma attacks. When rain falls, pollen grains absorb moisture and erupt, spreading small allergenic particles that could irritate the lungs when inhaled. These particles could irritate and inflame bronchial tubes, which are filled with mucus and cause difficulty of breathing. After the incident, speculations have risen that the weather phenomenon is caused by a "biological warfare" agent being tested on humans, The Daily Sheeple reports. In Kuwait, rumors on social media about a pandemic virus outbreak of H1N1 have circulated. But medical experts dismissed these rumors and blame bad weather conditions for the respiratory problems in patients, Kuwait Times reports. In a press call on Nov. 29, US Air Force officials announced the agency is all set to launch its first upgraded Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) satellite on Dec. 7. The eighth among Pentagon's string of communication satellites into orbit, WGS-8 features an upgraded technology that will allow it to carry more traffic than earlier WGS satellite versions, Space Flight Insider reports. The WGS-8 satellite, Thomas Becht, SMC's deputy director for MILSATCOM Systems, said is capable of broadcast, multicast, and point-to-point connections anytime at anywhere around the world; supporting X- and Ka- band communications simultaneously and seamlessly connect the two bands; and has several spot beams that help resolve issues of jamming attempts. The $425 million satellite also boasts of 45 percent bigger bandwidth compared to all its predecessors. WGS-8 has been upgraded with a digital channelizer to ensure clearer and more efficient communication. In an article by Space News, according to information from WGS prime contractor Boeing, the channelizer splits uplink bandwidth into 1,900 sub-channels, giving communications more routes for transmission. In 2012, the US Air Force added $111 million to Boeing Satellite System's contract to accommodate the fitting of the digital channelizer to WGS-8 and WGS-9. WGS-10 will also have the same digital channelizer upgrade from Boeing, which reportedly costs roughly $340 million. The WGS-8 will be launched via a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket and will take off from Complex 37 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launch will be between 6:53 p.m. and 7:42 p.m. EST, officials say. All WGS satellites are built to last for 14 years. The US military is looking to have 10 WGS satellites up into orbit by 2019, with two already scheduled for launch. "There is an enormous demand from the warfighter for satellite communications," Attanasio added. "Unfortunately 10 dedicated satellites isn't enough to meet that demand," Space.com writes. Animal conservationists around the globe are lauding the efforts of Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev to save the snow leopards dwelling in the mountainous regions of the former Soviet-controlled nation. Last March, President Atambayev has transformed the Shamshy, a hundred-square-mile, free for all trophy hunting reserve found in the northern Tian Shan Mountains, into a safe sanctuary for the magnificent cat species. The conservation initiative is managed by the government in partnership with local and international conservation NGOs, such as the Snow Leopard Foundation of Kyrgyzstan; the Snow Leopard Trust; and the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. "It's incomprehensible that some Kyrgyz men, descendants of snow leopards, kill the cats and sell their fur to be fashioned into hats and coats. These men can barely be called human. Anyone who shoots a snow leopard shoots his own people. Anyone who sells snow leopard skins sells his own land," President Atambayev said in an interview with National Geographic. Protecting the snow leopards of Kyrgyzstan is of utmost important, as the country is a melting pot of two snow leopard species - the northern snow leopards from Russia, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan, and the southern ones from the Karakoram and Hindu Kush range - which are known to go on long, arduous journeys. Currently, the mountains of Kyrgyzstan is home to roughly 500 snow leopards, which according to the US-based non-profit Snow Leopard Trust, is a significant 10 percent of the total population worldwide, estimated at between 4,000 and 6,500 in Russia and 11 Central Asian countries. On the other hand, Whitey Award winner and acting executive director of the Snow Leopard Trust, Charudutt Mishra, is optimistic that, without trophy hunting and the continuous effort from the government to preserve and protect these animals, the snow leopard population in Kyrgyzstan could potentially double or even triple in the next 10 years. In its October issue of An Ounce of Prevention, wildlife monitoring network TRAFFIC estimates that between 221 and 450 snow leopards have been poached every year since 2008, or at least 4 every week. James Compton, Senior Programme Director of TRAFFIC said, "TRAFFIC's analysis confirms the worrying scale of illegal killing of snow leopards. This urgent wake-up call provides a blueprint for GSLEP action at national and transboundary levels to protect snow leopards from threats posed by poaching and trafficking." A massive rift in the Antarctica has been spotted by NASA, but the troubling details about the rift is causing the agency to worry. The ice shelf in Larsen C that is close to breaking off is as big as the size of Delaware. New images taken by the space agency taken on November 10 reveal a crack in the Antarctica ice shelf that is growing in size and depth. Scientists state it will eventually cause a huge part of the ice shelf to break off. In an association with NASA, scientists with the field campaign called Operation IceBridge had already measured the fracture in Larsen C. It is said to be 70 miles long and more than 300 feet wide. In addition, it is approximately a third of a mile in depth. "The crack completely cuts through the Ice Shelf but it does not go all the way across it - once it does, it will produce an iceberg roughly the size of the state of Delaware," stated NASA in a press release. If the ice shelf does break off, it would reportedly be the largest event since the recorded iceberg calving in 2000. The ice shelves breaking into icebergs might not immediately increase sea levels, but it would be enough to add new waters to the ocean before an alarming sea level increase is noted. Aside from the Larsen C ice shelf, researchers are also focused on a key glacier in West Antarctic. Research reveals that the ice sheet has been breaking from the inside out, which highly suggest that the warming ocean is weakening the coastal ice shelf from underneath. The study from Ohio State University add that if this continues, sea levels would most likely be raised. "This kind of rifting behavior provides another mechanism for rapid retreat of these glaciers, adding to the probability that we may see a significant collapse in our lifetime," stated Ian Howat, the associate professor of earth science the university. While the effects of the ice sheet melting may not be immediately felt, it may cause sea levels to rise to as high as 10 feet in the next 100 years. This amount would lead to flooding in major cities around the world such as Miami and New York. Flags will be flown at half-staff at all Alameda County facilities starting Monday in honor of the dozens of people who died in a warehouse fire in Oakland on Friday night. Alameda County Board of Supervisors president Scott Haggerty ordered the flags to be lowered following Friday's tragic fire in which at least 36 people died at a party held at a warehouse at 1305 31st Ave. in Oakland's Fruitvale district. "Our entire community is grieving over this unspeakable tragedy," Haggerty said in a statement. "On behalf of Alameda County, I extend my condolences to the many people directly affected by this devastating fire." Authorities said this morning that the death toll is expected to rise since only about 70 percent of the building has been searched so far. Search operations were halted at the site overnight because of concerns about the structural stability of the building. Haggerty thanked the first responders from several agencies who responded to the scene. He said he will also recommend that the county reactivate its Disaster Relief Fund to enable county employees and community members to make cash or online donations to victims of the fire. The county's Disaster Relief Fund was initially established following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and has been reactivated for several tragedies worldwide, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005, earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, and the mass shooting in June at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Dec. 5 By Demir Azizov Trend: Uzbek presidential election was held at a high organizational level, in an open and democratic manner, Sergey Lebedev, executive secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), head of the CIS observer mission at the election, said at a briefing in Uzbekistan Dec. 5. Public authorities and local government bodies, election commissions of all levels in Uzbekistan ensured the right of the citizens to freedom of expression during the election, said Lebedev. He added that the election demonstrated a level of political maturity of the Uzbek civil society, and that became a significant step of the country on the path of progress. Lebedev also said that the innovations in the Uzbek electoral law, introduced to improve the organization and holding of the election, have been fully implemented, including during the election campaigning, early voting procedure, providing voting opportunity for persons in custody in whose respect no courts decision was made, reducing the number of signatures in support of a political party candidate. The CIS observation mission for the presidential election started its work in Uzbekistan Nov. 17. The mission included 10 long-term and nearly 70 short-term observers from eight countries of the CIS. The mission visited more than 700 polling stations in all regions of Uzbekistan on the election day. The early presidential election in Uzbekistan was held Dec. 4 due to the death of ex-president Islam Karimov, who passed away after suffering a stroke at the age of 79 on Sept. 2. Candidates from four political parties of Uzbekistan participated in the presidential election - Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party (UzLiDeP), People's Democratic Party (PDPU), Milly Tiklanish (National Revival) Party, and Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party. Among the presidential candidates were the countrys Acting President Shavkat Mirziyoyev from UzLiDeP, Sarvar Otamuratov from Milly Tiklanish Party, Nariman Umarov from Adolat Party, and Hotamzhon Ketmonov from PDPU. A total of 17.94 million voters cast ballots in the election. Preliminary results of the election will be revealed Dec. 5. Time magazine narrowed downed its potential "Person of the Year" list to 11 finalists on Monday. The short list includes President-elect Donald Trump; Hillary Clinton, the first woman to become a presidential nominee for a major political party; Olympic gymnast Simone Biles; Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan; former head of the U.K. Independence Party, Nigel Farage; Beyonce; Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The Flint Whistleblowers, local residents, along with civil-engineering professor Marc Edwards and local pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, who alerted the public to the lead-poisoned water in Flint, Michigan, along with CRISPER Scientists, who have developed a groundbreaking new technology that can edit DNA, also up for the recognition. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was Time magazine's Person of the Year in 2007, made this year's shortlist, too. The magazine's editors each year select a person or idea that has most influenced the news and the world in the past year. Time has made the pick since 1927. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who opened her nation's border to hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and managed Europe's debt crisis, was Time magazine's Person of the Year in 2015. The year before that, the honor went to the Ebola fighters. The 2016 Person of the Year will be unveiled on NBC's "Today" show on Wednesday morning and Time.com. A South Carolina judge declared a mistrial Monday after a jury deadlocked in the murder trial of a white, former police officer charged in the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist. A panel of one black and 11 white jurors who had seemed close to a verdict to convict on Friday, with apparently only one holdout said Monday they were unable to reach a unanimous decision after deliberating more than 22 hours over four days. "We as a jury regret to inform the court that despite the best efforts of all parties we are unable to come to a unanimous decision," said Circuit Judge Clifton Newman, reading a note from the jury before declaring a mistrial. Former patrolman Michael Slager was charged with murder in the April 4, 2015 shooting death of 50-year-old Walter Scott. The judge had said the jury could also consider a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. Cellphone video taken by a bystander that showed Scott being shot in the back five times was shown widely in the media and on the internet, shocking the country and inflaming the national debate about how blacks are treated by law enforcement officers. After the video went public, Slager was fired by the police department and charged with murder. Scott's family called for peace in the North Charleston community. Their calls for calm are believed to have helped prevent the kind of violence that erupted elsewhere when black men were killed in encounters with law enforcement. Speaking at a press conference outside the court house, Scott family attorney Chris Stewart, standing with Scott's mother, Judy Scott, and brother, Anthony Scott, called it "a missed opportunity for justice and missed opprtunity to heal a lot of wounds in the country." "I don't care what man say, I dont care how it looks. Its not over. Y'all hear me, it's not over till God say it's over," Judy Scott said. Scott's brother, Anthony, thanked the people of Charleston for their support and urged citizens to protest peacefully. "We are not going to tear up the city. Keep it just the way it is," he pleaded. It's the second time in recent weeks a jury has deadlocked in an officer-involved shooting. A mistrial was declared Nov. 12 when a jury in Cincinnati couldn't reach a verdict in the case of a former campus police officer who was also charged with shooting a black motorist. The video in the Scott slaying renewed debate over how blacks are treated by white law officers. There have been similar debates over race and policing in places from New York to Ferguson, Missouri and from Tulsa, Oklahoma to North Carolina. Slager's wife, Jamie, cried after the jurors were dismissed and briefly put her head on the bench in front of her. She said "thank you for everything" to the defense lawyers as they left the courtroom. She did not respond when reporters asked if she wanted to comment. There were no outbursts in the courtroom One female juror wiped away tears with her hands and a tissue as the attorneys addressed them and thanked them for their hours of work. Slager also faces trial next year in federal court on charges of depriving Scott of his civil rights. While Slager is white and Scott was black, the video, not the races of the men, dominated the trial. Scott was pulled over in North Charleston for having a broken taillight on his 1990 Mercedes and then fled the car, running into a vacant lot. Family members have said he may have run because he was worried about going to jail for being $18,000 behind on child support. The prosecution argued that the 35-year-old Slager let his sense of authority get the better of him. The defense maintained that the two men wrestled on the ground, that Scott got control of Slager's stun gun and then pointed the weapon at the 35-year-old officer before the shooting. The defense also contended there was no way the officer could tell if Scott was unarmed. Much of the testimony centered on the cellphone video, which at times was blurry and shaky. The jurors saw the video numerous times, including several times frame by frame. The defense contended that there was much more to the case than the brief video clip that was seen worldwide. They focused their case on the seconds before the shooting that were not captured on the cellphone video, which was taken by a barber who passed the scene walking to work. Slager took the stand and testified that Scott wrestled with him and grabbed his Taser and came at him with it. He said he was in "total fear" at the time he fired his gun. "At that point I pulled my firearm and pulled the trigger," he testified. "I fired until the threat was stopped as I was trained to do." Slager, who was five-year veteran of the department, also expressed regret over the whole incident. "My family has been destroyed by it. The Scott family has been destroyed by it. It's horrible," he said. Last year, the city of North Charleston reached a $6.5 million civil settlement with Scott's family. In the wake of the shooting, the city also asked that the U.S. Justice Department conduct a review of its police department policies with an eye toward how the department can improve its relationship with residents. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is making its return to Chicago. The doughnut chain announced its newest storefront at 17815 S. Halsted Street in Homewood, is slated to open Jan. 10, 2017. The doughnut shop will be celebrating its grand opening by giving the first 100 customers in line free doughnuts. The first dozen customers will receive a free dozen Original Glazed doughnuts every week for a year, while customers 13 through 100 will receive a free dozen Original Glazed doughnuts every month for a year. Customers can begin lining up for their shot at a free dozen on Jan. 9, when the store will set up a heated tent and give customers a line placement number. Customers must wait in line until doors open on Jan. 10 at 6 a.m. We are excited to join the Homewood community with our first Krispy Kreme Chicagoland location, said Carlos Larcada, President of Chicagoland Restaurants, LLC. Were ready to turn on our Hot Light and serve up hot, fresh Krispy Kreme favorites. The store's opening will also mark the Midwest premiere of Krispy Kreme's new premium coffee, along with a 24-hour drive-thru. I am beyond delighted that Krispy Kreme Doughnuts will soon open here in Homewood, said Rich Hofeld, Homewood Village President. Their location in our Halsted Street commercial district is a great addition to the community and I look forward to stopping by whenever I am in need of something sweet. The Homewood Krispy Kreme will be open daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. A Frontier Airlines flight from Chicago to Palm Beach, Florida was diverted to Indianapolis Sunday night due to a fuel issue. Flight 1334 took off from Chicagos OHare International Airport around 10 p.m., airline officials said, before it was forced to make the unexpected landing in Indiana just before midnight. Frontier Airlines spokesman Jim Faulker said there were 205 passengers and seven crew members on board at the time. No injuries were reported. Chicago flight forced to make emergency landing https://t.co/LFqax1akLb pic.twitter.com/fxfLdkfIbt NBC Chicago (@nbcchicago) December 5, 2016 Faulkner said although the flight originated from OHare, the plane did not. The Airbus A321 aircraft is less than a year old, Faulker said, and had not shown any prior issues prior to departure. Officials say all of the passengers were put on another plane, which landed at the flights intended destination of Palm Beach International Airport around 6 a.m. Monday morning. A man wanted for shooting and killing a railroad security guard more than a week ago was behind bars Monday morning. Rashad Williams was taken into custody late Sunday night, according to police. The Harvey Police Department said it was the tips on the suspects whereabouts they received that helped lead to an arrest. Williams was found around 9 p.m. in the Chicago Heights neighborhood, police said. Harveys deputy chief said Chicago Heights police surveillance teams spotted the 24-year-old carrying grocery bags near 114th Street and East End Avenue. Police said they expect he will be charged with first degree murder for shooting and killing 38-year-old Tyrone Hardin. Hardin was working a second job as a security guard for Canadian National Railroad on Nov. 26 when police say Williams was fleeing from police and encountered Hardin. Williams then shot and killed Hardin, according to police, before stealing his car and fleeing. Williams was identified as a suspect days after the murder. A gunman investigating a fake news story about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a Washington, D.C., pizzeria fired shots inside the restaurant Sunday afternoon, police said. The gunman had an AR-15 rifle and a handgun, they said. Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, of Salisbury, North Carolina, was arrested at Comet Ping Pong in the 5000 block of Connecticut Avenue NW, police said. No one was injured. Rounds fired possibly struck the walls, door and a computer, police spokeswoman Karimah Bilal said. A man fired a shot into the ground inside a northwest Washington pizzeria as customers and employeeds fled the building. Derrick Ward reports. Lee Elmore, a bartender at Comet who said he didn't see a gun himself, told News4 everyone inside started to panic as the man walked to the back of the restaurant. [NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More "His demeanor was bizarre, in that if you come in to a place to eat, you ask for a host or grab a seat at the bar," Elmore said. "Didn't make any eye contact, didn't talk with anybody." Customers and employees ran from the restaurant. Police closed part of Connecticut Avenue in northwest Washington as they investigated a gunman at Comet Ping Pong pizzeria. The incident drew heavy police response. Dozens of officers with guns drawn were in the streets, and a helicopter circled above the scene. Police charged Welch with assault with a dangerous weapon. In addition to the rifle and handgun Welch carried, police said they found another gun inside the suspect's vehicle, which police towed away from in front of the pizzeria. After his arrest, Welch told police he was there to investigate a fake news conspiracy theory known as "pizzagate" involving the pizzeria in the 5000 block of Connecticut Avenue NW. Posts to Facebook and Reddit claim Comet was the home base of a child sex abuse ring run by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her presidential campaign chair, John Podesta. "What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories does come with consequences," Comet Ping Pong owner James Alefantis said. [NATL] The Fight Over Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock Twitter accounts drew connections between Podesta's emails, which were hacked and then published by WikiLeaks, and the pizzeria. Users of the online message board 4Chan saw Podesta had emailed Comet Ping Pong about hosting a Clinton fundraiser, then speculated Comet Ping Pong was part of a Democratic child trafficking ring, according to the New York Times. Politifact, a Tampa Bay Times project dedicated to uncovering the truth in Washington, found the conspiracy theory presented without documentation or named sources "fails to rise above rumor or hoax." Alefantis told the Times he received hundreds of death threats after the conspiracy theory surfaced. "We should all condemn the efforts of some to spread these malicious and utterly false accusations about our restaurant, Comet Ping Pong," he said Sunday evening. "What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences," Alefantis said in a statement early Monday morning. "I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away." Connecticut Avenue was closed between Fessenden Street and Nebraska Avenue NW but reopened about 6 p.m. after a police sweep of the area found nothing hazardous. Comet Ping Pong is closed Monday but will reopen Tuesday. A 51-year-old Cuban man who left a major clue behind after the massive pharmaceutical heist at the Ely Lilly warehouse and storage facility in Enfield in 2010 has been sentenced to seven years in prison. Amed Villa, his brother, Amaury Villa, and several others pleaded guilty to a federal charge related to the biggest heist in Connecticut history after $80 million worth of prescription drugs were stolen from the warehouse the night of March 3, 2010. Authorities said Amed Villa was the one to leave his water bottle behind. That clie helped them unravel a mysterious crime that sounded like something out of Ocean's 11. The thieves propped a ladder against the warehouse the night of March 3, 2010, climbed onto the roof, cut a hole in it, dropped down into the warehouse and disabled its alarm. There, prosecutors said, the thieves loaded more than 40 pallets of prescription drugs including thousands of boxes of Zyprexa, Cymbalta, Prozac, Gemzar and other pills worth tens of millions of dollars into the back of a tractor-trailer. The stolen drugs were found in a Florida storage facility more than a year later. Enfield police chief Carl Sferrazza called the heist "the largest theft we've ever had, not only in Enfield, but probably the largest pharmaceutical theft the country has ever seen." Another accomplice rented a hotel room in Flushing, New York, where he and Villa bought tools to use in the heist, and he drove Villa from Florida to Connecticut and back, according to prosecutors. Federal authorities said their investigation revealed that Amed Villa and others also stole more than $13.3 million in pharmaceuticals from the GlaxoSmithKline warehouse in Colonial Heights, Virginia, in August 2009; more than $8 million in cigarettes and a cargo trailer from a warehouse in East Peoria, Illinois, in January 2010; approximately $7.8 million in cellular telephones and multimedia tablets from the Quality One Wireless warehouse in Orlando, Florida, in January 2011, and more than $1.5 million in cigarettes from the Coremark Cigarette Warehouse in Leitchfield, Kentucky, in March 2011. During each of the thefts, Villa and his co-conspirators got into the warehouse through the roof, disabled the alarm system and loaded the stolen goods into tractor trailers, federal authorities said. Amed Villas DNA was identified on items discarded during the thefts in Connecticut, Illinois, Florida and Virginia. Amed Villa, who had been living in Miami, has been detained since he was arrested on May 3 and pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit theft and an interstate shipment and five counts of theft from an interstate shipment. Amaury Villa, Nunez, Marquez and Lopez also pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the Eli Lilly warehouse theft and have been sentenced. Two Connecticut men have been arrested after a home invasion and arson led to the death of a man in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The victim was identified Monday as 24-year-old Kevin Cabrera of Fitchburg. The suspects, 37-year-old Ramon Milan and 32-year-old Jose Crespo, both of Bridgeport, were arraigned Monday in Bridgeport District Court on fugitive from justic charges. They did not agree to be returned to Massachusetts and their cases have been continued to Jan. 3. Fitchburg Police and Fire Departments first responded to reports of a fire on Laurel Street late Saturday night. After further investigation, authorities learned that two masked men, one of whom had a gun, entered an apartment and started the fire after attempting to rob three people inside. Police believe the suspects broke into the house, assaulted the victims, tied them up, and then set the house on fire. The suspects concentrated their assualt on one of the victims while the other two managed to escape. One victim remained trapped inside and later died. Milan and Crespo are charged with assault with a deadly weapon, arson of a building, and armed home invasion. Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. called the crime, "horrific" in a press conference held Sunday. His office is working to secure warrants to bring them back to Fitchburg to face charges. Fitchburg Police believe the act was not random and that the victims were targeted, but the investigation is still ongoing. A Rhode Island woman was seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver on Interstate 395 in Thompson Sunday night, according to state police. Police said the victim, identified as Meredith Shaw, 32, of Scituate, RI, pulled over her vehicle on I-395 north near exit 53 and was standing outside on the shoulder when she was hit. Troopers found Shaw lying in the road around 9:15 p.m. She was taken to a Massachusetts hospital for treatment of serious injuries. Police did not have a description of the suspect vehicle but said the passenger side of the vehicle will likely have headlight and fender damage. Anyone with information on this crash should contact State Police Troop D at 860-779-4900 ex. 2020. The investigation into how an iron gate stolen from the Nazis' Dachau concentration camp in southern Germany ended up in western Norway may be complicated because "no useable evidence" has been found, police said Saturday. Police spokeswoman Kari Bjoerkhaug Trones says the gate with the cynical slogan "Arbeit macht frei" "Work sets you free" was found Nov. 28 under a tarpaulin at a parking lot in Ytre Arna, a settlement north of Bergen, Norway's second-largest city. "It has been there for quite some time with some junk under a tarpaulin. Our forensic teams have found no useable evidence like DNA," Bjoerkhaug Trones told The Associated Press. The gate was now in police care, she said, adding they have no suspects. The concentration camp near Munich was established by the Nazis in 1933. The missing gate, measuring 190 by 95 centimeters (75 by 37 inches), originally was set into a larger gate at the camp's entrance. More than 200,000 people from across Europe were held at Dachau, and more than 40,000 prisoners died there. The camp was turned into a memorial site, and the gate's theft in November 2014 was viewed as a desecration. The Dachau memorial's director described the gate as "the central symbol for the prisoners' ordeal." Israel's Yad Vashem memorial labeled the theft as "an offensive attack on the memory of the Holocaust." Jean-Michel Thomas, president of the International Dachau Committee that represents former prisoners, survivors and victims from Dachau, was "very happy" with the recovery of the gate. A replica was installed in the missing gate's place last year as part of events marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the camp by U.S. forces in April 1945. Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Dec. 5 By Demir Azizov Trend: Citizens of Uzbekistan participated in the voting at the presidential election in a free and open manner, Secretary General of the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) Kim Yong-Hi said at a briefing in Uzbekistan Dec. 5. The A-WEB secretary general was heading the observation mission for the presidential election in Uzbekistan. He said that the voting took place within the framework of the Uzbek national legislation, and the citizens freely expressed their will at all polling stations visited by the mission members. Kim Yong-Hi also welcomed the absence of facts when one person casts votes instead of all of his or her family members. The A-WEB was formed as an international organization in October 2013 with headquarters in Incheon city (South Korea). The A-WEB currently brings together 106 electoral bodies from 102 countries. The presidential election was held in Uzbekistan December 4. Candidates from four political parties of Uzbekistan participated in the presidential election - Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party (UzLiDeP), People's Democratic Party (PDPU), Milly Tiklanish (National Revival) Party, and Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party. Among the presidential candidates were the countrys Acting President Shavkat Mirziyoyev from UzLiDeP, Sarvar Otamuratov from Milly Tiklanish Party, Nariman Umarov from Adolat Party, and Hotamzhon Ketmonov from PDPU. Shavkat Mirziyoyev was elected as Uzbekistans president for the next five years. As many as 15.907 million voters or 88.61 percent of all voters who participated in the voting, cast their ballots for Mirziyoyev. During the presidential election in Uzbekistan on Dec. 4, 17.94 million people, or 87.83 percent of all voters cast their votes. Sixteen-year-olds Markos and Tamrat Bogale stepped off a plane into America for the first time this weekend; hoping their stay in North Texas will prove life-changing. The twin brothers from Ethiopia have long shared a common problem: severe cases of scoliosis. Markos spine curves about 60 percent while brother Tamrat lives with a 120 percent curve that leaves him unable to stand up straight. In Ethiopia, the funds and resources to fix that kind of disorder are scarce, but theyre finding renewed hope in the Lone Star State. During a pilgrimage to the African country this year, Dr. Theodore Belanger from the Texas Back Institute met the boys and examined their situation. Through a partnership with Medical Center Plano, Dr. Belanger and his staff at the institute offered to take on the brothers cases and to give them the care needed free of charge. So the Bogales made the trip to town where they will live with Belangers Chief Development Officer Cheryl Zapata and her family for several months while they undergo the multiple surgeries and long recoveries required to fix their backs. Its beautiful, said Tamrat about seeing America for the first time. The twins took in their first American church experience Sunday at Prairie Creek Baptist in Plano as they work to learn more of the English language and more about the American culture. Zapata said the boys are shy as they immerse in the new place, but clearly excited and grateful for the journey they are about to take. They will continue evaluations at the Texas Back Institute this week and then surgeries will be scheduled at Medical Center Plano. Police said they arrested a motorcyclist who led them on a chase through Dallas County Monday morning. Garland police said a man on a motorcycle later identified as 38-year-old Ronald Powdrill led officers on a chase through Garland at about 10 a.m. After 15 to 20 minutes, police said Powdrill left his motorcycle and ran through a yard where he was chased by a dog. Powdrill then ran into a grocery store in the 10800 block of Ferguson Road in Dallas. Police said they arrested him inside the store a few minutes later. No further details have been released. Check back and refresh this page for the latest update. As this story is developing, elements may change. The FBI has filed court papers to seize $5 million in life insurance benefits linked to a group of Irish Travelers and the bizarre murder of a 72-year-old housekeeper in Colleyville two years ago. In a court document filed in Tarrant County District Court, an FBI agent claims the beneficiaries, which include the victims son and daughter, are suspects in insurance fraud or the murder itself. The victim, Anita Fox, of Alvarado, was murdered while she was cleaning a house in Colleyville on Sept. 23, 2014. Police said the motive was insurance fraud; Fox had several life insurance policies worth $5 million. The beneficiaries are suspected of engaging in fraud and/or the murder, an FBI agent wrote in a motion seeking to seize the insurance proceeds. Fox's daughter and son-in-law, Virginia and Mark Buckland, were beneficiaries. Fox's son, Al Fox III, has also claimed the money. None of them has been charged with any crime. Family's Response Mark Humphries, the attorney for the Bucklands, of Mansfield, said his clients had nothing to do with the murder, have fully cooperated with police and have passed lie detector tests. Asked about the allegations in the seizure document, Humphries said, The FBI considers the insurance company to be a victim in this case, so they're trying to protect their victim. He said if the federal government is successful in seizing the money, the couple will continue to fight to get it. Seizing it and holding it are two different things, Humphries said. Matthew McCarley, an attorney for Al Fox III, said his client believes the Bucklands were somehow involved. "(The FBI document) mirrors what we've alleged," McCarley said. "They took out $5 million in life insurance on a lady who was a housekeeper. She didn't want that insurance. That's our position." McCarley said the Bucklands sold one of the policies to an Irish Traveler. Joe Gorman, a member of the Irish Travelers, committed the murder, police said. He died of natural causes near Houston after detectives had zeroed in on him but before any charges were filed. His son, Bernard Joseph Gorman Jr., previously identified in a report as Gerard Gorman, was later charged with Foxs murder. Police said he drove the getaway vehicle while his father walked up to the house where Fox was working and stabbed her. The younger Gorman has pleaded not guilty and is out on bond awaiting trial. The Irish Travelers are a nomadic group that travels the country doing odd jobs and is sometimes linked to crimes including insurance fraud, according to law enforcement officials. A dispute involving the beneficiaries and the insurance companies led to several lawsuits. The cases now consolidated into one -- is still pending. FBI Investigation Last week, an FBI agent based in Columbia, South Carolina, wrote in the court document that he started investigating insurance fraud involving Irish Travelers in North Augusta, South Carolina, two months before Foxs murder. A North Augusta insurance agent who wrote Foxs policies, Charles Mercier, told the FBI that he had lied to insurers to get Foxs policies approved and in one application, falsely claimed she owned a mobile home park, made $300,000 a year, had a net worth of $2 million, and had $900,000 in the bank, the FBI agent said. Mercier, who has not commented on the case publicly and has not been charged, could not be reached for comment. Court documents do not list an attorney for him. [[404793995,C]] Police said a woman died from a gunshot wound after officers found her at a home in Dallas early Monday morning. [[404737076,C]] Dallas police said they found the woman shot in the head in the 1300 block of East Kiest Boulevard at about 3:40 a.m. The victim was transported to a hospital where she later died. Shortly after officers arrived, police said a vehicle damaged by several bullet holes pulled up near the home. Police took a man and woman from that vehicle in for questioning. Police said they think the woman was possibly shot at another location and brought to the home on Kiest. No further details have been released. The search for victims in the charred wreckage of an Oakland warehouse resumed on Monday after a brief break due to safety concerns, with 36 bodies recovered so far in what's become the city's deadliest blaze. Authorities have tentatively identified 33 of the bodies, officials said at a news conference Monday afternoon. The families of 16 victims have been notified and five more are pending notification that their loved ones were among the dozens killed.[[404855626, C]] The death toll from the "Ghost Ship" warehouse that burned down Friday is expected to rise as firefighters continue a painstaking search for victims. Flames quickly consumed the converted East Oakland warehouse during a dance party, leaving the structure a mess of blistered wood and twisted steel. Seventeen names have been released to the public, while many others were witheld so that families can take a moment to grieve, Alameda County Sheriff's Deputy Tya Modeste said at a news conference early Monday. One of the dead includes the son of a sheriff's deputy.[[404830256, C]] Three of the victims were foreigners from Finland, Korea and Guatemala, officials said.[[404561696, C]] The investigation into the fire and recovery of the bodies from the illegally converted warehouse on East 31st Avenue resumed Monday morning after it was temporarily suspended Sunday night because of an unstable wall that was deemed dangerous, Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton said early Monday. Drayton said Monday it appeared the "extremely hot fire" may have started in the back of the building and burned underneath the dance floor. "We've got some areas where the steel is actually twisted and wrapped," she said. Power was shut down at noon Monday to PG&E customers in the surrounding area so that a crane and large equiptment, which could hit power lines, could be moved to conduct work at the warehouse. It was expected to last for about 12 hours.[[404753755, C]] The fire ripped through the warehouse on Friday about 11:30 p.m. and the cause remains unknown, but occupants saying the place was a "deathtrap," littered with junk, electrical wires and butane cooking tanks. Artists, musicians and mostly 20-somethings had gathered for an electronic dance party, one of countless such gatherings throughout Oakland over the years. The warehouse was an artist's "labyrinth" full of art, wooden structures, tapestries, musical equipment and other relics. People had been illegally living and partying there, according to witness statements, interviews and records. The blaze burned for hours and has cast a pall over the entire California Bay Area. Survivors described chaos inside the building as flames quickly burned through the two-story space. The power cut out and smoke filled the halls. "I feel like it was 30 seconds from when I looked down the hall to when it was pretty much engulfed. It was so fast," warehouse resident Nikki Kelber recalled. She and a friend, Carmen Brito, were able to get out of the building along with others. "We all looked out for each other, we all helped each other," Brito said of the people who lived at the space. President Barack Obama sent prayers Monday to the victims of the "awful tragedy" and their families, and said his administration was ready to assist local and state agencies. "While we still don't know the full toll of this disaster, we do know that an American community has been devastated, and many people including young men and women with their whole futures ahead of them have tragically lost their lives," Obama said in a statement. A criminal investigation was launched by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office on Sunday into possible criminal negligence. District Attorney Nancy O'Malley said Monday her office has sent a team to search for evidence of a crime in the warehouse, but has not yet determined whether a crime even occurred. She said potential charges could range from involuntary manslaughter to murder. O'Malley said anyone with information about the warehouse and the people living there can call a hotline the DA's Office has set up at 877-288-2882. Many in the artist's community are now focusing their anger at Derick Ion Almena, the founder of the collective who escaped the fire. His wife and children were at a hotel when the fire broke out. Almena also has a criminal history. People had long complained to Almena that his enclave was unsafe, and he had simply laughed it off, according to many comments on a now-deleted Facebook post. Immediately after the fire, he had written to lament the fact that "everything I had worked so hard for is gone." Facebook users excoriated him for not being sensitive to the loss of life. On Monday, he sent a statement to NBC News that read: "In my previous Facebook post, I had no idea there was a loss of life. This tragic event consumes me every moment. My heart is broken. My heartfelt condolences to the family and friends who have suffered the loss of loved ones." The deadliest fire in Oakland history until Friday, the Oakland Hills Firestorm, took place in 1991, when about 3,000 homes were destroyed and 25 people killed. A 104-year-old San Diego resident known as the oldest survivor of Pearl Harbor boarded a flight to Honolulu Saturday, where he will be honored at a ceremony. Ray Chavez, who lives in Poway, will serve as a special guest of the 75th anniversary commemorative ceremonies on Dec. 7. Seaman 1st Class Chavez was assigned to the USS Condor. On Dec. 7, 1941, he was asleep at home after a minesweeping mission during which his crew helped in sinking an enemy submarine. His wife woke him up with word of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Chavez raced to the burning Pearl Harbor and did not leave for a week. Today, he is the oldest known living U.S. military veteran of the bombing raid that killed thousands and pulled America into WWII. I never will forget [Pearl Harbor] as long as I live, Chavez said before boarding his flight at the San Diego International Airport Saturday. Alaska Airlines flew Chavez and his daughter, Kathleen a retired U.S. Navy veteran first class. Hes the oldest, and theres not too many of them left anymore, his daughter said. San Diego firefighter Mitch Mendler and retired New York firefighter Joe Torillo, who survived the 9/11 attacks, accompanied Chavez on the flight as honorary escorts. A special TSA line awaited Chavez at the airport, giving him his screening. And, as he made his way to his gate, stranger after stranger stopped him to take photos with him, shake his hand and thank him for his service. Chavez said hes humbled by the attention. Well, Im not exactly a hero, because there were thousands of other heroes, too. But Im very proud of the honor bestowed on me, he added. Arraignment was postponed Monday morning for a couple charged with killing the woman's stepsister and kidnapping her three children after her body was found on a remote road back in August. Britney Sue Humphrey, 22, and her boyfriend, Joshua Aaron Robertson, 27, were charged with killing Humphrey's stepsister and kidnapping her 2-year-old, 3-year-old and 5-year-old. Robertson refused to come to court and his arraignment was postponed to Tuesday morning. Humphrey was ordered to return to court on Dec. 15 to enter a plea. Both defendants could face up to life in prison. The couple was charged with murder and kidnapping in September after the body of Humphrey's stepsister, 26-year-old Kimberly Harvill, was found in northern Los Angeles County, in brush along Gorman Post Road. The sheriff's department said the victim had been shot in the upper body. After killing Harvill, Humphrey and Robertson kidnapped her three young children and fled to Colorado. The children were found safe in a motel outside Albuquerque, New Mexico, about 10 days later. Humphrey and Robertson were arrested a day after the children were found. Robertson is also charged with a count of possession of a firearm by a felon. A man died after being shot in the head around midnight on Saturday inside a South Los Angeles liquor store off of Hoover Street and Gage Avenue. Investigators said Julio Alberto Diaz, 40, got into an argument with another man before the man shot him. Diaz died at the scene. Irene Mendoza, Diaz's girlfriend of five years, said that whatever the men fought over, it was not worth a person's life. "He didnt deserve to die like this," Mendoza said. Outside the liquor store, several parked cars had shattered windows. A detective told NBC4 that the vandalism is connected to the shooting. Police do not yet have a suspect in custody, but detectives said surveillance video inside the store has led them to a person of interest. Police investigating a notorious gang in a city on California's central coast issued a fake press release that the chief credited with saving two men by deceiving gang members who wanted to kill them, but the ruse was criticized by news organizations who reported it as fact. Santa Maria Police Chief Ralph Martin defended the rare tactic this week when it came to light, saying he had never done such a thing in his 43-year career, but he wouldn't rule out doing it again. "It was a moral and ethical decision, and I stand by it," Martin said Friday. "I am keenly aware and sensitive to the community and the media. I also had 21 bodies lying in the city in the last 15 months." The phony announcement issued in February was discovered in court documents and only reported this week by the Santa Maria Sun, a weekly newspaper in the city 140 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The daily newspaper and local television stations were unaware the information in the release was false when they reported that two men, Jose Santos Melendez, 22, and Jose Marino Melendez, 23, had been picked up for identity theft and handed over to immigration authorities. In fact, detectives eavesdropping on the deadly MS-13 gang had raced to the home of the two cousins in nearby Guadalupe and took them into protective custody after learning hit men were on their way there. Kendra Martinez, news director at KSBY-TV, said she was "deeply troubled" that police misled the public and news organizations. "While we strongly support the police department's efforts to protect citizens in harm's way, we are concerned this type of deception can erode the basic trust of our residents and viewers," Martinez said. The sting comes to light as news organizations try to set the record straight as truth and fiction blur amid a proliferation of "fake news" spread by social media. Jonathan Kotler, a professor at the USC Annenberg journalism school, said there was nothing illegal about what police did, but it could raise questions about the department's future credibility. However, he said the public is unlikely to appreciate the importance of that issue, particularly when the police said it was matter of life and death. "If the press cries foul here, saying they were led astray by a false release, then you've got the press being angry about being misled," Kotler said. "But on the other hand, the cops would say, 'But look we saved lives.' In that kind of PR battle, who do you think comes off looking better, the press or the police?" Sending bogus information to the media to advance law enforcement goals is rare but not unheard of. Police in Ottawa, Canada, were criticized for issuing a press release with false information about evidence connected to a 2014 murder case so they could see how the suspects reacted. Sting operations routinely use ruses to lure deadbeat parents, traffic-fine scofflaws and people wanted for all kinds of outstanding warrants to collect prizes they think they've won. But those stings, while reported as news, don't make the press a player in the operation and don't dupe law-abiding citizens. "They used a public system paid for with public dollars to present false information to the public," said Marga Cooley, managing editor of the Santa Maria Times. Louis Dekmar, vice president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said he's only heard tactics like that used three times in his four decades on the force. He would only try such subterfuge in the rarest cases without other reasonable options and only after weighing the long-term consequences. "Any time you enter into a ruse that involves the media, it creates a real distrust between the police and the folks we rely on," said Dekmar, who is police chief in LaGrange, Georgia. "There's a symbiotic relationship between the media and police. You need facts in order to accurately report to the public. We need the media to report facts accurately to get assistance from the public." Martin said he did not make the decision lightly as the murder rate soared in the city of about 110,000 that typically has three to four homicides a year. Using wiretaps and surveillance, police learned the Melendez men, members of a rival gang who lost another cousin to violence seven months earlier, were about to be killed, he said. Police concluded they would expose their long-running Operation Matador if they made arrests, so they took the cousins into protective custody before the MS-13 hit men arrived. Figuring the would-be killers might harm family members if they thought the men were in hiding, police fabricated the press release about their arrests. After MS-13 gang members returned the next day looking for the two, police overheard a phone conversation with them discussing the news report that the men had been arrested for identity theft. Martin said it bought investigators another three weeks to gather evidence that led to the arrest of 17 gang members on charges of 10 murders and plots to kill eight others, including the two cousins, who remain under protection. Martin said he's taken some flak from news media, but he has also received about two dozen supportive calls. "I think if they were in my shoes they would have done the same thing," he said. Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Dec. 5 By Demir Azizov Trend: Uzbek presidential election was well organized but there was no competitive spirit, said Peter Tejler, head of the election observation mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). He made the remarks during the briefing in Tashkent Dec. 5. The Central Election Commission has carried out good organizational work. However, the level of competition could be higher particularly, there was no active debate during the candidates campaigns, he said. Despite the fact that the recent amendments to the legislation provide for the organization of debates, they were not conducted, said the mission head. If debates were organized, they would display competition and give more opportunities to voters to make a more well-informed choice, according to Tejler. Uzbek presidential election was held December 4. As previously reported, Shavkat Mirziyoyev has been elected as Uzbekistans president. Some 15.907 million voters or 88.61 percent of all voters who participated in the voting cast their ballots for Mirziyoyev. A man from Santa Monica was confirmed dead and a woman from Lakewood was listed as missing in the massive Oakland warehouse fire that has claimed at least 33 lives. David Cline -- a 24-year-old UC Berkeley graduate from Santa Monica -- died in Friday night's blaze, said his brother, Neil Cline. Cline is one of the seven victims who have been identified thus far. "We just received word that my brother, David Cline, passed away in the Oakland Fire," Neil Cline wrote Sunday on his Facebook page. "To all of you, thank you. Thank you for your kindness, help and love. To David, we love you. You will be with us always." A second Southland native, UC Berkeley student Vanessa Plotkin of Lakewood, has been reported missing, according to media reports. Friends and family of the 21-year-old Plotkin have been posting on Facebook desperate pleas for help in locating Plotkin. She has not been heard from since about 11 p.m. Friday, when she sent out a text saying she planned to go to a party in Oakland, the Long Beach Press-Telegram said. Her father, Gary Plotkin, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the family is desperate to locate her. "We're beside ourselves," Plotkin said. "This is just like a nightmare. I can't believe this." The fire inside the warehouse at 1305 W. 31st St. broke out Friday night while most of the partygoers were on the second floor of the building listening to a concert. The only way out of the building was through the first floor and the fire trapped many of the victims who couldn't make it through the downstairs labyrinth of artist work spaces and flames, authorities said. The building -- known as the Oakland Ghost Ship -- reportedly was a conclave where artists came to live and work together, according to a variety of sources. Photos of the interior before the fire are available at www.oaklandghostship.com. The Alameda County District Attorney's office has begun a criminal investigation into the cause of the fire, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said Sunday. "I want to confirm that we have activated the criminal investigation team," Schaaf told a gathering of reporters. "That means that we are engaging in protocol that allows a criminal investigation to be conducted." The victims of the fire ranged in age from 17 to their 30s, authorities said. The fire is the deadliest in Oakland history, and the seventh deadliest U.S. building fire in the past 50 years, according to NBC News. Where were you on Dec. 5, 1933? Wherever you happened to be, chances are you slipped into your finest threads, a party-ready get-up with some swinging fringe and sparkly dash, and hopped a street car for a club downtown, all to raise a glass to Repeal Day. The books were closed on Prohibition on that very date, and, each fifth of December, even over 80 years later, taverns and bars and restaurants across the nation pull out all the stops, or at least some fancy swizzle sticks and expertly made cocktails, to honor the libation-centered occasion. So bone up on the background of the Eighteenth and Twenty-First Amendments the amendments that stopped the sale of alcohol in the United States and, about 13 years later, reinstated it and hop a street car for... Eureka! This company has a few Southern California outposts (Woodland Hills, Huntington Beach, and more) and a ice-filled goal on Dec. 5: To make some very top-notch Old Fashioneds with Templeton Rye, all in honor of Repeal Day. The special price? They're five bucks each. The 1933 Group Restaurants: The name of this local boutique chain, which is all about the swanky sip spot stylings, recalls the end of Prohibition, yep. And, yep, the bars that are part of the group, from Oldfield's to Thirsty Crow to Bigfoot Lodge, will nod to Repeal day from 5 to 7 p.m. on Dec. 5. Find $1 Old Fashioneds at several of the 1933 bars, with $1 Tequila Presses at La Cuevita. Paley: This Hollywood eatery will start the Repeal Day doings at 2:30 p.m. with "five featured classic cocktails priced at $5." The Bee's Knees and Penicillin are two of the charmingly monikered refreshments on the special occasion menu. Tart: If you're catching up on some holiday shopping at The Grove, consider swinging by this Farmer's Daughter restaurant for a classic Mule. They're five bucks beginning at 4 p.m, and you can request the liquor you'd like the bartender to use, from a trio of standards. How long is this deal on? Throug close on Dec. 5. A Southwest Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Charleston, South Carolina, after a baby was born in the middle of the flight. Airline spokeswoman Melissa Ford tells local news outlets that Flight 556 was on its way from Philadelphia to Orlando, Florida, on Sunday when a woman went into labor. Ford says medical personnel who were on the flight helped with the delivery, and the family was taken to an area hospital when the plane landed. Officials say the flight and the remaining passengers arrived in Orlando just over an hour behind schedule. Oscar has his man. Late night host Jimmy Kimmel has been tapped to host the 89th Academy Awards telecast. While it will be his first time hosting the Academy Awards, the host of Late Night With Jimmy Kimmel is no stranger to taking the helm at major award shows. Kimmel has previously hosted the 2012 and 2016 Emmy Awards as well as the 2007 ESPYS and the American Music Awards on multiple occasions. Yes, I am hosting the Oscars. This is not a prank. And if it is, my revenge on @TheAcademy will be terrible & sweet. Thx to @alsformalwear Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) December 5, 2016 Chris Rock hosted last year's telecast, which occurred in the midst of a backlash focusing on the lack of African American nominees and subsequent #Oscarssowhite protests. That telecast drew only 34 million viewers, an 8-year low. This year's telecast will air Feb. 26 on ABC. Jimmy Kimmel chats about getting ready to host the 2012 Emmys. What does he think about moving Jimmy Kimmel Live! to go up against Jay Leno and David Lettermans shows? What to Know Last week, a judge denied Bill Brennan's request to appoint a special prosecutor in the official misconduct case Brennan filed a motion to appeal, saying a special prosecutor is needed to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest Christie's attorneys and the judge have said Brennan lacks the legal standing to make such a request The activist and former firefighter who filed a citizen's official misconduct complaint against Chris Christie in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal has announced his intention to run for New Jersey governor in 2017. Bill Brennan made the announcement at a news briefing Monday, pitting himself against John Wisniewski, the longtime state assemblyman who co-chaired the legislative inquiry into the bridge scandal, ex-Goldman Sachs executive Phil Murphy and former U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Enforcement Jim Johnson in the Democratic primary. Brennan, a former Teaneck firefighter, also said he would appeal a judge's decision last week not to appoint a special prosecutor in the official misconduct case against Christie. Brennan filed the complaint earlier this year alleging that Christie failed to order subordinates to reopen the bridge access lanes from Fort Lee after it became clear that the September 2013 lane closures were adversely affecting the flow of traffic. A different judge ruled that there was probable cause to let the complaint go forward in October. On Friday, Superior Court Judge Bonnie Mizdol dismissed Brennan's request to appoint a special prosecutor, saying that the Wayne resident lacked the standing to make such a request. In his appeal, Brennan said a citizen complainant is barred from pursuing two courses of legal action that a special appointed prosecutor would be allowed to follow. He also said the current prosecutors are beholden to Christie, which he alleged would compromise their ability to ensure justice would be served. "The world is watching as a defendant controls his prosecutors, this is an astonishingly embarrassing spectacle that must be curtailed," he writes in the motion to appeal. "As an issue of first impression your decision constitutes the foundation for all of the law to be decided on these facts. Thus far, Your Honor avoids the issue entirely via the resolution of unasked questions rather than addressing salient issues of Constitutional impact." Brennan, representing himself, argued before Mizdol last week that a special prosecutor was needed to remove the appearance of a conflict of interest. Attorney General Chris Porrino and Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal, both appointed by Christie, have recused themselves from the case, but Brennan argued that their subordinates also should be recused. Grewal's subordinates are not appointees. "The conflict is real and it's palpable. They're all on the same side, figuratively, literally and visually," he said as he pointed to lawyers representing the prosecutor's office, attorney general's office and Christie. One of Christie's attorneys said it was an "insult to the process" to say that assistant county prosecutors couldn't be fair, and accused Brennan of grandstanding. Christie has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and was never charged in the scheme to create traffic jams on the country's busiest bridge as political payback to a mayor who didn't endorse the governor's re-election. Two former Christie allies were recently convicted in the case, and a third earlier pleaded guilty and testified against them. What to Know A 25-year-old city correction officer was shot as she sat in her car in Brooklyn on Sunday night, police said A filmmaker from New Jersey is among the people missing in the Oakland warehouse fire; at least 33 people were killed in the Friday blaze Donald Trump has announced that he he has picked former rival Ben Carson to be the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Get the top headlines of the day in your morning briefing from NBC 4 New York, Monday through Friday. Sign up for our newsletter here. Correction Officer Fatally Shot An off-duty New York City correction officer was shot to death in her car Sunday night in Brooklyn, police said. Alastasia Bryan, 25, was behind the wheel of her car at Avenue L and 73rd Street in the Flatlands around 9:15 p.m. when someone came up and fired into the vehicle. Bryan suffered gun shot wounds to her head and torso. She died at the scene, police said. Police hadnt made any arrests by Monday morning, but they said investigators had recovered surveillance video showing a man getting out of a vehicle and walking up to Bryans car and opening fire. He then fled the scene, according to police. NJ Filmmaker Missing After Fire A filmmaker from Orange, New Jersey, is among the missing after a deadly fire tore through a warehouse in Oakland, California, during a music festival there on Friday night. Friends and family of filmmaker Alex Ghassan were holding out hope but fearing for the worst on Sunday, two days after the blaze killed at least 33 people in what has since been deemed one of the countrys deadliest structure fires. Ghassan posted Instagram video that appears to be from inside the warehouse dance party just an hour before the deadly fire broke out. Seven victims of the fire have been identified. In a tragic twist, the city of Oakland said that it started investigating whether people were illegally living in the warehouse less than three weeks ago. Heres how you can help the victims. Trump Picks Ben Carson President-elect Donald Trump picked retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson to be Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Trump said in a statement Monday that his former campaign rival "has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities. Carson had previously said he was not interested in serving in Trump's administration. Meanwhile, a federal judge ruled in a late-night order that Michigan must begin its presidential recount at noon Monday. The order could make it more likely that the state will complete the count ahead of a Dec. 13 deadline. In his ruling Sunday night, Judge Mark Goldsmith rejected an effort by state officials to delay the hand-counting of about 4.8 million ballots. Pipeline Protest Victory Protesters celebrated a major victory in their push to reroute the Dakota Access oil pipeline away from a tribal water source but pledged to remain camped on federal land in North Dakota anyway, despite Monday's government deadline to leave. Hundreds of people at the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires, encampment cheered and chanted "mni wichoni" "water is life" in Lakota Sioux after the Army Corps of Engineers refused Sunday to grant the company permission to extend the pipeline beneath a Missouri River reservoir. The company constructing the pipeline, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, released a statement Sunday night slamming the Army Corps' decision. The protesters victory could be short-lived with President-elect Donald Trump, a pipeline supporter, taking office in January. Violent Robbery in Central Park A man was attacked and robbed by four men in Central Park on Sunday night, police said. The man was robbed near Tavern on the Green just after 8 p.m. He was hit in the head and robbed of $55, according to police. While Central Park is statistically safer than ever, the attempted rape of a jogger there in October led to an increase in police patrols. NYPD statistics show that violent crime is up in the citys parks. A man who authorities said shouted "go back to your country" at a Muslim woman wearing a religious head covering may have picked the wrong target: a decorated New York City police officer. Officer Aml Elsokary, a New York City native who joined the force after the Sept. 11 attacks, said she was off duty in her Brooklyn neighborhood Saturday when she encountered a man yelling and pushing her 16-year-old son. When she intervened, she said, the man referenced the Islamic State group and threatened to slit her throat. It was the first time anything like that had happened to her, she said at a news conference with the city's mayor Monday. "I became a police officer to show the positive side of a New Yorker, a Muslim woman, that can do the job," Elsokary said. "I help everybody, no matter what your religion, what's your faith, what you do in New York. I'm born and raised here." The man accused of making the threat, Christopher Nelson, 36, was arraigned Monday on a felony charge of menacing as a hate crime. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The encounter was one of a number of alleged episodes of religious or racial bigotry reported in the city in recent days. On Monday, a transit worker who is Muslim was pushed down the stairs at Grand Central Terminal by a man who called her a terrorist, police said. The station agent, who was wearing a religious head covering, was attacked while on her way to work. She was treated at a hospital for ankle and knee injuries. Gov. Andrew Cuomo also noted in a statement that a subway train was vandalized with swastikas on Saturday, and Ku Klux Klan materials were distributed at Long Island Rail Road stations last week. The police department cited Elsokary for bravery in 2014 after she and a partner ran into a burning building to save a baby. Police Commissioner James O'Neill recalled visiting Elsokary at the hospital where she and her partner were treated for smoke inhalation. "You and your partner did a tremendous job that day," O'Neill told her at Monday's news conference. Mayor Bill De Blasio said there are 900 Muslims serving as New York City police officers, on a force of about 36,000. "In 2014, she ran into a burning building and helped to save a young girl and her grandmother. And, then, on Saturday, she had to experience a man allegedly yelling at her and her son, 'Go back to your country,'" said de Blasio. "Well this is Officer Elsokary's country. She is an American. She is a New Yorker. She's already at home." [[404659556, C]] [NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More Tehran, Iran, December 4 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: Iran and Australia are engaged in activities to promote bilateral trade and things have gone very well, Australian Ambassador to Tehran Jan Biggs told Trend December 3. "The biggest event for us was the reopening of the Australian Trade Commission two months ago," he said. "Our trade minister Mr. Steven Ciobo came here, had a wonderful visit, signed a number of MoUs, talked to the ministry of energy and science and also the minister for industry and trade. Everything was good." Mr. Biggs said Australian firms are highly interested in opening ties with Iran as the Iranian economy has opened up international business in the post-sanctions era. "There are a number of Australian firms having great interest in the issue," he said. "We will have to see how they work to prequalify for the international petroleum contract and also many of them which are involved in traditional trade in agriculture and commodities." Iran was freed from international sanctions following the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in early 2016. Since then, the country has managed to make preliminary agreements and in some case sign contracts with international companies. The Australian ambassador also pinpointed the sectors that Australian firms are most interested in as they come to Iran. "The things we are doing best and we are most hopeful about for the future are services in the mining sector and business in general," he said. Executives from GrainCorp, WorleyParsons, LiveCorp, Oil Search, Qantas, Sydney University and Rubicon Water traveled with Mr. Ciobo in September. "We are in the dawn of a new age of the relationship with Iran," Ciobo said at a gathering of business leaders in Tehran back then. At its peak, Australia exported almost $1 billion worth of goods to Iran before nuclear sanctions slashed the trade to below $350 million. What to Know Three-year-old Jaden Jordan has died six days after he was found with critical injuries at his Brooklyn home Jordan was on a ventilator and in critical condition at Coney Island Hospital throughout last week His mother's boyfriend, Salvatore Lucchesse, 24, was charged with assault and other crimes A 3-year-old boy has died less than a week after he was found with critical injuries at his home in Brooklyn, police said late Sunday night. Jaden Jordan was pronounced dead at a hospital on Sunday. He had been fighting for his life after suffering a fractured skull and a lacerated spleen and liver. Jordan was on a ventilator and in critical condition at Coney Island Hospital throughout last week. Doctors weren't able to determine how long he had had the injuries. Salvatore Lucchesse, 24, was charged with assault and other crimes in the case. He is the boyfriend of Jordan's mother and is due back in court Friday. Lucchesse was questioned after authorities responded to Jordan's home on West Fifth Street in Gravesend last Monday for a 911 call about a child in cardiac arrest. He was later arrested. Information on an attorney for Lucchesse wasn't immediately available. He said nothing as he was led from a police precinct Wednesday. Law enforcement sources said Jaden was found soiled. Lucchesse initially claimed he placed the boy in the bathtub to take a shower and the child slipped and hit his head. He claimed he gave Jordan CPR. But the sources said the injuries weren't consistent with being given CPR. A man living at the boy's home says he met the family a few days ago when he rented a room from the boy's mother and her boyfriend. He spoke to her from Coney Island Hospital Tuesday. "She's crying. It's her son. She's heartbroken. It's her kid," he said. The man said he saw nothing out of the ordinary in the short time he's lived in their apartment. "They seemed like a pretty good family," said the man, who asked not to be identified. "The kid was quiet. They never really argued or anything." But another neighbor said she recently heard loud arguing coming from the home. "Just words, violent words," she said, describing yelling between two men. The neighbor also said she's only ever seen loving treatment from the boy's mother and grandmother, who at one point lived in the house. Sources said the city's Administration for Child Services received an anonymous tip Nov. 26 about a child covered in feces being kept in a cage, but it was for a wrong address on the street. A spokesman for ACS confirmed it responded to the tip on Saturday, saying investigators arrived at the provided address within two hours of the report. "After two days of diligently and aggressively investigating the complaint, it became clear to our child protective specialists that the caller reported an inaccurate address," spokesman Jose Bayona said. ACS officials said investigators returned Nov. 27 and rang several doorbells in the building, but tenants weren't familiar with the people in the report. Finally, on Monday, child protective specialists were able to obtain the correct address, as well as other identifying information, and ultimately located the family. There was a large pit bull and cage found in Jordan's home, confirming at least part of the anonymous tip, sources said. In a statement Wednesday, the city's Department of Investigation said it sent a request to the state Office of Children and Family Services for access to ACS records regarding Jordan, which it has done in other child abuse cases. "DOI has been actively investigating whether some or all of these cases were lawfully handled by ACS, whether there continue to be systemic and preventable problems at ACS that place children in danger, and whether ACS has implemented necessary changes noted in DOIs prior reviews," DOI Commissioner Mark Peters said. What to Know An off-duty New York City correction officer was shot to death while sitting in a car in Brooklyn on Sunday night, police confirmed Alastasia Bryan, 25, was identified as the correction officer; a union said she was "one of the youngest members" A police investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made in the shooting as of Monday morning An off-duty New York City correction officer was shot to death in her car Sunday night in Brooklyn, police said. Alastasia Bryan, 25, was behind the wheel of her car at Avenue L and 73rd Street in the Flatlands around 9:15 p.m. when someone came up and fired into the vehicle. Bryan suffered gunshot wounds to her head and torso. She died at the scene, police said. Tonight DOC suffered a tragic loss when an off duty officer was fatally shot. Our thoughts are w/the officer family, friends & colleagues. NYC DOC (@CorrectionNYC) December 5, 2016 It's unclear if she was intentionally targeted or if the shooting was random, but police said Monday morning that detectives had obtained surveillance video showing a man getting out of a vehicle and walking up to Bryan's car. The video shows the man opening fire and then getting back into his vehicle before taking off, police said. On Sunday night, investigators were seen examining the gray sedan, which had several bullet holes in its drivers side window. A crowd gathered at the scene and several people were seen hugging and crying as police stood nearby. The Correction Officers Benevolent Association, a union, confirmed that Bryan was a city correction officer in a Facebook post early Monday morning. "Tonight our correction family and the entire City of New York is shocked and grieving the horrific murder of one of the youngest members of New York City's Boldest, who was shot and killed by an unknown assailant while sitting in her car in Brooklyn," COBA President Elias Husamudeen wrote in the post. It's unclear where Bryan worked. COBA represents members working in more than 26 different jail facilities throughout the city, including Rikers Island. A police investigation is ongoing, but police haven't named any suspects. Just last Sunday, two men forced their way into a home in Jamaica, Queens, and shot a state corrections officer and his wife, according to police. The corrections officer was taken to a hospital in critical condition. His wife was taken in serious condition. A woman was stabbed to death in Queens early Monday morning and a man was taken into custody, police said. The woman, who has not yet been identified but was said to be in her 40s, was stabbed shortly after midnight at a home in Ozone Park. Police responded to the home near 103rd Avenue and 124th Street around 12:15 a.m. Officers found the woman with a stab wound to her neck. She was rushed to Jamaica Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. A 49-year-old man was apprehended a few blocks away and taken into custody, police said. His relation to the woman wasnt immediately known. Charges against him were pending Monday morning. Police believe the man and woman had been arguing before the stabbing. This so-called Roll Mole is giving Pizza Rat a run for its money. A rat was recorded dragging a comically large dinner roll on the subway tracks on the Upper East Side last Thursday, another sign of the determination the city's rats apparently possess when it comes to acquiring food bigger than them. Christian Waugh told NBC 4 New York he was waiting for a train home from a Christmas concert rehearsal when he noticed the rat trying to drag the large dinner roll along the subway tracks at the 51st Street subway station. Waugh said as he reached for his phone, the rat seemed to give up and dash away. However, the rat came back moments later to fight for his dinner. Waugh was able to take a quick video on his phone. I started recording his actions but noticed that no one else on the platform was paying attention whatsoever, Waugh told NBC 4 New York. Most were just on their phone with no clue regarding the epic activity that was taking place. Waugh said the event reminded him of Pizza Rat, but found the furtive antics of the dinner roll rat to be hilarious. Waughs friend dubbed the rodent the Roll Mole. A flight from Philadelphia bound for Orlando, Florida, was diverted Sunday after a passenger gave birth on board. Southwest Airlines Flight 556 took off from Philly International Airport and was headed to Orlando International Airport when a woman on board went into labor, according to an airline spokesperson. Medical personnel who were on the flight helped with the babys delivery and the plane was diverted to Charleston, South Carolina. Once the plane landed, emergency medical technicians transported the parents and the baby to an area hospital. The flight and its 132 passengers then continued to Orlando. A Philadelphia native who was on board the flight recorded the baby crying and posted the video on Twitter. A bench, a plaque and three trees in a park in New Jersey have been dedicated to the memory of a 3-year-old who police say was killed by his father. Family and friends gathered in Cooper River Park in Haddon Township Sunday near where Brendan Creato's body was found in October of 2015. Instead of his name, the plaque features the lyrics "Captain Hook you are my perfect story book, Neverland I love you so, you are now my home sweet home," from the song "Lost Boy" by Ruth B. Camden County Freeholder Jeff Nash says that the bench will be a place people can remember the boy described as an old soul with positive energy by his mother. "This bench represents a place of reflection rather than sadness," Nash said. "People can come and reflect on the good of this little boy instead of the sad of his passing." Prosecutors say the boy was killed by David Creato because his girlfriend resented dealing with the child's mother. He has pleaded not guilty and his trial is scheduled for next year. A Wilmington woman has been sentenced to a year in prison for embezzling more than $400,000 from her disabled sister. The U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release that 40-year-old Rachel Woodall was also ordered to pay restitution at sentencing Monday in federal court in Wilmington. According to court documents, Woodall was responsible for managing the finances of her intellectually disabled sister. In November 2014, the sister received large sums in back Social Security benefits. Prosecutors say that's when Woodall started embezzling from her. Authorities say Woodall spent the money on herself, including the purchase of two Mercedes Benz cars. Prosecutors say Woodall continued withdraw money from her sister's bank account after pleading guilty to conversion of Social Security benefits in January. At least nine people died from heroin overdoses in Philadelphia over the weekend, according to police. The first overdose victim was a 34-year-old man who was found dead inside a vehicle on the 2800 block of East Allegheny Avenue Saturday. He was pronounced dead at 8:35 a.m. A 36-year-old woman died at 2:15 p.m. Saturday inside a home on the 2800 block of Rosehill Street. On Sunday, a 24-year-old man was pronounced dead at 4 a.m. after he was found unresponsive inside a home on the 3000 block of North Broad Street. A 28-year-old man was found inside a parked vehicle on the 3200 block of North 2nd Street and pronounced dead at 12:53 p.m. At 42-year-old man was found unresponsive inside a home on the 3300 block of Kensington Avenue. He was pronounced dead at 1:26 p.m. A 41-year-old man was found unresponsive inside a vacant lot on the 2800 block of D Street. He was pronounced dead at 2:01 p.m. A 31-year-old woman was found unresponsive inside a home on the 3300 block of Amber Street. She was pronounced dead at 2:24 p.m. A 40-year-old man was found unresponsive inside a home on the 2800 block of Kensington Avenue. He was pronounced dead at 2:07 p.m. Finally, a 29-year-old man was found unresponsive on the street on the 600 block of East Indiana Avenue. He was pronounced dead at 8 p.m. Investigators say the overdoses appear to be caused by a bad batch of heroin that is currently circulating in Philadelphia though they have not yet identified the specific brand. They continue to investigate. In the heart of Philadelphias open drug market, theres an artery carrying drug addicted people to their high. A story from our award-winning 2016 special report on the heroin epidemic: Generation Addicted: The New War on Addiction. Last month, nearly 50 people nearly died in one day after a series of overdoses in the same area -- the city's neighborhoods of Kensington and North Philadelphia. Police said at the time a deadly batch of the illicit drug or a new much stronger opioid could have been the cause. That spike remains under investigation. Heroin in Philadelphia is some of the purest in the nation ranging between 80 and 90 percent, officials explained earlier this year as part of our special investigation into the epidemic. Sometimes, the drugs are cut with dangerous chemicals like rat poison. In other cases, much stronger synthetic opioids like fentanyl or new lab-cooked derivatives are mixed in to produce a stronger high -- often with deadly consequences. For seven years, Sal Marchese battled heroin addiction. Even with the help of his mother, Patty, and sister, Blake, he struggled to get treatment for his disease a fact that his family believes ultimately led to his death. This is one of a series of reports from our award-winning 2016 investigation: Generation Addicted: The New War on Drug Addiction. Deaths from fentanyl skyrocketed by 636 percent over the past year in Philadelphia. In May, the city's narcotic's chief said his officers were monitoring a potential infiltration of W-18, another synthetic painkiller that, when mixed with heroin, can be 10,000 times stronger than morphine. Overdose surges have also been reported in Ohio and parts of the Midwest recently. People taking opioids can quickly grow tolerant to the highs prescription painkillers and heroin provide. Excruciatingly painful withdrawals follow. These falls get worse with each cycle so users seek out stronger highs, putting them at further risk with every score. Heroin users in the throes of withdrawal explain they can, at times, seek out the strongest drug available -- sometimes flocking toward heroin batches that caused others to overdose. Philadelphia has more than 100 programs offering help for people suffering from addiction. But theres one place that serves drug addicted people in more ways than any other and its how they treat them, that makes the difference. Earlier this year, NBC10 undertook a special investigation into the heroin and opioid crisis. Called Generation Addicted, the six month probe spoke with those suffering from the disease of addiction and looked for solutions to address the epidemic. Learn more about the report here. Tehran, Iran, December 4 By Mehdi Sepahvand Trend: Azerbaijans Azre reinsurance company has sent a delegate to Iran to explore the market in hope of future cooperation. "We started cooperating with Iran two years ago. The cooperation is quite successful and we are participating in several treaties in Iran. So far I think we have signed more than eight or nine contracts," Azre Deputy Chairman Vusal Abbasov told Trend December 3. "Azre is the only reinsurance company in Azerbaijan. It was established in 2007. We have got a rating of B+ from A. M. Best, which is one of the highest ratings in post-Soviet countries," Abbasov said, introducing his company. "Being a reinsurance company requires diversifying the portfolio from the domestic market to foreign markets. So basically one of the approaches is to start with a market that is close to your country, thats culturally close. We are doing business in post-Soviet countries, Turkey, Central Asia, and Iran is one of our target markets. " He pointed out that Iran and Azerbaijan have some joint projects in energy, construction, power, railways, etc. "It is my personal observation that cooperation is growing between Baku and Tehran. There is a North-South corridor that can pass from Iran, Azerbaijan to go to Russia. There is also the Silk Road. We really feel that we are on a developing trend and situations are becoming better day by day." The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Iran amounted to $137.65 million in January-September 2016, more than $102 million of which fell on the import of Iranian goods, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. An economic committee of Iran and Azerbaijan convenes a few times each year to pursue joint developmental projects. Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Hassan Rouhani exchanged visits in 2016, during which their ministers signed multiple agreements for cooperation. A Montgomery County school district canceled classes for all students Monday amid a police investigation into a threat against students that police said didn't appear to be a threat after all. The Upper Perikomen School District in Montgomery County was forced to cancel classes Monday over a social media scare. An anonymous post on Instagram referenced the Sandy Hook massacre. The individual responsible for the post has been identified and state police say there is no credible threat. Classes will be back on the following day, and after school activities will... The Upper Perkiomen School District in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania received an anonymous direct threat on Instagram, superintendent Dr. Alexis McGloin told NBC10. "Due to a concern with safety and welfare of our students, school will be canceled for the day," said McGloin in a letter to parents and guardians posted to the district's website and on Facebook around 5:30 a.m. "Currently, state police are investigating a situation that raises enough concern for us to take this action. We will keep you updated, as more information becomes available today." [[404730225, C]] "The threat is directed solely towards the school district and not the community or any other schools in the area," said McGloin. [[404734625, C]] Pennsylvania State Police disputed that a threat ever existed saying there was no reason to suspect concern for students or their families. Pennsylvania State Police became aware of the threat around 1:15 a.m. after a parent's child found something they called alarming on a social media post, said state police. The social media post referenced a video on a website about the Sandy Hook school shootings and how to spot a potential school shooter. Police said the district decided to cancel schools. "Right now it looks like this has been misinterpreted and not an actual threat to the school district itself," said Lt. Christopher Lengle. "They posted something on Instagram that as we see it was not intended to be a threat, it was interpreted by others as a threat. The people that called us never saw the posting -- they were receiving this information form their children of what their child interpreted it to be." McGloin later revealed more details about the incident: "Very early this morning the Upper Perkiomen administration was made aware of an ongoing investigation associated with our secondary school students. The safety of students and staff is our first concern. We take all threats of any nature seriously and believe that it is appropriate to always notify the public and act in the best interests of our school community." [[404783825, C]] As students stayed home, staff was asked to report to work Monday, said McGloin. The district said the source of the threat was determined midday and that all after school activities would go on as normal. "At this time, the person responsible for the post has been identified," said McGloin. "When the post originated, it was made on a closed group of 79 students from an anonymous source that was attached to a picture of a student potentially of middle to early high school age. The post contained a video, 'Evan, Sandy Hook Promise.' There is no longer a credible threat to the district as the source has been identified by state troopers. All after school activities will continue today and school will be in session tomorrow." McGloin asked for parents to discuss the incident with their children, "emphasizing the seriousness of this situation and the impact their on-line interactions can have on themselves, their friends, family and community." When you first meet Small Cultures mastermind, Jerik Centeno, youll be struck first by his friendliness and second by his humility. You wont expect the lycanthropic transformation from unassuming chiller to zealous charmer that will follow. Its hard to explain, but as soon as Centeno gets on stage, he becomes a different person. He feeds off of the energy of the crowd and then gives it right back to them. But importantly, hes only a confident showman when he needs to be. In a recent interview over the phone, Centeno told me, "Being on stage is very humbling. I look at it as a privilege. There are so many bands that write great music that should be on stage." "But I'm a pretty quiet and anxious person around people I don't know ... And being on stage, I feel like I can totally be the comfortable, outgoing me in front of people I don't know," he added. Centeno is originally from Hawaii, and its clear that his home state means a great deal to him and to the music that he makes. His band name, for example, is itself a reference to a small island with a lot of culture, which is as much a descriptor of himself as it is of the geography of his upbringing. Small Cultures music is infused with both the tropics of Hawaii and the commerciality of Southern Californiaelectro-pop meets post-rock meets alternative. Its accessible, its well produced and, most importantly, its interesting. "I can't finish a song in one sitting ... so all of the songs have been over the course of two years. It's funner that way 'cause I get affected by life in different ways over the course of time, so I'll put similar ideas in one song," Centeno said. &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://smallculture.bandcamp.com/album/small-culture-ep" mce_href="http://smallculture.bandcamp.com/album/small-culture-ep"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Small Culture EP by Small Culture&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; Centeno has surrounded himself with some of the most relevant musicians in the San Diego scene right now, and as he grows with his music, so will his appeal to Los Angeles record labels and national press. Hes got the sound, hes got the charmlets just hope hes got the stamina. Small Culture play at the Merrow on Thursday, Dec. 8, with Grim Slippers, Imagery Machine and Surly Bonds. Buy tickets here. Rutger Rosenborg was almost a Stanford neuroscientist before he formed Ed Ghost Tucker. He now plays in the Lulls and makes music on his own when he's not writing. Follow his updates on Facebook or contact him directly. San Diego County Sheriff's Deputies are offering a $1000 reward for any information leading to an arrest in a hit-and-run case in San Marcos. Deputies are searching for the driver who struck and injured a 65-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man walking in the parking lot outside the Home Depot on San Marcos Boulevard around 2:30 p.m. Sunday. San Marcos Paramedics treated both victims at the scene. The man had minor cuts and pain in his legs. The woman suffered severe head trauma with bleeding on the brain, bilateral pelvic fractures and cuts to her upper torso. She was admitted to Palomar Medical Center for serious but not life-threatening injuries. The San Marcos Traffic Division is conducting the investigation. Deputies released information on the suspect vehicle Tuesday. It's described to be a older model of a white Ford Explorer and may have possible damage to one or both of the front headlight assemblies. The vehicle was last seen leaving in an unknown direction on West San Marcos Boulevard. The suspect was described to be a man in his late 20s with light colored hair. He was last seen wearing a light-colored shirt, according to deputies. Anyone with information is asked to call the San Marcos Sheriff's Station or Crime Stoppers at (888)580-8477. Residents were evacuated from two condos in the 200 block of Cottage Grove Lane in Encinitas Sunday afternoon, according to the San Diego Sheriffs Department. It is unclear how the fire started, but it broke out in one condo and spread to a second unit, officials said. "Me and my dad went out to the garage and we just saw a bunch of flames," neighbor Ethan Bouche tells NBC 7. One woman who lives in the house was transported to the hospital with unknown injuries from the fire. "The whole neighborhood was pretty worried. We all came out to see whats going on," resident Kori Rea says. Other residents have been displaced and will stay with friends for the night. Some residents are without electricity, and San Diego Gas &Electric is en route to restore power. No other information was immediately available. Check back for updates on this breaking news story. Two people were injured, one of which suffered bad burns to his body, after hydraulic fluid sparked a large flash fire at a business in El Cajon. The fire broke out shortly before noon on the 800 block of W Bradley Avenue in El Cajon, Heartland Fire officials said. When the fire started, it happened inside the plant next to a piece of equipment, which quickly started to burn. It is unclear how the hydraulic leak caused the fire, officials said. Heartland Fire officials said they quickly quelled the fire. However, a plume of black smoke could be seen rising from the fire behind Cowles Mountain. One victim suffered smoke inhalation and a second suffered bad burns, though officials do not have word on the extent of his injuries. HAZMAT crews responded to the scene as well. SDG&E officials turned off the gas. No other information was immediately available. Fourteen years after the disappearance of 2-year-old Jahi Turner, San Diego prosecutors present evidence alleging the toddler's stepfather was responsible for the boy's death. Among the evidence was a nearly 12-minute 911 call made to report Jahi missing on April 25, 2002. Listen to the full 911 call here. The child was being cared for by his stepfather Tieray Jones while his mother, Tameka Turner, was deployed aboard USS Rushmore. Hundreds of volunteers and police officers spent weeks looking for Jahi near the playground at 28th Street and Cedar Street in San Diego's South Park neighborhood. That's where Jones reported the child was last seen. Law enforcement officers raked through 5,000 tons of garbage at the Miramar Landfill, but came up with nothing. Tameka Jones testified Monday that she had moved her son from Maryland to San Diego four days before he was reported missing. The family rented an apartment in the Golden Hill area of the city. Then, Tameka Jones returned to Maryland to report for duty, leaving Jahi in the care of the defendant. She said that after the cross-country trip, she and Tieray had about $40 in the bank while they waited for moving expenses to be reimbursed by the U.S. Navy. She testified the defendant spoke with her by phone on Tuesday, April 23, 2002 and told her Jahi had suffered a bump on the forehead. Detailed in the arrest warrant is a journal entry from that day. According to the court document, Jones wrote, Today for some reason he hasnt been moving or really talking. Jahi is starting to act really funny he wont get up off the floor. Hes not walking or talking when I tell him to get his cup he just looks at me. I know its going to take some time. But I dont want him hating me for something I cant control. The bump on his head has gone down I put ice on it. Its gotten a little red. In the arrest warrant, authorities suggest that entry is evidence suggesting Jahi suffered a fatal physical injury while in Jones care. Click here to read the search warrant. Two days later Tieray called to tell her Jahi had disappeared from a nearby park, Tameka Jones testified. Jones was arrested in March and charged with one count of murder and one count of felony child abuse causing death, authorities said. Both carry a 25-years-to-life sentence if convicted. Though new evidence has been uncovered in the case, authorities have not found Jahi's body or remains, police said. Jones' attorney Alex Ozols said in an earlier interview that there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. We believe in Tieray's innocence, we are going to fight for him until the end and we strongly believe that his son is still alive," Ozols said. Under cross-examination, defense attorneys asked Tameka Jones about police interviews after Jahi's disappearance. She testified that she told officers Tieray Jones took good care of Jahi. More witnesses were expected to testify Monday afternoon. Check back for updates to this developing story. A man drove a live, practice aerial bomb he found behind a motor home to a San Diego-area fire station, prompting a lengthy response from Bomb Squad investigators. The person discovered the device in a gym bag behind a nearby motor home at approximately 11:30 a.m. Sunday, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue (SDFD) Captain Joe Amador. Amador said the man got scared and called his girlfriend, and then decided to bring it to Fire Station 23, located at 2190 Comstock Street in San Diego's Linda Vista neighborhood. On his drive, he called 911 and told them he was bringing the device to the station. Firefighters were waiting for the man when he arrived at the station, Amador said. He got out of the car with the duffel bag. Firefighters told him to put them item down, but the man was scared the bomb would go off, Amador said. He eventually went back to his car. Bomb Squad investigators responded and asessed the device. They determined it was a five-pound live, practice aerial with a small spotting charge, meaning it could have gone off. The device was collected by the Bomb Squad. Amador said the issue was resolved and all units were cleared. No other information was immediately available. Comet Ping Pong is expected to reopen Tuesday, two days after police say a gunman opened fire because he believed a fake news story claiming that Hillary Clinton was running a child sex ring out of the business. Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina faces felony charges after he entered the family-friendly restaurant on Sunday afternoon with an AR-15 rifle and a handgun, D.C. police say. Witnesses told investigators he fired three shots with the rifle and pointed it at an employee. The employee was able to escape and call police. The shots sent patrons and employees scrambling out of the restaurant on the 5000 block of Connecticut Avenue NW. Welch's gunshots possibly struck the walls, door and a computer, police said. No one was hurt during the ordeal, which drew a heavy police presence in a normally quiet neighborhood. Signs of support posted outside of Comet Ping Pong Pizza after man w gun walks in. PD says man was "investigating" conspiracy theory. pic.twitter.com/J1BNDqElH3 Meagan Fitzgerald (@MeaganNBCDC) December 5, 2016 Signs expressing support for the restaurant were on display outside on Tuesday. Comet Ping Pong was closed Monday but expected to reopen Tuesday evening. Welch appeared before a judge Monday on three felony charges -- assault with a dangerous weapon, unlawful discharge of a firearm, and carrying a rifle or shotgun outside a home or place of business -- and a misdemeanor gun possession charge. Authorities previously said Welch would face seven charges. He was not required to enter a plea and was ordered to be held without bond. Another hearing was scheduled for Thursday. [NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More Comet bartender Lee Elmore, who said he didn't see a gun himself, told News4 everyone at Comet started to panic as the man walked to the back of the restaurant. "His demeanor was bizarre, in that if you come in to a place to eat, you ask for a host or grab a seat at the bar," he said. "Didn't make any eye contact, didn't talk with anybody." [NATL] The Fight Over Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock Dozens of officers were called to the area, seen with guns drawn in the streets. A helicopter circled above the scene. Officers arrested Welch after a 45-minute standoff and recovered two weapons inside the restaurant and a third from Welch's vehicle, they said. Welch Said He Was Investigating Fake News Story Known as "Pizzagate" After his arrest, Welch told police he was there to investigate a fake news conspiracy theory known as "pizzagate" involving the pizzeria. Posts to Facebook and Reddit claimed Comet was the home base of a child sex abuse ring run by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her presidential campaign chair, John Podesta. "It's a result of anyone can post anything on the internet and people take it as truth," said Scott Talan, a professor of communications at American University. Welch said he wanted to free child sex slaves he thought were being held at the restaurant, and he surrendered when he didn't find any, according to court documents. "What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories does come with consequences," Comet Ping Pong owner James Alefantis said. Police say a North Carolina man who opened fire in a D.C. pizzeria went to the restaurant to investigate claims made on fake news sites. So how do you know if what youre reading is true? News4s Meagan Fitzgerald reports. Twitter accounts drew connections between Podesta's emails, which were hacked and then published by WikiLeaks, and the pizzeria. Users of the online message board 4Chan saw that Podesta had emailed Comet Ping Pong about hosting a Clinton fundraiser, then speculated that Comet Ping Pong was part of a Democratic child trafficking ring, according to The New York Times. Politifact, a Tampa Bay Times project dedicated to uncovering the truth in Washington, found the conspiracy theory presented without documentation or named sources "fails to rise above rumor or hoax." "People reading through these emails take nuggets of truth and put these together with other things they've heard and come up with these new fake conspiracy stories like this," Talan said. People convince themselves that the fake stories are true because they don't trust government leaders or reputable media outlets, Talan said. But for those who want to know the truth there are ways to fact check, he said. First, a gut check: Does it really seem like it could be true? Second, if you haven't heard of the source of the story before, look it up on Google. A man fired a shot into the ground inside a northwest Washington pizzeria as customers and employeeds fled the building. Derrick Ward reports. Alefantis told the Times he received hundreds of death threats after the conspiracy theory surfaced. "We should all condemn the efforts of some to spread these malicious and utterly false accusations about our restaurant, Comet Ping Pong," Alefantis said. "What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences," Alefantis said in a statement early Monday morning. "I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away." Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.5 By Dalga Khatinoglu Trend: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Dec. 4 submitted the next fiscal years budget to the parliament on Dec.4. In the budget, 30 percent account for oil and gas condensate revenues, remained almost unchanged year-on-year. The total budget stands at about $97 billion (1,100 trillion rials), based on a dollar rate at 33,000 rials, about 3,000 rials more than the official rate during the current fiscal year. The amount of oil and gas export volume hasnt been mentioned in the budget bill, but Iranian media quoted some officials as saying that the oil price has been set at $50 per barrel. Irans oil and gas condensate revenues is expected to increase by 48 percent and 40 percent, compared to the current fiscal year based on rial and the US dollar respectively . But how realistic are these figures? Recently, OPEC reached an agreement to cut output by 1.2 mb/d to 32.5 mb/d, but Iran was not only exempted, but was also allowed to increase the output by 90,000 b/d to 3.797 mb/d in the first half of 2017. Iran is exporting above 400,000 b/d of gas condensate, which is expected to remain unchanged in the next fiscal year. The gas condensate output is expected to increase, but the consumption also would increase due to launching of the first phase of Persian Gulf Star refinery which would consume 120,000 b/d of gas condensate. Irans oil and gas condensate export was about 1.3 mb/d during the last fiscal year, but the figure reached about 2.2 mb/d in the current year and expected to reach 2.42 to 2.5 mb/d next year. With regards to both oil price and the export volume increase, gaining $33.6 billion of oil and gas condensate export revenues (excluding the National Iranian Oil Company and National Development Funds 34.5 percent share from oil revenues) is quite feasible, but not guaranteed. Among OPEC members, Nigeria and Libya were exempted from oil decline or freeze. Altogether, these two members decreased the output by more than 1.1 mb/d during last years due to internal war, but they can resume the volume, like what they did during October. On the other hand, OPEC expects the non-Cartel members to decrease the output by 0.6 mb/d as well. Russia obliged to share a half of this volume, but there is no clear position of other producers yet. OPEC and non-OPEC producers would meet Dec.9 to discuss the issue. On the other hand, the elected US president Donald Trump is expected to take harder position against Iran and tighten the sanctions on the country. The nuclear agreement is still under threat and can be violated by Iran and US in future due to increasing challenges between sides. Share of oil export revenues in budget Iran plans to reduce the share of oil revenues in annual budget to 20 percent by 2021, Mohammad Kordbache, the advisor of Management and Planning Organization of Iran said in an article, published Nov .23 by Shana news agency. The share of oil revenues in the Second National Development Plan (1995-2000) was 55.4 percent, which decreased to 50.7 percent and 31.4 percent in third and fourth National Development Plans (2000-2010), but again rose to 43.2 percent in the Fifth Plan (ended in the current year). Kordbache said that the share of oil in the budget is projected to decrease and reach 20 percent by the end of the sixth National Development Plan. He added that, in practice, the share of oil revenues in budget has decreased to 33.2 percent during last fiscal year due to low oil price. --- Dalga Khatinoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Iran news service, follow him on Twitter: @dalgakhatinoglu D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser will meet with President-elect Donald Trump in New York City on Tuesday, Trump's team has announced. Trump has meetings scheduled Tuesday with four notable names. In addition to Bowser, Trump will meet with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, political commentator Laura Ingraham and ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson. NBC News has identified Tillerson as a possible candidate as Trump's secretary of state. Bowser's office declined an interview but the mayor was the one who requested the meeting with the president-elect. A news release from the mayor's office cited the city's growing economy but didn't mention other issues, like statehood or a lawsuit by Trump over the tax bill for the new Trump Hotel in Washington. Bowser, a Democrat who campaigned on behalf of Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the presidential election, has said she and Trump share common ground on the need for investments in infrastructure, namely Metrorail, roads and bridges. But Bowser has also said she and Trump disagree on the Affordable Care Act and on D.C.'s status as a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants. Prince William County police are searching for a man who attacked an employee inside a Woodbridge, Virginia, massage parlor. Police say the suspect entered ZY Massage on Dynasty Loop at 10 a.m. Sunday and asked to use the restroom. As he was leaving, he asked a female employee for a hug, but the victim declined. A short time later, police say the man returned to the business, locked the door and assaulted the victim. The victim was able to break free and ran from the business. Police say the suspect also ran from the area and was last seen heading toward Telegraph Road. The suspect is 6 feet tall, weighs 180 pounds and may be between 23 and 27 years of age. He was last seen wearing blue jeans with a skull on the back pocket, a black shirt with "Blackwatch" written on the front and a gray New York Yankees hat. Anyone with information that can help police is asked to call police at 703-792-6500. An Ohio man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for plotting to attack government officials during the 2015 State of the Union in the name of the Islamic State group, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Christopher Lee Cornell, 22, of Green Township, Ohio, pleaded guilty to attempting to murder government employees and officials, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and attempting to provide material support of a designated foreign terrorist organization (ISIS). In addition to his jail sentence, Cornell will also serve a lifetime term of supervised release. The seriousness of this crime is apparent, said U.S. Attorney Benjamin C. Glassman, of the Southern District of Ohio. Cornell plotted to commit violence as a symbolic attack on the United States as a whole. An attempt to murder another individual is horrific enough and justifies a significant sentence. But this was more than that. Cornell wanted to inflict pain on the spirit of the entire country, and terrorize its leadership. Todays sentence appropriately holds him accountable for that. According to the plea agreement, Cornell plotted to travel to Washington, D.C., in order to attack the U.S. Capitol during the State of the Union Address on Jan. 20, 2015. He said he intended to kill officers and employees at the Capitol and possessed two semi-automatic rifles and about 600 rounds of ammunition. Cornell was arrested by the FBIs Joint Terrorism Task Force six days before the State of the Union Address. After his arrest, he posted statements online that included a call for others to join him in violent jihad against the United States and its citizens on behalf of ISIS, according to the plea agreement. UPDATED: Police said he's been located safe and unharmed. =============================== Montgomery County police are searching for a 24-year-old man missing after calling his father to say he'd missed his bus Sunday night. Authorities said Achydam Monestime left his father's home on Beaker Court in Burtonsville, Maryland, around 11 a.m. Sunday. He was planning to take a bus from Greenbelt to Woodstock, in the suburban Baltimore area. Monestime's father said that his son called him shortly before 9:30 p.m. to tell him that he'd missed the bus. Neither Monestime's father nor any family members have heard from him since then. Monestime is described as African American, 5 feet 2 inches tall and 160 pounds. He has short black hair, brown eyes and a mustache. Police and family say that they are concerned for Monestime's emotional and physical welfare. Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Achydam Monestime is asked to call the Montgomery County Police 24-hour non-emergency number at 301-279-8000. Callers may remain anonymous. Eight environmental activists were arrested as part of a demonstration in Montpelier, Vermont, aimed at showing support for Native American people fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline. This weekend, opponents of the nearly 1,200 mile, $3.7-billion Dakota Access Pipeline cheered a decision from the Army Corps of Engineers, which denied an easement key to construction. The pipeline was designed to transport crude oil from fields in North Dakota. For months, Native Americans and their allies have been very concerned the project is so close to land the Standing Rock Sioux consider sacred. Theyve also warned a break or spill could harm water quality. In Montpelier Monday, demonstrators celebrated that permit denial, and participated in a traditional Native American ceremony in which they prayed for the planet. Water is life for everyone, said Beverly Little Thunder, a Standing Rock tribal member who now lives in Vermont. And coming together like this in our own communities is the one thing we can do to help those people in Standing Rock, because its a collective prayer, its not a prayer for one person. However, the group of demonstrators knew the celebration could be short-lived. President-elect Donald Trump has voiced support for projects like the Dakota Access Pipeline, and other backers have insisted it would benefit local economies along its route. Its a victory, demonstrator Catherine Cadden said of the decision about the easement. And keep your boots on, because were not done yet. The demonstrators also called on TD Bank to stop funding the pipeline. Several protesters entered a bank branch in downtown Montpelier, and others blocked a drive-through bank lane at another location in the city. The protesters said they are disappointed their state banks with a company that also does business with Energy Transfer Partners, the builder of the pipeline. If we take a look at our taxpayer money and where its going, our state treasurer put it into TD Bank, Cadden said. And were calling on Vermont to take our money out of the bank. In response to the protests Monday, TD Bank issued the following statement: As a proponent of responsible energy development, TD works closely with clients, local communities, aboriginal governments and environmental groups to enhance our understanding of key issues and promote informed dialogue. We support efforts to ensure the sustainability and safety of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) site. And we respect the rights of those who wish to voice their opinions in peaceful protest. TD has been listening to concerns from the community about DAPL and we will continue to advocate that Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) engage in constructive dialogue and work toward a resolution with community members, including the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. TD played an active role in helping to secure Foley Hoag LLP, an independent human rights expert, to conduct a review on behalf of the lenders and advise on recommended improvements ETP and Sunoco Logistics can make to their social policies and procedures moving forward. Energy Transfer Partners issued a statement following the decision from the Army Corps of Engineers, calling it purely political. Montpelier Police and the Washington County Sheriffs Department arrested and released eight demonstrators Monday, according to officers at the scene of the gathering. The eight demonstrators were accused of trespassing for refusing to leave the lobby of the branch, police explained. Undeterred, many at the demonstration vowed to continue speaking out against the project and in favor of tribal lands. Nearly 300 Boston students walked out of their classes Monday afternoon to march to the Massachusetts State House and Boston's City Hall in their protest against Donald Trump's election. The walk-out started just after 1 p.m. on the Boston Common, where students gathered. Student organizers wanted to give Gov. Charlie Baker a petition to demand that state leaders stand up to Trump. After the State House, student protesters marched to City Hall to meet with Mayor Marty Walsh. I wanted to come out as an ally to the LGBTQ community, to Muslims, to women, and to all the other communities that are under attack by the proposed policies and statements that Donald Trump has made, said Jhalen Williams of Excel High School. Hundreds of Boston Public Schools students have gathered in downtown Boston to demand state leaders stand up to President-elect Donald Trump. Earlier, the superintendent of Boston Public Schools urged students not to miss class Monday to protest Trump's election. Dear Students, please see the following message from @SuptChang regarding your walk out plans. #bostonstudentwalkout pic.twitter.com/a0H04Tgz4t BostonPublicSchools (@BostonSchools) December 4, 2016 In a video posted to Twitter, Superintendent Tommy Chang said, "I want you to know that your voice matters. I encourage you to use that voice. And I encourage you to use that voice on campus with your peers and with adults that care so deeply about you." He added, "Losing classroom time won't help anyone. There is a time and place for these conversations to happen." Representatives of the mayors office did meet with students outside the building. Walsh later told necn that the students should have stayed in school. Theres not a lot to accomplish right now. Trump isnt the president right now, Walsh said. Kianna Allen, a student at Cristo Rey, said she is concerned about the rhetoric she heard on the campaign trail. A lot of families are going to be hurting. There's a lot of people here and their family's are immigrants and they came over here to do better and Donald Trump is just targeting them, Allen said. Boston School officials said 282 students were marked absent for walking out of school. A Maine woman claims doing a good deed made her the suspect of a crime when police in Sanford, Maine, released surveillance images of her taking a package off of a porch. Police said a man on Whichers Mill Road recorded the woman taking a package from his home last Friday. He made a complaint to police, and the department posted the photos on its Facebook page. The reaction on social media was swift, and the woman turned herself into police the following morning. She confessed but clarified that she thought she was helping an elderly man on the side of the road. She said the man flagged her down, was out of breath, and asked for help getting a package on a nearby porch. She said if the package was stolen, she was the victim of a scam. You never really know who is telling the truth until the truth presents itself, said Corporal Matthew Gagne, of the Sanford Police Department. Gagne said the woman could still be a suspect in the case, but police are looking for more information about the elderly man she described: someone around 60 years old with facial hair, using a walker or a cane. There are a couple lessons that can be gleaned from this, said Gagne. He advised anyone ordering a package online to require a signature for delivery, and recommended skepticism and caution if someone asks you to do anything that involves another persons property. You have to be mindful, he said. Not only could you become a part of an elaborate scam that theyre planning, but you also put yourself at risk. Another crash near Hampton Airfield raises concerns about the New Hampshire landing sight. A 74 year old pilot had a scary landing after he crashed his small biplane into a residential neighborhood on Sunday. The pilot, a man from Newbury, Massachusetts, was attempting to land at Hampton Airfield when he struck the top of a tree. According to Hampton Fire Captain John Stevens, the pilot later crashed in the woods near 7 Reddington Landing. The nose and wings of the plane were very badly damaged but no one was harmed. Former Hampton Fire Chief Chris Silver lives at 8 Reddington Landing and heard the plane hit the tree. He, along with two other neighbors, quickly called for help and go the pilot out of the plane. The pilot told first-responders he misjudged his landing, attempting to come in too low, which caused him to hit the top of the tree. This was the third crash involving a small aircraft at or around Hampton Airfield in the last three years. Two people died in a crash in 2014 and in 2015 two others were badly injured. Captain Stevens can recall several plane crashes occurring on Reddington Landing during his time living there. Two people died in a crash in 2014 and in 2015 two others were badly injured. Other neighbors also noted that the frequency of plane crashes has increased in recent years. This was the third crash involving a small aircraft at or around Hampton Airfield in the last three years. A Massachusetts teenager charged with killing a classmate whose headless body was found near a river last week was ordered held without bail by a judge Monday. Fifteen-year-old Lawrence High School student Mathew Borges pleaded not guilty to a first degree murder charge in the slaying of 16-year-old Lee Viloria-Paulino, also a Lawrence High student. Borges will be tried as an adult. A large group of the victim's family was brought into Lawrence District Court for Borges' arraignment. Viloria-Paulino's body was found by a woman walking her dog along the Merrimack River Thursday. A police report said surveillance video shows Viloria-Paulino, who was last seen on Nov. 18, leaving a house with Borges prior to the teen's death. The report also said Borges told authorities he had smoked marijuana with Viloria-Paulino on the night he disappeared, but also said he left him alive near the Merrimack River. A witness also reportedly came forward to police, claiming Borges told them what he had done. Borges, who will be held at Roslindale Juvenile Facility, will return to court on Jan. 10 for a probable cause hearing. It's unclear if he has an attorney. In court, prosecutors said Essex County investigators joined the case on Nov. 28, 10 days after Viloria-Paulino was reported missing. The Essex DA says the motive for the gruesome murder is still unclear. The investigation is ongoing. As Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson's life story could inspire those working toward the American dream of home ownership and financial security. But the former Republican presidential candidate has no experience in elected or appointed government office, or managing an organization with a multibillion budget and thousands of employees. In his writings and public statements, Carson has also often voiced little empathy for those who depend on some of the same social welfare programs that aided his own climb out of poverty. A retired neurosurgeon, Carson has often recounted his childhood as the son of a single mother in inner-city Detroit. In his 1996 autobiography "Gifted Hands," Carson wrote of the humiliation he felt using food stamps from his mom to pay for bread and milk, and said he began to excel at school only after receiving a free pair of glasses that allowed him to see the lessons written on chalk boards. After Carson's mother and father divorced, she received a small house in the settlement. But as her financial situation deteriorated, Carson and his siblings were forced to move into a succession of tenements and apartment buildings, some of which he described as having "hordes of rats" and "armies of roaches." Carson, 65, has not said publicly whether his family ever lived in federally funded housing or received Section 8 subsidies to help pay rent, but as a political figure he has criticized such public assistance programs for creating "dependency" on the government among low-income blacks. "I'm interested in getting rid of dependency, and I want us to find a way to allow people to excel in our society, and as more and more people hear that message, they will recognize who is truly on their side and who is trying to keep them suppressed and cultivate their votes," Carson said in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2015. Carson has been married for more than 40 years to Candy Carson and the couple has three children. Financial disclosure reports show Carson has earned millions in book royalties and speaking fees in recent years, with an estimated net worth of more than $20 million. If confirmed as HUD secretary, Carson would oversee a sprawling federal bureaucracy that provides Americans with mortgage and loan insurance, distributes housing grants to state and local governments, and offers rental assistance and public housing to low-income families, the elderly and disabled. The agency is also charged with enforcing federal fair housing laws. Carson has not detailed what policy changes he might seek to make at the agency. But in a 2015 opinion piece in The Washington Times he compared an Obama administration effort to racially integrate majority-white neighborhoods to past federal efforts to desegregate schools through busing students, which he derided as a "failed socialist experiment." With the help of financial aid and scholarships, Carson attended Yale University and the University of Michigan Medical School before being the first African-American named as the head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore. There, he garnered national acclaim for directing the first surgery to separate twins connected at the back of the head. Carson's rise to political prominence began with a 2013 speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, where he gave a withering critique of the modern welfare state and the nation's overall direction while President Barack Obama was seated just feet away. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Carson's inspirational life story, Christian faith and anti-establishment message briefly catapulted him last year ahead of Trump and other rivals in opinion polls. But his success on the campaign trail quickly crumbled amid questions about whether elements of his rags-to-riches autobiography were exaggerated or fabricated including a purported childhood fit of rage that compelled him to try to stab his best friend in the belly only to be foiled by a belt buckle. Carson's business dealings also faced scrutiny, including his ties to a wealthy Pittsburgh dentist whom he helped avoid prison time for felony health-care fraud. The Associated Press first reported last year that Carson invested millions of dollars in real estate deals with Alfonso A. Costa, whose dentistry license was revoked following a felony conviction. According to required financial disclosure forms he filed in 2015, Carson and his wife made between $200,000 and $2 million a year from those real estate investments. Costa also served on the board of Carson's charity, the Carson Scholars Fund, which provides college scholarships to children in need. Records show Carson appeared as a character witness at his friend's 2008 sentencing hearing, pleading with the judge for leniency. Though he faced up to 10 years in prison, Costa received a greatly reduced sentence of one year of house arrest served in a suburban mansion. Yet in his 2013 book "America the Beautiful," Carson called for severe penalties for those convicted of health care fraud, including at least a decade in prison and "the loss of all of one's personal possessions." Tehran, Iran, December 4 By Mehdi Sepahvand Trend: Australian-based serviced office Servcorp officially inaugurated its first branch in the Iranian capital city of Tehran December 3. The company is planning to open 10 branches in Iran as business relations between Iran and Australia are expected to strengthen, Trend correspondent reported from the event. Australian Ambassador to Tehran Jan Biggs attended the ceremony which has gathered some international businessmen and clients. Servcorp Limited is a multinational organization that sells serviced office space, virtual office products and IT services. It was established in 1978 and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1999. As of June 2016, it operates in 150 business centers in 52 cities across 21 countries. The company was founded by Alfred Moufarrige in 1978. In 1980 it pioneered the virtual office concept. Speaking during the ceremony, Mr. Biggs said the removal of sanctions on Iran has opened great hopes for expansion of business ties between the two countries. In September, executives from GrainCorp, WorleyParsons, LiveCorp, Oil Search, Qantas, Sydney University and Rubicon Water traveled with Trade Minister Steven Ciobo to Tehran where they signed several MoUs. "We are in the dawn of a new age of the relationship with Iran," Ciobo said at a gathering of business leaders in Tehran back then. Performance aimed to highlight issue of radicalisation DRAMA students from The Willink School bagged a 1,000 prize for their school following an acclaimed performance in the Thames Valley Police annual drama competition. The competition, run in partnership with West Berkshire Council, is linked to the Governments counter terrorism strategy, Prevent, and asked students to perform plays they had created on the theme of radicalisation. Budding actors from Kennet, Trinity, The Willink and Denefield schools took part in the 10th annual competition, in which they had to use drama to demonstrate not only why radicalisation happens and why it must be treated seriously, but also why people can become vulnerable to it. The students faced scrutiny from a panel of judges from West Berkshire Council, Thames Valley Police and The Watermill theatre, who marked them on their ability to include as many points from the brief as possible. West Berkshire Councils executive member for children and young people, Lynne Doherty, said: Congratulations to The Willink for producing a great play. This years topic is certainly one of the most challenging. It required in-depth knowledge around the subject of radicalisation and where it can lead. It also required a great deal of human interest and empathy to create a performance that incorporated all of the points required by the judges. Radicalisation is a complex subject for people of any age and I am impressed that these schools chose to rise to this challenge. Chief Insp Lindsey Finch, of Thames Valley Police, said: The crime reduction drama competition encourages pupils across West Berkshire to research a topic which is relevant to them and the community. This years Prevent topic enabled pupils to explore potential factors that could make people susceptible to extremist views and being influenced and what to do should they have concerns about a fellow pupil. Over the past 10 years, we have seen outstanding, inventive and hard-hitting performances on tough subjects, such as alcohol misuse, healthy relationships and hate crime, and continue to be impressed by the exceptional quality of the material produced and the work that goes into it. The plays are performed at school assemblies, which provide a unique opportunity to send vital messages to their peers, and again at the Corn Exchange where families and friends can see the fruits of their labour. The winning play from The Willink pupils meant the schools drama department was awarded a 1,000 prize. Drama pupil at The Willink School, Bea Cottee, said: I feel immense pride, not just because we won, but because I feel we have made a difference to our communities and helped educate our peers. Fellow performer Oliver Brown added: I have learnt so much from taking part in this project and I hope all those that watched our performance have taken something from it too. Sesa sen By Express News Service CHENNAI: Even as the demonetisation announcement of November 8 and its fallout continue to receive mixed reactions, aspiring entrepreneurs took to maneuvering strategically, taking several measures to make people, especially the underprivileged, aware about the ban and helping them ease their woes. This, they say is not just promoting goodwill of the society or some CSR activity, but their very business. Its hard to fully fathom widespread impact of this move right now. With cash on delivery soon to become another chapter in the history books, we have come up with alternate payment options to fully capitalise on the same, said Abhiraj Bhal, co-founder, UrbanClap. So what do other entrepreneurs say about this move, the fallout of which is still to be completed? Impact on Healthcare: Delay in treatment for patients Hundreds of millions of people have been queueing up in front of banks and ATMs across the country ever since the announcement of November 8. Coming to their rescue, Delhi-based diagnosis at home service, Healthians has set up free health camps to monitor the level of stress of individuals standing in queues for long hours. During check-ups conducted at banks, the most common health issues detected were high BP and rise in blood sugar. Speaking to Express, Deepak Sahni, CEO & Founder of Healthians said, Overall, the healthcare sector certainly has seen an impact with a dip in the number of patients going for health checkups and diagnostic tests. There has been up to a 60% decline in the number of requests for home care services, diagnostic tests and other healthcare services excluding emergency treatment at hospitals. The impact might well continue for the next 3-6 months, until everyone collects enough cash for daily services and accumulate enough to pay for such services. Unfortunately, in India, health has always been our last priority until there is an emergency and in shortage of cash these are further ignored which could result in delay or complications in many cases, added Sahni. Challenge for B2B ecommerce platforms For B2B ecommerce platforms like us, we have seen a short term slump in economic activity as most players have COD as the sole payment option. However, in the long term we foresee that this move would benefit the society as a whole, said Bhairavi Madhusudan, Director, back2basics. Most COD orders on this platform are tax paid by B2B buyers. So in the long run, even that should not be impacted, say experts calling demonetisation as a positive move. Job creation in the long term The rural segment are heavy cash users and have been affected by the cash crunch post demonetisation. Siddharth Gupta, vice president, Marketing, AasaanJobs said, People in the lower strata are not aware about the ban and are unaware about how to exchange their old currency from the banks and the various rules around that. We conducted an awareness drive at Mumbai with the purpose to convey to people as to how they can deal with the demonetization initiative. Job seekers have also been affected. We observed that the number of registrations on a daily basis have decreased drastically and we feel it is a temporary drop in the platform in term of searches. There was a 20% dip in traffic, Gupta added. Within the labour intensive sectors, close to two lakh jobs may be lost due to the sudden demonetisation, say experts. However, these job cuts would be temporary. With more currency notes getting introduced, these sectors would recover gradually, Gupta said, adding that the transactions will make the service economy much better, therefore a lot of jobs will be available in the long run. But, the situation is slightly different for the manufacturing sector, which is likely to see job cut. Prepaid cards: A very real solution Startups are also looking at going completely cashless through loyalty programs and point of sale (POS) systems in the coming months. Back2basics have introduced a prepaid cash card which can be used for back2basic transactions only. The prepaid cash card is as good as paying cash on delivery because it doesnt deal with any transaction feesproviding a convenient, safe and secured mode of payment option for customers, driving towards a cashless economy, said Bhairavi. Digital payments facilitator, ItzCash said it has been witnessing a sharp three fold jump in demand for its prepaid cards in the last three weeks, especially from small and mid-sized employers across the industry. Naveen Surya, Managing Director of Itzcash said that the industry so far has sold more than five million of these cards and in the last one week, and 40 million more are expected to be sold through end of this fiscal. CHENNAI: Even as the demonetisation announcement of November 8 and its fallout continue to receive mixed reactions, aspiring entrepreneurs took to maneuvering strategically, taking several measures to make people, especially the underprivileged, aware about the ban and helping them ease their woes. This, they say is not just promoting goodwill of the society or some CSR activity, but their very business. Its hard to fully fathom widespread impact of this move right now. With cash on delivery soon to become another chapter in the history books, we have come up with alternate payment options to fully capitalise on the same, said Abhiraj Bhal, co-founder, UrbanClap. So what do other entrepreneurs say about this move, the fallout of which is still to be completed? Impact on Healthcare: Delay in treatment for patients Hundreds of millions of people have been queueing up in front of banks and ATMs across the country ever since the announcement of November 8. Coming to their rescue, Delhi-based diagnosis at home service, Healthians has set up free health camps to monitor the level of stress of individuals standing in queues for long hours. During check-ups conducted at banks, the most common health issues detected were high BP and rise in blood sugar. Speaking to Express, Deepak Sahni, CEO & Founder of Healthians said, Overall, the healthcare sector certainly has seen an impact with a dip in the number of patients going for health checkups and diagnostic tests. There has been up to a 60% decline in the number of requests for home care services, diagnostic tests and other healthcare services excluding emergency treatment at hospitals. The impact might well continue for the next 3-6 months, until everyone collects enough cash for daily services and accumulate enough to pay for such services. Unfortunately, in India, health has always been our last priority until there is an emergency and in shortage of cash these are further ignored which could result in delay or complications in many cases, added Sahni. Challenge for B2B ecommerce platforms For B2B ecommerce platforms like us, we have seen a short term slump in economic activity as most players have COD as the sole payment option. However, in the long term we foresee that this move would benefit the society as a whole, said Bhairavi Madhusudan, Director, back2basics. Most COD orders on this platform are tax paid by B2B buyers. So in the long run, even that should not be impacted, say experts calling demonetisation as a positive move. Job creation in the long term The rural segment are heavy cash users and have been affected by the cash crunch post demonetisation. Siddharth Gupta, vice president, Marketing, AasaanJobs said, People in the lower strata are not aware about the ban and are unaware about how to exchange their old currency from the banks and the various rules around that. We conducted an awareness drive at Mumbai with the purpose to convey to people as to how they can deal with the demonetization initiative. Job seekers have also been affected. We observed that the number of registrations on a daily basis have decreased drastically and we feel it is a temporary drop in the platform in term of searches. There was a 20% dip in traffic, Gupta added. Within the labour intensive sectors, close to two lakh jobs may be lost due to the sudden demonetisation, say experts. However, these job cuts would be temporary. With more currency notes getting introduced, these sectors would recover gradually, Gupta said, adding that the transactions will make the service economy much better, therefore a lot of jobs will be available in the long run. But, the situation is slightly different for the manufacturing sector, which is likely to see job cut. Prepaid cards: A very real solution Startups are also looking at going completely cashless through loyalty programs and point of sale (POS) systems in the coming months. Back2basics have introduced a prepaid cash card which can be used for back2basic transactions only. The prepaid cash card is as good as paying cash on delivery because it doesnt deal with any transaction feesproviding a convenient, safe and secured mode of payment option for customers, driving towards a cashless economy, said Bhairavi. Digital payments facilitator, ItzCash said it has been witnessing a sharp three fold jump in demand for its prepaid cards in the last three weeks, especially from small and mid-sized employers across the industry. Naveen Surya, Managing Director of Itzcash said that the industry so far has sold more than five million of these cards and in the last one week, and 40 million more are expected to be sold through end of this fiscal. By Express News Service BENGALURU: A Bengaluru-based aerospace startup TeamIndus, aiming to be the countrys first to send a rover to the moon and plant the Indian flag on its surface on January 26, 2018 ( Republic Day), has just secured a commercial launch contract with the Indian Space Research Organisation. With this, the TeamIndus will be the first private entity to exclusively use Indias main rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The team has been granted a three-day launch window starting December 28, 2017, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. If successful, the rover will land on Moon in January 2018. This is being done with the intent of clinching the prestigious $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE. The Google Lunar XPRIZE (GLXP), popularly known as Moon 2.0, is a space competition being conducted by the XPrize Foundation and is sponsored by Google. The competition aims to see a team land a rover on the moons surface, travel more than 500 meters in any direction, and transmit high-definition imagery from the surface of the moon. Team Indus is one of the 16 teams that are in the race for the Google Lunar Xprize challenge (and the only Indian team to do so). A dedicated PSLV for TeamIndus is testimony to the progressive policies adopted by the Department of Space and Technology preparedness of the engineering team. For TeamIndus this was a critical step in realising our objective of creating the most inclusive space program to date. As part of our #HarIndianKaMoonshot program we are delighted to invite young engineers and aspiring scientists to create an experiment that will fly on board our Moon mission, said, Rahul Narayan, Team Indus Fleet Commander in a statement to Express. A startup which began as a group of five people has swiftly grown into a team of 85 over the last five years. Fifteen of the members are retired ISRO scientists and the team is led by Rahul Narayan, a Delhi-based IT professional. The team is backed by the whos-who of Indian business leaders, including Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Ratan Tata of the Tata Group, and Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal of Flipkart. BENGALURU: A Bengaluru-based aerospace startup TeamIndus, aiming to be the countrys first to send a rover to the moon and plant the Indian flag on its surface on January 26, 2018 ( Republic Day), has just secured a commercial launch contract with the Indian Space Research Organisation. With this, the TeamIndus will be the first private entity to exclusively use Indias main rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The team has been granted a three-day launch window starting December 28, 2017, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. If successful, the rover will land on Moon in January 2018. This is being done with the intent of clinching the prestigious $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE. The Google Lunar XPRIZE (GLXP), popularly known as Moon 2.0, is a space competition being conducted by the XPrize Foundation and is sponsored by Google. The competition aims to see a team land a rover on the moons surface, travel more than 500 meters in any direction, and transmit high-definition imagery from the surface of the moon. Team Indus is one of the 16 teams that are in the race for the Google Lunar Xprize challenge (and the only Indian team to do so). A dedicated PSLV for TeamIndus is testimony to the progressive policies adopted by the Department of Space and Technology preparedness of the engineering team. For TeamIndus this was a critical step in realising our objective of creating the most inclusive space program to date. As part of our #HarIndianKaMoonshot program we are delighted to invite young engineers and aspiring scientists to create an experiment that will fly on board our Moon mission, said, Rahul Narayan, Team Indus Fleet Commander in a statement to Express. A startup which began as a group of five people has swiftly grown into a team of 85 over the last five years. Fifteen of the members are retired ISRO scientists and the team is led by Rahul Narayan, a Delhi-based IT professional. The team is backed by the whos-who of Indian business leaders, including Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Ratan Tata of the Tata Group, and Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal of Flipkart. By Express News Service BENGALURU: Two policemen attached to Girinagar police station were arrested on Sunday for allegedly stealing `8 lakh from a woman advocate. They intercepted the advocates vehicle near Seetha Circle on the pretext of routine check and stole the money. A police informer, who hatched the plan was also arrested. The policemen have been identified as head constable Mayur and constable Raghav Kumar. Both were suspended after the arrest. Advocate Suneetha, a resident of Chickpet, had earlier filed a case with police commissioner N S Megharikh against Mayur and Raghav. According to the complaint, Suneetha was on her way in an autorickshaw to give `8 lakh (in old currency notes)to a relative in Padmanabhanagar on Friday evening. Around 9.30 pm, five men, including the two constables, intercepted the vehicle. They claimed they were in search of people who were carrying black money for conversion. They checked the vehicle and took the cash. One of the cops took her to the station on the pretext of an inquiry and she was forced to sit there till midnight. She even showed related documents but to no avail. Policemen allegedly abused her too. The absence of Mayur and Kumar, however, made the advocate doubtful of the whole incident. She then decided to file a case with the senior police officer. On Saturday, the Police Commissioner directed DCP (South) S D Sharanappa to conduct an inquiry. A senior police officer launched the probe and arrested the two policemen and informer Krishnamurthy on Sunday. Police seized `1.3 lakh from Raghava Kumar and `5.44 lakh from Krishnamurthy. Krishnamurthy, who runs a catering business. He passed on the information that Suneetha was carrying money and they hatched a plot. The policemen assumed the woman would not approach police. Fearing arrest, the policemen, who hail from Ramanagar did not come for duty. BENGALURU: Two policemen attached to Girinagar police station were arrested on Sunday for allegedly stealing `8 lakh from a woman advocate. They intercepted the advocates vehicle near Seetha Circle on the pretext of routine check and stole the money. A police informer, who hatched the plan was also arrested. The policemen have been identified as head constable Mayur and constable Raghav Kumar. Both were suspended after the arrest. Advocate Suneetha, a resident of Chickpet, had earlier filed a case with police commissioner N S Megharikh against Mayur and Raghav. According to the complaint, Suneetha was on her way in an autorickshaw to give `8 lakh (in old currency notes)to a relative in Padmanabhanagar on Friday evening. Around 9.30 pm, five men, including the two constables, intercepted the vehicle. They claimed they were in search of people who were carrying black money for conversion. They checked the vehicle and took the cash. One of the cops took her to the station on the pretext of an inquiry and she was forced to sit there till midnight. She even showed related documents but to no avail. Policemen allegedly abused her too. The absence of Mayur and Kumar, however, made the advocate doubtful of the whole incident. She then decided to file a case with the senior police officer. On Saturday, the Police Commissioner directed DCP (South) S D Sharanappa to conduct an inquiry. A senior police officer launched the probe and arrested the two policemen and informer Krishnamurthy on Sunday. Police seized `1.3 lakh from Raghava Kumar and `5.44 lakh from Krishnamurthy. Krishnamurthy, who runs a catering business. He passed on the information that Suneetha was carrying money and they hatched a plot. The policemen assumed the woman would not approach police. Fearing arrest, the policemen, who hail from Ramanagar did not come for duty. Anushree Madhavan By Express News Service CHENNAI: During his residency in JIPMER during 1986-87, Dr N Rangarajan, consultant psychiatrist, came across a patient suspected of having AIDS. It was only then the disease was coming to the fore. The patient was not treated well by the hospital staff. Looking at the way he was treated by the staff, the patients in the ward would get wary and start panicking, he shares. It was then that Dr Rangarajan sat next to the man to prove that AIDS did not spread by mere contact. After 30 years, though the scenario has changed and families of the people living with HIV (PLHIV), are ready to accept them, the society in the city remains wary. It would be dumb to say there is no stigma at all. But it is not as bad as before. People are aware of how HIV spreads; so it doesnt stop them from employing people, says Aiswarya Rao who has been working with PLHIV for 15 years. When they find symptoms, people are open to get tested. While the death rate in Chennai has decreased, people getting sexually transmitted diseases are between the age group 15 to 49. The most infected are those who get the disease from the mother and youngsters who have multiple sexual partners, says Dr Poongulali of YRG Care. Aiswarya says that the reason for the societal change in attitude towards PLHIV is because they are getting proper treatment. Now a PLHIV does not look sick. Until and unless they tell you, you wont know they are HIV positive. They are leading an almost normal life. Yet, PLHIV from the poorer section of society are asked to quit their jobs when their employers learn of their disease. Poongulali adds, We have had some employers bring in their staff for a test and provide medical care but the percentage is low. Stigma is higher when a child with HIV goes to school. It is no longer mandatory to disclose that a person has HIV to all he/she meets. Even a year back, children with HIV were stigmatised. But now it is a lot less as school authorities are informed of the condition and asked not to disclose it, says Aiswarya. While there is enough awareness, Aiswarya insists. We need a paradigm shift when it comes to creating awareness. Earlier there were many advertisements and pamphlets that spoke about AIDS and HIV. It has reduced. People think they are aware, yet their mindset hasnt changed, she says and shares a story of three young girls from Chennai who committed suicide because of discrimination. They were born HIV positive and as they grew, they began having sexual partners. We were told that they took the step because their partners ridiculed them for having the disease. Compared to the regular community the discrimination against the LGBTQ community is a lot more. They are discriminated based on gender and the disease. In Chennai, only the ART treatment is made available to them and there is no follow up, says Vikram Sunderraman, an activist working with the community. Most of those who are stigmatised get depressed and develop mental health problems. That is again a concern. It is better for the transgender community to come out openly with their problems. Many gay people who are still in the closet dont know whom to talk to, and so slip into depression CHENNAI: During his residency in JIPMER during 1986-87, Dr N Rangarajan, consultant psychiatrist, came across a patient suspected of having AIDS. It was only then the disease was coming to the fore. The patient was not treated well by the hospital staff. Looking at the way he was treated by the staff, the patients in the ward would get wary and start panicking, he shares. It was then that Dr Rangarajan sat next to the man to prove that AIDS did not spread by mere contact. After 30 years, though the scenario has changed and families of the people living with HIV (PLHIV), are ready to accept them, the society in the city remains wary. It would be dumb to say there is no stigma at all. But it is not as bad as before. People are aware of how HIV spreads; so it doesnt stop them from employing people, says Aiswarya Rao who has been working with PLHIV for 15 years. When they find symptoms, people are open to get tested. While the death rate in Chennai has decreased, people getting sexually transmitted diseases are between the age group 15 to 49. The most infected are those who get the disease from the mother and youngsters who have multiple sexual partners, says Dr Poongulali of YRG Care. Aiswarya says that the reason for the societal change in attitude towards PLHIV is because they are getting proper treatment. Now a PLHIV does not look sick. Until and unless they tell you, you wont know they are HIV positive. They are leading an almost normal life. Yet, PLHIV from the poorer section of society are asked to quit their jobs when their employers learn of their disease. Poongulali adds, We have had some employers bring in their staff for a test and provide medical care but the percentage is low. Stigma is higher when a child with HIV goes to school. It is no longer mandatory to disclose that a person has HIV to all he/she meets. Even a year back, children with HIV were stigmatised. But now it is a lot less as school authorities are informed of the condition and asked not to disclose it, says Aiswarya. While there is enough awareness, Aiswarya insists. We need a paradigm shift when it comes to creating awareness. Earlier there were many advertisements and pamphlets that spoke about AIDS and HIV. It has reduced. People think they are aware, yet their mindset hasnt changed, she says and shares a story of three young girls from Chennai who committed suicide because of discrimination. They were born HIV positive and as they grew, they began having sexual partners. We were told that they took the step because their partners ridiculed them for having the disease. Compared to the regular community the discrimination against the LGBTQ community is a lot more. They are discriminated based on gender and the disease. In Chennai, only the ART treatment is made available to them and there is no follow up, says Vikram Sunderraman, an activist working with the community. Most of those who are stigmatised get depressed and develop mental health problems. That is again a concern. It is better for the transgender community to come out openly with their problems. Many gay people who are still in the closet dont know whom to talk to, and so slip into depression Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Fatih Karimov Trend: Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi has called on the US to stop implementation of a bill on extending sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Mehr news agency reported Dec. 5. During a meeting with the US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz in Vienna on Dec. 4 on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Conference on Nuclear Security, Salehi expressed serious concerns over the extension of Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) in the US Congress. He underlined that Washington should be committed to the nuclear deal signed last year between Tehran and the six world powers (P5+1). Salehi also said that the Islamic Republic is fully committed to all of its obligations under the nuclear deal. He further said that Tehran reserves its right to respond to the actions of the US. Moniz, for his part, said that will deliver Irans message of concern to President Barack Obama. The US official also underlined its countrys commitment to the nuclear deal, adding that Obama will use his authority to prevent implementation of certain parts of the ISA which contradicts the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action aka nuclear deal). The US lawmakers have recently reauthorized the ISA, which was first introduced in 1996 to punish investments in Iran's energy industry based on accusations that Tehran was pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. While Barack Obama is expected to approve the legislation on the renewal of sanctions against Iran for the next 10 years, Iranian leaders have sharply criticized the motion describing it as a breach of the last years landmark nuclear deal. By Online Desk ALIGARH: A 45-year-old daily wage labourer who had set herself ablaze here after allegedly failing to exchange old notes, succumbed to the burns at a hospital in New Delhi on Sunday. Razia, a resident of Shahjamal locality in Delhi Gate area, had immolated herself on the evening of November 20 after her consistent efforts at exchanging six notes of Rs 500 at different branches of banks in the old city area for five days failed. On the night of November 20 when Razia was rushed to the district hospital in a critical condition she told media persons that she took the extreme "out of total helplessness as her four children had not eaten anything for three days". Protests ensued after the news of the death broke, with locals coming out in large numbers. However, the mob subsided with the city chief of Samajwadi Party Baba Farid assuring them that the matter would be taken up with the State government. Her funeral was attended by senior district officials and police personnel. ALIGARH: A 45-year-old daily wage labourer who had set herself ablaze here after allegedly failing to exchange old notes, succumbed to the burns at a hospital in New Delhi on Sunday. Razia, a resident of Shahjamal locality in Delhi Gate area, had immolated herself on the evening of November 20 after her consistent efforts at exchanging six notes of Rs 500 at different branches of banks in the old city area for five days failed. On the night of November 20 when Razia was rushed to the district hospital in a critical condition she told media persons that she took the extreme "out of total helplessness as her four children had not eaten anything for three days". Protests ensued after the news of the death broke, with locals coming out in large numbers. However, the mob subsided with the city chief of Samajwadi Party Baba Farid assuring them that the matter would be taken up with the State government. Her funeral was attended by senior district officials and police personnel. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: With a majority of roads in Greater Hyderabad battered due to lashing of heavy rains two months ago due to reported usage of substandard material, bringing disgrace to the city, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is planning to take up third party quality control services for civic works. Municipal Administration and Urban Development minister K T Rama Rao on several occasions took serious note of the pathetic condition of roads as they are frequently getting damage causing inconvenience to public. GHMC will utilise the services of universities and reputed engineering colleges from Hyderabad experienced in offering third party quality control services to the government department of civil works costing above `1 lakh undertaken in various Engineering divisions. Over a period of the last five years from 2012-13, GHMC sanctioned as many as 78,450 civil works running into a few thousands of crore of rupees such as cement concrete pavements, bituminous road works, under ground drainage, storm water drains, culverts, bridges, solid waste management works and other civil works. The sanctioned works during the last five years are: 2012-13 (15,069 works `1071 crore), 2013-14 (17,329 works, `1,434 crore), 2014-15 (16,484 works, `1,366 crore), 2015-16 (18,777 works, `3,279 crore). GHMC proposes to take necessary remedial measures in case of shortfalls in quality if any found apart from utilising their services to educate GHMC engineers and construction agencies so as to adopt national standards, GHMC officials said. GHMC is undertaking large number of civil works involving huge expenditure and has become necessary for third party quality control services checking. The main objective of this assignment is to obtain independent assessment of the quality of all construction works executed by contractors. The third party quality control agency would provide an independent assessment of the quality of civil works at different stages of construction. The agency would set up a quality control system with the help of prescribed testing norms laid through a competent team of appropriate technical personnel. The agencies engaged will be responsible for assessing quality of basic input materials, workmanship and final product by conducting appropriate tests (both field and laboratory) including periodical supervision of civil works at appropriate stage of construction, they added. HYDERABAD: With a majority of roads in Greater Hyderabad battered due to lashing of heavy rains two months ago due to reported usage of substandard material, bringing disgrace to the city, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is planning to take up third party quality control services for civic works. Municipal Administration and Urban Development minister K T Rama Rao on several occasions took serious note of the pathetic condition of roads as they are frequently getting damage causing inconvenience to public. GHMC will utilise the services of universities and reputed engineering colleges from Hyderabad experienced in offering third party quality control services to the government department of civil works costing above `1 lakh undertaken in various Engineering divisions. Over a period of the last five years from 2012-13, GHMC sanctioned as many as 78,450 civil works running into a few thousands of crore of rupees such as cement concrete pavements, bituminous road works, under ground drainage, storm water drains, culverts, bridges, solid waste management works and other civil works. The sanctioned works during the last five years are: 2012-13 (15,069 works `1071 crore), 2013-14 (17,329 works, `1,434 crore), 2014-15 (16,484 works, `1,366 crore), 2015-16 (18,777 works, `3,279 crore). GHMC proposes to take necessary remedial measures in case of shortfalls in quality if any found apart from utilising their services to educate GHMC engineers and construction agencies so as to adopt national standards, GHMC officials said. GHMC is undertaking large number of civil works involving huge expenditure and has become necessary for third party quality control services checking. The main objective of this assignment is to obtain independent assessment of the quality of all construction works executed by contractors. The third party quality control agency would provide an independent assessment of the quality of civil works at different stages of construction. The agency would set up a quality control system with the help of prescribed testing norms laid through a competent team of appropriate technical personnel. The agencies engaged will be responsible for assessing quality of basic input materials, workmanship and final product by conducting appropriate tests (both field and laboratory) including periodical supervision of civil works at appropriate stage of construction, they added. By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state will observe World Soil Day on Monday. As part of this, the state soil survey and soil conservation department will be undertaking a massive campaign to create awareness among the public on the importance of protecting soil. The observance of World Soil Day, an initiative of the United Nations Food and Agricultural organisation aims to connect people with soils and to impart awareness on its importance in our daily life and survival. The day coincides with the birthday of Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand who strived to raise global awareness on soils. The state level inauguration will be held at Kanakakunnu Palace on Monday at 10.30 am. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the function which will be presided by the Minister for Agriculture V S Sunil Kumar. As part of the celebrations, an exhibition on the importance of soils and the different types of soils available in Kerala has been arranged at the venue. There will be a sale of soil sample kits for students and books pertaining to soils of Kerala on a discounted price. A special postage stamp to commemorate the event will be released in collaboration with the Department of Posts on the occasion. Seminars for farmers on Soil Health Management for Sustainable Agricultural Development and climatic change and natural resource conservation will also be organised. THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state will observe World Soil Day on Monday. As part of this, the state soil survey and soil conservation department will be undertaking a massive campaign to create awareness among the public on the importance of protecting soil. The observance of World Soil Day, an initiative of the United Nations Food and Agricultural organisation aims to connect people with soils and to impart awareness on its importance in our daily life and survival. The day coincides with the birthday of Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand who strived to raise global awareness on soils. The state level inauguration will be held at Kanakakunnu Palace on Monday at 10.30 am. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the function which will be presided by the Minister for Agriculture V S Sunil Kumar. As part of the celebrations, an exhibition on the importance of soils and the different types of soils available in Kerala has been arranged at the venue. There will be a sale of soil sample kits for students and books pertaining to soils of Kerala on a discounted price. A special postage stamp to commemorate the event will be released in collaboration with the Department of Posts on the occasion. Seminars for farmers on Soil Health Management for Sustainable Agricultural Development and climatic change and natural resource conservation will also be organised. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: At least 37 per cent of the total geographical area in the country is affected by various kinds of land degradation including soil acidity, soil and wind erosion and mining waste, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave told the Rajya Sabha on Monday. In a written reply, Dave said the government is taking various measures including planting of trees for treatment of the degraded land. "As per the information received from Ministry of Agriculture and farmers welfare, out of the total geographical area of the country, about 120.40 million hectare (37 per cent) is affected by various kinds of land degradation," he said. He said that this includes water and wind erosion (94.87 million hectare), water logging (0.91 million hectare), soil alkalinity/ sodicty (3.71 million hectare), soil acidity (17.93 million hectare), soil salinity (2.73 million hectare) and mining and industrial waste (0.26 million hectare). Dave said in order to prevent soil erosion, land degradation and to improve productivity of degraded lands in the country, the rural development ministry implemented Integrated Watershed Management Programme which is now subsumed under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana. He said the Environment Ministry implemented centrally sponsored scheme of National Afforestation Programme (NAP) for regeneration of degraded forest and adjoining areas in the country. "Under this scheme, an area of 21.38 lakh hectares has been treated since inception of this programme in 2000-02,"he said. NEW DELHI: At least 37 per cent of the total geographical area in the country is affected by various kinds of land degradation including soil acidity, soil and wind erosion and mining waste, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave told the Rajya Sabha on Monday. In a written reply, Dave said the government is taking various measures including planting of trees for treatment of the degraded land. "As per the information received from Ministry of Agriculture and farmers welfare, out of the total geographical area of the country, about 120.40 million hectare (37 per cent) is affected by various kinds of land degradation," he said. He said that this includes water and wind erosion (94.87 million hectare), water logging (0.91 million hectare), soil alkalinity/ sodicty (3.71 million hectare), soil acidity (17.93 million hectare), soil salinity (2.73 million hectare) and mining and industrial waste (0.26 million hectare). Dave said in order to prevent soil erosion, land degradation and to improve productivity of degraded lands in the country, the rural development ministry implemented Integrated Watershed Management Programme which is now subsumed under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana. He said the Environment Ministry implemented centrally sponsored scheme of National Afforestation Programme (NAP) for regeneration of degraded forest and adjoining areas in the country. "Under this scheme, an area of 21.38 lakh hectares has been treated since inception of this programme in 2000-02,"he said. By Express News Service SRINAGAR: Army has arrested a Pakistani national near Line of Control (LoC) in border district of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir. A 40-year old Pakistani national was arrested on the LoC in Poonch sector by vigilant army men, an army official said. He said the intruder was seen moving suspiciously on this side of LoC when he was engaged by army men. He was then apprehended. He had suffered minor injuries and was administered first-aid, the official said adding, He is being questioned by army and intelligence officials. Sources said the interrogators are trying to ascertain whether he was sent to J&K on any mission by the Pakistani troops. He would also be questioned about recent militant attacks in Jammu including an attack on army camp at Nagrota. After his questioning, he would be handed over to the local police, they said. Meanwhile, army has launched probe into last weeks fidayeen attack on one of their heavily guarded camps at Nagrota, Jammu, just three kms away from armys 16 Corps Headquarters. We are ascertaining how militant managed to storm the heavily guarded camp. We are trying to ascertain which route they used to come to the camp and storm it, sources said. At least seven soldiers including two Major-rank officers were killed after a group of three militants stormed the militant camp last week. Three militants were also killed in the gunfight. Sources said investigators are also probing whether the militants had got some inside help. We are probing all angles including this one, they said. SRINAGAR: Army has arrested a Pakistani national near Line of Control (LoC) in border district of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir. A 40-year old Pakistani national was arrested on the LoC in Poonch sector by vigilant army men, an army official said. He said the intruder was seen moving suspiciously on this side of LoC when he was engaged by army men. He was then apprehended. He had suffered minor injuries and was administered first-aid, the official said adding, He is being questioned by army and intelligence officials. Sources said the interrogators are trying to ascertain whether he was sent to J&K on any mission by the Pakistani troops. He would also be questioned about recent militant attacks in Jammu including an attack on army camp at Nagrota. After his questioning, he would be handed over to the local police, they said. Meanwhile, army has launched probe into last weeks fidayeen attack on one of their heavily guarded camps at Nagrota, Jammu, just three kms away from armys 16 Corps Headquarters. We are ascertaining how militant managed to storm the heavily guarded camp. We are trying to ascertain which route they used to come to the camp and storm it, sources said. At least seven soldiers including two Major-rank officers were killed after a group of three militants stormed the militant camp last week. Three militants were also killed in the gunfight. Sources said investigators are also probing whether the militants had got some inside help. We are probing all angles including this one, they said. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Amidst reports that the terrorists had sneaked into the Nagrota security camp from the forest area, the Army has launched a probe to find out how they could reach the place. Preliminary probe indicates that three terrorists had entered the army's artillery camp from the rear side, sources said. The deadly Nagrota terror attack had left seven army personnel dead, including two Major-rank officers. The terror attack is being probed. The final report will state all aspects behind the attack, including how they accessed the highly guarded camp Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag said on the sidelines of an event in the national capital. Five jawans were also killed in an eight-hour gun battle at the military camp near the Army's 16 Corps headquarters in Nagrota on November 29. Three militants were also killed in the attack. The army unit is located just three kms from the Corps Headquarters at Nagrota. NEW DELHI: Amidst reports that the terrorists had sneaked into the Nagrota security camp from the forest area, the Army has launched a probe to find out how they could reach the place. Preliminary probe indicates that three terrorists had entered the army's artillery camp from the rear side, sources said. The deadly Nagrota terror attack had left seven army personnel dead, including two Major-rank officers. The terror attack is being probed. The final report will state all aspects behind the attack, including how they accessed the highly guarded camp Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag said on the sidelines of an event in the national capital. Five jawans were also killed in an eight-hour gun battle at the military camp near the Army's 16 Corps headquarters in Nagrota on November 29. Three militants were also killed in the attack. The army unit is located just three kms from the Corps Headquarters at Nagrota. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Whether Advisor to Pakistans Prime Minister Sartaj Azizs short walk with Indian National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval will break the ice between the two arch rivals is yet to be seen. However, Islamabads complaint about mistreatment of Aziz has evoked strong response from the Indian establishment that said the top diplomat was extended all courtesies including the chance to say Adab (Hello) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pakistan has on Sunday complained that Indian authorities denied permission to 87-year-old Aziz to visit the Golden Temple or interact with the media. Islamabad took it as a barb from New Delhi and termed it contravention of diplomatic protocols. They have no reasons to complain. We were gracious hosts. We extended Tarmac access, gave additional rooms, provided armoured cars (not given to every Foreign Minister) and other conveniences keeping special security requirements in view, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials said. Sunday being the martyrdom day of Guru Teg Bahadur, the Golden Temple had devotees thronging the holy shrine in large numbers. The visit to the Golden Temple for the VIPs and VVIPS was arranged a day prior on Saturday. Aziz also had a surprise element in his visit as he arrived a day earlier to the scheduled arrival. We even did all the arrangements despite last minute change of programme and advancing of arrival in Amritsar by special flight by more than 12 hours. Fresh flight clearance was issued within minutes. Their Head of Delegation (Aziz) could therefore be present in the official dinner and in the call on PM on December 3rd, the officials added. An exception was made for Aziz so that he could arrive and depart from Amritsar, that is not a designated entry or exit point for Pakistani nationals. The strained relation between the two countries does have spill over on their diplomatic relations. Earlier this year, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had flown to Islamabad to attend the Home Ministers Conference of SAARC countries. But he cut his visit short and returned to India red faced after his speech was blacked out and his Pakistani counterpart chose to skip the lunch planned for dignitaries despite being the host. NEW DELHI: Whether Advisor to Pakistans Prime Minister Sartaj Azizs short walk with Indian National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval will break the ice between the two arch rivals is yet to be seen. However, Islamabads complaint about mistreatment of Aziz has evoked strong response from the Indian establishment that said the top diplomat was extended all courtesies including the chance to say Adab (Hello) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pakistan has on Sunday complained that Indian authorities denied permission to 87-year-old Aziz to visit the Golden Temple or interact with the media. Islamabad took it as a barb from New Delhi and termed it contravention of diplomatic protocols. They have no reasons to complain. We were gracious hosts. We extended Tarmac access, gave additional rooms, provided armoured cars (not given to every Foreign Minister) and other conveniences keeping special security requirements in view, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials said. Sunday being the martyrdom day of Guru Teg Bahadur, the Golden Temple had devotees thronging the holy shrine in large numbers. The visit to the Golden Temple for the VIPs and VVIPS was arranged a day prior on Saturday. Aziz also had a surprise element in his visit as he arrived a day earlier to the scheduled arrival. We even did all the arrangements despite last minute change of programme and advancing of arrival in Amritsar by special flight by more than 12 hours. Fresh flight clearance was issued within minutes. Their Head of Delegation (Aziz) could therefore be present in the official dinner and in the call on PM on December 3rd, the officials added. An exception was made for Aziz so that he could arrive and depart from Amritsar, that is not a designated entry or exit point for Pakistani nationals. The strained relation between the two countries does have spill over on their diplomatic relations. Earlier this year, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had flown to Islamabad to attend the Home Ministers Conference of SAARC countries. But he cut his visit short and returned to India red faced after his speech was blacked out and his Pakistani counterpart chose to skip the lunch planned for dignitaries despite being the host. Anand ST Das By Express News Service PATNA: In the first incident of its kind, police in Bihar arrested five youths on Monday for posting on Facebook a photograph showing them having a drinking session. Little did Vicky Kumar, in mid-20s, know that policemen would knock at his door in the forenoon for something as innocuous as having liquor with his friends at his home in Laheri in Nalanda district the previous night. But in Bihar, where the JD(U)-led coalition government of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar brought total prohibition into force eight months ago, consuming, possessing and trading in all kinds of alcoholic liquor has been illegal and leads to arrest. Incidentally, Nalanda happens to be Nitish Kumars home district. Vicky Kumar and four of his friends who had attended the drinking session have been arrested after they were identified from the photograph posted on the Facebook wall of one of them. Also a bottle of liquor was found from Vicky during the arrest, said Nalanda SP Kumar Ashish. A medical examination of all the five youths that was conducted after their arrest reportedly confirmed that they had consumed liquor. One of the youths arrested is from Patna. Sources said when police officials monitoring the implementation of prohibition in Bihar came across this photograph on Facebook, they alerted Laheri police station. The arrested youths would be charged not only with drinking liquor despite prohibition but also with publicising drinking through the social media. In another incident in Nalanda district itself, a team comprising police and excise department officials on Friday seized 90 bottles of foreign liquor from a man apparently engaged in liquor trade. Despite strict vigil by the authorities, storing, smuggling and consumption of alcoholic liquor still continues across the state. PATNA: In the first incident of its kind, police in Bihar arrested five youths on Monday for posting on Facebook a photograph showing them having a drinking session. Little did Vicky Kumar, in mid-20s, know that policemen would knock at his door in the forenoon for something as innocuous as having liquor with his friends at his home in Laheri in Nalanda district the previous night. But in Bihar, where the JD(U)-led coalition government of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar brought total prohibition into force eight months ago, consuming, possessing and trading in all kinds of alcoholic liquor has been illegal and leads to arrest. Incidentally, Nalanda happens to be Nitish Kumars home district. Vicky Kumar and four of his friends who had attended the drinking session have been arrested after they were identified from the photograph posted on the Facebook wall of one of them. Also a bottle of liquor was found from Vicky during the arrest, said Nalanda SP Kumar Ashish. A medical examination of all the five youths that was conducted after their arrest reportedly confirmed that they had consumed liquor. One of the youths arrested is from Patna. Sources said when police officials monitoring the implementation of prohibition in Bihar came across this photograph on Facebook, they alerted Laheri police station. The arrested youths would be charged not only with drinking liquor despite prohibition but also with publicising drinking through the social media. In another incident in Nalanda district itself, a team comprising police and excise department officials on Friday seized 90 bottles of foreign liquor from a man apparently engaged in liquor trade. Despite strict vigil by the authorities, storing, smuggling and consumption of alcoholic liquor still continues across the state. By Express News Service SRINAGAR: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and opposition National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Monday lend support to separatists saying they are with the separatist (Hurriyat) leaders, who should carry forward the movement and be united. He also dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop flow of water to Pakistan. People in Valley for the past five months are fighting for their rights. They want their rights, Abdullah said while addressing party workers at a function to commemorate the 111th birth anniversary of his father and NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah at Naseem Bagh, Hazratbal today. He advised the separatist Hurriyat leaders not to go separate ways. Be united, move ahead and take this movement forward and we are with you. I am telling you from this sacred mausoleum that you (Hurriyat) move forward, we are with you till your steps are on the right track and you take this nation forward in a right manner, Abdullah said amid thundering applause from his party workers. He asked the Hurriyat not to treat them as their enemy. We are not your enemy but we are not ready to follow wrong path. The separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik area spearheading the over four month long unrest in the Valley triggered by killing of 21-year-old Hizbul commander Burhan Wani on July 8. Stressing that fight for freedom was not easy and in the past five months, Kashmiris had suffered immensely, the NC President said, We will never be free till we are not united. Referring to the ongoing unrest in the Valley, the former CM said, They cant crush you. The fire that has engulfed Kashmir cannot be extinguished till India and Pakistan do justice with us. They will have to do justice with people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Till that time, this fire will not extinguish. Instead it will further increase. The more they try to douse this fire, the more it will gain intensity. He told the party workers not to remain away from this movement and be part of this movement. Abdullah said J&Ks last king Maharaja Hari Singh had acceded to India because of Pakistan. Had Pakistan not launched war at that time, Maharaja would not have acceded to India. The J&K would have been a bridge between the two countries. But unfortunately due to war by Pakistan, Maharaja had to go to Delhi and sign accession with India. He signed it on three points defence, communication and currency and rest were to be dealt by J&K people and at a conducive time plebiscite was to be held, he said. The former CM said his party was not to be blamed for not holding of plebiscite in J&K. Pakistan is responsible for it. Pakistan had to pull out forces from its part of Kashmir and some Indian troops were to remain in the region to maintain peace so that plebiscite would be held in entire J&K. Referring to PM Modis remarks at a Jalandhar rally recently that he was determined to stop flow of water into Pakistan and bring it for farmers of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said people of India were being befooled. PM said he will prevent flow of water from Ravi, Satluj and Beas rivers to Pakistan. It cant be done, he said. Abdullah under the international agreement, India had exclusive rights over three major eastern rivers - Ravi, Beas and Sutlej - before they enter Pakistan while Pakistan had rights over three western rivers Indus, Jhelum and Chenab - that flow through Jammu Kashmir. Our land is with them (India) and our rivers with them (Pakistan), he said. I want to see how he (PM) will be able to divert water from these rivers, added Abdullah. He had last week dared PM to reclaim Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK) from Pakistan. They say in parliament and there is a resolution that PaK is Indias territory. Arre Tumhare Baap Ka hai kya. Tumhae pass wo takat nahi hai ki tum wo hissa vapas le sako (You dont have the power to take the territory back), Abdullah had said. SRINAGAR: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and opposition National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Monday lend support to separatists saying they are with the separatist (Hurriyat) leaders, who should carry forward the movement and be united. He also dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop flow of water to Pakistan. People in Valley for the past five months are fighting for their rights. They want their rights, Abdullah said while addressing party workers at a function to commemorate the 111th birth anniversary of his father and NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah at Naseem Bagh, Hazratbal today. He advised the separatist Hurriyat leaders not to go separate ways. Be united, move ahead and take this movement forward and we are with you. I am telling you from this sacred mausoleum that you (Hurriyat) move forward, we are with you till your steps are on the right track and you take this nation forward in a right manner, Abdullah said amid thundering applause from his party workers. He asked the Hurriyat not to treat them as their enemy. We are not your enemy but we are not ready to follow wrong path. The separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik area spearheading the over four month long unrest in the Valley triggered by killing of 21-year-old Hizbul commander Burhan Wani on July 8. Stressing that fight for freedom was not easy and in the past five months, Kashmiris had suffered immensely, the NC President said, We will never be free till we are not united. Referring to the ongoing unrest in the Valley, the former CM said, They cant crush you. The fire that has engulfed Kashmir cannot be extinguished till India and Pakistan do justice with us. They will have to do justice with people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Till that time, this fire will not extinguish. Instead it will further increase. The more they try to douse this fire, the more it will gain intensity. He told the party workers not to remain away from this movement and be part of this movement. Abdullah said J&Ks last king Maharaja Hari Singh had acceded to India because of Pakistan. Had Pakistan not launched war at that time, Maharaja would not have acceded to India. The J&K would have been a bridge between the two countries. But unfortunately due to war by Pakistan, Maharaja had to go to Delhi and sign accession with India. He signed it on three points defence, communication and currency and rest were to be dealt by J&K people and at a conducive time plebiscite was to be held, he said. The former CM said his party was not to be blamed for not holding of plebiscite in J&K. Pakistan is responsible for it. Pakistan had to pull out forces from its part of Kashmir and some Indian troops were to remain in the region to maintain peace so that plebiscite would be held in entire J&K. Referring to PM Modis remarks at a Jalandhar rally recently that he was determined to stop flow of water into Pakistan and bring it for farmers of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said people of India were being befooled. PM said he will prevent flow of water from Ravi, Satluj and Beas rivers to Pakistan. It cant be done, he said. Abdullah under the international agreement, India had exclusive rights over three major eastern rivers - Ravi, Beas and Sutlej - before they enter Pakistan while Pakistan had rights over three western rivers Indus, Jhelum and Chenab - that flow through Jammu Kashmir. Our land is with them (India) and our rivers with them (Pakistan), he said. I want to see how he (PM) will be able to divert water from these rivers, added Abdullah. He had last week dared PM to reclaim Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK) from Pakistan. They say in parliament and there is a resolution that PaK is Indias territory. Arre Tumhare Baap Ka hai kya. Tumhae pass wo takat nahi hai ki tum wo hissa vapas le sako (You dont have the power to take the territory back), Abdullah had said. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: It is yet to be seen whether Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharifs advisor Sartaj Azizs meeting with Indian National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval will break the ice between the two countries. However, Islamabads complaint about Azizs alleged mistreatment has evoked a strong response from the Indian establishment, which said the top diplomat was extended all courtesies, including the chance to say adab (hello) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pakistan had on Sunday complained that the Indian authorities had denied permission to 87-year-old Aziz to visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar or interact with the media. Islamabad took it as a barb from New Delhi and termed it a contravention of diplomatic protocol. They have no reason to complain. We were gracious hosts. We extended tarmac access, gave additional rooms, provided armoured cars (not given to every foreign minister) and other conveniences keeping the special security requirements in view, said officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Devotees thronged the Golden Temple in large numbers on Sunday, which was the death anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur. The visit for VIPs and VVIPS to the temple was arranged on Saturday. Aziz, however, landed a day earlier than scheduled. We even did all the arrangements despite a last minute change of programme and (Aziz's) advanced arrival in Amritsar by special flight by more than 12 hours. Fresh flight clearance was issued within minutes. Their head of delegation (Aziz) was therefore present in the official dinner and in the call on PM on December 3, the officials added. An exception was made for Aziz so that he could arrive and depart from Amritsar, which is not a designated entry or exit point for Pakistani nationals. Strains in the relations between the two countries have spilled over in recent weeks. Earlier this year, India's home minister Rajnath Singh cut short his visit to Islamabad to attend the Home Ministers Conference of SAARC countries. But he cut his visit short and returned to India after his speech was blacked out and his Pakistani counterpart chose to skip the lunch planned for dignitaries. NEW DELHI: It is yet to be seen whether Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharifs advisor Sartaj Azizs meeting with Indian National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval will break the ice between the two countries. However, Islamabads complaint about Azizs alleged mistreatment has evoked a strong response from the Indian establishment, which said the top diplomat was extended all courtesies, including the chance to say adab (hello) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pakistan had on Sunday complained that the Indian authorities had denied permission to 87-year-old Aziz to visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar or interact with the media. Islamabad took it as a barb from New Delhi and termed it a contravention of diplomatic protocol. They have no reason to complain. We were gracious hosts. We extended tarmac access, gave additional rooms, provided armoured cars (not given to every foreign minister) and other conveniences keeping the special security requirements in view, said officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Devotees thronged the Golden Temple in large numbers on Sunday, which was the death anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur. The visit for VIPs and VVIPS to the temple was arranged on Saturday. Aziz, however, landed a day earlier than scheduled. We even did all the arrangements despite a last minute change of programme and (Aziz's) advanced arrival in Amritsar by special flight by more than 12 hours. Fresh flight clearance was issued within minutes. Their head of delegation (Aziz) was therefore present in the official dinner and in the call on PM on December 3, the officials added. An exception was made for Aziz so that he could arrive and depart from Amritsar, which is not a designated entry or exit point for Pakistani nationals. Strains in the relations between the two countries have spilled over in recent weeks. Earlier this year, India's home minister Rajnath Singh cut short his visit to Islamabad to attend the Home Ministers Conference of SAARC countries. But he cut his visit short and returned to India after his speech was blacked out and his Pakistani counterpart chose to skip the lunch planned for dignitaries. Tehran, Iran, Dec. 5 By Mehdi Sepahvand, Fatih Karimov Trend: Iran believes that the US will not be able to unilaterally undermine the nuclear deal signed between Tehran and the six world powers last year. The JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action aka nuclear deal) has a strong international support, Bahram Qasemi, Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman, said during a press conference in Tehran on Dec. 5, Trend's correspondent reported from the event. He further said that the US is not powerful enough to undermine the nuclear deal. The US lawmakers have recently reauthorized the ISA, which was first introduced in 1996 to punish investments in Iran's energy industry based on accusations that Tehran was pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. While Barack Obama is expected to approve the legislation on the renewal of sanctions against Iran for the next 10 years, Iranian leaders have sharply criticized the motion describing it as a breach of the last years landmark nuclear deal. Mesnwhile, Qasemi said that the wise people in the US will not allow the nuclear deal to be violated. I am optimistic that they will change route. We have scenarios for all outcomes and will respond accordingly, he added. The Iranian diplomat added that Tehran expects the EU to stay committed to the JCPOA, but it is naive to think countries will follow their commitments forever, Qasemi said. However we hope the EU plays its historic role in this regard, he added. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Cross-border terrorism, infiltration, extradition of terrorists and fugitives besides smuggling of arms and contraband drugs figured prominently during the two-day Home Secretary level talks between India and Bangladesh that commenced here on Monday. The two sides exchanged a list of wanted terrorists suspected to be hiding in both the countries. Transfer of sentenced persons and setting up a joint anti-terror mechanism including sharing of real time information between the two countries was also high on the agenda of the talks held between Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and his Bangladesh counterpart Mozammel Haque Khan. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehirshi handed over a list of terrorists including several Ulfa leaders along with the coordinates of hideouts and camps of insurgent groups in Bangladesh. Dhaka on its part shared a list of home grown terrorists particularly the Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) suspected to be holed up in India. The two neighbouring countries decided to set up a joint anti-terror mechanism to combat terrorism and radical elements, said a senior Union home ministry official. The neighbouring countrys delegation was also informed about the presence of Indian Insurgents Groups (IIGs) in nine districts in Bangladesh. The list of such hideouts handed over by India includes the names of the Biswamohan Debbarma faction of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) and ULFA. India gave a list of 45 such hideouts in Bangladesh and urged Dhaka to take immediate measures for handing over jailed North-east militants. During the talks, India also expressed deep concern over the activity of the Garo National Liberation Army from its bases in Bangladesh. During the talks, border security and other bilateral issues were also discussed at length, the official added. The Bangladeshi delegation handed over a dossier of several radicalised youths who went missing over the past few months and were suspected to be hiding in India. The list also includes several members of the terror outfit JMB whose activists were arrested by National Investigation Agency in connection with Burdwan blast case, the official said. Khan informed his Mehirishi that Bangladesh was continuing its crackdown against militants since July terror attack at a cafe in Dhaka. Sources said Khan assured that Bangladesh will not let its soil to be used by inimical forces against India. During the meeting, India also highlighted cattle smuggling across the border and asked for co-operation in ensuring crackdown against such smugglers. Indian side also highlighted an increase in drug smuggling from Bangladesh side and record number of seizure of synthetic drugs over the past three years. During the meeting, two sides discussed working of institutional arrangements, security related issues, cooperation in prevention of illegal activities along the borders, border management issues, the Centre said in a statement. The last such meeting between the home secretaries was held in November 2015 at Dhaka in Bangladesh. NEW DELHI: Cross-border terrorism, infiltration, extradition of terrorists and fugitives besides smuggling of arms and contraband drugs figured prominently during the two-day Home Secretary level talks between India and Bangladesh that commenced here on Monday. The two sides exchanged a list of wanted terrorists suspected to be hiding in both the countries. Transfer of sentenced persons and setting up a joint anti-terror mechanism including sharing of real time information between the two countries was also high on the agenda of the talks held between Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and his Bangladesh counterpart Mozammel Haque Khan. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehirshi handed over a list of terrorists including several Ulfa leaders along with the coordinates of hideouts and camps of insurgent groups in Bangladesh. Dhaka on its part shared a list of home grown terrorists particularly the Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) suspected to be holed up in India. The two neighbouring countries decided to set up a joint anti-terror mechanism to combat terrorism and radical elements, said a senior Union home ministry official. The neighbouring countrys delegation was also informed about the presence of Indian Insurgents Groups (IIGs) in nine districts in Bangladesh. The list of such hideouts handed over by India includes the names of the Biswamohan Debbarma faction of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) and ULFA. India gave a list of 45 such hideouts in Bangladesh and urged Dhaka to take immediate measures for handing over jailed North-east militants. During the talks, India also expressed deep concern over the activity of the Garo National Liberation Army from its bases in Bangladesh. During the talks, border security and other bilateral issues were also discussed at length, the official added. The Bangladeshi delegation handed over a dossier of several radicalised youths who went missing over the past few months and were suspected to be hiding in India. The list also includes several members of the terror outfit JMB whose activists were arrested by National Investigation Agency in connection with Burdwan blast case, the official said. Khan informed his Mehirishi that Bangladesh was continuing its crackdown against militants since July terror attack at a cafe in Dhaka. Sources said Khan assured that Bangladesh will not let its soil to be used by inimical forces against India. During the meeting, India also highlighted cattle smuggling across the border and asked for co-operation in ensuring crackdown against such smugglers. Indian side also highlighted an increase in drug smuggling from Bangladesh side and record number of seizure of synthetic drugs over the past three years. During the meeting, two sides discussed working of institutional arrangements, security related issues, cooperation in prevention of illegal activities along the borders, border management issues, the Centre said in a statement. The last such meeting between the home secretaries was held in November 2015 at Dhaka in Bangladesh. By Express News Service NEW YORK: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the online reader's poll for TIME Person of the Year 2016, beating world leaders like US President-elect Donald Trump, incumbent US leader Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi won the poll with 18 per cent of the votes when it closed Sunday night, getting significantly more votes than his closest contenders, including Obama, Trump and Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange, who all received 7 per cent of the 'yes' vote. Modi was also overtook other prominent figures of 2016, like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (2 per cent) and US Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (4 per cent), Time said. Other contenders include FBI Chief James Comey, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Khizr and Ghazala Khan- parents of slain Muslim-American soldier Humanyun Khan, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Time's editors will decide the winner later this week, but the poll results provide a glimpse of how the world sees these figures, with Modi emerging the most influential in 2016. Time said the reader poll is an "important window" into who they think most shaped 2016. It is for the second time that Modi has won the online readers' poll for the title, having secured the honour in 2014, when he garnered over 16 per cent of the almost five million votes cast. This is the fourth consecutive year that he is among the contenders for the honour, which the US publication bestows every year to the one "who has most influenced the news and the world in the past year, for good or ill". German Chancellor Angela Merkel was Time's 'Person of the Year' 2015. Time said that, Modi had, in recent months, seen high approval ratings from Indians, according to a September Pew poll. It added, however that he was under scrutiny recently for getting rid of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes, impacting cash-based businesses and threatening India's economy. Current poll results, analysed by poll host Apester, found that preferences differed across the world and the United States. Modi performed particularly well among Indian voters as well as those in California and New Jersey. He had been in the lead in this years online poll and according to the initial votes cast, he had got 21 per cent of the votes. For a while Assange had overtaken Trump for the lead in the online poll, getting 10 per cent of all the "yes" votes cast by participants, Time had said. Time also analysed moments from 2016 when this year's contenders were most talked about. For Modi it was October 16, when the Indian leader had suggested during a summit of BRICS nations in Goa, that Pakistan is the "mothership" for terrorism. NEW YORK: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the online reader's poll for TIME Person of the Year 2016, beating world leaders like US President-elect Donald Trump, incumbent US leader Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi won the poll with 18 per cent of the votes when it closed Sunday night, getting significantly more votes than his closest contenders, including Obama, Trump and Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange, who all received 7 per cent of the 'yes' vote. Modi was also overtook other prominent figures of 2016, like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (2 per cent) and US Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (4 per cent), Time said. Other contenders include FBI Chief James Comey, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Khizr and Ghazala Khan- parents of slain Muslim-American soldier Humanyun Khan, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Time's editors will decide the winner later this week, but the poll results provide a glimpse of how the world sees these figures, with Modi emerging the most influential in 2016. Time said the reader poll is an "important window" into who they think most shaped 2016. It is for the second time that Modi has won the online readers' poll for the title, having secured the honour in 2014, when he garnered over 16 per cent of the almost five million votes cast. This is the fourth consecutive year that he is among the contenders for the honour, which the US publication bestows every year to the one "who has most influenced the news and the world in the past year, for good or ill". German Chancellor Angela Merkel was Time's 'Person of the Year' 2015. Time said that, Modi had, in recent months, seen high approval ratings from Indians, according to a September Pew poll. It added, however that he was under scrutiny recently for getting rid of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes, impacting cash-based businesses and threatening India's economy. Current poll results, analysed by poll host Apester, found that preferences differed across the world and the United States. Modi performed particularly well among Indian voters as well as those in California and New Jersey. He had been in the lead in this years online poll and according to the initial votes cast, he had got 21 per cent of the votes. For a while Assange had overtaken Trump for the lead in the online poll, getting 10 per cent of all the "yes" votes cast by participants, Time had said. Time also analysed moments from 2016 when this year's contenders were most talked about. For Modi it was October 16, when the Indian leader had suggested during a summit of BRICS nations in Goa, that Pakistan is the "mothership" for terrorism. By IANS AMRITSAR: Sartaj Aziz, Advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and his delegation, who came to attend the Heart of Asia Istanbul Process conference on Afghanistan's peace process on Sunday were denied permission to visit the historic Golden Temple here. Sources here said given that Sunday, December 4, also being Guru Tegh Bahadur's Martyrdom Day, the shrine was crowded. "Apart from difficulties in ensuring security of VVIPs and VIPs, their (Pakistan delegation's) visit to Golden Temple today would have caused inconvenience to a large number of devotees," a source said. On Saturday, after the senior officials' meeting of the Heart of Asia Istanbul Process conference on Afghanistan's security and economic development, participants visited the Golden Temple after lunch. On Saturday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also made the trip to the holy shrine with Modi also distributing "langar" to devotees. The sources said that two rounds of visits to the Golden Temple by VVIPs and VIPs were organised on Saturday. "The Pakistan delegation's request for visit to the Golden Temple today was carefully looked into," a source here said. "Given the aforementioned factors, it was not found feasible to organise adequate security for the delegation at such a a short notice." AMRITSAR: Sartaj Aziz, Advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and his delegation, who came to attend the Heart of Asia Istanbul Process conference on Afghanistan's peace process on Sunday were denied permission to visit the historic Golden Temple here. Sources here said given that Sunday, December 4, also being Guru Tegh Bahadur's Martyrdom Day, the shrine was crowded. "Apart from difficulties in ensuring security of VVIPs and VIPs, their (Pakistan delegation's) visit to Golden Temple today would have caused inconvenience to a large number of devotees," a source said. On Saturday, after the senior officials' meeting of the Heart of Asia Istanbul Process conference on Afghanistan's security and economic development, participants visited the Golden Temple after lunch. On Saturday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also made the trip to the holy shrine with Modi also distributing "langar" to devotees. The sources said that two rounds of visits to the Golden Temple by VVIPs and VIPs were organised on Saturday. "The Pakistan delegation's request for visit to the Golden Temple today was carefully looked into," a source here said. "Given the aforementioned factors, it was not found feasible to organise adequate security for the delegation at such a a short notice." By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The deadlock over the nature of debates on demonetisation persisted for the third week in the Lok Sabha on Monday, with the opposition accusing the government of avoiding discussions under a rule that entails voting in the house. "Why is the 56-inch afraid? Why is government running away from debate... Don't be afraid of voting. We want voting", chanted the opposition, despite Home Minister Rajnath Singh expressing readiness for an immediate debate. The debate on demonetisation has been listed in Monday's agenda under Rule 193, and the issue of the nature of the debate was left to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. Attacking the government for the "faulty" execution of demonetisation, Opposition members alleged that many have died, and lakhs rendered unemployed with farmers and traders being the worst hit. People are unable to get their salary and pension, Mallikarjun Kharge (Cong) and Sudip Bandopadhyay (TMC) said. Kharge said 17 opposition parties have now decided to seek a debate under Rule 184 that also entails voting instead of Rule 56 under which an adjournment motion is taken up. Putting forth a stout defence, the Home Minister insisted that the decision was taken in national interest, and it would strengthen the economy and curb black money and graft. With regard to difficulty in implementation, he said the government is willing to hear the opposition's suggestions and a debate must start immediately without fussing over rules. As Congress and TMC members protested, he said even the opposition ranks were divided over the rule governing the debate and pointed out that A P Jithender Reddy of TRS had given a notice for discussion under Rule 193, which does not entail voting. He said the decision should be left to the Speaker. The Speaker wanted members to take up the debate without any rules and said the decision to take up division of votes on the subject can be done later. However, the opposition disagreed, storming the Well chanting slogans and targeting the Prime Minister. Attacking the government, Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP) said 16 people had died in his stronghold, Uttar Pradesh, due to demonetisation and alleged that the decision was undertaken by the government on suggestions of big industrialists. "You should call an all-party meeting. If you had to do it, we should also have been taken into confidence," he said, inviting barbs from treasury benches. Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav (RJD) said there cannot be 'bahasbandi' (stopping debate) in the name of 'notebandi' (demonetisation), and alleged that 105 people have died so far due to the hardships faced in the bank or ATM queues. Reddy (TRS) said Modi's intention to curb black money was welcome but the decision's implementation is a problem, saying, "People are facing lots of problems. Whether under Rule 193 or 184, let there be a debate." As the opposition continued vociferous protests, the Chair adjourned the House for the day. Earlier in the day, as the House assembled, Kharge had said the Opposition was ready to initiate the debate under Rule 184 instead of their original demand for it to be held under Rule 56. "We have come down from Rule 56 to Rule 184. Now the government should also come down from Rule 193 and agree to Rule 184," he said. The government, however, has maintained that it was ready for a debate on demonetisation of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes under Rule 193 that does not entail voting. NEW DELHI: The deadlock over the nature of debates on demonetisation persisted for the third week in the Lok Sabha on Monday, with the opposition accusing the government of avoiding discussions under a rule that entails voting in the house. "Why is the 56-inch afraid? Why is government running away from debate... Don't be afraid of voting. We want voting", chanted the opposition, despite Home Minister Rajnath Singh expressing readiness for an immediate debate. The debate on demonetisation has been listed in Monday's agenda under Rule 193, and the issue of the nature of the debate was left to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. Attacking the government for the "faulty" execution of demonetisation, Opposition members alleged that many have died, and lakhs rendered unemployed with farmers and traders being the worst hit. People are unable to get their salary and pension, Mallikarjun Kharge (Cong) and Sudip Bandopadhyay (TMC) said. Kharge said 17 opposition parties have now decided to seek a debate under Rule 184 that also entails voting instead of Rule 56 under which an adjournment motion is taken up. Putting forth a stout defence, the Home Minister insisted that the decision was taken in national interest, and it would strengthen the economy and curb black money and graft. With regard to difficulty in implementation, he said the government is willing to hear the opposition's suggestions and a debate must start immediately without fussing over rules. As Congress and TMC members protested, he said even the opposition ranks were divided over the rule governing the debate and pointed out that A P Jithender Reddy of TRS had given a notice for discussion under Rule 193, which does not entail voting. He said the decision should be left to the Speaker. The Speaker wanted members to take up the debate without any rules and said the decision to take up division of votes on the subject can be done later. However, the opposition disagreed, storming the Well chanting slogans and targeting the Prime Minister. Attacking the government, Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP) said 16 people had died in his stronghold, Uttar Pradesh, due to demonetisation and alleged that the decision was undertaken by the government on suggestions of big industrialists. "You should call an all-party meeting. If you had to do it, we should also have been taken into confidence," he said, inviting barbs from treasury benches. Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav (RJD) said there cannot be 'bahasbandi' (stopping debate) in the name of 'notebandi' (demonetisation), and alleged that 105 people have died so far due to the hardships faced in the bank or ATM queues. Reddy (TRS) said Modi's intention to curb black money was welcome but the decision's implementation is a problem, saying, "People are facing lots of problems. Whether under Rule 193 or 184, let there be a debate." As the opposition continued vociferous protests, the Chair adjourned the House for the day. Earlier in the day, as the House assembled, Kharge had said the Opposition was ready to initiate the debate under Rule 184 instead of their original demand for it to be held under Rule 56. "We have come down from Rule 56 to Rule 184. Now the government should also come down from Rule 193 and agree to Rule 184," he said. The government, however, has maintained that it was ready for a debate on demonetisation of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes under Rule 193 that does not entail voting. Vinod Mathew By Close to a month has passed since the great demonetisation -- which I shall abbreviate to demone for brevity -- and the results in Kerala are a mixed bag. Just as most Indians have done, Keralites too understand their daily life as falling under two heads: Before Demonetisation and After Demonetisation. So life is now, by and large, BD and AD. For a State thats always taken pride in being a consumer State, the pain of transition to a less cash environment is no more pronounced than say in a State known for its manufacturing prowess. But by definition it should be relatively easier for Kerala to undergo the eventual makeover to a cashless society, given its claim that the entire State is one big continuum of city-towns with 100 per cent bank penetration as of 2014. In June 2016, Kerala had 6213 bank branches and 9,063 ATMs. And, to top it, Kerala claimed itself to be a 100 per cent digital State earlier this year. But the reality, reinforced by a variety of factors, is that Kerala too is as perplexed by this out-of-the-blue demand by the Prime Minister to eschew a cash-centric economy. The tell-tale signs of resistance, not all of them knee-jerk, are there for all to see. Tourism, the single largest industry in Kerala, with over Rs 26,000 crore revenue in 2015, has already taken a 20 per cent hit. The plantation sector, driven by 10 lakh rubber growers, is gasping for liquidity. Sales of gold jewellery have seen a 15 per cent dip. Tax collections, the States finance minister says, are down 40 per cent in the last six months. Surely, demonetisation is already making matters worse. Peculiar to Kerala, a bulk of the pensioners depend on State treasuries and not banks to keep their accounts, giving another dimension to the withdrawal limitation in banks. Add to this, the freeze, though temporary, on withdrawal of deposits in cooperative banks, and the cup of woe is indeed running over. Ideally, NRK remittances which account for almost Rs 85,000 crore a year or 36 per cent of the States GDP by way of revenue (on June 2016 the non-resident deposits in Kerala aggregated Rs 1.43 lakh crore) should remain unaffected as there are no curbs on deposits, only on withdrawals. As is the case with about Rs 24,000 crore a year that the 30 lakh migrant labour population takes home from Kerala. There is no denying the reality that a good percentage of this money movement, both inflow and outflow, is through the hawala route. More so regarding money that is being generated and repatriated by migrant labour, most of them not having any local bank accounts. The flip side, of course, is that it is quite impractical for daily wage earners to receive their payment in any way other than cash. Though some effort is now being made to pay weekly wage earners through banks, its an uphill task in the absence of bank accounts. The past two weeks have witnessed many banks initiate drives to get migrant workers to start bank accounts. However, in Ernakulam district, out of a population of 9 lakh migrants, only 9,000 accounts were opened. Those unhappy with this changeover are seen thronging railway stations to head back home, especially from centres like Perumbavur, part of the same Ernakulam district that claimed 100 per cent banking status as long back as 2012. Sure, it can be claimed that Keralites have embraced frugality, as their natural style of splurging has taken a knock with the big notes being sucked out of circulation. At the same time, movie halls and, to some extent, restaurants have not taken a big hit, at least in the big cities where the preferred payment mode always was cashless. The story is different in the smaller towns and the villages though. Liquor sales that fetched Rs 11,577 crore in 2015-16 are now taking a hit of Rs 5 crore a day. Around 32.9 lakh people of the 3.34 crore population in the State consume liquor - 29.8 lakh men and 3.1 lakh women. Considering all this, one cant say for sure that Kerala has any significant advantage over other states in completing whats now become a race to transform themselves into a cashless economy. Because, the unorganised sector, though not as big as in some other states, still runs on cash. Try giving a cheque to a daily-wage earner, whose lifeline for the next 24 hours is that payment, and see the results. In fact, the painting is pretty much there on the wall, for all to see. Such payments can only be through cash. The net result: the average spend has taken a body blow. And that surely is not good news for an economy whose major driver is the consumer. Tailpiece: Last heard, the Kerala High Court registrar-general, reiterating a decision taken by the judges committee, has come out with guidelines for court reporting: only those with a degree in law and five years in court reporting will be given accreditation. Fears are now rife within the tribe that reporters covering health will now be offered accreditation only if they have a degree in medicine and surgery. Ahso, is this embedded journalism of a different kind? VINOD MATHEW Resident Editor, Kerala Email: vinodmathew@newindianexpress.com Close to a month has passed since the great demonetisation -- which I shall abbreviate to demone for brevity -- and the results in Kerala are a mixed bag. Just as most Indians have done, Keralites too understand their daily life as falling under two heads: Before Demonetisation and After Demonetisation. So life is now, by and large, BD and AD. For a State thats always taken pride in being a consumer State, the pain of transition to a less cash environment is no more pronounced than say in a State known for its manufacturing prowess. But by definition it should be relatively easier for Kerala to undergo the eventual makeover to a cashless society, given its claim that the entire State is one big continuum of city-towns with 100 per cent bank penetration as of 2014. In June 2016, Kerala had 6213 bank branches and 9,063 ATMs. And, to top it, Kerala claimed itself to be a 100 per cent digital State earlier this year. But the reality, reinforced by a variety of factors, is that Kerala too is as perplexed by this out-of-the-blue demand by the Prime Minister to eschew a cash-centric economy. The tell-tale signs of resistance, not all of them knee-jerk, are there for all to see. Tourism, the single largest industry in Kerala, with over Rs 26,000 crore revenue in 2015, has already taken a 20 per cent hit. The plantation sector, driven by 10 lakh rubber growers, is gasping for liquidity. Sales of gold jewellery have seen a 15 per cent dip. Tax collections, the States finance minister says, are down 40 per cent in the last six months. Surely, demonetisation is already making matters worse. Peculiar to Kerala, a bulk of the pensioners depend on State treasuries and not banks to keep their accounts, giving another dimension to the withdrawal limitation in banks. Add to this, the freeze, though temporary, on withdrawal of deposits in cooperative banks, and the cup of woe is indeed running over. Ideally, NRK remittances which account for almost Rs 85,000 crore a year or 36 per cent of the States GDP by way of revenue (on June 2016 the non-resident deposits in Kerala aggregated Rs 1.43 lakh crore) should remain unaffected as there are no curbs on deposits, only on withdrawals. As is the case with about Rs 24,000 crore a year that the 30 lakh migrant labour population takes home from Kerala. There is no denying the reality that a good percentage of this money movement, both inflow and outflow, is through the hawala route. More so regarding money that is being generated and repatriated by migrant labour, most of them not having any local bank accounts. The flip side, of course, is that it is quite impractical for daily wage earners to receive their payment in any way other than cash. Though some effort is now being made to pay weekly wage earners through banks, its an uphill task in the absence of bank accounts. The past two weeks have witnessed many banks initiate drives to get migrant workers to start bank accounts. However, in Ernakulam district, out of a population of 9 lakh migrants, only 9,000 accounts were opened. Those unhappy with this changeover are seen thronging railway stations to head back home, especially from centres like Perumbavur, part of the same Ernakulam district that claimed 100 per cent banking status as long back as 2012. Sure, it can be claimed that Keralites have embraced frugality, as their natural style of splurging has taken a knock with the big notes being sucked out of circulation. At the same time, movie halls and, to some extent, restaurants have not taken a big hit, at least in the big cities where the preferred payment mode always was cashless. The story is different in the smaller towns and the villages though. Liquor sales that fetched Rs 11,577 crore in 2015-16 are now taking a hit of Rs 5 crore a day. Around 32.9 lakh people of the 3.34 crore population in the State consume liquor - 29.8 lakh men and 3.1 lakh women. Considering all this, one cant say for sure that Kerala has any significant advantage over other states in completing whats now become a race to transform themselves into a cashless economy. Because, the unorganised sector, though not as big as in some other states, still runs on cash. Try giving a cheque to a daily-wage earner, whose lifeline for the next 24 hours is that payment, and see the results. In fact, the painting is pretty much there on the wall, for all to see. Such payments can only be through cash. The net result: the average spend has taken a body blow. And that surely is not good news for an economy whose major driver is the consumer. Tailpiece: Last heard, the Kerala High Court registrar-general, reiterating a decision taken by the judges committee, has come out with guidelines for court reporting: only those with a degree in law and five years in court reporting will be given accreditation. Fears are now rife within the tribe that reporters covering health will now be offered accreditation only if they have a degree in medicine and surgery. Ahso, is this embedded journalism of a different kind? VINOD MATHEW Resident Editor, Kerala Email: vinodmathew@newindianexpress.com Michel Danino By We saw in the previous article (Decoding the idea of India) how the creation of a sacred geography for India was a major instrument of her cultural integration. Not only the countless teerthas, but also the mountains, seas, rivers, forests, trees and other plants, animals big and small, were imbued with divinity. Of course, most pre-Judeo-Christian cultures shared this worldview: from the Nile to Mount Olympus, from Yggdrasil, the cosmic tree of Norse mythology, to the phoenix, that universe was crowded with living symbols drawn from nature. The notion of a creator apart from his creation, superior to it, more often cursing than loving it, is a wedge that Judaism and its two daughter religions vertically drove into a hitherto seamless cosmos. In the Rig Veda, Indias earliest text, earth and heaven are addressed as a single being (dyavaprithivi); they are father and mother but also the twins; together, they keep all creatures safe. Indias Yggdrasil is the ashvattha (the pipal or Boddhi tree) which the Gita turned upside down: the cosmic tree, the origin of Indias tree-worshipping traditions, has its roots above and branches below a transparent symbol for this creation, which can be represented by a cosmic cow, the source of all food. Indeed symbols endlessly multiply, from celestial rivers to the gods vahanas. More importantly, the Upanishadic precept that all creatures are impelled by consciousness unites us to the humblest plant or animal. Is this the origin of the Buddhist and Jain doctrine of ahimsa or the concept of wildlife sanctuary in Ashokas edicts as in Kautilyas Arthashastra, perhaps a world first? If so, this tradition is more than just idyllic. Not everyone agrees. Meera Nanda, for instance, a selfstyled historian of science whom I had occasion to critique in earlier articles, condemns this Dharmic ecology, which she defines as an unabashedly Hindu supremacist, nationalistic version of the same religious environmentalism that the anti-Enlightenment left has been preaching and practicing. Nanda sees this worldview as a dangerous weapon in Hindutvas arsenal: Dharmic ecology of Hindutva right is emerging as the hub of a new neo-pagan International. Neopaganism in Europe and America has deep and historic ties with Nazi and Neo-Nazi groups, and, as we know, there is a long history of the Nazi and neo-Nazi involvement with occult and paganism. Thus the syllogism works as follows: Indic traditions of sacred ecology (as I prefer to call it) are pagan; Nazism was involved with paganism; the said Indic traditions are thus obscurantist and dangerous. The fallacy of it is glaring: the premise is incorrect; Hindu beliefs behind sacred ecology are not just pagan, a term of contempt created by medieval Christianity; they are founded on a philosophy and a spiritual experience of the nature of nature. And the association with Nazism is a vicious case of reductio ad Hitlerism. (to put it crudely: if you wear boots, you may be accused of a link with Nazism, since Hitler wore boots too). It has indeed become a fashion among certain intellectuals to reveal hidden connections between Hinduism and Nazism. Nandas more serious criticism is that there is no evidence that Indias sacred ecology encourages wise use of nature. Instead, she advocates secular environmentalism as a source of secularism and a class-based collective action. It may be true that todays Indians have by and large poor environmental awareness, wantonly contributing to the destruction of forests, the disappearance of wildlife and the spiralling pollution. But perhaps that is because Indian society has hardly had any transition between tradition and modernity. From the rich ethno-botanical traditions of the Bishnois, Bhils, Warlis, Santhals or Todas to the current urbanite disaster, there has been almost no time to adapt. In fact, modern Indias dogma has been to erect science and technology as an exclusive and all-knowing godhead, instead of fusing it with proven conservation techniques, from sacred groves to decentralised and highly effective water structures. As regards the global scene, the last century did see movements promoting some kind of secular environmentalism and contributing much to the current awakening. But other movements have tried to move on to a spiritual view of nature, inspired by a wide range of perspectives from Thoreaus Walden to Rudolf Steiner to the British biochemist James Lovelocks well-known Gaia theory, in which the earth is seen as a conscious superorganism not unlike (for its philosophical aspect alone) the ancient Indian view of the planet as Bhu or Prithvi. Since then, environmental thinkers, such as Arne Naess, Henryk Skolimowski, David Suzuki and many more, have called for a deep ecology, ecosophy, spiritual ecology or spiritual environmentalism. As Suzuki puts it, The way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. If a mountain is a deity, not a pile of ore; if a river is one of the veins of the land, not irrigation water; if a forest is a sacred grove, not timber; if other species are biological kin, not resources; or if the planet is our mother, not an opportunitythen we will treat each other with greater respect. Thus is the challenge, to look at the world from a different perspective. There can hardly be a better summary of Indias own sacred ecology. As the Atharva Veda prayed, Upon the immutable, vast earth supported by the law, the universal mother of the plants, peaceful and kind, may we walk forever! (This is the third article in our monthly series on Indian history and culture) Michel Danino teaches at IIT Gandhinagar and is a member of Indian Council of Historical Research Email: micheldanino@gmail.com We saw in the previous article (Decoding the idea of India) how the creation of a sacred geography for India was a major instrument of her cultural integration. Not only the countless teerthas, but also the mountains, seas, rivers, forests, trees and other plants, animals big and small, were imbued with divinity. Of course, most pre-Judeo-Christian cultures shared this worldview: from the Nile to Mount Olympus, from Yggdrasil, the cosmic tree of Norse mythology, to the phoenix, that universe was crowded with living symbols drawn from nature. The notion of a creator apart from his creation, superior to it, more often cursing than loving it, is a wedge that Judaism and its two daughter religions vertically drove into a hitherto seamless cosmos. In the Rig Veda, Indias earliest text, earth and heaven are addressed as a single being (dyavaprithivi); they are father and mother but also the twins; together, they keep all creatures safe. Indias Yggdrasil is the ashvattha (the pipal or Boddhi tree) which the Gita turned upside down: the cosmic tree, the origin of Indias tree-worshipping traditions, has its roots above and branches below a transparent symbol for this creation, which can be represented by a cosmic cow, the source of all food. Indeed symbols endlessly multiply, from celestial rivers to the gods vahanas. More importantly, the Upanishadic precept that all creatures are impelled by consciousness unites us to the humblest plant or animal. Is this the origin of the Buddhist and Jain doctrine of ahimsa or the concept of wildlife sanctuary in Ashokas edicts as in Kautilyas Arthashastra, perhaps a world first? If so, this tradition is more than just idyllic. Not everyone agrees. Meera Nanda, for instance, a selfstyled historian of science whom I had occasion to critique in earlier articles, condemns this Dharmic ecology, which she defines as an unabashedly Hindu supremacist, nationalistic version of the same religious environmentalism that the anti-Enlightenment left has been preaching and practicing. Nanda sees this worldview as a dangerous weapon in Hindutvas arsenal: Dharmic ecology of Hindutva right is emerging as the hub of a new neo-pagan International. Neopaganism in Europe and America has deep and historic ties with Nazi and Neo-Nazi groups, and, as we know, there is a long history of the Nazi and neo-Nazi involvement with occult and paganism. Thus the syllogism works as follows: Indic traditions of sacred ecology (as I prefer to call it) are pagan; Nazism was involved with paganism; the said Indic traditions are thus obscurantist and dangerous. The fallacy of it is glaring: the premise is incorrect; Hindu beliefs behind sacred ecology are not just pagan, a term of contempt created by medieval Christianity; they are founded on a philosophy and a spiritual experience of the nature of nature. And the association with Nazism is a vicious case of reductio ad Hitlerism. (to put it crudely: if you wear boots, you may be accused of a link with Nazism, since Hitler wore boots too). It has indeed become a fashion among certain intellectuals to reveal hidden connections between Hinduism and Nazism. Nandas more serious criticism is that there is no evidence that Indias sacred ecology encourages wise use of nature. Instead, she advocates secular environmentalism as a source of secularism and a class-based collective action. It may be true that todays Indians have by and large poor environmental awareness, wantonly contributing to the destruction of forests, the disappearance of wildlife and the spiralling pollution. But perhaps that is because Indian society has hardly had any transition between tradition and modernity. From the rich ethno-botanical traditions of the Bishnois, Bhils, Warlis, Santhals or Todas to the current urbanite disaster, there has been almost no time to adapt. In fact, modern Indias dogma has been to erect science and technology as an exclusive and all-knowing godhead, instead of fusing it with proven conservation techniques, from sacred groves to decentralised and highly effective water structures. As regards the global scene, the last century did see movements promoting some kind of secular environmentalism and contributing much to the current awakening. But other movements have tried to move on to a spiritual view of nature, inspired by a wide range of perspectives from Thoreaus Walden to Rudolf Steiner to the British biochemist James Lovelocks well-known Gaia theory, in which the earth is seen as a conscious superorganism not unlike (for its philosophical aspect alone) the ancient Indian view of the planet as Bhu or Prithvi. Since then, environmental thinkers, such as Arne Naess, Henryk Skolimowski, David Suzuki and many more, have called for a deep ecology, ecosophy, spiritual ecology or spiritual environmentalism. As Suzuki puts it, The way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. If a mountain is a deity, not a pile of ore; if a river is one of the veins of the land, not irrigation water; if a forest is a sacred grove, not timber; if other species are biological kin, not resources; or if the planet is our mother, not an opportunitythen we will treat each other with greater respect. Thus is the challenge, to look at the world from a different perspective. There can hardly be a better summary of Indias own sacred ecology. As the Atharva Veda prayed, Upon the immutable, vast earth supported by the law, the universal mother of the plants, peaceful and kind, may we walk forever! (This is the third article in our monthly series on Indian history and culture) Michel Danino teaches at IIT Gandhinagar and is a member of Indian Council of Historical Research Email: micheldanino@gmail.com For a period, every schoolchild in India would have learnt about Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi, an icon of democracy who stood up to the military junta that ruled her country of Myanmar, endured 15 years in house arrest. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. However, her actions since her party came to power in Myanmar in 2015, while not diminishing her accomplishments or courage, have certainly dimmed her halo. Myanmars Rohingya a name of selfidentification; in Myanmar they are viewed as Bengalis have long been persecuted and oppressed. The minority community is not recognised as an ethnic group but as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Myanmars laws restrict the communitys rights of freedom, movement, marriage and even reproduction. Since clashes in 2012, scores have fl ed to Bangladesh, India and Malaysia among other nations. An estimated 1 lakh live in camps in Myanmar under restrictive conditions. The victory of an icon of human rights and democracy, then, was considered a cause for relief. The US, for instance, eased sanctions on the country. And yet, the situation of the Rohingya remains as dire as ever. In October, following an attack on police, a military crackdown was initiated against the Rohingya. Reputed aid agencies said entire villages had been burnt to the ground and civilians were murdered, raped and looted. The government and Suu Kyi have denied the allegations, even as aid workers have not been permitted to visit the area. On Sunday, Malaysia, a Muslimmajority country that has taken in thousands of Rohingya, held a rally led by its Prime Minister. Suu Kyi has called for the international community not to interfere. But with a humanitarian crisis unfolding and spilling over into neighbouring countries, Suu Kyi needs to look beyond prejudice and politics to stop the violence and recognise the rights of the Rohingya. The human rights icon needs to act. For a period, every schoolchild in India would have learnt about Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi, an icon of democracy who stood up to the military junta that ruled her country of Myanmar, endured 15 years in house arrest. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. However, her actions since her party came to power in Myanmar in 2015, while not diminishing her accomplishments or courage, have certainly dimmed her halo. Myanmars Rohingya a name of selfidentification; in Myanmar they are viewed as Bengalis have long been persecuted and oppressed. The minority community is not recognised as an ethnic group but as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Myanmars laws restrict the communitys rights of freedom, movement, marriage and even reproduction. Since clashes in 2012, scores have fl ed to Bangladesh, India and Malaysia among other nations. An estimated 1 lakh live in camps in Myanmar under restrictive conditions. The victory of an icon of human rights and democracy, then, was considered a cause for relief. The US, for instance, eased sanctions on the country. And yet, the situation of the Rohingya remains as dire as ever. In October, following an attack on police, a military crackdown was initiated against the Rohingya. Reputed aid agencies said entire villages had been burnt to the ground and civilians were murdered, raped and looted. The government and Suu Kyi have denied the allegations, even as aid workers have not been permitted to visit the area. On Sunday, Malaysia, a Muslimmajority country that has taken in thousands of Rohingya, held a rally led by its Prime Minister. Suu Kyi has called for the international community not to interfere. But with a humanitarian crisis unfolding and spilling over into neighbouring countries, Suu Kyi needs to look beyond prejudice and politics to stop the violence and recognise the rights of the Rohingya. The human rights icon needs to act. By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan is expected to announce the formation of a third front with the CPI and the CPM in Hyderabad on Monday. According to those close to the actor-turned-politico, he is keen on forcing an alternative to the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) combine and the main Opposition, Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress. The sources told Express that the actor wants to shed the image of being the leader of the numerically strong Kapu community and be known as a State leader - which is one reason why he has joined hands with the CPI and the CPM to fight issues on a broad spectrum. He is expected to make it very clear that he is independent of the BJP and the TDP and that he would be contesting the 2019 elections in alliance with the Left parties. If he does so, it would mean that he would no longer be the ally of the TDP and the BJP, whom he had supported during the 2014 elections. The impression that he is the ruling coalitions ally persists even though he did not mince words in attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party at his recent public meetings and questioning why Telugu Desam Party president and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had compromised on the special category status to the State and why he was trying to build an argument that the special package - announced by the Centre in lieu of special status - was better than special category status. But he was unsparing when it came to Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and said that he owed an explanation to the people on why the BJP did not bestow special status since it was he who had said the BJP would accord the status if it was elected to power at the Centre. Kalyan to go it alone? According to sources, if Pawan Kalyan breaks away from the Telugu Desam and the Bharatiya Janata Party, it is more than possible that the Kapus who constitute more than 27 per cent of the States population might be divided between the three formations. It is perceived that a large chunk of the Kapus are still with Jagan Mohan Reddy even though Naidu managed to swing the remaining Kapus in his favour mainly with the help of Pawan Kalyan in the last elections. Now that Pawan will be out in the field as a third alternative, it remains to be seen to what extent he could dent Naidus hold on Kapus. Its expected that he could wean away Kapus from the Telugu Desam since traditionally the community has not been comfortable with the yellow party, which is perceived to be dominated by the Kammas. After making an appearance at a news conference in Hyderabad on Monday, Pawan will fly to Visakhapatnam and from there, drive to Uddhanam in Srikakulam district and interact with those who are affected by a strange kidney ailment, endemic to six mandals in the area on Tuesday. It is estimated that there were about 70,000 patients suffering from this kidney ailment in the district but there is not adequate medical infrastructure to treat them or help in Srikakulam district. VIJAYAWADA: Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan is expected to announce the formation of a third front with the CPI and the CPM in Hyderabad on Monday. According to those close to the actor-turned-politico, he is keen on forcing an alternative to the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) combine and the main Opposition, Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress. The sources told Express that the actor wants to shed the image of being the leader of the numerically strong Kapu community and be known as a State leader - which is one reason why he has joined hands with the CPI and the CPM to fight issues on a broad spectrum. He is expected to make it very clear that he is independent of the BJP and the TDP and that he would be contesting the 2019 elections in alliance with the Left parties. If he does so, it would mean that he would no longer be the ally of the TDP and the BJP, whom he had supported during the 2014 elections. The impression that he is the ruling coalitions ally persists even though he did not mince words in attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party at his recent public meetings and questioning why Telugu Desam Party president and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had compromised on the special category status to the State and why he was trying to build an argument that the special package - announced by the Centre in lieu of special status - was better than special category status. But he was unsparing when it came to Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and said that he owed an explanation to the people on why the BJP did not bestow special status since it was he who had said the BJP would accord the status if it was elected to power at the Centre. Kalyan to go it alone? According to sources, if Pawan Kalyan breaks away from the Telugu Desam and the Bharatiya Janata Party, it is more than possible that the Kapus who constitute more than 27 per cent of the States population might be divided between the three formations. It is perceived that a large chunk of the Kapus are still with Jagan Mohan Reddy even though Naidu managed to swing the remaining Kapus in his favour mainly with the help of Pawan Kalyan in the last elections. Now that Pawan will be out in the field as a third alternative, it remains to be seen to what extent he could dent Naidus hold on Kapus. Its expected that he could wean away Kapus from the Telugu Desam since traditionally the community has not been comfortable with the yellow party, which is perceived to be dominated by the Kammas. After making an appearance at a news conference in Hyderabad on Monday, Pawan will fly to Visakhapatnam and from there, drive to Uddhanam in Srikakulam district and interact with those who are affected by a strange kidney ailment, endemic to six mandals in the area on Tuesday. It is estimated that there were about 70,000 patients suffering from this kidney ailment in the district but there is not adequate medical infrastructure to treat them or help in Srikakulam district. By Express News Service KOCHI: Commercially important fish species like groupers are facing severe threat from over-fishing, observed a global meeting of fisheries experts. The meeting of the Groupers and Wrasses Specialist Group, which is specialised in the valuable reef-associated groupers of the world, held in Azores, Portugal, observed that the population of many grouper fishes was declining due to overexploitation. The experts also pointed out that the practice of excessive juvenile fishing of the grouper species would worsen the situation in the Indian waters. Scientists have assessed the extinction risks of all the 164 grouper species - commercially important fishes for livelihood; source of food in many places across the world - under the guidance of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Food and Agricultural Organisation. A total of 35 experts from 13 countries participated in the review meeting, at which the Indian Ocean Region was represented by Dr Rekha J Nair, principal scientist at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi. Juvenile fishing According to Dr Rekha, who presented the status of groupers in the Indian waters at the meeting, unless juvenile fishing of groupers is stopped completely, many of the species would soon be included in the threatened category in India. Lack of continuous time-series data on fisheries, biological aspects and distribution of important grouper species is a hindrance to proper management of resources, she said, adding that species-wise studies were required to ensure fisheries livelihood and conservation of such fishes. The panelists said many species are particularly vulnerable to over-fishing because of slow maturation, long life, sex reversal and spawning aggregations. They said over-fishing and growing pressure on fish trade would eventually lead to their depletion. KOCHI: Commercially important fish species like groupers are facing severe threat from over-fishing, observed a global meeting of fisheries experts. The meeting of the Groupers and Wrasses Specialist Group, which is specialised in the valuable reef-associated groupers of the world, held in Azores, Portugal, observed that the population of many grouper fishes was declining due to overexploitation. The experts also pointed out that the practice of excessive juvenile fishing of the grouper species would worsen the situation in the Indian waters. Scientists have assessed the extinction risks of all the 164 grouper species - commercially important fishes for livelihood; source of food in many places across the world - under the guidance of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Food and Agricultural Organisation. A total of 35 experts from 13 countries participated in the review meeting, at which the Indian Ocean Region was represented by Dr Rekha J Nair, principal scientist at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi. Juvenile fishing According to Dr Rekha, who presented the status of groupers in the Indian waters at the meeting, unless juvenile fishing of groupers is stopped completely, many of the species would soon be included in the threatened category in India. Lack of continuous time-series data on fisheries, biological aspects and distribution of important grouper species is a hindrance to proper management of resources, she said, adding that species-wise studies were required to ensure fisheries livelihood and conservation of such fishes. The panelists said many species are particularly vulnerable to over-fishing because of slow maturation, long life, sex reversal and spawning aggregations. They said over-fishing and growing pressure on fish trade would eventually lead to their depletion. By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Sunday criticised the State Government for the preventive arrest of its workers ahead of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaiks visit to Sundargarh district. The Chief Ministers visit to different parts of the State amidst heavy police bandobast demonstrates that he is scared to face the people. Areas where he is visiting are virtually kept under a state of emergency and arrest of political opponents ahead of his visit has become a routine affair, national BJP general secretary and Odisha in-charge Arun Singh told reporters here. Condemning the arrest of BJP workers including secretary of the partys State unit Dhiren Senapati and State Yuva Morcha president Tankadhar Tripathy last night, Singh said such arrests will not deter the party activists to fight against the corrupt and incompetent BJD Government. Asserting that the BJP is in all readiness to face any challenge from the ruling BJD, Singh said his party has decided to organise panchayat level meetings for nearly two weeks from December 26 to January 7, 2017 to highlight failures of the State Government and the success of Narendra Modi Government at Centre. Singh was here to attend a joint meeting of BJP MLAs, State functionaries, district presidents, presidents of party frontal wings and district pravaris to finalise strategy for the ensuing panchayat elections. The meeting presided by State unit president Basanta Panda slammed the Chief Minister for obstructing free flow of funds from the Centre to panchayats for political reasons. Coming down heavily on the State government for poor health services in rural areas, Panda said the Nagada malnutrition deaths and deaths of over 100 children in Malkangiri district due to Japanese Encephalitis are results of utter mismanagement and inefficiency of the ruling BJD. Panda said the Chief Minister is trying to fool the people by laying foundation stones of innumerable projects ahead of the panchayat election. But such gimmicks will not work any more as people are aware that a large number of projects whose foundations stones were laid by the CM a decade back has remained non-starter, he added. BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Sunday criticised the State Government for the preventive arrest of its workers ahead of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaiks visit to Sundargarh district. The Chief Ministers visit to different parts of the State amidst heavy police bandobast demonstrates that he is scared to face the people. Areas where he is visiting are virtually kept under a state of emergency and arrest of political opponents ahead of his visit has become a routine affair, national BJP general secretary and Odisha in-charge Arun Singh told reporters here. Condemning the arrest of BJP workers including secretary of the partys State unit Dhiren Senapati and State Yuva Morcha president Tankadhar Tripathy last night, Singh said such arrests will not deter the party activists to fight against the corrupt and incompetent BJD Government. Asserting that the BJP is in all readiness to face any challenge from the ruling BJD, Singh said his party has decided to organise panchayat level meetings for nearly two weeks from December 26 to January 7, 2017 to highlight failures of the State Government and the success of Narendra Modi Government at Centre. Singh was here to attend a joint meeting of BJP MLAs, State functionaries, district presidents, presidents of party frontal wings and district pravaris to finalise strategy for the ensuing panchayat elections. The meeting presided by State unit president Basanta Panda slammed the Chief Minister for obstructing free flow of funds from the Centre to panchayats for political reasons. Coming down heavily on the State government for poor health services in rural areas, Panda said the Nagada malnutrition deaths and deaths of over 100 children in Malkangiri district due to Japanese Encephalitis are results of utter mismanagement and inefficiency of the ruling BJD. Panda said the Chief Minister is trying to fool the people by laying foundation stones of innumerable projects ahead of the panchayat election. But such gimmicks will not work any more as people are aware that a large number of projects whose foundations stones were laid by the CM a decade back has remained non-starter, he added. Tehran, Iran, Dec. 5 By Mehdi Sepahvand, Fatih Karimov Trend: The Russian bombers re-use the Nojeh Airbase in Irans western province of Hamadan is not on the agenda right now, Bahram Qasemi, Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman, said. For time being I think the issue is over, Qasemi said during a press conference in Tehran on Dec. 5, Trend's correspondent reported from the event. However, he said that future cooperation depends on the situation. We have no essential problem in this regard, but necessary arrangements would have to be made in advance, Qasemi said. On August 16, Russian bombers used Irans Nojeh to launch attacks on terrorist positions in Syria. A day later Russian sources said that as a result, 150 terrorist were killed. Some Iranian politicians raised concerns on the issue, saying the move is against the Islamic Republics constitution. Tehran and Moscow share the same stance towards Syria, supporting the Syrian President Bashar Assad. By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: Cuttack-Choudwar MLA Pravat Biswals wife Laxmi Bilasini Biswal today deposed before the CBI for questioning in connection with the ongoing probe into the multi-hundred crore Seashore Group scam. The agency had sought Biswals personal appearance and summoned her on Saturday after documents related to a land deal between the MLAs wife and Seashore Group chief Prashant Dash, were submitted before the CBI by her representative. Biswal said that the Agency has asked for more documents linked to the land deal, which she claimed, was subsequently cancelled. The investigation agency is seeking for original documents to corroborate the cash transaction with Seashore. The entire deal was on agreement papers, and I have already submitted money receipts substantiating that the money was returned after Dash backed off from the deal, Biswal told media persons after three hours of quizzing at the CBI office here. The CBI had earlier interrogated Biswal, the former Zilla Parishad president of Cuttack, over a deal with Dash, for a land measuring 34 Guntha at Benapur mouza in Jajpur. While Dash had paid Rs 25 lakh for the land in cheques in April 2012, the rest amount was to be paid after registration. Dash had cancelled the deal later and wanted his money back, sources said. BHUBANESWAR: Cuttack-Choudwar MLA Pravat Biswals wife Laxmi Bilasini Biswal today deposed before the CBI for questioning in connection with the ongoing probe into the multi-hundred crore Seashore Group scam. The agency had sought Biswals personal appearance and summoned her on Saturday after documents related to a land deal between the MLAs wife and Seashore Group chief Prashant Dash, were submitted before the CBI by her representative. Biswal said that the Agency has asked for more documents linked to the land deal, which she claimed, was subsequently cancelled. The investigation agency is seeking for original documents to corroborate the cash transaction with Seashore. The entire deal was on agreement papers, and I have already submitted money receipts substantiating that the money was returned after Dash backed off from the deal, Biswal told media persons after three hours of quizzing at the CBI office here. The CBI had earlier interrogated Biswal, the former Zilla Parishad president of Cuttack, over a deal with Dash, for a land measuring 34 Guntha at Benapur mouza in Jajpur. While Dash had paid Rs 25 lakh for the land in cheques in April 2012, the rest amount was to be paid after registration. Dash had cancelled the deal later and wanted his money back, sources said. By Express News Service SAMBALPUR: In the largest ever haul of old and new currency notes in the State post demonetisation, Sambalpur Police seized Rs 1,42,91,500 from a car on Saturday night. The police also arrested eight persons including country liquor baron Zeyarat Ali (59) of Sunapali under Dhanupali Police limits in the city and his sons Md Qazzafi (35), Riffat Ali (33) and Sabtin Ali (31). Two fire arms and ammunitions were seized from their possession. Other arrested are Public Relation Officer of State Bank of India (SBI) Rashmi Ranjan Rout (36) and his brother Pankaj Kumar Rout (43) of Sakhipara under Dhanupali Police limits, Kapil Jhajharia (37) of Marwaripara and Rabi Trivedi (40) of Nayapara in Golebazar under Sambalpur Town Police limits. Briefing newsmen on Sunday afternoon, Sambalpur SP Akhileshwar Singh said they had information about some people moving in a car with firearms. Acting on the input, the police traced the vehicle and intercepted it near Dhanupali Chowk in the city. Ali and his three sons, who were in the car, tried to dodge the police but failed. Later, police found a revolver and a mauser besides ammunition from the possession of two sons of Ali. Further search of the vehicle led to recovery of the cash concealed in bags. During their interrogation, police came to know of the involvement of the SBI PRO and his brother and the interrogation of the duo led police to Jhajharia and Trivedi. The seized currency includes Rs 85,62,000 in new notes of Rs 2000 and Rs 500 denominations and Rs 25,29,000 in old currency notes including notes of Rs 1000, Rs 500 and smaller denominations. While people have been facing numerous hardships over non-availability of adequate cash, how a whopping Rs 85 lakh in new currencies could be possessed by Ali has baffled many. Preliminary investigation revealed that the notes belong to Ali and could possibly be smuggled to Sambalpur city for exchange with new notes on commission, the SP said. He said further investigation is underway and did not rule out more arrest in the case. The Income Tax department has been informed about the seizure, he added. SAMBALPUR: In the largest ever haul of old and new currency notes in the State post demonetisation, Sambalpur Police seized Rs 1,42,91,500 from a car on Saturday night. The police also arrested eight persons including country liquor baron Zeyarat Ali (59) of Sunapali under Dhanupali Police limits in the city and his sons Md Qazzafi (35), Riffat Ali (33) and Sabtin Ali (31). Two fire arms and ammunitions were seized from their possession. Other arrested are Public Relation Officer of State Bank of India (SBI) Rashmi Ranjan Rout (36) and his brother Pankaj Kumar Rout (43) of Sakhipara under Dhanupali Police limits, Kapil Jhajharia (37) of Marwaripara and Rabi Trivedi (40) of Nayapara in Golebazar under Sambalpur Town Police limits. Briefing newsmen on Sunday afternoon, Sambalpur SP Akhileshwar Singh said they had information about some people moving in a car with firearms. Acting on the input, the police traced the vehicle and intercepted it near Dhanupali Chowk in the city. Ali and his three sons, who were in the car, tried to dodge the police but failed. Later, police found a revolver and a mauser besides ammunition from the possession of two sons of Ali. Further search of the vehicle led to recovery of the cash concealed in bags. During their interrogation, police came to know of the involvement of the SBI PRO and his brother and the interrogation of the duo led police to Jhajharia and Trivedi. The seized currency includes Rs 85,62,000 in new notes of Rs 2000 and Rs 500 denominations and Rs 25,29,000 in old currency notes including notes of Rs 1000, Rs 500 and smaller denominations. While people have been facing numerous hardships over non-availability of adequate cash, how a whopping Rs 85 lakh in new currencies could be possessed by Ali has baffled many. Preliminary investigation revealed that the notes belong to Ali and could possibly be smuggled to Sambalpur city for exchange with new notes on commission, the SP said. He said further investigation is underway and did not rule out more arrest in the case. The Income Tax department has been informed about the seizure, he added. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Knocking the doors of the governmental authorities and courts seems to be more debilitating than working round-the-clock for these policemen, who were recruited as direct sub-inspectors under the 20 per cent quota for departmental staff in open competition. In total, 267 police officers, currently serving/retired in the rank of inspectors, are waging a court battle from January 1, 1994, the day a notification was issued for recruiting sub-inspectors directly. A few graduate constables and head constables, eligible for selection of direct SIs, approached the Tamil Nadu State Administrative Tribunal for age relaxation and got a positive order. Initially, the government announced recruitment of 500 direct SIs in 1994, but later, through necessary notifications, increased the number to 1,100. Of them, the number of direct SIs selected under 20 per cent quota for graduate police constables and head constables was 267, recalled an aggrieved inspector. However, the government dispatched 500 men selected from the open market for training in March 1996 thinking they could be deployed for the ensuing general elections to the Assembly then. The rest of the personnel selected for the post, including those who entered through the 20 per cent quota, were sent for training only in June 1997. As per GO no. 1054, our inter-se-seniority should have been placed above those selected in the open competition. But the authorities concerned failed to do so, leaving us in the lurch, rued Palanivel, a retired inspector. When efforts to persuade top police officials failed to yield any positive result, these hapless policemen took to legal recourse in 2005 when SIs selected from the open competition were promoted as inspectors allegedly bypassing the inter-se-seniority as per the GO. Despite a single judge of the High Court issuing an order directing the government to favourably consider their plea, these SIs lost their cause in another case regarding promoting a batch of inspectors recruited from open market as Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) in 2014. The government gave effect to promotion of 108 inspectors in January this year without respecting an undertaking given before a Division Bench of the High Court. We again represented to the authorities of the government, but in vain, said an inspector serving Chennai. More recently, the government called for preparation of a panel of inspectors eligible to be promoted as DSPs and subsequently approved the names of 117 officers. Irked, the harried inspectors, who were fighting since recruited under 20 per cent quota, approached the Supreme Court, which issued an order on November 25 to maintain status quo putting the brakes temporarily, besides posting the case for February 7 next year. The Supreme Court order offers a glimpse of hope for the litigant officers, yet they expect the authorities concerned to consider their plea given the age factor as several of them are on the verge of retirement in a span of six months without getting another promotion. Out of the 267 recruited in 1997, 130 had already retired. However, top police officials said they could move further on the issue only based on the order the Supreme Court is to pass. The legal battle between the two sets of officers in the police department was already adjudicated in the High Court, now contested in the Supreme Court. As the matter is in the court, we cannot take a decision. Based on the Supreme Court order, we will proceed further, a senior police officer told Express. CHENNAI: Knocking the doors of the governmental authorities and courts seems to be more debilitating than working round-the-clock for these policemen, who were recruited as direct sub-inspectors under the 20 per cent quota for departmental staff in open competition. In total, 267 police officers, currently serving/retired in the rank of inspectors, are waging a court battle from January 1, 1994, the day a notification was issued for recruiting sub-inspectors directly. A few graduate constables and head constables, eligible for selection of direct SIs, approached the Tamil Nadu State Administrative Tribunal for age relaxation and got a positive order. Initially, the government announced recruitment of 500 direct SIs in 1994, but later, through necessary notifications, increased the number to 1,100. Of them, the number of direct SIs selected under 20 per cent quota for graduate police constables and head constables was 267, recalled an aggrieved inspector. However, the government dispatched 500 men selected from the open market for training in March 1996 thinking they could be deployed for the ensuing general elections to the Assembly then. The rest of the personnel selected for the post, including those who entered through the 20 per cent quota, were sent for training only in June 1997. As per GO no. 1054, our inter-se-seniority should have been placed above those selected in the open competition. But the authorities concerned failed to do so, leaving us in the lurch, rued Palanivel, a retired inspector. When efforts to persuade top police officials failed to yield any positive result, these hapless policemen took to legal recourse in 2005 when SIs selected from the open competition were promoted as inspectors allegedly bypassing the inter-se-seniority as per the GO. Despite a single judge of the High Court issuing an order directing the government to favourably consider their plea, these SIs lost their cause in another case regarding promoting a batch of inspectors recruited from open market as Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) in 2014. The government gave effect to promotion of 108 inspectors in January this year without respecting an undertaking given before a Division Bench of the High Court. We again represented to the authorities of the government, but in vain, said an inspector serving Chennai. More recently, the government called for preparation of a panel of inspectors eligible to be promoted as DSPs and subsequently approved the names of 117 officers. Irked, the harried inspectors, who were fighting since recruited under 20 per cent quota, approached the Supreme Court, which issued an order on November 25 to maintain status quo putting the brakes temporarily, besides posting the case for February 7 next year. The Supreme Court order offers a glimpse of hope for the litigant officers, yet they expect the authorities concerned to consider their plea given the age factor as several of them are on the verge of retirement in a span of six months without getting another promotion. Out of the 267 recruited in 1997, 130 had already retired. However, top police officials said they could move further on the issue only based on the order the Supreme Court is to pass. The legal battle between the two sets of officers in the police department was already adjudicated in the High Court, now contested in the Supreme Court. As the matter is in the court, we cannot take a decision. Based on the Supreme Court order, we will proceed further, a senior police officer told Express. By Express News Service CHENNAI: The six-time chief Minister of Tamilnadu, AIADMK's J Jayalalithaa passed away in Chennai after suffering a massive cardiac arrest. She breathed her last at around 11:30 pm on Monday. Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Greams road on September 22 after complaining of fever and dehydration. She has been under medical care for more than two months. Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday. MINUTE-BY-MINUTE UPDATES: 3.40 AM: Burial place getting ready in premises of MGR Square, where her body will be laid to rest. 3.00 AM: Police resort to lathi charge as 30-40 people try to break barricades around Jayalalithaa's Poes garden residence. Situation contained. Public try to break barricades around Jaya's Poes Garden residence. (EPS) 2.47 AM: People are arriving in large numbers at Jayalalithaa's Poes garden residence. Police are struggling to handle the crowd. 2.45 AM: Jayalalithaa's body to be kept at Rajaji Hall later in the day for the public to pay respects Jayalalithaa's body arrives at her Poes Garden residence. UPDATE: Watch video of #Jayalalithaa's body arriving at her Poes Garden residence. LIVE: https://t.co/b1rohrKbSM pic.twitter.com/U8cwyqOGod New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) December 5, 2016 2.40 AM: No clarity yet on the final resting place of Tamil Nadu's deceased Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. 2.25 AM: Ambulance leaves Apollo hospital with Jayalalithaa's body to her residence at Poes Garden. Ambulance leaves Apollo hospital with body of Jayalalithaa. (EPS) 2.10 AM: AIADMK MLA's gather at Jayalalithaa's residence at Poes garden after the swearing in of the new Cabinet under O.Panneerselvam as the new Chief Minister. AIADMK MLA's gather at Poes Garden. (EPS) 2.05 AM: 1 day state mourning declared in Bihar to condole the demise of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. 1.59 AM: 1.55 AM: O Panneerselvam reaches Apollo Hospital after being sworn in as CM. He enters the Hospital with other ministers 1.45 AM: Condolences for the demise of Tamilnadu CM Jayalalithaa, who passed away at after suffering a massive cardiac arrest, have started pouring in. 1.40 AM: Convoy to transport Jayalalithaa's body is ready but no movement from Apollo hospital yet. (EPS) 1.20 AM: O Panneerselvam takes oath in a choked voice as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after the demise of J. Jayalalithaa. Governor Vidyasagar Rao administered the oath at Raj Bhavan. The rest of the 31-minister Cabinet is taking oath en masse. 1.15 AM: Cadres chant Tamil Nadu chief minister #Jayalalithaa's name in Greams road, amid heavy police barricading. pic.twitter.com/JrlQ1laQeA New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) December 5, 2016 Deeply saddened by the demise of our CM Selvi Jayalalithaa. My deepest condolences to the party cadres & well wishers in this hour of grief pic.twitter.com/oe26Itv1OF 1.10 AM: Heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of #Jayalalithaa; the nation has lost an icon who was loved and admired by millions: President. Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 5, 2016 1.00 AM: #Jayalalithaa's demise is an irreparable loss to the people of India: Vice President Hamid Ansari. Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 5, 2016 12.48 AM: Due to the sudden demise of honourable ble CM Amma, all Anna University examinations scheduled between 6.12.2016 to 8.12.2016 are postponed. Dates will be intimated later. Also classes are also cancelled during the above three days .- Anna Universtiy Registrar 12.45 AM: Deeply saddened at the passing away of Selvi Jayalalithaa. Her demise has left a huge void in Indian politics. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 Our beloved leader, The Iron Lady of India Puratchi Thalaivi Amma is no more. AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) December 5, 2016 Puratchi Thalaivi Amma's body will be kept at Rajaji Hall for people to pay last respects. AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) December 5, 2016 Seven days mourning, starting from December 6, has been announced after the demise of Jayalalithaa. During this period the National flag at government buildings will be flown at half mast. No official entertainment will also be held during this period. 12.42 AM: Ambulance enters Apollo Hospital (EPS) 12.38 AM: AICC president Sonia Gandhi condoles the death of Tamilnadu CM Jayalalithaa. 12.30 AM: Deeply saddened at the passing away of Selvi Jayalalithaa. Her demise has left a huge void in Indian politics. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 Principal secretary of School education department Sabitha D declares all schools and colleges will be closed for three days. 12.20 AM: AIADMK MLAs are heading towards Raj Bhavan after the meeting at the Party Headquarters AIADMK party leaders leaving the Headquarters. (EPS) December 6, 12.15 AM: Apollo Hospital, in an official release, announced that the Tamilnadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa passed away at 11.30 pm on Monday. 11.45 pm: Security beefed up outside Apollo Hospital (EPS) 11.31 pm: Police force deployed all along route from Apollo hospital to Poes garden, Jayalalithaa's residence. 11.22 pm: Four AIIMS doctors have left the Apollo hospital. House Speaker P. Dhanapal has also vacated the hospital premises. 11.19 pm: UPDATE | O Panneerselvam, Dindigul Srinivasan, SP Velumani arrive at party headquarters; MLAs' meeting begins. LIVE: https://t.co/kO9WbedD33 pic.twitter.com/LLhPQPD7Qv New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) December 5, 2016 11.11 pm: AIADMK MLAs meeting at party headquarters begins as O Panneerselvam & senior leaders arrive. 10.56 pm: Also Read: Hysteria over Jaya's health, normal life thrown out of gear in Chennai 09:45 pm: A street vendor comes to the rescue of youths at the deserted Central Bus Stand of Tiruchy on Monday. (EPS | M K Ashok Kumar) 9:03 pm: AIADMK supporters who had crowded the Apollo hospital have left the premises | Express 08:38 pm: HM @rajnathsingh says there is no law and order problem in #TamilNadu. #Jayalalithaa pic.twitter.com/Q5BvJ6CzHc Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 5, 2016 8:38 pm: It is an unfortunate thing (about the false news of death), a team of doctors is attending to the CM. We wish her a speedy recovery, says CPM's G Ramakrishnan outside Apollo Hospital | Express 8:03 pm: MLAs' meeting yet to start; waiting for O Panneerselvam's arrival at AIADMK headquarters. 7.42 pm: DGP and commissioner have left the premises of Apollo Hospital. 7:15 pm: Cadres silently wait at AIADMK HQs for O. Panneerselvam arrival 6:52 pm: Crowd is reducing in front of Apollo and cadre still say they have faith. 6:45 pm: Tension in IIT, companies abandon campus and rush to hotels; opting to conduct interviews over Skype. 6:33 pm: M Thambidurai, the deputy speaker of Lok Sabha also arrives at AIADMK headquarters. 6:23 pm: Bikers reportedly threaten to pelt stones if shops not closed down in Tambaram. 6:22 pm: Meanwhile, minutes after Tamil news channels flashed about Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, social media users of Twitter and Facebook began reacting to the unconfirmed reports. Tweeple on overdrive after false rumours of Jayalalithaa's death . READ MORE 6:23 pm: Most of the AIADMK MLAs in Apollo, including Ma Foi Pandiarajan, Rajendra Balaji, Pollachi Jayaraman at headquarters. Meeting postponed to 7 pm 6:20 pm: Last minutes of rush at petrol pump in Madurai. (KK Sundar | EPS) 6:20 pm: Crowd outside CMBT bus stand as people try to get back to their homes. reports suggest that buses have stopped lying. 6:13 pm: Shops across the city have closed down. Buses have stopped reportedly stopped plying. Tension grips Chennai. 6:10 pm: Mob whistles and claps after Apollo issues press release denying rumours about Jayalalithaa's death. 6:01 pm: Union minister Venkaiah Naidu arrives at Apollo hospital. 6:00 pm: Apollo releases statement, denies rumours about Jayalalithaa's death . 5:57 pm: In a weird turn of events, the AIADMK party flag was hoisted again inside the headquarters. 5:56 pm: Press chased out of AIADMK headquarters. 5:52 pm: Police barricade the area outside Apollo hospital | EPS 5:49 pm: After a sudden surge of violence and police lathicharge, angry cadre now remain quiet. Tearful supporters say Amma not dead, still alive. A large team of doctors from Apollo and AIIMS continue to provide all life saving measures. #GodblessAmma Apollo Hospitals (@HospitalsApollo) December 5, 2016 5:39 pm: 5:34 pm: Angry mob pelt stones at ambulances. 5:31 pm: Cops chase away crowd outside Apollo hospital after sudden frenzy. 5:27 pm: TV reports show commotion outside Apollo 5:16 pm: Chennai City Police has directed all its officers to be on duty until further orders. Commissioner of Police S George said in a circular "All Joint Commissioners of Police, Law and Order should keep only the essential strength in the police station and the remaining 75 per cent of the strength should be fully mobilised including all miscellaneous duties for bando bast by evening. The strength of personnel should be in small or multiple units under an Assistant Commissioner. The Station will have the essential strength." City Police Commissioner S George's memo. All officers at all levels will be on duty until further orders. The entire city stands mobilised pic.twitter.com/idt8I0l4GY Srikkanth (@Srikkanth_TNIE) December 5, 2016 Our team of expert doctors continue to closely monitor and treat the Honourable Chief Minister. However her condition remains critical. Apollo Hospitals (@HospitalsApollo) December 5, 2016 5:08 pm: While the news of the health condition of CM J Jayalalithaa getting worse spreading, government bus was vandalised near Alaganallur, Madurai. 5:07 pm: State commando force at the hospital | EPS 5:05 pm: From people trying to get provisions: Milk and bread out in most shops at Ramapuram and Nandambakkam. Traffic close to DLF IT Park "worse than during the floods". 5:00 pm: Traffic jam on Nelson Manickam road and Shanti Colony main road. Huge queues start forming at petrol stations. Anxious residents purchasing vegetables at Tiruchy following the adverse health condition of TN CM :Express/M K Ashok @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/q1rcyLoL3U ASHOK KUMAR (@ashokkumar_TNIE) December 5, 2016 4:51 pm: Scene outside Paranur Railway station. It's the railway station closest to Mahindra World City. (EPS) 4:47 pm: Firms operating in Mahindra World City have reportedly been asked employees to leave; so have most firms in Olympia Tech Park and TRIL. Hewlett Packard Enterprises has also asked employees in both Chennai premises to leave. 4:43 pm: AIIMS doctors, sent to supervise Jayalalithaa's treatement, have reached Apollo hospital. 4:19 pm: Crowd outside Apollo hospital on Monday, early evening. | EPS 4:17 pm: "Whoever thinks there will be instability is living in fools paradise," Vaiko said while exiting the hospital. He maintained that the chief minister is in a critical state. "I don't want to talk about succession when the need doesn't arise," he added. 4:08 pm: People throng grocery stores; shortage of potatoes and tomatoes reported | EPS 4:06 pm: Shops down their shutters at Chinthadripet, Sowcarpet (Photo | EPS) Tamil Nadu BJP unit president Tamilisai Sounderrajan arrives at Apollo hospital. | EPS TCS Siruseri asks employees to leave office early. #JayaHealth Srikkanth (@Srikkanth_TNIE) December 5, 2016 3:59 pm: Chennai city gets hyper active, something unusual for this hour of the day. Anticipating a shutdown, crowds can be seen thronging grocery shops. 3:20 pm: Professor Richard Beale, Jayalalithaa's doctor from UK, issued a statement where he said, "The situation is extremely grave, but I can confirm that everything possible is being done to give her the best chance of surviving this shocking event. She is being cared for by a highly expert multidisciplinary team, and is now on extracorporal life support." Read Baele's full statement here: 3:15 pm: MDMK general secretary Vaiko arrived at Apollo Hospital; he said, "I am worried and concerned. I can't say anything to you." 3:10 pm: AIIMS doctors have arrived at Chennai airport 2:40 pm: Despite our best efforts, our beloved CM remains in a grave situation. Sangita Reddy (@SangitaApollo) December 5, 2016 2:28 pm: Police are having a tough time managing the crowds as the supporters enter into arguments, asking the former to let them inside the hospital. 2:26 pm: The mood outside Apollo hospital has turned sombre. Few of the cadre, who seemed optimistic in the morning, have begun crying. 2:17 pm: Few schools in Chennai have reportedly asked parents to pick up their wards by 2:30 pm. 2:16 pm: Minor scuffle between police and cadres outside Apollo. 2:10 pm: Apollo's latest announcement mentions that Jayalalithaa is on ECMO; here's what you need to know about ECMO 2:04 pm: Meanwhile, TN's seat of power - its secretariat - wears a deserted look as all eyes are on MLAs meeting said to be happening inside the Apollo Hospital. A scene at Tamil Nadu Secretariat. (Express Photo | M Sathish) 1:44 pm: The crowd continues to swell outside Apollo hospital 1:25 pm: Meanwhile, Bengaluru firms wary of visiting IIT Madras for campus placements amid the uncertainty prevailing around the chief minister's health. Catch all the live updates about Jayalalithaa's health below: 1:20 pm: AIADMK MLAs and MPs continue to hold discussion inside the hospital even as anxious cadres gathered in front of gate to hear news about their leader. The mood was sombre and most of them are tired. AIADMK supporter praying for Jayalalithaa well being in front of Apollo hospital .(Shiba Prasad Sahu |EPS) 1:00 pm: "I pray for good health and speedy recovery of Jayalalithaaji," Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said in a statement. 12:55 pm: After KSRTC, the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) turned to a wait-and-watch approach in operating buses to Chennai in a bid to avoid any untoward incidents. READ MORE 12:50 pm: Continuous treatment is being given using ECMO to Puratchi Thalaivi Amma- Apollo Hospital AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) December 5, 2016 12:40 pm: Apollo releases bulletin, says Jayalalithaa is 'very critical'. 12:23 pm: Meanwhile, the US consulate, today issued an "emergency message" for American citizens, asking them to review their personal security plans and remain aware of the local events. Further, the Consulate General will operate with reduced staffing today, it announced, adding, it has "temporarily suspended appointments for routine services to US citizens and visa applicants." READ MORE 12:15 pm: A view outside Apollo hospitals (Photo | EPS) 12:10 pm: Senior AIADMK leader Panruti Ramachandran: You have to wait till health bulletin to know more details. But she is improving. Meanwhile, things were as usual across Chennai city. The Koyambedu bus terminus was having a traffic like any usual Monday morning. | EPS Supporters of Jayalalithaa gather outside Apollo hospital. (Ashwin Prasath | EPS) 11:42 am: Union minister Venkaiah Naidu is expected to arrive in Chennai today, to enquire about Jayalalithaa's health. AIADMK cadres ate man soru in Tiruchy temple on Monday as prayers for ailing CM.:Express/M K Ashok Kumar pic.twitter.com/Q1iePKeIl7 ASHOK KUMAR (@ashokkumar_TNIE) December 5, 2016 11:30 am: MLAs meeting begins at Apollo hospital. 11:25 am: Even as uncertainty continues to prevail about the health of the TN chief minister, people are offering prayers in Mumbai for her recovery. Mumbai: Supporters offer special prayers for speedy recovery of TN CM #jayalalithaa at Dharavi's Shakthi Vinayakam temple pic.twitter.com/w0GeXkeqOL ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 11:18 am: Health Minister Nadda has briefed PM Modi about Jayalalithaa's medical condition. 11:15 am: Centre is willing to provide extra security if Tamil Nadu needs it: Kiren Rijuju 11:10 am: Special prayers in Tiruchy school for well being of ailing TN CM J Jayalalithaa @NewIndianXpress S Deepak Karthik (@Deepak_TNIE) December 5, 2016 11:00 am: Meanwhile, AIADMK's head office at Royapettah is deserted after most of the party leaders and cadres reach Apollo (Jawahar | EPS) Security cover increased outside Poes garden. | EPS 10:58 am: Security was beefed up on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa 10:54 am: KSRTC bus service suspended between Hosur - Bengaluru @ 8 am. However, TNSTC resumes their service @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/hDFmhNqhK5 Sivaguru.S (@Sivaguru_TNIE) December 5, 2016 10:45 am: Security beefed up outside DMK party office | EPS 10:25 am: Tamil Nadu police have issued a stern warning against spreading rumours on the health of Jayalalithaa on social networking sites. 10:12 am: AIIMS doctors to treat Jayalalithaa are Dr Anjan Trikha, Dr Deva Gourou, Dr G C Khilnani, Dr Rajeev Narang. 10:05 am: PMK founder S Ramamdoss and CPI State Secretary R Mutharasan wishes Jayalalithaa a speedy recovery. Meanwhile, S Ramadoss requested everyone not to spread rumours. DK president K Veeramani said the possibility of taking Jayalalithaa to foreign countries for treatment should be explored quickly just like in the case of former Chief Minister MG Ramachandran 30 years ago. The hospital authorities have started allowing Patient vehicles allowed inside Apollo. (Romani Agarwal | EPS) 9:50 am: Union health minister JP Nadda said that they were constantly in touch with the doctors at Apollo and have sent a team from Delhi AIIMS was being to Chennai. #AIIMS doctors were in chennai two days backs and are visiting Chennai again today. Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) December 5, 2016 9:47 am: All AIADMK MPs who were in Delhi have returned to Chennai; a few State Ministers and AIADMK MLAs also arrived at Apollo 9:46 am: All eyes on the meeting of AIADMK MLAs scheduled to take place at 11 am. MLAs from across the state were asked to reach in Chennai by 8.30 am today. 9:45 am: BJP leaders Pon Radhakrishnan and L Ganesan visited the hospital. 9:35 am: AIADMK cadres start to trickle in the Greams Road where Apollo Hospitals is located; situation much calmer that last night. 9:32 am: Police posted to guard DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam on Anna Salai. It is just a couple of kilometres away from the Apollo Hospitals. Heavy security on Greams road. AIADMK cadres throng the road pic.twitter.com/VPNpSffY5J Srikkanth (@Srikkanth_TNIE) December 5, 2016 8:30 am: The repercussions of Jayalalithaa's health was felt in Bengaluru as Karnataka RTC suspended all TN-bound services. Elaborate security arrangements has been made in Bengaluru No need for any panic. City is calm & peaceful: @BlrCityPolice ChristinMathewPhilip (@ChristinMP_TNIE) December 5, 2016 Karnataka RTC suspends all TN-bound services after one bus was pelted with stones near Tiruvanamalai at midnight. pic.twitter.com/gSNrZY7oCl ChristinMathewPhilip (@ChristinMP_TNIE) December 5, 2016 Tight security continues outside Apollo hospital where TN chief minister #Jayalalithaa is admitted. (Romani Agarwal | EPS) pic.twitter.com/gWpgYSI2KW New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) December 5, 2016 It was business as usual in the rest of the State with schools, colleges and businesses opening as usual as any other Monday morning. Also read: All you need to know about last night's situation, after the CM suffered a cardiac arrest. Meanwhile, all AIADMK MLAs have been asked to assemble at the Apollo Hospital by 8:30 am for a meeting that is expected to take place at around 11 am. The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of the chief minister's health. The portfolios of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa were allocated to Finance Minister O Panneerselvam on October 11. The chief minister was on Extracorporeal membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), an artificial device that carries out functions of the heart and lung. Also read: Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa admitted to Apollo hospital for fever Despite the crowd that had gathered last night having dwindled, police personnel were deployed en masse in Greams road and people were allowed to pass the hospital lane only after scrutiny. (With inputs from agencies) CHENNAI: The six-time chief Minister of Tamilnadu, AIADMK's J Jayalalithaa passed away in Chennai after suffering a massive cardiac arrest. She breathed her last at around 11:30 pm on Monday. Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Greams road on September 22 after complaining of fever and dehydration. She has been under medical care for more than two months. Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday. MINUTE-BY-MINUTE UPDATES: 3.40 AM: Burial place getting ready in premises of MGR Square, where her body will be laid to rest. 3.00 AM: Police resort to lathi charge as 30-40 people try to break barricades around Jayalalithaa's Poes garden residence. Situation contained. Public try to break barricades around Jaya's Poes Garden residence. (EPS) 2.47 AM: People are arriving in large numbers at Jayalalithaa's Poes garden residence. Police are struggling to handle the crowd. 2.45 AM: Jayalalithaa's body to be kept at Rajaji Hall later in the day for the public to pay respects Jayalalithaa's body arrives at her Poes Garden residence. UPDATE: Watch video of #Jayalalithaa's body arriving at her Poes Garden residence. LIVE: https://t.co/b1rohrKbSM pic.twitter.com/U8cwyqOGod New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) December 5, 2016 2.40 AM: No clarity yet on the final resting place of Tamil Nadu's deceased Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. 2.25 AM: Ambulance leaves Apollo hospital with Jayalalithaa's body to her residence at Poes Garden. Ambulance leaves Apollo hospital with body of Jayalalithaa. (EPS) 2.10 AM: AIADMK MLA's gather at Jayalalithaa's residence at Poes garden after the swearing in of the new Cabinet under O.Panneerselvam as the new Chief Minister. AIADMK MLA's gather at Poes Garden. (EPS) 2.05 AM: 1 day state mourning declared in Bihar to condole the demise of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. 1.59 AM: 1.55 AM: O Panneerselvam reaches Apollo Hospital after being sworn in as CM. He enters the Hospital with other ministers 1.45 AM: Condolences for the demise of Tamilnadu CM Jayalalithaa, who passed away at after suffering a massive cardiac arrest, have started pouring in. pic.twitter.com/beEKDlm5sQ Rajinikanth (@superstarrajini) December 5, 2016 1.40 AM: Convoy to transport Jayalalithaa's body is ready but no movement from Apollo hospital yet. (EPS) 1.20 AM: O Panneerselvam takes oath in a choked voice as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after the demise of J. Jayalalithaa. Governor Vidyasagar Rao administered the oath at Raj Bhavan. The rest of the 31-minister Cabinet is taking oath en masse. 1.15 AM: Cadres chant Tamil Nadu chief minister #Jayalalithaa's name in Greams road, amid heavy police barricading. pic.twitter.com/JrlQ1laQeA New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) December 5, 2016 Deeply saddened by the demise of our CM Selvi Jayalalithaa. My deepest condolences to the party cadres & well wishers in this hour of grief pic.twitter.com/oe26Itv1OF M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) December 5, 2016 1.10 AM: Heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of #Jayalalithaa; the nation has lost an icon who was loved and admired by millions: President. Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 5, 2016 1.00 AM: #Jayalalithaa's demise is an irreparable loss to the people of India: Vice President Hamid Ansari. Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 5, 2016 12.48 AM: Due to the sudden demise of honourable ble CM Amma, all Anna University examinations scheduled between 6.12.2016 to 8.12.2016 are postponed. Dates will be intimated later. Also classes are also cancelled during the above three days .- Anna Universtiy Registrar 12.45 AM: Deeply saddened at the passing away of Selvi Jayalalithaa. Her demise has left a huge void in Indian politics. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 Our beloved leader, The Iron Lady of India Puratchi Thalaivi Amma is no more. AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) December 5, 2016 Puratchi Thalaivi Amma's body will be kept at Rajaji Hall for people to pay last respects. AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) December 5, 2016 Seven days mourning, starting from December 6, has been announced after the demise of Jayalalithaa. During this period the National flag at government buildings will be flown at half mast. No official entertainment will also be held during this period. 12.42 AM: Ambulance enters Apollo Hospital (EPS) 12.38 AM: AICC president Sonia Gandhi condoles the death of Tamilnadu CM Jayalalithaa. 12.30 AM: Deeply saddened at the passing away of Selvi Jayalalithaa. Her demise has left a huge void in Indian politics. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 Principal secretary of School education department Sabitha D declares all schools and colleges will be closed for three days. 12.20 AM: AIADMK MLAs are heading towards Raj Bhavan after the meeting at the Party Headquarters AIADMK party leaders leaving the Headquarters. (EPS) December 6, 12.15 AM: Apollo Hospital, in an official release, announced that the Tamilnadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa passed away at 11.30 pm on Monday. 11.45 pm: Security beefed up outside Apollo Hospital (EPS) 11.31 pm: Police force deployed all along route from Apollo hospital to Poes garden, Jayalalithaa's residence. 11.22 pm: Four AIIMS doctors have left the Apollo hospital. House Speaker P. Dhanapal has also vacated the hospital premises. 11.19 pm: UPDATE | O Panneerselvam, Dindigul Srinivasan, SP Velumani arrive at party headquarters; MLAs' meeting begins. LIVE: https://t.co/kO9WbedD33 pic.twitter.com/LLhPQPD7Qv New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) December 5, 2016 11.11 pm: AIADMK MLAs meeting at party headquarters begins as O Panneerselvam & senior leaders arrive. 10.56 pm: Rapid Action Force from #Ahmedabad heading to #Chennai @NewIndianXpress #jayalalithaa #JayaHealth pic.twitter.com/6Wo3AkKIKA Kiran_TNIE (@tniekiran1) December 5, 2016 Also Read: Hysteria over Jaya's health, normal life thrown out of gear in Chennai 09:45 pm: A street vendor comes to the rescue of youths at the deserted Central Bus Stand of Tiruchy on Monday. (EPS | M K Ashok Kumar)9:03 pm: AIADMK supporters who had crowded the Apollo hospital have left the premises | Express 08:38 pm: HM @rajnathsingh says there is no law and order problem in #TamilNadu. #Jayalalithaa pic.twitter.com/Q5BvJ6CzHc Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 5, 2016 8:38 pm: It is an unfortunate thing (about the false news of death), a team of doctors is attending to the CM. We wish her a speedy recovery, says CPM's G Ramakrishnan outside Apollo Hospital | Express 8:03 pm: MLAs' meeting yet to start; waiting for O Panneerselvam's arrival at AIADMK headquarters. 7.42 pm: DGP and commissioner have left the premises of Apollo Hospital. 7:15 pm: Cadres silently wait at AIADMK HQs for O. Panneerselvam arrival 6:52 pm: Crowd is reducing in front of Apollo and cadre still say they have faith. 6:45 pm: Tension in IIT, companies abandon campus and rush to hotels; opting to conduct interviews over Skype. 6:33 pm: M Thambidurai, the deputy speaker of Lok Sabha also arrives at AIADMK headquarters. 6:23 pm: Bikers reportedly threaten to pelt stones if shops not closed down in Tambaram. 6:22 pm: Meanwhile, minutes after Tamil news channels flashed about Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, social media users of Twitter and Facebook began reacting to the unconfirmed reports. Tweeple on overdrive after false rumours of Jayalalithaa's death . READ MORE 6:23 pm: Most of the AIADMK MLAs in Apollo, including Ma Foi Pandiarajan, Rajendra Balaji, Pollachi Jayaraman at headquarters. Meeting postponed to 7 pm 6:20 pm: Last minutes of rush at petrol pump in Madurai. (KK Sundar | EPS) 6:20 pm: Crowd outside CMBT bus stand as people try to get back to their homes. reports suggest that buses have stopped lying. 6:13 pm: Shops across the city have closed down. Buses have stopped reportedly stopped plying. Tension grips Chennai. 6:10 pm: Mob whistles and claps after Apollo issues press release denying rumours about Jayalalithaa's death. 6:01 pm: Union minister Venkaiah Naidu arrives at Apollo hospital. 6:00 pm: Apollo releases statement, denies rumours about Jayalalithaa's death . 5:57 pm: In a weird turn of events, the AIADMK party flag was hoisted again inside the headquarters. 5:56 pm: Press chased out of AIADMK headquarters. 5:52 pm: Police barricade the area outside Apollo hospital | EPS 5:49 pm: After a sudden surge of violence and police lathicharge, angry cadre now remain quiet. Tearful supporters say Amma not dead, still alive. A large team of doctors from Apollo and AIIMS continue to provide all life saving measures. #GodblessAmma Apollo Hospitals (@HospitalsApollo) December 5, 2016 5:39 pm: 5:34 pm: Angry mob pelt stones at ambulances. 5:31 pm: Cops chase away crowd outside Apollo hospital after sudden frenzy. 5:27 pm: TV reports show commotion outside Apollo 5:16 pm: Chennai City Police has directed all its officers to be on duty until further orders. Commissioner of Police S George said in a circular "All Joint Commissioners of Police, Law and Order should keep only the essential strength in the police station and the remaining 75 per cent of the strength should be fully mobilised including all miscellaneous duties for bando bast by evening. The strength of personnel should be in small or multiple units under an Assistant Commissioner. The Station will have the essential strength." City Police Commissioner S George's memo. All officers at all levels will be on duty until further orders. The entire city stands mobilised pic.twitter.com/idt8I0l4GY Srikkanth (@Srikkanth_TNIE) December 5, 2016 Our team of expert doctors continue to closely monitor and treat the Honourable Chief Minister. However her condition remains critical. Apollo Hospitals (@HospitalsApollo) December 5, 2016 5:08 pm: While the news of the health condition of CM J Jayalalithaa getting worse spreading, government bus was vandalised near Alaganallur, Madurai. 5:07 pm: State commando force at the hospital | EPS 5:05 pm: From people trying to get provisions: Milk and bread out in most shops at Ramapuram and Nandambakkam. Traffic close to DLF IT Park "worse than during the floods". 5:00 pm: Traffic jam on Nelson Manickam road and Shanti Colony main road. Huge queues start forming at petrol stations. Anxious residents purchasing vegetables at Tiruchy following the adverse health condition of TN CM :Express/M K Ashok @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/q1rcyLoL3U ASHOK KUMAR (@ashokkumar_TNIE) December 5, 2016 4:51 pm: Scene outside Paranur Railway station. It's the railway station closest to Mahindra World City. (EPS) 4:47 pm: Firms operating in Mahindra World City have reportedly been asked employees to leave; so have most firms in Olympia Tech Park and TRIL. Hewlett Packard Enterprises has also asked employees in both Chennai premises to leave. 4:43 pm: AIIMS doctors, sent to supervise Jayalalithaa's treatement, have reached Apollo hospital. 4:19 pm: Crowd outside Apollo hospital on Monday, early evening. | EPS 4:17 pm: "Whoever thinks there will be instability is living in fools paradise," Vaiko said while exiting the hospital. He maintained that the chief minister is in a critical state. "I don't want to talk about succession when the need doesn't arise," he added. 4:08 pm: People throng grocery stores; shortage of potatoes and tomatoes reported | EPS4:06 pm: Shops down their shutters at Chinthadripet, Sowcarpet (Photo | EPS) Tamil Nadu BJP unit president Tamilisai Sounderrajan arrives at Apollo hospital. | EPS TCS Siruseri asks employees to leave office early. #JayaHealth Srikkanth (@Srikkanth_TNIE) December 5, 2016 3:59 pm: Chennai city gets hyper active, something unusual for this hour of the day. Anticipating a shutdown, crowds can be seen thronging grocery shops. 3:20 pm: Professor Richard Beale, Jayalalithaa's doctor from UK, issued a statement where he said, "The situation is extremely grave, but I can confirm that everything possible is being done to give her the best chance of surviving this shocking event. She is being cared for by a highly expert multidisciplinary team, and is now on extracorporal life support." Read Baele's full statement here: 3:15 pm: MDMK general secretary Vaiko arrived at Apollo Hospital; he said, "I am worried and concerned. I can't say anything to you." 3:10 pm: AIIMS doctors have arrived at Chennai airport 2:40 pm: Despite our best efforts, our beloved CM remains in a grave situation. Sangita Reddy (@SangitaApollo) December 5, 2016 2:28 pm: Police are having a tough time managing the crowds as the supporters enter into arguments, asking the former to let them inside the hospital. 2:26 pm: The mood outside Apollo hospital has turned sombre. Few of the cadre, who seemed optimistic in the morning, have begun crying. 2:17 pm: Few schools in Chennai have reportedly asked parents to pick up their wards by 2:30 pm. 2:16 pm: Minor scuffle between police and cadres outside Apollo. 2:10 pm: Apollo's latest announcement mentions that Jayalalithaa is on ECMO; here's what you need to know about ECMO 2:04 pm: Meanwhile, TN's seat of power - its secretariat - wears a deserted look as all eyes are on MLAs meeting said to be happening inside the Apollo Hospital. A scene at Tamil Nadu Secretariat. (Express Photo | M Sathish) 1:44 pm: The crowd continues to swell outside Apollo hospital #Jayalalithaa pic.twitter.com/tp8KFnvT0i Shivakumar C (@shivakumar_tnie) December 5, 2016 1:25 pm: Meanwhile, Bengaluru firms wary of visiting IIT Madras for campus placements amid the uncertainty prevailing around the chief minister's health. Catch all the live updates about Jayalalithaa's health below: LIVE: Latest news on #Jayalalithaa: https://t.co/DmzHsYMYiC Updates- Apollo hospital issues health bulletin. Read: https://t.co/A63mLhxUkN New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) December 5, 2016 1:20 pm: AIADMK MLAs and MPs continue to hold discussion inside the hospital even as anxious cadres gathered in front of gate to hear news about their leader. The mood was sombre and most of them are tired. IN PICS: Scenes outside Apollo hospitals after Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday AIADMK supporter praying for Jayalalithaa well being in front of Apollo hospital .(Shiba Prasad Sahu |EPS) 1:00 pm: "I pray for good health and speedy recovery of Jayalalithaaji," Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said in a statement. 12:55 pm: After KSRTC, the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) turned to a wait-and-watch approach in operating buses to Chennai in a bid to avoid any untoward incidents. READ MORE 12:50 pm: Continuous treatment is being given using ECMO to Puratchi Thalaivi Amma- Apollo Hospital AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) December 5, 2016 12:40 pm: Apollo releases bulletin, says Jayalalithaa is 'very critical'. 12:23 pm: Meanwhile, the US consulate, today issued an "emergency message" for American citizens, asking them to review their personal security plans and remain aware of the local events. Further, the Consulate General will operate with reduced staffing today, it announced, adding, it has "temporarily suspended appointments for routine services to US citizens and visa applicants." READ MORE 12:15 pm: A view outside Apollo hospitals (Photo | EPS) 12:10 pm: Senior AIADMK leader Panruti Ramachandran: You have to wait till health bulletin to know more details. But she is improving. Meanwhile, things were as usual across Chennai city. The Koyambedu bus terminus was having a traffic like any usual Monday morning. | EPS Supporters of Jayalalithaa gather outside Apollo hospital. (Ashwin Prasath | EPS) 11:42 am: Union minister Venkaiah Naidu is expected to arrive in Chennai today, to enquire about Jayalalithaa's health. AIADMK cadres ate man soru in Tiruchy temple on Monday as prayers for ailing CM.:Express/M K Ashok Kumar pic.twitter.com/Q1iePKeIl7 ASHOK KUMAR (@ashokkumar_TNIE) December 5, 2016 11:30 am: MLAs meeting begins at Apollo hospital. 11:25 am: Even as uncertainty continues to prevail about the health of the TN chief minister, people are offering prayers in Mumbai for her recovery. Mumbai: Supporters offer special prayers for speedy recovery of TN CM #jayalalithaa at Dharavi's Shakthi Vinayakam temple pic.twitter.com/w0GeXkeqOL ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 11:18 am: Health Minister Nadda has briefed PM Modi about Jayalalithaa's medical condition. 11:15 am: Centre is willing to provide extra security if Tamil Nadu needs it: Kiren Rijuju 11:10 am: Special prayers in Tiruchy school for well being of ailing TN CM J Jayalalithaa @NewIndianXpress S Deepak Karthik (@Deepak_TNIE) December 5, 2016 11:00 am: Meanwhile, AIADMK's head office at Royapettah is deserted after most of the party leaders and cadres reach Apollo (Jawahar | EPS) Security cover increased outside Poes garden. | EPS 10:58 am: Security was beefed up on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa 10:54 am: KSRTC bus service suspended between Hosur - Bengaluru @ 8 am. However, TNSTC resumes their service @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/hDFmhNqhK5 Sivaguru.S (@Sivaguru_TNIE) December 5, 2016 10:45 am: Security beefed up outside DMK party office | EPS 10:25 am: Tamil Nadu police have issued a stern warning against spreading rumours on the health of Jayalalithaa on social networking sites. 10:12 am: AIIMS doctors to treat Jayalalithaa are Dr Anjan Trikha, Dr Deva Gourou, Dr G C Khilnani, Dr Rajeev Narang. 10:05 am: PMK founder S Ramamdoss and CPI State Secretary R Mutharasan wishes Jayalalithaa a speedy recovery. Meanwhile, S Ramadoss requested everyone not to spread rumours. DK president K Veeramani said the possibility of taking Jayalalithaa to foreign countries for treatment should be explored quickly just like in the case of former Chief Minister MG Ramachandran 30 years ago. The hospital authorities have started allowing Patient vehicles allowed inside Apollo. (Romani Agarwal | EPS) 9:50 am: Union health minister JP Nadda said that they were constantly in touch with the doctors at Apollo and have sent a team from Delhi AIIMS was being to Chennai. #AIIMS doctors were in chennai two days backs and are visiting Chennai again today. Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) December 5, 2016 9:47 am: All AIADMK MPs who were in Delhi have returned to Chennai; a few State Ministers and AIADMK MLAs also arrived at Apollo 9:46 am: All eyes on the meeting of AIADMK MLAs scheduled to take place at 11 am. MLAs from across the state were asked to reach in Chennai by 8.30 am today. 9:45 am: BJP leaders Pon Radhakrishnan and L Ganesan visited the hospital. 9:35 am: AIADMK cadres start to trickle in the Greams Road where Apollo Hospitals is located; situation much calmer that last night. 9:32 am: Police posted to guard DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam on Anna Salai. It is just a couple of kilometres away from the Apollo Hospitals. Heavy security on Greams road. AIADMK cadres throng the road pic.twitter.com/VPNpSffY5J Srikkanth (@Srikkanth_TNIE) December 5, 2016 8:30 am: The repercussions of Jayalalithaa's health was felt in Bengaluru as Karnataka RTC suspended all TN-bound services. Elaborate security arrangements has been made in Bengaluru No need for any panic. City is calm & peaceful: @BlrCityPolice ChristinMathewPhilip (@ChristinMP_TNIE) December 5, 2016 Karnataka RTC suspends all TN-bound services after one bus was pelted with stones near Tiruvanamalai at midnight. pic.twitter.com/gSNrZY7oCl ChristinMathewPhilip (@ChristinMP_TNIE) December 5, 2016 Tight security continues outside Apollo hospital where TN chief minister #Jayalalithaa is admitted. (Romani Agarwal | EPS) pic.twitter.com/gWpgYSI2KW New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) December 5, 2016 It was business as usual in the rest of the State with schools, colleges and businesses opening as usual as any other Monday morning. Also read: All you need to know about last night's situation, after the CM suffered a cardiac arrest. Meanwhile, all AIADMK MLAs have been asked to assemble at the Apollo Hospital by 8:30 am for a meeting that is expected to take place at around 11 am. The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of the chief minister's health. The portfolios of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa were allocated to Finance Minister O Panneerselvam on October 11. The chief minister was on Extracorporeal membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), an artificial device that carries out functions of the heart and lung. Also read: Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa admitted to Apollo hospital for fever Despite the crowd that had gathered last night having dwindled, police personnel were deployed en masse in Greams road and people were allowed to pass the hospital lane only after scrutiny. (With inputs from agencies) By Express News Service BENGALURU: Extensive security measures have been adopted in Karnataka- Tamil Nadu border and some areas in the city following the uncertainty about the condition of Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalalitha. On Monday about 2,000 policemen including KSRP platoons were deployed across the city. A senior police officer has been directed to observe the situation at the border while policemen have been deployed across the city. A senior police officer said that city policemen along with Hoysala staff are patrolling the city especially around Sriramapura, Magadi road, Gandi Nagar, Shanthinagar, Ulsoor, Neelasandra and Ejipura to avoid any untoward incidents. All the deputy commissioners of respective divisions in the State police have been instructed to watch out for incidents involving anti-social elements. BENGALURU: Extensive security measures have been adopted in Karnataka- Tamil Nadu border and some areas in the city following the uncertainty about the condition of Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalalitha. On Monday about 2,000 policemen including KSRP platoons were deployed across the city. A senior police officer has been directed to observe the situation at the border while policemen have been deployed across the city. A senior police officer said that city policemen along with Hoysala staff are patrolling the city especially around Sriramapura, Magadi road, Gandi Nagar, Shanthinagar, Ulsoor, Neelasandra and Ejipura to avoid any untoward incidents. All the deputy commissioners of respective divisions in the State police have been instructed to watch out for incidents involving anti-social elements. By Online Desk Misty-eyed crowds, chest-beating women supporters, praying congregations were some of the scenes witnessed outside Apollo Hospitals on Greams Road in Chennai on Monday where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was undergoing treatment for a cardiac arrest that she suffered last night. Late in the night after 12 PM, Apollo hospitals declared that the Chief Minister passed on at 11.30 PM on December 5. Her body is set to be kept at Rajaji Hall for the public to pay their respects. Leading to the announcement of the death, there had several developments. Here's all that took place over the course of the day: Though the crowd that gathered last night had thinned out, heavy police forces were stationed at Greams Road and locals were allowed to pass the hospital lane only after checks. The chief minister was put on an Extracorporeal membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), an artificial device that carries out functions of the heart and lung. READ HERE All the AIADMK MLAs, meanwhile, were told to assemble at the Apollo Hospital by 8:30 am for a meeting that was reportedly scheduled to take place at around 11 am. Some of the portfolios of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had been allocated to Finance Minister O Panneerselvam on October 11. The consequences of the CMs health was also seen in neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka with RTC buses suspending its TN-bound services. Despite this, business in the rest of the state remained as usual with schools and colleges and commercial establishments functioning as usual. Police were also deployed at DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam on Anna Salai. AIADMK cadres, around the same time, started assembling at Greams Road outside Apollo Hospital. Union health minister JP Nadda on Twitter said they were constantly in touch with the Apollo doctors and had sent a team from Delhi AIIMS to Chennai. He later briefed PM Narendra Modi about Jayalalithaas medical condition. AIIMS doctors Dr Anjan Trikha, Dr Deva Gourou, Dr G C Khilnani and Dr Rajeev Narang were among those treating J Jayalalithaa at Apollo Hospital. Meanwhile, the state police issued a stern warning against spreading rumours on the health of Jayalalithaa on social networking sites. At the same time, security along the Kerala-TN borders was stepped up. Union minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju also assured extra security if Tamil Nadu needs it. READ HERE MLAs later in the day began the meeting at Apollo hospital. The US consulate, meanwhile, issued an emergency message for American citizens, asking them to review their personal security plans and remain aware of the local events. READ HERE With tempers and tensions running equally high as the day advanced further, Apollo hospital in a bulletin said Chief minister Jayalalithaa was very critical and was on ECMO and other life support systems. After KSRTC, the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) turned to a wait-and-watch approach on operating buses to Chennai in a bid to avoid any untoward incidents. READ HERE In the middle of all the frenzy, Bengaluru-based firms wary of visiting IIT-Madras for campus recruitment decided to do interviews over Skype. READ MORE Towards the afternoon, reports of a minor scuffle between the police and the party cadres were reported outside the hospital. A few of the city schools had informed parents to pick up their wards by 2.30 pm. As per reports, some software firms in Mahindra World City, Olympia Tech Park, TRIL asked their staffers to wrap up work and leave for home. Hewlett Packard Enterprises also asked employees in both their Chennai premises to leave. Cops were having a tough time managing the crowds outside Apollo Hospital as supporters of Jayalalithaa entered into arguments, asking they be allowed inside the hospital. The team of AIIMS doctors reached Chennai, meanwhile. Sangita Reddy, executive director of Apollo Hospitals in a tweet said, Despite our best efforts, our beloved CM remains in a grave situation. Echoing her statement, Richard Beale, a doctor from the UK who was treating Jayalalithaa at Apollo, issued a statement where he said, The situation is extremely grave, but I can confirm that everything possible is being done to give her the best chance of surviving this shocking event. Meanwhile, denizens of Chennai went into a panic anticipating violence and shortage of bare necessities, they crowded shops in a bid to stock up on provisions at Ramapuram and Nandambakkam, and several parts of the city. Traffic close to DLF IT Park was reportedly worse than during the floods (last year). Nelson Manickam road and Shanti Colony main road also faced a choc-o-bloc situation. Petrol stations saw serpentine queues. While the news of the health condition of CM J Jayalalithaa getting worse spread, a few stray incidents of vandalism were reported near Alaganallur in Madurai, south Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, in Chennai police directed all its officers to be on duty, till further notice. Cops chased away crowds outside the hospital as angry mob pelted stones at ambulances after local TV channels flashed unconfirmed reports of Jayas death. Apollo hospital then released a statement, denying rumours about Jayalalithaas death. The AIADMK party flag which was downed to half-mast after the rumours was hoisted again inside the headquarters. Misty-eyed crowds, chest-beating women supporters, praying congregations were some of the scenes witnessed outside Apollo Hospitals on Greams Road in Chennai on Monday where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was undergoing treatment for a cardiac arrest that she suffered last night. Late in the night after 12 PM, Apollo hospitals declared that the Chief Minister passed on at 11.30 PM on December 5. Her body is set to be kept at Rajaji Hall for the public to pay their respects. Leading to the announcement of the death, there had several developments. Here's all that took place over the course of the day: Though the crowd that gathered last night had thinned out, heavy police forces were stationed at Greams Road and locals were allowed to pass the hospital lane only after checks. The chief minister was put on an Extracorporeal membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), an artificial device that carries out functions of the heart and lung. READ HERE All the AIADMK MLAs, meanwhile, were told to assemble at the Apollo Hospital by 8:30 am for a meeting that was reportedly scheduled to take place at around 11 am. Some of the portfolios of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had been allocated to Finance Minister O Panneerselvam on October 11. The consequences of the CMs health was also seen in neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka with RTC buses suspending its TN-bound services. Despite this, business in the rest of the state remained as usual with schools and colleges and commercial establishments functioning as usual. Police were also deployed at DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam on Anna Salai. AIADMK cadres, around the same time, started assembling at Greams Road outside Apollo Hospital. Union health minister JP Nadda on Twitter said they were constantly in touch with the Apollo doctors and had sent a team from Delhi AIIMS to Chennai. He later briefed PM Narendra Modi about Jayalalithaas medical condition. AIIMS doctors Dr Anjan Trikha, Dr Deva Gourou, Dr G C Khilnani and Dr Rajeev Narang were among those treating J Jayalalithaa at Apollo Hospital. Meanwhile, the state police issued a stern warning against spreading rumours on the health of Jayalalithaa on social networking sites. At the same time, security along the Kerala-TN borders was stepped up. Union minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju also assured extra security if Tamil Nadu needs it. READ HERE MLAs later in the day began the meeting at Apollo hospital. The US consulate, meanwhile, issued an emergency message for American citizens, asking them to review their personal security plans and remain aware of the local events. READ HERE With tempers and tensions running equally high as the day advanced further, Apollo hospital in a bulletin said Chief minister Jayalalithaa was very critical and was on ECMO and other life support systems. After KSRTC, the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) turned to a wait-and-watch approach on operating buses to Chennai in a bid to avoid any untoward incidents. READ HERE In the middle of all the frenzy, Bengaluru-based firms wary of visiting IIT-Madras for campus recruitment decided to do interviews over Skype. READ MORE Towards the afternoon, reports of a minor scuffle between the police and the party cadres were reported outside the hospital. A few of the city schools had informed parents to pick up their wards by 2.30 pm. As per reports, some software firms in Mahindra World City, Olympia Tech Park, TRIL asked their staffers to wrap up work and leave for home. Hewlett Packard Enterprises also asked employees in both their Chennai premises to leave. Cops were having a tough time managing the crowds outside Apollo Hospital as supporters of Jayalalithaa entered into arguments, asking they be allowed inside the hospital. The team of AIIMS doctors reached Chennai, meanwhile. Sangita Reddy, executive director of Apollo Hospitals in a tweet said, Despite our best efforts, our beloved CM remains in a grave situation. Echoing her statement, Richard Beale, a doctor from the UK who was treating Jayalalithaa at Apollo, issued a statement where he said, The situation is extremely grave, but I can confirm that everything possible is being done to give her the best chance of surviving this shocking event. Meanwhile, denizens of Chennai went into a panic anticipating violence and shortage of bare necessities, they crowded shops in a bid to stock up on provisions at Ramapuram and Nandambakkam, and several parts of the city. Traffic close to DLF IT Park was reportedly worse than during the floods (last year). Nelson Manickam road and Shanti Colony main road also faced a choc-o-bloc situation. Petrol stations saw serpentine queues. While the news of the health condition of CM J Jayalalithaa getting worse spread, a few stray incidents of vandalism were reported near Alaganallur in Madurai, south Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, in Chennai police directed all its officers to be on duty, till further notice. Cops chased away crowds outside the hospital as angry mob pelted stones at ambulances after local TV channels flashed unconfirmed reports of Jayas death. Apollo hospital then released a statement, denying rumours about Jayalalithaas death. The AIADMK party flag which was downed to half-mast after the rumours was hoisted again inside the headquarters. Abhijit Mulye By MUMBAI: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has emerged stronger and after the recent municipal council polls in Maharashtra. When he took over as CM two years ago, the Opposition and even his party colleagues were skeptical. Many had argued that a Brahim CM wont work in Maharashtra. The BJP had several aspirants for the post, such as Eknath Khadse, Pankaja Munde and Vinod Tawde, who tried to show that they have a greater mass following and have accepted Fadnavis as a temporary arrangement. Fadnavis cant be the natural leader of Maharashtra, some argued. The Opposition too spoke of his inexperience. The administration did not support him completely, so much so that he had to publicly admonish officials to obey his orders. Party insiders say that some leaders were waiting for Fadnavis to fail, and had rested their hopes on the outcome of the municipal council polls. The polls 147 municipal councils across 25 of 36 districts returned 52 BJP candidates as council chairmen and the party gained a comfortable majority in another 23 councils. The victory strengthens Fadnavis leadership from several angles. The regions where the party did well were directly under his control or controlled by his close confidants such as Girish Mahajan and Jayprakash Rawal in north Maharashtra and Chandrakant Patil in west Maharashtra. The fact the BJP did exceedingly well in Vidarbha shows that the agitation for a separate Vidarbha has little effect on the BJPs popularity in the region, while the victory in north Maharashtra means that Khadse wont be able to do much damage to the party or the government. In Marathwada, state BJP president Raosaheb Danve-Patil and Pankaja Munde got a setback in their home turfs. In Konkan, BJPs ally Shiv Sena put up a good show. The results will give Fadnavis more bargaining power while dealing with the Shiv Sena for an alliance in the forthcoming Zila Parishad and Municipal Corporation elections. While the victory tested outsiders inducted into the BJP in the last two years, it cut the oppositionthe NCP and the Congressto size. Factionalism in both parties erupted immediately after the results. This means both parties will be busy with internal issues rather than attacking the government. Fadnavis cleverly used the Maratha agitation to his own benefit. As a reaction to the Maratha agitation, Dalits and OBCs voted for the BJP. Fadnavis striking rate was awesome as the party won in 32 of the places where he held rallies. Being able to communicate demonetisation effectively will increase his closeness to the Central leadership. MUMBAI: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has emerged stronger and after the recent municipal council polls in Maharashtra. When he took over as CM two years ago, the Opposition and even his party colleagues were skeptical. Many had argued that a Brahim CM wont work in Maharashtra. The BJP had several aspirants for the post, such as Eknath Khadse, Pankaja Munde and Vinod Tawde, who tried to show that they have a greater mass following and have accepted Fadnavis as a temporary arrangement. Fadnavis cant be the natural leader of Maharashtra, some argued. The Opposition too spoke of his inexperience. The administration did not support him completely, so much so that he had to publicly admonish officials to obey his orders. Party insiders say that some leaders were waiting for Fadnavis to fail, and had rested their hopes on the outcome of the municipal council polls. The polls 147 municipal councils across 25 of 36 districts returned 52 BJP candidates as council chairmen and the party gained a comfortable majority in another 23 councils. The victory strengthens Fadnavis leadership from several angles. The regions where the party did well were directly under his control or controlled by his close confidants such as Girish Mahajan and Jayprakash Rawal in north Maharashtra and Chandrakant Patil in west Maharashtra. The fact the BJP did exceedingly well in Vidarbha shows that the agitation for a separate Vidarbha has little effect on the BJPs popularity in the region, while the victory in north Maharashtra means that Khadse wont be able to do much damage to the party or the government. In Marathwada, state BJP president Raosaheb Danve-Patil and Pankaja Munde got a setback in their home turfs. In Konkan, BJPs ally Shiv Sena put up a good show. The results will give Fadnavis more bargaining power while dealing with the Shiv Sena for an alliance in the forthcoming Zila Parishad and Municipal Corporation elections. While the victory tested outsiders inducted into the BJP in the last two years, it cut the oppositionthe NCP and the Congressto size. Factionalism in both parties erupted immediately after the results. This means both parties will be busy with internal issues rather than attacking the government. Fadnavis cleverly used the Maratha agitation to his own benefit. As a reaction to the Maratha agitation, Dalits and OBCs voted for the BJP. Fadnavis striking rate was awesome as the party won in 32 of the places where he held rallies. Being able to communicate demonetisation effectively will increase his closeness to the Central leadership. Shafeeq Alingal By KOZHIKODE: Strained relations between India and Pakistan have come as a bolt from the blue for a group of farmers in Tirur, Malappuram district. Known as Tirur Lanka Paan, these leaves are of great demand in Pakistan. As Indias diplomatic ties with the hostile neighbour touch a new low, tension has been mounting among betel leave farmers, for their livelihood depends solely on export orders from Pakistan. Around 60 per cent of the betel leaves, cultivated in Tirur municipality and several surrounding panchayats, are exported to Karachi and Lahore, from where they reach local paan mandis across Pakistan. The Pathankot attack had a devastating impact on the farmers here as betel leaf exports plummeted by 40 per cent, which is at `6.5 crore per annum. With the diplomatic relations turning worse, Pakistan slapped an additional 15 per cent tax on betel leaves from India. This has affected our exports, said Mohammed Mooppan, a betel leave grower. Indias surgical strikes on terror launchpads in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir compounded the woes of the farmers. According to traders, the exports have dropped to three tonnes worth `1.8 lakh a day, from five tonnes a day. Lack of air and rail connectivity between the two countries is another hurdle, said Kamaludheen U, an exporter at Pan Bazaar, the 100-year-old betel market here. Betel leaves are taken to Dubai through Calicut International Airport, from where they are flown to Pakistan. We are dependent on Dubai as the air and rail connectivity to Pakistan was snapped post-Mumbai terror attacks in 2002. This leads to additional expense on transportation, rued Kamaludheen. Betel leaves from Tirur are in high demand in Pakistan due to its distinctive flavour. They are widely used at wedding parties, gatherings and religious functions. Tirur betel leaves have market in north Indian cities as well. Around two-three tonnes are sent to Delhi by train. Only half a tonne is sold in the local market. When transportation to Pakistan was smooth and no tax was imposed, a pack of 100 betel leaves used to fetch `100 for the traders. But now the price has come down to `60. Abdulla Thallassery, another farmer, said several from his farmers community have stopped growing betel in recent years due to drop in demand. Paan Bazaar also shares a similar story of waning glory as it has lost more than 30 shops and hundreds of employees in the last 15 years. It is tough time for betel farmers in Tirur as they cant survive on the domestic market. There is a steady decline in consumption of betel leaves among Keralites as betel is perceived as injurious to health, said Prof CR Elsy, member of the Intellectual Property Right cell at the Kerala Agricultural University. Elsy said, market value of betel leaves could increase if they are used for medicinal and cosmetic needs. KOZHIKODE: Strained relations between India and Pakistan have come as a bolt from the blue for a group of farmers in Tirur, Malappuram district. Known as Tirur Lanka Paan, these leaves are of great demand in Pakistan. As Indias diplomatic ties with the hostile neighbour touch a new low, tension has been mounting among betel leave farmers, for their livelihood depends solely on export orders from Pakistan. Around 60 per cent of the betel leaves, cultivated in Tirur municipality and several surrounding panchayats, are exported to Karachi and Lahore, from where they reach local paan mandis across Pakistan. The Pathankot attack had a devastating impact on the farmers here as betel leaf exports plummeted by 40 per cent, which is at `6.5 crore per annum. With the diplomatic relations turning worse, Pakistan slapped an additional 15 per cent tax on betel leaves from India. This has affected our exports, said Mohammed Mooppan, a betel leave grower. Indias surgical strikes on terror launchpads in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir compounded the woes of the farmers. According to traders, the exports have dropped to three tonnes worth `1.8 lakh a day, from five tonnes a day. Lack of air and rail connectivity between the two countries is another hurdle, said Kamaludheen U, an exporter at Pan Bazaar, the 100-year-old betel market here. Betel leaves are taken to Dubai through Calicut International Airport, from where they are flown to Pakistan. We are dependent on Dubai as the air and rail connectivity to Pakistan was snapped post-Mumbai terror attacks in 2002. This leads to additional expense on transportation, rued Kamaludheen. Betel leaves from Tirur are in high demand in Pakistan due to its distinctive flavour. They are widely used at wedding parties, gatherings and religious functions. Tirur betel leaves have market in north Indian cities as well. Around two-three tonnes are sent to Delhi by train. Only half a tonne is sold in the local market. When transportation to Pakistan was smooth and no tax was imposed, a pack of 100 betel leaves used to fetch `100 for the traders. But now the price has come down to `60. Abdulla Thallassery, another farmer, said several from his farmers community have stopped growing betel in recent years due to drop in demand. Paan Bazaar also shares a similar story of waning glory as it has lost more than 30 shops and hundreds of employees in the last 15 years. It is tough time for betel farmers in Tirur as they cant survive on the domestic market. There is a steady decline in consumption of betel leaves among Keralites as betel is perceived as injurious to health, said Prof CR Elsy, member of the Intellectual Property Right cell at the Kerala Agricultural University. Elsy said, market value of betel leaves could increase if they are used for medicinal and cosmetic needs. Tehran, Iran, Dec. 5 By Mehdi Sepahvand, Fatih Karimov Trend: Irans Foreign Ministry has severely criticized the UK over rejecting the claims on Saudi Arabias violating human rights in Yemen. The UK Defense Offices claim of being unsure if Saudi Arabia has violated human rights in Yemen is a joke and inconsequential, Bahram Qasemi, Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman, said during a press conference Dec. 5 in Tehran while responding to Trend correspondents question on the issue. The records of homelessness, hunger, injustice and poverty in Yemen are known to all, Qasemi added. The UK Foreign Office has recently concluded there is no clear risk of serious Saudi breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen, even though it admits UK defense personnel cannot form a complete understanding of the Saudi-led coalitions attitudes to such laws because they do not have access to all the information required. The UK government response centers on its statement that it takes all allegations of violations of humanitarian law seriously, and regularly makes representations to the Saudi authorities, but has not concluded any such breaches have occurred in Yemen by Saudi Arabia to warrant the withdrawal of arms exports licenses. Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition have been responsible for 60 percent of at least 2,000 civilians killed in the conflict over a yearlong span starting on July 1, 2015, according to the United Nations. By Associated Press CANNON BALL: Protesters celebrated a major victory in their push to reroute the Dakota Access oil pipeline away from a tribal water source but pledged to remain camped on federal land in North Dakota anyway, despite Monday's government deadline to leave. Hundreds of people at the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires, encampment cheered and chanted "mni wichoni" "water is life" in Lakota Sioux after the Army Corps of Engineers refused Sunday to grant the company permission to extend the pipeline beneath a Missouri River reservoir. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters argue that extending the project beneath Lake Oahe would threaten the tribe's water source and cultural sites. The segment is the last major sticking point for the four-state, $3.8 billion project. "The whole world is watching," said Miles Allard, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux. "I'm telling all our people to stand up and not to leave until this is over." Despite the deadline, authorities say they won't forcibly remove the protesters. The company constructing the pipeline, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, released a statement Sunday night slamming the Army Corps' decision as politically motivated and alleging that President Obama's administration was determined to delay the matter until he leaves office. "The White House's directive today to the Corps for further delay is just the latest in a series of overt and transparent political actions by an administration which has abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency," the company said. President-elect Donald Trump, a pipeline supporter, will take office in January, although it wasn't immediately clear what steps his administration would be able to take to reverse the Army Corps' latest decision or how quickly that could happen. That uncertainty, Allard said, is part of the reason the protesters won't leave. "We don't know what Trump is going to do," Allard said. Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said in a news release that her decision was based on the need to "explore alternate routes" for the pipeline's crossing. Her full decision doesn't rule out that it could cross under the reservoir or north of Bismarck. "Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it's clear that there's more work to do," Darcy said. "The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing." North Dakota's leaders criticized the decision, with Gov. Jack Dalrymple calling it a "serious mistake" that "prolongs the dangerous situation" of having several hundred protesters who are camped out on federal land during cold, wintry weather. U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer said it's a "very chilling signal" for the future of infrastructure in the United States. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Sunday that the Department of Justice will "continue to monitor the situation" and stands "ready to provide resources to help all those who can play a constructive role in easing tensions." "The safety of everyone in the area - law enforcement officers, residents and protesters alike - continues to be our foremost concern," she added. Carla Youngbear of the Meskwaki Potawatomi tribe made her third trip from central Kansas to be at the protest site. "I have grandchildren, and I'm going to have great-grandchildren," she said. "They need water. Water is why I'm here." Standing Rock Sioux tribal chairman Dave Archambault didn't respond to messages left seeking comment. Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, whose department has done much of the policing for the protests, said that "local law enforcement does not have an opinion" on the easement and that his department will continue to "enforce the law." U.S. Secretary for the Interior Sally Jewell said in a statement that the Corps' "thoughtful approach ... ensures that there will be an in-depth evaluation of alternative routes for the pipeline and a closer look at potential impacts." Earlier Sunday, an organizer with Veterans Stand for Standing Rock said tribal elders had asked the military veterans not to have confrontations with law enforcement officials, adding the group is there to help out those who've dug in against the project. About 250 veterans gathered about a mile from the main camp for a meeting with organizer Wes Clark Jr., the son of former Democratic presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark. The group had said about 2,000 veterans were coming, but it wasn't clear how many actually arrived. "We have been asked by the elders not to do direct action," Wes Clark Jr. said. He added that the National Guard and law enforcement have armored vehicles and are armed, warning: "If we come forward, they will attack us." Instead, he told the veterans, "If you see someone who needs help, help them out." Some veterans will take part in a prayer ceremony Monday, during which they'll apologize for historical detrimental conduct by the military toward Native Americans and ask for forgiveness, Clark said. He also called the veterans' presence "about right and wrong and peace and love." Authorities moved a blockade from the north end of the Backwater Bridge with the conditions that protesters stay south of it and come there only if there is a prearranged meeting. Authorities also asked protesters not to remove barriers on the bridge, which they have said was damaged in the late October conflict that led to several people being hurt, including a serious arm injury. "That heavy presence is gone now and I really hope in this de-escalation they'll see that, and in good faith . the leadership in those camps will start squashing the violent factions," Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney said in a statement, reiterating that any violation will "will result in their arrest." Steven Perry, a 66-year-old Vietnam veteran who's a member of the Little Traverse Bay band of Odawa Indians in Michigan, spoke of one of the protesters' main concerns: that the pipeline could pollute drinking water. "This is not just a native issue," he said, "This is an issue for everyone." CANNON BALL: Protesters celebrated a major victory in their push to reroute the Dakota Access oil pipeline away from a tribal water source but pledged to remain camped on federal land in North Dakota anyway, despite Monday's government deadline to leave. Hundreds of people at the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires, encampment cheered and chanted "mni wichoni" "water is life" in Lakota Sioux after the Army Corps of Engineers refused Sunday to grant the company permission to extend the pipeline beneath a Missouri River reservoir. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters argue that extending the project beneath Lake Oahe would threaten the tribe's water source and cultural sites. The segment is the last major sticking point for the four-state, $3.8 billion project. "The whole world is watching," said Miles Allard, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux. "I'm telling all our people to stand up and not to leave until this is over." Despite the deadline, authorities say they won't forcibly remove the protesters. The company constructing the pipeline, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, released a statement Sunday night slamming the Army Corps' decision as politically motivated and alleging that President Obama's administration was determined to delay the matter until he leaves office. "The White House's directive today to the Corps for further delay is just the latest in a series of overt and transparent political actions by an administration which has abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency," the company said. President-elect Donald Trump, a pipeline supporter, will take office in January, although it wasn't immediately clear what steps his administration would be able to take to reverse the Army Corps' latest decision or how quickly that could happen. That uncertainty, Allard said, is part of the reason the protesters won't leave. "We don't know what Trump is going to do," Allard said. Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said in a news release that her decision was based on the need to "explore alternate routes" for the pipeline's crossing. Her full decision doesn't rule out that it could cross under the reservoir or north of Bismarck. "Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it's clear that there's more work to do," Darcy said. "The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing." North Dakota's leaders criticized the decision, with Gov. Jack Dalrymple calling it a "serious mistake" that "prolongs the dangerous situation" of having several hundred protesters who are camped out on federal land during cold, wintry weather. U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer said it's a "very chilling signal" for the future of infrastructure in the United States. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Sunday that the Department of Justice will "continue to monitor the situation" and stands "ready to provide resources to help all those who can play a constructive role in easing tensions." "The safety of everyone in the area - law enforcement officers, residents and protesters alike - continues to be our foremost concern," she added. Carla Youngbear of the Meskwaki Potawatomi tribe made her third trip from central Kansas to be at the protest site. "I have grandchildren, and I'm going to have great-grandchildren," she said. "They need water. Water is why I'm here." Standing Rock Sioux tribal chairman Dave Archambault didn't respond to messages left seeking comment. Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, whose department has done much of the policing for the protests, said that "local law enforcement does not have an opinion" on the easement and that his department will continue to "enforce the law." U.S. Secretary for the Interior Sally Jewell said in a statement that the Corps' "thoughtful approach ... ensures that there will be an in-depth evaluation of alternative routes for the pipeline and a closer look at potential impacts." Earlier Sunday, an organizer with Veterans Stand for Standing Rock said tribal elders had asked the military veterans not to have confrontations with law enforcement officials, adding the group is there to help out those who've dug in against the project. About 250 veterans gathered about a mile from the main camp for a meeting with organizer Wes Clark Jr., the son of former Democratic presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark. The group had said about 2,000 veterans were coming, but it wasn't clear how many actually arrived. "We have been asked by the elders not to do direct action," Wes Clark Jr. said. He added that the National Guard and law enforcement have armored vehicles and are armed, warning: "If we come forward, they will attack us." Instead, he told the veterans, "If you see someone who needs help, help them out." Some veterans will take part in a prayer ceremony Monday, during which they'll apologize for historical detrimental conduct by the military toward Native Americans and ask for forgiveness, Clark said. He also called the veterans' presence "about right and wrong and peace and love." Authorities moved a blockade from the north end of the Backwater Bridge with the conditions that protesters stay south of it and come there only if there is a prearranged meeting. Authorities also asked protesters not to remove barriers on the bridge, which they have said was damaged in the late October conflict that led to several people being hurt, including a serious arm injury. "That heavy presence is gone now and I really hope in this de-escalation they'll see that, and in good faith . the leadership in those camps will start squashing the violent factions," Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney said in a statement, reiterating that any violation will "will result in their arrest." Steven Perry, a 66-year-old Vietnam veteran who's a member of the Little Traverse Bay band of Odawa Indians in Michigan, spoke of one of the protesters' main concerns: that the pipeline could pollute drinking water. "This is not just a native issue," he said, "This is an issue for everyone." By IANS LONDON: The Supreme Court in the United Kingdom, is to begin hearing an appeal by the government against a High Court ruling that the Prime Minister must consult Parliament before triggering Brexit. All 11 judges of the highest court in the UK, will begin analysing the arguments on Monday, although they are not expected to deliver their verdict until next year, Efe news agency reported. "Next week (5 to 8 December), the UK Supreme Court is due to hear one of the highest profile appeals since its establishment," the court said in a statement. In view of the controversy raised by the High Court, whose judges were heavily criticised by the pro-Brexit press, the Supreme Court has made it clear that its mission it to consider cases with absolute impartiality. The Government will be represented by state Attorney General Jeremy Wright, who will claim that Prime Minister Theresa May can use a former royal prerogative to unilaterally invoke Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon without obtaining parliamentary authorization. Triggering Article 50 would initiate a two-year process of negotiations with Brussels for the UK to leave the European Union. The prime minister's office maintains that the result of the June 23 referendum -- in which 51.9 per cent of voters chose to leave the EU against 48.1 per cent who wanted to remain -- gives May sufficient mandate to negotiate without the House of Commons having to pass a law. However, the Prime Minister has been convinced that she will win the appeal and assured EU leaders that she maintains her schedule for negotiations. LONDON: The Supreme Court in the United Kingdom, is to begin hearing an appeal by the government against a High Court ruling that the Prime Minister must consult Parliament before triggering Brexit. All 11 judges of the highest court in the UK, will begin analysing the arguments on Monday, although they are not expected to deliver their verdict until next year, Efe news agency reported. "Next week (5 to 8 December), the UK Supreme Court is due to hear one of the highest profile appeals since its establishment," the court said in a statement. In view of the controversy raised by the High Court, whose judges were heavily criticised by the pro-Brexit press, the Supreme Court has made it clear that its mission it to consider cases with absolute impartiality. The Government will be represented by state Attorney General Jeremy Wright, who will claim that Prime Minister Theresa May can use a former royal prerogative to unilaterally invoke Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon without obtaining parliamentary authorization. Triggering Article 50 would initiate a two-year process of negotiations with Brussels for the UK to leave the European Union. The prime minister's office maintains that the result of the June 23 referendum -- in which 51.9 per cent of voters chose to leave the EU against 48.1 per cent who wanted to remain -- gives May sufficient mandate to negotiate without the House of Commons having to pass a law. However, the Prime Minister has been convinced that she will win the appeal and assured EU leaders that she maintains her schedule for negotiations. By AFP ATHENS: Germany is "concerned" by the government crisis in Italy sparked by the resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi following his referendum defeat, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Monday. "We are watching the result in Italy with concern," Steinmeier, who is visiting Greece, told Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in televised remarks. "I think Renzi did the right thing, the necessary thing, but voters did not support him," he said through a translator. "This is not of course a state crisis, but it's a government crisis that needs to be resolved... it's not a positive message to Europe at a difficult time," he added. Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said she "regretted" the outcome of the vote and had had a "very good" working relationship with Renzi. "But of course we must respect the Italian citizens' decision as well as the prime minister's decision to step down in the wake of the referendum," Seibert told reporters. "Whatever the successor government looks like, the German government will offer it its close cooperation in friendship and partnership." Italians voted on Sunday against proposed reforms that would have curtailed the size and powers of the Senate and transferred powers from regions to the national government. Opposition parties had denounced the proposed amendments to the constitution as dangerous for democracy because they would have removed important checks and balances on executive power. Interior ministry projections suggested the No camp, led by the populist Five Star Movement, had been backed by 59.5 percent of those who voted. ATHENS: Germany is "concerned" by the government crisis in Italy sparked by the resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi following his referendum defeat, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Monday. "We are watching the result in Italy with concern," Steinmeier, who is visiting Greece, told Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in televised remarks. "I think Renzi did the right thing, the necessary thing, but voters did not support him," he said through a translator. "This is not of course a state crisis, but it's a government crisis that needs to be resolved... it's not a positive message to Europe at a difficult time," he added. Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said she "regretted" the outcome of the vote and had had a "very good" working relationship with Renzi. "But of course we must respect the Italian citizens' decision as well as the prime minister's decision to step down in the wake of the referendum," Seibert told reporters. "Whatever the successor government looks like, the German government will offer it its close cooperation in friendship and partnership." Italians voted on Sunday against proposed reforms that would have curtailed the size and powers of the Senate and transferred powers from regions to the national government. Opposition parties had denounced the proposed amendments to the constitution as dangerous for democracy because they would have removed important checks and balances on executive power. Interior ministry projections suggested the No camp, led by the populist Five Star Movement, had been backed by 59.5 percent of those who voted. By AFP MOSCOW: Russian and US experts will meet in the coming days to determine the routes and timing for a total rebel withdrawal from eastern Aleppo, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday. "During the Russian-American consultations the concrete route and timeframe for the withdrawal of all fighters from eastern Aleppo will be agreed upon," the Russian diplomat said, indicating that the talks in Geneva would likely start on Tuesday or Wednesday. "As soon as these routes and timeframes are agreed on, a ceasefire can come into effect," Lavrov said. The discussions would be based on proposals made by US Secretary of State John Kerry in Rome on Friday, he said. Russia's top diplomat also denounced a proposed UN resolution demanding a temporary ceasefire in Aleppo, calling it a "provocative step". The UN Security Council will on Monday vote on the resolution, drafted by Egypt, New Zealand and Spain, that calls for a truce of at least seven days. "Taking into account all aspects and the current development of the situation, the draft resolution -- coming against the backdrop of the Russian-American initiative -- is, for the most part, a provocative step that undermines Russian-American efforts," Lavrov told a press conference. Despite concessions by those who drafted the text -- an early version demanded a 10-day truce -- it looks likely Moscow will use its veto to torpedo the measure. The forces of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and their allies are continuing to advance on Aleppo's rebel-held districts, after taking control of some 60 percent of the city so far, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights. Since the start of the Syrian regime's latest offensive in eastern Aleppo on November 15, at least 311 civilians have been killed, 42 of them children, the Britain-based monitor says. At the same time, rebel fire has killed nearly 70 people in the city's government-held west. Russia has been flying air raids in Syria since September 2015, intervening at the request of Assad, Moscow's longtime ally. MOSCOW: Russian and US experts will meet in the coming days to determine the routes and timing for a total rebel withdrawal from eastern Aleppo, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday. "During the Russian-American consultations the concrete route and timeframe for the withdrawal of all fighters from eastern Aleppo will be agreed upon," the Russian diplomat said, indicating that the talks in Geneva would likely start on Tuesday or Wednesday. "As soon as these routes and timeframes are agreed on, a ceasefire can come into effect," Lavrov said. The discussions would be based on proposals made by US Secretary of State John Kerry in Rome on Friday, he said. Russia's top diplomat also denounced a proposed UN resolution demanding a temporary ceasefire in Aleppo, calling it a "provocative step". The UN Security Council will on Monday vote on the resolution, drafted by Egypt, New Zealand and Spain, that calls for a truce of at least seven days. "Taking into account all aspects and the current development of the situation, the draft resolution -- coming against the backdrop of the Russian-American initiative -- is, for the most part, a provocative step that undermines Russian-American efforts," Lavrov told a press conference. Despite concessions by those who drafted the text -- an early version demanded a 10-day truce -- it looks likely Moscow will use its veto to torpedo the measure. The forces of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and their allies are continuing to advance on Aleppo's rebel-held districts, after taking control of some 60 percent of the city so far, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights. Since the start of the Syrian regime's latest offensive in eastern Aleppo on November 15, at least 311 civilians have been killed, 42 of them children, the Britain-based monitor says. At the same time, rebel fire has killed nearly 70 people in the city's government-held west. Russia has been flying air raids in Syria since September 2015, intervening at the request of Assad, Moscow's longtime ally. By AFP TOKYO: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to become the first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor, announcing Monday a trip to Hawaii this month for talks with US President Barack Obama. Abe, who will be in Hawaii on December 26 and 27, will visit the site of the surprise Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, that began World War II in the Pacific. The Hawaii visit comes after Obama in May journeyed to Hiroshima, the Japanese city where a US plane dropped the world's first atom bomb in the closing chapter of World War II. Nagasaki was bombed several days later. Obama gave a speech that, while it offered no apology, was generally well received in Japan as it focused on the suffering of the atomic bomb victims. On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was attacked with 140,000 people dying in the immediate blast or later from radiation exposure. Days later another bomb exploded above Nagasaki, killing more than 70,000 people. Abe on Monday hailed Obama's soaring speech at a cenotaph in Hiroshima, as a handful of surviving victims looked on. Obama's "message towards a nuclear-free world during his visit to Hiroshima remains etched into Japanese hearts," Abe said. "I'd like to make it (meeting with Obama) an opportunity to send a message to the world that we will further strengthen and maintain our alliance towards the future," he said. "And at the same time, I want to make it an opportunity to signal the value of Japan-US reconciliation." Obama's trip had sparked speculation that Abe could visit Pearl Harbor in response, though the government previously denied that was under consideration. Abe's wife Akie visited Pearl Harbor in August and said on Facebook that she offered flowers and prayers at the USS Arizona Memorial. On the day of the bombing 75 years ago, Japanese planes swept low over the US naval base, killing more than 2,400 American troops and civilians, a date which then-president Franklin Roosevelt declared would live in "infamy". The two-hour bombardment of the US Pacific Fleet at anchor sank or damaged some 20 ships and destroyed 164 planes. Social media in Japan reacted positively to Abe's Monday announcement. "I think it's a good thing," said @CNBLUE_6569 on Twitter. "After seeing President Obama's visit to Hiroshima, I felt strongly that I wanted a Japanese prime minister to visit" Pearl Harbor. "President Obama came to Hiroshima so Prime Minister Abe should go to Pearl Harbor," Twitter user @chikazoemakoto said. "I think Abe made a really good decision." TOKYO: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to become the first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor, announcing Monday a trip to Hawaii this month for talks with US President Barack Obama. Abe, who will be in Hawaii on December 26 and 27, will visit the site of the surprise Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, that began World War II in the Pacific. The Hawaii visit comes after Obama in May journeyed to Hiroshima, the Japanese city where a US plane dropped the world's first atom bomb in the closing chapter of World War II. Nagasaki was bombed several days later. Obama gave a speech that, while it offered no apology, was generally well received in Japan as it focused on the suffering of the atomic bomb victims. On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was attacked with 140,000 people dying in the immediate blast or later from radiation exposure. Days later another bomb exploded above Nagasaki, killing more than 70,000 people. Abe on Monday hailed Obama's soaring speech at a cenotaph in Hiroshima, as a handful of surviving victims looked on. Obama's "message towards a nuclear-free world during his visit to Hiroshima remains etched into Japanese hearts," Abe said. "I'd like to make it (meeting with Obama) an opportunity to send a message to the world that we will further strengthen and maintain our alliance towards the future," he said. "And at the same time, I want to make it an opportunity to signal the value of Japan-US reconciliation." Obama's trip had sparked speculation that Abe could visit Pearl Harbor in response, though the government previously denied that was under consideration. Abe's wife Akie visited Pearl Harbor in August and said on Facebook that she offered flowers and prayers at the USS Arizona Memorial. On the day of the bombing 75 years ago, Japanese planes swept low over the US naval base, killing more than 2,400 American troops and civilians, a date which then-president Franklin Roosevelt declared would live in "infamy". The two-hour bombardment of the US Pacific Fleet at anchor sank or damaged some 20 ships and destroyed 164 planes. Social media in Japan reacted positively to Abe's Monday announcement. "I think it's a good thing," said @CNBLUE_6569 on Twitter. "After seeing President Obama's visit to Hiroshima, I felt strongly that I wanted a Japanese prime minister to visit" Pearl Harbor. "President Obama came to Hiroshima so Prime Minister Abe should go to Pearl Harbor," Twitter user @chikazoemakoto said. "I think Abe made a really good decision." By IANS NEW YORK: President-elect Donald Trump has broadened his search for the post of US Secretary of State, a transition team spokesperson announced. "It is true that he's broadened the search and he's very fortunate to have interest among serious men and women, all of whom need to understand that their first responsibility as Secretary of State would be to implement and adhere to the president-elect's 'America First' foreign policy," Kellyanne Conway told reporters at Trump Tower in New York on Sunday. Last week, the transition team said that the short list of candidates contained four names, including 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who had lobbied strongly against Trump during this election cycle, Efe news agency reported. Conway admitted that now there are "more than four" people on the list saying that the selection of the top US diplomat is "incredibly important" and should not be rushed. The other three people who have been considered so far are former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, retired Gen. David Petraeus and the Head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Corker. NEW YORK: President-elect Donald Trump has broadened his search for the post of US Secretary of State, a transition team spokesperson announced. "It is true that he's broadened the search and he's very fortunate to have interest among serious men and women, all of whom need to understand that their first responsibility as Secretary of State would be to implement and adhere to the president-elect's 'America First' foreign policy," Kellyanne Conway told reporters at Trump Tower in New York on Sunday. Last week, the transition team said that the short list of candidates contained four names, including 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who had lobbied strongly against Trump during this election cycle, Efe news agency reported. Conway admitted that now there are "more than four" people on the list saying that the selection of the top US diplomat is "incredibly important" and should not be rushed. The other three people who have been considered so far are former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, retired Gen. David Petraeus and the Head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Corker. By AFP CANNON BALL: The US Army Corps of Engineers on Sunday nixed plans for a controversial oil pipeline crossing in North Dakota, a major victory for Native Americans and environmentalists who had staged months of protests. The pipeline had been set to cross under the Missouri River and man-made Lake Oahe, which are drinking water sources for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. "It's clear that there's more work to do," Jo-Ellen Darcy, the US Army's assistant secretary for civil works, said in a statement. "The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing." The Standing Rock Sioux objected to building the 1,172-mile (1,886-kilometer) pipeline underneath the river and lake because of fears of possible leaks. The tribe also said the route would cross through areas with sacred historic artifacts. The conflict between the tribe and pipeline operators Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners galvanized North American native tribes and supporters, who have camped in the thousands near the construction site for months in an effort to block it. - 'Do the right thing' - Some 2,000 US military veterans joined the protest this week in a symbolically important move before a deadline for demonstrators to vacate the area on Monday. "We wholeheartedly support the decision of the administration and commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing," Standing Rock Sioux chairman Dave Archambault said in a statement. "We are not opposed to energy independence, economic development, or national security concerns but we must ensure that these decisions are made with the considerations of our indigenous peoples." Pipeline operator Energy Transfer Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, a group representing the pipeline operators, the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now, condemned the decision, blaming it on President Barack Obama. "This purely political decision flies in the face of common sense and the rule of law," it said in a statement. "Unfortunately, it's not surprising that the president would, again, use executive fiat in an attempt to enhance his legacy among the extreme left." - Violent standoff - The Dakota Access Pipeline would snake through four US states, delivering oil from North Dakota to Illinois, where it can be shipped to other parts of the country. It could help reduce the cost of transporting North Dakota oil, enabling it to better compete with cheaper oil from Canada. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed a lawsuit saying it was railroaded by the pipeline's developer and the US Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for approving construction under the river, but a federal judge denied its request to halt construction in September. However, the government suspended the pipeline construction project last month, saying more analysis and debate were needed. Energy Transfer Partners and its co-operator Sunoco Logistics Partners struck back, asking a court to stop regulators from further delaying the project. The standoff turned violent at times, including last month, when hundreds of protesters clashed with police who fired tear gas, rubber bullets and a water cannon, soaking the crowd in subfreezing temperatures. Protest organizers said 167 people were hurt, including three Native American tribal elders, and that seven people were hospitalized for severe head injuries. - Nationwide protests - The standoff has prompted sympathetic protests nationwide, with celebrities, politicians and environmental activists joining the cause. News of the Army's decision prompted celebration and relief among those who opposed the pipeline route. "Today, the voices of indigenous people were heard," Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, tweeted. "The Standing Rock Sioux & indigenous communities remind us of power of individuals to stand up to demand environmental justice." Among the project's supporters, North Dakota's Republican Governor Jack Dalrymple, who had ordered the protesters to evacuate on Monday, called the decision a "serious mistake." He was joined by the state's sole member in the House of Representatives, Kevin Cramer, who said in a statement, "Im encouraged we will restore law and order next month when we get a president who will not thumb his nose at the rule of law." But Vermont Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders praised Sunday's decision, saying, "I appreciate very much President Obama listening to the Native American people and millions of others who believe this pipeline should not be built." CANNON BALL: The US Army Corps of Engineers on Sunday nixed plans for a controversial oil pipeline crossing in North Dakota, a major victory for Native Americans and environmentalists who had staged months of protests. The pipeline had been set to cross under the Missouri River and man-made Lake Oahe, which are drinking water sources for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. "It's clear that there's more work to do," Jo-Ellen Darcy, the US Army's assistant secretary for civil works, said in a statement. "The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing." The Standing Rock Sioux objected to building the 1,172-mile (1,886-kilometer) pipeline underneath the river and lake because of fears of possible leaks. The tribe also said the route would cross through areas with sacred historic artifacts. The conflict between the tribe and pipeline operators Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners galvanized North American native tribes and supporters, who have camped in the thousands near the construction site for months in an effort to block it. - 'Do the right thing' - Some 2,000 US military veterans joined the protest this week in a symbolically important move before a deadline for demonstrators to vacate the area on Monday. "We wholeheartedly support the decision of the administration and commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing," Standing Rock Sioux chairman Dave Archambault said in a statement. "We are not opposed to energy independence, economic development, or national security concerns but we must ensure that these decisions are made with the considerations of our indigenous peoples." Pipeline operator Energy Transfer Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, a group representing the pipeline operators, the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now, condemned the decision, blaming it on President Barack Obama. "This purely political decision flies in the face of common sense and the rule of law," it said in a statement. "Unfortunately, it's not surprising that the president would, again, use executive fiat in an attempt to enhance his legacy among the extreme left." - Violent standoff - The Dakota Access Pipeline would snake through four US states, delivering oil from North Dakota to Illinois, where it can be shipped to other parts of the country. It could help reduce the cost of transporting North Dakota oil, enabling it to better compete with cheaper oil from Canada. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed a lawsuit saying it was railroaded by the pipeline's developer and the US Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for approving construction under the river, but a federal judge denied its request to halt construction in September. However, the government suspended the pipeline construction project last month, saying more analysis and debate were needed. Energy Transfer Partners and its co-operator Sunoco Logistics Partners struck back, asking a court to stop regulators from further delaying the project. The standoff turned violent at times, including last month, when hundreds of protesters clashed with police who fired tear gas, rubber bullets and a water cannon, soaking the crowd in subfreezing temperatures. Protest organizers said 167 people were hurt, including three Native American tribal elders, and that seven people were hospitalized for severe head injuries. - Nationwide protests - The standoff has prompted sympathetic protests nationwide, with celebrities, politicians and environmental activists joining the cause. News of the Army's decision prompted celebration and relief among those who opposed the pipeline route. "Today, the voices of indigenous people were heard," Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, tweeted. "The Standing Rock Sioux & indigenous communities remind us of power of individuals to stand up to demand environmental justice." Among the project's supporters, North Dakota's Republican Governor Jack Dalrymple, who had ordered the protesters to evacuate on Monday, called the decision a "serious mistake." He was joined by the state's sole member in the House of Representatives, Kevin Cramer, who said in a statement, "Im encouraged we will restore law and order next month when we get a president who will not thumb his nose at the rule of law." But Vermont Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders praised Sunday's decision, saying, "I appreciate very much President Obama listening to the Native American people and millions of others who believe this pipeline should not be built." By Associated Press HONOLULU: Lauren Bruner was getting ready for church in 1941 on his battleship, the USS Arizona, when the alarm sounded. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had begun, and Bruner, then 21, scampered up five stories by ladder to the enormous anti-aircraft guns he was responsible for manning. But bullets hit his left leg and explosions set off by the Sunday morning bombardment rocked his ship before he could get to the weapons. The ship sank just nine minutes later. Bruner escaped, but suffered severe burns. This week Bruner, now 96, plans to visit a memorial over the Arizona's sunken wreckage and attend a remembrance ceremony at Pearl Harbor on the 75th anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack. Bruner has traveled from his Southern California home for the events many times, but doesn't know how long the Arizona's few remaining survivors will able to keep up the tradition. "It's getting close to being the end pretty soon. There's only five of us left now," Bruner said. More than 2,300 servicemen died in the Japanese attack that plunged the United States into World War II. Nearly half of those killed were on the Arizona, most still entombed in the wreckage. The Navy and National Park Service expect several dozen attack survivors to attend the remembrance ceremony Wednesday on a pier overlooking the harbor. They, along with thousands of others, will observe a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m. the same minute the Japanese planes hit their first target in the harbor. Back then, in 1941, Bruner didn't know who was attacking until the planes got close enough for him to see the red Rising Sun Japanese insignia on their sides. The aircraft shot at "everything in sight," he said. Then an explosion tore through his battle station. "That's where the flames blew right through and cooked me right there," Bruner said in a telephone interview from his home in La Mirada, California. With "everything burning," Bruner tried to get off the ship as fast as he could. But the water in the harbor 80 feet below infused with leaked oil was on fire, too, so jumping wasn't an option. Bruner and a few fellow shipmates shouted to a sailor on the ship moored next to the Arizona to toss over some rope. The six of them tied the rope and carried themselves hand-over-hand across the 100-foot expanse to the USS Vestal. "You're like a chicken getting barbecued," he said. All of them made it, becoming six of the 335 sailors and Marines on the Arizona to survive. Another 1,177 shipmates died. Doctors on the USS Solace hospital ship wanted to amputate most of Bruner's hands, leaving him with just his forefingers and thumbs, he said. Ultimately they peeled off his dead skin and let new skin grow in. They put him in a special bed with hoops that allowed sheets to be draped above him but not touch him. Navy documents recently uncovered by the genealogy and historical records company Ancestry show Bruner suffered burns on his face and the back of his neck, his right shoulder, right arm and forearm, fingers, hands, outer thighs and lower legs. The burns on his right arm were particularly severe and took longer to heal, according to the documents, which Ancestry has posted in a special section for Pearl Harbor survivors within its military records site Fold3.com. Bruner spent seven months recovering but returned to service, he said, because the Navy needed sailors to train new recruits to fight the war. He was on the USS Coghlan when it bombed Japanese positions on Attu Island in Alaska in 1943. His ship later took troops to the South Pacific and was near Guam when the war ended. He doesn't like to rehash many details from Dec. 7. He said he just "grins and bears it" to cope with the memories. "There are parts of this whole thing that I can't talk about. If I do talk about it, I cannot sleep," he said. After the Navy, Bruner went to work for a former Marine's refrigeration business and spent 39 years with the company. He married twice, but outlived both wives. Bruner wants his ashes interred inside his old battleship after he dies, like many other Arizona survivors who have chosen to be buried with their shipmates. Bruner said he prefers this to lying in a sparsely visited cemetery. "I think I've got the last spot," he said, expressing confidence he'll be the last of the survivors to go. HONOLULU: Lauren Bruner was getting ready for church in 1941 on his battleship, the USS Arizona, when the alarm sounded. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had begun, and Bruner, then 21, scampered up five stories by ladder to the enormous anti-aircraft guns he was responsible for manning. But bullets hit his left leg and explosions set off by the Sunday morning bombardment rocked his ship before he could get to the weapons. The ship sank just nine minutes later. Bruner escaped, but suffered severe burns. This week Bruner, now 96, plans to visit a memorial over the Arizona's sunken wreckage and attend a remembrance ceremony at Pearl Harbor on the 75th anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack. Bruner has traveled from his Southern California home for the events many times, but doesn't know how long the Arizona's few remaining survivors will able to keep up the tradition. "It's getting close to being the end pretty soon. There's only five of us left now," Bruner said. More than 2,300 servicemen died in the Japanese attack that plunged the United States into World War II. Nearly half of those killed were on the Arizona, most still entombed in the wreckage. The Navy and National Park Service expect several dozen attack survivors to attend the remembrance ceremony Wednesday on a pier overlooking the harbor. They, along with thousands of others, will observe a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m. the same minute the Japanese planes hit their first target in the harbor. Back then, in 1941, Bruner didn't know who was attacking until the planes got close enough for him to see the red Rising Sun Japanese insignia on their sides. The aircraft shot at "everything in sight," he said. Then an explosion tore through his battle station. "That's where the flames blew right through and cooked me right there," Bruner said in a telephone interview from his home in La Mirada, California. With "everything burning," Bruner tried to get off the ship as fast as he could. But the water in the harbor 80 feet below infused with leaked oil was on fire, too, so jumping wasn't an option. Bruner and a few fellow shipmates shouted to a sailor on the ship moored next to the Arizona to toss over some rope. The six of them tied the rope and carried themselves hand-over-hand across the 100-foot expanse to the USS Vestal. "You're like a chicken getting barbecued," he said. All of them made it, becoming six of the 335 sailors and Marines on the Arizona to survive. Another 1,177 shipmates died. Doctors on the USS Solace hospital ship wanted to amputate most of Bruner's hands, leaving him with just his forefingers and thumbs, he said. Ultimately they peeled off his dead skin and let new skin grow in. They put him in a special bed with hoops that allowed sheets to be draped above him but not touch him. Navy documents recently uncovered by the genealogy and historical records company Ancestry show Bruner suffered burns on his face and the back of his neck, his right shoulder, right arm and forearm, fingers, hands, outer thighs and lower legs. The burns on his right arm were particularly severe and took longer to heal, according to the documents, which Ancestry has posted in a special section for Pearl Harbor survivors within its military records site Fold3.com. Bruner spent seven months recovering but returned to service, he said, because the Navy needed sailors to train new recruits to fight the war. He was on the USS Coghlan when it bombed Japanese positions on Attu Island in Alaska in 1943. His ship later took troops to the South Pacific and was near Guam when the war ended. He doesn't like to rehash many details from Dec. 7. He said he just "grins and bears it" to cope with the memories. "There are parts of this whole thing that I can't talk about. If I do talk about it, I cannot sleep," he said. After the Navy, Bruner went to work for a former Marine's refrigeration business and spent 39 years with the company. He married twice, but outlived both wives. Bruner wants his ashes interred inside his old battleship after he dies, like many other Arizona survivors who have chosen to be buried with their shipmates. Bruner said he prefers this to lying in a sparsely visited cemetery. "I think I've got the last spot," he said, expressing confidence he'll be the last of the survivors to go. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Khalid Kazimov Trend: Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh is slated to attend a meeting between OPEC members and non-OPEC oil producers on November 10 in Vienna, Shana news agency reported. The world's largest oil exporters agreed on Wednesday to cut output for the first time in eight years. According to REUTERS, OPEC members agreed to limit crude oil output to a maximum of 32.5million barrels per day starting Jan. 1 for six months. Non-OPEC producers have also agreed to cut their production level by 600,000 barrels per day. Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5 By Khalid Kazimov Trend: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has urged all parties involved in the countrys nuclear deal with the P5+1 to honor their obligations regarding the deal. We will not allow any party to unilaterally undertake any actions that are in violation of the nuclear agreement, IRNA news agency quoted Zarif as saying at a joint press conference with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on Dec. 5. He said that no one should ignore its commitments regarding the deal, adding that Iran and China share same position concerning the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA/nuclear deal). The Iranian foreign minister has arrived in Beijing at the head of a large high-ranking political and economic delegation following a two-day visit to India. The US lawmakers have recently reauthorized the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), which was first introduced in 1996 to punish investments in Iran's energy industry based on accusations that Tehran was pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. While Barack Obama is expected to approve the legislation on the renewal of sanctions against Iran for the next 10 years, Iranian leaders have sharply criticized the motion describing it as a breach of the last years landmark nuclear deal. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday it would be valuable for President-elect Donald Trump's transition team to seek State Department recommendations before contacting foreign leaders but that it had yet to do so, Reuters reported. "We have not been contacted before any of these conversations. We have not been requested to provide talking points," Kerry said during a question-and-answer session at a think tank conference. "I do think theres a value, obviously on having at least the recommendations, whether you choose to follow them or not is a different issue, but I think its valuable to ask people who work the desk, and have worked it for a long period of time, their input on whats the current state, is there some particular issue at the moment," Kerry added. "I think thats valuable, and I would certainly recommend it, but, obviously, that hasnt happened in a few cases." Trump's call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday triggered a diplomatic protest from China and raised questions about whether the Republican president-elect might be signaling a change to U.S. policy. Vice President-elect Mike Pence denied that on Sunday, describing it as a "courtesy call." The telephone conversation was the first by a U.S. president-elect or president with a Taiwanese leader since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of "one China." The diplomatic contretemps was one of several recently for Trump, a real estate magnate who has never held public office and has no foreign affairs or military experience. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, is still considering his choice for secretary of state. The Russian emergencies ministrys Khanty-Mansyisk department has confirmed the death of 12 people in a road accident involving a passenger bus and a truck near the city of Khanty-Mansyisk on Sunday, TASS reported. "According to various sources, the death toll from the accident is 12. It is not yet clear how many children were among the accident victims. As for those injured, they are being examined by medics," a spokesman for the department told TASS. "A commuter bus was on its way from Khanty-Mansyisk to Nefteyugansk when it broke away from its lane to be rammed by a truck. As a result, eight people, including six children, died instantly. Information about those injured is being verified," a police spokesman told TASS earlier. According to the latest reports, twenty-two people were injured. According to preliminary information, 29 out of 32 passengers of the bus were children. The press service of the local government said the bus was carrying a childrens acrobatics team. Chief of Russias traffic police Viktor Nilov has set off for the accident site. Russias Investigations Committee has opened a criminal case over the accident. The Committees Spokeswoman, Sevtlana Petrenko told TASS the criminal case was initiated on charges of traffic rules violation resulting in the death of two or more people and offering service of not meeting safety requirement. "Investigators are inclined to think that the bus driver lost control of the vehicle," she said, adding that other factors are poor visibility and unfavorable weather conditions. "However, investigators have already established that the transfer of children had not been properly organized as the bus was not accompanied by traffic police," she said. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced on Monday that he is running to become the Socialist candidate in the 2017 presidential election in France. "I am a candidate for the presidency of the republic," Valls said at his headquarters in the Parisian suburb of Evry, RT News reported. "I want to give everything for France," he stressed, adding that he cannot be Prime Minister while being a candidate," he said. The 54-year-old Spanish-born prime minister announced that his government will resign on Tuesday. Valls wrote on Twitter that his candidacy is also a revolt against the idea that the left is disqualified from this presidential election. Speculations about Valls joining the race began last week after President Francois Hollande said that he will not be running for a second term. The French Socialist Party is to hold a two-round primary in January to choose its presidential candidate. The first round of the French presidential vote is scheduled for April 23 next year with a run-off on May 7. A poster showing protest against the Yarovaya Law. (Photo : Getty Images) China has the worst Internet freedom among all nations that are surveyed this year. As it turns out, Russia is now working with China to incorporate the Great Firewall into their system to control the Internet within their borders. Advertisement Russia has progressed in controlling their Internet by building a wide-range Internet filtering and control system. There are currently some big gaps into their system, so the country passed the Yarovaya Law over the summer. The law mandates telecom companies and Internet providers to store data of their user base for six months, then keep the metadata for three years. Naturally, there are issues connected to storing and handling user data that this law requires. Russia cannot just go to the U.S. for help on this concern, so they asked China for help instead. According to The Guardian, both countries are developing the main strategy for the collaboration through conducting high-level meetings in Beijing and Moscow this year. The talks involve Russian President Vladimir Putin, Father of the Great Firewall Fang Binxing, and head of Chinas state Internet information office, Lu Wei. Nikolai Patrusheve, the head of the Russian Federal Security Service from 2000-2008, also had two meetings earlier this year with Chinese members on information security, and Putin went to Beijing in June to sign a joint agreement regarding the cyberspace. Russian telecoms equipment manufacturer Bulat was reportedly in talks with Chinese telecom Huawei in August with regard to purchasing data storage and server technology from them for the Yarovaya Law. Edward Snowden, known for leaking classified information regarding the surveillance activities of the National Security Agency in the U.S., called this as the Big Brother Law. He said: Russias new Big Brother law is an unworkable, unjustifiable violation of rights that should never be signed. Philippines-China Trade and Investment Forum (Photo : Getty Images) Due to great advantages in language and culture as well as better bilateral relations, professionals from Southeast Asian countries are becoming more appealing for the Chinese job market. This includes professionals from Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. Sixto Julio Piso, a teacher who rendered 10 years of service in the Philippines, experienced a lot of rejection and disappointment on her journey to landing a job in China. This is because of a current dispute between China and the Philippines with regards to the South China Sea. Advertisement She said: Every time I was rejected by a school or training center, I would say how I wish that the Philippines was in good terms with China, so we must have avoided such negative issues happening now. Piso was then very pleased after hearing that Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines, set aside the dispute for the moment and visited China to build a stronger bilateral relationship. Thirteen treaties were signed during the visit, which covered economic cooperation, tourism, trade, and agriculture, among others. Malaysias relationship with China has also improved in the recent years. Premier Najiv Razak, the current Prime Minister of Malaysia, also visited China for building stronger ties this November. Fourteen treaties were signed during the visit. Will Fung, a Beijing-based lawyer and the vice chairman of the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China, is currently busy organizing a forum to discuss the impact of the recently signed treaties between Malaysia and China. Foreign job opportunities open for Southeast Asian professionals once they enter the Chinese job market, thanks to the One Belt, One Road initiative. It is Chinas program that focuses on enhancing the countrys connectivity to Eurasia. Richard King, senior managing director at an international recruitment company, said that they have seen a greater demand for human resource managers, IT specialists and finance professionals from Southeastern Asian countries. Experts and Southeast Asians are optimistic about these future career prospects due to their countries' improved bilateral relationship with the Asian giant. Zhang Yaqin, Baidu president, speaks about cloud computing and the practical applications of AI during Mobile Internet Forum of the 3rd World Internet Conference held in Jiaxing, in November. (Photo : Getty Images) Chinese Internet giant Baidu Inc has launched on Wednesday, Nov. 30, an artificial intelligence (AI) platform called "Tianzhi," aimed at expanding cloud use among commercial users, China Daily reported. Advertisement Powered by Baidu's cloud computing technologies, the platform has three sub-layers that include perception, deep learning and machine learning. The platform was launching during the "ABC Summit" held in Beijing on Nov. 30. The summit, the first of its kind held by the company, focused on the promotion and acceptance on AI, big data and cloud computing technologies. "Cloud computing was recognized as an infrastructure investment for corporate users several years ago, but the market demand for cloud-driven AI platform has seen rapid growth since this year," Zhang Yaqin, president of Baidu, said. Through its cloud computing platform, the company will be able to present its AI technology to the market, Zhang added. Earlier this year, the company also unveiled Baidu Brain, an AI system that uses technology that recognizes and processes speech, words and images, and help create user profiles based on big data analysis. Other technologies were also implemented by Baidu to develop intelligent mapping, translation, advertising services and self-driving operating systems. As the core engine of Baidu's cloud technology, the Baidu Brain provides the "neurons" and "training data" to the "brain," according to Zhang. More than 30,000 enterprises have currently established cooperation with Baidu, using the company's cloud services in areas that include medical care, education, logistics, marketing and finance. The company also introduced to its users more than 80 products that specialize in providing cloud services, Liu Yang, joint general manager of Baidu's cloud business arm, said. A smart transportation ecological alliance was also launched by Baidu's cloud division in collaboration with transport regulators and business partners, with the aim to implement technology innovation in the industry. The autonomous car sector also benefits from Baidu's cloud technology, as it presented two core technologies to support global leading autonomous pioneers, such as BMW and Audi, but also domestic latecomers during the development process. One of the technologies is deep learning, which provides vehicles image sensing and recognition while the other is high-precision maps, Gu Weihao, general manager of Baidu Intelligent Vehicle, known as the L3 Division of the internet company, said. Aside from Baidu, Alibaba's cloud is also intensifying its efforts in cloud technology. To compete with other global players such as Amazon and Microsoft, Alibaba set up four new data centers across the world. The data centers are located in Tokyo, Germany, Dubai and Sydney, bringing to eight the total number of Aliyun data centers outside China. The global public cloud market is predicted to reach $146 billion in 2017, up from $87 billion in 2015, according to American technology and market research company Forrester. "Seventy-seven percent of Chinese enterprise infrastructure decision-makers said that using a public cloud platform is a high or critical priority over the next 12 months, versus 58 percent of their global peers," the company said. The public cloud market in China is expected to increase from $1.8 billion in 2015 to $3.8 billion by 2020, the company added. Chinese Villagers Examined By Cancer Specialists (Photo : Getty Images) Leukemia, or cancer of the blood, is the most common type of cancer in children which is why families with a member who has the ailment would do anything to pay for the treatment of the disease which could be fatal. In May, a Zhejiang woman tried to raise 350,000 yuan by being a human dartboard to pay for the treatment of her sister with leukemia. Advertisement In November, a Hangzhou 19-year-old schoolgirl advertised she was selling her virginity to raise 200,000 yuan for her brother who has leukemia. In late November, Luo Er, a Chinese father, posted on WeChat that his five-year-old daughter, Luo Yixiao, is battling leukemia, and he sought financial help from Chinese netizens who contributed $390,000, or 2.7 million yuan in just five days after his post went viral with more than 100,000 views in half a day. But on Nov. 30, some netizens exposed that Luo Er appears to have used his daughters leukemia to enrich himself. Some netizens revealed that he owns two cars and three apartments, while the bulk of Luo Yixiaos medical bills were covered by insurances, Whats on Weibo reported. It appears to have been a marketing strategy since Luo Er was apparently in collaboration with a marketing company to that every repost of his article would earn Luo Er one yuan. When the amount of donations reached the maximum amount of 50,000 yuan per day per article, netizens contributed directly to Luo Ers personal account which raised 2 million yuan within two hours only. The expose by netizens lead Shenzhen Childrens Hospital, where Luo Yixiao was treated for three months, to disclose to the public that the childs medical bill was only 36,000 yuan which made the childs father richer by a few million yuan. Luo Re said he would return the money who felt betrayed upon learning that the Luo family has financial resources. Luo Er explained that the high mortgage prices of his apartments was the reason why he could not sell the units and not because he was not willing to do that for his daughter. Since it is not the first time that the WeChat Wallet platform was abused, the Chinese government is considering passing a new law that would prohibit public donation campaigns started by unauthorized people. Tencent, which owns WeChat, said that Luo Er agreed to full refund the donations by the end of Dec. 3. Food deals, seals and the 'Karate Kid': Can't-miss events this weekend Get your fill at area restaurants, watch some seals, laugh at a comedy show, take in a concert and maybe even leave Newport County for some fun. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Chickens are seen at a poultry farm in Yuncheng, China, on April 18, 2013. (Photo : Getty Images) China's Shandong Yisheng Livestock & Poultry Breeding Co will import vital broiler breeding stock from France's Hubbard to counter its first shortfall in chicken meat production in over 10 years. The three-year contract between Shandong Yisheng and Hubbard, a unit of genetics company Groupe Grimaud, is worth nearly 72 million yuan or $10.4 million. Advertisement The chickens to be imported to China are classified as "great-grandparent" or the offspring of pedigree lines, which can produce another generation of breeding birds, unlike grandparent stock. Previously, only "grandparent" stock are sold by foreign genetics companies to Chinese breeders. The foreign firms have been reluctant to sell great-grandparent birds out of concern on how the genetics will be managed. Li Jinghui, managing director of the China Poultry Association, said the development could eventually allow China to regenerate its chicken flock just in case imports of breeding stock are completely stopped. China has been unsuccessful in creating its own broiler breeds, which remains a key priority for their poultry industry. Currently, all foreign companies that breed chicken pedigree stock or "pure line," which in turn produces the great-grandparent generation, are investing heavily in genome research. China, the world's second-largest poultry market, imports all the breeding stock for its white-feathered broiler chickens but has banned poultry shipments from a number of countries in the wake of global bird flu outbreaks. One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 NOTICE: This Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is intended for persons living in Australia. Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) summary The full CMI on the next page has more details. If you are worried about using this medicine, speak to your doctor or pharmacist. Why am I taking Viramune XR? Viramune XR contains the active ingredient nevirapine. Viramune XR is used in the treatment of the infection caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1). For more information, see Section 1. Why am I taking Viramune XR? in the full CMI. What should I know before I take Viramune XR? Talk to your doctor if you have any other medical conditions, take any other medicines, or are pregnant or plan to become pregnant or are breastfeeding. For more information, see Section Do not take Viramune XR if you have ever had an allergic reaction to nevirapine or any of the ingredients listed at the end of the CMI. Do not take Viramune XR if you have rare inherited conditions of galactose intolerance, severe liver dysfunction or if you previously experienced serious liver or skin reactions while taking Viramune or Viramune XR.For more information, see Section 2. What should I know before I take Viramune XR? in the full CMI. What if I am taking other medicines? Some medicines may interfere with Viramune XR and affect how it works. A list of these medicines is in Section 3. What if I am taking other medicines? in the full CMI. How do I take Viramune XR? Adults 16 years and older: First 14 days: Take one nevirapine tablet or 20 mL Viramune oral suspension once daily After the first 14 days: Take one Viramune XR tablet once daily. Children (aged 3 years or older) and adolescents to 15 years: Your child's doctor will determine the dose of Viramune XR based on your child's age and body weight, or body surface area. First 14 days: Viramune oral suspension is given once daily. After the first 14 days: Your child may be switched to Viramune XR tablet, given once daily. More instructions can be found in Section 4. How do I take Viramune XR? in the full CMI. What should I know while taking Viramune XR? Things you should do Remind any doctor or pharmacist you visit that you are taking Viramune XR. Things you should not do Do not stop taking Viramune XR or change the dose without first checking with your doctor. Driving or using machines Viramune XR may cause sleepiness or drowsiness in some people. Make sure you know how you react to Viramune XR before you drive or operate machinery Looking after your medicine Keep Viramune XR tablets in a cool dry place where the temperature stays below 30C. Keep out of reach of children. For more information, see Section 5. What should I know while taking Viramune XR? in the full CMI. Are there any side effects? Common side effects include fever, stomach complaints, headache, fatigue, sleepiness, muscle pain/weakness.Serious potential side effects that require medical attention include rash, allergic reaction and symptoms of a liver problem (such as yellowing of the skin/eyes, dark coloured urine, pale coloured stools, pain in the right side of the stomach area). For more information, including what to do if you have any side effects, see Section 6. Are there any side effects? in the full CMI. Why am I taking Viramune XR? Viramune XR is used in the treatment of the infection caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1). HIV-1 is the main virus responsible for the development of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Viramune XR contains the active ingredient nevirapine. Nevirapine belongs to a group of antiretroviral medicines called non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). It works by inhibiting or interrupting the enzyme reverse transcriptase that the HIV virus needs to multiply. Viramune XR does not cure or prevent HIV-1 infection or AIDS, but it does hinder the growth of HIV-1. Viramune XR is prescribed in combination with other antiretroviral medicines which hinder the growth of HIV-1 in other ways. When these medicines are taken with Viramune XR, the growth of HIV-1 is hindered more effectively. Viramune XR has not been shown to reduce the likelihood that you will develop the illnesses associated with advanced HIV-1 infection. It is important for you to continue seeing your doctor regularly. Viramune XR does not reduce or prevent transmission of HIV-1 to others through sexual contact or blood contamination. What should I know before I take Viramune XR? Warnings Do not take Viramune XR if: You are allergic to nevirapine, or any of the ingredients listed at the end of this leaflet. Always check the ingredients to make sure you can use this medicine. You have the rare inherited condition of galactose intolerance. You have severe liver dysfunction. You have previously experienced serious liver or skin reactions while on Viramune or Viramune XR treatment. Tell your doctor if you: Have or have had liver problem/disease or hepatitis. Have or have had severe kidney disease undergoing dialysis treatment. Have allergies to any other medicines, foods, preservatives or dyes. During treatment, you may be at risk of developing certain side effects. It is important you understand these risks and how to monitor for them. See additional information under Section 6. Are there any side effects Pregnancy and breastfeeding Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or intend to become pregnant. Special care is recommended during pregnancy. The benefits of Viramune XR must be assessed against possible effects on you and your unborn baby. Tell your doctor if you are breastfeeding or intend to breastfeed. Breastfeeding is not recommended during your use of Viramune XR because: Viramune XR enters the breast milk, so your doctor may suggest an alternate method of feeding your child There is a risk of passing the HIV-1 virus to your baby. Children Do not give this medicine to a child under the age of 3 years. Safety and effectiveness in children younger than 3 years have not been established. What if I am taking other medicines? Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking any other medicines, including any medicines, vitamins or supplements that you buy without a prescription from your pharmacy, supermarket or health food shop. In particular, tell your doctor if you are taking: other anti-HIV medicines anti-hepatitis B and C medicines cimetidine clarithromycin fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole methadone oral contraceptives corticosteroids (e.g. prednisone) rifampicin, rifabutin herbal medicines derived from St John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) warfarin allergies (antihistamines) bacterial/fungal infections cancer (e.g. cyclophosphamide) depression epilepsy gut movement disorders (e.g. cisapride) high blood pressure or heart conditions (calcium channel blockers) irregular heartbeats (antiarrhythmics) immune disorders or to prevent rejection of transplanted organ (immunosuppressants) migraine (ergot derivatives) severe pain (e.g. fentanyl). medicines used in the treatment of: These medicines may be affected by Viramune XR or may affect how well it works. You may need different amounts of the medicine, or you may need to take different medicines. As Viramune XR may reduce the effectiveness of oral contraceptives, talk to your doctor about alternative methods of contraception. Check with your doctor or pharmacist if you are not sure about what medicines, vitamins or supplements you are taking and if these affect Viramune XR. How do I take Viramune XR? Follow all directions given to you by your doctor or pharmacist carefully. They may differ from the information contained in this leaflet. How much to take Follow the dosing instructions carefully, especially the once daily dosage during the first 14 days ('lead-in' period) of nevirapine 200 mg immediate-release tablets or Viramune oral suspension. Adults 16 years and older: First 14 days: Take one nevirapine 200 mg immediate-release tablet or 20 mL of Viramune oral suspension once daily After the first 14 days: Take one Viramune XR 400 mg extended-release tablet once daily. Children (aged 3 years or older) and adolescents to 15 years: Viramune XR can be taken by children aged 3 years or older. Your child's doctor will calculate the dose for your child. The calculation will include your child's age and body weight, or body surface area. For younger children starting from birth an oral suspension is available. First 14 days: Viramune oral suspension is given once daily. After the first 14 days: Your child may be switched to Viramune XR tablets once daily. Ask your doctor for more information if you have been advised to take a different dose, or if you are not sure what dose to give your child. Your doctor will closely monitor you or your child for potential side effects of taking the medicine, in particular during the first 18 weeks of treatment. If you are switching from nevirapine immediate-release tablets or oral suspension: If you are already taking nevirapine 200 mg immediate release tablets or oral suspension twice daily in combination with other antiretroviral agents you can switch to Viramune XR 400 mg extended-release tablets once daily without the 14 day 'lead-in' period. Take your nevirapine 200 mg immediate-release tablets or oral suspension as normal the day before you switch. Then take your Viramune XR 400 mg extended release tablet the next morning and do not take any more of the nevirapine immediate-release tablets or oral suspension. When to take Viramune XR Take Viramune XR at about the same time each day. Taking it at the same time each day will have the best effect. It will also help you remember when to take it. How to take Viramune XR Swallow the tablets whole with a full glass of water. The tablets should not be broken, crushed or chewed. The tablets can be taken with or without food. How long to take Viramune XR Continue taking Viramune XR for as long as your doctor tells you. This medicine helps to control your condition, but does not cure it. It is important to keep taking your medicine even if you feel well. If you forget to take Viramune XR It is important to take Viramune XR as directed. If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember. However, if you remember when it is almost time for your next dose, take only your usual dose at that time. Do not take a double dose to make up for the dose you missed. If you have missed taking Viramune XR for more than 7 days, contact your doctor before you start taking it again. You may need to restart using the 14 days (lead-in) once daily dosing procedure. If you are not sure what to do, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. If you take too much Viramune XR If you think that you have taken too much Viramune XR, you may need urgent medical attention. You should immediately: phone the Poisons Information Centre (in Australia telephone 13 11 26), or contact your doctor, or go to the Emergency Department at your nearest hospital. You should do this even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning. Symptoms of an overdose may include oedema (fluid retention), fatigue, fever, headache, insomnia, lung problems, rash, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, weight loss and erythema nodosum (a condition causing red-purple swellings on the shins, thighs and less commonly, the arms, joint and muscle pains and fever). What should I know while taking Viramune XR? Things you should do Contact your doctor if you experience rash on any parts of the body. Contact your doctor immediately if the rash is accompanied by other symptoms such as fever, blisters, mouth sores, conjunctivitis, facial swelling, muscle or joint aches, swollen lymph glands, or tiredness. These may be symptoms of a hypersensitivity reaction that requires urgent medical attention. Contact your doctor if you experience any symptoms of liver problems, such as loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and/or eyes), dark coloured urine, pale coloured stools, pain/ache or sensitivity to touch in your right abdominal area (below your ribs). These could be signs of serious liver dysfunction which your doctor will need to monitor closely and may require stopping treatment with Viramune XR. Liver function tests should be performed at regular intervals, especially during the first 18 weeks of treatment with Viramune XR. If the results are abnormal, your doctor will consider either performing more frequent liver function tests (in less severe cases) or stopping treatment with Viramune XR altogether (in more severe cases). In rare instances, temporary weakness or pain of muscles has been seen in Viramune XR patients experiencing skin and/or liver problems. If you are about to be started on any new medicine, tell your doctor and pharmacist that you are taking Viramune XR. If you are taking oral contraceptives (to prevent pregnancy) you should use additional or different type of contraception. Viramune XR may reduce effectiveness of oral contraceptives. If you become pregnant while taking Viramune XR tell your doctor immediately. If you have had a previous opportunistic infection, and you notice symptoms of inflammation occurring when you first start taking Viramune XR, tell your doctor immediately. Symptoms of inflammation include redness, swelling, heat and pain. These symptoms have been reported in some patients who have previously had an infection when combination antiretroviral therapy was started. Contact your doctor if you experience any symptoms of an overactive thyroid gland, such as rapid heart rate, tremors and increased sweating. Autoimmune problems such as overactive or enlarged thyroid gland (goiter) have been reported in some patients. Things you should not do Do not give Viramune XR to anyone else, even if they have the same condition as you. Do not stop taking Viramune XR or change the dose without first checking with your doctor. Viramune XR helps control your HIV infection but does not cure it. Therefore, Viramune XR must be taken every day as your doctor prescribed it. Driving or using machines Be careful before you drive or use any machines or tools until you know how Viramune XR affects you. Viramune XR may cause sleepiness or drowsiness in some people. Make sure you know how you react to Viramune XR before you drive or operate machinery. Looking after your medicine Keep your Viramune XR tablets in a cool dry place where the temperature stays below 30C. Store it in a place away from moisture, heat or sunlight; for example, do not store it: in the bathroom or near a sink, or in the car or on window sills. Keep it where young children cannot reach it. Getting rid of any unwanted medicine If your doctor tells you to stop taking this medicine or it is out of date, take it to any pharmacy for safe disposal. Do not use this medicine after the expiry date. Are there any side effects? Tell your doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible if you do not feel well while you are taking Viramune XR. It may be difficult to tell whether side effects are the result of taking Viramune XR, effects of the HIV disease or side effects of other medicines you may be taking. For this reason, it is very important to inform your doctor of any change in your condition. Your doctor may need to change your dose or advise you to stop taking Viramune XR. All medicines can have side effects. Sometimes they are serious, most of the time they are not. You may need medical treatment if you get some of the side effects. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice if you have any concerns about the effects of taking Viramune XR. The frequently reported side effects for children were similar to those observed in adults. However, a reduction of white blood cells (granulocytopenia) or red blood cells (anaemia) has been more commonly seen in children. Less serious side effects Less serious side effects What to do Fever Nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach pain Headache Fatigue Sleepiness Abnormal liver function tests Myalgia (aching muscles, muscle tenderness or weakness, not caused by exercise) Joint pain Associated with combination antiretroviral therapy: Changes in body shape due to changes in fat distribution, such as: Loss of fat from legs, arms and face Increased fat in the abdomen and other internal organs Breast enlargement Fatty lumps on the back of the neck. Speak to your doctor if you have any of these less serious side effects and they worry you. Serious side effects Serious side effects What to do Skin reactions: Rash. Usually mild to moderate and located on the trunk, face, arms and/or legs. However, severe and life-threatening rashes can occur. Most of the cases of rash occur in the first 6 weeks of treatment. Hypersensitivity (allergic) reactions: Anaphylaxis (sudden life-threatening allergic reaction) -sudden signs of rash, itching or hives on the skin, swelling of the face, lips, tongue or other parts of the body, shortness of breath, wheezing or trouble breathing Rash accompanied by other side effects such as fever, blisters, mouth sores, conjunctivitis, facial swelling, muscle or joint aches, swollen lymph glands, or tiredness. Symptoms of a liver problem, such as: Loss of appetite Nausea, vomiting Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and/or eyes) Dark coloured urine Pale coloured stools Pain/ache or sensitivity to touch in your right abdominal area (below your ribs). Call your doctor straight away, or go straight to the Emergency Department at your nearest hospital if you notice any of these serious side effects. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you experience any side effects or notice anything unusual during or after taking Viramune XR. Other side effects not listed here may occur in some people. Reporting side effects After you have received medical advice for any side effects you experience, you can report side effects to the Therapeutic Goods Administration online at www.tga.gov.au/reporting-problems . By reporting side effects, you can help provide more information on the safety of this medicine. Always make sure you speak to your doctor or pharmacist before you decide to stop taking any of your medicines. Product details This medicine is only available with a doctor's prescription. What Viramune XR contains Active ingredient (main ingredient) nevirapine 400 mg Other ingredients (inactive ingredients) lactose monohydrate hypromellose iron oxide yellow (CI 77492) magnesium stearate. Potential allergens lactose Do not take this medicine if you are allergic to any of these ingredients. What Viramune XR looks like Viramune XR extended-release tablets 400 mg are yellow, oval, biconvex tablets. The tablets are debossed with product identification "V04" on one side and the BI tower logo on the other side. Blister packs of 10* and 30 extended-release tablets (AUST R 176980). * Not currently distributed in Australia. Bedfont Scientific, based in Maidstone, Kent, donates over 50 Smokerlyzers to the European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention (ENSP) Bedfont Scientific, who in 2016 is celebrating 40 years in business, has donated over 50 carbon monoxide breath monitors, famously known as the Smokerlyzer, to the ENSP. Bedfont hopes to help them establish carbon monoxide (CO) verification into European Stop Smoking Services (SSS) to motivate people to stop smoking. This decision arrives after success with CO monitoring in Smoking Cessation in the UK, following the publication of the NICE guidelines for Stop Smoking Services in February 2008. On the 5-6th April 2016, the ENSP, held its hands-on training programme of the Global Bridges grant entitled European Accreditation Curriculum on Tobacco Treatment. Funded through a Pfizer Independent Grant for Learning and Change through Global Bridges, this capacity development project aimed to train and certify (with the provision of CME) professionals on treating tobacco dependency in Eastern Europe with a particular focus on clinicians from Romania, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine and Russia. Over 190 participants from around the globe participated in an interactive programme, which included keynote presentations from the head of the WHO FCTC secretariat and the head of the Tobacco Unit of the European Commission-DG SANTE among a number of leading researchers in tobacco control and treatment. The training programme received great enthusiasm from clinicians, health professionals, researchers and KOLs from Eastern Europe, who had the chance to discover and practice carbon monoxide measurements with the Smokerlyzers. Participants really appreciated receiving a CO monitor as part of their training, and looked forward to start using it on their patients. Dominick Nguyen, Health Policy and Communication Manager at ENSP. A quick, easy and non-invasive breath test with the Gastrolyzer could help thousands of people suffering with IBS. April is IBS awareness month and for the IBS Network's 25th Anniversary show, they are highlighting IBS from the patient's perspective. IBS is a condition that affects 23% of people worldwide and 10-20% of the UK's population alone, however, it's thought that reported numbers are much higher due to many people not seeking medical advice. Often those diagnosed with IBS may, in fact, have a more simple-to-treat condition known as Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO). The condition produces symptoms similar to IBS and is caused by having too many bacteria in the gut. Bedfont Scientific, based in Harrietsham, Kent, manufacture the Gastrolyzer monitors that can help with the investigation of IBS through a simple breath test. By measuring the amount of hydrogen and methane in a patient's breath that is caused by the breakdown of food in the gut, the Gastrolyzer investigates if a patient has IBS or if they instead have another gastrointestinal disorder, by detecting SIBO or any sugar-related food intolerances, including lactose intolerance. Beckman Coulter Life Sciences is launching an international HIV/AIDS award at the 2016 conference for the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) being held in Cape Town, South Africa (December 3 to 8). The annual award will be part of the companys global CARES Initiative dedicated to helping people who are living with HIV/AIDS. Beckman Coulters CARES award is designed to recognize individuals who have shown care, dedication and commitment in their communities as part of the fight against HIV/AIDS. The winner will receive a $5,000 donation in their name to one of the selected causes, with the three individual stories that receive the most nominations publicized around the world on the CARES Initiative website. Potential winners can be nurses, healthcare workers, national coordinators, lab scientists and even clinicians; or lay people who are active in community outreach work. This could include a social worker providing AIDS counselling. CARES supports the UNAIDS 90-90-90 target to ensure that by the year 2020, 90% of people living with HIV will know their status, 90% of those with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression. It focuses on providing innovative solutions for the monitoring of HIV and AIDS treatment. CARES was inspired by the work of Professor Debbie Glencross, a South African laboratory pathologist, who found a different and less expensive way to measure a patients CD4 count*. While this is intended as an international award, in its first year, the award will focus on recognizing the dedication of people in Africa, one of the areas in the world most affected by HIV/AIDS. The 2017 award will be launched at the annual meeting of the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), a pan-African professional body aiming to improve laboratory services. ASLM2016 is being held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town, South Africa, from December 3-8, 2016. Recognition for unsung heroes Samuel Boova, Beckman Coulters Director Alliance Development, High Burden HIV Markets, said: The award is to give a platform to the work and stories of those we see as the unsung heroes of individual communities. These are people who have shown individual dedication, commitment and courage or who have made a difference in the battle against HIV/AIDS. However, it is not just the final winner we want to publically recognise. We hope the award will encourage communities to learn about and honour the work of every nominee, so that more people will come forward to help and support those living with HIV/AIDS. Samuel Boova, Beckman Coulter Nominations must first be made via the CARES website. Once a name has been nominated, the local community will be given the opportunity to vote in support. People with the greatest number of votes will be put forward for the final assessment panel. Mr Boova gave the following examples of ordinary people who support their local communities in the field of HIV/AIDS. We are looking for dedicated and committed individuals like these who work in the community helping others to live with, and manage, the disease, he added. Potential nominees The first example is how a young HIV positive woman in Uganda was inspired and empowered by a community charity, PINA (People In Need Agency), to rebuild her life and become an advocate herself for young people living with HIV. This was the objective of PINA when it was first set up by a local case worker to work with young people, helping them overcome the stigma of living with HIV and rebuild their self-esteem. Mr Boova also pointed out that there are many women in rural Africa who walk miles every day to see patients to ensure they are compliant with their medications. Medication alone does not help without the commitment of these women and they have to walk many miles between patients each day and every day, whatever the conditions. International judging panel Prof Lesley Scott, PhD: an applied scientist in laboratory medicine in the department of Molecular Medicine and Haematology at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Head of research and development for the National Priority Program of the National Health Laboratory Service and Laboratory Director for the AIDS Clinical Trails Group. Francesca Celletti: a global health expert, with a focus on innovations and health systems, global health initiatives and HIV/AIDS. She is the Vice President, Innovation and New Technology for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) and was previously one of the Coordinators of the Health Systems cluster in the World Health Organization. Maurine Murtagh: the CEO of the International Diagnostics Centre at the School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK. She is also a consultant specializing in diagnostics for global health working with the World Health Organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UNITAID, among others. Previously, Director of Diagnostic Services at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). Ana Teasdale: the Senior Adviser for Strategic Initiatives for the Pangaea Global Aids Foundation where she advises the CEO and Leadership Team on new and current programs and strategies, particularly in integrating HIV and broader womens health priorities, and liaison with the international community. She was previously at Susan G. Komen (Komen), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), and at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI Dr Francois Venter Dr Venter is the Deputy Executive Director of the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He leads multiple antiretroviral treatment optimisation studies, and has an active interest in public sector access to HIV services. He previously led large HIV programmes in South Africa funded by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) which focused on truckers and sex workers. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addresses shareholders during the 2016 Microsoft Annual Shareholders Meeting at the Meydenbauer Center November 30, 2016, 2016 in Bellevue, Washington. (Photo : Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) Microsoft is said to be taking its time in creating its next big thing, rumored to be the Surface Phone. It is speculated that the next Windows smartphone would arrive in 2017 and could feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor under its hood and a display screen of 5.7 inches. The Redmond-based tech giant already has a desktop, a laptop and a tablet in its Surface lineup - the Surface Studio, the Surface Book and the Surface Pro, respectively. Persistent rumors suggest that the company will also have a smartphone under the brand. This was then reinforced last month when Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella went to Australia to address the attendees at a local developers conference. Advertisement "We will continue to be in the phone market not as defined by today's market leaders, but by what it is that we can uniquely do in what is the most ultimate mobile device," Nadella said, according to the Australian Financial Review. Microsoft may have had a rocky start in cracking the consumer smartphone market after its $7.6 billion acquisition of Nokia's handset business. The Lumia brand failed to go up the ladder. However, as Nadella also said during the event, they may have had some hits and misses, but the company will eventually get there. He then cited their own Surface Pro 2-in-1 tablet, the innovative design of which was questioned three years ago. Critics asked who would be interested in such design, but now, there are many 2-in-1 tablets in the market and the numbers are still growing. Meanwhile, Trusted Reviews mentioned that the long-rumored mobile device could arrive during the first half of 2017. It is also speculated that the highly anticipated smartphone could have an all-metal design and with three variants, namely Consumer, Business, and Enthusiast Editions. The first variant is said to house 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage, the second model is likely to sport 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage, while the third is expected to contain 8 GB RAM and 500 GB of data space. The alleged device is also rumored to have a single screen size, a 5.7-inch display, and it could pack Qualcomm's recently announced Snapdragon 835 that boasts Quick Charge 4.0 technology. Additionally, the most powerful model is said to be able to run x86 applications, similar to programs on a full-fledged Windows computer via the Windows Continuum. As of now, Microsoft has not acknowledged the existence of the Surface Phone. Professor Luke ONeill THOUGHT LEADERS SERIES ...insight from the worlds leading experts An interview with Professor Luke ONeill PhD FRS conducted by April Cashin-Garbutt, MA (Cantab) Can you please outline your research findings on the role of macrophages and mitochondria in inflammatory diseases? Macrophages are frontline cells in our immune system. They detect microbial invaders and also tissue injury and then mount an appropriate response needed to clear the infection and repair the damaged tissue. We have found that during macrophage activation with the bacterial product LPS, the mitochondria undergo profound metabolic changes. In particular, we have found that they stop making ATP (their regular role) and start to make reactive oxygen species. So instead of using oxygen to generate ATP, they use it to generate reactive oxygen species, which in turn leads to activation of a transcription factor called HIF1alpha. This drives expression of inflammatory genes such as that for IL-1beta, a central driver of inflammation. We have found the underlying mechanism of this complex process a metabolite called succinate is oxidised by the enzyme SDH, and this in turn leads to reactive oxygen species generation by the mitochondria in a process called reverse electron transport. We have found that by inhibiting SDH you can prevent the macrophage from making inflammatory factors, and instead they make anti-inflammatory ones, so we think this could be useful as a means of turning down macrophages when they are over-active, as happens in inflammatory diseases and sepsis. Which inflammatory diseases is the elevated response thought to be implicated in? Sepsis, but also we think many inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and diseases of the CNS such as MS. This is because macrophages are implicated in all of these conditions. Do you think it will be possible to find ways of suppressing macrophages to reduce associated tissue damage when the bodys inflammation is over the top? Lab Diagnostics & Automation eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today Yes we think that by blocking SDH the macrophages will start behaving themselves, and will be beneficial, limiting the damage that occurs in inflammatory diseases. What impact do you think your research will have on the field of immunology and the area of immunometabolism? Our paper joins a growing body of literature which is all pointing in the one direction that profound and complex metabolic changes are occurring in inflammatory cells and that it might be possible to target these changes for therapeutic gain. How long is it likely to be before patients can ultimately benefit from this increased understanding of inflammation via new therapeutic options? Ahthe big question! It will take some time, although there are already drugs in use that target metabolism such as metformin and methotrexate so these lead the way. It is likely that new drugs will be developed, but this will take years to reach patients. That sadly is the way of things! What do you think the future holds for immunometabolism? More and more fascinating discoveries will emerge that will provide more insights into the inner working of our immune systems in health and disease. Immunometabolism has effectively become another important aspect to immunity, along with other areas such as cytokines and pattern recognition receptors. Where can readers find more information? A recent review I co-wrote with Jeff Rathmell and Rigel Kishton ONeill LA, Kishton, R and Rathmell J (2016) Nature Reviews Immunology 16, 553-565. About Professor Luke ONeill, PhD FRS Professor Luke ONeill holds the Chair of Biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin, where he leads the Inflammation Research Group. He has a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of London and carried out Post-Doctoral research at Cambridge U.K. on the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1 and innate immune signalling. His research is in the area of the molecular basis to inflammatory diseases, with a particular interest in Toll-like receptors, inflammasomes and metabolic control of inflammatory cell signalling. He has won numerous awards for his research, notably the Royal Irish Academy Medal for Biochemistry, the Royal Dublin Society/ Irish Times Boyle medal for Scientific Excellence and in 2014 the European Federation of Immunology Societies Medal. He was elected a member of EMBO in 2005. In 2016 he was named by Thompson Reuters as one of the worlds most influential scientists, being in the top 1% in Immunology. He is a co-founder of 2 Spin-out companies from his lab - Opsona Therapeutics, a drug development company working in the area of Toll-like receptors, and Inflazome, which is developing inhibitors of inflammasomes for inflammatory diseases. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2016. UL a global safety science organization, announces its new Advanced Inverter Testing and Certification Program. As electric utilities continue to modernize their grids through the use of larger amounts of distributed generation and renewable energy sources, the UL service portfolio expands to meet the ever-changing needs for safety, performance and grid support functionality. This new program utilizes the new UL 1741 Supplement A (SA) to test and certify inverters and other utility interconnected distributed generation (DG) equipment for grid support functions enabling smarter, safer, reactive grid interconnection. Brownouts or blackouts have demonstrated the far-reaching impacts of utility grid instabilities, said Jeff Smidt, vice president and general manager, UL Energy and Power Technologies division. We are pleased to now publish the latest updates via UL 1741 SA for grid support utility interactive inverters to meet the current market need for a more stable utility grid. Advanced inverter testing is smart, reactive control of DG for support of ongoing modernization of grids utilizing increasing levels of DG and renewable energy resources. Traditional utility interconnection requirements (IEEE 1547) require DG devices to disconnect when the grid is experiencing stability issues. The UL 1741 SA specifies the test methods needed to build the foundation enabling DG devices to stay online and adapt their output and overall behavior to stabilize the grid during abnormal operation rather than simply disconnecting. The State of California has announced that inverters installed in the state will be required to comply with the Rule 21 grid interconnection requirements within one year of publication of the UL 1741 SA. Other states are considering adopting similar installation requirements, especially in areas with high levels of DG and solar penetration. Rule 21 is the inverter-related revision to the State of California Electric Tariff Rule 21 made by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC). Rule 21 is a Source Requirement Document (SRD) to be used with the UL 1741 SA. SRDs set the specific parameter settings to be used with the test methods of the UL 1741 SA. Other SRDs may also be used with the UL 1741 SA as other markets look to build smart grid functionality into the modernization of their electrical power system. UL has taken the lead working with industry to develop the UL 1741 SA to set the guidelines for modern smart grid interconnection. Additionally, UL has built two state of the art inverter testing laboratories for advanced inverters. These labs utilize automation to minimize time to market, reducing average test times to less than 3 weeks. Alternatively, UL has a well versed engineering staff which can witness testing at clients facilities already equipped with laboratory facilities able to run the required test plan. Source: UL By clicking "Allow All" you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyse site usage and support us in providing free open access scientific content. More info. Mumbai: Ousted Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry on Monday alleged that Ratan Tata "undermined a key reform" for introduction of an "incentive linked to productivity" at Tata Motors by asking for public support from the auto major's labour unions. In a scathing attack on Ratan Tata, Mistry in a letter to the shareholders of group firms, that have called for an extraordinary general meeting to remove him as director, said the "key reform measure" was undermined for getting the trade union's support. "Tata Motors was close to finalising for the first time, a productivity-based agreement with labour unions. Ratan Tata called the labour unions and asked the union leaders for their public support and in return undermined the introduction of the incentive linked to productivity," Mistry wrote. The union leaders were paraded before the waiting media and Tata Motors did not get the benefit of a key work reform measure, he added. On November 13, ahead of Tata Motors' crucial board meeting, two unions of the company representing around 16,000 employees had written to the management expressing their support to Ratan Tata. In a letter to Tata Motors CEO and Managing Director Guenter Butschek, Tata Motors Employees Union, Pune expressed "deep concern" over the rift between Tata Sons and the leadership of Tata group companies. Similarly, in a letter to the plant head of Tata Motors' Jamshedpur unit, Telco Workers Union termed Ratan Tata as "our another great leader" and invoked his saying "if you want to walk fast walk alone but if you want to walk far walk together" to express their support. Tata Motors has called an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on December 22 to seek shareholders' approval for removing Cyrus Mistry and Nusli Wadia as directors of the company. Ousted from Tata Sons, Mistry continues as Chairman of the group firms like Tata Motors and Tata Chemicals. Tata Motors has called an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on December 22 to seek shareholders' approval for removing Cyrus Mistry and Nusli Wadia as directors of the company. In a sudden and dramatic turn of events last month, Mistry was unceremoniously removed as the chairman of Tata Sons and replaced by his predecessor Ratan Tata in the interim, triggering a confrontation between the single-largest shareholder and the Tatas. Returning to Tata Sons after the abrupt removal of Mistry, Ratan Tata has moved quickly to consolidate his grip over USD 103 billion salt-to-software group by seeking to remove the ousted chairman from boards of major group firms. TCS has called an EGM on December 13, Indian Hotels Co Ltd on December 20, Tata Steel on December 21, Tata Motors on December 22, Tata Chemicals on December 23 and Tata Power on December 26 to seek Mistry's ouster as director. Even after being removed as chairman of Tata Sons - the holding company of the Tata Group, Mistry continues to head the group's several listed firms including Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals. Mumbai-based Tata Motors is India's largest automobile company, with consolidated revenues of Rs 2,75,561 crore in 2015-16. Tamil Nadus popular and all-powerful Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa passed away at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai on Monday. Chennai-based journalist Vaasanthi had been tracking the AIADMK supremo for years. Her first attempt at writing the 68-year-old leaders biography hit a judicial hurdle in 2011 as the book got banned. Vaasanthi was recently back with Amma: Jayalalithaas journey from Movie Star to Political Queen. In this interview conducted during Jaylalithaas two-month hospitalisation, Vaasanthi speaks to CNN News18s Poornima Murali on Jayalalithaas persona and her struggle to know more about the reclusive Amma. Biographies, especially political biographies, almost always end up as hagiographies in India. Will Amma be any different? Biography becomes hagiography when you feel obliged to the person you are writing about. That happens when you meet the person, interview and tell the person that you are going to write a book on that person. Then you feel there is a kind of a commitment to always say nice words about the person. I wanted to avoid that and I didnt want to see her before writing the book. I have met her once in 1984 and I have watched her for about 10 years when I was the editor of India Today, Tamil edition. I knew her, I kind of marvelled at her, the way she behaved and she was full of surprises and some of her actions are shocking and unbelievable. Then, I gathered a lot of information from her close friends and other politicians. Why Jayalalithaa? What about her really fascinated you? I didnt do it on my own, it wasnt my venture. It was Penguin that asked me to write a biography on her and I hesitated. I didnt want to do it because I knew that she was a very complex person and she doesnt trust the media. I knew she wouldnt want to meet me or she wouldnt even allow me to write if I ask her. I was so hesitant because it was so difficult to get news about her. As journalists, we used to break our heads to get quotes from officials or administers during an important occasion or crisis. We werent able to do that. We couldnt get a single quote from anyone who worked in her government. And she, of course, didnt open her doors to any journalist. It was easy to meet Karunanidhi but not Jayalalithaa. I was very hesitant and I knew she wasnt very tolerant of any criticism. I couldnt write just praising her. So it had to be an honest, balanced view of her profile. So I hesitated to even accept this suggestion by Penguin. But they kept on persuading me and I finally succumbed to their request. Your book was all set for release by Penguin in 2011 but it was banned. Now it has finally hit the stores. What changed in five years? Did you have to make alterations or cut out a few portions to ensure it saw the light of the day? Writing about her never crossed my mind. But Juggernaut came to me with a request for a short biography that is a new book. They wanted a new book; it was not the old one at all. They just said a new book about less than 30,000 words that will be suitable for phone apps. Reading on a mobile phone is faster and easier and it doesnt take much of your time. I then consulted my lawyer on whether I could accept because the original book has a permanent injunction from the court. My legal adviser gave me a go ahead and that is how I came to write on this book, which is a short version. The book is just a smaller version and kind of highlights the positive aspects. Many of the things from the big book are not here but I suppose it says enough of Jayas persona. Is this book a combination of secondary sources and research available online? Have you met people who know her? I have met a number of people. First, I was very frustrated because I couldnt get hold of her classmates and friends because she moved away from them all. I was about to tell Penguin Im not going to write this book. But a friend of mine gave me a tip: the number of a source. So I got hold of them, through close friends of hers. They gave me a lot of insight into her younger days, which was very revealing of her character and the way she shaped later on. I met a number of her political opponents and her admirers. So it was a long journey. I took two years to write this book. One leaping anomaly here is that the closest person to Amma, Sasikala is missing from your book. Why so? I havent missed much. I personally never believed all these kinds of tales her opponents spread about her relationship with Sasikala. I have written about Sasikala but not in great detail. I feel Sasikala is as enigmatic as Amma is. She has not spoken a single word to any journalist. She has been very discreet. I suppose this is her quality that Jayalalithaa likes about her. People say Sasikala sits even in the official meetings that Jayalalithaa has in the house but I dont know how much of it is true. Sasikala has shown that she is very loyal. Because of her closeness to Jayalalithaa, partymen who are not able to approach Jaya feel that all the hurdles are because of Sasikala. They feel Sasikala is behind everything. One will never come to know what the truth is. Have you observed Jaya as a single-woman navigating the ruthlessly male-dominated political landscape in India? I mean, how would you compare her political journey as compared to a Mayawati or a Mamata Banerjee, or even an Indira Gandhi? Jayalalithaa came from a film background. For a woman to be a film actress was looked down upon by the general public. She came from a Brahmin family. It is amazing how she became the head of the Dravidian party. It is a conventional society in the South and very sexist. Mamata doesnt have to face that kind of an atmosphere in Bengal. She could speak freely to men and have discussion with her ministers in the open which Jayalalithaa cant do. In Tamil Nadu, it will be taken amiss. If you take Indira Gandhi, both of them were courageous but they are totally different. Indira Gandhi had a pedigree support but Jayalalithaa came with no political pedigree to boast of. She came up on her own whereas Indira Gandhi was made the Prime Minister. You cant compare the two. You have made some observations about how Indira admired Jayalalithaa when she was an MP. Can you elaborate? Jayalalithaa was fresh, pretty, sophisticated and spoke impeccable English. Her maiden speech in the Parliament was well appreciated by the likes of Khushwant Singh. Even Indira Gandhi was impressed by her presence in Parliament and the way she stood up for issues. DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this interview are the personal opinions of the interviewee, and News18.com does not warrant its accuracy. The facts and opinions expressed in the interview do not reflect the views of News18.com and are solely attributable to the interviewee. News18.com does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. The fight is over. The five-time chief minister Jayalalithaa, the undisputed leader of the one of the two Dravidian parties which ruled the state since 1967, died leaving behind a vacuum in the political scene of Tamil Nadu. With the 92-year-old leader of the other Dravidian party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam (DMK), M Karunanidhi also in the intensive care unit of another hospital, the state is staring at an uncertain political future. Jayalalithaa has not built up a second line of leadership in the party unlike her mentor MG Ramachandran who groomed her as his heir apparent. Probably she felt very insecure to do so especially in the male-dominated politics of the state. While she was out of power or in jail because of court verdicts she appointed an innocuous O Panneerselvam as the chief minister and ruled by proxy. Even during her stay in the hospital, the state governor had to intervene to designate Panneerselvam to look after the day-to-day affairs of the government as the party was reluctant to make an interim arrangement. AIADMK won the elections in May this year with comfortable majority and has more than four and a half years to rule. But with the exit of the popular and charismatic leader who could put her foot down on any dissent in the party, factional fights are likely to emerge soon. The possible contenders for the top post are of course Panneerselvam, Thambi Durai, seasoned politician Ponnayyan (who was also a minister in the cabinet of late MG Ramachandran.) And of course there is a strong speculation that Jayalalithaas close associate Sasikala Natarajan might also throw her hat into the ring. But with the disproportionate wealth case pending in the Supreme Court, that possibility looks bleak. The main opposition DMK, which emerged stronger in the May elections, may be hoping to cash in on the present scenario. But the charisma of the old leader Karunanidhi is fading and it appears he has lost his grip on the party with most of the cadres supporting his son MK Stalin. Karunanidhis reluctance to announce Stalin as the party chief has not gone well with the cadres. The DMK also faces an uncertain future as the party is mired with factional fighting among the various family members. DMKs reputation remains greatly damaged by cases pending against its prominent members including the Marans of the Sun TV. The DMK has to wait for another four and a half years unless a major split occurs in the AIADMK, which is quite unlikely as everyone in the party knows they wont be able win another poll without Amma. Among the other political parties, the much-hyped DMDK of the film star Vijaykanth has been decimated totally in the recent election and has almost become non-existent. The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) of former Union minister Anbumani Ramdoss, which talks about great ideals, has not gone well with the masses with its casteist outlook although it has sizable base in the northern parts of Tamil Nadu. In recent years it has openly come out against the Dalits of the state. What is baffling though is the fact that the MDMK has not fared well electorally even though its leader Vaiko is a good orator and continues to be very popular. A political analyst told me that it is the right time for Vaiko to grab the leaderless AIADMK and people will be only pleased to support him. As for the national parties, after 1967, the Congress has never been able to capture power or even win respectable number of seats on its own. It has always been piggy-backing on either of the Dravidian parties .With no charismatic leader, the state Congress is riddled with several factions and is just a prop of its high command. The BJP has no presence in Tamil Nadu. It is still considered as the party of North Indian Hindi chauvinists. People of Tamil Nadu, the land of Periyar, so far have refused to vote for the BJP even when the Narendra Modi wave swept the country. However, this image is slowly fading and the BJP is considered as a natural ally of the AIADMK. And the cadres know that Modi is a close friend of Jayalalithaa. One cannot also forget that the DMK, now more vehemently opposed to the BJP, was an ally of the BJP and was part of the NDA government. Now perhaps politically ambitious film stars may step in keeping in view of the tradition of film stars becoming leaders. Of course, the super star Rajnikanth who was widely speculated to enter politics in 1996 is also not keeping good health and has almost become a recluse. That leaves another popular star Vijay who has a huge mass base. (The author is a former BBC correspondent) Her contribution to the progress and development of Tamil Nadu will be long remembered #PresidentMukherjee President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) December 5, 2016 Jayalalithaa jis connect with citizens, concern for welfare of the poor, the women & marginalized will always be a source of inspiration. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 I pay my heartfelt tributes to the departed soul. I also appeal to the people of Tamil Nadu to remain calm in this hour of grief. Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) December 5, 2016 . . . Nitish Kumar (@NitishKumar) December 5, 2016 Popular,strong,bold,efficient, people- friendly,charismatic leader, Amma.Always at the heart of people. Big loss.I am shocked,saddened 1/2 Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) December 5, 2016 V sad to hear the demise of Amma. A very very popular leader. Aam admi's leader. May her soul rest in peace. Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 5, 2016 We lost a great leader today.Women,farmers,fishermen &the marginalised dreamt through her eyes.We will miss Jayalalithaa ji,Amma to millions Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) December 5, 2016 Sadly, the prayers of supporters and well wishers were not answered. The passing away of the iconic Amma is a huge loss for TN & the Nation. Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) December 5, 2016 Sad to hear of the passing away of JayalalithaajiMay her soul rest in peace. Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) December 5, 2016 T 2463 - Deeply grieved at the passing of Jayalalita ji .. a strong woman .. Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) December 5, 2016 President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders cutting across the political spectrum paid rich tributes after news broke of Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa's death on Monday night.President Mukherjee tweeted that Jayalalitha will be remembered for her contribution to the development of Tamil Nadu.PM Modi tweeted that her connect with citizens and her concern for the welfare of the poor and marginalised will be a source of inspirationPaying tributes to Jayalalithaa, Home Minister Rajnath Singh appealed to people of Tamil Nadu to remain calm.Nitish Kumar termed the demise of Jayalalithaa as sad and declared one-day mourning in his state.West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee also tweeted terming th death of Jayalalithaa as a big loss.Jayalalitha had a massive cardiac arrest on Sunday evening.Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal also tweeted late evening and expressed grief on Jayalalithaa's death.Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi expressed grief on Jaya's death and tweeted that the people have lost a great leader.Congress President Sonia Gandhi, while condoling Jayalalithaa's death, said, "I am deeply grieved to learn the passing of Selvi J Jayalalithaa."Selvi Jayalalithaa lived her entire life with the same indomitable courage with which she battled her illness. As the leader of AIADMK and four-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, she had a unique and deep empathy with the needs and hopes of the people, and put in place policies that immeasurably improved their lives."Whether it was her welfare schemes for the rural and urban poor, her swift relief measures in the aftermath of tsunami, or her vision of Tamil Nadu's industrial development, her leadership qualities and administratively abilities were truly outstanding," Sonia said.Sonia hailed her as a "towering figure in our national and political life, who won admiration across the political spectrum for the intrepid spirit with which she faced the ups and downs of her life in politics."Actor Shatrughan Sinha said the passing away of the iconic Amma is a huge loss for TN and the Nation.Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan also expressed sadness over the passing away of Jayalalithaaji.Superstar Amitabh Bachchan tweeted that he is deeply grieved at the passing of a strong woman. Srinagar, Dec 5 (IANS) Former Chief Minister and National Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Monday pledged support to separatist Hurriyat leaders, asking them to carry the "movement for azaadi to its conclusion". Addressing party workers at the mausoleum of his father and founder of the National Conference, the late Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, on the his 111th birth anniversary, Abdullah told Kashmiri separatist leaders his party was not against them, but would give full support to the them "to take the movement for azaadi to its conclusion". "Move ahead, we are with you. We have given our lives for this movement," he said. Abdullah asked his party men to work alongside the united Hurriyat leadership for achieving the goal of 'azaadi', which he said would never be achieved "unless we stand united". Islamabad: The declaration adopted at the 'Heart of Asia' conference, which named Pakistan-based terror outfits LeT and JeM, was unanimous, said Sartaj Aziz, advisor to the country's Prime Minister, who attended the meet in Amritsar. On his return home, Aziz sought to play down its significance by highlighting that other groups were also mentioned in the declaration along with Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, the terror groups blamed for attacks in India. Addressing a press conference, he said the emphasis of the conference was on tackling all regional outfits to stamp down militancy. HOA is a platform for discussing reconstruction of the trouble-torn Afghanistan. The HoA declaration expressed serious concern over gravity of the security situation in Afghanistan and in many parts of the region, holding that united efforts are required to contain terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Taliban, the Haqqani Network, Al Qaida, IS and its affiliates, TTP, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Jundullah and other foreign terrorist groups. Aziz said the declaration was unanimous and not only Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad were mentioned but several groups were named. "We are not under pressure to deal with militancy. It is not true as we are already doing it in our own interest," he said. "I put forward the objective situation in my statement. I said that we need holistic approach, as there are different groups and foreign elements. Afghanistan is complex and needs careful handling," Aziz said. He also defended the Pakistan government's decision to attend the HoA conference. "It was good decision to attend HoA. It was good to attend multilateral forum...to show solidarity with Afghanistan. If we had boycotted, then India would say that first they expelled Pakistan from SAARC and now from HoA," he said. Aziz also said that on the sidelines of the conclave he met Iranian foreign minister Jawad Zarif, foreign minister of Turkmenistan and Chinese assistant foreign minister. To a question, he said India had restricted movements of the Pakistani delegation. "Our interactions were not structured but overall there were constructive," he said. Chennai: Normal life was not affected in Tamil Nadu on Monday after the hospital sources said Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening. Educational institutions and offices functioned as usual and state transport buses were operated. However, security was beefed up across the state. Earlier, there were rumors on social media that schools and colleges in Chennai would remain shut on Monday following Jayalalithaa's illness. The 68-year-old Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital for treatment of fever and dehydration on September 22. The doctors later said she needed a longer hospital stay as she was suffering from infection, and put her on respiratory support. Recently, Apollo Hospitals Chairman Pratap C. Reddy told media that Jayalalithaa was returning to normalcy, and had been shifted out of Intensive Care Unit as there were no health complications. She could go home whenever she decides to do so, he had said. According to Apollo Hospitals, Jayalalithaa is under continued observation following Sunday's cardiac arrest. Indian Navy Puts on Big Show of Force on Indian Navy Day to Scare Pakistan Indian Navy warships of the Eastern Naval Command. (Photo : Indian Navy) India celebrated its 45th Indian Navy Day Dec. 4 with an impressive show of power by the navy's Eastern Naval Command (ENC) off Rama Krishna Mission Beach, one of the most popular beach parks in Visakhapatnam, headquarters of the ENC. Indian media reported hundreds of thousands of spectators at the event billed as an "operational demonstration" (op demo) by the navy. The navy showcased its multi-dimensional warfare to protect India's 7,500 kilometer-long coastline with a display of naval and naval airpower. Advertisement At least 24 Indian Navy warships and 17 naval aircraft participated in the Navy Day op demo. Navy Day commemorates a bold night attack by three Indian Navy missile boats and two corvettes on the Pakistan Navy at the port of Karachi on Dec. 4, 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. This daredevil assault codenamed Operation Trident caused the sinking of three Pakistan Navy warships and the destruction of the harbor's fuel stores. There were no Indian losses. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi saluted the bravery of the naval forces on the eve of Navy Day. In a tweet, Modi said India cherishes the role played by the Navy. "Navy Day greetings to all navy personnel & their families. We cherish the vital role of the navy & salute the bravery of our navy personnel." The op demo began after the arrival of chief guest, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who was received by Vice Admiral H. C. S. Bisht, AVSM, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command. Kicking-off the day's event was a skydiving assault by a team from MARCOS (the Special Forces unit of the Indian Navy). This was followed by helicopter landings on Eastern Fleet warships by Kamov Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopters; Sikorsky UH-3H Sea King utility helicopters and the HAL Chetak transport helicopters. Two BAE Systems Hawk advance jet trainers then engaged in an entertaining mock dogfight where each tried to "shoot down" the other. Nineteen ENC naval aircraft, including the newly inducted Boeing P-81 Poseidon anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare maritime reconnaissance aircraft, took part in an astounding flypast showcasing Indian naval airpower. The navy also showed-off its Inshore Survey Vessels (ISVs) meant to safeguard offshore installations. Khukri-class and Kora-class corvettes simulated missile launches while Shivalik-class multi-role, stealth frigates maneuvered offshore during Indian Navy Day. New Delhi: According to Chennai's Appolo Hospitals, the next 24 hours are crucial for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's recovery. Doctors at the hospital say the ailing Tamil Nadu chief minister will take 24 hours to respond to the treatment. Meanwhile, they are monitoring her vital signs like blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, and body temperature. Jayalalithaa"continues to be very critical," a day after suffering cardiac arrest, and is on various life support systems, Apollo Hospitals said on Monday. Jayalalithaa, who had a cardiac arrest last evening "continues to be very critical and is on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and other life support systems," Apollo Hospitals Chief Operating Officer Subbiah Viswanthan said in a statement. "The Honourable Chief Minister is being treated and closely monitored by a team of experts," he added. 68-year-old Jayalalithaa has been put on ECMO, a heart assist device, and was under the watch of experts, including cardiologists. Here are the updates: - Jayalalithaa suffered a massive cardiac arrest at 5 pm on Sunday. Doctors administered Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for 40 minutes, then she was put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) (a heart assist device). - A health bulletin issued by Apollo Hospitals On Monday said the AIADMK leader's treatment has been complicated due to infection in her lungs. - The Tamil Nadu chief minister has been kept on external heat assist and kidney support devices. - "Treatment is slow as Jayalalithaa is diabetic...Closely monitoring her health condition", said Apollo Hospitals. - 70 percent of her heart has resumed function, hospital authorities may brief media after 5 pm. - Centre sends 4-member AIIMS team to Chennai as Apollo asks for a team of doctors to help them improve Jaya's health condition. The team includes experts like Dr GC Khilani, Dr Anjan Trikha, Dr Sachin Talwar and Dr Rajiv Narang. - Hospital authorities said Jayalalithaa is being provided treatment as per standard international procedures. - Union Health Minister JP Nadda on Monday updated media about Jayalalithaa's heath conditions. Nadda said, "Centre will extend all support to Apollo Hospitals". - Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has been rushed to Chennai, he spoke to Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao on Jayalaithaa's health condition. (- With agency inputs) Beijing: Reacting mildly to India allowing Tibetan spiritual leader Karmapa to visit Arunachal Pradesh, China on Monday expressed hope that New Delhi would refrain from taking any action that might complicate the boundary dispute. The 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje last week visited Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as a part of southern Tibet. Replying to a question on his visit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, "China's position on the East section of the China-India border is clear and consistent. We hope India can abide by relevant consensus and refrain from any action that might complicate the boundary question." "To ensure the peace and stability of the border areas and soundand stable development of the bilateral relationship serves the common interest of the two sides," he said. Asked whether China has lodged any protest with India in this regard, he said China and India are in "constant communication on this". "The Indian side is clear about solemn position when it comes to boundary question," he said. The 17th Karmapa during his first visit to Arunachal Pradesh toured West Kameng district and preached to the Tibetans at Gyuto Monastery at Tenzingang before leaving for Kalaktang. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju had thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for doing away with the restrictions imposed in the previous eras and for facilitating the Karmapas visit to any part of the country and elsewhere. China's reaction to Karmapas visit appeared far more guarded and mild compared to its response on India granting permission in October this year to the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh. There is also no direct criticism of Karmapa unlike the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing calls a separatist and a politician in the garb of religious leader. China routinely objects to visits by the Dalai Lama, Indian leaders as well as foreign dignitaries to Arunachal Pradesh. On October 24, China took exception to the visit of Richard Verma, the US envoy in India, to Arunachal Pradesh. The border dispute between India and China covers the 3,488-km long Line of Actual Control (LAC). India asserts that the dispute covered Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war. New Delhi: There are 'no grave differences' between the students' union and administration of Jawaharlal Nehru University, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday. However, 'there are a few conceptual differences which can be resolved amicably through dialogue and discussions', Minister of State for Human Resource Development Mahendra Nath Pandey said in reply to a question in Lok Sabha. "The university administration holds meetings with the students' union on various issues from time to time," he added. The then President of JNU Students' Union Kanhaiya Kumar, was arrested earlier this year on charges of sedition following a scuffle at an event hosted to mark the death anniversary of Afzal Guru. This led to a massive protest lasting several months by the students and teachers against the administration for allowing the police in the varsity campus. Students were again pitted against the administration after a student, Najeeb Ahmed, went missing nearly two months ago. The students alleged inaction and confined the Vice Chancellor of the university and other senior officials in the administrative building for over 20 hours. Kathmandu: A group of Nepalese journalists staged a demonstration in Saptari, demanding transfer of district police chief who allegedly assaulted a scribe during Yoga Guru Ramdev's visit to a temple. The journalists from Saptari held candle-light demonstration yesterday, demanding immediate transfer of district police chief SP Diwesh Lohani. According to the Saptari chapter of Federation of Nepal Journalists, Lohani allegedly assaulted a journalist and others when Ramdev was visiting Chhinnamasta temple on November 26. The journalists said they were compelled to stage a series of demonstration as the government did not pay attention to the "blatant injustice" they had to suffer. The journalists claimed that the government had shown no interest in fulfilling their demand though they had served a 48-hour ultimatum at the District Administration Office on Wednesday. They called on all journalists not to attend any programme organised by Nepal Police, boycott all type of news related to them and not to attend any press meet, among others. Security was beefed up on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa continued to be critical on Monday after suffering a cardiac arrest on Sunday.Security at various places in Kerala including at the famed Sabarimala temple was hiked.Kerala Police beefed up forces in the bordering districts like Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Idukki and Palakkad.The police also cordoned off certain areas in the famed Sabarimala temple located at a hilltop, using ropes to ensure that no untoward incidents occur.A huge number of pilgrims from Tamil Nadu were coming to the temple for the two-month-long festival season that got underway in November.The popular tourist destination of Thekkady in Idukki district that borders Kambam of Theni district in Tamil Nadu -- the route most take from Tamil Nadu was also under close vigil.Likewise at Munnar - another popular tourist and work destination of the Tamil people, was given extra security by the Kerala police.Ever since reports surfaced on Sunday that Jayalalithaa's condition deteriorated, Kerala authorities were monitoring the situation as things could get out of hand due to emotional outburst. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa passed away early on Monday at a Chennai hospital hours after suffering a cardiac arrest.Inconsolable supporters and AIADMK cadre thronged the Apollo Hospitals as tributes poured in for the popular leader from across the political spectrum.Here are the possible political calculations that can take place With Jayalalithaa not around anymore:Sasikalas coterie, estimated at 60+ MLAs plus 12 ministers would attempt to counter any attempt by DMK or others to unseat the AIADMK government.Forgetting their differences, albeit temporarily various factions of the AIADMK backed by the bureaucracy would try and stick together to run the govt.Sasikala, despite trust deficit with O. Paneerselvam may not rock his boat understanding well that Amma herself reposed faith in him and any attempt to tinker his position may backfire.AIADMK cadre may rebel against Sasikalas cabal given the huge sense of betrayal.Sasikala may evoke Mukkulathor (Thevar) caste tag to keep legislators united. Mukkulathors in the past lent a lot of electoral support to the AIADMK supremo.A compromise may be reached between Mukkulathors (mostly in south TN) and Gounders (western TN) caste groups to share the power with LS Dy Speaker M. Thambi Durai, a Gounder, being given free hand in Delhi and Sasikalas nominee as the new CM.Sasikala may field Sheela Balakrishnan, a former chief secretary and chief adviser to the CM as a trump card to contain dissent within AIADMK.Will attempt not to let the assembly get dissolved by poaching rebel AIADMK MLAs, those who will not like to go for fresh polls.Rebel AIADMK MLAs may agree to work under Stalins leadership given his fresh outreach among youth and voters in the state.Will be cautious about ensuing change in AIADMK leadership that may result in collapse of administration and give BJP a chance to impose presidents rule and thereby make inroads in states politics.May join hands with Sasikala faction in case state goes for fresh polls.Party may attempt to project itself as an alternative with national connection.Central government can influence the happenings around change of guard in the state but highly unlikely that it can do much given the party has no credible and acceptable face in the state.Could further lose with many leaving AIADMK may opt for a stronger BJP. Narendra Modi wins reader's poll for TIME Person of the Year https://t.co/4ql3vDmdYP TIME (@TIME) 5 December 2016 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the online reader's poll for TIME Person of the Year 2016, beating out other world leaders like US President-elect Donald Trump, incumbent US leader Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.Modi won with 18 per cent of the vote when the poll closed last night, getting significantly more votes than his closest contenders, including Obama, Trump and Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange, who all received 7 per cent of the 'yes' vote.Modi was also placed far ahead of other prominent figures of this year, like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (2 per cent) and US Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (4 per cent), Time said.Time's editors will decide the final Person of the Year later this week, but the online poll results provide a look at how the world sees these figures and Modi emerged as the most influential figure in 2016, according to the online poll.Time said the reader poll is an "important window" into who they think most shaped 2016.It is for the second time that Modi has won the online readers' poll for Time Person of the Year title, securing the honour in 2014, when he had got more than 16 per cent of the almost five million votes cast.For the fourth year in a row, Modi is among the contenders for Time's 'Person of the Year' honour, which the US publication bestows every year to the one "who has most influenced the news and our world in the past year, for good or ill".Last year German Chancellor Angela Merkel was Time's 'Person of the Year'.Time said in recent months, Modi saw high approval ratings from Indians, according to a September Pew poll. It added that Modi has come under scrutiny recently for getting rid of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes, impacting cash-based businesses and threatening India's economy.Current poll results, analysed by poll host Apester, found that preferences differed across the world and the United States. Modi performed particularly well among Indian voters as well as those in California and New Jersey.Modi had been in the lead in this years online poll and according to the initial votes cast, he had got 21 per cent voting in his favour.For a while Assange had overtaken Trump for the lead in the online poll, getting 10 per cent of all the "yes" votes cast by participants, Time had said.Among the contenders this year are former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, FBI Chief James Comey, Apple CEO Tim Cook, parents of slain Muslim-American soldier Humanyun Khan, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.Time had also analysed the moments from 2016 when this year's poll contenders were most talked about. For Modi it was October 16 when the Indian leader had suggested during a summit of BRICS nations in Goa that Pakistan is the "mothership" for terrorism. Mumbai: Actor Ranveer Singh says that his forthcoming film Befikre has a nice story apart from the much talked about kissing scenes. "Yes, there is a story. When Adi sir (the film's director Aditya Chopra) showed the trailer to me before releasing it, I asked him why he is releasing a promo that has so much more to it? The promo does not give you anything about the world of the film," Ranveer told IANS here. "I had an argument with him regarding that, but I think he wants the audience to discover the characters of the film while watching and that is why he deliberately cut a very surface level promo. It's a very conscious choice that he made to under promise and over deliver' to his audience," he added. The actor, who is paired with actress Vaani Kapoor in the film, said the audience will start discovering the two characters from the first scene of the film once people watch it. "Though it is light-hearted, it is not a frivolous film," said Ranveer, who has shown his romantic side in films like Band Baaja Baaraat, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, Lootera and Bajirao Mastani. The audience will get to see more of it in Befikre, which is the celebration of carefree love and a romantic relationship. How are love stories in Hindi cinema changing and is the audience receptive towards it? He said: "I think we have room for both -- Befikre and Bajirao Mastani. Yes, there is a generational shift when it comes to the outlook of a romantic relationship. The young generation communicates through social media more. That was not accessible during my formative years like when I was 17-18 years old." "Now, judging people based on their choices of romantic relationship is not cool. The young generation is open-minded. However, there is room for classic romantic love stories as well." Befikre is his first film in which he is being directed by Chopra, head honcho of Yash Raj Films. Talking about his equation with with the filmmaker, Ranveer said: "You see the director-actor equation is more substantial and dynamic than a producer-actor. We have interacted more during the shooting of the film." "So, I got to know a different side of him...whether he has a wicked sense of humour or has a bindass carefree attitude. He is a private person and as an actor, I feel fortunate to know him closely." In the past, Ranveer has acted in Chopra-produced films, including the actor's debut movie Band Baaja Baaraat. What makes it so special to be part of any Yash Raj Films project? He said: "I think there is a certain amount of assurance with which the production will be executed. The film will be mounted and you know there will be no stone unturned from the producer's end to do the best for the film. And there is a certain amount of prestige value to it." Befikre is all set to release on December 9. Chennai: Actor Dhanush confirmed on Sunday that his maiden Tamil directorial venture Power Paandi will release worldwide on April 14,next year, on the occasion of Dhanush's mother's birthday. "Power Paandi will release on 14-4-2017. Happens to be my mother's birthday," Dhanush wrote on his Twitter page about the film, which features veteran star Raj Kiran in the title role. Dhanush also shared a poster of the film with the release date. The film, in which Dhanush plays a cameo, will revolve around the life of a few stuntmen. Dhanush will be seen playing the younger version of Raj Kiran. Power Paandi, which is being bankrolled by Wunderbar Films, also stars Prasanna and Chaya, and has music by Sean Roldan. Dhanush's brother Selvaraghavan guarantees that audiences will fall in love with the film. "Saw almost the whole film. I can guarantee, you will fall in love with him, a power packed Raj Kiran sir," Selvaraghavan wrote on his Twitter page. My Second First Film In the words of our Director #AdityaChopra. It's all about being Befikre. #BefikreOn9th| #TheBefikreSeries pic.twitter.com/VcPDLmblgw Yash Raj Films (@yrf) December 5, 2016 Aditya Chopra has opened up about his reasons to direct his upcoming Paris-set romance Befikre, saying he wanted to do something that helped him rediscover a fearless passion for filmmaking.The director, who is known for his reclusive nature, shot to fame with Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Chopra, in a note to his fans that was accompanied with his picture with lead pair Ranveer Singh and Vaani Kapoor, said he wanted to get rid of the burden of expectations that had come to haunt him."It's been 21 years since DDLJ and I have worked tirelessly producing loads of films, building a studio model, even wrote and directed a couple of films on the way. All the while I gained a lot of knowledge and experience, came to know a lot of things."But with knowledge came a sense of fear as well... Fear of failure, fear of not meeting expectations. When you know a lot, you become more cautious and when you become cautious you tend to lose the one thing that drove you to do this in the first place, fearless passion. I figured it's time to reboot myself."Chopra said he realised that what worked for DDLJ will not connect with the youngsters today as the world has changed and so "have definitions of love". "More importantly, women have changed. Today they are equal to men (actually stronger) in every possible way. This truly has changed the rules of love forever. Who asks whom out first? Who says I love you first? Do we say I love you at all? Who breaks up first?."The director said he wanted to leave the baggage of his three films DDLJ, Mohabbatein and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, all starring Shah Rukh Khan."I wanted to feel as if I'm making my first film. To achieve this, the most important decision I took was to surround myself with people I didn't know. Since the film is set in Paris, I chose a full French crew...."Since I was a complete stranger to them, they did not come with any baggage of my past achievements and treated me as any regular director. And since they were unknown to me and my style of filmmaking, I could rediscover myself as a student of cinema once again."Chopra said dramatic conflict, heightened emotions and intense romance were the three pillars on which his stories stood but he decided to ditch this as well in "Befikre". "So at 45, I'm being fearless once again. I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and into the minefield of the young andrestless. Unlearning everything that I know and trying to figure out if I'm still relevant to the youth today," he said, adding he is "scared" about the response to the film, slated to release this Friday. Actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan walks onstage during Comic-Con International 2016 at San Diego Convention Center on July 22, 2016 in San Diego, California. (Photo : Getty Images/ Jesse Grant) "The Walking Dead" Season 7 episode 8 titled "Hearts Still Beating" indicates more danger for Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his group. As per the latest spoilers of the popular series, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) will continue spreading havoc until "The Walking Dead" Season 8. [Warning: This article contains spoilers.] Advertisement "The Walking Dead" showrunners have been successful in making Negan the epitome of evil. A recent revelation of Morgan indicated that he is still going to cause more trouble to Grimes and his group, which hints more impending deaths until "The Walking Dead" Season 8. "Well, I know that I'll be around for Season 8," Morgan told Howard Stern on "The Howard Stern Show" on Nov.29, Tuesday about until when he will be seen in the AMC series. "The next two, I'm really big in. I'm fucking heavy in those." Morgan also teased that Negan will have more screen time in "The Walking Dead" Season 7 episode 7 and 8. As revealed in Robert Kirkman's comic book, another beloved character will pass away. Spencer Monroe (Austin Nichols) believes that Grimes does not qualify as a leader of Alexandria, so he is urging Negan to kill him. However, Negan thinks that Monroe is a coward because he waited for Grimes to be away before he told him his request. The comic book says that Monroe will be killed by Negan in the most gruesome way. According to the synopsis of "The Walking Dead" Season 7 episode 8, Negan will return to Alexandria while other members search or supplies and things get out of hand. There is a speculation that it will not be long before Grimes will take over Negan now that things are going more terrible for everyone. "The Walking Dead" fans are now speculating that the midseason finale will see Grimes taking his leadership back to take his vengeance to Negan. The way things are going, Grimes had several chances to kill Negan. However, fans hoping to see Negan being killed by Grimes is still far from reality because as the former revealed, he will have more screen time in "The Walking Dead" Season 7 episode 7 and 8. Whether this will happen or not is still something that fans have to wait for. "The Walking Dead" Season 7 airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC. Watch the sneak peek of "The Walking Dead" Season 7 episode 8: New Delhi: All Indian states have their fair share of larger-than-life figures, but Tamil Nadu stands in a league of its own when it comes to the cult of personality, thanks to the seamless mix of film and politics. Both J Jayalalithaa and he political mentor MG Ramachandran (MGR) honed their public image on the silver screen and transferred it smoothly on to politics. Whether in cinema or in politics, or those who straddled both, a larger than life image was crucial. This ensured that public emotion was with the leader in times of joy (winning elections), sadness (ill-health) or turbulence (court cases or corruption cases). The profusion of public sentiments visuals of wailing men, women beating their chests and reports of fan-suicides every time a leader is rushed to the hospital explains this partly. Going by the grain of Tamil Nadu politics, the Thalaivar (leader) or Thalaivi (female leader, in Jayalalithaa's case) is not just a figure basking in his or her celebrity status. He or she also hones their skills assiduously as an orator, a person of letters, a playwright or just simply a model person for others to emulate. CN Annadurai, the founder of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was known for his oratorical and writing skills, scripting several Tamil plays which were made into movies; his protege M. Karunanidhi honed his skills as a writer of poems, screenplays, novels, dialogues and film songs, which extolled the virtues of "Tamil culture" and laid the foundations for the rise of MGR. The cult that MGR spawned, first in the movies and then in politics, lives to this day. He was not exactly a man of letters, but was a powerful public speaker whose opening line "En Rathathin Rathamana Tamizh Makkale (People of Tamil Nadu, the blood of my blood...) was nothing short of electric. Transferring his onscreen persona into public life, he played up his image of the "savior" and reaped electoral dividends. In fact, Jayalalithaa was a direct beneficiary of this. "MGR's was the most important cult of personality in Tamil Nadu," Sampath Kumar, a veteran journalist who now teaches radio news at the Asian College of Journalism told News18. "He did this by cultivating the image of a good man, a savior of the poor," he added. MGR never smoked or drank on screen, always rescued the damsel in distress (often played by Jayalalithaa), and appealed directly to the sentiments of the common man. The image was carefully constructed by M Karunanidhi, who wrote many of the film scripts. In 1977 MGR became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and cemented himself in the psyche of his fans (political and cinematic) as an icon. He transferred the 'Good man' screen image to politics by enacting measures such as the highly popular mid-day meals scheme and special buses for women. Sampath Kumar said that in some villages in Tamil Nadu, people still refuse to believe that MGR is dead, and voted for Jayalalithaa as his heir. Modern day Tamil Nadu's political culture is intimately tied to Dravidian politics, in which Karunanidhi, MGR and Annadurai all earned their spurs. The Dravidian movement was forged on promoting Tamil language and culture, opposing both Brahmin domination and the imposition of Hindi. Tamil poetry, prose and cinema were used liberally to create an emotional bond and forge a Dravidian identity to mobilise people. The predictable flip side then is that Tamil Nadu has become bereft of issues and centered instead on personality. Not only that, inner party democracy in the State's political parties were sacrificed at the altar of the leadership cult. "In theory there are democratic structures in the parties, but in practice it is the leader who calls all the shots," Dr. C. Lakshmanan, an Associate Professor at the Madras School of Development Studies, who has studied Tamil Nadu's political and cinematic cultures told News18. "Politics in the state is not issue centric, but leader centric," he added. Jayalalithaa is no more and Karunanidhi is over 90 years old. How politics in the state evolves now remains to be seen. But don't rule out strong personalities in the future. To most people around her, Jayalalithaa was an enigma - a woman who kept her feelings fiercely private even when her public life went through a rollercoaster of ups and downs, twists and turns.Like many others in the Tamil political spectrum, Jayalalithaa entered the rough and tumble of public life through the silver screen. Born into a Hebbar Vaishnava Iyengar family at Melukote near Mysore in Karnataka, she lost her father Jayaram when she was only two years old. Her mother Sandhya (real name Vedavalli) was a busy actress. She grew up missing her mother in an interview she remembered how she, as a girl of 10, waited late in the night to show her first prize in an English essay competition to her mother.Even though she did not miss the comforts of a good life, she craved for love, attention and the warmth of her mother and other family members. Her old friends say she never got that, and this possibly made her a moody, highly unpredictable and yet charismatic person, who later went on to gather an unparalleled mass following in Tamil Nadu.And in the life of Jayalalithaa the star and politician, only two people held sway: Tamil superhero-turned-political star MG Ramachandran who made her career in films as well as politics, and Sasikala Natarajan, her aide and conscience-keeper.Jayalalithaas relationship with Sasikala has been complex. She has been her long-time friend, who even went to jail with her on two occasions. But even she did not escape Ammas wrath. Two years ago she sent her husband Natarajan and son to jail. They were let off only after Sasikala pleaded with Jaya to have mercy on her family.After studying at the prestigious Bishop Cottons Girls School in Bengaluru, she came to Madras (now Chennai) to live with her mother and an aunt and continued her education there. Incidentally, her first film was in Kannada. She acted as a child artiste in Sri Shaila Mahatme (1961) which had matinee idol Rajkumar and Krishna Kumari in lead roles. In 1964, when she was just 16 years old, renowned filmmaker BR Panthulu decided to cast her opposite Kalyan Kumar in another Kannada movie Chinnada Gombe.Jayalalithaa though was more interested in becoming a lawyer. She joined Stella Maris College in Madras, hoping that one day she would become a top lawyer. Fate had other plans. Between 1965 and 1973, she starred in 28 box-office hits with Tamil superstar MG Ramachandran, making them the most popular pair in Tamil cinema. Even though she acted in some Telugu and a Hindi movie called Izzat with Dharmendra, she was mainly a Tamil cinema sensation.Her mentor MGR, whom she described as a charismatic man with enviable intellect, left the DMK over serious differences with his friend M Karunanidhi to form his own political outfit, the AIADMK, in the early 1970s. Proving all sceptics wrong, MGR rode to power in 1977 and remained in power till his death 11 years later. In 1982, Jaya joined politics and made her famous maiden political speech Pennin Perumai (the greatness of a woman) at an AIADMK conference the same year. In 1983, MGR made her AIADMKs propaganda secretary and fielded her in the by-election from Tiruchendur Assembly seat. A year later she was sent to the Rajya Sabha because of her fluency in English. According to some senior Congress leaders, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi took an instant liking for her because she saw another strong-willed woman in her.Jayalalithaas soaring popularity both within and outside the party caused a lot of heartburn among other senior leaders in the AIADMK and some openly revolted against her alleging that she was blocking access to their beloved MGR. In the 1984 elections, she successfully led the party as MGR was incapacitated due to a stroke. After MGRs death, the AIADMK split into two and his widow Janaki Ramachandran was made the chief minister with the support of a faction opposed to Jaya. But her government was dismissed by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in a month.In 1989, claiming to be the political heir of MGR, she successfully contested in the Assembly elections from Bodinayakkanur and became leader of the opposition in the Assembly. In 1989, Jayalalithaa was manhandled inside the Assembly hall by some unruly DMK members. A furious and humiliated Jaya vowed to return to Assembly only as chief minister, which she achieved in 1991. She literally swept the polls by winning 225 seats in the 234 member Assembly.After that she was on her own. Her first tenure was known for massive corruption and the controversy surrounding her adopted son Sudhakarans Rs 100-crore wedding. In 1996, her party was decimated by the DMK, and Jaya was arrested and sent to jail on corruption charges. As she later revealed, she was kept in a vermin-infested jail cell and treated like a common criminal. The same case returned to haunt her till her death. In September 2014, a special court in Bengaluru convicted her and she was sent to Bengaluru jail for a few weeks before being granted bail. The Karnataka High Court later acquitted her in the case, the matter is now with the Supreme Court.In 2001, she again returned to power and had to quit over the Tansi case. After a few months she returned as chief minister. Her party lost the 2006 polls in TNs revolving chair politics. Her health started failing after that and Jaya was spending more and more time at her tea estate in Kodanadu in the Nilgiris Hills. There was even a talk of Amma retiring from politics. Once again, proving her rivals wrong, she won the 2011 Assembly polls and introduced dozens of pro-poor popular schemes like the Amma Canteen.Jayalalithaa came back to power in 2016, despite limiting her campaign due to failing health. After becoming CM for a fourth time, she rarely appeared in public and attended the Assembly irregularly. A month after Volvo got an order of 100 self-driving cars from Uber, Apple has hinted that it will enter the driverless cars market where bigwigs like Tesla and Google have already made deep inroads, a media report said. According to a report in The Verge, the Cupertino-based tech giant -- under its so-called Project Titan -- has submitted a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, stating that it is "investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation". The letter is Apple's official comment on the federal government's automated vehicle guidelines, released last September. Interestingly, Apple's letter is signed by Steven Kenner -- the company's head of product integrity who up until recently was the global director of automotive safety at Ford. "Apple agrees that companies should share de-identified scenario and dynamics data from crashes and near-misses. By sharing data, the industry will build a more comprehensive dataset than any one company could create alone," Kenner's letter was quoted as saying. Recently reports surfaced suggesting that the company is not attempting to build its own electric car but is focused on developing self-driving software it can deploy in partnership with existing carmakers. "This letter comes amid news that hundreds of members of Apple's 1,000-employee-strong car team have been reassigned, let go, or have left of their own volition," the report pointed out. In October, Uber ordered 100 self-driving vehicles from the Swedish company Volvo. The news came after an 18-wheeler self-driving Volvo trailer drove from Fort Collins, Colorado, to Colorado Springs, bearing 50,000 cans of Budweiser beer. The Volvo truck, equipped with cameras and sensors, was owned by Otto, a self-driving truck company acquired by Uber earlier this year. An internal audit at Apples primary supplier of iPhones, Foxconn, revealed that a senior manager netted around $1.56 million by stealing and then selling iPhones from the factory. Former senior manager, Tsai, who worked in a testing department in the company stole 5,700 iPhones in recent years. Tsai teamed up with eight other employees to smuggle out iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s units. He, later on, sold the phones to stores in Shenzen between 2013 and 2014. These stolen units were originally supposed to be scrapped. Tsai was questioned upon his return when the case was reported to Taiwanese authorities and has been released on bail since then. Tsai will now face charges on breach of trust and can face 10 years in prison as the maximum jail term. The worlds largest electronics manufacturer, Foxconn has once faced such a situation before in 2014 wherein five Foxconn employees solicited more than $5 million from the company. They were sentenced to up to 10 years and six months of prison time. The technology giant has been criticised previously for its poor working conditions following a series of suicides by the employees. At a time when serpentine queues continue to grow outside ATMs across the country following the demonetisation move, a top executive of Intel Security has warned that ATMs in India are susceptible to security breaches. Intel Security, with its McAfee product line, is the world's largest dedicated security technology company. In banks, a breach can happen at multiple levels -- like at an ATM, data centre, network or through mobile banking. "The ATM today is an easy target for hackers to hit a network," Anand Ramamoorthy, Managing Director, Intel Security, South Asia, told IANS in an interview. ATM attacks have affected several countries in the recent past. A hacker group called Cobalt targeted ATMs across Europe last month and remotely attacked the machines using malicious software that manipulated the systems which led the machines to automatically dispense huge amounts of cash. Banks in India will have to make efforts to ensure that ATMs are protected with multiple levels of authentication and industry-standard encryption, ensuring data security at all points of a transaction. According to experts, banks need to work towards gradually enabling EMV chip and PIN-enabled card acceptance and processing at ATMs to enhance the safety and security of transactions. "It is time that magnetic-stripe cards issued by banks for ATM transactions are replaced at the earliest. While the affected banks are blocking debit cards to minimise the impact, the already ongoing replacement of mag-stripe cards with EMV chip cards will help the banks and consumers," Atul Singh, Regional Director-Banking and Transport (India Subcontinent) at the digital security giant Gemalto, told IANS earlier. EMV -- which stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa -- is a global standard for credit cards that uses computer chips to authenticate (and secure) chip-card transactions. "We have seen a big focus on ATM attacks in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, including India. ATMs in underdeveloped countries are particularly vulnerable as those countries still have old ATM software and are running Windows XP. This makes them the perfect target for an easier score," US-based cyber security company FireEye said recently. In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently urged people to "embrace e-banking, mobile banking and more such technology", but Ramamoorthy warned that as mobile banking becomes popular, it will involve greater risks. "You have to become aware as you become more digitised," noted Ramamoorthy, adding that mobile has become more of a financial gateway and its implications are huge for the country. Earlier this year, following a malware-related security breach, the State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and YES Bank blocked millions of debit cards that were compromised in one of the biggest data breaches in the financial sector. "To protect ATMs from cyber attacks in the future, Intel Security has deployed an 'Embedded App' control which not only protects ATMs at the site but also the network which it is connected to," Ramamoorthy said, adding that the app is set for an update in 2017. Technology giant Microsoft has offered more than 70 jobs across different campuses of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) this year for its India and international operations. We have offered more than 70 jobs across different IIT campuses this year. This is for India as well as global posts in the US over 20 of the 70 jobs offered are international posts, Microsoft India Senior Director HR Rohit Thakur told. He added that Microsoft is among the top 3 recruiters at IIT this year. Microsoft has always been committed to hiring and retaining the best talent in the industry. For us, campus hiring is a crucial source of talent, and we engage with the countrys top educational institutes to hire bright and passionate youth, he said. He added that IIT is one the best breeding grounds for top-grade technocrats not just in India, but worldwide. Our drive at IITs this year is in keeping with our increased focus on R&D and engineering excellence as we move towards becoming a cloud and services organisation, he said. The 2016 iterations of the Samsung Galaxy A series will receive the Android Nougat update soon even as the South Korean company has not announced the list of devices eligible for the update.Says a report in SamMobile : Galaxy A series (2016) will get the Android Nougat update soon but there is no word on when the roll-out would start for the devices. It is expected that the firmware update will be rolled out in the second quarter of 2017.Meanwhile, Samsung has seeded the Android Nougat beta build to Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge and the test will conclude by mid-December.This means that the Samsung Galaxy A3, Galaxy A5, Galaxy A7, Galaxy A8, Galaxy A9 and Galaxy A9 Pro should be able to expect the update in near future. Valued at $350 Billion in total, Facebook is considered as a shark in the tank of social media firms. Time and again, this shark has tried to gobble up a little competition by the name of Snapchat. Though Snapchat does not even have a total net worth of 10 percent of that of Facebook, some of the features really stand out from all its competition in the market and are hence gaining rapid traction for the company. Facebook has tried to take over Snapchat in the past with a $3 Billion offer on the table. This concluded in their disappointment when Snapchat CEO, Evan Spiegel, rejected the offer in 2013. Since then, Facebook has repeatedly tried to match the features on Snapchat and hence put it out of business. Here is a list of attempts that the company has made to engulf such features in its list of services: 1. POKE: Facebook rolled out an app in 2012 by the name of Poke. Poke allowed the users to send messages to each other which vanished within 10 seconds of opening it. The app could not gain much traction at the time and was put out of service in 2014. 2. In 2014, Facebook again launched a standalone app by the name of Slingshot. The app allowed users to send across messages and photos to each other and have them self-destruct after a given time. This app again was shut down in 2015. 3. As a new feature for its popular app Instagram, Facebook launched 'Instagram stories', allowing users to photos that self-destructed after 24 hours. 4. Instagram Quick Updates: This feature was tested to make the regular news feed on Instagram self-destructive, i.e. the feeds for one day will not be available after a given time period. The company never launched this feature after testing. 5. In its most recent attempt, Facebook launched 'Instant Video' feature on its messenger app. This feature allowed the users to view and share video feeds with each other. 6. Facebook started testing its Messenger Day in Poland this year in a bid to capture user base in countries where Snapchat is not very popular at the moment. Messenger day allows people to share filtered photos and videos which disappear in 24 hours, exactly like Snapchat. There are a few reasons why Snapchat holds its ground even today after facing competition from one of its fierce contenders. Very first reason why the youth relate to it is that it is a private platform as there are no likes or comments. This eliminates the performance anxiety that many users face while posting anything on the social media. Also, knowing that the content posted online will not stay there for long gives a sense of security to the users which is absent in most of the other social media platforms. Of the nine major tech giants, including Facebook, Apple and Google, only Twitter has declined to help if US President-elect Donald Trump seeks to create a national Muslim registry, a media report said. US-based news website the Intercept said it contacted nine of the most prominent firms to ask if they would sell their services to help create a national Muslim registry -- an idea recently refloated by President-elect Donald Trump's transition team -- and only Twitter said no. "We contacted nine different firms in the business of technology, broadly defined, with the following question: 'Would [name of company], if solicited by the Trump administration, sell any goods, services, information, or consulting of any kind to help facilitate the creation of a national Muslim registry, a project which has been floated tentatively by the President-elect's transition team?'," the report said. After two weeks of calls and e-mails, only three companies provided an answer and only one said it would not participate in such a project. Google, Facebook, Apple, IBM, IT giant SRA International and Canada-based Information technology consulting company CGI did not provide any answer to the query. Management consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton declined to comment. Twitter said "No", and a link, which states as company policy a prohibition against the use, was shared on the website. The link read: "To be clear: We prohibit developers using the Public APIs and Gnip data products from allowing law enforcement -- or any other entity -- to use Twitter data for surveillance purposes. Period." Microsoft returned with an answer saying, "We're not going to talk about hypotheticals at this point." A link to a company blog post states that "we're committed to promoting not just diversity among all the men and women who work here, but...inclusive culture" and that "it will remain important for those in government and the tech sector to continue to work together to strike a balance that protects privacy and public safety in what remains a dangerous time". The Intercept cleared that the story was not written to say that the companies which did not reply to the request for a comment or declined to comment, were tacitly endorsing the Trump agenda in general or a Muslim registry in particular. "Still, it is asking very little of today's tech companies to prompt them to go on record as unwilling to help create a federal list of Muslims -- or so one would very much hope," the report noted. Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into.. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016 their country (the U.S. doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016 : The US President-elect has attacked China after he was criticised by Beijing over his recent telephone conversation with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, reports said on Monday."Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn't tax them)," Trump said in his tweet on Sunday.He said did Beijing ask before building "a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!," Xinhua news reported.Hours before Trump's attack on Twitter, US Vice President-elect Mike Pence had tried to defuse the controversy over the controversial call by assuring in a television interview that it was only a "courtesy" call.Tsai telephoned Trump on December 2 to congratulate him on his election success that subsequently provoked a formal protest from the Chinese government and raised high expectations in Taiwan.That call broke almost four decades protocol in the sensitive US foreign policy towards China.It forced the White House to step up to remind that the only Chinese government that Washington has accepted since 1979 is that of Beijing.Foreign policy experts said the call could alter the relations between the two countries, as the Asian giant sees Taiwan as a "rebel" province and a part its territory.At first, Chinese authorities wanted to curtail the issue and assured that the call was a "little trick" of Taiwan, but later they raised the tone and lodged a formal protest against the US.Beijing urged Washington to maintain its commitment to the principle of the "one-China" policy and asked it to handle issues related to Taiwan "cautiously and properly" in order to avoid "unnecessary interference". Islamabad: India's efforts to "spoil" Pak-Afghan ties will not succeed, Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has said as he downplayed Afghan President's criticism of Pakistan's support to terrorism, saying it was meant to "please" India. "Ashraf Ghani's (Afghan President) statement is regrettable. It shows anxiety in Kabul and is understandable due to deteriorating law and order situation," Aziz said, adding that Ghani's "statements were meant to please India". He said India's efforts to divide Afghanistan and Pakistan will not go far as "we are next-door neighbours". "Indian efforts will not succeed to spoil Pakistan ties with Afghanistan, as our ties are religious and cultural. That is why we want that terrorism should end in Afghanistan," he said on returning home after attending the Heart of Asia meeting in Amritsar. "But our ties with Afghanistan are independent and we need to cooperate on several issues," Aziz said. He claimed that India was trying to use Afghanistan for its own advantage "but it will not succeed". Aziz also accused India of not treating the Pakistani media properly at the Heart of Asia meeting and said he was not allowed to have a press conference. "The attitude towards media was not good. I wanted to have press interaction with our own media. But we were not allowed," he alleged. Afghan President Ghani had accused Pakistan of launching an "undeclared war" against his country by covertly supporting terror networks including the Taliban, and asked it to use its USD 500 million aid to check extremism on its soil. He had also demanded an Asian or international regime to verify Pakistan-sponsored terror operations. Aziz said Pakistan had reassured Ghani that its territory will not be used against Kabul. "I reassured Ghani that we will not allow out territory to be used against Afghanistan. But also emphasised better border management," said Aziz. Aziz said the Afghan leader had a different idea about USD 500 million assistance pledged by Pakistan and proposed a trilateral commission with China to utilise the amount for welfare of Afghanistan. Lahore: JuD chief Hafiz Saeed on Monday announced launching a movement against the passage of a bill that stopped forced religious conversions in Pakistan's Sindh province, saying that the law is anti-Islam and against the Constitution. The Sindh Assembly had recently adopted the Sindh Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Bill, 2015, against forced religious conversions and recommended a five-year jail term for perpetrators and facilitators of forced religious conversions will be handed a three-year sentence. Under the newly passed bill, forcibly converting a minor is also a punishable offence. Adults will be given 21 days to consider their decision to convert. According to the South Asia Partnership-Pakistan (SAP-PK), at least 1,000 girls mostly Hindus are forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan every year. Saeed said in a statement that the new law is against Islam and Pakistani Constitution. "We will take other political and religious organisations on board in our movement against this anti-Islam law," he said. "We will not remain silent on this controversial law and launch a countrywide movement to force the Sindh government to withdraw this anti-Islam law," the alleged mastermind of Mumbai attack further said. He said India always tried that Hindus residing in Sindh could be used against Pakistan but it could not succeed. The Senate Standing Committee on Religious Affairs had also termed forced conversions "illegal and against the principles of Islam". Cases of forced conversions have regularly been reported from different parts of Sindh including Jacobabad, Tharparkar, Mithi, Umerkot, Kashmore, Kandhkot, Ghotki, Sukkur and Larkana. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would discuss with Donald Trump the West's "bad" nuclear deal with Iran after the U.S. president-elect enters the White House. Speaking separately to a conference in Washington, Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry clashed over the Iran deal and Israel's settlement construction on the occupied West Bank, which Kerry depicted as an obstacle to peace. During the U.S. election campaign, Trump, a Republican, called last year's nuclear pact a "disaster" and "the worst deal ever negotiated". He has also said it would be hard to overturn an agreement enshrined in a U.N. resolution. "Israel is committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. That has not changed and will not change. As far as President-elect Trump, I look forward to speaking to him about what to do about this bad deal," Netanyahu told the Saban Forum, a conference on the Middle East, in Washington, via satellite from Jerusalem. Trump takes office on Jan. 20. Netanyahu has been a harsh critic of the nuclear deal, a legacy foreign policy achievement for Democratic President Barack Obama. But he had largely refrained from attacking the pact in recent months as Israeli and U.S. negotiators finalised a 10-year, $38 billion military aid package for Israel. Before the nuclear agreement, Netanyahu, a conservative, strained relations with the White House by addressing the U.S. Congress in 2015 and cautioning against agreeing to the pact. The Obama administration promoted the deal as a way to suspend Tehran's suspected drive to develop atomic weapons. In return, Obama agreed to lift most sanctions against Iran. Tehran denies ever having considered developing nuclear arms. Under the deal, Iran committed to reducing the number of its centrifuges by two-thirds, capping its level of uranium enrichment well below the level needed for bomb-grade material, reducing its enriched uranium stockpile from around 10,000 kg to 300 kg for 15 years, and submitting to international inspections to verify its compliance. "The problem isn't so much that Iran will break the deal, but that Iran will keep it because it just can walk in within a decade, and even less ... to industrial-scale enrichment of uranium to make the core of an arsenal of nuclear weapons," Netanyahu told the forum. 'NO, NO, NO AND NO' Appearing later in person, Kerry defended the deal, arguing its monitoring provisions provided the ability to detect any significant uptick in Iran's nuclear programs, "in which case every option that we have today is available to us then." Kerry pushed Israel to rein in construction of Jewish settlements on West Bank land it occupied in a 1967 war that the Palestinians want for a state. He also bluntly rejected the idea advanced by some Israelis that Israel might make a separate peace with Arab nations that share its concerns about Iran. "No, no, no and no," Kerry said. "There will be no advance and separate peace with the Arab world without the Palestinian process and Palestinian peace." On settlements, Kerry said: "Theres a basic choice that has to be made by Israelis ... and that is, are there going to be continued settlements ... or is there going to be separation and the creation of two states?" The central issues to be resolved in the conflict include borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state, the future of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which most nations regard as illegal, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem. London: A number of Hindu temples in the UK have decided to ban the new five-pound notes as it contains traces of animal fat. It was found last week that these notes contain tallow, which comes from beef or mutton fat, triggering anger among vegetarians and religious groups. Now the Bhaktivedanta Manor, one of the UK's largest Hare Krishna temples in Hertfordshire, southern England, posted a photo of a sign to Facebook which said: "We no longer accept the new five pound notes as they contain animal fat. Apologies for the inconvenience". The National Council of Hindu Temples said in a statement that the new note "ceases to be a simple medium of exchange but becomes a medium for communicating pain and suffering and we would not want to come into contact with it". While it is unclear exactly how many temples have imposed a clear, the Hindu Forum of Britain (HFB), an umbrella body of Hindu organisations, had issued a statement over the weekend saying they were urging people to sign a petition to withdraw the notes and avoid its use in donations. Tarang Shelat, president of the Hindu Council of Birmingham - which is part of HFB, said: "It is important that we do make our views known in the strongest terms to the relevant authorities". Through ignorance they may not be aware of offence it is causing us as Hindus. "It is also important to mention that in our place of worship, animal based products are strictly forbidden and this would have a drastic effect on our collection boxes as 5 pound will not be allowed as donation," the petition titled 'Remove Tallow from bank notes' had clocked nearly 130,000 signatures. It will be delivered to the Bank of England when it hits 150,000. It reads: "The new 5 pound notes contain animal fat in the form of tallow. This is unacceptable to millions of vegans & vegetarians in the UK. We demand that you cease to use animal products in the production of currency that we have to use". The new notes with an image of Britain's war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill became legal tender in September this year. A vegetarian cafe in the university town of Cambridge had refused to accept the new notes last week. Sharon Meijland, owner of Rainbow Cafe, put up signs warning customers about the policy. Tallow's an animal product isn't it? Our whole business is based around not having anything like that on the premises. Although the same person doesn't handle the money that handles the food, that's not really the point," she said. The Bank of England says it is now looking into ways of removing the substance from the supply chain. "We are aware of some peoples concerns about traces of tallow in our new five pound note. We respect those concerns and are treating them with the utmost seriousness," a spokesperson said. Meanwhile, the Australian pioneer of the polymer bank note says its "stupid" that vegetarian and vegans are protesting in the UK about the five pound polymer note containing animal fat. Professor David Solomon says the polymer notes contain trivial amounts of tallow, which is also used in candles and soap. "It's stupid. It's absolutely stupid. Theres a trivial amount of it in there. It picks up less drugs than paper notes and you don't chop down trees. Its more hygienic than a paper note by a long way," he said. Syria's army gained ground in the battle for Aleppo on Tuesday, as regime ally Russia said it would hold talks with Washington on a total rebel withdrawal from the city. President Bashar al-Assad's forces have seized two-thirds of the former rebel bastion in east Aleppo since they began an operation to recapture all of Syria's battered second city in mid-November. The rapid gains for regime forces have left opposition fighters reeling and on Monday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said talks would be held with Washington on a complete rebel evacuation from the city. "During the Russian-American consultations the concrete route and timeframe for the withdrawal of all fighters from eastern Aleppo will be agreed upon," Lavrov said, adding that the discussions in Geneva would likely start on Tuesday or Wednesday. "As soon as these routes and timeframes are agreed on, a ceasefire can come into effect," Lavrov said. The loss of Aleppo would mark the biggest defeat yet for opposition forces in Syria's five-year civil war. The assault has raised an international outcry and the UN Security Council was due to vote later Wednesday on a draft resolution for a seven-day ceasefire in the city. But Lavrov appeared to torpedo that move, suggesting Moscow might use its veto to block the resolution. "The draft resolution... Is, for the most part, a provocative step that undermines Russian-American efforts," he told a press conference. Russia is a staunch ally of Syria's government, and began a military intervention in support of Damascus in September 2015. It says it is not involved in the current offensive in Aleppo, which has seen the army advance quickly as it pounds the east with air strikes, barrel bombs and artillery fire. Overnight, the army and allied forces seized the Qadi Askar neighbourhood and effectively encircled the large Shaar district, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said the army was attacking both from inside east Aleppo and from government-held western districts. "The regime is draining the rebel fighters of ammunition by opening many fronts at the same time," he said. Terrified residents spent a sleepless night in rebel-held neighbourhoods, as dozens of rockets rained down, AFP's correspondent in east Aleppo said. Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump's telephonic conversation with the Taiwanese President which evoked a strong protest from China was a "courtesy call", Vice President-elect Mike Pence said on Sunday as he assured them there will not be a change from the "One China Policy". "Well, we'll deal with policy after January the 20th. This was a courtesy call," Pence told ABC News in an interview when asked about a Trump Administration's "One China Policy" in view of the phone call between Trump and the Taiwanese President. Trump's move to talk with Tsai Ing-wenz had infuriated China. "That was nothing more than taking a courtesy call of congratulations from the democratically elected leader of Taiwan," Pence said. He said after winning the November 8 general elections, Trump has talked to more than 50 world leaders and he himself has spoken to several dozen others. He slammed those criticising Trump for this. "It is a little mystifying to me that President Obama can reach out to a murdering dictator in Cuba and be hailed as a hero for doing it," he said. "President-elect Donald Trump takes a courtesy call from a democratically elected leader in Taiwan and it's become something of a controversy, because I think the American people appreciate the fact that our President-Elect is taking calls from and reaching out to the world and preparing on day one to lead America on the world stage," Pence said. Responding to a question, Pence said Trump was very clear during the course of the campaign that the US has just been losing to China far too long economically. "The time has come, the American people have elected a president who, not just with regard to China, but with other countries around the world, and even in our hemisphere, that we're going to put American workers and American jobs first and we're going to have a president that makes sure we have trade deals and we advance economic policies on the world stage that accomplish that," he said. During the election campaign, Trump had said that he would declare China a currency manipulator on day one of his presidency. "He said that over the course of the campaign. And the truth of the matter is a lot is going to change in America's economic policies to just with regard to China, but with regard to the North American Free Trade Agreement, (as well)," he said. The US has been losing too much in jobs and economic growth on the world stage, he said. China considers Taiwan as part of its own territory awaiting reunification under Beijing's rule. The Campbell County Sheriffs Office is seeking a man wanted on six warrants. Daniel Lee Bessette, 35, has lived around Concord and Evington, according to a news release from Sheriff Steve Hutcherson. Hes wanted on two counts of felony assault on a family member (third or subsequent offense), one count of felony probation violation, one count of felony failure to stop for law enforcement, one count of misdemeanor reckless driving and one misdemeanor count of driving suspended. Anyone with information on Bessettes whereabouts is asked to contact the Campbell County Sheriffs Office at 434-332-9580 or Central Virginia Crime Stoppers at 1-888-798-5900 with a potential for up to $1,000 in reward money. The councilman said he wants a non-incumbent candidate who wins in next Tuesday's election to take his seat before January and have more time to get oriented. Virginia has been awarded $17.5 million in grant money by the federal government to expand preschool offerings for disadvantaged children. The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the award last week. This is the third time the agencies have issued the Preschool Development Grants to states to help expand access to preschool for high-risk 4-year-olds. In all, the agencies are handing out $247.4 million to 18 states through the grant program. In Virginia, 11 school districts including Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Richmond and Petersburg are to receive funds. High-quality early education gives children the strong start they need to succeed in kindergarten, U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. said. The Obama administration has made great progress in providing access to high-quality early learning, but we must do more, King added. All of our children regardless of socio-economic status, race, language spoken at home, disability or ZIP code deserve the kind of high-quality early learning opportunities that will prepare them to thrive in school and beyond. Since the first grants were awarded in 2014, the two federal agencies have handed out $750 million to 230 school divisions. That money helped 28,000 children from low-income families gain access to early learning last year, the Education Department said. In Virginia, 2,804 children had access to new or improved preschool classrooms the first year the grant money was handed out, and 3,300 in the second year, according to Gov. Terry McAuliffes office. In Chesterfield, the district added a 10th VPI+ classroom last year, bringing the number of slots for the program to 160. That classroom was added to Matoaca Elementary School. (VPI stands for the Virginia Preschool Initiative, a state program designed to introduce 4-year-olds to a school-level curriculum a year before they are required to be in school. VPI+ is a combination of instruction, outreach and support.) The plan is to maintain what we have for years three and four, Chesterfield schools spokesman Shawn Smith said in an email. The VPI+ grant supports 10 VPI+ classrooms and seven VPI classrooms, which are now considered improved under the terms of the VPI+ grant. In Richmond, the grant will allow an additional 280 children to be served above the regular VPI enrollment, the district said. Richmond schools will serve a total of 1,162 children in the program for the 2017-18 school year. And in Henrico, the grant funding will continue providing access to preschool for 180 students in 10 classrooms each year. The funding will continue to help us reduce the number of preschool students on a waiting list, district spokesman Andy Jenks said. A national report and progress reports from 18 states found that localities that have received the money are meeting the high-quality standards and improving access to early learning for at-risk children, the federal Department of Education said. Classrooms improved by supporting well-qualified and compensated teachers; expanding to full-day; reducing class size or child-teacher ratios; providing evidence-based professional development; and providing comprehensive services, the department said. Providing children from disadvantaged families access to early childhood education is critical so that they are better prepared for kindergarten, educators have long said. The problem is that many poor children grow up in homes where parents cannot provide the background knowledge museum visits, trips to cultural centers, discussions that makes such a major difference in a childs educational development. Students who dont have a solid head start are at a higher risking of falling behind and then never recovering. Getting a head start through preschool programs helps build some of that foundation, educators say. As a result of these grants, Virginia will have several years of data on how high-quality preschool, coupled with support for families and research-based professional development for teachers, can improve outcomes for young learners, said Steven R. Staples, Virginias superintendent of public instruction. BLACKSBURG Juan de la Rosa says he knows far more about his Virginian heritage than his Mexican one. But he says hes afraid that wont matter. Following the election of Donald Trump, de la Rosa, a political science major at Virginia Tech, said he is terrified he might lose the identity he shares as a Virginian with the likes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. De la Rosa is an undocumented student . He fears that status could lead to him and his peers being rounded up and herded off to the nations of their parents. Hes slated to graduate next year and has excelled in Virginia public schools since he was a kindergartner in the Richmond area. But the rhetoric has shifted at the national level, and president-elect Trump has promised to repeal many executive orders made under Barack Obamas administration. The stress from not knowing his status has left de la Rosa sick with an unshakable cough since the days after the election, he said. My future is totally dark, he said. Come January 21st [Trumps inauguration] I have no idea what life could be like for undocumented students. De la Rosa is a beneficiary of deferred action for childhood arrivals, commonly known as DACA. The policy allows young people to live, work and go to school in the country in two-year increments. They must reapply after each stint. The Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank dedicated to the movement of people worldwide, estimates in 2016 there are 40,000 people eligible for DACA protection in Virginia and 1.9 million nationally. Because de la Rosa has lived most of his life in Virginia, he can claim it as his domicile and receive in-state tuition at Virginia Tech as well as other state public universities, something he calls a lifesaver. Its something worth speaking out about, even though appearing in the public eye could put him at risk in the current climate, he said. Change happens when youre out and loud, he said. Because of that uncertainty, de la Rosa and others in a group of undocumented student on campus called Tech Dreamers, began circulating a letter about three weeks ago calling on Virginia Tech President Timothy Sands to declare the university a sanctuary campus. The prospect of what will eventuate in January 2017 has spread terror among DACA students and their families, the letter said. In the next semester, we face the possibility of mass arrests, imprisonment, and deportation for students who have spent most of their lives in the United States and have been educated in American school classrooms. So far its gathered more than 900 signatures in support of the about 30 undocumented students at Tech, de la Rosa said. The support is unreal, de la Rosa said. I thought if we got more than a hundred in a couple weeks that would be pretty good. The letter is similar to other ones circulating around the country. According to a Chronicle of Higher Education report, more than 150 such letters calling for universities to be declared sanctuary campuses are being signed on college campuses. The report said that five universities have already declared themselves as sanctuary campuses, while others have taken steps to protect their students. Sanctuary campuses are a spinoff from the concept of sanctuary cities. Those cities have declared they would not actively pursue deporting people no matter their immigration status. The Tech letter calls for Sands to take action on declaring the university a sanctuary campus and : Take immediate measures so students will know they can return to Tech in the spring of 2017. Assign an administrative office to help DACA beneficiaries. Ensure students will keep the same privacy rights they already have. Under DACA, students immigration status isnt released by a university. Continue in-state resident tuition for students who previously qualified. In the event of arrest, imprisonment and deportation or due to students not feeling safe traveling to campus, ensure theyll have access to course work to continue their educations. Sands wrote, via Twitter, that he looks forward to meeting with members of Tech Dreamers. According to de la Rosa, that meeting will take place Thursday and at least five undocumented students plan to attend to tell their stories. We want President Sands and other administrators to see this is not only an issue of politics but of people, de la Rosa said. University presidents around the country have taken notice of their students concerns. A letter circulated at Pomona College has been signed by more than 450 college and university presidents and chancellors, including Sands, Radford University President Brian Hemphill and University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan. Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski wrote that Sands decided to sign the letter because doing so is consistent with his steadfast [belief] in upholding Virginia Techs Principles of Community. Those principles reject prejudice and discrimination including that based on national origin. The first principle affirms the inherent dignity and value of every person. Owczarski declined to comment further regarding the letter or whether administrators might declare Tech a sanctuary campus because we cant predict the future landscape related to this issue. The university might also face repercussions if it declares itself a sanctuary campus. Trump has publicly stated that he will pull federal funding from sanctuary cities in the United States, though how he would accomplish that is unclear. State officials in Texas and Georgia have also said they would cut funding for state campuses that declare themselves to be sanctuaries, according to media reports. When we think about what is best for the students at all of Virginias campuses today, many of whom came to the United States at very young ages and have only known the United States as their home, I felt that it was right to send them our support in their efforts to obtain their college education, Radfords Hemphill wrote in a statement to The Roanoke Times. Radford University spokesman Joe Carpenter wrote in an email that there are no plans to declare Radford a sanctuary campus. Radford has 11 DACA beneficiaries, Carpenter said. Tech officials did not supply a number of DACA beneficiaries on its campus. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia does not keep a database of how many there are statewide or at institutions, according to a spokesman. De la Rosa doesnt want the letter to be the end of his activism. Instead, he hopes it will be the beginning. Before the election, he was planning to work with DACA beneficiaries in the mid-Atlantic as a community activist after he graduates in May, a year ahead of schedule. But hes unsure what might happen if he stays. Hes considering moving to California to pursue a graduate degree at UCLA, because the California university system has vowed to support undocumented students. Im worried for my future, de la Rosa said. Well just have to see how it plays out. Writer twisted author's point As a native of Lynchburg with continuing family ties to the city, I am a regular reader of The News & Advance online edition. A Nov. 30 letter to the editor by John Chapman caught my attention, not only because it was in response to one published Nov. 27 from my good friend, Bill Blackwell, but because Chapman misquoted what Blackwell said. He claimed Blackwell stated that those of us that voted for President-elect Donald Trump embrace racism, homophobia, misogyny and religious intolerance, but that is not what he said at all. Actually, he was careful to say many who voted for him rather than indicting all who did. Chapman was either careless in his reading of Blackwells letter or chose to misrepresent it, but the error caused the point Chapman was trying to make to fall under its own weight. But it seems to me that, in truth, Chapman was criticizing Blackwells thoughtful letter as a shield for his real purpose, which was to make yet another worn-out attack on President Obama, especially when he called him the divider-in-chief. He may have thought he was being clever using it, but in reality he was borrowing a phrase coined and promoted by racist Americans who accuse the president of the one thing he has not done, which is to use his presidency as a platform for promoting policies based on race. Legitimate criticisms of President Obama need to be taken seriously, but when a bogus one like this is made, the motives of the person making it immediately come into question. Thus, I have to wonder if Chapmans charge that the president has divided us is simply a projection of his own racial attitude. I enjoy reading the various letters to the editor posted in my hometown paper. Many of them are thoughtful and persuasive, even though I often disagree with them. Unfortunately, John Chapmans did not meet this standard. JAN G. LINN Apple Valley, Minn. Editors note: Linn graduated from E.C. Glass High School, spent 10 years as chaplain of Lynchburg College. He later served as a seminary professor and congregational pastor. RICHMOND After a year in development, a Virginia startup company has introduced a new mobile application designed to help people live happier lives. DieHappy is the work of a small Richmond-based band of developers and business partners including Shawn Boyer, the founder and former chief executive officer of the Henrico County-based online job-search company Snagajob. If you look at the research behind what truly makes people happy, it is the quality of their relationships, said Boyer, who stepped down from day-to-day management at Snagajob in 2013 and announced plans to develop the new app in November 2015. The DieHappy app has some of the features of social media such as photo sharing, but it isnt intended to be social media on a grand scale like Facebook. Instead, it is designed to help people plan time together with the smaller circles of friends and family that are most important in their lives. We have ended up focusing specifically on helping people be more intentional about their closest relationships, which are their family and their closest friends, Boyer said. That tends to be in the neighborhood of about 10 people to 40 people, but it is a smaller group than people are typically friends with on Facebook. The app enables people to form groups and share information only among that group. For instance, an extended family having an outing together can connect using the app and share photos only among the group. It is also possible to share plans or moments with people who are not using the app, if they are on a users contact list. A scheduling function enables groups to plan events. For instance, several college friends can connect using the app and plan a gathering, including scheduling a time and place that works for everybodys calendar. The app also can send reminders about birthdays and other special events, well ahead of the actual date. It allows you to share what is going on in your life in a much more private way, Boyer said. What we have seen transpire is this is especially true of people who want to share things with family members they dont see all the time, such as sharing pictures of the kids with grandparents. They feel much more free to share a lot of photos that they wouldnt share on Facebook or Instagram. We have heard from a lot of people who are frustrated with social media, he said. They wish they could redo some of their social media accounts, because they have accepted friend request after friend request. Now they have 700 friends and their feed is inundated, and they are reluctant to share too much of their own life. After beta testing this year, DieHappy is now available on the Apple store, with an Android version coming soon. A little more than 1,000 people have downloaded the app, but Boyer expects that number to grow quickly once the company starts a marketing and promotional campaign in December. The company has raised about $1.5 million in investment funding and expects to raise another $500,000 soon. The app is free to download, and the company plans to make money by selling products and services through affiliate programs. For instance, the app will integrate reservation services for making dinner plans, and users can have photo books made. Users of the app also can order Wi-Fi-enabled digital photo frames and automatically transfer photos to the device. DieHappy shares in the revenue from those services. Boyer and six other full-time staffers have been working on the DieHappy app from a 2,800-square-foot Shockoe Bottom office equipped with sofas and a swing. Painted on the floor is a 10-foot-wide version of the companys logo a yellow smiley face with Xs for eyes. The name and the logo are the work of Work Labs, a Richmond branding agency owned by Cabell Harris, Boyer said. We wanted something that was going to make people pause and ask what it meant, Boyer said of the DieHappy name and logo. The name raises a vital question, he said. When you look back on life, what at the end of the day was most important to you, and did you live a life that you absolutely loved? Virginias employment pool those gainfully employed or looking for work has been steadily shrinking for years, mirroring a national decline that has reshaped the labor force. But in the Old Dominion, that might be starting to change. Between September and October, 27,000 new job seekers stepped back into the Virginia economy, by far the largest month-over-month increase in the size of the labor force since the survey began in 1976, according to seasonally adjusted government data recently released. The influx drove a 0.6 percentage-point increase in the share of the states population that is working or looking for work. The declining labor force has attracted notice from experts on both ends of ideological spectrum. A recent report from Brookings Institution documented stark racial disparities in those who are out of work nationally, possibly contributing to economic inequality. Business groups say it has put a damper on economic growth by making it harder for some businesses to fill key positions. The causes of the decline are unclear. Some say it is driven by aging baby boomers retiring in large numbers, leaving long-held positions vacant. Others worry that young workers are deliberately choosing to stay at home, disillusioned by poor prospects and still-low pay amid a fragile recovery. Its been worrisome for quite a while that we havent had labor force participation gains, said Stephen Fuller, a regional economist with George Mason University. And we know there is a large percentage of that potential workforce who have been unemployed for a lengthy period ... They just havent gone to work for years. If there was one silver lining, it was that the declining labor force nationally has been accompanied by plunging unemployment rates, as more and more people actively looking for jobs found them. But those trends could be reversing themselves in Virginia, as the states unemployment rate quietly edges upward. The states unemployment rate bottomed out at 3.7 percent in July before climbing by half a percentage point to 4.2 percent leading up to October. Economists say the jump in the ranks of the unemployed is probably related to the subsequent influx of new workers, and not to any weakness in hiring. The fact that (unemployment) increased matters less than the reason for its increase, said Anirban Basu, a regional economist with Sage Policy Group, and the reason is a positive one: More people believe that their search for a job will prove fruitful. The spike in new workers was so large in October that some prominent regional economists want to see more data to be sure the number was not a blip. The Bureau of Labor Statistics often retroactively modifies estimates downward as it collects more information, so it is possible the 27,000 additional workers will be corrected downward a few months from now. Its such a big number, I cant imagine thats the truth, Fuller said. Theres no obvious explanation as to where that huge number of workers came from compared to the previous months. And yet the size of the states labor force has grown for three successive months, suggesting more workers and slightly higher unemployment rates could be here to stay. That shift would run contrary to what is happening nationally. The national labor force participation rate has changed little in the past two years, remaining more than three percentage points below its pre-recession perch. One difference in Virginia is that job creation has been strong. The states economic engine of Northern Virginia has been adding jobs at a faster rate than the nation as a whole, a 2 percent growth rate compared to this time last year. Those watching the local economy say more people in the labor force is probably a good thing for the states economy, even if it takes a while for them to find new jobs. You cant grow your economy without having more workers, Fuller said. Wage growth is yet to take off for the average worker, but economists have noticed pay rates are starting to edge up for certain high-skilled jobs across the state, perhaps giving idle workers a stronger incentive to rejoin the labor market. Richmond Fed economist Andy Bauer reports hearing anecdotally that businesses are thinking about using pay increases to help fill vacant jobs. The skills mismatch has caused pay rates to rise sharply in a few hyper-specific job categories such as cybersecurity and software development, even as raises are hard to come by in more traditional industries. In Northern Virginia, these jobs are driven primarily by the regions classified military and intelligence contractors, an employment pool available mainly to those with some combination of technical skills and military experience. D.C.-based Sparks Group, a recruiting firm that works with local employers, said positions that require security clearances are growing at the fastest rate since 2002. GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Heres why you can trust us. Freed Trini Muslim to appeal case It will take me some time and get back into the groove. Things I used to do, somebody else is doing. I feel my space was taken away. That leadership role was taken away. My family had to adjust without me. They held the fort, but I am enjoying being the father again. Petilal - the father of three sons - and three of his colleagues met on Saturday at a thanksgiving dinner with their families, close friends and associates including Head of the Islamic Front Umar Abdullah who took the lead to secure their release, at the El Socorro home of their local attorney Nafeesa Mohammed. The immediate priority, Abdullah told Newsday yesterday, is to get the men reorganised with documentations and jobs. We also have to look at counseling for the families, he said, noting that One disturbing thing was that none of the state agencies gave any assistance to the affected families. Meanwhile, Petilal told Newsday yesterday that while he was willing to share his experience with the public, he could not do so in full at this time because he will appeal the charge for which he and the others were imprisoned March 19, 2014 until their recent return. Collectively they were allegedly robbed by the Venezuelan military of US$45,000 most of which, he said, did not belong to the five or their spouses who had travelled with them, passports that they claimed that were in their possession were not found on them, and they did not undergo weapons training in Venezuela. Our lawyers are waiting for the verdict, then they would appeal. Everyone knows that we are innocent. The whole of Venezuela knows it. The authorities there knows it, he said. As far as he was concerned, he said, We were kidnapped. It was political. They knew we did not go to assassinate anybody. The first thing they told us was that we went there as a group to assassinate President (Nicolas) Maduro. When they realised it was a big joke, they said, we were into money laundering, then human trafficking, and then terrorism. When they realised they could not implicate them on terrorist charges, he said, they were asked to plead to charges of espionage. None of the five, he said, pleaded to the charges as has been reported. Nevertheless, he said, they were sentenced to the time they served in the prison, on the charges. It is this charge, he said, they intend to appeal once the judge who sentenced them writes up the verdict and makes it public. He said it was only unfortunate that they were in Venezuela during a period of uprising and protesting. Senior officials made it clear to us that we were just caught up in the instability of the country at the time, he said. At the SE BIN jail (for political prisoners) where they were, Petilal said, They called us coins the equivalent of pawns. Asked how he survived the imprisonment, he said, Inshallah. Prayers. It was the only hope we had. There were no promises. On reflection, the imprisonment, he said, was one of spiritual cleansing. The experience has made me a stronger person. I came closest to Allah. The curse of energy The first set of gas is expected to be delivered in 2020 (some 100mmcf/d) and the full amount (some 500mmcf/d) at a later stage. NGC will be acting in the typical onshore mode buy, markup, sell only the source of the gas will be Venezuela. This gas is urgent, is required now, since it appears that the Pt Lisas plants are experiencing a shortfall of some 20-30 percent in gas supply. The fact that the gas does not originate in TT means the Government will not receive any benefit as it did from TT s gas, from royalties and production sharing contracts. It is still to be divulged what the cost of the gas will be to NGC and whether the price to the Pt Lisas investors is still considered cheap, the reason why these investors are here in the first place. The Prime Minster says the details will be released after the signing after the deal is done. Though the medium to long-term solution is the diversification of the economy, economic development as distinct from economic growth (GDP growth), in the interim we have to do whatever it takes, even if this means maintaining the plantation after the reason for its initial existence is evaporating local and cheap gas. It should now be very clear that the exploitation of natural gas via petrochemicals, steel and now LNG was part of the plantation economy and not economic development a point made long ago by the University of the West Indies Dennis Pantin. We have learnt nothing, we have created nothing (innovating in technology) and hence we cannot move easily into other energy industries that do not depend directly on the availability locally of natural resources from which we now earn rents. Moreso, outside of the energy sector, we have earned patents in energy efficiency, but there is no development system, no innovation system, to even exploit this knowledge. In the same vein we can all share in the glee of the Minister of Finance that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries has agreed to cut its production of oil, and prices may again rise. Let the good times flow! MARY K KING St Augustine TT needs gift of courage, says BpTT boss When we give the gift of courage this Christmas, we must ensure that our acts of courage are underpinned by truth derived from preparation. For example, we need to spend less time on Facebook and more time reading authoritative books, Christie said. He made the recommendations while delivering the feature address at the annual Christmas banquet and awards ceremony held on Saturday evening at Signature Hall in Longdenville, Chaguanas. The Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CCIC) hosted the event. Christie charged that zeal without knowledge can be destructive. He insisted that all must ensure that our courage is not misplaced. He explained that the root of the word courage is cor, the Latin word for heart. He added: We need more heart than belly in dispensing courage. This Christmas, let us surprise as many people as we can with love. Addressing the gathering on the topic The Christmas Gift, Christie acknowledged that there are many challenges that require courage among them change, complexity and crime. Change, complexity and crime alone have many deeply concerned. They are looking for answers. They are looking for a meaningful gift. They are looking for the kind of courageous leadership that can truly say: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil for God is with me, Christie said. Christie reiterated that people should give the gift of courage and dispense it with preparation, love, and with reliance on a God who is bigger than any boogie man. Among those in attendance at the ceremony were: Trade and Industry Minister, Paula Gopee-Scoon; Chaguanas Mayor, Gopaul Boodhan; CCICs outgoing president, Richie Sookhai; and chairman and chief executive officer of the ANSA McAL group, Dr.Anthony Norman Sabga. Christie noted that sometimes, even innovations add to the issue of complexity. He charged that in the space of less than a decade, the entire oil and gas industry has been turned on its head because of factors such as shale oil and gas and global warning. How do we continue to maximize returns from gas in Trinidad and Tobago when the country which was our largest importer of gas less than a decade ago, the United States, is now a major exporter of the gas? How do we navigate the monetisation of cross-border and across the border gas when our neighbour Venezuela has significant political and economic challenges? Christie questioned. Confronting complexity, especially when it comes to leaders, will require courage, he noted. On the issue of crime, Christie noted that no one is immune and what is frightening is the increased callousness of humanity. In terms of change, he said there are seismic shifts in the way things operate and they are occurring at a pace not seen before. Christie shared the biblical story of David and Goliath and emphasised the importance of relying on God in all things. Relying on God ensures that we are courageous for just causes. Reliance on God promotes hope because with God right will ultimately prevail. Reliance on God promotes humility lest the courageous become conceited, Christie told the gathering. Christie added: During this Christmas season that should bring added meaning to the name Emmanuel, meaning God with us. Probably the biggest surprise we can bring to many as we dispense courage this Christmas is to first seek God and then let Him guide us. Some of the awardees at Saturdays ceremony included: CEO Sabga; Mayor Boodhan; Anil V Maraj of Bankers Insurance; Trevor Joseph of T&Z, Barry Jankie of Cell Mates; Glen Ramdhanie of Novo Group; and Dipchan Hosein of Passage to Asia. Police probe sexual touching of 7-year-old girl According to reports, the school girl told her teacher that sometime between September 1 and 30, 2016, she went to the Cedros home of her grandparents where her uncle fondled her. The young girl said she had been afraid to confide in anyone but decided to come forward after seeing an advertisement on television about child abuse. Upon hearing this, the girls teacher wasted no time in reporting the matter to the Cedros Police Station, following which yesterday the girl and her mother were interviewed by police officers of the Child Protection Unit. Police investigators said yesterday that they intend to interview the suspect as early as tomorrow Desperadoes in Haiti relief drive Secretary of the steel orchestra Havilanna Davidson told Newsday that it has partnered with the El Dorado East Lions Club which also gave substantial contributions. Yesterday members of the club dropped off several bags of rice, peas and other supplies at Desperadoes headquarters on Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain. Since the drive began a few weeks ago, Davidson said that Desperadoes has been making its own contributions and members of the public have begun donating. Donations include canned foods, water, toiletries, baby stuff, and clothing mainly for women and children. The response for help for Haiti, she said, has been overwhelming. They are partnering with an organisation in Haiti to distribute the supplies to areas that are most in need. The disaster-prone country was hit by Hurricane Matthew in October, after it was trying to recover from the 2010 massive earthquake that killed over 250,000 and left hundreds of thousands, homeless. As soon as the supplies have been sent off, Davidson said, Desperadoes will be turning its attention to get relief for the people in Matelot and other affected areas. In the meantime, she said, that members were interested in assisting in the clean up and recovery of the area. The idea to provide humanitarian assistance was put forward by the Desperadoes manager, Curtis Edwards, who was in Miami when Matthew was barreling its way through the Caribbean and up the east coast of the United States. Get the news faster. Tap to install our app. Access Newser even faster. Click here to install our app on your desktop. X (Newser) Last Tango in Paris was released in 1972 to critical acclaim, but people are now "sick" and "enraged" after a 2013 interview resurfaced in which director Bernardo Bertolucci admitted the infamous rape scene in it was a little too real. In the interview, which was uploaded to YouTube on Nov. 23, Bertolucci said he and Marlon Brando, then 48, decided a stick of butter should be used as lubricant to rape the character of Jeanne without telling actress Maria Schneider, who was then 19. "I had been, in a way, horrible to Maria because I didn't tell her what was going on," Bertolucci said, per the Hollywood Reporter, noting he wanted Schneider to react "as a girl, not as an actress. I wanted her to react humiliated." Bertolucci also made similar comments to the Telegraph in 2013, only to then be described as "charming." This isn't exactly breaking news: Schneider, who died in 2011, recounted the scene to the Daily Mail in 2007, saying "even though what Marlon was doing wasn't real, I was crying real tears" and felt "a little raped both by Marlon and Bertolucci." Brando and Bertolucci were later nominated for best actor and best director Oscars, respectively, for their work on the film, reports USA Today. "I feel sick," Jessica Chastain tweeted Saturday, per the Guardian. Evan Rachel Wood said the admission was "heartbreaking and outrageous," while Chris Evans said Bertolucci and Brando "should be in jail." Anna Kendrick said she "used to get eye-rolls" when she mentioned Bertolucci's comments to people, particularly men. Added Ava DuVernay, "As a director, I can barely fathom this. As a woman, I am horrified, disgusted and enraged by it." (Read more rape stories.) (Newser) A 16-year-old has been charged with murder after remains were found in Palmer, Alaska, on Friday. Official identification of the body is pending, though authorities believe it is that of 16-year-old David Grunwald, who vanished after dropping off his girlfriend in Butte on Nov. 13. A day later, his Ford Bronco was found burned to its frame in Wasilla, about 21 miles from his girlfriend's home. Alaska State Troopers say remains likely to be David's were found not far from his girlfriend's home but in an opposite direction from where his vehicle was found. Erick Almandinger, 16, has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and kidnapping, per the Alaska Dispatch News. "Others involved in this incident have been identified but have not been charged as of yet," police say. Two days after her son vanished, Edith Grunwald said David had told his girlfriend "he was going to stop by a friend Erick's house on the way home," per KTUU. David's mom said she didn't know who Erick wasthough both David and Erick reportedly attended Colony High School in Palmerbut suspected David had offered to give someone a ride. "Everything from the beginning had pointed to the same people," a private investigator working for the Grunwalds tells the Frontiersman. "I never, ever thought I would see such dark evil in small-town Alaska." Police remain on the lookout for surveillance video that may show David or his vehicle on Nov. 13. (In Tennessee, a teen is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend.) (Newser) Erin and Timothy Gallagher were heartbroken by their son's suicide on Feb. 3, but their pain only grew when they discovered his school counselor knew he'd had suicidal thoughts and "kept it a secret from us." That's the claim made in a $5 million wrongful-death lawsuit against Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia. The couple says Jay Gallagher's friend told counselor Richard Bader at Potomac Falls High that Gallagher was having "suicidal thoughts," harming himself, "lacking self-worth," and "crying alone in his room because he doesn't seem to have a good relationship with his parents," three weeks before his death. Bader met with Gallagher, but didn't report the behavior to his parents, the suit states, per the Washington Post. That was a clear violation of the school's Suicide Prevention Action Plan, which also required Bader to fill out a suicide screening form, the suit states. Yet "the schools system's position on the matter has been, essentially, 'If your child is suicidal and we know it, we may or may not tell you,'" the Gallaghers say, per the Loudoun Times-Mirror. "That's an unstated and intolerable policy. It defies both the LCPS Suicide Prevention Procedures and all common sense." The couple's lawyer adds, "This was Jay Gallagher's only opportunity to be saved." However, Bader's lawyer says Gallagher told Bader he was not suicidal and asked him not to speak to his parents about their meeting. As Gallagher was 18 years old and had that right, "Bader didn't do anything wrong." (A beautiful gesture followed a girl's suicide.) (Newser) New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key has suddenly called it quits after eight years in the job. He announced the shock decision at a Monday press conference, saying it was for family reasons, the New Zealand Herald reports. "This is the hardest decision I've ever made and I don't know what I'll do next," the visibly emotional PM said, telling reporters that Bronagh, his wife of 32 years, had been through "many lonely nights" and his children had endured "extraordinary levels of intrusion." He said he would like his successor to be EnglishBill English, his finance minister and deputy PM. Key, who later denied reports that his wife had given him an ultimatum, said the formal resignation will take place on Dec. 12. "All I can say is that I gave it everything I had. I have left nothing in the tank," said Key, who won a third term for his center-right National Party in elections in 2014, the BBC reports. Key, a former foreign exchange dealer nicknamed "Teflon John" for his ability to dodge scandals, leaves with his party high in the polls. "As a top trader he knows you sell stocks when they are at their highs, not lows," a lecturer in politics at the University of Otago tells Reuters. "So he's managed to leave politics on a high note and will go down in history as a popular politician." Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters that Key's resignation is "a great loss to New Zealand, a great loss to the world." He said he sent Key a message after hearing the news: "Say it ain't so, bro." (Read more John Key stories.) (Newser) The Donald Trump phone conversation that led to an official complaint from Beijing was a calculated move, not an innocent congratulatory call or a blunder made by a man with no knowledge of foreign policy, insiders tell the Washington Post. Instead, the provocative conversation with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen was a deliberate effort to break with the previous 37 years of US policy on Taiwan and had been planned for months, the sources say. They say the move was the product of talks between Trump aides, many of whom are hawkish on China, and their Taiwanese counterparts. In other developments: Adding to the controversy, Trump used his medium of choice to harshly criticize China on Sunday. "Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea?" he tweeted. "I don't think so!" Hours before Trump's tweetburst, Mike Pence tried to downplay the importance of the Taiwan call, reports the Guardian. "He received a courtesy call from the democratically elected president of Taiwan," the vice president-elect told ABC's This Week. "They reached out to offer congratulations as leaders around the world have and he took the call, accepted her congratulations and good wishes, and it was precisely that." On NBC, Pence described the furor as a "tempest in a teapot" and wondered why Trump is getting a hard time now when Obama was "hailed as a hero" for reaching out to a "murdering dictator in Cuba." Analysts tell CNNMoney that Trump's criticisms of China would have been valid years ago but are now outdated: The country is now fighting to keep its currency from falling further, not to keep the yuan low to boost exports. The South China Morning Post reports that the position Trump has adopted on China is consistent with policies he has been advocating for at least 30 years. In the 1980s, he repeatedly slammed Japan, then America's main economic rival, for allegedly dumping cheap goods on the US market. In 1987, he took out full-page newspaper ads calling for more backbone in US foreign policy. The AP reports that China has responded fairly mildly to Trump's latest comments, with Foreign Minister Lu Kang saying Monday that the government won't comment on Trump's personality or on his tweets, but that it continues to hope for a "sound and a stable bilateral relationship." An editorial in the government-run Global Times blamed Taiwan for the controversy. Trump "has zero diplomatic experience and is unaware of the repercussions of shaking up Sino-US relations," the paper said. "It is certain that Trump doesn't want a showdown with China, because it is not his ambition, and neither was it included in his promise to the electorate. He puts out feelers to sound China out and chalk up some petty benefits." (Read more Donald Trump stories.) (Newser) Fake news has real consequences, the owner of Comet Ping Pong pizza restaurant in Washington, DC, said after a man who claimed to be investigating the "PizzaGate" conspiracy theory allegedly fired at least one shot inside the establishment Sunday afternoon. The Washington Post reports that North Carolina man Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, was arrested and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon after the incident, which brought a heavy police response to the northwest DC neighborhood. Cops say Welch said he was "self-investigating" PizzaGate, a theory that has flourished in some of the internet's weirder corners. It claims Hillary Clinton and aides, including John Podesta, have been running a child sex trafficking ring from the eatery. Witnesses say Welch walked into the restaurant and pointed an assault rifle at an employee, NBC Washington reports. Police believe he fired at least one shot after all workers and customers had fled. The Post reports that in the weeks after the election, the restaurant's owner and employees received death threats on social media as the PizzaGate theorywhich was largely based on mentions of pizza in Podesta emails published by WikiLeaksspread online. "Let me state unequivocally: These stories are completely and entirely false, and there is no basis in fact to any of them," owner James Alefantis said in a statement, per the AP. "What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences." (Reddit's CEO edited abusive posts after the PizzaGate-related page was shut down.) (Newser) Italian voters dealt Premier Matteo Renzi a stinging defeat on his reforms referendum, triggering his resignation announcement and galvanizing the populist, opposition 5-Star Movement's determination to gain national power soon. The outcome also energized the anti-immigrant Northern League party, an ally of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, a candidate in France's presidential race. The blow to Renzi also delivered a rebuke to Italy's industrialists, banks, and other establishment institutions, which had staunchly backed the referendum, the AP reports. The political upset, which could spook investors, comes just as the government had made some inroads in cutting the staggering rate of youth employment, and while Italy's banks have urgent need for recapitalization. The Movement, led by anti-euro comic Beppe Grillo, spearheaded the No camp on the constitutional reforms, a package aimed at updating Italy's post-war Constitution that Renzi had depicted as vital to modernizing Italy and reviving its economy. Characteristically confidentdetractors say arrogantRenzi, 41, and Italy's youngest premier, had bet his political future on a Yes vote win, and campaigned hard for a victory in recent weeks. "I lost and the post that gets eliminated is mine," Renzi said early Monday about an hour after the polls closed. Renzi is widely expected to be asked to stay on at least until a budget bill can be passed later this month. Elections are due in spring 2018, but with Renzi's stepping down, they will likely be held sometime next year. (Read more Matteo Renzi stories.) (Newser) A well-known attorney in Dallas has been found dead just two days after his daughter's funeral. Brian Loncar, 56nicknamed the "Strong Arm" thanks to local commercials for law firm Loncar & Associateswas found early Sunday in his Rolls Royce, parked at his law firm, reports Fox 4. He was then taken to Baylor University Medical Center, where doctors informed family members that he probably suffered a heart attack, Loncar's stepson tells the Dallas Morning News. However, a rep for the medical examiner says a cause of death will not be released until later this week, per the New York Daily News. The tragedy comes a little over a week after Loncar's 16-year-old daughter, Grace Loncar, committed suicide following a struggle with depression. "I just want to get this out in the open so if any of my friends are ever thinking about suicide. I wish you could have seen both the pain and the love that the suicide of a 16-year-old girl causes," Loncar wrote on Facebook following her death. A colleague says he'd recently offered his condolences to Loncar, who had 11 personal-injury offices across Texas. "We told each other we loved each other," he says, per WFAA. "Our family is filled with enormous sadness and profound grief," Loncar's wife and five children say in a statement, describing Loncar as "a man trusted by many people in Dallas and throughout the state of Texas." "Right now, we are hurting and struggling to understand." (Read more Texas stories.) (Newser) Left-leaning Alexander Van der Bellen triumphed over his right-wing rival Sunday in the vote for Austria's presidency, a victory welcomed by moderate politicians across Europe as a blow against the populist forces looking to weaken the European Union. While the Austrian presidency is a mostly symbolic post, it had attracted attention from across Europe as the next possible victory for populists after Donald Trump's presidential win in the United States and the Brexit vote in Britain, the AP reports. "What happens here today has relevance for all of Europe," Van der Bellen said he cast his ballot, later noting that his win showed most voters backed his message of "freedom, equality, solidarity." Van der Bellen said the win sends a "message to the capitals of the European Union that one can win elections with high European positions." He said he would work to unite a country deeply split between the moderate liberals who voted for him and supporters of Hofer's anti-immigrant Freedom Party. Powerful euroskeptic populist politicians facing elections next year in other EU nations shrugged off Hofer's loss as a temporary setback, but the result was greeted with relief and congratulations by mainstream politicians including French President Francois Hollande, who said Austrians "made the choice of Europe, and openness." (Read more Austria stories.) (Newser) Right after Christmas comes a first for the US: a Japanese leader will visit Pearl Harbor. The Straits Times reports that PM Shinzo Abe will be in Hawaii for two days at the end of December to meet with President Obama, and he'll make a stop at the site of the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack (Wednesday is the 75th anniversary) where nearly 2,500 troops and civilians died. The visitwhich the White House confirmed in a statement will happen on Dec. 27, per NBC Newsseems to be a continuation of goodwill after Obama journeyed to Hiroshima in May to "mourn the dead" from the world's first atomic strike. On Monday, Abe spoke about Obama's speech then, saying the president's "message towards a nuclear-free world during his visit to Hiroshima remains etched into Japanese hearts." And now Abe will return the favor. "We must never repeat the horror of war," he said in a televised presser, per the New York Times. "I want to express that determination as we look to the future, and at the same time send a message about the value of US-Japanese reconciliation." No itinerary has been released, with Abe simply saying his intent is to "comfort the souls of the victims." The founder of the Asia Strategy public policy consultancy tells CNN this is an "enormous" symbolic gesture on Abe's part, and that by making this move, he's acknowledging how important US-Japan relations are to keeping peace in Asia. Abe isn't the first member of his family to visit Pearl Harbor: His wife, Akie, paid what the Japan Times deemed a "surprise visit" there in August, paying her respects and spurring speculation that her husband might soon visit himself. (Read more Shinzo Abe stories.) (Newser) All it takes to convince people you're a US Embassy is an American flag, a picture of President Obama, and a whole lot of visasat least in Ghana, where a ramshackle building in Accra housed a phony embassy really run by organized crime members from Ghana and Turkey, the Guardian reports. What wasn't fake: the US visas they got their hands on and doled out for the past decade. "The criminals running the operation were able to pay off corrupt officials to look the other way, as well as obtain legitimate blank documents to be doctored," the US State Department said in a Nov. 2 statement (per the Washington Post, the news is only being widely reported now). A visa could be had for $6,000 from "consular officers" who were really Turkish citizens speaking English and Dutch; customers could also get other documents, including phony birth certificates and bank statements. The "embassy," only open three days a week, advertised itself on billboards and in fliers in Ghana and other West African countries. The process of obtaining a visa legally in Ghana is a "dreadful experience," per the Ghana Business News, which is how these con operations flourish. This initiative was discovered after an informant tipped off an investigator involved in a larger trafficking and fraud probe in the area; the fraudulent business was shuttered over the summer. Officials aren't saying how workers acquired the real US visas, or how many people were actually able to enter the US using them or other fake paperwork. "Several suspects" were busted during the raid, per the State Department, with "several" still on the loose. Also unearthed during the investigation: a fake Dutch operation. (Meanwhile, Afghan interpreters who helped US troops were denied visas.) Egyptian prosecutors ordered on Monday a senior employee at Heinz Egypt, the maker of the famous ketchup brand, detained for four days pending investigations into charges the factory is using expired food in its products. A complaint against Heinz was filed by Ahmed Mahran, the head of the Cairo Centre for Political and Economic Studies, who submitted to Cairo prosecutors a CD of videos and pictures allegedly showing "rotten" food that is "unsuitable for human consumption" being used in the company's tomato-based products. The prosecutors' decision came a day after authorities impounded 62 tonnes of "rotten and expired" products at one of the company's factories in 6 October city, a security source said earlier on Monday. The products were seized following complaints against the manufacturer after a video purportedly showing below-standard tomato processing at an Egyptian Heinz factory went viral on social media. The company described on Sunday the circulating video as misleading and edited. The footage shows two men throwing piles of tomatoes into an outdoor machine. The tomatoes did not appear to have been sorted or inspected beforehand. The video has angered many social media users who have questioned the quality of tomatoes used and expressed concerns over the levels of hygiene maintained in the factories. Heinz Egypt, a condiment market leader, said in a statement the "edited footage neglects some processing stages," but did not deny it was taken at one of its factories. The company said in the statement that it maintains the highest production standards and uses "high-quality, clean" tomatoes, adding that it is committed to ensuring the safety of its consumers. Search Keywords: Short link: (Newser) The "lock her up" chant most often associated with Hillary Clinton has gone international. As the CBC reports, right-wing neighbors to the north adopted the phrase during a rally held by the Rebel Media group in Canada on Saturday. Conservative Member of Parliament Chris Alexander was speaking out against a carbon tax Alberta Premier Rachel Notley of the New Democratic Party plans to implement when a crowd of 1,000 gathered at the Alberta Legislature began shouting "vote her out," per the National Post. The phrase soon morphed into "lock her up." Alexanderwho is in the running to lead to the federal Conservative partyis seen in a video smiling and nodding in response. Apparently that was no sign of agreement. "I totally disapprove of that particular chant. I don't think it's fair. I don't think it's the right thing to say at a rally or elsewhere, and that's why I didn't join it," Alexander says. "I was smiling because I was trying to think of a way to change the chant." Alexander adds he then purposefully changed the subject to voting, but an Edmonton city councilor says that was "irresponsible." "When you hear chants like that ... it's your responsibility as a publicly elected official, in my opinion, to call that out immediately," he says. Adds another, "We don't suggest jailing somebody we disagree with." (A politician swore in the Alberta Legislature and received a standing ovation.) (Newser) As any parent can tell you, walking over Legos with bare feet can be excruciatingbut how it feels to roll around in them requires further clarification. One person who may able to lend some insight: Jesse William Robert Jenkins, a 23-year-old Maryland man who was arrested Thursday after a scuffle involving several other people at a Tyaskin home, DelmarvaNow.com reports. Details are scarce, but police say an argument broke out, Jenkins hurled someone onto the ground, and then a third person stepped in to break things up, and that person and Jenkins ended up on the floor and rolling around on top of a bunch of tiny plastic bricks. Jenkins was charged with second-degree assault and reportedly suffered injuries, though it's not clear what those injuries were. (A father-son brawl over Legos.) (Newser) When George W. Bush was president, Rick Perlstein writes that he used to fantasize about posing this thought experiment to the mainstream media: If you were reporters in Germany when the Nazi party was rising, he would ask, at what point would you break from the pretense of "'objectivity'gotta hear both sides!to inform your audience that what was going on was not normal?" During the Bush administration, the point felt a little overstated, but "no longer," writes Perlstein in a post at In These Times. He views Donald Trump's victory as nothing less than a trauma, and he writes that our nation is historically bad at dealing with traumas. Instead of confronting them, we resort to kumbaya-style choruses of "let's come together." And the media is worst of all, writes Perlstein, whose piece is headlined "The Rush to Normalize Trump." Perlstein cites a prior visit to the Oklahoma City bombing museum to make his point. Displays stress heroism in the immediate aftermath but fail to mention the years of anti-government vitriol that preceded the attack and turned Americans into terrorists. He thinks something similar is happening in the wake of Trump's victory, with the theme now all about glossing over the ugliness of his campaign messages and reaching consensus. Things are bound to get worse, he warns. When Trump fails to fulfill promises or ushers in "geostrategic chaos," Perlstein predicts he will deftly deflect blame onto his rotating list of enemies. "Enduring and resisting this onslaught will be traumatic," writes Perlstein. "We will need unflinching assessments of exactly what it is we are going through." But he's not optimistic we'll get it. Click for the full column. (Read more Donald Trump stories.) (Newser) The New York Police Department has arrested a man accused of harassing an off-duty Muslim police officer previously commended for heroism. The NYPD said Monday that 36-year-old Christopher Nelson has been arrested on charges of menacing as a hate crime and aggravated harassment, the AP reports. Authorities say Officer Aml Elsokary, who was wearing a Muslim head covering, encountered a man yelling and pushing her 16-year-old son on Saturday evening in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, when she went to park her car, per CBS New York. When Elsokary, who was unarmed, intervened, the man reportedly said, "ISIS [expletive], I will cut your throat, go back to your country." City officials hailed Elsokary as a hero in 2014 after she saved a baby and the baby's grandmother from a blaze in Williamsburg. The NYPD Muslim Officers Society says she's one of the few NYPD officers who wears a head covering on the clock. "No New Yorker should ever have to worship in fear," Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said of this and another recent Islamophobic attack in the city. "This hate, this language, this behavior must never be normalized." There was no immediate information on an attorney who could comment on the defendant's behalf. (A letter sent to California mosques last month promised a genocide of Muslims.) According to the earlier report of Android 7.1.1, Nougat will start rolling out to Android One, Nexus and Pixel on December 6. However, it looks like the rollout has begun a few days earlier with a report that Android One user have already started receiving the updates for Andriod 7.1.1. The update requires 240mb download and comes with the latest security patch.Google will soon make an official announcement for both Andriod 7.1.1 and December security patch. According to Android Central, the update will come with the latest security patch and will bring improvement to safety and stability to the software.The update will also have December security patch, which is still not listed on Google's Andriod Security Bulletin. The software is approximately sized at 600mb which will be available for download via FOTA. The update will also bring some new feature like app shortcut menus to Nexus 6P.the update for the Google Pixel will have new features like raise-to-wake and tap-to-wake features for Canadian unit. The devices like Google Pixel and Pixel XL(which works on Andriod 7.1 not 7.1.1), but also the older devices like Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Nexus 5X, Pixel C and Nexus 6 that currently get their software update straight from Google will receive the new version of Andriod soon.In the last developer preview of Andriod 7.1.1 which went out in November, where Google says the final version would be coming this month.The latest version of Andriod 7.1.1 Nougat has begun rolling out in Turkey, so now we can expect Google to make an official announcement for Android 7.1.1 and December security patch. According to Vodafone, the latest Andriod 7.1.1 Nougat update will come to Huawei, the developer of Nexus 6p on December 6 starting at 5:00 pm Australian Time. As Australia is 13-18 hours ahead of the United States, which means that the United States may receive the update on December 5. After its long years of absence in the smartphone industry, Nokia android phones are going to be back and probably with better features. The year 2017 will be busy for HMD Global as the company will be responsible for bringing the Nokia brand back as early as Q1 2017. Nokia has always been an innovative company and has produced excellent phones such as the Nokia Lumia 1020 that has the 41-megapixel camera, and the Nokia 3650 with its circular keypad, Gadgets 360reported. But with a lot of missteps and its choice to make Microsoft Windows Phone to be its platform, not a lot was heard from them since then. Now, Nokia will be back with Nokia android phones and have even been reported that it will have a year-end release. However, Nokia noted that the Finnish company would require licensing and the right partner, according to Forbes. HMD Global came into its rescue and acquire its business from Microsoft, which now means the company has access to Nokia's patents. HMD Global will also work with Foxconn's subsidiary FIH for the Nokia android phones manufacturing. With Nokia already in the works, rumors are now circulating that the Nokia android phone will offer low and mid-range devices and the Finnish company will offer different tier for each price range. While the upcoming Nokia smartphones may also bring nostalgia back but this will not be enough. Nokia android phones will need to compete with big companies such as Apple, Samsung and Google. The company will also have to compete with Huawei and other Chinese companies if they want to enter the Asian market. As much as the upcoming Nokia android phones will also contain the latest specs such as the rumored Snapdragon 820 or 821 processors with Android 7.0 Nougat, it will all come into pricing and the right marketing strategy. Nokia and HMD Global will really have a very busy 2017 as it will be giving consumers its first Nokia android phone which most would be excited to find. While there are no dates yet on when we could expect the new android phone from the Finnish company but rumors are suggesting that it will be on March 2017. "Fidel Castro" has been finally laid to rest soon after he died. Cuba is declared to have a nine-day mourning since his demise. It is reported that a large granite boulder is going to be the home for "Fidel Castro's" ashes. This has been finally sealed last Sunday. The day has been the end for mourning from the people of Cuba. It has marked the ninth day right after their leader has been put to rest. The final cremated remains of "Fidel Castro" have been placed in a cedar box at the Santa Ifigenia Cemetery. This has been done by his brother, Cuban President Raul Castro. The ceremony has been concluded with a 21-gun salute. It has been a long nine days for the people of Cuba who have looked up at Fidel to be a leader. Havana has been reported to be filled with serenity upon "Fidel Castro's" death. The people mourned for their longtime leader. The place is usually noisy but with the last remains of the former leader laid to rest, the people and the place have been tranquil. In the span of nine days for mourning, the government in Cuba declared that there will be no drinking and there will be no parties and celebrations all over the city. This is to further pay their respect towards the remains of Fidel Castro. The people of Cuba felt a loss of a father. Fidel has ruled the nation for nearly 50 years. Meanwhile, it already is reported that Fidel Castro's ashes has been made to reunite with Che Guevarra in the ceremony. The ceremony last Tuesday, lasted for four hours and his remains had a four-day journey to finally be buried in its final resting place. Fidel Castro has been a significant leader in Cuba for several years. He died at 90 years old and is remembered by many. Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is set to receive his Slovenian counterpart President Borut Pahor in Cairo on Monday, in the first official visit by a Slovenian president to the country. The two leaders are expected to hold a press conference following a meeting at the presidential palace in Cairo. Slovenia's Ambassador to Egypt Tatiana Meskova said that President Pahor is set to meet with the prime minister and parliament speaker during histwo-day visit. The ambassador added that the two states are expected to sign several memorandums of understanding on investment, environment, media and consumer protection. Search Keywords: Short link: Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Cloudy. Snow showers developing late. Low 9F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 40%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.. Tonight Cloudy. Snow showers developing late. Low 9F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 40%. Snow accumulations less than one inch. Mubarak era politician Ahmed Fathi Sorour has been chosen for chief of the first Arab international arbitration court, created to resolve regional commercial and economic disputes, state-owned MENA agency reported on Monday. In a statement to MENA on Monday, the General Assembly of the Arab Union for International Arbitration announced the establishment of the court, which will have its headquarters in Cairo. Joining Sorour an old-time law expert and Egypt's longest-serving parliamentary speaker (1990-2010) under the regime of ex-president Hosni Mubarak will be Hassan Hamad as secretary-general of the court and business mogul Mohamed Abo El-Enen as the courts deputy head for business affairs. According to MENA, the inauguration of the court represents a distinctive act in developing commercial and economic relations between Arab countries, particularly as earlier disputes were subject to resolution by international arbitration institutions in Europe and the United States. The court consists of ten divisions, with one specialized in resolving economic and investment disputes and the others designated to rule on individual disputes. The statement added that discussions are ongoing to fill the posts of deputies, a committee of advisors and the board of trustees, all of which are expected to be composed of judges, lawyers, and investors. Cairo was chosen to host the court due to its status as a founding member of the Council of Arab Economic Unity. The union plans to establish branches of the court in other Arab countries following recommendations by the general assembly. Search Keywords: Short link: New Delhi: Delhi Police is in touch with a US woman who was allegedly raped by a group of men at a five-star hotel here in April and she may come to India to join the probe. The woman had alleged that she was raped by the men for two days. They also threatened her with dire consequences if she reported the matter to anybody. "After the incident, the woman went back to the US without informing about the incident even to those accompanying her in the trip. Initially, she approached an NGO which sent an email about the incident to Delhi Police andyesterday she mailed her complaint to police. Also Read: Delhi Police files FIR against 5 men for raping US woman "We are in touch with her and we are trying to convince her to come to India. She might come here but no date has been fixed for her visit," said an officer privy to the probe. Police suspected that the accused had targeted a couple of other women tourists, a source said. Teams have been formed to nab the accused, one of whom is a hotel employee and his relative, the source said, adding that the accused even shot a video of the act and threatened her with making the clip public if she filed a complaint. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, who suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday, continues to be very critical, Apollo Hospital admistration said on Monday. A spokesperson from the hospital said that the CM is on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and other life support systems. He said that Jayalalithaa's health is being closely monitored by a team of experts. The ECMO, also known as extracorporeal life support (ECLS), is an extracorporeal technique of providing both cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange to sustain life. The Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu who suffered a cardiac arrest yesterday evening, continues to be very critical. #GodblessAmma Apollo Hospitals (@HospitalsApollo) December 5, 2016 She is on ECMO and other life support systems. The Honourable Chief Minister is being treated and closely monitored by a team of experts. Apollo Hospitals (@HospitalsApollo) December 5, 2016 Jayalalithaa was readmitted to the critical care unit of Apollo Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening. Tamil Nadu governor C Vidyasagar Rao also visited the hospital and stayed there for about 10 minutes. Read | Jayalalithaas rebirth declaration created wave of joy in state, says AIADMK Jayalalithaa had spent the last three months at the same hospital due to a prolonged lung infection. Thousands of supporters of the chief minister gathered outside to pray for her well being. Read | DMK chief M Karunanidhi wishes Jayalalithaa speedy recovery Here are the live updates: 17:00pm # Our team of expert doctors continue to monitor & treat Honourable CM. However her condition remains critical: Apollo Hospital 16:30pm The situation is extremely grave," says Dr #RichardBeale the specialist doctor from London, on #Jayalalithaa's health condition #JayaHealth pic.twitter.com/uyVJAWvluW News Nation (@NewsNationTV) December 5, 2016 16:15pm #WATCH: Supporters gather outside Apollo Hospital in Chennai (TN), where CM #Jayalalithaa is admitted, praying for her speedy recovery pic.twitter.com/EYdEezW7Qd ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 Chennai: Latest visuals from outside Apollo Hospital where TN CM #Jayalalithaa is admitted. Heavy Police deployment & huge crowds present pic.twitter.com/aQVjeCSG2V ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 16:10pm # The best medical treatment has been given, we should not speculate anything; I wish she will come out of danger: Vaiko, MDMK Chief # She detained me under POTA but apart from politics I treat her like sister. She will come out of crisis: MDMK chief Vaiko 15:51pm # She is being cared for by a highly expert multidisciplinary team and is now on extra corporal life support: Dr.Richard Beale 15:50pm # Situation extremely grave but can confirm everything possible being done to give her best chance of surviving: Dr Richard Beale 15.30pm # Despite our best efforts, Jayalalithaa remains in a grave situation: Sangita Reddy, Exec Director Apollo Group 15.15pm # Governor C Vidyasagar expected to reach Apollo Hospital in an hour 12.51pm # Apollo Hospital spokesperson says CM Jayalalithaa remains very critical and is on ECMO and other life support systems, being closely observed 11.19am # Jayalalithaa out of danger, says Union health minister JP Nadda: IANS 10.30am # I have spoken to Tamil Nadu governor. There is no issue of law and order: Home minister Rajnath Singh 9.45am # We are in regular touch with Apollo Hospital and Tamil Nadu government, have sent a team of doctors from Delhi AIIMS to Chennai: Union health minister JP Nadda We are in regular touch with Apollo hosp & TN Govt; have sent a team from Delhi AIIMS to Chennai: Union Health Min. JP Nadda #Jayalalithaa pic.twitter.com/lzjWWbhKqm ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 # Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan and BJP MP La Ganesan visit Apollo Hospital to enquire about Jayalalithaa's health Distressed to hear about CM Jayalalithaa suffering a cardiac arrest, my prayers for her speedy recovery #PresidentMukherjee President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) December 4, 2016 8.37am # Traffic police blocks roads leading to Apollo Hospital to prevent traffic congestion: ANI 8.30am # Karnataka State Road Transport Corp temporarily stops bus services to Tamil Nadu after incident of stone pelting on their bus near Tiruvannamalai K'taka State Road Transport Corp temporarily stop bus services to Tamil Nadu aftr incident of stone pelting on their bus near Tiruvannamalai pic.twitter.com/XHsWNlC2kw ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 8.19am # A large number of AIADMK cadres, including women stay put outside hospital which has been covered in a thick blanket of security # Heavy police deployment outside Apollo Hospital. 9 units of Rapid Action Force put on high alert to deal with any eventuality # CRPF teams put on high alert in Chennai in view of Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa suffering cardiac arrest CRPF teams put on high alert in view of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister #Jayalalithaa suffering cardiac arrest. ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 Barricading, Police deployment outside Apollo hospital in Chennai where #Jayalalithaa is admitted. She suffered a cardiac arrest last eve pic.twitter.com/ze4TeRicOG ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Mumbai: Adani Group that plans to build one of the world's largest coal mines in Australia has got a major boost on Monday as it secured the final approval for a permanent rail line and a temporary construction camp for the 21.7 billion dollars controversy-hit project despite protests. Queensland's Coordinator-General has given "the latest,and final, secondary approval" for about 31.5 kilometres of permanent track, as well as the 300-bed camp. The rail section approved will form part of the 389-kilometre heavy haul railway line from the mine in the Galilee Basin to the Abbot Point port, ABC News reported. State Development Minister Anthony Lynham said the approval was another milestone for the project. "Adani has confirmed it will start construction next year," Lynham said "North Queensland is about to see a new horizon, because these big projects will be a huge economic stimulus for the north," he said. Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani is expected to meet Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk during his visit to Australia this week. The company is also expected to announce its project headquarters on Monday. Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said it would be a huge win for the region. "We've got one of the highest unemployment rates inAustralia," she said. "These are the sort of projects that can support 2,000 to 3,000 jobs, not to mention the other jobs that come from the fact that so many people are employed," Hill said. The mine will consist of six open-cut pits and up to five underground mines, and will supply Indian power plants with enough coal to generate electricity for up to 100 million people. The controversial project involves dredging 1.1 million cubic metres of spoil near the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park,which will then be disposed off on land. Meanwhile, over 200 people here gathered to protest,demanding that the project will be stopped. Australian Conservation Foundation's Paul Sinclair saidthe project could still be stopped. "Every day that we stop Adani digging that coal is a daythis planet is free from its pollution," he said. Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) Traditional Owners Councilalso issued a statement saying that they are opposed theproject. W&J Council, leading Aboriginal rights advocate,spokesperson Adrian Burragubba said, "The Queensland andFederal governments have knowingly overlooked that we stand inthe way of this mine and when we say 'no' we mean no. Throughour legal actions we are intent on stopping this massive anddestructive project from moving forward." The project has faced a protracted battle to establishAustralia's largest thermal coal mine. New Delhi: The Hollywood film industry has expressed their disgust over the revelation of a director who admitted that he shot one of the most notorious rape scenes in modern film history without taking prior consent from the actor involved. Bernardo Bertolucci faced ridicule on Sunday from actors including Jessica Chastain, Anna Kendrick and Chris EvansA after a video clip was released showing him confess that just in order to make the reaction of the actress appear more real and authentic, he did not consider consulting about some elements of the rape scene in Last Tango with the actress Maria Schneider. The video interview was filmed in 2013 but only recently posted online. In the video, Bertolucci has confessed that he felt guilty about his treatment of Schneider. The actress died of cancer in 2011. He tells how he and Marlon Brando had conspired to shoot an assault by Brandoas character to rape his lover played by the late actress. Many details of the scene were not written in the script. He says he failed to inform her of their plan because he awanted her reaction as a girl, not as an actressa. At the time of shooting, Brando was 48 years old and Schneider was 19. As the clip was circulated online, Hollywood stars took to Twitter to express their outrage, with Marvel Comics actor Chris Evans tweeting: Wow. I will never look at this film, Bertolucci or Brando the same way again. This is beyond disgusting. I feel rage https://t.co/uvaLogvv7I a Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) December 3, 2016 Director Ava DuVernay said: Inexcusable. As a director, I can barely fathom this. As a woman, I am horrified, disgusted and enraged by it. https://t.co/voGRhafy9K a Ava DuVernay (@ava) December 4, 2016 Interstellar actress Jessica Chastain tweeted: To all the people that love this film- you're watching a 19yr old get raped by a 48yr old man. The director planned her attack. I feel sick. https://t.co/qVDom2gYf6 a Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) December 3, 2016 Others complained that Bertolucci was only facing criticism now he had admitted the scene was non-consensual rather than when Schneider initially made the claims herself during an interview nearly 10 years ago. The Twilight Saga actress, Anna Kendrick tweeted: @colliderfrosty @ChrisEvans Ms Schneider stated this several years ago. I used to get eye-rolls when I brought it up to people (aka dudes). a Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) December 3, 2016 Schneider had earlier told that although no sexual intercourse took place on the film set but she said that aspects of the scene were not told to her and that had profound effect on her. Speaking at the time, she said: aThey only told me about it before we had to film the scene and I was so angry. I should have called my agent or had my lawyer come to the set because you canat force someone to do something that isnat in the script but at the time, I didnat know that.a She added: aDuring the scene, even though what Marlon was doing wasnat real, I was crying real tears. I felt humiliated and, to be honest, I felt a little raped, both by Marlon and Bertolucci.a Last Tango in Paris is the story of a man who gets involved into an anonymous affair after her wife takes her own life. It shocked audiences on its release in the early 1970s due to its graphic depictions of sex and rape, and remains controversial today. Long after the release of the film, many still believed that the sex scenes were real but Schneider later confirmed this was not the case. For years after the film, and in part due to the scandal surrounding it, Schneider struggled with drug addiction and depression before her death. When Bertolucci was interviewd about her in 2013, he said he felt guilty but he did not regret on how the scene was shot. Speaking at an event at La CinAmathAque Francaise in Paris, he said: aAfter the movie we really didnat see each other because she was hating me. He added: aI feel guilty but I do not regret. To make movies sometimes to obtain something we have to be completely free. I didnat want Maria to act her humiliation, her rage, I wanted Maria to feel, not to act. Then she hated me for all her life.a For all the Latest Entertainment News, Hollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Amritsar: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani accused Pakistan of launching an "undeclared war" against his country by covertly supporting terror networks including the Taliban.A Ghani asked Pakistan to use its 500 million dollar aid to check extremism on its soil.A In his address at the 6th annual conference of Heart of Asia, Ghani praised India's assistance in his country's reconstruction and noted that there were "no hidden deals" in New Delhi's growing engagement in the war-ravaged country. Slamming Pakistan's habit of denying cross-border terror attacks, he said an Asian or international mechanism must be put in place, without "playing games", to find out who was benefiting from terror, extremism and other illicit activities. He said time has come for concrete action against terror infrastructure and those support it, and quoted a top Taliban commander saying unless terror sanctuaries were allowed in Pakistan, the outfit will not last even a month. Snubbing Islamabad, he said, "We thank Pakistan for their pledges of 500 million dollar for reconstruction of Afghanistan. "This fund Mr Aziz could very well be used to contain extremists because without peace any amount of assistance will not meet the needs of our people." Pakistan Prime Minister's foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz was among representatives of 30 countries who attended the conference inaugurated jointly by Ghani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 6/7 Thirdly, there's need for a fund to combat extremism. Pakistan has generously pledged $500million for reconstruction of AFG. This fund a Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) December 4, 2016 7/7 could very well be used for containing extremism because without peace any amount of assistance will not meet the needs of our people. a Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) December 4, 2016 Ghani said despite Afghanistan's bilateral and multilateral ties with Pakistan, the "undeclared war" that started in winter of 2014, has intensified after the recent Brussels conference on Afghanistan's transition. The Afghan President called for setting up of international mechanism to verify reality of such attacks which have increased in the last few months. He also sought setting up of a global fund to contain terrorism. "There should be an Asian or international regime, whatever is acceptable to Pakistan, should be put in place to verify frontier activities and terrorist operations. "We do not want blame game, we want verification," he said, without mincing words. "We need to set up a fund to combat extremism," Ghani said. Hailing India's role in Afghanistan's transition, he said "India's assistance is transparent and with no strings attached", adding "there are no hidden deals between India and Afghanistan." Asserting that no amount of money can assist Afghanistan if there is support to terrorists by Pakistan, he said military operations in Pakistan have brought about selective displacement of terrorists. Referring to Modi's visit to Afghanistan, he said there were spontaneous celebrations all over Afghanistan following the inauguration of Salma Dam. He also thanked India for further assistance of one billion dollar apart from two billion. "India's assistance is transparent and with no strings attached, " Ghani said, adding an air corridor between India and Afghanistan will be soon launched to deepen trade ties. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Bank branches across the country reopened after a day's break on with a heavy footfall at cash counters. It was when people were left disappointed again due to inoperational ATMs that wore 'no cash' boards. Even on , the banks faced tough time managing customers who made serpentine queues to withdraw money. CH Venkatachalam, chief of the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), at a recent press conference in Chennai had said the staff will protest in the next 10 days to bring their plight to the notice of the government. On 2 December, AIBEA and the All India Bank Officers' Association wrote a letter detailing the hardships faced by banks employees. The acute shortage of currency notes is forcing branches to step up cash disbursal and is resulting in quarrel, abuses, insinuations on bank staff, the letter said. The letter further talked about cash crunch at banks. "While RBI is repeatedly making statements that ample currency is being given to banks, the reality is otherwise. The public feels that RBI is supplying cash to Banks and bank employees are deliberately not extending payments," it read. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: After a two-day break, Monday may see another confrontation between Opposition and government on the demonetisation move. The matter of black money has created a limbo in both Houses of the Parliament since day 1 of this session. Opposition leadersa meeting in the Parliament ended with demands same as before. Opposition demands anA apology by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rajya Sabha. Prime Minister has chaired a cabinet meeting ahead of the start of another rocky day of Winter Session of Parliament. Earlier day 13 of Winter Session of Parliament was rocked by the issue of Armyas presence in West Bengal. The Opposition parties raised the matter in both the Houses. Live Updates #A Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day #DeMonetisation Uproar continues in Rajya Sabha over #DeMonetisation , opposition MPs raise slogans in the well of the house pic.twitter.com/nRoBnzrS22 a ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 #A Uproar continues in Rajya Sabha over Demonetisation , opposition MPs raise slogans in the well of the house # At 1 pm, Lok Sabha adjourned till 2 pm #A Assure that will try our best to incorporate suggestions by opposition with regard to implementation of Demonetisation-Rajnath Singh in Lok Sabha #A Uproar in Lok Sabha as HM Rajnath Singh states "#DeMonetisation is for national interest" #A I thank the opposition that they never doubted government's motive behind #DeMonetisation : HM Rajnath Singh in Lok Sabha # At 12 pm, Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm #A At 11:30 am Lok Sabha too was adjourned till 12 noon # At 11:00 amA Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 12 PM after Opposition stage protest against #demonetisation in the House. #A Uproar in Rajya Sabha as Opposition stage protest against #demonetisation Uproar in Rajya Sabha as Opposition stage protest against #demonetisation, raise slogans "Janta ka paisa janta ko do" pic.twitter.com/U1zCjCKuIz a ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the online readeras poll for 2016 TIME Person of the Year. The Indian political supremo beat other major world leaders, artists and politicians as the most influential figure in 2016 among people who voted.A The magazineas editors decide the final Person of the Year, but poll results provide a look at how the world sees these figures. Modi won with 18% of the vote when the poll closed Sunday at midnight. He was well ahead of his closest contenders, including Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Julian Assange, who all received 7% of the ayesa vote. Modi also placed far ahead of other prominent figures of this year, like Mark Zuckerberg (2%) and Hillary Clinton (4%). Ye to bas shuruwat hai, PM toh man of the century bhi honge aage: Uma Bharti,Union Minister on PM won TIME Magazine person of the year pic.twitter.com/s1MgkevENf a ANI (@ANI_news) December 5, 2016 In recent months, Modi's approval ratings as Indian Prime Minister surged, according to a September Pew poll, and ratified the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Modi has come under scrutiny recently for getting rid of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes, hitting cash-based businesses and shrinking Indiaas economy. Current poll results, analyzed by poll host Apester, found that preferences differ across the world and the United States. Modi performed particularly well among Indian voters as well as those in California and New Jersey. Every year, TIME selects the most influential person of the year, noting, for better or for worse, the person or group of people who have had the largest global impact over the past 12 months. In partnership with Opentopic and IBMas Watson this year, TIME editors were also able to see how candidates were influential on the Internet. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A team of specialists from the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) flown to Apollo Hospital in Chennai, by central government, where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa is undergoing treatment after suffering cardiac arrest on Sunday evening. Four specialists from AIIMS will soon be reaching the Apollo Hospital, informed Health Minister JP Nadda in New Delhi. Live updates | Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa still in ICU but out of danger, says Union health minister JP Nadda "We are in constant touch with Apollo and Tamil Nadu government. They had requested a team of doctors from AIIMS. We have sent a team of specialists from AIIMS Dr Khilani, Dr Trikha, Dr Narang and Dr Talwar. We hope that doctors from AIIMS and Apollo will be able to help her recover. We prayto God that she regains her health," Nadda said. The team of AIIMS doctors comprise of pulmonologist Dr GC Khilnani, anaesthetist Dr Anjan Trikha, cardiac surgeon Dr Sachin Talwar and cardiologist Dr Rajiv Narang. Jayalalithaa has been critical after she suffered a cardiac arrest in Apollo Hospital on Sunday evening where she was admitted now 73-days. Chennai: The US Consulate in Chennai issued an "emergency message" for American citizens on Monday, asking them to review their personal security plans and remain aware of the local events. "US citizens are reminded that even gatherings intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. You should avoid areas of demonstrations, and exercise caution if in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations," the consulate said in a message on its official website without any reference to any particular development. "Review your personal security plans; remain aware of your surroundings, including local events; and monitor local news stations for updates. Maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security," the message said. Further, the Consulate General will operate with reduced staffing, it announced, adding, it has "temporarily suspended appointments for routine services to US citizens and visa applicants." "Applicants will be informed by email. The consulate will provide updates when routine services are restored," it added. Jayalalithaa, hospitalised since September 22, suffered a cardiac arrest last evening, prompting scores of party workers to throng Apollo Hospital where she has been admitted. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Defense lawyer Ali submitted 13 documents affirming Egyptian sovereignty over islands Tiran and Sanafir including historical maps of Egyptian territory from the Egyptian Survey Authority Egypt's High Administrative Court adjourned on Monday the hearing of a government appeal against an administrative court June 2016 ruling that affirmed Egyptian sovereignty over the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to 19 December. The June ruling voided an April 2016 agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia which placed the islands of South Sinai under Saudi sovereignty. In the first session of the high administrative court today, defense lawyer Khaled Ali submitted 13 documents affirming Egyptian sovereignty over the two islands including three maps of Egyptian territory in 1912, 1943 and 1950 from the Egyptian Survey Authority. Ali said that the Egyptian National Library and Archives is stalling in giving him authorized documents to make his case. Ali also told Ahram Online that the Commissioner's Authority of the High Administrative Court will recommend that the court reject the government appeal, in a report which has yet to be submitted to the court. In April, Egypt's government signed an agreement to place both islands under Saudi Arabian sovereignty, saying that they had always belonged to the oil-rich Arab country and that Egypt had been merely administering them on behalf of the kingdom since the 1950s. A number of lawyers, including rights lawyer Khaled Ali, then filed a lawsuit with Egypt's Administrative Court at the State Council, receiving in June a ruling that nullified the maritime deal between Cairo and Riyadh. The government, represented by the State Lawsuits Authority, appealed June's verdict before an administrative court, the High Administrative Court as well as Supreme Constitutional Court, the country's highest court. Early in November, an administrative court rejected the government's appeal against the June 2016 ruling, issuing a verdict on two separate motions by the government and the defence. First, it rejected the government's request to suspend the execution of the June ruling. Second, it accepted the defence's request to compel the state to execute the June verdict. Later in November, the government submitted two appeals against the administrative court's decisions. In late September, the Court for Urgent Matters accepted a government challenge to the jurisdiction of administrative courts over issues of sovereignty, and voided the June decision. The decision to transfer the two strategic islands at the southern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba to Saudi Arabia has sparked widespread public outcry in the country. Search Keywords: Short link: Chennai: Tamil actor Dhanush has decided to release his directorial debut aPower Paandia in April 2017, coinciding with his motheras birthday. aPower paandi #dd1 will release on 14-4-2017. Happens to be my motheras birthday #blessed,a he said in a Twitter post.a Power paandi #dd1 will release on 14-4-2017. Happens to be my mothers birthday #blessed pic.twitter.com/x4VVpdtmUi a Dhanush (@dhanushkraja) December 4, 2016 April 14 is also the first day of Tamil New Year and films with big star cast contest for this date. The film depicts the life of a stuntman. The national award winning Dhanush has cast senior actor Rajkiran in the lead role of Power Paandi. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Income Tax Department has rejected declarations of Rs 2 lakh crore by four members of Sayeds family of Mumbai. The I-T department also rejected the declarations of Rs 13,860 crore by Ahmedabad-based Mahesh Shah when revising the total amount disclosed under the centres income declaration scheme (IDS) to Rs 67,382 crore. On , the Sayed family grab the headlines when finance ministry revealed that the Mumbai family disclosed Rs 2 lakh crore as income. The government on released a press statement and said, After due enquiry, it was found that these declarants were persons of suspicious nature and very small means and the declarations could have been misused. A family of four declarants namely, Mr. Abdul Razzaque Mohammed Sayed (self), Mr.Mohammed Aarif Abdul Razzaque Sayed (son), Shrimati Rukhsana Abdul Razzaque Sayed (wife) and Ms.Noorjahan Mohammed Sayed (sister) who were shown as residents of Flat no. 4 , Ground Floor , Jubilee Court, 269-B, T.P.S-III, Linking Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai, filed a total declaration of Rs. Two lakh crore (Rs. 2,00,000 crore). Three out of the four PAN numbers were originally in Ajmer which were migrated to Mumbai in , where the declarations were filed. The other declaration was filed by one Mr. Mahesh Kumar Champaklal Shah resident of 206, Mangal Jyot Tower, Jodhpur Gram Satellite, Ahmedabad for an amount of Rs.Thirteen Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty crore (Rs.13,860 crore)," the government statement added. The Income Disclosure Scheme, formed to flush out black money, was announced in the Union Budget 2016-17. It provides immunity to those who declare hidden income and pay 45 per cent of the declared amount as tax, surcharge and penalty. The scheme closed on this year. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Adani Enterprises Ltd reached a landmark on Monday in its bid to build a controversial $16 billion coal project in northern Australia, winning approval for part of a rail link to service the planned mine. As per the report in leading financial journal, the mine has now secured all major state and federal government approvals, said the Queensland state government, whose premier will meet with chairman and founder Gautam Adani in the northern city of Townsville on Tuesday. Adani was also expected to meet with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Monday, amid local media speculation the federal government could contribute A$1 billion ($740 million) in rail funding. "I do expect to meet Mr Adani and I have got no doubt we will be discussing his proposed substantial investment in Queensland," Turnbull told reporters in Melbourne. The Carmichael mine has faced years of legal delays and rollercoaster coal prices, amid strident opposition from environmentalists opposed to coal mining and concerned at the impact the mine will have on the Great Barrier Reef. Adani said in October he was preparing to start construction of the mine in 2017, although it still faces several court challenges and appeals. Jammu: The Vihswa Hindu Parishad on Monday claimed that the Rohingya refugees, staying in Jammu and Kashmir are a security threat to the people of the region and should be "thrown out" of the state. State VHP President Leela Karan Sharma sought to link the terror attack at Nagrota, Samba and other places to the refugees from Myanmar, saying the strikes were not possible "without local support and hideouts". "We oppose their settlement in Jammu. The state government should throw these foreigners out of the state. They should not be allowed to set up clusters on government or private land. It's a risk to the security of people and the Army," he said. Also Read: Human Rights Watch claims more Rohingya villages razed in Myanmar's Rakhine region "A very deep-rooted conspiracy is being hatched by the refugees from Myanmar. There number, according to government figures released last year, is 5,700. It must have increased by now," the VHP leader said. Jammu and Kashmir is a sensitive state a victim of militancy and the Kashmir Valley has seen "forced migration of Hindu families, but the Rohingya refugees were settled in clusters. People in the administration gave them ration, water and electricity connections", he claimed. Also Read: Myanmar's Rohingya left behind by election gains: UN "It is strange how the refugees, after crossing the Indo-Bangla border and crossing the entire country have come to Jammu," he said. A VHP delegation also met the Divisional Commissioner Jammu and apprised hime of the issue, Sharma said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Beirut: Syrian activists claimed that Russian and Syrian aircrafts have increased attacks on the rebel-held province of Idlib, one day after more than 60 people were killed in air raids. The activist-run Local Coordination Committees is reporting airstrikes on the towns of Binnish, Maarat Nasaan, and Saraqib, as well as the provincial capital, Idlib. The network says the Monday morning airstrikes killed three children. It blamed the attacks on a Russian aircraft. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported strikes on Idlib city. Also Read: Syria army seizes new rebel district in Aleppo: Reports It said 288 civilians have been killed in the province since October 20, when Syrian government and Russian aircraft intensified airstrikes. The Syrian Civil Defense first responder group said 65 civilians were killed on Sunday airstrikes across the province, including attacks on two rural marketplaces that killed dozens. Also Read: Syria claims victory over largest rebel-held district of Aleppo: State media For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make a historic visit to Pearl Harbor later this month with President Barack Obama, becoming the first Japanese leader to go to the US naval base in Hawaii which was attacked by Japan 75 years ago that thrust America in the World War II. President Obama will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 27, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said. The meeting will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review our joint efforts over the past four years to strengthen the US-Japan alliance, including our close cooperation on a number of security, economic, and global challenges, he said. Obama will also accompany Abe to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor to honour those killed. The two leaders visit will showcase the power of reconciliation that has turned former adversaries into the closest of allies, united by common interests and shared values, Earnest said. Japan launched a surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in 1941. Almost 200 aircraft bombed the site over 30 minutes, destroying the USS Arizona among other naval vessels. President Franklin D Roosevelt called the ambush a date which will live in infamy, and the following day asked US Congress to declare war on Japan. Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Egypt's foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid denied reports that the Egyptians were detained by Houthi rebels Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement sent to Ahram Online on Monday that the ministry is working to release Egyptian nationals detained in Yemen. Several news outlets are reporting that 49 Egyptian fishermen were abducted last week in Yemen's Hadida governorate, which is controlled by Houthi rebels. Abu Zeid added that the ministry is working in coordination with the Egyptian embassy in Yemen to help release the citizens as soon as possible and dismissed earlier reports that the Egyptian nationals had been abducted by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. "The Egyptian citizens, who are from different professions, were detained and not abducted," said Abu Zeid. Yemen has been witnessing political turbulence since 2014 when Houthi rebels took over the capital Sanaa and overthrew the country's government. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition of Arab countries began military operations against the Houthi forces. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed with Slovenian President Borut Pahor on Monday ways of boosting bilateral relations between the two countries, a statement by the Egyptian presidency read. In a joint press conference at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, El-Sisi praised Pahors efforts in strengthening relations between Egypt and Slovenia. I am sure that the Slovenian presidents visit to Cairo will contribute to giving a new push to developing the relationship between the two countries, El-Sisi said. El-Sisi said that his talks with Pahor included a discussion on methods of developing all aspects of bilateral ties in the economic, trade, and cultural fields. I would like to praise the organisation of several events on the sidelines of the visit, which aim to give a push to the economic relationship between Egypt and Slovenia, including the Egyptian-Slovenian business forum on Tuesday, El-Sisi added. The Egyptian president added that the discussions also included developments in the Middle East in light of the crisis facing various countries in the region and the hardships faced by people who have been affected. El-Sisi said that both leaders aim to resolve such calamities through political solutions that ensure the rights of the people who suffer the consequences of such disasters. An Egyptian presidency statement also said that Pahor stressed the importance of Egypt for the European Union as well as the countrys pivotal role in securing stability in the Middle East. Pahor also thanked El-Sisi for his vision of the Middle East and the direct affect Egypt has on Europes stability in light of terrorism threats and the illegal immigrant influx. Pahor pointed out the huge potential for cooperation and expressed hope that his visit would aid in developing trade and economic relations between Egypt and Slovenia. Slovenias president is set to meet with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal during his two-day visit. The visit marks the first time that a president from the central European country has visited Egypt since 1991. According to Slovenias Ambassador to Egypt Tatiana Meskova, Egypt and Slovenia are expected to sign several memorandums of understanding on investment, the environment, media and consumer protection. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail reversed on Monday the government's decision to exempt frozen poultry from taxes and custom duties, a decision which has caused uproar among local poultry producers who argue the move would hurt local industry. Last week , PM Ismail issued a decision to exempt imported frozen poultry from customs duties from 10 November 2016 to 31 May 2017. The decision roused controversy in Egypt as local poultry producers rejected the decision, seeing it as a threat to the local industry. Abdel-Aziz El-Sayad, the head of the poultry division in Cairo's Chamber of Commerce, told Ahram Online that the prime minister held a meeting on Sunday with the heads of the local poultry industry to discuss their complaints and their point of view regarding the decision. On Sunday, the PM said in a press conference that the cabinet "is studying the decision from all angles" and will draw up a report on the matter. Locally produced poultry known as "baladi" chicken, which many Egyptian consumers prefer, is more expensive than imported frozen chicken. According to El-Sayad, the local poultry industry in Egypt covers nearly 90 percent of the market's needs. Search Keywords: Short link: Russian and US experts will hold talks in the coming days to determine the routes and timing for a total rebel withdrawal from eastern Aleppo, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday. "During the Russian-American consultations the concrete route and timeframe for the withdrawal of all fighters from eastern Aleppo will be agreed upon," Lavrov said, adding that the discussions in Geneva would likely start on Tuesday or Wednesday. Search Keywords: Short link: Clone Wars: Is Russia building an army of genetically-enhanced war dogs? Russian police and security services are set to test special designer dogs that have been cloned in South Korea for the purpose of sniffing out drugs and explosives and, some believe, for military purposes. To date, three dogs Belgian Malinois were cloned by Prof. Hwang Woo Suk, Ph.D, who gave them to Russia for use by the FSB, the equivalent of the NSA in the U.S., in Yakutia, also called the Sakha Republic, the coldest inhabited part of the planet, the UKs Daily Mail reported. The Daily Mail added that Yakutia is the same part of Siberia where Hwang is gathering samples from extinct woolly mammoths, which have been preserved for thousands of years in the permafrost, with the goal of bringing the species back to live in their native habitat. The dogs were revealed at the Mammoth Museum in the regional capital city of Yakutsk, where they were officially turned over to the All-Russian Military-Historical Society, which plans to pass them out as needed to law enforcement services. The dogs were cloned using a tiny skin sample taken from a Belgian Malinois, which is a rugged breed of dog that has a highly sophisticated sense of smell. A cell from the skin sample was placed in a hollowed-out egg that was donated by another Malinois and then drenched with electricity to spark fertilization. Next, the newly-formed embryo was placed in the womb of a surrogate female Malinois. Two months later, the cloned sniffer dogs were born, with the hope that the pups would replicate the abilities of the Korean sniffer dog. Potential for military use Some scientists believe that cloned dogs are stronger and more muscular than dogs conceived naturally, which would make them ideal for the Siberian cold. These dogs have been recreated from the cells of the best Korean sniffer dogs, inheriting their unique abilities, said the museums director, Semyon Grigoryev, the Daily Mail reported. They will be the first cloned service dogs in Russia. The director added that the three dogs were among 500 cloned puppies originating at the Sooam Biotech laboratories in Seoul, the globes first animal cloning center. Grigoryev said the dogs given to him by Hwang are very young, but noted that they had been through some basic training in Korea, so handlers here will decide what best to choose for them depending on their abilities and talents. The military-historical society, along with the Russian police and special services, will provide dogs as and when needed. Grigoryev said that the societys trainers are very keen on dogs that can detect explosives, and he believes that this is most likely where the three gifted dogs will be used. He noted that the dogs were a present to Russia from the South Korean lab. The Siberian Times noted that the Mammoth Museum has a history of working with Hwang and the Sooam Biotech lab on the more ambitious project of cloning a long-extinct woolly mammoth. And for that, the Yakutia region is replete with mammoth biological material. As for the potential use of such cloned dogs for the military, neither report mentioned this specifically. But its clear that the military will likely be following the Siberian research project with the use of dogs as an enhancement to security. Sources: DailyMail.co.uk SiberianTimes.com Submit a correction >> Officials tried to block vital supplies from reaching protesters at Dakota Access Pipeline North Dakota state officials are going to extreme lengths to bring the protesting against the Dakota Access Pipeline to an end. Reports indicate that law enforcement is even willing to block supplies from entering the water protectors main camp, following an emergency evacuation order. Government officials had warned of a possible physical blockade to deny the entry of much-needed supplies, but reports indicate that they have since backed down from that game plan. Maxine Herr, a spokeswoman from the Morton County Sheriffs Department, is even quoted as saying, They have deliveries, retailers that are delivering to them we will turn around any of those services. In their initial plan, anything that goes to sustain living there was simply to be turned away from the encampment. Fortunately, officials seem to have realized that this initial plan was rather extreme and inhumane. Now, instead of creating a physical barrier to deny the activists what they need to survive the harsh North Dakota winter, it appears that law enforcement will be levying hefty fines against anyone caught delivering supplies to the water protectors. Herr recently announced that the government has decided to take a more passive role. She stated, The governor is more interested in public safety than setting up a road block and turning people away. Vehicles that appear to be headed towards the encampment will now be stopped by law enforcement officers, and drivers will be informed that they are committing an infraction that could result in a $1,000 fine. Cecily Fong, a spokeswoman for the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services, says that the fines should, at the very least, serve as a hindrance. Fong notes that the fines will, ideally, effectively block the delivery of supplies, without the need for a physical barrier. Herr also told the Bismarck Tribune, They need to evacuate. The executive order is clear that its public safety. If they ignore it, they have to live with the consequences of potentially freezing to death, as reported by Russian Times. Governor Jack Dalrymples emergency evacuation plan was announced at the end of November. The evacuation order was ostensibly issued because of harsh winter conditions that were expected in North Dakota. Wind gusts of up to 45 mph and snow were predicted to follow shortly after the notice was given. Dalrymple reportedly cited safety concerns and the potential danger to human life for those camping on federal property without proper shelter during harsh winter conditions, as one of the reasons for the immediate evacuation order. Interestingly enough, the freezing conditions did not prevent law enforcement from using water cannons against the protestors on November 21st, just the week before the executive order was issued. Since the evacuation notice was issued, there have been conflicting reports on the North Dakota governments intent. A spokesperson for the governor has said that Dalrymple had no intention of blocking the delivery of food and other supplies to protestors. Spokesman Jeff Zent said that the governors emergency evacuation order has been misconstrued by some as a way to block supplies, but that was not what the governor had intended. Since the protests began, law enforcement and the water protectors have been butting heads. Activists have reported that excessive force is being used by the government, and lawsuits have even been filed. Russian Times reports, [S]everal protesters filed a class action lawsuit against Morton County and law enforcement agencies, who they accuse of illegal use of force, including highly dangerous weaponry, on the night of November 20 and early morning of November 21. Reports indicate that on that night, Morton County police officers used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons on protestors, despite the sub-zero temperatures. According to the water protectors, no orders to disperse or other warnings were given before the weaponry was launched. However, law enforcement says that orders to disperse were indeed given. Herr says that law enforcement officers were justified in using the water cannons, given the threat being posed by the protestors. Clearly, this conflict is not going to end any time soon even with the possibility of fines being imposed. Sources: RT.com Reuters.com Submit a correction >> NEW MILFORD A power company proposes to generate enough electricity to power 2,400 homes for a year by placing solar panels on the forested slopes of Candlewood Mountain. A public information session on the plan will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Chamber of Commerce Offices, 11 Railroad Ave. The audience will be able to ask questions after the presentation. Were excited about the proposal, said Peter DAddeo, owner of Commercial Services Realty, the project developer. Commercial Services Realty is buying the 307-acre parcel from the bank that owns it. Of that acreage, 60 acres would be clear-cut to make way for 78,000 solar panels. Under the proposal, Ameresco Solar would lease the land and erect the panels 600 feet up the 880-foot mountain, with the lowest panels located about 100 feet from residences on Candlewood Mountain Road. The 20-megawatt project would feed electricity into the grid at the Rocky River power station, DAddeo said. Ameresco would maintain the panels during their 20-year lifespan. The company would cover the clear-cut area with hay so trees can be replanted once the panels are removed, he said But some residents worry that removing 60 acres of trees is too much, especially because a hiking trail passes through the area. Its one of the most beautiful forests in the town and right overlooking Candlewood Lake, said Katy Francis, a town councilwoman who lives on Candlewood Mountain. Besides destroying the forest, Francis said the project would contribute to stormwater runoff and pose a danger to wildlife. It could also damage or destroy stone walls that have been there for at least 100 years. At what price is it worth cutting down thousands of trees for 20 years? Francis asked. She said neighbors are also worried about truck traffic during the tree removal. The last time FirstLight removed trees on its nearby property, Francis said, the road had to be redone after the several days of heavy truck traffic. She said there are better places in town for the panels where trees wont have to be removed. Im in favor of finding alternative energy sources, Francis said. My concern is where you put it. She urged residents to attend the meeting and hear the proposal. People should give this good consideration, Francis said. DAddeo said the panels benefit New Milford and the environment. The panels would generate $2.1 million in taxes for the town during the 20-year lifespan, compared to the $380,000 the town would get from the property if left as is, DAddeo said. He said the project was one of several selected in October in response to the requests for proposals from Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut to meet the states energy goal of 20 percent alternate power sources by 2020. Our one project wont meet the entire goal, but it will help meet it, DAddeo said. If approved, construction would start next fall and the panels would be operational by fall 2018. kkoerting@newstimes.com; 203-731-3345; @kkoerting Members of the New Milford Police Department hosted a Stuff A Cruiser toy drive from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, in the parking lot of Kohls department store on Danbury Road in New Milford. All donated gifts will benefit New Milford Social Services Santa Fund. The drive is sponsored by Key Club International and Kohls Cares. New Zealand PM quits after wife tells him to United Kingdom,Politics, Mon, 05 Dec 2016 IANS Wellington, Dec 5 (IANS) New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on Monday announced his resignation after eight years as head of the government. Key cited family reasons for stepping down. "This is the hardest decision I've ever made and I don't know what I'll do next," Efe quoted Key as saying. He also resigned as the National Party leader. The country's presumptive next leader paid tribute to Key "as one of New Zealand's greatest leaders". "Through good times and bad, his strong leadership has been steadfast and this is a more confident, successful and self-assured country because of his contribution. He has truly made a difference," Xinhua news agency quoted Deputy Prime Minister Bill English as saying. According to the media, Key's wife Bronagh asked him to step down due to the "extraordinary levels of intrusion" in the lives of their two children, daughter Stephie and son Max. Key's announcement shocked fellow MPs of his centre-right National Party as much as it did to the rest of the country. The National Party caucus will choose a new leader on December 12 and Key said he would back English if he put himself forward. English was appointed the National Party leader in 2001 but resigned after he led the party to a disastrous election defeat in 2002. Other senior National Party cabinet ministers being touted as potential contestants include Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce, Climate Change Issues and Associate Finance Minister Paula Bennett and Police and Corrections Minister Judith Collins. Political opponents offered mixed views, with the leaders of the Labour Party and Green Party praising Key for his service to the country. "Key has served New Zealand generously and with dedication," Labour Party leader Andrew Little said. Green Party co-leader James Shaw said Key should be applauded for his commitment to public service and to the country. The New Zealand First party was less magnanimous, saying Key's reasons for standing down could not be credible. "The fact is that the economy is not in the healthy state that the Prime Minister has for so long claimed and there are other issues which have caused this decision as well," party leader Winston Peters said. The possible date for new elections in New Zealand is November 2017. --IANS py/mr Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday he was confident Moscow and Washington can reach a deal in talks this week on the withdrawal of all rebels from the eastern part of the Syrian city of Aleppo. He told a news conference once the deal was reached, rebels who stay in the besieged eastern part of the city will be treated as terrorists and Russia will support the operation of the Syrian army against them. "Those armed groups who refuse to leave eastern Aleppo will be considered to be terrorists," Lavrov said. "We will treat them as such, as terrorists, as extremists and will support a Syrian army operation against those criminal squads." Russia and the United States will start talks on the withdrawal in Geneva on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has sent his proposals on routes and timing of the withdrawal, Lavrov said. "We believe that when the Americans proposed their initiative for militants to leave eastern Aleppo, they realized what steps they and their allies, who have an influence on militants stuck in eastern Aleppo, would have to take." He added that a United Nations resolution on a ceasefire would be counterproductive because a ceasefire would allow rebels to regroup. Search Keywords: Short link: Pyongyang accuses Seoul of aggravating conflict North Korea,Defence/Security,Diplomacy,Business/Economy, Mon, 05 Dec 2016 IANS Pyongyang, Dec 5 (IANS) North Korea on Monday criticised South Korea for imposing unilateral tax sanctions in addition to the recent UN resolution and accused its southern neighbour of aggravating the conflict. A spokesperson of Pyongyang's National Reconciliation Council said such actions will only aggravate the conflict with the North and lead to Seoul's ruin, Efe news reported. It said the spokesperson described Seoul's sanctions on individuals and entities as "a chimera" since it would never succeed in its aim of isolating the regime. North Korea also took umbrage at Seoul including supreme leadership bodies and senior party and state officials in its sanctions list, according to the statement. Seoul on Friday drafted a blacklist, featuring names close to Kim Jong-un on grounds they were associated with the regime's nuclear weapons program and were instrumental in sourcing foreign funding for it. The US and Japan have also passed similar unilateral measures to complement the UN resolution issued by the Security Council as punishment for Pyongyang's fifth nuclear test conducted in September. The resolution imposes a ban on sales of coal from North Korea and certain materials, including copper and silver, besides other trade restrictions. South Korea on Monday highlighted the key role of China in enforcing the UN sanctions and urged Beijing to exercise its responsibility in implementing them rigorously, said Seoul spokesperson. The sanctions are aimed at arm twisting Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear development program. Previous sanctions have failed as Kim Jong-un's regime considers nuclear development as the main pillar of its defence. --IANS in/dg Trump attacks China after criticism over phone call United States,Politics,Business/Economy, Mon, 05 Dec 2016 IANS Washington, Dec 5 (IANS) The US President-elect has attacked China after he was criticised by Beijing over his recent telephone conversation with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, reports said on Monday. "Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn't tax them)," Trump said in his tweet on Sunday. He said did Beijing ask before building "a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!," Xinhua news reported. Hours before Trump's attack on Twitter, US Vice President-elect Mike Pence had tried to defuse the controversy over the controversial call by assuring in a television interview that it was only a "courtesy" call. Tsai telephoned Trump on December 2 to congratulate him on his election success that subsequently provoked a formal protest from the Chinese government and raised high expectations in Taiwan. That call broke almost four decades protocol in the sensitive US foreign policy towards China. It forced the White House to step up to remind that the only Chinese government that Washington has accepted since 1979 is that of Beijing. Foreign policy experts said the call could alter the relations between the two countries, as the Asian giant sees Taiwan as a "rebel" province and a part its territory. At first, Chinese authorities wanted to curtail the issue and assured that the call was a "little trick" of Taiwan, but later they raised the tone and lodged a formal protest against the US. Beijing urged Washington to maintain its commitment to the principle of the "one-China" policy and asked it to handle issues related to Taiwan "cautiously and properly" in order to avoid "unnecessary interference". --IANS in/ Nepali President urges parties to back constitutional amendment Nepal,Immigration/Law/Rights,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Politics, Mon, 05 Dec 2016 IANS Kathmandu, Dec 5 (IANS) Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari has urged political parties to focus on implementation of a new constitution and maintain harmony in the country. She made the remarks while convening an all-party meeting at the Presidential Palace on Sunday night, Xinhau news agency reported. "Bhandari expressed her anxiety over possible repercussions if the new constitution is not implemented," Vice Chairman of the CPN (Maoist Centre) Narayan Kaji Shrestha said. She called on all parties to work toward ensuring political stability in the country and forge consensus on the thorny issues relating to the constitutional amendment, said Shrestha. "Parties need to be mindful about the country's sovereignty and national harmony while taking any kind of decision that may have impact for the long run," Bhandari said. Leaders from various ruling and opposition parties, including Madhesi parties, shared their views with the President at the meeting. The meeting came amid squabbles between ruling and opposition parties over the constitutional amendment proposal tabled by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" last week. The amendment bill seeks to carve out a new state in western Nepal to meet the demands of Madhesi parties, whose months-long protests last year left more than 50 people dead. The opposition parties, including Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist), Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist Leninist), Rashtriya Janamorcha Party Nepal and Nepal Workers Peasants' Party, have been protesting against the bill. --IANS py/sac OTTAWA, Dec. 3, 2016 /CNW/ - On the heels of a successful Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and looking ahead to Canada's 150th birthday next year, the Canadian Paralympic Committee is pleased to celebrate today's International Day of Persons with Disabilities, as we continue to work with our partners on becoming a world leading Paralympic nation. Since 1992, the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities has been celebrated annually on Dec. 3 around the world, focusing on building a more inclusive and equitable world for persons with disabilities. Through the sporting lens, progress continues in advancing the Canadian Paralympic movement: In the area of high performance sport, Team Canada's preparations are well underway for the upcoming Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea in 2018 and the Paralympic Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan in 2020, as well as the Lima 2019 Parapan American Games in Peru . Visits, investments and consultations will support our member sports in equipping athletes and coaches for podium success. Team preparations are well underway for the upcoming Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, in 2018 and the Paralympic Summer Games in in 2020, as well as the 2019 Parapan American Games in . Visits, investments and consultations will support our member sports in equipping athletes and coaches for podium success. As our summer athletes celebrate their results in Rio, Canada's winter Paralympic athletes have already embarked on their quest to qualify for PyeongChang and fine-tune their preparations. In Charlottetown , PEI, Canada's National Sledge Team opens the World Sledge Hockey Challenge on Sunday, Dec. 4 against Norway in round-robin play. winter Paralympic athletes have already embarked on their quest to qualify for and fine-tune their preparations. In , PEI, National Sledge Team opens the World Sledge Hockey Challenge on against in round-robin play. The Paralympic Foundation of Canada's "Giving All Kids a Sporting Chance" fundraising campaign continues through the holiday season, with proceeds going to the Parasport Jumpstart Fund. The fund supports the costs of sports and recreational programs for children with a disability who are financially disadvantaged. To donate, visit: paralympic.ca/giving-all-kids-a-sporting-chance. "Giving All Kids a Sporting Chance" continues through the holiday season, with proceeds going to the Parasport Jumpstart Fund. The fund supports the costs of sports and recreational programs for children with a disability who are financially disadvantaged. To donate, visit: paralympic.ca/giving-all-kids-a-sporting-chance. Enhancing the visibility and awareness of Canadian Paralympic athletes continues on all platforms. This New Year's Eve , Paralympians will have roles in the Canada 150 New Year's Eve event and national broadcast on Parliament Hill. Fans can also look forward to the Paralympic Chef de Mission announcement for PyeongChang 2018, in early 2017. "As we reflect on today's important annual milestone, it is clear that while much progress has been made domestically and internationally in Paralympic sport, there is still great opportunity to advance," said Karen O'Neill, CEO of the Canadian Paralympic Committee. "We look forward to continuing to work with our sport and corporate partners and all levels of government on upcoming Games and to improve the critical area of accessibility of sport for all Canadians in both facilities and programming. "In 2017, Canada will celebrate its 150th anniversary as a nation. We are proud that Canada has been a leader in its commitment to improving the lives of people with a disability. We must continue to raise the bar and keep competitive, both on and off the field of play." About the Canadian Paralympic Committee: Paralympic.ca Follow the Canadian Paralympic Team: www.paralympic.ca www.facebook.com/CDNParalympics www.twitter.com/CDNParalympics www.youtube.com/CDNParalympics www.instagram.com/CDNParalympics SOURCE Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) Video with caption: "Its More than Sport (:30s)". Video available at: https://youtu.be/eWRAkWl9mLw Image with caption: "Canada finished the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games with 29 medals (eight gold, 10 silver, 11 bronze) to rank 14th among nations in the total medal count, surpassing the teams performance goal of top 16. Photo: Scott Grant / Canadian Paralympic Committee (CNW Group/Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC))". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161203_C5495_PHOTO_EN_830762.jpg For further information: Alison Korn, Senior Manager, Media Relations and Communications, Canadian Paralympic Committee, Phone: 613-569-4333 ext. 243 / Cell: 613-298-4927, Email: [email protected]; Martin Richard, Executive Director, Communications and Marketing, Canadian Paralympic Committee, Tel: 613-569-4333 ext. 224 / Cell: 613-725-4339, Email: [email protected] TORONTO, Dec. 2, 2016 /CNW/ - Since the launch of R.I.D.E. on November 24th, we have seen the OPP lay over 100 impaired driving charges and two high profile tragedies on our roads. With the first weekend of December here and many picking up adult beverages for office holiday parties, family get-togethers and other celebrations this season, arrive alive DRIVE SOBER & R.I.D.E. are hosting a Holiday Pre-Party at two The Beer Store locations on Saturday, December 3rd to remind everyone to plan ahead and drive sober. arrive alive DRIVE SOBER's Holiday Pre-Parties will encourage The Beer Store customers to plan a safe ride home for themselves and their guests; arrive alive DRIVE SOBER will use home-hosting kits, quizzes, giveaways and contest to share their message. On Saturday from 10:30am until 2:30pm volunteers will interact with customers at two The Beer Store locations including the Stockyard Beer Store (2153 St. Clair Ave West) and the Etobicoke Beer Store (3560 Lakeshore BLVD W). A final note from arrive alive DRIVE SOBER Executive Director Anne Leonard "It is important to remember that if you if you drink a lot and stay up late, you can still be over the limit the next day. Plan ahead to have a safe and happy holiday season". http://www.arrivealive.org/happyholidays/ Arrive alive DRIVE SOBER is a registered charity (registered as Ontario Community Council on Impaired Driving) #88075 5939 RR0001 operating since 1989. We host the arrive alive DRIVE SOBER campaign. We do not telemarket, we do not use professional fundraisers. SOURCE arrive alive DRIVE SOBER Image with caption: "arrive alive DRIVE SOBER (CNW Group/arrive alive DRIVE SOBER)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161203_C4897_PHOTO_EN_830377.jpg For further information: Anne Leonard, 647-529-6440 Libyan loyalist forces have seized full control of the coastal city of Sirte from the Islamic State jihadist group, an official spokesman said Monday. "Our forces have total control of Sirte," after more than six months of fighting, Reda Issa, a spokesman for pro-government forces, told AFP. Search Keywords: Short link: Italian Prime Minister Renzi was the only premier left in Europe with a vision for the EUs future. Italy wakes up on Monday to the threat of a banking crisis, political turmoil, and a group of anti-establishment populists banging on the doors of government. Eurozone beware and EU be warned. Italy is the euro currencys third largest economy and its in for a bumpy ride. And there are more unpredictable votes to come in 2017: in France, Germany the Netherlands and perhaps here in Italy too. Matteo Renzis staked his political future on his attempt to change Italys cumbersome political system. He wanted to strengthen central government and weaken the Senate, the upper house of parliament. His opponents including some within his own party had argued that the reforms would give the prime minister too much power. The electorate agreed. But the referendum was more than a vote on constitutional reform, it was widely regarded as a chance to reject establishment politics. It was a resounding victory for the No camp, a medley of populist parties headed by Five Star Movement, which capitalised on Mr Renzis declining popularity, years of economic stagnation, and the problems caused by tens of thousands of migrants arriving in Italy from Africa. Spontaneous celebrations in the streets of Rome, after the referendum defeat and resignation of PM Matteo Renzi Mr Renzi will hand in his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella later on Monday, following a final meeting with his cabinet. The president may ask him to stay on at least until parliament has passed a budget bill due later this month. In spite of the pressure from the opposition, early elections are thought to be unlikely. Instead, the president may appoint a caretaker administration led by Mr Renzis Democratic Party, which would carry on until an election due in the spring of 2018. Austria looks set to elect Norbert Hofer of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) as president. Geert Wilders of the anti-Islam and anti-EU Party for Freedom (PVV) in Holland has called for a European Patriotic Spring, and vowed to Make The Netherlands great again. He is on track to rattle The Hague in the Dutch parliamentary elections in March, polling just behind Prime Minister Mark Ruttes VVD party. The elections that the EU is sweating about the most are those in its two richest and most populous member states, excluding Britain: France and Germany. Drivers of European integration, Paris and Berlin now face right-wing populist insurgencies of their own in the shape of Front National and Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD). Marine Le Pen (of France) and a host of right-wing politicians have heaped praise upon Italys decision to reject Matteo Renzis constitutional referendum and heralded the rejection as the beginning of the end for the struggling EU. Marine Le Pen is a French politician who is the president of the National Front, a national-conservative political party in France and one of its main political forces. The first round of the 2017 French presidential election will be held on 23 April 2017. Should no candidate win an outright majority, a run-off between the top two will be held on 7 May 2017. Current polls indicate it would be the center right republicans vs the National Front in the May runoff. Fillion, Republican a man whos already been compared to Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan has economic plans that couldnt be further from Le Pens protectionism. However, there is an overlap between the two. Like Le Pen, the former Prime Minister is tough on immigration and Islam, and promises to uplift the French national identity. He has already rejected the idea that France could be a multi-cultural society. With the National Front at his flank, he will come under serious pressure to continue to re-nationalize French politics. The next German federal elections will elect the members of the Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany, on a date to be determined. German law requires that the next election should take place on a Sunday between 4648 months after the assemblys first sitting. Since the current Bundestag first sat on 22 October 2013, the latest date for the next election is 22 October 2017. The earliest date is 27 August 2017, the first Sunday after 22 August 2017. By convention, recent elections have been held in late September, avoiding the school holidays. Elections can be held earlier under certain conditions, such as the government losing a confidence motion. A second Russian fighter has crashed attempting to land on the carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, according to a Monday statement from the Kremlin. The Sukhoi Su-33 (NATO reporting name Flanker-D) crashed after trying to land on Saturday on the carrier operating off the coast of Syria. While landing after completing a combat task in the Syrian sky, a Su-33 fighter jet skidded off the dock because the cable of arresting device broke, the ministry said, according to the Russian state-controlled site Sputnik. The pilot ejected and was immediately brought aboard the Admiral Kuznetsov heavy aircraft carrier by rescuers. His life is not in danger. According to the MoD, carrier operations resumed after the pilot was recovered. The ship-based aviation continues its flights in accordance with its tasks, read the statement. The crash of the Su-33 follows the Nov. 12 loss of a Mikoyan MiG-29K during an attempted carrier landing on Kuznetsov, after a loss of fuel to the engines resulted in the fighter crashing. While the Russians did not outline specifics, it appeared the MiG ran out of fuel while the crew was clearing the deck from a previous arrestor cable break. Kuznetsov an aircraft carrying guided missile cruiser is part of a four ship Russian naval force that deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean supporting Syrian forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad. The flotilla includes cruiser Peter the Great and two Udaloy-class guided missile destroyers. Western-backed Iraqi forces have begun shelling parts of west Mosul, residents said, preparing to open a new front against IS group seven weeks into a tortuous campaign to drive the militants from the city. Federal police forces, stationed a few miles (km) south of Mosul, on the west bank of the Tigris river that divides the city, have long said they aim to advance towards the airport on the southwestern edge. Military commanders hope that by opening a second front within the city they can increase pressure on the few thousand jihadists who have deployed suicide bombers, snipers and militant cells against elite Iraqi troops in eastern districts. Some 100,000 Iraqi soldiers, security forces, Kurdish peshmerga fighters and mainly Shi'ite paramilitary forces are participating in the assault that began on Oct. 17, with air and ground support from a U.S.-led international military coalition. Mosul is the largest city under Islamic State group control and driving the militants out would roll back the self-styled caliphate which it declared in Iraq and Syria 2014 after seizing large parts of both countries. The campaign entered its eighth week on Monday but militants still control three-quarters of the city, where around 1 million residents are living under increasingly siege-like conditions as winter sets in. Speaking by telephone from western neighbourhoods, residents reported what they said was the first bombardment of the area. "About 10 mortar bombs fell on the neighbourhood, coming from the south, as the Iraqi forces approached...during the past 24 hours," a resident of the Mosul al-Jadida district told Reuters late on Sunday. "It has sparked panic among civilians because this is the first time it has happened in our area." He said the bombardment had led to a virtual curfew in the district, with people afraid to leave their homes. "One of the mortar bombs exploded 100 metres from our house, killing three youths and wounding others," he said. In the adjacent neighbourhood of Mansour, a resident said the bombardment was an ominous development. "We're worried there will be a repeat of the scenario in the eastern districts which have seen humanitarian disasters," he said. An Iraqi police source, speaking from the front line south west of Mosul, said police rockets or mortars were not yet within range of the edge of the city. But a military source said French artillery forces, who are supporting the police units, had been firing in the south. The U.S.-led air coalition has also conducted some air strikes. The long-awaited attack from the south aims to relieve pressure on Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) troops which have spearheaded the fighting in east Mosul for the last month and have come up against the militants' lethal defences. Officers say they are engaged in fierce urban warfare, facing hundreds of suicide car bombers, snipers and militants exploiting a network of tunnels underneath residential areas to launch deadly counter-attacks. The presence of civilians throughout the city has also hampered their progress, they say, reducing options for air strikes and heavy weapons in the densely populated streets. At current rates of progress, the campaign is set to last well into next year, raising fears among residents and aid groups of a humanitarian crisis, with possible food, fuel and water shortages in militant-held districts largely surrounded. Iraqi commanders say they have killed at least 1,000 of the 5,000-6,000 Islamic State fighters they estimated were defending the city when the campaign was launched. The military has not given figures for its own casualties. The United Nations said last week nearly 2,000 members of the Iraqi security forces had been killed across Iraq in November - a figure Baghdad says was based on unverified reports - and that more than 900 police and civilians had also been killed. Iraqi commanders say they continue to make progress, and U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Monday it was still possible that the city would be recaptured before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20. Sabah al-Numani, spokesman for the elite Iraqi CTS units, said they pushed into the east Mosul district of Bareed early on Monday. "Our heroic forces are launching a street fight in al-Bareed since the early morning hours in a bid to control the district. Fighting is still continuing," he said. The fighting in Bareed follows a series of counter attacks by Islamic State militants since Friday night in east Mosul, as well as to the south and west of the city. The International Organisation for Migration says 81,000 people have been registered as displaced since the start of the 50-day-old campaign. That figure does not include many thousands of people forced by the militants to accompany them as human shields as they retreated into the city last month, or others who have fled the fighting deeper into territory controlled by Islamic State militants. The World Health Organisation said on Monday it had delivered medicines and medical supplies for 13,000 people in east Mosul. Search Keywords: Short link: President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Abuja met with the Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, behind closed doors. President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Abuja met with the Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, behind closed doors.The Liberian President would brief President Buhari on sub-regional security challenges ahead of the 3rd Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa slated for December 5 and 6, the News Agency of Nigeria gathered.President Buhari is expected to leave Abuja later today for the forum in Dakar, Senegal.Sirleaf, who is the current Chairperson of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States, is expected to brief President Buhari on efforts made to curb terrorism in the sub-region.The two leaders are also likely to discuss other issues bordering on sub-regional integration and bilateral trade.The Liberian President, who arrived Abuja on Sunday on a two-day official visit to Nigeria, visited the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja on the same dayThe ECOWAS chairperson also held closed door meetings with the President of the commission, Mr. Marcel de Souza, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and senior officials of the commission. A lengthy investigation by the Charities Commission has cleared the charity foundation of Ivory Coast legend Didier Drogba of all corruption charges.The Didier Drogba Foundation was accused of corruption, with the claim that just 14,115 out of 1.7million raised was distributed to good causes.However, after a seven-month investigation, the Charities Commission has confirmed that no evidence of any wrongdoing has been found.A statement from the Charities Commission read: We have been able to satisfy our most serious concerns in relation to the charity by confirming that funds have not been misapplied and that all funds raised in the English charitys name have been held by the English charity. We are also able to confirm that we found no evidence of fraud or corruption on behalf of the charity.In response, Didier Drogba said: The Charities Commission has today confirmed after a seven-month investigation, that no funds have been misapplied by my Foundation, and that there has been no financial wrongdoing, no fraud and no corruption.I am pleased that this supports what we always said from the start which is that the claims made back in April were entirely false. I have instructed my lawyers to seek a full apology and damages to be paid to my Foundation.Drogbas charity was established in 2007 and aims to provide health and educational funding in Africa, particularly in the former Chelsea strikers home country Ivory Coast. The Federal Government has granted officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission FRSC, the authority to carry arms while on duty. The Federal Government has granted officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission FRSC, the authority to carry arms while on duty.Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi, disclosed this while speaking at the end of the year management strategy session for the parastatal in Abuja during the weekend.According to Oyeyemi, the need for the officers to bear arms arose from the increased number of violent attacks and killing of some of its operatives while on duty.According to Oyeyemi, over 70 of its personnel have been killed in 2016 alone as a result of violent attacks by angry motorists.Oyeyemi said the FRSC Establishment Act gives power to the corps to bear arms and that the Federal Government had earlier approved that, with about 5,000 personnel already undergoing training on firearms. Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, on Monday described the Igbos as the most truthful, committed and trust -worthy people but often m... Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, on Monday described the Igbos as the most truthful, committed and trust -worthy people but often misunderstood in the country.Speaking when he received the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, in Government House, Owerri, Okorocha said that Imo had witnessed tremendous progress under his leadership.He described Imo as one of the safest states in Nigeria, where there was no more kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism and baby factory syndrome.He attributed the relative peace and security in the state to the efforts of the security agencies, especially the Nigerian army.He commended the military for the successes being recorded in the fight against insurgency and terrorism in the North East.He noted that such successes had not been achieved in Syria and other parts of the world battling terrorism.Okorocha also commended the army for the Exercise Crocodile Smile and newly introduced Exercise Python Dance in the South-South and South-East zone.He urged the security agencies to do whatever they could to secure the pipelines to enable free flow of oil to generate revenue for the nation.He promised to continue to support the army.Earlier, Buratai told the governor that he was in the state for the 2018 Chief of Army Staff Conference.He told the governor that Python Dance was an exercise to update troops in the South- East on their rudiments and basics of their job.Buratai said during the conference, the army would offer free medical services to the people of the state. Former spokesman to then Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, Olorogun Ima Niboro has officially joined the All Progressives Congress, APC,... Former spokesman to then Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, Olorogun Ima Niboro has officially joined the All ProgressivesCongress, APC, in Delta State.The former Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, joined the APC amidst cheers when the leadership comprising of ward chairmen and executive members of the APC in Ughelli South Local Government Area led by Hon. Brighton Obiokor paid him a courtesy visit at his country home in Ovwian, Udu Local Government Area.Niboro, who is the Urhuemuesiri of Ughievwen Kingdom, stated that he joined the APC to bring development to Ughelli South, Delta State and Nigeria.While noting that Ughelli South cannot afford to be left out in the development agenda of the Federal Government as championed by President Muhammadu Buhari, Niboro stated that, the useless opposition will not serve the people of Ughelli South, Delta State and Nigeria. We must work together to achieve synergy to save our communities from infrastructural deficits.We cannot sacrifice development to developmental expediency. No single level of government can do it alone. I joined the APC to bring that synergy between the three arms of government so that we can achieve development.APC Chairman in Ughelli South Local Government Area, Hon. Brighton Obiokor hailed Niboro for identifying with the party in the area and Delta State, stating that, with Niboros registration with APC, Ughelli South LGA will deliver in the next general elections come 2019. APC will do better than it used to.Obiokor, who boasted that APC has over 80 per cent population of the people in Ughelli South, hinted in a chat with newsmen that the partys only challenge is how to get funds to manage its members.He called on eminent members like Niboro to help finance the party so as to win the forthcoming Local Government Election in the area.Delta Central APC Chairman, Comrade Orakata Oviri also commended Niboro for joining the APC as he expressed the belief that the declaration will move the party forward to win the 2019 elections.According to him, APC will perform better with people like him in the party. We really lack leadership in Ughelli South before now but with Niboro we believe he can join forces to ensure APC gets victory in Ughelli South.There is no doubt that come 2019 APC will move to Osadebe House, he added. The arraignment of suspended Federal High Court justice, Adeniyi Ademola and his wife Olubowale, the Head of Service of Lagos State over c... The arraignment of suspended Federal High Court justice, Adeniyi Ademola and his wife Olubowale, the Head of Service of Lagos State over charges bordering on gratification has been stalled.The Ademolas were scheduled for arraignment today before Justice Jude Okeke of an FCT High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja over a 15 count charge accusing them of corruptly receiving a total sum of N248,101,300 and $520,000 as gratifications from law firms and others between 2013 and 2016.However, prosecution counsel has informed the court that the court's bailiff's attempt to serve the charge on the defendants has been unsuccessful. The Ademolas are reported to have travelled to Lagos, making the service on them personally to be impossible.Their counsel in the matter, J.C. Ujidoye has however expressed willingness to accept the charges on their behalf subject to the order of the court. From January 2017, there will be no more importation of vehicles through the land borders according to a new prohibition order issued by... The prohibition order covers all new and used vehicles.A statement released on Monday by the Nigeria Customs Service indicated that the ban is sequel to a presidential directive restricting all vehicles imports to Nigeria sea ports only with effect from January 1, 2017.The restriction on importation of vehicles follows that of rice, whose imports have been banned through the land borders since April 2016.In the statement signed by its spokesman, Mr. Wale Adeniyi, the NCS advised importers of vehicles through the land borders to utilize the grace period up till December 31, 2016, to clear their vehicle imports landed in neighbouring ports.The Federal Government had disclosed during a recent automotive industry forum that it would ban the importation of vehicles through land borders and enforce the presentation of roadworthiness certificates on such vehicles from their countries of origin before allowing them into the country.The Director-General, National Automotive Design and Development Council, Mr. Aminu Jalal, who said this on behalf of the government, added that it was a means of controlling the influx of used vehicles, popularly called Tokunbo, into the country.Stakeholders in the automotive industry had earlier called on strict regulations on the importation of vehicles, noting that poor implementation of the auto policy which was introduced in the last quarter of 2013 by former president Goodluck Jonathan, was driving down the volume of their products.The auto policy included the imposition of 70 per cent tariff on imported cars, both old and new ones.While importers of new cars are currently paying 70 per cent of the cost of their vehicles as import duty, owners/importers of Tokunbo cars pay 35 per cent, but the government is yet to enforce the implementation of the 35 per cent import duty on used cars which ought to have commenced last year. Two Russian army medics were killed Monday in rebel shelling of a field hospital in Syria's Aleppo, Moscow said, blaming Western nations who support rebel fighters. One female medic was killed on the spot when a shell hit the reception area of the hospital, while a second died from her wounds later, Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. Medics were still fighting to save the life of a third doctor -- a paediatrician -- who was badly injured, Konashenkov said. A photographer who supplies AFP with photos described burned tents and charred boxes of medical supplies at the scene. Konashenkov earlier said the attack had "undoubtedly been carried out by 'opposition' fighters" and laid the blame at the door of Western nations -- including the US, Britain and France -- that have backed those fighting its ally, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. "We understand who gave the fighters the exact information and coordinates of the reception area of the Russian hospital as it was starting its work," Konashenkov added. "Our servicemen's blood is on the hands of those who ordered this murder." Syrian rebels are battling forces loyal to Assad after sweeping advances saw the government seize back large chunks of territory in eastern Aleppo. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that President Vladimir Putin had ordered that field hospitals be sent to war-ravaged Aleppo. Russia has been flying air raids in Syria since September 2015, to back up its longtime ally Assad. Russia says it has halted air strikes on rebel-held eastern Aleppo since October 18 following international condemnation over its ferocious bombardment of the city. The deadly war in Syria has killed more than 300,000 people since it started in March 2011 with a wave of anti-government protests. Search Keywords: Short link: The Inspector General of Police, IGP Idris Abubakar has approved the deployment of twenty-five thousand police officers for this Saturday... The Inspector General of Police, IGP Idris Abubakar has approved the deployment of twenty-five thousand police officers for this Saturdays rerun election in Rivers state.This was disclosed by the Rivers state Commissioner of Police, CP Francis Odesanya, at a meeting held with stakeholders in Port Harcourt, the state capital.CP Odesanya said the twenty-five thousand police officers deployed for the election include: conventional, Police mobile, police marine, police air wing and other tactical units.He said the deployment is meant to prevent the breakdown of order on election day.CP Odesanya also warned that the Police will not hesitate to clampdown on any individual found with arms.He stated that the security detail of all Politicians and VIPs in the the state will be withdrawn on the eve of the election, adding that any Police officer found with a politician will be dealt with.The IGP Idris Kpotun has been magnanimous enough to approve the deployment of 25,000 policemen including Special tactical unit and Anti terrorism squad for the election to offer protection to both the state and outside the state. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has warned the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike against making remarks capable of i... The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has warned the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike against making remarks capable of inciting violence during the Saturdays legislative re-run election in the state.Recall that Wike had recently accused INEC and the Nigerian Police Force of colluding with the All Progressives Congress, APC, to rig the December 10 re-run election in the State.The governor had also threatened to release audio -visual footages of the State Police Commissioner allegedly plotting with politicians on the methods to be adopted for the planned rigging of the upcoming election.But the nations electoral umpire, in a statement by its Chief Press Secretary, Rotimi Oyekanmi described Wikes utterances as false and inciting.Also, describing the governors comment as inciting, provocative and dangerous, INEC said, The Commission condemns, in very strong terms, the relentless false allegations, provocative and dangerous comments being made by some political actors, especially the governor of Rivers State, Mr. Wike, against the commission, all of which are capable of inciting people to commit violent acts that could derail the election.We appeal to stakeholders to henceforth refrain from making pronouncements that could either overheat the state or instigate their followers to violence. We also appeal to all the political parties and their supporters to abide by the extant laws governing the electoral process.We wish to reassure all Nigerians that the commission will remain impartial and committed to conducting credible, fair and transparent elections at all times.Expressing its readiness for the Saturdays election, INEC promised to conclude the poll in the State, in a free, fair, and transparent manner on December 10, 2016. The US president-elect, Mr Donald Trump threw the luvvies of the world a curveball with his comments to President Rodrigo Duterte of the P... The US president-elect, Mr Donald Trump threw the luvvies of the world a curveball with his comments to President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines that his controversial fight against drugs was being carried out "the right way". For the records, in the four months that Duterte has been president as many as 2500 people have been executed on the streets for allegedly being drug dealers or users.Trump and Duterte represent the growing departure from the culture of spineless political correctness, which however carries its own risk of opening the door to abuse. For the Philippines president, it is a matter of placing the nation's 103 million citizens above the interest of a dozen thousands drug dealers that are on their way to sink that country.The outgoing US government has been critical of the crack down on drug dealers, citing right abuses and extra-judicial killings of course, without offering something concrete in the way of how to deal with the destructive drug problem. Trump, who had repeatedly expressed his disgust for political correctness, apparently understands that the larger population's right must be considered even as the rights of criminals and terrorists are recognised.As is usually the case, a growing spiral of silence driven by a robotic imbibing of political correctness has removed the capacity of those in the position to act to protect the larger population from the destructive mission of a few fanatics that hide under human rights to threaten the wellbeing of the other citizens. The full scale of this problem is better appreciated against the recent trend of judges that free persons that would have been summarily executed in other countries.The most brazen of this development is Justice Gabriel Kolawole of a Federal High Court in Abuja who freed the leader of extremists group, Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakyzaky in spite of the known antecedents of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), which he leads. The group, reportedly under the direction of El-Zakyzaky, had killed security personnel in the past. It does not believe in the right of other Nigerians in the course of holding its various treks and processions and to cap it all it does not recognise the secular nature of Nigeria even as it pursues ideologies that are not different from those held by Boko Haram terrorists.It is worrisome that Justice Kolawole admitted IMN's tendency and capacity to become ferocious like Boko Haram and still went ahead to not only unleash El-Zakyzaky on the nation. If that was not bad enough, the judge added salt to the injury by awarding N25 million to the IMN leader and another N25 million to his wife in damages, which is nothing short of forcing the government to finance a terror organisation under a judicial cover.The judge has also created a new problem by moving El-Zakyzaky out of the place where he has been kept both as part of investigation into his crimes and for his own protection. Now that he is leaving protective custody has Justice Kolawole considered the implications if IMN members go ahead to eliminate their leader to precipitate crisis as they were earlier reported to have planned.One would be safe to assume that the judge manifested a helpless enslavement to political correctness in arriving at such sickening verdict. The mull other possibilities is frightening since what comes to mind is that the IMN leader either bought the judgement or that Kolawole implemented the first phase of a gang up against the Department of State Services (DSS) since it first led an offensive against corrupt judges. It would be a disaster if the latter possibility turns out to be true because it would imply a few men that are willing to mortgage the country for their own interests.How to walk back the damage done should be the concern of Nigerians at this point. One may want to revel in the fact that the judiciary, in the wake of the anti-corruption clamp down on its members, has given the presidency and the security agencies a black eye, we could in the usual fashion of being copycats claim that the excesses of military and security agencies have been curbed, or we could just flow with the dark joy at having another sensational news make the round; but ultimately we are all at risk.We are at risk because of something called judicial precedence. There are Boko Haram fighters that would eventually be arrested, pipeline-bombing militants that would one day be apprehended, rampaging herdsmen that have killed hundreds of citizens would likely be caught one day and even the criminals that kidnap for ransom are being taken into custody. But Justice Kolawole has ensured that all those in this category would not get to stand trial because they would instead make the government pay them for being terrorists and criminals and even add buildings into the bargain for them.Nigerian Dutertes must thus emerge in the judiciary to reverse this damage, not to order extra-judicial executions but to place the safety of 180 million Nigerians above the 'rights' of a few hundreds terrorists. We need those that will not compromise the safety of the rest of us because they want to appear politically correct and to be seen as aligning with international nuances that have not helped us in the least.Bodies and officials with the responsibility must also take steps to prevent a repeat of this kind of disaster where the judiciary is seen as empowering terrorists against the state. The National Judicial Council for instance would do well to interrogate how Kolawole arrived at this his magical ruling.In the interim, the DSS must seek detailed analysis of the ruling since it only ordered El-Zakyzaky's release within 45 days and did not acquit him of the crimes that brought him into protective custody. The department should therefore proceed to arraign El-Zakyzaky for the terrorist crimes he committed. The Philippines is getting real with its drug problems and we should get serious with our terrorism problems too.Okanga writes from Agila, Benue State. Former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, has denied plotting to leave the ruling All Progressives Congress for a new party. Mr. Tinub... Mr. Tinubu played pivotal role in the formation of the APC and the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari.But his political clout has been increasingly curtailed as forces within the party realign ahead of the 2019 election.Mr. Tinubu openly demanded the resignation of the partys chairman, John Oyegun, after his candidate for the Ondo State governorship election lost to a candidate supported by Mr. Oyegun and President Buhari.Reacting to newspaper reports, Mr. Tinubu said on Monday he was not quitting the party as claimed by journalists.He denied that he was partnering with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, also an APC chieftain, and the Ahmed Markafi faction of Peoples Democratic Party, to form a mega party.This is a party I labored with others to build, said Mr. Tinubu said on Twitter via his handle @AsiwajuTinubu. We would not abandon it for another. Millions of Nigerians who voted are watching and praying.Mr. Tinubu has faced what appears to be an increasingly hostile political climate in the ruling party.Last week, the winner of the Ondo polls, Rotimi Akeredolu, dismissed him as not more than a state level APC leader. He was explaining his refusal to include Mr. Tinubus name in his victory speech.Mr. Tinubu did not lose only in Ondo State. Long before the election that held two weeks ago, his candidate for the Kogi governorship election, James Faleke, lost out too, as did those for the leadership positions of the National Assembly.But despite his apparent frustration in the party, one of Mr. Tinubus loyalists, Adesoji Akanbi, a Senator representing Oyo South, stated Asiwaju will not leave APC which he built; he is a veteran fighter and he is going to fight from within.In his tweets Monday, the former Lagos governor said he would not engage in destructive pettiness.In our Journey to national betterment, plans and policies will be made, then amended. Mistakes will occur and then corrected, he said.Achievements will be had and replicated. Through it all, I, Asiwaju will remain true to the progressive ideals that fueled the creation of APC.I have devoted my political life to achieve what has been achieved. My heart is too much of the people and my mind too fixed on establishing positive historic legacy rather than engage in destructive pettiness.This government, APC, is for the betterment of the people and the national purpose is bigger and more important than any individuals desires. Renowned playwright and Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, says he will hold a private funeral on January 20 when United States Presi... Renowned playwright and Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, says he will hold a private funeral on January 20 when United States President-elect, Donald Trump, is inaugurated as President.Soyinka, who spoke in Lagos on Monday, explained that the funeral is not to mourn with the citizens of the US over their choice of president but to mourn the death of Nigerias common sense.Our common sense is totally lost. I am embarrassed sometimes that I occupy the same nation space with some people, he said.He also said Nigerians did not have the right to query his personal decision to tear his US green card.Details later Michael Drewniak appears at Bridgegate Trial to testify Bill Brennan, of Wayne, who filed a citizen's complaint accusing Gov. Chris Christie. (Bob Sciarrino/NJ Advance Media) WAYNE -- Bill Brennan, an activist and former firefighter, on Monday asked a judge to reconsider appointing a special prosecutor in an official misconduct case against Gov. Chris Christie. The Wayne resident also announced he would seek the Democratic party nomination for governor in 2017. Brennan said he's spent years fighting fraud, waste and corruption in New Jersey, but has been opposed by elected officials. "So if I'm truly going to clean up the government of New Jersey, I'm going to have to do it from the top down as well as from the bottom up," he said. Brennan, a former Teaneck firefighter, has filed several lawsuits against Bergen County officials over the years. In October, he made a citizen's official misconduct complaint against Christie alleging that the governor knew about the Bridgegate scheme to cause gridlock in Fort Lee. He argued in court Friday that a special prosecutor should handle the complaint rather than the state attorney general and Bergen County prosecutor because they are Christie appointees. Both Attorney General Christopher Porrino and Bergen Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal have recused themselves, leaving the case to subordinates. Judge Bonnie Mizdol denied Brennan's request, saying Brennan "lacked standing." "A private complainant may not act as a prosecuting attorney," she said in her ruling. Brennan's motion for reconsideration argues that Mizdol did not actually address the conflict of interest the prosecutors for the Attorney General and Bergen County Prosecutor have in the case. "We're counting on the courage and integrity of people whose jobs are entirely dependent on the good will of Chris Christie to do their jobs," Brennan said. "You don't put people in that position." Brennan hopes Mizdol will reconsider an appoint a special prosecutor before oral argument starts at a hearing on Jan. 11. If not, he plans to take his case to the appellate division and possibly the state Supreme Court. Craig Carpenito, Christie's attorney, maintains that the claim brought by Brennan is frivolous. "With today's announcement of his gubernatorial candidacy, Mr. Brennan reveals his true motivation behind this political stunt," he said. His gubernatorial announcement Monday was only a first step, he said. Brennan's campaign has no treasurer or bank account and he has not collected any signatures. Brennan, who described himself as "more of a Bernie Sanders Democrat than an establishment Democrat," said he would be ready in time for the 2017 Democratic gubernatorial primary. He'll face Jim Johnson, a and federal prosecutor; Phil Murhpy, a former banking executive and the favorite to nomination ; and state Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who "I'm not going to have a problem," Brennan said. "People are ready for this." Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. CHARLESTON, S.C. -- A mistrial has been declared in the case of a former South Carolina police officer and New Jersey native caught on camera shooting an unarmed suspect as he fled. Michael Slager (file photo) According to CBS News, the judge made the decision Monday after the jury decided it would be impossible to reach a unanimous verdict regarding the murder or voluntary manslaughter charges against 35-year-old Michael Slager, a 2001 Lenape High School graduate. Slager, who is white, is seen on video firing eight rounds from his .45-caliber pistol at Walter Scott, 50, a black male. Scott was apparently unarmed and fleeing from the officer on foot after an April 2015 motor vehicle stop for a broken tail light. Slager claimed that Scott allegedly reached for the officer's taser, prompting him to shoot at Scott. The CBS report adds that Slager feared for his life during the encounter. According to the report, 11 of the jurors were white and one was black. Scott could have faced a sentence of 30 years to life in prison if convicted of murder. According to news reports, the mistrial means prosecutors will have to consider retrying Slager after these past four days of deliberations. Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Justin Sullivan-Getty Images.JPG There's a new effort to inform consumers about gift card scams. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) A quick pit-stop in CVS yielded the unexpected. On the public address system came a warning. "The IRS and other government agencies will never require you to use a specific payment method for your bills, such as prepaid debit cards, iTunes cards or other gift cards," it said. "If anyone calls you and demands that you buy gift cards to pay a bill, hang up and report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at TIGTA.gov." A fraud warning? In a store? In a store where people can buy gift cards -- gift cards that are often used for scams? It was like Christmas came early for Bamboozled. We reached out to CVS to say, "Hey, this is awesome!" and to ask for additional information. We learned the message was part of a partnership between Apple and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) in an effort to warn consumers about gift card fraud. Bamboozled cautioned about this scam when it was brand new earlier this year. Callers impersonating the IRS or other agencies would threaten arrest if you didn't immediately pay your overdue taxes. This scam wasn't new, but the requested payment method -- an iTunes gift card -- was very new. Today, iTunes gift cards have become the preferred gift card of fraudsters. That's because Apple products are popular around the world, so scammers can sell the cards at a discount or otherwise convert them into currency. They can do it quickly and easily, and it's incredibly hard to track down the perpetrators. By some accounts, 70 to 80 percent of these frauds use iTunes gift cards. The feds have been mounting a fight. In a huge case we learned about in October, the 20 people in the U.S. and 32 in India, along with five call centers, were indicted in a multinational fraud scheme the feds said cost victims hundreds of millions of dollars. The call center operators would impersonate the IRS, a debt collector or other group, and threaten potential victims with arrest, imprisonment, fines or deportation if they did not pay taxes or penalties to the government, according to a Department of Justice press release. "If the victims agreed to pay, the call centers would then immediately turn to a network of U.S.-based co-conspirators to liquidate and launder the extorted funds as quickly as possible by purchasing prepaid debit cards or through wire transfers," the presser said. Traditional law enforcement action is only part of the battle. The feds are also trying to reach out directly to consumers (check its YouTube channel here), and that's where the public service announcements come in. "We view every potential victim who received our warning and did not fall victim to the scam as a victory," said Timothy Camus, Deputy Inspector General for Investigations at TIGTA. Apple directed us to its link about iTunes scams. The messages have also been played in Rite Aid, ShopRite, Wegmans, Stop & Shop, Albertsons/Safeway and Supervalu stores. And the program, which targets shoppers New Jersey, New York, California, Texas and Florida -- the five states with the largest numbers of victims -- seems to be working. "The data reveals that the in-store campaign has already had a significant impact in reducing the number of reported cases in the high incident states targeted," said Robert Gaudian, president of The Public Service Network (PSN), the company that pioneered the placement of PSAs in grocery and drug stores more than 12 years ago with health spots from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A Princeton-based company, InStore Audio Network, produced the audio message. InStore president Gary Seem said these kinds of delivery methods are the only way to reach every shopper in a store. OTHER HELP FOR CONSUMERS We wanted to know what efforts are being taken by popular New Jersey gift card retailers. Here's what we learned: CVS: CVS said it has several new anti-fraud efforts in play. These include warning customers about these kinds of scams, employee training and educational signs on pre-paid card displays. The retailer said it also had a new protection that will be in all 7,900 CVS stores before the holiday season. "Customers who purchase gift cards in our store will have to read and acknowledge a prompt detailing various types of gift card scams in order to proceed with the purchase," a spokeswoman said. That protection is already in the store near us, where we recently purchased a $25 gift card. There was a pop-up box on the payment screen that warned of gift card fraud. Shoppers would need to click that they got the message before they could proceed with the payment. That was awesome to see. Rite Aid: Rite Aid has a $500 limit per gift card, and the total for any one transaction by a customer is $3,000, according to a spokeswoman. "Our associates are trained to look for suspicious activity and to talk to customers to make sure they know who and where they are sending money to, to avoid fraud and scams," the spokeswoman said. Target: Target says it takes a "multi-layered, comprehensive approach to preventing theft and fraud that includes innovative programs and partnerships with local law enforcement, technology and team member training." A spokeswoman said the company is aware of gift card scams, and it works actively with law enforcement. But no details were offered on whether employees are trained to warn customers who purchase a high value of gift cards or whether it posts warnings in stores. ShopRite: ShopRite says it has a limit on the total amount of gift cards a customer can purchase in a single day. When we asked how much, the company didn't want to share. "We'd prefer not to publish those amounts so we don't tip our hand to scammers," a spokeswoman said. The company does get their employees involved. "We train our associates to enforce gift card purchase limits and we alert our stores to the existence of these scams," a spokeswoman said. "However, we recognize that scammers are constantly changing their tactics and that remains a challenge." Walgreens: Walgreens didn't reply to multiple requests for comment, and we couldn't find anything about its policies on its website. Wegmans: Wegmans didn't respond to our request, but we saw on its website that customers can only purchase gift cards with a $500 value per card, and not more than $2,000 in one shot. We couldn't find any kind of warning. Walmart: Walmart replied to our request to say it would not be participating in the story. So, dear readers, of course we as shoppers need to take personal responsibility, but even if you don't think you'd ever fall for a gift card scam, there are many among us who remain vulnerable. Please tell your loved ones about these scams and help them learn how to protect themselves so we can make gift card scams a thing of the past. Have you been Bamboozled? Reach Karin Price Mueller at Bamboozled@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KPMueller. Find Bamboozled on Facebook. Mueller is also the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Stay informed and sign up for NJMoneyHelp.com's weekly e-newsletter. In anticipation of their home being featured on TV, Bill and Ryan Kloos took off from work and college for the whole month of September to decorate, decorate, and decorate some more. Last December, a scout for "The Great Christmas Light Fight," a seasonal ABC series, encouraged the brothers to create an audition video. It was the canopy of light in front of their East Brunswick home that caught her eye. "It's almost like a circus tent," says Bill Kloos, 22. "It pretty much encases the whole yard in lights." The illuminated strands were hoisted 45 feet in the air, cascading all around the property. The feat had been a dream of his since he was 10, when he created his first display for the family's home using just a few strands of lights. In 2015, 12 years, several towers and 12,000 feet of cable later, he finally figured out how to build it. After submitting an application video, after background checks and other formalities, Kloos is happy to say that yes, he and his brother's work at 13 Sterling Court will be on "The Great Christmas Light Fight" Monday. The Jersey duo will be the youngest competitors ever featured on the show, which functions as a kind of tribute to the people who spend all year devising elaborate Christmas light displays. It's also a competition -- the winner of best lights gets $50,000. "We went way bigger this year than ever before, because we wanted to win, of course," says Kloos, who graduated last year from Delaware Valley University with a degree in landscape architecture and applies those skills to his business, Landscape Craftsmen in East Brunswick. New for 2016, accompanying the glowing canopy, dazzling arches and a rooftop Santa and reindeer, are two 60-foot megatrees of light -- guests can walk up to the driveway and walk straight through -- and a brilliant "firework" fixture that sits high atop the house, above all the other illuminations. The brothers spent several years trying to import the device, a ball equipped with long tubes, from China. The bonanza of lights soaring around and over the Kloos home make the actual house look like a tiny pearl in a glimmering clam shell. There are 250,000 lights altogether, but the family will somehow only spend $400 extra to pay their electric bill for the month. And while the ABC show might make it look like the brothers are the only ones working on the project, it is, in truth, a family effort. Bill Kloos says his father, Bill Kloos Sr., also puts in a significant amount of work, and is vacationing somewhere sunny now that it's finished. In a nod to ABC's parent company, Disney -- and because there are some elements of the display, that for licensing and permission reasons, can't be shown on TV -- they included a hand-painted Mickey Mouse in the display and a Disneyesque messages spelled out in lights on either side of the house -- "Dream Big," and "Imagination." On the show -- there's a winner every episode -- the Kloos family will face competition from other holiday light creatives including a family in Arizona that dreamed up an "emoji celebration" with a 20-foot "Frozen" castle. They know the outcome, but can't reveal anything before the show airs. Ryan Kloos first teamed up with his brother on the display starting in 2008, the year they turned the static light landscape into a synchronized show with music. "I just love programming," he says. "I get to sit inside in the warm air. It's more relaxing." Music in the display's soundtrack includes "Light of Christmas" by Owl City and "That House on Christmas Street" by Judy Pancoast. "My sequences have definitely gotten better over the years," he says. The business management major at Middlesex County College planned to celebrate his 20th birthday on Monday by watching their episode of the ABC holiday lights show. His ultimate goal: open his own amusement park. He says he's been inspired by the local response to their light show. "You put up something amazing and it gets people together," he says. The canopy of lights has been one of the biggest crowd-pleasers, he says, referring to the annual feats of Christmas cheer as "Kloos Miracles." The Kloos brothers just visited "The Rachael Ray Show" to promote their episode of the Christmas series, and decorated her studio for the occasion. Because of the upcoming TV appearance, and since their display attracts so many people -- they've routinely gotten hundreds in the first days of the show (it opened Thursday) and 1,000 per night by the end of the month -- the town is shutting the cul-de-sac down to public traffic, allowing only pedestrians. "The town's expecting it to get really crazy," Bill says. But starting at 7 p.m. each night until 10, guests are welcome to walk up the driveway to revel in all the holiday splendor. Each year the Kloos family, like many other high-caliber neighborhood light displays, uses the opportunity to solicit donations for charity, and every cent given gets donated. Over the past eight years they've raised $35,000 for various causes. This year, after seeing his photo on Facebook, the brothers are dedicating the donation box on the west side of the driveway to Trent Powers, a 2-year-old boy in Helmetta who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy. "We do it because we like to bring the community together," Bill Kloos says of the show. And the brothers have always felt the love, even when everything wasn't so awash in Christmas cheer. In 2014, after their donation box was stolen, local business pitched in $1,000 to $5,000 each to make up for the loss. A double episode of the "The Great Christmas Light Fight" airs 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 5 on ABC but will be delayed or preempted by a football game in the northern New Jersey area. The Kloos' episode starts at 9 p.m. and will air again at 2:35 a.m. on Dec. 7. The East Brunswick light display, located at 13 Sterling Court, is open from 7 to 10 p.m. daily in December. No cars allowed on the street; visitors must walk up to the house. To learn more about Powers Promise, this year's charity for the Kloos' family show, visit gofundme.com/trentpowers Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook. NEWARK -- The cat thrown from a third-floor Newark balcony last week "miraculously" suffered only minor paw injuries and is recovering under a veterinarian's care, an official said Sunday. Tikeemah J. Lassiter (Photo: Dept. of Public Safety) "Pretty miraculously, no major injuries," said Matt Stanton, a spokesman for the New Jersey Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "The paws are banged up a little bit." Tikeemah J. Lassiter, 19, of Clinton, was charged with animal cruelty on Saturday, after authorities said a neighbor alerted Newark police to a YouTube video showing her throw the cat off the balcony. Stanton estimated the balcony to be at least 24 feet above the sidewalk. He said Lassiter was visiting relatives at the Newark apartment when the cat annoyed her by continually entering the room. "She said the cat was bothering her," Stanton said. The injured feline was turned over to the NJSPCA, a state law enforcement agency, and the creature was examined by a veterinarian. The cat remained at the vet on Sunday. Stanton said no determination had been made as to where it would be placed following treatment. He said it was doubtful the cat would be returned to the Newark apartment. In the video, Lassiter is allegedly seen hurling the cat off the balcony to the sidewalk below, where the it did not move after landing. Laughter can be heard as the cat is thrown. Authorities said there was also a warrant for Lassiter's arrest issued by NJ Transit Police based on an assault, though details of that incident were not available. NJSPCA President Steve Shatkin issued a statement about the incident on Sunday. "As soon as this incident was posted on social media, our animal cruelty hotline was flooded with calls," Shatkin stated. "Thankfully, the Newark Police Department requested our assistance on this case and, together, we were able to close this out fairly quickly. This was horrible display of animal cruelty and very disturbing video to watch." Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook. The Islamic State group, which has just lost its Libyan coastal stronghold of Sirte, has also suffered a series of major setbacks in Iraq and Syria. The Islamist militants, who since 2014 have seized swathes of territory in the three countries, are currently under attack in their strongholds of Mosul in northern Iraq and Raqa in northern Syria. Libyan loyalist forces said Monday they have seized full control of Sirte from IS, which conquered it in 2015. However, experts say the loss of Sirte, while a significant setback, will not spell the end of the IS presence in Libya, as they have already moved southwards. KOBANE: The Kurdish town in northern Syria became a symbol of the fight against IS. The Islamist militants were driven out by US-backed Kurdish forces in January 2015 after more than four months of fighting. TAL ABYAD: Another town on the Turkish border, Tal Abyad was captured by Kurdish and Arab rebels in June 2015. It was the gateway to a key supply route between Turkey and Raqa. PALMYRA: IS seized the ancient town in May 2015. It blew up UNESCO-listed Roman-era temples and looted ancient relics. Syrian regime forces backed by Russian warplanes and allied militia ousted IS in March this year. MANBIJ: On August 6, 2016, a coalition of Arab and Kurdish fighters backed by US air strikes recaptured Manbij following a two-month battle. IS had seized the town in 2014 and used it as a hub for moving Islamist militants to and from Europe. It also controlled a key IS supply route. JARABULUS: Turkish troops and Syrian rebels swept almost unopposed into the border town on August 24 during Operation Euphrates Shield, which also targets Kurdish militia. DABIQ: Syrian rebels backed by Turkish warplanes and artillery captured Dabiq in October. Under IS control since August 2014, Dabiq has ideological significance because of a prophecy that Christian and Muslim forces will battle there at the end of times. THE BATTLE FOR RAQA: On November 5, a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters began an operation to capture IS's de facto Syrian capital. AL BAB: Syrian rebels, backed by Turkish forces, are at the gateway to Al Bab, an IS bastion in northern Aleppo province. TIKRIT: The home town of late dictator Saddam Hussein north of Baghdad fell in June 2014, soon after Mosul. It was declared liberated in March 2015 in an operation by Iraqi troops, police and Shiite-dominated paramilitaries. SINJAR: Iraqi Kurdish forces backed by US-led coalition air power recaptured Sinjar, northwest of Baghdad, in November 2015, cutting a key supply line linking jihadist-held areas in Iraq and Syria. IS captured Sinjar in August 2014 and pursued a campaign of massacres, enslavement and rape against its Yazidi minority. RAMADI: The capital of Anbar, Iraq's largest province stretching from its borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to the western approach to Baghdad. Ramadi was declared fully recaptured in February, 2016 about nine months after IS seized it. FALLUJAH: Anbar's second city, close to Baghdad. It fell to anti-government fighters in 2014 and later became a key IS stronghold. Iraqi forces recaptured it in June 2016. QAYYARAH: Iraqi forces backed by coalition aircraft retook Qayyarah in August, providing Baghdad with a platform to assault Mosul, the country's second city. QARAQOSH: In late October hundreds of displaced Iraqi Christians celebrated the Iraqi military's retaking Qaraqosh southeast of Mosul. THE BATTLE FOR MOSUL: Since an offensive began on October 17 against IS's last Iraqi stronghold, tens of thousands of pro-government forces have surrounded the city and advanced into eastern districts. Search Keywords: Short link: ORANGE -- The mother of a New Jersey man missing in the deadly Friday night warehouse blaze in Oakland, Calif. has reportedly said she is continuing to pray her son will be found safe. Alex Ghassan, a producer originally from Jersey City, was at the party with his fiance, his mother, Emilie Grandchamps, told WABC news. "I've prepared myself for the worst, and I pray for the best," she said in the report. Ghassan, who friends said moved to California about two years ago, has twin 4-year-old daughters who live with their mom in Hoboken, the report said. He is one of two people with New Jersey ties reportedly still missing after the massive blaze that killed at least 33 people. Griffin Madden, a University of California Berkeley student from Morristown, is also missing. As searches of the building continued Monday, authorities so far have have identified eight of the 33 people killed. Dozens more are missing. The fire broke out Friday night during a party at the building, which has been described as an "artist collective" that also illegally housed a rotating group of residents. Former residents have described the living conditions in the building as "filthy," and dangerous, with few exits, a makeshift staircase, and other hazards inside. Ghassan, a producer and cinematographer, wanted to be remembered for his work, his mother told ABC News. A short example of his work was gaining recognition Monday - a video he posted on Instagram that appears to have been taken at the party inside the warehouse before the fire broke out. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook. NEWARK -- A 22-year-old Montclair resident was charged Sunday with gunning down an Irvington resident in the city, authorities said. Brandon Williams Brandon Williams faces a murder charge in the death of James Goff, 22, in the 2:30 a.m. shooting on Clifton Avenue, acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray and Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose said in a joint statement. Williams was detained shortly after the shooting by Newark Police officers and later charged, authorities said. He also faces weapons offenses. No motive was given for the shooting. Goff was one of two men killed in separate shootings early Sunday in Newark. Shahire Williamson, 19, of Irvington, was shot to death just after midnight on North Munn Avenue. A 24-year-old man was critically injured in that incident, said Chief of Detectives Quovella M. Spruill of the prosecutor's office. Authorities said no arrests had been made as of Sunday evening in the North Munn Avenue shooting. Bail for Williams was set at $750,000, with no 10 percent option, and authorities said he remained held at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark. Anyone with information on either shooting is urged to call the Essex County Prosecutor's Office homicide tips line at (877) TIPS-4EC. Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Malcom D. Tyson Zachary T. Applegarth.jpg Malcom D. Tyson, 23, of Paulsboro, (left) and Zachary T. Applegarth, 20, of Malaga, were indicted last week in connection with a gas station robbery in West Deptford Township. (Salem County Correctional Facility) WOODBURY -- A Gloucester County grand jury has indicted two men in a West Deptford gas station robbery. Malcom D. Tyson, 23, of Paulsboro, and Zachary T. Applegarth, 20, of Malaga, are accused of conspiring to rob a Citgo station on Aug. 13. Applegarth allegedly drove Tyson to the gas station and Tyson committed the robbery, authorities said. Tyson pulled a handgun and threatened employees before making off with an undisclosed amount of cash, according to a complaint signed in the case. Tyson fled in the vehicle driven by Applegarth, police said. While Applegarth was indicted only on the conspiracy charge, Tyson was also indicted on charges including first-degree attempted robbery, first-degree robbery, theft by unlawful taking, aggravated assault, terroristic threats and unlawful possession of a weapon. Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook. A jury in Texas has ruled against a subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit by six patients who received its faulty hip replacements, according to reports. The verdict included $1 billion in punitive damages against its DePuy Orthopaedics unit, according to CNN.com. Another $32 million in compensatory damages was to go to the plaintiffs, all of whom suffered after hip replacement surgery that used the DePuy device. Each had to undergo a second surgery to replace the implant and repair damage to bone and tissue, according to a report by Reuters. J&J faces more than 8,000 lawsuits for the DePuy product. There have been two earlier trials that looked at the product - one that ruled against the manufacturer, the other that ruled in its favor, according to CNN.com. The company said it planned to appeal. The company says studies have shown the Pinnacle Ultamet line of devices restores mobility and reduces pain for patients in need of hip replacement. DePuy Synthes makes surgical joint replacements, power surgical tools, as well as other medical devices used to treat spinal injuries and sports-related injuries. It has offices in Florida, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. This is the second line of J&J hip replacement implants that have triggered lawsuits. The company recalled a different brand, the ASR device, in 2010, and set aside $2.5 billion to compensate patients for damages. J&J's DePuy faces allegations that the metal-on-metal version of the Pinnacle hip was defectively designed and caused metal debris to leech into patients' bloodstreams. In some cases, the cobalt-and-chromium material caused an infection that forced the patient to have the artificial hips surgically removed. Kathleen O'Brien may be reached at kobrien@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBrienLedger. Find NJ.com on Facebook. JERSEY CITY -- Police are investigating a daytime shooting in a Bergen-Lafayette neighborhood on Sunday. Jersey City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said the shooting was reported near Prescott and Park streets at about 2:30 p.m. One person was hit with shattered glass in the shooting, she said. Photos from the scene show a silver Honda SUV on Belmont Avenue near Summit Avenue with both front windows shattered and at least two bullet holes -- one on the driver side door and another to the passenger side door. A black BMW, which police found on Prescott Street near Park Street, appears to have been struck by the Honda. One photo shows shards of glass on the ground outside a parking lot beside the Mt. Sinai Gospel Church on Prescott Street. Morrill said the shooting remains an active investigation. She did not respond to multiple calls or emails for information surrounding the car's damage, crash, or events that led up to the crash. Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. blizzard05(2).JPG The Bayonne Board of Education is facing a $2.2 million budget shortfall from the 2015-16 school year, according to town officials. (Journal file photo) BAYONNE - The Bayonne Board of Education is facing a $2.2 million deficit from last year's school budget after using a surplus to cover an even larger shortfall the previous year, city officials confirmed. Mayor Jimmy Davis said an internal audit for the 2015-16 school year revealed a $2.2 million gap that will carry over into this year's operating budget. Bayonne Business Administrator Joe DeMarco said the board miscalculated spending on salaries for 2015-2016. An accounting firm conducted an internal audit and presented those findings in a meeting last week with DeMarco, Superintendent Patricia McGeehan, and Board of Education Business Administrator Leo Smith, according to Davis. The audit is currently being reviewed by the State Department of Education and its findings will be presented during a Dec. 14 board meeting, officials said. DeMarco said the school district had to use its prior surplus to cover a $5.3 million deficit that arose within the budget for the 2014-15 school year, leaving the board without a reserve to do the same with the current budget gap. "The 2015-16 school budget year ended in July -- they issued their audit report as a result of that and they over-ran again, but this time there isn't sufficient surplus, so they have a $2.2 million deficit," DeMarco said. New Jersey Department of Education records indicate the Bayonne school district entered the 2015-2016 year with an anticipated budget of $121,771,126. Smith deferred comment to Joseph Broderick - the president of the Bayonne Board of Education -- who was unaware of the findings that the audit presented. "These aren't numbers I'm aware of," Broderick said. "We're hoping (we get the audit from the State DOE) any day now, and when there is something I'll be glad to make a comment at that time." However, Broderick did confirm that district salaries are at the heart of the deficit and said the dwindled surplus has compounded problem. The Islamic State militant group, on the defensive in Iraq and Syria where it declared a "caliphate" two years ago, on Monday presented a new spokesman who urged its fighters not to flee. The new spokesman was named as Abulhassan al-Muhajer, in an audio message broadcast by Al-Furqan, an IS propaganda organ. IS has said his predecessor Abu Mohammad al-Furqan was killed earlier this year. The Pentagon said a precision air strike killed him three months ago near the group's de facto Syrian capital of Raqa. In the audio message, the new IS spokesman called for patience from the group's fighters and urged them to hold fast and "not to flee" the battlefield, promising "victory". On November 3, IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi broke a nearly year-long silence as Iraqi forces closed in on Mosul, urging his Islamist militants to hold their ground in the city against an offensive launched on October 17. It was in Mosul that Baghdadi in June 2014 announced the creation of the Islamic caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria. On Monday, the IS spokesman called for attacks on Turkey which has troops stationed at a base near Mosul and is also battling the Islamist militants group in Syria. Search Keywords: Short link: President-elect Donald Trump is using Twitter to renew his defense of his engagement with the leader of Taiwan, a breach of diplomatic protocol as the U.S. shifted recognition from Taiwan to China nearly 40 years ago. In a series of Sunday evening tweets, Trump groused about criticism that he didn't work with China ahead of the contact. China considers Taiwan a rogue province. "Did China ask us if it was OK to carry out a number of actions such as build up disputed islands in the South China Sea or take economic measures hurtful to the United States," Trump tweeted. The Taiwanese leader, Tsai Ing-Wen, called Trump Friday to congratulate him on the election in communication arranged by an American third party. Taiwan's official Central News Agency, citing anonymous sources on Saturday, said that Edwin Feulner, founder of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, was a "crucial figure" in setting up communication channels between the sides. The call prompted an understated complaint from China to the U.S. government. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday that the contact was "just a small trick by Taiwan" that he believed would not change U.S. policy toward China, according to Hong Kong's Phoenix TV. "The one-China policy is the cornerstone of the healthy development of China-U.S. relations and we hope this political foundation will not be interfered with or damaged," Wang was quoted as saying. Chinese officials said they lodged a complaint with the U.S. and reiterated a commitment to seeking "reunification" with the island, which they consider a renegade province. The call was the starkest example yet of how Trump has flouted diplomatic conventions since he won the Nov. 8 election. He has apparently undertaken calls with foreign leaders without guidance customarily given by the State Department, which oversees U.S. diplomacy. "President-elect Trump is just shooting from the hip, trying to take phone calls of congratulatory messages from leaders around the world without consideration for the implications," said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Sunday that the phone call shouldn't necessarily be interpreted as a shift in U.S. policy. He shrugged off the attention to the incident as media hype. "It was a courtesy call," Pence told NBC's "Meet the Press." Over the decades, the status of Taiwan has been one of the most sensitive issues in U.S.-China relations. China regards Taiwan as part of its territory to be retaken by force, if necessary, if it seeks independence. It would regard any recognition of a Taiwanese leader as a head of state as unacceptable. Taiwan split from the Chinese mainland in 1949. The U.S. policy acknowledges the Chinese view over sovereignty, but considers Taiwan's status as unsettled. Ned Price, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said Trump's conversation does not signal any change to long-standing U.S. policy on cross-strait issues. Yet the phone conversation prompted mixed reactions. Douglas Paal, a former director of the American Institute in Taiwan, which unofficially represents U.S. interests in Taipei, said it was too soon to judge whether Trump was going to lead that shift, or if the incident was just a "complicated accident." "Beijing will watch closely to see which it is," said Paal, now vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The U.S. shifted diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 1979. But the governments in Washington and Taipei have maintained close unofficial ties and deep economic and defense relations. The U.S. is required by law to provide Taiwan with weapons to maintain its defense, and since 2009, the Obama administration has approved $14 billion in arms sales to Taiwan. The Taiwanese presidential office said Trump and Tsai discussed issues affecting Asia and the future of U.S. relations with Taiwan. Tsai also told Trump that she hoped the U.S. would support Taiwan in its participation in international affairs, the office said, in an apparent reference to China's efforts to isolate Taiwan from global institutions such as the United Nations. Taiwan's presidential office spokesman, Alex Huang, said separately that Taiwan's relations with China and "healthy" Taiwan-U.S. relations can proceed in parallel. "There is no conflict" in that, he said. China's foreign ministry said Beijing lodged "solemn representations" with the U.S. over the call. "It must be pointed out that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory," Geng Shuang, a ministry spokesman, said in a statement. "The government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing China." Search Keywords: Short link: Entergy wants feedback on New Orleans East power plant proposal; public meetings set for next week Germany is "concerned" by the government crisis in Italy sparked by the resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi following his referendum defeat, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Monday. "We are watching the result in Italy with concern," Steinmeier, who is visiting Greece, told Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in televised remarks. "I think Renzi did the right thing, the necessary thing, but voters did not support him," he said through a translator. "This is not of course a state crisis, but it's a government crisis that needs to be resolved... it's not a positive message to Europe at a difficult time," he added. Italians voted on Sunday against proposed reforms that would have curtailed the size and powers of the Senate and transferred powers from regions to the national government. Opposition parties had denounced the proposed amendments to the constitution as dangerous for democracy because they would have removed important checks and balances on executive power. Interior ministry projections suggested the No camp, led by the populist Five Star Movement, had been backed by 59.5 percent of those who voted. Search Keywords: Short link: WASHINGTON (AP) The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to Donald Trump. The nine-member panel sent a letter to the former president's lawyers on Friday, demanding his testimony under oath by mid-November and outlining a series of corresponding documents. The decision by lawmakers to exercise their subpoena power comes a week after the committee made its final case against the former president, who they say is the "central cause" of the multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It remains unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond to the subpoena, if at all. A vast Red Cross survey published Monday indicated that the acceptance of torture during war has increased dramatically in recent decades, with fewer than half of people now categorically rejecting the practice. The survey of more than 17,000 people carried out in 16 countries showed that most people believe wars should be limited by international rules, banning for instance indiscriminate attacks on populated areas or attacks on hospitals and healthcare workers. But it also revealed that only 48 percent of respondents said it was wrong to torture enemy combattants to obtain important military information, while a full 36 percent said that doing so is permitted and 16 percent said they did not know. In a similar survey conducted in 1999, 66 percent of those questioned said it was blatantly wrong to use torture in such cases, while 28 percent said that doing so was acceptable and six percent were unsure. "The results... show that we all need to redraw a line in the sand: torture in any form is forbidden," Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said in a statement. "We demonise our enemies at our own peril. Even in war, everyone deserves to be treated humanely," he insisted. "Using torture only triggers a race to the bottom. It has a devastating impact on the victims, and it brutalises entire societies for generations," he warned. The survey -- the largest of its kind ever carried out by the ICRC -- was conducted between June and September this year in 10 countries experiencing conflict, including Iraq, Nigeria and South Sudan. Also included in the study were the five members of the UN Security Council -- the United States, China, France, Russia and Britain, known as the P5 countries -- as well as Switzerland. The survey indicated that people who live in or near a conflict-affected country were "more likely to respond humanely to questions on the laws of war," ICRC said in the statement. In the P5 countries meanwhile, "it appears that people are more resigned to civilian casualties and suffering as an inevitable part of warfare," it said. For instance, a full 78 percent of people living in countries affected by conflict said it was wrong to attack enemy fighters in populated areas where many civilians risked being killed, compared to just 50 percent of respondents in P5 countries, the survey showed. That divide was not as clear when it came to torture. At 70 percent, respondents in conflict-battered Nigeria were the most likely to say torture of an enemy fighter was acceptable to obtain important military information, followed by Israel at 50 percent. The United States, where President-elect Donald Trump has suggested he might authorise the torture of detainees, including water boarding, to gain information, was not far behind, with a full 46 percent saying such practices were permitted. Maurer meanwhile took heart in other parts of the survey that indicated that two thirds of respondents considered that the so-called Geneva Conventions that impose limits on war remained important. It is clear that people do not believe in a battlefield 'free for all'," Maurer said. "The survey shows that there's a disconnect between the public, who believe that targeting civilians, hospitals and humanitarian workers is unacceptable, and the policies and actions of states and armed groups who commit these acts," he insisted. Search Keywords: Short link: Can the Saints wake up at Tampa Bay? Tune in to Tuesday's live Dat Chat Podcast Britain's Supreme Court began hearing a landmark case Monday that will decide who has the power to trigger the U.K.'s exit from the European Union the government or Parliament. The legal battle has major constitutional implications for the balance of power between the legislature and executive, and has inflamed Britain's already raw wound over how and whether to leave the EU. The court's most senior justice, David Neuberger, opened the four-day hearing by condemning the "threats of serious violence and unpleasant abuse" directed at Gina Miller, one of the claimants trying to ensure Parliament gets a say. "Threatening and abusing people because they are exercising their fundamental right to go to court undermines the rule of law," Neuberger said, banning publication of the addresses of Miller and other parties in the case. Neuberger and 10 other justices at the country's top court must decide whether Prime Minister Theresa May's government can invoke Article 50 of the EU's key treaty, the trigger for two years of divorce talks, without the approval of lawmakers. May plans to trigger Article 50 by the end of March, using centuries-old government powers known as royal prerogative. The powers traditionally held by the monarch but now used by politicians enable decisions about joining or leaving international treaties to be made without a parliamentary vote. Financial entrepreneur Miller and another claimant, hairdresser Deir Dos Santos, went to court to argue that leaving the EU would remove some of their rights, including free movement within the bloc, and that shouldn't be done without Parliament's approval. Last month, three High Court judges agreed. But the government says they have misinterpreted the law. Government lawyers led by Attorney General Jeremy Wright argue that the British people have spoken by voting in a June 23 referendum to leave the EU. In written submissions, they say a parliamentary vote would mean getting lawmakers "to answer precisely the same question which was put by Parliament to the electorate and has been answered in the referendum." Though the courtroom drama will unfold in cool legal language, it has set public passions simmering. November's ruling infuriated pro-Brexit campaigners, who saw the lawsuit as an attempt to block or delay Britain's EU exit. The anti-EU Daily Mail newspaper labeled the justices "enemies of the people." Miller who has received a torrent of online abuse for her role in the case arrived at court Monday with her lawyers to cheers from pro-EU campaigners dressed as judges atop an open-topped double-decker bus. "Nigel, where are you?" they sang mockingly, in reference to former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, a prominent voice in the leave campaign. He had vowed to lead a march on the Supreme Court to demand judges respect the will of the majority. It was canceled last week after organizers said there was a risk it could be hijacked by far-right extremists. Two anti-EU protesters held placards, one calling the case an "establishment stitch-up." In a reflection of the constitutional importance of the case, all 11 Supreme Court judges are hearing the appeal, the first time the full court has sat since it was founded in 2009. The case is scheduled to last four days, with a ruling likely in January. Brexit Secretary David Davis has insisted that "whatever the outcome of the Supreme Court appeal ... we intend to stick to the existing timetable" for triggering talks. Complicating the picture are new participants including politicians in Northern Ireland, who also want a say, and the Scottish government, which argues the Edinburgh-based Scottish Parliament should get a vote too. Britons voted by 52 percent to 48 percent to leave the EU, but voters in Scotland strongly backed staying in, and the Scottish government says they shouldn't be dragged out of the 28-nation bloc against their will. Many legal experts say the government will likely lose its appeal and be forced to give Parliament a vote. "The arguments this time round are pretty much the same as in the last case and I suspect the outcome will be the same," said Nick Barber, associate professor of constitutional law at Oxford University. While anti-EU campaigners say the lawsuit is an attempt to block Brexit, it is unlikely to stop Britain leaving the EU. A debate in Parliament could delay the timetable, but most lawmakers from the major parties have said they won't try to overturn the referendum result. They could, however, seek a greater say in the government's negotiating strategy something May and other ministers have been unwilling to disclose for fear of tipping their hand. This is the highest-profile case in the court's history and Neuberger said the judges were "aware of the strong feelings" about Britain's EU membership. "However, as will be apparent from the arguments before us, those wider political questions are not the subject of this appeal," he said. "This appeal is concerned with legal issues; and, as judges, our duty is to consider those issues impartially, and do decide the case according to the law. "That is what we shall do." Search Keywords: Short link: Egyptian business mogul Naguib Sawiris has resigned as chief executive officer of Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding (OTMT) and has nominated his deputy CEO Tamer El-Mahdi to succeed him, the group said on Sunday. "Naguib Sawiris has submitted his resignation from his position as CEO effective 1 January, 2017," Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding (OTMT) said in a statement. The OTMT group operates in the fields of energy, transport and logistics, and telecom infrastructure in Egypt and other countries in the Middle East and Africa, as well as in Asian countries such as Pakistan and North Korea. El-Mahdi, who has 22 years' experience at Orascom, served previously as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at OTMT group before assuming the position of the CEO of OTMT's Algerian subsidiary Djezzy, the largest mobile operator in Orascom telecom group, the group said. Over the last two years, El-Mahdi has served as deputy CEO at the OTMT group under Sawiris. "Mr. Sawiris will continue to assume all the responsibilities of his current position until the appointment of the new CEO is completed and registered with regulatory authorities," OTMT added. The OTMT group also announced that Yousef Shoukry, the member of its board of directors responsible for financial and administrative affairs, has submitted his resignation, and will be replaced by Khaled Ellaicy. On Sunday, OTMT announced that it will close its subsidiary bank in North Korea, Orabank, as a result of "increasingly complex" US sanctions on the country. OTMT's subsidiary in the country, Koryolink, will continue its telecommunications operations, the company said. Search Keywords: Short link: Yousry Nasrallah will head the festival's Muhr Emirati Competition Jury while Marianne Khoury will sit on the Muhr Feature jury panel at the Festivals 13th edition Two renowned Egyptian filmmakers, director Yousry Nasrallah and producer and director Marianne Khoury, will join the international jury panels of the 13th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), scheduled to take place between 7 and 14 December. Nasrallah will head up DIFFs Muhr Emirati Competition jury panel, which includes Algerian and French producer and director, Salem Brahimi and Emirati poet, writer, journalist, and broadcaster Adel Khozam. The Egyptian director's latest work, Brooks, Meadows and Lovely Faces, which was recently featured at Locarno Film Festival, will also be showcased as part of DIFFs Arabian Nights programme. Nasrallahs film works include Mercedes (1993), On Boys, Girls and the Veil (1995) and Sheherezad, Tell Me a Story (2010). His work has premiered at leading international film festivals including Cannes, Locarno, Venice and Berlin. In turn, Khoury will serve as a jury member of the Muhr Features, a highly prestigious segment of the festival. The Muhr Feature jury panel will be presided over by the acclaimed artist, screenwriter and director Ulrike Ottinger. The panel will also include Palestinian film and stage artist Saleh Bakri, Oscar-nominated Iranian-American actress Shohreh Aghdashloo and filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming. "Boasting a line-up brimming with award-winning international and regional directors and actors, the Muhr Awards Jury will be tasked with recognising the best talent from the Arab and wider world throughout the competition," reads the DIFF's official press release. Khoury is known for her films September 11, Closed Doors and Zelal, which won the FIPRESCI at DIFF in 2010. A co-manager of Misr International Films (MIF), Khoury is also known as the main dynamo behind the Cairo-based art house cinema Zawya and president of the Egyptian Panorama of the European Film, an annual festival which saw its 9th edition take place last month. 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 Search Keywords: Short link: Sultan's Fair exhibition is to be held on Tuesday evening in the Qayet Bay area at Cairo's City of the Dead. Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany will attend the inauguration of a traditional crafts fair to be held in Cairos city of the dead on Tuesday. Mohamed Abdel Aziz, director general of Historic Cairo Rehabilitation Project, told Ahram Online that the fair will put on show a collection of the work of traditional craftsmen, mostly those living and working in the City of the Dead as well as those of Egyptian and international contemporary artists and non-profit organisations across Historic Cairo which promote art and culture. The event, Sultan's Fair: Between Old and New is part of a new project, Outside In: The Art of Inclusion - A Place for Arts and Culture in Cairo's City of the Dead," which is being funded by the EU delegation to Egypt and implemented by Cairo-based Archinos Architecture, in cooperation with the Historic Cairo Project. It will be held in the the Sultan Qayet Bay area of the City of the Dead. According to Abdel Aziz, the ultimate objective of the project is to make culture and art better accessible to the community of this neighbourhood. The City of the Dead, or Cairo Necropolis, is an Islamic necropolis below the Mokattam hills in southeastern Cairo. Search Keywords: Short link: Norfolk Southern railroad has reiterated to federal regulators that it will not use a railroad proposed by Great Lakes Basin Transportation as a bypass around Chicago's congestion. An attorney for Norfolk Southern Corp. wrote in a Dec. 2 letter to the federal Surface Transportation Board that "Norfolk Southern reiterates its prior message to the STB that it has no plans to use the proposed route," which would run through LaPorte, Porter and Lake counties. Norfolk Southern's statement is a response to information Great Lakes Basin Transportation submitted to the STB on Nov. 10, detailing anticipated railroad traffic along various segments of the proposed 260-mile freight railroad. Norfolk Southern told the STB it did not provide any input regarding the traffic projections. "Therefore, to the extent the projections that Great Lakes Basin Transportation made in its November 10, 2016 response include Norfolk Southern traffic, those projections are in error," the company's attorney wrote. Norfolk Southern, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is one of the nation's six large Class I railroads. The participation of such railroads would be critical to Great Lakes Basin Transportation's plan. GLBT's traffic estimates in the Nov. 10 STB submission are based on the idea that, by its third year of operations, 70 percent of the freight rail traffic passing through Chicago would use it. The 260-mile Chicago rail bypass would loop west and south of the Windy City. "Ultimately, the companies that ship freight on the railroads determine how their traffic is routed," GLBT Chief Legal and Administrative Officer Mike Blaszak acknowledged in an email Monday. "Our train frequency projections were based on the assumption that the new railroad would carry a certain percentage of the rail shipments that currently move through Chicago to other destinations, and that the volume of rail traffic would grow with the U.S. economy." In addition to Norfolk Southern, one other of the country's largest freight lines has issued a public statement regarding Great Lakes Basin. Union Pacific determined in 2014 it was not interested in the proposal. "Union Pacific is focused on several major public-private partnerships, including CREATE, which will benefit the region and enhance efficiency for Chicago-area and regional railroad operations," the UP stated earlier this year. CREATE is a multi-year federal, state and local infrastructure project that would add overpasses and underpasses, upgrade tracks, switches and signal systems, and make other improvements to increase efficiency and safety through Chicago. But Blaszak said GLBT hopes to convince freight haulers its railroad is the best solution to Chicago congestion. "We are working to demonstrate to the railroads and shippers how our project will make the rail network more efficient and competitive, to everyone's benefit," he said. SAN FRANCISCO The San Francisco home featured in television's "Full House" has sold to the producer who created the show. KGO-TV reports veteran TV producer Jeff Franklin bought the 3-bedroom Victorian in August. It was on the market for more than $4 million. The real estate agent had declined to say who bought the home in San Francisco's lower Pacific Heights neighborhood. The home's exterior was used as the Tanner family's residence in the original show. Inside scenes were filmed on a set in Burbank, California. The shots were used again in the recent "Fuller House" reboot of the show on Netflix. The report says the new owner plans to repaint the front door red, just like in the original show. Previous owners had painted it a seafoam green. INDIANAPOLIS Hoosier parents who discipline their children using spanking, whipping or beating generally are immune from criminal sanctions for battery unless the punishment goes too far. Where is the line? No one really seems to know. The Indiana Court of Appeals last week affirmed an Indianapolis man's misdemeanor conviction for battery causing bodily injury after he struck his 14-year-old daughter with a belt 14 times on her buttocks, thighs, back and arms. According to court records, Sauntio Carter resorted to corporal punishment after he caught the girl posting sexually explicit images online, and his prior discipline, including taking the girl's phone away and making her clean the house, did not change her behavior. State officials got involved when the girl told her school guidance counselor the day after the punishment that her arm was hurting. An investigation by the Department of Child Services eventually led to Carter's conviction. Appeals Judge Patricia Riley, a Rensselaer native, noted that the Indiana Supreme Court has set up a complicated, six-point balancing test to determine whether a parental punishment is sufficiently reasonable to be exempt from criminal charges. Under that standard, the appellate court ruled the trial judge in this case properly weighed the evidence and determined Carter exceeded his parental authority and committed a crime. But Riley said her review of similar cases found there is a "lack of clear guidance for parents to be able to distinguish between reasonable discipline and battery." For example, the Indiana Supreme Court in 2008 concluded in a 4-1 ruling written by Justice Robert Rucker, a Gary native, that an Indianapolis mother was justified in whipping her 11-year-old son up to seven times with a belt or extension cord on his buttocks, arms and thighs. But in 2015, the Court of Appeals upheld the misdemeanor battery conviction of an Indianapolis mother who struck her 13-year-old daughter with a belt 10 to 20 times on her arms, shoulders and legs. Appeals Judge Terry Crone, of South Bend, wrote in a concurring opinion that no area of the law "is so fraught with subjectivity," and wondered if Carter had doled out 13 strikes with a belt it might have been deemed reasonable. Or maybe 15 strikes with less bruising? "Everyone agrees that a line needs to be drawn, but current case law offers little guidance as to where that line is," Crone said. He acknowledged that part of the problem is attitudes toward corporal punishment vary widely among Indiana residents, especially between generations and individuals from different cultures, though he said that should not preclude setting a definitive standard. "If the purpose of the criminal law is to put a person on notice of what conduct is proscribed and what is permitted, then how can one's guilt or innocence depend upon how someone else disciplines his or her children when there is no consensus about what is appropriate?" Ultimately, Crone acknowledged that Indiana courts simply will have to continue struggling along until either the General Assembly adopts clear guidelines for parental discipline or the Supreme Court fashions a more workable test. Carter has until the end of the month to request the state's high court review the Court of Appeals ruling upholding his conviction. GARY Firefighters rescued a 4-year-old boy Sunday afternoon from a burning residence. Mark Jones, chief of operations for the Gary Fire Department, said firefighters were called 2:47 p.m. to a home in the 2000 block of Maine Street in Gary's Dorie Miller Homes section. He said they removed the boy, who has yet to be publicly identified, from the second floor of the residence and rushed him to Methodist Hospital, Northlake Campus, where he was in critical condition Sunday night. He said no one else was injured and firefighters extinguished the fire. He said the department is investigating whether it was caused by the accidental use of combustible materials. WESTVILLE A boy from Crown Point, all grown up, was the guest speaker Sunday at the Purdue University Northwest Sinai Forum. With photos of his childhood, family, and space missions, Col. Jerry Ross, a veteran astronaut who holds a world record for seven space flights, chronicled his journey from Crown Point to Purdue University to becoming one of NASA's most highly decorated spacewalkers. Ross, who retired from NASA in 2012, said from an early age he had a dream and that dream became a reality. Because of that dream ... I got to do incredibly neat things, he said. Ross said he was in fourth grade when Russia launched the worlds first satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957 and the United States launched its first satellite, Explorer 1, a few months later. As a youngster, he kept scrapbooks filled with newspaper clippings about the U.S. space program and made homemade rockets and launched them in the backyard. My first attempt to create fire and smoke and noise, Ross said. Ross goal became to attend Purdue University, become an engineer and get involved in the countrys space program. My mother always told me I had a one-track mind, he said. This is one time it paid off. Ross earned a bachelors and masters degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue, always with his eye on becoming part of NASAs space program. After serving in active duty in the U.S. Air Force, Ross was selected for NASAs program in 1980 as an astronaut. Highlights of his career include his key role in support of the U.S. Space Shuttle program and the construction and assembly of the International Space Station and nine spacewalks totaling 58 hours. I felt totally at home outside on spacewalks, Ross said. Seeing the blue ring of the Earths atmosphere while on his spacewalks, Ross said you really get a sense of fragility. You get a strong sensation that we need to do everything we can here on Earth to protect the environment, he said. Ross is the author of two books, including his 2014 book, "Becoming a Spacewalker: My Journey to the Stars," which he said is designed to get young people excited about what they want to do. To that end, Ross has provided the book and online lesson plans to every fourth-grade teacher in Indiana to use in the classroom. Im trying to show that I wasnt a superstar as a kid, Ross said. I was just a normal kid. I didnt get straight As, but I had a dream that was important to me and caused me to set goals, caused me to study hard and caused me to work hard. I wouldnt quit, I wouldnt give up, Ross said. I want young people to emulate this. CHESTERTON Holiday shoppers ventured to the North and South poles Saturday in search of unique treasures at the Mistletoe Market in Westchester Intermediate School. Two gymnasiums dubbed the North Pole and South Pole as well as hallways and the school cafeteria were filled with artisans selling handmade gifts, including dog antler chews, wine, baked goods, purses, alpaca scarves, dog collars, spoon rings, essential oils, gemstone and beaded jewelry, art prints, stained glass, wooden bowls, and fresh wreaths and greenery. The shopping extravaganza of more than 100 vendors is a satellite of the Duneland Chamber of Commerces European Market in Chesterton, which runs every weekend from May through October. European Market vendors are given first choice for spots at the Mistletoe Market, said Deanna Kasch, the chambers market manager. Kasch said she expected at least 1,000 people would meander among the booths, snatching up handcrafted items and food gifts, such as locally made wine, soft pretzels, natural peanut butter, jellies and jams, honey, tapas, burritos, cheese, gourmet coffee, noodles, cupcakes, mini-donuts and pure maple syrup. Connies Cake Truffles and Pops came in all flavors of the rainbow, including almond coconut, butter pecan, carrot, lemon, peanut butter, pineapple and red velvet, while Sonia Payton and her daughter, Breonna Baggett, donned bright red aprons as they fried up and sold bags of their Decadent Flavor mini-donuts. Vendor Scott Kramer, of A Spice Above, sells more than 20 varieties of gourmet dips and cheese spreads and employs nearly 200 special needs adults from Glenkirk, in Northbrook, Illinois, to do his packaging and labeling. Last year was his first year at the European Market. Its absolutely amazing, said Kramer, of Crown Point. Last year I came alone, but you cant do that. You need help. Kathy Uzelac and her sister, Meg McCarel, of the Gecko Girls, said they look forward to the market every year to sell their glass trays, platters, bowls and jewelry. We havent seen a grumpy person yet, said Uzelac, of Chesterton. Tricia Mounts admired the Lukettis original jewelry, created by owner Claudia Darak, of Schererville. They have very unique things, said Mounts, of Chesterton. Im an artist, so I like to look and get ideas. The market accommodated 28 additional vendors this year by using space in a room previously reserved for food vendors. We had the space we might as well use it, said Deanna Kasch, European Market manager. Kasch said vendors like the steady traffic of shoppers and customers appreciate the wide variety of unique offerings. Customers say its well-organized, the products are top-notch, and it offers everyone something different, Kasch said. Sandy Herr has made the pilgrimage to the market for the last five years, enticed because it is so much like Chestertons weekend European Market in the summer. Its one last chance before winter sets in, said Herr, of Valparaiso. ELKHART, Ind. Two northern Indiana police officers who ran toward the sound of gunfire early Sunday fired shots at a car inside which one man was killed and another person wounded, authorities said. After the car crashed, officers found another wounded person in the same block of the Elkhart neighborhood, while a fourth person arrived a short time later at an Elkhart hospital with gunshot injuries, Police Chief Ed Windbigler said. The officers had responded to a reported house burglary about 3:30 a.m. when they heard shots nearby and ran to the scene less than a block away, Windbigler said. The officers weren't hurt and the wounded people didn't have life-threatening injuries, he said. Police said investigators weren't immediately sure whether those inside the car were wounded by the officers, and it wasn't clear who shot the other two people. "The only people who could have been struck by officer fire are the ones who were in the vehicle," Windbigler said. Norman Gary, 29, of Elkhart, died at the scene from gunshot wounds, and an autopsy was planned for Monday, according to the Police Department. Two men and a woman ages 21 to 24 were hit by the gunfire, but Elkhart police spokesman Sgt. Chris Snyder said investigators weren't releasing details Sunday of who was in the car with Gary. The two Elkhart officers have been placed on administrative leave, Snyder said. The names of the officers weren't immediately released. Indiana State Police detectives were taking over the investigation. State police spokesman Sgt. Trent Smith said investigators were trying to sort out the circumstances of the shootings. "There were a lot of things that happened other than just the police officers shooting their guns," Smith said. "At this point we don't know exactly who shot who." Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark is asking for a grand jury to investigate the fatal shooting of a 66-year-old woman. Deborah Danner died after being shot by Sergeant Hugh Barry in her apartment on October 18. According to police, Barry convinced her to drop a pair of scissors she was holding, but police say he shot her after she grabbed a bat and tried to hit him with it. "I have pledged to the people of the Bronx to conduct a thorough, fair investigation into this matter and I believe that presenting the evidence to a grand jury will best accomplish that goal. It is important to determine exactly what happened in this tragic incident," Clark said, in part, in a statement. The case has sparked discussions on the treatment of the mentally ill by police. Police say Danner suffered from schizophrenia, and they say officers were called to her apartment several times for prior incidents. Danners family called for investigations in the days after the shooting. "The New York City Police Department has once again failed to properly respond to deal with mentally ill patients without resorting to deadly physical force," her sister, Jennifer Danner, said on October 19. The incident was also met with criticism by the mayor and police commissioner. Mayor Bill de Blasio called the shooting "unacceptable," and Police Commissioner James O'Neill said, "What is clear in this one incident, we failed." Those statements drew the ire of Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins. In a statement on October 22, Mullins said, "Commissioner O'Neill's actions can only be explained as having a lack of courage to stand up against a failing Mayor." Barry was equipped with a Taser, but he did not use it. He has been placed on modified duty, and was stripped of his badge and gun. Police have made an arrest in connection with the fatal stabbing of a woman in Queens. Officers responded to the corner of 103rd Avenue and 124th Street in Richmond Hill just after midnight Monday. That's where they found a woman in her 40s with stab wounds to her neck and torso. She was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Police arrested 50-year-old Prem Ramperaud. He is facing murder and criminal possession of a weapon charges. The investigation is ongoing. A vigil was held Monday night for the young Correction Officer shot to death in Brooklyn, as police continue their search for her killer. NY1's Lori Chung has the story. With lit candles and heavy hearts, hundreds gathered to pray with the family of Alastasia Bryan. Huddled in her honor at East 73rd Street and Avenue l where the young, off-duty correction officer was gunned down the night before. "Known her since she was a tyke, like a little little baby always had a sweet heart," said one family friend. "Just a tragic thing to happen to such a special person." Police say the 25-year-old was shot several times in the head and torso as she sat in her car making a phone call Sunday night ambushed by a gunman after she left her mother's house. "He fired 5 rounds into the car, striking her and killing her," said NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce. "This male then got into a car and then drove away" Bryan had just begun her career with the correction department a month ago assigned to a post at Rikers Island. "She always wanted to serve and do whatever it is she has to do for the people around her and people she doesnt even know," said cousin, Colleen Yearwood. "Already, we already knew from her being in AMKC in the jail in Riker's Island that she was going to be one of our shining stars," said Elias Husamudeen, president of the Correction Officer Benevolent Association. Her loss felt among many of the city's boldest that are calling for justice. "We want you to keep NYC correction officers in your prayers because every day we go out and we fight," Husamudeen said. Mayor Bill de Blasio released a statement calling Bryan a rising member of the Correction Department and also pledging that the NYPD will aggressively investigate this case. A Muslim MTA worker is speaking out after being attacked inside Grand Central Terminal Monday. Police say Soha Salama was riding a 7 train on her way to work at around 7 a.m. when a man called her a terrorist and said she should not be working for the city. When she got off the train, he followed her and pushed her down the stairs. Cops say a bystander intervened and the attacker ran off. The station agent was wearing her MTA uniform and a hijab at the time. She spoke to NY1 about the attack. "I feel a lot of hate, I'm starting to feel like, all our we respect religion and we like to live in peaceful in peace, but what I get was too much." Salama suffered injuries to her ankle and knee. The suspect is described as 5 feet, 10 inches tall. Police say he was wearing a black jacket. Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com. HONOLULU Lauren Bruner was getting ready for church in 1941 on his battleship, the USS Arizona, when the alarm sounded. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had begun, and Bruner, then 21, scampered up five stories by ladder to the enormous anti-aircraft guns he was responsible for manning. But bullets hit his left leg and explosions set off by the Sunday morning bombardment rocked his ship before he could get to the weapons. The ship sank just nine minutes later. Bruner escaped, but suffered severe burns. This week Bruner, now 96, plans to visit a memorial over the Arizona's sunken wreckage and attend a remembrance ceremony at Pearl Harbor on the 75th anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack. This 1940 photo provided by the USS Arizona Memorial Foundation shows Lauren Bruner, one of five remaining survivors of the USS Arizona from the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor, during a visit to his home in Elma, Wash. In 1941, Bruner didnt know who was attacking until the planes got close enough for him to see the red Rising Sun Japanese insignia on their sides. The aircraft shot at everything in sight he said. Then an explosion tore through his battle station. (USS Arizona Memorial Foundation via AP) Bruner has traveled from his Southern California home for the events many times, but doesn't know how long the Arizona's few remaining survivors will able to keep up the tradition. "It's getting close to being the end pretty soon. There's only five of us left now," Bruner said. More than 2,300 servicemen died in the Japanese attack that plunged the United States into World War II. Nearly half of those killed were on the Arizona, most still entombed in the wreckage. The Navy and National Park Service expect several dozen attack survivors to attend the remembrance ceremony Wednesday on a pier overlooking the harbor. They, along with thousands of others, will observe a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m. the same minute the Japanese planes hit their first target in the harbor. Back then, in 1941, Bruner didn't know who was attacking until the planes got close enough for him to see the red Rising Sun Japanese insignia on their sides. The aircraft shot at "everything in sight," he said. Then an explosion tore through his battle station. "That's where the flames blew right through and cooked me right there," Bruner said in a telephone interview from his home in La Mirada, California. With "everything burning," Bruner tried to get off the ship as fast as he could. But the water in the harbor 80 feet below infused with leaked oil was on fire, too, so jumping wasn't an option. Bruner and a few fellow shipmates shouted to a sailor on the ship moored next to the Arizona to toss over some rope. The six of them tied the rope and carried themselves hand-over-hand across the 100-foot expanse to the USS Vestal. "You're like a chicken getting barbecued," he said. All of them made it, becoming six of the 335 sailors and Marines on the Arizona to survive. Another 1,177 shipmates died. Doctors on the USS Solace hospital ship wanted to amputate most of Bruner's hands, leaving him with just his forefingers and thumbs, he said. Ultimately they peeled off his dead skin and let new skin grow in. They put him in a special bed with hoops that allowed sheets to be draped above him but not touch him. This Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016 photo shows Lauren Bruner, one of just five remaining survivors of the USS Arizona during the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor, with trading cards depicting his shipmates, at his home in La Mirada, Calif. Burns covered most of his body after Japanese planes bombed Bruner's ship. He spent seven months recovering in the hospital, and returned to fight in more battles. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon) Navy documents recently uncovered by the genealogy and historical records company Ancestry show Bruner suffered burns on his face and the back of his neck, his right shoulder, right arm and forearm, fingers, hands, outer thighs and lower legs. The burns on his right arm were particularly severe and took longer to heal, according to the documents, which Ancestry has posted in a special section for Pearl Harbor survivors within its military records site Fold3.com. Bruner spent seven months recovering but returned to service, he said, because the Navy needed sailors to train new recruits to fight the war. He was on the USS Coghlan when it bombed Japanese positions on Attu Island in Alaska in 1943. His ship later took troops to the South Pacific and was near Guam when the war ended. He doesn't like to rehash many details from Dec. 7. He said he just "grins and bears it" to cope with the memories. In this June, 2013 photo provided by the USS Arizona Memorial Foundation, Lauren Bruner, one of five remaining survivors of the USS Arizona during the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor, holds his Purple Heart medal during a Pearl Harbor visit. An Admiral's Silver Star is pinned to its ribbon, which was presented to Bruner as a sign of respect and honor by Rear Admiral Fernandez "Frank" Ponds in June 2013. Burns covered most of his body after Japanese planes bombed Bruner's ship. He spent seven months recovering in the hospital, and returned to fight in more battles. (Mark Comon/USS Arizona Memorial Foundation via AP) "There are parts of this whole thing that I can't talk about. If I do talk about it, I cannot sleep," he said. After the Navy, Bruner went to work for a former Marine's refrigeration business and spent 39 years with the company. He married twice, but outlived both wives. Bruner wants his ashes interred inside his old battleship after he dies, like many other Arizona survivors who have chosen to be buried with their shipmates. Bruner said he prefers this to lying in a sparsely visited cemetery. "I think I've got the last spot," he said, expressing confidence he'll be the last of the survivors to go. The union representing transit workers is taking the MTA to court over an ad that was rejected from being displayed in subway stations for being "political in nature." Transport Workers Union Local 100 wanted to post this ad at more than 100 stops. It shows transit workers who have been injured on the job. "Now the union, which is seeking a new contract for more than 30 thousand employees, is suing the MTA in Federal Court," said one worker at a weekend rally. "The MTA last year banned ads that express political messages. The union contends its ad isn't political. "It's the American way to let us get our message out," said John Samuelsen, TWU Local 100 President. "You know, what's the TA afraid of? Two hundred and fifty transit workers get assaulted a year, it shouldn't be a secret. The riding public has a right to know." The MTA declined comment on the lawsuit, referring NY1 instead to a November statement that said the ad violates its standards for advertisements. Lesson 1: Keep your subjects on unsteady ground. Intimidation is only one tool in the despots kit. Another involves creating confusion in order to produce anxiety in everyone else, thus allowing you to shape reality to your own whims. In his extended chat with Carl, Negan slipped from congenial to bellicose and back again such seamless transformations are Jeffrey Dean Morgans biggest strength in the role so far. Negan broke down Carl emotionally, ridiculing his disfigurement, and then consoled him. He made Carl sing the same song Lori used to sing to him, dredging up Carls memory of killing his own mother. But he also showed him a level of macho respect You scare the [expletive] out of me, he said at one point the boy hasnt seen from his father. Negan twisted Carls head one way, and then the other, and then another, and we still dont know what the end game is. Lesson 2: Highlight the spoils. Negans harem is a nightmare, a den of intimidation and sexual slavery. But it was also undeniably captivating to a pubescent boy who just had what was perhaps his first kiss a few hours before (in show time). And that was after Negan demonstrated how the entire colony kneels to him on command. See that? Respect, he told Carl. Cool, huh? Lesson 3: Always inspire fear. Dwights wreck of a face has also been a promise that at some point wed see the iron routine, and so we did on Sunday. (Initially it seemed like we might get a gore reprieve but nope, soon enough there was poor Marks face sticking to the iron like warm chewing gum.) It was the most graphic illustration of the fact that whatever the other tricks of the tyrant trade may be, terror is its foundation. But the most frightening moment, of course, was when Negan, after ordering Carl to take him to Alexandria, stumbled onto young Judith. Negan closed the episode with a final threat maybe I should bury you and your dad in a flower bed and move in, he told Carl but it almost wasnt necessary. In a show full of horrors, undead and otherwise, the most chilling sight of all was a man with a toddler in his lap. How will Rick respond when he comes home to see it? And will he be toting a weapon recovered from the armed settler when he does? Those are among several intriguing questions going into the midseason finale next week. HONG KONG A Hong Kong billionaire is making another attempt to buy big-money assets in Australia despite rising skepticism about foreign investors there, particularly those from China. An investment vehicle controlled by Li Ka-shing, one of Asias richest men, has offered to acquire the Australian pipeline and electricity company Duet Group for roughly $5.4 billion, Duet said in a news release dated Sunday. The news sent its shares up about 14 percent in midmorning trading in Australia on Monday. Duet said it was evaluating the offer. Mr. Lis company, Cheung Kong Infrastructure, based in Hong Kong, did not answer phone calls. The offer represents the second time this year that Mr. Li has tried to acquire Australian infrastructure assets. Earlier, he had bid for Ausgrid, a major electricity distributor. State Grid Corporation of China, a Chinese state owned power company, also bid for Ausgrid. With a $14.9 billion personal fortune, Mr. Son is ranked by Forbes as Japans second-richest man, behind Tadashi Yanai, the owner of Fast Retailing and its Uniqlo brand. But he spent his early life in poverty: His father started out as a bootlegger and small-time pig farmer before finding success in restaurants and pachinko, the Japanese offshoot of pinball. By the time he was a teenager, his family was wealthy enough that he was able to travel to the United States for college, eventually ending up at the University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Son founded SoftBank in 1981 as a distributor of computer software. For start-up money, he has told biographers, he sold a prototype electronic translation machine to Sharp, the Japanese electronics company, for about $1 million. Mr. Son, who trained in economics, not engineering, came up with the general idea for the machine while still in college, then recruited others to create it an approach he has followed throughout his career. Takenobu Miki worked closely with Mr. Son for eight years before leaving SoftBank in 2006 to found an online language-training start-up. Initially, he was the only full-time employee at SoftBank, which, despite sounding like a tech start-up, operated like an investment fund, with a portfolio of holdings that Son would adjust based on changing growth rates, Mr. Miki said. One item in the portfolio was Yahoo, an early investment that earned Mr. Son a fortune. The investment displayed Mr. Sons willingness to act on a general conviction: in this case, that web portals would be crucial to the early commercial development of the internet. He did relatively little research on Yahoo itself, Mr. Miki recalled. He asked some contacts in Silicon Valley which was the best web portal, and they said Yahoo. So he bought. Mr. Miki also remembers working with Mr. Son to create a growth projection for SoftBank that extended 300 years into the future. The goal was to become a 100 trillion-yen company, Mr. Miki said, an amount equal to about $1 trillion. Even at that time, Son wanted to become No. 1 in the world. SoftBank declined to make Mr. Son available for an interview for this article. Mr. Son revels in confrontation, a trait that sets him apart in harmony-obsessed Japan. Twice, he has threatened to set fire to himself or the offices of Japanese telecommunications regulators the first time in a dispute over access to fiber-optic cable, the second in a fight over internet censorship. He apologized in the second instance, in 2010, calling the threat an inappropriate joke. MAKING frozen vegetables hip is a daunting task, but B&G Foods thinks it has just the guy to do it. The company is bringing back the Jolly Green Giant after a long hiatus to introduce new recipes. But his comeback comes with a twist. The campaign will initially seek to create a sense of mystery by not showing the giant. B&G, which bought the more than 100-year-old Green Giant brand from General Mills for $765 million last year, is betting that the way to appeal to finicky children and picky parents is with new dishes, an old mascot and a dash of suspense. In a minute-long trailer released in September titled The Giant Awakens, people look to the sky, mouths agape. Cars screech to a halt, raucous children in a swimming pool fall silent and grocery bags fall to the ground. Yet the giant is visible only indirectly: through footprints in fields and shadows that fall across skyscrapers. Its well done, said David R. Just, professor and co-director of the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs. By the end of it, it leaves you wondering, So whats going to happen? I think theyve hit the right note there. Leading up to Ms. Tolokonnikovas trial, Russian news reports carried suggestions that she and her bandmates were pawns of Hillary Clintons State Department or witches working with a global satanic conspiracy perhaps linked to the one that was behind the Sept. 11 attacks, as lawyers for one of their offended accusers put it. This is what we now call fake news. Pussy Riot became an international symbol of Mr. Putins crackdown on free speech; of how his regime uses falsehood and deflection to sow confusion and undermine critics. Now that the political-media environment that we smugly thought to be over there seems to be arriving over here, Ms. Tolokonnikova has a message: Its important not to say to yourself, Oh, its O.K., she told me. Its important to remember that, for example, in Russia, for the first year of when Vladimir Putin came to power, everybody was thinking that it will be O.K. She pointed to Russian oligarchs who helped engineer Mr. Putins rise to power at the end of 1999 but didnt appreciate the threat he posed to them until they found themselves under arrest, forced into exile or forced into giving up their businesses especially if those businesses included independent media critical of Mr. Putin (see Berezovsky, Boris; Gusinsky, Vladimir). Of course, the United States has checks, balances and traditions that presumably preclude anything like that from happening, she acknowledged as we sat comfortably in sunny Miami Beach while it played host to a celebration of free expression (Art Basel). Dear Diary: My wife of 62 years died in June. Going through a closet, I found a carton filled with letters we had exchanged over nine months while I was flying from an aircraft carrier off Korea in 1953. They were from both of us, more than 300. I had wanted to be sure she didnt forget me. As a prospective wife, Marianne wrote letters that held accounts of shopping at Bloomingdales for linens and dishes for the home we would have after I returned. Closer to her heart, every page is filled with a painful loneliness and terrible yearning. Nine months is an eternity to be separated from the one you love. Its incredible how that box of mail recaptured a distant time. Describing my days and nights at sea, I tried to give the love of my life as close a picture as I could of what I was doing 20,000 miles away. Because our ship couldnt fit through the Panama Canal, some of my writing skills were employed describing such exotic locales as Gibraltar, Athens, the Suez Canal and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). I told her everything I did: what I had for breakfast, whom I flew with, what Task Force 77 looked like from 5,000 feet. My wifes missives were wonderful to see again after so many years. It was almost as if she were speaking to me. Coming so close after her passing, the pages were a godsend for a broken heart. A tumbledown home with a tin roof high in the mountains of Guatemala had no electricity or beds, only tattered clothing and rationed food. At breakfast, Alex Chan and his three siblings shared a single egg, split into quarters. At night, they went to bed hungry as they waited in fear of their father. Beatings began without warning. Once, his 7-year-old sister was burned with boiling water their father tossed on her. More often, as the children tried to fall asleep on empty stomachs, they could hear their father pummeling their mother after coming home from a dinner of chicken and beer in town, in San Jose Poaquil. Their father reserved the harshest beatings for Alex, he said, and they are his earliest memories. Alternating between a rope, a stick and a machete, his father would beat him for attending school instead of working in the fields. He had to get away. First, he ran to Guatemala City, around 45 miles from home, where he said he was threatened by gang members trying to recruit him. He fled back home, then tried to leave again, this time with a longer trip planned: to a cousin in Houston. Before heading out, he considered telling the police about his fathers abuse. But the police rarely answered calls to his town, with the nearest police station more than two hours away. The tree-coloring experiment began in Wautoma, Wis., where workers for the Kirk Company, a Christmas products wholesaler, wanted to try something new. For years, they had been manufacturing a green, fireproof, latex-based paint to help farmers cover up splotches of natural browning on their trees. But a few Christmases ago, they decided to try some other pigments, which gained modest traction in rural Wisconsin. This season, Kirk began offering the new colors to wider audiences. Youve got some staunch traditionalists who say a trees got to be green, T. Jay Roland, regional product manager for Kirk, said. But times are changing, and theres a new generation of tree growers out there. In the past, Mr. Wyckoff had favored a more classical Christmas aesthetic. Indeed, several of his trees graced the White House in 2013 after winning a national contest. But at a Christmas tree grower convention this summer, the paints caught Mr. Wyckoffs eye and he could not resist. Intrigued, he brought home some promotional materials to gauge reactions from his wife, Leslie, and their children. They looked at me like I was crazy, he said. Nonetheless, Mr. Wyckoff forged ahead. On a recent Saturday evening, he strapped on a gas mask and spray-painted 18 Douglas firs (nine purple, nine white) alongside County Road 519 in Warren County. The next morning, his parking lot was packed with customers eager to buy a painted tree, and onlookers eager just to catch a glimpse. Some called in after driving by to confirm they had not been hallucinating. All the hoopla was enough to convince Mr. Wyckoff that he was on to something, and he began painting as many trees as he could. Eric A. Ulrich, a relatively unknown 31-year-old city councilman from Queens, has been considering a long-shot bid to challenge Mayor Bill de Blasio in next years election. Those deliberations may soon play out before a national television audience. His morning and evening routines, his work at City Hall and his aspirations to become the mayor of New York City could all be fodder for a reality show that was quietly approved by a city oversight body last month. Cameras would track his every move, from home to office, and focus on his decision about whether to challenge Mr. de Blasio as a Republican in an overwhelmingly Democratic city. And, if the producers have their way, the show could begin airing in the heat of the 2017 mayoral race. They lie below and out of sight of the bright, shiny rings and necklaces in the storefront windows on work tables, on the floor. Humble, but no less valuable. Flakes, fragments and particles are shed as jewelers and others work with gold, and these fallen scraps are meticulously collected. Its least pure form, a blend of dusts of various metals, is known in the industry as bench sweeps. Larger scraps, like flakes, are more pure and more valuable. They are weighed with precision and stored in buckets. These buckets are transported in the backs of armored cars. The diamond district, the block of West 47th Street between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, is a hub for the scrap market and the buying and selling of sweeps and flakes. A block north, on Sept. 29, a man cased the Loomis International armored car and, seeing his opportunity when a guard moved from the rear to the front of the cab, snatched an 5-gallon bucket weighing 86 pounds from the back and ran-walked-waddled away. He remains at large. Liberal Americans have been distraught since Donald J. Trumps victory last month. New Yorkers cried on the subway the morning after the election. Others have threatened to leave the country. Many are protesting. #NotMyPresident trended for days. But in many parts of the world, being depressed about politics is a tradition. Millions of people have spent their entire lives ruled by leaders they detest. So we asked a group of comedians, cultural commentators and political satirists from around the world to share their experiences and to offer a tool kit of coping mechanisms for American liberals via video selfies. Here are some of the questions we posed to the contributors: How do you navigate your own frustration and helplessness? How do you decide when to fight the system, or when to fall into a silent apathy? Or even to move away? How do you isolate the unfavorable qualities in your countrys leadership like corruption, sexism, human rights abuses from the values you foster at home? Keisha Zollar, actor, comedian, and host of the Applying It Liberally and The Soul Glo Project podcasts; also the proud owner of a semicolon. Our Real-Time Human Fact-Checker is Negin Farsad, host of the podcast Fake the Nation and the author of How to Make White People Laugh. How do I listen? Two ways From a desktop or laptop, you can listen by pressing play on the button above. Or if youre on a mobile device, the instructions below will help you find and subscribe to the series. On your iPhone or iPad: 1. Open your podcast app. Its a pre-loaded app called Podcasts with a purple icon. (This link may help.) 2. Search for the series. Tap on the search magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen, type in Tell Me Something I Dont Know and select it from the list of results. The biggest prize payday in science came around again Sunday evening when the Breakthrough Foundation handed out more than $25 million in its annual prizes to more than a thousand physicists, life scientists and mathematicians. This years winners include five molecular biologists who won $3 million each for work in genetics and cell biology, one mathematician, a trio of string theorists who split one $3 million physics prize, and another 1,015 physicists working on the LIGO gravitational wave detector split a special $3 million physics prize. In addition, there were six smaller New Horizons prizes totaling $600,000 for 10 early career researchers, and a pair of high school students won $400,000 apiece for making science videos. The Breakthrough Foundation was founded by Sergey Brin of Google; Anne Wojcicki of 23andMe; Jack Ma of Alibaba and his wife, Cathy Zhang; Yuri Milner, an internet entrepreneur, and his wife, Julia Milner; and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and his wife, Priscilla Chan. It sprang from Mr. Milners decision in 2012 to hand out $3 million apiece to nine theoretical physicists, in the belief that physicists are equal to rock stars and deserve to be paid and celebrated like them. Over the years, as more sponsors have joined, the prizes have spread to life sciences and mathematics. The winners each year are chosen by a committee of previous winners. COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) The white man charged in the shooting deaths of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church asked a judge on Sunday if he could have his defense team back, at least temporarily. In a handwritten request, the defendant, Dylann S. Roof, asked Judge Richard M. Gergel of Federal District Court to return his defense team for the guilt phase of his federal death penalty trial, which is scheduled to begin in Charleston within days. I would like to ask if my lawyers can represent me for the guilt phase of the trial only, Mr. Roof wrote. Can you let me have them back for the guilt phase, and then let me represent myself for the sentencing phase of the trial? If you would allow that, then that is what I would like to do. Mr. Roof, 22, faces dozens of federal charges, including hate crimes and obstruction of the practice of religion, for the June 2015 killings at the end of a Bible study session at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. The police said he hurled racial slurs during the shooting and left three people alive so they could tell the world that the reason for the killings was that he hated black people. This windswept outcropping, peering over the Atlantic, was a Gilded Age haven where the wealthy built mansions known by their names, not addresses: The Elms, Marble House and, most famous of all, The Breakers, built by Cornelius Vanderbilt II as a family retreat and a Renaissance-inspired monument to their success. Newport has cared deeply about appearances ever since. So when large steel beams rose high in the air between the citys most storied thoroughfares, framing a mansion that will have an unusual, many-sided shape and a flat roof, neighborhood residents and observers were aghast. This looks like a 30-foot-tall Martian spaceship landing on the Newport skyline, said John Peixinho, a former chairman of the Historic District Commission. Ross Cann, an architect whose apartment in a grand house overlooks the new home, said, Were just baffled by why somebody would want to inflict themselves on Newport in such a way as this. The fire that killed at least 30 people in a warehouse-turned-performance space in Oakland, Calif., on Friday was one of the deadliest in the United States in many years, a tragedy that highlighted both the importance of fire safety codes and the vital role they have played in turning mass casualty blazes into rare events. They have become infrequent thanks to safety measures that started to emerge at the turn of the 20th century, when fires at theaters and nightclubs not infrequently killed hundreds of people. The adoption and implementation of fire codes, having an effective enforcement system thats been put in place at the city, county or state level those have been the key elements that have made the difference we have seen, said James Pauley, president of the National Fire Protection Association. When a deadly fire happens it is usually because something isnt followed or something goes wrong or we learn something new." He pointed to the first standards for sprinkler installation and the construction of fire escape routes, implemented in the early 1900s, as a watershed moment for fire safety. Many of the new standards were motivated largely by deadly blazes like the Triangle fire in 1911, which claimed 146 lives in New York. WASHINGTON During his 12 years in Congress, Representative Tom Price has made clear what role he thinks the government should play in health care. It can be summed up in one word: less. Throughout his career, Mr. Price who has been picked by President-elect Donald J. Trump to be secretary of health and human services has argued that the government should get out of the way of doctors and give patients more control over their health care. This position is rooted in Mr. Prices experience as an orthopedic surgeon for more than 20 years. As a physician, he said in the House in 2007, I know oh so well how the intervention of the state and federal government into the practice of medicine destroys the ability to take care of people. It makes it so you cant provide quality health care for children and moms and dads. Though he has worked for years to shrink the governments role, Mr. Price, a Georgia Republican, could soon lead a government agency whose expansive mission is to ensure care for more than 100 million Americans. As chairman of the House Budget Committee, he has tried to put a lid on federal spending. As secretary, he would be responsible for more than $1 trillion in spending, a number that will surge as the population ages. Potential conflicts of interest for Mr. Trump as president have been documented around the world, including in Scotland, India, Brazil, the Philippines, Argentina and Turkey. But perhaps nowhere are the stakes quite as high as in Taiwan, because it involves ties between the United States and China, the countries with the worlds biggest economies and most powerful militaries. Even if the phone call had not happened, once these business dealings came to light, it would send a very confusing signal to Beijing, said Marc Lanteigne, a senior research fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs who focuses on Chinese security issues. Any business ties could undermine the near certainty that world leaders have had for many decades about some of the basic foundations of United States foreign policy, which has included the primacy of maintaining ties with China in a very narrow framework, said Shelley Rigger, a professor of political science at Davidson College in North Carolina who studies Taiwan-United States relations. It is very worrisome not just for leaders in China but for leaders everywhere to think that there could be motivations driving U.S. foreign policy that they cant, A, know about and, B, work out logically, Professor Rigger said by telephone. If the U.S. government is being influenced by some kind of parallel set of side deals and interests that are not the sort of mainstream U.S. foreign policy and national interest agenda, then no one is going to be able to predict anything. Adding to the complexity is the fact that the Taoyuan Aerotropolis is a government-run development project, and Ms. Tsais administration must give final approval for the complex plan, which involves removing many people from their homes, before construction can begin. Taoyuan is the center of a metropolitan area with over two million residents. Ms. Chen who, according to online biographies of her, was raised in Las Vegas has been associated with the Trump Organization for several years, and with Ms. Lu, the former vice president, for much longer. In December 2012, a photograph of the two women was posted on the Facebook page of the condominium sales arm of Trump International Realty in Las Vegas, thanking them for visiting. Ms. Chen also accompanied Ms. Lu, who was then the vice president, during a trip to Las Vegas in 2004. The Trump Organization said: Hey, Ms. Chen, your business and politics connections seem great. Do you want to help us promote our Las Vegas properties? Ms. Chen said in an interview with a Taiwanese television station in late October. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday accused right-wing Israelis of deliberately thwarting efforts to broker a peace deal with the Palestinians. In unusually stark terms, Mr. Kerry warned that the building of Israeli settlements was undermining any hope of an agreement to allow two states to live side by side. At the Saban Forum, an annual gathering of senior Israeli and American policy makers, Mr. Kerry said some members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government had made profoundly disturbing statements. And more than 50 percent of the ministers in the current government have publicly stated they are opposed to a Palestinian state and that there will be no Palestinian state, Mr. Kerry said. BEIRUT, Lebanon Syrian government troops pushed deeper into the rebel-held section of Aleppo on Sunday, now controlling about half of what had been for years the rebels enclave in the divided northern city. Also on Sunday, airstrikes apparently carried out by the government or its ally Russia hit the towns of Maarat al-Noaman and Kafr Nabl in rebel-held Idlib Province. The strikes killed at least 20 people in each location, according to residents and White Helmets rescue workers. Footage from Maarat al-Noaman showed destroyed buildings and market stalls, and the crushed body of a toddler. Airstrikes and shelling also continued in Aleppo, where there was no sign of a cease-fire in a bloody battle that could prove a fulcrum in the war. If the government manages to seize all of Aleppo, it will control Syrias five largest cities. Government troops, along with allied, Iranian-backed militias from Iraq and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, appeared close on Sunday to seizing the only remaining bulge of rebel territory north of the medieval citadel at the heart of the city, leaving rebels with a shrinking enclave in the southeast. Mr. Bas, who grew up in Miami and now divides his time between here and Detroit, began showing with Mr. Snitzer in 1998, as a 20-year-old, when I couldnt even drink the wine at my own openings. Today he has an art stars resume full of museum exhibitions and representation by top-tier galleries in New York and London. Yet these latest paintings went to Mr. Snitzer out of loyalty, Mr. Bas explained. Sometimes artists go off to work with big names and they learn the hard way. Mr. Bas pointed to his experience with the buzz-laden New York gallerist Daniel Reich. After Mr. Reich committed suicide in 2013, The New York Times saluted him as among a group of innovative young dealers tacking against the trend toward a more button-down, sleek, big-money business. Mr. Reich had great success placing Mr. Bass paintings with marquee collectors. But Mr. Bas said that receiving payment was another matter: He just stopped returning my calls and responding to my emails. When he died, he owed me $140,000. Mr. Bas added that several of his artist friends had similarly struggled to collect on sales from well-known dealers. Its so much more rampant than anyone talks about. By way of contrast, he concluded warmly, Papa Snitzer has always been there for me. There was little time for a victory lap on Mr. Snitzers part. He paused to stare in disbelief at his openings catering bill of several thousand dollars. Theyre charging $250 to rent us flowers for two hours? he asked. We dont even get to keep the flowers? After a resigned shake of his head, he headed out to finish installing his Basel booth at the Miami Beach Convention Center. MORANIFESTO By Caitlin Moran 329 pp. Harper Perennial. Paper, $15.99. Caitlin Moran is the Mary Poppins of contemporary pop-culture feminism, a benevolent, irreverent cheerleader whose magic bag contains everything from position papers on pubic waxing to full-throated defenses of music snobs. The teenage Moran barreled her way out of a council-estate upbringing into a precocious career as a music writer, and she has since become one of Britains most recognizable print and broadcast personalities. Her 2011 best seller, How to Be a Woman, offered a gateway into the kind of fizzy feminist rhetoric that has gone on to suffuse celebrity culture; its fictional counterpart, 2014s How to Build a Girl, pulled from Morans bleak upbringing to extol the life-changing alchemy of sex, rock music and hair dye. Moranifesto is a vehicle with which Moran can greet readers previously unfamiliar with her columns for The Times of London, wherein she grapples with technology; interviews TV and film stars; gripes about British politics; and offers up glimpses into her life as a daughter, sister, wife and mother. The books more than 60 previously published columns toggle between surface-skimming cultural musings and political entreaties meant to light a fire under readers otherwise comfy rears, and are presented with a straightforwardness that only occasionally tips into what feels like forced effervescence. When the collection feels slapdash, it has less to do with the breadth of topics than it does with the pieces that, in modern-media time, seem like antiques. A diary of the authors obsession with Daft Punks Get Lucky, the song of summer 2013, seems deeply inessential; a recap of breathless media coverage of the queens 2012 Diamond Jubilee was probably much funnier at the time when that spectacle turned into a glorious fiasco. Given its focus on feminism, sexism and political engagement, theres a sort of meta quality to Moranifesto. Womens journalism has long been read and evaluated through the lens of what could be called the genocide fallacy, the belief that writing about fluffy, disposable subjects (movie stars, fashion, oneself) must mean the author has no interest in, or capacity to cover, More Serious Issues. Indeed, we very often see writing by women on explicitly political topics like universal child-care policy or efforts to combat domestic violence confined to the womens or style sections of newspapers or websites, suggesting that such topics are special-interest, rather than issues of human rights. Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minister, said he would resign after voters rejected constitutional changes he backed, intensifying the populist wave crashing through the European Union. If early elections occur next year, 2017 may shape up to be a seminal year in the E.U.s history. France, Germany and the Netherlands will go to the polls with strong euroskeptic candidates in the running. Russias president, Vladimir V. Putin, is widely revered as a kind of white knight among new nationalists on both sides of the Atlantic. Viva Trump, viva Putin, viva la Le Pen was one Italian right-wing politicians reaction to Sundays vote. The Beatles sang Im the taxman, and youre working for no one but me. The Internal Revenue Service is delivering that message to users of Bitcoin as it demands information from Coinbase, the largest virtual currency exchange that maintains wallets for holding digital value. The government wants to know about the identities of those who may be trying to hide income. As the world of financial technology has gone from a geeky backwater to the forefront of innovation, regulators are following along by seeking a role in overseeing how the firms operate and determining who may be abusing their services. You know that fintech has come of age when the government comes knocking at the door just like it does with any other bank or broker. Transactions in virtual currencies like Bitcoin are recorded on a public ledger, but the identity of those actually buying or selling is not available. Coinbase wallets give users a measure of anonymity that they would not have if dealing with large amounts of cash at a bank, something that has garnered the attention of the I.R.S. The inspector general for tax administration in the Treasury Department issued a report in September criticizing the agency for not developing a program to ensure that Bitcoin users were complying with the tax laws. On Nov. 30, a federal magistrate judge in San Francisco approved a John Doe summons to Coinbase that requires it to identify Americans who maintained wallets transacting in virtual currencies at any time from 2013 through 2015. The companys website says it has 4.9 million customers, so the government will be able to obtain information about a substantial number of people who have traded Bitcoin over the three years identified. Global markets were not lacking in precarious unknowns. Italy just added another. As voters on Sunday emphatically rejected constitutional changes aimed at streamlining government and making it easier to revive a moribund economy, they enhanced concerns that Italys banks could spiral into a disaster. They reinvigorated worries about the endurance of the euro currency and broader European economic integration. And they amplified the sense that Europe is a land of disappointing growth, political dysfunction and seething populism. Existential crisis had not been on the ballot, but that was essentially the result. The lopsided tally against the reforms nearly 60 percent rejected them prompted the resignation of Italys prime minister, Matteo Renzi, leaving Europes fourth-largest economy without clear leadership. As world markets absorbed the result, investors soured on Italian banking stocks. Shares in Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which was involved in Italys grandest banking fiasco, surrendered 4 percent on Monday on expectations that a private sector rescue devised by Mr. Renzi had been killed. Investors initially pushed down the euro before it recovered. They cut the price of Italian government bonds, lifting the yield a sign that investors will demand greater reward for the heightened risks of lending to Italy. Investors also unloaded Spanish and Portuguese government bonds. The anti-establishment sentiment that has roiled Britain and the United States has now thrown Italy into turmoil. Italian voters have firmly rejected constitutional changes championed by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Mr. Renzi, who had staked his political career on the outcome, said that he would resign. In a narrow sense, the vote was about changes to the Constitution that would have streamlined the government. But to the rest of the world, it was seen as a referendum on Mr. Renzis centrist government and as a barometer of populist sentiment in Europe, especially after Donald J. Trumps victory in the United States presidential election. LONDON The Royal Bank of Scotland said on Monday that it had reached an agreement to settle a majority of shareholder claims over a rights issue by the lender before its near collapse in 2008. The litigation was related to the banks raising of 12 billion pounds, or about $15 billion at current exchange rates, weeks before it was rescued by the British government. R.B.S., which remains 73 percent owned by the British government, received a 45 billion bailout that year. The shareholder litigation is one of several legal issues confronting the bank, which has not reported a full-year profit since 2007. It said last week that it would further bolster its capital position after failing regulatory stress tests by the Bank of England that measured the ability of large banks to weather a financial crisis. On Monday, the lender said that it was willing to pay up to 800 million to settle all claims related to the litigation, and that it had reached a full and final settlement with three of five shareholder groups representing 77 percent of the claims against it, based on value of the claims. MODENA, Italy Most wine lovers dismiss lambrusco out of hand. Its burdened by the notion that its pink, sweet and fizzy, like the cheap versions that flooded America in the 1970s and 80s. But only the fizzy part is consistently accurate. Lambrusco is wine made from grapes by the same name and most appreciated here in its home, the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. Though it lacks the complexity of the countrys most celebrated wines like Barolo, lambrusco is rarely sweet, and makes a fine partner for the regions many pork specialties, including prosciutto di Parma, mortadella and zampone (sausage-stuffed pig trotters). Its bracing acidity and effervescence also provide balance to dishes like bollito misto (a mixture of boiled meats) and the sumptuous lasagna of Bologna. The holiday season offers many reasons to open bottles of this bright, dry, yet fruity sparkling wine, whose color can be golden, like Champagne, but also ranges from pale gold to pink to deep violet. Pour a white or a rose as an aperitif, or an intense red throughout a festive dinner or just at dessert. Consider a plummy lambrusco grasparossa di Castelvetro with that buche de Noel. 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 tell you what: I didnt want to read Sweetbitter, Stephanie Danlers first novel, about a young backwaiter (or what we used to call a busboy) at what Gabrielle Hamiltion called a barely fictionalized Union Square Cafe, where Danler once worked. I spend a lot of time in restaurants already. I write about food for money. My feeling was, I dont need to go home to read about those things for fun. But I was facing a 22-hour flight to New York last week with a computer filled with a lot of movies I had seen on the 22-hour flight out, and the prospect of just writing incredibly long newsletters to you seemed self-indulgent. So I topped off my tablet with fiction instead. PARIS Arthus-Bertrand has been creating medals, awards, trophies and jewelry for more than two centuries. Now, its finally bringing out a collection under its own signature. The company may be the most illustrious jewelry house youve never heard of. Theres a good chance, however, you know and perhaps own some of its wares. The oldest, largest and last of Frances great metalworking ateliers, Arthus-Bertrand turns out pieces for many of the worlds fashion, jewelry and luxury powerhouses and works for independent jewelry designers, too. Not that anyones naming names: The houses fortune was built on discretion. That explains why, despite its pedigree, Arthus-Bertrand has never before designed its own collection. Just like a couture house, we have this incredible know-how that exists nowhere else. The difference is that weve always been in the background, behind the client, Gil Piette, chief executive of Arthus-Bertrand, said. Lately, we realized that when youre two centuries old you have to make a point of proving youre still modern. We had to stage a little revolution, so that people could see who we are. Mr. Piette, the first nonfamily member to lead the house, convinced the Arthus-Bertrand family and the Guerrand family, company shareholders, to hire an artistic director. Today, Mr. Burroughss collection comprises more than 200 pieces, many of them mens rings. I didnt buy anything expensive until I had money, which I got from my first advance for my novel Sellevision in 2000, he said. I spent the entire amount on a ring I saw on display in the window of Cartier. It was a limited edition that was a kinetic sculpture of the earth, which unfolded and turned into a sphere. When I saw it I knew I had to have it. Its one of the few pieces of jewelry Ive ever bought new. Mr. Burroughs, 51, has boyish, Southern charm and green eyes, which on this particular day were set off by his pink Oxford and jeans. Eight other works have followed that first novel four memoirs, three essay collections and a self-help book selling a total of nearly 10 million copies worldwide. Probably the best known is Running With Scissors, which in 2006 was made into a major motion picture starring Annette Bening and Alec Baldwin. Although he became serious about collecting in 2002, 2008 is when it really ramped up. I started finding and acquiring these pre-Georgian rings in onyx and malachite, which I loved, he said. The more I learned about gemstones and gemology, the more it exploded for me. When it comes to the jewelrys composition, Mr. Burroughs favors jade, gems and pearls, and he says he can spend up to 15 hours a day searching for a specific item online. That is not surprising, considering the lengthy list of guidelines he reeled off: If Im buying a gemstone, it cant be treated. If Im buying a ruby, it cant be heated, it alters the color, and no substances can fill fissures in the stones. I want as natural and as unadulterated as possible. Grade A jade can only be waxed with beeswax, he continued. Sapphires need to be earth-minded. And Ill only purchase pre-Mikimoto pearls. Im not interested in Bulgari, Cartier or vintage Van Cleef. Nothing mass-produced. I like handmade, one-off pieces. TORRE DEL GRECO, Italy In a small, dusty room up the stairs of a centuries-old building, an artisan bent over his work, creating a miniature bas-relief of the massive Greek classic Laocoon and His Sons on a sliver of seashell. Other examples of his handiwork sat nearby: a skull and crossbones, a serpent, a Ganesh. These are not your grandmothers cameos. But pieces like them are responsible for a renaissance in popularity for the classic jewelry style and for maintaining jobs in this town, which is known as the world center of cameo carving. Many credit Amedeo Scognamiglio, who bypassed the cameos typical subject matter profiles to introduce hip, surprising motifs. Mr. Scognamiglio comes from a family of cameo carvers, six generations of them. He taught himself to carve when he was a teenager because, growing up in Torre del Greco, thats what you do. Even when I studied to be a lawyer, I carved, he said, as he sipped an espresso at a sidewalk cafe on a busy street in this bustling city of 90,000. The festive season is traditionally the most popular time of year for couples to get engaged, which makes the unveiling of Graffs latest jewel particularly apt. At 118.78 carats, the Venus is the largest heart-shaped diamond of its kind in the world. The raw stone, found at the Letseng mine in Lesotho, weighed 357 carats. Purchasing a stone of such size is a nerve-racking experience, said Laurence Graff, chairman of Graff Diamonds. We are only allowed to view the stone through 10 times magnification, and we are not allowed to polish a window into the rough to clearly see inside, or use any specialist equipment, he said. You can never be 100 percent sure. The heart shape is not only a metaphor for love in the world of fine jewelry it is also one of the most difficult shapes to get right. Mr. Givenchys use of all kinds of materials follows a very personal value system. He mingles gold and precious gemstones with pebbles, wood, plastic, rubber, marble and even copper with a patina of verdigris. Steel is often treated as a noble metal. Gold is wonderful, he said, but you cant forget that steel is at the foundation of our civilization. Terry de Gunzburg, founder of the ByTerry beauty line and an avid Taffin collector, called Mr. Givenchys designs the combination of luxury, unexpected audacity, and traditional handcraft sumptuous, elegant, but never bourgeois. Mr. Givenchy grew up in Beauvais, a small town north of Paris, but longed to escape France, where his illustrious last name with its echo of haute couture and aristocratic roots was seen as an undeserved privilege in the hard-line leftist years of the 70s and 80s. He left for New York, studied modern dance and dreamed of becoming a choreographer, tried graphic design, and was adrift in the city when he chanced upon a job at Christies. He was hired to answer phones in the jewelry department, mostly on the merit of his French accent, and later trained as a jewelry specialist. But it was his uncle who opened his eyes to the beauty of the remarkable pieces that went on sale there. The couturier seized upon a leaf brooch by Verdura at an auction preview, bypassing some of the more extravagant marvels on display for the graphic piece. This is design, Mr. Givenchy recalled his uncle saying. This is the way you have to look at jewelry. At that moment, he understood the artistic possibilities of form for the first time. Image The cover of Mr. Givenchys new book, Taffin, published by Rizzoli. When he established his own jewelry house, he called it Taffin as the Givenchy name, along with the couture company, had been sold in 1988 to LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. But the operating model mirrored that of Uncle Huberts: autonomy, experimentation and modern design for the most rarefied end of the market. Encouraged by the high jewelry example of JAR (Joel Rosenthal, a Paris-based American master of pave designs), Mr. Givenchy said, he realized you can make art and jewelry and you dont have to be a big house. PARIS Kirat Young, who shares a Right Bank apartment with Marquis Elie de Dampierre, makes one-of-a-kind gem-studded creations for her friends or to sell in the boutiques of friends. But what else would you expect from a woman who was one of Yves Saint Laurents muses, a great friend of Oscar de la Renta and a supermodel before the term was coined? On this particular day she is wearing huge silver and gold disc earrings set with diamonds and keshi pearls. They are her favorites among her creations because the white looks good against my dark skin and hair, she said. Jewelry has always been a large part of Ms. Youngs life, almost from the time of her birth in New Delhi. Growing up in India, all the women wore jewelry, every place they could put it from head to toe, she said. Even the poorest women wear glass bracelets that cost 5 cents. At boarding school in the Himalayas, she sketched the jewelry pieces that school rules would not allow her to wear. As a young fashion student in London, she was visiting Paris when she was introduced to Saint Laurent in 1976. He was designing his Ballet Russes collection, Ms. Young said. It was exotic, and I fit the bill. Jewelry can send powerful signals. Dr. Sarah Burton, who teaches writing at Cambridge University, said that historically, when powerful men gave jewelry to women, it was a badge of ownership. But when women give each other jewelry, they are reclaiming the beauty of the thing itself: Its an emblem not of patriarchy but of sisterhood. Cavan Mahony, London Catherine Prevost rings Sometimes the bonds of sisterhood go way back. We were all at Wellesley together, said Cavan Mahony, a fashion, beauty and lifestyle consultant living in London. Theres a group of about 10 of us who see each other regularly. And they all have jewelry designed by their college mate, Catherine Prevost, one of Londons small luxury jewelers. The yellow fever outbreak in Africa this year came closer to being a disaster than is widely recognized, public health experts recently disclosed. The epidemic also revealed glaring weaknesses in the emergency vaccine supply pipeline. The first deaths in Angola were misdiagnosed as food poisoning; the global emergency vaccine stockpile was depleted before even one city was fully protected; and diagnostic laboratories were so far away that it was months before the scope of the outbreak was clear and a worldwide alarm was raised. Ultimately, the yellow fever outbreak was halted only by a huge vaccination campaign that stretched supplies by diluting doses, and even that succeeded only because some unusual donors stepped in. Brazil contributed 18 million doses of yellow fever vaccine three times the amount in the emergency stockpile to contain the African outbreak. Even South Sudan, one of the worlds poorest nations, gave up 400,000 doses intended for its children. Article: Federal Officials to Explore Different Route for Dakota Pipeline Before Reading Read the first paragraph in the introduction to our lesson plan Battle Over an Oil Pipeline: Teaching About the Standing Rock Sioux Protests. What does each party or group want? Why has the conflict between them stretched on for so long? Questions for Comprehension and Analysis 1. What did federal officials announce on Sunday regarding the planned Dakota Access pipeline? 2. For whom is this decision a victory? 3. Who is Jo-Ellen Darcy? What did she state needs to accompany the consideration of alternative routes for the pipeline? Chris Evans, an actor, said on Twitter: I will never look at this film, Bertolucci or Brando the same way again. This is beyond disgusting. I feel rage. Ms. Schneider was an unknown 19-year-old French actress paid $4,000 for her part in Last Tango, in which her torrid affair with an American businessman, played by a 48-year-old Mr. Brando, included explicit sex scenes that shocked audiences. The scene in which Mr. Brando pins her to the floor and appears to force anal intercourse remains one of the enduring images from the film, and was part of the reason The Motion Picture Association of America gave the film an X rating. It was critically acclaimed; Mr. Brando, who died at 80 in 2004, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, while Mr. Bertolucci, 76, was nominated for Best Director. Ms. Schneider was not nominated but emerged as a sex symbol; she had several leading roles in the 1970s, but her acting career declined later in the decade, while her personal life was marred by drug abuse and at least one suicide attempt. In 2011, she died of cancer at age 58. In an interview with The Daily Mail in 2007, she said the rape scene, which was shot in one take, left her feeling humiliated and attacked by both Mr. Brando and Mr. Bertolucci. That scene wasnt in the original script. The truth is, it was Marlon who came up with the idea, Ms. Schneider said. I should have called my agent or had my lawyer come to the set because you cant force someone to do something that isnt in the script, but at the time, I didnt know that. It is imperative that we turn Citi Bike fully into a public good and a resource for our lowest income communities, Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, a Democrat from northern Manhattan, said at a recent City Council hearing on the programs future. Citi Bike officials say the system might not extend to all five boroughs unless the city is willing to help pay for it, an idea that the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, is considering. For some elected city officials, the arrival of Citi Bike in Jersey City last year was yet another slight for their oft-neglected communities. How could Citi Bike go to New Jersey before it goes to all five boroughs? Ruben Diaz Jr., the Bronx borough president, said in a statement last week. The city in Citi Bike has to mean something. Motivate, the company that runs Citi Bike, said focusing on central neighborhoods with a higher demand was the only way to stabilize the failing system it took over about two years ago. Citi Bike has grown to nearly 120,000 annual members, up from about 84,000 members last year; and to about 10,000 bikes, from 6,000 when Motivate took over. But it still has plenty of challenges, including the herculean daily effort to restock bikes where they are needed. I do not believe that you can look to a big expansion without some degree of public support, Jay Walder, Motivates chief executive, told City Council members at the recent hearing. The prosecution started its case with a mother recounting the last moments she spent with her young son, seeing him off one morning in 1979 on the short walk from his familys loft in Manhattan to the school bus stop alone for the first time. The 6-year-old boy, Etan Patz, left with his toy cars in his tote bag, she recalled, and a dollar bill in his hand so he could buy a soda at the corner bodega. On the witness stand, his mother, Julie Patz, described her horror as she learned later that day that Etan had never made it to the bus, his disappearance setting off a wave of fear among parents well beyond New York. On Monday, more than a month later, prosecutors rested their case in the retrial of Pedro Hernandez on charges of kidnapping and murder, arguing that Mr. Hernandez had lured Etan into the basement of the bodega and strangled him and that he has been racked with guilt ever since. Over weeks of testimony in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, witnesses described a sweet-natured boy, small for his age, who talked of an imaginary friend; the repercussions of Etans disappearance on his family, those who knew him and many others who did not; and the actions of the man accused of killing him in the years after the disappearance, including emotional confessions repeated several times before his arrest. Eight years later, as communist Cuba was normalizing diplomatic relations with the United States, the FARC the oldest leftist guerrilla group remaining on the continent appeared to finally begin laying down its weapons and severing its ties with the drug trade. In August 2016, the FARC reached a peace agreement with the Colombian government as a result of painstaking negotiations. Shockingly, however, the Colombian people rejected the referendum on the deal several weeks later, another sign of the shift to the right in Latin America. Image Ingrid Betancourt. Credit... Barker Evans How to explain this vote? Is it because human beings by their very nature tend to protect their identity through the hatred of other groups? I dont want to believe that. We have to be better. When President Juan Manuel Santos, who led the negotiations, was awarded this years Nobel Peace Prize, the international community was signaling to all Colombians their responsibility to find peace. It was also a message to the FARC, who needed to show real contrition in order to demonstrate to Colombians the authenticity of their commitment to the agreement. The FARC is no Nelson Mandela, and in September, Colombians wanted to see its members in jail, not in office. The FARC had stated they would not accept even a day in jail, though they asked for forgiveness for some particular cases of kidnapping and murder, and mentioned this in general terms when their leader, Rodrigo Londono, sat down with Mr. Santos to sign the peace agreement in Cartagena days before the referendum. Colombians felt that was too little, too late. After the referendum failed, the FARC leaders had to accept higher levels of accountability. A new and more severe deal was reached in November by Mr. Santos and the FARC leaders. The Nobel Committees message was also to the No movement, including former President Alvaro Uribe, who can no longer bluntly dismiss any peace agreement. Had the peace referendum succeeded, it would have done so by a very narrow margin, thus dividing the country in half much like the recent so-called Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom but with the added risk of rekindling violence. Unlike Brexit, though, the Colombian referendum had no final outcome: By declining this particular agreement, Colombians opened the door for a new deal. Mr. Santos turned the rejection of the referendum into an opportunity to unite the country by forcing the agreements strongest adversaries to sit at the negotiation table. No one dares to admit a preference for war anymore. But by opening the Pandoras box of new negotiations, the opposition had bought time. The new November deal was finally approved by the Colombian Congress, but presidential elections to be held in 2018 will most likely define the true outcome of any possible peace with the FARC. Colombians therefore have to cling to their resolve to find peace. Our hope has to be placed not in a short-term political outcome, but in the success of the long-term process that has just begun. We must evolve into a people equipped to live in a peaceful society. To the Editor: Donald Trumps choice of Ben Carson (nytimes.com, Dec. 5) to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development is one more in a list of cabinet appointments that cause me to feel a deep concern for our nation. Dr. Carson is a talented man with great skills who has contributed a lot to our country as a medical professional. He himself has questioned his own qualification for this appointment. While he started out his life in public housing, he has actively spoken against the kind of policies and programs that directly benefited him. I fear for what rights and services this new administration will take away from our citizens. SARAH WILLEY Florissant, Mo. To the Editor: Re An Experienced Choice for Defense (editorial, Dec. 3): I agree with your largely positive assessment of Gen. James Mattiss suitability to serve as defense secretary, particularly in times like these. Senator Kirsten Gillibrands opposition to granting the necessary congressional waiver to allow a military officer to take the post within seven years of leaving the service, while principled, is misguided. To the Editor: President-elect Donald Trump was criticized for taking a phone call from Taiwans president, Tsai Ing-wen, because United States-China relations are governed by a one China policy (China Sees New Ambiguity in Trumps Taiwan Call, news article, Dec. 4). Perhaps Mr. Trumps message to China is that the United States no longer has to walk on eggshells in dealing with it, given Chinas adventurism in the South China Sea, aggressive trade and currency policies, and failure to control North Korea. In a tweet, the president-elect noted the paradox of not having official contact with Taiwan while selling it arms. Mr. Trumps poke in the eye at China may also foreshadow a policy of the United States working with Russia to solve global disputes, a potential counterweight to Chinese influence. The phone call is reminiscent of President Harry Trumans recognition of Israel in 1948 without informing the State Department in advance. Sometimes unpredictability can be very effective in shaking things up. MARK MEIROWITZ New York To the Editor: President-elect Donald Trumps Taiwan kerfuffle proves that the casual approach and loose semantics of a reality television personality do not serve the interests of our country when you consider the diplomatic realities we face. It will be interesting to see how well his bluster and naivete will serve us when the world starts pushing back. His mistake? Pledging, so early in the campaign, to resign if the reforms were rejected. Immediately it became a referendum on him. His opponents the protest Five Star party, the anti-immigrant Northern League, Silvio Berlusconi and his old cronies on the center right, the uberpopulist Fratelli dItalia and the left flank of his own Democratic Party all loved the drama of it. And so did the public: one against the rest! But politics is not an action movie. In real life the one generally loses. And he lost. Big time. Here and abroad, columnists are dashing off dark warnings about the impending collapse of the euro, and maybe the European Union. After Brexit, Rexit! crow his opponents. Not true. David Cameron didnt have to call a referendum. But Mr. Renzi had no choice; in Italy, constitutional reforms must gain final approval from the people. This wasnt an extraordinary event. In any other moment, it would have passed almost unremarked, as the demise of one more Italian government in a long string of them. Moreover, in Britain, broadly speaking, older voters chose to leave the European Union, while the young voted to stay. In Italy, its the other way around. The young turned their backs on Mr. Renzi. It was not, as in Britain, a nostalgic vote; young Italians dont want to return to a past theyve never had. They are angry about enormous youth unemployment. They hate begging for poorly paid temporary jobs with an average monthly salary of 1,200 euros, or $1,300 not enough to let them plan for the future. Its no coincidence that affluent Milan is among the few large cities that voted yes (so did Bologna and Florence, Mr. Renzis hometown). All the others from Rome to Turin, from Naples to Palermo, from Genoa to Bari voted no. For all his talk about moving Italy into gear, Mr. Renzi forgot the key Clintonian lesson: Its the economy, stupid. If the referendum had a larger meaning, it was a vote on Mr. Renzis place in Italian politics, not on Italys place in Europe. On Sunday afternoon, as families ate a late lunch at Comet Ping Pong in Washington, D.C., a man armed with a rifle walked in, aiming to self-investigate fake stories that the small pizzeria was a front for a child sex ring led by Hillary Clinton. No one was hurt, but a shot was fired, families and staff fled and a swath of the quiet neighborhood was locked down for hours. The suspect, 28-year-old Edgar Welch of Salisbury, N.C., referenced whats known online as Pizzagate, a fabricated story on dozens of fake news websites, which puts Comet Ping Pong at the center of bizarre, debunked charges of child trafficking. The hoax has been shared millions of times by Donald Trump supporters on social media including Reddit, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. That an insane online conspiracy theory brought violence to a neighborhood business five miles from the White House is mind-boggling. Even worse is that similar fake stories involving Mrs. Clinton and pedophilia have been promoted by Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, President-elect Trumps choice for national security adviser. A conspiracy-minded Islamophobe forced out as chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency in part for his lack of judgment, General Flynn lent credibility to the provably false charge by tweeting links to fake conspiracy stories cited by Pizzagate trolls. Mike Flynn Jr., Mr. Flynns son and adviser, and a member of the Trump transition team, was still spreading the Pizzagate lie after Sundays incident in the capital. In the days before the election, General Flynns Twitter account bristled with all-caps exclamations about bizarre Clinton conspiracy theories. On Nov. 2, General Flynn tweeted: U decide NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex Crimes w Children, etc...MUST READ! He included a link to a fake story on a website called True Pundit. Two days later, he tweeted a link to another false story, accusing John Podesta, Mrs. Clintons campaign chief, of participating in satanic rituals. This, from the man who would guide the United States first response to global threats? To the Editor: Re America Has Room for the Dreamers (editorial, Nov. 23): I have met hundreds of Dreamers in my lifetime. They have become my friends, my mentors and my confidants. The looming prospect of losing them to deportation under President-elect Donald Trump is as much concerning as it is galvanizing me to stand with them in this time of uncertainty. While your plea to the incoming administration to maintain Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, is right, lets not forget that President Obama still has the power to mitigate any damage a Trump presidency can bring. A July 6 Op-Ed essay argued that the president can pardon immigrants and shield them from deportation. While a pardon would not grant legal status or provide work authorization, it would forgive these Dreamers immigration offenses and keep them in the only country they know. Few opportunities come across the desk of a president of the United States to change the course of history for nearly a million people. Now is that time. Do the right thing, President Obama, and pardon the Dreamers. Tomorrow, the State of Georgia intends to execute William Sallie, who was convicted of killing a man in 1990. It would be Georgias ninth execution this year, a modern state record and nearly twice the previous high-water mark of five executions, set first in 1987 and again in 2015. I served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Georgia for over 15 years. During that time I participated in dozens of death-penalty cases and affirmed many of them. That experience, though, exposed me to some of the significant flaws in the system not just the injustice of the death penalty itself, but specific problems with the way capital cases are handled. Mr. Sallies case is a prime example. Perhaps the biggest problem with Georgias system, and one of the reasons the state carries out so many executions, is that it often fails to provide people with lawyers. Mr. Sallie, for example, missed a filing deadline for a federal review of his case by eight days, in part because he didnt have a lawyer at the time to help him. And this isnt just a delay tactic; he has several strong claims about constitutional failings during his trial that, if proved, could require the reversal of his conviction. As things stand, he will be executed without review. Fundamental fairness, due process and the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment require the courts to provide an attorney throughout the entire legal process to review a death sentence. Virtually every capital-punishment state has this safeguard. Georgia is an outlier. No one has offered more vivid testimony about the power of money in politics than Donald Trump has in describing his personal history of writing campaign checks to sway politicians. He claims great success in what he calls a broken system of special interests. When you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do, he said last year in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. As a businessman I need that. He took his eyewitness accounting a step further in the primary debates, noting that some of his presidential rivals had previously done well by his checkbook. Most of the people on this stage Ive given to, just so you understand, a lot of money, he said. On the trail, Mr. Trump firmly promised reform: Our campaign is about breaking up the special interest monopoly in Washington, D.C. All the more reason to sigh in regret, more than surprise, at the scale of big-money contributions from corporate and private donors that President-elect Trumps inaugural committee is soliciting for its celebrations next month. Tiers of V.I.P. donors have been created, aiming to raise up to $75 million from special interests, which wont be forgotten when the new administration gets down to governing. Amid the destruction and the noise of the chain saws, homeless nuns picked through the rubble for their possessions, Edward Wong of The Times reported. The residents say the governments goal is to diminish the importance of Larung Gar by cutting it to perhaps 5,000 residents. Hundreds have already been forced out, and there have been reports of protest suicides at the encampment. Citing the freedom of religion guaranteed in Chinas constitution, Human Rights Watch, the independent monitoring agency, warned that the demolitions at Larung Gar and other Buddhist enclaves across the Tibetan Autonomous Region represent a significant imposition of state power on religious institutions. A wiser government would keep in mind that earlier suppression galvanized an uprising across the Tibetan plateau in 2008 as residents defended their culture and religion. Beijings hard-line agenda was evident earlier this year when the police detained Tashi Wangchuk, an outspoken advocate of bilingual education for Tibetans. He was accused of inciting separatism a crime against the state that could bring 15 years in prison. Mr. Tashi argued only for what the Chinese government supposedly already guarantees autonomy for Tibetans, not outright independence. The effort to destroy Larung Gar is further evidence of the governments insecurity and its fear of any movement, religious or social, that it cant fully control. BEING a wildlife ranger can be extremely hazardous to your health. Some 110 rangers died in the line of duty worldwide in the year preceding July 31, according to the Thin Green Line Foundation. Nearly a dozen were killed by elephants in Africa and Asia, some trampled to death. One was gored by a spotted deer; two others were killed by rhinos. In India, two rangers were mauled to death by tigers; a bear killed another wildlife officer there. In Zimbabwe, yet another ranger drowned when a hippo attacked his canoe. A land mine killed a Thai officer. Ten died fighting fires. But what is particularly troubling is this: At least 25 were killed by poachers or timber smugglers, most in Africa or Asia. One was shot and pushed off a cliff. Two were axed to death. One died when his helicopter was shot down by poachers. Most of the rest were simply shot. And the killings by poachers continue. Just last month, for instance, a ranger in the Uganda Wildlife Authority was killed in a gun battle. These officers represent the line between murderous profiteers and the planets remaining wild landscapes, the sanctuaries for some of our most endangered animals and plants. They are often underpaid and poorly equipped to defend themselves. Many lack the government and private support they need to do their jobs. To the Editor: Re Hampshire College Draws Protests Over Removal of U.S. Flag (news article, nytimes.com, Nov. 28): Hampshire College has been criticized for temporarily removing the American flag from campus. It did so to give students, faculty and staff members the opportunity to discuss what this enduring symbol means in these times. That was the right decision, just as it was right to raise the flag again. As at any private entity, Hampshires decisions about the flag are entirely its own province. That fact is lost on many who have been critical, from right-wing commentators to two liberal Massachusetts legislators. Ironically, in the name of patriotism, they call upon Hampshire to put our flag back without regard to Americans constitutional right to freedom of speech. Certainly, Donald Trump retains his prerogative not to fly the flag on Trump Tower. But those who live in glass towers should not throw stones. As someone associated with Hampshire for more than 40 years, I urge its critics to do their research. There is no institution in America more dedicated to educational integrity and teaching students to be thoughtful and ethical citizens. A quarter-century after the post-Cold War zenith of liberal democracies and neoliberal economics, illiberalism and authoritarianism are on the march. Its open season for anyones inner bigot. Violence is in the air, awaiting a spark. The winning political card today, as Mr. Trump has shown and Marine Le Pen may demonstrate in the French presidential election next year, is to lead the people against a rigged system, Muslim migration and the tyrannical consensus of overpaid experts. The postwar order its military alliances, trade pacts, political integration and legal framework feels flimsy, and the nature of the American power undergirding it all is suddenly unclear. Nobody excites Mr. Trump as much as Russias Vladimir V. Putin, who is to democracy what a sledgehammer is to a Ming vase. Strongmen and autocrats everywhere not least in Egypt and the Gulf states are exulting at Mr. Trumps victory. It is too early to say what Mr. Trump will do and how many of his wild campaign promises he will keep, but its safe to predict turbulence. Irascibility, impetuosity and inattention define him, however curtailed they may prove to be by his entourage and the responsibilities of power. He is, for now, in over his head. NATO will grow weaker. Baltic States will feel more vulnerable. Syrias Bashar al-Assad, backed by a Putin-Trump entente, will grow stronger. Chinese-American trade tensions will sharpen, in approximate sync with military tensions in the East and South China seas. The Iran nuclear deal, painstakingly negotiated by the major powers, could unravel, making the Middle East exponentially more dangerous. Any jihadi attack or other assault on America will not be met with restraint; Mr. Trump seems to regard nukes as an underused asset. Fossil fuels will make a comeback. The worlds Paris-enshrined commitment to fight climate change will be undermined. The approximately 65 million migrants on the move, about one-third of them refugees, will find shelter and dignity scarce as xenophobic nationalism moves into the political mainstream across Central Europe and elsewhere. Technologys implacable advance, and the great strides being made by artificial intelligence, will test Mr. Trumps promise to bring manufacturing jobs back to America. Some forms of employment are gone forever, and not even a self-styled savior can conjure their return. The Trans-Pacific Partnership already looks dead; other trade deals, including the North American Free Trade Agreement, which symbolized the ever-more-open trading system of past decades, could be nixed or substantially diluted. Will all this assuage the peoples ire? Perhaps Mr. Trump really does have some fairy dust he can scatter for a while. But of course the people were only part of a divided population, millions and millions of whom did not want and will resist the global nationalist and authoritarian lurch. They will do so on the streets, in the courts, via the press and through the checks and balances the framers of the Constitution created precisely to rein in a demagogue. Still, Mr. Trump has enormous powers, a Republican-controlled Congress and a mission to make America great again, whatever that means or takes. Turning Point: Donald J. Trump is elected the 45th president of the United States. When I took over The Daily Show from Jon Stewart in 2015, I was surprised to learn that my job as a late-night comedy host was not merely to entertain but to eviscerate to attack, crush, demolish and destroy the opponents of liberal, progressive America. Very quickly, people from some quarters mostly those same liberal progressives criticized me for not maintaining the minimum acceptable levels of daily evisceration that were established by my predecessor. The truth is that Jon never liked being labeled the Great Eviscerator. He didnt think it was healthy, and he always tried to think about the details of issues with a healthy dose of skepticism before going on air and putting his ideas out into the world. But through the lens of the internet, thats not what people saw. In the early days of the blogosphere and YouTube and social media, people took Jons most strident commentary and made it go viral with clickbait headlines, blowing those segments way out of proportion, compared with the more thoughtful segments that made up most of the television show. And, unfortunately, when we look back today, the evisceration (and exasperation) is what most people remember. The experience of stepping into Jons shoes brought on enormous culture shock for me. In South Africa, where I come from, we also use comedy to critique and analyze, and while we dont let our politicians off the hook, we dont eviscerate one another. If anything, my stand-up shows back home are a place where we can push away the history of apartheids color classifications where black, white, colored and Indian people use laughter to deal with shared trauma and pain. In South Africa, comedy brings us together. In America, it pulls us apart. Last week when Donald Trump began his so-called Thank You Tour in Cincinnati, he had yet another opportunity to be magnanimous and conciliatory, to step beyond the division and acrimony of his campaign and into the unity and healing necessary to be president of a strained nation. As is his wont, he declined, instead gloating and boasting, playing to the minority of American voters who chose him, relishing his own impenitence. He is choosing to push America further apart rather than bring it closer together. And be clear: It is not the job of the defiant to conform to a future president who makes them completely uncomfortable. The burden of unity lies with Trump, not his detractors. Just wait and see. Give him a chance. But what if what youve already seen is so beyond the pale that its irrevocable? What if Trump has already squandered more chances than most of us will ever have? WASHINGTON On July 7, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump, met privately with House Republicans near the Capitol. I was present as chief policy director of the House Republican Conference. Mr. Trumps purpose was to persuade the representatives to unite around him, a pitch he delivered in a subdued version of his stream-of-consciousness style. A congresswoman asked him about his plans to protect Article I of the Constitution, which assigns all federal lawmaking power to Congress. Mr. Trump interrupted her to declare his commitment to the Constitution even to parts of it that do not exist, such as Article XII. Shock swept through the room as Mr. Trump confirmed one of our chief concerns about him: He lacked a basic knowledge of the Constitution. There is still deeper cause for concern. Mr. Trumps erroneous proclamation also suggested that he lacked even an interest in the Constitution. Worse, his campaign rhetoric had demonstrated authoritarian tendencies. He had questioned judicial independence, threatened the freedom of the press, called for violating Muslims equal protection under the law, promised the use of torture and attacked Americans based on their gender, race and religion. He had also undermined critical democratic norms including peaceful debate and transitions of power, commitment to truth, freedom from foreign interference and abstention from the use of executive power for political retribution. Among insects and spiders, its common for females to be the larger of the sexes, by far. The bigger the female, the more eggs she can lay, is the usual explanation. Gavin Svenson, head of invertebrate biology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, has found another reason for size differences in some elegant praying mantises of Southeast Asia. In the orchid mantises, the females, a rich creamy white with brown patches and flower-petal-mimicking lobes on their legs, are up to four inches long, much bigger than the males. The females dont hide among similar-looking orchids. Rather, they perch all alone on green vegetation, looking enough like a flower that pollinators, like bees, come right to them, and predators like monkeys, lizards and birds that eat insects, but not flowers, pass them by. Dr. Svenson and colleagues in Cleveland, Australia and Germany were in the midst of revising the scientific classification and evolutionary history of praying mantises using studies of their shape and DNA, when they noticed how different the orchid mantises were from a small, closely related group of mantises to which they belonged. Fashion designers base their lives around collections: spring/summer, fall/winter. But Angela Missoni, 58, scion of the Missoni fashion house that was founded in 1953 and whose languid, luridly colored work came to epitomize the 70s and the constant revivals of that decade forever after is responsible for more collections than most. At home, however, her collections are decidedly non-fashion: theyre comprised of Provencal French ceramics, Italian glassware, and various tchotchkes unearthed from flea markets and secondhand stores around the world. Her latest affection is for those pastel porcelain poodles from the 50s and 60s. Its not an official collection, yet, she says of them, by phone from her home in Milan. But very soon, it might be. In 2013, Missoni moved into her villa in Brunello, in the hills to the northwest of the city, but hasnt yet had the chance to unpack all of her collections of things. Another home, in Sardinia, houses yet more objets trouves. Many stay permanently packed, and come out only for special occasions. At Christmastime, Missoni makes holiday centerpieces out of the objects: This year, it will be a cluster of patently unfashionable fancy crystal glassware. But of all the collections of objects in her homes, Missonis favorite is a cluster of ornaments in the shape of hands of which she has amassed hundreds over more than 30 years. In a multitude of materials, sizes and colors, the pieces overflow across many surfaces. There are hand-shaped trinket bowls and hand-shaped ashtrays. Clasped hands originally given as wedding souvenirs sit alongside palmistry figurines and photo-printed plates from the Italian brand Fornasetti. Its mostly a very kitsch collection, Missoni reasons. Some of them are really only decorative, while others can be used to display jewelry, or as paperweights or bookends. SEATTLE There is almost no aspect of retail that Amazon has not upended with online shopping. Now, the company is trying to computerize the experience of buying sandwiches and soda from the corner convenience store. In the latest in its expanding set of experiments involving bricks-and-mortar retail stores, Amazon has created a small grocery store in Seattle that will allow customers to pluck drinks, prepared meals and other items off shelves and walk out without having to wait in a checkout line, the company said. Amazon said on its website that a smartphone app and various other types of technology in the store had eliminated the usual bottleneck of cashiers and registers that typically stand between shoppers and the store exit. For now, only Amazon employees can shop in the 1,800-square-foot store, which is on the ground floor of one of the companys new office towers in downtown Seattle. The company said that it planned to open the store to the public early next year and that it would offer chef-made meal kits with ingredients for quickly preparing dinners at home. But both high-wage and low-wage workers at the same company are effectively forced into the same plans. To qualify for the tax exclusion, federal law requires that companies offer the same plans to all or most of their employees, with no consideration for the variable demand for health care. Employees then pay for their fringe benefits by taking home lower wages and a flat, across-the-board cut in wages burdens low-wage workers disproportionately. In theory, the labor market could adjust in ways that might lessen the problem: Low-income workers, for example, could demand higher wages for being forced into plans that are more expensive than theyd prefer. These would have to be made up by reducing the wages of high-income workers, something its not clear they would accept. Theres no evidence that labor markets actually work this way. The notion that labor markets perfectly offset the varying preferences for health insurance among workers by giving higher wages to those who value health insurance less is a comforting but crazy idea, said Amitabh Chandra, a Harvard economist. The problems with one-size-fits-all insurance run deeper. In some insurance markets, like those for small businesses in Massachusetts, employees across companies are pooled together and pay the same premium. A recent report from the Massachusetts attorney general showed that workers in companies that receive health care at less expensive hospitals effectively subsidize those at comparable companies who receive care at more expensive ones. The uniformity of insurance plans also affects the pace and composition of technological innovation. To extend our party metaphor, if everyone even those who preferred simpler events were effectively forced to pay for any retirement party, regardless of how lavish, wed see, and pay for, retirement parties of ever-escalating extravagance. In much the same way, medical innovators respond to the size of the market for new technologies. The fact that health plans routinely cover all medically necessary care sends an if you build it, we will pay for it signal. Innovators are not getting the right signals, the right incentives, to develop high-value or cost-saving treatments. Its more lucrative, instead, to develop pricey new therapies, even if they offer only marginal clinical benefits. The result is lots of new treatments that dont provide much bang for the buck. Those new treatments pose a continuing challenge to efforts to bend the cost curve. Economists have long known that technology is the primary driver of escalating health expenditures. Indeed, in 2012 medical technologies that were not offered a decade earlier accounted for almost a third of Medicare spending delivered by physicians and outpatient hospital departments. HUD runs the Section 8 housing choice voucher program, which cities rely on to help house the poor. And it enforces the Fair Housing Act, part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which makes housing discrimination illegal. Even in a time of economic expansion, dealing with poverty will be the biggest challenge the next HUD secretary faces, conservative and liberal housing experts agree. The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative research organization, cited housing assistance programs as among those ripe for reform under Mr. Trump. Since 2000, the number of high-poverty neighborhoods in America has doubled, rising faster in the suburbs, like Ferguson, Mo., than in cities, said Amy Liu, the director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the left-leaning Brookings Institution in Washington. Theres a lot of anxiety now, because this election was about the heartland versus the coastal elites; were going to need a HUD secretary who governs both, Ms. Liu said. When I think about what HUD is going to have to deal with next, its going to be the future of high-poverty neighborhoods, and how to deal with that not only in Baltimore but also Ferguson. Mr. Carsons history and how it translates to HUD Mr. Carson grew up poor in Detroit and became a celebrated neurosurgeon by the time he was in his 30s a path that he attributes to his up-from-the-bootstraps philosophy. His admirers praise his rags-to-riches success story. But his critics say a career in medicine is not the right training for someone running a vast federal housing bureaucracy. He has a powerful personal story that could connect him to a lot of families that rely on HUD assistance, Ms. Liu said. He just needs to use that personal story to listen and empathize and really learn about the latest innovations in the field. Good morning. (Want to get California Today by email? Sign up.) As of early Monday, at least 36 bodies had been recovered from the ruins of a warehouse in Oakland that was engulfed in fire as young people gathered Friday night for a party. Officials warned that the toll would likely rise. The authorities said on Monday morning that firefighters had located an area of the building in which they believed the fire may have started. They needed days to process the scene while ensuring their own safety inside the precarious structure. Melinda Drayton, Oakland Fire Department battalion chief, on Sunday said the work had been somber. It was quiet, it was heartbreaking, she said, choking back emotion during a news conference. Other things we know: Who are the victims? The Alameda County Sheriffs Office released the names of seven victims on Sunday. Last week, as Lorri Ayer planned to surprise her husband with a vow renewal ceremony at Cupids Chapel of Love in Gatlinburg, Tenn., she made a stomach-churning discovery: The chapel had burned down, swept away in an aggressive wildfire that destroyed some 1,000 buildings and caused at least 13 deaths last week. We woke up Tuesday morning to go to work and turned on the TV, Ms. Ayer said. It was all over the place that Gatlinburg was on fire. The couple thought about staying home, but this town in Appalachian East Tennessee has sentimental value: They had celebrated their honeymoon in Gatlinburg 25 years ago. As residents recovered from what they described as a hellish, wind-fueled fire that originated in the Great Smoky Mountains, the Ayers were among the first wedding tourists to trickle back into town. We just got our minds set to it and we went, Ms. Ayer said. Lee Bennett, who owns Cupids Chapel of Love, made arrangements for the Ayers to renew their vows on Saturday at another venue he owns, The Chapel at the Park, which was untouched by the fire. When the Ayers arrived at the chapel, they said an employee who had lost his home directed them to an empty parking space. The man had lost all of his belongings, Ms. Ayers said, and was dressed in gear lent to him from a member of the National Guard. We are here to assure Donald Trump that there is nothing to be afraid of, Ms. Stein said during a news conference and rally with his tower as a backdrop. If you believe in democracy, if you believe in the credibility of your victory, put down your arms, end your bureaucratic obstruction, end your intimidation. The president-elect, who has raised his own doubts about the election, including his claim without evidence that millions of people voted illegally, has chided the recount effort. On Sunday, he went on Twitter to celebrate the setback in Pennsylvania, calling the bid a Stein scam to raise money. Representatives of Mr. Trump did not respond to requests for comment on Monday. Ms. Stein raised more than $7 million for the recount costs, as some supporters of Hillary Clinton have seen the effort as a last hope to change the outcome of the Nov. 8 election. Mrs. Clintons campaign has played a passive role in the process, acknowledging that the margins in the three states are too much to overcome. Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to Mr. Trump, said on Fox News Sunday that Ms. Stein should give it up. Ms. Conway said, Even your friends in the Clinton campaign have admitted that these recounts will not change any results. But instead, Ms. Stein seemed to be redoubling the effort on Monday with just two weeks remaining before the Electoral College is set to meet and install Mr. Trump. Mrs. Clinton would need to be named the winner in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to reverse the outcome of the election. WASHINGTON For Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, who is President-elect Donald J. Trumps choice for national security adviser, pushing conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton is a family affair: Both he and his son, Michael G. Flynn, have used social media to spread fake news stories linking Mrs. Clinton to underage sex rings and other serious crimes, backed by no evidence. The Twitter habits of both men are attracting renewed attention after a man fired a rifle on Sunday inside Comet Ping Pong, a Washington pizza restaurant that was the subject of false stories during the campaign tying it and the Clinton campaign to a child sex trafficking ring. Well before he joined the Trump campaign, the elder Mr. Flynn, 57, a former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, pushed unsubstantiated claims about Islamic laws spreading in the United States and about the attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. But in his emergence this year as the angry former general out to help Mr. Trump clean up Washington, Mr. Flynn added wild stories about Hillary Clinton to his stock of unproven tales. Six days before the election, for instance, Mr. Flynn posted on Twitter a fake news story that claimed the police and prosecutors in New York had found evidence linking Mrs. Clinton and much of her senior campaign staff to pedophilia, money laundering, perjury and other felonies. Ben Carson, who took Donald J. Trump on a tour of blighted neighborhoods in Detroit during the presidential campaign, including his boyhood home, has been chosen by Mr. Trump to oversee one of the governments main efforts to lift American cities as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, was an early endorser of Mr. Trump after ending his own presidential bid. Ben Carson has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities, Mr. Trump said in a statement Monday morning. We have talked at length about my urban renewal agenda and our message of economic revival, very much including our inner cities. Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country and is part of ensuring that this is a presidency representing all Americans, he added. He is a tough competitor and never gives up. WASHINGTON President-elect Donald J. Trump, who has called climate change a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese, met on Monday with the climate-activist extraordinaire Al Gore, offering environmental activists a glimmer of hope that the Trump administrations policies will moderate from his campaign pledges to scrap all efforts to stem the warming of the planet. But even as the president-elect was sitting down with the former vice president, his transition team continued to court ardent opponents of climate control policies to fill key posts in the government. Many transition officials question or deny the established science of human-caused climate change and have worked aggressively to undo President Obamas climate change policies. Mr. Gore, who starred in the Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, projected optimism in the lobby of Trump Tower, telling reporters that his meeting with Mr. Trump was lengthy and very productive, and calling it a sincere search for areas of common ground. I had a lengthy and very productive session with the president-elect, Mr. Gore, the former vice president, told reporters at Trump Tower. It was a sincere search for areas of common ground. I had a meeting beforehand with Ivanka Trump. The bulk of the time was with the president-elect, Donald Trump. I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued. Hundreds of scientists are also telling Mr. Trump in a new letter that climate change is real and needs to be addressed: We urge you to decide if you want your presidency to be defined by denial and disaster, or acceptance and action, says the new letter, which will be sent on Tuesday and has already been signed by 700 scientists and academics from related disciplines. The letter lists six steps the president-elect can take to help protect the nations economy, national security, and public health and safety. Getting Mr. Trump, who has called climate change a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese, to turn around on the issue might not be as unlikely as his public statements would make it seem. It may come down to who has his ear last. Gore knows about losing the presidency but winning the vote. It must have felt familiar to Mr. Gore, confronting a president-elect who had just lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College. In point of fact, Mr. Gores loss to George W. Bush pales in comparison with Hillary Clintons. If youre still counting, Mrs. Clintons popular vote lead over Mr. Trump climbed to 2,597,156 over the weekend, five times Mr. Gores final lead over Mr. Bush. And at 2 percentage points, Mrs. Clintons lead has equaled Jimmy Carters victory spread over Gerald Ford in 1976. WASHINGTON House Republican leaders signaled on Monday that they would not support President-elect Donald J. Trumps threat to impose a heavy tax on companies that move jobs overseas, the first significant confrontation over the conservative economic orthodoxy that Mr. Trump relishes trampling. I dont want to get into some kind of trade war, Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California and majority leader, told reporters in response to Mr. Trumps threats over the weekend to seek a 35 percent import tariff on goods sold by United States companies that move jobs overseas and displace American workers. Speaker Paul D. Ryan also pushed back against Mr. Trump on Monday in an interview with a Wisconsin reporter, saying an overhaul of the corporate tax code would more effectively keep companies in the United States than tax penalties. I think we can get at the goal here, he said, which is to keep American businesses American, build things in America and sell them overseas that can be properly addressed with comprehensive tax reform. Mr. Trumps economic positions clashed with traditional conservatives during the campaign, but now these differences on trade, government spending on infrastructure, and tax policies have set the incoming president on a perilous course with the lawmakers whose support he needs to keep his agenda on track. On the issue of adding voters to a congressional district, he said, Just the fact that they brought in a bunch of African-Americans because they were trying to bring in Democrats is about as interesting as the sun coming up in North Carolina, because everybody agrees theres about a 90 percent correlation between race and partisan identity. If there was consensus among the justices, it was that the legal questions were as difficult as they were important. The law in this area is very, very complicated, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said, creating an invitation to litigation. The Virginia case, Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Election, No. 15-680, concerned 12 districts for the states House of Delegates drawn after the 2010 census, each with at least a 55 percent population of blacks of voting age. Voters in those districts sued, saying that lawmakers had run afoul of the Constitution by packing too many black voters into the districts, diminishing their voting power. A divided three-judge panel of the Federal District Court in Richmond, Va., upheld 11 of the districts because, it said, race had not been the primary factor in drawing them. Since the districts could be justified under traditional redistricting criteria like compactness, contiguity, incumbency protection and political considerations, the court said, race could not have been the predominant reason for drawing them. The court upheld the remaining district even after finding that race had played the dominant role in drawing it, saying that it was justified by an attempt to comply with the Voting Rights Act, which forbade the diminishment of minority voters ability to elect candidates of their choice. FORT YATES, N.D. After four deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, after being hit by a roadside bomb and losing two friends to explosions, Jason Brocar floated from job to job, earning enough to pay for long solo hikes where his only worries were what he would eat and where he would sleep. He was deep into a rainy trek through Scotland when he noticed friends back home talking about a place called Standing Rock. He decided to join them, which is why he was lined up inside a huge shed this weekend with hundreds of other veterans, some of them Native Americans, who have come to North Dakota to join the Standing Rock Sioux Tribes fight to block an oil pipeline. On Sunday, they cheered the Department of the Armys announcement that it would seek other routes for the pipeline and would not allow a crucial section to be drilled under the Missouri River just upstream from the tribes reservation, where there were worries it could pollute their drinking water and cross near sacred burial sites. But President-elect Donald J. Trumps support for finishing the pipeline means the saga is far from over. His administration could undo the Sunday decision and order the pipeline through, though the tribe and environmental activists would almost surely sue to stop him. Reflecting the continued uncertainty, the veterans were out singing and marching on Monday in gale-force winds and driving snow. CHARLESTON, S.C. The trial of Michael T. Slager, the police officer whose videotaped killing of an unarmed black man staggered a nation already embroiled in a debate about police misconduct and racial bias in law enforcement, ended in a mistrial on Monday. Judge Clifton B. Newmans decision to halt the proceedings came three days after jurors signaled that they were within one vote of returning a guilty verdict against Mr. Slager, who could have been convicted of murder or voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Walter L. Scott. But on Monday, in a final note to Judge Newman, jurors said that despite the best efforts of all members, we are unable to come to a unanimous decision. The outcome was disappointingly familiar to critics of police practices and conduct, and demonstrated the steep hurdles associated with prosecuting a police officer for a shooting while on duty. Although other cases involving claims of police misconduct have ended in mistrials and acquittals, few resonated as widely as this case in North Charleston, where Mr. Slager fired eight shots as Mr. Scott ran away. The fight isnt over, that was Round 1, said L. Chris Stewart, a lawyer for Mr. Scotts family. We all saw what he did. We all saw what happened. UNITED NATIONS Nearly half of Americans in a global survey said they believed an enemy fighter could be tortured to extract information, according to results released Monday. That finding puts respondents in the United States in contrast with citizens of many countries and at odds with international law, which prohibits torture under any circumstances. The results were part of a poll carried out by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which surveyed 17,000 people in 16 countries, including many nations in conflict or recovering from conflict, to gauge public opinion about the laws of war. The findings on torture were among the starkest. Among Americans, 46 percent said torture could be used to obtain information from an enemy combatant, while 30 percent disagreed and the rest said they did not know. On a more general question, one in three said torture was part of war, just over half called it wrong, and the rest said they did not know or preferred not to answer. Torture is a war crime, according to international law. The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said recently that she had reasonable grounds to open an investigation into allegations of torture by American forces in Afghanistan. NEW DELHI In what rights advocates regard as an important test case for press freedom in Bhutan, a prominent journalist is facing a defamation suit for sharing a Facebook post documenting a property dispute involving a local businessman. The journalist, Namgay Zam, has been accused of libel by the businessman, Sonam Phuntsho, in what Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay has called a landmark case that could shape proposed restrictions on social media usage in Bhutan. The post includes allegations that Mr. Phuntsho had garnered favors from the countrys judiciary, where his son-in-law is chief justice. Ms. Zam, a former television presenter with the state-run Bhutan Broadcasting Service, and the woman who wrote the post, Shacha Wangmo, face a maximum fine of about $38,000 around 15 times the countrys annual per capita income or up to three years in prison if convicted. Ms. Zam and Ms. Wangmo presented evidence at a district court in Thimphu, the capital, on Monday. Known for its adherence to gross national happiness, a development indicator that values levels of well-being over economic indicators such as gross domestic product, Bhutan was considered a success story in South Asia when it held peaceful democratic elections in 2008, after a century as an absolute monarchy. WASHINGTON President-elect Donald J. Trumps motives for his unorthodox call with the leader of Taiwan remain mysterious, but some Republicans are hailing his improvisational diplomacy as a refreshing break with diplomatic rituals that date to the Richard M. Nixon administration. It could lay the groundwork, they say, for a healthier relationship with China. The question, as often with Mr. Trump, is whether he will have the discipline to see through these changes. In short, was the phone call the start of a calculated policy, or was it merely a one-off gesture that will alienate China and leave Taiwan even more isolated? So far the messages from the Trump camp are mixed. Vice President-elect Mike Pence insisted on Sunday that people were reading too much into the conversation with President Tsai Ing-wen, and that Mr. Trump was simply accepting congratulations from the democratically elected leader of Taiwan. But people advising the transition say Mr. Trump knew exactly what he was doing. Certainly, the president-elect has done nothing to defuse the tensions stirred by the call. A string of vituperative Twitter posts by Mr. Trump over the weekend on Chinas trade and military policies has fanned questions about whether he wants to reset the relationship with Beijing more fundamentally. SYDNEY, Australia New Zealands prime minister, John Key, surprised the country on Monday by announcing he would resign next week, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. Mr. Key, 55, has been in office since November 2008 and led the conservative National Party to election victories in 2011 and 2014. The next election is scheduled for next year, and Mr. Key had been seen as the likely favorite. Though many people were asking why, answers were elusive. I think he decided he was simply done with politics particularly when this year his friend David Cameron in the U.K. decided to step down as prime minister and another friend of his, Barack Obama, will next year leave office, said Stephen Levine, a professor of political science at Victoria University of Wellington. Mr. Key, a former Merrill Lynch executive, said Monday that he had never wanted to be a career politician and did not know what he would do next. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan honored Abdus Salam, a theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate who belonged to a persecuted minority, by renaming a department of physics at one of the nations leading public universities after him on Monday. Mr. Salam, who died in 1996, belonged to the Ahmadi (or Ahmadiyya) sect. Though Ahmadi beliefs are strongly rooted in Islam, other sects consider them heretical, and they are declared non-Muslims under the Pakistani Constitution. They are widely singled out for discrimination and violence in Pakistan. Mr. Sharif also announced a Professor Abdus Salam Fellowship through which five science scholarships would be given to Pakistani students in foreign universities. Mr. Salam shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics. He was the first Pakistani to receive a Nobel Prize in science and the second from an Islamic country to receive any Nobel Prize, read a statement from Mr. Sharifs office. His remarkable achievement earned fame and prestige for the country, which rightly deserves to be valued. The Lancet study, by researchers at Harvard University Medical School and the School of Public Health, cited examples in several countries, beginning in the late 1970s, in which the Rohingya suffered from poor access to obstetric care and a high prevalence of waterborne illnesses, among other health problems. Stunting, or lower-than-normal height because of malnutrition, affects 60 percent of Rohingya child refugees in Bangladesh, a rate 50 percent higher than among the countrys general population, the study said, citing data from 2002 and 2012 collected by Doctors Without Borders and the United Nations. It also documented rates of diarrhea among children that were far higher for Rohingya children in Bangladesh, Malaysia and India in recent years than they were in the general populations of those countries. Diarrhea is a leading cause of malnutrition in children under 5, according to the World Health Organization. It can also be life-threatening, especially in young people who are malnourished or who have compromised immune systems. It kills about 760,000 children under 5 each year, the agency says. But the study paid particular attention to health problems in Rakhine State, which has more than one million Rohingya people and where about 140,000 Rohingya have been living in camps for internally displaced people around Sittwe, since a spasm of communal violence in 2012 left them homeless. In recent weeks, human rights groups have relayed allegations of rape and arbitrary killings of Rohingya people by the authorities in northern Rakhine State, as satellite images show villages burned to the ground. Thousands of Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh, and the United Nations human rights agency has said abuses against them may be crimes against humanity. The Lancet study, citing a 2013 government report, said there was just one latrine per 37 people in the Sittwe camps on average, and that diarrheal illness affected 40 percent of Rohingya children under 5 who live in the camps five times the rate for other children in Rakhine State. The mortality rate for children younger than 5 in Maungdaw and Butheetaung was 135 and 224 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared with 77 deaths per 1,000 live births in the Sittwe area, the study added. We must never repeat the horror of war, Mr. Abe said on Monday. I want to express that determination as we look to the future, and at the same time send a message about the value of U.S.-Japanese reconciliation. Mr. Abes visit will come just a few weeks after the 75th anniversary of the attack, which occurred on Dec. 7, 1941. Carried out by Japanese bombers and fighter planes launched from aircraft carriers that had quietly slipped within striking distance of Hawaii, the attack killed more than 2,000 Americans and sank a number of United States warships, including the battleship Arizona, whose wreck has become a memorial to the battle. Just as the decision to drop the bomb on Japan to end the war has long been the subject of a fraught moral and political debate in the United States, the decision to attack Pearl Harbor has been enormously delicate in Japan. Politicians there still pay homage to the heroes of Pearl Harbor meaning the Japanese aviators and others who died in the attack. There is a museum exhibit in their honor at Etajima, an island off Hiroshima, that once served as the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, a Japanese equivalent of the United States Navys training academy at Annapolis. For decades, politicians have been reluctant to make any statement resembling an apology for the attack, which many in Japan argue was the natural outgrowth of an American-led oil embargo that would have starved the Japanese empire. There are still arguments over the role of Emperor Hirohito in the decision, and that of military officials who had argued at length about the wisdom or dangers of directly drawing the United States into the war. TAIPEI, Taiwan What a difference a phone call makes. In Taiwan rendered nearly invisible in global affairs by decades of accommodation to Chinese pressure the reaction to the call between President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan and President-elect Donald J. Trump late last week has been broadly positive, if tinged with caution. Ms. Tsai took office in May with a mandate to reduce Taiwans economic reliance and close political ties with Beijing. China claims Taiwan as its territory and threatens to use force if Taipei officially acknowledges its de facto sovereignty. At her inauguration, Ms. Tsai said she wanted to improve relations with China, while also deepening ties with the United States and Japan. Ms. Tsai has moved her party, the Democratic Progressive Party, away from its pro-independence roots to a more nuanced form of Taiwan nationalism. The partys charter still features a clause advocating eventual official independence in the form of a Republic of Taiwan, although in July Ms. Tsai proposed replacing the clause with language that favors maintaining the status quo. MOSCOW Uzbekistans interim president has been elected the countrys second permanent leader since independence, garnering 89 percent of the votes in what observers said was a sham election. After a sleepy campaign, the interim president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, faced three little-known candidates who were nominated by government-friendly political parties in the vote on Sunday. Mr. Mirziyoyev, the 59-year-old prime minister, was appointed acting leader in September, after the death of Islam Karimov, who had ruthlessly ruled the predominantly Muslim nation of about 31 million for more than 25 years. Following traditional Soviet practice, Mr. Karimovs death was apparently kept under wraps for days as top government officials tried to decide who would succeed him. Mr. Mirziyoyev was eventually recognized as the most likely candidate by observers after he was appointed the head of the funeral commission. But until now, that was about it. A slice of middle England, Kidlington contains, among other things, a public library, seven pubs, two cafes, four restaurants, a main shopping street with a Dominos Pizza outlet, an immigration detention center and a Baptist church with a sign outside saying, Try praying. A three-bedroom semidetached house sells for about $430,000, local real estate agents say. On a recent day at The Kings Arms, a popular local pub, several Kidlington natives feasted on $8.55 plates of lamb, mushy peas and mint sauce, and puzzled at the towns newfound fame, as Millie, the pubs one-eyed dog, padded by. The pub is haunted by a resident ghost called Martha, who worked in the pub in the 1950s, and who is sometimes seen knitting, said Christine McGrath, its jovial manager. A grumpy old mens club sign hangs over the spot where three regulars sit weekly and grouse. The consensus at the pub was that the Chinese guests had unintentionally helped the anonymous village gain international attention, and were good for the local economy. Ms. McGrath said Chinese tourists occasionally entered the pub, ordered Guinness, pulled a face and left. The Chinese have put us on the map, she said. Fran Beesley, 74, an occupational therapist, said she was startled to walk out of her house one day and find a Chinese man photographing her front yard as his family waited nearby. Id like to organize cream teas and welcome them, she said. Other residents have been less amused and have called the police. In point of fact, there is a perfectly logical explanation for why droves of Chinese tourists are coming to Kidlington, and it is hardly going to burnish the local reputation. ROME For once, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi doesnt seem to be in a hurry. A day after Italians overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional overhaul on which he had staked his tenure, Mr. Renzi, 41, made a somber visit on Monday evening to the Quirinal, once home to popes and now the President of the Italian Republic, to formally tender his resignation. The president, Sergio Mattarella, asked him to postpone for a few days while his government finished a budget. Mr. Renzi, usually in a rush, agreed. For Italians, who have seen 63 governments in 70 years, Mondays resignation made for a ritual as familiar as the morning espresso, even as the stakes seemed far higher this time. The immediate question is whether the president, usually a ceremonial figure, would form a caretaker government staffed with technocrats. Or convince rival political parties to form a coalition government. Or call for new elections in 2017. Elections might be most satisfying for a restive public, except that an electoral law approved last year is under court review and may now be obsolete after Sundays referendum. For Italians who keep insisting they are hungry for change, Mondays vote had the effect of ushering in an Italian Groundhog Day. BEIRUT, Lebanon With the Syrian rebel enclave of eastern Aleppo shriveling, Russia said on Monday that it would start talks with the United States this week on a deal for holdout insurgents to leave, and that any who refused would be regarded as terrorists subject to deadly assault. Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia, who conveyed the announcement at a news conference in Moscow, also said Russia and the United States were close to an agreement. Mr. Lavrov added that Secretary of State John Kerry had submitted a proposal for the routes and timing of the fighters departure after meeting with Mr. Lavrov in Rome over the weekend. American officials acknowledged the possibility of talks with the Russians in Geneva this week but would not confirm the substance of Mr. Lavrovs remarks, which appeared to have taken them by surprise. Heres one thing Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton have in common. They are being depicted in new Christmas figurines in Catalonia in a rather rude position: squatting to defecate. The unusual and irreverent caganer figurines are part of a longstanding holiday tradition in this region in northeastern Spain, and they are not meant to denigrate the politicians and celebrities they portray. Instead, the figurines hark back to a once-common use for human waste: to fertilize farm fields and grow more food in the days before agrochemicals. The figurines were first made in the 18th century. The caganer, which can be translated as pooper, is placed somewhere among the characters in a Nativity scene: behind Mary and Joseph, perhaps, or between the animals gathered around the manger. The hand-painted ceramic figurines generally stand (or rather, crouch) almost five inches tall, and are produced by about 25 companies around Catalonia, many of them small shops. November 26, 1978 Walking the Himalayas By EDWARD HOAGLAND THE SNOW LEOPARD By Peter Matthiessen. This time he walked for five weeks under the massif of Annapurna, from the Dhorpatan to Dzong, over Jang La pass, between the Seng and Bheri Rivers, on to Ring-mo, and on over Kang La pass, toward Crystal Mountain in "the Land of Dolpo," before the onrush of approaching winter. His companion was George Schaller, who, though no Darwin at synthesizing or speculating, is a remarkable observer of matters of fact--probably the most enterprising of all present-day wildlife biologists. Mr. Schaller, at 40, had studied lions, tigers, gorillas and, indeed, dozens of other animals in passing. He was out to learn something about the November rutting behavior of Himalayan blue sheep, and maybe to see a snow leopard, a rarity and another interest of his. Mr. Matthiessen, older by six years, was after sights and premonitions from which to fashion a most complicated and ambitious book. For fame, for craft, for our enlightenment, they did us the old-fashioned honor of risking their lives. Usually Mr. Matthiessen's companions have been a scruffy collection of shabby hirelings and rich macho playboys who were footing the bill. So--with his friend and with the noble Sherpas--there is a lightness to this walk for him. What is from time to time confusing is that, as well as this worthy company, he feels the presence of Buddha--the Awakened One-- here in high Buddhist country, having lately, in America, become a committed convert himself. Also, his wife has died of cancer, and so memories of her are interjected throughout this radiant but rather fragile, flickering book. In his "beloved" boots, a hoopoe feather in his hat, and leaning on his faithful stave, near spiritual rebirth, near death along the giddy canyon trails, he takes his omens from the fate of copper-colored grasshoppers and blue and golden dragonflies. Competing with the goldfinches for marijuana seeds, he sees the very spider webs shimmer from the forces of a cicada's song. He doesn't "clutch the mountain," which in ancient Assyrian, he says, was a euphemism for tumbling into death. When he is exhausted, a lamergeier's wing shadow sweeping across the snow "draws me taut and sends me on." Inbound, they cross the Himalayas from south to north; then, outbound, from north to south, going up to 17,000 feet. This is saint and bandit country--hermit saints and pony bandits-- where mythic prophets riding astride flying snow leopards once battled the old dread mountain gods, who were assisted by hordes of snakes. It is a land of "air burials," where even the bones of a dead person that the carrion birds have left are pulverized and mixed with dough, so that they too will serve to make bird flesh. Griffons and golden eagles swoop low over Mr. Matthiessen as he sits meditating on the moutainside, mistaking him for just such a corpse. On every trail there are prayer cairns and altars. Prayer mills turn in the torrents; prayer flags flap and prayer wheels spin in the wind. Yak dung fuels the lamasery fires, and yak butter the lamps. Stooping like a harmless dung seeker, Mr. Matthiessen stalks the rutting sheep. His favorite Sherpa, Tukten, does a yeti (Hindu for sasquatch) cry for him, and says there would be more yetis left if the villagers had not killed many with poisoned barley years ago. Mr. Matthiessen sees what he suspects is one, nevertheless. The sun is roaring, filling to bursting each crystal of snow. "There shall none learn to live who hath not learned to die," he quotes, in order to encourage himself along the dizzy ledges. Lightness of step and radiance of light--although the Buddha once cried out in pity for an immodest yogin who had wasted 20 years of life in learning to walk on the water, when for a small coin the ferryman would have taken him across. Now, of course, it is not the all-too-facile fancy of a religious enthusiast that has accomplished the waterfalls of imagery that sometimes dash on for 20 pages at a clip. Rather, 20 years' experience at note-taking on the trail, of bird study and anthropological reading is at work here. Yet, still, the blue sheep, gentle leopards, wolves, yaks, foxes, ponies, and "exalted," "berserk" village mastiffs that threaten to rip him limb from limb are more exact and vivid as natural history for all of this adjoining mysticism. And most of us know, really, that in their airiness, the best of the holy men of the great world religions are probably right, even if we don't choose to invest enough of our time in readying ourselves for enlightenment of that type. So, Mr. Matthiessen's paeans and sutras, his plum-pit amulets and "oms," are not without justification, especially in this huge skyscape where the most awesome sequences of cliff and peak and snow and ice are juxtaposed one upon another. Warm tears freeze to his face as easily as he shouts with unexpected laughter. He has a playful step, when not crawling in semiparalysis along the edge of a drop-off. "All the way to Heaven is heaven," he tells port Mr. Schaller--who is sometimes alarmed by his rhapsodies--quoting St. Catherine as "the very breath of Zen." Largely gone are the dry summaries, the highflown and impersonal plural nouns that have deadened many chapters of Mr. Matthiessen's previous books. A shard of rose quartz, the spores of a cinnamon fern, a companionable mound of pony dung, a dog barking at his pale tent in the moonlight, all may excite him as if this were his first--or at least last--day on earth. On the other hand, except for two or three poignant references toward the end, the interpolations concerning his wife seem not so much insincere as jimmied unnaturally into his diary. Though he must indeed have thought of her with grief and guilt under the circumstances, from falsity of placement and carelessness they do not fit. Like other diarists, he was at the mercy of his original mood and jottings in preparing his book; and so on the fearful days, the slower, earlier stages of the trip, and scary, lunatic interludes when he was assailed by traveler's depression, we are served a lot of Buddhist theology and history whose accuracy or inaccuracy I cannot attest to. But it is much too telescoped for a layman (as the natural history is not). Furthermore--and this can be irritating--he often proselytizes, even if only to convince himself. And because five years have passed since the actual walk, the writer, as he neared 50, appears to have jammed in a casual, nostalgic but unsettling entire catalogue of his past trips--to Umbria, Paris, Galway, as well as more apposite "primitive" regions. Also a jumble of anthropological references to African customs, Andean, Pueblo and Canadian Indians, and the reading of many nights. He's simply haphazard in attempting some of these leaps. But "things go better when my left foot is on the outside edge," he says. All of this physical and literary recklessness has had the effect of emboldening Mr. Matthiessen. Not John McPhee, Annie Dillard and Edward Abbey all rolled together have attempted a journey such as this. His ratty tent leaks--there is none of the natty, overefficient, L.L. Bean equipment Mr. McPhee always boasts of in the woods. His mysticism is harder won than Miss Dillard's, and not punctuated with cranky, quasi-political pronouncements, like Mr. Abbey's. If our few so-called nature or travel writers are not rhapsodists, who will be? And if Mr. Matthiessen had to attain part of his lightness by way of the conventional drug trips of the 1960's (as he describes), by fashionable all-day meditations in the lotus posture in the 70's, and jet flights to Tokyo to bang heads with a Japanese seer, nevertheless we must accept the evidence on the page that we have a veritable yeti here--somebody who on his own ground is leaving marks nobody else could make. Mr. Matthiessen is undervalued as a writer right now. I think it may be partly because in his spare time he is also a socialite, and there is a long tradition of socialite writers--F. Scott Fitzgerald and Truman Capote are other examples--who, in the glitter of the company that they keep, themselves underrate the importance of their work. In any case, Mr. Matthiessen has been getting better. My favorite of his novels is his most previous, "Far Tortuga" (1975), which is a daring feat of dialect and dramatic symmetry, about turtle fishermen in the Caribbean. Fitfully, this "Snow Leopard" seems to me his best book of nonfiction. Otherwise--again--his last would be. "The Tree Where Man Was Born" (1972) is not only a search through Africa for the birthplace of man, but somehow for Mr. Matthiessen's own birth, as if he wished to start over. He did find peace there for a few weeks, among the Hadza bowmen of Gidabembe, in Tanzania. Here, too, he does, among these medieval villages--Murwa, Shey, Rohagaon, Tarakot. Within a day's walk is a new tribe, perhaps an atmosphere utterly different. But what makes the search more interesting is that his focus has shifted from birth to death and transfiguration. Edward Hoagland is the author of "Notes From the Century Before," "Cat Man" and "Walking the Dead Diamond River." [March 30] Q. What happened to your job? A. I got fired because of my drug use. Q. I thought it was because you quit your job because of child support issues. A. That was part of it. Q. Well, thats different than getting fired. -------------------- Q. It says highly probable to be at risk. Do you feel, just help me out, do you feel that there would be that you would be successful if placed on parole? A. Yes, sir. I believe the last time I was on parole was probably the best time I was ever doing, you know. I was working, no drugs, never violated curfew. Those might have been the best years of my life. Q. So what happened that made you fall off? A. I dont know. I guess just being irresponsible. Thats the only thing I can really say. Podemos Spain Anti-austerity Anti-globalization Anti-eurozone Anti-establishment Anti-European Union Anti-immigration Anti-Islam Syriza Greece Five Star Movement Italy U.K. Independence Party Britain National Front France Freedom Party The Netherlands Alt . ernative for Germany Germany Freedom Party Austria The election of Donald J. Trump in the United States has energized some insurgent European parties as they seek to overturn the established political order. Italy The Five Star Movement is against the establishment, the eurozone and austerity. In Rome, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said late last year that he would resign after Italians rejected constitutional changes that he had championed. Populist anti-establishment parties like the Five Star Movement, founded by the comedian Beppe Grillo, and the anti-immigrant Northern League led the opposition to the overhaul, which would have concentrated power in the hands of the prime minister. Beppe Grillo on Mr. Trumps win The mainstream media has often spoken of Pannocchia in the same way they speak of our movement. Do you remember? They said that we were sexist, homophobic, demagogues, populists. They do not realize that millions of people no longer read their newspapers or watch their TVs. Trump capitalized on all this. Note: Pannocchia is an Italian word for an ear of corn, and a playful nickname for Mr. Trump due to perceived visual similarities between corn silk and his hair. Austria The Freedom Party is against the establishment, globalization, the European Union, the eurozone, immigration and Islam. The Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer lost his campaign for president in a repeat runoff vote late last year. Mr. Hofer had run on a platform of restricting immigration and strengthening the countrys borders. Norbert Hofer on Mr. Trumps win Wherever the elites distance themselves from voters, those elites will be voted out of office. France The National Front is against the establishment, globalization, the European Union, the eurozone, immigration and Islam. The National Front maintains a socially conservative, euroskeptic, nationalist voice in French politics. Its leader, Marine Le Pen, made it to the second round in the presidential election in the spring, then lost the general election. She has described Mr. Trumps victory as good news for our country. Marine Le Pen on Mr. Trumps win Donald Trump has made possible what was presented as completely impossible. So its a sign of hope for those who cannot bear wild globalization, who cannot bear the political life led by the elites. The Netherlands The Freedom Party is against the establishment, the European Union, the eurozone, immigration and Islam. The Netherlands held a general election in March, and the Freedom Party gained seats in Parliament. The party has proposed registering Dutch citizens ethnicity and banning Islamic schools. Geert Wilders, the partys leader, on Mr. Trumps win America regained its national sovereignty, its identity. It reclaimed its own democracy, thats why I called it a revolution. And I think that the people of America, as in Europe, feel insulted by all the politicians that ignore the real problems. Germany Alternative for Germany is against the establishment, the eurozone, immigration and Islam. Founded as an anti-eurozone party in 2013, Alternative for Germany had a strong showing in state elections and now has a presence in 10 of 16 state Parliaments. The party is expected to win seats in the national Parliament in the general election this fall. Frauke Petry, the partys leader, on Mr. Trumps win The election of Donald Trump is a triumph of the American people, a victory of ordinary people over the political establishment. Its a victory over the politically correct globalist elites who show little interest in the well-being of the people. Note: While not officially against the European Union, Alternative for Germany wants to regain some national sovereignty and suggests leaving or dismantling the E.U. if such overhauls are not possible. Britain The U.K. Independence Party is against the establishment, globalization, the European Union, the eurozone and immigration. The party, known as UKIP, was founded as a euroskeptic group that advocated leaving the European Union. Nigel Farage, the leader of the party at the time of Mr. Trumps election, said that he couldnt be happier about it. Nigel Farage, then the partys leader, on Mr. Trumps win Brexit was the first brick that was knocked out of the establishment wall. A lot more were knocked out last night. This is Brexit times three. It is a bigger country, it is a bigger position, it is a bigger event. Spain Podemos is against the establishment, globalization and austerity. Podemos, a left-leaning populist group, is the third-largest party in the lower house of the Spanish Parliament, holding 20 percent of the seats. Pablo Iglesias, the partys leader, on Mr. Trumps win Those who call Trump a right-wing populist have a good point. Is there a better way to describe fascism than right-wing populism? Populism is not an ideology, its not a political platform, its a method of constructing a politics from an outside one that expands in moments of crisis. Orange County congressman Dana Rohrabacher, gaining media attention amid discussion of Donald Trumps secretary of state nomination, on Monday offered support of the president-elects controversial call to Taiwanese President Tsai Ingwen. I think it was a terrific message to (China) that were no longer going to be pushovers, and theres going to be consequences for their hostile and aggressive actions, the Costa Mesa Republican told Fox News on Monday. Rohrabacher has said hes under consideration for the secretary of state post and spokesman Ken Grubbs said the congressman has been contacted by the Trump transition team. Asked about Politicos report that a Trump transition source said Rohrabacher would likely be offered a lower post in the State Department, Grubbs declined comment. Trumps phone call last week with Ingwen irritated China, whose leaders consider Taiwan a rogue province. Trump defended the contact in a tweet and accused China of economic policies that he says hurt the U.S. Trump senior advisor Kellyanne Conway told reporters that her boss was expanding his list of secretary of state candidates and would be interviewing additional prospects this week. The previous finalists were former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, retired Gen. David Petraeus and Sen. Bob Corker. Vice President-elect Mike Pence told ABC that former United Nations Ambassador Bolton met with Trump about the post on Friday. Transition sources said that Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson and retired Navy Admiral James Stavridis were scheduled for meetings with Trump this week, according to Politico. Also mentioned as a possible prospect is former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, according to Politico, which called Rohrabacher a dark-horse candidate for the job. Rohrabacher is aligned with Trump on several issues, including foreign policy, immigration and skepticism that mankind is contributing to global warming. Both also seek better relations with Russia and see President Vladimir Putin as a potential ally in the war against the Islamic State. Rohrabacher, 69, was just elected to his 15th term in Congress. He has never held a committee chairmanship. He is a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats. The Associated Press and the Washington Post contributed to this report. Contact the writer: mwisckol@scng.com CANNON BALL, N.D. Federal officials announced Sunday that they would not approve permits for construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline beneath a dammed section of the Missouri River that tribes say sits near sacred burial sites. The decision is a victory for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of protesters camped near the construction site who have opposed the project because they said it would threaten a water source and cultural sites. Federal officials had given the protesters until Monday to leave a campsite near the construction site. In a statement Sunday, the Department of the Armys assistant secretary for Civil Works, Jo-Ellen Darcy, said the decision was based on a need to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing. Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, its clear that theres more work to do, Darcy said. The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing. The consideration of alternative routes would be best accomplished through an Environmental Impact Statement with full public input and analysis, Darcy said in a statement. But it was unclear how durable the governments decision would be. Sundays announcement came in the dwindling days of the Obama administration, which revealed in November that the Army Corps of Engineers was considering an alternative route. The Corps of Engineers is part of the Department of the Army. There was no immediate response from Energy Transfer Partners, but the chief executive, Kelcy Warren, has said that the company was unwilling to reroute the pipeline, which is intended to transport as many as 550,000 barrels of oil a day from the oil fields of western North Dakota to a terminal in Illinois. Reaction was swift on both sides, with environmental groups like Greenpeace praising the decision. The water protectors have done it, said Lilian Molina, a Greenpeace spokeswoman. This is a monumental victory in the fight to protect indigenous rights and sovereignty. But Craig Stevens, a spokesman for the MAIN Coalition, a pro-infrastructure group, condemned the move as a purely political decision that flies in the face of common sense and the rule of law. Unfortunately, its not surprising that the president would, again, use executive fiat in an attempt to enhance his legacy among the extreme left, Stevens said in a statement. With President-elect Trump set to take office in 47 days, we are hopeful that this is not the final word on the Dakota Access Pipeline. North Dakotas leaders criticized the decision, with Gov. Jack Dalrymple calling it a serious mistake that prolongs the dangerous situation of having several hundred protesters who are camped out on federal land during cold, wintry weather. U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer said its a very chilling signal for the future of infrastructure in the United States. The four-state, $3.8 billion project is largely complete except for the now-blocked segment underneath Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir. The announcement set off whoops of joy inside the Oceti Sakowin camp. Tribal members paraded through the camp on horseback, jubilantly beating drums and gathering around a fire at the center of the camp. Tribal elders celebrated what they said was the validation of months of prayer and protest. Its wonderful, Dave Archambault II, Standing Rock tribal chairman, told cheering supporters who stood in the melting snow on a mild North Dakota afternoon. You all did that. Your presence has brought the attention of the world. Archambault expressed gratitude for the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing. Tribal officials had criticized the route because of the potential damage to the tribes drinking water and said it would disrupt sacred lands. NEW YORK Donald Trump chose retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson on Monday to be secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, raising fresh concerns about the lack of experience some of Trumps Cabinet picks have with agencies theyre now being chosen to lead. Carson, who opposed Trump in the Republican primaries, has no background in government or running a large bureaucracy. In addition, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Trumps choice to be ambassador to the United Nations, has no foreign policy experience. Steve Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs partner and Hollywood executive, is Trumps man to lead the Treasury Department but has never worked in government. And retired Gen. James Mattis, a widely praised battlefield commander, spent decades in the Marines but now is tapped to run the nations largest government agency, the Defense Department, with 740,000 civilian employees in addition to 1.3 million service personnel. Democrats swiftly criticized Carsons qualifications for his job. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called him a disconcerting and disturbingly unqualified choice. New York Sen. Charles Schumer said he had serious concerns about Dr. Carsons lack of expertise and experience in dealing with housing issues. Someone who is as anti-government as him is a strange fit for housing secretary, to say the least. Carson would oversee a budget of nearly $50 billion that provides rental assistance for more than 5 million households. Demand for that assistance is high in part because housing costs are rising faster than incomes. HUD also promotes home ownership, with the Federal Housing Administration underwriting about 1 in 6 mortgages issued in the U.S. The agency is charged with enforcing federal fair housing laws, too. In a statement, Trump said he was thrilled to nominate Carson, describing his brilliant mind and his passion about strengthening communities and families within those communities. Carson, who grew up poor, quickly endorsed Trump after ending his own presidential bid despite Trump noting what he called Carsons pathological temper. Carson has been coy about joining the new administration, saying shortly after Trumps election victory that he wasnt certain hed fit into a Cabinet-style role in a job like Health and Human Services secretary. Heading a Cabinet agency is a huge bureaucratic job, with responsibility for overseeing massive budgets and thousands of employees. Choosing a leader without management experience could present challenges, warned Ben Chang, who worked under three administrations. People can learn the policies and the talking points, but the transition will be dictated by their own managerial style, said Chang, who remembered incoming Secretary of State Colin Powell walking the halls to meet with career officers and not just his executive staff. On Monday, Trump received a fresh stream of visitors to the New York skyscraper that bears his name. His most surprising guest was Democratic former Vice President Al Gore. Transition officials said early Monday that Gore would meet with Trumps daughter, Ivanka, about climate change, which is Gores signature issue. But Gore said he also met with Donald Trump directly and the two had a very productive conversation. SACRAMENTO Democratic state lawmakers passed a resolution Monday urging President-elect Donald Trump not to pursue mass deportations and to uphold a program for young immigrants in the country illegally over protests from Republican lawmakers. The measure passed in both chambers urges Trump to continue the Obama administration program that has helped more than 740,000 young people brought to the country as children obtain work permits. It comes as Democrats who hold supermajorities in both chambers plan a series of bills to protect immigrants from Trumps campaign promises of increased deportations. Proposals being discussed include providing lawyers to immigrants in deportation proceedings and helping public defenders assess the immigration consequences of criminal convictions. It was the first day of the new legislative session, which is typically reserved for congratulatory handshakes and bipartisan photo-ops. But debate over the resolution was heated. Sen. John Moorlach, a Republican from Costa Mesa, said he thought it was the wrong approach for California to take such an antagonistic tone with a president who is not even inaugurated yet. Im not comfortable with saying we will fight, although I understand it. I think we ought to try to work with this administration, he said. We should be collaborative. I dont think defiance is the right approach. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, a Democrat from Los Angeles and the resolutions author, said he doubted that if the measure were postponed to tone down the language or wait until after the inauguration Republicans would support it. He called the legislation necessary and urgent as children are afraid their parents will be deported. This is real. Its not partisanship, de Leon said. We will defend the values of our state. This is an issue we must face head-on. Immigrant advocates say state bills are also being considered to further limit federal immigration enforcement in California which is home to more than 10 million foreign-born residents and protect immigrants information in state databases. Nearly 2.4 million immigrants in the state lack legal status, according to estimates by the Washington-based Pew Research Center. Both houses of the California Legislature have Democratic supermajorities, controlling two-thirds of the seats in the Assembly and Senate. In recent years, California has passed a series of measures to assist and protect immigrants in the country illegally, for example, limiting the cases when local law enforcement can turn over immigrant arrestees to federal authorities for deportation. California offers state-subsidized health care to children from low-income families who are in the country illegally and issues drivers licenses regardless of legal status. Associated Press writers Juliet Williams in Sacramento and Amy Taxin in Santa Ana contributed to this report. Super King, Total Wine & More and 99 Ranch Market are the latest retailers joining grocery delivery service Instacart, which has expanded its reach in Orange County. In March, the San Francisco-based company began doorstep delivery in Irvine, Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. It has since expanded to Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo and Mission Viejo. Later this month, deliveries in Huntington Beach, Santa Ana and Fountain Valley will be added. In Orange County, Instacart works with Petco, Costco, Whole Foods Market, Gelsons Market, Stater Bros., Smart & Final and H Mart. In the case of Costco, membership is not required for orders. Super King and Total Wine joined recently as partners, and 99 Ranch deliveries began Monday. Founded in 2012, Instacart uses personal shoppers to deliver goods for $6 for orders totaling more than $35 or $10 for orders under $35. For Instacart Express members, who pay an annual $149 fee, deliveries of $35 or more are free when a one-hour, two-hour or scheduled delivery is selected. All orders must be more than $10. Availability of stores varies depending on location. Users can insert their ZIP code into the Instacart app to see what stores are available to them. Instacarts expansion in Orange County comes as third-party grocery delivery services have ramped up across the nation. According to 1010data Market Insights, the online grocery delivery industry has grown 55 percent since 2014 with much of the growth in New York and California. New York-based FreshDirect is the category leader. However Instacart has nearly doubled since last year, according to 1010data, which tracks and analyzes online consumer spending. AmazonFresh is also disrupting the traditional grocery sector, but has seen hiccups along the way. In October, the e-retailer dropped its monthly subscription fee nearly $10 to $14.99, or $179.88 a year, for an overall savings of around $119. AmazonFresh is available as an add-on to Amazon Prime subscribers, who pay an annual $99 membership fee. Fresh delivers groceries to select metro markets, including many communities in Orange and Los Angeles counties. Secret jail logs kept by Orange County Sheriff Deputies indicate at least one housing area was outfitted for months with a recording device and it is unclear whether the recordings were shared with defense lawyers. The logs, describing how informants were used, seem to contradict testimony of some deputies who said they were not involved with snitches. The targets of the recordings were not listed in the 247 pages of significantly redacted logs from 2008 to 2013 released Monday by Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals. These logs are only a portion of the 1,157 pages turned over to the judge by the sheriffs department. The logs offered for the first time an inside look at how sheriffs deputies organized and ran a clandestine team of jailhouse informants aimed at getting confessions out of targeted inmates. They also detailed the methods deputies used to deploy third-strike candidate Oscar Moriel as an informant, including having drugs brought into the jail to maintain his cover. Moriel also volunteered time in disciplinary isolation as part of his role. RELATED: Inside the Snitch Tank: Read the full story of murder, misconduct and justice delayed The released logs mentioned that L-20 was fitted with a microphone as part of a undisclosed project. Many jails use informants and recording devices to help maintain security. But it is illegal to use an informant on a target who is legally represented. Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens detailed in a release Monday afternoon the steps her department has taken in the past 10 months since the discovery of the logs, including dissolving the jails Special Handling unit and forming the Custody Intelligence Unit in September. The CIU is not a reincarnation of the Special Handling Unit, she said in the release. The purpose of the unit is investigative in nature, including interacting with city, state and federal law enforcement agencies; conducting operations inside OCSD jail facilities; managing confidential informants and maintaining informant documentation; investigating crimes committed inside the jail facilities; preparing intelligence/security briefings; and preparing various documents and discovery for court cases. In October, the OCSD, in an effort to find the logs that existed after 2013, assigned 19 sergeants to examine every document on Custody Division computer drives. MORE: Read the detailed jailhouse informant sheriffs logs The Orange County District Attorneys Office in a statement Monday said it is reviewing the logs and will work diligently to remedy any legal issues and ensure that the rights of victims, witnesses and defendants are protected. Among the disclosures was that Deputy William Grover was far more involved in the handling of jail informants than he led on during his testimony in the case of mass murderer Scott Dekraai. I dont work with informants, Grover testified in 2014. I rarely work with informants. And to be honest with you, I try and avoid jailhouse informants. But Grover penned many of the log entries, which showed him having informants moved, participating in interviews and screening messages. Grover was not one of the two deputies accused by Goethals of testifying dishonestly. But Grover later began to invoke his right not to testify for fear of self-incrimination in recent criminal cases. The sheriffs department does not allow deputies to comment. Seth Tunstall was one of the deputies that the judge said either lied or withheld evidence from the court. Tunstall had testified during the Dekraai case that he did not work cultivating informants. But the logs show that Tunstall was so proficient even handling informants outside the jail that fellow deputies requested he put on a workshop to teach us how to cultivate a (confidential informant) on the street. The logs were so secret that deputies even discussed withholding information from other police departments. According to one passage, Deputy Tunstall requested we limit the information we pass on to (Anaheim Police Department). The unauthorized logs showed the extent that deputies went to fool targeted inmates into confessing, at one point creating dummy documents and spreading gossip to create the illusion that a jail informant had attacked a deputy, to bolster his credibility. Deputies at the jail sometimes didnt wait for a request from other departments to surveil inmates. In at least one case, a recording device captured a conversation that proved interesting to the arresting department. I called (a detective) of the Orange Police Department and asked if he was interested in getting a copy of the kite (note) and the actual conversation that we recorded, a deputy wrote. (The detective) was excited that we have that info. The logs revealed a complex informant system where deputies ran capers, with such names as Operation Okie-Dokie, Operation Dead Cockroach and Operation Smoke and Mirrors. They were assembled into groups such as the Green Team. Sheriff Hutchens has consistently said there is no assembled or organized team of snitches. One of the so-called capers was a project targeting Mexican Mafia gang members and murder cases gone cold. Moriel, who testified that he killed six people who were never identified, was one of the countys key informants. Even the deputies, in their blogs, were impressed by him. Wow. This O.M. caper is huge, a deputy wrote. It is really cool that we seem to ALL!! be working together. I feel good about this, I hope everybody else does as well. The deputy went on to tell how various inmates would be moved next to Moriel, an expert informant. Friday I will turn him (loose) in L-20 and see what comes back from the sources in place, wrote the deputy. The release of the logs comes less than two weeks after an appeals court issued a blistering decision accusing the district attorneys office and the sheriffs department of systemic cheating, using jailhouse informants. The notes appear to bolster that accusation. The secret notes were kept from 2008 to 2013 by special handling deputies in charge of managing informants at the Orange County Jail. The digitally stored notes surfaced around March about three years after Goethals ordered that all informant documents be turned over to him. The notes called logs by sheriffs officials detail the handling and movements of confidential jailhouse informants. Hutchens tried to block the public release of the logs, saying it would impair jail security and endanger deputies, inmates and informants. Snitches would stop talking to deputies, stop warning them of planned internal attacks, said Hutchens attorneys. In one preview, Goethals released a page of notes taken after prosecutors warned deputies in 2013 that a judge was on the verge of ordering all informant documents to be turned over. Deputy leaders ordered the logs be discontinued and a new set of documents be created, although no one has been able to find the secondary notes. Besides the logs, sheriffs deputies for decades have kept another set of secret records documenting inmate movement, called TRED. The California Attorney Generals office, for the past 11/2 years, has been investigating Orange Countys justice system. The members of OCSD and my leadership team remain committed to searching for and providing documents that are responsive to discovery requests and subpoenas, Hutchens said in her release. We will continue to cooperate with the Attorney Generals on-going criminal investigation. Our internal administrative investigation is still on-going and will be completed once the Attorney Generals criminal investigation is completed. The hidden sheriffs records are a key component in the 31/2-year-old controversy over the improper use by police and prosecutors of jail informants and the withholding of evidence. The clandestine informant program was discovered by Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders while representing mass murderer Dekraai and convicted killer Daniel Wozniak. While investigating Sanders accusations, Judge Goethals became so troubled that he removed the district attorneys office from Dekraais penalty phase trial, handing the case to the state. Dekraai has pleaded guilty to killing eight people and injuring another in a shooting rampage at a Seal Beach salon in 2011. The 4th District Court of Appeal recently upheld Goethals decision to remove local prosecutors from the case. The 3-0 panel unanimously ruled that prosecutors and deputies used snitches improperly to get evidence from inmates who had legal representation. Law enforcement also withheld evidence from defense lawyers. Contact the writer: tsaavedra@scng.com Celebrating a decade of music, tattoos and classic cars, the annual Musink festival, curated by Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, will return March 17-19 to the OC Fair & Events Center The all-ages lifestyle event will once again feature hundreds of world-renowned tattoo artists; top-notch musical acts, including headlining sets by NOFX, Bad Religion and the Used; a sprawling vendor village; and the Low and Slow Car Show, presented by Barkers clothing and accessories company, Famous Stars and Straps, which will display American classics and low riders, including some from Barkers personal collection. NOFX will headline March 17 with support from O.C.s the Vandals, Lagwagon and A Wilhelm Scream. The Used will lead the charge March 18 along with Glassjaw, Goldfinger, Story of the Year and Huntington Beach-based Hell or Highwater. Bad Religion, Pennywise and Swingin Utters will close out the event March 19. Couldnt be more stoked to be back playing Musink, one of the best festivals in Southern California, if not the best, Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge said via a press release. Tattoos, music, cars, bikes and never-ending booze? How can it get any better? Always an insanely great party with good friends, awesome tattoo artists and some of the best bands on the planet. Its a no-brainer! See you in the pit, fools! Dan Whitesides, drummer for the Used, said the band will certainly look forward to playing its first show after being cooped up in the Orange County studio where it will be recording its new album. So please join us, and get yourself a Used tattoo on your forehead while youre at it, he added. Festival hours are 3-10 p.m. March 17, noon-10 p.m. March 18 and noon-9 p.m. March 19. General single-day admission starts at $45, and three-day passes start at $120; single-day VIP with front-of-stage and VIP lounge access is $129; Travis Barker Ultimate VIP Meet & Greet with single-day VIP access is $299. Children 7 and younger admitted free with paid adult. A limited number of discount, early-bird, single-day, general admission tickets, $35, and three-day passes, $99, will be available beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Musinkfest.com. Contact the writer: 714-796-3570 or kfadroski@ocregister.com The Baroque Hoedown will be heard at Disneyland once again, when the Main Street Electrical Parade returns to its original park Jan. 20. Disneyland announced the start date for the return of the parade on its Disney Parks blog today. The parade will only have a limited run at Disneyland with its last performance June 18. The last parade at the Disneyland Resort, was in Disney California Adventure in 2010. It was then shipped to Walt Disney World where it played in the Magic Kingdom there. The last Main Street Electrical Parade in Florida was in October. Disneyland announced the parade would return to Anaheim earlier this year. The parade premiered at Disneyland in 1972; its distinctive music and floats made up of twinkling lights was an immediate hit. It was performed nightly during summer and other seasons for many years, ending its run there in 1996. With disappointing attendance in Disney California Adventure after it opened, the parade was brought out of retirement to that park in 2001, playing until 2010. When the parade returns, it will have some of its classic floats including a train pulling a giant drum, made up of lights, that say Disneyland Presents the Main Street Electrical Parade. There will also be a float that looks like Eliot from the movie Petes Dragon complete with smoke pouring from its mouth. Other floats will have many of Disneys classic characters such as Cinderella, Pinocchio and Alice in Wonderland. The finale float is a 108-foot-long American flag. Versions of the parade have appeared in other Disney parks around the world including Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris over the years. To celebrate the return of the parade, a specially decorated Main Street Electrical Parade boat will appear in the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade that runs the nights of Dec. 14-18 in Newport Harbor. Mickey Mouse will serve as grand marshal for the boat parade on opening night. The park also announced a special premiere party the evening of Jan. 19. It will be open only to those purchasing tickets to that event. The tickets for this event go on sale Tuesday for annual passholders, and Dec. 13 to the public. Tickets for the special premiere night event will only be sold by visiting a ticket booth at the Disneyland Resort, or by calling 714-781-4636. More information will be available on Disneylands website beginning Tuesday. Contact the writer: meades@scng.com or follow on twitter @markaeades Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo said she will resign as housing secretary on Monday after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered her to stop attending Cabinet meetings, a development that could galvanize opposition to Duterte. Robredo said she received a text message from Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco relaying the presidents instruction. Not attending the cabinet meetings would make it impossible for her to perform her duties as head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, she said in a statement on her website. From the very beginning, the president and I had major differences in principles and values, Robredo said. She had expressed concern over rising extrajudicial killings related to Dutertes war against drugs and has opposed the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Heroes Graveyard, which Duterte endorsed. Thousands joined the protests against the former dictators burial last month. The former leaders son, Bongbong Marcos, lost to Robredo in the vice-presidential race in May. He filed an election protest and asked the Supreme Court to void Robredos proclamation. Robredos resignation could signal a period of struggle is looming, with Duterte drawing a clear divide between the administration and its members, according to Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute of Political and Electoral Reform in Quezon City. The president is trying to consolidate his own forces, anticipating a political struggle, Casiple said. He drew the line, and I think hes trying to force the hand of a relatively weak opposition. Duterte may have wasted the opportunity for national unity with his decision to exclude Robredo from Cabinet meetings, he said. Robredo, who was not on a ticket with Duterte during the May elections, will remain vice president, a position thats is elected separately from the president. The two are are from rival political parties. Robredo said in her statement that she had chosen to ignore warnings of a plot to steal the vice presidency, but the events of recent days indicate that this plot is now being set into motion. I will not allow the will of the people to be thwarted. Irreconcilable differences between the nations top leaders led to Robredos resignation, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in an interview with DZBB radio. South Coast Repertorys annual staging of A Christmas Carol has become a holiday tradition for Orange County. Some of you, like Ebenezer Scrooge, may for whatever reasons resist the beck and call of Christmas. A visit to SCRs Segerstrom Stage will cure that and instantly put you in the yuletide mood. Even as Hal Landon Jr. is the shows reliable centerpiece and beating heart as Scrooge, hes surrounded by a raft of SCR regulars, including fellow founding artists Richard Doyle and Art Koustik plus John-David Keller, a company actor and director since 1973 who fulfills both those roles here. Charles Dickens Christmastime ghost story would carry little weight with a threadbare staging, and the design team, as always, sumptuously adorns Jerry Patchs adaptation. Richly Dickensian are Thomas Buderwitzs scenic and Dwight Richard Odles costume designs, situating us squarely in London circa 1843, but theyre just the start of a fully realized you are there look enhanced by Donna and Tom Ruzikas expressive lighting and Drew Dalzells often spectral sound scheme. Having helmed all 37 of SCRs Carols, Kellers staging is magical, his use of SCRs stage weaving a tapestry of Dickens immortal story and characters thats always compelling, entertaining and downright moving. Everyone knows how Christmas-hating Scrooge (Landon) values monetary wealth over humanity and how the Dec. 24 visitations of four spirits shakes him to his core and forces him to realize what hes been missing. Patch, Keller and company evoke Dickens at every turn, yet compress the novella into a compact two hours. That makes this Christmas Carol accessible to all: Children who have yet to read the classic original, older kids who have, and high school and college students studying literature and theater, plus adults of all ages those who love Dickens and this story, and those unfamiliar with it but curious. Every step of the way, SCRs staging relates the look, mood and spirit of Dickens novella and the images it evokes. The opening scene warmly conveys the good cheer of Londoners on Christmas Eve; by contrast, nearly all of Act 2 is aptly grim and somber at least, that is, until Scrooges epiphany and extraordinary change of heart. From the get-go, snarling at tenant who owes rent, Landons ferocious Scrooge growls and grumbles at all. Labeled a misers miser a businessman, this wretched old vulture is his own worst enemy. Scrooge snarls at holiday season charities and the idle people who benefit by them. Christmas, he insists, is none of my business. The sight of the old sourpuss muttering to himself elicits laughs, but also only makes the old man that much more pathetic. Landons Scrooge is actually joyous at seeing his own boyhood, and is amazed to behold the lively crowd he worked among as an apprentice to Fezziwig (Keller). Yet during the rest of that fateful Christmas Eve, Scrooge sees his possible fate, which terrifies him. Hes literally scared straight. Patch lifts much dialogue verbatim from Dickens, lending this Carol authenticity, and has inserted musical interludes at key moments, showcasing the casts singing, Dennis McCarthys original music and Sylvia C. Turners choreography. Balancing those lighthearted scenes are the varying personalities of the four spirits, with great effects used to bring each on in a different way. Despite the Cratchit familys modest means, its touching how their home is filled with such familial love. Equal in good cheer, yet in contrast, is the relative opulence of Freds home, with its attendant conviviality and good-natured mockery of Freds miserly uncle. Despite constant abuse by Scrooge, clerk Bob Cratchit manages to be mild-mannered and pleasant. Daniel Blinkoff reads him as gentle, softhearted and careworn, his psyche especially fragile when it comes to Tiny Tim (Maggie Elizabeth Moland). William Francis McGuire makes Fred, Scrooges nephew, an ebullient everyman whose underlying sympathy for his nasty kinsman is sincere. Despite formal diction and a crisp British accent, Larry Bates makes Marleys Ghost as ferocious as Scrooge. Doyles Christmas Past is a cheery yet perceptive little guy who cannily uses reverse psychology on Scrooge. Timothy Landfields playful, broadly clownish Spirit of the Present is Christmas personified. As young adult Scrooge, Alex Knox resembles a younger version of Landon, sketching a cautious, vulnerable soul who clearly doesnt trust happiness. A glowing face and warm persona define Erika Schindeles Belle, her heart broken by wealth-pursuing Scrooge. Director Keller makes a kindly, fun-loving Fezziwig, with Kimberly Scott bubbly as his wife. Rosney Maugers Marley as a young man a wolf in sheeps clothing smiling blankly, but always all business. Ten sepia-tone engravings scene paintings highly evocative of the eras flavor flank the stage, adorning the proscenium, while Scrooges gloomy bedchamber and office look just as described in the novel. Odles fantastic costumes convey the entire spectrum of 1840s London society, from the hand-to-mouth squalor of those who fence dead Scrooges belongings (like Koustiks avaricious Joe) to Scrooges all-black personal stinginess to the colorful cheer of Fezziwigs employees and the lavish, handsome attire of Fred and wife Sallys guests. As Dickens envisioned Carol as a ghost story for the holidays, The Ruzikas and Dalzell opt for much thats spectral, from eerie moans and clanking chains to ghostly greens and even spookier ultraviolet lighting. But SCRs annual classic revolves, of course, around Landon, and its a joy to watch him effect the dizzy giddiness of Scrooge, elated over having been given a second chance, a new lease on life. Landons work in that closing scene? Simply wonderful. The reactions of everyone who know Scrooge only as a heartless meanie? Priceless. Contact the writer: emarchesewriter@gmail.com Heres a roundup of restaurant and retail news from across Orange County. Take a look at the slideshow for more details on each. South Coast Plaza: The mall has added a handful of new retailers in recent months, including White Lilac, a 20-year-old event design company that has taken its signature style and put it into a boutique. The store opened Nov. 26 and sells housewares, accessories, furniture and decor. The location is the companys first brick-and-mortar store. The company has roots with the mall, having designed decor for its events. Over the years, guests and clients have been asking me how they can buy the special items that weve showcased at private events. Now, they can, said Sunny Ravanbach, president of White Lilac, in a statement. The store is on Level One near Macys. Other stores to open recently at the mall are: Weekend Max Mara: The store opened in mid-November, its first location in the U.S. but 200th in the global chain. The store is near Bloomingdales. & Other Stories: The H&M Group brand opened this fall at South Coast Plaza in the Bloomingdales wing. It was the brands first location on the West Coast when it opened. & Other Stories now also has a location in Beverly Hills. The Webster: The mens and womens accessories store opened in September. The Miami-based chain carries labels including Alexander Wang, Givenchy, Off White and Stella McCartney. It is the brands first West Coast outpost. The store is on Level Two between the jewel and carousel courts. Monark Premium Appliance Co.: The store, adjacent to Nordstrom, opened in November. The company with showrooms in Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada sells brands such as Sub-Zero, Wolf, Viking, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Bosch, Miele, Thermador, GE Monogram and Dacor. Cole Haan: The lifestyle brand opened in October. The store sells footwear, outerwear, jewelry, purses, sunglasses and more. The store is next to Kate Spade New York near the carousel court. Rimowa: The German luxury luggage maker opened in July. The 2,169 square foot store opened as a temporary location for the store for two years as permanent store is built at the center during that time. Rimowa is located on level 2s carousel court. Pop-up stores: Just in time for your stocking-stuffer list, the mall has added temporary holiday favorites: Harry & David and Go! Calendars. Harry & David, on Level Ones carousel court, opened in October. The store sells gifts like flowers, baskets and chocolates. Go! Calendars, near Crate & Barrel on Level Three, opened in November. The store sells calendars and planners. New store designs: SC Trojan Town, Loro Piana, Piaget, The Walking Co. and CH Carolina Herrera have remodeled this year. Planned 2017 openings: A handful of new tenants will include: Dior Homme (January) and Stella McCartney (March). Other county retail-restaurant news: Zovs Marketplace: Four years after launching a retail shop next to her Tustin cafe, Zov Karamardian is recasting the marketplace space by focusing on diners sweet tooth. Angelinas Pizzeria: The chains locations in Irvine and Dana Point are undergoing a few modifications. Wienerschnitzel: A Texas-based franchise group announced plans to build 32 Wienerschnitzel restaurants throughout Houston and its 20 surrounding counties, the Irvine-based company said. Houston Wieners is a family-run operations with three restaurants in Texas. The new agreement calls for the franchise group to expand over a 15-year period. The first restaurants are expected to open in 2017. Sees Candies: The chain opened a pop-up shop Nov. 10 at The Shops at Mesa Verde in Costa Mesa. It will remain open until Dec. 31. Address: 2701 Harbor Blvd. Union Market Mission Viejo: The food hall, on the upper level of Kaleidoscope, has added a handful of new tenants. New eateries include chocolate shop Sweets Choice; Portola Coffee, a specialty coffee bar; and Market 2 Plate, featuring pastas and salads. Tasty Bowl, an Asian-inspired bowl, salad, ramen and udon restaurant, has also opened at Kaleidoscope. El Pollo Loco: The Costa Mesa-based chicken chain launched online and mobile ordering last week. The mobile app, developed in partnership with New York-based Olo, allows customers to skip the line and pay ahead for their meals. The launch is part of the companys commitment to providing personalized and convenient dining options for its guests, El Pollo Loco said in a statement. Indulge in India: The company is having a jewelry trunk show 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday at Androsa on Lido Island. Jewelry on display is by owner and designer Sanjay Kasliwal of Gem Palace, one of the oldest jewelry institutions in India. Prices range from $300 to $2 million. Address: 3406 Via Lido. Send any retail updates to hmadans@ocregister.com and any restaurant news to nluna@ocregister.com Orange County United Way is seeking volunteers to help low-to-moderate income residents complete their 2016 tax returns and maximize benefits offered through the Earned Income Tax Credit. Last year, over 350 IRS certified volunteers in Orange County filed more than 17,500 tax returns at no cost to local families. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program returned $15.5 million to taxpayers through federal and staterefunds,and saved low-income taxpayers $3.2 million in tax preparation fees. Among the most critical volunteers needed every year are those who speak Spanish. While these bilingual individuals are needed most at sites serving heavily Latino communities, Spanish-speaking interpretersand tax preparers are welcome at every VITA location. VITA volunteer training is available through Jan. 30. Free tax preparation starts Jan. 28. Those interested in volunteering for the VITA program are encouraged to visit unitedwayoc.org/vita. ON THE MOVE Jennifer Jackman has been appointed chief executive for Edinger Medical Group in Fountain Valley. Jackman, a health care leader and recognized public policy advocate for physician organizations, has over 25 years of experience in the industry. Before joining Edinger Medical Group, she served as CEO for MemorialCare Medical Foundation in Fountain Valley. She also was senior vice president of Medical Group Operations for Monarch Healthcare in Irvine and CEO of Bright Health Physicians. Michael Carpenter has been appointed president of global sales and field operations for CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity tech firm based in Irvine. Previously, Carpenter served as president of global sales and field operations at Tanium. Carpenter also held a senior sales position at Intel Security where he led the Americas sales theater, a $1.5 billion-dollar business. Legal Aid Society of Orange County has named a new executive director. After leading the organization for 36 years, Robert J. Cohen is stepping down and passing the helm to Kate Marr. Marr has over 16 years experience litigating and advising clients at several legal services programs in Southern California. Marr has handled a number of domestic violence, family law and immigration cases. GOOD WORKS Fly-n-Fish Oyster Bar in Newport Beach donated $10,150 to St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital after hosting the second annual Chowder For A Cause, a monthlong philanthropic initiative where proceeds from every bowl of New England Clam Chowder sold was donated. Santa Monica Seafood donated all of the clams for the cause. NEW VENTURES Aram Melkonyan has relocated his Renaissance Repair Shop from the King Richard Antique Center in Whittier to 501-C South Brea Blvd. in Brea. Melkonyan, a seventh-generation artisan/craftsman, specializes in the restoration and repair of treasured pewter, platinum, gold and silver decorator items, serving pieces and fine jewelry. MILESTONES Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach has again been named one of the nations 50 top cardiovascular hospitals by Truven Health Analytics, an IBM firm. Hoag has received this national designation in back-to-back years, both 2016 and 2017, and was the only California community hospital to make the list. Overall, some of the key performance benchmarks set by this years top 50 include lower readmission rates, higher inpatient survival rates, fewer complications and shorter lengths of stay. Submit items for Status Update to Samantha Gowen at sgowen@ocregister.com TOKYO Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will become the first sitting Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor, he said Monday, making a symbolic visit this month to the site of the Japanese attack 75 years ago that pulled a stunned United States into World War II. Abe said in a televised news conference that he would travel to the U.S. naval base with President Barack Obama during a trip to Hawaii on Dec. 26 and 27. By visiting Pearl Harbor, Abe will in effect be reciprocating a trip earlier this year by Obama to Hiroshima, where the United States dropped a nuclear bomb at the end of the war with Japan in 1945. No sitting U.S. president had previously visited the city. We must never repeat the horror of war, Abe said. I want to express that determination as we look to the future, and at the same time send a message about the value of U.S.-Japanese reconciliation. Abes visit will come just a few weeks after the 75th anniversary of the attack, which occurred on Dec. 7, 1941. Carried out by Japanese bombers and fighter planes launched from a fleet of aircraft carriers that had quietly slipped within striking distance of Hawaii, the attack killed more than 2,000 Americans and sank a number of U.S. warships, including the battleship Arizona, whose wreck has become a memorial to the battle. Just as the decision to drop the bomb on Japan to end the war has long been the subject of a fraught moral and political debate in the United States, the decision to attack Pearl Harbor has been enormously delicate in Japan. Politicians there still pay homage to the heroes of Pearl Harbor meaning the Japanese aviators and others who died in the attack. There is a museum exhibit in their honor at Etajima, an island off Hiroshima, that once served as the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, a Japanese equivalent of the U.S. Navys training academy at Annapolis. Abe did not elaborate Monday on his plans for the Pearl Harbor visit. He said he hoped to comfort the souls of the victims. Yet his words will be much-debated and carefully measured. During the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, in 1991, Japanese officials said they were reflecting deeply on their nations deeds but did not think an apology to the United States was appropriate. Is it imperative that Prime Minister Abe say, We are sorry? I dont think so, said Tony Cordero, founder of Sons and Daughters in Touch, a group of families of service members who died in combat. But it is vital that his words and actions demonstrate that regret. A number of people looking to buy hairless Sphynx cats for cheap fell victim to a scammer who meticulously shaves regular kittens to make them look exactly like the exotic breed. Genuine Sphynx cats usually sell for $1,000 or more, so when Shayla Bastarache, from Alberta, Canada, saw an ad for a Sphynx kitten for just $650, last month, she thought it was too good a deal to pass up. There was no photo attached to the ad, but the price was so enticing that she agreed to meet the seller in a gas station parking lot an hour north of Calgary, at night. She handed him the money and received two hairless kittens, one for herself and one for a friend. Bastarache says she only realized that she had been scammed two weeks later, when both felines grew a thick coat and were revealed to be regular house cats. The cat lover, who owns two genuine Sphynx cats for one of which she had paid $1,500 said she was amazed by how thoroughly the animals had been shaved. I dont know how she did it, Bastarche told reporters. Photo: Holly Rattray Soon after Shayla Bastaraches case was reported by Canadian media, another woman cam forward with a similar story. Holly Rattray had posted an ad on Canadian free classifieds site Kijji, looking to purchase a hairless Sphynx. She was approached by a person called Tim, who offered to sell her a Sphynx kitten for just $700. Rattray arranged to meet a friend of Tims and pick up the cat in Red Deer, Alberta. She had to drive over two hours from her home in Bawlf, but just like in Bastarches case, the price was just too enticing. Holly Rattray remembers that the woman she met in a parking lot seemed to be in a big hurry, and even accepted $550 for the cat, instead of the agreed $700. She stormed off as soon as she got the money, before Rattray had a chance to thoroughly inspect the animal. She later noticed that the poor kitten had wounds all over her body, which she now suspects had been done by a sharp razor blade. She became even more suspicious after seeing how utterly hairless the kitten was. Genuine Sphynx cats usually have a bit of hair on the tail and near the feet, but this one was literally hairless. Photo: Holly Rattray Even underneath its legs, it was so clean-shaven that my husband did question it, she told CBC. But my husband was like, There is no way, honey, that someone could have shaved a cat this good.' It turned out someone had indeed shaved the cat, because it soon grew a full coat. It turned out to be another regular house cat which they named Stripes. After discovering that she had been scammed, Rattray did some online research and discovered a Facebook post by yet another Alberta woman who had fallen for the same trick. JoAnne Dyck had also bought what she though was a Sphynx kitten online, at an unusually low price $700. He was like a little tiny kitten, no more than eight weeks old, and he was naked. Completely hairless, Dyck remembers. It looked like a sphynx because he was very, very skinny and his face was really angular. Photo: real Sphynx cats (Wikimedia Commons) Only instead of wanting to be held to get warm, the kitten didnt want anything to do with JoAnne and her family. It didnt get along with her other cats, so she decided to give it away to another Sphynx lover. It wasnt long before she learned that the kitten, named Vlad, had grown a full orange fur. However, his new owner, Shaniya Yung, decided to keep him despite being a regular house cat. Both JoAnne Dyck and Shaniya Yung contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police about the scam, but were rebuffed because they didnt have the sellers information, and the supplied cell number wasnt working anymore. The Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said that it recently received its first call about a fake Sphynx, but no formal complain has been filed about it. And even if it had been, theres not much they can do about it, unless someone actually witnesses the shaving and the cat in question has clear signs of physical abuse. JoAnne Dyck says that the only way to avoid getting scammed is to buy Sphynx cats from reputable breeders, even if the price is considerably higher. Definitely go to where the cats are being bred. Never meet them anywhere. If they wont let you come to their house, their residence, its probably a bad sign, she said. Just be sure that its a reputable breeder if youre looking for one of these specialty cats. Sources: CBC, Global News Authorities in Ghana have recently shut down a fake United States embassy in the capital Accra that had been issuing illegally-obtained but authentic visas for the last 10 years. The fake institution was being run by members of organized crime from both Ghana and Turkey. The real U.S. embassy in Acra is a large office building complete with security fencing and U.S. military guards, located in one of the citys most expensive neighborhoods, while the fake one was just a rundown, pink two-storey building with a corrugated iron roof and a United States flag flown outside. There were no actual Americans working there, not even con artists. Instead the staff was made up of English-speaking Ghanian and Turkish citizens. And yet, for 10 years, the organized crime ring operating this fake embassy was able to convince people to pay thousands of dollars for visas and false identification documents. Maybe it was the portrait of Barrack Obama that police found inside that made the place seem legit. U.S. Department of State photo No that wasnt it, actually, the criminals behind the operation were just really careful and paid off officials to turn a blind eye to their activities. The U.S. State Department revealed that the fake embassy operated three days a week, and didnt accept walk-ins. Instead it used billboards and flyers to advertise their services in other cities in Ghana, but also Togo and the Ivory Coast. Interested clients were transported to Accra and offered accommodation in nearby hotels. At the embassy, they could pay for illegally obtained but legitimate U.S. visas, as well as false documents at a price of $6,000 each. It was not operated by the United States government, but by figures from both Ghanaian and Turkish organised crime rings and a Ghanaian attorney practising immigration and criminal law, The U.S. State Department said in a statement. For about a decade it operated unhindered. The criminals running the operation were able to pay off corrupt officials to look the other way, as well as obtain legitimate blank documents to be doctored. U.S. authorities were tipped off about the decade-old fake embassy while working on a completely different operation, and managed to shut it down with the help of the Ghana Detectives Bureau and police, as well as international partners. During the raid, they found 150 passports from 10 different countries and legitimate and counterfeit visas from the U.S., India, and South Africa. Police could have gotten their hands on the industrial sewing machine used to recreate the binding on passports, but while preparing to raid the dress shop that allegedly housed the machinery, a corrupt local attorney falsely told detectives that they could not access the building because it was currently involved in another court case. By the time this claim was dismissed as a lie, the scammers arrested at the fake embassy had already been bailed out and managed to move all their counterfeiting facility elsewhere. Reuters reports that visas for Western countries are in high demand in Africa, making them a target for organized crime. Photos: U.S. State Department Failure of the press and PR to do their professional jobs opened the way for Donald Trump to co-opt their space, which he continues to do. The press is in a pickle, wrote Salena Zito in the Dec. 1 New York Post. Trump supporters were mercilessly vilified and ridiculed throughout this entire campaign, she wrote. They were called racists, bigots, uneducated, hilljacks with serious women issues, and likely living in a government trailer on the governments dime. Trump himself did not need PR. He went directly to the public via twitter. That is one of the ways he achieved victory even though his shoot-from-the-hip style often got him in hot water. Face-to-Face Urged Fortune editor-at-large Geoff Colvin told the Institute for PR dinner Nov. 30 that experiments show that certain parts of the brainlight up when people face each other but show no activity when their backs are turned. Geoff Colvin Colvin referenced a study published in the November 7, 2012 Journal of Neuroscience that found a significant increase in neural synchronization in the left inferior frontal cortex during a face-to-face dialog between partners but none during a back-to-back dialog. Although the human brain evolutionarily adapted to face-to-face communications, other modes such as telephone and email increasingly dominate our daily life, the study says. Colvin discussed the benefits of F2F in a video titled The Power of Human Interaction. McCorkindale Lauds F2F Tina McCorkindale, Ph.D., president and CEO of IPR, expressed support for F2F in a 2013 essay in PRSAs online PR Journal. The essay said a dialogic loop, meaning people talking to each other, is the ideal form of communications for PR people. Both parties must be willing to be open and listen to the other parties even if there is a disagreement, said the 23-page article on The Use of Social Media in Fortunes Most Admired Companies. Neither McCorkindale or her assistant Jenn Moyer would help this reporter with coverage of the Nov. 30 dinner. Our seat in the top left corner of the room forced us to come to the middle of the room many times to take pictures. When McCorkindale said she did not have the text of the Hamilton address by Patrick Ford, we obtained it from the Burson-Marsteller press department. IPR Operates Under Foundation Name Accessing the 990 Financial report of IPR brings up the title, Foundation for PR Research & Education, an entity created by PRSA leaders. Beneath that title is the IPR logo. IPR was founded in 1989 when leaders of the Foundation broke away from PRSA over the requirement that all board members of the Foundation had to be Accredited. IPR had revenues of $620,794 in 2015 and expenses of $758,499 resulting in a loss of $137,705. McCorkindale, who lives in Seattle according to the Univ. of Florida directory, was paid $95,135. The Foundation had a profit of $95,524 on revenues of $312,466 and expenses of $216,942. Although IPR is now 17 years old, McCorkindale announced at the dinner that IPR is celebrating its 60th anniversary. That would be the anniversary of the Foundation. The press-avoiding policies of PRSA, whose leaders have not had a press conference since 1993 and which bars reporters from joining and/or accessing the membership list, have now come to IPR under the leadership of McCorkindale. Currently a director on the Universal Accreditation Board and a member of the Societys MBA program committee, she is past chair of the Societys Educators Academy and former co-chair of the Societys national research committee. Since she is an active leader in PRSA and participant in its activities and policies, her appointment to IPR signals the end of its period of independence from the Society. F2F in Decline in PR While Colvin, McCorkindale and others preach the value of F2F, there has been a decline in such activity in the PR and press communities in New York and elsewhere. F2F PR/press activity is a fraction of what it once was. P2P (phone to phone) and E2E (email to email) are also under tight corporate control. Press groups themselves practice press avoidance. The Committee to Protect Journalists, which inveighs against press interference abroad and now says it will fight interference with press coverage in the U.S., wont let working press sit with corporate guests at its annual dinner, which was Nov. 22 this year. Money isnt the issue since it has a net worth of $16.5 million. The repeated claims of love of press freedom by speakers provoked tweets with words such as hypocrisy, cognitive dissonance, and laughter in the audience. Press Painfully Uninformed Zito, political correspondent for the Washington Examiner, said the press turned out to be painfully uninformed. Even now, the media cant accept the election of Trump, she added. Physician, heal thyself, is her advice. PR, which is supposed to perform a mediating role between the press and institutions, was mostly unused or absent during the election process. PR people have let themselves be dominated by marketing, legal and corporate administrators. Ford said the most important role of PR people is to focus as much or more on behavior as we do on words. Harold Burson, accepting the Foundations Paladin award for courage in communications in 2012, said PR has four dutiesto listen; to be the corporate conscience; communicate (i.e., answer questions), and serve as "ombudsman" representing what is in the publics interest to companies. Burson attended the IPR dinner Nov. 30. Foundation Charges Press $500 Policy of the PRSA Foundation for several years has been to bar attendance by reporters unless they purchase a ticket at $500. That policy was initiated by former president Lou Capozzi and was continued by 2016 president Torod Neptune, corporate VP, corporate communications, Verizon Communications. Judith Harrison of Weber Shandwick is 2017 president. As of Dec. 31, 2014, latest financial report available, the Foundation had $692,878 in net assets. Food and beverage giant PepsiCo has hired government relations firm Heather Podesta + Partners in a lobbying pact that focuses on Congress' possible early reauthorization of the federal farm bill. Podesta is representing the Purchase, NY-based soda behemoth in a bid to educate Capitol Hill lawmakers on the food and beverage industry, as well as for the purpose of reviewing corporate and international tax reform proposals and monitoring efforts to reauthorize the federal Farm bill, including efforts to address the SNAP program, according to lobbying disclosure documents filed in November. The farm bill, the omnibus bill thats traditionally passed by Congress every five years, authorizes federal agriculture and nutrition policy under the purview of the United States Department of Agriculture. The last farm bill the Agricultural Act of 2014 was signed into law by President Obama in February 2014, two years late by many estimates. This bill is set to expire in September of 2018. Some lawmakers are currently mulling over the possibility of enacting the next farm bill early as much as a year ahead of schedule in a bid to help U.S. farmers in light of currently low commodity prices. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson (D-MN) have publicly expressed support for this measure. The Pepsi account will be managed by founder and prominent Democratic lobbyist Heather Podesta, who was previously aide to the late Congressman Robert Matsui (D, CA) and Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D, ND) as well as legislative fellow to Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ). Podesta will be joined by Robert Hoffman, a former speechwriter for California Governor Pete Wilson and legislative director for senator Mike DeWine (R, OH); Jonathan Becker, former chief of staff to Senator Amy Klobuchar (D, MN); Anne MacMillan, former Senior Policy Advisor to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Stephen Bailey, former senior tax counsel for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction and a principal staffer on tax legislative issues for Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND). PepsiCo, which is the second-largest food and beverage business in the world in terms of net revenue, reported $370,000 in lobbying expenditures during 2016s third quarter. Other lobbying firms the company has signed pacts with this year include FTI Government Affairs, Covington & Burling, The Russell Group and Lugar Hellmann Group. Offalys best young entrepreneurs have been announced at the County Final of Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) competition, which took place in the Tullamore Court Hotel. IBYE, which has a 2 million investment fund, is run by all 31 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) and is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland. The overall best young entrepreneur for the county was named by Local Enterprise Office Offaly as Darragh Egan, 24, from Mountbolus, Tullamore. The entrepreneur also won the category for Best Business Idea and an investment fund from LEO Offaly worth 7,000. The other main category winners on the day were John Clendennen, 34 from Giltraps Glamping in Kinnitty in the Best Business Start Up category and Jesse Morris, 32, TAG Media Ltd T/A Dezynamite in Tullamore in the Best Established Business category. John Clendennen with his award Jesse Morris with his award The top prize in the Best Business Start Up category was 15,000, with a top prize of 15,000 for the Best Established Business category. All three category winners will now be representing the County at one of eight IBYE Regional Finals, taking place during January and February 2017. SEE ALSO: Aldi stores in Offaly donate 11,365 meals to local charities Meanwhile, the category runners-up also shared an investment of 13,000 between their three businesses. They were: Carla Mooney, 32 from Portarlington in the Best Business Idea category; Emmet Nolan, 21 of Request IT based in Birr in the Best Start Up category and finally, Joseph Quinn, 32, Aspire in Clara in the Best Established Business category Orla Martin is the Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office Offaly and she said, We started the search to find Irelands best young entrepreneur in August and the competition received a record-breaking number of entries this year, with 1,800 young entrepreneurs applying nationally. After a very successful IBYE bootcamp and County Final, the future is bright for both youth entrepreneurship and job creation in the region. Special guests at the IBYE County Final included: Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, TD, Anna Marie Delaney, Chief Executive of Offaly County Council and Leas Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council, Noel Bourke. The vital role of the judging panel was also acknowledged at the awards ceremony and this years judges included: Liam Holton of Future Ticketing Ltd, Tullamore and Mark Atterbury of Enterprise Ireland. The Regional Finals for IBYE are taking place in January and February 2017, to select 24 national finalists across the three competition categories. Further details on the competition and supports available to young entrepreneurs are available through www.localenterprise.ie and from the IBYE website at www.ibye.ie For more pictures from the night see Local Enterprise Office Offaly Facebook page by clicking here Gary Ogden Harper is the director of operations for Ollie the Trolley and the vehicles seven siblings. What does that mean, exactly? It means a ton of fun. Youre always helping people celebrate something or other, said Harper, 63, who has done a variety of things in his life: He was a theology student, worked as a video producer and earned a Ph.D. in education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The holidays are the busiest time of year for the company that operates eight trolleys on tires. Because of Christmas light tours, December is twice as busy as any other month, he said. Families, community groups and businesses also use the trolleys for weddings, corporate events, birthday parties and bar-hopping on St. Patricks Day and other occasions. Harper is responsible for everything from dispatching to training to making sure all the trolleys are running well. And this year hes the mastermind and guide for two new daytime tours from Dec. 12 to 28. Sacred History tours will take place each Monday and Wednesday, making stops at several of the oldest churches in the downtown area some dating to the 1850s and 1860s. Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, First Presbyterian Church and St. Cecilia Cathedral will be among the sites on the tour. An Irish Christmas at Boys Town will run Tuesdays and Thursdays. Inspired by the 100th anniversary of Boys Town next year, it will drive past downtown landmarks such as the homes first location and the Boys Town National Research Hospital, and end up at the current campus at 132nd Street and West Dodge Road, where participants will see the Hall of History, Father Edward Flanagans Christmas-decorated home and the gift shop. Harper said his longtime interest in history and architecture made the new tours a natural fit. A year ago, he saw Trinity Cathedral for the first time and was awed. When I went in I was, like, This is a living museum, he said. He was an associate producer on a popular documentary about Omaha buildings, If These Walls Could Speak, that was produced by University of Nebraska at Omaha Television and the Nebraska Educational Television Network. And he wrote his doctoral dissertation on the historical and mythological evolution of St. Nicholas, so he will share little-known facts about Santa on the tours. Harper also has opened up the nighttime light tours to more people, offering individual seating on Monday nights. Previously, people could take the tours only if they were associated with a group that rented the trolley. Ollie and the other trolleys have been around since the 1980s. Harper joined the company as a part-time driver, and when current owners George Davis and Deb Skinner took over, they promoted him. Hes not sure when the Christmas light tours started, but said theyve been popular for at least a couple of decades. He works with two professional light companies Brite Ideas and Holidynamics to find areas with lots of elaborate displays. We concentrate on those neighborhoods so we can give our passengers the most bang for the buck, he said. Drivers will pick up groups most anywhere: churches, a shopping center, restaurants, bars, even private homes. The Monday night public tours will take off from the Brite Ideas building at 156th Street and West Maple Road. Harper counts his Ollie gig as his favorite job ever. He talks about the trolleys as if they are old friends. All of them have their own names and their own personalities some a little more temperamental than others, he said. Instead of the latest toy or gadget, some people are trying to give their loved ones more financial security this holiday season. While its long been possible to hand out cash, buy stock or contribute to college savings plans, financial institutions and retailers are making it easier to bestow a gift with lasting value. Among them is Stockpile, which sells gift cards that can be redeemed for stock. The company is rolling its products out to more than 14,000 stores after seeing success at other retailers. College savings plan administrators, which see contributions peak at the holidays, have been adding new ways to donate. And Gift of College, which helps people to contribute to college savings plans or pay down student loans, began selling gift cards at Toys R Us and Babies R Us nationally this month. Its easy to do and you dont have to worry about a toy breaking, you dont have to worry about batteries and you dont have to worry about the latest trend, said Young Boozer, chairman of the College Savings Plans Network. Financial gifts can be tricky, though givers need to be aware of the tax and social implications. Ann Coulsen, an assistant professor at Kansas States Institute of Personal Financial Planning, called such gifts a wonderful and practical idea. But a recipient who wants something now might not appreciate it, she said. It may take some explanation of how stocks or savings plans work. And if money causes resentment within a family, it may not be worth it. Heres a look at the ins and outs of some popular financial gifts: Cash Cash is easy to get and easy to give, but it doesnt build value the way other options do. And for a large gift, be aware of the tax rules. Giving a small amount of money each year is a common estate planning tool, but gifts from one person to another are capped by the IRS at $14,000 a year. Anything above that needs to be reported by the giver on their taxes and is subject to gift and estate taxes. You may want to consider taking that cash and putting it in an IRA, mutual fund or other longer-term investment. College savings A popular suggestion by financial planners for gifts to young children is contributing to a college savings plan. Grandparents, for the love of Santa, ask your kids if they have a 529 account set up for your grandchildren, said Kristin Sullivan, a financial planner in Denver. If yes, offer to put some money into that and put something small under the tree for the kiddos. If no, offer to set one up with some small seed money. 529 college savings plans grow tax-free, and withdrawals for educational expenses are also untaxed. The giver may get a tax benefit as well. Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia offer either a state income tax deduction or tax credits for those contributions. And nearly all plans allow contributions online or by check, Boozer said. Craig Larson, of Apple Valley, Minnesota, welcomed his first grandchild a few months ago and is planning to open a college savings account for her this Christmas. Ive already spoiled this poor little girl to death, he said. This is something tangible that is not going to end up under the bed or lost at the beach, and shell be able to see it growing. To give you either need to establish a savings plan or contribute to an existing one, which requires knowing a few personal details. There are also third-party options that require less legwork. Gift of College, for one, lets people contribute to a college savings account online or by buying a gift card in stores that can be used for a contribution to 91 different 529 plans. These outside services do come with fees and other limitations, so Boozer suggests closely reading the fine print. Student loan payments The average debt at graduation for a bachelors degree was $35,000 last year, so a worthwhile gift for many young people may be helping pay that down. A check will suffice or you can pay the lender directly. Gift of College added student loans to its product lineup, which lets people help pay the loans at more than a dozen lenders. Founder Wayne Weber said many employers are offering this as a perk for workers. Stock Giving stock is a way to encourage an interest in investing over the long term. The giver may avoid the capital gain consequences of cashing in the shares themselves. But the tax implications for the recipient are tricky depending on their age, the value of the stock and more so it may be worth consulting a professional. People without brokerage accounts or those who want to start small can even buy stock at the checkout line. Stockpile, which is sold in about 40 retail chains like Target, Safeway and Kroger, allows someone to buy a gift card for a dollar amount worth of stock, rather than the price for a share. Purchases can be as small as $1. Putting it in gift-card form makes it easier to give stock as a gift, said Dan Schatt, chief commercial officer of Stockpile. The bulk of Stockpiles customers are people giving gifts to a younger generation about half of its account holders are under 30. But many companies also buy stock as gifts for employees. Its such a society where you are consuming and buying, here is something that is going to last, potentially multiple generations, Schatt said. A Kansas City-area juice shop will expand to Omaha early next year. Simple Science Juices has plans for two Omaha stores: at Village Pointe shopping center near 168th Street and West Dodge Road and in Beverly Hills Plaza at 81st Street and West Dodge Road. The Village Pointe store is expected to open next door to Cold Stone Creamery by Feb. 1, said owner Steve Spangler. The second store is expected to open at the west end of Beverly Hills Plaza by April 1. Both stores eventually will offer wraps and salads in addition to juice. The business operates three stores throughout the Kansas City metro area, and a fourth is on the way there. The shops focus primarily on cold-pressed juices, but the Village Pointe store also will serve smoothies, acai bowls essentially a smoothie eaten with toppings like granola and fruit and, eventually, soups, Spangler said. Spangler said Omaha was an attractive market for expansion because its underserved as far as fresh juice and other healthy fare goes. Its a very untapped, unutilized market, Spangler said. There is such a strong community of health and wellness and healthy-minded individuals, especially in these Midwest cities. Spangler said he expects to hire 12 to 20 people to staff the two stores. Russia has committed to cooperate with OPEC by cutting as much as 300,000 barrels a day from its oil output but offered no clear method for enforcement, creating uncertainty about how easily the reduction can be delivered. Output cuts should be spread proportionally among Russian producers, who have said they support the move, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. Yet no oil companies have so far explained how they will implement the cuts, said Chris Weafer, a partner at Macro Advisory in Moscow. State-controlled Rosneft, the countrys largest producer, is likely to bear most of the burden, according to Renaissance Capital. Trying to get an agreement for a pro-rata cut amongst the Russian oil producers, even if mandated by the Kremlin, would be akin to herding cats, Weafer said by email. All would want to wait to see what the others do first. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries confounded skeptics last week by reaching an agreement to cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day. Russia added to the surprise by saying it too would reduce current output of 11.2 million barrels a day a reversal for Novak, who had for months expressed Russias preference for freezing at that level. While crude futures jumped above $50 a barrel on the news, questions remain over how the curbs will be implemented. Lukoil, Russias second-largest producer, supports OPECs moves to stabilize global oil markets, said Pavel Zhdanov, the companys director of capital markets and mergers and acquisitions. Its too early to get into details, he said. The press services of Rosneft and Lukoil declined to comment on any measures they would take to enact cuts. Rosneft looks like the No. 1 company that should take the biggest share of the cut, Ildar Davletshin, an oil analyst at Renaissance Capital, said by e-mail. It controls almost 50 percent of Russian oil output and it has one of the lowest shares of greenfields, or new developments, in its production portfolio, he said. Cuts are more likely to be achieved by dialing back drilling on older fields, allowing the natural decline rates to grow, as opposed to stopping new projects, Davletshin said. Companies could even stop production at older unprofitable fields in West Siberia, the Volga region and the south of Russia, according to Mikhail Pshenitsyn, who has worked for more than 10 years in the countrys oil industry. Its unlikely that Russia will quit drilling on new fields or damage its services industry, he said. The average production at new wells in Russia is around 50 tons a day, so Russia would need to decide against drilling around 800 new wells and leave some 100 drilling teams out of work, Pshenitsyn said. And where will we get them once we need them again? An output reduction spread proportionately among large companies wouldnt change overall levels of investment in the industry, Olga Danilenko, director of oil and gas research at Prosperity Capital in Moscow, said by email. Instead they would probably shift funds to longer-term projects, she said. Russia plans to meet with OPEC producers and nations from outside the group in the next 10 days, when the country will likely sign a memorandum confirming the supply reductions, Novak said. A cut may make a material difference in the governments efforts to balance the budget, Citigroup analysts Ronald Smith and Alexander Bespalov wrote in a research note. State finances are more sensitive to higher prices than to lower production, they said. A crash on Interstate 29 north of Missouri Valley, Iowa, sent three people to the hospital on Sunday. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the accident occurred about 5 miles north of Missouri Valley, which is about 30 miles north of Omaha. The two vehicles were both headed north when one tried to pass the other and sideswiped it. Both vehicles rolled. One ended up in the center median and the other in the ditch on the east side of the road. The driver in the median had to be extricated and was flown to the Creighton University Medical Center. The two occupants of the other vehicle were taken by ambulance to Missouri Valley Hospital. The identities of the victims and their condition was not available Sunday night. SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. It took months of work and the support of the community, but western Nebraska residents Kyle Van Newkirk and Emily Ostdiek were recently announced as winners of the Operation Tap national tap dance competition. Operation Tap challenged tap dancers across the country to produce a video of themselves tap dancing to a certain theme. Then, viewers voted on it on social media. Their video received a total score of 3,265.5, the second place video scored 2,726.5 and the third place video scored 1,974.5. The score was determined by aggregating nationwide vote tally. Ostdiek said she found out they won the competition from Van Newkirk, who found out on Facebook, where Operation Tap posted the results last Tuesday and the congratulations immediately came pouring in. My friend who does Operation Tap sent me a text message, Van Newkirk said. He said, This is a big deal, Kyle. Van Newkirk choreographed the video, called Date Night and danced with Ostdiek. Date Night featured them dancing their way to a dinner date. The video garnered hundreds of votes across the U.S., in the initial round of voting, which put them in the final three. Since Van Newkirk was the choreographer, he won the trip to New York, which is centered along with the choreography aspects of dance. However, Ostdiek said she would certainly like to go to. Im going to try to go, Ostdiek said. Nothing is set in stone. When Newkirk and hopefully Ostdiek head to New York on Dec. 17, they will have the opportunity to learn from world-renowned choreographers and other dancers. Their video will also premier there, Van Newkirk said. Both dancers said they are grateful for the support of the Scottsbluff-Gering community for voting for them and helping them win the competition. Were super, super excited, Ostdiek said. We are thankful for the awesome support from the community. Were in a race now to get the levees recertified before FEMA redraws its flood assessment maps, maps associated with the Flood Insurance Program, said Mayor Matt Walsh. We think the remapping will take place in 2023, so we need to get it certified so that new areas arent added to the maps, causing homeowners to pay flood insurance. Bridge repair work is scheduled to begin Dec. 12 on Nebraska Highway 67 north of Dunbar in southeast Nebraska. Hawkins Construction Co. of Omaha was awarded the $4,039,000 contract for the statewide project, the Nebraska Department of Roads said. The statewide project, which involves guardrail replacement, bridge-rail replacement and box-culvert curb repair, begins in the Dunbar area. The work near Dunbar, which is just west of Nebraska City, is expected to be completed in February 2017. During construction, traffic will be controlled by signal lights and reduced-speed signs with an 11-foot width restriction, roads officials said. Minimal delays can be expected. A Lincoln native has been reported among the dozens missing from a deadly warehouse fire in Oakland, California. Nicole Siegrist, also known as Denalda Nicole Renae, is listed on online memorial pages as a missing person. Relatives said Siegrist was at the warehouse Friday night for a dance party. Siegrists mother, Carol Cidlik, is in Oakland and is in contact with authorities as the victims are identified. Cidlik declined to comment Monday other than to say that the outpouring of love and support is just amazing. Siegrist, 29, is a musician and is heavily involved in the music scene, family and friends said. She is half of a duo named Introflirt she plays the synthesizer and her partner sings, according to the bands website. The bandmate is also missing, friends said. The band may have been performing Friday night. Siegrist also had been involved in multiple bands in Lincoln. Travis Beck of Lincoln, who now lives in Los Angeles, played with Siegrist in two bands and performed shows with her for at least a year. Beck and Siegrist met at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Siegrist then moved to Chicago, then Oakland, Beck said. She was super brave and carved her own path, Beck said. She used her weirdness as a strength. Beck said he was in shock because of the tragic situation. Siegrist had stayed at his home in Los Angeles recently because Introflirt was playing in the city. She was definitely all about creating and being an artist, Beck said. Hours before the fire erupted at the two-story structure, Siegrist posted a photo on Facebook of her newly dyed blue-and-red hair. You look very pretty, wrote her mom. Love the color on your hair. Carina McCormick, who knew Siegrist in Lincoln, said it was overwhelming how many people are worried about her. People were just drawn to her from her energy, her unique perspective, optimism and creativity, McCormick said. * * * * * CENTRAL CITY, Neb. Two teenage girls were pronounced dead on the scene of a rollover wreck early Saturday in Merrick County. Cheyenna Urbauer and Shania Rivera died early Saturday morning as a result of a one-vehicle accident in Merrick County. Jack Sheard, marketing and communications coordinator for Grand Island Senior High, confirmed the identities of both girls on Sunday afternoon. He said Cheyenna was a senior at Grand Island Senior High School while Shania is a senior at another high school after transferring from Senior High. Merrick County Sheriff John Westman said the two teens werent wearing seat belts. Sheriffs deputies were called at 1:53 a.m. to the area of B Road between Third and Fourth Road in rural Merrick County. A 2008 Dodge Avenger was traveling eastbound on B Road when it overcorrected after running off the road. The Avenger then rolled multiple times before coming to a rest in the south ditch, the Sheriffs Office said. The driver and a passenger were ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. Drugs and alcohol weren't considered to be factors in the crash. Sheard said counselors from the school district's crisis response team were available. The Merrick County Sheriffs Office was assisted by the Nebraska State Patrol, Chapman Fire and Rescue, and Grand Island Rural Fire and Rescue in investigating the crash scene. And then there was one one unreconstructed communist regime in the world. Its hard to picture a more fitting symbol of capitalisms triumph over communism than the death of Fidel Castro on the American shopping day dubbed Black Friday. Though Cuba remains a dictatorship, its attachment to its revolutionary ideology seems likely to steadily weaken. That leaves just a single nation devoted to the cause. Unfortunately for the world, its North Korea. Now, more than ever, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (as it styles itself) is a sobering and grave reminder of how brutal communism has always been and how dangerous it remains. Part of the danger North Korea poses, of course, is due to its isolation. But its complicity in international crime and nuclear proliferation has shown the country to enjoy all the international companionship it needs to be a powerful force for global evil and harm. Its also true that the severity of this threat is partly the consequence of the Obama administrations wait-and-see policy of strategic patience, where Washington refused to negotiate in an effort to get Pyongyangs rulers to abandon their nuclear program. Now, on President Barack Obamas way out the door, the White House has belatedly recognized that North Korea has no intention of denuclearizing in fact, just the opposite. Officials have warned Donald Trumps transition team that North Koreas all-out ballistic missile program is so advanced that it should be treated as the new administrations No. 1 national security priority. Trumps team has received a similar message loud and clear from the head of the last Republican administration. In recent public remarks, George W. Bush warned that a far more aggressive policy than strategic patience had to be adopted at once. North Korea represents a grave security threat. It shows how the proliferation of a deadly technology can allow small leaders, failed, cruel and criminal leaders, to threaten and disrupt the world on a grand scale. Naturally, Pyongyang has also taken an interest in President-elect Trumps policy preferences. In a recent memorandum, the regime leveled the predictable criticism against the U.S. and the sitting presidents adversarial efforts, closing with the usual affirmation that nothing will stop the nuclear program because its tests are not the true source of trouble in the region. Boilerplate this may be, but for North Korea watchers, a new and deeper meaning was on clear display. Very unusually, the memorandum was disseminated in English an evident attempt to telegraph its openness to direct negotiations to the incoming Trump administration. Trumps own recent words have given the regime reason to believe such a message might not be rejected out of hand. Trump has suggested previously, for instance, that he might consider communicating personally with Kim Jong Un. To mark Fidel Castros death, Pyongyang imposed three days of mourning on its beleaguered people, adding insult to decade upon decade of injury. Although neither carrots nor sticks may work as well on North Korea as on Cuba, Americas new administration will face an undeniable opportunity to help ensure that the number of communist regimes blighting the Earths surface finally drops to zero. President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday issued a dramatic warning to companies that they would face "retribution" in the form of tariffs if they move American jobs overseas, setting up a collision with corporate America and the free-market wing of the Republican Party. In a string of early-morning tweets, Trump said he intends to keep jobs in the United States by lowering taxes for companies and slashing regulations, two key components of his economic agenda. But he also warned that companies that send jobs offshore would face a 35 percent tariff on goods sold back to the United States. "Any business that leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant in the other country, and then thinks it will sell its product back into the U.S. ... without retribution or consequence, is WRONG!" Trump wrote on Twitter. without retribution or consequence, is WRONG! There will be a tax on our soon to be strong border of 35% for these companies ...... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016 The threat marked perhaps the clearest sign yet since the election that Trump has not abandoned the controversial economic positions he adopted during the campaign. In addition to vowing to hit American companies with severe consequences if they imperil American jobs as a candidate, he pledged to tear up trade agreements and tag products from countries such as China and Mexico with tariffs if those nations continue to take American jobs. The comments set up a clash with Republicans who have long argued in favor of free trade and against excessive intrusion by government into the affairs of businesses. Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, a frequent Trump critic, argued that a 35 percent tariff would be passed along to American consumers in the form of higher prices. "Pres-Elect Trump means well. But won't his 35% tariff idea raise prices on American families? How would it not be a new 35% tax on families?" Sasse wrote on Twitter. Pres-Elect Trump means well. But won't his 35% tariff idea raise prices on American families? How would it not be a new 35% tax on families? Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 4, 2016 A conservative advocacy group, the Club for Growth, said that it favors Trump's proposals on tax and regulatory changes but warned of the consequences of cutting off trade. "We think it's bad economic policy. It'll cost more American jobs than it saves," said former Indiana congressman David McIntosh, the head of the Club for Growth. "Therefore it needs to be stopped." Trump's threat Sunday also put American companies in an extraordinarily difficult position. Offshoring has been a key element of corporate America's strategy in recent decades, and major lobbying groups have been defenders of trade agreements. But groups stood nearly silent on Sunday, potentially worried about drawing the wrath of the president-elect. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest business lobby, declined to directly respond to Trump's comments but signaled that it has not budged in its opposition to tariffs. "We are not going to comment on Trump's comments directly, but in general, the Chamber has always called for pro-growth policies that help American companies succeed globally and welcome foreign investment within our borders," said Blair Latoff Holmes, a spokeswoman for the group. She pointed to a recent Fox Business Network interview in which the Chamber's chief economist said that tariffs are "self-destructive." Last week, Trump made clear he would intervene in specific situations in which companies are considering moving work overseas. Last week he traveled to an Indiana factory owned by furnace and air-conditioner manufacturer Carrier to champion a deal to keep about 800 jobs in the United States. To much criticism, Carrier had planned to move them to Mexico. On Sunday, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said that Trump would continue the extraordinary interventions, working on deals with such companies "on a day-by-day basis." Although Trump would be able to follow through on some of his threats without congressional approval - for example, declaring China a currency manipulator and launching a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement - it's not clear whether he could penalize companies broadly for moving jobs overseas without congressional authorization. Gary Clyde Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think tank that regularly supports proposed trade deals, predicted that Trump would face legal obstacles if he tries to impose tariffs on individual companies unilaterally. "This would be, in my way of thinking, a real intrusion of congressional powers over foreign commerce," Hufbauer said. "We've never had this kind of policy before, so he's on novel ground." During the past few decades, the prevailing view in the Republican Party has been to favor free-trade deals and oppose tariffs. House Speaker Paul Ryan, for instance, has argued against the government "picking winners and losers." Spokesmen for Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., offered no comment Sunday. In his interview with ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," Pence rejected the idea that Trump will be picking winners and losers. "What the president-elect did with Carrier was simply reach out, one American to another, and just ask them to reconsider," Pence said. "He told them, we're going to do exactly what we said we would do in this campaign, we're going to make the American economy more competitive, we're going to get tougher and smarter on trade deals." Tom Davis, a former Virginia Republican congressman, said that Trump is realigning cultural and economic issues and the way voters have historically associated them with the two parties. But he predicted Republicans leaders wouldn't instantly fall in line behind him. "I don't think it happens overnight. It's evolutionary, it's not revolutionary. You'll see more and more Republicans move to align on the trade issue with Trump, especially in the rural areas," said Davis, who described himself as an "avid free trader." Trump celebrated the Carrier deal - in which Indiana promised to provide Carrier about $7 million in incentives, while the company would invest $16 million in the factory over the next two years - with a tour of the factory last week, followed by a rally in Cincinnati to kick off his "thank you" tour. On the stump, Trump espoused an aggressively protectionist stance toward international trade, and his skepticism of the benefits of globalization resonated with many middle-class voters who bore the brunt of its downside. Even some leading liberal Democrats acknowledged that his elements of economic message broke through with working-class voters and opened up the possibility of working with him on shared areas of interest. But since his election, his advisers have softened some of his most heated rhetoric. Trump's picks for treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, said that they would pursue bilateral trade agreements with other countries but remained wary of sweeping regional deals. Ross also said that blanket double-digit tariffs on goods from Mexico and China - which many economists warned could spark a damaging trade war would be used only as a last resort. Still, Trump's social-media message on Sunday served as a signal that the Trump who appeared on the campaign trail at raucous rallies and boasted about his ability to shake up Washington isn't going away. "Please be forewarned prior to making a very ... expensive mistake!" Trump wrote on Twitter. He continued, in all capital letters, "THE UNITED STATES IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS!" expensive mistake! THE UNITED STATES IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016 A storm front moving out of the northern Rocky Mountains is expected to spread cold air and chances for snow across southern Nebraska this week, according to an AccuWeather meteorologist. On Wednesday well be watching a system come out of the Rockies and spreading into the northern Plains, said Brian Edwards of AccuWeather, The World-Heralds weather consultant. It will be bringing a blast of arctic air, taking temperatures well down below normal. Before the cold arrives, however, the weather Monday is expected to be nearly balmy, with a highs in the lower 50s predicted for the Omaha area. Sunshine and a southerly breeze should make for a very pleasant day, Edwards said. If you still have Christmas ornaments to put up, then Monday is going to be your day, he said. People should take advantage of that. The high temperature on Tuesday will be close to the freezing mark of 32 degrees. That should produce just a taste of what to expect from Wednesday through Friday, Edwards said. He doesnt expect the Omaha area to get a lot of snow accumulation. His prediction is 1 to 3 inches. There should be snow across southern Nebraska from west to east, he said. The heaviest snow is likely to fall south of Omaha, though, down along the Kansas border. The bigger story is the arctic air coming in behind that system. Speaking before the citys first snow last week, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said the city was prepared to tackle snow removal this year. The city response came under fire last winter after a Jan. 19 storm that temporarily closed West Dodge Road near 90th Street and otherwise slowed movement around the city. In response, Stothert surveyed city residents and updated the citys snow plan. We got a lot of feedback, and we have a different plan this year, Stothert said Friday on The World-Heralds 10 Minutes with the Mayor. Basically, all hands are going to be on deck. She pointed to new trucks bought, more employees hired in the citys public works division and new tanks for brine, as well as a more aggressive plan for pretreating streets. Temperatures are predicted to plunge to 5 degrees above zero Wednesday night, with gusty winds. Edwards said the high temperature Thursday will be about 19 degrees, with wind chills below zero at night and near zero during the day. There should be less wind on Friday not nearly as much as the previous days, Edwards said. The (high) temperature will be around 20 or 21, but without the wind it should feel a little better than those previous days. The latest Omaha-area forecast, according to the National Weather Service: Today Partly sunny with a high in the lower 50s. Tonight Mostly cloudy with a low in the mid-20s. North-northwest winds after midnight could gust as high as 20 mph. Tuesday Sunny and windy with a steady temperature in the upper 20s. West-northwest winds could gusts as high as 30 mph. Tuesday night Increasing clouds with a low in the mid-teens. Wednesday A 20 percent chance of snow after 7 a.m. with a high around 20 degrees. Wednesday night A 20 percent chance of snow before 7 p.m. with a low around 10 degrees. Thursday Mostly sunny with a high in the upper teens. Thursday night Mostly clear with a low around five degrees. Friday Mostly sunny with a high in the lower 20s. Friday night Mostly cloudy with a low in the upper teens. Saturday Mostly cloudy with a high in the mid-30s. Saturday night Mostly cloudy with a low in the lower 20s. Sunday Mostly sunny with a high in the mid-30s. Eastern Nebraska and western Iowa precipitation totals for the 24 hours ending at 6:30 p.m. Sunday: Beatrice, .24; Blair, .13; Columbus, .01; Falls City, .56; Fremont, .09; Lincoln, .20, (1.0 snow); Nebraska City, .35; Offutt Air Force Base, .28, (1.1 snow); Eppley Airfield, .27, (0.5 snow); Millard, .25; Plattsmouth, .16; Tekamah, .13; Valley, .15, (0.7 snow); Wahoo, .06; Council Bluffs, .27; Clarinda, .38; Harlan, .20; Red Oak, .43; Shenandoah, .42. Center monitors law and order situation in Tamil Nadu Chennai oi-Anusha The Union Home Ministry is keeping a close watch on the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu following news of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa suffering a cardiac arrest. The situation has been calm so far across the state but caution has been the word for both the State as well as centre governments. [Also Read: Jayalalithaa very critical says Apollo hospital] Home Minister Rajnath Singh has been in constant touch with in-charge Governor Vidhya Sagar Rao since Sunday night. All police personnel have been recalled to duty by orders of Tamil Nadu DGP Rajendran. Additional security measures have been taken in areas marked as sensitive. Police personnel have been deployed in border areas of all neighouring states. Heightened police presence was felt outside Apollo Hospital where the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. 9 companies of Rapid Action Force of CRPF are on stand by to be moved immediately in case of an emergency. The state as well as the central government are cautious in view of earlier instances of frenzy and riots following leaders' death in Tamil Nadu Team of doctors from AIIMS arrive A team of 4 specialists from AIIMS arrived at Apollo hospital on Monday morning. The team of AIIMS doctors include pulmonologist Dr GC Khilnani, anaesthetist Dr Anjan Trikha, Cardiac surgeon Dr Sachin Talwar and cardiologist Dr Rajiv Narang are currently in Apollo hospital to assist in treatment of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. OneIndia News Expelled AIADMK MP wants transparency on Jayalalithaa's health Chennai oi-Anusha Expelled AIADMK MP Sasikala Pushpa on Monday demanded transparency on Jayalalithaa's health. Sasikala asked for the Prime Minister to intervene in the matter immediately. People want to know if she is alive or not. There is no transparency. The Prime Minister must intervene and take care of this, said expelled MP Sasikala Pushpa. [Also Read: TN CM very critical says Apollo hospital] Sasikala Pushpa was expelled from the AIADMK earlier this year after she claimed to have slapped a DMK MP. She was forced to resign from the party following which she had sought protection for her and her family. OneIndia News Jaya Plus TV sparks off rumours on Jayalalithaa death, denies it later Chennai oi-Anusha Screengrabs of Jaya television's subsidiary channel Jaya Plus allegedly broadcasting a slide announcing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's death kept social media buzzing through late Monday evening. The channel had earlier denied broadcasting any news on Jayalalithaa's death. Regional channels in Tamil Nadu started broadcasting news on Jayalalithaa's death which led to confusion and minor incidents of violence. The incorrect newsbreak forced Apollo Hospital to issue a statement assuring continued treatment of J Jayalalithaa. The statement from Apollo rubbished reports of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's death. Seems like the confusion started after JayaTV flashed abt Jayalalithaa's death once but removed it. They are now saying that she's critical. Dhanya Rajendran (@dhanyarajendran) December 5, 2016 [Also Read: #RIPAmma, #RIPJayalalithaa trend on Twitter, as Apollo Hospitals denies CM's demise] Jaya TV, considered the official media representative for the AIADMK, is alleged to have flagged off rumours of Jayalalithaa's death; an accusation that the channel has denied vehemently. Within minutes, screen grabs of Jaya Plus broadcasting a slide announcing Jayalalithaa's death went viral putting the channel in a spot. OneIndia News Jayalalithaa's situation extremely grave says Dr Beale Chennai oi-Anusha Professor Richard Beale, the specialist from London who treated Jayalalithaa has issued a statement on the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's health. The professor has called Jayalalithaa's condition extremely grave. [Also Read: Jayalalithaa very critical says Apollo hospital] He added that everything is being done to give her the best chance at surviving this shocking event. Professor Beale added that 'despite the progress she had made, her underlying health conditions inevitably meant that the risk of further problems always remained'. In his statement Prof Beale also said that his thoughts and prayers are with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, December 5, 2016, 15:48 [IST] Unrest in Tamil Nadu- Two IPS officers get emergency postings Chennai oi-Anusha The Tamil Nadu government on Monday gave emergency postings to two IPS officers as precautionary measure towards law and order maintenance. IPS officers M C Sarangan who is currently IG, Technical services and another IG rank officer, Jayaraman have been given emergency posting of Inspector General of Police Law and Order in Chennai. The move comes in the wake of Tamil Nadu being on high alert. [Also Read: With Jayalalithaa critical AIADMK looks for successor] The Tamil Nadu police have been on alert since Sunday evening after news of Jayalalithaa's cardiac arrest broke. All personnel were asked to return to work by the order of the DGP. Additional forces have been deployed in all areas marked as sensitive including outside Apollo Hospital in Chennai. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, December 5, 2016, 16:39 [IST] AIADMK lowers then raises flag amidst Jaya death rumours India oi-Vicky There was absolute confusion and chaos at Chennai. While media reports stated that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister had passed away, the AIADMK was quick to lower the flag at their party office at half mast. This led to immense confusion and several media outlets tweeted about the flag being lowered to half mast. However, immediately after that the Apollo hospital issued a press release stating that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister continued to remain critical. This led to even more confusion. The people who had gathered outside the AIADMK hospital were seen crying. However, minutes after the press note from the hospital came out, the flag was hoisted once again which led to the crowd whistling and cheering. OneIndia News Anupam Kher dubs demonitisation as "historic" India oi-PTI Vadodara, Dec 5: Terming demonetisation as a "historic decision", veteran actor Anupam Kher today lavished praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his move to curb black money and corruption. Kher, however, agreed that it caused some difficulty to the people due to its abruptness as any kind of change requires citizens to step out of their comfort zone for a while. The actor, who was here to preside over an event at the global trade show exhibition organised by Vadodara Chamber of Commerce and Industry, described the decision to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes as a "war against black money." "The intention of demonetisation is to end black money. This is the intention. In its implementation you can say that there are few loopholes, I agree that there should not have been any problem to people. They (the government) should have planned it a little better. But how can a revolution come in this country overnight. Of course, it will be uncomfortable," Kher said. Blasting those opposing the demonetisation, the actor said some people have suddenly realised that lower sections are facing troubles. Comparing demonetisation move to renovation of one's house, he said, "Don't you have to sleep in the drawing room or on the roof when some renovation is done in your house or it is being painted. Don't we adjust accordingly when our houses undergo a renovation?" Kher said some people were trying to destabilise the democratically elected Modi government. The actor also opined that scrapping of Article 370 is in the interest of people of Jammu and Kashmir for its development, the way development is taking place in the other states of country. "The students going to schools want peaceful atmosphere in the state as they want to pursue their study and they are sincere about it," he said. Kher hoped that the Heart of Asia conference pitching for dismantling of safe havens for terror groups will help in stopping terrorists from the state. The declaration at the conference raises hope amongst Kashmiri pandit migrants to return to Jammu and Kashmir, he added. PTI Auto-rickshaw drivers protest against Delhi Govt India oi-PTI New Delhi, Dec 5: Scores of auto-rickshaw drivers, under the banner of Swaraj India, today staged a protest outside the Delhi Secretariat, alleging a scam in issuance of permits was "running under the nose of government" and demanding a CBI inquiry into the matter. The auto-rickshaw drivers marched from ITO to the Delhi Secretariat and demanded that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Transport Minister Satyendar Jain address their demands. Extending support to the protesters, Swaraj India national president Yogendra Yadav said, "We recently exposed the permit scam running right under the nose of the Delhi government. An unholy nexus between the Delhi government and the financiers is resulting in poor drivers being forced to purchase autos worth 1.85 lakh for Rs 4.50 lakh." Swaraj India spokesperson also alleged that 10,000 auto permits were being stopped by the Delhi government, which was hurting the auto drivers. He said the transport department should again start issuing these 10,000 permits. Yadav-led Swaraj India, which is critical of the Arvind Kejriwal government, will make its debut in electoral politics by contesting the upcoming civic body election. The AAP had sacked Yadav and activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan for "anti-party" activities after they questioned Kejriwal's style of functioning. PTI MK Stalin announces First sanctuary for Slender Loris race in Tamil Nadu! Chennai prepares for a shutdown, companies ask workers to leave home early: Reports India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Chennai, Dec 5: If reports are to be believed, Chennai is preparing for an early shutdown on Monday, as the health conditions of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa remains "grave". The Chief Minister, undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, since September 22, suffered cardiac arrest on Sunday. According to media reports, several multi-national companies in Chennai have asked their employees to leave office early to avoid hassles. [Also Read: Jayalalithaa LIVE updates: Jayalalithaa's condition remains critical, says hospital] "Firms operating in Mahindra World City have reportedly asked employees to leave; so have most firms in Olympia Tech Park and TRIL. Hewlett Packard Enterprises has also asked employees in both Chennai premises to leave," stated a report published by The New Indian Express. TCS Siruseri asks employees to leave office early. #JayaHealth Srikkanth (@Srikkanth_TNIE) December 5, 2016 Reports suggest that shops in several areas of the city had shut down their shutters late in the afternoon on Monday. Large-numbers of customers were seen lined up in front of shops buying vegetables and essentials goods. Anxious residents purchasing vegetables at Tiruchy following the adverse health condition of TN CM :Express/M K Ashok @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/q1rcyLoL3U ASHOK KUMAR (@ashokkumar_TNIE) December 5, 2016 OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, December 5, 2016, 17:30 [IST] Expect announcement on Jayalalithaa at 6: Subramanian Swamy India oi-Vicky Chennai, Dec 5: There may be an announcement on J Jayalalithaa at 6 pm today, tweeted Rajya Sabha MP, Subramanian Swamy. The MP did not elaborate on what the announcement would be. Also read: With Jayalalithaa critical AIADMK looks for successor A meeting of the AIADMK leaders is scheduled to be held at Chennai at 6 pm. The meeting is being held with a view of electing an interim leader as the chief minister continues to be critical at the Apollo hospital. There may be a 6 PM announcement in JJ matter Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) December 5, 2016 There is speculation rife in Tamil Nadu which has led to several leaders appearing to stop rumor mongering. The doctors say that she remains very critical and the best possible treatment is being offered to her. There are scores of people gathered outside the Apollo hospital where Jayalalithaa has been admitted. Security is at a high with scores of police personnel on duty. Security has been stepped across the state as a precautionary measure. The state of Tamil Nadu remains on very high alert. OneIndia News Fascist forces working overtime to divide the nation: NC India oi-PTI Jammu, Dec 5: National Conference (NC) today alleged that secularism was under severe strain in the country as "reactionary and fascist" forces were working to divide the nation on religious lines. NC Provisional President Devender Singh Rana also said compartmentalisation of society on religious lines was against the idea of India. "Secularism is under severe strain with reactionary and fascist forces working overtime to divide the nation on religious, regional, ethnical and caste lines," he said. Rana was speaking at a function here to mark the 111 birth anniversary of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the founder leader of NC. Rana said beneficiaries of polarised politics might have derived short term dividends but continuation of the trend could prove detrimental to the larger national interest. Referring to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's remark about India being a Hindu Rashtra, he said such a "myopic mindset will impede the country's growth as a vibrant, forward looking, progressive and dynamic nation which is capable of emerging as a world leader at the strength of its glorious civilisation and human resource". "This (secular bonding) is the spirit which has all along guided National Conference," he said even as recalled the cherished slogan of 'Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist ethos' raised by Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah during Partition. He said NC has never deviated from the path of secular traditions which is why the people, irrespective of caste, creed and colour felt secure under its umbrella. PTI Truth has come out, says Sasikala in reaction to OPS's remark before panel Jayalalithaa death probe: TN cabinet to decide on enquiry against Sasikala and others Never interfered in medical treatment of Jayalalithaa: Sasikala denies all allegations levelled by panel Home Ministry reviews situation in Tamil Nadu India oi-Vicky New Delhi, Dec 6: The union home ministry is in constant touch with officials in Tamil Nadu and is reviewing the law and order situation in the state. The state of Tamil Nadu is on high alert following the death of J Jayalalithaa. A home ministry official informed that the chiefs of the CRPF and CISF are likely to be sent to Tamil Nadu to assist the local police. We are in constant touch with the officials in the state and are monitoring the situation, the official in the union home ministry informed. [Also Read: Jayalalithaa LIVE updates:Jayalalithaa passes away] Meanwhile, security has been tightened across the state. Several forces have already been on stand by since yesterday when Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest. The home ministry says that the CRPF and CISF chiefs are likely to be sent to TN to help assess the situation. Earlier in the day the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Vidyasagar Rao informed the Home Minister, Rajnath Singh that the situation was under control. The entire police force was on stand by and the situation was under control. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, December 6, 2016, 2:30 [IST] Take a look at EWS flats at Kalkaji to be inaugurated by PM Modi [Photos] For beneficiaries of EWS flat a gift from PM Modi like none other How Modi changed the demonetisation narrative India oi-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, Dec 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on November 8, 2016 to announce the withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The speech (in English) lasted 25 minutes. The Prime Minister uttered the phrase "black money" 18 times in this speech. He mentioned "fake currency" or "counterfeit" five times in the same speech. It was unambiguously clear from the Prime Minister's speech that the primary motivation for the sudden withdrawal of nearly 86 per cent of the country's currency was the evil of black money. The next day, the papers termed it a "war on black money". PayTM, a mobile payment app, hailed the decision with a full-page ad and the Prime Minister left for Japan. By the time the Prime Minister returned from Japan, the move had been christened "demonetisation" in English, "notebandi" in Hindi and there was a war-time like rationing of currency in the country. The Prime Minister made six speeches across the country on the demonetisation policy between November 13 and November 27, including his radio address to the nation, Mann Ki Baat, according to data available on the Prime Minister's personal website. The text of all the speeches are available on the website. A data analysis of the speeches (after translation) reveals a shifting of the narrative of the demonetisation action and its objectives. In his speech on November 8, 2016, when he announced the demonetisation policy, the Prime Minister used the phrase "black money" four times more than "fake/counterfeit currency". By November 27, he used the phrase "digital/cashless" thrice as much as "black money" with no mention of "fake currency". Recall, there was zero mention of "digital/cashless" in the initial November 8 speech. The chart below shows the ratio of the three narratives-"black money", "fake currency" and "cashless/digital pay"-in each of the Prime Minister's speeches over three weeks and seven speeches. In other words, in the same speech, how many times did the Prime Minister use each of these phrases to describe the reasons for demonetisation which can be used as a proxy to understand what the Prime Minister believes was the primary objective for this mammoth exercise? The "cashless/digital" phrase in the Prime Minister's speeches went from 0 in the November 8 speech to a 73 per cetnt ratio in the November 27 speech. The "fake currency" phrase went from 22 per cent to 0 in the same period suggesting the Prime Minister no longer believes that terror financing was the primary or secondary driver of this demonetisation exercise. The "black money" phrase went from a high of a 80 per cent ratio on November 8 to only 27 per cent on November 27. Apparently, it is no longer a "war on black money" but instead a "war on all currency" to go cashless. So, between November 8 and November 27, the objective for the demonetisation exercise has swung from black money elimination to going cashless, as evident in the Prime Minister's speeches. To be sure, urging citizens to use less cash and resort to digital transactions is a laudable objective and must certainly be encouraged. But when a decision was taken to remove a whopping 86 per cent of the country's currency overnight with all its attendant costs, one would have hoped there was one strong rationale for it, even if it meant achieving multiple objectives. Either the Prime Minister has realised that the original primary objective of eliminating black money may not be met or there was not adequate thought behind the decision. Either way, it is worrisome. IANS/IndiaSpend Indians are ready to try out a less cash economy India oi-Oneindia By Smita Mishra A week ago, my newspaper vendor Avneesh Kumar came to collect his bill. Even before I could check my wallet for the necessary cash, he smiled and said in his typical West UP accent 'Madam cheque de do na!' [Also Read: How Modi changed the demonetisation narrative] Similar experiences were narrated from several of our friends who found that their tailors, fruit sellers, dairy shop owners and in one case even the 'Presswalla' were readily accepting payment from mobile wallets. Grocery shops in Delhi/NCR have already been accepting card payments predating the demonetization. The difference now being that earlier it was limited to the big retail outlets but now even the corner 'kirana shops' have started trying it out. Of course, one may argue that this is Delhi/NCR and NOT the story of the country. But what about the stories of the Bastar chaiwalla inviting customers with his mobile wallet notice, the Gujarat village turning cashless and small time shopkeepers in Bihar giving customers the option of electronic payment despite poor electricity? [Also Read: Manmohan headed a "corrupt regime", has no right to slam demonetisation: BJP] Indians willing to try out a cashless economy: Let us take a look at the arguments forwarded by some of India's most well known experts. The most common being that India and Indians are not quite poised to move over to a cashless economy. But nobody is saying that transactions would become completely cashless. Much less Narendra Modi. However, if the idea is to migrate towards a less-cash economy, then Indians are ready and willing to try it out. The second argument is more technical. It questions the possibility of electronic payments when smart phone penetration in the country is extremely limited. That is a genuine concern. But while smart phones are still expensive and complicated for simple, less-literate folk, the ordinary mobile phone is not. By making mobile wallet payments possible on the ordinary cell phone and enabling Aadhaar related electronic transactions popular, the goal of limiting cash dealings to the minimum may be within reach. Some of the doomsayers have based their argument on behalf of the 'poor'. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Whether a dhobi, a newspaper vendor, a fruit seller or the corner Kiranawala lives in Delhi or Bastar or Patna, he can hardly be called rich. Their willingness to opt for digital transactions shows the poor are certainly more open to the idea than the experts. [Also read: ] In any case, it doesn't require much brilliance to understand that the jump start towards cashless economy as shown by latest data cannot be limited to the rich classes or the big cities alone. The reason is simple. These people were already dealing in debit card/credit card for much of their purchases and payments. The upsurge obviously reflects those who were NOT dealing in it earlier. India is changing its transaction pattern: Here are some important statistics to prove that it is indeed REAL India which is changing its transaction pattern...the same India which the experts so incorrectly use to weave their arguments. Post demonetization Ola Money transactions jumped to an impressive 1500 percent across 102 cities of India. PayTM was next with an increase of 700 percent. Razorpay was third with 200 percent while Mobikwik recorded 15 times more traffic. The spike in card payments throws some more interesting facts. Card payments below 500 rupees more than doubled. To break it down further, transactions less than 250 rupees rose 177 percent while it was 135 percent in the range of 250-500. On the contrary the rise in transactions above 500 was modest that is 75 percent. The spike in deals above 700 rupees was not even notable. So there... To further prove the point that it is the small towns and average Indian buyer who is changing, it would be relevant to quote a bank official who said the number of requests for POS machines daily (3000-4000) is now equal to what they would get every month pre-demonetisation. In the end just one data (sourced from RBI) would suffice to close the argument. The volume of cash transaction in India was 78 percent predating the demonetization. Today, this figure has slipped to 20 percent in all. Indians have decided to jump over to a digital, less cash economy. The sooner the experts recognize the better for them. (Smita Mishra, Advisor, Prasar Bharati) CUET impact? Only 1 from Kerala board in Hindu College's popular course so far JNU Admissions 2022: PG First merit list to be released today; how to check India's economy is expected to grow five fold by 2040: Narendra Modi India oi-Sandra Marina Fernandes New Delhi, Dec 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that India has shown tremendous resilience and FDI is at the highest level. Modi inaugurated the Petrotech Exhibition 2016- 12th International Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition in New Delhi on Monday. Speaking at the event, Modi said: "India's economy is expected to grow five folds by 2040, we expect growth in manufacturing, transport, civil aviation among other sectors." Speaking about India's growth , Modi said: "Energy in general and hydrocarbons in particular are an important part of my vision for India's future. Hydrocarbons will continue to play an important part in India's growth." PM @narendramodi at PETROTECH-2016: 12th International Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition in New Delhi pic.twitter.com/etXZJ4O4Cw PIB India (@PIB_India) December 5, 2016 Modi also invited Global Hydrocarbon companies to Make in India and said: "My message to global hydrocarbon companies is, 'we invite you to come and Make in India.' Our commitment is strong and our motto is to replace Red Tape with Red Carpet." Modi said that the poor in the country too should have acess to energy. "India needs energy which is accessible to the poor. It needs efficiency in energy use. Energy sustainability for me is a sacred duty, must do it out of commitment and not out of compulsion," Modi said. Stressing on the need to increase domestic production and reduce oil imports by 20 per cent by 2022, the Prime Minster urged the youth to venture into the oil and gas sector. "We need to find out an affordable and reliable source of energy... youth should venture into this sector and find innovative ways for India's oil security," Modi said. (With IANS inputs) OneIndia News Jaya suffers cardiac arrest: All AIADMK MLAs told to assemble at Apollo hospital by 11 am India oi-Vicky Chennai, Dec 5: All AIADMK MLAs have been told to assemble at the Apollo Hospital in Chennai by 11 AM. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa who is admitted at the Apollo Hospital is being treated after she suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday. Several party leaders and workers rushed to Chennai last night after news regarding Jayalalithaa broke out. There is no clarity, howeve,r why the MLAs have been told to assemble outside the hospital. There is expected to some announcement and hence the MLAs have been asked to reach Apollo hospital by 11 AM. Also read: Jayalalithaa suffers cardiac arrest: Police steps up security across TN Meanwhile there is heavy security outside the hospital. Police deployment is heavy across the state which has been put on very high alert. On Sunday, the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Vidyasagar Rao paid a ten minute visit to Apollo. He then briefed Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh about the situation. Singh is understood to have told Rao to ensure that security in the state is high and the centre would provide all assistance. OneIndia News Truth has come out, says Sasikala in reaction to OPS's remark before panel Jayalalithaa death probe: TN cabinet to decide on enquiry against Sasikala and others Many issues in late TN CM Jayalaltihaas death report says Stalin Never interfered in medical treatment of Jayalalithaa: Sasikala denies all allegations levelled by panel Life and times of Jayalalithaa India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Chennai, Dec 5: The whole of Tamil Nadu came to a standstill after Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday. Hundreds of her supporters lined up in front of Apollo Hospitals, where the Chief Minister is undergoing treatment since September, to pray for her early recovery. The security measures have been beefed up across the state to avoid any untoward incident. Here is a brief timeline on life, works, achievements and controversies surrounding Jayalalithaa: [Also Read: TN CM very critical says Apollo hospital] Birthday: February 24, 1948: She was born in Melukote town in Mysuru district, Karnataka. Her parents' names were Vedavalli and Jayaraman. She was born in an orthodox Brahmin family. Jayalalithaa's family named her Komalavalli, which she later changed to Jayalalithaa after joining the film industry. Film career as a child actress: She started her filmi career as a child actress in 1961. In fact, she made her debut with an English movie, Epistle. As a child artist, she worked in English, Kannada and Hindi films. From child actor to lead star: At the age of 15, she worked in her first film as a lead actress in the Kannada movie--'Chinnada Gombe' (golden doll). [Also Read: Jayalalithaa LIVE updates: Jayalalithaa continues to be very critical, says Apollo Hospital] When Jaya met MGR: In 1965, Jaya worked in her first Tamil film, 'Vennira Aadai' (white dress). The film was a major blockbuster. After that, in the same year, she worked opposite MG Ramachandran (MGR), the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and her future political mentor. They worked together for more than two decades, both in films and political arenas, before he died in 1987. Jaya says goodbye to films: In 1980, she acted in her last Tamil movie, Nadhiyai Thedi Vandha Kadal (Where ocean seeks a river). She left her filmi career to join politics. Jayalalithaa has acted in 300-odd films in various languages. Entry into politics and growing distance between Jaya and MGR: She joined politics as an AIADMK party member in 1982. Like her career in films, her debut in politics was also a hit. With her very first public speech, Jayalalithaa impressed everyone. She became a Rajya Sabha member in 1989. In the same year, MGR suffered a stroke and was hospitalized in the US. In fact, in his absence, Jaya approached the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to make her the CM. The rift between them was out in the open. The AIADMK supremo stripped her from several party posts. However, when the elections were held in the same year, Jayalalithaa played a major role in helping the AIADMK win both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. Lull in Jaya's political life: After MGR died in 1987, his wife Janaki became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 1988. The party broke into two groups--one headed by Janaki and the second by Jaya. Jaya was sidelined for the time being. However, Janaki's rule lasted for just 21 days. Thereafter, President's rule was imposed in Tamil Nadu. Her dominance starts in AIADMK: In 1989, due to factional wars, the AIADMK lost the elections to the DMK. However, later on, Janaki decided to quit the party and Jayalalithaa became the head of the AIADMK. Debut as the Chief Minister: In 1991, Jaya became the Chief Minister of the state for the first time after the AIADMK-Congress alliance badly defeated the DMK. During her rule, the Chief Minister was involved in several corruption cases, which dented the party's reputation. Her defeat and jail term: In 1996, her party was routed by the DMK. In the same year, Jayalalithaa was arrested in a corruption case and was sent to jail for a month. Jaya makes her comeback: In 2001, the AIADMK under Jayalalithaa's leadership won the elections. However, she did not contest the elections as her name figured in 12 pending corruption-related cases. But still, she became the Chief Minister. However, because of a Supreme Court ruling, she had to step down from the post. In 2003, after the Madras High Court cleared Jaya's name from few cases, she again contested the election and became the Chief Minister. One more defeat: In 2006, Amma, as she is popularly known to her supporters, lost the elections to the DMK. Third time lucky: Jayalalithaa became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the third time in 2011. Court cases haunt Jaya: In 2014, she was convicted in the disproportionate assets case. After spending a month in prison, she got bail. In her absence, O Paneerselvam was the state's CM. Cleared of charges: In 2015, Amma's name got cleared from a disproportionate assets case. Queen of victories: In 2016, the AIADMK once again won the elections under her leadership. Health hazard: On September 22, 2016, Jayalalithaa was admitted in Apollo Hospitals, Chennai. The hospital sources said she was being treated for fever and dehydration. Almost a month later, the AIADMK issued a statement saying she was recovering and would soon join her office duty. However, on December 4, 2016, she suffered a cardiac arrest. She died on December 5, 2016. OneIndia News Truth has come out, says Sasikala in reaction to OPS's remark before panel Jayalalithaa death probe: TN cabinet to decide on enquiry against Sasikala and others Never interfered in medical treatment of Jayalalithaa: Sasikala denies all allegations levelled by panel Jayalalithaa suffers cardiac arrest: Police steps up security across TN India oi-Vicky Chennai, Dec 5: There is heavy deployment of police outside the Apollo hospital where the Tamil Nadu, chief minister, J Jayalalithaa, is being treated after suffering a cardiac arrest. Scores of supporters have gathered outside the hospital where prayers are being offered for the speedy recovery of the CM. The police have had a tough time in controlling the crowd which gathered in large numbers after the news regarding the cardiac arrest broke. Barricading was done at the hospital area in Chennai to keep a check on the crowd. Nine companies of the Rapid Action Force has been put on stand-by. Each RAF company comprising 100 security personnel are ready to be airlifted and stationed in various parts of Tamil Nadu if the need be. Several police personnel had gathered outside the Rajarathinam stadium. Several police personnel were seen outside the stadium getting ready for deployment. The state of Tamil Nadu has been put on high alert and is likely to resemble a fortress all through the day today. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, December 5, 2016, 7:46 [IST] Truth has come out, says Sasikala in reaction to OPS's remark before panel Jayalalithaa death probe: TN cabinet to decide on enquiry against Sasikala and others Never interfered in medical treatment of Jayalalithaa: Sasikala denies all allegations levelled by panel Jayalalithaa will be an inspiration: PM Modi India oi-Vicky By Vicky New Delhi, Dec 6 In a series of tweets put out following the death of J Jayalalithaa, the PM expressed deep sadness over her demise and said it has left "a huge void in Indian politics". Her concern for the poor and the women will always be an inspiration for all said Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Deeply saddened at the passing away of Selvi Jayalalithaa. Her demise has left a huge void in Indian politics. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 The PM Modi said her connect with citizens, concern for welfare of the poor, the women and marginalised will always be "a source of inspiration". Jayalalithaa jis connect with citizens, concern for welfare of the poor, the women & marginalized will always be a source of inspiration. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 May the Almighty grant them the strength to bear this irreparable loss with courage and fortitude. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 He said he would always cherish the innumerable occasions when "I had the opportunity to interact with Jayalalithaaji. May her soul rest in peace." I will always cherish the innumerable occasions when I had the opportunity to interact with Jayalalithaa ji. May her soul rest in peace. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Tamil Nadu in this hour of grief, the PM also said. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Tamil Nadu in this hour of grief. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2016 OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, December 6, 2016, 2:25 [IST] Govt announces nationwide campaign for submission of digital life certificates Crow instigating a fight between two cats leaves netizens in splits IRCTC update: 92 trains cancelled on Nov 03; here is the complete list Kejriwal concerned over Jayalalithaa's health India oi-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, Dec 5: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday expressed concern over the health of his Tamil Nadu counterpart J. Jayalalithaa, who suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday. "Very concerned about Jayalalithaaji's health. I pray for her speedy recovery. God bless her," the Aam Aadmi Party leader tweeted. IANS Five years of demonetisation: Notes in circulation on rise; so are digital payments PM Modi should admit that demonetistion a failure: Owaisi on cash seizure in UP Long queues outside banks, ATMs on Monday morning India oi-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, Dec 5: Crowd returned to banks on Monday after a Sunday holiday as thousands of people hungry for cash queued up to take out money. The scene was no different at ATMs that were functional. Mahendra Prakash, a resident of Kalindi Kunj in south Delhi, said he and his wife rushed to the neighbourhood Canara Bank ATM when they realised it had been loaded with cash in the morning. Prakash told IANS that ATMs in his locality had been dry for the last one week. He was one of the many who hit out at the way the demonetisation scheme had been implemented, triggering an unprecedented cash shortage all across the country. "The government and the RBI were not prepared for this. They should have made proper arrangements to replace the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes." The government announced the scrapping of high value currency on November 8 to crack down on black money and corruption. When IANS caught up with them, Prakash's wife Rakhi had been in the ATM queue for one long hour. The scene was similar at many ATMs. Many people expressed disgust over the manner they were forced to queue up again and again, almost daily, to collect Rs 2,000-2,500 -- the maximum one can withdraw from an ATM daily. Many ATM machines continued to be cash-less on Monday. Desperate to go to work, people in the queues were requesting those ahead of them to withdraw cash using only one debit card. "I have to pay rent. I have to pay my maid and for utility bills. I can't make all payments through net banking," complained Sahil Raj, an IT professional from Nirman Vihar in east Delhi, echoing a common grouse. "I have been trying to get cash from ATM for the last three days. Just before my turn comes, the guard announces the ATM is out of cash," Raj sighed. "It is really frustrating." Banks and ATMs have been regularly witnessing serpentine queues since the note ban of November 8. Many bank customers say they are not allowed to take out Rs 24,000 a week -- as authorized by the Reserve Bank of India -- but given only Rs 4,000-6,000 by bank officials who cite cash crunch. IANS How terrorists obtain valid visas with the help of Kashmiri separatists As vigil along LoC gets tight, terrorists move towards International Border to sneak in Nagrota: Militants gained entry from forest behind Army camp India oi-PTI New Delhi, Dec 5: The militants who attacked the Army camp at Nagrota in Jammu and Kashmir, had entered the premises from the forest area in its rear, official sources said today. The sources claimed that the militants used the forest area located behind the Army camp to gain entry. The area has barbed wire and a small wall, they said. Two Indian Army officers and five jawans were killed in an eight-hour long gun battle at the military camp near the Army's 16 Corps headquarters in Nagrota on November 29. Three militants were also neutralised in the attack. The Army unit is located just three kms from the Corps Headquarters at Nagrota. Nagrota attack: Huge quantity of arms and ammunition recovered A statement by the Army soon after the attack had said that the terrorists forced their way into the Officers Mess complex by throwing grenades and firing at the sentries. However, Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag said here on the sidelines of an event that the incident was under investigation and a final report will clarify everything. PTI Truth has come out, says Sasikala in reaction to OPS's remark before panel Jayalalithaa death probe: TN cabinet to decide on enquiry against Sasikala and others Never interfered in medical treatment of Jayalalithaa: Sasikala denies all allegations levelled by panel Panic grips Tamil Nadu over Jayalalithaa's health India oi-Anusha By Anusha Ravi Many petrol bunks across the state remained shut anticipating protests on Monday. The few functioning, saw hoards of people rushing to fill up their vehicle tanks. While schools and colleges functioned as usual, market places saw people throng to buy essential commodities. [Also Read: AIADMK MLAs told to assemble at Apollo] Amidst rumours of possible shut down, instances of milk being sold higher than MRP was reported from various places across the state even as it's Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa continues to be monitored at Chennai's Apollo Hospital. All police stations were put on alert and officers asked to report earlier by order of the DGP. Additional forces have been deployed outside Apollo hospital considering the crowd that is gathering outside. While all political leaders in Tamil Nadu have cancelled their tour plans and have stay put. Officials, bureaucrats have returned to Chennai and legislators of AIADMK are likely to be present at Apollo Hospital at 11 AM. Even as prayers pour in for Jayalalithaa's speedy recovery, supporters and party workers alike continue to throng outside the hospital where AIADMK's chief is being treated after suffering a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening. Karnataka state transport buses have stopped plying to Tamil Nadu and service is likely to be restored only after assurance of smooth operations. Meanwhile, AIADMK spokesperson C R Saraswati said that the doctors have assured them on Jayalalithaa'a recovery and that she has recovered and out of danger. OneIndia News An unmanned Russian supply spaceship broke up Thursday over Siberia, just six minutes after taking off from a launchpad in Kazakhstan. The Russian space agency said the Progress craft broke apart about 190 kilometers above the Earth. Most of the ship and its cargo burned up in the atmosphere. The rest fell in a remote area of Siberia near the Mongolian border. No damage or injuries were reported. The cause of the incident was under investigation. The ship was carrying about 2.5 metric tons of food, water, fuel and other supplies to the International Space Station. It was supposed to dock Saturday. Russian and U.S. space officials said the six-person crew on the station was in no danger and had plenty of food and fuel. MK Stalin announces First sanctuary for Slender Loris race in Tamil Nadu! Prez, Karunanidhi, other leaders wish Jaya speedy recovery India oi-PTI New Delhi, Dec 5: President Pranab Mukherjee, DMK leader M Karunanidhi, Union Ministers, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and various Chief Ministers on Sunday expressed concern over Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's health condition and wished her speedy recovery. "Distressed to hear about CM Jayalalithaa suffering a cardiac arrest, my prayers for her speedy recovery," Mukherjee tweeted after the condition of Jayalalithaa, who has been undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai since September 22, deteriorated in the evening. Karunanidhi, the arch rival of Jayalalithaa, also wished her a speedy recovery. Tamil Nadu Opposition leader K Stalin also tweeted: "I desire that the intensive treatment being given to the Chief Minister yields fruit and that she recovers soon." Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu tweeted, "Feeling bad to know abt da critical condition of TN CM Selvi Jayalalitha. Praying for her speedy recovery and quick response 2 the treatment (sic)." Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman also tweeted: "Very upsetting news about Hon.CM of Tamil Nadu, Selvi.Jayalalitha suffering a cardiac arrest. Prayers for her speedy recovery." In his tweet, Rahul Gandhi said: "Praying for Jayalalithaa ji's quick recovery. I hope she gets better very soon." West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "Very concerned about the health of Jayalalithaa Ji. Like my friends in Tamil Nadu, I am praying for her speedy recovery. May God bless her." Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said "Got to know about Tamil Nadu CM #Jayalalithaa ji's health. Maharashtra prays for her speedy recovery!" Former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad said, "Totally worried about the health of #Jayalalithaa Ji. Wishing and Praying for speedy recovery. Let's all pray for her." PTI Congress will bring back old pension scheme in Gujarat, if voted to power: Rahul Gandhi Prez, PM Modi express grief over deaths in Gujarat bridge collapse, Cong asks party workers to extend help Rahul wishes speedy recovery to Jayalalitha India oi-PTI New Delhi, Dec 5: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today voiced hope that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha will get well soon. The Chief Minister suffered a cardiac arrest yesterday at the Apollo hospital in Chennai where she was admitted over two months ago. "I have heard that. I hope she recovers and gets well as soon as possible," Rahul said outside Parliament. Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital since September 22 after she complained of fever and dehydration. PTI Truth has come out, says Sasikala in reaction to OPS's remark before panel Jayalalithaa death probe: TN cabinet to decide on enquiry against Sasikala and others Many issues in late TN CM Jayalaltihaas death report says Stalin Jayalalithaa's death: Commission finds Sasikala guilty, recommends probe against her Never interfered in medical treatment of Jayalalithaa: Sasikala denies all allegations levelled by panel #RIPAmma, #RIPJayalalithaa trend on Twitter, as Apollo Hospitals denies CM's demise India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Chennai, Dec 5: Around 5 pm on Monday evening, television channels reported the demise of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. However, minutes later, Apollo Hospitals, where Jayalalithaa has been undergoing treatment since September 22, denied such reports as "wrong". The hospital maintained that Amma continues to be on life support. [Also Read: Jayalalithaa LIVE updates: Apollo dismisses rumours of Jayalalithaa's death] The 68-year-old AIADMK supremo suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday. Since then her condition is said to be "grave". In between all these false reports by television channels and clarifications from the hospital, users of micro-blogging site, Twitter, trended two hashtags--#RIPAmma and #RIPJayalalithaa. Rest in Peace Our beloved woman Dr.Jeyalaitha Mam, can't replace by anyone. #RIPAmma pic.twitter.com/FHzAyOWZba Skycinemas (@skycinemas) December 5, 2016 jaya amma passed away may her soul rest in peace #RIPJayalalithaa #RIPAmma pic.twitter.com/dzKQ0pChZJ KONJAM NADINGA VIJAY (@KNVofficial1) December 5, 2016 OneIndia News IRCTC update: 92 trains cancelled on Nov 03; here is the complete list Smuggling of fake notes substantially down: Venkaiah Naidu India oi-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, Dec 5: Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday said smuggling of fake Indian currency has come down substantially, from nearly Rs 44 crore in 2015 to around Rs 28 crore in the current year. In a series of tweets, the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister also said that smuggling of fake notes across the India-Bangaldesh border had also fallen. "National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) says smuggling of fake currency was down from Rs 43.83 crore in 2015 to Rs 27.70 crore in September 2016," Naidu said. National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB) says, smuggling of fake currency was down from Rs 43.83 Crore in 2015 to Rs 27.70 Crore in Sept 2016 M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) December 5, 2016 Quoting Border Security Force data, he added: "Indo-Bangladesh border fake currency smuggling on the rise over past 8 years. Reduced from Rs 2.87 crore in 2015 to Rs 1.53 crore in 2016." Naidu hailed the common people for their "wholehearted" support to the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. "Necessity is the mother of invention, to use a cliched adage. Game-changing role for the youth and other digitally-literate people ... can educate the illiterate and semi-literate men and women in the use of mobiles and digital platforms for money transactions," Naidu said. IANS Aixtron deal: China criticises US decision International oi-PTI Beijing, Dec 5: China today criticised a US decision to block a Chinese company's purchase of German semiconductor equipment maker Aixtron, saying business should not be politicised. President Barack Obama blocked the deal by rejecting the inclusion of Aixtron's US unit in it. The US Treasury Department said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States had found that the risks posed by the purchase, which could put sensitive technology with potential military applications in Chinese hands, were too great. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the move to purchase Aixtron was purely market-driven. "China opposes politicising normal business behaviour or interfering in it in a political way," he told a regular press briefing. "We hope the US side can stop making groundless accusations to Chinese companies and provide a fair environment and good conditions to Chinese investments," he added. In a statement Friday the US Treasury said publicly-traded Aixtron SE's expertise in technology which is key to making advanced compound semiconductors used for LED lighting, lasers and solar cells also has military applications. Washington does not want to see such technology end up in the hands of the Chinese government-backed company which wants to buy Aixtron, Grand Chip Investment. The Treasury said Aixtron's US business was an important contributor to that technology. In late October the German government withdrew its initial approval for the 670 million euro (USD 714 million) takeover after Washington raised security concerns. Citing German intelligence sources, Handelsblatt daily reported that the US had expressed fears that China could use Aixtron technology to bolster its nuclear programme. After receiving the information, the German economy ministry said on October 24 that it would reopen its review of the deal. PTI Ashraf Ghani's statement meant to please India: Sartaj Aziz International oi-IANS By Ians English Islamabad, Dec 5: Pakistan's top diplomat Sartaj Aziz on Monday lashed out at Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's for calling Pakistan a terror sanctuary in his remarks at the Heart of Asia conference. Aziz, who returned home late Sunday after attending the conference in Amritsar, said that since the conference was about Afghanistan "that is why we wished that the ongoing relationships between Pakistan and India should not affect the peace process within Afghanistan". However, Pakistan's de facto foreign policy chief felt Ghani's statement was incomprehensible and condemnable, and contended that it was meant to "please India". He also revealed that in his meeting with Ghani, he assured the Afghan President of Pakistan's wish for peace in Afghanistan and proper security mechanisms along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Also read: India's help is with no strings attached: Ashraf Ghani at Heart of Asia Summit Aziz said that Pakistan was always being blamed whenever there was an attack inside India and Afghanistan despite the fact that it was striving to promote peace in the region. "If I had not been to India, it certainly would have a backlash as India would have got another opportunity of spreading propaganda," he said. Blaming the Indian media, Aziz said it was highlighting the issue of terrorism in a wrong way and on purpose so as to pressurise Pakistan. He also claimed that the security arrangements within India were not satisfactory. "It is totally incomprehensible not to allow someone to talk to media." IANS Take a look at EWS flats at Kalkaji to be inaugurated by PM Modi [Photos] Narendra Modi wins online reader's poll for TIME Person of the Year International oi-PTI New York, Dec 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the online reader's poll for TIME Person of the Year 2016, beating out other world leaders like US President-elect Donald Trump, incumbent US leader Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi won with 18 per cent of the vote when the poll closed on Sunday night, getting significantly more votes than his closest contenders, including Obama, Trump and Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange, who all received 7 per cent of the 'yes' vote. Modi was also placed far ahead of other prominent figures of this year, like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (2 per cent) and US Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (4 per cent), Time said. Time's editors will decide the final Person of the Year later this week, but the online poll results provide a look at how the world sees these figures and Modi emerged as the most influential figure in 2016, according to the online poll. Time said the reader poll is an "important window" into who they think most shaped 2016. It is for the second time that Modi has won the online readers' poll for Time Person of the Year title, securing the honour in 2014, when he had got more than 16 per cent of the almost five million votes cast the fourth year in a row, Modi is among the contenders for Time's 'Person of the Year' honour, which the US publication bestows every year to the one "who has most influenced the news and our world in the past year, for good or ill". Also read: India's economy is expected to grow five fold by 2040: Narendra Modi Last year German Chancellor Angela Merkel was Time's 'Person of the Year'. Time said in recent months, Modi saw high approval ratings from Indians, according to a September Pew poll. It added that Modi has come under scrutiny recently for getting rid of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes, impacting cash-based businesses and threatening India's economy. Current poll results, analysed by poll host Apester, found that preferences differed across the world and the United States. Modi performed particularly well among Indian voters as well as those in California and New Jersey. Modi had been in the lead in this years online poll and according to the initial votes cast, he had got 21 per cent voting in his favour. For a while Assange had overtaken Trump for the lead in the online poll, getting 10 per cent of all the "yes" votes cast by participants, Time had said. Among the contenders this year are former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, FBI Chief James Comey, Apple CEO Tim Cook, parents of slain Muslim-American soldier Humanyun Khan, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Time had also analysed the moments from 2016 when this year's poll contenders were most talked about. For Modi it was October 16 when the Indian leader had suggested during a summit of BRICS nations in Goa that Pakistan is the "mothership" for terrorism. PTI My party-BJP have different ideologies but common aim of uplifting poor: Nepal ex-PM Prachanda Former Nepal PM says removed from office for including Kalapani Nepali President urges parties to back constitutional amendment International oi-IANS By Ians English Kathmandu, Dec 5: Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari has urged political parties to focus on implementation of a new constitution and maintain harmony in the country. She made the remarks while convening an all-party meeting at the Presidential Palace on Sunday night, Xinhau news agency reported. "Bhandari expressed her anxiety over possible repercussions if the new constitution is not implemented," Vice Chairman of the CPN (Maoist Centre) Narayan Kaji Shrestha said. She called on all parties to work toward ensuring political stability in the country and forge consensus on the thorny issues relating to the constitutional amendment, said Shrestha. "Parties need to be mindful about the country's sovereignty and national harmony while taking any kind of decision that may have impact for the long run," Bhandari said. Leaders from various ruling and opposition parties, including Madhesi parties, shared their views with the President at the meeting. The meeting came amid squabbles between ruling and opposition parties over the constitutional amendment proposal tabled by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" last week. The amendment bill seeks to carve out a new state in western Nepal to meet the demands of Madhesi parties, whose months-long protests last year left more than 50 people dead. The opposition parties, including Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist), Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist Leninist), Rashtriya Janamorcha Party Nepal and Nepal Workers Peasants' Party, have been protesting against the bill. IANS Exit polls indicate no clear winner in Israeli elections: Will it end the Netanyahu era? Netanyahu says Trump election has not changed 2-state goal International oi-PTI Jerusalem, Dec 5: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his support for a two-state solution with the Palestinians remains the same after Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election. Trump's election has encouraged Israeli hardliners to call on Netanyahu to step up Israeli settlement construction, annex parts of the occupied West Bank or even abandon the idea of Palestinian independence. But in a satellite interview to the Saban Forum at the Brookings Institution in Washington today, Netanyahu said his position on "two states for two peoples" hasn't changed. The international community widely supports a two-state solution. Trump has not yet laid out his Mideast policy. The Palestinians have accused Netanyahu of undermining two-state hopes by building settlements. Netanyahu said the Palestinians must recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jews. PTI Slip of Tongue in Pak Parliament: Speaker pronounces Nawaz Sharif's name instead of Shehbaz Sharif Nawaz Sharif likely to return to Pakistan next month: Imran Khan Maryam Nawaz gets her passport back after 3 years; meets father Nawaz Sharif in London Nawaz Sharif, army chief discuss national security issues International oi-IANS By Ians English Islamabad, Dec 5: Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday and discussed issues pertaining to national security, a statement from the PM House said. Separately, General Bajwa met President Mamnoon Hussain who felicitated him on assuming the command of the Pakistan Army. On Friday, the new army chief said that every ceasefire violation long the Line of Control will be responded to with "full force" and in an effective manner. "Each violation of any kind must be responded to with full force in the most effective manner," he said during a day-long visit to the 10 Corps Headquarters in Rawalpindi. Gen Bajwa said that India's "aggressive posture" solely aimed to divert the world's attention from the "atrocities" being committed by their troops in Jammu and Kashmir. He stressed that the core issue of Kashmir will have to be resolved between the two countries, in line with UN resolutions and aspirations of the people of the valley, for lasting peace in the region. IANS Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told an international conference held in the northern Indian city of Amritsar that the Taliban insurgency in his country would not survive without support from Pakistan and called for the setting up of a fund to combat extremism. Referring to an upsurge of violence in his country by militant groups, the Afghan leader said, "Some still provide sanctuary in support or tolerate these networks. As Mr. (Mullah Rahmatullah) Kakazada, one of the key figures in the Taliban movement recently said if they did not have sanctuary in Pakistan, they would not last a month." Afghanistan's ties with Pakistan have come under strain as it grapples with increased militant attacks. Pointing out that his country had suffered the highest number of civilian casualties and military related deaths last year, Ghani said this "was unacceptable." In his remarks at the conference, Pakistan's top foreign ministry official, Sartaj Aziz, said the security situation in Afghanistan is complex and it is "simplistic" to blame one country for the recent upsurge in violence. Aziz called for "an objective and holistic view." The "Heart of Asia Conference" is an initiative launched in 2011 for encouraging economic and security cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbors. Delegates from over 20 countries including Pakistan's top foreign policy official, Sartaj Aziz, attended the conference. Terror took center stage at the meet as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also underlined his concerns about support that terrorism derives in the region. Modi did not directly name Pakistan, but called for resolute action to fight "not just against forces of terrorism, but also against those who support, shelter, train and finance them." He said terrorist violence endangers not just Afghanistan but the entire region. Taiwan president's call to Donald Trump was just 'courtesy': Mike Pence International oi-IANS By Ians English Washington, Dec 5: U.S. Vice President-elect Mike Pence said that the controversial telephone call between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and President-elect Donald Trump last week was just a "courtesy call", media reports said. Trump's chat with Tsai, the first bilateral contact at the presidential level since Washington broke relations with Taipei in 1979, was nothing more than a "courtesy", Efe news agency quoted Pence as saying on an the ABC news program. "I think I would just say to our counterparts in China that this was a moment of courtesy. The President-elect talked to President Xi (Jinping) two weeks ago in the same manner that was not a discussion about policy," Pence said. With those remarks, Pence compared the chat between Trump and Tsai with the contacts that President Barack Obama has maintained with Cuban President Raul Castro as part of process of normalizing bilateral relations. The Indiana governor said that just like other world leaders, the Taiwanese president called Trump to offer congratulations for his election win. The call by the Taiwanese president broke with almost four decades of sensitive U.S. foreign policy with China and forced the White House to come out and reiterate that the only Chinese government Washington has recognized since 1979 is the one in Beijing. Foreign policy experts say that the call could alter relations between the Washington and Beijing, given that the China considers the island of Taiwan to be a "rebel" province and part of its sovereign territory. IANS Trump attacks China after criticism over phone call International oi-IANS By Ians English Washington, Dec 5: The US President-elect has attacked China after he was criticised by Beijing over his recent telephone conversation with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, reports said on Monday. "Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn't tax them)," Trump said in his tweet on Sunday. He said did Beijing ask before building "a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!," Xinhua news reported. Hours before Trump's attack on Twitter, US Vice President-elect Mike Pence had tried to defuse the controversy over the controversial call by assuring in a television interview that it was only a "courtesy" call. Tsai telephoned Trump on December 2 to congratulate him on his election success that subsequently provoked a formal protest from the Chinese government and raised high expectations in Taiwan. That call broke almost four decades protocol in the sensitive US foreign policy towards China. Taiwan president's call to Donald Trump was just 'courtesy': Mike Pence It forced the White House to step up to remind that the only Chinese government that Washington has accepted since 1979 is that of Beijing. Foreign policy experts said the call could alter the relations between the two countries, as the Asian giant sees Taiwan as a "rebel" province and a part its territory. At first, Chinese authorities wanted to curtail the issue and assured that the call was a "little trick" of Taiwan, but later they raised the tone and lodged a formal protest against the US. Beijing urged Washington to maintain its commitment to the principle of the "one-China" policy and asked it to handle issues related to Taiwan "cautiously and properly" in order to avoid "unnecessary interference". IANS Donald Trump tweets against China's currency, military policies International oi-PTI Washington, Dec 5: US President-elect Donald Trump railed against China in a series of tweets. Trump accused the Asian giant of currency manipulation and flexing its military might in the South China Sea. "Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!" It was not clear what prompted the last night's tweets, which came amid a controversy over a phone conversation Trump held with the leader of Taiwan, a self-ruled island Beijing considers part of its territory. PTI Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa is in a very critical condition and is on life support systems, says Apollo Hospitals. Lawmakers from J Jayalalithaa's party the AIADMK are holding what is being called an "informal meeting" today at Chennai's Apollo hospital, where the Tamil Nadu chief minister is in the Intensive Care Unit after a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening. OK! Magazine 02 Nov 2022 Despite avowing to reinstate Donald Trump's page, it seems the former POTUS won't be back on Twitter any time soon. ODN 01 Nov 2022 A member of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group says Matt Hancock appearing on Im a Celebrity Get Me Out of.. The billionaire real estate mogul, who assumes power January 20, said the border tax on products manufactured in other countries "will make leaving financially difficult... Please be forewarned prior to making a very expensive mistake!" In a series of Twitter comments, Trump said he plans to "substantially reduce" taxes and regulations on businesses. But he said that any company that "fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant" in another country "and then thinks it will sell its product back into the U.S. without retribution or consequence, is wrong!" U.S. President-elect Donald Trump sternly warned American businesses again Sunday that if they move their operations overseas they would face a 35 percent tax if they then try to sell their products back in the United States. Job Losses The U.S. has lost 5 million manufacturing jobs since 2000, many to automation and some to overseas locations where company owners are paying workers substantially less than they have been in the United States. But in his lengthy campaign for the White House, Trump vowed to curb the corporate departures and to bring back jobs that have already been moved overseas. He claimed an early success, along with Vice President-elect Mike Pence, by offering $7 million in tax incentives last week to the Carrier air conditioning company to keep 1,069 jobs in the Midwestern state of Indiana that Carrier had earlier said it was moving to Mexico. But Trump did not mention that the company still plans to move another 1,100 Indiana jobs to Mexico. Trump touted the Carrier deal while touring its Indianapolis operation even though he had attacked such tax incentive pacts during his campaign. After announcing the Carrier deal, the president-elect assailed the nearby Rexnord bearings manufacturing company, which he said is "rather viciously firing all of its 300 workers," and sending the jobs to Mexico. Critics Critics of the Carrier deal say that it will invite other companies to demand the same tax incentives to remain in the United States. But one Trump economic adviser, Anthony Scaramucci, said, "Companies should expect a tax break. We have the highest corp tax rates in the industrialized world, we have to get those corporate tax rates down to a competitive position... I'm hoping that every CEO in America is getting that beacon signal from the new Trump administration." The U.S. corporate tax rate is officially at 35 percent, but most companies pay far less after deducting their business expenses. Hector Castillo-Olivares, mayor of Santa Catarina, Mexico, where the Carrier jobs were originally headed, told VOA he was not concerned about the company's change of plans. "It doesn't worry us, because ultimately, at the end of the day, we keep improving and maintaining the conditions that make business look to come here," he said. "The gap left open by one investor will be filled by another investor." U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and the leader of Taiwan put China on the defensive late Friday with a historic, upbeat phone call to discuss Washingtons role in possibly helping the diplomatically isolated island gain international status. Chinas foreign minister dubbed the 12-minute phone call by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen a petty action that will lead to no changes in Sino-U.S. relations. But the communist leadership will watch for fallout, such as whether Trump talks again with Taiwan after his Jan. 20 inauguration or gives Taiwan some of what its president suggested on the call, experts predict. It serves notice to Beijing that Washington chooses to do whats beneficial to Washington, said Raymond Wu, managing director of Taipei-based political consultancy e-telligence. Itll do that whether its in terms of substantive issues or symbolic gestures. Although Washington is a supporter of Taiwan, there has been no contact between leaders of the two countries since the U.S. formally broke off diplomatic relations in 1979 out of deference to China, which regards Taiwan as a breakaway province. Since Trump's phone call however, some Republican lawmakers have largely embraced his contact with Taiwan's leader. "I commend President-elect Trump for his conversation with President Tsai Ing-wen, which reaffirms our commitment to the only democracy on Chinese soil," said a statement from Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from the midwestern state of Arkansas. "I have met with President Tsai twice and I'm confident she expressed to the president-elect the same desire for closer relations with the United States." Several other Republican lawmakers backed up Trump's phone call, including Arizona Congressman Matt Salmon, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. "America has always been a champion of democratic values and individual freedoms, and I applaud the President-elect for making a strong statement in support of those values around the world, Salmon told The Hill. Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton also praised the call, arguing that the U.S. should shake up its relationship with China, which he accused of making "aggressive ... beligerent claims in the South China Sea." "Nobody in Beijing gets to dictate who we talk to. It's ridiculous to think that the phone call upsets decades of anything," Bolton said Saturday on Fox News' morning show Fox and Friends, noting that he believes a president should be able to speak with any foreign leader he wants if he thinks it is in the best interest of America. Egyptian telecom giant Orascom decided on Saturday to shut down a branch of its affiliate bank Orabank in North Korea The move comes after the UN Security Council imposed fresh sanctions against the regime in response to its latest nuclear test in September. Orascom, which set up the mobile phone network in North Korea but has a fractious relationship with the regime, said it will stop all financial transactions in the North and shut down the branch. The Orascom board of directors made the decision on Nov. 28. Orascom chairman Naguib Sawiris flew to Pyongyang on his private jet the day the meeting was held. Egypt has long had a special relationship with the North, an ally in the Six-Day War, but Pyongyang has been trying to make trouble for Orascom by preventing it from repatriating its profits from the mobile network. Rumble 20 Oct 2022 Fourteen guests, most of them Ukrainians, and three staff were in the half-timbered thatch-roofed Hotel Schaefereck in the north.. City A.M. 13 Jun 2022 The government does not know how it will fund its newly announced Right to Buy scheme, housing secretary Michael Gove has admitted... Bollywood NOW 05 Apr 2021 Kangana Ranaut is soon going to win hearts with her portrayal of Jayalalitha. And before the film hits the theatres, let us tell.. New Zealand Herald 16 Sep 2022 Sir John Key wanted to be a horse trainer. Based on his track record across a diverse career, he'd probably have had more than his.. Belfast Telegraph 19 Oct 2022 Derry and Strabane councillors have urged Infrastructure Minister John ODowd to do everything in his power to advance the.. Belfast Telegraph 21 Oct 2022 A Northern Ireland man, who had been sentenced to one year in prison for threatening to kill New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda.. 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. An outdoor ice park will open for the winter in Yeouido, Seoul on Friday. The park operates between 10 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. until Feb. 17 next year and offers places to skate and sled, as well as a snow playground. For safety, a maximum of 400 people are allowed inside the ice rink at any one time. Zee News 01 Nov 2022 One woman died after the balcony of her house fell on her following the incessant rains in Chennai while an auto driver died was.. Our website uses cookies to improve your experience. Learn more Curr: Long Looking to: Sell 13,810 / short 13,971.50 As of 3/21/21 @ 7:58pm EST: 12,858.25 LAST WEEK: We suggested buying at 12,664 with an upside target for taking profits at 13,810. We suggested shorting at 14,100 with a covering target of 12,466. UPDATE: NQ futures had a very difficult session on Thursday but remain poised to move higher potentially leading the rest of the market short-term. This could be a perfect example of a catch-up trade. We would buy starting at 12,681.75 with a profit-taking target of 13,829. We would not short until 13,890 with stops on a close above 14,100 and with a covering target of 12,466. Opalesque Industry Update - City Financial, the independent investment management firm with over US$4 billion in group assets, announces the appointment of four new senior operations hires. Amy Wong, William Dumas, Justin Brodersen and Simon Taylor have joined the firm with effect from 1 December 2016. All four will report directly to Lou Thorne, Global Chief Operating Officer. They all join from Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG) where they previously worked with Lou in the Liquid Markets business. Amy Wong was Co-Director of Operations and Treasury, William Dumas was Co-Director of Operations, Justin Brodersen was Director of Middle Office, and Simon Taylor was UK Operations Manager. Amy, William and Justin will be based in New York, while Simon will be based in London. Lou Thorne, Global Chief Operating Officer at City Financial, said: As we continue to expand our business across three continents, the time is right to invest in senior operations hires with specialist hedge fund experience. I had the pleasure of working with Amy, William, Justin and Simon at Fortress, and look forward to working with them again at City Financial as we continue to build the operational infrastructure that our clients require and expect. Andrew Williams, Chief Executive at City Financial, commented: "Asset growth exceeded expectations this year, and we are in a strong position to invest in senior people and teams in order to best support future growth. It is a testament to the firm that Lou has been able to attract his former colleagues to City Financial, and Im confident that their collective experience will prove invaluable as we build our business and launch new investment strategies. At last! A serious analysis moving toward the real truth, as we have known all along! This DNC elite is so brazen and now apparently oblivious, and I am not just writing here about missing the "economic pain of an increasingly large segment of the nation." Sanders has started to nail it quite clearly. I wish he would go into far more specific details and speak more specifically about the blatant purging and cheating that went on in 12 states, and how to vigilantly prevent this in the midterms and in 2020. This was certainly equal as a factor in the lost to the DNC outright blindsiding the Democrat voters. Most prosecutors clearly recognize the syndrome wherein the victim stops complaining what happened to them! >>>>>>>>>> Bernie Sanders speaks at Dominican University in San Rafael By Richard Halstead, Marin Independent Journal Here's a summary: Bernie Sanders told a San Rafael crowd of about 850 that they shouldn't blame many of Trump's voters for his presidential victory. Instead, they should blame the elite leadership of the Democratic Party, which for years did too little to address the economic pain of an increasingly large segment of the nation. "I look at this election not as a victory for Mr. Trump, who wins the election as the most unpopular candidate in perhaps the history of our country," Sanders said. "But as a loss for the Democratic Party." Concentrating on economic inequality. Sanders said. "I think a lot of people ended up holding their noses and voting for Trump because they are in pain," noting that millions of Americans still lack health insurance and that many people with insurance have high deductibles that discourage them from seeing a doctor and can't afford the medicine they're prescribed if they do consult a physician. Sanders said that half of people age 55 have no money saved for retirement, that on average men in West Virginia's affluent Fairfax County live 18 years longer than men in the state's economically disadvantaged McDowell County, and that tens of thousands of people living in Baltimore, Maryland, are addicted to heroin. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Mannequin prison until real US war criminals jailed (Image by quinn.anya) Details DMCA Kill tens of thousands and it's called foreign policy. Ross Laffan War is an act of murder. Albert Einstein Politicians who authorize, promote or condone war are surrogate murderers. And so, too, must be included their accessories. The author The Crimes of War I share the late Albert Einstein's opinion and have myself written what I think is an airtight argument that war is neither necessary nor just.1 Since murder is universally regarded as a crime it follows that all wars, covert or overt, are crimes and thus unlawful. According to the Crimes of War Education Project, a collaboration of journalists, lawyers and scholars, "the most comprehensive and accepted list of international humanitarian law offenses is set out in the Rome Statute governing the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague."2 The ICC recognizes three basic categories of crimes; genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Whatever the three are called by the cognoscenti they are all crimes against humanity. Within the third category there are nearly 50 variations of how to kill in war. It is a legalese splitting of dead hairs as far as I am concerned. Lineup of America's War Criminals and Their Accessories Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). It is every human being's right to examine information from any source whatsoever and to critique or be persuaded by that information. This is why freedom of speech and freedom of the press are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. No government or institution has the right to restrict information in order to gain the support for its policies or undermine support for other policies. Governments that attempt to restrict or manipulate information to the exclusion of any and all viewpoints are viewed as tyrannical. We can thus classify the United States government as tyrannical to the extent it carries out deliberate policies to do just that. These policies are too infrequently exposed, particularly in a public forum. But they were in the 1970s in the case of congressional hearings to determine the extent to which the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency sought to shape public opinion. These were the famous Church hearings, named after U.S. Senator Frank Church, chairman of the committee that convened them, and if that was not enough, one of the nation's most prominent journalists at the time, Carl Bernstein, published a lengthy article based on these hearings, which exposed to the American public the extent to which government intervened to deliberately shape public opinion. It may be argued that the U.S. government has no right to proliferate narratives that promote its policies. But there can be no argument that this government has absolutely no right to stifle the free flow of information otherwise, particularly of viewpoints that contradict the government's various narratives. Yet it has become quite clear, at least to close to a majority of Americans who voted for Donald Trump in the last presidential election, that this is indeed what the government sought to do. It is apparent to many in this group that the government had its favored candidate that would have continued the status quo particularly with regard to foreign policy. Any listen in to the mainstream media outlets would have confirmed this sense. To name a couple, CNN as well as National Public Radio, itself a publicly funded entity, were nonstop critics of the Trump candidacy, and aggressive promoters of the candidacy of his primary opponent, Hillary Clinton. These networks threw everything and the kitchen sink at Trump, and yet, in spite of their blatant partisan efforts, failed to derail his candidacy, and in fact may have indirectly promoted it by their outrageous efforts to impose their view on the American public. People who detected biased reportage and suspected a conspiracy within the mass media were determined to move in the opposite direction. And because of the inherent unfairness of the media barrage against Trump and in favor of Clinton, they were compelled to rely on what are generally termed alternative media sources--alternatives to the well-heeled and slickly produced media fare available on radio, television, and to some extent online. During the election cycle, the Clinton campaign claimed that sensitive and potentially incriminating emails obtained and disseminated to the public by WikiLeaks originated from the Russian government in a deliberate effort by that country to undermine Clinton's chances of winning the election. Pundits throughout the mainstream media, typified by NPR coverage, allowed virtually no dissent. Counter-viewpoints were repressed. And the government chimed in in support of the narrative. As a result, many strongly suspect that the government had a stake in getting Clinton elected, and worked to suppress debate on the charges she made regarding Russia and Trump, these charges even going so far as to say that Trump was Russia's candidate, or that he was a Russian stooge. Clinton having lost the election, these same forces have recently introduced a new narrative, that Russia tried to manipulate public opinion by influencing what are called alternative media outlets to support Trump or promote a pro-Russian dialogue of sorts. "Fake stories," according to the most recent transformation of this train of thought, were introduced in order to support the candidacy of Trump, and Russian trolls or agents were vigorous promoters of such fake stories. The public, according to this narrative, was hoodwinked into electing Trump president. In order to prevent such from happening again, it is now suggested that providers of internet platforms for human communication weed out "fake" stories that became the primary media force behind the Trump victory. By doing so, however, they would interfere with the free and broad dialogue that is an inherent human right, and that no government save a tyrannical one would attempt to stifle. Listen or download the audio podcast: http://bit.ly/2gLgw54 (CNS): Mahatma Gandhi had once said, "If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning." Gandhi's thought resurfaced after listening to Dr Ishwar Gilada, President of AIDS Society of India (ASI). He could not have been more sincere in demanding action to the fullest to #endAIDS by 2030 as promised by our governments. Fragmented actions in silos and scattered across sectors are just not enough to build up the pace on the ground to help governments keep this promise to #endAIDS. At the 2015 UN General Assembly, our governments had committed to end AIDS, TB and malaria by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Dr Ishwar Gilada spoke with CNS (Citizen News Service) at the sidelines of the 9th National Conference of AIDS Society of India (ASICON 2016). This interview is part of CNS Inspire series -- featuring people who have had decades of experience in health and development, and learning from them what went well and not-so-well and how these learnings can shape the responses for sustainable development over the next decade. Dr Gilada is also the Secretary of People's Health Organisation, and is among the very few doctors who had come forward to care for people living with HIV (PLHIV) in India when the first case was diagnosed. He is credited with several firsts for PLHIV in India - India's first AIDS clinic, first mobile AIDS clinic, first HIV hotline, first prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV programme, among others. He was the Chair of ASICON 2016 and Co-Chair of the 18th National Conference on Pulmonary Diseases (NAPCON) 2016. He was in conversation with CNS Managing Editor Shobha Shukla. "First they ignore you..." True to the ageless adage "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win", when the first HIV case got diagnosed in India there were attempts at all levels to deny the truth and fight it. When Dr Gilada raised the AIDS alarm in India more than thirty years back, even doctors opposed him vehemently. Arguments using the garb of 'culture', 'tradition', 'morality', 'HIV is a western problem', and blatant denial of anything related to sex and sexuality hounded those initial leaders who had recognized the brewing epidemic of HIV, which India was so unprepared to uncover. As data emerged, science progressed and bold community voices raised alarm, the government had to acknowledge that AIDS had indeed arrived in India. That led to the emergence of National AIDS Control Programme in early 1990s. Dr Gilada had already predicted this, based on his experience of working as a medical professional, and seeing how the sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were growing in the red-light areas of Mumbai. His clinical experience and data on transmission of STIs reflected that infections were getting transmitted from sex workers to the community -- conduits being the clients who were bringing these infections to their homes. Let's not forget that HIV is an STI too (unless gets transmitted via non-sexual routes such as blood transfusion). Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). I don't know why we didn't pick playing with live electrical wires and call that "intelligence" instead of the stuff we do. I think I'll stick with calling what the U.S. government does "counter-intelligence." So, here's the latest from the counter-intelligence community. Section 501 of the Counter Intelligence Act creates a "Committee to Counter Active Measures by the Russian Federation to Exert Covert Influence Over Peoples and Governments." This is followed by Section 502 which limits Russian and only Russian diplomats in the United States to traveling no more than 25 miles from their offices. I suspect there may have been a Section 503 in an earlier draft that required CNN to show a photo of Vladimir Putin without his shirt and make fun of him at least once every 4 hours. If so, that section would have been stripped out as unnecessary. The establishment wants more and more hostility with Russia. Trump wants to ever so slightly tweak the establishment and focus more hostility on China. That shift is obviously not one toward enlightenment. But when there is a chance for better relations between the U.S. and Russian governments, Congress should not be allowed to inject its counter-intelligence. Of course countering active measures by the Russian Federation to exert covert influence over peoples and governments sounds like a good thing. But it's not a good thing if those active measures do not exist. This is like putting weapons in space to "counter" others doing it, when nobody else is. It's offense under the banner of defense. And offense will be taken. It's also not a good thing if the active measures (real or imagined) are not countered in the wisest manner. One way to counter assassinations, for example, would be to expose them, prosecute them as crimes, and seek reconciliation. Another would be to empower a special committee to engage in "counter-assassinations." Contrary to good liberal faith, there is zero public evidence that Russia has been engaging in these activities listed in the Counter Intelligence Act: (A) Establishment or funding of a front group. (B) Covert broadcasting. (C) Media manipulation. (D) Disinformation and forgeries. (E) Funding agents of influence. (F) Incitement and offensive counterintelligence. (G) Assassinations. (H) Terrorist acts. Are there Russian front groups in the United States? Name one. Prove it. Is there covert broadcasting underway? Is that where you broadcast to nobody? Presumably it is where you create television and radio content purporting not to be Russian but actually serving the Russian government. Where is that? May we see a 30 second clip of it, please? Has the media been manipulated? [Apart from this failed effort?] By disinformation and forgeries? Expose one, for godsake, this is an emergency! Don't let those forgeries go on deceiving us a moment longer! "Funding agents of influence" sounds more like overt broadcasting. Russia does do that using Russian television and radio networks (something the United States would never ever engage in!) -- but how will this committee counter those? "Incitement" to what? "Offensive counterintelligence"? Offensive to whom? "Assassinations"? Of whom? Has someone been assassinated? "Terrorist acts"? Wouldn't we, almost by definition, have heard of these? Now I realize that most people don't give a rat's ass about stirring up hostility with the other major nuclear nation. So, here's another problem with this bill that people may want to object to, as they should. This committee is empowered to do anything the president tells it to, and it sends occasional reports to Congress, not the public. Most, if not all, of the people it counter-intelligently counters will not have anything to do with the Russian government. The Washington Post has already published a ludicrous but dangerous list of supposed Russian front group media outlets. If this committee does the same, and especially if it does so in secret, what recourse will the falsely accused have? This committee, selected by presidential appointees, will not be publicly accountable. If the New-McCarthyite Anti-Russia Committee secretly labels you a Russian agent and accuses you of media manipulation, will it then manipulate the media to destroy your reputation? If it accuses you of "disinformation and forgeries" will it "counter" that with disinformation about you and forgeries incriminating you? Will it confiscate your funding as being that of an "agent of influence"? What will it do if it accuses you of assassinations? And will all the Russian agents of influence turn out to be Democrats during Republican presidencies, and vice versa? Presumably the CIA hasn't challenged Congress to a duel over this new committee horning in on its territory because it's not technically supposed to spread its counter-intelligence domestically. Same with USAID and the rest. And the FBI is not supposed to be at war with foreign nations. But the lines between the military policing of the globe and the police militarization at home are ever blurring. And that's part of what's wrong with this bill. All's fair in war, meaning there is no requirement of fairness. Don't expect any. Resist instead. Some 1.87 million Koreans traveled abroad last month, according to the Korea Tourism Organization, although November is off-season between the Chuseok (or Korean Thanksgiving) and winter vacations. The country's biggest tour operator Hana Tour lodged some 242,000 bookings, up 12 percent from November 2015. The South Pacific islands saw the largest growth with 32 percent, a Hana Tour staffer said, apparently driven by cold snaps that left many dreaming of warmer climes. Even trips to Japan increased around 11 percent, despite the fresh earthquake in Fukushima. American Civil Liberties Union blasts police use of water cannons ... (Image by us.blastingnews.com) Details DMCA Do you honestly and/or naively believe for a moment that a conglomerate of corporate and banking forces that would propel the kind of brutality seen in the above photo is going to back down permanently? Hell, no! Mr. Trump seems like (and I pray I am wrong) the kind of president who would gladly flex his muscles politically and overturn the decision by the Corps, and give the pipeline a green light no matter who gets angry, to prove his bona fides with corporations and his big backers. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's Statement on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Decision to Not Grant Easement http://standwithstandingrock.net/standing-rock-sioux-tribes-statement-u-s-army-corps-engineers-decision-not-grant-easement/ >>>> Bravo! For at least a few minutes, we can say WE WON! This may be a short lived victory, as the Pipeline chairman said in November that he is 100% sure it will be completed during the Trump years~ Thanks to all of you for your help thus far, but I honestly feel that this battle is only just beginning, not only for ND, but a bigger one coming brewing up in Arizona over Oak Flat and the Tonto National Forest being turned into John McCain's Plan to dig North America's largest copper mine. So here's the hitch and the real problem, what the Standing Rock controversy may ultimately boil down to in about 7 weeks: Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren, who remained publicly silent on the pipeline for months as protests forced a halt in the pipeline's construction, told NBC News in an interview in November that he was "100 percent sure that the pipeline will be approved by a Trump administration," regardless of what the Army Corps ultimately decides. Let's shift gears and talk about other Cabinet Members for a moment: Trump is considering for Homeland Security the Sheriff of Milwaukee County. This is the article from Mother Jones I read with incredulity yesterday: Potential Trump Pick for Homeland Security Wants to Send up to 1 Million People to Guantanamo http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/11/sheriff-clarke-trump-terrorists-guantanamo-bay 'Clarke went further and called for rounding up Americans who sympathize with terrorists and shipping them to an offshore prison. During a December 2015 segment of his show, The People's Sheriff, on Glenn Beck's TheBlaze radio network, Clarke suggested that any person who posts pro-terrorist sentiments on social media be arrested, deprived of the constitutional protection against unlawful imprisonment (known as habeas corpus), and sent to Guantanamo Bay indefinitely. He estimated the number of people who could be imprisoned under his proposal could reach 1 million. Presumably, this would include American citizens. (The Democratic research group American Bridge caught Clarke proposing this idea. "I suggest that our commander in chief ought to utilize Article I, Section 9 and take all of these individuals that are suspected, these ones on the internet spewing jihadi rhetoric"to scoop them up, charge them with treason and, under habeas corpus, detain them indefinitely at Gitmo," Clarke said. Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution allows the president to suspend the writ of habeas corpus only "when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it." Clarke added that locking up suspected terrorists in American prisons and jails would turn those facilities into "terrorist recruitment camps." That's why these people would have to be packed off to Guantanamo. Put that fellow in charge of Homeland Security which is already full of people who are paid to sometimes be justifiably paranoid? It is obvious his attitude is racist, a surprise coming from an African American himself, even to consider putting proponents of Black Lives Matter into Guantanamo. This ia a repeat and deja vue of the FBI back in the 60's thinking that the Black Panthers were set on violent revolution. Nonsense....but do I get sent to Guantanamo for thinking and uttering and writing down such concerns? Probably not as long as habeas corpus and our First Amendment are still even partially intact. Similarly, appointing Senator Jeff Session as Attorney General deserves a brief discussion by me as a layman, an art dealer, not a lawyer. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). From The Guardian The defeat of an energy company by indigenous activists shows what nonviolent unity can accomplish. There are lessons here as we enter a challenging new age (Image by Countercurrents) Details DMCA The news that the US federal government has refused to issue the permit needed to run a pipeline under the Missouri river means many things -- including that indigenous activists have won a smashing victory, one that shows what nonviolent unity can accomplish. From the start, this has been an against-the-odds battle. Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the pipeline, is as wired as they come: its line of credit links it to virtually every bank you've ever heard of. And operating under a "fast-track" permit process, it had managed to win most of its approvals and lay most of its pipe before opponents managed to mount an effective resistance. But that opposition finally did arise, and it centered on the last place the pipeline would have to cross: the confluence of the Missouri and the Cannonball rivers. It wasn't standard-issue environmental lobbying, nor standard-issue protest, though there was certainly some of both (lawyers took the company to court, activists shut down bank branches). At its heart, however, in the great camp that grew up along the rivers, this was a largely spiritual resistance. David Archambault, the head of the Standing Rock Sioux who demonstrated great character and dexterity for months, kept insisting that the camp was a place of prayer, and you couldn't wander its paths without running into drum circles and sacred fires. As a result, overlapping epochs of sad American history were on display. When native American protesters sat down in front of bulldozers to try and protect ancestral graves, they were met with attack dogs -- the pictures looked like Birmingham, Alabama, circa 1963. But it went back further than that: the encampment, with its teepees and woodsmoke hovering in the valley, looked like something out of an 1840s painting. With the exception that this was not just one tribe: this was pretty much all of native North America. The flags of more than 200 Indian nations lined the rough dirt entrance road. Other Americans, drawn in part by a sense of shame at this part of our heritage, flooded in to help -- when the announcement came today, there were thousands of military veterans on hand. Indigenous organizers are some of the finest organizers around the globe -- they've been key to everything from the Keystone fight to battling plans for the world's largest coal mine in Australia. If we manage to slow down the fossil fuel juggernaut before it boils the planet, groups like the Indigenous Environmental Network and Honor the Earth will deserve a great share of the credit. Right now, for instance, Canada's First Nations are preparing for "Standing Rock North" along the route of two contested pipelines out of Canada's tarsands. But in the Dakotas it's been particularly special: they've managed to build not just resistance to a project, but a remarkable new and unified force that will, I think, persist. Persist, perhaps, even in the face of the new Trump administration. In any event, though, time is measured somewhat differently in the dispute between this continent's original inhabitants and the late-coming rest of us. For five hundred years, half a millennia, the same grim story has repeated itself over and over again. Today's news is a break in that long-running story, a new chapter. It won't set this relationship on an entirely new course -- change never comes that easily. But it won't ever be forgotten, and it will influence events for centuries to come. Standing Rock, like Little Big Horn or Wounded Knee, or for that matter Lexington Green and Concord Bridge, now belongs to our history. Trump, of course, can try and figure out a way to approve the pipeline right away, though the Obama administration has done its best to make that difficult. (That's why, instead of an outright denial, they simply refused to grant the permit, thus allowing for the start of the environmental impact statement process). But if Trump decides to do that, he's up against people who have captured the imagination of the country. Simply spitting on them to aid his friends in the oil industry would clarify a lot about him from the start, which is one reason he may hesitate. This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here. Imagine this scenario: you've occupied an office for eight years and now you're about to move out. You know who's going to move in and, by reputation, he's a fellow with a minimal ability to control himself who might conceivably be a danger to others. So here's one thing you undoubtedly wouldn't do: leave a loaded revolver in the top desk drawer and a stash of extra ammunition in the closet. However -- if you'll excuse the analogy -- that seems to be exactly what President Obama and his national security team are doing when it comes to Donald Trump. Consider two news stories of last week. The Washington Post reported that, in its last days, the Obama administration is intent on giving the secretive and elite Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) new powers to strike globally. As Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Dan Lamothe write, JSOC will gain "expanded power to track, plan, and potentially launch attacks on terrorist cells around the globe, a move driven by concerns [about] a dispersed terrorist threat as Islamic State militants are driven from strongholds in Iraq and Syria... When finalized, it will elevate JSOC from being a highly valued strike tool used by regional military commands to leading a new multiagency intelligence and action force. Known as the 'Counter-External Operations Task Force,' the group will be designed to take JSOC's targeting model -- honed over the last 15 years of conflict -- and export it globally to go after terrorist networks plotting attacks against the West." Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that, in the last moments of his second term, President Obama is expanding the legal basis for the war on terror by formally adding the Somali group al-Shabaab to "the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001" war authorization that Congress passed not long after the 9/11 attacks. (Mind you, al-Shabaab didn't even exist in 2001.) As Charlie Savage, Eric Schmitt, and Mark Mazzetti point out, this is "a move that will strengthen President-elect Donald J. Trump's authority to combat thousands of Islamist fighters in the chaotic Horn of Africa nation... [and will] 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." Maybe we have to think of that Oval Office desk as stuffed with loaded weaponry from all these years of wars, raids, assassination campaigns, and the like. When Trump moves in he'll find a formidable national security apparatus at his command, one that in its capabilities has left even the totalitarian regimes of the previous century in the shade. If only we could say that Barack Obama had at least made a serious attempt to blunt or rein in the powers of that state within a state, but no such luck. Instead, he's leaving a striking (and still expanding) series of oppressive and aggressive powers loaded and ready for action for the new president. The irony is that even with just a few weeks left, Obama could still act in ways that might make at least a modest difference on some of those powers. He could, as TomDispatchregular Pratap Chatterjee makes clear today, at least lift the all-enveloping veil of secrecy around the national security state and let the American public know just what has been done in our name in these years and what exactly is about to be handed over to his edgy successor. Tom Publish, Punish, and Pardon Nine Things Obama Could Do Before Leaving Office to Reveal the Nature of the National Security State By Pratap Chatterjee In less than seven weeks, President Barack Obama will hand over the government to Donald Trump, including access to the White House, Air Force One, and Camp David. Trump will also, of course, inherit the infamous nuclear codes, as well as the latest in warfare technology, including the Central Intelligence Agency's fleet of killer drones, the National Security Agency's vast surveillance and data collection apparatus, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's enormous system of undercover informants. Before the recent election, Obama repeatedly warned that a Trump victory could spell disaster. "If somebody starts tweeting at three in the morning because SNL [Saturday Night Live] made fun of you, you can't handle the nuclear codes," Obama typically told a pro-Clinton rally in November. "Everything that we've done over the last eight years," he added in an interview with MSNBC, "will be reversed with a Trump presidency." Yet, just days after Obama made those comments and Trump triumphed, the Guardian reported that his administration was deeply involved in planning to give Trump access not just to those nuclear codes, but also to the massive new spying and killing system that Obama personally helped shape and lead. "Obama's failure to rein in George Bush's national security policies hands Donald Trump a fully loaded weapon," Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, observed recently. "The president's failure to understand that these powers could not be entrusted in the hands of any president, not even his, have now put us in a position where they are in the hands of Donald Trump." In many areas, it hardly matters what Barack Obama now does. In his last moments, for example, were he to make good on his first Oval Office promise and shut down the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Trump could reverse that decision with the stroke of a pen on January 20, 2017. So, at this late date, what might a president frightened by his successor actually do, if not to hamper Trump's ability to create global mayhem, then at least to set the record straight before he leaves the White House? Unfortunately, the answer is: far less than we might like, but as it happens, there are still some powers a president has that are irreversible by their very nature. For example, declassifying secret documents. Once such documents have been released, no power on earth can take them back. The president also has a virtually unlimited power of pardon. And finally, the president can punish high-level executive branch or military officials who abused the system, just as President Obama recalled General Stanley McChrystal from his post in Afghanistan in 2010, and he can do so until January 19th. Of course, Trump could rehire such individuals, but fast action by Obama could at least put them on trial in the media, if nowhere else. Here, then, are nine recommendations for action by the president in his last 40 days when it comes to those three categories: publish, punish, and pardon. Think of it as a political version of "publish or perish." Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Wayne Allyn Root recently authored a commentary in which he makes a very interesting indictment of Mitt Romney. In my estimation, Root's commentary is emblematic of what's wrong with politics. See: http://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/columns/wayne-allyn-root/thoughts-trump-s-cabinet-mitt-and-castro-s-death. Root's issueless indictment of Mitt Romney is my indictment of the political system. Despite not one constitutionalist being named for a cabinet position, Wayne Allyn Root says he likes all of the picks. That's because they all understand we are at war against an ideology. Somehow, the government will prevail in this war. The government will prevail by using the words "Islamic terrorists", which is the new abracadabra. The biggest menace we face, pursuant to Root, is radical Islam. As a Christian, I'm far from an apologist for radical Islam. But I believe it foolish to amplify the threat of individuals like the one at Ohio State University while marginalizing the threat posed by big government. Rather than recognize the most efficient way to mitigate the threat of ISIS is freedom (i.e., the Second Amendment), Root argues for "extreme vetting". Might I remind the reader that Ohio State University is a gun free zone. Let's not forget that the United States has the largest security-industrial complex in the world. We still aren't safe. Doesn't Root understand that if we give up liberty for security, we will end up with neither? Amazingly, Root even manages to amalgamate the name of Mises with his statist platform. I say the more free and prosperous we are, the more capable we will be in defending ourselves against terrorism. Imagine if I said the way to defeat ISIS is to ape ISIS. Yet, that's precisely what Trump has argued. Pursuant to that calculus, why not ape Democrats to defeat Democrats? Wayne Allyn Root's desire for big government to save him is rather peculiar, considering the fact that he has ceaselessly attacked President Obama. Root has literally called for the arrest of President Obama for not making more war. Root has made countless Facebook posts that are little more than ad hominem attacks, calling President Obama mentally ill. All the way up until just a few years ago, I never wrote about politicians being arrested or held legally accountable. I wrote about economics from an Austrian-school perspective. Where did that get me? The person who handled my veterans casework met with somebody high up at the VA. The result of that meeting? VA misfeasance was covered up. That I can prove. That's on top of other VA lies that have never been corrected as far as I'm aware, which look even worse when juxtaposed with the lie that having eczema from the anthrax vaccine is psychosis. I supported Sharron Angle. I defended the free market. I called for the privatization of the VA. That same person would make remarks implying I needed to get on something for beliefs like that. That person made about four different accusations, eventually admitting they weren't true. It's in Facebook records. One of those accusations was that I had made a death threat against Sharron Angle. Do you know what that did to me? The first thing that goes through my mind is that I can't support or oppose anybody if I am accused of such a thing towards a person I supported. In 2010, in the midst of nearly destroying myself as I was pressured to do so, I had written about wanting Senator Reid to give President Obama a hug. Gentle reader, mentally process that. In 2011 and 2012 there were times I defended President Obama from my own father, who is now deceased. My father's criticisms of President Obama were misplaced, having nothing to do with issues. My father accused Obama of being a Muslim who was born in Kenya. I could prove my defense of President Obama from my own father. So I hate not President Obama. While I have a plurality of disagreements with Obama, I am capable of saying where he is correct - unlike Wayne Allyn Root. Unlike Wayne Allyn Root, I've never made an issue out of Obama's college records or birth certificate. I've scolded birtherism. While I have a plurality of disagreements with Donald Trump, there are some things I agree with him on. Gentle reader, I was very close to voting for Donald Trump. In fact, I almost voted for Trump just because a family member was attacking him for being "sexist" and "racist". Do you know what my response was to this family member? I said that while the conclusion that Trump isn't vote worthy might be correct, the reasoning is flawed, based on propaganda coming from the mainstream news. If the perceptual filter is flawed, the reasoning and/or conclusions will likewise be flawed. It's permissible to quarrel over personality-related matters, trashing Trump over some lewd comments he made a decade ago. It's impermissible to deal with issues. I'm opposed to the use of torture. My Commandant, General Charles Krulak, is opposed to the use of torture. Waterboarding is torture. General Krulak calls waterboarding a war crime. Statutory law proscribes the use of torture. The Constitution proscribes the use of torture. Unfortunately, the Republican Party has become the torture party. Gentle reader, look up the penalty for causing death by torture, as the Bush administration did. Do you, gentle reader, understand the implications of waterboarding? All the government must do is make an accusation against somebody, and then it's permissible to waterboard. Gentle reader, that is the demolition of due process. I'd be concerned about the cognitive function of any person incapable of figuring that one out. While I have many disagreements with President Obama, he is absolutely right on this issue. While I agree with Trump on many issues, he is absolutely wrong on this issue. That said, I really appreciate the way Trump seems interested in de-escalating tensions with Russia. If Trump can save jobs by diminishing the burden of government, I'm all for that. Does anybody know what I wrote on December 7, 2014? I predicted that prevailing policies, if not abandoned, would precipitate war with Russia. As I wrote back then, sanctions are a prelude to war. Of course, I was treated like a nutcase for saying that. So what became an election issue of 2016? The impending war with Russia if Hillary Clinton were elected. As much as I disagree with Trump, I do believe it is better than Hillary Clinton being in office. At the same time, I don't hate Hillary Clinton. I don't have it in me to hate anybody. I'm one of the most objective persons. Google the words: Donald trump earns accolades. What I am very concerned about is the synergy of one-party rule. (Click on that link and you can see how original my writing is, which apparently I must demonstrate.) And this is why I, like the great commentator George Will, believe the best outcome we can obtain is gridlock. I reached the same conclusion as George Will independent of him. I support divided government, and I like the idea of Democrats controlling the Senate. Unless the desire is to end the debate on torture, I see no reason for the torture party to control the House, Senate, and White House simultaneously. As I've written over and over. My current prediction is that prevailing attitudes and beliefs will precipitate war against China and/or Iran. Root argues that the most important trait is loyalty. Of course, he means loyalty to Trump. Therefore, pursuant to Root, Romney's biggest transgression is not any position on any issues, but his act of disloyalty in his speech in early 2016. In other words, Romney's biggest transgression was when he was the most right he has ever been. I deal with issues. If the test is loyalty to any person, I am going to fail it every time. Unlike Root, I don't believe Romney's act of disloyalty is his biggest transgression. I must have watched Romney's speech from early 2016 a good thirty times, and each time I found myself liking it more. Romney wasn't exactly wrong in his indictment of Trump. While the grassroots attacked Romney, I found myself liking the man. Recently, I made a free-market indictment of Alex Jones's and Donald Trump's protectionist platform. I'm a free trader. Again. I used issues to deconstruct Alex Jones's economic fallacies. In Google News, run a search on the words: analyzing faux news alex jones. Conversely, Alex Jones tells George Will to go shoot himself. See: http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/05/04/alex-jones-celebrates-trump-victory-telling-george-will-blow-what-little-left-your-brains-out/210223 In the end, I voted for Gary Johnson, and the irony is that certain "libertarians" in Nevada hate me because 1) I'm against killing cops, and 2) I'm against mandatory vaccines, which is a position I'm not incapable of defending. These "libertarians" are also nexused with the very people who targeted me for being a Ron Paul supporting Austrian-schooler, playing games with my casework back in 2009. I actually liked Mitt Romney's speech in early 2016. I indict Alex Jones on issues. I'm against telling people to go shoot themselves. My very last post on another site was wanting Dina Titus to run for U.S. Senate in 2018. I have no representation in government. I get covertly harassed by the government. There's a problem in this country, alright. I disagreed with Adam Kokesh's gun-march idea. Conversely, Alex Jones promoted Kokesh. I'm bad and I get covertly harassed. Ironically, while I don't even know Kokesh, Kokesh is nexused with people who are nexused with the people who targeted me. What direction am I supposed to move in other than towards Adam Kokesh? Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Progressive Content Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing. To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here. Methacrylic Acid Market Expecting Worldwide Growth by 2021 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4325 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4325 Methacrylic acid (MAA) is a colorless, viscous organic compound having an unpleasant odor. It is a carboxylic acid which is water soluble and mixable with organic solvents. MAA is industrially manufactured on a large scale as a precursor to its esters, specifically polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and methyl methacrylate(MMA). MAA is used in an extensive range of applications, most notably in the production of polymers with trade names such as Plexiglas and Lucite. MAA is manufactured in different conditions. In one route, tert-butanol or isobutylene is oxidized to methacrolein to give methacrylic acid. For this purpose, methacrolein can be obtained from ethylene and formaldehyde. Isobutyric acid can also be dehydrogenated to methacrylic acid. In the second route, acetone cyanohydrin is converted to meth acrylamide sulfate using sulfuric acid, which then hydrolyzed to MAA.Request to view Sample Report @The global market for MAA is anticipated to be driven by the growth in end-user industries such as construction, automobiles, and electronics, where MAA is significantly consumed in light panels, windows, facades, TV display panels, coatings and emulsions amongst various others applications. In addition, technological advancement, coupled with a wide range of broadening applications of MAA is also expected to contribute towards the growth of the market. Key players have entered into several collaborations and agreements with other companies for the marketing of new products as well as garnering a larger share in the market. Manufacturers are focused towards developing bio-based solutions for MAA owing to fluctuating petrochemical raw material prices and frequent supply bottlenecks.Among the regions, Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest market share for MAA and is also expected to be the fastest growing segment over the forecast period. It was followed by Europe which has been witnessing moderate growth on account of Eurozone crises and economic fluctuations in the region. Latin American countries such as Brazil is all set to host the Olympics in 2016 which have been majorly prompting the growth of construction activities in the country, thereby driving the market for MAA in Central and South America (CASA) over the next few years.Among the applications, electronics are anticipated to be the fastest growing segment, with rising disposable incomes in developing and emerging economies being one of the major factors driving the demand for electronic equipment and further demand for MAA. Moreover, energy efficient and lightweight properties of MAA have contributed significantly to its improving demand in various industries such as transportation and automotive. Demand for lightweight vehicles with lower emissions and better efficiency has witnessed a noticeable boost on account of stringent regulatory laws executed in Western Europe and North America.Request to view Table of content @Growing consumption from major end-use applications such as electronics, signs and displays, and automotive industries is expected to significantly boost the global demand for MAA. These industrial sectors are witnessing rapid growth in Europe, Asia Pacific, and other regions, thus fuelling the demand for MAA. However, volatile raw material prices of petrochemicals are expected to slow down the growth of the market. Focus towards developing bio-based MAA is expected to catch up in the near future owing to their eco-friendly characteristics and secure raw material supply, providing new opportunities for the growth of the market.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Automatic Distillation Analyzer Market is Expected to Witness Highest Growth During Forecast Period (2015-2021) http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/8089 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/8089 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ Automatic distillation analyzers are increasingly being used by many industries such as pharmaceuticals, automotive industry, cosmetic industry, perfumes industry, food processing industry, agriculture and others. Consequently, the increasing use of automatic distillation analyzer in various industries across the world has led to the exceptional growth in demand for global automatic distillation analyzer market.Request to view Sample Report @Automatic distillation analyzer is used for distillation analysis of various substances such as gasoline, solvents and aromatic. It perform tests, process results, prepare the standard report. It also ensures the conformity to rigid quality control standards identified by American Society for Test and Material (ASTM) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO). A microprocessor-based control system in automatic distillation analyzer nonstop monitors test results and alerts user if there are any maintenance or safety complications.Automatic distillation analyzer offers numerous advantages, for instance, it is easy to use, easy to install, it has effective safety features such as heating chamber with low voltage, enhanced ultraviolet principles based automatic fire extinguishing system, and it consists of drain tube for easy cleaning.Global automatic distillation analyzer market is poised to show significant growth during the forecast period due to its increased usage in several applications such as distillation analysis of napthas, kerosene, oils and other volatile substances. It also find its application in distillation of fuels, hydrocarbons, jet fuels etc.The global automatic distillation analyzer is anticipated to grow with an effective CAGR during the period 2015 to 2025.Several advantages offered by automatic distillation analyzer and its growing consumption in various industries are driving the demand for global automatic distillation analyzer market. Growing automotive and transportation industries and need for quality fuels are anticipated to fuel the demand for global automatic distillation analyzer market in coming years.In addition, the increasing use of automatic distillation analyzer in pharmaceutical and food processing industries for distillation analysis of hydrocarbon and solvents respectively will drive the demand for this market.The automatic distillation analyzer market is broadly classified into five segments on the basis of end user industriesPharmaceutical industryAutomotive industryFood processing industryPerfumes industryOthersThe automatic distillation analyzer market is broadly classified into six segments on the basis of its applicationsGasolineFuelsAromaticsSolventsHydrocarbonsOthersThe automatic distillation analyzer market is broadly classified into two segments on the basis of product typeHydrocarbonsPortable automatic distillation analyzerFixed automatic distillation analyzerRequest to view Table of content @The global automatic distillation analyzer market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Asia pacific region is anticipated to be at the top position in global automatic distillation market during the forecast period owing to the tremendous growth in automotive and transportation sector in this region. North America is anticipated to be at the second position and will be driven by the growth in pharmaceutical industry in countries like U.S. and Canada.The key player operating in global automatic distillation analyzer are Grabner Instruments, Koehler Instrument Company, Inc., Anton Paar, Petrolab Company, Estanit, PAC, FOSS and othersAbout UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each PMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With a wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports strive to serve clients and satisfy their overall research requirement.For information regarding permissions, contact:Persistence Market Research305 Broadway,7th FloorNew York City, NY 10007United StatesTel: +1 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWebsite:media@persistencemarketresearch.com Atomic Absorption Spectrometer Market is Expected to Witness a Healthy CAGR During 2015 - 2021 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/8113 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/8113 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ Global atomic absorption spectrometer market has witnessed prodigious growth over the last few years. With the increasing use of atomic absorption spectrometer in various applications such as clinical analysis, environmental analysis and many other, the global atomic absorption spectrometer market is poised to grow with an affective CAGR during the forecast period 2015-2025.Request to view Sample Report @In atomic absorption spectrometer atomic spectroscopy technique is used that plays a very important role in various applications in determining the elemental composition of a component. The growth of global atomic absorption spectrometer market will be driven by growing consumption of atomic absorption spectrometer by several industries such as biomonitoring industry, chemical industry, food industry and many other.The atomic absorption spectrometers also find its applications in semiconductors and electronics industry. The growth in pharmaceutical and environmental testing industry primarily due to the prevalence of various diseases and environmental issues like ozone layer depletion, across the globe are expected to fuel the demand for Global atomic absorption spectrometer market during the forecast period 2015-2025.Moreover, the atomic absorption spectrometer determines the chemical elements by using the absorption of optical radiation which in turn has led to the increased use of atomic absorption spectrometer in chemical industry.The growing consumption of atomic absorption spectrometer in chemical and biotechnology industry is expected to fuel the demand for the global atomic absorption spectrometer market during the forecast period 2015-2025. The growing concern of food safety and environment preservation among the people are one of the major driving forces behind the growth of the global atomic absorption spectrometer market.Furthermore, the technological advancement in atomic absorption spectrometer is another key factor which is expected to drive the demand for atomic absorption spectrometer market to a great extent in coming 5 to 6 years.The global atomic absorption spectrometer market is broadly classified into five segments on the basis of its end usePharmaceutical IndustryMining IndustryPetrochemical IndustryAgriculture IndustryOthersPharmaceutical industry segment is anticipated to witness highest growth as compared to the other segments in global atomic absorption spectrometer market during the forecast period 2015-2025.The global atomic absorption spectrometer market is broadly classified into four segments on the basis of its applicationsEnvironmental analysisFood and beverages testingBiotechnologyOthersFood & beverages testing segment is projected to be the highest growing segment followed by biotechnology segment during the forecast period 2015-2025.Depending on geographic regions, global atomic absorption spectrometer market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.In 2014 North America accounted for the largest share of the global atomic absorption spectrometer market followed by Western Europe and Asia Pacific owing to the major advancement commenced by the key players in this region.Request to view Table of content @Moreover, Asia Pacific region is poised to witness highest growth during the forecast period 2015-2025 due to the growing consumption of atomic absorption spectrometer by petrochemical and agriculture industries in this region.The Key players operating in this region are Thermo Fisher Scientific (U.S.), Analytik Jena AG (Germany), Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Japan), GBC Scientific Equipment Pty Ltd. (Australia), Agilent Technologies (U.S), Rigaku Corporation (Japan), Shimadzu Corporation (Japan), Aurora Biomed (Canada), PerkinElmer, Inc. (U.S.) and Bruker Corporation (U.S.).About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each PMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With a wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports strive to serve clients and satisfy their overall research requirement.For information regarding permissions, contact:Persistence Market Research305 Broadway,7th FloorNew York City, NY 10007United StatesTel: +1 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWebsite:media@persistencemarketresearch.com High Voltage Cable Market is Projected to Grow at a Healthy CAGR During 2015 - 2021 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/8146 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/8146 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ Any voltage above 1,000 volts is defined as the high voltage. High voltage cables are used for electric power transmission at high voltage. This kind of cables are manufactured with the protective jacket, insulation and one or more conductors. High voltage cables can be used for underground & underwater applications, buildings and overhead lines to transmit electricity. The insulation of the high voltage cables does not deteriorate due to high voltage. For the insulation purpose or to control the electric field around the conductor, high voltage cables have additional layers. The cables with higher power distribution capacity are insulated with oil and paper. The insulation over the cable prevents the direct contact with persons and other objects as well. The length of the high voltage cable varies as per the application and requirement. For instance, high voltage cables of longer length are used in an industrial application and as well as at buildings and shorter cables are used in the apparatus.Request to view Sample Report @The quality of high voltage cables depends on semiconducting layers and the insulation. To maintain a high quality of the cable, the insulation has to be cavity and defect free.The global high voltage cable market is primarily driven by the growing demand from industries and energy distribution centres. Across the globe, industries are investing the development or updating the infrastructure to accommodate the power transmission requirements. In regions like North America, where the grids have become less effective and efficient as they are aged, the grid infrastructure needs up gradation to provide continuous power supply to avoid power shortages. The importance of renewable energy is growing globally, and governments are investing in creating infrastructure for the same. For instance, governments in countries such as U.S. and China are investing in creating infrastructure for renewable energy sources. Energy infrastructure up gradation and instalments are fuelling the growth in the global high voltage cable market during the expected period.The global high voltage cable market is expected to be inhibited by the fluctuations in the raw materials. The global high voltage cable industry players are expected to experience the drop in the profit margin, which is further expected to inhibit the market growth.The global high voltage cable market by value is expected to expand at a CAGR of around 79% during the forecast period (2015-2025), due to increasing demand for high voltage cables from various industries.Request to view Table of content @Global high voltage cable market is expected to register a single-digit CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, global high voltage cable market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan, Japan, and the Middle East & Africa (MEA). In terms of market revenue, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan high voltage cable market is projected to register a significant CAGR during the forecast period. Growing industry activities are fuelling the growth of high voltage cable market in APEJ. Growing demand for energy is another factor, which is expected to fuel the demand for high voltage cable in APEJ.Some of the key market participants in global high voltage cable market are Finolex Cables, Okonite, Belden, General Cable, Prysmian, Nexans, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Southwire, Okonite, KEI Industries and International Wire Group.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each PMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With a wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports strive to serve clients and satisfy their overall research requirement.For information regarding permissions, contact:Persistence Market Research305 Broadway,7th FloorNew York City, NY 10007United StatesTel: +1 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWebsite:media@persistencemarketresearch.com Respiratory Analysers Market Set to Grow Exponentially During the Forecast, 2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2245 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2245 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/respiratory-analysers-market www.futuremarketinsights.com In the field of medicine, anaesthesia is a temporary state induced to cause amnesia, paralysis, and unconsciousness. The main objective is to enable a surgeon to perform a procedure which would cause the patient immense and intolerable pain without it. While it has enabled the saving of lives on many an occasion, it is not completely risk free. Minor risks include nausea, vomiting while major ones can include a heart attack or even death. Thus, respiratory analysers are absolutely critical as they measure various gases like Oxygen, Carbon Monoxide and volatile anaesthetics in the operation theatre. It enables the anaesthetist to ensure that the patient does not have any adverse reaction to the drugs administered. Paramagnetic Oxygen Analysers, Carbon Dioxide analysers are some of the respiratory analysers available.Respiratory Analysers Market: DriversAt present, North America is the leading global respiratory analyser market. As per the WHO, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is expected to be the 3rd leading cause of global deaths. According to the National Sleep Foundation, 40 million Americans suffered from insomnia or some other form of chronic sleep disorders. There are many cases of both COPD and Asthma reported there. While North America leads these statistics, Europe is second in terms of the people complaining of respiratory ailments. The key respiratory analyser market to focus on for long-term growth would be the APAC region. It is undergoing rapid modernization, with little to no concern for environmental or biological factors, thus giving rise to health issues for its citizens. Increasing focus on medical programs and awareness, both from the government and the private sector all point to a bright future for this market. Hospitals form the largest end users of respiratory analysers and they are also expected to record the highest growth rate.Request Free Report Sample@Respiratory Analysers Market: RestraintsAny equipment which serves a specialised function tends to be expensive and this holds true for the Respiratory Analysers Market as well. The high cost is such a detriment that customers hesitate purchasing modern equipment and prefer using the old, archaic ones. Even lack of awareness in underdiagnosed, undertreated poorer countries can be a major impediment to growth. Along with this, the installation and usage of such advanced respiratory analysers requires highly skilled professionals, who are in short supply in these nations. Another issue is the saturation in developed countries due to the oligopolistic market situation. Hence, there are moderate to high barriers for entry for new players seeking to enter this market, thereby limiting competition and customer choice.Respiratory Analysers Market: Key RegionsThe Respiratory Analysers Market can be divided into five key regions viz. North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East and North Africa. (MENA) North America is the largest market at present and is expected to remain so for the near future. The fastest growing market for this is unquestionably the Asia- Pacific region. China and India are the fastest growing major economies in the world. Their large populations, increasing government attention towards healthcare, booming medical tourism in them and Southeast Asian nations like Thailand will ensure continued demand for products sold in the respiratory analyser market. Key players would also be advised to look at Latin America to provide ample growth opportunities in the years to come.Request For TOC@Respiratory Analysers Market: Key Market PlayersThe main manufacturers in the Respiratory analyser market include globally renowned companies like Smiths Medical (U.K), Philips Healthcare (Netherlands), ResMed, Inc. (U.S.), Covidien plc (Ireland), Masimo Corporation (U.S.), Fisher and Paykel Healthcare Limited (New Zealand), and CareFusion Corporation (U.S.).Browse Full Report@ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Utrasound Doppler Market Forecast Research Reports Offers Key Insights http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2253 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2253 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/utrasound-doppler-market www.futuremarketinsights.com The term ultrasound treatment is a known one, while some of us may even have undergone some kind of check-up with its assistance. As the name suggests, a Doppler Ultrasound test uses higher frequency sound waves to measure blood flow in the arteries and veins and is usually done on the arms and legs. It is a completely risk and pain free procedure as it only involves using high intensity sound waves. It is recommended by doctors to check for signs of deep vein thrombosis, superficial thrombophlebitis, arteriosclerosis or even if tumours are suspected in any of the limbs. The ultrasound Doppler market can broadly be classified into two main types based on portability- handheld and trolley based ones. The trolley based ones account for the majority sold at present but the handheld ones are expected to show larger growth because of ease of use, cheaper initial expenditure and also lower long term cost of running due to less electricity consumed as compared to trolleys.Request Free Report Sample@Utrasound Doppler Market DriversThere are several drivers responsible for the growth of the ultrasound Doppler market. In the developed world, an aging population at a greater risk of chronic and lifestyle-related problems, technological advancements making the devices (relatively) more affordable, increasing healthcare investment both in the public and private sectors and also a growing preference for therapeutic and non-invasive kind of treatments. In the developing world, the high birth rate, in-vitro fertilization treatment and required gynaecological care for young mothers are fuelling the demand for ultrasound devices. It can also be used for detecting breast cancer and the American Cancer Society and Radiological Society of North America recommends periodic mammographic screening to women above the age of 40 years. An increasing awareness from the public and government support and encouragement ensure the continued demand for ultrasound Doppler market products.Utrasound Doppler Market RestraintsThe picture is not all rosy for the ultrasound Doppler market as there are several impediments to its growth. As is the case with almost all other specialized equipment, there can be a dearth of qualified and trained technicians to use the equipment in the developing world. Sale of refurbished devices at lower prices also makes them more attractive, making first time sales difficult in places where the disposable income is less. There are also cultural and social issues involved in Asian countries like China and India. Preference for the male child and sex-selective abortions have made governments pass laws like the Prenatal Diagnostic Test Act (PNDT). This requires registration of all counselling centres, laboratories, and clinics like solography centres, mobile solography vans and those having advanced ultrasound machines. Strict compliance with the law can also hamper adoption of such equipment to an extent.Request For TOC@Utrasound Doppler Market Key RegionAn aging population in the western world while continue to ensure that both North America and Europe remain among the largest ultrasound Doppler markets. They benefit from world-class infrastructure, many healthcare benefits provided by the governments and also increasing adoption of home and remote patient monitoring to cater to their privacy concerns. They will drive the demand for compact, handheld devices in the medium to long term. Asia Pacific on the other hand, is expected to demand for greater trolley based ultrasound devices due to a proliferation of hospitals in underdiagnosed rural areas of these populous and fast growing countries. There have also been an increasing number of lifestyle-related health issues, especially in the polluted metropolis cities of China and India. Greater public awareness of benefits offered by the ultrasound treatments along with a special focus of global players on this highly dynamic region ensures thriving demand for the ultrasound Doppler market here as well.Utrasound Doppler Market Key Market PlayersGeneral Electric Company (U.S.), Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherlands), Toshiba Corporation (Japan), Siemens AG (Germany), Hitachi Ltd. (Japan), Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (South Korea), FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation (Japan), Esaote S.p.A. (Italy), Mindray Medical International Ltd. (China), and Analogic Corporation (U.S.) are some of the Utrasound Doppler Market key market players in 2016.Browse Full Report@ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Global Iron Powder Industry Analysis and Key Developments 2016 http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=415612&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-iron-powder-market-size-2015-industry-trend-and-forecast-2021.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/reports.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com Global Iron Powder Industry 2016 Market Overview, Size, Share, Trends, Analysis, Technology, Applications, Growth, Market Status, Demands, Insights, Development, Research and Forecast 2016-2020.The global Iron Powder market from the perspective of all its current trends that are influencing it is important to understand in order to obtain the most rounded solution for business strategies in it. These trends are socioeconomic, geographical, economic, political, consumer, and cultural, and their overall effect on client or consumer preferences will have a major say in how this market will form itself in the years to come. These dynamic and the way they impact the global Iron Powder market have been studied in absolute detail in the report. The ultimate goal for the dissemination of this information is to create a descriptive analysis of how these trends could potentially affect the future of the global Iron Powder market within the reports forecast period.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report, like all reports added to the QYResearchReports.com website, is an all-inclusive and descriptive view of the global Iron Powder market. It elaborates on the market dynamics, scope of growth in various segments and regions, and other parameters that have been so far effective during its expansion in terms of gaining value and size. This research study is thus a quantitative as well as a qualitative study aimed at imparting a clear vision of all possible situations in the global Iron Powder market, as well as the drivers that may exist between 2016 and 2021.The global Iron Powder market is also presented to the readers as a holistic snapshot of the competitive landscape within the given forecast period. It presents a comparative analysis of the regional and player segments, offering readers a better understanding of where areas in which they can place their existing resources and gauging the priority of a particular region in order to boost their standing in the global Iron Powder market.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of ContentsChapter One Iron Powder Industry Overview 11.1 Iron Powder Definition 11.1.1 Iron Powder Definition 11.1.2 Product Specifications 21.2 Iron Powder Classification 21.3 Iron Powder Application 31.4 Iron Powder Industry Chain Structure 41.5 Iron Powder Industry Regional Overview 41.6 Iron Powder Industry Policy Analysis 51.7 Iron Powder Industry News Analysis 6Chapter Two Iron Powder Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis 102.1 Raw Material Supplier and Price Analysis 102.2 Equipment Suppliers Analysis 162.3 Labor Cost Analysis 172.4 Other Cost Analysis 182.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis 192.6 Iron Powder Manufacturing Process Analysis 20Chapter Three Iron Powder Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis 223.1 2014 Global Major Manufacturers Iron Powder Product Line Capacity and Commercial Production Date 223.2 2014 Global Major Manufacturers Iron Powder Manufacturing Plants Global Regional Distribution 233.3 2014 Global Major Manufacturers Iron Powder R&D Status and Technology 233.4 2014 Global Major Manufacturers Iron Powder Raw Materials Source Analysis 24For Market Research Latest Reports Visit @About UsQYReseachReports.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. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Bio-plastics Market will reach at 28.8% CAGR during 2014-2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb--69 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb--69 www.futuremarketinsights.com The global bio-plastics market is expected to witness a significant contribution to the overall plastic market, by registering a robust growth rate of nearly 29% by 2020. Growing beverage packaging industry, government push to adopt bio-based materials, rising consumer acceptance for bio-plastics are among the prominent factors driving the demand for bio-plastics products across the globe. Also, an influx of new bio-based plastic products specifically for automotive and packaging applications by key players such as E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company and Toray Industries, Inc. is expected to bolster the market growth thereby increasing competitiveness in the market. Geographically, Asia Pacific represents a huge market potential followed by Europe and North America wherein packaging, bottle and automotive application hold a significant share.In this study, we analyze the Global Bio-plastics Market during 2014-2020. We focus on:Market size and forecast, 2013-2020Key drivers and developments in bio-plasticsKey Trends and Developments of bio-plastics products in applications such as bottle, other packaging, food-services, agriculture/horticulture, nsumer products, automotive and othersKey Drivers and developments in particular regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and RoWGovernment policies and initiatives for bio-plastics market in all four regionsRequest Free Report Sample@Key Segments CoveredMaterial Type:Bio-PET, Bio-PE, Bio-PA, Bio-degradable Polyesters, PLA & PLA Blends, Starch Blends, PHA and others (Durable Starch Blend, Bio-TPE, Bio-PUR, Bio-PC, Cellulose Derivatives and PCL)ApplicationsBottle, other packaging, food-services, agriculture/horticulture, consumer products, automotive and othersKey Geographies CoveredNorth America, Europe, Asia Pacific and RoWOther Key TopicsBio-plastics life cycle, government initiative and policies, recent market happenings in global bio-plastics marketSend An Enquiry@Examples of key Companies CoveredBASF SE, NatureWorks LLC, Toray Industries Inc., Evonik Industries, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, DSM NV, Arkema, Techno polymer Co. Ltd., RTP Company and NaturePlastTable Of Content1. Global Bio-plastics Market Executive Summary2. Global Bio-plastics Market Assumptions & Acronyms3. Global Bio-plastics Market Research Methodology4. Global Bio-plastics Market Overview4.1. Bio-plastics Lifecycle5. Global Bio-plastics Market Taxonomy6. Global Bio-plastics Market Parent Market Indicator6.1. Global Plastic Market Outlook6.2. Global Plastic Market by End-use6.3. Regulations and Policies over Plastic Market by Region7. Global Bio-plastics Production Capacity by Region8. Global Bio-plastics Market Overview8.1. Global Bio-plastics Demand by Volume & Value8.2. Global Bio-plastics Material average Prices & Forecast9. Global Bio-plastics Market Dynamics9.1. Macro-Economic Drivers for Global Bio-plastics Market9.2. Supply Side Drivers for Global Bio-plastics Market9.3. Demand Side Drivers for Global Bio-plastics Market9.4. Restraints for Global Bio-plastics Market9.5. Global Bio-plastics Market Value Chain Analysis10. Global Bio-plastics Market10.1. Global Bio-plastics Market Share by Region10.2. Global Bio-plastics Market Volume & Value11. Global Bio-plastics Market by Region11.1. North America11.1.1. Bio-plastics Market Volume & Value Forecast11.1.2. Bio-plastics Market Trends11.1.3. Bio-plastics Market Forecast by Application Volume & Value11.1.4. Impact of Drivers and Restraints11.2. Europe11.2.1. Bio-plastics Market Volume & Value11.2.2. Bio-plastics Market Trends11.2.3. Bio-plastics Market Forecast by Application Volume & Value11.2.4. Impact of Drivers and Restraints11.3. Asia Pacific11.3.1. Bio-plastics Market Volume & Value Forecast11.3.2. Bio-plastics Market Trends11.3.3. Bio-plastics Market Forecast by Application Volume & Value11.3.4. Impact of Drivers and Restraints11.4. RoW11.4.1. Bio-plastics Market Volume & Value11.4.2. Bio-plastics Market Trends11.4.3. Bio-plastics Market Forecast by Application Volume & Value11.4.4. Impact of Drivers and Restraints11.5. Global Bio-plastics Market Attractiveness Assessment, by Region12. Global Bio-plastics Market by Material Type12.1. Global Bio-plastics Market Share by Material Type12.1.1. Global Bio-PET Market Forecast12.1.2. Global PLA & PLA Blends Market Forecast12.1.3. Global Bio-degradable Polyesters Market Forecast12.1.4. Global Starch Blends Market Forecast12.1.5. Global Bio-PE Market Forecast12.1.6. Global Bio-PA Market Forecast12.1.7. Global PHA Market Forecast12.1.8. Global Other Bio-plastics Market Forecast12.2. Global Bio-plastics Market Attractiveness Assessment, by Product TypeABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Automated CPR Devices Market Expected To Observer Major Growth By 2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-720 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-720 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-720 www.futuremarketinsights.com This Future Market Insights report examines the Global Automated CPR Devices market for the period 2014 - 2025. The primary objective of the report is to offer updates on the advancement of automated CPR devices, examining the marketing efforts and to provide the market opportunities in the global automated CPR Devices Market.The installation rate of automated CPR devices in EMS and hospitals is now increasing at considerable pace in the developed economies across the globe. Moreover the increasing awareness about the clinical benefits of the devices amongst the populace of developing economies is also driving the demand for automated CPR devices in the concerned market.The report also depicts the marketing strategies undertaken by the manufacturing companies which is significantly transforming the automated CPR devices market. This study analyses, estimates and forecasts the global automated CPR devices market from the supply perspective, in terms revenue (US$ Mn) during the forecast period 2015 to 2025. The report also highlights the impact of various drives and inhibitors in various regions along with their impact during the forecast period.CPR Devices are chest compression systems that provide high quality compression to chest of patients suffering from sudden cardiac arrest to provide a steady flow of oxygen and blood in the brain as well as heart. The CPR device finds application in EMS, hospitals, ambulances, coronary & intensive care units, cardiac catheterization labs, air medevac units, EMT rescue units, etc.Request Report Sample@The devices does the Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) process mechanically. CPR is a compression technique used in various medical emergencies to maintain or initiate blood circulation in the heart and oxygen supply in the brain.To understand and assess the opportunities in this market the report is categorically divided under various sections such as market analysis by regions (Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa); competitive landscape (inclusive of competition dashboard, market share analysis, CPR brand share analysis, and company profiles) The report analyses the global automated CPR devices market in terms of market value (US$ Mn).The report starts with an overview of automated CPR devices market across the globe. In the other sections, FMI covers the key trends, drivers and inhibitors from supply and demand perspective. It also includes the market opportunities of automated CPR devices market. Impact analysis of key growth drivers and inhibitors based on the weighted average model included in the report better equips and arms client with crystal clear decision making insights.The next section of the report analyses the market based on end use and presents the forecast in terms of value for the next ten years.Regions covered in the report include:EuropeNorth AmericaAPACLatin AmericaMEATo calculate the market size, the report considers various aspects based on secondary research. Furthermore, data points such as regional split and market split by applications, end use and qualitative inputs from primary respondents have been incorporated to arrive at appropriate market estimates.Some of the key inputs form primary respondents are as follows:The United States market will be growing in the near future owing to huge investments by major players, country giving priority to purchasing medical products, established products such as AutoPulse from ZOLL Medical Corporation and new entrants such as Defibtech and CPR RsQ Assist Inc.-Director of Strategic SalesAutoPulse will be the fastest growing CPR device in United States.-Director of Strategic SalesThe prices for automated CPR devices will dramatically come down and market would attain saturation after 2030 as which would further grow only with significant changes such as product differentiation and rise in overall demand for CPR products. The future of CPR or cardiological emergency medical products is the combination of AED and CPR and the commercialisation of the combined technology in the open marketSend An Enquiry@-Vice PresidentTo sustain in the highly consolidated CPR device market, smaller players would need to make huge investments in clinical research to prove clinical efficiency of their CPR devices-Director of Strategic SalesThe forecast presented here assesses the total revenue of automated CPR devices market. When developing the forecast of the market, the starting point is sizing the current market, which forms the basis for the forecast of how the market is anticipated to take shape in the near future. Given the characteristics of market, we triangulated the data via different analysis based on supply side, demand side and dynamics of related markets. However, quantifying the market across above-mentioned segments and regions is more a matter of quantifying expectations and identifying opportunities rather than rationalizing them after the forecast has been completed.In addition, it is imperative to note that in an ever-fluctuating global economy, we not only conduct forecasts in terms of CAGR, but also analyse on the basis of key parameters such as year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth to understand the predictability of the market and to identify the right opportunities across the automated CPR devices market.Also, another key feature of this report is the analysis of automated CPR devices market by regions and its revenue forecast in terms of absolute dollar. This is traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales perspective in the global automated CPR devices market.Ask The Analyst@Furthermore, to understand key growth segments in terms of growth & performance of automated CPR devices market, Future Market Insights developed market attractiveness index. The resulting index should help providers identify real market opportunities.Few of the market players featured in the section includeZOLL Medical CorporationPhysio-Control Inc.Brunswick Biomedical TechnologiesMichigan InstrumentsSunLife Science Inc.Table Of Content1. Executive Summary2. Research Methodology3. Assumptions & Acronyms Used4. Market Overview4.1. Introduction4.2. Market Definition4.3. Comparison Between CPR Models - Technological Differentiation with reference to Operation4.4. Comparison Between CPR Models - Technological Differentiation with reference to Operation4.5. Comparative Impact Analysis of Load Distributing Band V/s Piston Driven Systems (Autopulse V/s Lucas 2)5. Automated CPR Devices Market Forecast5.1. Absolute $ Opportunity5.2. Y-o-Y Growth Projections5.3. Market Dynamics5.3.1. Drivers5.3.2. Inhibitors5.3.3. Opportunities5.4. Market Trends6. Global Automated CPR Devices Market Analysis & Forecast, By Geography6.1. Introduction6.2. Basis Point Share (BPS) Analysis By Geography6.3. Y-o-Y Growth Comparison By Geography6.4. Global Automated CPR Devices Market Share, 2014 & 20256.5. Europe Automated CPR Devices Market Analysis & Forecast, By Geography6.5.1. Absolute $ Opportunity6.5.2. Europe Market Forecast, By Country6.5.3. Basis Point Share (BPS) Analysis, By Country6.5.4. Y-o-Y Growth Projections, By Country6.5.5. Drivers : Impact Analysis6.5.6. Inhibitors: Impact Analysis6.6. North America Automated CPR Devices Market Analysis & Forecast, By Geography6.6.1. Absolute $ Opportunity6.6.2. North America Market Forecast, By Country6.6.3. Basis Point Share (BPS) Analysis, By Country6.6.4. Y-o-Y Growth Projections, By Country6.6.5. Drivers : Impact Analysis6.6.6. Inhibitors: Impact Analysis6.7. Asia Pacific Automated CPR Devices Market Analysis & Forecast, By Geography6.7.1. Absolute $ Opportunity6.7.2. Asia Pacific Market Forecast, By Country6.7.3. Basis Point Share (BPS) Analysis, By Country6.7.4. Y-o-Y Growth Projections, By Country6.7.5. Drivers : Impact Analysis6.7.6. Drivers : Impact Analysis6.8. MEA Automated CPR Devices Market Analysis & Forecast, By Geography6.8.1. Absolute $ Opportunity6.8.2. MEA Market Forecast, By Country6.8.3. Basis Point Share (BPS) Analysis, By Country6.8.4. Y-o-Y Growth Projections, By Country6.8.5. Drivers : Impact Analysis6.8.6. Inhibitors: Impact Analysis6.9. Latin America Automated CPR Devices Market Analysis & Forecast, By Geography6.9.1. Absolute $ Opportunity6.9.2. Latin America Market Forecast, By Country6.9.3. Basis Point Share (BPS) Analysis, By Country6.9.4. Y-o-Y Growth Projections, By Country6.9.5. Drivers : Impact Analysis6.9.6. Inhibitors: Impact Analysis7. Competition Landscape7.1. Competition Dashboard7.2. Market Share Analysis7.3. Company Profiles7.3.1. ZOLL Medical Corporation7.3.2. Physio-Control Inc.7.3.3. Brunswick Biomedical Technologies7.3.4. Michigan Instruments7.3.5. SunLife Science Inc.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: India Coronary Stents Market Set to Grow Exponentially During the Forecast, 2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-in-1485 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-in-1485 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/india-coronary-stent-market www.futuremarketinsights.com Future Market Insights (FMI) offers a 10-year forecast of the India coronary stents market between 2016 and 2026. In terms of value, the market is expected to register a CAGR of 14.0% over the forecast period. This study demonstrates market dynamics and trends that influence the current environment and future status of the coronary stents market in India over the forecast period.Report DescriptionThis Future Market Insights report examines India coronary stents market for the period 20162026. The primary objective of the report is to offer insights on various coronary stents market products such as Drug eluting stent (DES), Bare Metal Stent (BMS) and Bioresorbable Vascular Stent (BVS).This report begins by defining various coronary stents market product types and top brands in the market. It is followed by an overview of market dynamics of the India coronary stents market, which includes FMI analysis of key trends, drivers, restraints and opportunities and key players. It also includes insights into product highlighting regional trends and reimbursement scenario. Impact analyses of key growth drivers and restraints based on the weighted average model have also been included in the report to better equip readers with meaningful insights on ongoing developments in the market.Request Report Sample@Primary factors fuelling growth of the global coronary stents market include rapidly ageing population with coronary heart disease indication, strong healthcare consciousness and modified coronary stents. Other factors driving demand for coronary stents market are rising number of PCI procedures and easy access to reimbursement.Coronary stents products based on advanced technology helps in reducing restenosis after angioplasty. On the contrary, factors such as high cost of stents and regional competition among local players in India are factors expected to hamper market growth in the country in the near future.Based on product type, the market has been segmented into Drug Eluting Stent, Bare Metal Stent & Bioresorbable Vascular Stent. A detailed analysis has been provided for every segment in terms of market size, Y-o-Y growth rate, absolute $ opportunity and BPS analysis.Based on raw material type, the market has been segmented into Cobalt Chromium, Stainless Steel, Platinum Chromium, Nickel Titanium and Polymer. A detailed analysis has been provided for every segment in terms of market size, Y-o-Y growth rate, absolute $ opportunity and BPS analysis.Furthermore, on the basis of end users, hospitals segment is expected to witness significant demand for coronary stents over the forecast period. This trend is expected to be particularly prominent in India, which are increasing access to healthcare services. However, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories segment is expected to exhibit the highest growth over the forecast period.Send An Enquiry@The above sectionsby product type, raw material and end usersevaluate the present scenario and growth prospects of the India coronary stents market for 20162026. We have considered 2015 as the base year and provided data for the forecast period.In addition, it is imperative to note that in an ever-fluctuating developing economy, we not only conduct forecasts in terms of CAGR, but also provide analysis based on key parameters such as year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth rates to understand the predictability of the market and to identify the right opportunities across the coronary stents market.The coronary stents market in terms of product, raw material and end users are analyzed in terms of Basis Point Share (BPS) to understand individual segments relative contributions to market growth. This detailed level of information is important for identifying various key trends in the coronary stents market.Another key feature of this report is the analysis of key segments in terms of absolute dollar opportunity. This is traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical for assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales and delivery perspective of the coronary stents market.In the final section of the report, competitive landscape of the coronary stents market is included to provide report audiences with a dashboard view, based on categories of providers in the value chain, their respective product portfolios and key differentiators. Key categories of providers covered in the report are coronary stents companies. This section is primarily designed to provide clients with an objective and detailed comparative assessment of key providers specific to a market segment in the coronary stents market value chain and potential players for the same. Report audiences can gain segment-specific vendor insights to identify and evaluate key competitors based on in-depth assessment of capabilities and successes in the coronary stents market.Browse Full Report@Detailed profiles of the providers are also included in the scope of the report to evaluate their long-term and short-term strategies, key offerings, SWOT analysis and recent developments in the coronary stents market. Key manufacturers included in the report are Abbott Laboratories, Medtronic, Inc., Biosensors International Group Ltd. And Boston Scientific Inc.Key SegmentsProduct TypeDrug Eluting StentBare Metal StentBioresorbable Vascular StentRaw Material TypeCobalt ChromiumStainless SteelPlatinum ChromiumPolymerEnd UserHospitalsAmbulatory Surgical CentresCardiac Catheterization LaboratoriesKey CompaniesAbbott LaboratoriesMedtronic, Inc.Biosensors International Group Ltd.Boston Scientific Inc.Table Of Content1. Research Methodology2. Assumptions & Acronyms3. Executive Summary4. Coronary Stents Market Overview4.1. Definition4.2. Taxonomy4.3. Parent Market Overview Comparative Analysis4.4. Market Scenario-Conservative, Likely and Optimistic Outlook4.4.1. Likely Scenario Factor Analysis4.5. Value Chain Analysis4.6. India Coronary Stents Market Overview (US$ Mn), 2015-20265. What Makes Coronary stents Market Attractive6. Market Dynamics6.1. Macro-Economic Drivers6.2. Market Opportunity6.3. Demand Side Drivers6.4. Supply Side Drivers6.5. Restraints6.6. Trends7. Coronary Stents Market, By Product Type7.1. Introduction7.1.1. Y-o-Y Growth Comparison, By Product7.1.2. Market Share & Basis Point (BPS) Analysis, By Product7.2. Market Forecast, By Product7.2.1. Drug Eluting Stent (DES)7.2.1.1. Absolute $ Opportunity7.2.1.2. Market Value Forecast7.2.2. Bare Metal Stent (BMS)7.2.2.1. Absolute $ Opportunity7.2.2.2. Market Value Forecast7.2.3. Bioresorbable Vascular Stent (BVS)7.2.3.1. Absolute $ Opportunity7.2.3.2. Market Value Forecast7.3. Market Attractiveness Analysis, By Product7.4. Coronary Stents Market Prominent Trends, By Product8. Coronary Stents Market Analysis, By Raw Material8.1. Introduction8.1.1. Y-o-Y Growth Comparison, By Material8.1.2. Market Share & Basis Point (BPS) Analysis, By Material8.2. Market Forecast, By Material8.2.1. Metal8.2.1.1. Cobalt Chromium8.2.1.1.1. Absolute $ Opportunity8.2.1.1.2. Market Value Forecast8.2.1.2. Stainless Steel8.2.1.2.1. Absolute $ Opportunity8.2.1.2.2. Market Value Forecast8.2.1.3. Platinium Chromium8.2.1.3.1. Absolute $ Opportunity8.2.1.3.2. Market Value Forecast8.2.1.4. Nickel Titanium8.2.1.4.1. Absolute $ Opportunity8.2.1.4.2. Market Value Forecast8.2.2. Polymer8.2.2.1. Absolute $ Opportunity8.2.2.2. Market Value Forecast8.3. Market Attractiveness Analysis, By Material8.4. Coronary Stents Market Prominent Trends, By MaterialABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: SUSE Acquires OpenStack IaaS and Cloud Foundry PaaS Talent and Technology Assets from HPE www.suse.com/communities/blog/acquisition-news-suse-acquiring-iaas-and-paas-technology-and-talent-from-hpe www.suse.com/cloud www.suse.com Dubai, United Arab Emirates December 05, 2016 SUSE has entered into an agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to acquire technology and talent that will expand SUSEs OpenStack Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solution and accelerate SUSEs entry into the growing Cloud Foundry Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) market. The acquired OpenStack assets will be integrated into SUSE OpenStack Cloud, and the acquired Cloud Foundry and PaaS assets will enable SUSE to bring to market a certified, enterprise-ready SUSE Cloud Foundry PaaS solution for all customers and partners in the SUSE ecosystem. The agreement includes HPE naming SUSE as its preferred open source partner for Linux, OpenStack and Cloud Foundry solutions. In addition, SUSE has increased engagement with the Cloud Foundry Foundation, becoming a platinum member and taking a seat on the Cloud Foundry Foundation board.The driving force behind this acquisition is SUSEs commitment to providing open source software-defined infrastructure technologies that deliver enterprise value for our customers and partners, said Nils Brauckmann, CEO of SUSE. This also demonstrates how were building our business through a combination of organic growth and technology acquisition. Once again, this strategy sends a strong message to the market and the worldwide open source community that SUSE is a company on the move.Ashish Nadkarni, program director, Computing Platforms, for IDC, said, This expanded partnership and transfer of technology assets has the potential to be a real win-win for SUSE and HPE, as well as customers of both companies. SUSE has proven time and again it can successfully work with its technology partners to help organizations glean maximum benefit from their investments in open source. SUSE is positioning itself very well as a high-growth company with the resources it needs to compete in key market segments.As part of the transaction, HPE has named SUSE as its preferred open source partner for Linux, OpenStack IaaS and Cloud Foundry PaaS. HPEs choice of SUSE as its preferred open source partner further cements SUSEs reputation for delivering high-quality, enterprise-grade open source solutions and services.We are evolving our investment strategy to focus on developing the next generation of hybrid cloud solutions, which combines HPE technology with a broad ecosystem of open source and partner technologies that support traditional and cloud native applications, said Ric Lewis, SVP and GM, Software-Defined and Cloud Group, at HPE. Customers tell us they need simple hybrid offerings. By partnering with SUSE, HPE will continue to provide high quality OpenStack and Cloud Foundry PaaS solutions that are simple to deploy into customers multi-cloud environments.This news follows the recent announcement of a deeper engagement between SUSE and HPE to leverage SUSEs OpenStack expertise for joint innovation around HPEs Helion OpenStack and Helion Stackato PaaS solutions. This transaction also includes a non-exclusive agreement under which HPE will OEM SUSEs OpenStack IaaS and SUSEs Cloud Foundry PaaS technology for use inside HPEs Helion OpenStack and Helion Stackato solutions.Abby Kearns, executive director of the Cloud Foundry Foundation, said, SUSE has been a powerful player in the enterprise open source world for more than two decades, and I'm excited to see the impact that a SUSE Cloud Foundry distribution will have for enterprises and developers around the world. SUSEs strategic vision for the convergence of Platform-as-a-Service and Container-as-a-Service technologies will also be a welcome addition to the strategic dialogue we have within the Cloud Foundry Foundation community.For additional perspective on this acquisition and what it means for SUSE and its customers, see. For more information about SUSEs cloud offerings, visitSUSE, a pioneer in open source software, provides reliable, interoperable Linux, cloud infrastructure and storage solutions that give enterprises greater control and flexibility. More than 20 years of engineering excellence, exceptional service and an unrivaled partner ecosystem power the products and support that help our customers manage complexity, reduce cost, and confidently deliver mission-critical services. The lasting relationships we build allow us to adapt and deliver the smarter innovation they need to succeed today and tomorrow. For more information, visitVernon SaldanhaProcre8Villa 41, 81D StreetUptown MirdifDubai, UAEPO BOX: 78835 Kuwait Diesel Gensets Market Worth US$ 79 Million by 2023 http://www.marketresearchengine.com/reportdetails/kuwait-diesel-gensets-market http://www.marketresearchengine.com/requestsample/kuwait-diesel-gensets-market http://www.marketresearchengine.com/ New York, December 05: Market Research Engine has published a new report titled as Kuwait Diesel Gensets Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2014 2023The kuwait diesel gensets market is expected to exceed more than US$ 79 million by 2023.Browse Full Report:The production business in Kuwait is flourishing among a sequence of new variety of projects which has completed in estimated period. Because of outcome of these projects, requirement of diesel gensets is increase in future. Diesel gensets are not only used to supply continuous power during work but also achieve large production project. This development preparation will helps to drive the funds in the Kuwait diesel gensets market. The charge of diesel in Kuwait is much low as compared to the worldwide average. So the approval of diesel fuel for generating power results fast. Small deviation of diesel gensets is used for primary power generation function. The higher capacity diesel gensets will used in large services for power backup process. The oil or diesel is economical backbone of Kuwait.The major driving factors of Kuwait diesel gensets market are as follows:Fast growing electricity utilization rates and natural gas feed stock insufficiency resultant in repeated power outagesAvailability of diesel at cheaper cost resultant in growing approval of diesel gensetsThe restraints factors of Kuwait diesel gensets market are as follows:Increase in power generation capacity addition and renewable energy deployment to reduce dependence on diesel fueled power solutionsThe Kuwait diesel gensets market is segmented on the lines of its type and capacity. Under type segmentation it covers rental gensets and new gensets. The Kuwait diesel gensets market is segmented on the lines of its capacity like 075 kVA, 5.3 75500 kVA, 5002000 kVA and Over 2000 kVA. The Kuwait diesel gensets market is geographic segmentation covers various regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. Each geography market is further segmented to provide market revenue for select countries such as the U.S., Canada, U.K. Germany, China, Japan, India, Brazil, and GCC countries.Download Free Sample Report:This report provides:1) An overview of the global market for Kuwait diesel gensets and related technologies.2) Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2013, estimates for 2014 and 2015, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2020.3) Identifications of new market opportunities and targeted promotional plans for Kuwait diesel gensets.4) Discussion of research and development, and the demand for new products and new applications.5) Comprehensive company profiles of major players in the industry.REPORT SCOPE:The scope of the report includes a detailed study of global and regional markets for various types of coatings with the reasons given for variations in the growth of the industry in certain regions.The report covers detailed competitive outlook including the market share and company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Caterpillar, Inc., Kohler Co., FG Wilson Ltd., MTU Onsite Energy GmbH, Perkins Engines Company Limited, Cummins, Inc., Kirloskar Brothers Limited, Aggreko Plc, Atlas Copco AB and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Company profile includes assign such as company summary, financial summary,business strategy and planning, SWOT analysis and current developments.The Top Companies Report is intended to provide our buyers with a snapshot of the industrys most influential players.The Kuwait Diesel Gensets Market has been segmented as below:by Type AnalysisRental GensetsNew Gensetsby Capacity Analysis075 kVA5.3 75500 kVA5002000 kVAOver 2000 kVAby Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificRest of the WorldAbout MarketResearchEngine.comMarket Research Engine is a global market research and consulting organization. We provide market intelligence in emerging, niche technologies and markets. Our market analysis powered by rigorous methodology and quality metrics provide information and forecasts across emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models. Our deep focus on industry verticals and country reports help our clients to identify opportunities and develop business strategies.Media ContactCompany Name: Market Research EngineContact Person: John BayEmail: john@marketresearchengine.comPhone: +1-855-984-1862, +91-860-565-7204Country: United StatesWebsite:Address: 3422 SW 15 Street, Suite #8942, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442, United States Machine to Machine (M2M) Market in China is Propelled to grow at a CAGR of 26.20% over 2015-2019 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=280637 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=280637 http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Albany, NY, Dec 05: M2M is a technology that enables machines to interconnect and securely interact over a network. M2M communications help organizations achieve high revenue margins and greater flexibility with end-to-end solutions and lower energy consumption and reduce risk. They also keep track of safety and security of the connected devices and data by providing remote access, 24x7 monitoring, and automated emergency response. M2M is becoming a popular feature in the telecom and IT landscape, as it relates to connecting remote sensing, monitoring, and actuating devices. M2M helps businesses and governments to improve IT efficiency in terms of automated BPM, ERP, and streamlining of CRM processes. In this process, no human intervention is required as data flow between devices and finally from devices to people.The M2M market in China to grow at a CAGR of 26.20 percent over the period 2014-2019. This report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the M2M market in China for the period 2015-2019. To calculate the market size, the report considers revenue generated from the M2M managed software licenses, applications, services, support, and maintenance.The report also includes the connections in use. It also includes the revenue generated from:- Satellite M2M applications- Cellular M2M applicationsGet a Sample Research PDF with TOC:TechNavio's report, M2M Market in China 2015-2019, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects in the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors- AT&T- China Mobile- China Telecom- Deutsche TelekomOther prominent vendors- Axeda- Bosch Software Innovations- China Unicom- Cisco Systems- Convergys- Ericsson- HP- Huawei- JDS Uniphase- Novatel- nPhase- NSN- Sensinode- Sierra Wireless- Tektronix- Telenor ObjectsEnquiry at:Key Questions Answered in this Report- What will the market size be in 2019 and what will the growth rate be?- What are the key market trends?- What is driving this market?- What are the challenges to market growth?- Who are the key vendors in this market space?- What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at: Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market Major Manufacturers, Trends, Demand, Share Analysis to 2021 http://www.absolutereports.com/10455756 http://www.absolutereports.com/enquiry/request-sample/10455756 http://www.absolutereports.com/purchase/10455756 http://www.absolutereports.com/enquiry/pre-order-enquiry/10455756 Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market report focuses on the major drivers and restraints for the key players. It also provides granular analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market. The Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market research report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Industry.In depth analysis of Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market is a crucial thing for various stakeholders like investors, CEOs, traders, suppliers and others. The Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market research report is a resource, which provides technical and financial details of the industry.Browse more detail information about Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market at:To begin with, the report elaborates the Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market overview. Various definitions and classification of the industry, applications of the industry and chain structure are given. Present day status of the Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market in key regions is stated and industry policies and news are analysed.Next part of the Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market Industry analysis report speaks about the manufacturing process. The process is analysed thoroughly with respect three points, viz. raw material and equipment suppliers, various manufacturing associated costs (material cost, labour cost, etc.) and the actual process.Following are the key players covered in this Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market research report: Boston Scientific Endotronix, Inc. Integrated Sensing Systems, Inc. Ludwig Maximilians Universitat Munich Company NeuroVista Corporation St. Jude Medical, Inc. Toumaz Technology LimitedNo. of Report Pages: 100Price of Report (Single User Licence): $ 3900Get a PDF Sample of Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market Research Report at:After the basic information, the Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market report sheds light on the production. Production plants, their capacities, global production and revenue are studied. Also, the Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market growth in various regions and R&D status are also covered.Following are Major Table of Content of Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Industry: Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market Competition by Manufacturers Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2011-2021) Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2021) Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market Analysis by Application Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Manufacturing Cost Analysis Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market Forecast (2016-2021)Purchase the Report Now @Further in the Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market Industry Analysis report, the Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market is examined for price, cost and gross. These three points are analysed for types, companies and regions. In continuation with this data sale price is for various types, applications and region is also included. The Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market for major regions is given. Additionally, type wise and application wise consumption figures are also given.Scope of the Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Industry on the basis of region: Germany France UK Russia Italy Spain BeneluxWith the help of supply and consumption data, gap between these two is also explained.Have any query before Buying Report or Need Customized Report? Contact us at @To provide information on competitive landscape, this report includes detailed profiles of Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market key players. For each player, product details, capacity, price, cost, gross and revenue numbers are given. Their contact information is provided for better understanding.In this Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market report analysis, traders and distributors analysis is given along with contact details. For material and equipment suppliers also, contact details are given. New investment feasibility analysis and Europe Implantable Remote Patient Monitoring Device Market Industry growth is included in the report.About Absolute Reports:Absolute Reports is an upscale platform to help key personnel in the business world in strategizing and taking visionary decisions based on facts and figures derived from in depth market research. We are one of the top report resellers in the market, dedicated towards bringing an ingenious concoction of data parameters.Mr. Ameya PingaleyAbsolute ReportsSilverSpring Baner, PUne 411045+1-408 520 9750Email sales@absolutereports.comabsolutereports.com Pre-engineered Buildings Market Trends, Preferred Choices, Outstanding Growth, Sales & Affordable Pricing global pre-engineered buildings market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample-request/global-pre-engineered-buildings-market-research-report-forecast-to-2021 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/global-pre-engineered-buildings-market-research-report-forecast-to-2021 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/global-aerostat-systems-market-research-report-forecast-to-2021 Market HighlightsThe global pre-engineered buildings market is driven by the increased demand for warehouses globally and the eco-friendly nature of the construction. There is a boom in e-commerce and logistics sector. This particularly augments the demand for warehousing and other storage facilities, which make use of the pre-engineered buildings. This material majorly used in the construction of the pre-engineered buildings is steel which in turn is highly reusable without losing its engineering properties.Major Key Players:BlueScope Steel Ltd.Tiger Steel Industries LLCKirby Building SystemsEverest Industries Ltd.Interarch Building Products Pvt. Ltd.Era Infra Engineering LtdPEB Steel Buildings Co. Ltd.Pennar Engineered Building Sytems LtdJindal Buildsys LimitedZamil Steel Holding Co. Ltd.Multicolor Steels India Pvt. Ltd.Request a Sample Report @Study Objectives of Pre-engineered Buildings Market :To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of various segments and sub-segments of the global pre-engineered buildings marketTo provide insights about factors affecting the market growthTo analyze the Global Pre-engineered buildings market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc.To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, APAC, and Rest of the World (RoW)To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospectiveTo provide country level analysis of the market for segment by material, end-use and by region.To provide strategic profiling of the key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the marketTo track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global pre-engineered buildings marketTaste the market data and market information presented through more than 70 market data tables and figures spread in 115 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Pre-engineered Buildings Market 2016-2021Access Report Details @Brief TOC1 Executive Summary2 Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope of the study2.2.1 Research Objectives2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 Limitations2.3 Markets Structure2.4 Stakeholders3 Research methodology3.1 Research process3.2 Secondary research3.3 Primary research3.4 Forecast model3.5 Market Size estimation4 MARKET DYNAMICSContinueBrowse Related Reports:Global Aerostat Systems Market Research Report - Forecast to 2021Global Aerostat Systems Market Report by Product Type (Ballon, Airship, and Hybrid), by Class (Compact-Sized, Mid-Sized, Large-Sized), by Payloads (EO/IS, CI, INS, Radar, Thermal Imaging Camera), and by Geography - Forecast to 2021About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India Work Truck Global Market Applications and Forecast 2016 - 2020 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/147488 http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/global-work-truck-market-to-2020-market-size-growth-and-forecasts-in-nearly-70-countries http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/discount/147488 https://www.linkedin.com/company/orbis-research This publication enables readers the critical perspectives to be able to evaluate the world market for Work Trucks. The publication provides the market size, growth and forecasts at the global level as well as for the following countries:Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, VietnamDownload PDF Sample@The market data covers the years 2009-2020. The major questions answered in this comprehensive publication include:What is the global market size for work trucks?What is the work truck market size in different countries around the world?Are the markets growing or decreasing?How are the markets divided into different kinds of products?How are different product groups developing?How are the markets forecast to develop in the future?Which are the most potential countries and markets?The market information includes the total market size for work trucks as well as the market size and trends for the following kinds of products:Work trucks (electric) with handling or lifting equipmentOther electric work trucksWork trucks (non-electric) with handling or lifting equipmentOther work trucksWork truck partsRead Full Report with TOC:The publication is designed for companies who want to gain a comprehensive perspective on the global work truck market. This publication makes it easy to compare across different countries and product groups to be able to find new market opportunities and make more profitable business decisions.Table of Contents:1. Argentina2. Armenia3. Australia4. Austria5. Azerbaijan6. Bangladesh7. Belgium8. Bolivia9. Bulgaria10. CanadaCheck Discount on this Report:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customised reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialisation. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email ID: sales@orbisresearch.comFollow Us on LinkedIn: Cloud Systems Management Software Market 10-Year Market Forecast and Trends Analysis Research Report http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2307 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2307 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/cloud-systems-management-software-market www.futuremarketinsights.com Cloud Systems Management Software Market: OverviewCloud computing is a type of computing which has been developed with a vision to share computing resources rather than owing or having a local servers or personal devices to handle applications. Cloud computing is similar to grid computing, a type of computing where unused processing cycles of all computers in a network are pooled and harnessed to solve problems too intensive for any stand-alone machine. Cloud systems management software are that software which operates and monitors applications, data and services residing in the cloud. With use of such cloud system management software, operators and engineers are able to monitor computing-based resources are working optimally and whether it is properly interacting with users and other services. It is anticipated that over the forecast period, it that cloud systems management software market is expected to grow.Cloud Systems Management Software Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe demand for cloud systems management software is driven by the factors such as simplified integration of complex & heterogeneous cloud systems, rise in adoption of private & hybrid cloud among the enterprises throughout the globe, and willingness of enterprises to opt for required cloud services from different vendors in order to avoid more enhance features and avoid any vendor agreement tussle. In cloud systems management software market growth in e-commerce business and other online services has given a momentum to cloud systems management software. There is an increase in adoption rate of cloud systems management software among the enterprises for simplifying the process of cloud computing. In addition, organization are spending on integrated analytics, for detection of issues in applications in short time, and reduced slowdown. Such services and monitoring tools are all cloud based. Aforementioned few factors, are expected to drive the market of cloud systems management software market.Request Free Report Sample@Complexities in application portability, rising threat of cybercrime, issues with data safety are few of the known possible restraints that can hinder the growth of cloud systems management software market.Cloud Systems Management Software Market: Market SegmentationBased on cloud location, cloud systems management Software market can be segmented into:PublicPrivateHybridCommunity CloudBased on cloud services, cloud Systems management Software market can be segmented into:IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service)PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service)SaaS (Software-as-a-Service)Storage DatabaseRequest For TOC@Global Cloud Systems Management Software Market: Regional OutlookBased on the geographic regions, global cloud systems management Software market is segmented into seven key market segments namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Among the aforementioned regions, North America will dominate the cloud systems management Software market over the forecast period owing to the fact that North America has the largest number of cloud hosting companies in world. And country such as U.S. has been foremost in developing and producing cloud systems management software products and it has been endowed with establishments which are the major consumer of cloud computing. Next to North America second most promising cloud systems management software market is APEJ. In APEJ cloud systems management software market countries such as India, which is one of those few countries who render IT, services to the entire world depends heavily on cloud computing. Recent boom in e-commerce growth in this region is also a factor, which will indirectly help cloud systems management software market as e-commerce portals utilizes cloud computing to host their servers and pages. Western Europe and Eastern Europe countries come next to APEJ in cloud system management software. Among the two Western Europe leads in cloud system management software as countries such as Germany, U.K. etc. are bases of establishment which rely heavily on cloud computing. MEA and Latin America is yet to grow in cloud systems management software. Over the forecast period, it can be anticipated that the market will grow.Cloud Systems Management Software Market: Key PlayersThe major players identified in the global cloud systems management software market includes:BMC SoftwareCA TechnologiesCisco Systems, Inc.HP Enterprise CompanyIBM CorporationMicrosoft CorporationOracle CorporationRed Hat, Inc.ServiceNow, Inc.VMWareBrowse Full Report@Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Data Centre Rack Server Market Dynamics, Forecast, Analysis and Supply Demand 2016-2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2309 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2309 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/data-centre-rack-server-market www.futuremarketinsights.com Data Center Rack Server Market: OverviewA data center rack server is a rack-mounted server. Data center rack server is usually a computer dedicated to use as a server for the data center and it is configured to install in a framework called rack. Data center rack server consist of multiple mounting slots called bays, each designed to stack a hardware unit in place secured with bolted enclosures. A data center rack server has a low-profile enclosure, in contrast to a tower server. Data center rack server is design to contain multiple servers by stacking one above the other. Data center rack server consolidates network resources and minimizes the required floor space. The data center rack server design also simplifies cabling among network components. Considering huge amount of data generated and corresponding increase in data centers to hold and process such data will boost the data center rack server market over the forecast period.Data Centre Rack Server Market: Drivers and RestraintsIn present era, every business houses, establishments are relying on data generated through various modes. Across of globe zillionth of data are being stored and transferred in a blink of an eye through data center rack server. In addition, data centers across globe are multiplying at a same speed at which it can accumulate all those data, which are being generated every second. Such data centers are fitted with hundreds of data center rack server for executing data related task. Banking business, e-commerce business, cloud-based services etc. has increased in recent years. This service, for online purposes or web-based services, requires ample number of server to transfer and receive data from every nook and corner possible in this planet. Growth in such business is fuelling the demand for data center rack server. The market is facing all-time high in demand for need of high functioning servers as well as product that can help in lessening operational expenditure. The data center rack server is the most apt system available in market to meet such needs.Request Free Report Sample@Data center rack server market has least of possible restraint now unless any disruptive technology is invented which eliminates the use of servers from IT systems.Data Centre Rack Server Market: Market SegmentationBased on product type, Data Centre Rack Server market can be segmented into:Single processor Quad coreSingle processor XeonDual processor Xeon4-way serverN-way serverRISC serversRequest For TOC@Based on end user type, Data Centre Rack Server market can be segmented intoBanking InstitutionsE-commerce BusinessesCloud ServicesCyber Security FirmsGlobal Data Center Rack Server Market: Regional OutlookBased on the geographic regions, global data Centre rack server market is segmented into seven key market segments namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Among the aforementioned regions, North America will dominate the data center rack server market over the forecast period owing to the fact that North America has the largest data centers in world and it has been foremost in developing and producing data center rack server products for convenience. In APEJ countries such as China, India, and Thailand will be the key contributor to the growth of data Centre rack server market due to the very fact IT industry and subsequent data centers are increasing in these countries. Western Europe region will come next to APEJ with respect to growth of data center rack server market. In Eastern Europe, the market of data center rack server has also gathered momentum in recent years. MEA and Latin America data center rack server market is yet to see progress as large scale data center rack server are in minimum numbers owing to a very meagre growth in data center businesses. However, over the forecast period it is anticipated that data center rack server market will grow in this specific region.Data Centre Rack Server Market: Key PlayersThe major players identified in the global data center rack server market includes:comHewlett Packard Enterprise Development LPLenovoFUJITSUNEC CorporationSelrack Pvt. LtdBrowse Full Report@Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: K-12 Education Market in GCC to grow at a CAGR of 3.03% over Forecast period 2015-2019 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=280634 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=280634 http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Albany, NY, Dec 05: Education plays an essential role in the development of GCC economies as it helps in creating skilled workforce. The governments in the GCC region are lending tremendous support to the education sector. Dependency on immigrant population has substantially increased labor costs and also reduced employment opportunities for native citizens. As a result, to reduce dependency on expats and to diversify from oil-based revenues, almost all countries have begun to invest heavily on education to strengthen their knowledge base. The revenue from oil has provided sufficient funds to improve the education system and develop academically and technically qualified individuals who are able to serve their country for its progress.The K-12 education market in GCC to grow at a CAGR of 3.03% in terms of student enrollments over the period 2014-2019. This report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the K-12 education market in GCC for the period 2015-2019. To calculate the market size, the report considers the student enrollments in K-12 education across six countries in GCC.Get a Sample Research PDF with TOC:TechNavio's report, K-12 Education Market in GCC 2015-2019, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects in the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key Regions- Bahrain- Kuwait- Oman- Qatar- Saudi Arabia- UAEKey Vendors- Al Noor International School- Dubai American Academy- GEMS Wellington International School- International Program School- Saudi InternationalOther Prominent Vendors- Al Jazeera Academy- Al Rayan Holding- Al-Hussan Education- English Modern School- Fortes EducationMarket Driver- Increased Affordability- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket Challenge- Deficiency of Qualified Teachers- For a full, detailed list, view our reportEnquiry at:Key Questions Answered in this Report- What will the market size be in 2019 and what will the growth rate be?- What are the key market trends?- What is driving this market?- What are the challenges to market growth?- Who are the key vendors in this market space?- What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at: 5th International Conference on Current Trends in Mass Spectrometry, September 25-27, 2017 Atlanta, USA Current trends in Mass Spectrometry 2017 covers a wide range of important sessions from basic research to recent innovations done by top most scientist and researchers from all over the world. The main theme of the conference is Recent scientific innovatory approaches, novel technologies and applications of Mass Spectrometry.The conference will also provide delegates space to explore their land understanding of the latest scientific in mass spectrometry. Your expertise in the area will give great value to the young scientists as well as scientific community.Benefits for Speaker at Mass Spectrometry 2017:Our robust on-line publicity attracts 130000+ users and 260000+ views to our Library of Abstracts which brings worldwide exposure to the researchers and speakers participate in our conferences.Accepted Abstracts will be published in respective supporting journals, each abstract will be labeled with a DOI provided by Cross Ref.Speaker will be felicitated with CertificateWe will include your University/Institution logo on the conference banners, books and in the conference websiteSpeaker name and photograph will be displayed in conference websiteYour valued presence in conference will lighten up the congress and will be helpful for each and every attendee of conference by sharing ideas of current trends in mass spectrometry.Hope you get profited in your Research area and market by attending the conference.Conference Series is the Organizer of scientific, technical, and medical Conferences. It is reaching over 25 million researchers, scholars, students, professionals and corporate entities all over the globe. It is the best platform to bring revolution with scientific meetings in analytical science. Mass Spectrometry conference is one of the best conferences in analytical science. After the grand success of 1st international conference on current trends in Mass Spectrometry in New Orleans USA, 2nd in Chicago, USA and 3rd in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Conference Series is proud to announce 4th World Congress on Mass Spectrometry, Which will be held during June 19-21, 2017 in London, UK, 5th International Conference on Current Trends in Mass Spectrometry, which will be held during September 25-27, 2017 Atlanta, USA and 6th Global Congress on Mass Spectrometry October 19-20, 2017 Osaka, Japan.Conference Series5716 Corsa Ave., Suite 110, WestlakeLos Angeles, CA 91362-7354, USAOffice P: +1-702-508-5200 Ext: 8047 Wireless Healthcare Asset Management Market Dynamics, Forecast, Analysis and Supply Demand 2016-2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2298 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2298 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/wireless-healthcare-asset-management-market www.futuremarketinsights.com Wireless Healthcare Asset Management Market OverviewWe all own multiple gadgets like smartphones, tablet computers, desktops and laptops which have increased our dependence on wires to charge these electronic devices. Wouldnt we all like a wire-free, tangle-free existence? The immense desire to go wireless has also begun to impact the medical profession in the form of the Wireless Healthcare Asset Management Market. Medical institutions must constantly monitor their equipment, tools, patients or even the professionals working there. A great many of them have opted to go in for the wireless route for the comfort and convenience provided by it. Hospitals have to manage a number of costly systems, tools & equipment which requires a significant investment of time. Loss, theft or misplacement of any of these healthcare assets would be a massive financial loss to the organisation. The Wireless Healthcare Asset Management Market provides a real-time solution for medical institutes to keep track of not only physical assets but also the patients & medical professionals. Going wireless provides flexibility, portability and scalability to the system. It ensures that assets & their various categories are easily searchable by indicating both room location & availability, sterilisation status, and also whether it is free or currently in use.Wireless Healthcare Asset Management Market DriversThere are several factors responsible for the long-term growth of the wireless healthcare asset management market. One is improving wireless technology. Initially, there were concerns amongst medical professionals that wireless systems would interfere with hospital systems like telemetry which is crucial for measuring a patients vital signs. These problems have been largely taken care of by newer systems which use different wireless frequencies. Another driver is the reduced fears among the public & the industry as a whole about wireless technologies. Great research has been undertaken in this field which has made all radio frequencies used in wireless healthcare asset management equipment quite safe. Agencies like the FCC, FDA, EPA and OSHA have also certified the technologies reassuring patients. A third factor is the patient comfort & convenience. Medical institutions have begun to provide a number of added facilities & those hospitals which do not might lose their patients to those who do. It is not only patients but also medical staff who are becoming increasingly dependent on wireless technology. Doctors & nurses can use hands-free VoFi to stay in continuous contact with the other staff or the main nursing station. Nurses can enter information about their patients while moving around the hospital on a tablet computer. Doctors could even use their mobile phones to access the office servers or various medical applications. All of this is anticipated to drive the wireless healthcare asset management market globally.Request Free Report Sample@Wireless Healthcare Asset Management Market RestraintsThere are still some challenges which must be overcome in the wireless healthcare asset management market. A major one is a high cost involved in installing wireless management systems. While organisations want to provide all the services that they can to their patients, they may not have the required funding or government support to do so. Wireless systems are usually the first to be sacrificed in cost-cutting. Another issue is designating responsibility for such equipment. All too often, the departments that oversee wireless systems like IT or Biometrics are overloaded and are unable or unwilling to take on additional managerial responsibility. This is especially true when the equipment takes up a lot of space. Lastly, there is a lack of knowledge & expertise concerning such wireless healthcare asset management systems. Medical institutions face difficulty in hiring quality personnel able to understand & exploit this technology to the fullest. These problems must be dealt with for the long term prospects of the wireless healthcare asset management market.Request For TOC@Wireless Healthcare Asset Management Market Key RegionsThe U.S is both the largest wireless healthcare asset management market and its fastest growing because of a large number of American RFID and RTLS providers and strong healthcare in the country. Asia-Pacific will become a crucial future market because of rising awareness & greater public & private healthcare investments.Wireless Healthcare Asset Management Market Key Market PlayersSome companies competing in the wireless healthcare asset management market are AeroScout, Inc, GE Healthcare, Ekahau, Inc, IBM Corporation and Siemens Healthcare.Browse Full Report@Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Global Cryogenic Tanks Market: Usage in Storage Application to Bring in Significant Revenue, says TMR http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=2142 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/cryogenic-tanks-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The competitive landscape of the global market for cryogenic tanks appears to be largely fragmented on a whole owing to the presence of a large number of OEMs and raw material suppliers. However, it is a notably consolidated market in regional pockets as most of the dominant players operate at regional levels, observes a recent report by Transparency Market Research. The considerable backlog of orders with OEMs indicate that the market is experiencing stagnancy and significant growth challenges. High manufacturing costs, sensitive raw material costs, and a lack of affordable skilled labor are further intensifying growth challenges in the market.Manufacturers are increasingly focusing on ways to combat these challenges and exploit the vast growth opportunities that the market offers. Some of the key players in the market are Cryogas Equipment Private Ltd., VRV S.p.A, Cryoquip Australia, Eden Cryogenics LLC, Cryofab Inc., and FNF Gas Technology Products Private Ltd.Get PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical industry insights :Demand across Asia Pacific to Continue to Contribute Bulk of RevenuesTransparency Market Research estimates that the global cryogenic tanks market will exhibit a healthy 7.7% CAGR over the period between 2016 and 2024. At this rate, the market, which valued at US$740.2 mn in 2015, is expected to reach US$1,433.0 mn in 2024. Geographically, the Asia Pacific market represents the dominant consumer of cryogenic tanks and is expected to remain the dominant contributor of revenue to the global market over the forecast period as well, exhibiting an 8.4% CAGR. In terms of application, the storage segment accounted for over 80% of the market in 2015 and is expected to retain dominance over the forecast period as well.Rising Set of Applications of Industrial Gases to Fuel DemandDesign specifications of cryogenic tanks make them the most efficient and safest means of transportation and storage of liquefied form of several industrial gases such as nitrogen, liquefied natural gas (LNG), oxygen, and argon. Inland and offshore transportation and on-site and off-site storage of these gases constitute a big chunk of the overall revenue of the global cryogenic tanks market.The market will also benefit over the forecast period from the continuous rise in the array of industrial gas applications. A vast rise in the number of production plants producing industrial gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, helium, argon, and carbon dioxide has been seen across the globe in the past few years. The number of on-site production plants for industrial gases is also on a rise globally. This factor will provide a huge boost to the global demand for a variety of cryogenic tanks, driving the global market.High Manufacturing Costs and Improving Gas Pipeline Infrastructure to Hinder GrowthThe cost of manufacturing cryogenic tanks is relatively higher as compared to a variety of other general-purpose tanks owing to the cutting-edge technology and the need for specific components and technical expertise. Stringent quality- and safety-related guidelines that need to be followed to manufacture and sell cryogenic tanks significantly add to the base cost of cryogenic tanks, restricting their adoption across numerous industries and applications. The high costs of cryogenic tanks are, therefore, expected to have a sizeable negative impact on the overall development of the global cryogenic tanks market in the next few years.Along with this, the market is also expected to bear the brunt of the increased preference of industries to gas pipelines as an easier and safer mode of storing and transporting several gases. Across the globe, gas pipelines have significantly expanded in the past few years across key regional markets such as Europe, North America, and Central Asia. Many countries in Asia Pacific are taking measures to improve and expand the gas pipeline infrastructure so as to accommodate the mounting demand for natural gas. This factor is expected to have a notable impact on the overall development of the market over the forecast period.Browse Report with Full TOC at :Global Cryogenic Tanks Market: By Product TypeLiquefied Natural Gas (LNG)NitrogenOxygenArgonGlobal Cryogenic Tanks Market: By ApplicationStorageTransportationContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207 Global Mobile Device Management (MDM) Market to grow at a CAGR of 25.40% over Forecast 2015-2019 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=280589 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=280589 http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Albany, NY, Dec 05: MDM (mobile device management) is a tool used to manage, monitor, and track personal devices used in the workplace. It allows the distribution of applications, data, and configuration settings for devices such as tablets, smartphones, cell phones, and other mobile computing devices (such as phablets). MDM solutions provide a high level of security to both company-owned and employee-owned devices across the enterprise. Network operators use MDM solutions to manage different devices with different OS that work on the same network. They allow IT professionals to oversee mobile devices and desktop computers as well as to administer synchronization.The global MDM market to grow at a CAGR of 25.40% over the period 2014-2019. This report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global MDM market for the period 2015-2019. To calculate the market size, the report considers revenue generated from the following:- Software licenses- Technical support- Maintenance costGet a Sample Research PDF with TOC:TechNavio's report, Global MDM Market 2015-2019, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects in the coming years. The report includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key Regions- APAC- Europe- Latin America- MEA- North AmericaKey Vendors- Citrix Systems- Good Technology- MobileIron- VMware (AirWatch)Other Prominent Vendors- FeedHenry- Kaseya International- Microsoft- SAP- Sophos- SOTI- Symantec- ZenpriseMarket Driver- Increased adoption of BYOD deployment policy- For a full, detailed list, view our reportEnquiry at:Key Questions Answered in this Report- What will the market size be in 2019 and what will the growth rate be?- What are the key market trends?- What is driving this market?- What are the challenges to market growth?- Who are the key vendors in this market space?- What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at: Online to Offline Commerce Market is Expected to Witness a Steady Growth by 2024 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/10616 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ Online to offline commerce is a business model that draws potential customers from online channels to physical store. Over the years, this idea has evolved with the evolution of e-commerce industry. Currently, e-commerce companies are highly investing in online to offline marketing strategy, in order to reap the benefits of Omni channel strategy which was designed to enhance customer experience. Few of the e-commerce companies having both online presence and offline presence are using two different channel as a complement to each other. The idea behind online to offline e-commerce model is to create awareness of product and services, allow potential customers to search different offering online and then purchase the product in brick and mortar stores. The online to offline e-commerce have attained new heights in the recent past with e-commerce companies making their presence in hyper-local service category, online booking of movie and passenger tickets, and booking restaurants. Recently, market has witnessed e-commerce players slowly and gradually launching their own brick and mortar stores and vice versa. In-fact, e-commerce companies which are merely a marketplace (platforms) are now establishing their delivery centers to enhance customer experience.In online to offline model, a consumer searches for the product online but purchases it through an offline channel. For instance, a local store, which restraints to sell online because of the discounting nature of online marketplaces, finds this model lucrative. Additionally, there are few products that consumer want to explore online, however, due to the dynamics of certain products and its associated price, especially in the category of jewelry and electronics products, consumer prefers to buy product offline. Touch and Feel factor is driving the online to offline commerce market.Irrespective of these facts, the road ahead is not as smooth as it seems for e-commerce players, as the e-commerce industry is facing challenges on multiple fronts. As e-commerce is relatively new industry as compared to brick and mortar stores, the majority of online retailers lack digital marketing skills and do not have a proper governance structure to operate.. This has led to certain significant challenges in the e-commerce industry especially, in the emerging economies where consumers who want to purchase a particular product, explores it on a particular online platform and eventually purchase it from a different well-established brick and mortar store.Segmentation of Online to Offline Commerce market on the basis of sectors:E-Tail:E-Tail industry includes selling of goods through online channels. It can be business to business or business to consumer business. E-tailers are not restricted solely to the internet, they have started opening brick & mortar stores in order to reach to customers in more effective way.Travel & Tourism:Online travel & tourism industry includes online booking of bus, train, flight, and hotels. In this mode of e-commerce, a consumer explores for all the possible option of travel & accommodation, and eventually can book the entire itinerary with the most convenient and affordable options available.Restaurant & Hyper-Local Service :Online restaurant business allows a consumer to order food online, book a table at restaurants or hotel, and avail this services through cash less payment.. Hyper-local services are nothing but fulfillment of domestic needs of consumers on timely basis. For instance, grocery delivery, laundry, plumbing etc.Online to Offline Commerce Market: Key DealsOn December 2015, Alibaba group acquired South China Morning Post (SCMP) and other media assets of SCMP Group Ltd.On October 2015, Flipkart.com made partnership with Spice Hotspot stores, where its exclusive portfolio of phones are showcased offline.Request for Sample Report and Table of Content @In the North America region, entire e-commerce ecosystem is well established. E-Commerce has led the way and established a surrounding ecosystem that is gravitating to include online to offline commerce. With the presence of leading e-commerce players in the U.S., North America represents potential opportunity in online-to- offline e-commerce market.Asia-Pacific region holds the largest market opportunity for online to offline e-commerce business models during the forecast period. Increasing penetration of smartphone and growing internet infrastructure in the countries such as China and India are paving the way for the growth of online to offline commerce market. Significant private venture capitalist investments to the start-ups in this regions has led to increased expenditure on marketing and promotional activities with an aim of acquire customers, which would facilitate customers loyalty and in turn customer retention.Alibaba Group Holding Limited, Amazon.com, Inc., Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Flipkart.com, and IKEA are some the key players of global online to offline e-commerce market.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each PMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With a wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports strive to serve clients and satisfy their overall research requirement.For information regarding permissions, contact:Persistence Market Research305 Broadway,7th FloorNew York City, NY 10007United StatesTel: +1 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWebsite:media@persistencemarketresearch.com Pesticides Emulsifying Agents Market - Global Industry Analysis, Growth, Trends, Forecast 2016 - 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=17054 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pesticides-emulsifying-agents-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ http://globalresearchanalysis.blogspot.in/ The active ingredients used in pesticides are not suitable for utility in their raw unformulated state. Pesticide manufacturers mix in additives such as pesticide emulsifying agents to formulate an utilizable final product. Pesticides emulsifying agents are added to concentrated pesticide formulations to facilitate emulsification with water. When emulsifiable concentrate formulations are applied on plant parts, the solvent and the emulsifying agents evaporate quickly along with water, leaving behind a deposit of toxicants. Some commonly employed emulsifying agents in pesticide formulations are alkaline soaps, sulfates of some long-chain alcohols, organic amines and other materials including carbohydrates, gums, proteins, lipids and alginates.The addition of pesticide emulsifying agents to the formulations serves certain specific purposes, which include; dilution of water insoluble chemicals with water can be made possible; reduction of the surface tension of the spray to allow spreading and wetting of the treated surface; improve potency and efficiency through better contact with the insect cuticle. The choice of proper pesticide emulsifying agent is a critical decision to achieve optimum droplet size of the emulsified formulation as it is greatly affected by the kind as well as the amount of emulsifier added.Interpret a Competitive outlook Analysis Report with free PDF Brochure :The application of these pesticide emulsifying agents has to be optimized because excessive usage of chemicals harms the soil ecosystem. Additionally, the chemical structure of pesticide emulsifying agents influences the stability and performance of the emulsified formulationsGlobal Pesticides Emulsifying Agents Market: Trends and ProspectsThese pesticide emulsifying agents have certain disadvantages such as phytotoxicity, which causes damages to the plant. These agents can be corrosive and cause deterioration of rubber and plastic hoses, pump parts, gaskets and other surfaces. These formulations are flammable and hazardous near heat. Pesticide emulsifying agents are toxic and can be easily absorbed through human or animal skin alikePesticide emulsifying agents market is primarily driven by rising demand for agricultural products especially food. Demand growth is expected to be driven by the growth of population across the world and rising demand for pest free yield. However, regulatory pressure against environmentally harmful chemicals might hamper market growth. Market players are shifting their focus to using water soluble chemicals and biobased materials in the pesticide formulations due to harmful effects of the conventional pesticide formulations owing to excessive use.Global Pesticides Emulsifying Agents Market: Regional AnalysisIn terms of geography, Asia Pacific is the largest consumer as well as producer of pesticide emulsifying agents riding on high sales of agricultural products to its large population base. Major agricultural economies including China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand among others are the major consumers of agricultural chemicals. Two of the most populated countries, China and India are situated in Asia. Both these countries are growing rapidly and witnessing rising disposable income and purchase power parity of the general population. This in turn is expected to drive demand for agricultural products especially food. Major market players have established their production facilities in Asia owing to the availability of cheap labor and land and comparatively lenient norms and regulations against chemicals. North America is another major consumer for pesticide emulsifying agents. Europe is expected to witness comparatively slower growth than other regions due to stringent regulatory norms against harmful agricultural chemicals and their tendency to use bio-based organic products that are safe for the ecosystem.Browse Market Research Report with ToC & Free Analysis :Global Pesticides Emulsifying Agents Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market players include Bayer Material Sciences, Syngenta AG, Dow Agroscience, BASF SE, Monsanto, E I Dupont de Nemours & Co, Makhteshim Agam, Nufarm, Sumitomo Chemicals and Arysta lifesciences among others.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit : Plant Asset Management Systems Market is Expected to Witness a Steady Growth by 2024 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/10762 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ Plant asset management systems are used to provide a predictive health information of the assets. This information is derived from embedded data in control systems, smart field devices and sensors. There is an intelligent engine for analytical operations to proactively predict the problems before its escalation.Plant asset management systems are expanding in capability for almost all production and automation assets. Solution for asset and corrosion integrity is emerging in industries as application specific solution. Issues related to corrosion can be predicted by this solution and hence the managers can apply risk management for the assets.Plant asset management can be segmented on the basis of software, hardware and services, industry and asset type. Under the industry segment the market is sub divided as chemical and petrochemical industry, electricity generation industry, food and beverage industry, metals and mining industry, oil and gas industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, pulp and paper industry, refining industry and water and wastewater industry among others. The segment on the basis asset type can further be sub segmented as production assets and automation assets.Request for Sample Report and Table of Content @Turbines are the ideal candidates for plant asset management solutions. This is proven from the fact that the turbines have a mechanical nature as well as they are located in remote location and hence they require continuous condition monitoring. Using the plant asset management systems, the managers become aware about the degradation of the assets. This enables them to schedule the maintenance in advance before the assets actually fails.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each PMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With a wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports strive to serve clients and satisfy their overall research requirement.For information regarding permissions, contact:Persistence Market Research305 Broadway,7th FloorNew York City, NY 10007United StatesTel: +1 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWebsite:media@persistencemarketresearch.com Computed Tomography Systems Market to Cross US$ 6 Bn by 2019 http://www.sa-brc.com/Global-Computed-Tomography-Systems-Market-Assessment--Forecast-2015-2019/sample6 http://www.sa-brc.com/report/Global-Computed-Tomography-Systems-Market-Assessment--Forecast-2015-2019/6 www.sa-brc.com Computed tomography devices use X-ray sources to image the body. Unlike X-ray machines, CT systems uses a highly sensitive x-ray beam focused on specific parts of the body and a detector picks up the beam as it passes through the body. The CT scan is an X-ray slice of the body and does not use film or other contrast agents to image but instead uses sensitive detectors that send their signal to a computer as the x-ray transmitter spins around the body to scan a slice of an individual?s body. Computed Tomography has undergone several generations of changes in terms of technology since its inception. Based on the number of ?Slices? or images of different sections of the body, these devices can be categorized into low-Slice (4, 8 and 16 slice), medium slice (32, 64, 128 slice) and high slice (256 and above) systems. The global market for computed tomography systems was valued at US$ 4,839.0 million in 2014 and expected to grow to US$ 6,588.5 million by 2019 at a CAGR of 6.3% from 2015 to 2019. Estimates market value and volume with 2013 & 2014 as historical years and forecast from 2015-2019.Market Drivers:Advances in CT technology systems offering better diagnosis and reduced radiation are expected to drive its growth in the coming years.Increasing geriatric population. Aged people require regular monitoring of health through various diagnostic tests including computed tomography tests.Increasing demand for high end multi-slice systems and portable systems to drive growth.Free Sample Report@Market Challenges:Decreasing usage of radiation based imaging.Types of CT Device Configuration Covered In This Report:StationaryPortable SystemsImaging Technology Covered In This Report:Low slice CT systems (4, 8 and 16 slice)Mid-slice CT systems (32, 64, 128 slice)High-slice or super-premium CT systems (over 128 slices)Key Players Covered In This Report:BrainLab AGGE HealthcareHitachi MedicalMobiusPhilips HealthcareSamsungNeurologicaShimadzuSiemens HealthcareToshiba Medical SystemsXintekClick For Full Report@About UsSpearhead Acuity Business Research & Consulting Private Limited (SA-BRC) is a premium Life Science business intelligence and data analytics firm. SA-BRC team offers a wide range of business intelligence services to multiple stakeholders such as Medical Device Manufacturers, Service Providers (Hospitals, Payers, etc.), Suppliers, Group Purchase Organizations, Distributors and all other individuals in the entire value chain of healthcare industry. Our research and consulting capabilities extend across several sub-domains within the sphere of Life Sciences such as Biotechnology, Healthcare IT, Medical Devices, Veterinary Sciences, Wellness Products and Pharmaceuticals.Contact UsJohn Whitmore10685-B Hazelhurst Drive,Suite 17411Houston, Texas 77043,United StatesPhone: +1(832)-426-3701Email: sales@sa-brc.comWebsite: Neurodiagnostic and Monitoring Devices - Global Analysis And Market Forecasts http://www.sa-brc.com/Global-Neurodiagnostic-and-Monitoring-Devices-Market-Assessment--Forecast-2015-2019/sample16 http://www.sa-brc.com/report/Global-Neurodiagnostic-and-Monitoring-Devices-Market-Assessment--Forecast-2015-2019/16 www.sa-brc.com This report provides analysis of the global neurological diagnostic and monitoring devices market in terms of product types, end-users and geography. The report provides market value with 2013 & 2014 as historical years and forecast of 2015-2019. The largest technology driven product segment is the magnetoencephalography devices (MEG). MEG signals were first recorded in 1968 by David Cohen using copper induction coil as detector. The superconducting quantum interference device or SQUIDs were introduced in 1964 and incorporated into MEGs by 1975 and by 1980?s manufacturers were routinely installing multiple SQUID arrays. MEGs are used to study cognitive processes such as vision, audition, and language processing in fetuses and newborns. In terms of end-users, the neurodiagnostic technology has not yet scratched its potential as most diagnostic systems are currently used for research. In most developing countries, only private institutes are focusing on researching neurological disorders as a refined collection of clinical data is yet to be presented. Hospitals are the primary users of intracranial pressure monitoring devices for treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The global market for neurodiagnostic and neuromonitoring devices was valued at US$ 1,045.3 million in 2014 and expected to grow to US$ 1,538.8 million by 2019 at a CAGR of 8.0% from 2015 to 2019.Market Drivers:Rising prevalence of neurological diseases.Increasing geriatric population.Sleep monitoring research and industry driving growth.Market Inhibitors:Cost of neurodiagnostic devices restrict growth.Free Sample Report@Types of Neurodiagnostic & Monitoring Devices Covered In This Report:ElectroencephalographMagnetoencephalographIntracranial Pressure MonitoringTranscranial Cerebral OximetersTranscranial DopplersEnd-Users Market Covered In This Report:Hospital Outpatient DepartmentsNeurophysiological LaboratoriesOperation Theatres and Intensive Care UnitsPrivate PracticesKey Players Covered In This Report:Advanced Brain Monitoring, Inc.Cadwell Laboratories, Inc.CAS Medical Systems (CASMED), Inc.Codman (Johnson & Johnson)Compumedics Ltd.Covidien (Medtronic, Inc.)Elekta AB (Publ)Emotiv, Inc.Click For Full Report@About UsSpearhead Acuity Business Research & Consulting Private Limited (SA-BRC) is a premium Life Science business intelligence and data analytics firm. SA-BRC team offers a wide range of business intelligence services to multiple stakeholders such as Medical Device Manufacturers, Service Providers (Hospitals, Payers, etc.), Suppliers, Group Purchase Organizations, Distributors and all other individuals in the entire value chain of healthcare industry. Our research and consulting capabilities extend across several sub-domains within the sphere of Life Sciences such as Biotechnology, Healthcare IT, Medical Devices, Veterinary Sciences, Wellness Products and Pharmaceuticals.Contact UsJohn Whitmore10685-B Hazelhurst Drive,Suite 17411Houston, Texas 77043,United StatesPhone: +1(832)-426-3701Email: sales@sa-brc.comWebsite: Worldwide Luxury Goods Market -Top players (Hermes International S.A., LVMH, Prada S.p.A., Kering Group, LOreal Group, Coty, Inc.) - Worldwide Industry Trends Future Estimate, 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/luxury-goods-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=573 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The global luxury goods market is moderately fragmented with top twelve companies holding less than 50% of the market in 2013, according to a new research report by Transparency Market Research (TMR). Some of the key players in the global luxury goods market are LVMH, Prada S.p.A., Kering Group, Coty Inc., Rolex SA, Hermes International S.A., Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA, Tiffany & company, and , The LOreal Group.A TMR analyst says, The demand for luxury goods is on the rise globally due to increasing number of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) globally. This class of individuals is spending heavily on a range of luxury goods such as apparel and leather goods, watches and jewelry, and fragrances. While developed regions are increasingly becoming saturated for the sales of luxury goods, developing regions are exhibiting an increasing demand for luxury goods due to increasing disposable incomes and rising living standards in these regions.Browse The Topmost Report:Emergence of New Marketing Channels Fuels Market GrowthWithin developing regions, countries such as China, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Africa, and Singapore are promising regional markets for luxury goods. The steadily increasing high net worth individuals in these nations, along with the increasing GDP in these nations is opening lucrative growth opportunities for the luxury goods market. The expanding sales network of luxury brands in these countries has also made the purchase of these goods espalier for consumers.The advances in online marketing and increasing use of digital marketing for the promotion of luxury goods is contributing to the growth of the global luxury goods market. The resilient economy of some of the major developed markets will also contribute to the healthy growth of this market.Lack of Knowledgeable Personnel Hampers Market GrowthUncertain economic scenarios is one of the foremost factors impeding the growth of the global luxury goods market, says a TMR analyst. The economic slump of 2007-2008 had a profound impact on the sales of luxury goods across the world. Currency devaluation and an inadequate number of highly-trained and knowledgeable store personnel is also hampering the growth of this market. Savvy consumer-facing marketers can decide the fate of luxury brands in nearly every market their dearth is costing brands dearly in several promising countries.Get PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical Insights:Due to the difference in cultural leanings between consumers in emerging economies from those in developed economies, luxury brands are facing challenges in modifying their product offerings to keep up with the needs of newly-affluent consumers.Europe Leads Luxury Goods Market in Terms of Revenue ContributionThe global market for luxury goods is expected to be worth US$374.85 bn by 2020, states TMR. Europe is expected to be the leading regional market with a revenue contribution of 31.3% to the overall market in 2020. Europe is home to some of the top luxury goods manufacturers, due to which the region has an extensive network of marketing and selling of luxury goods. The dominance of this regional segment is also attributed to its vast travel retail network and abundance of duty-free shops.However, Rest of the World and Asia Pacific are expected to display the highest growth rate in this market in the coming years. Apparel and leather goods stood as the leading product type segment in 2013 and is expected to dominate in the coming years as well. This is followed by luxury watches and jewelry.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Life Science Tool Market Report 2016 Industry Share, Trends, Outlook and Key Opportunities Market Research Reports http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=728539&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-life-science-tool-industry-2016-market-research-report.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/reports.htm Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Life Science Tool Market 2016 Industry, Analysis, Research, Share, Growth, Sales, Trends, Supply, Forecast to 2021" to its huge collection of research reports.The research report is a brief inquiry into the state of the global Life Science Tool market. An evaluation of the current market situation, historical growth, and future opportunities for progress has been presented in the publication. The market intelligence report further assesses the shares, key marketing strategies, and product portfolio of the prime players operating in the global Life Science Tool market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The study presents an outline of the global Life Science Tool market based on key parameters such as regions, products, technology, application, and end user. The projected volume and revenue growth of the global Life Science Tool market during the forecast period has also been mentioned in the report. The report further offers an insight into the prime geographical segments of the global Life Science Tool market and provides details about their past and present shares. The trends prevalent in the market have also been highlighted in the report. The study further presents an assessment of the factors that are expected to impact the growth of the market in a negative or positive way. The global Life Science Tool market has been thoroughly analyzed with regard to the respective market segments and forecast period. Each year within the respective timeline has been briefly studied in terms of the value of the product in the regional as well as global market.To present a clear understanding of the global Life Science Tool market, the competitive landscape has been evaluated and put forth along with the value chain analysis. Information on ongoing and initiated research and development projects and investments in innovation has been provided in the report as well.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Life Science Tool1.1 Definition and Specifications of Life Science Tool1.1.1 Definition of Life Science Tool1.1.2 Specifications of Life Science Tool1.2 Classification of Life Science Tool1.2.1 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)1.2.2 Microarray1.2.3 DNA Sequencing1.2.4 RNA Sequencing or RNA-Seq1.2.5 RNA Interference (RNAi)1.3 Applications of Life Science Tool1.4 Industry Chain Structure of Life Science Tool1.5 Industry Overview and Major Regions Status of Life Science Tool1.5.1 Industry Overview of Life Science Tool1.5.2 Global Major Regions Status of Life Science Tool1.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Life Science Tool1.7 Industry News Analysis of Life Science Tool2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Life Science Tool2.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of Life Science Tool2.2 Equipment Suppliers and Price Analysis of Life Science Tool2.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Life Science Tool2.4 Other Costs Analysis of Life Science Tool2.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Life Science Tool2.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Life Science Tool3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Life Science Tool3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Life Science Tool Major Manufacturers in 20153.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Life Science Tool Major Manufacturers in 20153.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Life Science Tool Major Manufacturers in 20153.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Life Science Tool Major Manufacturers in 2015For Market Research Latest Reports Visit @QYResearchReports.com is an unimpeachable source of market research data for clients that comprise acclaimed SMEs, Chinese companies, private equity firms, and MNCs. We provide market research reports on various categories such as Energy, Chemicals, Alternative and Green Energy, Manufacturing, Machinery, Pharmaceuticals and Materials, and Glass.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States In vivo veritas: Vine pest in Austria is genetically variable http://www.ait.ac.at/en http://www.fwf.ac.at/en http://www.prd.at/en Exactly 14 different variants of a very specific bacterium that damages grapevines can be found in Austria. This is one of the key results of a project supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, which looked at the damage caused to vines by phytoplasmas.For plant pathologists, phytoplasmas represent the "sinister forces": they are linked to over 100 plant diseases. Up until now, however, it has not been possible to culture them in the lab. It is therefore almost impossible to conduct experiments on these bacteria, which lack a cell wall. A team in the Health & Environment Department at the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology together with the "Hohere Bundeslehranstalt und Bundesamt fur Wein- und Obstbau" (Education and Research Centre) in Klosterneuburg have now managed to analyse in greater detail a phytoplasma commonly found in Austrian vineyards and came up with some surprising results.From type to typeA key aspect of the project headed by Gunter Brader was the isolation and characterisation of the DNA in very specific phytoplasmas: those that are responsible for a yellowing disease of vines known as the black wood of grapevine (Bois Noir). Gunter Brader explains the particular challenge facing the team: "As there are no lab cultures of phytoplasmas, we first isolated the entire DNA of the infested host plants. This resulted in a mix of plant and bacterial DNA. Thanks to a specific composition of phytoplasma DNA we were able to separate these using special methods." Once isolated, the team was able to start characterising the DNA. Surprisingly, subsequent comparisons of specific DNA sequences showed that there are at least 14 genotypes genetically different phytoplasmas.From stinging nettles to wineFurther studies showed that a currently rampant expansion of Bois Noir in Austria is caused by a single one of these 14 genotypes. "Two-thirds of all diseases can be traced back to this one genotype alone", explains Gunter Brader. This type is spread by a specific cicada ("Hyalesthes obsoletus") whose alternate host is the stinging nettle. The clarification of this way of spreading was surprising as previous studies had identified other routes. "The way of spreading could have changed in recent years", believes Gunter Brader, whose findings will now make an important contribution to tackling this problem.Comparing infectionsIn a second part of the project, model plants (tomatoes and periwinkle rootstock) were infected with a total of six genotypes of the phytoplasma. The aim of this step was to study whether the different genotypes would cause the same or different symptoms in the plants. In fact, the strains displayed markedly different symptoms. Commenting on this development, Gunter Brader says: "We assume that so-called effectors are responsible for these different symptoms. These are proteins that are released by the bacteria to the host cell and in this way support the infection process."Defence mechanismsThe team was also interested in the plant's defence mechanisms. The effect of salicylic acid, a known plant defence compound on the model plants was examined. This showed that this had apparently little influence on the vulnerability of the plants. Tomato plants which could not accumulate any salicylic acid were thus infected. If this acid is to play an important role in tackling phytoplasmas, these plants would have to be significantly more prone to an infection yet in fact they did not display any differences compared to the unchanged forms. The researchers also analysed whether a previous treatment with other bacteria would have any kind of effect on the infection and in this way provide a way of fighting the biological pest. However, the results here were sobering: a single bacterial species ("Bacillus atrophaeus") delayed the emergence of symptoms of the disease and reduced the number of phytoplasmas in the plant but the intensity of the symptoms remained the same.These findings about distribution paths and courses of infection provide important insights into the possibility of fighting these pests and form the necessary basis for making targeted and efficient interventions.FWF Austrian Science FundThe Austrian Science Fund (FWF) is Austria's central funding organization for basic research.The purpose of the FWF is to support the ongoing development of Austrian science and basic research at a high international level. In this way, the FWF makes a significant contribution to cultural development, to the advancement of our knowledge-based society, and thus to the creation of value and wealth in Austria.Scientific Contact:Dr. Gunter BraderAIT Austrian Institute of TechnologyHealth & Environment DepartmentKonrad Lorenz Strae 243430 Tulln an der Donau, AustriaT +43 / 664 / 825 115 6E guenter.brader@ait.ac.atAustrian Science Fund FWF:Marc SeumenichtHaus der ForschungSensengasse 11090 Vienna, AustriaT +43 / 1 / 505 67 40 - 8111E marc.seumenicht@fwf.ac.atCopy Editing & Distribution:PR&D Public Relations for Research & EducationMariannengasse 81090 Vienna, AustriaT +43 / 1 / 505 70 44E contact@prd.at Global Lead Powder Market Popularity, Development, Collaborations, 2016 Industry Analysis and Shares http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=836013&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-lead-powder-market-research-report-2016.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/press-releases.htm The research report is a brief inquiry into the state of the global Lead Powder market. An evaluation of the current market situation, historical growth, and future opportunities for progress has been presented in the publication. The market intelligence report further assesses the shares, key marketing strategies, and product portfolio of the prime players operating in the global Lead Powder market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The study presents an outline of the global Lead Powder market based on key parameters such as regions, products, technology, application, and end user. The projected volume and revenue growth of the global Lead Powder market during the forecast period has also been mentioned in the report. The report further offers an insight into the prime geographical segments of the global Lead Powder market and provides details about their past and present shares. The trends prevalent in the market have also been highlighted in the report. The study further presents an assessment of the factors that are expected to impact the growth of the market in a negative or positive way. The global Lead Powder market has been thoroughly analyzed with regard to the respective market segments and forecast period. Each year within the respective timeline has been briefly studied in terms of the value of the product in the regional as well as global market.To present a clear understanding of the global Lead Powder market, the competitive landscape has been evaluated and put forth along with the value chain analysis. Information on ongoing and initiated research and development projects and investments in innovation has been provided in the report as well.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of ContentsGlobal Lead Powder Market Research Report 20161 Lead Powder Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Lead Powder1.2 Lead Powder Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Lead Powder by Type in 20151.2.2 Type I1.2.3 Type II1.2.4 Type III1.3 Lead Powder Segment by Application1.3.1 Lead Powder Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Application 11.3.3 Application 21.3.4 Application 31.4 Lead Powder Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Lead Powder (2011-2021)2 Global Lead Powder Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Lead Powder Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Lead Powder Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Lead Powder Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Lead Powder Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Lead Powder Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Lead Powder Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Lead Powder Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Lead Powder Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2011-2016)3.1 Global Lead Powder Capacity and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.2 Global Lead Powder Production and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.3 Global Lead Powder Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.4 Global Lead Powder Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.5 North America Lead Powder Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.6 Europe Lead Powder Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.7 China Lead Powder Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.8 Japan Lead Powder Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.9 Southeast Asia Lead Powder Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.10 India Lead Powder Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)For Latest QYResearchreports Press Release Visit @QYResearchReports.com is an unimpeachable source of market research data for clients that comprise acclaimed SMEs, Chinese companies, private equity firms, and MNCs. We provide market research reports on various categories such as Energy, Chemicals, Alternative and Green Energy, Manufacturing, Machinery, Pharmaceuticals and Materials, and Glass.QYResearchreportsContact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States+1-518-621-2074866-997-4948USA-Canada Toll freesales@qyresearchreports.com Solar Street Lighting Market: Rising Demand for Off-grid Energy Generation to Enable Consistent Growth http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=6532 The global solar street lighting market is dominated by companies such as Omega Solar, Philips Lighting Holding B.V., Sol, Inc., Sunna Design, SOKOYO Solar Group, Bridgelux Inc., Solektra International, Urja Global Ltd., Dragons Breath Solar, Solar Street Lights USA, and VerySol Inc. Key companies in the solar street lighting market are likely to focus on regional expansion in the coming years, as developed regions have already witnessed notable adoption of solar lighting, but the growing demand from populous emerging regions such as Asia Pacific is likely to be the determinant factor in the global solar street lighting market in the coming years.The global solar street lighting market is expected to exhibit a robust CAGR of 23.23% between 2016 and 2024. The markets overall revenue figure is expected to rise from US$2.7 bn in 2015 to US$17.8 bn in 2024.Asia Pacific to Remain Leading Revenue Generator for Global Solar Street Lighting MarketRegionally, Asia Pacific is the dominant contributor to the global solar street lighting market and held a share of 44% in the market in 2015. The dominance of Asia Pacific in the solar street lighting market is primarily due to the rapid urbanization in countries such as China and India, the rising GDP of dynamic economies in the region, and the rising influx of advanced technology from Western countries. India was the leading national market for solar street lighting in 2015 and is likely to retain a dominant position in the global market in the coming years. China is also set to remain a crucial regional market for solar street lighting.Get PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical industry insights :Africa, led by South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana, is also a prime regional market for solar street lighting. The steady urbanization in leading economies in the region is likely to be a key driver for the Africa solar street lighting market in the coming years. Since solar lighting doesnt require grid connectivity, it represents a viable solution in low-income regions such as Africa, where conventional grid networks are often poorly distributed or absent.Europe is also likely to become an important regional market for solar street lighting in the coming years due to the steady government support to the use of renewable power sources. Germany and the U.K. are the dominant national markets for solar street lighting within Europe.Rising Awareness about Scarcity, Adverse Effects of Conventional Fuels to Drive DemandThe key driver for the global solar street lighting market is the growing acknowledgment of the harmful effects of conventional forms of energy generation as well as the falling levels of fossil fuels in natural reservoirs. This has led to rising government support across the world for the development of electricity through sustainable energy sources such as wind and solar power. The convenience of off-grid energy generation systems has also led to rising adoption even in areas where grid power can be distributed. This is likely to remain a key driver for the global solar street lighting market in the coming years.The consistent research and development in the solar power sector has resulted in the availability of low-cost and highly efficient components. However, the overall investment requirements of the solar street lighting industry still remain quite high, which could constrain the markets growth in the coming years, particularly in developing regions.The information in this preview comes from a Transparency Market Research Report titled Solar Street Lighting Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth Trends, and Forecast, 2016 - 2024.The global solar street lighting market is segmented as follows:Solar Street Lighting Market: By RegionNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle East and AfricaSouth and Central AmericaSolar Street Lighting Market: By TypeStandaloneOn GridSolar Street Lighting Market: By ApplicationResidentialCommercialIndustrialSolar Street Lighting Market: By Lighting SourceCompact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL)Light Emitting Diode (LED)About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207 The Michigan Department of Transportation will host a public open house to discuss the development of the US-10 Business Route corridor study from Saginaw Road to Airport Road. MDOT staff members are seeking public input on potential corridor design alternatives to help align community visions with transportation needs. Life Point, a nonprofit ministry, opens space for teens to skateboard and offers Bible study. Brandon Sirolli, an Ocala, Florida, police detective and Assemblies of God youth pastor, broke the news. He announced to a group of young people the possibility of canceling a much-anticipated Friday night lock-in event if he failed to catch a burglary suspect that week. The teens participated in Sirollis 501(c)(3) ministry, Life Point, where they met regularly to ride skateboards and motocross bicycles. I said, I need you guys to pray that we catch the bad guy, says Sirolli. So they prayed. In five minutes, I got a phone call that they caught the guy. Upon hearing the news, he says, one teen, a former agnostic, fell to his knees in tears. He said, Im telling you, man, I didnt know God answers that quickly and that he cares about us that much, Sirolli says. Sirolli says he first got the idea for the Skate Church three years ago while working as a youth pastor at local church. He and a colleague began ministering at a privately owned skate park. But after the park closed, they approached others to help them start a skateboard ministry, including One Life Fellowship in Ocala, which agreed to provide Skate Church space in its 10,000-square-foot warehouse. Today, close to 60 skateboard and BMX riders gather on the first two Saturdays of the month in the facility that is complete with ramps and obstacle courses. The ministry also offers a nonmandatory Bible study. Sirolli says he witnessed the demise of similar ministries that required Bible study attendance. Youve got to come at it from their perspective, he says. As a result, several of the teens are now believers, he says, including the teen who marveled that God answered his prayer. Weve seen the kingdom advanced, says Sirolli, and dark places entered with light. Find more youth outreach ideas The barracks now are silent where once your laughter rang, the steel guitar is broken where around the bunks we sang, sang Durward Swanson as his raspy, aged voice cracked with emotion. Swanson, a 95-year-old survivor of the Dec. 7th, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor and Oahu was reciting a song in memoriam of his late friend, Sgt. James Strickland, during the dedication of Stricklands memorial marker Dec. 4, 2016. Also attending the ceremony were Strickland family members, event organizers and Pacific Air Forces Airmen, all of whom were able to see the unveiling of the stone marker located between three towering palm trees in the area where Strickland died. Weve heard partial stories growing up from my grandfather but he didnt like to talk about it, explained one of Stricklands great nephews, Michael Gordon Bolton. A lot of information has come to light in the last year and were so appreciative of the support. Senior Master Sgt. Martin Sebok, a PACAF aircraft functional manager, was an officer with the Hickam Top III private organization last year when he decided he wanted to make this project a reality. He was able to secure the markers funding and get the organization to include in their bylaws they will maintain the marker from here on. Its a great feeling to know that [Strickland] finally gets to see this come to fruition, Sebok said. Seeing every one here - today is special and its something Im going to hold on to. In 1941, the PACAF headquarters building, located beside the memorial marker, was a 3,200-man barracks facility where Strickland and Swanson were barrack-mates and became friends. On the day of the attack, Strickland was fleeing the building when he was shot by Japanese gunfire. By his side was Swanson, who fled to get medical aid for his friend, but returned too late as Strickland had already passed away. Different from Pearl Harbor, we too had our tragedy, said Jessie Higa, a tour guide and volunteer Hickam historian. [Swanson] has relived that day a lot, and his stories and memories from that day have been tucked away for many years. Today he gets to share them with us and honor his best friend. Day 5: What's the Deal with the American Girls and Why Are They Into Garbage Colin? - 25 Days of 'Love Actually' By Courtney Enlow | Miscellaneous | December 5, 2016 | (Catch up with Day 1: Peter and Juliets Wedding, Day 2: HR Bumblefuckery, Day 3: President Billy Bob and Day 4: Mia the Sex Robot/Possible Actual Devil.) If youve been following along at home, you know nothing enrages me quite like the character Ive come to know and not love as Garbage Colin. Colin Frissell is a food service person who is terrible at his job. Because hes terrible at his job and far more terrible at interacting with other humans, he decides women are the problem. Because theyre so stuck up and not immediately throwing themselves at his rubbish penis. Colin Frissell is the most realistic person in the movie and that is why he is so garbage. Having had enough of British women, he goes in search of American women. He somehow selects Wisconsin as his chosen locale. No one has ever selected Wisconsin as their chosen locale for anything, including people who live in Wisconsin. He arrives in the middle of nowhere, which is stupid because his flight from London would presumably arrive in a city like Milwaukee or Madison. Once settled in the random Rural Bar to order his Budweiser, the King of Beers, and engage with An American Woman to request that she Schlob on His Knob, he immediately meets January Jones, the chick who married that clownshoe Riley on Buffy (Ivana Milicevic), and Elisha Cuthbert before we knew she was cool. We learn, over the course of their nonstory, that they also know and/or live with Shannon Elizabeth and Denise Richards, two of the most Early Aughts Attractive Women in the history of women. They wear Cowboy Hats and speak with Southern Accents that are several states removed from Wisconsin, which is basically Canada. They allegedly cannot afford beds or pajamas, which would be less of a come-on lie if they didnt take Colin home to their presumably bedless, pajamaless house. This is Tragic. So, Colin makes a $2500 trip for the sole purpose of having sex with an American womanperson, the assumption being these women are easier than British women. Now, I will tell you this right now: as an American woman, the mere possession of a British accent increases ones attractiveness by at least three points. If Benedict Cumberbatch was from Florida, not nearly as many people would want to fuck him. So, Colins theory is somewhat reasonable, its amazing that it works. Its downright offensive that it works quite as well as it does. He is odious and terrible and is rewarded with at least four American mouths suction cupped to his face like a gaggle of Garfield window clings. Bloomington-Normal POP LORE, Cautious Exuberance and Flowers, For You; through Jan. 10, Jan Brandt Gallery, 1106 W. Bell St., Bloomington; ink on cheesecloth by Andrew LeMay Cox, mixed-media works by Erin Elizabeth and Harry Widebotham, paintings by Danny Epstein; viewing by appointment at janbrandtgallery@gmail.com. Chicken Foot Gourd Bowls; through Dec. 9; Heartland Community College Joe McCauley Gallery, Instructional Commons Building Room 2507, 1500 W. Raab Road, Normal; ceramics by Danell Dvorak and drawings/paintings of them by John Cassidy; free; 309-268-8620. ISU University Galleries; noon-4 p.m. Mon., 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Tue., 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Wed.-Fri., noon-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun., Uptown Station, 11 Uptown Circle, Normal; rotating exhibits in three galleries; free; 309-438-8321. Strange Oscillations and Vibrations of Sympathy; through Dec. 18, ISU University Galleries, see above; works by contemporary female artists that acknowledge women writers. Related events: screenings of Dawn Roe's "The Sunshine Bores/The Daylights," through Dec. 18, Milner Library. IWU Merwin and Wakeley Galleries; school hours, noon-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 1-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun., 7-9 p.m. Tue.; 302 E. Graham St., Bloomington; rotating exhibits; free; 309-556-3391. Biosphere; through Dec. 9, IWU Merwin Gallery, see above; prints by Taryn McMahon. Hatta-Hatta; through Dec. 9, IWU Wakeley Gallery, see above; paintings and mixed-media works by Gretchen Beck. McLean County Arts Center; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tue., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Fri., noon-4 p.m. Sat.; 601 N. East St., Bloomington; rotating exhibits, sales, rentals, art classes and lectures; free; 309-829-0011. Holiday Treasures Exhibition and Sale; through Dec. 31, McLean County Arts Center, see above; affordable works and seasonal items by more than 60 local and national artists. Abstracted Landscapes; through Dec. 31, McLean County Arts Center, see above.; paintings by Dick Folse. McLean County Museum of History; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. (until 9 p.m. Tue.), 200 N. Main St., Bloomington; permanent and rotating exhibits; adults $5, seniors $4, students, children under 12 and members free; 309-827-0428. Challenges, Choices and Change: Making a Home; McLean County Museum of History, see above; new permanent exhibit exploring experiences of people from around the world who made McLean County their home. Abraham Lincoln in McLean County; McLean County Museum of History, see above; new permanent exhibit on Lincoln's life in Bloomington. Prairie Aviation Museum; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thu.-Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun., 2929 E. Empire St., Bloomington; permanent and rotating exhibits and displays with aerial history themes; adults $5, ages 6-11 $3, 5 and under free; 309-663-7632. Central Illinois U of I Krannert Art Museum; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat. (until 9 p.m. Thu. during fall and spring semesters), closed Sun, 500 E. Peabody Drive, Champaign; paintings, porcelain, historical artifacts, traveling art exhibits; $3 donation suggested; 217-333-1861. Zina Saro-Wiwa: Did You Know We Taught Them How to Dance?; through March 25, U of I Krannert Art Museum, see above; video installations, photographs, more. Making and Breaking Medieval Manuscripts; through Feb. 11, U of I Krannert Art Museum, see above; hand-drawn/embellished scrolls, books and maps. School of Art + Design Faculty Exhibition; through Dec. 22, U of I Krannert Art Museum, see above; various media. Borderline Collective: Northern Triangle; through Dec. 22, U of I Krannert Art Museum, see above; installation featuring art works and historical documents. Amity Township Museum; 1-3 p.m. first Sun. of month or by appointment, 510 Main St., Cornell; displays and artifacts relating to history of Cornell and Amity Township; free; 815-358-2973. Spencer Sauter: Painting; 9:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 9:30 a.m.-noon Fri., through Jan. 16, Illinois Central College Performing Arts Center Gallery, East Peoria; paintings; free; 309-694-5113. Eureka College Burgess Hall Art Gallery; 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays and by appointment on weekends, third floor of Burgess Hall, Eureka College, Eureka; rotating exhibits; free; 309-467-6866. Simpkins Military History Museum; 1-5 p.m. Tue., Thu., Sat., or by appointment; 605 E. Cole St., Heyworth; permanent and rotating military history exhibits; free (donations accepted); 309-473-3989. Dickson Mounds Museum; 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, 10956 N. Dickson Mounds Road, Lewistown; displays, special exhibits; free; 309-547-3721. Lincoln Heritage Museum; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 1-4 p.m. Sat., Lincoln Center at Lincoln College, 300 Keokuk St., Lincoln; Lincoln-era items, audio-visual displays, tours, exhibits, more; adults $7, children/tours $4; 217-735-7399. Contemporary Art Center of Peoria; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., Riverfront Arts Center, 305 S.W. Water, Peoria; rotating exhibits in two galleries; free; 309-674-6822. Staying the Course; through Dec. 16, Contemporary Art Center of Peoria, see above; works by Jenni Bateman, Nicola Blease-Perry, Ande Lister and Patricia Whalen-Keck. A Small Wonder Gift Shop; through Dec. 16, Contemporary Art Center of Peoria, see above; holiday art gift show and sale. Forest Park Nature Center Nature Art Show & Sale; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun., through Dec. 31, Forest Park Nature Center, 5809 Forest Park Drive, Peoria Heights; nature and wildlife art by local artists; 309-686-3360. Peoria Art Guild; Foster Arts Center, Harrison and Washington streets, Peoria; rotating exhibits, gift shop; free; 309-637-2787. Peoria Riverfront Museum; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Wed. and Sat., 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thu.-Fri., noon-5 p.m. Sun., downtown riverfront Peoria; permanent and rotating exhibits, planetarium shows, Giant Screen Theater and events; $8-$11; 309-686-7000. Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition; through March 12, Peoria Riverfront Museum, see above; touring exhibit recovered artifacts from Titanic wreck site and room re-creations. Museum of the Gilding Arts; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sun., April-Oct., and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Sun., Nov.-March, 217 N. Mill St., Pontiac; displays, history and hands-on exhibits dedicated to the art of gilding and gold beating; free (donations welcome); 815-842-1848. Pontiac Community Art Center; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun., 103 W. Madison St., Pontiac; rotating exhibits; 815-844-5831. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sun., 212 N. Sixth St., Springfield; Lincoln-themed exhibits, historical displays, special events, more; adults $12, seniors and students $9, ages 5-15 $5, under 5 free; 217-558-8844. Rare and Rarely Seen; through Jan. 29, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum, see above; rarely exhibited items from museum's permanent collection. BLOOMINGTON Whoever killed Pam Zimmerman did not force their way into her Bloomington office, but stayed around after the attack to move furniture in search of shell casings from the bullets that fatally wounded her, according to details of the crime scene disclosed in new court filings in the murder case against her ex-husband. Kirk Zimmerman is charged with killing his former spouse in November 2014 in her east side Bloomington office where she worked as a financial planner and certified public accountant. In a series of newly-filed motions, defense lawyer John Rogers has challenged portions of the state's potential evidence against the 58-year-old suspect, including the results of gun shot residue tests and statements Zimmerman made to police hours after his ex-wife was found. A search warrant request from Bloomington Police Detective Michael Johnson three months after the murder filed as part of a defense motion reveals new details of what led police to check on the victim and what two of Pam Zimmerman's friends found when they arrived at her office. One of Pam Zimmerman's neighbors, Julie Koh, contacted police on Nov. 4, 2014 after she received a call from the victim's fiance, Scott Baldwin, who was concerned that he was unable to reach her by phone from his home in the Chicago area. Zimmerman's teenage children told Koh that their mother had not come home the previous night, according to the court documents, and one of Zimmerman's daughters used a GPS application on her cell phone to search for her mother's phone. Police located the phone in a pile of leaves near Felton Place and Robinson Street. In the meantime, Koh went to Zimmerman's office at 2103 E. Washington St. and found the victim's car in the parking lot. Kol met Ina Hess, the victim's office manager, and the two went inside to find the light off and blinds closed, according to the warrant filing that is part of the newly-filed defense motions. The two women found Pam Zimmerman, 53, lying on the floor behind the reception desk, still dressed in the clothes she was wearing when Hess left work at 4:30 p.m. the previous day, Johnson stated in an affidavit filed with the search warrant. Zimmerman had suffered four separate gunshot wounds one in the head, two in the torso, including one in the back, and one in the arm. Police think the killer spent some time after the shooting looking for shell casings and may have found three of the four, state the court documents. The detective noted that only one 9 mm shell casing was found and one bullet was recovered from the back of the chair in the reception area. The phone line in the reception area also had been cut. An analysis of Pam Zimmerman's cell phone by Bloomington police indicates the device was removed from her office around 6:15 p.m. 45 minutes after a meeting with her final client of the day, narrowing the time of death to sometime between 5:30 and 6:15 p.m. Nov. 3, according to police. Missing along with her phone and wallet were two handsets for the office telephone and a desktop calendar. The handsets were later found several blocks away near Grove Street and Fairview Drive. The search request stated that what appeared to be small blood stains were found near an unlocked rear door of the office. Koh and other neighbors interviewed by police in the days after the murder described a rocky end to a troubled marriage between the Zimmermans. One woman recalled that Kirk Zimmerman had tried to buy a home directly behind his ex-wife, but ended up moving two blocks away when the purchase fell through, according to information contained in the search warrant. The tense relationship is expected to be a key element of the state's case against Zimmerman, a former State Farm systems worker. The couple sparred after the divorce was finalized over financial issues related to expenses for their children. Court records filed by the state allege that Zimmerman made insulting remarks about his former spouse, causing her to tell friends she feared for her safety. Pam Zimmerman and Baldwin met on an online dating site in August 2014 and became engaged two months later. She posted their plan to marry on social media on Nov. 1, 2014 two days before she was killed. Baldwin told detectives he exchanged text messages with her around 1:25 p.m. on Nov. 3, but received no reply to messages he sent at 9 p.m. and several times later that night. BLOOMINGTON Questions about the validity of signatures on the nominating petition turned in by Mayor Tari Renner were overshadowed at a hearing Monday by questions over whether the meeting was legal. Kirk Allen and John Kraft, who call themselves the Edgar County Watchdogs, alleged that Monday's meeting was being held in violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act because public notice was not posted 48 hours in advance of the meeting. When Bloomington Board of Election Commissioners Chairman Denise Williams initially decided to proceed with the meeting, the two men, who are residents of Edgar County, threatened to call McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage so they could make a citizen's arrest of the commissioners for what the men alleged were unlawful acts. Williams and and the other commissioners Esaw Peterson and Judy Green had planned to hold a public hearing and make a ruling on resident Kevin Gerrard's objection to Renner's petition. Instead, they recessed the meeting to consult privately for about 20 minutes with legal counsel. When they emerged, Williams announced that in order to provide proper public notice, the hearing would be postponed until 9 a.m. Thursday in the BEC's offices in the Government Center, 115 E. Washington St. Last week, Gerrard filed a challenge to Renners petition, which requires a minimum of 489 valid signatures, but not more than 783. In his complaint, Gerrard objected to 189 signatures on Renner's petition because of illegible signatures or signatures or addresses done in the same hand. After Monday's meeting was delayed, Gerrard told the commissioners he wanted to amend or withdraw his complaint. Williams told him he would have to take that up with BEC staff. Gerrard declined to comment further after the meeting. "I think it's because (Gerrard) realizes that if 189 (signatures are disqualified) I still have 594," said Renner, adding he turned in the legal maximum of 783 signatures. "They are all registered voters," added Renner, who is in a five-way race for the office he was elected to in 2013. He added, "Registered voters have a right not just to vote but sign petitions. If you don't like how somebody's signature looks ... or how they have written their addresses ... that's not a reason to pull somebody from the ballot." At 3 p.m., Gerrard submitted a written request, which is required to withdraw his challenge, and also filed a new complaint challenging Renner's petition, said BEC Executive Director Paul Shannon. Details of the latest challenge will be disclosed when the commissioners meet on Thursday. Meanwhile, Bruce Meeks of Bloomington said he's filed challenges to the nominating petition filed by Renner and one of his mayoral challengers, Ward 8 Alderman Diana Hauman. The other mayoral candidates are Ward 1 Alderman Kevin Lower, Ian Bayne and Robert Fike. In explaining the board's decision to postpone the meeting, Williams said she learned from BEC staff that "we did not post the exact time (of the meeting) on the website, and we also didn't have the agenda." "Just so there aren't any objections to that fact, we thought it would be better to reschedule the meeting until Thursday," said the board's attorney, Robert Day. Earlier, Allen and Kraft objected when Williams advised them and more than a dozen people attending the meeting that video recordings would not be allowed because a court reporter was recording the meeting. Kraft and Diane Benjamin of Ellsworth were among those making video recordings of the meeting at the time. "Violations of the Open Meetings Act are criminal violations subject to citizens' arrest," said Kraft. "If you want me to, I'll call the sheriff." "OK, maybe we should call the sheriff," said Day. McLean County State's Attorney Jason Chambers, who also was summoned, told those gathered that neither he nor anyone from his staff would not be sitting in on the meeting. "If there was something that was a violation, we would be the ones responsible for prosecuting it, so we're not going to make ourselves a witness to this," said Chambers. Sandage was out of town, he later told The Pantagarph. After two Bloomington police officers arrived, one officer told Allen that he was there to ensure the meeting remained peaceful. In the end, Williams said video recording will be allowed at Thursday's meeting. SPRINGFIELD Gov. Bruce Rauner plans to visit Clinton on Wednesday to sign a bill overhauling Illinois energy policy and creating $235 million in annual ratepayer subsidies that allows Exelon Corp.s nuclear power plants there and near the Quad Cities to stay open. The Clinton Chamber of Commerce announced on its Facebook page that Rauner plans a bill-signing ceremony at 2 p.m. at Clinton High School. The governors office did not respond immediately Monday to a request for confirmation, and as of Monday afternoon, the bill hadnt been sent to his desk. Energy giant Exelon said it would close the unprofitable Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear plants, which together employ about 1,500 full-time workers and generate millions in property tax revenue for schools and local governments, if the General Assembly didnt approve subsidies during the fall veto session. The company contends the subsidies are warranted because nuclear generation, like subsidized wind and solar power, doesnt produce climate-damaging carbon pollution. The House and Senate voted in a bipartisan fashion on Thursday, the final day of the veto session, to approve the deal that also includes increased investments in renewable power and energy efficiency. After late involvement from Rauners office, the final version of the bill also includes caps on rate increases for electricity customers of all sizes, from large industrial companies to individual families. For the 13-year life of the bill, rate increases are capped at an average of 1.3 percent for industrial and commercial customers. For residential customers in Exelon subsidiary Commonwealth Edisons northern Illinois territory, the cap is 25 cents per month. For downstate customers of Ameren Illinois, the cap is 35 cents per month. Still, the final deal received criticism from some business and consumer groups for its lack of clarity on how those protections will work. Education systems are supposed to provide children with modern-day knowledge and advanced information on different subjects. However, it is more important that education should be effective as it can be beneficial in one's life. Learning that can be implemented later on in life is defined as effective. But it doesn't mean that versatility in learning is bad or not useful. Recently, schools in the U.S. are thinking to establish an education system that would be most useful for children. Daily Progress shared the news of Albemarle County School members meeting with state legislators Dels. R. Steven Landes (R-Weyers Cave), Rob Bell (R-Albemarle), David J.Toscano (D-Charlottesville) and Sen. R. Criegh Deeds (D-Bath). The panel discussed education priorities like wide internet access, reconsidering education system and arrangement of funds for the school. Legislative and public affairs officer Tim Shea expressed that the meeting's purpose is to tell the legislators about the changes the school wants to make. The school wanted them to be informed before the start of the session. The importance of the internet as a means to provide more information for students was also highlighted. Landes told the members that Broadband Advisory Council has been working to make the internet accessible across Virginia. The members also admired the modifications proposed by the school to get a better education system. School Board member Steve Koeszar considered the meeting productive in terms of policy and discussion. However, the funds are still the issue as they have been low since 2008 and the school needed financial support in order to progress and prosper. Meanwhile, the organization called 2.K12albemarle, shares the news and views about the county's school. The meeting's details are also available on the website. It also has video, plans and policies in full details. The website also provides as a picture gallery of schools officials. Due to the increase in mental and behavioral disorders in children, psychiatrists are considered more helpful than ever. A child psychiatrist treats children to give their lives balance and sustainability. However, a recent incident shows that professionals could also take advantage of their patients, especially the children. Children and their parents confide in child psychiatrists, who are ethically and professionally bound to keep that level of confidence from their clients. Unfortunately, there are some who use their profession to take advantage and psychiatrists are no exception. Just a week ago, a West Australian psychiatrist Aaron Voon was caught making a video of a young boy in the bathroom in Edmonton. According to ABC News the child psychiatrist confessed making inappropriate videos of children in Perth Australia and other countries as well. Investigations have gathered more evidence of Aaron's misconduct, including videos and pictures of children while they were using urinals. Voon has pleaded guilty in Perth Magistrates Court to nine charges regarding videos made in Perth, Edmonton, Queenstown New Zealand and San Fransisco USA. The Australian courts will be placing charges against him. Voon has ceased his medicine practice since the court's decision is pending. He is currently released on bail. It is quite ironic that a mental therapist and a practitioner needed psychological help all along. Australian Herald also shared the news of Voon's ill practice and stated that his lawyer had requested the court to keep Aaron's psychological and psychiatric analysis in the view while making a decision. Voon is currently facing charges of possessing and creating Child Pornography and Voyeurism. Such incidents are harmful not just for children who get affected by these recordings, but also make people question the credibility of all the psychiatrists and psychologists. Aaron Voon was considered a well-reputed psychiatrist in Australia until he was caught. But a question arises here whether vulnerable children could still be at risk while they are with their psychiatrists. It is better for parents to ensure that their child is safe at the therapy sessions. Cold days are regarded to be a hindrance to a child's health. For centuries, mothers have been asking their kids to stay indoors during the winters, warning them not to go outside after showers with uncovered heads. Cold wind and its effects on the body were always perceived as dangerous and conducive to sickness until today. New researchers conducted around the world show that the reality of staying outdoors in winters is quite on the contrary. Tree Hugger asks parents to stop worrying about letting their children play outside this winter. The common cold is a viral upper respiratory tract infection that spreads through human contact. Getting a cold doesn't make someone else prone to catching the virus in contrast to the notion that human contact with an infected person increases chances of catching the flu. Well, by this logic, staying indoors with an infected person increases the chances tenfolds for anyone getting infected by flu. This, however, isn't the case because it comes to notice that parents are apparently immune to someone in the family having the flu; not always, but most of the time yes. Although low body temperatures allow the viral infection to reproduce more efficiently which is why more people get caught up in flu in winters, that doesn't imply that going outside is causal to one catching flu. Mom's usually don't allow their children to go outside in winters when they're inflicted with fever. At the other end of the spectrum, scientific research is not suggesting that when a child has a fever, he must not be disallowed from going outside, get some fresh air and exercise the body, until he is unable to get out of bed voluntarily. Pediatrician Andrew Adesman called fever a "friend" in his book babyfacts. He wrote that heat helps in fighting infection and children with fever as high as 105 degrees are not exposed to a serious risk. Children can play outside if they please. It may be observed when one is experiencing a state of fever, even though they may not feel up to going outside and involve themselves in any activity but if they do, their fever dies down because of the perspiration that occurs in the process of the physical activity. Ear infections are also linked with a bare head in cold weather. Dr. William Mesibov negates the argument by saying that ear infections are caused when germs invade the middle ear cavity and not by going out without a hat or scarf in cold weather. The Popka Voice also wants to help parents this winter season by educating them about the misleading myths associated with cold weather. Dr. Calapi has shared his research to enlighten parents about how can they save their children from getting sick and what are the things they should not ask their children to do. President-elect Donald Trump is known for reposting or retweeting some of his supporters thoughts and views via social media. One of the lucky Trump supporters happened to be a teenage boy this time, as he tried to defend the newly elected president and the accusations he is getting regarding voter fraud. In an article published by Gizmodo, Seth who is a 16-year-old boy from California, had an opportunity for his voice to be heard courtesy of a retweet of his post manually done by Donald Trump. Seth was so bold enough to criticize Jeff Zeleny of CNN about the newly elected president's issue on voter fraud. In his tweet, he said, "Pathetic - you have no sufficient evidence that Donald Trump did not suffer from voter fraud, shame!" Trump saw it and immediately retweeted it to his 16.7 million Twitter followers. This is not the first time that Trump reposted a supporters opinion, but so far, Seth is the youngest amongst them, especially about this issue that is also reported by Jezebel. The teenage felt so encouraged, and he was shocked that someone as important as the President of the United States had retweeted his post. He was asked if he'd consider being the Secretary of State under the new administration should it be offered to him, he didn't think twice and said yes. But obviously, because of his age, this is not going to happen. Donald Trump's repost of his reaction to Zeleny has now reached over 7,700 shares and more than 32,000 likes. This kid had a good sense of humor and was courteous enough to tell the press that he would rather have the Secretary of State position be offered to someone who is more experienced. It is good to know that young people these days are getting involved in the issue of politics and they are standing firm to what they believe in. A doctor from Denver Health was first suspended after calling America's Former First Lady Michelle Obama as monkey face on her Facebook account. She was then fired from her position after her controversial post started circulating the Internet since December 3. In an article published by Motto, the doctor involved in this scandal is Dr. Michelle Herren who is practicing pediatric anesthesiology at the hospital as mentioned earlier. Herren is also an assistant professor who works at the University of Colorado's School of Medicine. Given her professional background, lots of people were disappointed with her post calling Michelle Obama a monkey face. She didn't exactly posted it as a status, but rather answered a comment using that remark, which is still very offensive and completely inappropriate. Denver Post reported this controversy saying that it was Herren's racist reaction after someone stated that the First Lady has an image of being eloquent that got her in trouble. The Denver-based doctor didn't seem to be joking with her comment when she typed the words monkey face and poor Ebonic English referring to Michelle Obama. She said that she felt better saying it and is denying that she is a racist. The institution where she works only suspended her but eventually decided to fire her because they received a lot of students complaining about her. After she had been suspended, the university was still considering that she keeps her job but not until a lot of students have voiced out their complaints regarding her attitude and professionalism. The school finally just let her go and made a remark saying that Herren has expressed values that are not jiving with the school and she has compromised to meet the standards of the school's teaching and handling of patient care. What is your reaction to Herren's racist comment about First Lady Michelle Obama? Type it in the box below. On November 8, 2016 Samsung's heir apparent apologized to the American public in a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal. Of course words are free, so it was painless to make the company sound amiable and angelic in their concern for their customers. But now that the crisis is out of the limelight, Samsung legal is getting down to business and telling the court that they've compensated customers enough already and the class action lawsuit against them is just too much. Yes, the nasty, conniving Samsung that we all know so well has not disappointed us. According to several Korean press reports published today, Samsung Electronics recently appointed a legal representative and submitted a letter to the Seoul Central District Court, in which the company says that the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones have no common defect although some of them exploded and its recall has been appropriate. The lawyers are responding to the class action filed against them in late October and two other lawsuits filed by five individuals. The five claimed they suffered physical damages including burns and respiratory diseases due to the explosions of Note 7. The five individuals includes Lee, who was the first consumer here that reported an explosion of his phone after Samsung offered replacements. Lee said, "When I reported the explosion to Samsung, the company labeled it as outside shock and blamed me as a (problematic) consumer." In Samsung's court filing they stated that "We gave enough compensations and benefits to Note 7 consumers. The damages consumers are claiming are within the range that is endurable," local news reports quoted the written opinion by Samsung Electronics submitted to the court last week. The compensation refers to a mobile coupon amounting to up to 100,000 won (US$86) and the chance to upgrade the Note 7 to the upcoming Galaxy S8 for half the price. "We recalled all the products resulting in a loss of nearly 10 trillion won in order to minimize risk that consumers may face," Samsung reportedly said in the opinion. For Samsung, it's about the bottom line, not compensating the customer for their inconvenience and in some cases injury. Samsung is whining that they are the ones that suffered and what they decide is the right compensation is the final word. one plaintiff in the class-action suit said on the online community created by law firm Harvest Law Office, which represents Korean customers, "My replacement Note 7 had caught fire while it was placed on my bed. Fortunately I did not suffer any physical damage as it was covered in a phone case with a credit card inserted, both of which melted." The plaintiff claimed compensation of 100,000 won was insufficient for the "mental damage." You'd figure that Samsung for once would follow through and play the nice guy to keep current and future customers happy, especially after a major crisis. They should know that they're under a microscope by the media and public at present. Instead they're getting nasty and that should tell future customers that they just can't trust Samsung to do the right thing if something goes wrong with their products. You'll always be thought of as a "problematic customer, " even if your phone blew up in your face. Now how warped is that? About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. This past weekend I was informed by a reader I voted for Obama. It was determined that I must have done so (despite the fact that I did not) because I was a Utopian who thought that reducing pressure on women to abort was a good idea in addition to working to overturn our permissive abortion laws. Naturally, it is not at all utopian to imagine that overturning Roe and completely outlawing abortion in all fifty states is just around the corner. Thats just cold common sense. But actually believing the Church that human life is to be preserved from conception to natural death? Wild-eyed socialism. When I pointed out that I had not voted for Obama and was simply restating the Churchs teaching, I received a petulant demand to give an example of what I meant by this preposterous reduction of pressure to abort. As it happens, Texas Republicans did me the favor of demonstrating my point by, in their utter passion for human life from conception to birth, voting to kill Medicaid funding for kids with disabilitiesten days before Christmas. These guys, Good Christian Prolifers all, just committed an archetypal act of showing how the Old Prolife Movement *claims* to care about the dignity and sanctity of human life, but in fact invests its time and energy punishing the poor on behalf of the rich and hiding behind the unborn as human shields to do it. And where are the leaders of the prolife movement as the Texas prolife GOP says If the poor be like to die, they had better do it and help decrease the surplus population? Where are any of the voices who are supposed to speak out on behalf of the most defenseless in our society? We hear them telling us to vote Republican. We hear them say, the day after an election, that they will hold their feet to the fire. But after that, we hear either silence (which implies consent) or we hear active support for and defense of the people who do such things. The New Prolife Movement has a much simpler approach: respect human life from conception to natural death and defend the vulnerable least of these not only when they are in the womb, but throughout their lives. Because thats what Jesus said to do. Before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube made their entry in the media market, the PatnaDaily had already registered its presence in... Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, in a press statement on Monday wished speedy recovery to his Tamil Nadu counterpart and the leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK) Jayalalithaa who remains hospitalized in the Apollo Hospital in Chennai after suffering a cardiac arrest on Sunday night. "I pray for good health and speedy recovery of Jayalalithaaji," Kumar said in a statement. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) President Lalu Prasad Yadav also released a statement saying he wished fast recovery for Jayalalithaa who, he said, was a great leader. The Tamil Nadu leader, who has a massive following in the southern states, was admitted to the Apollo Hospital on September 22 following complaints of fever and dehydration. She was later put on ventilator and treated for infection and lung congestion. Doctors also performed tracheostomy, a hole in the wind pipe, to avoid putting the tube through her mouth. Dr. Richard Beale, an UK-based doctor who is part of the medical team treating Jayalalithaa at the Apollo Hospital, said that while her condition remained extremely critical as she was put under life support system, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister was receiving the best medical care that the medical world had to offer. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu remains tense as security has been tightened in Chennai and other parts of the state to deal with any kind of situation. Schools and colleges were closed and workers at various offices were told to go home early to avoid any unrest in the state. Throughout Tamil Nadu, special prayers were being offered in temples and 'yajna' were being held at many places as her fans and followers wished for the 68-year old leader quick and full recovery. Union Health Minister J P Nadda said the Center has dispatched a team of four medical specialists from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to assist doctors at the Apollo Hospital in Chennai where the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister remains in intensive care. Microsoft quietly announced on Friday that Insider Preview builds are being put on hold. Its not clear how long Windows 10 fans will have to go without a new build, but the reason may make the life of an Insider easier in the long run. Insider builds are seeing a brief pause so that Microsoft can transfer Insider builds to the companys new Unified Update Platform (UUP). The UUP allows Microsoft to deliver differential downloadsalso known as delta updates. This means that upgrading to future Insider builds of Windows 10 will only require users to download and install the code that has changed since their last update, rather than the entire update. Microsoft says users can expect about a 35 percent reduction in download sizes via the UUP. That means faster download times to get to a new build, and a lower hit on bandwidth for both you and Microsoft. Delta updates are the biggest change that comes from the Unified Update Platform, but the new updating method also aims to make update checks more efficient. Microsofts plan for doing this is pretty simple. The company will send less update data to PCs and other Windows 10 devices from the Windows Update service, and devices will have to do less processing of update information on their own. Under the new plan, your PC will ask Microsoft for updates, then Microsofts servers will figure out which updates the PC needs. Next, Microsoft sends the correct updates to the PC and they are installed. Microsoft says this new scheme will be a big advantage for Windows 10 Mobile users since most of the heavy lifting is done by the server. That means less impact on performance if the check happens in the background, and better battery life thanks to less on-device processing. Speaking of mobile, UUP also improves the update experience for Windows 10 phones by allowing them to update to the latest preview build of Windows 10 in one go. Originally, Windows 10 Mobile users had to be current on their updates before they could snag to the latest Insider build. Sometimes that required installing an earlier build before moving to the latest build. With the Unified Update Platform, phones can jump to the latest Windows 10 build just like a PC can. Windows 10 Mobile users are not impacted by this latest pause since they moved to the UUP in November. The impact on you at home: The Unified Update Platform is just the nuts and bolts behind the Windows experience. Nevertheless, its pretty obvious the experience of downloading and installing new updates from Windows should be vastly improved by its adoption. Microsoft plans on rolling out PC Insider builds via UUP internally first, and then they will hit the fast ring, followed by the slow ring. It should come as no surprise that Insiders are getting a look at the UUP experience now since it allows Microsoft to test the new update platform on its dedicated early adopters. Mainstream users wont see the advantages of the UUP until after the Windows 10 Creators Update rolls out in early 2017. What should you do, and not do, if you are stopped by the police? Members of the faith-based community and Redlands Police Department intend to answer this question for residents through a short video highlighting the dos and donts when stopped by the police. These dos and dont can save their lives, said Bishop Jackie Green, executive pastor at Second Baptist Church. It helps people to understand how to relate to a police officer when youre stopped. The video is the first project of Unity in the Community, a group formed by Green, her husband, Senior Pastor Anthony Green, Pastor Donald Robinson from Community Missionary Baptist Church, the Redlands Police Department and other community leaders to improve relations between police and people of color in the community. What spurred this effort on was our concern with the police department, not only here but across the nation, in how theyre dealing with people of color when theyre stopped by law enforcement, Green said. There has not been an incident in Redlands, thank God, but we wanted to do something to prevent it. Representatives from the University of Redlands, Redlands Unified School District, Northside Impact Committee, Kiwanis Club and other church leaders are also part of the group, which has been meeting since August, Green said. Their vision: To seek collective understanding of working together as pastors, leaders, police and educators in addressing the growing gap between cops and people of color. We must turn to each other and not on each other. I think its a great opportunity for us to reach out and build those partnerships, Redlands Police Chief Mark Garcia said. Its a good thing to go out and meet people. The department has four officers assigned to the community policing unit, who focus on working with youth as well as attending and hosting community events. Part of that is working with homeless, part is working with young people up at the community center, at Micah House and other places, Garcia said. Garcia said the department has offered to assist the church leaders during their worships and sit in on forums. I can see this being something where we would start at this level and move out more to the community and get more people involved to have positive relationships throughout all elements of the community, Garcia said. Garcia said the department has had a lot of support in the community. Most of the community thinks were doing a great job, he said. Theres always people who either have had a negative experience with police or sometimes you have young people who maybe havent had a lot of exposure but see media and some things going on in the media and assume police departments arent doing the right thing. Green said there have not been any issues with the department in the community and the collaborative effort aims to ensure it stays that way. One reason were trying to get on this now as it may be an issue that comes up, she said. Were not sensing that there are any pending issues that have come up with that. This is kind of preliminary. Contact the writer: semerson@scng.com@TheFactsSandra on Twitter UPDATE (Wednesday, Dec. 7): Riverside officially recognizes its Korea Town Riversides historic Korea Town isnt much to look at today. It sits next to a noisy railroad line and is occupied by industrial yards with fences topped by razor wire. But with the help of Korean independence leader Dosan Ahn Chang Ho, supporters say, in the early 1900s it became the first organized Korean American settlement in the continental United States. Theyre now asking Riverside to recognize Korea Town, also known as Pachappa Camp, as a city point of cultural interest. The site at Cottage and Commerce streets near downtown is not eligible to become a historic landmark because no original buildings or other structures remain. It has long been known that Korean immigrants lived in Riverside in the early 20th century, but until recently no one had tracked down details of the settlement, said UC Riverside ethnic studies professor Edward Chang, who leads the universitys Young Oak Kim Center for Korean American Studies. The center is leading the push for city recognition of Korea Town. We are kind of uncovering the buried past of the Korean diaspora, Chang said. We want to set the record straight that Riverside served as not only the first Korean settlement, but also a hub of the Korean independence movement through its link with Ahn Chang Ho. The claim is not without controversy. Though Ahns only living son supports it, major opposition has come from Ahns grandson, Philip Flip Cuddy. He has ridiculed the scholarship behind the Riverside proposal and said other cities had earlier settlements. ORGANIZED COMMUNITY Koreans began migrating to the U.S. around the turn of the century seeking work, as Chinese and Japanese laborers had. Southern California offered jobs in citrus groves and packinghouses as well as in restaurants, shops and private homes. Federal laws restricting Chinese immigration opened the market to other foreign workers, but citrus labor in Riverside was controlled mainly by two Japanese contractors, who hired their own countrymen, former Riverside Metropolitan Museum director Vince Moses said. Thats where Ahn Chang Ho also known by his pen name, Dosan was able to help. In 1902, Ahn came to San Francisco as a young man, planning to improve his English and study Americas democratic system of government. At the time, Korea was coming increasingly under the control of Japan, which formally annexed it in 1910. After moving to Riverside two years later, Ahn found Pachappa Camp occupied by about 60 or 70 laborers, a few of which were accompanied by wives and children, Moses said. He helped them organize socially and politically, creating rules for the settlement and spearheading the building of a community center where residents learned English and area churches established Korean missions. Ahn also impressed business magnate Cornelius Rumsey, who agreed to put Koreans to work in his citrus groves if Ahn would teach them how to pick and pack the fruit without damaging it. In explaining how to carefully handle oranges and pay attention to detail, Ahn also taught Korean immigrants how to conduct themselves respectably in their new home, Moses said. What he learned about democratic society and his experience organizing a community figured heavily into his later work for Korean independence. He inspired all the Koreans at that time, said Myung Ki Hong, chairman of a foundation that raised money for a downtown Riverside monument to Ahn that was dedicated in 2001. Dosan actually educated Korean orange pickers to pick an orange with dedication. Even during his Riverside years, Ahn traveled often, and he eventually left the U.S. to continue his activism in China and Korea. Laborers living in Pachappa Camp began moving away many went to Los Angeles and San Francisco after the Great Freeze of 1913, which devastated Inland citrus groves, Moses said. FIRST OR NOT? By the 1950s, the settlements wooden buildings about 30 of them, according to an old insurance map were all gone. Today, the land is owned by Sempra Utilities and Mobil Oil Corp. Chang, the UCR professor, said he started looking into the history of Riversides Korea Town a few years ago after coming across an old article making a case that it was the first in the continental U.S. He found old church records listing Korean members, Korean-language news clippings that mention the camp, and Korean settlers headstones in Riversides Evergreen and Olivewood cemeteries. Until recently, Riverside had no way to recognize the settlement because no physical traces were left, city Historic Preservation Officer Erin Gettis said. But in August, the city created points of cultural interest as a new designation for just such historic sites, which will be marked with a sign in the public right-of-way. The big question is whether Riversides Korea Town was really the first. Gettis and those involved with the Pachappa Camp recognition say theyre not aware of another community claiming that distinction, though Moses noted that some of the earliest Korean immigrants worked on plantations in Hawaii and most coming to the U.S. mainland entered through San Francisco. Supporters say Riversides Korea Town is unique because it was more than just a labor camp. Residents participated in local church activities and held their own cultural events such as weddings and baptisms. Ahn played a key role in organizing the community, they say. A June discussion of recognizing Pachappa Camp at Riversides Cultural Heritage Board drew letters of support from Dosans youngest son, Ralph Ahn; Key Cheol Lee, Koreas consul general in Los Angeles; and several Inland Korean organizations. The main opposition to the proposal is from Cuddy, the son of Dosans oldest daughter, Susan. In numerous emails to the city, he wrote that either San Francisco or Dinuba, Calif., would have a better claim as the first Korean U.S. settlement. And he suggested Riversides move is a a ploy to add a stop for Korean tour guides to bilk money out of ignorant gullible people. Moses said it can be hard to prove something is definitively the first or earliest of its kind, so it may be safer to call it one of the first. I dont think youd have to reach that far to establish that this is a significant site, he said. Supporters say Korea Town also stands out as a part of Riversides long history of multiculturalism. Remembering that people dont need to fear other nations and cultures is especially important in todays divisive political climate, said Carol Park, a researcher at the Young Oak Kim Center. We could exist together back then, we can exist together today. Contact the writer: 951-368-9461 orarobinson@scng.comTwitter: @arobinson_pe Republican Assemblyman Marc Steinorth declared victory Monday in his costly and competitive 40th District race. Soon after new vote count totals were released late Tuesday by the San Bernardino County Registrars Office, Steinorths campaign sent a statement declaring victory. Unofficial results posted by the county elections office show Steinorth, R-Rancho Cucamonga, leading Democratic challenger Abigail Medina, 51 to 49 percent, in the race. Steinorth led Medina by 2,297 votes. More than 9,000 provisional ballots remain to be counted countywide, said elections office spokeswoman Melissa Eickman. Its not clear how many of those ballots are from the 40th District. In an emailed statement Tuesday, Steinorth said: This was a long and hard-fought election. However, Im proud of the campaign we ran, a campaign that focused on the issues that matter most to Inland Empire families growing our economy, reducing crime and improving our states education system. Asked if the Medina campaign was conceding, Ben Golombek, a campaign spokesman, said, No. There are still thousands of ballots left to count, and this is now the closest Assembly race in the entire state, he said. We want to ensure that every vote is counted. Medina, a San Bernardino school board member, and Steinorth, a former Rancho Cucamonga councilman elected to the Assembly in 2014, waged a hotly contested fight for the 40th District, which covers most of San Bernardino city and Rancho Cucamonga in addition to Redlands, Loma Linda and Highland. Democrats saw a pickup opportunity in the 40th, which has more registered Democratic voters than Republican voters. Medina received President Barack Obamas endorsement a rarity for a state legislative candidate. Democrats tried to link Steinorth to Donald Trump in hopes that Trumps unpopularity in California would sink the incumbent. Steinorth countered with ads touting his support among the countys elected leaders, and pro-Steinorth groups waged a media campaign that called out Medina for spending taxpayer dollars on trips to Las Vegas and other cities. Groups outside the district, including the state Republican and Democratic parties, spent millions of dollars on Steinorths and Medinas behalf. Though Steinorth kept his seat, Democrats were able to regain their two-thirds supermajority in the Assembly and state Senate. In theory, that allows Democrats to pass tax increases and other measures without GOP support. Contact the writer: 951-368-9547 or jhorseman@scng.com The day after Donald Trump was elected president, students at UC Irvine organized a cry-in. This is an actual event, posted an Asian student group at the school. It was also, perhaps, just a start. In what might be shaping up as an echo of the 1960s, campuses in Southern California and around the country responded to a pending Trump presidency with all manner of mourning and protest. Cry-ins, class walkouts, marches all have become routine parts of campus life in recent weeks, a response to the election of a candidate who denied climate change, repeatedly made statements viewed as misogynistic, and called for building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. As we move away from the election, students are fully understanding they have the responsibility to have their voices heard and to understand policy initiatives, said Jim Sandoval, vice chancellor for student affairs at UC Riverside. And, most of all, many college students, along with some faculty and university presidents, are pushing back against Trumps highest-profile promise mass deportations. Schools locally and nationally are rallying around the idea of sanctuary campuses, a loosely defined concept that, at its core, means schools will do nothing to help the federal government in any organized effort to deport undocumented immigrants who are college students or employees. The anti-Trump push isnt universally welcome. Polling data show that people under 30 werent monolithic in their support of Hillary Clinton only about half the demographic voted and, of those, 38 percent backed Trump. And as school protests continue, some conservative students are frustrated that many of their classmates along with teachers and alumni and administrators are vocally opposing Trump before he even takes office. Its really unprofessional and immature for people in positions of power to reject the president-elect and to reject the laws and rules that America has followed since the beginning of our country, said Ariana Rowlands, president of the College Republicans at UCI. A group cry-in? Its ridiculous, Rowlands said. But others suggest Trump could fundamentally change American culture. In their view, opposition is imperative. The students are fearing Trumps ascent and the potential impact it has domestically and abroad, said Enrique Murillo Jr., a California State University, San Bernardino professor specializing in Latino education and advocacy. We are witnessing a rise in student engagement and student activism. On Nov. 22, Georges Van Den Abbeele, dean of UCI School of Humanities, spoke to a crowd of about 150 protesting students. That days event targeted Trump and the current administrations effort to squelch protest of an oil pipeline in North Dakota. When he was done, Van Den Abbeele explained that he sees Trump as nothing less than an existential threat. The future of the university as an institution of free research and free exchange of ideas is at stake. SANCTUARY PUSH Even as students and others debate the merits of anti-Trump protests, the idea of sanctuary campuses is spreading across the country. The demands vary from campus to campus. A petition at Cal State San Bernardino, signed by nearly 800 students, faculty and others, asks the schools president and the systems chancellor to declare CSUSB and CSU a sanctuary for vulnerable student populations and their family members from unfair deportation, investigation, or other intimidation. A petition at UC Riverside, signed by nearly 400, are calling on the administration to make UCR a sanctuary campus and take steps to ensure the safety of the campus community. Neither of Californias biggest university systems has adopted the term sanctuary for its campuses. Yet, leaders at the University of California have embraced the concept. Late Wednesday, the University of California announced it would protect undocumented students at its 10 campuses by refusing to work with any law enforcement agency looking to investigate, detain or arrest those suspected of living in the country illegally. The UCs vowed to protect the privacy of students and treat all patients at its medical centers without regard to race, religion, national origen or citizenship. The UCs also will not be a part of any federal effort to create a registry based on religion, national origin, race or sexual orientation, according to its new Statement of Principles. During his campaign, Trump suggested keeping tabs on Syrian refugees, proposed banning Muslim immigrants and did not rule out a database of Muslims in the country. The UC statement comes one day after UC President Janet Napolitano joined CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White and Eloy Ortiz Oakley, chancellor-designate of California Community Colleges, in urging the president-elect to continue a program that offers protection to young people brought into the country illegally as children. These sons and daughters of undocumented immigrants are as American as any other child across the nation, in all but in the letter of the law. Some never even spoke the language of their native land. They do not represent a public safety threat, the three California education leaders wrote Trump. In a statement issued just after the election, UC President Janet Napolitano wrote: We know there is understandable consternation and uncertainty among members of the University of California community. We remain absolutely committed to supporting all members of our community. Meanwhile, at schools such as UCI, UCLA and UC Riverside, campus police already dont detain, question or arrest individuals solely because they lack documentation, and they do not inquire about students immigration status. Cal State schools work under similar policies. We are deeply committed to fostering a campus community that is safe and welcoming for everyone, said White, Cal States chancellor and a former chancellor at UCR, during a recent meeting in Long Beach. The Cal State system, the largest in the nation, with campuses in Fullerton, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Northridge and San Bernardino, is not in the business of enforcing federal immigration laws, White said. Such comments comfort some; others argue its not enough. Were waiting to find out the exact concrete things the CSU system is doing to protect our dreamers, said Murillo, of CSUSB. We need something more than just a statement, Van Den Abbeele said. Pomona College President David Oxtoby is leading a national protest effort thats gained the support of more than 450 college and university presidents. Theyve signed a petition asking for the continuation of the Obama administrations Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Essentially, DACA offers temporary work permits and other relief from deportation for people who were brought into the country as children. More than 741,000 immigrants have benefited from DACA. And there were nearly 250,000 undocumented undergraduate students in the United States as of 2015, according to a UCLA report, The UndocuScholars Project. At UC Riverside, the number of students living in the country illegally is estimated at 250. At Cal State San Bernardino, there are approximately 500 undocumented students. More than 1,500 undocumented students attend UC Riverside, UCLA and UCI, while hundreds are enrolled at Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Los Angeles. Though Trump has said his administration initially will target criminals for deportation, he promised repeatedly during his campaign that he would repeal DACA. Oxtobys petition describes the continuation and support of DACA students as a moral imperative and a national necessity. BEYOND IMMIGRATION College administrators look at the protests and see frustration about the coming Trump presidency that goes beyond immigration. Many of our students are feeling anxiety and some are literally experiencing feelings of hopelessness, said Sandoval, of UC Riverside. Its not only minority students fearful of the anti-Muslim, anti-Mexican rhetoric that dominated Trumps campaign, Sandoval added. A lot of students at the campus are very attuned to environmental issues and sustainability, and have directed their studies to that, Sandoval said. I literally heard a student say the other day, I dont know about my future any more. Fifty-seven percent of our undergraduate students are first generation college students and about the same percentage are from low-income families. They place an extremely high value on education but the election results have cast a shadow on their educational and career plans, Sandoval said. Thomas Parham, UCIs vice chancellor for student affairs, publicly urged more conversation and less argument. In a campuswide email he suggested people of all political views find ways to support each other. Some members of our community will find the results distressing if not traumatizing, Parham wrote of the election. Conversely, other members of our Anteater family will want to celebrate the outcome and the opportunity this election presents to move particular agendas forward. We also want to acknowledge their feelings of joy, delight, relief, gratitude, and even surprise at the outcomes we have all realized as a nation. They too will need safe spaces to express their thoughts and feelings, and experience the moment in individual and collective ways. Since the election, there have been reports of increased hate crimes across the country, many on college campuses. A coalition of organizations, including Palestine Legal, an organization dedicated to the Palestinian cause, sent a letter last week to UC leader Napolitano saying anti-Muslim harassment and violations of free speech have increased since Trumps election. They blame Trumps election rhetoric as well as the UC Regents own policies and called on the board to repeal or rewrite its Statement of Principles against Intolerance, among other things. Meanwhile, the Amcha Initiative, a Santa Cruz-based organization that tracks anti-Semitism at colleges, said since the election it had recorded nearly 40 anti-Semitic incidents on U.S. campuses, including UC San Diego, the University of Florida and New York University. For many students, protesting or not, the election remains a constant maybe even a growing point of contention. We need to protect the people who are being targeted, said Taylor Chanes, a member of UCIs Associated Students governing board, who has attended some of the protests on the Irvine campus. But UCI Republican club leader Rowlands is increasingly frustrated with the protesters. The schools Republican club wants to share information about the GOPs immigration policies with the campus community: Its not just Deport the Mexicans. That is not at all what (the GOPs) immigration policy is, she said. In the coming months, as Trumps policies unfold, the club plans to post information. But instead of using a website or social media, the information will be posted in the heart of UCI. Were going to build a wall, Rowlands said. On campus. Contact the writer: Twitter@roxanakopetman and rkopetman@scng.com Movelle Company Limited, an import trading company in Ghana has pledged commitment to support national development through the creation of jobs for the youth of Ghana. It attested to the fact that unemployment has become a major derailing factor to national development. The Finance and Business Development Director at Movelle Company, Mr. Alan Osei-Assibey, who stated this in Accra recently, expressed that Ghana can improve the lives of her citizens through the support of the private sector with a focus on job creation, which is a priority of our company, Movelle. According to him, Movelle Company Limited has built extensive capabilities in sourcing and trading commodities for many years with opportunities at national, regional and global levels for a wide range of marine and agricultural commodities. He noted that the growth in agribusiness and food processing in Ghana and the sub-region represented an excellent opportunity for the company to expand its operations. Over the next three to five years the expected expansion programme, could create in 10-15,000 jobs in the country, he added. Commenting on the companys current input considering the unemployment situation, Mr. Osei-Assibey revealed that Movelle has directly and indirectly employed over 1,700 people in the country. Further, he indicated that the company plans to invest in automated racking systems, improved energy efficiency, and staff training, to enable us maximize its programmes, thereby creating more jobs in the country. As we continue to keep abreast with the industrial developments and adapt our strategies according to the dynamics of the market, we will also constantly look for opportunities to expand our scope of products and services for the benefit of the company and Ghana. With a vision of becoming a leading and reliable supplier for the marine companies in Ghana and beyond, Movelle Company Limited has capabilities in trade financing, risk assessment and management, port operations, specialist transport and warehousing, gained from successfully completing numerous international trade transactions. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Some members of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) have reminded Ghana to be guided by her previous peaceful elections and, as such, should not disappoint Africa in the December 7 polls. Ghana bears the torchlight of democracy and the entirety of Africa is looking to the country again to show to the continent that it holds in high esteem the credentials of peace, understanding and tolerance in elections, the legislators said. Speaking to journalists at the end of a four-day training workshop in Accra, the legislators urged political leaders to accept the verdict of Ghanaians in the forthcoming elections. Mr McHenry Venaani, an opposition leader from Namibia, said Ghana had a history of peaceful transition of power from a ruling government to an opposition party in 2000 and 2008, which was a plus to the countrys democratic credentials. We, therefore, expect that Ghana would go through this years election in a free, fair and peaceful manner, Mr Venaani said, and urged politicians to accept and respect the will of the people. He called on political leaders to eschew abusive language that could create tension and violence during and after the election. Dr Phenyo Butale from Botswana commended Ghanaians for demonstrating in previous elections that they are able to organise free, fair and peaceful elections. This years election is another opportunity for Ghanaians to once again showcase their rich democratic laurels, Dr Buitale said adding that the PAP and Africa as a whole expected Ghana to go through the elections without scratches. The result-based management training was organised by the PAP and facilitated by the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs. Mrs Vivian Abii, the Head of Human Resources and Administration of the PAP, said the training had equipped the members with the requisite skills to conduct their work more efficiently in their respective parliaments. Besides, she said, it would improve the performance and ensure more efficiency and accountability from the PAP. Members were taught how to organise their programmes in a specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound (SMART) manner. The Pan-African Parliament, also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union which held its inaugural session in March 2004. The PAP exercises oversight, advisory and consultative powers and its seat is in Midrand, South Africa. Source: Daily Graphic Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Misunderstandings rocked the extended Special Voting again at many polling stations across the country yesterday, as many voters, including talk-show host, Kwame Sefa Kayi of Peace FM fame, could not exercise their franchise. There was low turnout, compared to last Thursdays, in an election for security agents, Electoral Commission (EC) staff and media practitioners, who will be on duty on Election Day December 7. The anomalies that characterized last Thursdays poll could still not be rectified by the commission. The incidence of voters being turned away because their names could not be found in the special register and for which reason the EC had to extend the exercise was still prevalent in yesterdays exercise. The EC has continuously given the assurance that it is ready to supervise world-class elections on December 7, but the repeated incidence of possible disenfranchisement of voters as witnessed in the Special Voting is not convincing many that the Charlotte Osei-led election organizing body is really up to the task. It was a baptism of fire for the new EC boss, as the process was a complete mess on Thursday, leading to the holding of an emergency Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting to find a way out of the huge number of voters whose names were missing from the electoral roll. The EC, after meeting all the stakeholders, decided to extend the special exercise after it became obvious that many voters, particularly security agents, were going to be disenfranchised. The exercise was extended to ensure that the affected persons would be able to vote but it turned out to be a mess. Kotobabi, Nima At the Kotobabi Police Station, polling agents complained about many people not finding their names on the register and therefore unable to vote. I met a policeman who told me that he too was unable to vote because his name did not appear on the register, according to an election observer. The earlier voting which saw a long queue was absent when I visited the place yesterday at about 9.30 am. The scene at the Nima Police Station was not different. The officials were idle while many media persons milled around the place. The EC official there said that no new register was given to them and so persons who came with intent to vote could not do so. Out of an expected 141 or so voters, only 10 had turned up at about 9.18 am yesterday. Disappointed police personnel at the location which serves as both divisional and district headquarters of the police could not conceal their frustration. The Nima Divisional Commander, ACP Vance Gariba, was engaged in an exercise with his officers to redirect National Democratic Congress (NDC) party supporters on motor bikes to an alternative route. He did not want them to pass near the house of the standard bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, and create a problem. He certainly dreaded a repeat of the nasty scene which occurred over a fortnight ago. At the Dansoman Divisional Police Command in the Ablekuma West Constituency, there was not much activity, as the number of voters had reduced drastically. The situation at the James Town District and the Korle-Bu Police Stations in the Odododiodioo and the Ablekuma South Constituencies respectively were almost the same. Sefa-Kayi Popular broadcaster, Kwame Sefa Kayi, expressed frustration when he could not cast his ballot because his name had vanished from the list of special voters. Sefa Kayi, a multiple award-winning host of Accra-based Peace FMs morning show Kokrokoo programme, visited his designated polling centre at Community 2 in the Tema West Constituency but was disappointed. My name has vanished, he told Joy News yesterday. Its not just methere are quite a number of us here and maybe I will go and try again on Wednesday, the disappointed broadcaster indicated. Dozens of security officers, media men and even the Electoral Commissions own officials, were unable to find their names on the special voters list, despite the second opportunity offered them. Similar problems were recorded at Amasaman, Cantonments, La Dadekotopon in the Greater Accra Region and Tamale Central in the Northern Region. ECs List The EC, in setting the rules for the extension of the Special Voting, released a total of 92,231 out of the 126,875 as voters who were able to take part in the first phase of the early voting that took place on Thursday, 1st December. The ECs Director of Communications, Eric Kofi Dzakpasu, issued a statement indicating that the figure represented 72.69 percent of total turnout on December 1, maintaining that about 34,644 voters were eligible to vote in the extended exercise. The EC gave the regional breakdown as Ashanti: 15,474 out of 19,710, representing 78.51%; Greater Accra: 16,474 out of 25,273, representing 65.18%; Volta: 9,672 out of 14,485, representing 66.77% and Central: 7,451 out of 10,358, representing 72.93%. The rest included Western: 4,747 out of 7,016 (67.66 %); Eastern: 9,286 out of 12,995, which is 71.46%, Brong-Ahafo: 10,721 out of 13,716 (78.16%); Northern: 10,245 out of 13,134 (78%); Upper East: 6,327 out of 7,254 (87.20%) and Upper West: 1,828 out of 2,934, representing 62.30%. We wish to emphasise that the above figures are provisional at this stage, the EC stated. Source: Daily Guide Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Amass Ghana has stormed the Eastern regional capital with another ground breaking event dubbed Amass Ghana peace games with the theme; Election 2016: Uniting for peace through games. Mr. Kofi Asamoah-Ababio, the president of the organization in an address noted that, Ghanaians will trump petty jealousies, selfish motives, and parochial interests and embrace the peace atmosphere as we inch closer to elections. He said, in this 21st century, nobody will want to swap a countrys reputation for any evil deeds. According to him, our 24 years of democratic experience should give us every reason to remain peace abiding citizens because irrespective of ones political views and inclination, we remain solute and remind ourselves that Ghana is bigger than any individual, group of persons or political party. Since the inception of our democracy, one thing remains cessation love because with leaping-hot critics, heated argument from various political divide, throat-cut allegations, agreeing to disagree on issues, we go back to our normal duties. I believe it is vital for people to express their anger and grievances with words than with machetes, he opined. He however maintained that, politicians who have been ridden on hate/violence speeches must change their ways because less than 10 percent of the 25 million population can flee the country when the nation is plunge into a state of anarchy. I understand why some group of persons had to reward their opponents with inflictions and suffering its all good but it is very hard for them to realize that, they could not see the forest for the murmuring pines and the hemlocks resorting to that is like practicing the old religion. Adding that, he fathom why people have to hide behind political image to orchestrate all forms of evil deed but in doing that, dont we swap our humanism for that of animalism, he quizzed. He hinted that, the media cannot be ruled out in any democratic environment but that doesnt mean they can hide behind the titles to channel out cooked materials. Least they forget that, the ore that they dug out of their own mine, currency coined in their own mint could debauched to conundrums. Ghana is the mother country of Africa and the very fountain-head of African liberty. It is the African country where independence was first received; it is the country where democracy is deepened, it is the country where rule of law is rooted, it is a country where that best love relic in Africa, priding ourselves us the eye of Africa has inspired tens of thousands of our men, women and children, so that we believe we have a sacred mission, which is not to worship the golden calf, but to spread the Ghanaian spirit, and to keep the fires of freedom burning, so that with Gods permission we triumph, he added. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Members of the Cuban trained Ghanaian professionals have impressed on government to grant them permission to name a location in Ghana after the late Cuban leader, Fidel Castro. The group known as Esbecans made the call when they visited the residence of the Cuban Ambassador to Ghana Pedro Louis Gonzalez. According to the Esbecans, Ghanaians can best celebrate the legacy and policies of the revolutionary leader, if a monument is raised in his honor or a specific location in Ghana is dedicated to his memory. Presenting the petition through the Cuban Ambassador, president of the group Kofi Asafo Agyei, said the act will strengthen the already existing CubaGhana relations. Fidel Castro and Cuba as a whole, has contributed immensely to the socio-economic development of Ghana and just as it has been done for others who contribute to the history of the world, the contributions of Fidel Castro cannot be overlooked in Ghana and our plea will be a step in the right direction. The Esbecans who are made up of medical doctors, engineers, pharmacists, accountants and a host of professionals expressed their gratitude to the Cuban Embassy and also signed the book of condolence, in memory of the revolutionary leader. Source: 3news.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Audio Attachment: Listen to Eric Kofi Dzakpasu, Communications Director, Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has assured special voters who were not able to vote both on Thursday, December 1 and Sunday, December 4, that they can vote on December 7. "You cannot get everything 100%; there will be shortfalls . . . there is nothing like blame-game. Your names will be in the register on Wednesday, December 7. It is never true that automatically special voters names have been removed from the system. Once you were not able to vote and your name was not in the special voters' list, your name will be in the main register," Eric Kofi Dzakpasu, Communication Director, Electoral Commission, told Kwami Sefa Kayi in an interview on Monday morning. Special Voting exercise was rocked with numerous cases of missing names of voters on December 1, forcing political parties and the Commission to agree on a second day for the exercise. The story of the second day which was on Sunday, December 4, 2016 was no different from the first day as more people could still not find their names. Click the audio above to listen to full interview. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Former Attorney General, Martin Amidu, has alleged that the Ford Expedition car gifted President John Mahama in 2012 by a Burkinabe contractor, was part of a plot to smuggle money into the country to fund the Mahama 2012 campaign for the presidency. Mr. Amidu, in a statement, said his claim is based on a letter from the Ghana Embassy in Burkina Faso to the border authorities at Paga, dated 29th October, 2012. According to him, after President Mahama had assumed office following former President John Evans Atta Mills death, he was heading into the elections of 2012 unprepared financially. However, the Presidents friend and beneficiary of contracts, when the President had assumed office, was ready to provide financial support, the former AG narrated. He indicated that the only way funds could be unconstitutionally imported into Ghana from Burkina Faso was to be ingenious through the Ford Expedition and a wrapper, wrapping the many dollars needed for the Mahama Campaign. No searches, no questions. Mr. Amidu added that the money would have been retrieved from the vehicle in Accra and the Ford Expedition is useless thereafter to the President. CHRAJ investigation a farce Mr. Amidu also slammed the Commission on Human rights and Administrative Justices (CHRAJ) investigation into the Ford gift saga as a sham. CHRAJ has no jurisdiction but the President was too happy to have his own institution purport to clear him a farce to make the public believe the President has the peoples interests at heart and that his institutions will protect the public purse. But all this while, it covered an unconstitutional scheme at election time, Mr Amidu stated. Find here Mr. Amidus statement Background Earlier in 2016, President Mahama came under intense public criticism for accepting the Ford gift worth about US$100,000 allegedly to influence him when he was vice President in 2012. The Burkinabe contractor in question, Djibril Kanazoe, admitted giving President Mahama the Ford Expedition vehicle, for which the President called to thank him. The gift, according to reports, was prior to an attempt by the contractor, to win a bid to execute the Dodo Pepeso-Nkwanta road construction project. The same contractor had also been contracted to build a wall, at a cost of over half a million dollars, for the Ghana Embassy in Ouagadougou. CHRAJ, following its investigation of the matter, stated that President Mahama breached the gift policy when he accepted the gift, The Commission, however, stated that the Presidents action did not constitute a conflict of interest, bribery or fraud, as the petitioners to it, the youth wing of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), and the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), had claimed. Source: Daily Guide Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party has been accused of masterminding the alleged thumb-printed ballots which were found in a hotel room in Kumasi on Saturday. In a statement released on Monday, management of Madison Lodge said the room which the said ballots were found in were booked by a gentleman by name Andy Owusu special assistant to Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi. The hotel says Andy dropped two bags and stayed in the room for two hours with a fair skin lady, whom they suspect he has an amorous relationship with. Mr Wontumi, according to the statement, led a team of police officers on Sunday to ransack the hotel room in which Andy booked and found out that the bags he left contained thumb-printed ballots. Below is the full statement NPP assertion of Thumb printed Ballots scandalous The attention of Madison Lodge has been drawn to images and videos circulating on social media, alleging that thumb printed ballot papers were found in our hotel rooms. We wish to state the following 1. On Saturday, December 3 at 7:20PM, a gentleman by name Andy Owusu, who is a known face in Kumasi and special Assistant to Chairman Wontumi, booked three rooms, he said was meant for some investors of his business. 2. He dropped 2 Bags and stayed in the room for 2 hours with a fair lady. 3. Chairman Wontumi, on Sunday, led Police men and media to our hotel premises to the very room his assistant booked, only to be told they were thumb printed Ballot. 4. We see this as scandalous and an attempt to destroy our brand as one of the serene hotels in Kumasi. 5. We are therefore willing to cooperate with the Police to find the true intent of Chairman Wontumi and his special Assistant. Thank You. Evans Nuamah, Hotel Manager Madison Hotel Source: asempanews.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A former Minister of Defence Albert Kan-Dapaah has written to the Chief of Defence Staff, Michael Samson-Oje, describing his posturing ahead of the elections as "aggressive". The army boss last week told the media troublemakers will be dealt with ruthlessly. I want to sound a note of caution to any person or group of persons who intend to cause any form of trouble during the elections to rethink. Any unlawful act will be met with the force that it deserves because we are ready to apply the laws of the land appropriately. As far as these elections are concerned, no one is bigger than the country, he added. However, Mr. Dapaah feels the army chief's stance "pose a threat to the Liberal Democratic path" ahead of Election 2016. Below is his full statement: Dear Air Marshal Oje, I did not have the benefit of listening to your Press Conference held on Friday, 25 November 2016, but I have read the reportage as captured on Ghanaweb the same day and to tell you the truth I was not amazed. You will recall that I had the great honour of serving my country as Minister of Defence and in that capacity I worked with you and many distinguished servicemen and women. I got to know you personally during that period and as you are aware I have tremendous respect for your high sense of professionalism and patriotism. I think that some of your pronouncements and indeed posture at the press conference were an attack on some of the values that the military hold dearly. I have since taken the liberty to discuss it at length with my friend the former Deputy Attorney General, Hon. Kwame Osei Prempeh and we have decided to send to you this Open Letter. We do this not out of malice but because we believe that certain principles must be protected. Our first concern is that your pronouncements at the said Press Conference pose a threat to the Liberal Democratic path (a hybrid of the US/Westminster systems) which we have embarked on since the beginning of the fourth republic in 1993 and this must be of concern to all well-meaning Ghanaians. The concept of civilian control of the military has been dealt a big blow. Coming from the CDS and considering the timing, we think that this is rather unfortunate and should be a matter of great concern to all of us politicians, including the ruling government, civil society groups, the Council of State and the public at large. Secondly, we are of the opinion that considering your position as the CDS, especially your mentoring responsibility, your posture was too aggressive and your choice of words and patronizing manner as you delivered your warnings to your compatriots (including His Excellency the President) left much to be desired of a top military officer in a liberal democracy. Not surprisingly, many people have commented that your attitude was akin to military dictatorship or the authoritarian democracies that are gradually emerging in our part of the world. Certainly your posturing did not suggest to many observers that as the head of our Armed Forces you would want to submit yourself to civilian control. Did the Chairman of the Armed Forces Council or the Minister of Defense authorize you to come up with all those policy statements which have serious implications for the security of our country? You stated that you have assessed the security situation in the run up to the election and you see enemies of state everywhere who are hell bent to disturb the peace and stability of our dear country and that such law breakers or warmongers would be crushed on election day. But, if we may ask why not before? Why do you want to wait till the day of the election? Again what would happen after the so called warmongers have been crushed on the day of the election? Thirdly, two fundamental issues arise out of this conference and must be answered. Did you as the CDS, hold the press conference on your own initiative without the approval of the Commander in Chief or his representative, the Minister of Defence? Did the President and the Commander in Chief or the Minister of Defence approve the press conference and thus the plan to crush unarmed law breakers on Election Day with military force? An affirmative answer to either question has serious implications not only on civilian control of the military in a liberal democracy but also the use of military force in any internal security operations. Fourthly, we find it strange that you as CDS took the centre stage at a joint press conference with the Inspector General of Police in a security operation in which the military must only play a supporting role. Any wonder that some members of the populace have argued that the purpose of the press conference was to create fear and panic with a view to intimidating voters who want to exercise their franchise? Our humble advice to you is to tone down the rhetoric and also reduce your public pronouncements. Such public pronouncements should be led by the Minister of Defence with the CDS in support to explain operational issues, if necessary. That way, the Minister takes responsibility for any lapses and shields the CDS from public attacks which have the potential to erode confidence in the military. If indeed, you had the permission of the President to embark on this media blitz where you threatened to use the full force of the military on unarmed civilian protagonists in an election in which the Commander in Chief himself is a candidate then this must be worrying. Equally disturbing is the moral question of using the military force against ones own citizens in an election disturbance which the civil police should ordinarily be able to handle. Furthermore, it raises the issue of unwittingly inviting the military into the political space. We must at all times insulate the military institution from politics and public attack and ridicule. It is important to emphasise that civilian control of the military in a democratic dispensation is all about the civilian authority being the ultimate decision maker in as far as the use of military force is concerned .The military then carries out the execution of the assigned tasks professionally and without much interference from the civil authority. Our humble plea is that at this point in time we must focus on finding solutions to all issues which have the potential to trigger violence even before the elections on 7th December 2016. We do not have to wait until Election Day before we crush the warmongers so to speak. That will be too late in the day and in any case, what happens after we have crushed the warmongers? The unintended consequences are too dire (including military takeover) for us to contemplate. At this stage, permit us distinguished CDS, to ask you to join us to admonish the major actors during this election season as follows. The main actors in this election are the political parties, the Electoral Commission, Civil Society groups including the media, Ghanaians, our security agencies and most importantly our President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces who is also a candidate and has the responsibility of controlling the security agencies. We appeal to all the actors to exhibit professionalism tinged with a high sense of integrity and selflessness in discharging whatever duties are expected of them. In particular we urge you to advise the President not to get the military involved in any contentious election duties (such as keeping ballot boxes in its custody) in order to avoid dragging the military into any quagmire. The current arrangement whereby the military plays a supporting role to the police in election security should suffice for now if we are to avoid embroiling the military in any election dispute. The military is so vital an institution whose image we must all protect. All political party leaders should urge their members and supporters to refrain from any acts of provocation that can lead to violence. Whereas it is the responsibility of the governing party to ensure there is peaceful election, the opposition parties should also note that they cannot achieve their aim of effecting a change in government if the election cannot take place due to violence. They both have a shared responsibility of peaceful co-existence and therefore must exercise restraint even under extreme provocation. The Electoral Commission (EC) has a very herculean task. The success or otherwise of this election rests squarely on its shoulders. There will always be provocation from the political actors. The ECs ultimate goal is to deliver a free, fair and transparent election. The professional abilities, integrity, selflessness and above all the emotional intelligence of its staff will come into play if the EC is to succeed. The Commission has a rich history of delivering credible elections and we recall the wonderful work of Justice Abban (Electoral commissioner in the 1970s) who fearlessly refused to change the peoples verdict to the wishes of the then military government during the UNIGOV referendum in 1978. How we wish we could return to those good old days when the value of integrity and selflessness of state officials was the norm rather than the exception. Our final advice to the security agencies is for them to discharge their responsibilities to the best of their ability bearing in mind the timeless values of Service and Integrity. We assure you, our distinguished CDS that we have published this Open Letter without any malice and we hope that you will carefully consider the suggestions and pieces of advice contained in this letter. With assurances of our highest esteem, we remain, Hon. A. Kan-Dapaah, Hon. K. Osei-Prempeh Former MP and Minister of Defence Former Deputy Minister of Justice & Deputy Attorney General Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Former Attorney General, Mr Martin Amidu has accused President John Mahama of illegally smuggling an undisclosed amount of dollars into the country to fund his presidential ambition. According to him, the money was brought into the country in the Ford Expedition car gifted to the president by a Burkinabe contractor, Jibril Kanazoe in the run-off to the 2012 elections. In a new epistle dated December 5, 2016, Mr Amidu alleged that following the death of former President John Evans Atta Mills, President Mahama prior to the elections was financially unprepared. The only way funds could be unconstitutionally imported into Ghana from Burkina Faso was to be ingenious: through the Ford Expedition as the wrapper wrapping the many dollars needed for the Mahama campaign. No searches. No questions, he alleged. Mr Amidu further questioned President Mahamas intent for importing the Ford Expedition into the country if he said he had no need for it. As he himself has said, John Mahama truly did not need a Ford Expedition. Why then was the Ford Expedition sent to the President through the Ghana Ambassador to Burkina Faso? he quipped. Mr Amidu further reiterated his call for Ghanaians to reject President Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Wednesday, December 7, adding that he [President Mahama] had only paid lip service to the fight against corruption. He said, Show us just one conviction resulting from this incumbent President's so called anti-corruption campaignNothing concrete has happened except white washing Government corruption. Click here to read the full statement by Mr Martin Amidu Source: Graphic.com.gh Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) has deployed observers to Ghanas December 7, 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections. Former Interim President of Liberias Government of National Unity, Amos Sawyer, is leading the ECOWAS short-term observer mission for the elections. The mission would ascertain the free, transparent and credible conduct of the elections. The 94-member delegation comprises 80 short -term observers and 14 long-term observers. The short-term observers are from all Member States of the ECOWAS, except for Ghana, and the Communitys Parliament. The short-term mission also comprises members of the civil society, representatives of Electoral Commissions in West Africa, Ambassadors of Member States accredited to the ECOWAS, and observers from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Centre. The 14 long-term observers, who have been deployed since November 27, are experts in security, gender, electoral operations, constitutional laws and political affairs. The observers would be support by a technical team from the ECOWAS Commission. The team will comprise of the Commissions Vice President, Edward Singhatey and its Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Mrs Halima Ahmed. The Director of Political Affairs, Dr Remi Ajibewa, the Head of the Electoral Assistance Unit, Francis Oke, the Acting Head of the Communications Unit, Liberor Doscof Aho, and other officials of the institution will also form part of this team. The observers would be deployed throughout the nine geographical regions, to observe and monitor all the pre-election, election and post-election polling operations. The mission is expected to comment on the conduct of the elections based on their observation on the conformity, transparency, fairness and smooth conduct of the legislative and presidential elections. At the end of the elections, the ECOWAS observer mission will present its view and where the need arises make recommendations to the different stakeholders in the election process. The Head of the Mission, Amos Sawyer, is therefore expected to make a preliminary statement at a press conference that will be held in Accra on Thursday 8 December 2016, said a statement issued by the ECOWAS Commission and made available to the Ghana News Agency in Accra. ECOWAS appeals to candidates, leaders of political parties as well as activists and sympathisers, for the conduct of the elections in an atmosphere of peace, calm, and national cohesion, the statement said. Seven candidates are vying for the presidential slot in the elections. They include the incumbent John Dramani Mahama, of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), and Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, of the National Democratic Party (NDP). The rest are Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), Papa Kwesi Nduom, of the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), Edward Mahama, of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), and the Independent Candidate, Jacob Osei Yeboah. Some 1158 persons are also contesting for 275 parliamentary seats in the elections Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Welcome to Australia in the wake of Trumps America. About 100 absolutely fucked anti-semitic posters bearing racist slurs and the words Keep Australia white! appeared all over the University of Melbourne this past weekend. Lecturer Nick Rose posted a photo of one of the posters to Facebook, which has now been shared over 1,000 times. Whoever thinks fascism and right-wing extremism is not on the rise in Australia is kidding themselves, he wrote. This filth is plastered all over Melb uni today. Feeling sick and angry. A spokesperson for Melbourne University told PEDESTRIAN.TV that about 100 of the posters were discovered on Saturday morning across the Old Engineering, Microbiology and John Medley buildings as part of routine security patrols. The University removed the posters that it could at the time, and painted over those that could not be immediately removed. All the posters will be fully removed by COB today, he said. Due to the content of the posters and the damage done to buildings, the incident has been reported to Victoria Police. The University is committed to a safe, inclusive and respectful environment for its diverse community, he said. Activities of hatred and intolerance from any group against another are not tolerated, and the University condemns the sentiments in these posters. The Melbourne-based neo-Nazi group claiming responsibility for the posters the Antipodean Resistance describes itself as a youth organisation that opposes substance abuse, homosexuality, and all other rotten, irresponsible distractions laid before us by Jews and globalists elites. The website is emblazoned with swastikas, just to make it 100% clear who these people are. The same group was responsible for the absolutely vile anti-semitic and homophobic that appeared all over Melbournes Swinburne University on Gay Pride Day in October this year. The sickening posters again emblazoned with swastikas depicted men wearing Gay and Pride t-shirts being shot in the head. The fact that this group even exists in Australia in 2016 is depressing and scary as hell. But as a tiny, optimistic note to end this story on, Twitter user @neurofluff tweeted that someone responded to the appearance of these posters by plastering anti-hate posters around the uni instead. Photo: Facebook / Nick Rose. A British student has been found dead following the first night of a Oxford and Cambridge university trip to the French Alps, after an event notorious for wild partying and alcohol consumption. 22-year-old Matt Smith was found unconscious by officers after the party at Val Thorens, which is the highest ski resort in Europe. An autopsy is being held this coming week said a local police source, though it has been suggested he suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest and was unable to be revived. The Varsity ski trip has existed since 1922, and generally attracts around 3000 people a year. It has been described as the biggest ski party in the world, and its pretty famous for the debauched behaviour of attendees. The resort has been forced to employ people to patrol the streets to deal with drunken behaviour. A spokesman for St Johns College Oxford expressed the institutions deep sadness at the tragic death. While we await the findings of the official investigation we are offering support to students who may have been affected. Source: News.com.au. Photo: Facebook. A local politician has been shot and killed alongside two journalists in a tiny town in Finland, called Imatra. The three women were shot dead by a man with a hunting rifle, while they were standing out the front of a restaurant at around midnight. A 23-year-old local man was detained at the scene, with some reports saying he simply sat in a car and calmly waited for the police to arrive to the scene. He reportedly also has a criminal record, which has remained unreleased to the public. Police arrived to the scene extremely quickly, and have stated that they havent found a motive for the attack on the three women. Detective Inspector Saku Tielinen told a press conference: At the moment, it looks like the victims were chosen at random. The town has now opened a crisis centre, due to there being were many witnesses on the busy street the attack has reportedly left Imatra residents in a state of shock. The politician in the tragic incident has been named as Tiina Wilen-Jappinen, and she was chairwoman of the Imatra City Council. The journalists have not been named as of yet, but its being reported that one woman was in her 30s, and the other was in her 50s. Crime rates are generally quite low in Finland, but they have high levels of gun ownership and hunting. Gun laws were heavily tightened after two fatal school shootings in the last decade. Well update this story as more information arises. Source: The Guardian. Photo: Twitter / @AmichaiStein1. Former PM and guy-who-is-defs-not-undermining-anyone Tony Abbott couldnt wait a fucking day before hitting out against the suggestion his beloved Green Army conservation program might be axed, taking aim at the Coalition governments new deal with the Greens. After learning the campaign which has been criticised as socially exploitative may be radically overhauled or nixed completely in the next budget update, the former PM voiced his dismay on Facebook: Not only has [the Green Army] been good for grass roots conservation but it got unemployed people working too. Its a bad principle to axe your own policy for the Greens policy because it means that their priorities are more important than ours. That would hardly be a smart move for a centre-right government. As part of their backpacker tax deal with the Greens, the government will restore $100 million in funding to the farming and environmental management group Landcare. And while Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declined to confirm one way or the other, it looks like the investment will come at the expense of the Green Army, which was previously set to get by on some funds cut from Landcare. While the Green Army has reportedly been responsible for planting roughly 2 million trees, ridding 90,000 hectares of weeds and, according to Landcare, replacing an ageing volunteer base with younger people, it has been criticised for exploiting poor people and for paying only half the minimum wage. With Turnbull kind of screwed either way, and after the death of yet another one of Tones policies, the only person getting exactly what they want looks to be Greens leader Richard Di Natale. Hes obviously all about Landcare funding, and he hates the Green Armys punitive program for people down on their luck with a bloody passion: We always opposed the green army. It was not an environmental program, it was an employment program and a bad one at that. Shit could get seriously wild soon. Check out Old Mate Tones full response below: Source: The Guardian. Photo: Carl Court / Getty. Hes the man responsible for creating the news but editor-in-chief of The Age, Mark Forbes, is himself making headlines after resigning amid shock allegations of sexual harassment. The Melbourne newspapers head honcho who only took the job eight months ago, before which he was news director was formally suspended on Friday, after a junior colleague made a formal complaint alleging he groped her on the bottom at the Age Music Victoria awards in November. Fairfax Medias group director of news and business media, Sean Aylmer, said the publisher had been conducting a thorough investigation since the complaint was filed two weeks ago. Mark Forbes He called the allegations unsavoury, and its disappointing, and it can make you angry, telling staff of Forbes resignation this morning adding that he wont even be returning to the office to collect his belongings. After his suspension on Friday, a second female colleague came forward alleging he made inappropriate comments about her being busty at social engagement back in February, when he was still news director. Forbes who has been with the paper since 1985 is expected to make a public statement later today. Source and photo: The Age. Calling all creatives, wordsmiths, and design gurus: holiday lovers Club Med are looking for a Design & Content Specialist (SYD) to develop content in various forms for the MICE business, journalists and help develop brand awareness, consideration and sales. Ever dreamed about creating content on some of the worlds most beautiful destinations, and selling holidays for a living? This role as in-house Creative Guru would see you across all things web design, copywriting, content research and contributing to the Club Med brand and tone of voice across a bunch of other communication projects. Youll work closely with the Marketing and Sales teams to create content that engages clients, industry partners, PCOs, and more whether it be through web design, blog posts, press releases, or email newsletters. This is one for the entrepreneurial spirits, peeps with a flair for communication and an eye for design. If youre tingling with excitement, head right this way. Marketing grads, get ready schnitty kings Schnitz are in need of a Marketing Assistant (VIC) to join the marketing team in their fast-paced, growing company. This entry-level role will see you working on a well-known, established brand with the potential to expand your career and skills. Youll thrive on working with Schnitzs in-house Operations Department to formulate, implement, execute and report on store marketing plans. To be successful in this role youll be helpful and courteous by nature and dedicated to providing excellent customer service. Youll be the point of contact for all incoming customer feedback and queries across their website and social channels, as well as assisting the Marketing Coordinator in effectively rolling out social media strategy. Youll need to here. Fash giants TOPSHOP TOPMAN are on the hunt for an Online Trade & Merchandise Manager (SYD) to join their Support Office in The Rocks. To kill it in this role, youll be an expert communicator, as you develop strong brand relationships and introduce new/maintain existing opportunities, in order to maximise business opportunity for TOPSHOP TOPMAN Australia. With a clear customer focus at all times, you will negotiate brand exclusives, devise attractive campaigns and encourage online range development to offer the very best in service and product diversity. Youll have responsibilities across digital and strategy as well as online trade & merchandise, keeping things fresh and challenging. Wanna get a serious look in? Youll need good analytical skills, a nose for customer service, leadership and management props, to be results-focused, an ideas person and planner, and be all about fast pace, accuracy and attention to detail. If youre ticking boxes left, right and centre, apply here. All about a smooth one-liner? We got you, in 140 characters or less. Ready to step up your digi career? City of Stonnington are after an experienced Senior Digital Communications Advisor (MELB) apply here. Is manage your middle name? Home The Venue are looking for an experienced Venue Manager (SYD), proactive leader-types get around it here. Wanna make photography your thing? This could be the place to start Portrait Store are after a shcmick Studio Manager (BRIS). Apply here. Creative genius when it comes to all things social/fashion? Hotfoot it here and apply to be Showpos Instagram & Snapchat Manager (SYD). Live and breathe that sweet event lyf? Life Like Touring are after an Event Crew (MELB) to tour the nation with them in 2017 apply here. May the force be with you. All deets courtesy of Pedestrian Jobs. Dont let your dream job slip you by Love your work! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and get yourself signed up to our Daily Job Alerts. The first victims of the devastating fire that killed at least 30 people at an Oakland, California warehouse party on the weekend have been named. Donna Kellogg, 32, Travis Hough, 35, Barrett Clark, Nex luguolo, Pete Wadsworth and Cash Askew have all been confirmed as victims of the blaze, in of the most devastating fires in US history. Tributes are flowing in for the victims, as still dozens more are yet to be identified. Kellog was reported to be on the second floor the Ghost Ship a warehouse that had been converted into an art space when the fire broke out. She is a freewheeling, free-spirited, candid person in a beautiful, delightful way, a friend, who only gave her first name of Kim, told local media outlet SF Gate. Hough who was one of the musical minds behind local electronic band Ghost of Lightning was confirmed dead by his father Brian Hough on Facebook. Clarks former roommate Bascom P LeMay paid tribute to his friend. Goodbye Barrett. We saw each other at our best. You saw me at my worst. Our times together Ill cherish forever. A true friend roommate collaborator brother. He had my back so many times. His smile, his laughter, his heart will be missed. Askews civil partner Anya Taylow posted on Facebook: My love is gone. Nothing is real. All I want is her. Cash Askew, I love you. In a separate post, she said: I wish something could bring my love back, anything. Cash, I love you more than anything in the world, and you know it. My friends Feral, Ara, Joey and Kiyomi are beautiful souls. Im fucking broken. Authorities have confirmed that the death toll from Friday nights devastating fire has hit 30, but warned that it is likely to rise with only 20% of the building being searched. The number will go up, Sgt. Ray Kelly on Sunday, describing the death toll as astronomical. Firefighters are tired, exhausted. This is very emotional. In my career of 30 years, I havent experienced something of this magnitude. Authorities said that some of the victims will need to be identified by matching dental records or even DNA testing, encouraging family members to bring items such as hair brushes which might help the process. Firefighters are literally clearing the site bucket by bucket, and have yet to reach the location where the fire began. A cause has not yet been determined. The warehouse has been described by former residents and neighbours as a death trap, defined by rickety stairs, overflowing with junk, and having few exits. If you were not familiar with the building and the way that it was, if you were going there for a party, you wouldnt be aware of the maze that you have to go through to get out, said Danielle Boudreaux, a former friend of the couple who ran the warehouse. Nick Garcia, 21, a neighbour of Ghost Ship, said the buildings windows had metal screens on them, making it impossible to escape. If you look at the outside of them they were bolted on metal mesh, he told the Daily Mail. Theres no way, they couldnt even jump out of them if they wanted to. I know there was a way to get to the roof, because weve seen people on the roof. Authorities said the owners had no permits to hold parties or create living spaces in the building. A department inspector had attempted to enter the building last month, but was unable to gain access. Source: SF Gate, ABC, NY Times, Daily Mail. Photo: Getty / Elijah Nouvelage. Its the super-rare phenomenon thats claimed the lives of eight Melburnians when it struck a fortnight ago, and put hundreds more in hospital but what is thunderstorm asthma? With the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting severe storms in NSW and VIC tonight, and experts warning of breathing problems for asthma and hay fever sufferers in both states, we thought it wise to help arm you with information that could help. Read on, and stay safe fam. What is thunderstorm asthma? In the most basic sense, thunderstorm asthma is a condition brought on when large storms like the one Melbs endured after that record-breaking scorcher of a day trigger a change in the size of pollen particles. What we understand is the heavy rain causes the rye grass pollen to absorb moisture and they then burst and become much smaller, says Robin Auld from Asthma Victoria. And those smaller particles can be dispersed very easily by wind over quite a distance. Those smaller, allergenic particles can penetrate deep into the small airways of the lung. Who does it affect? Thunderstorm Asthma can severely affect not only sufferers of asthma and hayfever, but people who dont normally suffer from respiratory problems. Thats why, in Melbs, almost 200 people were taken to hospital and 2,000 calls for help were made after a mass-flare up across the city. How common is it? Not very. The first known incident of thunderstorm asthma occurred in 1987, again in Melbs (south-eastern Australia is particularly vulnerable because of the way the wind blows), but one also hit Wagga Wagga in October 1997. There have also been recorded cases in England and Italy. The most recent epidemic went down in Melbourne in November 2010, following a thunderstorm, when grass pollen counts hit extreme levels and triggered a tenfold increase in patients presenting with acute asthma attacks 24 hours after the storm hit. Thunderstorm asthma epidemics are uncommon but the prospect of another wet spring / summer means you should be extra vigilant. How is it treated? Anyone who suffers from thunderstorm asthma will typically be treated the same as way as someone suffering an acute asthma attack, usually via inhaled medication to dilate the airways, as well as anti-inflammatory medication. Can you prevent it? Yes and no. For those who already suffer from asthma or allergies, prevention is key. That means good asthma control i.e. using a regular preventer inhaler during the spring / summer months, even if youre feeling tip-top. Inhalers are designed to reduce the inflammation in the lungs over a period of time and can be a big help protecting from thunderstorm asthma attacks (and attacks in general, of course). Not into the idea of carrying an inhaler around at all times? Consider this. After thunderstorm asthma hit Wagga Wagga, researchers compared the data of those who experienced a thunderstorm asthma attack with a control group of people who suffered an asthma attack on other days of the year. Of those with a history of asthma, only one in four (27%) of affected cases were taking regular preventer inhalers compared with more than half (56%) of the control. What else can I do to reduce my chances? Staying indoors can help reduce your risk of thunderstorm asthma but thats not always going to be an option of those who need to go to work or uni. Though not foolproof, disposable dust masks like those often worn by people in high-pollution cities like Tokyo can help. You can pick up hypo-allergenic packs of 10 disposables from Bunnings for $2.98. You can also DIY a castor oil pack, which is recommended by a bunch of health professionals for breaking up and drawing out stored toxins and congestion from the lungs. Theyre easy to make and are placed on the chest, similar to vapor rubs. Heres a recipe if you want to give it a crack. What do you do if you suspect an attacks coming on? If you have difficulty breathing whether you have a history of asthma or not call 000 immediately. For more info on asthma in general, you can hit up Asthma Australia. Photo: Getty / Fred Zhang. A naked man in his 20s was arrested last night after allegedly stabbing two women in a brutal attack in Sydneys west. Police arrived at the Emu Plains home after several calls to Triple 0 reported screams and yelling coming from the residence. They found the man armed with a machete and a sword attempting to smash his way through a locked door, behind which the two women believed to be his mother and girlfriend were hiding. Both women, aged 55 and 22, were found to be conscious but bleeding heavily from multiple stab wounds, including from the head, stomach and hands. They were rushed to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition. The man bolted from the scene of the crime, but was arrested a short time later on a nearby street, naked and armed with a knife. No charges have yet been laid. The man is said to be assisting police with their enquiries. Source: NSW Police, Nine Network, Fairfax. Photo: Nine Network. Mondays. Some of them are quiet. Some of them are absolutely bananas. This ones definitely the latter, and it aint even lunchtime yet. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has announced he will be resigning from his position as leader of the country, and of the governing New Zealand National Party, effective next Monday. Keys decision to walk away from the post comes as something of a shock, given how late in the year it is. The New Zealand caucus is now expected to meet and elect a new party leader and subsequent PM before Christmas. Fronting media a short while ago, a very tired-looking Key asserted that he had nothing left in the tank after 8 years in office as PM, and that putting his full attention and effort into running the country had come at a great personal cost to his family. Key stated that he could not look the public in the eye and truthfully declare that he had it in him to contest and serve a potential fourth term as the nations Prime Minister, and has chosen now as the time to stand aside in order for fresh leadership of the National Party to take over ahead of the forthcoming New Zealand election next year. Throughout these years, I have given everything I could to this job. Ive never seen myself as a career politician. Ive never wanted my success to be measured by how long Ive spent in Parliament. Simply put for me, it has been the most remarkable and satisfying time of my life. When prompted by the media, Key gave an endorsement to Deputy PM Bill English, stating he thought he would be a fine Prime Minister. As far as the future is concerned, Key asserts he has no immediate plans beyond simply going home to his family. Keys 8 years as NZ PM followed on from a similarly lengthy term from Labour PM Helen Clark. The National Party is due to meet next Monday, December 12, to discuss candidates for the countrys top job. Source: SMH. Photo: Fiona Goodall/Getty. New South Wales and Victoria are today being issued with warnings of thunderstorm asthma as storms are scheduled to happen later today in both states. The Morning Show reported the warnings in their broadcast this morning: Residents in NSW are being warned to take precautions today, with fears thunderstorm asthma could hit the state. https://t.co/2UTfSnL9y0 The Morning Show (@morningshowon7) December 4, 2016 The warnings come as eight people passed away in Victoria from the phenomenon over the past month. The National Asthma Council has issued warnings for residents to be on high alert for symptoms. Council Chair Dr Jonathan Burdon AM explained that those with hayfever are also at great risk: As we have seen with the recent events in Melbourne any serious asthma attack can be life-threatening and have tragic consequences. Act quickly if you start to have symptoms such as shortness of breath or wheezing. If you havent previously had a diagnosis of asthma and are experiencing regular symptoms, book in to have a review with your doctor. You may benefit from preventer medication and having an action plan for emergencies. Asthma Australia have released this poster, which guides you what to do if you or someone with you is hit by a severe asthma attack: National Asthma Council Australia have also urged people to take note of the following advice in order to prevent thunderstorm asthma attacks: Always carry your blue reliever puffer with you Make sure you take your regular daily preventer, if you have been prescribed one Know the signs of worsening asthma and the asthma first aid steps If you start developing any signs of asthma, follow your personal asthma action plan, if you have one, or the asthma first aid steps If your asthma symptoms are rapidly worsening, call 000 and say you are having an asthma attack. The phenomenon occurs when a thunderstorm is mixed with a hot and windy day during pollen season. When the storm hits, grains of pollen absorb moisture from the storm, and burst into even tinier particles. The winds blow the particles down to ground level, and are inhaled deep inside the lungs and trigger serious asthma attacks. Be safe out there, lung-owners, wherever you may be! Source: Herald Sun / Asthma Council. Photo: Cassie Trotter / Getty. The US Army has announced that it will not approve an easement that would allow the proposed and highly controversial Dakota Access Pipeline to drill under the Missouri River, in a major victory to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe after a months-long protest. Assistant secretary for civil works Jo-Ellen Darcy said in a statement that alternative routes for the pipeline crossing needed to be explored. Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, its clear that theres more work to do, she said. The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing. Standing Rock tribal chairman Dave Archambault II said in a separate statement that the tribe and all of Indian Country will be forever grateful to the Obama Administration fore this historic decision. We wholeheartedly support the decision of the administration and commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing. He thanked the thousands upon thousands of people who played a role in advocating for this cause, from the tribal youth who initiated this movement to the millions around the globe who expressed support for our cause. We especially thank all of the other tribal nations and jurisdictions who stood in solidarity with us, and we stand ready to stand with you if and when your people are in need, he said. Throughout this effort I have stressed the importance of acting at all times in a peaceful and prayerful manner and that is how we will respond to this decision. With this decision we look forward to being able to return home and spend the winter with our families and loved ones, many of whom have sacrificed as well. We look forward to celebrating in wopila, in thanks, in the coming days. Archambault said the Army would be undertaking an environmental impact statement to look at possible alternative routes, and implored the incoming Trump administration to respect its decision. While its not clear yet how the Trump and co. will deal with this situation come January, Archambault told MSNBC, I would say that its over, which is a hugely positive sentiment. This historic announcement comes just days before the corps stated deadline for the thousands of protesters to abandon the makeshift camp on the Missouri River in North Dakota where they have been since April this year, being subject to rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas from local law enforcement. To my Lakota brothers,sisters & the other nations that came to #StandWithStandingRock, you fought the Good Fight and won! Rerouted! #NoDAPL Lou Diamond Phillips (@LouDPhillips) December 4, 2016 #NoDAPL 1.This is a temporary victory. We still need to light a fire under a Trump Administration to make sure this can be finally settled. Colin J. Choate (@ColinJChoate) December 4, 2016 With the Keystone XL, the EIS showed it would have a much larger enviro impact than they said, encouraging Obama to veto it. #NoDAPL Dr. Adrienne Keene (@NativeApprops) December 4, 2016 Photos: Getty / Pacific Press; Boston Globe. Art. What is it? And how much tape does it need? While we havent the faintest idea and suspect that an answer would maybe defeat the purpose, we will go out on a limb and say 56,000 metres of tape should about do it. This is good news for Ipswich Art Gallery, which is now home to a gargantuan, interactive playground of tape called TapeScape thanks to US artist Eric Lennartson. Which also makes it very bad news for Brisbane, a stones throw east of Ipswich and naturally the citys most hated rival. Lennartson, who launched the installation for the first time in Minnesota in 2011, is making his southern hemisphere debut after touring TapeScape across the northern hemisphere for the past five years. He spent the last two weeks knocking it together with some local volunteers, and describes the two-story tape-stry (YES!) as a labour of love: Its kind of like yoga or other things where you have to hold the position for a really long time and stretch back and forth and also not trip, because you have to stretch and go around the scaffolding. Kids and adults dont have any idea what to expect. The first few steps in, they are really apprehensive and they take it easy, but after a while they are jumping and sliding and having a great time. The exhibit is open until February 2017, although seeing it will unfortunately require you to go to Ipswich yes I am a Brisbanite sue me. For more, take a squiz at a video of the playground below: Source: ABC. Photo: Twitter. For many, theres few positives to a Trump presidency (in fact, its a scary time for many people globally), but comedians are absolutely milking the currently US political situation for all its goddamn worth. Alec Baldwin is the chosen one, tasked with impersonating the new leader of the free world and since the blokes a vocal politics nerd and passionate Democrat, hes not exactly taking it lightly. In last nights Saturday Night Live skit about Trump (yes, it is possibly the 538457th one), the team parodied Trumps tendency to over-simplify (or in this instance, smoosh together) complex issues: SNL also made fun of Trumps absolutely inane Twitter account (duh). The bit showed Baldwins Trump refusing to pay attention during a security briefing, instead choosing to retweet strangers. After the show, Trump responded with his classic Sad! aesthetic (we swear hes got a tweet template saved or something): Just tried watching Saturday Night Live unwatchable! Totally biased, not funny and the Baldwin impersonation just cant get any worse. Sad Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016 But Baldwin wasnt taking it lying down. Hitting the true meta-parody mark, he hit Trump w/ an extremely familiar request (ICYMI, the man filled his political campaign with demands for the release of Hillary Clintons damning emails and tax records): @realDonaldTrump Release your tax returns and Ill stop. Ha ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) December 4, 2016 Its quite the negotiation technique, it seems. Cant wait for every politician ever to release all their tax records! Were sure very few of em have evaded tax or sent funds offshore or done hugely illegal shit in that area. Theyd never do that, right? Source: SNL / @AlecBaldwin. Photo: SNL. Ballot Attorneys for Green Party candidate Jill Stein took their effort to launch a recount of Pennsylvania's election results to federal court Monday as the campaign hosted rallies in New York City and Philadelphia. (The Patriot-News, file) UPDATE: Attorneys for Green Party candidate Jill Stein took their effort to launch a recount of Pennsylvania's election results to federal court Monday as the campaign hosted public events in New York City and Philadelphia. The lawsuit calls for a forensic audit examining the state's voting system for signs of hacking in addition to a recount of the votes cast in November's presidential election. Stein's attorneys also argued that the barriers to a recount, including last week's Commonwealth Court requirement that the campaign put up a $1 million bond to continue its effort, violated the constitutional rights of voters. "We're here today to stand up . . . for a vote that is accurate, secure, fair and just in which every vote counts and every vote is counted," Stein said, at a rally in front of Trump Tower in New York City on Monday morning. "This, in fact, is what makes America great." A spokeswoman for Pennsylvania's Department of State declined to comment. In addition to the Keystone State, the Stein campaign sought recounts in Michigan and Wisconsin, states where Republican President-elect Donald Trump narrowly defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton. Nationwide, Clinton led Trump by nearly 2.5 million votes but lost the electoral college, which determines the presidency. And Trump's margins have continued to erode. In Pennsylvania, for example, Trump's original 70,000-vote lead shrank to about 47,000 as the results were updated. We're at Trump Tower in NYC standing up for voting justice. Posted by Jill Stein on Monday, December 5, 2016 County level recount petitions are still being processed. Philadelphia has moved ahead with recounts in 75 of the county's 1,686 voting precincts but rejected a forensic audit. A Montgomery County judge dismissed the petitions outright. In Allegheny County, a partial recount will move forward Monday while Bucks County's petitions are expected to go before a judge on Tuesday. Philadelphia's recount netted Clinton five additional votes, 4 from absentee ballots and one from a provisional ballot. Allegheny County's recount yielded the exact same result as from immediately after the election. The Stein campaign scheduled a press conference in the Capitol Rotunda Monday afternoon to discuss those efforts. A recount is already underway in Wisconsin while a judge cleared the way for Michigan's recount to begin at noon on Monday. The GOP and the Trump campaign have said there's no evidence of hacking or other irregularities in the voting system. Stein's recount efforts, they said, could delay the certification of Electoral College members who are scheduled to cast their votes on Dec. 19. On Sunday, the president-elect issued a tweet describing the recount as a scam. This article was updated to include the Department of State's latest vote tallies. Donald Trump now holds a 47,000-vote lead against Hillary Clinton. CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- A Southwest Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Charleston, South Carolina, after a baby was born in the middle of the flight. Airline spokeswoman Melissa Ford said Flight 556 was on its way from Philadelphia to Orlando, Florida, on Sunday when a woman went into labor. Ford says medical personnel who were on the flight helped with delivering a baby boy, and the family was taken to an area hospital when the plane landed. Passengers cheered for the family and for the two doctors and nurse who helped them. According to AL.com, the woman was 26 weeks along when her water broke. Officials say the flight and the remaining passengers arrived in Orlando just over an hour behind schedule. Hackers.jpg Authorities in western Pennsylvania have released new details in their dismantling of an international cyber crime network with ties to money laundering and malware attacks believed responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in monetary losses worldwide. Photo via Pixabay. PITTSBURGH -- Authorities in western Pennsylvania have released new details in their dismantling of an international cyber crime network with ties to money laundering and malware attacks believed responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in monetary losses worldwide. In a press conference held here on Monday afternoon, authorities also revealed that the network, dubbed "Avalanche," was responsible for cyber attacks against an Allegheny County government office and two area businesses. Spokespeople also revealed a unique law enforcement effort that spanned both the public and private sectors, and which relied on law enforcement agents from across the globe and members of Pittsburgh's thriving tech community to help crack the case. "November 30 began the start of a multi-national operation to dismantle a complex, criminal network of worldwide computer servers known as Avalanche," read a statement issued last week by the office of acting United States District Attorney for Western Pennsylvania, Soo C. Song. "This network hosted more than two dozen of the world's most pernicious types of malware and several money laundering campaigns." The law enforcement operation targeting "Avalanche" was billed as an "unprecedented and ongoing effort to seize, block and sinkhole more than 800,000 malicious domains associated with the Avalanche network." So far, authorities in the U.S. and Europe have taken dozens of Avalanche servers offline. (The basic difference between servers and domains is explained here.) There have also been arrests and searches conducted in Europe, where the network was primarily active. No Avalanche-related arrests were reported in the U.S. In Monday's press conference, investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ) said computers and computer users were targeted in almost every country in the world. They estimated some 20,000 had been impacted in the U.S., and said that number is expected to rise as more victims come forward. Included in the current count are a business in Carnegie, Pa., and one in New Castle. Each had their banking credentials stolen through the Avalanche network, officials said Monday. According to the Associated Press, the Carnegie business lost $387,500 when someone drained the money from the company's online account, while the New Castle business was twice targeted with unsuccessful efforts to steal more than $120,000. The Carnegie business's money was later recovered, the AP adds. "In both attacks, employees received phishing emails containing attachments designed to look like legitimate business invoices," a statement issued by the DOJ on Monday explained. "After clicking on the links, GozNym malware was installed on the victims' computers. The malware stole the employees' banking credentials which were used to initiate unauthorized wire transfers from the victims' online bank accounts." Another victim was the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, which attorney Song initially declined to identify, but which was later outed by the AP. Song said the office paid a $1,400 Bitcoin ransom to free up computer files which had been accessed and locked by hackers using the Avalanche network. The nature of those files was not immediately clear, and an after-hours attempt to reach the DA for comment on Monday was immediately unsuccessful. This ransoming approach was common to the cyber criminals frequenting the network, officials said Monday, although the network made possible a number of schemes and attacks intended to defraud and disrupt. The network is believed to have been in existence since 2009-2010 and operated mostly out of Europe. In some cases, criminals gained access to victims' computers through phishing emails, which appear to be legitimate requests for personal information or legitimate correspondences but aren't. This may have been the case with the Avalanche-enabled infiltration of the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, Song said Monday without further elaboration and while referring to the victim only as an Allegheny County government organization. There is another possibility, too, and that involves malware implanted via Avalanche servers. Malware is short for malicious software, and can be used to infect computers, cull personal information and in some cases spy on users from anywhere in the world. According to the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team, or CERT, some of Avalanche's malware had the ability to encrypt user files and demand a ransom be paid by the victim to regain access to those files -- this was the case with the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office. In addition, the malware may have allowed criminals unauthorized and remote access to infected computers, or allowed them to steal personal information contained therein. Infected systems could also have been used to conduct distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against other computers and networks, CERT explained, making it harder to track those responsible. It's not clear yet exactly how many people may have been victimized by or through Avalanche, but the monetary losses associated with malware attacks conducted over the network are estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The network's targets are also said to have included 40 financial institutions. The law enforcement operation that targeted Avalanche involved authorities from Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., as well as those from Germany, the Netherlands and some 40 countries in all. In Monday's press conference, Robert Johnson, special agent in charge of the FBI's Pittsburgh Division, said the Avalanche network first came to the attention of German authorities. Those authorities then reached out to U.S. authorities in Pittsburgh for help, he added. While part of their decision involved the past targeting of cyber criminals here, it also involved the city's booming tech industry and vast reservoir of related expertise. "We couldn't have done this without private industry," Johnson said, adding that authorities were ultimately able to "take control" of and dismantle Avalanche servers with the help of unidentified private sector partners. Cyber experts, meanwhile, are pointing to the case as a reminder of the susceptibility of personal computers and networks. In response to the Avalanche network's toppling, CERT recommends computer users take the following precautions to avoid falling prey to similar schemes in the future: Use and maintain anti-virus software, avoid clicking links in emails, change any potentially compromised passwords, keep your operating system and application software up-to-date and use anti-malware tools. CERT's complete list of post-Avalanche recommendations can be viewed here. UPDATE: This post has been updated to identify the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office as the local government organization impacted by Avalanche network hackers. An after-hours attempt to reach the DA for comment on Monday was immediately unsuccessful. Conestoga Valley High School students and staff will get two unplanned days off following a fire Friday. The school will be closed Dec. 5 and 6 as a restoration company cleans up the school, according to a Conestoga Valley School District news release. Officials said the fire, which broke out in the school's maintenance garage, caused smoke damage to the rest of the school. A decision will be made Tuesday afternoon to determine if the school should be closed for longer, officials said, noting the need for proper air quality in the building. Make-up days will be decided at a later time. After school activities will be moved with more information to come. The annual Senior Citizens Holiday Breakfast is now scheduled for Dec. 14, officials said. The state police fire marshal ruled the fire accidental. Damage was estimated between $250,000 and $400,000, according to a LancasterOnline.com report. Jonathan Kantner.jpg Jonathan Kantner (submitted) A former teacher's aide at Lebanon Middle School was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to charges of sexually assaulting three girls. Jonathan Kantner, 31, formerly of Newmanstown, was sentenced to 9-23 months in the county prison, followed by three years' probation. He was also ordered to register his address with state police for the rest of his life, and to not have contact with the victims or minors for the duration of his sentence. Kantner was charged in February with assaulting two 11-year-old girls Jan. 13 in a classroom. The victims told police Kantner touched their breast and buttocks over their clothing. Another victim then came forward, accusing Kantner of similar actions several years before. Kantner was suspended from the school district after the accusations were made, said Lebanon School District officials. He pleaded guilty to indecent assault, attempted indecent assault on a child, endangering the welfare of children, contact or communication with a minor - sexual offenses, contact or communication with a minor - open lewdness and corruption of minors. Parking meter Harrisburg 1.jpeg Harrisburg's new parking system has struggled to meet revenue projections since its inception in 2013. (PennLive.com/file) HARRISBURG-- Members of the public can share ideas and concerns about Harrisburg's parking system with parking officials next week. Parking officials have set the date for their next parking advisory committee for 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12 at the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown Harrisburg. The meeting will represent the sixth such meeting since the city privatized its parking lots and garages in a deal to get out from crushing debt. Parking officials are required to hold two parking advisory committee meetings annually as a condition of the long-term lease of the city's parking assets. The meetings are open to the public with free validated parking at the Market Square garage, beginning at 5 p.m. Only one member of the public showed up to the last meeting in February: Zach Monnier, a downtown resident. The meetings are typically held in February and October, but this year's second meeting was scheduled later in the year, just a few weeks before the calendar year expired. Parking officials did not explain the later date for the meeting, but it comes amid a heated dispute over parking revenue owed to the city and threats to raise meter rates. The dispute erupted in January after Papenfuse wrote a letter to Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority board members objecting to the 2016 parking budget, which gave the city a $1 million haircut in revenue while keeping "performance fees" for parking managers fully intact. The authority sold the bonds to generate the money for the parking transaction. Parking officials later agreed to pay the city the full $3 million it was owed in 2016 "waterfall" payments, but has questioned whether the system can afford to pay the city its full payment in future years. The dispute has since boiled over with the Harrisburg Parking Authority sending out notices of default in July and authorizing a lawsuit last month. Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse, meanwhile, tried without success to get the issue put on the agenda for PEDFA board members at their monthly meetings. After they declined to put him on the agenda, he appeared to speak during public comments at their July meeting. They haven't met since, but have a Dec. 22 meeting scheduled. Officials from Dauphin County last month sounded the alarm that the parking system wasn't generating enough revenue to finance necessary capital improvements. County officials said they agreed with PEDFA and parking officials that the city should agree to revise the asset transfer agreement to put capital improvements ahead of payments owed to the city. Papenfuse rejected that idea, saying the city is owed its full payments. The various entities are meeting in closed-door negotiations to try to find a solution short of litigation. gay pride flags .jpg Citing concerns about the future of LGBTQ rights under a Donald Trump-Mike Pence administration, Pittsburgh's City Council is set to consider a bill that would ban conversion therapy for minors in the city. Photo via Pixabay. Citing concerns about the future of LGBTQ rights under a Donald Trump-Mike Pence administration, Pittsburgh's City Council is set to consider a bill that would ban conversion therapy for minors in the city. If successful, Pittsburgh would become the first city in Pennsylvania to ban the controversial practice. It would also join a growing list of American municipalities to openly resist aspects, both real and perceived, of the upcoming presidential administration's agenda. But what is conversion therapy? How do bans work? And why does it remain such a political flashpoint? PennLive sought to answer a few of those questions below. What is conversion therapy? The Southern Poverty Law Center defines it thusly: "Conversion therapy - sometimes known as 'reparative' or 'sexual reorientation' therapy - is a dangerous practice that purports to change a person's sexual orientation, literally 'converting' them from gay to straight." It can also involve changing someone's gender identity, most often from trans to cisgender. The latter refers to someone whose gender identity matches their biological sex. What does conversion therapy entail? In his firsthand account published in Out magazine, Mathew Shurka said conversion therapy often begins from the standpoint of homosexuality being a psychological condition born of trauma. That trauma can be anything ranging from minor family discord to childhood sexual abuse. Much of the therapy focuses on uncovering this trauma and, critics say, convincing someone it happened even if it didn't. In Shurka's case, conversion therapy also involved avoiding spending time with women, so, as he put it, he didn't "pick up any of their feminine behavior." This included female family members, he said. Shurka also said the tools of masturbation and pornography were used to overcome feelings of same-sex attraction. Elsewhere, aversion tactics like rubber bands snapped on wrists are used to curb same-sex impulses, theguardian.com reported. When and how did conversion therapy come into practice? Stephen Vider, Cassius Marcellus Clay Postdoctoral Fellow in the History of Sexuality at Yale University, wrote in a 2015 piece for Time magazine: With the popularization of behavioral therapies in the 1960s and '70s also came new attempts to treat homosexuality, in the form of "aversion" therapies, including electric shocks. ... Since the 1970s, reparative therapies have been reborn through "ex-gay" Christian ministries. ... Mixing pastoral counseling, Bible study, individual and group psychotherapy, and aversion treatments, ex-gay ministries have promised a cure from--or at least avoidance of--homosexuality to thousands of men and women. What are the consequences? In Ohio in 2015, transgender 17-year-old Leelah Alcorn committed suicide by walking into oncoming traffic. In a note left behind, Alcorn said she had been taken to Christian therapists, who reinforced the notion that being transgender was "wrong." Critics of conversion therapy point to cases like Alcorn's in arguing that it's both psychologically harmful and junk science. According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), conversion therapy can increase the odds of societal prejudice and family rejection, while also leading to depression, anxiety, drug use, homelessness and suicide. Minors are particularly vulnerable, the Campaign adds. Which cities and states have conversion therapy bans? According to the Equality Federation, 16 states are looking to ban conversion therapy on minors under the age of 18. Meanwhile, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and the District of Columbia have all passed laws to prevent licensed mental health providers from offering conversion therapy to minors. The practice is also banned in a handful of cities, including Cincinnati, Miami Beach and Seattle. After Leelah Alcorn's death and a change.org petition with 121,000 signatures, President Barack Obama came out against conversion therapy, but a nationwide ban remains elusive. How does a ban work? In Seattle, the ordinance banning conversion therapy for minors provides for a fine of $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for any violation after that, The Stranger reports. There will also be misdemeanor charges for advertising conversion therapy there, The Advocate added. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, is expected to discuss the details of its proposed ban at a city council meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016. If Pittsburgh were to succeed in banning conversion therapy for minors, it would apply to all mental health professionals within city limits. Theincline.com reported that while members of city council have heard of conversion therapy occurring in Pittsburgh, "the bill is largely a pre-emptive measure -- one that signals that the practice is not acceptable in the city." What has the response been to the bans? New Jersey's 2013 statewide ban on conversion therapy, second in the nation only to California's, drew a legal challenge from plaintiffs with the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality and the American Association of Christian Counselors. "Laws banning counseling in this area are simply unconstitutional violations of free speech," the plaintiffs' lawyer, Mathew Staver, said in a statement. But despite their objections, the ban was upheld by a federal appeals court and later by the U.S. Supreme Court. California's ban was also upheld on review. Why have cities and states moved to ban conversion therapy? Some have cited opposition to the practice from the American Medical Association and other members of the medical and psychiatric community. Often these professional opponents argue that the use of "reparative" or "conversion" therapy is based upon the flawed notion that homosexuality is a curable mental illness. In Pittsburgh's case, at least, the move to ban conversion therapy for minors was also spurred, in part, by concerns about the future of LGBTQ rights under the upcoming presidential administration. This has more to do with Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who, while running for congressman from Indiana in 2000 said he supported using federal funds for those seeking to "change their sexual behavior." The statement was interpreted as support for conversion therapy, although a Pence spokesperson later denied that. Politifact also says Pence's statement remains open to interpretation. Why is conversion therapy still a political issue? A backlash ensued when, ahead of this year's Republican National Convention in Cleveland, a draft of the party's platform was found to include calls for "allowing parents to choose whatever therapy they feel is appropriate for their children." Like Pence's comment, this was interpreted as support for conversion therapy, although Republican National Committee chairman and future chief of staff to President Donald Trump, Reince Priebus, claimed it wasn't. But unsuccessful attempts to ban conversion therapy at the federal level reveal not everyone is convinced of the arguments against it. CORRECTION: This article has been updated to correct the date of the upcoming Pittsburgh City Council meeting where the conversion therapy ban is set to be discussed. Macro Of An Opened White Medicine Capsule A York County mother is accused of giving opiates to her 4-year-old daughter. (Associated Press photo) Northern York County Regional Police arrested a 27-year-old woman after she gave her 4-year-old daughter opiates to "help her sleep," according to the Associated Press. Conewago Township resident April Rose was charged Saturday with drug possession, endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person, according to the AP and York Daily Record. Police began investigating after they were contacted by the county Office of Children, Youth and Families regarding a suspicious incident involving her daughter, according to the AP. As the AP reported: Authorities say the girl's grandmother took her to York Hospital after learning that Rose gave her a white powder that she said tasted bad and made her stomach hurt. Court documents state the girl tested positive for opiates. The child was placed in protective custody, and Rose is in York County Prison on $20,000 bail, according to YDR.com. PEARL HARBOR ANNIVERSARY ART.jpg A Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremony at the Pennsylvania state Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa. (PennLive file) (Editor's Note: The following editorial appeared in The Chicago Tribune. It was not authored by the PennLive/Patriot-News editorial board.) Leroy Barber grew up in rural New London, Wis., hunting and fishing with two of his brothers. He enlisted in the Navy, trained at the Great Lakes facility north of Chicago and was assigned to a battleship. Barber enjoyed being a sailor, missed his brothers and advised them to join up. The Navy made an exception to its rule against putting family members on one boat _ a decision their father sought to reverse _ but America was not at war, and Hawaii was about as far from Europe's fighting as you could get. That's how the Barber boys, Malcolm, 22, Leroy, 21 and Randolph, 19, came to serve together as firemen on the USS Oklahoma. And that is how they died: together, on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941 _ 75 years ago this Wednesday _ when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and drew America into World War II. "We are not bitter, but there is one thing neither of us can forgive," Peter Barber, their father, told the Chicago Tribune in May 1942. "We were at peace when the attack started. Our boys didn't even know about it. They must have been caught below decks without any chance to fight back. If they had known _ if we had been on guard _ they would have returned fire and they might not all have died." Many wars are remembered and battles commemorated. But only two dates on the calendar awaken recollections of a sneak attack on American territory by an undeclared enemy. One is Sept. 11, which was 15 years ago this year. And then there is Dec. 7, "a date which will live in infamy," as President Franklin Roosevelt told Congress in a national radio broadcast the next afternoon. A few hours later, the United States declared war on Japan. A few days later, the U.S. declared war on Germany. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise, but it was foreshadowed. In 1941, America was attempting to check Japanese aggression in China through economic sanctions. The U.S. knew from a code-breaking operation known as "Magic" that Japan was girding for war. Conflict seemed inevitable, but officials in Washington missed the signals that war was imminent, and never guessed Hawaii would be a target. The American public also was unprepared. On Dec. 1, the Tribune reported that ongoing negotiations to halt Japan's expansionist moves were at a critical juncture, but there was a distant, theoretical tone to the warning. The U.S., having backed Britain in Europe, was already engaged in quasi-conflict with Germany. In the Pacific, war against Japan remained an unappealing question. "The United States is not prepared to fight a war on two fronts and will not be before the completion of our two-ocean navy in 1946," the Tribune's story said. The U.S. military was not on alert in Hawaii. Most naval personnel treated Dec. 7, a Sunday, as a day off. Around 7 a.m., just as radar operators were completing their overnight watch, they spotted a stunning concentration of aircraft coming their way _ must be B-17s coming in from California, they were told. Wrong: This was the first Japanese carrier strike force of torpedo- and dive-bombers, escorted by Zero fighters. The Japanese attack, completed in two waves in less than two hours, destroyed most of the U.S. military planes on the island of Oahu and devastated the U.S. Pacific fleet. Most of the ships' anti-aircraft guns were unmanned. A few heroic American pilots got off the ground to shoot down Zeros, but the day marked a humiliating and painful entrance to the war. The Barber brothers were among 2,300 U.S. service members killed. Firsthand descriptions of Dec. 7 have dwindled as survivors depart us, but the lesson of Pearl Harbor endures. In 1941, the United States failed to anticipate Japanese aggression. In 2001, terrorists intensified a slow-burning war against American civilians that had started years earlier and continues today. Despite America's great power and comparative isolation on the map, it is vulnerable to the enemies it has, and the ones it may have. Our nation forgets that at its peril. Leading Seaman Michael Kennedy, left to right, Myles Kennedy, Kay Kennedy and a Canadian Forces chaplain stand behind the granite memorial to fallen Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan on Saturday April 3, 2010.The Kennedys are relatives of Pte. Kevi Kennedy, who was killed in a roadside bombing along five with other soldiers on Easter Sunday 2007. Canadian Embassy officials are also working to win the release of Michael Kennedy, a veteran from Newfoundland. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Murray Brewster New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant rises as he is recognized in the House of Commons following Question Period Thursday, October 27, 2016 in Ottawa. New Brunswick's premier says there's still a strong need for the proposed Energy East pipeline despite the federal government's approval of two pipeline expansions in western Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld Shanghai bids farewell to old friend Castro From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-12-03 01:46 DOZENS of somber local residents visited the Consulate General of Cuba in Shanghai yesterday to pay their respects to late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, who passed away on November 25. According to consulate officials, approximately 180 mourners have flocked to the consulate in remembrance of Castro, who is affectionately nicknamed lao ka, or Old Castro. The consulate has converted a room into a tribute site, where members of the public paid homage to the deceased Cuban leader by either signing the condolence book or pledging loyalty to his socialist cause. The public mourning period runs through noon tomorrow. One of the many visitors was Xu Ming, a professor teaching at Shanghai-based Donghua University. During an emotionally charged visit to the consulate yesterday, Xu, 63, waxed nostalgic as he crooned a popular old song about the camaraderie between China and Cuba in the 1960s. Like many of his generation, Xu grew up listening to those songs and reading about the exploits of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in textbooks and newspapers. With utmost sadness I learned of Mr Castros death in the newspapers, Xu said as he signed the condolence book. While the funeral cortege is carrying Castros remains on a four-day journey to their final resting place in Santiago de Cuba, where it all began for the 1959 revolution that catapulted him to power, Castro and his legacies are also being remembered in Shanghai, which he visited in 1995 and 2003. His death is not just a loss to the Cuban people, but to Chinese people and the whole world as well, said Xu. Castro is widely revered among Chinese as an icon who inspired generation after generation of youths with his romantic revolutionary ideals and struggles against imperialism. He is uniquely responsible for leading Cuba away from the US sphere of influence, he said. This isnt easy considering the decades of economic hardship caused by the US blockade, which eased a little but hasnt been entirely lifted, he told Shanghai Daily. Standing in a room full of wreathes and elegiac couplets sent by local officials, citizens and Cuban expats in Shanghai and adjoining provinces, Xu said Cuba has demonstrated that a sovereign country can adhere to its own political system in spite of all the hostility from a formidable adversary. Although Fidel is physically gone, his ideas will be with us forever, and he will stay in our hearts forever because of what he did for the people and for the motherland, said Lisbet Quesada Luna, Consul General of Cuba in Shanghai. He devoted his deepest love to the motherland. Amoxicillin shortage in Michigan: What parents should know Many Michigan pharmacy shelves are bare of amoxicillin oral powder for suspension, dispensed in liquid form most often to children, amid an RSV surge. Food poisoning strikes 36 at Jingan high school From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-12-03 01:46 JINGAN District food and health authorities are investigating how 36 teachers and students at Qiyi High School contracted food poisoning most of them severe cases this week, officials said yesterday. The school said about 23 teachers and 13 students began reporting ill from Tuesday afternoon. A local hospital diagnosed 22 of them with acute gastroenteritis. As of yesterday, all but one, a student, had recovered, district education authority officials said. Tests by the Jingan Disease Control and Prevention Center found signs of the Norwalk virus, or Norovirus, the most common cause of gastroenteritis. Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea. The virus usually spreads through tainted food or water or through the air. Outbreaks are most common in winter Norovirus is also known as the winter vomiting bug. The disease is highly contagious and has an incubation period of 12-72 hours. Most patients recover on their own within two to three days. Jenny, who said she was a cousin of a grade three girl, said teachers developed symptoms from Tuesday and most students reported feeling sick on Wednesday. School headmaster Zhou Yun told Shanghai TV News nothing had been found to link the school canteen to the outbreak. The school contracts a food company to provide daily lunch boxes. Zhou said some of the infected teachers did not eat lunch at school, so the virus might have been spread by the air. She did not give further details. Delivery man raped customer From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-12-03 01:46 A food delivery man wanted over the rape of a 25-year-old woman in a downtown residential complex in Pudong last week had turned himself in, police said yesterday. The 23-year-old suspect, surnamed Yu, had fled to his hometown in Jiangxi Province, police said. Yu had been despatched by the restaurant he worked for to deliver food to the victim earlier in the day of the attack, police said. He later returned to the victims apartment at Lianyang Nianhuayuan in Pudong and assaulted the woman. Police said Yu had confessed. A manager of the residential complexs property management company, surnamed Dong, said the security guards keep track of delivery people and their records show that the suspect had delivered food to the woman four times before the incident on November 25. Residents said that many gates in the Lianyang complex are often left open and they had complained for years about a damaged gate key system that had not been repaired. 13 injured after city bus hits car, slams into wall From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-12-03 01:46 THIRTEEN people were injured yesterday three seriously when a bus careened head-on into a car travelling in the opposite direction on Henan Road N., near the intersection with Haining Road, police and witnesses said. After hitting the car, the No. 78 bus smashed into a wall. East Radio News quoted a passenger as saying the driver bent down to pick up a glass, ignoring warnings from passengers, and lost control. The manager of a nearby fast-food shop, a man surnamed Fu, said that the woman bus drivers face was covered with blood after the accident. Shanghai General Hospital, where the injured were rushed to for treatment, said three were more seriously injured with pelvic fractures and head and stomach injuries. Four of the injured were admitted to the hospital and the others were released by last night, hospital staff said. Fu said that about 12:55pm, the north-bound bus suddenly turned left and knocked down the metal dividing fence in the middle of the eight-lane road. The car hit by the bus was thrown to the curb-side, he said. The car was badly damaged, but the driver was not injured. Younger passengers escaped through the windows after the bus became trapped against the wall, but older passengers could not get out, Fu said. Police said they were investigating. First Ride The post's remote lever was easy to reach and activate, even when there was a front shifter to contend with. There's no seatpost clamp with Eightpins' design - the black portion houses a seal to keep dirt and mud out of the frame. This initial ride was only a brief glimpse at the potential of the Eightpins post, but if it's any indication of what the future holds, I'm all for it; on more than one occasion I found myself thinking, "This is how a dropper post is supposed feel." Will any of the major bike manufacturers commit to producing bikes based around this design? I sure hope so - it seems to hold a huge amount of potential. It won't be an overnight change, and there are a few hurdles to overcome, but it would be great to see this technology become the norm sooner than later. - Mike Kazimer Title photo: Stefan Voitl Eightpins' integrated dropper post caused a stir at this year's Eurobike trade show, and more recently it went on to win Pinkbike's Innovation of the Year award. Dropper posts aren't exactly new, and there are plenty of reasonably reliable options out there, so what's all the fuss about? It's the fact that Eightpins decided to integrate their post into the frame, rather than using the tube-within-a-tube design that's currently the norm. In addition to saving weight (it's claimed to be up to 25% lighter than some of the most popular droppers currently on the market), the design allows for much larger seals and internal parts, which should help increase reliability.Lighter weight and less maintenance sounds great so what's the catch? The catch is that you'll need to have a frame designed specifically for the post, since it's held in place by an axle that runs through the lower portion of the seat tube. The design also requires 30cm of uninterrupted seat tube in order to have 170mm of drop, and even more room for the longer travel options. In other words, it's not going to be compatible with frames that have stubby, interrupted seat tubes. Initially, Liteville will be the first company to offer the new post on their bikes, but Eightpins are eager to get others on board.Andreas Haimberger, one of the company's founders, rolled into town on a wet and stormy afternoon with three Eightpins-equipped demo bikes crammed into the back of a rental vehicle. He was halfway through a massive roadtrip that had him driving from Los Angeles to Vancouver, BC, all the way down south to Phoenix, Arizona, and then back to LA before flying home to Austria. Those thousands of miles were part of his quest to visit nearly every major bike manufacturer on the west coast, and since he happened to be passing though my neighborhood, I decided to take him up on his offer to give the Eightpins post a try, foul weather be damned.We headed out for a soggy lap on my local trails, a relatively short loop, but one with plenty of quick climbs and descents where a dropper post comes in handy. But before hitting the trails a few adjustments had to be made. Due to the fact that there's no seatpost collar, setting the bike's saddle height is a little more involved than simply opening up a quick release, although it's still a simple procedure. It requires taking the seat off in order to access a 4mm hex bolt found near the top of the tube; once the bolt is loosened the post can be set at the desired position. After a few minutes of tinkering at the trailhead parking lot everything was ready to go - time to ride.From the start, the most noticeable trait of the Eighpins post is how ridiculously easy it is to get it to move downwards. On most posts you need to put a good portion of your body weight on the saddle to push it to a lower position, but that simply wasn't the case with the Eightpins. It required the least amount of force out of any dropper post I've ridden, and once the thumb lever was depressed it felt like it only took a few pounds of body weight to get it to drop. Technically, the post doesn't have an infinite number of positions, but it can be stopped and locked into place every six millimeters, which felt close enough to infinite adjustability to me. The post also felt reassuringly solid - there wasn't any lateral slop, and no vertical play or squishiness. It evenstout - the 33mm post diameter seems much more fitting for today's bikes rather than the narrow diameter of the upper tube on a 'regular' dropper post.The post's return speed was smooth and quick, even after being coated with a nice layer of Washington's finest mud. That speed is controlled by an air spring, so it is possible to speed it up or slow it down to match rider preference. As always, one ride can't be considered a review, especially with something like a dropper post where reliability is a crucial factor, which is why we'll be getting an Eightpins-equipped Liteville to see how the post fares in the long term. My favorite shots include images from Apollo 15, where the varied terrain of the Apennine mountains and Hadey Rille are displayed in full-spread panoramas. I also love the pictures of the lunar module in Earth orbit during Apollo 9, and a full-disc moon shot taken during Apollo 13. The latter shot speaks volumes. By the time it was taken, astronauts Lovell, Swigert and Haise had flown their wounded Apollo spacecraft around the moon and were heading back to Earth. Their chance to land on the surface was long gone, and the moon was receding slowly back into the blackness of space. Whether or not the crew would even survive their ordeal was still unknown. The stories and notes accompanying each mission are equally entertaining, and do much to humanize the astronauts. Alan Bean's camera mishapsin which he ruined a video camera by pointing it at the sun, before leaving several rolls of exposed film on the surfaceare mentioned. In the Apollo 10 section, Gene Cernan agrees it was a good idea for NASA to short-fuel the lunar ascent module to prevent the crew from landing: "Don't give those guys an opportunity to land, 'cause they might!" There's also a fun recollection about John Young and Charlie Duke's "Lunar Olympics" during Apollo 16. Following the photo section is a feature on the equipment and techniques the astronauts used to capture the images. Apollo photography was no trivial matter. The astronauts trained extensively on how to frame, focus and set exposure levels using specially modified Hasselblad cameras. The cameras were custom-built for users with bulky spacesuit gloves, and had to be hardened to withstand the dusty vacuum of the lunar surface. To hone their photography skills, many astronauts carried around Hasselblads before their missions, snapping pictures from their training jets and capturing moments with friends and family. Apollo begins with an introduction from astronaut Walt Cunningham, which describes the evolution of space photography through NASA's Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. There's also a fold-out reproduction of the lunar "targets of opportunity" map from Apollo 11. At 95 euros (includes free worldwide shipping), Apollo is pricey, but worth it. Some extra nice touches include a "NASA blue" cloth cover with the title stamped in gold, and a full-color book jacket. It's also hard to beat the hypnotic smell of the printed pages, along with the tactile sense of flipping through the photos. Apollo would make a great addition to the office or living room of any space fan. Heavy traffic jams expected for dongzhi From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-12-03 01:46 HEAVY traffic congestion is expected in some parts of the city between next Saturday and December 21, with more than 2.4 million people visiting cemeteries for the upcoming dongzhi on December 21, civil affairs authorities said on Friday. Some expressways leading to big cemeteries should be the worst hit. Dongzhi, or the winter solstice and literally meaning extreme winter, is a time when people pay their respects to the departed by visiting cemeteries and sweeping tombs. In total, 2.48 million tomb sweepers are expected during this years dongzhi period bringing an extra 280,000 vehicles onto the roads, according to the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau. The most affected areas should be on Yueluo Road in Baoshan District, Tanglu Road in the Pudong New Area, Zhufeng Road in Qingpu District, Hunan Road in Pudong, Jiasong Road N. in Jiading, as well as some sections and intersections of the S2, S4, G50 and S5 highways. Jozef Kristoffy climbs Corona at Jastrabia veza, the hardest multi-pitch in Slovakia's Tatras 05.12.2016 by by Planetmountain At the start of September 2016 Slovakian climber Jozef Kristoffy made the first free ascent of Corona 11- on Jastrabia veza, the hardest multi-pitch rock climb in the High Tatras. After returning from a successful expedition to Cochamo (Northern Patagonia, Chile), where Jozef Kristoffy and his team made the first ascent of the 700m high El Condor Pasa, Kristoffy decided he would finally return to Jastrabia veza, a 2139m high south-facing peak in the Slovakian part of the High Tatras, close to Poprad. On 17 - 18 June Jozef Kristoffy and his partner Miso Bado made the first ascent of what was to become Corona, the most difficult rock climb in this massif. This shares the start two existing routes, Pochyleho Platna and Jet Stream, but instead of breaking out left and right it continues straight up. Climbing ground-up, Kristoffy used a mix of micro-friends and micro-nuts, skyhooks and even a few copperheads to reach the top of the crux pitch, which he initially graded 8, A3+ aid. He then returned during summer with the aim of climbing it free and, after working the moves and adding four bolts, on 2 September he climbed the route pinkpoint, i.e. with the gear already insitu.The climbing goes free at 11- (8c) and is protected by 4 bolts and few nuts and cams. Kristoffy reported after his ascent "The climb is found in the mountains so I decided to respect the local ethics and protect it as such. The route is physically and psychologically demanding, those wishing to attempt the second ascent need to be good at placing gear and capable of making hard moves well above their protection." Corporal Kevin Stewart of the Patterson Police Department was stabbed last week. (Photo: Patterson PD) A Patterson, LA, police officer was stabbed multiple times by a shoplifting suspect, police say. According to a spokesperson with the Patterson Police Department, Corporal Kevin Stewart reported to call about a shoplifter at a business on Catherine Street around 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Police say when Cpl. Stewart attempted to arrest the alleged shoplifter, the suspect wrestled Cpl. Stewart's pepper spray from his grip and began to stab Stewart with a steak knife to the face. The suspect was then reportedly used the pepper spray against Cpl. Stewart. After pinning the suspect down, Cpl. Stewart was able to apprehend him. The suspect was arrested and transferred to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries. He will be later released to the Patterson Police Department and then transferred to the Parish Jail, KATC reports. Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Dep. Nicholas Songy was shot in the leg Saturday responding to a domestic violence call. (Photo: Jefferson Parish SO) A Jefferson Parish (LA) Sheriff's SWAT unit on Saturday shot and killed a man who holed up in a strangers house in Metairie just minutes after he shot and wounded a deputy responding to a domestic disturbance call about midday. Sheriff Newell Normand said Deputy Nicholas Songy, 48, was at University Medical Center and was alert and doing well just after 1 p.m. He was released later in the day. Authorities later identified the man killed in the upper level of a home in the 3500 block of 46th Street as Isreal Flores, 38, no known local address. A relative of Flores told investigators he often stayed at his girlfriend's home at 1010 Severn Ave. Normand said the SWAT team, which stormed the second floor of the 46th Street house using exterior stairs, ordered the man, who appeared to be in his 30s, to lower his weapon and shot him when he refused. The incident began when Songy arrived in the 1000 block of Severn Avenue to investigate a domestic disturbance call. After speaking with the woman who made the call, Songy, who was alone, went into the backyard, where he encountered an armed man, Normand said. Songy and the man, later identified as Flores, exchanged gunfire two shots from the man and at least two from Songy. Songy was shot in the leg, and Flores was hit as well. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print The reason why Republicans are so touchy about recounts and losing the popular vote is that President-elect Donald Trump has no mandate as 54% of voters cast their votes against the next president. Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau tweeted a fact that drives Trump and the GOP crazy: 54% of us voted against Donald Trump. https://t.co/4fDbNV1DVG Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) December 4, 2016 To put Trumps lack of a mandate into perspective, Republicans claimed that Obama had no mandate after he won 51% of the vote in 2012. The total percentage of voters who voted against George W. Bush ranged from 51%-52%. Never in modern electoral history has a candidate been sworn into office who was so roundly rejected the electorate. Donald Trump and the Republican Congressional majority have no mandate, which is why they are expected to move at breakneck speed on their agenda before voters get the chance to express their true will in 2018. Trump is currently not a popular president-elect, and he will not begin his time in office as a popular president. Unless something dramatic happens, Trump will maintain his Electoral College lead, and become the next president. Popular votes dont determine the presidency, but they do set the climate for governing. Democrats should reject Trump at every turn. The president-elect has no mandate, and working with him will only serve to lend the legitimacy to his presidency that voters have already denied. Donald Trump has no mandate, and Democrats need to uphold the will of the majority of voters by saying no to everything the president-elect tries to do. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (D-WI) is not happy with President Obamas humanitarian intervention in the Dakota Access Pipeline Sunday. This was Paul Ryans reaction, posted to twitter, and proving once and for all that cartoon villains do exist: This is big-government decision-making at its worst. I look forward to putting this anti-energy presidency behind us. https://t.co/Qu0nFTmGZv Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) December 5, 2016 For a dose of reality, this is how filmmaker Josh Fox describes the reaction of the veterans to the treatment of DAPL protesters by the police: What you do to the water protectors you do to the United States Constitution. We are sworn to uphold and protect the United States Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And theyre saying listen, if you wanna burn the United States Constitution, you have to go through us. Its quite a brave and amazing act thats never happened in the history of the United States, that two thousand veterans just said you know what? Shoot at us first. Now re-read Speaker Ryans words again. The reality of it is that after weeks of waiting and repeated calls for his intervention, President Obama, who had earlier said he would let things play out, came through for #NoDAPL protesters with the announcement that there would be no easement granted allowing the pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota. The move was widely celebrated by the estimated 20,000 residents of the Oceti Sakowin camp. This included Veterans Stand for Standing Rock up to 3,500 veterans who arrived to help over the weekend, intending to place themselves between the peaceful protesters and the heavily militarized police. The police who had spent the previous weeks giving the protesters a hefty dose of blunt trauma and open wounds. One veteran, Mark Sanderson, a former Army Sergeant who served in Iraq, told Vice News, Our goal is to stand there and if need be take the rounds for the First Nations people so they can do their thing. Obviously, contrary to Ryans claims, this is not the case of an anti-energy president using big-government to trample the rights of the fossil fuel industry to make money at whatever human cost. This was a case of the people begging, literally begging for the government to intervene, while they bled and suffered in a cold North Dakota winter. As an approving Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement, Today's @usarmy announcement underscores that tribal rights are essential components to analysis of #DAPL going forward.SJ pic.twitter.com/2VAiubBTLL Sally Jewell (@SecretaryJewell) December 4, 2016 This is not a victory of big government and it is impossible to characterize it as such. This is a victory of the people, by a small group of people, the Sioux, and their allies, on behalf of all Americans. The fight against DAPL was very much grass-roots activism. Obviously, unlike the Tea Party, there were no corporations funding it. As The Young Turks Ana Kasparian put it, Not only is it a victory 4 water protectors, its an example of how powerful unrelenting activism can be. And this is what Paul Ryan really hates. Not only President Obama keeping his word to Native Americans but Republicans the people speaking. They only like it when the people pretend to speak, as with the false populism of Donald Trump. When people really truly speak out, they are treated as rioters and anarchists and get the age-old response of authoritarianism to free speech: rubber bullets, truncheons, attack dogs, pepper spray, and mass arrest. Rest assured, Paul Ryan will be happy to see big-government decision-making at its best: employing force when a greedy, corporate-owned Republican president who stands to profit off cultural genocide and ecological terrorism, is giving the orders. Trump and his money-grubbing allies among the elite may be angry, but the federal government was not instituted to protect corporations, but the people. Paul Ryan would like to pretend the Constitution says We the corporations, but it says We the people, and President Obamas actions were not anti-energy but pro We the people. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print The first peek at what the incoming Trump administration has planned can be found in HHS nominee Rep. Tom Prices budget plan, and what the new administration is signaling is nothing less than a war on the nations seniors. The report by the Senate Budget Committee Minority Staff provided a great deal of insight into four areas of Pricess budget that equal a war on seniors: Sneaking massive benefit cuts through the back door The Price proposal includes a devious plan that would likely trigger deep cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other priorities, while avoiding the need for members of Congress to vote directly for the cuts. The Price plan does this by automatically triggering a process to establish caps on spending and debt levels upon approval of a budget resolution, with the threat of sequestration cuts to enforce those limits. This, for the first time, would allow the Republican majority to ram through cuts to Social Security (among other programs) using a special fast-track process that denies Senate Democrats their normal rights to defend these programs and ensure an adequate opportunity for public input. If Republicans were to pass President-Elect Trumps tax plan, the resulting increase to the deficit, under this plan, could require cuts to Social Security and Medicare of 13.5 percent, meaning the average Social Security beneficiary would lose more than $2,000 a year. [CAP,10/18/16] Rigging the budget process to cut earned benefits Currently, if Congress fails to offset the cost of mandatory spending or new tax breaks, this can trigger across-the-board cuts, or sequestration. However, Social Security is exempt from these cuts, and Medicare is subject to only limited cuts (of 2 or 4 percent, depending on the type of sequestration). Meanwhile, consistent with a previously long-standing bipartisan consensus, most assistance to Americans with the greatest needs is completely protected. By contrast, the Price plan would subject all programs to sequestration, with limited exceptions such as interest payments, Article I judges salaries, and intragovernmental payments. On its face, this could mean that in the future, seniors, the disabled, and others in need could be forced to pay the price, with deep cuts to promised benefits that many earned through a lifetime of hard work. Unraveling longstanding guarantees to those who rely on Medicare, Social Security, Unemployment Insurance and other Benefits Prices proposal calls for a non-amendable fast track process to end longstanding guarantees to our nations middle-class workers, seniors, children, the disabled and millions of others who rely on Medicare, Social Security, unemployment insurance, and other benefits. Instead, these Americans would have to fight annually for these benefits in the uncertain appropriations process, with no assurance their hard-earned benefits will be there at the end. Given the Republican Congresss long record of failure to even consider appropriations bills on time, this could threaten the security of millions who rely on promised benefits. Meanwhile, Price proposes no similar process to eliminate wasteful special interest tax loopholes. Rigging the budget with a fast-track for billionaire tax breaks The Price proposal would repeal the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act, which imposes fiscal discipline by restricting Congresss ability to enact deficit-financed tax breaks and direct spending. This would free Congress to hand out massive new breaks for billionaires and large corporations, while driving up the deficit and laying the groundwork for future Republican demands for additional cuts to middle class benefits. One gets the sense that many Americans went to the polls without the future of Social Security and Medicare in mind. Perhaps, voters took these beloved institutions that help millions of Americans for granted. Maybe, they made the mistake of believing Donald Trump when he said that he wouldnt cut the programs, but as Ranking Budget Committee member Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) pointed out while commenting on the report, Trump is a hypocrite, Donald Trump asked workers and seniors to vote for him because he was the only Republican candidate who would not cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs that are of life-and-death importance for millions of Americans. But instead he has nominated Rep. Tom Price for Secretary of Health and Human Services, who has a long history of wanting to do exactly the opposite of what Trump campaigned on. What hypocrisy. Trump needs to tell the American people that what he said during the campaign were just lies or appoint an HHS secretary who will protect these programs from cuts and do what the president-elect said he would do. The Price budget provides insight into the incoming administrations plans for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and unemployment insurance. What it looks like the Trump administration is planning for is a destruction of the social safety net while handing massive tax cuts to millionaires, billionaires, and corporations. The people who need our help the most are about to punished. The nations most economically vulnerable are about to face a full-on assault from the Trump administration. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print *The following is an opinion column by R Muse* The past few months have seen, if nothing else, a curious and ever-changing relationship between mainstream media and Donald Trump. On the one hand, with two months remaining before the general election, the New York Times makes breaking news that they will, going forward, finally start calling a Trump lie what it is, a lie, and several outlets pledge to be unrelenting in their pursuit of the truth about Trumps corruption. Well done media! After well over a decade there was a signal that there is a sincere intent to actually do your jobs as journalists and not cheerleaders for the conservative movement. However, the furor over the latest publicity stunt in Indiana proves the media is still pimping Donald Trumps bona fides as a leader, regardless he is a corrupt private citizen and nothing more. Over the past week, it was difficult to find many news outlets that didnt trumpet Trumps so-called Herculean effort to save jobs in Indiana and frustrate Carriers attempted relocation to Mexico. If nothing else, every time Trumps name was associated with the story it heartily implied that dirty Don barged into the Carrier headquarters, wielded god-like authority (and a wad of cash), and saved the day for several hundred thousand workers in one Indiana factory. It made for a wonderful propaganda piece for Trump, but it was so much bovine excrement and just typical of the mainstream media who dutifully pushed the publicity stunt exactly as Trump knew they would. Now, one understands the abject stupidity permeating the population, its just the pathetic truth and something to be acutely concerned over. However, it is beyond comprehension that anyone in their right mind attributed to Trump something that still-Indiana Governor Mike Pence did; buy favors from a Trump-related company at Indiana taxpayers expense with a significant tax gift and a ten-year incentive program Pence will leave for taxpayers to fund over the next decade. And yet all week the news was about Trumps accomplishment. Where the media is failing is giving Trump any credit for the payoff whatsoever. He is a private citizen, and technically he isnt the president-elect until the Electoral College votes are counted. For the media to associate the Trump name with Mike Pences payoff to Carrier is beyond the pale and heres why. Trump has no authority whatsoever in the state of Indiana; in fact, the big-time wrestling celebrity has no authority in America; he is still just a stinking private citizen and nothing else. If that isnt clear enough, here is a lesson from eighth-grade history class. Each state sets its own tax policies that entail input, debate, and approval of the state legislature and governor. No private citizen, no congressional representative, no other states governor, no currently-serving vice-president, no currently-serving president and no incoming state or federal administration can either legislate tax policies or unilaterally pay off a manufacturer to keep some of its operations in the state. One expects that the media is aware of those rudiments of government, and yet they have perpetuated the idea all week that Trump saved jobs by negotiating a fabulous deal. It is true that it is very Trump-like to pay off a corporation with other peoples money to benefit his bottom line, in this case, the bottom line is inflating his bloated ego. But Trump didnt pay off Carrier, Mike Pence did and it is unclear if the Indiana legislature will go along with the outgoing governors payoff and unilaterally made tax policy; but they are Republicans and no matter the reason, they will never turn down a chance to give tax dollars to corporations. This particular publicity incident does, in fact, portend a new approach to tax policies that have already borne rotten fruit in Kansas, and Republicans have made no secret they want to implement the same policies at the federal level. Since Democrats were too cowardly to point out what Republican policies produce, and if any American wants to understand the consequences they can look at Kansas. Instead of reporting that what Mike Pence, not Donald Trump, did is just handing out corporate welfare at the expense of Indiana taxpayers, the media made Trump a hero; even though Pence literally forced Indiana taxpayers to dole out corporate welfare to a Trump-related company over the next ten years. Still, there was very little reporting that Trump has an interest in Carrier and yet plenty that he, private citizen Don Trump, authorized spending hundreds-of-millions of Indiana taxpayer dollars in a payoff to Carrier. Look, being a journalist, especially a reporter journalist is not particularly difficult; maybe a tad more worrisome now, but not difficult. In this case, it seems that far too many media outlets had difficulty attributing the Indiana corporate payoff to the right person and it is a sign that they are either still not interested in reporting the truth, or are still pimping Donald Trump as some kind of heroic figure. Especially when any semi-conscious human being knows that he is still only a corrupt businessman and a private citizen with no more authority over Indiana tax policy than the elderly greeter at the local Indianapolis Walmart store. New school for expats children From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-12-05 02:46 CONSTRUCTION started on Saturday on a new campus for German and French schools in Shanghais Yangpu District to meet the rising demand of expats for quality education for their children. The 50,000-square-meter Shanghai Eurocampus, supported by the governments of both nations and the Yangpu District, will open in 2018 to offer education from kindergarten through high school for 2,000 German- and French-speaking children, said Ralph Koppitz, chairman of board of the school. The annual tuition fee is about 140,000 yuan (US$20,440), he said. Shanghai is the biggest investment destination in China for over 2,000 German and French companies. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print By Colleen Jenkins WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory on Monday conceded the states contested gubernatorial race to Democrat Roy Cooper, almost four weeks after the Nov. 8 election that many viewed as a referendum on a law limiting transgender bathroom rights. The Republican incumbent had trailed his challenger since election night, when Cooper declared victory with a margin of fewer than 5,000 votes. McCrory refused to bow out, vowing to seek a recount and challenging the validity of votes his campaign said may have included ones cast by felons or dead people. As of Monday, the states unofficial election results showed Coopers lead had grown to 10,263 votes as counties continued to tally ballots. McCrory was entitled to a recount only if he trailed by 10,000 votes or less. In a video message issued by the governors office, McCrory said Cooper had won the closest North Carolina governors race in modern history. Despite continued questions that should be answered regarding the voting process, I personally believe that the majority of our citizens have spoken, said McCrory, who sat on a couch with a Christmas tree in the background in the video. Coopers win over the one-term incumbent marks the only governorship picked up by Democrats nationally, while Republicans added governor seats last month in New Hampshire, Missouri and Vermont. Cooper, the states attorney general, said serving as governor will be the honor of my life. While this was a divisive election season, I know still that there is more that unites us than divides us, he said in a statement after his opponents concession. The Democratic candidates bid benefited from a backlash against McCrory after he signed a state law in March that bans transgender people from using government-run restrooms that match their gender identity and limits protections for gays and lesbians. The law, the only of its kind in the United States, drew national attention. It has been blamed for hundreds of millions of dollars in economic losses and the relocation of major sporting events from the countrys ninth most populous state. Opponents of the measure, known as House Bill 2, said a McCrory defeat would have national implications. McCrorys stubborn and reckless support of HB 2 cost him this election, and his defeat sends a powerful warning to lawmakers across the country that targeting LGBTQ people will not be tolerated, Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement. LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (and/or questioning) individuals/identities. (Reporting by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print In the spirit of what comes around goes around, Senate Democrats are planning on using delay tactics that will chew up most of Trumps first hundred days in office to hold up the cabinet nominees. Politico reported: Senate Democrats are preparing to put Donald Trumps Cabinet picks through a grinding confirmation process, weighing delay tactics that could eat up weeks of the Senate calendar and hamper his first 100 days in office. Multiple Democratic senators told POLITICO in interviews last week that after watching Republicans sit on Merrick Garlands nomination to the Supreme Court for nearly a year, theyre in no mood to fast-track Trumps selections. . Incoming Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she highly doubts Sessions will be confirmed on Inauguration Day. She, like other Democrats interviewed for this story, said that Republicans treatment of Garland is impossible to forget. Past is present, and what goes around comes around. Now, those are pretty hackneyed sayings, but those are really true around here, Feinstein said in an interview. Not all Senate Democrats are on board with the strategy, but those who are have serious potential to create havoc with the Senates schedule. If Democrats force 30 hours of debate and numerous procedural votes for controversial nominations, they will eat up weeks worth of time, because the Republican-controlled Congress works a very light schedule. There are legitimate questions that Trumps controversial and unqualified nominees should have to answer, and those Republicans who are ready to rubber stamp questionable nominations should be held accountable. Because only 51 votes are required to confirm the nominees, Senate Democrats cant completely obstruct Trumps cabinet, but they can make life miserable for those who spent the last eight years obstructing President Obama. The shoe is now firmly on the other foot, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is about to get a taste of the consequences for his treatment of Obama. Democrats havent forgotten, and many of them are out to make the Republicans pay for their refusal to govern. Trumps first hundred days may go up in smoke as Senate Democrats are going to do their best to make Trump a one-term president. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print In 1918, while Corporal Adolf Hitler was recovering in a Berlin hospital from a gas attack on the Western Front and less than two decades after Donald Trumps grandfather was kicked out of Bavaria for being a draft-dodger, American journalist and satirist H.L. Mencken wrote, Civilization, in fact, grows more and more maudlin and hysterical; especially under democracy it tends to degenerate into a mere combat of crazes; the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary. Hitler, of course, was not the first to send people chasing for safety from imaginary hobgoblins and Donald Trump wont be the last. Sadly, our American democracy no more isolates us from false populists than Weimar democracy did Germans. People are easily manipulated by fear. Hitler knew it. Trump knows it. Republicans have been dangling fear of one other or another in front of Americans for many decades: Communists, socialists, women, gays, blacks, any foreigners who arent white and some who are. The list is long. Historian Richard Evans (The Third Reich in History and Memory, 2015), recounting social exclusion in the Nazi Reich, wrote, Dividing their world into racial comrades and community aliensthe ins and outs, the Nazis defined almost any kind of refusal to contribute to their goals as deviant, sick, racially motivated or degenerate. If this sounds a lot like the Republican Party of today it is because this is how the Republican Party of today categorizes its enemies. Liberalism and progressivism have become as delegitimized in conservative eyes as communism and marxism, and President Obama was subject to a cascade of religious and ethnic insults by Republicans because he declined to contribute to their goals. Two years later, writing in The Baltimore Sun, Mencken commented, prophetically, The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their hearts desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron. That day, sadly, has come and the plain folks, Sarah Palins real Americans, have gotten their wish. Mencken had many harsh words for democracy, some of them no doubt richly deserved. Certainly, it is difficult post-election to argue with the proposition that, The profoundest truths of the Middle Ages are now laughed at by schoolboys. The profoundest truths of democracy will be laughed at, a few centuries hence, even by school-teachers. After all, the greatest democracy on earth just elected a corporation to run it. In particular, the results of the 2016 election might lend truth to Menckens claim that, Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. We got it good and hard, folks. Ironically, that is why the Founding Fathers gifted us with the Electoral College, which was meant to protect us from our ignorant selves by keeping demagogues like Donald Trump out of the White House. That obviously didnt work. And as becomes more obvious by the year, our democracy is a very fragile thing indeed, held together more by consensus that it functions rather than by any particular glue. Naturally, that consensus only works if more people agree than disagree and though Hillary Clinton won the election, that margin is slim enough to be easily unbalanced by corporate-owned media, fake news whether from Fox News or a bunch of Macedonian kids trying to make a buck (there is no effective difference between the two), and foreign tampering. The sad truth is that though American democracy has lasted far longer than Weimars brief experiment, the modern-day liberal democracy is a new experiment and there is no guarantee it will endure better or longer than other tried and failed ideologies and political systems. There is good news too: Demagogues can tatter it and satirists can comment on it, but only people can keep the hope of democracy alive. As one of the greatest liberals to ever be delegitimized by Republicans said, The only thing we have to fear is fear itselfnameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. Trump would convert our advance into retreat. It is up to Americans living today to save America from the Founding Fathers lack of faith in our judgment and to get the last laugh on one of our greatest political satirists. Trump cant take satire. It is up to us to show democracy can. And will. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Under Trump, Red states are about to become hell holes. Think Kansas. Or, as the Wonkblogs Steven Pearlstein puts it, red states are finally going to be able to turn themselves into poor, unhealthy paradises. Because Trumps economic plans are not going to make America great again, but they are going to make living in a blue state great again. Because Democratic-controlled states will finally be rid of the red-state socialist moochers. As Pearlstein preaches to the already converted (conservatives wont see this because of restrictions imposed by confirmation bias), Data compiled by the Pew Charitable Trust found that 10 states that receive less than a dollar back for every dollar they send to Washington: Delaware, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. And here are the states that get more than $2 back for every $1 in taxes paid: Mississippi, New Mexico, West Virginia, Hawaii, South Carolina, Alabama, Maine, Montana, Alaska, Virginia, Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky and Vermont. You dont have to be a political scientist to see the blue state/red state pattern here. Red state voters may talk a good game about small government and low taxes, but in reality they are socialist moochers. Heres the beauty of it for Blue states: After all, if Republicans cut taxes in particular, taxes on investment income then the biggest winners are going to be the residents of Democratic states where incomes, and thus income taxes, are significantly higher. Governors and legislatures in those states home to roughly half of all Americans will now have the financial and headroom to raise state income and business taxes by as much as the federal government cuts them and use the additional revenue to replace all the federal services and benefits that Republicans have vowed to cut. In other words, they can maintain the Obamacare insurance exchanges, the low-income subsidies and the expansion of the Medicaid program. The only states that need to suffer under a Trump administration are Red states, and we poor Democrats who happen to live in them. And as Pearlstein adds, The additional state revenue could also be used to replace cuts in federal funding for public schools, or food stamps, or public transit subsidies. Sounds good, doesnt it? So should the idea that there should even be money left over to invest in public college and university systems so despised and underfunded by Republicans. So yes, as Pearlstein promises, Now Democrats could demonstrate that their cherished 10th Amendment can be a sword that cuts both ways, and, [B]lue state Democrats could look forward to the satisfaction of watching Trumps voters stew in their own political juices as Red State America finally frees itself from the evil grip of global elites and big government and turns itself into a low-tax, low-wage, low health paradise where its every man for himself. And that is, after all, what Republicans want most, a return to the state of nature where, a place populated by well-armed Anglo-Saxon individualists. A place where, as the great Thomas Hobbes said ever before Ayn Rand drew breath, the dissolute condition of masterlesse men, without subjection to Lawes, and a coercive Power to tye their hands from rapine, and revenge, will render the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short. And Trump will lead the charge. Pizza has been a constant in Brian Kesslers life, from the time he got a job in a pizzeria as a teenager until the day he met his wife in a pizza joint. Read moreIggy's Pizza Shop is now open in Mount Pleasant Watchdog and Public Service reporter Thad Moore is a reporter on The Post and Couriers Watchdog and Public Service team and a graduate of the University of South Carolina. To share tips securely, reach Moore via ProtonMail at thadmoore@protonmail.com or on Signal at 843-214-6576. Kelvin Cole, 56, died Oct. 28 after being struck by multiple cars on Interstate 26. Investigators later determined he had active arrest warrants from Charleston County's Family Court and the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. Read moreJohns Island man provided fake name before jumping from I-26 overpass, report says 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. If youve been unfortunate enough to endure a flood caused by nature or human error, but fortunate enough that your home survived, its at the top of your list of worries: mold. Its why you have to act immediately to haul out all the contents, rip out carpets and even walls: to prevent the Read moreEditorial: The simple first step to solving the insidious problem of mold in SC colleges SEATTLE To most of the country, the death of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens was an event steeped in politics. The subject of blame and derision, brought up in debates and at rallies and captured in a single word: Benghazi. But to Stevens' family, the death of their adventurous, idealistic son and brother was a loss that demanded a certain action, free from politics. Something as wide open as he was, something that expanded worlds, as he tried to do. "When we lost Chris, our family was thinking about how we could honor his memory and spirit," said Stevens' sister, Anne, a pediatric rheumatologist at Seattle Children's, "how to counteract all of the sad, violent events in the world by doing something good. My mother said, 'You should consider a medical exchange project.' "Always listen to the mother," Stevens said. "As pediatricians, we know this. Listen to the mother." And so, with the help of a private endowment from local philanthropist Loyal Moore, Stevens has built upon an existing program called Resident Education and Advocacy for Child Health, or REACH, which sends pediatric residents from Seattle Children's to do intensive field training in rural Washington and Kenya. ADVERTISEMENT Stateside training In this, its first year, the Stevens Endowment made it possible to bring two residents from Kenya to Seattle for a monthlong training program. As a bonus, they have formed a relationship with Stevens; as close as one can get to her brother. The first residents chosen were from the University of Nairobi: Douglas Kunthia Gaitho, chief resident in pediatrics, and Jemimah Karingi Mugo, a pediatrics resident. They arrived with grave knowledge of child health: 52 of every 1,000 children born in Kenya die from prematurity or diseases like sepsis, pneumonia, HIV and malaria. That's five times the infant-mortality rate in the United States. Their time here was exhausting. Along with doing regular rotations in the surgery, infectious disease and other units at Children's, Gaitho and Mugo visited children at Harborview Medical Center and worked at the Odessa Brown Clinic. They visited PATH and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. And there were two or three hours of reading every night. "This has really expanded my worldview," Mugo said. "You know there's a way you can help them, but you don't know how. Now, it's possible to work together." One of the most important things they learned was to look beyond the illness to the many factors that can impact a child's health. "The determinants of health are the same," Mugo said. "Whether it's poverty, access to clean water or education. That affects children everywhere. ADVERTISEMENT "It's been ingrained in us to go beyond the illness." Gaitho offered an analogy: "The tap is open; there is water spilling all over the floor. Doctors are mopping the floor, but we're not closing the tap. "What affects our health care are these social determinants." 'Medical diplomacy' The program is being overseen by Dr. Maneesh Batra, associate director of the pediatric residency at Seattle Children's. Batra had created the REACH program to send third-year residents from the University of Washington to Kenya, where they paired with third-year residents from the University of Nairobi in a provincial hospital. Until now, there was no way to bring the Kenyan residents to Seattle and connect them with its vast global-health community. Stevens calls this addition, supported by the endowment, "medical diplomacy." Loyal Moore met Stevens during a tour of the Seattle Children's Research Institute and learned her brother's story: that Christopher Stevens was killed by militants who attacked the U.S. embassy compounds in Benghazi, Libya, in September 2012. He was the first ambassador killed by militants in 30 years. "I guess he was like many people," Stevens said of Moore. "Struck in the heart when my brother was killed. He felt this loss of a good person who was doing good work. ADVERTISEMENT "Chris was a big believer in international and educational exchange," she said. "His life was formed by it. And he had this sense of wide-eyed awe about things." The residents shared that same awe while exploring the Northwest. Mugo spoke dreamily of seeing snow for the first time. "I saw Mount Rainier in all its glory," she said. "The other residents gave us warm clothes to wear. It was an adventure." Gaitho went to a Sounders game. "Amazing," he said, joking that his ears were still ringing. "All the energy." There was also the hospitality. "They've taken such good care of us," Gaitho said. "They brought us umbrellas, they brought us jackets. This is another home for us." Batra calls the Stevens Endowment and the work it makes possible "a rallying point for this institution." "We have to figure out a way to do it, and do it right and honor the Stevens family and the good that can come with it." Stevens listened to him, smiling. "This is what it's about," she said. "Connecting and forming relationships. "It doesn't end." Rochester police are investigating after a car was reported stolen from the garage of vacationing residents. Officers were called about 1 p.m. Sunday to the 6300 block of Summit Point Road Northeast, when the break-in and theft were discovered. Entry apparently was made through a window of the house, said Capt. John Sherwin. Authorities believe the car was taken some time early Sunday morning; tire tracks in the snow were partially filled in. The owners still are evaluating what else might have been taken, he said. The vehicle is a 2014 black, four-door Mazda 3, carrying Minnesota license plate 997MWA. The loss is estimated at about $15,000. This might be the last Christmas for Arrow Ace Hardwarein Rochester's Miracle Mile Shopping Center. Owner Dave Neimansays a closing sale will start soon for the 16,000-square-foot store with a final closing scheduled for Jan. 14. He has operated a store there since 2003, when he purchased an existing Hardware Hankstore in Miracle Mile. Now 13 years later, the store has to close. The south end of the mall, where it is located, is slated to be demolished to make way for the proposed new Miracle Marketgrocery and apartment complex development. "Nobody will lose a job," said Neiman of his staff at the store. "Everybody has been assured there will be no job loss." He plans to transfer the 12 or so employees at Miracle Mile to his three other Rochester locations at Crossroads Shopping Center, Silver Lake Shopping Centerand a stand-alone store on 37th Street Northwest. ADVERTISEMENT Neiman says the next step after closing is to start looking for a new spot in that Kutzky Park neighborhood. "The landlord has given us a good opportunity to move into the north end of the existing Miracle Mile. We've done our analysis and have brought experts to help us out and we've concluded for now that we are just closing that store. I want to look for a different location in that neighborhood," he said. Neiman added that Javon Bea,the Miracle Mile landlord, had treated them well and made a good offer of a new location. However, the prospect of running a store in the Miracle Market construction zone didn't seem like the right choice at this point. "It may be that as construction progresses, that we may end up back in Miracle Mile," he said The goal is to line up a new 11,000- to 13,000-square-foot location in that area by the summer of 2017. Biz buzz Funny story Despite closing earlier this year, a version of Rochester's comedy club may be coming back. Goonie's Comedy Club,at 7 Second St. SW, closed in July. However, there was some talk at the time of partnering with another venue to bring the comedy shows back to Rochester. ADVERTISEMENT Plans for that might be underway. A Rochester bar and grill filed building permits with the city last week to build a stage. On the permits, the bar's name was followed by "Goonie's West." The general manager of the bar acknowledged Friday that something is in the works, but he couldn't confirm anything. The punchline is that I hope to round up more details on this project soon. On the heels of news that Minnesota's projected budget surplus is expected to top $1.4 billion, legislative leaders and the governor signaled they might be ready to come together for a special session. Gov. Mark Dayton, Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk and House Speaker Kurt Daudt told reporters last week they are tentatively looking at Dec. 20 for a special session. For people struggling with hefty health insurance costs, that could mean help with premiums is on the way. Dayton has said he wants to assist people buying insurance on the individual market who do not qualify for federal tax subsidies with the cost. He is proposing a 25 percent rebate for these consumers. Dayton's plan would help an estimated 123,000 Minnesotans struggling with a spike in the cost of health insurance. Southeast Minnesota has the highest insurance rates in the state. Republicans contend that any special session deal also needs to address a lack of access in some parts of the state. Talk of a special session agreement also has revived hopes that lawmakers will finish some of last session's unfinished business. That includes passing a $260 million tax cut bill with reductions that would benefit farmers, business owners and college graduates with student debt just to name a few. There's also talk about passing a $1 billion public works bill. The measure that failed in the final moments of last spring's legislative session had plenty of local projects in it. Proposals funded included $15 million for a rail grade separation in Red Wing, $25 million for Winona State University Education Village, $1.5 million for the Dyslexia Institute of Minnesota in Rochester and $3.6 million to restore the Lanesboro Dam. ADVERTISEMENT 'Need for a legacy' Last week, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce President Doug Loon visited Rochester and outlined an ambitious priority list for the 2017 legislative session. His group wants cuts to business taxes, a boost to research and development tax credits and substantial investment in Minnesota's transportation infrastructure. He noted Republicans will control the Minnesota House and Senate again for the first time since 2012. But in order for anything to get passed, the GOP Legislature must reach a deal with DFL Gov. Mark Dayton. During Loon's visit, former GOP Rep. Fran Bradley asked about that challenge. Bradley asked, "Pragmatically, to get things done, ultimately it ends up at the governor's desk. What are the prospects of getting support from the governor for a lot of the priorities you've mentioned?" Loon had a couple of pieces of advice for Republicans. First, he said it would be a mistake to wait to pass bills in the final minutes of the session. "We've got to be talking to (the governor) and having conversations with him and not just waiting until the end to send him everything," he said. Loon said it also is critical that Republicans take the time to find out what is important to the governor. "Let's appeal to his need for a legacy," Loon said. "He will have different legacy interests than do the majorities of the House and Senate, but let's at least find out what they are." ADVERTISEMENT Legislative preview Get an overview of the upcoming legislative session from the lawmakers who will be helping make the key decisions. The Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 19 that will feature a panel with local lawmakers and legislative leaders. The event is at the DoubleTree by Hilton in University Hall I & II, 150 S. Broadway, Rochester. The cost is $25 for chamber members and $35 for nonmembers. The fee includes lunch. To register, go to the chamber's website at rochestermnchamber.com or call 288-1122. 2 brothers rescued while hunting DULUTH Authorities say two brothers have been rescued after going missing while hunting in northeastern Minnesota. The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office got a 911 call Friday evening about two hunters late in returning to their meeting point. The hunters, ages 63 and 59, were supposed to return to the Echo Lake Ruffed Grouse Hunter walking trail at about 4:30 p.m., but could not be reached by cellphone. First responders including the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office Volunteer Rescue Squad were dispatched to the area. Searchers found the two men and their dogs just after 11 p.m. Friday, five hours after they were reported missing. ADVERTISEMENT The hunters were in good condition and did not need medical attention. 2 killed, 4 hurt in head-on crash BLOOMINGTON Two people were killed and four were hurt in a head-on crash near the Minneapolis airport. The State Patrol says the crash happened Friday night on Interstate 494 when a car going the wrong way crashed into an oncoming Jeep. The Jeep's driver, 51-year-old Dawn Chiodo of Bloomington, and a passenger, 24-year-old Dylan Bailey, were killed. Three others in the Jeep, including a 2-year-old, were seriously injured. The driver of the other car suffered injuries that weren't life threatening. Everyone was wearing seat belts. The crash remains under investigation. Security guard fatally shoots suspect EAGAN Police in a Twin Cities suburb say a security guard has fatally shot an armed man who attempted to rob him. ADVERTISEMENT The shooting happened shortly after midnight Monday at a warehouse in Eagan. The security guard told police he was attacked by the gunman and during the assault he shot the man. Authorities say the man who was shot died at the scene. The security guard suffered minor injuries. He was not taken to the hospital. Eagan police say they are not seeking additional suspects in the incident. It is now being rumored that president-elect Trump is considering Jon Huntsman for Secretary of State. This rumor strikes me as more shocking than the rumor now more than that Trump was considering his nemesis Mitt Romney for that job. In other words, the Huntsman rumor is probably rooted in fact. The incongruity of a Huntsman selection is based on more than just the former Utah governors harsh criticism of candidate Trump, including calls for Trump to withdraw from the race after the sex-tape came out in October of this year. There are also substantive concerns, or at least youd think there would be. Here is what Trump had to say about Huntsman after one of the 2012 presidential debates in which Huntsman showed off his skill as a speaker of Mandarin and argued for a conciliatory policy towards China: I didnt think the Mandarin thing worked at all. I thought it was ridiculous. And frankly, I think Huntsmans stance toward China is its almost like hes an Obama plant. Trump has promised to reorient U.S. policy towards China. As I suggested here, he will need sound advice as he undertakes this task. Huntsman knows China. But, as Trump recognized in 2012, he doesnt seem like the right guy to help reorient our China policy in the direction Trump has said he favors. To the consternation of many, Donald Trump has spoken by telephone with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. Reportedly, this is the first direct communication between the leader of the United States and the leader of Taiwan since 1979. Team Trump says not much should be made of this. Taiwans president called to congratulate the president-elect and Trump accepted the call. Thats all. However, this Washington Post article contends that the call was planned weeks ahead by staffers and Taiwan specialists on both sides. For once, I believe the Post. Moves as symbolically powerful and potential significant as this one dont just happen. As China expert Gordon Chang told the Post, it doesnt make sense that Tsai out of the blue would call Donald Trump. She is not a risk-taker, and it would be hugely embarrassing to her if Trump didnt take the call and word of the snub got out. Moreover, given the views Trump has expressed about China, it makes sense that he would signal a possible shift in Americas approach to China. The phone conversation served that purpose. So did Trumps response to Chinas criticism. Trump tweeted: Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the U.S. doesnt tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I dont think so! The real questions here are: (1) should Trump shift American policy towards China and (2) should closer relations with Taiwan by part of the shift. Im no expert on China, but I think theres a good case for answering both questions in the affirmative. As Trumps tweet indicates, current U.S. policy towards China seems less than optimal. Chinas shabby treatment of President Obama during his recent visit should have enabled even liberals to see that theres a problem. So too, the Phillippine presidents tilt towards China. As for Taiwan, Trumps receptiveness to its president drew favorable comments from both ends of the Republican spectrum. Jon Huntsman, the liberal former ambassador to China, said: We ought to be giving (Taiwan) a little more space. Sen. Tom Cotton was more emphatic. He said: I commend President-elect Trump for his conversation with President Tsai Ing-wen, which reaffirms our commitment to the only democracy on Chinese soil. I have met with President Tsai twice and Im confident she expressed to the president-elect the same desire for closer relations with the United States. Taiwan is an important U.S. trading partner, a potentially important strategic partner, and (as Cotton says) a beacon of democracy in the region. I dont see why the U.S. president shouldnt talk to its president just because an increasingly hostile China wishes he wouldnt. The broader question of just how to reorient our China policy is a complex one. It would be foolish to minimize the dangers inherent in such a reorientation, but equally foolish to ignore the dangers of our present course. It remains to be seen whether Donald Trump and the foreign policy team he selects will make the right calls on China. But the pre-arranged call from President Tsai was not a wrong one. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reprints an article from the Washington Post under the headline U.S. companies get dragged into a volatile political climate. The article centers on Kellogg, which stirred outrage when it announced that it was blocking advertising on Breitbart.com because Breitbart isnt aligned with our values as a company. There was a lot of pushback from conservatives, including us, but does that mean that Kellogg was dragged into a political controversy? No. Kellogg issued a press release bragging about the fact that it has gone out of its way to see that its ads, which are purchased in bulk and appear on many thousands of web sites, are now blocked from appearing on Breitbart.com. Kellogg could have installed the blocking algorithm and said nothing, in which case there would have been no controversy. The controversy stemmed entirely from Kelloggs effort to curry favor with the Left by insulting conservatives. Of course, the Washington Post shares Kelloggs political perspective, and therefore its reporting is myopic. Kellogg said last week it was pulling advertising from Breitbart News, the far-right website that its critics say trades in racist and sexist content. The assertion that Breitbart is far-right is ridiculous. It is a mainstream conservative site of a certain stripe. The site and its chief executive Steve Bannon are closely aligned with the man who has just been elected President of the United States. Would the Post describe news sources aligned with Hillary Clinton as far left? I dont think so. And, as always, the critics say dodge is the pathetic resort of a bad reporter. If the Post has evidence that Breitbart.com trades in racist and sexist content, lets see it. Critics say the Washington Post is a shill for the Democratic Party, not a legitimate news organization. (For a reminder of how the Post publishes fake news in order to serve the Democratic Partys agenda, go here, here and here.) Ive never seen anything like this before, where companies find themselves so open to attack for their points of view or their speech, said Leslie Gaines-Ross, chief reputation strategist for the public relations firm Weber Shandwick. Companies are now much more in the fray and seen as political targets. Ive never seen anything like this before, where companies publicly align themselves with a failing political party, and go out of their way to insult the majority of Americans. In Kelloggs case, the breakfast giant said its decision to pull ads from Breitbart had nothing to do with politics. Transparently false backtracking. According to Digiday, other companies, including Allstate insurance and Warby Parker eyeware, have also withdrawn ads [from Breitbart.com], and may not have been aware of the ads, which are not bought directly from Breitbart but are referred to as retargeted advertising that follow users from site to site on the internet. So they, too, have gone out of their way to boycott Breitbart rather than treating it like any other web site. Dont buy insurance from Allstate or glasses from Warby Parker. The explosive response, advisers say, is leaving many companies paralyzed by the potential ramifications of their words or actions, particularly in an environment where traditionally routine topics or actions have become politicized. Yes, routine actions like taking a shower or going to the bathroom. One possibility, of course, is to say nothing on political topics that dont specifically relate to the company. This also comes at a time when many companies have been more willing to speak out on political and social issues they had once avoided. More than 200 corporations, for instance, signed a letter by the Human Rights Campaign earlier this year demanding that North Carolina repeal a law that limits bathroom options for transgender people But wait! My own bathroom options are limited in exactly the same way! As are yours. Do these people even read the stuff they write? with some even pulling expansion plans from the state, including PayPal and Deutsche Bank. More companies tout their commitments to diversity, the environment and gender equality, often promoting these to help connect with customers who increasingly make purchases based on their values. Note that every instance cited by the Post is liberal. Why, exactly, are so many companies anxious to align themselves with the Left, which has been losing elections all across the United States in recent years? That seems like a foolhardy strategy. Maybe part of the explanation is that the CEOs and PR people at these companies have been relying on out-of-touch sources like the Washington Post and the New York Times for their news, and actually believed that liberal positions were overwhelmingly popular. Stranger things have happened. I wonder how many elections it will take to disabuse them of that notion. For almost as long as Power Line has been around, I have bemoaned the fact that France never produced a successful political leader willing to push Thatcherite/Reaganite economic policies. When Nicolas Sarkozy began to emerge, I held some hope that he might take France in that direction. However, I never really thought hed take it far, and he didnt. With Francois Fillon now in charge of Frances conservative party, there is reason for greater hope. Writing in the City Journal, Fred Siegel describes the deeply Catholic Fillon as a social conservative with liberal economic views. Siegel means liberal in the old-fashioned sense. Fillon believes in free markets. Hes he closest thing to a Thatcherite I can recall seeing in a leading French politician. For years, I have also bemoaned Frances immigration policy and its unwillingness to tackle the problem of Islamic extremism and separatism within French borders. Sarkozy made a run at improving French policy is this regard, but sometimes chose the wrong targets. Fillon takes a hard line on immigration and militant Islam. He is, in the words of an unhappy E.J. Dionne, a critic of multiculturalism and what he sees as Muslim encroachment on French identity. Sarkozys hard line appeared to hurt him in the 2012 election, just as Mitt Romneys views on illegal immigration hurt him that year. But that was before a wave of Islamic inspired violence shook France up. France is now so shaken that Marine Le Pen, head of the right-wing National Front party, is considered likely to make the run-off (i.e., the final two) in the upcoming presidential election. Nor is it considered certain that she would lose a run-off. By making Fillon its champion, the conservative party arguably maximizes the chance of defeating Le Pen. There is room to Fillons right on immigration and Islam, but not nearly as much as there would have been if Fillon had lost out to former prime minister Alain Juppe, the moderate whom most expected to become the conservative party candidate. However, Siegel suggests that Le Pen might put together a formidable left-right coalition in the run-off. He writes: Fillons Thatcherite economic policy will no doubt push Frances vast array of public-sector trade unionistsand what remains of the industrial working-class votersinto the arms of Marine Le Pen, who could merge as the de facto left-wing candidate (if such terms still have any meaning). The many millions who either work for government or are the recipient of corporatist benefits might quietly support Le Pens nationalism rather than risk losing their privileges. I have enough difficult predicting the outcome of U.S. presidential elections without venturing into French elections. For what its worth, however, I like Fillons chances. Finally, Ill turn to what I find troubling about Fillon his stance on Russia and, relatedly, the U.S. Andrew Stuttaford at NRO reports that Fillon has called for lifting sanctions on Russia and for partnering with Moscow in an effort to curtail immigration and terrorism. He is friendly with Putin. Stuttaford quotes Benjamin Haddad of the Hudson Institute who says: All over Europe, Putinism has emerged as an ideological alternative to globalism, the E.U., etc. [Putin is seen as a] a bulwark for conservative values a strongman against gay marriage, immigration, Islam. Its largely a domestic phenomenon, rather than the reflection of a strategic debate over the relationship with Moscow. If the tilt towards Putin reflects domestic politics rather than strategic thinking, the election of a Fillon (or a Trump) may be sufficient to overcome knee-jerk affinity for Putin. Arguably, were seeing this play out in the Trump transition with the president-elects selection of Generals Mattis and Flynn and his flirtation with Mitt Romney who presciently viewed Russia as a major geopolitical foe. Nonetheless, its a pity that, as Stuttaford says, the European elites handed Putin an advantage through the overreach of the European project, which has long since become disconnected from popular consent, commonsense, or even basic competence[.] Chocolate City first lady, Victoria Kimani, finally released her highly anticipated album titled Safari. The Safari album shows off Victoria Kimanis versatility and definitely takes the lead as Africas most internationally acclaimed album with quite a few international features and production credits going to top music producers all around the world, a statement by chocolate city said. The album, Victoria Kimanis debut, is now available in digital stores. To whet the appetite of her teeming fans, she also released the official music video to her Sarkodie assisted track titled Giving You off the Safari album. Four medical doctors at the troubled Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, have been queried for allegedly abandoning work. The four doctors, O. Tijani, O. Bankole, O. Nasir and. N. Daodu, were asked to explain why disciplinary actions should not be taken against them. It was noticed that you abandoned your duty post without giving prior notice to your superior in office, the query dated November 30 and signed by A. Amudan stated. This action taken by you during the ongoing second semester examinations has far reaching implications on the safety of lives of students, staff members and their dependants, the management said. The four doctors are members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities, SSANU, who have been on strike for several weeks protesting alleged high-handedness and financial impropriety by the university management. Already, the Universitys Vice Chancellor, Sola Oyewole; Pro-Chancellor Adeseye Ogunlewe and Bursar Moses Ilesanmi are being prosecuted for fraud by the anti-graft EFCC. The officials are accused of mismanaging N800 million of the universitys funds. Should the four doctors be dismissed, they will join 23 other members of the union who were already sacked by the university. Although the university accused the sacked staff of stealing school property and abandoning duties, they are believed to be victimised because they squealed on the corruption in the federal institution. The dismissal of the staff has already been condemned by organised labour and civil society groups including the Nigeria Labour Congress. The Federal Government on Monday failed to arraign a judge of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, Adeniyi Ademola. The office of the Attorney General had planned to arraign Mr. Ademola at a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory on Monday, but failed to do so because the judge was yet to be served with the originating summons for his trial. Mr. Ademola, alongside his wife, Olubowale, is facing a 15-count charge of alleged fraud and abuse of office. He is among the seven judges whose homes were raided by operatives of the State Security Service on October 7. Counsel to the Federal Government, Segun Jegede, told the trial judge, Jude Okeke, that the summons for the trial had not been served to the defendants. He applied for leave of court to pass the originating summons to the defendants through their lawyer. The application was granted and the case was adjourned till December 13. Former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, has denied plotting to leave the ruling All Progressives Congress for a new party. Mr. Tinubu played pivotal role in the formation of the APC and the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari. But his political clout has been increasingly curtailed as forces within the party realign ahead of the 2019 election. Mr. Tinubu openly demanded the resignation of the partys chairman, John Oyegun, after his candidate for the Ondo State governorship election lost to a candidate supported by Mr. Oyegun and President Buhari. Reacting to a report by Punch on Sunday, Mr. Tinubu said on Monday he was not quitting the party as claimed by the newspaper. He denied that he was partnering with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, also an APC chieftain, and the Ahmed Markafi faction of Peoples Democratic Party, to form a mega party. This is a party I labored with others to build, said Mr. Tinubu said on Twitter via his handle @AsiwajuTinubu. We would not abandon it for another. Millions of Nigerians who voted are watching and praying. Mr. Tinubu has faced what appears to be an increasingly hostile political climate in the ruling party. Last week, the winner of the Ondo polls, Rotimi Akeredolu, dismissed him as not more than a state level APC leader. He was explaining his refusal to include Mr. Tinubus name in his victory speech. Mr. Tinubu did not lose only in Ondo State. Long before the election that held two weeks ago, his candidate for the Kogi governorship election, James Faleke, lost out too, as did those for the leadership positions of the National Assembly. But despite his apparent frustration in the party, one of Mr. Tinubus loyalists, Adesoji Akanbi, a Senator representing Oyo South, told PREMIUM TIMES Asiwaju will not leave APC which he built; he is a veteran fighter and he is going to fight from within. In his tweets Monday, the former Lagos governor said he would not engage in destructive pettiness. In our Journey to national betterment, plans and policies will be made, then amended. Mistakes will occur and then corrected, he said. Achievements will be had and replicated. Through it all, I, Asiwaju will remain true to the progressive ideals that fueled the creation of APC. I have devoted my political life to achieve what has been achieved. My heart is too much of the people and my mind too fixed on establishing positive historic legacy rather than engage in destructive pettiness. This government, APC, is for the betterment of the people and the national purpose is bigger and more important than any individuals desires. The Kaduna State Government has officially labelled the Shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, an insurgent group. This is contained in a White Paper released by the state government on Monday in Kaduna. For all intent and purpose, the IMN is an insurgent group and ought to be treated as such, the government said n the white paper. The government also said the detained Shiite leader, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, will be held responsible for all acts carried out by the groups members. Members of the IMN owe absolute loyalty to Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, the white paper states. He therefore bears responsibility for all the acts of lawlessness committed by the organisation and should therefore be held responsible, fully investigated and prosecuted. In the white paper, the state government also indicated it may not prosecute the soldiers involved in the killing of over 300 members of the IMN in December last year, but may leave their prosecution to the federal government. Details later One year after over 300 followers of Ibrahim El-Zakzaky were killed by soldiers, the cleric, himself, will be prosecuted, the Kaduna State Government has said. Mr. El-Zakzaky will not only be prosecuted for the actions that led to the death of his followers in December last year, but for other crimes that he and his members may have committed in the last three decades. These were part of the decisions reached by the state government as contained in the White Paper released on Monday in Kaduna. The White Paper was drafted by a nine-member committee set up by the state government to review recommendations made by a commission of enquiry also established by the state government. The commission of enquiry was set up following the killing of at least 347 people between December 12 and 14 by soldiers. The soldiers accused the Shiite members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, of blocking a major road and plotting to kill the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai. The Shiites denied the allegations. The killings were condemned by local and international human rights organisations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. The Federal Government had refused to investigate the killings, passing on the responsibility to the Kaduna State Government to do so. Mr. El-Zakzaky and his wife have been held without trial since the December incident amidst condemnations by civic groups and activists. Last week, A federal court in Abuja ordered the federal government to release the cleric and his wife and pay them a N50 million compensation for the unlawful detention. The Kaduna government appears set to order the re-arrest of Mr. El-Zakzaki and prosecute him should he be released by the federal government. In its White Paper released on Monday, the Kaduna government said the soldiers that operated in December last year abided by the Armys Rules of Engagement. Regarding the clashes in the Gyallesu area of Zaria where the Nigerian Army mounted a cordon and search operation, the White Paper observed that many civilians were evacuated from Gyallesu, but that IMN members rejected the opportunity to vacate the area, the government stated. Also, while the initial panel of enquiry recommended that soldiers involved in the unlawful killing be prosecuted, the Kaduna government said though it noted the recommendation, it would have to wait for the federal government to act. The Federal Government will not condone unlawful killing of any citizen and that this conduct will be further investigated and any culprits identified will first be subjected to court martial by the federal authorities, followed by civil prosecution by the state government. The Army and the federal government have not indicated if or when the court-martials will start or how long it would last. THE INSURGENT IMN The Kaduna government also accused its commission of enquiry of failing to take into account the years during which the activities of the IMN in Gyallesu threatened peace and security in the area. For all intent and purpose, the IMN is an insurgent group and ought to be treated as such, it said. It added that the sheer numbers of IMN members congregating in Zaria from across the country that night (December last year), with many bearing arms, was such that the Nigerian Army was in no position to accurately determine how armed and organised they were and had to be concerned on what their intention for Zaria was. The government also said it rejected suggestions by the commission of enquiry that the burial of the 347 victims did not conform to the law. Government observes that its officials complied with the Burial Law of the State. Section 7 sub-section 1 of the Burial Law Cap 20 Laws of Kaduna State Government 1991 requires the burial of persons who die in this type of circumstances within 24hrs. The Interpretation section of Rule 115 Geneva Convention also states that in circumstances of this nature, dead bodies could be buried in a mass grave, it said. In the same vein, the state government said it rejected the commission of enquirys view on actions taken to clear structures at the scenes of the clashes. It said the debris at the Hussainiyya Baqiyatillah, the shrine used by IMN members at the residence of Mr. El-Zakzaky were removed on the grounds of Public Health and safety. It said all the IMN buildings that were demolished were constructed without statutory title and building permit as required by the Land Use Act and Section 26 of the Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development Authority, KASUPDA Law No.12 of 2015. All the structures so removed violated either the provisions of the Land Use Act or the KASUPDA Law or both, the government said. The Kaduna government reiterated its position that IMN is an unregistered organisation that cannot be sued. It said the government has therefore accepted the recommendation of the committee that all IMN members and its leadership are jointly and severally liable for all violations of the law in the last 30 years, and are therefore responsible for the clashes and its consequences. It said the Attorney-General of Kaduna State would liaise with the police and other law enforcement agencies to ensure that there is accountability for the murders and other crimes committed by leaders and members of the IMN in the last three decades. The government said members of the IMN owe absolute loyalty to Mr. El-Zakzaky and that he ( Mr. El-Zakzaky) therefore bears responsibility for all the acts of lawlessness committed by the organisation and should be held responsible, fully investigated and prosecuted. The government said the evidence before the Commission, from the testimonies and memoranda submitted to it by the various interest groups clearly shows that IMN has become a law unto itself; disregarding the authority of the Nigerian State as vested in the police and other security agencies which many a times lead to several confrontations such as the one of 12th to 14th December, 2015 between it and the Nigerian Army. RETRIEVE ALL IMN LAND The Kaduna government said it has also accepted the recommendation of the committee that all incidents of violence and aggression by the members of the IMN against individuals, groups, or communities, which have resulted in grievous bodily harm, destruction of property and deaths, should be fully investigated and culprits brought to book. Where appropriate, compensations should be paid, it said. It said the need has now arisen for the government to investigate and repossess all illegally acquired public lands from IMN and utilise same for public interest. The Kaduna government said there is a long tradition of IMN refusal to respect, observe and comply with the laws of the country. The government also said the commission of enquiry has highlighted the IMNs allegiance to a foreign power and its pattern of conduct which suggests that it is an insurgent group. NO BAN ON SHIITES The Kaduna government said two other groups in the Shiite tradition are active in Kaduna State, with their adherents freely observing their faith. Both groups, Al-Thaqalayn and RasulAazam, it said, gave testimony to the commission of enquiry, affirming that the Shia faith can be observed and ought to be protected within the boundaries set and permitted by the Nigerian constitution and other laws. The IMN had boycotted the commission insisting it would not appear until Mr. El-Zakzaky and its other leaders were released from detention. The Kaduna government said the allegiance of the other two Shiite groups to the Nigerian state stand in marked contrast to the IMNs utter disregard for laws and the rights of citizens. The government said it has already acted on some of the recommendations of the commission of enquiry even before the white paper committee submitted its report. Government has already acted to declare the IMN an unlawful society and is prosecuting the IMN members alleged to be involved in the killing of Corporal Dan Kaduna Yakubu. Government has also ensured that property destroyed in the clashes have been valued to ascertain reasonable compensation to circumstantial victims. The government said the sad events of December 12 to 14, 2015 led to needless and avoidable casualties and that they are the product of a legacy of lawlessness, and must never be allowed to recur. A prosecution witness, Adamu Yusuf, on Monday told a Federal High Court, Lagos, how about N4.9 billion was converted into dollars by a former Director-General of NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolokemi. Mr. Akpobolokemi, former D-G of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, is charged alongside a former Commander of the Niger-Delta Military Joint Task Force, Operation Pulo Shield, Emmanuel Atewe. Also charged are Kime Engozu and Josephine Otuaga. They are standing trial on 11-count charge of N8.5 billion fraud preferred by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. When the case was called on Monday, the prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, led Mr. Yusuf, the second prosecution witness in Evidence-In-Chief. The witness told the court that during investigation, it was discovered that the said N4.9 billion was handed over to the third and fourth accused persons (Engozu and Otuaga). At the end of our investigation, we discovered that about N4.9 billion was converted into United States dollars and the money was handed over to the third and fourth accused persons. We also uncovered evidence, where the accused acknowledged the receipt of the money and same was forwarded to the forensic unit for expert opinion. Mr. Yusuf told the court that the accused used different companies and accounts to launder billions of money from the account of the Joint Task Force operation. He said the companies include: Jagan Ltd; Jagan Trading Company Ltd; Jagan Global Services Ltd; Al-Nald Ltd; Paper Warehouse Ltd; Eastpoint Integrated Services Ltd and De-New link Integrated Services Ltd. The witness further testified that during investigation, letters of request were sent to GT bank, Heritage Bank, Diamond Bank, Stanbic IBTC bank, as well as First City Monument Bank, FCMB. According to the witness, the letters of request demanded for account statements of beneficiaries of that account. After his testimony, Justice Saliu Saidu adjourned further trial till February 3, 2017. Earlier, before the commencement of trial, the EFCC had informed the court of an amended 22-count charge and had sought to re-arraign the accused on the amended charge. The accused were consequently re-arraigned on the amended charges, and had again all pleaded not guilty to the charges. In the charge, the anti-graft agency alleged that the accused conspired to defraud NIMASA of N8.5 billion using six companies. The companies are: Jagan Ltd; Jagan Trading Company Ltd; Jagan Global Services Ltd; Al-Nald Ltd; Paper Warehouse Ltd; Eastpoint Integrated Services Ltd and De-Newlink Integrated Services Ltd. The EFCC claimed that the accused committed the alleged fraud between September5, 2014 and May 20, 2015. The offences are said to have contravened the provisions of Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012. The offences are also said to have contravened the provisions of Section 390 of the Criminal Code Act Cap C. 38, Laws of the Federation, 2004. (NAN) A yet unknown number of Boko Haram fighters were reported killed on Sunday after Nigerian troops returned fire in response to an attack on its location by armed terrorists in the Kangarwa area of Borno State. People familiar with the matter told PREMIUM TIMES the terrorists attacked troops of the 119 Task Force Battalion at about 4 P.M. on Sunday, shooting sporadically. Nigerian soldiers responded promptly, killing an unknown number of Boko Haram fighters, and wounding several others. One of our sources said at least 13 bodies of terrorists were counted after calm was restored. He said several other members of the sect escaped with serious gunshot wounds. We are sure most of those who fled with wounds will die eventually, the source said. One soldier however died during the battle while three others were wounded. Military insiders said the attack was so intense that the army had to call for air support. The Nigerian Air Force responded promptly by dispatching two aircraft in support of ground forces, one source said. As the air force rained bullets from the air, the insurgents fled in different directions abandoning some weapons, insiders said. Two Hilux vans belonging to the sect were destroyed while several weapons, including artillery guns, Ak-47 rifles machine guns and pump action guns were recovered. The attack came five days after troops of 25 Task Force Brigade advancing to clear Boko Haram terrorists around the Sambisa Forest ran into two Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) at Matube. An official said one IED was successfully detonated while the other exploded and killed a soldier. The remains of the soldier was evacuated to the headquarters of the brigade in Damboa, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has been drawn to a report captioned, Senators ask Saraki to release DSS report on Magu, which appeared in the Daily Trust newspaper of Monday December 5, 2016, purporting, among others, that the acting chairman of the Commission, Ibrahim Magu, has been lobbying principal officers of the senate over his confirmation. The Commission wishes to state that this information is patently false. Mr. Magu is not lobbying anybody. President Muhammadu Buhari has given him a delicate job to fight corruption in Nigeria and he is fully focused on this mandate. I have got a job to do; my motivation is to make a difference because our country has suffered a lot from the effects of corruption. I sleep and wake up every day thinking about what new thing I can do to add value to the work that had already been done, Mr. Magu said. The result of this commitment is evident in the reinvigorated anti-graft war in the last one year. Even critics will concede that the EFCC under Magu has been reenergized with new milestones recorded. This includes over 200 convictions and asset and properties running into billions of dollars recovered within a space of one year. Stakeholders from within and outside Nigeria, including members of the civil society, international law enforcement organizations and development partners, including the generality of media, acknowledge the gains that have been made by the EFCC in the last one year. The challenge before the Commission is the sustenance of the current tempo of activities and it will not be distracted by mischief from a section of the media. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday said it received a total of 1,179,510 complaints of human rights violations between January and November. Its Executive Secretary, Bem Angwe, who disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja, said the commission had treated over 500 cases out which 200 had been won. According to him, the number of complaints being received by the commission shows that Nigerians are becoming more aware of their human rights. This year, the National Human Rights Commission has crossed the one million annual threshold in its complaint status. At the end of November, the complaints received by the commission stood at 1,179,510 in one year. This is a testimony of the visibility and the confidence that the people of Nigeria have on the NHRC. As I speak to you, the commission has treated more than 500 cases and won more than 200 cases where persons, who were illegally detained without trial, have been released and compensation ordered in their favour. The number of complaints we are receiving is a manifestation that more Nigerians are becoming aware of their human rights. The number of complaints we are receiving today is a manifestation that more Nigerians have become aware of their human rights. Mr. Angwe also said that the commission had begun the enforcement of the rights of Nigerians illegally detained in prison without trial. Some of the victims, he said, were being compensated with N2 million each. He did not give further details. The executive secretary also said the commission would investigate the recent alleged detention of a journalist, Friday Ogungbemi, by security agents in Kogi. With respect to the journalist that they are talking about, the situation is like others where Nigerians do have their rights infringed on. We would do everything possible, as we have been doing before, to stand by our journalist and to also enforce their rights. We are not saying that as journalists they cannot go wrong, but if they are wrong then the due process of the law must be followed, and they should not be incarcerated or detained. We are going to ensure that where the right of any journalist is infringed, even where that journalist is alleged to have committed an offence we will ensure their rights are enforced. Because if even criminals and convicts do have rights, not to talk about people who are only alleged to have committed an offence. So, we are going to do that. President Muhammadu Buhari has again congratulated the President-elect of Gambia, Adama Barrow, on his electoral victory. The President had earlier congratulated him on Saturday, December 3, after his triumph was announced. In a telephone conversation with him this afternoon shortly before his trip to the International Forum on Peace and Security in Senegal, President Buhari expressed his gladness at the conduct of the contestants before, during and after the elections. Mr. Buhari urged Mr. Barrow to ensure that the transition process is also as smooth as the electoral process and carry everyone along in his task of taking the Gambia to a new level. The President also expressed his admiration at the existing rapport between the President-elect and other contestants especially the current president, who lost the election, stating that democracy, rule of law and respect for each other are fast taking roots in Africa and that Gambia has also become a role model for Africa and the world at large. The Civil Society Network Against Corruption, CSNAC, has described as unlawful the decision of the Code of Conduct Tribunal to adjourn the trial of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, for two months since November. In a petition dated November 30, and addressed to the tribunals chairman, Danladi Umar, the group said the adjournment from November 8 to January 11 goes against the provision of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act. The petition, signed by CSNACs chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, condemned what the group described as previous frivolous adjournments on the matter since it began in September 2015. In a bid to hasten the dispensation of justice through speedily bringing criminals to book thereby checkmating the rise of crime in the society, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act was enacted in May 2015 to provide the much needed change to the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria, CSNAC said. In view of this, the Act provides for the day to day trial of criminal matters. In section 396, it provides as follows: Upon arraignment, the trial of the Defendant shall proceed from day to day until the conclusion of the trial. Though the Act provides for short adjournment intervals where necessary, it also stipulates that the court may award reasonable costs in order to discourage frivolous adjournments. Furthermore, in order to achieve its aim of speedy dispensation of justice, the Act also completely bans any application for stay of proceedings in respect of criminal matters. The Act also provides that where day-to-day trial is impracticable, the interval between adjournments shall not exceed 14 working days. It is obvious that the duration from the last date of hearing till January is a violation of this Act and will only serve to defeat the purpose of speedy adjudication of criminal matters which the Act seeks to achieve, and which is the norm in well-developed societies across the world, the group said. The civil society group demanded that the tribunal avoid the unlawful act going forward. Your office take note of this unlawful Act, take measures to correct this violation and uphold provisions of the law, it said. We have to either make conscious efforts to stop corruption personally or punish them (the corrupt) with capital punishment. Gbolahan Dada, senator representing Ogun West, advocating capital punishment for corruption (Source: Leadership newspaper) As an Igbo man who have (sic) seen it all; trained in business by the Hausa Fulani and started business in the South West, I sincerely believe it is better for the Igbos to sit where other Nigerians are sitting. Orji Kalu, former governor of Abia State, said while explaining the reasons he joined the All Progressives Congress after resigning from the Progressive Peoples Alliance, a party he established and funded (Source: Vanguard newspaper) In Nigeria, political parties are like disposable syringes. They are used once to deliver a specific medication at a prescribed time and discarded wantonly thereafter. Doyin Okupe, former senior special assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on public affairs, reacting to media reports that some Nigerian politicians were planning to establish a mega party in preparation for 2019 general elections (Source: The Cable) In the seminary, people are trained to be priests, not necessarily to be believers. Just like people can be a teacher without believing in education, a police officer without believing in the rule of law, one can become a priest, without believing in God. Leo Igwe, founder of the Nigerian Humanist Movement, responding to a question about the irony in him learning about and embracing atheism while studying in the seminary (Source: Premium Times) Stop the debate. Its time for women to drive. Alwaleed bin Talal, a prominent Saudi prince and business magnate, urging his country to lift the driving ban on women (Source: The New York Times) I had a horror of what is to come with Trump I threw away the (green) card, and I have relocated, and Im back to where I have always been. Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate, confirming that he discarded his America green card. Mr. Soyinka who used to reside in the United States had promised to tear the card (his residency permit) if the Republican candidate, Donald Trump, won the U.S presidential election (Source: The Nation) In most states, especially in the north where we dont have oil, the ministry of local government in the state is regarded as the ministry of petroleum resources. So we all know when funds are allocated to the councils. Instead of getting to the councils, they are hijacked at that (state) level and appropriated according to the whims of the powers that be. Yakubu Dogara, Speaker, House of Representatives, accusing state governors of hijacking funds meant for local government councils (Source: The Nation) The day a senator and a (bus) conductor both equally fear and have respect for the Nigeria police is the day that weve gotten it right with police reforms. Juliet Kego, poet and advocate for transformational leadership, calling on Nigerias government to urgently reform the police (Source: Twitter) I will never dump PDP for APC. I remain strong and unshaken for the PDP. I cant jump the boat, even if I want to jump, I wont jump into the Red Sea. I operate like the biblical Elisha because those with us are greater. The God of Israel that conquered Philistines shall be on our side. Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State (Source: The Nation) If youre not doing something that youre passionate about, youre compromising yourself every single day. Chris Gardner, an American multi-millionaire businessman and motivational speaker on how he overcame poverty and homelessness to become one of the most influential figures in the U.S. Mr. Gardners best-selling autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness, was turned into a hit movie in Hollywood in 2006 (Source: BBC) President Muhammadu Buhari has commiserated with the family of former Minister of Commerce and Industry, Ayora Kuforiji-Olubi, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 80. The president, who recently received the former minister and first female Chairman of the United Bank of Africa at the State House, also extended heartfelt condolences to the government and people Ogun State. He also condoled with the banking industry, Mr. Kuforiji-Olubis friends and professional colleagues over the loss. In a statement by Femi Adesina, the presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity on Monday in Abuja, Mr. Buhari recalled that during his October 20 meeting with the banking and accounting top shots, where he congratulated her on her 80th birthday, she was warm and hearty. He affirmed that the then first female president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria served the nation and humanity with all her God-given strength and talent. He noted that the multiple professional, national awards and fellowships she received were well deserved. The president said as a distinguished economist and manager who scored many firsts in breaking the glass ceiling in both private and public services, the deceased would be remembered for redefining the place of womanhood in Nigerias development and inspiring others. President Buhari prayed that the Almighty God would grant her eternal rest, and also comfort her loved ones.(NAN) The national chairman of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, John Odigie-Oyegun, has defended the borrowing plans of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, saying borrowing is inevitable in view of the current economic realities in the country. Mr. Odigie-Oyegun said Nigeria must borrow to invest in infrastructure and grow the economy. The APC Chairman spoke on Sunday night after receiving a lifetime achievement award presented to him by the Warri Choral Society during a classical music concert the Society held in his honour at the Muson Center in Lagos. Mr. Odigie-Oyegun assured that the borrowings would not be used to pay salaries. If you read the newspapers, you hear the president being advised to pump money into the economy. So the question is where is the money coming from? Simple! It has to come from somewhere including borrowing both internal and external. To get this country going again, you have to pay contractors. Some contractors have not been paid for four, five, six, 10 years. So long as the borrowing is done not to pay salaries which the President Buhari administration will not do, but invested to create opportunities, solve our problems of power and things like that. To allow people to have money to consume, to buy goods, to pay for services so that factories can produce. So it is that cycle. We must kick-start the economy and to kick-start it will need money, lots of money, the APC National Chairman told journalists after the concert. Mr. Odigie-Oyegun said the ongoing fight against corruption was necessary for the country to make progress. That is a task (anti-corruption) that must be accomplished because it is at the bottom of all the ills of this country. When you are corrupt, you are immoral, when you are corrupt, you dont have ethics, when you are corrupt, you lose the distinction between right and wrong. When you are corrupt, even life does not mean anything to you. So, we must get it under serious control for this nation to have hope of making any progress, he said. Mr. Odigie-Oyegun, who was accompanied by his wife, Victoria, said the timing of the concert came at perfect time for him in view of the gradual de-escalation of the political atmosphere in the country. I have had the esteem pleasure of being associated with the Warri Choral Society. I got to know that they deliver the kind of music that relaxes me, that transports me that comforts me. The date of this event cannot have been chosen more fortuitously. It is absolutely perfect, given the chain of events that have been reported in the newspapers almost on a daily basis. There has been a gradual de-escalation of the political atmosphere and I think this event is just capping it, he said after receiving the lifetime achievement award. Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki, in his remarks at the concert said Mr. Odigie-Oyegun had changed the face of politics in the country. He thanked the founder of the Warri Choral Society, Joe Ayonmike, for his contributions to classical music in Nigeria. I am so jealous that Warri has a choral society of this international quality. I see it as a challenge that in Benin we will have to develop one. But we must support our brothers and sisters from Delta state. Tonight we celebrate our National Chairman who we are very proud of. A man who has by the divine intervention of God changed the face of politics in our country. Let me also use this opportunity to thank Mr. Joe Ayonmike for what he has done for classical music in our country, Mr. Obaseki said. Dignitaries at the concert included the Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki and his wife, Betsy; former Governor of Ogun State, Olusegun Osoba; former governor of Ekiti State, Otunba Niyi Adebayo; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh; Senators Domingo Obende and Ovie Omo-Agege; John Obakpolo; Hosa Okunbo; Nike Akande, President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce; Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa and her husband, Segun; Umana Umana, Managing Director of Oil & Gas Free Zone Authority; Otega Emerhor; former Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Leke Pitan and Grace Egbagbe amongst others. Members of the APC National Working Committee, NWC, of the APC also attended the event. Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, on Monday in Lagos vowed to hold a private funeral on January 20, the day the United States President-elect, Donald Trump, will be sworn in. A visibly angry Mr. Soyinka, who was speaking about the controversy that arose over his threat to destroy his American Green Card following the election of Mr. Trump, said the private wake will have nothing to do with U.S. politics but would instead be to the death of common sense among Nigerians. Im going to hold a private wake on inauguration day not to mourn the decision of Americans in the choice of president but to mourn the death of Nigeria common sense, he said. Mr. Soyinka, who told the French news agency, AFP, in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Friday that he had destroyed the card, said he was shocked that people were asking him to present video evidence showing him destroying the card. He said the commentaries generated, especially on social media, by his threat to destroy his Green Card may force him to Wolexit 2. Wolexit is a term coined by the literary luminary after the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom. Mr Soyinka had earlier used the term to describe his decision to quit the U.S. He, however, said he has not decided the nature the Wolexit 2 may take as it could either be internal (which would see him withdrawing to his Abeokuta sanctuary, Ijegba), external, or mixed. Describing the whole controversy as a theatre of the absurd, Mr. Soyinka said he was puzzled that it was something even worth the fuss it generated. I hope to leave here today with a little knowledge. Im puzzled and I dont know what the fuss is all about, he said. Why do you wail more than the bereaved? Im addressing these illiterates who feel they want to make themselves heard. He said destroying his Green Card was not the first time he had undertaken such gesture to express his reservation over certain issues. Mr. Soyinka narrated how he destroyed his national medal during a protest at the Race Course (also known as Tafawa Balewa Square) in Lagos during a protest he undertook with late Tai Solarin. I took out my national honour medal and I stamped on it. I could have done something else but I would be accused of indecent exposure, he said. Trump is not really my problem. What really matters is the rhetoric that got him there especially against Nigerians. People react in their own ways and I dont go fighting them for it. Expression is not only by words but it (is) also be actions. When I take such actions, I dont want people on behalf of whom we took these actions to express themselves in vulgar manner. He particularly came hard of Nigerians making commentaries about his threat to destroy his Green Card on social media, describing them as slugs, millipedes, imbeciles, Barbarians, and blabbermouths. Barbarians are taking the opportunity of the anonymity of the internet to take over the country What is the business of any stupid Nigerian to open his or her mouth to challenge my right? Did you get the Green Card for me? The arrogance of Nigerians is overwhelming. Where does this arrogance come from? What right do they have to tell me that I have no right to take a decision in a particular way? What right do they have? Who are you giving orders? I didnt take orders from Sani Abacha, what right do they have to give me order? I shall move my residency out of Nigeria Mr Soyinka subsequently said he has decided to move the Soyinka foundation residency out of Nigeria as a response to the unwarranted commentaries generated by the Green Card issue. Im embarrassed that Im occupying the same nation space with these imbeciles. You have to deal with power and have to deal with those who have to deal with power. Nigerians should realise how ridiculous they make themselves. The Nigerian personal is gaining notoriety all over the world. That is why Trump latched on the existing narrative. You want to see evidence? I will put it on Ogun shrine because I live on Ogun principles. Something has to give. There will be certain actions I might take or refuse to take as a result of this. There has to be a significant event on my side in response to the obscene and unwarranted attacks. Im going to move the residency of my foundation out of the country. I have already started it. It is my property. I am moving my foundation out of Nigeria, he said. The importation of vehicles into Nigeria through the land borders have been banned by the Federal Government. The prohibition order covers all new and used vehicles. The ban is sequel to a presidential directive restricting all vehicle imports to Nigeria sea ports only. The order takes effect from January 1, 2017. The restriction on importation of vehicles follows that of rice, whose imports have been banned through the land borders since April 2016. Importers of vehicles through the land borders are requested to utilise the grace up till December 31, 2016 to clear their vehicle imports landed in neighbouring ports. The Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, on Monday reiterated the commitment of the National judicial Council towards restoring the confidence of Nigerians in the judiciary. Speaking at an event to mark the swearing in of two new Supreme Court justices, Paul Galinje and Sidi Bage, Mr. Onnoghen said the independence of the judiciary is fundamental to ensure the rule of law. My lords, ladies and gentlemen, our democracy is evolving and we must all work towards ensuring that the rule of law is deeply entrenched in our nation. To do otherwise is an invitation to chaos and anarchy. We must constantly be reminded of the importance of preserving and protecting the Judiciary which by its Constitutional mandate is the foundation of the rule of law in any society. Any threat to that foundation, including threat to its independence, portends danger for such society as the citizens will ultimately bear the brunt. Let me assure you all that, the National Judicial Council is poised more than ever before to restore confidence in the Judiciary as well as defend its independence and integrity. We will continue to review our guidelines and procedural rules as the need arises in the times we live, said Mr. Onnoghen. He called on the new judges to live above board, in a bid to prevent attacks that may threaten the independence of the judiciary. You are coming to the Supreme Court at a time when the third arm of government, the Judiciary is witnessing very challenging times. This should not make you despair, but rather spur you on to a greater commitment to defend the integrity and independence of the Judiciary. Failure to defend this institution would mean failing the citizens of this nation who have placed their hope in the judiciary for the fair and equitable dispensation of justice. I therefore urge you to always remain above board in the discharge of your duties in your new role. Citing a previous remarks about the apex court by a former Attorney General of the Federation, Kanu Agabi, Mr. Onnoghen said the new justices, as well as their counterparts in the highest court, have been called to abide by the principles of absolute integrity, fairness and justice. In a similar development, Mr. Onnoghen charged members of the Nigerian media to regulate their reportage in a way as to ensure improved confidence in the judiciary. Speaking at a workshop organised by the National Judicial Institute in Abuja, Mr. Onnoghen said the media had a crucial role in restoring the confidence of the judiciary and sustaining Nigerias democracy. I am sure you will agree with me that the relationship between the fourth estate of the realm and our nations judiciary has been frosty. This is because members of the press are often after a scoop. Although a necessary hazard, the friction intermittently caused by this strain has at times resulted in the wider society having a wrong perception of the Nigerian judiciary. However I must emphasise the importance of preserving and protecting the judiciary as an institution designed to outlive individuals. The judiciary is the foundation of the rule of law in any society. If that foundation is threatened in any way; including threat to its independence, there cannot be a viable democracy. Therefore the press must partner with the judiciary in the performance of this very crucial role. Hence the need for the press to better regulate its reportage of Court proceedings matters that impact upon public confidence in the judiciary becomes crucial. I therefore urge you all to cross-check your facts for accurate and balanced reporting of its activities, said Mr. Onnoghen. The Governor of Rivers State and the Nigeria Police made contradictory statements on the alleged withdrawal of the formers security aides. Mr. Wike said in a text message through his Commissioner for Information, Tam George, on Monday that his Chief Security Officer, CSO, and other key personnel in his detail had been withdrawn by the federal government. The governor quickly surmised that the alleged withdrawal was part of an elaborate plot to assassinate him ahead of the National Assembly elections holding across the state on December 10. He blamed it all on the ruling All Progressives Congress. We will defend our sovereign right to freely choose our leaders. No force can stop the free will of the Rivers people, Mr. Wike said. However, the police responded saying no such thing happened. Omoni Nnamdi, the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES on Monday night, said there was nothing like that to the best of my knowledge. If the governors detail was actually tampered with, I would have received a signal to that effect, Mr. Nnamdi said. But as I am speaking with you, nothing of such has happened. In the same vein, Don Awunah, the Force Public Relations Officer, told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone that it was highly unlikely that Mr. Wikes CSO had been withdrawn. I dont think his head of security was withdrawn, Mr. Awunah said. Mr. Awunah said Mr. Wikes statement could be the latest of a series of distractions that had characterised the political atmosphere ahead of the upcoming elections in the state. You should know that theres been a lot of red herring lately and I wont be surprised if this is one of them, Mr. Awunah said. Mr. Awunah said Mr. Wike, as a governor, is entitled to uninterrupted security provisions at all time. Were discussing a governor here. Dont forget, he is entitled to security 24/7 and I dont think anyone could tamper with it for any reason. Mr. Awunah, nonetheless, said he will make further findings and revert as soon as possible. Its the duty of the police to clarify this issue and I will contact all departments in the police that could possibly be responsible for such action and get back to you, Mr. Awunah said. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ondo State has accused the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, and his national commissioners of incompetence following their shoddy handling of the just concluded governorship election in the state. In a communique made available to journalists on Monday, after a meeting of its stakeholders in Akure on Sunday to review the November 26 governorship election, the party lashed out at INEC, accusing it of shoddy preparations for the election. The communique signed by the partys secretary, Oyedele Ibine, noted the curious removal of our candidates name, Eyitayo Jegede, SAN from the list of candidates for the election. The party held that INEC deviated from the provisions of the Electoral Act, and deliberately foisted on the PDP a preconceived agenda to subvert the process. The PDP candidate, Eyitayo Jegede, scored 150,380 votes to lose to the All Progressives Congress candidate, Rotimi Akeredolu, who scored 244,842 votes The PDP had suffered a setback in the election arising from litigations affecting the candidacy of the party. The court finally declared Eyitayo Jegede candidate a couple of days to the election. Prior to that, Jimoh Ibrahim was recognised by INEC as PDP candidate. The PDP called on INEC to postpone the election, but the request was turned down by the electoral body. According to INEC, the PDP crisis was an internal problem that could not lead to a postponement. We condemn the rush of INEC to conduct the election on November 26th, in view of the fact that it constitutionally still had up to January 2017 to conduct the election, the communique said. This attitude did not allow our party to campaign for the election particularly after we won in the Court of Appeal on 24th November, barely 48 hours to the election, thus INEC by this action reinforced and confirmed our suspicion that it was on a mission to ensure that the PDP lose the election by every means. Therefore we call for the resignation of the INEC Chairman and the National Commissioners as it is obvious that they are ill equipped and grossly incompetent to discharge the responsibilities of their office impartially. INEC under them has demonstrated its inability to conduct free and fair election in Nigeria. The continued stay in office of these people is a threat to the peace and health of our nation. The party, however, expressed its confidence in the judiciary, particularly the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court for doing appropriate justice during the partys efforts to get its candidate back on the ballot. The PDP also said it reposed confidence in the leadership of the outgoing state governor, Olusegun Mimiko. His leadership acumen and giant strides remains the catalyst that has lifted our state to a great height and development, the party stressed. We continue to repose our trust and confidence in him as our political leader and therefore pledge our unflinching support for him even now and after his tenure as governor ends. While presenting the certificate of return to Mr. Akeredolu, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ondo, Olusegun Agbaje, submitted that the commission was fair to the parties in the election. He denied that the commission aided the APC candidate, assuring that INEC officials did their jobs as specified by the law. The PDP has however vowed to challenge the election at the Election Petitions Tribunal although both Mr. Mimiko and Mr. Jegede have congratulated Mr. Akeredolu for the victory. The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Monday announced an increment to the death insurance benefit for police officers who die in active service in the state to N10 million. He said that his administration would stop at nothing to ensure the safety of all citizens in the state. Governor Ambode, who spoke at Lagos House in Ikeja, after he was presented with two awards recently won in South Africa by the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the State Police Command, said security and safety of the people remains one of the focal objectives of his administration, and that government would continually embrace measures to motivate and encourage officers of the command to perform their duties diligently. The RRS, at the awards presented by Security Watch Africa (SWA), had emerged as the best anti-crime police squad in West Africa, while the RRS Commander, Olatunji Disu, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, won the award of most outstanding police operational officer in Africa. The state government also bagged award as the best security and most safety conscious state in Africa. Speaking after receiving the awards, Governor Ambode congratulated the commander and men of the RRS for the feat, saying that the people of the state were appreciative of the gallant efforts of the unit at bringing down crime rate in the state, especially in the last one year. The Governor also commended the States Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, for his purposeful leadership of the command, saying that it was evident that the police in Lagos was performing creditably well. While alluding to the need for increment in the death insurance benefit of officers, Governor Ambode recalled the recent loss of some officers in active service, adding that while government was not praying for the re-occurrence of such, it was appropriate to reasonably reward the family of any officer in the event of eventual death. The Governor therefore said his administration was raising the stake of death insurance policy from N1million to rank and file and N2million to senior officers to N10 million. He said: Recently, we lost some police officer due to no fault of theirs and then some form of accidental incidences across the state. I have directed the States Pension Office and the Office of the Chief of Staff that we are going to increase the payment that we make to officers that die in active service and then we are increasing that irrespective of whether you are a junior or senior office, if you die in active service, the payment that will be made by the state government is being increased to N10 million from this moment onward, he said. As one of the ways of appreciating and motivating the command, Governor Ambode also presented additional three patrol vehicles and 45 power bikes to the RRS. The Governor, while reiterating the commitment of the state government to the security and wellbeing of residents, also directed the police to ensure hitch-free yuletide celebration across the State. He said the government, by the donation, was also sending a strong signal to those who are always willing to disturb the peace that there is no room for them in the state. Responding to the gesture, the RRS Commander, Olatunji Disu, said the equipment given to them by the state government would further spur them to give their best towards protecting the lives and property of residents. The Ekiti State Police command said on Monday that it rescued three persons abducted at different locations. A statement by the Commands Public Relations Officer, Alberto Adeyemi, said two of the victims, Lola Akintunwa and a driver, Soji Jegede, were rescued from kidnappers along Igbara Odo-Ogotun road on Friday. According to Mr. Adeyemi, Ms. Lola was abducted at about 5.15 p.m. along the same route on November 30, while Mr. Jegede was kidnapped at about 7.15p.m. on Friday. He said both were rescued unhurt without the payment of a ransom. The duo had been reunited with members of their respective families. Investigation is in progress and efforts are being intensified to arrest the kidnappers, he said. Mr. Adeyemi said the third victim, Adeyomoye Alabi, lives at Adehun Street, Ado-Ekiti, and was kidnapped at her home on November 25 at about 8.30p.m. and taken to an unknown destination. He said due to the proactive actions taken of the police, she was rescued and re-united with her family. She was rescued by a team of Police Detectives at Lazora area opposite Fayose market Ajilosun Ado-Ekiti. Efforts are on to arrest her abductors and I want to assure that the case is thoroughly being investigated, he said. The police spokesman appealed to those traveling on roads at this yuletide to be wary of the activities of kidnappers on the highway, and advised motorists to be vigilant and security conscious. Mr. Adeyemi urged the public to give information to the police on any member of the public suspected to be engaging in criminal activities. WHO IS HE: Martin Lawrence is a comedian and actor who has had a stellar career in television and film since the late 1980s. His comedy came to the forefront when he began hosting the HBO series Def Comedy Jam. Lawrences success as a comic helped pave the way for his sitcom Martin, which was incredibly popular and ran for five years on FOX from 1992 through 1997. Lawrences film credits include Nothing to Lose, Big Mommas House, Blue Streak, Bad Boys House Party, Do the Right Thing and Life. ATLANTIC CITY More than 8,000 real estate professionals from three states are scheduled to be in town this week for the annual Triple Play Realtors Convention and Trade Show. This year makes the 100th straight year the trade group has held its convention in Atlantic City, said Allison Rosen, spokeswoman for the New Jersey Realtors. Members of that group are joined by colleagues from New York and Pennsylvania for a four-day event that starts Monday and takes over a big chunk of the Atlantic City Convention Center. The convention includes a trade show with more than 300 vendors selling the latest real estate technology and products, Rosen said. It also features four days of professional development classes and seminars, some running for eight hours-plus. South Jersey housing market's highs, lows keep bouncing along GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP Real estate agent Robert Shamberg shows off a few of the touches in a ho The topics Monday alone run from the New Negotiating Edge to Using Drones in Your Business: Know the Risks. The agenda includes a social schedule for many of the people attending, and local restaurants and hotels report a business surge from the convention at a normally slow time of the year. Meet AC, Atlantic Citys convention and visitors bureau, estimated the economic impact of the event at $4.8 million a year for the area. So last year, when the Realtor group signed another three-year contract to hold their convention in the city, Meet AC President Jim Wood put the total value of the event at $14.4 million. The Triple Play convention is signed to keep returning to Atlantic City at least through 2018. Few New Jersey high school seniors used the PARCC test to meet graduation requirements this year. Only one of every nine high school seniors in the Class of 2016 met the New Jersey graduation test requirement by passing the state PARCC exams in language arts and math, according to data released by the state Department of Education. Almost half of the 96,300 seniors met the testing requirement by taking a state-approved substitute test, such as the SAT, PSAT, ACT or Accuplacer. Results in local districts mostly mirrored the statewide patterns. How well did South Jersey do on the new PARCC tests? Scores are improving, but many local school districts have a long way to go to meet standard The information was released as part of a legal settlement with the Education Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, which has challenged the states implementation of the PARCC test as a graduation requirement. State education officials said the data show the vast majority of students were able to successfully complete current graduation requirements. But the ELC is concerned about the future. The data shows that the NJDOEs new graduation policies are educationally unsound and need to be revised before they undermine New Jerseys high school graduation rate, which is currently the second highest in the nation, said Stan Karp, director of ELCs Secondary Reform Project. If these rules had been in full effect last year, over 80,000 students would have needed portfolio appeals to graduate in addition to taking multiple layers of standardized tests. Several groups file lawsuit against PARCC test graduation requirement Several New Jersey advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit challenging the use of the PARCC sta The PARCC test is scheduled to be a requirement for graduation starting with the Class of 2021, although state education officials have said they will monitor the tests progress and adapt as necessary. Some students did not take the PARCC because they knew they could meet the requirement using a substitute test. Students wont have to pass the Algebra I and English Language Arts 10 tests to graduate until 2021. Curt Nath, director of academic services in Ocean City, noted that since it was only the second year of the PARCC test, many seniors had taken Algegra I years earlier so they did not have to take a PARCC test, which is given at the end of the course. Those students just substituted other tests. The number using PARCC to graduate is likely to rise as more students take the required courses. It warrants noting that there is a big difference between the percentage of students that could graduate using PARCC versus those that actually did graduate using PARCC, Nath wrote in an email. The ELC is especially concerned about the impact on students with disabilities and English language learners. The state data show half of the 1,824 English language learners met the requirement through the portfolio review process, which requires districts to send a students body of work to the state. More than half of the nearly 13,000 students with disabilities met the requirement through a special provision in their individual education plans that allowed for alternate testing. The multitude of options kept the graduation rate high. Statewide, only 186 students did not graduate solely because they did not pass a test or the portfolio review process. The majority of those students, 116, were economically disadvantaged, and most were either black (111) or Hispanic (55). Assembly passes bill to cut PARCC results from teacher evaluations The state Assembly on Thursday approved a bill that would prohibit the use of student standa About 2,100 seniors did not graduate because they did not meet all local district requirements. Nearly 28 percent of the Class of 2016 used multiple pathways to meet the testing requirement, meaning they might have passed the PARCC in language arts but used another tests results for math. Vineland Superintendent Mary Gruccio believes it is a good idea to have various testing options. Not all students perform equally on written assessments vs. portfolio assessments, she wrote in an email. This does not indicate their ability. They just have different strengths when it comes to various types of assessments. Every senior in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and southern Ocean counties did meet the state testing requirement in some way. But about 100 still failed to graduate because they did not meet local district requirements. No seniors from Buena Regional graduated solely by passing the PARCC. Just one senior from Pleasantville, three from the Atlantic County Institute of Technology and six from Millville graduated by passing the PARCC. Some districts had more mixed results. Atlantic City bucked the statewide trend and reported 62 students graduated passing PARCC and 61 used other tests. More than 200 used multiple measures. In Greater Egg Harbor Regionals three high schools Absegami, Oakcrest and Cedar Creek just 43 students passed using only the PARCC while 633 used another standardized test. Hammonton had 43 students graduate via PARCC, 127 via another test and 151 via multiple measures. C. Dan Blachford, superintendent of Hammonton, said his district is not worried about PARCC because it is working toward meeting the requirements. We have a very powerful group of teachers that have been modifying curriculum to meet the requirements, Blachford wrote in an email. The PARCC assessments are what our schools need to be striving for. John and Debbie Sallis parked their cars near Reses Pharmacy in Pomona Plaza in its namesake town, they stepped out of their cars and looked down at their phones. Its right over there, John said, pointing to a telephone poll. The two walked over, examining the pole, running their hands up and down the wood. Got it. It was a small container one that couldnt hold more than two dimes pressed together. Inside of the container was a small roll of paper even smaller than the ones found in sea-churned bottles usually seen in the movies. A bunch of signatures were scrawled across the long, thin sheet. The two were geocaching a worldwide activity that has many treasures hidden, and a following, in South Jersey. Want to find another? John asked Debbie. Founded in 2000, geocaching is a navigation adventure that involves pinned GPS coordinates and navigating to that certain location. Often these spots will have containers where past finders will leave knickknacks and logged entries. The Sallis love for geocaching began five years ago. When the couple was out with their friend, they noticed he was holding up a GPS, moving in half circles. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was looking for a GPS point, John said. The couple helped their friend find the container and said theyve been hooked ever since. Since then, the two have downloaded an app which will show new and old geocaches located all around the area. When they first started, Debbie would hear a bing on her phone for a new location. No matter what the time of night, the two would hop out of bed and head out. We dont do that as much anymore, she said. Now, theyll spend a couple hours on Sundays to look for new spots. Together, the couple has found over 17,000 geocaches. The couple is ranked third in New Jersey in total finds. Theyve traveled 31 states going as south as Florida and as north as Canada. Theyve traveled west for power trails where there were containers one after another. They found 1,100 in one day. The two have hiked, kayaked and canoed through many different states and parks. Once, they even had to rent a pontoon boat in Georgia, in the middle of February, just to reach a container. Heading out in Johns Jeep is an adventure for the couple, Debbie said, and its one that needs no end. There are even terms for the activity. FTF means first to find, or first to log into a new container. Debbie said that many non-geocachers will be labeled as muggles a nod to the world of Harry Potter. But if you want to compare what John and Debbie are doing to Pokemon Go, dont mention it to them. Dont even start. I dont even know what a Pokemon is, John said. And what theyre doing is all virtual, Debbie adds. This is actually physical containers to find. While standing on the side of a road near the woods, she tries to find a word to describe it. Its a treasure hunt, really. Thats honestly what it is. And that treasure can take many forms. There are small and large containers like an old ammo box John found in the woods. There are micro containers like the one they found on the telephone poll, and there are even custom made containers like the one that John made out of an prosthetic leg. John, alone, has created about 500 containers themselves. But hanging out in the woods or on the side of roads can draw attention. Cops can get curious, the couple said. It depends on who it is. Ive had cops actually help me look for [the container] and Ive had others tell me to get back in the car and leave, he said. There are 236 members of the South Jersey Geocachers Facebook page. Debbie Sallis said her and John have traveled through Egg Harbor Township, Pomona, Egg Harbor City and all the way down to Cape May. And the networking never stops, the couple said. Just the weekend prior, the two attended a geocaching Christmas party. The couple hosted monthly bonfires at their home during the summer. Its getting late as the two get ready to head back in their vehicles, though Debbie has a flashlight handy in case she and John are ever out late. But for now, theyll head home. They have more to do on Sunday. There is no end to it, she said with a smile. Question: When my mom passed away we thought she had a life insurance policy, but we have no idea how to track it down. Do you know of any resources that might help? Searching Susan Answer: Lost or forgotten life insurance policies are very common in the U.S. Its estimated that more than $7 billion in benefits from unclaimed life insurance policies are waiting to be claimed by their rightful beneficiaries. While, unfortunately, there isnt a national database for tracking down these policies, there are a number of strategies and a few new resources that can help your search. Here are several to get you started. Search her records: Check your moms financial records or storage areas where she kept her important papers for a policy, records of premium payments, or bills from an insurer. Also contact her employer or former employer benefits administrator, insurance agents, financial planner, accountant, attorney or other adviser and ask if they know about a life insurance policy. Also check safe-deposit boxes, monitor the mail for premium invoices or whole-life dividend notices, and review old income-tax returns, looking for interest income from, and interest expenses paid, to life insurance companies. Contact the insurer: If you suspect that a particular insurer underwrote the policy, contact that carriers claim office and ask. The more information you have, like your moms date of birth and death, Social Security number and address, the easier it will be to track down. Contact information of some big insurers include: Prudential (800-778-2255); MetLife (Metlife.com/policyfinder); AIG (800-888-2452); Nationwide (800-848-6331); John Hancock (JohnHancock.com click on Contact Us then on Account Search Request.) Get state help: Nineteen state insurance departments have a policy locator service program that can help you locate lost life insurance, and many other states offer resources that can help you with your search. To find direct access to these resources visit the American Council of Life Insurers website at ACLI.com/consumers click on Missing Policy Tips. Search unclaimed property: If your mom died more than a few years ago, benefits may have already been turned over to the unclaimed property office of the state where the policy was purchased. Go to MissingMoney.com, a website of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, to search records from 40 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. The pull-down menu under Links connects you to a map and addresses for unclaimed property agencies. Or, to find links to each states unclaimed-property division use Unclaimed.org. If your moms name or a potential benefactors name produces a hit, youll need to prove your claim. Required documentation, which can vary by state, is detailed in claim forms, and a death certificate might be necessary. If you need a copy of your moms death certificate, contact the vital records office in the state where she died, or go to VitalChek.com. Search fee-based services: There are several businesses that offer policy locator services for a fee. The MIB Group, for example, which is a data-sharing service for life and health insurance companies, offers a policy locator service at PolicyLocator.com for $75. But it only tracks applications for individual policies made since 1996. You can also get assistance at Policy Inspector (PolicyInspector.com) for $99, and L-LIFE (LostLifeIns.com) for $108.50, who will do the searching for you. Tyrone Hart pulled back the sliding-glass door to his balcony to reveal a clear view of the ocean, joking about his million-dollar view. His Atlantic City apartment doubles as his studio and private gallery of the self-taught artists work. But in spite of the view, Harts work is far from seascapes and picturesque scenes of the Jersey Shore. On one wall hangs a naked Eve, and another painting depicts a black man bound with the American flag the latter painting being featured in his exhibit, Urban Justice & Urban Life, at the Noyes Arts Garage. Hart, whose work appeared on the cover of the book The Northside: African Americans and the Creation of Atlantic City by Boardwalk Empire author Nelson Johnson, said he uses his art to discuss justice in America, race relations and the black experience past and present. The artist said he strives for the wow factor and even had one man approach him in tears during a show. He says, Tyrone, you are a master. I feel everything in that painting youre trying to tell me right now. Thats why Im crying, he said. From that, I knew right then my work was important is important because if I can strike one person, change your attitude toward me or my race, then Ive done something. Thats what I stand for as an artist. Art isnt just about personal expression for many artists who place activism at its core. Their work becomes a vehicle for telling stories about social issues. A visiting international poet at Stockton University, Ahkil Katyal, said poetry can capture the malaise, the disease of the times. Katyal, a professor of literature at Shiv Nadar University in India, has been writing for 10 years and is active in Indias LGBT community. Katyal is influenced by a citys political climate, even writing a poem in his hotel following the U.S. presidential election. Katyal, who held a three-week residency at Murphy Writing at Stockton University through the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, traveled to several cities across the United States. In India currently, theres a deeply misogynist, homophobic and Islamophobic government in place. Theres nowhere in which you can be an active poet, writing and living in Delhi, without responding to that dispensation, he said. Even if its an extremely personal subject matter, even if its about love and loss and pain and beauty, it will, in one way or another, respond to precisely the structures you find around yourself. Kelley Prevard, 27, of Atlantic City, said her art became her voice to speak about the issues that were important to her. I try to challenge longstanding beliefs of gender, beauty and race in our society, said Prevard, who recently won first place at the Economic Inequality Art Exhibit for her new piece, Patterns of Oppression. Prevard has received praise for her work depicting such issues, but shes also received pushback. But such discomfort, Prevard said, spurs change. I think that is the main part of using art for activism youve got to be unafraid to make people too uncomfortable, she said. It forces us to take a look at it. I love that art has the ability to penetrate the soul of people. Sometimes words wont do it. You can turn the page or turn the TV off. Photographer Nick Rayment, a 28-year-old Barnegat Township resident, would be hard-pressed to disagree. I think now, the problem is everyone is so busy. People dont have the time, they dont put the time aside to sit down and read, he said. I think if you can capture their eye with something interesting, itll cause them to stop. Rayment has spent several years giving a deeply personal glimpse into the lives of his family following his 21-year-old brother Zachs cystic fibrosis diagnosis. Rayment, who said he was always geared toward street photography and even did a series covering the closing of casinos in Atlantic City, began snapping away when his brother was diagnosed in 2010. Catching private moments of his brothers breathing treatments and visits to the hospital, Rayment said he realized the project could be something powerful. But there was a delicate line he wanted to balance between art and advocacy. I wanted to advocate for it, but I didnt want it to look like a commercial for a medication. This is my relationship with my brother who happens to have cystic fibrosis, he said. Its one of the things that every so often I go back to it, I sit and write about it, and say, OK, what direction is it going in? So its closely guarded, in a way. Rayment and Prevard said expressing themselves can be cathartic. Through my artwork, Im trying to heal myself, and I hope that in my attempt to heal and understand the world I live in that itll connect to other people and itll heal other people, Prevard said. Christina Jackson, an assistant professor of sociology at Stockton, said she has been dealing with the idea of art and activism from both an academic point of view and through community art projects. Jackson, who has worked with youth in Philadelphia on various art projects, said her research is influenced by the works of W.E.B. Du Bois, which has informed the way she looks at art and activism, such as its potential to have transformative effects, as well as its ability to contest and challenge the social order. Although the arts can be used to reflect on the social issues that exist in our communities, Jackson said it can go much further. I think its also used as a way to challenge the way we connect with each other in a particular community around a particular topic and really getting at things that are maybe difficult to talk about. So in a sense, I think its more than reflection but a community-building tool, she said. When San Francisco Ballet principal Taras Domitro was sidelined with an injury, he decided to cheer himself up by getting another tattoo. After coming up with the perfect statement, he used an app to translate it into Elvish, the Tolkien language. The tattoo, which coils around his forearm, reads: Everything is beautiful, and nothing hurts. In a field populated by young, exquisitely fit artists in which pain is just part of the job, and ones body is always on display tattoos have become a fashionable form of self-expression and affirmation. Under his velvet doublet, the tenderhearted prince in Swan Lake might be inked with howling wolves and the Great Wall of China. The trembling swan queen herself could be tatted up beneath her tutu like a heavy-metal rocker. One of the best-known tattooed dancers is Sergei Polunin, the former Royal Ballet principal who became a YouTube star with a yearning dance to Hoziers Take Me to Church that put his lavish ink on view. (He was once part-owner of a London tattoo parlor.) New York City Ballet principal Joaquin De Luz bears intricate artwork on his shoulders, arms and ribs. Its just one more way to give ourselves reminders and inspiration, says Washington Ballet member Corey Landolt. His inked designs include the White Tree of Gondor, a symbol of hope, rebirth and resolve from The Lord of the Rings, and a pair of doves, commemorating a Christmas ornament his mother gave him. Like much of the body art that dancers exposed for this article, they hint at a longing for stability and uplift, desires that reflect the realities of an unpredictable, competitive profession shaped by subjective standards. You want to remind yourself of what your truth is, says Julie Kent, artistic director of the Washington Ballet. When she was a member of the American Ballet Theatre, she watched her friends get one tattoo after another. Now, as a boss, she has to decide when her dancers should cover them up, and when its okay to flaunt them. Tattooed dancers confront unique challenges. Their body inks ability to inspire also carries a burden. What if a performer in a shirtless contemporary work uses makeup to camouflage his half-sleeve of ink, but it turns his partners costume brown when he lifts her? Placement is key. The Washington Ballets Sona Kharatian has a palm-size butterfly in honor of her late mother on her haunch, where its not likely to be seen. She has the word harmony inked on her ankle, where her toeshoe ribbons conceal it. Covering tattoos in more exposed areas isnt easy. Dancers not only sweat, but they have to lift, catch and clutch one another, which means damp body parts and makeup rubbing against expensive, difficult-to-clean costumes. Tattoo cover is a huge portion of what I do, says Sarah Coy, who works in the makeup department at the San Francisco Ballet, as well as for film and television. Dancers are her most challenging clients. Coy and her colleagues use special-effects makeup mixed with alcohol, so its resistant to oil or water (which makes taking it off a separate challenge for tired dancers after a show). They apply it in thin layers so it doesnt flake off. Thick bands of tattoos that encircle an arm require even more makeup layers and tricky color matching, because the skin inside the arm is lighter than on the outside. It can take 20 to 40 minutes to cover a dancer, Coy says. The heavily inked might require a team of makeup artists for certain skin-centric roles, such as when Domitro starred in a work titled Swimmer wearing only a bathing suit. For the upcoming spring season, Coy plans to experiment with an airbrush gun to save time. Some dancers can get by with a flesh-toned fabric sleeve. Elisa Clark, who performed with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and the Mark Morris Dance Group before joining the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, has used that kind of sleeve to cover an inked-up arm. Many contemporary choreographers dont mind visible tattoos, which is a good thing, because about half the Ailey company is tattooed, she says. But for works created by Ailey himself, tattoo coverage is mandatory, and the fabric sleeve is not foolproof. I was onstage in Revelations, and I could feel it slide down to my wrist, during the opening section, Clark says. To avoid overstretching, she now has three different sleeves hanging on the rack with her costumes. Sometimes I look at myself in the mirror, and I say, Man, I wish I didnt have any, says Sascha Radetsky, a former ABT soloist. His arms are a gallery of Native American images and tributes to Georgia OKeeffe, Gustav Klimt and Moby Dick. Having tattoos makes things harder, Radetsky says. Preparing for a role is tough enough as it is you have a lot of things to think about. Covering lots of ink adds one more element into the mix. And theres some old-fashioned views about tattoos. Maybe on some tiny, subconscious level, that influences peoples decisions on casting. What do company directors think? The New York City Ballet has no official tattoo policy, and dancers cover up for performances by their own volition, says Robert Daniels, managing director of communications. San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson wrote in an email, There seem to be more dancers with tattoos these days, but as long as they can be covered up for performances, I dont have an issue with it. Kent says that tattoos can help a contemporary piece look more . . . contemporary. It can keep it more fresh and of the moment to allow people to appear as they are, she says. The body is our temple, says Samuel Wilson, a Washington Ballet dancer tattooed with his own designs. This is my stained glass. ATLANTIC CITY The Rev. Al Sharpton will visit the city later this month to drum up support for a Jan. 14 rally and march on Washington, D.C. Steven L. Young, president of the National Action Network South Jersey, said the civil-rights activist will speak at a Dec. 18 rally from 6 to 8 p.m. at the All Wars Memorial Building (Old Soldiers Home) on Adriatic Avenue. Prior to the community rally, Sharpton will speak to local faith leaders at 5 p.m. There have been annual marches on Washington by the National Action Network since 2009, but Young said the one next month will be unique. We want to make sure our civil rights are on the front lines of everything, Young said. We have to keep exposing what is happening. The march is titled, We Shall Not Be Moved. The National Action Networks official website states, We must protect the dream of Dr. King. There will be at least one bus leaving from South Jersey, and demand will determine whether there will be more, Young said. Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, was last in Atlantic City in November 2013 at the Second Baptist Church to discuss city issues and promote his then-new book. President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in as president Jan. 20. The following day, the Womens March on Washington will be held at the Lincoln Memorial. The South Jersey Democratic Womens Forum will be chartering a bus to attend that march. A press conference will be held 6 p.m. Dec. 19 at Deli Du Jour, 514 W. Washington Ave., in Pleasantville, said Thelma Witherspoon, the forums marketing chairwoman. The forum has at least 50 members, and Witherspoon has been a member for the past two years. She last participated in a march on Washington four years ago as part of the National Action Network. People were from all over the country at that particular march ... bringing up various national issues, Witherspoon said. Witherspoon brought up the Sharpton appearance and both marches during her radio show In The Community With Dr. Witherspoon on WEHA-FM 88.7. The show airs 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday and is rebroadcast from 8 to 9 tonight. ATLANTIC CITY The citys water authority board members raised rates last week to cover an unexpected budget hole. Then they paid themselves $3,000 each. The Municipal Utilities Authority board of directors approved a 10 percent rate hike for next year up from a previously planned 8 percent increase at a Nov. 28 special meeting to cover lost revenue from a contract change with New Jersey American Water. Residential rates would increase to $50 per quarter from $45 last year. The authoritys residential water rates, which have been the lowest in Atlantic County, would still be near the bottom but would be slightly above Longport and Margate, according to Atlantic County Utilities Authority data. The MUAs $14.7 million 2017 budget, down $1.3 million from last year, is scheduled to be adopted Dec. 21, according to an authority news release. The board went into executive session after approving the water-rate hike, according to the Nov. 28 meeting transcript. When they returned, they voted to give themselves $3,000 gifts this December for their dedicated service, according to a resolution. But the money was supposed to be a parting gift, not a Christmas gift, according to one board member. Board Vice Chairman Gary Hill said Monday the December 2016 was an error in the resolutions language. Board members are supposed to get the money once they leave the board, maintaining an MUA tradition, he said. Were going to modify (the resolution) in December to follow the past practices, Hill said. The authoritys seven board members make $6,000 salaries and can receive benefits, according to public records. American Water, a private company considered a potential buyer of the authority, had a $1.7 million contract with the MUA and was the authoritys top customer, Hill said. But American Water recently notified the authority it doesnt need water from the MUA anymore. Capital improvements to its Atlantic County system have increased its water capacity and in essence eliminated NJAWs need to purchase water from the ACMUA, a company letter to the authority said. Instead, American Water wanted to buy 500,000 gallons of water per day, down from the 1.2 million gallons per day it has recently purchased. But the lower volume would convert the company from a bulk purchaser to a commercial customer, meaning it would have to pay a $7 million connection charge, the letter said. We cannot justify the additional costs the ACMUAs proposal would have on the company and its customers, since these significant capital investments eliminate the need for New Jersey American Water to purchase additional water, American Water spokeswoman Denise Venuti Free said in a statement. The contract change and its effect on the MUA budget led to the special board meeting where rates were raised. The authority and American Water are discussing a deal in which the company would only buy water from the MUA in emergency situations, Hill said. The MUA could get just $200,000 under such an arrangement, Hill said. The water system has been at the center of debate between the city and state over fixing Atlantic Citys dire finances. American Water lobbyist Philip Norcross attended a 2015 meeting with city and state officials in which the MUA was discussed. Norcross brother is South Jersey powerbroker George Norcross. Authority officials questioned the timing of the contract change, hinting it was a strategic move by American Water to get the valuable water works, according to the meeting transcript. Theyre putting pressure on, said Deputy Executive Director Garth Moyle. Theyre trying to squeeze us, Board Solic-itor Fredric Bor said. Theyre trying to cause the value of our authority to lessen because they dont have such a mega contract, so when they come in and try to work out a contract to buy us, were worthless, board Chairman Milton Smith said. Free, the American Water spokeswoman, didnt address the board members comments in her statement. City Council voted down or pulled measures to dissolve the MUA five times amid pressure from residents fearing drastic rate hikes and a loss of local control if the authority were sold. The citys last-ditch effort to avoid a recent state takeover involved the authority borrowing to buy another valuable city asset, Bader Field, for $110 million. The state rejected that plan. The potential 10 percent water-rate hike comes as city taxpayers face a nearly 13 percent property-tax rate increase. Board members were aware of the recent tax hike before voting. Did you get your tax bill? Hill asked board members, according to the transcript. I didnt open mine yet, MUA Executive Director Bruce Ward said. You dont want to, Hill said. MIDDLE TOWNSHIP A Pennsylvania man was arrested after a late-night crime spree that involved tearing the doors of trucks open and stealing a trailer, police said. Officers responding to a reported burglary Friday on Fulling Mill Road found eight damaged tree-trimming trucks, from which equipment was missing. The trucks were parked off the road while Asplundh Tree Experts Co. was doing work in the area. Someone had tied a chain to the trucks storage doors, hooked them to a vehicle and pulled the doors open, police said. Chainsaws and other tree-trimming equipment valued at more than $5,000 was taken from inside. The damage to the trucks was estimated at more than $2,000, police said. Also during the early morning hours, Joe Canals Discount Liquor Outlet in Rio Grande reported a dump trailer, valued at $6,000, had been stolen overnight from the stores parking lot. After an investigation, Middle Township police Detective Dan Martin learned the items were possibly in Lower Township. Officers from both townships found the dump trailer on Bentz Avenue in the Villas. While on the property, they found another utility trailer that had been reported stolen from Middle Township along with a swing set, several bicycles and the stolen tree-trimming equipment, police said. Police found the vehicle used to commit the crimes at the Villas Wawa along with stolen tree-trimming equipment in the bed of the truck. Police arrested Eric Moyer, 38, of Norwood, Pennsylvania, and charged him with burglary, criminal mischief and two counts of theft and receiving stolen property. Moyer was sent to the Cape May County jail on $135,000 bail. 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. Gallium Nitride Will Drive Market Growth SCOTTSDALE, Arizona, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ABI Research forecasts markets for pulsed RF power devices up to 4 GHz will show continued growth over the next five years and exceed $250 million by 2021, despite current economic and political turmoil. While their association with consumer spending fuels the volatility of many global electronics markets, pulsed RF power device markets are supported by quite different priorities. Pulsed RF power transmitters generate tremendous amounts of power in small bursts that are useful for radar, airborne collision avoidance systems, and military IFF equipment. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151014/276887LOGO "Many RF power semiconductor manufacturers are on a quest to find markets unrelated to mobile wireless infrastructure," says Lance Wilson, Research Director at ABI Research. "Device prices in wireless infrastructure are falling, and the total available market is flattening out." The airborne transportation safety market and military market are both experiencing solid growth in pulsed RF power device shipments. The markets use the devices for military radar, weather and marine applications, and in the current worldwide upgrade of the air traffic control system. The avionics transponder and air navigation market segment is also seeing growth, which is further lifted by the overall worldwide air traffic control upgrade. Intrinsically less "optional" than many consumer markets, these segments are therefore less sensitive to economic upheavals than consumer-driven markets, although they are not totally immune to the macro economy. Understanding this, many semiconductor manufacturers are attempting to enter this market space; however, some factors may complicate their efforts. Pulsed RF power device markets are becoming very competitive technologically: gallium nitride and, to a certain extent, silicon carbide devices are vying for market share along with the more established silicon and gallium arsenide based technologies. With many companies rushing into these markets, ABI Research speculates that there may not be the market size to support them all. "Undoubtedly, some consolidation will continue to occur beyond what already happened," concludes Wilson. "While not guaranteed success, those companies that have track records working with government agencies and defense contractors will have an advantage over those that are new entrants." Leaders for high-power RF pulsed semiconductor devices include Ampleon, Integra Technologies, M/A-COM Technology Solutions, Microsemi, Qrovo, Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations, and Wolfspeed. These findings are from ABI Research's Pulsed RF Power Semiconductors (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/product/1026454-pulsed-rf-power-semiconductors/) report. About ABI Research ABI Research stands at the forefront of technology market research, providing business leaders with comprehensive research and consulting services to help them implement informed, transformative technology decisions. Founded more than 25 years ago, the company's global team of senior and long-tenured analysts delivers deep market data forecasts, analyses, and teardown services. ABI Research is an industry pioneer, proactively uncovering ground-breaking business cycles and publishing research 18 to 36 months in advance of other organizations. For more information, visit www.abiresearch.com. Contact Info: Mackenzie Gavel Tel: +1.516.624.2542 pr@abiresearch.com Related Links http://www.abiresearch.com SOURCE ABI Research KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As leaders in the field of sustainable plantation management and agarwood production, Asia Plantation Capital Berhad -- the Malaysian arm of the APC Group -- is proud to confirm that its project, 'Production and Commercialisation of High-value Agarwood-based Products' has been approved as a Bioeconomy Transformation Programme (BTP) 'trigger project' by the Malaysian Bioeconomy Development Corporation Sdn Bhd. Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20161205/8521607926 The Bioeconomy Transformation Programme (BTP) is a platform provided by the Malaysian government for the private sector to channel and maximise commercial opportunities in bio-based industries. Through the BTP, the Malaysian government and leading industry players work in tandem to set national goals for the application of biotechnology in agriculture production, industrial manufacturing and health. This is achieved by establishing and putting in place the infrastructure and conditions that are required to develop the relevant mechanisms, and to ensure that policy is sufficiently flexible to respond to new opportunities. Asia Plantation Capital has proven itself to be a pioneer and innovator in the sustainable plantation sector, and its Scientific Advisory Board, working alongside a team of researchers, has evolved technologies -- many of which have been patented -- to ensure that the once endangered species of Aquilaria tree is now flourishing in the wild and continuing to produce one of nature's most precious substances. The products made from the trees on Asia Plantation Capital's estates have full CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) approval and certification -- a testament to the fact that the company is passionate about its role in not only making sure that there are agarwood supplies around for future generations, but also that products are sourced ethically and sustainably. The APC Group's 'from soil, to oil, to you' story is a perfect example of a vertically integrated business model, in which control at each and every link of the supply chain ensures the known provenance of an extremely valuable commodity, as well as the highest product quality. All of this is achieved with an attendant respect and care for the environment. APC's recent approval by Bioeconomy Corporation as one of the BTP's trigger projects is due to the shared values and ethos of the two entities. Although operating privately since 2002, Plantation Capital was officially established in 2008 in the UK, before incorporation as Asia Plantation Capital in Sri Lanka in 2009, followed by Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. With a workforce of more than 2,000 people and over 160 plantations globally, the company is now expanding its portfolio of forestry products to include bamboo and teak. Notes for Editors For further information, please contact:- Zaahira Muhammad Senior PR & Marketing Executive Email: zaahira@asiaplantationcapital.com Office: +6012-203-5344 About Asia Plantation Capital Berhad Asia Plantation Capital Berhad in Malaysia is currently investing heavily in the Malaysian plantation sector, developing new plantations and factories for the production of agarwood (gaharu) and other associated products for the international export markets. The company has further strengthened its presence in Malaysia by moving its headquarters to downtown Kuala Lumpur, a year after opening Southeast Asia's biggest agarwood processing factory and distillery in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The Asia Plantation Capital Group is a multi-award-winning, sustainable plantation operator and management company, with projects across four continents, and a global workforce in excess of 2,000. A market leader in the industry, its Scientific Advisory Board is comprised of leading academics from various countries (China, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates), who have, between them, developed and patented industry-leading technologies and systems. With a focus on commercial plantation projects and vertically integrated businesses that offer a combination of commercial, environmental and community benefits, Asia Plantation Capital has created a successful and dynamic 'triple bottom line' company. About Malaysian Bioeconomy Development Corporation Sdn Bhd Malaysian Bioeconomy Development Corporation Sdn Bhd (Bioeconomy Corporation) is the leading economic development agency for the bio-based industry in Malaysia. Bioeconomy Corporation is under the purview of Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) and is owned by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and Federal Lands Commissioner, providing support, facilitation and advisory services for bio-based and life sciences companies in Malaysia. Bioeconomy Corporation has been facilitating the development of BioNexus Status companies in Malaysia. BioNexus Status is an accreditation given to international and Malaysian bio-based companies that qualify them for fiscal incentives, grants and guarantees administered by Bioeconomy Corporation. Bioeconomy Corporation is also the implementation agency for the Bioeconomy Transformation Programme (BTP), which is a platform provided by the Malaysian government for the private sector to channel and maximise commercial opportunities in bio-based industries. The BTP is designed as a Transformation Programme based on biotechnology's potential to cut across various industries and transform Malaysia into a high income, inclusive and sustainable nation. Through the BTP and the facilitation of BioNexus Status companies, the society and nation will benefit from bioeconomy via the breakthroughs in agricultural productivity, discoveries in healthcare and the adoption of sustainable industrial processes, thus enriching our society and nation through wealth creation besides securing our future. For further information, visit www.bioeconomy.my Related Links http://www.bioeconomy.my SOURCE Asia Plantation Capital Application is another important milestone for the AEC BARROW, Alaska, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Arctic Slope Regional Corporation has applied to the Arctic Economic Council (AEC) to be a Northern Partner, the first such organization in the region to do so. The AEC's full member representation includes a diverse collection of business industries that operate in and outside of the Arctic. "On behalf of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, I am proud to submit the first application for membership as a Northern Partner," said Rex A. Rock Sr., president and CEO of ASRC. "The AEC has proven itself to be a leader in promoting sustainable business in the Arctic, and I look forward to our continued relationship." The AEC was established by the Arctic Council during the 2013-2015 Canadian chairmanship as an independent organization aimed at facilitating Arctic business-to-business activities and responsible economic development. The AEC's vision is to make the Arctic a favorable place to do business. There are various levels of membership at the Arctic Economic Council. Larger businesses with their headquarters located within an Arctic state may apply to join the AEC family as a Northern Partner. The application will be reviewed by the AEC executive committee before being presented to the governance committee for final approval. About ASRC Arctic Slope Regional Corporation is owned by and represents the business interests of the Arctic Slope Inupiat. Since opening enrollment in 1989 to Alaska Natives born after 1971, the corporation's shareholder base has nearly tripled, growing from the 3,700 original enrollees to around 13,000 today. Corporate headquarters are based in Barrow, Alaska, with administrative and subsidiary offices located in Anchorage and throughout the United States. ASRC, along with its family of companies, is the largest Alaskan-owned company, employing approximately 12,000 people worldwide. The company has six major business segments: petroleum refining and marketing, energy support services, industrial services, construction, government services and resource development. About the AEC The AEC is a business forum established to facilitate Arctic business-to-business activities, promote responsible economic development and provide a circumpolar business perspective to the work of the Arctic Council. The inaugural meeting was held in September 2014 in Iqaluit, Nunavut Canada. It has a 42-member board from eight Arctic states and six permanent participant organizations. Finland will assume the chairmanship from the U.S. in 2017. CONTACT: Ty Hardt Director of Communications Desk (907) 339-6888 Mobile (907) 223-3253 thardt@asrc.com Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160613/378541LOGO Related Links http://www.asrc.com SOURCE Arctic Slope Regional Corporation DUBLIN, Dec 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of Jain PharmaBiotech's new report "Biomarkers - Technologies, Markets and Companies" to their offering. This report describes different types of biomarkers and their discovery using various -omics technologies such as proteomics and metabolomics. Molecular diagnostics technologies are used for the discovery of biomarkers and new tests are also based on biomarker. Currently the most important applications of biomarkers are in drug discovery and development. The role of biomarkers in various therapeutic areas particularly cancer, cardiovascular diseases and disorders of the central nervous system, is described. Biomarkers are useful not only for diagnosis of some of these diseases but also for understanding the pathomechanism as well as a basis for development of therapeutics. Biomarkers will facilitate the combination of therapeutics with diagnostics and will thus play an important role in the development of personalized medicine. Biomarkers play a role in use of pharmacogenetics, pharmacogenomics and pharmacoproteomics for development of personalized medicine. Many of the regulatory issues concerning biomarkers are related to genomics, proteomics, molecular diagnostics and pharmacogenomics/pharmacogenetics. Validation of biomarkers and their role in clinical trials is discussed. Biomarker markets are estimated from 2015 to 2025 according to share of markets for various technologies and applications: proteomics, metabolomics, molecular diagnostics, drug discovery, clinical trials, and bioinformatics. Market values are further split according to therapeutic applications and major geographical areas. Unfulfilled needs in biomarkers are identified as well as the drivers for biomarker markets. Challenges facing the biomarker industry and strategies for developing biomarker markets are discussed. A large number of companies with varying technical backgrounds are involved in biomarkers and 302 of these are profiled in part 2 of the report with classification into various categories.These also include major pharmaceutical companies. There is tabulation of 462 collaborations between companies and additional academic collaborations are mentioned in the individual profiles of companies. The report is supplemented by 1,200 references, 76 tables and 18 figures Key Topics Covered: Part 1: Technologies & Markets Executive Summary 1. Introduction 2. Technologies for Discovery of Biomarkers 3. Biomarkers and Molecular Diagnostics 4. Biomarkers for Drug Discovery & Development 5. Role of Biomarkers in Healthcare 6. Biomarkers of Cancer 7. Biomarkers of Disorders of the Nervous System 8. Biomarkers of Cardiovascular Disorders 9. Biomarkers & Personalized Medicine 10. Biomarkers and Regulatory issues 11. Markets for Biomarkers 12. References Part 2: Companies 13. Companies For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/k6l2wh/biomarkers Source: Jain PharmaBiotech Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com SOURCE Research and Markets SINDELFINGEN, Germany and TEHRAN, Iran, December 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BITZER, Specialist in Refrigeration Compressors, is Expanding its Presence in Iran The foundation ceremony for the new subsidiary BITZER Iranian will be held at the Espinas Hotel in Tehran today on Monday, 5 December 2016. BITZER compressors have been well represented in the Iranian market for decades. Now the long-standing company is establishing its own subsidiary that reports to its Middle East site in Dubai. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161201/444580-INFO ) BITZER is developing a service concept tailored to Iran's specific requirements. In Iran, the reciprocating, screw and scroll compressors and condensing units provided by the long-standing German company are used in various applications. BITZER would also like to take action against counterfeit compressors from China, which can be found more and more frequently in the Iranian market. The BITZER Group is the world's largest independent manufacturer of refrigeration compressors with sales companies and production sites for reciprocating, screw, and scroll compressors as well as pressure vessels all over the globe. Overview of images Images may only be used for editorial purposes. This usage is free of charge if "Photo: BITZER" is given as the source and a complimentary copy is forwarded to us. Changes to the images - apart from cropping to the main motif - are not permitted. Local representative: Sobhan Katebifar , Resident Engineer, +98(0)912-1693-916. Office address: Unit 401, 4th Floor, No. 3, Eastern 11th St., Kaj Sq., Sa'adat Abad, 1998839847, Teheran, Iran. SOURCE BITZER Kuhlmaschinenbau GmbH PORTLAND, Oregon and PUNE, India, December 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new report by Allied Market Research, titled, "Global Cancer Biomarkers Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014-2022," the global revenue of cancer biomarkers market is projected to reach $15,737 million by 2022 from $6,521 in 2015, growing at a CAGR of 13.3% from 2016 to 2022. Omic technologies segment accounted for more than half of the revenue share in 2015 and is expected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. Europe and Asia-Pacific together accounted for more than half of the market share in 2015. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 ) Summary of the Cancer Biomarkers Market Report can be accessed on the website at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/cancer-biomarkers-market The market for cancer biomarkers is primarily driven by rise in prevalence of cancer cases, growing importance of biological & targeted drug therapies, technological advancements, and accuracy & reliability of cancer biomarkers for cancer detection. Moreover, rise in investments from government, public & private sector for biomarker research and technological advancements for cancer diagnostics have a positive impact on the market. However, high cost of drug development, threat of failure, and unregulated government regulations & reimbursement policies could restrain the market. Yet, the impact of these limitations is anticipated to reduce due to substantial surge in cancer diagnosis as well as increased focus towards advanced treatment protocols. In terms of applications, diagnostics accounted for major share of the global cancer biomarkers market in 2015, and is projected to maintain this trend throughout the forecast period growing at a CAGR of 13.5%. According to Mohd. Adnan Malik, Analyst - Healthcare Research at AMR, "Cancer biomarkers market growth is attributed to the rise in concern for targeted cancer therapies coupled with better companion diagnostic tests for cancer. In many cases, biomarker tests confirm the existence of diseases that can be treated at an early progression stage. In others, the biomarkers can act as a "surrogate end point" which would help to decide whether a specific therapy is working or not". He further added, "Biomarkers are an attractive part of cancer therapy, and novel agents & drugs are prescribed based on a specific target population after understanding the mutation as well as the response rate, which is anticipated to create huge opportunities for the growth of cancer biomarkers industry". In terms of profiling technology, omic technology is the most popular and conventional method for biomarker detection and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12%. However, immunoassays segment is anticipated to experience higher adoption rate, majorly due to the increase in use of flow cytometry, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18% during the forecast period. In the year 2015, genetic biomarkers accounted for highest revenue share and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.7% during the forecast period. The use of genetic biomarkers for detecting gene mutations and gene expressions is expected to drive the growth of the biomolecule. However, use of glyco biomarkers due to better identification of cancerous gene is further expected to increase the segment growth which is expected to grow by 14% during the forecast period. Key Findings: Immunoassays are projected to be the fastest growing segment, growing at a CAGR of 17.9% during the forecast period. Omic technologies is anticipated to be the highest revenue generating segment followed by imaging technologies during 2016-2022. In the year 2015, genetic biomarkers was the leading segment and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12.7%. Use of protein biomarkers was highest in North America , covering approximately 37% of the global market share in 2015. , covering approximately 37% of the global market share in 2015. Europe accounted for approximately one-third of the global cancer biomarkers market in 2015. accounted for approximately one-third of the global cancer biomarkers market in 2015. Asia-Pacific is estimated to be the fastest growing region in cancer biomarkers market, growing at a CAGR of 16.6%. is estimated to be the fastest growing region in cancer biomarkers market, growing at a CAGR of 16.6%. Mexico is projected to be the fastest growing country in the North America region growing at a CAGR of 15.4% during the forecast period. is projected to be the fastest growing country in the region growing at a CAGR of 15.4% during the forecast period. China and Japan were the leading markets for cancer biomarkers in the Asia-Pacific region covering three-fifth of the total market in 2015. North America dominated the global cancer biomarkers market. This is primarily attributed to the biomarker discoveries resulting from technological advancements. Moreover, rise in awareness about cancer as well as availability of better treatment facilities has also fueled the market growth. Europe and Asia-Pacific together accounted for around half of the market in 2015. The companies adopted collaboration and partnership as their prime strategy to keep pace with the changing demands of consumers and strengthen their market position. The key players for this market include F.Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Abbott Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Novartis AG, Merck & Co., Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer, Inc., Qiagen N.V. and Genomic Health, Inc. Summary of similar reports can be viewed at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/life-sciences/diagnostic-and-biotech-market-report About Us: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact: Rahul Thakur 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States Direct: +1-503-894-6022 Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada) Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975 E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com SOURCE Allied Market Research CBME China is committed to helping the next-generation, especially babies and children. In 2015, the charity program was initiated to create awareness, draw attention and raise support for children with autism. This year, the underprivileged children from Yunnan are the beneficiaries of the program. In 2017, the program beneficiaries will be orphans in China. "We really appreciate the support from the whole industry to make this happen. Working in the baby products industry, it is our duty to care about the next generation," says Athena Gong, General Manager, CBME China. Organized by UBM China, CBME China is the world's largest sourcing event for child, baby and maternity products industry and services. CBME China cares about the health and education of all children. For more information about the event and the charity program, please visit www.cbmexpo.com/en. For press enquiries, please contact: Louise Kathryn Yu Marketing Director Tel: (+852) 2585 6101 louise.yu@ubm.com About CBME China (www.cbmexpo.com/en) Held annually in Shanghai, CBME China is the world's largest sourcing event for baby, child and maternity products. This is the perfect venue for you to meet buyers, manufacturers, distributors and suppliers in the industry. CBME China 2017 will be held on 19-21 July 2017 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), China. It is co-located with Cool Kids Fashion Shanghai and Licensing Expo China. About UBM Asia (www.ubmasia.com) Owned by UBM plc listed on the London Stock Exchange, UBM Asia is Asia's leading exhibition organiser and the biggest commercial organiser in mainland China, India and Malaysia. UBM Asia has a strong global network of 30 offices and 1,300 staff in 24 major cities. We operate in 20 market sectors with 230 exhibitions and conferences, 23 trade publications, 20 online products for over 1,000,000 quality exhibitors, visitors, conference delegates, advertisers and subscribers from all over the world. Related Links http://www.cbmexpo.com/en SOURCE UBM China Newly constructed venues, such as the Western China International Expo Center and the Chengdu Century City New International Convention & Exhibition Center, will become operational in 2017, putting the city in the enviable position of having two major locations to choose from for large MICE events. The city's MICE industry is poised to take off. The Chengdu Century City New International Convention & Exhibition Center is equipped to host more than 100 events annually, further helping Chengdu reestablish its image as a popular international MICE destination. Wang Xin, Deputy Director of the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposition and Vice Chairman of CCPIT Chengdu Sub-council, said that as one of key cities in China, Chengdu features ease of accessibility and excellent airport facilities. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport is China's fourth largest airport in terms of throughput capacity and a second facility, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, is under construction. The city is a popular global tourism destination with comprehensive urban infrastructure and facilities. Designated by UNESCO as a World City of Gastronomy, Chengdu also is one of the key high-tech industrial bases, commerce and logistics centers and integrated transportation hubs in China, collectively laying a solid foundation for the development of Chengdu's MICE industry. In 2010, the municipal government of Chengdu focused on and enhanced efforts in boosting development of the MICE industry by establishing the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposition and rolling out favorable policies. The government also gave strong support to investors who put money into Chengdu's MICE industry, government services and promotional campaigns. The government also partnered with the city's leading universities and colleges in a move to enhance communication with international conferences and exhibitions organizers and invite them to host international events in Chengdu. The steps contributed to Chengdu's increasingly strong competence as a MICE destination. Western China International Expo Center will complement Chengdu's existing MICE venues, making the city an ideal choice for hosting both large and small-scale events during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020). The development of the MICE industry in Chengdu is on track to further accelerate. SOURCE China Council For the Promotion of International Trade Chengdu Sub-council HATFIELD, England, December 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- FOR EMEA MEDIA ONLY: NOT FOR SWISS/AUSTRIAN JOURNALISTS Eribulin has shown unprecedented survival benefit in advanced liposarcoma in pivotal phase III trial[1] The German Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) has confirmed the considerable additional benefit for Halaven (eribulin) compared to dacarbazine in the treatment of unresectable advanced or metastatic liposarcoma.[2] In its assessment, the G-BA found the data for mortality, symptoms and quality of life, which showed an additional benefit over the appropriate comparator, to be decisive. With its decision, the G-BA did not follow the recommendation of the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) - put forward in September this year - to not grant an additional benefit based on formal grounds only which resulted in the IQWiG not evaluating the clinical data provided by Eisai initially. In contrast, the G-BA judged the substantial survival benefit eribulin offers to patients with advanced liposarcoma to be a clinically relevant and considerable improvement of the therapy-relevant benefit.[2] Eribulin is indicated in the European Union for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable liposarcoma who have received prior anthracycline containing therapy (unless unsuitable) for advanced or metastatic disease.[3] Liposarcomas are one of the most common subtypes of soft tissue sarcomas (STS).[4],[5] STS develop from cells in essential tissues such as muscle, nerves, fibrous tissues and blood,[6] with liposarcomas arising from fat cells and potentially occurring anywhere in the body.[6] "It is very encouraging that the G-BA has recognised the benefit eribulin offers to patients with advanced liposarcoma. Given the limited treatment options for this condition, new and effective therapies are urgently needed. Eribulin clearly addresses this need as it has demonstrated a statistically significant and relevant survival advantage over dacarbazine, an established and internationally accepted treatment option for advanced soft tissue sarcoma," comments Prof. Dr. Viktor Grunwald, Klinik fur Hamatologie, Hamostaseologie, Onkologie und Stammzelltransplantation, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover. The G-BA assessment was supported by data from study 309, a randomized phase III trial in unresectable advanced or metastatic pretreated leiomyosarcoma or liposarcoma patients. The results showed that eribulin significantly improves overall survival (OS) versus dacarbazine in a preplanned subgroup analysis of patients with advanced liposarcoma. In this study, patients with liposarcoma that were treated with eribulin had a 7.2 months longer median overall survival than those treated with dacarbazine (15.6 months versus 8.4 months median OS, HR = 0.511; 95% CI 0.346-0.753; p=0.0006).[1] The most common (above 5%) adverse events of Grade 3 or 4 observed in the eribulin arm were neutropenia, anaemia and leukopenia, and in the dacarbazine arm were anaemia, neutropenia and thrombocytopenia.[1] "We are pleased that the G-BA - the supreme decision making body in German statutory healthcare - recognised the considerable value eribulin brings to people with unresectable advanced or metastatic liposarcoma compared to dacarbazine. Advanced liposarcoma is the second tumour type in which eribulin has demonstrated an overall survival benefit. We believe eribulin offers an unprecedented benefit to patients in Germany, and look forward to positive talks with the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV-Spitzenverband) to negotiate reimbursement prices based on this favourable G-BA decision," comments Dr. Patrik Holler, Director Oncology Business Group, Eisai GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany. Eribulin is also licensed in the European Union for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer who have progressed after at least one chemotherapeutic regimen for advanced disease. Prior therapy should have included an anthracycline and a taxane in either the adjuvant or metastatic setting, unless patients were not suitable for these treatments.[3] Eisai is dedicated to the discovery, development and production of innovative oncology therapies that can make a difference and impact the lives of patients and their families. This passion for people is part of Eisai's human health care (hhc) mission, which strives to better understand the needs of patients and their families to increase the benefits health care provides. Notes to Editors Halaven (eribulin) Eribulin is the first in the halichondrin class of microtubule dynamics inhibitors with a novel mechanism of action. Structurally, eribulin is a simplified and synthetically produced version of halichondrin B, a natural product isolated from the marine sponge Halichondria okadai. Eribulin is believed to work by inhibiting the growth phase of microtubule dynamics which prevents cell division. Global Phase III Clinical Study 309[1] Study 309 is a randomised, open-label multicentre phase III study to compare the efficacy and safety of eribulin mesylate (1.4 mg/m2, IV on days 1 and 8) to dacarbazine (850, 1,000 or 1,200 mg/m2, IV on day 1) with both drugs administered in a 21-day cycle. 452 patients (aged 18 or over) with soft tissue sarcomas of leiomyosarcoma or liposarcoma subtype were randomized 1:1. The primary endpoint of the study was overall survival. Additional endpoints included progression-free survival and quality of life. About Eisai EMEA in Oncology Eisai is committed to the development and delivery of highly beneficial new treatments for people with cancer. The development of therapeutic options in oncology is a major strategic area for Eisai in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Russia and Oceania (EMEA). In the European Union, Eisai currently has three marketed treatments across four indications: Lenvima (lenvatinib) is indicated in the European Union for the treatment of adult patients with progressive locally advanced or metastatic, differentiated (papillary, follicular, Hurthle cell) thyroid carcinoma (DTC) refractory to radioactive iodine (RAI). (lenvatinib) is indicated in the European Union for the treatment of adult patients with progressive locally advanced or metastatic, differentiated (papillary, follicular, Hurthle cell) thyroid carcinoma (DTC) refractory to radioactive iodine (RAI). Kisplyx (lenvatinib) is indicated in the European Union in combination with everolimus for the treatment of adult patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) following one prior vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-targeted therapy. (lenvatinib) is indicated in the European Union in combination with everolimus for the treatment of adult patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) following one prior vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-targeted therapy. Halaven (eribulin) is indicated in the European Union for the treatment of people with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer who have received at least two chemotherapeutic regimens for advanced disease. Prior therapy should have included an anthracycline and a taxane in either the adjuvant or metastatic setting, unless patients were not suitable for these treatments. Halaven (eribulin) is also indicated in the European Union for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable liposarcomas who have received prior anthracycline containing therapy (unless unsuitable) for advanced or metastatic disease. About Eisai Co., Ltd. Eisai Co., Ltd. is a leading global research and development-based pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan. We define our corporate mission as "giving first thought to patients and their families and to increasing the benefits health care provides," which we call our human health care (hhc) philosophy. With close to 10,000 employees working across our global network of R&D facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, we strive to realise our hhc philosophy by delivering innovative products in multiple therapeutic areas with high unmet medical needs, including Oncology and Neurology. As a global pharmaceutical company, our mission extends to patients around the world through our investment and participation in partnership-based initiatives to improve access to medicines in developing and emerging countries. For more information about Eisai Co., Ltd., please visit http://www.eisai.com. References 1. Schoffski P et al. Eribulin versus dacarbazine in previously treated patients with advanced liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma: a randomised, open-label, multicentre, phase 3 trial. The Lancet. 2016 2. Beschluss und Tragende Grunde des G-BA: https://www.g-ba.de/informationen/beschluesse/2775/ . Accessed: December 2016 3. SPC Halaven (updated August 2016). Available at: http://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/24382 Accessed: December 2016 4. Schwartz R, et al. Liposarcoma. Medscape. 2013. Available at: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1102007-overview . Accessed December 2016 5. Macmillan. Types of soft tissue sarcoma. Available at: http://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancerinformation/cancertypes/softtissuesarcomas/aboutsofttissuesarcomas/typesofsofttissuesarcoma.aspx Accessed: December 2016 6. Macmillan. What are soft tissue sarcomas? Available at: http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinformation/Cancertypes/Softtissuesarcomas/Aboutsofttissuesarcomas/Softtissuesarcomas.aspx. Accessed: December 2016 December 2016 Corporate-EU0012b SOURCE Eisai HILVERSUM, Netherlands, December 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Eindhoven and Helmond region head towards zero-emission public transport All 43 public buses in the Dutch cities of Eindhoven and Helmond will be electrically powered, starting the 11th of December. Together they form the largest zero-emission bus fleet in public transport in Europe. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161202/445108 ) It's the first public transport concession in Europe to deploy that many fully electric buses. London, for example, has 51 electric buses, but these are standard buses. The extra-long articulated buses in Dutch province Brabant can carry more passengers. Transdev, first mover in zero emission public transport, commences operating the fleet on December 11th. One of the biggest problems the company had to solve was the limited operational radius of the buses. Transdev tackles this problem through a combination of ultra-fast charging technology and an innovative rotation system. Buses that run out during the day, can be charged within half an hour. The bus terminus in Eindhoven has been converted from a single diesel garage into a charging garage, containing 43 charging points. The buses are equipped with a type of pantograph - known for trams and trolleybuses - which can make contact with the charging point. This construction was never used at this scale in The Netherlands. In addition, some electric buses are kept in reserve to replace buses which run out of power. Also bus drivers start their shifts on fully loaded buses in the terminus, instead of half-way their appointed route. At night, all buses will be fully charged in the terminus. The buses will be deployed in urban public transport, where distances are relatively short and air pollution is the highest. The official presentation of the fleet is on December 9th in Helmond. "This is an important step leading to sustainable bus transportation and a glimpse at the future of public transport," says Bart Schmeink, CEO of Transdev Netherlands. There is significant international interest for this public transport concession. Transdev will share information and experiences through its E-bus Living Lab en during an international convention in Paris next year. Note to editors: Media are invited to attend the official presentation on Friday December the 9th 2016. 0930h: Make a trip in the new buses. 1130h: Start press conference. Location: Cacaofabriek, Cacaokade 1, 5705 LA Helmond. Please confirm your attendance by mail to nicky.jansen@transdev.nl, spokeswoman Transdev The Netherlands, T: +31(0)6-38146552. SOURCE Transdev DUBLIN, Dec 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global and China Automotive Electric Motor Industry Report, 2016-2020" report to their offering. In 2015, the global automotive electric motor shipments approximated 3.47 billion units, up 6.7% from a year ago; the figure will go up to 3.64 billion units in 2016. With the development of intelligent and new energy vehicles, the global shipments of automotive electric motor are expected to grow at a compound annual rate of around 9.0% during 2016-2020. In 2015, the global automotive market continued to grow, with the total sales volume hitting 89.68 million units, up 2.0% year on year. It is anticipated that the numbers will reach 91.3 million units in 2016 and approach 105 million units in 2020. Specifically, China, as the world's largest automobile market, contributed the sales volume of 24.6 million units in 2015, sharing 27.4% of the global total; and the sales figure is expected to rise to 26 million units in 2016, with an estimated AAGR of around 5.0% during 2016-2020. By installation position, automotive electric motors can be divided into body motors, chassis motors, and powertrain motors, of which body motors find widest applications, including in power seats, electric windows, and electric rearview mirrors, etc. On average, one car needs about 24 units of body motor. In 2015, the global shipments of automotive body motor totalled 2.16 billion units, accounting for 62.3% of those of automotive electric motor. We project that the figure will rise to 2.31 billion units in 2016 and 3.18 billion units in 2020. Automotive electric motors mainly fall into small-sized automotive electric motors, automotive starters and alternators according to function. Globally, relatively more competitive manufacturers of small-sized automotive electric motors consist of Japan's ASMO, Mitsuba, Nidec, Mabuchi, and Denso, etc., and some European and American companies like Valeo and Bosch. Besides, the Chinese player Johnson Electric also enjoys strong competitiveness in the international market, seizing a market share of around 10% in 2015. Key Topics Covered: 1. Global and Chinese Automobile Markets 2. Chinese Automobile Market 3. Auto Motor Market 4. Major Automotive Motor Manufacturers ASMO BOSCH BorgWarner Brose Buhler Motor Chengdu Huachuan Electric Parts Chongqing Bright Industry Group Co., Ltd. DENSO Corporation Hubei Shendian Auto Motor Co., Ltd. Jinzhou Halla Electrical Equipment Co., Ltd. Johnson Electric Mabuchi Minxian Vehicle Electric Equipment Mitsuba Mitsubishi Electric Nidec Ningbo Yunsheng Prestolite Electric ( Beijing ) Limited ) Limited Shanghai Valeo Automotive Electrical Systems Co., Ltd. Shanghai Valeo Automotive Motor & Wiper Systems Co., Ltd. Shihlin Electric Taizhou ValeoWenling Automotive Systems Co., Ltd. Valeo Zhejiang Dehong Automotive Electronic & Electrical Co., Ltd. For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/h4j3vm/global_and_china Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com SOURCE Research and Markets MUMBAI, December 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hexaware Technologies, a leading global provider of application, infrastructure, BPS and digital services, announced the expansion of its BPS Services with a second delivery center in Chennai, India. The addition in its global delivery network will further strengthen the Company's delivery capabilities in providing accelerated business process solutions to clients across industries and various geographies. The inauguration was hosted by Allison Kirkby, Chief Executive Officer, Tele2, one of the leading European telecommunications operators. Hexaware has been a trusted partner for Tele2 since 2011. Tele2 has become one of Hexaware's strategic customers and among its top 3 customers in Europe. Hexaware and Tele2 have partnered in various successful strategic undertakings. In the last 6 years this partnership has grown to include IT, customer & network operations and IoT/M2M. Located in the Special Economic Zone, this 1400 seater state of the art delivery center is set to deliver high value and domain specific services for global clientele across verticals. Intelligent Process Automation has rapidly emerged as a non-invasive change enabler with the power to disrupt the shared services operating models and has dramatically driven down the cost of operations. Hexaware's inimitable Digital Managed Services (DMS) platform provides seamless automation experience addressing people, process and technology needs enabling Shared Services Centers to embrace Digital Labour. "The opening of the new delivery center is in anticipation of continued growth we are experiencing in the marketplace, as we continue to invest in our capabilities to service our customers in line with our Shrink IT Grow Digital strategy. We are also delighted to have Tele2 with us today. We see tremendous potential in leveraging our synergies for the benefits of our clients," said R Srikrishna, Chief Executive Officer, Hexaware Technologies Limited. "I am happy to have been a part of the inauguration of Hexaware's new Delivery Center. Tele2 is a company driven by a challenger spirit, flexibility and a will to always do better and I see the same qualities at Hexaware, making them a great partner to support us in creating value for our customers," said Allison Kirkby, Chief Executive Officer, Tele2. The new center will deliver mission critical back office and front office services to global clients from varied industries including telecommunication, BFS, healthcare, retail and professional employer organization. About Hexaware Please log on to: http://www.hexaware.com Safe Harbor Statement http://hexaware.com/investors/ Contact: Sreedatri Chatterjee sreedatric@hexaware.com SOURCE Hexaware Technologies OCEAN VIEW, Delaware, December 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Industrial Emission Control Systems Market size is expected to exceed USD 24 billion by 2024; as per a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160418/799556-a ) Government standards towards clean air coupled with growing concern over greenhouse gas emission may favor the industrial emission control systems market share in future. Manufacturers and industries in the U.S. are required to follow the guidelines introduced by National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants or Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) to meet the emission criteria. Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/846 Increasing demand for electricity with growing infrastructure will drive global industrial emission control systems market size. Rising number of thermal power plants to suffice growing electricity demand from emerging countries may further compliment industry outlook. Positive outlook towards chemical, automobile, maritime transportation and refineries is anticipated to drive the industrial emission control systems market. Increasing construction spending may further compliment business growth. Absorbers held 15% of global industrial emission control systems market share in 2015 and is slated to reach over USD 4 billion by 2024. These devices are undergoing significant technological advancements offering cost efficient manner for absorbing toxic gases from power plants, smelters and other industrial operations. Browse key industry insights spread across 146 pages with 238 market data tables & 10 figures & charts from the report, "Industrial Emission Control Systems Market Size By System (Electrostatic Precipitators, Catalytic Systems, Absorbers, Scrubbers), By Application (Power Plants, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Cement, Metal, Manufacturing), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Australia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Peru), Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 - 2024" in detail along with the table of contents: https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/industrial-emission-control-systems-market Key insights from the report include: U.S. industrial emission control systems market share for absorbers was over USD 250 million in 2015, and would grow over 7% from 2016 to 2024. Presence of major international suppliers along with stringent emission norms have been instrumental in the growth. China industrial emission control systems market size for power plants is likely to reach over USD 1 billion by 2024. Increasing population coupled industrialization is likely to favor the business. Catalytic systems are projected to reach over USD 6 billion by 2024. Increasing O&G refining to meet the growing petroleum product demand will foster the business growth. Belarus scrubber device is estimated to reach USD 40 million by 2024, at over 11% growth. Expansion of industries with growing power plants may favor the business in near future. Brazil is expected to witness a growth over 8% owing to growing industrialization and along with increase in mining and O&G exploration. is expected to witness a growth over 8% owing to growing industrialization and along with increase in mining and O&G exploration. Metal industry application was valued over USD 1 billion in 2015 and is expected to witness gains of over 8% during the forecast period. Germany industrial emission control systems market size from electrostatic precipitators device was valued at USD 242.88 million in 2015, growing at a CAGR of over 7% in future. Saudi Arabia scrubbers demand was USD 44.01 million in 2015, growing at a CAGR of 5.3% from 2016 to 2024. Key players catering industry are Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Johnson Matthey , BASF, Amec Foster Wheeler, Ducon Technologies, General Electric Company, CECO Environmental Corp, Thermax, Auburn Systems, Air Clean LLC, Fujian Longking Co, APC Technologies, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises and Hamon Corporation. Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/846 Industrial emission control systems market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecast in terms of revenue in USD million from 2013 to 2024 , for the following segments: Global Industrial Emission Control Systems Market By Device Electrostatic Precipitators Catalytic Systems Absorbers Scrubbers Others Global Industrial Emission Control Systems Market By Application Power Plants Chemicals and Petrochemicals Cement Metal Manufacturing The above information is provided on a regional and country basis for the following: North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe Germany UK France Spain Italy Netherland CIS Russia Ukraine Belarus Asia Pacific China India Japan South Korea Indonesia Australia Middle East and Africa Saudi Arabia UAE South Africa Nigeria Angola and South & Central America Brazil Argentina Venezuela Chile Peru Browse Related Reports: Industrial Gas Turbine Market Size, Industry Outlook Report, Regional Analysis (U.S., Germany , UK, Italy , Russia , China , India , Japan , South Korea , Brazil , Mexico , Saudi Arabia , UAE, South Africa ), Application Development, Price Trend, Competitive Landscape & Forecast, 2016 - 2023 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/industrial-gas-turbine-market Industrial Boilers Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Germany , UK, Italy , Russia , China , India , Japan , South Korea , Brazil , Mexico , Saudi Arabia , UAE, South Africa ), Application Development Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 - 2024 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/industrial-boilers-market About Global Market Insights Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology. Contact Us: Arun Hegde Corporate Sales, USA Global Market Insights, Inc. Phone: 1-302-846-7766 Toll Free: 1 888-689-0688 Email: sales@gminsights.com Web: https://www.gminsights.com SOURCE Global Market Insights Inc. ABU DHABI, UAE, December 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Abu Dhabi Declaration announced $100 million fund to protect endangered cultural heritage UAE leaders, foreign heads of states, prime ministers and dignitaries gathered in Abu Dhabi for the Safeguarding Endangered Cultural Heritage conference. Under the patronage of UNESCO, the conference was an initiative by HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and French President Francois Hollande aimed at protecting and preserving the endangered cultural heritage of mankind from the destructive results of armed conflicts. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161205/445405 ) During the event, His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority commented: "Heritage, in all its diversity, is a source of collective wealth and encourages dialogue. It is a vehicle for closer relations, tolerance and freedom. In an armed conflict situation, heritage is particularly at risk, owing to its inherent vulnerability and tremendous symbolic value. It is encouraging to see so many of us converge and collaborate to develop tangible goals to safeguard this heritage." The global conference brought together over 40 countries within the international community affected by heritage loss due to conflict, alongside key players involved in the field of world heritage preservation. It concluded with the announcement of the creation of an international fund for the protection of endangered cultural heritage in armed conflicts. The fund, which aims to raise $100 million by the time it is fully established, will help finance preventive and emergency operations, fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural artefacts, as well as contribute to the restoration of damaged cultural property. The announcement was made through the adoption of the Abu Dhabi Declaration, a solemn statement confirming the commitment of all those present to back the fund and their resolve to support the establishment of the foundation. Several foreign heads of states, prime ministers and dignitaries attended the various sessions across the two days along with HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, President Hollande, Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, and UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. In his opening speech, Jack Lang, President of Institut du Monde Arabe said: "It is for us, citizens of the world, a great pleasure to be united in the magical land of the United Arab Emirates. This conference we are invited to, is a historical event, but the task and the challenges at hand are great. It is time to mobilise the international and public actors to preserve the heritage threatened by war and terrorism. UNESCO has accomplished great work, and we will work hand in hand with them to provide our utmost support. I highly recognise the great work that has been accomplished in the run up to this event. I would like to thank the UAE for their exceptional hospitality and their continuous engagement in the fight for safeguarding cultural heritage. The UAE is a role model in this field and has paved the way towards devising and implementing actionable solutions and we thank them for spearheading this initiative." UNESCO's global mandate is to protect cultural heritage during armed conflicts and is pushing towards a new approach to protect culture for peace and security. Speaking at the closing ceremony, HE Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO said: "Over the past years, together we have built a new landscape, a new approach for the protection of heritage, bringing together partners far outside the "culture box" - against the deliberate destruction of heritage as a war crime and a key security issue. The creation of this Fund breaks new ground and I see this as the starting point of something larger - a renewed commitment for culture, education, human dignity, where the protection of heritage is part and parcel of a global strategy against hatred and extremism, to build lasting foundations for peace." A follow-up conference in 2017 will help assess the implementation of the initiatives as manifested by the ABU DHABI DECLARATION. SOURCE Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority TORONTO, December 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Assembling new team dedicated to foundational long-term relationships Bjarne Graven Larsen, Chief Investment Officer, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, today announced that Jonathan Hausman has been promoted to lead the new Global Strategic Relationships department, which is responsible for developing and cultivating mutually beneficial investment relationships around the world. His appointment as Managing Director and Head of Global Strategic Relationships is effective January 1, 2017. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161205/445531 ) "Strong relationships built over the long term are the foundation of our investment philosophy at Ontario Teachers'," said Mr. Graven Larsen. "We work with our partners to identify mutually beneficial opportunities, introducing each other to new individuals, teams and assets. Jonathan and his new team will be perfectly situated in the organization, working across our asset classes and supporting our teams in all regions globally to strengthen existing relationships and build new ones." Mr. Graven Larsen noted that this new team will integrate Ontario Teachers' efforts with its partner network in the Latin American region. Mr. Hausman joined Ontario Teachers' in 2004. He moves into his new role from Ontario Teachers' Capital Markets department, where he has been responsible for the Fund's global hedge fund portfolio, as well as its internal global macro and systematic trading strategies. Prior to joining Ontario Teachers', Mr. Hausman was Executive Director at Goldman Sachs, where he managed sovereign risk strategy and advised government clients on their external financings and international credit ratings from the London, New York and Hong Kong offices. "Jonathan has been instrumental in building our global network of partners," said Mr. Graven Larsen. "He leads our investment missions to new markets, and has led the Investment Division's Emerging Markets Committee for several years. He brings a depth of knowledge and appreciation for the unique characteristics of each region in which we invest and how best to integrate our efforts there." Jonathan holds a BA (Hons.) from McGill University, an MSc. (Econ.) from the London School of Economics, and an MPA from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He also has ICD.D certification from the Institute of Corporate Directors, and chairs the Advisory Board of the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and the Canadian Council for the Americas. About Ontario Teachers' The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Ontario Teachers') is Canada's largest single-profession pension plan, with $171.4 billion in net assets at December 31, 2015. It holds a diverse global portfolio of assets, 80% of which is managed in-house, and has earned an annualized rate of return of 10.3% since the plan's founding in 1990. Ontario Teachers' is an independent organization headquartered in Toronto. Its Asia-Pacific region office is located in Hong Kong and its Europe, Middle East & Africa region office is in London. The defined-benefit plan, which is fully funded, invests and administers the pensions of the province of Ontario's 316,000 active and retired teachers. For more information, visit otpp.com and follow us on Twitter @OtppInfo. Deborah Allan, Vice-President, Communications, +1(416)730-5347, deborah_allan@otpp.com SOURCE Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Customers sending MoneyGram money transfers have to own a valid Shinhan Bank Debit/ ATM card. To make the transaction process seamless, the sender can pre-register up to three recipients at any Shinhan Bank branch. Customers can also choose from different languages to process the transaction including English, Chinese, Russian, Thai and Vietnamese. After completing the transfer at an ATM, the sender receives a receipt with a reference number. Funds are ready to collect in as little as 10 minutes, subject to agent operating hours and local regulatory requirements. "This is an innovative, self-service solution offering our customers the possibility to send money fast and conveniently from anywhere and anytime, subject to banking hours and compliance with regulatory requirements," said Yogesh Sangle, head of Asia Pacific at MoneyGram. "South Korea is a dynamic remittance send market with an increasing diaspora of foreign workers seeking ways to send money back home to support their families providing for living essentials and education expenses. We're excited to extend our cooperation with Shinhan Bank by adding a new channel enabling MoneyGram to better serve a wider range of customer needs." According to the World Bank, in 2015 an estimated $5.6 billion in remittances were sent from South Korea, mainly to China ($4.1 billion), the Philippines ($215 million), and Thailand ($173 million). #moneygramnews About MoneyGram MoneyGram is a global provider of innovative money transfer and payment services and is recognized worldwide as a financial connection to friends and family. Whether online, or through a mobile device, at a kiosk or in a local store, we connect consumers any way that is convenient for them. We also provide bill payment services, issue money orders and process official checks in select markets. More information about MoneyGram International, Inc. is available at moneygram.com. Media Contact: Maria Bankiet-Kaminska MoneyGram Tel: + 48 22 377 2185 Mob: + 48 885 889 696 Mail: MBankietKaminska@moneygram.com Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161205/445627 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150730/251082LOGO Related Links http://www.moneygram.com SOURCE MoneyGram LONDON, December 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- PharmaBoardroom today releases its new 70 page Switzerland Healthcare & Life Sciences Review 2016. This report offers companies, investors, policymakers, and stakeholders crucial insight into Switzerland; a country located at the heart of Europe, home to some of the world's most important international health institutions as well as two of its largest pharmaceutical companies in Novartis and Roche, and with a number one ranking globally in terms of ease of doing business and innovation. Switzerland is truly a healthcare and life sciences powerhouse. The report features in-depth exclusive interviews with leading figures from public institutions and private companies, comprehensive articles, and up-to-date facts and figures on the Swiss healthcare and pharma sectors. Features Featured topics include: Europe's Brain: The growing number of MNCs choosing to their base global, EMEA or European headquarters in Switzerland Brain: The growing number of MNCs choosing to their base global, EMEA or European headquarters in Swiss Success Stories: The biotech and pharma start-ups gaining global recognition Inward Investment: A focus on Biogen's billion dollar manufacturing plant Swiss Exceptionalism: As a non-member of the EU, how Switzerland's healthcare system operates healthcare system operates Regional Rivalries: The competing yet complementary Swiss pharma hotspots: Basel , Zurich , Zug and Geneva Interviews The report features in-depth interviews with: Pascal Strupler, Federal Office of Public Health Walter Steinlin , Federal Commission of Technology and Innovation (CTI) , Federal Commission of Technology and Innovation (CTI) Dr. Oliver Bleck , Roche , Roche Walter P. Holzle, vips Dr. Jean-Paul Clozel, Actelion Tuomo Patsi, Celgene Prof. Jurg Utzinger, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) Jean-Daniel Gerber , SIFEM , SIFEM Kari Sarvanto, Primex Quotes "[The Swiss healthcare] system works well and we have learned the importance of open communication and discussing differences" Pascal Strupler, Federal Office of Public Health "Switzerland represents an extremely fertile ground for scientific findings we boast some of the very best researchers in the world" Walter Steinlin, CTI "It's certainly true that Switzerland is an expensive place to operate, but it is other factors, aside from wage prices that validate our decision to conduct the manufacturing from here in Schaffhausen." Ludo Ooms, Janssen "When you ask a CEO how relevant the high local operating costs are to their eventual investment decision-making, the reply is almost always that they assign more attention to the level of productivity." Thomas Cueni, Interpharma Click here to register and download the report. SOURCE PharmaBoardroom.com DUBLIN, Dec 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Automotive Fuel Transfer Pumps Market Size, Share, Development, Growth and Demand Forecast to 2022" report to their offering. The global automotive fuel transfer pumps market was valued at $49 billion in 2015, and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.7% during 2016 - 2022. Automotive fuel transfer pump is one of the essential components of an automobile. Earlier automotive fuel transfer pumps were primarily used for transferring fluids; however, now-a-days they are finding application in the improvement of overall vehicle as they increase fuel efficiency of the vehicle. With growing environmental concerns, there is an increased demand for eco-friendly solutions, which is encouraging the pump manufacturing companies to develop efficient pumps for automobiles. Pumps are used in vehicle systems for various applications such as fuel, lubrication and transmission. Stringent vehicular emissions regulations, increasing consumer demand for fuel efficient vehicles and engine performance is creating opportunity for the automotive fuel transfer pump manufacturers. Stringent regulatory framework is encouraging the automotive manufacturing giants to combine advance fuel injection systems. In 2015, Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest share in the global automotive fuel transfer pumps market; whereas the market in Middle East and Africa (MEA) is expected to grow at the fastest rate, during the forecast period. The major reason for the fast growth of the market in MEA includes increasing investments in technology up gradation and burgeoning demand for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in this region. Europe was the second largest market for automotive fuel transfer pumps in 2015. The widespread presence of automotive manufacturing giants in Europe is expected to positively impact the market growth over the forecast period. Companies Mentioned: Robert Bosch Gmbh Denso Corporation Continental AG Aisin Seiki Co. Ltd. Delphi Automotive Plc Johnson Electric Shw AG Magna International Inc. Mikuni Corporation Jtekt Corporation Key Topics Covered: 1.Research Scope & Methodology 2.Executive Summary 3.Market Outlook 4.Automotive Fuel Transfer Pumps Market Size And Forecast (2012-2022) 5.Global Automotive Fuel Transfer Pumps Market, By Geography 6.Competitive Analysis 7.Company Profiles And Strategic Developments For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ft9kcq/global_automotive Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com SOURCE Research and Markets DUBLIN, Dec 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Spinal Implants and Surgical Devices Market - Global Forecast to 2021" report to their offering. The global spinal implants and surgical devices market is estimated to reach 17.27 billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 5.3% from 2016 to 2021. Factors such as the presence of a large patient population, growing number of obesity cases, increasing government spending on healthcare, and rising income levels are propelling the growth of the spinal implants and surgical devices market in the Asia-Pacific region. The growth of the global spinal implants and surgical devices market is driven by factors such as technological advancements in spine surgery devices, growing demand for minimally invasive spine surgeries, and increasing aging and obese population with increasing number of spine deformities. In addition, emerging Asian and Latin American nations and growing number of hospitals and surgical centers are offering new growth opportunities for the spinal implants and device manufacturers. Nonetheless, the stringent product approval process, high cost of treatment procedures, uncertainty in reimbursement, and lack of adequate physician and patient awareness/education are the key reasons hampering the growth of the spinal implants and surgical devices market. Geographically, North America is estimated to command the largest share of the global spinal implants and surgical devices market in 2016, followed by Europe. The large market share of the North American region is attributed to the high adoption rate of newly developed treatment technologies and the well-established healthcare infrastructure and reimbursement system in this region. Companies Mentioned: Alphatec Spine Inc. Depuy Synthes (A Subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) Globus Medical, Inc. K2M Group Holdings, Inc. Medtronic PLC Nuvasive, Inc. Orthofix International N.V. RTI Surgical, Inc. Stryker Corporation Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 5 Market Overview 6 Industry Trends 7 Spinal Implants Market, By Technology 8 Spinal Implants Market, By Product 9 Spinal Implants Market, By Type of Surgery 10 Spinal Implants Market, By Region 11 Competitive Landscape 12 Company Profiles 13 Appendix For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9kl7jd/spinal_implants Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com SOURCE Research and Markets A few of Shure's many groundbreaking audio industry triumphs since 1925 include: The Unidyne Model 55 microphone, which became the most recognized microphone in the world A contract to supply the U.S. armed forces with microphones during World War II; the T-17B became the most widely-used audio device by the U.S. Army and Navy The 55S, a variant of the original Unidyne model that became known as the Elvis mic, due to Elvis Presley's preference for it preference for it The M3D, the world's first stereo phonograph cartridge The Vagabond System, one of the first wireless microphone systems for performers The SM57, the main lectern microphone for all U.S. presidents since Lyndon B. Johnson The iconic Shure SM58, the microphone of choice for music performance worldwide The Axient Wireless System, the world's first with intelligent hardware and software to detect and avoid interference "Shure has launched numerous innovative wired and wireless microphone products, conferencing systems, audio processors, earphones, headphones, and software systems, expanding its footprint both nationally and globally over the decades," said Frost & Sullivan Industry Principal Alaa Saayed. "Significantly, it is the most purchased brand among institutions, enterprises, houses of worship, live events' sound contractors, as well as theatres, broadcast, and studios." Shure has consistently demonstrated a keen understanding of customer and market trends. One of the key Mega Trends that it has been able to tap optimally is wireless connectivity. It has led the industry transition to digital wireless technology with its wide array of sophisticated, spectrally efficient wireless microphone systems in the very high frequency (VHF) and ultra high frequency (UHF) spectrum. It also offers alternatives in the unlicensed 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, and digital enhanced cordless telecommunications (DECT) spectrum. The company's wireless microphones address user needs and environments across all price and performance tiers. Its premium lines, such as Axient and UHF-R, are used in live concert venues and television shows, as well as for special event broadcasts such as the Super Bowl, the GRAMMY Awards, and U.S. political conventions. Shure recognized the unique needs of millennial content creators and studio recorders brought on by the social media explosion and designed microphone solutions and educational modules specifically for them, offering a distinguished set of products and a variety of deployment methods and service levels. "The military specification quality standards that earned Shure the U.S. government E Star of Excellence in World War II were not relaxed even after the war and continue to be the foundation of its product developed efforts," Saayed noted. "In the following decades, a number of best practices were used internally to improve business processes as well as externally to guide customers and potential customers to better use and deploy Shure technology." The company received a special GRAMMY for its technical contribution to the music industry in 2003, and amassed unpaid endorsements from more than 500 artists, including A-listers. To ensure superior customer satisfaction and loyalty, Shure offers not only superior product support and expert advice, but also various product incentives and promotions. Shure continues to be perceived as a provider of superior audio, innovative technologies, and solid customer support. For its unmatched brand awareness among business users and individuals, Shure is deserving of the 2016 North America Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year Award. Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated excellence in terms of growth strategy and implementation. The award recognizes a high degree of innovation with products and technologies and the resulting leadership in terms of customer value and market penetration. Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry. "We are honored and grateful to receive this coveted award from Frost & Sullivan," remarked Shure Incorporated President and CEO, Christine Schyvinck. "And proud to be recognized by a globally reputable firm that focuses its analysis on innovation and growth. "Since S.N. Shure founded our Company in 1925, it has been our philosophy to develop products and business practices of the highest quality. As we mark more than nine decades of innovation in the audio industry, this award is a fitting tribute to our Company's visionary associates, past and present." About Shure Incorporated Founded in 1925, Shure Incorporated (www.shure.com) is widely acknowledged as the world's leading manufacturer of microphones and audio electronics. Over the years, the Company has designed and produced many high-quality professional and consumer audio products that have become legendary for performance, reliability, and value. Shure's diverse product line includes world-class wired microphones, wireless microphone systems, in-ear personal monitoring systems, conferencing and discussion systems, networked audio systems, award-winning earphones and headphones, and top-rated phonograph cartridges. Today, Shure products are the first choice whenever audio performance is a top priority. Shure Incorporated is headquartered in Niles, Illinois, in the United States. The Company also has regional sales and marketing headquarters in Eppingen, Germany, and Hong Kong, China, with more than 30 additional manufacturing facilities and regional sales offices throughout the Americas, EMEA, and Asia. About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Contact us: Start the discussion. Contact: Chiara Carella P: +44 (0) 207.343.8314 F: 210.348.1003 E: chiara.carella@frost.com Related Links http://www.frost.com SOURCE Frost & Sullivan SAN FRANCISCO, December 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The global specialty polyamides market is expected to reach USD 3.28 billion by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Rising utilization of eco-friendly nylon materials that offers high efficiency and protection to extend product durability is projected to boost market demand over the forecast period. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150105/723757 ) Growing environmental concern shave led to rise in interest to develop polyamides using renewable feedstock in recent times. Green benefits are not the only reasons for wide acceptance of specialty polyamides. In fact, it is claimed these polyamides can offer better performance than the conventionally made engineering thermoplastics. Growing disposable income, high demand for low fuel combustion vehicles and strict implementation of regulations by the governing bodies such as EPA has led to increasing demand for these products. Companies such as Evonik Industries AG, BASF SE, Arkema SA, and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company have adopted expansion strategies to increase their presence in the market. Most of the companies have been heavily investing in R&D amenities to discover advanced and innovative special engineering nylons that are eco-friendly and easy to use, with less utilization of expensive & harmful raw materials. Browse full research report with TOC on "Specialty Polyamides Market Analysis By Application (Automotive & Transportation, Electrical & Electronics, Consumer Goods & Retail, Energy, Industrial Coatings), Competitive Strategies, Trends & Dynamics And Segment Forecasts, 2014 - 2024" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/specialty-polyamides-market Further key findings from the report suggest: The global specialty polyamides market demand was 527.9 kilo tons in 2015 and is expected to exceed 840 kilo tons by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2016 to 2024 Automotive & transportation emerged as the leading application segment with demand share exceeding 35% in 2015. Increasing demand for light weight vehicles on account of existing and proposed stringent governmental regulations regarding automotive pollution along with growing need for fuel-efficient vehicles is expected to drive this segment over the forecast period Electronics & semiconductors are expected to witness brisk growth over the forecast period. Increasing utilization of electronic components made up of these polyamides for electronic equipment, as well as for trays and conveyer systems used in the manufacture of semiconductor chips is anticipated to benefit the overall industry consumption Asia Pacific was the leading regional market and accounted for over 40% of global demand in 2015. The region is also expected to witness the highest growth of 6.1% on account of the growing demand for automobile components and electronics & other electrical products in China , Taiwan , and Japan Browse related reports by Grand View Research: Indium Tin Oxide Market- http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/indium-tin-oxide-market Anticrease Agent Market- http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/anticrease-agent-market Grand View Research has segmented the specialty polyamides market on the basis of application and region: Global Application Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2024) Automotive & transportation Electrical & electronics Consumer goods & retail Energy Industrial coatings Others Regional Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2024) North America U.S. Europe Germany France Netherlands Italy Poland Spain Asia Pacific China Hong Kong Japan Taiwan Thailand Korea Central & South America Middle East & Africa Access research insight: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/research-insights/specialty-polyamides-market-usage-synthetic-polyamides About Grand View Research Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare. Read Our Blogs - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/blogs/specialty-and-fine-chemicals Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc Phone: 1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com Web: http://www.grandviewresearch.com SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc. Frost & Sullivan whitepaper reveals how businesses can achieve a robust hybrid cloud environment using colocation cloud exchanges MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hybrid IT is the new enterprise reality. As businesses demand greater agility and responsiveness, IT organizations are utilizing a wide variety of infrastructures to suit the many applications and services that they deploy. No workload is an island and most reach across multiple infrastructures to share data and resources. A new Frost & Sullivan white paper titled, Not Your Grandfather's Colo: Galvanize Your Hybrid IT Strategy with the Right Colocation Service Provider, shares insight on the challenges in deploying hybrid IT, the value a colocation data center can bring to an enterprise's hybrid environment, and how to choose the right colocation data center provider for your business. Click here to download the complimentary whitepaper, or visit: http://frost.ly/178 As hybrid cloud infrastructures become ingrained as an enterprise standard for IT environments, many businesses still struggle with how to best integrate a wide variety of infrastructures and services. Moreover, they must integrate infrastructures in a manner that enhances workload performance, security and flexibility, while reducing further capital expenses. "Despite great demand, several challenges remain as enterprises attempt to deploy a hybrid IT environment, including connectivity to cloud service providers and to the private infrastructures that house the most critical enterprise data," states Stratecast | Frost & Sullivan Cloud Computing Service Industry Analyst Karyn Price. "Such constraints leave enterprises searching for new ways to deploy and maintain the multiple infrastructures necessary to create the best hybrid cloud to suit the enterprise's needs." In response, colocation data centers offer a solution to a business's hybrid cloud deployment challenge. Colocation cloud exchanges offer access to both the private and dedicated resources that remain under the enterprises direct control, as well as to the cloud service providers whose public infrastructures are in high demand. "Carrier-neutral colocation data centers offer a strong option to help enterprises connect their hybrid cloud resources," affirms Price. "Using carrier-neutral colocation as a hub, enterprises gain access to both the secure, private infrastructures that can house sensitive corporate data, as well as the public infrastructures and services that often comprise a hybrid cloud. In addition, the security capabilities often exceed what the enterprise itself can achieve. In short, colocation data centers can help enterprises meet their hybrid IT needs both today and into the future." About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. Our "Growth Partnership" supports clients by addressing these opportunities and incorporating two key elements driving visionary innovation: The Integrated Value Proposition and The Partnership Infrastructure. The Integrated Value Proposition provides support to our clients throughout all phases of their journey to visionary innovation including: research, analysis, strategy, vision, innovation and implementation. provides support to our clients throughout all phases of their journey to visionary innovation including: research, analysis, strategy, vision, innovation and implementation. The Partnership Infrastructure is entirely unique as it constructs the foundation upon which visionary innovation becomes possible. This includes our 360 degree research, comprehensive industry coverage, career best practices as well as our global footprint of more than 40 offices. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies? Contact Us: Start the discussion Media Contact: Clarissa Castaneda Corporate Communications North America P: 210.477.8481 F: 210.348.1003 clarissa.castaneda@frost.com http://www.frost.com Related Links http://www.frost.com SOURCE Frost & Sullivan ISTANBUL, December 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- "Europe's Best Airline" presents its new online platform, now available in Portuguese Turkish Airlines, the one and only airline flying to more countries than any other, presents its new web site to its esteemed passengers. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161202/445171LOGO ) Designed to provide the ultimate user-friendly layout, with high quality visuals of destinations that Turkish Airlines flies to, the new web site offers the best experience to Portuguese users. Thanks to the new technological infrastructure, it will be easier and faster to buy tickets, book, manage trips, check in and access to enhanced frequent flyer program Miles&Smiles applications. The new functionalities of the web site will also allow passengers to change tickets, make cancellations and ask for refund directly via website. Passengers will also have easy access to accommodation, insurance and car rental services. In order to improve the customer experience, the new website also includes new services to fasten all the trip processes for Miles&Smiles members such as one-click purchase with stored payment information, saving companion passengers' details, easy access to recent bookings, and fast check-in reminders among many others. The Turkish Airlines website has also been created to deliver personalized content and offers the opportunity for discounted tickets via the promotion code application. With the launch of the new web site, Turkish Airlines was chosen as Europe's Best Airline for the sixth consecutive time by Skytrax, repeats its commitment to continue to offer the high quality of passenger satisfaction. About Turkish Airlines: Established in 1933 with a fleet of five aircraft, Star Alliance member Turkish Airlines is a 4-star airline today with a fleet of 332 (passenger and cargo) aircraft flying to 290 destinations worldwide with 241 international and 49 domestic. According to the 2016 Skytrax survey, Turkish Airlines was chosen as "Europe's Best Airline" for the sixth and "Best Airline in Southern Europe" for the eighth consecutive time. Having won in 2010 the world's "Best Economy Catering Service", in 2013 and also in 2014 the world's "Best Business Catering Service", and "Best Business Class Lounge Dining", "Best Business Airline Lounge" awards in last year's survey, Turkish Airlines was awarded again the world's "Best Business Class Dining Lounge" and "Best Business Class On-Board Catering" prizes in this year's survey. More information about Turkish Airlines can be found on its official website http://www.turkishairlines.com or its social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Linkedin, and Instagram. About Star Alliance: The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Avianca Brazil, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI and United. Overall, the Star Alliance network currently offers more than 18,500 daily flights to 1,330 airports in 192 countries. Tel: +90 (212) 463 63 63 11173-11153 Fax: +90 (212) 465 20 78 press@thy.com SOURCE Turkish Airlines DUBLIN, Dec 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Vietnam Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) Market - Drivers, Opportunities, Trends & Forecasts: 2015-2022" report to their offering. LEDs market in Vietnam is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18.2% during the forecast period 2016-2022, to reach $729.0 million by 2022. The study covers and analyzes the Vietnam LEDs market, bringing out the complete key insights of the industry. The report aims to provide an opportunity for players to understand the latest trends, current market scenario, government initiatives, and technologies related to the market. In addition, helps the venture capitalist in understanding the companies better and take informed decisions. The LEDs market in Vietnam has been analyzed based on major application areas - lighting, displays & backlights, mobile devices, signs & boards and others. The application area of lighting has further been divided into sub-application areas of indoor lighting and outdoor lighting along with bifurcation into the products of bulbs, street lights, and spotlights. The LED lighting segment is expected to grow fastest among application areas for LEDs in Vietnam market. The established trade relations between Vietnam and China would be helpful in sourcing LEDs for the LED products manufacturing facilities in Vietnam. The LED products manufacturing capabilities in Vietnam is constantly improving. Many international players have already established their manufacturing set-ups in the country in order to reap benefits of growing market opportunities. Some of the prominent players in Vietnam LED market are OSRAM, Philips and New Light LED Technology Ltd. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 1.1 Research Methodology 1.2 Market Definition & Coverage 1.2.1 Market Definition 1.2.2 Major Application Areas 1.2.3 Major Application Areas - Sub Segments 2 Executive Summary 3 Market Overview 3.1 Country Trends 3.2 PESTLE Analysis 3.3 Market Drivers 3.4 Market Challenges & Inhibitors 4 Vietnam LED Market Analysis 4.1 Momentum Analysis By Applications 4.2 Vietnam LED Market Revenues, By Applications 4.3 Vietnam LED Market Volume, By Applications 4.4 Vietnam LED Market Volume, By Applications (Year-on-Year) 4.5 Vietnam LED Market Revenues from Mobile Devices, By Sub-segments 4.6 Vietnam LED Market Revenues from Displays, By Sub-segments 4.7 Vietnam LED Market Revenues from Lighting, By Sub-segments 4.8 Vietnam LED Market Revenues from Signs & Boards, By Sub-segments 4.9 Vietnam LED Market Revenues from Other Applications 5 Vietnam LED Market Supply Analysis, by Key Players 6 Supplier Profiles 6.1 New Light Led Technology LTD 6.2 Future Electronics LTD 6.3 OSRAM 6.4 PHILIPS 6.5 Green Power Kim Dinh For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/j2x4lt/vietnam_light Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com SOURCE Research and Markets NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. and BALTIMORE, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), a global biopharmaceutical company, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine today announced that they signed a five-year collaboration agreement with the goal of advancing medical oncology research and discovery at both organizations. Designed to build strong collaboration between AbbVie and Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers, the agreement will focus on several areas of oncology research, which could include lung, colorectal, breast, prostate and hematological cancer. "As an alumnus and a former faculty member of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, I know from my own experience that we will be able to combine AbbVie's expertise in oncology with some of the most talented academic researchers in the field of medicine today," said Gary Gordon, M.D., Ph.D., vice president, oncology clinical development, AbbVie. "This collaboration will combine our resources and talent with Johns Hopkins Medicine to help further advance our ability to develop new therapies available for cancer patients in need." The agreement allows Johns Hopkins Medicine physicians and scientists access to explore new therapies developed by AbbVie for use in preclinical research funded by the collaboration. In addition, the relationship includes opportunities for research and development teams from both organizations to work closely to promote scientific knowledge exchange. AbbVie also gains an option for an exclusive license to certain Johns Hopkins Medicine discoveries made under the agreement. "The importance of cancer research is critical to developing new therapies that could have life-changing implications," said William Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. "Opportunities to advance science and further research help move us in a direction to yield positive outcomes." As part of the collaborative agreement, a joint steering committee consisting of representatives from each organization will determine the research projects that the collaboration will undertake. Researchers from Johns Hopkins and AbbVie will also participate in an annual symposium to discuss their joint research and evaluate potential new projects. About AbbVie AbbVie is a global, research-based biopharmaceutical company formed in 2013 following separation from Abbott Laboratories. The company's mission is to use its expertise, dedicated people and unique approach to innovation to develop and market advanced therapies that address some of the world's most complex and serious diseases. Together with its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pharmacyclics, AbbVie employs more than 28,000 people worldwide and markets medicines in more than 170 countries. For further information on the company and its people, portfolio and commitments, please visit www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on Twitter or view careers on our Facebook or LinkedIn page. About Johns Hopkins Medicine Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM), headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is an $8 billion integrated global health enterprise and one of the leading academic health care systems in the United States. JHM unites physicians and scientists of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with the organizations, health professionals and facilities of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System. JHM's vision, "Together, we will deliver the promise of medicine," is supported by its mission to improve the health of the community and the world by setting the standard of excellence in medical education, research and clinical care. Diverse and inclusive, JHM educates medical students, scientists, health care professionals and the public; conducts biomedical research; and provides patient-centered medicine to prevent, diagnose and treat human illness. JHM operates six academic and community hospitals, four suburban health care and surgery centers, and 40 primary and specialty care outpatient sites under the umbrella of Johns Hopkins Community Physicians. JHM extends health care into the community and globally through Johns Hopkins Home Care Group, Johns Hopkins Medicine International and Johns Hopkins HealthCare. The Johns Hopkins Hospital, opened in 1889, has been ranked #1 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for 22 years of the survey's 27-year history. For more information about Johns Hopkins Medicine; its research, education and clinical programs; and for the latest health, science and research news, visit www.hopkinsmedicine.org. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160706/386913LOGO SOURCE AbbVie Related Links http://www.abbvie.com NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. and CHICAGO, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), a global biopharmaceutical company, and Northwestern University today announced they signed a five-year collaboration agreement with the goal of advancing research and discovery in oncology. Together, AbbVie and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University will work in several areas of oncology research, which in addition to others could include, lung, colorectal, breast, prostate and hematological cancer. "One of the best steps AbbVie can take to deliver new therapies in oncology is to combine our research and discovery expertise with the talents and insight of our colleagues in academic medicine," said Gary Gordon, M.D., Ph.D., vice president, oncology clinical development, AbbVie. "The opportunity to work with leading researchers and clinicians from the Lurie Cancer Center enhances AbbVie's ability to help oncology patients even more in the future." The collaboration provides Lurie Cancer Center scientists with the opportunity to access new therapies developed by AbbVie for preclinical research funded under the agreement. Lurie Cancer Center scientists will also work closely with AbbVie's research teams to support scientific knowledge exchange. In addition, the agreement provides AbbVie with the option to obtain an exclusive license of certain Lurie Cancer Center discoveries made as a result of the five-year collaboration. "The ability to investigate new therapeutic agents with AbbVie provides us with a great opportunity to expand our translational oncology efforts," said Leonidas C. Platanias, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Lurie Cancer Center. "Our partnership with AbbVie will facilitate and accelerate the development of innovative new therapies against a wide variety of different cancers." A joint steering committee comprised of representatives from both organizations will determine the research projects that the collaboration will undertake. Researchers from AbbVie and the Lurie Cancer Center will also hold a symposium at least once each year to discuss their joint research and potential ideas for new research projects. About AbbVie AbbVie is a global, research-based biopharmaceutical company formed in 2013 following separation from Abbott Laboratories. The company's mission is to use its expertise, dedicated people and unique approach to innovation to develop and market advanced therapies that address some of the world's most complex and serious diseases. Together with its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pharmacyclics, AbbVie employs more than 28,000 people worldwide and markets medicines in more than 170 countries. For further information on the company and its people, portfolio and commitments, please visit www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on Twitter or view careers on our Facebook or LinkedIn page. About the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University Lurie Cancer Center, one of only 47 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the country, is committed to being a national leader in the battle to overcome cancer. To this end, Lurie Cancer Center is dedicated to scientific discovery, advancing medical knowledge, providing compassionate, state-of-the-art cancer care, and training the next generation of clinicians and scientists. Outstanding basic, translational, and clinical research complements a full range of prevention, early detection, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care programs for all types of cancer. For information about Lurie Cancer Center's patient care, programs and services, research and clinical trials, please visit cancer.northwestern.edu. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160706/386913LOGO SOURCE AbbVie Related Links http://www.abbvie.com MEXICO CITY, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Avant Energy S. de R.L. de C.V. ("Avant Energy" or "the Company") a newly-established Mexican energy company, today announced that Riverstone Holdings, an energy and power-focused private investment firm, has agreed to an initial line-of-equity investment of $150 million in the Company, which can be increased to $300 million once this initial capital has been invested. Avant Energy executives have also made additional capital commitments for undisclosed amounts. With offices in Mexico City, Monterrey and Houston, Avant Energy will focus on the development, construction and operation of infrastructure for Mexico's oil, natural gas, refined products and electricity sectors, as well as participate in the recently liberalized markets for these products and services. The company will be led by Jaime de la Rosa, Luis Farias, Jaime Williams, and Antonio Noyola, senior executives with extensive track records at companies including Cemex, Gas Natural Fenosa, Mitsui Power Americas and Gas Industrial de Monterrey. They will be joined by Lenny Lee, Roy Piskadlo, and Richard Jefferis; a group of experienced international executives who have held numerous leadership positions at firms including Entergy-Koch, Merrill Lynch Commodities, and AES. Mr. De la Rosa stated: "We are very pleased to announce the launch of Avant Energy and our partnership with Riverstone, one of the world's most experienced energy investors." Mr. Williams noted: "We look forward to making meaningful contributions to the growth, reliability and efficiency of Mexico's energy sector over the coming years." Mr. Alfredo Marti, Managing Director at Riverstone, added: "We are very excited to partner with some of the most recognized energy executives in Mexico and the US to launch what we hope will become one of Mexico's leading independent midstream and power infrastructure platforms. We are particularly pleased that our investment represents capital from Mexican pension funds through our CKD fund, as well as from international investors who are enthusiastic about the country's potential." About Riverstone Holdings LLC Riverstone Holdings LLC is an energy and power-focused private investment firm founded in 2000 by David M. Leuschen and Pierre F. Lapeyre, Jr. with over $34 billion of capital raised. Riverstone conducts buyout and growth capital investments in the exploration & production, midstream, oilfield services, power, and renewable sectors of the energy industry. With offices in New York, London, Houston, and Mexico City, Riverstone has committed more than $33 billion to more than 120 investments in North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. More information available at: www.riverstonellc.com About Avant Energy S. de R.L. de C.V. Avant Energy is a Mexican company focused on the development, construction and operation of infrastructure for the country's oil, natural gas, refined products and electricity sectors, as well as on participation in the recently liberalized markets for these products and services. More information available at: www.avant.energy Riverstone Contacts: Jeffrey Taufield or Daniel Yunger KEKST 212.521.4800 SOURCE Riverstone Holdings LLC Related Links http://www.riverstonellc.com WELLESLEY, Mass., Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at Babson College awards about a dozen entrepreneurs each semester with access to professional and semiprivate workspace to grow their ventures. As part of the Butler Venture Accelerator, the undergraduate and graduate hatcheries provide a vibrant atmosphere conducive to sharing ideas and information among student entrepreneurs. Graduate Businesses BabyDeal (Shruti Jadhav MBA'18) An online platform that helps new parents plan smart for their baby. They can find the best deals on baby products, trade gently used items with other subscribers, get advice and reach out to other parents and be a part of a supportive community. DropZone for Veterans (Courtney Wilson MBA'17) We connect military veterans and the businesses that want to support them through an online, customizable directory of over 50,000 veteran benefits. Hangout (Sean O'Neill MBA'18) We are making hangovers a thing of the past with Hang-Out, a simple shot sized beverage that can save you from a world of hurt in the morning. Meldtrend (Mohit Juneja MBA'18) MeldTrend automates meeting minutes by recording the conversation under consent, using licensed speech recognition software and summarizing the text to a short and concise email. Furthermore, using actionable data analytics and predictive modeling tools, the summarized conversation predicts action items for the subsequent meeting. This significantly improves meeting productivity and helps synthesize plentiful information in variety of settings. Runner's Convoy (Aakant Taurani MBA'17 and Kanei Kaku MBA'17) Runner's Convoy is a service for road race event hosts to offer to their race participants. Runner's Convoy analyzes runner form and provides feedback to the runners. Verrocon (Kunal Kumar MBA'18 and Nischal Bondalapati MBA'18) Wearable wrist band for effective networking. Undergraduate Businesses Briggs Original Inc. (Michael Kurson '18) Briggs Original Inc. has created the world's first all-natural, gluten-free, spiked sparkling water made with real New England Cranberry. The company will be launching its first product, Boston Cranberry, in Boston in Spring 2017. Carewell (Jonathon Mleczko '17 and Lexi Smith) Carewell is a platform for caregivers that uses artificial intelligence to help caregivers manage the daily ups and downs of caregiving. DetraPel (David Zamarin '20) DetraPel is a super hydrophobic liquid repelling solution that utilizes nanotechnology to repel any liquid based substances from any fabric for up to a whole year and is EPA Compliant, non-toxic, and biodegradable. Kanga Trash Solutions (Brian Kelley '18) Kanga Trash Solutions LLC provides stadiums with trash bags that are held by an attachment under stadium seats, allowing fans to easily to dispose their trash without leaving it on the ground. Lula Technologies, Inc. (Matthew Vega-Sanz '19 and Michael Vega-Sanz '19) Launching in Spring 2017, Lula is the only peer-to-peer car sharing platform for college students, and separates itself from competitors by eliminating the need for a sign-up fee, annual or monthly commitment, and only requires the driver to pay for the time they are in possession of the car. MotivateLabs (Arjun Bhatnagar '18, Harsha Atluri '18 and Ryan Elcock '18) MotivateLabs provides consumers with a kit aimed at helping individuals achieve goals by combining one's desire for destruction with one's desire for accomplishment. Revive Hemp Foods (Trevor Grode '19, Ryan Beaton '19, Charles Morris '19 and Alex Wagner '19) Revive Hemp Foods manufactures and distributes gluten-free, protein-rich products and ingredients to restaurants and retail stores. The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship Named in honor of Arthur M. Blank '63, H'98, co-founder of The Home Depot, and home to the largest dedicated entrepreneurship faculty in the world, the Blank Center is the epicenter of entrepreneurial activity at Babson. The John E. and Alice L. Butler Venture Accelerator The John E. and Alice L. Butler Venture Accelerator at Babson provides an ecosystem where participants live and breathe entrepreneurship. Through our diverse programs, students and alumni explore opportunities and move their business concepts forward, taking advantage of workspace, peer-mentoring programs, expert advisers, and other valuable resources. Our entrepreneurial community offers unparalleled support throughout each stage of your business's development, helping you stay focused as you turn your idea into a reality. About Babson College Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds(r). The top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought & Action(r) as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. Visit www.babson.edu. CONTACT: Michael Chmura, 781-239-4549, [email protected] This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com. SOURCE Babson College Related Links http://www.babson.edu Newly constructed venues, such as the Western China International Expo Center and the Chengdu Century City New International Convention & Exhibition Center, will become operational in 2017, putting the city in the enviable position of having two major locations to choose from for large MICE events. The city's MICE industry is poised to take off. The Chengdu Century City New International Convention & Exhibition Center is equipped to host more than 100 events annually, further helping Chengdu reestablish its image as a popular international MICE destination. Wang Xin, Deputy Director of the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposition and Vice Chairman of CCPIT Chengdu Sub-council, said that as one of key cities in China, Chengdu features ease of accessibility and excellent airport facilities. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport is China's fourth largest airport in terms of throughput capacity and a second facility, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, is under construction. The city is a popular global tourism destination with comprehensive urban infrastructure and facilities. Designated by UNESCO as a World City of Gastronomy, Chengdu also is one of the key high-tech industrial bases, commerce and logistics centers and integrated transportation hubs in China, collectively laying a solid foundation for the development of Chengdu's MICE industry. In 2010, the municipal government of Chengdu focused on and enhanced efforts in boosting development of the MICE industry by establishing the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposition and rolling out favorable policies. The government also gave strong support to investors who put money into Chengdu's MICE industry, government services and promotional campaigns. The government also partnered with the city's leading universities and colleges in a move to enhance communication with international conferences and exhibitions organizers and invite them to host international events in Chengdu. The steps contributed to Chengdu's increasingly strong competence as a MICE destination. Western China International Expo Center will complement Chengdu's existing MICE venues, making the city an ideal choice for hosting both large and small-scale events during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020). The development of the MICE industry in Chengdu is on track to further accelerate. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161204/445339 SOURCE China Council For the Promotion of International Trade Chengdu Sub-council The Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell was quoted as saying by reports that the bank is firmly committed to lowering inflation. NEW YORK, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, today announced the promotions of Aaron Goldman and Shantanu Rastogi to managing director and Erin Chang to principal. Mr. Goldman is based in the firm's New York office and focuses on investments in the financial services sector and Mr. Rastogi leads investments in the financial services, healthcare, and retail & consumer sectors in General Atlantic's Mumbai office. Ms. Chang is a senior investment professional in the firm's Hong Kong office, focusing on investments in the retail & consumer and healthcare sectors. The promotions will be effective as of January 1, 2017. "We are proud to promote Aaron and Shantanu to managing director in recognition of their significant contributions to the firm and the great confidence we have in their abilities," said Bill Ford, CEO of General Atlantic. "Aaron has demonstrated strong leadership on our Financial Services team and we are fortunate to have his creativity and investment acumen as we continue to pursue opportunities in the sector. Additionally, Shantanu's extensive experience and knowledge across multiple sectors has been instrumental in helping to drive our global growth investment strategy in India." Mr. Goldman joined General Atlantic in 2007 and focuses on financial technology investments, with a concentration on payments. He has been closely involved with General Atlantic's investments in BillDesk, Network International, Avant, Adyen, Tory Burch, Mu Sigma, Sura Asset Management, First Republic Bank, Pierpont Securities, and IHS Markit. He currently serves as the General Atlantic shareholder representative for Adyen, a technology company that provides businesses with a single solution to accept payments anywhere in the world, and as a board observer for Network International, a leading provider of payments solutions in the Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining General Atlantic, Mr. Goldman spent five years with the growth equity team at the Fremont Group in San Francisco, where he made several investments in the internet, communications, and healthcare sectors and served as president and CFO of LPL Technologies. Before joining the Fremont Group, he was an analyst in the leveraged finance group at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette. Mr. Goldman graduated with a B.S. in economics with a concentration in finance, magna cum laude, from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School where he graduated with highest distinction and was a Baker Scholar. Mr. Goldman serves on the board of directors of Citymeals-on-Wheels. Mr. Rastogi joined General Atlantic in 2013, after having previously worked as an associate for General Atlantic from 2005 to 2007. He focuses on investments in the financial services, healthcare, and retail & consumer sectors in India and Asia-Pacific. Mr. Rastogi has played an active role in General Atlantic's investments in PNB Housing Finance Limited, IIFL Wealth & Asset Management, House of Anita Dongre, National Stock Exchange, Sharekhan, and NDTV. Mr. Rastogi serves on the board of directors of the House of Anita Dongre and IIFL Wealth Management Limited. Prior to joining General Atlantic, Mr. Rastogi was a principal at Apax Partners where he focused on investments in the healthcare and retail sectors. Previously, Mr. Rastogi was a consultant at McKinsey & Company. He earned an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelors of Technology and a Masters of Technology degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. Mr. Ford continued, "We are also pleased to promote Erin Chang to principal. Erin has been an exceptional investment professional and key member of our China team. We look forward to her leadership as we continue to develop our healthcare and consumer sectors in China." Ms. Chang joined General Atlantic in 2007 and concentrates on investments in the healthcare and retail & consumer sectors. During her time at General Atlantic, she has been involved in the firm's investments in Ocean Link, Xiabu Xiabu, Tenfu, Sun Art Retail Group, and ZhongSheng Group, and provided support during the Tory Burch investment process. Prior to joining General Atlantic, Ms. Chang was a business analyst on the corporate finance team for McKinsey & Company, based in the firm's Hong Kong office. She earned a graduate degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. About General Atlantic General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. Established in 1980, General Atlantic combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to build exceptional businesses worldwide. General Atlantic has more than 100 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Greenwich, Hong Kong, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Munich, Palo Alto, Sao Paulo, and Singapore. www.generalatlantic.com. Media Contact Trevor Gibbons General Atlantic +1-212-704-8166 [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150818/259242LOGO SOURCE General Atlantic Related Links http://www.generalatlantic.com UAE leaders, foreign heads of states, prime ministers and dignitaries gathered in Abu Dhabi for the Safeguarding Endangered Cultural Heritage conference. Under the patronage of UNESCO, the conference was an initiative by HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and French President Francois Hollande aimed at protecting and preserving the endangered cultural heritage of mankind from the destructive results of armed conflicts. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161205/445405 ) During the event, His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority commented: "Heritage, in all its diversity, is a source of collective wealth and encourages dialogue. It is a vehicle for closer relations, tolerance and freedom. In an armed conflict situation, heritage is particularly at risk, owing to its inherent vulnerability and tremendous symbolic value. It is encouraging to see so many of us converge and collaborate to develop tangible goals to safeguard this heritage." The global conference brought together over 40 countries within the international community affected by heritage loss due to conflict, alongside key players involved in the field of world heritage preservation. It concluded with the announcement of the creation of an international fund for the protection of endangered cultural heritage in armed conflicts. The fund, which aims to raise $100 million by the time it is fully established, will help finance preventive and emergency operations, fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural artefacts, as well as contribute to the restoration of damaged cultural property. The announcement was made through the adoption of the Abu Dhabi Declaration, a solemn statement confirming the commitment of all those present to back the fund and their resolve to support the establishment of the foundation. Several foreign heads of states, prime ministers and dignitaries attended the various sessions across the two days along with HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, President Hollande, Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, and UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. In his opening speech, Jack Lang, President of Institut du Monde Arabe said: "It is for us, citizens of the world, a great pleasure to be united in the magical land of the United Arab Emirates. This conference we are invited to, is a historical event, but the task and the challenges at hand are great. It is time to mobilise the international and public actors to preserve the heritage threatened by war and terrorism. UNESCO has accomplished great work, and we will work hand in hand with them to provide our utmost support. I highly recognise the great work that has been accomplished in the run up to this event. I would like to thank the UAE for their exceptional hospitality and their continuous engagement in the fight for safeguarding cultural heritage. The UAE is a role model in this field and has paved the way towards devising and implementing actionable solutions and we thank them for spearheading this initiative." UNESCO's global mandate is to protect cultural heritage during armed conflicts and is pushing towards a new approach to protect culture for peace and security. Speaking at the closing ceremony, HE Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO said: "Over the past years, together we have built a new landscape, a new approach for the protection of heritage, bringing together partners far outside the "culture box" - against the deliberate destruction of heritage as a war crime and a key security issue. The creation of this Fund breaks new ground and I see this as the starting point of something larger - a renewed commitment for culture, education, human dignity, where the protection of heritage is part and parcel of a global strategy against hatred and extremism, to build lasting foundations for peace." A follow-up conference in 2017 will help assess the implementation of the initiatives as manifested by the ABU DHABI DECLARATION. SOURCE Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority DUBAI, UAE, December 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and the World Gold Council are delighted to announce the issuance of 'Shari'ah Standard No. 57 on Gold and its Trading Controls ("the Standard"). The Standard deals with the Shari'ah rulings for gold in its various forms and categories, the Shari'ah parameters for gold transactions and the rulings for gold-based financial products in institutions. The Standard will, for the first time, set specific rules for the use of gold as an investment in the Islamic finance industry. Until now, there have been no such rules. The new Standard shows that investment in gold is permissible provided that all the relevant Shari'ah rulings are satisfied, including those relating to taking possession of gold and the proper calculation of Zakah. Dr. Hamed Hasan Merah, Secretary General of AAOIFI, stated: "This all-important Shariah Standard culminates substantial efforts exerted by the AAOIFI Shariah Board, being the leading and most influential Shariah authority across the Islamic finance industry worldwide. It constitutes a new addition to the existing set of AAOIFIs standards as it covers Shariah- compliant mechanisms for dealing and investing in gold in a present-day setting, potentially setting ground for constructing and structuring of new investing products in conformity with Shariah rules and precepts, in addition to those relating to liquidity management for Islamic financial institutions. Hopefully, this would represent a progressive stride for the Islamic finance industry." The Standard will help open up a new investment asset class, enabling Islamic banks and other financial institutions to grow their customer bases and facilitate the creation of a broader range of saving, hedging and diversification products. Aram Shishmanian, CEO of the World Gold Council, commented: "This is a ground breaking initiative for Islamic investors and for the gold industry at large. We are delighted that there is now definitive Shari'ah guidance on the permissibility of investing in gold. Gold is a proven wealth preservation asset that Islamic investors can now deploy to protect their wealth and diversify market risks." Discussions on the Standard (no. 57) were finalised at the AAOIFI Shari'ah Board meeting on 17-19 November 2016, where the final wording of the Standard was approved. The Standard development followed the usual strict AAOIFI process and incorporated a consultation period including public hearing sessions involving all key stakeholders, to ensure that the final Standard would be a practical tool for the industry. The new standard will be available in both Arabic and English and can be accessed by subscribers to the digital version of AAOIFI's Standards (through AAOIFI's website and mobile app platforms) or via http://www.shariahgold.com. You can follow the World Gold Council on Twitter at @goldcouncil and Like on Facebook. You can follow AAOIFI on Twitter at @ AAOIFI_ORG To learn more about the case for investing in gold in Islamic finance, please read our research report here Note to editors: About AAOIFI AAOIFI, established in 1991 and based in Bahrain, is the leading international not-for-profit organisation primarily responsible for development and issuance of standards for the global Islamic finance industry. It is supported by numbers of institutional members, including central banks and regulatory authorities, financial institutions, accounting and auditing firms, and legal firms, from over 45 countries. Its standards are currently followed by the leading Islamic financial institutions across the world and have introduced a progressive degree of harmonisation of international Islamic finance practices. World Gold Council The World Gold Council is the market development organisation for the gold industry. Our purpose is to stimulate and sustain demand for gold, provide industry leadership and be the global authority on the gold market. We develop gold-backed solutions, services and products, based on authoritative market insight and we work with a range of partners to put our ideas into action. As a result, we create structural shifts in demand for gold across key market sectors. We provide insights into the international gold markets, helping people to understand the wealth preservation qualities of gold and its role in meeting the social and environmental needs of society. The membership of the World Gold Council includes the world's leading and most forward thinking gold mining companies. SOURCE World Gold Council SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Rani Therapeutics, an InCube Labs company, today announced that Boston Scientific executive, Maulik Nanavaty, is joining its Board. Nanavaty is currently Senior Vice President and President of Boston Scientific's Neuromodulation Division and a member of its Executive Committee. Prior to his eleven year tenure at Boston Scientific, Nanavaty held various executive positions at Baxter International, Inc. and Baxter Japan. Nanavaty is the second outside Board member to be named, following the recent addition of pharmaceutical industry veteran and former Allergan CEO, David Pyott. Rani is developing a novel technology platform to convert injectable drugs such as TNF-alpha inhibitors, interleukin antibodies, basal insulin and GLP-1 into oral pills. Rani Therapeutics has signed on two pharmaceutical collaborations Novartis and Astra Zeneca in the last 18 months; raised more than $85 million; and has a solid IP portfolio with more than 30 issued patents, and 80+ patents filed. "Rani is entering a critical growth stage, and it is a perfect time to bring Maulik onto our Board," said Mir Imran, Chairman & CEO of Rani Therapeutics. "Maulik has deep expertise in developing and commercializing innovations both in med tech and pharma, based on his many years with Boston Scientific and Baxter. His perspective will be invaluable as we move towards clinical validation and commercialization of our platform." "With Rani's oral biologics platform, Mir and the Rani team have created something very special and potentially ground breaking in the pharma world," said Maulik Nanavaty. "I am excited to help the company realize its potential, and eventually bring this innovative technology to millions of patients who endure regular, painful injections." Prior to Nanavaty's current role at Boston Scientific, Nanavaty was President and Representative Director of Boston Scientific Japan. Previously, he was Vice President and General Manager of the Company's Interventional Cardiology business in Japan where he managed the successful expansion of Cardiology business in that country. He joined Boston Scientific in 2005 as Vice President for Corporate Strategy for Japan, where he led business transformation and increased operational efficiency. Prior to joining Boston Scientific, Nanavaty spent 16 years working in various executive positions at Baxter International Inc. and Baxter Japan. Nanavaty earned his doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Illinois and his master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago. About Rani Therapeutics Founded in 2012, Rani Therapeutics has developed a novel approach for the oral delivery of peptides, proteins and therapeutic antibodies which to date can only be delivered through injections. The approach and technology for Rani Therapeutics was developed at InCube Labs, a multi-disciplinary life sciences R&D lab focused on developing breakthrough medical innovations. InCube is led by Mir Imran, a prolific medical inventor, entrepreneur and investor, who has founded more than 20 life sciences companies and holds more than 400 patents issued and pending in the US. Many of Imran's innovations have resulted in new standards of care, including the first FDA-approved Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator. For more information, please visit: www.ranitherapeutics.com and www.incubelabs.com. SOURCE Rani Therapeutics Related Links http://www.incubelabs.com CLEVELAND, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- McDonald Hopkins Women's Council hosts the fourth in a series of dynamic and engaging conversations with corporate and civic women leaders about today's business climate on Wednesday, Dec. 7. Our speakers will address industry trends, economic outlooks, opportunities for advancement, diversity and inclusion, pathways of leadership, and other topics that shape our working environment. Our conversation features Julie Boland, Cleveland office managing partner at Ernst & Young LLP, and Amy Brady, chief information officer at KeyBank. Faced with an ever-changing world marketplace and advances in technology, companies need to be proactive in identifying opportunities for improvement. Our speakers will provide their perspective about managing through change in their roles at two of Northeast Ohio's largest employers and discuss emerging issues that companies will need to address in the near future. The program is from Noon to 1:00 p.m. ET at the firm's Cleveland office; and will also be broadcast live via webcast for those who cannot attend in person. Registration is available on the McDonald Hopkins' website. The program is free of charge. The McDonald Hopkins Women's Council cultivates and supports strong female leaders. About McDonald Hopkins Founded in 1930, McDonald Hopkins is a business advisory and advocacy law firm with locations in Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Miami, and West Palm Beach. With more than 50 service and industry teams, we have the expertise and knowledge to meet the growing number of legal and business challenges our clients face. For more information about McDonald Hopkins, visit mcdonaldhopkins.com. CONTACT: Deborah W. Kelm McDonald Hopkins LLC 600 Superior Avenue, East, Suite 2100 Cleveland, Ohio 44114 Phone: 216.348.5733 Email: [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120131/CL44903LOGO SOURCE McDonald Hopkins Related Links http://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com SEATTLE and NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC (Parametric) and Research Affiliates, LLC (Research Affiliates) announced today a partnership to provide a Systematic Global Macro strategy to institutional separate accounts. "Our clients desire liquid alternative solutions that provide attractive, diversifying returns in a cost-effective manner. Parametric is leveraging its partnership experience with Research Affiliates to launch what is expected to be an empirically robust and theoretically sound strategy aiming to deliver these attributes," said Brian Langstraat, Chief Executive Officer, Parametric. "As a natural evolution of our research in asset allocation and smart beta, we developed a long/short strategy harvesting alternative return premia of carry, momentum and value across asset classes and geographies," said Chris Brightman, Chief Investment Officer, Research Affiliates. "Our rules-based, transparent and diversified approach is intended to deliver uncorrelated returns to stocks and bonds." "Many institutional investors have expressed to me their increasing dissatisfaction with hedge funds. Today, I am thrilled to say that we have partnered with Parametric to introduce a new approach to global macro investing that we are confident will disrupt an industry long characterized by poor outcomes and extraordinarily high fees," explained Rob Arnott, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Research Affiliates. About Parametric Parametric focuses on the delivery of engineered portfolio solutions, including rules-based alpha-seeking equity, alternative and options strategies, as well as implementation services including custom core equity, futures overlay and centralized portfolio management. As of October 31, 2016, Parametric managed $174.1 billion in assets on behalf of institutions, high-net-worth individuals and fund investors in the U.S. and internationally. Parametric operates from investment centers in Seattle, WA, Minneapolis, MN and Westport, CT. About Research Affiliates Research Affiliates is a global leader in smart beta and asset allocation. Founded in 2002 and based in Newport Beach, California, Research Affiliates is dedicated to creating value for investors. We seek to have a profound impact on the global investment community through our insights and products. Our investment strategies are built on a strong research base and are led by Rob Arnott and Chris Brightman. We deliver solutions in partnership with some of the world's leading financial institutions, through their offerings of mutual funds, ETFs, separately managed accounts and/or commingled accounts. As of September 30, 2016 about $165 billion in assets were managed worldwide using investment strategies developed by Research Affiliates. Web: www.researchaffiliates.com The Research Affiliates trademark and corporate name and all related logos are the exclusive intellectual property of Research Affiliates and in some cases are registered trademarks in the U.S. and other countries. Neither Research Affiliates nor its related entities provide investment advice outside of the United States, Ireland and Canada, nor do they offer or sell any securities, commodities or derivative instruments or products. Any such business may only be conducted through registered or licensed entities and individuals permitted to do so within the respective jurisdiction and only in conjunction with the legally required disclosure documents and subject to all legally required regulatory filings and/or exemptions. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any security or a recommendation to adopt any investment strategy. The views and strategies described may not be suitable for all investors. Investing entails risks and there can be no assurance that a strategy will achieve profits or avoid incurring losses. Parametric does not provide legal, tax and/or accounting advice or services. Investors should consult with their own tax or legal advisor prior to entering into any transaction or strategy described herein. For more information regarding Parametric and its investment strategies, or to request a copy of Parametric's Form ADV, please contact us at 206.694.5575 or visit our website, www.parametricportfolio.com. SOURCE Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC Related Links http://www.parametricportfolio.com SAN DIEGO, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Procopio and the University of San Diego (USD) School of Law announced today the inaugural health care summit, Overcoming Barriers to Mental Health Care. The one-day event will be held on Thursday, January 12, 2017 at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice on the USD campus. Overcoming Barriers to Mental Health Care will bring together scholars, health care leaders, health care attorneys and other experts for a first-ever summit to examine the legal, financial, systemic and cultural barriers which operate every day to deny access to patients in need of behavioral health services. The agenda addresses topics including a description of the current landscape for stakeholders in behavioral health, Federal, State and Local government efforts to address the challenges, a perspective from health care providers responsible for providing mental health services and an exploration of innovation in the delivery of mental health services. "According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in four adults and one in five children experience mental illness in any given year. Unfortunately, over half of the patients requiring mental health services go without treatment," said Richard Barton, Procopio Partner and Health Care Practice Group Leader. "This event will examine from multiple perspectives the forces that work against patients accessing essential services and the efforts to overcome the significant challenges. We are honored to partner with the USD School of Law on this summit and look forward to helping make a difference in this critical area and giving back to the communities we support." Legal scholar, author and mental health-policy advocate, Dr. Elyn Saks, will keynote the summit. Dr. Saks is the Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, and Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences and Director of the Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the USC Gould School of Law. Dr. Saks' internationally praised autobiography The Center Cannot Hold chronicled her struggle with chronic schizophrenia and her lifelong commitment to advocating for those affected by mental illness. The impressive roster of speakers also includes: Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola , Director and Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine at the UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities , Director and Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine at the UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities Meiram Bendat , MA, PhD, JD, National Authority on the enforcement of Federal and State "Parity Laws" for mental health services , MA, PhD, JD, National Authority on the enforcement of Federal and State "Parity Laws" for mental health services Dov Fox , Associate Professor of Law and Director, Center of Health Law Policy and Bioethics at the University of San Diego , Associate Professor of Law and Director, Center of Health Law Policy and Bioethics at the John Fromson , MD, Vice Chair, Community Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Chief of Psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital , MD, Vice Chair, Community Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Chief of Psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital Dan Gross , Executive Vice President and Board Member of the California Health Care Foundation at Sharp Healthcare , Executive Vice President and Board Member of the California Health Care Foundation at Sharp Healthcare James LaBelle , MD, Executive Vice President at Scripps Health , MD, Executive Vice President at Scripps Health Maggie Merritt , Executive Director at the Steinberg Institute , Executive Director at the Steinberg Institute Michael Plopper , MD, Chief Medical Officer at Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital , MD, Chief Medical Officer at Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital Hon. Robert J. Trentacosta , San Diego's Juvenile Court Co-founder of San Diego Mental Health Court , Juvenile Court Co-founder of San Diego Mental Health Court Lisa Weinreb , San Diego County District Attorney, Asst. Chief, Juvenile Division, Board Member, Mental Health America and Founder, The International Bipolar Foundation For more information and to register for the event, visit Procopio.com/mentalhealthcaresummit2017. About Procopio Procopio is a full-service business and litigation law firm committed to thoughtful problem solving and improving your bottom line. With more than 150 attorneys based in San Diego, Silicon Valley, Phoenix and Austinwe're passionate about knowing your business, helping you grow, and protecting it for the long term. Procopio has the flexible infrastructure to support both small to mid-sized companies and large multinationals at every stage of the business life cycle. Our global reach across Asia and Latin America further expands our international partnerships and cross-border capabilities. At Procopio, we are focused on what is important to youproviding smart, innovative and practical solutions in a cost-effective manner to help your business thrive. Learn more at Procopio.com. Media Contact: Angela Giombetti Communications and Public Relations Manager Phone: 619.906.5740 Email: [email protected] This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com SOURCE Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP Related Links http://Procopio.com In the early hours of November 9, 2016, one of the most contentious, polarizing, and vicious presidential races came to an abrupt and unexpected end when heavily favored presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton called Donald J. Trump to concede, shocking a nation that had, only hours before, given little credence to his chances. Trump pulled off the greatest upset in American political history despite a torrent of invectiveness and the dismissal by the mainstream media. Here is the first definitive explanation of how the "silent majority" shifted the election to Trump in reliable Democratic strongholdsPennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michiganthus handing him the presidency. In The Making of the President 2016, Stone, a longtime Trump retainer and confidant, gives us the inside story of how Trump almost single-handedly harnessed discontent among "forgotten Americans," despite running a guerrilla-style grassroots campaign to compete with the smooth-operating and free-spending Clinton political machine. From the start, Trump's campaign was unlike any seen on the national stagecombative, maverick, and fearless. Trump's nomination was the hostile takeover of the Republican party and a resounding repudiation of the failed leadership of both parties, whose policies have brought America to the brink of financial collapse and endangered our national security. Stone outlines how Trump skillfully ran as the anti-open borders candidate as well as a supporter of American sovereignty, and how he used the globalist trade deals like NAFTA to win more than three of ten Bernie Sanders supporters. The veteran adviser to Nixon, Reagan, and Trump charts the rise of the alt-conservative media and the end of the mainstream media's monopoly on voters. This is an insider's view that includes an examination of opposition research into Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton's crimes; the struggle by the Republican establishment to stop Trump; and how Republicans underestimated him. Stone chronicles Trump's triumph in three debates where he skillfully lowered expectation levels but skewered Mrs. Clinton for the corruption of the Clinton Foundation, her mishandling of government email, and her incompetence as Secretary of State. Stone gives us the inside word on Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, Clinton's campaign chief John Podesta, Huma Abedin, Anthony Weiner, "Carlos Danger," Doug Band, Jeffrey Epstein, and the efforts to hide the former first lady's infirmities and health problems. Stone dissects the phony narrative that Trump was in cahoots with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin or that the emails released by WikiLeaks came from the Russians. A grizzled political veteran of ten Republican presidential campaigns, Stone explains how Trump's election has averted near certain war with Russia over Syria and the rejection of neocon policies of the Obama/Clinton Administration. The Making of the President 2016 reveals how Trump brilliantly picked at Hillary Clinton's weaknesses, particularly her reputation as a crooked insider, and ignited the passions of out-of-work white men and women from the Rust Belt and beyond, at a time when millions of Americans desperately wanted change. Stone also enumerates how and why the mainstream media got it so wrong, including how the polls were loaded and completely misunderstood who would vote. Stone's analysis is akin to Theodore H. White's seminal book The Making of the President 1960. It is both a sweeping study of the trends that elected Trump as well as the war stories of a hard-bitten political survivor who Trump once called "one tough cookie." Roger Stone is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Man Who Killed Kennedy. He is a legendary American political consultant and strategist who played a key role in the election of Republican presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush. He was also instrumental in the 2000 Florida recount responsible for the election of George W. Bush. Praise for The Man Who Killed Kennedy "Any serious student of politics or history should read Roger Stone's stunning new book The Man Who Killed Kennedy." Judge Andrew P. Napolitano "Stone's evidence is compelling and fascinating." Dick Morris, political author, commentator, and consultant Praise for Nixon's Secrets: The Rise, Fall, and Untold Truth about the President, Watergate, and the Pardon "I knew Nixon in the late 80s. I met him in George Steinbrenner's box at Yankee Stadium. Roger Stone nails it. He really understands Nixon." Donald J. Trump, president of the Trump Organization "Roger Stone tells the unvarnished truth about Tricky Dick, the Bay of Pigs, the JFK assassination, Watergate, and the secret deal with Gerald Ford for a pardon." Governor Jesse Ventura The Making of the President 2016: How Donald Trump Orchestrated a Revolution by Roger Stone| Skyhorse Publishing hardcover, also available as an eBook | On Sale: January 17, 2017| ISBN: 978-1-5107-2692-5| $29.99 PUBLICITY CONTACT: Charlie Lyons (212) 643-6816 x 286 [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161202/445146 SOURCE Skyhorse Publishing Related Links http://skyhorsepublishing.com SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SparkPost, the most performant cloud email delivery service available, today announced it has joined the effort to end the affordable housing crisis in the US by providing its technology to the PublicBnB application. Developed by DwellWell, the app will use SparkPost's email service to facilitate communication between prospective tenants with landlords who have excess units available. Earlier this year, DwellWell won the top award at the SparkPost hackathon; as part of their prize, SparkPost donated its email service to support development of the PublicBnB app. PublicBnB provides a community-based marketplace for affordable housing. While there over 2 million participants in the Housing Choice Vouchers public housing assistance program, formerly known as the Section 8 program, approximately 250,000 households that have already qualified are unable to find a place to live due to the limited housing supply. PublicBnB is helping to solve this problem by creating a marketplace to match providers that have excess capacity (extra rooms, units, houses) with Housing Choice Voucher holders that are actively searching for housing. The integration of the SparkPost best-in-breed cloud email technology will help to alleviate many of the challenges that make the search for affordable so difficult and frustrating. Hosts will find that PublicBnB makes the process of working with their local housing authorities to get their units public-housing certified much easier. Prospective tenants can use PublicBnB to quickly search available inventory, and use email to connect with landlords. By leveraging SparkPost's innovative web relay hook, PublicBnB can ensure that email communication between hosts and tenants is reliable, secured, and completely anonymous. "That anonymity is critical to improving the selection process on the part of the landlord or tenant because they will only be able to base their decisions on information relevant to the transaction," said Phillip Merrick, CEO of SparkPost. "Users will be able to send and receive transactional emails such as notifications of application submissions, denials, and approvals without having to provide personal information. We're extremely honored to be part of this campaign to help so many people find their next homes." Prospective tenants will be able to use the PublicBnB app to search for properties based on different filters that are important to them, such as location and cost, and save lists of their favorite properties. They can then send email inquiries to the hosts and apply for units. Hosts can quickly and easily create property listings, and transmit requests to the housing authority to schedule inspections upon an applicant's approval. Furthermore, in an effort to improve trust levels in the public housing market, all users will be able to post reviews of their counterparts. "I grew up in a poor neighborhood and was surrounded by the prevalence of homelessness which shaped who I am today," said Marlon Frausto, founder and CEO of DwellWell. "Because of this, we see PublicBnB -- and housing in general -- as a catalyst for life changing moments like getting a better job or a simple bank account, which drives our immediacy in providing an auxiliary supply of affordable housing to prospective tenants. AirBnB, for example, has already uncovered an excess capacity of over half a million units for short-term stays in the United States alone; similarly, we want to discover how many people are open to generating an extra source of income by helping to provide longer-term housing for a family in need which will greatly improve their quality of life. We are very thankful for SparkPost's involvement in the development and rollout of the PublicBnB app as it has been critical to the success of our mission." DwellWell plans to send Beta program invites for hosts and prospective tenants to try the PublicBnB application on December 19, 2016. About SparkPost SparkPost is the world's #1 email infrastructure provider, offering the most performant cloud email delivery service available. Customers including Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter, Groupon, Marketo, Zillow, CareerBuilder, the Financial Times and Comcast send over 3 trillion messages a year, more than 25 percent of the world's non-spam email. These companies chose us to provide the deliverability, speed to launch and data insights they need to drive customer engagement for their business. Follow us on Twitter @SparkPost or go to sparkpost.com. Press Contact Rachel Kaseroff SparkPost (415) 341-5625 [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150827/261556LOGO SOURCE SparkPost Related Links https://www.sparkpost.com/ According to Capt. Brian Bell, Admissions Dean at St. John's, the school's foundation of safety is laid for cadets on the first day that they enter campus. "Each new cadet meets with the commandant's secretary on his first day and receives a copy of the Cadet Handbook," said Bell. "We explain to each and every cadet on day one what behaviors and actions are not accepted on our campus, and what disciplinary measures will follow if rules are broken." St. John's makes the protection of its students, and their commitment to the expectations stated in the Cadet Handbook, a top priority. School leaders monitor the conduct of its cadets to ensure compliance with expected behaviors through a variety of infrastructure systems and routine procedures. "We have nine cameras positioned around the common areas of our campus so that we can investigate reported breaches of conduct," said Maj. George Stelljes, Commandant of Cadets at St. John's. "We also conduct weekly health and wellness inspections. If we observe a bruise on a cadet, we find out where it came from to make sure the explanation does not involve an incident with another cadet. Our laundry maintenance staff even report any contraband found in the cadets' pockets or possible blood on their clothing. We take every measure possible to uncover behaviors that could put our cadets in harm's way. Safety is our absolute highest priority." Like many schools across the country, St. John's has put additional measures in place to safeguard its cadets against bullying. Read on>>> http://bit.ly/SJMSSafety Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161202/445207 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160317/345436LOGO SOURCE St. John's Military School Related Links http://www.sjms.org SINGAPORE, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BlockchainHub has announced Status an Ethereum mobile client, and Etherisc a decentralized insurance application as the two main winners of Blockchain Startup Contest. The winning teams received an award of 15,000 each. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161205/445592LOGO The Blockchain Startup Contest saw participation by contestants from over 29 different nations showcasing a variety of blockchain use cases. Out of over 80 applications, 20 teams made it to the finals, to be judged by their pitch and live Q&A session. The jury, made of eight thought leaders from within the industry evaluated these startups based on multiple criteria including business idea, business model, market timing, social impact, team, and execution. The Blockchain Startup Contest was conceptualized by the BlockchainHub Graz and all prizes were awarded in Ether (ETH) to winners, as a demonstration of the near real-time cross-border payment capability of Ethereum Network. "We were amazed by the amount, diversity and quality of the 80 applications received from 29 countries. Most projects share not only the Blockchain as a technical foundation but also the common goal to make the world a better place," commented Thomas Zeinzinger, Co-Founder of BlockchainHub Graz. Zeinzinger continued saying, "We thank everybody for their participation, swift interaction and support to make this a great event and look forward to future co-operations with startups and companies all over the globe." The co-founder of Status, Carl Bennetts while expressing his appreciation for the Ethereum platform and the Blockchain Startup Contest said, "We couldn't be more excited at the prospect of bringing Ethereum and decentralized technologies directly to the general public. It's pleasing to see initiatives like this one encouraging a transition towards decentralization they provide a valuable service not only to startups in the industry but also in exposing more established institutions to the potential of blockchains." Similarly, one of the co-founders of Etherisc Stephan Karpischek said, "It is hard to overestimate the impact that blockchain will have on the insurance market. We build smart insurance applications on Ethereum. While we knew that we are onto something big here, we now feel humbled to win in such a great competition. This is a great motivation for us to continue with making insurance processes more efficient, transparent and fair." About the Blockchain Startup Contest The event was organized by the BlockchainHub Graz, a collaboration between Lab10, Coinfinity, and MakerSpace, and was sponsored and supported by Energie Steiermark, Steiermarkische Sparkasse + Erste Bank, eCounting, KaPa Ventures and the City of Graz. About Status Headquartered in Singapore, Status is an open source project that combines a messenger, wallet, and DApps browser for the mass market to begin using cryptocurrency and decentralized applications directly from their Android or iOS devices. Status will be launching an API and developer tools at the end of Q1 2017, enabling DApp developers to reach new users through its open, decentralized platform. About Etherisc Etherisc builds smart insurance applications on the blockchain, with the goal to make insurance processes much more efficient and fully transparent. At devcon2 in Shanghai in September 2016, Etherisc demonstrated the benefits of a fully automated process with the flight delay DApp. Now it aims to extend this model to other insurance verticals and provide investors with a truly peer-to-peer and decentralized insurance market. Learn more about BlockchainHub Graz at https://blockchainhub.net/graz/ Learn more about Status at https://status.im Learn more about Etherisc at https://fdd.etherisc.com Media Contact Contact Name: Chase J. Thompson Company Name: Status Holdings Pte. Ltd. Contact Email: [email protected] Company Location: Singapore Status is the source of this content. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest. Related Links Bitcoin PR Buzz Status Holdings This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com. SOURCE Status Holdings Pte. Ltd. Related Links http://status.im SHENZHEN, China, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The 18th Shenzhen International Machinery Manufacturing Industry Exhibition (SIMM) will run from March 29 - April 1, 2017 at the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center. The largest manufacturing show in South China, its 110,000 square meters of exhibition area will be filled with exhibitors who exemplify the intelligentization level of China's Industry 4.0 machinery manufacturing industry and the regional manufacturing capacity of the Pearl River Delta area (PRD) of China. The PRD possesses enormous production capacity and a huge market. Also referred to as "The World's Factory", the area has made significant achievements in smart manufacturing with the support of beneficial policies of the local government and the advantages of its close proximity to the South China market. Thanks to the dynamic market and beneficial policies, SIMM has quickly grown to be the most influential manufacturing show in South China. At SIMM 2017, more than 1,000 enterprises from over 20 countries, such as +GF+, HEXAGON, MAZAK, FANUC, TRUMPF, and Han's Laser, will display their latest manufacturing solutions. PRD has not only become the largest potential market for manufacturing equipment; it has also developed strong production capacity for industry consumables such as cutting tools, precision parts and accessories. The most powerful manufacturers in PRD gather at SIMM to show their capabilities to the world. SIMM 2017 will focus on displaying all aspects of smart manufacturing in China. The exhibition flexibly combines digital metal cutting and forming equipment, high-quality materials, industry robotics, measuring techniques, cloud production management and control systems to build a smart manufacturing system covering all industry chains. Furthermore, the display of a factory's 3C production line for smart manufacturing pilot projects will be a window for the world to see the smart manufacturing capacity of China. SIMM 2017 has 9 themed pavilions. The exhibits cover CNC, robotics, industry measuring equipment, automation, cutting tools, die and mould, metal materials, precision parts, and 3D printing. SIMM 2017 will also host project matching conference sessions relating to quality control, robotics, and flexible sheet metal production lines. These professional and high-class platforms will help attendees find solutions and learn more about this ever-changing industry. For more information about SIMM 2017, please visit the SIMM website. For FREE tickets, please click HERE to register. SOURCE Shenzhen International Machinery Manufacturing Industry Exhibition Related Links http://www.simmtime.com WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the wake of this divisive election, No Labels is bringing America back together to focus our leaders on solving problems. To that end, No Labels is today hosting its first ever bipartisan leaders meeting, 1787: Constructing the Peace After the War. Named for the year our Founders wrote the Constitution, 1787 aims to awaken the same spirit of bipartisan cooperation that existed with our Founders in Philadelphia over 200 years ago. In particular, 1787 will focus on the emergence of a New Center in American politicsdescribed in last weeks' David Brooks New York Times Columnas well as political support for the Center in the form of a $50 million Super PAC that will intervene in congressional primaries. Location: 1787 discussions at the Four Seasons will run from 11:45 a.m. 2:00 p.m. on Dec. 5th at the Four Seasons Hotel, which is at 2800 Pennsylvania Ave., NW. Agenda: 1787 will feature: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the Global Imperative to Reclaim the Center on the Global Imperative to Reclaim the Center Trump Economic Transition Team Leader Anthony Scaramucci on what to expect from a Trump administration in the first 100 days on what to expect from a Trump administration in the first 100 days Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson , Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Oklahoma City Mayor and Head of U.S. Conference of Mayors Mick Cornett on local and federal cooperation Governor , and Mayor and Head of U.S. Conference of Mayors on local and federal cooperation Senators Roy Blunt , Steve Daines and Joe Manchin along with Representatives Kurt Schrader , Ami Bera and Peter Welch on where President-elect Trump will need to work most closely with Congress and along with Representatives and on where President-elect Trump will need to work most closely with Congress No Labels co-chairs Gov. Jon Huntsman and Sen. Joe Lieberman on the shape of the New Center in American politics No Labels exists to bring America's political leaders together to solve our nation's toughest problems. We are a citizens' movement forging a New Center in American politics that fights for an inclusive political process and supports policies that advance No Labels' four core values of Opportunity, Security, Ingenuity and Accountability. No Labels has inspired the creation of an emerging Congressional Problem Solvers Caucusfeaturing House Democrats and Republicanscommitted to working constructively across the aisle to get things done. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161205/445398LOGO SOURCE No Labels Related Links https://www.nolabels.org NEW YORK, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Z Capital Group, L.L.C. ("Z Capital"), a leading alternative asset management firm with $2.2 billion in regulatory assets under management across complementary private equity and credit businesses, today announced it has appointed Steve Parsons as a Managing Director and Operating Partner focused on the development and implementation of human capital strategies among Z Capital's portfolio companies. He will also assist with due diligence on new acquisitions. Mr. Parsons has more than 20 years of experience implementing human capital strategies and has held senior human resources positions at a range of companies, including OfficeMax, Rite Aid Corporation, Sears Holding Corporation and Whirlpool Corporation. Prior to joining Z Capital, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Stage Stores, Inc. From 2011 to 2013, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at OfficeMax, responsible for all aspects of HR for the company's global operations, including talent management, compensation and benefits, training, leadership development, recruitment, diversity, and internal and corporate communications. In addition, he co-led OfficeMax's integration with Office Depot, guiding all merger work streams in retail, contract, digital, supply chain, merchandising, marketing and corporate support functions. From 2008 to 2011, he served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Labor Relations at Rite Aid Corporation. Mr. Parsons has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Drake University. James Zenni, President and Chief Executive Officer of Z Capital said, "Steve has decades of exemplary human capital and talent management experience, including leading global human resources at multibillion-dollar, publicly traded companies. He will be a terrific addition to our team and we look forward to his contributions to Z Capital and our portfolio companies." Mr. Parsons said, "I am excited to join Z Capital and look forward to working with the firm's portfolio companies and their management teams to develop and implement best practice human capital strategies to motivate the workforce and help employees create significant value." About Z Capital Group Z Capital Group, L.L.C. is a leading alternative asset management firm with $2.2 billion in regulatory assets under management across complementary private equity and credit businesses. Z Capital manages both opportunistic, value-oriented private equity and credit funds with offices in New York, NY; Lake Forest, IL; and Zurich, Switzerland. Its investors include prominent global sovereign wealth funds, endowments, pension funds, insurance companies, foundations, family offices, and other institutions in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. For more information, please visit www.zcapgroup.net. Contact Jonathan Keehner / Julie Oakes / Tim Ragones Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher 212-355-4449 SOURCE Z Capital Group, L.L.C. Related Links http://www.zcapgroup.net Thiruvananthapuram, November 30 : Kerala finance minister T M Thomas Isaac has revealed that the state is strapped for cash to disburse salary and pension to govt. staff owing to fall in the states revenue following demonitisation. Mr. Isaac told reporters Tuesday that unless the centre allots Rs. 1,200 crore to the state treasury, the disbursal of salary and pension for November would be in jeopardy. The state finance secretary had sent a missive to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) requesting it release currency worth Rs. 1,200 crore to deal with the situation, he said. The finance minister, however, clarified that the salary disbursement would take place technically with treasury accounts of the govt. employees reflecting the salary amount, but the employees would be able to withdraw the same as hard cash only when currency becomes available with the treasury. On the demonitisation drive, Thomas Isaac said that the daily tweaks on rules regarding cash deposits and withdrawals in bank proved how unprepared the government was in implementing demonitisation. He also added that the state would witness a drastic fall in VAT collection owing to the demonitisation drive. Remittances from non-resident Keralites had also come down significantly due to uncertainty over the currency in India. Mr. Isaac had earlier request the union finance ministry to relax the Rs. 24,000-slab on weekly cash withdrawals for the first fortnight of December to enable the 5.5 lakh govt. employees and pensioners to draw their salary and pension. However, the finance ministry had turned down the request. Hyderabad, Nov 30 : More than 50 per cent of airline passengers from Hyderabad travel for business/official purpose, revealed a survey. At 53 per cent, this number is much higher compared to Mumbai and Trivandrum, two other cities covered by the survey. Only 28 per cent passengers from Mumbai and 25 from Trivandrum travel for official/business purpose. The survey to understand habits and attitudes of air travellers was conducted by Leadcap Ventures and commissioned by Emirates airline. It covered 1,100 travellers in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Trivandrum. Fifty per cent of the air travellers from Mumbai are on leisure/vacation. Majority of travellers (34 per cent) from Trivandrum also fall into this category. Out of total respondents, one-third travelled for official purpose while two-third travelled for personal reasons. Majority of international passengers travelled for official visit while domestic passengers travelled for personal visit. The survey also revealed that more than three-fourth passengers travelled by economy class. Majority of passengers travelling by first/business class were travelling for official purpose. While majority of the travellers from Mumbai and Trivandrum head straight to work, 53 per cent of travellers from Hyderabad check into a hotel first. An interesting finding of the survey is that Mumbai airline passengers travel with heaviest baggage. One-third of the overall respondents preferred to travel light with basic essentials, while one-fourth respondents from Mumbai exceeded baggage limits regularly. The survey showed that official travellers prefer spending time catching up on sleep before boarding the flight. However, once on the flight they like spending time reading and listening to music. Personal travellers on the other hand spend time shopping prior to boarding. Another key trend observed on flight activities of airline travellers was that the top three in flight activities carried by respondents were sleeping, watching movies and reading. While 34 percent respondents from Mumbai preferred to kill time by reading, majority of respondents from Hyderabad like to sleep in flight, while travelling to international destinations. Books and gadgets stood out as the top two things preferred to be carried in long haul flights. While 40 percent of travellers from Mumbai preferred to carry books, travellers from Hyderabad preferred to carry gadgets and grooming kits. Local cultural items and local confectionery were the top two souvenirs carried by travellers on their return journey. One-third of the official travellers carried local confectionary products while one-third personal travellers carried local cultural items as souvenirs. The trend of booking in advance continues be on the rise with 40 per cent travellers claiming to book tickets a month prior to their travel date. Travel agency was recorded as the main point of booking over airline websites and apps. Almost two-third respondents surveyed prefer travel agency to book their air tickets while one third use airline website. One-fourth respondents surveyed, prefer booking via mobile app of the airline. Agartala/Aizawl, Dec 1 : The crowds at banks and ATMs in Tripura on Thursday, the first salary day after demonetisation, was not as massive as feared by many. Bank officials in Agartala said a large number of employees withdrew some money in advance from their accounts fearing a huge rush on the first of December. "We have received and made available in ATMs a reasonable quantity of currencies of different denominations to ease the difficulties of salaried employees," UCO bank official Sekhar Paul told IANS. Government employees stood in queues at banks and ATMs since early in the morning to withdraw money. Some employees rushed to banks and ATMs after marking their attendance in offices. The cash crunch continues to be serious in semi-urban, remote and rural areas of northeast India where most banks do not have adequate currency or where ATMs lack notes of various denomination. Buyer and traders, especially small businessmen, are continuing to facing difficulties due to cash shortage in banks and markets. A senior official of the Tripura government's Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, Amit Roy Chowdhury, said: "We are suffering a lot since the demonetisation." United Bank of India Chief Regional Manager and Deputy General Manager Mahendra Dohare told IANS: "Bank employees have devoted everything to help customers. "The situation in the entire northeastern region is gradually improving," Dohare said in Agartala. In Mizoram, the first consignment of new Rs 500 currency notes along with Rs 100 notes arrived two days back, easing the cash crunch somewhat. The State Bank of India's Assistant General Manager Pradeep Kumar Sen said in Aizawl: "The new 500 rupee notes are available in banks and ATMs since Wednesday." Los Angeles, Dec 4 : Hollywood actors like Chris Evans and Jessica Chastain have spoken out about a recently resurfaced interview in which director Bernardo Bertolucci admitted that actress Maria Schneider wasn't aware of the rape scene in the 1972 film "Last Tango in Paris" prior to the day of shooting. In a recently resurfaced video interview from 2013, Bertolucci confirmed that Schneider, who died in 2011, did not know about the rape scene prior of the shooting, and that the graphic nature of the scene was improvised on set. Celebrities voiced their disgust of the resurfaced news on Twitter, reports hollywoodreporter.com. Chastain said of the revelations: "The director planned her attack. I feel sick." Evans tweeted that Bertolucci and Marlon Brando "should be in jail". Ava DuVernay wrote: "As a woman, I am horrified, disgusted and enraged by it." Actress Anna Kendrick acknowledged that Schneider's lack of knowledge of the scene prior to the shooting day was nothing new. Schneider said in a 2007 interview: "I should have called my agent or had my lawyer come to the set because you can't force someone to do something that isn't in the script, but at the time, I didn't know that." She continued: "Marlon said to me 'Maria, don't worry, it's just a movie' but during the scene, even though what Marlon was doing wasn't real, I was crying real tears. I felt very sad because I was treated like a sex symbol -- I wanted to be recognised as an actress and the whole scandal and aftermath of the film turned me a little crazy and I had a breakdown." Schneider added: "I felt humiliated and to be honest, I felt a little raped, both by Marlon and by Bertolucci." The actress claims that the late Brando also felt taken advantage of by Bertolucci, so it was easy to imagine how the experience affected the young actress. "Marlon said he felt raped and manipulated by it and he was 48," she said. "And he was Marlon Brando!" "Last Tango in Paris" was critically lauded but surrounded in public controversy. Bertolucci was put on trial for obscenity in Italy after the release of the film. Copies of the film were destroyed at the time and Bertolucci was served with a four-month suspended prison sentence and denied his civil (including voting) rights for five years. Rome, Dec 5 : Italians were expected to reject a proposed constitutional reform in a crucial referendum held on Sunday, exit polls showed. According to local media channels, the 'No' vote would be between 54 per cent and 58 per cent while the 'Yes' vote would be between 42 per cent and 46 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported. Polling stations opened from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. (local time), and some 46.7 million Italians were eligible to cast their ballot. The Interior Ministry said that the turnout was 57.24 per cent at 7 p.m. Over 3.9 million Italians living abroad had their chance to vote earlier this month. Italians had to choose on whether confirm or reject a reform of the constitution that had already been passed by lawmakers earlier this year, but not with the required majority of two-thirds in each house of the parliament in the second vote. The major amendment proposed was to cut the size of the senate to 100 from 315 seats, and strip it off the power to bring down the cabinet with no-confidence sessions and vote on national legislation. The referendum was also seen as a key test of popularity for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's centre-left cabinet. The government has advocated the reform, claiming it would help streamline the country's laborious law-making process and increase the stability of the cabinets. Opponents argued it would concentrate too much power in the cabinet, weakening the parliament's control. Renzi has said he would resign in case of defeat, which might trigger a government's crisis and plunge the country back into a period of political and economic instability. Chennai, Dec 5 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was in a critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest and is being treated by a team of specialists at Apollo Hospitals where she has been admitted since late September. Crowds thronged the hospital on Sunday evening while top leaders and common people across India prayed for her well-being and recovery. "Our doctors are closely monitoring Hon'ble CM's condition and they are trying their very best," tweeted Apollo Hospitals Joint Managing Director Sangita Reddy on Monday. Maharashtra Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao, who has additional charge of the state, returned from Mumbai and visited the hospital to enquire about Jayalalithaa's condition on Sunday night. However he has not issued any statement after his hospital visit. In the earlier occasion Raj Bhavan had issued a statement soon after he visited Apollo Hospitals. On Sunday night the hospital said, in a statement: "The Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu who is undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals, Greams Road, Chennai, suffered a cardiac arrest this evening. She is being treated and monitored by a team of experts including cardiologists, pulmonologist and the critical care specialists." It later said in a tweet that she "is on extracorporeal membrane heart assist device and is being treated by a team of expert doctors and critical care specialists". "Dr Richard Beale from London has also been consulted and he has concurred with the line of treatment by our cardiologists & pulmonologists," it said in another tweet. In an another tweet, the hospital said: "The Hon'ble CM is the beloved leader of the masses. Please join us in praying for her speedy recovery. #GodblessAmma #Jayalalithaa." "The Apollo TN CM #Jayalalita is critical.multi speciality team @hospitalsapollo trying everything including ecmo.praying for her recovery," tweeted Sangita Reddy earlier. While a large police contingent was deployed at the hospital, reports said that security was being stepped up across the state. State ministers, senior officials and others gathered at the hospital, as did a huge crowd of AIADMK cadre, many of whom broke down while others fervently prayed for her recovery. Some tried to enter the hospital premises but were restrained. Meanwhile according to reports some areas experienced shortage of milk supplies and traders jacked up the prices several folds. President Pranab Mukherjee wished Jayalalithaa a speedy recovery. "Distressed to hear about CM Jayalalithaa suffering a cardiac arrest, my prayers for her speedy recovery," said a post on the President's official Twitter account. DMK chief M. Karunanidhi and his son and party leader M.K. Stalin also took to Twitter to convey their wishes for her speedy recovery. "Wishing #jayalalithaa Hon CM of TN a speedy recovery, Let her be healthy soon," tweeted Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. "Praying for Jayalalithaa ji's quick recovery. I hope she gets better very soon," said Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on his official Twitter handle. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her concern over the health of her Tamil Nadu counterpart, and wished her a speedy recovery. "Like my friends in Tamil Nadu, I am praying for her speedy recovery. May God bless her," tweeted Banerjee. "Got to know about Tamil Nadu CM #Jayalalithaa ji's health. Maharashtra prays for her speedy recovery!" posted Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, while his Rajasthan counterpart Vasundhara Raje tweeted: "Prayers for the speedy recovery of Tamil Nadu CM #Jayalalithaa ji. May she get recover soon." Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad tweeted: "Totally worried about the health of #Jayalalithaa Ji. Wishing and Praying for speedy recovery. Let's all pray for her." The 68-year-old Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital for treatment of fever and dehydration on September 22. The doctors later said she needed a longer hospital stay as she was suffering from infection, and put her on respiratory support. Recently Apollo Hospitals Chairman Pratap C. Reddy told media that Jayalalithaa is returning to normalcy, and had been shifted out of Intensive Care Unit as there were no health complications. She could go home whenever she decides to do so, he had said. New York, Dec 5 : President-elect Donald Trump has broadened his search for the post of US Secretary of State, a transition team spokesperson announced. "It is true that he's broadened the search and he's very fortunate to have interest among serious men and women, all of whom need to understand that their first responsibility as Secretary of State would be to implement and adhere to the president-elect's 'America First' foreign policy," Kellyanne Conway told reporters at Trump Tower in New York on Sunday. Last week, the transition team said that the short list of candidates contained four names, including 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who had lobbied strongly against Trump during this election cycle, Efe news agency reported. Conway admitted that now there are "more than four" people on the list saying that the selection of the top US diplomat is "incredibly important" and should not be rushed. The other three people who have been considered so far are former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, retired Gen. David Petraeus and the Head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Corker. Los Angeles, Dec 5 : American model Ashley Graham's first boyfriend dumped her because he thought she would get as fat as his mother. The 28-year-old says she was left feeling insecure and embarked on a number of casual relationships after the man broke up with her when she was just 16, reports femalefirst.co.uk. "He's like, 'First, you won't have sex with me. And second, I'm afraid you're going to be as fat as my mum'. Never in my life had I felt more ugly, insecure and unworthy," Graham told Britain's Cosmopolitan magazine. "That was the beginning of how I would relate and interact with my own body. I started seeking affirmation from boys because of one man's words," she added. When she was 17, Graham moved to New York and felt like she dated half the city. "I did it all wrong. I dated a lot of the wrong guys and was having sex for a lot of the wrong reasons. I was just looking for love and affirmations," she said. Thiruvananthapuram, December 05 : National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has reportedly contradicted the union governments claim that co-operative banks in Kerala had not followed KYC (know your customer) norms. Media reports suggest that NABARD is to submit a report in the supreme court on Monday stating that all the district co-operative banks in Kerala are KYC-compliant. The centre had in an affidavit before the apex court submitted that co-operative banks in Kerala did not follow KYC norms and thus were hubs of black money. The centre contended that it was a conscious decision to deprive the co-operative banks of the ability to exchange or receive deposits of demonitised currency since the banks maintained low-order professionalism among their staff and low-level of automation and lacked capability to detect fake currency notes. The affidavit was filed in response to a joint petition filed before the SC by seven district co-operative banks from Kerala seeking relief in the crisis caused by the virtual freeze put on the functioning of the co-operative banks by the centre following demonitisation. The NABARD report reportedly states that all the 14 district co-operative banks in Kerala followed KYC norms while 13 public sector banks fell foul of the norms. KYC norms require the banks to record the PAN and Aadhar card details of customers. The union government had put a freeze on the functioning of co-operative banks in Kerala saying they were a den of black money since they functioned without following RBIs banking norms. The ruling LDF government and the opposition UDF had accused the centre of trying to destroy the co-operative sector through the restrictions. However, the BJP leadership in the state had charged the leaders of the LDF and the UDF with parking unaccounted money running into crores of rupees in the co-operative sector. New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on November 8, 2016 to announce the withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The speech (in English) lasted 25 minutes. The Prime Minister uttered the phrase "black money" 18 times in this speech. He mentioned "fake currency" or "counterfeit" five times in the same speech. It was unambiguously clear from the Prime Minister's speech that the primary motivation for the sudden withdrawal of nearly 86 per cent of the country's currency was the evil of black money. The next day, the papers termed it a "war on black money". PayTM, a mobile payment app, hailed the decision with a full-page ad and the Prime Minister left for Japan. By the time the Prime Minister returned from Japan, the move had been christened "demonetisation" in English, "notebandi" in Hindi and there was a war-time like rationing of currency in the country. The Prime Minister made six speeches across the country on the demonetisation policy between November 13 and November 27, including his radio address to the nation, Mann Ki Baat, according to data available on the Prime Minister's personal website. The text of all the speeches are available on the website. A data analysis of the speeches (after translation) reveals a shifting of the narrative of the demonetisation action and its objectives. In his speech on November 8, 2016, when he announced the demonetisation policy, the Prime Minister used the phrase "black money" four times more than "fake/counterfeit currency". By November 27, he used the phrase "digital/cashless" thrice as much as "black money" with no mention of "fake currency". Recall, there was zero mention of "digital/cashless" in the initial November 8 speech. The chart below shows the ratio of the three narratives-"black money", "fake currency" and "cashless/digital pay"-in each of the Prime Minister's speeches over three weeks and seven speeches. In other words, in the same speech, how many times did the Prime Minister use each of these phrases to describe the reasons for demonetisation which can be used as a proxy to understand what the Prime Minister believes was the primary objective for this mammoth exercise? The "cashless/digital" phrase in the Prime Minister's speeches went from 0 in the November 8 speech to a 73 per cetnt ratio in the November 27 speech. The "fake currency" phrase went from 22 per cent to 0 in the same period suggesting the Prime Minister no longer believes that terror financing was the primary or secondary driver of this demonetisation exercise. The "black money" phrase went from a high of a 80 per cent ratio on November 8 to only 27 per cent on November 27. Apparently, it is no longer a "war on black money" but instead a "war on all currency" to go cashless. So, between November 8 and November 27, the objective for the demonetisation exercise has swung from black money elimination to going cashless, as evident in the Prime Minister's speeches. To be sure, urging citizens to use less cash and resort to digital transactions is a laudable objective and must certainly be encouraged. But when a decision was taken to remove a whopping 86 per cent of the country's currency overnight with all its attendant costs, one would have hoped there was one strong rationale for it, even if it meant achieving multiple objectives. Either the Prime Minister has realised that the original primary objective of eliminating black money may not be met or there was not adequate thought behind the decision. Either way, it is worrisome. (In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform. Parveen Chakravarty is Senior Fellow in Political Economy at IDFC Institute & Founding Trustee, IndiaSpend. The author thanks Puja Das of IndiaSpend for help with Hindi translation. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. Feedback at respond@indiaspend.org) New Delhi, Dec 5 : Both houses of Parliament witnessed disruptions for the 13th consecutive day on Monday over the issues of people facing problems over cash crunch, alleged non-payment of salaries to central government staff and discussion on demonetisation. In the Lok Sabha, the government and opposition failed to break the deadlock over the discussion on demonetisation, which the latter earlier wanted under a rule entailing voting. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suggested that the debate can take place without sparring over rules. Although the opposition climbed down from its earlier demand to hold the discussion under Rule 56 (which entails voting and is seen as a bid to censure the government) and demanded a debate under Rule 184, the government did not yield. Rule 184 also entails voting, but is not seen as censuring of the government. The Speaker allowed notices by the Biju Janata Dal and Telangana Rashtra Samithi to debate demonetisation under Rule 193, which is meant for conducting a short-duration discussion on an issue. However, most opposition parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, the Left parties, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party and others, said the debate can take place under Rule 184. The first adjournment of the house came in the Question Hour, as opposition members put forward their demand for debate under Rule 184 and started sloganeering. The lower house was adjourned till noon. As the house met at noon, Leader of the Congress Mallikarjun Kharge said they were ready for the debate under Rule 184. "We have requested repeatedly for a debate under Rule 56... but we are finding other ways. We can take up the debate under Rule 184," Kharge said. "People are getting ill and dying. The GDP (gross domestic product) growth has slowed down; people have lost jobs. This is a serious matter," Kharge said. While the opposition insisted on Rule 184, Mahajan said the debate should be started without insisting on rule and instead the problems of the common people should be discussed. "Everyone wants to discuss the problems of the common people, so do I... there is a debate listed under Rule 193... but I am ready to cooperate; don't fight on rules, start the discussion without any rule," Mahajan said. While the government agreed, the opposition insisted on Rule 184, and started protesting again by raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Amid the din, the Speaker continued with Zero Hour submissions, before adjourning the House till 2 p.m. When the house reassembled, the protests continued and opposition members trooped near the Speaker's podium. Mahajan then adjourned the house for the day. In the Rajya Sabha, the opposition raised the issue of non-payment of salaries to central government employees, besides hardships faced by the cash-strapped people during the weekend. The opposition demanded the government immediately pay salaries and pensions to its employees and other workers. "No central government employee has got his salary (for November). The government is doing it knowingly," charged Naresh Agrawal of the Samajwadi Party soon after the upper house met after lunch break at 2 p.m. Senior Congress leader and Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma also raised the issue and said the situation had deteriorated over the weekend and people were suffering due to cash crunch. He said unless the government fixes the problem, the situation will not improve in the upper house. During the pre-lunch session, the upper house witnessed two adjournments. The house was first adjourned till noon as the opposition protested against the way people struggled to withdraw their own money from the banks. Earlier, as the upper house met at 11 a.m., Leader of Opposition Gulam Nabi Azad said people are suffering because of the cash crunch and the overall situation is going from bad to worse. "Thousands of people met us during the weekend. No money is being given to them. They are suffering," he said, adding that even the automated teller machines in Parliament premises are out of cash. In response, Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said: "It's an important issue and should be debated." The month-long winter session of Parliament began on November 16 and has seen numerous disruptions over demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes by the Centre. Moscow, Dec 5 : A Russian Sukhoi Su-33 fighter jet skidded off the country's sole aircraft carrier deployed in the Mediterranean after completing a combat mission in Syria but the pilot successfully ejected, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday. "After a combat mission in Syria, the fighter jet rolled off the deck while landing on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov," the ministry said in a statement. The pilot was immediately taken on board the aircraft carrier, Xinhua news agency reported. The accident was caused by a broken cable of the aircraft's arresting gear, according to the statement. It was the second accident involving Admiral Kuznetsov in a month, since the aircraft carrier arrived in the Mediterranean to provide support to Russia's air campaign in Syria. On November 15, a MiG-29 fighter jet crashed during a training mission as it approached the aircraft carrier for a landing. Rome, Dec 5 : Italy on Monday faced political uncertainty after centre-Left Premier Matteo Renzi said he was stepping down following a referendum defeat on his plans to streamline Italy's political machinery. Renzi said he would tender his resignation to Italian President Sergio Mattarella after 60 percent of Italian voters on Sunday rejected his proposed constitutional reforms to strengthen the central government and rein in parliament's upper house Senate and the regions. "It wanted to eliminate the excessive seats of power....I failed and so I it's up to me to stand down, said Renzi. "I lost, I say it out loud, albeit with a lump in my throat," said Renzi, who took office in February 2014. With most ballots counted from the referendum, the No vote leads with 60 percent compared with 40 percent for Yes, with a 70 percent turnout. Mattarella will now appoint a caretaker Prime Minister - possibly Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan - or call snap elections as the populist opposition Five Star movement and the anti-immigrant Northern League party are demanding. The head of state may ask Renzi to stay on until the Parliament has passed the 2017 budget bill due later this month. Fresh elections are slated in 2018. Markets showed no signs of panic on Monday as the possibility of the reformist Renzi's departure had already been factored in. But there are concerns the political uncertainty could do deep damage to Italy's already fragile banking sector, where the failure of a major bank such as troubled Monte dei Paschi di Siena could set off a wider crisis. Italy's ailing banking system remains vulnerable and the country's debt-to-GDP ratio, at 133 percent, is second only to Greece's. Despite a weak recovery begun under Renzi's watch, Italy's economy - the eurozone's third largest - remains 12 percent smaller than when the financial crisis began in 2008. The Five Star movement, which says it is getting ready to govern Italy, has called for a referendum on membership of the single currency. The referendum result is being seen as a blow to the European Union, although its Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici claimed it was a domestic political issue and not a vote against the EU. Northern League leader Matteo Salvini called the referendum a "victory of the people against the strong powers of three-quarters of the world". Chandigarh, Dec 5 : Following recent incidents of celebratory firing at weddings, the Haryana government on Monday banned carrying of weapons at such functions. Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Ram Niwas told media here that the order, issued under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, would be applicable throughout Haryana. "It has been noticed that people often indulged in celebratory firing during weddings after consuming alcohol. "Taking serious note of such incidents, the Police department has been directed to put a check on carrying of arms at wedding functions, in coordination with the District Magistrate concerned," he said. Aerial firing offence is punishable with six months' imprisonment. "We have appealed to people to stop their relatives from carrying arms at such functions," said the Home Secretary. A woman was killed near Karnal town last month when a self-styled godwoman, Sadhvi Deva Thakur, and her armed accomplices fired indiscriminately during a wedding function. A young woman dancer was killed on Saturday evening in neighbouring Punjab's Bathinda district when a man, who was allegedly drunk, fired at her from close range after she refused to dance with him. She died on the spot. New Delhi, Dec 5 : Five persons, including two juveniles, were arrested by Delhi Police for killing two youths in separate incidents in South Delhi, police said on Monday. They said the accused, members of a gang, have been identified as Rahul, 18, Gajendra, 19, Kamal Kishor, 20, and two juveniles wanted in various cases of robbery, murder, attempt to murder, abetment to suicide, molestation and other crimes. Police nabbed them in multiple raids in Sangam Vihar late on Sunday night, a senior police officer said. The accused had killed Feroze, 19, after multiple attacks with a screw driver at a public school in Devli area on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, he said. "During the interrogation, they told police that they killed Feroze over a past dispute with the two juvenile gang members," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Romil Baaniya said. Feroze, whose body was found near a school here on Sunday morning, helped his father in an automobile workshop in the same area. He had been missing since Saturday night. Rahul told police that the gang was also involved in the killing of a 23-year-old youth Hemraj. Hemraj was a resident of Tigri and was abducted by them last week. They killed him over an altercation with a gang member, Baaniya said. They later buried Hemraj's body in Asola Bird Sanctuary in Sangam Vihar, the DCP said. One of the juveniles in police custody wanted to commit more crimes before turning 18, so as to escape the clutches of the law. He is going to turn 18 within a few days, police said. The sixth accused, also a juvenile, is on the run. A search is on to nab him, Banniya added. Mumbai, Dec 5 : Two naval personnel were killed and at least 14 injured on Monday when the Indian Navy's guided missile frigate INS Betwa slipped while undocking at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai where it was undergoing a refit, an official spokesperson said. While one victim was reportedly inside the indigenously-built ship as it tumbled on its side, the other was believed to be in the waters below it. The deceased have been identified as navy personnel N.K. Rai and Ashutosh Pandey. Another 14 personnel were rescued from the site and their condition is reported to be stable. Taking a grim view of the incident, Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba is expected to reach here for a high-level assessment of the situation. The Indian Navy has ordered an enquiry into the disaster. The incident occurred around 1.50 p.m. when the 126-metre-long, 3,800-tonne ship fell on its side, with the mast hitting the dockyard floor. "There has been an incident in the Cruiser Graving Dock, Naval Dockyard Mumbai involving INS Betwa today (Monday). "The incident occurred during undocking evolution wherein it is suspected that the dock block mechanism has failed," said an Indian Navy statement. Navy officials said 14 personnel were rescued from the dock with minor injuries. "All personnel are stable. Diving in progress to look for two missing crew," said an official. The extent of damage to the 3,800-tonne Brahmaputra Class frigate, commissioned into the Indian Navy in July 2004, is being assessed and technical evaluation for making the ship upright again is in process. One of the key warships of the Western Naval Command, INS Betwa is armed with anti-ship missiles, Barak 1 surface-to-air missiles and torpedoes and has taken part in several domestic and international operations. Incidentally, INS Betwa had a cracked sonar dome in January 2014, or the bottom of the vessel which was the subject of a probe. This is the third major serving Indian warship involved in a major accident while docked for repairs in the past five years. In August 2013, 18 sailors were killed when submarine INS Sindhurakshak caught fire in Mumbai harbour. In February 2014, a major fire aboard the nuclear submarine INS Sindhuratna left two officers dead. Kolkata, Dec 5 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday ordered state civil service officials not to implement instructions from the Central Government without permission of the state administration. "Various types of instructions come (from the centre). You must keep in mind you work for the state government and you are under the state," Banerjee said, addressing the annual general meeting of the West Bengal Civil Service Association. "If somebody suddenly tells you do this or do that, don't. If only somebody tells you on behalf of the state government then only do it, otherwise don't. "If there is any instruction from the Centre, don't implement the instructions on your own without asking us," she said. The Bengal Chief Minister has gone hammer and tongs at the Narendra Modi government in recent times on a clutch of issues, including demonetisation and the presence of the army in toll plazas while keeping her administation "in the dark". Banerjee's Trinamool Congress also smelt a conspiracy to "kill" her when an aircraft with her on board hovered in the night sky for about 40 minutes on November 30 due to a technical issue. On the demonetisation mess, the Chief Minister said that the state's revenue had fallen by 25 per cent. "Small sector industries, unorganised sector, salaried class people are all in an unstable condition," she said. New Delhi, Dec 5 : The 13-nation OPEC cartel said on Monday that a stable oil market, which will result from the recent move to cut output, is vital for India as it will guarantee assured supply for the country. At a meeting in Vienna last week, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to reduce its production by 1.2 million barrels a day, beginning January 1. "After six months, we will review the decision and we want an equilibrium price then, that will bring stability to the oil market. A stable oil market advantageous for countries like India as it can guarantee them future supply," OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo told reporters here on the sidelines of the Petrotech 2016 hydrocarbon event. In India alone, oil demand is projected to rise to more than 10 million bpd by 2040 compared to 4.1 million bpd in 2015, he said. "Such a substantial expansion in India and other fast growing economies in Asia will require supplies from all producing regions. Thankfully, OPEC member countries will play a crucial role in fuelling this dynamic growth. But for this to happen, continued investment in our member countries' energy industries is required," he said. With non-OPEC countries also agreeing to a production cut of 0.6 million barrels per day, oil prices have regained the psychological $50 a barrel level. OPEC will be meeting representatives from non-OPEC countries on December 10 in Vienna. Barkindo said that among the non-OPEC countries, Russia has already guaranteed a production cut, which will cover 50 per cent of the expected share of non-OPEC nations in output reduction. Meanwhile Indian Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday urged OPEC countries to consider striking a balance between the interest of producers and consumers when deciding on output cuts. Inaugurating the 12th Petrotech conference, he said: "Consumption of petroleum products is price sensitive, as there is a genuine issue of affordability for a sizable population in India and other developing countries. "Hence, while deciding the pricing aspect of crude oil, it should be factored in that the security of supply must, in turn, be matched by the security of demand." The Indian basket of crude oils closed trade on Friday at $51.46 a barrel, as per official data. Mid-brain Activation? No. Thats a no-brainer VietNamNet Bridge Mid-brain Activation seems to be on a lot of minds these days. Of course, this is thanks to a constant bombardment of advertisements on multiple media fronts. Those offering this service claim this activiation will equip children with what amounts to extra-sensory abilities in just two days. By stimulating some parts of the brain, children will have improved memory, powers of concentration as well as better intuition. In these days of intense, stressful academic competition that begins right at the kindergarten level, how can any parent resist such gains! So, theres Math training, English training, and now, brain training. The technique, it is claimed, targets a small part of the brain that acts as a relay centre for information gathered from the bodys visual, auditory and motor systems. As a result, those who take the training can carry out everyday tasks with their eyes closed, and the ads seem to mean this in a literal sense. Going through the Facebook pages of these centres, I saw videos of kids of six or seven, (the claim is that the programme works best for those between seven and eleven) blindfolded, correctly identifying colours by just touching different objects. Wow! Phenomenal! Which parent wouldnt want their kids to become geniuses with extraordinary abilities? Vietnamese parents are now familiar with many educational terms, including the Japanese-style teaching method, Glenn Doman and Montessori. As a mother, I can understand the desire to give kids the best possible opportunities to better themselves and ensure a great future for them. But in these days of relentless marketing, we need to be a bit skeptical and not get carried away, I feel. Being able to sense visual properties without actually seeing them might be an extraordinary talent, but normally, it is against basic principles of human physiology. Our ability to see is the result of a complex interaction that I do not have to layout here. Just imagine a process a million times more sophisticated than the most sophisticated camera. Now, when you can see normally with such amazing natural equipment, why do you need to do it blindfolded? Okay thats just a question that popped up spontaneously. Could be some bias there. But I do wonder: How will this ability help kids later in their life? Ive seen many people trying to teach their babies barely a year old to remember letters, using flashcards and whatnot. Yes, the exclamations of surprise and admiration when a child demonstrates unusually early developments are very satisfying, but, for me, theres something unnatural it. Something a little too pushy. Why is that we cant raise our kids naturally? Is there something wrong about letting kids grow at their own pace? Does every child have to be a genius? Why would you want your baby to be able to read early rather than read stories to them? Yes, it is a competitive world, but wont kids miss out a lot if they are subjected to the parents ambitions. Surely they deserve to enjoy life when they are children! Raising a child is a long-term task. We know that children learn from their surrounding world, learn though playing and learn through self discovery. Learning, as infants, is a process imbued with magic and wonder. Dont we owe to our kids to maximize this sense of magic and wonder? Reading, counting, calculating and other skills are very important, but these can be developed as the baby moves from infancy to childhood. Most importantly, these skills do not automatically develop kindness and compassion within the children. Not to go overboard with my criticism, I talked to a mother whod sent her child to one of these centres. Nguyen Thi Hoai of Lam Dong Province took her 11-year-old daughter to two-day midbrain activation programme in HCM City. She said her daughter had recently shown signs of being unfocused, so she wanted to do something about it. She paid VND2.6 million (US$115) for the training. Hoai said it was true that after two days, her daughter was able to tell the colour of objects without seeing them. But what she wanted most did not happen. Her daughter made little progress at school. This example might not reflect the whole picture, so I delved a bit further. Activists from the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations last year launched a campaign against midbrain activation programmes in the country, saying it was a new form of superstition in the name of science. Such centres were making money by deceiving people, they said. A childs intelligence cannot be increased through any method, the associations press statement said. Im not sure about various programmes on offer in Viet Nam, but I agree that a childs intelligence cannot be improved with arcane methods. I believe it is best that parents control the urge to show off their children, or to push them to Ivy League institutions, and just focus on the children becoming decent, caring human beings. Our children should be able to be happy, whoever they are, a doctor, a lawyer, a politician or a baker. And for this, parents need to stop stressing about making their kids more competitive through programmes like Glenn Doman, Mid-brain Activation and so on. I would rather read exciting stories to my kid and share the joy of it than push her into demanding programmes. I would rather chit chat with her, sing to her, dance with her, and tell her how much I love her. I want to have my child remember her childhood as a happy one. She should remember the white flowers we saw on the way home, the cows we saw in the field in our hometown, the raindrops pattering on the window glass. Piglet: Winnie, how do you spell love? Winnie: Piglet, you dont spell love. You feel it. VNS Thu Van New Delhi, Dec 6 : Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday condoled the death of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, saying she lived her life with same "indomitable courage with which she battled her last illness". "I am deeply grieved to learn of the passing away of Selvi J. Jayalalithaa," said Gandhi in a statement. "As the leader of the AIADMK and as four-times Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, she had a unique and deep empathy with the needs and hopes of the Apeople, and put in placed policies that immeasurably improved their lives. "Whether it was her welfare schemes for the rural and urban poor, her swift relief measures in the aftermath of Tsunami or her vision for Tamil Nadu's industrial development, her leadership qualities and administrative abilities were truly outstanding," said the Congress chief. "The Congress party, my family and I personally share the grief and pain of the people of Tamil Nadu and her devoted supporters in the AIADMK, who have lost their beloved Amma'," Gandhi said. "She was a towering figure in our national and political life, who won admiration across the political spectrum for the intrepid spirit with which she faced the ups and downs of her life in politics, for her commitment to the people of her state, and her dedication to the honour of India," she added. The AIADMK leader passed away at the Apollo hospital in Chennai late Monday night, a day after she suffered cardiac arrest. She was 68. Its almost 1,000 pages, culminates at least three years of work, and provides a $6.3 billion boost for an array of health-related agencies and initiatives. Will the U.S. Senate join the House in bipartisan passage of the 21st Century Cures Act, a sweeping measure that some say could affect American health care as much as the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare? After the bitterly divisive presidential campaign, House members surprised many with their swift consideration of the health funding bill, which passed 392-26. Congressional leaders then crowed about how they can work together and how the legislation will help. The act now has moved to the Senate for consideration. Senators, notably Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren, have been far more critical of components of the measure, particularly how Big Pharma and device-makers may benefit. Ive written how Congress, around this time last year, provided holiday cheer by approving the framework of the 21st Century Cures Act, an omnibus bill that took a year for funding details to get worked out. Because the legislation covers so many health areas and still must be acted on by the Senate and signed by the president, it still needs wary watching. Lobbyists for many different causes already have had a field day on this bill, and they will continue to do so. Two areas (discussed more below) created the most controversy and promise to do so in the Senate: the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its oversight on drugs and medical devices; the funding for the act. The measure advanced out of the House appears to: Big sticking point 1: The FDA and drug- and medical device-approvals The FDA saw its funding increase by $500 million, a move that will help it address its many challenges, especially staffing. But the agency also became the focus of furious feuding over its processes for regulating Big Pharma and medical device makers. Early on, critics assailed efforts to relax, for example, rules that require doctors to report payments they get from drug makers for professional speeches. This item was stripped from the act. As the bill advanced, opposition also built to changes in FDA processes that critics said would short-circuit the agencys ability to ensure the safety and effectiveness of both drugs and medical devices. Proponents said FDA rules needed to be streamlined to get beneficial drugs and medical products to market sooner to help patients. Aspects of this fights got technical, involving battles over issues such as whether regulators must rely only on rigorous clinical trials or if they could accept real world evidence of that a drug or medical device works. Should they race to approve a drug, for example, that shrinks tumors but does not extend patients lives? Warren asserted the cures act had been hijacked by Big Pharma, and pledged to fight it in the Senate, because I know the difference between compromise and extortion. President Obama has said the act has flaws but the administration supports it. Big sticking point 2: Paying for a $6.3 billion bill Funding the 21st Century Cures Act also became a major issue. Thats because Republicans, who a year ago pledged to support the measure but said they wanted to figure how to pay for it, made much of the bills financing year-to-year, requiring annual renewal. Much of the money for the act will come from sales of stores from the strategic petroleum reserves, plus the cuts in Obamacares preventive health programs and reductions in specified Medicare programs. Some GOP legislators objected to the act, saying it increases spending and the size of government. Liquid Forms features an elegantly simple rectangular shape combined with asymmetric surface articulation to generate multiple tiling patterns. ...[Liquid Forms] allows designers and architects to use the tile to create many exciting sculptural patterns. Aybars realization of the three dimensionality possibilities allowed by Kazas unique manufacturing process was exemplary. Walker Zangerthe worlds most comprehensive stone and tile companyannounced that Aybars Asci (President and Founder of Efficiency Lab for Architecture) is the winner of the inaugural Kaza Design Competition with his original design Liquid Forms. Liquid Forms is a uniquely exciting contemporary design that really takes advantage of the plasticity of concrete, said Jared Becker, Walker Zanger Vice President of Design and Marketing. Because of the numerous designs you can create with just one piece, it allows designers and architects to use the tile to create many exciting sculptural patterns. Aybars realization of the three dimensionality possibilities allowed by Kazas unique manufacturing process was exemplary. TWEET THIS: Liquid Forms #tile by Aybar Asci unveiled as the winner of #WZKazaCompetition by @walkerzanger and @ArchDigest. http://bit.ly/WZKazaCompetition "Liquid Forms tile is aesthetically versatile," said Asci. "The soft curvilinear design has a tactile quality that suggests sensuousness and luxury. It is a single tile design that can generate multiple patterns, which is very well suited for residential and hospitality projects." The winning dimensional design was inspired by the masterpieces of Italian sculptor and architect Bernini, and features an elegantly simple rectangular shape combined with asymmetric surface articulation to generate multiple tiling patterns. Liquid Forms will complement the existing Kaza collection with the smoothness of the concrete combined with its shape giving it a sleek, modern simplicity that is refined and almost aerodynamic. It will be manufactured by Kaza Concrete exclusively for Walker Zangers Kaza collection in three colorways, including a metallic. The competition was conducted in partnership with Architectural Digest and ran from May through September. Participants were tasked with creating an all-new decorative concrete tile that would complement the existing Kaza collection. The judging panel included prominent figures in architecture and interior design: Rafael de Cardenas, Stephanie Goto, Victoria Hagan, Ryan Korban, Jennifer Post and Nathan Turner. "I really love the sinewy fluidity of the form and how it would dematerialize a wall with its unique play of light throughout the day into night," said de Cardenas. "Though static, its surface suggests fluid animation." The softness of the form and its many possibilities is very seductive, said Hagan. In addition to receiving royalties from sales, Asci will travel to Budapest, Hungary to tour the factory where Kaza tiles are manufactured. To learn more about Walker Zanger and its line of products, please visit walkerzanger.com. About Walker Zanger For more than 60 years, Walker Zanger, the worlds most comprehensive stone and tile company, combines traditional tile-making techniques with a modern sophistication that transcends any singular design style. A leading choice for design professionals and consumers, Walker Zanger natural stone and tile products can be found in luxury homes, trendy boutiques, lavish spas and resorts, famed museums and fine restaurants around the globe. Walker Zanger is available through 14 beautiful showrooms and more than 150 authorized dealers nationwide. To learn more about Walker Zanger and its line of products visit walkerzanger.com. About Architectural Digest Architectural Digest is the international design authority. AD provides exclusive access to the worlds most beautiful homes and the fascinating people who live in them, bringing its audience a wealth of information on architecture and interior design, art and antiques, travel destinations, and extraordinary products; its AD100 list of top architects and designers is one of the industrys most relied-upon indexes of talent. Every day Architectural Digest inspires millions of readers to redesign and refresh their lives through a multiplatform presence that includes print and digital editions, social media, signature events, and the brands website, architecturaldigest.com. College-bound teens say that official university websites are their single-most important source of information. Our research reveals what they like and dont like on .edu websites. Though we talk with teens all the time, some findings surprised us. College and university websites serve many constituents, including current students, faculty, and alumni. But most institutions consider prospective students seeking admission to be the most important audience. With continued competition for a shrinking applicant pool and pressure to achieve ever-higher enrollment targets, coupled with a continued rise in digital and social media influence on students, college marketers low-hanging fruit should be the channel they control their .edu website. Understanding what students like, dislike, and need can be challenging for marketers, because their target audience is media-saturated, accustomed to immediate gratification, and constantly changing its preferences for digital content consumption. This years research explores just how important college websites are to college-bound teens, complementing last years study, Mythbusting Admissions, which explored teen perspectives on college admission tactics. Michael Stoner, president of mStoner, cautions higher education marketers to stay focused on making their institutions websites easy for students to use rather than constantly adding new features. Its easy to try to incorporate the latest shiny object into your website, says Stoner. However, research shows teens are not as impressed with flashy tools when they are browsing your website as they are concerned with easily finding the important information that can help them navigate the overwhelming application process. Gil Rogers, director of enrollment marketing at Chegg, notes that a clear distinction exists between the college website, which remains an important channel for prospective students throughout the process, and other channels, such as college help sites and social media. Students visit an .edu website to find the information they need, like admissions deadlines, majors, and cost, Rogers notes. Students use social media and college ranking and review sites to find the information they want, like campus culture and fit. Based on research conducted in 2016 by Chegg and mStoner, this white paper explores: Seven common myths about what prospective students like and dont like about college websites. Perspectives from prospective teen students and college marketing professionals where they converge, where they differ and how marketers can leverage this knowledge. Website content that best influences prospective students admission journeys. Best practices for website organization and strategy. The Mythbusting Websites research, conducted May 19 to June 8, 2016, asked college marketers about their perceptions of how teens use and value aspects of their websites, while concurrently asking teens about their use of college websites and preferences. More than 590 college professionals and 2,300 high school seniors provided feedback to this survey. Download the white paper: http://go.edu.chegg.com/mythbusting-websites About mStoner mStoner, Inc. helps clients to tell their authentic stories by clarifying their unique brand value proposition, creating a content strategy to communicate the brand effectively, and implementing compelling and dynamic communications across the web, mobile, social media, print, and other channels. We focus on research, data, and results. Since 2001, weve worked with more than 300 colleges, universities, and professional schools in the U.S. and abroad. For more information, visit http://www.mStoner.com About Chegg Chegg puts students first and is proud to have saved students and their families more than $1 billion. As the leading student-first connected learning platform, Cheggs Student Hub makes higher education more affordable and more accessible, all while improving student outcomes. Chegg is a publicly-held company based in Santa Clara, California and trades on the NYSE under the symbol CHGG. For more information, visit http://www.chegg.com www.therealdirt.com The Real Dirt with Chip Baker is a podcast series hosted by one of the nations premier cannabis technology and application experts, Chip Baker. Chip Baker formerly co-founded Royal Gold Soil and is currently the founder and CEO of Cultivate Colorado. Over the past 30 years, Chip Baker other industry veterans have made the evolution of cannabis legalization possible. Since Colorados legalization, the cannabis industry has evolved extensively, but there it is still an abundance of stereotypes, inaccurate information and bro science surrounding it. The Real Dirt: Season One provides accurate insider industry information from the nations premier cannabis lawyers, breeders, growers, and distributors who pioneered legalization. Their expertise, collective knowledge and decades of experience provides invaluable insights to both industry aspirants and veterans alike, on how to succeed in the new, competitive, booming cannabis industry. On December 6, 2016, all 15 episodes of Season One will be released on http://www.therealdirt.com, iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Tunein, and Pocket Casts. For now, the Season One Mashup and Episode 1: Jordan Terpex are available for streaming. #TheRealDirt More information, contact Lisa Dannen at 720-549-0344 or lisa(at)therealdirt(dot)com. Tal Frank, President We are pleased that after such an extensive vetting process, PhysicianLoans was chosen for our expertise and trustworthiness to serve the AMA and its membership with a complete home buying package. PhysicianLoans, a pioneer of the mortgage loan product for physicians and medical school graduates, today announced an affinity agreement with the American Medical Association (AMA) to connect members with loan officers and realtors who have expertise in navigating the unique financial needs and concerns of doctors. Physicians, medical students and residents have different circumstances from many traditional consumers, which can present hurdles for a typical mortgage loan officer. Specific circumstances include medical school debt, time constraints, and other unique financial situations. The new partnership will provide specially tailored support to help navigate the process of securing a loan. The AMA strives to provide vetted, innovative, valuable products that meet the unique needs of physicians and physicians in training, said Brian Eaggleston, Director of Affinity Programs for the American Medical Association. We recognize that physicians may face unique challenges and special circumstances in the mortgage loan process, and we are pleased to announce an affinity agreement with PhysicianLoans to help physicians navigate what can be a complicated process. AMA members can access the PhysicianLoans network of loan officers and Certified DRS Agent network of real estate agents through the AMAs website, which links doctors and medical students directly to the doctor loan landing page and DRS Agent contact request form. Physicians make life altering decisions every day. Those decisions are no less important when considering their own financial and home ownership needs, said Tal Frank, President of PhysicianLoans. We are pleased that after such an extensive vetting process, PhysicianLoans was chosen for our expertise and trustworthiness to serve the AMA and its membership with a complete home buying package. About PhysicianLoans Since 1993, PhysicianLoans has focused exclusively on providing home mortgage loans to medical professionals. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, PhysicianLoans is known for its unique, flagship product, The Doctor Loan, which is offered to medical doctors, dentists and veterinarians, to address student loan debt and special financing needs, that often prohibit obtaining a conforming mortgage loan. For more information about PhysicianLoans, visit https://physicianloans.com About American Medical Association The nations largest and most influential physician organization, the American Medical Association promotes the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health. For more than 165 years the AMA has been unwavering in its commitment to use its unique position and knowledge to shape a healthier future for America. "The decision to invest in the Amada LCG 3015 AJ Fiber Laser was not taken lightly," said Joseph Amico, EVS Metal's co-founder and VP, "but the quality and versatility...in comparison to other options currently at market made the choice an easy one." EVS Metal, Inc has acquired a new Amada Fiber Laser (LCG 3015 AJ) for their Riverdale, New Jersey facility. This machine features some of the latest technology available for the completion of metal fabrication processes, including a high-speed cutting head, a helical rack and pinion drive system and an intuitive AMNC 3i Control touchscreen -- the fastest and most-responsive display Amada produces. "The decision to invest in the Amada LCG 3015 AJ Fiber Laser was not taken lightly," said Joseph Amico, EVS Metal's co-founder and vice president, "but the quality and versatility of the machine in comparison to other options currently at market made the choice an easy one." First and foremost, the LCG 3015 AJ laser system was designed specifically to handle high-speed, high-precision metal fabrication operations, a benefit of the increased sensing speed engineered into the specially-designed cutting head. This level of precision will also improve edge quality, and broaden the scope of material that can be cut at our NJ facility, which will now include both copper and brass. The Amada Fiber Laser prioritizes operator safety by utilizing a sectionalized dust collection system. Finally, Amada has been careful to consider environmental impact as well; the machine runs on of the electricity required by the same wattage CO2 laser system, and it is three times more efficient with the electricity it does use. Surprisingly, all of these features have been integrated into a smaller overall footprint, so it takes up less valuable shop floor space. What does this mean for EVS Metals customers? The incredible speed of the Amada Fiber Laser will allow projects to be turned around even faster than they already are, including product prototypes. The machines quick setup will grant the EVS team greater flexibility to service clients who require very low volume production runs coupled with a higher product mix. Savings associated with lower energy consumption, and fewer parts that may require costly maintenance or replacement like those typically associated with CO2 lasers, mean lower costs, which ultimately benefits those whom EVS Metal serves. The Amada LCG 3015 AJ is expected to be up and running quickly, and with its debut, EVS Metal will stand ready to take on the challenge of most any type of complex, high-precision cutting and machining project, from prototype to production run, efficiently and cost-effectively. About EVS Metal: EVS Metal provides end-to-end manufacturing and logistics services to companies throughout the United States. A leading metal fabrication, machining and finishing shop, EVS also offers integration services, various stocking programs and design engineering support. EVS Metal is a privately held corporation, headquartered with a manufacturing facility in Riverdale, New Jersey and with additional facilities in Pflugerville, TX, Keene, NH and East Stroudsburg, PA. Recognized for its world-class manufacturing processes, EVS has enjoyed tremendous growth, fueled by a commitment to both quality and customer service. For more information, please visit http://www.evsmetal.com/. Z-Medica, LLC, a leading developer and marketer of hemostatic devices, announces today that they have teamed up with The American College of Surgeons (ACS) to provide basic bleeding control instructor training to surgeons. Working with the ACSs Committee on Trauma, the Bleeding Control Basic course is a pilot program that fulfills the intent of the White Houses Stop the Bleed national initiative which is designed to increase the publics awareness of how they can play a role in saving lives by applying basic bleeding control techniques until appropriate medical care is available. So far, more than 350 surgeons have participated in the training program, which instructs surgeons how to train laypersons on the basics of bleeding control. Those surgeons who participate in the program can then return to their communities and teach the basic bleeding control techniques. Teaming up with the American College of Surgeons to provide this training was a natural fit for us, said Z-Medica President and CEO Stephen J. Fanning. By providing the necessary tools, products and personnel to support this effort, Z-Medica continues its commitment to helping save lives. More information on the White House initiative and basic bleeding control can be found at http://www.bleedingcontrol.org. About Z-Medica, LLC Z-Medica, LLC is a medical device company founded in 2002 that develops fast-acting, easy-to-use hemostatic products that stop bleeding wherever it occurs, making it possible to save lives and improve patient outcomes. Based on tests conducted by the Naval Medical Research Center and the U.S. Army Institute for Surgical Research, the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care (CoTCCC) chose QuikClot Combat Gauze as the hemostatic dressing of choice on the battlefield for compressible hemorrhage not amenable to tourniquet use or as an adjunct to tourniquet removal if evacuation time is anticipated to be longer than 2 hours. QuikClot products are developed and manufactured in the United States. Z-Medica, LLC is a privately-held company based in Wallingford, CT. For more information, visit quikclot.com and z-medica.com. Company Contact: Dave Schemelia dschemelia(at)gmail(dot)com / 609-468-9325 Your Pie, the originator of the down the line, brick oven pizza concept is celebrating its most recent opening in Birmingham at 2311 Richard Arrington, Jr. Boulevard North #300. The restaurant, scheduled to officially open its doors on December 9, 2016, will be owned and operated by franchisee Lloyd Peeples, and will serve as Your Pies second Alabama location, continuing the unique concepts growth in the region through a focus on authentic ingredients and quality customer service. The location in Birmingham will offer a whole new type of hand-tossed personalized pizza to the area, ready to roll out to the masses. Peeples brings a diverse background in business management to the Your Pie brand. He received his undergraduate degree at Washington & Lee before attending law school at Samford University. Focusing much of his attention on law between 2000 and 2011, Peeples then expanded his business experience by joining his fathers growing corrugated box manufacturing business based outside of Chattanooga, TN in 2012. When his father passed away in October of 2013, Peeples took over as CEO of the company, where he continues to shepherd rapid growth. The new Your Pie location in Birmingham is the second of three Your Pie openings for Peeples. His third franchise location is scheduled to open in March of 2017, pending the signing of lease agreements. I have been seeking out real estate locations in the inner city for some time and we are thrilled to be opening the doors in such a booming part of Birmingham, said Peeples. The Uptown location is an ideal fit, because it offers great foot traffic and a connection to so many vibrant young families and urban professionals. We are eager to open our doors and give Birmingham a truly unique taste and pizza experience. Drew French, who founded Your Pie in 2008, didnt know great pizza until he experienced the brick oven style baking on the island of Ischia while on his honeymoon. Instead of a simple Italian souvenir, French was inspired to bring back the entire rustic and delicious method to the United States. French put his love of gourmet food and his business degree from the University of Georgia to work, opening up his first Your Pie location in Athens, Ga. in 2008. French has had his sights set on rapid expansion in Alabama for some time, but wanted to find the perfect franchisee to spearhead that type of growth in the state. Birmingham held an extremely high value for us as we continue to focus on expanding throughout the Southeast U.S., said French. The opportunities for growth for our down-the-line concept are still extremely high across the state, and Birmingham is obviously a huge target, because its the ideal fit for our concept. The community is going to love the authentic Italian quality, customization and craft beer pairings that Your Pie offers, and we know even bigger success lies ahead across Alabama thanks to the visionary leadership our dedicated franchisees like Lloyd provide. The opening of Your Pies second Birmingham location is part of the brands aggressive growth plan across the state of Alabama. Your Pie has nearly 40 locations in 13 states and 50 more currently in development. With new locations opening across the country this year, the brand is continuing to enter new markets with even more franchised opportunities available nationwide. Our hand-tossed dough, brick-oven baking technique, dedication to working with other local businesses and grass-roots community partnerships all help make Your Pie unique in the fast casual space, French added. Were excited to share our customized pies with Birmingham, to solidify our mark on the fast-casual pizza concept, and continue our expansion across Alabama and beyond. ABOUT YOUR PIE Your Pie is the worlds originator of the fast casual, brick-oven, customized personal pizza category. A culinary entrepreneur since his teenage years, Your Pie founder Drew French combined his passion for innovative restaurant concepts with brick oven technology and his business acumen to create the highest quality pizza available at incredible speed. Drawing from family recipes from the island of Ischia, Your Pie uses hand-tossed dough, only fresh ingredients, homemade pizza sauces and salad dressings, and offers vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free pizzas, as well as traditional pizzas. The brand also offers local craft beer, wine and Italian-style gelato pairings designed to perfectly compliment the custom pies guests create. Diners at Your Pie have come to expect the best tasting pizza served with speed without sacrificing flavor from a brand that stands by its motto to express your inner pizza." Named in 2016 to Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 list, Your Pie now has nearly 40 locations open across 13 states and an additional 50 locations now in development. In each market, Your Pie places the highest emphasis on investing in the local communities it serves, and encourages diners to let their culinary creativity run wild. For more information about Your Pie or franchising opportunities, please visit http://www.yourpie.com. ### Nearow helps visitors search for hotels within walking distance to their desired destinations. Users can book their desired hotel easily on Nearow. Time is of the essence for most travelers. Whether traveling for business or for pleasure, tourists have limited time on their trips. Their aim is always to maximize the time allotted to achieve what they have come to that place for to complete a business task, to see the sights, to collect experiences, or to see friends and loved ones. More often than not, travelers don't have time to waste commuting from place to place just because their accommodations are far off from the destinations on their itinerary. This is where Nearow.com comes in. Nearow.com is a new travel planning and resource website that aims to bring travelers as close to their destination as possible. The website does this by helping its visitors search for hotels within walking distance to their desired destinations. "It's not fair to waste precious travel time stuck in traffic when you're supposed to be sightseeing or doing something fun during your trip," says Michael Curtis, CEO of Nearow.com. "After all, not all of us have a lot of time to spare when on vacation or on a business trip." As a seasoned traveler who has spent considerable time abroad, Curtis knows the hassles of going to a country where a tourist can get easily confused with the unfamiliar and sometimes inconvenient public transport system. He states that relying on taxis is not always the smart choice. Taxi fare can be expensive, and the driver can hike up the fare by taking their passengers the long way to their destination. "Finding a hotel nearest to their destination, within walking distance if possible, is the smartest and most convenient move when traveling," says Curtis. "It saves you time going from place to place, and it saves you money on fares too." Aside from helping travelers find hotels nearest to the stop points on their itineraries, Nearow.com also has a feature where they can book car rentals. According to Curtis, driving a rental car can be more suitable if the traveler is already familiar with where they are going. "Driving a rented car can get you there more quickly and easily than relying on public transport," he states. Curtis additionally announced that a feature that will let travelers book their flights directly on Nearow.com is also in the works. Moreover, Nearow.com has a blog with articles and information where tourists can learn more about the places to which they will be traveling. "Convenience is the key when you have a limited time frame with which to enjoy your trip," says Curtis. "We aim to be that one-stop shop that offers this precious convenience to our visitors when they travel." Nearow.com is an online travel planning resource and blog. The site's goal is to help travelers get closer to their destinations by booking the nearest hotel accommodations possible and reducing reliance on public transport on their trips. For more information, please contact Michael Curtis at info@nearow.com and at 1888-587-7707, or visit http://nearow.com. Internet service is the life blood of our growing tech community - CDC founder and Executive Director Ernest Andrade Home Telecom, an independent telecommunications company based out of Moncks Corner, is launching GigUP Charleston designed to improve business and residential internet speeds by 100 times current standards. Home Telecom will phase the introduction of fiber and gigabit service, first in the tech corridor of Morrison Drive and East Bay Street then extending its fiber-rich gigabit service along Calhoun Street to the West Edge neighborhood within the first six months of 2017. Beginning today, residents and businesses on the Charleston Peninsula can share their interest in receiving exciting new gigabit internet technology known as Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) or Fiber-To-The-Premises (FTTP) for businesses by completing an Interest Form available on GigUP Charlestons new website at http://www.GigUPCharleston.com where they can also get more information. This much needed fiber infrastructure is necessary to drive economic development along Charlestons fast growing high-tech business corridor. We are excited Home Telecom has made the decision to expand their fiber network onto the Charleston Peninsula," said Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg. "Gigabit internet speed will help grow our knowledge-based and technology businesses, support small businesses and improve the quality of life for all area residents. Home Telecom has the proven innovation and experience to handle this project. As early as 2004, Home Telecom began offering Fiber-to-the-Premises on Daniel Island and immediately began expanding their fiber network throughout Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley Counties. In 2013, they became the first to begin offering gigabit internet services in the Tri-county with its partnership with Nexton in Summerville. Today, Home Telecom is actively serving over 12,000 homes and 1,000 businesses with fiber currently passing an additional 11,000 addresses in the Tri-county area. By increasing internet speeds from an average of 10 megabits per second (Mbps) to 1,000 Mbps, Charleston area businesses will experience significant increases in communications and business efficiency including more reliable video conferencing capabilities; the ability to send larger files via the internet; and faster transfer of data for multiple user networks and devices. On the residential side, customers experience improvements like lag-free online gaming; and the ability to stream without buffering, at least five high-definition (1080p) videos at once, while surfing the web and sending email. According to Home Telecom President and COO, William S. Helmly, his company is a member-owner of Spirit Communications who will collaborate with Home Telecom in the implementation of GigUP Charleston. By combining our fiber network and our experience in fiber technology with Spirit Communications nearby fiber network, we will be successfully improving broadband connectivity for the Charleston Peninsula area, said Helmly. The Charleston Digital Corridor (CDC), a tech-focused economic development organization, has listed access to competitively priced, fast and reliable internet service as one of the region's most pressing challenges. "Internet service is the life blood of our growing tech community, says CDC founder and Executive Director Ernest Andrade, who has grown the organization from 18 companies to over 100. The region recognizes CDC as a model for high-wage knowledge based economic development. Home Telecom stepped in when other providers failed and has been providing reliable, high speed internet to our Flagship and Flagship2 locations in downtown Charleston since 2013. We look forward to having gigabit service at our Flagship3 location, and we are excited to watch Charlestons tech community grow with the expansion of gigabit fiber on the Peninsula. Home Telecom is one of the 11 member-owners of Spirit Communications, a private communications company headquartered in Columbia, SC. Spirit and its owners are, and always have been, visionaries who realize that the future of business, education, social, economic, healthcare and industrial development depends on the availability of a strong telecommunications infrastructure. In partnership with one of our owners, Home Telecom, we are excited to bring increased fiber optic facilities and gigabit speeds to the Charleston Peninsula. This is one of many areas of focus throughout the Charleston area and a continued commitment to the Carolinas to be at the forefront of technological leadership, says Bob Keane, President and CEO for Spirit Communications On October 25, 2016, Spirit and their owners launched the GigUP South Carolina initiative to promote how businesses, homes, and schools can take advantage of the blazing speed of more than 1 million miles of gigabit-ready fiber optic infrastructure already in place across the state. The GigUP Charleston launch, led by Home Telecom, is part of the groups statewide initiative to promote South Carolina as a Gigabit State. Fiber Optic Cable is mandatory in providing the fastest internet service available, acting like a long, lighted corridor with thousands of mirrors that move data faster and farther than traditional copper wire cable. The launch of GigUP Charleston will firmly establish the City of Charleston as an innovation leader in South Carolina in addition to being a worldwide premier travel destination. About Home Telecom Home Telecom is an integrated communications provider based in Moncks Corner, SC, providing digital voice, high speed Internet, video, and security services to residents and businesses in a large portion of the South Carolina Low country, including Berkeley, Dorchester and Charleston counties. They utilize a variety of state of the art technologies, most notably FTTP technology, making them a leader in providing the fastest broadband internet services in the state. To learn more, visit HomeSC.com. Peter Reynolds, Managing Partner of Jacksonville's Pivot CPAs It was truly gratifying to learn that our clients think of us as business partners and not just a vendor, that they rely on us for guidance and leadership. The GriggsGroup, CPAs of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (http://www.thegriggsgroup.com) announced Friday to employees, clients and stakeholders that it is re-branding the firm to better align with its core business strategy. Managing Partner Peter Reynolds told the staff this afternoon that The GriggsGroup will be known from this point forward as Pivot CPAs, staking its claim on providing a broader, more in-depth relationship with its clients. http://www.pivotcpas.com It is customary in the accounting world to name the firm after either the partners or to simply use letters of the partners name as an acronym to name the company. After an intensive marketing study, the partnership and management team of The GriggsGroup felt it was time to break with that tradition, and in doing so wanted to rebrand the firm with a name that truly communicates the value of an accounting firm within its clients business. During the announcement, Reynolds stated, We continually hear from our clients that they feel we are much more deeply involved with them than just handling their taxes or annual audits. It was truly gratifying to learn that they think of us as business partners and not just a vendor, that they rely on us for guidance and leadership. The repeated theme of the firm being a central point of focus and a resource on whom clients rely led them to the name Pivot CPAs. Continued Reynolds, CPAs can and do play a pivotal role in their clients business practices by providing business insight beyond tax and audit work. Were thrilled to be the one our clients call with an idea or an issue. We enjoy and take great pride in being an overall consultant as well as a tax and audit consultant. We are excited to be what maybe the first CPA firm to not be named after its partners. Partner Wendy Ranson stated, This rebrand gives us all a new torch to carry and provides a rallying cry for the firm. While we are the same firm, we have a new outlook. Before deciding to re-brand the firm, Reynolds and the firms other partners enlisted local marketing strategy company, MediaShare Consulting Group to speak in depth not only with clients, but with employees, managers and even clients who have left the firm. Mark D. Berman, Managing Partner of MediaShare said, Griggs, or now Pivot CPAs, have evolved to the point where they can comfortably stake their claim as unique in this market. In an industry of giants and big brands, few of which stand out from one another either by name or function, hearing from their stakeholders about how valued they are allowed us to tell a different story. It is a mindset and an approach to their clients business and their interests that make them, well, pivotal. The firms founder Eric Griggs sold the firm in 2007 to the existing ownership group. It has since grown significantly and includes a client list of whos-who in northeast Florida. Reynolds concluded his comments by stating, Not only did our prior name not reflect the depth of our brand, but there is no longer a Griggs on the letterhead. A shift toward a more demonstrative name that invokes the critical themes of the business is what we wanted in a new name. While it was pure coincidence (and congratulations) that BDO acquired LBA just as we were finalizing our plans, it validated our new brand proposition as providing national expertise with local knowledge and it made sense to further distance ourselves from the alphabet soup of CPA firms that serve this market. This brand change is well-timed and strategic, allowing the business to announce its ownership of the pivotal role we play for our clients, our employees and in the community. Audit Partner and long term co-owner of the firm, Scott Heller, summed up the re-brand strategy by saying, The brand promise is that Pivot CPAs provides the integrated expertise of a deep, national firm - strategy, tax and audit services - but our true value is providing a much broader scope of guidance to our clients entire financial landscape. So, as our name and subsequent new tagline represents, we go beyond accounting. Dr. Natalie says, I am thrilled to support those who are on their path to making and being the difference we need in todays world. Participating in a panel "The Amazing Joy of Effective Leadership: Passion, Purpose and Potential" in the Leadership track at this annual conference, Dr. Natalie shares her insights and expertise on effective leadership and bringing together "passion, purpose, and potential," which she has successfully been doing with her clients and sharing across the world. Sharing the panel with Nicole Chamblin, and Joan Jackson, while having Mary Grate-Pyos as the moderator is "a wonderful opportunity," says Dr. Forest. "This is especially exciting to me to participate in this annual event as it starts off December and my focus this month on getting as many entrepreneurs as I can ready for a Revolutionary, breakthrough year in 2017," shares Dr. Natalie. "I believe women in particular, but entrepreneurs and C-level managers are particularly in need of being better understood and encouraged for all the work they are committed to. Entrepreneurship, leadership is not always easy and success does not come overnight." With that in mind Dr. Forest continues her mission right after the 8th Virginia Womens Business Conference when she travels to Atlanta to co-host a full day workshop for entrepreneurs in Atlanta, GA with the sales expert Celeste Giordano. Together they have created the workshop "Revolutionize 2017: YOUR Legacy Business Blueprint," which provides essential insights and action steps for participants to take their business to the next level in 2017, as well as it brings in additional experts to share information on subjects such as accounting, team leadership, event planning, and more. Dr. Natalie says, "I am thrilled to support those who are on their path to making and being the difference we need in todays world." December is for many business owners a crucial month and proper planning can make all the difference in the business being part of the statistical count for failure, continued development or success. It is Dr. Natalies focus to enable business owners this December to have a head-start with her groundbreaking Success Revolutions Programs and workshop as we move into a new year that promises to be filled with new rules and guidelines for business in the U.S. and across the globe. Natalie Forest is the CEO, Founder, and Visionary of Natalie Forest, International. Dr. Forest is also the Executive Director of the Women of Global Change. She is an International Executive Consultant, Best Selling Author, Keynote Speaker, & Mentor; Natalie is Founder of Success Revolutions, a series of educational trainings for individuals and corporations across the globe. Natalie engages leaders, corporate teams, and entrepreneurs to identify consistencies for their success. Her engaging methods and techniques increase productivity, teamwork, retention, resulting in higher profitability, authentic fulfillment, and less stress. Natalie is a sought after speaker and has participated in numerous conferences, events, TV and radio shows across the nation. As a host, she has been in the top 3 for VoiceAmerica. Natalies keynote, the Hidden Power of Patterns, has facilitated numerous breakthroughs for all that were fortunate to work with her, leading them to a life of abundance, clarity, and directed purpose. Metabolic Code Metabolic Code is slated to introduce its Metabolic Code Platform at the 24th Annual World Congress of Anti-Aging Medicine in Las Vegas, December 9 through December 11, 2016. Located at booth #5021 in the Venetian Palazzo Resort, Metabolic Code will present the new cutting-edge platform designed to help practitioners improve health care outcomes and empower patients to advance the quality of their health. A non-CME workshop will be sponsored by Metabolic Code on Saturday, December 10 in the Veronese Ballroom of the Venetian Palazzo Resort at 6pm. Keynote speakers, James LaValle, R.Ph, CCN, Founder, and Chairman of Metabolic Code, and Bassel Haidar, President of Metabolic Code, will host the evening workshop, Metabolic Code: The Success Triad. A Practice Solution that Delivers Better Outcomes, Improves Efficiency, and Increases Revenues. Metabolic Code has amassed an impressive array of partners to enable it to provide one-click lab ordering and posting , best in class medical grade supplements that can be delivered on a recurrent basis to patients, and access to clinical expertise through highly respected educational institution affiliations. National Clinical Laboratories Metabolic Code selected national clinical laboratories True Health Diagnostics, Quest Diagnostics and Physicians Lab to analyze data from patient lab samples in conjunction with patient lifestyle questionnaires and personal biometric information to help determine an individuals greatest areas of metabolic risk. Practitioners then use that information to develop the most beneficial and engaging health plan for the patient. Leading Supplement Manufacturers Metabolic Code joined forces with leading supplement manufacturers which meet or exceed all safety and quality standards. Ortho Molecular Products, Designs for Health and NuMedica have included their products in Metabolic Codes supplement formulary and product offerings to bolster Metabolic Codes mission of supporting health care practitioners ability to deliver better patient health outcomes. Educational Institutions Jim LaValle, Founder and Chairman of Metabolic Code and Andy Heyman, MD and Chief Medical Officer of Metabolic Code, are both sought-after thought leaders in Integrative Medicine and speakers at the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M), where they teach a variety of continuing medical education courses (CME) with a focus on a systems biology approach to medicine, known as the Triads. Additionally, The George Washington University (GWU) has adopted the Metabolic Code as its platform of choice for all students enrolled in the Masters Program in Integrative Medicine. This partnership will usher in a new era of innovation in health care, delivering better clinical outcomes while improving practitioner efficiency. About Metabolic Code Metabolic Code evaluates where a patient's chemistry is today, and predicts the patient's potential future health risks. Health care providers receive a Metabolic Code Health Assessment and Vitality Report which highlights their patients uncovered metabolic imbalances and disruptors before they turn into chronic conditions and accelerate aging, and couples that information with a personalized plan to optimize each patient's health and vitality. Metabolic Code empowers health care providers to Deliver Better Health Outcomes, Work Smart, and Make More. More information can be found at http://www.metaboliccode.com As a company, customer service and satisfaction have always been our top priority. So, we decided we needed to update our website to make it as easy and seamless as possible for customers to complete their unique screen printing projects Christian Newcomer, owner of Big Planet Apparel (http://www.BigPlanetApparel.com) is pleased to announce the launch of BigPlanetApparel.com, delivering the best in custom screen printing to Lancaster, PA and beyond. Specializing in exceptional screen printing designs for apparel, Big Planet creates custom messages and visuals for t-shirts, polo shirts, hoodies, aprons, tote bags, and more. Big Planets tailored designs promise to express clients messages in clear and understandable ways with each and every design. As Lancaster PAs go-to source for screen printing, Big Planet strives to be customer focused and always exceed expectations. From first meeting to final product, Big Planet Apparel catches their customers vision and delivers their message effectively on every custom design. The process is simple; customers contact Big Planet, select the apparel for the project, receive their quote, and then place their order or upload their design. Big Planet then begins the project, delivering custom screen printing with outstanding quality, reliability, and craftsmanship. Founded in 2009 by Christian Newcomer, Big Planet Apparel, located in Lancaster, PA is rooted in the dream to stay local with global awareness. The dream began when Newcomer was in high school taking art and screen printing classes. While in college, the vision for Big Planet grew as Newcomer was asked to do custom silk screening for clients as word of his skill spread to the community. After college, while visiting Costa Rica, Newcomer realized he wanted to make screen printing his career and Big Planet Apparel was born. Today the company serves businesses and organizations with custom, high quality screen printing. As a company, customer service and satisfaction have always been our top priority. So, we decided we needed to update our website to make it as easy and seamless as possible for customers to complete their unique screen printing projects. Plus, we knew a mobile friendly website is an absolute must in today's market. We're more excited than ever to serve clients both locally and nationally. Christian Newcomer, Owner Big Planet Apparel. At Big Planet Apparel, the goal is always to exceed clients expectations with premium custom screen printing delivered with expert customer service. The launch of BigPlanetApparel.com promises outstanding screen printing services to clients everywhere with easy online ordering, reasonable prices, and superior craftsmanship. Visit Big Planet Apparel (http://www.BigPlanetApparel) today and find the perfect custom screen printing apparel to deliver your message to your customers. Bio: Founded by Christian Newcomer in 2009, Big Planet Apparel has become Lancaster, Pennsylvanias premier source for screen printing by putting each and every customer first and delivering premium results on every design. Quality, reliability, and craftsmanship are the core values on which Big Planet Apparel was founded and that remains true today. The company is based in Lancaster and serves local, national, and global businesses and organizations with the highest quality screen printing services. Castlewood has announced two new hires, both Outreach Directors to support the Southern California eating disorder community and provide region direction for their Monarch Cove facility located in Northern California. Eating disorders are equal opportunity offenders, impacting people across ethnic, gender, and geographic lines. The goal of Castlewood Treatment Centers has always been to promote the power of recovery, and to make eating disorder treatment accessible to as many people as possible. In that spirit, Castlewood has announced two new hires, both Outreach Directors to support the Southern California eating disorder community and provide region direction for their Monarch Cove facility located in Northern California. Castlewood has enlisted Aviva Asbaghi and Renee Hartmann, who will both hold the title Director of Regional Outreach. Both new hires bring diverse experience to their vocations, as well as passion for the field of eating disorder recovery. Asbaghi holds degrees in both Business Administration and Marriage Family Therapy, plus previous experience working in the mental health recovery sector. As a woman living in Southern California I can relate to the social pressures one can feel to live up to certain beauty ideals, and I love being a part of the solution rather than the problem, said Asbaghi. I enjoy meeting and learning about providers and other treatment centers because it helps me be a good resource and connect people to the right treatment for their needs. I feel blessed to be able to be a part of an organization that provides hope and healing. Asbaghi goes on to frame the important work that Castlewood provides, both at Monarch Cove and its other campuses. I chose Castlewood because the mission is not to churn out weight-restored clients who merely look healthy to others, but to identify and address the internal wounds of those individuals and work toward a state of inner peace and wholeness. As for Hartmann, she holds a degree in Exercise and Wellness, and much experience developing corporate wellness programs. She has spent the last several years working in the eating disorder recovery field. I had a sister who died of a drug overdose, and I know that things might have turned out differently if she had been given the treatment she needed, said Hartmann. Im passionate about everyone receiving the treatment they need, and Im committed to the idea that recovery is always attainable. Hartmann continued, What drew me to Castlewood is their non-manualized approach to the treatment of eating disorders, which means each day they address the relevant and current issues their patients are experiencing thereby allowing the treatment team to understand how the eating disorder developed and immediately implement new coping skills. Both new hires will work to promote the broader mission of Castlewood within the Southern California community. More information about the efforts of Castlewood Treatment Centers can be found online at http://www.castlewoodtc.com. ABOUT: Castlewood Treatment Centers mission is to help people with all types of eating disorders and allow them to fully understand what the eating disorder was protecting them from, build self-compassion, and provide a safe non-judgmental environment to learn and practice new coping skills. Castlewood in unwavering in their three main principles; compassion, respect, and empowerment. The staff is relentlessly dedicated to unconditional advocacy for our clients. The program offers in-depth psychotherapy and marries evidence based treatment with innovative excellence. Castlewood provides unique family support and programming along with a comprehensive alumni program. Its two-year outcome study results show statistically significant improvement by the time of discharge across a range of symptoms and 94.5 percent of clients would recommend Castlewoods centers. In addition to facilities in St. Louis, Castlewood has affiliate facilities in Monterey, CA and Birmingham, AL. Each facility is accredited by The Joint Commission and St. Louis is also accredited by CARF. More information about Castlewood Treatment Centers can be found online at http://www.castlewoodtc.com. Return Service for Independent Pharmacy ...providing independent pharmacy customers with services and reporting that delivers a new level of visibility to the returns process. PharmaLink is proud to partner with Miami-Luken, Inc., a leading regional wholesaler servicing independent pharmacies across multiple Midwestern states, on an innovative new solution to handle Unsaleable Pharmaceutical Returns for Pharmacy customers. The System OneSM returns program from PharmaLink provides Pharmacy customers with a simple, compliant, outlet to handle returns processing and reporting of unsaleable products with the ultimate convenience. Miami-Luken selected PharmaLink to work on this initiative because of their vast experience working with various Pharmacy classes of trade and their robust relationships throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain. Thierry Beckers (President/COO, PharmaLink) was noted saying, We are excited about this new program because we will be providing independent pharmacy customers with services and reporting that delivers a new level of visibility to the returns process. PharmaLink is known for their industry leading technology platform and boutique style services to handle pharmaceutical returns. Michael Faul (CEO, Miami-Luken) said, We are always looking for innovative ways to provide our pharmacy customers with better solutions to their common problems. PharmaLink shares in a similar set of values to our organization and we are confident this new partnership will add significantly to our service offering. The System One Returns program offers a robust suite of on-site and mail-in return services with no out of pocket expense to customers. Contact your Miami-Luken representative for details. About PharmaLink, Inc. : Based in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida, PharmaLink, Inc. is the nation's premier Pharmaceutical Reverse Logistics and Disposal provider. With services spanning the complete spectrum of the pharmaceutical supply chain, they have a 360 degree view of the needs of all businesses involved in the delivery of healthcare. From a reverse logistics perspective, they deliver impactful solutions that trim cycle time while safely removing unwanted product from the marketplace. PharmaLinks simple user interfaces are backed by a powerful enterprise infrastructure, producing accurate processing and quality analytics that optimize business decision and increase bottom line. This is all achieved while adhering to stringent regulatory guidelines at the state and federal level. PharmaLink has customizable solutions available for any size client. About Miami-Luken: Centrally located in Ohios Miami Valley, Miami-Luken has been providing personal service and outstanding value to their customers since 1962. Miami-Luken offers full-line service of branded and generic pharmaceuticals, OTC items, private label products, home healthcare, health and beauty products, retail candy, and related items. These items are shipped daily to customers throughout Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, western Pennsylvania and southern Michigan. Maintaining a variety of Industry Partnerships allows Miami-Luken to leverage the benefits of numerous programs and affiliations to meet the unique needs of their customers. Recently, Miami-Luken has been striving to provide innovative solutions to the challenges of the evolving healthcare industry, while expanding into new geographic territories. For additional information, visit http://www.miamiluken.com Crown Automotive Group is proud to announce that it is among the founding funders of the all-new St. Petersburg Area Economic Development Corporation (EDC), an organization dedicated to growing jobs in St. Petersburg. More than two years ago, the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, City of St. Petersburg and community partners adopted a strategic plan entitled Grow Smarter. This plan outlined six major themes of focus for the city in order to promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth in the years to come. The EDC is intended to help retain, grow and attract key business sectors in order to further that economic growth. We have a long history of involvement within the St. Petersburg business community, and are committed to helping it continue to grow and thrive, said Jim Myers, President of Crown Automotive Group. By helping fund the EDC, well have the unique opportunity to work with city and Chamber of Commerce to ensure that St. Petersburg presents its distinct advantage and opportunities to attract and grow business. In early November, the founding funders and creators of the EDC met for an inaugural meeting. All attending the meeting were given a hand-made St. Pete sign from Calusa Press Co., based in St. Petersburg. To learn more about Crown Automotive Group and its continued involvement within the St. Petersburg community, please visit CrownCars.com. About Crown Automotive Group Crown Automotive Group has been in business for more than 40 years, and currently operates domestic and international automotive franchises in Florida, Ohio and Tennessee. The group is dedicated to customer and employee satisfaction, and is your source for new and pre-owned vehicles, parts and service, financing and more. No matter what youre looking for, you can be confident that you are getting an incredible deal and outstanding service when you visit one of the many dealerships that make up Crown Automotive Group. To learn more, visit CrownCars.com. David Font, Executive Director Push to Walk has the perfect combination of mission-driven focus and dedicated staff, and I am excited to be a part of its future development as it looks to better serve its clients. I am thrilled to be a part of the Push to Walk family, especially at such an exciting time in its history, said Font, referencing the recent move of Push to Walk from Riverdale, NJ to Oakland, NJ. I was initially drawn to Push to Walk by the amazing work they do for their clients. Push to Walk has the perfect combination of mission-driven focus and dedicated staff, and I am excited to be a part of its future development as it looks to better serve its clients. The appointment of David Font comes as Founder and President Cynthia Templeton steps down from her full-time responsibilities on December 31, 2016. Mrs. Templeton founded Push to Walk along with her family in 2007 and grew the organization to its current level of success. Replacing Cynthia will be no easy task, but I have nothing but the utmost respect for the organization she, her family, and the staff have built. I look forward to the opportunity to continue the legacy of Push to Walk in serving its clients and other individuals who may need us, said Font. Mr. Font comes to Push to Walk with a long history in nonprofit management. He spent seventeen years with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest New Jersey, progressing through positions of increasing responsibility ultimately overseeing the day-to-day operations of the largest unit in the multi-million-dollar nonprofit organization. Mr. Font brings to Push to Walk experience in nonprofit administration, operations, grant writing, resource development, community outreach, and leadership development. David received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature with a certificate in Secondary Education from William Paterson University in August 2002. He also received a Master of Human Resource Development degree from Clemson University in August 2008 and a Master of Public Administration degree from Rutgers-Newark in May 2016. For more information, please contact Dave Font at (201) 644-7567 or dfont(at)pushtowalknj(dot)org. Donation opportunities are available on the Push to Walk website: http://www.pushtowalknj.org ##### About Push to Walk Founded in 2007, Push to Walk is an organization that provides individualized workouts and resources to people with spinal cord injuries and other forms of paralysis to optimize current quality of life and to prepare for future medical advancements. It is the only program of its kind in the New York- New Jersey area. Push to Walks rigorous one-on-one workout approach challenges clients to reach their personal goals and achieve maximum independence, leading to greater success and fulfillment in their personal and professional lives. Push to Walk is only able to cover about 65% of its operating costs through client fees, and relies on grants and fundraising events to help make up the difference. A 501(C)3 non-profit, Push to Walk is located in Oakland, New Jersey. Visit http://www.pushtowalknj.org to learn more These survey results reflect the efforts weve made across our business to continuously raise the bar for MLS customer service and technology, said Annie Ives, CEO of The MLS. The MLS (http://www.themls.com), a Southern California-based MLS system for real estate professionals, constantly strives to provide members with superior MLS software and customer service. The results of its 2016 customer survey reveal that the vast majority of The MLS members report overall satisfaction and are satisfied with the services value for their money. Overall satisfaction with The MLS has grown in the past year, with 89% of members reporting satisfaction, compared to a satisfaction rating of 83% in 2015. The survey results also reveal that 97% of members feel The MLS meets their needs, compared to 94% in 2015. Among other key findings, 95% of members would recommend The MLS to a colleague or friend. Further, the 2016 results imply that member feel that The MLS provides them with increased value for their money when compared to 2015 results. In 2016, 92% of members reported feeling extremely or somewhat satisfied with the value of The MLS for their money, as compared to 66.65% in 2015. The MLS offers numerous complimentary tools to members including Property Websites/Virtual Tours, Cloud CMA, 10K Infosparks, RatePlug and more, along with support through various channels such as a Help Desk, a compliance team, hands-on classes, Webinars and more. These survey results reflect the efforts weve made across our business to continuously raise the bar for MLS customer service and technology, said Annie Ives, CEO of The MLS. We continually look to exceed our members' expectations by providing them with customer support that goes above and beyond along with all the tools they need to maximize their real estate businesses' success. ABOUT THE MLS The MLS services more than 15,000 real estate professionals in Southern California; it focuses on the greater Los Angeles area and Malibu, and it licenses its software to the Palm Springs Association of Realtors and the Imperial County Association of Realtors. The MLS is recognized as being at the forefront of technology for its wholly owned and operated MLS system. With one-on-one training, webinars, hands-on classes, a YouTube channel and a Help Desk, The MLS members have 24/7 support. The MLS produces its own in-house publication, The MLS Broker Caravan, a high-end magazine that is distributed weekly to 4,000 plus brokers/agents. TheMLS.com also provides a guest site for consumers looking to find their dream home and/or the real estate professional that can help them find it. For more information on The MLS, visit http://www.themls.com. Whether a customer of ours is putting components into airplanes or into consumer electronics, we are going to take every step to source and deliver authentic, secure parts. Smith, a global distributor of electronic components and semiconductors, today announces its certification to the AS6081 aerospace standard. This certification recognizes Smiths capability to safeguard the global electronics supply chain from inauthentic components that can threaten product and machine safety, performance, and reliability. AS6081 is an SAE Aerospace Standard that defines vigorous practices to systematically prevent counterfeit electronic parts from entering the global supply chain. Avoidance protocol, detection, mitigation, and disposition of counterfeit electronic parts all contribute to safeguarding global markets against the insidious dangers counterfeit parts pose. The focus on quality and security inherent in the AS6081 standard benefits Smiths customers especially those in the aerospace industry by offering a further affirmation of authenticity and the assurance that they are partnering with a verified, secure vendor. The certification also bolsters Smiths relationships throughout the supply chain by providing a framework for due diligence that informs the companys relationships with its customers and suppliers alike. It supports improved risk management in regard to product traceability to assure that any issues can be dealt with at any step along Smiths supply chain. Whether a customer of ours is putting components into airplanes or into consumer electronics, we are going to take every step to source and deliver authentic, secure parts, said Kirk Wehby, Smiths Chief Operating Officer. The same high standards govern all of our operations, and the AS6081 certification provides us an even more vigorous framework to guide our sourcing and processes. "This is one more advancement towards Smiths commitment to quality assurance and process improvement," continued Wehby. "I look forward to seeing how we can support current and future customers alike with the benefits of this industry-leading certification." About Smith Founded in 1984, Smith sources, manages, and distributes the electronic components that go into everything from mobile phones and computers to appliances and directional drilling systems. In 13 cities around the world, from Silicon Valley to Seoul, Smiths 500 employees communicate in 36 different languages and buy and sell components 24 hours per day. Smith is always moving: helping manufacturers navigate market shifts; customizing supply chain solutions; testing components using cutting-edge technology. With testing and logistics hubs in Houston, Hong Kong, and Amsterdam, Smiths processes focus on critical issues, from quality management to counterfeit prevention and environmental safety. Smiths operations, purchasing, and sales worldwide are seamlessly integrated with the companys global IT infrastructure, Saleschain, offering real-time inventory and logistics visibility anywhere in the world. Smith is the leading independent distributor of electronic components and ranks number 13 among all global distributors. Smiths Intelligent Distribution model adapts to ever-changing demands by providing seamless global electronics sourcing and logistics, regardless of distribution channel or locale. For more information, please visit http://www.smithweb.com, or, to reach a Smith representative 24 hours a day, please call +1 713.430.3000. ### For more information, contact: Margo Evans Smith, VP of Marketing +1 713.430.3966 mevans(at)nfsmith(dot)com National Scenic Byways Program turns 25! This year marks the 25th anniversary of the National Scenic Byway program, signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1991. To mark the occasion and celebrate the 150 roads across the country that have earned National Scenic Byway status, a special celebration will be held on December 6 from 5-7pm in the Congressional Atrium at the Capitol Visitors Center. Congressional Hosts for the evening are Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Rep. Ted Poe of Texas, Rep. John Delaney of Maryland and Rep. Sam Farr of California. John Porcari, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation will be a featured speaker, sharing his unique perspectives on 25 years of the National Scenic Byway Program. A number of other members of Congress, as well as current and former transportation and scenic byway leaders, and other dignitaries are expected to be in attendance. Scenic Byway Trailblazer Awards will be presented to Senator Lamar Alexander, a longtime advocate of scenic roadways, and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, representing the departments of transportation from all 50 states plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. National Scenic Byways are recognized for their scenic, cultural, historic, natural, recreational and archeological qualities. They attract travelers seeking the authentic experiences offered by many of our roads less travelled. These roads are important to local communities because of the economic benefits generated by tourism, as well as the sense of pride they instill in preserving a corridor important to the heritage of surrounding communities as well as the entire nation. Recent federal research shows that international visitors in particular are seeking out scenic byways because of their interest in the true American road experience. The reception is sponsored by the National Scenic Byway Foundation, Scenic America and the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership. Other supporters include AASHTO, the American Highway Users Alliance, the American Bus Association, Visit Rochester and American Road Magazine. As a coffee roaster and coffee franchise alternative, Crimson Cup believes we succeed only when our customers do. We support coffee shop owners at every step including scouting a great location and writing a coffee shop business plan. Past News Releases RSS Crimson Cup Welcomes The Office... Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea... Barista Magazine Names Crimson... Columbus, Ohio coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea recently welcomed Stonewall Coffee in Clarksburg, West Virginia to the group of independent coffee shops, cafes and bakeries it supports in 29 states. Located at 218 Court Street in historic downtown Clarksburg, the new coffee house plans to celebrate its grand opening December 6. Owners Kevin and Sarah Zakariasen named the shop for Clarksburgs most famous native son, Civil War General Thomas Johnathon Stonewall Jackson. A statue of Jackson sits in the plaza adjacent to the coffee house in front of the Harrison County Courthouse. The shops December 6 grand opening will feature $1 espresso-based coffee drinks all day as well as a Stonewall Jackson impersonator riding a horse around the coffeehouse. A portrait of Jackson painted from life also will be on loan from the local library. Were excited to support Kevin and Sarah in their new venture, said Founder and President Greg Ubert. Training entrepreneurs to run their own independent coffee shops is a big part of our success as a specialty coffee roaster and coffee franchise alternative. The Zakariasens and their children settled in Clarksburg five years ago after spending eight years as missionaries at an orphanage in South Africa. They realized that downtown Clarksburg was ripe for revitalization and saw an opportunity to strengthen the community through coffee. To learn how to run a successful coffee business, the Zakariasens turned to Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea, Roast magazines 2016 Macro Roaster of the Year. Through its 7 Steps to Success coffee franchise alternative program, the specialty coffee roaster trains entrepreneurs to run successful coffee shops. Before signing with Crimson Cup, the couple explored coffee franchise options and visited Jitters Coffeehouse in Millersburg, Ohio, a nonprofit coffee house supported by Crimson Cup. Initially, the Zakariasens were reluctant to purchase the 7 Steps book and to follow its tenets. For example, despite the books warnings against used equipment, they purchased a previously owned espresso machine that proved unusable. Eventually, they decided to follow Crimson Cups guidance, which is based on experience with hundreds of independent coffee shops in 29 states, Guam and internationally in Bangladesh. Knowing what we know now, we would have paid much more than $69.99 for the 7 Steps book, said Kevin Zakariasen. It is one of the best investments we have made. Crimson Cups business model is based on mutually beneficial relationships. As a coffee roaster and coffee franchise alternative, Crimson Cup believes we succeed only when our customers do, Ubert said. As a result, we support coffee shop owners at every step from scouting a great location and writing a coffee shop business plan to choosing equipment, hiring staff and providing marketing support. Crimson Cups support for new coffee houses includes comprehensive training of owners and staff. 7 Steps Trainer Steve Bayless worked with the Zakariasens and remained on site for Stonewall Coffees soft opening in October. On the first day of operation, the Zakariasen family served more than 130 people, with a line extending out the door. "It's been really exciting and neat to see the community come out and say, 'Hey, this is exactly what we needed here in Clarksburg,'" Kevin Zakariasen said. The Stonewall Coffee menu features hot, iced and frozen espresso drinks including mochas, lattes and cappuccinos as well as iced coffee and tea, cold-brewed coffee, hot chocolate, fruit smoothies and other custom drinks. Comfortable seating and free Wi-Fi beckon customers to sit and socialize or catch up on work. The shop is entirely family operated by the Zakariasens, their children and extended family members. The owners believe Stonewall Coffee will be a vital part of downtown Clarksburg's revitalization. As Sarah Zakariasen noted, To us, coffee is more than just a drink you drink while sitting in morning rush-hour traffic; it is an experience. It is a return home for the holidays. It is the successful conclusion of a mutually beneficial business deal. It is the celebration of surprising good news. It is the centerpiece of conversation, culture, and new beginnings. In client surveys, Crimson Cup has found that 85 percent of coffee-shop customers completing its 7 Steps to Success training program have been in business for five years or longer. By comparison, federal government statistics show that half of all new restaurants including independent coffee shops close within three years of opening. About Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea Columbus, Ohio coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea is Roast magazines 2016 Macro Roaster of the Year. Since 1991, Crimson Cup has roasted sustainably sourced specialty and craft coffee in small batches. The company also teaches entrepreneurs to run successful coffee houses through its coffee franchise alternative program, which includes a coffee shop business plan. Crimson Cup coffee is available through a community of more than 350 independent coffee houses, grocers, college and universities, restaurants and food service operations across 29 states, Guam and Bangladesh, as well as the companys own Crimson Cup Coffee Houses. To learn more, visit crimsoncup.com. We have revamped our culture, added some really talented individuals to our team and have gone back to our core company values. Our new look is a manifestation of all of these wonderful things. We couldn't be more excited for 2017. New Dimension Marketing & Research (NDMR), a San Diego Marketing Agency, recently rebranded and unveiled a newly designed website. The agency focuses on helping businesses communicate their purpose to grow customers and results driven marketing. The new NDMR website concentrates on four of the companys service pillars: Web Design Search Engine Marketing Search Engine Optimization Web Development As part of establishing NDMR as a leader in San Diego Countys digital marketplace, the companys Marketing Director, Meagan Sharp, led the vision of maintaining its services in Traditional Marketing while exponentially growing the digital space. Sharp said, After months of hard work and dedication, we are pleased to announce our new website is live! This year has been a really exciting time for New Dimension. We have revamped our culture, added some really talented individuals to our team and have gone back to our core company values. Our new look is a manifestation of all of these wonderful things. We couldn't be more excited for 2017. The new website possesses improved functionality, downloadable e-books with marketing success tips, enhanced content and an eye-pleasing galactic themed design to tie it all together. Focused on communicating the companys mission of building brands and growing their businesses success in the digital space, the site provides the opportunity to receive a free marketing consultation for your business. About NDMR New Dimension Marketing and Research is a privately owned full-service marketing agency. Founded in 1994, NDMR started as a custom design agency and has evolved and established itself in the digital world. NDMR will continue to provide conversion-based digital marketing strategies and build memorable brands while building long-lasting relationships with local and national clients in a wide variety of verticals. For media opportunities: NDMR- Meagan Sharp contact(at)ndmr(dot)com (800) 315-3057 Being recognized by both SC Magazine and the Cybersecurity excellence awards validates the market need for a real-time automated response to phishing mitigation that acts with or without employee intervention. IRONSCALES, the first and only automated email phishing response solution to combine human intelligence with machine learning, today announced it has been recognized as an Excellence Awards finalist in the Best Email Security Solution category for the 2017 SC Awards and a Cybersecurity Excellence Awards finalist in the Best Cybersecurity Startup category. The SC Awards program, now in its 20th year, is recognized throughout the industry as the gold standard of excellence in cybersecurity. The Excellence Award honors the professionals, products and services that have proven to be the best in the industry for protecting todays corporate world from an array of risks and threats. Finalists are recognized for outstanding leadership and providing superior security products to the cybersecurity industry. Winners will be announced in February 2017. Ransomware, nation-state cyber attacks, IoT vulnerabilities, data privacy issues and more are dominating the headlines right now and its critical that we amplify the importance of these problems and highlight the actions organizations can take to safeguard their organizations and their critical data assets, said Illena Armstrong, VP, editorial, SC Media. As bad actors are constantly changing strategy, so too are the men, women and companies endeavoring to stop them in their tracks. These finalists have shown that they are the best at what they do. The Cybersecurity Excellence Awards honors companies that demonstrate excellence, innovation and leadership in information security. The awards are produced in partnership with the Information Security Community on LinkedIn, tapping into the vast experience of over 300,000+ cybersecurity professionals to recognize the worlds best cybersecurity products, professionals and organizations. Cybersecurity professionals can vote for IRONSCALES at http://cybersecurity-excellence-awards.com/candidates/ironscales/. As phishing attacks increase in both frequency and complexity, companies of all sizes must embrace a mitigation solution that doesnt rely solely on human awareness, said Eyal Benishti, CEO of IRONSCALES. Being recognized by both SC Magazine and the Cybersecurity excellence awards validates the market need for a real-time automated response to phishing mitigation that acts with or without employee intervention. IRONSCALES employee-based intrusion prevention system, IronTraps, provides users with an automatic one-click response. This unique functionality makes it possible for users to expedite the time from attack to remediation from weeks to seconds, without ever needing the SOC team's involvement. IRONSCALES newest product, Federation, automatically and anonymously shares phishing attack intelligence with enterprises and organizations worldwide, enabling them to proactively defend their network gateways and endpoints from increasingly frequent and sophisticated phishing attacks. For more information on IRONSCALES, visit our new website at http://www.IRONSCALES.com, follow us on Twitter @IRONSCALES. ### About IRONSCALES IRONSCALES is the first and only automated email phishing response solution to combine human intelligence with machine learning. Its employee-based intrusion prevention system is the first phishing solution with an automatic one-click response, which expedites the time from phishing attack to remediation from weeks to seconds, without ever needing the SOC team's involvement. Headquartered in Raanana, Israel, IRONSCALES was founded by a team of security researchers, IT and penetration testing experts, as well as specialists in the field of effective interactive training, in response to the increasing phishing epidemic that today costs companies millions of dollars annually. It was incubated in the 8200 EISP, the top program for cyber security ventures, founded by alumni of the Israel Defense Forces elite Intelligence Technology unit. Poets&Quants, the leading online publication for graduate and undergraduate business education news, has produced its first in-house ranking of the 50 best undergraduate business programs in the U.S. Our winner in the debut ranking is the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, which boasts the single best undergraduate business experience in the U.S. Rounding out the top five undergraduate business programs are No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3. Wharton, No. 4 Georgetown, and No. 5. UC-Berkeley. Our methodology includes three equally weighted categories. 1) Admissions standards that measure the quality of the incoming students. 2) Alumni perspective on the full educational experience, from the quality and accessibility of faculty to whether students had a signature experience or a global immersion to best prepare them for work and life. 3) Employment data including internships before senior year, full-time employment within 90 days of graduation, and average compensation. "This is the most thorough study of undergraduate business education ever undertaken, an amazing resource for prospective students and parents trying to make smart decisions about where to get the business basics for a successful career, says John A. Byrne, editor-in-chief of Poets&Quants. Never before has anyone gathered the wealth of data we will publish, from actual acceptance rates and average SAT scores to the schools with the best academic and career advising." Key data and stats from the study and ranking: Four undergraduate business programs have acceptance rates lower than Harvard Business Schools full-time MBA program (11%). Average SATs for five undergraduate business schools top 1450 on the 1600 scale (not including writing). Four undergraduate business schools enrolled classes with 90% or greater finishing in the top 10% of their high school graduating class. Alumni at all but one school rated their alma mater higher than 9 (on a one-to-ten scale) on if they would recommend their business program to a close friend. Alumni from 13 universities rated their school higher than 9 on if they believe their business degree was worth its time in cost and tuition. Half of the schools reported career placements higher than 90% for the Class of 2016. Eight schools reported starting salaries greater than $70,000 for the Class of 2016. Along with the rankings, in-depth feature profiles on all 50 schools will be published on poetsandquantsforundergrads.com. Within the school profiles, much more data is revealed ranging from percentage of students receiving scholarships, percentage of students graduating with debt, and where specific schools excel and perform worse compared to other schools. The most popular undergraduate degree granted in the U.S. is the business degree, Byrne says. In 2013-2014, more than 358,000 undergraduate business degrees were conferred in the U.S., roughly double the next most area of studies in the health professions. Yet, most of the information available for would-be students and their parents is at the university level and is not specific to business schools. Some very good universities have so-so business programs. Some lesser known universities have business schools that far excel. We're making that apparent with this ranking. The ranking was begun at the request of deans at several leading business schools who were unsatisfied with what is currently available on the market. U.S. News and World Reports ranking, for example, is based solely on the opinions of deans and senior faculty members. Some believe its little more than a popularity contest because it does not measure the quality of incoming students, the academic experience, or employment outcomes. For questions on methodology, specific data, and interview requests, please contact Nathan Allen, staff writer and project lead at Nathan(at)poetsandquants(dot)com. About Poets&Quants Poets&Quants is the leading resource for complete coverage of graduate business education. Poetsandquants.com features multiple tools and authoritative content, including: consolidated B-school rankings, news and in-depth features, videos, podcasts, two searchable directories, and events empowering graduate business degree seekers with information they need to make decisions along their journey from pre- to post-MBA. Poetsandquantsforundergrads.com takes that level of coverage to undergraduate business education. About John A. Byrne Poets&Quants' Editor-in-Chief John A. Byrne is the founder of C-Change Media, a global digital media company of higher education content operating five websites and hosting events worldwide bringing together business school students, the worlds best schools, and largest employers. Byrne is the author or co-author of more than ten books, including two New York Times bestsellers, and is the former executive editor of Businessweek, editor-in-chief of Businessweek.com, and editor-in-chief of Fast Company. He also is the creator of the first regularly published rankings of business schools for Businessweek in 1988 and the author of several business school guidebooks. He wrote an unprecedented 58 cover stories for Businessweek and is the only business journalist to have written covers for Businessweek, Fortune, Forbes, and Fast Company magazines. An overwhelming majority (90 percent) of Seattle tech workers attended a networking event in the last six months, according to a study conducted by online community and networking group New Tech Northwest in September 2016. The study found that 77 percent find new employers and jobs at networking events and 70 percent said it is easier to make a new connection at a networking event than on LinkedIn. For the more than half (55 percent) that said they are planning to look for different employment in the next year, making these valuable, new connections could not be more important. Finding your dream job in Seattles large and evolving tech landscape can be difficult, said Brett Greene, founder of New Tech Northwest. Networking removes many of the barriers associated with looking for and applying to jobs online or connecting with a recruiter. If you can shake someones hand and get to know them face-to-face you stand a better chance of making a meaningful connection. The New Tech community just surpassed 26,000 members by providing these vital opportunities in four different tech hubs every month. The digital age is in full swing, yet workers still prefer live networking. More than 70 percent felt that networking is as important as maintaining a LinkedIn profile. Nearly 70 percent agree that networking helps grow their skill set or potential, and a larger group (75 percent) made an important connection (employer, peer, mentor, other) while networking. Tech workers also feel fortunate to be in the region; 80 percent value the diversity of employers or job opportunities in the Northwest. In fact, Seattle was recently ranked among the top three cities in the nation for jobs by Bloomberg. We want everyone to walk away from one of our networking events with two or more new contacts, so we make time at the start of every event to do that, added Greene. That person could turn into an acquaintance, job referrer or friend. The important part is that youve put yourself out there. New Tech Northwest offers monthly events in Seattle, Bellevue and Tacoma. Past presenters have included Amazon, Moz and Zulily. To find out more about an event near you, visit https://www.newtechnorthwest.com The survey was conducted online from September 13-30, 2016 among New Tech Northwests community of technology workers, recruiters and employers. In total the survey garnered 360 responses. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For the complete survey, please contact Lindsay Stril at lstril(at)voxuspr(dot)com About New Tech Northwest New Tech Northwest is a Pacific Northwest-based online community and networking group for area startups and technology workers. It is Seattles largest ongoing monthly event. Founded with the mission of giving first, the group helps its members make connections to the right resources that take its members further, faster. Founded four years ago, the group has grown to more than 26,000 members with an additional 500 new members joining each month. New Tech Northwest hosts monthly events in downtown Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma and Portland. The group also coordinates a monthly search and rescue for the downtown Seattle homeless in partnership with Union Gospel Mission. Learn more at http://www.newtechnorthwest.com We are extremely honored to have received both of these awards and to be listed among such an impressive list of companies, Lucid Software has been named a silver winner in Sales Department of the Year and a bronze winner in Technology Executive of the Year in the Best in Biz Awards, the only independent business awards program judged by members of the press and industry analysts. Ben Dilts, Lucid Softwares CTO who received the bronze award, founded Lucid Software in 2010 and has been on the frontlines of the companys rapid progression from a one-man show to 150+ employees, two world-class products, and more than 9 million users. Lucid Softwares sales team, which did not exist until 2015, has experienced tremendous success, growing to an organization of over 40 professionals who have crafted an enterprise sales model for Lucid. Over the past year, Lucid increased its enterprise customer base by 6x, which includes many industry-leading organizations such as Hubspot, Kohls, Pearson, Quantcast, Spotify, Uber, and Woolworths. The sixth annual Best in Biz Awards in North America garnered more than 600 entries from an impressive array of public and private companies of all sizes and from a variety of industries and geographic regions in the U.S. and Canada. Best in Biz Awards 2016 honors were presented in 60 categories, including Company of the Year, Fastest-Growing Company of the Year, Most Innovative Company of the Year, Best Place to Work, Technology Department of the Year, Executive of the Year, Most Innovative Product of the Year, Best New Product of the Year, App of the Year, PR Campaign of the Year, and Website of the Year. We are extremely honored to have received both of these awards and to be listed among such an impressive list of companies, said Karl Sun, CEO and co-founder of Lucid Software. Winners of Best in Biz Awards 2016 were determined based on scoring from an independent panel of 50 judges from widely known newspapers, business, consumer and technology publications, TV outlets, and analyst firms. In addition to numerous judges returning from the 2011-2015 judging panels, this years panel included several worthy additions to the high-profile group. The panel included Accounting Today, AdWeek, Associated Press, Atlanta Tribune, Business News Daily, CNET, Computerworld, Consumer Affairs, Entrepreneur, eWeek Channel Insider, Forbes, Healthcare Innovation News, Inc., Information Week, InfoWorld, Investment Advisor Magazine, MediaPost, Multifamily Executive, Network World, Portland Business Journal, Security Products Magazine, South Florida Business Journal, Wall Street Journal, Wired, WLRN, and ZDNet. It was an honor to be invited to judge the Best in Biz Awards, and the competition was extremely fierce this year, said Joe Pettit, Tripwire, about joining his first Best in Biz Awards judging panel. It was extremely difficult to pick out the winners, as all the applicants were of such a high standard. Its awards like this that help provide recognition to those most deserving. For a full list of gold, silver, and bronze winners in Best in Biz Awards 2016, visit: http://www.bestinbizawards.com/2016-winners. About Lucid Software Lucid Software is a leading provider of cloud-based visual productivity applications. Lucidchart, a diagramming application, and Lucidpress, a design solution, are utilized in over 175 countries by more than 9 million users, including Comcast, NASA, Netflix, Target, and Xerox. Since the Utah-based companys founding in 2010, Lucid Software has grown in revenue by over 100 percent each year and has received numerous awards for its business and workplace culture. For more information about Lucid Software, visit golucid.co. About Best in Biz Awards Now in its sixth year, Best in Biz Awards recognizes companies for their business success as judged by established members of the press and industry analysts. Best in Biz Awards honors are currently conferred in two separate programs, North America and International, and in more than 60 categories, including company, team, executive, product and PR, and media. Entries for Best in Biz Awards 2017 International are currently being accepted until the final deadline on April 28, 2017. For more information, visit http://www.bestinbizawards.com. For press inquiries or to request a reviewer account, please contact: Jackson Carpenter +1.435.659.1642 Jackson(at)lucidpress(dot)com Meridian Circle Advisors, LLC (MCA) today announced that Brian Ettinger has been confirmed for appointment to the firms board of advisors. An attorney, Mr. Ettingers law practice focuses on transactional and commercial representation for international and domestic multi-industry businesses, oil, gas, LNG, production and exploration, rig equipment, and oil services businesses with respect to contract negotiations, government affairs and business development. Brian is an expert in government affairs and global policy when it comes to the international energy markets and we are excited to welcome him to MCAs board of advisors, said John Nghiem, MCAs Managing Director. We believe his considerable experience in government and energy policy, especially in light of President Elect Trumps victory and the new Congress, will be extremely valuable to MCA and our clients. MCA has always brought its clients innovative solutions and unique market access, and Im very pleased to be joining their board of advisors, said Mr. Ettinger. I have tremendous respect for the dynamic and highly experienced members of MCAs board of advisors, and I look forward to working with them. A former registered lobbyist, Mr. Ettinger has advised foreign governments, sovereign owned energy companies, and international businesses. During his career in government, Mr. Ettinger has served on the staff of U.S. Senator Joseph Biden, Jr. and has advised the office of Vice President and President George W. Bush on various matters. Currently, Mr. Ettinger serves as Chairman of the Board and CEO of a publicly traded, generic pharmaceutical company and as a partner and general counsel of Worldwide Strategic Partners Inc., an energy development and advisory firm involved in domestic and international energy projects. He is a graduate of LaSalle College and holds a J.D. Degree from South Texas College of Law. Mr. Ettinger joins Mr. Kenneth Hern, former President of Texaco Saudi, Inc., former Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Texaco Nigeria Limited, and former President of Texaco Brazil, Mr. Terry Helms former Senior Vice President of SAICs construction and engineering division, and Dr. Guan Qin, Society of Petroleum Engineers Endowed Professor of Petroleum Engineering at the University of Houston as a member of the MCA board of advisors. Meridian Circle Advisors, LLC is a privately held, independent, merchant banking and strategic advisory firm headquartered in Houston, Texas. MCA provides corporate finance and M&A advisory services, principal investor services, and commercial consultancy to global institutional clients including private and public corporations, institutional investors, family offices, public-private partnerships, international commercial banks, and sovereign investment vehicles. For further information on MCA, please log-on to http://www.meridiancircle.com. The common misperception that cloud solutions provide sufficient backup capability is preventing organizations from taking the proper safeguards to protect their data StorageCraft delivers better control and management of cloud data for small and large organizations with the introduction of Cloud Backup for Microsoft Office 365. Many SaaS users are finding out the hard way that using a cloud-based application is not the same as backing up a cloud-based application. The number one reason for needing to recover files is user error caused by overwriting or deleting critical data. SaaS applications typically provide a platform recovery which still leaves users in the lurch. StorageCraft Cloud Backup for Office 365 provides complete protection for Exchange, calendars and contacts, OneDrive, SharePoint and public shared folders. It is perfectly suited for large-scale enterprise deployments with multiple office locations and remote workers as well as for smaller organizations typically managed by channel service providers. Data is protected by state-of-the-art compression and encryption in Tier 3+ certified datacenters. Data additions or changes are identified automatically and backed up without user intervention. And all users have access to their data. They can quickly recover files, folders or an entire user account using a self-service portal thereby eliminating wait time for IT support tickets. Future StorageCraft Cloud Backup solutions in this series will be available for Google Apps, Salesforce and Box.com in early 2017. The implications of Cloud Backup are profound. StorageCraft will protect organizations against ransomware attacks by providing complete data back to the customer. Since users have access to their data, that means they can simply roll back to a clean version and restore it malware-free. The common misperception that cloud solutions provide sufficient backup capability is preventing organizations from taking the proper safeguards to protect their data, said Scott Barnes, Chief Technology Officer of StorageCraft. Microsoft backs up Office 365 against problems related to their own data centers, but they dont provide safeguards against data loss from user or system errors. Additionally, there are no assurances that any available data will be restored to the Office application with its original attributes. Thats if the data is even available. Cloud application vendors frequently discard their data after thirty days. So, while the cloud provides protection in case of floods or other natural disasters, if critical data is deleted or overwritten, having data in the cloud is meaningless from a recovery standpoint. Thats exactly where StorageCraft Cloud Backup plays a central role. The entire StorageCraft suite of Cloud Backup solutions, including the pending products for Google Apps, Salesforce and Box.com, should be extremely relevant to users of SaaS applications," said Mike Kunz, Senior Vice President of Operations. "When viewed in combination with the recent acquisition of Gillware software and the distribution agreement with Exablox, our total solution offering now addresses business continuity needs for businesses of all sizes." It was customer control combined with ease of use that prompted Cliff Huxster, Solutions Architect at Integral Solutions Group in South Carolina, to comment, businesses migrating to cloud solutions like Office 365 and Google Apps do not realize how little control they have on whether their data is being backed up and the nightmare of getting it back if something is deleted or gets corrupted. Our customers want more control and management of their Cloud data backups and restores. Plus, I really like the fact that the Cloud Backup service is integrated into the existing StorageCraft portal as a one-stop-shop. Channel partners will be pleased to hear that once an account is set up for protection, they can simply monitor accounts from notifications or the portal. Plus, the single sign-on management portal allows partners to monitor all customers without logging in and out of each account. You can add and remove users, add and remove services and backup only needed data. And, there is no need to actively engage with Cloud Backup unless a restore or export is needed 30 David Greenhill, president of Satcom Direct Satcom Direct (SD) has been appointed a Value Added Reseller (VAR) for Inmarsats GX mobile global broadband satellite network. GX delivers secure, end-to-end wideband connectivity that enables seamless airborne, naval and land operations. During MEBAA 2016, SD will be explaining to delegates why this is an ideal tool for those needing maximum connectivity in conjunction with maximum mobility. GX is a perfect fit for military and head-of-state communications needs. "SD is honored to represent Inmarsat and to showcase GX and its benefits to the government market," said David Greenhill, Satcom Direct president. "The high performance of the GX network allows us to deliver tailored solutions which meet complex government, military and VVIP requirements for secure and reliable connectivity." Inmarsat Global Government President, Andy Start, said: We are very excited to add Satcom Direct to our stable of industry-leading companies that provide expertise and service to our government customers with Global Xpress capabilities. Satcom Direct has a long and successful history in the aviation sector and we are keen to work with them in the non-U.S. government sector. GX is the worlds first globally available Ka-band mobile broadband satellite network, providing very high bandwidth services to end-users on land, at sea and in the air, delivered through a resilient, secure waveform that is optimised for mobility. It integrates seamlessly with Inmarsats current L-band network SD already is a VAR for the U.S. Government business unit, as well as Jet ConneX, the business aviation version of Inmarsats Global Xpress service. SD was the first business aviation communication provider to provision and validate its services over the network. About Satcom Direct: Satcom Direct (SD) provides global connectivity solutions for business and general aviation, military, government, and heads of state aircraft, as well as operations in areas with connectivity limitations such as remote locations, large scale events, and disaster recovery. SD is a technology innovator. Since 1997, its teams have worked to advance the technology of connectivity, making SD the first in the marketplace to deliver numerous advancements and capabilities. The company is a premier Inmarsat Distribution Partner (including Jet ConneX). SD World Headquarters and primary operations center is located in Melbourne, Florida, with additional office locations in the United States, Canada, UK, UAE, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Australia, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa. For more information regarding SD, visit http://www.satcomdirect.com, e-mail sales(at)satcomdirect(dot)com, or call U.S. +1.321.777.3000 or UK +44.1252.554.460. Smart Emissions Reducer Our vision is to see this device installed at factory level when new vehicle and engines are manufactured. -Samuel Burlum, CEO/President The Smart Emissions Reducer is field tested and laboratory approved for saving money and the environment, is the message sent by the clean technology company Extreme Energy Solutions (EES), provider of the Smart Emissions Reducer (SER). Extreme Energy Solutions Inc., has spent several years investing in focused, quality research, development, and fine tuning of this device for the purposes of one day finding itself under the hood of most vehicles. The company believes that the Smart Emissions Reducer will become a standard component for most new makes and models of vehicles manufactured and sold around the world. EES made its announcement via video which can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT80ftMB06E In the last five years, the Smart Emissions Reducer, under the stewardship of Extreme Energy Solutions had been introduced domestically while also making landfall in Canada, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, China, and Italy. It is there, where a number of these devices have been tested, sold, and considered by government, commercial fleet operators, as well as engine and vehicle manufacturers, in their quest to play their part in lowering harmful toxic vehicle emissions while maximizing the efficiency of their vehicles. The Smart Emissions Reducer has been put through a battery of testing in the last half a decade which included a regiment of testing by Roush Industries, in Lavonia, Michigan. The purposes of these tests were to baseline a vehicles emissions and fuel economy numbers without the device applied to the vehicle, then again to trial the vehicle with the device under controlled laboratory conditions. Two sets of vehicles in 2012, 2015, 2016 were sent to the laboratory, all demonstrating consistent results, which showed the device had a positive effect on lowering the vehicles emissions; even up to a 65% reduction in emissions. Fuel efficiency numbers were also compared, with testing revealing up to a 7.5% increase in fuel efficiency on specific year and make models. The Changzhou Keshi Group tested the Smart Emissions Reducer in their lab, located in Jiangsu Providence of China. Extensive testing protocols were practiced in testing the device. Keshi tested the device on Cummings diesel engines that were modified for use by the vehicle manufacturer that specializes in mining equipment and vehicles. Their results demonstrated the Smart Emissions Reducer performed well, with up to 25% reduction in certain emissions and up to 2.5% increase in fuel efficiency. In addition to Roush and Keshi, the Smart Emissions Reducer was tested by Free-Col Labs, via a mass spectrometer test. This particular test verifies the before and after effects of the pollutants and chemical make-up of emissions gases as they entered and exited the device. The tests were very revealing in providing information that the Smart Emissions Reducer has an effect on blow-by exhaust gases. The Smart Emissions Reducer has seen a number of real-time pilot program trials and testing in the field. Devices were installed on a number of vehicles, and monitored over a period of 30-60-90 day intervals. Emissions results were recorded as business and municipal fleets would provide the very first series of field trials of the device. The first municipal fleet trial was ran in Andover Township, New Jersey. The next municipality to try the Smart Emissions Reducer was Winnebago County in Illinois, followed by the City of Rockford (IL), Douglas County (OR), and the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PA). These vehicle fleets saw results between a 25% to 75% reduction in emissions as well as fuel efficiency gains; in some cases, up to 12% and 15%. Some of these municipalities opted to purchase the devices used during the pilot program and thereafter. Commercial business fleets to pilot the device included Utz Quality Foods, that implemented a plan to retrofit select vehicles throughout their northeast locations. The New York City Taxi and Limo Commission reviewed the device as well, and made it permissible for vehicles under their rulemaking to be retrofitted with the green technology device. Taxi fleets in California also tested the device with much success. The device was also tested on the 602 GM Crate Engine, commonly founded throughout the Northeast dirt track racing circuit. Crate Motor Connection had provided the dyno and tested the engine retrofitted with the device, reporting back that they monitored no adverse findings and with a slight increase in efficiency noticed. With these successes on the books, Extreme Energy Solutions decided it was changing its business model, making the device available to vehicle manufacturers. The choice came in 2014/2015 when the final test results were collected from pilot programs in Jordan that solidified the verdict of the Smart Emissions Reducers worthiness. Since then, Extreme Energy Solutions has visited with a number of potential clients/vehicle manufactures headquartered in the United States as well as various other countries including China and Italy. It was with the end game in mind, that we began our grass roots campaign to commercialize the Smart Emissions Reducer, commented Samuel K. Burlum, CEO and President of Extreme Energy Solutions, Inc., Our vision is to see this device installed at factory level when new vehicle and engines are manufactured. We feel the technology has proven itself over time to be effective enough to aid engine and vehicle manufactures in meeting new goals and benchmarks in greenhouse gas emissions and fuel efficiency ratings. Even though the company has begun to limit testing on smaller scale projects, Extreme Energy Solutions is still concentrating resources on its flagship product as Burlum continued to explain, We shifted a part of our focus away from localized projects and decided to begin setting the stage to address vehicle and engine manufacturers. This means the switch of focus takes your device and company out of the local limelight and put back behind the scenes until engine/vehicle manufacturers are ready to announce their intent to make the move to adopting the device. The company has a number of LOIs from vehicle/engine manufactures where talks are still ongoing. Burlum was noted in saying that Extreme Energy Solutions would still entertain a local/regional Smart Emissions Reducer pilot project with a municipality or commercial fleet if the terms and conditions were not in conflict with the companys current direction. The Company has projects slated in Jordan and South Africa to continue testing the Smart Emissions Reducer in the field on both commercial and government owned vehicles. Please visit http://www.ExtremeEnergySolutions.net for more information. MIAMI BEACH, FL - DECEMBER 03: Art Broker & Poet Jimmy D Robinson Joins In Art Basel Festivities at Miami Beach Convention Center on December 3, 2016 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Ge I am quite surprised at how much business was done this year. It is a positive sign that our economy is growing. We owe Madonna a debt of gratitude, for not only Raising Malawi, but also increasing the cultural significance and relevance of Art Basel On Saturday night, (December 3, 2016), one of Americas top art brokers Jimmy D Robinson arrived in style at Art Basel in Miami Beach. The "Million Dollar Broker," as some refer to Robinson, stepped out of his shiny new Bentley and began his quest to hobnob with the art world elite and judge this years artworks on display. The Art Basel Miami Beach event has been welcoming Robinson into the fold year-after-year while fortifying his business, even during economic slow times. For nearly 15 years, Robinson has been cultivating and promoting young artists, as well as handling established artists coveted works while brokering sales with astute clients. View Getty Images of Jimmy D Robinson attending Art Basel Art Basel is extremely important for so many of us in the art world. Experiencing what is on display at The Basel keeps my tastes and roster current, so I can provide my art brokerage clients exactly what it is they are seeking to purchase, states Robinson. My favorite thing about the international affair is meeting new peoplethe inspired artists, driven art dealers, and eccentric museum reps. It is all exciting, really. At the Art Basel Miami Beach VIP preview there was a deep mood and serene feeling in the air at the convention center. However, many big deals were in motion. Robinson capped his very busy week of exploring and brokering by taking time out to enjoy a few of the exclusive soirees with both well-heeled and avant-garde friends. Robinson stated, I am quite surprised at how much business was done this year. It is a positive sign that our economy is growing. We owe Madonna a debt of gratitude, for not only Raising Malawi, but also increasing the cultural significance and relevance of Art Basel by producing Tears of a Clown during the fair. Weve seen a lot of new buyers and sellers in town. Madonnas rich performance and charity event was remarkable! Often, Robinson comes across art pieces, which he previously brokered at Art Basel. The items have changed hands and have mostly increased in value and pricing. Analyzing the market, providing above-and-beyond service, and having an excellent memory, is all in a days work for the successful art dealer. Jimmy D Robinson, Inc. is always on the hunt for great art and sculptures to broker to clients, corporations, and museums worldwide. Some of his most prominent transactions have included brokering deals for Schlotzskys Bagels Corporation, well-known movie stars and celebrities, Baskin Robbins, rare paintings from The Marcus Collection, and the rarest works at the Royal Palace in Haiti. Robinsons standout deals include the selling of great works by Frank Stella, Matin Johnson Heade, Adolph Gottlieb, Lee Ufan, Kim Tschang-Yeul, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Guillermo Kuitca, and Lynn Chadwick. It is never dull, adds Jimmy D Robinson, who lives half of his time is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he keeps a second home. 'The Basel is the best event of the year in my book. It helps me to keep on dreaming and allows me to continue helping others make impressive connections in the art world. Jimmy D Robinsons large pool of affluent buyers, have come to respect his judgment, integrity and his honesty. Robinson deals paintings as low as $1000 to multi-million dollars art pieces. To guard against counterfeit and lithograph sales, Jimmy works with consummate art specialists to double and triple check the authenticity of the artwork being brokered, so that buyers are confident they are purchasing an authentic piece. I guarantee all sales and deals. I do my business my way and my trusted reputation is everything, states Robinson. Paying people as agreed upon immediately is a large part of keeping my clients happy. The buyer receives the art immediately after the seller receives payment. And that is Jimmy D Robinsons Art of the Deal! For serious inquiries please visit Artnet to learn more about Jimmy D Robinsons services. Mark Madrid and members of the Austin Delegation to Mexico. "This delegation visit to Mexico centered on fueling our economy, expanding access opportunities for our members and reinforcing our deep cultural ties with Texas most prominent trading partner." Mark Madrid, GAHCC President & CEO The Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GAHCC) completed a six-day, five-city economic delegation visit in Mexico to promote a robust business and cultural exchange between Greater Austin and Mexico. Delegation stops included Guadalajara, Zapopan, Mexico City, Monterrey and Saltillo. The GAHCC had a primary role in every city, including CEO and President Mark Madrids remarks in each city and the brokering of B2B matchmaking sessions. Austin Mayor Steve Adler, the City of Austin Economic Development Department and the GAHCC worked hand-in-hand to coordinate all aspects of the ambitious visit. Whether in the halls of the White House, Congress, state capitols or corporate headquarters, the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce places the Hispanic business community at the forefront of our nations economic agenda, Mr. Madrid stated. Also, we strongly encourage forming sustainable international business partnerships with allies across all borders. On the top of that list is Mexico. Mexico is rich with incredible talent, an innovative spirit and a cultural legacy that runs deep and touches many of us at the GAHCC. It is clear to me that while we may be separated by borders, in a very real sense, our countries are inextricably bound. We are energized and blessed to be one of the first international business delegations visiting Mexico post-election, which symbolizes our unwavering dedication to international commerce and exchange. It makes perfect business sense. Anything we do has to benefit our tremendous GAHCC members. In this case, we continue to cultivate import and export options to bolster business and tooled-up opportunities for our members to exchange technology, talent and innovation with our friends in Mexico. Members of the Greater Austin business delegation included Madrid and Senior Director of Small Business and International Initiatives Vicky Sepulveda, as well as elected officials and business leaders. Additional delegates included: Austin Mayor Steve Adler and the mayors wife; Diane Land of DT Land Group; Austin Council Member Pio Renteria and his wife Laurie; Dax Patton of SXSW; Jesus Salas of CodersLink; Jean Carlos Carrasquel of OnRamp; Patricia Del Rincon of Keller Williams Realty; Nick Barreiro of Clay Imports; Donovan Miller of Capital Factory; Matt Swinney of Fashion X; Elizabeth Mims of the Austin Film Festival; Guadalupe Barragan of Casa Chapala, economist Angelos Angelou and David Colligan, manager of the citys global business expansion division. Mayor Steve Adler and City Council Member Pio Renteria spearheaded initiatives to strengthen the economic alliance between Austin and Mexico and to combat climate change. While in Guadalajara, the GAHCC, in partnership with TXMX, hosted a business exchange with IPADE Business School, acknowledged by Forbes as the best option for an MBA in Latin America. Austin delegates had the opportunity to launch matchmaking and networking efforts for trade, cross-collaboration and business. TXMX is an innovative organization based in Austin that has championed regional bridge-building initiatives with Mexico based on free trade, equality, collaboration and respect. Additionally, GAHCC member iTexico hosted an executive breakfast that featured a presentation on near-shoring strategies, the IT infrastructure in Mexico and the companys international positioning. TXMX and iTexico served as hosts in Guadalajara. The GAHCC joined the Austin Convention Visitors Bureau (ACVB) in Mexico City to promote Austin as an appealing tourism and commerce destination for Mexicans. Austin Mayor Adler, CEO Madrid, Ambassador Antonio Garza and Lourdes Zahos from the ACVB addressed a multinational business audience. Additionally, the GAHCC and the delegates met with the Bank of Mexico, embarked on B2B private meetings, visited the Hacedores Makers Space and attended a Creative Industries Reception hosted by the GAHCC. Sylvia Orozco from Austins Mexic-Arte Museum served as the host for Mexico City. In Monterrey, the delegation hit the ground running with a compelling presentation at the University of Texas at Austin Center for Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Next, the delegation swapped best demonstrated practices and engaged in business matchmaking sessions at the Tecnologico de Monterrey. The Monterrey trip was capped off with a presentation by Rogelio De los Santos on the strategic direction of Tecnologico de Monterrey. Guadalupe Barragan and TXMX were the hosts for Monterrey. The delegation ended the Mexico visit in Saltillo, Austins oldest Sister City. Saltillo city officials discussed the industrial superiority of their region and the Austin delegates engaged in sector matchmaking sessions, which addressed the shared interest to expand bilateral investment between the Sister Cities. Billy Web and Nick Barreiro served as Saltillo hosts. At the GAHCC, Madrid added, we are transforming business and leadership and producing tangible results. This delegation visit to Mexico centered on fueling our economy, expanding access opportunities for our members and reinforcing our deep cultural ties with Texas most prominent trading partner. This visit was all about collective impact, a productive joint future and, ultimately, about fortifying economic and cultural bridges that link our remarkable Austin with Guadalajara, Zapopan, Mexico City, Monterrey and Saltillo. Additionally, the GAHCC is proud to have contributed toward the recent nonstop services from Austin to Guadalajara and Mexico City via Volaris and Aeromexico, respectively. Once again, the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is stepping up and taking action, which is our standard of excellence. For media enquiries, contact Conchie Fernandez-Craig, CF Creative. info(at)cf-creative.com or (954) 448-7590. Domino curated the Holiday Dream concept to bring people together in a colorful, festive and inspired environment. Domino magazine has reason to celebrate this holiday season, as its first retail presence a pop-up experience at 35 Great Jones Street in lower Manhattan was shopped by the Hollywood elite this weekend, with proceeds going to the Family Equality Council. The opening night event was co-hosted by Jason Weinberg, Audrey Gelman and Nathan Coyle, and attended by Emma Watson, Zac Posen, Mike Myers, Zachary Quinto, Carla Gugino, Morgan Spurlock, Cynthia Rowley, Christie Brinkley, David O. Russell, Thom Filicia, and Alysia Reiner. Mike Myers was ogling pottery while Zachary Quinto purchased some baskets for his apartment. Over the weekend the shop welcomed more than a thousand customers, selling hundreds of items, with a portion of profits going to the Family Equality Council. Because the holidays are all about familiesand creating love, warmth and magic for people of all agesDomino is proud to support the Family Equality Council as part of this initiative. Much of our joy in the holiday season comes from our warm memories of home, said Nathan Coyle, CEO of Domino. December is always a month full of hopes and dreams for loved ones and the new year. Drawing from this universal outlook, Domino curated the Holiday Dream concept to bring people together in a colorful, festive and inspired environment. "Home is at the forefront of our minds during this time of year, and we are so grateful for this opportunity provided by Domino," says Family Equality Council CEO Stan Sloan. The Domino Holiday Dream, a pop-up store located at 35 Great Jones Street in New York City, brings the winter issue to life through inspired objects and experiences. The shop will be open from 11am-8pm Friday-Sunday through December 18th. The shop contains thousands of products curated by Dominos editorial staff from colorful glassware from Anna Karlin, to hand-painted home accessories from Fort Makers, and graphic textiles from Cold Picnic. Each weekend will also host special workshops upstairs at Great Jones Studio. This past Saturday, December 3rd, Domino hosted a sold-out workshop for wreath making with Kristen Caissie of Moon Canyon, whose hand-made wreaths are on sale in the store below. Tickets are sold at $100 each. The weekend of December 9th will celebrate colorful graphic design and girl power with Audrey Gelman of The Wing and Pamela Bell of Prinkshop. And the weekend of December 16th will feature the city/country style of Hawkins NY, a party food and presentation workshop by Camille Becerra, and gift wrapping instruction from Rebecca Thuss of Thuss + Farrell. For a full program list, go to: http://domino.com/popup For a full list of photos and attendees from the December 1st opening event, go to: https://bfa.com/events/18306 About Domino: Domino is the go-to resource for design lovers who want to bring their personal style home. We inspire customers to create a happy home by celebrating individuality, providing need-to-know information, and empowering readers to shop for what they love. Domino magazine is published four times a year and new stories and inspirations are posted several times a day on domino.com. About Family Equality Council: Family Equality Council connects, supports and represents the three million parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer in this country today and their six million children of all ages. We are changing attitudes and policies to ensure that all families are respected, loved and celebratedincluding families with parents who are LGBTQ. For almost 40 years we have raised our children and raised our voices toward fairness for all families. To learn more, visit: familyequality.org. ### Media Contacts: Katie Campisano / Pete Holmberg Code Morris for Domino Katie.campisano(at)codemorris.com Pete.holmberg(at)codemorris.com Dustin ONeal / Alex Polier DNA for Domino dustin(at)whatisyourdna.com alex(at)whatisyourdna.com Concept Searching will discuss client success stories and deliver demos at Booth 15. SharePoint Fest will take place on December 6-9, at McCormick Place. Concept Searching, the global leader in multi-term metadata generation, auto-classification, and taxonomy management software, and developer of the Smart Content Framework, is pleased to be participating as a Gold Sponsor at SharePoint Fest Chicago. Concept Searching will discuss client success stories and deliver demos at Booth 15. SharePoint Fest will take place on December 6-9, at McCormick Place. An exploration of the benefits of proactively managing content will be hosted by Concept Searching, joined by strategic partner C/D/H, in the Solution Showcase Coexist or Integrate? Manage Unstructured Content from Diverse Repositories and Environments, to Deliver an Unprecedented, Unified View on Friday December 9 at 1:20pm. The session will explain how optimizing and organizing unstructured content can dramatically improve search, eDiscovery, security, records management, migration, and collaboration in the digital workplace. There are key solutions built on core technology platforms that enable these improvements. The conceptClassifier for SharePoint and conceptClassifier for Office 365 platforms automatically generate multi-term metadata that form concepts. While the conceptClassifier for File Shares utility makes file shares discoverable, searchable, optimized, and organized. The showcase will examine how a global automotive manufacturer used content optimization to intelligently migrate content from on-premises Search 2013 to the Office 365 Hybrid Search platform. The solution deployed allows any of the 40,000 users to search 20 million documents from over 30 content sources, securely and within seconds. Attendees are invited to visit Booth 15 to explore their unstructured content challenges with the team, who will illustrate the integration capabilities of Concept Searching technologies in on-premises, cloud, or hybrid environments, and demonstrate how they meet content challenges in all versions of SharePoint, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive for Business. Conference delegates will hear from expert speakers, attend sessions, and benefit from networking opportunities. More information can be found at the SharePoint Fest site. About Concept Searching Concept Searching is the industry leader specializing in semantic metadata generation, auto-classification, and taxonomy management. Platform agnostic, Concept Searching also has a Microsoft Gold Application Development competency, and offers a complete suite of SharePoint and Office 365 solutions. The award winning technologies integrated with Concept Searchings Smart Content Framework encompass the entire portfolio of unstructured information assets in on-premises, cloud, or hybrid environments. Clients have deployed the intelligent metadata enabled solutions to improve search, records management, identification and protection of privacy data, migration, text analytics, eDiscovery, and enterprise social networking applications. Concept Searching is headquartered in the US with offices in the UK, Canada and South Africa. All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Robin McGuinness Robin is a transformational leader. Her vision and creativity will help us achieve our regional goals and keep patients as the number one priority. Florida Hospital has named Robin McGuinness as the Regional Chief Clinical Officer for the Florida Hospital West Florida Region. McGuinness brings experience in executive leadership and clinical practice, as well as a successful track record in leading and engaging staff, physicians and leaders. In her new role, that officially begins December 12, 2016, she will set the vision and strategy for nursing care and clinical services for the Florida Hospital West Florida Region. She will also provide leadership to assure the best clinical work processes that are both efficient and cost effective through all clinical care areas including: nursing, pharmacy, respiratory therapy, occupational therapy, radiology and imaging. Robin is a transformational leader. She understands and has the skill set to build and sustain high performing teams. Her vision and creativity will help us achieve our regional goals and keep our patients as the number one priority. We are excited to have someone with her talent and expertise join our team, said Mike Schultz, Florida Hospital West Florida Region President & CEO. McGuinness will also continue to serve as the Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at Florida Hospital Carrollwood, a 120-bed community hospital. As part of the senior leadership team, she has direct oversight of clinical operations, inpatient nursing, surgical services, emergency services, laboratory, pharmacy, therapy services, imaging and cardiology. Florida Hospital Carrollwood received the Florida Hospital Association award for Leadership in Quality and Safety in 2014 and 2015. Prior to her executive leadership role at Florida Hospital Carrollwood, McGuinness served as the Chief Nursing Officer at Venice Regional Medical Center, a 312-bed community hospital located in Venice, Florida. As a senior team member with direct oversight of operations on inpatient nursing, she stabilized nursing workforce with reduction in RN turnover from 28% to 12% in three years through creation of specialty programs, improved nursing orientation program and advanced education. The scope of the role included Surgical Services and Emergency Department operations, along with a team of 500 to manage and support. She also held leadership roles at Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center in Fort Myers, Florida. As well as New Britain General Hospital in New Britain, Connecticut. I am honored to be joining the Florida Hospital West Florida Region team and look forward to collaborating with the hospitals to continue to elevate patient care and clinical outcomes. I am proud to be part of a healthcare system with a reputation for excellence and innovation, said Robin McGuinness, Florida Hospital West Florida Region Chief Clinical Officer. McGuinness received her Doctor of Nursing Practice, Health Systems Leadership from Florida State University. She earned her MSN, Nursing Administration from the University of Hartford in West Hartford Connecticut and earned her BSN in Nursing from St. Josephs College in Windham, ME. She holds the professional certification of American Nurses Credentialing Center Board Certification as Nurse Executive. She has also received numerous awards and recognition throughout her career including Health Management Associates CNO of the Year and the Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing. McGuinness is currently a member of the American Organization of Nurse Executives and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. About Florida Hospital West Florida Region The Florida Hospital West Florida Region is a not-for-profit 1,295-bed hospital system composed of 9 hospitals including Florida Hospital Carrollwood, Florida Hospital at Connerton Long Term Acute Care, Florida Hospital North Pinellas, Florida Hospital Tampa/Florida Hospital Pepin Heart Institute, Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, Florida Hospital Heartland Medical Center Sebring, Florida Hospital Heartland Medical Center Lake Placid and Florida Hospital Wauchula. Part of the Adventist Health System, Florida Hospital is a leading health network comprised of 26 hospitals throughout the state. For more information, visit http://www.FloridaHospital.com. University of La Verne President Devorah Lieberman and Honda Executive Vice President John Mendel. Professional adults are the fastest growing population seeking college degrees, and we are honored to provide the employees of Honda and other corporations the tools they need to be successful and effective leaders." - Devorah Lieberman The University of La Verne agreed to partner with American Honda Motor Co., Inc. to provide a Master of Science in Leadership and Management degree program to Honda employees, with the first group of students starting in 2017. University of La Verne President Devorah Lieberman and Honda Executive Vice President John Mendel signed the agreement Nov. 30 at the university. We continuously strive to provide the best access possible to all student populations, Lieberman said. Research suggests that professional adults are the fastest growing population seeking college degrees, and we are honored to provide the employees of Honda and other corporations the tools they need to be successful and effective leaders. According to the Lumina Foundation, 38 percent of todays college undergraduate students are older than 25, 58 percent work while in college, and 26 percent are raising children. The University of La Verne provides on-site education through various organizations to make it more convenient for working adults to pursue a college degree. The university and Honda expect to launch the program with one to two groups comprised of 15 students each. The cohorts are open, meaning employees of other corporations may join. Each Honda employee enrolled receives a number of benefits including the convenience of a workplace classroom location, tuition reimbursement, transportation and childcare stipends, and more. I began pursuing a Master of Business Administration after I had already entered the corporate world, so I understand the challenges and pressure of being a working professional while continuing an education, Mendel said. My wife and I are very supportive of lifelong learning and helping Honda associates achieve their career goals. The Master of Science in Leadership and Management is a versatile degree that can be used to pursue leadership roles in any organization, human resources management, and organizational development. Founded in 1891 and located 35 miles east of Los Angeles, the University of La Verne is a private, nonprofit, comprehensive institution founded on four core values: lifelong learning, ethical reasoning, civic and community engagement, and diversity and inclusivity. The University of La Verne serves nearly 8,400 students at its historic La Verne campus and across nine other California regional locations. I want to thank all my clients who have helped me in receiving this prestigious award. I couldnt have done it without them! Alan Mack, Skyline Home Loans is featured in a special section of the December issue of Orange Coast magazine as a 2016 Five Star Mortgage Professional award winner. I want to thank all my clients who have helped me in receiving this prestigious award. I couldnt have done it without them! Alan Mack of Skyline Home Loans. Five Star Professional partnered with Orange Coast magazine to identify and showcase an exclusive group of mortgage professionals who have demonstrated excellence in their field. Less than 2% in the Orange County-area received this recognition. Integrity is the cornerstone of my business. I believe a mortgage should be about building relationships and helping my customers achieve their home financing goals, not just a transaction. As a mortgage originator, I take a consultative approach to the home loan process by customizing each home financing program to help customers achieve their overall financial goals. Many loan officers can get you a loan. My mission is to get you the right loan, says Alan Mack. The 2016 Five Star Mortgage Professional award winners have been carefully selected for their commitment to professional excellence and overall client satisfaction. The award is based on rigorous research with significant focus on customer feedback and providing quality services. This award means a great deal to me because it separates me from the rest of the competition. What I pride myself on is not only giving someone the right loan, but giving them the absolute best loan and service that anyone could ask for. I incorporate the Golden Rule in my business. It also gives me great satisfaction seeing a first time homebuyer getting keys to their new home. There is no better feeling! said Alan Mack. When asked why he got into this profession, Alan Mack said, I love math and people! What a perfect combination. Five Star Mortgage Professionals provide world-class service which is evident through their clients loyalty. With a strong foundation of knowledge and experience, they work to understand their clients needs and provide a financing solution that fits, Dan Zdon, CEO, Five Star Professional. About the research process: Now entering its 14th year, Five Star Professional conducts in-depth, market-specific research in more than 45 markets across the United States and Canada to identify premium service professionals. Five Star Professional contacts thousands of recent homebuyers to identify award candidates. Phone, mail and online respondents rate their real estate agent on 10 satisfaction criteria. Candidates with a qualifying client satisfaction rating move on to be evaluated on objective criteria such as experience, production levels and disciplinary and complaint history. Real estate agents do not pay a fee to be considered or awarded. For more information, visit http://www.fivestarprofessional.com. "I saw a movie where an infant was abducted from a hospital, and I experienced my worst nightmare when my daughter was a toddler and hiding in a department store. I had the terrifying thought she was abducted," said an inventor from Boerne, Texas. "My system would prevent abductions and other dangers." The patent-pending FAMILY SECURE SERIES is protecting the people we love. As parents, our family is our priority. FAMILY SECURE SERIES offers a convenient way to monitor the whereabouts of your family. This series of products is for infants, toddlers and aging adults. The system is designed to reduce the risk of a child being abducted, losing a family member in a public place, as well as providing peace of mind to parents and caregivers. The original design was submitted to the Austin office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 15-AUP-692, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com - https://www.youtube.com/user/inventhelp # # # The Global Cold Chain Exchange is a premier event on maintaining compliance, safety, and security throughout the cold chain. The program is specifically designed for supply chain executives. The Global Cold Chain Exchange provides one of the most credible interactive forums for supply chain, logistics and distribution executives to share ideas and cold chain solutions, said Gary Hutchinson. Past News Releases RSS Cold Chain Experts Modality... Modality Solutions Appoints Robert... Modality Solutions Daniel... Modality Solutions, LLC, a privately-held company that delivers integrated cold chain management solutions for life science and food industries, is pleased to announce its sponsorship and presentation at the 2016 Global Cold Chain Exchange. The three-day IQPC Exchange event will be held December 7 9 at the JW Marriott Marquis in Miami, Florida. On day one of the Exchange, Modality Solutions President Gary Hutchinson will present a case study titled: Preparing for Your Biosimilar Cold Chain for a FDA Biologics Licensing Application (BLA). During this interactive session, attendees will learn the necessary steps and the differences in approach required for filing a biosimilar cold chain. Gary Hutchinson shared, Regulatory expectations for filing a biosimilar BLA are significantly more challenging for biologics targeting an unmet clinical need. The qualification of the technology, the validation of cold chain processes, and even the stress testing of drug product formulations for suitability for use in a cold chain are under stricter scrutiny. The Global Cold Chain Exchange is a premier event on maintaining compliance, safety, and security throughout the cold chain. The program is specifically designed for supply chain, packaging and logistics executives in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Attendance is exclusive, participation is strictly limited to senior executives from leading corporations to facilitate true peer-level networking for delegation and speakers. This years Exchange program covers procedural, substantive and legislative issues that impact cold chain logistics, including: increased globalization and International regulations; standardized data monitoring; supply chain efficiency; handover delays with product sensitivity and risk management; quality agreements with carriers and 3PLs; the future direction of global cold chain matters, and other pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry cold chain challenges. We are excited to sponsor and present at this years Global Cold Chain Exchange. It provides one of the most credible interactive forums for supply chain, logistics and distribution executives to share ideas and cold chain solutions, said Hutchinson. At Modality Solutions, we are committed to helping life science companies explore cost-reduction strategies, understand changing industry standards, and initiate risk management processes to ensure compliance, quality and product integrity. Exchange participants take away actionable insights to stay ahead in the evolving cold chain environment." In addition, the Exchange offers a variety of unique learning styles and sessions. Attendees can select and build a customized itinerary that reflects their current initiatives, priorities, and future strategic objectives. These opportunities include: conference sessions, one-on-one meetings, master classes and BrainWeave discussions. To learn more about Modality Solutions, visit http://www.modality-solutions.com. About Modality Solutions, LLC Founded in 2011 Modality Solutions delivers integrated cold chain management solutions for highly regulated industries. Its Advantage Transportation Simulation Laboratory tests the effects of transportation environmental hazards on formulations. Key areas of service are: ensure regulatory compliance; deliver cold chain thermal packaging design / qualification and controlled-environment logistics solutions; conduct transport simulation testing; decrease development cycle times for a faster route-to-market; develop transport validation strategies to support global regulatory applications; and clinical trial operations. For more information visit http://www.modality-solutions.com. "Although accountants and financial advisors specialize in different areas, when we put our heads together, our ability to develop and maintain meaningful strategies for our clients is dramatically improved," says Brian Fowler. Registered Investment Advisor, Revolution Partners, LLC and Alexander Thompson Arnold, PLLC (ATA), one of the Southeast's largest accounting firms, have completed the registration process to formalize a business alliance under the name RPATA, LLC. The RPATA partnership will allow professionals in both organizations to communicate directly on behalf of their clients, leverage shared information and technology resources, and deliver more convenient, consistent and collaborative wealth management services to families, business owners and professionals. Expertise on All Angles One of the things Ive learned throughout my 21 years in this business is that although accountants and financial advisors specialize in different areas, when we put our heads together, our ability to develop and maintain meaningful strategies for our clients is dramatically improved, says Brian Fowler, Revolution Partners CEO and Accredited Investment Fiduciary. This alliance will enable us to offer our mutual clients deeper, better coordinated tax and estate planning capabilities. As a fee-only Registered Investment Advisor, Revolution Partners uses a team approach to service client relationships and a proprietary service platform to open the lines of communication between clients and advisors. Built-in best practice workflows allow Revolution Partners to deliver long-term, responsive planning and investment advice to its clients. While many advisory firms and even some large broker-dealers offer the ability to report on outside accounts, this ability is a fundamental part of the Revolution Partners process. The firm goes so far as to incentivize outside account aggregation, including it in billing calculations to determine fee breakpoints. In short, Revolution Partners believes that having a comprehensive picture of its clients holdings allows it to better advise clients. Additionally, Revolution Partners routinely incorporates electronic document storage of clients tax returns, wills, trust documents and estate plans as part of its emphasis on ongoing discovery and secure record-keeping for all financial planning engagements. Since 2013, Revolution Partners has been diligently investing in a platform built to scale modern, professional wealth management services. Revolution Partners proprietary technology platform is a fundamental part of its service offering and allowing for a unique collaborative relationship with ATA, placing both on the cutting edge of the evolving financial services industry. The strategic alliance with ATA is a long stride in the direction of Revolution Partners goal to establish a regional footprint throughout the Southeast. From our standpoint, this was an easy decision. Weve been keeping a close eye on this team all along, and we believe in what theyre doing, says ATAs Chief Manager Al Creswell, CPA. This alliance will have both immediate and long-lasting benefits for many of our clients. Close Relationships in a Growing Market ATA continues its recent investment in the greater Memphis market with the office of Collins Thomas & Associates PC in June of this year. The accounting firm currently has eighteen partners and over 150 staff in its offices in Dyersburg, Henderson, Jackson, Martin, McKenzie, Memphis, Milan, Nashville, Paris, Trenton, Union City, Tennessee and Murray, Kentucky. ATAs professionals pride themselves on providing the customer service experience of a smaller community firm with the international resources and expertise offered through its BDO Alliance, a network of accounting experts available for consultation on the most detailed areas of their field. While Revolution Partners has built a thriving business headquartered in the heart of East Memphis, its client base has roots throughout Tennessee and branching into other states as well. As of December 31, 2015, the firm ranked 7th in percentage growth versus approximately 500 peer firms nationwide, according to Orion Advisor Services. While continuing to grow organically, the alliance will help Revolution Partners efficiently expand its presence regionally and beyond as ATA continues to enter new markets. Doing More Together Clients who choose to contract with RPATA will benefit from the collaboration of Revolution Partners and ATA on complex, personal financial matters for an experience to rival the care and specialization of a family office. Professional fees will remain transparent and agreed-upon with separate contracts for investment management and accounting services. Time is an asset, in so many ways. Our goal is always to help clients Realize Lifes WorthTM, which to us means taking on the task of comprehensive wealth management for our clients, so they can focus on living and pursuing their goals, says Fowler. This alliance is undoubtedly going to increase our ability to achieve that vision. ATA Partner Jason Anderson, CPA, said, Our relationship is a natural evolution of ATAs goal in continuing to serve the professional needs of our clients by providing a trusted entity to manage the growth and long-term financial goals of both their personal and business assets. The RPATA alliance plans to begin formally serving client relationships together as early as December 2016. Tom Spooner, Warriors Heart Co-Founder and Former Special Forces The strongest most critical point that I hope President Trump passes is...Outsource the mental health, suicide prevention and self-medicating issues to professionals who are getting the job done with proven results. ~ Tom Spooner, Warriors Heart Former Special Forces and Warriors Heart Co-Founder Tom Spooner sends a call-to-action to President-Elect Trump and his new administration to prioritize mental health care in VA reform. Spooner understands first-hand the pain of war, and believes the primary focus in Donald J. Trump's 10 Point Plan to Reform The Department of Veterans Affairs should be Number 9: Increase the number of mental health care professionals, and allow veterans to be able to seek mental health care outside of the VA. Spooner emphasized, The 10-point plan is solid and will definitely make a huge difference. However, it will take years to clean up the internal VA system. Our veterans do not have the time to wait. It takes a long time for applications to get approved by the government for a facility or provider to take VA benefits, there needs to be a quicker way without having to go through the VA for a veteran to get treatment. To help save lives, Spooner co-founded Warriors Heart in 2016 as the first and ONLY private, fully licensed and accredited 40-bed residential treatment center in the U.S. dedicated solely to healing our nations warriors (military, veterans, law enforcement, fire fighters and first responders) battling addiction, PTSD, and other co-occurring disorders. Warriors Hearts 28-day peer-to-peer residential treatment program helps warriors heal with trained mental health professionals who understand their pain. Spooner and the Warriors Heart team are dedicated to raising awareness of the shortage of mental health professionals in the US. The goal is to reduce the average of 20 veteran suicides per day (used to be 22), and 1 Law Enforcement Officer every 60 hours in the U.S. With these unacceptable numbers, Spooner also urges the new administration to fast-track privatization options for veterans. When expanding on President-Elect Trumps 10-point plan, Spooner added, The strongest most critical point that I hope President Trump passes in a time-sensitive manner is point 9. Outsource the mental health, suicide prevention and self-medicating issues to professionals who are getting the job done with proven results. Evaluate results of providers based on veterans feedback, not the recommendations of a doctor or psychologist, and close down programs that have proven not to work. Spooner and the Warriors Heart team want to emphasize that the impact of this shortage of mental health professionals for warriors is even greater because of the lack of trained licensed specialists for warriors. Treating PTSD for a civilian is very different from healing PTSD for a warrior who has been on the frontline of combat or protecting our homeland. To get our warriors help faster, Spooner stresses the need for new systems to make the private provider accreditation and veteran insurance approval process much more efficient. Warriors Heart recently received the Gold Seal of Approval for Behavioral Health Care Accreditation from The Joint Commission, and is now waiting for Medicare approval, which can take 90-120 days. After receiving a Medicare approval, the final step is TRICARE and TriWest approvals. To reduce veteran suicide and long VA waitlists, a fast-track approval process for private providers must be a VA reform priority. To treat veterans now, Warriors Heart established the Operation Warriors Heart Foundation where individuals and organizations can donate to help sponsor scholarships for warriors who dont have the private pay ability or no other insurance. Spooner urges everyone to consider making a donation before year-end to help heal warriors because this VA reform may take time. Every day and every dollar can make a difference to heal our veterans and first responders. For a timely media interview, please contact Liz Kelly, Goody PR, 310-987-7207 About Tom Spooner Tom Spooners service to our nation in the U.S. Army spanned nearly twenty-one years (1990-2011). His career included time in the 82nd Airborne, as a Green Beret in the US Armys 7th Special Forces Group and, ultimately, in the US Armys 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta as an Operator. His military career included 12 combat rotations for a total of 40 months time in combat. After retiring from the Army, Tom approached his struggles with Chemical Dependencies, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) with the same tenacity and commitment to excellence that he did in his military career. He began speaking candidly about the cost of his experiences and the reality of the difficulties he had coping with them. Determined to help his community cope with suicide and addiction as a result of their experiences in War, Tom has rededicated his professional efforts to healing. With a voice nearly unmatched in credibility and experience, Tom has successfully enabled thousands of military and law enforcement personnel to acknowledge their struggles, seek treatment, and understand that they are not alone. Tom has been married for 26 years to the love of his life and is the proud father of 2 young men. About the Warriors Heart (Bandera, Texas): Warriors Heart is the first and only private treatment center in the U.S. to provide a peer-to peer based solution solely dedicated to warriors to over 13.3 million American Warriors (Military, Veterans, Law Enforcement and First Responders) faced with the self-medicating struggles of alcohol addiction, prescription and drug addiction, PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and mild TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) in a private, 40-bed facility. Along with a 28-day peer-to-peer residential treatment program, Warriors Heart will soon also have the option of Day Treatment, Outpatient, and Sober Living (60 Day Minimum). With decades of experience in addiction healing, military service and law enforcement, the 3 Warriors Heart Founders (CEO Josh Lannon, former Law Enforcement Officer Lisa Lannon and former Special Forces Tom Spooner) are leading the team on this special mission of warriors healing warriors. Warriors Heart work has been featured in Forbes, Chicago Tribune, CBS Health Watch, Newsmax Health, KENS5 CBS News San Antonio, FOX 10 News Phoenix, Fox 29 San Antonio, ABC KSAT San Antonio, PoliceOne, Womans Day, Addiction Pro magazine and many other media. There is a 24-hour Warriors Heart hotline (844-448-2567) answered by warriors. http://warriorsheart.com ZELITE INFINITY Executive Chef Knife Special Edition Ben Clarke, Co-Founder of Zelite Limited, a growth company offering ultra-premium professional kitchen knives across the USA and UK, was exceptionally eager to explain the extraordinary success his business has experienced to date. He remembers well the significant market research project undertaken by him and his team looking into what would make the worlds best kitchen knives. One major finding he noted was the trade-off professional chefs had to endure regarding sharpness and edge retention vs. stain and rust resistance. He smiles thinking back to the time when if a chef wanted sharpness and edge retention they would have to choose a high carbon steel, then suffer with high care and maintenance to avoid staining or rust. Or other chefs who preferred lower maintenance and would forgo sharpness and edge retention by choosing a softer stainless steel. His products turned that world on its head when they introduced the Japanese VG10 Super Steel core blade which is protected by 66-layers of high carbon stainless steel. For the first time, Chefs were able to enjoy sharpness, edge retention plus stain and rust resistance. Clarke laughs stating the kitchen knife landscape has changed so much over the past year since this break-through technology was released, its almost unrecognizable. When asked what has made the Zelite Infinity brand such a success, his answer was simple; best product design and world class customer service. He explains that his obsession with customer satisfaction has permeated the entire business, and this is clearly evidenced in the 5-star reception his products receive. That coupled with a 100% satisfaction guarantee and a lifetime warranty pretty much removes any risk from our customers he explained. Regarding product design, Zelite took the market research feedback and built this into their VG10 knife series. Clarke explains, some of the features and benefits are a direct result of superior materials and design, such as razor sharpness with outstanding edge retention and strength and durability due to the full tang and military grade G10 handle. Some are for comfort such as the rounded handle designed for a comfortable experience when using the knife, or the tapered bolster which naturally encourages the chef's preferred pinch grip style of cutting. Others are simply to stand out as a superior high-end knife such as the 3-metal Japanese mosaic rivet and the Tsunami Rose Damascus pattern on the blade surface. Clarke explains that all of the features and benefits work together complimenting each other resulting in a product that simply looks stunning, whilst at the same time offering outstanding value and performance. The market gave direct feedback resulting in the chef knife being recognized as one of the best in the world in 2016. Building upon the success of the brand, Clarke explains that they wanted to introduce a special edition knife that would capture the benefits of the current design, but add more features making it the alpha knife of this series. The Executive Chef Special Edition includes a 57mm ultra-deep blade for extra knuckle clearance, the aerodynamic finger support on the blade heel offering both style and function and their revolutionary Air-Blade air pocket design specifically designed to reduce drag and stop food from sticking to the blade. The market leading Zelite Infinity 8 Inch VG10 Chef Knife is compared and contrasted against the Executive Chef Special Edition on a Zelite video recently released on YouTube. The knife is available now exclusively via Amazon USA and UK. Better still, for a limited time only, Zelite are offering their readers a very special 10% introductory discount by applying the code DISC10EC at the Amazon checkout process. If you are new to iQ you can schedule a demo and learn more about this opportunity. PSFK iQ - Where Innovators Turn for Research. Our professional-grade research platform is designed specifically for Retail and CX leaders who want to know whats next. Whether youre staying current on trends or need a real-time research partner to help you get ahead, count on PSFK iQ to deliver the info you need to make your next move. The page you are trying to access has been moved, renamed or doesn't exist. Go to our home page for the latest information, or use the navigation menu above to browse the site. You can also search inside the site using the search box below. If you are searching for a Discussion Topic from our Forum, make sure to include the word "Forum" in your search terms and select the option "Find ALL Words" Johnny Igaz, music buyer at Green Apple Books in San Francisco and resident DJ at Outpost where he goes by the name Nackt, is among the missing following Friday nights fire at the Oakland warehouse, known as the Ghost Ship. Before 34-year-old Igaz was declared missing on December 3, his co-workers at Green Apple Books and Music posted a note on Facebook to let him know that they were worried. Both they and his colleagues at Green Apple Books on the Park asked that if anyone hears from him that they notify the store. Our thoughts are with the victims and loved ones of those missing in the tragic Oakland fire, they also wrote. The death toll from the December 2 fire has already reached 33. While the search for the missing continues, the District Attorneys office has launched a criminal investigation. To help all victims of the fire and their families a fundraiser has been launched on YouCaring.com. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Purdue University and the Core Foundation have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore opportunities to provide food solutions and economic innovations to help communities in poverty, especially Latin America. The two-year agreement, which was signed Nov. 5, runs through 2018. Many countries in Latin America, such as Peru, face difficult environmental and technology issues, said Tomas Diaz de la Rubia, chief scientist and executive director of Purdue's Discovery Park. Through this agreement with the Core Foundation, we hope to help bring to Peru some of Purdues most innovative ideas and faculty expertise to help solve environmental issues such as water quality, and share best practices for technology innovation and commercialization. Core Foundation, a part of the Purdue Technology Center, seeks solutions for food security, environmental protections, protection for important native animals, and economic development in Latin America. This Memorandum of Understanding with Discovery Park will open the doors to different technological projects that will bring economic development to the people of Peru and from there to Latin America. At the same time we are thinking of Indiana, we want to see Indiana technology and advances being used in Peru, said Ricardo Torreblanca, president and CEO of Core Foundation. Latin America is in great need of innovation in many areas, especially ag-technology. Indiana and the United States have that technology; it is a win-win. Core Foundation is working with universities, private companies and local governments to find real solutions to real and urgent problems. We are proud to have the help of great institutions like Discovery Park, which has great technology, and businesses and individuals that want to help with their donations. If you want to help, donate to our website http://www.coreworld.org. The Purdue-Core agreement lists seven areas of potential cooperation: research and development projects, cooperation in continuing education, joint curriculum development, climate change, food security, water pollution and cultivation of livestock. Writer: Howard Hewitt, 765-494-9541, hhewitt@purdue.edu Sources: Tomas Diaz de la Rubia, 765-496-6625, tddlr@purdue.edu Ricardo Torreblanca, rtorreblanca@coreworld.org MILAN -- Kevin Kilkenny, of Illinois City, enjoys attending the annual observance to commemorate the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. This Wednesday marks 75 years since Japan attacked the U.S. military base in Honolulu, Hawaii. "When you're sitting on those fuel carriers looking over at the memorial, it is very impressive," Mr. Kilkenny said Sunday, after the annual American Legion program. In some photos of the bombing, he sees the escape training tower that he used nearly 30 years later, to learn how to escape from a submarine. Mr. Kilkenny was 21 when he was first stationed at Pearl Harbor with the Navy in February 1970. In two stints, he served there served 15 months, through 1971. He knew two Pearl Harbor veterans at his American Legion post outside Sacramento, Calif., where he grew up. Mr. Kilkenny went back four years ago with his wife to see the USS Arizona Memorial, a national monument honoring the final resting place of nearly all the 1,177 servicemen killed on the battleship during the surprise attack in 1941. "Once you get onto that memorial, it's like walking onto a church. You can feel the respect," he said. "This is a memorial to thousands of dead men." Mr. Kilkenny is commander of the American Legion's third division in Illinois, and heard the local Legion adjutant, Norman Dunlap, recall the history and impact that led the U.S. into World War II. "The American Legion is very big in trying to keep the history of the United States going," Mr. Kilkenny said. The Milan program, done for the past eight years, is partly meant to pay tribute to remaining area members of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association (PHSA), which officially disbanded in 2011 with about 2,700 members. Two Davenport men in their 90s -- Al Taylor, who was an ambulance dispatcher on Dec. 7, 1941, and Eldon Baxter, who served as a storekeeper on the West Virginia when it was torpedoed by Japanese warplanes -- are the last two in the Q-C and have spoken at previous ceremonies. Neither could attend this year's event. "This is something we need to do," Mr. Dunlap, a late '60s Vietnam vet, said after his formal talk. "I think it's always important to have these ceremonies. Let's put it this way -- you saw how unprepared we were, and you saw it again in 2001. We tend to become complacent. Eventually, complacency will cost us drastically." "Preserving the memories and lessons of that attack is not only something the American Legion charter charges us to do, it's something we must never forget," he said. "Today, most of the witnesses to that attack are no longer with us," Mr. Dunlap said, noting an average of 493 World War II veterans die every day. "As those able to provide first-hand accounts leave the ranks of the living, it's up to us to keep the legacies alive." Pearl Harbor was a "day that defined America and changed the world," he said, as 2,403 servicemen died that Sunday morning, and nearly 1,200 were injured. Those serving that day "demonstrated service, sacrifice and valor at unprecedented levels, and foreshadowed the courage and just plain grit that epitomized the Greatest Generation during the Second World War." Davenport's Mr. Taylor helped find medical personnel to treat wounded, and loaded patients into ambulances. For 90 minutes, Japanese military "pounded us every seven seconds with 40 torpedo planes, 234 bombers and nearly 80 fighters," Mr. Dunlap said. The battleship USS West Virginia was hit by two bombs and seven torpedoes, Mr. Dunlap said. In a previous anniversary observance, Mr. Baxter said the Japanese pilots flew so low, they were actually waving to the sailors. One hundred and six men aboard the West Virginia were killed, and the Navy thought Mr. Baxter was one of them, Mr. Dunlap said. They sent a message to his parents in Davenport that he was lost in action. The next day, he wrote home to say he was OK, but his parents didn't get that letter until Dec. 26. By that time, they held his funeral. The Japanese attacked because they needed natural resources like oil and rubber, Mr. Dunlap said. But they didn't hit fuel supplies at the base. "They thought a surprise, crippling blow to our naval resources would leave us demoralized and unable to fight back," he said. "They mistakenly thought they could get us to settle with them in such a way to not interfere with their taking China and the various islands owned by the Dutch. They failed." "The attack on Pearl Harbor is an unforgettable picture of the price our country paid for a lack of military preparedness," he said. "But it's also the story of a remarkable comeback -- the incredible resilience and valor of the men and women of World War II." Sixty years after Pearl Harbor, "America was again caught off guard, with the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as another date that will live in infamy to a new generation of Americans," Mr. Dunlap said. That marked the start of another global war, on terror, that continues to this day, he said. Like Pearl Harbor, Mr. Dunlap said we saw "similar courage by police officers, firefighters, and first responders" on 9/11, which claimed 2,996 lives. The three guests from the left: Dr. Vo Tri Thanh, Dr. Do Duc Dinh and former Deputy PM Vu Khoan Vu Khoan: Each country has its own interests. A British Foreign Secretary said: "There are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests. It is the same for Brexit. How to find harmony is the key to solve the problem. ASEAN has found the key to handle common and private relationships. I cant say whether an exit will occur in Southeast Asia or not, but the common/individual issues should be given special attention; otherwise the consequences will be serious. Dr Vo Tri Thanh: The EU and ASEAN have a lot of differences. Firstly, even in the process of developing and upgrading the EU, the UK had a lot of unsatisfactory things. Furthermore, the recent behavior of the EU such as the admission of new members and handling the debt crisis in Greece, the policy with the influx of migrants ... are different from the UK. While the UK has a very large position in the EU, it saw the EUs recent behavior contrary to its policy and this led to conflict. Many social groups in the UK thought that the cost that England paid was much higher than what it received. That's why most Britons chose to leave the EU. ASEAN, although it has many differences, these differences are not serious enough to upset its members. Secondly, so far only countries outside ASEAN want to join this bloc; no one wants to leave. ASEAN accepts the principle of slow movement. There may be obstacles, but the movements are sustainable and do not create major conflicts. In any condition, we must try to strengthen and sustain ASEAN. Dr. Do Duc Dinh: According to the information I get, ASEAN leaders have considered very carefully even when they named ASEAN as an association, not a community or ally. When the Brexit occurred, Lee Kuan Yews saying in 2013 was quoted: "Follow the way as the EU did, ASEAN cannot win". And "probably not only ASEAN but also the EU has problems". Germany and the UK are the key members of the EU. Every year the UK had to contribute Eur8 billion for the EU. Now people ask, after Britain leaves the EU, will Germany and France be able to afford this burden? In 1997 - 1998, Southeast Asia witnessed a currency crisis. Some suggested that Singapores currency could be used as the single currency in ASEAN, but Singapore rejected it, saying that the Singaporean economy was unable to shoulder that burden. ASEAN has selected important principles for sustainable existence: a) consensus; b) unity in diversity; and c) respecting independence and sovereignty of each member nation while promoting cooperation. Thanks to these principles, ASEAN has maintained its solidarity and sustainability, and avoided disruption as Brexit. So far, though ASEAN still has some problems; no member state wants to leave the bloc. What are the remarkable milestones of Vietnam as a member of ASEAN? Dr Vo Tri Thanh: First of all I have to affirm that ASEAN is valuable for Vietnam: from liberalization and the market economy to resource allocation. ASEAN has actually noted Vietnams movements and development. Unlike many other countries, we started cooperation in the region, with neighbors, and with countries that are not too different from us to learn from them. Joining ASEAN can be seen as an exercise to prepare for Vietnams deeper integration into the World Trade Organization (WTO) and with other partners. Secondly, ASEAN is especially suited to the reform process and the development of Vietnam. ASEAN emphasizes the balance between prosperity and narrowing the gap of development; focuses its support on the disadvantaged group so that all members can benefit from the process of integration and development. In ASEAN, Vietnam has a better negotiating position. Dr. Do Duc Dinh: We are moving forward along with ASEAN countries. We cannot say that ASEAN has brought about great results as the total value of intra-ASEAN trade accounts for only 25% of Vietnams total foreign trade value. However, if we look at the progress of ASEAN compared to 10 years ago, when the value of intra-ASEAN trade accounted for only 17-18%, the 25% figure is quite large. In this context, it is very important for Vietnam. The regional market is not large, but it is expanding and its proportion is increasing compared to our major markets like the US, Europe or China. This suggests that the benefits of ASEAN do not occur quickly, and are not very big but it is progressing. Secondly, in cooperation with ASEAN, we started from the centralized economy so we've learned a lot from ASEAN. Vu Khoan: Firstly, from enemies, now Southeast Asian countries have become friends. Before being an ASEAN member, Vietnam was surrounded by hostile countries and now Vietnam is surrounded by friends. In the early 1990s, to break the embargo, Vietnam decided to follow the principle: making friend with neighbors, first of all Southeast Asian countries. The first foreign trip of Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet was to Southeast Asian countries. Secondly, the position of Vietnam and ASEAN was different. For example, Vietnams application to be a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council was supported firstly by ASEAN and then all of Asia. When Vietnam was in negotiations for WTO membership, ASEAN membership was a help. Now many ASEAN countries have sympathy with Vietnam in the East Sea issue. Thirdly, as a member of ASEAN, Vietnam has a better position in making dialogue with other countries. Fourthly, its trade and export growth, and tourism revenue increase. These benefits are invisible but we can feel them very clearly, not to mention soft benefits. So, in any situation and condition, we always have to strengthen and maintain relations with neighboring countries, especially ASEAN. It is one of the most important diplomatic missions. VietNamNet The order, which is being financed by Il-de-France transport authority Stif, is part of a framework contract for up to 372 trains, which was signed in 2006. The trains will be assembled at Bombardiers Crespin facility in Haute-de-France with deliveries due to begin in early 2018. The order will take the total number of Francilien sets operating on Transilien services out of Saint Lazare to 134. Stif says it plans to exercise options for more Franciliens by 2018, which will provide a single modern fleet for all suburban services for Saint Lazare as well as additional trains for Line P as part of the extension of electrification to Provins. Stadler had sought to overturn the decision because it believed Bombardier had miscalculated the lifecycle costs in its bid. The courts decision enables OBB to place an initial firm order for 21 100m-long Talent 3 EMUs, which will be delivered by 2019 for use on the Vorarlberg S-Bahn system. Further trains will be ordered for Tyrol when a new public service obligation (PSO) contract has been concluded with the province. OBB has also confirmed it order 64 additional Cityjet EMUs from Siemens to replace class 4020 trains on the Vienna S-Bahn network. So far OBB has ordered 101 Cityjets from a framework contract for up to 200 trains. This means that the new Bombardier Talent 3 EMUs will not be used around Vienna. One reason is that it would not be economic to use one more EMU type on S-Bahn services, which are currently operated by a mixture of class 4020s, class 4024/4124 (Talent 1), Class 4746 (Cityjet) and push-pull sets. If OBB had opted for Talent 3s for Vienna, delivery could only have started after the completion of the trains for Vorarlberg and Tyrol. This would have forced OBB to extend the life of the class 4020s with costly overhauls. Welcome to Railway Gazette. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of these cookies. You can learn more about the cookies we use here. OK With the presidential transition underway and retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn named National Security Advisor, a critical next step will be formation of the National Security Council (NSC). If precedent holds, the NSC will be defined in the first presidential directive that President Trump will sign in the early weeks of his administration. Normally, form follows function in the design of organizations, but in some respects, the opposite is true for the NSC. The NSC structure and processes will likely be defined, in some cases before some key officials are confirmed, and certainly before the president's priorities are codified through additional directives and strategy documents. This early directive will begin to define the NSC and national security policy formulation mechanisms for the Trump presidency. Several important questions should be considered. Which organizations will be represented? Will the NSC membership be expansive or more narrowly defined? The National Security Act of 1947 establishes a core group of principal officials that make up the NSC. Under President Clinton, the NSC was expanded to include the Secretary of the Treasury. Clinton also established the National Economic Council, elevating the priority of economic issues. Following 9/11, the NSC became bifurcated into a traditional NSC and a Homeland Security Council (HSC). In the Obama administration, the HSC was dissolved and its responsibilities returned to the NSC structure. The result was an NSC with two major components, national and homeland security, with defined responsibilities in their respective areas but also the ability to work together to address complex security issues. How will the Trump administration handle this coordination? What will be the role of the NSC in policy formulation? What will be the role of the NSC in policy formulation? Will President Trump want the NSC to develop policy options for deliberation by the principles or to have decisions brought forward for approval? President Clinton's first National Security Advisor Anthony Lake said he preferred to work with senior advisors to build consensus for presentation to the president. President George W. Bush preferred to make decisions among a small group of advisors, led by Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. On particularly contentious issues, Obama would supplement the work of the NSC with the input of senior White House advisors. A related question entails the nature of the relationship between the president and National Security Advisor. Will President Trump use Flynn to run the process or push him into a trusted advisor role? How large will the NSC staff be? How large will the NSC staff be? Under President Obama, the NSC had grown to over 400 staffers. With such a large staff, the NSC drifted into operations some have used the term micromanagement rather than remaining focused on policy development. This became a complaint throughout national security circles, as well as publicly in many former senior leader memoirs. The large staff also translated into a more granular approach to the issues and an seemingly endless number of interagency meetings. Will the Trump NSC follow suit or return to policy development with operational execution decentralized to the cabinet departments? What issues will the NSC be charged with managing? Normally, the NSC has regional components and special functional areas. As an example, the Obama NSC included cybersecurity, countering weapons of mass destruction and countering terrorism as key functional areas. Will the issues be the same as those under the Obama administration or will President Trump have a greater focus on policy development issues related to the platform on which he ran, such as southern border security and immigration? To what degree will the special topics be driven by events versus core issues? All NSCs have evolved, largely in response to perceived shortfalls and additional policy development requirements. After 9/11, the Bush NSC and the HSC oversaw the global war on terror and operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the Obama administration, special topics included the Iran nuclear deal and Cuban rapprochement. To be sure, the NSC structure and processes directly reflects the personality of the president. The evolution from candidate to president will signal the national security priorities likely to be addressed in the Trump administration. There are many ways the NSC may evolve, but history suggests that this transition sets the tone for how national security will be deliberated and ultimately decided in an administration. Daniel M. Gerstein works at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and is an adjunct professor at American University. A working group leader on the 2008 Project on National Security Reform (PNSR) which examined options for future NSCs, he was later the undersecretary (acting) and deputy undersecretary in the Science and Technology Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security from 2011 to 2014. Sarah M. Gerstein is a U.S. Army officer, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, and a masters student at Yale University's Jackson Institute. This commentary originally appeared on The Hill on December 2, 2016. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis. For Release Monday December 5, 2016 Greater interest and involvement in the Middle East by China are manifestations of growing dependence on energy resources from the region and Chinese efforts to expand its influence into Central Asia and beyond, a new RAND report finds. China's Middle East strategy is driven primarily by economic interests as well as an attempt to rebalance its domestic, foreign and security policies to be less skewed in favor of eastern China and East Asia, according to the report. RAND researchers examine China's economic, political and security roles in the Middle East, focusing on China's relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran, and how these developing relationships might impact the U.S. role in the region. Beijing is very reluctant to expand its level of security cooperation with the United States or Middle East states because it fears being embroiled in regional tensions and controversies, said Andrew Scobell, the lead author on the report and a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization. China fears that greater security involvement would wreck its remarkable status as the one outside power on good terms with every major state in the Middle East. The report recommends that Washington should adopt a two-part strategy where China and the Middle East are concerned. The United States should encourage China, along with other Asian powers, to become more involved in efforts to improve stability in the Middle East and also should work to reassure partners of its enduring security commitment to the region. Expanded security cooperation between China, Saudi Arabia and Iranbuilding on robust economic ties, modest but cordial diplomatic relations, and limited military interactionsshould not necessarily be cause for U.S. alarm, said Alireza Nader, co-author of the report and a senior international political analyst at RAND. Such cooperation may be helpful and contribute toward a more stable regional environment. China is unlikely to attempt to dominate the region as they would rather avoid entanglement in any military conflicts. However, there may be opportunities for U.S.-China engagement through joint diplomatic efforts to help resolve regional conflicts. The report, China in the Middle East: The Wary Dragon, can be found at www.rand.org. Research for this report was sponsored by the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8, U.S. Army, and conducted within the RAND Arroyo Center's Strategy, Doctrine, and Resources program. RAND Arroyo Center, part of the RAND Corporation, is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the United States Army. Subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) leader Netflix is spending billions on its original content strategy, and is currently ripping through its free cash at a clip that has some analysts concerned. The company has burned more than $1 billion in cash for the first nine months of 2016 alone. To date the streaming giant clocked 87 million video streaming customers in the third quarter, and it is on track to exceed $8 billion in revenue for 2016. But Rishi Kaul, an analyst with Ovum , noted that if one breaks down Netflixs business at a per-subscriber scale, one can see that its cash burn is getting worse, not better, as it grows in scale.Free cash flow is defined as operating cash flow minus capex; and in 2011 Netflix generated $0.81 and $0.67 per customer per month of net profit and free cash flow, respectively. By contrast, in the first nine months of 2016, monthly net profit per customer has declined to $0.16, while free cash flow has declined to negative $1.33.The issue is that Netflix is planning on spending $5 billion on original content in 2016, and that figure is set to increase to $6 billion in 2017.It is not that its revenue per user has declined one would expect that as it builds scale, Kaul said. It is not even that its profitability has declined over the years to the point where it is barely profitable. The business doesnt seem to be able to sustain content spend on such a grand scale ... Netflix now borrows just to fund its operations, with the latest debt injection of $1 billion coming just in October 2016.Accordingly, there is a big gap between the companys small net profit and large negative free cash flow, which Kaul chalks up to Netflix expensing its streaming content assets (ie capitalised costs it incurs to license or produce content) in an aggressive way. To wit, it recognises too small a proportion of these expenses right now, and pushes more of them into the future, thus flattering its current earnings.Examples of its aggressive accounting include long streaming content expensing periods, Kaul said. Streaming content assets are amortised (ie expensed) over periods of up to five years, which we think is too long a period. By comparison, Netflix expenses DVD rental assets still visual content, just in different packaging over one year (new releases) and three years (back catalogue). By stretching amortisation periods, Netflix reduces current expenses by pushing more of the capitalised content costs to the future, as a result flattering current earnings.Also, Netflix discloses that most streaming content assets are expensed on a straight-line basis, which means expenses are evenly spread over the amortisation period, which could be up to five years. By comparison, all of Netflixs DVD rental assets are amortised on an accelerated basis, with higher expenses in the early periods and lower expenses in later periods.We think accelerated expensing more accurately matches viewing patterns, since new shows are most popular in the initial months after release, Kaul said. Again, this policy has the effect of flattering current earnings by pushing more of the costs to the future.To fix the issue, Netflix will need to raise prices, reduce its content spending, license some of its original content to third parties, or use a combination. But that could cut into customer growth and threaten its valuation: currently, the company is valued at over $52 billion, about 325 times its annual earnings. By comparison, the overall US stock market is presently valued at approximately 25 times the listed companies earnings.So, the question remains as to the companys long-term viability, according to Kaul.The challenge with these approaches is that they would almost certainly hurt the 20%-plus subscriber growth that its investors have come to expect in order to justify its stratospheric valuation, Kaul said. So, Netflix has little choice but to continue to squeeze whatever subscriber growth is left out of the big bang global expansion it launched in early 2016, continue to aggressively spend on original content to support this expansion, and hope that investors continue to both fund its cash burn and ignore aggressive content accounting. But for how long? The Air Force Academy's Centre for Character and Leadership Development (CCLD) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has deployed VITEC's EZ TV IPTV streaming platform and MGW 1100 carrier-grade blade encoders. Providing high quality delivery, recording, and management of live and on-demand video streams over its existing IP network, the EZ TV IPTV and encoding solutions allow the organisation to create, store, view, stream and share HD and SD video from any source, anytime, anywhere and to any screen within the organisation.The CCLD needed a powerful, reliable and affordable solution to record and distribute the video content that is central to training and developing tomorrow's Air Force leaders, said Brian Villa, technical sales manager at VITEC . With VITEC's EZ TV IPTV scalable architecture, CCLD has an affordable end-to-end streaming solution that meets its channel needs now and in the future.The most deployed IPTV delivery system in the world, EZ TV's centralised IP approach to video distribution reduces the costs associated with traditional coax cabling while making delivery more efficient for several applications. With the streaming platform's scalable architecture, the CCLD is able to distribute up to nine channels of live and on-demand video content, including signage, training and presentations to any screen in the facility or directly to a cadet's desktop via the browser-based EZ TV Player. EZ TV even has the capability to be distributed to mobile devices, giving the organisation a wide range of options going forward.The EZ TV platform supports the latest compression standard HEVC (H.265) in addition to HD and SD live and on-demand streams in MPEG-1/2/4 and H.264 formats. It also enables administrators to dynamically create and manage video assets and distribute them across a network with AES 256/128-bit encryption, conforming to the most stringent network and information assurance security standards. MOSCOW, December 5 (RAPSI) A court in the city of Kirov has dismissed a motion to close a criminal case against Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny which had been reopened after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Russia violated Navalny's right to a fair trial, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said on Monday. The reopening of criminal proceedings against Navalny and his accomplice Pyotr Ofitserov is an arbitrary and unlawful move that violates the ruling issued by the ECHR, according to Yarmysh. Navalny was given a five-year suspended sentence for embezzlement at the Kirovles timber company in July 2013. Ofitserov received a four-year suspended sentence. According to investigators, while serving on a voluntary basis as an adviser to the Kirov Region governor Navalny organized the theft of over 10,000 cubic meters of timber from Kirovles company between May and September 2009. Investigators claimed that Pyotr Ofitserov, then Director of Vyatka Timber Company, and Kirovles CEO Vyacheslav Opalyov were involved in the scheme. The ECHR ruled in February that Russia had violated Navalny's and and Ofitserovs right to a fair trial. In particular, according to ECHR, sentences against them were issued with numerous violations because a lot of references were made regarding another defendant Vyacheslav Opalyov. The proceedings against Opalyov were treated as a separated criminal case after he admitted his guilt. Additionally, ECHR noted that Russian courts failed to review claims by the defense that Kirovles case might have a political motive behind it and did not provide adequate evaluations of such claims. ECHR itself did not find a political motive in the case. The court ruled to compensate Navalny with 48,000 euros of legal costs and Ofitserov with 22,000 euros. Additionally, Russia is to pay 8,000 euro to each applicant in damages. Russias Justice Ministry filed a request seeking referral of the case to the Grand Chamber of the ECHR, but the request was dismissed. Russia's Supreme Court overturned in mid-November sentences against Navalny and Ofitserov in Kirovles embezzlement case and sent it for retrial. Russia's Supreme Court delivered the ruling taking into consideration the judgement of the ECHR. The case against Navalny was forwarded once againt to the Oktyabrksy District Court of Kirov. Navalny refused to attend the new trial. Court rules that alleged mastermind of Crimean blockade owes $3.7 mln to bank MOSCOW, December 5 (RAPSI) The Moscow Commercial Court has ruled that Lenur Islyamov, an alleged organizer of the food blockade of Crimea, owes Eurocredit Bank 234 million rubles ($3.7 million), RAPSI learnt in the court on Monday. Islyamov was declared bankrupt on July 18. On March 16, the court introduced a procedure for restructuring of Islyamovs debt upon the application of Sberbank of Russia. According to the banks representative, the businessmans debt under two loans is estimated at 1.1 billion rubles ($17.4 million). Islyamov was a loan guarantor for the Queen Group Company that received these credits. The company later has been declared bankrupt. Islyamov owns TV company ATR, transportation company SimCityTrans, and retail chain ICom selling Apple products. In June, the Commercial Court of Crimea suspended operations of SimCityTrans for 90 days on the grounds that the company committed a serious administrative offence with regard to licensing regulations. In May 2014, Islyamov, who at that time was Deputy Chairman of the Crimean Council of Ministers responsible for repatriates, water provision and utilities, was dismissed as failing to cope with these responsibilities. The Crimean investigators launched a probe into Islyamov and in November 2015 raided the offices of companies he controlled on the peninsula. Earlier, Crimea's Prosecutors Office informed that two men (Mustafa Dzhemilev and Refat Chubarov) behind the peninsula blockade had been put on the international and one (Lenur Islyamov) on the federal wanted lists. Cypriot firm appeals ruling in dispute with Crimean authorities MOSCOW, December 5 (RAPSI) Cypriot company DRGN Ltd has filed an appeal against the dismissal of a ruling ordering Crimeas Finance Ministry to pay 46 million rubles (about $707,000) to the company, RAPSI learned in the Moscow Commercial Court on Monday. On September 20, the Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals overturned the ruling in question and granted an appeal filed by the Crimean authorities. Crimea sold the bonds in 2011 to finance a solid municipal waste treatment project in Simferopol and the Simferopol Region. The plaintiff borrowed over 25,000 bonds in January 2013. In April 2015, DRGN Ltd turned to courts demanding that Russias Finance Ministry pay the debt on a local domestic bond loan of 1.142 million Euros and interest for using the funds as accrued by the date of the court ruling. The republics State Council, the Council of Ministers and the Finance Ministry of Crimea were named as co-defendants in the case. The Moscow Commercial Court in July granted in part a lawsuit filed by DRGN Ltd against the Crimean authorities. The court ruled that the proper defendant in this case is the Republic of Crimea represented by its Finance Ministry; thats why the court dismissed claims against other defendants. Moreover, the court held that the sum of recovery should be converted into rubles but not into Euros as the plaintiff had asked because the case was considered under Russian law. The Crimean authorities appealed the ruling. Crimean leader Sergei Aksyonov has announced earlier that the Crimean authorities had appealed to the Federal Security Service (FSB) to investigate the 2011 bond sale and the involved companies. Aksyonov claimed to know who provided the funds and why. He said that Nikolai Skorik, Crimeas Finance Minister from 2010 to 2013, transferred the money to banks in Odessa that were affiliated with his friends, and where the interest on the money accrued. Aksyonov added that a decision in the case would be made after the investigation is complete, but Crimea is not responsible for the debt because the money has not returned to the republic. Sberbank seeks recovery of $16 mln from Russian e-commerce giant Ulmart MOSCOW, December 5 (RAPSI) Sberbank of Russia has filed a claim seeking to recover 1.007 billion rubles (almost $16 million) from four firms within Ulmart group of companies, the records of the Commercial Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region show on Monday. Earlier, the Baltiyskaya Electronic Trading Platform has turned to the same commercial court seeking a Ulmarts structure Ulmart Regional Sales Company bankruptcy. The hearings are set to begin on December 20. As an injunctive relief in these bankruptcy proceedings, the court prohibited nine banks to carry out automatic transfers from a number of the debtors accounts. Besides, yet in November a Russian businessman lodged with the Commercial Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region a bankruptcy claim against another firm within Ulmart group of companies, which is to be examined on December 15. The group of companies Ulmart is the largest Russian private Internet holding focusing on e-commerce segment. The companys distribution network consists of over 400 sales outlets across more than 240 Russian cities and towns. Ukrainian court declines to detain Trust Bank ex-owner for second time MOSCOW, December 5 (RAPSI) The Kiev Regional Court of Appeals has declined a prosecutor's move to detain former Trust Bank owner Ilya Yurov, who had been earlier arrested in absentia on embezzlement charges, RIA Novosti reports on Monday. Earlier, the Borispol District court in the Kiev Region has also declined to detain Yurov, who is listed on the international wanted list over the embezzlement charges. This ruling was appealed by a prosecutor in the case. The courts ruling is final and is not to be reviewed. On November 23, the Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB) for Ukraine informed the Prosecutor Generals Office that Yurov had been arrested at Boryspil International airport outside Kiev. On the same day, Russia announced that it would seek the extradition of Yurov from Ukraine. In late December 2014, the Central Bank of Russia said it would provide Trust Bank with up to 30 billion rubles ($530 million) to stop it going bankrupt. At the time the bank was placed under temporary supervision of the Deposit Insurance Agency it was on the list of top 30 Russian banks. The financial rehabilitation of Trust Bank was led by FC Otkritie Bank, part of Otkritie Holding JSC. As a result, Trust Bank now operates as a subsidiary of Otkritie Holding. On December 17, 2015, Moscow's Tverskoy District Court issued an arrest warrant in absentia for Yurov and two other former owners of the bank, Nikolay Fetisov and Sergey Belyaev, implicated in a large scale embezzlement case. As reported earlier, they allegedly concluded sham credit contracts with companies registered in Cyprus and then transferred funds to accounts controlled by Trust Bank ex-owners. In February 2016, Trust Bank lodged a lawsuit with the London High Court seeking $830 million in damages from its Yurov, Fetisov and Belyaev. The claim was filed following a court decision to freeze assets belonging to ex-shareholders. The ruling was delivered on the grounds that companies connected with the defendants obtained credits amounting to $1 billion providing security worth nearly $150 million, according to the statement of Otkritie Holding. These loans were serviced prior to reorganization of Trust Bank in 2014. Before lodging of the claim, in January, Trust Bank turned to the London High Court seeking to freeze accounts of ex-owners and suspend a deal stipulating free divestment of assets priced at $100 million, Otkritie Holdings press service said. In May, Yurov sought for reversal of the assets freeze. However, this motion was dismissed. Aeroflots $33 mln lawsuit against Transaero postponed MOSCOW, December 5 (RAPSI) The Moscow Commercial Court has postponed hearings in Aeroflots 2.1 billion rubles ($33 mln) lawsuit against Transaero airline until January 26 of the next year, the court documents read on Monday. On November 23, the Commercial Court of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region postponed hearings in Sberbanks bankruptcy claim against Transaero until March 1 of 2017. Temporary manager of the airline filed a motion to postpone hearings because all demands of creditors were met. In 2015, Transaero found itself unable to pay its debts estimating 250 billion rubles (about $4 billion). Government-approved plan of transferring 75% of companys shares to Aeroflot failed. Its problems resulted in a large number of flight cancels and delays. In October 2015, Sberbank and Alfa Bank filed bankruptcy petitions against the troubled airline. The Commercial Court of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region initiated a bankruptcy procedure against Transaero on December 16. On November 17 of this year, Transaero air carrier filed an application with the Commercial Court of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region seeking to drop bankruptcy proceedings against it, according to court records. This November Transaero managers submitted the companys business resumption plan. The airlines management headed by Director General Alexander Burdin analyzed alternatives which could make it possible to return money to creditors via relaunching the airline on the base of its assets, the document reads. About This Site This website is an exploration into the rationalist approach to Judaism that was most famously presented by Maimonides. It also explores contemporary rationalist approaches, as well as being a forum for various other notes. Well-written comments in the spirit of this enterprise will be posted; please include a name (even a pseudonym). When it comes to the Middle East, President-elect Donald Trump may not have offered up many details about his administration's priorities. But he certainly made a number of transformative promises on the campaign trail about what he would like to do. So will he? Here are four bold commitments that the next president made as a candidate that are unlikely to follow him after he occupies the White House, either because he cannot deliver on them or because he may not want to. I will utterly destroy ISIS Not likely. In military terms, destroying an enemy means destroying permanently its ability to resist. This is a realistic goal in conventional conflicts, but not in a conflict against an enemy like the Islamic State. The United States can erode ISISs support and increase the costs of its operations; we can also deny ISIS territory and disrupt its terrorist attacks. But we cannot destroy the terrorist groups ability to resist, nor alter its ideology. Even countering that ideology and the Islamic States ability to recruit and proselytize will entail a prolonged struggle, one most likely without end. In ISIS, President Trump will face an adversary that is extremely resilient and adaptable. Degrading that resilience requires decisions and actions that Americas partners have shown no interest in taking. If the Shia-dominated Iraqi government does not make a concerted effort to treat Iraqs Sunni population fairly and inclusively, and if Iran-backed Shiite militias seek to expand their influence at Sunni expense or seek revenge for ISIS killings, the Trump administration will end up with ISIS 2.0 in Iraq. Indeed, both Iraq and Syria remain giant petri dishes for incubating and growing ISIS. It will not be possible for the United States to drain the swamp of ISIS supporters if these dysfunctional, conflict-ridden, and poorly governed countries cannot be pieced back together. And Trumps recent reiteration of his aversion to nation-building means that this cannot be done unless America has reliable local and international partners willing to bear the major responsibility for mending these broken states at the cost of billions of dollars and at great risk of loss of lives. Moreover, even if ISIS is not robust enough to hold territory, it will have no problem, as we have already seen, in spreading its tentacles throughout the region or going global. A new administration -- assuming it follows up on President Obamas efforts in Mosul and Raqqa -- can prevent ISIS from holding territory as a proto-state, but it cannot prevent the operations of other Salafist and jihadist groups such as al Qaeda or Fatah al-Sham. Nor can Bashar Assad or Russia accomplish the task, which means that Trumps notion of cutting a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to destroy ISIS in Syria is fanciful, especially so long as Assad remains in power and is determined to retake all territory under ISIS control. A President Trump should also be careful of what he wishes for: "Bombing the hell out of ISIS, as he said he would do, would only clear a path out of the destruction for al Qaeda, Fatah al-Sham, and other militant jihadist groups. My number one priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran. Not so fast. During the course of the campaign, Trump said several contradictory things about the accord. He said that he might seek to renegotiate it, or that he would not rip it up but police the contract so tough that they dont have a chance. Should the next president want time to assess the pros and cons of precipitous action, he would surely have it, and he very well might take it. There are clearly downsides to early unilateral action, including almost certain opposition from Russia, China, and European allies; a green light for Iran to pocket the billions it has made from sanctions relief and to make more as the international community accelerates its business with Tehran; and resumption of its nuclear program, at Irans chosen pace, toward a bomb. Moreover, the collapse of the accord would deal a humiliating blow to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his allies, tip the outcome of Irans presidential election next May toward the hardliners, and empower the very members of the Iranian security establishment that control the regional policies that Trump and the Iranian hawks in his administration care most about. Responsibility for abrogation would be laid squarely at Washingtons door. Iran would gain a public relations boost and a political advantage without any real immediate gain for the United States, and America would lose out on business opportunities in the Iranian market. To use Trumps own metric, such an outcome doesnt seem much like America winning. There is another way to handle the accord, whether the next president wants to kill the deal, trigger a death spiral that puts part of the onus on Iran, or try to pressure Iran to tighten up some of its terms. The wise course would be to undertake a review of the JCPOA and allow Congress to ratchet up sanctions on issues such as terrorism and ballistic missile tests that fall outside the four corners of the accord. Its doubtful that a Trump administration would ever actively defend the JCPOA. But it is certainly possible that it might see the advantages of preserving the deal as useful tool to avoid an early crisis with allies or with Iran. Much like Obamacare, dismantling the JCPOA without thinking through the costs, particularly if there is nothing to replace it, may not appear as attractive in the White House as it did on the campaign trail. We will move the American Embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem. Seriously? This is another talking point that looks better during a campaign than it does while governing. Two of the last three U.S. presidents -- Clinton and Bush 43 -- made similar pledges during the campaign. Yet both, and President Obama as well, took advantage of the waiver provided in the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act to avoid that course of action. Clearly President-elect Trump has proven unpredictable and has said and done things that none of his predecessors have. But its also true that President Trump will not be candidate Trump. And once in the White House, a precipitous move on the Embassy -- like scuttling the Iran deal -- seems neither warranted nor wise. There are other ways to demonstrate support for Israel, and the dysfunctional relationship between the Netanyahu government and the Obama administration is going to change for the better. Why risk a violent reaction from Palestinian Arabs throughout the region while giving jihadists a propaganda windfall over a religious symbol like Jerusalem? Why make a move that would prejudge, predetermine, and further complicate a negotiated settlement between Israel and the Palestinians that Trump recently said he would personally like to broker? Its hard to imagine that even Trumps hard-nosed foreign-policy advisers wouldnt counsel caution and argue that the downsides on moving the Embassy hugely outweigh the advantages. A lot of people tell meits impossible [to make Middle East peace]. I have reason to believe I can do it. Really? Curiously, during the campaign and even after the election, the president-elect voluntarily pledged several times that he would be honored to take on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. He has touted his own negotiating skills and those of his son-in-law Jared Kushner. Clearly this issue has his attention. All modern presidents have understood the importance of Middle East peace, but none has ever publicly expressed the confidence that he could actually solve the historic conflict. Of all Trumps campaign promises related to the Middle East, this is the one that is perhaps most most marked by magical thinking. If there is any issue in the dysfunctional Middle East that is not ready for prime time, it is surely the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The key issue blocking an impasse in the search for a two-state solution -- which is probably the least bad outcome -- is not the absence of U.S. leadership or the negotiating talents of this or that president or secretary of state. Rather, it is the politically inconvenient fact that neither the Israeli government nor the leadership of the Palestinian Authority is willing or able to make the kind of decisions required on the core issues (Jerusalem, territory, refugees) that would enable an effective mediator to get close enough to bridge the gaps. Nor does the Arab world -- confronted with transnational terror groups, bitter sectarian rivalry, a rising Iran, and failed and failing states -- offer up the kind of environment for risk-taking and engagement to support a two-state solution. Short of some unforeseen regional development that compels Israelis and Palestinians or the Arab states to alter their risk-averse calculations, there seems little that even the self-confident and willful Trump or his relatives would be willing or able to do that would afford Trump a serious chance to make peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The president-elect has already discovered that campaigning is not governing. We have seen his pragmatic side recently as he walked back or offered more nuanced views on waterboarding, climate change, and appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton. Despite the rather high correlation political scientists have found between a presidents promises and delivery, Trump may find it difficult to translate his campaign talking points on the Middle East into concrete policies. He may well discover, like his predecessor did, that the United States is stuck in a broken, dysfunctional region full of bad options, impossible missions, and long shots. As the campaign and transition lead to governing, he may well find a politically incorrect and inconvenient reality staring him in the face. There may be more need for continuity with Barack Obamas Middle East policies than he imagined or bargained for. Indeed, in the cruelest of ironies, Trump may well end up following any number of policies in his own administration that he roundly castigated in the previous one. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate Property details: Here's another opportunity for someone looking for land in Northern California, and this is one of the lots close to the highway and lake, and only 90 minutes from the San Francisco Bay Area and adjacent to the Napa Valley and beautiful wine country. You will be bidding on this residential lot that has a beautiful LAKE VIEW, approximately 6,900 square feet in size, and located about a quarter of a mile from Clear Lake, the largest natural lake entirely in the state. The property is located near ... Price: $ 2,025 Seller State of Residence: California Property Address: 4754 Robinson Road State/Province: California City: Lucerne Type: Homesite, Lot Zoning: Residential Zip/Postal Code: 95458 Location: 928**, Orange, California You will be redirected to eBay Nearby 95458 Porterville, CA (93257) Today Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low near 45F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low near 45F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Rielly, a freshman at the University of Georgia and a volunteer at the UGA LGBT Resource Center, stood beside two others students in front of a crowd of close to 20 others students, reading off the names of the transgender people who had been killed in the United States in 2016. County clerk rejects false claims from far-right activist, candidate Richard Gallardo said the county registrar of voters should not infringe upon residents' rights to observe elections. Uber is slipping itself into a Santa suit this week and delivering free gifts to all the good little girls and boys of Chicago. And by girls and boys, I mean grown-ass adults. Because presents. The rideshare company is celebrating the holiday season by delivering gifts to customers each day this week. Advertisement For your chance to have a gift delivered to you, enter the code GIFTSONTAP under the "Promotions" tab in the Uber app. At 11 a.m. every day this week, open your app and tap the "5 Days of Gifting" button at the bottom of your screen. If you're lucky enough to be connected with a vehicle, a gift will be delivered to your location. Here's a list of the gifts being delivered: Advertisement Monday Birchbox: A Birchbox or BirchboxMan package filled with beauty and grooming samples. Tuesday Flowers For Dreams: A locally crafted bouquet of winter greens and seasonal stems. Wednesday Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > Framebridge + Ork Posters: A framed red, teal or black Chicago neighborhood map. Thursday Tipsy Elves: A Chicago-themed Tipsy Elves ugly sweater. Advertisement Friday Ultimate Ears: A UE BOOM 2 wireless, waterproof and shockproof Bluetooth speaker. Gift availability is limited. So needless to say, Christmas will come early for some but not others. But you can rest easy knowing that we'll probably just get coal. #naughtylist4life @RianneCoale | rcoale@redeyechicago.com Consensus seems a problem before the current session of Parliament ends. Business Standard's Dilasha Seth and Indivjal Dhasmana report. A delay in enforcing the proposed national goods and services tax (GST) from the target date of April 1, also the start of the next financial year, would cast a shadow on the Union Budget exercise for 2017-2018. GST is presently stuck for want of a consensus on some details of administrative jurisdiction between the Centre and states. And the Budget proposals for the coming year would have to take into account the revenues from excise duty and service tax for the initial months and then from the new indirect tax for the later part of the year. Business would probably be happy about a slight delay, but worried if it gets put off beyond three months, say experts. The GST Council, a body comprising the Union finance minister and state representatives, particularly finance ministers, met on Saturday, December 3. It was not able to find a solution to the issue of division of administrative control between Centre and states over assesses. It is to now meet on December 11 and 12 over the issue. By then, only three days would be left for the winter session of Parliament to be over. If GST is rolled out from April 1, then Part-B of the Budget (which, incidentally, is to be presented earlier this time, on February 1) could contain only proposals on direct taxes and Customs duty. If GST cannot be introduced from this date, Part-B of the Budget has to deal with central excise and services tax as well. "In that case, the finance ministry might make only those changes that are in sync with GST," said M S Mani, of Deloitte Haskins & Sells. He felt excise duty rate might be retained at the current level, while service tax could be increased from 15% to 16%/16.5%, as a transition to the GST rate of 18%. Prashant Agarwal of PwC said the Budget calculations would become complicated. The government will have to extrapolate numbers for three months on service tax and excise duty, and GST for nine months. Revenues from GST will be anybody's guess at the moment, he said. Sachin Menon, partner and head of indirect tax, KPMG India, said the chance of a consensus between the Centre and the states on administrative turf looks difficult before the Parliament session ends. The government will have to go ahead with the current laws on service tax and excise duty in the coming Budget for at least the first quarter of the next financial year, he said. Mani of Deloitte felt business would prefer a deferral, as they would get time to study the rules and make adjustments. He said at least six months was needed for business to do so. If GST begins from April 1, only four months are left and even the final law is not in place, let alone the rules. Malaysia, he said, gave the final law and rules 18 months before GST was to kick in. "I think a slight delay of 2 to 3 months will be welcomed by industry," Poddar said. "But if it is further delayed, particularly beyond September 16 (this is because of a legal problem, he explained a little later), there will be nervousness, as the process would be closer to elections and may be subject to a re-think." Saloni Roy of Deloitte said Canada gave around a year for implementation preparations after the law got official assent. In Singapore, six months was given. Even if the GST Bills are passed in the Budget session of Parliament, Agarwal said rollout of GST from April 1 seemed unlikely. "The GST Council will meet on December 11-12, but so far they have only discussed 9 chapters in the central and state GSTs, of the 27 chapters. Then, there is IGST (integrated GST) and the compensation laws to be also discussed. After that, there is the rate of taxation to be discussed for (specific) goods and services which will be out of the laws. So, from that perspective, July 1 seems pragmatic," he said. Companies, he said, need six months to prepare for GST. "They need to factor in the information technology processes. The uncertainty gives them the buffer time to prepare," he added. Legal issue The thing is that on September 16 this year, the central government had notified the coming into force of various sections of the GST, after the Constitutional amendment permitting the tax fulfilled all the enactment requirements. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has warned if GST does not get enforced from September 16, 2017, there would be a legal vacuum, which is not permissible. 'The Constitution does not permit delay in GST implementation. The government notified GST on September 16 and the Constitutional amendment itself says the current indirect tax system can continue for one year, after which the GST has to come,' Jaitley had said. However, Poddar said the current taxes could be renamed as GST and this issue could be solved. Alternatively, the Constitutional amendment could itself be changed. While it is technically possible to roll out GST after September 1, 2017, this would be closer to the next general election and there would be worries on it taking off, said Poddar and others. Menon feels if GST is not rolled out by September 16, 2017, other laws will get abolished and Parliament might have to do some re-enactments. "But," he said, "in the worst case scenario, it seems that they will be able to roll out GST by July 1. They will have to do Budget calculations accordingly and estimate revenue based on service tax and excise duty for the first few months and GST for the remaining part of the year." Photograph: Mukesh Gupta/Reuters Paytm has, since November 8, been on an overdrive, rolling out a series of features on its app including multi-language options for a no-holds barred access across the country, say Karan Choudhury and Nivedita Mookerji. When Business Standard caught up with Vijay Shekhar Sharma, chief executive officer of Paytm, more than three weeks after the big currency notes were banned, one question on top of the mind was, how did the wallet company cope with the sudden surge in demand for cashless transaction. Did Sharma have at least a hint of what was about to unfold? Over margherita pizza and lemonade in the coffee shop of a luxury hotel, Sharma said he had no clue till Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the announcement late evening on November 8. He quickly added the company was able to manage the rush because it could use the servers that were ready to roll out for the payments bank, which was yet to get the approvals from the Reserve Bank of India. The technology teams were proactively ready. Two things worked out for us, one was the readiness for the payments bank, we were preparing the platform and machinery for the bank, we used those servers and systems already there and did not have to acquire new ones. Second, we were anyway building the internal process for next year to grow 10x and doing stress tests. So our systems were getting secure, having audits for the post-bank launch, Sharma said. The company which has missed the deadlines set by itself for the launch of its payments bank is still several weeks away from the roll-out. Although Paytm had earlier wanted to be the first to start a payments bank, it has already been beaten by Airtel. In fact, Sharma was on a fund-raising mission for the bank when demonetisation broke out. He had flown to Mumbai earlier in the day and was about to leave for dinner at Leopold Cafe when he got to hear Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were reduced to pieces of paper. The team at the Noida-headquartered office was already working on the advertisements to make it on Day One. And Sharma was preparing to leave for Hong Kong for the bank funding next morning. In the days to follow, he tracked the developments including the rush in traffic for Paytm wallet remotely through a WhatsApp group called URGENT created by his team back home. When demonetisation happened, I had not got my money to spend on a payments bank, which means during the initial five days I was a fish out of water. I had to sell my shares to complete the process, as the bank approval was pending. Around Rs 220 crore has been put into the bank, of which Rs 120 crore has come from my side, Sharma said. Paytm has, since November 8, been on an overdrive, rolling out a series of features on its app including multi-language options for a no-holds barred access across the country. The company is now planning to make Paytm available on all types of mobile phones, going much beyond smartphones. While Sharma is at the centre of things post-demonetisation with people on the street as well as in government ministries wanting to take selfies with him, theres a high cost attached to demonetisation for the company. Since the announcement, the companys gross spend has been around Rs 240 crore in November alone -- on advertisements, scaling up, adding more users. This is a classic moment when start-ups are acting as start-ups. Ask him about his earnings, and his reply: These are not the times to calculate earnings. But he has been on a high riding on demonetisation and decided to give out the earning--around Rs 100 crore. The investment and earning spree is likely to continue to tackle demonetisations after effects. In the next three months, One97Communications, the company that owns and runs Paytm , plans to spend around Rs 750 crore on scaling up and expansion. India may have a digital divide but its payments system would not have a digital divide, he said in all seriousness. What about cashbacks? Will the pace slacken a bit? With wallets on the verge of becoming a necessity, Sharma said that cashbacks would reduce. We are actively reducing cashbacks. They have been reduced by 30 per cent already. Cashback spend last year was around Rs 1,400 crore, out of a total spend of Rs 2,500 crore. Even as the recent narrative had shifted to Chinese money in Paytm (Chinese online major Alibaba is the largest investor in One97Communications), Sharma said, I like to refrain from commenting on political issues. He did give out statements earlier though that Paytm is as much an Indian company as Maruti. Paytm wallet to be part of payments bank Paytm Payments Bank is in the process of obtaining the final licence from the Reserve Bank of India. Karan Choudhury One97 Communications, which owns and operates Paytm, will transfer its digital wallet business to the newly incorporated Paytm Payments Bank, sources said. Paytm Payments Bank is in the process of obtaining the final licence from the Reserve Bank of India and would commence its operations after obtaining due approvals. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder-CEO of One97, will hold the majority share in the payments bank. The company, which has missed the deadlines set by itself for the launch of its payments bank, is still several weeks away from the rollout. Paytm had wanted to be the first to start payments bank, but it was beaten by Airtel. In August this year, Paytm hived off its e-commerce and payments bank businesses into two separate companies, according to a filing with the Registrar of Companies. A separate e-commerce business will make a possible joint venture with Chinese major Alibaba easier to execute, analysts said. However, delinking banking operations is according to the regulatory norms prescribed by RBI. According to the filing, the company has been split into two separate entities, Paytm E-commerce Services and Paytm Payments Bank. Sharma is the director of both companies. Sources close to the company said RBI wanted Paytm to ring-fence its payments bank and marketplace arm from the payments business. The company recently raised Rs 220 crore for its payments bank. Around Rs 220 crore has been put into the bank, of which Rs 120 crore has come from my side, Sharma said in an interview to Business Standard earlier. With 160 million customers already using its wallet, Paytm hopes to open as many as 200 million accounts within a year after the launch. It plans to have 500 million users by 2018. IMAGE: Vijay Shekhar Sharma clicks a selfie with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photograph: Kind courtesy, Vijay Shekhar Sharma/Facebook. In the concluding article of a six-part series, Business Standard visits Ludhiana, one of the largest industrial towns in Punjab, to assess the effect of demonetisation. M oolchand Airi sold 15-20 cycles every day a month back; now, he barely sells three. He is not alone suffering from the low demand, a result of the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes by the central government. Nearly a month since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the reform on November 8, demand for consumer goods such as apparels and cycles is yet to recover in Ludhiana, one the largest industrial towns in Punjab. We sold 15-20 cycles a day before currency ban. Now the average is three cycles a day, said Airi. The 65-year-old is the owner of one of the oldest cycle retail shops at Gill Chowk, the busy market area in the town. At present, he employs five people. He doesnt want to let them go despite the fall in sales, as they are well trained. How will I replace them if the demand improves? said Airi. For now, its a wait-and-watch situation, he added. While the big retailers can afford to wait and watch, hoping for a recovery later, not everyone can follow suit. Unskilled workers such as Pachatar Singh, a cart puller, are struggling to make their ends meet. My daily income from has dropped to Rs 50, he said. Before demonetisation started, the father of two used to earn about Rs 500 a day, ferrying cycles and auto parts. Ludhiana, about 100 km northwest of state capital Chandigarh, is home to 38,552 registered micro and small units and 153 registered medium and large units. Among the major manufacturing industries, the leading, in production value, are textiles (Rs 9,328 crore), apparels (Rs 5,256 crore), transport equipment (Rs 11,688 crore) and fabricated metal products (Rs 1,878 crore). T he industrial sector in the town collectively employs around 4.4 million people, according to a 2014-15 report by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Local industrialists said the number of workers employed in the registered industries is around 10 million, as about half the workers were on company pay rolls and others on contract. This helps the companies save money on account of provident fund and medical expenses. Similarly, a large number of people were employed in the informal economy and unregistered units. The industry is forced to do this as 56 per cent of profit goes in various taxes, including excise tax, sales tax andservice tax. The government must reduce the tax to make this demonetisation successful, said Vijay Goel, one of the biggest exporters of cycle parts in Ludhiana. Goel said the export market might contract to Rs 4,500 crore from existing Rs 11,000 crore per annum. Despite this, however, manufacturers and producers have continued production with only marginal cuts. Instead of six days, we are now producing for five days a week, said Upkar Singh Ahuja, a manufacturer of auto parts and chairman of Punjab Small Industrial Development Board. S mall units, however, were on the verge of closing down, he added. Demonetisation had left these reeling with inadequate liquidity and burden with high loans. The industry had requested the government to make the limit of cash withdrawals according to the turnover of the company concerned. But, the manufacturers were more worried about the ripple effect. Retailers, however, had little hope of recovery. Many of them, especially in the apparel sector, had a huge stock, which they feared would be cleared only next season. This was likely to disrupt the entire payment cycle. Usually, retailers get the winter stock from manufacturers by end-October and clear payments in January. Manufacturers start the new cycle of production of summer clothes. This year, 80 per cent of the stock had already been dispatched to retailers in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Delhi and Punjab buyers were still getting supplies. H owever, the slowdown of sales would affect manufacturers and workers, too. We will lose out on profit for one season, and are unsure if the current unsold stock will beat the fashion trend next year. Demonetisation is like a bomb blast in the market, said Darshan Dawar of Ludhiana Knitwear Club. But, there are many who disagree with Dawar. They say the sector was already reeling from other problems. Sudarshan Jain of Knitwear and Apparel Association of Ludhiana said sales were down for the past two-three years, mainly because of warmer winters and rise in illegal import from Bangladesh and Vietnam. Though the situation is not dire, traders are currently uncertain and insecure about the future. They dont feel motivated to buy the fresh raw material. Everyone is waiting and watching how the situation unfolds in the next three months, he said. Image used for representational purposes. Photograph: Babu/Reuters. Measures may include tax slab and rate revisions for individuals, companies, report Business Standard's Dilasha Seth and Arup Roychoudhury. To soften the 'pain' of demonetisation, the central government might announce a number of direct tax sops for individuals as well as the corporate sector in the Union Budget for 2017-2018, which is likely to be presented on February 1. The Budget might have revisions of the tax slabs, reductions in the corporate tax rate, and more tax exemptions or rebates in certain cases. While a clearer picture is emerging, nothing is likely to be finalised till mid-January. Policymakers have stated -- publicly and off the record -- that the Prime Ministers Office and Union finance ministry are working on certain 'populist' measures on taxes. This would fit in with the now expected feel-good Budget. Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal had told Business Standard earlier that there was scope for reduction in direct taxes in the Budget. "There is a likelihood of reduction in direct taxes next financial year. That will be a part of 'ease of doing business.' This will be deliberated on in pre-Budget consultations," the minister said. An official aware of the pre-Budget deliberations said, "We are still in the process of finalising the Budget. However, there is room for direct tax sops. Any potential loss in revenue could be offset with the expected proceeds of the new income-disclosure scheme." The latest disclosure scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, allows those depositing money in the old series Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to enjoy immunity from certain taxation laws by paying a 50% tax on the undisclosed income. However, they would have to deposit a fourth of the undisclosed income for a four-year lock-in. Another government official said the Centre could look at reduction in the corporate tax rate of up to two percentage points from 30% in the next financial year. "While it is too early to talk about direct tax reduction, there will be discussions on the feasibility of re-looking at the tax slabs. Corporate tax will definitely see an across-the-board cut this time of up to 2%," said the official. For general taxpayers, the current income tax exemption ceiling is Rs 2.5 lakh (Rs 250,000) per annum. Salaries from this limit to Rs 5 lakh (Rs 500,000) per annum attract 10% tax; up to Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) attract 20% tax; and above Rs 10 lakh attract 30% tax. Budget-makers are looking at tweaking tax rates as well as slabs. Part-B of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's Budget speech, which presents taxation proposals, might only have announcements related to direct tax and customs announcements as indirect tax measures under the goods and services tax will be decided by the GST Council. Of course, all this hinges upon GST being rolled out by April 1, which seems unlikely with the Centre and states being unable to reach a consensus in the council meeting on Saturday, December 3. The council is going to meet again on December 11 and 12 and try to break the deadlock. Experts, too, expect a revision in tax slabs and rates. "I am expecting something positive on the tax front in the Budget to compensate people for the hurt caused by demonetisation. Fear and tax uncertainty seem to be back on the table. The government may increase some tax slabs to compensate people or come out with some incentives to save taxes. It might do to couple that with stricter and stringent enforcement provisions for non-compliance," said Neeru Ahuja, partner, global business tax, Deloitte. In the 2015-2016 Budget, Jaitley had promised a reduction in corporate tax rates to 25% by 2019. Towards that, the government has laid down a road map to simultaneously phase out exemptions given to the corporate sector to reduce the tax rate, simplify administration and improve India's competitive edge globally. While corporate tax is 30%, the effective rate of taxation is close to 23% on account of a large number of exemptions. The revenue forgone in 2012-2013 on account of tax deduction stood at Rs 68,000 crore (Rs 680 billion). In the next financial year, the corporate rate might hover around 28% after the corporate tax cut. With this, the government is looking at aligning Indian taxation levels to global standards. Confederation of Indian Industry President Naushad Forbes said corporate tax should be reduced to 18% by withdrawing exemptions of all sorts. "There is no need to have exemptions. In 2014-2015, as per our calculations, the effective tax rate for corporate was 19.4% after all exemptions. So basically, we have pitched for a reduction to 18% in the Budget," he said. Forbes added it would make the tax structure much simpler. "The intention is to go for a complete exemption-free system right away and make it more attractive for foreign investors." In the past Budget, the corporate tax rate for companies with a turnover of Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) or less was lowered to 29%, plus surcharge and cess, from 30%, plus surcharge and cess. Besides, a lower corporate tax rate of 25% was also announced for all new manufacturing companies incorporated from March 1, 2016, given that they do not claim any exemptions. The revenue forgone in 2015-2016 on account of exemptions stood at Rs 62,000 crore (Rs 620 billion). Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore reports from Akodara village that went cashless and digital on January 2, 2015. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated ICICI Bank's Digital Village to the nation on January 2, 2015. To Modi's left is Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar. Photograph: Kind courtesy narendramodi.in Even as India is coping with long bank queues to withdraw and deposit demonetised currencies of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 after November 8, a village in Gujarat's Sabarkantha district is an oasis of calm and order. Akodara, about 80 to 90 kilometres from Gandhinagar, the state capital, is India's first Digital Village, where around 1,258 people in 236 households conduct their lives almost cashless within the village. The children study in schools that records their attendance electronically, and imparts lessons on tablets and electronic whiteboards. This Digital Village, created by ICICI Bank, and dedicated to the nation in January 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has about 1,159 bank accounts, where technology helps people use even their basic mobile phones -- those who have smartphones use them too -- to make and receive payments using a simple text message. Accounting the benefits, Jayantibhai, a local shopkeeper, says the most important benefits of going cashless was stoppage of credit to the villagers and freedom from carrying cash while going to Himmatnagar town, a trading centre 20 km away, to buy goods that he sells in his shop. "We go to the ATMs in Himmatnagar to withdraw cash, and make payments to the vendor," he says. "I wish Himmatnagar too goes cashless soon," he says. In his shop, his customers use a simple mechanism to make payments for their purchases. On their mobile phones, the customers first type '3', followed by space, Jayantibhai's mobile number, followed by space, followed by the amount of their purchase, followed by space, followed by the last six digits of their account number. The entire process barely takes a minute and the money gets instantly transferred to Jayantibhai's bank account, which is linked to his mobile number. IMAGE: Neeruba is a regular customer at Jayantibhai' shop. While she doesn't understand technology too much and hesitates using her phone to make digital payments, Jayantibhai knows her son will make the payment by phone whenever he comes by his shop. All Photographs and Videos: Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com However, those who are not comfortable using technology -- mostly older people -- buy goods on credit, the payment for which is made by their sons or daughters when they visit Jayantibhai's shop. "I know Neeruba since 2000. I have no problem selling goods on credit to her," says Jayantibhai when reminded that he had listed no credit to villagers as one of the advantages of going digital and cashless. "Cashless or cash, I owe this much to my villagers," says Jayantibhai with a wide grin. *** "The bank (ICICI Bank) trained people in the village, mostly the youth and women on how to go about buying and selling goods the cashless way using their mobile phones," Rakeshbhai, the deputy sarpanch of Akodara, explains. The village has 4 shops and all of them make use of mobile technology, wi-fi connections and the Internet to transact their monetary needs digitally. Not just shops but even the milk collection centre (seen behind Rakeshbhai in the video) in Akodara uses modern technology to measure the fat content of milk that villagers come to deposit here. School children make use of tablets, electronic whiteboards to learn lessons and swipe cards to record their attendance. "Cashless transactions have helped villagers get into the savings habit," says the excited deputy sarpanch. IMAGE: This ATM in Akodara had no restless crowds unlike others in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar en route. Being a cashless village most villagers find no need to withdraw money. As such this ATM has become a landmark of sorts for people from neighbouring villages as they drop by to withdraw cash hassle-free. However, after about 10 to 15 withdrawals, this ATM too ran out of cash on November 24. Jyotasnaben Patel has been working at the primary school in Akodara for almost 15 years and has been witness to the digital revolution that took over her school and the children last January. IMAGE: Jyotsnaben Patel's wards enjoy studying simple concepts on their tablets "I learnt how to use tablets with the help of the children," says the school teacher about her wards, who as we speak, are busy drawing tomatoes and learning word formation on their tablets. "Most of the information that they need is accessed using these tablets," Patel says about how technology is revolutionising the lives of the children at school. Ask her to show how she uses the metal and glass slab to teach children and Jyotsnaben enthusiastically shows her expertise with the touchscreen interface. One of her students demonstrates how comfortable she is with using an electronic device to sketch a tomato and a tent. Tell the little girl you are hungry and want to eat a tomato and she happily volunteers to draw one again. At the same primary school, Pinkesh Raval is busy teaching a chapter on India's social reformers using a K-Yan (Knowledge Yantra or machine), a small projector actually, as students listen in rapt attention. The schoolmaster punches a few keys and selects a chapter that is digitally available on K-Yan. IMAGE: Pinkesh Raval uses a K-Yan to teach the children about India's social reformers. After every session he asks them questions to check if they have grasped the topic well. "While one cannot substitute the textbooks completely," Raval, the teacher says, "e-learning is big in Akodara and sometimes discourages students from bunking school." Ask students how they study at home and they all say, "Textbooks." IMAGE: A teacher makes use of a projector-aided teaching tool to explain grammar concepts to his students at the secondary school in Akodara. At the secondary school at Akodara, teachers use whiteboards to explain grammar concepts as a classroom full of boys and girls listens to the lessons and basics of grammar studiously. Here, students use a swipe card to record their daily attendance showing how easily the villagers in Akodara adapt to the blowing winds of technology. IMAGE: A student at the secondary school demonstrates how they record their attendance using a swipe card Highlighting the other digital aspect of these villagers' chores is this milk collection centre where everything, from measuring the fat content in the milk to maintaining a digital record of milk supplied by each farmer, to making NEFT payments to their bank accounts takes place seamlessly. "Mohanbhai measures the fat content of the milk we bring here using that machine (see video) and Hareshbhai makes a record of the quantity of milk and its fat content in his computer," says Rasiklal, a villager who has come here to deposit milk. "After every 10 days (the village has adopted a 10 day payment cycle), we get the payment for our milk directly into our bank account. As soon as the payment hits the bank we get a message," Rasiklal adds. Mohanbhai takes some milk in a small container, mixes a chemical in it and pushes it into a machine that measures the fat content. "The fat content is cow's milk is less than that of buffalo's milk and based on their fat content the milk is priced. Higher the fat content, higher is the per litre price," says Mohanbhai and Hareshbhai who work at the Akodara Milk Mandali. Every evening, the Milk Mandali, the cooperative that runs this collection centre, stores milk in a 3,000-litre cold storage tank, which is then collected the next morning by milk vans from the Sabar Dairy, which then distributes the milk to its customers. At the Akodara Animal Hostel, which was inaugurated by Modi in January 2015, more than 1,000 cows and buffaloes are provided shelter, fodder, water, proper medical and reproductive care. Most villagers come to the hostel in the evening to milk their cattle and take their produce to the Milk Mandali. Palak Sheth has more than 10 cows and buffaloes and says he has been making good profits after his village went cashless. Unlike many other farmers in the neighbouring village, Sheth and his fellow villagers have had no impact on their business after the November 8 demonetisation. IMAGE: A villager milks his cow at the Animal Hostel, Akodara, which he will later deposit at the Akodara Milk Mandali. "If we have to buy fodder for our cattle we use our debit cards to make payment," gushes the young man explaining how Akodara's transition to a cashless village. Explaining the benefits of going digital, Sheth says, "Because of cashless transactions we were able to reduce our payment cycle to just 10 days unlike other milk mandalis where they use cash, but take 20 days to settle payments." Akodara's villagers, he adds, produce a turnover of Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) annually by supplying milk to Sabar Dairy. "Our monthly turnover is Rs 9 lakh (Rs 900,000)," he says, "and everyday we deposit 2,100 litres of milk at the Akodara Milk Mandali." Sanjeev Nayyar suggests 16 measures by which we can tackle our unrelenting and untrustworthy neighbour. In the recent Nagrota terror attack, seven army personnel were killed. Before that there was the Uri attack. Every time there is a terror attack people are upset, commentators debate in the media then things cool off till the next attack. Narendra Modi was innovative when he invited the heads of SAARC countries for his swearing in in 2014. His visits to Saudi Arabia, UAE and US were attempts to cut support for Pakistan. Using an Independence Day speech to tacitly support Baluchistan caught most by surprise. The post Uri surgical strikes showed the government was willing to hit back. However, attacks on army continue unabated with casualties at 60 in 2016, amongst the highest in recent years. So where has the National Democratic Alliance has gone wrong? India's policy towards Pakistan has been inconsistent. One day, it talks tough and says Kashmiri separatists cannot meet the Pakistan High Commissioner only to change it later. It is perceived as an inability to hold your ground and a sign of weakness. For the last 30 odd years India's response to Pakistan's sub-conventional war is a conventional one. Since May 2014 mindsets are changing but slowly. India's response to terror attacks and ceasefire violations is a tit-for-tat military approach. She has not significantly hurt Pakistan and its army in any way. Asking the world to isolate Pakistan has limitations because every country has its strategic interests to protect. By repeatedly referring to Pakistan in public speeches India has given disproportionate importance to her neighbour. There is no better motivation for the votaries of jihad than to hear India's prime minister refer to them. The nation-wide jingoism post Uri, including by some in the government, was as if India had won a 20-day war. Indians can boast of victory only when Pakistan is broken into independent countries like Baluchistan, Baltistan. Till then it is work-in-progress. According to army veteran Prakash Katoch, "On November 25, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told a rally in Panaji, Goa, There is no doubt that the army is gallant, but for the first time, the countrys political leadership took a strong policy decision. And after that too, we have given an appropriate response to other cowardly attacks. It was such a powerful response that some days back, finally they called us that please stop this we are pleading with you. Can Indians stop bragging and boasting? Stop treating the ministry of defence and the armed forces as 'holy cows'. Subject them to reform and constructive criticism. How to deal with Pakistan is a question that has haunted every Indian prime minister? Here are some ideas: 1. India must have a coherent strategy and consistent approach. 2. Indians must accept that India will be in a state of perpetual war with Pakistan and China will support Pakistan infinitely. 3. Learning's from the pre-independence era must be reinforced. In 1940 Dr B R Ambedkar wrote in Thoughts on Pakistan, "The Indian Army today is pre-dominantly Muslim in its composition. The Muslims who predominate are from Punjab and North West Frontier Province." Learning 1: During British rule the army got entrenched in regions that constitute modern day Pakistan. Nothing can change that. "After taking into account what the Muslims demanded at the Round Table Conference one would have thought that the limit of Muslim demands was reached and that 1932 was a final settlement. But it appears that even with this the Muslims are not satisfied. A further list of new demands for safeguarding the Muslim position seems to be ready. Learning 2: Even if India were to concede to every Pakistani demand this sub-conventional war will continue. In his presidential address at the 12th session of the Congress in 1896, R M Sayani said, "Before the advent of the British in India, the Muslims were the rulers of the country. The court language was their own. Every place of trust and responsibility, or carrying influence and high emoluments, was theirs by birthright. Learning 3: Pakistan wants Muslims to rule India again. 4. Pakistanis have a good sense of history. India must note dates associated with Islamic rule in the sub-continent or losses for Pakistan. On those days there should extra vigil. 5. The government of India must take the following steps with regard to Pakistan: Consider downgrading diplomatic relations by withdrawing the high commissioner. Ignore it by requesting media and politicians to stop giving mind space and primetime. Stop export of those items that contribute to the Pakistan economy for e.g. export of livestock and steel. The former would reduce beef exports from Pakistan that leapfrogged post 2005. Let China supply steel through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. Do what it takes to fully utilise India's share of waters under the Indus Water Treaty. Stop the Samjauhta Express. Trains make smuggling easier. Every attack has to be met with a retaliation at a time of India's choosing. Devise a strategy to hurt and increase the cost for the Pakistani army. Keep the window of communication open with the Sufis, Shias, scholars and members of civil society etc. Keep Pakistan under pressure from east and west. Cultivate assets in Afghanistan. Take action against Pakistan's assets in India and rebuild covert capability. Be steadfast in our resolve to talk only after it stops exporting terror as an instrument of State policy. 6. Conduct a security audit of army installations in Jammu and Kashmir regions. Weaknesses should be plugged immediately. 7. Build walls around all units and garrisons in Jammu and Kashmir regions. It is expensive but needs to be done. Floodlights with generator backup is a must. Double gates at entrances with well located bunkers which can cover the gate by fire. Bypass bureaucratic delays implement now! 8.The infantry soldier's kit that has remained unchanged for decades, needs a drastic overhaul. He needs a modern assault rifle fitted with day and night weapon sights and accessory rails capable of fitting multiple sensors and a grenade launcher. A lightweight bulletproof combat helmet, lightweight bullet-proof jacket and durable combat boots. This should be done on mission-mode with inputs from soldiers on their specific requirements in field (OFB/ DRDO labs have negligible interaction with soldiers on the ground). 9. Create a 'Sadbhavana Trust' where families of battle casualties would receive, say Rs 3 lakh, contributed by ordinary citizens and corporate India. This will show the army that people of India truly care. 10. A border visit by Akshay Kumar is good but not enough. More celebrities must visit and boost troop morale. 11. Speak sparingly; let the guns talk as India's former high commissioner to Pakistan G Parthasarathy recently wrote. It is often forgotten that the Indian response to infiltration, between 2000 and 2003, was so devastating that in areas like Neelum River Valley life was regularly brought to a standstill. It was this policy that forced General Pervez Musharraf to ask for a ceasefire in November 2003. 12. Army's Technical Support Division must be re-established since it was getting excellent trans-border information about terrorist infiltration. 13. The ministry of defence must also be manned by serving military professional either on deputation or on permanent absorption and vice versa. It will create appreciation for each other's contribution and improve relationships. 14. Unlike the Sittwe port in Myanmar where it is work in progress, India must get Chabahar port in Iran operational at the earliest. It is a gateway to Afghanistan and Central Asia. 15. Continue to aggressively pursue co-operation with other SAARC countries. 16. ISRO must create capability of 24 x 7 surveillance of borders. The situation on the ground is dynamic and tools of response have to change within an overarching strategy. Sanjeev Nayyar is an independent columnist. He tweets @sanjeev192 Reacting mildly to India allowing Tibetan spiritual leader Karmapa to visit Arunachal Pradesh, China on Monday expressed hope that New Delhi would refrain from taking any action that might complicate the boundary dispute. The 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje last week visited Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as a part of southern Tibet. Replying to a question on his visit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, "China's position on the East section of the China-India border is clear and consistent. We hope India can abide by relevant consensus and refrain from any action that might complicate the boundary question." "To ensure the peace and stability of the border areas and sound and stable development of the bilateral relationship serves the common interest of the two sides," he said. Asked whether China has lodged any protest with India in this regard, he said China and India are in "constant communication on this". "The Indian side is clear about solemn position when it comes to boundary question," he said. The 17th Karmapa during his first visit to Arunachal Pradesh toured West Kameng district and preached to the Tibetans at Gyuto Monastery at Tenzingang before leaving for Kalaktang. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju had thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for doing away with the restrictions imposed in the previous eras and for facilitating the Karmapas visit to any part of the country and elsewhere. China's reaction to Karmapas visit appeared far more guarded and mild compared to its response on India granting permission in October this year to the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh. There is also no direct criticism of Karmapa unlike the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing calls a separatist and a politician in the garb of religious leader. China routinely objects to visits by the Dalai Lama, Indian leaders as well as foreign dignitaries to Arunachal Pradesh. On October 24, China took exception to the visit of Richard Verma, the US envoy in India, to Arunachal Pradesh. The border dispute between India and China covers the 3,488-km long Line of Actual Control. India asserts that the dispute covered Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war. IMAGE: Tibetan spiritual leader Karmapa with Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu. Photograph: Pema Khandu/Twitter As a "gracious host", India extended all facilities to Sartaj Aziz for his trip to Amritsar to attend the Heart of Asia conference and there was no reason to complain, government sources said on Monday, a day after Pakistan claimed that restrictions were put on his movement and he was not allowed speak to media. The sources also said a rare exception was made to allow arrival and departure of Aziz, who led the Pakistani delegation, by air at Amritsar which is not a designated port for entry and exit of Pakistani nationals, besides giving swift clearance despite a last minute change in his scheduled arrival by a special flight. In a hurriedly called press conference after his return from Amritsar last night, Aziz had accused India of not treating the Pakistani media properly at the Heart of Asia meeting and said he was not allowed to have a press conference. "The attitude towards media was not good. I wanted to have press interaction with our own media. But we were not allowed," he alleged. On Sunday, Pakistan had also claimed that Aziz was not allowed to visit the Golden Temple and speak to Pakistani media at the hotel where he was staying even as India said it was done considering his security. "They have no reasons to complain. We were gracious hosts. Extended tarmac access, gave additional rooms, provided armoured cars (not given to every foreign minister) and other conveniences keeping special security requirements in view. "This was done despite the last minute change of programme and advancing of arrival in Amritsar by special flight by more than 12 hours. Fresh flight clearance was issued within minutes," the sources said. They said Aziz could be present in the official dinner and in the call on Prime Minister on the evening of October 3 due to the last minute clearance given. "In addition, they were actively engaged in the Senior Officials Meeting and Ministerial and all other requests honoured. A rare exception was made to allow arrival and departure by air at Amritsar which is not a designated airport for entry and exit for Pakistani nationals," they said. Ghani slammed Pakistan to 'please' India: Aziz India's efforts to "spoil" Pakistan-Afghanistan ties will not succeed, Sartaj Aziz said as he downplayed Afghan President's criticism of Pakistan's support to terrorism, saying it was meant to "please" India. "Ashraf Ghani's (Afghan President) statement is regrettable. It shows anxiety in Kabul and is understandable due to deteriorating law and order situation," Aziz said, adding that Ghani's "statements were meant to please India". He said India's efforts to divide Afghanistan and Pakistan will not go far as "we are next-door neighbours". "Indian efforts will not succeed to spoil Pakistan ties with Afghanistan, as our ties are religious and cultural. That is why we want that terrorism should end in Afghanistan," he said on returning home after attending the Heart of Asia meeting in Amritsar. "But our ties with Afghanistan are independent and we need to cooperate on several issues," Aziz said. He claimed that India was trying to use Afghanistan for its own advantage "but it will not succeed". Afghan President Ghani had accused Pakistan of launching an "undeclared war" against his country by covertly supporting terror networks including the Taliban, and asked it to use its $500 million aid to check extremism on its soil. He had also demanded an Asian or international regime to verify Pakistan-sponsored terror operations. Aziz said Pakistan had reassured Ghani that its territory will not be used against Kabul. "I reassured Ghani that we will not allow out territory to be used against Afghanistan. But also emphasised better border management," said Aziz. Aziz said the Afghan leader had a different idea about $500 million assistance pledged by Pakistan and proposed a trilateral commission with China to utilise the amount for welfare of Afghanistan. IMAGE: Supporters of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa cry in front of Apollo hospital in Chennai on Monday. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/ PTI Photo Apollo Hospitals said on Monday evening that a team of its doctors and those from All India Institute of Medical Sciences was continuously monitoring the health of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and denied as totally baseless and false reports that she was no more. Some TV channels are wrongly reporting that the Honourable CM is no more. It is totally baseless and false. They are advised to rectify this mistake based on this press release, the hospital said in a statement after news channels reported that the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader was no more. The hospital statement said Jayalalithaa continued to be on life support. The Apollo specialists and specialists from AIIMS are continually monitoring the CM very closely, it said. Earlier, the AIADMK had lowered its flag at party headquarters in Royapettah to half mast after local media reported that their party supremo is dead. Violence broke out outside Apollo Hospital in Chennai and police had to use mild lathi-charge to control the situation. Soon after this, the hospital released the statement rejecting reports of the CMs death. Earlier in the day, the hospital said the CM remains in a 'grave situation' despite the best efforts of doctors. IMAGE: The scene outside Apollo hospital. Photograph: A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com What's extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or ECMO? The ECMO machine is similar to the heart-lung by-pass machine used in open-heart surgery. It pumps and oxygenates a patient's blood outside the body, allowing the heart and lungs to rest. When you are connected to an ECMO, blood flows through tubing to an artificial lung in the machine that adds oxygen and takes out carbon dioxide; then the blood is warmed to body temperature and pumped back into your body. Being placed on ECMO requires a surgical procedure, but it is usually done in a patient's room. The patient is sedated and given pain medication and an anti-coagulant to minimize blood clotting. A surgeon, assisted by an operating room team, inserts the ECMO catheters into either an artery or veins. An x-ray is then taken to ensure the tubes are in the right place. Usually a patient on the ECMO pump will also be on a ventilator, which helps the lungs to heal. Discontinuing ECMO requires a surgical procedure to remove the tubes. Multiple tests are usually done prior to the discontinuation of ECMO therapy to confirm that the patient's heart and lungs are ready. Information Courtesy: University of California San Francisco 'Despite our best efforts, our beloved CM remains in a grave situation,' Apollo Hospital's Joint Managing Director Sangita Reddy said in a Twitter post. This comes barely two hours after the Hospital in an official statement had said Jayalalithaa "continues to be very critical." Dr Richard Beale, the London-based expert in lung injuries and intensive care management, too said that Jayalalithaa's condition was "extremely grave". In a statement, Dr Beale said: "Unfortunately, and in spite of the progress she had made, her underlying health conditions inevitably meant that the risk of further problems always remained." "The situation is extremely grave, but I can confirm that everything possible is being done to give her the best chance of surviving this shocking event. She is being cared for by a highly multi-disciplinary team and is now on extra corporeal life support. "This is the most advanced level of support available and is the approach the best centres internationally would take in this situation. That this technology is available in Apollo Chennai reflects the high degree of expertise of this centre and, that at all times, Madam has received exceptional care from Apollo and AIIMS care team, which are equal of any in the world," he said. He said his prayers and thoughts were with the Chief Minister, her family, her carers and the people of Tamil Nadu "at this very difficult time". 68-year-old Jayalalithaa has been put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a heart assist device, and was under the watch of experts, including cardiologists. The ailing chief minister had shown signs of improvement during the last few days before the setback on Sunday. The Centre has dispatched a team of specialists from the All India Institute of Medical Science to Apollo Hospital. "We are in constant touch with Apollo and Tamil Nadu government. They had requested a team of doctors from AIIMS. We have sent a team of specialists from AIIMS Dr Khilani, Dr Trikha, Dr Narang and Dr Talwar. We hope that doctors from AIIMS and Apollo will be able to help in her recovery. We pray to God that she regains her health," Health Minister J P Nadda said. The team of AIIMS doctors include pulmonologist Dr GC Khilnani, anaesthetist Dr Anjan Trikha, cardiac surgeon Dr Sachin Talwar and cardiologist Dr Rajiv Narang. IMAGE: Party workers, who had gathered in large numbers outside the hospital after news of her cardiac arrest broke, braved midnight rains and continued to wait outside, praying for the recovery of 'Amma' (mother), as she is fondly called by her supporters. Photograph: A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com Party workers, who had gathered in large numbers outside the hospital after news of her cardiac arrest broke, braved midnight rains and continued to wait outside, praying for the recovery of 'Amma' (mother), as she is fondly called by her supporters. Actor and party supporter, 'Gundu' Kalyanam, said the party workers had faith in the divine power and expressed confidence that Jayalalithaa would recover. President Pranab Mukherjee, DMK leader M Karunanidhi, his son and opposition leader K Stalin, Union Ministers, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Chief Ministers and a host of leaders have expressed concern over Jayalalithaa's health condition and wished her speedy recovery. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said the state may require extra forces, which the home ministry will be ready to put on standby "whenever" required. The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs said the Centre cannot intervene on its own but is willing to send extra forces to Tamil Nadu if the state asks for it. "They haven't asked anything formally," Rijiju said, adding that the state has a significant number of central forces. "If there is a law and order situation then the Centre is always willing to send extra forces. It is our primary duty to ensure that the state is being helped in whatever possible way they require. "Because of the prevailing health condition of the Chief Minister (Jayalalithaa) they may require extra forces which the Home Ministry will be ready to be put on standby, whenever and whatever they require," the minister said. The US Consulate in Chennai has issued an "emergency message" for American citizens, asking them to review their personal security plans and remain aware of the local events. "US citizens are reminded that even gatherings intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. You should avoid areas of demonstrations, and exercise caution if in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations," the Consulate said in a message on its official website without any reference to any particular development. "Review your personal security plans; remain aware of your surroundings, including local events; and monitor local news stations for updates. Maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security," the message said. Further, the Consulate General will operate with reduced staffing on Monday, it announced, adding, it has "temporarily suspended appointments for routine services to US citizens and visa applicants." Earlier in the day, eminent cardiologist Dr Naresh Tehran, who is heading a team of doctors to Chennai Apollo, said the Tamil Nadu chief minister was in a 'critically-stable' condition. Speaking to ANI, Dr Trehan said as per the latest statement, Jayalalithaa is stable, which means that the machine has helped to stabalise the situation as this gives the patient a chance to pull through. "The underlying criticality is still there. How she will come out of it is still the future. The clarification here is that she is still critical, but stable. 'Critically-stable' that's what we normally say. That means there is an opportunity that she might come out of it," he said. "She was admitted two months ago in a critical condition and in that time whatever we knew was her chronic lung problem. There was also serious thought that whether she will be able to come out of it or not, but the recent record showed that she had come out of it and she was well. So, the doctors said that she could go home if she wants to; so, there was a lot of hope. Suddenly, yesterday, it took a back turn and said that she had a cardiac arrest," he added "The ECMO or Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation device is a life support system that helps provide oxygen to the body when the patient's lungs or heart are unable to do so. Worldwide, it gives patients a 50-50 chance in acute situation. Ultimately, we all are hoping that she will recover, and it also shows that the situation is very critical. ECMO is a good device," he added. Meanwhile, a Cuddalore report said security has been strengthened at Neyveli Lignite mines and Thermal power stations. No untoward incidents have been reported, Cuddalore district SP C Vijayakumar said. Five Karnataka state owned buses have been parked in the Tamil Nadu Transport Corporation sheds as they did not ply to Bengaluru, he said. Most business establishments in some areas in the district were closed since Sunday evening. AIADMK workers and supporters offered mass prayers for Jayalalithaa's recovery in temples including the Nataraja shrine at Chidambaram. A Coimbatore report said buses, taxies and autorickshaws plied as usual in the morning, and educational institutions remained open. Almost all shops and traders opened their business establishments. However, around 3pm, several private buses, taxis and autorickshaws stopped plying and school managements allowed the parents to take their wards from the schools. The City police commissioner warned of stringent action against those who indulged in spreading unnecessary rumours on the chief minister's health condition. Government buses going to Karnataka from Coimbatore and Nilgiris district did not not ply and also buses from that state were stopped at the inter-state borders on Nilgiris district apprehending violence, police said. President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Union ministers, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and various other top leaders have condoled Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's demise and paid glowing tributes to her. DMK chief M Karunanidhi said there may have been many differences of opinion between the DMK and the AIADMK but there can be no doubts she "bravely" worked for her partymen's welfare. "Although she might have died at a young age (68), there is no doubt that her fame will remain forever." Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Deeply saddened at the passing away of Jayalalithaa; her demise has left a huge void in Indian politics. I will always cherish the innumerable occasions when I had the opportunity to interact with Jayalalithaa ji. May her soul rest in peace." President Pranab Mukherjee said, "Heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of Ms Jayaram Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. One of India's most charismatic and popular leaders, Ms Jayalalithaa was a visionary and able administrator. Her life was dedicated to the socio-economic transformation of Tamil Nadu and its people. In her passing away, the nation has lost an icon who was loved and admired by millions. Her contribution to the progress and development of Tamil Nadu will be long remembered." Vice President Hamid Ansari said, "An eminent public figure, a charismatic personality, she had immense influence over the political developments in Tamil Nadu as well as the national level. As Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, her contributions towards the economic development of the state and social welfare of the poorer segments will be long remembered and cherished. Her death is an irreparable loss to the people of India." Congress President Sonia Gandhi said, "I am deeply grieved to learn the passing of Selvi J Jayalalithaa. Selvi Jayalalithaa lived her entire life with the same indomitable courage with which she battled her illness. As the leader of AIADMK and four-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, she had a unique and deep empathy with the needs and hopes of the people, and put in place policies that immeasurably improved their lives. Whether it was her welfare schemes for the rural and urban poor, her swift relief measures in the aftermath of tsunami, or her vision of Tamil Nadu's industrial development, her leadership qualities and administratively abilities were truly outstanding." Sonia hailed her as a "towering figure in our national and political life, who won admiration across the political spectrum for the intrepid spirit with which she faced the ups and downs of her life in politics." Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi said, "We lost a great leader today. Women, farmers, fishermen and the marginalised dreamt through her eyes. We will miss Jayalalithaaji, Amma to millions." Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, "She was a powerful voice for the weaker sections of the society. She always worked for the benefit of the poor and needy. She has left an indelible mark in Tamil Nadu politics with her enduring legacy. Selvi Jayalalithaa was one of the most iconic political figures of India who had an enormous impact on the people of Tamil Nadu. I pay my heartfelt tributes to the departed soul. I also appeal to the people of Tamil Nadu to remain calm in this hour of grief." West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "A popular, bold, efficient, people-friendly charismatic leader Amma, always at the heart of people. Big loss, I am shocked, saddened. I humbly urge the people of Tamil Nadu and AIADMK to face this big loss with courage and greatness. May she rest in peace." Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot said, "Deeply saddened to learn of the demise of Tamil Nadu CM, Selvi Jayalalithaa. Iron Lady in politics so far, has left a vacuum." Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy said, "Jayalalithaa has done a lot of good work for the development of Tamil Nadu and for the welfare of the people. I mourn her death personally and also on behalf of the people of the union territory." Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, "Very sad to hear the demise of Amma. A very very popular leader. Aam aadmi's leader. May her soul rest in peace." BJP President Amit Shah said, "Saddened by the demise of Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa ji. I extend my deepest condolences to her party and followers in this hour of grief." Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, "Jayalalithaa was very popular leader, able administrator. Her connect with people was enormous and unique She created "Brand Amma", a different kind of pro poor politics. My heartfelt condolences." Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said he felt as if he had lost his sister and expressed his admiration for her courage, conviction, dynamism, wisdom and bold administration. Congress veteran and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said, "She brought a hard uncompromising style to politics and governance that won praise and criticism. Jayalalithaa acquired large loyal following that equalled that of her mentor MGR." Jayalalithaa was the "most dominant political personality of Tamil Nadu in the last 25 years," he said, adding, "AIADMK must carry on and provide a government for remaining over four years." Kerala Governor P Sathasivam said, "In her we saw the perfect blending of the strong will of an able administrator and the compassion of a philanthropist. In her sad demise, we have lost a unique mother's touch that had brightened the lives of millions of people during the last three decades". Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan described Jayalalithaa as an extraordinary politician with a rare political acumen and administrative skills which made her a distinct leader in Indian politics. "We do not have any other Chief Ministers in our country who have influenced people like this. Her passing away is not only a major loss to Tamil Nadu, but for the entire country," he said. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, "Jayalalithaa was not only the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, but also a respected leader of the entire nation. She was the symbol of women's empowerment." Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said her death is a "great loss" to the Tamil society. He said the way Jayalalithaa emerged as the political heir to late M G Ramachandran from being an actress was "inspirational". "At a time when women entering politics was rare, Jayalalithaa created a political history in contemporary Tamil Nadu politics by becoming AIADMK's General Secretary and later as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu." Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said, "I am saddened by the demise of Jayalalithaaji. It was a shock for all of us. She had been a great, popular leader. I pay homage on behalf of the state of Goa. May her soul rest in peace." Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said she was the leader of the masses and had made immense contribution to the development and welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu. Patnaik described her as the 'Iron Lady' of Tamil Nadu. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu said, "Lovingly called Amma, who worked for the poor and the downtrodden she left behind a political legacy to cherish. I believe, leaving this mortal world will not diminish the love and affection showered on her by the people and her soul will remain immortal." Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said she made a special place in the heart of every citizen of southern state. Her death is a great loss to not just her party AIADMK, but also for all the people of Tamil Nadu, he said. Describing Jayalalithaa as "people-friendly charismatic leader", West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee her demise is a "big loss". "Popular, strong, bold, efficient, Amma. Always at the heart of people. I am shocked, saddened," Banerjee said in her message. Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi said Jayalalithaa was a rare political personality who charted a distinct path of governance through her strong and able leadership. Bedi, in her letter to the Tamil Nadu government, described the late Chief Minister as a multi faceted personality. Jayalalithaa had been a symbol of women empowerment and always had her heart for the cause of women. People of Puducherry shared the sorrow of the loss along with the people of Tamil Nadu, she said. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje tweeted: "Deeply saddened by the demise of Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaaji. I join the nation in mourning the loss of an icon -- a leader of the masses." Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said Jayalalithaa was "the people's chief minister" and her death is "the biggest loss to the political process of the country". "It is a sad day for the entire country. Jayalalithaa was a great personality. I believe she was one of the most learned leaders of our country. The void she left is hard to fill," she said. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Jayalalithaa was one of the greatest women leaders. "Very few people get the kind of love, affection and support she got from people. She's one of those few," he said in his condolence message. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu tweeted, "In deep anguish over the demise of Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa, a long-time friend & a leader with indomitable spirit who is loved by all. My deepest condolences to her well-wishers & supporters. She will remain in our memories as leader who truly cared for people." Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, in his condolence message, expressed grief of losing one of the most charismatic, influential and dedicated leaders ever produced by the country. Lovingly called Amma, who worked for the poor and the downtrodden she left behind a political legacy to cherish. I believe, leaving this mortal world will not diminish the love and affection showered on her by the people and her soul will remain immortal, Khandu said. Expressing deep grief over Jayalalithaas death, Gujarat Governor O P Kohli stated that she was a multi-talented human being and a popular leader of Tamil Nadu. Citizens will always remember her pro-people work, he said. West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi said Jayalalithaa worked for the welfare of women and the poor. She was a cultural personality and was a versatile actress before joining politics, he said. Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehot said she was a true leader of the poor and the marginalised. Her death has left a void, which cannot be filled. It is the end of an era in Indian politics and in Tamil Nadus life and society, he said. Yuvajana, Shramika, Rythu Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy said Jayalalithaa rode like a colossus on the Dravidian political canvass. He said she will be remembered for her resoluteness, fighting spirit and pro-poor policies. In her death, the country in general and Tamil Nadu in particular lost a great orator, able administrator and a mass leader. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said, A very popular and dynamic leader, J Jayalalithaa was a long-serving chief minister, who served the people very passionately. The country has lost a leader of immense potential, he says adding Jayalalithaas death is premature and untimely and is bound to create a void. Telangana Rashra Samiti MP K Kavitha said Jayalalithaa was an inspiration to people including her and emerged stronger despite facing many challenges. Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury described her as the most powerful chief minister in the country and said she will remain immortal. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray termed he an embodiment of regional pride and iron lady of politics. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said the country had lost a shining star on political horizon in the passing away of Jayalalithaa. Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar in a tweet said, Deeply saddened to know about the passing away of Jayalalithaa. She will always be remembered as Amma of the masses. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar also expressed profound grief and sorrow over the demise of Jayalalithaa. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and working president Omar Abdullah expressed profound grief and sorrow over the demise of Jayalalithaa. Nagaland Chief Minister T R Zeliang also condoled her death. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat visited Tamil Nadu House in Delhi to condole her death by garlanding her picture. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad condoled the demise of Jayalalithaa, terming it as a huge setback for the democracy. Under her charismatic leadership, Tamil Nadu witnessed fast social and economic transformation. She shared a deep emotional bonding with her followers. Her pro-people initiatives reflected her extra ordinary commitment for the well being of common people, Prasad said. Photograph: AIADMK/Twitter Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar spent Monday outside the Apollo hospital, Chennai, along with hundreds of AIADMK supporters praying for Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's health. Early in the morning on Monday there were more policemen than civilians outside the Apollo hospital, Chennai, where Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa is being treated after a cardiac arrest. It had rained intermittently in the night, but that did not deter Amma's supporters who had kept an all-night vigil outside the hospital. Many of the people gathered there were the same people one had met on November 8; in fact, many of them have stationed themselves outside the hospital right from September 22, when Jayalalithaa was first admitted to the hospital. Looking at the crowds, you realise that party faithfuls too march on their stomach, and there was a mini industry of sorts all around dishing out various food items. There was a vendor selling hot dosas by the dozen, another vendor offered omelettes, there was a chaiwallah doing such brisk business that he had to keep going back for replenishments. If all this gives you the impression of a festive spirit outside the hospital, you cannot be more wrong. Te mood was somber and sad, the people clearly worried about what will happen to their beloved chief minister. As the sun rose in the sky, the AIADMK cadres started arriving in strength on foot, and the ministers in their huge cars flying the tricolour. Next came the MLAs in smaller cars but with a sticker that identified them as a member of the legislative assembly. They were all allowed into the hospital unlike the party cadres. Cars sporting the AIADMK flag of twin leaves ferried party leaders. Tamil movie comedian Gundu Kalyanam, a fixture at the hospital, was around on Monday as well, looking depressed. When reporters approached him all he had to say was, "We want our Amma to come back," looking like he would burst into tears any moment. Elsewhere the women folk, unarguably Jayalalithaa's biggest supporters, were wailing, their sobs peaking whenever the television cameras focused on them. The men were stoic but you could see the sorrow in their eyes. They had lost all hope, but yet hoped for a miracle. For her party workers Jayalalithaa's feats are no less than miraculous. Like when she led her party to an unexpected second consecutive win in the assembly elections in May this year. Or the time in 2014 when she bagged 37 out of 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu when she resolutely resisted the Narendra Modi wave that swept the rest of the country. The police had expected large crowds on Monday and had accordingly come prepared with plenty of rope which they used to cordon off the area, restricting movement to the pavements. On Sunday the surging crowds had filled Greams road, forcing traffic to a standstill. The police were determined to not let that happen on Monday, and succeeded too. They were up against a grieving crowd, they were firm but never harsh with anyone. There were many elderly women who could hardly walk, but who nevertheless made the trip to the hospital. They believe if they just stood outside the hospital soon Jayalalithaa would emerge and give them darshan. Many of them had been there overnight, and tears rolled down their cheeks as they spoke of their fondness for Amma. All through the day there was no news from the ministers and MLAs who were inside the hospital nor did they come out. The mood all around was sad but the people sounded positive, sure that Amma has had surgery and she was better. She would come out fine was the belief, the hope. Miracle was the word on the street, and that's what the cadres too want. Would fate relent under pressure from so many? IMAGE: AIADMK workers, who had gathered in large numbers outside the Apollo hospital after news of her cardiac arrest broke, braved midnight rains and continued to wait outside, praying for the recovery of 'Amma' (mother), as she is fondly called by her supporters. Photograph: A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com Scores of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam workers on Monday gathered at the Apollo Hospitals, where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa is undergoing treatment after suffering cardiac arrest, with some wailing and other looking dejected over the news of the deterioration in their leader's health. Photograph: PTI Photo Party workers from several districts like Parimala of Tiruvannamalai and Subramanian of North Chennai, who arrived at the hospital, said that "We are waiting. We are confident that we will get good news soon." Some people milling around the hospital premises, including AIADMK workers, were seen praying seeking divine intervention so that their party supremo Jayalalithaa recovers. 68-year-old Jayalalithaa has been put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a heart assist device, and was under the watch of experts, including cardiologists. State ministers, including senior Minister P Thangamani, and other top AIADMK functionaries like B Valarmathi, who arrived at the hospital earlier, left for a brief while and returned. Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan enquired about Jayalalithaa's health with hospital authorities and AIADMK leaders. Rajini, an elder woman party worker from Jayalalithaa's RK Nagar constituency, was seen praying fervently, tears flowing down her cheeks. She was joined by scores of party women workers from RK Nagar. Photograph: ANI With more and more people reaching the premises and lining up the approach roads, it resulted in traffic congestion in the neighbourhood. Police are having a tough time in regulating the crowd and ensuring that patients are not inconvenienced even as the hospital remained under tight security cover. Though the state government has not announced closure of schools and educational institutions, some of them remained closed as the managements took a decision in this regard. Even in schools that were open, thin attendance was reported. Shops and commercial establishments largely remained open, police said. Photograph: A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com Many women, who gathered near the main gate of the hospital, could be seen praying fervently for the well-being of their Amma (mother), as she is fondly known among her supporters. "I only hope to hear a good news about Amma's health. Right now, we are very tensed. I got the news about her heart attack one hour back and just arrived here," an AIADMK cadre said. Some of the women held photographs of Jayalalithaa and raised slogans "Amma vaazhga, Puratchi thalaivi vaazhga!! (Long live Amma, Long live revolutionary leader)." "Amma is our Rani of Jhansi. She has achieved what others cannot. We are all praying for her speedy recovery," said another supporter. Photograph: ANI Jayalalithaa is now on special support systems for her heart and lungs, said Apollo Hospital in Chennai, where she was admitted on September 22. In a series of tweets, Apollo said "She is on extracorporeal membrane heart assist device and is being treated by a team of expert doctors and critical care specialists." Extracorporeal life support is provided to a patient in need of cardiac and respiratory support. The hospital also said that a UK consultant who had flown down earlier to supervise the 68-year-old's treatment has been consulted about the line of care being provided to her now. Apollo Hospital also asked the public to pray for the politician's urgent recovery. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the online reader's poll for TIME magazine's Person of the Year 2016, beating out other world leaders like US President-elect Donald Trump, incumbent US leader Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi won with 18 per cent of the vote when the poll closed on Sunday night, getting significantly more votes than his closest contenders, including Obama, Trump and Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange, who all received 7 per cent of the 'yes' vote. Modi was also placed far ahead of other prominent figures of this year, like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (2 per cent) and US Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (4 per cent), Time said. Time's editors will decide the final Person of the Year later this week, but the online poll results provide a look at how the world sees these figures and Modi emerged as the most influential figure in 2016, according to the online poll. Time said the reader poll is an "important window" into who they think most shaped 2016. It is for the second time that Modi has won the online readers' poll for Time Person of the Year title, securing the honour in 2014, when he had got more than 16 per cent of the almost five million votes cast. For the fourth year in a row, Modi is among the contenders for Time's 'Person of the Year' honour, which the US publication bestows every year to the one "who has most influenced the news and our world in the past year, for good or ill". Last year German Chancellor Angela Merkel was Time's 'Person of the Year'. Time said in recent months, Modi saw high approval ratings from Indians, according to a September Pew poll. It added that Modi has come under scrutiny recently for getting rid of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, impacting cash-based businesses and threatening India's economy. Current poll results, analysed by poll host Apester, found that preferences differed across the world and the United States. Modi performed particularly well among Indian voters as well as those in California and New Jersey. Modi had been in the lead in this years online poll and according to the initial votes cast, he had got 21 per cent voting in his favour. For a while Assange had overtaken Trump for the lead in the online poll, getting 10 per cent of all the "yes" votes cast by participants, Time had said. Among the contenders this year are former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, FBI Chief James Comey, Apple CEO Tim Cook, parents of slain Muslim-American soldier Humanyun Khan, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Time had also analysed the moments from 2016 when this year's poll contenders were most talked about. For Modi, it was October 16 when the Indian leader had suggested during a summit of BRICS nations in Goa that Pakistan is the "mothership" for terrorism. Photograph: PTI Photo United States President-elect Donald Trump has accused China of currency manipulation and military expansionism in the South China Sea, days after offending Beijing by speaking over phone with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. The two tweets from Trump Sunday night are expected to add to the US-China tension. Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesnt tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? Trump said in a series of tweets. I don't think so! the President-elect said. The President-elect has already infuriated China by talking over phone with the Taiwanese President, the first by a top American leader since 1979. The Washington Post said Trumps protocol-breaking telephone call with Taiwans leader was an intentionally provocative move that establishes the incoming president as a break with the past. China was a frequent target of Trumps during his presidential campaign and, as he prepares to take office next month, every sign points to his taking an aggressive line with Beijing. China regards self-governing Taiwan as a breakaway province, and the two sides enjoy a fragile peace marked by delicate political rhetoric and rising economic integration. China lodged a diplomatic protest with the US over the call. US politicians often accuse China of artificially depressing its currency, the renminbi, in order to boost its exports. Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the unfortunate tragedy where our brave soldiers die every week to prevent more lethal attacks on the nation. When Narendra Modi became prime minister the terrorists would never dare to cross the LoC, Amit Shah, then a minister in the Gujarat government, promised us, implying that Modi's tough guy image would scare the terror masterminds lurking across the border to keep their murderous hordes away from the Kashmir valley. With the almost weekly terror attacks on the Indian Army in the valley, claiming the most precious lives of our soldiers, we are reminded of Shah's boast and wonder what went wrong. Why are the terrorists attacking our soldiers with such reckless impunity? Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had claimed last December that Pakistan army officers had called their Indian counterparts and begged for mercy. Addressing a rally in his native Goa, the minister had declared, 'There is no doubt that the army is gallant. But for the first time, the country's political leadership took a strong policy decision. And after that too, we have given an appropriate response to other cowardly attacks.' 'It was such a powerful response that some days back, finally they called us that "Please stop this, we are pleading with you,"' Parrikar revealed. 'We said that we have no problem stopping it, but you stop it too. As a result, there is no firing on the border.' Tuesday's attack on an army convoy in Shopian -- where three brave sons of India made the ultimate sacrifice for the motherland -- comes just days after seven courageous soldiers lost their lives fighting the terrorists. Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the unfortunate tragedy where our soldiers die every week to prevent more lethal attacks on the nation. When, Prime Minister Modi, will the coffins of our heroes stop coming home? Lok Sabha The deadlock over the nature of debate on demonetisation persisted for the third week in the Lok Sabha on Monday with the Opposition accusing the government of running away from discussion under a rule that entails voting despite the decision causing havoc for the common man. Why is the 56-inch afraid? Why is government running away from debate... Dont be afraid of voting. We want voting, chanted opposition members despite Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh expressing readiness for an immediate debate and leaving the issue of the nature of debate to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. The debate on demonetization has been listed in Mondays agenda under Rule 193. Attacking the government for the faulty execution of demonetisation, Opposition members alleged that a large number of people have died, lakhs rendered unemployed with farmers and traders being the worst hit. People are unable to get their salary and pension, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress) and Sudip Bandopadhyay (Trinamool Congress) said. Kharge said 17 opposition parties have now decided to seek a debate under Rule 184 that also entails voting instead of Rule 56 under which an adjournment motion is taken up. Putting forth a stout defence, the home minister insisted that the decision has been taken in national interest and it would strengthen the economy and curb black money and graft. As regards difficulty in implementation, he said the government is willing to the Oppositions suggestions and they must start a debate immediately without fussing over rules. As Congress and TMC members protested, he said even the Opposition ranks were divided over the rule governing the debate as he pointed out that A P Jithender Reddy of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti had given a notice for discussion under Rule 193, which does not entail voting. Singh said the decision should be left to the speaker. The speaker wanted members to take up the debate without any rules and said whether to take up division of votes on this or not can be decided later. This was not acceptable to opposition members who again stormed the Well chanting slogans and targeting the prime minister. Kharge targeted the government following Singhs statement and wondered if the opposition members raising concerns of farmers and labourers were traitors. Attacking the government, Mulayam Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) said 16 people have died in his party-ruled Uttar Pradesh due to demonetisation and alleged that the government had taken the decision on suggestions of big industrialists. You should call an all-party meeting. If you had to do it, we should also have been taken into confidence, he said, inviting barbs from treasury benches. Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav (Rashtriya Janata Dal) said there cannot be bahasbandi (stopping debate) in the name of notebandi (note ban), and alleged that 105 people have died so far due to the hardships faced at bank or ATM queues. Reddy said Modis intention to curb black money was welcome but the decisions implementation is a problem. People are facing a lot of problem. Whether under Rule 193 or 184, let there be a debate, he said. As opposition members continued with vociferous protests, the Chair adjourned the House for the day. Earlier, as soon as the House assembled for the day, Kharge said the Opposition was ready to initiate the debate under Rule 184 instead of their original demand for it to be held under Rule 56, and the government must now agree to it. We have come down from Rule 56 to Rule 184. Now the government should also come down from Rule 193 and agree to Rule 184, he said. The government has been maintaining that it was ready for a debate on demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes under Rule 193 that does not entail voting. Rajya Sabha Opposition parties continued their tirade against the government in Rajya Sabha over the woes of employees and the pensioners due to the cash crunch following demonetisation, as vociferous protests forced the wash out of the first half of the days proceedings. Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party and TMC members trooped into the Well of the House raising slogans demanding the governments reply on the problems faced by employees and pensioners, forcing Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to adjourn the proceedings till noon and again till 2 pm as similar scenes continued. Soon after the Upper House mourned the death of two of its former members and the listed papers were laid, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said: The government employees and pensioners are not getting their salaries. I want to know from the government if there is a financial emergency. He said there is no cash in ATMs located even in the Parliament complex. When we are not getting money from ATMs in Parliament, how do we expect it outside? It seems there is a financial emergency. Stating that it is a serious issue, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien called members to resume the discussion on demonetisation that began on November 16. I am agreeing that you are raising a important and serious issue. It is for the government to reply. You start discussion. If all of you shout, what is the benefit? The only remedy is discussion, he said. But unrelenting Opposition members trooped into the Well raising slogans Janata ka paisa, janata ko do (give people their money), Hosh mein aao, hosh mein aao, Pradhan Mantri House mein aao (Come to your senses, PM come to the House). As protesting members started shouting at high pitch, Kurien said: You want a solution to the problem, then go back and raise the issue. Then the government will reply. This is not the way. There is anarchy in the House. I am not going to adjourn. Slogan shouting is no solution. You will get certain headlines in newspapers and nothing more. I will not adjourn. The Treasury benches countered the Opposition shouting we want discussion, we want discussion. As the Opposition members refused to heed to the Chairs repeated pleas to return to their seat, Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu suggested the Chair to take up the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2014. Opposition members did not heed to this, even as Naresh Agarwal (SP) said that the entire nation has been crippled due to demonetisation. As the protests continued, the House was adjourned till noon. When the House met at noon, members were on their feet raising uproar. While Chairman Hamid Ansari called for taking up the Question Hour, his pleas did not evoke any response as members kept speaking out of turn. It is your Question Hour, he said as Opposition members shouted No. With Anand Sharma (Congress), Naresh Agrawal (SP), Derek OBrien (TMC), Satish Misra (BSP) and Tapan Kumar Sen (CPI-M) speaking at the same time, no one could be heard. Incidentally, the microphones of Opposition leaders speaking were put off and only that of the Chairman and the member raising the question were working. As pandemonium prevailed in the House, Ansari said, Nobody is being heard. Meanwhile, Congress, TMC members and those of some other Opposition parties were standing in the aisles raising slogans and demanding the presence of the prime minister in the House for the demonetisation debate to resume. As uproar continued, the Chairman adjourned the House till 2 pm. When the House reassembled at 2 pm, Agarwal said he went to Air India office where he was surrounded by employees to complain that they have not been paid salaries. "An explosive situation has developed," he said raising the issue of government employees not being paid salaries following demonetisation of old high denomination currency last month. In the meantime, several Opposition members were up on their feet speaking all at go. Congress members were heard shouting janta ka paisa janta ko do'. Amid din, Deputy Chairman Kurien permitted Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot to move The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014 for passage. Kurien sought cooperation from the protesting members for passage of the bill saying it is a non-controversial legislation and should be approved. The Bill could not be passed amid the din. "You honourable members, you are shouting. You should not do so," Kurien said in another bid to restore order in the House as Congress members raised full-throated slogans from Well of the House. Members from treasury benches insisted for passage of the bill moved by Gehlot and continuation of the debate on demonetisation. Kurien also warned Sasikala Pushpa, expelled from the AIADMK, for carrying a placard with message Save Our Amma. Referring to the non-payment of salaries to employees, Anand Sharma (Congress) said, Over the weekend, the situation has worsened. He said a large number of people have lost jobs following governments disastrous mismanagement of demonetisation and asked the Centre to rectify the suffering inflicted by the government on the people. Sharma also stressed that members were in favour passage of the Disabilities Bill, but added, When the House is not in order, the Bill cannot be passed. Sharma also alleged that ruling party members were creating disturbances in the House. Bhupinder Singh (Bharatiya Janata Party) raked up issues relating to 2G and coal scams, as he asked the Congress members to continue the debate on demonetisation. Agarwal (SP) said the Opposition has said they would cooperate in government work but the government has made the entire country disabled as the people were facing problems due to demonetisation. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi objected to a word used by Agarwal, which the Chair later expunged. As Tapan Sen (CPI-M) tried to raise his point, Kurien said, You are raising a valid point, why dont you raise it in an order. Referring to non-payment of salaries to employees, Rajiv Shukla (Congress) said if the situation was not so, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was in the House, should have refuted it. Another senior Congress MP Satish Sharma wondered whether the government has become bankrupt as it was not paying salaries to employees. Kurien said the disability bill cannot be passed amid din and adjourned the House for the day, as the noisy protests continued. Asia's oldest and largest cattle fair may soon lose its star attraction. Report, Photographs: M I Khan IMAGE: An elephant at the Sonepur cattle fair. Neighing horses. Heavy-lidded cattle, chewing on cud. Frisky goats. Patient donkeys. Impatient monkeys. Playful rabbits and ponies. Energetic guinea pigs. Sleepy bears. Watchful cats. These are just some of the animals that you spot at the Sonepur cattle fair in Saran, Bihar. Held in November -- it begins on Kartik Purnima and is held at the confluence of the two rivers, the Ganga and the Gandak -- the fair can stretch anywhere from 15 days to a month. If you happened to drop by, you would be astounded to find out that this is the oldest, and largest, such cattle fair in Asia. It is believed to have existed between 340-297 BCE at Hajipur and counted among its august visitors the great Mauryan ruler, Chandragupta. Later, under Emperor Aurangzeb's rule, the location of the fair was moved to Sonepur. But this history -- interesting though it is -- is not the Sonepur Mela's biggest attraction. The credit for that -- you can take this literally if you want -- goes to those magnificent animals, the elephants. At one time, the Haathi Bazaar, or the elephant market at the Sonepur Mela, would attract hordes of elephant buyers and sellers from across India. Just the Haathi Bazaar would be spread over a kilometre. Buyers from Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Kerala would walk among the tuskers, choosing the ones they would like to take home. Today, with the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 in force -- under its provisions, the sale of elephants was banned in early 2000 -- barely a baker's dozen of the gentle behemoths have made it to the fair. And they are here for display, not for sale. The Haathi Bazaar now finds itself confined to 500 hectares, but still pulls its fair share of visitors who include locals, tourists from across the country and foreigners from distant lands. IMAGE: Brajnandan Singh brought his elephant, Babusaheb, to the Sonepur Mela. Dressed in a white cotton kurta and dhoti, Brajnandan Singh is here with his haathi, Babusaheb. The 71 year old has been a regular at the mela since 1960. As a youngster, he would come here along with his father, his uncles and his elder brothers to sell and buy elephants all the way from his village, Ismailpur, in Vaishali district. Brajnandan recalls how, in the 1960s, the fair would see more than 300 elephants. "This year, only 13 elephants arrived at the fair. It is a big fall from more than 100 elephants in the 1980s, to nearly 100 in the 1990s and below 100 in 2000," he points out. Singh believes the decreasing number of elephants at Sonepur is depriving the centuries-old mela of its sense of grandeur and may even sound the death knell for one the oldest cattle fairs in the world. "Despite the fewer number of elephants, Haathi Bazaar is still the most popular attraction here," he says, stroking Babusaheb. "Elephants are the symbol of the Sonepur fair. Without the elephant, the fair will lose its age-old tradition. The decrease in the number of elephants is a warning bell for the fair," he says sadly. IMAGE: JD-U MLA Shyam Bahadur Singh was accompanied by his elephant, Gaman. Shyam Bahadur Singh, a Janata Dal-United MLA, agrees. "I have brought my elephant, Gaman, here for the sake of the fair. Unfortunately, due to a wrong decision by the government, the number of elephants in the fair has been decreasing rapidly." "One cannot imagine the Sonepur fair without the elephants," he adds, "but that might actually happen within 10 or 15 years. If that happens, it would destroy a piece of our history. It would be a tragedy for future generations." IMAGE: Sanju Singh poses for a picture with his elephant, Gulabi. Sanju Singh, who has come here with his female elephant, Gulabi, says the number of elephants at the fair has dwindled after the government banned their sale and transportation from Assam. "There was a time," he echoes Brajnandan Singh, "when hundreds of elephants were brought for sale here. I have seen it since 1967, when I came here for the first time with my elephant." IMAGE: Rama Singh with his elephants, Durga and Pushpa. Rama Singh, who has brought his two female elephants -- Durga and Pushpa -- to the fair, too recalls how hundreds of elephants were brought to the fair for sale and purchase till mid-1960s. "The cost of an elephant then ranged from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,500," he says. Rama says he is not an elephant trader. He wants people to love elephants as much as he does -- "I worship Durga and Pushpa every morning," he says -- which is why he displays his haathis at Sonepur. "Maintaining two elephants is a costly affair and I cannot earn any income from them. Besides, I employ three mahouts. But I keep my elephants because I believe they bring me good luck and prosperity," says the farmer. Rama comes to the Sonepur fair, with his elephants and mahouts, from Paharpur village in Saran district. "We have to keep the Haathi Bazaar alive with this annual display of our elephants for tourists and the local people at least," he says. French citizens, Dominique and his wife Odile, are among the 20 foreign tourists who made it to Haathi Bazaar this year. "It's an amazing feeling to be able to touch an elephant," says 68-year-old Dominique. "We don't have elephants in our country." IMAGE: Babusaheb waits patiently while he is decorated by his mahout. Both Brajnandan Singh and Sanju Singh agree that the next generation is not interested in maintaining elephants. "Hamare baad shayed haathi hamare ghar mein na rahein... kaun palega (After me, no one will keep an elephant in our home... Who'll take the responsibility of looking after them?)" he asks. Brajnandan Singh's family of three brothers and their six sons is now scattered, with the children having left their ancestral village after their education to establish their individual businesses. "Haathi aaj bhi ghar ka shaan hai. Agar hum nahin rakhenge, toh woh samapth ho jayega (Even today, the elephant is a symbol of our pomp. If I don't keep an elephant, this tradition will end)," he says. "No one in our family is keen to keep alive this decades-old tradition." The prospect of this occurrence clouds his face. "An elephant is unique; it's special. A man may have SUVs, but it can't equal an elephant. In rural Bihar, people in a district know which family owns an elephant. It is a matter of honour, respect and prestige if an elephant is tied in front of your house," says Brajnandan Singh, who used to be the headman of his village. "It is a costly passion and the utility of the big animal has dwindled in the age of mobile phones and the Internet," says Sanju Singh. IMAGE: The elephants are the biggest draw at the Sonepur Mela. Maintaining an elephant, says Brajnandan Singh, "costs more than the costliest SUV. An elephant consumes at least 5 kilos of wheat or paddy, sugarcane and grass every day." Patting Babusaheb fondly, he says, "In addition, he wants 7 to 8 loaves of bread every night. He will cry if he is not provided with the bread." To take care of Babusaheb, he has hired two mahouts, "Each of them is paid Rs 2,500 a month. I also take care of their food and clothing expenses." The family, he says, owns over 100 bighas of farmland which helps him take care of these expenses. Sanju Singh, who lives in Deoria, Uttar Pradesh, too owns a large tract of farmland that helps him maintain his elephant. "My family has been domesticating elephants for over a century," says Dr Jyoti Kumar from Jandaha in Vaishali district. "Today, only the affluent can maintain their family tradition of keeping elephants." There are, he says, more than 50 domesticated elephants across Bihar, many of which are in Saran. "I have come here with my elephant, Appu, so that visitors to the fair can enjoy taking photographs and selfies with him," Dr Kumar says. Some more glimpses from the Sonepur Mela. IMAGE: JD-U MLA Shyam Bahadur Singh's Gulabi decides to show off :) IMAGE: Amazed onlookers stare at the elephants at the Haathi Bazaar. IMAGE: Babusaheb cries if he is not fed bread at night. IMAGE: Another view of the much pampered Babusaheb. IMAGE: Hmmm! What's this elephant up to? IMAGE: This one decided to turn his back to the camera. IMAGE: 'I'm hungry... can I have my lunch in peace, please? IMAGE: Me too! IMAGE: I'd like a bit of rest actually! IMAGE: Lovin' all the attention! Maldives: Concerned by increasing polarization, Ban calls for parties to work toward inclusive dialogue Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 2 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Maldives: Concerned by increasing polarization, Ban calls for parties to work toward inclusive dialogue, 2 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/584524b140c.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 2 December 2016 - Concerned by the increasing polarization in the Maldives, which has made dialogue among the Government and political parties increasingly difficult, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has encouraged all concerned to work toward an inclusive dialogue. The Secretary-General strongly encourages all concerned to work toward an inclusive dialogue aimed at finding mutually acceptable solutions based on compromise, the primacy of the national interest and the preservation of democratic principles and institutions, said a statement issued by Mr. Ban's spokesperson this evening. The statement added that the UN reiterates its readiness to extend its support to an inclusive and genuine dialogue and continue facilitation efforts. Liberia 'stable' but needs continued attention, Security Council told Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 2 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Liberia 'stable' but needs continued attention, Security Council told, 2 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5845251a40e.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 2 December 2016 - Briefing the Security Council on the situation in Liberia, the United Nations peacekeeping chief today underlined that the country remained stable and that since the security transition in June this year, there had been no incident serious enough to warrant an armed response from the UN mission in the country, known as UNMIL. "However, sustaining the gains made will require continued and greater investment in the security services, as well as commensurate improvements in the justice and corrections sectors," Herve Ladsous, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, told the 15-member Council's briefing on the work of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). Mr. Ladsous further reported that the political environment in the west African country remained dominated by preparations for presidential and legislative elections, scheduled for October 2017, and that the next President's inauguration in January 2018 would mark a historic milestone for Liberia's democracy. "What happens next year, therefore, will be critical: it will demonstrate whether the foundations of peace built since the conflict ended 13 years ago are strong enough to be sustained," he said, underlining the need to ensure that measures are put in place now to deliver a free, fair, transparent and credible elections. Reporting that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had outlined three possible options for the UNMIL's future: withdrawing and establishing a successor mission; maintaining the status quo; or continuing its drawdown. Emphasizing that Liberia should remain on the Council's agenda through the installation of the next administration, he said it was essential to retain some capacity to respond should stability deteriorate. In its last resolution on the situation in the country, in September this year, the Security Council had extended the mandate of the UNMIL until 31 December. Also speaking today, Per Thoresson of Sweden, on behalf of the Vice-Chair of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, said that the root causes of the country's conflict remained unresolved and stressed the need for continued implementation of the national reconciliation roadmap. "Strong political leadership is required to fully and comprehensively address reconciliation in Liberia," he said, adding: "Building social cohesion requires addressing historical inequalities, unequal access to resources and power." Noting the economic challenges brought by the Ebola outbreak and that 63 per cent of the country's children were out of school, as well as residual peacebuilding tasks in 2017 which required sustained international support, he underscored that these and other factors should be kept in mind when considering the future of the UN presence in Liberia, especially given the upcoming electoral period. UN refugee agency boosts winter assistance for displaced Iraqis in conflict-affected villages Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 2 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN refugee agency boosts winter assistance for displaced Iraqis in conflict-affected villages, 2 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5845255740d.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 2 December 2016 - As the security situation has stabilized in villages near war-torn Mosul, where Iraqi military operations are under way to wrest the city from terrorists, the United Nations refugee agency and its partners are racing against time to distributing winter kits to those who remained or returned home and those newly-displaced as plunging temperatures hit the area. "The situation is very precarious for Iraqis affected by the ongoing military confrontations and they urgently need humanitarian assistance," Hovig Etyemezian, Senior Field Co-ordinator of the Office of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), said in a news release. The UN refugee agency, together with partner Muslim Aid, has distributed more than 8,200 winter kits in Gogachly and Nimrud, which are located east and south of Mosul. These essential kits, each containing two blankets and two quilts, will not only be delivered to families in other areas in the coming days, but they are also being disseminated to camps hosting displaced Iraqis. "Newly displaced Iraqis, those who never left their villages and other families who have only just returned to their homes, often lack the resources to survive - especially during the harsh winter, said Mr. Etyemezian, adding that "our help is giving them extra support to cope with the most difficult time of the year." However, the agency warned of a large funding gap for its winter assistance programme, as the $196.2 million Mosul emergency response is only 57 per cent funded. More than 76,000 people have been displaced since the start of the military offensive to retake Mosul. UNHCR currently has six camps ready to receive people displaced from the city and surrounding towns and villages. The agency hopes to provide winter assistance to 1.2 million newly-displaced Iraqis. Iraq: 'Staggering' number of civilian casualties in November; Baghdad hardest hit, says UN Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 2 December 2016 Related Document(s) UN Casualty Figures for Iraq for the Month of November 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Iraq: 'Staggering' number of civilian casualties in November; Baghdad hardest hit, says UN, 2 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/584525c8310.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 2 December 2016 - Last month, Iraq suffered thousands of deaths and injuries - including by a significant number of civilians - in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict, according to recently released figures by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). Jan Kubis, the UN Special Representative and Head of UNAMI, pointed to the Mission's latest statistics, which reveal that 2,885 Iraqis were killed and another 1,380 injured, saying: "The casualty figures are staggering, with civilians accounting for a significant number of the victims," he stated. "In its desperate attempt to cling on to territory it controls in Mosul and Ninewa areas, Da'esh [also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL] has been employing the most vicious tactics, using civilian homes as firing positions, as well as abducting and forcibly moving civilians, effectively using them as human shields," Mr. Kubis explained. In counting civilian casualties, UNAMI included Sahwa civil defence, Personal Security Details, facilities protection police and fire department personnel. In November, these groups were among the 926 civilians killed, including seven federal police, and the 930 injured, including 18 federal police. Fifty-two foreign civilians were also killed and 31 injured. Baghdad, the worst affected Governorate, suffered 733 civilian casualties -152 killed and 581 injured. Elsewhere, 332 were killed and 114 injured in Ninewa; 60 killed and 88 injured in Salahadin; 56 killed and 23 injured in Babil; and in Kirkuk, 18 were killed and 17 injured. According to information obtained by UNAMI from the Health Directorate in Anbar, 292 were killed and 98 injured in the Governorate, totalling 390 civilian casualties - inclusive up to 27 November. Mr. Kubis noted that despite continuous tactics of ISIL/Da'esh to the contrary, Iraqi security forces have declared their staunch efforts during Mosul military operations to keep civilians out of harm's way - often resulting in additional casualties among the security forces. The UNAMI chief urged that all necessary actions necessary be taken to ensure the protection of civilian inhabitants from the effects of armed conflict and violence. UN Casualty Figures for Iraq for the Month of November 2016 Publisher UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), UN Casualty Figures for Iraq for the Month of November 2016, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5845262d4.html [accessed 3 November 2022] A total of 2,885 Iraqis were killed and another 1,380 were injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in November 2016*, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). The number of civilians killed in November was 926 (including 07 federal police, Sahwa civil defence, Personal Security Details, facilities protection police, fire department), and the number of civilians injured was 930 (including 18 federal police, Sahwa civil defence, Personal Security Details, facilities protection police, fire department). Fifty-two foreign civilians were killed and 31 injured in November. A total of 1,959 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (including police engaged in combat functions, Peshmerga, SWAT and militias fighting alongside the Iraqi Army, not including Anbar Operations) were killed and 450 were injured (not including casualties from Anbar). Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate with 733 civilian casualties (152 killed, 581 injured). Ninewa 332 killed and 114 injured, Salahadin 60 killed and 88 injured, Babil, 56 killed and 23 injured, and Kirkuk 18 killed and 17 injured. According to information obtained by UNAMI from the Health Directorate in Anbar, the Governorate suffered a total of 390 civilian casualties (292 killed and 98 injured). Figures are updated until 27 November, inclusive. "The casualty figures are staggering, with civilians accounting for a significant number of the victims," Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG) Jan Kubis said. "In its desperate attempt to cling on to territory it controls in Mosul and Ninewa areas Daesh has been employing the most vicious tactics, using civilian homes as firing positions as well as abducting and forcibly moving civilians, effectively using them as human shields." The SRSG noted that the Iraqi security forces have declared they are making utmost efforts during their Mosul military operations to avoid putting civilians in harm's way despite Daesh's continuous tactics to the contrary, often taking additional casualties among the security forces as a result. Mr. Kubis urged that all necessary actions necessary must be undertaken to ensure the protection of the civilian inhabitants from the effects of armed conflict and violence. *CAVEATS: In general, UNAMI has been hindered in effectively verifying casualties in conflict areas. Figures for casualties from Anbar Governorate are provided by the Health Directorate and are noted above. Casualty figures obtained from the Anbar Health Directorate might not fully reflect the real number of casualties in those areas due to the increased volatility of the situation on the ground and the disruption of services. In some cases, UNAMI could only partially verify certain incidents. UNAMI has also received, without being able to verify, reports of large numbers of casualties along with unknown numbers of persons who have died from secondary effects of violence after having fled their homes due to exposure to the elements, lack of water, food, medicines and health care. Since the start of the military operations to retake Mosul and other areas in Ninewa, UNAMI has received several reports of incidents involving civilian casualties, which at times it has been unable to verify. For these reasons, the figures reported have to be considered as the absolute minimum. Nigeria's humanitarian crisis 'can no longer be ignored,' UN says, launching $1 billion appeal Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 2 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Nigeria's humanitarian crisis 'can no longer be ignored,' UN says, launching $1 billion appeal, 2 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5845269a423.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 2 December 2016 - With the scale of human suffering in north-eastern Nigeria becoming clearer as the Government has pushed Boko Haram insurgents from more and more areas, the United Nations today launched a $1 billion funding appeal to address the needs of those in crisis, and announced that nearly 75 partner agencies are on standby to respond where areas are accessible. as the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan for Nigeria seeks more than US$1 billion to assist those in crisis in the most affected states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) throughout 2016, human suffering has become more apparent as the Nigerian Armed Forces pushed Boko Haram out of areas the group had held. The response area shifted from Abuja to Borno state, enabling easier access to the vulnerable population for the humanitarian teams, however, the conflict scaled up and so did the urgent need for more assistance. As such, the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan for Nigeria seeks more than $1 billion to address the needs of those in crisis in the three most affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, about 6.9 million people. "This is the largest crisis on the African continent and I am confident that with the support of the international community and the private sector, we can begin to bring hope to the people of the north-east," stressed Peter Lundberg, the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator, while also complimenting the Government of Nigeria and the initiative behind the Inter-Ministerial Task Force on their full cooperation to address the humanitarian situation. While fear of unexploded improvised devices prevents farmers from planting for a third year in a row, nearly 5.1 million people are expected to face serious food shortages. The Humanitarian Response Plan will aim to tackle urgent nutrition, food, shelter, health, protection, education, and water and sanitation needs. "The narrative on this humanitarian crisis can no longer be ignored and we are appealing to the international community to help us prevent the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians over the coming 12 months," stated Mr. Lundberg. "The Government have already demonstrated and will continue to demonstrate strong commitment to working together with the international humanitarian community," said Zainab Ahmed, Minister of State, Ministry of Budget and National Planning of Nigeria. Already overstretched, aid agencies in Somalia need more resources to tackle severe drought UN Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 2 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Already overstretched, aid agencies in Somalia need more resources to tackle severe drought UN, 2 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5845278440e.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 2 December 2016 - The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Peter de Clercq, appealed today for an urgent scale-up in humanitarian assistance, with relief agencies already overstretched as the country faces severe drought conditions, including food and water shortages. "Drought in Puntland and Somaliland has deepened and spread to southern and central regions of the country [] the situation has become increasingly desperate for vulnerable families in need," he told a briefing with the international community in Nairobi, highlighting the urgency of responding to the drought situation in Somalia. Describing the situation as "extremely worrying" and one that could deteriorate rapidly without a stepped-up response, Mr. de Clercq, added that humanitarian organizations are in urgent need of additional resources to tackle the drought situation and help the country cope with other crises. Against this backdrop, he noted that the 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan has received just 47 per cent of the total $885 million request, with only four weeks left in the year. The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that families and communities, especially in the north, are already facing below average rainfall and many of them are adopting desperate measures to survive. Even the current 'Deyr' rainy season so far has been poor across most parts of Somalia, potentially resulting in significant crop and pasture losses. Further, more than 40 per cent of the country's population, nearly five million people, does not have sufficient food, with more than one million of that number in a state of crisis and emergency. More than 50,000 children are severely malnourished, and 320,000 under the age of five are acutely malnourished, making all those children most vulnerable during the current drought. Several appeals for humanitarian assistance were issued to deal with the drought and highlight the urgency of the situation, including an appeal made by the President of Somalia on 12 November, and several ones issued by state authorities in Jubbaland, Puntland, Somaliland, and Galmudug. Moreover, increased displacement related to conflict is another issue in the region. The withdrawal of international troops presented additional humanitarian challenges, as nearly 5,000 people have been displaced in Hiraan and Bakool regions, and another 29,000 in Lower Shabelle. Syria: UN refugee agency spotlights growing shelter needs as thousands flee Aleppo violence Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 2 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Syria: UN refugee agency spotlights growing shelter needs as thousands flee Aleppo violence, 2 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/584527b840d.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 2 December 2016 - While reiterating its extreme concern about the civilian population in Syria's war-battered Aleppo, the United Nations refugee agency today said it is also focusing on the rapidly growing shelter needs for thousands of people fleeing the city's eastern neighbourhoods. "Many of those who have fled eastern districts are now in unfinished or partly-destroyed buildings. Unsanitary conditions and overcrowding are already challenges in a congested city with few open spaces," Adrian Edwards, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva. UNHCR has been providing tents, shelter kits and sealing-off kits to meet the most urgent needs and improve living conditions while also working with partners to quickly rehabilitate structures as temperatures drop. Food, water, medical care and other items are being distributed by UNHCR and partners alongside winter clothing and other relief items. "We have emergency supplies of non-food items, among them blankets and tents, for 45,000 people in western Aleppo. These can be replenished at short notice," he said, noting that some 30,000 people are estimated to have fled eastern Aleppo just in the last days. In all, there are now some 400,000 displaced people in western Aleppo. Jibreen, an industrial zone, has now reached full capacity, with latest arrivals joining some 55,000 people who had already fled the fighting in recent months. On 1 December 2016, two young boys burn anything they can find to keep themselves warm at a large warehouse in Jibreen, Syria, that hosts displaced families from the recent fighting in east Aleppo. Photo: UNICEF/Al-Issa A UN inter-agency assessment in Jibreen has found that 60-70 per cent of recent arrivals were women and children. A large-scale building rehabilitation has been completed in Jibreen. Further work to boost shelter capacity there will be carried out as buildings are declared safe. Buildings in the 1070 and Rayiada housing complexes in Government-controlled south-western Aleppo are heavily damaged. UNHCR had previously upgraded over 5,000 shelters in the 1070 district. Some are now at risk of collapse and work on rehabilitation is underway. Additional UNHCR protection and shelter staff arrived in western Aleppo on Thursday to provide a detailed assessment of the needs of the recently displaced. Mr. Edwards said displacement also continues within eastern Aleppo itself, with many having been forced to move several times. Since September, UNHCR has supported 838,092 people in Syria, including Aleppo, with winter items, including thermal blankets, sleeping bags, plastic sheets and clothing, but is still unable to reach the many thousands without food, water and shelter in eastern Aleppo. With its UN partners, UNHCR continues to call for an end to the hostilities to allow safe passage out, and humanitarian assistance to be delivered. UN welcomes ratification of new peace accord in Colombia Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 2 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN welcomes ratification of new peace accord in Colombia, 2 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/584527df40e.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 2 December 2016 - Welcoming the Colombian parliament's ratification of the new Final Peace Agreement between the Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP), United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council have expressed hope for its swift implementation for the benefit of all Colombians. In separate statements yesterday, the UN chief and the 15-member Council also commended the parties in the country for their continued commitment to bring the 50-year long conflict to an end. The ratification of the Agreement constitutes a major milestone in the peace process that reaffirms the hopes shared by all Colombians for a future in peace and prosperity after decades of conflict, said Mr. Ban, according to a statement issued by his office. He added that the determination of the parties and people of Colombia to achieve peace has been a source of inspiration around the world. In their own statement, members of the Security Council further welcomed the leadership shown by the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP in upholding the ceasefire. They trusted the parties would continue their positive cooperation and maintain recent momentum to begin swift implementation of this historic agreement in order to ensure a transition to peace that benefits all Colombians, they said in the statement. Council members also reiterated their determination to support Colombia's implementation of the peace accord in accordance with its relevant resolutions. Also yesterday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein welcomed the ratification and called on all actors in the country, including opposition political parties, to put aside their differences and to work for the implementation of the accord. Syria: With winter closing in, UN envoys highlight humanitarian urgency of situation in Aleppo Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Syria: With winter closing in, UN envoys highlight humanitarian urgency of situation in Aleppo, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5845287440c.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 1 December 2016 - With the humanitarian crisis in Syria's devastated city of Aleppo deteriorating by the day, the United Nations Special Envoy for the country appealed for a pause in fighting so that much needed relief can reach the city's population and those with urgent medical emergencies can be evacuated. "The most urgent need now is shelter, particularly with the approaching winter," said Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, who, together with his Special Advisor, Jan Egeland, briefed the press in Geneva after today's meeting of the Humanitarian Access Task Force of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG). The ISSG has established the respective taskforces on humanitarian aid delivery and a wider ceasefire. They have been meeting separately since early this year on a way forward in the crisis. Russia and the United States are the co-chairs of the taskforces and the ISSG, which also comprises the UN, the Arab League, the European Union and 16 other countries. Calling on the fighters of the Al Nusra front to leave the city, the Special Envoy added: "This will contribute to avoiding bloodshed and increase our leverage on insisting for an urgent pause." Speaking after Mr. de Mistura, Special Advisor Jan Egeland also underscored the direness of the situation. "In the whole month of November, a crucial month to preposition supplies [before winter sets in], we reached only eight per cent of people in the besieged areas," he said, adding that the humanitarian response plan for December was yet to be approved by the Government. "Today is 1 December [and] we are losing time," he said, explaining that as the weather turns, deliver of aid and other humanitarian operations will slow down. Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Gambia: Championing human rights and justice for all must be a priority Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 2 December 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Gambia: Championing human rights and justice for all must be a priority, 2 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/584529b64.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. In response to announcement that President Yayah Jammeh has accepted his defeat following the presidential election, Sabrina Mahtani, Amnesty International's Researcher for West and Central Africa currently in Gambia said: "For many years the people of Gambia have suffered numerous abuses, including horrific human rights violations and oppression." "The last two weeks have shown how much Gambians of all parties value free speech. There is a huge obligation now for the future administration to transform the human rights situation in Gambia, freeing political prisoners, removing repressive laws and entrenching newly found freedoms." Background Today the President of the Electoral Commission announced that opposition candidate Adama Barrow (Coalition 2016) has won yesterday's election by more than 50,000 votes. President Yahya Jammeh (APRC - Alliance for Patriotic Reconstruction and Construction), has accepted his defeat. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Gambia: Free Speech Ban Threatens Rights in Vote Aftermath Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 5 December 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Gambia: Free Speech Ban Threatens Rights in Vote Aftermath, 5 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58452af04.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Gambian authorities should respect the rights of Gambians to peacefully express their views on the outcome of the December 1, 2016 presidential election. Prior to the vote, incumbent President Yahya Jammeh warned that protests against the election would not be permitted and the government blocked internet communications and international calls. Although the two-week election campaign was peaceful, and included many large opposition and government rallies, President Jammeh responded to a November 29 media query about possible protests following the elections, saying, "In this country we don't allow demonstrations." At about 8 p.m. on November 30, the government blocked all internet services in Gambia as well as incoming and outgoing international calls. Online messaging services, such as WhatsApp and Viber, have been blocked for several weeks. "The rights of Gambians from across the political spectrum should be respected regardless of the election outcome," said Babatunde Olugboji, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch. "The government must publicly endorse the right to peaceful assembly and end the telecommunications ban." The election is the fifth time that Jammeh has sought a new five-year term since coming to power in a 1994 coup. Human Rights Watch raised concerns about the fairness of the election in a November 2 report, describing how Jammeh secured a political advantage through a crackdown on the opposition, domination of state media, and the use of state resources for campaigning. Jammeh faced two challengers for president: Adama Barrow, the representative of a coalition of eight opposition parties, and Mama Kandeh, of the opposition party Gambian Democratic Congress. Election results are expected to be announced in the evening of December 1 or on December 2. The candidate who won the most votes will be the winner, with no second-round voting. Jammeh's threat to prohibit demonstrations heightens the risk of arbitrary arrests and other serious human rights abuses, particularly after the election results are announced. In April and May, Gambian security forces arbitrarily arrested more than 90 opposition activists for participating in peaceful protests, with dozens beaten at the time of arrest or while in detention. 30 protesters were later sentenced to three-year prison terms. Two opposition activists have died in custody, at least one as a result of torture by security forces. The government's clampdown on the internet and international phone calls will harm Gambians' abilities to share information with media organizations and nongovernmental groups outside the country, including reports of human rights violations. The Gambian government has a long track record of intimidating journalists, which has made news and nongovernmental organizations outside the country a vital source of information. On November 4, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, which has its headquarters in Banjul, called on the Gambian government to ensure that elections are free, fair, and peaceful, refrain from the use of excessive and disproportionate force against protesters, and immediately lift all restrictions to internet and social media networks. The Gambian government should immediately end all blocks on the internet and telephone communications. As the election results are announced, Gambian police should whenever possible allow peaceful demonstrations to occur, even if they are unplanned or spontaneous. Law enforcement officials, in carrying out their duties, should as far as possible use non-violent means before resorting to the use of force. If it is absolutely necessary to disperse demonstrators because of an imminent threat to public order, the security forces should use the minimum force necessary in accordance with the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. "The government's communications cutoff and threatened protest ban are only likely to increase tensions between the government and opposition groups," Olugboji said. "Gambians' rights to express their political opinions free from government interference do not end once the election is over." Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Philippines: Don't Reinstate Death Penalty Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 3 December 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Philippines: Don't Reinstate Death Penalty, 3 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58452b5f4.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Philippine House of Representatives should reject a proposal to reinstate the death penalty, Human Rights Watch said today. On November 29, 2016, the Judicial Reforms Subcommittee approved Congress House Bill No. 1 (Death Penalty Law), which would reinstate capital punishment for "heinous crimes," including murder, piracy, and the trafficking and possession of illegal drugs. A house vote on the bill is likely before the end of 2016. "The Philippine government should acknowledge the death penalty's barbarity and reject any moves to reinstate it," said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director. "The failure of the death penalty as a crime deterrent is globally recognized and the government should maintain the prohibition on its use." In a joint letter drafted by the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), a network of nongovernmental organizations that focuses on issues related to drug production, trafficking, and use, the consortium urged all members of the Philippine House of Representatives and Senate to uphold the right to life enshrined in the 1987 Philippines Constitution. The Philippines is also party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and to the Second Optional Protocol of the ICCPR on the abolishment of the death penalty. The consortium also urged Philippine lawmakers to ensure proportionate sentencing of drug offenses to protect the vulnerable, and invest in harm reduction approaches to protect the health and wellbeing of Filipino people. The Philippine government abolished the death penalty under article III, section 19 of the 1987 constitution. President Fidel Ramos reimposed the death penalty in 1993 as a "crime control" measure, but President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo reinstated abolition in 2006. The alleged deterrent effect of the death penalty has been repeatedly debunked. Most recently, on March 4, 2015, the United Nations assistant secretary-general for human rights, Ivan Simonovic, stated that there was "no evidence that the death penalty deters any crime." Even with respect to murder, an Oxford University analysis concluded that capital punishment does not deter "murder to a marginally greater extent than does the threat and application of the supposedly lesser punishment of life imprisonment." Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances because of its inherent cruelty. Reinstating the death penalty would violate the Philippines' international legal obligations. The Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR states that "no one within the jurisdiction of a State Party to the present Protocol shall be executed" and that "each State Party shall take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty within its jurisdiction." Where the death penalty is permitted, human rights law limits the death penalty to "the most serious crimes," typically crimes resulting in death or serious bodily harm. In a March 2010 report, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime called for an end to the death penalty and specifically urged member countries to prohibit use of the death penalty for drug-related offenses, while urging countries to take an overall "human rights-based approach to drug and crime control." In its 2014 annual report, the International Narcotics Control Board, the agency charged with monitoring compliance with UN drug control conventions, encouraged countries to abolish the death penalty for drug offenses. The UN Human Rights Committee and the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions have concluded that the death penalty for drug offenses fails to meet the condition of "most serious crime." In September 2015, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reaffirmed that "persons convicted of drug-related offences should not be subject to the death penalty." "Reinstatement of the death penalty won't solve any drug-related societal problems that Congress House Bill No. 1 seeks to address," Kine said. "It will only add to the already horrific death toll that President Rodrigo Duterte's 'war on drugs' has inflicted on Filipinos since he took office on June 30." Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Iraq: KRG Restrictions Harm Yezidi Recovery Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 4 December 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Iraq: KRG Restrictions Harm Yezidi Recovery, 4 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58452bc84.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq has placed disproportionate restrictions on the movement of goods into and out of the district of Sinjar, the center for Iraq's Yezidi religious minority. KRG officials say that the KRG is concerned about the activities of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an armed Kurdish militant organization that has forces in Sinjar, mostly made up of Yezidi fighters, and has de facto free movement across the border into Syria. But, just two years after the people of the district were subjected to violent attacks and abuses by the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), blanket KRG restrictions disproportionate to any possible security considerations are causing unnecessary harm to people's access to food, water, livelihoods, and other fundamental rights. "After the devastating ISIS attacks on the area and slaughter of the Yezidi population two years ago, the KRG's restrictions are another serious blow," said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The KRG should be working to facilitate access to Sinjar for the hundreds of Yezidi civilians wishing to return to their homes, not adding more barriers to their recovery." Before August 2014, Sinjar was home to 360,000 Yezidis. ISIS fighters have killed between 2,000 and 5,500 Yezidis since August 3, 2014, and abducted an estimated 6,386, according to a recent United Nations report. The ISIS attacks displaced at least 90 percent of the Yezidi population from Sinjar. Over 180,000 displaced Yezidis are in camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Only a small number of Yezidis have returned. Sinjar is technically under Iraqi central government administrative control, but KRG security and military forces are present and active within Sinjar. KRG forces control the one main road from Sinjar in to the KRI. ISIS still controls the main roads from Sinjar to other parts of Iraq. In August 2016, Human Rights Watch visited four camps for internally displaced people in Dohuk, in the KRI, and four towns in northern Sinjar, and interviewed 67 displaced people and local residents. Interviewees included residents who had tried to take produce from their farmland or personal property from their homes out of Sinjar but were restricted from doing so by KRG security forces, and those who had tried to take in food and other supplies to family members who returned to Sinjar and were stopped and returned by KRG forces. Since the ISIS attack on Sinjar in 2014, the only route out of Sinjar into Iraq not controlled by ISIS is via the Suhaila bridge crossing, two kilometers from the Syrian border, which is controlled by KRG forces. Southern Sinjar is still under ISIS control. Though the PKK has had roots in Sinjar for decades, it has dramatically increased its presence there since August 2014. The presence of the PKK, which has heavily recruited among the Yezidi local population in Sinjar to create a local armed branch, the YBS, represents a significant security concern for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), one of the governing parties in the KRG, party officials have told Human Rights Watch. While the KRG may take reasonable security measures to screen goods leaving and entering its territory, it should not impose sweeping restrictions that are disproportionate to security considerations, or that unnecessarily harm people's access to food, water, livelihoods, and other fundamental rights, Human Rights Watch said. The KRG should publish information publicly stating who is authorized to issue and withdraw restrictions on movement of goods, what restrictions are in place around Sinjar, on what goods, for how long, and for what reasons, with a clear expiration date. It should set out how individuals can address any harm the restrictions cause and compensate those who suffer damage due to an unlawful restriction. Human Rights Watch interviewed Sinjar residents who stayed in Sinjar during the ISIS attack on the area in August 2014, as well as some who had fled but returned after ISIS was pushed out starting in December 2014. They all said that since August 2014, residents of Sinjar have been suffering from what appeared to be a KRG ban on the movement of all agricultural goods from Sinjar into the KRI. Three farmers from Snune and Khanasoor said KRG forces turn them back when they try to take the wheat and barley they grow into KRG from Sinjar. They said they did not know of any other farmers in Sinjar who had received a permit to bring their goods into the KRI, and Human Rights Watch was not able to identify a single farmer who was able to travel with his goods in any of the areas of Sinjar that researchers visited. Two other families also said that Kurdish forces at the crossing point had stopped them when they tried to drive sheep out of Sinjar. Two families in the Dohuk area camps said that KRG forces at Suhaila stopped them when they tried to bring items from their Sinjar homes out with them, even after they said they would get a permit from local Asayish officers confirming their ownership. The forces at Suhaila told them that they would refuse to acknowledge any such permit. Individuals and groups are also facing restrictions when trying to bring items into Sinjar. Staff from five aid organizations based in the KRI said that since the end of 2014, forces at Suhaila or officials within the Dohuk governorate's office prevented them on at least 10 occasions from bringing food, medical, and other aid items to Sinjar, in some cases despite having permits issued by different KRG officials. Two of the organizations were able to bring in aid once each, because they sent the aid in via a KDP-affiliated charity. Three families described four incidents since December 2015, in which KRG security officers at Suhaila stopped them from taking foodstuffs and fuel to family members who had moved back to Sinjar. Four businessmen in Snune, the main town in northern Sinjar, said the KRG authorities had denied, delayed, or arbitrarily reduced their requests to import goods into Sinjar. A local shopkeeper said he could barely bring in enough of each item he stocks to last a few days. A cement seller and two car mechanics told Human Rights Watch that they were unable to bring in any goods, while a third mechanic said he was granted permission to bring only a three-day supply of car parts he needed. While at the Suhaila crossing, Human Rights Watch witnessed KRG security officers pulling over cars and trucks going in both directions and searching them. Human Rights Watch saw officials stop a man coming from Sinjar into KRG territory driving a truck with a sheep in the back and order him to turn back to Sinjar. At a meeting on May 14 at the Suhaila crossing, President Masoud Barzani called on the Yezidi community to kick the PKK out of the area. Four members of the Yezidi community working in and around Sinjar and an international diplomat separately told Human Rights Watch that after the meeting they spoke to two leading Yezidi military figures who said that when they asked about the ongoing goods restrictions in Sinjar, a senior KRG official had told them that the restrictions were a punishment for the Yezidis acceptance of the PKK in the area. The KRG's foreign minister, Falah Mustafa, told Human Rights Watch on August 28 that the governor of Dohuk had full control of efforts to bring items into and out of Sinjar, and justified the broad restrictions by citing security concerns with the PKK, not with the local population. Before August 2014, local people told Human Rights Watch, there were no restrictions on goods coming in and out of Sinjar. In a short November 2016 response to a letter Human Rights Watch sent to the KRG in October, Dr. Dindar Zebari, chairperson of the KRG's High Committee to Evaluate and Respond to International Reports, stated that everyone has free movement in and out of the area, including all aid and charity workers to provide needed services. On goods leaving the area, he stated: Taking objects and possessions out of Sinjar has been restricted because many people's possessions have been looted. This restriction aims to protect their wealth and belongings. Taking objects out of Sinjar is subject to strict security measures in order to determine what they are. Zebari did not provide any details on the security measures involved. On entry of goods, he wrote: "Regarding the approval to bring in construction materials, such as cement, and livestock, it's limited it depends on demand and the area's needs." He further said that a security council had been formed within the Sinjar mayor's office to review applications for permission to take items in and that the Dohuk governorate makes the final decisions. He stated that the only goods not allowed entry and exit were those that could serve a "dual purpose," including certain chemicals. In a meeting on August 18, Fawaz Mirani, Dohuk governorate's head of media and public relations, told Human Rights Watch that the Dohuk authorities have been pushing international aid organizations to provide more services to the people of Sinjar. However, an aid worker in Dohuk told Human Rights Watch that the Humanitarian Country Team, which includes representatives from the United Nations, International Organization for Migration, and other international nongovernmental organizations, has advised aid organizations not to bring aid into the area, saying there is no lifesaving need to do so, and that there is a high chance the aid will be diverted for military means or that the aid groups will become involved in the political competition in the area. Despite this, a few small international and local organizations are providing assistance in the area, though one group told Human Rights Watch it had often been stopped from bringing in aid. In addition, residents of Sinjar told Human Rights Watch that PKK and other armed elements are facilitating goods coming in from Syria. "The families we spoke to in Sinjar say they are unable to pursue their traditional livelihoods they are barely managing day to day," Fakih said. "If these levels of restrictions persist, Sinjar and the Yezidis will find it very difficult to recover." Restricted Exports From Sinjar Three farmers from Snune and Khanasoor told Human Rights Watch they are banned from bringing any agricultural produce from Sinjar to the KRI. All three of them harvested barley this year, after low rainfall led to a lack of water required to irrigate wheat. Two said they were denied permission from the Security Council in Sinjar in June and July to transport the produce through Suhaila crossing. The third farmer said he did not try to export his produce after learning that farmers were being refused. Sinjar residents who interacted with the body said that the Security Council of Sinjar includes the sub-district manager of Sinjar; the local manager of Asayish, a Kurdish security force; the president of the local council; and the local head of police. The residents said that the Asayish play a prominent role in decision-making. All three men said that as a result of the restrictions, they were forced to find local buyers and sell it for less than a third of what they could have sold it for in Dohuk or elsewhere in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). They said they did not know of any other farmers in Sinjar who had received a permit from the Security Council to bring their goods to the KRI. Two families told Human Rights Watch that KRG officials at the crossing point had stopped them when they tried to drive sheep out of Sinjar. While at the Suhaila crossing, Human Rights Watch saw officials stop a man driving a truck carrying one sheep and order him to turn back to Sinjar. The man said that the sheep had been intended for his relative's funeral in Sharya. All of those prevented from transporting agricultural produce and livestock said that the security officers at the crossing gave them no explanation. Two families living in the Dohuk area camps said that security officers at Suhaila stopped them when they tried to bring items from their homes when they left Sinjar, including a water tanker, a cabinet, a washing machine, a refrigerator, and blankets. Both families said that officers told them it was to stem widespread looting in Sinjar while families were displaced. When both families said that they could provide witnesses, and get a permit from local Asayish officers confirming their ownership of the goods in question, the officers refused. Restricted Entry of Goods into Sinjar Staff from five aid organizations based in the KRI told Human Rights Watch that since the end of 2014, KRG Peshmerga and Asayish security forces at the Suhaila bridge crossing into Sinjar or the Dohuk governorate's office prevented them on at least 10 occasions from bringing aid items to Sinjar, including printers, paper, notebooks, tents, blankets, shoes, adults' and children's clothes, toys, hygiene and cleaning products, medicine, and foodstuffs, including rice, sugar, tea, flour, vegetable oil, and tomato paste. Human Rights Watch spoke to a political leader from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in charge of aid delivery to populations in need. The KRG, including the Peshmerga, are split between two parties: the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The KDP is in power in Erbil and Dohuk, two of the KRG's three governorates, while the PUK controls Sulaymaniyah. The PUK leader told Human Rights Watch that the party's aid branch tried to deliver food, clothes, and toys to Sinjar in February with the KRG health minister's permission. But an official in the Dohuk governor's office refused permission, saying that ministerial permission only covered movement within the region, and there was a chance they would take this aid to the armed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), the allied Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), or across to Syria. The PUK leader said they would be happy to hand all the goods over to the mayor of Sinjar for distribution, but the KRG official refused. In early August, the PUK leader sent in a large delivery of medicine to Sinjar in the name of a KDP-affiliated aid organization and faced no problems. Another of the organizations was able to get one aid delivery in after sending it through a KDP-affiliated charity. One resident of Sinjar who suffers from chronic headaches told Human Rights Watch said that before August 2014, he used to pay the equivalent of about 20 US cents for 10 paracetamol, or acetaminophen pills. Now the price is 85 cents because of shortages in stocks at pharmacies because of restrictions. Three families described four incidents since December 2015, in which KRG security officers at Suhaila stopped them from bringing foodstuffs and fuel to family members who had moved back to Sinjar. They had not requested a permit from KRG authorities, the families said, because these items were for personal consumption. Security officers told them they were forbidden to bring these items in. One of the people said that he and his uncle tried to bring in goods for their family in January but were refused. They tried again in mid-August and were only able to bring in bulgur, rice, hummus, beans, tahini, and olive oil after his uncle bribed security force officers at the crossing. Businessmen in Snune said that KRG authorities had denied or delayed or arbitrarily reduced their requests to import goods into Sinjar. A local shopkeeper who runs a chain of larger stores currently open in Sinjar said that officers at Suhaila crossing only allowed him to bring in 20 cigarette packets at a time despite a demand for 10 cartons each week, and only allowed him to bring in 15 packets of meat. They allowed him to bring in 50 kilograms of sugar, when he said he needs 300, and only 10 crates of clothes washing powder, as opposed to the 100 crates he said he could sell. He said he needs a special permit to bring in bottled water, a process that can take 20 days and must be issued by a judge. He used to sell up to IQD 10 million (US$8,583) worth of goods a week, but that has fallen to 1.5 million ($1,263) because of the shortages of products that KRG authorities disallowed after August 3, 2014. A cement dealer said that despite having permission from the mayor of Sinjar, local Asayish officers stopped him at Suhaila in January with 15 tons of cement and refused to allow him to bring it in: I showed them my permission letter but the officers insisted that I go back to Dohuk. They gave no reason why. I went back to the factory where I bought the cement and was able to get my money back for the cement. But I didn't get back the money I had to pay the laborers to load the cement onto the truck at the factory, so all in all I lost 300,000 dinars [$250]. The same man said that in June, security forces barred him from bringing his own water truck, which he had taken for repairs a few days earlier, back into Sinjar until several Peshmerga commanders intervened on his behalf. Three mechanics in Snune showed Human Rights Watch their empty auto repair shops they said they had tried to get permits from the Security Council in Sinjar to bring in car parts. One mechanic said he had gone to Dohuk seven times seeking permits, spending US$500 in transportation costs, but was only able to bring items for his business into Sinjar once over a six-month period. On the occasion when he succeeded, the mechanic said, he had sought permission to bring in a shipment of items worth $2,500, but security forces at Suhaila only allowed him to bring in $1,300 worth of items, even though he had obtained a permit for the full amount. On one trip in July, he said he waited at Suhaila for three hours to ask the captain what items are permitted for import into Sinjar. When the captain arrived, he said, "I'll answer you in one word nothing." A second mechanic said he has applied for permits with the Security Council, but they have only granted permission for him to bring in five of each car part he requested, which is enough to last him only three days. At the crossing officers have prevented him from bringing in any motor oil. While at the Suhaila crossing, Human Rights Watch witnessed KRG security officers pulling over cars and trucks containing personal and commercial items and searching them at the crossing. A shopkeeper who was stopped showed his cargo to Human Rights Watch about a dozen packets of powdered milk and a dozen of waterpipe tobacco, a TV, and a bag of pillows and blankets. A family was stopped for bringing in a large bag of rice and some pillows. All of those interviewed said that the security officers at the crossing did not give them any reason for preventing items from coming in. Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch ICC: First Lord's Resistance Army Trial Begins Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 5 December 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, ICC: First Lord's Resistance Army Trial Begins, 5 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58452d484.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The opening of the International Criminal Court trial of a Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) commander is an important new chapter in holding the rebel group accountable for its brutal crimes in northern Uganda, Human Rights Watch said today. The trial of Dominic Ongwen, who was abducted as a child and later became a senior LRA commander, will begin on December 6, 2016, in The Hague. The charges will be read, followed by opening statements from the prosecution and lawyers who represent several thousand victims involved in the case. The trial will then adjourn until January 16, 2017, when the prosecution will begin to present its evidence. "The ICC trial of Dominic Ongwen is a significant first on justice for LRA atrocities," said Elise Keppler, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch. "The LRA leadership is reviled worldwide for its brutality against Africans, but never before has an LRA commander faced trial." Led by the Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, the LRA has committed atrocities against civilians for nearly three decades. The armed group has abducted tens of thousands of children for use as soldiers and sexual slaves, and killed and maimed thousands of civilians in remote regions of northern Uganda, northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic. Ongwen is charged with 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in northern Uganda, where the group originated. Charges center on alleged crimes in 2003 and 2004 during attacks on people in four camps for internally displaced persons Pajule, Odek, Abok, and Lukodi including murder, torture, enslavement, persecution, and pillage. Charges also include sexual and gender-based crimes and the conscription and use of child soldiers in northern Uganda from 2002 to 2005. The ICC can only step in when national courts are unable or unwilling to prosecute. The ICC opened an investigation into crimes in northern Uganda in July 2004, following a request from the Ugandan government. The court issued warrants in July 2005 for Ongwen and four other LRA commanders, including Kony, who remains at large. The three other suspects are believed to have been killed in recent years. Charges are pending against another LRA fighter, Thomas Kwoyelo, before Uganda's International Crimes Division of the High Court. That trial is expected to open in the coming months. "The ICC's trial of Ongwen highlights its role as a crucial court of last resort," Keppler said. "Victims' advocates across Africa have urged their governments to support the ICC following recently announced withdrawals by three African countries." The ICC has faced backlash from some African leaders since 2009, on the claim that the ICC is targeting Africa. The ICC's investigations have focused almost exclusively on crimes committed in Africa, but the majority of the investigations came about due to an explicit request or grant of jurisdiction from the government in the country where the crimes were committed as in the case of Uganda. South Africa, Gambia, and Burundi announced their withdrawal from the court in October and November. The withdrawals the only ones the court has faced have no legal bearing on proceedings against Ongwen, Human Rights Watch said. In the face of the withdrawals, a number of African governments including Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania affirmed their commitment to support the ICC at the ICC's annual meeting of its members in November. The ICC Assembly of States Parties president, Sidiki Kaba, the Senegalese justice minister, has urged Burundi, Gambia, and South Africa to reconsider their decisions to withdraw from the court, which take one year to go into effect. With the ICC based thousands of miles from northern Uganda, court efforts to make the trial accessible and meaningful to the local population are especially important, Human Rights Watch said. For the opening, the ICC will have "viewing sites" in the four locations in northern Uganda where the alleged crimes occurred, as well as in Gulu, the largest town in the region, and Coorom, the area near where Ongwen is from. The ICC will also bring local community leaders from Uganda to The Hague to observe the opening, with support from the Danish government. More than 4,100 people are "victim participants" in the Ongwen trial, represented by two sets of lawyers. Victim participation at the ICC is an innovative feature of international justice that allows victims, through their legal representatives, to contribute to the proceedings, separately from testifying as witnesses. Participation may include questioning witnesses and making submissions on legal and factual subjects. During the trial, Ongwen will be entitled to protections to ensure the fairness of the proceedings and his rights as an accused. These include the right to a lawyer and the presumption of innocence. According to available information, LRA fighters abducted Ongwen from northern Uganda into their ranks when he was about 10 and forced him into military training. He rose to become a senior commander. On January 6, 2015, US military advisers working with the African Union Regional Task Force in the Central African Republic, where some LRA groups remain operational, received Ongwen into custody. He was eventually transferred to the ICC. Ongwen is believed to be the only former child abductee to face charges before the ICC. His status as a former child soldier could be relevant to his legal defense and mitigation in sentencing in the event of conviction, though the crimes he is charged with were committed as an adult. Human Rights Watch has documented serious abuses by the Ugandan armed forces over the course of its 25-year armed conflict with the LRA, including torture, rape, arbitrary detention, unlawful killings, and forced displacement of its citizens into camps with no protection and minimal humanitarian assistance. The ICC has never ruled out investigation of abuses by Ugandan military forces, but has also never taken such investigation forward. Impunity for abuses by Ugandan forces has been a persistent concern by people in northern Uganda. Regular updates and explanation about the ICC's approach to those abuses are needed, Human Rights Watch said. Given the extent of serious abuses allegedly committed by the LRA outside Uganda including in the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan the ICC prosecutor should consider expanding the investigation into LRA crimes to other areas under the court's jurisdiction, Human Rights Watch said. The ICC's mandate only covers serious crimes committed from 2002 onward. "Ongwen's trial covers significant crimes, but does not extend to horrific LRA abuses committed outside Uganda," Keppler said. "This is a real loss for the LRA victims in Congo, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan." Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Central African Republic: Civilians Killed During Clashes Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 5 December 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Central African Republic: Civilians Killed During Clashes, 5 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58452db24.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Serious fighting in the Central African Republic in late November 2016 between two Seleka groups left at least 14 civilians dead and 76 wounded, Human Rights Watch said today. Armed groups appear to have deliberately targeted five of the civilians killed during the main clashes in the central town of Bria between November 21 and 23, and nine others in the ensuing days. Three other civilians are missing and presumed dead. The civilian deaths, which occurred during the most serious violence between Seleka groups since the Seleka fractured in 2014, highlight the need for United Nations peacekeepers deployed in the Central African Republic to exercise their mandate and use force to protect civilians. "The rising violence in the central regions between Seleka factions is having a predictably grave impact on civilians," said Lewis Mudge, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "UN peacekeepers should anticipate these incidents and use force to protect these vulnerable people, as their mandate allows." About 485 Peuhl civilians taking shelter in three residential compounds in Bria, many of them women and children, are terrified of revenge attacks because Peuhl comprise the majority of one of the fighting factions. These civilians need the immediate protection of the nearly 250 peacekeepers already in town, Human Rights Watch said. Between November 28 and 30, Human Rights Watch interviewed 10 civilian victims of the violence, 5 witnesses, 10 local authorities and leaders of the Seleka factions that fought the Popular Front for the Renassaince in the Central African Republic (Front Populaire pour la Renassaince de la Centrafrique, FPRC), and the Union for Peace in the Central African Republic (l'Union pour la Paix en Centrafrique, UPC). The fighting left at least 115 combatants on both sides dead. Tension between the two factions around Bria had been high before the latest violence. In early November, skirmishes erupted between the two groups over control of roads leading to diamond mines around Kalaga, a town 45 kilometers from Bria. Both factions collect "road taxes," especially in mining areas and on migration routes for Peuhl herders. The FPRC attacked the UPC in Gobolo on November 21, sparking major hostilities. The UN has 12,870 peacekeepers deployed across the country, including 246 armed forces who were in Bria at the time of the fighting, but they were unable to protect civilians in the heavy fighting. The UN sent additional peacekeepers to the town after the clashes. National security forces, such as police and gendarmes, were not capable of stopping the fighting and sought protection from the UN. The UPC largely consists of ethnic Peuhl, and the fighting led to violence against Peuhl civilians by both FPRC fighters and men in civilian clothes. On November 21, two FPRC fighters killed a local businessman, Nouhou Badem, at his home in Mande II neighborhood, where hundreds of Peuhl were seeking refuge. Fighting flared around the town's hospital. By 8 a.m. on November 21, FPRC fighters who had brought injured fighters to the hospital had based themselves within the compound, firing on UPC fighters who had assumed positions outside the hospital. Around this time, FPRC fighters and men in civilian clothes pulled two injured Peuhl out of the hospital, one of them perhaps a fighter, and killed them outside the main entrance. The fighting displaced up to 10,000 people from Bria, a town of approximately 43,000. At least 7,000 are in a makeshift camp around the UN peacekeeping base in town, with 2,000 to 3,000 others in homes and schools near the airstrip. At the makeshift camp, Human Rights Watch observed squalid conditions that require an urgent humanitarian response. The camp started to receive limited assistance on December 1. The violence also spread to Bria's periphery. Peuhl fighters aligned with the UPC have targeted non-Peuhl civilians and, in revenge, armed non-Peuhl have attacked Peuhl civilians. On November 26, men with guns, machetes and knives attacked nine Peuhl, including three women and four children, outside of Golaga, 10 kilometers outside of Bria, killing five of them. Three of the others are missing and presumed dead. The faction leaders told Human Rights Watch that their fighters do not target civilians. However, both sides have used inflammatory language that could be perceived as support for violence against civilians. The head of the FPRC military wing in Bria, General Azor Khalid, said he wanted the Peuhl out of Bria and his fighters planned to push the UPC out of its base in Bambari, 170 kilometers west, with help from the local population, including anti-balaka militia. The head of political affairs for the UPC in Bria, Moussa Ahmat Alou, said his men would do whatever they could to "prevent a genocide." Between November 28 and 30, Human Rights Watch saw hundreds of heavily armed fighters from both factions, many in civilian clothes, moving freely around areas of the town under their respective control. "Tension is high and civilians are paying the price," Mudge said. "The deliberate targeting of civilians is a war crime. FPRC and UPC commanders should know they could be held responsible for the action of their men." Central African Republic in Crisis Fighting has raged in the Central African Republic since December 2012, when the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels, claiming to represent the country's aggrieved Muslim minority in the northeast, moved southwest into more populous non-Muslim areas, killing thousands of civilians. In 2014, international forces pushed the Seleka out of the capital, Bangui. Ethnic divisions, rivalries, disagreements over resource control, and disputes over strategy quickly tore the Seleka apart. By late 2014, the Seleka split into several factions, each controlling its own area. Violence in Bria On November 21, hundreds of Peuhl civilians sought shelter at the compound of Nouhou Badem, a local businessman. Two FPRC fighters arrived at Badem's house that morning and shot into the compound, killing Badem and wounding four others, three witnesses said. One of those who saw the shooting said: The fighters came from the direction of the airport. They arrived outside the compound and greeted Nouhou in Arabic. They said, 'Don't worry, we will not hurt you.' But then they backed up and just started to shoot at all of us. Five people were hit by bullets, including Nouhou, who died on the spot. He was shot in the chest. Peuhl residents of Gobolo were also targeted during the fighting, including a 66-year-old woman who said she was shot through the back and injured after her son, 40-year-old Hamadou Abash, was shot and killed. "We were outside the house, the fighters were just coming toward the town. I heard a shot and Hamadou fell," she said. "I fell on top of him to protect him and then I was shot through the back." Human Rights Watch saw what looked like an entrance and exit wound from a bullet in the woman's back and chest for which she is receiving medical treatment. As the fighting increased around the hospital, FPRC fighters and men in civilian clothes forcibly removed two injured Peuhl who were getting treatment at the hospital, one of whom may have been a combatant, and killed them outside the main entrance. An injured Peuhl who was seeking treatment at the hospital at the time and witnessed the killing said: We were on the hospital grounds, but not yet in the buildings. Men came to take us. They were already in the hospital and they were dressed in military fatigues and civilian clothes. They took two men, Amadou and Halidou, outside and killed them with guns and machetes. In the chaos I was pulled into a separate room by hospital staff and hidden. Violence outside Bria On November 26, nine Peuhl civilians attempted to flee the violence in Bria by walking to a cattle encampment called Dimakou, off the road to Balenguere. At the village of Golaga, 10 kilometers outside of town, the group was attacked by men with artisanal guns, knives, and machetes, said "Saidatou," a 40-year-old woman who survived the attack: Along the road we had been warned not to approach Golaga, but one of the men in our group, Pate, said we should just continue. When we entered Golaga a group of men attacked us. There were at least 12 men. I was shot straight away in my left arm and I fell to the ground. Pate tried to help me, but I told him to run. A man ran by and shot me again in the right arm as I lay there. He chased Pate. I heard Pate yell, "Please, please! Do not kill me!" and then I heard him killed by machete blows. I heard my daughter-in-law, Habiba, crying out for pity. She had her 1-year-old son, Hamidou with her. I heard him crying. Then I heard a shot and the crying stopped. I heard my daughter Salamatou crying too. She was with her 2-year-old daughter Adama, who was also crying. Then I heard them killed by machetes. I got up and ran into the bush, but I could not find my two grandsons who were with me, Saladin (age 3) and Abou Aziz (age 7). I think they are also dead. I spent the day in the bush and then came back to Gobolo. On November 26, a 20-year-old man was fishing with two friends in a stream outside of Bria near the village Kpakaba. He said he was resting in an area away from the stream when three uniformed Peuhl fighters approached him, "One of them said, 'If you cry out we will kill you.' They made me sit down and one of them took out a knife and cut my right Achilles tendon. I don't know why they did it. I think they wanted to ensure I could not walk. They just told me again that if I cried out I would be shot. When they were done cutting the tendon, they left. Now I can barely move." Human Rights Watch saw a deep wound above the man's right heel. On November 27, UPC fighters shot a 17-year-old boy, Jean Richard Walakouzou, three kilometers outside of Bria as he rode his bicycle to see his family, who were hiding in the fields outside of town. A person who was with him and survived the attack told authorities and relatives of the victim that the fighters shot Walakouzou in the chest and shoulder without warning. A 35-year-old man said that a Peuhl fighter shot at him on November 28, but missed. "It was between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. and I was finishing work in the fields," he told Human Rights Watch on the day of the attack. "As I was cutting manioc I saw a Peuhl in uniform in front of me. He said nothing, he just shot at me. I fell to the ground and ran." On November 29, uniformed Peuhl fighters apparently shot and killed 50-year-old Saleh Yousef, a non-Peuhl Muslim from Bria, one kilometer from town on the Gobolo road near the Pimba stream. Bria residents said they saw the fighters leaving the area where the unarmed Yousef, a diamond miner, was killed moments after hearing shots. Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Boko Haram food crisis demands cooperation and accountability Publisher IRIN Author Mausi Segun Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as IRIN, Boko Haram food crisis demands cooperation and accountability, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5845300d51.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Snatched schoolgirls and suicide bomb blasts have long been the enduring images of Nigeria's Boko Haram conflict. But now the violence is represented by thousands of new faces: those of starving children. Scenes like these haven't been seen here since the 1967-70 war with secessionist Biafra. As many as 4.5 million people need food aid in the northeast of the country, according to the UN's World Food Programme. It warns that "famine-like conditions" may be occurring in remote pockets of the region. Food shortages are the inevitable consequence of the seven-year insurgency that has displaced more than 2.5 million people. Several planting seasons have passed with little farming activity in the affected states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa. The conflict areas are hard to reach, but reports hint at the deliberate destruction of farm production by both sides, as well as the targeting of civilians. Restrictions The Nigerian government's focus on an almost exclusively military response has Boko Haram on the run. With the help of neighbouring countries Chad, Cameroon, and Niger most of the territory previously held by the insurgents has been recovered. But one major problem is that this military success has not been accompanied by a rigorous de-mining programme. Fear of Boko Haram mines means far from all the land is back in production, in what is an agriculturally rich region. The insurgents are also an ever-present threat in the countryside, beyond the villages and towns. That has limited the humanitarian response to this crisis, as well as the return of government services. Fearing infiltration, the authorities have severely restricted movement around the settlements they have recaptured. Residents, mostly women and children, have been evacuated into camps strictly supervised by security forces. That has had a severe impact on the rural economy, along with people's freedom of movement. Take Baga, a fishing settlement in northern Borno State, for example. It was recovered by government forces in April 2015, after its near-destruction by Boko Haram. But because of the security restrictions imposed by the army, fishing has ground to a halt and trade with local communities is prevented. Baga is running out of food. Internment The displacement camps and temporary settlements in Borno, most of them crammed into the state capital, Maiduguri, have become huge internment centers. Food supplies from the meagre harvests in areas less affected by the conflict and relief materials donated by international and local aid organisations fall woefully short of the needs of the displaced population. As though the problems posed by the shortages are not bad enough, the distribution of relief material is fraught with allegations of corruption, mismanagement, fraud, and outright theft by government officials. And rather than conducting transparent investigations and addressing the problems, the federal and state authorities in charge of the camps have issued blanket and vague denials. Need for transparency In July, a state official in Maiduguri told me that she could not discuss the food supply for displaced people because the government had declared the issue a "state secret". That response echoes the National Emergency Management Agency's denial of a Medecins Sans Frontieres report highlighting the health crisis in June among the displaced in the town of Bama, where it said up to 30 people were dying daily from hunger and disease. The head of NEMA, the federal agency responsible for responding to internal crises, accused MSF of using the report as a ploy to attract donor funding. It was therefore gratifying to see the federal government respond quickly and positively to a Human Rights Watch report that detailed the sexual exploitation and abuse of displaced women and girls by government officials. Police and intelligence officers were swiftly deployed to investigate. This response should set the tone for improved conduct by all officials tasked with protecting and supporting displaced people. It presents a great opportunity to institutionalise reforms in the vetting and training of staff, reforms that prioritise accountability. Long way to go Aid programming must include gender and human rights awareness, and allow for the thorough monitoring and investigation of abuse and misconduct, including in food distribution. There is still a long way to go. The latest news from Maiduguri is that the state authorities apparently unhappy about the negative publicity that followed the sexual abuse report have tightened restrictions around the camps. Rather than encouraging the protection of the rights of the displaced, the authorities have presented local and international aid providers with new requirements for their continued operations in Borno. Nigeria is Africa's richest country, but it needs all the help it can muster to surmount the scale of this humanitarian tragedy. An international aid appeal for $488 million is only 37 percent funded. The people whose lives depend on this aid have a right to demand a more honest and robust response when concerns are raised over the mismanagement of relief. Transparency and accountability must be non-negotiable. Fidel Castro's heritage: flagrant media freedom violations Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 2 December 2016 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Fidel Castro's heritage: flagrant media freedom violations, 2 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/584530c74.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Castro has been hailed as one of the leading figures of the 20th century and father of the Cuban people in many of the thousands of messages that followed the announcement of his death. But behind the revolutionary's romantic image lay one of the world's worst press freedom predators. The persecution of dissidents was one of the distinguishing features of his 49 years in power, and constitutes the harshest aspect of his heritage. The current situation in Cuba speaks to this. Cuba continues to be one of the worst countries in Latin America for media freedom and ranks 171st out of 180 countries in RSF's World Press Freedom Index. Fidel Castro's brother Raul, who replaced him in 2007, is now also on RSF's press freedom predator list. Cuba's constitution permits only state-controlled media outlets. Independent news agencies and bloggers who try to dispute the state's monopoly of news and information are subjected to intimidation, arbitrary arrest and draconian censorship. As a result, independent news agencies have often had no choice but to go into exile and post their news reports online from abroad. This is far from ideal because Internet access within Cuba is still very problematic (only 5% of households have internet access). Finally, with two journalists currently jailed, Cuba continues to be one of the few western hemisphere countries where reporters can still be found behind bars. Venezuela and Panama are the other two. But the situation was much worse under Fidel Castro himself. The father of the Cuban revolution imposed a climate of censorship and used often violent methods to prevent the circulation of any news and information at variance with that provided by the state media. The persecution peaked in 2003. In March of that year, the authorities arrested more than 75 dissidents including 27 journalists, who were given summary trials and sentences ranging from 14 to 27 years in prison for talking about democracy in Cuba. They included RSF's then correspondent, Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso, who ended up spending seven years in prison. There were several waves of arrests during this period, dubbed the "Black Spring." Unauthorized journalists were targeted and accused of collaborating with the United States if their reporting referred to Cuba's dissidents, human rights violations or the everyday lives of Cubans. The persecution continued during the ensuing years and in 2007, when Fidel Castro was about to hand over to his brother, Cuba was the world's econd biggest prison for journalists, with a total of 25 held. Prison conditions were appalling and torture was often reported by the families of Cuba's detained journalists and dissidents. Many different methods were deployed against Cuba's independent news providers including arbitrary arrests, beatings and phone tapping. But permanent censorship was one of the constants of the Castro years, both before and after the Black Spring. Ever since its creation in 1985, RSF has constantly denounced these abuses, using awareness campaigns, protests and international mobilization. Several of our contributors and correspondents have been threatened or imprisoned. They include Roberto Guerra Perez, who was sentenced to two years in prison in 2005 on a charge of disturbing public order and was released in 2007. Guerra bravely continued his fight for media freedom, launching an independent news agency called Hablemos Press in 2009. But the Cuban police harassed him and his reporters and repeatedly prevented them from working. After receiving anonymous death threats, he had no choice but to go into exile in October 2016 in order to ensure his and his family's safety. The battle waged by RSF and many other local and international NGOs must go on so that exile is one day no longer inevitable. But for the time being, the day-to-day existence of Cuba's journalists is still marked by fear and self-censorship. Cuba's journalists currrently fear that the father of the revolution's death will be accompanied by a new crackdown. This must not be allowed to happen. Instead, it must open the way to a new era of pluralism and freedom of opinion. Q&A on the Dominic Ongwen Case at the ICC Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 5 December 2016 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, Q&A on the Dominic Ongwen Case at the ICC, 5 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/584534cb4.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 1. Who is Dominic Ongwen and what are the charges that the Office of the Prosecutor will present against him? Dominic Ongwen was among the most senior commanders of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) the rebel armed group in Northern Uganda. [1] In total, Dominic Ongwen is charged with being criminally responsible for 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed between July 2002 and December 2005 in four internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Northern Uganda (Lukodi IDP camp in Gulu, Odek IDP camp in Gulu, Pajule IDP camp in Pader district, and the Abok IDP camp in Apac district). Charges include murder, enslavement, inhumane acts of inflicting serious bodily injury and suffering, use and conscription of child soldiers, sexual and gender-based crimes including rape, forced marriage and sexual slavery, torture, attacks on IDP camps and persecution, intentionally directing an attack against a civilian population, pillaging. [2] Originally charging Ongwen with three counts of crimes against humanity and four counts of war crimes in 2005, the Prosecutor decided ten years later to extend the charges against Dominic Ongwen after he was transferred to the ICC with additional crimes relating to attacks in the Pajule, Odek and Abok IDP camps and including sexual and gender-based crimes. Dominic Ongwen was born in Coorom, Kilak County, Amuru District, Northern Uganda in 1975. He was abducted as a child and recruited to become part of the armed rebel group Lord's Resistance Army. In March 2004, Ongwen was put in charge of the Sinia brigade. He commanded this brigade during numerous operations in 2004 and 2005, including the attacks of IDP camps which form the basis for his charges. 2. What is the Lord`s Resistance Army and what is the scope of the ICC crimes targeted in the Uganda situation? The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is an armed rebel group led by Joseph Kony which was organised around 1987. It initially fought the Ugandan government in Northern Uganda, with incursions into Southern Sudan. From at least July 2002 to December 2005 an armed conflict not of an international character between the LRA and armed forces of the Government of Uganda existed in Northern Uganda. Ugandan military operations forced the group out of Uganda in 2005 and 2006. After that, the LRA gradually became a regional threat, operating in the remote border areas between Southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic (CAR). Aside from Ongwen, two other LRA commanders are suspected by the ICC in the Uganda situation: Joseph Kony, leader, chairman and LRA commander, and Vincent Otti, vice-chairman and LRA second-in-command. Two other high-ranking LRA officials were initially targeted but proceedings terminated when their death was confirmed. Since its creation, including the period from July 2002 to at least December 2005, the LRA allegedly carried out an insurgency against the Government of Uganda and the Ugandan Army (also known as the Uganda People's Defence Force - UPDF - and local defence units - LDUs) and against civilian populations. In pursuing its goals, the LRA has engaged in a cycle of violence and established a pattern of "brutalisation of civilians" by acts including murder, abduction, sexual enslavement, mutilation of men, women and children, as well as mass burnings of houses and looting of camp settlements. The abducted civilians, including children, are said to have been forcibly recruited as fighters, porters and sex slaves to serve the LRA and to contribute to attacks against the Ugandan army and civilian communities. [3] There was also a policy of abducting women and girls to distribute them among LRA fighters to serve as domestic slaves and/or exclusive conjugal partners made, inter alia, to perform domestic duties and to submit to sexual intercourse. [4] 3. Why is the trial taking place more than ten years after the issuance of the first warrant of arrest against Ongwen and other LRA commanders? Uganda signed the Rome Statute on 17 March 1999 and ratified it on 14 June 2002 becoming a State Party to the ICC Statute. On 16 December 2003, the Government of Uganda referred the situation concerning Northern Uganda to the Office of the Prosecutor as the first country to self-refer following years of unsuccessful peace talks with the LRA. On 29 July 2004, the Prosecutor determined that there was a reasonable basis to open an investigation into the situation concerning Northern Uganda. [5] On 8 July 2005, Pre-Trial Chamber II issued warrants of arrest against Dominic Ongwen, together with four other LRA senior leaders - Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Raska Lukwiya and Okot Odhiambo - for the commission of crimes against humanity and war crimes and requested the Republic of Uganda to search for, arrest, detain and surrender them to the Court. For more than ten years, national, regional and international security forces were unable to apprehend these suspects. On 6 January 2015, Dominic Ongwen surrendered to US military stationed in CAR, fighting against the LRA. Following talks between the US, CAR and Uganda, Ongwen was transferred into the custody of the Ugandan contingent of the African Union Anti - LRA Task Force. He was then transferred to the ICC detention center in the Hague where he arrived on 21 January 2015, triggering the proceedings towards his confirmation of charges hearing. His initial appearance before the single Judge of Pre-Trial Chamber II took place on 26 January 2015. In February 2015, the Prosecutor had requested a postponement of Ongwen's confirmation of charges hearing to allow more time to carry out additional investigations, after which she provided, on 21 December 2015, the extended list of charges she intends to bring against Dominic Ongwen. [6] The charges against Dominic Ongwen were confirmed by Pre-Trial Chamer II on 23 March 2016. [7] Proceedings against the other remaining two suspects in the Uganda situation, Joseph Kony and Vincent Otti, who are still at large, have been separated from the Ongwen case. 4. What will happen during the Ongwen trial phase and what will be decided? The trial will open on 6 December 2016 with the reading of the charges against Dominic Ongwen. The Judges will verify that the accused understood the nature of the charges. He will be asked by the Judges whether he makes an admission of guilt or pleads not guilty to the charges. Opening statements will be delivered by the Office of the Prosecutor and the Legal Representatives of Victims. At its request, the Defence will make its opening statements at the beginning of the presentation of its evidence. The trial will resume on 16 January 2017, when the Prosecution will begin to present its case and witnesses before the judges. The Prosecution's case is likely to take some time (the OTP intending to rely on 115 witnesses at trial, though seeking to call 65 of them [8]), and after it is finished the Legal Representatives of Victims may submit observations, and the Defence will have the opportunity to make opening statements, present its case and call witnesses. While the Prosecution must prove the guilt of the accused, the Trial Chamber will convict someone only if it is satisfied that the charges have been proven beyond reasonable doubt. At the end of the trial hearings, the Judges will render their judgement within a reasonable period of time. The verdict will be read out in public and will either acquit or convict the accused. If the accused is convicted, a sentence will be imposed on him in a separate decision. The Prosecution and the Defence may appeal the judgement and/or the decision on sentencing before the ICC's Appeals Chamber. [9] 5. How many victims are participating in the Ongwen case and how are they represented? Participation in ICC proceedings and legal representation are rights guaranteed to victims by the ICC Statute. Their participation, as guaranteed by Article 68(3) of the ICC Statute, is a key part of the accountability process and thus constitutes an essential component of justice. As a main principle, recalled in Rule 90(1) of the ICC Rules of Procedure and Evidence, victims are free to choose a legal representative. "Effective legal representation has two very essential components: 1) to represent victims' interests genuinely in Court, and 2) to ensure that victims actually 'participate' through regular opportunities for them to give views and instruct lawyers". [10] Victims of LRA crimes have taken great interest in the Ongwen case and many have decided to apply for participation in the case before the ICC. A total number of 4,107 victims have been accepted to participate in the proceedings in the Ongwen case. They are represented by two teams of lawyers. A first group of approximately 2,601 participating victims is represented by two lawyers, Joseph Akwenyu Manoba from Uganda and Francisco Cox from Chile, who were chosen by these victims under Rule 90(1), which allows victims to choose a Legal Representative. Paolina Massidda from the Office of Public Counsel for Victims (OPCV) and Jane Adong (Ugandan Field Counsel) represent a second group of approximately 1,502 victims who did not choose a lawyer (legal representation of 4 victims needed to be further clarified on 30 November). In a decision issued on 27 November 2015 Judge Cuno Tarfusser confirmed the appointment of Manoba and Cox as representatives of the group of admitted victims at the time. However, the Judge ruled that this group of victims is not entitled to legal aid (to pay their legal team) on the basis of the fact that the counsel chosen by victims shall not be considered a "common legal representative", within the applicable rules, because he "was not chosen by the Court" on the basis of a "transparent and competitive procedure organised by the Registry" and that allocating legal aid would be "a disproportionate and unjustified burden to the Court's legal aid budget." [11] The Judge therefore ruled that the victims, "even if they lack the means to pay, do not qualify for financial assistance by the Court." [12] Following the Pre Trial Judge, the Trial Chamber single judge, Judge Bertram Schmitt, decided in May 2016 [13] and in November 2016 not to grant legal aid for external counsels chosen by victims. However in his last decision, he decided to leave up to the Registrar's prerogative the decision to grand legal aid for the participation at the trial of the 2600 victims already participating through their external laywers working pro bono since the pre trial phase. [14] Several NGOs, including FIDH, called upon the Registrar to grant LRV adequate legal aid for victims to effectively participate in proceedings. [15] On 29 November 2016, the Registrar decided effectively to provide means for the victims external counsels team. Legal aid should be now designed and implemented by the Registry in a way to effectively satisfy victims rights and needs in order to ensure the most meaningful participation. 6. Are there any domestic proceedings in Uganda in relation to the LRA crimes? The situation in Uganda presents a challenge to the principle of complementarity under which the ICC will intervene only when a domestic justice system is unable or unwilling to prosecute international crimes. Since the original arrest warrants were issued, the Uganda government has created the International Crimes Division (ICD) of the High Court of Uganda dedicated to try war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other crimes. Although national trials could make an important contribution to securing justice for crimes committed during the conflict in northern Uganda, serious legal obstacles have emerged that call into question whether the division can fulfil its potential. One of them is the 2000 Amnesty Act implemented by Uganda government which gives blanket amnesty to all rebels - including LRA members - who willingly surrender and renounce their participation in armed rebellion against the State. Over 13,000 LRA members (along with approximately another 14,000 members of other armed groups) have received amnesty to date under the law. By many accounts Dominic Ongwen is eligible for amnesty under the Amnesty Act as he has willingly surrendered. The only case to the date related to the conflict in Northern Uganda that has been brought before the International Crimes Division is against Thomas Kwoyelo, a former LRA member captured in the DRC in 2008 and first appearing before the ICD in July 2011. Kwoyelo was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Kwoyelo's proceedings were halted after Uganda's Constitutional Court ruled in September 2011 that he was entitled to amnesty under the country's Amnesty Act and ordered the ICD to cease his trial. After several appeals proceedings, the Supreme Court of Uganda ruled in April 2015 that Kwoyelos trial was constitutional and did not violate the Amnesty Act, as amnesties cannot be granted for crimes under international law. An Amnesty Amendment Bill 2015, seeking to "promote accountability for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, without necessarily barring the award of amnesty to those who may be entitled to it" [16], has been proposed the Ugandan Law Reform Commission and currently with the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. Charges have been extended to include the sexual and gender-based crimes. Several pre-trial hearings were held in 2016, but it is still unclear when the actual trial would begin. 7. Why is the ICC not prosecuting Ongwen for international crimes committed by the LRA in other States Parties to the ICC, as in CAR or DRC? The LRA has allegedly committed grave crimes outside of Uganda as well, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan. Nonetheless, the ICC has focused its investigation in Uganda, due to the State's referral of the situation in 2003 establishing the Court's jurisdiction. The ICC must establish jurisdiction over crimes in each State where investigations occur, though jurisdiction of the Court already exists in CAR and DRC due to separate situations previously referred. Thus far, no national proceedings have occurred to bring about justice for LRA crimes in the wider region. 8. Can Ongwen be charged if he was a child soldier? The ICC Statute does not provide jurisdiction over crimes committed by a person under the age of 18 years. Dominic Ongwen, however, is being suspected of international crimes he allegedly committed as an adult. Mr Ongwens status as a child abductee could be a mitigating factor during sentencing in the event of conviction, and may also be relevant to his legal defence. Former LRA Commander Dominic Ongwen to Be Tried: First ICC Trial for Wide Range of Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 5 December 2016 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, Former LRA Commander Dominic Ongwen to Be Tried: First ICC Trial for Wide Range of Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes, 5 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5845354e4.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Tomorrow, the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will hear the opening statements in the trial of Dominic Ongwen, a former senior commander of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Our organisations welcome the commencement of this important trial as a first concrete step to justice for more than 4000 participating victims and thousands of Ugandan survivors of the most serious crimes, in particular of sexual and gender-based crimes, committed by the LRA in Northern Uganda between 2002 and 2005. Dominic Ongwen is charged with being criminally responsible for 70 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes. The charges include 19 charges of sexual and gender-based crimes, counts related to the use and conscription of child soldiers, attacks on camps of internally displaced persons (IDP) and persecution during the cycle of violence in Northern Uganda from 2002 to 2005. Our organisations especially welcome the extension of charges by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor in 2015, particularly to include charges of rape, forced marriage, forced pregnancy and sexual slavery, which were previously excluded from the counts against him. This is the first ICC trial for the charges of forced pregnancy and forced marriage. 4107 victims have been granted the right to participate in the proceedings. 2601 are represented by two external lawyers of their choice, who are participating in the Ongwen case and only a few days ago were granted with legal aid. After the Trial Chamber judge decided not to grant legal aid for external counsels chosen by victims, considering only Court-chosen counsels should be entitled to legal assistance paid by the Court and leaving it up to the Registrar's prerogative, the Registrar decided on 29 November to provide means for the external counsels' team [1]. Footnotes [1] See NGOs open letter of 17 November 2016 urging the ICC Registrar to grant legal aid for victims in the Ongwen case. Corporate actors must not facilitate human rights violations through new Chinese rules Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 2 December 2016 Cite as Article 19, Corporate actors must not facilitate human rights violations through new Chinese rules, 2 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/584536394.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Recent efforts by Verisign at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in response to Chinas new draft Internet Domain Name Management Rules present a serious threat to the right to privacy and freedom of expression online. By facilitating the implementation of real name policies for domain name registration in China, the rules risk seriously encroaching on Internet users rights, and Verisigns technical and policy proposals to comply with them dont include any consideration of potential human rights impacts. There is a whole constellation of actors involved in making this policy possible, all of whom have a responsibility to respect human rights. In March 2016, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published a draft of its new Internet Domain Name Management Rules, which mandate that all Internet domain names in China must be registered through government-licensed service providers that have established a domestic presence in the country. This regulation would impose stringent regulations on the provision of domain name services. Under the rules, registrars issuing domain names must set up a management system from within Chinese borders, and collect personal information of domain name registrants. This means that all Chinese citizens will have to register their domain names inside China, with a real name verification model. This type of regulation can cause self-censorship among internet users, due to fears of persecution by the state on the basis of how they express themselves online. The rules encourage the collection of information that can potentially be abused by authorities and become a tool of repression. This policy could also have a serious impact on freedom of association and assembly, as it strengthens the surveillance capabilities of the government. The UN General Assembly, the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression have recognised the importance of anonymity and the right to privacy, online as well as offline, in guaranteeing the right to freedom of expression. The Internet increasingly mediates our capacity to exercise our human rights, in particular the right to freedom of expression, and Internet governance bodies and Internet infrastructure providers therefore have an enhanced role and responsibility in protecting human rights online. It is therefore not just the Chinese government that should be held accountable for the negative impact of this policy on freedom of expression and other human rights. Verisign is the worlds biggest registry, back-end system provider for numerous Top Level Domains (TLDs), in addition to being the Root Zone Maintainer, a function associated with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). This makes it a very significant player in the domain name infrastructure. Verisign has designed and developed several technologies to service 'Verification Service Providers' and has created the technology to fully comply with this new Chinese law. This technology is vulnerable to abuse and presents a clear risk to human rights, taking into account the draft legislation it is designed to comply with. Western companies are often happy to develop, build and sell software, hardware and standards to facilitate repressive policies elsewhere. A recent example is the contribution of Cisco to the 'Great Firewall of China', also known as the Golden Shield, which allowed the Chinese government to conduct surveillance of its citizens. Just last week, news surfaced that Facebook had developed (but not implemented) censorship software to allow it to operate in China. Companies are often eager to profit, but unwilling to take responsibility for the human rights implications of their decisions. Justifications based on compliance with domestic law are not sufficient. Corporate actors, especially large and influential ones like Verisign, can and should do more to respect, protect and promote freedom of expression and human rights in general by implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. In addition to the Chinese government and Verisign, Internet Governance bodies such as ICANN, which approved Verisign's proposed practice, and the IETF, which is currently discussing Verisign's proposed standard, should consider the human rights impact of approving these proposals. If neither the Chinese government, nor Internet Governance bodies, nor the companies involved in implementing this domain name policy take their responsibility seriously, all Internet users, and especially those in China, will pay the price for these companies profits. This policy will however have impact beyond China. These types of data localisation efforts threaten the distributed nature of the global Internet, by fragmenting the Internet across national jurisdictions. The cooperation of ICANN, the IETF and Verisign on these draft measures also sets a dangerous political precedent that will threaten the rights of Internet citizens across the globe, as well as the technical resilience of the Internet. We the undersigned offer the following recommendations: All companies should do more to consider the impact of their work on human right s, and develop strategies in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights . They should not let their search for profits and access to the Chinese market blind them in their decision-making where the human rights of Chinese citizens and Internet users globally are at stake. s, . They should not let their search for profits and access to the Chinese market blind them in their decision-making where the human rights of Chinese citizens and Internet users globally are at stake. ICANN should revoke its approval to Verisigns proposed services . The ICANN community, particularly the various constituencies within ICANN, must explicitly outline how the Chinese Internet Domain Name Management Rules, in particular Article 37, are in contradiction with existing policies to manage TLDs. Moreover, ICANN should take human rights into account in all of their decision-making processes, including in approving Registry Service Evaluation Processes. . The ICANN community, particularly the various constituencies within ICANN, must explicitly outline how the Chinese Internet Domain Name Management Rules, in particular Article 37, are in contradiction with existing policies to manage TLDs. Moreover, ICANN should take human rights into account in all of their decision-making processes, including in approving Registry Service Evaluation Processes. The IETF, and the regext working group specifically, should avoid standardizing Verisigns proposed Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP), which, if implemented, would threaten the rights of Chinese and other Internet users , especially without properly considering the serious potential real world security and privacy implications this might have. , especially without properly considering the serious potential real world security and privacy implications this might have. China should reconsider its Internet Domain Name Management Rules based on an assessment of their human rights impacts, especially on the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and assembly, and privacy. Signatories: ARTICLE 19 Asociacion por los Derechos Civiles (ADC) Association for Progressive Communications (APC) Bytes for all The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) Derechos Digitales Digital Defenders Partnership (Hivos) Internet Democracy Project Reporters Without Borders SonTusDatos TEDIC The Web Foundation Copyright notice: Copyright ARTICLE 19 Gambia election: Government shuts down internet communications Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Article 19, Gambia election: Government shuts down internet communications, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/584536984.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. ARTICLE 19 condemns yesterday's government-ordered shutdown of Internet and international calls in the Gambia ahead of the crucial 1 December presidential election and calls on the government to end the blackout to ensure Gambians are able to exercise their rights at this vital time. The shutdown not only deprives Gambians of their ability to communicate with the outside world, but of their rights to freely express themselves online and access vital information around the election period. The Internet has provided a significant platform for Gambians to share their political views and discuss the human rights situation in the country in the run-up to the election. "This shut down is a deliberate attempt to further isolate Gambians and another negative set back in a country where independent broadcasting is still not allowed", said Fatou Jagne Senghor, ARTICLE 19's Director for West Africa. Gambians went to the polls today to choose between incumbent President Yahya Jammeh, coalition candidate Adam Barrow and Mama Kandeh. Independent electoral observers from regional organisations including ECOWAS have not been allowed to oversee the process, although some African Union observers will be present. Many opposition parties have denounced the unfair electoral process, but citizens are still determined to use their constitutional rights to have their say. Since April 2016, political tensions have been high and dozens of opposition members, including Ousainou Darbo, the Leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP), have been arrested for peaceful protests. Two of those arrested died in state custody, and many opposition members are still on trial. In the weeks leading up to the election, three journalists and the head of the national television company GRTS have been arrested. Two of them are still in custody. It is feared that if the current crackdown on public space is not altered, reprisals on dissidents in the weeks to come may increase. "Denying Internet access in this way is a clear violation of Gambians rights to freedom of expression and information, which are essential to democratic elections", said Jagne. Copyright notice: Copyright ARTICLE 19 Title "If I could go to school" Education as a tool to prevent the recruitment of girls and assist with their recovery and reintegration in Democratic Republic of Congo Publisher Child Soldiers International Publication Date 5 December 2016 Country Democratic Republic of the Congo Cite as Child Soldiers International, "If I could go to school" Education as a tool to prevent the recruitment of girls and assist with their recovery and reintegration in Democratic Republic of Congo, 5 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5845375f4.html [accessed 3 November 2022] GCC summit: Systematic clampdown on freedom of expression in Gulf Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 5 December 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, GCC summit: Systematic clampdown on freedom of expression in Gulf, 5 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/584587aa4.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The appalling human rights records of states in the Gulf must not be swept under the carpet when member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) gather in the Bahraini capital, Manama, this week (6-7 December) for their annual summit, said Amnesty International today. Human rights will be notably absent from the agenda at the annual meeting when the six GCC states - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - come together to discuss trade and security cooperation, with no mention of the widespread crackdown witnessed across the region on the grounds of security. "In recent years across the Gulf we have seen human rights activists, peaceful political opponents and government critics systematically targeted in the name of security. Hundreds have been harassed, unlawfully prosecuted, stripped of their nationality, arbitrarily detained or in some cases imprisoned or even sentenced to death after unfair trials, as part of a concerted effort to intimidate people into silence," said Randa Habib, Amnesty International's Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. "The use of such ruthless tactics to trample all over the rights of people in the GCC has to end now." UK Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to attend the GCC summit and has a unique opportunity to raise concerns over a pattern of recurring human rights violations throughout the region. "For years western allies of GCC states including the UK and USA have been reluctant to speak out about the rampant human rights violations in the Gulf. In doing so they are turning their backs on countless victims of human rights violations across the region. It is high time for allies of the GCC to stop putting business and security cooperation before human rights and Theresa May must not squander this opportunity to raise key rights issues," said Randa Habib. In the years since the 2011 uprisings across the Arab world, a number of Gulf countries have introduced repressive laws on counterterrorism, cybercrimes and peaceful gatherings, in a bid to restrict freedom of expression and punish those who criticize government policies, their own leaders or those of other GCC states. A clear pattern has emerged across the GCC states of relying on vaguely worded and broad national security laws to convict peaceful activists and critics after blatantly unfair trials. "Tension is high across the region following the rise of the armed group calling itself Islamic State and the risk of deadly attacks but this is not an excuse for lashing out by crushing all signs of peaceful dissent. GCC governments must stop using security as a veil to sanction repression," said Randa Habib. Those targeted in the relentless crackdown have included human rights activists, opposition leaders, journalists, lawyers and academics among others. Among them is the Saudi Arabian lawyer and human rights defender Waleed Abu al-Khair, whose case is an iconic example of how the country's draconian counterterrorism legislation has been used as a tool to punish people exercising their right to freedom of expression. He is currently serving a 15-year-prison term after being convicted in an unfair trial, under the 2014 counter-terror law on a range of offences in relation to his human rights work, and for a conduct which should not be criminalized in the first place. He has defended many peaceful activists and has been a vocal critic of Saudi Arabia's terrible human rights record. Just last week the counter-terror court in Riyadh, after an unfair trial increased the sentence of Issa al-Hamed, a Saudi Arabian human rights defender from nine to 11 years in prison following an appeal. In an emblematic case from the UAE, the human rights lawyer Mohammed al-Roken is serving a 10 year prison sentence after being convicted of national security charges following a blatantly unfair mass trial of 94 people widely known as the "UAE 94" trial. Across the region people have found themselves also serving lengthy prison terms simply for daring to express their opinions freely on social media. The prominent Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajab is among several activists in the GCC to have been unlawfully prosecuted for comments posted on Twitter. In Kuwait Abdallah Fairouz, a human rights activist detained in November 2013 is serving a total of five and a half years' imprisonment for tweets expressing his view that no one should have immunity from prosecution because they reside in a royal palace. He is a prisoner of conscience. Speaking out freely to criticize government policies and call for peaceful reform also saw Sheikh Ali Salman, head of Bahrain's main opposition party, al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, sentenced to nine years in prison in a shocking attack on freedom of expression. The al-Wefaq party was also shutdown. In Bahrain, the UAE and Kuwait hundreds of people have been unlawfully stripped of their nationality in recent years often rendering them stateless and depriving them of key rights, marking an alarming regional trend of using this as a tactic to punish dissent. "In the GCC today exercizing your fundamental rights or speaking your mind freely can very easily land you in jail. GCC states need to stop branding independent human rights activists and peaceful critics as criminals. Instead of locking such people away for long periods under the false pretence of defending national security they should welcome scrutiny of their human rights records," said Randa Habib. Background Human rights violations in the GCC extend beyond the crackdown on freedom of expression to issues such as arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment in detention, unfair trials, failing to adequately protect the rights of migrant workers and use of the death penalty. The Saudi Arabia-led military coalition which includes a number of GCC states, has also launched a series of unlawful attacks in Yemen including some that may amount to war crimes. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Gambia: Opposition leader released on bail Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 5 December 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Gambia: Opposition leader released on bail, 5 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/584587fb4.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Following the release on bail of opposition leader Ousainou Darboe and 18 other peaceful protestors this afternoon by an Appeal Court in Gambia, Sabrina Mahtani Amnesty International's West Africa Anglophone Researcher said: "The release of Ousainou Darboe and the 18 other peaceful protestors on bail is a big moment for them and their families, and we hope that this positive step indicates that they will be fully acquitted in due course." "We must also not forget others prisoners of conscience who still languish in jail simply for having expressed their opinion or participated in peaceful protests. These include three Imams arrested by the security forces over a year ago and not seen since. Their only 'crime' - presenting a petition to the government." Background Today an Appeal Court in Banjul released on bail 19 people - including the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) leader Ousainou Darboe. They were convicted on 20 July 2016 and sentenced to 3 years in prison for participating in peaceful protests. Fourteen more are awaiting trial. They were found guilty on six counts relating to participating in unauthorized protests on 16 April 2016 in the outskirts of the country's capital, Banjul. The Court ordered them to hand over their passports. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Iran: Detainees arrested at commemoration for murdered writers must be released Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 3 December 2016 Reference MDE 13/5267/2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Iran: Detainees arrested at commemoration for murdered writers must be released , 3 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/584589074.html [accessed 3 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Iranian authorities should release immediately and unconditionally four individuals arrested yesterday as security forces quashed heavy-handedly a peaceful gathering to mark the 18th anniversary of the extrajudicial killings of two prominent intellectuals and writers, said Amnesty International. The four detainees - Baktash Abtin, Fatemeh Sarhadizadeh, Mohammad Mehdipour and Mazdak Zarafshan are being held in an undisclosed detention centre following their violent arrest yesterday. They were among a crowd of some 100 people seeking to gather peacefully in Emamzadeh Taher Cemetery in Karaj, near Tehran, yesterday to commemorate the killings of prominent intellectuals and writers Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Ja'far Pouyandeh by Ministry of Intelligence officials in 1998. The killings have never been independently investigated. The authorities reacted by deploying police vehicles and dozens of uniformed and plain-clothes law-enforcement officers to disperse the crowd and prevent them from entering the cemetery. Eyewitnesses said they saw seven or eight intelligence officers beating Mazdak Zarafshan until his face was covered in blood. They also described how the officials shoved his elderly father, Naser Zarafshan, a prominent lawyer and human rights defender, to the ground and beat him on his legs and chest when he attempted to intervene to persuade the intelligence forces to stop. The officials then bundled the father and son into a car and took them away. Naser Zarafshan was separated from his son and released several hours later. Mazdak Zarafshan, however, remains in custody and the authorities have not provided his family with any information about his legal status or whereabouts. Eyewitnesses told Amnesty International that individuals who held mobile phones in their hands were particularly targeted by plain-clothes intelligence officers, in an apparent effort to stop them filming or photographing incidents of police brutality. It appears that Fatemeh Sarhadizadeh, a 75-year-old woman, was arrested after several officials saw her taking out her phone to answer a call and snatched the phone from her hand while hitting her. Two other individuals present, Baktash Abtin and Mohammad Mehdipour, were arrested at around the same time. Like in the case of Mazdak Zarafshan, the authorities have not released any information about the legal status or whereabouts of these three individuals. Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to ensure that prompt, independent investigations are conducted into the violent events of yesterday at Karaj's Emamzadeh Taher Cemetery and that police and intelligence officials suspected of using unnecessary or excessive force are held to account. Amnesty International is also urging the authorities to release Baktash Abtin, Fatemeh Sarhadizadeh, Mohammad Mehdipour and Mazdak Zarafshan immediately and unconditionally as, according to the organization's information, they have been detained merely for peacefully exercising their right to peaceful assembly. The organization appeals to the authorities to shift its approach radically so that it focuses on remedying past crimes, such as the murders of writers and opposition figures in 1998, by ensuring that all those involved are brought to justice in fair trials rather than violating the rights of those seeking to pay homage to the memory of the victims. Background In 1999, about 23 employees of the Ministry of Intelligence in Iran were arrested in connection with the deaths of prominent intellectuals and writers Mohamamd Mokhtari and Mohammad Ja'far Pouyandeh and prominent opposition figures Dariyush Foruhar and Parvaneh Foruhar. These deaths were part of a series of extrajudicial killings that targeted intellectuals, writers, artists and dissidents between 1988 and 1998 and came to be known in Iran as the "Chain of Murders". The arrests took place following an announcement by the Ministry of Intelligence that some of its officials were involved in the killings and the establishment of a special committee to investigate them. Several of the officials arrested were subsequently prosecuted and sentenced to penalties ranging from imprisonment to the death penalty. However, the circumstances surrounding the killings, including the chain of command along which orders passed, remain shrouded in secrecy and high-ranking officials who were identified by the employees as responsible for ordering and planning the crimes were never brought to justice. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Wuhan, Hubei -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/04/2016 --Chronic prostatitis is a disease that requires a long-term treatment. Men who are infected with this disease have to suffer from a series of excruciating symptoms. There is no best cure for treatment of chronic prostatitis. Patients usually have to take several different therapies to relieve the pain and discomfort. As we know that antibiotic treatment is most commonly-used for prostatitis cure. However, the misuse and overuse of antibiotics often have no improvement on treating prostatitis. It's reported on Prairie Business Magazine that "Antibiotics not a cure-all". "Misuse of antibiotics is a national, possibly global health issue with both individual and societal effects. Health observers are increasingly concerned with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, a resilient group popularly referred to as 'superbugs'," says Dr. Joel Walz, the health officer of Grand Forks Public Health and a family practice physician with Altru Health System. Research suggests improper use of antibiotics such as using incorrect dosages, taking medication when not needed, or halting antibiotic treatment regimens before completing a full course of medication as prescribed by a doctor, can give fast-reproducing bacteria a clear window to develop adaptations to ward off future doses. For treating chronic prostatitis, antibiotics can take effect in a short time, but the effectiveness can't last in the long-term treatment. If the infection couldn't be eliminated in weeks or months, patients should take a different antibiotic or choose other medications for prostatitis. The long-term use of antibiotics will develop drug resistance and have negative impact on liver and kidneys. To avoid the side effects of antibiotics, natural medicine called Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill can be used as a replacement to cure chronic prostatitis. It can cure the infection safely, effectively and permanently. Compared with antibiotics, the herbal formula Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill has zero side effects and is suitable for a long-lasting treatment. Chronic prostatitis often causes painful symptoms like pain in testicles, scrotum, perineum, lower abdomen and lower back. Antibiotics are usually used with painkillers and anti-inflammatory agents to relieve the pain and inflammation involved in infection. The effectiveness will be cut down if antibiotic treatment is used alone. However, during the medication treatment of Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill, it's unnecessary to take other tablets since this herbal medicine has functions of improving blood and Qi flow and clearing the heat and toxins, which are responsible for eliminating the pain and wiping out the causative bacteria to remove the inflammation. Moreover, directed at the symptoms of chronic prostatitis, this herbal pill contains herbs like talcum, antago seed, dianthus superbus, and polygonum aviculare which have powerful benefits of inducing diuresis so that the painful urination and other urinary disorders can be cured as well. If you want to know more about this medicine and to buy it from the official website, you can visit the website: http://www.diureticspill.com/ "Traditional Chinese Medicine Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill has strong antibacterial, blood-activating, stasis-dissolving and dampness-removing properties. It not only can cure chronic prostatitis caused by bacteria, but also can cure chronic nonbacterial prostatitis. More importantly, this natural medicine plays an important role in improving the immunity and maintaining the health of men's reproductive system. Over 93% of patients have got a full recovery by taking this herbal remedy, which has high patient satisfaction," says Dr. Lee. As a leading doctor of Wuhan Dr. Lee's TCM Clinic, Dr. Lee devoted herself to the research of prostatitis for several years and invented the complete formula of Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill. It's authorized by State Intellectual Property Office of China. The patent number is 200910157894. You can check it by Google, here's the link: https://www.google.com/patents/CN101637592B "I have suffered from chronic prostatitis for 7 years. I have pain in testicle, perineum and lower abdominal, nonliquefaction of semen. I've consulted 5 to 7 doctors and tried many possible treatments, but no significant improvement." Mr. Payne is 27, from Alaska, USA. For 6 years he has tried various treatments for prostatitis but all failed. And he got divorced due to the prostatitis. He had spent much money for western medicine and did not reach his expectation. When he learned that Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill can treat chronic prostatitis, he decided to have a try. "After one month treatment, my symptoms were still the same due to sexual intercourse. Dr. Lee asked me to restrict the habit of sexual intercourse and try to lie for rest. After I took the medicine for two months, the prostate pain had been alleviated almost. After five month medication, my semen showed normal, and all pain disappeared completely. I did routine check of prostate and it returned to normal. I was so happy to see the obvious improvement." You can read more successful cases by this link: http://prostatitisradicalcure.com/a/Testimonials/ Advertisement - Continue Reading Below This just in... In this screen shot, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen criticizes the U.S. as Washington's Ambassador to Cambodia William Heidt makes a gesture, Dec. 5, 2016. With the U.S. ambassador to Cambodia sitting on the stage and one of Americas most famous corporate icons as a backdrop, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen attacked the United States for what he said is a double standard. In the opening ceremony for Coca-Colas new bottling plant in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on Monday, Hun Sen attempted to paint the demonstrations in the U.S. after the election of GOP nominee Donald Trump as large and serious. You cannot say they were small. They were big, Hun Sen said as he turned toward Ambassador William Heidt, who held up his hand in what is a near-universal gesture indicating tiny. When big demonstrations happened in the U.S. you said they were small, but when small demonstrations happened in Cambodia you said they were big, Hun Sen added. After Trumps election, thousands of people took to the streets nationwide in what were largely peaceful protests, although there were outbursts of violence in Portland, Oakland and Indianapolis, according to media reports. Police used pepper spray and rubber baton rounds, among other things, in efforts to disperse protesters in Portland. Its unclear exactly how many people were arrested because of the protests, but estimates usually range in the low hundreds. Several thousand demonstrators were arrested. Is that what your excellency [Heidt] considers as small? Hun Sen continued. Id like to challenge the U.S. embassy, which has claimed to be the father of democracy and mother of human rights, to swallow its own medicine. The United States has a long history of social protest A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Phnom Penh brushed aside Hun Sens criticisms. The United States has a long history of social protest, which is tolerated and protected by the authorities, said embassy spokesman Jay R. Raman. The media reports freely and openly on protests, and our judicial system is well equipped to handle any allegations of misconduct by either protesters or police. Protests related to the 2016 U.S. elections were modest in scale and largely peaceful, Raman added. While he noted that some arrests have been reported, and these cases are being handled in accordance with legal procedures. We are not aware of any significant allegations of inappropriate police behavior or crackdowns vis-a-vis the demonstrators, he said. Situated on a 12-hectares in a special economic zone on the outskirts of the city, the Coca-Cola plant is expected to generate approximately 300 jobs and help create an additional 1,800 indirect jobs from transportation and manufacturing to packaging supply, the company wrote in a blog post. The plant is part of the $100 million Coca-Cola has committed to invest in Cambodia from 2015 to 2018, and is an example of the countrys willingness to do business with outsiders, Hun Sen said. Cambodia has an open door policy to draw foreign investment and we do not discriminate against any investors, said Hun Sen, according to the Khmer Times. Reported by Sothearin Yeang for RFA's Khmer Service. Translated by Nareth Muong. Writtein in English by Brooks Boliek. Dozens of ethnic Mongolians protested on Monday outside government offices in northern China over restrictions on the use of the Mongolian language in two of the city's kindergartens. They say that Chinese authorities in the northern region of Inner Mongolia are allowing discriminatory practices by local schools, which have targeted the use of the Mongolian language in two kindergartens in Ulaanhad city (known as Chifeng in Chinese). The parents, who have been protesting since two Han Chinese principals were appointed to head Ulaanhad's 6.1 Kindergarten and Xincheng Mongolian Kindergarten, unfurled a banner outside the city government offices which read: "Respect our ethnic culture, improve the language environment, respect the Minorities Education Law, appoint ethnic Mongolian principals." Parents of children at the schools launched a protest campaign last month on social media, writing open letters and collecting signatures to protest the principals' actions, which they say contravene existing legislation on minority educational provision. "About 20 parents visited the complaints department of the Ulaanhad city government at around 8.30 this morning," protester Tanaa told RFA. "There is now a Han Chinese principal of our Mongolian kindergarten, and they won't allow the Mongolian teachers to speak Mongolian to each other, or to plan Mongolian-language lessons," she said. She called for the removal of both Han Chinese principals, and for the gradual conversion of both kindergartens to monolingual education, in Mongolian. Unfair development policies China's 5.8 million-strong ethnic Mongolian community have long complained about unfair development policies in the region, which borders the independent country of Mongolia. However, ethnic Mongolian children have previously had much more opportunity to learn their native language and its cursive, flowing script during their early schooling. The parents accuse 6.1 Kindergarten of "disregarding laws and regulations" by banning ethnic Mongolian teachers from teaching in Mongolian and from speaking it in school following the new principal's appointment. "[This] public action of depriving the Mongolians of their right to speak and use their native language is ethnic discrimination," the parents wrote in an open letter posted online. The letter said the move was a blatant form of Han Chinese chauvinism. "Depriving us, the legitimate owners of the land, of the right to speak our language and telling us to shut our mouths up and speak Chinese is another form of ethno-terrorism," the letter said. "This is typical of the hate speech and hate action against humanity that was practiced only by colonial occupiers in the past," it said. Mongolian parents are also complaining that seats available for Mongolian children in the only existing two Mongolian kindergartens in the entire city of Ulaanhad are very limited, as an increasing number of Chinese children are accepted into the schools. The Ulaanhad bureau of education responded on Nov. 15 with a promise to appoint ethnic Mongolians to the top jobs in both kindergartens, but haven't yet acted on that promise, according to the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights and Information Center (SMHRIC)group. Tanaa said the children at the kindergartens, which are billed as "bilingual," are now being taught mostly in Chinese, after their parents enrolled them in a bid to keep their culture alive. Job never advertised She said that many ethnic Mongolians already have trouble finding a kindergarten that offers any Mongolian-language education at all. A parent who asked to remain anonymous told RFA in a recent interview that the 6.1 Kindergarten had started using Chinese much earlier than this semester. "Under this new vice-principal, there has been much, much more non-Mongolian content in class," she said. "We don't even know how this person was hired, because the job was never advertised publicly." "A lot of former herders and farmers have lost their land, and they are coming into the cities to look for manual labor, and so we are seeing more concentrations of Mongolians in cities now," she said. "Finding a kindergarten for their kids is a really huge problem," she said. She said the schools are also insisting on the use of Chinese for many administrative tasks. "Since when has there been a rule that this stuff has to be written in Chinese? The local education bureau doesn't want Mongolian [schools] to even use their own language," she said. According to research carried out by veteran ethnic Mongolian activist Hada, the regional capital Hohhot only offers 3,000 Mongolian-medium primary school places to serve an ethnic Mongolian population of some 210,000, SMHRIC said. The number of Mongolian-medium primary school places across the whole region fell from 110,000 in the early 1980s to just 19,000 in 2009, it said. 'Cultural genocide' Hada told RFA on Monday he supported the parents' campaign. "This incident is itself a crime of ethnic discrimination and oppression, and a major component of [Beijing's] policy of cultural genocide," he said. "[The authorities] are trampling on both domestic and international law, and I will support the parents all the way." Another parent activist, Tuyaa, told SMHRIC, "We are ready to fight for our rights until they are truly honored and respected." "We are not asking for any special privilege. What we are asking for is our most basic right, the right to use our native language and the right to teach our language to our children," she said. Ethnic Mongolians in China have long complained of widespread environmental destruction, violent evictions from traditional grazing lands, and unfair development policies in the region. Hada has called the routine eviction of herders from their traditional grazing lands, often in the name of ecological protection, part of a calculated program of ethnic cleansing in the region. Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Wong Siu-san and Dai Weisen for the Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie. China on Monday said it has lodged a diplomatic protest in Washington after United States president-elect Donald Trump took a phone call from the president of Taiwan, an island claimed but never ruled by its ruling Chinese Communist Party. The "stern representations" came after Taiwan's democratically elected president Tsai Ing-wen called Trump on Friday to congratulate him on his election victory. Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the protest had been lodged with the "relevant side," without giving details. "The whole world knows about the Chinese government's position on the Taiwan issue," Lu told a regular news conference in Beijing. "I think President-elect Trump and his team are also clear about it," Lu said, adding that Beijing has maintained contact with the incoming president and his team. The Global Times newspaper, a sister paper of Communist Party flagship the People's Daily, said the phone conversation was the first at such a high level since Beijing and Washington established diplomatic ties and Washington withdrew diplomatic recognition from Taipei in 1979. The fact that Trump even took Tsai's call showed "he still has much to learn about how to deal with the Sino-U.S. relationship, especially the Taiwan question," the paper said. It said that while little could be gleaned from a single phone call, ties would be affected if Trump's administration were to cross "the bottom line set by the Chinese side." "The world will be dragged into a mess if leaders all speak irresponsibly," the signed op-ed article said. "This shouldn't be allowed. Trump as future U.S. president should know what to say properly on different occasions." Fundamental shift Chan Chi Kit, assistant professor of communication at Hong Kong's Hang Seng Management College, said Trump may have been signaling a fundamental shift in U.S. foreign policy by taking Tsai's call. "I think it's very clear that Trump intends to play the Taiwan card," Chan said. "Trump's battle lines were drawn up around not allowing U.S. industry to be relocated overseas ... with tax breaks for those that do not." "Sooner or later, he is going to have to play the China card, so as to satisfy the electorate, and so this incident is him signaling to Taiwan, and to the rest of the world, that he isn't going to kowtow to China," he said. He said that China is continuing to pile up diplomatic pressure on Taiwan since Tsai refused to publicly endorse the "One China" policy following her election earlier this year. "I think the Taiwan government had already made mental preparation for various reactions from Beijing and from around the world," Chan added. Tseng Chien-yuen, lecturer in administration at Taiwan's Chung Hua University, agreed that the phone call is likely a harbinger of closer commercial ties between the island and the U.S. under a Trump administration. "He comes from a commercial background, where the principle that harmonious relations create wealth is a very important one," Tseng said. "I think he's sending out a few political messages before he takes office to let people know that he will firmly support the U.S.-Taiwan relationship once he has taken office," he said. 'A new era' Tsai, who heads the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), pledged in her inaugural address to build a "united democracy that is not hijacked by ideology," in an apparent reference to her predecessor's closer ties with Beijing. She also promised a "new era" in Taiwan politics, amid fears that ever-closer economic ties with China could undermine the island's democracy. "Today, tomorrow, and on every day to come, we shall all vow to be a Taiwanese who safeguards democracy, freedom, and this country," Tsai said. But while Tsai pledged to maintain peaceful ties with Beijing, mentioning landmark 1992 peace talks, she stopped short of endorsing Beijing's insistence that the island she governs is an inalienable part of a divided China. The Kuomintang (KMT) nationalist party, which represented the island at the 1992 talks, had regarded itself as the legitimate rulers of a post-1911 Republic of China that had been "temporarily" relocated to Taiwan after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists in 1949. But Tsai was voted into power in a landslide victory from a platform that at the very least affirms the island's separate identity from mainland China. Repeated polls have shown that many of Taiwan's 23 million residents identify as Taiwanese rather than Chinese, and that there is broad political support for de facto self-rule, if not formal independence. Tweets on China Meanwhile, Trump continued to lash out at China over the weekend, tweeting: "Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the U.S. doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!" The foreign ministry's Lu declined to comment on Trump's tweets on Monday. "The China-U.S. economic and trade relationship has over many years always been a highly mutually beneficial one, otherwise it couldn't have developed the way it has today," he said. "China and the United States maintaining good relations, a steadily developing relationship, accords with the joint interests of both peoples." Trump, whose team hasn't taken State Department advice on contact with foreign leaders, takes office on Jan. 20. 'Provocative, damaging' China's state news agency Xinhua on Monday issued a commentary warning against focusing on the president-elect's "sensational claims." It said Trump should refrain from "light-headed calls for provocative and damaging moves on China." Taiwan was governed separately from mainland China throughout the Japanese occupation (1895-1945) and since 1949, and has never been part of communist China. Beijing has said it is willing to deal with any party in Taiwan, as long as they "recognize" that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China and don't allow the island to move towards independent statehood. Reported by Goh Fung for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Hwang Chun-mei for the Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie. Former United Nations chief Kofi Annan (L) meets Myanmar's President Htin Kyaw in Naypyidaw to discuss the Rakhine Advisory Commission's visit to strife-torn Rakhine state, Dec. 5, 2016. Members of Myanmars Rakhine Advisory Commission met with President Htin Kyaw and five lawmakers in Naypyidaw on Monday to discuss the unstable situation in the western state where a security crackdown has sparked allegations of genocide of the Rohingya Muslims who live there. Led by former United Nations chief Kofi Annan, the nine-member commission met with three lawmakers from the lower house of parliament, and two from the upper house following a visit to the northwestern part of Rakhine State. Myanmar security forces are alleged to have carried out extrajudicial killings, rapes and arson there during their search for Rohingya militants responsible for deadly attacks on border guard posts nearly two months ago. Though the commission had requested a meeting with all lawmakers in Rakhine state, the five parliamentarians were the only ones who agreed to meet with it because of widespread opposition among ethnic Rakhine residents and members of the state legislatures dominant Arakan National Party (ANP). They [members of the commission] have now visited Rakhine three times, and they said cooperation from the Rakhine side was minimal, while that from the Muslim side was very active, said Soe Win, an upper house lawmaker from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party who attended the meeting. What they want is for both sides to come and talk about their feelings, hardships, and problems, so they can prepare a report based on those findings, he told RFAs Myanmar Service. The commission, appointed in late August by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, must submit a report on its findings to the government within a year. The body is looking into conflict resolution, humanitarian assistance, and development issues in the divided and impoverished state. A commission member told local media that the body will submit an interim report to the government in the next two months, according to state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar. But now that only the Muslims are active, that means there will be very few facts about problems that the ethnic Rakhine people are facing, said Soe Win. They are not happy about that, so they want to hear suggestions for possible solutions from us. With previous governments failing to effectively deal with the religious divisiveness and related issues in Rakhine state, Aung San Suu Kyi is trying to find a solution that will in turn help the multiethnic country achieve her goal of lasting peace. But ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and ANP members oppose the appointment of three foreigners, including Annan, to the commission, believing that they will side with the Rohingya. Rakhine civil society organizations refused to meet with commission members, who instead were greeted by protesters during the weekend when they arrived in Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Mrauk-U, and Myebon townships. Let them leave More than 1.1 million stateless Rohingya Muslims, whom the Burmese call Bengalis because they consider them illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh, live in troubled Rakhine state. Myanmars Buddhist majority has long subjected them to persecution and attacks and denied them basic rights, including citizenship. About 120,000 live in displaced persons camps where they were placed following communal violence with Rakhine Buddhists that left more than 200 dead and tens of thousands homeless. The recent security crackdown has forced tens of thousands of Rohingya to flee their villages and attempt to enter neighboring Bangladesh. Among the Muslims in Rakhine state, citizenship should be given to those who really deserve it in accordance with existing laws and action should be taken against those who dont meet the requirements, Soe Win said. Remove the barriers that stop Muslims in Rakhine state from going to other parts of the country, he said. If there are those who want to go abroad, let them leave. Those were my suggestions. ANP lawmaker Htu May cautioned that the commission should not make judgments based only on recent events in Rakhine incidents. They need to know the entire history, she told RFA. The latest incidents are very different from the previous ones. It should have a separate report. The voices of the ethnic Rakhine people have not been heard in the media for so long, she said. The commission should know what we Rakhines have to say about what [people] are going through. Thats why I explained some of these things to the commission on their behalf. A statement issued by Htin Kyaws office said the parties discussed the importance of humanitarian aid for both communities, the need to promote interaction between the two groups, the need to release news to discount rumors and fake reports, the countrys 1982 Citizenship Law, and economic development to improve living standards in Rakhine. Annan also met with Aung San Suu Kyi and military commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw. He will hold a press conference in the commercial capital Yangon on Tuesday, according to Global New Light of Myanmar. Myanmar Buddhist monks stage a protest outside the Malaysian embassy in Yangon to denounce Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's support for Rohingya Muslims, Dec. 3, 2016. Credit: AFP Pressure from Malaysia Meanwhile Myanmar continues to take heat for the crisis in Rakhine from Muslim-majority Malaysia where members of the local Rohingya community have held public protests against Aung San Suu Kyis failure to stop what they call genocide. Following protests last week by Muslims in Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh, Htin Kyaw on Nov. 3 formed an investigative commission on Rakhine to examine the situation that led to the border guard station attacks and subsequent violence, as well as to verify allegations of rights abuses during security operations. But on Sunday, Prime Minister Najib Razak and members of his cabinet joined another protest in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, sparking a nationalist counterdemonstration in Yangon where nearly 100 monks and laypeople denounced him, the Myanmar Times reported. Myanmars military chief Min Aung Hlaing told his Malaysian counterpart General Haji Zulkifeli Bin Mohd Zain on Monday that the armed forces had not committed any human rights violations in Rakhine. He told Haji that investigations are under way to determine the truth of the allegations of executions, rape, and arson, and said that some local Rohingya Muslims have failed to abide by the regulations laid down in accordance with existing laws, according to a post on the Facebook page of Malaysias defense services office. The two generals also agreed to exchange information between their military forces to fight terrorism, it said. Ye Htut, former presidential spokesman and information minister under the previous Myanmar governments administration, said Aung San Suu Kyi should use her influence and power with the international community to counter accusations that the military has committed human rights abuses against the Rohingya in Rakhine. He issued a post on his Facebook page on Monday advising her to interact more with countries that belong to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to engender more understanding of the realities that Myanmar faces in Rakhine. He also accused Najib Razak of using the Rohingya issue to increase his political standing and support among conservative Malaysian Muslims as he fends off corruption allegations of involvement in taking billions of dollars of public money from a state investment fund. The demonstrations prompted Myanmars Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, to summon the Malaysia ambassador in Yangon, though he has yet to respond, said Aye Soe, the ministrys deputy director general on Monday. She said the ministry would issue a statement after meeting with the envoy. Reported by Win Ko Ko Latt and Waiyan Moe Myint for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. A Tibetan woman jailed in Sichuan for attempting to rescue a self-immolation protester from police has been released in poor health after serving a three-year term, sources say. Drolma Tso, who had been held in Mianyang prison near Sichuans provincial capital Chengdu, was freed on Dec. 4 and returned to her home in Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) countys Meruma township at about 9:00 p.m. the same day, a relative living in Australia told RFAs Tibetan Service. More than 200 local residents had gathered there to welcome her back, RFAs source, named Miu Kunjam, said, citing contacts in the region. Tso was beaten and tortured during the first 11 months of her confinement and is now in poor health, Kunjam said. She is suffering from lack of proper sleep, weak health, giddiness, and mood swings, among other problems, Kunjam said. Her family members are deeply worried and concerned about her condition. Tso, a member of Merumas Getsang family, has a 14-year-old daughter named Tsultrim Drolma. Her fathers name is Gerik, and her mothers name is Donkho, Kunjam said. In December 2015, Tsos family received two letters from prison authorities informing them that Tso would have to undergo surgery, but when family members asked to see her so that they could see her condition for themselves, they were not allowed to meet with her, Kunjam said. But Tso managed to call them from the prison and tell them she was being forced to undergo a procedure she had declined, and warning them not to give their approval. It was not immediately clear what surgery officials were insisting on performing or whether the procedure was ever performed. Clashed with police Tso was among a group of Ngaba residents who had clashed with police in December 2013 as they tried to stop security forces from taking a severely burned self-immolation protester, Konchog Tseten, away from the site of his protest, sources told RFA in earlier reports. Tseten, a 30-year-old herdsman and father of two, later died on his way to a hospital, and authorities secretly cremated his remains, returning his ashes to his family without explanation. On Nov. 3, 2014, Tso was convicted on a charge of homicide and was handed a three-year-term, with credit given for the time already spent in custody after being detained on Dec. 3 the year before. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijings rule have continued in Ngaba and in other Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008. A total of 145 Tibetans living in China have now set themselves ablaze in self-immolations since the wave of fiery protests began in 2009, with most protests featuring calls for Tibetan freedom and the return of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama from India, where he has lived since escaping Tibet during a failed national uprising in 1959. Reported by RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney. WASHINGTON -- Turkmen authorities have arrested contributor Khudayberdy Allashov on charges of possessing chewing tobacco only days after one RFE/RL correspondent was threatened with arrest and another was physically injured in a series of violent attacks. We believe these charges are part of a targeted campaign intended to silence our Turkmen Service and intimidate the Turkmen people, said RFE/RL President Thomas Kent. Over the last 18 months our reporters have been arrested, held incommunicado, beaten, interrogated, threatened and arbitrarily jailed, and we hold the Turkmen government responsible. Allashov was apprehended in Turkmenistans northern Dashoguz province on December 3, when a group of policemen carrying weapons and video cameras entered his house, beat him, and rounded up his family, including his mother and wife. Both he and his mother were charged with possessing chewing tobacco, which, while illegal in Turkmenistan, is commonly consumed and not known to have led to arrests. Allashov's wife was told that, under suress, he had allegedly confessed to possessing 11 kilograms of the product, and could expect to be sentenced to seven years in prison. Both he and his mother were scheduled to appear before a court on December 5. The dealer who sold Allashov the tobacco was also briefly detained and questioned, and later told RFE/RL that she had seen him at the police station severely bruised and unable to hold his head up or speak. Allashov began contributing to RFE/RLs Turkmen Service in October this year, reporting local stories about food shortages, wage delays, salaries, and cotton-picking under the pen name Mekan Tashliyev. While Turkmenistan has long been intolerant of any independent media, the government has escalated its repression of RFE/RL journalists recently. Correspondent Soltan Achilova was subject to three separate physical attacks in connection with her journalism in November. Correspondent Rovshen Yazmuhamedov was also threatened in November with enforcement of a suspended jail term he received in 2013. Video journalist Saparmamed Nepeskuliev is serving a three-year prison sentence on narcotics charges that rights advocates believe were fabricated and brought in retaliation for his reporting, and no fewer than six contributors quit their jobs in response to pressure during 2015. The United Nations has condemned recent executions carried out by authorities in Belarus. The European Union confirmed last week that Belarus carried out a total of three executions during the month of November -- raising the total number of executions in the former Soviet republic during 2016 to four. The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus, Miklos Haraszti, said in a statement on December 5 that the "three executions testify once again to the blatant disdain of Belarusian authorities for the right to life and also their staunch non-cooperation with the international human rights system. The three executed in November included death row inmates Henadz Yakavitski, 28-year-old Ivan Kulesh, and 31-year-old Syarhey Khymyaleuski. A fourth prisoner, Syarhey Ivanou, was executed in Belarus on April 18. "Once again, I call upon the Belarusian authorities to adopt soonest a moratorium on the death penalty, Haraszti said. The EU -- along with Amnesty International and other human rights organizations -- has been calling on Minsk to join a moratorium on the death penalty for years. Before April, an execution had not been carried out under the Belarusian legal system since November 2014. According to rights groups, more than 400 people have been sentenced to death in Belarus since the early 1990s. Russian forces have launched suicide drones on targets in eastern and central Ukraine, the Ukrainian air defense reported, as heavy fighting continues in the east. "Twelve out of 13 [loitering] munitions were destroyed by [the Ukrainian] anti-aircraft defense in the eastern and central regions of the country," the military said in a message on Telegram. The air defense said six drones were shot down in eastern Ukraine and another six were destroyed in the central part of the country. Russia has been targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure and civilian objectives with missile, drone, and artillery attacks for weeks amid a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has driven Russian troops out of the northeast and pushed them back in the east and southeast. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on November 2 that authorities in the capital were preparing more than 1,000 heating points throughout the city in case its district heating system is disabled by continued Russian attacks. Russia launched missiles into several Ukrainian cities on October 31, including Kyiv, as the Kremlin continues its relentless assault on Ukrainian critical infrastructure in the hopes of wearing down its population's will to resist. Water and electricity supplies were all but cut off for hours in Kyiv before being restored on November 1, but officials warned that power rationing would continue to be necessary in the capital. Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. Klitschko wrote on Telegram on November 2 that city authorities were considering different scenarios due to missile attacks. "The worst one is where there will be no electric power, water, or district heating at all," he said. "For that case, we are preparing over 1,000 heating points in our city." Missile and drone attacks have damaged at least 40 percent of Ukraine's energy infrastructure and have already briefly left large parts of Kyiv without power and water. Nine regions were experiencing power cuts, authorities said. "We will do everything we can to provide power and heat for the coming winter," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his regular address late on November 1. "But we must understand that Russia will do everything it can to destroy normal life." In the central Cherkasy region, a drone hit an infrastructure objective on November 2, said regional Governor Ihor Taburets in a message on Telegram. Taburets said that two other drones that targeted Cherkasy were shot down. He said no injuries were reported. Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat on November 1 warned that Kyiv does not have an effective means of defense against Iranian-made ballistic missiles, which Russia is likely planning to deploy north of the Ukrainian border. Ihnat told a news briefing that it would be theoretically possible to shoot down Iranian ballistic missiles, but it would be very difficult to do it "with the means that we have in our arsenal today." The Washington Post reported last month that Iran had agreed to supply Russia with surface-to-surface missiles, citing sources in U.S. security agencies The Ukrainian military said Russian troops continued shelling the eastern city of Bakhmut, a target of Russia's armed forces in their slow advance through the Donetsk region. There was fierce fighting near Bakhmut, as Ukrainian forces held back Russian assaults on two other areas in Donetsk, around Avdiyivka and Uhledar. With reporting by Reuters and AP Russian prison service officials say jailed activist Ildar Dadin has been transferred out of the prison in northwestern Russia where he said he has been beaten and tortured. The Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) said on December 5 that Dadin had been transferred out of the IK-7 penitentiary in the northwestern town of Segezha over the weekend and sent to a different prison. It said that Dadin's new location will be disclosed to his relatives only. Dadin, 34, became the first Russian citizen jailed for participating in more than two unsanctioned public gatherings in 180 consecutive days under a controversial 2014 law that critics say is part of a redoubled Kremlin effort to stifle dissent during President Vladimir Putin's third term. Dadin received a three-year sentence in December 2015, and it was later reduced by six months. Opposition activists regard him as a political prisoner. Dadin made the torture accusations in an open letter in November that has shone a spotlight on claims of widespread abuse in Russia's prisons and jails. He said at the time that he did not want to be transferred because he wanted to try to help other inmates at the prison whom he said were also abused. FSIN officials have said they found no evidence to support Dadin's allegations, and a deputy director of the agency called him "a very talented faker." With reporting by Interfax and TASS Welcome back to The Farda Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that tracks the key issues in Iran and explains why they matter. To subscribe, click here. I'm RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari. Here's what Ive been following during the past week and what Im watching for in the days ahead. The Big Issue Iran has accused two female journalists who covered the hospitalization and funeral of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini -- whose death in the custody of Tehran's morality police triggered protests across the country -- of being U.S. spies and the "primary sources of news for foreign media." The accusations came in a joint statement by the feared intelligence branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Intelligence Ministry, which identified the two journalists, Nilufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, who are being held in Tehran's Evin prison, by their initials. The statement claims the journalists were trained abroad. It also says the protests that have shaken Iran were planned by the CIA along with other foreign intelligence services, including the British and Saudi spy agencies as well as Israel's Mossad. The statement was met with fear and anger by Iranian journalists and their colleagues, who pushed back against the accusations. Senior editors of Hamedi's Sharq daily and Mohammadi's Hammihan dismissed the charges and said the journalists were only doing their jobs. "Our journalist and our newspaper.....acted within the framework of the journalistic mission," said Mehdi Rahmanian, editor of the reformist Sharq, while Gholamhossein Karbaschi, the editor of Hammihan, said the IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency and other news agencies had similar reports that included more details. More than 500 journalists, photographers, and other media workers demanded the release of their colleagues while calling on officials to allow the free flow of information. Separately, Tehran's Journalist Association said that based on the statement by the Iranian intelligence agencies, journalism should be banned because "the normal activity of journalists has been cited as evidence of a crime." For its part, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists dismissed the charges against the two journalists as "conspiracy theories," adding that it will hold Iranian leaders accountable for any harm done to the journalists. Why It Matters: The spying accusations against Hamedi and Mohammadi are a major escalation of state pressure on the media, which is already facing a severe crackdown and tough censorship. The spying charges leveled against the two carries the death penalty. According to the CPJ, more than 45 journalists and columnists have been arrested in the current crackdown. The French media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said Iran has become the world's biggest jailer of female journalists in the course of the current crackdown. Meanwhile, reports have emerged that France-based Iranian journalist Vahid Shamsoddinnezhad, who had traveled to Saghez to cover the aftermath of Amini's death for the European TV channel Arte, has been in jail since September 28. What's Next: The judiciary has not officially charged the two journalists with spying. The pushback from the Iranian press and journalists and international pressure could be instrumental in clearing the two journalists of the accusations. Stories You Might Have Missed Iranian authorities secretly buried the body of RFE/RL's Radio Farda broadcaster Reza Haghighatnejad at a location near Shiraz after seizing his body upon repatriation to Iran for burial. Haghighatnejad, 45, died of cancer in Berlin on October 17. His body was flown to Iran on October 25. His family was not allowed to see the body or participate in his burial. Radio Farda obtained a video of Haghighatnejad's gravesite , where the anthem of the current mass protests in Iran, Shervin Hajipur's Baraye, was heard in the background. The U.S. State Department has called on Iran to release Haghighatnejad's body and said the episode showed the extent the Iranian government will go to intimidate the press. at a location near Shiraz after seizing his body upon repatriation to Iran for burial. Haghighatnejad, 45, died of cancer in Berlin on October 17. His body was flown to Iran on October 25. His family was not allowed to see the body or participate in his burial. Radio Farda obtained , where the anthem of the current mass protests in Iran, Shervin Hajipur's Baraye, was heard in the background. The U.S. State Department has called on Iran to release Haghighatnejad's body and said the episode showed the extent the Iranian government will go to intimidate the press. Iran has arrested rapper Toomaj Salehi, who had expressed support for the anti-govenment protests in Iran. Security authorities announced that the rapper was arrested on October 30 while attempting to flee the country. Salehi's uncle denied the claim, saying his nephew was arrested in the southwestern province of Chaharmahal Bakhtiari. Salehi was also detained last year over lyrics he wrote that condemn state repression, the killings of protesters, poverty, and injustice. What We're Watching Iran saw a surge in protests last week when thousands of people marked 40 days since the death of Mahsa Amini in state custody. In Amini's hometown of Saghez, a massive crowd gathered at the cemetery where the young woman is buried. Many walked to the cemetery amid reports that authorities had blocked the roads leading to Amini's resting place. Mourners also gathered last week at the grave of 16-year-old Nika Shahkarami near the western city of Khorramabad, 40 days after she was killed in the brutal state crackdown amid reports that security forces had opened fire to disperse mourners while also making arrests. Why It Matters: The memorial ceremonies for those killed by security forces have energized the protest movement by fueling more anger with state repression. The establishment has responded with force. More protests could erupt as Iranians mourn those killed by security forces. Thats all from me for now. Dont forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you have. Until next time, Golnaz Esfandiari If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Wednesday. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has agreed to delay his resignation until parliament approves the 2017 budget, which could be done as early as this week. Renzi announced he would resign following a December 4 referendum in which Italians rejected his proposed reforms to the constitution by a decisive 59-41 percent margin. The result of the referendum tipped the eurozones third largest economy into turmoil and sent the common currency briefly downward. There are worries that the political instability could pile new pressure on Italys fragile banking sector and usher in antieuro and anti-EU parties that campaigned hard to defeat the pro-EU Renzi. In an apparent bid to ease investor fears, President Sergio Mattarella "asked the prime minister to postpone his resignation" until the budget has been passed, Mattarella's office said in a statement, after the president met with Renzi at the presidential palace in Rome December 5. The budget is expected to be approved by the end of the week, according to Italian media. The government has already won a vote of confidence on the budget in the lower house of parliament, but still needs ratification by the country's senate. Mattarella will later have to either choose a new prime minister or call early elections. The 41-year-old Renzi defended his record in remarks on December 5. "1,000 difficult but wonderful days. Thanks to everyone. Viva l'Italia," he wrote on Facebook. Renzi had vowed ahead of the referendum to step down if his proposals were rejected, saying his proposed reforms were necessary to give him the power to push through reforms to strengthen Italy's sluggish economy. However, opposition parties successfully campaigned against the changes by claiming they would concentrate too much power in Renzis hands. Multiple Crises Renzi's decision to step down after just two-and-a-half years in office deals a blow to the European Union as it already reels from multiple crises and struggles to overcome antiestablishment forces that have gained ground across the West this year, including Britain's Brexit vote to leave the union. The White House said the results of the vote should not be taken as a broader sign of the political forces at play in Europe. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama had hoped that Renzi's proposed reforms would have been adopted. A diplomat from a Central European country told RFE/RL in Brussels that Renzi's resignation could make it "easier" to renew EU sanctions against Russia for another six months at a December 15 summit. The diplomat, who is closely involved in EU discussions on sanctions against Russia over its interference in Ukraine, spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. Under Renzi, Italy has often dragged its feet on renewing sanctions against Russia, an important trading partner. Rome insisted in March that there should be no automatic extensions of sanctions without full discussion each time. Renzi's vow to leave office creates uncertainty because it could now offer anti-EU parties the chance to enter a caretaker government or compete with renewed strength in early elections. Boost For Populists? If anti-EU parties come to power in Italy, their success could bolster populist parties within the EU that are questioning the value of the union. "If there is a new election in Italy next year, if there is a success of such groups and parties, this could have another spillover effect, said Marco Incerti, an EU policy analyst with the Brussels-based Center for European Policy Studies. "There is a momentum that has started already with the vote in the United Kingdom, notably in the Brexit referendum, and there could be more momentum for parties which are against the European Union in different countries, which is relevant because next year is an electoral one." "It is bad news for Europe because Italy is one of the founding members of the EU," said Judy Dempsey, a policy analyst with the Carnegie Europe think tank, speaking to RFE/RL. "Secondly, it supported [EU] integration and was absolutely supportive of the euro," said Dempsey. "And thirdly, as a very major European country, the fact that there were antieuro movements inside Italy wanting to pull Italy out -- this is very damaging for the fabric of Europe and it increases the fragmentation of the EU." With reporting by Reuters and AFP Fire has swept through a four-star hotel in Pakistans southern port city of Karachi, killing at least 11 people. Police in Karachi say four of those killed by the blaze at Karachis Regent Plaza hotel were women and that smoke inhalation or suffocation caused some of the deaths. More than 75 people also suffered injuries in the early morning blaze on December 5. Among them were foreigners who were being treated for burns and smoke inhalation and others who suffered broken bones after jumping from hotel windows to escape. TV footage showed some guests escaping from the upper floors of the building by tying bedsheets together and climbing down from windows. The exact cause of the fire was not immediately determined, but authorities said it started in the hotel's ground-floor kitchen. Based on reporting by AP and Dawn.com A Russian court has refused to dismiss a politically charged case in which Aleksei Navalny, a prominent foe of President Vladimir Putin, is accused of large-scale theft from state companies. The judge at the December 5 hearing in the city of Kirov, Aleksei Vtyurin, said that "it would be premature to consider a motion to dismiss" the case against Navalny. Vtyurin also dismissed a defense motion to send the case back to the prosecutors, indicating that the court will go ahead with the retrial of Navalny and co-defendant Pyotr Ofitserov in the so-called Kirovles case. The Supreme Court threw out a 2013 guilty verdict against Navalny and Ofitserov in November and sent the case back to the Lenin district court in Kirov, where prosecutors claim they stole 16 million rubles from a state-owned timber company when Navalny was an unpaid adviser to the regional governor in 2009. Navalny, 40, was handed a five-year suspended sentence after the initial trial in the case, which the anticorruption activist said was politically motivated punishment for his opposition to Putin. Ofitserov got a four-year suspended sentence. The Supreme Court threw out the convictions after Navalny filed an appeal following a February ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which found that Russia had violated Navalny's right to a fair trial. The Supreme Court's decision means that, at least for now, Navalny, who had been barred from seeking elective office, is free to do so. In his appeal, Navalny expressed a desire to run in the 2018 presidential election, in which Putin is eligible to seek a fourth term. Navalny has criticized the decision to hold a retrial, saying he should be cleared of any wrongdoing or the case abandoned for lack of evidence that he committed a crime. He says the goal of the retrial is to interfere with his political activities and anticorruption campaigning. In addition to the Kiriovles case, Navalny was convicted of fraud in December 2014 in a separate case and given a 3 1/2-year suspended sentence. His brother, Oleg, was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison and is currently serving that term. That conviction -- which the brothers contend was also politically motivated -- did not affect Navalny's eligibility to run for political office. Navalny was a key leader of a series of large antigovernment protests that erupted after the opposition alleged that December 2011 parliamentary elections were marred by widespread fraud on behalf of the ruling United Russia party. He challenged the Kremlin-backed incumbent in a Moscow mayoral election in 2013, coming in second with more than 27 percent of the vote. He was allowed to run in the mayoral election because his appeal of the Kirovles conviction was still pending. With reporting by Ekho Moskvy, Rapsinews.ru, TASS, and AP Pakistan's prime minister has given approval "in principle" to renaming a physics research center in Islamabad after pioneering physicist Abdus Salam, the first Pakistani to receive a Nobel Prize in a scientific discipline. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs office said on December 5 that he had asked the Education Ministry to submit formal paperwork to redesignate the National Center for Physics at Quaid-i-Azam University for President Mamnoon Hussains approval. It would be called the Professor Abdus Salam Center for Physics. The prime minister cited the "great contributions" of the winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physics as "a major figure in...20th century theoretical physics." Salam was also a senior science adviser to the Pakistani government from 1960 to 1974, and played a pivotal role in the development of nuclear energy and the atomic-bomb project in Pakistan. But he left his homeland in 1974 to protest the Pakistani parliament's declaration that he and fellow members of the Ahmadiyya religious minority were non-Muslims. Salam never returned to live in Paksitan but continued to engage with and advise academics from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. He died in 1996. Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal Russia says it will hold talks with the United States on a complete rebel withdrawal from the Syrian city of Aleppo, where forces allied to the Syrian government have made sweeping advances. Syrian rebel groups, however, rejected the idea of evacuating Aleppo, around two-thirds of which has been seized by government forces in recent weeks. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said talks with Washington on the withdrawal of rebels would begin in Geneva on December 6 or 7. There was no immediate comment from Washington, which has backed some of the rebels. "Those armed groups who refuse to leave eastern Aleppo will be considered to be terrorists," Lavrov told reporters on December 5. "We will treat them as such, as terrorists, as extremists and will support a Syrian army operation against those criminal squads." But rebel groups swiftly rejected any talk of an evacuation. Yasser al-Youssef of the Nureddine al-Zinki faction, a leading rebel group in Aleppo, told the AFP news agency that any such proposal was "unacceptable." "No person in his right mind, who has any sense of responsibility and patriotism, would leave his city," rebel official Zakaria Malahifji told Reuters. Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP A respected Russian newspaper says it has uncovered substantial falsifications at 68 polling places in the Moscow suburb of Mytishchi during local and national legislative elections in September. In a report published on November 4, Novaya Gazeta said that the ruling United Russia party received 2,000 fake votes in the elections to the Russian parliament's lower chamber, the State Duma, and the Moscow Regional Duma. The newspaper said it analyzed data obtained from 84 of the 96 polling places in Mytishchi and determined that the number of votes actually cast and the number recorded in the automated Vybory (Elections) system differed significantly. The report added to allegations of widespread fraud in the parliamentary elections, which handed United Russia more than 340 seats in the State Duma. Moscow Regional Election Commission spokeswoman Irina Konovalova, said on December 5 that the chairman of the Mytishchi Territorial Election Commission had been invited to report about the situation. "We will make a decision after talking with him," Konovalova said. The opposition party Yabloko said that it plans to ask state prosecutors to investigate Novaya Gazeta's data. Based on reporting by Novaya Gazeta, TASS, and Interfax A Russian city is in mourning after a traffic accident killed 12 people, including 10 members of a children's acrobatics team. Police say at least 19 other people were injured when a bus carrying 34 passengers, including 27 children, collided with a truck and two other vehicles on a road in northwestern Siberia on December 4. The children were returning to their hometown of Nefteyugansk from a competition in the city of Khanty-Mansiisk. On December 5, authorities in Nefteyugansk announced a three-day mourning period Russia's Investigative Committee said an investigation was launched on suspicion of "violation of traffic regulations leading to multiple deaths." It said requests for arrest warrants for the drivers of the bus and the truck had been filed with prosecutors. Both drivers survived. President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the families of the victims on December 4. Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax The Russian Defense Ministry says two Russian female army medics were killed on December 5 and a third medic was seriously wounded in what it said was the rebel shelling of a field hospital in the Syrian city of Aleppo. The Russian military blamed Western nations that it said "support" rebels fighting against the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government. The ministry's chief spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov, claimed that rebels deliberately directed artillery fire at the mobile field hospital in a government-held district after it began receiving civilians. He said there was a direct hit on the reception area. Konashenkov said that the United States, Britain, and France and other nations he called "patrons of terrorists" bore responsibility for the deaths, saying that "the blood of our service members" is on their hands. Konashenkov also did not provide evidence to support the claim that the field hospital was deliberately targeted, or that it was hit by rebel fire. U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner dismissed the accusation that Western nations were responsible for the deaths. "We would never do that, and it's completely false," Toner told reporters in Washington on December 5. "We would never give coordinates to the Syrian opposition." Konashenkov also called on the international community to condemn what he called the "premeditated murder" of Russian army medics in Aleppo. The UN and medical charities have repeatedly called on all sides of the Syrian conflict not to target medical facilities. The deaths of the Russian army medics came as fighting continued to rage in Aleppo on December 5. Syrian government artillery, tanks, and warplanes hit rebel-held parts of the city. Rebels hit back in the government-held western parts of the city with dozens of mortar shells, killing at least eight people, according to the opposition British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Russia has been flying air raids in Syria since September 2015 and has provided longtime ally Assad's forces with other military support during the more than five-year-old war that has killed at least 250,000 people. With reporting by AFP, Reuters, TASS, and Interfax ON MY MIND The crisis of 2016 was telegraphed three years ago. Back in February 2013, before Crimea and before Donbas, Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov published his now-famous article in the military journal Voyenno-Promyshlenny Kuryer that became the blueprint for what we now call hybrid war. And as I note in today's Daily Vertical, in December 2013, before Vladimir Putin began cheering on the likes of Nigel Farage, Norbert Hofer, and Marine Le Pen, the Kremlin-backed Center for Strategic Communications published a report titled Putin: World Conservatism's New Leader. That report was a blueprint for how Russia could weaken the West by supporting far-right figures and weaponizing the democratic process there. Three years ago all this was just words on a page. Today, they are the new normal. IN THE NEWS Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has resigned after conceding what he called the "extraordinarily clear" defeat of his attempt to reform the country's constitution, tipping the eurozones third-largest economy into turmoil and sending the common currency briefly downward. Austrian far-right candidate Norbert Hofer has been defeated in the presidential race by rival candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, who is supported by the Green Party. Putin says he believes that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump "is a clever person" and will soon realize the level of responsibility his new position entails. A Russian court has refused to consider a motion by Aleksei Navalny to dismiss a politically charged case in which the prominent foe of Putin is accused of large-scale theft from state companies. Ukrainian authorities say Prosecutor-General Yuriy Lutsenko will personally oversee the probe into what officials are calling a "friendly fire" shoot-out between police and state guards service agents that left at least five law enforcement officers dead. Geidar Dzhemal, a prominent Islamic philosopher and public figure in Russia, has died in Moscow at the age of 69. The Siberian city of Nefteyugansk is in mourning after a traffic accident killed 12 people, including 10 members of a children's acrobatics team. Russian prison service officials say jailed activist Ildar Dadin has been transferred out of the prison in northwestern Russia where he said he had been beaten and tortured. Russia's FSB security service says it has killed a leader of the Islamic State militant group during a raid in Russias North Caucasus region of Daghestan. LATEST POWER VERTICAL PODCAST In case you missed it, on the latest Power Vertical Podcast, Hybrid War And Peace, I discussed a new report on hybrid war authored by co-host Mark Galeotti. NEW POWER VERTICAL BRIEFING On this week's Power Vertical Briefing, I discuss Putin's efforts to weaken Europe in light of the results of the Austrian elections and the political crisis resulting from Italian Prime Minister Renzi's failed referendum on constitutional reform. Joining me is RFE/RL Editor Steve Gutterman. WHAT I'M READING GLOBSEC NATO Adaption Project The Bratislava-based GLOBSEC think tank has released the first paper in its NATO Adaption Project, which identifies the challenges the alliance needs to overcome. "The GLOBSEC NATO Adaptation Project envisages a series of papers to be released over the next several months which will address the nature of NATO adaptation and the challenges it must overcome if it is to remain a viable and credible alliance for the peace and stability of Europe and North America. The project will culminate at the annual GLOBSEC conference in late May, where the results of this project will frame the conference overall," retired U.S. Marine Corps General John R. Allen, who chairs the project's steering committee, wrote in the introduction. Extremists Of The World Unite The New York Times has a piece about how Western far-right extremists are turning to Putin as the defender of their values. (The Power Vertical was on to this three years ago. Just sayin'.) From 1917 to 2017 Adrian Wooldridge has a disturbing column in The Economist, Bolshiness Is Back, looking at the eerie parallels between 1917 and 2017. "The similarities between the collapse of the liberal order in 1917 and today are stark. They start with the fin de siecle atmosphere. The 40 years before the Russian Revolution were years of liberal triumphalism. Free trade (led by the British) brought the world together. Liberal democracy triumphed in Britain and America and looked like the coming thing elsewhere," Wooldridge writes. The years from 1980 were a similar period of triumphalism. Globalisation (led by America) advanced relentlessly. The number of countries that qualified as democracies multiplied. Politicians of the right and left competed to demonstrate their fealty to the 'Washington consensus.'" Planning The Resistance The Guardian has a story on how Lithuania is planning to resist in the event of a Russian invasion. Fixing The Vote Novaya Gazeta has published an extensive investigative report alleging falsification in September's Russian State Duma elections. The 'War On Corruption' Republic.ru (formerly Slon.ru) has a piece taking a granular look at recent corruption cases in Russia. Governing The Governors Vedomosti has an interesting piece on how the Kremlin is changing the ways it manages regional governors. Beware The Bear In an editorial, The Washington Post warns that "the Russian Bear is Getting Bolder." "Russian intelligence services have been known for meddling in foreign countries since the time of the czars. But veteran analysts say such bold attempts to sow chaos in countries linked to NATO are virtually unprecedented. They reflect a regime that has given free rein to its covert operatives, on the calculation that there will be little or no pushback from a weak and divided West. Until that theory is proved wrong, expect more trouble from Moscows agents," the editorial concludes. Ukrainian authorities say Prosecutor-General Yuriy Lutsenko will personally oversee the probe into what officials are calling a "friendly fire" shootout between police and state guards service agents that left at least five law-enforcement officers dead. Authorities say the deadly incident occurred at about 4 a.m. on December 4, during a search for suspected armed robbers in the village of Knyazichi outside Kyiv. The Prosecutor-General's Office said on its website on December 5 that the Kyiv regional prosecutor's office had given the green light for investigations into the shooting. Ukrainian media reports said that a number of armed robbery suspects were detained later on December 4. President Petro Poroshenko on December 4 said the tragedy "should not be politicized" and called on Ukrainians "not to use it to destabilize" the situation in the country. With reporting by ua112.ua and UNIAN Uzbekistans Central Election Commission says that acting President Shavkat Mirziyaev has won the December 4 presidential election with 88.6 percent of the vote. Mirziyaevs victory had been widely expected since he took over as interim leader of the country in early September, following the death of authoritarian President Islam Karimov after more than a quarter-century of iron-fisted rule over the Central Asian country. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said that the election underscored "the need for comprehensive reforms" in Uzbekistan, where Karimov had extended his power for years in a series of votes denounced by Western governments and international observers as undemocratic. "While the election administration took measures to enhance the transparency of its work and the proper conduct of the election, the dominant position of state actors and limits on fundamental freedoms undermine political pluralism and led to a campaign devoid of genuine competition," ODIHR, which conducted an election-monitoring mission in Uzbekistan, said In a preliminary statement on December 5. ODIHR observers also said that Uzbek "media covered the election in a highly restrictive and controlled environment, and the state-defined narrative did not provide voters the opportunity to hear alternative viewpoints." None of the six previous post-Soviet elections observed in Uzbekistan by ODHIR monitors was deemed democratic and fair. Election Commission Chairman Mirza-Ulugbek Abdusalomov said the official turnout was 87.83 percent, with more than 17.9 million voters casting ballots. Mirziyaev, 59, ran against three other candidates, all from pro-government parties. He was formally nominated for president by the Liberal Democratic Party, the largest political party in Uzbekistan. Mirziyaev, who has been prime minister since 2003, has said that he intends to largely follow the political course of Karimov. A central question is whether he would ease the authoritarian rule imposed by Karimov or veer from his policies -- and to what degree. Critics dismiss as populist campaign ploys some of his recent efforts to force bureaucrats to answer to the people and resolve their problems, such as a hotline to the president and a demand that local leaders meet with their constituents. But some Uzbek dissidents living abroad have high hopes that he will implement economic reforms, allow more freedom at home, and open ex-Soviet Central Asias most-populous country more to the outside world. In a speech on his first day as acting president, he said Uzbekistan would continue the policy of not joining any international military alliances and not hosting any foreign military bases, along with not stationing its troops abroad. Uzbekistan, a major grower of cotton and a producer of natural gas, borders volatile Afghanistan and lies in a strategic region where Russia, China, and the West vie for influence. It is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes Russia and China, but pulled out of the Russia-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization for the second time in 2012. The Kremlin said in a statement on December 5 that Russian President Vladimir Putin "warmly congratulated" Mirziyaev on his victory in a phone call and invited him to visit Moscow. Under Karimov, the predominantly Muslim country's staunchly secular government appeared eager to suppress any signs of what it saw as Islamic militancy, and policies in that area will be watched for any evidence of a shift. In the September 8 speech, Mirziyaev also said that strengthening ties with neighboring Central Asian states was "the main priority" for Uzbekistans foreign policy -- and has won praise for apparent steps in that direction. Karimov, who became Uzbekistans Communist Party chief in 1989 and ruled as president after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, tolerated little dissent and eliminated almost all political opposition within the nation of about 30 million. The government said he died on September 2, at age 78, after suffering a stroke. Employers received a welcome surprise last month when a federal judge in Texas issued an injunction, delaying the implementation of a federal regulation designed to significantly increase the number of employees who would be eligible for overtime. While this much-needed breather is a temporary reprieve, employers should not lose sight of the reality that they are most likely nonetheless out of compliance with the complicated Fair Labor Standards Act regulations. The issue in the Texas case brought by 21 states is the DOLs effort to double the salary minimum for white collar employees to remain exempt from receiving overtime. While the injunction only delays the implementation of the law, one of the tests used by the court in issuing the stay was the likelihood of success on the merits. What isnt in doubt is the continued complexity of the existing regulations, which continues to haunt employers with the likelihood of successful lawsuits filed by current and former employees. An employee can only be exempt under the white collar exemptions (also known as EAP Executive, Administrative, or Professional) if the employee: Is paid on a salary basis (meaning the employee receives the same pay week after week regardless of the hours worked); Is paid a minimum of $455/week; and Performs all the duties required for the exemption. The duties test was not changed in the regulation, and that is what most employers get wrong, resulting in employees being incorrectly classified as exempt and leading to successful litigation against employers. Take an employee who makes $48,000/year, paid on a salary basis. Her job is to run payroll input information into the system, correct errors, make sure all the payroll information is collected, etc. The job consists of mostly following a procedure or process. It shouldnt have been exempt before the new regulations, and it still isnt exempt. Her duties do not meet any of the criteria required to be exempt, although most employers would assess her as meeting the administrative exemption. This requires that an employee as a primary duty (meaning the reason the job exists) is required to use independent judgment and discretion in making decisions of significance. Here, while her job is important, it does not require the type of decision-making specified by the regulations. Employers can even mistakenly place employees in the Professional category. For example, you hire accountants to work in finance. There are levels of work done by them, some performing more routine clerical work, and others doing things that would require a four-year degree. Even if an employee has a four-year degree, if the job itself can be performed without the degree and the level of work is not the type that would be typically executed by a CPA or equivalent, that person does meet the exemption requirements even if he or she earns upward of $50,000. For the executive exemption, the employee must not only customarily and regularly direct the work of at least two additional full-time employees, but must also manage the enterprise and have the authority to hire, fire and discipline or make recommendations. In todays workplace, managers frequently are part of a rotating management team, whereby they direct the work of staff but do not get involved in the hiring or the budgeting, scheduling, etc. Even if this person makes $50,000/year, he or she will not meet the duties test for the executive exemption. So although the injunction is a welcome surprise for employers, the litigation risk remains. Employers should view Fair Labor Standards Act violations as their biggest financial threat from employees, and take this time to review every exempt job in the workplace with a critical eye as to whether the employee meets the duties test. Employees who are misclassified can sue for two to three years of unpaid overtime, collecting liquidated damages (twice the owed overtime) as well as attorneys fees. A Henrico County man was fatally stabbed early Sunday at the Motel 6 in Sandston, the second killing at the inn this year. Officers were called around 1:25 a.m. to the motel at 5704 Williamsburg Road near Richmond International Airport, police said. There they found Henrico resident Keonte Freeman Taylor, 20, suffering from stab wounds. Taylor was taken to a local hospital, where he died, police said. Police have charged Leslie Jerome Tyler Jr., 18, of Henrico, with second-degree murder in Taylor's death. Tyler is being held in the Henrico County Jail. The killing is the second this year at the Sandston Motel 6. On June 10, one man was fatally shot and another seriously wounded in a 3 a.m. shooting at the motel. Walter Darnell Adams Jr., 20, of Sandson, died at the scene. the other victim was taken to VCU Medical Center with life-threatening injuries but survived. Police have arrested at least one man in connection with that killing. Chesterfield County swung in President-elect Donald Trumps favor on Election Day, but his historically slim winning margin laid bare the fact that the longtime Republican stronghold is increasingly becoming a battleground in swing state Virginia. Trump won the county by 3,971 votes, the smallest margin for a Republican presidential nominee in Chesterfield since 1960, when Richard Nixon beat Democrat John F. Kennedy by 3,805 votes. No Democrat has carried Chesterfield in a presidential election since President Harry S. Truman in 1948, but the narrower winning margins of Republican candidates in recent years from the states fourth most-populous county pose a challenge for Republicans statewide. Thats because receiving fewer votes from Chesterfield makes it harder for Republicans to counter the Democrats advantage in the population centers of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. Veteran political analyst Bob Holsworth said growth in populations in Chesterfield who are more receptive to Democrats has largely contributed to recent election results. In just the past two decades, the political shifts have coincided with major demographic changes within the county. In 1996, Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole carried Chesterfield by 26,430 votes, a larger vote margin than he had in any other Virginia locality. Dole carried Virginia, but President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, won re-election. By 2004, President George W. Bush, a Republican, beat Democrat John Kerry in Chesterfield by 34,000 votes. In 2012, Republican Mitt Romney beat Barack Obama in Chesterfield by just 13,240 votes. Four years later, Trump won by just under 4,000 votes. Trump picked up his largest winning margins in Chesterfields western and some northern precincts where more affluent, white populations live, while those precincts that he lost or barely carried were in the countys eastern and southern areas that have greater minority populations. What we are seeing in the Richmond metro area, you saw first in Henrico and you are seeing it in a little less pronounced form in Chesterfield is a major demographic shift going on, Holsworth said. In Chesterfield, the Hispanic or Latino population has increased 223 percent since 2000, according to a 2016 county demographic report. Chesterfields Hispanic population was 8.2 percent in 2015, up from 7.2 percent in 2010, according to census figures. The countys black population has increased by 56 percent and its Asian population has risen 80 percent since 2000, according to the 2016 county demographic report. During that period, the countys white population mostly decreased. Between 2000 and 2010, the white population declined from 76.76 percent to 68.29 percent, according to census figures. Though by July 2015, it had ticked up slightly to 69.4 percent. Theres been enormous demographic change in the county and its similar to Henrico County. There is the immigration of newcomers (to) Virginia, some from outside of the United States, said John Moeser, a senior fellow in the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement at the University of Richmond and an expert on poverty. But the key thing is that there has been an enormous growth of poverty. It is exploding, really, and has been for the last 10 years. Poverty is likely preventing the county from feeling the full political effects of those dramatic increases in minority populations, Moeser said, because those struggling to make ends meet are less likely to vote. The countys black and Hispanic populations have higher proportions living in poverty compared with the white population, according to figures compiled by Moeser. Another complicating factor, he said, is that some residents may not be citizens. But Moeser added that it is only a matter of time before the close-knit and concentrated Latino, Hispanic and African-American communities in Chesterfield organize politically to a greater degree. When you have a mix of low-income people, and people who are coming to Chesterfield from other parts of the world, they obviously are not in any way like old-time Chesterfield County residents. They represent a whole new world view because they literally are bringing a new world to Chesterfield County. Thats going to have all kinds of dimensions, including political dimensions, Moeser said. When you look at the traditionally Republican constituency, and the traditional Democratic constituency, (the demographic shifts) are definitely benefiting the Democrats. Holsworth said there is also a Trump-specific explanation that likely contributed to this years results. Trump ran far better in rural Virginia than in major metropolitan areas. He was just never a popular candidate in the affluent, highly educated suburbs. That was not the demographic that supported him, Holsworth said. Thirty-seven percent of Chesterfield residents age 25 and older have attained a bachelors degree or higher, which is greater than the national figure of 32.5 percent. I think there were a number of people who were uncomfortable with his style, his attack on other Republicans. And those numbers may not have voted for Hillary Clinton, but maybe a third-party candidate, Holsworth said. Jerry Baldwin, chairman of the Chesterfield Republican committee, said the committees goal of getting Republicans elected will likely get harder with Chesterfields demographic changes. But he said this years election boiled down to the different principles of the political parties, despite concerns some Chesterfield Republicans may have harbored about Trump. Its very hard for a Republican, someone who has conservative ideals, to get behind a candidate who basically promised more of the same when weve been so unhappy for the last eight years, Baldwin said, citing Washington gridlock and what he called a failed Affordable Care Act. I think staunch Republican voters, despite the impression that they werent going to support Trump once he was our nominee, they did. There really were people who waited to the last minute to make a decision. But when it came down to it, they stayed true. Jarrelle James Pringle, 21, was found shot to death about 2:30 a.m. at an apartment complex in the 5200 block of Lewis Road, police said. Anyone with information about Pringle's death is asked to contact Henrico police at (804) 501-5000 or Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000. Citizens can also text Crime Stoppers at 274637, using the keyword ITip followed by the tip. Both Crime Stoppers methods are anonymous. Virginia has been awarded $17.5 million in grant money by the federal government to expand preschool offerings for disadvantaged children. The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the award last week. This is the third time the agencies have issued the Preschool Development Grants to states to help expand access to preschool for high-risk 4-year-olds. In all, the agencies are handing out $247.4 million to 18 states through the grant program. In Virginia, 11 school districts including Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Richmond and Petersburg are to receive funds. High-quality early education gives children the strong start they need to succeed in kindergarten, U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. said. The Obama administration has made great progress in providing access to high-quality early learning, but we must do more, King added. All of our children regardless of socio-economic status, race, language spoken at home, disability or ZIP code deserve the kind of high-quality early learning opportunities that will prepare them to thrive in school and beyond. Since the first grants were awarded in 2014, the two federal agencies have handed out $750 million to 230 school divisions. That money helped 28,000 children from low-income families gain access to early learning last year, the Education Department said. In Virginia, 2,804 children had access to new or improved preschool classrooms the first year the grant money was handed out, and 3,300 in the second year, according to Gov. Terry McAuliffes office. In Chesterfield, the district added a 10th VPI+ classroom last year, bringing the number of slots for the program to 160. That classroom was added to Matoaca Elementary School. (VPI stands for the Virginia Preschool Initiative, a state program designed to introduce 4-year-olds to a school-level curriculum a year before they are required to be in school. VPI+ is a combination of instruction, outreach and support.) The plan is to maintain what we have for years three and four, Chesterfield schools spokesman Shawn Smith said in an email. The VPI+ grant supports 10 VPI+ classrooms and seven VPI classrooms, which are now considered improved under the terms of the VPI+ grant. In Richmond, the grant will allow an additional 280 children to be served above the regular VPI enrollment, the district said. Richmond schools will serve a total of 1,162 children in the program for the 2017-18 school year. And in Henrico, the grant funding will continue providing access to preschool for 180 students in 10 classrooms each year. The funding will continue to help us reduce the number of preschool students on a waiting list, district spokesman Andy Jenks said. A national report and progress reports from 18 states found that localities that have received the money are meeting the high-quality standards and improving access to early learning for at-risk children, the federal Department of Education said. Classrooms improved by supporting well-qualified and compensated teachers; expanding to full-day; reducing class size or child-teacher ratios; providing evidence-based professional development; and providing comprehensive services, the department said. Providing children from disadvantaged families access to early childhood education is critical so that they are better prepared for kindergarten, educators have long said. The problem is that many poor children grow up in homes where parents cannot provide the background knowledge museum visits, trips to cultural centers, discussions that makes such a major difference in a childs educational development. Students who dont have a solid head start are at a higher risking of falling behind and then never recovering. Getting a head start through preschool programs helps build some of that foundation, educators say. Four years ago, during President Barack Obamas pursuit of re-election, national and local media in their hunt for clues into the direction the country would sway zeroed in on Henrico County. CNN coined the Richmond suburb and historic bulwark of conservative sensibilities an unlikely bellwether eyed by political watchers, and other news outlets followed. That year, Obama won Henrico with 55 percent of the vote compared to Mitt Romneys 43.3 percent. During the most recent presidential election, Hillary Clinton outperformed Donald Trump by a greater margin she corralled 57.44 percent of Henrico voters to his 36.6 percent. Owing to a diversifying population, Henrico has undergone a political sea change in the past decade. Democratic influences have stretched into the historically Republican western parts of the county and, for the first time in Henricos history, a majority of the voters in all five magisterial districts cast ballots for the Democratic presidential nominee. Trend watchers and elected officials are reluctant to pronounce Henrico a reliably Democratic county. But some, including John Moeser, a senior fellow at the University of Richmonds Bonner Center for Civic Engagement, say the pieces exist for the county to become so, particularly as immigrant and minority groups that have moved into the area in larger numbers secure political footing. Once they become engaged politically, its that kind of constituency that will benefit the Democrats more than the Republicans, he said. By the numbers In the 1990s, when it was highly unlikely, if not improbable, for a Democrat to be elevated to those posts, the Henrico Democratic Committee found difficulty bringing itself to recruit and convince potential candidates to run for local office. I just couldnt get solidly behind it because I knew the odds were so, so bad, said Gene Miles, who served as chairwoman for the group in the 2000s. There also was a time, in the not-so-distant past, when it was almost a given the Republican presidential nominee would win Henrico Bob Dole captured 53.4 percent of voters in 1996, and George W. Bush twice took the county with 55 percent and nearly 54 percent, respectively. Those margins were narrow compared to the 1980s, when Republican presidential nominees handily won Henrico voters with upward of 66 percent. But thats changed recently Republicans have lost in Henrico in each presidential election since 2008. In addition to winning the solidly blue Varina and Fairfield districts, Clintons showing also was formidable in Brookland, which is generally regarded as a swing district. Notably, Clinton also won by a sliver in Three Chopt and Tuckahoe, the Republican-heavy, economically prosperous westernmost districts. Tyrone Nelson, a Democrat and chairman of the Henrico Board of Supervisors, attributed Clintons success there to an influx of younger, more urban and liberal-minded families. Theres a lot of blue on the map in Three Chopt and Tuckahoe, he said. A changing demographic Monique Alcala had an eye toward Henrico in 2013 as she conducted outreach for Gov. Terry McAuliffes campaign in Richmond many people seeking to volunteer for the Democratic Latino Organization of Virginia lived in the county. Given the enthusiasm and projected growth of the Latino population there, Alcala, immediate past president for the group, called Henrico good, fertile ground for organizing. Between 2000 and 2014, the black or African-American, Asian and Hispanic or Latino populations in the county grew steadily while the white population percentage dropped nearly 10 points from 68.9 percent to 59.3 percent, according to U.S. Census data. The countys foreign-born population is up to 12 percent, about half of whom have arrived since 2000. Of minority groups, Latinos or Hispanics are among the fastest-growing. A report from the Virginia Employment Commission projected that they will make up close to 16 percent of Henricos population by 2040, outpacing the population growth of African-Americans and Asians. African-Americans are expected to comprise 28 percent of the county and Asians, 14 percent. The Henrico Democratic Party is working to build inroads with local Latino leaders, as they have with Muslims in the community, said current chairwoman Cheryl Zando. In time, Moeser, the fellow at the University of Richmond, said this swell of immigrant, Latino and minority voters could tip the countys balance decidedly in Democrats favor minority groups tend to vote more Democrat than Republican. The day is coming for sure and they will begin to organize, to encourage members of their community to run and support them, he said. Right now, particularly among immigrants, politics is the furthest thing from their mind. Theyre just trying to eke out an existence. The view at the local level While Henrico voters are casting ballots for Democratic presidential nominees in greater numbers, its more difficult to say if that change also is reflected at the local level. The Board of Supervisors is served by three Republicans and two Democrats. In 2011, Henrico Commonwealths Attorney Shannon Taylor was the first Democrat in recent memory to be elected into a countywide office, Zando said. Taylor won re-election last year, but Zando noted her name recognition as an incumbent may have carried weight. Party loyalty also may factor less in such races as the clerk of courts or sheriff, perhaps because political affiliation matters less for offices charged with approving development, maintaining the local police force and other tasks thought to be the providence of local government. There is a sense that Henrico is a well-run county, Zando said. Moreover, Democrats fare better when voter turnout is higher, which is less likely during off-year elections when local and state races are held. Dick Glover, the longest-serving sitting supervisor and a Republican, gained re-election in 2015 to his Brookland seat with more than 60 percent of the vote. He attributed his support to being perceived as a stabilizing force in the area. And, of course, the candidates themselves factor into voter decision-making. As with E.W. Jackson a Republican who received 36.1 percent support in Henrico during the 2013 race for lieutenant governor Zando, referring to President-elect Donald Trumps candidacy, said the results in Henrico may have been indicative of all five magisterial districts rejecting that level of extreme and voting for the Democrat. Patricia OBannon, the supervisor who represents the Tuckahoe district where Clinton edged Trump by 22 votes, said Tim Kaines presence likely provided a lift, as did voters who cast ballots according to one or two issues. People dont always vote just Republican or just Democrat, she said. Its the undecideds that make the difference. Miles, former chair of the Henrico Democratic Committee, is wary of forecasting too much about Henrico based on the results of the latest presidential election, given that more traditional Republicans in the county may have been deterred by Trump. CHARLOTTESVILLE A trial date was set Monday for a University of Virginia film history professor accused of possessing child pornography. Walter Francis Korte Jr., 72, is scheduled for a trial May 9 in Albemarle County Circuit Court on two charges of possessing child pornography. He also is scheduled for a motions hearing Feb. 8. U.Va. police arrested Korte on Aug. 2 after conducting searches of his Albemarle home and his U.Va. office. He was then released from custody on Sept. 6 on a $10,000 secured bond. Police have determined that a 2-inch-by-2-inch piece of wood was the weapon used to kill a store clerk early Saturday in Spotsylvania County. Saleh Yousef Abukhait, 54, was found dead at the Sunoco station in the 5300 block of Jefferson Davis Highway in the Massaponax area. He had been beaten about 1:35 a.m. while working in the store. David Junior Washington, 50, of no fixed address in Spotsylvania, was arrested late Saturday and charged with first-degree murder, robbery and grand larceny. Sheriffs Capt. Jeff Pearce said Washington is accused of taking an undisclosed amount of money from the cash register after the slaying. Pearce said the investigation showed that Washington entered the store and had several minutes of conversation with Abukhait before picking up a piece of wood that he had brought into the store. He then attacked the clerk, apparently without provocation, and left him bleeding and battered on the floor before taking the money and leaving. Several minutes later, a customer entered the store and found Abukhait lying on the floor. The customer called 911, and deputies and medical personnel quickly responded. Medical workers pronounced Abukhait dead at the scene. The wood that police believe was used in the attack was recovered. Police released a picture of the slaying suspect Saturday morning that Pearce said was helpful in identifying Washington. Police found him Saturday evening at Dunning Mills in Fredericksburg and took him into custody for an interview. Washington was initially listed by police as a person of interest, but by the end of the evening he had been charged with murder. A man suffering from multiple stab wounds showed up in the lobby of the Caswell County, North Carolina, Sheriffs Office on Saturday after he said he was attacked at a Ku Klux Klan meeting. Richard Dillon, 47, of Indiana, said he was at home on U.S. 158 in Yanceyville, North Carolina, to attend a KKK meeting when an altercation broke out, according to a news release from the Caswell County Sheriffs Office. Dillon had been stabbed in the upper chest area and was taken to Danville Regional Medical Center where he was treated and released. Dillon filed his complaint at about 3:15 a.m., Capt. Frank Rose said Sunday. Deputies served a search warrant at the scene and arrested Christopher Eugene Barker, 37, and William Ernest Hagen, 50. Barker, of Yanceyville, was charged with one count of felony aiding and abetting assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inflicting serious injury. He is being held under a $200,000 secured bond. Hagen, of Orange, California, was charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inflicting serious injury. He being behind held under a $350,000 secured bond. In the final weeks of my administration, we are as focused as ever on a promise I made in my inaugural address: putting American ingenuity to work to help Americans live healthier lives. In honoring this promise I remain committed to addressing the prescription opioid and heroin epidemic, a crisis that is taking a devastating toll on far too many families. Ive seen it in the faces of families Ive met whove lost loved ones, and in the countless letters Ive received from Americans who are trying to find treatment. This week, Congress has an important role to play in the fight. Since 1999, the number of deaths attributed to opioid overdoses has nearly quadrupled. In several states, drug overdoses have become a leading cause of injury-related death. From Ohio and New Hampshire to New Mexico and West Virginia, the disease of addiction is affecting communities big and small, urban and rural; it doesnt discriminate. Instead, it strains families as well as the capacity of law enforcement and our health care systems in ways that hurt all of us. Those on the front lines of this fight have made it clear they need more resources. I heard them, and in February I proposed $1 billion in new investments to address the crisis. Through my proposal, Virginia could be eligible for up to $17 million over two years to help individuals with heroin or prescription opioid addiction who are seeking treatment. It will build upon steps we have already taken to expand overdose prevention strategies, improve opioid prescription practices, and ensure more Americans seeking addiction treatment can get the help they so desperately need. Those devastated by the heroin and prescription opioid epidemic cannot wait any longer. They need help now, and we need to help turn the tide of this epidemic. In the many months since I called on Congress to act, my administration has continued to use every tool at our disposal to make a difference. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, all health care plans sold in the Marketplace have to cover treatment. Weve also made it easier for health care providers to treat more patients with opioid addiction, made sure more providers are trained in appropriate opioid prescribing practices, expanded community health centers capacity to provide treatment, and supported efforts to get the overdose reversal drug naloxone into the hands of first responders. We have empowered federal agencies to provide local communities the support they need, doing what we can to help where it is needed most. And we have made sure everyone has a seat at the table where the solutions are being developed, holding roundtables and town halls with law enforcement, health professionals, family members, individuals in recovery and local leaders. This week, Congress can do its part. The House of Representatives just voted overwhelmingly and in a bipartisan fashion to pass the 21st Century Cures Act, and now its the Senates turn. In addition to funding the fight against the opioid epidemic, this bill can improve our nations long-term health with its support of Joe Bidens Cancer Moonshot, funding for important research through our BRAIN and Precision Medicine Initiatives, and important mental health reforms. I hope the Senate will pass it without delay: 78 Americans die every day from opioid-related overdoses, so every day that passes without Congress action is a missed opportunity to save and improve lives, and to spare families pain and heartache. Even in this season of transition, the American people expect us to act in their best interests. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Historically Rolex has always been extremely secretive and discreet, and no journalists in the past have ever been invited "INSIDE ROLEX" to explore and report on all four Rolex Manufacturing faclities in Switzerland. In November 2013, this changed when Rolex invited Jake to take an unprecdented journey into the heart of Rolex to learn and report on everything he witnessed and learned. From that very moment, when LUKOIL announced a few years ago, that it started developing the Verkhotina area, it was clear for market players that this was a temporary affair. The similarities between oil and diamond production end on the word "production" - in reality, these are quite different operations. And diamond sales have never been considered a job for tenderfoots, as the diamond market is too specific and too dependent on emotions. At the end of last week, this affair saw its outcome, and Archangelskgeoldobycha (AGD), a company, which is part of the LUKOIL Group and engaged in the development of the V. P. Grib Diamond Field, turned to have a new owner. The main question now is what will happen to the Grib diamond pipe, the worlds eighth-largest in terms of diamond output? Eternal junior LUKOILs management has never concealed that this diamond mining project was being developed for subsequent sale. The only thing which changed was the tone of their statements - from "we are waiting for the price that will be attractive" in a good market to "if nobody wants to buy, we can develop this asset on our own" in a bad market. And if we rewind the story back, it may seem that bad luck is hanging over the Grib diamond pipe, for these words have been said in its regard for 20 years. The business activities practiced by junior companies based in the West have been perfected over many years and hundreds of transactions. Juniors take up projects at an early stage of exploration performing it at their own expense and if their scenario is successful they confirm the reserves and prepare a feasibility study. As a rule, having prepared an asset for production, they sell it to core investors. It's a risky, but lucrative business. Capitalization of a mining asset at the stage of prospect evaluation survey is only 15-20% of the potential value of an ongoing business. Defined reserves and resources increase this share to 20-25%, while the preparation of a feasibility study brings it up to 25-35% and the start of construction up to 40-50%. This gives an investor the opportunity to join the project at a very early stage of development and increase the value of its investments several times over in a relatively short period. That said, it is worth to add that the Grib diamond pipe was such a junior project from its inception. Strictly speaking, LUKOIL did not buy this non-core asset itself the company received it as inheritance. Archangelskgeoldobycha, which is now developing the Grib diamond pipe, started to explore the North-West of Russia for oil and gas on behalf of the Ministry of Geology of the USSR as far back as the 1940s and it was not engaged in diamond exploration. Therefore, it is not surprising that in the early 1990s it turned to be primarily owned by companies from the fuel and energy industry, including LUKOIL. Having received the diamond promising Verkhotina area for exploration, AGD invited Canada-based Canmet (subsequently Archangel Diamond Company) for collaboration in the early 1990s. AGD was to conduct exploration and Canmet to finance works, so that at a later stage they could jointly develop the field. However, after the discovery of the Grib diamond pipe in 1995 the parties were unable to agree on the terms of their joint venture, and this resulted in a multi-year litigation. The Canadian party demanded compensation, while AGD said that it was looking for another strategic partner, but could also develop the project at its own expense. Of course, all the time the parties were engaged in the dispute, no one started to develop the diamond field. The second round of this affair happened in the mid-2000s, when De Beers decided to have a stake in this diamond field. For the company, which was forbidden by the European Commission to collaborate with ALROSA in any way, it was a good opportunity to gain a foothold in Russia. The pattern was almost the same: while AGD was engaged in the exploration, De Beers was supposed to buy a 49% stake in the joint venture and then take the job on. Already at this stage AGD was to receive $225 million for the stake in the joint venture - despite that it had spent for exploration considerably less. Again, however, everything went topsy-turvy and the deal never took place. The reasons for its failure are being guessed up till now: some say De Beers was offered too uncomfortable conditions by the governments commission on foreign investments and some say De Beers decided not to spend money amid the financial turmoil. In 2009, LUKOIL was left alone with the diamond field on its hands: the only Russias core investor - ALROSA - was in dire financial straits itself on the backdrop of the global downswing and could not buy out this greenfield project even if it wanted to. And LUKOIL said again that it would develop the project alone for subsequent sale. Despite this, all market players stayed confident in the course of six years elapsed since that announcement that this asset would sooner or later be bought by ALROSA. Actually, the only question for them was the date and sum of the purchase. Meanwhile, ALROSA decided to develop its own Arkhangelsk-based asset in 2010, which was the Lomonosov diamond field (once discovered by the same Arkhangelskgeoldobycha). Located just a few hundred kilometers from each other (which is not considered to be a distance by Russian standards) and very similar in geology, these assets could in theory produce synergy gains. But something would stubbornly not go right. Initially, ALROSA was busy mending the aftereffects of the downswing, then it was busily absorbed in its own construction projects, while later on the parties could not agree on a price. As a result, the Grib Pipe has nevertheless been sold - once again not to a core investor, but to an investment bank. Pricing fads Archangelskgeoldobycha is to be bought by the Otkritie Financial Group (of course, if the deal will be approved by the government in the beginning of next year). In a joint press release, LUKOILs spokesperson said that the company successfully developed a major diamond project from its very early stage and the deal allows us to effectively monetize the significant shareholder value that we have created over the past five years. Judging by the sum of the transaction, the monetization appears really effective: Otkritie intends to pay $1.45 billion for the Grib Mine. For comparison, Petra Diamonds total market value currently stands at about $1 billion. That said, Petra is quite comparable with AGD by its key indicators: its annual diamond output is about 4 million carats per year (and here it should be noted that it is operating in South Africa and therefore in a much easier environment involving much lower costs), its annual revenue is about $400 million and its net profit stands at $65 million. Another possible competitor is Dominion Diamonds, which has an annual output of about 6 million carats and is currently valued at about $800 million by the stock exchange. LUKOIL previously stated that it invested about $1 billion in the project. However, market sources familiar with the organization of production at the Grib Mine repeatedly pointed out that this project could be implemented cheaper. "The Grib Mine was equipped, so to say, with state-of-the-art technology. The company bought the most expensive, newest equipment, not always compatible in some parts and requiring additional adjustment. Initially, there was a feeling that the project was packed for sale - at least technologically, it was possible to equip the company for less money and with no loss in efficiency," they said. The transaction amount was a surprise for analysts. Nikolay Sosnovsky, Metallurgy and Mining Director at Prosperity Capital Management estimated the Grib Mine at $500 - maximum $700 million, taking into account the premium for control. "The Grib Mine has performance indicators similar to the Lomonosov Mine (developed by Severalmaz) their concentrating plants have the same capacity, both mines have approximately equal diamonds grades and incoming costs, as well as diamond output and reserves. When Severalmaz will reach its design output capacity, its EBITDA will hardly exceed $200 million, while its EBITDA per carat will be at least one half of what is posted by ALROSAs operations in Yakutia, which is explained, among other things, by its low diamond grade. Thus, the price tag of $1.45 billion for the pretty similar in quality and size Grib Mine translates into a value of 7-8 EV/EBITDA, despite the fact that ALROSA itself is trading at less than 5 EV/EBITDA. Judging by how the market assesses ALROSA, diamond assets in Russia should not be priced that much, Nikolay Sosnovsky said (cited by Interfax). He was further surprised over the feasibility of this transaction: "If Otkritie has bought this asset for itself, it is unclear where the upside is, and if for resale it is unclear who will buy at this price. Besides ALROSA, there are no other prospect buyers immediately evident, but ALROSA is hardly ready to foot such a bill." In its official press release, Otkritie stated it was not going to resell the Grib Mine, while "the acquisition of a 100% stake in Arkhangelskgeoldobycha is a strategic investment in an attractive asset with potential for further development." Up to this point, the Otkritie Holding was very far from mining and generally from investments into non-core assets. Its only "strategic investment" was the purchase of 7.4% of Polymetal shares, most of which were quickly resold at a premium in the market. But to trade in liquid equities that can be sold in small batches on the open market is one thing and to have full control over a mining company is quite another thing. It is difficult to say exactly where Otkritie sees prospects for the development of AGD. The mines diamond output is limited by the nameplate capacity of the concentration plant (4.5 million tons per year), which has already been achieved. Building a new concentrator means new investments. Even if AGD, as the neighboring Severalmaz, will reach higher grade ore in a few years after commissioning the mine, the difference in diamond grades will not be that great to give a huge advantage (besides, higher grade ore at Severalmaz is harder, and this involves other, read higher production costs). The global diamond market does not give reasons for reckless optimism: last year, diamond prices went down by 15% and this year they did not show much growth. All major industry analysts have long crossed out the optimistic forecasts predicting that diamond demand will exceed diamond supply in 2017 and currently they limit their outlook to cautious wording about stability. The generic diamond marketing program launched by the Diamond Producers Association, even if it is to yield any visible results in sales, will be able to do this only in a few years. And even if the situation will remain stable (though the diamond market is prone to volatility), the AGD project will be able to pay off only in 5 to 6 years, per LUKOIL. From this point of view, LUKOIL seems the only party that has benefited from the deal. The benefits of Otkritie are not so obvious. However, this situation has already been described by the sources quoted by the Kommersant Daily, who said that all the parties to this deal were no strangers to each other. No strangers A 19.9% stake in the Otkritie Holding belongs to IFD Kapital controlled by the owners of LUKOIL. Due to this ownership pattern, Otkritie seems to be an independent buyer on the one hand, while on the other hand it gives a theoretical possibility to reallocate LUKOILs assets without losing control over them. Many analysts now say that the deal involving the sale of AGD is simply a move to reshuffle the assets of LUKOIL. However, strictly speaking there is no immediate need that could be discerned in this move: even without it, AGD was a separate subsidiary, which means that diamond mining costs could not be weighing on the cost of an oil barrel. In addition, LUKOIL made all the necessary investments into the project and currently the Grib Mine appears to have turned into the so called cash cow, an asset that generates a small but nevertheless steady cash flow. This maneuver may have another strategic goal - to demonstrate to the market the price for which LUKOIL is ready to part with AGD. To bargain behind the scenes is one thing, while showing a completed transaction to a prospect buyer is quite another. In this case, the sale announcement can be seen as a clear hint to ALROSA. This year the Russian diamond monopoly has been repeatedly reporting record profits and lower debts. Perhaps this optimism of ALROSA is now seen as a signal to start bargaining. It should be mentioned that there are other no strangers remaining undetected, namely, the ICT Group belonging to the Nesis brothers, which is also a major shareholder in Otkritie and the main shareholder of Polymetal. What do they have in common, it would seem? Exactly one year ago, Polymetal bought a stake in Proeks Service, which owns ... five diamond exploration licenses in the Arkhangelsk Region. Fact No. 1: Two of the five licenses happen to be in the areas adjacent to the Grib Mine. Fact No. 2: One of the co-owners of Proeks Service is Vladimir Shchukin, the former chairman of the board of an exploration subsidiary of AGD. Fact No. 3: In 2008, Polymetal Engineering was a contractor, which developed a conditions feasibility study for the Grib Mine. This spring, Vitaly Nesis, the head of Polymetal said in an interview that he considered the project offered by Proeks Service as a greenfield. "We do not want to take many geological projects, especially which are wholly focused on exploration, into Polymetal, because it is optimal for Polymetal to develop such projects through strategic investments in junior companies. Accordingly, the investments in Proeks Service are a good example of how we found a junior, or rather, they found us and presented their geological concept. It impressed our geologists and me personally, and we collectively decided that the idea is quite attractive. This is why we invested in it," he said. Under the above licenses, Proeks Service must complete the survey on the sites before the end of 2018. The chances for success are always small. But if the company will be able to discover a diamond deposit on one of these sites, it will be quite appropriate to give it to AGD for development, thereby increasing its attractiveness. And this indeed looks like a potential for development. Period or comma? The Grib Mine is the fourth largest diamond field in Russia and the eighth in the world. Of course, the 4 to 5 million carats it gives are a small amount compared with the global diamond output. But the diamond market is emotional and does not like change. In this case, the replacement of the owner will inevitably cause doubts as to whether the company is going to change its strategy or whether it will continue to sell diamonds the way it did or whether it will start undercutting prices in an attempt to increase sales, thus bringing the market down. Recent history shows that operating in the diamond market is not a test everyone able to pass. The situation in it is so messy and complicated that even banks that worked with this industry for decades are leaving it. At the same time, we see trends towards consolidation in mining, where players able to succeed do not work with a single deposit yielding only a certain product mix and leaving open the possibility to form diamond stocks of different size groups and characteristics. So, the big question remains: Is it a period or comma in the saga of the Grib Mine being an eternal junior? Will this mine start stable operation under the guidance of a single manager for a long-term perspective or is it going to face another change in ownership and strategy in the future? Elena Levina for Rough&Polished Xpress West The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), will establish a new University Transportation Center (UTC) to study rail infrastructure with funds from a federal grant. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) announced the $1.4 million grant on Dec. 1 and said the Tier-1 UTC will improve rail infrastructure in Nevada and throughout the country. This is a huge win for UNLV, Nevada and the future of transportation in our country. UNLVs transportation center will be a focal point of research, education and technology, and it will be critical in advancing high-speed rail and ensuring America has a modern, effective transportation system, Sen. Reid said. I have long promoted increasing rail transportation projects and that is why I worked hard to secure this funding. Improving transportation infrastructure is essential to boosting our economy, protecting the environment and reducing Americas dependence on foreign oil. I am pleased that UNLV will play a significant role in those efforts. UNLV will work with the University of Delaware and Virginia Tech to examine effective design, construction and maintenance of future high-speed rail projects. UNLV will focus on studying bridge building near areas of seismic activity, track alignment and rail foundations. Our nations deteriorating rail infrastructure is threatening our economy, security and safety, Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV-1) said. This consortium will reverse course by helping advance the development of high-speed rail projects that meet the demands of the 21st Century. With its longstanding rail program, UNLV is well positioned to galvanize high-speed railways in the desert Southwest and partner with academic institutions that have the common goal of deploying safe and innovative projects across the nation. Assoc. Professor Hualiang Harry Teng of UNLVs Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering will lead the effort. Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District Union Pacific completed installation of a new bridge at Bayou Lafourche in Donaldsonville, La., over the weekend. The new 102-foot steel bridge is a key part of Louisianas efforts to reintroduce freshwater from the Mississippi River into Bayou Lafourche. The original crossing was made up of box culverts that limited the amount of water that could pass through in the levee. The project is part of a multi-organizational partnership led by the Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District (BLFWD). BLFWD explains that allowing more fresh water into the bayou combats saltwater intrusion and prevents further wetland loss in lower Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes. Ben Malbrough, executive director of the BLFWD, says water flow is unimpeded with the new bridge, which allows the BLFWD to more than double its current pumping capacity into Bayou Lafourche and make the potable water source for more than 300,000 people more resilient. Union Pacific began construction on the project in early August. At the time the project began, Drew Tessier, director of public affairs with UP said, While the existing crossing meets Union Pacifics operational needs, the project aligns with the companys environmental commitment. Union Pacifics engineers designed a bridge structure that meets the needs of the BLFWD and the companys operational demands. Bob Dylan skipped a meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House with the rest of the American Nobel Prize winners. "Unfortunately, Bob Dylan will not be at the White House today. So everyone can relax," Obama's top spokesman, Josh Earnest, told reporters. He did not explain why Dylan decided not to attend. Dylan also skipped a trip to Stockholm, Sweden in order to be presented with the award, citing "other commitments." Coincidentally, Obama, who is a Dylan fan, applauded the move at the time. "Congratulations to one of my favorite poets, Bob Dylan, on a well-deserved Nobel," he tweeted last month. The Nobel Prize committee announced on October 13, 2016 that it would be awarding Dylan the Nobel Prize in Literature "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Entertainment News Jack White and his Third Man Records label have announced a partnership with a school at the protestor encampment in Standing Rock, South Dakota. The rock icon and his label will offer support to the school, which works with the children of those protesting the planned oil pipeline in the area. The label shared news of the support for the cause in an open letter reading: "We are deeply disturbed by the police actions that have been taking place, where non violent protests have been and continue to be met with extremely aggressive tactics including; being shot with water canons in below freezing temperatures, chemical weapons, rubber bullets, and attack dogs," the letter reads. "These are the same inhumane methods used during WWII and the Civil Rights Movement." For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Entertainment News St. Modwen Properties PLC (SMP.L) announced its Board expects performance for the second half of the financial year to be broadly in line with that reported for the first half. The Group said UK housing market has remained resilient throughout the second half of 2016, supporting its progress. St. Modwen Properties intends to announce its annual results on 7th February 2017. The Group previously indicated that during 2016, it would be bringing the 10-acre Nine Elms Square site to market. The Group has received firm levels of interest from a number of parties, and said it will provide a further update as appropriate in due course. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK) said it has signed an agreement to sell a portion of the company's acreage and producing properties in its Haynesville Shale operating area in northern Louisiana for about $450 million to a private company. Included in the sale are about 78,000 net acres, 40,000 net acres of which the company considered as core acreage. The sale also includes 250 wells currently producing approximately 30 million cubic feet of gas per day, net to Chesapeake. The company expects this transaction to close in the 2017 first quarter. In addition, Chesapeake is marketing approximately 50,000 net acres located in the northeastern part of its Haynesville Shale operating area, which the company also expects to close in the 2017 first quarter. Following both of these planned divestitures, Chesapeake will retain approximately 250,000 net acres in the core of the Haynesville Shale. The company's 2017 development program in the Haynesville will be focused on longer laterals and further enhanced completions, resulting in projected adjusted production growth of approximately 13 percent from its Haynesville operations in 2017. With this proposed transaction and its previously announced Devonian asset divestiture, the company has reached about $2 billion gross proceeds from divestitures either signed or closed in 2016, excluding certain volumetric production payment repurchase transactions. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News 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 DAPL: Sec of Army Announced the Easement has been DENIED "We will not fight tonight, we will dance!" -Rami Bald Eagle, Cheyenne River Lakota Tribal Leader Image: energy transfer partners (SALEM, Ore.) - Moments ago, the Secretary of the Army contacted tribal leaders and announced the easement has been denied. "We will not fight tonight, we will dance!", said Rami Bald Eagle, Cheyenne River Lakota Tribal Leader shared the great news, with much celebration breaking out among the people. Thousands of U.S. Veterans have boots on the ground at the Standing Rock Protest, many more than expected. Tim King, former editor of Salem-News.com, is there and heard the announcement. U.S. military Veterans have been standing "out front" for a couple of days with more of their brothers and sisters-in-arms arriving daily. No, they do not have weapons. The bitter cold has not chilled the passion behind stopping the pipeline. The many members of Veterans Stand for Standing Rock, brought supplies such as gas masks, earplugs and body armor, to stand firm as a unit to protect protesters from the police and their rubber bullets. But instead, tonight they dance. It looks like the Americans have won, after all. _________________________________________ Andy Ruiz Jr landed in Auckland early yesterday morning looking relaxed and fresh to a rousing tangata whenua welcome at Auckland International. He arrived on NZ5 flight from Los Angeles carrying Ruiz Jr and his entourage. The flight landed on time at 7.30am and the party exited Customs 30 minutes later. He was met with a moving Powhiri from Kai Haka Kapa Haka Group inside the terminal. It was stirring and emotional. One of Ruizs brothers said of the welcome, This is Auckland. Im feeling the love right here. In the party was also Ruizs mother and two of his brothers. Ruiz saw the Maori welcome as a huge mark of respect for him and his family. It was very special. You know, every culture has its own unique way of welcoming visitors, but that was special. I loved it. In the meeting with the press that followed, Ruiz spoke of his desire to earn Mexicos first heavyweight title. There has never been a heavyweight champion of the world. God willing I am going to accomplish this. Ruiz was wearing an All Blacks jersey on his arrival. He said a man from New Zealand gave it to him in Los Angeles to wear on the flight. He also paid tribute to his opponent and talked of Joseph Parkers speed. We sparred together about three years ago. He is fast and has speed. He came to know something about me and I came to know something about him. There are going to be fireworkd on December 10. Ruiz is not overwhelmed with the distance to fly to Auckland. He said he flew to Monaco for a fight and that was further, with more timezones to traverse than it is with Los Angeles to Auckland to fight Parker. He is ready to rumble. A dream by Seiuli Allan Alo Vaai to create a space to nurture, encourage and develop the talents of our people of all ages in the Pacific was realised at Fugalei on Saturday night. It happened during the celebration of the official launch of a project called Samoa Performing Arts and Creative Excellence (S.P.A.C.E) well attended by members of the community. S.P.A.C.E is the brainchild of Seiuli, whose courage and bravery was praised by Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi who officially opened the project. Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass it is about learning to dance in the rain, Prime minister said. The anonymous quotation fits the purpose of tonight in our coming together to celebrate Seiuli Allan Alos dream to create S.P.A.C.E. Tuilaepa said S.P.A.C.E offers opportunities for both youth and the veterans of Samoa and the region in the performing arts to develop their talents. He then paid tribute to Seiulis vision and hard work to realise it. Seiulis S.P.A.C.E is a demonstration of the distinction between a leader and a follower, Tuilaepa said. You have not followed where the path may lead instead you have gone where there is no path and will definitely lead a trail so that others may follow. I feel privileged to be here tonight and I agree wholeheartedly that the performing arts give life its shape. An ounce of performance is certainly worth more ounces of promises. I am convinced that those who will enter the holes of S.P.A.C.E will know that when you are simply told of something you will forget whereas showing and involving someone will result in understanding and remembering forever and may we all treasure the gift of S.P.A.C.E born out of a dream. Seiuli was humbled by having Prime Minister Tuilaepa at the launch. I feel overwhelmed mainly because of your presence here tonight, he said. God knows the purpose of your life. King Solomon was the most successful and rich king in the whole world but he was empty. He stated and started the Ecclesiastes Book with everything is meaningless. He discovered that there are only two things that can build a fulfilling life, one relationship and two purposes. Relationships built with God, everything is done according to Gods plan. Purpose, your lifes purpose has already been planned by the greatest mind and kindness heart in the whole universe and that is God. He went on to say that only God knows the purpose of life and he will reveal it to us all. I am honoured and overwhelmed that he had shown me mine, he said. The arts that you all know that I have been dancing and jumping up and down about sometimes called me monkey. Stop being monkeying around! But its the art that really gives me life and thats what God gave to me and here to celebrate S.P.A.C.E to nurture and to develop the arts for our generations and people to come. Additionally with my condition of cancer, I dedicate this space to dance for cancer, a programme that will rejuvenate and rehabilitate those who have been paralysed when they are being told that they only have one to three months (to live). And thats what happened to me three months ago. When the doctor said to me that I have three months I was so mad, I quickly got on the phone with my family here and my children and family in Fiji to please come. Lets come together and dance for cancer and celebrate life. And thats why we are here to celebrate life with me. The sentencing of an escaped convict, Daniel Vailopa has now been adjourned to 15 December 2016. The adjournment follows an application by the defense counsel Alalatoa Rosella Papalii who asked the Court for more time to discuss the summary of facts with her client. Alalatoa told the Court she requested the prosecution to disclose the summary of facts but unfortunately she had just received it in the morning. The matter was brought before Justice Tafaoimalo Leilani Tuala Warren and she granted a final adjournment for defense to discuss the summary of facts and for a pre-sentencing report from the Probation Office. Appearing on behalf of the National Prosecution Office, Lucy Sio did not object to the adjournment. Vailopas charges stemmed from an incident in 2015 when he escaped from Tafaigata Prison on 2 August. Vailopa made his way to Vailima and attempted to sexually violate a Norwegian woman who was climbing the Mount Vaea trail. The victim was working in Samoa during the time of the incident. The accused also stole a cell phone valued at A$2,000. The Apia Central Stake concluded their annual conference this year with a Christmas carols evening. The event saw members from nine wards come together to enjoy the spirit of Christmas. Speaking to the Samoa Observer, President Jason Joseph said the gathering is one of the most anticipated events of the year as choirs take to the stage to rejoice in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Many celebrate Christmas going to the clubs, partying and other means but we decided to keep it this way and we enjoy it, he said. President Joseph believes Christmas should be celebrated every single day from the 1st December leading up to the 25th. This is not a competition, the prizes we give them is a way to encourage and acknowledge them for the great work they did. President Joseph said they invited a choir from Saaga Siumu as well as a couple of soloist performers. The contribution of the faafafine community to the development of Samoa was honoured and acknowledged last week during a special week dedicated to their work. The Faafafine Week was the first of its kind in Samoa. The celebration was organised by the Samoa Faafafine Association (S.F.A) under the theme, Ola Tauivi ma Tautua Alofa. It translates to persevere in life and serve with love. High on the agenda was the need to promote the advocacy role of S.F.A in addressing issues such as gender equality, human rights, HIV/AIDs awareness prevention and improving the social and economic status of the community. The week also promoted the need to improve the social acceptance of the faafine community, including the L.G.B.T.I in Samoa. President of S.F.A, Sooalo Roger Stanley, highlighted the importance of ongoing education and awareness raising initiatives to address the multiple challenges faced by faafafines. To help achieve this, the Association visited schools such as Don Bosco Technical Centre, Tuasivi College in Savaii, and Malua Fou Colle and Samoa College in Upolu. Most importantly it is the Faafafine way of acknowledging faafafine greatness in its own unique flamboyant and faafafabulousss way, said Tim Baice, a New Zealand-based member of the Association. The programme was organised with assistance from the British High Commissions Asia Pacific Bilateral Programme Fund. The Falealili chief who is the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Toosavili John Key has announced his resignation, according to the NZ Herald. Toosavili Key made the announcement at his weekly press conference this afternoon. According to the Herald, it is understood that Toosavilis wife Bronagh asked him to resign. Key, his voice shaking with emotion, said he told his Cabinet of his decision this morning "This is the hardest decision I've ever made and I don't know what I'll do next." Key cited family reasons for leaving, saying the job had required great sacrifices "from those who are dearest to me". His wife Bronagh had endured "many lonely nights" and his children Stephie and Max had been put under "extraordinary levels of intrusion". Key met his wife Bronagh while attending Burnside High School. The pair married in 1984 and have two children, Stephie and Max. Bill English is expected to take over as Prime Minister and Steven Joyce is expected to take on the finance role. The National Party caucus will hold a meeting on December 12 to decide the new party leader and Prime Minister. Key said he would support whoever the caucus chose, but he endorsed Bill English as his replacement. "There's no way I could have served out a full fourth term," said Key. Its a time of prize givings, its a time of graduations and its a time of academic celebrations. Its that time of year again where many parents embrace their children for all the hard work they put in for 2016s academic year. For Tai Fone, a farmer from the village of Saleimoa, there was nothing that could contain his joy as his daughter Aiga Tai topped year 11 at Leulumoega Fou College. Aged 35, Tai explains that his family is his everything and even when he got sick, he would still work as hard as possible to provide all his childrens needs for their schooling. And now with his daughters achievement, his hard work wasnt in vain. I am very grateful for my children and I give all the glory to God, Tai told the Village Voice. I tell my children to always make their schooling a priority because these days, if you dont build your mind up properly then you wont get a good job later on in life. I am just happy for my daughters achievement. Being the breadwinner of the family meant that Tai wasnt allowed to get sick or tired. All he knew was to work hard for his children so that they could one day get out of the world of struggles. I have four children right now and my eldest is receiving her prize today, he said. Life in Samoa isnt easy. I am the breadwinner of my family and I know that I have to work as hard as possible to make ends meet for those I love. Whenever I got sick, I would force myself to work through it so that I could earn money to put my children through school and take care of my family. If I were to let up then we wouldnt be able to afford to do much in the family and everyone would suffer.And on top of his farming duties, his duty as a father was to always push and encourage his children to do their best. My only message to my children is that if they want knowledge then try your best in school, Tai said. There is no room in this world for mucking around so obedience and perseverance is the key. I guess they really did listen to me because my girls are very hard working. They just finish school and go straight into their chores before sitting down and spending a few hours studying.Tai concluded by giving thanks to all those who helped his daughter get to where she is now. Samoa has called upon key donors and partners to support regional and national programmes to strengthen biodiversity conservation in the pursuit of a sustainable environment. The message came from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Fiame Naomi Mataafa in Cancun Mexico. She was presenting at the High Level Roundtable talks on Mainstreaming biodiversity into the food and agriculture sector. Samoa outlined the national, regional and international strategies and policies that help guide its work in achieving this. Our current Strategy for the Development of Samoa 2012 2016 clearly identifies environmental sustainability as one of our four key national priority areas, she said. The Agriculture Sector places more emphasis on strengthening economic resilience and building capacity for sustainable agricultural developments. The National Environment Sector Plan (N.E.S.P. 2013 2016) and the National Agriculture Sector Plan (N.A.S.P. 2016 2020) have been recognised as multi-sectoral platforms for ecosystem-based actions to achieve sustainability in biodiversity and agriculture. Samoas National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (N.B.S.A.P. 2015 2020) underlines the importance of a sector wide approach to build a shared sense of vision and ownership. This is a clear reflection of the importance placed by Samoa on its environment and agriculture, and that one can serve the other. The two day High Level Segment of the Thirteenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (C.B.D. COP13) opened in Cancun today with a morning of speeches from global organisations highlighting the important role of biodiversity and the need for stronger actions. This is followed by two afternoons of parallel high level round table discussions that focus on the integration of biodiversity into the productive sectors of agriculture, forestry, fisheries and tourism to help achieve the Aichi Targets. Today saw the roundtable discussions on agriculture and tourism take place. The High Level Segment will end with the endorsement of the Cancun Declaration on Mainstreaming the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity for Well-being which will be presented to the C.B.D. COP13 which opens on Sunday, 4 December. This conference reaffirms the need for sustainable and durable partnerships to effectively implement the key outcome of the Small Islands Developing States Conference, the SAMOA Pathway, a critical issue given that our plant and animal species in the Pacific SIDs are being lost at alarming rates, presented Minister Mataafa. Also shared were several key initiatives recently undertaken in Samoa that highlight the commitment and work undertaken to mainstream biodiversity into the food and agriculture sector namely a national project titled Strengthening Multi-sectoral management of Critical Landscapes, the Samoa Agriculture Competitiveness Enhancement Project as well as a national workshop held last month with support from FAO, CBD, SPC and SPREP in enhancing policy dialogue on mainstreaming biodiversity in agriculture. Samoa is one of 14 Pacific islands that are a Party to the CBD COP, along with the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. One of the latest Police officers to have been suspended in the ongoing saga at the Ministry of Police has questioned the decision. Puzzled and confused about why he has been suspended, Superintendent Leiataua Luatimu Samau, told the Samoa Observer yesterday he believes the process is not right. Leiataua, a Police Corporal and two other Constables were suspended last Friday by Cabinet. The decision relayed to them in a letter signed by C.E.O of the Ministry of Prime Minister, Agafili Shem Leo, said the suspensions were effective immediately. The suspended Corporal is the complainant in the matter involving the suspension of Police Commissioner, Fuiavailiili Egon Keil where charges including inciting to murder surfaced. On the other hand, Leitaua was the investigating officer of that complaint and the two other suspended officers were involved in the arrest of Fuiavailiili last month. Asked for a comment yesterday, Leiataua told the Samoa Observer he was in the dark about his suspension. The Superintendent said he was informed on Friday evening by another officer in the Professional Standards Unit about his suspension. I was told that the decision came from Cabinet, said Leiataua. I have been asking questions of why I was suspended but there was no explanation. There is no doubt that I am the investigating officer for the matter involving the Police Commissioner and it might have something to do with that. What Im confused about is that I was asked by the Assistant Commissioners to conduct the investigation based on orders from the (former) Minister of Police Sala. I was only following orders from above me. Leiataua said he was told the suspension is for three months. Whats even more puzzling, according to Leiataua, is the fact there are no charges against him. He was not informed of being referred to a Tribunal or being investigated by the Professional Standards Unit. Leiataua pointed out that the suspension of non Commission officers normally comes from the Commissioner. But he stressed that whats happening now is somewhat different from the usual practice and processes of suspension. Im not an Assistant Commissioner or Commissioner who are on contracts and are appointmentsed by Cabinet so I dont understand why Im suspended by Cabinet, he explained. This is something new. Usually when a non commissioned officer is suspended it comes from the Commissioner and the suspended officer is informed of the charges or gets referred to a tribunal. Leiataua added that he also wants to know if there is a law that says the Commissioner of Police cannot be charged and arrested. I might get a lawyer to help me find some answers, he said. Asked for a comment yesterday, Acting Police Commissioner, Leiataua Aviga said even he did not know what was going on. This is similar to the case of Assistant Commissioner, Samoa Mulinuu Mulinuu, he said. The decision was made by Cabinet and we do not know why they are suspended. Committed, hardworking and a leader by example. The description fits perfectly for Valaile Kaisara, who has been declared Leulumoega-Fou Colleges Dux for 2016. The 18-year-old from the villages of Faleasiu, Faleaseela and Vaitele-Uta not only led the school as Head Girl, but she is also the top student for the Year 13 level. But that wasnt her only prize. She also won the award for the Top Commerce Student and top in Economics and Accounting. Ms. Kaisara is the daughter of Tafale and Kaisara, and she is the fourth child out of her parents seven children. Speaking to the Samoa Observer, Ms. Kaisara said she was humbled and grateful. I have no words to describe how I feel right now. This is something I have always wanted from the beginning of the year. This was my goal. I did my best so that I can repay back my parents for all their sacrifices and love. And now that I have achieved my goal, I should give back all the credit to God for he made this possible for me. Being the head girl of the school wasnt easy for Ms. Kaisara. There were a lot of expectations and responsibilities. However, she managed to balance her studies and her duties and came out as the top student for this year. It wasnt easy; but I used the advices from my parents and I worked really hard to get to where I am now. I also have the teachers to thank for all the help and support theyve given me. However, Ms. Kaisara said her journey at Leulumoega-Fou College was just amazing. I will miss this school very much. But life goes on, and I need to move on to the next step. Having said that, Ms. Kaisara she is ready to embark on the new chapter of her academic life. Her dream is to become a businesswoman in the future. Leulumoega-Fou College Year 13 Top Five:- DUX 2016- Valaile Kaisara (Top Commerce Student. 1st to Dux- Matagofie Ioane 2nd to Dux- Sisavai Faafeu (Top Science Student) 3rd to Dux- Sinave Isara 4th to Dux- Levi Jnr. Levi. Top Art Student- Daimon Oka Fauolo. Going back in time, the full body massage (fofo) was one of the more popular methods people resorted to when it comes dealing with physical pain. The significance of full body massages have been around in Samoa for generations now, holding techniques of healing and relaxation through touch. This healing method still thrives nowadays even with new advancements in medical technologies coming out every week. People who feel tension within their bodies, headaches, joint problems or muscle fatigue can now receive a free full body massage courtesy of a Healing Ministry. Leader, Mareta Percell Unutoa, said they are open to help the public. Mrs. Unutoa came back to Samoa last year with the hope of healing people through full body massages. She went from door to door to offer her services to anyone who needed it, and thats when she figured out that there was an abundance of sick people in Samoa. We started the Healing Ministry last year but it wasnt that big so we decided to concentrate most of our efforts towards the old people of Samoa, she said. Now we want to expand our free services to everyone who is in need of it. We do this for free; there are no costs for all the public. Moreover, she continued on to say that this program not only brings healing to people in need, but it also gives the youths of Samoa a chance to indulge in a trait. Creating a safe environment for young unemployed people to come in to learn something useful as well as contribute to their community in a positive manner, instead of wasting their time on unnecessary acts. Mrs. Unutoa said that she taught the boys everything they needed to know about full body massages, how to use the hot water, rocks, and mixing oils, these are all very important aspects in her line of work. Everyone who helps me with the massages are young volunteers she said There are eight of us so far, I teach them different massaging techniques and assist them with any of their troubles I massage the ladies while the boys massage the men Asked about her patients, Mrs. Unutoa confidently confirmed the fact that her work has already healed so many people in Samoa. She further stated that after her massage sessions, most of her patients usually feel gratified with her massaging skill because she carefully tends to every need with precision. She said that news of her work has spread around the island through her satisfied patients and she would like the Ministry to continue its spread all over the world. We have helped a lot of pastors with a full body massage she said. Sometimes people come from Savaii just to receive our services. I just want word of our services to spread more, so that anyone from anywhere can come over for free full body healing massages." A new coalition of builders, employers, environmentalists and community planners has launched a campaign to solve San Diegos affordable-housing problem once and for all. Called Housing You Matters, the organization has raised tens of thousands of dollars to hire a staff and map out an ambitious agenda for 2017. I would say its the year of reckoning, said Borre Winckel, president and CEO of the Building Industry Association of San Diego County. We cant go on like this anymore. Advertisement The most recent evidence demonstrates the crisis that some observers believe San Diego is experiencing. The median price of a home in October topped the $500,000-plus mark for the first since the housing crash began in 2006. But in spite of low apartment vacancy rates and inventories among for-sale homes, production is half what it was a decade ago. Housing You Matters, unlike previous task forces, ad hoc committees and endeavors, currently counts 51 members from 39 organizations drawn from a variety of interests, ranging from grassroots organizations to big corporations like Qualcomm. It is run by an eight-member executive committee, chaired by Lori Holt Pfeiler, former Escondido mayor and currently head of the local Habitat for Humanity housing group. Mary Lydon, the former executive director of the local Urban Land Institute chapter, has been hired as the groups consultant with the job to coordinate research projects, public events and outreach efforts. She said the group grew out of a report by economist Lynn Reaser at Point Loma Nazarene University that estimated that 40 percent of new housing costs was due to regulation and fees. Only a slight reduction in housing regulations could increase the current annual housing input by about two-thirds, the study said. We can all agree that housing affordability will impact each of our organizations that represent thousands of residents and businesses in our region, Lydon said. But she said the group will focus on policy, not on individual project battles. Such was the case last month with two land-use decisions in which the organization played differing roles. Pfeiler, in her capacity at Habitat for Humanity, pleaded on Nov. 15 with the Poway City Council to approve a 22-unit for-sale affordable housing project aimed at veterans. The council voted 3-2 to deny approval on a variety of grounds. By contrast the day before, the San Diego City Council voted to approve a new Uptown Community Plan, after Housing You Matters as well other advocates argued for retaining the current zoning rather than reducing the total by 1,900 homes. A third project a $40 million, 41-unit apartment, grocery and park-and-ride lot is scheduled to be voted on a second time by the San Diego Association of Governments next week. It represents a compromise from earlier plans by SANDAG and a previous developer for the 3.6-acre site at Clairemont Drive and Morena Boulevard. James LaMattery, an area real estate agent who formed a group called Raise the Balloon to fight the previous 60-foot-high proposal, said the new plan represents the best form of compromise. What we found was if the community is listened to, things do change, LaMattery said. You can mitigate how you do provide housing. Housing You Matters leaders hope to add military, church groups and organized labor to the coalition. Murtaza Baxamusa, director of planning and development for the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council Family Housing Corp., said the coalitions focus would be better narrowed to dealing with the most vulnerable the homeless and people trying to get their first apartment or buy their first home. People are already well aware of the housing crisis and they dont need to be convinced there is a crisis of affordability in housing, Baxamusa said. The question is what do we do about it. Lydon said the immediate plans for the coalition are to launch a countywide educational campaign and research effort to convince the public and elected officials that action is needed to build more housing. Members speak of publishing a scorecard that highlights what projects cities and county are or are not approving in line with their general land-use plans. Instead of us against them, it is all of us and we need to have a conversation, Lydon said. We can build housing, give developers certainty and be more sensitive to neighborhoods theyre building in. Among the initiatives planned next year: Design workshops organized by the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects to sketch what San Diego neighborhoods with more housing might look like in 2050. A day-long session on innovative housing concepts presented by the San Diego Architectural Foundation. Best practices in housing regulation, production and finance as compiled by the Urban Land Institutes Terwilliger Center and presented by the local ULI chapter. A workshop by the coalition to analyze the impediments to housing production regionally and how to overcome them. Nicole Capretz, executive director of the Climate Action Campaign and a member of the steering committee, said she joined the coalition because it dovetails with other issues climate change, transportation bottlenecks, homelessness and housing shortage. I feel, literally, all these issues are so critically important to the future of our city and the quality of life, Capretz said, and weve seen, for once, agreement among all these diverse stakeholders. But LaMattery, the activist in Clairemont who successfully battled against a large housing project at the midcoast trolley stop, echoed grassroots concerns that San Diego cant grow forever. As long as everyone in the whole country wants to move here, theres never going to be enough housing in Southern California, he said. roger.showley@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-1286; Twitter: @rogershowley When the ultra-hip Moxy Hotel opens in San Diego next year, the rooms will be stocked with the usual amenities an alarm clock, hair dryer, writing desk and flat-screen TV. But you wont find a Bible in the bedside nightstand. For the record: This article cites a recent survey by hospitality analytics company STR showing that the percentage of hotels that offer religious materials in rooms had dropped from 95% of hotels in 2006 to 48% this year. After the story was published, STR discovered an error in the results of the latest survey. STR now says that 79% of hotels surveyed this year have religious materials in their rooms. Marriott International, the worlds largest hotel company, supplies a Bible and the Book of Mormon in the rooms of every other hotel in the franchise. But the company has recently decided that no religious materials should be offered at two of its newest millennial-oriented hotel brands, Moxy and Edition hotels. Advertisement Its because the religious books dont fit the personality of the brands, said Marriott spokeswoman Felicia Farrar McLemore, explaining that the Moxy and Edition hotels are geared toward fun-loving millennials. Marriotts decision mirrors others in the industry who are quietly phasing out the long-held tradition of stocking religious material in hotel rooms. It is difficult to gauge how many of the countrys 53,000 hotels still put Bibles in the rooms because most major hotel franchise companies let individual hotel owners and managers decide whether to make the Scriptures a standard amenity. But a recent survey by STR, a hospitality analytics company, found that the percentage of hotels that offer religious materials in rooms has dropped significantly over the last decade, from 95% of hotels in 2006 to 48% this year. Among the reasons for the change, according to industry experts, is a need to appeal to younger American travelers who are less devout than their parents or grandparents and to avoid offending international travelers such as Muslims or Buddhists. And then there is this practical issue: Many newer hotel brands install shelves rather than nightstands with drawers next to the bed, making it difficult to be discreet about offering a Bible. A copy of the Scriptures on a bedside shelf makes a more pronounced statement than a Bible slipped into a drawer. In an era of not offending anyone, I think hotels have a conundrum, said Carl Winston, director of San Diego State Universitys L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management program. Hotels also have been under pressure lately from atheist groups. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a nonprofit group that promotes separation of church and state, wrote to 15 major hotel companies last year, asking them to keep Bibles out of hotel rooms. The group succeeded in the last year in getting hotels operated by Arizona State University and Northern Illinois University to remove all Bibles from their rooms. The foundation also created a sticker that reads: Warning: Literal belief in this book may endanger your health and life. The group has encouraged its supporters to affix the stickers on any hotel room Bible they find. We are trying to educate the hotel industry that a quarter of our population is not religious, said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the group. STR officials cautioned about reading too much into its survey, noting that managers representing only 2,600 of the more than 8,000 hotels responding to the survey answered the question about religious material in rooms. Still, industry experts say the changing demographics in America and the surge of international travelers in the U.S. are creating more reasons to keep religious materials out of hotel rooms. A lot of international hotels are trying to reach a very diverse group of travelers, and religion now has become a really sensitive topic, said Linchi Kwok, an assistant professor at the Collins College of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona. Bibles started to become a hotel standard in the late 1800s when three traveling businessmen founded Gideons International with a plan to spread the Gospels by placing the Bible in hotel rooms across the country. The nonprofit group now has about 270,000 members in 200 countries. In its latest fiscal year, Gideon International spent about $100 million to distribute Bibles to hotels, prisons, hospitals and other locations, about the same amount as in 2015, according to the groups financial statements. Jeff Pack, Gideons Internationals director of communications, said he isnt sure why the STR survey shows a decline in religious material in hotel rooms, considering that the distribution of Bibles by his group hasnt dropped. The decline of religious materials in hotels, as cited in the survey, is reflective of increasing secularism and independence in the world, he said. This has resulted in an erosion of spiritual awareness. Two years ago, Travelodge hotels in Britain removed Bibles from their rooms in order not to discriminate against any religion, the company said. Still, the hotels kept copies at the front desk where guests could borrow them upon request. The parent company of Travelodge, the Wyndham Hotel Group, said the company does not require Bibles in any of its 15 hotel brands worldwide. At Marriott International, which was founded by a devout Mormon, a decision was made this year to keep Bibles and a Book of Mormon out of four new brands, AC, Moxy, Protea and Edition hotels, spokeswoman McLemore said. But company executives reconsidered, she said, and instead moved to keep religious materials out of only the Moxy and Edition hotels because the AC and Protea hotels are geared toward more traditional travelers. Marriott has opened nine Moxy hotels, with at least 40 more hotels under construction or in the planning phase. Four Edition hotels are open and nine others are set to open in the future. Intercontinental Hotel Group, the giant British company that operates the Holiday Inn brand, among others, doesnt require managers of its more than 5,000 hotels in nearly 100 countries to put Bibles in each room. Our hotels have the flexibility to offer religious materials to their guests if they choose to do so, spokeswoman Caroline Huston said. James McKnight, pastor at the Congregational Church of Christian Fellowship in Los Angeles, said he isnt offended when he finds his hotel room doesnt include a Bible. He said that travelers who regularly read the Bible probably already have one with them, either in book or digital form. I dont expect the owner of a hotel to have the responsibility to give me the sacred text, McKnight said. hugo.martin@latimes.com To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter. A second workshop on the expansion of Lemon Grove Downtown Village will be held Saturday at the Lemon Grove Recreation Center. The community event will give Lemon Grove residents a chance to weigh in on what they want to see downtown. It will be held from 10 a.m. until noon. The city is using $175,000 from a SANDAG grant to work on its downtown plan. Advertisement The goal is make central Lemon Grove more pedestrian friendly and transit oriented, while creating a mix of retail, offices, condominiums and apartments. The City Council uses the plan when reviewing proposed projects. The downtown area in Lemon Grove covers about 245 acres. The area is bordered by North Avenue to the north, Olive Street to the west, Lincoln Street and Central Avenue to the south, and School Lane, Grove Street and Kempf Street to the east. The land use in those areas is primarily commercial and civic-oriented. There are some single and multifamily homes, light industry and several professional buildings. RICK Engineering contracted with the city last year to update its 2005 downtown plan. Brian Mooney of RICK Engineering said earlier this year his team will focus on development opportunities of underused public-owned and privately owned parcels. Workshop discussion topics include: Alternatives related to neighborhoods and land use Urban design, art and parks Mobility and connections Business and economic development The recreation center is at 3131 School Lane. Refreshments, child care and Spanish translation services will be available to workshop participants. Registration for the workshop can be found online at goo.gl/forms/jAw8P3JvWG2n2DpQ2 Nuclear physics contended with astrology at Jacobs Music Centers Copley Symphony Hall on Saturday evening. In John Adams Doctor Atomic Symphony, bass drum rolls, timpani strokes and an enormous thunder sheet exploded in a musical evocation of the first nuclear bomb test in 1945. In The Planets by Gustav Holst, violent militarism gave way to jovial folk-inspired melodies, ending with an eerie unseen chorus singing at the threshold of perception. Advertisement These were the only works on guest conductor Peter Oundjians program, a provocative clash of opposites that the San Diego Symphony, under Oundjians inspiring leadership, brought to life. Adams, who turns 70 in February, is one of our countrys most beloved living composers. His Doctor Atomic Symphony is more a suite than a symphony, reworking musical material from his opera Doctor Atomic into a single, 25-minute-long movement. As such, it is at a disadvantage compared to Adams other orchestral music. In works like Harmonielehre or Naive and Sentimental Music, there is an organic development of material that makes formal arrival points powerful, almost inevitable in retrospect. In Doctor Atomic Symphony, one section crashes into the next. The internal logic of each section convinces, but added together, there is a patchwork effect one does not associate with Adams. In the opera, the conclusion of Act I is a neo-Baroque setting of John Donnes sonnet, Batter my heart, three-personed God, a moment of self-doubt by the protagonist J. Robert Oppenheimer that pours out as the dramatic culmination of the preceding events. Adams arranged this aria in Doctor Atomic Symphony for trumpet solo (beautifully rendered by Micah Wilkinson with strong, clear tone) as the final section; divorced from the drama, the melody has none of the ritual power it accumulates in the opera when sung by Oppenheimer. The San Diego Symphony rarely performs John Adams less than a handful of appearances over the last 20 years. Were grateful to hear any orchestral music by him. Perhaps next time and not too many years from now it will be a more compelling composition. The musicians had a firm grasp on the score. With so many clashing rhythms, it sounded difficult to perform, yet they tackled it with energy and finesse. Trombonist Kyle Covington, portraying an angry general barking out commands, soloed with authoritative bluster. Oundjian led the symphony with fluid, expressive baton technique and sculpted dynamics and phrasing with full sweeps of his left arm. The fine performance of Adams was surpassed in Oundjians conducting the orchestra for The Planets. His scaling of dynamics was particularly impressive. Unlike Jahja Lings terraced approach, Oundjian moved from soft to loud with no perceptible steps. It was thrilling to hear a passage peak, and then for Oundjian to tweak it slightly louder. In The Planets, Uranus is designated The Magician; thats what Oundjian was, conjuring crescendos, cuing solos, with the orchestra responding instantly to his changes in tempo. The ominous foreboding and terrible violence of Mars; the gorgeous sheen of Venus; the dizzy caprices of Mercury; the warmth of Jupiter; the cryptic, glacial Saturn; the gaudy madness of Uranus; and the haunting mystery of Neptune all were brilliantly rendered by the musicians. Everyone had something to contribute in The Planets, but I was particularly struck by Benjamin Jabers horn work, at times melancholy, at others, virile; Jeff Thayers lovely violin solos; the flute section playing as if one instrument; the exuberant timpani parts in Uranus; and the bass section in Saturn, perfectly in tune and summoning a striking warmth. Hertzog is a freelance writer. In many ancient religions and metaphysical philosophies, sunspots are seen as either the harbinger of miracles or the after-effect of human suffering. In Martin Zimmermans mystical fable Seven Spots on the Sun, the dark solar storms represent both good and evil. Zimmermans 90-minute time-hopping drama, which plays through Saturday, is the first show of InnerMission Productions second season at Diversionarys black box theater. Since it moved into the University Heights space in fall 2015, the company has produced an impressive string of intimate, thought-provoking dramas, and Seven Spots on the Sun adds to its luster. Advertisement Seven Spots takes place in San Ysidro, not the city in San Diegos South Bay but a poor village in an unnamed Central American country. Its the story of how a brutal, four-year war with no real good guys can destroy the lives, souls and hope of its people. Even when the sunspots appear and a miracle occurs, its power is used for both healing and merciless revenge. Its a bleak but powerful story thats well told by director Carla Nell and her nine-member cast. The actors sing and dance in a tribal, ritualistic way, glide between English and Spanish and use their hands and mouths to create the sounds of village life and war, including the percussion of bombs, the howl of the wind, the cries of womens grief and the labored breath of the dying. Shaun Tuazons evocative scenic design, a war-torn mix of corrugated tin, broken glass, graffiti and glowing handprints, closes in on the actors and the audience, who sit just a few feet from the action. Jorge Rodriguez gives a haunting but reserved performance as Moises, the overwhelmed doctor of San Ysidro, who loses his faith in humanity and ultimately his moral compass after an army sergeant kidnaps and kills his beloved wife, Belen. In her bright, high-spirited performance as the pineapple-loving Belen, Sandra Ruiz balances Rodriguezs dark depths. Jennifer Paredes and Bernardo Mazon create fiery sparks and tension as Monica and Luis, a young couple in a neighboring town whose lives tragically intersect with that of Moises and Belen. To better provide for his wife and future child, Luis joins the army and over four years slowly disintegrates. Every time he returns on leave to the increasingly distraught Monica, he is missing more of his soul and his physical body (he cuts off infected and injured fingers and toes rather than take time away from battle to heal). The war also takes its toll on San Ysidros cowardly, drunkard priest Eugenio, played with a timid shamefulness by Miguel Gongora Jr. He finds his courage only after the war, when a plague sweeps the country and hes forced to face his fears and failings. Elizabeth Jimenez, Danielle Levin, Robert Malave and Markuz Rodriguez co-star as the townspeople, a Greek chorus and sound effects. Seven Spots is a complex play, with several scenes presented out of order and a fair amount of dialogue in Spanish. It takes close attention to weave it all together, but it rewards in the end, even though that end is an unhappy one. InnerMissions season continues in March with Deanna Jents Falling, Johnna Adams Gideons Knot in May, and Adam Gwons musical Ordinary Days in August. Seven Spots on the Sun When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. Through Dec. 10. Where: InnerMission Productions at Diversionary Theatres Black Box, 4545 Park Blvd., University Heights. Tickets: $25 (discounts available) Phone: (619) 324-8970 Online: innermissionproductions.com pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com Jack Armstrong survived World War II, but he died before accomplishing his final wartime mission. For decades, Armstrong had kept in a drawer a handful of engraved wooden sticks. These nafuda, or Japanese nametags, had belonged to a dead pilot who had crashed after attacking U.S. forces on Dec. 7, 1941. After the war, Armstrong was determined to return these relics to the pilots family. He never did, though, and when the veteran died in 1985 at the age of 75, his son inherited the sticks and the obligation. Advertisement It was my fathers quest, said Pacific Beachs Jim Armstrong, 63, and now its mine. That quest reached an emotional climax Sunday, as Jim Armstrong delivered the nafuda to the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor. Later this month, museum officials will fly to Japan and bestow the items on Yoshitada Nishikaichi, the dead pilots brother. Jack Armstrong wanted the sticks returned to the family, said Ken DeHoff, the museums executive director. Well work with Jim to make sure his fathers wishes are fulfilled. Jim Armstrong holds wooden sticks called Joriku-Fuda, carried by Japanese Zero fighter pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi, killed during the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 1941. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune ) This is a tale of many years, many miles, many characters. In essence, though, this is the story of two families, one American and one Japanese, linked by warfare and united by a gesture of peace and reconciliation. Theres a connection here thats really almost spiritual, DeHoff said. A tangled tragedy To find Jim Armstrongs Pacific Beach home, look for the flagpole flying various patriotic symbols Old Glory, Navy pennants, the POW/MIA banner. Inside, the walls are lined with more memorabilia, these charting the lives of his parents. His father, an Army Air Corps lieutenant when the war broke out, served in the Pacific theater. Plaques and certificates testify to his retirement at the rank of colonel, his postwar service to the Atomic Energy Commission, his contributions to NASA. (He also has a claim to pop culture fame. A fraternity brother appropriated his name for a 1930s marketing campaign: Jack Armstrong, All-American Boy.) Jim Armstrongs mother, Audrey, was a nurse who wrote a vivid remembrance of Hickam Field under attack on Dec. 7, 1941. She and her husband woke that Sunday morning to exploding bombs and roaring fighter planes. Get some clothes on quickly, Jack yelled to Audrey. Those planes arent ours and stay away from the windows! Jack Armstrong was in the Army Air Corps in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the surrounding areas. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune ) As Jack raced to his post, Audrey joined neighbors in a nearby home, piling up pillows, chairs and cushions to protect themselves from shrapnel. The planes seemed almost directly overhead, she wrote. We could hear and feel the bombs as they hit also the rattle of machine guns. That same morning, Petty Officer 1st Class Shigenori Nishikaichis Zero rose from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Hiryu. The 19-year-old Japanese aviators target: Bellows Field, a U.S. military air base on Oahus southeast coast. There, anti-aircraft fire punctured Nishikaichis gas tank. The pilot veered away. Around 9 a.m., he crashed on Niihau, a tiny island at the extreme northwestern end of the Hawaiian chain. A display at the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor tells Nishikaichis tangled, tragic story, a fact that startles some guests. We tell the story of heroes, explained executive director DeHoff. And Nishikaichi, from the Japanese perspective, was a hero, a warrior who was doing what he was trained to do. Unconscious but alive, the pilot was lifted from the wreckage by islanders. Lacking radio and regular contact with the outside world, the residents of Niihau at first had no idea that war had erupted or that their visitor was an enemy combatant. The events of the next six days, though, are cloudy. Theres no documentation of what was said, DeHoff noted, or who did what. Audrey Armstrong was an Army nurse in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the surrounding areas. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune ) Still, its agreed that the islanders had relieved the pilot of his pistol and some papers and that Nishikaichi wanted both back. In some versions of the tale, a local beekeeper of Japanese extraction, Yoshi Harada, helped Nishikaichi pry loose a machine gun from his shattered Zero. That version was disputed by Haradas wife, who denied that he had collaborated. Whats clear is the Niihau Incident ended violently on Dec. 13. Taking as hostage a female islander, Nishikaichi attempted to force her husband to retrieve his papers and sidearm. Instead of complying, Benehakaka Ben Kanahele attacked. Nishikaichi shot Kanahele, wounding but not slowing the muscular Hawaiian. Kanahele picked him up and rammed Nishikaichi into a lava rock wall, DeHoff said. The next day, a U.S. military squad landed on the island. The squad members examined the bodies of Nishikaichi and Harada, who reportedly had shot himself. They also scoured the Zero for clues to the enemys intentions. Souvenirs were also pocketed by the soldiers, even by the squads leader, Lt. Jack Armstrong. A burden relieved Last December, Jim Armstrong contacted The San Diego Union-Tribune. In an interview, he stressed his desire to fulfill his fathers wishes by repatriating the nafuda. The story ran Dec. 6, 2015, under the headline Remembering Pearl Harbor by returning relics to Japan. Soon, Armstrongs phone was ringing. He heard from NHK, the Japan Broadcasting Corp. The Japanese consulate in Los Angeles. The Pacific Aviation Museum. Word of his quest even reached Mark Edward Harris, a Los Angeles-based photojournalist with extensive contacts in Japan. About 15 years ago, researching the Niihau Incident, Harris had photographed the pilots brother at his home on Japans Inland Sea. Yoshitada Nishikaichi admired his older brother, who set out for the war when Yoshitada was a schoolboy. He remembers his brother when he was leaving, Harris said, dipping his wings as he passed over the school. Japanese Zero fighter pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi was killed by the locals after he crashed on Dec. 7, 1941, on the Hawaiian island of Niihau, during the Pearl Harbor attack. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune ) When he learned of Jim Armstrongs desire to return the engraved sticks to the Nishikaichi family, Harris contacted Sachiko Nomura, a lawyer in Osaka. I asked her to help out, to connect with Nishikaichi, Harris said. She got back to me and said, yes, he would appreciate having that as a gesture of goodwill. During a gala Sunday at the Pacific Aviation Museum, Armstrong spoke about his parents ordeal 75 years ago. He donated his fathers flight suit and two leather flying jackets to the museum. Then he handed over the nafuda, relieving one familys burden and lightening another familys sorrow. Im just pleased this is coming to fruition, he said. Related: 75 years later, keeping Pearl Harbor memories alive Video: Pearl Harbor survivors relive the infamous day Oldest Pearl Harbor vet still pumping iron at 104 Pearl Harbor: In a stunned heartbeat, my family moved to San Diego Internee has different memories of war The smell of burning sage and the sound of drums filled the air in downtown San Diego on Sunday as part of a parade honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe, an important figure for Mexican Catholics. More than 50 Azteca dancers led the way down B Street from San Diego City College to Golden Hall, where San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy held Mass following the procession. Youth posed as live altars, surrounded by flowers and cacti in the backs of pickup trucks that were decorated with the colors of the Mexican flag. The girls represented the Virgin of Guadalupe and the boys knelt in front of them as Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, the man to whom she is said to have first appeared on Dec. 9, 1531, in what is today Mexico City. Its important because this is part of our culture in the Hispanic community and in the Americas that we pay our respect to Our Lady of Guadalupe, said Father Efrain Bautista, who has been coming to the San Diego festivities for six years. It shows what our roots are, not only for those of Mexican descent, but it shows the roots of the region because of the Franciscan friars who came up from Mexico. Advertisement As the Catholic story goes, the Virgin Mary appeared to Cuauhtlatoatzin in the form of Our Lady of Guadalupe and asked him to build a church at the site. When Cuauhtlatoatzin told a local bishop, the bishop refused to believe him without proof. Cuauhtlatoatzin returned to the same spot, and the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared again. She told him to pick roses from the mountain, which dont normally grow in Mexico in December, and give the flowers to the bishop. Cuauhtlatoatzin carried the flowers in his cloak, and when he presented them to the bishop, there was the imprint of the Virgin on his cloak. The bishop believed him, and the church was built. Because Cuauhtlatoatzin was a native, the Virgins appearance to him served as a unifying force between the indigenous peoples of Mexico and the Spanish, according to Sister Gloria Galvan of the Our Lady of Angels church in San Diego. As a result, many natives converted to Catholicism. When Our Lady appears, its for a special reason, Galvan said. She didnt choose a Hispanic from Spain. She chose one of the natives. Our Lady of Guadalupe is patroness of the Americas and Philippines. San Diegos annual procession began more than 40 years ago. At first, the route wound from Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Logan Heights, but as the parade grew, the route changed. Father Richard H. Brown, 89, who helped start the parade said Sunday that, in its first year, the parade incorporated a float, mariachi bands and low riders. I was exhausted when I came back that night, but it was worth it to see so much love from the people for the Blessed Mother, Brown said. This years parade stretched more than five blocks. While the sidewalks were mostly empty except for those following family members marching in the parade, employees from the few businesses open along B Street on Sundays paused their work to watch and video the celebration. Mark Anguiano, who lives downtown, said he didnt know about the parade but was happy to have stumbled upon it. This is wonderful to see them celebrate a religious holiday like this in Mexican style, Anguiano said. More than 1,500 people participated,according to organizer Maria Felix, who has coordinated the event for the last five years. Felix said the parade was not as big as some previous years, when the numbers ranged from 5,000 to 7,000 participants. Now, the new generation, its a little difficult to motivate them, she said. Despite that trend, some youth in the event worked hard to participate. A fundraising competition among girls at the various San Diego parishes led to Wendy Macias, 16, of Lakeside being crowned queen of the parade. She rode on the back of a white convertible toward the front of the procession in a peach gown and red cape. Her sparkling tiara reached about a foot above her head. Macias said shed sold breakfast burritos and tamales outside of Mass to raise the funds. kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate To U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Jose Luis Cota, the unauthorized immigrant women he fingerprinted and processed before their return to Mexico werent just detainees they were potential customers, investigators say. Its how Cota met one woman, who ended up tipping off authorities to his offers to help smuggle detainees into the U.S. information that launched an undercover investigation that led to the border officers arrest in September, according to court documents. Its also how he likely met his alleged business partner, Miriam Juarez Herrera, who is accused of driving several unauthorized immigrants through Cotas lane at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. After her arrest, she told investigators that Cota took his payment in cash bribes and sexual favors, the documents say. Advertisement New details about the corruption investigation were revealed in a batch of search warrants unsealed recently in the case, illuminating the genesis of the investigation and how the alleged scheme worked. Cota has pleaded not guilty to numerous charges, including receiving bribes, falsification of records and bringing in unauthorized immigrants for financial gain. Juarez and her husband, Gilberto Aguilar Martinez, are also charged. Such cases have become all too common. A recent database by Texas Tribune and Reveal News has compiled 140 corruption cases brought against Customs and Border Protection officers, many involving bribes and the smuggling of immigrants. Nineteen are from San Diego, including Officer Lorne Jones, who waved through truck loads of marijuana, and Border Patrol Agents Raul and Fidel Villarreal, convicted of shuttling hundreds of immigrants across the border. The FBIs Border Corruption Task Force a group of investigators from various federal agencies began investigating Cota in April 2013, after a woman reported that the officer was approaching women who were in the process of being removed to Mexico and asking for their contact information so he could speak with them privately, according to the affidavit by FBI Special Agent Michael Pozanc in support of the search warrants. The unnamed woman said she met Cota in 2011, after shed been caught illegally in the U.S. She said Cota was the officer who fingerprinted her before her removal to Mexico. She said the two began flirting, and she prompted Cota for his phone number. He resisted, pointing to the many cameras in the room. Then he escorted her and nine other female detainees on the bus back to the border, and he gave her his number, telling her to call after midnight, the warrant states. Later, she and a friend met up with Cota in Tijuana and tried to get him to smuggle the friend in the trunk of Cotas car. He became upset and said there were better ways to do such things, she said. He then told her that he would do her a favor if she was willing to pay him whatever he wanted, according to the warrant. In August 2013, the woman made two recorded phone calls to Cota at the direction of law enforcement, then met with him at a Dennys in Chula Vista to talk about smuggling. She was visibly pregnant at the time, and Cota did not return any of her phone calls after that. With that lead dried up, investigators used other methods to probe into Cotas activities: surveillance, GPS tracking, border cameras and crossing records, cellphone data, recorded phone calls, bank records and other cooperating sources. The first alleged smuggling incident that the task force recorded was on Nov. 3, 2015, when Juarez drove through Cotas inspection lane in her Nissan Altima with her husband in the passenger seat, according to the warrant. She handed Cota a valid U.S. passport with another womans name on it, and he entered it in the system and waved them through, the warrant states. In the following days, $9,200 in small cash deposits appeared in Cotas bank accounts. Border crossing records revealed numerous similar occasions of Juarez driving through Cotas lane at San Ysidro, often with her son in the front passenger seat, along with other passengers, the warrant says. The boy is described only as a minor. Investigators saw a pattern emerge. She often handed Cota a fraudulent passport belonging to someone else, and hed scan that passport and allow the vehicle through. At least once, she used a passport that had been stolen. When Cota swiped it through, a red alert flashed on the Customs database. He let her through anyway, and about 40 minutes later, Cota went home sick from work something that would become a bit of a habit following a smuggling event, according to the search warrant. Cash deposits followed each smuggling. In November and December 2015 alone, he deposited about $24,000, in small increments at several banks over days. He likely met Juarez the same way he met the confidential informant. In 2010, Juarez had tried to enter the country illegally with an altered Mexican passport, and Cota was the officer who processed her back to Mexico, according to the search warrant. She was arrested for the same conduct nine months later, and again was processed by Cota. After the second meeting, the two began to talk on the phone a lot. For instance, phone records show the two had some 700 conversations from December 2012 to December 2013, according to the search warrant. Surveillance and GPS tracking revealed numerous meetings between Cota and Juarez, from quick parking lot chats to hours-long rendezvous at her Chula Vista apartment and local motels. Like Juarez, Cota was also married to an unauthorized immigrant. He had processed his future wife, a Mexican national, when she was being sent back to her country in March 2010. Its uncertain when they married. In January 2014 he tried to obtain a visa for her to live legally in the U.S., but immigration services denied the request that summer. His wife at one point admitted to investigators that Cotas son smuggled her through Cotas lane this past January, according to the search warrant. San Diego police were called at least twice on reports of domestic violence involving the couple. This year, officers were called in January to the Quality Inn in San Ysidro. Cotas wife told police that he was doing something illegal at work and she had seen text messages on his phone leading her to this conclusion. After that, Cota got a new phone and phone number, the warrant states. In June, Cotas wife reported domestic violence again, telling police he repeatedly hit and punched her after an argument over tax return money they expected to receive, the warrant says. A protective order was issued against him, prompting Cotas supervisors to strip him of his duty firearm and put him on desk duty until he was cleared of the accusations a month later. If the confidential informant hadnt come forward launching the corruption investigation, there were other clues including the suspicions of Cotas wife that might have led investigators to Cotas alleged smuggling activities. In May 2015, a customs supervisor noticed Cota texting on an iPhone while on duty at the pedestrian lanes at San Ysidro. The supervisor noticed on the phone what appeared to be a screen shot of the CPB internal database that tracks people and vehicles crossing the border, according to the warrant. The supervisor reported the incident up the chain, unaware that Cota was already being investigated. And this past February, another unauthorized immigrant went to law enforcement with a tip. She said she had been speaking to Juarez and Aguilar about possibly smuggling a family member. She said the couple were promoting their business by advertising they had a guaranteed method to get people into the U.S. for $15,000. She recorded two calls. In one, she made smuggling arrangements with Aguilar, who advised that the client would be seated comfortably in the vehicle and that success was a safe bet because Juarezs male friend would be waiting for them at the inspection booth, the warrant states. The next day, at the direction of task force agents, the cooperating source made arrangements to pay $15,000, plus $300 for the use of an entry document. The FBI provided the cash for the transaction. The smuggling occurred days later through Cotas lane, with Juarezs son in the front seat, according to the warrant. The vehicle then drove to a strip mall in Chula Vista, and Juarez and Aguilar awaited payment. While waiting, Juarez showed Aguilar her cellphone and was recorded saying in Spanish, Look this idiot wants his money already. The task force decided to wrap up the operation on Sept. 7, arresting Juarez and Aguilar in San Marcos during a traffic stop with the help of sheriffs deputies. Two back seat passengers had just been smuggled through Cotas lane, the warrant says. In an interview with investigators, Juarez said that she smuggled immigrants through the port by paying cash bribes and offering sexual favors to Cota. She said she charged each person $2,000 to $5,000. Cota was arrested at work that night. He agreed to be interviewed by task force members. He admitted allowing Juarez and her passengers into the U.S. in exchange for sexual favors from November 2015 to September 2016, but he denied taking cash bribes. kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @kristinadavis Citation data obtained by Data Watch shows five locations in Pacific Beach, North Park and downtown San Diego accounted for almost one-third of the 4,284 tickets handed to pedestrians over the past five years. Story: Jaywalking tickets most common in Pacific Beach Orange dots show relatively low concentrations of ticket writing activity while dark red shows citation hotspots. Advertisement Click the dot for info on each San Diego Police Department ticket and its recipient. State Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, introduced a bill Monday in the state legislature that would fund legal representation for noncitizens facing deportation. Because immigration proceedings are considered a civil matter, those facing deportation do not have a right to a lawyer in the way that those facing criminal charges do. Huesos bill, called the Due Process For All Act, would broaden state funding for immigration legal counsel. Previous legislation created funding for legal services for unaccompanied minors from Central America and low-income residents eligible for naturalization or other immigration relief, like the deferred action for childhood arrivals or DACA program created by President Barack Obama. Advertisement According to a fact sheet from Huesos office, 68 percent of noncitizens held in detention facilities do not have legal representation, and detained people who have lawyers are more than five times more likely to succeed in challenging their deportation. The fact sheet also alludes to President-elect Donald Trumps campaign promises to ramp up deportation efforts. As the most immigrant-rich state in the nation, California would be particularly hard hit by large scale enforcement actions, the sheet says. Hundreds of thousands of people in our state would face home raids, workplace raids, and, ultimately, being placed in detention and deportation proceedings. The fear in our communities has reached an all-time high in the aftermath of the November 2016 election, and California must protect our residents due process rights in these life and death proceedings. The Due Process For All Act, SB 6, is one of two immigration bills expected the first day of the new session. Hueso will join Senate President pro tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount, and Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, to discuss the bills at a news conference later today. Check back for ongoing coverage. kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate The Army Corps of Engineers on Sunday denied permission for the Dakota Access pipeline to cross under a section of the Missouri River, handing at least a temporary victory to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters. The decision came after months of protests by thousands of self-proclaimed water protectors bolstered by the arrival of more than 2,000 U.S. military veterans who have opposed the pipeline out of concern that it could rupture and contaminate the river, which they say provides drinking water to the tribe and 17 million other Americans. The pipeline is being built by Energy Transfer Partners, whose chief executive, Kelcy Warren, has said the company would not be willing to explore alternative routes. Advertisement The pipeline was nearly completed, save for the proposed section that would have passed underneath Lake Oahe, a reservoir on the Missouri River. The Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit necessary for that section to be built. Protesting the Dakota Access pipeline (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) The Corps said Sunday it would explore alternative routes and could initiate a more thorough and lengthy environmental analysis of potential risks posed by the $3.8-billion, 1,170-mile pipeline. Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, its clear that theres more work to do, Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Armys assistant secretary for civil works, said in a statement. The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing. In a related memo also released Sunday, Darcy expanded on the Corps explanation for denying the permit. She cited policy by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, which has said in the past that concerns about tribal resources and environmental justice should, in some cases, heighten agency attention to exploring alternative solutions for projects. She said the increased analysis she announced Sunday for the Dakota Access pipeline reflected such heightened attention. Darcy also noted that some documents related to the planned pipeline, including studies examining the risk of an oil spill, had been withheld from the tribe in the past because of security concerns and sensitivities. The tribe has said repeatedly, including in court, that it was not properly consulted on the pipeline and that the pipelines risk had not been fully examined. In recent months, thousands of people have set up camp on the edge of North Dakotas Cannonball River just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, vowing to place themselves in the way of the pipeline to block its construction. Native Americans from across the country have joined the cause, as have environmental groups and celebrities. As the news broke Sunday, the main Seven Council Fires camp erupted in celebration. Pipeline opponents joined hands in a giant human chain around the camp. Victory and honor songs rang out as children, not entirely clear what the fuss was about, sledded down hillsides slick with a recent snow. Pretty darn good! said Kandi Mossett of the Indigenous Environmental Network, when asked for her reaction. This is really big news. My immediate reaction is, this is a victory. But we must remain vigilant. Pipeline opponents are pushing for a full environmental impact statement, a process Mossett said would take three years and would effectively kill the project. A range of environmental and indigenous rights groups celebrated the Army Corps of Engineers decision. Today, the voices of indigenous people were heard. The rights of a sovereign nation were respected, Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy nonprofit, said in a statement. The Standing Rock Sioux and the myriad of indigenous communities by their side remind us all of the power of individuals to stand up and stand together to demand environmental justice. Standing Rock Sioux tribal Chairman David Archambault, who broke the news to gleeful throngs at the main camp, cautioned vigilance. Opponents worry that President-elect Donald Trump, who recently reiterated his support for the pipeline project, could reverse the Corps decision. A denial only gets us to Jan. 20, Mossett said. Supporters of the pipeline attacked the decision. This purely political decision flies in the face of common sense and the rule of law, Craig Stevens, a spokesman for the MAIN Coalition, an industry group, said in a statement. Unfortunately, its not surprising that the president would, again, use executive fiat in an attempt to enhance his legacy among the extreme left. That the president continues to believe that he is above the law is simply un-American, and it is this arrogance that working-class Americans soundly rejected on Nov. 8. For millions of hard-working people across the heartland, Jan. 20 cannot come soon enough. Stevens added: With President-elect Trump set to take office in a 47 days, we are hopeful that this is not the final word on the Dakota Access pipeline. Jan Hasselman, a lawyer for Earthjustice who is representing the Standing Rock Sioux in court, said Sunday that the Corps was doing the right thing by pursuing alternatives and more environmental analysis. He acknowledged that a Trump administration could try to undo the Corps decision. But, he said, Its not so simple as reversing it with the stroke of a pen. Any reversal would be subject to close judicial scrutiny, and we are fully prepared to bring that case. The news broke as thousands of veterans continued to stream in from across the country in charter buses and private vehicles. Hundreds of them stood in a snowy field near Cannon Ball, where Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and tribal elders addressed them. Many wore fatigues; others carried American flags. I honor you on behalf of my family, on behalf of the families and communities on Standing Rock, said tribal elder Phyllis Young. We hold all of the veterans in very high regard and we have many who suffer PTSD. Choking back tears, Young said that her own daughter, a former Army captain, committed suicide two years ago. I know that it was conditions of war, she said. But we have honored. We have been good Americans. We have served courageously. We have done our duty. Addressing the veterans, some of whom had tears streaming down their faces, Young added: We dont want any of you to have flashbacks. And that is the purpose of our peaceful venture. So that you can take on our belief system of peace. We care about you. Care about your health. Your conditions. Your well-being, spiritually, emotionally, physically. I thank you for being here. As she spoke, more buses and private cars were pulling up on the narrow paved road alongside the gathering. Our numbers are vast, said Dex McLelland, 27, an former Army infantryman who led a team of North Carolina veterans in a black Ford transit van. We mobilized 2,500 people in four days. McLelland, a disabled veteran who served in Afghanistan, arrived wearing his dog tags and camouflage pants. You cant allow big money to come in and rip up the Constitution in the faces of Americas oldest citizens, he said. These are the original Americans. Dont you think theyve caught enough slack? About makes you cry when you think about it. By late afternoon, the thousands of Native Americans, environmental activists and veterans gathered in the Seven Council Fires camp were taking the time to celebrate. In a statement, Archambault expressed the utmost gratitude for the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing. The Standing Rock Tribe and all of Indian Country will be forever grateful to the Obama administration for this historic decision. Special correspondent Tolan reported from Cannon Ball, N.D., and Times staff writer Yardley reported from Seattle. ALSO Thousands of veterans converge on North Dakota to aid pipeline protest Opinion: Standing Rock is the first of many protests to come in the Trump era How a fight against the black snake at Standing Rock formed a global community UPDATES: 5:05 p.m.: The story was updated with additional details about the Army Corps of Engineers decision. 4:20 p.m.: The story was updated with additional reactions and context. 2:50 p.m.: The story was updated throughout with staff reporting and reaction from the protest site. The story was originally published at 2:05 p.m. San Diego is ready to launch a new pilot program that aims to get chronic low-level criminals with drug problems off the street. The program, which was announced in March but delayed by coordination issues, allows repeat non-violent offenders to avoid jail time if they accept placement in government housing with comprehensive drug treatment and counseling for up to two years. It is part of a wider Community Justice Initiative that City Attorney Jan Goldsmith launched two years ago to allow people charged with many misdemeanors to avoid jail time and a criminal record if they complete two days of community service and pay a fine. Advertisement The criminal justice system is not equipped to deal with them so they just keep on repeating their offenses and they dont get help and we dont get help, Goldsmith said a City Hall news conference on Monday. Our part is to provide the consistency of a bed, their part is to provide consistency in treatment, said Goldsmith, stressing that participants who dont comply with the guidelines would face jail time. RELATED: New program targets chronic drug offenders Mayor Kevin Faulconer praised the program, which is called SMART San Diego Misdemeanors At-Risk Track. These chronic offenders have drained public resources and have been particularly resistant to efforts to provide them help to turn their lives around, Faulconer said. The mayor said in addition to drug problems, many of the offenders suffer from mental illness and are homeless. We need to tailor treatment to best intervene to help each particular person, said Faulconer, calling the program one piece of the puzzle to solving the citys growing problems with homelessness. Kellen Russoniello, an attorney for the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the new program and the Community Justice Initiative are part of a welcome change in San Diegos approach to crime. Although this pilot is small and adjustments will inevitably have to be made along the way, the vision and the potential ramifications are great, he said. Our traditional criminal justice approach has been guided by a lock em up mentality and has resulted in an ineffective revolving door of incarceration. Mara Elliott, who will replace Goldsmith as city attorney on Monday, vowed to aggressively seek funding for the program, which includes the San Diego Police Department and the county Sheriffs Department. SMART is important because it helps these individuals in a thoughtful and holistic manner, she said. Its also a model of the type of regional collaboration we need in the future. david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick A 25-year-old man with ties to Coronado was identified Sunday as one of the dozens of people killed in a weekend fire that tore through an Oakland warehouse where an electronic dance show was taking place. Nick Gomez-Hall, who graduated from Coronado High School in 2009, was confirmed dead by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office Coroner's Bureau. Friends called Gomez-Hall a "musical loving genius" and brilliant artist, and said his loss was devastating to the many people who knew and loved him. "Nick made meand many othersfeel a little less alone in some of the most challenging years of our lives," wrote Nile Cappello on Facebook. "I hope his family and friends feel a little less alone knowing how much he impacted each and every one of us." After graduating high school, Gomez-Hall attended Brown University, an Ivy League school in Providence, Rhode Island. He earned a Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in American studies in 2013. Mark Baumer, a former writing teacher, said the talented young man was devoted to being an artist and living as creatively as possible. "He was always super excited about whatever he was doing, Baumer said. ...He wasn't very serious, but his devotion to being playful was so serious. He made you want to be more playful, to have more fun. While attending Brown, Gomez-Hall launched a two-man indie-rock band called Nightmom. In the wake of his death, his bandmate, Travis Lloyd, released a number of previously unpublished songs the two had made. There's no one better or more beloved than you, Lloyd wrote on Facebook. You are a muse to so many and will never stop guiding us. Gomez-Hall left the east coast this year for Berkeley, where he got a job at Counterpoint Press, a publishing company. On Sunday night, the company remembered Gomez-Hall as a kind, considerate, hilarious co-worker in a message on its Facebook page. From the second Nick started at Counterpoint, he became part of our family, it read. Whether he was recommending new music to listen to (and it was always so good), regaling us with tales of the bowling alley, offering his beloved truck for a ride if anyone needed it, or sharing his much appreciated opinions about a book jacket or manuscript, he made everyone feel like they were his friend. His family could not be reached for comment. The Oakland building, known as the "Ghost Ship" had been carved into artist studios and was an illegal home for a rotating cast of a dozen or more people, according to former denizens who said it was a cluttered death trap with few exits, piles of wood and a mess of snaking electric cords. As many as 100 people were there for a party Friday night when the fire broke out just before midnight. Fire officials were still investigating the cause of the blaze, but they said clutter fueled the flames, there were no sprinklers inside and few exits to escape. At least 36 people died in the fire, but the total may climb as firefighters continue to search the destroyed building. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Twitter: @LAWinkley (619) 293-1546 lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com A man cut his brother-in-law and stabbed his father-in-law twice in the chest after an argument between the three escalated in the community of Egger Highlands Saturday afternoon, San Diego police said. The three were fighting at a home on Dahlia Avenue near 18th Street about 4:40 p.m. when the suspect in his 30s pulled out a knife, San Diego police Officer Ben Newton said. The accused attacker first swung the weapon at his brother-in-law, cutting him across the chest. He then went after his father-in-law and stabbed him in the chest, Newton said. Advertisement The older victim fled the home and drove himself to a nearby hospital. He was later transported to a second hospital for treatment. His injuries were serious, but not believed to be life threatening, Newton said. The suspect was later arrested. Twitter: @LAWinkley (619) 293-1546 lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com Officials at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility will have to answer a prisoners legal complaint alleging officers ignored a clogged, backed-up toilet that flooded his solitary confinement cell with raw sewage, forcing him to live in inhumane conditions for several days, federal appellate judges decided last week. Donovan prisoner Raul Arellano, Jr., who is serving time for lewd acts on a child, filed the lawsuit in federal district court Oct. 8, 2014, alleging correctional officers at the prison violated his civil rights, according to case records. Acting as his own attorney, Arellano is asserting his rights under the U.S. Constitutions Eighth Amendment against cruel and unusual punishment. Advertisement He claimed officers inflicted cruel and unusual punishment on him through deliberate indifference to what they knew were dangerously unsanitary conditions in his cell. My cell was out-of-control flooded, Arellano wrote in his hand-written complaint. There was everything that comes out of a toilet out on my 6 x 6 floor cell . My socks and shoes were soaked. It had also gotten to sheets on my mattress. My whole cell stink bad to points were I throw up . I couldnt sleep. And it was disgusting to be force to eat all meals inside this cell on such conditions. Arellano said he begged for a plumber, or a plunger, or to be moved temporarily to another cell, but all the officers did was take away one of his two mattresses and say they would see what (they) could do to get a plumber, the complaint said. One of them advised him, sarcastically, to unclog the toilet using his bare hands. After four days of trying and failing to get help, thats what he did. Donovan prison officials said they could not comment on the case or its accusations because litigation was ongoing. United States District Judge Michael M. Anello dismissed Arellanos case for lack of merit on Feb. 2, 2016. In his order, Anello wrote that the officers actions to address the sanitation issues may have fallen short of alleviating the problem with Plaintiffs toilet, but Plaintiffs allegations do not establish that Defendants acted with sufficiently culpable state of mind to state a plausible Eighth Amendment claim. Arellano appealed to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. A panel of three judges decided on Nov. 23 to overturn the lower courts dismissal, and send the case back with instructions to conduct further proceedings. In their decision, the appellate judges cited case law that says a prison official may be held liable under the Eighth Amendment for denying humane conditions of confinement if he knows the inmate faces substantial risk of serious harm, and disregards that risk by failing to take reasonable measures to abate it. Assuming Arellanos allegations are true, they are sufficient to warrant ordering (defendants) to file an answer, the decision said. Arellano, 37, of El Cajon, was convicted on charges including several counts of lewd acts with a minor, according to an appeal Arellano filed shortly after his conviction and later lost. The charges stemmed from what the victim told police was a consensual sexual relationship with Arellano that started when she was 13. Arellano was 28 at the time. The victim, who was the sister of Arellanos estranged wife, denied in trial that she had sex with Arellano before she was 14, according to the appeal records. The victim testified that she only claimed she had sex with Arellano before she turned 14 because she wanted to get back at her sister, who the victim believed was messing around with her then 17-year-old boyfriend. Arellano was sentenced in April 2011, to 18 years and 8 months imprisonment. He was admitted to Donovan May 12, 2011. He is a registered sex offender. morgan.cook@sduniontribune.com Story by Kelly Thornton and Kevin Crowe Payouts Included among the most expensive lawsuits and claims paid by the city in the first half of 2011: $1.8 million to settle a wrongful-death suit brought by the family of a 58-year-old motorcyclist who was killed in April 2009. The family claimed the city failed to install signage or a traffic signal despite repeated accidents at the location. $982,450 for legal fees of five former city officials targeted by the Securities and Exchange Commission during the era of pension-related investigations. The officials are Michael Uberuaga, Mary Vattimo, Ed Ryan, Patricia Frazier and Terri Webster. $936,131 to lawyer Charles LiMandri, who represented four San Diego firefighters who sued the city because they were forced to march in the Gay Pride Parade. A jury awarded the plaintiffs $34,300 $448,000 to resident Lawrence Fournier to settle a property damage claim for a sewer backup in Fourniers home. $375,000 to Alton Crowley, who was struck by a police cruiser while walking in a crosswalk. $285,000 to residents John Trunkey and Greg Bishop for water-related property damage in 2006. $225,000 to the family of 17-year-old Noe Rojas, who was fatally shot by police in 2007. The city of San Diego has paid $1.9 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a computer software contractor it fired and accused of missing deadlines that put the project more than a year behind schedule and more than $15 million over budget. The settlement with Axon Solutions Inc. was the largest amount paid to litigate or resolve claims and lawsuits against the city so far this year, according to a review by Investigative Newsource. Through July 12, the city spent $13.1 million handling claims and fighting lawsuits, compared to $13.2 million for the entire year in 2010. It spent $25.5 million on claims and lawsuits in 2009, the biggest year of the eight years analyzed. The City Council approved the settlement with Axon in March in closed session. The computer contract dates to 2007, when the city was reeling under investigations, fraud indictments, civil sanctions, overdue audits and sunken credit ratings. Catching up on audits helped restore the citys luster on Wall Street in 2008, but then the new computer system was blamed for an eight-month delay in the 2010 audit released last month. The city awarded Axon an $18.8 million contract in 2007 for installation of one main software package to replace fragmented and outdated financial computer systems. Doing so fulfilled a recommendation by outside consultants hired to help the city correct its financial issues. The city fired Axon in November 2008 and hired the manufacturer of the software system to complete the installation. After firing Axon, the city spent millions more to finish the job. The final project cost was just under $52 million more than $15 million over the original projected cost of $36.6 million. The mayors office said that final amount includes interest costs that should have been factored in the first estimate, plus additional work that was added later, such as a new budgeting software system. Axon sued the city in November 2009, seeking $5.59 million in unpaid invoices plus interest. The companys attorney did not return a call for comment. The City Attorneys Office said the settlement was a business decision. We started doing an analysis of what it was going to cost to defend the case and the ultimate settlement was less than a third of what they were demanding, said Joe Cordileone, chief deputy city attorney for the Civil Division. Councilwoman Marti Emerald said it pained her to do so, but she had to vote in favor of the settlement with Axon. The city attorney explained to us the case could have gone either way, and our liability could have been higher, Emerald said. She said voting to pay almost $2 million to a company that was terminated was galling. This whole project from a financial standpoint has been a big disappointment, Emerald said. I support the idea of automating, making sure we have all our information in one place, creating more efficiency and saving costs, but at what cost? I dont know where to appoint blame but I hope were finally on track so we can get this thing done and get what was promised. Former Councilwoman Donna Frye, who cast one of two votes against awarding the computer consulting contract to Axon in 2007, said she was not surprised at the outcome of the Axon case. She characterized the contract as a knee-jerk reaction to the citys financial chaos and resulting investigations. It was a case of hurrying up to look like were doing something while again failing to do our due diligence, so it really was a recipe for failure. It was handled badly from the beginning, so it was certain to have a bad outcome. The citys decision to settle the Axon lawsuit came after a federal judge declined to dismiss the case. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey T. Miller allowed Axons case to proceed on three of seven claims, including trade secret misappropriation and copyright infringement essentially that the city continued to use Axons trade secrets and copyright-protected material without paying. Oh my God, youre kidding me, said former City Attorney Michael Aguirre when told of the settlement. You dont pay damages to someone who destroyed your accounting system and caused you to be unable to produce a financial statement for eight months. Cordileone scoffed at Aguirres reaction. Mr. Aguirre knows nothing about this case. He hasnt seen the evidence or talked with the expert witnesses. I am a chief deputy city attorney with over 35 years of litigation experience. I saw all the evidence and assessed it for the city. It would have been nearly impossible to lay all the blame for the citys problems on Axon. Moreover, the case was very complex, technical and expensive, he said. The City Council was properly advised and made its decision based upon the evidence, the likely result, the costs, and a recommendation from our office. The lawsuit was especially expensive to defend because it was brought against the city and a city agency, Data Processing Corp., which required its own outside lawyers. It turned out to be an extremely costly endeavor and theres no guarantee whos going to win when it winds up being a battle of experts, Cordileone said. Fake news had some real consequences this weekend in the form of a bullet fired inside a Washington D.C. pizzeria thats been accused of harboring a child sex-trafficking ring run by Hillary Clinton and campaign chair John Podesta. Say what? Now if you think that the latter half of the above sentence is at all hard to believe, you would be correct, as the notion that the Comet Ping Pong restaurant is involved in the kidnapping and molesting of children, had been completely debunked. Advertisement (Apparently, the shooter did not get the memo.) The self-proclaimed sleuth of the conspiracy theory known as PizzaGate told police he decided to come to the shop self-investigate. Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina, was arrested Sunday after police said he walked into the eatery and pointed what was described as an assault rifle at an employee. He then fired at least one shot as workers and customers fled. The shooting, in which no one was injured, caused panic in the upscale neighborhood which was put into lockdown as police swarmed the area. Welch was taken into custody after about 45 minutes and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. Police recovered an AR-15 assault-style rifle, a Colt .38 handgun, a shotgun and a folding knife. The restaurant, used by the Clinton campaign as a fund-raising venue, has been under assault after its name first appeared in the Clinton emails released by WikiLeaks and the wild stories were born. The establishment and its employees soon became the target of harassment that included abusive phone calls, nasty online comments and even death threats amid the fabrications. The Washington Post reported that some of the accusations about the popular restaurant involved stories of children being tortured by pedophiliacs in hidden tunnels at the site. One nearby business owner said restaurant employees believed that the 28-year-old suspect was looking for the underground chambers. James Alefantis wrote on the restaurants Facebook page that the incident showed that people who profligate entirely false stories should know that their actions have consequence. I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away, he wrote. You can read his entire statement here. 619-293-1710 debbi.baker@sduniontribune.com twitter.com/Debbi_Baker Regarding High-rises heading toward Hillcrest (Nov. 28): Hillcrest has always been a walking community, and still is. Whats this about needing big buildings in Hillcrest? Must we continually change things? Just guessing the developers are calling. Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. E-mail letters@sduniontribune.com Mail: Andrew Kleske, Reader Outreach Editor San Diego Union-Tribune P.O. Box 120191 San Diego, CA 92112-0191. You can also leave a comment below Advertisement Most of the proposed changes are not improvements, just different. Maintain Qualcomm Stadium. Keep Seaport Village. Absolutely do not build a parking garage in the middle of our park or change the Cabrillo Bridge. Save the parking south of the Organ Pavilion for handicapped people and valet parking. There are lots of other places to build a parking garage. Still wondering why we dont have the trolley going to the airport and Balboa Park if we want public transportation. Clean up the city and fill the potholes. Plant more trees. Jonnie Johnson El Cajon Christmas should be out of parades name Regarding Readers debate the use of word Christmas (Dec. 1): Instead of sprinting from La Jollas dark past, when discrimination and prejudice prevented African-Americans, foreign nationals, Native Americans and Jews from purchasing houses or real property, individuals affiliated with the La Jolla Christmas Parade, contrary to the rest of San Diego, have instead insisted on continuing their beloved good old days. The La Jolla Christmas Parade event chair and her associates have refused all requests for interviews with every media organization and the San Diego Human Relations Commission. December events in Balboa Park, Chula Vista, El Cajon, Encinitas, North Park, Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach all reflect faith-neutral names. Since the La Jolla Christmas Parade excludes no group from participating, its name, by law, must reflect that fact and mirror the reality of our democratic, secular and global 21st-century society. Howard G. Singer La Jolla Capitalism definitely can have altruistic side Regarding Castros socialist system deserves burial, not praise (Dec. 1): What deserves burial is professor Brian Simpsons embrace of egoism to the exclusion of altruism. As a disciple of Ayn Rand, he espouses a me first and always philosophy of pure self-interest with no regard for the plight of those less fortunate; a philosophy that says there are those who take advantage and those who are taken advantage of. As a supporter of capitalism, I do not believe in such an either/or system. Capitalists and capitalism can, should be and, I believe, are, to a good measure, altruistic. Why? Because it is good for business. Businesses that take care of their employees, that are good corporate citizens and that contribute to their communities by helping those in need enjoy greater, longer-lasting success. Helping others benefits the giver in ways Simpson apparently has no capacity to understand. So sad. Bill Pope San Diego Voters are getting just what they voted against Regarding Donald Trumps cabinet could be wealthiest in modern history Nov. 30): I cant say I wasnt warned. They said over and over that if I voted for Hillary Clinton, Wall Street would be running the country. I voted for Clinton anyway and, sure enough, Wall Street is set to run the country. Paul Ward Clairemont Trump detractors are ignoring U.S. history Those criticizing President-elect Trump for conflicts of interest and nepotism dont seem to recall political history. Do they not recall Democrat John F. Kennedys family had a billion-dollar-plus financial empire with international real estate holdings? Do they not recall J.F.K. appointed his brother as attorney general, the one-and-the-same official responsible for investigation and prosecution of federal conflicts of interest? Do they not recall as president, Democrat Bill Clinton appointed his wife to create a sweeping federal health care system? Poor memories or hypocrisy? Doug Stuart Rancho Bernardo Electoral College could still make this right Why does the press keep referring to Trump as president-elect? In my opinion, he is not the president-elect. Hillary Clinton is. Nationwide, Clinton got more than 2 million votes more. The people elected her. Not until the Electoral College meets and reverses the will of the people will he be president-elect. A person in Wyoming has 362 percent more power in a presidential election than a person in California. This is not how a democracy is supposed to work. Jack Machun San Diego Californias liberalism will be its downfall California is clearly the capital of liberal America with a mandate on redistribution policies. The trouble with the liberal community is it looks from the desert and sees nothing but green grass over the fence. What many dont see is that it takes a job and hard work to jump that fence. However, with fewer jobs due to regulation, taxes and fees in California, that jump is to another state, leaving only the liberal left. Bill Colford San Diego We are still expecting to see Trumps returns Blind trust. That is what Donald Trump is asking of the American people as he transitions from outrageous candidate to the most powerful post in the world. So much for the old Ronald Reagan maxim of trust but verify. Donald Trump is not giving us the information needed to verify while demanding that we convey our trust upon him. Now, as president-elect, it is incumbent upon Trump to release his tax returns. We need to know where his personal interests lie. This fundamental element of transparency is further necessitated by his refusal to put his assets in a blind trust. And, now that he has taken the strange and unprecedented step of allowing his children, who will be managing his companies, to form the nexus of his transition team, picking the key personnel of our government, it is essential that Trump immediately release all his tax returns. Jean Paul Olmsted Carlsbad Dont make fun of quilters to make a point Maybe Larry Brooks (Holding gun shows is not controversial, Nov. 24) could find some inner peace if he took up quilting. I myself find it very enjoyable and not demeaning or sexist in any way. Quilting is an art form and an international pastime with women and men. Brooks should go pick on someone else. J. Hayman Rancho San Diego Ban leaves people holding the bag Now that we have to pay 10 cents a bag at the grocery store, what do we take our garbage to the dumpster in? Some bright environmentalist didnt think this through. Can he come to my house and take my garbage to the dumpster? David Brown Point Loma Want to see more letters that appear only online? Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. President-elect Donald Trump s daughter Ivanka (and Trump himself) met with former Vice President Al Gore on Monday to talk climate change. A question many are asking is, Why? A quick search of Ivankas tweets about climate change and global warming turned up only this: Meanwhile, her fathers timeline has been packed with tweets about climate change and global warming over the years. But its important to note that Trumps policy positions on climate change are still up in the air. After years of ridiculing talk about global warming, he told The New York Times last month that he was trying to keep an open mind. Perhaps that means his mind is open to what Gore has been saying for years about fighting global warming: The future of the planetary conditions on which human civilization depends are reliant now more than ever upon scientists and innovators, businesses and civil society, and our collective efforts to accelerate the implementation of the solutions to the climate crisis that are already available and cost-effective. Former Vice President Al Gore arrives at Trump Tower, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, in New York (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Gore, who starred in the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth about global warming, isnt the only climate change activist reaching out to Ivanka. The New York Times reports Leonardo DiCaprio has met with her for a talk and to share his new climate change documentary Before the Flood. Ivanka has been said to be part of the plan for Trump to hand his business pursuits over to his kids while hes in the White House. And that makes Ivankas meeting all the more confusing. We asked our Twitter followers what they think of Ivanka addressing climate change and the winning poll result was a resounding Why Ivanka? Heres a look at how people are reacting to the meeting on Twitter. Make sure to add your vote to the poll above about how people are reacting to Ivanka addressing climate change. Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @abbyhamblin Atlanta, GA -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/05/2016 -- Stephen Hopkins was from Hampshire, England. He married his first wife, Mary, and resided in the parish of Hursley, Hampshire. They had three (3) children: Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles; all baptized there. It has long been claimed that the Hopkins family was from Wortley, Gloucester, but this was disproven in 1998 with the discovery of his true origins in Hursley. http://mayflowerhistory.com/hopkins-stephen/ Stephen Hopkins went with the ship Sea Venture on a voyage to Jamestown, Virginia in 1609 as a minister's clerk, but the ship wrecked in the "Isle of Devils" (Bermuda). Stranded on an island for ten months, the passengers and crew survived on turtles, birds, and wild pigs. Six months into the castaway, Stephen Hopkins and several others organized a mutiny against the current governor. The mutiny was discovered and Stephen was sentenced to death. However, he pleaded with sorrow and tears. "So penitent he was, and made so much moan, alleging the ruin of his wife and children in this his trespass, as it wrought in the hearts of all the better sorts of the company." He managed to get his sentence commuted. Eventually the castaways built a small ship and sailed themselves to Jamestown. How long Stephen remained in Jamestown is not known. However, while he was gone, his wife Mary died. She was buried in Hursley on 9 May 1613, and left behind a probate estate which mentions her children Elizabeth, Constance and Giles. Stephen was back in England by 1617, when he married Elizabeth Fisher, but apparently had every intention of bringing his family back to Virginia. Their first child, Damaris, was born about 1618. In 1620, Stephen Hopkins brought his wife and children Constance, Giles, and Damaris on the Mayflower (child Elizabeth apparently had died). Stephen was a fairly active member of the Pilgrim group shortly after arrival, perhaps a result of his being one of the few individuals who had been to Virginia previously. He was a part of all the early exploring missions, and was used as an "expert" on Native Americans for the first few contacts. While out exploring, Stephen recognized and identified an Indian deer trap. And when Samoset walked into Plymouth and welcomed the English, he was housed in Stephen Hopkins' house for the night. Stephen was also sent on several of the ambassadorial missions to meet with the various Indian groups in the region. Stephen was an assistant to the governor through 1636, and volunteered for the Pequot War of 1637 but was never called to serve. By the late 1630s, however, Stephen began to occasionally run afoul of the Plymouth authorities, as he apparently opened up a shop and served alcohol. In 1636 he got into a fight with John Tisdale and seriously wounded him. In 1637, he was fined for allowing drinking and shuffleboard playing on Sunday. Early the next year he was fined for allowing people to drink excessively in his house: guest William Reynolds was fined, but the others were acquitted. In 1638 he was twice fined for selling beer at twice the actual value, and in 1639 he was fined for selling a looking glass for twice what it would cost if bought in the Bay Colony. Also in 1638, Stephen Hopkins' maidservant got pregnant from Arthur Peach, who was subsequently executed for murdering an Indian. The Plymouth Court ruled he was financially responsible for her and her child for the next two years (the amount remaining on her term of service). Stephen, in contempt of court, threw Dorothy out of his household and refused to provide for her, so the court committed him to custody. John Holmes stepped in and purchased Dorothy's remaining two years of service from him: agreeing to support her and child. Stephen died in 1644, and made out a will, asking to be buried near his wife, and naming his surviving children. BAPTISM: 30 April 1581 at Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England, son of John and Elizabeth (Williams) Hopkins. FIRST MARRIAGE: Mary, possibly the daughter of Robert and Joan (Machell) Kent of Hursley, co. Hampshire, prior to 1604. SECOND MARRIAGE: Elizabeth Fisher on 19 February 1617/8 at St. Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel, co. Middlesex, England. CHILDREN (by Mary): Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles. CHILDREN (by Elizabeth): Damaris, Oceanus, Caleb, Deborah, Damaris, Ruth, and Elizabeth. DNA HAPLOGROUP: R1b-M269 The Mayflower was hired in London, and sailed from London to Southampton in July 1620 to begin loading food and supplies for the voyage--much of which was purchased at Southampton. The Pilgrims were mostly still living in the city of Leiden, in the Netherlands. They hired a ship called the Speedwell to take them from Delfshaven, the Netherlands, to Southampton, England, to meet up with the Mayflower. The two ships planned to sail together to Northern Virginia. The Speedwell departed Delfthaven on July 22, and arrived at Southampton, where they found the Mayflower waiting for them. The Speedwell had been leaking on her voyage from the Netherlands to England, though, so they spent the next week patching her up. On August 5, the two ships finally set sail for America. But the Speedwell began leaking again, so they pulled into the town of Dartmouth for repairs, arriving there about August 12. The Speedwell was patched up again, and the two ships again set sail for America about August 21. After the two ships had sailed about 300 miles out to sea, the Speedwell again began to leak. Frustrated with the enormous amount of time lost, and their inability to fix the Speedwell so that it could be sea-worthy, they returned to Plymouth, England, and made the decision to leave the Speedwell behind. The Mayflower would go to America alone. The cargo on the Speedwell was transferred over to the Mayflower; some of the passengers were so tired and disappointed with all the problems that they quit and went home. Others crammed themselves onto the already very crowded Mayflower. Finally, on September 6, the Mayflower departed from Plymouth, England, and headed for America. By the time the Pilgrims had left England, they had already been living onboard the ships for nearly a month and a half. The voyage itself across the Atlantic Ocean took 66 days, from their departure on September 6, until Cape Cod was sighted on 9 November 1620. The first half of the voyage went fairly smoothly, the only major problem was sea-sickness. But by October, they began encountering a number of Atlantic storms that made the voyage treacherous. Several times, the wind was so strong they had to just drift where the weather took them; it was not safe to use the ship's sails. The Pilgrims intended to land in Northern Virginia, which at the time included the region as far north as the Hudson River in the modern State of New York. The Hudson River, in fact, was their originally intended destination. They had received good reports on this region while in the Netherlands. All things considered, the Mayflower was almost right on target, missing the Hudson River by just a few degrees. As the Mayflower approached land, the crew spotted Cape Cod just as the sun rose on November 9. The Pilgrims decided to head south, to the mouth of the Hudson River in New York, where they intended to make their plantation. However, as the Mayflower headed south, it encountered some very rough seas, and nearly shipwrecked. The Pilgrims then decided, rather than risk another attempt to go south they would just stay and explore Cape Cod. They turned back north, rounded the tip, and anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor. The Pilgrims would spend the next month and a half exploring Cape Cod, trying to decide where they would build their plantation. On December 25, 1620, they had finally decided upon Plymouth, and began construction of their first buildings. The End of the Mayflower: "Mayflower's End," by Mike Haywood. The Mayflower returned to England from Plymouth Colony, arriving back on 9 May 1621. Christopher Jones took the ship out on a trading voyage to Rochelle, France, in October 1621, returning with a cargo of Bay salt. Christopher Jones, master and quarter-owner of the Mayflower, died and was buried at Rotherhithe, co. Surrey, England, on 5 March 1621/2. No further record of the Mayflower is found until May 1624, when it was appraised for the purposes of probate and was described as being in ruins. The ship was almost certainly sold off as scrap. The claim, first originating from J. Rendel Harris' book The Finding of the Mayflower (1920), that the Mayflower ended up as a barn in Jordans, England, is now widely discredited as being a figment of an overzealous imagination on the tercentenary anniversary of the Mayflower's voyage, combined with a tainted oral history. None of the evidence has withstood subsequent investigation. Regardless of the lack of evidence for its authenticity, it has been featured in National Geographic on several occasions and is a tourist destination. It is important to realize that in 1624, when the ship was scrapped, it was not at all famous, and nobody would have thought twice about letting it rot away. Atlanta, Georgia General Society of Mayflower Descendant, Adam Paul Green (Ancestor Stephen Hopkins / Gen.No. 86,723) Reveals New Geneology Resource Website for Local Enthusiasts http://www.ImAdamGreen.com Women of Early Plymouth: Governor William Bradford reported that the Pilgrims were worried that the "weak bodies of women" would not be able to withstand the rigors of a trans-Atlantic voyage and the construction of a colony. Prior to the Mayflower, very few English women had made the voyage across the ocean. Sir Walter Raleigh's Roanoke colony arrived in Virginia in 1587, and amongst those 120 colonists there were 17 women: a baby girl, Virginia Dare, was born after arrival. When re-supply ships came from England, they could not relocate the people. The colony had mysteriously disappeared, and was never seen again. The Jamestown Colony was founded in 1607, but relatively few women had yet made the voyage and taken up residence there. The Pilgrim husband, as head of the household, had an important and difficult decision to make. Building a colony would be hard on a woman's "weaker body." It might be safer and healthier to leave her behind, and have her come later once the houses were built, and the general safety and successfulness of the colony were better established. But that could be several years. Could he live several years without his wife? How strong was his wife anyway, could she really handle it? Was it right to put your wife's life in danger in this manner? As the Mayflower left England for America, there were 18 adult women on-board. Three of them, Elizabeth Hopkins, Susanna White, and Mary Allerton, were actually in their last trimester of a pregnancy. All the adult women on the Mayflower were married; there were no single women--although there were a few teenage girls nearing marriageable age. While no women would die during the Mayflower's voyage, life after arrival proved extremely difficult. In fact, 78% of the women would die the first winter, a far higher percentage than for men or children. Dorothy Bradford was the first woman to die, and the only woman who died in the month of December. While many of the men, including her husband, were out exploring on Cape Cod, she accidentally fell off the Mayflower into the bitter cold waters of Provincetown Harbor. Most of the women's death dates were not recorded, but we do know that Rose Standish died on January 29, Mary Allerton died on February 25, and Elizabeth Winslow died on March 24. Most of the women died in February and March. The extremely high mortality rate among women is probably explainable by the fact the men were out in the fresh air, felling trees, building structures and drinking fresh New England water; while the women were confined to the damp, filthy and crowded quarters offered by the Mayflower, where disease would have spread much more quickly. The two-month voyage was long enough; the women, however, remained living on the ship for an additional four months while the men built storehouses and living quarters on shore. Many of the sick were no doubt cared for on-board the ship by the women, increasing their exposure to colds and pneumonias. William Mullins died on February 21, apparently on-board the Mayflower since his will was witnessed by the ship's captain and ship's surgeon. His wife Alice and son Joseph had not yet died, but it wasn't too long before they did, orphaning their teenage daughter Priscilla in the New World. Only five women survived the first winter. One of the five survivors, Mrs. Katherine Carver, died in May of a "broken heart," her husband John having died of sunstroke a month earlier. Weak bodies or not, by the time of the famous "Thanksgiving," there were only four women left to care for the Colony's fifty surviving men and children. The four women were Eleanor Billington, Elizabeth Hopkins, Mary Brewster, and Susanna (White) Winslow. http://mayflowerhistory.com/women Adam Paul Green was born to a multi-talented beauty queen Mother and a Father who, in addition to being a US Army Spy and a Counter-Intelligence Special Agent, was also a highly accomplished entrepreneur. Adam was taught at a young age that, in both life and business, loyalty is a requirement for success. He's had the honor of working directly with his father in several of the family businesses. In fact, this is where he learned crucial entrepreneurial skills and honed his talents with international business strategies and venture capitalism. http://www.MarketingChocolateInternational.com http://www.AdamPaulGreen.com http://www.ImAdamGreen.com Adam earned his Bachelors of Science Degree in International Business and Marketing from the University of Utah. He was hand-picked by the President of the University's renowned School of Business to compete with dozens of other ambitious nationwide-graduates for the opportunity to secure a lucrative job within a prestigious Fortune 100 company. http://www.mxicorp.com/fab/ http://www.Twitter.com/AdamPaulGreen http://www.ImAdamGreen.com About MayflowerHistory.com MayflowerHistory.com, the Internet's most complete and accurate website dealing with the Mayflower passengers and the history of the Pilgrims and early Plymouth Colony. The website was first created back in 1994 (when the web was still mostly text!) as a simple, but complete, passenger list of the Mayflower. It has grown over the past twenty years as the author, historian Caleb Johnson, has researched and compiled material. http://mayflowerhistory.com Aurora, CO -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/05/2016 -- Stephen Hopkins was from Hampshire, England. He married his first wife, Mary, and resided in the parish of Hursley, Hampshire. They had three (3) children: Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles; all baptized there. It has long been claimed that the Hopkins family was from Wortley, Gloucester, but this was disproven in 1998 with the discovery of his true origins in Hursley. http://mayflowerhistory.com/hopkins-stephen/ Stephen Hopkins went with the ship Sea Venture on a voyage to Jamestown, Virginia in 1609 as a minister's clerk, but the ship wrecked in the "Isle of Devils" (Bermuda). Stranded on an island for ten months, the passengers and crew survived on turtles, birds, and wild pigs. Six months into the castaway, Stephen Hopkins and several others organized a mutiny against the current governor. The mutiny was discovered and Stephen was sentenced to death. However, he pleaded with sorrow and tears. "So penitent he was, and made so much moan, alleging the ruin of his wife and children in this his trespass, as it wrought in the hearts of all the better sorts of the company." He managed to get his sentence commuted. Eventually the castaways built a small ship and sailed themselves to Jamestown. How long Stephen remained in Jamestown is not known. However, while he was gone, his wife Mary died. She was buried in Hursley on 9 May 1613, and left behind a probate estate which mentions her children Elizabeth, Constance and Giles. Stephen was back in England by 1617, when he married Elizabeth Fisher, but apparently had every intention of bringing his family back to Virginia. Their first child, Damaris, was born about 1618. In 1620, Stephen Hopkins brought his wife and children Constance, Giles, and Damaris on the Mayflower (child Elizabeth apparently had died). Stephen was a fairly active member of the Pilgrim group shortly after arrival, perhaps a result of his being one of the few individuals who had been to Virginia previously. He was a part of all the early exploring missions, and was used as an "expert" on Native Americans for the first few contacts. While out exploring, Stephen recognized and identified an Indian deer trap. And when Samoset walked into Plymouth and welcomed the English, he was housed in Stephen Hopkins' house for the night. Stephen was also sent on several of the ambassadorial missions to meet with the various Indian groups in the region. Stephen was an assistant to the governor through 1636, and volunteered for the Pequot War of 1637 but was never called to serve. By the late 1630s, however, Stephen began to occasionally run afoul of the Plymouth authorities, as he apparently opened up a shop and served alcohol. In 1636 he got into a fight with John Tisdale and seriously wounded him. In 1637, he was fined for allowing drinking and shuffleboard playing on Sunday. Early the next year he was fined for allowing people to drink excessively in his house: guest William Reynolds was fined, but the others were acquitted. In 1638 he was twice fined for selling beer at twice the actual value, and in 1639 he was fined for selling a looking glass for twice what it would cost if bought in the Bay Colony. Also in 1638, Stephen Hopkins' maidservant got pregnant from Arthur Peach, who was subsequently executed for murdering an Indian. The Plymouth Court ruled he was financially responsible for her and her child for the next two years (the amount remaining on her term of service). Stephen, in contempt of court, threw Dorothy out of his household and refused to provide for her, so the court committed him to custody. John Holmes stepped in and purchased Dorothy's remaining two years of service from him: agreeing to support her and child. Stephen died in 1644, and made out a will, asking to be buried near his wife, and naming his surviving children. BAPTISM: 30 April 1581 at Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England, son of John and Elizabeth (Williams) Hopkins. FIRST MARRIAGE: Mary, possibly the daughter of Robert and Joan (Machell) Kent of Hursley, co. Hampshire, prior to 1604. SECOND MARRIAGE: Elizabeth Fisher on 19 February 1617/8 at St. Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel, co. Middlesex, England. CHILDREN (by Mary): Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles. CHILDREN (by Elizabeth): Damaris, Oceanus, Caleb, Deborah, Damaris, Ruth, and Elizabeth. DNA HAPLOGROUP: R1b-M269 The Pilgrims did not leave behind any lists of the items they brought with them on the Mayflower, but historians have used a provision list put together by Captain John Smith (of Pocahontas fame) to take an educated guess. However, in 2012, Caleb Johnson, Simon Neal, and Jeremy Bangs started transcribing and studying a rare manuscript (a page of which is here illustrated) in the possession of the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, that was written by one of the investors in the Pilgrims' joint-stock company. This manuscript actually contains several lists of suggested provisions the colonists should bring with them. It is the closest thing we can get to a list of what the Pilgrims would have actually brought. A summary of some of the key items on the provision lists: http://mayflowerhistory.com/pilgrim-history/ -Food and Drink: Biscuit, beer, salt, (dried) beef, salt pork, oats, peas, wheat, butter, sweet oil, mustard seed, ling or cod fish, "good cheese", vinegar, aqua-vitae, rice, bacon, cider. -Clothing: Monmouth cap, falling bands, shirts, waistcoat, suit of canvas, suit of cloth, Irish stockings, 4 pairs of shoes, garters. Slippers, plain shoes, little shoes, French soles, sewing needles. -Bedding: Canvas sheets, bolster "filled with good straw", rug and blankets. -Arms: Light armor (complete), fowling piece, snaphance, sword, belt, bandoleer, powder horn, 20 pounds of powder, 60 pounds of shot. -Household: Iron pot, kettle, frying pan, gridiron, two skillets, spit, platters, dishes, spoons of wood, napkins, towels, soap, hand mill, mortar and pestle. -Tools: Broad hoes, narrow hoes, broad axe, felling axe, steel handsaw, whipsaw, hammers, shovels, spades, augers, chisels, gimlets, hatchets, grinding stone, nails, locks for doors. Adam Paul Green was born to a multi-talented beauty queen Mother and a Father who, in addition to being a US Army Spy and a Counter-Intelligence Special Agent, was also a highly accomplished entrepreneur. Adam was taught at a young age that, in both life and business, loyalty is a requirement for success. He's had the honor of working directly with his father in several of the family businesses. In fact, this is where he learned crucial entrepreneurial skills and honed his talents with international business strategies and venture capitalism. http://www.MarketingChocolateInternational.com http://www.AdamPaulGreen.com http://www.ImAdamGreen.com Adam earned his Bachelors of Science Degree in International Business and Marketing from the University of Utah. He was hand-picked by the President of the University's renowned School of Business to compete with dozens of other ambitious nationwide-graduates for the opportunity to secure a lucrative job within a prestigious Fortune 100 company. http://www.mxicorp.com/fab/ http://www.Twitter.com/AdamPaulGreen http://www.ImAdamGreen.com Aurora, Colorado General Society of Mayflower Descendant, Adam Paul Green (Ancestor Stephen Hopkins / Gen.No. 86,723) Declares New Geneology Resource Website for Local Enthusiasts http://www.ImAdamGreen.com Admittedly, Adam was not initially a fan of Network Marketing. He did not understand the business model because it was new to him. However, once he learned that the REAL focus of Direct Sales is to help average people get a taste of entrepreneurialism --- with minimal risk and at a low cost --- Adam was absolutely convinced of the potential with Multi-Level Marketing. http://www.Xocai.com http://www.MXICorp.com http://www.HealthyChocolate.com http://www.JeanetteBrooks.net Since joining MXI Corp (Xocai) as one of the original 11 founding distributors, Adam has discovered that many of his life-goals truly do align perfectly with Network Marketing. Adam enjoys helping others find significance. Adam is most grateful for the complete time-freedom he has with his fantastic wife and five children. It's my pleasure to introduce you to Adam Paul Green, MXI Corp Ambassador and Multi-Millionaire Earner. http://www.mxicorp.com/fab/index.php?dist=winnerscircle http://www.Youtube.com/AdamPaulGreen http://www.mxicorp.com/multimillionaires/ http://www.ImAdamGreen.com About MayflowerHistory.com MayflowerHistory.com, the Internet's most complete and accurate website dealing with the Mayflower passengers and the history of the Pilgrims and early Plymouth Colony. The website was first created back in 1994 (when the web was still mostly text!) as a simple, but complete, passenger list of the Mayflower. It has grown over the past twenty years as the author, historian Caleb Johnson, has researched and compiled material. http://mayflowerhistory.com Seattle, WA -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/05/2016 -- The report "Molecular Biology Enzymes and Kits & Reagents Market by Product (Kits & Reagents, Enzymes), Application (PCR, Sequencing, Cloning), End User (Academic & Research Institutes, Hospitals & Diagnostic Centers) - Trends & Global Forecasts to 2021", This report studies the molecular biology enzymes and kits & reagents market for the forecast period of 2016 to 2021. This market is expected to reach 12.69 Billion by 2021 from USD 5.77 Billion in 2016, growing at a CAGR of 17.1%. Browse 102 market data Tables and 43 Figures spread through 184 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Molecular Biology Enzymes and Kits & Reagents Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/molecular-biology-enzymes-kits-reagents-market-164131709.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. A number of factors such as technological advancements in the life sciences industry, increased research activities in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, rising incidences of infectious diseases and genetic disorders, and successful completion of Human Genome Project are expected to drive the growth of the molecular biology enzymes market during the forecast period. In this report, the molecular biology enzymes and kits & reagents market is segmented on the basis of product, application, end user, and region. Based on product, molecular biology enzymes market is categorized into kits & reagents and enzymes. The kits & reagents segment is expected to account for the largest share of the market in 2016. This segment is also estimated to grow at the faster growth rate during the forecast period (2016-2021). Download the PDF Brochure For FREE@ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=164131709 Based on application, the molecular biology enzymes and kits & reagents market is segmented into PCR, sequencing, restriction digestion, cloning, epigenetics, and synthetic biology, among others. The PCR segment is expected to account for the largest share of the market in 2016. However, the sequencing segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. On the basis of end user, the molecular biology enzymes market is segmented academic & research institutes, hospitals & diagnostic centers, and pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies, among other end users. The academic & research institutes segment is expected to account for the largest share of the market in 2016. However, the hospitals & diagnostic centers are projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Get The Sample Copy Of This Report: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsample.asp?id=164131709 Geographically, the molecular biology enzymes and kits & reagents market is divided into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the World (Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa). North America is expected to account for the largest share of the molecular biology enzymes and kits & reagents market in 2016, followed by Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the World. The Asia-Pacific market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR and serves as a revenue pocket for companies offering molecular biology enzymes and kits & reagents. About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is the largest market research firm worldwide in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers. We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository. Subscribe Reports from Healthcare Domain @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Knowledgestore.asp Contact: Mr. Rohan MarketsandMarkets 701 Pike Street Suite 2175, Seattle, WA 98101, United States Telephone No : 888-600-6441 Belfast, UK -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/05/2016 -- An exciting new website is launching early 2017 to offer online booking of Pallet Deliveries across the UK and Ireland. In the last 5 years there has been a large increase in the number of businesses who need to send a pallet, this is due to the increase in the number businesses selling online and who need to send their stock to distribution and fulfillment centers. Pallet Anywhere will allow businesses of all sizes to send pallets online through a large network of freight companies throughout the UK and Europe. Users can use the website to get an instant quote to send a pallet, only needing to enter the collection and delivery post codes. Customers can then book a collection of their pallet online, often collected the same day if booked before 11am. Pallet Anywhere will guide customers though all the steps in order to safely send a pallet, all shipments have tracking as standard. Pallet Anywhere will offer express and economy pallet delivery options within the UK and Ireland upon launch, adding additional European routes throughout the year. The pallet delivery market is growing in the UK and Europe. Department for Transport figures reveal that there were 1.49 billion tons of goods lifted by HGVs in the UK in 2014. This includes pallet deliveries as well as other goods, such as HGVs involved in the construction industry. There are 473,900 heavy goods vehicles registered in the UK. Some of the larger pallet networks handle over 25,000 pallets every day. Paul Stewart, founder of Pallet Anywhere said "We were receiving an increasing number of requests to offer pallet shipping from our current customers in our logistics business. We looked into the market and found that it is growing however the online booking and quote systems being used were outdated and did not offer new pallet senders much guidance. With Pallet Anywhere anyone can get a quote in seconds with just the post codes for collection and delivery. We provide step by step instructions on what they need to do and how to package an item on a pallet. The pallet delivery market has very slim margins and will will be offering very competitive rates to both one-off users and regular senders. Pallet Anywhere will provide pallet delivery options to businesses of all sizes at competitive rates with unrivaled customer service." About Pallet Anywhere Pallet Anywhere offers online booking of pallets 24/7, it has a dedicated customer service team who are available via phone, email and livechat. Pallet Anywhere will launch early 2017. To find out more information please visit http://www.palletanywhere.co.uk Contact: Paul Stewart Pallet Anywhere Address: 85 Sydenham Road, Belfast, BT3 9DJ, UK Phone: 0333 444 4008 Email: info@palletanywhere.co.uk Jenkintown, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/05/2016 -- Insurance companies often wrongfully deny a person's disability benefits for a number of reasons. If this happens to someone in Pennsylvania, Delaware or New Jersey, the disability lawyers of Rosen, Moss, Snyder, Bleefeld, LLP (RMSB) will fight for their clients' rights for disability compensation. Their lawyers are so determined to win their clients' cases that they offer free consultations and only receive a fee if they win. Many of the clients who receive a denial letter do not know who to turn to. They know they need money to pay for their expenses, but do not know where to get it. This is where the disability lawyers of Rosen, Moss, Snyder, Bleefeld, LLP, come and inform their clients about their right to appeal the insurance company's decision. The disability lawyers at Rosen, Moss, Snyder, Bleefeld, LLP specialize in long-term disability settlements, disability claim denials, disability claim appeals, retracted benefits and social security disability and/or workers' compensations offsets and overpayment issues. Their dedicated and experienced disability lawyers serve areas in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, and they make sure their clients are satisfied with the end result. It is their mission to provide high-quality legal services to clients who need someone to fight for their rights. The lawyers at Rosen, Moss, Snyder, Bleefeld, LLP adhere to the highest standards of excellence, integrity, and professionalism when approaching any one of their cases. For more information about their services visit http://www.disabilitylawyer-pa-nj-de.com/. To request a free consultation in Pennsylvania, call them at 215-392-4581, New Jersey at 856-288-1778 and Delaware at 302-298-0757. About Rosen, Moss, Snyder & Bleefeld, LLP Providing quality legal services, the team at Rosen, Moss, Snyder & Bleefeld, LLP is dedicated to their clients and ensuring their needs are met. Disabled clients will receive personalized attention and assistance through all stages of the disability claims process. When benefits have been denied, clients trust the attorneys to fight for their rights. All cases taken by the firm are on a contingency basis, and free consultations are offered to understand the case at hand. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/05/2016 -- ASEAN Smart Education and Learning Market: Snapshot The smart education and learning market in the ASEAN region is rising due to government initiatives towards digitizing education, increasing use of smartphones and tablets, internet penetration and developed information and communication (ICT) infrastructure. Virtual reality-infused classrooms and cloud-based smart education and learning solutions are gaining heightened popularity in the region and are becoming a standard across many educational institutions in countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. Transparency Market Research estimates that the ASEAN smart education and learning market holds immense growth potential in the near future. The market is expected to exhibit a remarkable 19.7% CAGR over the period between 2016 and 2020. If the prediction holds true, the market is expected to rise from US$36.84 bn to US$88.97 bn by 2020. Simulation-based Solutions Witness Adoption at Promising Rate The ASEAN smart education and learning market has been segmented on the basis of delivery model into classroom-based, desktop/mobile-based and simulation-based solutions. Among these, the desktop/mobile-based segment was the leading segment, occupying approximately 67% of the market share in 2015. It is also expected to remain the leading segment throughout the forecast period. However, the segment is expected to lose prominence to the simulation-based delivery model in terms of the rate of growth over the period between 2016 and 2020. The segment is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 21% over the said period. This up-and-coming segment will, however, still be able to occupy a very small share in the market pie owing to the dominance of desktop/mobile-based and classroom-based smart education and learning solutions. The segment of classroom-based solutions is projected to see a decline in its share in the overall market by the end of the forecast period owing to the rising demand for simulation-based smart education and learning solutions. Malaysia and Thailand to be Potential Growth Markets The ASEAN smart education and learning market has been examined for seven regions: Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Rest of ASEAN (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), and Brunei). Malaysia currently leads the ASEAN smart education and learning market, accounting for a dominant share of 36.9% in 2015. The highly developed state of the information and communication technology (ICT) and vast penetration of smartphones have bolstered the Malaysia market for smart education and learning. Get More Information About Smart Education Report: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=16106 Furthermore, government initiatives toward promoting the use of technology in education have resulted in the increased use of smartphones and desktops in delivering smart education to learners in the country. The market for in Malaysia is projected to remain the dominant regional market in the ASEAN smart education and learning market throughout the forecast period as well. Malaysia, along with Indonesia, is also expected to be one the most promising regions in terms of rate of growth of the smart education and learning market over the next few years. Both the countries are projected to exhibit a 20.3% CAGR over the forecast period. The launch of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) has bolstered the demand for English language courses in Indonesia. Additionally, high smartphone penetration and government initiatives towards delivering digitized education have further added to the growing market revenues in the smart education sector in Indonesia. The key market players operating in the ASEAN smart education and learning market include Blackboard, Inc., Educomp Solutions Ltd., Cisco Systems Inc., Adobe Corporation, Scholastic Corporation, Smart Technologies Inc., NIIT Ltd., Saba Software Inc., Scholastic Inc., and Extramarks Education Pvt., Ltd. [BANGALORE] A new study says the amount of pollutants emitted has less impact than where it was generated on the creation of bad ozone or the ozone that is created at the troposphere level and is toxic. Emissions closer to the equator go on to do the most damage and would create global ozone even if there were a decrease in global emission of greenhouse gases which create ground-level ozone, says a study by researchers from the University of North Carolina. One ton of emissions (nitrogen oxides) from South-East Asia is roughly eight times the global ozone emissions from North America. Jason West, University of North Carolina International efforts should prioritise actions in regions closest to the equator to reduce global ozone emphasises Jason West, lead author and associate professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences & Engineering University of North Carolina. The future global ozone burden will be determined mainly by emissions from low latitudes, says his paper titled Tropospheric Ozone Change from 1980 to 2010 Dominated by Equatorward Redistribution of Emissions published in the journal Nature Geoscience in November 2016. The study looks at increase in tropospheric ozone in this period when emissions of CO (carbon monoxide), NOx (nitrogen oxide) and NMVOCs (non-methane volatile organic compounds), all contributing to ozone creation, decreased in the United States, Europe and China while shooting up in South Asia and South-East Asia. The study found that emissions changes from South-East Asia contributed the most in the 19802010 global ozone increase, followed by East Asia and South Asia. South-East Asia emerges as most critical although its emission increased by only 22 per cent. It is known that ozone formation occurs when NOx, CO and VOCs react in the presence of sunlight and warmer temperatures resulting to more ozone formed in tropical regions. One ton of emissions (nitrogen oxides) from South-East Asia is roughly eight times the global ozone emissions from North America. For South Asia, one ton roughly causes three times as much, says West. What is new here is that we demonstrate the importance of emissions near the equator in a way that hadn't been shown before, West tells SciDev.Net. Anumita Roychowdhury, head of research at Delhi-based advocacy group Centre for Science and Environment, says that the study highlights the role of spatial atmospheric conditions in tropics and subtropical climate around the equator which is more conducive for formation of tropospheric ozone and shows that there is equatorward shift of these emissions. However, she emphasises that the study does not negate the past and present CO2 emissions by developed countries.This should not confuse the differentiated responsibility for mitigation of long-lived climate pollutant like CO2 by the rich and poorer countries. The argument of locational disadvantage for ozone cannot be used to demand that the poorer countries around the equator would need to take on the larger burden of mitigation responsibility, says Roychowdhury.The developed world will still have to take on the larger burden of mitigation of CO2 due to their absolute high emissions as well as historical emissions.This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets South-East Asia & Pacific desk. [SYDNEY] A recombinant rhinovirus (common cold virus) used along with an injection of DNA-based vaccine can activate the immune system against transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) via mucosal sites, say researchers in Australia. Results from a mouse model trial may help develop effective mucosal HIV-1 vaccines in the future. Unlike previous vaccine trials, the new approach offers protection at mucosal sites vaginal or rectal that are most likely to encounter the virus first. Our vaccine approach aims at making the antibodies inhibit the HIV Tat (Transactivator of HIV gene expression) effect, thereby preventing the HIV virus from replicating. Eric Gowans, University of Adelaide Eric Gowans, who is leading the research team at the University of Adelaides Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Health Research, says, Our vaccine approach aims at making the antibodies inhibit the HIV Tat (Transactivator of HIV gene expression) effect, thereby preventing the HIV virus from replicating. We believe that our strategy may be more effective than other studies for three reasons: Our vaccine will elicit mucosal immunity to Gag (The capsid proteins or group specific antigens) and Tat; systemic immunity to Tat; and cell-mediated immunity to Gag and Tat. Approximately 80 per cent of HIV infections are the result of mucosal transmission. Consequently, a strategy to elicit mucosal immunity is likely to be more effective. Our vaccine strategy is designed to elicit a combination of mucosal immunity (humoral and cell mediated) with systemic cell-mediated responses to Gag and Tat proteins that will result in migration of immune cells to sites of HIV infection. This approach may provide a novel strategy to prevent HIV infection, Gowans tells SciDev.Net. A recent study from Switzerland suggested that although broadly neutralising antibodies to Env (envelope proteins) developed in a small number of patients, these were dependent on a high viral antigen load for many years and viral diversity criteria that cannot be achieved with current vaccine strategies. Most HIV vaccines are designed to elicit systemic immunity to the Env, which can mutate rapidly. The Gag and Tat proteins are more highly conserved. As noted in an Italian study, anti-Tat antibodies have the potential to prevent disease progression, and our vaccine generates anti-Tat antibodies which neutralise the transactivation activity of the Tat protein, Gowan added. The Adelaide laboratory studies , published in Nature on 17 November, received funding from The Hospital Research Foundation and the National Health and Medical Research Council. According to WHO, an estimated 2.1 million people were newly infected with HIV in 2015. Bridget Haire, president of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO), says, AFAO welcomes this new development towards an HIV vaccine, while noting that it will be many years before we know if it will have any efficacy in humans. This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets South-East Asia & Pacific desk. [CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA] Mental health is becoming one of Africas healthcare challenges that needs to be addressed urgently. But, from World Psychiatric Association International Congress, which I attended in South Africa last month (18-22 November), I realised that it is not getting the attention it deserves. Indeed, it is becoming incumbent upon the WHO to support efforts aimed at tackling mental health challenges in Africa. I couldnt agree more that the WHO should support the African Union (AU) in its bid to see the World Bank switch from loans to grants to fund health projects globally. It is becoming incumbent upon the WHO to support efforts aimed at tackling mental health challenges in Africa. Munyaradzi Makoni And I couldnt agree more with the AU chairperson, Nkosazana Ndlamini-Zuma, when she aptly put it during the opening of the congress: The World Bank shouldnt give loans for health. They should give grants for health. Its understandable: Physicians would get more funding for their work, patients will get greater care and governments will drop lack funds on a list of challenges confronting mental illness. Ndlamini-Zumas comments followed a statement by Shekhar Saxena, director of mental health and substance abuse at the WHO that the World Bank had committed to supporting mental health more strongly after meeting the WHO in April this year. Saxena had said any country applying for World Bank loans for health projects would have to ensure including mental health component. The WHO statistics, says Ndlamini-Zuma, showed that 40.5 per cent of countries globally had no mental health policy in spite of estimates that one in every four people would suffer a mental health condition, called for more action. On average there are nine psychiatrists for every 100,000 people in the West, but just 0.05 for 100,000 people for the African region, according to the WHO report. We need a pan-African movement to ensure there is no discrimination against mental health patients, and we need to develop programmes and proper policies around mental health, Ndlamini-Zuma says. Africa should update existing mental health policies and community-based interventions and see these formalised at AU level, Ndlamini-Zuma added, explaining that with poor human resources, the continent has to find other ways of helping improve mental health without relying exclusively on psychiatrists. In Africa we cannot rely on Western models where there are abundant resources. We need to look at creative ways of using what we have, she notes.The congress highlighted the World Psychiatric Association global survey of 193 countries which revealed shocking results.People with mental illness could vote in 11 per cent of the countries surveyed but they enjoyed no employment rights in more than half of the countries, and 42 per cent of the nations prevented those with mental illnesses from entering into to any kind of contract.Dinesh Bhugra, president of the World Psychiatric Association, told the audience they had launched a mental health Bill of Rights in the House of Lords in London, United Kingdom, two weeks before the congress, and a of total 61 organisations around the world had signed it.I need every bit of help from everyone here to change the way we treat our [mental health] patients, who are the most vulnerable, Bhugra says.And who would dare not act to change such circumstances?This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Sub-Saharan Africa English desk. The blue clouds or also known as noctilucent clouds are seen hovering over the Antarctic earlier than usual. This "night-shining" clouds appear yearly over the frozen continent in late November or early December. On the other hand, NASA said that the noctilucent clouds arrived in mid-November. The noctilucent clouds are considered the Earth's highest clouds. They are in an upper layer of the Earth's atmosphere known as the mesosphere. These are composed mainly of ice crystals that glow a bright, brilliant blue when they reflect sunlight. NASA's Lina Tran wrote on her blog that noctilucent clouds provide clues to the mesosphere's connections to other parts of the atmosphere, weather and climate. She explained that this is when the mesosphere is most humid, with water vapor wafting up from lower altitudes. She further explained that this is also when the mesosphere is the coldest place on Earth and drops as low as minus 210 degrees Fahrenheit -- due to seasonal air flow patterns. NASA scientists stated that on Nov. 17, 2016, the noctilucent cloud season started, which ties the earliest start date on record. These noctilucent clouds have become brighter and beginning to spread closer to the equator, in which the scientists say is a result of the greenhouse gas methane. Once the methane reached the upper atmosphere, it is oxidized by a series of chemical reactions that create water vapors. The additional water vapors then freeze and produce ice crystals that shape the noctilucent clouds, according to Gizmodo. These noctilucent clouds were first seen in 1885, a few years after the massive eruption of the Krakatoa, an Indonesian volcano. The people thought it was the result of an explosion. Meanwhile, the scientists said that the clouds are a signal of global warming. On the other hand, some said they came from space dust remnants in the atmosphere, in which NASA supports this theory, according to Christian Science Monitor. When scientists saw Pluto for the first time, they noticed a two-loved formation on its surface, which looked like an icy heart. Now, a new study provides an insight on how exactly did the dwarf planet got its broken heart. One of the two lobes, the western lobe, received more attention from researchers. Dubbed as the Sputnik Planitia, it is a deep basin containing carbon monoxide, frozen nitrogen and methane, appearing opposite Charon, the dwarf planet's large, tidally locked moon. The discovery of Sputnik Planitia's unique attributes baffled scientists and left them with a number of scenarios for its formation. Many suspect that the western lobe of the icy heart was formed long ago by the impact of a large Kuiper Belt object onto the dwarf planet. Now, a team of scientists at the University of Maryland suggests that the western lobe formed early in the history of the planet. The attributes it possesses are inevitable consequences of evolutionary processes. Published in the journal Nature, the study shows that this nitrogen ice cap may have formed early on when Pluto was still spinning rapidly. This new scenario requires no impact at all. A New Model Using a model developed by one of the researchers, Douglas Hamilton, professor of astronomy at the University of Maryland, he found that the first location of the western lobe could be explained by Pluto's strange climate, covered with methane frost, nitrogen ice and a giant glacier, and its spin axis, which is tilted by about 120 degrees. Previous studies on the dwarf planet have spurred a scenario that it could have been formed from an asteroid impact. However, the new study suggests that this could not have been the case. To investigate, they used computer simulations and found that the swelling ice deposits concentrated into a single and huge ice cap. As the frosts merged, more sunlight was reflected, making the temperatures to decrease and more ice to form, and the cycle repeats. Called the runaway albedo effect, this positive feedback phenomenon would eventually lead to a single enormous ice cap, like the one found on Pluto's surface. However, the sheer weight of the ice ultimately caused the dwarf planet's crust to crack under the strain, leaving a huge basin. "The main difference between my model and others is that I suggest that the ice cap formed early when Pluto was still spinning quickly and that the basin formed later and not from an impact," Hamilton said in a press release by Phys.org. "The ice cap provides a slight asymmetry that either lock toward or away from Charon when Pluto's spin slows to match the orbital motion of the moon," he added. The Schiaparelli lander may have suffered a disappointing crash, but that does not mean Europe is giving up on its Mars mission. The European Space Agency's space mission is $430 million over budget. It asked for additional funds from various countries in Europe. On Dec. 2, member states approved a total of $480 million in funding for the agency's ExoMars mission, even after a test lander crashed in October. The European-Russian ExoMars program launched a gas-sniffing orbiter (Trace Gas Orbiter) and the Schiaparelli test lander to Mars this year to search for past and present signs of life. These will also lay the groundwork for a rover that is set to launch in 2020, Reuters reports. The Schiaparelli lander, however, crashed after a software glitch caused it to detach its parachute more than 2 miles above the Red planet's surface. Experts Remained Optimistic "We will have learned much from Schiaparelli that will directly contribute to the second ExoMars mission," David Parker, ESA's Director of Human Spaceflight and Robotic said in a statement, as reported by Nature. If the mission is successful, the rover will be the first time for Europe or Russia to operate on Mars' surface. The robot is designed to dig down to a depth where signs of ancient life could be detected as these were preserved from the harsh radiation present on the planet. Other Projects Funded Apart from the ExoMars mission, ESA member states also committed to supporting the International Space Station (ISS) by approving about 1 billion or $1.05 billion. This is to remain as part of the project until 2024, from the current agreement of 2020. The ministers also agreed to finance plans for ESA and Roscosmos to work together on a Moon spacecraft, called the Russian Luna 27 lander. In preparing for the mission, ESA will spend about $3.16 million in order to carry out all the needed work for the mission to meet the scheduled completion by 2020. "At this summit, Ministers in charge of space matters have declared support for ESA's Director General's vision for Europe in space and the role and development of ESA: now the Space 4.0i era can start with ESA committing to inform, innovate, interact and inspire," ESA said in a press release. "And, building on commercialization, participation, digitalization, jobs and growth, the concept of "United Space in Europe" will soon become a reality," it added. Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF) will hold Shanghai Finance Forum (SFF) on Jan 14, 2017, bringing together leading scholars, policy makers and practitioners to a common platform led by a Nobel laureate to discuss challenges and opportunities as China continues to develop its financial markets. The SFF aims not just to identify the issues but also to come up with possible solutions through rigorous research, in-depth discourse and intimate interaction. Nobel Laureate Robert Merton and former governor of India's Reserve Bank Raghuram Rajan will deliver keynote addresses and participate in the panel discussions. The SFF will bring together about 350 of the world's experts and leaders as guests, seeking to foster deep discourse, meaningful debate, and the fruitful exchange of ideas and best practices. The discussions will be underpinned by rigorous academic research, and guided by international best practice and experience, to condense actionable insights for policymakers. It also aims to raise the understanding of international investors on China's policy actions and circumstances as they may be misinformed or ill-informed on the challenges and opportunities of the country. Prosecutors in Taiwan have levelled criminal charges against former senior level Foxconn manager for stealing over 5500+ iPhone handsets. These handsets were mostly iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S models. He allegedly stole these phones and sold them in the open market of China and earned anywhere between $1.56-2.2 million. Thousands of these iPhones were stolen from the factory and smuggled out. The charges have been made against a Taiwanese manager by the name "Tsai" who worked in the handset testing area. The phones were allegedly stolen from the testing line itself. "Tsai" and his accomplices stole the handsets. These handheld devices were marked to not enter the retail market. They were to be marked as "Scrapped" once the testing concluded. Tsai worked for Foxconn, which is currently the largest assembler of electronics in the world. The company works with the likes of Apple, Sony and other global giants. They assemble electronics and finally put them up on the shelves in retail stores. The alleged thieves were only caught after an internal audit was conducted by Foxconn. As many as 8 employees helped the manager steal the handsets which were primarily iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S models. The handsets were then sold in the open market between 2013 and 2014. Tsai could face a 10 year long sentence in jail for the criminal breach of trust. Foxconn employs over 1 million people globally and has faced several issues in past over HR issues. Many employees' suicides and mental harassment has been linked to the company recently. In 2014, five former Foxconn employees were charged with breach of trust in Taiwan for allegedly soliciting Tw$160 million in kickbacks from suppliers in exchange for clearing quality checks and buying their equipment. This incident has only further highlighted the issues prevalent in the Foxconn management. The other suspects are yet to be identified and charged. Keep watching the Tech space of SWR for more news in the digital space. NASA spotted noctilucent or night-glowing clouds over the South Pole. But this year, they arrived much earlier than expected, leaving scientists baffled. Night-shining clouds or blue clouds forming about 50 miles above the Earth's surface have been observed by NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) spacecraft. The spacecraft was deployed in 2007 in an effort to determine the ins and outs of the unusual event in the South Pole. However, the scientists noted that the appearance is the earliest ever recorded by the instrument. The satellite images posted on Dec. 2, noctilucent clouds were seen over Antarctica on Nov. 17 and blue clouds formed between that date and Nov. 28, Phys.org reports. Antarctic is glowing electric blue because of the presence of these clouds. Noctilucent clouds are the planet's highest clouds found between the Earth and space 50 miles above the ground. The clouds are composed of ice crystals and seeded by debris from disintegrating meteors, giving them a strong blue hue when they reflect sunlight. Understanding The Mesosphere "Since its 2007 launch, AIM data has shown us that changes in one region of the atmosphere can affect responses in another distinct, and sometimes distant, region. Scientists call these relationships atmospheric teleconnections," NASA's Lina Tran of the Goddard Space Flight Center explained in a press release. "Now, due to natural precession, the spacecraft's orbit is evolving, allowing the measurement of atmospheric gravity waves that could be contributing to the teleconnections," it added. AIM studies night-glowing clouds to better understand the mesosphere and its link to the other parts of the atmosphere, climate and weather. Usually, the scientists observe these clouds during summer when the mesosphere is humid and water vapor floating up from lower altitudes. The noctilucent clouds are observed above the Arctic in July and August and above the Antarctic in November and December. This is when the mesosphere is the coldest place on Earth, dropping as low as negative 210 degrees Fahrenheit. According to the Christian beliefs, the "Three Magi" or "The Three Kings" were following the "Star Of Bethlehem" that guided them to find Jesus. However, a Notre Dame professor claims that "The Star Of Bethlehem" did not even exist and was not even a star at all. It was actually a super rare planetary alignment that might never occur ever again. Grant Mathews, University of Notre Dame professor of theoretical astrophysics and cosmology, has been studying about the "Star Of Bethlehem" for more than 10 years now. According to Fox News, the professor said that many astrologers, historians and scholars have studied the "Star Of Bethlehem" with explanations ranging from planetary alignments, supernova and other astronomical events to explain it. From studying a collection of astronomical, historical and biblical records, Grant Mathews has found that the "Star Of Bethlehem" also known as the "Christmas Star" was not even a star but a super rare planetary alignment, according to National Post. Mathews believes that this unique planetary alignment happened in 6 B.C. and it might never occur ever again. This super rare planetary alignment has the Sun, Moon, Jupiter and Saturn in alignment in Aries. Venus was next door in Pisces while Mars and Mercury were on the other side of Taurus. During that time, the vernal equinox was also located in Aries. According to Mathews, the presence of Jupiter and the Moon signified that a ruler with a special destiny is to be born. The presence of Aries in the vernal equinox marked the start of spring with Saturn symbolizing the giving of life. The significance of the planetary alignment occurring in Aries meant there was newborn king in Judea. This super rare planetary alignment was what the "Three Magi" in the east saw that prompted them to search for the newborn king. Based on his calculations, Grant Mathews believes that it will be another 16,000 years before this planetary alignment can be seen again. But unlike the previous super rare planetary alignment, the vernal equinox will not be located in Aries. The Notre Dame professor even adds that even calculating 500,000 years forward, he found no evidence that the astronomical event popular known as the "Star Of Bethlehem" will ever occur again. Professor Grant Mathews says, "I feel a kindred connection to these ancient Magi who earnestly scanned the heavens." He is currently working on a book about his findings, according to Science Daily. The mummified legs found in Queen Nefertari's tomb actually belonged to her, scientists confirmed. When scientists broke open the tomb in 1904, they found a lavish burial capsule that has been looted for antiquity. Among the many pieces inside were three portions of mummified legs. The bones were assumed to be of Queen Nefertari's, one of the royal wives of Ramesses II who ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1213 B.C. However, no one had ever conducted scientific analysis of the mummified legs until now. A new research confirms the bones belonged to a middle-aged or older woman who stood at about 5 feet 5 inches tall. Based on the findings of the researchers, the legs, now housed at the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy, were indeed Nefertari's. The legs are in three fragments and wrapped in mummy linens. The fragments contain a 30-centimeter femur bone, the patella or knee bone and part of the tibia. The scientists performed X-rays, radiocarbon dating and chemical analysis. Based on the size and hints of arthritis in the knee, the fragments belonged to a woman about 40 to 60 years old when she died. The age is consistent with Nefertari, who is known to have died in the 25th year of Ramesses the Great's reign. "The legs probably belong to a lady, a fully adult individual, of about 40 years of age. The materials used for embalming are consistent with Ramesside mummification traditions and indeed all objects within the tomb robustly support the burial as of Queen Nefertari," the researchers concluded in the study published in the journal PLOS ONE. "The expertise that had gone into that mummification - even judging from the legs - the care, the attention, the wrapping, the materials employed; they are strongly suggestive someone of incredibly high status," Joann Fletcher from the University of York, co-author of the study, told The Guardian. Together with the chemistry of the embalming agents and analysis of other objects found in the tomb, the researchers said that the evidence suggests the knees are indeed those of Nefertari. Are you willing to spend more than $10,000 on flights to the Moon? A company aims to bring tourists to the Moon in the next 10 years. The company, dubbed as Moon Express Inc. (MoonEx), was founded by billionaire and philanthropist Naveen Jain. Founded in 2010, the company has become the only private enterprise to be granted permission to bring tourists beyond the Earth's orbit and land on the Moon. The company plans to team up with Elon Musk's SpaceX for its lunar mission. Moon Express gained the permission of the U.S. government to explore the Moon for resources. It received the green light to pursue its 2017 lunar mission following in-depth consultations with various legs of the government including NASA and the White House. The company plans a mission to take a robotic rover to the Moon in 2017. "The Moon Express 2017 mission approval is a landmark decision by the U.S. government and a pathfinder for private sector commercial missions beyond the Earth's orbit," said Bob Richards, company's CEO, said in a press release by Moon Express. "We are now free to set sail as explorers to Earth's eighth continent, the Moon, seeking new knowledge and resources to expand Earth's economic sphere for the benefit of all humanity," he added. According to The Telegraph, aside from changing the travel habits in the future, the mission could lay the groundwork for colonization of the Moon. This could also provide commercial space travel experiences to many individuals where they could spend holidays on the Moon within a decade. The predictions of the company show that it will cost about $10,000 to buy passage to the Moon and back to Earth. "It's very complimentary as a matter of fact ... Elon will build the rocket and we do the rover. Essentially, he lays the cables and we do the last mile," Naveen Jain told CNBC. Despite having the Moon as a preliminary mission, Naveen Jain also plans to be able to go and explore Mars. "Mars is absolutely the right place to be ultimately. But (the) moon is the first training ground and the first stepping stone. At the end of the day, we would rather me a lunatic three days away than be a Martian six months away," Naveen Jain added. The Tabby's Star may be dimming because an alien civilization is mining energy from its surface, a study has recently suggested. Known officially as KIC 8462852, the star has captured the imagination of both scientists and conspiracy theorists since 2015 due to its mysterious dimming, which has left experts baffled. There have been various explanations for the dimming associated with the star until now. One theory suggested that the mysterious phenomenon was evidence of a hypothetical structure that was being used by an advanced alien civilization to harness the star's energy. Another suggestion was that the dimming was caused by a dust ring around the star or a hail of comets traveling in between the star and the planet Earth. The new study suggests that the dimming can be attributed to aliens mining energy from the Tabby's Star, because the latter gives off jets that can be used as a source of energy. Published by Professor Eduard Heindl from Germany's Furtwangen University, the recent research provides a mathematical model to suggest alien involvement. "If a super civilization has used all raw material of its planets, they could found more in their star, for example, our sun has at least 6,000 times more metals as the planets, "said Professor Heindl, according to Mail Online. " To mine this resource, they have to lift the material of their star into an orbit to cool down the stuff and use it. This is done by star lifting. We don't know exactly how to do that, but a good guess is, heat one spot of the sun beyond the normal temperature (6,000K) by mirrors and generate a beam of matter by magnetic fields." According to Professor Heindl, the dimming exhibited by the star cannot be attributed to a natural phenomenon like being covered by comets or other celestial objects because the light curve is unusually smooth with very steep edges. The researcher suggests that such a phenomenon fits more with the "science fiction" idea of star lifting, which is basically a mining technology process that extracts star matter. Professor Heindl's paper has not been peer reviewed yet. The researcher has also said that further explanation of the concept is needed with more refined models. More countries are developing military weapons. Thus, the United States also develop a new technology that could blow up the enemies' nuke. More countries have or possibly be developing long-range missile technology. It includes systems that can carry different warheads known as Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRVs) and/or decoys. Independent consultant Debalina Ghoshal wrote a report for the Federation of American Scientists last June 2016, stating that "Both China and Russia possess the MIRV capability for their ballistic missiles. In 2014, reports confirmed that Iran too had developed Multiple Re-entry Vehicles (MRVs) for their ballistic missiles. Cold War literature suggests that MIRVs are first strike weapons and could be strategically destabilizing," according to Daily Star. She added that "The United States realizes these threats and is working towards a robust missile defense system." In the previous year, contracts to Boeing, Lockheed-Martin and Raytheon have been awarded by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. It is to start the design of what is known to be as MOKV or the "Multi-Object Kill Vehicle." It could ruin several objects in space with just a single launch. In a report by The Seeker, the director of GlobalSecurity.org, John Pike, told them that "Ten years ago, we had a single kill vehicle on a single interceptor. Kill vehicles today are the size of a toaster. This MOKV program is the latest iteration." The plan of Raytheon, which is scheduled for a concept review this December is to load various MOKVs onto a single missile launch. Each of the MOKV would be equipped with steering, sensors and propulsion system and communications equipment that will allow them to zero in on an individual target and hit it, destroying the object by sheer kinetic forces, as reported by Space.com. Pike added that "The impacts would take place beyond Earth's atmosphere, but on a trajectory that would send the resulting cloud of debris back into the atmosphere, where it burn up." However, there is still a major challenge in the technology. They are tying to figure out how to differentiate between bombs and decoys. Thus, the military hopes to begin the begin proof-of-concept demonstrations late next year and a non-intercept flight test in 2018. If it is successful the Missile Defense Agency will conduct and intercept test in 2019, according to Live Science. The U.S. Air Force is ready to launch its first upgraded Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) satellite on Dec. 7. The announcement was made by Air Force officials during a press call last week. First launched in 2007, this is the eight WGS satellite in the military's communication. Additionally, the latest upgrade is also the first one to carry an upgrade that will allow it to carry more traffic than earlier WGS satellites. The team behind the upgraded WGS satellite stated that they are taking time to ensure all the necessary precautions. "Just like each human being is a unique individual, each rocket is unique as well," Walter Lauderdale added, the WGS-8 mission director at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), Space News reported. The WGS-8 will be launched atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket, and at the moment it is already encapsulated inside its fairing. The launch will take place from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Dec. 7 between 6:53 p.m. and 7:42 p.m. EST. The features of the upgraded satellite include multicast, broadcast and point to point connections anywhere around the globe at any time. The satellite that costs an estimated $425 million also has numerous spot beams that will help in cutting through jamming attempts. It also has 45 percent more bandwidth than the earlier WGS satellite models. "We see the information age has resulted in an explosion of communication needs for everybody," said Rico Attanasio, the director of Boeing MILSATCOM programs, according to Space.com. "For our armed forces, wideband communications are necessary for the people that defend the United States." Two more WGS satellites are in the pipeline for launching, after which the constellation total will be brought up to 10 by 2019. According to Space.com website, each of the upcoming satellites is designed to have a service lifespan of 14 years. FLORENCE, S.C. -- The Florence County Sheriff's Office arrested a Lake City man on Saturday morning who faces kidnapping, grand larceny and weapons charges. According to a release from the sheriff's office, Shamaine Martrell Roberson allegedly forced a female victim into her car at gunpoint early Saturday morning in the parking lot of a bar on W. Kansas Drive in Florence. Investigators allege that Roberson, 29, "drove the victim away from the location and threatened to kill her if she did not perform a sex act." The victim managed to escape the vehicle on John Paul Jones Road and was able to call 911 from a nearby residence. The victim was then transported to an area hospital for injuries sustained during her escape. According to the release, deputies located the stolen vehicle at 4808 Woods Bay Road in Olanta using their Raptor One helicopter. Roberson was found at the location at approximately 10:45 a.m. and taken to the Florence County Detention Center. Roberson is being held without bond and will appear before a circuit court judge. Under South Carolina law, kidnapping is a felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Britain must establish a relationship with China that goes beyond trade and commercial ties, Boris Johnson, British Foreign Secretary, said in his first major foreign policy speech on Friday. Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson delivers a speech at Chatham House in London, Britain December 2, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] "As regards China and East Asia, our approach in that region must go beyond the quest for exports or commercial contracts," he told the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House in London. Johnson, who backed the successful campaign for Britains exit from the European Union, took office in July following the referendum vote. He said what he called "Global Britain" should not confine its outlook to its immediate European neighbors at a time when new powers were rising. "It is right that we should make a distinctive approach to policy-making as regards China and East Asia," he said. Post-Brexit, British ministers have raised the prospect of eventual free trade deals with countries outside Europe, specifically China. Johnsons latest comments follow the election of Donald Trump as US president-elect after a campaign in which he castigated China for destroying US jobs and threatened to impose punitive tariffs on its exports. The British minister noted that the UK was one of the first countries to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a China-led infrastructure initiative so far mainly financed by China. The British decision was criticized by the Obama administration. Johnson said Britain was not just a link between Europe and the US. "We have our own distinctive identity and contribution," he said. Underlining what Britain had to offer the rest of the world, he noted that Cambridge University alone had produced twice the Nobel Prize winners than every university in Russia and China combined. Johnson said it would be unrealistic not to accept that the international order needed to change. The writer is a senior media consultant for China Daily UK. harveymorris@gmail.com FLORENCE, S.C. Business is booming at Wilson High School. Since October, students from the self-contained autism class have been running a coffee shop, Fill My Cup, for the first week of every month. The students sell coffee to their peers and teachers twice a day: once before school starts and again during lunch hours. Rebekah Andrews, the autism class teacher, got the idea for the coffee shop at the beginning of the school year. To prepare students for life after high school, the class partakes in job-site outings three times per week and community outings once a month. The problem, however, is only two students can participate in job-site outings at a time. Andrews wanted to create something that could get the whole class involved at once. The coffee shop was something that I thought of just because people like coffee and its easy to serve and figure out how to work the coffee makers, Andrews said. Its done really well so far. Andrews has made sure the students have been involved in every part of running the business: from advertising and serving customers to counting revenue and sorting deposits. They even get a paycheck at the end of each week. They get a check for two dollars a week, Andrews said. We do lessons on budgeting and how you need to save your money toward something. The students have the opportunity to cash part of their check and buy something from the schools vending machines, or save it for a larger purchase at the end of the year. Andrews says this real-world experience is important for her students. Its one thing to tell students how to budget, but its another to physically show them. Until they actually have money in their hands and they know, you cant teach those kinds of experiences, she said. Its given me a lot more at my fingertips to be able to prepare them for society. Although each coffee only costs a dollar, the class has quickly been able to raise approximately $1,000. Andrews hopes to use this money toward a life-skills lab. She wants to work with local businesses and have the students complete in-house tasks that each business requests. For now, however, the students have been focusing on continuing the success of the coffee shop. Theyve loved it, Andrews said. Its been an opportunity for them to feel more like part of the school and give them a voice and a way for them to communicate with peers in their age group, whereas normally theyd be in my class all day and wouldnt get that interaction. So its really done a lot more for them than just making coffee. ORLANDO, Fla. Janiya Plowden from Wilson High School in Florence was one of more than 800 high school cheerleaders and dancers from across the nation who represented the camp brands of Varsity Spirit from Thursday through Sunday in the second-annual Varsity Spirit Spectacular at the Walt Disney World Resort. Plowden and others were invited to perform in the parade are part of a select group of 10th to 12th grade captains, co-captains and officers who attended a Varsity Spirit summer camp this summer hosted by Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA), Universal Dance Association (UDA), National Cheerleaders Association (NCA), National Dance Alliance (NDA) and United Spirit Association (USA). Plowden performed in an exclusive pre-parade performance through Disneys Magic Kingdom Park before of hundreds of fans. The English university city of Cambridge, an evolving global hub for the development of big data, is attracting the attention of Chinese companies that are already engaged in the sectorone that is said to be the keystone of the so-called fourth industrial revolution. As part of a two-way flow of ideas, Business Big Data(BBD) recently sponsored a seminar in Cambridge that looked at the latest developments in applying big data to business management. Entitled Sharing China's Dream, the seminar's attendees looked at the use of big data and its potential, and explored how Cambridge could tap into China's market and attract Chinese partners. The fast-expanding BBD was founded three years ago in Chengdu and has offices around the world, including in London and Cambridge. The company says it wants to change the way big data is used to enhance existing businesses. BBD senior vice-president and general manager Daniel Pu spoke at the seminar about how China's Chongqing Bank had taken the lead in developing SME business by innovative application of data analytics. The event's organizer, Cambridge University's entrepreneur in residence Professor Alan Barrell, said BBD is a great example of how a small business in China can grow internationally. "BBD-designed software helps banks to assess the prospects and performance of smaller companies and it will be equally valuable for those involved in crowdfunding," he said. "China is leading in changing the way business is done and there's a big focus on development, understanding and cooperation. Chinese businesses are interested in fintech, biotech and agritech and a lot of companies are heading to the UK and vice versa." In the separate field of mobile communications China's Hytera is in talks to buy digital mobile radio company Sepura in a takeover worth around 90 million pounds ($115 million). The attraction of Cambridge among foreign investors includes the presence of Europe's original high-tech cluster, the so-called Silicon Fen, and the city's strong academic credentials in technology fields, including big data. The university's Big Data Strategic Research Initiative brings together researchers from six academic departments to address the challenges presented by access to unprecedented volumes of data. Another speaker at the event, Jinny Yan, chief economist at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, shared her knowledge and experience of the Chinese economy and of the steps businesses should take to get into the Chinese market or attract partners from China. Sailing seven-night round-trips from Vancouver, BC, Celebrity Infinity will visit Hubbard Glacier. Celebrity Solstice will return to Seattle for weekly round-trips visiting Tracy Arm Fjord. And Celebrity Millennium will cruise between Vancouver and Seward. Celebrity continues to offer its 'Go Big, Go Better, Go Best!' promotion for nearly all 2018 sailings. Travelers who book an ocean-view or higher category stateroom and 'Go Big' can choose from a Classic Beverage Package, unlimited internet, gratuities or $150 to spend on board. Those who 'Go Better' can pick two perks, and passengers who 'Go Best' get all four perks plus a premium beverage package upgrade. Passengers who book suites get all four perks, free. Before making its way to the Galapagos, the ship received a traditional Ecuadorian religious blessing in Guayaquil. Lindblad ceo Sven Lindblad hosted a celebration on board with members of the crew and their families as special guests. 'A ship is a ship. It is a piece of hardware, it does its job, and it is an important one. But it is not nearly as important as the people who run the ship, who provide the experience for the guests,' Lindblad stated in a toast. The company said National Geographic Endeavour llthe former Via Australis, which underwent a major renovationembodies decades of knowledge about the Galapagos environment. The ship's shallow draft affords up-close views from all public spaces, large windows in cabins and suites, the latest exploration tools and a twin Zodiac loading platform for fast loading and unloading. National Geographic II offers a choice of suites on two decks, double cabins with beds that can be configured as two twins or a queen, seven sets of connecting cabins for families and friends, triple cabins and dedicated solo cabins that equal the size and amenities of the doubles. Commemorating the ships inaugural and the upcoming 50th anniversary of Lars-Eric Lindblads pioneering voyage to the Galapagos, Lindblad is offering National Geographic Endeavour ll travelers free round-trip air from Miami to the Galapagos. This applies to all departures Jan. 6 to March 31, and is a savings of $1,300 per person. Throughout 2017 free air also will be offered for select departures of National Geographic Endeavour ll and the 48-passenger National Geographic Islander. The offers cover both international air from Miami to Guayaquil, and the flight from Guayaquil to the Galapagos. National Geographic Endeavour II replaced National Geographic Endeavour. The $500m-Sociedad Puerto Industrial Aguadulce is designed and built to serve mega container vessels with capacity of up to 18,000 teu. In its first phase of development, the new Colombian terminal will be able to handle an annual capacity of 550,000 tue. The new terminal has a 13h-container yard with a 600 m-quay and draught of 14.5 m and is equipped with four super post-panamax cranes. In addition, it will operate a bulk terminal with a capacity of 2m tonnes per year. Sociedad Puerto Industrial Aguadulce aims to set new standards in cargo security and productivity, featuring state-of-the-art equipment, operating systems and high quality facilities. In an effort to provide efficient services for Colombian importers and exporters, the terminal also boasts optimised processes in cargo operations. Facilities and dedicated warehouses have been designed to receive and process various types of cargo, including sugar and coffee. A purpose-built 21-kilometre road will provide direct and uncongested access to the terminal. The commencement of operations at Sociedad Puerto Industrial Aguadulce marks a crucial milestone in Colombias port infrastructure and is the result of a successful collaboration between foreign port partners and local stakeholders, said SPIA ceo Miguel Abisambra. Sociedad Puerto Industrial Aguadulce will be the latest generation port to facilitate foreign trade and contribute to the country's competitiveness. We are grateful for the full support of our local partners, the community and Colombian authorities on this project, he added. MSC Sasha is the first of 10 ships to call in a weekly service launched by MSC and Hapag-Lloyd, which connects the US East Coast and Europe with the West Coast of South America. Construction on the terminal is expected to be fully completed by the first quarter of 2017. The US Coast Guard Marine Safety Center after a detailed review of the type approval application determined the system met the requirements of 46 CFR 162.060. Todays decision marks a significant milestone for the maritime industry in addressing the threat posed by invasive species, said John Mauger, commanding officer of the Marine Safety Center. The US Coast Guards testing requirements set strong standards for the performance and validation of ballast water management systems under a range of conditions. The issuance of the type approval certificate documents the ability of the Optimarin Ballast System to meet the US Coast Guards standards. The US standards are more stringent than those under the IMOs Ballast Water Management Convention which comes into force in September next year. The Marine Safety Center said it continued to review type approval applications from other BWMS manufacturers. While this is a significant milestone, it is the first of multiple system approvals that are needed to mitigate the threat of harmful aquatic invasive species, said Rear Adm. Paul Thomas, assistant commandant for prevention policy at the Marine Safety Center. One size does not fit all, so we will continue to evaluate other systems submitted by multiple manufactures with the intent to provide options that meet shippings varying needs. With the likes of Singapore-listed firms Swiber and Swissco now under judicial management, several other offshore companies are struggling to meet deadlines for payment of debts and maturity of bonds. The proposed changes recently announced by Singapore would seem to allow more breathing space for distressed companies to be shielded from forced liquidation and given a chance to carry on operations while finding a solution to their cashflow problems. Singapores Ministry of Law has unveiled proposals to the countrys laws relating to schemes of arrangement, judicial management and cross border insolvency. Broadly speaking, the aim is to improve the legal framework for undertaking major debt restructurings in the city-state, and the ease with which non-Singapore companies can access these improved procedures. The changes to the schemes of arrangement, in particular, are seen as important and crucial to the survival of the offshore firms. Law firm Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) explained that the proposed amendments adopt a number of concepts from the US Chapter 11 process, including concepts of super-priority debtor-in-possession financing, a strengthened and broad reaching (worldwide) moratorium and a cram-down mechanism for approval over the dissent of certain creditors. The proposed changes also include a provision for a pre-pack type mechanism allowing the court to approve a scheme without a formal creditor meeting where certain requirements are satisfied. What this means is that the Singapore government is making the countrys schemes of arrangement a much more powerful debt restructuring and corporate rescue tool, as well as encouraging a market for American style debtor-in-possession rescue finance in Singapore restructurings, according to HSF. This reform is the first of its kind amongst the various Anglo legal-jurisdictions that have versions of schemes of arrangement on their statute books, and its implementation will therefore be watched with great interest in the UK, Hong Kong, Australia and elsewhere. On looking deeper into the draft legislation on schemes of arrangement, a series of enhanced moratorium provisions are introduced. The noteworthy scope of the new moratorium provisions allow courts to grant orders preventing winding up of the company, appointment of a receiver or manager, commencement or continuation of proceedings against the company, execution or distress against the companys property, re-entry or forfeiture under any lease of the company, among others. This is similar to the moratorium available in judicial management, and is not limited to creditors subject to the proposed scheme of arrangement, HSF pointed out. There is also an automatic 30-day interim moratorium that applies from the making of the application for a moratorium order (which covers all of the matters referred to above). This is presumably intended to provide interim protection for the company in the period before the application for a moratorium order is heard, it said, adding that subsidiaries of the company may also apply to be granted a moratorium order. At present, the severely weakened offshore industry has virtually choked off all earnings for offshore services firms, leading to a rapid collapse of these companies due to high monthly cash burn and maturing debts. With little options left as companies find no way out of such challenging conditions, Swiber surprised the market when it filed to be wound-up, only to reverse this decision in less than 48 hours to be placed under judicial management. Less than four months later on 21 November, another offshore services firm Swissco filed to be placed under judicial management, after it failed to receive support from its major creditors. Other companies like Marco Polo Marine has embarked on debt restructuring, ASL Marine is raising new funds, and Ezra has flagged a going concern issue. Pacific Radiance, on the other hand, has managed to refinance its term loans and renew its revolving credit facilities, as it reported a third quarter loss of $17.97m. Ezion, which posted a third quarter profit of $9.38m, said it has in place contingency plans to deal with the possibly worsening situation and do not expect to be materially affected, as the company seeks to dispose of a service rig and to delay or cancel a few committed projects. In light of the grim scenario, the Singapore government is considering the need to extend more aid to the ailing offshore and marine segment, in addition to the extension of port dues concession for OSVs in Singapore port already in placed. The latest proposed changes to the restructuring and insolvency laws further attest a possibly urgent need to give Singapore offshore firms a chance for self-rescue and prevent a domino bankruptcy wave across the sector. The scheme of arrangements amendments also introduce rescue finance provisions that are similar to the debtor-in-possession financing scheme under section 364 of the US Bankruptcy Code. The rescue finance provisions allow a company to seek a court order as to the priority of credit incurred for the purpose of enabling the company to continue as a going concern, HSF said. Other proposed amendments that would allow the court to approve a scheme of arrangement include cram-downs relating to multiple classes of creditors, pre-packaged scheme voting without a need to hold creditors meeting, and creditor protection and procedural changes. Under the judicial management procedure, the proposed amendments will make it easier for companies or creditors to obtain a judicial management order. Under the current Act, a company may apply for a judicial management order if the company is or will be unable to pay its debts. The proposed amendments say the condition is lowered to apply to any companies that is or is likely to become unable to pay its debts, HSF explained. In addition to being able to access the benefit of the proposed amendments to the scheme of arrangement procedure, a judicial manager is also given specific power to seek an order for priority for rescue financing, regardless of whether a scheme is proposed, HSF said. In essence, the proposed changes would better enable the purposes of judicial management, which is survival of the company, the approval of a scheme of arrangement or a more advantageous realisation of the companys assets, rather than a winding up. The proposed changes had gone through the public consultation phase from 21 October to 2 December, and the legislation is expected to be enacted in early-2017. Calling the extension of the strike, the umbrella federation, the Panhellenic Seamens Federation (PNO) warned there is a chance the action will be extended by its 13-member unions. The PNO has already announced seafarers will participate in the nationwide private sectors 24-hour strike, on 8 December. It has also said it is not planning to back down until the government does. The Crew Union of the Tug Boats is also participating in the strike action and operations are affected at the ports of Piraeus, Aspropyrgos, Eleusis and Pachi / Megara as well as ports around the country, thus during the strike period, vessels are not be able to berth, shift or sail from the affected ports. The extension of the action was called as seafarers prepared a protest march on the Piraeus-based Shipping and Island Policy Ministry, 5 Decembe A change to the seafarers tax status is being dictated by Greeces creditors, the so-called 'troika' comprising the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The EC, ECB and IMF demand various changes to taxation legislation, as part of the changes Greece has to implement in order to receive further financial support. The special tax status of seafarers which currently costs the state EUR91.2m a year, will either be diluted or abolished altogether. The PNO claims seafarers taxable income will go up to a rate of 45%; even more if the special solidarity levy is added. The seafarers profession is being led on the path to complete extinction, said the PNO. Description Sweetbriar Nature Center and the Board of Trustees warmly request the pleasure of your company at a wine tasting event to support our mission of wildlife rehabilitation and natural science education December 9th, 2016 @ 8-10pm The Wine Guy, 220 W Main Street, Smithtown, NY 11787 Live animal presentations! Hors doeuvres will be served! Are you a chortler? What about guffaws, giggles or hyena laughs? If you have the best laugh, whatever the joyful sound, it could end up getting turned into a 3D-printed sculpture sent into space. Israeli artist and computer programmer Eyal Gever is leading this collaborative project called #Laugh. Six years ago the 3D manufacturing company Made In Space offered Gever the opportunity to become the first artist to create a piece in outer space. They're the folks behind the zero gravity 3D printer launched to the International Space Station in 2014, which astronauts used to successfully print new parts. In coming up with #Laugh, Gever had to come up with art that would have universal appeal, literally. The final piece couldn't be specific to any particular country or culture. His friend, the British spoken word poet Suli Breaks, suggested laughter. Gever is using crowdsourcing to gather laughter submissions and identify the most popular audio, which he'll turn into a file transmitted to Made In Space's 3D printer aboard the ISS. The resulting sculpture will get released into space. In describing the project online, Gever referenced early cave paintings of human hands. He called them a way of proclaiming and celebrating humanity's presence. "#Laugh will be the 21st Century version of that - a mathematically accurate encapsulation of human laughter, simply floating through space, waiting to be discovered," he said. That does sound kind of cheesy, but I'm interested to see the final result. Gever's other projects are wild. He melds tech and art, developing his own engines to create physical works in three dimensions. Imagine a computer simulation that looks like a slice of ocean waves. Now picture that turned into a 3D printed sculpture. Surreal is definitely the word. RELATED: Superhuman 'Rainbow Vision' Common, But Untested In order to participate, you need to download the free #Laugh app from iTunes, which only works on iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices that have iOS 7.0 or later. That knocks out a large segment of the world's population, but OK. Laughs submitted through the app have until midnight on December 31 to garner the most "likes" on social media. The crowd-selected laugh audio submission will be announced next month and then heads to the International Space Station in February to emerge as a very strange star. When I tried downloading the app, unfortunately it got stuck after the intro on a screen that said "loading." So I guess it's a sign from the universe. Either that or everyone else is getting the last laugh. Heh heh. WATCH VIDEO: What Was the Mir Space Station The European Space Agency will continue development of a sophisticated rover to search for life on Mars despite a two-year delay in its launch and the October crash of a predecessor lander. Speaking to reporters at the conclusion of a two-day meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland, ESA Director General Jan Woerner also said the agency will remain a partner in the International Space Station program until at least 2024. Overall, ESA plans to spend about $11 billion a year on space science, rocket and technology development, Earth observation and other programs. NASA's annual budget, but comparison, is about $19 billion. ESA and its 22 member countries will pay almost $500 million extra for the ExoMars rover, which will miss its original 2018 launch date due to technical issues. Completing the sophisticated robot in time for a 2020 launch will be challenging, but Woerner noted that an additional delay is not an option, as the companion orbiter needed for communications back to Earth already is in orbit. RELATED: Mars Orbiter Snaps Stunning Photos of Its New Home One program that did not pass muster was the proposed Asteroid Impact Mission, or AIM, which was part of a project with NASA to test technologies that may be needed to deflect an incoming asteroid away from Earth. ESA's member states declined to come up with the requested funds for the program, but Woerner said it would be folded back into a general space technology development effort and perhaps be recast for future consideration. "We will go on with .... looking how we can really defend our planet in case something is happening and Bruce Willis is not ready to do it a second time," Woerner said, a quipping reference to Willis' 1998 film Armageddon, in which a team is sent to destroy an asteroid heading toward Earth. There was no immediate word from NASA about how Europe's decision to sideline AIM would impact its plans. Woerner may get more insight next week during a final official visit with NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, who is retiring next month. He also said it is too early to tell what kind of partnership to expect under a Trump Administration, but "I hope we can continue our very fruitful cooperation." The Indian government is pressing ahead with a controversial plan to create what would effectively be the world's longest river, a network of waterways that, when completed, would measure approximately 7,800 miles in length - almost twice as long as the River Nile. The plan is called the Inter Linking of Rivers Project, or ILR. If completed, it will link 30 rivers - 14 in the Himalayas and 16 in peninsular India - through the construction of 30 canals and 3,000 small and large reservoirs. The idea is to combat both droughts and floods by transferring water from areas where there's "surplus" to those where it's deficient, in the process creating 86,000 acres of arable land and providing the means to generate 34,000 megawatts of hydropower. The plan has had a very long gestation. In 1858, Arthur Thomas Cotton, a British military engineer, proposed navigable canal links between major rivers to serve East India Company ports and address recurrent droughts. In 1972, Indian politician Kanuri Lakshmana Rao floated a 1,600-mile canal to transfer monsoon floodwaters. Two years later, a water management expert by the name of Dinshaw J. Dastur suggested a series of such canals to improve irrigation. RELATED: Getting Relief from India's Heatwave In the 1980s a new agency, the National Water Development Agency, was created under the country's Ministry for Water Resources to examine the feasibility of the concept. Its website is predictably bullish on the plan. "One of the most effective ways to increase the irrigation potential for increasing the food grain production, mitigate floods and droughts and reduce regional imbalance in the availability of water is the Inter Basin Water Transfer (IBWT) from the surplus rivers to deficit areas," it says. "If we can build storage reservoirs on these rivers and connect them to other parts of the country, regional imbalances could be reduced significantly and lot of benefits by way of additional irrigation, domestic and industrial water supply, hydropower generation, navigational facilities etc. would accrue." The idea's fortunes have waxed and waned over the decades, but appear to have been given a shot in the arm with the election in 2014 as Prime Minister of Narendra Modi, who declared during his campaign that the "dream of linking rivers is our dream as well. This can strengthen the efforts of our hard-working farmers." As a result, the project now seems closer to fruition than ever. New Scientist reported last week that work on the pilot link between Ken and Betwa rivers in northern and central India is "likely to start any time soon." The National Water Development Agency has completed detailed project plans for it and two other initial links: between Daman Ganga and Pinjal rivers in western India, and Par and Tapti rivers in western and central India. And the magazine reports that a feasibility report of a fourth link between three Himalayan rivers - Manas, Teesta and Ganges - is in the final stages of preparation. There's just one small problem. The whole concept has been vigorously and seemingly almost universally panned. It has been described as "disastrous", "not viable," "horrifying and ill-planned" and "a social evil, economic evil." The criticism is not just over the likely price tag, officially estimated at $168 billion - although "being a project that will take decades to complete, serious cost overruns can be expected." Nor is it solely over the estimated 1.5 million people who will be displaced from their homes. It's also about the fundamental premise. For a start, there is the question of whether a natural waterway can truly be described as having "surplus" water. Latha Anantha of the River Research Center explained that, "A river has a natural course and for years it has been following that. Who are we to say it has a surplus and it has a deficit? The river will carry as much as it can." Furthermore, changing river dynamics on a large scale can have significant ecological impacts, by, for example, reducing sediment supply and causing coastal and delta erosion. RELATED: Artificial Glaciers Could Save Himalayan Communities Others question the notion of a disparity in river systems. A committee on water reforms, appointed by the Water Resources Minister (who is an advocate of the scheme) argued that, "because of our dependence on the monsoon, the periods when rivers have 'surplus' water are generally synchronous across the subcontinent." Additionally, as climate changes, there is no guarantee that those regions that receive extra rainfall now will continue to do so in the future - and is, in fact, some reason to believe that they won't be. "What may appear as water deficient today may become water surplus in the future due to climate change," said Sachin Gunthe of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. "So, how do you justify inter-linking?" None of which is to deny the very real water supply issues facing India. It's undeniable that floods are an issue in some parts of the country, while droughts plague others. And a population already touching one billion and expected to rise to 1.8 billion by mid-century will need a lot of water for crops. The question is whether this mammoth undertaking is the way to address those concerns. "One has to exhaust all options and potentials before concluding that river-linking is the best alternative," said Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People. "Exhaust options such as watershed development, rainwater harvesting, ground water recharge, optimizing existing infrastructure and cropping methods and then we can conclude that water-linking might be good. But there has been no assessments done... It doesn't make sense. There has to be assessment done because there is huge impact on the nature." Photo: A cyclist crosses a temporary bridge on the banks of the Ganges river in Allahabad, India, on Nov. 7, 2016. Credit: Reuters/Jitendra Prakash TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY WATCH: India and Pakistan's Looming Water War B. charon belongs to a group of sea creatures known as larvaceans - normally teensy, millimeter-size creatures whose bodies resemble a tadpole's, with a large "head" (actually a trunk) and a tail, Sherlock said. The translucent, sea-dwelling invertebrate, called Bathochordaeus charon, was identified recently off the coast of Monterey, California, by scientists using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Though B. charon was first discovered a century ago, no one had managed to confirm its existence in all those years, Rob Sherlock, a scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute who found the creature, told Live Science in an email. [ See Photos of the Translucent Sea Blob ] A mysterious sea blob that looks like a psychedelic Slinky has finally been spotted, more than a century after it was first described. RELATED: Tentacled Who's Who: Bizarre and Extreme Cephalopods: Photos Though the sea is teeming with tiny larvaceans, the larger versions, which can have bodies extending up to 3.9 inches (10 centimeters), are much less common. To eat, the sea blob filters food through its shimmering, parachute-like mucus "house" almost 3.3 feet (1 m) in length. By waving its tail, it stirs the water and pulls particles directly into its house. Large particles get trapped and form a fine dusting of marine "snow" on the house, while the smaller particles pass through, concentrating and then funneling into a feeding tube that goes into the mouth, Sherlock said. (The tiny larvaceans also don mucus homes, but they're smaller.) If a passing squid or fish crashes through the house, or big particles clog the feeding tube, larvaceans simply move on and build another house. Without their houses, they cannot eat, Sherlock said. The first report of B. charon's existence came in 1899, when professor Carl Chun of Leipzig University came across one in the south Atlantic Ocean while leading the Valdivia Expedition, a German mission aimed at exploring the deep sea. Chun believed the creature welled up from the deepest depths of the ocean, so he named the larvacean after Charon, who in Greek mythology ferries the souls of the dead across the river Styx, the researchers reported Aug. 16 in the journal Marine Biodiversity Records. RELATED: Rare Marine Life Found in Mysterious Sea 'Mountains' In the decades that followed, several other naturalists reported spotting giant larvaceans, though only a few were captured alive and described thoroughly. In 1936, for instance, British marine biologist Walter Garstang collected a set of giant larvaceans that differed from Chun's, and they were classified as a new species, Bathochordaeus stygius. [Marine Marvels: Spectacular Photos of Sea Creatures] Because the two sets of specimens were similar and Chun's originals were lost to history, scientists eventually began to wonder whether Chun's originally described B. charon was actually the same species as B. stygius. One famous larvacean expert even suggested combining the two species names, Sherlock said. Part of the difficulty in capturing these creatures is that they don't fare well in the trawling nets typically used to collect specimens, Sherlock said. Sherlock and his colleagues happened upon the new species when the team's ROV, called Doc Ricketts, was exploring the waters of Monterey Bay. As soon as they saw it, the crew carefully collected it in a sealed, thermally insulated container. "Since the vehicle was recovered some tens of minutes later, the animal was alive, in fantastic shape, and we preserved it right away in order to send it to the Smithsonian," Sherlock said. "We had no idea, until we looked more closely at the specimen, that we had actually found B. charon, the species first described over a hundred years ago." Genetics and analysis of physical features confirmed the find, Sherlock said. It was official: There really were two distinct species of giant larvacean - B. stygius and B. charon. "It felt like Chun had finally been vindicated after years of doubt," Sherlock said. When the team went back over videos from Monterey Bay from the past 25 years, they realized the creature had been spotted many times in the bay. Whether they dwell in places between Monterey Bay and the South Atlantic, however, remains to be seen. Still, this mythical sea blob is fairly rare; over the course of the past few decades, biologists have seen hundreds of B. stygius, but captured footage of only a dozen B. charonindividuals, Sherlock said. Original article on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations WATCH: How Much Life Do We Know Even Exists In The Ocean? "There was an air of elation and celebration when the news broke. At the same time, people aren't skipping a beat," Joe Conte, who traveled to the camp from San Francisco, told Seeker. "Winterization efforts are still underway. Construction crews are working into the night to ensure all water protectors have the shelter they need to survive the winter. It's recognized that this is an important win but not the end of the battle. The commitment to a peaceful demonstration of prayer continues." With the prospect of a longer fight ahead, the protesters - who prefer to identify themselves as water protectors - expect to remain at the Oceti Sakowi Camp, as the protest site is called. "With President-elect Trump set to take office in a 47 days, we are hopeful that this is not the final word on the Dakota Access pipeline," said spokesperson Craig Stevens. In fact, the pro-pipeline Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now issued a statement expressing optimism that the construction will recommence under Trump. Members of the veterans group expressed concern that President-elect Donald Trump could reverse the Obama administration's decision to stop construction in the Standing Rock area after he's sworn in on Jan. 20. The declaration came as more than 2,000 veterans of the U.S. armed forces descended on a sprawling protest encampment just north of Standing Rock to protect pipeline opponents from the threat of militarized police and Dakota Access Pipeline security. The Army Corps of Engineers decided not to approve an easement that would allow the pipeline to pass under the Standing Rock reservation's water supply, Lake Oahe in North Dakota. "We're hoping that it's the end of it," Ashleigh Jennifer Parker, U.S. Coast Guard veteran and head of public relations for the group Veterans Stand for Standing Rock , told Seeker. But she noted that opponents of the oil pipeline realize that there is no "100 percent" guarantee that their victory will be lasting. They also began preparing for a protracted struggle over the issue as Donald Trump's administration prepares to take office. After the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced on Sunday that construction on the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline would be halted, protesters who had fought the pipeline's route on behalf of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation greeted the news with elation. Volunteers from Veterans Stand for Standing Rock will remain at the camp as well. The group was started by Michael A. Wood Jr., a retired Baltimore police officer and veteran, and Wesley Clark, a veteran and screenwriter. The pair were inspired to get involved when they saw the degree of force that the authorities had deployed against civilians who had taken up Standing Rock's cause. Over the course of the months-long protest, there were several instances of police throwing concussion grenades into the crowds and spraying them with water cannons in below-freezing temperatures, putting them at risk of hypothermia. "For veterans, we take an oath when we enlist, and it says we swear to uphold the Constitution and protect it against all enemies foreign and domestic. And for me, this is a domestic enemy." Parker remarked to Seeker. "It's another example of the brutality that's going on with Black Lives Matter, it's another example of us taking advantage of the Native American tribes, it's another example of capitalism winning everything and we don't want to see that happen," she added. The estimated $3.8 billion pipeline would have carried 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day from western North Dakota to Illinois, where it would connect with an existing pipeline. But protesters halted the building of a section that would go beneath Lake Oahe, threatening the Standing Rock reservation's supply of drinking water and putting sacred Native American sites at risk. North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple issued an evacuation order on November 28, stating that everyone must leave the camp due to severe weather conditions, but the pipeline's opponents, many of whom had been living at the site for months, defied the edict. "It's about a pattern of disrespect towards people without power, in terms of at least military might and economic powers and their ability to manipulate things," said Emery Meyer, a protester from Oregon. "For me, it's about going back to the roots of how things came to be this way, because Standing Rock is simply one example of many, many things that are horribly wrong with our culture and our country." RELATED: Even Small Oil Spills Endanger Seafood Supply Meyer's brother Ralph said that he felt the same way, and sharply criticized the police actions he's witnessed since arriving at Oceti Sakowi, where tribes, activists, and allies had confederated against the pipelines. "We saw women and children and grandmas and men and warriors alike on their knees with their hands in the air praying while they were being tear-gassed," Ralph Meyer told Seeker. "They were being shot with mace and rubber bullets." "It's really heartbreaking to see what's happening here," he went on. "These lands are treaty lands, reservation lands, and the same thing that's been happening for 500 years is happening today." The pipeline's opponents will stay at the camp to ensure the protection of tribal interests, and Veterans Stand for Standing Rock have pledged to support them for as long as it takes. "We are planning on being involved until we are told to back down from the tribe or until it is finalized that they will not be building the DAPL," Parker told Seeker, referring to the pipeline. "Energy transfer partners clearly feel that this decision by the Army Corps was a political decision by the Obama administration and that it's actually baseless. We want to make sure that's not the case." Bam on VP Leni Robredo's resignation as Housing Secretary We fully support the Vice President's decision to leave the Cabinet. The welfare of the Filipino people was always VP Leni's priority, from her campaign to her victory and upon taking on the job of Housing Secretary. But how can she effectively serve in a Cabinet where she is treated poorly, unsupported and even disrespected? How can she serve in a Cabinet that bars her from attending regular meetings? Under these circumstances, the Vice President has bravely chosen to serve our people outside of the Cabinet. Now, more than ever, she needs our support to fulfill her mission of uplifting the lives of our countrymen in the fringes of our society. Press Release December 5, 2016 Statement by Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin M. Drilon "Forcing out Vice President Leni Robredo from the Cabinet is part of the plot to weaken her politically. "The writings are on the wall. The administration wants the political capital of VP Robredo diminished by stripping her of any opportunity to fulfill her mandate as Cabinet member and head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council. "The reason for this sinister agenda is clear: when they ultimately install defeated vice presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos as vice president, it will be at the least political cost on the administration. "All the past actions and inactions by the executive were clear manifestations that from the start, the administration does not want VP Robredo to succeed. First, it cut her housing budget by P19 billion; second, it conveniently sat on her appointment recommendations to key shelter agencies; and third, it ignored an executive order that could make her agency more effective. "It was alarming. Where this sinister plot, if not prevented, would lead us is very ominous and disturbing. "I therefore call on the Filipino people to be vigilant and discerning. We must not lose sight of the next important battle: the appointment of the justices of the Supreme Court. "In the coming years, the administration is poised to appoint the majority of the justices in the Supreme Court. Starting this month and for the next three years, eight justices would be retiring. By 2019, the administration would have appointed the majority of the justices in the Supreme Court. "More than ever and most especially in times like this, the country needs a more independent, resolute and uncompromising Supreme Court. Let us guard the process in order to make sure that only those who respect and believe in the rule of law will be appointed. "If we are not vigilant, the administration can have a full control of the judiciary as it has of the other branches of government." Press Release December 5, 2016 An Abusive and Toxic Relationship Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros' statement on VP Robredo's decision to resign as HUDCC Chair I fully support Vice President Leni Robredo's decision to resign from President Rodrigo Duterte's cabinet. It was an abusive and toxic relationship, after all. From the start, Vice President Robredo was not given enough support to fully exercise her task as the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Chairperson. As if by design, she was intended to fail. Worse, as a woman, she was disrespected and objectified on many occasions, by no less than the President himself. Her way of dressing was made object of sexist remarks, she was subjected to inappropriate advances and was even reduced to well-rounded knees. Even the manner on how the Vice President was ordered not to attend future Cabinet meetings was intolerably disrespectful of the position she holds. It was cavalier and reeked of machismo. It was meant to denigrate Vice President Robredo one last time. It was meant to show that she is unworthy of the Chief Executive's time and any serious consideration. Of course President Duterte has all the right to remove people from his Cabinet whom he thinks are incapable of implementing his brand of governance. The President and Vice President's "irreconcilable differences" are plain enough. Yet, while others were removed for their inadequacies, Vice President Robredo was barred from future cabinet meetings because she dared oppose the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, extra-judicial killings, reimposition of death penalty, lowering the age of criminal liability, and misogynistic attacks against women. She was punished for doing the right things. I also worry that a Cabinet where a healthy divergence of opinion is not allowed is just an old boys' club. This demonstrates once more President Duterte's intolerance for dissent. I stand with Vice President Robredo in her fight to defend human rights, freedom and democracy. I also join her in safeguarding the will of the people from dark forces that want to steal the Vice Presidency, rewrite history and restore a corrupt and authoritarian past. I am confident that the public is behind the Vice President too. The people will more than make up for the support President Duterte and his Cabinet failed to give her. Vice President Robredo has fallen from the Cabinet into the arms of the people. Press Release December 5, 2016 Senate concurs to ratification of Articles of Agreement of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Senate concurs to ratification of Articles of Agreement of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank The Senate today adopted a resolution concurring to the ratification of the Article of Agreements of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), an international financial institution. Senate Resolution No. 241, sponsored by Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Chairman Alan Peter Cayetano and co-sponsored by Senator Loren Legarda, who chaired the Senate Subcommittee on the AIIB ratification, was passed on third reading with 20 affirmative votes, one negative vote and zero abstention. Senator Risa Hontiveros cast the lone negative vote. The Senate resolution said that any institution "that will promote human development, accelerate economic and social progress, and further good relations with neighboring nations should be embraced and supported." The AIIB describes itself as a "modern knowledge-based institution, which will focus on the development of infrastructure and other productive sectors in Asia, including energy and power, transportation and telecommunications, rural infrastructure and agriculture development, water supply and sanitation, environmental protection, urban development and logistics, etc." "The Agreement considers the importance of regional cooperation to sustain growth and promote economic and social development of the economies in Asia and thereby contribute to regional resilience against potential financial crises and other external shocks in the context of globalization," the resolution said. The resolution also stated that the Agreement "realizes that the considerable long-term need for financing infrastructure development in Asia will be met more adequately by a partnership among existing multilateral development banks and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank." The AIIB is formed by 57-founder member states like China, India, Russia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The Philippines signed the Articles of Agreement of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank last December 31, 2015 in China. President Rodrigo Duterte himself ratified the Agreement on 19 October 2016, and accordingly submitted it to the Senate for concurrence, in accordance with the 1987 Constitution. The resolution concluded that during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations last November 10, 2016, at least eight executive departments and agencies - the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Finance, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Justice, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Bureau of Treasury, Bureau of Internal Revenue and the National Economic Development Authority - have all expressed their endorsement of the concurrence to the ratification of the Agreement. NICK OTTO/AFP/Getty Images Among those killed in a catastrophic fire at an electronic music show in a converted Oakland warehouse was the son of a deputy for the Alameda County Sheriffs Office the agency in charge of recovering and examining bodies recovered from the tragic scene, authorities said Sunday. Sheriffs Sgt. Ray Kelly, an office spokesman, revealed the death at a news conference, but did not release the name of the deputys son. The toll in what is believed to be the deadliest structure fire in California in more than a century hit 36 on Monday, but there were indications that rescuers were near the end of the grim task of removing bodies from the ruins of a converted Oakland warehouse. The updated count came on a day when Oakland firefighters and Alameda County sheriffs deputies had to be especially wary of the possibility of wreckage collapsing on them as they hunted for additional victims and evidence for a criminal investigation into the Friday-night fire. One potentially notable development: Investigators believe they have found the spot where the blaze began inside the Ghost Ship, a live-work space that city officials say lacked permits for either residential use or entertainment such as the electronic music show that drew many of the victims Friday night. A total of 33 victims have been either positively or tentatively identified and 23 families notified, according to a city news release. Michael Short/Special To The Chronicle Sheriff Gregory Ahern said the casualty count may rise, but at this time were not anticipating any more huge numbers. The blaze is now the deadliest structure fire in California since the 1906 earthquake and fire killed hundreds in San Francisco. At about 10 p.m. Sunday, investigators from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives asked firefighters to cordon off a wall at the center-rear of the building at 31st Avenue and International Boulevard. We now feel very strongly that we have the section of the building that was the area of origin of where the fire started, said Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton of the Oakland Fire Department. She said the location contained telltale marks of an ignition points spread as well as twisted, wrapped steel believed to have been caused by extreme heat. The cause of the blaze is not yet known. As more details spilled forth from survivors and families, the portrait of tragedy from Friday night became ever more acute. Witnesses said that when smoke and flames began surging through the building, some concertgoers stayed on the second floor, thinking they might be safer there. By the time the fast-moving blaze ate through the rickety stairs leading below, it was too late. As the horror bore down on them, some of the victims texted goodbye messages to their families, such as Im going to die and I love you, a sheriffs spokesman said. The heartbreaking day of searching ended Monday with two candlelight vigils one in Oakland and the other in San Francisco. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf was among hundreds of people gathered around a white pagoda on the north side of Lake Merritt. People held up cell phones, plastic candles and other light sources, but avoided candles in honor of the victims. Look around us the support is overwhelming, said Todd Glieden, 50, of Castro Valley, who came to the lake to offer support for several friends who knew fire victims. I think this shows the better part of Oakland for people who see so much bad. In San Francisco, a few dozen members of the transgender community gathered at Harvey Milk Plaza at Market and Castro streets to pray and offer support for those who lost loved ones. The fire was horrendous, said the Rev. Cameron Partridge, 43, a transgender priest at San Franciscos St. Aidans Episcopal Church, as he stood next to an ornate tapestry surrounded by homemade signs with the names of the missing and dead. Were realizing increasingly that there were a number of trans folks there that were part of our community. The number of victims recovered from the gutted warehouse building grew by three on Sunday night, but work on retrieving more bodies was stopped around midnight because of a wobbly wall that made the situation dangerous for firefighters and deputies, Drayton said. The wall was deemed sturdy enough for work to resume in the rest of the building at 9 a.m. Drayton said workers on the roof of a building next door had noticed the front wall of the warehouse tilting inward by about 3 inches near a parapet of the structure. The wall will have to be shored up before workers can get closer to it, so workers have been concentrating on the rest of the building since getting the go-ahead to go back in. Sgt. Ray Kelly, a sheriffs spokesman, said the building took on a lot of water during Fridays firefight, which added more weight and raised the possibility of an avalanche situation of debris. The decision to delay work was made after crews inside began to hear shifting and creaking, he said. Search teams have combed through three-quarters of the ruins, and the last part of the search is focusing on the upper front portion of the warehouse. President Obama weighed in on the disaster Monday, saying his administration was working to make sure that authorities have everything they need as they continue response operations and investigate the cause of the fire. While we still dont know the full toll of this disaster, we do know that an American community has been devastated, and many people including young men and women with their whole futures ahead of them have tragically lost their lives, Obama said in a statement. Oakland is one of the most diverse and creative cities in our country, and as families and residents pull together in the wake of this awful tragedy, they will have the unwavering support of the American people. Rain that is expected to roll in Wednesday and pick up by the end of the week will not change the rate at which firefighters and deputies work their way through the rubble, Drayton said. Were going to be just as comprehensive, just as methodical, just as analytical to make sure were successful in a full recovery, she said. The developments came one day after District Attorney Nancy OMalley deployed a criminal investigation team in response to the blaze, which happened in a building that officials said had city permits only for use as a warehouse. OMalley said Monday that she hadnt determined yet what charges might be possible, but they may range all the way up to murder. Residents of the Ghost Ship artists collective said several had lived there since 2014. Many among the scores of revelers at the music show described a tangled and makeshift interior that turned exit routes into a deadly, confusing maze as the flames and smoke spread. Among the dead was Draven McGill, the 17-year-old son of a deputy for the Alameda County Sheriffs Office, the agency in charge of recovering and examining bodies from the scene. Kelly said Dravens death hammered home the grief even more acutely for a department already shaken emotionally by the disaster. That makes this much more personal, he said. This hit us, too. Its hit every cross-section of society here in the Bay Area and all over the world. The Rev. Jayson Landeza, a chaplain for the Oakland Fire Department, has been counseling emergency workers. Theyre pretty overwhelmed, he said. You see a lot in Oakland, but you dont see this. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Memorials near the burned warehouse grew overnight, with dozens of candles, bouquets, handwritten signs, a beer bottle and a whiskey bottle left on street corners. We miss you Johnny, read one sign taped to a fence. A picture of one of the apparent victims was captioned: There is a light and it never goes out. People walking by stopped and took a moment to scan the remembrances. Some knelt and wept, others hugged each other silently. A card left open with a pen read: Oakland loves and will never forget you all. Holly Warren-Mordecai, a 47-year-old teacher at a nearby international child development center, was on her way to work when she crouched down to sign an open memorial card. She cried as she wrote, Our prayers are with you, wiping away her tears. The community is tight-knit, and she feared the victims would be connected to some students at her school. Her heart was pounding out of her chest, she said. Im terrified about what Im going to find out today when I get to school, Warren-Mordecai said. Either way its somebodys kid. Im so devastated for the victims. San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Kimberly Veklerov contributed to this report Hamed Aleaziz and Kevin Fagan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Haleaziz @KevinChron Finding details on loved ones, tip and help lines, and donation sites Those who have information about missing people or are searching for relatives after Fridays fire should contact the Alameda County coroners office at (510) 382-3000. Sites raising money for victims and survivors: Gofundme: https://www.gofundme.com/ghost-ship-fire-residents-support Oakland As and Oakland Raiders: https://www.youcaring.com/oaklandfirevictimsfrom130531staveinoakland-706680#mlb-oakland Gray Area Foundation for the Arts: https://www.youcaring.com/firevictimsofoaklandfiredec232016-706684 Alameda County district attorneys office assistance and tip lines: Support for survivors and families: Victim-Witness Assistance Division at (510) 272-6180. Hotline to offer information on the fire or victims: (877) 288-2882 The names of the victims of Oaklands deadly warehouse fire began to surface Sunday, as family and friends learned of the losses. The city of Oakland, citing information from the Alameda County coroners office, released the names of seven adults who were among at least 33 dead in Fridays late-night blaze in a converted warehouse nicknamed Ghost Ship. Other names have not been released because authorities still need to make positive identifications, in some cases using fingerprints or DNA. The seven victims are: Donna Kellogg, 32, of Oakland. Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, of Hayward Travis Hough, 35, of Oakland Cash Askew, 22, of Oakland David Cline, 24, of Oakland Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, of Coronado (San Diego County) Sara Hoda, 30, of Walnut Creek An eighth victim whose family has been notified is a 17-year-old, authorities said. They withheld his name, but he was identified by San Francisco school officials as Draven McGill, a junior in the vocal department at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts. In a letter to parents, school Principal Barnaby Payne said, This is an incredibly unsettling and sad event not only for the Asawa SOTA community, but especially for Dravens family. I am in contact with them, and will keep you informed of how we can provide support to them. We must rise to this occasion, Payne wrote, and rally around each other with love, compassion and support. Among the confirmed fatalities was the son of a deputy for the Alameda County sheriffs office the agency that is in charge of examining bodies recovered from the tragic scene. Sheriffs Sgt. Ray Kelly, an office spokesman, revealed the death at a news conference, but did not specify which of the victims was the deputys son. Families and friends of all of the victims were in mourning, with some talking about their loss in interviews and on social media. According to those who knew her, Donna Kellogg was a free-spirited woman going to culinary school while working at a local coffee shop. When the fire broke out, she was reported to be on the second floor of the the warehouse in the Fruitvale neighborhood that had been converted into an art space, friends said. She is a freewheeling, free-spirited, candid person in a beautiful, delightful way, said a friend, who only gave her first name of Kim. Originally from Chico, Kellogg was working at Highwire Coffee Roasters in Berkeley, according to friends. Josh Howes, 47, of Oakland, who said he had once been engaged to Kellogg, was near the scene of the fire Sunday, remembering his former fiancee. She was a pretty private person, he said. I still love her, though, thats why Im here. The confirmation of her death at least provided some closure. Even though Im sad, Im greatly relieved, Howes said. Its really important for her mom. You need to know these things. Kelloggs father, Keith Slocum, told The Chronicle Sunday that he had received official confirmation of his daughters death. Family members and friends of Brandon Wittenauer, also known as Nex Iuguolo, said they had learned the electronic music artist perished in the blaze. My heart is so heavy right now for my family and for the ones closest to Nex Iuguolo and for the other victims of the warehouse fire as well as their families, his cousin, Ariel Treya Gonzalez of Berkeley, wrote on Facebook. Rest In Peace Chase and to all the other victims. Wittenauer was in the band Symbiotix.Fungi, according to his Facebook profile. Nex was one of the most creative and talented musicians I ever had the pleasure of working with, wrote friend Bobby Loveless, also on Facebook. Travis Houghs family and friends said he was a unique and warm individual. On Facebook, one mourner called him the warmest, sweetest guy who is loved by all. Another said he was a talented and gentle soul. The family declined to comment. Houghs neighbors in Benicia described him as a talented artist who would help with home decorations and remodeling. We just found about about two minutes ago, one neighbor, who declined to give his name, said Sunday afternoon. He was a good kid and artist. ... He was a great kid. Very kind and very talented. Hough was one of the musical minds behind the Oakland-based electronic band Ghost of Lightning. He went by the name Travis Blitzen and helped write and perform the bands songs. The bands goal was to create a collective experiencing of music and art in the internal and external worlds, according to its website. Brendan Dreaper, the bands manager, said Hough was always excited and smiling. He was an artist and a glassblower, Dreaper said, and had recently launched a podcast on how fellow musicians and artists found creativity. He will be remembered for his positivity and his ability to always make a situation fun, Dreaper said. Every time he walked in a room, he brightened it up and was always there for a good laugh. He was always optimistic. Cash Askew, whose family confirmed Sunday that she had died in the fire, was part of a local goth-inflected duo with Kennedy Ashlyn, Them Are Us Too, according to an article by journalist Beth Winegarner. Winegarner, who talked to Askew this year for an article in the feminist publication Bitch, posted the full interview online in the hope of sharing what a thoughtful, bright and special musician Cash was. In the interview, Askew spoke of trying to be an original force on the music scene, rejecting comparisons to the Cocteau Twins. Were definitely not trying to replicate or rehash existing music, Askew said. Askew, who identified as transgender, spoke to Winegarner of her initial attraction as a young teenager to the androgyny of goth and new wave and how that clashed, in some ways, with the reality she found. People dont think Im a freak for looking the way I do, but they still see me as a man most of the time and its really frustrating, Askew said. Maybe because there is historically that precedent for men dressing femme, its even easier than usual for people to dismiss my transness. Messages of grief and condolence poured onto the bands Facebook page Sunday. Woke up to more heart-wrenching news, wrote one person. Seeing Them Are Us Too last year was one of the most immersive and beautiful live shows Ive had the pleasure of ever attending. My heart goes out to Cash and everyone affected by the horrible Oakland fires. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Askews family did not immediately comment. Sara Hoda was remembered as compassionate, decent and honorable by a former housemate. She was a gardener and a teacher at a Montessori school, said Carol Crewdson in a Facebook post. Hoda was last heard from around 10:30 p.m. Friday night, and her truck remained parked outside the venue after the fire, Crewdson said. In the post, she grappled with the death and said that Hoda deserved to be remembered. She was a good, hardworking person, Crewdson wrote. She loved children and the earth, and she put those principles into actions. She didnt deserve to go like this. After reading an account of what it was like to get out of there, all I can hope is that it happened quickly. Another victim, David Cline, played the clarinet and loved volleyball. To David, we love you. You will be with us always, his brother, Neil Cline, wrote in a brief Facebook post thanking those who supported the family in the agonizing hours since the fire. Before preparing to enroll at UC Berkeley in 2011, Cline led his Santa Monica High volleyball team to a state championship. He studied clarinet for 10 years with Amanda Jane Walker, an arts and music lecturer at UC Irvine. Walker called Clines death heartbreaking and devastating on her Facebook page. She posted the brief autobiography Cline had prepared to accompany his senior clarinet recital, in which he described himself as a devoted volleyball player who enjoyed late night walks in the park, the beach, and sunshine with his friends. But Cline mainly used the biography as a tribute to the music teacher he had known since second grade, describing their relationship as one of camaraderie, compassion and trust. Walker wrote that she never thought she would have reason to say such a farewell to her student. But she did. I will miss you very much David and I love you, she wrote. I am so honored to have known you and to call myself your teacher. What an outstanding person you were. Nick Gomez-Hall was a resident of Coronado, near San Diego, and a guitarist, a collector of LP records, a world traveler and an outdoorsman, according to his Facebook page. He was a former student at Brown University in Rhode Island. Recently, he shared messages with his former fiction writing professor, Mark Baumer, on the occasion of Baumers fundraising walk across the United States to raise awareness about climate change. If you see Mark, hand him a bag of fresh fruit, Gomez-Hall wrote last week. He was also a designer for Counterpoint Press, a small Berkeley publishing house, according to online news site Berkeleyside. The youngest of those confirmed dead, Draven McGill, was a member of the schools vocal department as well as the Pacific Boychoir Academy. Online, friends recounted the teenagers big smile and frequent laugh. He liked to have fun, they said, and he enjoyed singing and listening to electronic dance music. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and loved ones, said school board President Matt Haney. We are preparing to provide extra support and grief counseling to the Asawa School of the Arts school community, and will do whatever we can to be there for our students and the family. We are devastated. San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Jenna Lyons, Nanette Asimov, Kurtis Alexander and Evan Sernoffsky contributed to this story. Steven Rubenstein, David Downs, Lizzie Johnson and Cynthia Dizikes are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com, ddowns@sfchronicle.com, ljohnson@sfchronicle.com, cdizikes@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF @davidrdowns @kurtisalexander @cdizikes At first, Chris Nechodom wondered if the smoke that spread through the Ghost Ship converted warehouse was part of the electronic music act he was watching. All too quickly, it became apparent it wasnt. I noticed the smoke and thought, Is that a fog machine? Then people were running frantic, said Nechodom, 30, who was watching the show with a friend who lived in the converted warehouse at 31st Avenue and International Boulevard in Oaklands Fruitvale neighborhood. It was the start of a blaze that would claim at least 36 lives. I looked to the back and it was just from wall to wall, the ceiling was on fire, Nechodom said. It was just kind of spreading to the front slowly. And it was kind of like a swooping down, so the back was on fire. Nechodom yelled to his friend, whom he identified only as Bob. They had worked together in movie production. He was struggling with the fire extinguisher, Nechodom said. He couldnt get it to work. I think it was just too much panic. He was trying to figure it out. I figured he had a mission let me see what else is going on. When he did, it was all horror. I turned around I see a bunch of people coughing, not sure which way to go, Nechodom said. We all start shuffling to the front were getting low. We get to the front and theres a few people yelling and screaming, so I start helping, yelling and screaming like, This is where the front entrance is! Follow our boys come here, come here! By then, Nechodom said, I had already inhaled a lot of smoke. ... I was right inside the entrance for a second, yelling, and then I couldnt handle it so I went right outside the entrance and we were all just there, yelling and people were starting to shuffle out. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. And then finally, Bob comes out he couldnt save his friend. And then maybe less than a minute after that, is when we heard a noise - I dont know what it was if something caved in or what, but thats when the big bellow of black smoke kind of came out of every window and it blew out of the door maybe like 10 feet just this black smoke. And at that point only a few more people crawled out, and that was it. Chronicle Staff Writer Kevin Fagan contributed to this report. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky Jon Hrabko had been promoting the party for weeks on Facebook as an insane lineup of electronic dance music performers. Come catch this set before it disappears, one post by the 31-year-old Oakland resident read. Holler! Getting pretty pumped up for this rager Friday! Oakland! Dont sleep! read another. Hrabko promoted the event publicly even as city officials investigated complaints on Nov. 13 about blight and unapproved construction inside the converted warehouse known to artists and musicians as the Ghost Ship. But authorities never got inside the building, which they said had a permit to operate only as a warehouse, and its unclear what Hrabko knew about conditions there or complaints. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle Show More Show Less What is clear is that excitement for the electronic dance music party was building on social media. Nearly 600 people on Facebook said they planned to attend, and more than 1,000 said they were interested. Facebook limits the number of people a user can invite to an event, and after he hit the limit, Hrabko posted a message asking friends to help get the word out about the party. If you have the time, I (and the other performers) would really appreciate if you could invite as many of your friends as possible and share this event on your page for maximum visibility. They can limit our invites but Not gonna let them limit our fun. We shall rise up, overcome, and dance on the ruins. Stay safe out there. On the night of the fire, Hrabko was working the door at the building at the corner of 31st Avenue and International Boulevard and was able to escape. On Saturday, he spent several hours at the Elis Mile High Club with members of the citys tight-knit music community as everyone waited for word about the missing. At Elis, Hrabko spoke to a Chronicle reporter and confirmed he was a party organizer but refused to give his surname, identifying himself only as Jon. He said some of the missing were people he had hired to work the show. I watched that building burn for five hours, he said. Those people didnt walk out. He stayed at Elis for hours afterward, mourning with musicians, friends of performers and others. Several of the mourners went up to him and hugged him. Looking tired, he called the incident a tragedy. On Sunday, someone answered Hrabkos phone once, but hung up quickly. A post on his Facebook page showed an emoji of a broken heart and the cover photo was changed to show a screen shot of a friends comment from the morning after the fire: I love you man. We did everything we could ... i had to stop you from going back into the building.... We saved alot of people at the front door. Dont ever let me hear you saying what u were saying last night about fault ever f***** again I love you. The numerous posts on his Facebook page that had promoted the event as far back as October were gone. Meanwhile, the Facebook page for the event itself became an online memorial for the dozens of people killed. Authorities said the process of identifying the remains and notifying families would take time, and they released only several names Sunday. Hrabko describes himself on LinkedIn as a self-employed independent fine art professional with a degree in electronic music from UC Santa Cruz. He was listed on Facebook as one of 12 hosts for the show. Six of the hosts were among those who were missing after the fire and listed on the event memorial page. Condolences from around the world filled the page. Deepest condolences from Massachusetts, read one post. Love & solidarity from Sweden, read another. Jill Tucker and Jenna Lyons are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com, jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker, @JennaJourno This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Debby Goldsberry remembers the day she logged into her companys bank account and saw something startling: a negative balance of almost $1 billion. I nearly had a heart attack, she said. That was nine years ago. Goldsberry, now the executive director of the Magnolia Wellness Clinic in Oakland, a marijuana dispensary, was then on the board of the Berkeley Patients Group. The Drug Enforcement Administration had seized all the cash in the groups account and, apparently just to be sure that it would be able to seize any future deposits, it created the eye-popping negative balance. In fact, the agency seized only about $120,000, which had been earmarked to pay state sales taxes. So Goldsberrys current business runs on cash, as do most marijuana dispensaries. Magnolia employees double-count bills as they come in and out. We have to treat our cash like a hot potato to prevent robberies or burglaries, Goldsberry said. As soon as it arrives, its got to go. The passage of Proposition 64 last month, which made marijuana legal for recreational use in California, has done little to change the fact that pot is a cash crop in more than one sense. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, which means that banks have to file stacks of paperwork just to handle everyday transactions if they dare to take on marijuana businesses as customers at all. On Friday, California Treasurer John Chiang said he would form a group to study the banking issues that hamper the cannabis industry. Earlier in the week, the Oakland City Council voted to study a public bank meant to serve pot businesses. Such a bank would allow owners to deposit sales receipts, pay taxes, buy supplies and, perhaps eventually, get loans. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle But Oaklands proposal faces enormous challenges, and even if that bank or any others get off the ground, its not clear theyll solve the industrys banking problems. Bankers, understandably scared of being charged with money laundering or other crimes, generally wont touch marijuana businesses. Even if governments like Oakland create their own banks, the risk would remain. As it looks now, however, Oaklands study seems likely to conclude that creating a public bank would be a major challenge at best, and utterly infeasible at worst. Creating a publicly owned bank is next to impossible in the United States, and thats even when such banks arent serving problematic businesses like pot dispensaries. Public banks in the United States face huge, high and flaming hoops, largely because of resistance from established banks, said Gwendolyn Hallsmith, the executive director of Global Community Initiatives, who works with the Public Banking Institute, an advocacy group. Only one operates in the country: the Bank of North Dakota, created in 1919 to serve farmers like a credit union. This is a stark contrast with many other parts of the world, where publicly owned banks are common. Theres one on every street corner in Germany, Hallsmith said. Any kind of full-service bank must do business with other banks for example, to transfer funds. Banks that refuse to serve the pot trade might similarly refuse to do business with a public bank involved with it. And government authorities like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve would likely look askance. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle Chiang acknowledged as much in a letter to members of his working group. This conflict between federal and state rules creates a number of problems for the states that have legalized cannabis use, including difficulties collecting tax revenue, increased risk of serious crime, and the inability of a newly legal industry under state law to effectively engage in banking and commerce, he wrote. Anything that touches the FDIC or the Federal Reserve is not going to fly, said Fiona Ma, chairwoman of the state Board of Equalization. Ma said she spent two years studying the feasibility of creating a public bank that would serve the state, including marijuana businesses. Having concluded that it just cant be done, shes now thinking about some type of closed loop payments system that would at least allow businesses to pay suppliers and addressing her concerns as the states chief revenue administrator pay their taxes and fees. The state collects $40 million a year in sales taxes, paid in cash, from the medical marijuana industry. With legalization, that could swell to $1 billion, which would swamp tax offices. Magnolias Goldsberry notes that her dispensary, like others, has to pay a 10 percent penalty for making payments to the IRS in cash, a fine some have challenged. Suppliers and potentially customers and employees would have to join a state payments network, which wouldnt be connected to existing banks. It would only wheel money from one company or person to another within the system. To put cash in or take cash out, participants would likely have to use a kiosk in a state office; regular ATMs or credit card swiping machines would be out of the question. That would be only a partial solution, but it at least would take some of the headaches out of running a pot business. Its a hassle, said Amber Senter, Magnolias chief operating officer. Not only is the inability to accept credit cards a burden, but it also hurts sales. Patients spend more when they can use credit cards. Some dispensaries do manage to sign up for credit card payments, said Zeta Ceti, founder of Green Rush Consulting in Oakland, which advises pot businesses. But banks often shut down the service when they find out whats going on, he said. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Rebecca Kaplan, the Oakland councilwoman behind the public-bank proposal, said shes well aware of the challenges. Thats why were doing the study, she said. A lot of cities want to do this, Kaplan said. But most of them are waiting to see someone else step up first. Were stepping up. A payment system like Mas would have its own issues. It would probably be treated as a money transmitter by the state, which would also bring in federal regulation. But the Department of Business Oversight, which oversees prepaid cards and other money-transfer services, is concerned about the industrys current reliance on cash. Kaplan said the best course is to work locally. The potential hostility of the Trump administration highlights the importance of building local and regional solutions to problems, she said. In the meantime, pot businesses will continue to do what they can to keep operating. Some use different business names so they can pay suppliers by check, hoping they wont get caught and have their accounts shut down. Clear-cut access to the regular financial world for marijuana businesses still seems far off. Ive been kicked out of all the best banks, Goldsberry said. Dan Mitchell is an Oakland writer. Email: business@sfchronicle.com The city needed a strong leader. It got that and more. The Chronicles front page from Dec. 5, 1978, covers the swearing-in of Dianne Feinstein as the citys first female mayor. Feinstein was elected mayor of San Francisco yesterday in a historic vote that may alter the course of city politics for years to come, the story read. The reporter, Chronicle political correspondent Jerry Burns, was right. Feinstein became one of San Franciscos most effective leaders, finishing the term of assassinated Mayor George Moscone and then being elected twice. She was a moderate who took over for a staunch liberal, and her strength proved pivotal in a time of upheaval in the city that would give way to major growth in the 1980s. In 1978, however, San Francisco was still reeling from the killings of Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in their City Hall offices by former Supervisor Dan White. The election of Feinstein, although it followed predicted lines, was a tense and dramatic moment as the supervisors for the first time had to elect a successor to an assassinated chief executive, the story read. A hushed crowd, ringed by dozens of uniformed and plain-clothes police officers, watched the supervisors choose their 45-year-old president and presiding officer to be the 38th mayor of San Francisco. So much death: Its hard to believe now, 38 years later, that the Jonestown massacre and the City Hall killings were less than two weeks apart. A Top of the News item in the front page states: Peoples Temple members in S.F. were still reconciling their beliefs with the events of two weeks ago. Top O the Top of the News: Twelve hundred trendy fashion freaks vied for attention with the models at a spectacular in the Japan Center Theater. Page 20. Lets see: models, the year 1978 and fashion freaks. Its a good bet that party saw at least two pairs of glass platform boots with goldfish in the heels. See more front pages: Go to SFChronicle.com/covers to search a database of hundreds of Chronicle Covers articles that showcase the newspapers history. 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, Alexandra Irving and Jillian Sullivan contributed to the project. Tim ORourke is the executive producer and editor of SFChronicle.com. Email: torourke@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TimothyORourke Pete Kiehart/Special to The Chronicle A 17-year-old student at San Franciscos Ruth Asawa School of the Arts was identified Sunday as one of the victims of the disastrous fire that erupted at a party in an Oakland warehouse Friday night. Authorities withheld the name of the boy, who was one of at least 36 people killed, but he was identified by San Francisco school officials as Draven McGill, a junior at the competitive arts school. State regulators charged with protecting coastal access need to take a stand against a billionaire bully who is demanding $30 million to allow surfers to reach Martins Beach, a crescent-shaped cove near Half Moon Bay. Venture capitalist and Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla, who has been blocking the only road to the beach since 2010, has shown that he simply cannot be reasonable. Californias beaches are a public asset. The State Lands Commission, which is scheduled to get a staff update Tuesday on this frustrating standoff, needs to move forward with plans to claim this 3-foot-wide access road. All eyes are on Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the highest-ranking elected official on the three-member commission. Newsom, a candidate for governor in 2018, should lead the charge to put this issue to rest once and for all. The other members are state Controller Betty Yee and state Finance Director Michael Cohen. Khosla paid $32.5 million for an 89-acre spread in 2008. The idea that he could command $30 million for the 6.39-acre road is absurd. Its inconceivable that this is going to cost more than a million bucks once fair-market value is established through the eminent domain process, said Mark Massara, an attorney for the Surfrider Foundation. Khosla seems to think his wealth and political connections he is a big Democratic donor allow him to play by his own rules. The issue is about more than the fight for public access to one beach that Californians have enjoyed for 75 years until it was blocked by a billionaire. Khosla is attacking the very essence of the California Coastal Act: that our beaches are a public trust, available for all to protect, use and enjoy. The commissioners must not cave to a greedy billionaires demands. This is a fight worth having. Express your view to the commissioners Email them today: cslc.commissionmeetings@slc.ca.gov The start of winter has brought ducks and geese to the vast Suisun Marsh in the lower Delta as well as a clearer vision of the future of an education facility there that would be like a Monterey Bay Aquarium for waterfowl. In November, Fairfield voted 73 percent in favor of the process and permits that would lead to the construction of the Pacific Flyway Center. Over the weekend, the group supporting the project put forward a plan to complete construction within two years of shovels hitting the ground, said Claude Grillo, who is helping coordinate the details of the project. An array of permits, partnerships and funding that could reach $75 million are needed first a lot of boxes to be checked, Grillo said. The Flyway Center would be located along Interstate 680 at a site called Garibaldi (you can see it if you drive past), located north of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge, at the edge of the 88,000-acre Suisun Marsh. The facility is the dream of builder and philanthropist Ken Hofmann, a former owner of the As. We need education about the flyways, Hofmann said at his ranch in the Sacramento Valley. He said he worried about the lack of connection from youth to nature and the outdoor experience. In another meeting, Hofmann and Grillo shared the design plans. The heart of it would be a 65,000-square-foot event center with multimedia exhibits, an IMAX-quality theater, large seminar room and elevated decks that would overlook the Suisun Marsh. In addition, Grillo said they would build a 50-acre marsh around the facility to draw in waterfowl and shorebirds, with a boardwalk and viewing stations. Our plan is to build out the Flyway Center in phases so it will be operational to the public as it is being built, probably within a year of the start of construction, Grillo said. It would be a destination field trip for students of all ages from throughout the region, Hofmann said, as well as drawing nature lovers from across the country. Its location between San Francisco and Sacramento would put it within reach of more than 10 million residents. With All the Rage, one of two of his solo shows now playing in repertory at ACTs Strand Theater, Martin Moran sets himself up with a difficult proposition: how to explain why hes not angrier about the molestation he endured during his youth in Denver, but without descending into the cloying bathos that is self-help. The abuse itself is the subject of his other, superior solo show at the Strand, The Tricky Part. Moran, a Broadway performer and an Obie-winning one Off-Broadway, debuted All the Rage in 2013 partly as a response to questions he got regarding The Tricky Part, which premiered off-Broadway in 2004. Quoting from a review, which he pulls out of a plastic sheet protector in a backpack during All the Rage, he reads, Most troubling is his continued reluctance to despise or even blame his molester ... makes one wonder if he ever will truly move on. I was so embarrassed, Moran continues, putting the review aside. Its like I was being called out for missing an essential piece. For skipping, or basically being frightened of, anger. In retracing his path, Moran avoids sentimentality, mostly, thanks to his skills as a performer. He begins both shows with a refreshing informality not often seen on the stages of our major theaters, politely asking if audiences toward the back can hear him, chatting about his day and then segueing imperceptibly into the script itself. His tone is so friendly, his vibe so genuine and well intentioned, that you feel like youre curled up just a few feet away from him. Of course, this apparent casualness is the result of great care and study. As a writer, Moran selects each descriptor as if its the one perfect fruit in an entire orchard. As a performer, Moran finds, within a single sentence, a new intention every few words, which makes his delivery musical, the way he climbs and falls in pitch, accelerates and decelerates tempo, lingers a beat or two longer than youd expect on a pause. He rarely lands fully on the end of any phrase, instead using each as a springboard to launch into the next. That quality lends urgency to his telling; throughout both plays, its as if the best part of the story is always the one Moran is about to get to. In All the Rage, Moran contextualizes his seeming lack of anger which isnt a lack at all; its just thoughtful and articulate, instead of guns-a-blazin through juxtapositions with the base level of rage that makes every New York City intersection pulse with life and, conversely, with the equanimity of a Sudanese refugee named Siba, whose French Moran translates as he applies for asylum. Anger, Moran implies, is a privilege that many cant afford. If that and other insights provoke much thought, the ending of All the Rage spells too much out. A cryptic phrase that comes to him in a dream, rehearsing consciousness, helps him understand what happens in his brain in moments of high tension when he doesnt lash out as he explains by tying a bow on many of the story threads hed introduced earlier. The Tricky Part fares much better. Driving this excellent piece of theater are the nauseating details of Morans abuse itself, which are all the more harrowing because of the shows ingenious structure. If you came into the theater unaware, you could go for many minutes thinking The Tricky Part is a comic, vividly observed examination of Catholicism from the terrified and genuinely puzzled eyes of a child. (Jesus died to set you free! one of the nuns in his school liked to remind students. And Id think: Free from what? From where?) Yet soon he mentions the story that will not let me go, and it must mean molestation. He suffered his from ages 12 to 15; the perp was a camp counselor. Throughout The Tricky Part, Moran circles away from and back to that story, gradually building on it, as he simultaneously weaves in another story, from 30 years later, of confronting that counselor, by then an old man. The story is both excruciating and edifying. It maps out with exactitude how this sort of villain operates, edging into his crime so gradually, so confidently, that theres never a clear or right time to cry out until its much, much too late. It also, unlike All the Rage, allows its audiences to reflect, on their own, on its weighty conclusion: that his ongoing task, perhaps an impossible one, is to let rest both his molester and his long-gone 12-year-old self. Lily Janiak is The San Francisco Chronicles theater critic. Email: ljaniak@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LilyJaniak The Tricky Part: By Martin Moran. In repertory through Dec. 10. 80 minutes. $25-$60. ACTs Strand Theater, 1127 Market St., S.F. (415) 749-2228. www.act-sf.org All the Rage: By Martin Moran: In repertory through Dec. 11. 80 minutes $25-$60. ACTs Strand Theater, 1127 Market St., S.F. (415) 749-2228. www.act-sf.org To see a video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRRCw_92v-o You wont hear Dianne Feinstein moaning about the election results. Californias senior senator has been too busy making plans on how to fight back against the Trump administration. And shes got some advice for Democrats trying to figure out how to do the same. Dont panic, she told me during a recent chat. And dont be fearful. We need to see what moves he makes and see how best how to counter them. To be sure, Feinsteins version of what progressives call the Resistance is never going to be confused with that of Code Pink or Black Lives Matter or the Courage Campaign. Or Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warrens, for that matter. But as a Democrat near the top of her partys seniority list (24 years and counting) in a Senate where Republicans hold a narrow majority, Feinstein will be a leader in the official version of the Resistance. She doesnt yell into a bullhorn, she makes plans. Right now, my biggest concern is immigration, Feinstein said. Shes focused on protecting dreamers, the more than 2 million immigrants brought to the United States as children without documentation by their parents. Four years ago, President Obama gave them temporary legal status through an executive order, but President-elect Donald Trump has promised to overturn all of Obamas orders. Many dreamers are cowering in fear about what will come next. Feinstein is working with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on a measure that would protect dreamers. She thinks that, yes, some Republicans will sign on to help people who grew up in America and have some amazing stories. And she has some surprise legislation coming for Trump: Shes putting together a measure that would require him to divest all his business holdings. Its not a punitive measure, she says. Its a national security one. With Trump holding business interests in 20 countries, Americans wont know if the administration is making a decision because its best for the country or for the Trump brand. She is framing the legislation on the writings and commentary of Richard Painter, the University of Minnesota professor who was the chief ethics counsel in President George W. Bushs administration. In a New York Times opinion piece last week, Painter wrote, For the good of the country, he should divest from his business empire as soon as possible, put the cash proceeds into United States Treasury securities, broadly diversified mutual funds or a blind trust managed by an independent trustee, and then focus on being a good president. So will Republicans support that? Trump really needs to immunize himself, Feinstein said. Because this is going to be a continuing story until it is resolved. He is going to continue to fall into conflict. Also look for Feinstein to take a lead in challenging some of Trumps Cabinet nominees, starting with Sen. Jeff Sessions, the Alabama Republican tapped to be attorney general. A lot of time will be spent on Sessions history of racially insensitive language and positions, which led a bipartisan group of Senate Judiciary Committee members in 1986 to recommend that he not get a federal judgeship. At the time, Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy said it was inconceivable ... that a person of this attitude is qualified to be a U.S. attorney, let alone a United States federal judge. This nomination, Feinstein told me ominously, is not without history. And shes no fan of Trumps nominee to head the CIA Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas. When Feinstein chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee, she led an investigation into U.S. torture of terrorism suspects during the Bush administration in violation of U.S. law and international treaties and how the administration lied about it to Congress. She fought the CIA and the Obama administration for nearly six years before the report was released in December 2014. Pompeo ripped the report, which was critical of the CIA, saying it made America less safe that is this release will ultimately cause Americans to be killed and backed the brutal techniques. After Pompeos nomination was announced, Feinstein wondered if he had read that report. Look for her to question whether Pompeo has the toughness to resist the seduction of the covert world. There is a lot of seduction to be one of the boys, Feinstein said. But if in fact youre the director (of the CIA) or on one of the (intelligence) committees, you cant be one of the boys. You have to provide oversight. And the choices for secretary of state arent an appetizing lot for Democrats either. The final five candidates are believed to be former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former U.N. Ambasssador John Bolton, Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and retired Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly. Petraeus might be the best of the group, except its going to be awfully hard even for Republicans to back him after he pleaded guilty to mishandling classified material. Feinstein favors Corker. Like the past two secretaries Hillary Clinton and John Kerry hes had relevant experience in the Senate, she said. But Id better not say anything, Feinstein said and laughed. It would probably be the kiss of death for him. As for Trump, Feinstein said, I dont know him, never met him. But if he wants to work with the minority, we will try to work with him on some issues. Feinstein said Trump should remember that Clinton did receive 2.5 million more votes than he did. This, she said, is not a mandate. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The three coyotes sleeping in the sun on a hillside behind a canopy of trees in Larkspur didnt even flinch when Monte Deignan stepped forward with his binoculars this past week to monitor the neighborhood pack. A family of eight coyotes has taken up residence in the hills, where homeowners and their pets are now on alert, but the 62-year-old Larkspur planning commissioner is thrilled to see wildlife so close to home. This is the perfect urban wildlife habitat, Deignan said, scanning the virtually inaccessible brush-covered landscape hidden from the road by a line of houses. You realize they are very benign and, hey, they are taking care of the rodent problem. Yipping coyotes are a bedtime routine in virtually every city in Marin County, a veritable test case for a predator coexistence movement that is gaining popularity throughout the Bay Area and much of Northern California. Paul Chinn/The Chronicle Once rarely seen, coyotes are now prowling the foothills, trotting through peoples backyards, boldly stalking prey and raising puppies outside living room windows. It is a situation that Bay Area communities, including San Francisco, are confronting as they receive reports of sightings from excited, and in some cases fearful, residents. Larkspur and adjacent Corte Madera, in the shadow of Mount Tamalpais, are the latest to go gaga over the yowling fur-covered throngs. They hear the (emergency) sirens in the city and they say, Oh, we can out-do that, Deignan said. It just triggers them. The cacophony is little comfort to the owners of cats and small dogs that have been known to find themselves on coyote dinner menus. Many parents are also uneasy having the wild predators near their children. In an attempt to ease tensions, Project Coyote, the Marin Humane Society and Marin County Parks are holding a community forum on the highly adaptive animals this month. The discussion will include tips on how to coexist with coyotes in general and the Larkspur family of eight in particular. They are seen a lot, giving people the impression the place is being overrun by coyotes when it is really just one family group, said Camilla Fox, the executive director of Project Coyote, a national nonprofit group with headquarters in Larkspur. Coyotes do not exceed the biological carrying capacity of an area, which is based on food and habitat availability. Public meetings have been held recently in Berkeley, San Francisco, Walnut Creek and other communities in the Bay Area where coyote sightings and confrontations have increased dramatically over the past few years. The numbers are growing, Fox said, because the animals are moving back into places where they were killed off decades ago. There are as many as 700,000 coyotes in the state, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, but nobody knows exactly how many are in the Bay Area. The crafty creatures crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in the early 2000s and have since been reported in neighborhoods and parks throughout San Francisco, including Ingleside Terrace, Bernal Heights, Golden Gate Park, Stern Grove, Lake Merced, Mount Davidson and the Presidio. Experts believe that the drought so reduced the populations of the primary prey of coyotes mice, voles and rats that they began looking for food in neighborhoods. But the center of the song-dog expansion is Marin County. The carnivorous canines were ravaging sheep on west Marin ranches as far back as 1998. The practice back then was to kill them, but in 2000 the county formed the Marin Livestock and Wildlife Protection Program, which essentially used the money once paid to federal trappers to help ranchers build fences, corrals and lambing sheds, and purchase guard dogs. The guard dogs in Marin have reduced predation and, according to the sheep ranchers, saved an industry that was struggling mightily in the 1990s just to remain viable. The program has since morphed into a push for coexistence in urban areas like Mill Valley, Larkspur, Tiburon, San Rafael and Novato. Signs telling residents to Be Coyote Aware are popping up, and wildlife advocates like Fox are pushing hazing techniques and the necessity of keeping food and garbage away from the animals. Coexistence takes some education, which is what Project Coyote is trying to provide, said Fox, who co-wrote the book Coyotes in Our Midst. Unfortunately, the knee-jerk response in a lot of urban areas to the presence of coyotes is lethal removal, often because homeowners associations have hired pest management services that are required by state law to either release them on site or euthanize them. Fox said that killing coyotes can actually cause their populations to increase by disturbing the pack hierarchy and, in turn, allowing more coyotes to reproduce. In a pack, only the alpha coyotes mate. When the alpha is killed, all the animals disperse and breed. Federal trappers nevertheless kill close to 5,000 coyotes in California a year, according to Wildlife Services charts. The animals are opportunistic and, given a chance, will sometimes kill and eat small dogs and cats, but Fox said they generally want nothing to do with humans. In virtually every instance of aggressive behavior, she said, the coyotes had either been fed by humans or were defending their dens during spring pup-rearing season. On average, 20 people a year are killed by family dogs, but there has only been one documented case of a coyote killing a human in the United States the 1981 death of a 3-year-old who was dragged away from her house in Los Angeles County. It was later alleged that people in the neighborhood had been feeding coyotes. The hillside neighborhood in Larkspur is getting along just fine with the four-legged family, which shares the hillside with a large group of uncommonly bold deer. This is the urban wildland interface, and they are a part of it, Deignan said. I think its great we can live in an area and all get along. Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite Information Coyote vs. dog conflict resolution: www.projectcoyote.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Dogs_Coyotes.pdf How to coexist with urban coyotes: www.projectcoyote.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/UrbanCoyotes_Doorhanger.pdf Signs: www.projectcoyote.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/BeCoyoteAware.pdf Coyote forum When: 6:30 p.m. next Monday Where: Corte Madera City Council Chambers, 300 Tamalpais Drive Dread and anxiety accompanied the grim work Sunday of identifying the bodies of people killed in a fire that swept through a converted Oakland warehouse, as dozens of families suffered through a second day of not knowing whether their loved ones were dead or alive. The Alameda County coroner said 36 people died in the Friday night fire, and officials said they expect to recover more bodies. But by Sunday night, the names of only eight victims had been released. The bleak drama came to a heartbreaking conclusion for the families of Oakland residents Cash Askew, 22; David Cline, 24; Travis Hough, 35; and Donna Kellogg, 32. Also confirmed dead by the coroner were Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, of Coronado (San Diego County); Sara Hoda, 30, of Walnut Creek; and Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, of Hayward. The eighth victim was identified by San Francisco school officials as Draven McGill, a 17-year-old junior at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco. Staffers at the public arts school were preparing to address the death with students Monday morning and make grief counselors available, Principal Barnaby Payne wrote in an email to school parents. Officials said the son of an Alameda County sheriffs deputy was among those who died in the fire. It was unclear whether he was one of the victims whose names were released Sunday night. The news that a few victims had been named left more than two dozen families in an awful limbo. Were doing the identifications as fast as we can, said Sheriffs Sgt. Ray Kelly, explaining that there were also victims from other countries, requiring notification of foreign embassies and the U.S. State Department. Dozens of people were still missing and unaccounted for, according to unofficial lists of people who were believed to have attended the performance by the electronic music group Golden Donna 100% Silk at the warehouse-turned-artists collective at 31st Avenue and International Boulevard in the Fruitvale district. The victims were trapped as smoke and flames blocked their escape down a makeshift stairwell in the wildly cluttered avant-garde building known as the Ghost Ship. Relatives kept vigil at the scene, hung around police service centers, peppered social media sites with messages and phoned hospitals as investigators sifted through the wreckage. While those waiting hoped for the best, they feared the worst. Most of the families are aware, and they know that their loved one is likely a victim within the structure, Kelly said at an afternoon news conference. Josh Howes, 47, of Oakland was near the scene of the fire Sunday, remembering Kellogg, his former fiancee. The confirmation of her death provided a strange kind of solace. Even though Im sad, Im greatly relieved, Howes said. Its really important for her mom. You need to know these things. The pain was most excruciating for those waiting for an identification that still hadnt come. Daniel Vega, whose brother Alex Vega has not been heard from since the fire, was frustrated by the lack of information. He said he found out about the fire via Facebook on Saturday and called his brother, who often goes to raves in Oakland. Alex Vegas car was found Saturday at the BART station in San Bruno, where he lives. The family of UC Berkeley student Vanessa Plotkin was waiting at their home in Lakewood (Los Angeles County) for news about the 21-year-old sociology student. Her father, Gary Plotkin, said Vanessas twin sister called from New York on Saturday, crying, after she couldnt get hold of her sister. Vanessa had last been heard from in a text she sent her sister on her way to the event about 11 p.m, he said. The family called the coroners office and four hospitals, with no confirmation on the young womans whereabouts. Were beside ourselves, he said. This is just like a nightmare. On Sunday, UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks wrote about his profound concern that members of the Berkeley campus community are among those who remain missing. Many tormented relatives of the missing mingled with onlookers near the charred and collapsed warehouse. Roxy Blank, 29, of Oakland was doubled over with grief Sunday afternoon as her friends tried to console her at a streetside memorial. Im just trying not to throw up, said the weeping Blank, whose partner, Edmond Lapine, went to the Ghost Ship event Friday and hasnt been seen since. I just want to hear them say his name so I know its him. Denise Laberee, a San Lorenzo resident with the Valley Humane Society, was part of a group that brought therapy dogs to the scene to provide support for whoever needed it. Her dog, a border collie named Sweep, stood near the scene at Fruitvale and International, where candles and flowers in honor of the victims lay on the sidewalk. Laberee, who felt compelled to do something to help, said she plans to stay as long as her group is needed. The dogs, including a wiggly yellow Lab named Rosey, were there to just provide comfort to anybody. They dont even know they need it a lot of the time, Laberee said. Kelsey Aguiar stood with tears in her eyes outside Elis Mile High Club, a music venue and artist meeting spot north of the Ghost Ship, to talk about efforts to find her friends and acquaintances. Its very sad, but were trying to raise hope and just be strong for the community we have left, Aguiar said. Thats the thing in the rave community. You know people by their smile, their dance moves, how people present themselves. The drama was also being played out tragically on the Golden Donna Facebook page. If anyone has information about my sister ... please let me know, wrote one poster, naming her sibling. Her mom hasnt heard from her since 11:30 Friday night. But others posted Sunday that they were safe, including one woman who was wondering how she even got on the list of the missing. There also were many messages expressing condolences, prayers and hopeful thoughts. Deepest love to our dance community family, said one. 3 prayers and light radiating to everyone. OMG my heart and soul to all of you and a few of the wonderful blessed artists and creators, wrote another person. My tears and prayers are flowing now for all the loved ones. Many posters on the site were highly critical of the building owner and those who ran the Ghost Ship. And, as is all too common these days on social media, there were cruel, callous remarks, prompting angry responses. My heart goes out to all of those affected by this, said a poster. I hope you all find answers about your loved ones and the trolls making rude comments should go f themselves. Imagine if it was one of your friends or family or loved ones. Most of those still searching for information about loved ones were being referred to the Oakland Office of Emergency Services, which is compiling lists of those still unaccounted for and those who have have been found. Families of the missing were still showing up at the Alameda County Sheriffs Office substation in Oakland, which has been turned into an assistance center. Community members volunteered to help or donated food. Coffee companies like Blue Bottle donated beverages. Local chaplains and Oakland City Councilwoman Annie Campbell Washington were there consoling families. Han Park said hed flown up from Los Angeles to get word about his 29-year-old niece, Ara Jo, who apparently was at Friday nights event and has not been heard from since. Shes a very, very social girl. Too many friends, said Park, smiling softly amid his obvious grief. We dont really care about the investigation now. We just want to find out what happened to her. Chronicle staff writers Jill Tucker, Kevin Fagan and Jenna Lyons contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A multiagency criminal probe took shape Monday as information emerged that the manager of a cluttered Oakland warehouse that erupted in flames Friday night, killing at least 36 people, had previously been investigated for stealing a trailer, having confrontations with visitors and holding illegal parties. Derick Ion Almena, 46, the quirky, volatile leader of an artists collective known as Satya Yuga, is on probation for a misdemeanor conviction and could be the subject of an investigation into the fatal fire. Almena, who disappeared immediately after the fire, finally spoke out as former residents accused him of ignoring obvious danger while running a slapdash art and residential operation inside the warehouse. The people who died in the tragedy were his figurative children, he told a reporter. They are my children. They are my friends. They are family. They are my loves. They are my future, Almena told San Franciscos KGO-TV after he and his wife, Micah Allison, were approached Sunday at the Oakland Marriott City Center, where they had been staying. What else do I have to say? Well leave no stone unturned, said Alameda County District Attorney Nancy OMalley, who declared the warehouse a potential crime scene Monday. She said investigators are looking into charges that could range from murder all the way to involuntary manslaughter. OMalley did not name any potential targets of the criminal probe. Almenas history of run-ins with authorities includes a case involving a stolen trailer, numerous code violations and a lack of permits that would allow using the warehouse as a living or events space. Almena ,managed the Ghost Ship artists collective and was allegedly responsible for alterations of the 10,000-square-foot building. The fire, one of the worst in California history, broke out during a concert and party on the second floor of the structure. Officers had investigated at least one physical confrontation involving Almena on the premises, court records show. He had also been convicted of keeping stolen property a trailer owned by an ex-landlord who had evicted him at the warehouse. In incident reports obtained by The Chronicle, Officer Josue Mora said he and Officer Richard Kane were called to the building on Jan. 2, 2015, to investigate an allegation that Almena had stolen a cell phone belonging to a friend of a performer after a New Years Eve party. The officers found that Almena had complained about a condom being left out overnight and damage to an art piece during the party. When the confrontation turned physical, the friend of the performer started taking a video with his cell phone. Almena then allegedly snatched the camera from his hand, according to police reports. In two separate petitions for restraining orders against Almena, both later denied, the performer and his friend said Almena had threatened to get a gun. They reported seeing a box of bullets in the building as well as bows and arrows. The documents did not say whether the officers investigated potential weapons inside the warehouse. Their body cameras were not activated at the time, the police reports said. Two weeks after the party incident, Almena was arrested and jailed for two days when his former landlord found out he had stolen her Airstream trailer, according to an affidavit from Deputy Jeremy Lucha of the Alameda County Sheriffs Office. The woman had recently evicted Almena when she spotted her missing trailer parked outside the warehouse. Almena was later ordered to pay restitution of $1,719 to the former landlord and a fine of $281 for receiving stolen property. He is currently serving three years probation, ending in 2019. The building was considered a center of creativity by some and a chaotic, drug-infested firetrap by other residents, some of whom described Almena as an arrogant, charismatic narcissist who felt above the law. Current and former residents said Almena could be vulgar and abrasive and often alienated tenants. A former nanny for his three children, Mariah Benavides, described Almena and his wife as organized hoarders. Almena, who lived on the second floor of the Ghost Ship with his wife and children, was taking rent from as many as 18 tenants who lived in RVs and makeshift rooms on the bottom floor, residents and other acquaintances said. Almena was known for putting rambling messages and videos on his Facebook page, including rants referencing mass murderers and despots like Charles Manson, Pol Pot and Hitler. He considered himself a realms creator and built structures out of found objects, antiques and other discarded material. There were numerous pianos and other debris allegedly blocking entrances to the warehouse. Shortly after the fire, Almena was criticized after he posted what some considered an insensitive message on his Facebook page about 1:30 a.m. Saturday. Confirmed. Everything I worked so hard for is gone, he wrote. Blessed that my children and Micah were at a hotel safe and sound its as if I have awoken from a dream filled with opulence and hope . to be standing now in poverty of self worth. Almena later wrote that he didnt know people had died in the fire when he posted the message and was heartbroken. My goal has been nothing less than to create an environment for art and creativity in our community, he told NBC News. During this investigation, please continue to show support and compassion for those affected by this tragedy. The prayers of my family and I go out to the families of the victims. Kimberly Veklerov and Peter Fimrite are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com, pfimrite@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @KVeklerov, @pfimrite Jon Hrabko had been promoting the party for weeks on Facebook as an insane lineup of electronic dance music performers. Come catch this set before it disappears, one post by the 31-year-old Oakland resident read. Holler! Getting pretty pumped up for this rager Friday! Oakland! Dont sleep! read another. Hrabko promoted the event publicly even as city officials investigated complaints on Nov. 13 about blight and unapproved construction inside the converted warehouse known to artists and musicians as the Ghost Ship. But authorities never got inside the building, which they said had a permit to operate only as a warehouse, and its unclear what Hrabko knew about conditions there or complaints. What is clear is that excitement for the electronic dance music party was building on social media. Nearly 600 people on Facebook said they planned to attend, and more than 1,000 said they were interested. Facebook limits the number of people a user can invite to an event, and after he hit the limit, Hrabko posted a message asking friends to help get the word out about the party. If you have the time, I (and the other performers) would really appreciate if you could invite as many of your friends as possible and share this event on your page for maximum visibility. They can limit our invites but Not gonna let them limit our fun. We shall rise up, overcome, and dance on the ruins. Stay safe out there. On the night of the fire, Hrabko was working the door at the building at the corner of 31st Avenue and International Boulevard and was able to escape. On Saturday, he spent several hours at the Elis Mile High Club with members of the citys tight-knit music community as everyone waited for word about the missing. At Elis, Hrabko spoke to a Chronicle reporter and confirmed he was a party organizer but refused to give his surname, identifying himself only as Jon. He said some of the missing were people he had hired to work the show. I watched that building burn for five hours, he said. Those people didnt walk out. He stayed at Elis for hours afterward, mourning with musicians, friends of performers and others. Several of the mourners went up to him and hugged him. Looking tired, he called the incident a tragedy. On Sunday, someone answered Hrabkos phone once, but hung up quickly. A post on his Facebook page showed an emoji of a broken heart and the cover photo was changed to show a screen shot of a friends comment from the morning after the fire: I love you man. We did everything we could ... i had to stop you from going back into the building.... We saved alot of people at the front door. Dont ever let me hear you saying what u were saying last night about fault ever f***** again I love you. The numerous posts on his Facebook page that had promoted the event as far back as October were gone. Meanwhile, the Facebook page for the event itself became an online memorial for the dozens of people killed. Authorities said the process of identifying the remains and notifying families would take time, and they released only several names Sunday. Hrabko describes himself on LinkedIn as a self-employed independent fine art professional with a degree in electronic music from UC Santa Cruz. He was listed on Facebook as one of 12 hosts for the show. Six of the hosts were among those who were missing after the fire and listed on the event memorial page. Condolences from around the world filled the page. Deepest condolences from Massachusetts, read one post. Love & solidarity from Sweden, read another. Jill Tucker and Jenna Lyons are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com, jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker, @JennaJourno This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Propane tanks used to heat an improvised shower. Exposed electrical wires covering a back staircase, rendering it unusable. An ever-changing cast of guests and residents who paid between $500 and $1,500 a month for spaces that were made livable with jerry-rigged generators, hot plates and space heaters. Any one of these things could have sparked a fire that killed at least 36 people in an old warehouse that was not zoned or built for residential use. A criminal investigation opened by the Alameda County district attorneys office will look at everything that went on under the roof at the building at 31st Avenue and International Boulevard in Oakland to get to the bottom of the deadly inferno. A transformer blew and caught on fire a week after Id been there, said a former resident of the Ghost Ship warehouse, Shelley Mack. We had no electricity, so they were using generators and illegally hooking up to Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power sources. As the number of dead continued to grow on Sunday, so did the questions about the Ghost Ship, the Fruitvale neighborhood conundrum that some described as a mecca for creativity and others saw as a chaotic firetrap run by a man who felt he was above the law and immune from the dangers so obvious to many visitors. On Sunday, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy OMalley assigned a team of investigators to begin looking into the fire. The district attorneys office has activated our criminal investigation team and the arson task force, which is led by our office, and we are working with the local law enforcement effort conducting the criminal investigation into this tragedy, said Teresa Drenick, spokeswoman for the office. Drenick would not comment on the target of the investigation. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf also said city officials, with help from the state Office of Emergency Services, would create a comprehensive record of every interaction the city had with the warehouse. The citys investigation will focus in part on why the building owner, Chor Ng, and primary tenant, Derick Ion Almena, were able to continue to operate the property despite many complaints about code violations. The warehouse was not zoned for residential use, and all the work in the structure had been done without permits, officials said. City Councilman Noel Gallo, whose district includes the warehouse, said the Ghost Ship had been on his radar for several years, and that it had been a running concern for officials. The city received complaints of blight and construction being done without permits at the building on Nov. 13 and sent an inspector to check out the premises on Nov. 17, but the inspector could not get inside. Gallo said he has pressed officials to explain why they never returned to the building after failing to carry out an inspection. That's a good question, and I asked it too, Gallo said. There's no real explanation why we could not get a response. Schaaf also said she didnt know why inspectors had failed to go back to the building and try again to look inside. Residents said they were asked to hide evidence of their living there when the landlord came by. They would stash pillows and bedding and erect a piece of plywood to block a hole in the wall that had been punched through in order to tap into the electricity of the adjacent space. I saw wires sparking all the time, Mack said. There were all kinds of extension cords stuck together. You could always smell something burning. There was always some electrical issue something blowing, something sparking, something burning. Always. Mack said she paid $700 a month in rent, but that some people paid as much as $1,500. People who know Almena said he was an alluring and fascinating character who could also be vulgar and abrasive, and who ultimately alienated everyone who came into his orbit. Court records show that in 2015, Almena was the target of two restraining orders filed by different people, and he himself filed a restraining order against a third person. He also pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property and was sentenced to 36 months probation. Details of the cases were not immediately available. Mariah Benavides, who worked as a nanny for Almena and his wife, Micah Allison, from 2012 to 2013, described them as somewhat organized hoarders. At the time, Almena and Allison lived in a house off Seminary Avenue in East Oakland and earned money throwing parties at various locations, Benavides said. Benavides said she was only 16 when she worked for Almena and Allison, but the couple would leave their three children with her for up to five days at a time. I would stay the night, cook for the kids, bathe them and send them to school, Benavides said. As time wore on the couple stopped paying her, she said, and she quit shortly before they moved into the warehouse in late 2013. When Almena and Allison first moved into what later became the Satya Yuga artist collective, the place had no plumbing, running water or electricity, said Benavides, who stayed in touch with the family and came to visit the following year. The building was much more cluttered and chaotic than the couples former East Oakland house, she said. Roughly 10 tenants lived in stacked RVs and makeshift rooms on the bottom floor, which had no visible windows, she said. Almena and Allison lived upstairs. An improvised staircase made of wooden pallets led up to the second floor, where the couple lived with their children. The police were there every week, Mack said. There was trash everywhere. I had a gun pulled on me, she said. They suck you in, then if you argue with them, they kick you out and keep your stuff. The children showered at the home of a neighbor who would occasionally feed them, Benavides said. They were living off of dollar cheeseburgers and tacos, she said. The couple were unavailable for comment. Other people familiar with the warehouse posted photos on social media of exposed wires dangling from the ceiling and candles strewn throughout the odd menagerie of objects and furniture. Almena built partitions out of pallets standing on edge that he nailed shingles into, said Matt Hummel, a longtime member of Oaklands gallery scene who now heads the citys Cannabis Regulatory Commission. So when you looked at it you saw this beautiful shingled thing, but its literally kindling. And the whole place was built out like that. Nikki Keiber and Carmen Brito, who lived at the warehouse, said they were both in the building at the time of the fire, but were not attending the party. Keiber had been cleaning her space and reorganizing her tools when she stopped to send a text at 11:18 p.m. Friday. A minute later, she said, someone yelled, Fire! She grabbed the fire extinguisher out of her RV kitchen, opened her gate and looked down the hall. I saw 20-foot flames, Keiber said. Trying to fight the blaze with her extinguisher, she said, was like using a squirt gun to put out a fire. Brito said she had planned to go to the party but fell asleep. I woke up around 11 and my room was filled with smoke, like a fog of smoke, she said. People were running and grabbing fire extinguishers and trying to put the flames out. Despite the buildings shortcomings, Brito said, she liked living there. And in the Bay Area housing market, she said, she doesnt have too many choices. Its hard people dont realize how hard it is to try and find somewhere else to live, Brito said. If you make $100 a day, youre competing with tech workers who are making $100 an hour. How do you compete for housing? she added. Ive watched people get pushed further and further out. I got forced out of San Francisco years ago. No one wants to talk about these larger issues, of the thousands of people living in tents. Chronicle staff writers Vivian Ho and Sarah Ravani contributed to this report. Rachel Swan, Evan Sernoffsky and J.K. Dineen are San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com, esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan @EvanSernoffsky and @SFJKdineen This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate If your tap water has tasted a little grimy or moldy lately, you aren't imagining it. Residents all over San Francisco noticed over the weekend that the water coming from their tap had taken on an odd, earthy flavor. Residents posting to Reddit and Next Door termed it "lake water," "funky" and "like chlorine." The culprit is not your beloved Hetch Hetchy water, considered some of the best drinking water in the nation. It's the process that the city uses to blend water from other sources with the Hetch Hetchy water; the process can cause a change in the taste of water as it moved through the pipes to your faucet. "There was a blend change," says San Francisco Public Utilities communication spokesperson Charles Sheehan. "We throttled back, or reduced, the supply from one part of our system and increased the supply from another part of our system. "When you do that you can stir things up and cause a little bit of churn. You can have some very slight taste changes." Sheehan says that, despite some taste changes, residents should have no concerns about the quality of their tap water. It's still perfectly safe to drink. According to Sheehan, tap water blend changes are a common occurrence throughout the year as the city mixes Hetch Hetchy water with water from one of six reservoirs in Alameda and San Mateo counties. San Francisco city tap water is generally around 85 percent Hetch Hetchy water, however. Sheehan notes that the taste changes should dissipate on their own within a few days, if they haven't already. A recent study ranking the top 10 food halls in the country gave a shout-out to San Franciscos very own Ferry Building Marketplace, making it the No. 2 best food hall nationwide. Researchers at Cushman and Wakefield highlighted some of the many restaurants located inside the Ferry Building, including the specialty food purveyors and artisanal suppliers. They found the Ferry Building to be "one of the best examples of a modern food hall in the U.S." DES MOINES, Iowa With the dust now settled from the election, Democrats are looking to rebuild the political blue wall of traditionally Democratic Upper Midwest and Great Lakes states that Republican Donald Trump captured with an appeal to white, working-class voters. Hillary Clintons failure to hold key blocs of these voters helped seal Trumps stunning electoral victory and leaves Democrats with a gaping, perhaps long-term, hole in the partys national battle front. Trump boasted of his accomplishment at a postelection rally in Ohio. The president-elect crowed: We didnt break it, we shattered that sucker. We shattered it, man. That poor wall is busted up. Trump carried Michigan and Pennsylvania, where Democratic nominees had won the previous six presidential elections. Trump also won Wisconsin, carried by Democrats in seven straight tries, and Iowa, carried just once by a Republican over the same period. In each, Trump vastly outperformed 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney in rural areas while also seizing more typically Democratic-voting small cities and working-class suburbs. Should Democratic voting continue to lag behind Republicans in midterm elections, as it did in 2014, the results could be devastating in two years when the party will defend Senate seats in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and try to retake governorships in Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin. Democrats suffered the consequences of apathy and selective amnesia over the past midterms and arrogance over the presidential electorate, said Haley Morris, a senior adviser to Democrat Gary Peters Michigan Senate campaign, among the Democrats few 2014 victories in the region. We got walloped across the Midwest in 2010 and 2014. Democrats had a glimpse of what the results could look like without Barack Obama on the ticket and ignored it. Mark Jefferson, the Republican National Committees Midwest regional political director, said the GOP consistently focused on blue-collar Reagan Democrats, who were heavily trending toward Trump. County-specific, unofficial national voting data tabulated by the Associated Press shows Clinton received fewer votes than Trump in places Democrats had banked on for consecutive elections, and even decades, such as Dubuque County, Iowa. Trump edged Clinton by fewer than 1,000 votes in this northeast Iowa county known for its small-city namesake on the Mississippi River and its once thriving manufacturing economy. Trump became the first Republican to carry Dubuque County since Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. Clintons 22,774 Dubuque County total fell roughly 6,000 fewer short of Obamas 28,768 in 2012, and more than 1,000 behind his 23,791 in 2008. Dubuques Rebecca Thoeni, a lifelong Democrat until recently, said Clinton did not seem to reach out to her or her peers in 2016. Then I saw Donald Trump, and he got out there and showed he was serious about keeping jobs, said Thoeni, who attended a Dubuque Trump rally in January. He explained things in laymans terms. Thats what changed me. Thoenis is a scenario that echoed loudly around the country, where six in 10 white women without college degrees said they voted for Trump, according to exit polls conducted for the Associated Press by Edison Research. The rate was even higher among white, non-college educated men. And it played out in the thousands in Macomb County, Michigan, home to 10 percent of the states voters. After railing for months against the North American Free Trade Agreement, enacted under President Bill Clinton, Trump won Macomb by 48,000 votes. Clinton received 176,238 votes, compared with Obamas 208,016 in 2012 and 223,754 in 2008. In counties decimated by trade deals, decades of talking points dont pay the bills, said Robert Becker, who ran Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders winning campaign for the Michigan Democratic presidential 2016 primary. For the partys future, we have to be honest that the jobs being created in the country arent being created in this part of the country. The pattern held in Wisconsin too, where Trump won fewer votes than Romney did in suburban Milwaukee and where Trumps criticism of Gov. Scott Walker worked against him. However, he carried the state in part by winning places like Racine County, part of a former union-heavy industrial corridor between Milwaukee and Chicago. Trump received about 4,000 votes more than Clinton in Racine County. Clintons 42,506 were more than 10,000 off Obamas 53,008 in 2012 and 53,405 in 2008. In Pennsylvania, Trump similarly won Erie and Luzerne counties, smaller metropolitan areas than sprawling Philadelphia and its suburbs, but with a higher white working-class population and unemployment higher than the state average. Democratic presidential candidates had carried both counties in the past six consecutive elections. Trump beat Clinton in Luzerne County childhood home of Vice President Joe Biden 78,303 to 52,092. In the final weeks, Clinton focused on emerging Democratic states such as Arizona and North Carolina. She lost both. Clinton did not have ties to working-class white voters as strong as those of her husband, who had been governor of Arkansas, said political historian Mary Frances Berry of the University of Pennsylvania. Berry, who has also worked for Democratic candidates, said before the election that Hillary Clinton was not contesting Trump in blue-collar country. The Democratic Party is seen by ordinary, working people as caring about the cultural, managerial and professional elite, she said, not about them. ATLANTA When U.S. Forest Ranger Jody Bandy confronted the man in the Pisgah National Forest, he said hed been at the nearby wildfire and couldnt take it anymore. Then he ran from the officer, tumbling head-over-head down the mountainside, into the river below and slamming into boulders in the water, Bandy said in a court affidavit. After an ambulance took the bleeding man to a hospital, Bandy peered through the front windshield of his pickup and saw what appeared to be a suicide note on the dash, the affidavit says. The Nov. 19 encounter in western North Carolina underscores the toll these wildfires can take on people who live through them. Many survivors need help to cope, and signs of problems such as nightmares, depression and anxiety might not show up for months, said Valerie Cole of the American Red Cross. In some ways, escaping a fire-filled forest as thousands did recently in and around Gatlinburg, Tenn., can be more traumatic than hurricanes, floods or earthquakes, experts say. One reason: Flames spread so rapidly that people had no time to prepare. To have your life turned upside down is much more difficult than if you had time to brace for it, and in this case I dont think people had time to brace for it, said Becky Stoll, vice president of crisis and disaster management at Centerstone, one of the nations largest behavioral health care providers. Then, as residents raced from the woods, they saw orange and red ribbons of fire draped over homes, rolling across mountains. If you can see the flames nearby, thats going to be a visual image thats going to stay with you, said Cole, who helped victims of a devastating 2011 wildfire in Alberta, Canada. Those kinds of images may have long-term consequences, she said. Until Nov. 28, people in and around Gatlinburg went about their daily lives, even as the wildfire burned several miles away in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Then, in one night, everything changed. All of the sudden, its gone. You cant go home. Your homes not there. Your car may not be there. Your health may not be there, said Marie Williams, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. After an earthquake or even a tornado, survivors can often salvage a few things from damaged homes. But when it has burned, and there are only ashes left, you cant, Cole said. In the first few days after a disaster, survivors often go into operational mode and focus on basic needs, so that kind of carries people for a few days, Stoll said. People tend to be thankful theyre alive and grateful for help putting their lives back together, Cole said. Later on six months, nine months down the road thats when people get pretty frustrated, disillusioned, said Cole, who saw this process unfold as she worked with wildfire survivors in Slave Lake, Alberta, slightly larger than Gatlinburg. In May 2011 strong winds from a northern Canadian wildfire suddenly sent flames into Slave Lake, forcing nearly 7,000 people to flee on roads sometimes blocked by smoke and fast-moving fire. The town was basically destroyed, so there was a lot of rebuilding that was going on, but it was taking forever, Cole recalled. People were starting to fight with each other, she said. People were depressed, anxiety levels were high ... That will show up six to nine months later. Experts also know that suicide rates increase after disasters. People might have post-traumatic stress, symptoms like anger, substance abuse, hopelessness, Williams said. All these reactions are normal. After the forest rangers encounter with the distraught man from Hendersonville, N.C., he was charged in federal court with threatening, intimidating, resisting or interfering with a forest officer, and with driving while impaired. He eventually surrendered to Bandy but was bleeding profusely from a head wound, court records show. Bandy arrived at the hospital later and asked to speak with the man. He told Bandy he had planned to end his life with a knife, but the ranger had startled him. In his sworn affidavit, Bandy wrote that as the two spoke, the man told him: You saved my life. JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images CANNON BALL, N.D. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Sunday that it wont grant an easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline in southern North Dakota, handing a victory to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters, who argued the project would threaten a water source and cultural sites. North Dakotas leaders criticized the decision, with Gov. Jack Dalrymple calling it a serious mistake that prolongs the dangerous situation of having several hundred protesters who are camped out on federal land during cold, wintry weather. Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer said its a very chilling signal for the future of infrastructure in the United States. The Pentagon said Sunday that it had sent a Yemeni detainee from the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Cape Verde, the island nation off the west coast of Africa. It was the first transfer from the prison since the election victory last month by Donald Trump, who pledged during the campaign to reverse President Obamas effort to close Guantanamo. The man, Shawki Awad Balzuhair, had been imprisoned without trial for more than 14 years. His departure reduced the detainee population to 59, of whom 20 are recommended for transfer. Defense Secretary Ash Carter recently gave a 30-day notice to Congress that eight detainees on that list would be transferred several weeks from now, according to officials who discussed the notices on the condition of anonymity. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said last week that the Obama administration intended to continue transferring detainees approved for release, in cases in which diplomats can strike appropriate security arrangements, until Trumps inauguration. Thats difficult work, but thats work that weve been doing for almost eight years now, he said. And thats work that will continue at least through January 20th. After that, the president-elects team will have to decide how they want to handle that situation. Military records show that Balzuhair was captured on Sept. 11, 2002, by Pakistani forces who raided guesthouses in Karachi where he and other Arab men were staying. The Pakistanis later turned him over to the U.S. military, which took him to Guantanamo. In the first years of his detention, intelligence officials deemed Balzuhair part of the Karachi Six, which they believed might have been an operational cell of al Qaeda planning terrorist attacks. In 2009, a detainee review task force made up of six agencies said he could not be tried but deemed him too dangerous to release. Intelligence officials, however, later downgraded their assessment of Balzuhair, according to a report prepared for his appearance before a parole-like review board made up of the same six agencies. It said he was probably just trying to go home to Yemen at the time of his arrest and that the Karachi Six label had been exaggerated. The report summarized him as a low-level Yemeni militant who traveled to Afghanistan in mid-2001, received basic training at an al Qaeda camp, and served on the front lines before 9/11 in the Talibans civil war against the Northern Alliance. He then fled to Pakistan after the United States began bombing Afghanistan in response to the terrorist attacks. One of Obamas first acts as president in 2009 was to issue an executive order saying the Guantanamo prison would be closed within a year. Congress has effectively blocked his plan. CHARLESTON, S.C. A South Carolina judge declared a mistrial Monday after a jury deadlocked in the murder trial of a white former police officer charged in the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist. Cell phone video taken by a bystander that showed Walter Scott, 50, being shot in the back five times by Michael Slager was shown widely in the media and on the Internet and shocked the country, inflaming the national debate about how blacks are treated by law enforcement officers. A panel of one black and 11 white jurors who had seemed close to a verdict to convict on Friday, with apparently only one holdout said Monday they were unable to reach a unanimous decision after deliberating more than 22 hours over four days. Prosecutors said they intend to retry Slager, who also faces a trial in federal court next year on charges of depriving Scott of his civil rights. Former patrolman Slager, 35, was charged with murder in the April 4, 2015, shooting of Scott. The presiding judge had said the jury could also consider a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. After the video went public, Slager was fired by the police department and charged with murder. Scotts family called for peace in the North Charleston community. Their calls for calm are believed to have helped prevent the kind of violence that erupted elsewhere when black men were killed in encounters with law enforcement. Its the second time in recent weeks a jury has deadlocked in an officer-involved shooting. A mistrial was declared Nov. 12 when a jury in Cincinnati couldnt reach a verdict in the case of a former campus police officer who was also charged with shooting a black motorist. Scotts mother and brother said outside the courthouse that justice will eventually prevail. Scotts family also called for peaceful protests. Were not going to tear up this city, said Scotts brother, Anthony. Were not happy. But were not sad. Scott was pulled over for having a broken taillight on his 1990 Mercedes and then fled the car. Family members have said he may have run because he was $18,000 behind on child support. 1 Destructive blaze: Investigators tried to determine Sunday what caused a huge fire that ripped through a Boston-area neighborhood the day before, displacing as many as 80 people but miraculously resulting in no serious injuries or deaths. The 10-alarm fire Saturday in Cambridge destroyed or damaged 15 structures. Some first responders suffered minor injuries. Fire crews were assessing the structural integrity of the buildings Sunday and still hosing down hot spots. 2 Pump prices: The average price of a gallon of regular grade gasoline is unchanged nationally over the past two weeks, holding steady at $2.20 a gallon. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that refiners have had little time to react to last weeks announcement of a cut in output by major oil-producing countries. Many retailers have yet to see big price increases. Lindberg said to expect higher prices after OPECs decision to cut production. Gas in San Diego was the highest in the continental United States at $2.69 a gallon on average, while the low average was in Houston at $1.91 a gallon. IOWA CITY, Iowa Firearms enthusiasts who embraced Donald Trumps campaign and his full-throated support of the Second Amendment are expecting a sweeping expansion of gun rights under his administration and a Congress firmly in Republican hands. Among their priorities: eliminating gun-free zones at schools, reducing requirements for background checks and ensuring that concealed carry handgun permits from one state are recognized everywhere in the U.S. This is our historic moment to go on offense and to defeat the forces that have aligned against our freedom once and for all, Wayne LaPierre, chief executive of the National Rifle Association, said in a video after the Nov. 8 election. The individual right to carry a firearm in defense of our lives and our families does not and should not end at any state line. In pursuing their agenda, the gun lobby and its GOP supporters could find themselves at odds with two other tenets of Republican orthodoxy: states rights and local control. It would be ironic to see conservatives who long have professed a belief in states rights override states choices in this area, said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Irvine School of Law. One of the NRAs paramount goals is getting Congress to pass a law requiring all states to recognize concealed-carry handgun permits issued by any other state. Currently, many permit holders must leave their weapons at home when traveling or risk violating other states laws. NRA supporters say permits should be treated like drivers licenses. Trump endorsed the idea during the campaign, but it is likely to face intense opposition from Democrats in states with tight gun restrictions, including California and the president-elects home state of New York. Many law enforcement organizations warn the change would mean encountering more guns during traffic stops and in tourist areas. They also say there is no way to easily check the validity of an out-of-state firearm permit because there is no nationwide database. Chemerinsky and another expert who studies gun law, UCLA professor Eugene Volokh, said Congress probably doesnt have the constitutional authority to order states to recognize concealed carry permits from elsewhere. But they said Congress could encourage states to do so by threatening to withhold law enforcement and homeland security funding. Even without Congress, Trump can immediately undo President Obamas executive actions on guns. Among other things, Obama put sellers on notice last year that they have to conduct background checks even when doing business at gun shows or through the internet and that failing to do so routinely would be a crime. WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump doubled down on his threat against U.S. businesses that send jobs abroad on Sunday, declaring it an expensive mistake and warning of a huge tax if companies try to sell foreign-made goods in the U.S. Trump said he would impose a 35 percent tariff on goods produced overseas as he encouraged businesses to consider looking for better deals by moving state to state. The tax would make leaving financially difficult, Trump also said in Twitter posts. These companies are able to move between all 50 states, with no tax or tariff being charged. Trump will make decisions about companies that might move jobs on a day-to-day basis, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said on ABCs This Week. But neither Trump nor Pence provided clarity about what tariffs Trump might try to impose, on his own or with Congress, or how he would apply them. The elliptical announcement follows a week in which Trump bragged about his ability to persuade U.S. corporations to reconsider moving jobs abroad. Trump traveled to Indiana last week to mark the decision by Carrier, a heating and cooling manufacturer, to keep roughly half the 2,000 jobs it was planning to move to Mexico. Carriers impending move was a key talking point during Trumps campaign for president, and during his visit to the plant, Trump celebrated his influence in the decision. Carrier also won $7 million in incentives from the state, drawing concerns from critics about whether Trump had actually demonstrated how companies might extort benefits from state and local officials by threatening to move jobs out of the country. But Pence characterized the process more as an act of diplomacy that Trump had initiated. The euro dropped to a 20-month low on Monday in Asia as investors assessed the implications of the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi after he suffered a humiliating defeat in a referendum over constitutional reforms. Asian shares held in negative territory on Monday with Australia's ASX 200 (^AXJO) closed down 0.8 percent or 43.62 points at 5,400.4. Elsewhere, the NZX 50 (New Zealand Stock Exchange: .NZ50C) ended down 0.726 percent or 50.14 points at 6,854.71 after Prime Minister John Key made a surprise announcement that he would resign, citing it as "the right time" as he would not seek a fourth term. The New Zealand dollar (Exchange:NZD=) was weaker against the dollar at 0.7107 as of 1:30 pm HK/SIN, near a session low against the dollar of 0.7070. Chinese shares were lower as the long-awaited Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect launched today, which will give mainland investors access to Hong Kong-listed stocks, and allow international investors to trade Shenzhen-listed stocks. The Shenzhen composite (Dow Jones Global Indexes: .DJSZ) slipped 0.783 percent or 16.32 points at 2,068.17, but technology stocks bucked the trend to trade higher. Dongxu Optoelectronic Technology was up 3.62 percent at 13.47 yuan per share, while Shenzhen O-film Tech was up 6.45 percent at 37.49 yuan a share. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: .HSI) index was down 0.75 percent by mid-afternoon. The Shanghai composite (Shanghai Stock Exchange: .SSEC) shed 1.2 percent or 38.9 points at 3,204.95 after China securities regulator chairman Liu Shiyu called company buy-outs by some asset managers "barbaric" on Saturday. Taiwan's benchmark Taiex closed down 0.31 percent or 28.83 points at 9,160.66. The east Asian country generated headlines over the weekend after Donald Trump tweeted that the Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen had given him a congratulatory phone call . The conversation might have been viewed by China as a change in U.S. foreign policy, as it considers Taiwan a breakaway province. As well on Sunday, Trump has lashed out again at China , accusing Beijing of manipulating its currency, unfairly taxing U.S. products and militarizing the South China Sea. Story continues In Japan, the Nikkei 225 (Nihon Keizai Shinbun: .N225) closed down 0.82 percent or 151.09 points at 18,274.99 while South Korea's Kospi (Korea Stock Exchange: .KS11) ended down 0.37 percent 7.25 points at 1,963.36. On the European news front, Renzi said Monday Asian time that Italian voters had shown a clear rejection of legislative reform and that he would meet with his cabinet on Monday and then hand in his resignation to the President Sergio Mattarella. "The risks by Italy's 'no' vote was about the potential for political instability and the possibility of an election in Italy rather than with any missed opportunity for long term constitutional reform," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, in a note on Monday. "The real concern for markets is whether this situation may ultimately lead to election of the 5-Star Movement whose policy is to hold a referendum on whether Italy should remain in the euro zone. While it is unclear whether Italy can actually leave, the potential for a referendum like this would see significant risk premium built in to markets," he added. The common currency fell against the dollar to trade at 1.0563 as of 2:56 pm HK/SIN and touched a two-year low at $1.0505 earlier. Against the yen (Exchange:EURJPY=), the euro fetched 119.88, compared to 120.8 levels seen last week. As for the euro's action after exit polls pointed to a significant "No" victory, Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, said he saw the currency as testing an old low from a few weeks ago but not necessarily indicating a major slide. "We've made a marginal new low, but it held 1.05 and things look stable," he said, adding that the fall took place "in very thin Asian trading." The dollar index (New York Board of Trade (Futures): =USD), which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, traded 0.55 percent higher at 101.32. The Italian referendum outcome is "one more for the U.S. dollar, and one more for the short-euro trade," said Taimug Baig, chief economist at Deutsche Bank, in a CNBC interview. During Asian trade, U.S. crude futures were trading down 1.08 percent at $51.12 a barrel while Brent futures shed 1.01 percent at $53.91. U.S. crude futures rose 12 percent for the week ending December 2, its biggest weekly gain since 2011, while Brent futures gained 15 percent last week, its largest gain since 2009. Last Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average (Dow Jones Global Indexes: .DJI) finished down 0.11 percent at 19,170.42, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) closed 0.04 percent higher at 2,191.95 and the Nasdaq (^IXIC) composite finished up 0.09 percent at 5,255.65. The U.S. released nonfarm payrolls last Friday which showed the economy added 178,000 in November, with unemployment rate falling to 4.6 percent, compared to a Reuters poll expecting a gain of just 175,000 with unemployment rate holding at 4.9 percent. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. Thanks to the efforts of Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, a recount is underway in Wisconsin. It is highly unlikely to change the outcome - as Hillary Clinton's campaign has stated - but it is much more likely to overturn some conventional wisdom about counting votes. In particular, we may learn, yet again, that computers are better than humans at counting ballots. Wisconsin's most recent experience with a statewide recount provides some useful background for the current recount. In 2011, David Prosser ran against JoAnne Kloppenburg for a seat on the state supreme court. After the initial count, Prosser was 7,316 votes ahead of Kloppenburg, out of 1.5 million votes cast. Kloppenburg demanded and received a recount. The recount added votes to both candidate's total, although more to Kloppenburg's. Ultimately, Prosser won by 7,004 votes. This is a tiny change. Another way to think about it is to take the absolute difference between the number of votes for a candidate in the original count and in the recount. The absolute difference means it didn't matter whether the candidate gained or lost votes in the recount. For instance, if Candidate Smith received 100 votes in the original count and 102 votes in the recount, the discrepancy would be 2 percent. It would also be 2 percent if the candidate had 98 votes in the recount. Based on that calculation, the discrepancy between the initial count and the recount in the 2011 race was 0.18 percent. It would take a much larger discrepancy - at least 0.80 percent in Clinton's favor, and more likely greater than 7 percent - to change the outcome in Wisconsin and award its electoral votes to her. (Below we show the basis of this calculation.) Even still, winning Wisconsin would not be enough for her to win the electoral college. For many advocating a recount in Wisconsin, a primary concern is that computers were involved in counting at least some of the ballots. In 2016, 90 percent of all votes were cast in municipalities that used computerized optical scanners to count votes. It seems obvious that we should be more skeptical of machines that count ballots than humans who count ballots. But the evidence suggests that machines actually do a better job. Recounts help us study the accuracy of the methods that provided the initial - and often only - vote count in an election. If the recount is a fully accurate vote count, then we can use it to gauge the accuracy of the original count. Better yet, if we have one set of ballots that were originally counted by hand and another set of paper ballots counted by computer scanners, then we can assess the accuracy of the two methods. In the only study we know of, political scientists Stephen Ansolabehere and Andrew Reeves examined every recount in New Hampshire from 1946 to 2002. From 1946 to 1962, when New Hampshire had only hand-counted paper ballots, the average discrepancy between the original count and recount was 0.83 percent. In 2002, when there were recounts in six New Hampshire races, the discrepancy was 2.5 percent in races in which the ballots were originally hand-counted, but only 0.6 percent in races in which they were machine-counted. Closer scrutiny revealed a race in one town, Bradford, where the hand-counting had gone terribly wrong. According to an interview with a state official, the team that was hand-counting votes in Bradford for one particular state legislative race decided to knock off for the night and never resumed counting the next day. Removing Bradford's data reduced the average discrepancy in hand-counted jurisdictions to 0.87 percent, but this is still higher than the discrepancy in races with machine-counted ballots. The same finding emerges in Wisconsin. When we analyzed the 2011 Wisconsin recount, we found that the average discrepancy for scanner-counted paper ballots was 0.17 percent, compared with 0.28 percent for hand-counted paper. In other words, both methods are highly accurate, but scanners are slightly more so. Why would scanners be superior? As the Bradford story illustrates, scanners don't get tired or bored as easily as humans do. Human counters also feel pressure to get the job done quickly and accurately, which creates stress that machines do not feel. Of course, even if scanners are more accurate on average, this won't always be true. A machine that malfunctions could cause a big discrepancy. Human error can also occur when scanners are used. In the 2011 Wisconsin recount, the jurisdiction with the greatest discrepancy between the original count and the recount was the town of Larrabee, which recorded 322 total votes on election night and 391 (69 more) in the recount. The reason is that on election night the results from one of the town's scanners were not written down on the tally sheet that was sent to the county clerk. Thus, the problem was not with the scanner but with the procedure to transfer the results from the scanner to the paper report form. Of course, past patterns may not apply to this recount. And regardless of the recount's outcome, we believe it is valuable to scrutinize the accuracy of vote-counting. The big downside in Wisconsin is that a full recount takes a lot of time and resources. This is actually a good reason to favor what are called "risk-limiting audits" rather than statewide recounts to verify election results when there is no hard evidence of widespread fraud or malfeasance. Risk-limiting audits, advocated by mathematicians such as Philip Stark and Ron Rivest, use a small number of randomly selected ballots to test whether the original vote count most probably called the correct winner. But with a full recount underway regardless, all eyes will be focused on Wisconsin for the next few weeks. We should expect three things: the recount will discover only small discrepancies between the election night totals; both methods of counting ballots - hand and scanners - will prove highly accurate; and scanners will be more accurate than humans. --- Stephen Ansolabehere is professor of government at Harvard University. Barry C. Burden is the Lyons Family Chair in Electoral Politics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and director of its Elections Research Center. Kenneth R. Mayer is professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Charles Stewart III is Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Political Science at MIT and co-director of the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project. Our estimates of how large of a discrepancy is needed to change the Wisconsin outcome are based on the following. Clinton currently trails Trump by 22,177 votes. If the recount revealed only 22,178 new votes for Clinton and none for Trump, she would win by one vote. There are currently 1,404,000 votes for Trump and 1,381,823 for Clinton. The calculation then is (22,178 + 0)/(1,404,000+1,381,823) = 0.80 percent. More likely, however, both Trump and Clinton would gain votes. Let's say that Clinton got 55 percent of the new votes uncovered in the recount. Then, to get a net 22,178 new votes for Clinton, Wisconsin would have to uncover 199,594 new votes - for 110,886 for Clinton and 88,708 for Trump. This works out to a discrepancy of 7.2 percent. --- H.L. Mencken said "Democracy is the art of running the circus from the monkey cage." Here at The Monkey Cage, we talk about political science research and use it to make some sense of the circus that is politics. Barry C. Burden Stephen Ansolabehere Kenneth R. Mayer Charles Stewart III This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SACRAMENTO Contra Costa County District Attorney Mark Peterson has agreed to pay a $45,000 fine levied by the states Fair Political Practices Commission over allegations he used his political campaign account for personal expenses. Over a four-year period, Peterson spent more than $66,000 in campaign funds on himself, according to a settlement agreement with the commission that was made public Monday. Peterson submitted a cashiers check to pay the fine, according to the settlement agreement, but the watchdogs board has to approve the settlement at its next board meeting Dec. 15. State law requires the fine to be paid from Petersons private funds, not his campaign accounts. The fine would go into the states general fund if the commissions board approves of the settlement. Although I have fully reimbursed the committee for all of the personal expenditures, I make no excuses, Peterson said in a statement. I am humbled and embarrassed by my mistakes, for which I take full responsibility, and I apologize for my regrettable errors. The commissions investigators found Peterson used $66,000 in campaign funds for personal use between 2011 and 2015 on meals, gas, clothes, movie tickets, hotels, phone bills, cash withdraws and other expenses. He also transferred money from the political account to his personal bank account, according to the settlement. State law requires that campaign funds be used for a political, legislative or governmental purpose. In all, Peterson made approximately 600 expenditures from the political account for his personal use. Those transactions were not recorded on the political committees statements, nor were the reimbursements Peterson was making to the committee. Peterson contends that he considered the expenditures a loan from the Committee and that he always intended to repay the Committee, according to the settlement. Peterson reimbursed the political account for about half of what he spent between 2011-2015, but not all of it was paid back until he was told his political account would be audited by the Franchise Tax Board in October 2015. After he was notified of the audit, Peterson reimbursed the campaign $33,000, according to the commission investigation. After Peterson was notified of the audit, Peterson called the Fair Political Practices Commission and admitted to making personal expenditures with campaign funds between 2011 and 2015, according to the settlement. Peterson was elected District Attorney for Contra Costa County in 2010 and re-elected to the post in 2014. He served as treasurer of his campaign committee until December 2015, when he hired a professional to oversee the committees books. The commission also announced Monday a settlement with eBay for late filings required under the law for the companys lobbying. If the commissions board approves of the settlement, eBay agreed to pay a $6,500 fine. Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez TOKYO Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Pearl Harbor with President Obama at the end of this month, becoming the first leader of his country to go to the site of the Japanese attack that propelled the United States into World War II. Mondays unexpected announcement came two days before the 75th anniversary of the attack and six months after Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the memorial in Hiroshima for victims of the U.S. atomic bombing of that city at the end of the same war. SANTIAGO, Cuba A wooden box containing Fidel Castros ashes was placed by his brother and successor Sunday into the side of a granite boulder that has become Cubas only official monument to the charismatic rebel who seized control of a U.S.-allied Caribbean island and transformed it into a western outpost of Soviet-style communism that he ruled with absolute power for almost half a century. The private ceremony was attended by members of Castros family, the ruling Politburo of the single-party system he founded, and Latin American leaders who installed closely allied leftist governments in Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Brazil. After nine days of fervent national mourning and wall-to-wall homages to Castro on state-run media, the government barred independent coverage of the funeral, releasing a handful of photos and brief descriptions of the ceremony. The ceremony began early Sunday when the military caravan bearing Castros remains in a flag-draped cedar coffin left the Plaza of the Revolution in the eastern city of Santiago. Thousands of people lined the two-mile route to Santa Ifigenia cemetery, waving Cuban flags and shouting Long live Fidel! The ashes were delivered to Castros younger brother and successor, President Raul Castro, who wore his olive generals uniform as he placed the remains into a niche in the enormous gray boulder that will serve as his tomb. The niche was sealed with a green marble plaque emblazed with the name Fidel in gold letters. The tomb stands to the side of a memorial to the rebel soldiers killed in an attack that Castro led on Santiagos Moncada barracks on July 26, 1953, and in front of the mausoleum of Cuban national hero Jose Marti. The decision to keep the final farewell private came the morning after Raul Castro announced that Cuba would prohibit the naming of streets and monuments after his brother and bar the construction of statues of the former leader and revolutionary icon. The leader of the revolution rejected any manifestation of a cult of personality and was consistent in that through the last hours of his life, insisting that, once dead, his name and likeness would never be used on institutions, streets, parks or other public sites, and that busts, statutes or other forms of tribute would never be erected, Raul Castro told a huge crowd gathered in the eastern city of Santiago. He said Cubas National Assembly will vote in its next session on the law fulfilling the wishes of his brother, who died Nov. 25 at 90. The legislature generally holds a meeting in December, and under Cubas single-party system, parliament unanimously or near-unanimously approves every government proposal. MAKHMUR, Iraq The sand berms and trenches that snake across northern Iraq stretch toward Syria, some accompanied by newly paved roads lit by street lamps and sprawling checkpoints decked with Kurdish flags. The fighters here insist it isnt the border of a newly independent state but in the chaos of Iraq that could change. Construction began in 2014, when this marked the front line between U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, known as the peshmerga, and the Islamic State group, which had swept across northern Iraq that summer, routing the army and threatening the Kurdish autonomous region. Since then, a more permanent boundary has taken shape as Kurdish aspirations for outright independence have grown. The frontier could mark the fault-line of a new conflict in Iraq once the extremists are defeated. A similar process is under way in Syria, where Syrian Kurdish forces have seized large swathes of land from Islamic State. It was our front line, now its our border, and we will stay forever, said peshmerga commander and business magnate Sirwan Barzani. He is among a growing number of Kurdish leaders, including his uncle, the Kurdish regions President Massoud Barzani, who say that lands taken from the militants will remain in Kurdish hands. The Kurds have been in conflict with the Baghdad government over the disputed territories lands stretching across northern and eastern Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution says their fate should be decided by a referendum, but such a vote has yet to be held, and as the Iraqi army collapsed in 2014, the Kurds moved in. They took control of the long-disputed northern city of Kirkuk that summer, ostensibly to protect it from Islamic State. Since then, with the aid of U.S.-led air strikes, the Kurds have taken territory equivalent to 50 percent of their recognized autonomous region. After the defeat of IS, Sunnis will dispute the Kurdish claims, the Shiites in Baghdad will dispute both the Sunni claims and the Kurdish claims, said Anwar Anaid, dean of social sciences at the University of Kurdistan Hewler. There is a real Kurdish wish to go for independence. Peshmerga commander Aref Taymour said that once Islamic State is driven from the northern city of Mosul, the Kurds will negotiate a new border with Baghdad. But he added that lands that have been liberated by blood, we have no intention to give them back to the federal government. The Baghdad government is staunchly opposed to Kurdish independence, and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says he expects the Kurds to abide by an agreement that they withdraw from areas captured since the start of the Mosul operation in October. Christophe Ena/Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands Another crisis looms in an already shook-up European Union. Italian voters rocked Europes boat more this weekend than Austrian voters were able to steady it. With its shaky banks and massive economy, Italy is now in the throes of energized populists who are no friends of EU leaders in Brussels. And the storm isnt over yet: Europes unity and common currency face growing uncertainty in a raft of upcoming elections, notably in the Netherlands and France, where the far-right looms large. And like Italy, both are founding nations that were at the cradle of the EU in the 1950s. By Fiona Rotherham Dec. 5 (BusinessDesk) - The High Court has dismissed a challenge by a lobby group against the governments plans to sell 1124 state houses in Tauranga to a private provider. Lobby group State Housing Action argued in the High Court at Wellington that the proposed transfer of the Housing Corporation properties was illegal because the ministers hadnt considered a transfer contract as they were required to do. Its other argument was that Finance Minister Bill English and Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett hadnt taken into account relevant matters and that the decision to sell was irrational. But in a judgment published today, Justice Simon France said there was no basis to say the ministers decision was an unreasonable exercise of statutory power. It is a decision with which the plaintiff disagrees because it reflects a policy choice the plaintiff rejects. However, as has often been said, policy is for the Minister, not the Courts, he said. The legal challenge failed because it had insufficient regard to the statutory scheme which allows the ministers to make the decision they have, he said. In February this year the Housing Corporation Act was amended to insert a new part allowing sale of Housing New Zealand properties to other social housing providers who then have to make them available to social housing tenants. It wants to see about 2000 of 64,000 Housing NZ properties move to social housing providers but the Tauranga deal with IHC-owned Accessible Properties is the only one to proceed so far. SHA told the court that the precedent-setting Tauranga deal represented the sale of $200 million worth of state assets. The court judgement said the purchase price will be less than the apparent market value because of the limitations put on the purchaser, including a fixed rent negotiated with the Ministry of Social Development and the Crown retaining an investment in the properties. Justice France said in his view, a considerable portion of the plaintiffs evidence was not properly admissible with much of it opinion evidence from persons not qualified as experts to give such evidence. (BusinessDesk) BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: ATM - FDA approval to supply infant milk formula to United States Steel & Tube - Adopts ESG World Platform BGP - 3rd Quarter Sales to 30 October 2022 GEO - Quarterly Operating Update SUM - Andrea Scown to join Summerset as Future Director CCC - Admission to Trading on Aquis Stock Exchange November 3rd Morning Report Air New Zealand issues Performance Rights Heartland announces new Director of Heartland Bank GEN - Agreements in Principle to Issue New Shares The Commerce Commission intends to lay criminal charges under the Fair Trading Act against three unnamed companies following its investigation into seismic steel mesh, while Fletcher Building's steel division has been given a warning. The commission is still investigating several other companies, it said, and hasn't named the three companies, giving them the opportunity to seek name suppression. The investigation started in August 2015 after a complaint was laid about the steel mesh, which is used in housing and driveway construction, not meeting the standards required in New Zealand. This year the commission ordered NZX-listed Steel & Tube Holdings, Euro Corp and Brilliance Steel to stop selling their steel mesh products. The stops placed on Euro Corp and Brilliance Steel have been lifted. Timber King, based in Mt Wellington, was also under investigation as of April, after testing indicated 500E grade steel mesh it sold mightn't comply with the standard. The commission said it will allege the companies misrepresented that their mesh complied with the standard, and aims to file criminal charges under the FTA in early 2017, but as its investigations are ongoing it won't comment further. It has previously said that misrepresenting a product as complying with the standard when it doesn't is a breach of the act for which companies can be fined up to $600,000 per offence. Steel mesh used in residential buildings is required to have 10 percent ductility under tighter rules brought in after the Canterbury earthquakes. Fletcher has been given a warning over 19 batches of its 500E product, as its retesting wasn't conducted in line with the standard's requirements and its quality data had some values lower than required by the standard. However, the commission said it was satisfied the mesh "had the strength and ductility required by the standard and was, therefore, comfortable in restricting its response to a warning letter." United Steel has been sent compliance advice after retesting deficiencies in two batches of mesh, the commission said. It closed its enquiry into United Steel in April after the company provided it with information about its testing procedures and long-term quality testing data, showing its mesh complied with the standard. The company didn't need to re-test the mesh as it complied with the standard, but re-testing has to be done in line with the standard, the commission said. Steel & Tube admitted selling "many thousands of sheets" of earthquake reinforcing mesh incorrectly labelled as being independently certified after it used the logo of accredited independent testing laboratory Holmes Solutions on its steel mesh for four years despite it not having carried out the tests. Steel & Tubes in-house laboratory, which is not independently accredited by national accreditation body IANZ, had been used to test the mesh. The commission said in April that it was continuing to investigate whether Steel & Tube had breached the Fair Trading Act, and the company cut its guidance in May. Steel & Tube was not immediately available for comment. An updated testing regime for steel mesh will come into force on May 30, 2017. The changes include increasing the number of samples which need to be tested, clarifying how testing is done and requiring testing to be done in internationally accredited laboratories. BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: ATM - FDA approval to supply infant milk formula to United States Steel & Tube - Adopts ESG World Platform BGP - 3rd Quarter Sales to 30 October 2022 GEO - Quarterly Operating Update SUM - Andrea Scown to join Summerset as Future Director CCC - Admission to Trading on Aquis Stock Exchange November 3rd Morning Report Air New Zealand issues Performance Rights Heartland announces new Director of Heartland Bank GEN - Agreements in Principle to Issue New Shares Five men have been ordered by the High Court at Auckland to pay a total $105,000 for their roles in a price-fixing agreement over cattle tagging. Nigel Thorpe, Donald Baines, Douglas Cartridge and Andrew Clark are all current or former members of PGG Wrightson's National Animal Identification and Tracing Act team, while the fifth man, Stuart Chapman was the managing director of Elders Rural Holdings at the time. The Commerce Commission said the men admitted to working with other members of the New Zealand Stock and Station Agents Association to charge farmers a minimum fee of $25 for the tagging of cattle, or $10 for calves, if the animals didn't have the ear tag on arrival at the sale yard as required after the introduction of the National Animal Identification and Tracing Act 2012 (NAIT). All admitted wrongdoing and settled with the commission. As well as the penalties, they must each pay $5,000 in costs. The Commerce Commission launched an investigation into livestock companies fees relating to the implementation of NAIT after receiving a complaint from a Northland farmer in 2012. Last year PGG Wrightson and Rural Livestock were fined a total of $2.7 million and $475,000 respectively in separate penalty hearings in the High Court at Auckland for price fixing and PGG Wrightson also paid $50,000 towards the commission's investigation costs. Court proceedings against Elders are ongoing. The investigation found association members entered into three anti-competitive agreements to set fees when the act took effect in July 2012, including the tagging fee, a radio frequency identification device administration fee of $1.50 per head of cattle to register sale yard-based movements, and increasing existing yard fees by $1.50 per head of cattle. BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: ATM - FDA approval to supply infant milk formula to United States Steel & Tube - Adopts ESG World Platform BGP - 3rd Quarter Sales to 30 October 2022 GEO - Quarterly Operating Update SUM - Andrea Scown to join Summerset as Future Director CCC - Admission to Trading on Aquis Stock Exchange November 3rd Morning Report Air New Zealand issues Performance Rights Heartland announces new Director of Heartland Bank GEN - Agreements in Principle to Issue New Shares By Edwin Mitson & Sophie Boot Dec. 5 (BusinessDesk) - Opposition leader Andrew Little has praised John Key's contribution to the government of New Zealand, but warned his successor that Labour is "ready to go" whoever is appointed. Key stepped down as prime minister in a surprise announcement this lunchtime, citing family reasons. He'll be replaced at a caucus meeting next Monday, with Finance Minister Bill English the favourite to get the role. Little acknowledged Key's contribution to government and the impact of the role on the prime minister's family. "I know it's a tough gig and it's tough on families too," he told media at a hastily called briefing at Parliament. He responded to Key's success with National, which saw the former financial trader win three consecutive elections starting in 2008, when he ended Helen Clark's winning run, "He has certainly had a lot of support, that's acknowledged." Little is the fifth Labour leader Key faced as National leader, having seen off Clark, Phil Goff, David Shearer and David Cunliffe. Labour won the Mt Roskill by-election at the weekend by a better margin than many pundits had expected, although Key had played down the result. Little said his party was ready for the coming general election, a vote that those in and around the Beehive had anticipated would take place on Sep 23 next year. "We have been preparing for 2017 for some time. The economic numbers are looking good, but there are people who are being left out, being left behind," Little said. "There are still major challenges New Zealand still has to grapple with, rising homelessness, rising crime rate and education. (BusinessDesk) BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: ATM - FDA approval to supply infant milk formula to United States Steel & Tube - Adopts ESG World Platform BGP - 3rd Quarter Sales to 30 October 2022 GEO - Quarterly Operating Update SUM - Andrea Scown to join Summerset as Future Director CCC - Admission to Trading on Aquis Stock Exchange November 3rd Morning Report Air New Zealand issues Performance Rights Heartland announces new Director of Heartland Bank GEN - Agreements in Principle to Issue New Shares Bapcor raised its takeover offer for Hellaby Holdings to $3.60 a share from $3.30, bringing it into the independent valuation range and winning increased acceptances from the Accident Compensation Corp and drawing in other institutional investors to lift total support for its proposal to 40 percent. Bapcor chief executive Darryl Abotomey said his company won't increase the cash offer again. Our discussions with various parties indicated that $3.60, which is within Grant Samuels independent advisers valuation range, would be the trigger point for them to accept our offer," Abotomey said in a statement. "When Hellabys head office costs are included in the valuation, as we believe they should be, $3.60 is near the top of an adjusted range of $3.18 to $3.64 per Hellaby share." Hellaby's independent valuation from Grant Samuel was $3.60-to-$4.12 a share, published on Nov. 1, and Hellaby had said the original offer from Bapcor under-valued the business, especially the automotive unit that Bapcor is interested in. Bapcor countered that the valuation didn't include Hellaby's corporate head office costs but it failed in a request to the Takeovers Panel to look into alleged breaches of the Takeovers Code by Hellaby. Bapcor extended the closing date for the offer to Jan. 18 from Dec. 20, while the last date that Bapcor could declare the offer unconditional was pushed out to Feb. 1 from Jan. 3. Last week Hellaby's largest shareholder, Castle Investments, said Bapcor's offer was "compelling" and in trying to fend off the approach, the diversified investor has overstated its prospects and its independent valuation has omitted some costs. Castle, owned by the Hugh Green Trust, holds 27.2 percent of Hellaby and along with Salt Funds Management had entered a "pre-bid lock-up agreement" with Bapcor and accepted the offer. ACC initially only accepted the offer for some of its shares and has now agreed to sell its entire holding. The takeover is a play for Hellaby's auto parts business and Bapcor has said it will sell the target company's equipment, resources and footwear businesses if successful. Hellaby shares last traded at $3.20 and have gained 6.7 percent this year. The stock has gained about 31 percent in the past five years, while the S&P/NZX 50 Index has gained 110 percent. BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: ATM - FDA approval to supply infant milk formula to United States Steel & Tube - Adopts ESG World Platform BGP - 3rd Quarter Sales to 30 October 2022 GEO - Quarterly Operating Update SUM - Andrea Scown to join Summerset as Future Director CCC - Admission to Trading on Aquis Stock Exchange November 3rd Morning Report Air New Zealand issues Performance Rights Heartland announces new Director of Heartland Bank GEN - Agreements in Principle to Issue New Shares By Edwin Mitson A National government under a new leader may be more willing to lift the age of eligibility for New Zealand Superannuation, economists said after John Key announced he will step down as prime minister next week. "The fiscal viability of current NZ Superannuation would potentially be more open to debate, as John Key has long said he would resign rather than change the current scheme," ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said in a note. Key said a new leader would be elected by the party caucus on Dec 12 and he will vote for his current deputy Bill English if he is put forward. Key cited family reasons for his decision to go. He said in all likelihood, he would not want to serve a fourth term as PM. Labour leader Andrew Little told the media he would not consider raising the NZ Super age beyond 65. "I want to make sure NZ Super is there for all future generations. I come from a background of representing working people, the idea of lifting the age is a step too far for many peoples." Little praised Key for his contribution to government. "Labour is ready and willing to contest the 2017 general election. We will present a credible choice for people and look forward to the opportunity to contest the election on our values and vision for New Zealand. Economists at ASB said the implications for the NZ economy for the remainder of the current parliamentary term "are quite minimal," arguing the senior leaders of the government are likely to remain broadly unchanged. "It is possible that business confidence will dip slightly in the short term, and the usual pre-election slowdown of business investment decisions may be larger than normal," he added. The NZX50 was trading at 6,906 prior to the unexpected news, falling to as low as 6,879, a drop of 0.4 percent. A short while ago it was trading at 6,880. The NZ dollar fell from 71.13 US cents to a low of 70.76 cents in response to Key's announcement. It's currently trading at 70.79 cents. (BusinessDesk) BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: ATM - FDA approval to supply infant milk formula to United States Steel & Tube - Adopts ESG World Platform BGP - 3rd Quarter Sales to 30 October 2022 GEO - Quarterly Operating Update SUM - Andrea Scown to join Summerset as Future Director CCC - Admission to Trading on Aquis Stock Exchange November 3rd Morning Report Air New Zealand issues Performance Rights Heartland announces new Director of Heartland Bank GEN - Agreements in Principle to Issue New Shares By Fiona Rotherham Dec. 5 (BusinessDesk) - Synthase Biotech, set up last year to commercialise a plant-based enzyme that stops fats going rancid, has raised $800,000 in its first external capital raising. The Waikato-based company is initially targeting artificial insemination for the global dairy industry. Its trademarked enzyme Aloxsyn has been shown to extend the life of fresh and frozen sperm, improving the ability of cows to conceive. Aloxsyn is a platform technology and the startup also plans to apply it to beef cattle, pigs, and horses, and eventually humans. Feasibility studies have also begun on extending the shelf-life of high-value export foods and other uses include longer storage of human organs and tissues prior to transplants. The new investors include Enterprise Angels in Tauranga and Hamilton, Ice Angels in Auckland, the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund, and other high net worth individuals and theyre about to appoint a director to the board. Existing investors Pacific Brands, which includes chairman Mark Backhaus and his brother Andrew and holds just over 60 percent, and Numodern, owned by chief scientific officer Steve Hodgkinson and executive director and former AgResearch head Andy West, also participated in the round. Chairman Mark Backhaus said the money raised equates to around 18 percent of the company which was valued at $3.8 million, with a hefty discount applied to shares offered in this initial fundraiser. The capital injection allows the startup to accelerate its scientific and intellectual development programmes with commercialisation likely a year ahead of schedule in early 2018 following progress made this year. The startup is in the process of setting up field trials, most likely in the Netherlands, with two multinational artificial inseminations companies it wont name, and potentially trials in New Zealand with Waikato-based Dairy Solutions. Its initial collaboration with LIC has ended. Hodgkinson, formerly with the Liggins Institute, said the company has targeted animal health first because it has a lower barrier to entry but will turn to human health within the next two years. The biosynthetic enzyme was developed from the guayule plant, a rubber tree native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico which tire manufacturers are investigating as an alternative source to southeast Asian rubber plantations. The enzymes properties of having a long-lasting impact on damage from oxidation of fat cells were discovered by Arizona-based Andrew Backhaus, who brought the idea to his brother in New Zealand after struggling to raise money for its development in the US. Mark Backhaus was one of the early founders of Burger King in New Zealand and was also formerly involved in Hells Pizza. He had a five-year restraint of trade after selling his Burger King interests in 2009 and turned from the fast-moving consumer goods sector to investing in tourism resorts and biotech companies. His other investments include Ubiquitome, which is awaiting FDA approval of a mobile diagnostic tool for the Zika virus, and Caldera Health which is developing prostate cancer diagnostic tools using next-generation gene sequencing technology. Backhaus said the investment in Synthase gives them a very big run rate until they hit breakeven which is expected at the end of next year. We might look to do another fundraising round but thats in the future and will depend on how fast we want to grow, he said. We can bring in more funding to speed it up but well see how it goes and have another look again in another six months or so. It has also had a three-year $950,000 research and development grant from Callaghan Innovation. (BusinessDesk receives some assistance from Callaghan Innovation to cover commercialisation of innovation) (BusinessDesk) (BusinessDesk) BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: ATM - FDA approval to supply infant milk formula to United States Steel & Tube - Adopts ESG World Platform BGP - 3rd Quarter Sales to 30 October 2022 GEO - Quarterly Operating Update SUM - Andrea Scown to join Summerset as Future Director CCC - Admission to Trading on Aquis Stock Exchange November 3rd Morning Report Air New Zealand issues Performance Rights Heartland announces new Director of Heartland Bank GEN - Agreements in Principle to Issue New Shares BENGALURU: According to the latest report by the market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC),the use of 4G smartphones will notice a staggering 21.3 percent growth by the end of 2016, reaching 1.17 billion units, rising up from 967 million in 2015. As per the report "Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker", the growth is currently due to the emerging smartphone markets in the Asia-Pacific which excludesLatin America, Japan, Middle East and Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe. This is because, only 61 percent of the smartphone shipments distributed in 2015 were 4G-enabled compared to the IDCs 77 percentprojection in 2016. "We are quickly seeing this change in key growth markets like India where new operator Reliance Jio is aggressively trying to shake up the market by handing out free 4G SIM cards and launching own-branded low-cost 4G-enabled smartphones," states Melissa Chau, Associate Research Director, IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers. Whereas, the overall global smartphone shipments are expected to hit 1.45 billion units with a year-over-year growth rate of about 0.6 percent in 2016, which is comparatively lower than the 10.4 percent growth in 2015. But, when it comes to 4G smartphones, markets in US, Canada, Japan, and Western Europe are further expanding theirshipments from 85 percent of 2015 to a projected 94 percent in the year 2016. Google's Android operating system has always been, and is expected to dominate the smartphone arena in the coming future; also being the driving factor for the growth of 4G. Read Also: OnePlus 3T With Snapdragon 821 Processor Now In India ASUS Zenfone 3 Deluxe, Zenfone 3 Ultra Now In India HYDERABAD: Noted industrialist Adi Godrej has expressed optimism over growth in manufacturing once GST is in place and creation of large-scale jobs going forward, and termed the retrenchment at engineering major L&T as company-specific and not a "new normal". The chairman of diversified Godrej Group said the role of technology in manufacturing will go up but refused to buy argument that it would not lead to generation of desired number of jobs. "There will be much more technology in manufacturing. And once GST is implemented, manufacturing will get a big boost," the former President of Confederation of Indian Industry told PTI. Once GST is implemented, economy will grow faster and that will create much more requirement for products, consequently manufacturing will increase and that will create jobs also, Godrej said. On L&T laying off 14,000 employees across businesses in April-September this year and asked if its going to be a "new normal" (in terms of job cuts) in the sector, he said: "Individual companies will have their individual reasons. But overall, I think job growth will depend entirely on economic growth. This will be directly related to level of economic growth." Asked about "anti-globalisation" sentiment taking hold in some countries and its impact on exports, he said, "India currently has such a small share of the global export market that if we are competitive, if we have good policies, then we can increase our exports also." On Goods and Services Tax, Godrej said, "GST is more or less sorted out. I hope it will be implemented by April 1. They (NDA Government) are going to bring it as a Money Bill which will require only the Lok Sabhas approval. In the Lok Sabha, the government has a majority." "So, I dont think there should be a problem. And there are a couple of points to be resolved with states. I hope they do resolve them soon," he added. Read Also: Indian Embassy In US To Hold Open House On Visa-Related Issues Intel India Announces Innovation Challenge Finalists WASHINGTON: The White House has said that the India-U.S. relations have gained strength during President Barack Obama's regime and hoped it would continue with the same momentum in the Donald Trump Administration. "I know that President Obama speaks to his counterparts as heads of state frequently. Prime Minister (of India) Modi is one that he enjoys speaking with. They touch base regularly," White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz told reporters yesterday. "So it's a good thing for the United States if that relationship continues in some strength," he said. Schultz was responding to a question on remarks made by President-elect Donald Trump before the elections in which he called for a string India-US relationship. "I don't know who can tell you about the future, but I think we'll leave it to historians to judge the contours of the relationship between the United States and India. Obviously, the president is enormously proud of his record of working closely with Prime Minister Modi," he said. "They've worked together on a number of projects, most recently the Paris agreement, that a lot of the work that went into that, again was a deal brokered between nearly 200 countries, but India was a vital part of that. "And that could not have been done without Prime Minister Modi's leadership," Schultz said. Read Also: Oil, Gas Sector Bringing Socio-Economic Change In India: Pradhan India-U.S. Defence Ties Closest Ever: Carter NEW DELHI: India and Russia are likely to sign the General Framework Agreement (GFA) on Kudankulam units 5 and 6 by this month. "Leaders of the two countries (Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin) had set a deadline to sign the General Framework Agreement for units 5 and 6 by the end of this month. The work is on and we are trying to stick to deadline," a top official of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) said. The joint statement, during Putin's visit to India this year, had stated that the two countries will try to complete the GFA by the end of the year. Negotiations for the contract are still on and details are being worked out by Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and Rosatom, nuclear power agency of Russia. Work on the ground breaking ceremony for unit 3 and 4 was held early this year. The agreement for the project was inked by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and then Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1988, but the actual work started only in 1997. The unit 1 and 2 of Kudankulam plant were built at a cost of Rs 20,962 crore. A major share of power generated in the plant goes to Tamil Nadu, followed by Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry. Unit 1 was started in October 2013, while the second unit was connected to grid in August this year. Unit 3 and 4 of the Kudankulam are expected to be commissioned by 2022-23. The Russian built Water-Water Energetic Reactor (VVER) reactor Kudankulam unit 1 and 2 are the largest power generating stations in the country. After all the units (1-6) of the plant are commissioned, the nuclear park will have the power generating capacity of 6,000 MW. Read Also: Indian UAE-Based 16 Yr Old Girl Wins International Children's Peace Prize Good If Indo-U.S. Relations Continue In Strength: White House DailyFX.com - Talking Points: Euro selling on Italian referendum outcome may lack follow-through British Pound to look past PMIs as Brexit appeal ruling looms ahead US Dollar may rise if services ISM print boosts Fed rate hike outlook The Euro underperformed in overnight trade after Italians resounding rejected a proposed constitutional change making it easier for a ruling government to remain in power in a referendum over the weekend. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who backed the measure, said he would resign following the loss. The news stoked soured market-wide sentiment, with the anti-risk US Dollar and Japanese Yen trading higher while Asian stocks and S&P 500 futures fell. Financial markets are worried that Mr Renzis departure will usher the anti-Euro Five-Star Movement (M5S) into power. The referendum outcome may be a blessing in disguise for markets trembling at the thought of what may happen if an administration determined to take the Eurozones third-largest member out of monetary union. The no vote likely means M5S cant take power without forming a coalition, a move it staunchly opposes. Near-term uncertainty may keep pressure the single currency for now but follow-through might prove challenging as the ECB rate decision looms ahead. Significant changes to the central banks stimulus effort are expected and traders probably wont want to show strong directional commitment until detail emerge. The New Zealand Dollar likewise faced selling pressure as Prime Minister John Key unexpectedly announced that he will step down from his post and opt not to contest next years election. The markets were caught unprepared for the announcement, triggering a knee-jerk selloff. Looking ahead, Novembers service-sector and composite UK PMI readings headline the European data docket. The outcomes may not generate a significant response from the British Pound however as traders wait for the UK Supreme Court to decide if the government needs Parliaments approval to trigger Brexit. Story continues The administration is appealing a High Court decision that held Prime Minister May cant unilaterally trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty formally initiating the UK exit from the EU. Markets see a need to go through Parliament as likely to yield a soft rupture that keeps access to the single market vs. the hard alternative. Sterling is likely to rise if the Supreme Court rules against the government and upholds the prior verdict. A decision granting the appeal will probably produce the opposite result. The decision is due by Thursday, with the UK unit likely to struggle to find lasting momentum in the interim. Later in the day, the US ISM Non-manufacturing Composite reading enters the spotlight. A pickup in service sector activity growth is expected. A strong result in line with a recent string of upside surprises on US data outcomes may further steepen the projected Fed rate hike cycle and boost the greenback. See the schedule of upcoming webinars and join us LIVE to follow the financial markets! Asia Session GMT CCY EVENT ACT EXP PREV 22:30 AUD AiG Perf of Services Index (NOV) 51.1 - 50.5 23:50 JPY Loans & Discounts Corp (YoY) (OCT) 2.29% - 2.11% 0:00 AUD Melbourne Institute Inflation (MoM) (NOV) 0.1% - 0.2% 0:00 AUD Melbourne Institute Inflation (YoY) (NOV) 1.5% - 1.5% 0:00 NZD ANZ Commodity Price (NOV) 2.7% - 0.7% 0:01 GBP BRC Shop Price Index (YoY) (NOV) -1.7% - -1.7% 0:30 AUD ANZ Job Advertisements (MoM) (NOV) 1.7% - 1.0% 0:30 JPY Nikkei Japan PMI Services (NOV) 51.8 - 50.5 0:30 JPY Nikkei Japan PMI Composite (NOV) 52.0 - 51.3 0:30 AUD Inventories SA (QoQ) (3Q) 0.8% 0.3% 0.2% 0:30 AUD Company Operating Profit (QoQ) (3Q) 1.0% 3.0% 6.5% 1:45 CNY Caixin China PMI Services (NOV) 53.1 - 52.4 1:45 CNY Caixin China PMI Composite (NOV) 52.9 - 52.9 5:00 JPY Consumer Confidence Index (NOV) 40.9 42.8 42.3 European Session GMT CCY EVENT EXP PREV IMPACT 8:45 EUR Markit/ADACI Italy Services PMI (NOV) 51.6 51.0 Low 8:45 EUR Markit/ADACI Italy Composite PMI (NOV) 51.6 51.1 Low 8:50 EUR Markit France Services PMI (NOV F) 52.6 52.6 Low 8:50 EUR Markit France Composite PMI (NOV F) 52.3 52.3 Low 8:55 EUR Markit Germany Services PMI (NOV F) 55.0 55.0 Medium 8:55 EUR Markit/BME Germany Composite PMI (NOV F) 54.9 54.9 Medium 9:00 GBP New Car Registrations (YoY) (NOV) - 1.4% Low 9:00 CHF Total Sight Deposits - 527.6b Low 9:00 CHF Domestic Sight Deposits - 463.0b Low 9:00 EUR Markit Eurozone Services PMI (NOV F) 54.1 54.1 Medium 9:00 EUR Markit Eurozone Composite PMI (NOV F) 54.1 54.1 Medium 9:30 GBP Official Reserves Changes (NOV) - -$1156m Low 9:30 GBP Markit/CIPS UK Services PMI (NOV) 54.0 54.5 Medium 9:30 GBP Markit/CIPS UK Composite PMI (NOV) 54.6 54.8 Medium 9:30 EUR Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence (DEC) 14.3 13.1 Low 10:00 EUR Eurozone Retail Sales (MoM) (OCT) 0.8% -0.2% Medium 10:00 EUR Eurozone Retail Sales (YoY) (OCT) 1.7% 1.1% Medium Critical Levels CCY Supp 3 Supp 2 Supp 1 Pivot Point Res 1 Res 2 Res 3 EUR/USD 1.0532 1.0596 1.0630 1.0660 1.0694 1.0724 1.0788 GBP/USD 1.2343 1.2511 1.2620 1.2679 1.2788 1.2847 1.3015 --- Written by Ilya Spivak, Currency Strategist for DailyFX.com To receive Ilya's analysis directly via email, please SIGN UP HERE Contact and follow Ilya on Twitter: @IlyaSpivak original source DailyFX provides forex news and technical analysis on the trends that influence the global currency markets. Learn forex trading with a free practice account and trading charts from IG. WASHINGTON: Days ahead of his visit to India, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter today said that the defense ties between the worlds two largest democracies has never been as close as it is now with their militaries exercising together by air, land and sea like never before. "The US-India defense relationship is the closest its ever been. Through our strategic handshake ? with America reaching west in the re-balance, and India reaching east in what Prime Minister Modi calls his Act East policy ? our two nations are exercising together by air, land and sea like never before," Carter said in his address to the Regan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California. Slated to be in India on December 8, Carter would travel to Japan, Bahrain, Israel, Italy and the UK. This is for the first time that an outgoing American Defence Secretary has included India in his itinerary for the final overseas trip. "We also have a technological handshake ? as the US- India Defence Technology and Trade Initiative, grasps hands with Prime Minister Modis Make in India campaign ? thats helping our countries move toward more diverse co-development and co-production of weapons systems," Carter said. Carter would meet Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and other leaders during his trip to New Delhi. "He (Carter) will look to build on the strategic handshake between the two nations and to continue the momentum in the relationship over the past decade, including expanded defence cooperation during his time as Secretary," the Pentagon had said in a statement last week. Carter said the US-Japan alliance remains the cornerstone of Asia-Pacific security. "And with our new Defense Guidelines, the US-Japan alliance has never been stronger, or more capable of contributing to security in the Asia-Pacific and beyond," he said. Carter also reflected on the re-balance strategy of US President Barack Obama. "It will ensure DoD continues to help provide the security necessary for that consequential region ? which is home to nearly half the global population and nearly half the global economy ? to remain a place where everyone can rise and prosper for decades to come," he said. "Thats been American policy and practice since the end of World War II more than 70 years ago. Regardless of what else was going on at home or in other parts of the world ? during Democratic and Republican administrations, in times of surplus and deficit, war and peace ? the United States has remained economically, politically, and militarily engaged in the Asia-Pacific," he said. The US, he said, has long taken a principled and inclusive approach, and collaborated with a network of regional allies and partners to enable security and uphold important principles like resolving disputes peacefully; ensuring countries can make choices free from external coercion and intimidation; and preserving the freedom of overflight and navigation guaranteed by international law. Read Also: American Lawmakers Support Strengthening Of Indo-U.S. Ties Indian Sportswomen Yahoo's Top Newsmakers For 2016 CHENNAI: The board of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M) on Saturday decided to take over the two-wheeler business of Mahindra Two Wheelers Ltd - a step-down subsidiary. In a regulatory filing with BSE, M&M said its board of directors at a meeting approved a scheme of arrangement between the company and Mahindra Two Wheelers, under which the two-wheeler business will be vested with M&M as a going concern subject to necessary approvals. The Rs 583 crore turnover Mahindra Two Wheelers is a subsidiary of Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers Ltd, a wholly- owned subsidiary of M&M. According to M&M, the appointed date for the scheme is October 1, 2016. Shareholders of Mahindra Two Wheelers will be issued one ordinary equity shares of M&M for every 461 shares held in the former. As to the rationale for takeover, M&M said the business could benefit from its design, development and sourcing capabilities. Post demerger, Mahindra Two Wheelers will focus on spares business. Read Also: Porsche India Launches New SUV Macan Toyota Launches its Second Generation Fortuner NEW YORK: A month after Volvo got an order of 100 self-driving cars from Uber, Apple has hinted that it will enter the driverless cars market where bigwigs like Tesla and Google have already made deep inroads, a media report said. According to a report in The Verge, the Cupertino-based tech giant -- under its so-called Project Titan -- has submitted a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, stating that it is "investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation". The letter is Apple's official comment on the federal government's automated vehicle guidelines released last September. Interestingly, Apple's letter is signed by Steven Kenner -- the company's head of product integrity who up until recently was the global director of automotive safety at Ford. "Apple agrees that companies should share de-identified scenario and dynamics data from crashes and near-misses. By sharing data, the industry will build a more comprehensive dataset than any one company could create alone," Kenner's letter was quoted as saying. Recently reports surfaced suggesting that the company is not attempting to build its own electric car, but is focused on developing self-driving software it can deploy in partnership with existing carmakers. "This letter comes amid news that hundreds of members of Apple's 1,000-employee-strong car team have been reassigned, let go, or have left of their own volition," the report pointed out. In October, Uber ordered 100 self-driving vehicles from the Swedish company Volvo. The news came after an 18-wheeler self-driving Volvo trailer drove from Fort Collins, Colorado to Colorado Springs, bearing 50,000 cans of Budweiser beer. The Volvo truck, equipped with cameras and sensors, was owned by Otto, a self-driving truck company acquired by Uber earlier this year. Read Also: M&M To Take Over Two-Wheeler Business Of Mahindra Two Wheelers Toyota Launches its Second Generation Fortuner gagliardicrash.jpg In this file photo, an NYPD Emergency Services Unit is shown on the scene after the fatal crash on Todt Hill Road involving Jose Ortiz and Vincent Gagliardi on Dec. 14, 2013. (Staten Island Advance) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A truck driver injured in an early-morning two-vehicle crash on Todt Hill Road three years ago that claimed the life of the other motorist, a 20-year-old Fort Wadsworth man, has sued that driver's estate. Jose Ortiz was driving a 2007 Nissan box truck on Todt Hill Road toward Ocean Terrace, when it was struck by a 2007 Hyundai Elantra, driven by Vincent Gagliardi, 20, heading in the opposite direction toward Richmond Road, police said, according to Advance reports. One police source familiar with the investigation said Ortiz, then 28, saw the Elantra coming and tried to stop, but Gagliardi crossed over the double yellow lines and hit the truck head-on between Circle and Four Corners roads, the Advance reported. The impact forced the truck back 10 feet, the source said. Gagliardi and a female friend from Oakwood, also 20, were on their way back from a North Shore bar just before the 5:05 a.m. crash on Dec. 14, 2013, according to law enforcement sources. Ortiz's complaint alleges Gagliardi was "negligent, careless and reckless" in operating the car. Ortiz, a New Jersey resident, allegedly suffered "severe and permanent personal injuries," which are not specified in the complaint. He was taken to Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, after the crash, and sources told the Advance then he tested negative for alcohol. Gagliardi, who was wearing his seat belt, was pinned inside the vehicle and died at the scene, police said. His passenger remained conscious and alert, and was transported to University Hospital in serious but stable condition, said police. Filed in state Supreme Court, St. George, the suit seeks unspecified monetary damages. According to Advance reports at the time, residents on Todt Hill Road had reported dangerous icing conditions on sections of the road when the temperature dips below freezing. An NYPD source said the roadway was wet when the crash occurred, but it appeared clear, and it didn't start snowing until later in the day. One resident told the Advance motorists regularly speed along Todt Hill Road despite its twists and turns. Ortiz's lawyer did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on the lawsuit. Gagliardi's father declined comment. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Hundreds came out to the annual Christmas celebration and tree lighting at Historic Richmond Town Sunday night. The event, which is organized by the Women's Auxiliary of the Staten Historical Society, has been put on for more than 60 years. Sue Quadrino, vice president of the Women's Auxiliary, said it was important to keep events like Sunday's around for as long as possible. "I think that with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season that this is a nice respite and something you can do with your whole family," Quadrino said. "It was a beautiful day and all in all everybody had a great time." She described the event as a fundraiser and community activity that is a holiday tradition for many on Staten Island. She recalled bringing her own son to the event. He's 47 now. Quadrino expected that at least 500 people had been to the event throughout the day, and that 1,000 would be in attendance for the tree lighting. The Women's Auxiliary expected to raise $10,000 from the event. Barbara and Mario Avenoso, of Great Kills, said their three children volunteer at Historic Richmond Town, and that the Christmas event is an important tradition to the family. "This is like our little Rockefeller Center," Mrs. Avenoso said. "I'm glad it's here. This is something we look forward to every year." There were several different activities throughout the day including pictures with Santa Claus, Girl Scouts singing Christmas carols, and a bell choir. This year's tree was lit with projection lights. A Christmas sale was going on on the top floor of the Visitor's Center. The Women's Auxiliary sold baked goods and handmade crafts to visitors. Lauren Bustos, who was with her daughter and mother, Linda Young, said she hoped to continue the tradition her mother had started with her own daughter. "This year's event was great," the Oakwood resident said. "(Historic Richmond Town) gives you the opportunity to take a step back in time." Linda Deane, of Eltingville, was at Sunday's event with her daughter, daughter-in-law and father. She said she hadn't been in a few years, but that she always enjoyed coming back to Historic Richmond Town. "It was a good time," she said. "It's a very unique experience coming here. It's comfortable. It's homely." STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An interactive scientific exploration, hosted by World Science Festival and Con Edison, was open to Staten Islanders of all ages on Sunday at the South Shore YMCA, Eltingville. The free event, named City of Science, is a "traveling mini-metropolis of mind-expanding demonstrations and hands-on activities," according to event organizers. This is the first time the event was held on Staten Island. Some offerings from City of Science included a giant pendulum wave that barely fits in a gymnasium, a seismic accelerator that uses gravity and elasticity to launch small objects, non-Newtonian fluids that let participants walk on water, a spacetime simulator that uses marbles to explore general relativities and mind-bending competitions, challenges and puzzles. Mary Lee, a teacher at St. Clare's School in Great Kills, spent the day volunteering as an ambassador, working with the seismic accelerator. "It was very organized and the activities were phenomenal," Lee said. "It was really good. Upstairs and downstairs and all around the YMCA was filled with great stuff." The event concluded a new series of free daylong programs, one in each of the five boroughs in New York City, that aims at engaging New Yorkers of all ages in the exploration of science, technology, engineering and math. "We are thrilled to take City of Science to Staten Island, and to give kids and their families a day to experience science through hands-on play," said Tracy Day, co-founder and CEO of the World Science Festival. "We're deeply grateful to Con Edison for founding and presenting City of Science with us, and to the South Shore YMCA for hosting us." For more information about City of Science, you can email cityofscience@worldsciencefestival.com or call 212-348-1400. You can also visit worldsciencefestival.com/cityofscience for more details. ABOUT THE WORLD SCIENCE FESTIVAL The World Science Festival gathers great minds in science and the arts to produce live and digital content that allows the public to engage with scientific discoveries through discussion, debates, interactive explorations and more. The World Science Festival is a production of the World Science Foundation, a non-profit organization with headquarters in New York City. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A judge has ordered a psychiatric evaluation of the Stapleton man accused of stealing an MTA bus early Friday morning at the St. George Ferry Terminal and who was previously convicted of joyriding in another stolen bus two years ago. Justice William E. Garnett ordered the tests Sunday at Nickolas (Drizzy) Ellias' arraignment in Criminal Court on charges of grand-larceny, stolen-property possession and unauthorized vehicle use. The tests are to determine whether Ellias understands the charges against him and can aid in his defense. Ellias, who is being held without bail, will return to court on Jan. 5, when the results of the exam may be available. According to an NYPD spokesman, Ellias had considered attempting suicide Saturday while in custody. The defendant tied his shirt to the cell bars as if to hang himself "but it didn't go further," the spokesman said. He was hospitalized afterward. Ellias was arrested Friday after he stole a bus from the transit ramp at the ferry terminal at about 12:08 a.m., according to authorities and a criminal complaint. Ellias went on a nearly four-mile joyride before abandoning the bus near Church Street and Port Richmond Avenue in Port Richmond, an NYPD spokesman said. The vehicle incurred minor damage on the right side, authorities said. It was unclear how he accessed the bus. Authorities initially listed Ellias' age as 22; however, he is 24, according to the criminal complaint. Ellias has been down this road before. On June 16, 2014, the defendant jumped onto an empty bus parked on a ferry terminal ramp when the driver left for a break around 1:30 a.m., said authorities. He took the vehicle for a one-mile spin and was later arrested. In September 2014, Ellias pleaded guilty to two felony counts of grand larceny and a misdemeanor count of unauthorized vehicle use. Sentencing was held in abeyance to allow Ellias to undergo treatment, to include group therapy and counseling, said prosecutors. He also had to follow through with his medication, and a curfew was imposed. In April 2015, while awaiting sentence, Ellias was arrested and accused of attacking a nurse trying to treat him in Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton. He put his hands around her neck and squeezed, according to a criminal complaint. He subsequently pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, to attempted criminal obstruction of breathing, a misdemeanor. Afterward, Ellias completed the treatment ordered in the bus case, and the two grand larceny convictions were vacated. He was sentenced to three years' probation for unauthorized vehicle use. He was also sentenced to three years' probation for attempted criminal obstruction of breathing. Screen Shot 2016-12-05 at 11.01.36 AM.png In this March 16, 2011 file photo, inmates file out of the prison bakery at the Rikers Island jail after working the morning shift, in New York. (Associated Press) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It's one of the most dangerous jobs in America. And the shooting of two off-duty correction officers in separate incidents in the city the last week has thrust into the spotlight the hazards those who make a living guarding prisoners face each time they go to work. Sunday night, city Correction officer Anastasia Bryan, 25, was gunned down while sitting in a car outside a home at East 73 Street and Avenue L in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn, police said. The investigation into the shooting is ongoing and the motive for her slaying is unknown at this time. Her death comes just days after off-duty state Correction officer Henry Wright was critically wounded by gunmen during a home invasion in Queens. In his case, authorities have reportedly been investigating whether he was targeted by former prisoners he may have encountered on the job. While no arrests have been made, that possibility wouldn't come as a shock to some members of New York's Boldest, the officers who serve a branch of law enforcement that is often overlooked. "Hearing this has made all Correction officers sick to our stomachs," said one officer from Staten Island whose name is being withheld. "It's so sad, but the media doesn't give two s---- about Corrections," the officer said. "We are the forgotten bunch of law enforcement." Often dismissed as "highly-paid babysitters or "just jail guard," the officer believes it is easy to overlook how dangerous life is for them. The officer also questioned the sentiment that violence in jails is on the decline. "They don't see the conditions and environment we endure every time we go behind those locked gates," the officer said. "Having feces, urine, semen thrown at us or being spat at or assaulted because an inmate can't get his way." The officer described being cautious for his safety while at work -- as well as when off duty. "And yes, I have run into a few of my inmates that were in my facilities or housing areas that live on the Island," he said. Cell Phones.jpg Location information obtained by law enforcement from cellphones can create thorny legal issues (Staten Island Advance file photo) As a general rule, there is a reasonable expectation of privacy in the use of one's cellphone. When law enforcement obtains information from either its stored data or location tracking, an adversely-affected defendant will often raise a search and seizure challenge to its admission at trial. Last week, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit handed down an important ruling rejecting just such a challenge by an individual convicted of the sex trafficking of a minor. The principal issue before the court was whether information from a global positioning system (GPS) can be obtained and used without a warrant to locate a suspect. The defendant, Jabar Gilliam, met 16-year-old Jasmin in Maryland in the fall of 2011. He asked the girl to work for him as a prostitute and she agreed. On one occasion, he had sex with her against her will in a hotel room. On two others, he punched her. On Nov. 30 of that year, he forced Jasmin to accompany him to New York City, warning that, otherwise, he'd make her 15-year-old sister work for him instead. Upon their arrival, Gilliam brought Jasmin to his mother's apartment in the Bronx and had sex with her against her will. The girl thereafter worked for him as a prostitute in that borough, giving him all the money that she earned in the process. Location tracking Meanwhile, Jasmin's foster mother reported to the Sheriff's Office in Frederick County, Maryland, that the girl was missing from home, and that she had a "boyfriend" known to her as "Jabar." The case was thereafter assigned to Corporal Chris Heid of the Maryland State Police. He spoke with Jasmin's biological mother, who said that Jabar Gilliam had told her directly that he was planning to take the girl to New York City to work as a prostitute. Heid then contacted Sprint, the telecommunications company, and requested GPS location information for Gilliam's cellphone, noting that he was "investigating a missing child who is....being prostituted." Sprint complied with the request and began providing real-time GPS location information to the Maryland State Police who, in turn, forwarded it to the FBI and the NYPD. On Dec. 2, Jasmin placed a call to her biological mother from the Bronx apartment of Gilliam's mother. Location information provided by Sprint revealed that Gilliam's cellphone was a few blocks away. Two NYPD officers canvassed the neighborhood, spotted Jasmin with Gilliam on the street, and arrested him. A jury convicted him of sex trafficking of a minor by force, fraud, or coercion, and transporting a minor in interstate commerce for purposes of prostitution. He was sentenced to 240 months in prison. On appeal, he pressed his argument, rejected by the trial court, that police had illegally obtained his cell phone's location information. Applicable law As relevant here, the Stored Communications Act authorizes a telecommunications company to divulge to law enforcement the location of a customer's cellphone on the good faith belief "that an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure without delay..." In last week's decision, the Manhattan-based Second Circuit concluded that Gilliam's appeal turned on "whether the circumstances known to law enforcement and presented to Sprint were within the category of 'exigent circumstances' that permit warrantless searches." Affirming Gilliam's conviction, the court held that exigent circumstances did, indeed, justify GPS tracking of his cellphone without a warrant. It was a legally sound ruling rooted in common sense. Prostituting a minor creates a significant risk of serious injury or even death to the victimized youngster. It also puts her in very real danger of contracting a sexually-transmitted disease. There is substantial legal precedent for deeming exigent circumstances sufficient to justify entering a premises without a warrant to protect a minor being held there. In last week's decision, the Second Circuit conceded that locating a victim of sexual exploitation on the streets could seem to present a less immediate need for police action than entering premises where such a victim is being held. Nonetheless, the court didn't deem the distinction sufficiently weighty to make a difference in Jasmin's case. Question of fact Gilliam countered that the time Maryland police would have spent obtaining a search warrant wouldn't have significantly increased the risk to Jasmin. The court was unpersuaded, however, likening that claim to the plight of child-protective workers who must decide whether to risk a lawsuit for quickly removing a child from the home of an apparently abusive parent, or failing to act in time to prevent the child's injury. Whether exigent circumstances exist to obviate the need for obtaining a warrant depends upon the facts of each individual case. The test, reiterated by the Second Circuit last week, is this: Would those facts lead a reasonable, experienced officer to believe that there was an urgent need to take action. Where the safety of a minor is involved, the courts seem very amenable to answering that question in the affirmative. [Daniel Leddy's column appears each Tuesday on the Advance Editorial Page. His e-mail address is column@danielleddylaw.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/LegalHotShots.] By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree Bird-blessed Canberra's best and brightest parrots are spectacular in the extreme. And yet even they pale a little by comparison with ANU biologist Dr George Olah's special subject, the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao). Tuesday sees the world premiere screening, at the ANU, of his documentary film The Macaw Project about the hefty (weighing up to 1.3 kilograms and growing up to 90cms in length) and brilliantly coloured species. It is, no wonder, the national bird of Honduras, rather as the not-so-showy but quietly magnificent Gang-gang cockatoo is the faunal emblem of the ACT. Dr George Olah, on the Peruvian Amazon, releases a just-examined Scarlet Macaw. Credit:Dr George Oah The species is native to humid forests of tropical South America. Over six years Dr Olah has made 10 expeditions to a stretch of the Amazon in Peru to study these macaws and their species' survival status. On his most recent visit, in February, he and his team for the first time brought drones (he laughs to recall the initial horror of Lima's customs authorities). The drones help search, by flying above the rainforest and looking down, for macaws and their nests. The fowls can be hard to see from the rainforest floor because the rainforest is dense and dark. The species (just like the ACT parrot species) nests unobtrusively in holes in old trees. Over several years, a Canberra man preyed on and groomed his wife's goddaughter, a girl who was fostered as a child, a court has heard. The 60-year-old was found guilty by a jury on September 23 of six counts of indecently assaulting the girl, using the internet to send indecent messages and to groom the girl. He had pleaded guilty to one charge on which the Crown case was "overwhelming" in that the messages were indecent, the court heard. These messages included him sending a photo of his nipple and saying, "just need you to suck it." He was acquitted of six other charges. A former Catholic headmaster of a Queanbeyan primary school allegedly sexually assaulted a student in his care in the mid-1960s on "numerous occasions", but died before the case against him was settled last month. It is understood the allegations against the former headmaster of St Gregory's Primary School, Marist Brother Charles Giuliani, have not previously been reported publicly. A former headmaster at the now-defunct Marist Brother's St Gregory's Primary School in Queanbeyan, Brother Charles Giuliani, allegedly sexually assaulted a student in his care in the 1960s. Br Giuliani is now deceased. Credit:Craig Sillitoe Documents filed in the ACT Supreme Court on behalf of the plaintiff alleged Brother Giuliani "sexually assaulted the plaintiff on numerous occasions" while the plaintiff was a student in his care between 1962 and 1966. Originally filed in November 2015, the case was settled last month, without any admission of guilt, between the plaintiff, the Estate of Charles Giuliani and the Trustees of the Marist Brothers. Emerging transport technologies could see Canberra become a dormitory suburb of Sydney, according to GHD Canberra and Southern NSW manager Jo Metcalfe, who has encouraged the capital's residents to approach the future with open-mindedness. The professional services company this year celebrates 50 years in the ACT. Among the swag of projects to its name is work on the enlarged Cotter Dam, a redesign of the Royal Australian Mint and work in both the Old Parliament House and its new counterpart. GHD ACT manager Jo Metcalfe says Canberra could one day become a dormitory suburb of Sydney. Credit:Graham Tidy Ms Metcalfe said the company was looking to the future and working with the government to ensure essential services kept pace with expected population growth. Hyperloop technology a transport method promising to move passengers and goods at "airline speeds for the price of a bus ticket" presented an opportunity for the capital, Ms Metcalfe said. If you've caught a waft of something fishy down by Lake Burley Griffin you are on to something. Lake maintenance staff contracted by the National Capital Authority have been inspecting the area and disposing of dead fish daily. Flies gather on dead carp floating on Lake Burley Griffin Credit:Georgina Connery An NCA spokesperson said "dead fish will smell" but the 200 dead carp collected by the contractor in the past two to three weeks was similar to past seasons. Hot weather doesn't help with the odour, however the NCA explained rising water temperatures may be causing the fish to expire. Hong Kong's Cheung Kong Infrastructure may need an Australian partner to win federal government approval for its $7.3 billion tilt for energy network and gas pipeline owner and operator DUET Group, according to analysts. DUET confirmed on Monday it received an indicative, conditional offer of $3 per share from CKI. The offer represents a 27 per cent premium to DUET's closing price on Friday of $2.35. Its shares bounced 16.6 per cent to close at $2.74 on Monday. The board of DUET is yet to make a recommendation to security holders on the offer, which will be subject to due diligence. When will we ever learn? After the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study results were released in 2012 there was widespread surprise and disbelief to discover that Australian children had performed poorly compared with many other countries. This was most marked when measured against most of our neighbours within Asia. Blame was heaped upon our teachers, rundown schools, overcrowding in classrooms, lack of government funding and so on. The latest 2016 TIMSS report released last week shows Australian children sliding further down the league table. Again, expressions of disappointment and outrage came from all sources with a humiliating headline in the Herald of "Australian students fare worse than Kazakhstan in maths and science". Education Minister Simon Birmingham, lamely waffled on about increasing school funding from 2018, and said he wanted evidence-based action to prevent the performance of Australian children sliding further down the ladder. But he offered no explanations or solutions. With up to $5 billion in concessional loan facilities, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility is the Turnbull government's big lever to lift private sector infrastructure investment in northern Australia. Created a little over a year ago, the NAIF is reportedly pondering a $1 billion loan to Indian resources and energy conglomerate Adani, despite the company saying on Monday that it may not need the money. Should it eventuate anyway, the loan would be the facility's first big disbursement, and easily its most controversial, for it will help build a 310-kilometre-long, 100-metre-wide rail corridor to transport billions of tons of coal from the Carmichael mine in Queensland's Galilee Basin to Abott Point, north of Bowen, for shipment to India. Environmentalists claim the development's immediate impacts (which includes extensive dredging of Abott Point) would further harm the Great Barrier Reef. Longer term, they argue, it would sabotage global efforts to restrict rising global temperatures and avoid runaway climate change. There is considerable scepticism among economists, too, about whether the mine and railway will deliver the economic benefits Adani claims, and whether the growing acceptance of renewables will eventually result in Carmichael becoming a stranded asset. On the other hand, however, the Queensland and federal governments have eulogised Carmichael coal as likely to create "thousands of jobs", to consolidate Australia's reputation as a global resources superpower, and to transform the lives of millions of electricity-deprived Indians. John Key provides a lesson to all Australian leaders: after a decent stint, secure your place in political history by going before you're pushed. If John Howard is the exemplar in the negative, the leader who stayed too long, the New Zealand Prime Minister's declaration that he will leave office next week is a rare instance far too rare of a successful leader leaving unforced at a time of his choosing. No recent national leader on either side of the Tasman has achieved what Key will soon pull off. And there's no Australian prime minister in any danger of needing to heed Key's lesson. His eight years at the top of the Beehive is longer than the tenure of the last four Australian prime ministers combined. He won office early in Kevin Rudd's first tenure as prime minister, and Key's successor will be just the third leader of New Zealand in 17 years. While Key has been prime minister, Australia gave him five counterparts, and the odds of the latest, Malcolm Turnbull, deciding to follow Key and leave after winning three elections in a row are surely slim. The veteran political organiser recognised the fight for a slightly more progressive America was over, at least at a presidential level. But McAlevey also understood that the fight was far from over in many other ways. She's been on the front line as governments have tried to destroy the union movement in the US. But she can certainly recognise trouble. The minute she saw the crowds at one of Donald Trump's rallies in Pennsylvania, she knew Hillary Clinton was in all kinds of trouble. Trump by himself had drawn crowds of over 20,000. Clinton, with both Obamas and an array of stars, could only draw 30,000. She's won against unfair employers and against governments and is now seven years out from an ovarian cancer diagnosis. Now she is coming to Australia next week, perhaps to share grief about what's happening in the US but far more likely to share her strong conviction that we can overcome. As she puts it, Australians overcame the Howard-era industrial relations reforms and they can win again. She's already done quite a bit of overcoming during the course of her life. McAlevey, a former organiser with Service Employees International Union in the US, spent four years being part of a team to rebuild that union. Just as internal ructions undid much of that union's success, she heard the news that she was positive to the gene which predisposes women to breast and ovarian cancer. Preventative surgery revealed early-stage ovarian cancer. She ended up spending nearly a year in medical treatment, being cared for by those she'd spent years representing. That was 2009. Now McAlevey has completed a post-doctoral posting at Harvard Law school and returned to doing what she does best and loves best organising at a grassroots level. She will be in Australia next week, as a guest of Unions NSW, for her first ever visit to talk about exactly that why and how unions and progressive interests must unite to fight. Her first book, Raising Expectation (and Raising Hell) was pretty much a short and inspirational history of her struggles in the labour movement. Now she's written a handbook for activists, No Shortcuts, which says what it means. It's tempting to try to cut corners but it won't work in the long term. "The [book] sums up core life lessons for me and the harder the conditions are, the more tempting it is for everyone from trade union leaders to climate campaigners to think "oh hey, we are in a hurry here, let's take this shortcut and that shortcut" and it doesn't work. There's a lot of unnecessary argument and division happening at the moment over what would, on the face of it, appear to be a remarkably simple question: when should we celebrate Australia Day? After all, the debate isn't over Australia Day itself; it's over it being celebrated on January 26, the date when Arthur Phillip didn't first set foot on Australian soil. A keepsake from the first Australia Day. A nine carat gold pendant in the form of a brick, a ruby set boomerang above, engraved "Australia Day, July 30th 1915". Credit:Richard Gates That day happened to be January 18, when the first fleet landed at Botany Bay to find it rather inconveniently already occupied by a large number of unimpressed Eora people as well as 100-odd French seaman under Jean-Francois de Galaup, Comte de La Perouse. No, January 26 was when a somewhat irritated Phillip upped stumps and moved his base of operations to Sydney Cove. So rather than a day when Australia shone as a nation, it's the day when a British naval officer found a good spot to dump his country's unwanted humans, away from any snickering Frenchmen. Illustration: Dionne Gain In fact, it's radical. No US president or president-elect has had direct contact with a Taiwanese leader since Washington withdrew diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in 1979, according to Jeffrey Bader, Barack Obama's former top Asia adviser. That's because the US recognised the mainland government in Beijing as the sole, legitimate representative of China. From that moment, all official US dealings with Taiwan have been conducted through informal channels. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, seen here on the phone with Donald Trump on Friday. Credit:AP For instance, the US has no embassy in Taiwan. It set up an unofficial "American Institute in Taiwan", a de facto embassy, to handle relations instead. Australia and other countries do the same. Beijing considers Taiwan to be no more than a rogue province, and one that it intends to absorb one day. The mainland government has always maintained that it has the right to invade Taiwan if ever the island moves formally to declare independence. "China's claim to Taiwan is, and has long been, the most sensitive issue in US-China relations," writes Bader, now a scholar at the Brookings Institution. China has positioned enormous firepower on its eastern coast, aimed specifically at Taiwan. Beijing has been on high alert for any hint of a Taiwanese breakout since Tsai was elected President in January. Why? Because as leader of the Democratic Progressive Party, she is committed to a policy of eventual Taiwanese independence. There are three essential points about Trump's gambit. The first is that, despite much of the news coverage and the commentary, this is not a Trump "gaffe". It was deliberate and premeditated. Several of Trump's advisers have cultivated close ties with Taiwan over the years. Taiwan's foreign affairs minister has described Trump's chief of staff, Reince Preibus, as a "friend to Taiwan". Two of Trump's informal advisers on foreign policy this year have published articles urging a change in US policy, giving more priority to Taiwan and less to the mainland. One of these advisers is John Bolton, the neoconservative whom Bush appointed as his UN ambassador. "For a new US president willing to act boldly," Bolton wrote in The Wall Street Journal in January, "there are opportunities to halt and then reverse China's seemingly inexorable march toward hegemony in East Asia". America should play the "Taiwan card" he urged, giving greater recognition to Taiwan's government using a "diplomatic ladder of escalation". It has emerged that Bolton visited Trump Tower on Friday, the day that Trump and Tsai spoke, according to Politico. It seems that Trump has taken the first step on the ladder. China protested formally, but Trump is unabashed. Confirming that the phone contact was no accident, the US President-elect has since asserted his right to act without heeding China. Trump tweeted: "Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!" The second point is that Trump and his clique are not altogether wrong on their basic proposition on Taiwan and China. The most rational voice on this is Jon Huntsman, a businessman, former US ambassador to China, and 2012 Republican presidential hopeful. "The issue should be this does Taiwan deserve a little more space?" says Huntsman, reportedly under consideration to be Trump's secretary of state. But if the status quo is to be reshaped in such a minefield, it has to be done cautiously, not provocatively. Is it really in anyone's interests for the US to give China casus belli for invading Taiwan? Third, Canberra can try to dissuade Washington from doing something rash, but can't stop it if it's determined. Australia, however, does not need to lend its support. Australia's relations with China are thriving across a wide range of areas. The number of Chinese tourists visiting Australia grew by 22 per cent to 1.1 million in the year to June 30. On the weekend the two governments removed limits on the number of airline seats permitted between the two nations. Did you see the news last month on the attempt by a Chinese fishing boat to smuggle the drug ice in bulk liquid form onto Palm Beach in the dead of night? The smugglers were intercepted and rounded up. It was the first time the Chinese had given actionable intelligence to the Australian Federal Police on a drug ring, according to informed sources. Brisbane City Council's storm early warning system mistakenly sent wrong texts to some subscribers last month, telling them their homes would be flooded. Then, on Sunday, around one-third of the 133,000 subscribers to the service, provided by Weatherzone, received advice of the day's heavy downpour after the two storms had passed over. Council will pay Weatherzone $247,441 over the next two years to provide the service. Weatherzone is owned by Fairfax Media, publisher of this website. Federal environment programs are projected to be slashed by more than a third by 2019 even as overall budget spending expands by more than 20 per cent, according to analysis by the Australian Conservation Foundation. The drop in environment spending, compared with the budget in place when the Coalition government led by Tony Abbott took office in September 2013, includes the expected abolition of the Green Army worth about $360 million over four years. The $360 million "hands-on practical environmental program" was aimed at tapping as many as 15,000 unemployed youth to work on conservation projects. The Green Army's demise pulls further funds from programs that are already "grossly under-resourced", James Trezise, an ACF policy coordinator, said. Some of the ABC's most prominent presenters have urged their colleagues not to resist change as tensions intensify between staff and management over the direction of the ABC under managing director Michelle Guthrie. ABC staff have in recent weeks been openly critical of programming changes for 2017, including an overhaul of TV science program Catalyst and the decommissioning of almost all music programs on Radio National. The changes follow earlier decisions to abolish the ABC Fact Check unit and online opinion and analysis site The Drum. Lateline presenter Emma Alberici told Fairfax Media: "If we stand still we are only appealing to older demographics who haven't embraced digital media. Younger people will move on. "When things change it's unsettling but to not change would be dangerous for an organisation like ours. It is easy to think that war-fighting is deteriorating into barbarism. The Islamic State's campaign of terror, Boko Haram's sexual violence and use of child bombers, the razing of Aleppo are all playing out in horrific immediacy on social media. Now the largest-ever survey on attitudes to war reveals a tougher, more cynical public view on how fighting is done, including the statistic that nearly one quarter of Australians think torturing enemy soldiers is justifiable. The survey of 17,000 people in 16 countries, published by the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday, found that while most people still believe war should have rules, faith in the Geneva Convention is fading and there is growing acceptance of torture and civilian casualties. It is prompting the Red Cross, the respected organisation that works in the world's most dangerous places, to call for a renewed effort to promote the virtues of rules in warfare. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull faces a fresh outbreak of party disunity over climate policy, with backbench MPs questioning the government's timing, scope and tactics after a formal review of the Direct Action plan was finally announced. Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg on Monday launched the long-awaited review - which controversially promises to look at whether to introduce an emissions intensity scheme for electricity generators, which is a type of carbon price - though he emphasised a focus on household electricity prices and energy security. Energy and business leaders immediately issued a plea to the Coalition and Labor: end a decade of destructive politics and come up with a shared national plan to cut emissions over coming decades, including some sort of carbon price. Most were open to that being an emissions intensity scheme, which would set a baseline for how much carbon dioxide a power station could emit for every unit of power generated, penalising those that breached their limit and rewarding cleaner models that emitted less. The Turnbull government's seriousness about tackling climate change shouldn't be assessed on the well-coordinated dump of details about its planned policy review in 2017 but rather attempts to bury or distort any inconvenient news. The government has outlined the general terms of the long-flagged review. It's expected to generate a discussion paper in the first half of next year and prompt any changes to its current suite by year's end. Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has understandably gone on the front foot in announcing the review. The government's existing policies are working, he asserts, and says his government "is committed to adopting a non-ideological approach to emissions reduction to ensure we secure the lowest cost of abatement". Of course, a "non-ideological approach" would necessarily consider a carbon price, letting the market decide which technology wins at "the lowest cost". We all know that it's not a good night of drinking without descending into a rowdy political fight where you threaten to disown half of your closest friends. So it makes sense that there should be a beer or cider that can back up our own political beliefs right? That's the idea behind Sparkke, the socially conscious start-up craft brewery which is tackling divisive social issues through the almost universally loved medium of alcohol. Sparkke Change head brewer Agi Gajic. The company is run by a bunch of nine diverse women hailing from Adelaide who hope to add to the conversation around important issues such as consent and asylum seeker issues. Some of their socially-conscious cans include: Hundreds of staff at the University of New South Wales are facing the sack under a proposal from management to save $51 million a year by cutting back on its student and corporate support services, finance, IT, media and marketing operations. A leaked "operational excellence" proposal obtained by Fairfax Media shows $29.9 million has been budgeted for redundancies through severance pay across the departments. The National Tertiary Education Union estimates that up to 415 full-time jobs could go under the two-year plan. "The actual number of professional staff who could be affected is much higher, when taking into account that many professional staff members work on a fractional basis," the union said in a statement. When the cancer in Karen Cowley's breast spread to her spine and brain, and her current drugs weren't working any more, she decided she wasn't ready to die. She petitioned the health minister to get her hands on a revolutionary tumour-stopping drug - one that was approved in America, but not Australia. Breast cancer patient Karen Cowley had to pay $15,000 out of pocket for a breast cancer drug not available on the PBS at the time Credit:Eddie Jim Her efforts were successful, eventually. She managed to convince the drug's maker to put her on a compassionate program and provide a subsidised version of the drug - but it still cost her $15,000 for only three doses. Eventually the drug was approved in Australia and given a government subsidy, but the whole process took four years - far too long, she says. She now hopes a new startup will mean no one else has to go through that battle with the federal government to buy what they need. Lauren Hew knows she'll be fighting cancer until it wins. The 32-year-old mother of two was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in 2014. After a year-and-a-half in remission the cancer came back. "It's heartbreaking, but the sad reality is this is not something I'm going to get over. It's more how long can I keep going," she said. Her two children, Ava,4, and Ashton, 3, know little of the intense waves of nausea and violent vomiting episodes their mother suffers during and after her chemotherapy cycles. Most recently, in 2014, a photographer already working 45 to 50 hours a week was requested to work "whatever hours it took, if it's seven days a week, you have to do it". The Federal Circuit Court found that, despite the applicant being "a managerial employee, paid on a salary in excess of the industry norm, and that the nature of the work required some evening and weekend work", such demands were patently unreasonable. "It is doubtful," Judge Dominica Whelan mused, "that a request to work 'whatever hours it takes' from a base which already exceeds the statutory standard could ever be reasonable." Beyond the Fair Work Act, there are possible common law and statutory limits on overworking employees. It may be that demanding unreasonably long hours could constitute a breach of an employers' contractual or tortious duty of care to an employee. Such arguments have been successful in British courts, though the High Court of Australia rejected them in a case involving a psychiatric injury inflicted as the result of an excessive workload. It is undisputed, however, that extreme requirements for overtime could put an employer in breach of its work health and safety obligations under harmonised state and national legislation. While individual employees are unable to take personal action, appointed health and safety representatives, unions and regulators are all empowered to take steps in response to compliance failures. As a practical matter, though, such action is unlikely to occur unless overwork is systematic and acute. To some, these concerns may seem hyperbolic. "Overpaid public servants worrying about a few hours of extra work how rich," one line of reasoning might go. But the personal, familial and societal impacts of rampant overwork should not be understated. And while in theory the legal protections outlined above seem sound, in reality the inclination to work extra hours in a desire to meet far-fetched performance indicators can be overwhelming. A 2010 report from The Australia Institute observed that widespread overtime "has significant implications for the health of both individuals and relationships and plays an important role in restricting the opportunities for those who desire additional work". Although some workplaces are improving flexibility in working arrangements, "at an economy-wide level there remains a substantial mismatch between the hours that people want to work and the hours they are working. Unless concerted action is taken by all of those with an interest in this issue workers, employers and policymakers the scourge of time poverty is likely to persist." In 1897, the Indiana legislature considered a bill for "introducing a new mathematical truth", a clever procedure for "squaring the circle". The procedure didn't work; for one thing, it assumed that the value of pi was 3.2 (it isn't). The bill didn't pass but, if it had, it wouldn't have changed the value of pi it just would have made the Indiana legislature look a bit silly. Parliaments can change a lot of things, but not the laws of mathematics. The Australian Parliament is now considering amending the Privacy Act. Attorney-General George Brandis introduced the amendments, saying "there is a strict and standard government procedure to de-identify all government data that is published. Data that is released is anonymised so that the individuals who are the subject of that data cannot be identified." But the bill specifies a two-year jail term for re-identifying people from those data sets. Usually, acts that are impossible don't need to be banned. Illustration: John Shakespeare Well, what is de-identification exactly? And does it work? There are good mathematical reasons for doubt. Computer scientists have successfully re-identified "de-identified" data sets of health, social networks, online ratings and web searches, and shown high levels of uniqueness in telecommunications metadata and payments data a key step towards re-identification. Judges in the federal courts system have been awarded a pay rise of nearly five per cent, at a time when nearly 100,000 middle- and low-ranking public servants have had their pay frozen for nearly two and a half years. The latest increases continue a trend of the big earners in the Commonwealth government scoring generous pay rises while rank-and-file public servants face a concerted campaign to suppress their wages, the main public sector union says. Justice Susan Kiefel. Credit:Robert Shakespeare But the Independent Remuneration Tribunal, which ordered the judges' pay rise, says the increase is a fair reflection of the complexity of their work. The sage folk at Oxford Dictionaries have just declared "post-truth" to be the word of 2016. In the year of Brexit and Donald Trump, it seems that objective truth no longer matters so much as successfully appealing to prejudice. Yet the drift towards a post-truth world has been with us for a while, as the Plain English Foundation's annual list of the worst words and phrases has shown for the best part of a decade. Photo: Elesa Kurtz It seems a year can't go by without some corporate heavyweights assiduously avoiding terms like "job loss". Instead, HSBC bank regretted it would be "demising" more than 900 staff. Citigroup described 11,000 job losses as "repositioning actions" while Microsoft culled 12,500 so it could remain within "an appropriate financial envelope". These are classic examples of companies not saying what they mean in the hope that the underlying "truth" would be obscured. Triggs, it should be noted, took the rebuke on the chin, accepting the government's right to appoint commissioners and to introduce changes in the commission's governing legislation. She welcomed publicly Wilson's appointment, provided he was prepared to work cooperatively with other commission members. In the event, Wilson proved a valuable contributor to the commission until his resignation earlier this year to enter Parliament as a Liberal MP. Cartoon: John Shakespeare The breakdown of trust between the government and Triggs appears to date from the commission's report on children in detention, The Forgotten Children, which was eventually published in February 2015. It was highly critical of the conditions under which children were detained. It called for a royal commission into the practice of detaining children, which it labelled a clear breach of international law. Abbott, as prime minister, expressed immediate outrage, describing the report as "blatantly partisan". Why had the commission waited until after the Coalition government was elected before investigating the detention of children that had also flourished under Labor? Indeed, by stopping the boats, the Coalition could say it had reduced the problem by cutting the numbers of children involved. In response, Triggs argued the report was not partisan in intent because it dealt with actions taken by both Labor and Coalition governments, which were equally culpable. However, her timing left her and her colleagues open to an imputation of political bias in targeting the Coalition's treatment of asylum seekers while going easy on Labor. This was enough to unleash the conservatives' pent-up animosity to the commission and the entire human rights agenda. But what was the commission supposed to have done? Was it expected never to investigate the detention of children for fear of upsetting the government of the day? Surely not. Some risk of appearing partisan is implicit in many inquiries conducted by independent government watchdogs, such as the auditor-general and the ombudsman as well as the human rights commission. Governments have a right to expect that inquiries are not obviously biased or gratuitously partisan in intent. In this respect, it's notable that the commission carefully chose a subject of unquestionable moral concern (the treatment of children) and an aspect where both sides of politics were equally culpable. Governments can't demand immunity from inquiries that might appear to single them out just because they are the incumbent government of the day. The treatment of asylum seekers placed governments on a collision course with the commission. Turning back boats and offshore detention run contrary to various international instruments, including the United Nations' refugee convention and other covenants to which Australia is a party. Though the policy is accepted by both main political parties and has wide popular support, no government has had the intellectual courage to admit the extent to which the policy departs from international norms. The commission, however, can't hide. It's legally required to report on human rights issues and to advise the minister on issues where governments appear to be in breach of international human rights. A government is free to disagree vigorously with any view the commission expresses, but it should respect the commission's right to comment from a human rights perspective. By allowing herself to become a lightning rod for the conservative attack on political correctness, she has politicised her position in a way that may do long-term damage to the commission. Soon after The Forgotten Children was published, it emerged that the government had tried to remove Triggs from office. Attorney-General's Department secretary Chris Moriatis reported at Senate estimates that he met Triggs a few months earlier and told her she had lost the minister's confidence. Without explicitly asking her to resign, Moriatis offered her an alternative government position in lieu. But Triggs refused to budge and has stayed put. In spite of predictions that her position had become untenable and she would soon leave quietly, she will have seen out the remaining 2 years of her term in full. For a statutory officer such as the Human Rights Commission president to lose the confidence of the relevant minister is a serious matter. The commission's effectiveness depends on its president having a good working relationship with the attorney-general and the Attorney-General's Department. Apart from needing the department for administrative support, the president can't fulfil the central function of offering relevant advice to the attorney-general unless the minister has confidence in his or her judgment and is willing to listen. Fault for the initial breakdown appears to lie with Brandis, who arrogantly used his secretary to deliver the vote of no confidence and whose general demeanour suggests someone who lacks tact or personal sensitivity. But should Triggs share some of the blame? Within the wider public service, agency heads usually accept prime responsibility for maintaining good relations between themselves and ministers, no matter how disorganised, stubborn or incompetent individual ministers may be. Admittedly, Triggs is the head of an arm's-length statutory authority, not a standard government department, and is not subject to direct ministerial control. But the Human Rights Commission is still part of the executive branch of government with statutory obligations to advise its minister. Attorneys-general have a right to expect that the president will act as a loyal servant of the government in carrying out his or her statutory obligations. While these obligations may on occasion force the commission into open disagreement with the government, the commissioner's duty is to express such disagreement within a framework of overall respect for the government of the day and its mandate. This means avoiding unduly partisan comment or siding openly with the government's opponents. By contrast, particularly since her run-in with Brandis, Triggs has accepted a high public profile as a wide-ranging critic of the government. Some of her reported remarks appear to cross the line between legitimate rights-based comment and political advocacy. For example, she incautiously linked the government's policy of boat turn-backs to Indonesia's lack of engagement on the death penalty issue. She criticised Parliament (i.e. the Coalition) for failing to provide leadership on marriage equality. She openly criticised politicians for losing any sense of the rule of law, a statement she initially denied making but was later forced to acknowledge. Taken in isolation, such statements may seem excusable, even justifiable. They certainly have not merited the venomous and ill-informed attacks launched by ministers and conservative columnists in the News Limited press. On the other hand, in the aftermath of a (properly) critical report on children in detention and an open breach with the minister, perhaps it was time to keep one's head down, to avoid further public comment and to try to build bridges with the government. By allowing herself to become a lightning rod for the conservative attack on political correctness, she has helped to politicise her position in a way that may do long-term damage to the commission. Her progressive supporters, naturally outraged by her treatment, have rallied in her defence. In doing so, many have made exaggerated claims for the level of statutory independence attached to her position. They have overlooked its status as part of the executive branch and have wrongly interpreted government attacks on the commission as tantamount to breaches of the constitutional separation of powers. Similar claims were made on behalf of the ombudsman, when the previous incumbent, Allan Asher, was forced to resign after suggesting critical questions about detention policy for a Greens senator to ask in a committee hearing. The ombudsman, it was stated (wrongly), is an officer of Parliament, independent of the executive, with an unfettered right to criticise government actions. The Informant ends the year banging the same drum of recent months: sounding a warning of the pernicious effects of security vetting on government recruitment. As readers know, we've been auditing Australian Public Service job ads since September. Each month, we've found scores of instances of recruiters excluding applicants who lack a security clearance, in apparent breach of the law. That is to say, APS agencies have told recruiters to ignore the Public Service Act's imperative that "all eligible members of the community [are] given a reasonable opportunity to apply" for government jobs. We finally have some good news. First, the message seems to be filtering through. Only a handful of APS job ads this week explicitly excluded applicants who hadn't already been security vetted. Re-affirmed: government agencies cannot exclude job applicants who lack security clearances. Second, Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd told the Informant on Monday that he's cracking down on the practice, but only to an extent (on which more in a moment). Lloyd has revised his advice to agencies on recruitment, which now reads (in bold font, no less): The big and essentially only exception to the recognised cursus honorum of RBA governors is Bernie Fraser (1989-96), the sole appointee not to have previously been on the bank's staff. Fraser moved directly from heading the Treasury, where he had been secretary for five years, to governing the bank. Even as a Treasury alumnus, there had been a measure of unorthodoxy, or at least variety, about his career. He'd had one assignment in the Department of National Development and Energy and also spent several years in the Finance Department's upper echelons. Australia's first central banker, H. C. "Nugget" Coombs in 1951. Credit:Sun News Indeed, Treasury heads have often had broader career experience than governors of the bank. The Commonwealth statistician, Sir Roland Wilson, for instance, spent the war as head of Labour and National Service (the employment department). Even after resuming as statistician in 1946, he had various international assignments before becoming Treasury head in 1951. His successor but one, Sir Frederick Wheeler, started his working life in the State Bank of Victoria. He joined the Treasury in 1939. After more than a decade (1939-52) in West Block, where Treasury was then located, he spent eight years as treasurer of the International Labour Organisation in Geneva. Eventually, after 11 years as chairman of the Public Service Board, he assumed the Treasury secretaryship for more than seven years in 1971. Bank of England governor Mark Carney with Britain's new polymer five-pound note. Credit:Getty Images The Treasury's present head, John Fraser, who took the job in 2014, first joined the Treasury in 1972 after he graduated with first-class honours from Monash University. During the next 20 years, he rose to deputy secretary level, taking in two postings in Washington, DC, on the way: one at the International Monetary Fund (1978-80), the other as economic minister at the Australian embassy (1985-88). In 1993, he joined the UBS Group. Twenty-one years later, he returned to the Treasury as the secretary. Heading the Treasury is no longer the great prize it once was. Its remuneration now ranks below the secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in the public service pecking order, unhappily symbolic of the significance, in the contemporary public service, of political responsiveness and aptitude ahead of professionalism. Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz. The Treasury secretary's remuneration now ranks below the PM&C secretary's ... symbolic of the contemporary significance of political responsiveness and aptitude ahead of professionalism. Notwithstanding, the Treasury remains the fount of business, as Walter Bagehot so aptly put it. Though the Reserve governor's signature joins that of the Treasury head on the banknotes, the governor is, in the scheme of things, now a larger figure than his Treasury counterpart. All the governors since the RBA's establishment in 1960 have served at least a full seven-year term. Lowe's immediate predecessors, Ian MacFarlane and Stevens, also had three-year extensions. US Fed Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen. Credit:Pablo Martinez Monsivais The Treasury secretary is much more vulnerable. Even in the days when the public service was truly anonymous, the opposition leader in the 1961 election, Arthur Calwell, briefly raised the question of Wilson's future should Labor be successful; it was a position from which Calwell beat a rapid retreat. But, in 1975, Wheeler was very much a target of attack in the Whitlam government's battle with the Treasury. On that occasion, prime minister Gough Whitlam's idea of how to create a vacancy at the top of the Treasury was to appoint Wheeler to a seven-year term as RBA governor! Wheeler resisted he occasionally wondered if he was the only person ever to decline governorship of a central bank! and the post passed, almost belatedly, to Harry Knight, the deputy governor at the time. Wheeler was the first of several Treasury heads to learn how tenuous the secretary's tenure might be. Martin Parkinson, Treasury secretary when the Abbott government took office, was subsequently replaced the next year. After an interval, and after the Turnbull government was installed, he ascended to head the PM&C. Lowe's appointment was portrayed as signalling continuity in policy. Curiously, no one commented on the long continuity of Reserve staff in the bank's governorship. In more than half a century, it's been broken only by Fraser's appointment nearly a generation ago. It's not always the case, however, that the deputy governor necessarily gets the gig. Back in 1982, upon Sir Harry Knight's retirement, the ball passed to the bank's then secretary, Bob Johnston. The then deputy, Don Sanders, continued in that post for another five years, at which time he was appointed managing director of the Commonwealth Bank, then about to embark upon the path of privatisation. The leading example of other approaches to top central banking posts is the present governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney. Carney, appointed to Threadneedle Street in 2013, had previously been governor of the Bank of Canada for five years. He was born in Canada's Northwest Territories in 1965. Educated in Edmonton, Alberta, he studied at Harvard before taking a DPhil at Oxford. Thirteen years at Goldman Sachs followed before returning to Canada where he was, first, deputy governor of the Bank of Canada, then senior associate deputy minister at the Finance Department (counterpart to the Treasury in Canada). After three years, he returned to the Bank of Canada as governor. Carney succeeded David Dodge at the Bank of Canada. Dodge, a PhD from Princeton, had a career in universities, in the United States as well as Canada, before his appointment as deputy minister of finance in 1992. He moved to the Health Department in 1998; 2 years later, he took up the governorship of the bank. Carney's successor, Stephen Poloz, had spent 13 years at the Bank of Canada before leaving for a research post (BCA Research) for five years. He then moved to Export Development Canada, of which he was subsequently chief executive before returning to the bank as governor after an absence of nearly two decades. All previous governors of the Bank of Canada apart from the first (Graham Towers) had essentially been drawn from the ranks of the bank's staff. A number had, however, spent significant periods abroad, particularly in various posts in Washington. Some controversy has attached to the governorship of the Bank of Canada. One, James Coyne, resigned after a very public clash with the Diefenbaker government about levels of public spending and public debt. He was succeeded by Louis Rasminsky. Rasminsky was refused membership of the Rideau Club, reportedly on the grounds he was Jewish. The club reconsidered the matter in the face of criticism by, among others, Lester Pearson, prime minister from 1963 to 1968. It won't surprise any readers to learn that the pattern of appointments at the Bank of England bears only a slight relationship with that of Australia and Canada. Carney's appointment to Threadneedle Street suggests that internal elevations are unusual. In fact, very few governors of the Bank of England could be characterised as in-house appointments. Only two in the postwar period have been career bank officers. Mervyn King, governor from 2003 to 2013, had been on the staff for 12 years. He joined the bank in 1991 as chief economist, having previously been a professor of economics at the LSE. Appointees from the war until the 1990s had usually been drawn from City firms and were more likely to have trained in law than economics. In fact, King seems to be the first professionally trained economist to bag the governorship. He did so with enormous success. The highest honours that British government has to offer came his way: a privy councillorship; a peerage; fellowship of the British Academy; and a knighthood of the Order of the Garter. Ben Bernanke, his counterpart in Washington with whom he had shared an office at MIT when they were newly minted doctors, took to calling him "Lord Sir King". Bernanke represents a pattern in Washington in recent decades. The rise to chairmanship of the Federal Reserve is often a prize for distinguished academic accomplishment. Bernanke's successor, Janet Yellen, spent 20 years in academic posts at the LSE and Berkeley before translation to the Reserve system, first in San Francisco then in Washington itself. She is the first deputy chair to move directly into the chairmanship. In the postwar years, no appointee has previously come from within the organisation. And not all, in recent years, have had an extensive background in monetary policy. Several have, however, brought plenty of experience in government. A period as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President is often a forerunner to the commanding heights at the Fed. Australian practices in appointments to the Reserve Bank governorship are distinctive. It's a preserve of professional economists in the field of central banking; neither commercial achievement nor scholarly attainment has been at all a sufficient pedigree. Australia is unusual in another sense. The Bank of England, the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada are all located in the capital of their nation: London, Washington, DC, Ottawa, close to the other centres of political, governmental and administrative power. (The Bank of England, however, is in the City and quite some distance from Westminster and Whitehall, both of which are nevertheless conveniently accessible by tube or bus.) The Reserve Bank is, by contrast, well away from the national capital. Housed in prestigious real estate at the top of Martin Place, in Sydney, it's in the heart of the city's commercial and financial districts; the "big end of town". This may be a part of the explanation for the distinctive pattern of appointments to the governorship. More than 80 Catholic and Anglican Church priests and other representatives including women - are alleged to have committed child sex crimes against Hunter children over decades, newly released data analysis and evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has revealed. The shocking figure includes claims and substantiated complaints against 51 alleged and convicted Hunter Catholic offenders from the 1940s to the 1990s, including 19 priests, 20 Marist Brothers, and 12 teachers, employees and volunteers, a report by the royal commission has found. A single victim of Vince Ryan received one of the highest known payouts more than a decade ago. Credit:Ron Bell The data analysis has confirmed, for the first time, the extent of compensation paid to survivors of Catholic abuse in the Hunter after years of confidential settlements enforced by the church. It includes confirmation that nearly $10 million was paid to victims of just one child sex offender priest, John Denham. It also confirms that a single victim of notorious paedophile priest Vince Ryan received one of the highest known church abuse payouts in Australia, of $3 million, more than a decade ago. The royal commission data analysis has also revealed that abuse survivors in the Hunter have received substantially greater compensation, on average, than survivors in two other Australian child sexual abuse hotspots in Ballarat and Melbourne. A Lotto ticket with a judge's address on it, an "old-school criminal" and explosives experts with links to gangsters were all part of the investigation into Sydney's infamous Family Court bombings. Leonard John Warwick, 69, is facing a committal hearing in Central Local Court, charged with 32 offences - including four murders - relating to attacks on judges, their families, solicitors and others linked to the Family Court of Australia in Sydney in the early 1980s. Police arrest Leonard John Warwick in relation to a series of attacks in Sydney that targeted judges of the Family Court of Australia in the 1980s. Credit:NSW Police Police have alleged that Mr Warwick was motivated by a bitter custody dispute with his ex-wife Andrea, which was before the courts at the time. The charges against Mr Warwick include the murder of his brother-in-law Stephen Blanchard; Family Court judge David Opas; Pearl Watson, the wife of another judge; and father-of-three Graham Wykes. A man has been arrested in relation to a series of attacks that targeted judges of the Family Court of Australia, claiming four lives and injuring dozens of others more than three decades ago. The NSW Homicide Squad arrested Leonard John Warwick, 68, at Campbelltown at 11.30am on Wednesday. He is assisting police with their inquires. It is a breakthrough in one of the most notorious crimes in NSW history and follows the decision by the homicide squad to recommence their investigation into the Sydney bombings and shootings that claimed four lives and injured dozens of others between 1980 and 1985. A man could lose his eyesight after he was bashed with a mop handle during a violent home invasion in western Newcastle. The resident, 66, was woken by yelling and screaming inside his Elermore Vale home about 2am on Saturday. When he went to investigate the noise, he saw up to 12 people running towards him, police said. The group knocked down the bedroom door, causing it to fall from its hinges. The door fell back on the man, and the group jumped on the door before one of the attackers shoved the mop handle into the victim's eye, causing fractures and possibly permanent damage. A man has been struck by lighting, several homes damaged and transport services disrupted during a severe thunderstorm that passed over Sydney early Monday evening. The storm cell, which brought winds of up to 96km/h, hit Sydney with over 5000 lightning strikes, one of which struck a man while he was on board a yacht in Church Point in Sydney's north. He was taken to hospital in stable condition. Several homes have also been battered by the storm including one at Huntleys Cove which was set alight when struck by lightning. The residents, a woman and her two daughters, escaped the blaze. Notorious paedophile and former priest Brian Joseph Spillane has been found guilty of a string of sexual assaults on students at St Stanislaus College in Bathurst, it can now be revealed. There has been a complete black-out on Spillane's cases, which have been running in Sydney courts over several years, including two consecutive trials this year. Former priest Brian Spillane back in 2008. Credit:Dean Sewell In the Downing Centre District Court on Monday, Judge Robyn Tupman revoked the series of non-publication orders that has been in force during court proceedings since 2013. A jury last week found the 73-year-old guilty of 11 charges, including sexual assault, indecent assault and buggery on four students at the boys' school in central west NSW between 1976 and 1988. New figures are out, showing impressive growth in Sydney's GDP per capita, a figure I usually associate with measuring the wealth of nations. Bring your umbrella if it's not too late. It'll be 25 in the city, 26 in Parramatta but with an 80 per cent chance of showers or an evening thunderstorm. Yesterday's evening storm left about 7000 homes without power and even set one house in Sydney's north on fire. It shows that Sydney's economy generates about $80,000 in income per every head of population. About 40 per cent of the nation's growth happens in this city and our GDP is growing at 4.5 per cent each year, which is the highest it's been since 2000. But the figures expose the widening gap between Sydney and the rest of the state. We're about $32,000 a year ahead. An IUD is not the deadly roadside explosive favoured by Iraqi insurgents. A new study finds men know more than we thought about contraception but there's more to do. Voters are divided over controversial changes to the structure of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, with roughly one-third believing they will make it stronger and another third saying it will be a weaker watchdog. The restructure replaces the single commissioner with a chief commissioner and two part-time commissioners. The chief commissioner and at least one other commissioner must agree before ICAC undertakes private or public hearings. The restructure prompted Megan Latham to resign as ICAC commissioner, warning it would result in "a fundamentally weaker" organisation. One of the state's biggest providers of youth services is facing significant financial challenges in the wake of findings from the child sex abuse royal commission. YMCA NSW has invested heavily in strengthening child protection procedures since shocking revelations about child sex abuse within the organisation were aired before the royal commission in 2013. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse re-visited YMCA NSW on Monday to hear what improvements had been made over the past three years. Tightening child protection procedures has come at a high price for YMCA NSW, the commission heard. New laws which will allow police to demand computer and phone passwords from certain offenders could violate fundamental rights, a civil liberties group argues. Police Minister Mark Ryan introduced a new bill on November 29 which would allow police to demand passwords and access codes for electronic devices from reportable offenders where there was a suspicion that an offence had occurred. The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties has questioned new laws which would give police more powers to demand access to computers. Credit:Erin Jonasson The law would cover reportable offenders who have been released from government detention or sentenced to a supervision order in the preceding three months, convicted of a prescribed internet offence or having been assessed as posing an increased risk of re-offending. Reportable offenders include people who have been convicted of child sex offences and who are required to report to police. Queensland police officers were racist in their response to a now-infamous death in custody and rioting more than 12 years ago, a federal court judge has found. Justice Debbie Mortimer on Monday awarded $220,000 damages to once-jailed Palm Island rioter Lex Wotton and two of his family members for the pain endured by early-morning raids involving SERT officers in November 2004. Lex Wotton launched the class action. Credit:Paul Harris Mr Wotton, his wife and mother brought the groundbreaking racial discrimination class action on behalf of Palm Islanders, which alleged police failures after Cameron (Mulrunji) Doomadgee's death would not have happened in a non-isolated community that was not predominantly Aboriginal. "I have found they (police officers) conducted themselves... with a sense of impunity, impervious to the reactions of Palm Islanders," Justice Mortimer said in a written summary on Monday. Environment Minister Josh Freydenberg asked to protect the vulnerable bar-tailed godwit from Russia at Toondah Harbour at Cleveland in international wetlands. Bird Life Australia southern Queensland representative Judith Hoyle on December 12 said they had raised concerns with both the federal and Queensland governments about the project's impact on two other "critically endangered" species; the Eastern Curlew and the Great Knot. "It makes a mockery of our international obligations to even consider a Ramsar site for a development like this, especially when we know that it will affect a large area well beyond the footprint detailed in the Master Plan," Ms Hoyle said. A new $1.3 billion harbour at Cleveland has been delayed for additional conservation information Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg has asked for extra conservation information about the $1.3 billion Toondah Harbour project at Cleveland, delaying the project, which was set to begin in mid-2017, for at least six months. An update to Cleveland's harbour, the jumping off point to many bay islands, has been on several governments' agendas for 50 years. This is the seventh delay to the draft environmental impact statement process for the Palaszczuk government's version of the project, which aims to build a marina with 3600 houses and apartments close to an internationally-recognised coastal wetland. The proposed marina is built inside an area man-made from dredge material from the existing Cleveland Harbour and the navigation channel heading towards Moreton Bay islands. Conservationists have for almost two years urged strict environmental controls over the 67-hectare project which proposes to turn Toondah Harbour at Cleveland where the ferries cross to North Stradbroke Island into a modern retail marina with 3400 units. They have raised questions about the impact on local corals, the impact of shifting the dredge material and the impact on birds and dugongs. Toondah Harbour is the roost for one of the world's longest flying birds, the critically endangered bar-tailed godwit from Russia. Toondah Harbour is also within a RAMSAR international wetlands and includes dugong and many species of international migratory birds. It will create 1000 jobs during construction and result in a further 500 ongoing jobs in the new precinct, which will have a 400-berth marina. The environmental impact statement for the Toondah Harbour project was set to be released on Monday and construction to begin in mid-2017. The delay was confirmed on Monday by Mr Frydenberg's spokesman. "The proponent has requested a delay to provide some additional information," he said. The draft environmental impact study has been delayed now until mid 2017, delaying a start to the project. Redlands mayor Karen Williams said in statement the delay was frustrating. "We are still waiting to hear officially that the federal government has delayed its decision," Cr Wiliams said. "If it has been delayed again it is frustrating for residents who are keen to see the detail of this important project and to hear how the Federal Government will assess it to and ensure it protects the Redlands environment while at the same time delivering the jobs and infrastructure we need." Cr Williams said the federal government had not yet begun the process to approve or reject the project. "What we are waiting on is a decision on how the environmental impacts of the project will be assessed," Cr Williams said. "The community deserves the opportunity to see this detail to ensure the environment is protected throughout the project. "Declaring the project a controlled action under the EPBC Act will also provide extra opportunities for the community to have its say on the project." The project is important to the future economy of North Stradbroke Island, which is progressively phasing away from Sibelco's sand mining industry. Sand mining will finish in 2019. Cr Williams said this single fact made any delays significant. "With North Stradbroke Island transitioning away from sandmining, the economic return this project will deliver to the region is critical," she said. "The community has been waiting for this project for more than 50 years and anyone who has been down to Toondah Harbour lately would attest that an upgrade of the ferry terminal is in desperate need. "This project will deliver $116 million of community infrastructure at no cost to ratepayers and provide safe and reliable access to one of our region's greatest assets, Moreton Bay." An 18-year-old accused of raping a woman after following her to a Brisbane hotel was already facing assault charges. The Brisbane Magistrates Court was told the teen had only been in Australia for 18 months, was homeless and there were "concerns for his intellectual capacity". He is facing charges of rape, assault with intent to rape and deprivation of liberty after a woman was attacked on Sunday in Brisbane's CBD and he's has been remanded in custody to reappear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on December 19. AAP Stay informed. Like the Brisbane Times Facebook page A woman who surrendered to police after the shooting death of a Gold Coast man is not being treated as suspect in the alleged murder, her lawyer says. Renee Louise Moseley, 31, handed herself into police on Sunday afternoon and has been charged with unlawfully using a motor vehicle. Renee Louise Moseley has appeared in the Southport Magistrates Court. Credit:Chris Hyde Police believe Moseley was at the scene on Friday when 41-year-old Jason Boyd was fatally shot at his Carrara home. On Saturday Taylor Ruatara, 18, faced Southport Magistrates Court charged with Mr Boyd's murder. Apple is wading in to the debate over regulation of self-driving cars, declaring it is excited about the potential for automated transportation and calling on US regulators not to restrict testing of such vehicles. A five-page letter from Steve Kenner, Apple's director of product integrity, to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is the company's most comprehensive statement yet about its interest in self-driving vehicle technology. The November 22 letter followed more than a year of industry speculation about the iPhone-maker's plans for expanding into transportation. "The company is investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation," Kenner wrote. "Executed properly under NHTSA's guidance, automated vehicles have the potential to greatly enhance the human experience to prevent millions of car crashes and thousands of fatalities each year and to give mobility to those without." Mark Forbes has resigned as editor-in-chief of The Age, as publisher Fairfax Media investigates allegations against him of harassment. On Monday morning, staff in the Melbourne newsroom were addressed by Fairfax's group director of news and business media, Sean Aylmer. Former editor in chief of The Age, Mark Forbes, who resigned on Monday morning. Credit:Eddie Jim Mr Aylmer said Fairfax Media had been conducting a thorough investigation since it first heard of the complaint two weeks ago. Mr Forbes would not be coming back into the office, he added. A man was bashed to death on a freeway off-ramp after an argument over a parking spot, according to court documents. Phi Long Ung was beaten into a coma last July and left on the side of the road bleeding heavily with severe head injuries, after a midnight car crash on the Western Ring Road in July 2015. He died two weeks later. A man faced court over the alleged bashing death of a man by the roadside. Credit:Penny Stephens Christopher Orfanidis, 31, was charged with Mr Ung's murder. He is is also accused of assaulting Mr Ung's friend known as Witness A who was in the car with Mr Ung, and of placing the pair in danger of serious injury and of death. Bill Panagiotidis, 39, was also charged with helping to remove and hide Mr Orfanidis' car later on, and with intending to pervert the course of justice. Police killers will spend the rest of their lives behind bars under new Victorian laws to deny police murderers parole. The Andrews government on Tuesday will introduce laws banning parole for police murderers, which is likely to be swiftly passed in the final week of parliament with bipartisan support. Russell St bomber Craig Minogue has applied for parole. The new laws will be retrospective and cover three police killers in Victorian prisons, including Russell Street bomber Craig Minogue. Earlier this year the Opposition introduced a private bill to keep Mr Minogue, who is eligible for parole in 2017, in prison. New Zealand's next prime minister will have big shoes to fill after the shock departure of John Key. A politician with an uncanny ability to read the public mood, Key's broad popularity has been the driving force behind the success of his National Party-led government. While his deputy, Finance Minister Bill English, is the leading candidate to succeed him, there's no guarantee he would take the party to a fourth straight election victory in 2017 or remain at the helm for the long term. "He's seen as a bit bland and boring, which is fine for a minister of finance because you want someone with stability and a bit more of a conservative look," said Bryce Edwards, a political scientist at University of Otago. "He's going to need something different as prime minister, and I'm not sure he has that same charisma or colourfulness as John Key." With the economy growing at a healthy clip and Key as popular as ever in opinion polls, National was looking a good bet for a fourth term. Key's surprise resignation Monday, less than a year out from the election, has given the main opposition Labour Party renewed hope. Manila: Philippines Vice-President Leni Robredo said she will resign as housing secretary on Monday after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered her to stop attending cabinet meetings, a development that could galvanise opposition to Mr Duterte. Ms Robredo, who was not on a ticket with Mr Duterte during the May elections, will remain vice-president, a position that's is elected separately from the president. The two are from rival political parties. Vice-President Leni Robredo applauds as new Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte walks to address the troops during a ceremony in Quezon City in July. Credit:AP Ms Robredo said she received a text message from Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco relaying the president's instruction. Not attending cabinet meetings would make it impossible for her to perform her duties as head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, she said in a statement on her website. Beijing: The protocol-breaking telephone call Donald Trump held with Taiwan's leader Tsai Ing-wen was a deliberately provocative move planned weeks in advance, The Washington Post has reported. It signals a tough opening line with China which threatens simmering diplomatic tensions with Beijing even before the US President-elect sets foot in the Oval Office. The historic communication the first between leaders of the United States and Taiwan since 1979 was the product of a new strategy for engagement with Taiwan devised even before Mr Trump became the Republican presidential nominee, the Post reported, citing interviews with people involved in the call's planning. The call also reflects the views of Trump's hard-line advisers, who are urging a tougher stance on China, and who have criticised the Obama administration as leaving Taiwan long seen by Republicans as a beacon for democracy and human rights in Asia isolated and "militarily vulnerable". And even if it emerges that Chen was largely freelancing, and not acting on behalf of the Trump Organisation, the perception of a possible business conflict in Taiwan further complicates the three-way relationship. The September 8 meeting, and its confirmation in November, went largely unnoticed outside Taiwan until Friday, when the president-elect spoke on the phone with the island's president, Tsai Ing-wen. The pre-arranged call is believed to have been the first conversation between a Taiwanese leader and a US president or president-elect in close to four decades, and it threatens to upend the delicate US-China relationship because Beijing views any communication with Taiwan's leaders as an affront to its claim of sovereignty over the island. Asked on Sunday for clarification about the company's relationship with Chen and knowledge of her activity in Taiwan, Miller did not respond to specific questions. She instead repeated in a statement that there had been "no authorised visits to Taiwan on behalf of our brand for the purposes of development, nor are there any active conversations". Possible conflicts of interest for Trump as president have been documented around the world, including in Scotland, India, Brazil, the Philippines, Argentina and Turkey. But perhaps nowhere are the stakes quite as high as in Taiwan, because it involves ties between the United States and China, the countries with the world's biggest economies and most powerful militaries. "Even if the phone call had not happened, once these business dealings came to light it would send a very confusing signal to Beijing," said Marc Lanteigne, a senior research fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs who focuses on Chinese security issues. The business ties may undermine the near certainty that world leaders have had for many decades about some of the basic foundations of US foreign policy, which has included the primacy of maintaining ties with China in a "very narrow framework," said Shelley Rigger, a professor of political science at Davidson College in North Carolina who studies Taiwan-US relations. "It is very worrisome not just for leaders in China but for leaders everywhere to think that there could be motivations driving US foreign policy that they can't, A, know about and, B, work out logically," Rigger said by telephone. "If the US government is being influenced by some kind of parallel set of side deals and interests that are not the sort of mainstream US foreign policy and national interest agenda, then no one is going to be able to predict anything." Adding to the complexity is the fact that the Taoyuan Aerotropolis is a government-run development project, and Tsai's administration must give final approval for the complex plan, which involves removing many people from their homes, before construction can begin. Taoyuan is the centre of a metropolitan area with over 2 million residents. Jared Taylor, founder and editor of American Renaissance, a white supremacist magazine, has travelled to Russia. Credit:New York Times The Obama administration has accused Russian interests of meddling in the presidential campaign by spreading fake news and hacking into the computers of the Democratic National Committee and the emails of John Podesta, a leading figure in Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. But efforts by Russia, which has jailed some of its own white supremacist agitators, to organise and inspire extreme right-wing groups in the United States and Europe ultimately could prove more influential. Richard Spencer, white nationalist and 'alt-right' leader. Credit:Washington Post His voice amplified by Russian-funded think tanks, the Orthodox Church and state-controlled news media, like RT and Sputnik, that are aimed at foreign audiences, Putin has in recent years reached out to conservative and nationalist groups abroad with the message that he stands with them against gay rights activists and other forces of moral decay. He first embraced this theme when, campaigning for his third term as president in early 2012, he presented Russia not only as a military power deserving of international respect, but also as a "civilisational model" that could rally all those in Russia and beyond who were fed up with the erosion of traditional values. Matthew Heimbach, a US extremist, is influenced by Russia and Vladimir Putin. Credit:YouTube The Kremlin has also provided financial and logistical support to far-right forces in the West, said Peter Kreko, an analyst at Political Capital, a research group in Budapest, Hungary. Though Jobbik, a neo-Nazi party in Hungary and other groups have been accused of receiving money from Moscow, the only proven case involves the National Front in France, which got loans worth more than $US11 million from Russian banks. Russia also shares with far-right groups across the world a deeply held belief that, regardless of their party, traditional elites should be deposed because of their support for globalism and transnational institutions like NATO and the European Union. But this means different things to different groups and people. Putin, for example, has "a natural interest in making a mess in Europe and the US," Kreko said. But for Heimbach, whose Traditionalist Worker Party uses the slogan, "Globalism is the poison, nationalism is the antidote," the term "international elites" is often an anti-Semitic code for Jews, though he denied any racist intent. Putin has never personally promoted white supremacist ideas, and has repeatedly insisted that Russia, while predominantly white and Christian, is a vast territory of diverse religions and ethnic groups stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Nor has he displayed any sign of hostility toward Jews, a fact that has infuriated some of Russia's more extremist nationalist groups. In fact, Putin's agenda is not purely ideological. It is as much about accomplishing strategic goals like destabilising Europe and NATO, or forcing the European Union to rescind the sanctions it applied after his forays into Crimea and eastern Ukraine. This has not stopped people like Richard B. Spencer, who directs the National Policy Institute, an alt-right group based in Montana, from hailing Putin as a protector of the white race. Not all of the alt-right has fully embraced the Russian leader. Stephen Bannon, Trump's new chief strategist, who until he entered the White House ran Breitbart News, which he has called a platform for the alt-right, has a complicated view of Putin. In a speech in 2014, he said Putin ran a "kleptocracy," but also that "we, the Judeo-Christian West, really have to look at what he's talking about as far as traditionalism goes." Spencer, who held a much-discussed conference in November in Washington, produced a video last year in which he claimed that "an understanding" between Trump and Putin might bring together Slavic and American Caucasians and eventually "foretell a unified white world." This summer, he echoed those remarks when he told The Nation magazine, "I think we should be pro-Russia because Russia is the great white power that exists in the world." In an interview last week, Spencer - he made headlines at his conference by shouting "Hail Trump!" - offered a more measured version of this sentiment, referring to Putin as "a normal leader in an abnormal world." "He wants to conserve his nation and his people," Spencer said. "He recognises certain enemies and certain traditions that should remain, like the church and the state. These are very normal conservative ends." Spencer acknowledged that Putin did not share his ideology, but played that down, saying, "We can look to Putin as someone we can admire and understand." Spencer is married to a Russian writer named Nina Kouprianova, who has translated the works of Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin, a vocal advocate of political extremism in the West. Spencer and Kouprianova are separated. Putin's fans in Europe generally avoid white supremacist ideas, at least in public, but have also praised him for his nationalistic pride and his views on Islamic extremism, immigration and traditional sexual mores. When ordinary people see that " a man can kiss a man in the street in Germany, they look to the east and Russia and see that this kind of a new life has been stopped there," said Voigt, the German far-right leader. "For us, this is hope." Voigt added that he and his party "agree 100 per cent with Putin's position" on homosexuality: "We are absolutely against gender politics for my country and for Europe." Not all of Europe's right-wing populists are smitten with Putin, though most tend to see him much more favourably than their own entrenched elites. "I'm more a fan than not," said Tom Van Grieken, leader of Vlaams Belang, a Belgian group that champions independence for the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders. "He does a good job for Russian interests. But I'm not sure he is good for the rest of the world." In Putin's favour, Van Grieken insisted that Russia had been demonised by a Belgian establishment that "is a slave to America," adding, "Putin is not black or white, but 50 shades of gray." Last year, in an effort to unite disparate and occasionally feuding far-right groups and to place Russia squarely at the center of the expanding movement against liberal elites, a Russian political party, Rodina, organised a gathering of nationalist figures from Europe, the United States and elsewhere in a cramped conference room at St. Petersburg's Holiday Inn. Fyodor V. Biryukov, a leader of the Rodina, or Motherland, party, said it was the first time that activists in the vanguard of "a new global revolution" had gotten together to rail against same-sex marriage, political correctness, radical Islamists and New York financiers. He said the Kremlin had not supported the event, but "did not bother us, either." Among the Europeans at the conference were representatives from Britain First, a far-right nationalist party, and Golden Dawn, the Greek neo-fascist group. At least two Americans were also there. One of them was Dickson, the former Klan lawyer, who flew in from Atlanta and gave a speech that ended with a cry in halting Russian: "God save the czar!" The other was Jared Taylor, founder of the white supremacist think tank American Renaissance, who said the descendants of white Europeans risked being swept away by a wave of Africans, Central Americans and Asians. In recent years, Taylor has struck up ties with European groups, inviting officials from the National Front, Vlaams Belang and the British National Party to speak at his American Renaissance events. "There is a worldwide awakening of nationalism among European countries - and I include the United States in that," Taylor said. "All across Europe, we are seeing the rise of parties expressing the idea that Europe, in order to remain Europe, must remain European. I have a feeling of intense kinship for those that wish to preserve their nation and their culture." Heimbach has made three trips to Europe in the last three years, meeting with officials from the Golden Dawn in Greece, the New Right in Romania and Voigt's National Democratic Party in Germany to discuss fundraising and organizing strategies. In Prague in September, he addressed members of the Workers' Party of Social Justice, which opposes NATO and the European Union, has sought to criminalise homosexuality and has called for the Czech Republic to restore relations with Russia. "We white Americans can never be truly separated from our European brothers and sisters," Heimbach told the crowd, "because we are all bonded together by shared blood, heritage and destiny." Tomas Vanas, the Czech party's chairman, said in a telephone interview last week that he stood together with Putin and others to resist "the perverse liberal values of the Western world." PHILIPSBURG:--- The Central Committee will meet in a session on December 5, 2016. The Central Committee meeting has been set for Monday, December 5 at 10.00 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The agenda point is: Draft National Ordinance adopting the budget of Country Sint Maarten for the financial year 2017 (National Ordinance Budget 2017) (ZJ 2016-2017-098) (IS / 194 / 2016-2017 dated November 10, 2016) The draft Budget 2017 is available on the website of Parliament, www.sxmparliament.org, for the public. Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg. The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.com and via www.sxmparliament.org. PHILIPSBURG:--- The K1 Britannia Foundation would like to celebrate International Volunteer Day by highlighting the involvement of teenagers in the community. International Volunteer Day (IVD) was designated by the United Nations on December 5th, 1985 as an international observance day to celebrate the power and potential of volunteerism. The 2016 theme is Global Applause and it is only fitting that teenagers are applauded for being active in the community. The K1 Britannia volunteer program is designed to give everyone the opportunity to get involved with making a difference by connecting those that have a desire to help with various local charitable organizations and projects that need their hands-on assistance. One of the special focuses of our volunteer program is teenage students, as we believe that the youth are the future of the island. The program provides challenging opportunities for teenage students to be active in community service in the areas that are of interest to them. The K1 Britannia volunteer program boasts over 375 volunteers of which 57% are teenagers which show that the youth are looking for ways to give back. The volunteer program includes students from St. Dominic High School, St. Dominic IB Program, St. Maarten Academy Academic & PSVE, Milton Peters College, St. Dominic High School, Learning Unlimited, Caribbean International Academy (CIA) and so much more. Volunteering is a great way for our youth to develop skills, get exposed to various issues and challenges on the island and broaden their view of the world. Over this past year, our teenage volunteers have given back via SXM DOET, multiple beach cleanups, spa day with the elderly, spending St. Maartens Day with foster children, tutoring and in many other ways. The teenagers have shown great patience, respect, genuine care, teamwork, leadership, dependability and other great qualities which will enable them to become the right kind of leaders of the future with a heart for others and a conviction that they can help to change things. The foundation is happy to see so many teenagers actively contributing their time and skills and look forward to seeing more teenagers get active, grow and ultimately changed through their good works in the community. If you are looking for ways to give your time, skills, knowledge, and love to others, sign up as a volunteer in a few minutes at the foundation's website at www.k1britanniafoundation.org/volunteer. PHILIPSBURG:---- With December 5th marking International Volunteer Day, the SXM DOET Project Management Team would like to take the opportunity to recognize the efforts of the many volunteers that contribute to society as a whole. SXM DOET, the local edition of the largest volunteer initiative in the Dutch Kingdom, having gathered over 1.000 volunteers on a yearly basis, and striving for even more in 2017, would not be possible without such selfless and caring persons. Volunteerism has always been a very important part of our society and has brought many positive endeavors to life on Sint Maarten. Many persons give selflessly on a regular basis, making for a stronger and more generous society. With the holidays coming up, and a lot of the negativity that has been going around, it is good to look around and recognize the good that has brought our society together and has created a better place for our youth, less fortunate, elderly, teen moms, differently-abled, stray animals, and many many more. Without such great people, people who are dedicated and prove that no effort is too small, many would have been left in the dark with nowhere to turn. There is however still is a lot that can be achieved, but the SXM DOET Team is positive that through cooperation, caring and small selfless acts, Sint Maarten as a society can achieve a whole lot more. Therefore, a large thank you to all volunteers that have not just contributed to the SXM DOET success, but to every organization, and initiative, large or small, that has tried to make a difference on Sint Maarten. This day is especially dedicated to you. If you are interested in volunteering, get to know your local NGOs and find out which suits your interest and / or skill most. SXM DOET 2017 will take place on March 10th and 11th and will also be the opportune moment for persons to find out more about particular organizations and what greatness volunteering can bring. Keep up to date on SXM DOET events via: www.sxmdoet.com / https://www.facebook.com/SXMDOET/ PHILIPSBURG:--- The Government of St Maarten, represented by the Council of Ministers, would like to update the general public with regards to the Emergency repairs which will be carried out on Back Street. The project is being Financed by the Ministry of VROMI. We are pleased to inform you, that emergency repairs for Backstreet will commence on Monday, December 5th, 2016. The works are to concentrate on repairing the critical points where the road pavers are completed undone. The works entail temporarily fixing of the road foundation and laying temporarily asphalt to remedy the current situation. The project is scheduled to be carried out in (4) four days and will be completed on time for a joyous Holiday Season. Road Closure for the Four Days of Works is as follows: * Monday, December 5th, 2016 from 7:00pm to Tuesday, December 6th, 2016, 6:00am. * Tuesday, December 6th, 2016 from 7:00pm to Wednesday, December 7th, 2016, 6:00am. * Wednesday, December 7th, 2016 from 7:00pm to Thursday, December 8th, 2016, 6:00am. (Works during this period will start on the Back Street at the Voges Street intersection removing the paver and repairing the road structure, ending at the Tamarinde Steeg) * Thursday, December 8th, 2016 from 7:00pm to Friday, December 9th, 2016 6:00am. (Works during this period will start on the Back Street at the Voges Street intersection laying of asphalt, ending at the Tamarinde Steeg) The works will be carried out by the contractor Windward Roads. Co-ordination of the works will be carried out by the Ministry of VROMI. All Businesses and residents are therefore urged to co-operate during these times of execution and all questions and concerns will be addressed and taken into consideration. Deliveries to and from your establishment can be done via the side roads as access will remain open up until the Back Street. We Plead that you do not park your cars in these side roads as they should remain free at all times in case of emergency for the Police, Fire, Ambulance Department and for the collection of Garbage. Please respect the code of conduct for this project for an easy transition of the works. The total duration of the emergency repair works is estimated at 4 calendar days; We understand that it is short notice and apologize for any undue inconveniences that this may cause. Trusting to have informed you sufficiently, working together towards a better St. Maarten for us all. In the case of emergency, the community Police officer for the area of Philipsburg will be Mr. Steven Carty. Please feel free to contact ing. Kurt A. Ruan, Department Head of New Projects Development and Planning, or Ms. Nathalie Parotte, Project Manager, if any questions may arise with regards to the execution of the works to the Ministry Of V.R.O.MI., Department of New Projects Development and Planning by the following E-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by telephone: 5424289. Government needs to set its priority when budgeting. PHILIPSBURG:--- MP Frans Richardson made his intentions known during the Central Committee budget hearing on Monday when he informed Parliament that even though he is supporting government he will not be used as a rubber stamp to pass unrealistic budgets. MP Richardson who is also the leader of the USP made clear that if the 2018 budget when presented the end of 2017 is not realistic it will not get his support whether or not he is supporting the government. MP Richardson posed several questions to the Minister of Finance Richard Gibson Sr who presented the draft 2017 budget to parliament on Monday morning. Richardson posed several questions regarding the cuts in the Justice Ministry and other Ministries. He asked the Minister of Finance to give parliament a break down on the cuts and how the elderly and culture is affected by these cuts. MP Richardson further stated that while St. Maarten is a tourism destination the Ministry that suffers the most cuts each year is the Ministry of TEATT. He said that Government needs to get its priority straight because tourism is the country sole source of income and if the country does not market its product well overseas then government will not be able to meet its needs such as having the monies for education and other needs met. The Minister of Finance Richardson Gibson Sr in his presentation outlined the need to diversify the economy in order to boost the economy. He said the Pearl of China is one of the projects that will bring much-needed monies to the country through trade. Minister Gibson also made clear that the St. Maarten Harbor Group of Companies lost USD9M last year, he said that government should be more involved with government-owned companies because unless there is a shareholder meeting, government is not informed about the loss monies from these companies. Another point the Minister of Finance made is the need for government-owned companies such as PJIAE to pay its dividends to government despite their financial state. Give the people a grace period to regulate their taxes. PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Christopher Emmanuel urged the Minister of Finance Richard Gibson Sr to stop is plan in curbing online shopping since there is not much that can be done to curb or stop residents from shopping online. Emmanuel said that St. Maarten is a Siamese twin island and if the Dutch side does something the people of St. Maarten will do their shopping online and have their items delivered on the French side in order to evade whatever sanctions the Dutch side intends to impose to curb online shopping. Emmanuel also said he also believes that something must be done with the taxes that are not being paid. He said that government should try to give the people of St. Maarten a grace period in order for them to regulate (declare) their taxes before imposing penalties. Emmanuel said that the prosecutors office had given people a period to turn in their illegal fire arms without questions asked therefore, he feels that government should also give residents including business owners a grace period to declare their taxes without any questions being asked. MP Silvio Matser in his presentation asked government to find the right solutions to solve the problems the country are facing. He said right now St. Maarten is killing itself instead of boosting the countrys economy. Matser gave an example by stating that one would feed their chickens in order to gain more eggs but today the focus are being placed on killing the chickens which will ultimately result in everyone starving. Matser also asked the Minister of Finance if he has an immediate solution to fix the budget in 2017 should there be a shortfall next year. Matser also residents of St. Maarten will be squeezed further if the expected income is not achieved. He further asked the Minister what will become of Bearing Point since the Minister intends to enhance the ICT department of government. He also asked the finance Minister to explain why the Ministry of Finance gets NAF1M extra, while the Ministry of TEATT got a decrease. He said why government is focusing on killing the chicken that brings the eggs to the country instead of feeding the chicken. He indicated last year the Minister named his budget a shotgun budget but the 2017 budget looks like an oozy budget and his hope is that the Minister has immediate solutions to fill the holes for 2017 because he is sure there will be a shortfall. Account Based Marketing Platform LeadGenius Announces Addition to Series B Funding Now Totaling $14 Million BERKELEY, CA (Marketwired) 12/05/16 today announced an addition of $4 million to the companys Series B funding announced July 2016. SJF Ventures joins Lumia Capital and Javelin Venture Partners at a higher valuation for LeadGenius. The addition of $4 million in debt and equity raises LeadGenius Series B total to $14 million. LeadGenius uses a unique combination of machine learning and real human researchers to power its business-to-business (B2B) SaaS platform. Additional funding will be used to add multi-channel capabilities to LeadGenius for outbound marketing and sales. This new funding will enable LeadGenius to continue to innovate as a leading outbound and account based marketing (ABM) leader, said Prayag Narula, co-founder and CEO of LeadGenius. LeadGenius already provides the most reliable, accurate customer data in the market. The next frontier is to leverage data to help customers get broader insights into their market and build a platform to easily orchestrate outbound marketing. With this new investment, Alan Kelley of SJF Ventures will join the LeadGenius board as an observer. LeadGenius is an ideal match for SJF Ventures. The companys progressive workforce practices have helped create a sustainable marketing platform and a rapidly growing roster of impressive customers, said Kelley. LeadGenius is proof that responsible business models can deliver best-in-market products. A Y Combinator alum (Summer 2011), LeadGenius has now raised more than $22 million in total funding. SJF Ventures joins existing investors that participated in LeadGenius first close of $10 million Series B financing, including Javelin Venture Partners, Sierra Ventures, Better Ventures, Fuel Capital, Funders Club, Initialized Capital, Bee Partners, Kapor Capital, Scrum Ventures and Y Combinators Continuity Fund. About SFJ Ventures SJF Ventures is a venture capital partnership that invests in high-growth companies creating a healthier, smarter and cleaner future. About LeadGenius LeadGenius, based in Berkeley, Calif., is a marketing and sales platform that enables B2B companies to better to identify and connect with their ideal accounts. The LeadGenius platform is powered by best-in-class B2B data which is continually refined through a unique combination of machine learning technology and skilled human researchers. LeadGenius customers range from Fortune 500 companies such as Google, Square, Box, and eBay, to rapidly-growing companies such as Weebly, NerdWallet, and CareerArc. Founded in 2011 by three U.C. Berkeley graduate students (Anand Kulkarni, Dave Rolnitzky, and Prayag Narula), LeadGenius is a fast-growing SaaS company with the heart of a social enterprise and a mission to provide meaningful opportunities to underemployed individuals with digital skills anywhere in the world. For more media information, contact: Lisa Hendrickson LCH Communications for LeadGenius 516-643-1642 Adama Barrow, Gambia's new President elect - img: louhew James has a Bachelors degree in History and wrote his dissertation on beef and protest. His heroes list ranges from Adele to Noam Chomsky: inspirations hell be invoking next year when he begins a Masters degree in London. Follow him @Songbird_James Contact us on Twitter , on Facebook , or leave your comments below. To find out about social media training or management why not take a look at our website for more info: TheSMFGroup.com On Friday afternoon, it was announced that Gambia's authoritarian President Yahya Jammeh had, against extraordinary odds, lost the 2016 general election by a huge margin of nine percentage points. Opposition leader Adama Barrow rallied a coalition of eight political parties to secure his electoral victory. The shock result occurred despite Jammeh's government banning all international calls and internet communications, including those made via social media, on the eve of the election itself.The administration of President Jammeh, who himself won power in 1994 in a bloodless coup and has ruled Gambia for over two decades, is widely described as totalitarian . Indeed, Jammeh previously declared that protests against the 2016 election results would not be tolerated. Last week's ban on social media and other communications was therefore. Some also claim the measures were an attempt to facilitateas the blackout made it difficult for observers to track polling stations.Authorities said the embargo was implementedmost likely in anticipation of another electoral victory for Jammeh and subsequent voter discontent. Critics, however, have re-iterated their stance that such measures were implementedReports of voter intimidation by state actors during the election, for example, could have been far more numerous and detailed if channels of communication had been unimpeded.Whatever the motive, the crackdown itself seemed to have been effective in curtailing unrest, with the streets of Gambia's capital Banjul empty on Thursday night.In light of the shock election result, however,After all, Barrow's victory occurred despite it being banned.In short, not really. Today, there is mounting evidence to suggest that. That's been particularly true since the Arab Spring , which began in late-2010 and was famously fueled largely by social media activism. More recently, however, US President-elect Donald Trump has become notorious for his use of Twitter to drum-up support; and we have recently seen further evidence from state actors in Cameroon Great Britain and India to suggest thatAll such cases have also raised fundamental questions regarding the extent to which free speech is tolerable in modern nations; especially as it becomes increasingly possible for anybody to gain a voice in their respective public spheres.In the particular case of Gambia, we can now observe an outgoing regime which has, for twenty-two years, been characterised above all else for its extreme curtailing of free expression; and its incoming replacement which, we all hope, will afford a far greater measure of such freedoms to its citizens in the future. Free family fun was on the agenda Tuesday night in Clinton Township, as the popular Sledding Hill was the place to be on a splendid fall evening. A guide to voter rights in Indiana. What you need to know before you cast a ballot Welcome to SwanseaOnline - your home for the best news, sports and what's on coverage of the city. Never miss a Swansea story with our daily newsletter Sign up to comment on our stories here Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Swansea City news | Ospreys news | InYourArea : This false-color mosaic, made from infrared data collected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, reveals the differences in the composition of surface materials around methane and ethane lakes at Titan, Saturn's largest moon. On Sept. 27, 2017, the Cassini spacecraft will dive headlong into Saturn, after spending 13 years exploring the ringed planet and many of its moons. Right down to the last possible second of its life, Cassini will be working hard, sending back to Earth the closest images of Saturn ever captured. But the funeral march hasnt begun just yet. There's still a lot of work that the probe is scheduled to complete before September, including an additional, close flyby of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. By the end of its life, Cassini will have made over 125 close passes of the alien moon, which bears a slightly eerie resemblance to Earth. Why do scientists keep going back to Titan? Besides the pure pursuit of understanding an alien world, studying Titan's complex atmosphere can actually help scientists better understand Earth's atmosphere. And it's possible that even though life as we know it on Earth could never form on Titan, this moon may still have something to teach scientists about the likelihood of life arising elsewhere in the universe. [Titan, Largest Moon of Saturn, Explained (Infographic)] An uncanny place An artist's imagination of hydrocarbon pools, icy and rocky terrain on the surface of Saturn's largest moon Titan. (Image credit: NASA/Steven Hobbs (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia).) If an Earthling were to touch down on the rocky surface of Titan, that person might think that they'd found an analogue to the early Earth. While there is no vegetation or other life to be seen, the rocky surface is dotted with lakes, rivers and oceans. In fact, Titan is the only body in the solar system besides Earth that has substantial amounts of liquid on its surface. Of course, the liquid on Titan isn't water that would be impossible, considering that surface temperatures hover around minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 179 Celsius). Instead, all those oceans, lakes and rivers are full of liquid methane, with trace amounts of ethane. (However, there is firm evidence that there is a very salty liquid-water ocean below Titan's rocky crust, according to NASA.) The fact that life as we know it could never form on the surface of Titan is a pretty major difference between it and Earth, and yet the similarities continue to stack up. Titan has an atmosphere that's made of about 95 percent nitrogen (Earth's atmosphere is about 78 percent nitrogen), and it hosts a methane cycle that's similar to Earth's water cycle: The surface liquid is absorbed into the atmosphere and into clouds, where it becomes rain that falls down onto the surface, beginning the cycle over again. "Titan has been one of the most exciting and unique objects in the solar system that we've been able to explore with Cassini," said Athena Coustenis, a director of research with the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the Paris-Meudon Observatory. Coustenis spoke about Cassini's study of Titan during a press conference at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in October. Titans south polar vortex. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute) Titan experiences seasons, and each lasts about seven years. When Cassini arrived in 2004, the northern hemisphere of Titan was in winter. Its spring equinox came in 2009, and now scientists are watching as that side of the planet transitions into summer. On the southern side, a storm vortex that has been observed over the southern hemisphere has an atmospheric "hot spot" at high altitudes. A similar feature had previously appeared above the northern hemisphere, but it had disappeared by 2011. The data that Cassini sends back to Earth can be compared against the computer models of Titan's atmosphere, letting scientists know if they've accurately modeled the complicated processes that are going on therein. But models of Titan's atmosphere also provide new tests for models of Earth's atmosphere, according to Jonathan Lunine, an interdisciplinary scientist with the Cassini mission team and a professor of astronomy at Cornell. This isn't the first alien atmosphere to teach Earth scientists something about their home planet; studies of Venus in the 70s and 80s allowed scientists to "test whether we really understood the carbon dioxide greenhouse effect," Lunine told Space.com. For example, scientists can adapt their models of Earth's atmosphere to the conditions on Venus, and see if the mechanisms those models described still work. "And of course, there are therefore some applications to climate change on the Earth, because these same types of models are used to predict how our own atmosphere is changing as we change it chemically," he said. [Epic Landing on Saturn's Moon Titan Remembered 10 Years Later] Titan may also experience cycles in which the liquid methane on the surface shifts from pole to pole over timescales that are on the order of 100,000 years, Lunine said a process that's similar to glacial cycles on Earth. "To understand that oscillation, which is maybe a primary feature of Titan, we really need to understand how the atmosphere works seasonally, because we can then extend that to these longer-term cycles of methane moving from the north to the south pole," he said. On Nov. 13, Cassini made a flyby of Titan with the goal of imaging waves on the surface of Titan's ocean. Models of Titan's atmosphere predict that the wind will pick up with the arrival of summer, thus increasing the size and frequency of waves on the methane sea. So studying the waves is an indirect way to study features of the wind. In order to get a look at those waves, the probe fired a radio signal at the surface of Titan's ocean, but at an angle greater than 90 degrees. Assuming everything went according to plan, that caused the radio signal to ricochet out into space on a trajectory with Earth. Cassini also executed this technique in 2014, but the maneuver is still extremely impressive. Lunine said that it would be like bouncing a ball off a wall at just the right angle, such that it bounces toward another person who is standing 1,000 miles away. Life, not as we know it The Cassini probe wasn't built with the capability to detect the presence of life-forms on a distant moon. But it is laying the groundwork for future missions that will search for life. Titan has no liquid water, and that more or less eliminates the possibility that it hosts life or at least, life as we know it. But Titan's complex chemistry is still of interest to scientists who are searching for life elsewhere, according to both Coustenis and Lunine. An artist's impression of the descent and landing sequence of ESA's Huygens probe onto the surface of Titan. The Jan. 14, 2005 landing was the culmination of a 22-year process of planning, organizing and cooperation between ESA and NASA. (Image credit: NASA/JPL/ESA) The polar vortex that Cassini observed forming over the southern hemisphere as that region plunges into winter is significant, because it can promote the formation of rare and complex chemicals, Coustenis said. Molecules that are typically destroyed by incoming UV radiation are now under a kind of natural umbrella. "I'm talking orders of magnitude increase in many of these constituents," she said at the AAS meeting. "The south polar region is becoming a huge reservoir of enhanced material, in terms of gases, but also condensates little icy particles in the atmosphere of Titan." "It's amazing that this strong difference with the south pole going into winter has come on so quickly. We expected to see this enhancement. What we didn't expect was for this to come on within months after we went past the equinox," Coustenis said. "[Now] we want to go and look for more complex organics. We want to understand how complicated is this organic chemistry in Titan's atmosphere." It's possible that Titan could play host to complex molecules similar to those that likely formed the foundation for life on Earth. Scientists would be looking for "very organized chemistry" that "produces that same molecular set over and over again, and by drawing material and energy from the environment," he said. "Can that happen in liquids other than liquid water? Does it have to be liquid water, or could it be something as different as liquid methane?" he said. "Some people say thats preposterous, it's too cold or it's not the right stuff. But the history of science is replete with people saying 'thats ridiculous,' and then someone finds that the idea really wasn't ridiculous. The only way we'll know is to sample the sea." Lunine was part of a team that pitched a mission proposal to NASA to send a probe to Titan that would splash down in its northern sea and look for this type of chemistry. The mission wasn't approved, but Lunine is confident that some kind of life-sampling probe will go there someday. (The Huygens probe, which traveled to Saturn with Cassini, landed on Titan, but was not equipped to answer these kinds of questions.) Such a mission would be part of what scientists hope are a suite of future missions to study the potentially life-supporting environments on some of the moons around Saturn and Jupiter. NASA's Cassini spacecraft used a special spectral filter to peer through the hazy atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan and see its strange methane lakes. The images for this view, were taken on Oct. 7 2013. (Image credit: NASA) Saturn's moon Enceladus also hosts an underwater ocean and is spraying samples of that ocean up into space through geysers on its icy surface. Cassini has flown through those geysers and has found organic compounds (those that contain carbon, the backbone of life on Earth). Jupiter's moon Europa is the focus of a mission that is set to launch in the 2020s (Cassini made a flyby of Europa in 2001, on its way to Saturn). Beneath this alien moon's icy outer shell lies a liquid-water ocean with twice the total volume of all Earth's oceans. In addition, evidence suggests that there could be sources of heat and nutrients in that ocean, and that means there's the possibility that life could form there. Those life-forms would live in an environment that's not unlike Earth's ocean floor, where life has been found to be surviving on the heat and nutrients provided by undersea vents. "So Europa and Enceladus tell us about whether life can begin anywhere in an Earth-like environment. If you've got liquid water and nutrients, do you get life, or is something else missing?" Lunine said. "And Titan tells us about whether life more generally can begin in any kind of liquid medium that has sources of energy and has organics. We have to explore all three." In the meantime, scientists are still analyzing the data from the two most recent Titan flybys. And for more information, researchers can still mine the data that Cassini has sent back. For example, a study that was released last August provided a new analysis of data from a Cassini flyby that took place in 2013, and revealed canyons etched into the rocky surface of Titan some of them flooded with liquid. [How Humans Could Live on Saturn's Moon Titan (Infographic)] "It's such a huge amount of data, that I think at least three generations of astronomers coming will be able to analyze and work on that wealth of data in the coming years," Coustenis said at the AAS meeting. On Nov. 29, Cassini did another close flyby of Titan, capturing more images of its north pole so scientists can look for more changes that may have occurred there. The probe also measured the temperature of the moon's surface. Next April, Cassini will make one final close pass by Titan. That last hurrah "is like the carnival flyby," Lunine said, "because we're going to try to do everything. We're going to do a radar pass looking straight down to map the composition of some of the lakes as well as sea. We're going to look for changes in the lakes and the seas with radar. We're going to measure the elevation of some of these small lakes, because some of them are perched higher or lower. And we're actually as well going to taste the atmosphere with the mass spectrometer. So this is like the final party where you want to do it all." The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service. Italy's Future? Not Funny at All It's difficult to make any clear predictions about what the outcome of the referendum will mean. One thing, though, is clear: Italy's banks are likely to slide deeper into crisis (for an in-depth look at the issues facing Italy, click here ). And with the uncertain situation likely to lead to an unwillingness to invest in the country, it seems likely that the economy as a whole will follow. Prime Minister Renzi may be stepping down, but the Social Democrats, together with their current coalition partner, the New Center Right party of former Berlusconi protege Angelino Alfano, still have a majority in parliament and will seek to remain in power. Italian President Mattarella could accept Renzi's resignation, but he could also theoretically reject it. It's possible that a transitional or technocrat-led government could be installed until the next parliamentary elections are held in 2018. But it's also possible that snap elections could be held next year. Should that come to pass, the right-wing populist Lega Nord leader Matteo Salvini and the always outraged ex-comedian Grillo could very well be the front-runners against each other for victory. And that would be a challenge for both Italy and Europe. Because no matter who wins, it is likely they will have to run in opposition to Europe. Any other message is unlikely to lead to election victory in today's Italy. At the age of 104, Ray Chavez is flying to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for the 75th anniversary of the sad events. Mr. Chavez, a resident of San Diego, California, is a local celebrity because he is the oldest living survivor of the Battle of Pearl Harbor and for his impressive physique. The surprise military strike on December 7, 1941 by the Japanese Navy against the American naval base led to the deaths of 2,403 Americans and the destruction of 188 U.S. aircraft. Chavez, who was serving on the USS Condor as a Seaman First Class, had arrived on the archipelago after completing a minesweeping mission. On the day of the attack, he was awakened at around 4 AM by his wife, who explained to him what had occurred. Chavez and his crew rushed to the Harbor and under exploding bombs they were able to successfully sink an enemy submarine. Last week, Alaska Airlines decided that the American hero and his daughter, Kathleen, a retired U.S. Navy veteran, would travel first class to the ceremony. The former landscaper will be honored at the event. After being hugged, high-fived by random strangers at the airport, who thanked him for his service, he briefly spoke to the media saying: I never will forget [Pearl Harbor] as long as I live. Well, Im not exactly a hero, because there were thousands of other heroes, too. But Im very proud of the honor bestowed on me. His daughter added: Hes the oldest, and theres not too many of them left anymore. According to his bio, he left the Navy in 1945 and worked as a groundskeeper at UCSD for 30 years. He eventually left the University of California, San Diego and opened his own landscaping business that he operated until he was 96. He was forced into retirement after a fall, which made it difficult for him to walk. Chavez, who is determined to keep doing amazing things with his life, took up weightlifting at a gym in Rancho Bernardo and became a star. His trainer explained: Ray now works out twice a week, has buffed up with 20 pounds of muscle, and dropped his body fat down to 7%! Online commenters have finally found someone they cannot criticize. Shaheed El-Hafed (refugee camps), Dec 4, 2016 (SPS) - Prime Minister Abdelkader Taleb Omar received Sunday Kenyan Minister of Foreign Affairs Ms Amina Mohammed, who is on an official working visit to the SADR, at the Presidency of the Republic. The meeting focused on the latest developments related to the question of Western Sahara, regional and international issues of common interest, and ways and means to support the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination at international forums. In a statement to the Sahrawi News Agency, SPS, Ms Amina Mohamed expressed satisfaction with this visit, which led her to the Sahrawi refugee camps, reiterating the support of her country and all of Africa to the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence. Ms Amina Mohamed announced, at the meeting, his candidacy for the Presidency of the African Union Commission, whose election will take place during the Summit of Heads of State and Government of Africa in January. (SPS) 062/090/TRA Lisbon, Dec 5, 2016 (SPS) - A Saharawi delegation led by the representative of the Polisario Front in Portugal Ahmed Fal Emhamed participated in the 20th Congress of the Portuguese Communist Party, held December 2-4, in the city of Almada, Portugal. The Congress was attended by delegates from more than 70 countries representing their political parties and organizations. Delegates will have to adopt at the end of the Congress resolutions reaffirming their support and solidarity with the peoples fighting for liberation and independence, including the Saharawi people. The delegation of the Polisario Front held several meetings, on the sidelines of the Congress, including with member of the Political Committee of the Portuguese Communist Party, Patricia Machado, members of the Party leadership, and foreign delegations, focused on the struggle of the Saharawi people. (SPS) 062/090/TRA Voters in Italy on Sunday soundly rejected proposed changes to the country's constitution that supporters, including Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, said would streamline the country's legislature and make Italy more competitive. Nearly 60% of voters wanted no part of it. Italy is the fourth-largest economy in the European Union (EU), with a nominal 2016 estimated gross domestic product (GDP) of $1.85 trillion, about half the size of Germany's $3.47 trillion and around two-thirds the size of the United Kingdom's $2.76 trillion and France's $2.46 trillion. Here's the CIA Factbook's summary of the country's economy: Italy has a diversified economy, which is divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less-developed, highly subsidized, agricultural south, where unemployment is higher. The Italian economy is driven in large part by the manufacture of high-quality consumer goods produced by small and medium-sized enterprises, many of them family-owned. Italy also has a sizable underground economy, which by some estimates accounts for as much as 17% of GDP. These activities are most common within the agriculture, construction, and service sectors. ALSO READ: America's Poorest Cities Italy is the third-largest economy in the euro zone, but its exceptionally high public debt and structural impediments to growth have rendered it vulnerable to scrutiny by financial markets. Public debt has increased steadily since 2007, topping 135% of GDP in 2015, but investor concerns about Italy and the broader euro-zone crisis eased in 2013, bringing down Italy's borrowing costs on sovereign government debt from euro-era records. The government still faces pressure from investors and European partners to sustain its efforts to address Italy's longstanding structural impediments to growth, such as labor market inefficiencies and tax evasion. In 2014, economic growth and labor market conditions continued to deteriorate, with overall unemployment rising to 12.7% and youth unemployment around 40%, but Italy began to recover in 2015, with marginal growth and a slight reduction in unemployment. Story continues The International Monetary Fund's July 2016 report on Italy's economy offers more detail about the issues: The Italian economy is recovering gradually from a deep and protracted recession. Buoyed by exceptionally accommodative monetary policy, favorable commodity prices, supportive fiscal policy, and improved confidence on the back of the authorities wide-ranging reform efforts, the economy grew by 0.8 percent in 2015 and continued to expand in the first quarter of 2016. Labor market conditions have been improving gradually, and nonperforming loans (NPLs) appear to be stabilizing at around 18 percent of total loans. Nonetheless, the structural challenges remain significant. Productivity and investment growth are low; the unemployment rate remains above 11 percent, with considerably higher levels in some regions and among the youth; bank balance sheets are strained by very high NPLs and lengthy judicial processes; and public debt has edged up to close to 133 percent of GDP, a level that limits the fiscal space to respond to shocks. ALSO READ: The Worst Companies to Work For Against this backdrop, the recovery is likely to be prolonged and subject to risks. Growth is projected to remain just under 1 percent this year and about 1 percent in 2017. Risks are tilted to the downside, including from financial market volatility, the refugee surge, and headwinds from the slowdown in global trade. This growth path would imply a return to pre-crisis (2007) output levels only by the mid-2020s and a widening of Italys income gap with the faster growing euro area average. It also implies a protracted period of balance sheet repair, and thus of vulnerability. Sunday's referendum defeat may be more threatening to the European Union than the United Kingdom's vote to withdraw from the EU (Brexit) earlier this year because Italy is also a member of the currency union. Italy was one of eight that were singled out last month by the EU's executive branch, the European Commission (EC), as at risk of violating EU spending targets. Italy's banking system, already in deep trouble, may worsen following the Sunday vote as a recapitalization plan for the banks is now threatened and calls for a bailout may increase. The problem is that Italy's debt-to-GDP ratio is already so high (133% according to the IMF) that finding willing bond buyers is likely to be very costly. Interest on the bonds would soar and the country would be faced with a choice of either accepting terms it can't afford or letting the banking system fend for itself. ALSO READ: 15 Major Oil and Gas Analyst Upgrades After OPEC Production Cuts An EU bailout of the banks, while possible, is unlikely. Italy's banking system is much larger than Greece's, and we've already seen how little empathy Germany had for the Greeks. Expecting a change of heart from Germany vis a vis the Italians is probably whistling past the graveyard. Italy now faces the prospect of forming a new government that will last for a relatively short time. Elections are due next year in Italy, as they are in France, Germany and the Netherlands. Angela Merkel has announced that she is seeking another term in Germany, but French President Hollande has already said that he's not running again. There is no reason for Germany to pull out of the EU, of course, because it is the dominant force, but the rise of the far right in France could spell more trouble for the union. In the Netherlands a far-right party that supports pulling out of the EU may win the largest number of seats in parliament, but it is arguable that the so-called Party for Freedom will be able to form a majority. Still the handwriting on the wall is pretty clear: voters are not happy with the EU. That should be no surprise, but it probably is to many of the EU technocrats who think that the forest is not the sum of its trees. Related Articles Brussels, Dec 5, 2016 (SPS) Polisario Front Representative to the European Union Mohamed Sidati has urged the European Union to take immediate steps to rectify Moroccos use of EU funding in contravention of EU law, by immediately ceasing all funding for projects taking place in Western Sahara. In a letter Friday to EU High Representative Frederica Mogherini and EU Foreign Ministers, in a response to a report issued last week by Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW), Polisarios EU Representative Mohamed Sidati wrote "EU sectoral support for Moroccan development projects must therefore not include Western Sahara, and must not facilitate Moroccos illegal theft of Sahrawi natural resources. The WSRW report exposed in detail how Morocco has invested EU development funds in projects located in occupied Western Sahara. Under the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement, Morocco receives 14m annually for development in the fisheries sector. Nearly 60% of this funding in the past year has been spent in Western Sahara, in violation of EU law. It should be recalled that in September, European Court of Justice Advocate-General Melchior Wathelet issued a legal opinion that EU trade deals with Morocco cannot apply the territory of Western Sahara. The ECJ will release a final ruling on the EU-Morocco trade deals on December 21 2016. No United Nations Member State recognises Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, which has been occupied since 1975. (SPS) 062/090 In parallel, the UK will need to negotiate a new trading relationship with the EU and the rest of the world. Trade with the EU is vital for UK agriculture, with about 61% of our exports being sold into the Single Market. It is especially important for livestock farmers with over 90% of UK exports of beef and lamb sold in Europe. Trade negotiations will probably take even longer than the exit talks, so there is a lengthy period of uncertainty ahead. Here David Morley, Head of Conservation & Environment for H&H Land and Property looks at what might happen to farming support in England in the years ahead. 1) 2017-2020: More of the same? While we are within the EU, farming support is delivered through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In simple terms, there are two Pillars: Pillar 1 involves direct support, delivered in England through the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). Pillar 2 covers the Rural Development Programme, including the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS), measures to aid agricultural productivity and support for rural enterprise. In August, the Treasury announced that the agricultural sector would receive the same level of funding under Pillar 1 as it would have through the CAP, up to 2020. The carefully worded statement only guarantees that the Basic Payment will continue until the 2019 claim year. However, most commentators seem to think that a further comparable payment will be made in 2020. With Pillar 2, the situation is less clear. Natural England have said that they will honour, in full, all existing Environmental Stewardship and CSS agreements, including those CSS agreements starting on 1st January 2017. However, there have not yet been any announcements regarding agreements starting in 2018, which would need to be applied for next year. While it seems inconceivable that there will be no Stewardship Scheme available over the next couple of years, it could potentially be limited to Higher Tier - or perhaps funding will only be offered for 2-3 years, instead of the normal five. 2) Beyond 2020: The English Agricultural Policy (EAP) With a blank sheet of paper, the Government will be able to design a new regime of agricultural support that could comprise any of the following elements: Direct support - this could be area-based (like BPS) or could be coupled to production (for example, like the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme). Agri-environmental schemes, which provide payments for public goods, such as landscape and habitats, where there is otherwise no market. Schemes to improve agricultural productivity and efficiency, through support for on-farm investment, research & development and marketing & promotion. George Eustice, the Agriculture Minister, has spoken positively about the Canadian model of farming support. This combines crop insurance, to protect against natural hazards, with margin-based support. A third element of the programme allows farmers to deposit surplus cash in good times into a savings account, which is partially matched by the Government. This account can then be drawn on when there is financial need. So what are the pros and cons of each of these methods of support? 1. Area-based Direct Support (like BPS) The advantages are that it is easy to understand and the systems required are already in place. Moreover, there is no direct impact on the market for agricultural produce. However, direct payments may be linked to increases in rents and land prices. And support is untargeted, so everyone is paid regardless of need, making it unpopular with successive Governments and the public alike. 2. Coupled Direct Support On the positive side, coupled support goes to active farmers and would encourage food production. However, there are lots of restrictions in terms of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. It would also probably bring more inspections, complex administration and the potential for overproduction and environmental damage. NPN4 technology colonises all crops with naturally occurring nitrogen-fixing bacteria. These spread throughout the plant, enabling every cell to convert atmospheric N into a form that the growing plant can use. The exclusive agreement incorporates extensive development work, including seed inoculation and a network of organic and conventional trials across the UK. Gleadell and Azotic, who are in partnership with Dutch company Koppert Biological Systems, which manufactures NPN4, are working towards commercialisation. Azotic Technologies, with its laboratories based in Nottingham, was formed in 2012 to commercialise the technology. It has proved the concept in a diverse range of crops globally, including cereals, oilseeds, potatoes and grass. Trials to date show reduced rates of N can be applied to crops when using NPN4, producing similar yields and quality to those grown entirely with artificial nitrogen. When NPN4 is used with normal levels of N, yield increases can be achieved. Gleadell managing director David Sheppard said: We are very excited to be working with Azotic Technologies as UK partner on their nitrogen project. The potential benefits for growers, consumers and the environment are enormous, and we very much look forward to further collaboration with Azotic to bring this technology to commercial reality. CHeCS bTB Herd Accreditation, a voluntary scheme which has been welcomed by Farming Minister George Eustice and Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths, improves a herds score every year it is free from a bTB breakdown, awarding a status of 0-10. The scheme is run by Cattle Health Certification Standards (CHeCS), which was established in 1999 by the cattle industry to set standards for the control and eradication of endemic diseases. This new bTB scheme will require the herd vet and cattle owner to work together on following a number of biosecurity measures already successfully implemented in five other cattle disease control programmes. As well as reducing risk of infection, the country-wide programme could present informed purchasing opportunities. In particular, it could benefit farmers selling cattle from regions with a high risk of the disease or who wish to minimise exposure from bought-in animals. It could also give recognition for a farmers efforts to complement Government and industry strategies to control infection. Farming Minister George Eustice welcomed the scheme, saying: Dealing with Bovine TB is costing us 100 million a year and causing devastation and distress for farmers and rural communities across the country. 33,000 cattle were slaughtered because of the disease last year alone and many farms are subject to movement restrictions which can affect their trade. But we know some 40 per cent of herds in the high-risk area in England have never had a breakdown, and the CHeCS scheme will help them to communicate this so they can carry out risk-based trading to support their businesses. The scheme will also recognise those practicing good biosecurity, which is a core part of our long-term plan to tackle bovine TB. The scheme complements the Governments 25-year plan to eradicate Bovine TB in England, and will provide another tool for farmers who want to show they are following best practice. It follows the launch of the TB Hub, which offers practical advice and guidance as well as background into the disease. The Cabinet Secretary, Mrs Griffiths, said: The Welsh Government has been supportive of this initiative from the start. By focusing on individual herds, the scheme complements our proposed regional approach, for example those herds in the high TB areas which have not recently had TB will be able to demonstrate they are a lower risk. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Its going to be a long few years for Chris Murphy. Connecticuts Democratic junior U.S. senator once on Hillary Clintons short list of running mates is showing no signs of letting up in his Twitter flaming of President-elect Donald Trump. Murphys most recent torrent of criticism of Trump stems from Trumps phone call Friday with the president of Taiwan, which Trumps detractors say could upset the delicate diplomatic channels between the U.S. and China. What has happened in the last 48 hours is not a shift. These are major pivots in foreign policy w/out any plan. Thats how wars start, Murphy Tweeted Friday. Trumps campaign manager and surrogate Kellyanne Conway bristled at Murphys Twitter burn. It sounds like Sen. Murphys tweet is pretty incendiary, Conway told CNN. This is how wars start, and its a major policy shift because he had a phone call? Thats pretty negative and pretty presumptuous. Trump is believed to be the first president to speak to Taiwans president since 1979, when the U.S. recognized Beijing as the rightful government of China in its decades-old conflict with the breakaway island province. If Taiwan call was planned, its no excuse, Murphy Tweeted on Monday. So many bigger issues w China pricking Taiwan boil makes others harder to cure. Boughton hires fundraiser Cash is king no one knows this better perhaps than Mark Boughton. In 2014, the veteran Danbury mayor practically dug underneath the sofa cushions to try to come up with $250,000 in small campaign contributions to qualify for public funding for his gubernatorial bid. That effort, along with Boughtons decision form a joint fundraising committee with former Groton Mayor Heather Somers, flopped. Somers bailed on Boughton after the state GOP convention, blocking his path to the public funding option and effectively ending his candidacy. So taking a lesson from that setback, Boughton has hired fundraiser Lindsay Jacobs to position himself for a 2018 run for governor. Jacobs is a former political affairs manager for Georgia Chamber of Commerce and a former deputy finance director for U.S. Senator David Perdue, R-Ga. To effectively communicate our message across the state, we are building a strong team at every level, Boughton said. Lindsay will be a major part of that infrastructure. Her track record and experience are unparalleled and I am excited to have her on board. Changing of the guard It was a good run while it lasted for Jen Psaki. The Stamford native and Greenwich High School graduate first served as traveling press secretary for Barack Obama during his 2008 campaign. After stints as Obamas deputy communications director and State Department spokeswoman, Psaki returned to the White House in April of 2015 as communications director. So to say that the 38-year-old Psaki was a little forlorn over the impending Trump takeover of the West Wing is an understatement. She was recently photographed with a group of dour-looking Obama staffers that inspired an Internet meme. White House staff's reaction to Trumps first visit looks like when Voldemort showed up after the battle of Hogwarts, the Harry Potter meme said. Psaki posted the meme on social media. It made me laugh, Psaki said. I need to laugh. neil.vigdor@scni.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy Jaime Rodriguez Mexican governor Nuevo Leon Mexico The deal Donald Trump helped orchestrate to keep manufacturing jobs in the US has sparked backlash in the country where those jobs were headed. In the wake of the deal to keep 1,000 jobs at a Carrier plant in Indiana in exchange for a $7 million incentive package, the governor of Mexico's Nuevo Leon state has called for Mexicans to stop spending money at businesses in the city of McAllen and of South Padre Island, both in Texas. "With us not going to McAllen for 15 days, Trump will change his opinion," said Jaime Rodriguez, the governor of Nuevo Leon who has been nicknamed "El Bronco" for his brusque style. He won a surprise victory in 2015 as modern Mexico's first independent governor, and predicted earlier this year that Trump would pull off a victory in the US's elections. Monterrey, Nuevo Leon's capital, is an industrial hub and is considered Mexico's business center. It's common for Mexicans from the area to travel to McAllen and other nearby parts of Texas for shopping or to spend vacation and time off. "Stop going to South Padre Island and we are going to do better in China," a lakeside municipality east of Monterrey, Rodriguez said, adding that other areas in the state would see a boost too if residents spent their money at home. Mexico Monterrey Nuevo Leon Walmart shopping TVs Carrier, which manufactures heating and air-conditioning systems, already has one plant in Nuevo Leon, and the company has built another plant in the state as part of $200 million expansion, though it has not occupied the latter facility. "We haven't received any formal notification from the company," Hector Castillo, mayor of the Santa Catarina municipality where the new plant was slated to open, said on December 1. "In fact, we are working normally with them." Story continues In recent years, Nuevo Leon has benefited from an influx of foreign firms, and the greater availability of jobs has been credited with helping ease drug-related violence that was common there and continues to wrack northeastern Mexico (though violence has crept up in the state during Rodriguez's first year in office). "The implications are very serious, not only for Nuevo Leon, but for Carrier," Marcela Guerra, a Mexican senator from the state, told the Associated Press of the apparently rescinded deal. "The one who is going to suffer from this is the company," she added, "because their products are going to be more expensive." carrier donald trump With Trump's rise and attacks on Mexico, the governor has been one of many has called for Mexico to reevaluate its ties to its northern neighbor. "The US is not the world," he said at the end of November. "We have a very strong relationship with the US, but we don't depend on them. They should depend on us." "Mexico is waking up to realize that we cannot keep being economically dependent on the USA. This is the lesson: diversify," Viridiana Rios, a global fellow at the Washington, DC-based Wilson Center and a former adviser to the Mexican finance ministry, told Business Insider after the US election. "And we will. It will take some time, and will be painful in the short term, but will happen." The US is Mexico's biggest trading partner, and Mexico gets most of its foreign investment from the US, but, Rodriguez noted, strained economic relations with the US may push Mexico into closer ties with China and other Asian countries, bringing their products that much closer to the US market. He has his government is looking for investment from Asian and European countries. While there are few details about Rodriguez's proposed boycott, the suggestion has caused some consternation on the US side of the border. The Monterrey branch of McAllen's chamber of commerce said it would move a quarterly news conference in the Mexican city up to Thursday, though it was not sure which Mexican officials would attend. Jim Darling, the mayor of McAllen, said on Friday that he was trying to contact the mayor of Monterrey, according to The Monitor. Darling said he was not sure why McAllen was the target. NOW WATCH: Trump said he prevented a Ford factory from leaving the US but the company says the move was never planned More From Business Insider This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD Police officers who were performing surveillance on an East Side hotel Saturday arrested two Port Chester, N.Y., men who allegedly had marijuana and the prescription drug Xanax. Members of the Narcotics and Organized Crime unit received a tip that a black Honda with New York plates would deliver narcotics to someone at Americas Best Value Inn on East Main Street, Capt. Richard Conklin said. Police staked out the hotel and pulled over a black Honda Fit as it arrived at the hotel around 2 a.m., Conklin said. Police searched the passenger, Raul Oliveros, 24, and found six and a half bars of Xanax and four grams of marijuana in separate plastic bags inside his jacket, Conklin said. Oliveros was arrested after being forced to the ground during a brief scuffle, Conklin said. A search of the drivers side of the car found a cigarette box with one and a half bars of Xanax and three grams of marijuana in separate plastic bags inside, Conklin said. Oliveros was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, and interfering with an officer. The driver, Jeremy Cepeda, 26, was charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana in connection with the cigarette box, according to Conklin. Oliveros was held in lieu of $25,000 bond and Cepeda on $5,000 bond. Both men are scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford on Dec. 15. WASHINGTON The 2012 tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School spurred a major mental health overhaul now on the verge of congressional approval. But one of its chief sponsors, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, insists the bill is not about gun-violence prevention at least not entirely. This legislation certainly will have some effect on rates of gun violence, but it will be minuscule compared to stronger gun laws, said Murphy, Senate co-sponsor of the Mental Health Reform Act. The bill will likely pass the Senate this week and head to President Barack Obamas desk. Clearly the gun lobby and many Republicans want to blame the gun-violence epidemic on mental illness. I said (to Republicans at outset, if) you want to message this as an answer to gun violence, Im not interested, Murphy said. And m ajority Republicans on Capitol Hill acquiesced, for the most part. The mental health bill is part of the much larger, $6.3 billion 21st Century Cures Act, which offers a shot in the arm to research and cures for Alzheimers, cancer and other diseases. The mental health measure, co-sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., authorizes up to $1 billion in grants to fight heroin and opioid abuse and addiction, and closes loopholes in the law requiring health-insurance parity between physical and mental health. But in Connecticut, a state with an acute sense of loss since the Sandy Hook mass shooting that took 26 lives, the gun issue is never far from the surface of the mental health issue. More Information 21st Century Cures Act Proposal encompasses the Mental Health Reform Act Proposed cost: $6.3 billion Funds research into cancer, Alzheimer's disease Authorizes up to $1 billion to fight heroin and opioid abuse See More Collapse The individual who ... killed my little Daniel clearly was in a mental health crisis, said Sandy Hook Promise co-founder and Managing Director Mark Barden, whose son, Daniel, was among the 20 school children killed by shooter Adam Lanza. I spend a lot of time thinking about what led this individual to do what he did. His mother was at loss over what to do, and if shed had access to quality mental health care maybe this would never have happened. Fixing a broken system Sandy Hook Promise works with parents, schools and community organizations nationwide on identifying and intervening with troubled people who might turn violent if not treated, Barden said. He has worked with Murphy and others on Capitol Hill and among advocates to win passage of the mental health law, which he calls the final piece of the solution. Although there are no gun-violence specifics in it, the law covers the one thing Republicans and Democrats can agree on: The U.S. mental health system is broken, as Murphy has put it, and improved mental health care certainly is a piece of the mass-shooting puzzle. Murphy led the Senate filibuster earlier this year to force votes on expanded gun-purchase background checks and no-fly, no-buy gun prohibitions on individuals on the governments terrorism watch list. Neither vote bore fruit, but momentum on Capitol Hill to pass mental health legislation nevertheless continued to gather steam. In its earliest incarnations, the mental health bill was less the proving ground for Democratic interests in gun-violence prevention than Republican efforts to expand gun rights for former mental health patients. Under current law, involuntary commitment to a mental hospital or being adjudicated as a mental defective bars individuals from purchasing guns and puts them in the FBIs National Instant Criminal Background Check System. In most states, former mental health patients can appeal in court to get gun rights restored. Connecticut allows gun-rights restoration through official pardon. But backed by the National Rifle Association, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, put forward a proposal that would have automatically restored gun rights to anyone who had a judges order expire and left a mental health treatment facility. We had months and months of discussions on this, Murphy said. It would have been a very big change to our background check system. Drugs, medical devices Murphy said he made it clear Cornyns proposal was a deal breaker. Gradually, the Senates No. 2 Republican came around to dropping the idea after hearing from advocates, including Sandy Hook Promise families. Guns and mental health are not the only issue in the overall bill that is likely to have an impact on Connecticut. The 21st Century Cures Act streamlines the process through which drug and medical-device companies get their products approved by the Food & Drug Administration. Among those opposing this aspect of the bill was Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. In its attempt to speed up the drug and device approval process, this legislation neglects the very people who clinical trials are meant to help that is the patients, DeLauro said on the House floor Wednesday, shortly before the House approved the measure. Rather than protect those who rely on the health care system, it reduces the already weak regulations on medical devices allows drugs to be approved with only limited evidence of the drugs safety and efficacy, and rushes the use of new and unproven antibiotics. But Murphy argued the proposal would prove beneficial to Connecticuts growing biotech sector. This bill is going to help get lifesaving drugs to market faster, he said. We have a lot of small startups in places like Farmington, New Haven and Stamford, and those companies will have a better chance getting drugs to market at lower cost. dan@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @danfreedman This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD There was an unlikely gathering at a local museum for a field trip last week. A group of preschool children and senior citizens gazed at pieces of art and browsed the natural history exhibits. The gathering at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich was the first joint trip between kids from the Childrens Learning Centers of Fairfield County and seniors from the Edgehill community two Stamford-based organizations that have become strong partners in recent months. The program is one of several initiatives CLC has led this year as part of a major rebranding. The agency, now in its 114th year, is increasing its collaboration across the county at a time of declining support for early childhood education. Besides cuts in state funding, there is uncertainty as to how the federal government will handle education since President-elect Donald Trump promised during his campaign to eliminate or drastically shrink the U.S. Department of Education. Were committed to becoming less dependent upon government funding, CEO Marc Jaffe said. But having said that, it would be extremely difficult to liberate ourselves completely. There is a role for government to play. And certainly, government should be playing a role in helping to educate our youngest citizens who otherwise cant afford to have a preschool experience. State and federal grants account for 70 percent of CLCs $15 million budget. The organization, previously known as Childcare Learning Centers, recently changed its name and logo. Childcare was replaced by childrens and Fairfield County was added to highlight the agencys effect on communities outside Stamford. Childcare, in certain respects, is almost an outdated notion, Jaffe said. Were much more disciplined and much more serious than that. We wanted the focus to be on childrens learning, not on childcare. CLC, as it will continue to be known, offers early childhood programs at eight Stamford locations and serves about 1,500 children every year, from infant to 5 years old. It accommodates families of all income levels with sliding scale-based fees and scholarships. Children in surrounding communities with parents who work in Stamford are eligible to attend. The agency also sponsors the Greenwich federal Head Start program. More than 86 percent of CLCs children come from low-income families. In addition, about 70 percent of children come from immigrant households, where nearly 30 languages are spoken. Jaffe said CLCs work has never been more important. Jaffe said research shows early childhood education is vital to childrens success and health. According to the Rauch Foundation, 85 percent of the brain is developed by age 5. If you have an early childhood education, youre much more likely to be reading at grade level when youre in third grade, much more likely to graduate from high school, much more likely to get a job, more likely to be healthy, he said. For all of those reasons, it makes the most sense to support early childhood education. Another challenge the agency faces is the gradual reduction of the Care 4 Kids program, which Jaffe said has been under assault. The program subsidizes child care and preschool for low-income families, but the state last summer tightened eligibility requirements for new program applicants and stopped awarding new subsidies. Mary Jane Garcia, who has two children at CLC, lost her Care 4 Kids eligibility after the changes. The Stamford woman said the cut has had a great impact on her life. Fortunately, she said, she is still eligible for other, smaller CLC subsidies. Garcia leaves her 3-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son at CLCs main campus on Palmers Hill Road every morning before heading to work. She works at a doctors office for up to nine hours a day. Garcia said the agencys flexible schedule definitely helps her family. But besides the schedule and the amazing teachers, the Philippines native said her two kids have been learning French and Spanish and they love going on field trips. Edgehill resident Joan Weisman said Thursdays museum trip did not just benefit the children. Its good for the spirits of both sides, she said. Through the CLC and Edgehill partnership, seniors also visit the preschoolers at least once a month to read, play together and share some of their talents and special activities. The kids have also visited Edgehill, which is next to the agencys Palmer Hill Road site. On Halloween, for instance, a group of children visited Edgehill to sing songs and paint pumpkins with the seniors. The intergenerational relationship is really great, said Weisman, chairman of Edgehills social action committee. It was a really fun experience. noliveira@hearstmediact.com, 203-964-2265, @olivnelson This story originally appeared on Esquire. While on tour in San Francisco, Anthony Bourdain was interrupted by a protester claiming he eats dog meat. For the record, Bourdain has repeatedly and publicly drawn the line at eating dog or cat meat on his travels, despite its culinary standing in certain parts of the world. Bourdain calmly denied the accusation, saying, "I like dogs. But how much worse can they be than, like, kale?" Fair question. The protester continued protesting, however, and Bourdain ditched (relative) politeness to say, "One more second of this and I'm going out and shooting a puppy in the fing head." The crowd went wild, which likely makes Bourdain the only person on Earth able to get people cheering over shooting a puppy in the head. After more hecklingmostly from the crowd directed at the protesterBourdain ended with: "Thank you for your sincerely expressed opinion... Would you be kind enough now to f off?" And she did, but mostly because security made her. For his part, Bourdain continued to publicly not eat dog meatjust as he has done for years. This story originally appeared on Esquire. File photo STAMFORD There was plenty of rowdy behavior downtown on Saturday for the annual SantaCon, but only one person was arrested, police said. Santas, Mrs. Clauses and their elves descended on the area of Bedford and Main streets, where bars offered drink specials and police patrolled the scene of costumed merry makers. The deal covers 390 restaurants, including those in Malaysia. McDonald's Corp. revealed that it has selected Lionhorn as the Developmental Licensee (DL) for its Malaysia and Singapore markets. Lionhorn is led by Sheik Fahd and Abdulrahman Alireza, who bring 20 years of experience as the DL for the nearly 100 McDonald's restaurants in the Western and Southern regions of Saudi Arabia. "This transaction marks another milestone in our Company's ongoing efforts to identify strategic partners who share our values and vision to accelerate our growth and scale across diverse markets, drive innovation and place us closer to our customers and the communities we serve," said McDonald's president and CEO Steve Easterbrook. The new DL assumed ownership of the McDonald's business in Malaysia and Singapore on December 1, 2016, which includes a total of 390 restaurants, more than 80% of which were Company-owned. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Under the DL structure, McDonald's transferred its ownership interest in McDonald's Malaysia and Singapore and granted a license to the DL to run McDonald's restaurant operations in these markets. The DL partner will provide the capital necessary to support and grow the business and will pay an initial franchise fee and an ongoing royalty to McDonald's. McDonald's committed to refranchising 4,000 restaurants by the end of 2018 with the long-term goal of becoming 95 percent franchised. With this transaction, McDonald's has now refranchised approximately 1,300 restaurants. More From Singapore Business Review I n days of yore, markets would gyrate radically to political crises. Remember the berserk reaction to the Scottish referendum polls? Nowadays, following shock after shock, like an addict building up tolerance to a drug, the impact on markets of each crisis-shot lessens. Brexit, Trump, and now Italy, the hit reduces every time. Alien invasion? Meh. So, despite todays clear ratcheting up of the pressures on Europe and its banking system, after an initial jolt, even the euro was unmoved by lunchtime. Familiarity is breeding contempt of risk. Its partly rational; weve learned elections dont have immediate real effects. As Britain didnt crash out of the EU on June 24, so Beppe Grillo hasnt stormed to power in Rome this morning. Italy's PM Matteo Renzi quits after losing reforms vote But were wrong to be complacent. The percentage No vote in Italy was shocking, and shows how sick the electorate are of austerity, stagnation, and the elites that have brought it. That anger will eventually have real effects on markets. For starters, it suggests Italians will be in no mood to rescue their bust banks with taxpayers and savers money the only real option for saving the countrys financial system. Whats more, theyre far more likely now to be lured by the promises of an Italexit paradise from Grillo and co. Investors may regret they didnt sell the euro more today than they did. Jupiter on the wane In the highly paid world of fund management, last months FCA assault on rip-off fees is hurting. The watchdogs excellent report promises to force the fundsters to end hidden charges and allow customers to compare prices without needing a PhD in maths. It should add to the wealth of the public, but at what expense to the fund managers? City analysts have been busily trying to work out which will be hardest hit. They have alighted on those dealing mainly with the public where the FCA detected most rough practice. Schroders, Henderson, Ashmore and Aberdeen have all been marked, but none more than Jupiter, which has the biggest retail client book. Analysts are bright, but its the fund managers themselves who know most about this game. So, todays news that BlackRock the worlds biggest has taken a big short on Jupiter speaks loudly. With profit margins of 51 basis points against the industry average of 36, Jupiter is clearly vulnerable. Its shares have fallen twice as much as, say, Schroders since the FCA report. But BlackRocks dim view has an extra twist. Before joining Jupiter, newish chief Maarten Slendebroek spent years at the top of BlackRock. Takes a fund manager to know a fund manager. A xas planned new 22 Bishopsgate skyscraper is taking a four-storey haircut to avoid clashing with planes flying into Londons City Airport. The insurer and development partner Lipton Rogers Developments have submitted a revised planning application to the Corporation of London which will take 23 metres off the height of the building. The tower will now be 59 storeys, or 255 metres, although the overall area of the building will remain the same as the original plans. An Axa spokesman told the Standard: The reduction in height allows a cleaner, more elegant resolution to the top of the building in the context of air-traffic control constraints. Plans for the Citys tallest building, known as the Trellis, also had to be trimmed because of air-traffic concerns. Axa aims to complete the tower in 2019. It is being built on the former site of the Pinnacle skyscraper, which became known as the Stump after Saudi backers halted work in the wake of the financial crisis. R oyal Bank of Scotland shares moved up on Monday on hopes that the legal saga over its 2008 rights issue has been resolved. It has offered 800 million to settle allegations it lied about its finances before going on to raise 12 billion from investors, including many thousands of retail punters. Big City shareholders with 77% of the shares have accepted the offer, bringing an end to three out of five of the lawsuits. RBS shares rose 2% to 197p. But some angry investors vowed to fight on, insisting the bank and its executives, including former chief Fred The Shred Goodwin, be held to account in public court. While the RBS Shareholder Action Group, representing 27,000 retail investors, has already vowed to continue the fight no matter what other investors do, questions about how it will fund the case are being raised. RBSs costs have topped 100 million for dealing with one of the biggest and most complex cases in British legal history. There is a danger the judge might ask the investors who dont settle to meet those costs if they lost the case. The case is still scheduled for March. The shareholder group insists it is fully funded and that the fight will go on. Lawyers say the case could rumble on for more than five years. Sandy Chen at Cenkos Securities said: Todays settlement agreement is welcome news. According to RBS, terms are at 41p in the pound with three of the five shareholder lawsuit groups. Settling with the other two would make the bill 800 million. RBS said it will now seek to agree finalised terms with members of the remaining two groups. It insists it will vigorously defend any claims that are not settled. T he City of Londons latest skyscraper - the Scalpel - could snare its third major tenant in another boost for the capitals post-Brexit property scene, the Standard understands. Industry sources say US insurance giant Chubb is likely to snap up seven floors in the 38-storey tower, joining other prospective tenants including insurer Axis Capital and broker Berry Palmer & Lyle. Although New Jerseys Chubb is also still weighing up the option taking space at Helical Bars Creechurch Place, this is much further away from the Lloyds building - centre of the Lloyds of London market - and the Scalpel is understood to be their preferred location. The move is part of the fallout from Chubbs $29.7 billion merger with rival ACE. Insurer WR Berkley - developing the building itself and taking eight floors - declined to comment. Other major deals on the cards include lawyers Freshfields moving their London base to 100 Bishopsgate. T here is little doubt that the resounding defeat of the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in yesterdays referendum was about more than constitutional reform. Certainly, voters took against his proposal to change the Italian senate on the basis that it would give him too much power patently this was not just a referendum but a poll on Mr Renzi. It was also an opportunity for voters, galvanised by the Five Star Movement, to express their discontent over mass immigration, large-scale unemployment and the state of the political class as a whole. Jobless southerners and disgruntled northerners made common cause against the unelected Mr Renzi it says much about Italian politics that he is the third unelected premier in succession. Inevitably, the news will perturb Brussels: Mr Renzis opponents are mostly sceptical about Italys membership of the eurozone. Italys EU membership is not at risk but its attachment to the common currency is. Interestingly, the euro has not fallen far after the result; perhaps because getting out of it is harder than getting into it. But the EU was also remote from other problems in Italy. The country is now the main route for asylum seekers coming across the Mediterranean about 200,000 a year. It would be easy to see this as the latest instance of populism, from Brexit to the Trump election to the strong showing for the Freedom Party in Austria. Then there is the Dutch poll next year, and elections in France and Germany. Yet each country has its own reasons for disenchantment with the political class Italy more than most. A common strand is concern about mass immigration, and the failure of established parties to deal with it. But it would be silly to treat the whole of Europe, plus the US, as a common bloc. Where this does affect the UK will be in the Brexit negotiations: the EU plainly isnt a cohesive whole but different states with different priorities. Its not all about us. Getting to work London's transport network will come under intense pressure this week, thanks to strike action by rail and Tube staff. Southern rail faces a three-day walkout by guards; the latest in the long-running dispute over driver-operated doors but this time exacerbated by the decision of the drivers union, Aslef, to begin an overtime ban. Anyone planning to use Southern services over the coming days will do so with little hope of making a straightforward journey if, indeed, a journey is possible at all. To add to the misery, workers on the Piccadilly, Hammersmith & City and Circle lines are to stage a 24-hour stoppage from tomorrow evening. This will be disastrous for travellers heading to Heathrow or to stations not served by other lines. The knock-on consequences across the rest of the Tube network will inevitably be grim. None of this is a good advertisement for London. Excellent transport links are crucial to its economy, its attractiveness to tourists, and to the mental well-being of Londoners generally. The Mayor, Sadiq Khan, said he would cut the number of days lost to strikes on the Underground he should condemn this weeks walkout and do more to prevent unjustifiable union action. Heroes of tram tragedy The Croydon tram crash was a tragedy with awful loss of life. Yet it was also an instance of wonderful public spirit on the part of staff at Croydon hospital, from doctors summoned on WhatsApp to porters to chaplains, 60 of whom were brought together by this newspaper to mark their efforts to care for the wounded and the bereaved. We salute their compassion and expertise. T he referendum in June, concerning the United Kingdoms membership of the European Union, was described by Kenneth Clarke as an opinion poll. In one sense, he is quite right: the vote had no more legal effect than a straw poll of your friends (or mine). There are two important questions. What, politically, ought to be done in response to the vote? And how, legally, can it be done? The vote was rather more important than a straw poll. The political implication is therefore widely accepted to be that the UK must leave the EU. There is less agreement over how, legally, it can do so. Before the Treaty of Lisbon there was no clause dealing with how to withdraw from the EU. Article 50 of that treaty now provides an exit procedure. A member state must notify the European Council of its intention to leave, commencing a two-year period of negotiations on the terms of its withdrawal (though this may be extended with the consent of the European Council). Miller v The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union concerns who is authorised to send the Article 50 notification. The Government argues that it has the power; the claimants argue that Parliament must authorise the Government to send the notification. Three very senior judges heard the case last month. Their decision was unanimous and resounding: it was clear that Parliament, not the executive, held the power in question. The Supreme Court will, from today through to Thursday, hear the Governments appeal. All 11 of the Justices will hear the case, the first time a panel of that size has been convened by the Court. Like many of its hearings, the proceedings can be watched online. Some 33,840 pages of legal material have been put before the court. But the case is, at core, quite simple. Two points are uncontentious. First, the executive ordinarily has the power to conduct foreign relations, including the power to make and unmake treaties. Second, Parliament can, in principle, limit or remove this power. The disagreement concerns whether Parliament has done so in this instance. Issuing the Article 50 notification would begin a procedure that will result in the UK exiting the EU. It would, therefore, inevitably result in various rights being lost. For example, the rights to work in any country in Europe or to tariff-free trade would go. The claimants main argument is that Parliament, through the European Communities Act 1972 (ECA), has legislated for rights such as these to be available to UK citizens. It cannot, the claimants say, have intended that the executive should have the power to denude the ECA of all practical effect. Therefore, they conclude, Parliament must have limited the executives powers. The Governments reply is that the ECA is simply a gateway into domestic law for the European law that happens to bind the UK. This content was never fixed: European law changes over time and the ECA gives effect only to the European rights arising from time to time. It follows, the Government says, that Parliament never changed the executives power to alter the content of that law. And issuing an Article 50 notification is just one way of changing that content by eliminating it. There is some debate over whether the Article 50 notification is revocable. Could a new government change its mind (for example, following another referendum) and decide to remain in the EU? Both the claimants and the Government have accepted that the notice cannot be revoked. Yet this may not be the correct position in law. The Supreme Court could decide that revocability makes a difference to the outcome: if the notification could be revoked, the inexorable logic of the exit (and so the loss of EU rights) could be avoided. If so, the court would have to ask the Court of Justice of the European Union for an answer. This would not look good. It would also create something of a delay. If a reference were made, Parliament would probably pass legislation empowering the executive to issue the notification. That would be a shame. If the Government could weather the political storm the delay occasions, it would be in its interest to get a definitive answer: the UKs negotiating position is improved if the notification is revocable. Some media outlets have ignored the legal issues in the case, seeking instead to work out which judges will favour the claimants because of, for example, tweets of their spouses or their extra-legal interests. These reports are not, in themselves, particularly enlightening. More interesting is what the exercise in augury presupposes: that anyone who voted Leave should favour the Governments case and that anyone who voted Remain should favour the claimants. This is simply not true. Some Remain voters think it better (legally or as a matter of political morality) for the executive to have the power in question; some Leave voters, such as Michael Gove MP, believe that Parliament should vote on the question. The question in the Miller case is legally important; its political implications are far less clear. Could the Supreme Courts decision determine whether we leave? The belief that it could is why some characterise the claimants argument as an attempt to block Brexit. On its face, the argument does nothing of the sort. In practice, the decision is unlikely to make much of a difference. If Parliament needs to legislate before Article 50 is triggered, it will almost certainly do so. If it refused to do so, a general election would inevitably follow. Loading.... It is hard to imagine a political party, certainly any of todays parties, winning on a platform of backtracking on the referendum result. Others hope that a vote in Parliament could influence the Governments negotiating strategy or priorities, such as they are. There is more to this argument. Parliament might, for example, prioritise membership of the European Economic Area. Yet, even if the Government wins in the Supreme Court, pre-existing political pressures (such as those displayed in the Richmond by- election) and parliamentary oversight of negotiations are such that this may happen anyway. Frederick Wilmot-Smith is a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford Review at a glance A s John Adams, the composer of El Nino, reminds us, the title refers not only to a menacing hurricane but also to a special boy such as Jesus. By drawing on 20th-century female Hispanic writers as well as medieval texts, the Apocrypha and Hildegard of Bingen, Adams is able to address issues such as motherhood, poverty and social oppression from an illuminating perspective. The vengeful Herod, Adams told us with a twinkle in his eye, invokes for him the image of someone giving orders via Twitter in the small hours of the morning. But if El Nino, written in 19992000, is bang up to date, the work is also endowed with a numinous aura, enhanced by a score of stunning inventiveness. Hypnotic, shimmering textures mesmerise without outstaying their welcome. The LSO delivered a virtuoso performance under Adams baton, with the London Symphony Chorus and London Youth Choir making their own impressive contributions. Joelle Harvey and Jennifer Johnson Cano were wonderfully eloquent as the soprano and mezzo soloists, with Davone Tines the admirable bass-baritone. An excellent trio of countertenors, Daniel Bubeck, Brian Cummings and Nathan Medley, provided a poignantly bittersweet narration. El Nino has been called a Christmas Oratorio, but Adams affectionate parodies of another Baroque masterpiece will have been appreciated by those who know their Messiah. Visit standard.co.uk/arts for the latest news and reviews from Londons arts scene Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout O n December 5, well have a new Turner Prize winner. Four artists are shortlisted for the award, which is the biggest prize for contemporary art in the UK. Its likely theyll become new household names for the art world but who is in the running? Heres our guide to the shortlist. This week, we look at the work of Josephine Pryde. Who is she? Josephine Prydes work is marked by a playfulness alongside a profound concern with the very nature of image-making itself. Born in Alnwick, Northumberland, and educated at the Wimbledon School of Art and Central St Martins, she is nominated for her show Lapses in Thinking by the Person I am. What is her work like? You might recognise her work for her luscious series Hands fur Mich, photographs of hands set in colours that feel Instagram-y but stir much deeper. Theres also her scale model train, covered in graffiti, that takes centre stage of her display at the Tate Britain, which visitors were able to ride on when it was previously displayed. For the Turner showcase, she has created a new work called Summer of 2016 (London, Athens, Berlin), with laid out work surfaces covered in the marks made by objects and light from the time that she received her nomination. Josephine Pryde (Dan Mitchell ) / Dan Mitchell What mediums does she work with? Pryde works as a professor of photography in Berlin, but whilst photography is her primary medium, curator Linsey Young explains that she also works with writing, sculpture and installation. These other forms of work often sit alongside series of photographs to change or expand the context of the images, she explains, with her hand series of photographs being displayed alongside the train and work surfaces as an example. What is appealing about her work? Young suggests that Prydes work will appeal to the public because she is constantly posing questions and opening up communication wherever she can. She always seem to be striving to know more about the way people live in the world - their social, personal and political motivations. The work is formally very beautiful the photographs are often described as referencing fashion or advertising imagery and have quite a seductive quality, she says. Installation view of lapses in Thinking By the person i Am2015(Johnna Arnold, Josephine Pryde) What's so exciting about her? Young says that she learnt a lot from curating Prydes Turner exhibition with her. The most exciting thing about working with Josephine was being pushed to really investigate every decision we were making, to think about her contribution to the prize not only in terms of the exhibition, but the wider context the prize holds within the institution and in the eyes of the public, she says. She is also an incredible writer and it was wonderful to have the opportunity to edit texts with her. Turner Prize 2016 - All you need to know Read more of our coverage on this year's Turner Prize. Visit standard.co.uk/arts for the latest news and reviews from Londons arts scene Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout Review at a glance We did it! We put the flag on the moon! Skepta had a point: the journey from the streets of Tottenham to selling out a venue where I used to come and ice-skate, feed the ducks and roll down the hill is more than the geographical three miles. Having won this years Mercury prize with his fourth album Konnichiwa, albeit courtesy of a baffling decision from the judges to avoid honouring David Bowie, the former Joseph Junior Adenuga is big news in his hometown, even if Konnichiwa struggled to 160 in the American chart. The imposing screens;the giant clutter-free, band-free stage and the pyrotechnics were all heavily influenced by Kanye Wests 2008 arena shows. West, though, was a defiantly solo operation. In contrast, Skeptas homecoming was as much a generous celebration of British grime as its leader, so a posse of collaborators included Wretch 32, Lethal Bizzle and, most thrillingly, the massed ranks of Section Boyz on The Worst. The fierceness of Nasty and Crime Riddim were exhilarating, but there was precious little sign of progression and evolution. At just over an encore-free hour, the audience sloped home unsatisfied. But, when Skepta stood on a burning car like James Cagney in White Heat, during the grand finale Man, the marriage of hardcore sound and searing imagery was complete. Skepta wins Mercury Prize and pays tribute to David Bowie The Standard apologises for an error in the original version of this review, which has since been edited for clarity. The author acknowledges it should have read reload rather than restart and shouldn't have suggested technical malfunction. Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout T he UKs leading youth advisory charity today joined forces with Centrepoints Young and Homeless Helpline to enable the service to provide a groundbreaking level of support to callers. The Mix, which provides help to people under 25 facing issues such as drug dependency, mental health problems or family breakdown, will work with Centrepoint to ensure that callers to the helpline will receive the right help at the right time. The helpline will for the first time give young homeless people, and those at risk of ending up on the streets, a national Freephone number to ring to speak to an adviser who can link them to the services they need. The two charities will share a call centre space and work together to answer phones. Callers will be passed between the services depending on the type of support they need. Homeless helpline: The Freephone will support young homeless people / Matt Writtle The Mix warns it has seen a rise in the number of people seeking help with homelessness. In the past year it has received more than 2,000 calls requesting housing help. Over the same period 154,000 young people from across the UK, including 52,593 young Londoners, accessed content about homelessness on its website, with a 15 per cent rise since July. Centrepoint helpline pkg Both organisations hailed the collaboration as a crucial step to ensure the success of the helpline. Chris Martin, chief executive of The Mix, said: Two trusted brands such as us and Centrepoint working together will be able to better help the vulnerable young people who contact us. "We will be able to make it easier for under-25s to get the best advice as early as possible to help them on the range of issues affecting them. Charity partnership: Tess, left, from The Mix and Grace from Centrepoint will be working together on the helpline / Matt Writtle Through the helpline, Centrepoint will provide early-intervention housing support. The Mix will offer advice and counselling on topics including bullying, debt, drink, drugs and mental and sexual health which can be the trigger for people ending up homeless. Its website services are visited by two million young people a year, 1.1 million of them from London, including 520,960 aged under 25. Gaia Marcus, overseeing the Centrepoint helpline team, said: While our experts can help people on their housing journey, The Mix can help people on their wider personal journey. This will be groundbreaking. Centrepoint: Matt's story "Young people experiencing homelessness often have very complex needs. When they call they will now be able to get access to a range of support. "We will not only help them with their urgent need to find a safe place to live, but be able to provide advice on what could be the root causes of their homelessness. The charities say the helpline, which it is hoped will launch in February, will fill a gap in local authority support. Cuts to youth services nationwide are estimated at 387 million over the past six years. There is growing pressure on homelessness services amid spending cuts and the housing crisis, particularly in London. TODO: define component type brightcove Up to a third of more than 150,000 young people who seek homelessness support from local authorities in the UK each year are sent away with little or no advice. The charities sharing office space and other costs will mean more can be invested in the Centrepoint programmes to which people using its helpline will be referred. The Mix will also help roll out live web chat, SMS and other digital aspects of the service. BT has agreed to provide the helplines phone service for free for the first three years. The Evening Standard's Homeless Helpline appeal is raising money for the Centrepoint Helpline, a brand new support service that will save young people from ending up on the streets. To donate please visit our Just Giving page. W hen you get a chance to have a morning run with the Brownlee brothers, it's simple, you take it. Even if it means that your alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. The Olympic triathlon champions, Jonny and Alistair Brownlee, joined the Adidas Runners club bright and early at 7am for a run in London. It was nice to get up and run this early, Alistair said, noting that they are up and train early morning most days. Their arrival was a surprise for the runners, and when they appeared, walking down the stairs at the Workshop Coffee (the meeting spot), a big applause and cheer welcomed them. They both said there are a lot of advantages of training in groups because it gives you the motivation to show up at a set time and not let down those you arranged to run with. The most important is definitely the people, Alistair said. Turning up to train with people and socializing is a really important part of training and a great way to motivate yourself. Jonny added that being brothers and training together means that you can train with someone whos your biggest rival. They constantly push each other to do better. Even this morning, we got a bit competitive and pushed one another, Jonny said. Its very important to have other people push you on, because its impossible to do it on your own. 9 best running windbreaker jackets 1 /12 9 best running windbreaker jackets Wrap up warm with one of the best windbreaker running jackets out now... Adidas CLRDO windbreaker Adidass CLRDO windbreaker has cool Britannia overtones red, white and blue darting panels but it also has a hood, a sturdy zip and gathered cuffs to keep the cold out. 62.95, Adidas,Buy it now Every Second Counts Covert Windbreaker If you would prefer to layer up underneath then sling Every Second Counts gilet windbreaker around your core: its lightweight and has a mesh back for ventilation. 145, Every Second Counts, Buy it now Salomon Fast Wing Graphic Hoodie Salomon has a selection of jackets for trail and road running: the Fast Wing Graphic Hoodie is offered in two urban camouflage colour ways and the lightweight taffeta blocks wind and sheds moisture. It also packs up small when youre not using it. 80, Salomon, Buy it now Nikelab Windrunner x Kim Jones If you seek something bright, the hero piece from Nike Labs collaboration with Kim Jones is a neon-paneled windbreaker, in orange, pink and lime with black stitching. 210, Nike,Buy it now A.P.C.O.V Running Anorak Girls will covet the collaboration between Outdoor Voices and APC. The ditsy print Running Jacket is made from a nylon-elastene mix and has reflective draw cords at the hood and hip. It wicks away water and wind. 195, Outdoor Voices, Buy it now Sweaty Betty Finesse Parka The Finesse Parka is better suited to those who are starting marathon training just as the clocks prepare to sidle backwards and the rain begins in grizzling earnest. It has a pack-able hood with good coverage, and a draw-string waist to ensure comfort over many miles. 245, Sweaty Betty, Buy it now Puma Running Wind Jacket The Puma Jacket is lightweight and durable, allowing for easy movement and minimal distraction. The fabric has also been conditioned for odour control, so if youre running to the pub or your local cafe, you wont need to feel self-conscious. 47.95, Runnerinn, Buy it now New Balance Spectral Tech Windcheater The graphic print on this New Balance Windcheater is inspiring enough to get even the most reluctant runner out of the door. It has zip pockets- a feature often missing from running jackets- and the hood has bungee closures for keeping out the bad weather. 50, New Balance, Buy it now But before anybody could chase them down for selfies, it was time to tie our shoes and head out in the city. The 8K run started with a jog to a park, where we completed a Fartlek session. Farktlek is a way of training where you play with the speed of the run, switching between going fast and slow. We split into teams of two and started running in circles around the park in opposite directions. When we crossed each others path, wed go for an encouraging high-five and change pace until we met again. It was nice to see the sun peeking out from the clouds, and the city slowly waking up as we were finishing up the morning cardio. Although it was a chilly morning, most runners were prepared with layers of clothing. The Brownlee brothers said that those cold, crisp and dry running conditions are perfect to them, but having the right kit is essential. Alistair Brownlee in London / Adidas Good work swag, gloves and hat make a lot of difference, Alistair suggested. Make sure to be warm when you live your house. If you are already warm, youll stay fairly warm. Running in a group makes the whole session more enjoyable and less monotonous. Especially when you have two such inspiring athletes run with you, or, in my case, who pass you twice before you've made the full circle around the park. It gives you an extra boost of motivation to keep going. I dont want to be the one slacker, I kept telling myself, and kept running. Jack Wong, one of the returning running club members, was very excited to be running with the Brownlee brothers. Hes a big fan. It was such a surprise when they came down the stairs, he said. I want to make sure Ill have a picture with them. Wong runs a few times a week, often with different groups. He says it gives him the motivation he needs to keep going even if he feels like hes too tired. The Adidas Runners London club is inviting another special guest athlete to its Monday evening run, but who that will be remains a surprise till a few minutes before it begins. adidas.co.uk/adidasrunners Klaudia Balogh is a freelance health and fitness writer. Follow her on Twitter @ByKlaudiaBalogh T he words Canary Islands and culture are not always natural bedfellows. More cocktail than Cocteau, theres a certain declasse stigma attached to these remote Spanish crumbs that suggests theyre only good for one thing: guaranteed sunshine. Driving around Lanzarote, even in November, soon smashes that particular cliche. The sun is definitely shining but it certainly doesnt live up to its old Lanzagrotty nickname. Things get off to a good start. A young surfer dude named Josh greets me at the airport armed with chilled cava. He drives me the short distance north along the west coast to Finca de Arrieta, a plot of 15 yurts, villas and traditional cottages just yards from a natural beach. Part hipster, part hippie, its cool community living under a canopy of stars a place where couples, families and wannabe surfers all converge to take a deep breath. For the extra-stressed theres also Molly, a donkey on call for therapeutic petting duties. Think The Good Life goes glamping. And not a straw hat in sight. Im somewhat swamped in the Eco Yurt Royale, a mammoth big-top number thats been imported from Mongolia and styled like a Buddhist boudoir. To give you an idea of scale, previous guests have included indie rockers Kaiser Chiefs and all their respective girlfriends. If that sounds cosy (there are no walls in here, just fuchsia silk curtains) theres an immersive, open-plan living area outside, replete with a grand Thai day bed and freestanding bath. Songwriting was probably never such fun. The proprietors of this utopian idyll are Tila and Michelle, a laid-back but astute couple who have lived on the island since they were teenagers. They tell me the emphasis here is on a sound, eco-conscious environment energy powered by wind and solar panels, electric cars at your disposal and homely touches such as fresh eggs laid on site and a well-stocked honesty shop. Whether the honesty bar is a good idea, I honestly couldnt say. Mongolian yurts at Finca de Arrieta Walk across the road and youre in Arrieta, an authentic fishing village largely untouched by modernity. Theres a distinct lack of tack in this northern part of the island no sore-thumb buildings or package-holiday compounds. You wouldnt describe the landscape as stunning but Id rather see distant mountains than a brutal silhouette. Admittedly, the beach is a bit windy but tuck yourself in at the main cafe and feast on sublime grilled cherne and local, mineral-heavy wine, magically cultivated from the black volcanic earth that covers a swath of the island. I didnt catch the official name of this popular spot but the owner is a dead ringer for Colonel Gaddafi. Just try not to stare. Later that evening Tila invites me to nearby capital Arrecife, off the tourist trail but worthy of a visit. We spend the night in El Almacen, a bar and arts centre attached to the Cinema Bunuel, buzzing with a mixed crowd of local creatives and in-the-know gay men. Owner Ben makes a mean Tom Collins and talks about the island with integrity and affection. He eulogises about Cesar Manrique, undisputedly the most important man on the island. This hugely respected figure painter, architect, visionary was born in Lanzarote but decamped to New York in the Fifties where he established himself as an artist of some note. Returning in 1969, just as mass development began to erode the Spanish landscape, he somehow persuaded the powers that be to halt and desist. He died in 1992, but Manrique certainly wielded power during his lifetime. Thanks to him there are no advertising hoardings scarring the island and high-rise buildings are banned. Even local homeowners are encouraged to get in on the act by eschewing more colourful palettes for traditional white walls. With genius foresight, his most valued contribution has to be the visual transition from architecture to nature, where buildings and interiors merge into their surroundings like ink on blotting paper. His imprint is everywhere: artworks, cultural landmarks, and fantastic wind-sculptures stationed on roundabouts, all executed in a signature agro-moderno style. I start the next days pilgrimage at Mirador del Rio, a futuristic belvedere observatory wedged high into a cliff face, with satellite views over neighbouring island La Graciosa. Even more impressive is the nearby Jameos de Agua, a once redundant volcanic tube transformed into an Austin Powers-like restaurant and lounge bar. Its a place like no other, and arguably Manriques finest achievement. A weather vane designed by Cesar Manrique at Arrieta / Alamy Stock Photo Walk through the lava tube, past a reflective lake thats home to unique albino crabs, and you emerge into a cartoon-like paradise. Aesthetically its a physical assault course an amphitheatre carved into the rock is eye-popping, while a modular, movie star swimming pool takes your breath away. Rita Hayworth called Jameos the eighth wonder of the world, and its hard to disagree. A short drive to the un-groomed coast at Famara reveals surfers lingering in beachside bars, watching life tumble by in a blur of papas con mojo (spicy Canarian potatoes) and local Tropical beer. The service at El Chiringuito is slow in that whatever Canarian way but the humble potato never tasted so good. The cafe/bar at Mirador del Rio / Alamy Stock Photo For a cultural finale I head to Manriques former home in the village of Taro de Tahiche, now a museum and foundation for the mans legacy. Its hard to take in: the art, the taste, the eye for detail and modernist aplomb, but at basement level things become truly mind-blowing. Giant volcanic bubbles have been fashioned into living quarters, seemingly designed for Barbarella. Retro futurism never looked so polished. Lanzarote is like an unframed, unmounted work of art, said Manrique, I hung it and held it up for all to see. Kitesurfing (Turismo Lanzarote ) / Turismo Lanzarote Details: Lanzarote Norwegian (0330 828 0854; norwegian.com) flies from Gatwick to Arrecife three times a week during winter. Return fares from 69.20. Lanzarote Retreats (00 34 928 826720; lanzaroteretreats.com) offers the Eco Yurt Royale from 275 per night (sleeps seven), including airport VIP chauffeur service and use of a hybrid car. turismolanzarote.com S ix men have been stabbed during a mass brawl involving up to 30 people near a north London nightclub. Police say the violence broke out near the Box H9 club on an Edmonton trading estate as scores of people clashed in the streets nearby. Six people, aged in their late teens to early-20s were knifed in the carnage around Rivermead Road and Harbet Road, just after 4.30am on Sunday. None of those stabbed suffered serious injuries, police say. It is not known whether the men had attended the club, which was hosting a six-hour bashment and hip-hop night called Juiced. According to police, between 15 and 30 people were involved in the brawl, and witnesses are now being urged to come forward. Detective Inspector Chris Rixon, from Enfield CID, said: "This was a large scale fight which would have been seen by people who were at the busy nightclub and in the area. Luckily no one was critically injured in the attack. Anyone with information can call Enfield CID on 0208 345 3315 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. A far-right extremist dubbed MP Luciana Berger a "filthy Jew b****" and blamed her for the death of Jesus in an anti-Semitic online hate campaign, a court heard. Joshua Bonehill-Paine, 23, is accused of harassing the Liverpool Wavertree MP in a string of articles on his right wing website The Daily Bale and on his own personal blog. He photoshopped Ms Berger's face on to a rat, and also mocked up a picture of her as a baby being spanked by Ed Miliband, it is said. Bonehill-Paine is also accused of dubbing Ms Berger a "Jewess", "evil", a "money grabber", and a "dominatrix" during the four-month hate campaign. Prosecutor Philip Stott said the harassment started after fellow right wing extremist Garron Helm was convicted in August 2014 of harassing Ms Berger, by posting a picture of the MP on Twitter with a holocaust star on her forehead. He pleaded guilty and was jailed for four weeks in October 2014, but Bonehill-Paine believed the conviction was wrong, dubbing Helm a "freedom of speech hero and speaker of truth". "He viewed Mr Helm as a comrade whose cause ought to be advanced", said Mr Stott. "Ms Berger was referred to by Mr Bonehill-Paine as a rodent, evil, a money grabber, a dominatrix, and responsible for the death of Jesus. "Repulsive as they might be, Mr Bonehill-Paine is not likely to dispute he made these remarks. ""Mr Bonehill-Paine claims the material posted on the website was reasonable in the circumstances, falling within the bounds of freedom of speech and freedom of political expression." Mr Stott said five articles allegedly posted by Bonehill-Paine are "littered with hate", attacking Jewish Labour MPs, Ms Berger, and Jews generally. "They caused her alarm and distress, and you can have no doubt it was one of the intention of Mr Bonehill-Paine as he wrote and then posted these articles. "There is no question at the time of the harassment Ms Berger had extreme hostility towards her based on her being Jewish - that was the point of the articles." Mr Bonehill-Paine also created pictures of Mr Berger and fellow Labour MP Chuka Umuna as babies, with her being spanked by then-Labour leader Ed Millband. "He has a passionate hatred of the Jewish community", added Mr Stott. The court heard Bonehill-Paine was arrested at his home in Yeovil, and after being charged he said: "I am really pleased. This gives me an opportunity to be found not guilty, hopefully at a full crown court trial with the media that will bring." Bonehill-Paine, of no fixed address, denies racially aggravated harassment. The trial continues. S ick children whose Christmas gifts were stolen from St Marys hospital will unwrap a huge haul of presents after retailers and the public stepped in. More than 150 toys, worth about 3,000, were being stored in a disused ward when they were taken last month. To replace the presents, Children of St Marys Intensive Care set up a crowdfunding campaign, which the Standard reported on last week. The appeal has since raised more than 40,000 and two companies have donated hundreds of toys. On Friday, Danish retailer Tiger welcomed two St Marys childrens nurses to its Oxford Street store and asked them to choose any 200 presents for their young patients. Nurse and play specialist Tina Halton, who helps children get through operations and tests, said: I just had the best time ever. They let us choose from all the gifts here and theyre amazing for our children because they are quirky and a little bit different and fun which are ideal things to have when you are stuck in hospital. We didnt tell all the children about the presents being stolen as it might be upsetting. But one seven-year-old read the story in the Evening Standard after his dad brought a copy in one afternoon, and he just wanted to know why the thieves hadnt just written to Santa to get their own presents. It was such a sweet response. Philip Bier, Tiger managing director, said: I saw the story and thought, How can anyone do that? You have kids who are very sick and Christmas is a time they can have some joy and some scumbag steals their presents. I thought as we are in a position to donate presents we should. It was very humbling meeting the nurses, what they do makes my business responsibilities seem insignificant. They are inspiring. Very.co.uk today delivered another 150 presents to the hospital for the children, including radio-controlled cars. Kenyatte Nelson, group marketing director at Very.co.uks parent company Shop Direct, said: When we heard what happened at St Marys hospital, we really wanted to do what we could to help the situation and support both the children and families this Christmas. A man was kidnapped in his own car before being held at gunpoint and robbed by a gang of thugs in north London, police said. The 42-year-old victim was bundled into the back of his Black BMW 1 Series by three men who followed him into the car when it was parked in West Kilburn's Portnall Road late at night. After dragging him into the back of the vehicle, the trio drove off with him inside and subjected him to a vicious attack, Scotland Yard said. He was threatened and hit him with a handgun but eventually managed to fight his way out of the car to a place of safety. Officers have now appealed for witnesses and anyone with information about the kidnap and robbery on Sunday, November 20 to come forward. Firefighters discovered the BMW abandoned and on fire in Hardinge Road, Kensal Rise at about 3.30am the following morning. Police said the victim, who was taken to hospital for treatment after the attack, also had his Bvlgari watch worth 200 stolen. All three suspects are described as black men and aged 25 to 35, who wore dark clothing with their hoods pulled up. The first suspect is described as of slim build and about 5ft 10ins tall. The second and third suspects are both described as of slim, muscular build. Police said suspect three also wore a silver mask covering the top half of his face. Detective Constable Amy Holt, the investigating officer from Westminster's Serious Crime Unit, said: "This was a horrific ordeal for the victim and it has left him very distressed. We are determined to catch those responsible and we would appeal to anyone with information or any witnesses to come forward. "We would also remind people to be vigilant and be aware of their surroundings, especially when it is dark. If you see something that is suspicious or makes you feel unsafe, get to a place of safety as soon as possible and call the police." Anyone with information should call Westminster CID on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously by calling 0800 555 111 or by visiting www.crimestoppers-uk.org. A close associate of hate preacher Anjem Choudary who beat up a schoolboy because he was cuddling his girlfriend has been jailed for more than two years. Michael Coe, 35, sat with his hands behind his head as Judge Michael Gledhill QC branded him a "self-appointed enforcer" who was prepared to resort to violence where necessary. The Muslim convert left the 16-year-old boy bloodied and bruised from the attack, after spotting him hugging his girlfriend on a street corner in East Ham. Coe, who converted to radical Islam while in prison with an al Qaeda terrorist, quizzed the young couple about their faith and branded the girl a whore for the public display of affection. He flung the boy to the ground and then attacked a teacher who tried to intervene. Coe denied assaulting the schoolboy - claiming he acted in self-defence - but was convicted by a jury at Southwark crown court in August. Jailing him for two years and four months, Judge Gledhill said: "You saw two young people behaving as young people lawfully and frequently do in every town and every street across the country. Associate: Hate preacher Anjem Choudary / Metropolitan Police "In my judgement, you took offence very shortly after you saw these two because you thought they were young Muslims and to your way of thinking at that time, Islam prohibits such behaviour. "You stopped to reprimand them and you were acting as a self-appointed enforcer of your interpretation at the time of how a Muslim should behave." Coe let out a smile and waved to his mother in the public gallery as he was led to the cells. Coe gained notoriety as a prominent member of hate preacher Anjem Choudarys inner circle, attending a rally to mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and he has called for Sharia Law in the UK. He converted to Islam while serving a jail sentence for shooting at police officers, and was welcomed into Choudarys now notorious extremist group Al-Muhajiroun as he left prison. He was convicted of a similar Muslim Patrol-style incident in 2013 when he confronted an 18-year-old girl outside school as she talked to her friends. Coe beckoned her over and said: Why are you talking to them, it goes against your religion. He then said her friends were "kuffir scum". In the attack on the schoolboy, in Wilson Road, East Ham, on April 15, Coe stopped his car to tell the boy: Let that schoolgirl go", then saying: "How would you like it if your sister was cuddling?" Coe then asked if they were Muslim, and fearing he would turn violent the teenagers denied it. He then replied: "Why am I wasting my time with you if you are not Muslim?" and branded the girl a "whore". Coe grabbed the boy round the neck, flung him to the ground and kicked him, then went to flee the scene. Teacher Boutho Siwela witnessed the attack and tried to photograph Coe's car numberplate, but then found himself on the end of a violent assault. Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay said the teenage victim has now split up with his girlfriend as a result of the attack, and now does not socialise with his friends outside school. "He says he is now worried and scared by older men and what they might do - he doesn't know the man who did this to him but he is very scared for his life if he comes into contact with him again", he said. Naeem Mian, defending, said Coe has now accepted he had a "limited" knowledge of Islam, and has now resolved to seek a broader understanding of the religion. He said Coe's "troubled" upbringing contributed to his offending, and said the suggestion Coe is "some sort of Muslim enforcer is wholly misconceived". Mr Mian also told the court Coe has been attacked several times while in prison, including being stabbed in the neck and had boiling water poured over him, and he reacts badly when his personal space is invaded. "He is not the beast, not the monster that those who sit to my left - and I have in mind the press - would seek the public to believe", he said. "He is not some sort of self-appointed enforcer that your honour would like to think he is." Mr Mian asked for a sentence that meant Coe could walk free from prison today, but the judge said the offences were so serious that only a prison sentence was appropriate. Coe, of Devenish Road, Greenwich, denied assault occasioning actual bodily harm and battery but was convicted on both charges after a trial. He has already spent more than seven months in prison, and will be released after serving half his sentence. P olice are investigating whether a woman was deliberately pushed onto the tracks while waiting for a Night Tube service. The 32-year-old reported "feeling something from behind" before she tumbled onto the tracks in front of shocked onlookers in Camden Town. The woman had a lucky escape as she managed to scramble back on to the platform before a Northern line service arrived at about 2.45am on Saturday. British Transport Police are now working to establish how she ended up on the tracks. Detective Inspector Paul Watts said: We are investigating to establish the circumstances of how the woman came to be on the tracks. Fortunately she was not seriously injured, but she could have been had a train been arriving at the station. We are keeping an open mind as to how she came to be on the tracks and I would like to speak to anyone who was at Camden Town station around the time of the incident on Saturday morning, who may have seen or heard anything that could help the investigation. Following concerns that the new 24-hour service would see an increase high crime levels and anti-social behaviour, Transport for London pledged 3.4million for 100 extra police officers. And initial figures have shown there has been less than one reported crime in every 22,000 journeys since the Night Tube launched in August. The figures refer to the number of crimes that have been reported to British Transport Police. BTPs Superintendent Chris Horton added: Our highly visible policing presence, specially trained officers and expertise in policing rail environments have all contributed to making the Underground a safe, low crime environment. Our aim is to maintain this and we will maintain our highly visible policing presence in order to reassure passengers and deter crime. However, we are not complacent and we will continue to work closely with TfL and other agencies to ensure the safe running of the Underground, particularly as more Night Tube services are introduced. Anyone with any information about the incident at Camden Town is asked to call police on 0800 40 50 40 or text 61016 quoting reference number 136 5/12/16. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. :: Do you know the woman involved? Contact the Evening Standard newsdesk on news@standard.co.uk or 02036152500. A shopkeeper was left battered and bruised after trying to stop a man and woman who allegedly stole items from his west London store. Detectives investigating the unprovoked assault at Riz Repair on North End Road, Fulham, have released CCTV footage of the pair they want to question. They entered the store at about midday on Wednesday, September 12 and stated they wanted a replacement for a product they had bought. But when the shopkeeper inspected the item and said he could not help, the man refused to accept his verdict. His accomplice allegedly stole phone accessories from behind the counter during the altercation, before handing them to the man and abruptly leaving together. Wanted: Police are keen to question the man and woman shown in the footage / Met Police The shopkeeper hurried after them and out the stores door, demanding the products back. The man retaliated by head-butting him in the eye during a scuffle before both he and the woman fled in the direction of Sedlescombe Road. The victim required stitches for a deep cut above his left eye. Detectives are now appealing for witnesses or anyone who recognises the man and woman in the CCTV footage. The man, who was wearing dark clothes, is described as black, of large build, about 30 to 35 years old, with short black hair. The woman is also black, of large build, about 30 years old and with dark chest length hair with red streaks. She was wearing a dark coloured top. Detective Constable Amit Tailor, the investigating officer from Hammersmith and Fulham CID, said: This was an unprovoked assault on a man who was just going about his day to day business. The attack resulted in him receiving a nasty injury which has scarred his face. The assault took place during the day in a busy area of Fulham. I am hoping that someone in the area recalls the incident or recognises the two customers in the CCTV. Any witnesses or anyone with information is urged to call Hammersmith and Fulham CID on 101. To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org. A London father has told of his frustration at having three mopeds stolen in five months. Rory Gordon, 44, has used mopeds to get around for a decade. He bought a new 4,000 Vespa GTF 300 in June and on July 1 it was stolen from the forecourt of his Clapham Common home. The replacement was stolen a month later and thieves attempted to take another in November. They failed, but a third moped was taken from outside St Lukes Church in Battersea last Thursday while Mr Gordon was watching his daughters nativity play. His wife Emma once saw a group drive off with their moped from outside their home. She believes four people on three mopeds stopped, with one sitting on their moped. Once the steering lock was broken, the others grabbed the handle bars and dragged it off. Mr Gordon, who runs a building firm, said his insurance premiums were now sky high. He added that he felt little was being done by the police. A letter from Wandsworth police just hours after the most recent theft confirmed the case had to be closed because of insufficient evidence. Investigators said the mopeds registration number had been put on the Mets Automatic Number Plate Recognition system and was marked as stolen. Mr Gordon said: Its very frustrating. I feel like there is nothing that can be done. The last one was stolen while I was watching my childs nativity play. In broad daylight, outside a church. I mean, is nothing sacred anymore? My insurance has gone up from 200 to over 950 with only one insurer prepared to insure me. My excess, which was 100 is now 1,500. I need my moped to get around town. A Met spokeswoman confirmed there was a theft on December 1 and said police could not help any further at this stage. She added: But if its recovered they will look for any forensic opportunities. T ributes have been paid to a 21-year-old man killed in a horror smash which left five other people in hospital after a weekend of bloodshed on Londons roads. A 12-year-old boy was knocked down by a Royal Mail truck in Holborn, and a 28-year-old woman suffered life-changing head injuries after being hit by a bus near the British Museum in Bloomsbury. A 24-year-old motorcycle courier also died after being thrown from his bike following a collision with a minicab in Maida Vale. Saif Ali, 21, from Walthamstow, was at the wheel of his BMW when it collided with a Vauxhall Astra on the North Circular in Barking at 10.30pm on Saturday. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The 19-year old Astra driver and four teenage passengers in his car were taken to hospital. Family friend Usman Mirza described Mr Ali as a family man who always had a smile on his face. He told the Standard: Its a massive shock to everyone. He had a good heart and had a lot of expectations to achieve something big in his life. The collision happened on the North Circular in east London / Google Maps He always thought a lot of his family and friends and always put them before anyone or anything. Saif had a lot of love from everyone that knew him. Its extremely hard to take as he was so young and such a kind-hearted man. Writing on Facebook, a relative wrote: Just yesterday I was talking to him washing his hair, why did this happen? Why did he have to go far away from me forever? I miss you, I wanna hug you, I wanna see you again - were all missing you. Tonight is the worst day of my life I just want my brother back, please lord. The driver of the Astra was arrested after being discharged from hospital and has been bailed until April while investigations continue. A 22-year-old driver was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving after the fatal accident in Sutherland Avenue, Maida Vale, at 11.30pm on Thursday. The junction of Shirland Road and Sutherland Avenue in Maida Vale, where the fatal crash happened. / Google Helena Tarrant, 53, was getting ready for bed when her family heard a crash outside her home. She told the Standard: The boy was lying in the road, his bike was wedged underneath the car and its windscreen was cracked. People gathered round to help him but he was barely moving. Paramedics came and pressed on his chest for what seemed like forever but it was no use. Its horrible to happen to someone so young who was just trying to do his job. I hope his family know there were people who were with him trying to help and he knew nothing about what happened. A 12-year-old boy was rushed to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries after being hit by a Royal Mail truck near Holborn Tube station at around 3pm on Saturday. The driver of the lorry stopped and has not been arrested but was assisting police with their investigations. Hours earlier, a 28-year-old woman was left with life-changing head injuries after being hit by a route 55 bus near the British Museum off Bloomsbury Way, at 10.30am. Another driver miraculously escaped unharmed when her BMW 118i flipped on its roof in Regents Park after mounting a pavement and crashing into a parking meter on Saturday morning. The Met are asking anyone with information or who witnessed the collisions to contact police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. T orrents of water are seen gushing through the streets of Islington in dramatic images taken after flooding hit an upmarket swathe of north London. A woman was pictured being carried to safety as 50 homes and businesses were evacuated in the early hours of Monday morning. The pipe burst in Upper Street, Islington, around 5am, leaving popular shopping streets submerged. Police officers for the Mets marine units and fire crews were spotted wading through several feet of water in a bid to lead residents to safety. Underwater: Fire crews worked to lead residents to safety / Jeremy Selwyn Two-feet of water deluged basements of boutique shops, restaurants and homes around Camden Passage. The flooding also hit Charlton Place and Colebrooke Row, with residents sent to nearby pub the Steam Passage Tavern as their homes flooded. Submerged streets: Swathes of the trendy shopping district were left flooded / Jeremy Selwyn Roads in the area were closed, with Upper Street shut between Angel Tube station and Islington Green, as water swept through the popular shopping and dining district. Islington floods: Burst water pipe creates chaos in north London Thames Water issued an apology to customers left without water. Severe flooding: Water flowed down streets around Camden Passage / Jeremy Selwyn A statement posted online read: We're sorry to customers in the N1 postal code area who may experience no water. This is due to a burst water main on Upper Street. We're sorry for any inconvenience caused. Rescue crews: Police officers waded through two-feet of water / Jeremy Selwyn A spokeswoman for London Fire Brigade said six fire engines had been sent to the scene. She said: "A 460 metre by 150 metre cordon is in place. "Around 50 homes and businesses have been evacuated by police and fire crews. "Road closures and in place and are expected to remain for some time." L ondoners who have been struggling with freezing temperatures will be relieved to hear it may be hotter than Spanish capital Madrid later this week. A south-western maritime tropical air mass is due to hit the UK mid-week, meaning temperatures could reach double figures in the day time. The Met Office said from Wednesday through to the weekend, Londoners could expect temperatures of about 12C during the day, or up to 7C at night. In comparison, temperatures will only reach 10C in Madrid on Thursday. London hit by cold snap 1 /21 London hit by cold snap Canary Warf on a cold frosty morning Jeremy Selwyn The sun rises over frozen water in the fountains at Trafalgar Square Phil Toscano/PA Commuters cross London Bridge, after one of the coldest nights of autumn Dominic Lipinski/PA A jogger runs on Primrose Hill in the frost Jeremy Selwyn A commuter wrapped up in a heavy scarf on the way to work on London Bridge this morning Jeremy Selwyn Commuters walk over London Bridge at sunrise Ray Tang/Rex Early morning rowers on the River Thames Roger Askew/Rex This woman wore her West Ham gloves to keep the cold off Jeremy Selwyn This commuter was clearly feeling the chill Jeremy Selwyn Temperatures are forecast to plummet to as low as -5C Jeremy Selwyn Londoners awoke to find the city with a blanket of frost Jeremy Selwyn Tower Bridge this morning as commuters wrapped up against the cold Jeremy Selwyn A squirrel holds a nut as it climbs a tree in Richmond park in south west London Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images A deer looks out into fog before sunrise at Richmond park Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images A cyclist passes deer in the fog before sunrise at Richmond park in south west London Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images Deer graze in Richmond park Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images Forecaster Oli Claydon said: It is generally warmer this week in London than last, and towards the middle to end of the week it will be warmer but wetter due to the maritime tropical air mass. The average temperature recorded for London in December is 4.95C but the mercury plunged well below that to -5.9C in London on Wednesday. Cold snap: Londoners woke up to frosts last week / Jeremy Selwyn The coldest part of the city was Northolt which recorded -6.3C. Public Health England had issued a warning about the cold snap urging people to be prepared and remember that cold does kill. But keen photographers were undeterred and captured the first heavy frost in London in a stunning array of pictures taken in the citys parks. S adiq Khan was urged to tell motorists to leave their car at home today as filthy French air was set to worsen pollution in London. City Hall put out high air pollution alerts for Westminster and the City today, as well as on some other busy roads, and moderate generally for the rest of the capital. Green peer Baroness Jenny Jones tweeted: Perhaps @MayorofLondon will call on drivers to leave their cars behind? Or just warn the rest of us to breathe moderately?!! Simon Birkett, founder of Clean Air in London, added: MODERATE-HIGH #airpollution today as London stews in its own (diesel) juice. Dont drive today! Relief on Tuesday as Atlantic air arrives. Experts at Kings College London stressed air flowing into London today is forecast to have travelled up through France and close to Paris. Its likely we will import particulate pollution to add to local emissions poorly dispersed in near calm conditions, they added. As a result, Moderate PM10 and PM2.5 particulate levels are expected, with Moderate nitrogen dioxide also likely at busy roadside locations. London has been hit by a peak of toxic air in recent days, with a cloud of pollution, photographed from a helicopter on Friday, seen to be smothering the capital. Advice from Public Health England for moderate air pollution is: Adults and children with lung problems, and adults with heart problems, who experience symptoms, should consider reducing strenuous physical activity, particularly outdoors. Other people should enjoy your usual outdoor activities. Only when dirty air levels become high should the general population consider reducing activity if experiencing discomfort. The pollution drifting in from France is tiny particulates. Scientists say PM2.5 particulate pollution is particularly dangerous as it can get deep into the lungs and seep into the bloodstream causing heart and lung disease, cancer, and aggravating asthma. Nitrogen dioxide pollution is produced locally, significantly from diesel vehicles. When pollution gets bad in Paris, half of cars are sometimes banned from entering the city centre. A police community support officer faces being reprimanded for allegedly sleeping on the job after he was photographed apparently dozing in cafes and on public transport. Residents in Harrow, north-west London, took pictures of the unnamed uniformed officer sleeping on a bus and claimed he failed to wake up even when his radio went off. One resident told The Sun: All he seems to do is yap on his phone or get some kip in. I could understand it if he was on a break in the station, he said, but he does it on buses and even in my mates canteen. He has been spotted catching 40 winks on buses and in cafes in Harrow / The Sun Another said: Hes just like Chief Wiggum from The Simpsons always falling asleep with no idea whats going on around him. Onlookers have compared him to Chief Wiggum from The Simpsons / The Sun A Met police spokesman said: Senior officers will discuss the circumstances surrounding these images with the officer when he is next on duty. The Metropolitan Police Service expects all of its employees to always maintain the highest standards. A young man was rushed to hospital after being struck by a vehicle in a serious collision in north London this evening. The man, said to be in his late teens or early 20s, was hit by the vehicle on Green Lanes in Palmers Green just before 6pm. The crash took place near the junction with Hedge Lane. A police cordon was erected and a section of the busy through-road was shut in both directions. A Met police spokesman said that the condition of the young man was not yet known. Buses were diverted throughout the evening as emergency services carried out their work. The Met spokesman confirmed to the Standard that the force was called at 5.55pm by the London Ambulance Service regarding a collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian. There have not been any arrests. Enfield Police posted on Twitter: Serious road traffic accident on Green Lanes near Hedge Lane. Road will be closed to allow emergency services to work. Please avoid. Bus routes 326 and W6 were subject to diversion throughout the evening. T he Attorney General angered MPs today by claiming that judges giving them a say over starting the Brexit process would undermine Parliaments sovereignty. Jeremy Wright laid out the Governments case in the Supreme Court as it appealed against a High Court ruling that Parliament must have a say in triggering Article 50 to begin the two-year process of leaving the EU. Mr Wright said the use of Royal Prerogative to fire the starting gun to quit the European Union was not being done on a whim or out of a clear blue sky. The Cabinet minister argued that Parliament had had many chances to rule that a vote of MPs must be staged before withdrawing from Europe and listed six major Acts of Parliament where no such provision was made, including the Referendum Act 2015. As Parliament had not decided to order that a new law was needed to be passed by MPs to trigger Article 50, Mr Wright QC concluded: So my final submission, my Lords, is in the context of this case, the imposition of a legislative pre-condition by the courts, which Parliament did not choose to impose itself, cannot be supportive of parliamentary sovereignty, but must be positively inconsistent with it. However, his remark was immediately condemned by MPs. Steve Reed, Labour MP for Croydon North, branded it ludicrous. He added: We settled the supremacy of Parliament over the monarchy in the English Civil War hundreds of years ago. You cant use the Royal Prerogative to rip up legislation enacted by Parliament. Tottenham Labour MP David Lammy added: It is totally absurd for the Attorney General to argue without even a hint of irony that Parliament voting on Article 50 is inconsistent with parliamentary sovereignty. But Mr Wright said the result of a referendum ordered by Parliament was with the clear expectation that the Government would act on the outcome. He said MPs had given the public the vote and it would be illogical to say the decision must be retaken by MPs themselves: We say Parliament definitively and deliberately assigned to the public vote and to prerogative action the very question it says it now needs to ask itself again in precisely the same terms. So my Lords the triggering of Article 50 we say will not be an exercise of prerogative power on a whim or out of a clear blue sky. The Governments case was based on three pillars, he added, including that the foreign affairs prerogative is not an ancient relic but a contemporary necessity, that the prerogative operates as part of a dualist system, and third that the prerogative operates wholly in accordance with parliamentary sovereignty. At the opening of the landmark Brexit appeal, Britains top judge today condemned threats of serious violence against people involved in the case. Lord Neuberger also issued a counterblast to criticism of the Supreme Court judges who will decide the appeal. In an unprecedented statement, he stated: Before we start, I would like to raise a few matters. The judge, president of the Supreme Court, went on to ban the publication of home addresses of the campaigners who brought the action, including investment manager Gina Miller and hairdresser Deir Dos Santos, and the names of children of the plaintiffs. We have made this order largely because various individuals have received threats of serious violence and unpleasant abuse in emails and other electronic communications, he said. Threatening and abusing people because they are exercising their fundamental right to go to court undermines the rule of law. Anyone who communicates such threats or abuse should be aware that there are legal powers designed to ensure that access to the courts is available to everyone. Lord Neuberger then issued a strong defence of the courts impartiality, which has been questioned by Brexit-backing politicians and media. I would like to remind everyone who has taken an interest in these proceedings that the Supreme Court exists to decide points of law which fall within its jurisdiction. he said. We are aware of the strong feelings associated with the many wider political questions surrounding the United Kingdoms departure from the European Union. However those are not the subject of this appeal. This appeal is concerned with legal issues, and, as judges, our duty is to consider those issues impartially, and to decide the case according to the law. That is what we shall do. Eleven Supreme Court justices a record number are hearing the Governments appeal. Francois Fillon, the front-runner in next May's French presidential elections, has a plan to secure the euro, and to make the euro area the hard core of a united "Europe of nations." Mr. Fillon is making a bold attempt to reassert the French leadership in European affairs, and to stop the advance of the hard-right Front National, whose anti- European Union (EU) leader, Marine Le Pen, is widely seen as a force to reckon with in the second round of a contest on May 7, 2017. This sounds like a great piece of statecraft, but why is it that Mr. Fillon's proposed euro area reforms are "dead on arrival in Berlin?" There are two key issues. First, Mr. Fillon wants to establish an economic (and political) government of the euro area as a counterweight to the German-built European Central Bank (ECB), which is solely responsible for price stability and for the regulatory and supervisory functions in the monetary union. The new body, proposed by Mr. Fillon, would consist of the heads of government, with its own secretariat, and would be independent of the EU Commission in Brussels. No kidding, says Berlin. The Germans see that as a long-standing French gambit to bring the ECB under some sort of political control by a top level "economic government." Germans don't want that. They prefer the current "economic government" -- an informal forum of euro area finance ministers called the Eurogroup, where they control the agenda and the proceedings. Here is the latest example of that. In anticipation of Monday's Eurogroup's meeting in Brussels to discuss Greece's lending program, the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was dictating last Saturday the terms of the financial package: Greece must do structural reforms; it needs no debt relief. Germany is just one of the members of that group that has its own (Germany's handpicked) chairman, who is the forum's official spokesman. Where was he? Why this German one-upmanship? Just to show who is the boss? Story continues That is a wonderful election campaign gift to Marine Le Pen, and to all other European political forces that are fed up with Germany's unsolicited EU lordship. Second, and this is a total non-starter for Berlin, Mr. Fillon wants to change the ECB charter a heavy step that would require a treaty change to add economic growth and employment creation to the bank's responsibility for stable prices. Can you hear a big laugh all the way across the Rhine? Dont like Francois? Try Marine & Beppe show Fine, but a pause for thought before bursting into a Bierstube laughter may be a good idea. Give Mr. Fillon a break for your own good. He is a smart and experienced conservative politician occupying the forefront of French and European politics since 1981, when, at a tender age of 27, he was elected as the youngest member of the French National Assembly. Using the knowledge from that long experience, Mr. Fillon is reheating old French euro area reform proposals to fight Marine Le Pen. The "blonde" (as her admirers call her) is no friend of Germany; she is, arguably, the most frightening weapon of massive and terminal EU destruction. And what did Mr. Fillon get for his effort to forge a compromise in a strained French-German relationship on key European issues? He got a magisterial callout that he must be talked to because Germany does not like what he said. That's another dream gift to Marine Le Pen, and an unacceptable, dangerous and humiliating German interference in the French election process. A bit of comity would be better, wouldn't it? It is one thing for German politicians to run around Europe with diktats to small countries desperate for EU membership and money, but it is quite another to use the same dialectic with a veto wielding UN Security Council member, an authentic and autonomous nuclear power, the world's fifth-largest economy and by far Germany's largest European trade partner. And it's not just Marine. Italy's Beppe Grillo is watching, too. A widely read German magazine called the Italian founding leader of the soaring Five Star Movement "the most dangerous man in Europe" for his refusal of Berlin/Brussels strictures and German meddling in Italian affairs. Beppe may have started out as a deadly serious joke of a standup comedian, but he led his party since 2009 to more than 30 percent of popular vote at this writing. His party also won 19 out of 20 contests in last June's regional elections, topping it all off with Rome and Turin town halls. Marine & Beppe: bluffing blowhards? Current events in Italy will also give a boost to Mr. Fillon's euro area agenda. Taken together, the Five Star Movement, the Northern League and Forza Italia, all virulently anti-German EU political forces, are now polling at about 54 percent. The probability for Italexit (or a Frexit) is low, but this gathering wave of grassroots protest will force the EU, and especially the euro area, to be more responsive on issues of economic growth, employment and a host of social contingencies. That's Europe a trailblazer of post-modern welfare states. Mr. Fillon sees that. He is no populist hot-head; he is a fiscal conservative advocating an integrated union of nation states sharing a European sovereignty. But that's not true of Marine Le Pen, and of some of Mr. Fillon's party (Les Republicains) colleagues who think that his proposed euro reform is not paying enough attention to social issues. And then a frontal assault will soon be coming from angry and disoriented French left-wing parties. That will be ugly, because there is no love lost between them and Germany. Their star economic adviser, Thomas Piketty, of the growing rich-poor divide fame, came out swinging last Friday (December 2) with a statement that Germany's fiscal austerity policies sank the French economy and destroyed Francois Hollande's presidency. The height of irony is, Piketty says, that the fiscally virtuous Germany has never paid its foreign debt. Investment thoughts German media are painting a picture of a confused, irate and fearful CDU/CSU leadership in the run-up to September 2017 elections. Still, even if that were true, Berlin should not meddle in French elections and insensitively throw its weight around. If it does that, it will just give support to anti-EU forces of left and right. That could be a kiss of death to Francois Fillion, a thoughtful conservative and a deeply-committed European. Meanwhile, by virtue of fortuitous timing, events unfolding in Italy will greatly influence the European political and economic agenda. Investors should keep in mind that the ECB will not allow any devastating systemic tremors, even though the Italian political landscape will remain unsettled for the foreseeable future. The euro area reforms along Mr. Fillon's lines are inescapable. I believe that, beyond the current election posturing, there is a political will to work that out. Chaos, recessions, soaring unemployment and social unrest of a foundering euro area are in nobody's interest. The end of the common currency would be the end of a genuine customs union and a homogeneous single market -- the key pillars of the EU. Please note that Marine Le Pen and Beppe Grillo are primarily railing against the incompetence of their own leaders and what they made of the EU for France and Italy. But Marine Le Pen is praising Chancellor Merkel 's management of the German economy and a strong (she would say "selfish") defense of German interests, while berating the "submissive and brainless" French politicians. Beppe Grillo is saying the same thing in the key of the brilliant Italian humor when narrating heart-wrenching stories. With a martial picture of Otto von Bismarck (aka, Germany's "Iron Chancellor") he is imploring: "German brothers please invade us to kill corruption and bring some order to Italy " Believing in euro's perennity as a viable transactions currency and a store of value looks like a formidable act of faith in view of current political events in Italy, France and Germany. I am ready for that leap. I don't believe that today's Europeans will allow their leaders to destroy what preceding generations have built with peace, exemplary dedication and great sacrifice over the last 60 years. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. More From CNBC B ritains top judge today condemned threats of serious violence against plaintiffs in the landmark Brexit court case. Lord Neuberger also issued a counterblast to criticism of the Supreme Court judges who will decide whether Theresa May must seek parliaments approval before she moves Article 50. In an unprecedented statement at the opening of this weeks legal proceedings, he stated: Before we start, I would like to raise a few matters. The judge went on to ban the publication of home addresses of the pro-European campaigners who brought the action, including investment manager Gina Miller and hairdresser Deir Dos Santos, and the names of children of the plaintiffs. We have made this order largely because various individuals have received threats of serious violence and unpleasant abuse in emails and other electronic communications, said Lord Neuberger. Threatening and abusing people because they are exercising their fundamental right to go to court undermines the rule of law. "Anyone who communicates such threats or abuse should be aware that there are legal powers designed to ensure that access to the courts is available to everyone. The judge then issued a strong defence of the courts impartiality, which has been questioned by Brexit-backing politicians and media. I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone who has taken an interest in these proceedings that the Supreme Court exists to decide points of law which fall within its jurisdiction, he said. We are aware of the strong feelings associated with the many wider political questions surrounding the United Kingdoms departure from the European Union. "However, as will be apparent from the arguments before us, those wider political questions are not the subject of this appeal. This appeal is concerned with legal issues, and, as judges, our duty is to consider those issues impartially, and to decide the case according to the law. That is what we shall do. Eleven Supreme Court justices - a record number - are hearing the Governments appeal against a High Court ruling that the Prime Minister must seek Parliaments approval before she triggers the process to leave the European Union. Attorney General Jeremy Wright was due to lead the case for the Government, which argues that it can move Article 50 by using Royal prerogative without a vote of MPs. The hearings will last four days, with a ruling likely in the New Year. Investment fund manager Ms Miller, 51, has said she could no longer travel on public transport, work in her office, or even spend a normal weekend with her family after a tsunami of vitriol. Mr Dos Santos, 37, hit back at threats, saying he was not an enemy of the people. The Belgravia salon hairdresser issued a statement through his lawyer saying: It is a sad day when space needs to be made at the highest civil court for security guards for parties. It added: Neither the parties, including my client, nor judges are the enemies of the people. The court process and an independent judiciary are the hallmark of a democracy. It would be a sad day indeed when an Executive can ride roughshod over the judiciary, portrayed as anti-democratic. Loading.... Extra seating has been provided to allow 115 members of the public to watch proceedings while more than 80 journalists from around the world have been accredited to cover the event. A British woman has been stabbed to death at a Christmas holiday attraction in Lapland, Finnish police said. The 25-year-old woman, a seasonal worker who took children to visit Santa Claus, was found dead on Saturday. Finnish police launched a hunt for the young womans Czech boyfriend who was later found suffering from hypothermia deep in the Lapland wilderness. Police said they arrested the man on Saturday. The woman's alleged attacker is thought to have fled before collapsing in the -35C temperatures. Lapland's police said in an online report: "A homicide occurred on Saturday morning. A 36-year-old man is suspected of having stabbed to death his 26-year-old girlfriend. Both of them were foreign seasonal workers. "Afterwards, the man fled with their dogs," the statement said, adding that a Border Guard helicopter had been brought in to help with the manhunt. They arrested the man and he was taken to hospital in Rovaniemi. The woman is reported to have been working for tour company Santa Safari, according to the Sun. Lapland receives hundreds of seasonal workers each year many of whom work in festive centres catered for tourists who want to visit Santa Claus. A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman said: "We are supporting the family of a British national who died in Finland on 3 December." T he pound was up against the euro this morning hitting 1.20 euros, as the shared currency fell sharply after Italians voted against reforming Italy's constitution. The single currency plummeted as Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced his resignation after suffering a crushing defeat in Sundays referendum. As markets opened this morning the euro was worth $1.0563 or 0.83, down 0.96 per cent from Fridays close. The blow to the single currency comes after a particularly good week for Sterling in which it hit its highest level against the euro since September 6. Italians voted against Mr Renzis proposed reform of the constitution on Sunday in a vote which was widely seen as a chance to register discontent with the Italian establishment. Matteo Renzi has said he will resign following Sunday's crushing defeat / Corbis via Getty Images With the majority of ballots counted the No vote lead with 60 per cent against 40 per cent for Yes, a much wider margin than expected. The voter turnout was almost 70 per cent. Mr Renzi said her would formally notify his cabinet of his resignation on Monday afternoon, before tendering his resignation to the Italian president. M atteo Renzi's rapid resignation following defeat in the referendum has triggered turmoil in Italy and the rest of Europe. The big surprise is the margin by which the reformist prime minister went down. He won support for his constitutional reform package in only three regions. Overall he lost by 20 per cent of the votes cast, on a high turn-out of nearly 70 per cent. In the troubled and depressed south, he lost by 40 per cent. The proposals were radical and were always going to be a tough sell. Mr Renzi said he needed them to get parliament and government working adequately to meet Italys economic, banking and social crises. But opponents said this would give too much power to Mr Renzi. Voters, especially from Beppe Grillos populist Five Star movement, said they had no faith Mr Renzi could get Italy out of its current mess. The Five Star movement now wants new elections and a referendum to pull Italy out of the euro, and maybe the EU. But it would need another change in the constitution to allow a referendum on an international treaty. The Five Star movement and the Right-wing separatists of the Northern League have caught the mood of civic rebellion because of the pervasive mood of pessimism about the economy and unemployment. Nearly 40 per cent of the under-25s are without a job. Italy is the most indebted of the large eurozone partners. Referendum defeat: Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi / REUTERS Most immediate is the banking crisis. Up to eight national banks are at risk and in need of special measures. They feel victims to the strict eurozone restrictions on borrowing and lending. The Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena the worlds oldest bank had been trying to conclude a 5 billion rescue package this week, but this is now up in the air. Italians have also been feeling the pressure of the continuing inflow of illegal migrants, which is expected to hit 200,000 this year for the third year running. There has also been the pressure of the string of earthquakes across the central spine of the country since August. The appeals to Brussels for special measures to help in loans and subsidies have gone almost unheard. President Sergio Mattarella will now appoint a caretaker prime minister, most likely either the outgoing finance minister Pier Carlo Padoan, or the president of the Senate, Pietro Grasso, a former anti-Mafia judge. The new government will have to concentrate on supporting the banks and stabilising the markets. It could then go for a new general election next spring. This is difficult, because the cost of the referendum will have to be absorbed and the electoral law still needs overhaul. Italy has now registered another major populist thumbs-down to the euro and EU as they now stand the first founder member of both to do so. This will boost the anti EU-vote in the upcoming elections in the Netherlands in March, and France in April. For those manning the pumps at EU central this week, Brexit is rapidly slipping down the agenda of priorities. I taly was plunged into political and economic uncertainty following voters' resounding rebuke of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's proposed constitutional reforms. Mr Renzi announced his resignation after losing Sunday's referendum on constitutional reforms. The referendum proposed to adjust the powers of the Senate, the upper house of the Italian parliament. With more than 90 per cent of the results in, the "No" campaign led with almost 60 per cent of the vote to slightly over 40 per cent for "Yes", on course to achieve the upper estimate predicted by exit polls. Mr Renzi promised to step down if he lost, and called a news conference in Rome as the result became clear. Addressing the nation at the Palazzo Chigi on Sunday night, Mr Renzi said "experience of government finishes here". "We tried, we gave Italians a chance to change but we didn't make it," he added. "We wanted to win not to take part in the competition. "Good luck to us all." Financial markets have rebounded after initial falls following Mr Renzi's heavy defeat. At one stage the Euro hit $1.0505, its lowest level against the US currency since March 2015. But it rebounded from that low to stand at $1.0634, a fall of just 0.3 per cent. Shares in troubled Italian bank Monte dei Paschi was down by more than five per cent in the first few minutes of trade, but then rebounded and had edged into positive territory. Shares in Unicredit and Intesa also fell sharply at first before recovering. Analysts say Mr Renzi's defeat was already priced into the market. Kathleen Brooks, research director at City Index Direct, told the BBC there was caution among investors but not panic. "While the markets are likely to remain nervous as we start a new week, they haven't fallen off a cliff, so far," she said. "Either markets are becoming immune to political risk, or they are taking the view that the Italian issue will be a slow-burner, even if the president can't form a government, he still has 70 days to try, and that seems quite far away at this stage." A senior European Parliament lawmaker from Germany says Italy's reform referendum heralds a period of instability and is a setback for those who want to see reform in Europe. Manfred Weber, the leader of the main conservative group in the European Parliament, told ZDF television: "Initially, a phase of instability now lies ahead of us - how will one of the biggest countries in the European Union now stabilize itself?" He added that "it is also a setback for those who want readiness for reform, those who want European countries to change. That is the only way we can deal with globalization." Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, said the vote was an Italian domestic issue and he doesn't see a defeat for Europe. He told German news agency dpa: "Italy voted on a reform. It would be wrong to extrapolate that now to the European level. It was a domestic political argument." He added, however, that "it would be bad for the euro if the government crisis dragged on for a long time." T hey were baying for blood. Dozens of protesters descended on the streets of Rome late last night and sirens blared as riot police quickly moved in to contain them. After Prime Minister Matteo Renzis devastating loss in the constitutional referendum, trade unionists, students and other activists wasted no time in gathering outside his office inside Palazzo Chigi. Just minutes before an emotional premier faced the media at midnight, the protesters wanted to send him their own message and they yelled it as loudly as they could Renzi go home, get lost. They didnt have to wait long for the scalp they were seeking and screamed and applauded when they heard that Mr Renzi, 41, had confirmed he would go. Itlian PM Matteo Renzi resigns in Rome / Corbis via Getty Images This is a victory for democracy, one young protester said. Daniela Mencarelli, 56, who works for a trade union, said: I never liked Renzi. He was never elected by the people. We are here tonight because we are really, really happy the reform was rejected. As predicted, the bitterly contested referendum campaign became a test of Mr Renzis personal popularity and many feared he was using constitutional change to streamline the Senate as a naked grab for power. In recent months populist parties such as the Five Star movement were emboldened and activists mobilised a #VoteNo campaign. Referendum defeat: Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi / REUTERS Many voters like Ms Mencarelli believe there is something sacred about the Italian constitution, which was drawn up after the Second World War and two decades of fascism. Our constitution is something that the Italian people love because it is a constitution born from the blood of our partisans, she said. Voter turnout was higher than average at close to 70 per cent. Young voters those hardest hit by Italys economic stagnation and a jobless rate of 36 percent appear to have been pivotal in the final outcome. Giulio Caprara, a 21-year-old engineering student from Rome, is concerned about what lies ahead after he voted to endorse Mr Renzis reforms. I voted Yes. Italy has to give a good impression of our countrys stability, to give a good impression of our country to other European countries. Otherwise our economy will be the next to fall and the politicians will fight like children. T he death toll from the Californian warehouse fire rose to 36 before emergency workers put the search for more bodies on hold over safety fears. Officials said they expect to uncover more fatalities from the wreckage of the club in Oakland with a significant number of people still missing. But an unstable, leaning wall has forced fire officials to halt the search temporarily. Melinda Drayton, battalion chief for the Oakland Fire Department, said: We absolutely believe that the number of fatalities will increase. Tragedy: The death toll in the fire has risen to 24, officials say. / REUTERS But she added we are still no closer to finding a cause. The converted warehouse known as the Ghost Ship, in Oakland,California, was being used to host a dance party when the fire broke out at 11.30pm on Friday (7.30am on Saturday UK time). A makeshift memorial for the victims of the warehouse fire / AP It is so far unclear what caused the fire in the building. Officials believe there were between 50 to 100 guests inside at the time. Former residents who lived at the warehouse said the building had few exits and a makeshift staircase. Sergeant Ray Kelly of Alameda County sheriffs department said the blaze could have been sparked by a cigarette. He said people either escaped from the building or died inside, where the only way down from the second story was via a stairwell made of wooden pallets. V anessa Redgrave hit out at the shocking depiction of child refugees, ahead of London hosting the premiere of her documentary on the plight of youngsters fleeing persecution. Sea Sorrow is the first film directed by the award-winning actress, who visited migrants at the now-demolished Jungle camp in Calais and also in Greece, Italy and Lebanon. She has enlisted Ralph Fiennes, Emma Thompson and Juliet Stevenson as well as Lord Dubs, who was instru- mental in getting the Government to accept more unaccompanied minors to appear in the film. Redgrave, 79, told the Standard: Lots of people care but dont really know whats happening. This is not a political film. Im an artist. Its my personal view but its based on historical fact. She added: I hope it will generate support for the non-governmental organisations and those working round the clock to help refugees. It isnt only Europe but around the world. When I went to Calais there were children living in terrible conditions. Children with families in Britain should be helped to resettle here. Id like to see my government and all governments uphold the Geneva Convention on refugees and human rights. The feature-length film will be shown at Hammersmith Town Hall tomorrow at 7.30pm, with tickets available by donation to the charities Citizens UK, Safe Passage and Help Refugees. The documentary was produced by Redgraves son Carlo Nero, who lives in the borough. His mother helped to deliver a petition to the Home Office in September, calling for child refugees in Calais to be allowed into the UK. The actress, who won an Oscar for Julia in 1977, told of her outrage over media coverage querying the ages of some refugees who were eventually accepted. She said lessons could be learned from Britains Thirties operation to save Jewish children from the Nazis. There were mistakes by the government but we were galvanised into action and help was given to Jewish refugees, she said. The film will be screened by Bafta and at UK cinemas after its premiere. W orld cities must work together to fight climate change and stop their residents dying early from toxic air, Londons deputy mayor has warned. Shirley Rodrigues, whose portfolio covers the environment and energy, represented Sadiq Khan at a mayoral summit in Mexico where she said international collaboration was critical to cutting London pollution. A report by consultancy Arup and C40 has said wealthier, high-carbon cities must take the lead in limiting emissions to meet the Paris Agreement on global warming. Concerns have been raised that the 2015 deal lacks legal enforcement mechanisms and President-elect Donald Trump, a cheerleader for fossil fuels, has little interest in sticking to it. Arups report, Deadline 2020, said if cities continue pumping out greenhouse gases at the current rate it will effectively lock in high pollution levels for future generations. Ms Rodrigues was particularly keen to work with New York and Amsterdam to see what London could learn from their techniques for improving air quality. Speaking from the C40 Summit in Mexico City, she said: It is vitally important we work closely with other world cities on advancing green transport technology, cracking down on the dirtiest diesel vehicles and tackling pollution. World cities have much to learn from each other in fighting climate change, from building resilience, advancing energy efficiency and strong clean air interventions. In London were doing more than any major city to tackle toxic air with proposals for new charges for the dirtiest vehicles, cleaning up our transport and taxi fleet and introducing an expanded Ultra Low Emission Zone a year earlier. But we cant do this alone and the actions of other cities will help reduce pollution that crosses national boundaries. Ive been asking more cities to get on board and follow our lead so we can work together to challenge bus manufacturers to produce more zero-emission buses and drive down the costs of cleaner bus technology cheaper. Ultra-fine pollution dust, present in diesel fumes, is linked to respiratory diseases that contribute to the death toll of nearly 9,500 Londoners every year. Last Thursday, London parents were warned to take care when taking their babies outside because of toxic air levels. Tech firm Plume Labs rated air pollution in parts of the capital as high based on World Health Organisation limits. Mr Khan has pledged to stop the purchasing of pure diesel double deckers for the London fleet from 2018, while all new single deckers in central London will be zero-emission. Countries & Areas Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe This page may have been moved, deleted, or is otherwise unavailable. To help you find what you are looking for: Enter Search Term(s): Still cant find what youre looking for? Send us a message using our contact us form. To report a broken link or other problems with the website, please include the URL. Thank you for visiting state.gov. Romanian, Moldovan and Ukrainian anti-corruption and border authorities launched on Monday a citizen awareness campaign, with fliers to be handed out throughout the week in Romanian customs offices on the border with Ukraine and Moldova. The campaign "Border anticorruption week", running December 5 - 9 under the logo "No passing for corruption here!", officially opened in the Halmeu customs on the border with Ukraine, with a meeting of representatives of the two sides. "The campaign opened in Halmeu, where the Romanian and Ukrainian delegations met and started handing out flyers. This activity will continue throughout the week," said Radu Lungu, spokesman of the Sighetu Marmatiei Border Police Inspectorate General. The campaign for rising citizen awareness in the three states is carried out by Romania's Anti-Corruption General Directorate (DGA), in partnership with the National Anti-corruption Center of the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine's State Border Guard Service, with the support of Romania's Border Police General Inspectorate (IGBP). "The purpose of the tripartite campaign is to induce citizen awareness about the risks of getting involved in corruption deeds, informing them about the methods at hand to report such deeds, developing a climate of public security and creating a framework for cross-border cooperation. Fliers and posters will be distributed during the campaign in 14 common border crossings between Romania, Moldova and Ukraine, respectively," the Border Police said in a statement. In Romania, representatives of DGA, the Border Police Inspectorate General and volunteers deployed to the cross-border checkpoints Halmeu, Sighetu Marmatiei, Galati, Oancea, Albita, Sculeni, Siret and the Otopeni Airport, on the inbound lane, will hand out informative materials accompanied by recommendations on having an honest and pro-active behavior as regards reporting corruption deeds. agerpres. Updated at 6:35 a.m. BEIJING China urged Washington on Monday to stop disrupting its foreign corporate acquisitions after President Barack Obama blocked the purchase of a German maker of semiconductor manufacturing equipment as a security risk. The proposed acquisition of Aixtron SE by China's Fujian Grand Chip was "pure market behavior," said a foreign ministry spokesman, Lu Kang. On Friday, Obama ordered Fujian Grand Chip to drop its attempt to take over Aixtron's California subsidiary. The government said Aixtron's technology has "military applications." "We hope that the United States will cease making groundless accusations about Chinese companies and will provide a fair environment and favorable conditions for investment by them," said Lu at a regular briefing. "I think this matter will in the long run be in the interests of all the parties concerned." It was the third time in three decades that a U.S. president has blocked an acquisition by a Chinese company on security grounds. Germany approved the 670 million euro ($740 million) takeover of Aixtron's German parent but said last week it was reconsidering due to unspecified "security-related questions." Chinese companies have made a multibillion-dollar string of acquisitions in Europe to obtain technology and brands including Club Med, Pirelli tires and Volvo Cars. Many Europeans welcome the influx of money but China faces criticism from business leaders that they are blocked from making similar acquisitions in its state-dominated economy. Aixtron, based in Herzogenrath, says its headquarters, research and development operations and existing technology would remain at its current sites under the proposed acquisition. In 2012, Obama blocked Chinese-owned Ralls Corp. from building a wind farm near a naval base in Oregon. In 1990, then-President George Bush blocked the purchase of MAMCO Manufacturing Inc., a maker of aircraft parts, by a Chinese state-owned company. NEW DELHI As a new American president bent on retaining American jobs prepares to take office, the Obama administration and the U.S. defense industry are working on a deal with the Indian government to build iconic U.S. combat aircraft in India. In recent months, Lockheed Martin and Boeing have made proposals to the Indian government to manufacture fighter jets the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F/A-18 Super Hornet in India as the country seeks to modernize its rapidly aging fleet of largely Russian-built airplanes. In both cases, the aviation companies would be building production facilities in India; Lockheed Martin proposes to move its entire F-16 assembly line from Texas to India, making India the sole producer of the single-engine combat aircraft. The U.S. military is phasing out the F-16 for its own use, but other countries remain as likely customers. The proposals have the strong backing of the Obama administration, which has sought a closer connection with the Indian military in recent years. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said she was "optimistic" about the prospect of a deal after a visit to New Delhi in August, and Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter is set to return to India next week, with procurement high atop the list of discussion topics. But the election of a billionaire businessman focused on keeping jobs at home, rather than creating them overseas, has brought a measure of uncertainty to the talks. "What will be the U.S. policy posture now that the new president-elect is in the mix?" said one high-level official at an American defense firm in India, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal negotiations. "Is he going to continue the policy of engaging in India on co-production and co-development? All of those are unknown at this point." On Thursday, President-elect Donald Trump appeared at a Carrier plant in Indiana where his team had brokered a deal to save about 1,000 jobs, and on Sunday he let fire a series of tweets that implied a new tax penalty on goods produced by companies that leave the United States. "Please be forewarned prior to making a very expensive mistake! THE UNITED STATES IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS," he tweeted. On the campaign trail he had railed against job losses to Asia and Mexico. "We are living through the greatest jobs theft in the world," Trump said last month, citing American companies that have laid off workers and moved jobs to India, Singapore and Mexico. "It's getting worse and worse and worse." Officials at Lockheed Martin and Boeing said that any partnership to manufacture jets in India would not result in a net loss of American jobs but would create Indian employment about 1,000 positions in the case of Lockheed Martin. About 300 mechanics on the Fort Worth assembly line would be moved to the F-35 assembly line at the same plant. Others would be given an opportunity to apply for other jobs on the newer F-35, Lockheed officials said, although they concede that some positions would be lost in the move because of attrition or retirements. "I see this as a great opportunity for all parties involved," said Randy Howard, director of business development for Lockheed's integrated fighter group. "It doesn't take jobs away from the U.S., it extends existing jobs, and not just for Fort Worth but for many other companies around the U.S. that build parts for the F-16." Nevertheless, workers in Fort Worth say they are worried about the future. "Wouldn't you be?" said Earnest Boone, president of the District Lodge 776, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents Lockheed employees. In October, the Indian government sent a letter to foreign missions and aerospace manufacturers inquiring about single-engine fighter aircraft that could be manufactured locally. India wants to co-produce the fighter jets as part of its Make in India program, which has the lofty goal of expanding the manufacturing base to 25 percent of the gross domestic product in the next six years. Nitin Wakankar, a spokesman for India's Ministry of Defense, said that the process of selecting the new jet "has not started yet," so answering detailed questions would be premature. India's costly earlier effort to partner with the French company Dassault Aviation for 126 jets unraveled, and the government ended up buying only 36 ready-made Rafale planes this year. Analysts say Lockheed's main rival in the single-engine sphere is Sweden's Saab Group and its Gripen fighter. Chicago-based Boeing has also proposed to make its twin engine F/A-18 in India. Boeing recently took a group of Indian defense journalists on a whirlwind tour of Australia and the United States to show off its program. The U.S. Air Force is phasing out the F-16 in favor of the F-35 aircraft in coming years and the company has no orders for the F-16 beyond October 2017, but it is seeking other customers and does not plan to dismantle the assembly line just yet. The F-16 airplane remains one of the most widely used aircraft in the world, and Lockheed is continuing to negotiate deals to sell the fighter to other countries. Those F-16s would be made in India under the deal once the new assembly line was up and running, Howard said. The aircraft has been made in joint ventures with other nations before, but "we've never offered our only production line to another country," Howard said. "It's unprecedented." Lockheed has promised that India would not only manufacture and export its jets but would play a "critical role" in supporting a fleet of about 3,200 F-16s in operation around the world, said Jon Grevatt, an Asia Pacific defense industry analyst with IHS Jane's, a defense analysis firm. "That's a big carrot," he noted. A potential stumbling block to the deal is the willingness of the U.S. government to part with enough of its mission system technology to make the package palatable to the Indians. The aircraft is also viewed negatively by some in the defense establishment here as a dated platform that first rolled off the assembly line in 1978 despite its current state-of-the-art avionics. Another strike against it, for some, is that it is the fighter aircraft used by archrival Pakistan. "The F-16 is a good aircraft, it has lived its life, but its time is over," said Muthumanikam Matheswaran, a retired Indian Air Force air marshal and analyst. A greater concern, said Pushan Das, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in Delhi, is whether "India wants to be seen as close to the United States and building U.S. fighter aircraft, or does it want to be more politically neutral and choose a partner like Sweden, given the fact that New Delhi needs to manage its relationship with Russia and China. That's the main thing." India's defense procurement typically moves at a glacial pace. Ashley Tellis, a scholar for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote in a March paper that the Indian Air Force is in "crisis" and that its troubled acquisition and development programs threaten its air superiority over rapidly modernizing rivals Pakistan and China. The country hopes to expand its fleet to from 36.5 to 42 to 45 squadrons by 2027 an unlikely prospect, the study found, because of budget constraints, slow procurement and other limitations. When the Moxy Hotel opens in San Diego next year, the rooms will be stocked with the usual amenities alarm clocks, hair dryers, writing desks and televisions. But you wont find Bibles in the bedside nightstands. Marriott International, the worlds largest hotel company, supplies a Bible and the Book of Mormon in the rooms of every other hotel in the franchise. But the company recently decided that no religious materials should be offered at two of its newest millennial-oriented hotel brands, Moxy and Edition hotels. Its because the religious books dont fit the personality of the brands, said Marriott spokeswoman Felicia Farrar McLemore. Marriotts decision mirrors others in the industry that are phasing out the long-held tradition of providing religious material in hotel rooms. It is difficult to measure how many of the countrys 53,000 hotels still put Bibles in the rooms because most major hotel franchise companies let individual hotel owners and managers decide whether to make the books standard amenities. But a recent survey by STR, a hospitality analytics company, found that the percentage of hotels that offer religious materials in rooms has dropped significantly over the past decade, from 95 percent of hotels in 2006 to 48 percent this year. Among the reasons for the change, according to industry experts, is a need to appeal to younger American travelers who are less devout than their parents or grandparents, and to avoid offending international travelers such as Muslims or Buddhists. And then there is this practical issue: Many newer hotel brands install shelves rather than nightstands with drawers next to the bed, making it difficult to be discreet about offering Bibles. A Bible on a bedside shelf makes a more pronounced statement than a Bible slipped into a drawer. In an era of not offending anyone, I think hotels have a conundrum, said Carl Winston, director of San Diego State Universitys L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management program. Hotels also have been under pressure lately from atheist groups. The Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote to 15 major hotel companies last year, asking them to keep Bibles out of hotel rooms. The group succeeded in the last year in getting hotels operated by Arizona State University and Northern Illinois University to remove all Bibles from their rooms. The foundation also created a sticker that reads: Warning: Literal belief in this book may endanger your health and life. The group has encouraged its supporters to affix the stickers on any hotel room Bible they find. We are trying to educate the hotel industry that a quarter of our population is not religious, said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the group. STR officials cautioned about reading too much into its survey, noting that managers representing only 2,600 of the more than 8,000 hotels responding to the survey answered the question about religious material in rooms. Still, industry experts say the changing demographics in America and the surge of international travelers in the U.S. are creating more reasons to keep religious materials out of hotel rooms. A lot of international hotels are trying to reach a very diverse group of travelers, and religion now has become a really sensitive topic, said Linchi Kwok, an assistant professor at the Collins College of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona. Bibles started to become a hotel standard in the late 1800s when three traveling businessmen founded Gideons International with a plan by placing Bibles in hotel rooms across the country. The nonprofit group now has about 270,000 members in 200 countries. In its latest fiscal year, Gideon International spent about $100 million to distribute Bibles to hotels, prisons, hospitals and other locations, about the same amount as in 2015, according to the groups financial statements. Jeff Pack, Gideons Internationals director of communications, said he isnt sure why the STR survey shows a decline in religious materials in hotel rooms, considering that the distribution of Bibles by his group hasnt dropped. The decline of religious materials in hotels, as cited in the survey, is reflective of increasing secularism and independence in the world, he said. This has resulted in an erosion of spiritual awareness. Two years ago, Travelodge hotels in Britain removed Bibles from their rooms in order not to discriminate against any religion, the company said. Still, the hotels kept copies at the front desk where guests could borrow them. The parent company of Travelodge, the Wyndham Hotel Group, said the company does not require Bibles in any of its 15 hotel brands worldwide. Marriott International, which was founded by a devout Mormon, decided this year to keep the Bible and the Book of Mormon out of four new brands, AC, Moxy, Protea and Edition hotels, said McLemore, the spokeswoman.. But company executives reconsidered, she said, and instead moved to keep religious materials out of only the Moxy and Edition hotels because the AC and Protea hotels are geared toward more traditional travelers. Marriott has opened nine Moxy hotels, with at least 40 more hotels under construction or in the planning phase. Four Edition hotels are open and nine others are set to open in the future. Intercontinental Hotel Group, the British company that operates the Holiday Inn brand, among others, doesnt require managers of its more than 5,000 hotels in nearly 100 countries to put Bibles in each room. Our hotels have the flexibility to offer religious materials to their guests if they choose to do so, spokeswoman Caroline Huston said. WASHINGTON Native American reservations cover just 2 percent of the United States, but they may contain about a fifth of the nation's oil and gas, along with vast coal reserves. Now, a group of advisers to President-elect Donald Trump on Native American issues wants to free those resources from what they call a suffocating federal bureaucracy that holds title to 56 million acres of tribal lands, two chairmen of the coalition told Reuters in exclusive interviews. The group proposes to put those lands into private ownership a politically explosive idea that could upend more than century of policy designed to preserve Indian tribes on U.S.-owned reservations, which are governed by tribal leaders as sovereign nations. The tribes have rights to use the land, but they do not own it. They can drill it and reap the profits, but only under regulations that are far more burdensome than those applied to private property. "We should take tribal land away from public treatment," said Markwayne Mullin, a Republican U.S. Representative from Oklahoma and a Cherokee tribe member who is co-chairing Trump's Native American Affairs Coalition. "As long as we can do it without unintended consequences, I think we will have broad support around Indian country." Trump's transition team did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The plan dovetails with Trump's larger aim of slashing regulation to boost energy production. It could deeply divide Native American leaders, who hold a range of opinions on the proper balance between development and conservation. The proposed path to deregulated drilling privatizing reservations could prove even more divisive. Many Native Americans view such efforts as a violation of tribal self-determination and culture. "Our spiritual leaders are opposed to the privatization of our lands, which means the commoditization of the nature, water, air we hold sacred," said Tom Goldtooth, a member of both the Navajo and the Dakota tribes who runs the Indigenous Environmental Network. "Privatization has been the goal since colonization to strip Native Nations of their sovereignty." Reservations governed by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs are intended in part to keep Native American lands off the private real estate market, preventing sales to non-Indians. An official at the Bureau of Indian Affairs did not respond to a request for comment. The legal underpinnings for reservations date to treaties made between 1778 and 1871 to end wars between indigenous Indians and European settlers. Tribal governments decide how land and resources are allotted among tribe members. Leaders of Trump's coalition did not provide details of how they propose to allocate ownership of the land or mineral rights or to ensure they remained under Indian control. One idea is to limit sales to non-Indian buyers, said Ross Swimmer, a co-chair on Trump's advisory coalition and an ex-chief of the Cherokee nation who worked on Indian affairs in the Reagan administration. "It has to be done with an eye toward protecting sovereignty," he said. $1.5 trillion in reserves The Trump-appointed coalition's proposal comes against a backdrop of broader environmental tensions on Indian reservations, including protests against a petroleum pipeline by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and their supporters in North Dakota. On Sunday, amid rising opposition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Sunday said it had denied a permit for the Dakota Access Pipeline project, citing a need to explore alternate routes. The Trump transition team has expressed support for the pipeline, however, and his administration could revisit the decision once it takes office in January. Tribes and their members could potentially reap vast wealth from more easily tapping resources beneath reservations. The Council of Energy Resource Tribes, a tribal energy consortium, estimated in 2009 that Indian energy resources are worth about $1.5 trillion. In 2008, the Bureau of Indian Affairs testified before Congress that reservations contained about 20 percent of untapped oil and gas reserves in the U.S. Deregulation could also benefit private oil drillers including Devon Energy Corp., Occidental Petroleum, BP and others that have sought to develop leases on reservations through deals with tribal governments. Those companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump's transition team commissioned the 27-member Native American Affairs Coalition to draw up a list of proposals to guide his Indian policy on issues ranging from energy to health care and education. The backgrounds of the coalition's leadership are one sign of its pro-drilling bent. At least three of four chair-level members have links to the oil industry. Mullin received about 8 percent of his campaign funding over the years from energy companies, while co-chair Sharon Clahchischilliage a Republican New Mexico State Representative and Navajo tribe member received about 15 percent from energy firms, according to campaign finance disclosures reviewed by Reuters. Swimmer is a partner at a Native American-focused investment fund that has invested heavily in oil and gas companies, including Energy Transfer Partners the owner of the pipeline being protested in North Dakota. ETP did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The fourth co-chair, Eddie Tullis, a former chairman of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Alabama, is involved in casino gaming, a major industry on reservations. Clahchischilliage and Tullis did not respond to requests for comment. Bureaucratic thicket Several tribes, including the Crow Nation in Montana and the Southern Ute in Colorado, have entered into mining and drilling deals that generate much-needed revenue for tribe members and finance health, education and infrastructure projects on their reservations. But a raft of federal permits are required to lease, mortgage, mine, or drill a bureaucratic thicket that critics say contributes to higher poverty on reservations. As U.S. oil and gas drilling boomed over the past decade, tribes struggled to capitalize. A 2015 report from the Government Accountability Office found that poor management by the Bureau of Indian Affairs hindered energy development and resulted in lost revenue for tribes. "The time it takes to go from lease to production is three times longer on trust lands than on private land," said Mark Fox, chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes in Forth Berthold, N.D., which produces about 160,000 barrels of oil per day. "If privatizing has some kind of a meaning that rights are given to private entities over tribal land, then that is worrying," Fox acknowledged. "But if it has to do with undoing federal burdens that can occur, there might be some justification." History of 'termination' The contingent of Native Americans who fear tribal-land privatization cite precedents of lost sovereignty and culture. The Dawes Act of 1887 offered Indians private lots in exchange for becoming U.S. citizens resulting in more than 90 million acres passing out of Indian hands between the 1880s and 1930s, said Kevin Washburn, who served as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior from 2012 until he resigned in December 2015. "Privatization of Indian lands during the 1880s is widely viewed as one of the greatest mistakes in federal Indian policy," said Washburn, a citizen of Oklahoma's Chickasaw Nation. Congress later adopted the so-called "termination" policy in 1953, designed to assimilate Native Americans into U.S. society. Over the next decade, some 2.5 million acres of land were removed from tribal control, and 12,000 Native Americans lost their tribal affiliation. Mullin and Swimmer said the coalition does not want to repeat past mistakes and will work to preserve tribal control of reservations. They said they also will aim to retain federal support to tribes, which amounts to nearly $20 billion a year, according to a Department of Interior report in 2013. Mullin said the finalized proposal could result in Congressional legislation as early as next year. Washburn said he doubted such a bill could pass, but Gabe Galanda, a Seattle-based lawyer specializing in Indian law, said it could be possible with Republican control of the White House and the U.S. House and Senate. Legal challenges to such a law could also face less favorable treatment from a U.S. Supreme Court with a conservative majority, he said. Trump will soon have the chance to nominate a Supreme Court justice to replace Antonin Scalia, a conservative member who died earlier this year. "With this alignment in the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court," he said, "we should be concerned about erosion of self determination, if not a return to termination." Additional reporting by Richard Valdmanis. Sometimes you make a little history of your own. The Missouri History Museum is projected to have 480,000 visitors for 2016, reaching more than 400,000 attendees in three consecutive years for the first time since the Missouri Historical Society began taking annual headcounts. I credit it to listening to my staff, said Missouri History Museum President Frances Levine, who was hired in January 2014. Theyve really been looking at trends in museums and what people want to see in exhibitions. Attendance is already over 450,000 at the museum, which doesnt charge admission. If projections hold, the three-year attendance average would be 471,789. From 2000 to 2013, average annual attendance was 354,789. Museum officials say a greater focus on St. Louis history and finding ways to incorporate more collection pieces into exhibits on other topics have made the difference. And the museums vast collection of textiles, which loans out period clothing to museums around the country, has also been tapped more often. The exhibit Little Black Dress, one of the most popular exhibitions in the museums history, featured 60 black dresses from the museums collection representing various eras. It ran from April to September of this year and became the fourth-most attended exhibit in the museums history. Those were 60 dresses that had just been sitting in our store room, and they became something a lot of people wanted to learn from, museum director of exhibitions and research Jody Sowell said. In fact, four of the top five most attended exhibits in museum history all opened since Levine arrived. The No. 1 spot is held by the 1927 Charles Lindbergh exhibit, which according to newspaper reports drew untold hundreds of thousands of visitors. Lindbergh was hot off his return from his solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe, in a famous little aircraft named The Spirit of St. Louis. I dont know if well ever beat that one, but it helped put the museum on the map, Sowell said. The other exhibits in the top five most attended are 250 in 250, honoring the citys 250th anniversary; A Walk in 1875 St. Louis; and the current Route 66 exhibit, which is expected to be the second-most attended exhibit in the museums history by the time it closes in July, Sowell said. Museum curators are also trying to tell history in new ways by commissioning artistic interpretations of the times and places in which events took place. For A Walk in 1875 St. Louis, they made wall-sized prints of Compton and Drys Pictorial St. Louis, detailed sketches of downtown St. Louis drawn in 1875 and published the following year, so that visitors felt as if they were in the pictures and experiencing the finer details. They also paid artists to develop life-size interpretations of life at a coffee shop and other public gathering places so that, as Sowell puts it, people felt like they were walking through a graphic novel. People are still getting that well-researched local history shown through artifacts, but also other ways, Sowell said. As for continued increases in attendance, Levine said the museum didnt want to focus on that number in its strategy to increase its reach in the community. Im trying to focus on impact and our ability to connect with universities and schools, Levine said. Thats one of my goals, to have our exhibitions serve a greater role in teaching history, teaching values, civic engagement, and so I try not to get seduced by the numbers. That includes staffs having relationships with school leaders and going out of the museum into the community more often to educate about local history. Special programming such as lectures, panel discussions and movie nights are also a focus for bringing in more people. Reaching more people east of the Mississippi River and west of Interstate 270 toward Chesterfield are also goals, Levine said. A south St. Louis County man has been charged with making a terrorist threat after allegedly telling co-workers at a luxury car-detailing shop that he belonged to ISIS and could have their job site blown up by making one phone call. Prosecutors on Sunday charged Mustafa Barimac, 26, with the felony. His bail was set at $500,000, cash only. He made his initial court appearance Monday morning. His next court date is scheduled for Jan. 4 before Associate Circuit Judge John Borbonus. Creve Coeur police say Barimac made the comments on Nov. 25, the day after Thanksgiving, to co-workers at an auto detailing firm, Teph Seal, at 11830 Olive Boulevard. He told co-workers he was affiliated with ISIS and even showed them a tattoo he claimed was an ISIS tattoo. "He threatened to co-workers that he could place one phone call and have the place blown up," Creve Coeur Detective Cory Mueller said in court papers. Mueller said it was hard to pin down why Barimac made the threat. Mueller said it could have been due to the face that Barimac was a detailer who was angry about his paycheck and job responsibilities. Mueller said Barimac thought he had been promised a promotion to a low-level manager with a pay hike, and that didn't happen as quickly as he had wanted. Workers didn't notify police until a week later. "At first, he was a big talker," Mueller said. "But as time went on and he started adding on this ISIS bit and showed the tattoo, it made people take him more seriously. The statements built up over time." A week after the ISIS comment, police in Creve Coeur were notified and they began working with the FBI. Police conducted constant surveillance of Barimac, including at Barimac's parents' home where he lives in the 300 block of Southhampton Drive, near Jefferson Barracks park in south St. Louis County. Police in Creve Coeur brought a dog that can detect explosives to the business and searched it Saturday, the same day Barimac was arrested at another business in St. Louis they followed him to. No bombs or bomb-making equipment were found at the business, on him, his car or at his parents' home, police say. His tattoo "ended up being in Arabic, along the lines of, 'Only God or Allah can judge me,'" Mueller said. Barimac admitted to police that he made it up, police say. He agreed that the comments would reach the entire workforce of about 25 people, Mueller said. A few weeks before the ISIS threat, Mueller said, Barimac told co-workers he had access to firearms and if another issue came up he "could come to the business and take care of all Teph Seal employees." Mueller said police didn't find out about the firearms threat until workers reported the ISIS threat Friday. Police say they found no social media site associated with Barimac, except an old MySpace site that he doesn't maintain. Court records do not indicate if Barimac has an attorney yet. His parents could not be reached for comment. Mueller said they speak limited English. He said Barimac, a Bosnian, has been in the St. Louis area since high school and lived in Iowa before that. The FBI is developing an intelligence file on Barimac, but he was not on their radar before this report, authorities say. According to the detailing company's website, its service is connected to an Audi, Infiniti and Jaguar dealerships at the same location in Creve Coeur. The detailing shop is in a large parking garage with maintenance bays. Mueller said that part of the business was evacuated for the search. Police notified the nearby dealerships that police would be searching, but the dealership was not evacuated. In Missouri, the crime of making a terrorist threat is punishable by up to seven years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The charges say Barimac made the threat "for the purpose of frightening ten or more people." "We handled it pretty swiftly," Mueller said. "It was a situation we didn't want to sit on. We wanted to get him into custody. For all we know, he could have posed a significant threat while out there." Threat at Best Buy store In an unrelated case, prosecutors in St. Louis County charged a South Carolina man with making a terrorist on Black Friday, the big shopping day on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It happened Nov. 25 at a Best Buy on South Lindbergh Boulevard in St. Louis County. Roy Herr, 57, of Spartanburg, S.C., allegedly told workers he had left a bomb at the back bay of the Best Buy store because he wasn't happy with the service he received from the Geek Squad technicians. Part of the store was closed, and employees were evacuated while a bomb-sniffing dog checked for explosives. Herr was arrested and charged with two felonies: making a terrorist threat and drug possession. His bail was set at $15,000. A bond reduction hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in St. Louis County. 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? By Lisa Baertlein and Gayathree Ganesan (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp co-founder Howard Schultz will step down as chief executive to focus on new high-end coffee shops, handing the top job to Chief Operating Officer Kevin Johnson, a long-time technology executive. Schultz, who will become executive chairman in April 2017, said he would focus on building ultra-premium Reserve stores and showcase Roastery and Tasting Rooms around the world as well as setting the brand's "social impact agenda" that includes sending employees to college and recruiting veterans. Starbucks had signaled the change in July, but its shares fell 3.6 percent to $56.41 in extended trading on Thursday, as investors recalled the company's decline after Schultz handed over the reins in 2000. He returned in 2008. "Having him step down as CEO raised the anxiety level," said Stephens analyst Will Slabaugh, who said that Schultz is the heart and soul of the brand, its entrepreneurial leader and its savior. "We're in a much better position on every level," said Schultz, who returned for his second stint as CEO in the depths of the "Great Recession," when Starbucks' stock was trading below $10. Late last year, it hit an all-time high above $60. Schultz has put Starbucks in the national spotlight, asking customers not to bring guns into stores and urging conversations on race relations. Many of the campaigns have generated controversy, but analysts have not seen a hit to financial results and the efforts have raised the profile of the coffee company and cemented Schultz's status as a national figure. "The idea that he's replaceable, I think that's erroneous," said Bill Smead, CEO of Smead Capital Management in Seattle, which owns Starbucks shares. He compared the change to the retirement of long-time McDonald's Corp CEO Ray Kroc, who turned a handful of hamburger stands into the world's biggest restaurant company. The announcement on Thursday also came as investors worry about the restaurant industry's stubborn traffic declines. Starbucks has held up better than most, but it has not been immune. Johnson is a former technology executive who became president and chief operating officer at Starbucks in March 2015. Johnson has been on the Starbucks board since 2009 but most of his career was in the technology industry. He was the chief executive of Juniper Networks Inc from September 2008 to January 2014 and prior to that held several senior positions at Microsoft Corp. On a conference call after the announcement, analysts pressed the company on timing and whether, with Schultz stepping aside, senior management still had the "merchant gene." "Not having retail experience could be a problem over time," said Howard Penney, an analyst at Hedgeye Risk Management. "I'm not leaving the company and I'm here every day," said Schultz, whose office is connected to Johnson's. Traffic at established Starbucks cafes fell in the last quarter, which Johnson has attributed to a change in the company's loyalty program, and Starbucks forecast a mid-single-digit rise in 2017 same-store sales. The company dismissed speculation that Schultz could be preparing for a new career in politics. "He has no plans to run for political office, as he has said many times, and will remain with the company as Starbucks executive chairman, focusing on premium coffee," a spokeswoman said. (Reporting by Gayathree Ganesan and Siddharth Cavale in Bengaluru; additional writing by Peter Henderson; Editing by Bill Rigby and Jonathan Oatis) Axovant Sciences Ltd. (NYSE: AXON), a leading clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of dementia, today announced that data on the investigational use of intepirdine for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease will be presented at the 2016 Clinical Trials in Alzheimer's Disease (CTAD) Meeting on Friday, December 9, 2016 in San Diego. Intepirdine presentations at CTAD will show results of both simple and complex measures of activities of daily living (ADLs) and overall functional dependence important indicators of treatment benefit. "The continued ability to independently perform everyday tasks such as making meals and doing laundry is critical to the overall well-being of individuals and families affected by Alzheimer's disease," said Axovant Chief Development Officer Dr. Lawrence Friedhoff. "Axovant is currently evaluating the effectiveness of intepirdine on the core symptoms of dementia, cognition and function, in our MINDSET trial. In addition to using traditional scales, we are also examining the overall impact of treatment using a more specific scale, called the Dependence Scale, which measures a person's ability to maintain their independence. We will be presenting an analysis from our Phase 2b trial related to this topic for the first time at CTAD." Intepirdine is an investigational 5-HT6 receptor antagonist in development as a potential treatment for individuals with Alzheimer's disease on a stable background of donepezil therapy. It is also in development as a potential treatment for dementia with Lewy bodies. Axovant has incorporated the Dependence Scale into the ongoing intepirdine trials in both Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. Results from both trials are expected in 2017. Intepirdine Function and Independence Data Presentations Oral Presentation: December 9, 2016, 12:15 p.m. PST "An Assessment of Dependence Level Progression Using a Conversion Algorithm of ADCS-ADL to Dependence Scale and Data From a Double Blind Placebo Controlled Trial of Intepirdine (RVT-101)" Poster Presentations: December 9, 2016, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. PST "The Efficacy of Intepirdine (RVT-101), a 5-HT6 Receptor Antagonist, as an Adjunct to Donepezil in Adults with Mild-to-Moderate Alzheimer's Disease: Completer Analysis of a Phase 2b Study" "Intepirdine (RVT-101) as an Adjunct to Donepezil in Adults with Mild-to-Moderate Alzheimer's Disease: ADCS-ADL Subscale Analyses" In addition, Axovant will make an oral presentation on December 9, 2016 at 8:15 a.m. PST titled "Drug Interaction between Intepirdine (RVT-101), a 5-HT6 Receptor Antagonist, and Memantine in Healthy Subjects." Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) announced that it has signed an agreement to sell a portion of the company's acreage and producing properties in its Haynesville Shale operating area in northern Louisiana for approximately $450 million to a private company. Included in the sale are approximately 78,000 net acres, 40,000 net acres of which the company considered as core acreage. The sale also includes 250 wells currently producing approximately 30 million cubic feet of gas per day, net to Chesapeake. The company expects this transaction to close in the 2017 first quarter. In addition, Chesapeake is marketing approximately 50,000 net acres located in the northeastern part of its Haynesville Shale operating area, which the company also expects to close in the 2017 first quarter. Following both of these planned divestitures, Chesapeake will retain approximately 250,000 net acres in the core of the Haynesville Shale. The company's 2017 development program in the Haynesville will be focused on longer laterals and further enhanced completions, resulting in projected adjusted production growth of approximately 13% from its Haynesville operations in 2017. Doug Lawler, Chesapeake's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are pleased to announce the first of two proposed Haynesville asset sales for $450 million. With this proposed transaction and our previously announced Devonian asset divestiture, the company has reached approximately $2.0 billion gross proceeds from divestitures either signed or closed in 2016, excluding certain volumetric production payment repurchase transactions. We expect this total to grow in the 2017 first quarter with our second proposed acreage sale in the Haynesville. With our long-term target of $2 to $3 billion in debt reduction, we will continue to look for opportunities to accelerate value through the sale of additional non-core assets in 2017 and beyond. Through the continual optimization of our asset base, reduction in our net leverage, improvement in liquidity and cash flow generating capabilities, we believe Chesapeake is well positioned for the years ahead." The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it has fined Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC $16.5 million for anti-money laundering (AML), supervision and other violations. FINRA found that Credit Suisses suspicious activity monitoring program was deficient in two respects. First, Credit Suisse primarily relied on its registered representatives to identify and escalate potentially suspicious trading, including in microcap stock transactions. In practice, however, high-risk activity was not always escalated and investigated, as required. Second, the firms automated surveillance system to monitor for potentially suspicious money movements was not properly implemented. A significant portion of the data feeds into the system were missing information or had other issues that compromised the systems effectiveness. The firm also chose not to utilize certain available scenarios designed to identify common suspicious patterns and activities, and it failed to adequately investigate activity identified by the scenarios that the firm did utilize. Brad Bennett, FINRA's Executive Vice President and Chief of Enforcement, said, "Its critical that firms have effective AML systems in place so that they can comply with their obligations to review and report suspicious transactions, including those involving trading in microcap securities or potentially suspicious money transfers. FINRA found that from January 2011 through September 2013, Credit Suisse failed to effectively review trading for AML reporting purposes. The firm expected its registered representatives, who were the primary contact with the customers, to identify and report to its AML compliance department activity or transactions that were unusual or suspicious based on red flags described in Credit Suisses AML policies. Its AML compliance department was then required to investigate the potentially suspicious activity, document its findings and file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) where appropriate. However, the systems and procedures the firm used to monitor trading for other purposes were not designed to detect potentially suspicious activity in order to cause the filing of a SAR, where appropriate, and the other departments and branches of the firm did not effectively assume responsibility for reviewing trading for AML reporting purposes. For example, the trading of one of the firms customers, a New York-based hedge fund, followed patterns commonly associated with microcap fraud, such as depositing and then quickly selling, with the proceeds being wired out of the account shortly thereafter. However, no one at the firm reviewed the activity in the account for AML purposes. In addition, Credit Suisses reliance on representatives to escalate potentially suspicious trading failed to account for the fact that most orders it received from its foreign affiliates came in to the firm electronically and thus were not seen by the firms sales traders. FINRA also found that from January 2011 through December 2015, Credit Suisse failed to effectively review potentially suspicious money transfers. The firm used an automated surveillance system to identify red flags of potentially suspicious activity. FINRA found that the firm failed to implement the automated surveillance system properly, including by failing to ensure that the data that was being fed into the system was adequate and by failing to utilize available scenarios that were applicable to the money-laundering risks presented by its business. Although Credit Suisse self-identified some of the deficiencies and retained a consulting firm to assist in evaluating them, the firm initially failed to devote adequate resources to resolve the issues in a timely fashion, and some of the deficiencies remain unresolved today. In addition, FINRA found that Credit Suisse did not have adequate staffing to review the tens of thousands of alerts the automated system generated in any given year. Additionally, FINRA found that Credit Suisses procedures were deficient as it relates to compliance with the prohibition of the sale of unregistered securities. Certain Credit Suisse customers deposited and sold microcap shares through the firm, which should have raised red flags indicating that the shares were potentially part of an illegal distribution. The firms procedures failed to instruct its representatives, prior to executing trades in microcap securities, how to determine whether those securities were registered or subject to an exemption from registration. These failures extended to potentially suspicious trades made in omnibus accounts of the firms foreign affiliates. As a result, FINRA found that from 2011 to 2013, the firm facilitated the illegal distribution of at least 55 million unregistered shares of securities. The firm subsequently implemented additional procedures limiting the trading of microcap securities. FINRA's AML Investigative Unit identified the violations during an examination of the firm. The investigation was conducted by the Department of Enforcement. In settling this matter, Credit Suisse neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to the entry of FINRA's findings. Investors can obtain more information about, and the disciplinary record of, any FINRA-registered broker or brokerage firm by using FINRA's BrokerCheck. FINRA makes BrokerCheck available at no charge. In 2015, members of the public used this service to conduct 71 million reviews of broker or firm records. Investors can access BrokerCheck at www.finra.org/brokercheck or by calling (800) 289-9999. Investors may find copies of this disciplinary action as well as other disciplinary documents in FINRA's Disciplinary Actions Online database. Investors can also call FINRA's Securities Helpline for Seniors at (844) 57-HELPS for assistance or to raise concerns about issues they have with their brokerage accounts and investments. Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE: MUR) announced that a joint venture ("JV") led by its Mexican subsidiary, Murphy Sur, S. de R.L. de C.V., was the high bidder and is expected to be awarded Block 5 during Mexico's fourth phase, round one deepwater auction. Under the terms of the JV, Murphy will be the operator with a 30 percent working interest ("WI"), together with PC CARIGALI MEXICO OPERATIONS, S.A. DE C.V., a wholly-owned subsidiary of PETRONAS (23.34 percent WI), Ophir Energy (23.33 percent WI) and Sierra Offshore Exploration (23.33 percent WI). Block 5 is located in the deepwater Salinas basin covering approximately 2,600 square kilometers (1,000 square miles), and water depths in this block range from 700 to 1,100 meters (2,300 to 3,600 feet). The initial exploration period for the license is four years and includes a work program commitment of one well. FILE PHOTO: Ben Carson listens to a question from a reporter during a campaign stop in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 23, 2016. REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus/File Photo By Doina Chiacu and Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, a rival-turned-supporter of Donald Trump, overcame his stated qualms about a lack of government experience on Monday to accept the president-elect's nomination to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Democrats criticized the Republican president-elect's latest pick for his incoming administration, calling Carson unqualified to take over $48-billion agency that oversees public housing. Carson, a popular writer and speaker in conservative circles, has been a close adviser to Trump since he dropped out of the 2016 Republican presidential primary contest and he is a vice chairman of Trump's transition team. Trump discussed the job with Carson before the Thanksgiving Day holiday last month, although - despite his own presidential run - Carson had previously indicated reluctance to take a position in the incoming administration because of his lack of experience in federal government. Picking up that theme, House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on Monday, "Dr. Ben Carson is a disconcerting and disturbingly unqualified choice to lead a department as complex and consequential as Housing and Urban Development." Trump, a real estate magnate who also has no government experience and has never held public office, expressed confidence Carson could do the job, saying in a statement that he "has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities." Carson, 65, is the first African-American picked for a Cabinet spot by Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20 and has been gradually filling out his administration since beating Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 presidential election. Carson said he was honored to accept the post, which requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate. "I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly by strengthening communities that are most in need," he said in the statement. Republicans control the Senate and Senator Lindsey Graham, who has been a sometimes strong critic of Trump, praised Carson in a statement, saying "Im sure he will be an agent of change in a department that could stand some change. FORMER TARGET OF TRUMP ATTACKS Carson, a respected neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, had been considered for U.S. surgeon general and head of Health and Human Services Department. His business manager, Armstrong Williams, said last month that Carson had decided not to serve in Trump's administration because "his life has not prepared him to be a Cabinet secretary." But Carson said after meeting with Trump he believed he could make a contribution. Like many of the initial field of 17 White House hopefuls who vied for the Republican Party's 2016 presidential nomination, Carson was a frequent target of Trump attacks during the campaign. But he became one of his most high-profile African-American supporters after Trump secured the nomination. Carson enjoyed a brief surge early in the presidential campaign that took him to the top of the Republican polls in late 2015. But Trump went after him, questioning his mental stability because of childhood incidents in which Carson said he attacked his mother with a hammer and tried to stab another boy. Carson's campaign sputtered after that and he dropped out of the race in March. He would take over a department whose mission has been to help middle- and low-income people find housing by offering a combination of public housing, rent subsidies and mortgage assistance. The agency oversees mortgage lending and is also responsible for enforcing laws intended to prevent discrimination against those attempting to rent or buy homes. Carson has been critical of HUD efforts under the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama to compel local governments to actively seek to end discrimination, instead of just responding to instances of racial discrimination. In a column he wrote in 2015 for the Washington Times, Carson called the program a "mandated social-engineering scheme." If confirmed to the post, he could seek to end the Obama program. IVANKA TRUMP TO MEET AL GORE Other picks by Trump so far for his administration include: Marine Corps General James Mattis as defense secretary, U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo as CIA director, Senator Jeff Sessions as attorney general, retired General Michael Flynn as national security adviser, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as chief of staff and right-wing media executive Steve Bannon as chief White House strategist. Trump is still considering various candidates to fill the post of U.S. secretary of state. Former Vice President Al Gore, a Democrat and a longtime advocate for strong steps to tackle climate change, was scheduled to meet on Monday with Trump's daughter Ivanka. In the past, Trump has dismissed the idea of man-made climate change as a hoax and he said during the campaign that he would seek to get the United States out of the Paris Agreement to reduce global emissions of fossil fuels. But last month he told the New York Times he had an open mind on this. Meanwhile, Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein filed suit in federal court in Pennsylvania on Monday in an attempt to force a statewide recount of voting there, adding to recounts in Michigan and Wisconsin. Even if the recounts were to proceed in all three states, there is almost no chance that they would overturn Trump's victory in last month's election. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu, Diane Bartz and Ginger Gibson; Writing by Doina Chiacu and Richard Cowan; Editing by Frances Kerry) BURKE, Va., Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- America's SBDC is leading an international initiative to strengthen and connect over 4,000 small business service providers in countries throughout the Americas which together serve more than 2 million businesses. For the SBNA Partnership Program the America's SBDC has partnered with the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Institute for Economic Development's International Trade Center, the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA), and the Central American Regional Center for the Promotion of Micro and Small Enterprises. (CENPROMYPE). The grant will fund a three-year project to support efforts in the Americas, promoting the viability and sustainability of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and local and regional economic development. The project focuses on the SBNA goals of connecting and strengthening the more than 4,000 small business development centers (SBDCs), incubators, accelerators, and other service centers by providing matchmaking services through the SBNA Partnership Program and providing scholarships to Central American entrepreneurs through the La Idea Incubator program. The project will promote and support job creation in MSMEs and encourage greater trade among these businesses throughout the Americas. "We are thankful to the U.S. Department of State and our collaborating partners for this grant, which will allow America's SBDCs, UTSA, InBIA and CENPROMYPE to continue to strengthen communities globally by utilizing the effective and powerful Small Business Development Center (SBDC) model." said Charles "Tee" Rowe, President & CEO, America's SBDC. There are currently 118 SBDCs operating the Latin America and the Caribbean, and plans to establish a total of 350 SBDCs serving over 100,000 businesses every year. Incubators, accelerators, and other types of service centers also make up a substantial part of the small business support infrastructure, with targeted programs for startups with rapid growth potential. About America's SBDC and Small Business Development Centers: America's SBDC represents the Nation's 63 Small Business Development Centers, a national network of partnerships uniting higher education, state and local nonprofit economic development organizations, private enterprise and government. It is the Small Business Administration's largest partnership program, providing management and technical assistance to help Americans start, run and grow their own businesses. Learn more at www.AmericasSBDC.org April Youngblut | (703) 408-5403 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150317/182557LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/americas-sbdc-awarded-a-29m-grant-from-the-us-department-of-states-bureau-of-western-hemisphere-affairs-for-the-small-business-network-of-americas-sbna-partnership-program-300372291.html SOURCE America's SBDC PHOENIX, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifty-nine Domino's locations throughout Phoenix and its surrounding areas are looking to hire 300 new team members. All of the new positions offered are for delivery drivers, customer service representatives and assistant managers. "We are excited to offer additional jobs throughout the area," said Jeffrey Musser, Domino's director of corporate operations in Phoenix. "Enthusiastic and positive-attitude leadership is our philosophy, and we're in search of team members who reflect that so we can continue to do what we do best make great pizzas and deliver them with exceptional service." The continued success of Domino's across the nation, and specifically the growth and success of the 59 corporate-owned stores throughout Phoenix, increases the need for additional support from enthusiastic employees. "Domino's is a fun place to work," said Musser. "Our company truly provides a fantastic opportunity to those who show initiative and a desire to advance. Whether you're looking to grow with our company and have a long-term career or need a part-time job with flexibility, Domino's is the place to be." Those who are interested in applying for a position should visit jobs.dominos.com. About Domino's Pizza Founded in 1960, Domino's Pizza is the recognized world leader in pizza delivery, with a significant business in carryout pizza. It ranks among the world's top public restaurant brands with a global enterprise of more than 13,200 stores in over 80 markets. Domino's had global retail sales of over $9.9 billion in 2015, with more than $4.8 billion in the U.S. and nearly $5.1 billion internationally. In the third quarter of 2016, Domino's had global retail sales of nearly $2.5 billion, with over $1.2 billion in the U.S. and nearly $1.3 billion internationally. Its system is comprised of independent franchise owners who accounted for over 97% of Domino's stores as of the third quarter of 2016. Emphasis on technology innovation helped Domino's reach an estimated $4.7 billion annually in global digital sales at the end of 2015, and has produced several innovative ordering platforms including Facebook Messenger, Samsung Smart TV, Apple Watch, Amazon Echo, Twitter and text message using a pizza emoji. In late 2015, Domino's announced the design and launch of the DXP, a purpose-built pizza delivery vehicle, as well as Piece of the Pie Rewards, its first digital customer loyalty program. Order dominos.com AnyWare Ordering anyware.dominos.com Company Info biz.dominos.com Twitter twitter.com/dominos Facebook facebook.com/dominos Instagram instagram.com/dominos YouTube youtube.com/dominos Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120814/DE55948LOGO-b To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dominos-locations-throughout-phoenix-to-hire-300-new-team-members-300372898.html SOURCE Domino's Pizza LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP (GPM) reminds investors of the December 6, 2016 deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in the class action lawsuit filed on behalf of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Tenet Healthcare Corp. (Tenet or the Company) (NYSE: THC) securities between February 28, 2012 and October 3, 2016, inclusive (the Class Period). Tenet investors have until December 6, 2016 to file a lead plaintiff motion. The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Tenet made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: the Company illegally paid kickbacks to induce the referral of patients to Tenet's hospitals for labor and delivery; that Tenet defrauded the Georgia Medicaid program through this scheme; and that as a result of the above, statements about Tenet's business, operations and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. On October 3, 2016, Tenet revealed that it would pay $514 million to federal and state governments in order to settle claims that the Company's hospitals in Georgia and South Carolina paid kickbacks for obstetric referrals. Under the terms of the settlement, two Tenet subsidiaries will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate federal kickback laws. On this news, Tenet's share price fell over 4%, to close at just $21.75 per share on October 3, 2016. If you purchased or otherwise acquired Tenet shares during the Class Period, you may move the Court no later than December 6, 2016 to request appointment as lead plaintiff. To be a member of the class you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the Class. If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to [email protected], or visit our website at http://www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161205006043/en/ Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP, Los Angeles Lesley Portnoy, 310-201-9150 or 888-773-9224 [email protected] www.glancylaw.com Source: Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 05, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nano One Materials Corp. (TSX-V: NNO) (Frankfurt: LBMB) (OTCBB: NNOMF) announced today that it has been awarded up to $1.9 million from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED). The investment is being made available through Automotive Suppliers Innovation Program (ASIP) and will support the development of battery material production technology in Nano Ones Pilot Plant. Nano One CEO Dan Blondal says that, These funds are non-dilutive and non-repayable and add to funds previously announced. The support leverages existing plans to build and operate our Demonstration Pilot Plant. We remain on target to have the pilot built early in 2017 and our approach is already drawing the attention of multinational lithium ion battery stakeholders in the automotive supply chain. The funding selection process is competitive with extensive due diligence and we are honoured to have gained the confidence of ASIP and ISED. We look forward to their valuable support. The announcement was made at Nano Ones facility in Burnaby, British Columbia by Jonathan Wilkinson, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. Mr. Wilkinson said, Through the Automotive Supplier Innovation Program, the Government of Canada recognizes that suppliers are an integral part of our automotive footprint and success. We are proud to support Nano One in developing green technologies that will shape the future of the industry. These technologies will help create quality jobs and support Canadas middle class. The proceeds will help support the design, construction and operation of Nano Ones Pilot Plant and will be disbursed over the duration of the pilot project as expenses are incurred. The pilot will be used to showcase Nano Ones patented technology and simulate full scale production of lithium ion cathode materials that are critical to the electric vehicle market. The pilot uses equipment common to industry and is designed with flexibility to demonstrate a variety of processing concepts and chemistries. This enables Nano One to adapt to market needs and produce a range of cathode materials, including lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide, high voltage spinel and lithium iron phosphate. The innovations lie in a simple aqueous process that enables a wider range of raw material inputs, eliminates manufacturing steps and provides high purity high performance materials. Nano One has been granted 3 patents covering process, materials and batteries and is actively developing other novel technologies to bolster its portfolio of intellectual property. To view an enhanced version of this image [NNO awarded $1.9M from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), available through Automotive Suppliers Innovation Program (ASIP)], please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3606/23900_nno%20057.jpg Nano One Materials Corp. Dan Blondal, CEO For information with respect to Nano One or the contents of this news release, please contact John Lando (President) at (604) 669-2701 or visit the website at www.nanoone.ca. About Nano One Nano One Materials Corp (Nano One or the Company) is developing novel and scalable processing technology for the low-cost production of high performance battery materials used in electric vehicles, energy storage and consumer electronics. The patented technology can be configured for a wide range of nanostructured materials and has the flexibility to shift with emerging and future battery market trends and a diverse range of other growth opportunities. The novel three-stage process uses equipment common to industry and is being engineered for high volume production and rapid commercialization. Nano Ones mission is to establish its patented technology as a leading platform for the global production of a new generation of nanostructured composite materials. For more information, please visit www.nanoone.ca About Automotive Supplier Innovation Program The Automotive Supplier Innovation Program (ASIP) was created as part of the Canadian Federal Governments Economic Action Plan 2015. The program is providing up to $100 million over five years (2015-2020) to encourage Canadian automotive suppliers to develop new innovative products and processes that will make Canada more competitive on a global scale. The program will help research and development projects to become commercially viable by supporting product development and technology demonstration on a cost-shared basis with participating firms. For more information, please visit http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/auto-auto.nsf/eng/h_am02377.html Certain information contained herein may constitute forward-looking information under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the actual receipt of the grant monies, the execution of the Companys plans which are contingent on the receipt of such monies and the commercialization of the Companys technology and patents. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as 'believe', 'expect', 'anticipate', 'plan', 'intend', 'continue', 'estimate', 'may', 'will', 'should', 'ongoing', or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results will occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, including: the completion of final documentation with SDTC and the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that is incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws. NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE Source: Nano One Materials Corp. Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) December 05, 2016 This year marks the 25th anniversary of the National Scenic Byway program, signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1991. To mark the occasion and celebrate the 150 roads across the country that have earned National Scenic Byway status, a special celebration will be held on December 6 from 5-7pm in the Congressional Atrium at the Capitol Visitors Center. Congressional Hosts for the evening are Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Rep. Ted Poe of Texas, Rep. John Delaney of Maryland and Rep. Sam Farr of California. John Porcari, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation will be a featured speaker, sharing his unique perspectives on 25 years of the National Scenic Byway Program. A number of other members of Congress, as well as current and former transportation and scenic byway leaders, and other dignitaries are expected to be in attendance. Scenic Byway Trailblazer Awards will be presented to Senator Lamar Alexander, a longtime advocate of scenic roadways, and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, representing the departments of transportation from all 50 states plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. National Scenic Byways are recognized for their scenic, cultural, historic, natural, recreational and archeological qualities. They attract travelers seeking the authentic experiences offered by many of our roads less travelled. These roads are important to local communities because of the economic benefits generated by tourism, as well as the sense of pride they instill in preserving a corridor important to the heritage of surrounding communities as well as the entire nation. Recent federal research shows that international visitors in particular are seeking out scenic byways because of their interest in the true "American road" experience. The reception is sponsored by the National Scenic Byway Foundation, Scenic America and the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership. Other supporters include AASHTO, the American Highway Users Alliance, the American Bus Association, Visit Rochester and American Road Magazine. Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/12/prweb13897195.htm ROSEVILLE, Minn., Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hundreds of families, Teamsters Local 120 officials, Lt. Governor Tina Smith and Rep. Erin Murphy rallied late last week against the deceptive business practices of Lakeville Motor Express (LME), a Roseville-based trucking company. At the rally, community and political leaders called for the company to address public concerns and pay the workers. To date, the company's leadership has refused to provide the workers and their union with answers. The rally was held outside Finish Line Express, a new company to which Lakeville Motor Express has moved its trucks, customers and property. Customers have told Local 120 that when they called Lakeville Motor Express, they were sent an FLE truck instead. The workers are calling the move an egregious example of union busting. Shane Thompson, a LME worker, said he and his family are "struggling to figure out how we're going to make the house payment in December." "It's just wrong. It's the same thing as stealing from these workers," said Lt. Governor Smith. "I'm here today to tell them I'm noticing this and we're going to do everything to make sure [the workers] are paid the money they're owed." "We are here to bring public attention to this shameful company and appreciate the efforts of our political leaders, including the governor's office, to help our members," said Tom Erickson, President of Local 120. "We are not backing down from the fight for justice for these hardworking families." Teamsters Local 120 proudly represents 11,500 members in the states of Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota. We serve members in a variety of industries, from freight, airline, warehousing, and foodservice in the private sector, to police officers and city workers in the public sector. Our local union negotiates industry-leading contracts, and defends our members' rights every day. Contact: Bill Wedebrand, (651) 343-1719 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100127/IBTLOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/teamsters-local-leaders-rally-to-demand-justice-for-workers-of-trucking-company-300373116.html SOURCE Teamsters Local 120 MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hybrid IT is the new enterprise reality. As businesses demand greater agility and responsiveness, IT organizations are utilizing a wide variety of infrastructures to suit the many applications and services that they deploy. No workload is an island and most reach across multiple infrastructures to share data and resources. A new Frost & Sullivan white paper titled, Not Your Grandfather's Colo: Galvanize Your Hybrid IT Strategy with the Right Colocation Service Provider, shares insight on the challenges in deploying hybrid IT, the value a colocation data center can bring to an enterprise's hybrid environment, and how to choose the right colocation data center provider for your business. Click here to download the complimentary whitepaper, or visit: http://frost.ly/178 As hybrid cloud infrastructures become ingrained as an enterprise standard for IT environments, many businesses still struggle with how to best integrate a wide variety of infrastructures and services. Moreover, they must integrate infrastructures in a manner that enhances workload performance, security and flexibility, while reducing further capital expenses. "Despite great demand, several challenges remain as enterprises attempt to deploy a hybrid IT environment, including connectivity to cloud service providers and to the private infrastructures that house the most critical enterprise data," states Stratecast | Frost & Sullivan Cloud Computing Service Industry Analyst Karyn Price. "Such constraints leave enterprises searching for new ways to deploy and maintain the multiple infrastructures necessary to create the best hybrid cloud to suit the enterprise's needs." In response, colocation data centers offer a solution to a business's hybrid cloud deployment challenge. Colocation cloud exchanges offer access to both the private and dedicated resources that remain under the enterprises direct control, as well as to the cloud service providers whose public infrastructures are in high demand. "Carrier-neutral colocation data centers offer a strong option to help enterprises connect their hybrid cloud resources," affirms Price. "Using carrier-neutral colocation as a hub, enterprises gain access to both the secure, private infrastructures that can house sensitive corporate data, as well as the public infrastructures and services that often comprise a hybrid cloud. In addition, the security capabilities often exceed what the enterprise itself can achieve. In short, colocation data centers can help enterprises meet their hybrid IT needs both today and into the future." About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. Our "Growth Partnership" supports clients by addressing these opportunities and incorporating two key elements driving visionary innovation: The Integrated Value Proposition and The Partnership Infrastructure. The Integrated Value Proposition provides support to our clients throughout all phases of their journey to visionary innovation including: research, analysis, strategy, vision, innovation and implementation. provides support to our clients throughout all phases of their journey to visionary innovation including: research, analysis, strategy, vision, innovation and implementation. The Partnership Infrastructure is entirely unique as it constructs the foundation upon which visionary innovation becomes possible. This includes our 360 degree research, comprehensive industry coverage, career best practices as well as our global footprint of more than 40 offices. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies? Contact Us: Start the discussion Media Contact: Clarissa Castaneda Corporate Communications North America P: 210.477.8481 F: 210.348.1003 [email protected] http://www.frost.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-new-enterprise-hub-utilizing-colocation-data-centers-to-enable-hybrid-it-300372808.html SOURCE Frost & Sullivan A photo illustration shows the Uber app logo displayed on a mobile telephone, as it is held up for a posed photograph in central London, Britain October 28, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville/Illustration COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Ride-hailing group Uber Technologies' [UBER.UL] European business has been indicted in Denmark on charges of assisting two drivers in violating taxi laws, the Copenhagen police's head of public prosecutions said on Friday. The indictment of Uber BV is a test case seeking judicial assessment of possible complicity by the company in illegal acts by its drivers, Copenhagen police's top prosecutor Vibeke Thorkil-Jensen's said in a news release. An Uber driver in Denmark was convicted last month of violating taxi laws and fined 6,000 Danish crowns ($855), the latest blow to the ride-hailing service that has stirred protest and legal action worldwide. A second driver was sentenced in absentia after failing to appear in court. Uber has run into legal hurdles in numerous countries and some of its drivers, who are not covered by strict licensing and safety rules, have been convicted of operating illegal taxi services. This is the first time Uber itself has been indicted in Denmark. "We welcome the opportunity to clarify our legal position to the prosecutor," an Uber spokesperson told Reuters, adding that the company is encouraged by recent indications that the Danish government intends to "modernize" regulations. The Copenhagen prosecutor will initially seek to fine Uber 30,000 Danish crowns, Thorkil-Jensen said. If the court rules against Uber, the prosecutor said that separate fines could be sought for any future violations by Uber drivers. A date has yet to be set for the case to be heard in Copenhagen's city court, the prosecutor said. Uber that said its ride-hailing app will continue to be available in Denmark while the process is ongoing. (Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by David Goodman) BEIRUT (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a soldier and wounded another in northern Lebanon early on Monday when they opened fire on a military installation, the army said. Security sources initially reported that two soldiers were killed. The attack took place before dawn in an area about 20 km (13 miles) east of the city of Tripoli, the sources and an army statement posted by the state-run National News Agency said. Areas of northern Lebanon have seen a number of security incidents in recent years, especially near the Syrian border, often in a spillover from the civil war next door. The army regularly fires on jihadist militants in the border area around the town of Arsal, about 60 km southeast of Tripoli. (Reporting by Tom Perry and John Davison; and Nazih Siddiqi in Tripoli; Editing by Toby Chopra and Andrew Heavens) Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government fire weapons during a battle with IS fighters in Sirte, Libya, July 21, 2016. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic By Ayman al-Sahli MISRATA, Libya (Reuters) - Libyan forces said on Monday they were close to securing a final patch of land where Islamic State militants have been holding out in their former North African stronghold of Sirte. Islamic State took over Sirte in early 2015, setting up its most important base outside the Middle East and extending its control along about 250 km (150 miles) of Mediterranean coastline. Forces led by brigades from the western city of Misrata launched a counter-attack against the jihadist group in May, and since Aug. 1 the United States has carried out more than 490 air strikes to support them. A Reuters journalist said that, by late afternoon, Islamic State fighters were still present in a handful of buildings. Misrata-led brigades were trying to flush out the militants, who have been using tunnels for cover and, following the latest air strikes, the bodies of 12 fighters could be seen in the rubble. A spokesman for the Misrata-led forces, Rida Issa, said they were in control of Sirte's Ghiza Bahriya neighborhood, where officials said 34 Islamic State fighters, including at least two senior commanders, surrendered earlier in the day. Another spokesman, Mohamed al-Gasri, told Misrata TV the forces were "continuing to besiege" the remaining buildings held by Islamic State, more than 20 of whose fighters had been killed. Three of the Misrata-led forces were killed on Monday and 17 were wounded, said Mohamed Lajnef, a staff member at a field hospital outside Sirte. Late on Monday large groups of fighters from the brigades held a parade in Sirte, firing in the air to celebrate their progress. Militants have been clinging on in a few dozen buildings in Ghiza Bahriya for weeks. In recent days, Libyan forces say dozens of women and children have escaped or been freed from the area, and Lajnef said at least 10 more left militant-held ground on Monday. RUINS The presence of the families had been one of the factors complicating attempts to push forward into the final sliver of land held by Islamic State, and several women carried out suicide attacks as they were being granted safe passage. Images issued over the past two days by Misrata-led forces showed the bodies of Islamic State fighters laid out on the ground and veiled women, some carrying babies, emerging from destroyed buildings. "In general all the women and children are hungry and dehydrated," Lajnef said. The forces fighting in Sirte are nominally aligned with a U.N.-backed government that moved to Tripoli in March, part of international efforts to end the conflict and political turmoil that have plagued Libya since long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in an uprising in 2011. The chaos allowed Islamic State to gain a foothold from 2014 and implant itself in Sirte, Gaddafi's home city. The loss of Sirte leaves the jihadist group without territory under its control in Libya, though it retains an active presence in the country. Libyan and Western officials fear that sleeper cells and militants who have fled Sirte could turn to an insurgent campaign. Almost all of Sirte's estimated population of 80,000 have fled since Islamic State took over, and parts of the city have been left in ruins by recent fighting. More than 700 fighters from the Misrata-led brigades have been killed in the campaign for Sirte, and more than 3,200 wounded, said Akram Gliwan, a spokesman at Misrata central hospital. (Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Ralph Boulton and John Stonestreet) STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A man has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism crimes following an October arson attack on a mosque in the southern Swedish town of Malmo, local media reported on Monday. The man, in his thirties who was not identified, was arrested on Saturday and is suspected of setting fire to a local mosque in Malmo on October 11, Swedish Television reported. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, although authorities have been sceptical about that claim. "The only thing I can say is that he denies involvement," the man's defender Lars Edman told SVT. (Reporting by Johan Ahlander) By Taro Fuse and Taiga Uranaka TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Mizuho Bank Ltd [MZFGAE.UL] and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp [SUMFGI.UL] are working on a deal to provide 800 million euros ($845 million) in loans to Russian gas giant Gazprom , people familiar with the matter said on Monday, less than two weeks before Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets Russian President Vladimir Putin. The banks are in talks to finalize the deal during Putin's visit to Japan on Dec. 15-16 for discussions on a decades-old territorial row and economic cooperation, said the people, who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) is also likely to participate in the deal, the people said. Mizuho and SMBC officials did not immediately comment when contacted by Reuters. JPMorgan Chase officials in Tokyo referred enquiries to their New York office, which was closed outside of U.S. business hours. Gazprom officials were not immediately available to comment. SMBC is also working on providing financing for Russia's Alfa-Bank with state-run Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) [JBIC.UL] and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), the people said. JBIC declined to comment. Alfa-Bank and NEXI officials were not immediately available to comment. Mizuho Bank is the core unit of Mizuho Financial Group Inc <8411.T> and SMBC is a unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc <8316.T>. Last month, JBIC said it was set to provide a 200 million euro loan to the Yamal liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Russia led by Novatek . SMBC is also working on the deal, the people said. Prime Minister Abe has been betting that his close ties with Putin and the lure of Japanese investment in fields from medical technology to energy could ease progress in the dispute over four islands seized by Russia at the end of World War Two when the leaders meet. The feud over the islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kuriles in Russia, has kept the governments of both countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their conflict as well as strengthening ties in the face of a rising China. Abe said earlier on Monday that he hopes for progress in peace treaty talks with Russia but that the decades-old issue cannot be settled in one meeting. ($1 = 0.9470 euros) (Reporting by Taro Fuse; Writing by Taiga Uranaka and Linda Sieg; Editing by Chris Gallagher) Uzbekistan's Prime Minister and interim President Shavkat Mirziyoyev leaves a voting booth at a polling station during a presidential election in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, December 4, 2016. REUTERS/Anvar Ilyasov TASHKENT (Reuters) - Shavkat Mirziyoyev, long-serving prime minister of Uzbekistan, has become its second president, winning 88.61 percent of the vote in an election on Sunday criticized by Western observers. "This shows that we are going along the path outlined by the late president (Islam Karimov)," Mirziyoyev told thousands of supporters at a rally. Mirziyoyev, 59, was prime minister from 2003 under Karimov, who died of a stroke in September having run Central Asia's most populous nation with an iron fist for 27 years. He is expected to step down as prime minister but it is unclear when, as there is no precedent for such a transition in the former Soviet republic, which became an independent state in 1991. The landslide victory by Mirziyoyev had been widely expected. He swiftly emerged as the likely successor to Karimov and was appointed interim president when the senate speaker, given the role by constitution, gave it up in Mirziyoyev's favor. Diplomatic and business sources say Mirziyoyev secured support for his presidential bid from Uzbekistan's powerful informal clans by agreeing to share power with two other political heavyweights, Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov and security chief Rustam Inoyatov. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for the first time deployed a full-scale election observation mission in Uzbekistan. It criticized the vote on Monday as falling well short of democratic norms and said it underlined the need for "comprehensive reforms". It said in a preliminary statement authorities had failed to provide the conditions for a genuinely free and transparent election process. "DEVOID OF COMPETITION" "The dominant position of state actors and limits on fundamental freedoms ... led to a campaign devoid of genuine competition," the observation mission said. Running against Mirziyoyev were Khatamjon Ketmonov, Narimon Umarov and Sarvar Otamuratov, the nominees of three parties in parliament which present themselves as the opposition but which have always toed the official line. Ketmonov and Umarov had also run in the 2015 election, which Karimov won with 90.4 percent of the vote. "I think no political 'thaw' should be expected, and there have been no promises of one during the campaign," said Kazakhstan-based Central Asia analyst Alexander Knyazev. Economic reforms promised by Mirziyoyev may materialize, but many of them will take a long time to be implemented, he said. Diplomats say Mirziyoyev is expected to move Uzbekistan closer to Russia, its Soviet-era overlord. Russian President Vladimir Putin was the first foreign leader to publicly congratulate him on the victory. Both sides "confirmed their commitment to further strengthening of Russian-Uzbek relations of alliance and strategic partnership" in a phone call, the Kremlin said in a statement, with Putin inviting Mirziyoyev to visit. (Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov and Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov; Editing by Jack Stubbs and Andrew Roche) By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Native American reservations cover just 2 percent of the United States, but they may contain about a fifth of the nations oil and gas, along with vast coal reserves. Now, a group of advisors to President-elect Donald Trump on Native American issues wants to free those resources from what they call a suffocating federal bureaucracy that holds title to 56 million acres of tribal lands, two chairmen of the coalition told Reuters in exclusive interviews. The group proposes to put those lands into private ownership - a politically explosive idea that could upend more than century of policy designed to preserve Indian tribes on U.S.-owned reservations, which are governed by tribal leaders as sovereign nations. The tribes have rights to use the land, but they do not own it. They can drill it and reap the profits, but only under regulations that are far more burdensome than those applied to private property. "We should take tribal land away from public treatment," said Markwayne Mullin, a Republican U.S. Representative from Oklahoma and a Cherokee tribe member who is co-chairing Trumps Native American Affairs Coalition. "As long as we can do it without unintended consequences, I think we will have broad support around Indian country." Trumps transition team did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The plan dovetails with Trumps larger aim of slashing regulation to boost energy production. It could deeply divide Native American leaders, who hold a range of opinions on the proper balance between development and conservation. The proposed path to deregulated drilling - privatizing reservations - could prove even more divisive. Many Native Americans view such efforts as a violation of tribal self-determination and culture. "Our spiritual leaders are opposed to the privatization of our lands, which means the commoditization of the nature, water, air we hold sacred," said Tom Goldtooth, a member of both the Navajo and the Dakota tribes who runs the Indigenous Environmental Network. "Privatization has been the goal since colonization to strip Native Nations of their sovereignty." Story continues Reservations governed by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs are intended in part to keep Native American lands off the private real estate market, preventing sales to non-Indians. An official at the Bureau of Indian Affairs did not respond to a request for comment. The legal underpinnings for reservations date to treaties made between 1778 and 1871 to end wars between indigenous Indians and European settlers. Tribal governments decide how land and resources are allotted among tribe members. Leaders of Trumps coalition did not provide details of how they propose to allocate ownership of the land or mineral rights - or to ensure they remained under Indian control. One idea is to limit sales to non-Indian buyers, said Ross Swimmer, a co-chair on Trumps advisory coalition and an ex-chief of the Cherokee nation who worked on Indian affairs in the Reagan administration. "It has to be done with an eye toward protecting sovereignty," he said. Related: For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. $1.5 TRILLION IN RESERVES The Trump-appointed coalitions proposal comes against a backdrop of broader environmental tensions on Indian reservations, including protests against a petroleum pipeline by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and their supporters in North Dakota. On Sunday, amid rising opposition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Sunday said it had denied a permit for the Dakota Access Pipeline project, citing a need to explore alternate routes. The Trump transition team has expressed support for the pipeline, however, and his administration could revisit the decision once it takes office in January. Tribes and their members could potentially reap vast wealth from more easily tapping resources beneath reservations. The Council of Energy Resource Tribes, a tribal energy consortium, estimated in 2009 that Indian energy resources are worth about $1.5 trillion. In 2008, the Bureau of Indian Affairs testified before Congress that reservations contained about 20 percent of untapped oil and gas reserves in the U.S. Deregulation could also benefit private oil drillers including Devon Energy Corp, Occidental Petroleum, BP and others that have sought to develop leases on reservations through deals with tribal governments. Those companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump's transition team commissioned the 27-member Native American Affairs Coalition to draw up a list of proposals to guide his Indian policy on issues ranging from energy to health care and education. The backgrounds of the coalitions leadership are one sign of its pro-drilling bent. At least three of four chair-level members have links to the oil industry. Mullin received about eight percent of his campaign funding over the years from energy companies, while co-chair Sharon Clahchischilliage - a Republican New Mexico State Representative and Navajo tribe member - received about 15 percent from energy firms, according to campaign finance disclosures reviewed by Reuters. Swimmer is a partner at a Native American-focused investment fund that has invested heavily in oil and gas companies, including Energy Transfer Partners the owner of the pipeline being protested in North Dakota. ETP did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The fourth co-chair, Eddie Tullis, a former chairman of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Alabama, is involved in casino gaming, a major industry on reservations. Clahchischilliage and Tullis did not respond to requests for comment. BUREAUCRATIC THICKET Several tribes, including the Crow Nation in Montana and the Southern Ute in Colorado, have entered into mining and drilling deals that generate much-needed revenue for tribe members and finance health, education and infrastructure projects on their reservations. But a raft of federal permits are required to lease, mortgage, mine, or drill a bureaucratic thicket that critics say contributes to higher poverty on reservations. As U.S. oil and gas drilling boomed over the past decade, tribes struggled to capitalize. A 2015 report from the Government Accountability Office found that poor management by the Bureau of Indian Affairs hindered energy development and resulted in lost revenue for tribes. "The time it takes to go from lease to production is three times longer on trust lands than on private land," said Mark Fox, chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes in Forth Berthold, North Dakota, which produces about 160,000 barrels of oil per day. "If privatizing has some kind of a meaning that rights are given to private entities over tribal land, then that is worrying," Fox acknowledged. "But if it has to do with undoing federal burdens that can occur, there might be some justification." HISTORY OF TERMINATION The contingent of Native Americans who fear tribal-land privatization cite precedents of lost sovereignty and culture. The Dawes Act of 1887 offered Indians private lots in exchange for becoming U.S. citizens - resulting in more than 90 million acres passing out of Indian hands between the 1880s and 1930s, said Kevin Washburn, who served as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior from 2012 until he resigned in December 2015. "Privatization of Indian lands during the 1880s is widely viewed as one of the greatest mistakes in federal Indian policy," said Washburn, a citizen of Oklahoma's Chickasaw Nation. Congress later adopted the so-called termination policy in 1953, designed to assimilate Native Americans into U.S. society. Over the next decade, some 2.5 million acres of land were removed from tribal control, and 12,000 Native Americans lost their tribal affiliation. Mullin and Swimmer said the coalition does not want to repeat past mistakes and will work to preserve tribal control of reservations. They said they also will aim to retain federal support to tribes, which amounts to nearly $20 billion a year, according to a Department of Interior report in 2013. Mullin said the finalized proposal could result in Congressional legislation as early as next year. Washburn said he doubted such a bill could pass, but Gabe Galanda, a Seattle-based lawyer specializing in Indian law, said it could be possible with Republican control of the White House and the U.S. House and Senate. Legal challenges to such a law could also face less favorable treatment from a U.S. Supreme Court with a conservative majority, he said. Trump will soon have the chance to nominate a Supreme Court justice to replace Antonin Scalia, a conservative member who died earlier this year. "With this alignment in the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court," he said, "we should be concerned about erosion of self determination, if not a return to termination." (Additional reporting by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Brian Thevenot) At least 12 suspected terrorists were reportedly killed in air strikes in the Rajgal valley area of Khyber Agency. According to security sources several hideouts were also destroyed in the air strikes. Pakistan Air Force jets precisely targeted militant hideouts in Rajgal valley in which 12 militants were killed and several hideouts were destroyed, said security officials. Khyber Agency and North Waziristan are among Pakistans seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border, rife with homegrown insurgents and foreign militants. These areas have also been considered home to religious extremist organisations including Al Qaeda and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Military operation Zarb-i-Azb and the National Action Plan were launched against insurgents following attacks on Karachi's Jinnah International Airport and Peshawar's Army Public School in 2014. Officials say nearly 3,000 militants have been killed since the launch of the latest offensive. The number of attacks in Pakistan has fallen around 70 per cent this year, due to a combination of a military offensive against Taliban bases along the Afghan border and government initiatives to tackle militancy. A gunman has shot dead at least three women, including a local council official, in southeastern Finland, police say. The Southeastern Finland police department said on Sunday that the women were killed outside a restaurant in the small lakeside town of Imatra on Saturday night. One of the victims, Tiina Wilen-Jappinen, was the chairwoman of Imatra city council. The other two were journalists, whose names were not revealed. The 23-year-old suspect who was armed with a shotgun was swiftly arrested at the scene. Police said the assailant's motive remained unclear. Investigators said the attacker, who has a criminal record, could have picked his victims at random. Finland, which has one of the biggest gun ownership rates in the world, enjoys relatively low crime rates compared to other European countries. A "Small Arms Survey" carried out by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in the Swiss city of Geneva found that Finland ranked fourth in civilian gun ownership. Finland ranks behind the United States, Yemen and Switzerland. The ashes of Cubas iconic revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro, have been interred at a cemetery in the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba after tearful Cubans bid farewell to him in great numbers. An urn containing Castro's ashes was carried by soldiers to Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago, 800 km southeast of the capital, Havana, on Sunday with the military unleashing a 21-gun salute for their deceased leader. Castro's cremated remains were placed near the mausoleum of Cubas 19th century independence hero, Jose Marti. Members of Castro's family and top government officials close to the former leader attended the private ceremony in Santiago de Cuba, the city where he started the Cuban revolution in 1953. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans mourning, cheering or chanting "I am Fidel!" lined the streets and waved flags. The Cuban leaders burial ended nine days of official mourning in the country. Castro, who ruled Cuba for nearly half a century, died on November 25 at the age of 90, a decade after ceding power to his brother Raul in 2006. Cubas President Raul Castro, Fidels brother and successor, said on Saturday evening that "millions" had come out to pay tribute. He added that Fidels Castro's image will not be immortalized with statues nor will public places be named after him in order to keep with his wishes. For many in Latin America and the Caribbean, Castro was a symbol of resistance against imperialism for ousting a US-backed dictator in 1959. He survived hundreds of attempts on his life, many of them believed to have been orchestrated by the US. China has warned the incoming Trump administration against breaking the Iran nuclear accord. The warning comes amid uncertainty about the incoming administration's Iran policy. The international nuclear deal with Iran "should not be affected by any changes in the domestic situations of the countries concerned," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Monday at a news conference in Beijing with his Iranian counterpart, in an apparent reference to US President-elect Donald Trump. Trump has called the Iran nuclear accord "one of the worst deals I've ever seen negotiated" and vowed to renegotiate or tear it up. Many Republicans in Congress want to scrap the deal entirely and impose sanctions to counter what they say are Iran's destabilizing activities in the Middle East and hostility towards Israel. The nuclear deal signed last year between Iran and six world powers - China, Russia, the United States, France, Germany, and Britain - dropped crippling international sanctions on Tehran in exchange for Iran's giving up its nuclear capabilities. The deal went into effect in January and all sides have largely abided by it. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tehran has the right to take unspecified retaliatory measures if one side breaks the accord. "Iran will not allow any country to take unilateral action to violate the agreement and Iran has the right to take action against that," Zarif said, adding all parties to the agreement are obliged to implement it. Wang said implementing the deal was the "joint responsibility and duty of all parties." "What is important is to honor commitments and place emphasis on good faith when it comes to differences or possible differences" over the deal, he said. Campaign rhetoric or policy shift? It remains unclear whether Trump's campaign rhetoric will translate into a policy of unravelling President Barack Obama's signature foreign policy achievement. Trump's cabinet choices, including his pick to lead the CIA, Mike Pompeo, and defense secretary nominee, retired Gen. James Mattis, are hard-line opponents of Iran. In November, Pompeo said on Twitter: "I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism." Current CIA Director John Brennan warned the incoming administration in a BBC interview last month that scrapping the nuclear deal would be "disastrous." US prepares 'snap back' The Iranian and Chinese comments come after the US Senate on Thursday voted 99-1 to extend the Iran Sanctions Act for 10 years after the bill cleared the House by 419-1 vote. President Barack Obama has indicated he will sign it. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last month the sanctions bill was a breach of the nuclear deal and threatened to retaliate. The Iran Sanctions Act would have expired at the end of the year and US officials said renewing it would not violate the nuclear deal. Washington maintains a host of other sanctions on Iran related to human rights abuses, support for terrorism and the Iranian ballistic missile program. The bill does not directly address the nuclear deal and the White House can issue waivers for sanctions to comply with the accord. US lawmakers and officials say it is necessary to extend the Iran Sanctions Act in order allow the president to "snap-back" nuclear related sanctions in the event Iran does not live up to its side of the deal. Iran has complained it has not received the full benefits of sanctions relief because of these other non-nuclear related sanctions. The US' complex sanctions against the Iranian regime raise the cost and risk of doing business with the Islamic Republic because non-US entities doing business in the US may be subject to US laws. None of the other parties to the deal have expressed an interest in making any changes to the nuclear accord. Any unilateral US move to re-impose sanctions on Iran so long as Tehran abides by the deal would likely not be effective because other parties to the agreement would not follow the US' lead. Since dismantling the international sanctions regime, China, Russia and Europe have all rushed to strike trade and investment deals with oil-rich Iran. A 60-year-old hunter who has been reported missing in the Kaimanawa Ranges since Saturday evening has been found. Crew from the Royal New Zealand Air Forces 3 Squadron winched the hunter on board an NH90 helicopter after spotting him standing on a riverbed shortly before 11am yesterday, waving his survival blanket. The man was wearing a blue hunting vest, an orange beanie and shorts. We had just dropped off the last of the polices search teams and were flying out of the valley when our Helicopter Loadmaster spotted him, says NH90 captain Flight Lieutenant Peter Familton. Its a fantastic outcome and the one we had hoped for. The crew are very happy that we are able to bring the man home to his family. The hunter and a friend were due to return from a day-long hunting trip on Saturday evening. He took a wrong turn and got separated from his companion, who notified police after he got out of the ranges on Sunday morning. Peter says the hunter told them he took shelter under a cliff and lit a fire to keep him warm the past two nights. We gave him food and water as he had not eaten anything since Saturday. An Air Force doctor checked the man before dropping him off at Turangi, where police had set up a command post. The NH90 helicopter left RNZAF Base Ohakea at first light yesterday morning to fly a police search team that comprised 12 staff and a dog. We are delighted the hunter has been found. It is a relief to have such a great result for the hunter and his family and for the entire community, particularly as we head towards Christmas when family is so important, says Air Commodore Darryn Webb, the Air Component Commander. The RNZAFs NH90 medium utility helicopters and P-3K2 Orion surveillance aircraft have flown more than 200 flying hours on 16 search and rescue missions in New Zealand and the south west Pacific since January. Sadly, family violence is still a problem here in New Zealand, and the Waihi and Waihi Beach community are working together to address the issue locally. Building on the national Its Not Ok campaign, Waihi and Waihi Beach now have 18 local trained Champions. For the past two months, the champions have held stalls at local markets, distributed pamphlets, badges and pens, and talked to groups and organisations about family violence and what people can do to help victims, or those who might be hurting someone. And they are already getting results. HFVIN coordinator Lauren Cowgill says in the weeks since the launch of the campaign, she has had a number of calls from people asking for support as a direct result of seeing the local champions in posters or in the media. The campaign is funded by Hauraki Family Violence Intervention Network and Hauraki District Council. Hauraki District Council has always supported the `Its Not Okay campaigns. The concept of having local Champions originated in the Hauraki District, and Mayor John Tregidga and his council have been leading partners in every local campaign. My thinking has always been that getting on top of domestic violence is about the community, says John. We shouldnt leave this to social services and police. Having community leaders like our local champions stand up, speak out and act to prevent violence really does make a difference. Local businesses are backing the campaign, placing Its Not OK posters in their windows, donating prizes and sponsoring the soon to be installed billboards promoting the campaign around town. Local media has also been supportive of the Champions and their messages. The campaign working group now plans to take these messages further, with an Its Not Ok video, featuring Champions and other well-known locals, which will be shared via social media. The video, produced and donated by Anne Marie and Scott Spicer, from Emotive Ltd, is based on the National Its Not Ok campaign and has its own local feel, being filmed at the beach and in town. From the very outset, we wanted this campaign to be by the community, for the community, Its so important for all of our messaging to have a local flavour, and we are thrilled that so many people are connecting with us, says Lauren. Tsunami sirens, Omanu Surf Lifesaving Clubs lease and city heart project workshops will all be part of a discussion at Tauranga City Councils meeting this afternoon. As a result of a decision made at the inaugural meeting on November 22, the city council is now publicly notifying the city heart project workshops and the discussion topic. More workshop time is set aside for the city heart discussion on Wednesday, as discussion of a water allocation plan change takes place. The city councils many workshop meetings are now public, and are where councillors discuss information provided by staff or others, before making a decision. The first working meeting of the new council terms starts with two people speaking in the public forum; Bryan Norton wants to talk about the New Years Eve festivities, and former city councillor Mary Dillon wants to talk about trees in Second Avenue. The first business is Councillor Steve Morriss notice of motion regarding tsunami sirens. Tauranga City Council backed out of the tsunami debate in 2013 upon it becoming known that tsunami warning sirens could not be turned on soon enough to warn western bay residents. A tsunami generated by a large movement in the Kermadec Trench would reach Tauranga within an hour, and it would take that long for the scientists to consult the earthquake data and make a decision. It would not give people meaningful time to get clear, which is why the council has since then focused on the resilient community approach, or the run for the hills policy. The council invested instead in defining and building escape routes and education programmes, to support a community that will be able to look after itself and act without an official warning being given. Public concerns have been stirred following confusion over the tsunami warning made following the Kaikoura earthquake on November 14. Several councillors were contacted by members of the community expressing concern that Tauranga has no civil defence siren alerting system, says Steve Morris in his notice of motion. There is now a national standard on tsunami sirens, which there wasnt in 2013. But the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Managements endorsement of electronic sirens has been criticised. The argument between advocates of electronic sirens vs the air raid sirens wasnt settled in Tauranga. Steve Morris Notice of Motion is seconded by fellow coastal ward Councillor Leanne Brown and air raid siren advocate Councillor Bill Grainger. They want another look at sirens because they can awaken sleeping people where text systems may not, and they want more pressure on the government to establish a 24/7 emergency Operations Centre with access to a network of threat detection technology like warning buoys. gun arrests.jpg Ami Bordies, 16, (from left to right) Asa Bordies, 20, Tommair Washington, 16, and a 15-year-old male were stopped by Syracuse police Saturday night in a stolen vehicle. (Provided photo) SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse police arrested a man and three teen boys found in a stolen car for possession of a loaded handgun this weekend, police said. At about 7 p.m. Saturday, Syracuse Police Department Officer Adam Rajchel spotted a blue Toyota Camry at Furman Street and Midland Avenue that had been reported stolen in Syracuse. Rajchel stopped the vehicle in the 1400 block of South Salina Street. The vehicle was occupied by four individuals: Asa Bordies, 20, of 110 Shirley Drive, Syracuse, Amir Bordies, 16, of 110 Shirley Drive, Syracuse, Tommair Washington, 16, of 128 Amherst Avenue, Syracuse, and a 15-year old male, police said. During the traffic stop, Rajchel saw a magazine to a handgun on the floorboard of the vehicle. The magazine contained five rounds of 9mm ammunition. Upon further investigation, a Glock 26 Gen4 9mm handgun was also found inside the vehicle, police said. All occupants of the vehicle were arrested and charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, criminal possession of a firearm and unauthorized use of a vehicle in the third degree, police said. Asa Bordies, Amir Bordies and Washington were taken to the Onondaga County Justice Center jail. The 15-year-old male, whose identity and photo were not released due to his age, was taken to Hillbrook Detention Center pending his court proceedings. aleksey.jpg Aleksey Shevchenko, 40, was sentenced to 13 years in prison today for raping a woman he brought home from Armory Square in June 2015. (Douglass Dowty | ddowty@syracuse.com) Aleksey Shevchenko Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse man who raped a woman he met in June 2015 in Armory Square will spend 13 years in prison, a judge decided today. Aleksey Shevchenko, 40, of Van Rensselaer Street, will likely be deported back to Russia after his sentence ends. And if he remains in the United States, he will become a registered sex offender, a judge ruled today. Shevchenko was convicted of first-degree rape after a non-jury trial before County Court Judge Thomas J. Miller. The rapist had faced a sentence of anywhere from 5 to 25 years under law. Shevchenko was found guilty by the judge of raping a drunken woman he brought home from Armory Square. The victim had recently been married and was in the process of moving in with her husband when the rape happened, she said in court. The victim said she had no recollection of going home from the nightlife district with Shevchenko. She testified the next thing she remembered after being in Al's Wine and Whiskey Lounge was waking up as Shevchenko raped her. She had ketamine, a known rape drug, in her system when tested later. Shevchenko denied spiking her drink with the drug, but had no other explanation for how it got into her system. The victim said it was all she could do to keep the rape from ruining her life. But it did take something away from her. "Before this, people were my favorite part of life," the victim said in court today. She said she had settled in Central New York after globetrotting to more than 12 different countries. But the rape sent her on an "emotional roller-coaster" that took away her passion for people that had become a lifestyle. "It's one of the hardest and scariest things" that's ever happened, she said. Syracuse.com does not identify the victims of sex crimes. Prosecutor Michael Whalen called it a classic case of a rape involving a helpless victim. "This is everyone's worst nightmare," he said. Shevchenko, an artist, had come to the United States as a 19-year-old and graduated from an Upstate college with a degree in theology, his lawyer, Michael Spano, said. He identified as a Russian Orthodox Christian. Shevchenko said the rape did not define him. "I wish people knew me better," he said. "I'm not the person they tried to portray me as." The rapist said his goal in life was "looking for a more meaningful existence." Now, Shevchenko acknowledged that he probably would not see his 5-year-old son again. The non-citizen will be going to prison and, if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement decides, likely will then be kicked out of the country. For his part, Shevchenko disputed the victim's account of what happened. He declined to repeat his version of events in court today, but said it has been a "really painful time, a hard time." He apologized for what happened without taking responsibility. "I was looking for justice myself," Shevchenko told the judge. "I was not looking for mercy, but I guess now I'm looking for mercy because I was found guilty." He did send an 11-page letter to the judge. Parts of it the judge said he found troubling. Shevchenko suggested in the letter that the victim suffered no physical harm. The judge said that wasn't true -- there were bruises -- and the emotional harm went much further. Shevchenko said that the victim would swim in the attention of her compassionate friends. The judge noted that the victim wasn't swimming; she was drowning in the pain of reporting the rape, getting tested and recounting her story to authorities and, ultimately, in open court. Miller noted that the victim herself admitted to using poor judgment that night by getting incredibly drunk -- one test put her blood-alcohol content at 0.27, or more than three times the legal limit for drivers -- but that Shevchenko took advantage of her vulnerability. "You were found guilty due to your actions," the judge concluded. The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have visited Cambridge to celebrate the Fitzwilliam Museums bicentenary and 600th anniversary of the University Library. Charles and Camilla also attended a rehearsal with the renowned Kings College Choir, whose Christmas Eve service has become a festive staple, broadcast around the globe. Stopping first at the Fitzwilliam, the royal couple were greeted by local grandees including the Universitys Vice Chancellor, Professor Sir Leszeck Borysiewicz. They also met with pupils from Kings Hedges School and the Soham Village College who were taking part in educational activities organised by the museum. Representatives of University-led and local outreach, education, and development initiatives were also in attendance at the Fitzwilliam, including members of the Campaign for Female Education which is dedicated to the eradication of poverty in Africa through the education and empowerment of girls and young women. Charles and Camilla also met recipients of the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, an initiative established by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to provide full-cost scholarships to postgraduate students from outside the UK. They were also shown treasures from the Museums collection, including an illuminated medieval manuscript. Later, whilst Charles met with senior Cambridge University staff, Camilla visited Emmaus, a centre for homeless people in Cambridgeshire. Camilla, who is the charitys patron, last visited three years ago. Emmaus offers homeless people a place to work and live, and is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Camilla presented the charity with a bag of gifts including Christmas decorations, and joked shed stay the afternoon on the centres comfortable sofa. The royal couple finally visited the UL, where they were given a demonstration of how the librarys experts digitalise its material and were shown rare items from the ULs collection, including a copy of Darwins On the Origin of Species. 2017 will mark the 50th year since Charles was admitted to Trinity College, where he read anthropology, archeology, and history. The 22 year-old Englishman who was found dead on Sunday morning has been named as Oxford undergraduate Matt Smith. According to The Times, Matt Smith was a third year undergraduate reading History at St John's College, Oxford, and was on the Varsity Trip currently being held in Val-Thorens in the French Alps. French media yesterday reported that a young man had been found unconscious by friends at 8am on Sunday in an apartment at the resort. Citing local police, reports suggested that the young man had been drinking alcohol after his arrival at the resort on Saturday afternoon, before going on to a party in the evening. He was unable to be resuscitated by the emergency services. An inquiry has been opened to determine officially the circumstances of his death. A spokesperson for St John's College, Oxford said in a statement to The Times: "We would like to express our deep sadness at the tragic death and send our condolences to his family and friends." The annual Varsity Trip, which runs from 3 10 December this year, is attended by thousands of students from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The trip's organiser, NUCO Travel, said in a statement yesterday: "Sadly one of our passengers passed away on Sunday 4th December 2016. At this time, to respect their family's and friend's privacy, we will not be commenting further." This story will be updated as more information becomes available. If you are in Val-Thorens, please get in contact with the TCS News team: news@tcs.cam.ac.uk The University has defended its use of euthanised dogs from American shelters in dissection practice after coming under fire from Cruelty Free International (CFI). The organisation conducted an investigation in which they discovered that Cambridge is one of three UK universities which buys dead dogs from American companies for veterinary students to examine. If stray and abandoned dogs go at least five days without being rehomed in some American pounds and shelters, they will be put down, embalmed, and sold to colleges and universities. Katy Taylor, CFIs director of science and regulatory affairs commented: We think the public will be horrified to learn that Cambridge University is actually importing the bodies of shelter dogs who have been killed because their five days is up and no-one has come forward to adopt them. We urge Cambridge University to end this practice and instead join other veterinary medical schools by adopting an ethical policy. However, a University spokesperson told Cambridge News that they are committed to excellence in veterinary medicine and that the use of animal cadavers is essential to students. The source of the dead dogs is from the USDA licensed establishments that would otherwise dispose of the dogs to landfill sites, incineration or otherwise destroyed. Because all of the dogs were already destined to be killed and would be disposed of if not used in medical training, we believe this is an appropriate, ethical and humane way to source dogs for anatomical teaching, he added. Many other universities use the bodies of dogs who have died from natural causes or were euthanised to prevent suffering from a terminal illness, Cruelty Free International claims. Cambridge, Nottingham, and the Royal Veterinary College are the exceptions, who all purchase euthanised dogs from the same commercial firm. Providing they're truthful, people have every right to leave bad reviews on sites such as Facebook and Yelp. But some companies will try anything to get these comments removed, even if it means suing the people who post them. This is the situation that 20-year-old Lan Cai found herself in after she complained about the poor service she received from law firm Tuan A. Khuu. The Texas nursing student turned to the company following a car crash in the summer. Her vehicle had been hit by a drunk driver as she made her way home from a late night waitressing shift, resulting in two broken bones in her lower back, according to Ars Technica. Cai said her experience with Tuan Khuu was very unsatisfactory, giving it a one-star Yelp review and, in a Facebook post, warning potential clients not to waste their time with the firm. Not only did Khuu regularly ignore her attempts to make contact, but lawyers from the company visited the family home and entered Cai's bedroom while she was sleeping in her underwear, though they claim to have been invited in by the girl's mother. "Serious, it's super unprofessional," she said on Yelp. In response to the negative posts, Tuan Khuu lawyer Keith Nguyen sent Cai an email threatening to file suit unless they were removed. She didn't comply, and the firm sued her for between $100,000 and $200,000, which the Housten Press reports was over 100 times more than what Cai had in her bank. When asked if he felt bad about suing the student, who was working six days a week to pay her way through college, Nguyen said: "No, I don't feel bad at all. I feel sorry for her, because again, I gave her plenty of opportunities to retract and delete her post and she refused. She was proud: 'I've got it on Facebook. I've got it on Yelp,' with no remorse." Cai found attorney Michael Fleming, who was willing to represent her pro bono. He argued that the comments she left were true, and that the suit was a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation). Texas is one of many states that has a law allowing SLAPP suits to be thrown out of court early on in litigation. Additionally, Tuan Khuu had already received a number of negative reviews from other customers - it seems Cai wasn't alone in expressing her displeasure. In the end, the judge agreed with Fleming, and ordered Tuan Khuu to pay almost $27,000 in attorneys' fees. "We are very happy with the judge's correct ruling in this case," Fleming told Ars Technica in an e-mail. "Texas law specifically protects folks who are exercising their free speech rights and the statute was appropriately applied in this situation. People should be free to express their opinions without the threat of a lawsuit." The ruling is good news for consumers; people shouldn't be afraid of repercussions when leaving negative reviews for businesses that offer a poor service. The European Union has long been calling on tech companies to do more when it comes to tackling online hate speech. Earlier this year, four of the biggest firms - Facebook, Microsoft, YouTube, and Twitter - signed up to a voluntary code of conduct that would see them review and, if necessary, remove such material within 24 hours of being notified. But the EU says they aren't sticking to their promise. Reuters reports that a review conducted by EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova found less than half the cases of online hate speech were being addressed within the 24-hour time period agreed on. "In practice the companies take longer and do not yet achieve this goal. They only reviewed 40 percent of the recorded cases in less than 24 hours," a Commission official said. "After 48 hours the figure is more than 80 percent. This shows that the target can realistically be achieved, but this will need much stronger efforts by the IT companies." According to The Financial Times, YouTube was the fastest of the four companies to respond to complaints, while Twitter was the slowest. Additionally, the removal rates of racist posts differed across Europe; in Germany and France it was 50 percent, while in Austria it was 11 percent, and just 4 percent in Italy. Jourova warned that if things don't improve, the companies could face new laws that force them to act faster."If Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Microsoft want to convince me and the ministers that the non-legislative approach can work, they will have to act quickly and make a strong effort in the coming months." The refugee crisis, terrorist bombings, and the rise of several far-right groups have contributed to the increase in hateful online material appearing across Europe recently. Back in May, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter were sued by several French rights groups for failing to remove racist, anti-semitic and homophobic content. The sky above Antarctica glowing in electric blue has made big news after NASA updated about the arrival of noctilucent, or night-shining clouds, in the Southern Hemisphere. In terms of looks, the luminescent clouds are looking wispy as in a blue-white aurora borealis when seen from the ground. The same looks like a blue gossamer haze when seen from space. The data and images sent by NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere spacecraft (AIM) above the Antarctic sky showed the sky as radiating bright with electric blue color. What makes it special this year is their early arrival, stumping scientists who suspect it as yet another manifestation of the warming of Arctic region. Some scientists hold the view that this corresponds to an earlier seasonal change at lower altitudes. NASA spokesperson Lina Tran explained that the clouds were seeded by fine debris from disintegrating meteors. AIM Analysis Since its launch in 2007, AIM spacecraft has been monitoring the atmosphere. Data show that changes in one region of the atmosphere also affect another region in what is called as "atmospheric teleconnections". The spacecraft's evolving orbit has come handy in measuring the atmospheric gravity waves that are contributing to these teleconnections. "AIM studies noctilucent clouds in order to better understand the mesosphere, and its connections to other parts of the atmosphere, weather and climate. We observe them seasonally, during summer in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. This is when the mesosphere is most humid, with water vapor wafting up from lower altitudes," NASA explained in a statement. Early Arrival Of Noctilucent Clouds As mentioned, the early start of blue shining clouds this year from Nov. 17 instead of late November or early December has baffled scientists. So there is more mystery in the early start of the shining clouds season in the Southern Hemisphere. Considered the highest and coldest clouds of Earth, Noctilucent clouds are normally spotted around 50 miles above the Earth's surface in the mesosphere region. The blue shine happens when ice crystals formed from the interaction of water vapors with the dust, and micro-debris from meteors start reflecting when sunlight falls on them. Methane Concentration One pivotal explanation to the phenomenon was offered by James Russell, a principal investigator of AIM. He said growing methane content in the atmosphere could be responsible for the phenomenon as it allows more water vapor to be loaded into ice crystals leading to these clouds. Gary Thomas, a professor at the University of Colorado, calls noctilucent clouds a relatively new phenomenon. "They were first seen in 1885,' about two years after the powerful eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia, which hurled plumes of ash as high as 80 km into Earth's atmosphere," he said. But even after the ash dispersed, the clouds persisted. The onset of night-shining clouds coinciding with the early arrival of summer in the Antarctica is a matter of concern for climatologists and NASA. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. It may not take long before ordinary people would get the chance to spend their holiday on the moon. In an interview with CNBC published on Thursday, Dec. 1, Moon Express founder Naveen Jain said that he believes commercial lunar travel could be possible in just a decade. Moon Express Moon Express is the first non-government entity that secured approval from the U.S. government to land on the moon. The company is also planning to send a robotic rover to the lunar surface in 2017 to conduct a survey for the best spots to mine iron ore, metals, carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, rare Earth minerals and helium-3. The space exploration company was born out of the Google Lunar XPrize, an international competition that offers $30 million to a private company that can soft land on the surface of the moon. $10,000 Ticket To The Moon Going to space as a tourist does not come cheap. Virgin Galactic, which aims to send tourists to space, charges $250,000 per seat, an amount that can only be afforded by the rich and famous. More competitive pricing in the space tourism industry, however, could bolster the number of people who would include space travel in their bucket list. Jain said that moon travel is getting cheap and may eventually cost only thousands of dollars per mission. "In a mission that initially cost us to go to the moon about $25 billion, our mission to the moon next year is going to be $7 million, and the year after it's going to go down to millions," Jain said. "In the next ten years, the cost of going to the moon is going to be $10,000." Shorter Travel Time Travel time to the moon may also get eventually shorter. Jain said that getting to the moon would be possible in four hours, which is faster compared with travel time needed to go from New York to London. Holiday Beyond Earth With a more affordable price for a commercial trip to the moon, Jain said that Earth's natural satellite could eventually become the target destination of romantic couples. Jain also said that he is willing to work with SpaceX's Elon Musk, who has a more ambitious plan: to bring people to planet Mars. Musk, however, acknowledged that the goal to bring people to the Red Planet comes with obstacles. During his speech at the International Astronautical Congress earlier this year, he said that the first journey to planet Mars would be dangerous and could be potentially fatal. Significant temperature differences and high radiation are just among the same challenges that are involved in sending people to the moon and Mars. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Four employees of a southeastern Oklahoma veterans facility have resigned after maggots were found in the wound of a resident who stayed at the facility. The four staff members, a physician's assistant and three nurses, one of whom was the director of nursing, decided to resign rather than face the likelihood of getting fired after investigations were conducted. The employees made the decision to resign before the termination process started. Resident's Death Due To Sepsis, Not Related To Maggots The resident, who was originally admitted to the facility for an unspecified infection, later died. Myles Deering, executive director Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, said that the maggots were discovered in the man's wound when he was still alive at the facility. The man died because of sepsis, which is caused by massive immune response to bacterial infection, but it was determined that his death was not related to the parasites. "He did not succumb as a result of the parasites. He succumbed as a result of the sepsis," Deering said. Employees May Face Charges The incident was already reported to the district attorney for LeFlore and Latimer counties and the Oklahoma State Department of Health to determine if charges need to be filed. This is not the first that that the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs experienced issues with neglectful care. In 2012, a physician's assistant at the Claremore Veterans Center served time in jail after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges that were traced back to caretaker neglect. Old Facility With Staffing Problems The facility at Talihina is almost 100 years old. Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs spokesman Shane Faulkner said that closing the center is being considered albeit no decision is imminent. Oklahoma State Senator Frank Simpson, the Senate Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs chairman, said that the facility has staffing problem. "They had to reduce the population of veterans there due to the inability to staff the facility." Raymie Parker, the child of the late veteran Owen Reese Peterson, who died on Oct. 3, related their experience while his father was at the facility for 21 days. "I pled with the medical staff, the senior medical staff, to increase his meds so his bandages could be changed," Parker said. "I was met with a stonewall for much of that time." He said that he was impressed with the floor nursing staff, but there are issues with the senior medical staff and the administration. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A relevant molecular link has been discovered between a rare childhood genetic disease and a major cancer gene. This connection could pave the way for better treatments for people who suffer from cancer, as it sheds new light on the factors that contribute to cancer development. The research was published online in Scientific Reports on Nov. 7. Fanconi Anemia Connected To PTEN Gene The study connects the rare genetic childhood disease Fanconi anemia and a very important cancer gene, PTEN. According to researcher Niall Howlett from the University of Rhode Island, the disease consists of increased cancer risk, birth defects and bone marrow failure.. Howlett, an associate professor of cell and molecular biology, said genes are crucial in the development of this disease, as well as in the development of cancer. Prior to this research, the risks of developing Fanconi anemia in children were connected to the ones of developing hereditary breast and cancer. However, this new research also suggests there is a molecular connection between this disease and PTEN, a gene that is strongly linked to brain, uterine and prostate cancer. Fanconi anemia has been the subject of various researches before this one; according to Howlett, understanding the way it works is essential when it comes to molecular behavior. "First and foremost, there is no cure or effective treatments for it. So a greater understanding of the molecular basis of Fanconi anemia is critical to address this need," he noted. The researchers tested whether cells with mutation in the PTEN gene were sensitive to DNA crosslinking agents. They found that the PTEN-deficient cells and cells from Fanconi anemia patients were indistinguishable when it came to how sensitive they were to the drugs administered. The discovery points out that the Fanconi anemia proteins and the PTEN genes work together in order to repair the DNA damage that the DNA crosslinking agents cause. Fanconi Anemia - Rare Genetic Disease Approximately one in 150,000 children in the United States is born suffering from Fanconi anemia. Of the people who are affected by this disease, approximately 75 percent have an associated endocrine problem that can vary in severity. Around 60 percent of the children born with Fanconi anemia have at least one physical anomaly, such as kidney problems, skin discoloration, skeletal anomalies as well as developmental disabilities. The disease has the name of the Swiss pediatrician who was the first to describe it, Guido Fanconi. He is also known for describing the Fanconi syndrome, which is a kidney disorder that should not be confused with Fanconi anemia. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Scientists find diamond batteries that could harness energy from nuclear waste Physicists and chemists from the University of Bristols Cabot Institute have found a way to convert thousands of tons of seemingly worthless nuclear waste into man-made diamond batteries that can last for 5,000 years. The team also claimed the diamond batteries which are enclosed inside of other diamonds for safety are not dangerous and release less nuclear radiation than a banana. Such long-lived diamond batteries could be used in implants such as pacemakers, drones, satellites, spacecraft, and in other areas where long battery life is crucial. They could help resolve the problems of nuclear waste, clean electricity generation and battery life, say the researchers. Professor Stephen Lincoln, Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide Honorary, told that the breakthrough of this magnitude, if confirmed, would be revolutionary. Nuclear waste is a huge issue, there would be something like 150,000 tonnes of high-level nuclear waste stored in various places around the world. It is stored temporarily and the only permanent storage facility is in Finland but there is nothing there yet. If you could use nuclear waste for generating power, the significant thing, on top of the fact that you dont need to find somewhere to store it, is it doesnt generate carbon dioxide so it would be great for the environment. Scientists found that by heating graphite blocks used to house uranium rods in nuclear reactors much of the radioactive carbon is given off as a gas. This can then be collected and turned into radioactive diamonds using a high-temperature chemical reaction, in which carbon atoms are left on the surface in small, dark-colored diamond crystals. When placed near a radioactive source, these man-made diamonds produce a small electrical charge. The radioactive diamonds are then encased safely within a layer of non-radioactive diamond. This requires no moving parts or maintenance, and can last for thousands of years without needing to be replaced. The team has already demonstrated a prototype diamond battery using Nickel-63, but researchers said carbon-14 will make a more effective radiation source. Carbon-14 was chosen as a source material because it emits a short-range radiation, which is quickly absorbed by any solid material, said Dr Neil Fox from Bristol. 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. Watch the video below for more scientific details: The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro Moros, received with honors his peer from Guinea Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, on... | Read More What: Artist Studio Exhibition When: Date upon request Visit the art studio of Manuel Sueess in Rheinfelden, Switzerland and find some new, beautiful abstract-figurative paintings for your home. Manuel Sueess is an artist and author from Switzerland. His paintings have already been seen in Zuerich, Vienna and Shanghai. Please drop a line to set up a date before visiting his art studio: contact You aren't living nearby? Visit his websites instead! Paintings: www.art-by-manuel.com Prints & home decor: www.artprintsofmanuel.com Feel free to support Manuel's work by sharing his website with your friends. Stay informed, follow Manuel at Facebook or Twitter Check out some of his abstract-figurative horse art prints: Check out the Pop Art Edition of his abstract horses: GONZALES The $9.2 million technology training center being built at River Parishes Community College will give students a preview of the petrochemical plant environments they might be working in one day. Welding and pipe fitting students, along with those studying millwrighting and industrial testing, will work side by side in a large, open-air space in the way that they would at a plant, Chancellor Dale Doty said. In another large space on the opposite side of the building, electricians and instrumentation techs will train together. "They won't be separate and segregated. They work around each other and see what they do," Doty said. At the current location of the community college's technical skills classes in a leased building on Airline Highway those programs are taught in separate areas, he said. Beginning with the spring semester, that will change. RPCC will move its technology training program into the new center, which also has regular classrooms and labs. The training center is expected to be completed in December. "They'll learn in conditions they'll be working in," Doty said. Built across an open green space behind the main college building on Edenborne Parkway in Gonzales, the 42,000-square-foot Advanced Technology Center, as it's called, was funded through a state legislative act of 2013 and required a 12 percent local match of $1.1 million. Attorney Ryland Percy headed the local fundraising effort when he was president of the board of trustees for the RPCC Foundation. "It was a lot of hard work, but at the same time, it was not a hard sell because the industry leaders saw what it meant to the future of their workforce," Percy said. For the 500 students who at any given time are pursuing industry-related careers total student enrollment ranges from 1,700 to 2,000 depending on the semester River Parishes Community College offers associate degrees in process technology, welding technology, drafting and design technology and industrial instrumentation. The college also offers industry-based certifications in carpentry, electrical, instrumentation, millwright, mobile crane operator, non-destructive testing, pipe fitting, scaffolding and welding. "We'll add others as we get industry demand," Doty said. Students are those who hope to work in a plant one day, as well as current plant workers there for more training. Site work begins on River Parishes Community Colleges new technology center GONZALES Site work has begun on a new $9.2 million technology center at River Parishes Com Behind the new technology center stands a 70-foot high metal tower donated by BASF Corp. to provide another realistic touch. "Industry folks told us very clearly we're training great welders and instrumentation techs, but they've never been off the ground," Doty said. A lot of the work in plants "happens up in the air," he said. Students, wearing safety harnesses, will train on the three-story high structure and learn to work while hanging off the side. More reality-based training will come in the form of two distillation systems, also donated by BASF, that will be set up behind the training center. One system is forr practice and one for doing the actual work of separating out the components of a liquid by heating and then condensing it. "You've got to have the skills to have the chance to go to work," Doty said. Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission Ten suspected of DWI in East Baton Rouge Parish between Saturday, Sunday, including one on third offense The head of President-elect Donald Trump's Louisiana campaign says he believes there will be several opportunities for Louisiana residents to take on prominent roles in the incoming administration. Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, speaking to the Press Club of Baton Rouge on Monday, shied way from offering specifics, but he indicated that he has personally expressed interest in several jobs. "He's going to be a great friend to Louisiana," said Skrmetta, R-Metairie. "I think you are going to see a fair amount of people from Louisiana moving up." Speculation has swirled since Trump's Nov. 8 election about what roles Louisiana residents might assume within the new administration. Louisiana voted overwhelmingly in favor of Trump over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, taking 58 percent of the vote to Clinton's 38 percent. "This is as big or bigger than the Reagan election," Skrmetta said. "I've sent my resume in." Skrmetta, an attorney who has served on the utility-regulating Public Service Commission since 2009, said he would be willing to serve the administration in roles in Washington, D.C., or in Louisiana. If he's not picked, he'll stay in his role at the PSC, he added. He said he had not spoken directly to the president-elect, but he has had a chance to chat with members of his transition team, as well as the transition's head, Vice President-elect Mike Pence. He said that the state's Congressional delegation has been directing suggestions to the Trump team. Trump revealed on Monday that former GOP rival Dr. Ben Carson is in line to become his head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Michigan-native, retired neurosurgeon's selection has come under fire from some who have questioned his relative lack of experience with housing issues. Skrmetta said he agrees with the appointment and Trump's decision to tap unexpected choices for his cabinet. "He's a very, very bright man," Skrmetta said of Carson, who he visited with during the primary race. "You don't find too many people smarter than he is." Skrmetta served as chairman of Trump's Louisiana campaign alongside former state Rep. Woody Jenkins, of Baton Rouge. Skrmetta said he wasn't discouraged when polls showed Trump lagging during the election because he believed that they were underestimating his popularity. "I think a lot of people took a lot of heat for Trump and stopped answering," he said. He said that Trump's decision to visit Louisiana in the wake of historic floods that left thousands of homes damaged or destroyed solidified his belief in Trump's ability to win in August. Clinton said she would come visit flood-ravaged communities never did. Trump and Pence, meanwhile, viewed the impact the floods had on Baton Rouge suburbs and distributed supplies for victims. "That was the moment, for me, that the tide shifted," Skrmetta said. In October 2005, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and epic gridlock on Baton Rouge roads, voters approved by a wide margin the first major road construction program in East Baton Rouge Parish since around the time John F. Kennedy was shot. Eleven years after that vote, in the wake of the August floods and the subsequent road congestion, parish voters are being asked on Dec. 10 to replace the Green Light Plan with the more ambitious Green Light Plan 2. It would accelerate projects still unfinished from the first plan and fund the construction of dozens more projects. Its been interesting that theres been disasters right when we were getting ready to roll out big road programs, said William Daniel, chief administrative officer for city-parish government. During the intervening 11 years since voters approved the first Green Light Plan, the city-parish has widened and extended several prominent roads, including Burbank Drive, Bluebonnet Boulevard and Staring Lane, as well as finishing the ambitious Central Thruway. The city-parish also has improved many intersections, repaved many roads and poured dozens of sidewalks. But the proceeds from the original bonds that funded most of that construction are nearly exhausted, and the pace of new construction is slowing. Daniel said that after other expenses are accounted for, whats left is about $6.3 million a year that can be spent only on a pay-as-you-go basis to address the roughly 30 percent of Green Light Plan new construction projects still to be completed. Under state law we cant start on a project until we have money in the bank, so its going be like three to four years between projects, Daniel said. The slowing of construction, he said, is only part of the reason why voters are being summoned to the polls. The main driver is the success of the first plan and the desire to continue it. This is nothing more than trying to extend a great concept that the mayor had in 2005, Daniel said. Mayor-President Kip Holden is now pushing for its continuation and expansion in the waning days of his third and final term. We got a lot of stuff that still needs to be done, Holden explained. Two related propositions appear on the Dec. 10 ballot. One would add a 5-mill property tax to fund 45 projects to widen or build new roads. The other would rededicate the half-cent sales tax that currently funds the Green Light Plan and shift what it covers to more than 100 new projects, including sidewalks and other enhancements. Both propositions have to pass to go into effect. If just one of those propositions fails, the current Green Light Plan continues as is. The new property tax would be on the books for 30 years, through 2046. The 1/2-cent sales does not expire until 2030. City-parish sets community meetings for second phase of Greenlight Plan On Dec. 10, the city-parish will ask Baton Rouge residents for a 5-mill property tax to fund Homeowners in the parish with $200,000 homes that take homestead exemption would pay $62.50 a year for the roads property tax if it's approved by voters. The property tax is expected to generate more than $600 million over its lifespan. When Holden took office in January 2005, he inherited a half-cent pothole tax first approved by voters in 1990. It was pay-as-you-go and came up for renewal every five years. It was good for repaving roads, but raised too little to do much more very quickly. You just cant build anything with a five-year tax, Daniel said. Not anything meaningful. The Green Light Plan was approved in October 2005, with nearly 67 percent of voters saying yes. It extended the life of that half-cent sale tax from five to 25 years. In approving the plan, voters for the first time since 1964 allowed the city-parish to bond future revenue in order to expedite 37 road projects. The Green Light Plan also shifted the balance of work away from repairs to construction. Just 27 percent of the Green Light money goes to road rehabilitation and maintenance while 70 percent goes to road construction. The remaining 3 percent is for sidewalks and beautification projects. Holden is proud of the original Green Light Plan. Green Light Plan hinges on Dec. 10 vote Several roads in the Zachary area could be upgraded under a proposed second iteration of the The money has been handled with accountability. Theres been no big extra spending here, Holden said. Were making sure that we are taking care of as many needs as we possibly can. The proposed 5-mill property tax in Green Light Plan 2 would raise an additional $20 million a year for capacity projects designed to increase the number of vehicles that can fit on a road. The projects are being planned for the south and southeastern parts of the parish, where traffic congestion is generally the worst. The projects include widening Lee Drive, College Drive, Hoo Shoo Too Road, Wax Road, Mickens Road and Groom Road. The money also would go toward building roads to connect Ardenwood Drive and Lobdell Avenue; Hennessy Boulevard and Perkins Road; Essen Lane and Bluebonnet Boulevard; and Perkins Road and Picardy Avenue. In addition, the capacity project money should improve intersections at Bluebonnet and Picardy; College and the Interstate 10 interchange; Harding Boulevard at Interstate 110 and Plank Road; Hollywood Street and Greenwell Street; Scenic Highway at Swan Avenue; and four intersections along Highland Road. Daniel said the city-parish decided to go for a new property tax rather than more sales tax after the state raised the sales tax statewide earlier this year. Councilmen Buddy Amoroso and Scott Wilson, both of whom represent recently heavily flooded areas, were the only Metro Council votes against placing the issue before voters when it came up Sept. 28. Wilson, whose district includes a lot of hard-hit Central, said he wasnt necessarily against what was proposed but just felt like it is the wrong time to ask voters for new taxes. Daniel said he acknowledged a new tax would be harder for some who are trying to trying to get back on their feet, but he argued that a $550 million roads program for Baton Rouge is just the kind of jolt the local economy needs. Its also a great time to have a big public works project because it generates a lot of jobs and income for families, he said. So we think on balance that this would be very beneficial to the community. Councilwoman Donna Collin-Lewis voted to place the propositions on the ballot, but she has held off saying shell vote at the polls for them. When the first Green Light Plan was passed, there were no projects in my district, explained Collins-Lewis. There are things that were added. I would like to see some more things added. Among other things, she said, shed like to see a section of Goodwood Boulevard repaved and flooding problems near the intersection of Florida and Wooddale boulevards addressed. Daniel said Collins-Lewis and other north Baton Rouge council members have a point. The first Green Light Plan directs more money toward areas in need of greater road capacity, which are largely elsewhere in the parish. He said, though, that north Baton Rouge has a long list of needs the Green Light Plan 2 would address. Thats embodied in the half-cent sales tax rededication. Twenty-seven percent would continue to be used for rehabilitation and maintenance. The rest would go a multitude of community enhancement projects, such as bike paths, better road signaling, lighting, beautification and much-needed sidewalks. Daniel said that north Baton Rouge in particular is in need of more sidewalks than the city-parish can currently afford to build, but the new Green Light Plan would start to change that. He noted that the late Ronnie Edwards, when she was on the Metro Council, pushed for years for sidewalk improvements in her area, especially after one of her constituents was hit by a car walking late at night. Daniel said the lack of sidewalks can be a safety hazard. If two cars are coming down the road and you are walking the road, youve got to jump in the ditch, he said. Thats the only way you avoid getting hit. Mayor-president candidate Sharon Weston Broome is an unequivocal supporter of the new Green Light Plan propositions while her opponent, Bodi White, is more reticent, saying he is still taking a long and hard look at it. He did say he likes much of what the initial Green Light Plan did. Daniel said hes confident they both will support it. Sharon is definitely for it and if you look at Bodis contribution list you can see that he is definitely for it too, whether he knows it or not, Daniel quipped. The two candidates left standing in the race for the District 7 seat on the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council agree on a lot when it comes to the problems confronting the district, which encompasses parts of north Baton Rouge and much of the Mid City area. Lamont Cole and Elvin Sterling Jr. say they want to spend the next four years focused on reducing crime, improving community relations with the city's Police Department, spurring economic development and overseeing revitalization of a historic black school in the area. The two men differ some in how they intend to to address those problems, but those differences aren't polarizing enough to spark any trash-talking between the two Democrats. "I have nothing but positive things to say about the brother," Cole, a 43-year-old educator and former NAACP president, said about his challenger. "Win, lose or draw, we'll always be friends. Just in this particular situation, I hope I win." Sterling, a 42-year-old single father and owner of Interstate Construction and Demolition Group, had a similar attitude about Cole. "We've had a good race between us," Sterling said. "Fundamentally, we may have a disagreement on public education versus charter schools, but even there, we're both proponents of good education." Cole and Sterling secured spots in the Dec. 10 runoff after squeezing out three other candidates in last month's primary. Cole was in the top spot, amassing 4,701 votes or 37 percent of the votes cast in the Nov. 8 election. Sterling captured 21 percent of the votes, according to election results posted by the Louisiana Secretary of State's Office. Cole has spent the past 11 months serving as the district's representative through an appointment by the Metro Council after former Councilwoman C. Denise Marcelle won a seat in the state House of Representatives. He said he considers the success he has achieved as the chief academic officer for Community School for Apprenticeship Learning as proof to voters he's the man who knows how to get things done. When Cole stepped into his position at the charter school, he said, it was rated a D in the Louisiana Department of Education's annual school rankings. The school's performance score has improved to a B grade under his tenure, he said. "I don't champion myself enough, talk about the things I've done enough," Cole said. "I was always able to sit down with individuals and work with people to move things forward." Cole said he wants a chance at a full term as the District 7 representative to focus on three things: assets development, crime prevention and beautification. He said he believes taking stock of what's already in the district and working with constituents to polish existing assets will attract economic development and build community pride in the mostly impoverished district. Cole said he already has established the Istrouma High Beautification Committee, which will not only aid in the restoration of the historic high school which has been empty since May 2014 but also will spearhead the improvement of local parks and create opportunities for new civic attractions in District 7. +3 Downscaled renovations to Istrouma High given the green light Superintendent Warren Drake has given the go-ahead to Ruston-based Lincoln Builders to start And when it comes to addressing the district's high crime rate, Cole said he favors initiatives to encourage city police officers to engage more with the community on a day-to-day basis rather than when they're just responding to calls, which he said he believes will help deter crime. "We can't have police reform without community reform," Cole said. "I think we start small in my district, organize everyone and then start working with people in other districts, and we can move this city forward." Police reform is a high priority for Sterling as well. He is the cousin of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man who was killed in July by a white city police officer during a struggle outside a north Baton Rouge convenience store. The incident was captured on cellphone video, sparking racially fueled protests mirrored across the nation over allegations of police brutality against black people by white officers. Elvin Sterling said he would like to see the Baton Rouge Police Department with a racial and gender makeup matching the communities it serves, citing gaps in the ranks when it comes to female and black officers. "I've gotten into debates about qualifications and the struggle to find those qualified applicants," he said. "You can't tell me, in a city of more than 100,000 people, you don't have quality applicants to fill certain positions." Sterling said diversifying the city's police force and creating opportunities where officers can foster personal relationships with the community could improve the community's adversarial relationship with law enforcement. Sterling said he also wants to build on the momentum the reopening of Istrouma High will create and said he'll push for the cleanup and/or demolition of the blighted properties neighboring the campus. As the district's representative, Sterling said he wants to advocate for completion of the Comite River Diversion Canal, a project he says could have prevented many of the homes in the district from being swamped by water during August's historic floods. If elected to the council, he said he'll challenge the next mayor on any policies and projects he doesn't believe will help address the disparities that exist in the district where he was born and raised. "The veto process is there for a reason, and they've barely used it," he said. "The council as the legislative branch has to be able to stand up to the mayor whoever that is." In the year since U.S. Sen. David Vitter announced plans to step away from politics after losing a gubernatorial race he'd been widely expected to win, one big question has been whether Vitter would remain a force in retirement and if not, who would replace him as the party's top dog in the state. Because, while Vitter torpedoed any national aspirations he once had when he got involved in that Washington, D.C., prostitution ring, back home in Louisiana he has long been formidable, if not exactly personally popular. While former Gov. Bobby Jindal was busy building himself up for his presidential run that was the plan, anyway Vitter was securing a role as de facto Republican leader in Louisiana. He played a lead part in organizing the successful GOP takeover of the Louisiana Legislature, for example, and he lent strong behind-the-scenes support to Bill Cassidy's campaign to wrest the state's other Senate seat from his own longtime colleague, Democrat Mary Landrieu. Years earlier, he'd recruited John Kennedy to switch parties and run against Landrieu as a Republican, and while the state treasurer lost that race in 2008, he's favored to win the seat Vitter will soon vacate in Saturday's runoff. That Vitter has the presumed loyalty of at least one and possibly both of Louisiana's senators in the next Congress bodes well for his supposedly favored candidate to take over the U.S. attorney's office in New Orleans under the Trump administration. Republican sources say that Vitter's wife, Wendy, a onetime top prosecutor under former Orleans Parish District Attorney Harry Connick, is a likely candidate for the job. Confirmation for U.S. attorneys goes through the Senate, so when a state has senators from the same party as the president, they generally get what they want. But not so fast. It turns out that the top two Republicans at the state level, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and Attorney General Jeff Landry, have written letters in support of keeping Ken Polite, the well-regarded federal prosecutor appointed by President Barack Obama. Adding to the intrigue is the fact that neither is exactly the bipartisan sort. Nungesser, whose father was a major mover and shaker during the state GOP's formative years, owns a giant plastic elephant that periodically pops up at party events. Landry, a former tea party congressman and Vitter ally, has emerged as the chief antagonist to the Democrat who beat Vitter for governor, John Bel Edwards. In a sense, a certain amount of drama is business as usual when it comes to picking top prosecutors for Louisiana's Eastern District. When George W. Bush was elected, Louisiana had two Democratic senators, and the rest of the GOP's state leadership openly brawled before settling on Fred Heebe, who was never confirmed due to lingering domestic violence allegations. When Obama was elected, Landrieu publicly wrestled with whether she should favor a Democrat before ultimately throwing her weight behind keeping Jim Letten, who'd assumed the job in Heebe's place. It was only after Letten was forced to resign amid his office's online commenting scandal that Polite, a registered independent, was appointed. A lot is clearly at stake in how the looming selection process plays out for Wendy Vitter, Polite, and anyone else who might want the job. Just as much is at stake for David Vitter, who will soon learn whether his fellow Louisiana Republicans are still behind him, or ready to move on. It is human nature that when confronted by tragedy we look for someone to blame. Such is the case with the catastrophic weather event of the past fortnight, in which eight Victorians died and many more were in respiratory crisis as a result of "thunderstorm asthma", a freak natural occurrence that affected thousands in just a few hours. A rare combination of weather and pollen created a "perfect storm" for Victoria's emergency services. More than 1900 calls flooded the triple-zero emergency line at a rate of almost one call every 4 seconds. There were 140 "Code One" cases at the same time cases which require urgent medical help. Victoria's hospitals treated 8500 people for asthma-related illness. An extra 60 ambulances were deployed, but hospitals and emergency services were overwhelmed. Two people died waiting for paramedics to arrive. More, please. Credit:Paul Rovere Given the degree of human loss and suffering, it is understandable that health services and the government have been criticised for not issuing more warnings. But, while there are sure to be lessons to be learned, such attacks are neither helpful nor warranted what happened was a natural disaster, not human failing. It is true that no media alerts appeared to have been released by Ambulance Victoria as the crisis unfolded, but it is yet to be determined whether such warnings could have prevented the loss of life that evening and since then. Hanging points, mattresses that could burst into flames, and all-male Caucasian staff who preferred to monitor young Aboriginal prisoners via CCTV rather than interact with them and allowed them to smash up the place. This was Darwin's Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, as described to the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory on Monday. Keith Hamburger, a former CEO of Queensland's prison system, said Don Dale was a scene of "disrepair and despair" that doubled as a "human storage" with a guardian rather than a therapeutic culture. Mr Hamburger said the NT government had failed in its duty of care to the incarcerated children and teenagers. The United Nations' special rapporteur on racism has condemned Australian politicians from major and minor parties whose statements are contributing to an increase in "xenophobic hate speech" and negative views about migrants. Mutuma Ruteere has also warned that political leaders who do not denounce such views are tacitly contributing to the normalisation of hard-right and racist opinions. Mutuma Ruteere says Australia is not unique among western democracies in grappling with popular support for parties with discriminatory policies and racist views. Credit:EVAN SCHNEIDER / UN "If they do not speak out they lend legitimacy to them. It's very easy for darkness to drive out the light. It's very easy for the bad to demean the good. It's much harder to clear out the political space once it's infected by racists," Mr Ruteere said in Canberra on Wednesday. Mr Ruteere was finishing a visit to Australia, the first by someone holding his position in 15 years. He comments will form the basis of a report he will deliver to the United Nations Human Rights Council next year. Shinzo Abe has surprised politics watchers in Japan by announcing a Boxing Day visit to Pearl Harbour for a summit with outgoing President Barack Obama. Abe will be the first sitting Japanese leader to visit the site. His announcement comes just two days before the 75th anniversary of the attack. It follows Obama's own historic visit to Hiroshima which was the first time a sitting US President had visited the site. [Jesse Johnson/Japan Times] 3. Australian politics Senator Cory Bernardi in the United States. Credit:Twitter/Cory Bernardi As anticipated in Monday's Double Shot, the news that Malcolm Turnbull is considering a new form of carbon pricing infuriated the conservatives. Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi led the pack, saying it "was one of the dumbest things I've ever heard." [James Massola, Adam Morton/Fairfax] Tony Abbott also made a significant intervention. [Michelle Grattan/The Conversation] (Dare we remind the conservative Senator about his speech claiming gay marriage could lead to acceptance of bestiality?!) But I digress. Senator Bernardi, speaking to conservative commentator Andrew Bolt, did not rule out going it alone, amid constant rumours that he is preparing to break away from the Liberal party. [Sky News] Senator Pauline Hanson. Credit:Andrew Meares Bernardi spoke of needing to stop the tide of Liberal voters opting for others, whether that be to One Nation in the West and Queensland, Nick Xenophon in his home state, David Leyonhjelm's Liberal Democrats in New South Wales or Derryn Hinch in Victoria. Entrepreneur Dick Smith. Credit:James Brickwood Dick Smith says he's on-board team One Nation and is happy to advise Pauline Hanson, but not fund her. He also says he disagrees with Hanson's views on Muslims. [The Australian] And to those numbers on voting intentions - The government might have been hoping its wins in the parliament on the construction industry watchdog and so-called "backpacker tax" would feed through into this week's Newspoll but there have been no statistically significant changes. [Philip Hudson/The Australian] The Chinese Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank wants to back renewable energy sources and not coal or nuclear, which coal-exporting Australia says is a big problem. [Dennis Shannahan/The Australian] And keep a close eye on how this plays out. Queensland Nats and Queensland Labor want a federal loan provided to private Indian company Adani, for the proposed coal mine in the Galilee Basin near the Great Barrier Reef. Federal Labor opposes a federal loan. [Phillip Coorey,Mark Ludlow/Financial Review] 4. Italy Five Stars Movement party's Beppe Grillo led the NO campaign Renzi's proposed reforms. Credit:AP Matteo Renzi has called a final Cabinet meeting and says he will formally resign straight after, following his crushing referendum defeat. [BBC] France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen says the "Italian No" is a further rejection of "absurd European policies." Sharp analysis from the AFR's Europe Correspondent James Chessell: [Financial Review] 5. Brexit case opens And to one of those rejections of "absurd European policies" - Britain's highest court - the Supreme Court, has begun hearing the Brexit case. The government is appealing a High Court ruling that parliament must approve the triggering of Article 50 - the formal process of leaving the EU. Excellent explainer on the BBC. [Clive Coleman] And don't miss this speech by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney in which he effectively says globalisation is not working. This is really quite radical to come from a BoE boss. He says the banks failed to demonstrate remorse and contrition after the global financial crisis and that many had paid a "heavy price" for globalisation through inequality. [Full speech] [Sky News Britain] 6. London cabs coming to Sydney and Boris forced to give up the two wheels Boris Johnson is a keen cyclist. Credit:Bloomberg Uber and bicycles are the future right? Well not if you're the Foreign Secretary. The Former London Mayor, known universally across the capital for his "Boris Bikes", has been forced to give up his two pedals for four wheels. [My report/Fairfax] And this is probably one of the more meta-disrupter stories I've seen in a while. London cabs are coming to Sydney. And I can completely understand why. I've written before about using cabs and Uber in London. In just about every city, (especially Sydney) I'll always opt for an Uber. On my last trip to Sydney I lost count of the number of times the taxi driver asked me to turn my GPS on my phone on and direct him to the address (usually inner-city Sydney.) Normally I wouldn't quibble but when you're roaming data it's a problem and just highlights the poor basics of the service being provided. Uber drivers, in my experience who have been mostly friendly, offer you water or gum and take a lot of pride in their cars and service. The reverse of my usual taxi experience. Albatross Island, off the northwest tip of Tasmania, is a "magical place", according to Australian photographer Matthew Newton. At just 18 hectares of rock, battered by strong winds and powerful swells, the island is tiny. But its size belies its enormous importance. Albatross island is one of only three breeding localities for Australia's endemic shy albatross. Credit:Matthew Netwon Albatross Island is a major nesting ground for the Tasmanian shy albatross with scientists putting the albatross population at 5200, which could be as much as 40 per cent of the world's population. Newton has been documenting life on the remote island to help raise awareness of the albatross, and spoke to Fairfax Media about his work. Australians may not equate illegal tobacco smuggling with drug trafficking or terrorism funding, but senior border security officials are warning it may be fuelling both. Fairfax Media can also reveal that Australian Border Force investigations into organised crime are being stymied by the agency's lack of modern powers, including the ability to using tracking devices or, in some circumstances, conduct raids and arrest suspects without the backing of the federal police. With border security a significant political issue albeit focused mostly on people smuggling the revelations put pressure on the federal government to respond to concerns about ABF powers and resourcing. In an exclusive interview with Fairfax Media and the ABC's 7.30 program, Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Wayne Buchhorn, who has been seconded to border force, has detailed his "significant" concerns that some of the proceeds of the booming illicit tobacco smuggling trade are flowing to extremist groups overseas. Chanelle was harassed by a customer. Sexual harassment is defined in the Sex Discrimination Act as any unwelcome sexual behaviour that makes a person feel offended, humiliated or intimidated. Five years ago, the act was amended to expressly prohibit the harassment of workers by customers and clients. But as Fairfax Media revealed last week, there have been no legal cases and no increase in complaints to the national or state rights organisations. Discrimination lawyers say employers' and safety authorities' reluctance to tackle the issue is evidence of systemic sexism, because this is a hazard that overwhelmingly affects women. In answers to a Fairfax Media online survey, the phrase "it happened more times than I can remember" occurred commonly, but was most often made by people working in five industries. Among the 300 people who responded, 35 per cent experienced harassment in retail and 31 per cent in hospitality. The next most at-risk were those working in healthcare (18 per cent), education and training (16 per cent) and government services (14 per cent). The least risky were utilities, mining, agriculture, manufacturing and trade, which each received five or fewer survey responses.** Almost a quarter of all respondents said verbal harassment by clients happened daily, and 51 per cent said it happened weekly or monthly. About 5 per cent had never experienced it. Physical sexual harassment was experienced daily by 7 per cent of those taking part, weekly or monthly by 30 per cent, and never by 23 per cent. About one in five respondents were men. Their stories included nurse Anthony, who said he felt sidelined and demeaned by female colleagues as well as patients: "Guys are treated like decorations or human lifting machines." Primary school teacher "Dubz" reported being regularly propositioned by students' mothers wanting to "hook up", or saying things like "I'm going commando today", or leaning over without a bra. "When I ignore them they tell my principal that they think I'm gay and shouldn't be allowed to teach little boys." A few female respondents thought the problem was an individual responsibility rather than an employer or social problem. "A lot of 'harassment' cases are reported because women won't tell the guy to go away," Ruth wrote. "We need to start acting like women, not little girls who can run crying to HR if a guy asks her out." But dozens of women said harassers routinely ignored knock backs and many thought they were entitled to leer or pester a woman in a service role. "I have a boyfriend" is often the only thing that works, a number reported. Bartender Danielle told Fairfax Media: 'It really frustrates me that my own 'No' isn't enough; it's that they don't want to be cutting some other bloke's lunch". Numerous women reported being stalked by clients by a groomsman at a wedding venue where one waitressed; by a club member parking his car outside another's house; by a pack of customers waiting for a bar worker to close up. A customer would pester Robin* at the store she worked in every Thursday, so she transferred to another. He showed up there, too. She quit, fearful he would follow her home. He tracked her down on social media so she was compelled to delete all her accounts. "I had this uneasy feeling that I never knew if he was out there watching me," Robin said. Strong themes emerged from the survey, suggesting there are systemic problems that enable this behaviour. Working alone elevates the risk. Doing the "graveyard shift" at a petrol station attracted men "who liked that I was vulnerable", Jade reported. "I used to lock the door and hide in the fridges, pretending I was stocking drinks. I would only come out if someone was actually buying petrol some nights." Such isolation can also happen in broad daylight and plain sight, as it did for 15-year-old Nina when she worked in a busy fast food drive-through. "Guys would try it on, ask really intrusive questions and make really lewd comments and flat out refuse to move forward to collect their food at the next window until you'd given them some kind of a reaction," Nina reports. "I'd be alone and cornered in the little booth and stressed about the car waiting behind as our 'times' were constantly being measured. They seemed to know that I couldn't do anything you can't tell the customer to f--- off so they could essentially harass you and you had to put up with it." Half of respondents said they found the incidents annoying, offensive or humiliating. Almost one in four said it made them feel anxious and distressed and one in five said it made them scared. A few linked it to eating disorders and suicidal thoughts. About 12 per cent said it distracted them from their job or made them want to quit. Yet despite these obvious implications for workplace productivity, respondents said employers often dismissed the hazard as trivial or not their problem. Half of those surveyed said they reported the harassment to managers but only 5 per cent had procedures to deal with it. Almost half said nothing happened, they were disbelieved or brushed off. Less than 3 per cent were offered short or long-term support. A management culture that tacitly or actively excuses and supports bad behaviour was evident in many respondents' testimony: "It's hard to complain when bosses are worse," said one. Pub baron Arthur Laundy and the co-owners of The Steyne hotel in Manly will pay tens of thousands of dollars in extra licence fees after a "strike" was imposed on the venue for serving alcohol to underage girls. In a judgement handed down in the District Court on Monday, The Steyne was also hit with $5700 in fines for allowing minors on the premises and permitting them to be sold or supplied with alcohol. The decision comes just days before the state government is expected to announce its response to a statutory review of the so-called three-strikes laws by former High Court judge Ian Callinan. Under the laws, pubs can lose their licence if they incur three strikes for serious offences under the Liquor Act. Leader of the House Stirling Hinchliffe has refused to be drawn on whether this week's Billy Gordon saga will lead to an early state election. The trouble-prone member for Cook was in the firing line at the weekend over reports he owed tens of thousands of dollars in child support payments. Member for Cook Billy Gordon has to "explain himself", Leader of the House Stirling Hinchliffe says. It comes despite Mr Gordon telling Parliament in March 2015 that he had "moved immediately to rectify my tax affairs". "I have also ensured that any outstanding child support payments have been made to my ex-partner so that I can put this issue beyond doubt," Mr Gordon said in Parliament on March 27, 2015. Queensland's heatwave is set to continue with sweltering temperatures forecast for much of the state's southwest and interior through the early part of the week. Outback town Boulia posted the hottest temperature in the state on Sunday, reaching a maximum of 46C. Western Queenslanders will continue to feel the heat this week. Credit:Jessica Shapiro Windorah in the state's southwest wasn't far off with a maximum of 45C. Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Sam Campbell said it would be another day or so before the hot weather would ease. A man has been charged with raping a woman in an inner-city hotel on Sunday afternoon. Police allege a man, 18, asked for money and made sexual comments towards a woman, 27, on Wickham Terrace at Spring Hill about 3.30pm. A woman was attacked at a Spring Hill hotel on Sunday afternoon. Credit:Glenn Hunt The woman refused the man's requests and walked to a nearby hotel where police say the man sexually assaulted her. The woman fought off the man as a member of the public called police. A man has been hit by a truck on the Hume Freeway while getting out of his car. The man, believed to be in his 30s, had stopped his car on the side of the freeway and was getting out when he was struck by the truck. Police at the scene of the crash on the Cooper Street overpass. Credit:Courtesy of Ten News He suffered an ankle injury and facial lacerations in the collision, which happened about 3.45pm on Monday. The incident occurred on the Cooper Street overpass in Epping, where the man had stopped his car. We also have a more confident, outward-looking and multi-cultural New Zealand that competes and succeeds on the world stage. Throughout these years I have given everything I could to this job that I cherish, and this country that I love. All of this has come at quite some sacrifice for the people who are dearest to me - my family. For my wife Bronagh, there have been many nights and weekends spent alone, many occasions that were important to her that I simply could not attend. My daughter Stephie and my son Max have transitioned from teenagers to young adults while coping with an extraordinary level of intrusion and pressure because of their father's job. I thank them for their tolerance. Bronagh and I are immensely proud of them. My family has also had remarkable opportunities and experiences as we have met people and visited places from one end of our country to the other. We have celebrated alongside fellow Kiwis in their happiest times, and wept with them in their saddest. Simply put, it has, for me, been the most remarkable, satisfying and exciting time of my life. But despite the amazing career I have had in politics, I have never seen myself as a career politician. I have certainly never wanted my success in politics to be measured by how long I spent in Parliament. The National Party is in great shape. Bill English has told me that in all his years here, ours is the most cohesive Cabinet he has seen. And I personally am humbled and gratified that after eight years as Prime Minister, my personal support from the public remains high. I absolutely believe we can win the next election. But I do not believe that, if you asked me if I was committed to serving out a fourth term, that I could look the public in the eye and say yes. And more than anything else in my time here, I have tried to be straight and true with New Zealanders. I also believe that leadership change, for the right reasons and handled well, is good for a political party. For all these reasons, I today told my Cabinet and caucus colleagues of my decision to step down as Leader of the National Party and as Prime Minister. It is my expectation that on Monday 12 December National MPs will hold a special caucus meeting to select a new leader and later that day I will tender my resignation to the Governor-General. This has been the hardest decision I have ever made and I do not know what I will do next. But for me this feels the right time to go. It gives the Cabinet and caucus plenty of time to settle in with a new leader before heading into the next election with a proud record of strong economic management, a commitment to the most vulnerable in our society and lots of ideas to keep lifting New Zealanders up in the world. It would be easy to say I have made this decision solely to rediscover the personal and family life I once had, and that is a factor, but it is one among many. Over the years I have observed many leaders who, in a similar position, fail to take this step. I can understand why. It is a hard job to leave. But, for me and the National Party, this is a good time to go. Party membership is high and the party is well-funded. The caucus is talented and eager to serve, and one of the achievements of which I am proud is having built with my colleagues a Cabinet team that is capable, committed and cohesive. That is a great legacy for National's next leader. Just as I grasped the challenge of leadership so will a new leader. Inevitably they will bring their own personality, emphasis and priorities to the role. This is part of the process that allows a long-serving government to keep delivering. For my part I am confident the caucus has a number of individuals who would make a fine future PM. It is inevitable I will be asked who I will vote for at the caucus meeting on December 12. Whoever the caucus elects will have my unwavering support, but if Bill English puts his name forward then I will vote for him. For 10 years now Bill and I have worked as a team. I have witnessed first-hand his leadership style, his capacity for work, his grasp of the economy, his commitment to change and, most of all, his decency as a husband, as a father, as a friend, a colleague and as a politician. Bill has, I believe, grown a great deal since he was last Party leader. Fifteen years on he has more experience and the party and political cycles are quite different. I believe that National, under Bill's leadership, would win the election in 2017. This is not the time to thank all of those who have made the past 10 years possible for me. But nor can I stand here without acknowledging Bronagh, Stephie and Max who have sacrificed a lot for me to have been able to do what the job demands. No person in this role can succeed without the support of an enormous number of talented and dedicated individuals. I thank my deputy Bill English, the Cabinet and caucus for their loyalty and energy and, of course, my wonderful staff, so well led by Wayne Eagleson, who have done more than I ever could have hoped or expected. I also wish to thank and acknowledge our support partners ACT, United Future and the Maori Party without whom the strong and stable Government we have delivered would not have been possible. I have no doubt my successor will look to build upon these relationships. Last but not least, I wish to put on record my everlasting gratitude to the people of Helensville for electing me, and to the New Zealand public for their support, faith and encouragement. It has been my privilege to serve you all. I have always believed that the test of a good Prime Minister is that he or she leaves the country in better shape than they found it. Over time, others will judge whether I have done that. All I can say is that I gave it everything I had. I have left nothing in the tank. Finally, while I intend to stay in Parliament long enough to avoid the cost and inconvenience a by-election would cause the good people of Helensville, I will at an appropriate time prior to the next election step down as an MP. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 04/12/2016 (2159 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. New library usage statistics show Steinbach is home to some voracious readers. Jake Epp Library head librarian Carolyn Graham and board chair Daryl Braun appeared before city council on Tuesday to provide an update on the library. In 2015, more than 222,000 checkouts were recorded at the library, Graham said, and 2016 checkouts have already exceeded 230,000, making the Jake Epp Public Library one of the most used libraries in the province. The library board is beginning to see an increased desire for ebooks, large print books, and audiobooks, Braun reported. Graham also noted that the library is a member of an electronic library service called NNELS (National Network for Equitable Library Services), which provides electronic resources for people with visual and other physical disabilities. NNELS book loans have no time limit, allowing users to read at their own pace. Its a marvelous resource, said Graham, who said she hopes that more caregivers take note of NNELS. Graham also told council that new ebooks pose a budgetary challenge for the library. Regulations imposed by publishers that make ebooks less economical to purchase than print books. Currently, publishers sell ebooks to libraries at inflated prices, and impose other limitations. They are charging up to $120 a book, said Graham, explaining that this fee typically covers just eight to 10 check-outs, then must be paid again before the library can continue loaning the resource to patrons. Graham hopes lobbying efforts by the Canadian Library Association will improve the situation. Braun told councillors that the committee is looking forward the release of population data from the 2016 census. A net population increase in the Steinbach area will likely result in more per capita funding from the provincial government for the librarys 2018 budget. Currently, the library receives $8.50 per person per year from the provincial government. The City of Steinbach then matches and exceeds this amount, contributing roughly $327,000 annually to the library, plus an additional $50,000 for operating expenses. In the meantime, Graham said a fundraising project for more shelving is underway, led by the Friends of the Library group. Raffle tickets are being sold for a Dec. 19 draw, and can be purchased at Clearspring Centre Thursday through Saturday. Prizes are now on display at the Jake Epp Public Library. From Stephen Sondheim through Rent to Next To Normal, Broadway musicals have long left their traditional moorings of boy-meets-girl, a bit of fluffy complication, uplifting self-discovery, and cheery ensemble dance routines. With the fascinating Dear Evan Hansen, the genre goes to perhaps its darkest contemporary territory yet. There is a conventional musical about teenage suicide and familial angst that Benj Pasek and Justin Paul could have composed music and written lyrics to, and which is mocked in the central storyline of Dear Evan Hansen, directed by Michael Greif. Connor Murphy (Mike Faist), the high school kid who everyone considers to be a scary freak, kills himself, and his death becomes a fire-conductor of online grief and fundraising. He becomes a symbol of teen desperation, and his self-erasure the galvanizing cornerstone of a movement. But what Pasek and Paul, and Steven Levenson, who wrote the book, do is bravely revel in dramatic perversity and much gnarlier set of emotional and cultural truths. The songs are about loss, self-delusion, and the construction of comforting fantasies and platitudes. Dear Evan Hansen, are the opening words of the letter the title character (Ben Platt) must write to himself every day, cheerily encouraged by his mother, whose sunny counsel barely hides her wore. Hes a reedy teen, nervous, possibly on the autism spectrum (although this is never stated), askew with the world. He takes anti-depressants. His divorced mother Heidi (Rachel Bay Jones) is trying to take care of him, and feels as if she is failing. She wants him to excel. He is a clashing mass of angular limbs and sharp anxiety. One day, Connor and Evan scratchily encounter one another: two outcasts kind of connect and kind of dont, and Connor takes one of Evans letters with him, confessing a liking for Connors sister Zoe (Laura Dreyfuss). When the letter is found on Connors person after his suicide, his mother Cynthia (Jennifer Laura Thompson) and father Larry (Michael Park) assume that their son wrote the letter to Evan, that he and Evan were good friends, and that he may have had slightly odd feelings toward his sister. The family sing about their ambivalence to Connor in the haunting song Requiem. Evan tells the family want they want to hear: a tale of friendship crafted around a sweet-natured son they never knew and who Evan in reality never knew either. Key to this is the creation of reams of letters the boys never exchanged and which Evan feverishly constructs with fellow student Jared Kleinman (Will Roland). At school, Alana Beck, resident super-swot and mega-organizer (the brilliant Kristolyn Lloyd), wholike Evanonly barely knew Connor, sets up a project in his memory, and the fake letters go viral via the hashtag #youwillbefound, which becomes the shows central song and lament. An utterly bogus set of relationships are the foundation of an internet movementstunningly configured in David Korinss stage design, which features a series of shifting screens with clear and blurred social media messaging scrawled over them. The level of connections between humans in real-time is so lacking in the musical, the online world can rush in and co-opt in emotion, truth, and reason. The flickering computer screen, the mobile phone call, connect the characters, and disconnect them too. Indeed, one serious dramatic flaw of Dear Evan Hansen is that it doesnt illustrate enough what may have led to the suicidal feelings that the show is centered around, especially when it comes to a later twist. Family members and loved ones may never know why someone in their circle commits suicide or feels suicidal (the pain may be kept so private and hidden), but in a dramatic piece themed around the subject, one might expect a degree of narrative or supposition to at least guide the audience or help us understand the inner turmoil of the characters, beyond a general sense they are isolated, misunderstood, or different to others. There are some brilliant songs as this insanity unfolds: the rocky Sincerely Me, featuring Connor, Evan, and Jared sees the creation of the letters and friendship with the smartass Jared playing up as many wild possibilities as possible (people will assume they were secret lovers, Jared tells Evan of his relationship with Connor); and Connor, now a ghost, voicing the words falsely ascribed to him. Evan is squawkily, truly oddly-awkward as he tries to craft a romance with Zoe: their off-kilter repartee is charming. Dear Evan Hansen doesnt do the obvious handwring over teen suicide and disconnection, and the reasons behind them. Rather, it addresses, inconclusively, more complex questions over the meaning and importance of truth and province and significance of memory. Both sets of parents want to believe things about their sons, blocking out far-harder-to-confront realities. Larry and Evans song, To Break in a Glove, about a boy searching for something paternal and a father singing about what can be passed to a son is beautiful, as is Heidis So Big/So Small, in which her own fierce love for Evan is underscored. Given how it loads its dramatic and moral dice, and the swings of tone between comedy and terrible tragedy, the question is what will collapse when the truths are revealed in Dear Evan Hansen. Well, it doesnt supply what you might expect from some musicals and dramas about teen suicide, our truth-dissembling online worlds, and an extreme case of fabulism. Dear Evan Hansen is beautiful to look at it, slickly directed, and moving, but also biting and subversiveand so may have more to say about teen suicide, parenting, and internet lunacy than the most finely worded op-ed column. Dear Evan Hansen is at the Music Box Theatre, 239 West 45th Street, New York. Book tickets here. Editors Note: This story has been updated throughout. The real-life consequences of a made-up conspiracy theory swirling around a popular D.C. pizzeria became all too real when a gunman walked into the venue Sunday afternoon. During the presidential campaign, some elements of the alt-right began fueling the conspiracy that Comet Ping Pong was in fact the site of a pedophilia ring used by high-ranking members of the Democratic Party, dubbing that supposed conspiracy Pizzagate. The D.C. Police Department arrested 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina, outside the kid-friendly pizza and music venue. Witnesses say that Welch went through the restaurant carrying an AR-15 and tried to enter a staff area in the back of the building. He reportedly fired multiple shots inside, though no one was injured. He reportedly told the police that hed come to self-investigate Pizza Gate, which the department noted is a fictitious online conspiracy theory. One employee speculated that the gunman was looking for the purported tunnels in which children were stashed and tortured, according to the conspiracy theory. That theory came from hacked private email exchanges including Hillary Clinton campaign Chairman John Podesta that were and published by WikiLeaks in troves during the final weeks of the presidential elections. Conspiracists began seizing on pizza-related emails in the leaks, suggesting that it was evidence of something nefarious and arguing that pizza was actually a code for illegal sex trafficking. An email Podesta received about pizza at Comet Ping Pong was about pedophilia, they reasoned. The conspiracy is untrue and easily disprovable. For example, the sex ring is supposed to be run out of the restaurants basement, but the owner told the BBC, We dont even have a basement. The fake news began proliferating on websites like 4chan and Reddit, especially a Reddit forum frequented by Trump supporters and the alt-right. The Reddit community Pizzagate, created for the purpose of discussing the supposed conspiracy, was banned recently because individuals began posting personal and confidential information there. On his Facebook account, on which he goes by Maddison Welch, the would-be shooter likes both InfoWars and its host Alex Jones. The website has published innumerable stories about Pizzagate including videos alleging that Pizzagate is global, calling the pedophile scandal a worldwide network. Jones himself has tweeted about it to his nearly 500,000 followers as recently as Sunday. A Google search with the words Alex Jones pizzagate returns about 190,000 results. Following the incident over the weekend, Joneswho frequently pushed the Pizzagate theory on his sitereleased a new video alleging that Welch is part of another conspiracy. Everyones focusing on some pizza place mentioned in emails instead of the tens of thousands of other emails that are clearly dealing with pay for play and getting people hired at the State Department and all sorts of illegal stuff, Jones alleges. He goes on to say that the emails employ code words that are similar to words law enforcement uses for the sex trade. Theres clearly something there, he concludes. Welch was also recently implicated in another a violent incident in North Carolina. In October, he struck a 13-year-old boy with his car, seriously wounding the teenager, according to WBTV. Witnesses said Kenyatta Belton was walking with friends when Welch drove down the middle of the road, taking up both lanes of traffic. Welch allegedly struck Belton with his car, leaving him with injuries to the head, torso, and leg. Police used a tourniquet to slow the bleeding from Beltons chest while they waited for a helicopter to airlift to a hospital for treatment. It is unclear whether Welch faced charges. Welchs criminal history stretches back to 2007. He has pleaded guilty to drug and alcohol charges, including possession of up to a half ounce of marijuana, possession of controlled substances, driving after consuming alcohol, and driving with an open container of alcohol, the Charlotte Observer reports. The conspiracy theory prompted a flood of death threats into Comet Ping Pong, which began arriving over texts, Facebook messages, and on Twitter, The New York Times reported. One man apparently took the conspiracy theory seriously enough to go to the pizzeria himself. A lot of us saw he had a gun and we all started getting our families out, Sharif Silmi, who was present during the incident, told Washingtonian. He later tweeted that he held Jones responsible for putting my family in danger today. Patrons may think twice about visiting the family-friendly venue now that an armed man has been taken into custody there. Just this week, the pizzeria announced that it would now have security personnel at all of its music concerts due to the threats it had received. Several staffers had left their jobs after pictures of their families were posted around the internet by conspiracists. And for Podesta and other Democratic Party officials who have been fond of eating and holding fundraisers there, it is yet another slap in the face. They not only lost an eminently winnable presidential election, but now their favorite pizza parlor is under siege too and arguably for the same reason: fake news. Additional reporting by Gideon Resnick and Kelly Weill. Just over a year ago, the playwright David Henry Hwang, who wrote Sunday nights episode of The Affair, was stabbed in the neck while walking home from the grocery store in a random attack in his Brooklyn neighborhood, Fort Greene. The attack almost killed him. He wrote about it, powerfully, earlier this year in The New York Times, right from the moment he felt a blow to the back of his neck, only to turn around and see his assailant disappearing into the shadows, and then realizing it was so much worse than a blow to the neck. Hwangs attacker had severed his vertebral artery; he had to have life-saving surgery. Of course, we dont know how much of the awfulness and terror of the attack made it into Sunday nights episode of The Affair, but there are definite echoes between his experience and what we see of Noah Solloway (Dominic West) in the aftermath of his vicious stabbing, also in the neck, as he stands in his kitchen. The episode follows the events of the first episode of this season, with Noah now an academic at Princeton after being released from jail, having taken the rap for the death of Scotty Lockhart (Colin Donnell), saving ex-wife Helen (Maura Tierney) and new wife Alison (Ruth Wilson). The latter had pushed him into the path of the car driven by the former. We follow the day from the perspective of Juliette Le Gall (Irene Jacob), wholike every woman within smelling range of Noahfalls for him, or wants to go to bed with him. She is first interrogated by two students, who want to know what she is reading. Some obscure medieval literary text, she says, but it is reallyhidden behind a veil of brown paper; oh, the shame of being caught with itDescent, Noahs potboiler and thinly disguised fictional distillation of his affair with Alison. Like that hidden book, Noah, and hot student Mike Cornwall (another British actor playing an American, Guy Burnetthis show is addicted to them), are Juliettes guilty pleasures, absurdly removed from her research into courtly love. We discover that she has a husband, Etienne, who is sick with some kind of awful disease back in France. America, Noah, Mike, the dancing Statue of Liberty at some traffic lights: All are escapes and distractions. Her historical research couldnt be in sharper contrast to her marital situation, and her sexual desires. As Juliette glugs red wine and prepares dinner in a lovely kitchen (the writers really ramp up her Frenchiness), she takes a panicked call from her daughter, herself going through love pains: She will not die alone. Later she repairs to her own couch, where she masturbates to Noahs book (or she seriously gets off on the thread count of her blue T-shirt). Then, yawn, its a replay of that first dinner party and the current campus sexual assault debate, with Noahs student Audrey (Sarah Ramos)whose work he criticized harshlythe strongly feminist voice around issues of consent, and Mike Cornwall, whom she has slept with, the voice of those who think the consent issue has become overblown, and men persecuted. Juliette says that sex exists in a hinterland of blurred motivations and desires, which makes certain cases difficult to deduce. Audrey wants the university to establish a mandate of verbal consent, but for Juliette sex is about giving yourself over to that which you cannot understand or control. Noah did that, of course, and look where that all ended up. Audrey, who is supposed to be unsympathetic, says Juliettes thinking has led to women being seen as objects of desire. Juliette gets up to check on something in the kitchen: Can none of these people just sit and have a polite conversation and a nice supper? They are the rudest, most pretentious guests even a brainiac could ever wish for. Audrey confesses she wants to fuck Noah, that he makes her so agitated (just like Juliette). Mike notes that hes her professor, twice her age, and an ex-felon, so whats stopping you? And so the vortex of sex, love, and commitment continues to swirl, with a contemporary cultural sheen too. But why are Tierney, Wilson, and Joshua Jackson (Cole) so absent this season, so far? Troubled stud Noah has disappeared upstairs looking for peace. Juliette says she is married, but not the full story. Juliette makes a move on him, and Noah scootsis this about the abuse he suffered in jail, or something about Alison, whom he is now estranged from? Juliette has sex with Mike, her face a shattered reflection in some glass. Later she finds Noah stabbed, and after the ambulance has come, covered in his blood, she speaks haltingly to her daughter again. From Noahs perspective, slipping in and out of consciousness, we maybe get an idea of how Hwang felt that terrifying night. Noah, stay with me, the EMT says, as the past flashes between scrambled images from his painful past and present. He recalls being led into jail for the first time, a picture of Alison. On the operating table, he recalls meeting John Gunther, the prison guard. Its immediately clear Gunther, who knew Noah from swim meets when they were both kidsNoah was the star swimmer, Gunther was notmeans Noah no good. Now that the power is with him, he will persecute his nemesis from so long agohis nemesis, and also his unattainable object of worship somehow. Noah, of course, doesnt recognize him. Helen is there when he comes around, not the wife he has mentioned to the nursing staffand we still dont know how and why Noah and Alisons relationship fell apart. Helen is curt, panicked for her ex-husband. He again rejects her (she really doesnt hear this repeated message). The police want to know who did it. One of the detectives crinkles a cup very irritatingly and runs through the tangled set of suspects who could have wanted to kill Noah. One of Noahs kids asks if his bed has a massage feature. The stabbing itself framed the episodes theme of violence, in sharp contrast to its more ranging, indulgent ruminations around sex. Six months into Noahs sentence, Noah recalls, Gunther bought him a typewriter so he could write, which gives the story an added note of Misery, especially aswhen it comes to handing over the paperGunther doesnt let it go immediately, emphasizing who has control here. Out of the hospital, Nina (Jennifer Esposito), Noahs sister, insists he take the keys to their fathers house, but for now Noah returns to Juliettes, and shehaving a real husband who is being taken care of by a nursenurses Noah herself, redressing his neck wound. They do not have sex. She is, as she points out, a suspect in his attempted murder, and him dropping dead at her place right now would not be good for her. Asleep, he recalls the moment that Gunthers sadism finally shows itself when he visits Noah to ask who one of the pictures on Noahs prison wall is. His wife, Alison, Noah says. Gunthers facial expression curdles. Its an inmate violation, he tells Noah, and insists he takes it down, targeting Noahs shoulder in a vicious wrench and then a punch (which would explain the painful shoulder and painkillers Noah now takes). Noah tells the detectives about Gunther and his suspicions that he has been following him since he got out of jail. The guys a real monster. There is a neat piece of irony about that, because Noah has been the shows monster until nowof the romantic kind. The irony is he needs someone like Gunther to make him sympathetic. Gunther is a far more obvious, sadistic villain than Noah, operating way outside the shows well-dressed, sexy, and naughty romantic confines, and cogitations on the nature of love and memory. That is, unless we eventually get Gunthers point of view, and it turns out he and Noah were teenage lovers, until Noah treated him appallingly. Anything is possible in The Affair. The broken window on Dawn Wards trailer was the familys first warning sign. Inside the trailer, Ward, 40, and her daughter Taylor Carroll, 14, were nowhere to be found. It would be another three days until police found the pair dead at the bottom of a well. Ward and Carroll went missing from their Williamston, North Carolina home on November 28. The disappearance was unusual for the pair, who lived next door to Wards mother. The close-knit family quickly filed a missing persons report and rallied the county to hunt for the missing mother and child. By the end of the week, the search revealed the worst: someone had killed the pair and hidden them in 30 feet of water at the bottom of a rural well. But while most of the victims family grieves, two former relatives may have been behind the mother and daughters murder, police say. Two days after Ward and Carroll were discovered dead, police in another state picked up the case. 800 miles away, police in Meridian, Mississippi arrested two suspects in their case: Wards estranged husband Jeffrey Ward and his brother Jerrett. The brothers, ages 25 and 24, appeared to have fled their home state of North Carolina before or around the time the bodies were discovered. Jeffrey is being held without bond on two counts of murder, while his brother Jerrett is being held on a $1 million bond for two counts of accessory after the fact. Jeffrey Ward has an extensive criminal history, records show. At the time of his arrest, he was on parole for a slew of offenses, including two counts each of larceny and breaking and entering. His brother Jarrett lived on the same street Williamston, North Carolina as the well where police recovered Ward and Carrolls bodies, records show. Police have yet to release any motive for the slaying. Dawn and Jeffrey Ward had been separated for years, with Dawn using her maiden name Boswell on her social media accounts. Court records obtained by North Carolinas WITN indicate that she obtained a restraining order against Jeffrey in 2014 but did not renew it after its 2015 expiration. Instead, Facebook posts revealed a woman focused on the remaining members of her family. She celebrated the birth of her grandson last year, by her son. She cared for her mother and tended horses on their property. And she frequently posted pictures of her daughter Taylor Carroll, with whom she bore a striking resemblance. On the same day as their alleged killers arrests, Ward and Carrolls loved ones gathered for an impromptu memorial service. "We spent a lot of time over at my grandmother's house, Wards cousin Kelly Connors recalled at the service. I just remember playing with her and have so many fond memories and then we both became moms and she's just an amazing mother. It's hard that she's got a son left behind in this and my heart just aches for that as a mom but we just have a lot of great memories. Carrolls friends remembered her as a kind, artistic girl full of promise. Her school cancelled classes on Friday to help students process the loss of their classmate. I love you so much Taylor, a friend posted on Facebook. You didn't deserve none of this. I don't understand what got you involved in any of this. I will always love you. CANNON BALL, North Dakota As thousands of U.S. military veterans descended upon Standing Rock on Saturday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced it would halt work on the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline that runs along the tribes reservation to conduct an environmental-impact study. The veterans plan to envelop the water protectors protesting the pipeline in any confrontation that may arise between them and law enforcement over the next three days. The announcement was celebrated in the main camp, which is sprawled out in a valley near Cannon Ball, North Dakota. Fireworks could be seen shooting off above the tents and teepees as drum circles beat away, even as the water protectors vowed to continue the fight. In late July, the Army Corps granted Energy Transfer Partners permission to cross Lake Oahe as part of an 1,100-mile pipeline that will run from North Dakota to Illinois. That path takes it less than a half-mile from the Standing Rock Reservations border, prompting tribal leaders to object on the grounds that it could damage sacred burial grounds and contaminate their drinking water. What started then as a small protest has since sprouted into a national movement. As the sun was setting behind the rolling hills, a long, winding line of vehicles filled with water protectors waited on Highway 1806 for upwards of an hour to enter the camp. Many cheered, honked their horns, and raised their fists in solidarity as they slowly inched forward. Estimates as to how many veterans have arrived ranged from a few thousand to as many as 10,000. One of the main veterans tents, made of canvas and plywood, rests near the main route through the camp. About 20 people smoked cigarettes, drank hot beverages, and chatted inside as many more filed in and out. Shelves of canned food could be seen lining the tent, along with camping chairs, American flags, and a wood-burning stove. Small groups discussed where they were from, why they came, and what to expect. Rob McHaney, who served for 30 years in the U.S. Navy, said he does not know what will happen in light of the federal decree, but that he never trusts the government. As a veteran, I took an oath to help those who cant help themselves. And nowhere in that oath says I should go help an oil company. Im willing to take a bullet, he said. Im willing to go to jail. Im willing to make North Dakota pay a lot of money to make me stay in jail for a long time. Cassandra Miller, a Navy veteran from Missouri, said she came to Standing Rock after seeing water protectors hit with pepper spray, water cannons, and sound cannons. The military taught me how to stand in there and take that, and nobody taught these people how to take that. Regular people dont know how to handle that, and their cause is just, and someone that does know how to handle that needs to protect them. Mike Miller, a Cherokee and Army veteran from Kansas City, said he believes the permit being denied for now, pending the environmental review, is a trick and that once the veterans leave the construction will start again. When I see corporate interests being represented over brown and black people, like I did in Iraq, by a militarized police statethats not what I sacrificed for and thats why Im here. A female veteran wearing fatigues then entered the tent, and asked everyone to stop smoking inside because the cook has asthma. Appreciate it, everyone, said the cook, who wore plastic gloves as he prepared the communal stew. They then announced a private meeting and asked all non-veterans to exit the tent. Water protectors plan to continue the frontline action at 8 a.m. Monday. It remains to be seen if law enforcement will attempt to evict the water protectors and how they will react to the influx so many veterans vowing to shield them. By Allison Graves and Louis Jacobson President-elect Donald Trumps closest advisers fanned across the news shows Sunday to quell concern about the businessmans transition to the White House following a diplomat-rattling phone call with the president of Taiwan. This was a courtesy call of the democratically elected president of Taiwan, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said on NBCs Meet the Press. A call to congratulate the president-elect. Even referring to Taiwans leader as president has been a longtime diplomatic no-no in the One China approach shared by previous administrations, said NBCs Andrea Mitchell. In other news, the search for a secretary of state is taking a little bit longer than other top Cabinet posts, said Trumps chief of staff, Reince Priebus, with the pool of contenders expanding beyond former critic Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani to include former CIA director David Petraeus. Trump has long admired Petraeus while blasting rival Hillary Clinton over her email practices on the campaign. Petraeus was prosecuted for leaking confidential information to his biographer and mistress, and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information in 2015. I apologized for it, Petraeus said on ABC This Week. I paid a very heavy price for it, and Ive learned from it. Pence said Trump would review the totality of Petraeuss military career before announcing his choice for the key Cabinet post. The transition overall, Pence said, is going smoothly. To be around Donald Trump, as you know, having known him for a number of years, is to be around a man of boundless energy from literally the day after the election, Pence said, a historic election where he won 30 out of 50 states, more counties than any candidate on our side since Ronald Reagan. Trump won the Electoral College but trails Clinton in the popular vote by more than 2.5 million. We wanted to know whether the county statistic was accurate, as well as its significance. Pences statement is accurate but needs a bit of additional information, so it rates Mostly True. Pence is on target that the number of counties won by Trump exceeds the number of counties won by every Republican presidential candidate since Reagan in 1984. Trump receives credit from electoral specialists for expanding the Republican footprint, notably in places that had previously backed Barack Obama. According to a calculation by Time magazine, Trump won 220 counties that had voted for Obama in 2012, while Clinton took far fewer17that had gone for Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee. And Trump outperformed Romneys vote share in 2,728 counties, compared to just 383 where Clinton outperformed Obama. But the places where Clinton performed better than Obama did were almost always in much more populous counties. This illustrates a general pattern for Democrats in recent election cycles: They have run strongly in populous and economically growing urban and suburban areas, but poorly in lightly populated rural areas. This has been true for the entire period were looking atindeed, Bill Clinton never managed to win more counties during his two victories in the 1990sbut the partisan disparity has been growing steadily. And the pattern reached a new apogee with the Trump vs. Clinton race. This helps explain why Clinton so far has won 2.6 million more votes than Trump didalmost 2 percentage points morewhile losing so many counties. Loving County, Texas, has a population of 82, while Californias Los Angeles County has over 9.8 million, said Costas Panagopoulos, a Fordham University political scientist. The number of counties won is not necessarily a meaningful indicator, absent any consideration of the population of these counties. Carrier jobs As further evidence of a smooth transition of power, Pence cited Trumps deal with Carrier as an example of one promise already delivered. Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd asked Pence to explain how the deal is not an example of government intervening in the private sector. Well, first off, Pence said, lets remember now more than a thousand Hoosiers have certainty in their jobs and in their futures going into this Christmas season because of the leadership of Donald Trump. In a panel discussion that followed, the president of a liberal public policy group said the Carrier news isnt impressive when you read the fine print. This is a bad deal, said Heather McGhee, president of Demos. Did you actually read the Carrier letter? It started out saying, Were pleased to inform you, and then it ended up talking about all of the jobs that would still be shipped overseas. The numbers Im looking at say less than half of them are actually staying. Her statement rates Half True. McGhees statement is not right when strictly looking at 1,400 jobs that Carrier Corporations said would move to Monterrey, Mexico. In its deal with Trump and Pence, the company preserved 800 union jobs, mainly involved with making furnaces. Thats about 58 percent of the jobs that were in danger of export. However, if one widens the lens to encompass more of the economic picture, there are plenty of jobs from Carrier and its corporate parent still going south of the border. United Technologies, the corporate parent of Carrier, is moving forward with its previously announced plans to close one of its factories in Huntington, Indiana, and move its 700 jobs to Mexico. And even though the Carrier plant will retain 800 jobs to develop the furnaces, an estimated 600 jobs will move to Mexico as planned as the company relocates its fan coil manufacturing line. While this announcement is good news for many, we recognize it is not good news for everyone, reads the letter. Going by the broader view, McGhee is right that less than half (or 38 percent) of the 2,100 jobs in danger of being exported will actually end up staying. Read more fact-checks at PunditFact.com. From riding shotgun with The Beatles on their first American tour in 1964 to standing next to Robert F. Kennedy when the Senator was shot in 1968, Harry Benson has been not only present at some of the most memorable moments of the last fifty-plus years, but also expertly captured them with his camera. Now, the 87-year-old Scottish photographer is being given the documentary treatment in Harry Benson: Shoot First, a film directed by Matthew Miele and Justin Bare that is out on December 9th in theaters and on iTunes, Amazon, and On Demand. Here, the celebrated lensman describes some of his finest worksin his own words. The Beatles with Cassius Clay. 5th Street Gym. Miami, Florida. February 1964. We flew to Miami for The Beatles second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. They were happy to be in the warm sunshine in such contrast to London in February. Watching television I saw Clay shouting that he would win the heavyweight title from the champ, Sonny Liston. I thought this would make a good picture, but John [Lennon] said he wanted to meet the champ instead. So I went to Listons training camp, but Liston didnt even look up at me when he said, I dont want to meet those bums. Thinking they were going to meet Liston, I took the Beatles to meet Clay at the 5th Street Gym where he was training for his first heavyweight title fight. Clay completely overwhelmed The Beatles, shouting, Whos the Greatest? Im the Greatest. Youre pretty, but Im prettier. He made them lie down, stand up, run around the ring. They had never taken a backseat before. John was angry and told me I had made a fool of them. He wouldnt speak to me for a month. But when I returned to London to photograph them on the set of A Hard Days Night, all was forgotten. Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. USA for Africa/We Are the World . Los Angeles, California. January 28, 1985. Everyone had to walk past a sign that said, Leave your egos at the door when they entered the A&M recording studio for that famous all night recording session of We Are the Worldand they did. The song, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, was a huge success with proceeds of over $63 million going to feed the starving refugees in Somalia. The recording session actually did last all nightI was surprised by the camaraderie, as several of the artists had not met beforebut they all were relaxed and happy to be participating in the project. I was the only still photographer there and had free access to take photographs all night. I liked the photo here of Dylan and Springsteen as they were relaxed and seem pleased to be there. Going back over the photos I took that evening, I am sorry I didnt do a book as there are many behind the scenes photos from that night that I think fans would like to see. James Meredith March. Near Canton, Mississippi. 1966. In 1966, James Meredith, who in 1962 became the first African American to enroll at the University of Mississippi, began a march to encourage people to register to vote. Shot but not killed on the second day of the march, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. took up the march in Merediths name. I was one of only about 10 journalists who covered the marchwhich turned violent one night in Canton, Mississippi. But I like this photograph because of the way the man in the straw hat is silhouetted against the sky. To me it shows determination in a strong yet peaceful way. Kate Moss. Paris, France. 1993. Backstage was frantic at British designer Dame Vivienne Westwoods fashion show in Paris. I was surrounded by the usual chaos of people running around making sure everything was going as plannedor close to it anyway. Across the room I saw the intriguing Kate Moss waiting her turn to go out. She was standing very still looking straight at me. Her gaze didnt change as I approached her, continuing to take photographs as I walked. She is the ultimate professional and knew she was giving me a good photograph. When she went out topless into the waiting crowd, she threw her arms into the air to approving applause. Westwoods designs, always theatrical, looked to me like they were made for Marie Antoinette. Amy Winehouse. London, England. 2005. I am glad I had the opportunity to photograph the mega-talented Amy Winehouse when she was enjoying the first wave of her success. The petite young woman was not what I expected. She was all business in the recording studio and was personable and easy to work with when we started taking photographs. She seemed to be feeling great that day and liked being photographed. Its hard to know what to say without seeming trite, except that I am very sorry her life was cut so short. HARRY BENSON: SHOOT FIRST, directed by Matthew Miele and Justin Bare, is being released by Magnolia Pictures on Friday Dec. 9th in theaters across the country and on iTunes, Amazon, and On Demand. It will be on Netflix in the spring of 2017. Remember Bernie Kerik? Youre forgiven if the names rappelled into the memory hole, just one more known unknown from The Bush Years. Kerik was a rising star, whod started off as Mayor Rudy Giulianis driver in New York and eventually became chief of the NYPD, serving in that role during the 9/11 attacks, and then garnering a nomination to run Bushs Department of Homeland Security. Then it came out that hed employed an undocumented worker as a nanny, used an apartment meant for exhausted post-9/11 first responders to carry on a lurid affair, and finally pleaded guilty to two state ethics violations and then eight federal crimes, sending him to prison for four years. Yet Kerik seems downright responsible compared to the guy Donald Trump is considering to run DHS. Last week, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke made a pilgrimage to New York to visit The Donald in his gaudy gold-encrusted apartment on Fifth Avenue. Clarke, whos permanently attached the title Sheriff to his name like an additional appendage, and dons a cowboy hat for each and every public appearance as part of a tough-guy shtick thats anything but funny. We know Clarke runs a jail in Wisconsin where an inmate died of profound dehydrationruled a homicide by the courtsand where three inmates and a newborn baby have died in his custody and under questionable circumstances in just the last eight months. But Clarke is also at the nexus of a relationship between Donald Trump and two of the well-known members of his mutually reinforcing support group this past election, the cronyistic kleptocracy of Russias Vladimir Putin and the extremist paranoiacs of the National Rifle Association. Clarkewho shows up at annual NRA conferences to promote insurrection and sits on the board of the Crime Prevention Research Center, which essentially gun nuts propaganda armis also featured in a commercial the group released praising cops in the face of the Black Lives Matter movement, which he has said is made up of slimy people who only care about political power. The Crime Prevention Research Center is run by former academic John Lott Jr. Listening to his thoughts on guns is akin to taking Lance Armstrongs advice on clean living or tips from Chris Christie on talking with your inside voice. Lott has pretended to be a former female studentnamed Mary Roshonline, who just loves and praises, well, John Lott. He fabricated an entire survey that found 98 percent of the time guns are used defensively. Pressed to show his work, he claimed his hard drive had eaten his homework. This is the company Clarke keeps. And Clarke has served as a virtual Bering Land Bridge between the NRA and its counterpart in Russia, The Right to Bear Arms, taking a trip to the country almost exactly a year ago with a whos who of NRA brass. Present on this bizarre excursion were ex-NRA President David Keene, NRA First Vice President Pete Brownellwho also just happens to run an enormous firearm accessory empireand NRA Womens Leadership Forum executive committee member Hilary Goldschlager. Brownell, the NRA Ring of Freedom and The Right To Bear Arms paid for Clarkes trip. When queried by the press, his office claimed it was a personal trip and they didnt wish comment. Yet he filled out a Milwaukee County ethics disclosure form, which is unnecessary for trips of a personal nature (i.e. vacations). While in Russia, the group attended a conference put on by their domestic host. At the event, a speech was given by honorary The Right To Bear Arms member, Alexander Torshin, a former Russian Senator, NRA Life Member and close Putin ally, who was appointed deputy governor for Russias central bank by the Russian leader himself. At the most recent NRA Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, in May of this year, Sheriff Clarke tweeted a picture of himself with Donald Trump Jr., who was sitting at special guest Torshins table. The idea of having someone so comfy with the Putinites and our own domestic arms lobby running an agency tasked, quite literally, with keeping our country safe seems somewhere south of insane. We may have no choice but to live with the new sheriff in D.C. come Jan. 20. But if Trump then nominates Sheriff Clarke, the Senatewhose vote would be our only chance to stop himmust do all it can to keep him as far away from the Potomac as possible. This is the final chapter in a groundbreaking investigation by Pulitzer-Prize-winning reporter Roy Gutman that documents Bashar al-Assads sinister contributions to the creation of the so-called Islamic State. It demonstrates the dictators complicity in the horrors that ISIS has imposed inside Syria while plotting and inspiring terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States. These are all facts that President-elect Donald Trump should take into account when he talks glibly about working with Russia and Assad to fight against ISIS. As we saw in the previous two chapters, Assad first tried to ingratiate himself with Western leaders by portraying the national uprising against him in 2011 as a terrorist-led revolt. When that failed, he released jailed Islamic extremists whod fought against U.S. troops in Iraq, then staged phony attacks on government facilities, which he blamed on terrorists. Far from fighting ISIS, Assad looked the other way when it set up a state-within-a-state with its capital in Raqqa, and then left it to the U.S. and others to try to take the battle to the Islamic extremists. REYHANLI, TurkeyIn the spring of 2012, hundreds of militant Islamists crossed into eastern Syria from Iraq under the eyes of the Assad regimes extensive security apparatus. As they arrived, Syrian intelligence services received two sets of instructions. One was in writing, and contained the names and details of the jihadists, along with the instruction to arrest and kill them. But that was the cover story. Even as it circulated a kill order, the regime sent out official messengers to convey the opposite message. They came from command headquarters and held meetings of the intelligence offices, said Mahmoud al Nasr, a former intelligence official in northern Syria who defected in October 2012. They told us: stay away from them. Dont touch them. The jihadists arrived in groups of three, sometimes five, then it became hundreds, he said. Everyone of them started to bring his friends, al Nasr said. The majority joined Jabhat al Nusra, a group that publicly declared its affiliation with al Qaeda in April 2013 and then split into two groups, Nusra and the Islamic State. Some of the infiltrated jihadists joined Ahrar al Sham, a third and seemingly more moderate Islamist group. The conflicting instructions sheds light on the little-known relationship between the Assad regime and the Islamic State. Assad claims that his domestic political opposition are all terrorists intent on destroying the Syrian state and regularly appeals to the international community for help in battling terrorism. But the regime in fact facilitated the buildup and expansion of the real terror group in Syria. Yet a two-year investigation reveals a more complex picture, for the regime has mounted operations in collaboration with Islamic State and at times has fought it, sustaining serious losses. Sometimes they are allies. Sometimes they are enemies, Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq said in a recent interview with The Daily Beast. Sometimes they cooperate with one another. Sometimes they fight each other. What is the pattern? Only God knows, Barzani said What is clear is that the Assad regime has a long-established relationship with the Islamic State, dating back to the war in Iraq, when Syria funneled thousands of volunteers to fight the U.S. occupation. It jailed well over 1,000 jihadists on their return, only to release them in 2011 as Syrians staged a national uprising against the regime. And many of those are the leaders of ISIS today. The overall pattern was to facilitate the jihadists, with just enough clashes that the regime could say it is fighting them. Following their arrival in 2012, the regime looked the other way as the extremists seized government bases. It also allowed convoys to travel back and forth from Syria to Iraq and did nothing to stop ISIS from shipping weapons into Iraq, leading to the ISIS conquest of Mosul in June 2014. Today, the Syrian regime drops barrel bombs and fires missiles at ISIS-held towns but its targets are usually civilians. The frontline between the two forces has been mostly quiet. The regime has mostly ignored ISIL, said Karin von Hippel, a former State Department official who worked on the Syria issue for six years until November, 2015. You would be hard pressed to find many instances of the regime attacking ISILand the few sporadic attacks that have taken place have targeted more civilians than ISIL fighters. Van Hippel, who now heads the Royal United Services Institute, a London think tank, was using an alternative name for the Islamic State. Secretary of State John Kerry went further in November 2015, when he said that ISIS was created by Syrian President Bashar al Assad, who released 1,500 jailed jihadi prisoners, and former Iraqi premier Nouri al Maliki, who released 1,000. Assad wanted to be able to say, its me or the terrorists, Kerry said after the Paris terror attacks. In March, the Syrian regime took on the Islamic State, and aided weeks of Russian air bombardment and ample help from the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, it reclaimed the ancient city of Palmyra from the Islamic State. Yet there are a lot more examples where the regime facilitated the extremists capture of territory from rebel forces. Officials in Iraq, where the Islamic State and its Sunni partners now occupy as much as one third of the country, a key role to Assad in the rise of the Islamic State. He helped establish the route through which international terrorists came in from Syria to fight Americans in Iraq, said Saeed al Jayashi, at the time a member of the countrys national security council staff. He was referring to a period 10 years ago when foreign jihadist volunteers flocked to Iraq to battle U.S. troops. And the same routes were used to bring terrorists into Syria. I myself believe there is some form of high coordination, he said, though he acknowledged he did not know how it was carried out. *** The first step in the build-up of ISIS was in October 2011 when Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, at the time the head of al Qaeda in Iraq, reportedly dispatched Mohamad al Jolani, a militant leader named who was to form Jabhat al Nusra, the al Qaeda affiliate in Syria. Then in the spring of 2012, jihadists began arriving from Syria. The regime knew about their arrival and knew they were in the countryside, moving among villages. It didnt target them, said Nabeel Dendal, whos from eastern Syria and defected from the government in June 2012. In some cases, we would submit a name to higher command and say, this person is in my area, said al Nasr, the former intelligence official from northeastern Syria. I didnt get any orders from the leadership to watch him. The regime would not supply any more data on him. Tribal chiefs in the border area recognized the fighters returning to Syria, according to Salman Sheikh, former head of the Brookings Center think tank in Qatar who regularly convened prominent Syrian figures to plot the countrys future. They saw these guys cross their doorsteps between 2003 and 2005, and now they saw them with their own eyes, not just coming back but finding a fairly open reception, he said. Nobody from the government challenged them. By late 2012, when the United States labeled the Nusra Front a terrorist organization, the group had turned into an effective anti-regime fighting force. In April 2013 Baghdadi announced the creation of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), but Jolani, whod developed popular local support for fighting the regime, refused to shut down Nusra. The two groups became bitter rivals. Soon, Baghdadis ISIS began to consolidate its power in eastern and northern Syria. In May that year it took over Raqqa from Nusra forces and began seizing towns across northern Syria from U.S.-backed moderate rebels. ISIS gained ground rapidly by opening its doors to volunteers from other less radical Islamist groups and by recruiting volunteers from abroad to bolster its numbers. ISIS had few, if any, confrontations with the Syrian military, which continued to operate a major base outside Raqqa. Even after ISIS raised an enormous black flag at offices over former Syrian government offices, and made it its de facto capital, effectively claiming sovereignty over state territory, no Syrian aircraft targeted those locations. In its Raqqa sanctuary, ISIS has operated like a state-within-a-state. It introduced its extreme version of Islamic law, staged public executions, and persecuted the Christian population until it fled. Most ominously, ISIS sent weapons, men and supplies to its forces elsewhere in Syria and back and forth to Iraq, as the Syrian military, to all accounts, looked on. As it consolidated its hold on north Syria, ISIS announced a military offensive against the western-backed rebels, which it called Expunging the Filth. It took over the principal border crossings the rebels relied on for Western and Gulf-supplied arms and logistics, took over rebel bases and checkpoints and kidnapped western and Syrian reporters and held them for ransom. ISIS also assassinated rebel commanders, abducted others, put them on trial and then executed them in public. *** When Abu Khalil enlisted in the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in late spring 2013, he was hoping that its weapons, finances and manpower would make the al Qaeda affiliate a tougher foe of the government of President Bashar Assad than Ahrar al Sham, the Syrian Islamist group with which hed been fighting. The 26-year-old security guard at Aleppo University went through one-month basic training and wore a suicide belt loaded with TNT when he took part in battles to capture Syrian government military bases. But he declined to pledge bayat, the lifetime loyalty oath, to his local emir and to Baghdadi. I was with them for six months, but I didnt understand anything about them, said the former fighter, who asked to be identified by a nickname that means Khalils father for his own protection. I didnt understand their political aims and demands. As for Baghdadi, I dont know him, so how can I make the pledge? Abu Khalil, who was interviewed in a friends apartment in Reyhanli, southern Turkey in December 2014, was puzzled at the ease with which ISIS seized bases. Sometimes youd feel that (the Syrian army) were giving up and withdrawing without a fight, he said. Were they afraid of al Qaeda because al Qaeda has suicide belts? Or was there cooperation with the regime? I didnt manage to find this out. It is the biggest question of all. Two thirds of the ISIS fighters were foreign, according to Abu Khalil, who said he reported to a Tunisian emir along with fighters from Chechnya, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, the Gulf region, and north Africa. Instruction at the training camp he attended was in English, but there was a translation into Arabic. If they saw someone smoking a cigarette or who didnt have a long beard, theyd say he was a kaffir (infidel) and threaten to cut his head off, he said. His emir labeled Nusra, the group theyd just broken with, apostates and forbade contacts with Nusra members. To attract foreign fighters, ISIS offered material benefits: a salary, and even more important, a wife. They would come and immediately get married. They would buy cars, said Abu Khalil, available at the fire sale prices. And the leadership would give them money and support. He said ISIS would pay the dowry for a Syrian bride, usually in the range of $1,000, but often give sums much higher, up to $4,000. But Syrians were shut out of the bonanza, and thats one reason many of them quit ISIS, Abu Khalil among them. He left the organization in September 2013. One of the most biggest puzzles at the time was how ISIS disposed of weapons it captured. When we got loot from military bases, we never saw any of it, he said. Later, he learned that most of the weapons they captured had been sent to Iraq. *** One of the early examples of the Assad regime supporting the expansion of ISIS through military power was in Al Bab, just northeast of Aleppo, which fell to ISIS in September 2013. We had 500 fighters in the area and needed reinforcements in Al Bab, recalled Isam al Nayif, then with the Liwat al Tawhid brigade of the Free Syrian Army, now living in Nizip, southern Turkey. As rebels dispatched reinforcements from nearby Minbij, ISIS sent a convoy from the vicinity of a government base to the west, in Kuweires. We intercepted a radio call ordering the Air Force to bomb the convoy coming from Minbij, he said. Twenty-five rebels were killed. But the ISIS convoy proceeded unhindered, and the rebels abandoned Al Bab. (Syrian Kurdish forces, aided by U.S. airstrikes and a U.S.-organized force of Arab tribes, recently ousted ISIS from Minbij.) By late 2013, many Syrians in ISIS were convinced that the group was collaborating with the Assad government. In a lengthy video posted on YouTube in March 2014, one former Islamic State fighter, Riad Eed, who said he was from Marea, a town in Aleppo province, cited repeated instances in which Islamic State forces stood by watching as Syrian government troops seized town after town from the moderate opposition. Eed, who is now in hiding and could not be contacted, said that whenever he urged his ISIS colleagues to fight government troops, the response was: No, no, Sheikh. There are enough Mujahidin to fight them. There is Jabhat al Nusra, and they are enough for the fight, he recounted. When Safira, a major town south of Aleppo, was about to fall in late October 2013, ISISs 500 fighters in the area were watching from afar and doing nothing, he said. When the Tawhid brigade, a part of the Islamic Front umbrella group, sent reinforcements, ISIS blocked them. When I asked about that, they said it is forbidden to resort to infidels for help, Eed said. Government capture of the town led to the flight of its 130,000 inhabitants, according to Doctors Without Borders. Capture of the city gave the regime full control over arms factories there, which soon began churning out barrel bombs that it dropped over Aleppo throughout 2014. And most of Hasakah province in northeast Syria fell to ISIS in February and March 2014 after ISIS sent forces in a convoy of some 300 vehicles from Ash Shaddadiunmolested by Syrian warplanes, according to Nasr, the former intelligence official. Direct confrontation between ISIS and Assad forces have been relatively rare. In July, 2014, Assads air force began bombing some ISIS facilities and the next month ISIS overran the last government-held military bases outside Raqqa, executing hundreds of Syrian soldiers. Some of the evidence of collusion on the battlefield is circumstantial, based on Assads failure to counter the expansion of Nusra and later ISIS. Some is based on intelligence. A senior Turkish official, interviewed in Ankara, said that its radio intercepts had captured a Syrian military commander telling Islamic State militants that they should vacate an area before 6 a.m. because aerial bombing would begin then. In another intercept, a regime commander was overheard suggesting giving an award to the Islamic State for its active cooperation. If you look at the dynamics, the regime never bombed an area controlled by ISIS, the official said. When ISIS left they bombed, or they bombed an area before ISIS began its offensive. There is a behind-the-scenes partnership between them and the regime, Ahmet Davutoglu, the former Turkish prime minister, said early last year. His remark was borne out on the battlefield. *** When the regime bombed Raqqa in November 2014, it missed every significant ISIS military target but killed dozens of civilians, anti-government observers say. When the Islamic State attacked Syrian army bases, executing captive troops, Assads forces have been slow to respond and the attack ineffectual. In Al Bab, also under Islamic State control in northern Syria, U.S. aircraft destroyed an Islamic State headquarters on Dec. 28, 2014 and inadvertently killed only civilians being held there. But days earlier, Syrian Air Force planes bombed parts of the city and hit no significant Islamic State installation, according to residents. The regime continues to bomb only civilian targets in Al Bab. When ISIS attacked the ancient city of Palmyra and the entire district of Tadmur in May 2015, the Syrian army evacuated many of its bases in advance, put up only a modest defense and let its weapons warehouses to fall into the radicals hands. As this was under way, the regime and ISIS engaged in perhaps the most clearcut of all the cases of collaborate. In Spring 2015, as it was reeling from its losses in northern Syria, the Assad regime reached out to Islamic extremists in a bid shift the balance on the battlefield. Rebel forces had just taken the entire Idlib province and ISIS had seized Palmyra, but the shrunken, demoralized Syrian army was unable to reclaim either. After a meeting between regime and ISIS representatives at a major gas production facility in the east Syrian town of Ash Shaddadi on May 28, ISIS military convoys set out from Raqqa and other towns under its control for Marea, a town north of Aleppo, which sits astride a critical supply route from Turkey. There, as regime aircraft pounded the positions of moderate rebel forces, Islamic State fighters moved in to occupy them. They captured one third of the town before rebel reinforcements arrived and beat them back. A U.S. official confirmed the collaboration. Weve seen Assad providing air support for ISIS. There has to be some kind of an agreement there, said a Defense Department official, who spoke anonymously because he wasnt authorized to be quoted by name. He added: This has happened more than once. Turkish security officials revealed the date, location and participants at the meeting, and this reporter was able to corroborate the main elements. ISIS attack on Marea in June 2015, supported by the regime, was a stunning blow. ISIS sent convoys of up to 60 vehicles across northern Syria to reach the border area and got within six miles of the actual crossing. Rebel forces from other areas headed to Marea and prevented ISIS from cutting the access road to Turkey over which humanitarian and military supplies flow to Aleppo. A more recent example of apparent collusion was in October 2015, when rebels had to abandon a former infantry school north of Aleppo that theyd captured in December 2012. ISIS attacked head on with tanks, heavy artillery and car bombs but couldnt it capture the location, a spokesman for the defending Al Safwa battalion said. Then, as regime aircraft bombed the school, ISIS fighters first moved around the town to cut off the escape route. After losses of as many as 70 fighters, the rebels abandoned the position to ISIS, which turned it over to regime forces. Last February, rebels collected photographic evidence that the regime and the Islamic State are in an effective non-aggression pact. Drones sent up along the 35-mile front between the Assad regime and ISIS, they found there were no fortifications on either side of the line and no signs of fighting, said Usama Abo Zaid, legal advisor to the Syrian opposition. There are a few fighters on the front line, but far too few to be at war with each other. He said the Islamic State continues to send car bombs as their weapon of choice against moderate rebel forces, but not against the Assad forces or its allies, even against the Kurdish militia, the Peoples Protection Force, with the United States has allied itself. And as the regime with heavy Russian air backing ended the rebel siege of the towns of Nubul and Zahra, ISIS didnt fire a bullet, he said. Few observers think the apparent collaboration between the regime and ISIS will last forever. For now, however, they are working in parallel. The reason is obvious, says Bassam Barabandi, a former Syrian diplomat now living in Washington, D.C. They know they cannot both survive, but before they reach that final step of war, they should kill all the moderates. Here they are working together closely, he said. with additional reporting by special correspondents Mousab Alhamadee and Zakaria Zakaria Its been a year of battle lines. The country has never beenmore polarized, and passionately so. Culture has never simmered so violently ina cauldron of outrage, smugness, joy, hope, hate, progress, activism, protest,silencing, and all other kinds of combustible emotions. And so to neutralize the forthcoming cultural chemical spill,Hollywood has chosen the industry equivalent of baking soda to host this yearsOscars ceremony. This is among the latest the Academy has ever named a host,likely because it didnt quite know how to address the cultural climate. Inchoosing JimmyKimmel, whom the Academyannounced as host Monday morning, the organization is making a point not toplay with the barometric pressure. Its the safest choice they could have made in a stormy yearlike this, the emcee equivalent of an umbrella shielding the ceremony from anycontroversy. But is it the right choice? After what essentially amounts to a decade ofmixed reviews for the Oscars telecast and plummetingratingsratings that are highly unlikely to go up this year given the fact thattheres not a crowd-pleasing blockbuster among the crop of indie films likelyto dominatethe ceremony seems to be surrendering a bit. Risk, edge, and danger have always seemed to be the hallmarks of showbiz ambition. Its unlikely that those three words will be used in anycapacity to describe a Kimmel-hosted Oscars telecast. But as the Academy hasalso learned, those qualities havent always made for a successful ceremony,either. More, after successiveyears of bad press, the Academy needs a win as much as culture seems to.And to that regard, Kimmel boasts the best batting average of likely hosts. Hewas spectacularlast fall at the Emmys, and boasts the kind of confidence that the ceremonyrequires. Hes not a question mark. We can pretty much imagine what his showwill look like, for better or worse. (In my opinion, for the better.) Hosting the Oscars is a notoriously thankless job. No criticis ever pleased with the performance. You either insert yourself into the ceremony too much, ornot enough. You were either too reverent to the shows pompousness or you weretoo controversial and impolite. The telecast itself is televisions longestslog. When youre the driver of it, youre assigned the blame for it taking solong even though you have no control over the trafficthe sheer number ofawards and montagesso to speak. When Chris Rock was named host of last years ceremony,viewers buckled up for a host who was finally going to take the air out ofHollywoods inflated ego. When, for the second year in a row, no actingnominees of color were named and the #OscarsSoWhitehashtag dominated all Oscars conversations, viewers downright salivatedimagining the brutal honesty with which he was going to tear into the Academy. In the end, though, Rock got a mixed reaction. His openingmonologue was as searing as most of us hoped (though some felt he couldhave gone even further, especially when he devalued thosewho had protested against the whitewashed nominee slate), but hisperformance grew increasinglytone-deaf and jokes began landing with echoingthuds. Perhaps no combination of host, cultural debate, and nomineeslate seemed more primed for a hit ceremony than Rock and last years#OscarsSoWhite ceremony, albeit under embarrassing and unfortunatecircumstances. And still the ceremony didnt deliver on its promise. So what if the promise of the ceremony is just to befine?That seems to be the message sent with Kimmel, the late-night host that prettymuch everyone is cool with, especially ABC, which airs both the Oscars andKimmels talk show. Where the Oscars seem to have gotten themselves in trouble in thepast decade is when they seemed to be chasing an audience. It didnt attract the adoration of the youths, as intended,with its selectionof Anne Hathaway and James Franco. (If anything, it chased away those whoalready were fans of the ceremony.) It didnt win back the establishment byplaying to tradition with its reactionary hiringof Billy Crystal the following year. Reactionary hirings in general have been a disaster for theAcademy, be it Crystal in response to the Hathaway-Franco debacle or, thefollowing year, the raunch-and-roaststylings of Seth MacFarlane to swing the pendulum in the opposite directionof taste. Playing it down the middle isnt always the greatest idea. Perhapsno awards host is more seasoned and celebrated than Neil Patrick Harris, but hedidntexactly pull off any magic tricksthough he literally triedwhen he landedthe most prestigious hosting gig in 2015. And the combination of Steve Martinand Alec Baldwin was similarly unmemorable in 2010. That said, the so-called boring choice has been a provenone. Ellen DeGeneres hosting two of the best-reviewed telecasts in the lastdecade with her performances in 2007 and 2014, proving that going mainstreamand middling works. More, if you think about how great Hugh Jackmans hostingturn was in 2009 when combined with DeGeneress, the lesson might be that asense of humor that is, for lack of a better word, nice is the safest thingto do. Is Jimmy Kimmel nice? As he proved at the Emmys this year,he deftly walks a balance where he can poke fun but is not toomean-spirited. He can address elephants in the room, but hes not going topoach them, per se, as much as hell just prod at them. Might it have been a bolder choice to, say, hire a host whowas going to ruthlessly go after Donald Trump and the scary things happening inour country right now? That might have arguably been necessary, or even noble, givenHollywoods endless speechifying about its players politics. Kimmel did open the Emmys, if you remember, witha Trump takedowneven if hes not the first name you think of when youconsider political comedians. But bold choices tend not to work, historically, at theOscars. Jimmy Kimmel? He just might. CHARLESTON, South Carolina A judge declared a mistrial after a jury failed to reach a unanimous decision in the murder trial of former policeman Michael Slager, who killed unarmed motorist Walter Scott by shooting him in the back last year. The jury returned their decision after a tense weekend in which Slagers fate rested on a knifes edge. On Friday, after deliberating for more than two days, the jury indicated in notes to a judge that they were deadlocked 11 to 1, the majority in favor of convicting Slager for either murder or manslaughter. Though the lone holdout communicated to the judge that I cannot and will not change my mind, and the trial seemed on the verge of being declared a mistrial, the jury foreman said late Friday that he believed more deliberations would be beneficial. Judge Clifton Newman then ordered the jury to take the weekend off and return Monday morning to try and forge unanimous agreement. They couldn't. "We as the jury regret to inform the court that despite the best efforts of all members we are unable to come to a unanimous decision," they told the judge, who then declared a mistrial. The verdict capped a month-long trial that focused on a minutes-long foot chase between Slager and Scott on April 4, 2015, in North Charleston, South Carolina. Scott had fled from North Charleston policeman Slager during a traffic stop, initiating a chase and struggle that ended with Slager shooting Scott five times in the back. A bystanders video captured much of the incident, provoking outrage over another police shooting of an unarmed black man. As the mistrial was declared by Judge Clifton Newman on Monday, Slagers wife and mother linked arms in the courtroom. Slagers wife declined to speak immediately afterward, as did Slagers attorney Andy Savage. Moments later, Scotts family and their attorneys spoke outside the courthouse on a chilly, damp December day. They were upbeat, stating that justice had merely been delayed, not thwarted, and that they looked forward to a related federal trial of Slager for alleged civil rights violations and an eventual retrial at the county courthouse, which local prosecutors have indicated will occur. If you thought we were going to come out crying, weeping, weak, then you dont know the Scott family, said family attorney Chris Sewart. That was Round One [Slager] may have delayed justice but he did not escape it. Scotts mother, Judy Scott, said her religious faith gave her the strength to endure a six-week trial and the disappointing verdict it produced. Its not over. Yall hear me? said Judy Scott, firmly. Its not over til God says its over. We have the federal trial and another trial, she said. Im just waiting on the Lord. One of Walter Scotts brothers, Anthony Scott, urged that any protest of the verdict be peaceful and that people remain patient. Were gonna trust God, he said. Were not gonna tear up this city. Anthony Scott praised the local prosecutor, Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, for her performance during the trial. The solicitor did a phenomenal job on this case, he said. With the facts presented to the jury, they had everything they needed. While notes from the jury to the judge on Friday seemed to indicate a lone holdout, the split among jurors as to whether to convict Slager of murder or manslaughter remained unclear Monday. In questions to the judge on Monday before becoming irretrievably deadlocked, the jury asked for multiple explanations of terms like imminent fear malice aforethought and heat of passion, aiming to parse the differences between murder, manslaughter and self defense, as defined by South Carolina law. Before the case was handed to the jury, much of the trial focused on the bystanders video of the encounter between Slager and Scott, where Scott can be seen slipping from Slagers grip and running away from the officer. Meanwhile, Slager unholsters his firearm and shoots eight bullets at Scott, the first shot ringing out when Scott is 18 feet away with his back to the officer. The video did not capture the men struggling seconds earlier, when Slager had used a Taser to briefly subdue Scott and the men tussled on the ground. Slager testified during the trial that Scott had yanked his Taser out of his hands during the struggle and then charged toward him with the weapon, making the police scared for his life. At that point I pulled my firearm and pulled the trigger, he said. I fired until the threat was stopped as I was trained to do. The sole eyewitness to the incident, Feidin Santana, disputed Slagers account, declaring in his own testimony that Scott was never the aggressor and only sought to escape the policeman. Prosecutors speculated that Scott ran from the police because he owed child support payments and a warrant was out for his arrest. It wasnt a fight, said Santana. It was an injustice what I saw. Much of the trial revolved around Santanas video, which he filmed while he was walking to work at a barbershop. Beyond the shooting, the video showed its aftermath, when Slager jogged to retrieve his Taser from the ground after Scott fell, then dropped it beside the dead mans body, then picked it up again. Prosecutors accused Slager of meddling with the crime scene and lying to investigators about his actions. Slager denied wrongdoing and testified he could not remember moving the weapon. I dont know why I dropped it on the ground, but I picked it up a few seconds later, Slager testified. Slager is not entirely off the hook, as he still faces a civil trial by the U.S. Department of Justice for violating Scott's civil rights. The Slager verdict follows other recent legal conclusions to controversial police shootings of black men. Last month a mistrial was declared after jurors deadlocked in the murder trial of former University of Cincinnati officer Ray Tensing, whose shooting of unarmed motorist Sam DuBose in July 2015 was also caught on camera. On Wednesday, a Charlotte prosecutor announced a police officer acted lawfully in the killing of Keith Scott, a 43-year-old man who exited his vehicle with a gun on September 20 and ignored officers commands before being shot dead. Bombarded by President-Elect Donald Trumps election rhetoric promising to step up the campaign against the so-called Islamic State, Americans are more likely to accept torture and indiscriminate bombing of suspected terrorists than they were two decades ago, according to a poll by the International Committee of the Red Cross released Monday. The majority of those surveyed across more than a dozen countries including the United States still think bombing of populated areas and torturing detainees is wrong, according to the WINS/Gallup International poll, released by the ICRC. But rising numbers of people, especially Americans and Britons, said they are willing to accept less humane practices if it means winning the fight faster. Yet the survey also showed that people in places like Syria and Yemen believe the laws of war are needed, in an almost wistful expression of hope for a humanity that is absent in two conflicts that have killed civilians by the hundreds of thousands. They are still telling you despite of all that, we feel if we let go the limits of war, it will be ten times worse, said ICRC Director-General Yves Daccord in an interview. The survey was conducted between June and September 2016 with 17,000 people in 16 countries, an update on a similar survey carried out by the ICRC in 1999. It specifically asked people what they thought of torture, rather than using the Bush-era terms like enchanced interrogation techniques like water boarding, ice baths, and sleep deprivation. Overall, two-thirds of those surveyed said torture was wrong, but more were willing to agree to harsh interrogation of detainees than in 1999. The results are disturbing for a humanitarian organization that was set up to remind all on the battlefield to follow the laws of war as set out in the Geneva Conventionsespecially how citizens of leading nations like the U.S. and Britain seem more comfortable with harsh practices than ever before. ICRC officials see a further irony in that the 15-plus years of war since the attacks of September 11, 2001, on New York and Washington, D.C. have seen their relationships grow closer with seasoned American, British, and other Western military leaders, who see the laws of war as crucial to helping their troops both maintain their own humanityand win over the opposition by carefully hitting the enemy and not civilians, and by treating that enemy humanely after capture. In the U.S. in the last 15 years, torture seems like something which is accepted, as something that you use as a tool to get information, whereas the military interestingly enough will tell you this is not at all the tool you need to use, said ICRC Director-General Daccord. Not only is it not good for human dignity, but it doesnt provide you with the right information. That echoes the conversation relayed by President-Elect Trump with his nominee for Secretary of Defense, retired four-star Marine General James Mattis. Trump said hed asked Mattis about his views on torture, and was surprised when Mattis said hed gotten further with a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers, rather than applying pain. Red Cross officials hear that a lot in their discussions with U.S. military leaders, Daccord said. If the military of their country are leading in that direction, I would say, follow them! Its a point of view Trump may be hearing from other quarters of his transition team. Though transition team officials did not respond to requests for comment, a legal expert at the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation, which is advising the Trump transition, echoed Red Cross concerns over the polling results. The United States will never go back to waterboarding or any form of torture, something I believe the vast majority of the military, intelligence community and American public would never condone, said House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Adam Schiff, D-Calif., in a statement to The Daily Beast. Not only is it immoral, but it is also unconstitutional, ineffective and violative of both U.S. and international law. Forty-six percent of Americans surveyed think that captured enemy combatants may be tortured to obtained important military information, and thirty-three percent think torture is part of war, according to the ICRC poll, said Heritage fellow Cully Stimson in a statement Monday. These are disturbing numbers because torture is a crime, and banned under domestic and international law. Most of the leaders of the Congressional armed services or intelligence committees declined to comment, but that sentiment was echoed by House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Adam Schiff, D-Calif. The United States will never go back to waterboarding or any form of torture, something I believe the vast majority of the military, intelligence community and American public would never condone, Schiff said in a statement to The Daily Beast. Not only is it immoral, but it is also unconstitutional, ineffective and violative of both U.S. and international law. On the more encouraging side for humanitarians, over two-thirds of all those surveyed think war should have limits, and nearly half think the Geneva Conventions keeps them from getting worse. Ironically, while three-quarters of those surveyed believe attacks on hospitals and health-care providers are wrong, Russians actually outpaced Americans and Brits in their disapproval of such attacks an irony in that U.S. officials frequently accuse the Russians of indiscriminate attacks in Crimea or in Syria on behalf of the Bashar Assad regime. Update 12/5, 12:17pm: This story has been updated to include a quote from the Heritage Foundation, which advises the Trump transition team. NICE, FranceAlain de Benoist is the prolific and quintessentially Gallic icon of Frances New Right, the political and philosophical school of thought that formed in Nice in January 1968and somehow wound up as a principal inspiration for Americas alt-right. Benoist, 72, and Guillaume Faye, 67, another key figure in the often-controversial Nouvelle Droite who later broke with Benoist, are far from household names in Europe or the United States. But references to these two elderly French intellectuals pop up regularly in the alt-right and pro-Donald Trump forums on Reddit and 4chan. Their work is reviewed and promoted by many key white nationalists in the U.S., including Richard Spencer and Greg Johnson. Ideas cribbed from the New Right, which peaked in the 1970s, are also part of the engine fueling the rapid rise of the extreme right in Europe, including the brand-new, anti-immigration National Party in Ireland, whose first meeting at a five-star hotel in Dublin was canceled this week after a public outcry. In particular, Fayes Why We Fighta call to whites to unite against the colonization of Europe by non-whiteshas become the literary cri de coeur for right-wing nationalists all over the world, from 65-year-old Jared Taylor, the founder and editor of the white-supremacist American Renaissance magazine, to a young Swedish man called The Golden One who has thousands of followers on YouTube, to a 28-year-old Paris-based porn star-turned-alt-right goddess named Electre. Earlier this year, Benoist and Faye were cited as dangerous influences by the Southern Poverty Law Center, alongside Rush Limbaugh and the Ku Klux Klan, after Breitbart News published a video made by members of the European anti-immigrant Identitarian youth movement. The Identitarians formed in France in 2002 before spreading throughout Europeand they also cite Frances New Right as inspiration. Breitbart News calls them right-wing hipsters, and they champion Donald Trump as much as they do far-right politicians all over Europe, especially Frances Marine Le Pen of the National Front. Benoist could have hardly imagined that one day hed help lead the charge against cuckservatives the world over. Reached at his home in Paris this week, he laughed and then started coughing when asked if he ever envisioned that the ideas contained in his more than 100 bookssuch as Manifesto for a European Renaissance or On Being a Paganand his more than 2,000 articles could ever be linked with the real-estate developer soon to occupy the White House and his consigliere, Steve Bannon, the former chairman of Breitbart News. Monsieur Trump? said Benoist. I know him only by reputation. Monsieur Bannon, non. I know nothing of their milieu and I find it hard to believe they know much about mine. Benoists history with the New Right is as complicated as the movement itself, which was labeled racist and fascist in its early years but was more rooted in populist ultranationalism and opposed to multiculturalism, immigration, and the idea of the American melting pot forced on European culture than anything else. The New Right grew out of the think tank called GRECE, formed in Nice, and was largely an academic pursuit into the early to mid-1970s, when it morphed into a set of ideals that led to various nationalist parties like Frances National Front. Benoist, once the culture editor at Le Figaro, told The Daily Beast he feels some of the alt-right is white supremacist but rejects that label himself, and indeed he has written extensively against racism. Hes also long been opposed to the National Front, though many others in the New Right have been allied with it. He considers Faye, long the bad cop to Benoists good cop in the Nouvelle Droite, to be an extremist. Yet while Benoist claims to know little about the alt-right, he and Faye have appeared at white-nationalist conferences in the U.S., including Jared Taylors annual American Renaissance conference. Greg Johnson, who runs the Counter-Currents website, and other white nationalists told The Daily Beast theyve met de Benoist at conferences in the U.S. and Europe, and have communicated with him over the years while overseeing translations of his books. Yet Benoist said their names were barely familiar to him. The French New Right has been a big influence on me and the alt-right, Johnson told The Daily Beast. Benoist and Faye come up with great stuff. Europes being colonized by Islam. They replicate their forms of society within our forms of society, and the end result is that we will lose our homelands. Faye tries to understand why people wont defend their own. After the Charlie Hebdo massacre, the French were more concerned with Islamophobia than with those who were massacred for their opinions. Benoist and Faye owe one white nationalist in particular for the spread of their work outside the French-speaking world. Daniel Friberg, 38, a Swedish-born former mining executive, began Arktos, now the biggest alt-right publishing company in the world, seven years ago. Friberg grew up happily in a small, homogenous town in Sweden with what he said were leftist liberal parents. All that changed, he said, when at 13 he went to junior high school, where there were many immigrant students, part of the first wave of the large-scale immigration that began in Sweden in the mid-1980s. I had been taught to think multiculturalism was great until I experienced it, Friberg told The Daily Beast. But the reality was a culture shock. The media and everyone else told me that it was all good. It was a rude awakening. It wasnt good. There was a lot of chaos, crime, drugs, bringing guns to school, you name it. Feeling hed been lied to by everyone and wanting to understand this transformation Sweden was undergoing, Friberg started reading political-science books voraciously, in particular Benoist and Faye. Even though Friberg had only a schoolboy knowledge of French, he understood the texts. The French New Right books were the first I read, and they were an eye-opener for me, Friberg said. I couldnt find anything in them I disagreed with. In 2009 Friberg left his day job to start Arktos and Right On, a blog for the alt-right. One of the first things he did was approach Benoist and Faye, and buy the rights to publish their most popular books in Englishand later other languages. Weve red-pilled people all over the world, even China and India, with these books, Friberg said, using the term favored by the alt-right to describe the process of turning others on to their ideas. Many of our customers are surprisingly young and surprisingly well-educated. Many are former leftists who as we like to say [are] former members of the regressive left. A lot are disenfranchised libertarians. Friberg has written his own book, The Real Right Returns, and like pretty much everyone in the alt-right universe, he is thrilled with Trumps election. Wed be growing with or without him, Friberg said. But now its clear. Right-wing populism is here to stay. When he was alive, Fidel Castro divided Latinos. The Castro-led revolution in 1959 that sent Fulgencio Batista to exile in Portugal divided those folks who were haves under Batista from the have nots. And then, as refugees fled Cuba and settled in South Florida, he divided the Cubans who stayed on the island from those who left it. But Castro was just getting warmed up. He also reached across the ocean and into the Latino community in the United States. And then he proceeded to divide one Latino from another in this country. As you may have figured out long ago, umbrella terms like Latino or Hispanic are a tad too broad to be of much use. In reality, the 54 million people in the United States whose ancestral roots are in Latin America have little in common besides Catholicism, immigrant roots, and the fact that some of them speak Spanishor at least did once upon a time. Castro worsened the division. Cuban-Americans who curse his name for oppressing his own people squabble with Mexican-Americans who marvel at how he stood up to the United States. Even as a Mexican-American, when it comes to Castro, I side with my Cuban-American friends. At the moment, I share their disdain for left-leaning baby boomers in the media who continue to romanticize a brutal dictator who killed, starved, and oppressed his own people. Lets not forget that Castroduring the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962demanded that the Russians launch a nuclear strike against the United States if Cuba was invaded to rid the island of Russian missiles. This man was no saint. And so Im happy for my Cuban-American friends. They and their families have suffered so much for so long . Imagine not being able to go home for your mothers funeral, or never seeing your brother or sister again for the rest of your life. But having said that, I also understand whynot just in Mexico or within elements of the Mexican-American population in the United States but also throughout Latin America, a region of the world that has long had to deal with meddling and even violent coups due to Yankee imperialism by the United Statesso many folks south of the border are celebrating the life of the one guy who stood up to the United States time and again, and who ultimately diedas CBS News put itnot as a result of a CIA assassination attempt but on his own terms. Its no wonder that Castro has caused so much tension between Latinos for more than 50 years. One reason it didnt surface more often is geography. Cuban-Americans are concentrated in Miami, and Mexican-Americans in the Southwest. Still, when these folks find themselves in the same room, or on the same panel, or on the same television live feed and the subject of Castro comes up, there are often fireworks. It happened, most famously, in 2000, when an international custody battle over a 6-year-old Cuban boy who was headed to Florida on a raft captivated the nations attention. Ive always argued that we should never have sent Elian Gonzalez back to Cuba, where Castro turned the boys life into a massive anti-U.S. propaganda machine. Any more than we would have entertained the idea, during the Cold War, of taking those children who were lucky enough to escape East Germany and tossing them back over the Berlin Wall. The Elian Gonzalez dramaand how differently some people reacted to itput the spotlight on this division between Mexicans and Cubans in the United States. Mexican-Americans value family, Cuban-Americans value freedom. The former wanted to send Elian back to his father in Cuba, the latter wanted to keep him in the Land of The Freethe place his mother, who died at sea, gave her life to try to reach. Often lumped together under an umbrella term like Latino or Hispanic, these are really two totally different groups of people. Theyre the Mars and Venus of the Latino community. And so, given all the division that Castro has wrought over the last half century, it would be awfully poetic if, in death, the ruthless Cuban tyrant actually brought Latinos together. That would end the politics of divide and conquer. Imagine if Latinos could combine the wealth of Cuban-Americans who have influence in the Republican Party with the numbers represented by Mexican-Americanswho make up about two thirds of the total U.S. Latino population, or 36 million people, and who have become an important part of the Democratic Party coalition. How do we get there? We need three things: respect, humility, and empathy. We need to respect where each other is coming from. We need to be humble enough to admit that we dont know everything, and havent had every experience. And we need to be empathetic enough to accept that, even if we dont feel each others pain and suffering, we can at least defer to it. But alas, these qualities are in short supply in America these days. And not just when it comes to Castro. Pivoting from one divisive demagogue to another, its been nearly a month since Donald Trump was elected president, and many Latinos are still in shock. Theyre angry, scared, and frustrated. And, to tell you the truth, theyre also feeling stabbed in the back by the folks in their circle of acquaintances who voted for Trumpfriends, neighbors, in-laws, and even, in some cases, relatives. Those who are close to usknowing how Trump had gone out of his way during the last 18 months to demonize, torment, marginalize, and bully Mexicans and Mexican-Americansshould be more sensitive to our fears and concerns. This includes Cuban-Americans, who figured prominently into the surprisingly strong showing that Trump had with Latino voters. In Florida, as much as 50 percent of Latinos voted for the Republican nominee, according to some polls. Despite the fact that there is a large presence of Colombian-Americans and Puerto Ricans now living in the Sunshine State, Cuban-Americans still constitute the largest single Latino group in the state. So we can assume that this is where Trump drew much of his support. Now many Mexican-Americans would like to ask their Cuban-American cousins: How could you support someone like that and still look us in the face? Ironically, its the same question that Cuban-Americans have asked their Mexican-American cousins about Castro for nearly six decades: How could you support someone like that and still look us in the face? When it comes to rallying around Trump, Cuban-Americans need to be more respectful, humble and empathetic. The same goes for Mexican-Americans when it comes to eulogizing Castro. We Latinos can unify ourselves. But first, everyone just needs to get over themselves. The last time we saw Thandie Newtons rebellious robot Maeve in Westworlds penultimate season one episode, she was warning, Next time you go looking for the truth, get the whole thing. Its like a good fuck: Half is worse than nothing at all. Well now that weve seen Sunday nights season finale, we can say that we were certainly aroused, but ultimately leftas Maeve cautioneda bit creatively blue-balled. Major questions werent answered. Major plot twists were revealed that fans had figured out weeks before. And it all builds up to a rousing, though slightly confusing uprising that closes out the episode just as things were getting good. A lot of buildup, but ultimately frustration? Its the trajectory of Westworld, in general. The show arrived under unmeetable expectations that it be the next Game of Thrones. Its first episodes laid out this expansive universe and planted seeds of plot all over the damn place, only to annoy us when they werent sprouting fast enough. Literally, this show sometimes moved so glacially it felt like watching grass grow. Some characters were criminally underdeveloped (ahem, James Marsdens Teddy). Some mysteries were flat-out uninteresting. And, because of persistent foreshadowing and because of our familiarity with Michael Crichton's 1973 film the series shares source material with, we were waiting for a big, bloody uprising only to be given about 90 seconds of it. Thats not to say that Sunday nights finale wasnt thrilling. When it wasnt painfully confusingat one point two characters analyzed a Michelangelo paintingthere were sequences of television more cinematic and visually exquisite than most television has ever dared to be. And there were some pretty great twists, too. The first twist came when The Man in Black (Ed Harris) finally reveals to Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) that he is actually William (Jimmi Simpson). Nothing on television this fall has been less surprising. Fans have been theorizing about this twist longer than they whispered about Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) actually being a host made in the image of park creator Arnold. Not only were they right on both counts, but they even guessed tangential specifics about the reveals. We learn that at the center of the maze is literally a maze. A toy maze. Arnold left it there as a test for hosts who would become sentient. If they could find it, it meant that it was too dangerous for the park to open. When Dolores found it years and years ago before the park even opened, Arnold fought with Dr. Ford (Anthony Hopkins), who overruled him and decided to go forward with the launch. To sabotage him, Arnold programmed Dolores to kill all the other hostsenlisting Teddys help. Those flashbacks of Teddy and the mysterious Wyatt mowing down all the other hosts? It turns out that Wyatt was actually Dolores. (A bit of a lets make this up as we go along twist.) Then, realizing that hed need more than a robot massacre to keep the park from opening, Arnold programs Dolores to take a human life: his. We watch Dolores shoot Arnold in the head in a flashback scene. Meanwhile, The Man in Black is pissed that the maze hes spent decades chasing is just a damn toy. And, sir, I agree. Hes so angry that he starts stabbing Dolores, who is rescued by Teddy and finally taken to this place where the mountains meet the sea that she wouldnt stop going on about. Evan Rachel Wood is saddled with some gruesomely melodramatic dialogue in these scenes, but damn if the skilled actress doesnt tear into every last word of it. Just when things seem like they cant get any more maudlinTeddy cradling a whimpering Dolores as she bled to death, moonlight reflecting off the ocean waves behind them, the sappiest score imaginable swellingits revealed that the scene is actually the start of Dr. Fords mysterious new narrative. Teddy and Dolores had been performing the scripted dialogue in front of the narratives glitzy unveiling, attended by DELOS board members in fancy gowns. Dr. Ford reactivates Dolores and Teddy, who resurface at the gala. As Dr. Ford announces that this new narrative will be his last, given his forced retirement, he tells the crowd the story begins with the birth of a new people, and the choices theyll have to make and the people they will decide to become. Whatever the hell that means. And then Dolores shoots him in the head, begins shooting at the other board members, and an army of lobotomized hosts emerge from the woods and start their robot uprising. Its eerie, and shocking, and what the entire season had built towards. Fords final narrative turned the sentient hosts against his enemiesall these board members who had been seeking to shut him down. Maybe his goal and Arnolds goal was one in the same. Were going to have to wait until season two to find out. And, Jesus Christ, all this and we havent even gotten to Maeve yet. The series, clearly, is a feat of editing. Such a feat, in fact, that lazier viewers may not have noticed. And when it comes to Westworld, anything short of tuning into each episode multiple times armed with spreadsheets and copious notes should be considered lazy. The shows multiple timeline structure might be one of the most ambitious and layered narrative challenges a series with this much popularity has embarked on, and it was executed with precisionso much precision, in fact, that most episodes were immensely confusing. Some of the shows fans relished in that uncertaintymounting fan theories, connecting the dots, and enjoying the stargazing at the shows constellation of plots and timelines. Others simply grew sick and tired of never knowing what the hell was going on. For the latter group, too, the grievance didnt lie solely in frustration over being confused. A challenging show with large scope is commendable, and its what we supposedly crave in this new age of #peakTV. Their issue was that, for them, the characters and journeys teased and explored in some of those more confusing arcs werent interesting enough to merit the kind of investment required to make sense of things. When Vultures Brian Tallerico, for example, published ahead of the finale a guide to the shows multiple timelines and flashbacks, I tweeted how valuable the handiwork was for those of us who have been too bored to pay close enough attention to pick up on the editing tricks and narrative sleight of hand. Personally, and its alright if Im out on an island here (though I suspect Im at the very least part of an archipelago), I couldnt give a shit about the maze. Sure, the maze is the whole point of the show. But whoo-ee did I zone out every time The Man in Black was going on about it, or when Dolores and William were looking for the center of it, or anytime Teddy spoke. In fact, anytime the show was in the actual Westworld park, I shrugged my shoulders. More Maeve, please, was generally my reaction to any episode of the show. To that regard, even with a robot uprising on the horizon it was Maeve who stole this episode. After the damage she suffered in her suicidal fire, she is completely rebuilt, with Felix (Leonardo Nam) subbing out her vertebrae with one that wont explode when she attempts to leave the park. Getting out of the park, it turns out, was a bloodier experience than anyone expected, with Rodrigo Santoros Hector and Ingrid Bols Berdals Armistice in full Terminator mode as her accomplices. (From biting off a techs finger to severing something even ghastlier in the finales post-credits scene, Armistice is giving Maeve a run for her Westworlds biggest badass money.) The whole thing had a heist element to it that gave the sequences more of a pulseone that barely beat under the battle scenes and carnage that littered the Old West in the Westworld park. Maeve learns from Bernard, who she gets Felix to reactivate following last episodes suicide, that she has actually been programmed to make this escape plan; that its not a rebellion shes making of her self-aware free will. Its devastating news for Maeve, who flat-out refuses to believe it: Bullshit! No ones controlling me. Im leaving. These momentsMaeves increasing sentience, the questions about who is controlling who, the mysteries about Arnold and Bernard and what they had plannedwere for my money the best arcs of the first season. It made the payoff of watching her strut out onto that train to finally leave the park so much more gratifying, and then her decision to get off the train and head back into it to find her daughter all the more gutting. For all this talk about robots, you have to be able to relate on a human, emotional level to these characters. Maeve is the only one they pulled that off for. But regardless of your feelings towards Maeves botched escape, the glimpse at the uprising, or the anticlimactic reveal about The Man in Black and William, there are so many more unanswered questions that are likely to leave fans frustrated. What did DELOS want with the host codes that they were trying to smuggle out of the park? Was it Dr. Fords plan all along to launch this uprising? Where the hell is this theme park and what year is it? And what of the fate of my favorite character, the fly? The mark of a good season finale, of course, is to answer enough questions to satisfy viewers and leave enough unanswered for you to want to come back for more. Of course, given the amount of fascination theres been with Westworlds first season, and the sure-to-be vocal reaction to Sunday nights finale, its us who dont have control. Weve already been programmed to return. The private files outlining hidden agreements in the Iran nuclear deal may be released in one of President Donald Trumps first actions in office. Senior officials who will be part of the Trump administration are already discussing what so-far-unseen information about the Iran agreement they will be able to make public after January, according to an individual who has participated in those conversations. Releasing Iran nuclear deal documents would be cheered on by hawkish lawmakers who have opposed the agreement, and bolstered by cabinet appointees who have long called for transparency about it. Michael Flynn, who has been tapped for national security adviser, and Mike Pompeo, who has been picked for CIA director, have both long been bullish on providing transparency on internal information regarding Iran. My guess is that they will be very forthcoming, a grinning Sen. Bob Corker, the chairman of the foreign relations committee who has been named a potential candidate for Trumps secretary of state, told The Daily Beast. Theyll be more than desirous in ensuring thats the case. The release of these documents echo President Obamas early decision to release the legal justification approving the CIAs interrogation program during President George W. Bushs tenure, in the sense that the incoming administration wants to release potentially embarrassing documents in hopes of turning the page on the last administrations actions. In the case of the Iran nuclear deal, there are many unclassified documents that have been held by the Obama administration in tightly-controlled security environments that effectively make it impossible for the public to see them. The American people know the Iran deal is bad. I can tell you its even worse than most people think. The Obama Administration has long known its position is indefensible, so theyve chosen to hide unclassified documents from the public, said Rep. Peter Roskam, an Illinois Republican and an Iran deal critic. If this information is not classified, it should be made available to the public. To keep them out of public view, these documents have been held throughout the U.S. Capitol complex in Sensitive Compartmentalized Information Facilities, or SCIFs, which are built to shield top secret information. State Department protocol requires these documents can only be viewed by lawmakers and Congressional staff with a certain level of security clearanceeven though they are unclassified. The Trump administration could soon release three sets of Iran-related documents which have been stored in this manner. Because they are not classified, they would not need to go through a rigorous and lengthy declassification process. One group is 17 unclassified documents related to the Iran nuclear agreement, including a projection of how Irans nuclear research and development could progress over time, and letters between various foreign ministers and Secretary of State John Kerry. The second group includes documents signed by senior State Department official Brett McGurk, outlining the terms of a much-criticized prisoner swap in which four Americans were released in prison in exchange for the transfer of $1.7 billion in cash to Irana deal that Trump himself lambasted frequently during the presidential campaign. And the third group includes documents outlining the secret exemptions to the nuclear deal that Iran was allowed. These exemptions were approved by a joint commission created by the deal to oversee its implementation. All three sets of documents are unclassified, a senior Republican Senate aide said. Emails reviewed by The Daily Beast showed that despite this fact, a confidential clearance was required to see the McGurk documents and a secret classification was required to view the joint commission documents in the Congressional SCIFs. The Obama administration didnt want wide readership and wanted to create hurdles for Congressional staff to see it, said a senior GOP Congressional aide. I hope when President Trump comes to office, he makes the Obama administration the most transparent in history. Because they have not been transparent. The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment. But a State Department official outlined the Obama administrations rationale for not publicizing the sensitive information in these documents. Some of the file could have an effect on ongoing litigation, while others include closely-guarded information from the IAEA, the official said, adding, we have transmitted relevant documents to Congress in a fashion that both protects sensitive information while giving all members the ability to review them Disclosure of this information beyond members of Congress and staff could adversely affect the diplomatic relations of the United States. But the possibility of these documents being released to the public has united longtime critics of both Trump and the Iran nuclear agreement. Hidden but unclassified Iranian nuclear deal documents ought to be released, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez told The Daily Beast Thursday. Added Republican Sen. John McCain later, Everything should be made public. I support that effort. Everything should be made clear to the American people. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan (Liberal Democratic Party) soberly remembers the lessons of Pearl Harbor: A surprise attack can strike a devastating blow. By announcing his intentions, on the night of Dec. 5 in Tokyo, to pay respect to the dead in Hawaii this month, he effectively killed off all debate on a strongly opposed and controversial casino bill being pushed through Japans parliament at the moment. Its a safe bet the mainstream media and the de facto LDP-controlled state media NHK will capture all eyes pontificating on this and U.S.-Japan relations while the casino legislation goes forward. It was passed through a committee under the noses of the Japanese media, who admittedly were caught off guard. Abe told a group of reporters at his office Monday night that he will visit Pearl Harbor with President Barack Obama at the end of the month. For Abe, the visit serves four purposes. It shows that Japan values its alliance with the U.S. before the possibly Japan-hostile Trump administration takes over. It shows he is, at least on the surface, sorry for Japans aggression in World War II. It allows him to take his place in history as the first sitting Japanese prime minister to officially visit Pearl Harbor, just as Obama, in May, was the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima. But it also serves to distract public debate about the casino laws being rushed into place. More than half of Japanese surveyed oppose the introduction of casinos, believing it is not in the public interest. Last Friday, legislation to legalize them in Japan passed a lower-house committee after just six hours of debate. The Mainich Newspaper wrote that even the LDPs coalition partner party, Komeito, was caught off guard. Japans mainstream media felt like it had been sucker-punched and condemned the move in blistering editorials. In addition to criticism of the casino laws, the failure of his administration to allow the ailing emperor of Japan to abdicate the throne in a timely or considerate fashion has raised hackles. But with the surprise announcement, for a time, Abes historic visit will occupy Japans political reporters. And the casino bills will probably slip past and be made into law with minimal scrutiny. In Japan, timing is everything. This is why prosecutors leaked their decision not to charge TEPCO utility executives for criminal negligence for the Fukushima nuclear disaster on the same day that Japan won the 2020 Summer Olympics bid. No one is more adept at burying a story than Japanese authorities. There were, of course, hints the visit would take place, dating back to Obamas Hiroshima visit, and this August when Abes much-liked wife, Akie, traveled to Hawaii. She posted on Facebook that she had visited the memorial to the U.S.S. Arizona in Pearl Harbor and offered prayers and flowers. The gesture was reasonably well-received. Speaking to reporters at the prime minister's office, Abe said his visit was intended to console the souls of the victims (giseisha) in Pearl Harbor. His use of the word giseisha is wonderfully vagueit not only refers to the U.S. soldiers killed, but it also the Japanese soldiers that died in the battle. NHK, the public broadcaster that has become the propaganda machine of the Abe administration, reported that he would mourn those killed in the battle, who were centrally American. In other words, Abe will get to have his cake and eat it too. There will be a non-apology apology in which Abe will probably intone that the tragedy of war should never be repeated. Will he specifically acknowledge Japan started the war? Judging by his 70th-anniversary speech, probably not. NHK also referred to the attack on Pearl Harbor obliquely as the incident which became the origin of the war (against the Allies). We must never repeat the horrors of war, Abe said at the press conference Monday evening. I want future generations to understand this. I also want to make this an opportunity to communicate the value of the reconciliation between Japan and the United States. He also said he wants his meeting with Obama to be a chance to show to the world his resolve to maintain and strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance. President-elect Donald Trumps comments that Japan wasnt pulling its weight in the current Japan-U.S. alliance and should bear a larger financial and military burden have shaken the Japanese public and political sphere. They may have also contributed to a slight rise in Abes popularity. Abe said he had been considering a visit to Pearl Harbor since the 70th anniversary of the end of the war. He asserted that he and Obama made the decision to visit the site together when they met in Lima in November. The talk with Obama came after just after Abes face-to-face session with President-elect Donald Trump in New York. 1 Federal Judge Orders Michigan Recount to Begin Monday HERE WE GO 1 Prosecutor Vows: We Will Try Michael Slager Again NOT DONE YET SPECIAL REPORT: Whisky Awards announced International Beverage, Alan Winchester, Malts of Scotland and Ian Millar of William Grant & Sons were recognised in Whisky Magazine's top awards. The finest products, companies and individuals were recognised at one of Whisky Magazines most prestigious awards ceremonies held at the Surgeons Hall, Edinburgh on Friday December 2, 2016. Whisky author and writer Charlie MacLean, hosted a lunch for the Scotch whisky industry alongside Whisky Magazine's managing editor Rupert Wheeler, and Scotland contributing editor Gavin D Smith. Guests made the journey from all across Scotland, including the Islands, to take part in the celebrations. During the afternoon, three of the magazines top awards were presented including: Icons of Whisky Scotland 2017 Independent Bottlers Challenge 2016 Hall of Fame Icons of Whisky Awards recognise and celebrate the finest companies and individuals in the whisky industry. With the India and Rest of World regional winners already announced, the time has come to reveal those receiving an award in the Scotland stage. Regional winners of each category will battle it out against each other for the overall Global title, judged by the magazines expert editorial panel and announced at the Whisky Magazine Awards dinner in London. Rupert Wheeler, managing editor, Whisky Magazine says: "As managing editor of Whisky Magazine, it is a privilege to be involved in these awards. Our Independent Bottlers Challenge rewards the independent companies that play such an important part in producing a unique range of whiskies while the Icons of Whisky pay tribute to the expertise that go into each bottle of scotch. "Our Hall of Fame recognises those people who have made a longstanding contribution to the world of whisky. I would like to congratulate both Ian Millar and Charles MacLean on being inducted this year. I first met Charlie in Bengaluru, India in 2014 where we were presenting the Icons of Whisky India awards. I have never witnessed a more appreciative audience as when Charlie addressed the haggis. A superb evening enjoyed by so many whisky enthusiasts... thats what whisky is all about. "And finally I would like to thank the international panel of judges and our sponsors for helping make these awards so worthwhile and rewarding." THE RESULTS Distiller of the year sponsored by Glencairn Crystal Winner: International Beverage (Inver House Distillers) Highly Commended: Beam Suntory Brand Innovator of the year sponsored by Multi Packaging Solutions Winner: Tomatin Distillery Company Highly Commended: Douglas Laing & Co Visitor Attraction of the year sponsored by Christies Winner: Highland Park Distillery Highly Commended: Speyside Cooperage Visitor Centre Craft Producer of the year sponsored by Wade Winner: Glasgow Distillery Company Highly Commended: Arbikie Highland Estate Master Distiller / Master Blender of the year Winner: Alan Winchester, The Glenlivet Distillery Highly Commended: Dr Craig Wilson, Diageo Distillery Manager of the year sponsored by Broxburn Properties Winner: Keith Cruickshank, Benromach Distillery Company Highly Commended: Gordon Bruce Knockdhu Distillery Scotch Whisky Brand Ambassador of the year sponsored by Procurus Winner: George S Grant, J&G Grant (Glenfarclas) Highly Commended: Gordon Dundas, Beam Suntory Visitor Attraction Manager of the year Winner: Rikki Scott, Aberlour Distillery Highly Commended: Leigh Aitken, Lagavulin Distillery Multiple Outlets Retailer sponsored by Amrut Distilleries Winner: Robert Graham Highly Commended: Drinkmonger Single Outlet Retailer of the year Winner: Gordon & MacPhail Highly Commended: Royal Mile Whiskies Online Retailer of the year Winner: Royal Mile Whiskies, www.royalmilewhiskies.com Highly Commended: Robbies Whisky Merchants, www.robbieswhiskymerchants.com Travel Retailer of the year sponsored by Steklarna Hrastnik Winner: World of Whiskies, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports Highly Commended: The Fly Nip Whisky Shop, Inverness Airport Supermarket of the year Winner: Tesco Highly Commended: Lidl For full Icons of Whisky results including shortlists, go to www.iconsofwhisky.com INDEPENDENT BOTTLERS CHALLENGE THE RESULTS Non-Scotch Independent Bottler of the year Celtic Whiskey Shop Campbeltown Independent Bottler of the year The Scotch Malt Whisky Society Grain Independent Bottler of the year Malts of Scotland Highland Independent Bottler of the year Douglas Laing & Co Islands Independent Bottler of the year That Boutique-y Whisky Company Islay Independent Bottler of the year Malts of Scotland Lowland Independent Bottler of the year The Vintage Malt Whisky Company Speyside Independent Bottler of the year Malts of Scotland THE INDEPENDENT BOTTLER OF THE YEAR 2016 Malts of Scotland This independent bottler is based in Germany and has distributors worldwide. The company offers a range of highly exclusive whiskies from over 80 Scottish distilleries to the trade, whisky clubs and to individuals. Malts of Scotland provides a cask selection service with a tasting in the warehouse. If required, the team will produce individually labelled bottles complete with club, company or hotel logo. HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE No.37 Charles MacLean Author & Writer HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE No.38 Ian Millar Prestige Whisky Specialist William Grant & Sons 5 December 2016 - Sam Coyne The Drinks Report, editorial assistant Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Pearl Harbor with President Barack Obama later this month, becoming the first Japanese leader to visit the site of the attack on Hawaii 75 years ago that thrust America into World War II. The joint visit comes after Obama went to Hiroshima with Abe in May, becoming the first American leader to visit the site where the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb in 1945 to end Japan's involvement in the war. Abe said Monday that he would go to Hawaii on Dec. 26-27 to "pay tribute" to military personnel from both sides of the Pacific who died during the war. "This visit is to comfort the souls of the victims. We'd like to send messages about the importance of reconciliation [between the two countries]," Abe told reporters in Tokyo. The 75th anniversary of the attack falls this Wednesday, Dec. 7. The White House welcomed Abe's decision, confirming that Obama would accompany Abe to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor to honor those killed. "The two leaders' visit will showcase the power of reconciliation that has turned former adversaries into the closest of allies, united by common interests and shared values," Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said in a statement. "The meeting will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review our joint efforts over the past four years to strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance, including our close cooperation on a number of security, economic, and global challenges," he said. There had been speculation that Abe would reciprocate Obama's Hiroshima visit by coming to Pearl Harbor during the final days of Obama's second and final term - and during Obama's last annual two-week winter vacation as president. The prime minister's wife, Akie Abe, visited Pearl Harbor in August, laying flowers at the USS Arizona Memorial and meeting a survivor of the attack. But the prime minister's move will likely anger the more conservative forces in Abe's right-wing government, who promote a revisionist view of Japan's history and are seeking to restore Japan's pride in its imperialist past. While Abe shares some of these sympathies, he has also taken a pragmatic approach, issuing a statement expressing remorse for Japan's World War II actions on the 70th anniversary of his country's surrender last year. His government has also agreed on a final deal with South Korea to resolve the dispute over the Japanese army's wartime use of women as sex slaves, euphemistically known as "comfort women." Just before 8 a.m. Hawaii time on Dec. 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Almost 200 aircraft bombed the site over 30 minutes, destroying the USS Arizona among other naval vessels. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called the ambush "a date which will live in infamy," and the following day asked Congress to declare war on Japan. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although the two nations have long since become close allies, Obama and Abe have attempted to use the visits to bring closure to old grievances. Abe was the first foreign leader to meet with President-elect Donald Trump last month in New York. Tokyo has been alarmed at Trump's rhetoric on trade and security, and Abe said afterward he had " a very candid discussion" with him. --- The Washington Post's David Nakamura in Washington contributed to this report. Wiginton's analogy of white peoples "plight" offensive As someone with Eastern Cherokee blood in my veins I am deeply offended by Mr. (Preston) Wiginton's analogy of the so-called plight of the white people involving the Cherokees. The white settlers, who wanted the Eastern Cherokee's land, were responsible for their removal and the resulting Trail of Tears. This is one of the most shameful episodes in our history, along with the massacre of Native American men, women and children at Wounded Knee, South Dakota and the internment of our Japanese citizens during World War II . Robert McGee '62 College Station Young's response to Spencer's visit 'clear and appropriate' Certainly the positions taken by Richard Spencer are troubling. TAMU communication expert Jennifer Mercieca is quoted as saying that "[Free speech] ought to be protected, not at all costs, but at most costs." If, in fact, those words are accurate, they are of concern. Let me provide two examples that might cause one to pause: "Private property shall not be taken for public use, without just compensation in most cases, but not all cases," and "cruel and unusual punishments shall not be inflicted in most cases, but not all cases." Obviously, other examples could be envisioned. The Framers provided constitutional protections and guarantees for its citizens from government action in pretty direct language. The citizens have a right to change those protections through the amendment process, but they don't have the right to pick and choose when a particular amendment should or should not be applied based upon some factual scenario with which they disagree. Texas A&M President Michael Young has responded to the situation in a clear and appropriate way. Steve Smith Bryan Spencer wants controversy, should be ignored I agree (with The Eagle's editorial). I defend free speech. I also defend freewill. Petitions and protests relating to Spencer are what he wants. He may believe his lily white skin sets him apart (I doubt it, but maybe), but I believe his visit is about money and attention. Madeline O'Hara became wealthy on controversy - or her organization did. Spencer wants controversy. If ignored, he would soon be a distant memory. Lyrics of an Aerosmith song come to mind, "If you can judge a wise man by the color of his skin, then mister you're a better man than I..." Spencer isn't a better man than I, or you. Your editorial on free speech was good. Thank you. Randy Willis, '77 Ennis, Texas The ruling African National Congress (ANC) suggested that 700,000 jobs could be created around the unconventional gas industries. This is a figure taken from former Econometrix Institute. The first ANC speaker was Imamile Aubin Pikinini who told those present: "Eyes of patriots should be on what is good for the country." This might very well indicate that ANC executive decisions regarding the controversial drilling technique might have already been taken in favour. (The drilling technique is currently banned in France, Germany, and some states in the US among others.) Since 2011, South Africa's Petroleum Agency (PASA) has received a total of 11 onshore applications proposing unconventional gas exploration. Current applications are reviewed via Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA). These should determine the possible impacts of the proposed activities. Oil and gas companies' applications are at a relatively early stage during which the companies themselves are still trying to determine whether it would be economically viable to exploit unconventional gas. According to the timeline provided by one of the applicants it would take another seven years to start with exploitation. It is likely that PASA will grant exploration rights as applicants can show that the exploration phase is limited in period and scope. Opposition to these applications at initial public meetings of both interested and affected parties has focused mainly on the potential impacts of fracking as the end-product. The framework however provides that each phase of the application must be evaluated separately. This makes the engagement process a piecemeal exercise in which the elephant in the room cannot be addressed. While potentially directly affected community members share their concerns about the environmental impacts - including scarce water resources and poor air quality - none of these qualify as legitimate objections to the current applications. Indeed, it very clear that the EIA process frustrates community members potentially affected by future operations. A recent public meeting in Dannhauser in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province was called off after not a single resident turned up. It was high time, then, for last week's general public debate on the unconventional drilling technique to take place. In parliament all opposition parties except for the United Democratic Movement (UDM) (currently representing one percent of South Africa's popular vote) expanded on their very serious reservations concerning fracking. Cheryllyn Dudley, who had initiated the debate, raised concern that public awareness around the controversial drilling technique would be lacking. She expressed an worry that "no one knows anything about Rhino Oil and Gas". The Texas-based firm with corporate offices in the British Virgin Islands has filed exploration applications for large parts of KZN, Mpumalanga, Free State and the Eastern Cape provinces. After the debate Dudley said she was at least satisfied with the session: "it definitely caught the attention of MP's which was our goal." Robert Pollin, an economist at the University of Massachusetts, estimates that, excepting China, developing countries lost roughly $480 billion per year in potential GDP as a result of so-called 'structural adjustment' policies. UK clings to discredited ideology The idea that developing countries should simply open up their economies through free trade is now rejected, often ridiculed, around the world. Yet this appears to be precisely what Britain's current International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, still clings to. Fox has given two extraordinary speeches, both in September, extolling the wonders of free trade. At a speech to the World Trade Organisation in Geneva, Fox outlined free trade as a panacea for the poor, saying that Britain would "carry the banner" for it: "Just look at the effect on the populations of developing countries that have started down the path of opening up their markets, and ask yourself whether there has been a greater emancipator of the world's poor than free trade. The glorious thing about free trade is that if the conditions are in place to allow it to flourish, no-one needs to lose out." A few days earlier, he told an audience in Manchester that the recent success of countries such as China and Vietnam was all down to free trade. These views are completely at odds with the historical record. There is a legion of literature and experience showing how East Asian countries have spectacularly reduced poverty in recent decades - and it was not by free trade. The first reason was by pursuing land reform, which in China's case involved reintroducing household farming alongside government policies to maintain prices and provide guaranteed markets for farmers' produce - policies that are largely opposed by neoliberals like Fox because they 'interfere' in markets. State intervention and protection for nascent industries works! The second main reason for Asian success has been policies of state intervention to nurture and develop domestic industries. These policies often involved imposing protectionist trade policies to keep out foreign competitors, up until the point when those industries were strong enough to compete in world markets. Again, these policies of state intervention are largely heretical to neoliberals. The British government has in recent months said that it is committed to ensuring that developing countries can reduce poverty through trade and that the possible impacts on poverty will be "taken into account" in UK trade policy. But it has provided no detail on this, and in fact the only real way to genuinely take poverty concerns 'into account' would be to learn the lessons of history and abandon enforcement of free trade as a model. Yet the government is beginning to embark on negotiating a series of trade deals with countries, preparing for the UK's exit from the EU, which are likely going to press for this simple free trade model. Countries mentioned or visited by trade ministers as potential close trade partners include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Turkey, Israel and China, according to parliamentary questions and press reports. The UK government has long supported the now-defeated Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US, the Canada Europe Trade Agreement (CETA) and the EU's free trade agreements with various developing countries. All these deals prioritise corporate interests over those of people by promoting privatisation and deregulation and which empower corporations to take legal action against governments when their interests are threatened. There are also clear signs that the same model will be used to construct a trade deal between the UK and the US, boosted by Donald Trump's election. Aid for corporations, not people International Development Secretary Priti Patel has called for "reform of the global aid system" and suggested that this should be based on "core Conservative principles". It is not yet clear what this means but the high likelihood is that aid will continue to be reconfigured to support corporate interests and the government's neo-liberal foreign economic policies outlined by Liam Fox. For example, Britain is already leading the world in using aid to push for the increasing privatisation of health and education in developing countries. The Department for International Development (DFID) is currently spending 38 million in promoting private schools in Nigeria, Kenya and Pakistan. Promoting private education is controversial and is widely criticised for undermining public education. In one recent example, the government of Uganda closed a number of private schools funded in this way for being of unacceptably poor quality. DFID support for private education appears to be part of a strategy to make the privatisation of public services more 'normal' in developing countries, opening up new markets for private education providers, in which UK companies are world leaders. DFID has made clear that it will continue providing support to schools "regardless of whether the school is public or private". Priti Patel is also promoting a major overhaul that would allow billions of pounds of aid to be channelled into the government's controversial private equity arm, CDC Group, formerly the Commonwealth Development Corporation. DFID is proposing to increase the limit on support that the government can give to CDC from 1.5 billion to 6 billion. CDC invests in corporations overseas and has been widely criticised for its executives' expense claims on luxury hotels and restaurants and for its use of companies established in tax havens in order to make investments. DFID is also likely to continue to support the interests of corporations in global and African agriculture through its extensive funding of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition. And it is almost certain to continue its opposition to establishing legally binding commitments on companies to respect human rights globally in favour of inadequate, voluntary mechanisms by companies themselves. Patel has also made the suggestion that aid might be used to promote post-Brexit trade deals with developing countries. Indeed, she has indicated that she sees UK aid as part of the country's "soft power", implying that aid is a tool in Britain's wider policy agenda - rather than actually a means of helping to reduce poverty: "British soft power is exactly where DfID and our aid and other relationships around the world, come together to deliver in our national interest and deliver for Britain when it comes to free trade agreements but also life post-Brexit." On the current trajectory, more than a quarter of Britain's overseas aid will be spent by ministries other than DFID by 2019/20. The aid budget is being eyed up by officials in other overstretched departments, including the Ministry of Defence, which has suggested that its budget be used to pay for flights on military aircraft, some navy patrols and body armour. Deeper relations with authoritarian regimes A clear priority in recent government policy-making is cementing new relations with non-EU countries The set of states the UK has seized on as offering major opportunities are the regimes of the Arabian Gulf. The past few months have seen a striking rise in the tempo with which British ministers are seeking to sell arms and do trade deals with these unelected, authoritarian regimes. In September, Theresa May hosted the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Al Thani, saying that his country was a "natural partner" of the UK, which was seeking to promote investment, science and "defence" (i.e., arms exports). The meeting followed Defence Secretary Michael Fallon hosting Qatar's Defence Minister to discuss joint military training in which Fallon also announced the creation of a new Deputy Defence Attache role in Qatar "which will ensure strong and continued defence engagement." A few weeks ago, UK companies were in Qatar at the 'Milipol 2016' exhibition, selling military and 'security' equipment. Last month, Theresa May also hosted the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa, notorious for his country's brutal crackdown on dissidents and the Shia community. May reiterated the UK's "firm commitment to the security of the Gulf" - government code for continuing support for the regime - and even praised "the King's ongoing domestic reform programme" which continues to repress a large part of the population. Royal visits have recently been made to Oman and the United Arab Emirates and the government has reaffirmed its commitment to building two new military bases in Bahrain and Oman which will house the two 65,000-tonne aircraft carriers being built for the Royal Navy. Meanwhile, Britain has struck an extraordinary new special relationship with the military rulers of Egypt, who overthrew a democratically-elected government in 2013. In August, Theresa May spoke with Egyptian military ruler General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and "discussed a new chapter in bilateral relations between the UK and Egypt", according to the government press release. This follows a series of extraordinary meetings and extreme British justifications for the nature of the repressive Egyptian regime. Since late 2015 numerous ministerial meetings have been held to promote military cooperation, a memorandum of understanding has been signed and arms exports agreed. In July 2016, a UK trade envoy to Egypt, the MP Jeffrey Donaldson, and the head of UK Export Finance, Louis Taylor, visited Cairo to discuss expanding trade and investment ties. Our new best friends - the world's most repressive states These repressive states do what Whitehall wants in the post-Brexit world: they buy our arms, house our weapons, support our power projection, and invest in the UK, all unencumbered by any democratic distractions at home. It is not just the Arab states in the Gulf that British elites are cultivating afresh. So too Israel. Brexit "creates a real opportunity for Israel and the UK to work even more closely together", the UK's ambassador, David Quarrey, said in Tel Aviv last month, hinting at using non-EU status to get around EU policy concerns on that country's illegal activities. "With Israel I see the opportunity for closer cooperation on trade, investment, technology, science and security", Quarrey said. He also noted that once Article 50 is activated by the government, Israel will be one the countries with whom Whitehall will renegotiate a trade deal. Very notable is that in the three months from April-June this year, the UK exported a massive 65 million in military equipment to Israel compared to $9.5 million in the whole of 2015. The indication is Britain will promote arms exports post-Brexit even more vigorously than in the recent past, which is no small matter give that Britain is already the world's second largest exporter. Ministers appear to regard arms exports as part of the UK's newly-found "engaging with the world". Equally worrying is that the government has not clearly indicated that, after leaving the EU, it will remain bound by the (already very weak) EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports. Military power at the service of finance and commerce Since June, the government has been constantly highlighting its plan to increase the military budget every year until the end of the decade. It is also engaged in a massive 178 billion military re-equipment programme, and is constructing two large aircraft carriers, the largest ships ever used by the Royal Navy, to increase Britain's ability to project force around the world. All these factors are now seen by Ministers as further evidence of Britain's re-engagement with the world. Britain's increased power projection capability is concerning in itself, notably in light of the disaster of Iraq and Britain's wider policy in the Middle East, where it is fighting seven covert wars. But this capability looks even more worrying in light of two remarkable speeches recently given by the head of the Royal Navy, the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Philip Jones. In a speech to an audience in Washington last month, Jones said, in reference to the Gulf region in particular: "Now that our Government seeks to extend the UK's economic partnerships post-Brexit, the Royal Navy stands ready once again to be melded and aligned for best effect with our nation's growing global ambition." Jones went on to infer that Britain's possession of Trident nuclear weapons, which are of course housed by the Navy, is a signal of Britain's new role in the world. He said: "This continued investment [in the Navy] is a powerful sign that far from being a diminished nation, withdrawing from the world, the United Kingdom has both the intent and the means to protect our interests, shoulder our commitment and support our partners across the globe." In July, Jones delivered an equally remarkable speech to representatives from the City of London at the Mansion House in London. Jones noted "Britain's continuing, and indeed growing, position of global maritime leadership" and the government's commitment in the previous year's Strategic Defence Review "for the work of the armed forces to more closely support the UK's own prosperity." Jones went on to say that the Navy, "at the height of Empire and beyond ... has always been the guardian of maritime trade." He even noted that "it was naval power that opened China and Japan to Western markets" - referring to the brutal British conquest of China. Then he added: "Now, as the government looks to extend the UK's economic partnerships, as signified by the creation of a new Department for International Trade in the last two weeks, the Royal Navy's role in supporting prosperity rises to the fore once more." An ethical foreign policy? Dream on ... At the same time Jones highlighted Britain's new 'carrier strike' capability: "The introduction of the first of two new aircraft carriers into the Royal Navy next year is a huge opportunity for the UK to signal its continuing ambition in the world." The meaning of this from the rest of Jones's speech is clear - the head of the Royal Navy is seriously saying that British sea power and military force will protect and enhance British financial and commercial interests, including those of the City of London, especially in Asia. This is a clear exposition of the return of imperial gunboat diplomacy that Britain envisages in the post-Brexit world. While the picture is still emerging, some lines of likely government policy post-Brexit are becoming clearer and raise major concerns about the UK's role in the world. Britain is set to increasingly promote a failed model of international trade that will impoverish developing countries still further. It will likely pursue an aid strategy that supports corporations, neo-liberal economic objectives and wider British foreign policy. Britain is also on course to ignore human rights in its foreign policy even more than in the recent past. And it is even threatening to increasingly use its military power to secure its financial and economic interests. Mark Curtis is a journalist, historian and foreign policy analyst. See his website here. This article represents the full text of his report for Global Justice Now: 'Dreaming of Empire? UK foreign policy post-Brexit'. Making a return to our two favourite summer locations, Mount Maunganui and Nelson in early January 2023, we've got whiff of the first release lineup and me oh my, yes boy Sen. William M. Stanley Jr., R-Franklin County, is considering a run for attorney general in 2017. Im giving it serious consideration, the lawmaker told government reporters from around Virginia gathered Thursday in Richmond for the annual Virginia Press Association Day at the Capital, held at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Stanley, a criminal defense attorney serving his second term in the state Senate, would join a Republican field that includes Richmond attorney John Adams and Hampton Roads attorney Chuck Smith. Republicans will decide their statewide ticket for 2017 next spring in a primary. Last month, Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, unexpectedly ended his campaign for attorney general, citing family considerations. Bells announcement left Republicans with two candidates for the office who have little statewide name recognition. Bell was the only elected GOP officeholder in the field seeking to take on Democratic Attorney General Mark R. Herring next year. Herring surprised many in Virginia politics when he announced in September 2015 that he would seek another term as attorney general, rather than run for governor. His decision left Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam as the Democrats presumptive nominee for governor next year. This year, Stanley toyed with the idea of running for Congress to succeed retiring Rep. Robert Hurt, R-5th. Stanley opted not to run, and fellow Sen. Thomas A. Garrett Jr., R-Buckingham, emerged from a contested convention to win the GOP nomination and win election to Congress on Nov. 8. Stanley, who has three young children, said family considerations would play a role in his decision, which he said he would make in the near future. I have a job. I like what I do now, Stanley said. But he also expressed confidence that he could secure the GOP nomination. I believe I can become the nominee. Its whether I have the time to do it, he said. I love being a father and a husband.